Still no change. I'm hoping to sell my bicycle and violin in order to be able to pay my bills by Wednesday, but so far, there have been no takers...which is strange because they're both still good. I have a GLIGA violin which is really expensive nowadays, but, to each his own..

I may have to go on a hiatus until I can get out of this terrible situation.

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Helen knelt on the floor, looking up at Madam Rothema, who was looking her up and down with an expression of deep contemplation. This little girl might not have any real martial strength, but her stare shone with a strong determination.

“Why are you asking this of me, little one? If it’s fighting you wish to learn, then Thera’s Master Thales would be much more appropriate.” Madam Rothema finally asked, placing her teacup down on the table.

Helen smiled. “Because I want to be strong, like Briar-I mean, Thera…and I-I too want to wield a magic that can create miracles!” The night where they crossed the river on a carpet had been branded into Helen’s mind.

Thera, it seems you’ve unwittingly become this child’s role model. Madame Rothema sighed in her heart.

“But, don’t you know that Thera isn’t just a magician? She first started out as a martial practitioner, you know.” Madam Rothema pointed out.

“I know. But Laura said that she’s a genius above all geniuses… I’m just an ordinary person, so I can’t hope to measure up to someone like that.” Helen looked down at the ground. “But-”

Helen lifted her head back up, her eyes shining. “If I can focus on one thing, on just one thing, maybe someday I’ll be able to become an adventurer who is strong enough to stand at his-I mean-by her side, as a trusted companion, and not just some powerless tag-along.”

Madam Rothema stood up and walked over to the window, pondering the child’s request. “Why not? It seems I have nothing better to do, while waiting.” She muttered to herself, looking out the window. Rothema sighed. “Haah…All right, child, I’ll teach you magic.”

“Really! You mean it!?” Helen’s face gradually lit up as the meaning of Madam Rothema’s words sank in.

“I never say words that I don’t mean.” Madam Rothema chided, smiling a bit.

“YESS!!! I’m gonna be a magician! I’m gonna be the greatest magician adventurer there is!” Helen jumped up from her kneeling pose and began dancing around in her joy.

Madam Rothema smiled at the innocent display. I can see why Briar had taken such a liking to her. She noted. You just can’t hate such an innocent little bundle of joy. But for this child to fulfill her dream, she’s going to need a lot of work.

Then her face turned serious. “BUT. You are going to have to do EVERYTHING that I tell you to, understand? If I find you slacking off in your studies, even for a moment, the lessons will end.”

Madam Rothema inclined her head, giving off an imperial feeling. “I don’t teach lazy children. When Thera was under my care, she used every minute of every day in order to learn as much as she could. I’ll expect you to work just as hard while you are under my care.”

“Yes Madam Rothema!” Helen squeaked, standing straight at attention.

“Enough of that! You are to address me as ‘Teacher’, do you understand?”

“Y-yes, Teacher!” Helen stammered, clearly near bursting with glee.

“Very good…can you read, child?” Madam Rothema asked.

“A-a little, Teacher.” She replied.

“I thought as much. Come, let’s find out how much you know.” Madam Rothema beckoned Helen to come with her to the library room.

“Yes, Teacher!” Helen said, near skipping with glee as she followed Madam Rothema down the hallway.

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Briar stared at the incredible sight in front of her. A field of lava, bubbled and boiled behind a pan of what looked like glass-no wait, was that diamond!?

“Do you like it? Grandpa Thur made it so we could watch the fire field and have some light. Ah, but we’re not supposed to touch it, though.” Rien chatted happily.

“I’ve never seen anything like it.” Briar replied, truthfully. “It’s beautiful.”

“Grandpa Thur says that it took him five whole years to gather enough fire-proof rocks to make that thing.” Karu pointed out.

“You mean, he made this?” Briar asked, clearly surprised.

“Yep!” Rien said, happily. “Grandpa Thur’s the best at finding anything related to rocks and stones. He knows everything!”

“He does, does he?” Briar laughed. “Then, maybe he’ll know the answer to a question that I have for him.”

The light of the lava made it possible for Briar to finally get a good look at their faces. They both had black hair and pale blue eyes. Rien looked to be about five or six years old, while Karu looked to be about nine or ten. Both wore clothes that were too large on them.

Briar assumed they came from the corpses of those who had been so unlucky as to fall to their deaths. She was very curious about these two children and their ‘Grandpa Thur’.

No normal people would be content to live down here in the bowels of the earth. Was Grandpa Thur an eccentric magician? Perhaps even another Magi? But then, why would there be two children down here? Briar kept these things in her mind, as she listened to the two children chatter away.

“But, still, for these ‘flowah’ things to be so pretty, I had no idea! Show me again what they look like!” Rien pleaded.

Briar sighed. When she had tried to explain what a flower was, earlier, eventually she resorted to creating an illusion with her mana. Rien was fascinated with them, and had bombarded Briar with questions and requests to see the flowers the rest of their journey through the tunnels.

“You really do like flowers, don’t you?” Briar asked.

“Yep!” Rien smiled with a childish joy.

“All right, one more time, but after that, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow.” Briar said, willing mana into her palm.

Opening her closed fist, the mana surged out in the shape of a bud which began opening up bit by bit. Five minutes later, a red rose in full bloom seemed to rest upon her hand.

Rien held her breath as she watched the spectacle, entranced by the show. When her face started to turn blue, Briar closed her hand, and the mana rose vanished. “All right, I think that’s enough for one day.”

“What! Come on, just a little bit more? Pleeeeez?” Rien begged.

“Pfft!” Briar involuntarily let out a small laugh. It seems no matter where you travel, children would always be the same. But if I let her watch another one, she might come down sick with oxygen deprivation. Briar decided.

“Sorry, but that was the last one.”

Rien looked shocked. Then she looked so sad at the thought that she’d maybe never see them again, that Briar took pity on her.

“-For today, of course. Tomorrow I might be able to conjure a few more.”

“Really! W-well then, I guess it can’t be helped…” Rien sighed, but looked happier at the thought of still being able to see her beloved flowers.

Karu laughed and grabbed Briar’s hand, pulling her towards the first real door she had seen since arriving in this earthy depth.

“Come on!” He said. “Granpa Thur is just through here! And, boy, will he ever be surprised, heh heh~” Karu chuckled at the thought of giving his Grandpa Thur a surprise.

The door itself had no doorknob or handle to help open itself, looking rather more like an intricate wall carving, instead.

Karu placed his hand upon the door, and Briar was surprised to both feel and see mana surge out of him into the door, filling up the pathways carved upon the door’s face.

Then the door slid silently to the right, rather like an automatic door, which Briar was pleasantly surprised at. But she had little time to recover before Karu called out.

“Grandpa Thur, we’re back!”

A rather ancient, gravelly voice echoed out to greet them.

“Welcome back. And what did you find on your journey this time, Karu?”

“Well, we’ve found something rather interesting that we’d like to show you.” Karu said.

“Interesting, eh?...Well, don’t keep me in the dark, Karu! Bring it in! I'll look at it in a bit.” Grandpa Thur encouraged.

“Rien, Grandpa says you can bring our discovery inside now.” Karu called lazily back to little Rien, who tugged on Briar’s sleeve, leading her inside the room.

Except, it wasn’t just a room…

It was a work of art.

Intricately-carved pillars wound their way up to the ceiling in uniform rows placed ten yards apart. Shapes and curves and different textures flowed together along the walls, heading up towards the ceiling, which was over a hundred feet high.

One wall was a giant mural, depicting gallant Knights on horseback fighting against the hordes of beasts, while overhead, cultivators clashed arm to arm, head to head with flying beasts that had the appearances of demons.

Looking upwards, Briar saw a small, beardless, balding man with light grey hair, seated on a bit of scaffolding, held up by an array of pulleys anchored to the roof.

He was engrossed in his work, finishing the final cut off of a faun-like creature dancing under a harvest moon.

Karu waited patiently while the old man finished what he was working on. He knew all too well how terribly cranky the man got when he was interrupted from his carving.

After studying the carving one last time, the man sighed. “If I only could get my hands on a bit of paint..” He muttered as he grabbed a rag to wipe the dust off of his hands.

Turning to the children on the ground, he slightly frowned as he felt something off. Then he realized that there was an extra person there.

Briar found herself looking up into two very ancient, but rather lively electric blue eyes.