Kiara''s first week on Magdalea closed with surprising peace. After the battle with Cucumber, and a personal battle of her own, Maple handed over visitor passes to a place that''d allow the group to unwind. It lay several miles north, sitting between the towns of Harmon and North Harmon. Nestled comfortably within a crop of trees, they found a well-built cabin that immediately came to life. The building was something of an exclusive retreat. A popular witch had been involved in its making, creating a home that took care of its residents. It fed you, prepared baths, and even tucked you in at night, providing the kind of comfort that any traveler would need. Even Arrowhead could be at rest, with the traveling cottage detached and a barn waiting to serve it. It would have felt like Kiara was on vacation if the rest of the party had taken the time to relax.
The trio had other plans, however, interrupted by neither the resort nor the recent battle. During their time here, Kiara had woken to their training, finding one or the other made the master for the day. Keigo taught lessons about the aura, offering tutelage in a practice called Gyo. Danson listened passively, choosing to teach Kiara instead, but Diana listened intently to everything the assassin said. When it was her turn to teach, Diana left everyone afraid. Danson deliberately avoided those lessons, but Kiara watched to see if she could join and wasn''t sure her heart was in it. Diana didn''t so much as teach as she came at you, testing your reflexes against a beastly urge to strike. Keigo proved agile enough to avoid them but always left sweating with his heart beating against his chest.
“It’s like getting thrown to the wolves.” He told Kiara one evening, wiping sweat from his brow as Diana grinned. The redhead couldn’t believe her ears, crossing her arms as she frowned in response.
“There’s no point in me trying to teach you my style when you have your own! I think the best method is to hone yours against a skilled opponent." She said proudly back. Keigo sighed.
"My skilled opponent has a weird version of holding back."
“I don’t use my magic!”
“You still fight like you’re trying to kill me though!”
“And that’s why I don’t train with Diana.” Danson chimed in, sipping a drink as he watched on the porch.
His lessons were the ones that interested Kiara the most, applying to her and Diana mostly, but still managing to catch Keigo’s ears. A great mage had good mana control, and in order to have that, your aura needed to know your spells. As Kiara thought up new names for her own, he passed on a bit of advice. Spells used in repetition became easier to forge, making them more powerful as the caster went on. It was great to have variety, but the best approach was to know what spells you wanted to use. With that advice he had the two girls repeat theirs, while Keigo was told to switch between forms. By the fourth day of their stay, Kiara felt a lot stronger, secretly finding herself eager for her next fight. She woke up almost tempted to challenge Diana, but when she entered the living room she found the group playing a game instead.
Diana and Keigo had rings on their middle fingers while Danson sat with a board on his lap. As he pushed up buttons and turned knobs, a platform rose between them and they held balled fists out. From their rings beams fired down, forming miniature figures. Diana''s was a woman with short pink hair, a visor over her eyes, and gauntlets on her arms. Keigo''s looked somewhat like him, with longer hair and a sword at its side. Pines rose as snow covered the platform. Danson lifted a hand, and with a wave, he started the battle between the two.
Diana''s miniature took off much like her, blasting away from the ground with a thunder crash. She came at Keigo''s like a cannonball, striking empty air as he slipped away. With his sword in hand, he swung for her back, catching her gauntlet as she spun with a punch. He slid back and she blasted forward, stopping suddenly as an ice spike stabbed up. Diana''s eyes moved to Danson, smiling slyly. Keigo cleaved through it, splitting the miniature’s masks before she slipped away.
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"If what?" Six blasted snow up from the ground, disappearing into a cloud. A Striker Spray fired out, forcing Keigo to slash furiously in defense. She slipped out of the cloud while he was still at it, smashing her fist through his face. "Like I said, when.”
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Danson shook his head. “You said you wanted map hazards, all I did was oblige.”
Kiara''s eyes sparkled. "What are you guys playing!" She couldn''t keep the excitement out of her voice.
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Kiara wanted to know more about this game, but another question filled her mind first, “Why do you guys call it the Dark Lands and the Calm Lands sometimes, but their proper names other?”
“The Journeyman’s Logs!” Diana grinned as she produced a book. Keigo and Danson did as well, each one bearing a different cover. “The Journeyman was an Ufanyn who traveled the world like, two-hundred years ago. He wanted to make an accurate account of all the nations, and chose names based on what he saw and heard.” Diana opened her book. “The people of the land seem to call it two names. Those in the North use a name that means Fair Travels, while the kingdom that takes up the rest of the land prefers Nithellan. As I look upon it I see its lush green fields and rolling hills. The land reminds me of rolling waves, vibrant with the healthy life of nature. Rather than settle for either of the natives'' names, I think I shall call it the Green Lands.”
Keigo held up his book. “At a time I heard the land of dragons was a mere rumor. Stories were told of the caverns in which they sleep, where the heat of the volcano offers their kind the perfect home. I found here that dragons do not simply live like wild beasts. Their caves are connected like a community of hives, making their volcanic home a nation in itself. Though, I suppose the word nation would neglect the history of the land. The humans to the south—migrants from the west—have a name for it themselves. Those mountains are the Dragon Dens.”
Kiara''s gaze moved to Danson, waiting patiently for his chance. He cleared his throat, and like the others, shared the story. "It is in the Elven Kingdoms that I first started my journey. I went first from the sandy beaches of the lowlands to the plateaus rising in the north. With each step, I saw what made each kingdom the home of its kind. Could I have gotten lost if I were affected by the land''s spell? Perhaps, and it truly would have been a shame."
Kiara nodded, almost sated but for the new question on her mind. "Do you guys all only carry your homeland''s book?"
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Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
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“Decades! He traveled mostly by beast and foot. He really earned the title, the Journeyman.”
Kiara nodded. She''d have to get her hands on one later. Sated now, her mind went back to the game and her eyes followed. Conjurer Clash sounded self-explanatory enough, and the mechanisms seemed simple. Danson controlled the arena with his board, while the others used rings to conjure their fighters. They probably got the chance to design them and they could share their magic. She had seen what a victory and a loss looked like, and as ideas for her own fighter began to fill her mind, another question leaped to the front.
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Danson answered, "You need an item to use as a focus. Alexia''s books are actually a good choice. She conjures with the monsters'' descriptions and only has to maintain them while she fights. With certain magic items, anyone can be a conjurer. The school is mostly about manifestation."
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She hadn''t had a reason to spare it a second glance since she landed on Magdalea, but the solar-powered device still came on, painting its translucent screen with her apps. She flicked through a couple of pages and pushed one that looked like a star, holding her hands above it as lines traced down her fingers. A screen rose as she placed it down, and the star upon it spun into a title. Shining Conquest II. It felt like a lifetime had passed since she played the game last. Her fingers twitched and the screen moved forward, flashing to a scene where a dark-skinned girl stared out a window. Another twitch and a small voice spoke.
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“K-Air…” Keigo snickered. Kiara ignored him.
She took control of the dark-skinned girl and moved her to the window''s edge. A town stretched out beneath her, and Kiara''s brow furrowed in preemptive frustration. It had been a lifetime since she touched the game, and with their conversation, she remembered why she paused. She still had a mission to complete and didn''t have the first clue how. Meanwhile, the others looked at the display with complete wonder! She forgot about them for a moment but quickly explained.
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“And how do you know he’s not?”
Diana gaped. “Did I say this was like a choose your own adventure book?” She shook her head. “It’s more like you have another world in the palm of your hand. Are you sure Nandaxia doesn’t have magic?”
Kiara laughed. “No. It’s just really good AI. The world is as alive as technology is currently able to make it.”
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Kiara cheered too! If the game could update, she knew Shin would be shaken by the news spreading through the land. The aggressive Southern Kingdom would never be able to prove it didn''t launch the attack. The central leader would take a stance and likely throw his hands in with Taylor. It''d be delicious, and rather than take the credit, she''d continue through the game. The next thing to do would be to see what Tristan was up to. She almost wanted to laugh but shook the thought away.
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That put a whole new series of questions in Kiara''s head, but before she could ask one she found her eyes drawn to Diana. The girl was confused by what she was seeing. Kiara turned back to the screen, but it was easy to explain. A man sat at a desk, typing away on a typewriter. As unreadable lines filled the page, Kiara spoke.
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