"So, uh, yeah, that's what I've been up to." We've been completely silent as we've listened to Kiaran's story. While… while I was just studying and praying, Kiaran was dying? Why wasn't I made aware of that? Guilt quickly fills my whole body. Aubrey seems less guilty.
"Seriously?! What the hell?! Why didn't you tell us what happened the day after?!" Aubrey yells at Kiaran.
"Azariah works super late, and is still asleep when I get up. You were also out on a quest so I couldn't find you."
"E- even then… even doing such a thing was so… so… stupid!" Aubrey says, fuming.
"H- hey, calm down…"
"Calm down? Calm down?! I'm working my ass off for you two, and you nearly get yourself killed?! Was the stupid stone really that important?! Why didn't you just run away?!"
Kiaran remains silent, but he doesn't look upset either. "Answer me God damn it!"
"I'm sorry."
Aubrey's anger dies down a little after Kiaran apologizes. "What?"
"I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have done that. I didn't run away because I was frozen in fear. Everything I did there was pretty much all on instinct. I was far too scared to think about any of it. And as I was bleeding out… I was thinking about you guys… I felt so bad that I was dying on you."
"That just makes it so much worse!" Aubrey's anger ignites again for some reason. He's always come off as so emotionless, but now he's so angry. I've never seen him like this… it's honestly scaring me.
"Aubrey. I'm know what I did was wrong, I really do. So I'll apologize all you want, and I'll do anything to make it up to you two. But at least look at Azariah before going off on me like this."
Uh, what? What are you talking about? Aubrey then looks over to me, while he looks furious. Don't look me in the eyes. I look down, but I keep his face in my peripheral vision. His anger dies down after looking at me. I don't understand. Why am I having such a calming effect on him? Aubrey looks down to the floor but remains silent.
"So as I said, I was doing pretty awful tor- training with Ruse, and now I'm heading down to the Ulfur Forest. That's what I wanted to talk about."
"R- right… if you don't mind me asking, just how did that happen?"
"Oh, Ruse is heading down to Dianasvale for a political mission and I begged him to let me come along."
"And you did this without telling us first?" Aubrey says, making me flinch.
"Yes, I'm really sorry. I really am."
"Are you really though?"
Kiaran is about to respond before I break character and say something first. "Aubrey." Aubrey looks at me, surprised. Kiaran's expression doesn't change. I look down at the floor, as I continue.
"Kiaran's been through a lot, OK? Please don't be so harsh on him…" They're both silent for a while, which causes anxiety to start welling up me again.
"I'm sorry. I'll try to be more calm, Azariah." What? Why are you apologizing to me? You never did anything to me?
"Can I continue now?"
"Yes, go on." Aubrey says.
"We'll be leaving in two days. We'll spend two weeks marching there, stay for two or three days, and spend two more weeks marching back. Depending on what happens during the march, I might even be gone for a month. A this world month, not an our world month. So 45 or so days, not 30."
As Kiaran calmly explains the travel plan, I can't help but become worried. "Kiaran, you realize what the Ulfur Forest is, right? It's a massive magical forest surrounded by mountains. It's supposed to be plagued with constant earthquakes and large & dangerous magical beasts of all sorts of different types. Dying is a real risk."
Of course, a bunch of people live there, and there's a load of permanent settlements, so it isn't completely inhospitable. I still can't shake my worry for Kiaran's life, though.
"Don't worry, if the ever elusive Azariah's that worried about me, there's no way I could possibly get hurt."
"Please don't joke around like that."
"Right, sorry, that was my bad."
"Are you sure you're going to be OK?"
"Don't worry, I have no intention of dying. I promise I'll get back to you guys."
I'm still really worried, but I want to trust Kiaran.
"Hey, Kiaran. Do you even know why you're heading over there?" Aubrey asks an actually important question that adds to the discussion instead of shouting at Kiaran for no reason.
"Oh crap… I never thought about that. Man, that's really awful of me, isn't it?"
"Dianasvale… you two were the ones who were gathering basic information. What do you two know about that city? I'm assuming it's in the Ulfur Forest, but what else?" Aubrey says.
"It's a city that was named after the Archon of Nature, Diana… If I remember correctly, it basically serves as the capital for Ebenel Byrne's Domain. Another Royal Selection Candidate."
"So men from Pitiful are meeting with Ebenel, or some of her men at least. I have no idea what they could be talking about though. I haven't actually spent all that much time with Pitiful's men. Just Ruse, and I haven't heard any kind of political stuff other than maybe the stone incident."
Ebenel Byrne and Pitiful Girl are the two candidates I'm personally most interested in, and it appears that they're meeting for some reason in at least some capacity. Ebenel Byrne is apparently an old dryad native to the Ulfur Forest that's super well versed in magic, and Pitiful Girl was a born slave native to the Emednes Mountains, who was leading a slave rebellion and was deemed a traitor to the kingdom until the Great Phoenix appointed her as a Royal Selection candidate.
They're both super interesting to me. I have no idea what either of them are up to at the moment but there still appears to be some sort of meeting happening between the two factions. I'd like to know what it's about, even if it doesn't amount to much.
"Alright, I get it. While we're there, you guys want me to sneak around and figure out why the meeting's taking place? Right?"
"Given our purpose here, it will be really good for us to know more about what the Selection Candidates are doing. But I also don't want you getting into major trouble again." Says Aubrey.
"Oh, don't worry about that. Ruse is like, super loyal to Pitiful Girl, so I doubt he'll let me figure anything out that would wind up hurting her anyway. That and the whole thing is me paying back a life debt. I'll probably be too busy to even search for anything."
"That's understandable. Just make sure you tell us everything when we get back."
"Don't worry, I will. And one more thing I want to say before we finish."
"What is it?"
"I want us all to talk with each other more." Aubrey and I pause at this. "I mean, Aubrey was angry at me for not communicating, right? I haven't even talked with the guy in the past week. Azariah's even worse. Neither of us have even seen the girl not sleeping since we first came here. We're all supposed to be a group. So I want to share information a whole lot more often."
Kiaran… Kiaran actually has a point. I haven't even seen Kiaran in the past five weeks, and as soon as I see him again, he's talking about how he had to survive against a mass murderer. I also want to know more about what's happening with Kiaran and Aubrey before things get too dangerous.
"Alright, I agree. Do you have anything in mind, though." Aubrey says.
"I want us to all meet together once a week when possible. Given Aubrey's job that might be a bit difficult, but I want us all to at least try this. I also want us to visit each other at work more often whenever we get the chance. And finally, whenever something dangerous is about to happen, like my stunt with Memento, I want us to go to the other two for advice unless that's absolutely impossible. I think all that's fair, right?"
"Yes, I'll try and do the same thing with Azariah while we're away. We'll talk about weekly meetings when you get back." Aubrey says. I just nod to show I'm on board. I like Kiaran's plan, but I really don't like the idea of Aubrey visiting me during work. I also don't like the idea of having to take days off just to talk with Aubrey right after I started learning magic at work. Still though, I understand why these sacrifices have to be made.
"Alright, that's great. So I have three major goals when heading out to the Ulfur Forest. Number one, do whatever favor Ruse wants me to do. Number two, gather information on the meeting for the three of us. Number three, gain combat experience so I can eventually enroll in the adventurer's guild. Is that all I need to do?"
"Woah, woah, why is number three one of your priorities?" Aubrey says, legitimately upset.
"I mean, we're all supposed to become super strong for this kingdom, right? I thought we were all planning on joining the adventurer's guild and were only just doing our current jobs as a source of income. That was the plan, right?"
"Y- yeah, it is… but I don't understand why that would be one of your priorities… shouldn't you just be focusing on surviving?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Aubrey, you're heading out of Heafdes to track down some low level monsters, right? I'm still working as a lowly servant boy who can't do a thing as soon as a situation gets dangerous. I'm honestly kind of jealous of you, Aubrey. I'm hoping to use this trip as a chance to catch up to you."
"To catch up… to me?"
"Yup!"
Listening to this conversation, I realize I'm falling a bit behind as well. Apparently Aubrey's fighting monsters now, which is news to me, and Kiaran already has a whole trip planned out to get stronger, while I'm only just now starting to learn how to use magic. I had thought magic was my one and only goal as soon as I stood up straight in this world? I had thought I was doing well, but now speaking with Kiaran and Aubrey I realize I was moving disastrously slow.
"Well… if you're doing that then… I have a bit of an idea." I slowly gain the courage to speak up. I'm friends with Kiaran right? Aubrey I'm not so sure, but I can at least speak to Kiaran, even if I haven't seen him in weeks.
"Just what is your idea, Azariah?"
"You said a part of Pitiful's training was duels, right? Why don't we try that as soon as you get back?"
Kiaran looks at me really interested. Aubrey looks like he really doesn't like where this is going, which I don't like. Kiaran looks like he wants me to keep going, so I push past my fear of Aubrey's reaction. "I just started learning magic today. Why don't we see who can improve faster? You on a trip through the Ulfur Forest, or me studying magic with my teacher? After you get back, we'll duel to see who's stronger."
"Yes! I love that idea!"
"What? No! What if either of you get hurt?!"
"Don't worry, I couldn't possibly hurt Azariah in any way that wound up keeping her from moving."
"Your standards are way too low!" Aubrey's really not on board, so I force myself to jump into the conversation.
"We'll have it be the first that surrenders loses then. I doubt either of us will be able to actually put up with all that much pain. It won't get to the point where we're actually maimed."
"You too, Azariah!? Kiaran I can understand, but not you! Ugh, fine. You two are going to do it anyway, no matter what I say so go ahead." Alright, it appears that I got him to yield, that's good.
"If we're done here, I'd like to go back to Freware soon." I don't ask who Freware is. Kiaran doesn't ask either, so I guess I'll never know.
"I also would like to get back to work, Kiaran." I say.
"Alright, alright, you guys can go now, but I at least want you two to send me off when I leave in two days."
"That's fine, I won't take any quests that'll keep me from coming."
"I will also ask Lucidna for a day off that day as soon as I get back to the library."
"Thanks a million, guys! I'll be sure to track you two down and tell what gate we're leaving from, and when we're leaving, as soon as I get that information!"
><><><><
Some time passes after this interaction. Aubrey and I see Kiaran off, just as we said we would. Aubrey came to visit me at work once telling me about the quest he was going on. This interrupted my magic training so I was extremely annoyed, but I think I did a good job hiding it. I told Aubrey what I was up to that day, and he left.
A few more days pass, and I begin to really get a feel for how to manipulate the air around me. I even check out a book about wind magic to practice after I get off of work and while I spend my time in Kári's cult. I make sure to continue my daily prayers, my daily drawing for Kári, and all the interactions I have with my friends, but I still practice often.
After a while I get to the point where Lucidna introduces me to flight with wind magic. It's something that Lucidna admits she isn't capable of herself, but believes I should be able to do easily. I've progressed so far in such a short span of time, I'd obviously be able to get this under my belt in no time, right? Unfortunately, reality is quite different.
I fall again. That was my seventh attempt after getting off of work. I don't have any clocks around me but if I had to guess, it's probably getting close to 4:30 in the morning. Since I get off of work at 4, and I walked for a bit before picking back up training for a while, 4:30 seems like a pretty good estimate.
Anyway, falling down onto the ground over and over again is a surefire way to get absolutely filthy. It's nearly 5 in the morning so I guess there really shouldn't be anybody in the public baths right now so I guess that I could probably clean myself up without any sort of worry. Yeah, I think this is the last that I try and practice flying today. I'll go clean myself, head off to bed, and then I'll try again in the morning.
><><><><
My prediction was correct. Not only are the public baths still open at this hour, there's almost no one here. I really wish that there was no one here, but I guess this is fine enough, I'll take what I can get. Within the huge open area that's usually meant to hold hundreds of people, other than me there's only two men and one woman.
This doesn't mean I'm not uncomfortable, but as opposed to how bustling this place usually is, it's orders of magnitude better. I slowly slip my clothes off, but as I do I'm shaking. The fact that there's still people here constantly nags at the back of my mind like some sort of parasite. I usually go to the showers which are a fair bit more private than this, but since there's so few people here I want to see what the actual bath feels like.
Like I said, the bath is a huge open area with stone walls all around it. There's no ceiling so the stars are clear in view. The actual bath itself is probably a little smaller than an olympic swimming pool. The woman is hanging out in the middle of the bath while the two guys are hanging out near the back right next to each other. I wonder if they're g- no, no stop it. Stop being so obsessive.
As the last of my clothes come off, I instinctually cover myself up with my two arms. I'm sure that this would probably look really strange to anybody from this country, so that also triggers my anxiety. But walking around naked in public like there's nothing wrong also triggers it, so I'm really stressed as to what to do here.
I slowly dip my toes into the bath, and the water is warm. I slowly get in, telling myself the water will make my privates more difficult to see. When I'm finally in, I'm assaulted by the feelings of anxiety of doing this in public, and relaxation at being in such a warm bath while being able to look up at the stars. It's quite a complicated feeling.
I try to look up at the stars to take my mind off of the other people that are here, but the fact that they're there constantly reasserts itself in my mind. The stars are so pretty, the bath is so relaxing and yet my own uncomfortableness is keeping me from enjoying it at all. To say I hate it would be a bit of an understatement. I close my eyes and try to think of literally anything else, but I can still hear the distant voices of the two guys bathing with each other.
"Hello there, miss." All of a sudden my heart nearly bursts out of my chest. I open my eyes and look in the direction of the voice that had just spoken to me while I cover up my boobs.
When I look over to them, it's a pretty feminine young person whom I can't tell the gender of. They're fully clothed, (thank God), and they have long, white hair and ruby red eyes. I snap myself back to reality and ask them the question I should've asked as soon as I saw them. "Who are you?"
"My name is Inell. I saw you were having a bit of trouble back there." As I hear the voice, it's male. Undoubtedly yet another femboy. I don't register what was said to me, only the sound of the voice. My anxiety doesn't allow me to be that attentive. I really want to tell him to leave but I'm not sure how without sounding rude.
"Why are you talking to me?"
"Oh, I just saw you trying to hover and then falling, sorry. I guess I was just curious, so I followed you here after you gave up."
"So that's it?'"
"Oh, no. I actually wanted to tell you how good you were doing."
What? I've fallen on my ass seven times, surely you heard that? What about that could possibly be considered "good"? I really want to tell him that, but I'm unsure how to word it without offending them.
"What?" I say, trying my best to get my point across anyway.
"You've been doing really well. The fact you can keep your mana casting wind for so long is really the sign of a prodigy. You're clearly very inexperienced, and yet you're already kind of flying. That's really impressive, you know. Most people can't actually keep their whole body weight in the air like that."
Oh right, yeah. I forgot to mention that using wind magic like this absolutely devours all of my mana like nothing. According to Lucidna, my mana capacity is pretty high above average, but even practicing for an hour or so straight will cause me to use up all my mana for the day. Yet another factor making flight absolutely insufferable to learn. I get where he's coming from, I really do, but just keeping my body weight slightly above the ground for a few moments isn't going to help me beat Kiaran.
"OK, is that all you have to say?"
"Actually, no. If you're that interested in trying to fly, I'd be happy to teach you." What? Seriously?
"You know, I'm actually quite skilled in wind magic. I'd love to teach you. Just from watching you for this short of a time I can tell that you have quite a lot of potential. I mean, you've already stopped covering yourself up."
As he says this I slowly realize that I stopped covering up my boobs at some point and that they were above the water. Fear absolutely paralyzes my body as I lower myself into the water and cover them up with my arms again.
How did that happen?! How did that happen?! How did that happen?! Why did I get distracted?! I completely forgot that I was completely naked?! How did I even manage that?! Aaaaaah?! I just want to disappear, completely and utterly, I don't ever want to show my face again, how could I possibly be so stupid, how could I allow-
"Well, you sure do have a lot of potential but you certainly have a long way to go as well. If you're that unconfident, you'll never be able to fly. If you want to take me up on my offer just ask around Kári's cult or the adventurer's guild for Inell Illeanes and you'll be sure to find me. Well, see ya."
All of a sudden, I feel wind blowing past me. Inell has started to levitate off the ground. "One more thing before I go, though. Can I ask your name?" I can't speak, I'm just looking at his flawless technique in wonder. "Hm… I can't quite tell if that's a good reaction or a bad one… Oh well, no use thinking about it."
He then takes off into the night sky, slowly disappearing from view. He did say he was a pretty big deal in Kári's cult, right? Why haven't I heard of him yet, though? Probably because of my lack of knowledge as an otherworlder. He said confidence was the key to flight, right? I'll have to ask Jody about a guy named Inell when I see him tomorrow, even if it might be embarrassing.
Before that though I need to recover from that rush of anxiety that nearly made me want to die a second time. He never looked at them, he looked me in the eyes the entire time and for that I'm thankful. If he ever stared right at them during any of that interaction I think I actually would've died again from the sheer embarrassment.