“We’re here!” Ceselee yelled cheerfully as they finally got to the town. The guild master had taken the seat beside her after the first day, having switched with Ben and her eyes were glowing from the trip, something Thera could easily understand. It seemed they could both marvel at the speed they got there and enjoyed the journey, something that couldn’t be said of the rest of the group as they laid down in the back, nursing their stomachs.

“Aye, that’s nice and all but give us some time, not everyone is built for traveling like this,” Her uncle croaked out as he and Ben leaned against one another. “If I’d known things would be like this I’d have made a few health potions before coming out.”

“I don’t suppose any of our wonderful life or light mages could help out a bit?” Ben asked, prompting Thera to begin a spell as Sachel and Zite struggled to get themselves together enough to treat each other before moving on to the rest. For the life of her, she couldn’t understand what was causing the rest of them so much issues with traveling, but soon enough everyone was in good enough shape to move so Ceselee began leading them all through town, explaining things as they went.

“Now, we’re not going to confine you to one place while we wait for something to happen, enjoy the sights if you want, but when a call goes up you’re all to rush to the town's guild and find me, I’ll lead us to our designated area from there. Meals will be provided there each day as well, but if you want something better you’re on your own. Lastly, there’s an area just outside of town where adventurers can set up tents to camp out. Same as with the meals, tents will be provided but if you want something better you have to get it and pay for it yourself. Any questions?”

She waited for a moment, getting nothing but silence before she continued. “Alright, in that case I recommend you use today to get familiar with the area in case anything happens and tomorrow meet up with your groups. Since we were lucky enough to get here so early, take some time to practice together. If you need anything you’ll be able to find me at the guild but otherwise, just make sure you don’t do anything that would reflect badly on the Stonewall branch.”

With that everyone split up, Falk telling them he was going to rent a place for the three of them rather than being stuck in tents and that they should meet him at the guild in the evening, while Uzi’s group spoke to them about where to meet the next day to do as Ceselee suggested. After they went their separate ways, that just left Thera alone with Ben.

“Well, what should we do until we meet up with my uncle later?”

“Do you even need to ask?” He told her with a grin.

“I can’t believe this stupid town only has two smiths and an enchanters shop!” He complained while she patted his back to console him. “How do they manage? I get this place isn’t as big as Stonewall, but still!”

“They probably get a lot of stuff through traveling merchants and trade between neighbouring towns. No use complaining about it so come on, let's get something to eat, then there’s something I want to see.”

This time it was her that dragged him along, only stopping at any food stall that caught Ben’s eye as they went so he could sample the local flavours to the same extreme he always did before they got to where she wanted to go and felt her breath be taken away as she stopped in her tracks.

“Woah, what’s the matter?”

“Nothing’s the matter, I just haven’t seen anything like this before is all,” She told him, captivated by the sight of the beach and ocean in front of her. A stretch of golden sand going into an endless expanse of deep blue water, she hadn’t seen much of the world, but what was in front of her at that moment took her breath away.

Despite the reason they’d been brought there, there were still people out enjoying it, some swimming in the water, others playing on the beach itself and she couldn’t help but think how fun it looked. With her need to stay cloaked she couldn’t partake herself, but the desire was there.

“I wish I could do that too,” She sighed, accidentally giving voice to her thoughts and catching Ben's attention all the more.

“You want to go swimming?”

“I mean, maybe one day, but I can’t exactly do it dressed like this, can I?” She said as she stretched out her arm, showing off her outfit.

“True, it’s already getting a little beaten from our weekends out, getting soaked probably wouldn’t be the best. Besides, swimming calls for swimwear and…” He trailed off as he looked at her and she couldn’t help but feel a small change that had been coming from his expression from time to time show up on his face before he blindsided her as he seemed to think aloud. “Maybe I should have an indoor pool built in Stonewall. I have the money so why not?”

“Ben, you're being insane. Besides… I can’t swim,” She awkwardly admitted to him and rushed to explain herself before he said anything. “I mean, it’s not like I could go to any local rivers to learn while growing up because of my magic so of course I can’t, but either way, no wasting a bunch of money making a pool.”

“I mean, there’s nothing wrong with that, plenty of people can’t swim. Honestly just hanging out in the water is nice, but you’re right, maybe having a pool made is a bit much.”

“Yeah, besides, you’re making progress on my brace, right? Maybe when it gets to a point that I won’t need it anymore we could go somewhere… and you could teach me how?” She asked, feeling more and more shy as the question left her mouth and grateful her hood was keeping her face from being seen, even if she knew he could guess her expression as he always seemed to.

“Absolutely, one hundred percent let’s do it.”

His sheer enthusiasm helped break the awkward atmosphere she was feeling and she couldn’t help but laugh as they found a place to sit and eat while enjoying the scenery and letting the time pass. The town itself was lovely and the people seemed friendly enough but as the conversation died down and they enjoyed a comfortable silence she broke it as something only she could see drifted by.

A spirit, one of the water affinity was leisurely flying by and she couldn’t help but call out to it, letting Ben know what she was doing before she did. Ever since she’d gained the spirit empowering skill and figured out how to use it she’d try to practice it whenever she could, namely whenever she happened to come across one. While it wasn’t important enough to her to bother trying to train it all the time, especially since that would mean convincing a spirit to stay in town, she did want to make use of it when she could.

“Excuse me, could I bother you for a bit?” She called out, trying to wave it down as it took a moment to realize she was talking to it. Since the majority of people couldn’t see spirits like she could, often they weren't used to being approached by anything that wasn’t mana-based like them, all the more so if they didn’t immediately realize who she was.

“Apologies earthkin,” It began, conversing through mana in a way she could understand, but not replicate. “Did not recognise. What may I do for you?”

She hesitated for a second. The spirit seemed tired, which was odd because they didn’t need to sleep. Normally water spirits were more energetic, she was surprised it hadn’t immediately rushed into talking about ocean currents or something along those lines and it made her pause, but since she’d already stopped it she would at least ask.

“Sorry, but I was hoping you could help me practice a skill if you have the time, I would just need you to fire a spell or two for me if you could.”

“Ah, apologies again but I have recently reproduced, currently cannot spare mana.”

“Oh no, nothing to be sorry for, I’m sorry for asking you something so unreasonable out of the blue like that,” Unlike great spirits, a normal spirits mana quantity was around ten thousand and their regeneration rates were more akin to a standard mages, while they had other demerits they had to go through when reproducing, an act that was rare among them due to the after-effects. It took a group of spirits of the same affinity to safely be able to birth new ones, and as a side effect their mana regeneration rates were greatly reduced until they’d managed to reach their maximum capacity again, leaving them feeling weakened and vulnerable in the meantime. It was a large factor in why the spirit population had never recovered to what it had been on their homeworld before the invasion, it simply wasn’t worth the risk.

Actually, have I ever even met any spirits that had done that before? I feel like it’s something dad’s only ever told me about. Oh well perhaps… wait.

“Wait a moment!” She called out as she watched it begin to float away after giving her apology. “If that’s the case then I might be able to help out using my skill, can you please give me a chance?”

“… That is acceptable. What do you need?”

“Um, just fly into my hand, I’ll try and give you some mana.”

It did as she asked, landing in her outstretched hand as she activated her skill, letting mana flow out of her and into the intangible creature before her in a torrent. From what she’d learned while practicing, it seemed that for every one mana that transferred over, four would be lost if it wasn’t going to a spirit she had the same affinity as, but she was sure that it was something that would improve as it’s level increased, and given that if it worked the spirit would only need about five thousand to make up for what it had lost while creating a new one, that meant she would only need about half a day to recover so long as it worked.

And work it did. She saw its form brighten before her as it took in most of her mana, and after a few minutes that left her a little tired she leaned against Ben beside her, looking at the far more energetic water spirit as it buzzed around.

A smile broke out across her face despite the exhaustion. Combining that with all of the mana she would have spent the last four days getting them all there, it was doubtful that she’d ever managed to use so much at once in her entire life, but it had been worth it since it got her a level up. It would only be a couple days until she was in top form again, but with the amount of mana she had access to it wasn’t something that would affect the emergency quest so she didn’t let it bother her, only making a mental note to not go too hard while practicing with the others the next day.

“Incredible, my mana is full! Thank you earthkin!” The spirit called out to her with cheer as she gave it a small wave.

“Don’t worry about it. Oh, but if you see uncle Salinoth, give him my regards.”

Promising to do so it flew off, leaving them to their own devices as she explained everything that happened to Ben, feeling the smallest bit of amusement that for once he was dealing with only hearing half of a conversation instead of the other way around before they decided to go to the guild to find her uncle.

With the town's guild in sight, they were ready to meet up with her uncle and rest for the day. Even if she hadn’t experienced the same sort of motion sickness as many of the others did, traveling still took its toll and she was ready for some rest in whatever place her uncle found for them, but it seemed the day wouldn’t be ending yet as she heard the sound of feet slapping the ground behind them and a voice call out.

“You there, stop for a minute,” Called out a young Sobek, maybe a little older than herself, as an older one and a member of a race she couldn’t identify trailed behind. As she turned to look he reached out a hand to her, making her almost jump back on instinct, only stopping thanks to Ben putting himself in front of her.

An annoyed look crossed the stranger’s face as he dismissed Ben with a wave of his hand. “I don’t have any business with you so be on your way, it’s the hooded one I want to talk to.”

Gods, what am I about to have to deal with? She couldn’t help but think to herself, while at the same time noticing Ben gently tilt his head to the side, the same he did any time his god was speaking to him. Taking it as a warning in and of itself, as well as remembering the guild master's request not to do anything to make Stonewall look bad, she opted for a more polite approach than she really wanted to.

“If you have something to say then I’ll listen, but my friend won’t be leaving for it. Was there a reason you called out to me?”

He cast Ben a dismissive look before focusing his attention in on her. “Fine, I was able to feel the strength of the mana you exude from afar. I am the demigod Ather, son of Eneth, and I’ve come to tell you that you’re worthy of fighting by my side.”

The confidence on his face was a sharp contrast to the groan she was trying to keep within herself. Ben had warned her that one of the world's few demigods resided in the town, but she didn’t think she’d actually be encountering him, and now that she was aware of it she especially needed to watch her words. The last thing she wanted was to say or do anything that could get the guild in trouble, so she did her best to politely refuse.

“Thank you for the generous offer, but I must decline,” She said with a small bow. “I am already in a party with my companion, and I have other obligations that need to be fulfilled.”

Even if she lied about having other obligations she hoped it would be enough to get him to drop it, but instead he just focused back on Ben and snorted dismissively.

“I suggest you reconsider. Look at this man, I can barely feel any strength coming from him, someone this weak couldn’t have a drop of warriors pride to his name. With the power you wield it’s obvious it’s wasted on him. You must know as well as everyone that with the coming war, fighting strength matters. Join me and you’ll actually be able to make a difference.”

“Once again I’m sorry, but I have my obligations and I must decline,” She said with another small bow, all the while screaming in her head.

Gods above take a hint! If she had to deal with this for her entire time here then she might have to go so far as to ask her parents for help using the influence they could wield, but she wasn’t a fan of spreading her heritage so easily. She just wanted to do the quest and get out, no more, no less.

Unfortunately, Ather wasn’t so agreeable, instead taking off his necklace and throwing it at Ben's feet, an act she didn’t understand but seemed clear enough that it carried some cultural implications she didn’t want to deal with.

“Pick it up if you’re any sort of warrior, let’s make it clear how much of a waste someone like you is to her,” He said with cold eyes as Ben stared back with the same look he’d have when trying to understand an interesting problem he wanted to take apart.

“A duel huh?” He quietly muttered before looking past Ather to the older Sobek behind him. “Well first, I’m not a warrior, I’m a craftsman so no. Second and more importantly, we’re here at the request of our guild. If you insist on keeping up with this then I’ll have no choice but to discuss abandoning the quest with our guild leader. We’re under no obligation to help those who would threaten and harass us.”

The woman with them chuckled as the older man grabbed the demigod's arm. “Ather, any more would dishonour Eneth. Let’s leave it be for the time being.”

He reached down and grabbed the necklace as the other man stormed off before the other two followed, letting them breathe a sigh of relief.

“Guess we should go tell Ceselee and Falk what happened, huh?”

“Yeah, I can only imagine how fun this is going to be to deal with for the next few days. Anyway, what was Myriad saying to you?” She asked him as they began walking to the guild and seeing an awkward grin form on his face.

“Ah, well as soon as I saw the guy a couple of my skills seemed to act up on their own, he was just begging me not to cause any problems. All things considered, I’d say I handled things pretty well.”