The First War Mage: Skyline Trials

I was awake well before the next day truly came—The sun didn't even yet crest the horizon, yet I lay there in bed, practically wallowing in the full body exhaustion that encompassed me.

But, the exhaustion wasn't what demanded my attention. Instead I was more keenly aware of what lay deep within my chest, sitting like a weight bearing down on my very soul.

I didn't recognize it at first, but I had felt that dull ache all night. It was just washed away, buried under layers of other emotions like the clouds covering the sun. I knew it was there, but only when the clouds of conflicted emotion cleared did I see it.

My origin rotated idly in the eyesight of my mind. It was a tiny multi-colored spec of light, lights of lime green, orange and black all reflected within one another there.

But it was that black speckle of color that caught my gaze, it was that black speckle of color that I couldn't pull my attention from.

"Why can I see all of these details now?" I wondered. "When did it all stop being the same hue of blue?..." My mind trailed off, lost in the twists and turns of ideas.

The harder I focused on that black spec, however desperately it called for me, it grew more distant. It was like a whisper, the words long lost through the haze, yet the meaning still lingered.

"Curious?" I heard Akemi's soft voice. Hers truly was a whisper, one which chased the hazy precipice away.

"Maybe…" I sighed out. Gently, I rolled to my side, meeting the Kitsune's gaze. "I don't know what that was… But it's gone now." I raised a hand, gently scratching the Kitsune's head.

"Lonely?" Akemi asked through the happy rumbling of being pet.

"Yeah…" I answered honestly. "I don't think I'll ever not be lonely…" It was a sobering thought. I knew my opinions could change, but at least at the current moment—The mere idea of intimacy was worse than the pain of solitude.

"Me?" Akemi offered, her piercing amethyst eyes meeting mine.

"You're right," I smiled, hugging the little fox softly. "I have you. Thank you, Akemi." I closed my eyes as I hugged the Kitsune, letting my body relax slowly. I had no more tears to shed, but I at least knew I had a little bit of family, right here.

When my eyes next opened it was to the faint sunlight creeping in through the curtains, welcoming with its warm embrace the final day within Ferilis.

I started with a sigh—Dread was already filling my body at the thought of another day spent out. Even as I told myself that it would probably be fun, the vague itch or premonition that something was going to happen wouldn't leave me.

"Leave?" Akemi's soft voice asked as I sat up. Her furry figure was in much the same place it had been when I fell sleep—Being buried under layers of blankets alongside me.

"Yeah… Time to get ready to leave." I said softly. I swung my legs over the side of the bed, pushing up and standing before leaning back with my arms over my head in a rather comforting stretch.

I let out a sigh after the long chain of pops ended, shifting forwards just to pause as a suspiciously well timed knock reached the door.

"Who's there?" I asked, my voice just loud enough to be heard.

"Tulip—Just seeing if you were awake. Be ready soon, yeah?" Tulip said in a softer voice from her usual tone.

"Y-Yeah, give me a minute and I'll be out." I called back. Tulip didn't say anything more, her only response being in the sound of her retreating footsteps.

I let out a shaky breath, my hand raising to my chest to calm my pounding heart. For some reason at that moment, the faint black spec in my origin popped into my mind. It felt like a boiling storm, its crackling lights fading as quickly as my heartbeat settled.

"Alright?" Akemi asked, hopping off of the bed as she did so.

"I… I think so," I said rather shakily. It was strange—Perhaps it was something I needed to ask Carmine about, but that could wait for later. For now I just put on a fresher set of clothes and made my way to the others—All of whom were ready and gathered just outside

"We all ready?" Lucia asked as I approached. With little more than a nod from each of us, we made our ways out of the estate.

—

"Does she really want us to die that badly?" The red hair woman growled out, her posture was stiff—Barely hiding the aches of her body. Moving at a full sprint with no rest for almost a month really had a way of hurting the joints.

"I doubt she wants us to die, dear," The green haired woman cooed in response. "Our Mistress is the utmost, kindest woman in the world—She sent us here because she knows we will succeed." She finished with a soft giggle, sounding far too confident in her words.

"Some benevolent god she is, sending us on a mission… Turning us around at the last possible second, and now we're sprinting to gods-know where North!" The red haired woman yelled, her tone growing more exasperated with each passing word.

"And all of this is just because Markus couldn't keep things under control," The red haired woman finally stopped, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Now now," The green haired woman began, her tone already turning lecturing. "Let's not be so harsh when he already got put into a much worse position." The green haired woman raised a hand to her face, stifling a soft giggle.

"Ugh, let's just get on with it… I'd like to be out of this desert before winter ends." The red haired woman groaned, lurching forwards. before she began moving.

She very nearly caved to her urges and attacked the green haired woman as she floated effortlessly off the ground and followed.

—

Tulip walked calmly down the hall after her short conversation with Kirin. Lucia and Silva both stood at the far end, quietly talking amongst each other.

Honestly, she was a little surprised to see how much Lucia had changed—When she first met the girl nearly a year ago now, the same day she met Kirin, Lucia had given off the feeling of pompous self-importance.

But now? Well, Tulip saw Lucia a lot more in the same light as Kirin—A girl who wasn't from the same world Tulip had to grow up in, one who found casual conversations natural and not a political game of cat and mouse.

Then there was Silva, Tulip really couldn't place her. The family name of Helme was, well, nothing. It wasn't anything of note, and yet Nenema of all people found her.

Nenema was practically a ghost, a literal horror-story that was repeated to keep children in line. After all, who wasn't scared of the woman who silenced those the royals and enpyreans didn't like?

Yet Silva gave none of that impression off, she was, by all account a timid girl.

Tulip's thoughts were however cut off soon enough, as when she approached Lucia was quick to speak.

"Kirin gonna be up soon?" She asked, her voice still tinged with hints of concern from the previous night.

"Yeah—She said she'd just need a minute." Tulip answered smoothly, only sparing a momentary glance back towards Kirin's room.

"You girls plotting something over here?" Carmine's teasing voice came from just down the hall, reaching tjem a moment before she was visible around the bend.

"Just waiting on Kirin before we hit the markets, Miss Carmine." Tulip moved to answer quickly, Silva and Lucia both looked anxious over Carmine's presence.

"Ah," Carmine nodded, looking at each of the girls before settling on Tulip. "Can we have a quick word, Miss Tulip?" Carmine's tone was stiff—Hiding something underneath it that Tulip couldn't quite parse.

"Of course," Tulip said with a forced smile. "Lucia, Silva, I'll be back, alright?" The others nodded as Tulip and Carmine walked away.

It was almost amusing in her head, how Lucia and Silva were more nervous around Miss Carmine, than they were around her.

But, it also made sense, Carmine did have that sort of reputation.

"So, what do you need?" Tulip asked as soon as they were out of immediate earshot from the others.

"Straight to the point, huh?" Carmine said with a soft smile. "Always did like that about you compare to your father…" Carmine added, trailing off slowly.

"Get to it, please?" Tulip said with an exasperated sigh.

"Fine, fine," Carmine answered with a sigh of her own. "Did you notice anything off with Kirin lastnight?—Other than her breakdown." She asked, her tone losing all but the serious intent her posture gave off.

"N-No… I was, more than a little distracted myself." Tulip answered honestly, grimmacing as a pang of regret slammed into her chest.

"Well, pay attention to her mana and her aura today if you could," Carmine said, a slight bit of worry showing on her face.

"What for?" Tulip asked quickly, her voice falling lower.

"I'm not certain, but… It could be related to your fathers magic, and her memories," Carmine said. "Or it could be something more simple, but, just keep an eye on her." She added, her gaze showed everything Tulip needed to see. That was of course, the genuine concern and underlying care in her gaze.

"I'm gonna have to tell her about father's magic, won't I?" Tulip said with a dreadfilled tone.

"Most likely," Carmine said, her voice almost pitying.

"Is that all then?" Tulip sighed, Carmine just nodded. With a quick nod of her own Tulip turned around and walked back to the group.

Kirin was with them now, calmly talking with her expression still reflecting the exhaustion she must have felt. But, she also felt a pang of happiness when she saw Kirin's hair—Still made into much the same simple style Tulip had given her.

But, as she made her final approach, her focus wasn't on the group. Instead, she focused her senses onto the world of mana, focusing that yet further onto Kirin.

What she saw was… Nothing abnormal at all, Kirin's aura looked off-blue and fluctuated the same as anyone else's. Albeit, she did shine a bit brighter than Silva or Lucia.

"Well, are we ready now?" Tulip asked as she stopped, closing her eyes to the world of mana to meet their gazes. Thus, with a quick series of nods they were all off.

—

The sun shimmered in the sky, sending its dazzling early-fall lights across the market in cascading reflections.

People already filled the streets—Far more of them than I would have expected for this early in the day. The markets were packed, some stalls had people shoulder-to-shoulder in line, while stores had lines trailing out of them with people looking to enter.

Shopping had so far been… Well, uneventful was saying the most I could about it. Nothing had really piqued my interest, especially not to the same degree the others were.

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They saw something shiny or pretty and they could talk for minutes about it, while whenever they asked my opinion I could only give a half-hearted shrug.

That had been the pattern for the several shops we had already gone through, two dress shops and a shoe store. They had all been bordering on mind numbing, but I didn't want to say anything—Not with the smiles on the others faces.

Really, all I could think about was that the itch the others had for shopping clearly never reached me.

"What about this one?" I was pulled from my wandering thoughts by Lucia's soft voice. We were all gathered in front of a jeweler who had an open-stall market. The only markings on the entire stall had been a simple sign labeled "Riley's Trinkets."

In her hand was a modest silver necklace, bearing a few chains but otherwise looking more like a plain silver string.

"Little bland—I'd go for something with a bit more color for you." Tulip said helpfully as she leaned over to inspect it.

"Mmm, definitely plain," Silva added, squinting at the necklace as she did so. "But, those little chains are nice." She said with a moment more of inspection.

The three then turned their gazes towards me. All I could do was look on with mild disinterest—Thankfully I was saved from their gazes turning to words when the shopkeep spoke.

"Ahh—You all do have some quite fine eyes." The man behind the stall said with a smirk.

I honestly did not like this man, he just had the look of the sleazy merchants I had grown familiar with in the mines. The types who ended up there for scamming or stealing.

It really didn't help that he looked the part too—He had a tall, wiry frame that bordered between lithe and malnourished. His hair was almost well kept, if not for the greasy sheen it had, but his eyes spoke of someone who bordered between honesty and thievery depending on the day.

"Now, I must say—Everything here is also an enchanted product my dears," He said, his smile never fading. "That necklace has a lower grade protection enchantment, capable of stopping, perhaps a bolt or three." He quickly explained when Lucia's interest was visibly piqued.

"How much is it?" Lucia asked, clearly not getting her hopes up.

"Mmm, one gold and fifteen silvers." The merchant said after a moment's thought.

Lucia visibly winced at the price—Very nearly dropping the necklace when she heard it.

"T-That much?" She sputtered out. "That's way too much for me…" She added with a sigh, very carefully sitting the necklace back down as she did so.

"I'm afraid that's just the price of enchantments my dear." He said, his smile still never fading.

I even had to appreciate the cost of that item—It was a thousand copper coins for a single silver, and a hundred silvers to match a gold coin. When most families could make it by with only a handful of silvers a year? Spending that much for a necklace seemed obscene.

However, with the knowledge of the pieces being enchanted all of us took more interest. It wasn't hard to confirm his claims either—A slight glance into the world of mana showed that each little piece had an aura to it, however faint it was.

There really wasn't a massive selection of items in the stall either. While there was certainly a number, the mere twenty or so things clearly weren't items that he could sell easily. Not the least of which was thanks to the fact that most of it looked like plain jewelry.

"What about these?" Tulip asked as she gently lifted a pair of crescent-moon shaped earrings. They were tiny, silvery things, but they did look rather nice.

"Ah, those are rather intriguing things. Why not put one on and tap it?" The merchant offered with a careful wave.

Tulip raised an eyebrow, but slowly complied—If I had to guess, it was out of curiosity. She raised one earring up, clipping it on before she raised a finger and tapped the metal gently.

Nothing visibly happened, yet Tulip's eyes widened in surprise and snapped around. After a moment she opened her mouth and… Said nothing. Her jaw and lips moved, but no words came until she tapped on the earring again.

"That's… Certainly useful—Can the range be controlled?" Tulip asked as she took the earring off with care.

"Indeed it can be. I'm not certain on exact numbers, but it should go to somewhere around six or seven feet. The second earring controls that," He said with a satisfied smile. "Three gold pieces for that one though."

"Deal," Tulip said almost immediately. Everyone gave pause at that, especially when Tulip reached under her clothes just to pull out a bag of coins that couldn't have possibly been in there.

"Just like that?" The Merchant asked, blinking in surprise.

"Silencing spells are rare and valuable." Tulip answered with a shrug. In that same motion she offered the three coins, reaching back and hiding her bag just as quickly as she'd gotten it.

"Very well," He said with a satisfied smile. "Will you be taking anything else?" He asked, his gaze shifting across each of us quickly.

"Too expensive for me," Lucia said, sounding almost saddened by the fact.

"Same for me…" Silva sighed—She had been investigating a dark red bracelet, nearly the same color as her hair.

When his eyes landed on me I just raised my arms innocently.

"I'm the poorest one here—I don't even have money to my name." I said quickly. Plus, nothing had actually caught my interest here. The items looked interesting, but I had no idea what any of them did and didn't exactly have the eye for it.

"Hmm," The merchant nodded, raising a hand to his chin where he tapped his lip gently in thought. "How about this, I do have one little trinket I've never been able to sell. And you, my dear, look like someone who might just like it." As he said that he leant under the counter. He spent a few moments rifling around before he came back up, holding an old and dusty box.

"What part of I don't have money did you not hear?…" I asked a little awkwardly now.

"Yes, yes I heard that. But, who said anything about paying? Trinkets only have value when someone wishes to purchase them," As he spoke he flicked open a pair of latches, opening the box slowly. "And, you seem like the type who might like it." Inside of the box was a small, silver pendant. It barely looked like anything special—It didn't even have a picture or painting within the pendant itself.

I raised a skeptical eyebrow, not really intending to get closer until I felt a soft shove that made me move forwards. With a sigh, I approached the counter, glancing at the pendant.

"And this is?…" I asked cautiously, eyeing the pendant with some suspicion.

"A pendant which reflects an image of the person closest to your heart," The Merchant said with a smile. "Just take it and focus a little mana into it." He added with a soft gesture.

I blinked at the pendant—I was at this point thoroughly suspicious of this man, mostly due to the fact that he just randomly decided to do this. We really hadn't been at his stall for all that long, I hadn't even said anything to him the entire time.

But, curiosity drove me forwards. My hand extended, gently wrapping around the loose chain to pick up the blank pendant. I did as he had instructed, closing my eyes before rather effortlessly pushing a tiny bit of mana into it. Yet, when I tentatively opened my eyes… It was still blank.

Clearly he must have seen the surprise on my face, he offered a knowing smile and a soft nod.

"Hmm, no image?" He asked, sounding unsurprised.

"Why'd you pull it out if it doesn't work?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I looked up.

"It does work, it just chooses not to," He answered with a soft grin. "All the same, it's yours now—I'm sure you'll get more use out of it than I have." He quickly began waving me off.

I just blinked in confusion as I walked back to the others. They rather similarly looked confused, so, with silent agreements we all began moving away.

"Guess I have a blank pendant now…" I muttered as I slid it into a pocket before transferring it into my ring.

"Maybe it just takes some time?" Lucia offered as she slowed down to walk beside me.

"I just wanna know why he gave it to me—That guy was just weird." I said in exasperation. The others all gave their own soft mutterings of agreements.

"He was weird, but he had good things for sale," Tulip later said with a shrug. "But I definitely agree… He felt off." She sighed, pausing in her steps to look back at us.

"Well, where are we off to next?" She asked, pushing the oddities to the side for the time being.

"Pretty sure it's long past Kirin's turn to pick something—" Lucia offered with a soft smile. Silva just nodded in agreement, leaving all three of their gazes to land on me.

"Uhhh—" I started in a panic, my gaze quickly looking around to find something of interest.

With the market street as packed as it was, it was hard to look for any one thing—Everything was flooded with people, well, everything other than the stall we just came from and one other that wasn't too far away.

"Why not that one? It's the only other one that isn't packed." I offered, pointing towards the stall.

It was another simple looking thing, an open market stall that had a basic sword and shield shaped sign hanging above it.

"A weapon store?" Lucia asked with a raised brow.

"It's the only one that doesn't have a massive line." I answered with a shrug.

"I wouldn't mind looking some," Silva said, sounding a little intrigued. "Plus, Kirin has looked pretty miserable in the shops we've been in." She added with a knowing look.

I just felt my face grow hot at that statement, my gaze turning away while Tulip and Lucia snickered a little.

"Alright, let's go look and then head back, yeah?" Tulip offered, to which she received several nods of agreement.

With that we all approached the stall—Which quickly brought the rather stout man behind the counter to attention, his eyes barely visible behind bushy eyebrows narrowing as we did.

"Aye, Girlies, what're ye all doin' 'ere?" It took only a moment after he spoke for me to realize why he looked strange—He was a Dwarven man, probably standing around five feet tall, and nearly just as wide with his broad shoulders.

"We're just looking," Tulip said with a nonchalant shrug. "You're about the only stall that isn't bloated." She added, crossing her arms under her chest as she came to a stop.

"Aye, I can see that, but yer' all a buncha' softies, too bloody young to have weapons." He snorted out, leaning forwards onto his fist with his elbow as a prop.

"Well sorry that Humans and Dwarves are rather different cultures," Tulip said with a scoff. "Now are you gonna chase away your only customers, or let us look?" She asked with a soft smile.

"Just don't cut yer'selves, I ain't boutta' pay that much for ye' to get healed." The Dwarven man scoffed. But he soon stopped paying attention to us, shifting back in his seat before pulling out some sort of book he was reading.

"Well he's rude…" I muttered as I walked up to Tulip, my gaze slowly casting over the weapons.

"He's a Dwarf." She answered courtly, almost as if that statement explained everything.

"I heard that ye' lanky bitches!" The Dwarven man shouted. Tulip just gave a helpless shrug, gesturing to the few weapons that were strewn out haphazardly on the tables.

Almost everything laying on the tables was either a knife or a shortsword—All of them were meticulously polished and sharpened—Yet they were all… basic. Nothing really stood out to any extent that was interesting.

But, I wasn't exactly going to be picky either. I calmly walked forwards, taking after Silva's example—As she already had two knives in hand—And picked up a small shortsword.

"It's so light—" I said in near amazement. The entire sword couldn't have weighed more than a pound or two, yet its blade was near two feet long.

"Aye, Dwarven alloys girl. Best one too," The man said with a proud expression. "Ivan's personal works. The best smith under the mountains." He looked up, his eyes narrowing on me slowly.

"Aye, Lass, yer the girlie who made such a flashy entrance?" He asked with a raised brow.

"Yeah—Although I passed out pretty quickly after." I sighed, placing the blade back down on the table carefully.

"Indeed I did see that, lass," He said with a chuckle. "Quite a good show, seeing that religious brat get his arse handed to 'em." He laughed a bit further.

"You have something against the Armesters?" Lucia asked, sounding a little surprised.

"I have a problem with all ye' fucken' pompous' arseholes," He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "But I hate religious arseholes a whole lot more." He said with a chuckle.

"Oi! Girlie!" He said after a moment's pause. "Ye got a weapon of choice? I'll give ye' a better one, if ye' promise to beat that arsehole." The grin the Dwarven man wore was, honestly, rather strange. It sat between satisfied and hopeful, bordering the two in an odd way.

"Uhm—I use a Halberd, but I don't have it on me right now," I said with a confused blink.

"Bullshit, I can see ye' and that Princess have storage rings," He scoffed. "Now unless yer' a damnable idiot who doesn't have a weapon on 'er, bring it 'ere and lemme look." He said with an emphatic gesture that left both me and Tulip rather surprised.

"How did you—" I started, just to be cut off.

"Because you try and hide the damn ring. And I know the other girlies a princess because I know of exactly two white-haired lasses in this kingdom. Both of 'em just happen to standin' right 'ere." With that he continued to gesture, waiting for me to comply.

With a slightly apprehensive sigh I walked forwards, the halberd Carmine had given me for training appearing in my hands. The Dwarven man didn't waste any time, his hand flashed across the counter and took it to begin his inspection.

"Decent make… Aged poorly, edge is nearly rusted out," He muttered to himself as he went. "Where'd ye' get this?" He asked, looking back up at me.

"Miss Carmine gave it to me—I don't know where she got it." He laughed at my answer, a single obscenely loud bark that nearly made me jump.

"Aye, that would explain it," He said, offering the Halberd back over. "Well, I can't hardly improve on my own master's work. Ye got a good weapon, if an oldy." With that he slumped back down into his seat.

"Alright, now go on, shoo—I ain't got the time for ye four today." He harumphed, tapping his fingers rhythmically on his table.

"What do you mean?—There's nobody even here!" I exclaimed in confusion.

"I mean there ain't shit for ye to buy. I can't get ye a better weapon than that, and those other girlies don't look hardly in the mood to buy anythin' here." He scoffed in what was becoming a rather consistent manner.

"I—" I started, just to get cut off again as my Halberd disappeared into my ring.

"Let's go, Kirin," Tulip sighed out. "We should get ready to head back to the school anyways." She added with a gesture to the others. Silva for her part put the two blades she had down, while Lucia was still standing back at the edge of the stall.

"Alright…" I mumbled out, grumbling as I walked over to them. "Why are merchants so psychotic?" I asked in a low tone.

"I can still hear ya! Ye focken ungrateful twat!" The Dwarven man shouted as we walked away. For a moment we all flinched, then soon enough it faded into laughter as we all made our way back to the estate.