[https://i.imgur.com/VGCFMQy.png]
Nia waited until she was in her tent to take the memory crystal out. She'd told Reffy about it, but other than him, she intended to keep it a secret. If what Puss had said was true and those seeking to use Refenial were overlooking her and believed her to be weak because she both lacked the title of systemic magic and lacked the talent of her grandfather at enchanting, then perhaps, for now, it would be best to hide the crystal and continue to seem weak. At least until the day she could fight them on her own terms.
The tent was dark, the only light that of the campfire coming through the canvas, but it was still enough to make out the rough shape of the crystal.
She closed her eyes and opened her soul's eyes. The colours of the world changed to those only perceived by her incorporeal eyes. She watched the motes of mana drifting lazily around her tent for a few moments before focusing on the crystal.
She looked at the crystal, and for a long moment, nothing happened. She began to wonder if she'd been tricked by Puss. She caught a hint of something dancing across its surface. She looked deeper-
[https://i.imgur.com/oMrGBK6.png]
She looked down at the human as she kneeled over them, their eyes removed to stop them from being brought under her glamour.
She slapped them a few times, and she heard her lover's musical laugh at the terrified look of the human. It really was so sweet of him to buy her this human.
She looked at the selection of toys she had for just such an occasion. She picked up a stone knife and held it to the human's throat, giggling as it squirmed under her. To hold a life, even if it was just a mortal, in her hands always felt intoxicating.
She put down the knife and picked up an enchanted skewer she'd made for just such an occasion. She focused on the skewer in her hand to empower its enchantment. She filled it with a lifetime's worth of experience, memories of centuries of every pain, great or small, she'd ever experienced. The feelings and sensations of pain running through the body. The fear and hopelessness that such pain brought and the senses that came across with it right down to the taste of blood in her mouth and the sound of an agonised, terrified heart hammering in her ears.
She pressed the enchanted skewer to the human's skin listening to its screams.
Once the screams finally stopped, she pouted. Mortals really were quite amusing, but they broke too easily. Perhaps he'd buy her another if she asked nicely.
[https://i.imgur.com/oMrGBK6.png]
The ship had been becalmed for over two weeks. He'd adapted an old enchantment of his through tireless work over the past few days. They needed to move soon, this was only meant to be a short trip and food, and water were running low.
The ship rocked gently on the waves. He focused on the fan in his hand. The memory of the wind moving forwards, the sensation of breeze on the skin, the gentle whisper as it passed by the ear, the taste of wind in an open mouth. He focused it all onto the fan. He imagined it all coming from this fan moving the air around them.
He looked up and saw the sails of the ship gently begin to fill and flap as the ship slowly moved forwards. After a time, he began to feel the strain of such constant focus, but he kept going until he felt the natural wind on his face. He lay on the deck looking at the starry night sky, exhausted.
[https://i.imgur.com/oMrGBK6.png]
She looked down at the humans toiling in the fields. They'd been so tasty. She'd hungered for them, for their souls, for so long. She'd eaten and feasted.
Now though, now the hunger had faded, whittled away to nothing. Now she felt only remorse. She watched the people of this village, their lives short, sharp, and so often and easily broken, like dry twigs scattered on the forest floor.
She watched them toil in the fields, she watched them drink and laugh, and she watched them cry when one of their numbers died. They died so easily.
She gently focused in on the crude leaf carving in her hand, focusing on the sight of a fresh growing plant. The smell of fresh leaves and shoots, the tiny, almost hints of souls that each plant possessed growing.
The village would have a great harvest this year. It would have a great harvest every year. However, it would never know why. She could never walk among them, laugh and cry with them, for they would know her, and they would remember her hunger if she tried.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
[https://i.imgur.com/oMrGBK6.png]
-Nia woke, eyes shooting open, sunlight filtering through the canvas of her tent. The light made dots dance in front of her eyes as a constant sharp pain enveloped her head.
She Grimaced and felt something on her face. She reached up, feeling the crackling of dried blood under her fingers. She'd had a nosebleed while passed out from using the crystal.
She felt tired, despite the loss of time like she hadn't been asleep all night.
She focused on the memories of the crystal, they felt a little hazy now, but she remembered them well enough that she was sure she could recreate the three items.
She considered the items, none of them seemed particularly useful directly, but this was only her first time using the crystal, and aside from that, seeing how three different people visualised their enchantments gave her a lot of ideas for how to enchant better going forwards.
She sat up, wincing as her migraine worsened.
Puss hadn't lied when he said using the crystal would be rough. She wouldn't stop, though perhaps she'd need to take a couple days worth of break between each use.
She sat there momentarily, hoping the pain would lessen, but when it didn't, she decided to get on with things anyway.
She picked up her wand and considered her current enchantment on it. Her mouth turned down in displeasure, she knew she wasn't the best enchanter, but she'd thought she was ok.
The man with the fan had been by far the weakest enchanter out of the three she'd seen. Compared to his fan, her wand was a toy, not even a well-made toy. She could see more clearly than ever how weak she was.
The wand was so bad she was tempted to snap it in two in her hands, but she resisted the urge. The wand represented years of study and hard work.
She looked at it now with both sets of her eyes. It was so bad it was almost not worth fixing, almost.
She tried to focus on the wand and fix the shoddy workmanship of it. Even with her migraine and exhaustion, her work now was a clear improvement. She had mixed feelings about that observation.
After a while, she heard the clatter of someone cooking on the campfire and came out of her tent.
Elagabalus was cooking over the fire, a large pot of porridge mixed with some blue berries she didn't recognise. He was pouring in a generous amount of honey as he stirred.
"Ahh, Nia." He said with a smile. He produced a chair for her.
She sat on the chair.
He gave her a concerned look. "If you don't mind me saying, you look a little tired today."
She shrugged uncomfortably. "Yeah, I didn't sleep too well last night."
Elagabalus gave her a sympathetic smile, "I've known many warriors and adventurers. Insomnia and night terrors are exceptionally common among them. I've seen more than one burly battle-scarred man who wakes in tears or screaming every night."
Elagabalus paused for a moment in consideration., "It is generally considered taboo to ask another warrior about this or to even mention it, but if you ever need someone to talk to about it, I'm more than happy to listen to you."
Nia shook her head, "Thanks, but I'd rather not. It's complica-" She froze, realising she was about to use Reffys go-to phrase of 'it's complicated'.
She heard Reffy laughing, his head sticking out of his tent, "it's complicated, huh?"
Nia felt her cheeks burning as she realised she had used the phrase so often chastised Reffy for using.
Elagabalus looked between them, his eyes narrowing with the realisation that he was missing out on a private joke. He looked down at the porridge, "It's nearly ready. Anyone else want a table?"
Nia and Reffy refused, happy just to have comfy seats. Conversely, Elagabalus summoned his table and sat there, the tablecloth gently waving in the wind.
[https://i.imgur.com/oMrGBK6.png]
They soon found themselves on the road again. She watched with interest as Elagabalus gave Reffy music lessons as they walked. Elagabalus gently played his lyre from time to time as he did. The sound was amazing. It seemed to fill the air with a vibrancy and life she'd never experienced from any other musician.
Mid-afternoon, Elagabalus excused himself, claiming the call of nature. Considering all the stuff he'd been carrying with him, she half wondered if he had an entire outhouse somehow magically stashed away. She hoped he'd let her use it if he did.
As they walked, Reffy spoke to her, "Are you alright? You seem tired today?"
Nia nodded. "I used the crystal. I just didn't want to say in front of Elagabalus."
"It was rough. It worked, though. I saw three different enchantments. I can still feel the memories inside my head like they're my own."
"Anything interesting?"
Nia shrugged, "I guess, I think two of them might have been from immortals."
"Yeah?" Reffy said loudly.
"None of them were directly useful, but..." She paused, an idea striking her suddenly, "Actually, I just thought of a use for one of them."
Elagabalus returned with a contented sigh. Refenial gave her a disappointed look knowing he wouldn't be able to find out her idea for how to use her new enchantments.
[https://i.imgur.com/oMrGBK6.png]
The day passed smoothly, and soon Nia found herself back in her tent for the evening.
She had her wand sat on her lap, and she looked down at it. She tended to not rely on it in combat because of its slow rate of fire and because it didn't do enough damage to reliably put anyone down. Maybe if she got a lucky shot at close range or hit someone in the eye, she could take them out with it, but it was a gamble.
She couldn't do anything about its rate of fire, but perhaps there was a way of increasing it's stopping power.
She closed her eyes, focusing on her usual visualisation of the wand. This time she changed the visualisation. She took away the kinetic energy in the enchantment, splicing in the pain enchantment instead.
The visualisation of the pain enchantment sat so perfectly in her mind that the rest of her visualisation felt hazy. It only went to further highlight the shortcomings in her own work.
She focused the modified enchantment onto the wand. To change the wand this much would take a few days at least. And during that time, the wand wouldn't work. While she was travelling with someone as powerful as Elagabalus seemed like the best time to be without the meagre defence of her wand.
[https://i.imgur.com/3vZaHAB.png]