All in all, explaining everything went well aside from tip-toeing around the full-body memory that she experienced. For that, the Ice Sorceress made up a lie that she re-experienced casting Ice Flex for the first time, and, to the best of her ability, described all the sensations she recalled from the experience. Either Iris didn’t decide to call her out on her lie or didn’t realize she was lying.
As expected, the Water Transmuter had questions.
“So you can physically manifest ‘essence’ on your hand?” Iris asked while gesturing with her hand and wiggling her fingers.
“Yes,” Luna replied, amused by the somewhat comical display the Water Sorceress was putting on.
“And it’s not dangerous?” Iris questioned, raising her brow.
“No, not even close,” Luna answered while waving her hand dismissively.
“Well then I don’t see any harm in it. Luna, this is what I’ve always wanted for you, a real elf is now mentoring you. Even though she’s doing it from afar for the moment,” the girl giddily exclaimed while reaching and grabbing Luna’s hands. “Oh this is so exciting.”
“It feels odd though. I still don’t know why she’s staying so far away.”
That burning question was one of many the Ice Evoker had. Polaris was such a strange woman in how she acted. The elf seemed excited to meet Luna when they had their conversation, but now she was keen on keeping her distance. Such contrasting behavior was definitely cause for concern.
“I’m sure she has her reasons. Maybe she’s making sure you’re the real deal? You said she seemed bewildered by your sudden appearance, right?”
The elf had to admit the Abjurer did have a point. What if preparations needed to be made? From the other bluette’s perspective, the elf did suddenly drop into her life out of the blue.
If she put herself in Polaris’ shoes, she’d undoubtedly be cautious as well. Going from believing your entire subspecies was extinct to the sudden appearance of another member must be mind-boggling. It would almost be too good to be true.
Iris did point out another probable factor as well: the Ice Sorceress had zero experience with elven magic. Given that was the case, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to put her through a trial by fire to see if she could withstand the training she would go through later on.
“That makes sense,” the Ice Sorceress replied.
“Hey, can you show me this essence of yours,” the other girl requested, letting go of Luna’s hands.
“I’m not so certain I can do it on command. And unfortunately, I’m only able to produce a very small amount at once.”
The elf didn’t see any point in hiding the truth. The simple matter of fact was that producing the essence put a substantial drain on her body. Moreover, she could only sense a very minute amount of it within her at the moment.
“Oh! Don’t worry about it, maybe another time,” the Abjurer hurriedly assured her in a distressed tone. Obviously the girl was disappointed, but Luna had a sneaking suspicion the girl misunderstood her. Having spent so much time with Iris, she could usually read the girl with ease.
“Sorry Iris, I didn’t mean I wouldn’t do it. I’m just not certain about doing it just yet is all.”
“Oh?” The girl perked up with mild surprise.
“It’s just going to take a little while for me to get used to producing it you know? Kind of like learning how to ride a bike.”
At least that’s the best way she could put it. In reality, it honestly felt like learning how to do something entirely new to her. There were no training wheels to rely on, so there would likely be some falling in the process.
“Ah I see. I didn’t realize how difficult it was to manifest.”
“It’s okay. I just hope that it’ll get easier with time.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get better at it,” Iris reassured her friend. She then looked at her message device and sighted. “For now though, how about we get ready to go out and head to Lilith’s to grab more clothes and other necessities, like the stash of training crystals we were allotted for summer break.”
“Sure,” the elf answered hesitantly. Lilith’s was an odd place for her. While she enjoyed spending time with her Mistress, she always had to wear her cloak, and she’d gotten used to not having to wear it at the estate.
“Alright, let me get changed. We’ll get dinner nearby the college since we’ll probably be late, my shout. Sound good?”
Though she was disappointed that she wouldn’t have the chance to cook, Luna wasn’t one to pass up the opportunity of free food. After all, she currently didn’t have any income.
“Sounds good, Sis.”
The Evoker watched her companion smile as if she had a twinkle in her eye, then saunter upstairs with a visible pep in her step. The elf, meanwhile, went to grab her cloak and mentally prepare herself in the event she ran into another student during their outing.
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It took about half an hour to get from the estate to Lilith’s College for Girls. However, Iris thought it would be best for them to have dinner while they were over there as it would be too late to make dinner when they got back. While Luna disagreed with that it would be too late, Iris explained that it was possible they could run into someone which could significantly delay their return to the Castle Cove Estate.
And so they dined at a small restaurant down the street from the school. After they’d finished their meal, they walked the rest of the way to the college. Because they were already on Meta Street the shortest route would be to use the street’s entrance and walk across campus to the dorms.
Fortunately, most of the girls attending Lilith’s were out in the world on field trips which also served to further their practical experience. Though they’d be returning in a few weeks shortly before Christmas, the field trips were something no proper young girl attending the college desired to miss. The Isozaki sisters and Zoey were probably the luckiest of the bunch. They were in a Russian purple zone with a pair of guides.
Luna could only hope they were safe. Not everyone came back from the field trips, and while she was sure the trio could handle themselves with their two guides, she knew being too optimistic was dangerous. Hopefully they would be back within a week, if not the week after.
As for Lilith’s itself, the elf knew only two things really mattered about the school: money and talent. If one had lots of money or were a high-tier caster compared to the rest of the student populace, they’d be popular around campus. Of course, being a high-tier caster student meant one could easily make enemies with others. Such was the price of achieving high marks in a school full of spoiled children.
Aside from its odd, colonial-inspired architecture, Lilith’s campus was also quite eye-catching. Purple banners adorned with the name and sigil of the college gently swayed against the sides of the college’s buildings. All around campus were carefully manicured lawns, accessorized with a mix of magical and non-magical flowers. The Maguses in charge of Lilith’s spared no expense in making the campus aesthetically pleasing.
To enter the campus, the girls had to present their assigned key glyphs to a mandala on the gate, which would subsequently unlock it and allow them entrance to the campus. This prevented unwelcome guests from wandering about, as well as gave the younger students a strong sense of safety and security.
Upon entering from Meta Street, one could find the Aspinall Hall to their immediate right. The building was often used to welcome guests and prospective students. It also housed classes for pre-junior students. Occasionally, events for families of students took place in the hall as well.
To their left was the Duncan Practice Field, where duels were held between students up to battles between teams of five. It was well kept and had a variety of features from various terrains to a dual-layered force cage that extended roughly forty meters into the air, allowing for limited aerial combat to take place.
The elf herself had battled on the field manyl times before. Occasionally one of the other students would challenge her to a duel with the stakes usually involving her taking off her cloak to reveal her appearance. Mostly thanks to her aerial combat ability, the Ice Evoker had yet to lose to someone from Lilith’s other than Eriza, whose speed and ability to strike her from a distance always forced her to remain grounded.
Beyond the practice field was Taylor Hall, home to the senior and junior students’ classes, as well as the occasional guest lecturers and tutors. It was also home to the campus’ Cognisance Chamber, something Luna had only stepped into once before. That was shortly after she began showing magical potential. Elsie was so proud of her.
Luna bit her tongue for letting her mind wander. She needed to keep those memories she’d reawoken suppressed. All they would do is cause her more pain and suffering in the long run. The Elsie she knew was gone, and wouldn’t be coming back.
To the right of Taylor Hall was Macindoe Research Center, named after the late Water Sorceress Edith Macindoe, who was famous for her research on anything magical, whether it be spellcraft or fauna. If one had a complicated question and needed an answer, Macindoe was the go-to person.
To the north of Taylor Hall was the Webby Building, a place where one could find for sessions with a private Magus tutor, as well as plan for life post-graduation. Another building Luna had never set foot in, and with the possibility of being mentored by Polaris saving her from conscription she had no desire to enter it.
A path between all of these buildings led to the courtyard, where the dorms and the Ephraim building stood. The Ephraim Building was named after the late Magister Ephraim, an Earth Sorceress famous for her research on magical creatures and plants. The hall itself was home to several different species of magical fauna, kept for research and teaching purposes. At the top of the building was a butterfly insectarium, where the younger students could raise and care for their own butterflies. Luna fondly remembered naming hers Butterscotch.
As they made their way between the buildings towards the courtyard, Luna couldn’t help but admire how odd it was that there was no one about except for themselves. It was a Saturday evening after all, and one usually would see at least a few students walking out and about. An eerie sight for sure. To distract herself, she decided to strike up a conversation with her Mist- newly made sister.
“Hey, do you think we should leave a note for the others so they know where we’re staying?”
“I think the first thing they’re going to do is try message us once they’re at the ISTC,” the girl shrugged.
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“That makes sense. Knowing Zoey, she’s chomping at the bit to make sure you’re alright.”
“I’m more worried about them. Eriza did insist they remain a party of three accompanied by their two guides.”
Luna recalled the event. When Iris told her she and Luna wouldn’t be able to go to Russia because of the Water Abjurer’s father, the Evoker made quite a scene. It seemed like the girl would actually storm off to find the man and tear him limb from limb. And given Eriza’s ability to pop off spells was on par with Iris’ father if not a little faster, there was a small chance she would succeed in her enraged state. Fortunately, they were able to calm her down before she did such a thing. Eventually, she accepted the reality that had been given to her but insisted she only go with her sister, Zoey and the guides, as they had earned this chance.
Whereas the rest of the juniors were bundled together, Iris’ circle of friends having higher marks than the highest marking students at Joseph Banks, a fact which the headmistress of Lilith’s enjoyed gloating about. This hadn’t gone unnoticed by the students at the rival school, but it seemed they didn’t mind waiting until the inter-high competition to settle the score.
Eriza’s impulsiveness, however, remained a problem. As her elemental affinity grew, so did her spontaneity. Given her strong desire to protect her sister, she had the tendency to make thoughtless decisions that put everyone in danger. And without the synchronization of her regular team, there was even further reason for concern. Their abjurer guide certainly had his work cut out for him.
“Now I’m worried. Hopefully Eriza hasn’t already put them into harm’s way,” the Ice Evoker sighed.
“Hopefully her sister and Zoey have been able to keep her impulsiveness to a minimum. It would have been worse if she’d been stuck with someone she didn’t like.”
By now they’d reached the courtyard. At the center, an old ficus tree loomed. Below it, an elegant and well-manicured garden lay, featured dozens of magical plant species. There were hand-carved benches for students to relax and study on. It was one of the college’s center-pieces, only topped by the dueling field that took up the entire north-eastern section of campus.
Luna quickly jogged towards the dorms on the right, making her way up the stairs to the entrance and opening the door for her friend.
“I can’t imagine that ending well,” she shuddered. “If she got stuck with Jackie she’d definitely blow a gasket.”
“Now that would be a nightmare. Eriza would end up getting expelled or at the very least suspended,” the Water Sorceress chuckled as she began walking up the stairs.
“You think they’ll find a spirit?”
“I doubt it. Spirit cores are rare. The experience they’ve gotten, however, is probably well worth the trip and then some. It’s not every day you go out into a purple zone and they’ve spent at least two months surviving in one.”
“That’s true. We’ll just have to wait and see I guess.”
Six flights of stairs later, they were on the top floor. Their room was halfway down the hall to the right. Everything appeared to be the same as they had left it the previous morning. Immediately, Luna made her way for her closet and began storing everything in sight in her medium storage ring.
“Oof. I should downsize sometime,” Iris announced as she opened her closet.
“You? Downsize? Who are you, and what did you do with my sister?” Luna sarcastically asked, turning her head to smirk at the girl.
“Luna I’m serious. My closet is practically bursting with clothes.”
Iris was leaning back from her closet, sweating a little bit. Had the girl not realized before that her wardrobe was stuffed to the brim? Her shopping addiction was partially to blame. Whenever Iris was stressed out, it wasn’t uncommon to see her go out and buy several dresses with a pair of shoes to match. Even now, she was wearing a gray shirtdress with a pair of black mary janes that she’d bought on one of her binges.
“Your retail therapy addiction is partially to blame, Mist- Iris.”
“I do no such thing,” Iris stammered, trying to hide the blush taking over her face.
“Oh?”
There was a pause before the girl hesitantly added on, “Except maybe on the weekends.”
Luna smirked again and rubbed her fingers together as if she were rolling LDMs between them. With her free hand she closed her closet, now empty of clothing and shoes. Having an organized wardrobe made storing it much more manageable.
“Hey it’s not like you don’t treat yourself, Luna.”
Of course she did, but only on rare occasions to celebrate achievements, such as the creation of a signature spell like Iceball or the completion of an equally impressive goal. Actually, now that she thought about it, would the sudden appearance of her essence warrant one of these trips? Quickly the elf shook the thought from her mind. There were more important presently issues at hand.
“I do that maybe once a year. Besides, you know I like to keep it simple.”
“Which is the problem.”
How could not shopping be a problem? The only issue she could see would be her style, which Iris had always claimed was sorely lacking.
“Oh come now Iris, my style isn’t that bad. I have that nice shirtdress you bought me.”
“Yeah that you’ve worn what, once? And even then it was underneath the cloak you wore to the party.”
“Well it’s not like I can just come out about my identity. Especially not now given what Polaris said.”
Iris hesitated before responding. Then she sighed and smiled softly while closing her closet.
“It’s true that things have changed Luna, but you really need some more dresses. This Polaris seems like she has no issues being around humans I’m guessing you’ll have to occasionally dress to impress.”
Luna bit her lip. If Polaris’ friend had an apprentice, that meant they’d have some repute. Of course they would. A human mage who was the friend of an elf and lived in a Frontier city surely had to have connections of some sort. Perhaps Iris was right and she did need to expand her horizons.
“I’ll think about it,” the elf said.
“Good. Anyway, I think I’ve got everything I need, you good to go?”
“Yeah. Let’s go home.”
With that, the duo left their dorm room and made their way back outside of the dorms, hailed a taxi and headed back to the Castle Cove Estate.
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The chaos of the past couple days had thrown Luna entirely off schedule. Not one to enjoy such a thing, Luna had to return to her regular schedule. Sleeping would once again be neglected except for maybe once a week when she really needed it. Only then would it be advantageous given her current situation. Mastering two different forms of magic wasn’t going to be easy, after all.
Given she woke Iris up at 5 a.m., she considered that the start of her day. She’d allow Iris ten minutes to get dressed and have time to wake-up. After which the pair would jog around the neighborhood for about an hour. Breakfast would be had upon their return, and they’d lay out their respective plans for the day.
By 7:00 Luna needed to be practicing her spell casting. One of the advantages of being bayside was that she could directly use the bay as a target. That way she didn’t damage the landscaping which she couldn’t afford to repair. For the next four hours, she would train, meditating when her mana had been used up until it was sufficiently restored.
With her old schedule, from 9:00 a.m. till whenever her Mistress went to sleep, she would spend her time at the girl’s side, serving her in whatever way was deemed to be most productive.
Now that Iris had absolved their former relationship, she was free to do as she pleased throughout the day. That didn’t mean she would completely set the girl aside though. There ought to be a specific time for them to hang out, given that she now had a new type of magic she needed to practice with.
And so she worked out an agreement with Iris that at 11:00 a.m. they would get an hour of sparring in. The inter-high competition was coming up, and Iris was hellbent on making her group well known during it. Luna couldn’t let the girl get rusty while her teammates were away, since her future likely rode on how well Iris did in the competition, even though she may very well become an apprentice under Polaris before they graduated.
At noon she took an hour-long break to hang out with Iris and have lunch. Though there were no restaurants around Castle Cove, the elf made the best of the situation to practice her cooking. She wasn’t terribly good at it, so having the opportunity present itself to her was delightful. It was a welcome change from eating out all the time, even if there were no mana benefits in the food itself.
From 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. she would train in whatever she believed best at the time. Whether it be sparring with Iris, physically working out, spell training, devising signature spells or essence training. As long as it was some form of training that she was progressing with, she would be happy.
At 5 p.m. she would begin making dinner, and then for the rest of the night until Iris went to sleep she would spend quality time with the Water Sorceress, whether it be preparing strategy-wise for the Inter-High or merely relaxing. It was important to spend quality time with loved ones after all, lest one forget what their family means to them.
Finally, when Iris went to sleep or wanted to be left to her devices, Luna would sit out in the yard. She would meditate most of the night, only stopping to manipulate and manifest her essence before returning to meditation. This would continue until 5 a.m., after which the cycle would begin anew.
Of course, she occasionally did have to sleep, or at least that’s what she felt like she had to do. And so whenever she felt like she needed sleep, she would spend a little time meditating after Iris went to bed before sleeping for the night.
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Wednesday night.
Luna sat next to the rocky shore that she and Iris dueled on in the mornings, staring out at the bay lit by the moon and city lights. If she had to guess what time it was, it would be somewhere around 3 a.m. Compared to the dorms, staying up at night was nice because she could see the moon and the view was pretty with all the lights reflecting on the water. Though she did wish all the city lights could be turned off for a while so the stars would be visible. But such things were unavoidable in the city.
Compared to the nights she spent as a servant, the ones after were much more relaxed. Instead of focusing on spellcraft formulae and theorems, she was able to do something much more relaxing. It was strange. Each day she felt the embrace of her natural surroundings become stronger, even if only a little.
This odd gut feeling that she belonged with nature when she meditated was strange. She’d felt the embrace of nature the first time she focused on it while meditating under Polaris instruction. But when she’d meditated before Polaris’ instruction, she’d never felt such an embrace.
The contrast between how the Ice Sorceress’ essence tried to drag her away from reality and how nature tried to embrace her was also bizarre. It was like a tug of war, though the gentle feeling of being tugged away from reality was only faintly present. Which brought up the question: if her essence allowed her to connect with nature, then why did it feel like it was trying to tug her away from reality?
Luna recalled the events of Saturday. She was forced into a full-body experience of one of her childhood memories when she consumed some of her essence. That alone definitely didn’t seem normal to her.
The Ice Sorceress also recalled that Polaris had said that her essence was the spiritual energy that allowed her to connect with nature. If that were the case then was it similar to elementally attuned mana? Luna knew for a fact that she looked different from any elf she’d previously read about, it only made sense that elves would have affinities too. If that were the case, it would explain why the sensations she got from her essence and nature were different. But how would that affect her appearance?
Another question had been raised as well: what was her elven affinity then? A power that causes one to remember things that have been forgotten? Hold on, Polaris said something along the lines of that in her letter didn’t she?
“!” Luna waved her right hand over her left and summoned the letter from her storage ring. Scanning it, she found precisely what she was looking for.
You see, when you appeared in my grot, the world was remembering you, likely because your essence had been roused for some reason.
If that were the case, then it wasn’t a stretch to believe her newfound magic to at least some degree had the effect of causing things to be remembered. At least if she had the same kind of essence as Polaris. But what kind of magic would have that kind of effect? None of the planes the elf had heard of, at least.
“!” Luna stowed the letter back in her storage ring and softly sighed. Too many questions, too much confusion and too few answers, she supposed.
All she could do for now was meditate. And so meditate she did. It was becoming more routine with each attempt and though only a few days had passed, she felt the amount of essence she produced had increased, but only by a very slight amount.
That was good progress. At least she hoped it was. It was hard to tell since she was only given instructions. Nonetheless, the girl became entranced.
Just as nature had felt like it was trying to embrace her, she was trying to embrace it. It was her best idea for making the connection more robust, and it seemed to be working. Each day she felt like she was getting a little closer. But she still had a long way to go.
About half an hour passed as Luna embraced her surroundings as best she could, trying to feel out the plants and what little mana in the surrounding area there was. Eventually, she felt as though she was as close as she could get. And so, she reached out her arm in front of her.
But before she began to move her essence through her arm, a thought came to mind: why not try circulating her essence again? She’d gotten better at moving it through her body, so why not try to move it slowly throughout her body, similar to how she learned to circulate her mana.
Luna prepared herself. She wanted to be ready in case she suddenly experienced another full-body memory. The last time it happened was enough to break her, and she didn’t want to become a teary-eyed mess with only a little over an hour until she had to wake Iris.
Relaxing her body, Iris gently began to shift her essence around. As she did, that familiar dreamy feeling slowly took over her senses briefly. It didn’t just feel like the typical gentle tugging from reality sensation. This time it was refreshing. Her whole body felt rejuvenated as her essence swirled about within/ It felt like all her energy had been restored at once.
Ooh, what a rush. This is definitely not what I expected.
The pleasant feeling lasted well over a minute before fading. The elf, now fully awake, tried to process what she just experienced. First her essence could restore memories and now it could energize her? What else could it do?
The only way to find out was through experimentation. That was essentially what Polaris told her. And experiment she would.