Waking up in a weird world, everything was distorted slightly, and wood was charred. The wall had a hole, leading to stairs floating in a void. A bell rung, shaking the world. Something was calling out, but it had no voice.

  Scythe walked down the stairs, after a few steps it turned into a cave. Looking back, there was more cave and stairs disappeared. Continuing down the path, you could hear dripping water. Every drop followed by the bell. The path changed with every step, but the water became louder. Suddenly the walls shot outward, and blue fire torches lit up, the ground was an untouched marble, clean and white. but the water was dark, too dark. Leaning over the edge, a pair of silver-blue eyes opened.

Scythe launched up from his bed, his heart racing. From outside his door, someone called, "Hey you okay?"

"Yeah," Scythe stood up and opened the door, it was Luna.

"I heard you call out. I was worried about you." Luna spoke softly

"Thanks," seeing light outside Scythe commented, "Is it morning already?"

"Yeah, the sun just rose." Luna answered, "So you're leaving today?"

"Yep, I don't know how long I'll be gone." Scythe said, "But by the time I get back I'll have a new arm."

"I'm sorry."

"What for?" Scythe asked

"I feel it was my fault that you lost your arm. I should've noticed the blood magic."

"Don't be, I'm still alive, right? So don't blame yourself."

"I still feel bad."

Scythe hugged her, "I'll be fine. Besides, Astela is a great fighter, I'll be protected enough just by her."

"Okay, just you make sure you come back." Luna pushed off Scythe

"I will." Scythe said, "I just need to get ready."

"Oh, of course." Luna stepped back, "I'll talk to you later then."

"Of course." Scythe closed his door and started packing a few things.

  A few hours later, Scythe was readying the horses. Which was much harder with only a single arm. By midday, the entire group was ready. Reven, Liz, and Ifera joined. On the ride out of the city, it was then, Scythe saw the carnage of the battle. The grass stained red. Pieces of armor piled up, some starting to rust, banners lay half broken and scattered. Still, hundreds of bodies remained, and the mages working day and night, to clean it up. Before the Necromoprthic beasts would show up. A shiver went down Scythe's back. Something was watching him.

  The first day of riding was uneventful. Setting up camp was left to people with two arms. Scythe wanted to help out more, so he started making dinner. Using his magic to heat the pot, while he chopped up the meat and potatoes. As it started to cook, Scythe asked: "Does anyone have garlic?"

"No," Astela said, "I knew we forgot something."

"It's fine, it just needs to cook a little and it should be ready." Scythe was down a little

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After dinner, Ifera took up the cleaning. As everyone went to bed, "I'll take first watch." Scythe said

"I'll join you." Ifera spoke, "The rest of you get some sleep."

"Keep the fire going," Astela said as she went into her tent.

  Since Astela was the last person awake, Scythe and Ifera were alone. "So... Uh I wanted to say thanks for dinner," Ifera spoke.

"No worries. As I said I like to cook." Scythe said

"But since you... only have one arm. I should have helped more with cooking." Ifera said

"It's fine. I know I'm going to have a new arm soon, I just don't want to be useless." Scythe said, "I want to keep up my practice."

"Well, I was wondering where you learned to cook." Ifera asked, "So would you tell me?"

"Sure," Scythe answered, "basically since I left home, and while I was a slave, anytime I had a chance to cook, I took it. Eventually, the commanding officers, wanted me to cook them dinner. Since my food was better than most of their trained chefs. Since I became more valuable to them they gave me more access to better food. I never used magic to cook. Now that I've been free, using magic to cook makes way better food. It's kinda funny."

"Huh, I never really thought about using magic." Ifera pondered her mind, "Don't you run out of magic?"

"Not really. When I was younger I did, but haven't really run out recently." Scythe said, "I'm curious about that as well. Maybe it's because I practice so much."

"What do you do to practice?" Ifera was curious

"This," Scythe created a flame in his hand, and moved it between his fingers, slowly picking up speed. Ifera watched closely, thinking on how to replicate it. After a little bit, Ifera tried it herself, but her flame kept dying out or was too big. "Dang... That's harder than it looks." Ifera got flustered.

"It's a lot of practice." Scythe gave some advice, "There are a few parts to controlling the fire, first controlling the input of mana, Second, the airflow is important. Don't ball up your hand, keep it open, like... uh... in a river, gliding along the water."

"Hmm," Ifera grunted, trying to follow the advice Scythe gave her. The new flame started out larger but shrunk down. It stayed at the same size for a small time. "Now try to move it." Scythe suggested

"Okay," Ifera was deep in thought, it moved back and forth. No more than a centimeter. Trying to move it further, it died out. "Damn." Ifera snapped

"You were doing well, you definitely learn faster than me, it took me a few months to get to that point" Scythe complemented.

"Thanks. I want to keep trying at it."

"Go ahead, we have all night." Scythe said, "I can keep watch, while you practice."

"I know you have had much more practice than me, but what can you do?" Ifera asked

"I never really tried," Scythe started to focus on controlling multiple flames at once, at least twelve different flames floated around Scythe in a dance. All of them were close in size, moving at a slow but steady pace. Wanting more, Scythe focused harder. The flames started to move faster and faster, more flames showed up. Then everything disappeared with a snap, "I should get more practice before I try, more of that." Scythe sat down, "But now I have a goal over these two weeks."

Ifera looked blankly at Scythe, "How much mana do you have?"

"I don't know. Is there a way to test it?" Scythe asked.

"Yeah, what you just did." Ifera said, "I saw at least twenty different flames, all moving without hitting each other. I don't know for certain, but I think that means a lot."

"Is that bad?" Scythe asked

"No... by the gods no. It means you have a gift for magic." Ifera said, "I'm kinda jealous. Having a lot of magic is valuable, there are many things showing up that need magic, and you will be able to use most of them, if not all."

"Yeah. but, anytime I use a lot of magic, it just hurts."

"What you did wasn't a lot?" Ifera tilted her head

"No, that wasn't much. I can do little stuff." Scythe spoke.

"I kinda wish I had your level of power," Ifera spoke, "I could become a grand enchanter, and give my daughter a better life."

"So where did you leave her?"

"With Flora. She's going to learn how to weave. She asked me that when I go on my next mission. I leave her with Flora."

"I wish her the best in her endeavors." Scythe stood up and stretched, "I was curious, how are the other women that I saved?"

"Some decided to full-on stop being an adventurer. some decided to stay in the city. Two of them want to kill every last goblin they find." Ifera informed, "And well, I already told you."

"Yep." Scythe walked around the camp, for a little bit, before sitting down once more. "Well, nothing to do but kill time." Scythe looked up at the sky, pristine and clear. With countless stars.