Chapter 120: The Faemancer.
Thank you very much for sharing your camp with me. May the Origin Gods bless you.
It is a pleasure. You should warm yourself up a bit before we speak, Miss Elf.
Meeting a dwarf for the first time and now a real elf? My fantasy sensors are satisfied today~
Oh, where are my manners? My name is Silva, a Saelari eir Zephira; or, in Common tongue, I am a wind elf from the forest of Saelariel. She gave a graceful bow as she smiled at us. Saori and I introduced ourselves plainly.
On the other hand, Tasianna couldnt help but start speaking in whatever language the elves and fairies speak. Binsel ir Tasianna Marina Silverpond. Seub eir Aifli, isschata eir Zephira.
Aifli? Tiluoan Tasianna, saha eir Saelari eir Zephira. Silva the elf pressed her hands together as she looked at Tasianna with an apologetic smile. Hitti binselk Silverpond, falahir votum roy Iggdrasyl? Zut [Elvenize] fie? Valfar gisch fie?
[Do you understand what theyre saying, Saori?] As it seems like Tasianna and Silva have entered their own world, I could help but ask Saori this rather redundant question. I wasnt sure if I should interrupt them.
[It is a bit rude to us, but Tasianna has not seen an elf or fairy in a while. I believe she must be making up for the lost time. You know, it is like meeting an American when you are visiting Japan or another country in your case, I believe. A kind of kinship.] Saoris words made sense, now that I think about it.
Wouldnt I feel nostalgic if I were to meet a person from Earth on Peolynca? In fact, didnt I feel thrilled when I first met Saori and discovered she was Japanese when I first spoke with her? Tasianna might have exiled herself from her home, but that didnt mean she wouldnt feel homesick. She might not have shown it to me, but I bet she has some lingering feelings for her village, despite resenting the lifestyle of a fairy.
Ahh, Lady Hestia, I apologize! How rude of me to leave you out of the conversation, realizing I was also around, Tasianna apologized to me, before looking over to Silva. Sister Silva, this is Lady Hestia, my current mistress. She and Miss Saori do not understand Andurenian, so could we speak in Common? Andurenian is the official name of the Elven language.
With a nod, she complied. It is a great honor to meet a spawn of Kargryxmor and Belzac. I apologize for being rude. I was too surprised to meet your fairy friend here.
Ahh, thats the reasonWait, what?!
Upon hearing she called us spawns of Kargryxmor and Belzac, Saori and I became wary. I guess she knew Tasianna was a fairy from their discussion, but nobody told her our real identities! Were in our beastman forms; it should be impossible for her to know were a dragon and cadejo unless we either tell her or show her our IDs with that information revealed!
Lady Hestia, Miss Saori, please, dont be too alarmed. There is a reason for this! Reading our minds, Tasianna stepped in front of Silva and waved her hands. Sister Silva understands your identities due to the spirits. She spoke to them.
She spoke to them?
Yes, shes one of the more traditional mages among the elves. Shes a faemancer, a speaker to the faefolk.
A faemancer?
Apparently, faemancers are people who have the ability to commune with all the different faefolk in the world. Think of it like an anime exorcist who can speak with ghosts. Silva was able to discern our identities due to the spirits surrounding us.
Now, it might seem weird to call her a faefolk whisperer as fairies should be able to speak, yes? Well, fairies are only one type of faefolk, not unlike how wolfkin and katzune were both beastmen sub-races.
The spirits can be sorted into three categories: the lesser fae, fairies, and elementals, Silva began to explain. Lesser fae include beings like spirits, small mana beings that like to wander around like children, and spriggans, woodland faefolk that dwell among plants. There are of course many more. Similar to how the many creatures of our world adapt to different climates and environments, the faefolk might even be more numerous than beastmen. As they are a gathering of concentrated mana, their forms and traits are determined by the land they are born in.
I remember hearing from Tasianna that she wasnt born like a human, but that her consciousness just appeared one day, and she was alive. Like what Silva just said, Tasianna was also born from an accumulation of mana and suddenly came to life. The only fairies that I heard could give proper birth were the royal family of the fairies, Iggdrasyl.
You should know about fairies, as Sister Tasianna is one. To be clear, fairies are faefolk who were born with intelligence like other humanoid beings and can enjoy the perks of one. There are many mischievous ones, so meeting somebody as polite as Sister Tasianna is surprising, Silva continued. The last category are elementals. They range from minor elementals to the elemental kings. I heard from the elders that before the Origin Gods came to our world, elven mages would contract with free elementals to support their spell casting. Of course, this was before the Wind Mother gave birth to us wind elves.
In exchange for supplying the elemental with experience and mana to grow, an elemental helps a mage by supporting their mana control. Mages in the days before the Origin Gods were able to create elemental spells like fire and water, but without an elemental, it was infinitely harder as they had to do most of the work alone.
Back then, elementals helped change the spells element purely by being with the mage, meaning that one step of the magic casting process was already down. Nowadays, people have the Divine System and skills. The Origin Gods system spells allow normal people to use elemental spells without an elemental, and having an elemental skill allows people to cast elemental spells with ease. However
I have a question. Doesnt that mean that the usage of elementals is, uhm, uhh
How do I say this politely?!
Giggling as she understood my struggles, Silva told me it was alright. Yes, the usage of elementals is outdated with the grace of the Origin Gods. It is easier for people to study and gain skills than to contract an elemental; however, I did both. Nobody said doing both is not allowed, right? Silva then revealed a small wooden cage under her robes. She opened it up and knocked twice on it with her staff, gently saying, Wake up, little one.
A small light came out of the cage, looking very similar to my [Shine] or the holy spell [Light]. It looked energetic as it greeted Silva by circling around her thrice. It then suddenly stopped, before flying over to me and doing the same thing. However, unlike Silva, it wouldnt stop circling around me.
Oh my, as you are a spawn of Kargryxmor, you must be a princess from Kargryx, yes? Princess Hestia, it seems you arent an ordinary holy mage. Little Igniclus is a light elemental and he shows fondness towards priests of Aurena, but none have made Igniclus this excited before. The blessing of Goddess Aurena must be very powerful with you, she said, smiling like a little girl. Despite being around Saoris size and probably a few decades older than us, it made her look cute.
I wanted to continue eating my stew while its still warm, but playing with the elemental wouldnt take long. I cast [Shine] on my finger and waved at the light elemental to lure him over. Like a cat chasing after a red dot, the elemental couldnt help but follow my finger.
Hehe, hes pretty cute. Miss Silva, didnt you say there are different types of elementals? Which one is this? I asked, running around as I played with the little guy.
Hes a minor elemental. The lowest grade. Like every wind elf, I was born with the ability to cast wind magic, so I am a wind mage. I have contracted with Igniclus, as learning holy magic is practically impossible without joining the church of Aurena. I can cast small healing and supportive spells with Ignicluss help, Silva answered. I am currently traveling to help Igniculus grow. Similar to a tamers monsters, elementals can gain experience and evolve into their superior forms. He is practically a child, so he must be excited to meet you and your amulet.
My amulet? Ahh, thats right.
Amulet of Aurena
A detailed amulet dedicated to the worship of Aurena, the Goddess of Light
Skill
[Holy Resistance Lv. 5]
[Health Recovery Lv. 5]
[Mana Recovery Lv. 5]
[Holy Amp [Holy Magic Efficiency]
The amulet I have gotten from the temple. I hadnt been wearing it inside Firwood, as I simply forgot to do it. My white robe was enough of an indicator that I was a holy mage, so there never was a need to equip the amulet. However, as Saori and Tasianna have been wearing their amulets, I thought it was about time to wear it now that I was going out to do a Quest. Aurenas religion is the national religion of Artorias, so looking like a priestess might help me gain the trust of people more easily.
Naturally, I am not a big fan of using my status to control a situation. I just dont like it. However, Aurena did tell me to act like her priestess, so I guess I should try it out. There wasnt a need to use my princess title anyway, and if we do get into trouble, I still have that super scary document from the lord of Firwood.
Ahh, that reminds me, what were the two of you talking about before? Saori pointed at Tasianna and Silva.
In essence, Tasianna introduced herself to Silva and told her she was a fairy who was using [Elvenize] to look like a wind elf. Silva, having understood this, apologized as she thought she was a sister. As Zephira was the mother of all wind elves, wind elves seem to treat each other like siblings if they are friendly. The Goddess of Wind was also the patron goddess of fairies, it seems the two of them were calling each other sisters as they consider their deity the same.
Although, Tasianna was praying more to Plesia nowadays.
As a faemancer, I can detect the presence of faefolk. I felt a fairy, so I approached you, Silva admitted. Still, while serving a dragon princess must be an honor... Sister Tasianna, why are you here? Why arent you serving the royal family as a Silverpond?
That hit a soft spot. Silva couldnt have known about it, but it did cause me to twitch my eye a bit. Tasianna immediately frowned as she was questioned, staying silent.
Uhhh, d-did I say something wrong? Silva asked nervously.
No, no, its not your fault, Tasianna managed to eke out. Its just thatI-Im not serving the royal family because I exiled myself. This is my atonement for the incompetence Ive shown in my service for the royal family.
Party Leader
Name: Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor
Level: 80
Job: Cleric
Health: 4821/4821
Mana: 17191/17191
Stamina: 2881/2881
Effects:
[Damaged Mana Path [Left Wing] (Minor)] [Humanized (Moderate)]
Name: Saori Segawa
Level: 70
Job: Fighter
Health: 3066/3066
Mana: 1349/1349
Stamina: 2281/2281
Effects:
[Humanized (Moderate)][/b]
Name: Tasianna Marina Silverpond
Level: 51
Job: Torrent Mage
Health: 1661/1661
Mana: 4503/4503
Stamina: 1209/1209
Effects:
[Elvenized (Major)]
Name: Silva Fleurette Breezeflower
Level: 54
Job: Light Elementalist
Health: 1813/1813
Mana: 3512/3512
Stamina: 851/851
O-Oh, by the Origin Gods! Silva exclaimed with her eyes widened like a goldfish, as she looked at the blue screen projected from her party bracelet. Once I accepted her party invite, the party member list probably was shown to Silva. I-I shouldnt have been so surprised. As expected of a dragon descendant of the mighty Kargryxmor. [Humanized] should halve all your stats but seeing 17891 Mana isshocking.
As I knew she would be able to see my abnormal effects with the party system, I used my IDs special feature to hide certain information from people. In this case, I hid the fact that I had [Damaged Mana Paths [Left Wings] (Minor)]. If she could repair my mana paths, then I dont want to owe her a favor. I dont want her to ask me to bring Tasianna back to Saelariel. It isnt time yet to visit the elves.
As Silva showed no suspicion, the hiding function of the ID must have worked. Ha, it was truly worth having made contact with Count Helvas. With this, I can hide most of my information from people, staying completely incognito. I should thank Count Helvas for this.
Miss Silva, I know you might have many more things to ask, but we should rest for the night. It is late. Please, if you are hungry, we have some stew. Saori, probably expecting Silva to continue the discussion we had before, perfectly distracted her with some of the nice-smelling food. As if she hadnt eaten for the whole day, Silva was fully focused on the food, so we barely had a chance to speak with her.
Once the next day came, Saori immediately told Silva that we had to hurry. She explained that we planned to reach Rashan Village before lunch.
Hmm, yes, that would be smart. However, how will that be possibleWuahh?! Miss Saori?! Without letting her speak another word, Saori picked Silva up in a princess carry. Tasianna transformed back into a fairy for me and our party began the sprint towards Rashan Village. Silvas cries of surprise echoed through the woodskinda.
The moment we reached the outskirts of the village, Tasianna transformed back into an elf while Saori set down Silva. Saori truly had everything planned. There was no chance for us to return to that awkward talk if there was no time or opportunity to continue it. A masterful display, yep.
Ahhhhhhhh, HELP ME!
As we were laughing with the mentally fatigued Silva, who wasnt able to adapt to the high-speed run, we suddenly heard somebody shout for help. After giving Silva a bottle of dragorade to help her recover, the three of us ran towards the scream.
There we were presented with the sight of black creatures similar to loopriszars chasing after villagers and fighting against armored humans, probably soldiers or guards. At the gate of the village, a horde of zombie-like beings were being held back by guards and a few villagers. The appearance of these zombies varied from the typical human zombies to the monster zombies. Decaying skorrs, loopabits, and wolves were a few examples that joined the human and beastman zombies in the attack.
Please, help, HELP. SOMEBODY!
Baby, you need to move faster! Honey! Where are you?!
Dammit! Steady men, steady! We need to hold on until the damn soldiers from the barons castle arrive! Somebody get the chief out of here, now!
I wasnt sure what was happening, but we could ask questions after we dealt with the immediate problem.
Saori, Tasianna. Protect the villagers! I shouted as magic circles began to materialize around me.
Hai, Hestia Oujo-sama! (Yes, Princess Hestia!)
By your will, Lady Hestia!