Three months after Alza’s necromancy was sealed.

As with most of Alza’s days, it began with breakfast prepared by Myriam. The table was adorned with an array of delights: fluffy pancakes drizzled with golden maple syrup, a colorful fruit salad, and a platter of crispy bacon that cracked with savory delight as it met teeth.

As Alza savored the food, she couldn't help but express her delight. "Your food is excellent as always, Myriam."

Myriam's face lit up with a hint of pride. "Thank you kindly, mistress."

As Alza continued to eat her food, she noticed that Faye was missing. She shot a glance towards Myriam. "By any chance, do you know where Faye is?"

"Lady Faye is currently in the backyard, mistress. She told me that she wanted to play there for some time." Myriam said.

"I see, thank you Myriam." Alza said, finishing her food.

Once she had finished eating, Alza bidded Myriam farewell and went to the backyard to check on Faye. Today’s training with Elysia had been postponed to the afternoon, and so Alza found herself with more free time than usual.

When Alza opened the door to the backyard, her eyes widened in surprise. Alza was slack jawed as she saw Faye excitedly play with lightning magic.

She closed her eyes and opened them repeatedly for a few seconds. Alza wasn’t sure if she was hallucinating or if something had gone wrong with her vision. Despite her reservations, what she saw in front of her was undeniable.

Faye was running across the backyard, chasing a dragonfly. She giggled as she playfully conjured miniature bolts of lightning. With every zap, she sent the dragonfly darting left, right and center, which only served to amplify the wildborn girl’s laughter.

With slow steps, Alza approached the wildborn girl. "Faye, you can use lightning magic?"

At that moment, Faye froze. She slowly pivoted her head to meet Alza's gaze. With a hesitant chuckle, the wildborn girl confessed, her voice trembling slightly, "Um, yes."

"Since when could you do that?" Alza asked, her voice tinged with disbelief.

"Since yesterday." Faye muttered.

"When exactly did you start?"

Faye's gaze fell to the ground, her shoulders slumping forward. She twiddled her fingers nervously as her ears drooped low against her head. "Alza, are you mad at me?"

Alza placed a hand on her hips and breathed out an exasperated sigh. "I’m sorry, no, I’m not mad at you sweetie. It’s very impressive that you can use lightning magic."

Faye’s eyes lit up at Alza’s compliment. "Really?" She asked. Her enthusiasm grew ever more evident with the swishing of her twin tails.

"Yes, really. It’s actually one of the most difficult elemental magics to use."

"What’s an elemen-, elem- elemen- "

"It just means that you’re talented sweetie." Alza replied as she gently ruffled Faye’s hair.

"Oh, okay!" Faye nodded.

"Yes, it does seem like you have a knack for this after all." Alza pondered aloud. "But is shooting out sparks the best you can do for now?"

Faye shook her head sideways. "Nope, I can do this too!"

The wildborn girl retreated a few steps and took in a deep breath. Her furry ears stood on end, and her eyes narrowed. Then, in a move that surprised Alza once again, Faye clasped her hands together and unleashed a static burst of lightning. The electricity crackled and popped as it erupted from her body, illuminating the backyard with a blinding flash of light.

When the smoke cleared, Faye stood still, her fur charged with static. "Hehe, that one makes me feel funny."

"You know what, Faye? I think we should tell Elysia about this when we go to the adventurer’s guild later."

Faye’s ears perked up at the suggestion. "Is Elysia going to teach me magic?"

"Maybe, if you’re good."

"I’ll be good! So, are we going to the adventure guild now?" Faye asked excitedly, her enthusiasm nearly bubbling over.

"Yes, yes we are." Alza replied with a light chuckle.

***

Alza and Faye entered and took their respective seats in the guildmaster's office. The wildborn girl seemed nervous as Elysia leaned back in her chair.

"So, you're telling me the child can use lightning magic?"

Alza nodded. "I found it difficult to believe at first, but I did see Faye play around with lightning magic just this morning."

"Interesting." Elysia muttered as she rubbed her chin. The elf oracle then turned her attention towards Faye, who was sitting nervously with her head hanging low. "Child, tell me, how did you feel when you used lightning magic?"

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"Um, it just felt really tingly. I dunno how else to explain it." Faye said.

Though Elysia was speaking to Faye, Alza knew that it was mostly just a formality. She doubted that the elf oracle truly didn’t know that the wildborn girl would eventually awaken a power of some kind.

Elysia then turned her attention towards Alza. "So, I understand that the child can now use magic, but why did you decide to bring her to me?"

"It’s because I want you to train her as well. She will need a teacher if she were to hone her craft." Alza said.

Elysia breathed out an exasperated sigh. "As much as I would like to help out, there are a few issues with your request, Alza."

Alza raised an eyebrow. "And those are?"

"First and foremost, I still have to focus on training you for the arrival of your siblings. And second, I cannot use lightning magic." Elysia admitted.

"You…can’t?" Alza asked.

"Yes, I really can’t. I hope I don’t have to remind you that lightning magic has always been the most volatile out of the elemental forms, you either have the talent for it or you don’t."

"I suppose we have a special case here then," Alza said, smiling at Faye. The wildborn girl blushed, her cheeks turning a rosy pink.

Elysia stood up slowly, her fingers tracing the edge of her blindfold. "At any rate, for now, I think we should actually start our training, Alza."

Alza let out an awkward chuckle. "Right...almost forgot about that."

Faye bounced up and down excitedly. "Can I come watch?" she asked.

Alza hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. "I'm sorry sweetie, but I think you should stay in the guild for today."

Faye pouted. "Aww, fine."

***

Elysia led Alza back to the training field, leaving Faye to wait in the adventurer's guild. The two women were determined to push each other to the limit today.

"Are you ready Alza?" Elysia asked.

Alza nodded. "I am ready."

"Then here I come."

Elysia leaped backward, her long hair whipping around her face. She took a deep breath, and as she exhaled, a swirling vortex of flames erupted from her mouth, surging towards Alza. Alza reacted instinctively, drawing in a deep breath and unleashing a deluge of mud from her own mouth. The two elements collided in a spectacular explosion of steam, creating a thick fog that obscured the area.

The fog did nothing to diminish the elf oracle as Elysia began to move away. She dashed at rapid speeds, her wind magic propelling her. Alza tapped her right foot on the ground, and a large chunk of stone erupted from the earth. She leaped onto the stone and used it as a mobile platform, surfing across the ground with incredible speed to give chase.

Alza was gaining on Elysia, but the latter still had her fair share of tricks up her sleeve. She turned around and flicked her wrist, unleashing a powerful gust of wind that knocked Alza off balance. Alza soon fell to the ground with a loud thud, and Elysia saw her opportunity.

The elf oracle pressed both of her hands to the ground. The earth began to heat up and glow a bright red as magma pooled just below the surface. Alza noticed this and got to work, creating stone platforms of increasing height that she leapt up onto consecutively. This allowed her to escape mostly unscathed when Elysia unleashed a geyser of lava that burst out of the ground.

Alza then leapt out of one of her stone platforms, clasping her hands to summon a stone pillar which she could step onto. Elysia, however, used this chance to launch a series of fireballs headed Alza’s way.

As Alza stood on her stone pillar, her eyes narrowed in concentration. She raised her arms above her head and spread her fingers wide. With a twist of her wrists, she summoned a massive hand of stone from the ground. The hand rose up to meet the incoming fireballs, blocking them with ease.

With a triumphant smirk, Alza stomped down with her right foot, causing the ground beneath Elysia to crack and split apart as another stone hand burst out of the ground. However, unlike the usual skeletal hand that Alza conjured, the stony hand could not be moved. As such, Elysia was able to step back and dodge them with ease.

The elf oracle then took a deep inhale, before unleashing a cutting jet of water. She weaved the water around like a massive blade, cutting the stone platform which Alza stood on in half, causing it to fall apart.

Alza leapt onto the ground. Her breath was heavy, up to this point, she had never even once bested Elysia in these sparring sessions. That was something that Alza wanted to change.

Pressing both of her hands against the ground, the ground began to rumble and crack as fissures began to appear. Elysia tried to unleash a fireball towards Alza, but Alza managed to conjure a stony hand to block the attack just in time. Then, one by one, dozens of stony hands emerged from the ground, reaching out towards the sky.

Elysia dashed and weaved around the emerging forest of hands, destroying a few with a powerful jet of water or cutting winds where she could. But soon, her movements began to dull and slow as she grew more exhausted.

Once she saw that Elysia was growing more tired, Alza stood up and clasped both of her hands together once again. The moment she did so, massive stones burst out of the ground behind Alza. Then, they split themselves apart and launched themselves against Elysia.

The elf oracle managed to dash and dodge away from most of them. However, one of Alza’s rocks eventually managed to graze Elysia’s ankles, causing her to trip and fall.

Alza smirked, she finally won for once. However, she did not want to gloat, yet. With a calm expression, she walked towards the elf oracle and offered her a hand.

"Are you alright?" Alza asked.

Elysia winced in pain slightly, but still took Alza’s hand. "I…am fine, you have become much stronger than I thought."

Alza smiled. "I learn from the best."

"Thank you for the compliment, but you should save that for after you beat your siblings."

"About that, as much as I’ve grown more comfortable with earth magic over these past few months, I still don’t think it will be enough to beat both Anzu and Amuria."

Elysia stood in silence for a few moments, before crossing her arms. "I’m inclined to agree."

Alza breathed out a heavy sigh. "I think you have to unseal my necromancy, and my demonic powers with it."

"That is possible, but I think now is a good time for me to inform you of some risks."

"So now you decide to tell me there are risks?"

"I needed to make sure you went through with the plan, alright?"

"Fine, just tell me what I need to know."

"There’s a chance that your demonic powers may go berserk when I conduct the unsealing ritual."

Alza swallowed hard. Her saliva felt thick and pasty in her throat. "How likely is this to happen?"

"I am not sure, the fates did not show me anything regarding this." Elysia replied.

"Elysia, are you at least confident that you can take me on while I’m in my true form?"

"Confidence is a strong term, Alza. I might be able to hold my own briefly, but I wouldn’t last too long if I’m honest."

"So, what now? Are we just not going to go through with the ritual?"

"No, I think we should still go through with it. Despite the risks, if things work out, you’ll have access to both your necromancy and earth magic. That could be enough to deal with your siblings without forcing you to…revert back."

"And if the ritual turns for the worse?"

"Theoretically I could re-seal your powers if I detect something is wrong, but we’ll just have to see."