Aila felt invincible! She giggled to herself at the thought. New equipment always had this effect on her, and she found that the blacksmiths here in Magnolia weren't exactly the "slackers" her brother had been so critical of. Her eyes traveled along the gentle curvature of the weapon in hand. It let off a faint red glow to show off its enchantments but was in an otherwise dormant state. Her hand gently ran along the chain and closed around the small dagger on the other end. The scythe side rested in her other hand and was twirled around every couple of seconds. It was truly a beauty.
"So why not test it out!" she exclaimed, shocking the a couple that had been walking behind her. She quickly muttered an apology and made her way to the request board. Unfortunately for the young mage none of the current requests required much combat. In fact the only one that seemed to allow the use of a weapon was one involving spiders. She shuddered at the thought. Her brother had often thrown bugs on her as a child and remarked on how they'd eat her alive. She bit her lip and peered down at her new weapon. She'd have to get over this fear eventually right?
With the request paper in hand she approached the office. A short man stood at the counter wringing his hands around an old hat and looking at a picture of a beautiful rose. Nature had been odd on this little flower, granting it a deep emerald green color. "Excuse me" Aila said while tapping the man's shoulder, "I'm here about the request."
The man's look of worry exploded into a look of pure jubilation and he leaped up and gave the girl a hug. This earned an 'eep' from the small girl as she began to struggle to breathe with her face engulfed in the man's chest. The man released her and looked down with an air of disappointment. "You're here about the request?" He said with a look of disbelief.
Aila's head cocked to one side quizzically as she replied "Yes?"
He began to circle the girl making several grunts and nods. "The request asked for a mage correct?" He snatched the paper from her hand, looking for any mistakes in the print. Aila bit her lip.
"I am a mage" she said with a small hint of irritation in her voice.
The man sighed and pat her on the head "I'm sure you a-" Aila cut him off by calling Midnight into her hands.
This seemed to be proof enough as the man instantly stopped questioning her. Not even taking the time to apologize, the man scooped up several pieces of paper from a nearby desk and returned to her. He revealed the picture of the rose. “This rose is my discovery” He said with a hint of pride in his voice “A flower that was influenced so strongly by its habitat, and so close to the city! Think what this could mean for the scientific world!” Aila simply peered back. The man continued “We may find that some strings of plantlife can be used to store magic, like mini Lacrima if you will!”
Aila finally spoke up, “If this flower is so amazing… couldn’t you get the town guard to escort you?”
“Hah! and share credit for the discovery with those cretins? I’ll do no such thing!”
Aila mentally cursed her luck; she had been hoping to walk away without encountering those disgusting bugs. Her eyes spotted an artist rendering of the disgusting creature. The spiders were just as terrifying as she remembered, but she couldn’t run in fear now that she had proven herself. So with a shaky hand she took the map and began to lead him towards forest. As she passed through town she mused at how she was once again going into the forest. ‘I wonder if I can break a record… most trips into the spooky forests of the world’ she thought, trying to distract her mind from the thought of the horrid bugs she’d soon encounter.
Soon they came upon a cave in the middle of the woods. Instantly a foreboding feeling came over her. “Requip: Leash of Cerberus and Twili Cloak” she muttered watching as a circle appeared and left behind the glowing red chain scythe. The lights of the circle brought a bright glow to her clothing changing it to a soft purple shirt with an almost black skirt and matching stockings. Finally a black cloak with a frayed bottom erupted from her shoulders. Eggy jumped back at her show of magic. Using the faint glow of the scythe along with Eggy’s torch the two began to make their way through the cave.
Every sound made, echoed throughout the entire cave. Even some sound from outside took on an eerie feel as they bounced off of the cave walls. Aila’s hands were shaking ever so slightly. Luckily, her position ahead of the man didn’t show it. A rustling noise met her ear as the turned a corner and the young mage stopped in her tracks. In the blackness of the cave Aila saw the reflection of their light off the surface of their inky black eyes. She stifled a scream and through the chain forward. It immediately let out a bright red glow as it left her hand and singed through its target. She quickly yanked the chain to pull it back, cutting a hole in the next on in the process. Once it was safely back in her hand she found, to her amazement, that the weapon didn’t feel hot at all to her hand. They stood there for a few terrifying moments before continuing onwards. In that time Aila decided to ask her employer a few questions.
“What kind of spiders were those!” She said in a rather loud whisper
The man looked back at her sheepishly, “You see when we were clearing some stones from an area further in… We kind of disturbed their nest” He held out a piece of paper filled with information on the creatures. She skimmed through it before grabbing his hand and pulling him deeper.
“Be sure to tell your next employee all of the details beforehand” She said, trying not to sound afraid. Luckily for her, only two more spiders were met on their path to the flower. On the unlucky side… was the room itself. It was beautiful, with just a silver of blue light etching its way through the cave ceiling. Beneath the light were several of the bugs. Aila told Eggy to stand back and pulled her weapon from beneath her cloak.
She spun the chain in her hand splitting two of the spiders in half. This drew the attention of several more. After a few more cuts they were able to scoop up the flower and dash for the exit. Aila collapsed when they returned to the office. All of the fear that had built up had robbed her of her strength. He placed a pouch of jewels in her hand and ran off before she could yell at him.
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