Chapter 24: Journey of Aurelia
"Now, Aurelia, do you remember where and how Raven Grass grow?" Innis carefully asked, feeling her own heart pounding out from her chest. "Tell Master one more time!"
"It is only found under the blanket of Darkness, and there must be moonlight present. Its leaves are black in color with raven shape leaves." The young girl stated with confidence, "Aurelia remembers it all."
Wrapping her arms around her small head, Tears began to fall as Innis shivered uncontrollably, "and what do you do if you meet any monsters you cannot handle?"
"Toss whomever or whatever in the way and flee, and if Aurelia can't run battle with all I can while looking for a path of hope." Said Aurelia wrapping her arms around Innis. "Master, Aurelia will be fine. Dumb-Dumb trained Aurelia well."
"And yet I am still being called Dumb-Dumb." Lord Zireael carelessly stated, "Please go, I will very much enjoy the..."
Scrunching his brow Zireael turned towards the east. He frowned. "Master, what are you?" He whispered, feeling a disturbance in space. "No, that's not master."
"Lord Zireael?" Talia called out, breaking his train of thought.
"No, it's nothing, just a disturbance that is none of my business." Said Zireael, slowly forgetting about the shift in power upon the land. "Enjoy the journey, Aurelia. Even if you are under a lot of pressure, enjoy the ride. That is what my elder brother always told me."
"You have a brother?" Aurelia asked with bright eyes, "What is his name?"
"He likes to call himself Arsene when undercover for some reason. So you can call him that till you break past Arcane King," Zireael stated with a warm smile handing her a small pouch filled with jerky and travel supplies.
Suddenly wrapping her arms around Zireael, the young boy quivered around her grip, pushing her off in an instant, "Please go!!!" He shouted, glaring daggers into her skull.
Giggling in childlike innocence at his odd phobia, Aurelia nodded, turning around. Staring at the extensive woods, she looked down at the rune upon her wrist. Knowing it would allow her to contact Anima, she bolted into the forest without looking back. Rushing with wild abandonment, tears slowly began to trail from her eyes for a few hours before she finally felt she had fled long enough. Looking around at the empty silence of the forest, a fright suddenly grew within her soul, knowing she was all alone. No one was here to help her; if she died, it was all over.
Pressing her palm upon the Pommel of her longsword at her waist Aurelia grew tense, not letting her guard drop for a moment. At the same time, her left arm gripped her staff.
"Head South East, Lady Aurelia, and you will find the area where Ravens Glass should be located," Anima informed, startling Aurelia. Noticing the glow of the rune upon her wrist, she nodded. Walking in the direction Anima pointed out.
Slowly making her way through the forest, Aurelia's body began to gimmer with golden darkness. Casting the four zero spells, she knew over and over. Lost in the endless repetition of practice, Aurelia walked in a straight path. It was not till the sun was slowly beginning to fall did she returned to herself. Startled by the fact had not felt the least bit tired.
"Anima, how much further?" asked Aurelia glancing at the setting star.
"With Lady Aurelia's current speed, she will arrive in seven days!" Anima stated, starling Aurelia who looked into the pouch Zireael gave her. Noticing it would not be enough, a jittery feeling gripped her stomach.
"Lord Zireael has gifted Aurelia access to Tier One archives. If she so chooses A.I., Anima will assist Lady Aurelia in whatever mortal task she requires."
A little confused about what Anima meant, she inquired, "does anima know how to cook a hunted animal?"
"Affirmative!"
"Dumb Dumb really is helping Aurelia." The Doe eye girl exclaimed when her ears suddenly picked up on something a few meters away. She quickly gripped the hilt of her sword with her right arm, her body ready to move at a moment's notice.
Narrowing her gaze, the sounds of movement began to grow stronger. Leapin on top of a tree, Aurelia hid within the leaves of the towering tree. Slowly a greenish creature with sharp fangs and a crooked nose appeared. Noticing the odd noise sounding from its mouth, more of these goblins began to appear before a squad of ten came into Aurelia's view.
With her heart beating uncontrollably, she turned towards her grim staff pulsing with an evil aura and that to the goblins below. Taking a deep breath, she whispered, "Featherfoot,"
Casting the zero spell that made her steps silent and doubled her speed, cold and grim cruelty filled her tiny heart. Blasting off the tree branch Aurila crash-landed within the squad like a cannon, shocked at the appearance of a girl small than them.
"Force Blast," She chanted
Before any of them could react, a mighty invisible blast exploded out from her body, basting seven goblins in messy gore of crimson. In contrast, the other goblins were torn off their feet into the air. Not letting them get the chance to recover, Aurelia dashed forward with her sword in hand, severing the head of a still goblin upon the ground as she pointed her staff towards another just rising.
"Firebolt"
Suddenly a blood-red flame sparked, shattering the sound barrier blasting the entire body of the goblin to dust. Watching all its comrades slaughtered in seconds, the last goblin shivered, turning to leave when another blood-red flame flashed, turning it into ash before it could understand death had arrived.
Pursing her lips at the quick battle that didn't even challenge her, Aurelia fixed her ragged clothing, turning to leave. Innis had warned her for each kill she made. She was not allowed to stay more than a few seconds after killing her target.
Becoming a little more confident in her magic and sword, Aurelia slowly began to relax; while she never dropped, her guard grew a lot less tense. Slowly the long days began to pass as Aurelia would meditate like Innis had taught her to recover strength at night, while during the day, she would train her sword and Zero Spells to the best of her ability.
And so like this, Aurelia enjoyed her days of training, hunting, and rummaging through the archives of top-tier magical spells Zireael had stored within his library. While Aurelia knew she would never be able to learn these spells any time soon, she could not help but dream of the day. However, while she could not learn many of the magical spells, there was an almost endless stream of Zero spells that Zireael placed there just for Aurelia. Only to be rejected when she clicked upon them.
"Aurelia can only access these spells once she brings back Ravens Glass to Lord Zireael!" Anima stated in a robotic voice shattering Aurelia's good mood once more.
"DUMB-DUMB!"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone