The hall was not nearly as bright as it was when he first entered it. Now the sprites were dancing and having fun their light dim and playful. Some were near Welsher they seemed to be practicing magic together. All of them cast spells on straw targets. Doric was impressed with how chaotic yet controlled this area was.
"Ah, you made it, good to see! I was hoping to help you hone your skills with magic if you had time." Welsher greeted them and raised his hand to stop the younger sprites casting. "Do pardon the mess here. Everyone is just so excited to have guests that they all wanted to meet you three."
Doric made a happy click with his teeth and Nyssa and Skia both looked at the young sprites with eager eyes. The sprites rushed towards the three and began asking questions all at once.
"What's your name?" one asked Nyssa. "Why are you so smokey?" Another asked Skia. "Are you really a human?" A third asked Doric. Question after question was asked before Welsher cleared his throat. The sprites all parted ways whispering to each other with excitement.
"I believe I have trainers set for each one of you. Sprites that will help you in your journey to unlock your potential." Welsher spoke as he introduced 2 sprites behind him. One was a sprite that had dark wisps around her similar to Skia.
Doric casually cast the Monocle spell and looked at her. The Symbols for Shadow, Mana, and one he was not familiar with that all fey seemed to have here. A symbol of…Chaos perhaps?
The second sprite was one that had a more cheery-looking one, a familiar one. It was Mauve. Her symbols were Poison, Holy, and the strange chaos symbol the other sprites had. Mauve seemed to be trying to hide her energetic nature but Doric could see she was shaking with anticipation.
"Skia, you will be trained by Onyx here. As for you, Nyssa, mauve will be your instructor." He smiled and waved the two forward. Onyx wandered towards Skia and gave a polite bow. Skia responded in kind. "I hope you are prepared. There is a lot to learn." Onyx said in a monotone voice.
Mauve bounced to Nyssa and swirled around her. "I can't wait to show you all kinds of neat things!" She said with a voice that almost cracked with excitement. Doric looked at the two and smiled. He was glad to see they were going to have what looked like teachers who would give them great lessons.
However, he looked to Welsher. What about me, will I also get a teacher?"
Welsher nodded and moved towards him standing just 6 feet away he bowed. "I will personally train you young Doric."
Doric was surprised he opened his mouth wide and backed up a little. "Are you sure? I could always work with a sprite."
Raising his hand to stop Doric he responded. "No young man, what I am going to teach you is something no sprite here can." He clapped his hands together and grinned. "I am going to help you hone your Magic Power Level as well as work on your special ability. It's going to be very tough, do you think you can handle it?"
Doric closed his mouth and nodded. He was nervous but he knew that Welsher meant well and he was not going to turn down an offer to train with a master. "I will do my best, Sir!"
Welsher let out a belting laugh and shook his head. "No, no, Welsher is just fine. May I call you Doric?"
"Of course, Welsher. I look forward to learning from you." Welsher could feel the smile on Doric's skeletal face. Extending his hand out he waited for the psychic grasp and once that was complete they all headed off into separate directions to begin their intense training.
Starting with Skia and Onyx they entered a room that was super bright. It hurt Skia's head just being in here. It was lit in a way that no shadows formed anywhere in the room. Skia herself felt naked here. Onyx however retained her whispy shadow form even though she cast no shadow herself.
"Alright Skia, we will begin with the most basic of things. Maintaining your shadow cloak." Onyx floated in front of Skia and sighed seeing Skia already becoming pale and sickly. "You have never had this kind of training before, have you? It looks to me like you have not really used your shadow abilities much at all."
Skia weakly nodded in response. The voice felt dim and distant from her. She tried to listen but she felt herself becoming faint. The last thing she heard before she fainted was Onyx yelling out her name.
"Skia! Wake up! Oh geeze am I about to kill another trainee…" Onyx sighed as she formed a shadow from her cloak around Skia and teleported them both out of the room. "Well guess we have to start even smaller than that. Man, this is a pain…"
Next up was Nyssa and Mauve. Entering a room that looked like a laboratory more than a training room Mauve floated over to a work table full of bottles filled with mysterious liquids and ingredients that Nyssa had never seen before. Picking up a bottle Mauve handed it to her new student.
"Here drink this!" She said without any other instruction. Nyssa looked at her confused and took the bottle. She smelled it. It smelled sweet like honey. She took a moment and drank the vial. Moments later she was on the ground shaking unable to move her body.
"Step one- Never accept strange potions from strange people!" Mauve said putting a finger up. "Quick take this." She said grabbing another bottle and handing it to Nyssa. Unable to grab the vial Nyssa continued to shake violently on the ground she began foaming at the mouth, whatever she had drank was quickly killing her.
Mauve looked at her and tilted her head in confusion before realizing. "Oh right, you are paralyzed. Yeah, that was a vial of Honey Vine Liquid. It's produced by a Carnivorous Plant common in this area. It attracts its victims by producing a very delicious-smelling liquid."
Nyssa stopped convulsing now and began to fade in and out of consciousness while Mauve continued talking. "When the victim begins to ingest the liquid their bodys go into shock and they die within the hour. Nourishing the plant with their bodies."
She was just about to fall unconscious before she felt a new smooth yet very bitter liquid enter her mouth. She immediately sat up and started coughing. "Why did you do that!"
Mauve danced around the table and looked at her. "I told you, never take a potion from a stranger. You and I can become friends and then it will be alright but never trust strangers, especially being as cute as you are. You never know their ulterior motives!"
She sat on the table and crossed her legs. "I introduced myself earlier but my name is Mauve. I am a sprite as you could tell and I specialize in potions for all kinds of things. Healing ailments, Causing AIlments, and everything in between!"
Nyssa wiped her mouth and felt weak still. "I still can't feel my legs, is that normal?"
"Oh yea, really normal, If you could feel your legs I would call you a monster! Ha, Ha" She placed a hand on the table and grabbed a small bag with a powder in it.
"Here this will help with your legs." She tossed the tiny bag to Nyssa who grabbed it. Looking at it she opened it up. It was a purple powder that smelled like sewage. Mauve gave an ominous grin that Nyssa did not notice.
"Go ahead, take the antidote." Mauve encouraged her. Nyssa gulped for a moment and raised the powder to her mouth. "Mauve raised a hand to stop her but it was too late. Nyssa had already put it back down and closed it up.
"Rule one- Never accept strange potions from a strange person," Nyssa said mimicking Mauve's manner of speaking.
Mauve looked surprised and then let out the cutest tiny laugh imaginable. She squirmed on the table, rolled around, and slammed her fist on the table unable to control herself she began to snort a few times. Nyssa could not help it. Her laugh was contagious. She began laughing as well.
After a while, Mauve stopped laughing and rubbed the tears out of her eyes. She stood up and gave Nyssa a thumbs up. "Congratulations you passed the first test!"
Finally, it was Doric's turn. Entering a chamber that was devoid of any furnishings the air changed to one of a more serious note. Welsher did not say anything to Doric, instead, he chanted something and the door behind Doric slammed shut. A magic circle appeared in the room covering the room and crawling up the walls to create a barrier inside of it. Welsher then turned to face Doric. "Prepare yourself."