Aeris stood calmly as the spellcaster faced her, his thin smile betraying nothing.
The family behind her clung to one another, the father barely able to keep his footing as he shielded his wife and daughter from the carnage that surrounded them.
The battlefield fell eerily quiet now.
Only the soft rustling of the wind broke the silence, but Aeris' senses were sharp, alert.
She didn't trust the calm radiating from the bandit standing before her.
His lack of fear was... odd and that smile—it sure as hell wasn’t one of surrender.
"Impressive," the spellcaster said, his voice light and conversational.
" It’s rare to see such a mastery of magic in someone, so... Well, let's say.. so unassuming"
Aeris’ lips curled slightly, a small, dangerous smile.
"Unassuming? You should have picked a better word."
The spellcaster chuckled lightly.
"Perhaps I should have."
"But I must confess, I'm curious. You could have easily left the family to their fate, yet you chose to play the hero, Why?"
His question hung in the air, laced with false curiosity.
Aeris could sense the subtle probing beneath his words.
He was trying to keep her talking, keep her distracted he was stalling.
But Aeris wasn’t fooled.
"Does it matter?" she replied, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"They're alive. You're friends are not. It’s as simple as that."
The spellcaster raised an eyebrow, his smile unwavering.
"Is that so? Or perhaps... you felt something stir in that frosty heart of yours.
A flicker of empathy, maybe? For the girl, perhaps?"
Aeris’ gaze darkened, but she didn’t answer.
Her attention shifted slightly as she felt a faint disturbance in the air around them.
It was subtle—barely noticeable to anyone without a finely attuned sense of aether—but Aeris caught it.
The faintest shimmer of energy coiling around the spellcasters fingers, hidden from view.
Chantless casting.
A rare and powerful skill from Lustrous Hearts, used by shamans and other advanced spellcasters to cast spells without uttering incantations.
It was a skill that allowed the caster to weave magic silently and discreetly and this shaman was doing just that, carefully manipulating the air, preparing something lethal.
Aeris’ sharp mind immediately pieced it together.
The bandit was stalling, buying time as he cast a Poisonous Smog spell, no doubt.
She remembered it well from the game.
A lethal shaman spell that would fill the area with a toxic cloud, killing everyone within its radius, including Aeris and the helpless family behind her.
She almost smiled at the audacity of it.
Did he really think she wouldn’t notice?
"I wonder," the spellcaster continued, his eyes gleaming with sinister amusement,
"How does it feel to be living corpse?"
Aeris remained silent, her eyes glinting coldly as she felt the spell nearing completion.
He was close to releasing it now, confident that he had her fooled.
The instant his fingers twitched, signaling the final motion of his casting,
'Why don't you tell me?'
Aeris summoned an Ice Javelin in her hand, its sharp, gleaming tip reflecting the midday sun for just a moment before she hurled it with deadly precision
. The javelin soared through the air, a blur of icy blue, and struck the spellcaster directly in the eye.
The impact was instant and bloody.
The spellcaster’s smile faltered, his body jerking violently as the javelin pierced through his skull, its tip exiting the back of his head in a spray of blood and brains
His body crumpled to the ground, a lifeless writhing husk of meat as his unfinished spell dissipated into nothingness
The family screamed in horror as the bandits blood splattered across them, staining their faces and clothes
. The little girl sobbed, burying her face into her mother’s chest, while the father stared wide eyed in shock at the gruesome scene in front of him.
Aeris didn’t flinch. Her gaze remained fixed on the spellcaster’s lifeless body, her expression cold as the ice.
She had seen through his ruse, and now he lay dead at her feet, his plans unravelled his ambitions for naught.
For a moment, silence reigned once more.
The only sound left was the soft whimpering of the family behind her.
Aeris turned on her heel, her eyes falling on the terrified family.
The father opened his mouth as if to speak, but no words came out. His lips trembled, and he finally managed to stammer a few words.
T-thank you… m-miss… you… saved us.”
Aeris’ gaze flicked to the little girl, still clinging to her mother’s skirt, her small frame trembling in fear.
For just a moment, Aeris felt that familiar pang of protectiveness, a brief echo of her memories of her sister.
But it passed quickly, replaced by her usual icy demeanor.
“Get out of my sight,” Aeris said, her voice austere and unkind.
“Because I'm not saving you again.”
The father nodded quickly, his eyes wide with fear as he scrambled to gather his family. The three of them hurried away from the scene, not daring to look back as they fled into the nearby woodlands.
Aeris watched them for a moment, then turned her attention back to the fallen bandits.
She kicked the body of the dead Shaman over with her boot, surveying his lifeless visage with a mixture of contempt and satisfaction at her immaculate handy work.
“Gross.”
With a wave of her hand, Aeris summoned a small, controlled Flame, setting the bodies alight. She didn’t need any lingering evidence of what had happened here.
As the flames crackled and consumed the corpses, Aeris turned and walked back toward her carriage, her thoughts already shifting to the future.
There was still much to do, and this encounter was nothing more than an amusing diversion—a small test of her abilities and instincts.
She had passed.
But the world was full of dangers, far more cunning and powerful than these bandits.
She would have to be prepared for anything that came her way.
The sun was setting over the eastern kingdom of Auslese as Aeris and her driver arrived at the small village of Gelt.
Nestled among the rolling hills, Gelt was a quiet village, its most notable feature being the large windmill that stood proudly on the outskirts. The gentle creaking of the windmills blades filled the air as the carriage pulled to a stop near the village square.
Aeris stepped down from the carriage, her gaze sweeping over the simple, rustic homes and shops that lined the streets.
The village was quaint, quiet, and unassuming. Just the kind of place she needed to rest and collect her thoughts.
Turning to her driver, Aeris gave him a brief nod. “Do whatever you want for the day. We’ll reconvene in the morning.”
The driver, grateful for the break, tipped his hat and muttered a quick thanks before heading off toward the local tavern. Aeris watched him go for a moment before making her way toward the village inn, a charming wooden building with a creaking sign hanging above the door that read
The Wandering Hearth.
An inn for all your hospitality needs.
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