“What type of errand?” Arielle asked, as she used her finger to twirl the Calor complex around for her examination. The thin bonds she had just broken were intact once more, and the Calor seemed attached to her in some way she couldn't explain, as there was no obvious connection to her cores.
She wondered why it was following her. Calor had never been particularly attracted to her, at least no more than other essences. Though her cores were still relatively balanced, there was a slight lean towards Vacu and Vitae, since that was what she had been most recently focused on learning.
Massa was now her least-developed core by a fraction of a percent. And Calor and Luxa were developed about the same, somewhere in between highest and lowest.
There was no reason for Calor to cling so stubbornly to her, particularly in this given orientation. She had also never seen a spell reform itself after she broke it before, except perhaps by the Phasewalkers.
Was one of them close by?
“Arielle? Are you listening to me?”
Arielle dragged her attention away from the Calor orbs, realizing that Vittoria had been speaking, but she had zoned out. “No, I did not hear your answer.”
“I said that I'm simply doing a little light cleaning,” she said. “Have you heard of Altazon before?”
“No.”
"It's a volcanic island close to the Kingdom of Pyronis, and in between that and the Armillian Duchy. That’s where I am. You should come here and we can talk while we work.”
“It’s late. Rava will be back soon.”
“I’ll leave something behind to alert us whenever she's close. Until then, you should be with me.”
Arielle only had to consider it for a few seconds. "Okay." She did want to talk to Vittoria, and she was curious about what a volcanic island looked like. She had never seen one before, and had always liked to hear tales of strange places from her sister’s travels.
Pyronis was very far away from Arielle’s home, as it was close to the southernmost of the eastbound continents, where essences originated from. It was one of the legendary kingdoms she had seen in her textbooks. It would be wonderful to see it in real life.
"Don your disguise when you get here," Vittoria said. "But without the cloak. It's hot."
Arielle obeyed, and a second later, she knew that Vittoria had undersold the heat. It wasn’t just hot. The air shimmered, looking nearly liquid, the sun turning the tops of the leaves into glitter. Sweat beaded on her forehead, slicked down her back. Her clothes clung to her skin as she took off her cloak, and Arielle immediately hated the sensation.
She despised the feel of wet fabric. It irritated her skin, frayed her patience, and it was worsened by the whiplash of going from a cool environment to a scorching one.
She clenched her teeth and tried to bear it, closing her eyes and breathing through her nose. It wasn't working. She was just about to ask to be returned to change her clothes when buzzing insects landed on her skin, pricking her before she could slap them away.
"You're overdressed." Vittoria was wearing a thin vest that showed off her muscular shoulders, and shorts that displayed long thick legs, leading into black, laced boots. She had her sword hilt and her EPUQ tucked into a belt at her side, and her hair arranged in a messy bun at the top of her head. Sweat also misted her skin, but she looked to be in a much better condition than Arielle.
With a finger up, she cast a spell that caused a light breeze to cool Arielle’s skin. Another spell removed the sweat from her clothes, leaving them soft and dry once more.
"Thank you," Ari said, breathing out a sigh of relief.
"You're welcome. Your body will learn to regulate itself eventually, but that spell will help speed up the process."
Arielle was grateful. She was dangerously close to ripping her clothes and perhaps even her skin off.
“Here,” Vittoria said and handed her something in an ointment bottle. “It's repellent. Rub it on exposed flesh, and it should keep the insects away. “
Arielle took it, and reluctantly sniffed the cork. She cringed away from the sharp scent.
There was absolutely no way she was putting that on her body. She shook her head and handed it back to Vittoria. "No, thank you."
"Are you sure? Those buggers are tiny and persistent. Some of them transmit diseases. The ointment is the most efficient way to kill them."
“It kills them?” she asked.
“Obviously.”
"That doesn't seem fair," she said. "We're invading their natural habitat and eradicating them for no reason. It's effectively a genocide."
Vittoria raised her eyebrow. "Are you serious?"
She nodded.
"You've never killed a bug in your life."
"Not for no reason." Most Mossborne developed hardened skin and a resistance to insect bites. Arielle's skin had never quite gotten there, but insects never bothered her, though she didn't always enjoy the feel of them crawling on her. "Not unless they're poisonous and about to sting me."
"Wow. I didn't expect you to be such a...conservationist," she decided. "Do you only feel this way about insects, or are you passionate about mammal life too?"
"I wouldn't call it passion," she said. "But yes, I don't believe in killing things unnecessarily."
"Aren't Mossbornes warriors and hunters? Elric mentioned that your sister was an assassin too, right?"
"Yes. We hunt for sustenance, and my sister's work eliminates those who have earned death. She also does it for our sustenance as well." At least that was how Celie had explained it to her. She wondered if Celie still worked now that their family was wealthy. "That is not at all like entering a creature's domain and harming them for no reason."
"There is a reason here, too. Unless you have a better idea of how to keep those carnivorous cretins from gnawing on our flesh?"
Arielle considered it for only a couple of seconds before she thought about a solution. She immediately formed the spell that would spread tiny repelling forces across her skin, making it such that nothing could touch her.
She tested it out, waiting for another sizable bug to fly close enough to perch on her neck.
However, it hovered in the air, refusing to make contact.
She beamed at Vittoria. "See?"
Vittoria's lips twitched, but she did not smile. "What I see is a waste of magical resources."
"It's not a waste. The creature didn't have to die. A loss of life would have been a bigger waste."
Vittoria watched her and then shook her head.
"What I wouldn't give to watch your first assignment in the monster forest," she said.
"That happens next semester."
"I know."
Vittoria cast a beam of light to cut through the thick foliage obscuring their path. She gestured for Arielle to follow her.
“What are we doing here?" Ari asked as they walked, loud chirping mixing in with the brush of leaves and a distant sizzle.
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“Hunting a dragon.”
Arielle blinked. “Sorry?”
With a wave of the hand, Vittoria lifted them both higher in the air, above the greenery. In the distance, Arielle saw a black mountain, the fumes curling above it in the slurry air and touching the clouds.
“What do you think that is?” Vittoria asked.
“A volcano."
“Not just any volcano. Look closer.”
Arielle peered, enhancing her sight with [Sensate].
Veins were traced through rock, pale green like emeralds and emitting tiny sparks of energy. A network of essences was linked over the surface, some of them sinking within, shifting constantly, and recruiting others in the atmosphere.
"It’s magic."
“Yes. It’s what we would call a transcendent volcano, a magical type that has an anchor in more than one realm.” She gestured. “Rifts often occur at its core, but the flames destroy every creature that emerges, unless they are extremely fireproof. However, every once in a while, a dragon, or dragonkin, escapes from the rift, and they settle into the volcano, laying dormant for many years. Typically, we just leave them alone. Dragons aren't violent creatures unless they've been agitated. But when they have, they can raze an entire city to the ground in seconds."
"So we're here to kill an angry dragon?"
She shrugged. "Perhaps."
“Why don’t we just fly there right now? Why are we walking?"
“Because, my dear ingenue, flying into a transcendent volcano with no idea what awaits you is a very good way to get ourselves scorched to the bones,” she said. “We don't know what state the dragon is in, whether it has reproduced or what other creatures it has formed there.”
"If we don't know the state of the dragon, then how do we know it's agitated?"
"From the other things we find on the island," she said. "This island is uninhabited by humans, so the signs can escape us for some time. However, there is a small village in Pyronis close by, and they reported seeing a lava gremlin."
"A what?'
"A dragon's agitation tends to affect the entire environment, spitting out magical frequencies that can morph other creatures living here into monstrosities. One of them is the lava gremlin, usually formed from a corrupted iguana. So far there has only been one sighting, but that doesn't mean there may not be more on this island. The amount of corrupted creatures we find tells us the level of agitation the dragon holds, and that better prepares us to enter the volcano."
"I see," Arielle wondered what aggravated the dragon. Heedy had been aggravated by the Phoenix, but it had been more scared than angry. So what could be bad enough to anger a normally peaceful fire-breathing creature?
She opened her mouth, but before she could ask, Vittoria said, "You don't have to do this, by the way."
Arielle blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I’d understand if you were too scared. I don't imagine you've ever seen a dragon before, and facing such a beast for the first time can be daunting, even to trained mages. I didn't even give you time to prepare."
Arielle remained silent, choosing not to speak so she didn't give anything away.
"It can be terrifying," Vittoria said. "But stay calm. If anything happens, I'll get you out of there.”
Arielle wasn’t scared at all, but it would take too long to explain why not.
“Okay,” she said, and they lowered to the ground.
As they walked, Vittoria used beams of light to clear the way, scanning the ground and the branches for creatures.
Arielle studied the trail of Calor following her. It wasn’t doing anything to her currently. It looked like a low-tier spell and appeared relatively harmless, but she was more so curious about why it was there.
“So," Vittoria said, distracting her, “I don’t know if Elric spoke to you.”
“Yes. He visited me on campus almost a week ago.”
“Good. Did he tell you anything about what we spoke about?”
She nodded. “You want me to become the new High Ascendant.”
“Not necessarily,” she said. “But I don’t think you should have to hide your powers forever either.”
“It’s not forever. It’s only until I grow up and I’m an adult mage.”
“Areille…no. Regular adult mages don’t have powers like yours.”
“I’ll have attained several more levels by then. I’ll probably be a Master, and then work my way into becoming an Archmage." She hoped she didn't have to challenge anyone for that. She didn't want them to lose their cores because of her. "Then I won’t have to hide it anymore. If I level up faster, then I have to hide less. Which is what I’ve been trying to do." She had added more spells to her Grimoire, and had earned enough points to just about reach the next level.
“That plan won’t work and it won’t protect you all the way,” Vittoria said. “Only what I suggested can protect you.’
Arielle exhaled. “If I challenge the High Ascendant, there is a chance that I will have to fight him and become the new High Ascendant.”
“Yes," she said. “But I think you might not have to. I think the High Ascendant will want to negotiate with you."
She shook her head. Even if the chance of a challenge was minuscule, she didn’t want to take it. There was no reason for her to, and she didn't trust this High Ascendant, a man who sought to use her and probably would have let Elric die so he didn't share his precious panacea with him.
“Think about it, Arielle,” Vittoria said, her boots crunching on the leaves. “Think about all the people you can help if you didn't have to hide, if you were able to use your powers to their full potential.”
Arielle put her hand up to block a leaf from hitting her face. “There are already enough archmages, and they each have their own territory.”
“Enough archmages?” Vittoria scoffed. "We don't have nearly enough of anything. All thanks to the greed of the one who rules over us and his fear that with enough of us, we might overpower him."
“But I won’t be able to change that”
Vittoria ticked her head from side to side. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
She glanced at Vittoria, sensing there was more the other woman wasn’t saying.
"You could be a hero, Arielle," Vittoria said. "One that the world desperately needs."
"What if I don't want to be?"
"You don't?"
Arielle shook her head. "I'm not sure what I want yet, except to protect Elric and my family and friends. And learn about magic. I don't know anything about being a hero, and I'm not sure I would be good at it."
Vittoria's face softened. "Oh, Arielle, you should–"
A sudden flare of heat nearly submerged them a split second before the flames arrived.
Vittoria threw up shields first, cutting through the blaze of fire and arching it around them.
Arielle didn't see what was on the other side of the flames at first.
She had to activate Sensate once more, combining it with her aura-reading charm and following the trail of essences to a large serpent, curled underneath a high branch, camouflaged to the darkness, with the only sign of its presence being reddened eyes.
What species is this? Ari wondered.
What interested her more, though, was the orbs she could see within its body with her advanced sight.
A chaotic mess of essences surrounded its internal organs and its brain, causing swelling and pulsing in places. It reminded her of Elric’s body after he’d been poisoned by demons, the complex web of entrapment taking over his being. She remembered how much pain he’d been in, and it made her chest twinge with pity for this creature.
This serpent had likely just been a regular creature minding its business.
Now, through no fault of its own, it was going to die.
The flame stopped for a split second as Vittoria looked up at the creature.
"Well," she said. "I guess we found another one. It’s a level 400. Nothing too bad.”
The serpent bared its fangs, and its mouth opened again in a pained hiss.
Before it could breathe fire, Vittoria leaped up, lifting her sword of light.
Arielle put up a shield to intercept the strike and the flames at once.
Vittoria landed neatly, turned to her and arched a brow. “Arielle?”
"Perhaps there's another way," Ari told her.
"Like?"
Her mind moved quickly, and she wasn't sure of the words as they left her mouth, but she said them anyway. "Perhaps, we can heal it."
It seemed absurd even to Arielle. Neither she nor Vittoria knew how to heal ailments, much less ones like these. The mess of orbs within the creature's body was like Elric's, and Arielle didn't know where to start and didn't know if her interference might make it worse for the creature.
However, if she didn't interfere, it would die anyway, and that would be...a waste.
Not to mention this was a prime opportunity. If she was able to heal the creature, she would gain experience and with that experience, if Elric or someone she cared about ever got poisoned again, she would be able to get rid of the poison without stealing a secret potion from a demon-infiltrated clan.
It could teach her more about magic. Maybe even blood magic.
Nevertheless, she fully expected Vittoria to shoot down the suggestion, claiming it was too dangerous. Until the other woman's expression turned thoughtful.
She put her sword away, binding the serpent to the tree and sealing its mouth to prevent another fiery outburst.
"How?" she asked.
"I'm not sure yet," Arielle admitted. "I'll need time to figure it out."
"Well, my dear, time is something you do not have. I believe your custodian is on her way back."
Arielle swallowed. She didn't want Rava to catch her away from campus, and she didn't want to get in trouble with the dean again either.
She should go and forget about the creature.
But she couldn't.
It reminded her too much of Elric.
Vittoria sighed.
"Okay. Here’s what we’ll do. If you stay here and study how to heal it, I can go back and pretend to be you long enough to follow the custodian to campus. Then I’ll retire to your room, or somewhere private, and return," she said. "But you have to stay here, okay? Don't travel deeper until I get back. And absolutely do not go to the Volcano without me."
She nodded. “Okay. No travelling. No volcanos.”
Vittoria gave Arielle one hard look. "I'm serious, Arielle."
"I understand. I'll be careful."
Vittoria paused as she formed her portal. "You would do all this just to help that creature?"
"Yes," Arielle answered. It seemed like an obvious choice to her.
Vittoria smirked and muttered, "Yeah. Not heroic, at all," before she disappeared.
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