He found himself not in the forest but in an opulent bedchamber, its dark stone walls and roaring hearth reminiscent of Amy's abode. The demoness herself was perched atop him, straddling his hips with a sultry smile.

"My sweet champion," she purred, "I thought you deserved a reward."

Before Aric could respond, she captured his mouth in a searing kiss, her body melding against his. Just as his heart threatened to hammer through his chest, she pulled back, eyes flashing with mischief.

"I-I, but what about Elara," Aric stammered dumbly, voice hoarse.

Amy silenced him with one delicate finger against his lips. "My dear, I don't mind sharing in the slightest, and I don't think she will either." Her smile turned wolfish. "Now, where were we?"

She dove back into the kiss, and Aric felt himself returning it desperately. It was like his body craved hers. The connection between them nearly a physical thing, only being strengthened by the continued intimacy. Her lips left a blazing trail along his jaw and down his neck, at once fiery and icy. He shuddered as razor-sharp nails traced delicate patterns on his chest. Being with her felt dangerous yet intoxicating. She tapped into needs long-buried within him, emotional and physical voids left by a life of isolation. Under her touch, those hollow spaces began to fill.

But, to Aric's great disappointment, Amy leaned back once more with a small grinding motion and a victorious smile.

Ah, wonderful, the ancient demoness is a little brat Aric thought wryly.

Before he could voice any such thought though, her tone became serious. "As you begin your journey into magic, know that the gifts granted by our pact are boundless in their potential and variety. Chaos or order, fury or mending, life or death - all shall be yours to wield in time..."

With a wave of her hand and a small smile, Amy finished "Now go, before Elara grows concerned with how long you've slept."

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Amy's words echoed in Aric's mind as sunlight began filtering through the trees, stirring him to wakefulness. The vivid dream lingered as he rose to greet the day.

"Up and at 'em!" Elara called brightly from nearby, offering a slender hand to help pull Aric up from his bedroll. "I thought we'd start today with some practical combat experience. Follow me."

She led him to a mossy clearing just off the road and shifted into a fighting stance, her tome held open in her left hand, and her right raised with her palm facing outwards. "I want you to come at me with everything you've got," she said, a grin spread across her face.

Aric looked at her in confusion, still trying to shake off the last remnants of sleep. "You really want me to attack you?"

"Of course! How else will you learn to channel your abilities in live combat?" She winked playfully. "Don't worry, I can handle myself just fine."

Seeing Aric's reluctant nod of agreement, she continued, adopting the lecturing tone she always favored while trying to teach, "From what most with internal affinities have said, you should simply have to collect the energy in a spot to start empowering it. For instance, if you're swinging your sword, condensing the energy within your arm throughout the swing could help increase the speed of your swing, or ensure that your muscles can withstand the force of the impact."

"That kind of makes sense, although it would be better to enforce multiple parts of your body, right? After all proper sword form doesn't rely only on arm strength." Aric replied, as he tried to wrap his mind around the idea. In theory, it sounded a lot like manifesting his energy outside of his body. That sounded easy enough.

Elara nodded in response, "That's right, but in the early stages of controlling your aether, it's generally difficult to hold it throughout your body, or in multiple locations at once. Most practitioners take years to get to that point, as it requires a level of mental discipline that can only really be achieved through practice."

Gesturing with her open palm in a 'come hither' motion, she smiled. "Now enough questions, give me your all!'

Though still reluctant to strike at his companion, Aric drew his sword and rushed forward, boots finding purchase on the soft soil below the dew-laden grass. Elara's shimmering barrier spell effortlessly deflected his opening strike, turning his blade aside at the last second. She followed up with a harmless bolt of arcane energy that singed his tunic, leaving the faint scent of ozone hanging in the air.

"Remember what I taught you about finding your magic," she lectured, gracefully dancing out of reach of his next swing. "Draw on that inner wellspring, let it flow through you and reinforce your movements."

Brow furrowed in concentration, Aric tried to calm his mind and tap into the glimmer of power he'd managed to find before. But the power didn't seem to follow his commands, it only wanted to be released outside of his body. Any attempts to condense it or hold it internally seemed to fail, the slippery Aether rapidly dissipating back into his core.

Elara continued her barrage of verbal instruction and minor magical projectiles as she deftly dodged his increasingly reckless strikes, his sword finding only empty air or being turned away once more by her shields. As the fight progressed, Elara continued increasing the power behind her blasts, until they were flinging Aric across the small clearing they were in.

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Even tricks that would work on most opponents, like flinging dirt into their eyes with a well placed kick fell short. Often literally, as Elara's barrier would flash into place, blocking the improvised projectiles with ease.

After being blasted onto his backside in the dirt for the dozenth time that morning, Aric finally slammed a frustrated fist into the ground. Rare anger flashed across his face for a brief moment before he schooled his features and brought his breathing under control. Elara sat down beside him, her own face kind as she brushed a loose strand of silver hair from her eyes.

"Learning control takes time, especially with power as raw as yours," she soothed. "But I know you can master it. You've already made remarkable progress with wielding guiding your Aether externally. Internal control will come naturally as well."

Aric only grunted vaguely in response, his pride still stinging. He stood, quickly brushing dried leaves and clumps of grass from where they stuck to his clothes after each impact into the soft soil. "We should get going, we'll waste the day away if we stay here much longer," he grumbled as he began trudging back towards camp.

Silence reigned as the pair went about packing up the camp, Elara kept taking worried glances at Aric, hoping that he'd talk about what was bothering him. Finally as they began donning their packs, he broke the silence. "I was able to grab the aether , like last night, moving it throughout my body." Pausing to take a breath and think, Aric continued, "But it just wanted to leave, like it wanted to be manifested in the world rather than staying within me." A thoughtful expression overcame Elara's face as she listened to his explanation. "That's very interesting, I wonder if its -" she began, but was cutoff, as a bloodcurdling scream ripped through the previously tranquil forest air. Exchanging an alarmed glance, Elara and Aric sprinted off toward the source of the desperate cry...

They arrived at the horrific scene only minutes later - the torn and tattered remnants of a campsite. Smears and chunks of gore were strewn chaotically throughout the area, painting a gruesome picture of the massacre that had just taken place here. On the far side of the campsite, beneath a pair of sturdy trees just at the edge of the devastation, four hulking wolf-like shadowbeast stalked and snarled, circling their prey.

In one oak, an elven woman clutched a wailing child tightly to her chest, their faces etched with terror. In the other, a battered and bloody orcish man grimly clung to the trunk with one thick arm, his other hanging limply at his side. The desperate family cried out again upon seeing Aric and Elara arrive, their voices filled with a fragile sort of hope.

Without hesitation, Elara immediately charged into the fray, arcane energy already crackling around her. She unleashed a tremendous concussive blast point blank into the side of one shaggy beast that had been prowling beneath the elven woman's tree, sending the brute flying a dozen yards away where it crashed lifelessly into a tree trunk with a sickening crunch.

But in her split second of distraction focusing her attack, Elara missed another of the shadowy wolves circling around behind her, biding its time. Heart lurching into his throat, Aric swiftly raised his rifle, the weapon feeling almost unfamiliar in his hands after days without use. Two shots echoed through the clearing in quick succession catching the beast mid-lunge. The echoing reports of the gunshots sent birds exploding from the surrounding branches in fright.

Aric's aim proved true - the first beast slammed hard into the ground alongside Elara, thrown off course as its head was obliterated in a spray of darkness. The second, having been approaching in the bushes across from the first, collapsed a moment later, a gaping wound blown through its shaggy torso. Rivulets of shadow dripped from the mortal injuries, seeping back into the earth.

Shaking off the shock of hearing the gunfire, Elara focused. With ruthless efficiency, she dispatched the remaining beast. A spear of ice manifesting beneath the beast, piercing through its neck as it tried to charge her. It's own momentum proving to be it's downfall. With the threat eliminated, Elara rushed to the orc still clinging to his tree and helped lower him down. Beneath the crusted black blood, his dark skin had taken on a sickly pallor from a vicious slash across his muscular arm.

Elara's delicate hands lit up with soft green energy as she worked to knit the man's torn flesh back together. Color slowly returned to the man's face as she finished working her magic on the wound. The man managed to stand, though on shaky legs, and make his way to his wife. As Aric continued scanning the trees for any further threats, the shaken man recounted between pained breaths how the rest of his group had been ambushed and slaughtered just as the sun broke over the horizon. He and his family barely managed to escape the same fate by fleeing into the trees, but he took a hit trying to draw the beasts attention away from his wife and daughter.

The trio of survivors were in no condition to remain near this charnel house a moment longer, so Aric and Elara escorted them back to the road, listening intently to their tale of fleeing from their home village to get away from shadowbeast attacks there. As it turned out, the group had come from the very same village that Aric and Elara had been heading to.

That doesn't bode well for the people of the village Aric thought grimly. If people were fleeing now, that meant the attacks had likely escalated. Whether this family had been tracked by the wolves to where they were, or just happened to be in the area though, was anyone's guess.

As the trio cautiously headed back down the main road, having said their goodbyes and once again thanking them, Elara turned to Aric, a blush spreading across her fair face.

"Thank you again for the assistance earlier. I know I should have waited for you, but I'm not used to working with others," she said with a self-deprecating smile. "I may have been a bit reckless in my rush to save those people. I promise to be more careful in the future and try to remember I'm not alone any more."

Aric's stoic face softened slightly and he gave a small nod. "Just...try not to take any unnecessary risks with your safety. I'd rather not see someone else close to me come to harm when I could have prevented it."

Averting his gaze, he mumbled under his breath, almost too low for even Elara's sharp ears to catch, "I've lost enough people already... I couldn't bear it if..." His words trailed off unfinished, but the emotion behind them was palpable.

Elara blinked in surprise at this rare glimpse into Aric's inner turmoils. Then, tentatively, she reached out and grasped his hand, giving it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. No further words were needed in that moment, as the pair walked side by side down the forest road. Around them, the sounds of the forest gradually resumed as local wildlife sensed that the danger had passed for the moment.

Ahead, the morning sun peeked through the canopy in dappled patterns, lighting their way forward.