“So, what’s it like?” I asked as we wandered through the forest northward.
“Thysa?” She looked at me as I gave her a nod while we walked shoulder to shoulder. “It’s all I’ve known, so to me at least, it’s beautiful; Let’s see,” she hummed, thinking of ways to describe the elven city. “I’d love to put it into words, but I’m afraid I’ll fail to do its beauty justice, so you’ll just have to see it yourself. Though, trust me, you’ll be shocked by the timeless architecture. Oh! And I can’t wait to show you the gardens.”
“Sounds amazing,” I complimented, smiling at her proud portrayal of her home. “What about the people?”
“We’re not all tree huggers if that’s what you’re asking.” She giggled, holding her hands behind her back while looking to the sky. “I’d say we’re actually quite simple, drawn to things that bring us joy. Many around me love to dance and sing, and during the day, if you look toward the gardens, you’ll see kids playing and training together. Honestly? Everyone’s so kind and caring that I already miss them. Well, with a few exceptions.”
“Sounds to me like you’re quite familiar with some of these exceptions.”
“Heh, got me all figured out, huh?” She chuckled, showing a meek smile that clearly hid something. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the people of Thysa; however, I’ll admit that there will always be those driven by greed who scorned me more than once.”
“I’ve met a fair share of bad apples myself, so I understand what you mean.”
“I bet.” She looked at me again. “If I remember correctly, you mentioned being a noble?”
“Yeah, and. . . nothing gets you closer to bad apples like being part of an influential family,” I said before sighing. “By the way, is Common well-known in Thysa?”
Common being the human language spoken in Eleron.
“Ah, well. . . No? Lots of us learned it, but I wouldn’t say most did.”
I was having a hard time believing that a random girl from Thysa who was roughly around my age and capable of using magic wasn’t someone of importance. Trying to get her to slip proved difficult, and I wasn’t going to probe anymore, knowing there were mixed feelings involved; The answer was bound to present itself once we arrived anyway.
“Glad to hear I’ll be able to talk to people without worrying about a language barrier.”
“Hey! As your guide, it would’ve been my responsibility to help translate, so I can’t believe you’re already looking to see if you can just abandon me once we reach Thysa.” Alice crossed her arms with her eyes closed and huffed, making me raise an eyebrow. However, she subtly peered through her half-open eye before giggling winsomely.
“Almost got me,” I expressed, looking down to the ground with a smile while shaking my head.
“Yeah, I’m sure I did. . .” She chuckled, knowing I was just playing along.
“So,” I looked back at her with a soft smile, watching her randomly spin in place before taking another step; she sure had loads of energy despite her life being in danger not too long ago. “What about the Royal Family? I heard that Thysa is run differently compared to other elven kingdoms. If I’m not mistaken, while you have a Queen, she is joined by a council of elders that help make decisions?”
“You sure know a lot about our political structure. Showing off your noble background?” Alice teased with a shy smile.
“Sadly, I don’t know much. I’ve heard that the Queen of Thysa is awe-inspiring, but beyond that, everything’s a mystery.”
“Yup, she’s truly an extraordinary woman, but I can’t say the same for the twelve elders making up the council. I get that they’ve helped build Thysa into what it is today, but their publicly displayed pride leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Of course, not all of them are like that, obviously.”
“There’s always at least one bad apple, but what matters is that there’s a leader that cares, so it’ll work out in the end.”
“You’re right,” she said, thankful for the encouragement. “But yeah. What else can you expect when you let ancient men run a city for too long? Honestly, I think they just need to step down and allow the new generations to run the place.”
“Ancient?” I chuckled, imagining feeble old men sitting in oversized chairs. “Just how old are they?”
“I don’t know. . . Most are probably over a thousand years old.”
“Damn, you weren’t kidding when you said ancient. What about the queen?”
“She’s a little over two hundred, quite young for an elf.”
“So she’ll likely stay a queen for quite some time.” I took out my waterskin to rehydrate. “But enough about that; how about you tell me about yourself?”
“What do you want to know?” She chuckled, watching me gulp my water like I hadn’t had any in weeks.
“Something random, like the stuff you love doing? Got a favorite animal? When was the last time you stepped on a flower and lied about it?”
“What?” She burst into laughter. “What do you take me for, a barbarian?” She ran her hand through her hair, pushing it behind her ear. Regardless of the angle, she looked stunning, but I refrained from telling her that so things don’t get weird between us. “Cats. I’ll have to go with cats. It doesn’t matter what type, size, or even if they’re dangerous, I love them all.”
“I’m more of a dog person myself.”
“Sure, they’re great, but big cats are just so fun to play with.”
“Play with? You crazy?” I chuckled, imagining wrestling a tiger.
“You’ll understand once you meet Noir.”
“Noir? I didn’t agree to meet any wild cats,” I protested, feeling less confident about visiting Thysa.
“Don’t worry about it! Noir is a gentle giant. You’ll love him,” she giggled. “Anyway, what about you? What’s your favorite pastime?”
“Look at you trying to change the subject. . .” I sighed, scratching my head nervously. “Anyway, I love reading books as they allowed me to live a life I couldn’t because I lacked an active mana core. However, now that I have access to magic, I’m mostly focused on figuring out how to use it, which reminds me; could you tell me more about mana breathing and strengthening?”
“Amm, sure, but I don’t think I could teach you mana breathing. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I don’t want to teach you; it’s just that I don’t know how.”
“That’s fine. I just wanted to know what it is.”
“Well, mana breathing is a technique elves developed to allow us better mana flow and faster recovery. It also allows one to absorb mana while asleep, which helps immensely. Once you master mana flow, strengthening becomes easier as you’ve mastered the art of manipulating mana.” Her explanation sounded like an advanced version of what I had been doing the past few days. “As for strengthening, it’s a cultivation technique that allows one to increase the capacity and quality of mana within a core, allowing one to cast higher circle spells. Each time you achieve a breakthrough, your power spikes immensely.”
“So, how does one strengthen their core?”
“You manipulate the mana within your core and use it to reinforce it. Think of it as creating thicker walls while trying to expand it outwards.”
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“That’s quite a vivid explanation,” I said, but before I could ask her any follow-up questions, strong wind interrupted our conversation. It almost knocked us off our feet as I grabbed Alice’s arm and held onto a nearby tree. “Hold on!”
“Look, up there!” Alice pointed toward the sky as a dark cloud that hid behind the mountain came into view, blocking out the Sun. “We need to find shelter.”
We searched for a place to hide from the heavy rain that took us by surprise and luckily found one within a small vacant cave. Alice’s magic came in clutch as she started a fire for us while the small pool of fresh water inside allowed us to replenish our waterskins; however, it was too cold to drink straight away.
“It looks like it’ll last,” I said, glancing outside at the downpour.
“That was unexpected.” She sighed, looking over at her soaked clothes.
“Well, at least we get to chill here.”
“That’s one way of looking at it, but we don’t know if something else might come by as well.”
“Positive thoughts only, young lady,” I teased, taking my shirt off.
“Older than you, kiddo,” she returned the teasing, clearly getting comfortable around me. Despite that, she still averted her gaze after I started stripping. “So. . . What are you doing?”
“Drying my clothes?” I glanced back at the magic-conjured fire. “And to think I just washed them earlier today.”
“I guess I should do that too,” she said, reaching behind for the strap of her sleeveless shirt, but right as she was about to pull on it, she stopped. ”Ah, right. . .”
“What’s wrong?” I asked, laying down my shirt next to the fire.
“Nothing.” she sighed.
By the looks of it, I could tell she felt uncomfortable taking her clothes off in front of me, which was understandable. However, we couldn’t risk getting sick with such a long journey ahead, so I had to think of something.
“Here.” I rummaged through the backpack before pulling out a blanket. “It’s not the thickest but should be enough to cover you up once you take off your clothes. It might be a good idea to use a part of it to dry your hair a bit.”
“What about you?” She looked back at me, worried as I tossed it to her.
“Relax, I’m not fragile,” I boasted, taking off my pants which made her avert her gaze again. “I’ll wait over there while you change, so just call me whenever you’re done.”
“Thanks,” she mumbled.
Walking over to the pool of water, I made sure to go far enough for Alice to be out of view of Mana Sense. I’d be lying if I said my curiosity wasn’t piqued, but I had to keep myself in check.
“I’m done,” she informed me, allowing me to join her by the fire.
With the blanket fully embracing her, Alice pushed her hair over her left shoulder while her gaze focused on the colorless fire that appeared to me as nothing more than distorted space.
“You okay?” I asked, sitting down next to her.
Luckily, I still had my underwear on, or I might’ve felt uncomfortable as well sitting around exposed.
“Just thinking about how long it’ll take us to reach Thysa.”
Alice glanced back into my eyes, causing me to smile meekly.
“Hey. . . Mind if I ask you something?” I lowered my voice.
“Didn’t I tell you that you don’t need permission, or is this one of those weird questions you mentioned?” She raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out what was wrong.
“I don’t know,” I mumbled for the first time.
“Woah. . . Where did all that confidence disappear to?” Alice teased, leaning down a bit to look at my eyes that dropped their gaze. “It’s not something serious, is it?”
“Nah, I’ve just never asked such questions before, and I realized I might have to do it for the rest of my life,” I explained, letting out a sigh before looking back at her. “I just wanted to know the color of your eyes and hair.”
“That’s it?” Alice shook her head in disbelief, showing me a warm smile before nudging me gently. “They’re purple with an occasional inner glow that allows us to see in complete darkness. It’s more consistent as we master mana breathing.”
“You can see in the dark?”
“Yeah. It’s similar to how you view things in shades of gray.”
“Just like a cat, huh?” I teased, smiling back at her finally.
I wasn’t sure what came over me but losing the ability to discern color proved to be a bigger deal than I expected.
“Maybe that’s why I like them so much,” she said, tilting her head to the side. “As for my hair, it’s blonde. Typical for elves, but I love it regardless.”
“Amethyst eyes and golden hair, talk about a breathtaking mix.”
“Compliment them once we restore your sight to what it was,” she demanded smugly.
“No need to ask twice,” I said confidently, taking her by surprise. “But. . . Do you think they’ll be able to cure them?”
“Seriously, stop worrying so much about it. It’ll all work out, trust me.” She reassured me, leaning back against the cave wall.
I simply nodded, looking back at the fire.
It must’ve been because I felt safe knowing I wasn’t alone that I allowed myself to finally process what had happened to me ever since my capture. Tartarus changed me by forcing me into a survival mode that allowed me to keep a cool head despite how bad things got. However, the change might’ve been irreversible, leaving me wondering how long it would take for things to get back to normal. Truthfully though, did I even want that to happen? After letting out a sigh, I stood back up and stretched my arms out.
“I should try my hand at strengthening,” I said, looking for a comfortable place to sit.
“Now?” She looked surprised.
“I just want to see how it works.”
“Okay, but remember, it’ll take a long time before you see any results. Make sure to focus on gathering the mana within and reinforcing the core.”
Sitting down on the ground with my legs crossed and eyes closed, I made sure that nothing disturbed me, including the thunder coming from the outside as the storm raged on. With my mind clear of unnecessary thoughts, I visualized the brimming mana within the core and subtly tried manipulating it. However, I found myself exhaling deeply out of frustration after trying to strengthen for a few minutes. Something felt wrong, and I couldn’t put my finger on it.
“What’s wrong?” Alice asked.
“I don’t know. It feels as if the mana just won’t stick to the core.”
“Won’t stick?” She got up and walked over to me, still wrapped in a blanket. “Don’t get frustrated just because things didn’t work out the first time. Controlling mana isn’t as easy as you might think; However, the trick is simple. Just imagine you’re forming your core again. It’s the same method, but instead of trying to force it together, you’re adding to it.”
“That’s it!” I yelled excitedly. “Alice, you’re a genius.”
“I am?” She looked confused.
“No wonder it wasn’t working since I have a frozen mana core which I formed differently.”
“Ah, so what you’re saying is that since the method is different, then that must mean that strengthening is as well?”
“Exactly! If I’m correct, then all I have to do is just drain myself of mana and use the freezing phenomenon to reinforce the core all the same.”
“Sounds dangerous if you ask me,” she sounded worried.
“I mean, I’ll have to give it a try.”
“You sure you want to do it now?”
“I mean, we’re waiting for the storm to stop, so might as well. Besides, I feel safe with you around.”
She smilingly averted her gaze before gently placing her soft hand on my shoulder.
“Just don’t push yourself too hard, okay?”
“I won’t,” I said, exchanging a gaze before I closed my eyes again. “First, I need to get rid of my mana.”
Taking a deep breath, I allowed the mana to exude as it passed through my body, slowly but surely draining my core.
“You mentioned that you formed a core recently, right?” She looked intrigued. “To think that you can control mana to such an extent already. Maybe learning mana breathing is possible with enough practice, so once we reach Thysa, I’ll have to ask my teacher.”
“I don’t think your teacher would be too pleased having an outsider learn elven techniques.”
“Let me worry about that,” she reassured me, patiently waiting for me to become void of mana.
After a few minutes of steadily discharging, I finally started to feel the freezing phenomenon I initially used to form my core. Once depleted, I was ready to try my hand at strengthening again.
“Okay,” I whispered with a foggy breath. “I’m ready.”
The chills I felt were bearable, but I certainly wasn’t looking forward to enduring them every time I wanted to strengthen. Amon wasn’t lying when he warned me about going through living hell just to gain power. However, I couldn’t let that discourage me as I focused on the mana residue responsible for the freezing phenomenon. Considering Alice’s instructions, I started to manipulate the cold by adding it as an extra layer that forced the core to expand. Though, what I hadn’t accounted for was the sudden surge of pain that took me by surprise as I tried to manipulate more than I could straight away, causing me to lose focus as frostbite tried devouring me.
“Alex!” Alice yelled before I lost consciousness.
Chapter End.
Thank you for reading.
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