“Yawn” “Wow. We got enough to buy Lucy another set of clothes, recharge the enchantments on your sword, buy a staff, and rent an inn room, and we still have so much left over!” Elany exclaimed.

“Yeah, though I personally enjoyed hearing watching that guard running up to the guild master and telling him about how he had just seen fire descend from the heavens,” Reylor chuckled. “But now, without further ado, let us depart for Votran!”

“Votran? Like Votran High?” Lucy timidly asked.

“Yes, that’s exactly where we are going.” Reylor replied

“But… there are shade creatures along the way…”

“Oh, really? They are a magic school though, so why wouldn’t they keep the roads clear?”

“It’s a test of sorts to make sure only capable people are able to make it there, which allows them not to have to conduct as many entrance exams.”

“Well, I guess we’ll have to be on our guard then.”

Lucy looked at him with a worried expression. Had this been before the war, she would have been unafraid, or even excited at the opportunity of exercising her magic, but things were a bit different now. Due to her prior experiences, her self confidence had taken a huge blow; not to mention that her magical “arteries” needed a bit of time to warm up since they had been inactive for so long (this is why she told Reylor she needed a minute in the colosseum).

Nevertheless, the decision had already been made. Reylor was going to Votran, and neither of the girls was willing to part with their only source of stability and safety.

Reylor walked up to a guard stationed at the teleportation gate.

“Three fares to Votran, please.”

“Votran?” he said, looking the trio over. “You do know the roads are not guarded, right?”

“Yes, we do.”

“Well, if you got the Verii, I don’t suppose I can stop you. Just make sure you make it out of the outpost territory. It’s not fun cleaning up carcasses.”

He took the money Reylor handed over and went over to a control panel. After punching in some numbers the portal sprang to life. Heeding the Guard’s motions, they walked through.

Walking out the other side, they were met with much different scenery. The portal they came out of was enclosed by what appeared as a wooden fort, though fortified with magic to protect the local guards from shade attacks. Walking out of the crude building, a dirt path ran out before them, cutting its way through a forest that appeared half-dead. Between the fort and the forest was dirt decorated with sparse patches of yellowing grass. To one side was another fortified building in which there were a few tents lined up. Most belonged to the guards on duty, but there extra space so travelers could take a break just before or after braving the road to Votran.

“Welcome to hell’s outpost! May I ask what you are here for today?”

Ignoring the pseudonym (since a sign clearly read Votran Outpost), Reylor explained that they were headed to the academy to enroll.

“Ah, budding mages, I see? Well, you are free to take off whenever, but if you want to check out the lodge first,” he said pointing to the side building, “it seems there is another group with the same idea. Make some friends and you might have half a chance of making it together.”

“Ok… Thanks then.”

“No problem sir, just doing my job,” the guard said with cheesy grin.

“No sense in going it alone, if we can join up with some other warriors. What do you say?” Reylor asked.

“That sounds fun!” Elany said with a cheery smile, while Lucy merely nodded her agreement.

“Alright, let’s see who these others are.”

After walking to the other building, it was not difficult to spot the eclectic group of student hopefuls among the sea of standard-looking outpost guards. Reylor looked them over as he approached, and their classes appeared as follows: A male warrior sporting sword and shield, a female conjurer in traditional mage clothes who held a staff, a muscular male berserker carrying a great sword, a male archer with a large compound bow, and finally a young girl carrying some sort of a globe.

“Hello friends,” Reylor greeted the group. “May I speak with your leader?”

The conjurer spoke up. “Well, I suppose I’m as close as you’ll get to a leader in this group. What’s going on?”

“My name is Reylor, and these are my companions Elany and Lucy. We are going to be heading to Votran and a guard told us you were heading there as well, so we were wondering what you guys would think about teaming up on the way there.”

Turning toward the rest of the group, the conjurer asked, “What do you guys think?”

“Are you strong?” The berserker asked bluntly.

“We have fought shade” Reylor replied.

“Fine with me, then”

No one else had any objections, so the offer was accepted.

“Alright then, if we are to be companions I suppose we should get to know each other. My name is Flira, and right now I am a general elemental conjurer.” Pointing to the berserker, she continued, “This guy is Gelton, though we usually just call him Gelt.” Gelton nodded in approval. “Then we have our warrior, Flint.” Flint raised a hand in greeting “We three came from the same area, before recently meeting up with the other two, so I’ll let them do their own introductions.”

“Hi, my name is Eric, and this is my sister Aileen. As you can probably guess, I am an archer, my sister on the other hand—well, I’ll save that as a surprise.

Dangit, Reylor thought. And that was the one I was curious about. Resigning himself to his fate, Reylor introduced himself as a swordsman and Lucy as a fire conjurer. “And this here is Elany, who can cook and knows how to use money.”

“Unlike Reylor,” Elany said with a giggle. Everyone else besides Lucy had to smile at that—well except for Gelt, who had a bit of a sour expression. He didn’t want extra “baggage,” but he resigned himself.

“So, when are we heading out?” he asked.

“We were actually just getting ready to pack up. Would leaving in an hour work for you?” Flira asked.

“Certainly, better sooner than later,” Reylor replied.

After a short while, Flira’s group was packed and everyone set off.

After a short discussion, Reylor and Flira agreed on a party formation. Flint, who specialized in defense, would take up the front. Reylor and Gelton each took a back corner. This would form a triangle to protect Lucy, Elany, Flira, and Eileen—none of whom were particularly suited for close combat. Meanwhile, Eric would travel on the outskirts of the group, enabling him access to the trees which he could look out from and attack from.

The first half day went by uneventfully. Everyone shared stories of how they ended up at the Votran Outpost, though some in less detail than others.

“…and that is the story of how Flint ended up with a pink shield for a week. Hahaha!” Gelton let out a boisterous laugh.

“Real funny Gelt, think about how I felt!” Flint made an embarrassed face.

“How about the time Gelt almost kissed his sis…” Flira was interrupted by an icy glare. “Haha, hehe. Ok, never mind.”

“Hey guys, we got company.”

Everyone snapped out of the carefree mood at Eric’s announcement.

“What is it?” Flira asked.

“Looks like a pack of wolves, I don’t see any shade beasts, though, so we should be ok. It’s a fairly large group, though.”

“Come here you mongrels!” Flint shouted out. Normally it was most convenient to try to just pass a wolf pack by, hoping that they would ignore you, but that would not be possible in this situation. The land was nearly desolate, which meant that any predators could not safely pass up a meal opportunity, and with a pack so large, the number of travelers was not great enough to be a deterrent. In short, it would be best to call them out and settle the situation sooner rather than later.

Soon enough, the sounds of crunching leaves and twigs could be heard, as the wolves approached from one side of the forest.

“Schoof, schoof” Eric’s arrows began flying through the air, hitting their marks more often than not. Not wanting to be idly picked off by their enemy, the wolves made their move, flooding toward the group.

“Ahhh! Come here you stinky beasts! I’ll beat your sorry carcasses into the ground!”

Wow, Flint can be really talkative, Reylor thought. Whether it was the words or just the noise, Flint’s provocations were really working. Most of the pack went straight for Flint, only to be sent flying back by his shield, assuming they were lucky enough to get past Flira’s ice and earth spells. Of course, a few circled around to the sides, but Reylor made quick work of those on his side, and those on Gelton’s side met fates far worse. Lucy and Aileen were not even needed for the event.

The members of Reylor’s group were all thinking the same thing: What does Aileen do? They didn’t ask, however.

After taking a moment for everyone to calm down and for Eric to retrieve his salvageable arrows, they continued on their way.

“Hey Reylor, where are you guys from? Your sword form doesn’t look like a standard Vilnor form,” Eric asked.

“I was taught by a local militia in Otium,” Reylor replied

“Oh, man. Good thing you weren’t in Splendor; I hear they got a pretty good beating, haha.”

Elany’s face darkened, though only Reylor noticed. With an unassuming voice, Reylor asked, “Hey Flint, what exactly happened in Splendor?”

“Oh, wow, I guess news really does move slowly around there. Oh, sorry, no offense meant… Anyhow, they say the Crystal Witch made her hideout there, in Splendor; so they sent their elite mage battalion to wipe it out.”

“Who is the Crystal Witch?” Reylor questioned.

Everyone but Elany gave Reylor a strange look.

“You haven’t heard of the Crystal witch?” Flira gasped.

Seeing the serious looks on Reylor’s face, she regained some of her composure. “Several years ago, Vilnor Empire began their continental conquest. They started out by annexing a few smaller city-states around them. Then came the rebellion against the Shildwell rulership, wherein the rebels brought Vilnor in to help. That provided an excellent opportunity, which Vilnor used in order to annex the entire Shildwell kingdom, which brought a lot of power with it. In just a couple of years they were able to fully annex the Shildwell territories, and so they began the rest of their conquest in earnest.

“No one could stop them. City after city, and nation after nation fell to the cunning and might of the Vilnor Empire. All that remained on this side of the continent was the ‘useless and weak’ Otium territories in the South-East; Sylva, the enchanted Elven forests to the East, and the inhospitable southern forests. Now they were reaching for Dregnest, the Dwarvan homeland to the north.

“Their preparations were complete. Their forces were far superior. They began their march to conquer the Dwarvan lands, to steal the rich ore deposits for themselves. Knowing what was about to take place, the Dwarves were ready, though they knew it would be a lost cause. The Vilnor general gave the command, and both sides ran to begin the war—but then something happened. A massive class 9 magical formation appeared over the battle field, and a figure with it-it was the Crystal Witch. She was magnificent—pure white hair flowed down her back, blending in with her white robe. Her face was beautiful and awe-inspiring. Both sides paused their movements to gaze in awe at this person.

“Then she spoke. Her voice was soft—so soft you could barely hear it, yet it was glassy and smooth. She said ‘Vilnor, you arrogance has known no bounds. You have ruthlessly conquered each of all the human territories you have coveted, and now you dare to march on the soil of those who are not of your race. The time for your punishment has come.’

“With that the entire sky lit up with a magic circle that expanded to cover the Vilnor army, millions of them. Time seemed to freeze, and everyone felt as if they could not even move a finger. Then it came. Shards like diamond rained from the sky, shredding battalions of Vilnor warriors, and leaving only a few alive. The magical circles then dissipated, and she was gone. The entire Vilnor army was reduced to nothing.

“This was the account of an imperial mage who used special techniques to watch the entire event from the capital. From then on she was dubbed the crystal witch, and Vilnor has been searching for her ever after.”

A soft voice, smooth like glass. Could it be her? Reylor thought.