Since my arrival in the Medea forest, a whole month has passed. The mornings bathed in mist and the dew that rests on the grass intoxicate my senses with its aroma every time I open my eyes and head to the training area. The questioning and judgmental looks of the forest creatures have turned from angry to a feeling of familiarity.
While they still can't fully trust me due to the curse and the fact that I am a member of the race that is their bitter enemy, the fairies and elves have seen fit to improve their interaction with me.
The only one who still maintains his suspicion towards me is Virgilio, every morning since I wake up, he usually follows me in the distance between the shadows of the trees. Despite his imposing attitude, I can sense that his behavior towards me has somehow changed for the better.
On one occasion when I caught him spying on me at magical training with Sara, I cast a combination spell to form a light rain cloud over his head. The annoyed screams at being bathed in my magic made me laugh too much, to the point of being scolded by the strict teacher.
I could swear that I heard his laugh from a distance, but in order not to break his tough macho image, I preferred to reserve my comments.
"Well young lady, you have already learned to master the four elements and combine them properly. I don't doubt that even Virgilio is convinced of it" – For the first time in this time that we have shared, the teacher Sara has shown her smile for me. The nostalgic memory of my life on earth in the company of Grandma Yang, makes the smile on my face appear accompanied by a tear of regret.
So many things left unsaid and unsaid, I should have embraced Grandma Yang more and been a little more ambitious pretending to take more of her love. How will she be? Will you still cry for my death? That insecurity inadvertently caused my power to be channeled arbitrarily into my catalyst staff, making it explode in front of us.
"Are you alright girl?" – Extending her hands creating a force field, Sara had protected us from the impact of that explosion. Noticing her breathing a little rough, I realized that the energy I released at that moment was too powerful even for the teacher to be in that condition.
A little fear seized me at that moment, remembering the words that the sinister goddess told me at the time. I was an emissary of destruction, everything around me was destined to perish. How could I even dream of happiness if my destiny was traced in blood in this life.
"Stay here and take a break, I will go see my lady to report the situation to her. Don't worry, it wasn't your fault, but I can't leave anything to chance in your case" – Smiling at me as she put her hand on my shoulder, Sara walked slowly until she got lost in the thickness of the forest.
While I waited for his return, I sat by the edge of the lake, listening to the sounds made by the lyres of the arcane elves during their morning purification ritual. The lake at the center of the Medea Forest is known as the eye of the goddess. A legend tells that in the heat of the battle for the division of castes between the draconic families , the victims accumulated so much that the goddess descended on the forest and shed her tears as a sign of sadness for her fallen children.
As many tears as blood was spilled and with it the barren land that was around her, was forming an oasis whose greenery had no peer. As a consequence, the lake created from the goddess's tears acquired part of her divine power; thereby allowing any being that was affected by injuries even close to death, could be fully restored to their health.
The only problem with that blessing is that if there was corruption in the being that entered its waters, it would end up paying the consequences with its life expectancy. Just like what happened with Queen Callisto.
"What is this commoner doing near my lake? People like her should know their place and not show themselves in the presence of royalty" – Standing in front of me was Edith, a young arcane elf who was the daughter of Saliel , the ruling patriarch of the tribe of arcane elves.
Despite her childish appearance, Edith was a 150-year-old elf . Curly blond hair, amethyst eyes, and skin so fair it seemed made of silk. Which contrasted with a scar on his right leg from a fire in which he was about to die when he was still a baby.
According to what I have heard among the conversations that the inhabitants of the Medea forest often have, Edith was not a legitimate daughter of Mr. Saliel . More than a century ago, before the incident that changed everything with the forest dwellers, arcane elves used to go to human villages in search of common knowledge. The youngest were sent as part of their coming-of-age ritual and after a year of living with humans earning their livelihood, they could return to the forest and be recognized as adults in full right.
Saliel and her sister Souren had left with their family's safe conduct to begin their initiation ritual like the others. During the course of her stay in a village near the forest, Souren became captivated by a young blacksmith named Hermis . Working as his assistant every day in the workshop carrying firewood and preparing the tools, the young woman couldn't help but admire the care that the blacksmith put into each of his creations.
Saliel upon learning of this situation, quarreled with his sister to the point of completely distancing himself. Saliel 's anger was not the common one a brother would have who is jealous of his sister; but rather, it was a deep fear for the consequences of that act.
When an arcane elf mixed blood with a human to bring offspring, the elf's longevity was lost forever. Fully becoming a human being who would age like any other and die sooner compared to the centuries they usually live.
Upon learning of his sister's pregnancy, with tears in his eyes Saliel could not help but accept the decision she had made, blessing her and wishing her to find all the happiness she was looking for in the brief life she had decided to take.
Two years have passed since their farewell and Saliel maintained communication with his sister by means of messenger owls; letters between the two brothers came and went without complications, despite the distance that separated them.
Those moments of happiness that her sister spent in the company of her husband and daughter were transmitted with a clarity like the blue sky itself. Making Saliel comfort his soul with the hope of a promising future for his beloved sister.
But all that changed one night when the stars adorned the night sky and the two moons of Pandora illuminated the forest meadows. In the distance above the treetops, a red glow as if the sun was going to rise over the horizon could be seen in the direction of the town where Souren was with his family.
heart hanging by a thread, Saliel hurried out of the forest without stopping at her father's pleas. He could barely hold his breath as he ran so hard, trying to get to the town half a day away as soon as possible.
As it got closer, an intense heat and the aroma of smoke was the unequivocal sign that a misfortune was happening in that place. By the time he arrived, the scenes before his eyes made him vomit in disgust as he contemplated what had happened.
That town where Souren settled to live was known as Piliera , a town that was in the middle of the border between the empire of Alberon and the kingdom of Esterum . That territory had remained neutral for years, before the treaties signed between both nations. But that night the peace was broken by the kingdom of Esterum , who in their eagerness to gain ground before the imposing empire, spared no action to seize those lands.
The soldiers of the kingdom galloped into the town with swords in hand and their spears pointed at anyone who moved. One by one the inhabitants were mercilessly massacred, including women, children and the elderly. No one was forgiven on that terrible night.
Walking with trembling legs, Saliel watched the harrowing images of men hanging from the doors of homes, women, many of whom had suffered abuse by soldiers, and children mercilessly mutilated.
Pools of blood sloshed as Saliel 's faltering step made her head for the smithy in the hope that her sister's family was alive. Little by little her heart was beating with more force and intensity, before the anxiety of what her eyes would come to see compared to the brutality that she left behind in her path.
Right at the door of the smithy, the corpse of Hermis was on his knees with his belly torn by the edge of the sword. His eyes had been gouged out with the tool he often used to make his creations.
"It can't be" – Raising her hands to her lips, Saliel felt panic at such a scene, running quickly into the workshop only to feel her soul break into pieces.
The face that once gazed smiling now had a cold, lifeless countenance, the rosy cheeks pale to coal ashes. And a nightgown that had once been white was now torn and stained crimson.
His sister had been nailed hand and foot to the wooden support beams in the smithy's wall. His ears had been cut off and his neck slit.
A heartbreaking scream reverberated on the walls of that gloomy place, like the scream of a beast that had been mortally wounded.
The fire, which had already consumed much of the city, had quickly reached the limits of the smithy. With the choking smoke encircling him along with the flames, Saliel tried painfully to remove his sister's body, to no avail.
Completely dejected, he felt the desire to die in that place and accompany his sister to the other world, perhaps with the hope that the goddess would allow them to be reborn once more as a family. Just when he was about to surrender his soul to death, a cry was heard coming from one of the boxes that was being hit by fire.
Recovering his sanity, he pounced on the box trying to put out the fire. Inside it, her sister had hidden her little daughter in the hope that she would survive the persecution and massacre that the town was subjected to. The flames had reached to hurt the poor creature's leg and covering it with a cloth moistened with lily sap, Saliel sought to mitigate his pain.
Leaving his sister's body behind, the young elf walked once more through the blood and mud. Her soul had died in that smithy and her mind was the only thing that prevailed as she held her niece firmly.
Upon reaching the forest and making the news known, the tribe of arcane elves covered themselves in mourning for the terrible event that had occurred. Saliel 's father, who still did not fully understand what had happened to his daughter, held in his arms the small half-elf who was still crying from the pain of her wound. Looking at his granddaughter's face, the memory of Souren 's childhood made him feel that he had failed as a father in protecting his children.
For this reason, thinking that no parent should experience such an atrocity again, he issued a forceful decree, where the ritual of coming of age and all relations with humans were completely abolished.
For Saliel that was contradictory, since in itself Edith's existence was precisely the manifesto that at some point the arcane elves and humans coexisted in a tense peace.
"Hey human what are you thinking about?" - Bringing her face closer to mine, Edith made me get out of my distraction and made me fall to the ground completely lying on the grass. His mocking laugh like that of a child who has committed a mischief did not seem annoying to me when I remembered the suffering he had to go through.
While it was true that she was the adopted daughter of Saliel , the fact that she was half human had caused her a distance from her mother's race. Sometimes the young elf experienced the distant treatment of the other elves, who only interacted or smiled for her for the mere commitment of being the daughter of Saliel .
No one treated her for being Edith and that was bitter to her, as it made her feel that no one valued her very existence. Maybe that's why he started looking for me, because I was the only person in the middle of the forest who really showed his emotions without a mask in between.
"You know, I would also like to practice magic." – Taking the hem of her skirt to stick it to her thighs to sit down, Edith began to talk to me about her dreams and desires. Ever since he had turned 50, he had been enthused by the idea of practicing elemental magic like the other elf children of the tribe.
Every day he went to the shore of the great lake to ask old Sara to instruct him in mastering the flow of mana . But each time it was the same answer: It was not possible for her to learn to master magic.
"Since you arrived I have watched you very carefully. When I look at you and watch you evolve in handling magic, I feel like I could too. But no matter how hard I've tried to even try to make a spark of fire by reaching out my hands, nothing happens. You know, I've thought something silly about it, but I feel that every time I look at you it's as if I could do magic too" – Edith's expression, looking at the lake, reminded me in a certain way of my little sister. In my past life during my childhood, there were times like this when I shared my feelings with my sister.
She got excited every time she saw me play on the computer and the excited glint in her eyes every time I got into a fight was very similar to what I was seeing on Edith's face right now.
"Miss Edith, Patriarch Saliel urgently seeks you. Please follow me." – Gamaliel, the second in command of the arcane tribe had arrived to pick up Edith. The expression on his face when he looked at her was apparently respectful, but in his eyes she could see a certain air of contempt every time he addressed the young woman.
When they were already leaving the lake, Gamaliel turned sideways in my direction, giving a smile of absolute contempt. Of all the arcane elves, it was well known that this man despised human beings the most. Even from before the incident in the town of Esterum .
"Oracle, analyze" – Giving the order to my world oracle ability, I focused on the distant Edith who was already about to disappear from my sight. The oracle of the world began to tell me that Edith, although she was a half-breed, had the qualities of the elves. His longevity and senses were properly those of an elf. But the part that corresponded to his human nature completely prevented him from accessing the flow of mana on his own .
The half elves by this condition were come to be known as the voids. Existences that couldn't control mana ; but somehow, connected to him without knowing it.
"User, do you wish to soullink with the analyzed target?" - Soul bond? I couldn't quite believe it, but thanks to my main ability, there was the possibility of casting spells or incantations just like the one Virgil and Callisto had done.
But certainly, it wasn't something she was really interested in. Since soon my time in the Medea forest would have come to an end and our bond could never be maintained in this way. Since one of the soul bond restrictions was that the two parties that had established the contract could not be separated from each other beyond a kilometer away.
When separating just 100 meters, the contractor would experience a slight pang in the chest and as the distance progressed, the pain would become so unbearable that the heart would stop in a heart attack. As a consequence, the person with whom the bond was created would also die along with his employer.
"What are you thinking, miss?" – Sara had returned to my side with news regarding my mana flow control problem. Queen Callisto was concerned about the situation, even being aware of the possibility of instability due to the ouroboros mark , the advance with which said anomaly manifested itself was not something that was common.
The more days passed, Amelia's soul would be taking more power inside me, weakening the seal that kept her prisoner. That seemed like a sick joke to me, I couldn't believe that someone cowardly enough to commit suicide would have the guts to claim something he had already given up.
But I can't blame her, all living things fight to survive no matter the consequences. But at this particular point, his almost selfish momentum was pushing us over the edge and eventually the prophecy of destruction could come to pass before he even had anything to stop it.
Reunited with Calisto and Sara, we decided to go to the northern end of the forest. The area bordering the territory of Mount Dragulos , was known to contain a large quantity of precious gems which the dwarves took parts to create the manaflow stones of the staffs in the crucible.
Depending on the combinations used in their creation, magic stones used to have some degree of resistance with affinity to the user's magic domain. Unfortunately for me, all the gems developed so far were completely useless given my current level of manaflow affinity.
Once in front of Mauricio, the dwarf's chief smith, Sara explained to him the details of our visit. Dwarves are often reclusive creatures who rarely associate with other races, but regularly traded their creations with elves for food and healing potions.
"From what you tell me, old hag, this girl won't even use a stone like the one you carry on your staff. I am surprised that a harpy as proud as you would come to me to ask me a favor, but it seems that the years soften even the rocks" - Giving a loud laugh in a friendly tone, the old dwarf scratched his beard while enjoying seeing Sara raging of courage while being held by Calisto. Who could barely contain her valued friend.
When things finally calmed down, Mauricio told us to follow him into a cavern to appreciate the gems that were available. The dwarf's goal was for me to get my hands on a wide variety of samples in order to detect the combinations necessary to find the magical resonance affinity.
Before my eyes on a table, the dwarf arranged a singular number of samples that varied in size, shape, and color. One by one I took them in my hands and with the help of Sara, I influenced my magical power on each one.
Stone after stone the resistance of each one fluctuated differently, but each and every one was breaking when I was about to reach my mana flow limit. Completely discouraged and absorbed by the situation, the head of the dwarven tribe was scratching his head as he tried to think of a solution.
"As it never occurred to me before" – With a cheerful tone that surprised even Sara, the old dwarf hurried to take out a dusty wooden box from a shelf in the room.
"With this stone, not even your young lady will be able to break it" – With complete self-assurance, Mauricio opened the box in front of us, causing Calisto to jump up from her chair in surprise.
In front of us was a stone of which only legends were told in the old writings of the elven tribe . Very close to the nature of the formation of the Medea Forest Lake, there was another legend that spoke of the ancient dragon tribe's oath of eternal loyalty.
When the goddess Artemis cried for the fallen dragons, the leaders of each faction approached her. Contemplating the magnitude of their acts and the lives that were taken by their dispute, the five clan leaders folded their paws in front of the goddess and each pierced his chest as a sign of penance.
Seeing this, the goddess thought that it was a sacrifice to pay with their own lives for her fault, but she was soon taken out of her mistake by the leaders. Alberon , Casius , Ephesus , Siegfried and Eunice, the five draconic leaders took a part of their mana core from their hearts and deposited it on the earth.
Alberon sent for Simus , the first patriarch of the dwarf tribe, and asked him to please take the fragments of their mana cores and fuse them into a single being. With such a proposed undertaking, Simus worked five moons to accomplish his endeavor. Being helped by the dragons with their flames to heat the necessary forge in order to create the gem.
At the end of his work, a gem was presented to the goddess as a sign of the unity vote that the five clans would make that day before their divinity. This gem was known as rainbow glow; this, due to its multicolored hue that fluctuated when mana was induced.
The goddess saw this gesture with good eyes and bestowed her blessing on the gem, thereby causing the draconic leaders to take human form at that moment. Thus being the birth of the five great empires of pandora.
"It is said that the goddess Artemis gave this gem as a gift to her sister Freya, as proof of her ability to rule justly over the races. But the goddess Freya looked down on this stone and threw it as soon as she had it in her hands. – Shaking his head with deep regret, Mauricio said that his ancestor witnessed such an act and could hardly bear such a slight from the goddess. Since then the gem had been kept and passed down from generation to generation of dwarves.
Inviting me to take it for the test, my heart shuddered at the mere fact of holding something so precious in fear that my power could destroy it. I didn't know how I would face Mauricio, but Calisto insisted that I take the test.
Calming down a bit, I held that gem and began channeling my mana flow into it. Callisto did not stop in her amazement when she saw the gem shine with a great multicolored spectrum, like the rainbow that appears on the horizon when the storm has gone.
Excited to have found a gem that was able to withstand my energy, our fear soon came to us as the colors in the gem converged to complete darkness. From the stone scarlet rays like electric sparks snaked uncontrollably, turning objects within reach into ash.
"Girl, please stop, the core of the gem is unstable" -Mauricio's face was completely pale, Calisto and Sara were in a similar situation after witnessing that. While the gem wasn't destroyed like the previous ones due to its origin, certainly my mana flow was overflowing uncontrollably into it.
"If we only had a black dragon scale, I could make a clay that would contain the residual mana flow at will" – Nodding dejectedly, the dwarf remembered that black dragons were reluctant to give up their scales and stealing them was impossible since they turned useless.
Callisto began to argue with Sara about negotiating with the elemental dragon tribe to reach a territorial agreement and get a scale. She was undoubtedly willing to sacrifice some of her power in order to keep her promise to me, but I couldn't act selfishly seeing her determination.
"When I got here, I was attacked by a black dragon. But he gave me one of his scales as a sign of protection" – Turning towards me without giving credit to what they heard, the three beings exclaimed that they could not believe such a thing. Seeing myself in the need to take the scale I was talking about out of my pocket.
"I never thought in all my years as a smith that I would get to see one of them" - Snatching it from my hands, Mauricio jumped for joy while holding the dragon scale. Such material was something the dwarves could never afford to get their hands on, but here he was for the first time in his life. Unable to contain his taste for such a magnificent piece of work.
Grateful for the opportunity to work with such priceless material, Mauricio asked us to wait three days until he had the clay ready for my gem. With the dwarf's promise in between, we decided to withdraw and return to the center of the forest to wait for the fulfillment of the date.
"You know, the first time I saw you I thought you were a peculiar creature. But after knowing that even a black dragon was kind enough to give you one of its scales, I still can't vouch for it" – With a smiling face, Callisto changed from her fairy to human form in an instant.
Completely surprised, the fairy queen thought that she had miscalculated the hours of her time limit and didn't care. Continuing his walk as if nothing happened, he placed his hand on Sara's right shoulder as he laughed heartily. The old elf tried to scold the queen, but she couldn't help but catch her good spirits.
Just at the moment when we reached the vicinity of the elf tribe's territory, the sound of a war horn shocked the three of us who, puzzled, tried to understand the situation.
In front of us, Gamaliel stood tall while holding a mithril sword in his right hand. And with the left raising in victorious sign the head of Saliel , which was thrown at the feet of Callisto. Who was quickly taken prisoner by two elven guardians who were supporters of Gamaliel.
"Someone impure like you does not have the right to rule over Medea Forest. For years I turned a blind eye to this fact because you had your watchdog always escorting you. But tonight the moon marks the beginning of a new era and you are not in it" – Completely furious, Callisto extended her hand towards Gamaliel, invoking branches to crush him. But as soon as they were formed, they withered completely.
Turning to see the night sky, Calisto fell to her knees overwhelmed by the situation. The moons that glowed in the sky were tinged with red, the sign of a rare lunar eclipse. But in its effects, it completely nullified the magical ability of fairies.
Completely enraged, my teeth gnashed in anger as I gazed at Gamaliel's mocking face. Who without the slightest compunction had killed the man who had fully trusted him and now tried to take Callisto's life.
"Cutting blade wind..." "Stop girl" – Holding my hand at the moment I was about to cast my spell, Sara took me by surprise inducing a debilitating spell on me. Whispering in my ear, he told me that I was no match even for Gamaliel and would be a useless sacrifice at that moment. And with a completely dull mood as if facing her end, the old lady asked me to take care of the queen in her place.
"Oh my, the old hag wants to avenge the death of her grandson?" - Her grandson? That was a big surprise for me. I never would have thought that Grandma Sara was a relative of the patriarch Saliel , honestly it never crossed my mind during all the time we were together.
She couldn't understand what was going on in her heart at that moment, much less if she would be strong enough to defeat Gamaliel. But one thing was certain, no matter the outcome of this battle, a heavy loss was completely inevitable for both sides.