Several years have passed. But to the denizens of this forest cabin, it was like several months of time. Much of this time was Luthiel teaching and training Mai'elle in the ways of mana.
If this was the human method, she would already be into the deep theory of more advanced spells. But this was the way of elves, where they had to first learn how to access and use the mana inside of themselves, a long and drawn-out process. Whereas humans use the mana in the air and world around them.
As a result, it is a long and tedious process, one in which very few humans learn, and a large reason why elves live as long as they do. Mana helps to slow down the degradation of the body by providing another source of energy aside from food.
"Mai, come over here." Luthiel, Mai'elle's grandmother, was calling from the alchemy work bench. "I have something to tell you."
Mai'elle was over by the pond, slowly going through the exercises that her grandmother taught her. Most of which was learning how to interact with and manipulate the mana within her. This was a very important step, because of the way an elf's mana base was personal to themselves, each elf does it differently. The exercises merely taught how to identify the mana beyond the appearance of the mana base.
Over these last several years she learned how to grab the mana and was now rotating 3 balls of pure elemental mana around herself, one for each of her inherent elements, Air, Lightning, and Ice.
For Mai'elle, the initial process of discovering how to hold onto the mana with her will was incredibly difficult, far more difficult than a normal elf, at least according to her grandmother. Her father, a practitioner of a completely different form of magic, and her grandfather, more of a battle mage and Forgemaster, were not much help during this process. This difficulty stemmed from the fact that part of her very being consumed mana as a form of sustenance. So her body reacted quite violently the first time she tried to extract the mana from her base without thought.
Eventually she realized that her mana based was separated into two sections. The Vortex, and the Thunderhead. If she took the mana without thinking about where she was extracting the mana from, her body reacted like she was forcing herself to vomit. If she tried to take the mana from the Vortex, her body reacted much like when you attempt to bite off your own finger, in theory it should be easy, but the body's natural defenses would not allow it to happen. But when she went to grab from the Thunderhead, she found that her mana base was incredibly volatile, exactly like its real-life likeness. Violent and powerful, but beautiful at the same time. Learning to control this was the result of almost 3 years of practice and study, which to the long-perceived lifespans of elves was much the same as several months of training sessions.
Reabsorbing her mana, a trick she learned was unique entirely to herself due to her unique constitution, she got up and walked over to her grandmother.
Arriving to the alchemy bench she saw her father discussing something with her grandmother, which she caught apparently the tail end of a trip both her father and grandfather were planning.
"Her cousins are around her age; she should meet them. Also, she's old enough, she should go out and make some friends. More than Aqueos, while it's a good friend, it doesn't know how people act very well as a water spirit." Her father's deep baritone voice was full of a deep worry for the future, one that Michelle was not able to fully understand yet.
"I don't disagree, but the issue is do they come here. Where Caedras and I are technically dead according to the elves. Only Our Son and the Archmage even know we are still alive. If they come here, we risk jeopardizing the peace you helped build, but I don't want her to leave either, she's barely fifty, and already slow to develop, she'll be left behind by the other children."
"And she Fifteen years older than her cousins, as far as they would know, they are the same age, she would also be held back for the Rearing, she'd be sixty-five among fifty-year-olds, but she wouldn't be left behind. Besides, its only her physical development that's lacking, and its not her fault either, her mind is just as sharp as a fifty-year-old elf, she'll be fine. And, she is at the same Magical development stage as her cousins, they can learn from each other quite easily."
"Besides, she already here, why don't we ask her opinion?"
Mai'elle was standing there, not quite sure what to do. It was obvious that they were talking about her, and where she should go. Her father looked at her with a quiet resolve that he would go with whatever she wanted, no matter what it was. Her grandmother looked like she wanted to keep her here and protect her from the world, possibly forever.
"Father? You said I had cousins. Why did I never learn about this?" A question, and apparently a damning one too, because Luthiel flushed red from embarrassment while Kristoff gave her a meaningful look.
"Poor decisions. Would you like to meet them? Before you answer, you must know that Aqueos cannot come with us, and we will be gone for almost twenty years."
Twenty years. That was a long time, even to Mai'elle. Maybe to her family that would be considered a rather short period of time, but to the fifty-year-old elf, who was roughly the equivalent of a five-year-old human, that was a considerable time.
She was taught to be very careful with big decisions like this. Even if its not dangerous, it was still life altering.
"Before I answer, what will happen with Aqueos?"
As her father was about to answer, she heard Aqueos, apparently it was living in the pond the entire time. Either that or it could travel to different water sources. "I'll be fine girl, twenty years isn't all that long, we're not humans after all."
"Well there's your answer." Michelle's father said with a deep chuckle.
Cousins. That word should mean something, but it is more of an echo of a memory. While it should have been obvious that more than just her family exist, Mai'elle had never been presented with the situation, she has an insatiable curiosity for new things, and cousins sounds like a wonderful adventure.
"Sounds great, when can we leave!" The excitement, coming from a place of pure childish wonder, was contagious.
"In a couple months, we must get some things set up with Leädros. In the meantime, Luthiel will start teaching you in actual spells now that you have proper control of your mana."
Spells, the thing all this training has been leading up to this. The thing Mai'elle wanted to do the most right now. Wield the Elemental magic that quite literally rage within her.
"Michelle, your grandfather and I will be heading out tomorrow morning. Be good for your grandmother alright?"
"Yessir. I'll be good, I'll be so good that… that… that I'll be the bestest." Mai'elle was not in the habit of talking in this childish manner, her father and grandparents ensured she was well educated. But with the excitement she was exuding, her family was willing to overlook the social slip for the moment.
"Of course you will sweetie, we'll be sure to say goodbye tomorrow morning. Goodluck with your training and be sure to show me the things you learn when we get back."
"Okay!" excitedly, she ran to the house to put on the clothes she made with her grandmother to train in. A cute robe that was a swirling combination of 4 colors, Electric blue, Ice blue, Watery blue, and a Verdant green. They had both sewn it over the last winter, to prepare for use. And unbeknownst to Mai'elle, Luthiel had added enchanted threads to the robe, to enhance their protective ability. But nothing was added to aid in casting magic; this was a training robe after all.
Exiting the house, she found that her grandmother was now alone, and her father had left, presumably to get ready for the trip tomorrow.
"Grandmother! I'm ready!" the excitement was so high Mai'elle was practically vibrating.
"Alright, Alright. Hold your stag for a minute. You need to come with me to the pond." Luthiel was walking, and in this moment, it was excruciatingly slow. Almost as bad as the snow melt.
"Grandmother, Hurry up." Mai'elle was sprinting back and forth between the pond and her grandmother.
"Patients dear. Nothing good will come from being in a rush. Especially with magic. This is your first lesson. Patients."
Frustrated, Mai'elle slowed down and walked with her grandmother. Agonizing and slow. And after what felt like ages, but was only about a minute, they arrived to the shore of the pond, where they found Aqueos waiting for them.
"The time has come then?" The bubbling voice of Aqueos was both happy and resigned.
"Indeed, thank you for being a friend to Mai'elle for all these years."
"Grandmother, is Aqueos leaving?"
Before Luthiel could answer, Aqueos interjected.
"Yes, I've come to say goodbye for now. I am a water spirit, and my mana has become stagnant in recent years. I must go off or suffer from stagnation. This is not the end little Mai, we will see each other again."
And before Mai'elle could say anything in return Aqueos went to the water and disappeared.
Mai'elle was not sad, it was more of a disappointment. The period that they had known each other, by the standards of humans, would have been like seeing a friend of fifteen years disappearing just like that. Mai'elle's perception of time was aligned with that of elves, and it was like seeing a friend of a couple months move on with their life. No deep and true bond was formed.
"Well let us begin training then shall we?"
The next morning, after saying goodbye to Luthiel and Mai'elle, Caedras and Kristoff left for the capital. Kristoff, donning a disguise, was nervous. In all his long years of life, he had never had a daughter to worry about, and he found that it was very different than his worry over his late son. His strong desire to protect her and shield her from the world was at war with his desire to prepare her to face the challenges on her own two feet. So, the ancient Human, a man who was once feared by worlds, was anxious over the growth and development of his daughter.
"You're worrying to much you know? They will be fine." The aging elf was doing his best to comfort his friend, but they both knew the worries and challenges need more than mere words.
"I pray that I do the best I can, and I pray that it is enough."
Nodding, not much was said anymore between the two of them. The distance between Carisline and the small cabin in the woods is roughly two months by foot. Truly, both Caedras and Kristoff could shorten the trip to a duration of days rather than months. However, after long discussion with Lutheil on how much time Mai'elle would need for her initial training, they came to the agreement that they would take the slow route so that she could focus on her training. It also allows for more time to be taken to set up certain agreements with the elves on Mai'elle's future development.
"Well, the days aren't getting any longer. Let us begin."