Two months after Alza’s necromancy was sealed.

Alza sat behind the kitchen countertop, where the aroma of a sumptuous breakfast, made by Myriam, wafted through the air. Today’s meal was a plate of scrambled eggs, cooked to perfection. The eggs were a creamy delight, garnished with fragrant herbs and placed on slices of perfectly toasted, buttered bread. The sight alone was enough to make anyone’s mouth water.

Alza and Faye sat themselves on high wooden stools at the granite kitchen counter. The only sounds that graced the room were the occasional clink of cutlery against porcelain. Yet, as she ate, Alza couldn't help but notice the subtle furrow in Faye's forehead.

"Is there something wrong, Faye?" Alza asked.

Faye’s frown deepened as she continued to munch on her food, the wildborn girl seemed to want to avoid Alza’s gaze. "It’s nothing."

"Sweetie, if there’s something wrong, you have to tell me, or else I won’t know what to do."

Faye continued to munch on her food in silence. The wildborn girl shot a few sheepish looks towards Alza, but said nothing.

Shaking her head, Alza hopped off her chair and approached Faye. The wildborn girl didn’t seem unhealthy or injured, which made it all the more confusing to Alza as to why Faye was behaving so oddly.

"Sweetie, I need you to talk to me, please."

For a few moments, Alza’s plea was met with silence. But eventually, Faye finally spoke. "Alza, you’re going away again, aren’t you?"

Alza raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I’ll be headed to the adventurer’s guild as usual. You just stay here with Myriam, okay?"

Faye nodded meekly. "O…okay."

It was then when Alza noticed how the wildborn girl’s ears drooped low, and her twin tails dangled limply from her chair. In Alza’s mind, she knew that she had made a mistake, it was time to rectify that.

"On second thought, do you want to come with me, Faye?"

Faye turned around rapidly, her eyes seemed to light up in anticipation. "Can I?"

Alza let out a gentle smile. "Only if you promise to be good."

"I’ll be good! I promise!" Faye exclaimed, nodding furiously.

"Alright then, try to stick with me, okay?"

"Okay!"

***

Alza took Faye to a familiar open field, the same one owned by Elysia. It had been her place of training for the last several weeks, and now, it would welcome a new guest.

"Care to explain what the child is doing here, Alza?" Elysia asked, crossing her arms.

"She’s here to watch, that’s all." Alza said.

Faye clung to Alza's robes and hid behind them at first. Her voice trembled with shyness as she managed to muster a timid greeting, her eyes peeking out hesitantly. "He-hello!"

"See, she’s trying her best." Alza said with a chuckle.

Elysia shrugged her shoulders. "Fine, she can watch." With a flick of her wrist, the guildmaster conjured a small stone chair which burst out of the ground. "The child can sit there while we practice."

Alza nodded and gently nudged Faye forward. "You be a good girl and sit there alright? Things can get dangerous if you move around."

"Okay!" Fay exclaimed. She rushed towards the stone chair with a skip on her step. Even when she sat down, the wildborn girl did it with a sense of great enthusiasm.

"Now that that’s settled, are you ready, Alza?" Elysia asked.

Alza took several steps back and took a deep breath. "I am ready, feel free to start whenever you wish."

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In an instant, Elysia unleashed a wave of searing flames from the tip of her fingers. The torrent of flames rushed towards Alza, their intensity charring the earth beneath them. Without hesitation, Alza stomped her right foot against the ground, conjuring a tall wall of earth which intercepted the flames headed her way.

She then ducked to the side of her wall, strafing besides the flames. With every step she took, Alza conjured more and more shards of rock which hovered around her body; within seconds, the stones soon numbered in the hundreds. With a mental command, the rocks threw themselves towards Elysia at a breakneck pace.

The Guildmaster, however, was more than ready to intercept the attack. Before the shards of stone could hit her, Elysia created a sphere of water around her body, making the rocks bounce off harmlessly against her protective shell.

Elysia retaliated by extending her hand, creating a whirlwind of wind magic which spiraled out towards Alza, carrying with it a torrent of leaves and debris. Alza reacted by conjuring another earthen wall to shield herself from the fierce gust of wind.

Such back and forth had become the norm for Alza and Elysia. It had become a cadence of sorts for them, to face each other in direct combat in such a way. The Guildmaster would unleash her elemental arsenal while the First Necromancer would try to keep up solely by using earth magic.

Eventually, the battle grew to a brief lull as both Alza and Elysia grew more exhausted. Their breaths became more beleaguered by the second.

Despite this, Elysia offered Alza a smile. "The progress you made over the last few months has been unbelievable."

Alza responded with a smile of her own. "Thank you, I try my best."

"No really, in only a few months, you have managed to utilize earth magic without any chants or incantations."

"You were right, I do have a strong affinity for this type of magic."

Elysia chuckled. "I’m always right."

"If anybody else said that, I would laugh, but coming from you, I can’t help but agree." Alza said.

"I think we can take a short break for now, you should attend to the child over there as well while you’re at it." Elysia said, pointing towards Faye, who had been watching the practice session intently all this time.

Alza waved at the wildborn girl as she approached. It was heartening to see a young mind seem so invested in magic. "So, what do you think?"

Faye's ears perked up, her eyes brimming with anticipation as she looked towards Alza. "That was amazing! Can I do all of that too?"

Alza gently ruffled Faye’s hair. "Sweetie, magic isn’t something that comes naturally to all people, maybe when you’re older then- "

"Hold on." Elysia interjected as she approached. "I think the child may have the potential to use magic."

Alza cocked an eyebrow as she shot a confused glance at Elysia. "Are…you sure? Did you see something in your visions?"

"It’s just a feeling." Elysia shrugged. "I have not seen any futures involving the child yet."

"Um, Alza, what is she saying?" Faye asked, pointing towards Elysia.

"She’s saying you might be able to use magic, sweetie."

"Really?"

Alza looked at Elysia. "Yeah, really?"

The Guildmaster sighed and offered a hand towards Faye. "Touch my hand, child. If you have any potential for magic within you, I’ll help you ignite the first sparks to unlock your power."

"Um, can I really?" Faye asked with a hint of shyness, her eyes searching Alza's face for encouragement.

"Of course, Faye. This might be your big chance," Alza replied with a warm smile.

"Okay," Faye replied, her small hands trembling slightly as she placed them on Elysia's hand.

As minutes went by, Alza began to fear that her old friend might have been wrong, that Faye did not actually possess any potential for magic. The First Necromancer had always been sensitive towards magic, yet, she had never been able to detect even the slightest trace of it in Faye. Alza began thinking of ways of how to break the news to the wildborn girl, of how she would ease Faye’s inevitable disappointment at her lack of magical ability. That was, until she saw how the wildborn girl’s hands began to glow.

A bright light emanated from Faye’s hands, forcing Alza to shield her eyes with her own hands. She could barely believe what she was seeing. She had only seen the awakening of magical abilities in such a way a few times before, and all of them happened to people who would later become powerful mages or mighty heroes.

Soon, Elysia moved back and let go of Faye’s hands, a wide grin plastered on her visage. The wildborn girl examined both of her hands in awe.

"Child, how do you feel?" Elysia asked.

"I…feel weird." Faye muttered.

"How is this possible? I didn’t sense even the slightest trace of the arcane in her." Alza said, looking towards Elysia for answers.

"I also didn’t sense any latent magical prowess from the child. Truth be told, I was almost convinced that my little ritual might have actually failed."

"And yet, it didn’t."

"Like I said, I had a feeling, that is all."

"If you insist." Alza shrugged.

She then turned her attention to Faye. The young wildborn girl was fervently moving her hands in the air and stomping her feet on the ground, trying to mimic what she had seen Alza and Elysia do moments ago. Yet, nothing seemed to happen.

"Why isn’t anything coming out?" Faye asked in frustration.

Alza chuckled. "You can’t just move around your hands and expect magic to come out."

"But…that’s what I saw you and your friend do." Faye replied.

"Alza is not wrong, child. You may have the capacity to use magic now, but that doesn’t mean you can wield it so easily."

Faye tilted her head, confused. "Um, what?"

Alza sighed. "She means that magic is hard to use, Faye."

"Oh, okay." Faye said. "But one day I can use magic, right?"

Alza's face lit up with a warm smile as she gently reached out to pat Faye on the head. "Of course you can."