About two months passed since Io came home to Erville. The threat of the Tyrant and the instability of the kingdom had long passed. As the end of summer passed, and fall came, crops came to be harvested, the three kids: Aydan, Jep and Mel had been called to help out their families who were diligently working on the fields, meanwhile Io was asked to look after Irene, as she was free most of the day time, and was busy working in the silence of the night on documents, letters, plans and blueprints that were required for the University of Magic that was built atop the Blasted Mountain, the Mountain that got it's new name after Io decided to detonate a quarter of it.
Since that day the kids visited Io, they had been meeting her on the daily, as she tried to teach them to read. The initial plan of reading about the kids' interests was a failure. A huge one… The kids simply couldn't put the letters together even when Io was trying her best to make them recognize the difference between 'a' and 'u'. So she sent a mail to one of her old teachers, who responded by sending a book that detailed the various methods to teach reading. This way the kids finally showed some progress. Mel was quicker than the two boys, but Aydan was really hard to deal with… He soon lost interest in reading and failed to show up a couple of times. Only to find himself suddenly appear in Io's room sitting with a book in his hand. Nevertheless, Io found teaching really hard.
Meanwhile, Irene was busy pestering the ancient wolf spirit, which was force to serve the lazy arch mage as a common courier. Initially, Fey was annoyed by the little girl who barely came to this world three years ago. The pats and hugs of the little bugger felt to Fey like he was being disrespected, but a look into the small child's hearth revealed that the gestures were of honest love and pure joy of an innocent soul. Soon, the ancient spirit opened up to Irene, and they were outside playing, where they wouldn't bother the others. They even went on adventures, though this soon stopped after the villagers complained that a 3 year old riding a snow white wolf with speeds unrivaled in this plain was probably not a good idea. So they stuck to the Io's courtyard.
Perhaps this was the reason why the ancient spirit straight up forgot about the contract they forged with Io. He did got reminded by Io, who remembered their terms being two weeks late, but Fey just simply answered "I don't mind staying for now".
One morning, around the end of the harvesting season, after a decent rain, Mel was free from helping her parents, so she decided to pay a visit to the forest, taking Irene with her, since their parents were still busy, and Io was estimated to sleep until midday. After a good rain, this was the perfect time to collect mushrooms. It wasn't the first time Mel did this, since her father taught her well on which species are edible and which are to be avoided, and despite Irene being so young, she could learn one or two things from her sister. They had been strolling through the vast forest that was circling the village and its farmlands.
Nothing really felt out of the ordinary. It was a simple walk in the park. Until the two sisters heard an explosion coming from the village. Then another, smaller one. And another followed it, a bit closer. And yet another one, followed by many more, each coming closer and closer. Mel and Irene felt something bad is happening. That's when both of them started to feel an itching sensation atop their palms. The two sisters looked at each other scared when they noticed a faint growl behind them. A growl of a rabid dog.
Mel grabbed her sister, and tried to leg it, but in the hesitation, she fell over, and the dog attacked. "This is it" she thought, and instinctively raised her hand. As she opened her palm the dog dropped on the ground and began the viciously throwing its head around like something was holding it down. It looked something like it was in great pain, like something was tormenting it.
And then…
BOOM. "BARRIER" Io yelled as she landed behind the two girls embracing them under her protective arms. Not a second later Fey was mauling the poor dog to shreds.
It was all so sudden. Mel sat on the ground, looking at the remains of the creature in shock. Irene just began to cry, burying her face in Io's chest.
Io slowly let the protective bubble fade away, after Fey made sure that not a single soul can figure out what creature did the mauled corpse belong too. She picked up the crying toddler and embraced her in an effort to calm her down. But something was not right. Io looked at Mel, who was still in shellshock with widened eyes, like she was trying to understand a glyph made by an ancient culture long gone from the realms.
Once Irene calmed down, Io handed her to Fey, who transformed into his humanoid form, and helped Mel up. She looked her straight in the eye, still searching for that something. Mel never seen her looking like this. Behind the messy hair and the sleepless eyes was something that frightened her.
Io finally asked: "Where did you learned that!?"
Mel didn't understand. She just stood there with weak legs, almost collapsing, as she couldn't understand her teacher.
Io asked again: "Mel, I need to know where you learned to use torment."
Mel was still frightened by the sight Io was giving. She felt like she was in deep trouble, when finally her legs gave up, and she fell unconscious.
She woke up tucked in her bed, surrounded by her parents, her sobbing sister, and Io, who was sitting on a chair in the corner of her room.
As Mel opened her eyes, Io pulled out a small flask and handed it to her.
"Drink up." Said the arch mage with a strict tone, though she was more was looking more presentable than her morning self. It was nearly dusk by now.
"What's this?" asked Mel, still confused.
"A mana potion, now drink up before you fall unconscious again."
Mel obliged, but as she was drinking, the memories of the encounter started revealing themselves. "What happened?"
Io began explaining to the frightened girl: "You two were attacked by a rabid dog, you used torment on it somehow, I and Fey came to the rescue, and you fell out of consciousness because you burned all your mana up. Congrats on that one…"
"I'm sorry, what?" asked Mel as she chugged down the last drops of the potion.
"By some miracle you learned a tier two spell. That's the gist of it. The thing is you have barely enough mana reserves to cast a single tier one spell, not to mention sustaining a tier two one for 3 seconds. I'm surprised that you even had enough presence to stay up until we arrived."
"Huh..?" Mel barely could put one and two together. Everything was still too hazy for her…
"I'm sorry, I still don't get it…"
"It's simple." Io responded" You're a mage, Mel."
"Oh, that explains it…No, actually not. What in the heavens?"
"Hehe… I let you rest for now. Tomorrow if you get better come to my dad's house, I'll explain everything in detail."
With that Io packed up her belongings and walked away, leaving Mel in the care of her parents and sister.
The dawn of the next day came, and Mel woke up, feeling better than ever, yet still in shock of yesterday's events. She dressed up, ate her meal that her mother prepared, kissed her sister goodbye and headed to the village chiefs house.
Miraculously, Io was already up, waiting on the porch of her father's house, while Fey was bathing in the sun on the grassy courtyard.
"Morning!" Io greeted the approaching girl.
"Good morning… You are… awake?"
"Ha. Ha. Ha." she laughed annoyed "Come inside, we got things to do."
"Alright…"
Mel and Io sat down in the living room, both eager to know what really happened.
"So, where did you learned to use torment?" Io fired up the questions
"I didn't learn it. I don't even know I knew how to use it."
"So this is the first time you used magic?"
"I believe so… How did you know we were in trouble?"
"Word of the warden." Said Io, but the answer confused Mel even more. "Well, I gave you guys' cookies the first time you came to my house, which contained a rune word. Basically if any of you get into danger, I know it."
"Ah… that's… like… you know, you could have told us…."
"I had no reason to. You didn't had to know I was watching out for you. "
"Why are we here? Why not your house?"
"Well… half of my house kind of got launched into orbit, since I got into a panic waking up to word of the warden, and the way through door was too slow, so I made way with arcane blast.
"Huh… that…was a bit of an overreaction…"
"Eh, it's going to be fixed by the end of the week…"
"What about the papers you were writing, the books, the items?"
"Most of the items I have are indestructible. Papers were arsica rolls, so no damage until tier four spells. Got to love them!" She said with a smirk on her face.
"Anyway. The real question is." Io got serious "Do you want to learn how to use magic?"
Mel froze.
"You have a natural talent. That's a given based on how you stated with a tier two spell." Continued the arch mage "But, even if you have talent, you will need someone to aid you through. And luck for you, I'm here to help."
"Hold on a bit…" hesitated the mage "This is a bit too sudden…"
"I know. There is no need to rush. But the sooner the better. I could say you're four years late already…"
"Let me think through this. Give me some time and I come back to you…"
"Don't take too long please."
With that Mel left. As she got home, her mother was making dinner while Irene was left to her toys, prepared to go to the daily reading lessons, along with her sister. Mel asked her mom if she could help, and began preparing the side dish for lunch. But the thought of becoming a mage started bugging her. Io was basically a relic of Erville, centuries to talk about in the future. She could very well be the same if she takes her help. Or stay put and live an honest life having a family and working in the fields. One life being full of fame and adventure, the other one a stable and calm one. Her family and especially her sister wasn't something she wanted to just leave behind. Her face became more and more concerned. When they finished having lunch, and were on their way to Io, Mel's mother stopped them as they stepped out of the door.
They looked into each other's eyes. Mel's mother put her hand softly on her daughter's face.
"Mother…"
"It's alright…" She smiled.
"I'm going to be a mage"
"I know" she said as she hugged her daughter.
And with that Mel went to become a name feared by all.