107. Chapter
It took some trial and error, but I eventually figured out a way to use my teleportation and managed to bring along the water elemental for the ride. Simply touching it didn't work, but when I surrounded it with my telekinesis before activating my teleportation spell, I managed to bring it along.
I also took my time and checked out the sights of battles through my clairvoyance. Grudgingly admitting that, indeed, some of those battles have already been settled. The enemies were driven back, or the defenders had retreated deeper into the city. That said, some of those conflicts were still ongoing, while others have started in new locations.
In short, there was no lack of places to go.
My right ear twitched as I grew aware of the sound of approaching footsteps. Based on the number of incoming presences and the weight behind their steps, I was already preparing for the following argument, which was not going to be easy.
"Selora!" Alita's familiar voice sounded as she stomped into the mushroom circle. I hesitantly glanced her way, a polite smile straining my face.
The dwarven lass took in my presence, stopping for a moment, and then she advanced towards me with heavy momentum.
"I... Hello?" I squeaked. Finding myself embraced in the brunette's plate-covered arms. She has managed to find some good armor in the Dimhollow armories. Recalling the recent memory.
Her arms dangerously tightened around my thin body, making me protest in a breathless voice. "Y-you are crushing me!"
Her arms loosened with startling suddenness as she pulled herself together. Letting me breathe if only for a second. "You!" she began. "Have you lost your mind? Do you want to get yourself killed going out there without telling us your intentions? What if Camilla wasn't there to scold you, or you needed help and we didn't even know where you were?"
I sighed. "I admit it wasn't my brightest of plans, but I thought you wouldn't let us go there otherwise." An armored hand reached under my cowl, pushing it back off my head, then...
My eyes widened in surprise, and a sudden yelp parted my lips. "Ay! W-what are you—ow, h-hey?!" An uncomfortable warmth, along with a sharp sense of pain, coursed through my left ear as Alita grabbed it and tugged it closer to her face, my head following instinctively.
She pulled my ear close to her mouth and shouted into it like it was a fucking microphone. "Damn right, there is absolutely no way I am going to let you go on your own!" My body first stiffened from the loud sound, and then I began to squirm, trying to get out of her hold. My head was ringing like a bell tower at noon, and I winced from the echo of her voice still bouncing around my skull. She took a deep breath, preparing to continue her scolding. My heart skipped a beat, and I cut her off, raising my hands placatingly.
"I know, I know! You... you want to come along... but, ow! I-I can't take all of you with my current spell. At best, I can take two at a time." Elin and Hilde stepped into the clearing, followed by an awkwardly smiling Camilla, momentarily distracting us with their appearance.
Hilde snorted, seeing my plight, deciding to add fuel to the fire as usual. "Did you hear that, Elin? She said she could take us two at a time, at most. Our little elf has quite the confidence in her abilities."
Elin smirked, clearly getting the innuendo. She popped her hip to the side with a doubtful look. "Is that so? I doubt she would last more than half an hour, though."
Camilla looked at me sheepishly. "Yeah... well, I failed." She admitted nonchalantly. Seeing her barely withheld laughter was enough for me to realize how much it really bothered her. Traitor, I hissed internally.
I took a calming breath and looked at their determined expression. I knew that they wouldn't let me go without them tagging along. I didn't want to endanger them more than was necessary, even if it was selfish. My eyes turned towards Alita. Those emotions must have been written all across my face since the brunette took a long glance at me, then grudgingly let go of my earlobe, muttering incomprehensible curses.
I couldn't even straighten properly when Alita once again rounded on me, grasping my face with one of her hands. I looked up at her, my cheeks squeezed between her fingers. She looked me in the eye and told me threateningly. There was no humor in her voice this time.
"Now open your ears and listen, because I am not going to repeat myself, girl. No more self-sacrificing idiocy while you belong to my circle. Understand? Nod if you do."
I nodded dumbly.
"Good." She let go of me, this time for real. Her eyes narrowed at me as I silently massaged my face and ear, standing there awkwardly, feeling quite stomped out.
Elin looked at my expression and snorted. "As I see it, you either take multiple trips or stay where you are, Selora. We are not going to let our newest member take all the glory."
I sighed. Acknowledging their positions, not that I had a choice.
"Okay... no need to be rough, geez." I glanced at Alita, who didn't seem guilty at all.
She simply raised an inquisitive eyebrow, looking at me doubtfully.
I silently looked aside, guilty as charged.
A few moments passed as the resulting silence stretched over our heads.
"So where are we going?" Hilde's question cut through the silence, and everybody turned to me.
I frustratedly twirled a lock of my hair, thinking over the potential targets and finding the most reasonable one for our first goal.
I looked at Alita. "The adventurer guild we visited. They managed to reinforce their positions, but the adventurers face three groups of the enemy vanguard. They need help, possibly a way to retreat."
Camilla perked up at that. "The adventurer guild has a lot of resources. They should have mana gems and healing potions, among other useful things."
Elin nodded, her eyes sharpening. "If we can save those resources, that could give us an edge over the invading forces."
"Sounds like a plan," Hilde added.
Alita nods along. "It's decided then. We are ready if you are."
"Alright, take my hand. " I told Alita, the woman grasping my outstretched hand without hesitation. "I will take Alita and the golem first," I explained. Calling over the hovering water ball.
The three girls who hadn't yet met my newest creation were startled by the sudden movement above our heads.
Hilde chuckled nervously, seeing the descending watermass. "Didn't know you could make different types of golems..."
"Evidently she can, my dear." Elin was the least affected by the sight of the golem's appearance.
The golem descended until it stopped beside me. I closed my eyes and slowly engulfed the water golem in a telekinetic force, then simultaneously envisioned a clear picture of the adventuring guild's terrace, also ascertaining through clairvoyance that nobody stood on the terrace presently; even the chairs and tables were cleared to be used in barricades around the guild.
Then, as I was certain everything would go perfectly, I twisted the tight coil of mana inside me, sending us through space in a fraction of a second.
One moment, we stood in the mushroom circle. Next, we were standing on the empty balcony of the adventuring guild.
I looked left, then right, relieved that both Alita and the golem arrived just fine.
Alita let go of my hand, stepping to the side, hands on her weapon holster, ready to pull out her sword immediately at the first sign of danger.
"Stay behind me," she stated, and I watched, clutching my staff as she cautiously walked into the guild.
The moment she stepped inside, we grew aware of the chaotic state of the first floor. The place that otherwise served as a restaurant and hotel area was currently filled with haphazardly thrown-around mattresses and blankets covered with injured civilians and adventurers alike.
Seeing that the situation wasn't threatening, Alita quickly let go of her weapon, looking around, taking in the curious glances of the nearby people that found momentary refuge between the guild's walls.
The adventuring guilds were the most multicultural areas of most cities in Rixa, and looking at the various races huddled together compared to the mostly dwarven-dominated city was quite a unique sight.
Seeing the haunted looks of terrified children clutching their mother's side or the heavily injured men and women lying out on blankets across the floor with the lingering scent of blood in the air was quite a solemn experience. Well, it should have been... Unfortunately, my mind felt invigorated from the scent, a deep excitement pulsing through my veins in anticipation.
I stepped back, revulsed by my own reaction.
Alita looked after me questioningly as I fled towards the balcony. "I should get the others..." I said to her while escaping to the balcony. Sheesh, this was bad... I cursed internally. I need to get a hold of myself and do it quickly.
I leaned against the railing. Remember, Lora, you are not a fucking vampire, just a blood mage... It's not the same! So stop acting weird before someone decides to stick you on a pole!
A shiver went through me, my mind struggling against the alien reactions of my body. Looking over the familiar square in front of the guild and the connected streets somehow managed to ground me and let me focus on the real problem.
The streets were in ruins, stands were flipped over, and their contents were scattered. A few of the nearby houses have also collapsed, some completely, while others only partially. Dead people lay on the streets, some trapped under rubble, while others were pulled to the side of the road, haphazardly covered in dirty sheets or not even that. There was not enough time to focus on the dead when the living were still at risk.
Standing on the balcony allowed me to look over the guild's surroundings, successfully orienting myself. With my clairvoyance, I already had a clear understanding of the situation, but one couldn't be too sure when lives were at stake.
I took a deep breath, then forced my mind to focus.
"Time to go for the others, I suppose." My eyes grew dull as my clairvoyance did its work, checking the clearing back at the estate. It wouldn't do to teleport into someone by accident.
Following two consecutive trips and some explanations, all five of us girls were standing on the ground level of the guild. Our presence there gathered some attention. The adventurers were no fools after all, and their mages sensed the repeating disturbances in the mana.
I barely finished my third trip, bringing over Camilla when several of their veterans apprehended us, and we were escorted to the ground level, where most of the planning and gathering for able-bodied personage were actively happening.
There was not much communication between the adventurers who gathered us together and herded us away from the injured. Thankfully, they didn't take our weapons, as we didn't resist, and some of us were familiar faces around the guild.
Alita led our little group, and when we reached the bottom of the stairs, she immediately beelined towards an unusually tall dwarf wearing heavy armor. The man was standing in the middle of the room, next to a large table with the capital's map laid out over it. A variety of colored pins are filling the map's surface, indicating the locations of enemy forces and their approximate numbers, along with the defensive forces of their respective adventurer districts. The map was hastily drawn over in several locations. Showcasing freshly added barricades or collapsed buildings.
The ground level was a lot less populated compared to my memories, but even there, several injured people could be seen lying along the walls. Ignoring the handful of guards, well, disregarding the veterans still escorting our little group, there were three people, including the tall dwarf, whom Alita headed towards.
As we got closer, I took in the three intimidating presences.
Starting with their likely leader, the middle-aged dwarf man was indeed tall. Towering over Elin's half-human height with at least half a head, making me suspect that the man in question was also half-human. That was a lot of halves in a single sentence. I peeked up at the short-haired but long-bearded man, half of his face covered in strange facial tattoos, mostly consisting of thick and thin lines, making him look threatening by default. Seeing that I couldn't make any sense of the tattoo on his face, I suspected it to be some clan insignia or something.
The man had a darker skin color. His sun-touched face was a telltale sign of his recent escapades to the surface. His black beard and hair, along with his uniquely crafted plate armor, practically covered his entire body, making him stand out.
"Thor!" Alita shouted over to the man, gaining his attention like it was part of their usual antics.
I caught the flicker of surprise on the man's features before his expression morphed into a confused but welcoming smile.
Seeing our entourage, the other two who stood around the table also looked in our direction.
My eyes turned towards them, taking in their appearance as well. One of them was a human male with an agile frame wearing your typical adventuring gear, if a bit higher quality than what you tended to see on the streets. I could see a pair of dark elven knives tied to his thighs, which usually meant he looted them from dead elves likely killed by his very hands.
His eyes were brown, just like his hair, with no facial hair at all. What bothered me more, though, was his cold and calculating demeanor.
Our eyes met, and I quickly decided to look at the third individual.
She was the only female member of the trio, and I didn't need much time to understand her role in the equation. Seeing the woman's heavy textile clothing and the wooden staff in her grasp with a glowing gem stuck in its tip didn't leave any room for error.
Besides, she vibrated with power, not bothering to hide her magical presence that shone brighter the closer we got.
Her bright blue eyes were solely focused on my presence, not even glancing at the others. I felt a bit uncomfortable with her staring so openly and unapologetically.
There was a cowl much like my own covering most of her head, but I could see rich golden locks of hair falling over her chest and the sharp, intelligent blue eyes that measured me with every second.
I didn't feel threatened by her presence, unlike the previous man, and when our eyes locked again, a whispering voice appeared in my head along with the scent of lilac.
"Child? No... a youngling? And an apprentice of the towers. What are you doing in a place like this, ignorant one? Your poor parents will grieve for an eternity if you are lost to the darkness." Her voice chided me softly, but her words rang true, expecting me to feel guilt, but the only thing she received was a blink of confusion and surprise.
She didn't seem to like that. Her expression tightened a bit as she sent another series of words into my mind, her lips never parting in the process. Making me finally realize that she was talking to me telepathically.
"It must have been you whom I felt. Your presence appeared and then disappeared in quick succession." She practically huffed. "Tell me the name of your master, little one. I should know the fool who teaches a girl barely a century the art of teleportation. Nevertheless, it's praiseworthy that you actually mastered it, but a sharp mind like yours should not be allowed to wander the dark all on her lonesome." She sighed. "But of course you would use such knowledge to sneak out of the city and get yourself in a world of trouble. Did you never listen when they taught you the reasons you couldn't leave alone for three centuries?" She questioned begrudgingly.
I stared at her, my lips parting in a silent declaration of bafflement.
Being roasted telepathically by a stranger was not something I could ever get used to.
The woman looked at me, then her strict expression morphed into a smirk.
"You can close your mouth now, dear. Before the dust settles in, preferably." She shook off her amusement. "You must be younger than I thought."
"S-sorry?" I snapped my mouth shut and finally gathered myself to answer her, also telepathically. "Did we meet before?"
I asked her, already embarrassed by the stupid question.
"Telepathy as well?" The woman looked genuinely surprised. "Unbelievable. You must be extremely talented—all the more reason not to linger in a besieged city, dear. To answer your question, I am not certain. You little ones change so quickly, I wouldn't know if I met you before."
Around me, another, more conventional conversation happened. I managed to catch with half the mind Alita's explanation of our situation, the decision we made to help out the adventuring guild, and all that.
It seemed that my telepathic conversation partner also heard the news. All the things Alita explained about my golem creation and the golem that was currently hovering over the balcony, along with excitedly mentioning some of my other magical abilities. I felt a flicker of panic and hastily sent a mental warning to Alita. The girl didn't react so well to my panicked voice echoing in her head.
"Don't tell them all my spells, dummy!" I hissed at her mentally.
She jumped in her surprise. Which startled the rest of the crowd. Alita blinked several times and then turned to me questioningly. "Was that you? Selora?" Just as she realized what she did, to my surprise, she blushed and whispered over to me. "Oh... uh, sorry about that... didn't mean to brag."
I facepalmed.
In the meantime, the mysterious woman I conversed with decided to pull off her cowl, letting us take in her elongated ears and unique golden-hued skin color paired with the naturally sculpted beauty she possessed.
Unfortunately, she didn't seem particularly pleased with me. If her narrowing eyebrows were any indication. She looked at me again, recalculating my presence with all the things she heard from Alita.
"Forgive me, Guildmaster." She began this time properly. "This girl here," she pointed at me. "Named Selora, I believe her to be a student who should belong to the mage towers in high elven domains." She clicked her tongue frustratedly before continuing. "I do not entirely understand the circumstances in which she ended up here. However, I suspect her ability to teleport, coupled with an unhealthy dose of curiosity and sense of adventure, must have led to her present displacement."
A heavy pause filled the air before the now-revealed high elven mage lady added, bowing at a forty-five-degree angle towards the guildmaster.
"As a representative of my race, I desire to live with my right to take her under my wing until the time her unfortunate displacement can be resolved. I fear that her parents must already grieve her absence dreadfully." The woman pleaded her case, straightening up slowly.
The guildmaster in question chuckled, hearing those words. "If you want to babysit her, be my guest, Niana, but what does the girl in question have to say about it?"
"That is inconsequential. She is evidently too young and naive to know what's good for her. Otherwise, she wouldn't have ended up in a situation like this," the woman said, a stony, overprotective expression settling in her features. Her gaze moved over to my own before softening considerably. "She is a talented girl. I can sense the extent of her raw power; her presence is strong but unpolished. She should not be here."
Alita stomped her feet and stepped in front of me, meeting the eyes of Niana. "You have no right to take Selora anywhere. She is not even a high elf, so you definitely can't herd her around, no matter how old she is. " I blinked, suddenly being pushed behind an enraged Alita. "Besides, she is a recognized member of House Dimhollow. A longstanding dwarven house of war, she has every right to be on a battlefield when her home is being threatened." Her eyes narrowed as she added. "Even more than you have."
The elven lady was clearly taken aback by such claims. Her eyes dismissed half of them on the spot as she argued. "I find those claims highly unlikely." Her eyes looked at me, seemingly ascertaining her own calculations. "The girl is clearly not a forest elf. She doesn't share in their features and doesn't even try to say that she is one of those wretches." Niana said dismissively. "True, she might be a bit short, but she is also young, so it isn't that surprising."
Alita smirked victoriously as she spoke. "All true, but still wrong. Selora here is a white elf, perhaps the last of her kind."
My stomach made a somersault as I elbowed Alita in the side. The action only resulted in a painful wince on my part and some rattling of armor on hers. Damn... I forgot that she wore armor... fucking hell. I cursed internally, gaining several curious glances from my surroundings.
Thor's eyes, along with some of the veteran adventurers', glinted in recognition. "Ah! I remember now. It caused quite an uproar in the capital when the Dimhollows adopted an elven lass, whispered to belong to an extinct race." The man looked at me admiringly. "I hear that you have participated in the battle of the three gates. Those elemental spells have culled their numbers quite effectively." The man stepped up to me and patted me on my shoulder. "Good work there, little one, or should I call you Selora the Fiend Slayer?" he winked teasingly. "I hear whispers of a snow-white girl ripping apart a spider lord with a single spell, the echo of thunder filling the roads for miles on end."
My snow-white cheeks flushed with color, ears twitching violently under my cowl. Did he really have to bring up that embarrassing title in a place like this? I groaned internally.
Camilla grabbed the back of my cowl and pulled it off my head with a mischievous smile. Baring my embarrassed expression to all to see. Along with my shamefully twitching ears, their tips are already becoming bright red.
I panicked, hastily pulling back my hood, hiding under its comforting shade, but my carefully cultivated sense of mystery was already broken and done so irreparably.
The people still under the effect of my dreadfully cute reaction, at least in their eyes, exchanged knowing glances among themself with the occasional bark of laughter.
"Indeed, sir!" shouted one of the veterans. "She is quite a feisty one. I have been fortunate to glimpse her spellwork when facing the undead in the trenches. She froze them to the ground, letting us kill them with ease."
Another man shouted over, this time a guard standing at the entrance of the guild. "She healed my little brother's injury in a deep road campaign. The boy can't stop singing praises of her since then. I couldn't even thank her for saving the poor sod's life. So thank you, sweet young lady. It means the world to us."
Alita, seeing my embarrassment, couldn't help but add her own two cents. "We faced a group of half-dark elves in the trenches along with a bunch of goblins. Our troops fought to the last, and we barely won, all thanks to her magic."
Camilla leaned in from the side, boasting energetically. "We even managed to escape a dark elven camp after getting kidnapped from our caravan; now that was what I call a close one!"
Everybody seemed to be shocked by Camilla's statement, looking at me for confirmation. Sensing their gaze on my skin, I couldn't help but nod as I added more solemnly. "They didn't realize that I was a spellcaster."
There were understanding looks and nodding among the people as I added that last part. Some are going as far as to openly say we were ridiculously lucky. I couldn't help but agree, causing Camilla to pout at me for ruining her boasting spree.
"You are no fun, Lora..." she complained.
I flusteredly flicked the right tail of my braid, Camilla's newest handiwork reminding the girl that she was still in trouble for that and tripping me over.
She seemed to understand and back off for now.
Between Hilde's and Elin's constantly giggling in the back, it was good to get some space in this conversation at last.
Not that it lasted for long. A chill passed through the crowd, making us look around in a moment of bewilderment, looking for the source of the unnatural sensation. We didn't have to search for long.
"Thorsulim Trollborn," the icy tone of Niana filled the air, her every word radiating power in a manner that made it impossible not to focus on her words.
"Do you mean to say that you were aware of the existence of a white elven battle mage in your capital without deeming it important enough to tell me about it?" The words echoed through the guild, leaving behind an otherworldly echo and a coldness that wasn't present previously.
The guildmaster's face paled. The sheepish look on his extensive frame almost created a comical undertone. If only I weren't shivering myself under the effects of the woman's magic.
The tall dwarf raised his hands in a calming gesture as he spoke up. "Niana, I thought you already knew about it... Seriously, woman, literally everyone and their mother has been talking about this for a month or so."
The high elven woman looked aside, somewhat embarrassed by the simple explanation. She crossed her arms over her chest and said in a complaining tone. "You know that I don't pay attention to rumormongers. You still should have told me about this!"
The guildmaster's eyes glinted with freshly inspired mischief as he told her matter-of-factly. "Oh, I know... but wouldn't that make me a rumor monger myself? Should I remind you what you did to poor Linda last time she approached you about such things..." Niana's golden-hued face took on a pinkish shade the moment she heard that reminder, and she shook her head vehemently. "S-she startled me! I was focusing on my research and..."
"And you set her hair on fire..." Thor stated with barely withheld glee in his voice. "She couldn't get rid of the smell for half the week. You are lucky I calmed her down; otherwise, you might have ended up as the most recent victim of an organized witch hunt."
The eerie man with the dark elven knives strapped to his thigh hummed, showing that he agreed with the guildmaster's opinion. An action that seemed to annoy the woman more than anything.
"Besides," the man snorted, gently pushing her companion towards me. "The elf in question stands in front of you; why don't you talk to her instead of getting all frustrated?"
"Fine." She grudgingly acknowledged.
Hilde raised her hand as if she were in a class before speaking up. "Yeah, but we came here to help you and all that... shouldn't we, I don't know, focus on the enemy that is about to break through one of your barricades, well, according to Selora's observations?"
That seemed to freeze everyone in their steps.
The silence was broken by the sounds of battle echoing through the walls and a strange, high-pressure whistling sound cutting through the air, followed by sounds of small-scale explosions and screams dulled by the sizzling clouds of steam.
My ears twitched. "Ah, that must have been Undin's doing," I said, sensing my golem's actions.
Every eye turned to me in the guild. For once, I preened under the attention. Dropping that line felt really cool, especially with that uncaring expression I managed to pull off.
Elin's voice cut through the tense silence. "Undine, you named your golem?"
I squirmed a bit.
"How cute," Hilde added from the side, a wide grin plastered over her face.
I closed my eyes, feeling my face once again warming with embarrassment.
I swear these girls will be the death of me. I cursed internally as the battle intensified outside. The second steam explosion, likely caused by Undine, was enough to wake everyone from their daydreaming as the guild members still inside sprang to action to join the ongoing battle outside.
I moved to follow along only to find my right shoulder grasped by an angry-looking high elf lady.
"Stay beside me, girl, if you know what's good for you." She glanced at the four girls standing around me with an assessing look and then nodded. "Your friends too." Then her eyes turned back to me. "We will talk after this is over. You are not allowed to die under my watch, understand?"
I nodded. Her tight glare made me speak up, correcting my answer. "I understand."
The woman still seemed pissed-off but less so. "I understand Lady Mage would be better, but this shall suffice for the time being."
I looked at her unamused.
"Now, let's look at what manner of evil crawled onto our doorstep this time. The woman stated while heading out the door, following the rest of the adventurers already joining the ongoing battle outside."
I stared after her, exchanged a glance with Alita and the others, and then we promptly headed towards the balcony, ignoring the weird woman. I already learned that mages like me shouldn't participate in close-quarters battles and should support the fighting from an elevated position. Since the others were there to make sure I was safe while my spells clobbered the enemy from a distance, they followed without a word.
Unfortunately, it didn't take long for a certain angry high elf to start scolding me for reckless disobedience through a telepathic link.
At least until I wincingly explained to her that, dah... I wasn't a close-quarters fighter specialist or whatever she expected me to be. That shut her up at last. Seemingly just remembering that I wasn't an actual student of whatever magic tower she envisioned me to be.
In the end, she told me to stay out of trouble and remain inside the guild.
I agreed, not that I particularly cared about what she wanted. I came here on my own volition and won't be bossed around by random elves for sure.
I already had a much grumpier elf matron to answer to. Another one just didn't fit the scale.
My mood slightly dipped at the thought of Aria. She is going to slap the shit out of me when she gets wind of my current escapades. Oh, and she will hear it. There was no question about that.
I sniffed, preparing myself for the inevitable punishment that loomed over my head.
That said, I wondered how things were going on Aria's and Emrum's side. I didn't feel much action from the direction of my other golems, but Undine at least was having fun.
I smiled. Perhaps I can refill her in one of the bathrooms if she uses up most of its water.