The Forest of Calamity was a place full of dangers, opportunities, risks, and rewards. Full of intense fights and romance on the verge of life and death but all of it was rarely seen to outsiders.
New adventurers usually entered the eerie place from the western side of the forest - from the famed paradise of adventurers and merchants - the Ro-han city because the other entry points were too hazardous due to the geographical disadvantages and the disturbing rumors.
People that entered the forest for the first time had a lot of expectations in their mind like finding a damsel in distress and saving her, finding a crowd of adventurers fighting magical beasts and fighting along with them, or even killing two strong magical beasts fighting on the verge of death and striking it rich but the reality always managed to damp their expectations in a cold and mechanical way like it always worked.
Same as the little Ryne that stumbled upon this forest 4 years ago, a new adventurer would find the overwhelming, echoing silence, tall trees that blocked their vision, and the disconcerting emptiness enough to damage the psyche of the proudest men.
One such adventurer was Sephalia. Born in an obscure kingdom, she acquired the dream of being an adventurer at an early age from the fairy tales and legends she heard. Since her parents were small-time silk merchants that needed to travel from place to place to trade, she could never adjust to a single place.
But unlike most kids that would end up feeling out of sorts and unadjusted, she preferred this lifestyle as she loved meeting new people and learning from their experiences.
When she was 8 years old, she finally managed to convince her parents of having her magic affinity tested. They took her to the gates of Skylander Magic Academy, a mid-sized academy managed and owned by a famous High Grade-4 mage of their region.
It was the time of entrance examination and seeing all sorts of poor, lavish, and strange kids and their parents crowding at the gates, waiting for the test to begin expanded her horizon and increased her hope and expectation.
As it turned out, she had Low-Good fire elemental affinity, which was considered average amongst kids her age but due to her being 8 years old at that time, she wasn't selected by the academy.
When she was about to return along with her parents, a Low-Grade-3 mage approached her parents intending to take her in as his disciple. As lower-middle-class commoners, they were more than happy to send her away.
The mage then took her to the prominent Ro-han city along with him but her happiness faded away soon when she realized that the mage was not looking for a disciple but just someone to do his household chores.
Without any better alternative, she was forced to do his bidding as she learned to clean his house, prepare his food, and wash his dirty dishes and clothes.
Since she wasn't allowed to leave his rented house, she didn't manage to have contact with any other person in the outside world. The mage was a recluse earth elemental mage that was trying his best to break through to the Mid-Grade-3 but his efforts seemed to be yielding little results.
One day, after six months, when he was happy he finally taught her some basic spells and made her aware of the basics of the fire elemental magic.
He also gave her one of the cheapest and most widely circulated manuals which she treasured dearly as she considered it the reward of her hard work and dedication.
2 more years passed by and miraculously, through pure dedication, Sephalia managed to break through to Low Grade-2 as a fire elemental mage. Her mana core was unstable and her sea of consciousness small, but she was content with all of that.
What she didn't know though, was that her hardships and adventure had hardly even begun. Frustrated by his lack of advancement, her master decided to explore the Forest of Calamity in search of a miraculous opportunity.
Fueled by a burning desire for advancement, he didn't think much of the dangers lurking within the silent woods and took Sephalia along for his risky exploration.
One week was enough to exhaust the rations and supplies they carried along and destabilize their mental state. In such a time, her master ditched her as he believed he had a better chance of survival on his own.
Alone and helpless, she continued roaming, when 5 weeks later, she was found starved and fainted by the Conta Tribesmen.
When she opened her eyes, she cried until her eyes turned red as she thought it was the paradise her parents had told her about.
As she looked around after wiping her eyes, she saw that she was surrounded by people wearing strange clothes, thick animal fur, as if they were afraid of the cold outside.
They were all silent when she was crying but as soon as she opened her eyes, one of them, a 5-foot tall old man, coughed and told her to follow him.
The tiny man took her to a very small yet graceful tent. It was pearly white and only had a single bed, chair, and a dressing table, all three of them screamed of lavishness and luxury, with delicate designs and a plethora of minute details.
Busy admiring the view, she missed a little girl, of around 7-8 years of age, reading something on the corner of the bed.
The tiny man who took her there coughed again as Sephalia heard anyone speak for the first time after weeks, "I'm Milo, the Chief of the Conta tribe of the Rohanic tribes. Since we rescued and cured you, you're indebted to us. To repay that debt, you shall serve as the handmaid of our Sacred Spirit for 5 years."
After saying his piece, the supposed tribal chief left the tent, leaving the stunned Sephalia and a slightly nervous little girl with white hair staring at each other silently.
The little girl broke the silence as she asked in a mild yet fluttering voice, "What's your name?"
"Eh? Oh, Sephalia," replied Sephalia as she came to her senses.
"Okay, I'll call you Seph. You can call me Cecilia.
Ever since then, three dreamy years passed as in the same little tent, Sephalia was combing Cecilia's hair. They were about to leave for the tri-division meet about to happen in the Zaputa tribe.
Being the handmaid of the little Goddess had numerous advantages though, much more than being a servant of the mage that called himself her master. Within these three years, Sephalia had already advanced to High-Grade-2 as a fire elemental mage.
It was the first time the goddess of the Conta Tribe was going somewhere, she needed to prepare to meet people's expectations.
"Seph, I'm nervous." Cecilia held Sephalia's hand as she said.
"Aren't you always, little Cecilia? Don't worry, with your life elemental affinity, they will always worship you." Seph responded with a tinge of envy.
"Ah, I hope they don't sacrifice or eat me someday." Cecilia looked around and lowered her voice. Sephalia chuckled and soon Cecilia joined in as well, lighting the tent with their adorable giggles.