Although his eyes were still the piercing silver that I recalled from 2.0 and his hair was still that short and spiky bone white cut, his outfit was notably...childish. Something a boy would wear before going out into the woods with a stick. Although this child's "stick" was a staff, taller than he was.
I wasn't fooled by his appearance, mostly thanks to my familiarity with XIV's classes. The man was a Padjal. And an elder at that. Over 200 years old by the most conservative estimations. Others place him somewhere around 250. To still be looking like a child at age 10 when Kan-E-Senna looked like a grown woman...what did the developers mean by this?
"You have my gratitude, Kan-E-Senna. Pray, stay for a moment. I shall require your assistance yet."
Typically, the older and more studied a character was, the stranger their vocabulary became. I internally moved my conversation dial to a semi-formal Uldahn. And by that, I meant my regular manner of speech.
"Greetings, visitors from the sand. I am E-Sumi-Yan. The master of my Conjurers' guild. I have been awaiting you."
He sounded more normal now.
""Greetings guild master.""
We replied simply. It's difficult to gauge what someone on a different scale of power could want from us. For years, Thancred has gone over with Minfilia how to speak to people you suspected had other intentions.
---
"Whilst on the attack, forbid them from speaking. Force their words to remain on their tongue. They will gradually fade into something less prepared, and hopefully less dangerous."
Crunch Crunch
Made sense. Flood them with nonsense until they didn't want to talk anymore. Isn't that what he did to me? Or rather, does to me? Constantly?
"Whilst on the back-foot- Little Winter? Are you listening?"
Crunch
"Of course I am."
I said while taking another bite of an apple Momo-nee gave me. Supposedly it was the source of that applemelon Cider I had back then. It wasn't as sweet as it looked, but I don't waste food.
"Heehee."
Our antics earned a chuckle from a young Minfilia.
"Sigh Whilst on the back-foot, let them speak until their throats become dry. Only by understanding their intent, can you counter it."
---
"I'm sure that you have many questions. It is not often the forest would inflict newcomers with Greenstick."
Greenstick? I was aware of Greenwrath and Woodsin. Afflictions that visitors commonly were hit with because they did not follow the forest's rules. Lifestyle or otherwise. That was information I gathered before coming to Gridania. Compared to the player wiki page, I could never know how accurate it was.
"Master Sumi, pray tell, what is Greenstick?"
I questioned.
"It is nothing of concern, young one. Greenstick is a minor curse that the elements place on those who they wished to mark. Padjal can sense the mark, but others cannot. I have brought you and your friend here for cleansing."
Marked for what? Marked to be hunted obviously. Padjal can track and find the mark because they were attuned with nature's unique magic. But who else was? Who else could potentially find those who were marked? The Twelveswood. It had marked us for consumption.
"Before that however, it seems that fate has personally acted in expectation of this meeting."
The ancient being that called itself E-Sumi-Yan turned to face me. His expression was neutral while his eyes begged a question.
"I believe you had something you wanted to give me, young one?"
E-Sumi-Yan was three times as old as Louisoix. He had seen the rise and fall of numerous civilizations. Perhaps he even knew of the Allagan Empire. Never underestimate your elders in fantasy settings.
In Final Fantasy, time moved quickly. The characters rarely were older than 35. Adulthood started far earlier than that, depending on the game. Boys became men and were ready to die for their country by 16.
So to be 200 or older in a franchise like this, it was unimaginable. So much happened in every year. In this one alone, who knows how many minor events I had missed. How many souls were returned to the Lifestream. How many of those deaths were architected by people as old as this creature before me.
I pulled the letter out of my inner pocket without a word and handed it to the guild master. The elements could not have possibly known what I carried. That wasn't how they communicated or perceived the world. They recognized souls. So how did he know of the letter? Does Mumuepo's network expand further than I thought? How-
"Hm."
He opened it and read its contents. His eyes showed no surprise, but some interest.
"Winter was it? Do you mind showing me what you can do?"
"I'm sorry?"
"That, the Aether that swirls above your head akin to an endless storm. I'd like to see you use it. If you do not mind."
I was only half stunned. Of course such a powerful figure could see my manipulation of Aether. Clear as day and without blinking as well. Kan-E-Senna stared at me as if I were a rare animal. Minfilia had a look of curiosity on her face.
E-Sumi-Yan snapped his fingers and a straw doll that glowed with a blue aura appeared within the chamber.
"On that, if you please."
He kept a calm face and merely watched me.
Without a chant or fanfare I cast my sorry excuse for a snowblower once more.
Fwoosh
A strong gust of biting cold pushed the dummy back slightly, but it stayed standing, taunting my impotence while being covered in a layer of frost.
"Tis but a scratch." it growled at me. I almost couldn't stop myself from snorting indignantly. I knew we wouldn't get along from the moment we locked eyes.
"GASP"
The Seedseer behind me gave the expected reaction. Minfilia's reaction wasn't anything special. She had seen me training my abilities for years. But she didn't hold the same enmity for my foe as I did.
The guild master carefully analyzed the doll then moved his gaze back to the space above my head where I was still cycling the Aether around me.
"And to cast a spell proper, you would need to move it through you... Correct?"
"Yes sir."
I assumed he was speaking of my capacity to cast fire and now-
I held my hand out in front of me.
'Hear.'
My personal chant. It had no meaning, but it worked where nothing else did.
'Feel.'
I wanted to give him a show. Even without the Echo, I wasn't someone to be overlooked. To be a Rune Knight, or whatever the path for me laid out-
'Think'
I needed to be ready. And the dummy had pissed me off a bit. I wouldn't kill him, just give him a bit of a shock.
[THUNDER]
Crack
Krrrrrzzzzz-crazzzap
A thick bolt of violet lightning struck the dummy. Every second, another snake of lightning crawled across the dummy's body and disappeared only for a new one to take it's place. Thunder was a DOT. A Damage over Time ability. Cumulatively, it was the strongest type of spell, but the key word was cumulatively. If you couldn't live long enough to see it's effects work over it's 30 second duration, it may as well not have been cast.
If that was Fire, I might have collapsed, however my MP pool had increased a tad since that fight with the Goobbue years ago. I could cast it exactly once and no more. To compensate for my inability to switch Astral Fire to Astral Ice, I developed a trick before leaving Ul'dah.
Recalling the sensation I felt when using [Riot Blade], I traced the route the force's backlash took. Into my palm, unto my arm and... there. I "opened" the valve that sat under my right pectoral muscle. It "gulped" down a "mouthful" of Aether, replacing most of what I had spent casting [Thunder].
I turned to look at the guild master and he met my eyes. He was watching me steadily.
I felt a familiar warmth spread from my hand. Hello, my dear Minfilia. Her eyes were sparkling with excitement, but she didn't say anything. I held her soft and warm hand comfortably. This demoness was taunting me, seducing me, making me strain my monster against my pants all day, but I still loved her deeply. I smiled at my Minfilia and winked before putting my attention back on the ancient monster. Her cleavage covertly swallowed my arm letting me feel plushness and warmth of her skin.
Master E-Sumi-Yan skimmed through the letter once more. It wasn't long.
"Winter, I now see what had Master Mumuepo in such a fuss."
Did he express that? I didn't read the letters after all.
---
E-Sumi-Yan had witnessed many march through the halls of his Conjurers' guild. Most brash and foolhardy, wishing to tap into natural magicks for the purpose of conquest.
While these types could learn a Stone spell, they would never be proper healers.
Others were soft and indignant. Usually, upon losing a loved one, the grief drove these types to find protection against the inevitable. They saw death as unnatural and random. They didn't understand how it fit into the cycle.
This type would be the kind who became fantastic healers. However, to break through and enter the realm of master, they would inevitably be blocked.
Then there was the young man.
He walked in, always two steps behind Kan-E-Senna. Never in front. His eyes flickered with recognition. However E-Sumi had never seen the man in his Twelveswood. The elements hadn't either.
It wasn't as if the young man was subtle. Above his head was a stream of Aether that was continuously flowing in the shape of an 8. It seemed to be something that brought the young man mental solace.
Such a crude and powerful solution to a simple problem. He must have been self-taught. This belief was echoed within the letter written by the Thaumaturge, Mumuepo.
The Lalafell spoke of an old story from Ivalice. No one knew how the Rune Knight could perform his miracles, but Mumuepo insisted E-Sumi-Yan would learn how by watching this young man.
While E-Sumi-Yan was hesitant, that swirl of Aether was already upsetting the elements quite a bit. Ultimately, he left it to fate. For the young man to appear here with this letter and receive a mark, E-Sumi-Yan believed that something larger was at play.
The young man cast an unknown spell. The surrounding space warped with intention and control. That storm above did not change, isolated from this new phenomenon.
Without a word, small threads of Aether were made manifest. Created from nothing.
Fwoosh
E-Sumi-Yan did not know everything. He wouldn't dare claim that he did. He had not traveled far and wide. He had not engaged in mouth frothing debates with his peers in Sharlayan. He did not even claim to be that powerful.
The way the young man cast. It wasn't an act of summoning the will of the elements. He simply took what he needed and created as the rest. After doing so, he threw it.
[THUNDER]
While it was more traditional, the young man still tapped the world around him rather than exclusively using the Aetherpool that sat within himself. He had recklessly used his body as a medium. If he were to become a Rune Knight, then such reckless behavior would be curbed, however E-Sumi-Yan did not at all enjoy the young man's foppish disregard for the Aether he poached to cast.
Just when he was about to lecture the young man, he adjusted once more. He then stretched and-
crack - vwoooooosh
Aether poured into him like a bucket being filled with water.
E-Sumi-Yan's eyes almost popped out of his head, but he kept his composure in the end. He wasn't poaching. It was granted. Something gave him Aether. Or rather, it too was also created from nothing.
The guild master felt like fainting. What was this? One could twist their spines and regain the Aether they had lost? Without a potion, without a chant, without the blessings of the star, one could comfortably crack their bones and be rewarded?
Then why had E-Sumi-Yan never heard of such a thing? He cracked his bones upon waking up every morning, but rather than a reward of Aether, he obtained another unwelcome reminder of his age. The thought depressed the guild master slightly.
This young man probably could not become a healer. Such a thing required the grace of the elements. But his ability to take the Aether, the font of all things, and create such unnatural phenomenon... To create Aether at will...
E-Sumi-Yan didn't wish to see it, quite frankly. A monster would be born on Eorzea. The temptation to kill the young man and save the star tickled the base of his neck. Haunting tales of the Sixth Umbral Calamity sounded in his ears and shook his senses. It were as if he was being lectured by his teacher once more.
The Calamity of Water.
White Mages and Black Mages waged bloody and destructive war for over 250 years. A war that drained the very soul of the star's Aether. Incredibly powerful magicks, used for the sole purpose of destruction. The event made magicks a forbidden art for almost 1000 years afterwards. Even today, White Magic was still only permitted amongst the Padjal and those approved of by the elements.
E-Sumi-Yan's master explained the war in great detail and the Calamity that followed in greater detail still. The Ancient City of Amdapor, the birthplace of White Magicks, held a great and terrible evil. The peoples of Nym, warped and molded by a terrible plague into Tonberries.
E-Sumi-Yan prevented his body from shaking. He didn't want to show weakness. The War of the Magi sapped the land of Aether. It could not be replenished before more was stolen yet again. A debt had been established with the star. One that would be repaid.
Water, the only element that was not used for warfare, remained. The balance was broken. It was allowed to rage. Oha-Sok, the Wrath Elemental, was reborn.
This young man, Winter...
E-Sumi-Yan clenched his fists. Was he truly creating those strange phenomenon from nothing? The elements were wary and upset. But not in pain. Whatever the young man was doing did not sap enough Aether to harm them. But the way he cycled the same handful of Aether above his head in that storm, a storm that would gather no winds, as it were, such a thing drove the elements mad. Such a technique could evolve into a Calamity of it's own...
He could not. He would not.
E-Sumi-Yan suppressed his screaming instincts to send the the young man to the Twelve. Such an act went against his vows. It went against the words of his teacher. Everyone deserved a chance. They deserved mercy. Lest the cycles of history repeat and birth to the star a new Calamity. One worse than the Calamity of Water.
E-Sumi-Yan had little choice. He would allow the young man to receive instruction. He would not inquire as to the nature of his power. Such a thing would likely snap his reason. But first, he must be cleansed. The elder guild master fully understood why the elements had marked this young man as well as his friend. It could not stand.