Sarah opened her eyes, her mind in turmoil.

Strangely she was in a different place.

She was still in a cozy cave, only much smaller than the previous and little furniture decorated the area.

Two chairs, a table, a shelf with few books, and a bed.

Stalagmites decorated the ceiling and only a few candles were lit in the far corner away from anything flammable.

Sarah furrowed her forehead and tried to piece together why she was in a different place, the other two were grander and were built to show off.

This place reminded her eerily of her group's own little cave, though it was obviously a different structure.

'Where's Adara.' Sarah's eyes scanned the area.

"Here, little Sarah." Adara's voice was barely a whisper.

It shook her from her thoughts and she followed the voice, it had come from far behind.

Sarah turned and was surprised.

Standing there was Adara, but strangely she wasn't naked.

She wore a red maxi dress, the dress held a slit showcasing the legs, which were covered a little past the knees by a tight-high black boots.

A leather-belt held the lower part of the dress at bay and the upper part favored a corset.

Most of her hair naturally curled down her sides, but the a ponytail held the back up, a half up half down style.

The sight left Sarah blinking and off balance, strangely the Adara's aura was not affecting her.

She stood there watching Adara for a few seconds blankly.

"Let's sit. Please." Adara sighed and looked at the ground.

She walked past Sarah to sit on a chair by the table.

The atmosphere felt strained, Sarah briefly wondered if Adara could read her mind and if she knew she had hard questions.

"Where is this?" Sarah looked at the room again, trying to figure out what significance it held to Adara.

".......It is a place I spent a brief period of my youth in. For a long time, it.......it was the one place I truly remember feeling safe....and loved." Adara stared at the bed longingly, a sad smile on her face.

'That was certainly different from what I expected.' Sarah blinked and coughed politely.

Adara remained silent and Sarah racked her mind for a way to ask her questions politely.

Adara let her work through it in silence, stiff as a statue.

Breathing in Sarah tried to organize her thoughts as best she could.

"Can you contact me anytime you want?" Sarah's voice trembled and she felt a surge of anticipation race through her.

".......Not in the way you think." Adara sighed and briefly looked at her before looking away again.

"....Then....then this whole time? You could have contacted me at any time?" Sarah kept her voice calm, but her palms felt sweaty and she felt unsure of how to feel.

"No. Listen, please." Adara turned and looked at her with sad eyes.

Adara took a deep breathe and began.

"I could only contact you after you chose the domain of fire spirit. I didn't do so because you are in constant danger, contacting you at the wrong time could have been perilous little Sarah. I can't see the future. What if I did so mid-fight?" Adara breathed out and looked at her sadly.

Sarah felt some tension in her body dissipate, that was a lot better than what she expected.

"So why didn't you tell me sooner?" Sarah looked directly at her face.

"You needed to focus on spirit. If you assumed you could only contact me through spiritual infusions, then the temptation to select something else would have lessened. I knew you wanted your eyes to be better." Adara bit her lip.

"So you kept that information from me? To ensure I couldn't make my own unbiased decision?" Sarah frowned.

"Yes." Adara nodded, then her face went flat.

Seconds passed by and both remained silent.

"Wh..Do you..." Sarah sighed, unable to articulate another question she knew would be pointless.

".....In the beginning I knew you held little trust in me." Adara was playing with her hands.

Sarah took a moment to sort through all her emotions.

She then thought of everything Adara had taught her.

Was letting her assume something on her own really such a bad thing?

She didn't even ask.

"Now you have reached nine in spirit, one more and you will be as strong in magic as you could possibly be for a long time. You have also hit your second bottle neck, so getting to that will also take a little more work." Adara brushed aside a strand of hair from her face.

Sarah thought that over as well, then she asked a question she had contemplated a while before.

"Adara, can you read minds? You seemed prepared for my question." Sarah gulped, that was a little direct, but she had to know.

Adara sighed then rubbed her eyes and muttered something under her breath.

"......Would you even believe me if I said no?" Adara half-smiled sadly.

"....That depends on how sincere you seem." Sarah's gut clenched.

"Reading minds falls under a power I do possess. I don't know if you'll believe me, but I haven't read yours. I believe it is invasive. You would also have felt it." Adara nodded, Sarah felt strangely detached to the idea and blinked.

"Then....How?" Sarah's face scrunched up.

"I have told you I have information from an oracle." Adara stared at her eyes and caressed her jaw.

"And I suppose you won't tell me anything can you." Sarah sighed and stared at the table.

"I know many things that I can't reveal, I'm sorry." Adara flexed her jaw a little and frowned.

"Can you at least tell me why? What stops you from telling me?" Sarah looked back at Adara's dragonic eyes.

"......No." Adara closed her eyes and Sarah sighed.

'I can't know if she's not lying, this means she might know how I was brought here and might even be friendly with that person.' Sarah closed her eyes and took a deep breathe.

"Am I... Is there a reason you treat me how you do? What.....Your aura isn't affecting me now. You could have turned it off?" Sarah brows furrowed.

"Yes. Also I never denied it, if you recall. I simply said it was a central part of my being." A hint of a smile decorated Adara's complexion.

"That... This whole TIME?" Sarah's jaw dropped and her eyes were saucer wide.

"Yes. This whole time." A smug smile decorated Adara's lovely face.

'She's....she's playing with me.....She's trying to distract me... that has to be it.' Sarah felt a surge of suppressed shame and anger rise up, she managed to fight it down.

"You didn't answer the first question. Why were you making me feel that way?" Sarah had her eyes narrowed as she silently fumed.

"Didn't I little flame?" Adara watched her with those lovely eyes.

"No-you-did-not." Sarah chewed off the words.

"I said yes to your question. Then I said I never denied having control over my aura." Adara smile faded slightly.

"Will you tell me the answer?" Sarah breathed out, chewed her lip nervously and fidgeted.

Adara stared at her for some time as if contemplating, she watched the nails on her right hand, then she sighed.

"Does my attention make you uncomfortable?" Adara once more watched her eyes, her face blank.

".....A bit." Sarah kept her eyes focused on her, but felt her palms sweaty.

"Then the issue is irrelevant, for now at least." Adara looked away from Sarah, her tone held a touch of finality.

Awkward silence ensued, minutes passed, Sarah played with her hair.

She felt like the mouse trapped with the cat.

"Magic diversity will benefit you greatly little Sarah. Are you safe to learn?" Adara broke the silence and leaned on the table lazily.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Sarah stared at her blankly for a moment, before nodding.

"Good. Listen carefully." Adara straightened, rubbed her hands and watched Sarah intently.

Adara stretched slightly then began.

"The basics of diversifying is to take your own elemental energy and to use a technique which transforms the energy to another form. There are many diverse techniques, but I'll teach you the one I use. I will first tell you of a few dangers. With me so far little spark?" Adara calmly explained.

"Yes. I understand." Sarah nodded to keep her going.

"Good. Listen now. Always ensure the energy you convert does not flow back into you. It will not react well to your spirit, potentially injuring you in a backlash. If you did not use all the converted energy in a spell, disperse it in a channel or store it in an external well." Adara's eye's narrowed, while she slightly leaned forward for emphasis.

"Okay, but where do I keep it meanwhile if not inside my well?" Sarah's head tilted.

"There are mental techniques for keeping the energy separate. I will teach you one of those as well. Now another warning." Adara looked at her eyes with intensity.

After a short pause she continued.

"DO NOT experiment with combining elements yet. This is just the basics to convert and use another SINGULAR element. Combinations require high focus, your mind is weak still to do it safely. A mistake could easily blow up in your face and kill you. Understood?" Adara stared at her intently.

"Yes." Sarah nodded hoping she would believe her, she had no interest in dying.

"Good. Now the most common form of energy separation is splitting of a portion and picturing the energy flowing into a predesignated shape. I will walk you through many steps, slowly building up. For now try to take the usual amount of energy you typically use for the largest fire-ball you can make and separate it." Adara instructed her with hand demonstrations.

Sarah stood and closed her eyes took the small amount of energy.

She felt it leave her well and concentrate in her palm, it left and she knew fire-ball had formed.

"Don't let the spell form. Try again, keep it separate from your well, but still unused yet." Adara's voice was calm.

Sara dispersed the fire-ball and tried again.

This time she prevented it from forming, mentally she pictured her spirit-well as a bonfire, the energy was a small fire-ball detached from the main flame.

"Good. Now keep it separate from your well, move it about your body. Don't let it exit, where you feel the energy flowing are the channels of your body. It is good to be familiar with these." Adara nodded.

It was a little difficult imagining it flowing through her body and yet still hold the image.

Several times it escaped and fire would stream out from various parts of her body.

After asking, Adara confirmed the energy is what matters, so as long as it didn't leave her channels the energy would not take shape.

It was important to keep the energy controlled or the energy could leak out through the nearest exit.

Usually casting a fire-ball or a lightning bolt was easy since her spirit naturally manipulates the energy to form it.

Adara described the difference in spells as a human walking and the the other as swimming.

Some spells form naturally, while complex spells must be learned.

Apparently all other-elemental spells must be learned or the energy will spill out as a channel.

"Do nothing with that energy yet, practice sending the energy back into your well and the separating it for some time. Imagery is important." Adara.

She practiced it for some time.

"A typical controlled spell forms by feeding the energy to the intended-shape. Practice by imagining a sword you could hold on one hand, pour your energy into it to form." Adara.

Sarah pictured the short sword she always kept with her.

She stared at her hand and imagined it's shape, then she poured energy into the image.

A fiery sword formed in her hand, it was weightless and quickly dispersed in the air.

"Good attempt. You can hold the spell by feeding it a trickle of energy, same as with a fire-ball. Fire won't keep it's shape like earth or ice, hard impacts will distort it, but it will re-form shortly. This particular spell will cause little impact upon an enemy, it is usually combined with a bound weapon to give it a burning effect. Far more precise than an open channel and far cheaper." Adara smiled and nodded at her encouragingly.

"But I don't have a bound sword nor a weapon." Sarah tilted her head.

"It is merely for practice, it was easy to image that one." Adara shrugged.

"Are there any other forms of spells I can create?" Sarah sat down upon the chair again.

"Certainly. The lightning version would be more useful for now though." Adara nodded with a smile.

"How so?" Sarah's brows furrowed.

"Simple, you can channel it unto a weapon, so long as the lightning touches the metal the shock would flow into an enemy it hits. Effective at stunning and paralyzing for very little expenditure. It's perfect for conserving energy." Adara smiled.

Sarah breathed in, that would be extremely useful for a single when she was low on energy.

"How much energy would it consume?" Sarah held her breathe.

"Hmmm....I myself haven't used it in combat. Humans like to use it this way though. I've heard it costs less than a even a bolt, as it is a constant low flow, not an entire expenditure. Perhaps you can even maintain it indefinitely, while your spirit is high of course. Either way you are a mage, this is a fall back spell." Adara shrugged.

"Oh.....Well I suppose that makes sense." Sarah rubbed her neck.

"Yes. Let us continue. I have much to teach yet. I think we can soon begin with the energy conversion technique. We will start with converting to life energy, it is the least harmful if it goes awry. For now pay me close attention. Ready?" Adara nodded.

"Yes." Sarah gave a quick nod.

"Good first you must have basic understanding of the element of life. You have a friend who possesses this energy what have you seen it do?" Adara tilted her head at her.

"Apart from heal us? Very little." Sarah.

"The life element focuses on restoration and regrowth. It is the energy that animates the living and keeps us alive. It's application heals muscle fatigue, injuries, restores lost limbs, staves off death, it can even restore youth to some degree. Mortal healers naturally live a much longer time than other mages. Curing diseases and even poison also fall under. A master can even bring back the dead if the soul has not yet departed. Anything that is alive can be influenced by its touch." Adara nodded.

Adara spent some time explaining more about the life energy in detail.

Warrior healers did exist apparently and were know for shrugging off almost anything that didn't instantly kill them.

Once Adara was satisfied with her basic understanding, she told Sarah to close her eyes.

Sarah closed her eyes.

"Good. Before we begin I will tell you, this is hard at first. You will likely fail many many times. The process could result in pain, if the energy flows towards your spirit-well. It is why it is best to keep it near your palm and at a low quantities, while learning. Now picture very little energy flowing out of your well, and keep it separate similar to how you had it before. Again, remember to keep the energy near the palm of your hand, and ensure it is very little. Nod once you are ready." Adara.

Sarah breathed in surprised at the warning, but followed the instructions then nodded.

"Do you know what an hour glass is?" Adara questioned.

"Yes." Sarah nodded with her eyes closed.

"Perfect. First imagine a similar contraption to an hour glass. The only difference is it should have multiple necks at the middle, at least three, five would be better, but I doubt you could do it. Each neck is a filter for life energy, place a single image you associate with life within each. Perhaps a leaf or a tree. Try imagining it. Take your time." Adara's voice paused.

Several moments passed as she tried to picture the hourglass.

Adara asked her if she was ready and she shook her head sideways.

Once she was ready she nodded.

"Good. Now focus solely on the small amount of energy near your palm. Once focused you can ignore where it is, it will remain still. Place it at the forefront of your mind. Imagine the energy on the top portion of the hour glass. Each neck will act as a life filter. Slowly send the energy down the filters, one drop at a time for now, don't rush." Adara spoke with care, slowly.

Sarah sent the energy down her mental image of an hour glass with three necks.

She watched carefully as the energy atop moved, the energy itself blazed and moved like fire at the very top.

Slowly she saw a droplet pass through the first neck.

It surged.

"AH!" Sarah jumped her energy blazed out from her palm as fire in a stream.

Silently she stared at her hand, her eyes had opened widely at the feeling.

"A queer feeling, is it not?" Adara smiled.

"What was that?" Sarah frowned.

"The energy has a different feel, you've never moved this type before so it's no wonder it feels off." Adara smiled.

"You could have warned me." Sarah narrowed her eyes at her.

"It is best to experience it yourself. It is difficult to prepare for it. Keep trying. It will take a very very long time to convert even a little at first." Adara shrugged, but her mischievous smile told Sarah another story.

Sarah tried again, slowly she envisioned the whole thing again.

The second try gave her the same result, she easily lost control of the energy.

Frowning she kept trying a third time, then a fourth, then a fifth.

"This is impossible!" Sarah grit her teeth in frustration.

"Practice makes perfect. Patience is key here little Sarah. With time you will be able to do it on the go." Adara smiled at her patiently.

Sighing Sarah stared at her hand.

The energy felt unnatural and it's feel was difficult to describe, perhaps nauseating or uncomfortable was the word.

She tried again and again and again.

Finally she managed to pass a drop of energy though the first neck without losing control.

She breathed in and tried to move the droplet to the second, the rest of the energy atop squirmed and she lost focus.

Apart from that moving the droplet felt like running on one leg, extremely unnatural and difficult.

Inwardly she sighed frustrated to no end, this would take a really really long time to master.