Aqua was impressed, the woman she just probed was already up and scheming against her and Azure, if she wasn't the enemy of her people she would even applaud her, and yet.
'You are filth like all of the others that would harm my people!' she shouted inside her mind while keeping her composure as calm as possible.
She left Azure to guard the woman as she seemed to be more valuable than the rest of the trash, as she got closer to them she invoked [Temporal Barrier].
A bronze shimmer surrounded her for mere moments but the barrier was indeed there, and it would act as most perfect armor, not letting anything past it.
'[Temporal Barrier] stops time just above the user's skin, making any attack strike at something that can never move and could never pierce, I'm quite proud of this spell if I say so myself' Aqua smiled as she approached the mob of humans in front of her.
But instead of their fear growing they seemed to steel themselves, intently following her movement.
It caused a moment of confusion before she glanced back at the woman whose name was known to her as Golden Petal Laura.
'She tried to hide some kind of Aether Circuit under her body? She must have used it to inform her comrades of some kind of a plan' Aqua chuckled as she thought about it.
'What could she possibly think of to get out of my grasp' Aqua crossed her arms as she calmly approached the enemy mob.
In a moment, an enchanted arrow struck right into her head, trying to pierce her family ruby.
'What? Was this their plan?' Aqua was confused, about what could these people possibly accomplish by targeting a gemstone instead of vital organs.
Arrow after arrow slid past her Barrier, as the barrage stopped 4 people charged at her with blades held high ready to slash and hammers to crush her.
As enemies kept attacking Aqua noticed Azure readying herself for battle before charging in front of her, cutting off the heads of many of them.
"I am fine, Azure you should keep watch over the trickster over there" Aqua pointed back at the lying woman as she nonchalantly punched one of the melee attackers sending him into a nearby tent.
"But, you just stood there taking attacks, I thought you needed support" Azure responded with a worried tone as she slashed another enemy.
"These guys are small fries, you need to make sure our backs are covered, that one is more dangerous than them" Aqua pointed towards Laura.
Azure groaned before answering "Fine! I will do it but don't blame me if you get hurt!"
Azure stopped for a moment while looking over the terrified enemy and then over her companion before softly asking her "If possible could you please not kill them unless necessary, they need to stand trial before our King and they seem to have lost most of their will already!"
Aqua really enjoyed seeing her companion worry about her, even if it was only because she needed her help to rescue her princess friend, and what intrigued her more than that was that despite her rank she seemed so naive, like her in her youth before Supreme Deity destroyed everything.
"I promise this will be over quickly and we can rush to your friend" She smiled as she slowly uncrossed her arms, her presence almost setting the surrounding air on fire.
How much she enjoyed their fear, it was delightful, she could feel their fear and Laura's fear, and none of them could hide it.
"How does it feel, to feel what your victims felt, every single one of you is a monster that deserves to burn!" She spoke with wrath adorning her youthful face.
With each of her steps, the heat rose, and the enemy lost the grips on their weapons, their Armor singing their flesh and their cloth burning.
"Maybe, some of you think you are free of sin, but you are surrounded by sinners, in my eyes all of humanity is guilty!" She was mere step away from the mob before stopping.
"Look at you, not able to fight for your own pathetic life" She chuckled before temperature suddenly dropped to normal.
"Alas, my friend over there pleaded to not unnecessarily harm you, so your punishment will wait" She pointed towards Azure before turning her attention back.
"And so, you WILL lead us to your leader, or else your entire merry band will be burned" She shouted as for everyone to hear her voice.
"I have Gathered from your dear strategist's mind that Elves aren't exactly welcomed, and since your merry band is so well known you will provide us escort to the so called City of Razul,'' She spread her arms as she announced the plan.
"As far as the border guard is concerned we were always part of your little Golden Rose" She slowly turned her back towards now stunned mob before walking to Laura.
"You don't really have a choice, I have gotten everything I need to know from you anyway" She grasped Laura's arm before pulling her up.
'She still has her wits, even while exposed to my aura, her mental fortitude is on another level compared to others' Aqua was impressed, not many could withstand her aura even at this output level.
She turned to her companion to see her as shocked as others 'Ah, I never showed her my power did I'
Aqua wanted to slap herself for not explaining what she planned to do but alas it was too late, she turned her head to Azure.
"See, I didn't kill them" she said with a warm smile, contrasting her previous wrath.
"I guess you didn't, but what exactly is your plan, I heard entering Red Dawn as non human is almost impossible without permission of inquisitors and even then its too risky?" She asked with visible worry and unease adorning her face.
"We might not know each other for long, but please trust me, we will enter this damn kingdom and rescue your friend" she let go of Laura as she grabbed both of Azure's hands.
Laura took opportunity to clean up dirt from her clothes before asking the duo "Sorry for interrupting the moment but you have what remains Golden Rose in your clutches, what do you plan to do to us"
Before Aqua could respond, Azure took initiative and stood in front of Laura "You and your band will stand trial before our king, but if you help us reach the princess you kidnapped you might be allowed to keep your lives!"
Laura chuckled before answering "I guess we don't really have a choice, but I have to warn you even if you have seen my mind, Red Dawn is much more dangerous than you two could comprehend, especially to non humans."
"We are aware, but you forced us to take the risk" She said with anger in her voice.
Laura shook her head before pointing towards one of still standing tents.
"You can pick up some spare uniforms as disguises" Laura pointed two elven girls towards one of the tents letting them disguise themselves.
"I'm so going to lose my head over this, Fang please forgive me for this" Laura spoke to herself, after all trying to illegally sneak non humans into Red Dawn would make death best possible outcome, not only to her but entire Golden Rose.
Most of her men recovered from the intense heat, with most of them having statements and questions ranging from "Not even a blessed child should be that scary!" to more brave "What the fuck was that!?" Same question she asked herself many times, she deflected the question to best of her abilities while sending everyone to pack up and get ready to move to Razul.
'We couldn't destroy the catalyst, which means it is too high grade for our weapons' she shook her head, it was no use thinking about it now, she was about to put Golden Rose on the line.
'Perhaps she would get opportunity to get vengeance for death of her Golden Rose' she sighted as she gazed into the ruined tents.
'But for now I need to play along if I want to have even slight chance of salvaging your Life's work, Fang' She sighted heavily as she slumped down on nearby stump.
It was mere minutes before two women exited the tent, their elven features humanized, and wearing Golden Rose Uniforms.
'Even I would need a double take if I saw them' She looked over both women, their appearance pretty similar but their ears shortened, and hair colours changed to pitch black.
'They look like sisters' Laura was impressed, she couldn't even sense the illusion but she knew they had to be two elven girls.
"We should get going, faster we get to your princess the better chances for her to still be herself" Laura warned two women.
"I saw your memories, Slaves brainwashed to only become tools" Anger building up in Aqua's face as she spoke of this.
Aqua knew they needed to be careful, but she wasn't worried about herself, she was worried about the capability of the kingdom.
'I should always assume unknown is more powerful than me, isn't that right dear master' she thought to herself as she remembered her deceased teacher and friend.
"Lets get going before we give the disciples of mind time to brainwash your princess, the process usually takes whole week, but I guess you do not wish to take chances" Laura spoke with what appeared real concern
Azure gripped her sword tightly as she heard this, but she knew only thing she can do is to trust Aqua on this.
***
The tent Aqua and Azure were sent to was nothing impressive, just black and white cloth put over a metallic skeleton with the bare minimum amenities needed to support someone living there.
By all margins it was nothing but a normal tent, meant to be easily disassembled and carried, Aqua slowly opened the flap which served as the entrance letting Azure enter first before following shortly after.
Inside was surprisingly clean and spacious, with the top of the roof open leaving space for smoke from the central fire to safely exit the tent.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
2 bedrolls were situated on two opposite sides of the tent with sacks full of clothes already packed and ready to go sitting against the tent's metallic support.
"Feel free to have your pick and change Azure, I won't peek I promise" Aqua teased as she looked over Azure's flushed face.
Azure shuffled for a moment before answering "Lady Aqua, we are both girls, and you already saw me naked!" her cheeks flushed red as she turned her head to hide her embarrassment.
'ADORABLE, I will need to fix her Divine corruption and she will be perfect!' Aqua smiled as she looked at Azure, to her it was like watching a mirror image of her old self.
From her naive demeanor despite her position to the will of the divine implanted in her, it was truly a mirror, although on a lesser scale.
"Well I will need to see you if I am to apply illusion on you and not botch it, so please undress and stand in front of me, you weren't this shy when you teased me back when we first met!" She smirked as she saw Azure shuffling about before nodding.
Azure averted her gaze as she slowly removed her oversized Armor, dropping it aside before removing her makeshift clothes revealing her slender physique not fit for a fighter relying on strength "Please be quick, being without Armor makes me feel vulnerable"
Aqua smiled as she gazed over her, she could get a proper view of her companion, while she looked amazing in Aqua's eyes, it would be true for all elves.
Until now she never had a chance to take a good look at Azure, like she had blue eyes even though they were paler blue even if her right eye was taken by the green glow courtesy of divine, her hair long and so blonde that it bordered white was now stained by her transformation turning it completely white.
What caught Aqua's eye was that the Divine influence spread even more, the green patches of Argusian skin covering slightly more of her elven skin.
'So the influence didn't just grant her a boon, that figures, but what is even more concerning is that it seems to spread even faster than before' Aqua thought about burning away the influence, but making enemies in an unknown world more than she already has would be a disaster.
'I will allow it for now, once I learn which divine parasite granted her this I will make plans, I'll make that parasite regret showing itself!' She chuckled in her mind as she thought about eradicating yet another divinity that threatened her people.
And yet she couldn't act without information, while unlikely, for all she knew the parasite that granted her this blessing would be even more powerful than the supreme deity of her world.
"Lady Aqua please don't stare that much!" Azure was flushed completely red as Aqua was in her thoughts.
"Oh sorry Azure, I was just admiring your look" Aqua responded as bluntly as she could, after all, it wasn't a complete lie.
Azure took a small step back before answering "So you can even cast illusions, I'm impressed Lady Aqua"
Aqua gently placed her hands on Azure's head her hands glowed eerie purple and blue light as Azure's form shifted and changed.
It was a simple spell for a caster of Aqua's skill and power, after all, it was just a means to disguise two girls and trick the senses of others.
It was unfortunate but Aqua wasn't the best at illusion, her proficiency was by her own admission in pure destructive power, but that did not mean she didn't have various other tools at her disposal.
After all what kind of caster would only specialize in one area and neglect everything else, a true master would need to have a deep understanding of the defensive and utility usage of their power.
'If I lacked even one of my defensive spells I would have been killed by the supreme deity so many times' She sighed as she reminisced about the battle of her life and world.
Resurrection, Time manipulation, Space manipulation, all of these were necessary to face someone as powerful as the creator of the entire world.
While Aqua's mastery of Time was not at the highest possible level she could still influence the flow of time to a limited degree.
But for this scenario, she had to use one of her weakest areas, which is illusion.
Aqua let go of Azure looking over her new form, Her hair color turning pitch black, her eyes turning brown the green patches of skin disappearing under the veil of illusion, and her beautiful elven ears turning into human ears.
"Spin around for me Azure" Aqua took a step back letting her make sure that illusion was perfect.
Azure nodded before spinning slowly.
"Good, this should fool almost everyone we come across" She smiled as she confirmed a successful spell on Azure.
Azure picked up a clean uniform from the sack before slowly sliding it over herself while comparing it to the sensation of wearing Armor, for her this was something to wear only on official visits and celebrations and yet she knew that she couldn't complain.
'Greatest feat I'm able to do is a full-body illusion, and by the usage of [Beyond the Veil] which would combine Space manipulation, illusion, and elemental power hide from sight from even the creator of the world for a while' She chuckled as she undressed, her clothes and ruby placed in pocket dimension only Aqua herself could reach.
Aqua didn't even register Azure's surprised expression as she continued her thought 'Master Umbra even while only being human had such mastery of illusion that she could construct fake worlds, indistinguishable from reality' Aqua remembered how hopeless she was when she started training.
'Your senses would be useless after all only reason I was able to be unnoticed so long by Supreme Deity was because of her illusion covering the entire country where I resided, and unlike mine, her illusion was permanent and nigh unbreakable' She smiled as she thought of her master's power before her face gained a sad look. 'But in the end humans, no matter how powerful can live forever'.
She picked up the uniform from one of the sacks which contained most spare clothes and uniforms before placing it on the nearby bedroll, letting herself take in Azure's reactions while her companion was trying to avert her gaze.
Aqua chuckled as her own form changed under purple and blue haze, her form changed to a similar form to Azure's but she took a form closer to Umbra, her former master, her hair slightly shorter than Azure's, and instead of brown eyes, they turned green.
'These forms are close to Umbra's' She smiled as she checked herself before asking "Hey Azure, could you check if everything looks good?"
She did a spin, letting Azure look her over for a while 'She looks so embarrassed' Aqua let out a slight chuckle as she gazed at her companion's blushed face.
Azure closed her eyes as Aqua turned around and slowly put on her Golden Rose Uniform.
"Lady Aqua, I have some questions if you don't mind," Azure asked while averting her gaze.
Aqua raised her brow before answering "Go ahead, you deserve to know if we are to travel together on this rescue mission"
Azure took a moment to think before crossing her arms and asking "What kind of magic do you use?"
Aqua understood where this question was coming from but she couldn't understand what exactly Azure was asking "What do you mean?"
"When your form shimmered earlier and now when you threw your clothes into some kind of portal, it didn't look like you used any of the known casting methods" Azure replied.
She took a moment to pick her words before continuing "And not only that, your mastery of both physical prowess from what I experienced and combined with magical mastery is abnormal"
Aqua was taken aback by the statement for a moment "Abnormal? What do you mean?"
Azure took a moment to explain the 4 known casting methods, surprise visible on her face as the mage before her didn't understand.
Aqua scratched her chin as she thought for a moment before bluntly answering "No, These methods are inefficient and primitive, no self-respecting caster should use them"
Azure was taken aback by the answer, after her entire life she was taught that only 4 ways of magic casting were possible.
"Then lady Aqua, how do you use your power, It is known that only these 4 methods are possible when it comes to magic casting, and yet your spells are instantaneous without either catalyst, body movement, chants, or prayer" Azure's new face was completely washed in shock and disbelief, she wasn't that knowledgeable about magic but she knew enough to see the absurdity in Aqua's words.
'Hmm, seems this world's understanding of Aether Energy is limited' Aqua thought for a moment before answering "Do you know about the connection of Aether Energy and Mana?"
Azure's face betrayed confusion before asking "I know about mana, but what do you mean by Aether Energy lady Aqua?"
Aqua leaned back, taking a moment to think before casually replying while crossing her arms "To explain the Aether Energy is quite difficult, but it is a building block of mana, you can think of it as a raw ore which you can refine into mana ingots"
As she noticed a puzzled look on Azure's face she reached into a space pocket and retrieved parchment and mystic pen.
"Azure, look closely as I draw, The methods you mentioned are well known to me, but they all have one thing In common" She slowly drew 4 stick figures describing casting methods.
Aqua glanced for a moment, seeing Azure was attentive she smiled as she continued.
"Can you tell me what they have in common, Azure?" She put down the parchment before her.
Azure took a long look over 4 stick figures, first showing a figure standing in a pose with multiple lines around it while channeling a spell, second showing a figure holding a staff, third showing a figure standing over a rune circle, and last showing the figure in prayer.
"Uhh, they all have external components, but I don't understand why that matters" Azure answered with a puzzled look.
Aqua giggled for a moment before answering "Partially correct, these methods use World's Mana, not the user's"
Aqua made a small pause letting Azure process the information before continuing.
Azure nodded her head.
"If casters use the world's mana how come they can suffer from mana exhaustion"
Aqua scratched her head for a moment before continuing "Because World's mana burdens the soul, there is no such thing as mana exhaustion..."
Azure didn't let Aqua finish before interjecting "How is that possible, I have personally witnessed casters fall unconscious because of them running out of mana"
"To understand that, you must know more about the soul" Aqua replied casually, before drawing a more complex figure, with lines contained inside and very closely to the figure.
"The soul is basically a super-powered generator, from where all beings get their power including divinity" She continued her explanation while generating soft glowing orbs from her right hand.
Azure gazed at Aqua with a confused look.
Aqua sighted for a moment before continuing.
"See, the Aether Energy isn't mana by itself, one needs to convert it by herself into whatever is needed" Aqua explained before crushing the glowing orb in her hand.
"You aren't a caster, so you might not understand. But what you need to remember is that the 4 methods you describe, steal that same energy from the World's Soul"
Azure shook her head for a moment "But Lady Aqua, that doesn't explain why mages suffer from mana exhaustion"
"Mana you are used to is a mere residue of World Soul's natural generation, and it's not your own!" Aqua explained bluntly
"What casters do is that they absorb that residue or already created product, and only after that would they shape it with exception of prayer"
"But think of it like a full mug that is constantly getting filled by a faucet above it" Aqua smiled as she looked at Azure, her face finally showing understanding.
Azure raised her hand before speaking "So you want to tell me, that all our teaching is wrong?"
"Only partially, you still use mana same as me, but your casters lack knowledge of the soul so they aren't able to utilize pure Aether energy which is a crucial first step! Leaving them to only be able to use World Soul Mana"
Aqua took a moment to get her breath before asking "What do you think would happen when you add more liquid into an already full mug?"
Azure gazed back with a confused look once again before stating "It would spill"
Aqua gave a small applause before continuing "Indeed, it is similar to the thing that happens to the soul!"
"Your soul generates a near infinite amount of Aether Energy, and instead of using that ocean of power, your casters do what?" Aqua asked Azure with a small smirk visible on her face
"They... add even more power" Azure answered.
"Indeed, you as a warrior might not notice it as you never had to add that much power but depending on the caster some can't even take in a small amount of World's Mana before their soul gets overwhelmed... the condition you fittingly call Mana Exhaustion"
Aqua crossed her arms as she explained the cause of mana exhaustion.
"But do not get me wrong, not many people can utilize Aether Energy to its full potential, but ALL living things can utilize it to some level and convert it into mana to such quantity that stealing World's Mana can't compare." Aqua slowly opened the same black portal before putting in the parchment and the pen back.
"And an additional advantage is that it does not require movement, prayer, or catalyst or a rune" Aqua smiled warmly as her new friend understood her.
"The only different method is prayer, prayer borrows the mana from the divine instead of the World, but problems are the same as the already filled mug gets overfilled"
Azure was left speechless, with her mouth agape for a moment before asking "How do YOU have this knowledge lady Aqua, if using Aether Energy to convert to mana is that much more powerful, someone in the royal court would know about it?"
Aqua shook her head "That, I do not know, Azure.''
''But I will explain more once we rescue your friend" Aqua smiled as she approached Azure and gave her a hand.
Azure smiled as she grabbed Aqua's hand "I will hold you to that lady Aqua, Sheira will most certainly have questions for you too."
Aqua casually replied, "I'm sure she will, let's go I think our escort is almost ready."
Two girls nodded to each other before turning to the exit and leaving the tent while wearing uniforms of their enemy and different faces.