[The Wishing Well] (Erenthril, private)

[Saka Rosedl]

1st cycle Melora of Winter, Era I of the Celestine Mandate, Era XV Post Fractum.

How long has he gone he thought as he kept moving one foot after the other. He felt so tired and sore from the trip who knew the Carmelyan Hinterlands would be so hard to get to.

So many thoughts went on in his head, who he was, why he did what he did. What he wanted from life. He learned a bit more of himself each darkening alone in the wild, his staff walking along with him as he put more and more weight each step.

He heard a rumour long ago that this place held a wishing well, he was hoping it could help him find a purpose in life, at times he felt like an empty shell just living to live with no fire or passion.

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

“Give to Peace, and Peace shall grant your wish.

“How…charming.”

He read the inscription aloud to himself, adorned in a black silk jacket matched with black pants and leather boots. Underneath the flaps of the jacket, a white linen shirt could be seen concealing his chest – as well as a few other noticeable features like the thick masculine bracelet on his right arm and the odd assortment of rings adorning his fingers. Erenthril stood with his feet firmly planted into the ground, viewing the well with a well appraised eye, feeling the air for magic – quite literally breathing it in as he rolled up his sleeves and ran a hand through his hair. The unkempt chocolate tresses fell back but receded at his neck, far shorter than what they once were. Almond verdant green eyes traced the loopy script with the letters carved into the wood, reading again and again the inscription of words upon them.

Standing at the top of a lonely hill, the Wishing Well, if anything, served as an adequate sentinel for him to take in the vista surrounding the southern Trysvale.

Needless to say, he wasn’t alone.

A young man came up, a Medonian Elf nonetheless, and was well on his way to walking straight up to the well itself. Erenthril moved aside to give him a clearer path.

[Saka Rosedl]

He was lost in thoughts before he saw another like him, he just knew he was an elf but that was all other then he was far more dressed up then he was, he just had on black pants, thigh high leather boots, an worn cloak and a white dress shirt along with his red pendent he got as an child.

He felt so worn out even he knew his body showed it, not really eating much just taking little food and water used most of it before now he kept going.

He simply made an nod at the elf as he took a few more steps to the well before sitting on the ground, his staff on his right side. His legs were crossed as he folded his hands in his lap.

He had a few crowns on him for the well, but did he really believe in the idea of an well granting a wish, no not really but he needed to have faith in something he thought.

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

Hmm...how very, unusual.

"Here, have an apple," the Elementalist spoke casually, tossing one the kid's way. The Medonian Elf looked young - seemed young, or perhaps that was just him getting older? - and seemed to be a mage of some sorts. A quick check testified to that fact, yes, Saka was indeed a mage; albeit a very low one, proficiency wise. Not that Erenthril minded. Arcana was arcana, and he wasn't about to argue the difference with a stranger.

Still, the young man's actions were most unusual. To travel all this way to a wishing well only to sit down on the ground before it and not toss anything in - well, either Saka was thinking really hard about whatever wish he was about to cast, or he was flat broke and destitute. Judging by the pendant hanging around the Elf's neck, though, Eren figured it wasn't the latter option.

Stroking his chin thoughtfully as he examined the new acquaintance here at the well, the Archmage suddenly burst into a languid and thoroughly lethargic yawn and stretch, peeking his left eye open to keep an eye on the lad nearby. "What sphere did you take up?" he asked after he'd finished yawning, standing up on his tiptoes to stretch his calf muscles as well.

Didn't hurt to ask, did it?

[Saka Rosedl]

Saka took the apple looking at the man oddly, he was not really use to random acts of kindness like that. The apple seemed fresh and did not look like it was poisonous but he still sniffed it looking a bit wary at it.

"How did you know I used an sphere..." He said, his mind slowly clearing even if he knew he was still weak from the travel and was not a really good mage.

He never met anyone who could just tell someone used arcana with a look, not even an elf, so he would be more on guard then normal. He looked from the person to the well, staring at it, "Elementalism..."

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

Erenthril blandly shrugged his shoulders; the quest was rather inconsequential to the matters of affair he quickly recognized unfurling.

“Don’t know many other Elves who run around with staves and sit on top of hills meditating whom aren’t mages of some sort or another,” he asked, evading the real note he’d picked up on within the Astral Plane and his dual perception of how he could examine Saka’s Vis reservoirs. No need for the itty gritty at this point – besides, he hardly new the man. Quid pro quo never applied here, and instead, the exchange was mutually one-sided; that is, Eren asked questions, and Saka seemed content to answer them. Better to say, Eren asked the right questions of significance, and dilly-dallied around explanations to the other nameless acquaintance.

“Elementalism, huh? I have a few friends whom are Elementalists – finding it interesting yet? Why’d you pick it?” he glanced over at the sitting Medonian now, fully engaged in conversation as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and waited expectantly for a response.

[Saka Rosedl]

Saka just did not say anything but let his breathing slow in a more of a sigh fashion. He did not seem to want to harm Saka but he knew that the good ones never looked like they would hurt you but he did not seem bad.

His right hand slowly moving up to his pendent rubbing it as he spoke. "Its rather good, even if I am not that good at it, I learned it last season but I am still at the same level it seems, so many ideas for spells but I just don't have what is needed you know. My mother, she was of the same sphere but as an child would never teach me it and never got the chance, so I went to Demios on her wishes as it is rather safe, but I came here after some thought as this well I heard could grant wishes and I seek an Master as the person who unbound me never really has time due to being an teacher for other mages." He said not really meaning to go and vent more then what was asked but once he started he found himself not really able to stop but he did not really think much about it.

Could this well help him, he thought, he thought this thought so many things it felt so pointless but he had his crowns on him as his left hand slipping in his pocket, an coin being flipped around in his fingers as he took it out looking at the well.

"I want to make her proud you know, even my father who never touched any of arcana but just the blade." He said as he closed his eyes, his thoughts on a single wish.

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

The Archmagus watched tactfully as the young man’s hand moved up to rub his pendant – not foreseen to be magical, at any rate, but no doubt an object of some importance to the Medonian. Why else, then, would he wear it? This thought soon became removed by the words Saka inevitably came around to speaking.

Obviously gemblooded.

Obviously an Initiate.

And obviously in need of a new ‘teacher’, persay.

What an odd - terribly odd - set of coincidences, Erenthril considered. Not necessarily on his behalf, for the life of the young Medonian Elf sitting before him meant little to him for the time being, but rather, on the reverse spectrum. Here, Saka was essentially kneeling before one of the select few individuals over eons upon eons of historical chronology to actually have attained the rank of Archmage, to have actually reinvented the sphere to some extent. And he didn’t even know it! The small fact was enough to make Eren grin in childlike bemusement for a few seconds, before giving ground to rumination.

Demios safe though? Heh, really? Eren had half a mind to smack the boy awake right then, not that he actually would mind you, but the very notion that Demios was anywhere close to the definition of the word ‘safe’ was laughable at most, ridiculous at best. The Elementalist fashioned that between the active volcanoes and the gigantic spiders that plagued the woodlands surrounding the coastal town, he knew for a fact that Heronythys, a Gold Dragon for Ioannes’ sake, made his summer home along the Fire Isles – albeit most of his time was usually spent in alternate planes. Still. Demios was hardly safe, if anywhere could be considered such a place. Perhaps Natura. Yes, perhaps…

“So an Initiate, eh? Can you show me something you’ve learned, then?” Erenthril asked pleasantly, before walking over to the kneel and pivoting – leaning against it a bit for balance and rest. This was going to take Saka some time; after all, Eren remembered the ten-minute long struggles to attain Clara, or the incessant distractions that hampered into delays.

“Oh – one more thing. What’s your name?”

[Saka Rosedl]

Slowly he closed his eyes, this person seemed different then the others he met before now, he was good at his guesses but sadly he always found it hard to enter this state called Clara for many different reasons one being even the smallest thing made him jump out of it.

Not only was his thoughts an uneasy sea of emotions, but he was tired on a mental level and being worn out from the travel did not help as well but he was not the same weak person that he once was when he first came to Demios, no he did get better at dealing with labor work thanks to Viskyia.

Viskyia how he missed her and how he held an regret of what happened between the two of them, one would say they use to be lovers or had some affair due to they were always together but oddly they never had a thought about that, she was almost his mother in a sense, teacher, boss and a good friend. He would return to Demios one day and fix what might or might not be broken.

Arcana held many different spheres, each form held a different sphere normally only one sphere but when dealing with the elements the person had four choices to pick and if they were good or smart they could combine two or more of the elements working together.

He knew which spell he would show, for some reason he had a feeling it would make him smile on some level. The Air dance, an spell made of the wind to lift the caster in the air just an inch off the ground and forming an air shield around them that would just last a few seconds but it was stepping stones for greater spells of the same idea.

The soft wind was slowly blowing on his skin before something clicked in his head as he saw an clear field in his head, the wind was blowing but it was an deep purple almost before he opened his eyes seeing now that every object and even the other person held an white aura around them.

He had all the time in the world now as he pulled and pushed forming the mana into the spell, he still did not understand everything of how he did this but was always told it would not make much sense until later, slowly a wind gust circled around him and lifted him just an inch off the ground as it formed an barrier around his body, he put as much mana as he could into this spell, he always felt free when he was using his arcana even if he did not know many spells.

"My name...Its Saka, and yours Sir?"

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

Eren let out a low whistle that gave off the opinion he was mildly impressed with Saka’s spell; he hadn’t seen this specific variant taught to Initiates although he possessed numerous spells that managed the same effects at different levels and combining different elements. He watched as the Initiate’s body began to rise a little off the ground, no more than a few inches really, but an accomplishment within itself. To defy the laws of physics, specifically gravity, if even for a little while was something to be proud of. Eren nodded cordially at Saka’s achievement.

“My name’s Erenthril. Erenthril Mael’tharias. How many other Initiate spells do you know? Are you…how do I phrase it….done with your basic schooling?” he asked, presuming Saka had been taught in a school. Personally, Eren had broken off from the Universitas after his apprenticeship; after seeing the rather dull and insipid uses of having apprentices while at the Paxian Academy, he thought he could get a better experience elsewhere.

Which, he supposed, was really the defining feature that separated him from the rest.

Not only was his learning rapidly accelerated, but he’d also learned things in the field that others could only dream of. Cantrip casting, rapid clara, precision spells, the sort of thing the Mage Corps prided themselves upon came naturally during the course of his adventures. You try killing an Udran Beydir massive python with only a handful of apprentice spells and a minute and a half’s worth of Clara. Not an easy task, he would tell you.

[Saka Rosedl]

He landed back on the ground as he kept his eyes on Erenthril now, it was an elf name, such a long time it felt like since he heard an pure name like that. He kept the state of clara at his fingers tips just a thought away which was so hard for him to do, he had roughly a minute or so before he would lose the link before he had to re do it all over again, his teacher said it would get faster and easier with practice and time but truth was it was not to him.

"I won't lie to you, I left the school I was at just was unbound learned half the basic stuff then left a bit later, schools bore me sadly and teachers hate me most of the time. Almost all my lessons felt painful even my basic reading and math was a bit hard for my family to do with me due to I kept fighting to the end, in the end my mother showed me an earth prison spell and told me she would teach me more about it after I read or did so much work, now that I think about it I never really did learn that she said it was to late and it would be later." He said as he watched him, seeing how he would be judge, so many people judged Saka and said he was just lazy overall from disliking school and most teachers, it was not his fault he found so many things they did were just boring.

"Ahh, well due to my training was never really done all the way I just have a small handful, I can make daggers of fire, the air dance which you saw, a sphere of light to help me read at night and such, an spell that lets me use mud and earth around my feet giving my kicks more power or push a small rock out of my way and a dragon spell."

A dragon spell could be so many things but Saka did not want to talk about this one, he wanted to show Erenthril this spell and what he could do with it later on, he used this spell when he could at trees or just to cast it when he was bored. It always had a mind of its own in his view of how it moved but then again it could just be him.

He knew this would be his last spell for a bit as he would lose this state of mind, pushing more mana in this spell as much as he could, an shapeless water sphere appeared in front of him before quickly forming into a small dragon hatching, its body span was about three feet long, its wing span a good six feet, its little head held small spikes along its head down its spine, its tail slowly waving back and forth as it opened its mouth showing a set of water like fangs. It was made out of pure blue clear almost water.

It was not very good nor would it last long in his view point but he was still proud of it, it was used to attack an person able to knock most down, even take out a eye with its tail and damage tree trunks rather good he found. This was his water dragon spell, it was the first one he ever made when he was unbound.

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

Erenthril considered.

Saka seemed to possess a rudimentary understanding of the spells he had learned; that is to say, not a great amount, but not a miniscule amount either. The Elflord stroked his chin and considered his situation very carefully, careful to act, careful to say anything that might be misconstrued. Because at the end of the day, what neither of them wanted was…well, something misconstrued.

“So school bores you huh?” he asked, turning around and pivoting to face Saka once more, hands coming up to cross protectively in front of his chest as he stared at the boy. He was obviously concentrating, and it was indeed noted that he was casting a spell of some sort. The actual form was one rather unusual to Eren’s eyes, and it occurred to him in the slightest recess of his mind that Saka had mentioned something about Demios. Demios. Dragons. Heronythys. There wasn’t the slightest inclination of surprise to trace the Archmage’s face as his eyes flickered in quiet recognition. Minutes passed. He breathed, pulsed, regenerated. Time was a priceless commodity for the Elf, yet he had so much of it to give.

As the spell took form, Erenthril watched it flounder for a few seconds. It was a crude creation, almost reminiscent of his Elementals, and it brought the very slightest flicker of a smile to his lips as he watched it wave in the air for but a few moments. Already it was deteriorating, and with a slight fizzle, he watched the mana weaves collapse.

“Impressive. Let me show you mine,” he spoke, and clapped his hands theatrically to the side of his head, elbows held aloft. Nothing happened.

A moment passed.

Irritated, he clapped them again, then frowned a bit. His hands fell to his hips, and he began to scuff at the grass with the tip of his shoe. Mumbling something in Elvish, he turned around and gave the well a decidedly hard kick when a sudden fizzle began to simmer in the air, as if steam was being let off.

As if on command, a fiery Elemental Lady appeared in the visage of a hellhound, quite literally ripping through some of the space in the air as if it were the seal of an envelope. The figure was sleek, smooth, and stood only some three and a half feet off the ground, flames lapping at the air around them as the paws left simmer scorched marks in the ground.

“Sejinn, this is Saka. Saka, Sejinn. She doesn’t talk much,” he spoke, waving his hand dismissively at the stubborn fire elemental. Saka would notice a glowing talisman strapped around the hellhound’s chest like a necklace of sorts, but then, it was usually better not to ask questions as far as magic was concerned. Eren, after all, wasn’t asking any for the time being.

[Saka Rosedl]

His spell took its toll on him as he felt drain of his life almost, was he getting weaker or just never took a break once he started casting his spells, even his water dragon spell which could stay around for half a minute left way before then as he saw Erenthril give just a hint of a smile.

He then said something that took Saka off guard, showing him his? His what he asked himself then saw the male do some of the oddest things he ever saw until the wind started to burn alive before what looked like a large dangerous dog came to be out of flames.

He never saw anything like it and most of his mind and body was shaking not from his own spells or the toll of his travels but of fear building up warping around his spirit as he started at what he called SeJinn.

Just who was this person? This was no simple spell but something far more even he knew that with his lack of information upon the art of the sphere. The only fire spell he could do was a simple flame dagger and that was nothing compared to what he just did, none of his spells even came in the same class that was SeJinn.

He knew his eyes would show his fear he had, it would look bad if he did not have fear in seeing something like SeJinn as he never seen anything like her, he was guessing her due to the name. That necklace stood out in his mind.

"H-h-Hello SeJinn." He said his voice breaking at first as he looked at her. She was pretty no matter what one would think of her even looking at her, if he could draw he would draw what he saw but sadly he did not know how to.

"What is that necklace you wear SeJinn?" He asked unsure if he was to ask her or him about it, arcana was odd at times making one that would not normally speak able to at times by some means. He had more questions but he could not even think of how to really form them other then that and if he was in danger but something told him in the back of his mind he was not.

If Erenthril could cast this kind of spell he could easily kill him in a second or two without a fight, no this was not danger but he was still on guard well trying to become on guard once more.

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

Sejinn didn’t exactly say anything to the humanoid that regarded her presence.

Not that she would have to anyone else, in that matter; she was widely silent for reasons of her own, and only communicated on rare occasions to the former Master Elementalist whom had found a way to bind her creatively to this plane. That being said, she had a fiery time walking its earths and exploring its depths.

“Eh, perhaps I’ll explain it to you another time,” the Elflord interjected on behalf of the enchanted amulet; it was one of his finer works as a Master mage, for it essentially imitated an Archmage spell. How and why were questions he wasn’t intent on answering to the young Initiate, no doubt it would only further confuse Saka as it was, but he rolled his shoulders back in that relaxed, nonchalant sort of way and gave the younger Elf a good hard gaze for a second or two before he clucked his tongue in that ‘my decision is final’ sort of habit he had going for him.

“It looks to me, Saka, that you’re in need of a tutor. Outside of the classroom, that is. And I’m available. All you have to do is ask,” he spoke, hands absently mindedly rubbing the opposite elbows as he paused patiently.