Chapter 8

Safe

...I’m sorry.

I stood by his side, grasping own my dress following an emotion I hadn’t yet understood.

Thorne was sleeping down on the makeshift bed of leather and cloth. Layers of bandage covered his entire upper body with blood still seeping through them. His face was dreary in his restless sleep, his cold sweat mixing with the red of his blood.

I’m sorry,

I repeated those words like a mantra.

“Why do you look so sad?”

He was awake.

“Come now, Little Fae. This… isn’t your fault. I made my choice knowing the risks.”

Thorne raised his hand as if to pat me but couldn’t muster the energy as it fell back into the bed.

“Could you… smile for me please? I would really appreciate that.”

I did as he told and gave him a forced smile. He chortled, but it was caught up by a painful cough.

“…Perhaps, you’d better off on your own than with us,” he mumbled. His eyes were unfocused, blinking repeatedly as he found it harder and harder to not drift into unconsciousness. “They won’t trust you, but… neither should you.”

He passed out after that. The meaning of his words was something I didn’t get until later.

“He’s out cold again?” a voice came from behind me.

An old man had walked to my side.

The scrawny elderly man was the one who supposedly patched us up after they found us. They called him ‘Thalvos’, but it wasn’t actually his name. It was just a nickname, one whose meaning I didn’t know yet at the time.

“I still can’t wrap my head around how lucky you were. Watchers rarely leave their victims alive, if ever. At any rate, you’re still recovering as well. Come, I’ll make something you can sleep on,” he suggested.

I shook my head.

How can I sleep when he’s like that?

He made a warm, understanding smile as he patted my back. His eyes gave off a glint of kindness, moving his hand to my head and stroking me as one would a child.

“It’s alright,“ his scratchy voice somehow gave me a feeling of safety. “You’re safe now, with us. Oh, come to think of it, we haven’t introduced ourselves yet. Thorne said you’re called Little Fay?”

I put my palm to my face hearing that, an action which drew a soft laugh from the physician.

“We all know his habit,” he chuckled, “though I suppose you couldn’t have disproved the name. Thorne told me that you can’t speak.”

I nodded, then gave him a questioning look.

“You know, we didn’t really approve his names at first, but it sort of latched on after a while, especially because his names fit us more.”

He pointed at a lean elderly man who wore a thick fancy-looking robe that seemed out of place. He was tinkering with one of the cheat box, along with several other people.

“He’s called Saint. Can you guess why?”

I shook my head at his question.

“He was the lord of a great family once. The head of Cardinal Vane. He rose to power by crushing his enemies without mercy. Either way, he would capture his enemies alive after defeating them. Not just the leaders, but also the throng that worked under. Do you know why?”

At some point, a smile had formed on Thalvos’ face. “He would have his prisoners pardoned, and they would call him a “saint”. Only after they got out would the prisoners realize the price of their release. They would walk out, and the first sight they see would be their families, screaming as they burn on a giant pyre,” he ended with a chuckle.

...Eh?

“And then there’s Nile. The lovely Nile. Thorne took the name from Nilantis, a beautiful flower that possesses deadly toxin in all its parts. They say she was the greatest assassin of our time, killed dozens of nobles without leaving a single trace. ‘As alluring as she is deadly’, he said. Thorne has always been a romantic.”

At that point, I could only stare at him in disbelief. The warmth in his eyes was replaced by something I didn’t recognize. Something cold and... twisted.

“As for me... well, my name was Jead back in the world of living, but my subjects always prayed for Thalvos’ mercy when in my presence. They scream Thalvos’ name so much that my own friends began to call me by that name. Ironic, really, now that I end up in the real dark god’s domain.”

When I realized it, the gentle stroking no longer felt gentle. I didn’t dare move then, or even to look at him in the eye. I couldn’t. His warm touch felt threatening, and it probably showed because he immediately addressed my anxiety in, perhaps, the worst way possible.

“Don’t worry. I’m not that much of a pervert. I myself prefer the sight of blood over pleasure, as most of us here do. Besides, I’ve learnt my lesson from Nile about judging a book by the cover. You may look weak, but I’m sure there’s a story behind your reason for being here as well. After all, you must’ve hurt a lot of people to be here, though I doubt it would compare to Thorne’s record.”

I defied my fear and looked at him again. His face was deformed with a smile so cold and wicked that it froze me.

“I suppose you didn’t recognize his real name. They called him Lawthorne the Untamed, the Thousand-Slayer, the Scourge of Castaroth. He singlehandedly slewed through the ranks of the King’s Legion, and with the Kingsbane in his hand, he felled the Sovereign of the Arallax in the pastures of battle. We respected him. We let him lead us through the maze simply because he is the best of us. Was the best of us.”

His hand gripped my shoulder as he brought his face close to mine. “You understand right, my little Fae?”

Although my body was frozen, my eyes could see it. They were watching me. All of them.

Jead, Nile, Saint, and several others whose eyes were just as cold.

“Thorne was the best of us. He was the reason we survived this long, and now he’s like that. I wonder whose fault that is?”

It was only then I remembered.

The maze was a prison. A worst kind of prison, for the worst kind of people. I remembered Hadda calling them “savages”, and now I know why.

‘They won’t trust you easily, but neither should you,’ Thorne had said to me.

Then who should I trust, when even Thorne turned out to be one of the “savages”?

As expected, only Hadda...

Hadda was the only one I could trust, and he was gone. Still gone.

“You should go back to sleep.”

He was smiling again – the same warm smile, except that it no longer felt warm.

“You’re safe now, with us.”

◊ ◊ ◊

“Wake up, little missus. It’s sunshine!”

I open my eyes to see a handsome blonde’s face, to which I groan in annoyance.

“Terribly sorry, missus. I would’ve let you rest, but you need to put something in your stomach. Come now, the girls are waiting for you.”

I get up drowsily after some shakes. For some reason, I’m using his support to stand up.

Light greets me as soon as I step out of the hooded wagon. The sun had ascended just above the trees, giving off a soft glare of an early morning. It’s actually the sun. The real sun.

Last night was so hectic that I hadn’t had the chance to think about things, but now with the sky blue and vast, it just dawned on me.

Having been trapped in darkness for so long, for the first time since as long as I can remember, I finally feel sunlight caressing my skin and it’s...

…How do I say it?

Putting it bluntly, I don’t like it.

Not only does it sting, it also hurts my eyes. I would’ve run back inside if it weren’t for Lui grabbing hold of me. He somehow knew I would jump back into the safety of darkness.

“Yo, Luise! Nice lass you got there!” someone with a gruffy voice called out, though I couldn’t see him because the sun is blinding me.

“Go suck a brad, Ald!” Luise barked back.

Oh, right. It’s not “Lui”. It’s “Luise”. He thought he could go undercover just by removing two words from his name. Well, he was right, because apparently the slavers never suspected a thing.

As we make our way to wherever Luise is taking me, I take in the surroundings; the still wagons and the soldiers bustling about, taking boxes and sacks from one wagon to another, as well as other stuff that I mind as none of my business. I do understand that we’re moving soon.

“That was reckless of you,” Luise said, pointing at my bandaged foot. “Our plan was to attack just before dawn breaks, so you can imagine the look on our faces when the slaves let themselves free. No one saw that coming.”

“Whitey, over here!”

I look over at the voice and see Latasha waving at us. Beside her are Farica and some of the rescued girls, the former being dressed in noticeably nicer clothing rather than the rags she wore last night.

As we got closer, Latasha skips towards us, before suddenly hitting Luise in the head.

“Ow! What the hell, Tasha?!”

“She’s a faean, you buffoon! Sunlight hurts her!”

“Wha– you don’t need to hit me either way! Are you still mad at me? I told you, I was undercover!”

“Blah-blah. We don’t need you here, go away,” she waved him away and takes my hand, leaving the dumbfounded Luise behind.

I join the circle of ex-slaves under the shade of trees and Latasha hands me a bowl of broth.

“Here. It’s nothing much, just some taters and soup, but it’s warm.”

Just as I’m about to eat, I realize the girls are staring at me. I glare back at them and they hastily look away. However, when I lift the spoon, the stares come back.

What do you want?

Are they picking a fight with me?

Then my eyes drop to the bowl in my hands. Quickly I pull it near my body, hiding it from their sight.

It’s my food, I snarled at them.

“You girls, she won’t speak even if you stare that much,” Latasha said and finally they go back to idle chatter.

Oh, were they expecting some kind of introduction from me? Sorry, but you won’t get one.

Latasha leans close and whispers, “Someone told them about you. Now they can’t help but be curious.”

Curious?

“I told them actually, but Farica blew it out of proportions.”

“I did not!” Farica protested.

Blew what out of proportions?

As the two of them bicker again, I notice that the others are back to staring at us.

One of the girls stands up and approaches us in sharp strides. Her short copper-colored hair swayed in the morning breeze as she walked over, showing off her bronze-colored skin with a sleeveless tunic.

“Umm… excuse me,” the red-haired girl called out.

“What is it?” Latasha addressed her.

“Err... we were just talking about... now that all three of you are here, we wanted to…”

“Come on now, speak up, err… what was your name again?”

“Y‒Yes! It’s Kaelyn, milady! What I mean to – what we mean to say is... thank you! Thank you for rescuing us!”

Before we can react, another girl stands up. This one is a charming blonde-haired luphaen, with her fluffy ears and tail waving enticingly with every movement. She is perhaps the most eye-catching among the girls for being the only luphaen.

She makes a magnificent bow to us while voicing out in a way that’s almost shouting, “T‒Thank you!”

The rest of the girls follow, expressing thanks to us one after another. Even more girls that notice the event approached the group and do the same thing, leaving even Latasha stupefied.

Latasha drops her gaze and starts playing with her fingers as she answers bashfully, “I... it’s... it’s okay, but the ones that rescued us in the end was the guild, so….”

To her words, the red-haired girl replies, “Even so, what you did was... when we had but given up, you came for us. You could’ve have escaped yourselves, but instead you came for us, and for that, I… we will never forget what you did for us.”

The other girls nodded following her words. This seems to be something they talked about beforehand.

“Eh? All three of us?” Farica blurted out.

This time, it’s her turn to act in a sheepish manner, her face blushing as if someone confessed their love to her. Well, I understand what she meant, though. It was Latasha who went for them. All I could think about was escaping, and Farica was just being swept along.

“...We understand, so please, sit down,” Latasha said it in a hushed voice while timidly looking over her shoulders.

Come to think of it, the guild soldiers are all looking over at the spectacle. Following her instructions, the girls all sat down, but their eyes are still looking at us in an expectant way, especially at Latasha whom is clearly bothered by it.

A smile suddenly broke on her face as if she just thought of something. “Ahem, that’s right, you guys haven’t met her, right? This girl is Whitey,” she pats my shoulder, “and she’s a pyromancer. She’s the one that blew up all the bad guys.”

…Oh. Now they’re looking at me. What a move, Latasha, to divert their stares like that. Even if you ask me stuff, I won’t be able to answer, you know.

“Ah, I saw her last night,” one of the girls spoke out. “She was surrounded by the slavers, but before they got to her, there’s this huge wall of flames!”

You mean the accident?

“Ah, the explosions? I was awake too, but then there’s smoke all over so I couldn’t see anything after that.”

“Oh, wow. I wish I could’ve seen that. I was asleep but the sound woke me up, then I thought the forest was on fire! I was so scared but then miss Farica and miss Latasha came.”

Don’t worry, there were lots of moisture in the air. I would never let my own fire go wild.

“She’s pretty!”

Oh my. If I may say, you’re also very–

“I know, right! Her hair and her skin are lily-white! If only it weren’t for–”

“Oi!”, a girl beside her covers her mouth.

“Ah, umm… s–sorry…” she said to me.

Umm… okay?

With the girls lost in their own worlds, the three of us exchange glances with each other. As our eyes meet, a leer forms on Latasha’s face. I feel like it’s intended to irk me, but what came out is a beguiling smile instead. That’s dangerous, Latasha.

After I finish my soup, we say goodbye to the girls and walk with Latasha and Farica supporting me on each side. Again, I can walk fine, but being escorted by these two lovelies isn’t so bad. Arriving to one of the hooded wagons, they set me down and Latasha hops in to get some things while Farica starts undoing my bandage.

“Eww, gross! That’s what you get for running around with a piece of wood stuck in your foot,” is what Latasha said when she came back out with a handful of clothes in her hand.

I raise a brow at her.

I once had to run from a giant three-headed lifer with a spike in my abdomen. A tiny splinter on my sole seems like a trivial matter in comparison and frankly, it doesn’t even hurt that much.

“It doesn’t seem to be infected, so that’s good. It should be applied with ointment after being cleaned up a bit with water,” Farica said as she starts her treatment.

It was also Farica who tended to my wound last night, and she was so good with it that the guild’s healers left her to it.

“Speaking of cleaning up, you need a soak, whitey. You stink like poo.”

Hey, that’s not fair, isn’t it, seeing that they’ve both taken a bath. I can tell because they look so clean and tidy. Not to mention, there weren’t exactly any baths in that place, and god knows who long I was there.

As Farica wraps my foot again, Latasha hands me the clothes in her arms.

“Here you go. There’s a river nearby that we used to bathe. Can you take her there, wuss?”

“Sure,” she replied with a bright smile.

Really, Farica? Seems like you’ve accustomed yourself to that name, haven’t you?

Taking my arm around her waist, Farica guides me through the woods while holding my other hand, as if trying to support my weight with her height. It’s a bit awkward because she’s shorter than me, but she seems to be experienced in handling people much larger than I am. After a little walk, the sound of a running river becomes distinct and soon enough, the stream is in full sight. As the grounds in the region are relatively level, the flow of the river isn’t particularly fast, but it’s still fast enough that one would need to watch their footing. Luckily, the sun hasn’t risen enough to light the banks, so it’s possible to clean up without burning myself.

“Umm... I’ll be back with medicine and a change of bandage, so take your time.”

I smile and nod at her, but instead of leaving, she just stares at my feet with her mouth opening and closing. Curious, I lower my body so that she’s staring at my face. This seems to catch her off guard as she makes a little jump.

“Y‒You’re amazing, you know. You and Latasha both.”

Amazing?

“It’s just like the others had said. The two of you were so brave, and I was only swept along. Truthfully, I’m no different than those girls, so... thank you.”

That’s not true.

Right now, I can’t see most of the bruises and gashes on her skin because of the clothes she’s wearing, which are several sizes bigger than her. Her hair is swept back and tied into a wavy ponytail with no bangs to cover her dainty face. Even though she has a petite build, she still got curves in the right places. Especially the top part. They’re unmistakably bigger than mine, so definitely bigger than Latasha’s poor planks.

With how refreshing she looks now, there’s no trace of the pitiful mess she was last night, none but the bruises on her arms and her face. She must’ve gotten those when holding down that guy with the longsword.

I caress the bruise on her face as I lift it to make her eyes meet mine.

You were brave as well. You wouldn’t have gotten this otherwise.

Her twee eyes stare back at me before she suddenly breaks out in a suppressed laugh.

“It’s...strange. You never say a single word, but it feels like you’re speaking to me with that smile. It was the same last night. ‘Everything’s going to be alright’… was how it felt.”

Really?

Because that is indeed what I was saying.

“You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you...” she muttered as she looks down from my eyes.

Eh?

“I, uh... I’ll be leaving now. Don’t forget to clean the wounds.”

With that, she leaves me to my business. That last thing she said, she said it with a doleful voice.

It’s not until I took off my clothing and laid it on a rock that I finally understand.

“Been through a lot”, is this what she meant?

My dress, the white dress which I had worn basically my entire life... well, it’s not white anymore. It has become so marred and discolored by the many stains; dirt, sweat, blood... and to mention more, the various holes and rips leaves little to the imagination. My own body that it barely covered isn’t in a much better condition as well, riddled with old scars in so many places.

The girls back there were probably being courteous when they said all that because Latasha was right. I look like a ghost.

After finding a flat surface in a shallow part of the stream, I sit down and let the flow do most of the work. With the calm sound of the river and voices of nature around, I let myself relax and thought about how everything became like this.

‘You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?’

Yes… yes, I have.

With my eyes closed, I let my mind travel back in time. I try to remember, but all that come to me are bits and pieces of a nightmare. It was just… darkness. Sometimes the darkness is red, sometimes it’s another color. There were other people as well, but their names and faces have become blurs, like ripples in a stream.

…Only those three. Only their faces I remember clearly.

She’s wrong. I’m not brave.

There were times where all I could do was to run away. From people, from lifers, and from him... times where I wanted to stop running and just… give up. But I didn’t. Because I had to survive.

But I did it. I survived. I made it out, so i’ts okay to cry now, right?

It’s a strange feeling. With my life no longer in danger, the dam that held my emotions at bay is breaking apart. It feels like the waterworks can come out any minute. However, I can’t let up. Not just yet.

Because it’s not over yet.

Hadda.

Eretz.

Yammu.

The friends I left behind. The friends I betrayed so that I could get out.

I won’t rest, not until the debt is repaid.

--- --- ---

After making sure to wash thoroughly, I stand up and start squeezing out the water from my hair.

Aah… feels good to wring the filth out of my hair. I feel like the water’s color would change just from all the grime in there.

- Thud -

A sound intruded on me.

At the direction of it is Luise, his eyes wide and mouth agape. There are pieces of wood on the ground around him, which he probably dropped.

...Yes?

I tilt my head at him.

“I‒I‒I was... you see, my wood brought me here. No, firewood! I was collecting firewood!” he babbled uncontrollably, his eyes going everywhere before stopping at a certain place. “I‒I didn’t mean to peep—I mean, I didn’t mean to stare!”

Okay, but... my eyes are up here, you know?

At that moment, a rustling sound comes from the bushes and another person appears.

“I’ve brought the medicine, have you finished…“ Farica walked out and stops when she notices Luise.

As if struck by a spell, Luise’s face turns beet red before running off shouting a spell, “Mannermyexcuses!”

I raise an eyebrow at Farica.

What’s gotten into him?

“...despicable...”

Farica?

Why are your expression so dark?

Realizing something, I look down at my own body.

…Oh.

I didn’t expect for Luise to be affected by a woman’s bare skin. Even Latasha calls him a “rake”, but seems like I expected wrong.

Me? I suppose there was a time when something like this would faze me, but that’s a long time ago. Out of all the things I lost to Purgatory, one of them would be my sense of shame.

After that, Farica helps me treat my wound and dress me up. The clothing that Latasha gave me is a hooded coat with long sleeves and trousers. She probably chose them with my sensitivity to light in mind. What an attentive girl.

“Wow...” Farica is full of smiles after she finished dressing me up.

I got infected and is smiling back at her. What is it?

“You look so different now that you’re prim and clean,” she giggled, unaware of the knives in her words. She’s basically confirming how terrible I looked before.

You’re unexpectedly blunt, aren’t you?

“Oh, right. The commander has something to say to the rescuees. We should go and listen to what he has to say,” she said as she supports me again.

Wait, the firewood…

I point at the pieces of wood that Luise dropped.

--- --- ---

When we got back, the girls are already gathered around in a semi-circle. I count 11 girls—13 including me and Farica. We hand over the firewood to a nearby soldier, whom glares at Luise accusingly. It’s true, though, to make a girl as small as Farica carry the things he dropped is not a knightly deed.

Oh, but he might’ve planned to fetch it later, huh. Sorry, Luise, I might’ve done something unnecessary.

“Well then, now that you’re all here, I’ll start explaining the situation now.”

The one who spoke is a man that looks too old to be holding a sword, wearing leather clothing under the steel plates that covers his breasts, shoulders, and shins. His voice carries a weight that easily hushes the crowd, and along with the overbearing presence he has, he must be “commander” Farica spoke of.

“I’m Chief Constable Orlev from Tarnlake, the leader of the task force that was sent to rescue you. The avlark my side is my second-in-command, Chief Aldwan. Currently, it is our intent to escort all of you back to the drifter’s guild in Tarnlake and decide what to do with you then. Now that we’ve finished rationing the supplies, we will depart after lunch.

The injured and the sick will be looked after by our medics. The rescuees are not to wander away from the convoy unless accompanied by the guild. You will be given three meals a day and taken care of to the best of our ability. If you need anything, ask any of the soldiers or alternatively, in an emergency, you can go directly to me, Chief Aldwan, or Luise. Are there any questions?”

“What about the slavers?” Latasha raised her hand.

“We will be bringing them with us to Tarnlake where they will be properly detained and questioned. They’re going to be on a separate wagon which I advise you from going near. Rest assured, they’ll be tied up and watched for the entire trip.”

“And what about the southerner?” she asked again.

Southerner... oh, the one that tried to kill me?

“He will be treated as a prisoner until we can identify him. So far, all we know about him is that he was captured by the slavers to be sold to a different human-trafficking firm...”

--- --- ---

Latasha asked more questions after that, which were all answered by Orlev. In summary, the trip to Tarnlake will take a little over one week with one stop at a fort to resupply.

During the rescue last night, out of the thirty-three opposition, there’re only five to ten who are suspected to be slavers while the rest are just sellswords, six of whom died in battle. The plan is to carry the bodies in a separate wagon until the checkpoint, where they’ll be identified and disposed of.

Among the good soldiers, only two are representatives of the kingdom’s peacekeeping force while the rest twenty-something are contracted drifters—something like mercenaries? Except that they seem to have some form of ranks and hierarchy, which makes them different from the people the slavers hired as guards.

After the briefing concluded, I’m called out by the commander along with the other two. Luise and Chief Aldwan is also there. You already know Luise, and as for the latter… although he’s wearing his armor, it’s clear that he isn’t human.

With a fur-covered body and a head with bear-like features, he seems to be... an avlark, were they called?

They’re sometimes called the “mountain people” or the “werebear”, and as such, avlarks are a race of ursine hominids indigenous to the northern mountain ranges. Aside from the dark-brown furs, the scar across his dark-colored eye, and the really large build, I can’t really point out any distinct features that you would on a human face.

“Luise said the three of you were the ones who freed the slaves, true?”

Orlev’s dark eyes appraised each of us, causing an uncomfortable feeling like we’re being judged.

“Err... yeah,” Latasha replied.

“We’re sorry to trouble you, but we thought it would be better to lay out the situation as it is to the three of you.”

“Oh, so you were holding out on us?” Latasha puts her hands on her hips in a demanding manner.

“That’s putting it crudely. I know you understand, Tasha,” Luise replied, begging her with his eyes to not act difficult.

“We thought it’s better for you to recover and not worry over the details, but that might go back on us in... unexpected scenarios,” Chief Aldwan explained.

As expected from an avlark, the chief’s voice is heavy and gravelly, but not quite as to call it beastly. I know that avlarks are supposed to speak larkish, but here he is, fluent in the common tongue.

“Seeing that the rest of the girls seem to trust you, it would be better if you’re the one to tell them what you think they need to know, and what’s better left out for emotional ease. That is, if you’d allow me to explain?” Orlev asked for her permission.

“...Right,” Latasha finally gives in. “Explain away.”

“First of all, you are Latasha of House Ardent, yes?”

Latasha drops her jaw. “How did you...”

“Luise told us.”

Latasha turns to the aforementioned with a vicious glare.

Orlev ignores that and turns to the other girl, “and you’re miss Farica, am I right?”

“Y‒Yes,” the girl answered timidly.

“And you...” Orlev turns to me, “…pardon, but I believe I haven’t gotten your name yet,”

Err...

“She’s Whitey and she’s mute,” Latasha answered in my stead.

What… wait, who the hell is Wythee?

“I see. Well then, miss… ‘Whitey’, am I right to assume that you’re a pyromancer?”

“She’s not,” Luise cut in.

At that point, his eyes meet mine, and his face flares up like it did back on the river. He quickly averts his eyes in a not-so-discrete manner.

Hey, what are you thinking? Everyone will think you’re a weirdo now... eh? Why are they staring at me too?

“Uhh... that, not just a pyromancer, I mean. Last night she used air magic on me,” he explained.

“Luise, are you sure?” the avlark said.

“Yeah, and it was quite powerful, too. A normal person would’ve been blown to bits.”

Oh, uhm… really?

“Did you really do that, whitey?”

Now Latasha is staring at me with unbelieving eyes.

I swear, it was an accident.

I widen my eyes and look up at Orlev, hoping he’d forgive me for almost killing his subordinate.

“...Aeromancy, huh.” Orlev put a hand to his chin, acting as if he doesn’t notice my efforts.

“Ophitov!” Aldwan shouted. “It takes great talent to master two elements, but for it to be air magic, the trickiest out of the five elements... and you used it on the wolf, no less!” he finished with a loud, bestial laugh.

Hmm, it seems like I’m not in trouble. Instead they’re talking about how great I am for almost killing him.

Luise, are you being bullied?

In the first place, what kind of “elements” are they even talking about?

Oh, come to think of it… I seem to remember something like this. If “air” is one of the elements, the other four should be water, earth, thunder, and… uh, four elements for the four phases of matter. What’s the fifth one, then?

…Ah, is it that pyromancer thing? Is fire the fifth element? If that’s true, then these people have a weird way of seeing how magic works. Either way, they seem to think that being able to use multiple elements is an amazing feat.

If so, I wonder how they’d react if they know I can use every element?