Chapter 309 - A teacher’s farewell
For a time, Scarlett walked through an empty expanse, each step resonating with a strange, weightless gravity. The air was thick yet hollow, pressing against her like an unseen presence. Shadows flickered at the edges of her vision — wavering mirages that gradually coalesced, shaping themselves into something familiar. A wide, open space took form—Freymeadow’s square—its periphery dissolving into an encroaching abyss. At its heart, indistinct figures of children played, their laughter thin and distant, like imitations struggling to reach her.
On the porch of a solitary house, Arlene sat with a grey, leather-bound book resting on her lap. Her appearance was now unmarked, pristine, absent of the wounds that had been there before. As Scarlett approached, Arlene lifted her gaze, her expression calm. Scarlett hesitated at the foot of the porch, studying her, then stepped onto it and settled into the chair beside the woman.
A brief silence stretched between them, filled only by the imagined rustle of wind and the ghostly laughter of the children. Scarlett’s gaze lingered on the figures in the square, their movements slipping just beyond the grasp of certainty.
“I never thought about having children when I was younger,” Arlene said after a while, her voice tinged with a quiet introspection. “It felt like such an abstract notion, something foreign to me. Back then, I was consumed — either with the thrill of mastering my next spell, fulfilling my duties, or preparing for the next battle. Always another step forward.” Her eyes were on the children as well, her words trailing with a hint of something wistful. “But as I grew older… I suppose I realised I wouldn’t have minded it. By then, of course, it was far too late.”
Scarlett glanced at her but said nothing, turning her attention back to the square.
“The same was true for having a student,” Arlene continued in a slightly lighter tone. “I never thought I had the temperament for teaching.”
“That is true,” Scarlett said. “I could undoubtedly have secured instructors elsewhere — ones less inclined to gamble so recklessly with my survival.”
The other woman chuckled, the sound dry but not without warmth. “Ah, but I daresay it served you well in the end. Tough love, as they call it, hmm? Or would you claim to regret coming to me for guidance?”
“…I did not mind it,” Scarlett admitted after a while.
Arlene chuckled again, softer this time. For a moment, she was quiet, then she reached into her robes and withdrew the [Eternal Flameweaver’s Athame]. The dagger’s hilt gleamed in the sunlight, the scales along its grip catching the light. She extended it toward Scarlett. “This is yours now.”
Scarlett accepted the weapon, its weight heavier than she remembered. As her fingers closed around the hilt, a faint shimmer surrounded her, and a notification appeared before her eyes.
[Side-Quest completed: The Emberbrand Baptism]