Early in the morning before the sun had begun to peak in through the windows Maric was still fast asleep. He was dreaming about a familiar face, he remembered this dream actually. Maric would always be trapped in endless fog only to be greeted by a strange blue skinned woman, he felt that she could see right through his emotions, his fears and dreams. But surprisingly this wasn't scary to Maric, when he peered back at her he only felt peace. Even though he was in such an unfamiliar place he felt a strange connection to the reoccurring scene. After a few moments neither party had said a word they only faced each other as the mist began to ebb and flow strongly around them.
ROOOAAAR!
Just like always there was this massive shadow that engulfed the two only announcing its presence with this demonic roar. The blue skinned figure would immediately be blown away as Maric's vision would be filled with white mist. Before he was blinded Maric yelled out while reaching for the figure.
"NO!"
Meanwhile in reality Maric's outstretched arm was impeded by a cold hard feeling. Maric's brows furrowed a bit before he inspected more with his palms.
"Round.. but hard? Also metallic… Wait!" Maric could only abruptly open his eyes to see a pair of icy blue eyes staring back at him. White hair cascaded all around him and the owner of this mane was staring right at him. And it seems his hand was touching this person's breastplate..
"Master Maric? You're pretty forward for a kid, not really my thing but Ishmael on the other hand.."
Before this person could finish Ishmael bursted into the room and angrily spoke
"Artemis.. not funny. Please introduce yourself to Maric, this wasn't the best first impression but I'm sure you aren't eloquent enough to care."
Artemis quickly jumped off of Maric's bed with her iconic hearty laughter following her feet landing on the ground. Maric had seen Artemis before but only in passing, when his father was around she wasn't like this and was always by his side..
"It's nice to actually meet you Kid! I'm usually attending to Lord Varys and have to keep up that stuffy noble act around him and boy is it exhausting! You get it right?"
Maric was honestly taken aback. This carefree woman was a squire of the Lords Hall? Upon deeper inspection she did seem to be a good person but there was something about her that threw Maric off. It was like she had a wild aura to her and even when she spoke it oozed from her very being. It added to her charisma.
"If he were to hear that he would probably order you to a couple sparring sessions huh? I get that Lady Artemis!"
Maric said this jovially while chuckling. Artemis was stunned for a moment, this kid was actually pretty damn clever for his age and he definitely wasn't shy about it.
"Interesting kid. I like your spunk, Come down to the forest. We've got some training to do."
Artemis looked at Maric with crossed arms before turning to leave his room. When she said the word "training" it seemed to be emphasized upon with a scary smile.
Maric quickly dressed himself and headed toward the outskirts of the Manor. There was a brisk wind that greeted Maric as he neared the outer gate, it was almost winter but now that Maric had awakened his elemental affinity which happened to be fire based he was actually quite comfortable.
He began to jog lightly down the path that lead from the outer gate to the forest. It was always so serene for Maric to wander these woods for as long as he could remember but soon that novel feeling was interrupted by a hair raising sensation. Maric immediately stopped in his tracks and casted a similar spell that Artemis had prepared for him the day before
"Yin-Flame Magic: Dark Vortex"
Purple-Black flames began to circle around the base of Maric's two feet as it continued to expand in a 20 circle that seeped into the surrounding forest. Although Ishmael's Dark Vortex belonged to the Yin-Water affinity it still contained the Darkness affinity. Maric still was ignorant of his natural talent for casting spells he had merely seen, most mage-knights & mages had to conceptualize a spell, conjure their element & then give shape to the element via words that describe its nature. Unfortunately it wasn't as simple as stringing together words, you had to also understand the essence of the words you chose to give your element shape and power.
A pair of eyes watched from outside the Dark Vortex. They watched closely as the Yin-Flame quietly invaded the nearby soil and surrounding trees.
"This kid is a freak just like Seraph said.. Imitating Ishmael's spell just like that? Hmph, luckily he's still puny otherwise the range on this spell would easily outstretch further than the ground I could cover in an instant.."
Maric quietly stood with his eyes closed feeling through the parameter of Dark Vortex, His brows furrowed after a minute or so because he couldn't detect anything.. but he definitely sensed negative intentions. It was undeniable, his body no his very soul had sensed someone or something trying to surprise him.
In the next breath he lost his focus as he heard a loud fit of laughter.
"HAHA kid! You look just like your father when your scrunch your face like that! Like father like son I guess?"
Of course this voice belonged to Artemis. She sauntered out of the forest with a cold wind flowing behind her, it was directly countering the Dark Vortex allowing her to walk through it undetected. She smiled eerily before summoning a long blade made entirely of the cold wind that seemed to be swirling around her body. Artemis began to let out billows of steaming breath as she whispered.
"Boy. Lesson 1: Don't Die."