A few days after Ophilanna's testing for elemental affinities, in the outskirts of Eluntia, Silvale's capital.

Mena trudged carefully through the dense underbrush, her staff firmly in hand. Behind her, Ophilanna followed, her expression a mixture of nervousness and determination. The faint light of the waning afternoon filtered through the towering trees, casting dappled shadows across their path, treading deeper into the forest.

“Where are we going?” Ophilanna asked, her voice quiet but curious.

The sorceress glanced over her shoulder, speaking firmly. “You’ve grown a lot, young lady. Not only have you reached the Advanced tier, but you’re also on the brink of becoming a Master magician. As such, it’s time for you to break through to the Master tier, with a test.” She paused, letting her words sink in. “Mages need experience with battle. This will be yours. In these outskirts, there are cunning creatures, some dangerous, others less so. You will face a pack of wild foxlings and kill them all by yourself. Should anything out of the ordinary happen, I will interfere, or if your life is in danger. But I expect you to take care of it.”

Ophilanna nodded, her resolve steeled, as she helped Mena free her staff from where it had snagged on a vine. She followed the sorceress deeper into the woods, her senses alert.

Prior, she studied meticulously the weakness and strategies involved in fighting these creatures, ranked D; a group of battle-hardened soldiers could easily take care of a foxling pack. This should be simple enough for a mage of the Master tier.

Mena hushed the young girl along, entering the thicket.

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A little while later, Mena noticed rustling in the undergrowth.

The first sign of danger.

Her sharp eyes caught a flash of movement, glint of predatory eyes lurking deep in the dim light that fights its way through the leafy crowns of the forest.

Another.. the second sign.

The sorceress, battle-hardened, stopped abruptly, raising a hand to signal to Ophilanna, who haulted in place immediately.

"Here they are, young lady,", Mena spoke confidently, unaware of the actual danger they would be facing. While her voice was steady, it retained an edge of caution, a smidge of anxiety.

Even a mage as used to such fights and hunts as her would find it anxiety-inducing to walk into a trap headstrong.

Exactly as expected, one after another, wild foxlings emerged. The size of a small bear, these creatures were no joke to an adult powerless human, though soldiers and mages could take care of them with energy to spare at the appropriate level.

They were rather nimble, sleek and ferocious things, with dark bristling fur. Soon enough, the pack had encircled Mena and Ophilanna, their yellowish eyes locked onto the intruders with fierce hunger. Low growls reverberated through the clearing, soon drowned out by a deafening roar, one that would shake the entirety of the Great Forest.

Mena thought it was a dragon's roar, but.. out of the bushes, a foxling emerged the size of a large, brutish bear. It could walk bipedally, seemingly in control of the pack.

All her alarm bells went off the instant it came into view.

"What's a foxling brute doing here?! They only appear further in the wilderness.. this is way too close to humans..", Mena rationalized her unpreparedness, shocked at the sight of this monstrosity.

Almost tranquil, the sorceress tried to plan for an escape, holding off the brute herself to let Ophilanna escape.

Mena: "Run! Don't look behind, I can handle this. You'll only get in the way. Make it out and call for Adalbert!"

The brute was grotesquely muscular, fangs elongated unnaturally, fur streaked in scarlet patches and silvery shine. Ophilanna stood still, frozen in fear at the pheromones and aura it exuded. At last, the girl managed to snap out of her fear, making a run for it and backtracking the path they traced together.

As she left view, the brute snarled, louder this time. A dozen or so of foxlings sprang into action, past Mena, ignoring her. They were going after the young lady. She figured that Ophilanna would be prepared enough to fight them, hoping for the best.

Now she only had to hold off this big guy. "Let's see who's tougher, you half-wit of a fox", she grinned and spat into the brute's direction before spouts of water, from floating orbs of water, hurtled toward the foxling with enough pressure to break apart an oak tree.

This is the next level of the Basic and Advanced tier magic, Water Orb. Called Water Spout, with knowledge and proficiency, the pressure of the stream grows exponentially, making it able to cut into flesh and metal, injuring the target gravely.

Mena, as an Ascendant, added a little spice to the mix. Her version of the spell, close to the Ascendant tier Cyclone, added spin to the stream of water, engulfing surrounding air, becoming a miniature storm in the process that pulls in affected targets to the fast spinning stream.

The brute foxling, less cunning than a foxling chief, and certainly not as intelligent, had a hard time countering the miniature storm, but toughed it out regardless.

One downside Mena always mulled over is its duration - Water Spout takes a lot of mana, but won't last that long. In her case, it provided enough of a distraction for the remaining foxlings to focus their attention on her. The brute readied his claws, he was about to jump right at the sorceress, and loped..

"... You'll regret that!", Mena remembered something. She almost forgot amidst the chaos...

Foxlings are hellishly scared of fire. No. Its their biggest weakness!

The forest would be caught on fire in the process, but.. she could pull it off. Her fire magic wasn't half bad, after all.

"Get a taste of this, you freak!", the magician chanted and summoned a wall of fire, bursting forth from the crown jewel of her staff. With blue to yellow flame and a hue that changed as the flame hit its targets, she had a sudden idea.

"... Helia, bless the air...", mumbling a chant, Mena's staff had a sudden draft of air rush behind the fire, engorging the blazing wall to size and temperature that would leave anything in its wake charred and ashen.

The brute and several foxlings, who had just jumped right toward Mena, could only react to duck, in hopes of not being hit by the wall of fire. They wailed as she unleashed the second spell, growing the wall to envelop everything around them.

As there wasn't much distance between them to begin with, she seemed to be quite satisfied with having the little foxlings turned to dust. They died rather quickly, being susceptible to fire, most of all.

To her surprise, the brute had survived, barely. Bearing its fangs and claws, it lashed out at the sorceress, injuring her arm and knocking away her staff. She cried out in agony as the gash on her arm bled profusely.

"Grrr!!!", the monster roared, but there was little response. Instead, deep and eerie silence hushed around it, desperately and frantically observing its surroundings.

Mena, injured on the ground, was trying to stop her arm from bleeding.

As the blood loss made her vision shake, her body tremble, her arm, that was still fine, reached out, fingers pointing at the injured, scared brute.

".. you've really done it.. Water.. Spout..", Mena cried out with the last of her energy.

The foxling brute, turning toward the human, had not anticipated this. Too injured, it couldn't move, and its natural defense was practically gone. The fire wall all but shredded its confidence.

There was a piercing shriek, a thump, it fell. The ground now soaked in blood, trees were churning, the spout putting out any remnant fires.

The clearing fell silent, save for Mena's heavy breathing. Trembling from the blood loss and exertion, while relieved, she had no time to spare. Ophilanna was at large, but...

Mena passed out before the beast, now laying dead in front of her.

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Ophilanna hesitated, her hands tightening into fists, but a fierce look from Mena spurred her into action. She turned and dashed into the woods, with several foxlings hot on her heels.

Her teacher had all but pushed her out of danger. It clearly wasn't going to be easy for her, either.

Her heart pounded as she ran through the forest, the foxlings’ snarls close behind. She skidded to a stop in a small clearing and turned to face her pursuers. There were at least a dozen of them, their eyes gleaming with malice and a yellow hue reminding her of poison.

Steadying her breathing, Ophilanna raised her hands. She was able to visualise, and do so extremely well, the elements occurring in her practice. Water and wind, even a little bit of ice.

One thing she also learned - with even more effort and suffering - was fire.

Her trauma, remaining over her heart like a sword of damocles, hung heavy, but little by little, she was able to break the chain and realise, the sword is one of dirt and ash. If anything, now she needs the bravery.. to use fire, the thing she fears the most.

These things.. little fools, the foxlings, creatures of no mind..

"You're awfully afraid of this, aren'tcha?", she snapped her fingers, summoning multiple floating rings of fire, varying sizes and thickness.

Retreating with careful steps, the foxlings growled at her, scared of the fire, which was illuminating the clearing spectactularly.

She giggled, but remained vigilant. Though they're scared...

One of them leapt at her, right through the rings of fire, the gap was just big enough to fit through.

These things can be quite daring, she remarked. "I knew it. Water Orb."

Mid-air, the foxling, a rather small one, got trapped in an orb of water. It started choking, being immersed in a dense sphere. "This actually works? Interesting.."

Having trained her kinesis, she flung the beast against a tree, the bark breaking off. It shrieked in pain, losing conscious right after.

With the rings of fire still lit, the other foxlings had a hard time even approaching Ophilanna - she was pretty guarded, they were too large.

Focusing on them, she snapped her fingers. "See, this isn't how we're gonna play. One of you..", she pauses. One of the rings unfolds, turning into the shape of a whip at the tips of her fingers.

"One of you is sneaking around here."

Using her hearing, she heard movement to the right of her. Before the critter was able to emerge and get the upper hand, Ophilanna casted a wind spell to blow into the bushes, revealing the silent danger.

Like a snake slithering through the sand, the whip made its way through the air, reinforced by the girl's wind magic, to accurately smite the foxling, incapacitating the thing.

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Roaring echoed through the forest. Smell of fire made Ophilanna tumble, revealing openings for the foxlings to attack.

The sphere she cast silently, water orb, burst in their faces, drenching them and slowing down their movements. Right at her feet, she could feel how ruthless they would claw her, if they caught her off-guard. No.. they wouldn't stop.

She had to put an end to it. Several of the foxlings charged right at Ophilanna.

“Wind, rise and strike..” she intoned, her voice firm. A gust of wind howled through the clearing, slamming into the foxlings and scattering them momentarily. Several were flung into the trees, but the remaining ones regrouped quickly, their agility proving a challenge indeed. The spell of wind had removed the disgusting smell of fire and made it endurable - but it wouldn't be for long.

Ophilanna gritted her teeth. Her mana reserves maybe weren't depleting quickly, but she was tired and anxious. Though that didn't mean she could stop now.

At her finger tips, another sphere of water formed, in a deadly combination with wind, forming sharp, cutting jets of water.

Water Spout.

"It's only.. experimental.. but this will have to do.", she extended, with both of her hands, her arms and repeated the spell multiple times, bravely staring at the creatures lunging right at her.

Each attack she cast struck true, and all the foxlings who leapt at her fell to the ground, holes doting their bodies.

Even the trees several paces behind them.. and the trees behind them..

Ophilanna fell to her knees, growing exhausted and sick of all the mana she used in that single attack.

The last of the dozen growled, skittish and fearful. With no other option but to advance, it went straight for the seemingly unguarded elven girl.

She closed her eyes. With the last of her strength that remained, Ophilanna chanted hurriedly, resolute.

"..flame that cleanses even a chalice of the gods..", she mumbled. "Brimstone."

Extending her fingers, wounded from all the magic she cast, pitch black flame flickered to life in her palm, devouring everything it could - air, matter, and at last, the foxlings.

Such magic, while highly destructive, wouldn't come without a price. For Ophilanna, it meant she would be bound to the bed for days, nay, a week at least.

The only living thing that remained among the crossing was Ophilanna. Save for some of the plant life and trees, most were but charred remains. In the midst of the air, foxlings were turned to nothing but coals by the black flame. It was like a curse, a blemish, on nature; a cancer that would take forever to heal, but it was incredibly potent.

"To think a spell I found in the mansion's cellar would be this potent... Does the Baroness even know about this..?", she coughed and wondered under her breath. Getting up now, the smell of the brimstone smell nearly knocked her out. Her vision was swimming, blood trickled down her nose.

Clearly.. "I overestimated my capabilities, huh.. at least I'm alive."

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Ophilanna trekked back to Mena's position, against her better judgement. When she arrived, the only living being she found was the sorceress, bleeding excessively. Having learnt how to treat such wounds, she helps her teacher. "I'm sorry.. but we're fine, at least.."

Helping the unconscious magician up, Ophilanna quickly figured she would have a hard time getting both of them home.

They had left the forest behind a mess. Charred plants and trees, among the coaled remains of foxlings, painted a picturesque view of destruction behind them, as she limped with her teacher in her arm, step by step.

Though on the verge of collapsing, Ophilanna did her best. Not closing her eyes, or not wanting to, she found it harder and harder to push forward.

When she eventually got out of the forest onto wide, open plains, she collapsed, with Mena in her arms. Darkness enveloped her.

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Fragmented voices were arguing.

"Seriously.. you're quite the amusing thing to watch..", one said. The other replied, though from a much greater distance, "don't treat my children as your entertainment, Gaia.."

Ophilanna felt nothing but comfort. She was laying on a cloud, softness and calmness surrounding and enveloping her. The pain she felt just now? Gone. All that exhaustion? Washed away.

"You know, Enia.. you've really gone and done it. I know they say I love all of life and creation.. but this? I love her especially."

"Just promise me not to interfere too much..."

"Even if I did, not like you could do much.. imprisoned in this dreamscape world of mine. Haha! But I promise. Let me watch over her for you."

The voices gradually grew distant, yet Ophilanna reached out for them. They were a source of comfort, and she instinctively extended her hand out to them, as if it was her mother.

When Ophilanna woke up, she saw a pair of crying eyes, and her face felt wet. Her arm felt heavy, her body exhausted, and her hands? They were bruised and bled, wounded beyond anything she had ever seen. All her memories flooded her brain. The battle, her journey back.

No, it wasn't a journey - they barely travelled half a day outwards. Yet Erica was hunching over Ophilanna, who seemed to be lying on the ground. Next to Erica, she spied Adalbert, observing the situation.

Ophilanna: "What.. happened? I passed out.. Is Teacher alright?"

Adalbert: "We found you two like this. What happened to wound her like that?"

Erica: "Sir, can't we.. get them home first? It looks serious.. Gosh.. I thought she died.."

Adalbert: "If it's a serious threat at large, I need to take care of it. Please, Lady Fia."

Ophilanna: "It's.. I think Teacher took care of it. There was a foxling brute. She told me to run away.. but the foxlings came after me, leaving her.. cough.. with the brute."

Erica: "Let's get you up.. Come on, I'll support you. Sir Adalbert will carry Miss Mena."

Ophilanna nodded. "I'm sorry for worrying you, Erica. Thank you for caring about me."

Taking both of them to the mansion, Erica and Adalbert teased Ophilanna and the unconscious mage for looking worse for wear than the soldier recruits - after being trained by him.

A sigh of relief escaped Ophilanna's lips, though it wouldn't evade Erica. "You think you'll be fine sighing? This is where the real battle begins. The Baroness will eat you alive! She's a dragon when she gets worried... hehe", she giggled. A faint smile grew on the girl's lips, hanging onto Erica.

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At the mansion, Ophilanna wakes in her bed to Erica entering.

"You're fine?", she asked, sitting down next to Ophilanna. "You were out cold for a day", she teased, "but it seems like there wasn't any major injury. The thing is..."

Erica: "I should have gone with you. To protect you. Don't go out to die, please. You're my first friend.. so don't be my last."

Teasingly, Ophilanna snaps back. "As if you'd only have me as a friend."

She placed a hand on Erica's. "But I will take better care of myself. In return.."

Ophilanna: "Don't go out there to die, either. I would hate nothing more than to lose my friend."

Erica had been training in the outskirts with her swordsmanship teacher, Sir Adalbert when they both happened to chance upon two people, lying at the edge of the forest, passed out.

Their surprise was to be expected, since those two were the sorceress Mena, and Erica's friend, Fia.

Erica seemed to cheer up by Ophilanna's sentiment. "I was so shocked to see you lying there! You owe me one!"

"Deal. I'm really sorry.. I did everything I could to get teacher out of there alive. Is she fine?", the girl muttered.

Erica answered sheepishly. "Yes, Miss Mena is recovering well. She just lost a lot of blood. Sir Adalbert and I went on patrol in the area, it's safe."

Her gaze wandered. "Also.. there's something you should know."

Ophilanna: "What is it?"

"I.. no, nevermind.", Erica spoke, trailing off in thought. "It was nothing. Don't worry."

"Alright.", Ophilanna responded, placing her hand on Erica's, pulling her in for a hug.

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In the weeks since her first battle as a mage, Ophilanna grew enormously as a mage of the Master tier. The amount of spells she could use, combine, and cast, even morph, was no laughing matter. Since the sorceress Ophilanna studied under was bed-ridden, the girl was forced, more or less, to train by herself, including her mind and body. Occasionally, her teacher would give theoretical work to her student.

Mena: "I must say, you're quite spectacular. Never have I seen a student grow so fast, be so smart.. and work so hard."

As the magician mused over the efforts Ophilanna invested, one sentence escaped her lips, that made her student perk up instantly. "Don't get conceited over your power. Underestimating your enemy will get you killed. Remember that. With that in mind, here's your assignment. Study these circles..", handing Ophilanna a lot of paper and parchment, she curiously looked over the notes and drawings. It included a few magic circles and chants.

Mena: "Shorten them. Make them your own. Chants aren't as rigid as you think. Magic permits almost everything, yet nothing. Figure out your boundaries yourself, and learn to get a grasp of your mana capacity, too."

Ophilanna: "Thank you, teacher. Your assignments have been really insightful. I really, truly admire your knowledge. Also!"

She jumped up with a lot of energy, revealing a scroll within her pocket. It contained a chant. Mena gave it a read, her eyes nearly popping out of her skull when she finished. "B-Brim..", hushing herself and stopping before the full word was uttered, the sorceress pulled Ophilanna closer and demanded an explanation.

Mena: "How do you know a lost spell?! Where do you have this from?"

Ophilanna: ".. it's a secret! Is it that impressive?"

Mena: "That wouldn't even cut it. It's classified as lost to time, a power ceiling far beyond spirit tier magic, and it is said to exchange life force for raw might.. Don't use it too often, young lady. The spell is incredibly dangerous."

Ophilanna: "Will I die.. if I use it again?"

".. too often, yes. But you should be fine using it in emergency situations", Mena elaborated. "Life force regenerates, like Mana."

Ophilanna: "Alright, thank you! I will remember that, teacher."

Mena: "Just in case.. I should let you know, one's soul does not. While mana and life force regenerate at varying speed, soul is limited. Never, I repeat, NEVER, exchange your soul for power. Promise me this. Promise it to your friend, and your mother. I couldn't live with myself seeing another one lost to it..."

"People get lost to the frenzy of power and promise their soul away. Not only does it eat at your existence.. it can erase memories of you from others' minds. Can, but not necessarily will. Just.. take care of yourself, young miss."

Awkwardly coiling her little finger around Mena's, Ophilanna swore to not exchange her soul for power. She was curious, but wouldn't pry any further.. if even her teacher, usually level-headed, got so aggravated, it wouldn't be a small thing.

Right. There was one other thing.

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Four weeks after the first battle, in the training hall.

Cheerful activity in the training hall caught Ophilanna's interest. When she asked around, they all brought up the same thing. "The border skirmish!", they cheered.

"What skirmish?", she wondered. Erica didn't know, either. Her teacher was resting, and thus all information pertaining to this eluded her as well. Naturally, Ophilanna went to Adalbert, who was sharpening his majestic one-handed sword, in other hands almost a two-handed blade.

Its aura smelled of bloodlust and ferocity, slightly intimidating the otherwise foul-mouthed Ophilanna. "Isrule, the neighbouring northern empire, has been gnawing at the Great Forest for years. They have a screw loose, or so scouts said, since they seemingly attacked one of Silvale's villages near the tri-border of Silvale, Isrule, and Entover Dukedom. We're setting out. Well.. I won't, this time. The Holy Kingdom of Rans decided to pool together a large border presence in the south, and so I am needed there.", Adalbert explained. Erica, worried over her instructor, looked away.

"Don't worry, little Erica. I will be back in no time.", he grinned, ruffling her hair. "Train hard in the meanwhile, remember your techniques! I will quiz you on them."

They really formed a close bond, Ophilanna noticed. Not just between Erica and Sir Adalbert, but herself and her teacher, Mena, too. Erica's and Ophilanna's friendship was one of fondness and looking out for each other.

Adalbert: "I did hear a rather high-ranking officer was leading the Isrule troops. It's said they are acting on their own orders. How much I trust that? We'll see. All I know is, he was one of the figures invading the Great Forest a couple years back, razing elven villages to the grou- Oh. I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me. I am needed at the barracks! See you later."

Running off, Ophilanna's head was filled with an ocean of conflicting thoughts upon hearing that.

Her father? She knew he was high-ranking.. from intelligence she gathered while on the run. It was bits and pieces she heard.. nothing major.

Someone's hand tightly wrapped around hers. Erica. "You look like there's a lot on your mind. Are you okay? Don't mind Sir Adalbert's words, he didn't know.."

"It's not.. that. Let's go to Reina. I need to talk."

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"Absolutely not! I shall not permit you to enter the battlefield."

Shouts like these were uncommon at the Baroness' estate. No, it simply never happened. All the staff, busy working, perked up to the occasion, curious as to what was going on. Even Sir Adalbert, usually keeping to himself, listened in on the conversation. There were a dozen, nay, more, people in front of the Baroness' office.

"Lady Fia and Lady Erica went in earlier!", one of the maids claimed. "They asked about the skirmish. Since then, they've been in there."

Adalbert knocked on the door, all the other staff scattering like rats into shadow.

"Permission to enter, Lady Reina. It is me, Sir Adalbert."

Clearing her throat, the Baroness' responded. "Ah! Yes. Please, enter. We need to talk."

With that, he vanished into the office, the door closing behind.