A Scholar's Dilemma (Solo)

[Mila]

Mila had no real sense of direction any more. She knew she had to return to Ryerde's, Veritas academy to furfill the conditions of her working contract. But, her head, was totally not ready to go back. She was still reeling? Processing? All of the new stuff she had seen, although now it it wasn't so 'new'. It had been a few months since everything she ever thought she knew about magic was turned upside down and spun around until it didn't even look like itself any more. Gods. Why did the world have to be so complicated. Why did SHE have to be so complicated. So.. damned focused on figuring out answers to things that have no answer. Or no answer that she could not find within this lifetime. And it wasn't as if she could jump into some sort of gate that took her back in time to an era where all this 'new magic', was just regular magic. And Dragons roamed the earth, and she could spend her current life time in that era just learning all sorts of new old things. Yeah, that made sense. Lots of things make sense in her head that don't make sense to others. And it made even less sense when she tried to explain it. Sometimes her mouth spoke too many words other times it just babbled incoherent syllables. 

And the worst part, was that she couldn't really tell anyone about her sudden discovery. No. She owed it Nayru to keep her secret safe. The super powerful lightning lady did save her ass and also did not throw her overboard. And even if she did say something who would believe her? God's I'd hate to meet the people that DID believe me. 

She was back in Ryerde's borders, but not yet at her academy. She was holed up in some little farming village's inn. Waiting for a little storm to pass. A storm that totally did not occasionally cause her to freak out. She kept her room well lit with just about every single candle she had packed. Her little lightning sprite was tucked away in it's glass jar. It was awake and sparked enthusiastically whenever a bolt of lightning was about to strike. Mila both blessed and cursed the little creature. Her room had no window so she couldn't see the outside. But, she could hear it. She could feel it. Each rumble of thunder. Each gust of wind. It sent a horrible rocking motion through out the inn. The woods would let out this creaky eerie moan whenever the wind blew at it from a certain angle. The owner assured her the building had weather'd worst storms. But the sage knew better. She knew not to count on things that had past perfect records. Just because you've practiced something a thousand times does not mean you will get something right the one thousandth and one time. And she wasn't sure if this shack would survive another storm like this. 

Scattered around her feet were a various assortment of pages. Because scattered pages and candlelight made the best combination. They totally WEREN'T a fire hazard in a building that felt like it would topple at any moment. She should know! She was a fire expert! Right? Well, probably. She wasn't really sure about much of anything now days. Her own concepts of magic had been shattered and she was only now trying to reassemble the broken pieces. Perhaps she was being a bit dramatic. She did KNOW a good chunk about magic. She could still cast her spells with out charring herself to a crisp or accidentally burying herself alive. But, it was the sudden rush and discovery of new magic. That was eating her mind alive. And that wasn't the only thing, she was also no closer to finding out the whole monster mystery either. Her mini adventure in Kathelete brought up the same old usual skeletons. She bit her lip at that. It's a cruel world that they live in now. A world where the undead are so common.. or at least becoming so common she could classify them as usual. Skeletons and Reverents were garden variety monsters now. People were starting to form bands of fighters to deal with them like they would bandits. Maybe? Or perhaps that's just all of what she saw as she traveled. People trying their best to scrape by with what they have.

She had yet to meet people who knew how to deal with full packs of Mauthe Doogs. And the gargoyles seem to be in a war with the wyvern riders of Bern. At least that's what she knew? She had yet to hear tales of hordes of pegsai knights dealing with the gargoyle threat in Ilia. Then again, they have their own problems, with Eturia's war efforts. Not to mention their own recovery of their war with Bern. What if no tales exists of Ilian's battling Gargoyles on Pegsai.. because they didn't survive long enough for someone to mention it? She shook her head. No. Maybe? I hope Sam, Donny, And Perun are ok.

The point is she knew goyles liked to stay in places where there were high vantage points. Like mountains. Or maybe they just don't like the cold? No, that stupid. The Sky itself is cold. Mila knew that. She remembered flying with Ilheod and Astreus when they ran into those gargoyles in the Bernese mountains. Or maybe she was freezing because she was terrified at the prospect of falling to her death. Or getting skewered alive.

Mila decided to lie down on the floor of her room. The sage herself was dressed lightly. She was looking forward to the prospect of a good night sleep until the storm decided to show up. It was strange. She could usually tell when these things were going to happen. But the afternoon sky that day looked so clear. Perhaps it was due to the humidity. Or maybe the weather had was just as crazy as the world. 

What other thoughts were rattling around in her head? Ah yes, guilt! That horrible thing that tears people up on the inside! gods she still felt bad about not being able to save the village accosted by Baels. I'm sorry Vin. She closed her eyes. Briefly. Her body was so tired yet her mind forbade it from resting. She opened her eyes again at the lightning in a jar's rattling. Then put her hands over her ears to avoid hearing the thunderous boom that followed. She sighed. Then pulled her hands behind her head. She used her fingers like a makeshift pillow and think some more.

[Mila]

Thinking. Thinking. That was the problem. And she hated that. She hated when her mind kept looping around the same failures or confusion that happened long ago. Part of her kept wondering what went wrong. Or why was she like this. Or what if there was something just genuinely wrong with her, and that perhaps she should start taking the advice of the age. Marry some man to straighten her out. Or join a nunnery. She shook her head again. No. She'd come too far now to just tie herself down to something like that. She wanted to learn and explore. She wanted to still see the world. She owed it to those in her life that couldn't do that any more. She closed her eyes again. She could see their faces. The faces of the ones she had lost. Her comrades back in Eturia, back in the day when she finished being a student. And had just come into the life of a proper researcher. Her mind flashed to both her parents, who she lost to infection when she was eighteen-ish. Then her mind went to her brother. Her twin. And while Duma wasn't dead. She wasn't in her life presently. And he hadn't been in her life for years, not since the accident back in Nabata. She knew he still lived, because Vincent knows him. 

She opened her eyes again. Another sigh. Eventually she peeled herself off the floor and pressed her back onto the wall. She stared at the scattering of paperwork around her. She knew she needed to come up with a lesson plan for the new generation of students she was to teach. But, there was nothing new in her notes. No new monster for them to learn about. Mila made it an effort to teach her students only what she had encountered, baels, cyclops, undead, gargoyles, and doogs. Because she had seen what they could do first hand. She's got samples of them scattered about in tiny jars on her person. Detailed notes about the tools and tactics they used. But, the world was changing for the worst. And she needed to make sure her students were prepared for what that worst was. She owed it to them. She didn't want them to die due to a lack of knowledge. She didn't want anyone else to die due to her own incompetence. Scattered about the pages of facts were other pages of not facts. Rumors. Rumors of a ghost ship that terrorized the seas. Rumors of a half man half horse creature that terrorized the mountain side. Rumors of a brood mother deep in the Lycian forests. Rumors of monsters she had only heard of but not yet come across. And then there were the monsters that were native to Vinland. Monsters that shared similarities to those found in Elibe, but they were drastically different. Those monsters appear to be natural to the environment of Vinland itself. And it's inhabitants were used to them. They hunted them and they in turn were hunted. Some could even be tamed. Mila remembered the two hawks that had helped them. She remembered the doogs they had as their own hunting dogs. She remembered the bael they encountered there and how it was divided up to be used as food. What role did those monsters play in all of this? And should she even bother to include them in her lessons?

She stared at her notes some more. Perhaps if she stayed there, looking pathetic at her papers, some sort of divine entity would take pity on her soul. Enter her mind and let her know what she should do.

[Mila]

Nope. No gods here. Just my depression. Another sigh. The sage decided she had enough of staring at her papers. Eventually she collected them all up and put them away. What's the point of all of this? That was the new question that decided to rear it's ugly head. As much as she wanted to rely on the hopes of humanity coming out of this monster invasion alive, she had her doubts. Solid doubts. Like backed up by science doubts. If she could even call what research she does science. Sure, it followed a scientific method. Educated guesses, observations, data collections, and the occasional experiment, but then there was the whole magical element to it. Which, tended to throw all of the science and rationality out the window.

How do mages do magic? She couldn't answer that one properly. Sure everyone had their own explanation for it, communion with spirits, willpower, transfer of energy of the caster to the thing being cast, or some sort of combination of all three and then some. But, no real, unified answer as to how. And how magic does what it does. How does flailing one's arms suddenly cause lightning to appear? Amplify the powers of the wind into something deadly? Or control the very shadows themselves? And if a caster somehow manages to add a spin to it, it's stronger? How does light suddenly accelerate human growth and healing? No one really knows. Magic was weird. Horribly complicated and yet completely natural. 

Natural. What if all of this was natural? All of the monsters, the war, and the consequences of all the lives caught in between. What if it WAS all natural? The way humanity was supposed to end? Due to the carelessness of humanity's ancestors. The Vinland natives did not have the same problem with Monsters that Elibe seems to have. They never had a Scouring in their history. She felt it when she was on that island. The magic in the air. It made her feel weirdly good. But, there was none of that here. And Mila knew the Scouring and subsequent years after drained the continent of it's magical power or something similar. And now, the monsters, were simply the continent's way of returning things to it's natural order. To a world before the Scouring. To a world before Dragons? Maybe? The sage shook her head. If that's the case.. then what world was there before that? Was it all monsters?

"Well, at the very least the monsters are certainly trying to make a world with less humans." She spoke in a soft whisper. And maybe.. we deserve it. People were kind of jerks to one another. And they were jerks to nature too. If humanity was to end due to trial by monster, then who was she to try and figure out a way to stop it. The sage quietly started to extinguish the excess candles in the room. She kept the three closest candles near lit. She then grabbed the jar with the excited lightning sprite and held it close to her. The jar felt warm. That warmth gave her some comfort in her mental dilemma. She draped a blanket over her shoulders and continued to just sit there. 

[Mila]

The rain outside seemed to fall even harder now than it did a few moments ago. Mila could hear the patter of the rain past her wooden walls. This just made her grip her jar tighter. Rain is good. It means the storm is passing through. Just got to keep on holding on for a little longer. Mila continued to peer into the dark. 

The little elemental in it's jar took a moment to stop jumping around in excited glee. It looked up at it's giant, in her moment of melancholy. The little elemental wasn't overly fond of it's giant overlord. The little ball of electricity had only come into existence a few months ago. And it's experiences with the giant human had been mixed. It liked the fact that it got to see the world through it's glass prison. It didn't like that it couldn't interact with the world due to said prison. Every time it was let out of it's Jar, the giant would always have it stand in something particular. Like in a glass dish, or a plate, or some other thing to keep it from using it's sparking power on other objects. It did like whenever it got released into a large grassy field. It hated the fact that it had to be near it's giantess at all times. If it wandered too far it would revert back into it's dormant pyrite form.  Some times the giant would hold the jar close to itself like it was doing now. Sometimes, the giant would talk to it. Sometimes it would lean down and peer into the jar and just stare. Sometimes the lightning elemental would do the same. It would press it's 'face' towards the glass and look at whatever the giant happened to be looking at. It even had a preference for the things it liked looking at, something that the giant called books. The elemental decided that it had stared enough and resumed jumping at the sensation of every soon to be lightning bolt.

Mila kept one book at her side as she tried to mentally tried to survive the night. She would gloss over her tomes on rough nights like these. Just so she could get a better understanding of the magic she was casting. Tonight's tome was Flora. One of the more recent additions to her collection. The whole act of controlling plants was strange to her. She could understand controlling fire and earth. Things that were not really alive. But, plant magic meant controlling something that was living, and bending that life to your will. She didn't want to think too hard of the implications of that. But, on the other hand studying Flora had given her a better appreciation of all things plant. When she first picked up the tome she tried her hand at growing seeds. Her first attempts ended with her killing the plant in question. She applied too much magic and had it jump straight from seed to seedling then withered plant stalk. That wasn't fun. The next attempt ended up with her simply failing to grow anything at all. 

Hmm.. I wonder.. if fungus would be considered plants. I might want to try an experiment with some glowing lichen.. 

[Mila]

It took a while, but eventually, Mila went to sleep. She managed to keep herself in her previous sitting position. Her body was so tired it did not even register the sound of her elemental's jar hitting the floor. Or the thud of the thick tome she had. It came to a point where not even the thunder from outside was enough to jolt her from her sleep. It wasn't a good sleep either. The dreams started off well, with the thoughts of flowers and forests filling her head. But, then things went south. The dreams turned dark. She saw visions in her head of people she knew. Slowly being devoured or dismembered by the various monsters that plagued the land. She could not help them. She could not help them and she was forced to watch! She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She'd call for her magic to help them but nothing came. These were all people she knew! Her friends! People she passed along her travels! The damn maid she met this morning! Why? Why do these things have to happen to them? The corpses would rise up and chase her for their misfortune, blaming her for their deaths. Why did she get to live? Why can't I do more? 

There.. is nothing I can do..

The night mare continued, as the corpses of her companions caught up to her. She remembered screaming. Then there was a rumble and suddenly those faces were gone. Now she was somewhere different. High walls of rock and stone surrounded every side of her, ancient carvings were on a wall. She couldn't make them out. She could see torch light in each corner. No, she knew this place. She hated this place. This place, where her trauma first happened. She saw the faces of her former comrades. The expedition crew. She knew their fates. She knew this dream. For some reason she could move in this one, she could speak. She tried to call out to them, but no sound came from her voice. No noise. Someone shoves her, the rumbling begins, The ceiling of stone starts falling, and then the world goes dark once more. Why did I live? 

I cannot save them. 

I can't save everyone. I can't save anyone. 

Another rumble. But this time it was accompanied by the sensation of something warm. Something buzzing. Then there's a loud banging noise. It's enough to pull her out of the world of her night mares and back into reality. The banging noise persists. The three candles she had left alone had burned themselves out. Nothing left of their existence remains except for a small puddle of wax upon the floor. The door? That's where the banging noise was coming from. The sage pulls her moist body off the floor. She probably looked terrible. And if there was a mirror in this room she could probably ascertain it for herself. She sure as hell felt terrible. 

"Yes?" She spoke.

"Guest services ma'm. We are checking in on you as you requested." The voice on the other end of door spoke. Mila could determine that the voice was female. And, she did remember vaguely leaving a notice with the inn staff about popping in to check on her occasionally. But, that was only a few hours ago right? Mila undid the latch on her door and opened it about a crack. She took a look at the maid in front of her. But more importantly, she could see the halo of sunlight that basked the woman with an ethereal glow.

"I.. wait.. what time is it?"

"It's a little over noon m'lady. You requested someone to check on you if you did not come down by nine."

"Noon? Like.. the next day noon?" 

"Yes'm." 

"Oh.. I. Crap.. Oh I'm way late." Mila closed the door quickly. She grabbed a coin from her cloak pocket and reopened the door. She handed the maid the coin. 

"Thank you." Mila then closed the door. And locked it once more. 

[Mila]

Even if Mila couldn’t figure out how monsters fit into the mechanics of the world, she knew she couldn’t think on it any longer. At least she couldn’t think on it any longer in here. She had already overstayed her welcome in the Inn and if she wanted any chance of making it back to the academy before nightfall she needed to leave now. And so the sage scrambled, like she always did. She quickly threw off her night clothes and put on her regular clothes. She was careful to wrap herself up so as to hide her bust. She finger combed her hair and arranged it into a messy braid. She threw all of her stuff into her bag and quickly combed the room to make sure there wasn’t anything she missed. She hooked her little elementa’s jar onto it’s holster and threw on her cloak.

She did one final sweep of the room as a precaution then left. Upon exiting the room she was greeted with the light of day as well as a few other people who were roaming the halls. She ducked past them and made her way over towards the inn’s main reception. She paid whatever balance she had for the night and requested for someone to fetch her horse and wagon. They weren’t hers persay. They belonged to the school and she needed to return it to them. Otherwise those two expensive items would be docked from her pay. After twenty ish minutes, her horse and wagon were ready. She left the inn and resumed her travels back to Ryerde main providence. The roads that connected the farm lands and the city together were safe. Usually. The country wasn’t one to be known to be plagued by bandits. However, they share borders with Worde. And Worde shares its borders with Osita. Ostia being what it is, tends to hemorrhage out massive amounts of undead. And those undead bleed into Ryerde borders. It's gotten so bad that the rural towns have constructed defenses like spikes and guard towers into their walls. She hoped not to run into any monsters today. With the way her mood has been lately she might just accept her fate and get eaten.

The main road was one that followed the riverbank. And from here she could see the various array of people in their boats trying to catch something for dinner. Other little boats had baskets of fruit or bushels of wheat. Sometimes she’d forget that Ryerde was actually a semi-prosperous little nation. She recalled a time when it wasn’t like that. And while she wasn’t in Lycia during the time of Ryerde’s great renovation, she’d occasionally hear gossip about it. Something about the new marques actually giving a crap about his territory. Who knew people like that existed! All that she was used to as a former citizen of Eturia were her parents complaining about taxes, royalty being stuck in a castle, and the church kinda being creepy. Most lord's are too busy having fights with their neighbors to really care about the whims and needs of the people.

“I.. still want to leave behind a record for them. A means to fight monsters that would come up in the future.. but.. now.. im questioning if we even deserve it.” She spoke to no one in particular. The horse turned its ears to the sound of her voice.

But, people are awful. Terrible creatures. She learned to realize that. Humanity killed off an ancient race of powerful beings.. for what? Land? Land is still there after people die. Freedom? The people are ruled by their lord and country. Sh*t's and giggles? Okay, maybe that last one. And now this generation is dealing with their aftermath. Right? They had to be… it's the only logical course.

People are born every day out there.. We.. shouldn't burden them with the errors of our past. And yet.. here we are..

[Mila]

She sighed. She had become painfully aware as to how alone she was in all this. Not, just in her current position. Being alone had it's perks, she could almost do anything she wanted with out the scrutiny of her companions. But, at the same time, the loneliness was killing her emotionally. She hated the fact that she had no one to talk to. Sure, she had the horse, but it couldn't exactly talk back. Perhaps that's why she always spoke so much whenever she actually could talk to someone. And she wished she had other topics to talk about other then monsters, history, and magic. Perhaps if she wasn't such a bookworm then maybe she can actually talk about regular commoner things. Like.. Like.. Like what? Farming? Plagues? She couldn't even think of something topical to talk about with her students. Sure, Veritas academy was indeed a school. But, as far as school's go, it was tiny. And while it made huge strides in the revival of ancient magics, it was, lacking. What library it did have was full of most of the local things. Laws, landscape, and military books. It lacked a large chunk of the classics. She missed Eturia's Aqueila Academy. She missed the vast library of books and the walls filled with fine art. Granted most of the art and books was regulated by the Church, but it was still nice! And if worst came to worst she could at least TALK about the art and literature. She couldn't really do that in Veritas. 

"Gods above.. I.. i'm some kind of freak." Her attire, didn't help either. She was covered up head to toe in her cloak. Her arms were wrapped up in bandages and covered in gloves. She had her hood up, goggles on, and a scarf that covered her mouth. Her usual traveler's attire, it hid her body frame, and hopefully kept thieves and bandits from instantly targeting her because she was a lone woman. Nope. We are perfectly normal. Totally a perfectly normal human mage.. who likes to talk about dead things.. and things that can cause cataclysms... and... and... oh.. I've made myself sad. She bit her lip. The minor pain her teeth inflicted on her lip distracted her from the sad thoughts. Gods, she'd kill to have one of her friends here with her. Someone to tell her that she was alright as a person. Even if she didn't feel it. Even if she never felt like she would never be 'alright' as a person. She wondered, what, made her like this? I.. miss home. Specifically, she missed her family. What few pieces were left of them anyway. Mother, Father, and Grandfather were dead. Her aunt and uncle were forced to join the Eturian Army. Her cousin and her child, she assumed they were ok. Her brother was missing or rather doing a fine job at not wanting to be found. 

She kept on the trail until she could see the outline of Rydere's main, city? Town? She wasn't quite sure what to call it. But, she could see the outline of the village?... civilization's gates. She could see the silhouette of the school further beyond that. She gently whipped the reins and urged the horse to go a little bit faster. 

A few hours later, Mila was back in Veritas' Academy. She was guided to her superior. She filled out her report. Nothing too interesting to see out west. Just the usual band of skeletons terrorizing the town. She took care of it. That was all. She did make a note to record the fact that the skeleton problem seemed to be advancing. They are getting bolder and towns are trying their best to keep up their defenses. 

While she was away, the academy was met with a plague of lice. The itching they caused had been so bad, classes had been delayed a week as a result. Executive actions were taken. Any room in the school that could support it was, gutted, then baked by fire magic or frozen by ice. There were certain conditions that needed to be met before she could be officially returned to the school. She gave up her clothes so that the could be boiled and washed. She was given replacement clothes. Commoner's garb that had the Veritas Logo embroidered on it's lapel. Thankfully, her plant loving roommate remembered that Mila liked to keep her chest wrapped so she snuck some in while the Sage changed. Her belongings would be put into storage for a week. She was re-introduced to her former roommates. They kept watch while she bathed herself. And they were with her for emotional support when the eventual shears came out and her glorious locks of green hair were cut. She looked at herself in the mirror and barely recognized who she was. 

[Mila]

It took a while but, eventually Mila was back in the swing of things. She spent most of her day in the school library. And while she had no interest in it before, she decided to start reading the military books they had on hand. Some of which were tailor made for combat mages and they offered her a new perspective on honing her own magic. Earth magic could be used to alter the terrain towards the caster's advantage. She knew how to do that already, but the books broke it down in a manner that made it, less taxing on her. 

When she wasn't reading, she was hard at work, writing up her new lesson plan for her students. And when she didn't have her nose in a book or a pen in her hand she was out in the training grounds. Half the time she wasn't even sure why she found herself out in the training grounds. She wasn't sure why she felt the need to improve herself. To improve her magic. She was convinced that the world was on the path towards it's grizzly demise. And no amount of self improvement would change that. She didn't tell anyone that. She didn't really talk much about anything to anyone really. Much to the shock and horror of her roommates. Especially, since they were dying to know what happened to her outside of Rydere's borders. She'd forgotten that those two were born and raised here in Lycia and couldn't really go anywhere freely. They were bound to the school and surrounding civilization by their own responsibilities. Before she knew it a whole week had passed by, and she was back in her familiar garb. The hair on her head was starting to grow back in. Her roommates told her the coming hair reminded them of new moss. And one of them kinda liked to rub their cheek on the new hairs. Mila didn't complain too much as it gave the sage some unintentional face time with her chest.

Today's lesson in practical magic was with her Volcanon tome. She had neglected it for a while. Most of her bouts after the spider village involved her using Gaea or Flora. Simply, because the fire from Volcanon might cause more damage then good. Back in Kathletet she didn't use flame because she cared for the safety of the surrounding fauna. She wanted to avoid causing an accidental forest fire. And she didn't quite feel the same with her fire magic after the Bael bout in Tuscana. She let the spirit of the flame take control of her. She remembered wanting only to burn everything around her. She wanted to feed the flames and keep it from dying out. It felt as if the flame itself was alive and was desperately looking for sustenance before it starved. She knew that desperation once. Can't lose control like that again. 

Today's opponent was the training dummy. A large but simple dummy made out of stone. Three large stones stacked atop one another. The stone did an excellent job at not melting due to Volcanon's extreme heat. It was also almost impossible to set on fire, since there was nothing on the stone's grainy surface to catch and hold flame. Closed her eyes briefly and focused. She'd read over Volcanon's tome so many times now she knew it by memory.  Easy now.. breathe in.. The sage's breath caused her chest to rise. She held it for a moment. As she did an orange orb of fire materialized over her free palm. The sage let the breath out slowly. The orb of orange fire light flickered in response but kept it's shape. 

Volcanon had a nasty habit of instilling Mila with dangerous amounts of overconfidence. And while bravery in the face of danger was commendable, it can also be really dumb. Stupidence. As she liked to call it. It basically made her feel like she could burn everything around her regardless if it was friend, foe, or nonburnable. And having something chaotic like that in a chaotic atmosphere like a battle, simply invited death. Having that overconfidence in a situation where things were peaceful ALSO invited death. And she kinda didn't want to die, despite her pessimism. Fortunately, Mila was familiar with her own personal, event horizon, and she knew she didn't hit critical stupidence until after she'd cast Volcanon for an extensive amount of time.

Practice with occasional breaks in between would prevent instances of dangerous situations with fire magic. Something she needed to remember to tell her students when they were out training. Focus. The sage took another deep breath in, then out. Now she needed to figure out exactly what she wanted this ball of fire to do. She knew she was really good at lobbing the ball of fire to her intended target. But, she wanted to do something with a bit more finesse. She quietly outstretched her arm and pushed the ball of fire away from her. The sage was a reasonable distance away from her target. Perhaps a solid ten feet or so.  She kept her arm and palm upright and focused on her target. With a simple stretch of her palm and fingers she sent out a stream of fire that hit the stone pile square in the center stone. She kept the stream going for a good thirty seconds before dispelling the ball of fire and putting her hand down. And breathe again. 

[Mila]

Mila kept attacking the rocky tower at various points until she could no longer sensation in her arms. She decided enough was enough and sat down. She would rest enough until the feeling in her arms returned. She was breathing heavily at this point. Exhausted both physically and spiritually by the constant barrage of fire magic. She wished she could do more. She stared at her hands for a moment. She knew she had over done it, aside from the horrible numbness coursing through her limbs, she took a look at her hands. The surface of her hands from her fingertips down to her wrists were very red and raw. She opened and closed her fists a few times. She couldn't feel the act of the movement. But, she could see it happen. And that was enough to assure her she didn't overdo it to the point of nerve damage. As she moved her digits, bits of her skin tore slightly. They oozed a small amount of blood. She sighed heavily. She kept her hands off the ground for a while and just looked up at the stony tower. The little lightning elemental, who had overseen Mila's training session from the glass prison, just kinda stared at the woman's reddening hands. 

She really wished the stones could move. She could lob fire at a still target until her hands were nothing but nubs on her arms. But, in the field, the enemy rarely stays still. She supposed she could enlist the help of some of the other Mages around here to give her some sort of target practice. But, the thought of spells getting lobbed at students with out any sort of protective countermeasures, may be enough to get her fired. She knew their was some kind of training tool with a pulley system and wooden planks as targets in place. But, she knew that would only do so much. Pulleys can become predictable. And the enemy wants to survive too, so it can be unpredictable. Like those damn acid filled suicide spiders. Gods she was still angry at that. Never in her life had she known spiders to have acidic properties. She knew beetles that could do that. And she could logic out that that acid may be modified venom. But, for them to have enough intelligence to ram at their barricade as suicide bombers, perhaps that was the thing that surprised her the most. 

The monsters were adapting. Learning. Mobilizing. Invading. Her mind briefly flashed towards the Lycian map she had on the wall. Various towns that were large enough to be on a cartographer's map, were circled in red ink. Susceptible to invaders. Some crossed out with x's. Already Lost. She didn't know if her guesses were true. But, she based her guess on what she knew, what she had seen, and what she had read from the nature archives in various libraries. She knew how spiders behaved. She could guess how baels behaved, depending on their species. She knew how the bonewalkers and risen behaved. She'd seen it. She documented it. She's done so much. And it still isn't enough? People are dying because she could not figure out the answer to the problem. And she knew so very little! Dark Magic, History, Ancient Ruins.. These were things beyond her expertise. 

Or was it? 

No.

They were not. Well.. the Dark Magic part yes. But not the Ancient Ruins.. and not ALL of the history neither. She used to LOVE archaeology. She used to love roaming up and down the halls of the Aquiela Library and pulling out a big old book about Eturian history. She used to love reading about the what used to be the royal linage and junk about the ancient heroes. Ancient Laws. Languages! Gods above she was such a damn back then. What changed? 

"Nabata.." That's when it all changed. Back when the damn ruins collapsed upon her research group. That's when her interest in all things old took a turn for the worst. She couldn't function properly after that either. Caves scared her. Ruins gave her a panic attack. She couldn't read the older books any more cause the ancient languages reminded her of the ruins of the walls. But, for all her bravery now, for all her fight against the forces of evil, she knew she couldn't get over that weakness. She couldn't get over her trauma. Or.. could she? She pulled out her Gaea tome and just stared at it for a moment. 

Now.. think.. back. How long have we been using this tome..

[Mila]

Mila closed her eyes. She thought back. She did not remember when she first picked up Gaea, but she did remember how she was when she first started. She remembered reading through the then complicated tome and trembling in fear over what she read. She remembered casting her first rock and how it landed on the ground with an unceremonious thud. That's when she learned Gaea had a weight to it that was unlike fire, earth, or lightning. She recalled having to go through various books about mathematics, physics, and geology. She hated the math the most. And she hated the fact that she had to teach herself how to calculate it quickly. It was through that math she learned the full devastating effects of the tome she had on the human body. How a single melon sized boulder when 'thrown' at high enough speeds can brake through human bones like ribs. Large boulders had the potential to destroy cities. And that was just with obvious throwing rocks. There was a whole separate math dedicated to trying to calculate the damage an earthquake or a pitfall would do. So much.. horrible math.

She had to be careful with her newfound power. She remembered thinking that much. She also remembered why she picked up the tome in the first place. She wanted to give herself exposure to the things she feared most. The more she read through Gaea, the more she began to understand. And the more she started to see the positive things the power of the earth could do. She learned she could soften the soil and make things easier for farmers. Create garden beds. Move rocks out of the way for people to pass. Pitfalls for non lethal traps. Walls to provide protection. Spikes to deter pests. She could manipulate the earth to make temporary shelters. Testing dummies. A coat rack. She opened her eyes again. The humble brown book was still there by her feet. 

Mila picked it up again and held it close to her chest. She had done so much with Gaea magic so far. And there was still so much more she needed to do with it. And she knew she had to go back. Back to Nabata. Back to right the wrongs of her past? No. She didn't do anything wrong. The only thing she did was survive. But, she owed it to the others who didn't make it out of the cave in. She needed to find out what secrets the cavern was hiding and present it to an institution. She needed to come to terms with their death. It's.. time to stop running from them. 

The sage pulled herself up off the floor. 

"We.. are going back." She spoke out loud to no one in particular. The elemental in her bottle sparked a bit. Startled by Mila's suddenly speaking, as it had gotten used to the long period of silence. 

"But, it's going to take.. a whole lot of planning.." She mused. She needed to calculate how much time a trip to Nabata would take. What the school should do during her absence. How to budget such a long journey.. so on and so fourth. The sage slowly made her way back towards her dormitory. She was not fully recovered from her Volcanon blasts. She nearly tripped over her own to feet as she started to walk. Her legs felt like jelly being stabbed by several hundred needles. She clenched her teeth with each horrible step. 

[Mila]

So! Much! Planning!

Gods above, why did she agree to go back to Nabata. And Why did Nabata have to be so far away! Ugh. But she was committed to he goal and nothing in the world was going to sway her from her decision. Although, the paperwork she was currently filling out for the school was certainly trying her patience. The sage wasn't sure what sort of thing she was going to run into once she got to Nabata, so she wanted to be prepared for anything. She was going to utilize all of the resources that the school and the city had to offer. She worked out a sustainable lecture schedule with the school. Three days out of the week would be dedicated towards her students. Two days of lecture one day of field training. Provided the weather cooperated. She worked out a reasonable lesson plan that involved them having a rather tedious mid term come the fall time and a final shortly before the summer started. Once, again her lessons were going to be mostly dedicated towards the proper identification of monsters, going over known weaknesses, and behavioral patterns of known monsters. This list included all manner of undead, doog, bael, gargoyle, and their stronger variants.

Her own private project and thesis she'd have to present to her superiors towards the end of the year did not revolve around monsters this time. But, rather it would be the study of elemental and their applications. And while the school had it's fair share of lesser elemental, they were mostly, domesticated. Their spirit essentially crippled to some degree to make them compliant. And the school utilized a whole bunch of them to be glorified lamps. None of them really shared the same spunk as her own elemental. And she hoped to capitalize on their differences and create a decent thesis to not get her fired. She dedicated one day of the week strictly towards the study of her little lightning troublemaker.

In between her own private research, attending other classes, and lecturing her students, she managed to find time to work out some sort of practical training schedule with the local guard. She dedicated one day out of the week towards field training. Not just training up against the dummies the school provided. But, actively going out and about with the local guard. The school's property was surrounded by all sorts of woodland and was removed from the main city. That meant there could be attacks on the school at any moment by either marauders or monsters that managed to slip in past the borders. And if any monsters managed to make it directly into Ryerde proper and she made a conscious effort to try and make it out into the battlefield. Failing that, she was with the wounded, healing what she could and practicing her splinting and wrapping. It also gave her an opportunity to socialize. She sat down and spoke to the local people. Got to know them and their ideals. What they were fighting for. Some fought for glory. Others fought for family. Others out of their sense of duty to their country. And some were just plain greedy. She found that sort of honesty refreshing and it helped to restore a small bit of faith in humanity. 

She learned that Ryerde has a small but rather effective military, who specialize mostly in terra-forming the battlefield towards their advantage. And since Worde and Ryerde had a steady and effective relationship with one another, she could potentially learn something new off of both armies. Maybe? The library books were full of stuff about the local laws and some interesting military books. And those books did mention that there was some sort of joint militia which worked together to protect their trade routes. And while she didn't originally have any interest in joining any military at all, she did advise her superiors that it would be in their best interest to work some sort of training system with them. Or at the very least improve the one that was currently in effect. She proposed a system that was similar to Bern's, perhaps it will stick, perhaps it will not. At the very least the idea of looking into the military for new ideas and combat capabilities, and putting said ideas into practice, usually ate up one of the last two days of the week. 

The last day left in the week was left open. A day where she could do whatever she wanted or whatever she needed. Usually, it was considered a break day. A day where she could sit and catch up with her roommates and their various projects. A day where she could do all the domestic work that piled up through out the week such as laundry or cleaning. Or she sometimes used the day restoring her older tomes and writing letters towards her friends. Never quite sure if they ever received them or not. Or she'd go out into town and simply mingle among the people. 

[Mila]

The days turned into weeks. The weeks turned into months. Months turned into Seasons. Before she knew it, winter arrived in Ryerde. It was December now. A time meant for snow, quiet reflection, and starvation. Her hair had mostly grown back and now she was staring at a specific date on the calendar. The end of the year, circled in red ink. The sage needed to have at least a draft of her thesis before the new year. She agreed to leave the campus at the end of May. She would hopefully arrive at Nabata's borders by the start of the fall. Provided that everything went according to plan. 

Today was one of her off days. The training grounds outside were covered in a fluffy white snow. Snowball fights were common. Those mages who were fluent in Fimbulvetr spent their time making elaborate ice sculptures in the courtyard. The rest who were less fluent in the arts of ice and water magic made snowmen. Snow Animals. Snow.. rude gestures.. that were promptly removed by the staff. The pranks were a small subtle reminder that the students were still children in some way despite the harshness of the season. The school was fortunate to have an ample storage of food. The school also had a large supply of dead wood that was used to keep the fireplaces going. What was an issue was the illness that seemed to spread whenever the cold weather reared it's ugly head. Mila wasn't immune to it either. She often found herself sneezing and coughing in the middle of her lectures. And some nights she shivered so much she found it difficult to stay asleep. 

Mila along with some other mages who understood the powers of Flora, were occasionally called to the gardens to revive smaller plants from their frosty slumber. The herbs helped to ease some of the more common symptoms associated with cold. And while the school did it's best to try and maintain the safety of their students, death was an inevitable circumstance of life. The season had already claimed the life of a few students and at least one teacher. And it was only December! There were still three more months of winter to tolerate. 

Despite the snow and cold, Mila was still determined to stick to her weekly schedule. She dressed as warmly as she could and continued with her patrols. She continued to train with each of her tomes. Her skill with Gaea had improved greatly. She learned that lobbing tiny stones at high speeds could cause enough damage to kill. Or at the very least stun a man depending on the size of the rock. She learned to do this thanks to one of the various books in the library that explained the mechanics of a slingshot. It was a less taxing but effective means of using Gaea for quicker combat. With the military books about terra-forming, she improved her pitfalls, quakes, walls, and spikes. She also learned how to make a gruesome sort of pit that swallowed the enemy (usually a training dummy), and if she clasped her hands together in a certain way, she could have the earth consume that enemy. Those spells were still horribly taxing on her body but with consistent practice she was learning the limits of her capabilities. After reading another book about armor and crests she had an idea pop in her head. 

So she started to work on her close range combat. Close range combat for a mage was difficult. As casters often stayed still in order to cast the spells that made he enemy fall down. The most she could move while casting were her arms. And these arm movements were usually needed to manipulate whatever magic she was using. 

She usually defaulted to Volcannon for any close range combat. The trinity tome also worked but it was weak. At most she could do with that was summon out a gust of wind to knock someone back. Or a ball of lightning to stun a foe if she happened to touch an enemy. Volcannon was a solid middle ground tome that provided both power and malleability. She could keep a fireball 'in' her hand and use it however necessary. It could morph into a long fire whip, a stream of fire, a large fire spike, so on. But, Volcannon was dangerous, as it's manipulation often burned her, either physically or mentally. 

Flora was a good second when it came to close range combat. The vines that seemed to spawn from the ground made excellent nets. With enough practice those vines could be pointy and skewer a man in various places. She learned she could suddenly spawn up a plant as big as a sapling. Useful for blocking. She wanted to test the powers of this specific magic so, she gathered up some seeds. She learned if she placed a seed on the training dummy, focused her magic on it, the seed could sprout into it's full grown self in a matter of minutes. Crushing the poor training dummy under the weight of a tree. Much to the surprise of the sage and to the students who happened to be watching. She was also surprised to see that the tree still lived. It survived in one of the castle training grounds for a few months before it was inevitably turned into firewood. The "suddenly tree" spell as she called it, was very demanding of her body. And it wasn't foolproof. She imagined if the enemy caught a hold of the seedling before it sprouted, he or she could easily chuck it, before they got tree'd. She'd also have to be kinda sorta close to the enemy for that to work, which just left her wide open to a counter attack. Different plants with different seeds produced similar results. Now she was working with her botany friend to figure out which plant provided a good medium between 'suddenly tree' and 'suddenly, not a tree but a plant that was equally cumbersome to the enemy'. 

Gaea's close range combativeness was mixed. The spell in of itself was what she considered to be the 'heaviest' use of her magic. And while she liked the sling shot pellets as they were considered a quicker cast. She knew she needed to work on something more personal. She already knew she could summon small walls to block an attack if need be. And she knew there was some way to get Gaea's magic to 'latch' on to it's owner's body and provide a sort of living armor. But, she hadn't figured out how to do that yet with out just hitting herself with said magic. Maybe she would get the hang of that in a few months. 

[Mila]

A blizzard hit over night. All of the classes for the day were canceled, while the mages and non mages tried to dig out the paths between the school grounds. Mila helped out where she could with her Volcannon tome. She and a few others worked to try and clear a path that led back into Ryerde proper. They started their work very early in the morning. And by the time they made it to what would be considered the half way mark, it was dark. Very Dark. And Very cold. The cold numbed her down to the bone. Even the little elemental she had with her felt the effects of the cold. It spent most of the day huddled in it's dormant form. She returned to the school, and practically collapsed in the corner closest towards whatever fireplace happened to be closest to her. She breathed in the warmer air and went into a coughing fit. She eventually calmed down enough and slowly migrated back up towards her dorm. 

The next few days after that were rough. Not immune to the effects of the weather, she was struck with a terrible cold. Forced into bed rest by the staff. She was at least able to utilize that time to catch up on her research. She took her little elemental out of it's jar and set it's form on a glass dish. Along side her a series of objects. A feather. A stick. A needle. And a pencil. Today's test were to test out exactly what can the elemental hold. Mila started with the feather first. The feather when held upon the elemental's hand, almost instantly burst into flames. Mila slapped the feather out of the elemental's hand and stomped it with her booted foot. She recorded the results in her log. Next was the stick. The stick did not instantly burst into flames. But, Mila did notice the smoke coming from the wood. And when she examined the stick further she noticed a tiny black 'hand print' on the section of the stick where the elemental held it. A similar result was seen with the pencil. The metal needle. Made of steel. Did not buckle under the elemental heat. As a matter of fact the little elemental had some fun with the metal needle. It mimicked the movements of a fencer. When, Mila tried to take the needle away from the elemental. The elemental swatted her fingers away. 'Ow'. The needle let out a tiny spark every time it made contact with her fingers.  The elemental was given an effective weapon to use against it's giant, nay, all giants, and it did not want to give it up so easily. Mila saw an opportunity. She ripped off a piece of parchment and set it along side the glass jar. Effectively, giving her lightning elemental a sort of canvas. 

The Elemental did not know what it's giant wanted. Mila took a moment to demonstrate to the elemental what she wanted to do. She held a quill in her hand. She held up a book. And mimed the act of painting or writing. The elemental did not understand. So she put the book down. And and made a sort of jabbing motion using the quill, then pointed at the piece of paper. The elemental understood that. It immediately jabbed the paper with the needle. And the paper was left with a tiny scorched hole. The elemental seemed to like that. So it did it a few more times. Until the piece of parchment paper was full of tiny holes. Perhaps.. with some refinement.. I can get it to communicate with me. She went to grab the parchment paper. And was promptly stabbed by the needle tip. She made a mental note to preform all further testing with gloves. She shoved the little elemental back into it's jar and resumed her writing. Personality.. feisty. After a week of forced bed-rest, she returned to her classes.

Another month had passed. And Mila was mostly recovered from her illness. Though the cough seemed to linger for as long as the season did. More testing was done on her little elemental. And it gradually learned to trust it's giant. As the giant had learned how to remove the needle from it's tiny little fingers. It would only be given it's needle back after a series of commands. For example. The giant would ask it to wake up when it was dormant. She'd ask it to light. That meant it had to be bright and stay bright until the command to stop glowing was issued. Or until it ran out of energy. It did not understand what bright was, until Mila demonstrated with her fire. It learned that sleep. Meant to stop glowing and resume being a rock. It learned that it could not go too far away from it's giant. It learned that after trying to run away from it's owner with it's needle in hand. Ready to conquer the world! The elemental made it about four feet away from her before going dormant. Sometimes, the giant would give it things as rewards. Things that would burn up in it's presence and it had a compulsion to play around in it's ash. It especially liked making it's own footprints in the ash. It learned how to come towards it's giant. Mila would set it down, walk a few feet, then ask it to come forward. The job of the elemental was to figure out how to get to Mila. Usually, it would just walk towards her in a straight line. If it was at a height, it would just drop down and walk towards it's giant. Mila tried to get it to run a small maze using bottles and rocks as obstacles. But, the elemental just tried to brute force it's way in between the bottles. 

Another month. Spring was starting to make it's appearance along the school grounds. Her training of the elemental was going well. Through the use of show and tell. Plus a reward system. She was able to teach it directions. It learned what up down, left, right, back, and forward were. And it was able to complete one of Mila's bottle mazes, only IF Mila gave it the directions on where to go. The sage inevitably taught it a command for attack. But she did it in a way that the elemental could only attack when it had it's needle. 

One, night, Mila had forgotten to return her little elemental back to it's jar. She wanted to try and give her elemental the communication test again. She set the little elemental on the floor with on it's glass dish. She gave it it's needle. Set up the canvas. Exhausted from the day's events. She sat on the chair, put her head on her desk, and then closed her eyes. She remembered thinking she was going to rest them for a few minutes. She woke up a few moments later to the sounds of tiny fighting. And the then a thump. She pulled her head up, looked towards the direction of the thud, and saw in the corner of her eye. Her little elemental squaring off against a big ol rat. The rat was twice the size of her little golf ball elemental. But, there it was, jabbing the rat with it's needle. And if the rat managed to bite it, the elemental was literally lightning. Mila knew from experience, electricity upon bare flesh hurt. The rat was really determined to get past the lightning elemental for some reason. As most animals would have run away after the first sting. This spat between them went on for a few minutes before Mila decided enough was enough. She summoned a rock from her Gaea tome and lobbed it right at the rat. Killed it instantly. The elemental turned around to look up at it's giant. Mila put on a glove, got up, grabbed the glass dish, and quietly scooped up her lightning ball. 

"I appreciate the effort there Sparky." She yawned. Then put him back into his little glass jar. She wrote down the encounter with the rat in her log and then went to bed.

[Mila]

With the end of the school year fast approaching Mila, along with a few other teachers were busy. Lessons were being planned. Finals being prepared. Mila's progress with her tiny elemental was improving. She still couldn't get it to write anything using the needle and parchment method. But, the little creature was fond of pointing at things and eventually getting Mila to put it close to it's object of interest. As the days passed Mila finally felt confident enough with her research to make a proper demonstration of her elemental's abilities. An appointment was set for her consul and the sage was busy ironing out the kinks in the written portion of her report. And while the Veritas wasn't like most mage academies. Favoring a more practical approach towards most things magic. She still hoped to demonstrate the basic command abilities of her elemental. As the art of conjuring these spirits and keeping them is somewhat difficult. Most if conjured out in the battlefield vanish once the battle is over. Though with the advancements in Elder Magic, she's been seeing a singular black cat made of nether roaming around. 

June rolled around. She finished all her course work. Her students were graded and out of her life for the next few months. The sage presented her findings about the behaviors of her little elemental. And then prayed for her life. It would take a week for her colleuge's to review her findings. Before coming up with a yay or nay on keeping her around when she inevitably returns from her Nabatan adventures. Regardless, the sage spent the last week within Veritas and Ryerde's humble walls. Prepping. Packing. Planning. A trip to Nabata would take months. She knew she couldn't afford to rent a horse and wagon the whole way through. And she had planned to take the land route towards Nabata, because there was no way in hell she was going to go back on a boat. 

A week later and she learned she had successfully passed her review. Her superiors were pleased with her work as a teacher, her research into the arts and behaviors of a minor elemental. Copies of her research paper would be put in the school library to be used as a reference for future students. She was granted permission to return to the school after her stint in Nabata, provided she survive the journey. Any new discoveries regarding monsters she makes outside the borders would need to be reported in. She was also given a letter of recommendation to be delivered to Nabata's Akedemia. Hopefully, it would net her a few days of board within their campus once she got there. If not, well Mila would just need to think of something. And with the year over, Mila went about her way. She wasn't sure what she would find at the end of her journey. And she wasn't quite sure if she should be doing this in the first place. She knew she had to. She needed to get over the events of the past. 

But, she was still stuck somewhat. The research she did on her little elemental distracted her from the real cause of her moral crisis. She still wasn't sure if people even deserved to still be saved from the impending monster horde and doom. And she couldn't just get rid of those feelings either. But, the progress she made on her own magic and teaching helped. She didn't feel as useless as she did when she first got back to Ryerde. Perhaps, that was all that she needed to do. Just to keep on improving herself bit by bit. 

End thread.