“Enit, are we already here?”

~ Yes ~

“Thanks for the overwhelmingly informative answer” Maya says sarcastically. As she takes a moment to observe her surroundings, she finds herself immersed in a picturesque scene. Towering trees surround her, their lush green foliage reaching up to meet the clear, bright blue sky above. A gentle breeze rustles the leaves, carrying with it the refreshing scent of nature. Ahead of her, a narrow dirt trail winds its way through the wilderness. “Wow it’s beautiful out here, and apparently its daytime.”

~ It would appear as though the two parallel worlds run on different time ~

“Gee really?!” rolling her eyes, “Anyways, do you know where we are currently?”

~ I am unaware of our current location at this time. It would be best to head to a nearby town or village to further inquire of our whereabouts ~

“Ok, but which way? This small path goes in two separate directions which I would assume it connects to two towns, but I don’t even know if I’m in the middle or what. I could walk for days one way and only an hour the other.”

~ Seeing as we have a 50/50 shot, how about straight ahead ~

With an exaggerated sigh Maya begins to walk forward, her footsteps creating a gentle rhythm. The towering trees overhead and their outstretched branches casting shade while spots of sunlight peak through. The gentle rustling of leaves accompanies the soothing breeze caressing Maya's skin keeping her cool. At the very least it's a perfect day for a leisurely walk. About an hour goes by, “Can you hear that? It sounds like running water ahead!” Maya begins to jog up to a small opening where a small foot deep stream is running through the woods. The stream is only stretching 20 to 30 feet wide but now Maya could really feel the cool air radiating off the flowing stream.

“This breeze of cool air feels amazing, this water should be safe to drink. I remember packing a waterskin of some sorts in Enit.”

~ Yes, you did store a waterskin inside of me, however I do feel this will be a great opportunity to try casting some magic to purify the water before drinking it ~

“Now you’re talking, what do I need to do?”

~ Please pull out your wand, spell book and waterskin ~

Maya removes and flips Enit over, reaching her arm inside grabbing her wand, the large tome and a waterskin out before flipping Enit back up right and putting Enit back on her head, “Now what do I do?”

~ First open your book and find the spell ‘Purify’ ~

Opening the large tome, Maya carefully flips through the pages, her eyes darting across the intricate illustrations and elegant script, she stumbles upon a section adorned with drawings resembling liquid. The page is titled 'Purify'. Looking at the overall page Maya notices a note accompanying the spell that reads, 'To cleanse and purify liquids, stripping away any toxins or unwanted impurities. DO NOT use this spell on living creatures to purify them of toxins or sickness.'

With a swift movement she kneels beside the chilled creek. Gently, she dips the waterskin into the stream, feeling the rushing water flow around her hand. With each passing moment, the weight of the waterskin increases, and its form expands. As the waterskin nears its limit, Maya carefully withdraws it from the creek, droplets of water falling off its sides. She screws the cap back on, sealing it.

~ To make it easier, let's explore the art of holding a book without actually holding it ~

“Umm ok…” feeling that was the worst explanation Enit could have given.

~ Take a deep breath and focus your attention on the book. Imagine the weight of the book dissipating, until it is weightless. Now visualize it lifting from your hand, suspended in the air right in front of you, at eye level, ready for you to read. Let go of the book and keep your palm face up ~

Following Enit's guidance, Maya takes a deep breath, allowing her body to relax. Maya closes her eyes and directs her thoughts toward the weight of the book, envisioning it evaporating away. The sensation of heaviness dissipates, replaced by a gentle buoyancy, as if the book were now akin to a delicate balloon tethered to her but free from her grasp. Finally, she visualizes a mental image of the book floating before her. Slowly opening her eyes, to Maya's amazement, before her stands the book, no longer cradled in her left hand, but suspended effortlessly in the air. “This is so freaking amazing!”

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~ Stay calm and focus, if you lose too much focus everything will fail, and the book will fall ~

“Ok, ok” refocusing her attention taking another deep inhale. Her eyes glide over the passage, absorbing each word. "The next step," she reads aloud, "is to direct either a wand or your hand toward the liquid and concentrate on the expulsion of toxins and unwanted impurities, allowing them to evaporate from the liquid." With the wand firmly held in her hand, Maya aims its tip towards the waterskin. Fixating her thoughts on the water within the waterskin, she envisions the impurities as murky specks, tainting the clarity of the water. Imagining the impurities evaporating, like wisps of smoke dissipating into thin air until the water has crystal clarity remaining.

~ Once you have the image in your head repeat this word out loud with no hesitation, ‘Purify’ ~

Taking one more deep breath, “Purify” Maya says with an almost commanding voice. Nothing seemed to have changed, no lights or magical waves appeared. It just looked like she was talking to the air, pointing a stick at a waterskin. As she puts her wand into her cloak and grabs the book to place it on the ground, “Did it work?”

~ Only one way to find out, go open the waterskin ~

Stepping forward, firmly grasping the waterskin in her hand. With a twist of her wrist, the cap gives way with a satisfying *hssss* sound, reminiscent of opening of a carbonated beverage. An amalgamation of shock and excitement grows across Maya's face, her eyes widening in awe, “I think it worked, time for a taste.” Removing the cap completely, she brings the waterskin to her lips, eager to taste. She tilts it back, as fresh, clean, cool, and refreshing water pours in her mouth. “Ahhh, not even a hint of chalky minerals from the rocks. This is great!”

After relaxing for a moment Maya looks around to notice that the small path fades into the stream. “Hey Enit, I’m not seeing our path anymore, I think it’s on the other side of the stream.”

~ Well this is as good a time as any to practice on your broom to cross ~

Too excitedly, “Being able to fly has got to be one of my biggest dreams” Maya thinks as she pulls the broom out of Enit, “So how does this work? Do I need to say some sort of magic words like ‘Giddy-up’ or ‘Hi-ho silver’?”

Enit not grasping the sarcasm with the word choice.

~ No, just straddle the broomstick like you would a horse, keeping both hands on and imagine flowing with the wind, as if a leaf being carried away ~

Maya couldn't help but giggle to herself, finding amusement in Enit's obliviousness to her sarcastic remark. The mention of straddling a horse almost caused her to burst into laughter. Composing herself, Maya followed Enit's instructions, positioning the broom between her legs. Taking deep breaths, she recreated the image Enit gave her, but this time her visualization shifted. Instead of picturing a leaf gracefully gliding through the wind, her mind filled with visions of herself soaring through the sky, riding the broom like a seasoned professional. Maya slowly opens her eyes to realize with astonishment that her feet were no longer grounded. Suspended mere inches above the earth, she found herself in a state of weightlessness, the broom supporting her levitated form. With as thin as the broom was it wasn’t all that comfortable with her own weight pressing on it, she felt it wouldn’t fair any better in male form either. However, with exhilaration and adrenaline fueling her, she focuses on being flown forward to literally being flown forward as she dives straight into the stream, soaking her. Emerging from the water, dripping, her arm throbbing from the impact of hitting the stream's floor. She couldn't help but chuckle at the misadventure, “Well that almost went well, maybe I should practice with a softer landing next time.”

~ You lost focus and were too impatient ~

“Chill out, this has always been something I have wanted to do, even more than magic, every kid wants to be a superhero and when you think superhero you think flying.” Letting out a long sigh, “Regardless, that still hurt. I think that will be best practiced somewhere softer and maybe less wet.” Frustrated, Maya puts the broom back inside Enit before stomping through the rest of the stream. “Probably best to wring out the rest of my clothes before continuing down the path” as she looked out to see there was no path on the other side. Undoing the cloak and double checking no one was around she took the rest of her clothes off besides her undergarments. Grabbing each piece at a time, wringing them out following up with two hands shaking them in a whip-like motion to get them as dry as possible “Maybe they travel up or down the stream and that’s why there is no path.”

~ That is a high probability and most likely they will be upstream and close to a water source ~

Maya puts her damp clothes and cloak back on as everything is still sticking to her before beginning to walk up the stream attempting to avoid the shade so the sunlight will help dry everything off better. The further they go up; the stream gradually starts to get larger and deeper. About another hour passes walking upstream, by this point the stream is nearly a river and would require swimming to cross. “Well hopefully this is a good sign because at this point, I would rather not try and swim across now that I’m finally dry again.”

~ It’s beginning to seem so, unless the path never crossed, and we missed the turn off already ~

Not happy with the negativity, “Well if we were that close to anyone, I’m pretty sure we would have heard people or seen some smoke or something.” Suddenly Maya stops.

~ This would be a great time to pull your broom out again, we can avoid anything happening if you fly over this ~

As Maya surveyed the surroundings, her eyes locked onto a startling sight. Merely 20 meters away, a pair of imposing wolves quenched their thirst by the river. Their coarse, untamed fur blended seamlessly with the wilderness, displaying an array of rugged browns and grays. Their robust bodies exuded raw power, muscles rippling beneath their rugged coats. With sharp, penetrating gazes, they surveyed the area, their eyes reflecting a primal intelligence. Maya feeling very unconfident about getting near them but the thought of flying higher didn't feel much better of a decision, "How about we start with a basic spell to perhaps frighten them away?"