"Quick, get out of here as fast as you can!" the man, Kivani, yelled. Two other men moved forward to flank him. How did they get here? I hadn't sensed them in my mana scan of the area. I stood there stunned at their sudden appearance.
Kivani ignited his sword, holy fire enveloping the blade. I instinctively shied away from the lethal flames as he sliced viciously at the mongrel demon. The demon cried in agony as he was quickly consumed by flames.
Unfortunately while, they may have had the element of surprise with the first demon, the others quickly took notice of the commotion and converged on the Clunaics. I backed away a few steps. Not because I was afraid of the demons. Being afraid of mongrel demons? Absurd. No, it was the holy fire pulsing on the swords of the Clunaics that cowed me. Being burned once was good enough for me. Thank you very much.
After my initial shock at their sudden arrival, I could feel my annoyance bubbling up. These Clunaics must like making it a habit to always get in my way. They fought decently well, I guess. They seemed to know each other well and fight the demons as a seamless unit. But despite their smooth teamwork, I could tell they were being overwhelmed having to fight so many demons. The terrain wasn't helping either. The crumbling buildings closing in on both sides restricted movement and prevented them from using any longer range spells to give themselves time to breathe.
I wondered when Kivani would start using his fancy holy fire affinity. It sure would be convenient right now to wipe out all the demons quickly rather than having to pick them off one by one with their blades. But I saw no sign of those blue flames besides the fire licking up their swords.
The other two Clunaics fought bravely, one of them wielding wind magic. The man with the wind affinity managed to send the remaining six demons back with a powerful gust of wind to give them time to regroup. Kivani then stepped forward, arms outstretched. I sensed the ripple of mana a moment before he sent an inferno of red flames rushing forward. Red. Not blue. Not holy fire. The demons writhed in agony, their flesh melting from the intensity of the heat. Kivani and the other two Cluanics ran forward, quickly stabbing the demons with their swords. I assumed it was so they would die by holy fire, purging their souls, rather than just sending them back home to the demon realm.
The three men stood panting, watching dutifully as the demons disintegrated to ensure their work was complete. I had to admit, while the Clunaics were pretty useless against me, they had really perfected the art of killing mongrel demons. I guess that was usually all that got through most tears so they were probably well practiced at it. It was when it comes to the higher ranked demons that the Clunaics proved to be wholly unprepared.
I sighed to myself. Now I was going to have to find a different way to vent some of my pent up frustration. I sent out my mana again, wondering if I could find any other mongrels to entertain myself with.
"What were you thinking!" Kivani roared, stomping over to me. "If we hadn't shown up you would be dead. Why didn't you evacuate to the town square with everyone else?"
I was a little surprised by his anger. Why did he care so much about what I did? If I died that would be on me for the choices I made, not him. Not that I had even been remotely close to dying, but still.
"I got lost."
Kivani gave me a hard look, clearly not believing me. Then he turned back to the other two Clunaics.
"Scout out the rest of the town border, then comb through the streets to make sure there aren't any other demons lurking about. Suetin, use your mana conceal if you have enough mana left. I will escort Miss Ara to the safe zone so she doesn't get lost again."
I definitely sensed a significant amount of sarcasm at that last statement, but I chose to ignore it. For now. The other two men quickly hurried off to follow Kivani's orders.
"Shall I show you to safety now?" Kivani asked in a tone that made it seem like the question only had one correct answer. So of course, I had to choose the incorrect reply.
"No thank you." I said bluntly and then turned to walk away. Directly away from the town square. He should be grateful I declined him so politely, even if the pretty words were barbed with a poisonous tone.
A hand snaked out and grabbed my arm, whirling me around to face him again.
"Now really isn't the time for recklessness. Just let me get you to safety so I can get back to my job without having to worry about you."
"Don't let me stop you from doing what you want. I never asked to be protected." I knew I should probably stop being so harsh. I was supposed to be the nice, weak, little human girl. A scared human girl who just came face to face with demons and should be begging the strong Holy Knight to protect her. But I was in a foul mood, so rational thought wasn't exactly in the cards for me at the moment.
Kivani sighed tiredly. "Please, just let me take you back. I promise to bake you something as payment."
"Are you trying to bribe me?" I said, giving him an expression of exaggerated astonishment. Despite my mocking response I hated to admit that I actually was tempted a little. But only a little, ok? Well, actually maybe more than a little. But that's besides the point. It's not like I was going to let him know that.
"Exactly." Kivani replied, his face completely serious except for a small twitch of his lips.
I was surprised by his blunt acceptance of my accusation. Surprised enough that I couldn't help but snort and crack a reluctant smile. Seeing my smile, Kivani's straight face broke into a wide grin.
"So is that a yes?"
"Fine. But it'd better taste heavenly."
"Then shall we?" Kivani offered me his arm and I slowly accepted. It felt strange to be this close to a human. Sure Brietta and Kirwin had touched me to tend to my wound, but there was something different about this kind of connection.
I could feel hard muscles underneath Kivani's blue uniform as he led me through the deserted streets. We walked in silence for a couple of minutes. He seemed to be tense, as if afraid there could be demons around every corner. Having already scanned the area I knew the coast was clear, but it's not like I was going to tell him that.
Finally he broke the silence.
"So, did you like my cinnamon rolls?"
"They were decent."
"Only decent? It looks like I'll have to step up my game for my next creation."
"Why do you like baking? Isn't it like against the norm for men to bake?"
"Maybe. But I still like it. It reminds me of my mother."
"Oh, do you guys like to bake together?" I tried to imagine what spending time with a mother would even be like, but having no experience with it myself I was completely at a loss.
"We used to when I was younger. But she died."
"Oh." I didn't even try to say comforting words. Comforting was not something I was trained for so I knew better than to attempt it.
"But enough about me. What about you? Where are you from?"
Having already had to deal with this issue with Brietta I answered confidently.
"I'm a traveler from a far away country."
"Wow. That's amazing." I was relieved when he didn't ask what country. Brietta didn't seem educated enough to realize what Abbadon actually meant, but I didn't want to risk it with a Clunaic. "It's impressive that you're brave enough to travel around alone. Are you not married?"
"And why should I have to be married?" I said indignantly. These people and their gender norms were so annoying. "I can get around just fine on my own."
"I didn't mean to offend you, it's just not very common for women to travel alone."
"Well in my country women do a great many things without the hindrance of a man. In fact, many women are more fierce warriors then their male counterparts."
"Duly noted. Are you one such warrior?" He asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically.
"I don't know, maybe we should spar sometime and you can see."
"Alright." I could tell by his tone that he was just humoring me. Well let him underestimate me. It would make it all the more entertaining. I wouldn't kill him, but I wouldn't make any promises that he wouldn't die from embarrassment.
"There was one thing I was wondering. What powers the mana barrier that was around the town? I know you have angelite stones with stored mana, but where do you get all that mana from?"
"That's part of what the tithes are for." As soon as he said it I kicked myself for not putting it together sooner. I saw it firsthand this morning. Citizens all pouring their raw mana into the large column of angelite in the chapel. It was similar to how I would store up mana in my angelite sword to access later.
"So why did the barrier break today then? People tithed a lot more mana this morning so shouldn't the barrier be stronger than ever?"
"Not exactly. There are three church services held on Oneday in order to accommodate everyone. That means they usually wait to transfer any of the mana from the church's Angelite stone until after all of the services are complete."
"Oh. What else are the tithes used for? You said that the mana barrier is only part of what they're used for."
"The stored mana is also used by Clunaics to fill up our blades with extra mana before we go into battle. It's also sometimes used for healing people too."
"Well then why didn't they just heal me with all that stored mana?" I asked, a little annoyed that I had waited for my wound to heal naturally when they could have just fixed it up in a matter of seconds.
"They usually don't use the mana for healing except for special cases. Plus, we don't always have a mana barrier around the town. We only put one up when there is a tear nearby, otherwise we would be wasting a lot of mana for nothing. But that means right now there isn't a lot of extra mana to spare for healing."
"So I guess I wasn't special enough to get healed." I said, still feeling a little jipped.
Kivani's face darkened a bit. "No, most people aren't considered special enough. It usually goes to the nobles."
These people sure loved their petty hierarchies. Whether it be men over women or the rich over the poor, it seemed people enjoyed building weak constructs to create the illusion of power, regardless of whether they truly were powerful. For once I was glad for the straightforwardness of demons. Sure we had power hierarchies, but they were based on each individual's power and performance, not random happenstance such as gender or the station one was born into.
"By the way, how's your wound? Are you healing up ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Brietta just likes being overly cautious so she's been keeping me under lock and key in my room. Today's my first taste of freedom for a week."
"Ah, is that why you decided to wander around demon infested streets on your own?" Kivani teased, though there was an undertone of serious accusation.
"It's none of your business," I said aloofly.
I was spared any more of his disdain for my so-called reckless actions as we neared the town square. I could hear the murmur of the crowd coming from around the next corner and could feel the proximity of the mana barrier.
We turned the corner and were greeted with a crowd of people crammed into the town square. Two Clunaics stood guard just outside of the barrier. Kivani greeted them and then instructed them to let me in.
"Alright, now stay here or you risk forfeiting my food bribe."
I rolled my eyes, but walked through the gap in the barrier the two Clunaics had made for me. I was about to turn back to watch Kivani leave when I was attacked by a violent hug.
"Ara! I was so worried! When we got to the square and you weren't with us I was terrified something terrible had happened! Thank the angels you're alright!"
Hugs being something I'd only ever witnessed others doing, I had no idea what the correct protocol was. I stood there stiffly, not sure what to do and hoping Brietta would relinquish me soon. For some reason, being held like this had the opposite effect Brietta probably intended. Most times when someone had their arms around me it was because we were in the middle of grappling with each other. Hugging as a means to show affection rather than a method of attack was a foriegn concept for me.
Brietta eventually pulled back, inspecting me for any signs of injury.
"You are ok, right?"
"I'm fine." I said exasperatedly. Though despite my mild annoyance, I kind of liked the fact that my absence had been noticed. That I had been missed and worried over.
"Don't scare me like that again!" Brietta scolded.
"I wouldn't dream of it."
Brietta narrowed her eyes at me, but didn't berate me for my clear sarcasm. I felt a small hand grab mine and looked down to see Kaylin looking up at me teary eyed.
"I thought you died."
"Nope! I'm still alive and kicking!" She seemed to accept that easily enough and perked up.
We spent the next couple of hours doodling in the sand, waiting for the Clunaics to give the all clear that we could leave the square. Finally, after I had drawn what felt like my hundredth flower in the dusty street, they released us to go back to our homes.
The sun was setting as we made our way back to the church. Despite the boredom of the last couple of hours waiting in the square, today had turned out to be much more entertaining than the last week of bed rest. I had contemplated going to a bigger city to observe humans once I had healed, but maybe I would stick around here for a bit. Plus, if things started getting boring again I could always orchestrate some more interesting events to spice things up.
***
The next couple of days passed relatively quickly as I settled into a routine. I was honestly surprised I didn't get bored with the monotonous tasks I was assigned to help out around the church and healer house, but there was something oddly relaxing about living at a leisurely pace. After the intensity of my training with Cifer I found that I didn't mind having a little peace.
I mostly helped with folding clean linens and sweeping up around the church and in the healing quarters. I quickly became familiar with the complex's layout. There was of course the large chapel, with its high ceilings and large windows. Then there were the church quarters for the nuns and orphans as well as Clunaics, priests and any acolytes. From what I could see, there was a distinction between nuns and orphans and the others, with the Clunaics and priests and even the acolytes having significantly nicer chambers.
Then there was the healer wing, which consisted of living quarters for any healers as well as treatment rooms like the one I was currently staying in. I also learned that the large open chamber with the fireplace was normally the dining hall and was shared by both the church workers and the healers. However, when there was an overflow of patients, or when multiple patients needed to be monitored at the same time, the space was used by the healers as an overflow area.
In fact, Brietta had told me I was lucky that a treatment room had opened up earlier that day or I would have been sleeping on the floor the first night. Fortunately most of the wounded only had minor injuries from the panicked chaos of fleeing the demons when they first arrived. From what I could tell, those that came in more direct contact with the demons were simply killed so there was no point in bringing them here.
"No, you have to cut the scales off first before you just chop it up!"
After some pestering, Brietta finally agreed to show me how to cook. I figured if I could learn to cook delicious food then I'd be set. Plus if that arrogant prick, Kivani could do it, it couldn't be that hard. Unfortunately it was only our second lesson and Brietta might beg to differ.
Already I'd managed to completely burn some bread when I got impatient waiting for it to finish cooking and used my magic to stoke the flames under the oven. Plus, I'd also severely overseasoned a soup broth when Brietta hadn't been paying attention. Because more is always better, right? Well apparently not. Especially when you're using ground cayenne pepper. Brietta had a rude awakening when she went to taste test the soup. I recall a lot of gagging and gasping, as well as some angry yelling. I thought she was just being overdramatic so I decided to try it just to prove so. Well, I thought wrong. My tongue was still hurting today.
Brietta sighed, clearly regretting ever agreeing to teach me to cook.
"Here, let me show you."
Brietta demonstrated how to shear off the scales and then filet the fish with precise cuts. I attempted to copy on another fish, but my end product was significantly more mangled than her nice even slices.
After coating the meat in bread crumbs Brietta filled up a pan with oil and put it on the stove top.
"We'll have to wait for the oil to heat up before we can put the fish in. Can you stay here and watch the pan while I go grab some vegetables from the storage pantry?"
"Sure!"
Brietta turned to go, and then as if just realizing it was me she was leaving unattended in the kitchen turned back. "Don't do anything until I get back, ok. I should be back before the oil even gets hot enough to start so don't put the fish in yet."
"Alright," I say, exasperatedly. I wasn't a little kid.
Brietta left and I hummed to myself as I waited for the oil to heat up. After a couple of minutes with barely any change and Brietta still being gone I got impatient.
Surely I could speed up the heating so that everything would be ready when Brietta got back. I wouldn't put the fish in yet, of course. I didn't want to waste good food with my inexperience. But I couldn't see the harm in just heating up the oil while I was waiting.
I reached for my mana and channeled it into the fire under the burner, willing the temperature to rise. Ever since using fire to 'save' Kaylin from the mongrel demon I'd been stuck with fire being my affinity. Since Kaylin had seen me use fire magic and had told Brietta, they just assumed it must be my mana affinity. And since I was masquerading as an average human it would be strange if I had mastery over more than just my natural affinity. So here I was stuck trying to use an affinity not even closely linked to my natural affinity. At least Cifer would be proud that I was training with other affinities. He had always admonished me for neglecting my study of affinities other than mind, illusion, teleportation and transformation magic.
The flames responded easily enough and I could feel the spike of heat in the room. There, now I would be able to eat sooner.
What happened next proved to be a series of unfortunate events that probably could have been avoided if only I hadn't thought with my stomach. The oil began smoking. A lot. That was probably normal, right? After being in denial for a bit and arrogantly assuming everything was fine, it happened. Flames erupted from the pan, burning violently.
I quickly considered using my magic to shrink the flames, but my mastery of fire was sorely lacking. Reducing flames was a lot harder than increasing them so I was afraid using my magic may backfire. Literally.
Water. I needed water to put it out. I rushed over to the wash basin and scooped up a bowlful of water and ran back over to the burning pan, water spilling across the floor in my haste. I dumped the water onto the fire. That was a mistake I wouldn't be repeating any time soon. I now know that water and oil don't mix, but as a novice cook I was dangerously ignorant of that fact.
As the water hit the flames, I became immediately aware that I had done the absolute worst possible thing in that scenario. The flames exploded outward, catching the nearby wooden cabinets on fire. I jumped back from the blistering heat, the hair on my skin feeling like it'd been singed off.
At this point I figured things couldn't get any worse so I decided to use my magic in a last ditch effort to control the fire. Of course, as you probably suspected, things got much worse. I tried to latch onto the mana flowing through the fire and tame it, but it fought fiercely against my control. Frustrated, I pushed harder, which had the unfortunate consequence of feeding the flames.
At this point, half of the kitchen was on fire and I was at a complete loss at what to do. Just as I was about to just accept that my cooking career was doomed to go up and smoke and had resolved to flee the scene of my failure, a figure came skidding through the door.
To my astonishment, the flames were sucked from existence. They just disappeared into thin air. Unfortunately the damage was done. The cabinets were blackened, their contents turned to ash. The countertops were covered in soot and scattered with burned food. The fish I had been looking forward to eating was nothing more than a dark mound of burned meat.
Maybe I just wasn't cut out for this cooking thing. I turned to see who my rescuer was. I rolled my eyes. Of course it was him again. Here to see my cooking prowess in all of its embarrassing glory.
"What exactly happened here?" Kivani asked, taking in the burnt kitchen.
"Nothing." I said, crossing my arms and avoiding eye contact.
"Looks like a little more than nothing."
"Don't worry about it."
Kivani gave me a skeptical look. "I think this seems like a situation that should be cause for worry. Unless you purposely caught the kitchen on fire."
"And what if I did." My face burned with embarrassment, but I wasn't about to admit to him that I'd messed up.
"Oh, well in that case I apologize for ruining your fun. It's just that I quite enjoy cooking in this kitchen and find that it's much easier to do that when it isn't burned down."
I knew I should just suck it up and apologize for the mess I'd made and thank him for helping me. If he hadn't come along the whole church might have caught on fire. I was also begrudgingly impressed at his mastery over the fire. He had so easily extinguished it when all my attempts to control the fire had only made it worse. He really was pretty powerful. For a human.
When I still didn't say anything he went on. "Maybe it would be best if you left the cooking to others." Then, seeming to take pity on me, he said, "Why don't I walk you back to your room so you can get cleaned up."
I glanced down at my soot covered clothes and realized that I must look atrocious. I hated this. I hated feeling embarrassed and vulnerable in front of him. Feeling like he was better than me. He wasn't of course. But in that moment I felt exceedingly inadequate.
"I can walk back by myself." I mumbled before hurrying out of the room. I was grateful he didn't follow me as I rushed back to my room, my head down. Why did I let this bother me so much? I had faced much worse during my training with Cifer. He had beaten me down, forced me through unimaginable tortures to strengthen my body, deprived me of food, yet there was something different about this feeling. I wasn't hurt, beyond being a little singed, but yet I felt like crying. This must be because I'm in this stupid human body. Now I have to deal with their stupid emotions.
I got back to my room and slammed the door shut. I plopped down at the desk. I met my own eyes in the mirror Brietta had brought for me a few days ago. My face was flushed and smeared with soot, my hair was a wild mess with some of the ends burned off. And my eyes. My golden brown eyes that weren't even my own filled with tears. I couldn't believe I was letting myself succumb to such weakness. But no matter how much I berated myself I couldn't will the tears to retreat.