Their routine lasted for days, but then everything changed when monkeys stole from them. It all started during one of their outings to gather supplies.

Zerine swung her scythe. The tip pierced the throat of the goblin-like monster. Blood sprayed, coating her poncho. With a gurgling yell, the monster stumbled back, clutching its torn throat. Even as it was dying, the monster attempted to cast some spell, but Zerine didn’t let it. Her second scythe pierced the monster’s skull with a squelching crunch. Killing it instantly. The body went limp and fell to the ground.

Zerine panted, looking down at the monster’s corpse. The monster was about half Zerine’s height. A greyish green body had long arms and a thin torso. Its body had strange lumps that during their fight had burst, releasing noxious smelling gas. Before her scythe had smashed it, the monster had a bald head with long pointed ears similar to that of dark elves and a fang filled mouth.

These goblin-like monsters had appeared the last few days, nearly matching the number of the evil puff balls. They never attacked alone and always move in coordinated groups. In their first encounter, Zerine found it hard to kill them due to the fact they look similar to one of the intelligent races that live in the wasteland, but after the fourth day of fighting them, their appearance hardly registered.

Zerine glanced towards Varino and Kimi’s fight. They were dealing with a near mid D-rank monster…and.

BOOM!

Lightning exploded down, blasting apart a mana barrier. The head of this group of goblin-like monsters was taller than Zerine, with a body covered in pure massive muscles. It even had used a large club to attack with. Coupled with its use of magic to increase its speed and strength, Zerine was grateful the others were handling it. She watched as the aforementioned club now flew on a blast of wind, smashing into the monster’s side, sending it tumbling into Varino and Kimi’s trap.

Glowing runes made from lightning sparked, whirling around the monster. Lightning arched through the monster’s body, coming from multiple directions at once. Zerine had to look away from the constant blinding blue flashes. When she turned towards the fruit they had been collecting before being attacked, she saw several drifting away. Tendrils made of water were pulling several of the largest fruits a few inches above the ground. Zerine would have put them in her spatial storage, but the attack had happened too suddenly for her to do so, and now she regretted that.

“Who the f-” Zerine muttered, but a blast of air buffeted her from behind, making her stumble as a final lightning strike killed off the monster. Zerine turned to see a smoldering pile of ashes where the monster had been moments ago.

Varino’s triumphant whistle announced the spirit, who flew to Zerine. Kimi swung in on a thread of spider silk, landing lightly on Zerine’s left shoulder.

“You two did great! I appreciate both of you dealing with the near mid D-rank monster, too. I would not be able to keep up with it for very long,” Zerine said, holding Varino in her arms, who chimed happily as Zerine lightly patted her head.

Kimi clicked.

“Yeah, let’s get the rest of our food and…Oh! Shoot the fruit! Some creature stole some!” Zerine said, annoyed, turning back to their fruit pile.

They saw that the pile had shrunk, but they didn’t see any more fruit drifting away.

Varino whistled and pointed into the forest.

“You can sense the residual magic!?” Zerine said, looking in the direction Varino had indicated.

Varino cheeped in affirmation.

Zerine saw something moving with grey fur that jumped quickly from tree to tree.

“Is that a monkey?” Zerine asked incredulously.

Kimi chittered, saying they didn’t know what a monkey was, while Varino trilled and whistled, pointing again.

Zerine saw even more grey shapes moving through the tree canopies.

“So, they showed up in force, but they aren’t heading towards the spiritual place, so where do you believe they are going and why steal from us?” Zerine wondered. Varino shrugged, while Kimi bobbed their version of shrugged based on what Zerine’s instincts hinted. “Well, they are probably busy dealing with monsters like everything else on the island. I think more even manifested while we were fighting.”

Zerine tilted her head and focused on the ambient magic. Did it feel like the energy was denser and a little more chaotic? She couldn’t be certain, but at least there weren’t any mass manifestations like what had happened on their second day, but there were still daily manifestations. In fact, Zerine heard a distant boom as a new fight started, probably due to another manifestation. It made Zerine wonder if monsters would only grow in number and strength.

Varino chirped, pulling Zerine out of her thoughts.

“Yeah, let’s head back,” she said, gathering the fruits.

When they had begun to hike the hill, a distant explosion made Zerine stop. A shower of water rained down upon them. Zerine’s eyes went wide. There were no clouds in the sky, and yet it rained for a few seconds. She put out a finger, then tasted the water, and a chill went down her spin. The water was slightly salty.

The explosion came from the shoreline and this rain…my gods, she thought.

Varino peeped and drifted up on a cloud, taking Kimi with her.

“Yep, let’s check it out. If this is a C-rank or above fighting, we may have to break the crystal,” Zerine said. She began climbing a tree nearby.

Varino warbled an apology as the other two drifted up faster.

“No worries. I know if it didn’t cost you so much mana, you would make a cloud for me. I will just be a minute or two,” Zerine said, giving the spirit a bright smile before starting to climb once again.

She was grateful for the gloves that she had gotten for gifts. The material’s enchantment adapted to weather conditions and gave her confidants in climbing the wet wood. She was making good progress climbing the enormous tree. Even so, a quiet whistle from above saying that she should hurry made Zerine sigh. She tried to move faster, but slipped and swore. Zerine pulled out a knife and used that to help her move faster.

When she reached the branch that Kimi, and Varino were on, Zerine froze. The view she got from the branch gave them a clear view of the ocean, but she doubted it would have mattered because the display was hard to miss. Jets of water blasted high into the sky, reaching the clouds, while waves went in every direction.

“Well, that explains why the monkeys were inland,” Zerine muttered, watching massive waving crash into the shore.

Varino chirped in agreement.

“Can either of you sense the auras or presences that are fighting?”

Varino shook her head while Kimi moved its body back and forth.

“Right, so the fight is either far away and between very powerful beings, or close with fairly powerful beings. Either way, if it gets too close, I will break the crystal,” Zerine said.

She may have said she would break the emergency crystal, but even after their eventful hunt a few days ago, where there were C-ranks, she hadn’t, so it would really have to be life and death for her to break it. Now she knew that the craziness of that encounter had broken the promise she made to her mother, but she was certain that if she passed, any broken promises would be forgiven. That being said, if she were to break the crystal later, her mother would never let Zerine hear the end of it. She would go over all the things that could have gone wrong or did.

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Hopefully, that fight stays far away. I do not want to witness an upper rank fight again, she thought, clenching the hand that had been regenerated.

Images of the assassin falling into her room flashed through her mind. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

It won’t happen again. And the upper ranks don’t even notice you. When your adventurer, pick your fights wisely. And again, an attack like that won’t happen again, she thought, repeating what her father had said after she had admitted to him, she had been having nightmares.

“Dear,” Callahan had said, sitting on the edge of her bed. “This incident won’t be the last time you will have to recover or it being a close call. Being an adventurer is tough work, and it’s the only work out there like it. These nightmares…” he sighed, then began again. “These nightmares are just that, nightmares and it will not happen again, I promise. Anyone who went through what you did would be feeling the same. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. But there is no easy fix for these nightmares, either. What has helped me through similar things has been me repeating a mantra of sorts.” He had leaned forward and put an arm around her shoulders. “When I made it through my first high rank fight, I would say, pick your fight wisely and do your best to survive.” He kissed her head. “Think of something that motivates you or is a reminder that it’s only a dream. It might help. I hate to say this though, but as you get older, you may face real nightmares, dear. The path you plan to walk is not for the faint of heart.” He had put up a hand to forestall her response. “But I know your hell bent on it. I just what you to know your mother and I only want you to find something that makes you happy and for you to walk your own unique path. Even if it’s a little crazy.”

Zerine clenched her fists and refocused on the distant fight. She wouldn’t let those memories get in her way, even if, with all the fighting, the nightmares had come back. Her eyes went wide as the fight in the ocean got closer, brushing aside the memories.

The three sat on the branch in stunned silence as a three headed hydra, the size of a large ship, fought a silver scaled serpent dragon. The waves weren’t even from spells, Zerine realized as the two giant creatures fought. Their thrashing movements created large waves and bursts of water. The fight moved a little closer, which was when auras washed over the island. The near constant fighting on the island, along with everything else, went very still. Even the rustling of the trees seemed to stop, as if everything on the island was holding its breath.

With the auras came the feeling of the creature’s magic.

Varino cheeped excitedly and closed her eyes.

“They both may have water and wind affinity, but closing your eyes will have you miss the action,” Zerine commented, wishing that she could gain insights from such a fight.

Varino waved a hand while making a hushing sound like crashing waves, causing Zerine to grin.

Kimi chittered and clicked a question.

“Your magic is based on a different concept from what Varino’s is based on. Mystics such as you have affinities, but use them differently, I believe. This fight may give Varino some insights into water or air affinity spells. For you, I don’t know if the fight will help you gain insights. Also, what are your affinities, Kimi? To be honest, it’s hard to tell.”

Zerine nodded along as Kimi explained with clicking, hisses, and gestures about their magic. In short, Kimi’s magic had their concepts woven throughout their magic in a far more unique and intricate manner than what Varino used. Even Kimi wasn’t certain about their affinities because with their concepts, the magic they produced wasn’t something easily comparable to the basic affinity types Zerine had grown up knowing. This fascinated Zerine, who made a mental note to talk to Vinyáya about her mystic magic, which was called witchcraft by many. She had given Zerine lessons in alchemy and even on some special runes witches used that touched upon mystic-based magic, but from what Kimi talked about, there was far more to it than what Vinyáya had shown Zeirne. Kimi's and Vinyáya’s magic was a completely different school of thought and connection to magic, which filled Zerine’s mind with new possibilities. Having something to research like that made her excited to get back home.

Zerine was about to ask for more information when the ambient magic shifted suddenly and her attention went back to the fight, which she had totally not forgotten about because of a new type of magic.

The two creatures had been blasting spells and physical attacks at another. It resembled more like a brawl than Zerine had expected from extremely powerful beings. It occurred to her just then that their attacks might appear simplistic, but had a feeling that it didn’t mean they were easy.

Blasts of air and water tore across the ocean, sending waves roaring outwards or parted clouds. The three headed hydra was missing a head now after the dragon and ripped it off with its jaws. Even with the grievous wound, the hydra was visibly regenerating. The serpent dragon had wounds from the battle as well. Long gashes bled freely, but Zerine knew that based on the ambient magic that the dragon was preparing a powerful breath attack. The hydra, sensing this, was already creating a mana barrier or twelve. It starred Zerine to see silvery hexagonal patterns appear as hydra manifested its mana, combing its magic with that of the ambient magic to create layers of barriers.

Zerine eagerly focused on her magical senses as the dragon’s breath attack rapidly took shape.

She had never given up on her dream to replicate the dragon breath attack, and witnessing another type of dragon breath was exactly the inspiration she needed. Zerine closed her eyes and concentrated on her magical senses more, stretching her senses to their max.

Luckily or unlucky, the fight had gotten closer, and the creatures were at least A-rank at a minimum, which meant Zerine could sense the serpent dragon’s spell building up, but it still strained her concentration. A swirling mass of ambient magic along with…something else condensed. Again, Zerine wished she had her crest so she could fill in the gaps. The energy flowed and swirled, condensing into the dragon’s open jaws. In an instant, a blast of pure mana annihilated the hydra’s barriers along with its remaining heads carving a long trench into the large creature’s body.

“And that is all it took,” Zerine muttered in awe.

The beam of power shot far past the hydra, parting the ocean, till the beam thinned before finally fading.

Varino whistled in admiration.

Kimi clicked and pointed with a foreleg. The Other two looked down and to their right.

“And there are monkeys,” Zerine said.

In the trees somewhere in between the shore and the hill, a cluster of grey and dark blue furry monkeys were watching the aftermath of the fight. As they watched, a distant monkey call reached their ears, and the monkeys moved as one, heading somewhere closer to the beach. Speaking of the beach, the battle had left its mark. Quite a few trees near the beach had fallen. Fish and other debris littered the shoreline having washed up.

“Is that a ship!?” Zerine wondered.

Varino shaded her eyes and made a slide whistle sound her vision of “oooh.”

A large broken back half of a ship had washed up on the shore. It surprised Zerine to see the mast was mostly intact, but for the sails, which were in tatters. Zerine squinted, then shaded her eyes by pulling her hood up. With that done, she saw that there was still secured cargo on the ship.

“Should we try to salvage anything?” she wondered.

Varino shook her head and whistled while pointing.

Zerine shifted her gaze and sighed. Dark green and blue scaled reptiles were starting to crawl over the wreckage.

“So, it’s in the mating reptile’s territory, huh? Well, damn. Let’s head back before we get attacked by something flying,” Zerine grumbled, already heading down the tree.

Kimi clicked and skittered down the tree. Zerine smiled, watching the dept movements of the spider as it flew down the tree.

Varino chimed, disappointed that the fight was over, but drifted down on a cloud, matching Zerine’s pass down the tree. The spirit began explaining something she wanted to practice, that she got ideas from while watching the fight. And Zerine had to admit that the spirit had gotten some interesting ideas for water and wind attacks and movements.

“You should ask that water elemental at the camp. I’m sure they will help,” Zerine replied, finding a sturdy branch and moving down to it.

Varino whistled brightly, liking that idea. She then burbled a question.

“I could only feel that last spell as for the others, not really.”

Varino sighed, then whistled.

“You do realize your insights are unique to you. Even if I had the same affinity, I wouldn’t be able to apply exactly the same thing that you are describing.”

Varino burled a question.

“I keep telling you, I don’t know what my affinity or affinities will be. Also, I don’t really understand those feelings you get with magic. I’m missing quite a lot of context and talking about how concepts feel is waaay beyond me. But I do enjoy hearing about it, so let me hear your ideas.”

For the rest of their trip back, Kimi and Varino discussed magic. Zerine just enjoyed the company and listened to the animatedly chatting pair. Along the way, they set up traps once again, especially after Kimi had said their runes and webs had detected yet more manifestations.

While Zerine was scratching several runes into a stone, she asked a question that had been bugging her.

“Have either of you notice the ambient magic feels denser?” she wondered.

Varino burbled an uncertain response, while Kimi closed their two large eyes, clearly focusing. After a minute, the spider clicked and waved its forelegs.

“Sooo, it could be, the ley lines shifting again, monster manifestations and the fighting that follows, or powerful creatures fighting having an effect,” Zerine said thoughtfully as Varino traced the scratched runes with her power before pouring more energy into the trap completely it.

Kimi bobbed an affirmative.

“Wonderful,” Zerine said dryly, already scratching a set of runes on another rock.

Literally anything could be having the effects I’m feeling. But I don’t like it and if that is my instinct then let’s hope it means just more monsters, she thought, knowing that purely based on the twist her stomach just went through at mere thought, it certainly did not mean just more monsters.

She internally sighed, wishing for answers for once, then the nudges her instincts gave as hints. Was it asking too much for it to be as straightforward as it was with conversations? Clearly, it was much to her chagrin.

After they had laid more traps and dealt with a small group of weak monsters, they made it back to the camp and settled in for the night, which lasted about four hours before Zerine was woken up by shrill shrieks.