The World of Strife

After receiving the ring, we went to Balgrun's office and informed him that the supposed crisis had been peacefully resolved.

He seemed genuinely relieved when he heard that statement, even going so far as to personally thank me for my considerate actions, calling me a level-headed and mature young woman.

It seems such stupid misunderstandings could seriously result in actual conflicts in this world. Best to keep that in mind… Before I accidentally end up causing irreparable damage with my twenty-first-century worldview.

I would have never expected that keeping up with the changing trends would end up biting me in the ass in such an unexpected way.

After that quite uncomfortable event, we were let loose, and since the majority of the afternoon was still ahead of us, I went to practice my magic on the shooting field.

I was wholeheartedly intending to learn that fire magic my heart so desired. A warm bath was something I was dying for, especially in these creepy, cold corridors.

I had just the right spell for it, too. It was called Pyroblast. The basic preparations and workings of the spell were the following.

I need to procure a simple rock about the size of my fist. Hah… first time I am happy to be in a cave… That is as good as done. What is next? Nothing? I wouldn't even call that preparation… Jeez…

After the so-called preparations were done, the caster needs to cast the spell on said rock while levitating it with chantless telekinesis magic with his/her other hand… Ugh… Is this a combined spell? I never really did anything of the sort before…

Damn, this isn't as simple as I hoped for… maybe I should try it inside the outpost…

The memory of the goblins from yesterday came to my mind at the thought of leaving the outpost, and I shivered slightly.

Nope… no way that I am going out there without a small army of dwarves this time.

My original intentions were to use Pyroblast to heat a few rocks and drop them into my larger washbasin to begin with. Hey, if it's good enough for my laundry, it's good enough for me.

I don't intend to cast the spell properly. I only want to heat the rock or rocks and throw them into the water via telekinesis, hoping that it would make it warm enough.

The original spell melted the rock into a ball of pressurized lava and shot it at the enemy, creating a small volcanic explosion at the location of the blast.

I don't plan to blow up my room or my bathtub, though…

Luckily, most people were resting in the barracks after dinner. So there aren't going to be more than a few dwarves in the training chamber. Perfect for practicing new spells. I have been scolded a few times for the flying shrapnel after the lightning blasts. So I was told to practice my magic at times when the fewest people were present.

Thinking along the lines of such thoughts, I arrived at the entrance of the practice hall. Without lingering for a second, I walked inside. I was already used to the place since I frequented it quite often.

As I walked in, my eyes fell on a frustratingly familiar form.

His eyes also turned towards me, noticing my arrival. I could see the automatically forming half-sneer on his face. Yes, that was him... all right, Regmir Shatterrock. The biggest jerk of the outpost in person.

I looked around in the large chamber, hoping to find some less annoying company, only to realize that we were alone in the empty hall.

Great…

I had never seen this place so abandoned before; it was no doubt because of tomorrow's expedition. The people were probably trying to rest as much as possible before such a large-scale operation.

I heard heavy steps nearing me, and I had to chase away my thoughts to focus on the present.

"I see. The witch is back among the living once again. I have already told the commander that he shouldn't rely on you so much. Magic or not, you are just a weak little girl who is only going to be a hindrance to our expedition."

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I leveled my furious gaze at the annoying bastard. — "I wonder what basis your objective and astute observations have?"

The dwarf snorted. — "You cannot embarrass me with your finicky words, witch. It only proves my point further."

"Ah, sorry… I didn't notice that you had a point to begin with… Please enlighten me, oh wise horse face." — I added the nickname with a cat-like smirk. Knowing fully well how much he hated that nickname I procured for him.

"Getting personal so quickly? Is it already that time of the year?" — The man asked with a slightly obscene expression.

I blinked at that. What the hell is he talking about, that time of the year? Is this someone's birthday or what?

The man stopped for a second, seeing my confused expression, and asked in a lower tone of voice. — "Wait… don't tell me? Seriously?"

I remained confused, as I hesitantly asked back, surprised by the sudden intimate atmosphere.

"…What do you mean by that? What time of the year?"

Regmir's eyebrows rose unconsciously as he thoughtlessly scratched the back of his head. — "I mean… wait, you seriously don't know about yearly bleeding? You said you are seventy-two years old, right?"

My eyes widened. Is he talking about menstruation… wait… oh hell no!

"Of course I know about that, fool! But what does that have to do with anything?" — I said it with a confident air, while in reality I completely forgot that that was even a thing. — "Anyway, isn't that called monthly bleeding?" — I added my question, just to occupy my mind with something besides cruel reality.

Regmir snorted at my snark, but still explained what he started.

"For humans and dwarves, maybe… Elves, on the other hand, have it once per year for an entire month straight... From the perspective of an elf's biology, a human year is the equivalent of a month, I hear. That is the main reason for your kind's slow reproduction. I know it because my sister told me once… and she heard it from an elf… so it must be true…" — He blushed suddenly, realizing what he was talking about and with whom. — "A-anyway, don't test my knowledge, girl, you won't be able to make fun of me with such distractions."

The man smiled victoriously. — "Anyway, what I meant by you being a hindrance to the expedition is that I saw that you were practically carried back to the outpost yesterday as well. That makes it the third time in one week. Either you are even stupider than you look, or you were dropped on your head when you were a child…" — He stopped for a second regarding me with disdain, before adding. — "Oh, I almost forgot, you are still a kid."

With that said, he walked by me, enjoying my slightly horrified expression. No doubt, completely misunderstanding the cause of it.

The real reason for my desperation was rooted in his first argument.

I am going to bleed for a month straight? There were so many stupid memes about this on Earth, and now I am supposed to…

"This is so unfair!" — I shouted to myself, stomping on the ground in frustration.

I was enraged by the thought, and since Horse Face had already left, leaving nobody else to vent on, I rushed over to the shooting field and picked up a broken-off piece from the giant rock that the dwarves gave me to use for target practice.

The piece of rock was about the size of my fist… it was perfect. I walked back to the other end of the archery range.

I raised the rock from my open palm with telekinesis, levitating it at the height of my shoulder on the right side of my body, and began to channel the spell. Focusing all my rage and sense of injustice into the casting.

"Fire of the earth, with the power to shatter mountains and blacken the skies. Come forth now, awaken your brightest glory! For I, Selora, servant of creation, demand your obedience!"

As the words flowed out of my throat, like a well-greased machine starting its engine, I felt a sense of warmth flowing through my staff right into the floating rock, which was slowly starting to radiate powerful waves of heat.

The rock was glowing brightly, its matter melted and became bubbly, only kept together by the careful manipulation of telekinesis. It felt like it was a small chunk of the Sun itself. I realized too late that the heat that radiated from the molten piece of rock was much more dangerous than I ever imagined. And it was increasingly problematic to hold it together with telekinesis.

Realizing the new problem, my anger mostly ran out, replaced by a sense of panic.

"Now… what the heck am I supposed to do with this?"

Looking around stupidly, but having no better idea, I decided to shoot it at the rock on the other side of the shooting range, like I originally intended.

The molten rock flew through the air, creating a whistling sound as it crashed against the rock surface.

The second it came into contact with the cold rock, huge flame tongues burst out of it, surrounding the rock in a blaze of fire, sending a wave of hot steam across the room.

The moment I laid eyes on the incoming steam cloud, I froze completely. Then I felt an arm grab me by my hips and forcefully swing me behind a nearby wall that partially separated the shooting range from the rest of the practice field. My face was pressed into the ground with a larger form lying over me.

It was lucky… because the hot steam was followed by a curtain of partially molten rock shrapnel showering the entire room. The ground shook with the vibrations released by the ridiculous explosion. The overall temperature was raised by at least ten degrees, if not more, in a few seconds.

I only now noticed that the person lying beside me, covering me with half of his body, was none other than Regmir. I wasn't even surprised anymore… Nothing seemed to make sense today.

I pulled myself up shakily, ignoring Regmir's attempts to push me back down. The storm has already passed. I felt it based on the fluctuations of mana inside the room.

Across the hall, at the place where the rock once stood, there was only a crater filled with partially molten rock.

"That's an overkill for heating bathwater…"

I spoke dully, staring at the sheer scale of destruction.