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When the bright flash dissipates, my senses come to a familiar-looking environment. We're now in a small house with plain walls and no furniture, windows boasting a hillside view over a town that's decently similar to what I know from Earth, boasting more brick than wood, similar to an English town rather than American. There are boxes dotting the areas against the walls indicative of a new-move in. I half expect Vestin to have forgotten to give me clothes, but I've been teleported in with a dress shirt buttoned over a bosom larger than my last, and a pair of slacks over a powerful set of hips. There's a mirror on the doorway to the bedroom, and I rush to it to look at myself, sensing something amiss.

"Did you... enhance my body?"

Vestin looks hardly any different from her visage in her domain. She's still wearing a white dress, but this time it's coupled with white boots -- she was barefoot before, if I recall correctly. Her complete look is white hair pinned lightly back with a blue rose hairpin, her white dress and white boots. Despite being a petite sort, she still passed as a young adult. I looked way more like an adult than her, though. She looks a little sheepish at my question.

"I only enhanced it to what it would look like if you ate healthy meals and led a healthy life," she says, and while suppressing my offense I briefly begin to reminisce on what my old body looked like as a result of her contrast. I was overly thin, with developmental issues as a result of child neglect. As I was dying, I'd lost even more weight, and even my chest had suffered a loss as a result. Now I had some proper meat on my bones, and it was surprising to me just how good I really looked. I was even a few inches taller, which was... hard to get used to, and just a little jarring.

Erasing physical trauma with the snap of your fingers must be really nice.

I turn around and examine my backside, but after a moment I catch myself admiring a bit too much. I break away from the mirror, healthy brown hair swaying softly behind me. My next point of interest is the boxes -- I open one, finding a myriad of items belonging to me in my last life. Somehow it feels dirty having something I left behind when I died, so I look at Vestin quizzically.

"I made copies of some of your treasured items," she said.

"You didn't need to."

"You were an artist, right? I figured maybe you could continue doing the art you were so dedicated to before I got in the way."

"I won't have time while saving the world like you want me to."

"Ah..." She trails off, realizing the awkward gravity of her mistake, despite good intentions. "W-well, we can keep it around just in case, right? It'll feel like home."

"... I guess that's fine," I mull. Something makes me want to throw it all away, though. Inside is an organized mess of paints, pencils, easels and wrapped canvases. I feel an idle repulsion in regard to my past life now, but I can't distinguish why, so the box gets closed back up and left aside. "Suppose we do need to look lived-in for this place sooner rather than later."

As far as I can gather, we'll be living together in this house. There are two bedrooms, a small kitchen and the small living room area I'm standing in now. It's a simple little abode. I check the fridge, which sports a brand I've never heard of, though that doesn't surprise me. It's empty. What are we even going to eat?

"Vesti, did you forget to stock the fridge?"

"Uh...!" She falters. "U-um! Well, with my blessing right now, we don't need to eat..."

"About how long will the blessing last?"

"... I don't know," she admits.

I finish staring at the empty fridge and shut the door gently despite my rising tension about how things might have been set up. At this rate, did we have money to pay any amount to move in here? What baseline do we have for all of that, are we just squatters?

"Well, when we get hungry, do we have money to buy groceries?" I ask patiently.

"W-well, I made a bank account for us with 2,000 Marks in it. It runs similar to your world's US dollar."

"And the house is?"

"Um… Previously abandoned. I tidied it up and decided Squatter’s Rights."

I stifle a laugh. Just two grand to survive on until we get our first paycheck? How long would that take? We probably need mattresses to sleep on, and blankets to stay warm. Vestin's powers really must be limited, or she's trying to lay low -- though I don't see the girl with that much foresight.

"Hah..." I sigh.

"... Um, Marie?"

It doesn't register fully, but that's my new name. I look up from the space I was idly staring at while considering our status.

"... Do you wanna try out your magic?"

She's trying to get away from the focus on her mistakes.

Magic...

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't immensely interested, though..

However...

"It wouldn't be safe in this building," I say with restraint. "There's gotta be rules on not experimenting with magic in enclosed areas, right?"

"Oh, right," she says with mild deflation, and I feel even myself sink a little in shared sentiment. "We still need to practice our magic to ensure we're ready to take on what will be expected of us when we get into the AAG. It's only about midday, maybe we could travel out somewhere and give it a whirl?"

"Okay, but where?"

"I think I know!"

Without warning, a bright flash envelops my senses again and I give off a surprised yelp. My sight blurs for a moment, and when it clears, I'm standing in a grassy field speckled with wildflowers. There are a few small mountains nearby, and there is a large lake further on. As far as the eye can see, we're in a deserted area, far from needing to worry about being careful. Vestin is panting softly with a light sweat on her brow, and I can tell she's overdoing it right now. Still, it's necessary for me to learn this world's magic, right?

"Vesti, why don't you sit down? Also... Please warn me before you teleport again, okay?"

She huffs in exhaustion. "... 'K-kay..." She doesn't put up much of a fight about it and plants her bottom on a sizable rock nearby, recouping her energy. She's being pretty strong not complaining about it, but I know she's hurting right now. It's best that she rests.

I gaze over the fields around us, taking in the sights. I need to figure this magic stuff out as soon as possible...

"So, you know how magic works in this world?" I say to Vestin.

"It's much more accessible than your last," she comments. "You were closest to magic when you were creating your art. That's why I brought copies of your supplies over. Just tap into your life force and find the type of magic you want to focus on."

"So, in this case, darkness?"

"Precisely, yeah."

"... Well… better shut up and put up when you make it sound so easy," I mumble, breathing off a sigh. I shut my eyes and do whatever comes to mind in terms of 'tapping in' to my life force. If it's just like doing art, I need to treat it just like my creative process. I clear my mind and search for a muse. Right now, I want to tap into darkness, right? So it's just like making a depression piece. I've got a lot of unprocessed emotions over dying, honestly, so I can use that as a base. I consider something new while doing all this, though. While it's kind of the opposite of life force, death can deal with the theft of life in itself. I always liked moves like Drain Punch and Mega Drain in Pokémon, so maybe I can do something like that... I open my eyes and kneel down to a flower before me. In my mind, I have clear work I want to do. I want to try and steal the life force of this flower before me, and cause it to die prematurely.

Cruel, yes, but if I can pull it off...

The flower stays standing.

... Well, I expected as much.

I shut my eyes again for another go and try to envision an art piece I'd want to make of death. It's not working, so I just go to my emotions; how I felt, perhaps, about having my soul taken away in a matter I had no say in. It brews a rage in me, and I welcome the feeling that I'd otherwise push down. I want to take it all back, I really do. I wish I had control over my own destiny. Something plays in my mind, like grabbing silken threads with my bare hands. My eyes are still shut, but I hear a collective rustle around me.

When I open them, a solid meter circle of grass around me had gone brown with lack of life.

In my chest, I feel a swelling of energy like I need to scream, but I feel entirely calm. I hold my hand out, having the idle idea to try pushing that energy to my palm, completely winging it. In the space in front of my hand, a dark orb forms, shocking me to my core. In my panic it fires off like some sort of volleyball and ricochets in the air without a clear direction before crashing into a small body of water about 500 feet away, causing an explosion underwater that sends a plume of water into the air quite high.

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I look to Vestin. She was watching the whole time. She looks a bit pale.

"What is it?"

"No, nothing. The affinity to forbidden arts that I gave you turned out really well."

"I see," I reply, looking at the palm that fired off the round of darkness that exploded in the water. Forbidden arts, huh? A division of dark magic, I'm sure, and something that will no doubt catch the attention of the AAG. Well, if the big bad is using the opposite kind of magic, I'm willing to bet he knows the counterpart. I don't mean healing, but I'm sure he knows that too. I mean the transfer of life force. I brute forced it, but it's rather simple to do once you get the idea, I think. I gaze down at the flower that I had initially targeted, wilted in the collateral I caused around me.

"You can just draw aether from yourself, you know," Vestin says. "You didn't have to steal it from that grass."

"Well, you put it that way..."

"What were you thinking about before you used it?"

"Hm..." I pause, thinking back on my emotions. "I was thinking about how I wish I had been in control of my life. And how mad I really am about you taking it in the first place."

"Urk..." A clear guilt washes over her face. "W-why don't you focus on being alive right now, as is?"

"I could give it a shot."

"I'm here if anything goes wrong."

It's probably best I do what I can to learn standard magic rather than focus on forbidden arts just yet. Aether draining can be useful, but if I still didn't have a clue how to cast an actual spell here, it's all pretty dangerous to figure out where that stolen energy goes without gridwork.

"So, there are other magic types besides dark and light?"

"Yes, there are."

"I assume elemental magic."

"It's the most common, with earth and water magic being the typically most sought after. Pollution is a problem from mankind considering the AAG's relative dominance over magic beasts, keeping them from being an outright problem for the common folk. As a result, a lot of common people are expected to do their part in learning earth or water elemental magic to help purify and rebuild anything lost. It's actually a pretty exhausting industry for the workers, because there seems to be no end in sight, and the workload is pretty high."

"Doesn't sound like a dream job."

"No. A lot of people instead dream of becoming a part of Aetherum Ascendance. We have competition, but common folk don't often have the skill level needed to survive the test."

I was going to try again at a spell, but freeze in place and angle my gaze towards her. "Hang on, survive?"

"W-we'll be fine," she said, not answering my question.

I huff softly, feeling fussy over her little secrets. "We won't make this work if you don't tell me everything, Vesti."

"Okay, okay!" She huffs nervously. "It's... w-well, it's basically a trial by fire. We're assigned a mission like we work for them already, and if we fail it's either from abandoning our post or being killed by the target."

"For real?" I breathe.

"... Yes," she answers apprehensively.

"You're not in trouble, but this is a really steep hill for us to climb."

Vestin gives off a light whimper, guilt and dread still invading her veins. At least she's aware that she's in a situation of her own making, but moping won't help us at all. So instead, I pace over to her and give her a pat on the head.

"I’m sure it was the best you could do. I'll just have to work really hard. What skills did you give me to start out with?"

"Dark magic, as you requested; I gave you an affinity for Forbidden Arts specifically. However, some beasts need to be taken down with physical combat, so you're naturally proficient in sword arts too."

"Why can't I just use a gun?"

Vestin's a little stumped at that. Oh, right, guns, is what I'm getting from her expression.

"They do exist in this world, yes. But because of magic, they're still pretty rudimentary. Why shoot a bullet when you can cast a fireball, stuff like that."

I have a good deal of arguments against that, but alas.

"Plus, the Atheneum Ascendance Guild has a pretty decent gag on the firearm industry. They try to reserve firearms for the act of neutralizing beasts with specific bullets."

"I see," I reply, and move away from her once more at a safe distance. "Self defense isn't on their itinerary."

Vestin says nothing.

"Why aren't you practicing your magic, Vestin?" I ask rather dimly. I half expected her to practice with me in a sort of teacher format once she was rested. "We won't be able to teleport back if you do, huh?"

"... Yeah," she mumbles, thumbing at the stone seat she sat on. "I'm capable of an array of reality magic, but it drains me significantly these days. Instead, I'll be using ice magic here to keep myself from getting too tired. Is that acceptable?"

"I don't see why not. But, if I can ask one more question..."

Vestin nods.

"... Why are you so weak?"

"Urgh...!" She grunts at the jab to her heart. Maybe I was a bit too harsh there. "... If I'm honest... It's because in this modern age, hardly anybody pays tribute to me quite like they used to. I'm still prayed to and given days of worship that recharge me, but largely, the population is less and less religious by the day. Eventually, if this keeps up, they'll be in a godless universe with no rules, and perish as a result..."

"Ah... You really have nothing under control."

"I'm doing what I can!" Vestin insists. She looks embarrassed and shrinks back into her seat, but she doesn't take back her words.

"That's all you can do, Vestin. That's just fine," I say rather casually while my eyes slowly close back.

I guess I'm ‘meditating,’ is the word, trying to establish a connection to my center. I imagine that's how things work around here. I'll find out if not. After a moment I feel aware of everything going on in my body -- my heartbeat, my breath, even my blood flow, which is a little bit new. I feel something within me, and I reach for it in my mind. I think about death again -- my dark emotions over dying, and it feels almost like this 'something' changes colors on me while I'm tapping into it. I hold my hand out again, and I feel a strange push of energy against my palm. I open my eyes again, and in my hand a ball of dark energy had manifested where I held my hand out.

"What you're doing is called conjuring," Vestin supplements. "It's the most basic of magics."

I release that energy, and the ball of darkness volleys itself a few meters off, certainly not as powerful as my original orb. It bursts into a gloomy air, damaging the earth it impacted.

"It's not as strong," I murmur in disappointment. Vestin looks over to me with a touch of worry. "But, if I use the life stealing art on a target I'm attacking anyway, I could enhance my attacks before they notice I'm using forbidden magic, right?"

"I-I suppose... Few people use forbidden magic, not even beasts, so you could get away with that without it getting recognized, I'm sure..."

"Well, then." I feel a smile on my lips, and a silent giddiness at the craftiness I feel I'm displaying right now. "You said I have sword arts proficiency?"

"Yes, but I want you to feel comfortable with basic magic first."

"... Mmm..." I mull her words. "No, yeah. It makes sense so far. I wanna try using it with a blade, though."

"H-huh?" She stammers at my request, not expecting me to want to move on so easily, especially considering her advice.. "With a blade? Like combining the arts?"

"Yeah. If I stab someone and steal their aether, they'll think it's the sword, right?"

"I... I wouldn't suggest it," Vestin says apprehensively. "It's more difficult to handle than a ball of energy, and the damage it causes is..."

"I'll have to figure something out, though, right? Let's go somewhere where there's weak monsters! And get me a sword, I gotta try this idea out!"

"You're getting awfully energized..." Vestin mutters, but with a bright flash, she obliges and we're now in a dark cave. It's dimly lit by poorly made torches, and deeper in I can hear the noises of confused monsters sensing our intrusion. In my hand, Vestin has supplied a rather simple rapier. The blade is slightly thicker than a standard rapier that I'm used to seeing in media, but the point is still razor sharp. Behind me, Vestin is panting lightly, and leans against a wall to regain her energy. Ah, she’s even more exhausted now… I didn't intend to make it this way, but right now, I have to protect Vestin while she's down like this.

A beast rounds the corner. It reminds me of a wolf -- glowing green eyes scope me out, and saber teeth look sharp enough to rip me to shreds if I'm not careful. I feel a little over my head already, but I'm sure I can do this. Either way, there's an undeniable danger we're in right now by my wishes, so I have to put my money where my mouth is now. I shut my eyes and take in a deep breath, connecting with my aether, which is now defaultly aspected to darkness, as far as I can tell.

The wolf lunges at me, and I move aside just enough for him to miss, which took a bit more effort than I’m used to to get just right. I thrust the blade out, and envision grabbing those silken threads from before. It's a little tougher this time -- almost like the threads are more securely fastened. I can feel my blade sink into the wolf's body, though, and in that moment, I feel a connection to the wolf I hadn't felt before. The threads are looser now through my blade, and I 'yank' at them with all my might. I feel that scream-like energy rising inside of me like before. The wolf yowls, growing a touch weaker with my meddling. I can tell it's working, though. My vision blurred itself from adrenaline, I realize, and I focus my eyes and look at the wolf. Its eyes are glossed over, and it's barely moving, nearly dead and holding itself up just barely. I remove the blade from his body, and a spurt of blood splatters on my white shirt.

"That's...!" Vestin's eyes go wide.

"..." I don't respond to her shock. Instead, "Hey, Vestin, I have a question," I say rather level headedly despite nearly killing this wolf in one hit. "Are people allowed to keep beasts as pets?"

"It's... Well, it's called 'enslaving them,' but uh... We probably won't be able to keep any enslaved beasts anywhere safe with our current budget, right?"

"Ohh, I suppose not. Good thinking, Vestin."

With that, I hold my hand up and fire off a small orb of dark energy at the wolf, blowing part of its head off and rendering it deceased. I can still feel that scream-like energy in me; I didn’t use it all.

That was surprisingly easy on my mind. I'm concerned with how easily I was able to kill. Was it just because it was a monster that I felt justified?

"Marie, are you alright?" Vestin calls from her spot against the cave wall.

"Yeah," I say, looking down at my shirt. It's probably ruined unless I can get my hands on some peroxide, and even then... It'll probably leave a stain. "Aahhh... What a pain."

"Huh?"

"Oh, nothing. I think I have a decent idea of how I'm going to fight..." I murmur to Vestin, and while I'm talking, her face pales even further than before. She brings a shaky hand up to point, and using enough common sense from her expression... "... There's a boss beast behind me, isn't there?"

I sigh.

I turn, and get my first taste of pain in this world. A massively oversized club bludgeons my midsection, sending me flying back. I manage to keep my footing, but pain is echoing through my body. If I had anything on my stomach, it would have come back up, but since getting this revived body I haven't had a bite to eat. I skid backward Akira-style, gripping my blade like my life depended on it, because it did. I feel the threads of aether of my foe before me, before I've even gotten a good look at his face. I look up and gaze through my fear and pain to find a massive hobgoblin, who was presumably the 'owner' of that wolf I'd killed. It’s head grazes against the ceiling of the cave, outsizing me by at least 4 feet. White eyes bare down on me, and jagged teeth are yellow and gross from years of ferality. It’s clothed in ragged animal skin, preventing me from seeing its dingdong. I appreciate the decency at least. That noted, I have one thing on my mind.

I kinda asked for too much here.