The Fire Spirit (I)

Coletto’s wounds were severe, but nothing life-threatening. Or at least, that was my guess. It’s not like anyone had appointed me official doctor for water spirits...

Still, I couldn’t just leave her in that state. (And it’s not just because she’s a cute girl. I wouldn’t leave a man like that either... seriously! I just don’t want trouble with the locals!)

Now, if none of the spirits in this place are willing to listen and they insist on treating me as an enemy... then things are going to play out differently. But I’m not giving up hope just yet.

Anyway, before things get more complicated, I need to take care of the beautiful warrior lying in the crevice at my feet.

Under the water spirit’s intrigued gaze, I stored the Moonblade in my shadow, and from that same space, I drew out a long wooden scepter. It looked like the branch of a tree, but it was finely carved with reliefs depicting various aspects of nature, and it was crowned by a crystal that shifted colors each time the scepter moved.

From a distance, it might have passed for a staff, but according to the inscriptions, it was, in fact, a scepter. So that’s what I called it too.

"Another... artifact?!" Coletto said in disbelief, her voice weak and unsteady. "That... that shape... according to legend... it can’t be... Ainaviel... the Worldtree’s Branch..."

Without saying a word, I knelt beside her and brought the scepter close. The crystal’s light stabilized into a glowing green. At the same time, the radiance began to focus on a single point within it. To Coletto’s astonished eyes, the light passed through the crystal in liquid form and fell onto her exposed leg.

Almost immediately, her body began to glow, and her wounds vanished one after another at an incredible speed.

"Just rest a little, and you’ll be as good as new... !!"

I had just returned the scepter to my shadow and started to rise when I felt a surge of intense fury directed at me, but I had no time to draw a weapon.

"What do you think you’re doing?!"

It sounded like a question, but it was more of a battle cry.

Without waiting for an answer, a sharp blade wreathed in flames would have separated my head from the rest of my body if I hadn’t ducked in time.

And as if that weren’t enough, a second burning thrust came straight for my chest. Fortunately (or thanks to some kind of muscle memory), I managed to dodge it with one of those superhuman leaps I was starting to get used to.

"Merite! Wait!"

The newly arrived girl, who I instantly recognized as Coletto’s friend (the same one who had answered my questions a little while ago), paid no attention to her companion’s cry, or maybe she simply didn’t hear it in her furious state, and kept charging straight at me.

She wielded twin swords, their blades glowing red-hot like they were still being forged. Honestly, they weren’t something I wanted anywhere near me.

"Agh! Why does no one around here ever start with a simple hello?!"

Her attacks were relentless, trying to leave me with no way out. All I could do was dodge. But even as I kept distance between my body and those blades, I could still feel their heat on my skin.

"I’ll finish him off before he can use any skill!"

Apparently, my opponent was the kind of person who thought with her mouth... but with the level of her attacks, that wouldn’t have been a problem against your average foe. What did it matter if you saw a right hook coming if you couldn’t dodge it anyway?

Except in this case, it wasn’t a punch. These were flaming swords that turned solid stone into magma on contact...

Luckily, it seemed I wasn’t your average foe. This girl’s attacks, though stronger, were compromising her, and once her momentum was released, there was nothing she could do to stop it.

So the moment I saw my chance, I spun away from one of her thrusts, and when the spirit overextended and passed right by me, I landed a clean kick to her back before she could react. The blow sent her flying several meters away.

"Merite!"

It was the cry behind me that made me realize she had fallen into the ravine, right into one of the underground rivers.

"Agh... Fine! I admit it! If it were a guy, I wouldn’t go this far!" I yelled, leaping after her.

What else could I do? There were water spirits here. It was obvious from a mile away this one was fire.

***

The crystals above Coletto shimmered, illuminating the massive cavern that formed this part of the Sanctuary. But it wasn’t just the crystals glowing that time. Like shooting stars falling from the sky, a rain of lights came down around the water spirit as she tried to stand up.

The movement skill was called "Stella," and it was the one that gave its name to the armed corps of Deeproot Sanctum. That was why mastering it was essential to become part of the unit.

But among all the maidens, dressed in emerald armor, sheer white skirts, and full black tights made from a gleaming material, one delicate figure stood out, wearing an exquisite ethereal gown of layered silk, finely adorned with subtle embroidery.

The figure helped Coletto to her feet; only then did she look up and see her face.

"Lady Lirilien..."

"Coletto," said the Veilkeeper, embracing her. "What happened? Where’s Merite? She was leading the way, then suddenly hurried ahead."

"Merite fell into the river... and Zendal... the stranger, jumped in to help her..."

"The stranger jumped in to help her?... Zendal?!"

Lirilien flinched for a moment but quickly regained her composure. Zendal had been a common name among the irreverent humans just a couple of millennia ago.

"Don’t worry, Coletto. The river slows not far from here. We’ll find them."

"Lady Lirilien... the stranger had with him the scepter of Queen Guindelair... your mother’s..."

"Ainaviel?! But that’s impossible..."