The First Mage

Illuminated by the moon and an array of lanterns placed around our testing ground in the temple’s garden, Aelene stood alone in the distance, looking at me expectantly. Green skidmarks on her robe made it clear that she had seen the ground up close more than once today, and we weren’t done yet.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“This is the finale, right? The big one? If this works, we’re done?”

“Well, yes, but—”

“Let’s do it then.”

She widened her stance and let loose. Her aura grew denser and started swirling around her, making it difficult for us to see her.

“Alright...” I said, focusing on her.

My arm raised, I aimed our strongest water stream script straight in Aelene’s direction. It had decimated trees before, moderators evaporated on touch, and now we would see what it would do to her.

“Ready!” I shouted.

On this que, she concentrated her mana in front of her, creating a white wall that obscured her entirely. Finally, I made the shot, and dozens of liters of water shot out in her direction. Mere fractions of a second later, the wall disappeared, she was hit by the water, and flew backwards at high speed. No creature known to me, be it human or beast, would be able to withstand this force. This was of little importance, however. We watched her get hit and roll over the ground, and we knew it had worked. Our goal was accomplished, and we had even gone past that.

“Yay!” Riala said, throwing her arms into the air. “It works!”

A smile crept onto my face. “So it seems. Aelene, are you okay?” I shouted.

She slowly propped herself up. Soaked from head to toe, she looked down at herself in disgust. “Ugh... Yeah, I’m okay.”

This confirmation out of the way as well, I pumped my fist in the air. “Hell yea!”

Turning away from Aelene, I looked at the others. Oryn was furiously jotting down notes about absolute everything that was happening, zoned out too much to celebrate. Berla, who had joined us in the late afternoon, had fallen asleep on a bench, exhausted from her own training. And while Hati seemed somewhat curious, his way of calmly observing our actions wasn’t lending itself to celebrations either. Based on these reactions, I felt a bit awkward, but the child at my side alleviated this.

“We did it!” I said to Riala.

“Yup!”

With quelching steps, Aelene approached us from the side. “Feeling good? Must be nice.”

“Come on! This is amazing!” I gushed. “Not only can we break through the barrier with the new script, we also know how to defend against it!”

“Yes, I know. It is great. Could you still give me a towel, please?”

“Oh, heh. Of course. Sorry about that.”

I grabbed a towel from a stack resting next to Oryn, handing it to her, and she proceeded to dry herself off. It wasn’t the first time today that she had gotten wet, but it hadn’t been to this extent before. Her mood was soured a little.

“That’s it then? We’re done?”

“Yea...” I said remorsefully. “Aelene, I really appreciate what you’ve done. Half of these tests we couldn’t have done without you. Thank you.”

She glanced at me through gaps between the towel’s ends as she dried her hair. I was relieved to glimpse a small grin. She sighed and said, “You’re welcome. But... I hope you’re not going to need this kind of help again anytime soon.”

“That shouldn’t be necessary,” I said with a chuckle.

She had honestly taken a bit of a beating, even though she hadn’t been injured in the process. After explaining to her that, unlike the approaches of certain other people, all our tests would be conducted safely and controlled, she came around. From there, she took everything like a champ, even if it sent her flying through the garden.

“And it’s not like I didn’t benefit from this training...” she said, hanging the towel around her neck. “I still can’t believe the dagger didn’t penetrate my skin.”

“And I that you actually managed to do everything I asked you to do. Most of it was just theories! Now we gotta learn how to do it ourselves,” I said, smiling at Riala.

“Mh!” She gave me a vigorous nod.

The tough skin of the moderators... the ability to block mana attacks... a script to break through this defense... and even one to modulate the mana enough to bypass the new script...

We discovered a lot and proved quite a few theories of mine in this one day. Granted, we essentially just needed to test what I had already worked out in my mind, but it was still quite a rush. Me and Riala didn’t yet have the mana control necessary to do all the things Aelene had demonstrated, but hopefully that would come in time. More importantly, we had a weapon against Arax now.

“I’ll be honest, this went much smoother than expected. Guess I can make the trip to Cerus before the next eighth day after all.”

“You’re going to Cerus?” Aelene asked in surprise.

“Yea. We need to determine what state the town is in and check whether we’ll be able to rely on its resources going forward. Some merchants already complained that we haven’t announced anything yet.”

“Right... It must be difficult for them. You were there, right? In Cerus?”

“After everyone was already dead, yea... Lilly sent me to protect the last caravan.”

Thinking about it, Tomar and Reurig were lucky they didn’t meet more moderators back then. Let’s hope we’re lucky again.

“Hm... When are you leaving?”

“Well, I suppose tomorrow or the day after. That leaves enough time to travel there with a few wagons afterwards, should it be viable.”

“I see. In that case, could we talk privately for a moment?” She gestured for me to step away and turned around, moving.

Oh dear... What now?

“Be right back,” I told the others.

Following Aelene, I expected her to stop after a couple of meters, but to my surprise, she kept walking, almost to the edge of the garden. Figuring that she might want to escape even Hati’s ears, I kept going after her. Close to the wall, where the lights from the lanterns didn’t reach anymore, she finally came to a halt and turned back around to look at me with a gloomy expression. However, it became apparent quickly that whatever she had wanted to talk about, she hadn’t thought it through. We just stood there, her mouth opening once or twice, but she didn’t end up saying anything. Eventually, I felt the need to restart the conversation.

“Everything okay?”

“I... Yes, I just don’t know how to begin.”

After receiving scraps of new information about their relationship today, I had several ideas in mind for why she might ask for a private conversation with “Tomar,” but her scrunched up brows did not look like this was going to be a declaration of love.

That’s something at least. The age difference would’ve seemed a bit much anyway. Not that I’m one to talk... But if there isn’t anything between them, then what—

“Can we just be friends for the time being?” she said, leaving me bewildered.

“Huh?”

“I feel like... we have rushed things, you know? I was in a bad place, and we were in our own little world in your house. Seeing you out here... I realize we know each other so little.”

“Uhu...” I was frozen, barely able to comprehend what she was saying.

She’s... breaking up with Tomar? Do I have that right? They’ve only known each other for a week and a half... What happened there?

“I thought it might be best to talk this through now if you’re going to be gone for a while. What do you think?”

Honestly? Not much right now... Can I do anything but agree with her? I have enough woman problems on my hands already for christ’s sake...

“Yea,” I said, nodding. “You’re probably right.”

Seemingly disappointed, Aelene averted her eyes. If this conversation was so difficult for her, there must’ve been quite the spark between them. But in a way, I was fortunate that she was putting a stop to it. I wouldn’t have to navigate a minefield of potential issues.

When she glanced at me again, however, her face partially covered by her still wet hair, and the moon reflected in her eyes, my heart skipped a beat.

Whoa...

“That’s certainly best,” she said. “And while you’re away, I will try to find a new place to live. Maybe we can talk again afterwards.”

“Wait, you don’t have to move out.”

“No, I think it’s better.”

“Don’t force yourself, really. I offered you to stay at my house because it wouldn’t have been used otherwise. I would’ve stayed at the temple under normal circumstances. Feel free to stay there, and I’ll just not come over as much anymore?” I said, uncertain.

She was taken aback. “You’re not mad or disappointed at all?”

Sad might be more apt... Tomar was starting to live his own life and I didn’t even know... But no, he wouldn’t be mad. Disappointed though? She is beautiful, so yea, that stands to reason.

“That’s not it, but your reasoning makes sense. And of course I wouldn’t kick you out over that. Just stay at the house for now, and we’ll go from there,” I said with a smile.

After a moment, she smiled back at me. “Okay.”

“Good. Should we get back then?”

“Yes, let’s,” she said and walked past me.

Watching after her, a sigh escaped my lips as my brain slowly started to process everything. Confusingly, I had felt something for her at that moment. However, while Aelene was gorgeous by traditional standards, she was absolutely not my type. You can’t necessarily always control what you feel for someone, but this was way off course. Unlike Hayla, who I could justify with our day together in my confused state, I didn’t have an explanation here. Except for one possibility.

If Tomar had feelings for her... is that what I’m experiencing?

Deep in thought, I started walking back as well. It was when I had almost reached the others, that, all of a sudden, a deafening explosion sounded through the air.

“Wah!”

“What!?”

Aelene and Oryn immediately cowered in fear, while Berla’s eyes shot open and she jumped up, her, me, Riala, and Hati looking around in a panic, trying to determine where this had come from.

“What was that!?” Riala asked, focusing on me.

“That was an explosion...” I said, scanning our surroundings. “But there are no explosives in this world, are there?”

“I don’t know what that is,” Berla said, “but I think it came from the market district.”

Seconds later, the warning bells started ringing, signaling that something had happened—as if that wasn’t obvious enough. However, it was a general signal, and not one about beasts.

Berla’s and my gazes met and we nodded at each other.

“Aelene, Oryn, you go back into the temple, we need to check what happened there.”

Without waiting for a response, the rest of us were off.