"Where are we going?" Sonder asked Vell.

"Curious all of a sudden, why is that?" He asked her instead.

It was strange. Since she received part of the elf's soul Sonder thought everything was slightly more interesting than before.

And she was more curious than before.

Of course, Vell knew why she was, he just asked to ask, not to get an answer.

"We're going where the Irath are, specifically their magical college. From what I gathered, and what we heard from the Garrions, the ones that bought the people from your village are most likely the Maren Irath; the mages; the highborn."

"Who are the Irath?" Sonder asked as she couldn't recall if she had ever heard about them.

"They're rather... unpleasant characters. Steril and meticulous people with just a tinge of a superiority complex."

"Are they human?"

"Yes and no. They were in the past but that was long ago. They would resemble something between humans and elves if all joy was sucked out. Irath means flat, and that really describes what they are. They're also sometimes called Fixe, but that's an old term nowadays."

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"What are we going to do when we arrive there?"

"We'll step up to their gates, stand our ground, and demand that they give you back your people."

An unwell feeling washed over Sonder.

Vell could feel it as well and changed the subject.

"Would you like to try magic again? As you have changed maybe the results will also change since last time."

"Okay," Sonder said timidly.

From his bag, Vell pulled a small dice. Each side was marked with a rune.

He put it before her, "This dice is infused with magic and responded very well to even the slightest bit of energy applied to it, so that way we could see if you have any mana in you in your current state. Say 'Jol', it means pull, and then, you know, pull it towards your hand, or just you in general."

Sonder stretched out a hand and breathed in and out multiple times. For some reason, she really didn't want to disappoint Vell, even if she were to be completely unable to cast any magic.

Then slowly the word came out of her mouth, "Jol."

But nothing happened.

Sonder sighed.

"Don't worry. No one succeeds at first," Vell said to cheer her up.

But this wasn't her first time. She couldn't cast magic the first time he had asked her to.

"Jol," she said again, and again nothing happened.

She was desperate.

"Jol, Jol, Jol! Jo-" she said and then the dice flew up toward her.

As she had her mouth open to cast the magic word again and again, it flew into her mouth, and in the spur of the moment, Sonder didn't know what to do and accidentally swallowed the cube whole.

There was a short silence and the two of the looked at each other.

Breaking the silence, Vell lifted his thumbs, "Great success."