Perspective

Kàra

The shorter woman jumps up when I clear my throat, clearly not having anticipated another. To be fair, that was the intended result, so I can't fault her for it.

When she spins around, she's speechless for a moment as she looks over my armor, up to my face. I suppose that my armor is quite eye-catching, with the contrast between Orichalcum's golden and Mithril's silvery color. Perhaps it's been mistaken for mundane silver and gold? It would be far from the first time.

I decide that she's had enough time to look at the (admittedly very over-the-top) armor, and speak up first. "Are you... Lavender Wisteria?" I speak politely, quickly snapping the jumpy one back to the matter at hand.

"The one and only! But you can call me Lav. What about you?" Quite energetic, I suppose.

I'm never calling her that.

Looking over her a bit more closely, her eyes are violet. A rather odd color, but nothing of particular note. "Very well. I am Kàra. I've been sent as... A guardian. Now, I'm curious..." I see dread overcome her face. It's always entertaining to see the sheltered ones realize they don't have smarts when it comes to this. "Why were you rummaging around in an empty bush?"

Five seconds, roughly. She stands up, brushes off her lab coat, and spends five seconds mentally fumbling for an answer. It would be rude to smile, so I try not to. Try.

"I have absolutely no idea. I was looking for food."

It takes every ounce of my being to not laugh at that. She really is sheltered, isn't she? It sounds like she's never been out of whatever city she's from. I've dealt of plenty of recruits like that in my time. I bring my hand up to my face to cover my smile, but it doesn't do much.

"Well... I should've expected that." I finally let a chuckle free at the shorter woman's misfortune. She has to be, what? Five and a half feet? Shorter than I am used to, and it almost hurts my neck to look that far down. "You've never had to rough it out in the wilderness, have you?" The answer to my question is already known, but it makes it easier for the rookie to say it themselves.

“…My job required that I stay inside, and contaminants were to be avoided.” Oh? That's an interesting answer. Hm... Normally, it was alchemists and healers that were so strict on such things... Perhaps I'm dealing with something similar?

“Well, things will be different now that you’re out here. Not my first time showing someone this sheltered the ropes, and this place seems…”

I take a nice, long glance over the forest. At least from where I'm standing, I don't see a single trace of any other people here. That's good.

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Years ago, before I was... Imprisoned, as a 'Valkyrie', I led platoons, among other things. "Safer than what I'm used to. Just us here, I believe." It's true. My words aren't false reassurance. Out here in the wilderness, with people that know what they're doing, what you have to worry about the most is other people, whether bandits, or... Opposing groups. We essentially have free reign here, outside of natural disasters, if we are truly alone here.

She doesn't seem to get that. "We're in the middle of nowhere. In what way is this safe?" As expected. I let myself chuckle at the question. It's always fun to see people learn about this. "Safer than setting up camp near an army. Now… Do you know how to put together a lean-to?" At my words, she tries to speak up. "You will soon." It's obvious enough she doesn't. Now, let's see how well she does?

It takes us under an hour, and it's already beginning to grow darker. I'll admit; I should have looked at the sky when I was first here. It may be too late to scavenge for food or water... That can wait a day, but it's not optimal.

Regardless, for someone so sheltered, Lavender picked up fast, and was more helpful than just another set of hands like I expected, even if she seems to want to just go ahead and complain for an hour. It wouldn't be my first time listening to someone over such a thing, but she seems to be intending to go without any complaints.

Looking upon it, I can't help but be somewhat prideful. A lean-to isn't the best shelter, but it works well as one when you have no other resources on hand, and this one should hold up for the night. "It's not looking half bad." I speak up truthfully. It's especially not good for someone who's likely never made such a thing before. Not exceptional, but... I like to think that I'm a good teacher.

"...In what world is this good?" Seems someone's a bit of a perfectionist? "In one where we have… A couple hours until the sun’s going down, and we need to slap something together." She glances up at the sky, taking my point. This way, it fortunately seems less like my oversight and more like actual wisdom.

"So, this could cover us for the night… Before then, though… Food and water.” I speak up while Lavender looks to the sky. “Fortunately for you, I’ve no plans to do things the proper way. Even lake water will work. I have my… Methods, to purify it.” I decide not to ruin the surprise. One could say that Light Magic has some... Rather interesting uses, when it comes to utility, and purifying water is only one of them. I'm quite glad that I've learned that application, at the very least.

Lavender raises an eyebrow at that. I suppose the way that I said it could be quite shady-sounding. “And if we find anything to hunt, handling it should be simple enough.” I'm more than fast enough to hunt just about any animal, with my spear. It shouldn't be a problem.

"But first..." I've realized that I'm not quite familiar with Lavender, the stranger that she is. “I suppose that we have a bit of time now, to relax. How about a bit of talk, so we know what we can do?” I wouldn't dislike sharing more about myself, or learning more about the one that I'm to protect. “Well then. You can call me Dr. Wisteria, PhD in Chemistry.”

" What?" ...Chemistry? PhD? I've never heard of either of these. A difference in culture, or perhaps by her strange uniform, development. I see. I'll ask for clarification, nonetheless.

"...Where's the confusion?" The Doctor mainly seems confused. Fair enough. “You’re speaking of things I haven’t heard of, simple as that.” I start widely. I can ask more detailed questions soon enough.

The 'Doctor''s face twists to one of pity for a moment, but as she's about to speak up, something appears before my eyes.

Welcome, Visitor, to Arde.

System integration will soon begin.

This... Is abnormal.

Is this magic? I narrow my eyes, perceiving the mana in the air. If this is an illusion, I could tell fairly easily...

But while it's clearly formed of magic... There is no spell matrix. It's as if the mana in the air simply formed this way.

Either that, or there's a caster far more experienced than I am.

Either way, this... Is peculiar.