"Sylvian!" Ellen's voice seemed distant. Sylvian's eyes were closed, his body mostly numb. He did not wish to move as his mind begged for more sleep. He tuned out Ellen's voice. She could wait for now, it had been such a horrible day. He just wanted to finally rest.

A slap on his cheek woke Sylvian. His eyes darted open as he took in his surroundings. Ellen kneeled above his prone form. Tears streamed down her cheeks as Sylvian's met her gaze. She leaned down, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"I thought a lost you." Ellen wept, her face buried into his shoulder. He welcomed her touch. After last night he wasn't sure if he would ever see her again. Looking up from her shoulder, Sylvian could now see a bit of their surroundings. The morning sun illuminated what was once their campsite. Much of the grass and foliage had been burnt, and many trees had scorch marks across their trunks. Loose stone and dirt covered most of the battlefield. The sight proved just how destructive a fight between two mages could be.

Sylvian let his mind wander back to Ellen's sobbing form. She cradled around him, holding him close rather than letting him lay flat on the ground. "What happened?" He asked while wrapping his arms around Ellen, returning her hug. The events of the ambush played out in Sylvian's head.

He remembered being pummeled by an exploding wall, then being flung across the field. He remembered fighting through his shearing pain and shooting an arrow at the attacker. Sylvian then recalled that Ellen had taken a bolt of fire to the chest. He pushed himself out of Ellen's grip just enough to see if she was injured.

Her shirt had been changed and was similar to the camo shirt she wore before. Surprisingly, there were no burn marks on her skin, not even on her arms. It was as if she was never attacked in the first place. Ellen gave Sylvian an odd look as he was eyeing her chest. At first, she was confused, but then she started laughing. She wiped away her tears as Sylvian was now giving her odd looks.

They parted, and Sylvian sat up on his own. "I wanted to give you a hard time for looking at my chest." Ellen said as her laughter started to settle. "But did you forget that I can heal with Tiervek?" She waved her wand a little from side to side as the tip shimmered in a bright, yellow hue. "I healed my wounds first before I came over to you. That's when I saw you laying here in a pile of blood. Hundreds of cuts and a torn muscle in your right arm. You lost so much blood I honestly thought you might die." Ellen put a hand on Sylvian's shoulder, "Don't you ever fucking try to die on me again. Otherwise, I'll come kick your ass in the next life."

Sylvian chuckled at the threat as he inspected himself. His clothes were tattered and soaked in dry blood, but his skin was perfectly fine. He rotated his right arm, extending it out and back. It was as if he was never injured. Sylvian had seen Ellen use Tiervek before and had even experienced it growing up. It was such a normal part of life that he had forgotten how amazing it was that people in Tel'Mora could just heal what would be lethal wounds on Earth. "Thank you, Ellen." Sylvian gave her a genuine smile. He was glad they were both ok, it was all way too close for comfort.

They didn't wait around for long. After being attacked, they couldn't be certain if another cultivator was near. They needed to get as far out of this area as possible and make progress toward Cypress. Sylvian first took stock of his bow. Half of his arrows were broken and unusable, while the bow itself was luckily fine. He was glad to find it in one piece, it was all he had left of his father now. A small bit of pain fluttered through his chest at the thought of his family.

As Sylvian walked towards the campsite, Ellen was off to the side raiding the cultivator's body. She took his wand and holster, and a small bag strapped to his hip. Sylvian observed the clothing on the man as Ellen dragged his limp body off to the side. He was wearing a red and white robe of decent quality, the colors of House Griff. It responded to their primary Arcana, fire.

He left Ellen to finish burying the body, as it was easy for her to do with Arcana, and focused on cleaning up the camp. He first began by gathering the cookware and sorting out whatever needed to be cleaned. Something else for Ellen to do with Arcana. Then he started working on gathering clothes and other random equipment Ellen had packed. While her bag had survived the attack, it had been blasted to the side and a lot of its contents were dumped out onto the field.

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He finished cleaning up at about the same time that Ellen was done with the body. Both of the wands were now strapped to her hip. He had seen the new one, and it was much nicer than her basic wooden one. This newer one instead glistened red and was made of metal. The base of the wand had a handle made from some kind of a dark wood, and the handle itself curved around the wand as if it were wisps of a flame. It was the nicest wand Sylvian had ever seen. Obviously whoever attacked them had been of some importance in House Griff.

"What level of cultivation do you think he was?" Sylvian asked while handing over the bag to Ellen.

Ellen pondered for a minute before answering, taking the time to quickly clean off the last of the cookware. "I can't say for certain, but most likely in the eighth stage of Gathering. A ninth stage wouldn't be out here, as they would be too focused on breaking through to the Enhancement stage. And a seventh stage wouldn't have given me as much trouble. Especially now."

She opened her palm and a ball of raw Arcana, the size of a human fist, appeared. Sylvian could feel the intensity it radiated. Ellen clasped her grip around the ball, forcing it to dissipate into the surrounding. He watched as the colorful stream of Arcana rushed through the air around them, cutting through reality like miniature rivers before finally fading from sight. "I feel stronger. The fight most likely pushed me into the next stage of advancement." Ellen said, happily looking down at the fading Arcana.

Sylvian brushed his hand through the dispersing Arcana. He could feel it flow around his palm and resonate inside of him. He longed for the day that he too would be able to cast spells and control the Arcane Arts. Ellen snapped him from his musings, "Let's get moving before they return." She already had the fully packed bag on her shoulders and was walking towards the other end of the field. Sylvian brushed his hand one more time through the ambient Arcana before joining up with Ellen.

As they traveled Ellen started Sylvian on a crash course for cultivation. She first asked Sylvian to explain what he knew. "I know that the lowest level of cultivation is the Arcane Gathering Stage, and it is divided into nine stages. After that is the Enhancement Stage and then the Core Stage."

Ellen nodded and followed along as Sylvian continued. "Humans have two types of cultivation. Body refinement and spell casting. If someone is born as a cultivator, they can only be one of the two."

"And which do you think you are?" Ellen asked, looking back to Sylvian with a knowing smile. He thought on it for a moment before responding.

"I don't think there is a way for me to tell, is there?"

Ellen chuckled and came to a stop. As she did, she grabbed a small rock and tossed it to Sylvian. "I want you to push Arcana into this. Don't try and give it any intent, just push as hard as you can." She gave Sylvian a wink, eliciting a sigh from him. Despite her teasing, he did as she said.

He focused his attention on the rock in his palm. Slowly, he felt the Arcana running through his body and directed it to his hand. It was first a trickle, then a stream, then a fountain. It pulled against him, causing a bead of sweat to trickle down his temple. It was as if the world was tugging on his soul. Before long he was panting, the Arcana still flooding into the stone.

Ellen whistled from the side, watching the spectacle unfold. Arcana poured in from the environment, responding to Sylvian's call. Then without warning the air exploded with an audible pop. The rock shot out from Sylvian's hand at the speed of sound, burying itself into the trunk of a nearby tree.

"Hot damn!" Ellen shouted. Sylvian looked down at his hand, astonished. He was exhausted from the attempt, but he was so excited. Magic! He finally did it! What so many people of Earth dreamed of he now could finally wield. To him, this was a massive accomplishment.

"Well, looks like you're a spell caster." Ellen stated. Sylvian's eyes shot up to meet hers, a smile forming on his lips. "You better be glad too. That would have hurt if you weren't." She leisurely pointed to the wounded tree.

"What do you mean?"

"If you weren't a spell caster, it would get sucked in towards you. It's a test to see if you naturally push or pull raw Arcana. Spell casters push Arcana into the environment, whereas body refiners pull it in. We all cycle Arcana the same way, but what happens after it cycles through us differs. It's dangerous to test this way, I just happen to be here to patch you up if needed." Sylvian shuddered at the thought, had he not been a spell caster he would have a few broken ribs at the very least. He watched as Ellen started back down their path with both hands resting behind her head while whistling a tune.

'She's crazy' Sylvian shook his head. At least she was family. He was happy to have someone he could trust out here with him. "So when can I learn my first spell?"

Ellen kept walking ahead as she replied. "Once you can do basic cantrips, you can try and learn a spell. Though I recommend waiting to learn one until you get to The Academy. With how much Arcana you pulled in to launch that rock, I have no doubt that they will accept you."

It may still not be official, but Sylvian was really looking forward to enrolling. If anything, launching that rock only made him excited for what was to come.