"Naya! Look what I did!" Rula's mouth snapped shut, and she pointed at the Garuda. She was practically jumping with excitement. "I was super scared, then suddenly, I felt like I was swimming, and my book started to glow! Next thing I know, bam, the picture I drew a long time ago appeared!"
[An awakening, here? How?]
It didn't make sense, awakening forcefully because she feared for her life. That was a ridiculous idea, and Naya had never heard of such a case occurring before.
[Is it a Dwarf thing?]
"Ugh." Rula groaned, and the Gardua suddenly started disintegrating; the top of its head turned into a blue Arcana before it faded entirely. It quickly expanded throughout its body, and it drifted into the wind like torn paper.
The Flameclaw's lifeless body fell to the ground.
"My picture is gone!" Rula snapped down and picked up her sketchbook.
Naya released a deep breath of relief. "You have an ability, Rula, an absurdly powerful one."
[She's just like Eralena].
She recalled the Elven puppeteer, who created dolls out of Arcana and controlled them to battle for her, a mage who was said to be able to command an army of powerful dolls.
Rula folded her sketchbook and pulled it into the spatial ring Sophia gave her. She ran up to Naya and looked up excitedly. "I felt it draining my Arcana, --MY --Arcana!"
She was beaming, and Naya didn't resist the urge to ruffle her hair. "You received a burst of Arcana from the world, but it's gone now."
Rula closed her eyes. "Yeah, I feel like... I'm super hungry or something like that."
Naya nodded. "Now, having no Arcana will start to feel the same as hunger; you should absorb some later."
"Yes!" Rula exaggeratedly nodded.
Suddenly, a thud rang from behind; Sarah jumped down from a tree and was covered in leaves.
"Sora!" Sarah immediately ran over to where Sora was lying on the ground with blood coming from her side.
Naya felt a little ashamed that they had forgotten her.
Sora was still breathing lightly; it was likely just a cracked bone. "I... I'm okay, Mom."
Sarah lifted her body and hugged her. "You stupid child, why were your arrows so weak?"
[Chastising now? Odd humans.]
"What the... hell... " Sora groaned. "I just... panicked, I couldn't... control the flow."
"It's fine, you're okay now."
The claw wounds were not deep; the icy shield she had created lowered some of the momentum.
[I'll send a healer down when I get back.]
"What about the kids?" Rula asked; she tried to put on a grave expression, but the excitement from her awakening prevented it.
Naya's eyes widened; she had forgotten them, and there was no doubt the arrows were dissolved by then.
As if on cue, their cries rang out.
"M-mora! Chief!"
Naya's heart sank, and she didn't know what to do.
Sarah gently placed Sora back on the ground and shouted, "Come out! We won, and we need to tend to Sora!"
Immediately, doors across the village burst open, and people eyed the scene of a dead Flameclaw with awe.
They all burst into cheers. They weren't just shouting Sarah's name; they were shouting Naya's.
"Naya! Naya! Naya!"
"Our saviors!"
"Gods bless you, Naya!
"Savior Rula!"
The guard from earlier had tears in his eyes. He likely knew the danger of the situation despite Sora and Sarah doing their best to hide how bad it could have been.
Naya could not keep down her elation, despite the dread within from the children outside.
Their cheers drowned out the sound of the children crying for everyone else. But for Naya and her enhanced senses, she heard it clearly.
She steeled herself and walked up to the gate, emboldened by the cheers.
"N-naya?" Rula ran after her.
"This is stupid!" Naya said through clenched teeth.
She squatted down and launched herself over the wall.
"Wait!" Rula shouted, but it was too late.
Naya landed softly beyond the gate and took in the situation.
One of the Flameclaws was breathing shakily before a tree Naya slammed it into, and the other that had tried to keep her from entering the village was dead.
However, what filled her with tension was the crying figure of two children who had their heads buried in the Chief's robes and their muffled cries.
She froze.
Naya spoke like she knew what to do, but facing it was not nearly as easy as she hoped it would be.
[This is ridiculous. ]She criticized her behavior; she felt like she couldn't move a muscle like she didn't want to give away that she was here to the crying children.
She knew why.
She didn't want to see their stares.
[So stupid!]
Naya still heard the thunderous cheers behind the gate as the crowd was directly before it.
But the opposite side painted a somber picture in comparison.
--It's... not stupid, Nayalisia. --
Lia's young-sounding voice spoke quietly in her head, finally making herself known again and speaking as if she hadn't spoken in a long time.
"Lia!" Naya's ears perked up, She almost felt a tear come to her eyes, and she shouted in elation but immediately regretted it.
The two children snapped their heads up and looked at her with terror and anger in their faces.
"Y-you!"
"Villain!
Naya's ears did droop slightly, but contrary to what she thought, it did not give her the violent reaction she expected when the children looked at her like that.
--You fear the thought of it. --Lia still sounded like she was getting used to speaking again. --Because the situation yesterday... was the same as a year ago, in your mind.--
[Could that be it?]
Naya did think it was stupid. At first, she thought maybe the Flameclaws really weren't as evil as she imagined, but that idea was silly. She believed just didn't fully comprehend what it meant to fight a battle with two sides.
She felt at peace like she understood a piece of something.
When she looked at their gazes, Naya still felt sad about it, and it did bring up unpleasant memories. It couldn't be helped, but she also did not feel like she did anything wrong like she did yesterday.
At that moment, Mora and the Chief's corpses started to glow bright red, which prompted the children to shoot away from it.
"What are you doing?!"
"Stop it!"
The blame made Naya feel a little worse.
The red glow brightened considerably until even Naya could not see beyond it.
But it vanished just as quickly as it came, and replacing the human figures was that of two Flameclaws, one with a broken leg and the other which looked emancipated.
"Your people were ruled by beasts." Sarah suddenly stepped in front of Naya and glanced down at the children.
"W-what's going on?!"
Sarah sighed and shook her head gently. "Children, you were following a violent monster."
"That's a lie! It was you guys!"
"You know that isn't true, but for now, I will take you in until we can return to your village."
"Never!"
Naya started to feel like her mood last night was stupid.
--No, Naya, you just needed to understand how battles like these work. You do not need to look at the Naya of yesterday and dismiss the lessons she was taught. --Lia spoke clearly now.
[I... get it. ]She understood what the issue was; she just felt like it was learned in an idiotic way.
--Naya, we have a lot we must discuss.--
[Yes.]
Sarah ignored the children and turned to Naya. "Most of the others won't be as hardheaded, but for now, Naya... may I ask you to destroy the gate?"
She spoke as if it had a deeper meaning.
The gate was a thick wood with metal built into it, but Naya figured she could shatter it.
She walked up to it and delivered a repeated series of powerful punches.
The people beyond were laughing and cheering her name as if she was entering a colosseum for a spectacular battle.
"So... what now?"
Naya was sitting on her bed now, and this time, Rula was swinging her legs in the wooden chair.
--I can't believe the little Halfling has such a big power.--
"Indeed." Naya nodded. It was shocking to her as well, and she was currently waiting for Sarah to enter her room before she made their next plans.
"Is Lia impressed by my mightiness!?" Rula eagerly asked. Naya had already told her Lia was awake, and Rula tried to immediately bombard her with questions.
Rula had asked Naya to speak with Lia aloud around her so Rula didn't feel left out. Naya agreed since it wasn't that big a deal.
"She says you have a long way to go," Naya spoke sagely.
--Well, I guess that's true. I'm not entirely sure how Dwarves use magic, but I know it's usually tied to their tools.--
She recalled the Dwarf Thrain's hammer; she wondered what that enabled him to do.
"Hmph! You're just jealous of my awesome power!" Rula fake glared, but it quickly changed into a beaming smile.
Naya smiled and shook her head; she then felt a stinging pain in her hand. She held up her hand and saw her red fists, which made her ears twitch again because she had underestimated the gate's durability.
Rula watched and giggled. "Now, you're Naya, The Slayer of Witches, Destroyer of Halfling Paintings, and Puncher of Gates." She laughed again at her joke.
Even Naya felt herself smile at the absurdity of it. Rula seemed to quickly latch on to things she could add to her growing title.
[I'm sure it won't spread.]
--Probably not. --Lia chuckled.
Naya picked up the sound of footsteps outside her room. "Sarah is here."
"Finally!"
Rula ran to the door right as a light knock rang on the wood. "May I-"
"Yes!" Rula swung it open.
Sarah laughed. "I'm happy you're so eager, Rula."
"Come in and sit!" Rula pointed at her chair, and instead, she moved to sit beside Naya, letting Sarah take the chair.
"Then, pardon the intrusion." Sarah walked in and gently closed the door behind her.
Sarah was now cleaned and wearing a fresh white shirt and brown pants, "The village is happily celebrating our..." Sarah paused. "...I would say hard fought, but it wasn't." She smiled.
Naya nodded. "I said it would be easy."
"I guess you did."
"What's next for you guys?" Rula asked.
"We are not going to tear down their village, but we likely will attempt to merge them."
"Would they allow that?" Naya asked dubiously. Those people were following a Flameclaw, and though they may not have known that, they still had to know about their conquering ways.
"They don't have a choice," Sarah spoke coldly for a moment. "But besides, without the beasts, they have no strong defenders; I don't want to make them fend for themselves."
--I suspect she wants to make this forest a hub of civilization rather than just a backwater forest with a few scattered villages.--
Sarah eyed Naya, "But you won't be here for that."
Naya nodded. "We have important things we must do."
Rula nodded. "We gotta get our ranks up!"
"I suppose that's true; we kept one of their claws for you as you asked."
Naya knew the quest asked for a body to be returned, but she did not want to carry a corpse across the country back to Rozen.
"Thank you."
"No, we owe you our lives," Sarah stood up and bowed. "Naya and Rula, our gratefulness to you will be told for generations in this forest."
That made Naya feel giddy, a positive tale related to Elves. It may only be in a small location, but she left a permanent mark on its history.
--With many more to come.--
Naya did not object; she had already realized that her steps would create waves no matter where she went and what type of quest she took.
"I'm already one step closer to owning a castle!" Rula excitedly squealed.
"A lofty goal," Sarah smiled at her, "And I look forward to an invitation to your grand palace, Rula."
"Of course, you guys will be a guest of honor at my first banquet!"
Sarah sighed sadly, "I cannot wait for the day. But in the meantime, I assume you wish to depart as soon as possible."
Rula looked toward Naya.
Naya nodded. "We will sleep here and depart tomorrow."
"Good; just remember our doors will always be open to you."
Sarah prepared to walk out, but Naya stopped her. "Wait, I have a question."
"Oh?" Sarah turned.
"You were with a mage organization; what can you tell us about Dwarven magic?"
Despite her earlier reluctance, Naya did not feel ashamed at having to ask.
--It is not dumb to seek knowledge from those who have it; even Nayarali wouldn't know the intricacies of Dwarven magic.--
Naya doubted that; her mother knew everything. But she understood her point.
"Oh, you mean for Rula." Sarah turned around and looked at the sketchbook Rula had lying beside her. "Unlike the other races, Dwarves are entirely ability-based. They do not cast spells but awaken with powers related to their professions."
"That's why my paintings can come to life?" Rula started at her own book in awe.
"Not necessarily," Sarah dashed her hopes, "More like you're creating an artificial lifeform using your paintings as a base." Still, she sounded amazed by it.
"That's... not the same?" Rula tilted her head and wore a contemplative expression.
Naya just listened; it was an explanation that meant more to Rula than her own knowledge.
"Your power is far too complicated for me to understand. Abilities have almost always been an enigma, one no race has been able to fully comprehend." Sarah now had a contemplative look of her own. "I believe it's not as amazing as creating life, but more like you're using a puppet."
"So... no fire-breathing dragons?" Rula seemed disappointed.
"I'm not sure. I think your halfling nature is influencing your ability somewhat, but for now, I think it's safe to assume your summons only do what it explicitly looks like it can do in your paintings. The limitations are probably very strict, since creating things steps into divine territory, especially things mimicking life."
--It may just be up to her own imagination and creativity. What if she had some way to express extraordinary powers in her drawings? It sounds too unreal; there must be more drawbacks we are unaware of.--
[I imagine it has to do with Arcana's cost and the purity of it. The more she tries to breathe life into it, the more she attempts to bend Aleria's world.]
--Maybe. But only time will tell.--
"It sounds so underwhelming when you analyze it like that." Rula deflated.
"No, your power is absolutely amazing and is among the top of the ones I've witnessed." Sarah smiled and reassured her.
"I will not allow your power to be weak," Naya said resolutely.
"Seems you have no choice, Rula. I look forward to hearing tales of your exploits in the future." With that, Sarah turned around and walked out the door, letting it gently shut behind her.
Naya turned to Rula, who looked like she was contemplating. "Rula."
"Huh?"
"We will explore your ability, but now, you can feel comfortable; you have a place at my side." Naya held her hand out.
[She has had one, but perhaps this will make her feel better.]
--You have no idea.--
Rula stared with her eyes widened for a moment, then tears suddenly burst from her eyes, and she jumped at Naya, tightly pulling her into a hug as she cried, "T-that's all I... wanted!"
Naya placed her hands around Rula's back and allowed her to cry into her chest.