Jaela quickly expunged more tales of her life after arriving on Mirrion.
The older she got the farther she traveled, around and at one point when she was exploring the depths of a vast forest in search of a particularly rare naturally treasure, she came across the previous grand witch of the forest.
“I still remember it like it was yesterday, my master was sitting on a large moss-covered rock surrounded by gleaming diamond like mushrooms and playing a beautiful song on an instrument that somewhat resembled a guitar. She had dark pink hair and slightly green skin as if she had chlorophyll running through her veins rather than blood.” Jaela said with a wistful expression.
“Her playing entranced me, and I just stood there in a daze, until I was brought back to reality when she addressed me.”
She continued on with her story of how her master had begun asking her questions about why she had ventured in those woods and where she had come from.
Naturally as the grand witch of the woods her former master she knew that the place they were currently in was not Jaela’s home and that she was certainly not just the average traveler.
“I answered her questions as truthfully as I could, since I could feel just how strong she was. Luckily, she was not radiating any hostility as I had no intention of harming the forest, and I am glad that I did not because her wrath was something else.”
Eventually their discussion moved onto the previous grand witch of the forest leading Jaela to what she was seeking and allowing her to take a bit of the natural treasures form the forest..
“She truly was amazing, and it was the first time I ever felt the desire to learn from someone. I told her this, and she told me to go and gather a number of items for her, as well as spend a decade protecting a certain forest as its warden.” Jaela said.
It was then that her life as she currently was began, and she dedicated herself to the requests she had received.
She already had a natural affinity for nature due to her race as well as two of her blessings, so it was easy enough for her to live within a forest just as she had done until she left her home to explore the world.
“When I had finally finished what she asked of me I began wondering how to find her, but she appeared before me almost instantly and said that I passed and would become her apprentice.”
Jaela then went on to talk at length about how amazing her master was, and how she was still trying to live up to her to this day.
“Unfortunately, our days spent together we not long. It was only three decades after I became her apprentice that she left this world and went beyond its confines.” She said with a sorrowful look.
Though while Marcus thought for a second this was in a roundabout way saying her master died, that did not actually seem to be the case.
It was then that he remembered that this world was like a training ground set up by the administrator to raise people up to a higher level so that they could take them on a subordinate.
“Wait, are you saying that your master exceeded the peak of this world and has gone up to a higher realm?” Marcus said with a surprised expression.
This was the first time he was getting any confirmation of anyone moving beyond the peak of this world even if he had heard that it was possible form both Roxene and the administrator herself.
“Yes, my master reached the highest level and exceeded it, which allowed her to leave the world. I am not certain of the exact process, but apparently once you reach the max level you are given some sort of test and if you pass you leave the world for good. I have never heard of anyone returning once they leave in this fashion.” Jaela said while nodding her head.
Both Lyra and Marcus were stunned to hear this as it was their first-time hearing anything about what happened when one reached the maximum level of the world, which they did not even know the exact detail of.
Though this led into the next question that Marcus had through Lyra actually beat him to the punch and asked it first.
“Does that mean that you know what the highest level on Mirrion is? When I asked what it was during the soul placement process, I was denied and answer.” Lyra said with a fierce look in her eyes.
Marcus nodded along with her and just as intently stared towards Jaela, wanting to know the answer as well.
“Oh, I suppose that it is naturally that the two of you would not know, as neither of you are anywhere near level ninety.” Jaela said with a bemused smile.
She then tilted her head and adopted a thinking pose as if she was pondering whether or not to tell them.
But while she was messing around and teasing Marcus and Lyra, Boreas just sighed, and said, “The highest level one can get on Mirrion is ninety-nine. When anyone reaches level one hundred, I am told they are forced to leave as they have become too powerful for this world.”
After Boreas just went ahead and answered the question, Jaela looked over at him an pouted a bit ,but ultimately just sighed and brushed it off.
“As he said once some exceeds level ninety-nine, they can no longer stay on this world which is exactly what happened to my master. I knew the second that she was gone as my title changed immediately and I become the new grand which of the forest.”
Once she had become the grand witch of the forest, she gained an immense amount of power that the title gave her along with the duty to be the warden of the world’s forests and prevent them from being completely destroyed.
“It certainly can be a lot of work, but the benefits definitely out way the negatives. It has allowed me to advance faster than I would have before, and I can always find a peaceful place to relax within any forest. Though what just happened to the Great Gome Woods is by far the worst damage I have ever seen to one of this world’s great forests and it is likely going to take me many years to restore it.” She said with a sigh.
Right now, she along with the help of Ardea had stabilized the areas that had been corrupted by the Dread Burrower and drained of all of its life. But it would take her quite a lot of energy and time to regrow the forest to how it had been before, now that massive chucks of it now lay as a barren wasteland.
“I wonder if Forlorieous might be willing to help.” Marcus said absentmindedly, remembering the impressive feats the great spirit of nature had pulled off.
While Jaela’s powers were strong, what he could do still far surpassed her, and really cemented how the great spirits truly were pretty much the strongest beings on the planet.
However, as he brought up Forlorieous, Jaela just grimaced, and said, “I would rather not have anything to do with him. He is insufferable and pushy, and even my master hated dealing with him. Which is why I try to avoid him at all costs.”
“Yeah, I can understand that.” Marcus said while nodding.
He remembered how strong Forlorieous had come onto him, and he imagined that anyone else that caught the great spirit of nature’s fancy would get the same treatment.
The conversation then bounced around a bit more until Lyra said, “So what happened after your master left? You told us that you inherited her job but are there any specific things you want to tell us.”
“Oh yes, I did have quite the frantic time filling my now gone master’s shoes. The first major thing that happened not long after was an assembly of all the other grand witches so that I could get to know them and they me.”
Jaela then went onto describe how stressful her first meeting with all the other grand witches, as she was the most junior member of their group at the time.
Luckily, she did know some of the others from her time as an apprentice, and none of the other grand witches were openly hostile towards her. With them having either been friendly or for the most part disinterested.
“Though the original group I joined has changed since then by quite a lot. During that time many of the grand witches were close to ascending just as my master has, so currently of the original ones that I met only two still remain with all the others being my juniors. Oh, and Ardea is one that joined not long after I did, replacing her former master some fifty years ago.”
Quickly, Jaela went over the remaining highlights of her life that she wished to discuss with them just as how Marcus and Lyra had done previously.
Of course, with her whole two hundred years of life on Mirrion she took up considerably more time than Marcus or Lyra had. But it was an enjoyable discussion for them all, as it was a rare opportunity for them to be unguarded around those that also came from Earth and fully understood each other’s situation that had evolved from their previous lives.