She had known she was stronger. Her increase in mass and the overall feel of her body was just more. Her race had changed to match that of Aoibheann and her attributes had similarly increased. She wondered if this was an evolution based on her family line or if it was personal to her and her past lives. Given the discussions she had with her grandparents it seemed somewhat likely that it was her natural race and the family of grandchildren of Danu were the start of the Kirwan line so they were more than human but less than the gods. This was all speculation but it felt like a reasonable explanation. She just couldn't understand why there were no other druid races in her own previous lives after Aoibheann. Perhaps the place of power weakened to much. Perhaps the training of the druid and bandorai were lost after the conversion. She could only guess. There were no definitive memories to show her the truth. "Even if there were it is only idle curiosity." She thought as she continued over her status.
The class was there yeah but what was it? What did it mean. She would have to check some online forums to see if anyone had any clues. There were always brilliant minds, myth chasers, and fantasy buffs that would have thoughts and opinions. The spells and abilities seemed to be druid like at least. That was also interesting. Someone with a good imagination or with great research abilities must have spent a lot of time coming up with druid classes in games and books. She felt intrinsically tied to the land here and it bolstered her mentally and probably physically too. She thought a warden was someone charged with protecting an area. Or was it protecting others from what was in an area? She wasn't too sure. A mystic had something to do with magic she guessed. She didn't spend to much time worrying over it. There was no information tabs so she either guessed, had other people guess, or just figured them out.
The spells were strange she could just kind of feel how to cast them. There were no external catalysts or components required for the most part. She could feel the energy inside of her would act as the catalyst and the land was the component. The downside was that, she could feel that she had to be outside or at least a place where plants could grow for most of the spells to work. She had no idea how to use the abilities she received. She couldn't tell if the charm was active or passive. The shapeshifting would have to be active she assumed. Passively changing shape would be problematic. It was a concerning talent in her opinion. It may help explain her current physique somewhat. Or, perhaps the Druid race was simply larger. "Yet another topic with insufficient information to make a determination." She thought.
Alanna was not sure how long her mental landscape was captured by the status revealed in the fog screen but she snapped out of it when she heard her grandfather call her name loudly and from a meter away. Her eyes refocused on the room and she cold see her grandparents looking worriedly at her. "Apologies." She mutter as her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "What happened?" Her mamó asked. "When I touched the journal I just sort of inherited some spells." Alanna explained. "I know something called wild growth, regeneration, Bark armor, and Land's Bounty." She explained their descriptions from her status. Her grandparents looked at each other in apparent confusion. "That seems to be happening a lot." Alanna thought.
"Well the rituals are not exactly spells. Her daideo said as he scratched the back of his head. "We also have not really named them as such." Her grandmother said while nodding her agreement. "We do use a growth ritual which you saw in the abbey. That is one most of the druid can recall." She explained. "I can also use the a ritual to call upon the bounty of nature to provide fresh water or perhaps a tuber or berry plant for eating." She said. "We do not use rituals, or spells as you call them, very often as they take a lot out of us and the land is slow to rejuvenate us." Her grandfather added. "I do have a ritual that sounds like it may be that bark armor spell or similar. It never felt complete though. My skin just hardens. Its not to bad in a pub fight though." He said with a grin that caused Anna to whack him up the backside of his head. "See." He winked at Alanna. "Didn't feel a thing." "Regardless Alanna everything about your awakening is strange. I wish we did not lose so much of the old ways. I feel helpless here." She looked truly upset by this and Alanna reflexively took her hands and mumbled assurances.
They spoke a bit more about the spells before they moved outside where a stone fence blocked in the few animals they kept. It was also high enough to block any prying eyes. Alanna wanted to see if she could trigger the activation of the spells. She tried the wild growth spell first. It took her a few moments to understand she needed to be in a focused mindset but once she was the magic of the land came willingly and quickly to her call. A trap vine formed from the ground and lashed out at a bucket that was used as their impromptu target. Her grandparents were suitably impressed with the speed of growth and the effect. "That was such quick growth." Her grandmother praised. "Mhmm," her grandfather echoed. She went through all of the spells she had and each one came easily. The land's bounty required her to focus on what she needed so at first she produced a small spring of water that bubbled up from the ground. It was clean and delicious. She then tried casting it again and a bramble appeared filled with blackberries. They too were delicious and unlike the last time they were not accompanied by a vision of the past.
She could not get the regeneration ability to work and figured it likely required something to heal. Neither she nor her grandparents were willing to cut themselves to figure it out. After casting and leaving her bark armor on for several minutes she felt a bit of mental fatigue. It was like that feeling when studying all night for a test then finishing the test the next day. There was this fog that only rest would clear. She could still function adequately so long as the activities could be completed with relatively little mental assistance. Her physical body was fine. She could run a few miles easily enough but ask her to answer a thoughtful question and all bets were off. She did not know how much mana she had but it was not enough for prolonged use and she had no idea how quickly it would come back. Given what her grandparents had mentioned she did not believe it to be a quick process.
The moved back into the house to rest for a while. "So, there is something that we can teach you that has been passed down for centuries and not at all forgotten." Her grandfather said as they sat together on the couch. Alanna slowly lifted her head up and looked at him. "What is that?" She asked. "How to fight." He said with a toothy grin. "I do not mean boxing. I mean weapon training." Alanna stared unfocused at her daideo. "We will start tomorrow after you have rested some. He said with a chuckle.
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The next morning started even earlier for Alanna, Her body felt well rested after only 6 hours of sleep so she got up and went outside to do some body conditioning. She exercised for about 40 minutes then practiced a bit of yoga. She liked how limber it kept her and was happy her larger frame was still quite flexible. Just before sunrise her grandfather walked out with two large blackthorn sticks and tossed one at her. "A shillelagh, really?" Alanna asked as she took in the weapon. "You don't want to learn the ancient art of Bataireacht?" He asked with a smirk. "Is that real?" Alanna replied. "I kind of thought it was a hoax." Her grandfather shook his head from side to side in a so-so motion. "Yes and no." He decided. "Nearly everyone can find, make, or buy a walking stick and when there are no other weapons allowed then a club, or shillelagh if you prefer, becomes the weapon of the common man. It has a fairly significant place in our history. However, for our purposes we use these because you are not ready to use a sword or spear." Alanna agreed. "What is with the thorny branch though?" She questioned after inspecting the shaped branch. "Blackthorn is deeply routed in our myths and legends. Some were found in fairy forts and when cut or used they brought misfortune. Others were said to have granted power to the wielder. There is quite a significance with the catholic church as well. "So, a bit of tradition or nostalgia on my part." He explained. "Now let me take you through some striking and defending positions."
"Why do we not use firearms?" Alanna asked after as they finished up their last round of stick fighting training. She handed her blackthorn shillelagh back to her grandfather and they moved back into the cottage for breakfast. "Mostly because it was never our way." Her grandfather said after thinking about it for a while. "We are technically defenders of this land but we are no longer soldiers. Firearms are not something that will really help us in our duty. He moved over to the wall where there was a ring sword and scian in a display case. He pulled up the scian and held it out for Alanna. She took it in her hand and looked over the blade. "This is an iron weapon." He explained. "It tends to work better on the fae. An iron slug would probably do the same but this doesn't run out of ammunition and I really do not know how iron would affect the flight path of a bullet. I image it is a bit heavy." He took the dagger back from Alanna and placed it into the display case.
"We are also called to investigate when one of the cursed shows up. Vampires and werewolves require a bit of specialized weaponry to kill." Alanna looked shocked at that revelation. Her grandmother had finished setting the table and interjected. "Not that we have ever found one around here." She said to assure her grandchild. "There have been signs of them passing through but they have never stopped in this area long enough for us to have to dispose of them." She stated in a matter of fact style. Alanna did not really know what to make of that. She had learned so much and had been exposed to so much of the impossible that she just kind of accepted it and moved to wash up a bit for breakfast.
Following another delicious breakfast, Alanna went with her grandmother to the design house to get her fitted with a new wardrobe. Alanna had a good bit of money given that her mother was rather well positioned and her father had left her a small fortune before he passed. Alanna was never sure how he managed it, but on her 18th birthday she received access to an account set up by him when she was a newborn. She was grateful and a little sad that she never really got to know him all that well. It was all the more uncomfortable to be with his mother and spending some of those funds. However, she did manage to leave with several outfits that actually fit her and a promise of a delivery for a few of the other items that had to be constructed. It was late afternoon when they finished so Alanna thought to do some more training.
Alanna went outside to get a feel for the natural magic around her. Her internal magic had replenished with a full night sleep and she decided to practice with it to get comfortable with each spell. Excepting the regeneration spell of course. She also wanted to try to figure out her shapeshifting ability. It would be quite useful to not only know what exactly it did but how to utilize it in her day to day life. After a few hours with no results she gave up on it and went back to training with martial arts and shillelagh when her grandfather had the time and energy.
This continued for about a week and she was beginning to become a bit competent in swinging about the blackthorn staff. For some reason this past week's routine had been both fun and relaxing even though it was mentally and physically exhausting. As she was nearing mana exhaustion once again she felt a strange calling further to the east. She closed her eyes and felt a subtle pull toward the location. She knew from what her grandparents had explained that this was the land nudging her in the direction she would need to go.
She once again entered the cottage and found her grandparents huddled together near a small stone alter with a photograph of her father resting upon it. They held each other and and there were tears trailing down their face. Alanna quietly made her way over and knelt next to them in silence. She felt sorrow but it was a bit detached. She was more empathetic to how they felt and their sorrow was causing her pain more so than any semblance of loss to this man who was all but a stranger. Still, her eyes watered a bit as she sat there. After a short prayer in what she assumed was Gaeilge, or what Alanna imagined was a prayer, they dried their eyes and stood. Alanna waited a while before she explained that she felt a calling to go east. Her grandparents nodded in unison as if her revelation was unsurprising. "Ostara is nearly here. The equinox is a time of renewal. There is much power in the land during this time." Her grandmother confirmed. "The land can talk more freely to us." Her grandfather said. "You should call your family and discuss some of your plans for the future." Her mamó continued. "I am unsure how your trip will turn out but if you go to the underworld or elsewhere" — she paused and looked over to the alter where her son's picture still sat. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her eyes glistened once again with fresh tears. "Well lets just say I know your mother and grandparents would at least like to hear your voice again just in case you know?" Alanna swallowed hard and nodded. She was not really looking forward to those conversations. However, her mamó was correct. She needed to be an adult and at least talk to her mother.
Alanna took a deep breath and pressed the call button on her phone. "Moshi moshi." Came her mothers voice from the other side. "M mā, konbanwa" Alanna replied with a slight stutter. This was going to be a difficult conversation to have. She was certain of that if nothing else.