This tall and creepy man stared her down, Alice took an involuntary step back and she didn't really have a sarcastic quip to throw at him, she wasn't in the mood after all that happened, she sighs once and tries to sound serious
Alice: "Look, I barely know your name and you just took me away from my house telling me people are after me, the only reason i'm not kicking you in the nuts and running to look for guards is because uncle Lucius told me to come with you, now you be a normal person and actually introduce yourself and I'll answer your question."
Isaac: "... You're seriously doing this after I just told you that you're being hunted down by the gods damned inqui-..." Isaac sighs as he looks down at this girl, how is she so goddamned stubborn already? he puts on a wide fake smile and waves his gauntlets up in sarcastic jazz hands "Hi there, my name is Isaac Runeheart, I was the best man at your uncle's wedding because we've known each other for decades and fought together, and you are?" Still keeping the stupidly exaggerated smile he holds his gauntlet out waiting for a handshake
Alice puts on the same fake smile and slaps her hand into his, shaking it up and down as she blurts out in an obviously sarcastic cheerful manner
Alice: "Hi there Isaac, I'm Alice, I've lived with my uncle because I never knew my parents and you apparently visited without ever introducing yourself to me you rude introverted weirdo" she says with the fake smile still on
Isaac gives her a flat look as his smile fades, seriously, he dealt with Lucius' overly competitive bullshit but this level of sarcasm was already grating on his nerves.
Isaac: "...So are you going to tell me how it is you were able to use an ability that the vast majority of people don't even know exist or am i going to have to drag you behind my cart?"
Alice: "I found a book" Alice answers without missing a beat.
Isaac: "That's impossible, tell me how you did it" Isaac responds equally as fast
Alice: "No seriously, I found the book in my original house, there was a hidden compartment, if you don't believe me it should be in the bag already, i never took it out of there"
Isaac chuckles to himself as he picks up her rucksack from the back of the cart, scoffing as he points to it
Isaac: "You're trying to tell me there's a tome in here right? that's what you're trying to tell me?" he keeps chuckling as he sticks his hand in it and starts pulling out everything Isabelle packed, a few rations, some clothing, more and more miscellaneous things, Alice just watches with her arms crossed "You're seriously telling me you happen to have something that entire kingdoms fight over, and it just happens to be in your ho-..."
Isaac pulls out an old looking book, he stares at it in disbelief for several seconds, the cover is in terrible shape, and the runes that decorated it are long since worn and illegible, flipping through the yellowing pages which seem to have gone through a mixture of a rabid dog attack and the subject of an arts and crafts project, the pristine pages he remembers, the runic circles, he traces his gauntlets over one of the very first instructional pages, it's a glued together frankenstein of shredded old parchment and brand new ones filling in the missing parts and then drawn in with charcoal to complete the missing pieces of the text and runic circles.
Alice: "So then, do you believe me yet or are you going to keep spouting bullshit until you die of old age here?"
Isaac: "You... cobbled together the remnants of a tome SO OLD... that under normal circumstances should have been consumed when it's owner has learned everything inside of it... and it's so worn and shitty that it couldn't even self destruct like it's supposed to, and you filled this in yourself with a charcoal pencil..."
Alice: "Well well looks like someone really underestimated me, I mean it was simple really i just filled the pages in following the same pattern, it still worked o-"
Isaac: "And half of these are filled in so wrong that i'm surprised you actually survived implementing these ideas into practice" Isaac closes the book and looks up to her with a raised eyebrow "did the majority of these chapters past the basics even work?"
Alice: "Uhm... well i mean it took me like, eight months, i was trying to do them in different orders though and i just sort of winged it a-"
Isaac: "Wait wait wait, you seriously did this in eight months? from this dusty-ass tome that half of it is probably blowing in the wind somewhere?"
Alice puts on a smirk at his surprise and just sorta waves it off as she chuckles to herself
Alice: "Well it was no big deal or anything i just spent my spare time helping out uncle after taking care of the tavern"
Isaac: "Amazing... you truly have no talent, under normal circumstances the basics are mastered in about 5 weeks" he states flatly as he picks up the items he threw out and tosses them in the storage of the cart, he walks out behind the cart with a sigh, fiddling with reigns and looking at something Alice can't quite see "Honestly, it's amazing you're still in one piece but here we are now"
Alice's smirk dies down as she stomps over to where he is, seriously? she worked this hard and this guy she barely even knows is criticizing her
Alice: "Hey! i didn't have any guidance and i had to fix this stupid book myself, i don't even know why it was even there in the first pla-gyaaAAA!!" Alice yells out as falls to the floor when she finally comes around from behind the cart as large serpent lunges at her, stopping only inches from her face, the scaly creature bearing it's many rows of teeth, roaring and hissing angrily, Alice sees from the ground it's being held back by Isaac as well as several reigns and straps attached to the cart, what the hell even is this thing? it's like a snake but has two.. no, three pairs of limbs? it's easily four meters tall and yet, Isaac was not only holding it back but was petting the damn thing on the head
Isaac: "This is Slipstream, yes she does bite, don't get near her if you want to keep your fingers and arms, now get in the back of the cart, we've wasted enough time and the sooner we start your training the less time i have to spend with you"
Alice gets up and dusts herself off, she watches as he guides the snake back to the front again, with her heart pounding in her chest she doesn't feel as if being confrontational right now will be really all that helpful, she trusts her uncle who trusts... him apparently, and opens the door to the cart. She steps inside and takes a seat, well at least the inside was comfortable, the seats were made of a fur she couldn't recognize and the wood of the carriage had a very intricate and clean design, this seems like something she could see royalty riding in, Alice looks up at Isaac through the window across from her as he now takes a seat and takes up the reigns
Alice: "Training? you keep spouting this and i still don't even know why, and seriously are you actually going to drive a cart through the hills and forests? you are aware the town has a trade road right? or are you only gone so long because you take the worst route you can find?" she rouses up the last drops of smugness she could muster which seem to be thrown back in her face as he grins at her from the window"
Isaac: "Oh geez you have so much to learn... the world is so much bigger than that hick town of yours Lucius settled in, buckle up and get ready to say goodbye to your shitheap of a town kid" And with that he cracks the reigns, the serpent hisses and darts forward down the hill, Alice can't help but put her hands out for support against the fur-lined cushions and wood as they descend, Alice had never gone that fast before, horses could go fast but this was something else, she felt her heart sink as Slipstream sprinted down the hill towards the next one. They quickly reach the bottom and she feels the weight of herself press into the seat as the serpent begins running up the next hill, Alice gasps as she sees the forest line fast approaching in the moonlight.
Alice: "You old idiot you're going to run right into the trees slow this stupid thing down!" She yells to him who just laughs to himself, Alice bounces around the cabin as the carriage wheels hit bumps and small holes, everything is shaking and rattling and the trees are coming in quickly, she keeps yelling to him which seems to be very ineffective with all the shaking and rumbling and he's clearly not listening. So then, this is how i die huh? a carriage going full speed into the trunk of a giant pine, well at least it will end quickly, she closes her eyes and braces herself for the inevitable end... Fortunately it's one that never comes, she opens her eyes wide when she finds herself pressed back into the seat again feeling nearly crushed by the force as the entire carriage tilts upwards, looking out the front window where Isaac is she only sees stars, wait, where are the trees? Eventually the carriage seems to level off and Alice being no longer squished back against her seat inches forward to look out the side windows... that's not grass, those are trees, and up above quickly approaching are... clouds? This shouldn't be possible, this can't be possible, is this carriage... actually flying?!
Alice can't believe it, and in her silence she looks up to see the stupid sarcastic smile of Isaac's looking back at her through the window illuminated in the moonlight
Isaac: "I hope that your confidence isn't gone after this weak-ass shit kid, things are only going to get weirder from here."