"Thank you for the meal!" I exclaim happily before digging into the food before me. After finishing my lesson with Tyra, Charlotte brought me to the dining hall in order to eat lunch. Oddly enough it is the same dining room where I met the generals for the first time. How did they fix this room in so little time? Perhaps they have someone with the same magic as Jeanette. I need to remind myself to ask someone about it.

Anyway, this food is so goooooood! Ah, the meat is so tender that it almost melts in my mouth! And the sauce, oh, the sauce! So sweet it's almost bitter! In my old life me and my family could never go to any fancy restaurants or things like that so I can really appreciate this! But... there's no one here to appreciate it with.

I can understand that Orethon and the generals are not accompanying me, I mean, they must have a lot of work to do. They ARE very important after all. And because they joined me yesterday they must have left a lot of business left unfinished. Charlotte insisted to wait outside, despite how much I pleaded. "Even if we are friends I am still just a maid", she argued. Rowan and the others are gone too... Ah, sad thoughts, go away! I start petting Babbit to calm down. I need to think of something else.

After this I will have a break for about one hour so I can do whatever I want! Maybe I should explore the castle or, or I could try out meditating, like Bekkhildr suggested! I would like to try and contract an elemental but Tyra told me not to do it alone since elementals can be quite dangerous to deal with.

Well, I don't have anything better to do so let's train with some spells. What? Practicing magic is fun. Ever since childhood it's been my biggest dream to be a magical girl. I even memorized poses and stuff.

But if I'm going to train then I think that I should do so in Florents and Esthers room to do it. Yeah, yeah, I know, it's THEIR room but it's a whole forest. They won't notice me, right?

I hurry up eating my lunch and head out the dining hall. Outside stands Charlotte, just as she said she would, and when I said I wanted to go to Florents and Esthers room she raised her eyebrow for a second but she did not question it.

We got there quite fast thanks to Charlotte knowing some shortcuts. I should have her make a map of the castle for me, that would help a lot. But when I open the door I notice that Charlotte aren't following me.

"You're not coming in?" I ask, gesturing towards the room. Charlotte shakes her head.

"I... have something I have to do" she says. "But fret not! I will join you shortly after I have finished the thing... that I have to do".

"Ah, if you say so then alright" I respond. "See you soon!". I enter the room and the door slowly shuts behind me. But before it closes completely I see Charlotte smiling before running away. What was that all about? Meh, probably has her reasons.

I head into the forest and search for a suitable spot to start my training. After searching for a while I find a small hill with no trees nearby so I will have plenty of space to work with. Perfect! Hmm, what to do first? How about some fire? Nah, don't wanna start a forest fire. Hey, now that I'm thinking about it I have been neglecting the little water magic I have so let's practice water beam for now.

I start blasting off a bunch of water beams to see how fast I can cast them without taking a break. After about twenty minutes goes by and during that time Water Beam rise to level 7. But I'm not done yet, not by a long shot. After a short break I start casting water beams again.

I concentrate my mana into the palm of my left hand but just as I am about to fire the beam off I get an idea. What if I poured even more mana into it? Would the ball of water just grow larger or would its attack get higher? Maybe both? Well whatever happens it's bound to be interesting at least!

I start gathering more and more mana into my palm until a third of my mana have been consumed. The result is an enormous orb of water, hovering in the air. Even me in my transformed state would be able to easily fit in it. But ending it all right now would be boring so let's try experimenting with it a bit more.

In my mind I start to imagine the orb changing shape and after a few seconds it does just that. The water orb twist and bend endlessly, as if it were alive. It takes massive concentration to keep it in the air and it's even harder now when it's moving around like this but I can manage it, as long as I focus that is.

"Ah, this is difficult" I mutter for myself while trying to keep the orb hovering. This sure drains some mana. If the others were here they would say something like "amazing!" or "you can do it!". It's quiet without them around. Too quiet... Suddenly the water orb starts dripping and the movements more erratic. Ah, I need to concentrate!

I try moving it around and as I hoped it would, it follows my every command. Right and left, up and down, it seems it can travel every direction. I can make it so thin that it looks like glass and concentrate it so that it becomes as small as a beach ball.

Deciding to try out how far my control over it goes I make the orb turn into an elongated form and start circling it around me. It looks animalistic in this form, almost like a... snake. Did I create it with Morgana in mind without thinking about it? Ah, no, that's impossible, right?

Me thinking of something else causes me to lose concentration and the water orb (snake?) finally falls apart, leaving only puddles behind. Ah, darn it... Suddenly a bunch of blue boxes appear before me.

//Congratulations! Thanks to you experimenting with water magic to such a degree you have gained the spells Water Manipulation, Water Clone and Raincall!//

//You have gained the title Water Elementalist! The title grants you higher Int and MP! You have gained +5 Int and +5 MP!As a reward you have gained +10 MP//

//You have leveled up x3 times and gained additional +30 MP!//

Ah-ah-AHAHAHAHAHAHA! To think that some simple experimentation would earn me such rewards! I need to do this more often! But for now, let's check out those new spells!

Water Manipulation Lv.1

Allows the caster to control water to a certain degree. The more advanced the manipulations become the more mana they drain and the higher the skill level the more controll the caster gains over the specified element. No cooldown time.

Water Clone Lv. 1

Allows the caster to create duplicates of oneself made out of water. The clone(s) do not possess the skills nor spells of the caster but do posses enhanced strength and speed. The higher the spell level the more clones the caster can summon and the stronger they become. Current amount of water clones available; 1. Costs 100 MP. 30 minute cooldown.

Raincall Lv. 1

Allows the caster to summon a raincloud to wherever they are. The higher the spell level the larger and greater the effect of the raincloud. Costs 300 MP. 24 hour cooldown.

... WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!!!!!! Ok, I'm ok. I was just... wasn't prepared for THAT. It's just so cool! Especially the Water Clone! I need to test it out, right here, right now! Water Clone, appear!

From the puddles left by the giant water orb a humanoid figure starts to appear. After a few seconds more prominent features start to appear until I stand face to face with a nearly perfect copy of myself.

"This is so cool!" I exclaim in excitement. I bring my hand towards the clone and instead of it phasing right through it, like it would with regular water, my hand stops at the surface. Weird. But what's even more strange is that my hand doesn't get wet from touching it. Does my mana create some sort of barrier around it? I should try to experiment some more.

"Water Clone, lift me up" I command it, in order to test its strength. The clone stretches out its arms and proceeds to pick me up from the ground, princess style. So it's strong enough to lift me up huh? Well, I don't weight that much to begin but it's still a feature I would not be able to pull off. I order it to put me down so that I can proceed with my experimentation.

By testing it further I come to realize how strong it actually is. It can extend different parts of its body and grow in size by absorbing more water. It also possesses amazing shapeshifting abilities. But sadly it's weak towards blunt force and it doesn't have much of an intelligence so even holding a conversation with it is impossible.

As for me I am currently sitting on a chair of water, the chair being my shapeshifted Water Clone. I know I said I was going to train but hey, things happened. Water Clone happened. So yeah, I am taking a break right now.

Thanks to me being unable to sink trough it and its moldable consistence it feels like I'm sitting in a comfortable armchair. Ah, it's cooling me down too. The only thing missing is a book, a cup of cocoa and this would be perfect. Babbit is sitting on the armrest, sleeping as always. Mmmmh, this is heaven...

"Lady Ruth!" a voice suddenly shouts. I open my eyes and see Charlotte running up the hill. She's carrying something in her arms but I can't see what as it is covered with a blanket. I wave at her as she comes closer. When she finally arrives at the top of the hill she's panting heavily and her forehead is dripping with sweat. She must have been running ever since we parted.

"Hi Charlotte, did you do the thing you had to do?" I ask, tilting my head as I asks. Charlotte smiles in response.

"Well not yet, there's something I want to give to you" she says and offers me the object she's carrying. I accept it and starts unfolding it from the blanket. I wonder what it is. Oh, it's a-! Wait, is this a butcher knife? I look up on Charlotte with a confused look.

"It's a Bleeder!" Charlotte exclaims in excitement. "In my clan, when you reach a certain age you will be given one! It's mainly for decoration and ceremonial purposes but it's sharp enough to cut a head clean off!". Charlotte then proceeds to make a chopping motion with her hand.

Ah, well it certainly looks sharp. The blade is pitch black and at least 30 centimeters long and 10 centimeters long. The handle is seemingly made out of bone and despite its size it's oddly light.

"Well, thank you, Charlotte" I say, giving her a wide smile. I don't know what to do with it but it would be impolite to refuse the gift, especially with Charlotte being so happy giving it.

"I know that you're not part of my clan but I thought this would be a nice welcoming gift" she says. "Why don't you try it?"

"Oh, ok". I jump out of my water chair and order the Water Clone to take its initial form. When seeing this Charlotte lets out a tiny "woah" in amazement and I put Babbit on my shoulder for now. He seems a little upset that his comfy spot is gone. How childish. Now, how should I do this? I have never wielded a blade before. I can barely even cut a carrot. Uhm, I guess I should just.. slash it?

I raise the Bleeder above my head before I swing it down towards the Water Clone with all my might. The knife cuts right through it, from its shoulder to somewhere around where the navel would be. Ah, that was surprisingly easy. And such a deep cut... But just as my knife leaves its body the wound closes. Well, I didn't mean to destroy it anyway.

"Excellent!" Charlotte exclaims with a wide smile spreading across her face. She's obviously very happy. "Did you feel how easy it was swinging it? That's thanks to how it's balanced, with it being slightly heavier at the end so the slash comes more naturally when you swing it down!"

"Do you have a "Bleeder" of your own, Charlotte?"

"Of course I have!" she says with a proud voice. "I call it "the Decapitator"!"

"The Decapitator?" I ask with an unconvinced voice.

"Yeah, because it can, you know, decapitate people!". Ah, that was surprisingly simple. But it also sounds kinda badass. The "Decapitator"... Dammit, now I want to name mine the Decapitator.

A sudden chill runs down my spine. Something is coming, something dangerous... I should get out of here quick.

"Hey Charlotte, how about we go somewhere els-"

"Oh, what a coincidence to meet you two here!" someone suddenly calls out. That voice... No, he should be busy! It can't be! I make a 180 degrees turn and find myself standing face to faceless skull with the leader of Azmiel.

"Lord Orethon!" Charlotte exclaims. Ah, a perverted skeleton appeared. I should have realized.