Burning Twice as Bright, for Half as Long

After an hour had passed.

Vaceris and Herce returned to find that Vauntuss had finished packing while Erai was busy with the final preparations for breakfast.

A relieved Vaceris approached him wondering if he was okay, but to her surprise she discovered that his bandages had been removed with his arm freed from its bounds and working at the fish he was preparing. After pausing his preparations, he turned to face her, watching as she hid her wounds from him.

Erai asked her if she had been worried about him, answering by berating him for wasting everyone's time with his nap as she reached for his shirt and searched for his wound. Leaving Shynerai in an uncontrollable fit of laughter, begging her to stop. With the air of the camp now having taken a lighter feel, the group went on to have breakfast. 

"By the way, could I see your hands, Vaceris?" Herce checked on her with a gentle touch. While Vaceris was insistent that she was okay, she would not have it, casting a soft golden glow over that mended her flesh to its previous form.

"There you go, we can't have a princess of the realm wandering around all marred and ragged."

Following with a scolding of Shynerai's reckless behavior that endangered them both, expecting that he should at least make sure that Vaceris does not get injured.

During their meal, Vauntuss and Herce informed them that once they were finished eating, they would be going on their way but before he they could continue, Shynerai asked them to wait as they would want to hear what he had to say.

He turned to Vaceris, asking her what she saw during her time in the air, while they were looking for a Mind Core when they first arrived in the Violain Wood.

She described only the most standout features such as the humming rivers, streams, and woodwind trees that sing in the breeze with the occasional cliff and rock-face though northeast of their initial location, which was now east of their camp there looked to be a mine of sorts near the outskirts of the forest, and even stranger…it looked to be active as it seemed to have power despite there being no one in sight.

Herce wondered why the presence of the mine was so strange, but Vauntuss quickly reminded her that Violain Woods was outside any Haven, so the idea of there being any industry out there is far too risky for the protective blessing could not be felt this far out.

Erai reluctantly agreed with his hypothesis before he continued with what he had to say.

"At first, when Vaceris told me what she saw, I thought that the mine was abandoned in a hurry due to an accident or something".

He goes on to say that it was only when he took a walk last night to clear his thoughts that he realized something important. 

Due to his lack of any magical abilities, Erai was driven as a child to learn as much as he could about it in the hopes of being able to figure out how he too can do magic.

This interest in learning pushed him to learn everything from how to detect magic, to how magic can affect an environment and the creatures that live in it. His research was supplemented by his regular trips to the Ma'ein Sof University and the occasional items that Shadow would bring him, and one such item…was a bit strange, to say the least.

The item looked to be a rock of sorts, though Erai determined that it was greatly infused with magical energy from how it affected grass and plants around it.

Intrigued by his new gift, he decides to ask Shadow about it, but he simply remarks that he purchased it from a vendor in Sprite Fontiss. And so it became the object of his interest as he took to researching the strange rock at the University.

When he got to the University, he struggled a great deal to find someone who had any knowledge on the rock…though he was routinely directed to the libraries to search for the information.

A couple of days went by before he could find what he was looking for though when he did, he soon learned why the knowledge was so scarce.

He found a book written by a man named Edmund Royce that describes his rock in excellent detail and even explained that the reason the knowledge of such an item was rarely studied amongst scholars and mages was that the strange rock found a greater purpose amongst those that work in industries as well as blacksmiths.

After an aggressive facepalm and one heavy sigh, he continued with his work.

He found that the strange rock was a highly sought after geological formation referred to as a V-Type ore.

According to the book, areas and places with high concentrations of magic have a unique property that causes them to draw in powerful monsters, beasts and even demons.

When these powerful creatures inhabit these areas and eventually die, their reserves of magic add to the already high concentration of the region.

The unusually high concentration of magic can become so saturated that it seeps into the molten rock below the crust and infuses itself into the ores.

When the molten rock is eventually pushed to the surface, the high heat and incredible saturation of magic cause a change in the ore once it cools.

The result is either the ores gain the property of 100% purity i.e: "V-Type ores" or compatible ores can fuse into a completely brand new material i.e: "N-Type alloy".

What he found most notable about the V-Type ores was their use in monetary exchanges as they were completely pure and gave the currency a more impressive value.

With Erai's recount of his history, Vauntuss realizes something:

"You think that the mine she saw might be a V-Type one or even an N-Type one? " he exclaims loudly.

"Probably…no I'm sure of it".

"Hold on, if it really is an important mine, then why didn't you see a processing plant or something?" Herce tried to follow their reasoning.

Silence falls on the camp for a moment before Vauntuss answered:

"It's probably because of all the dangers in the forest."

"To the owners of the mine, having expensive facilities and equipment in such a dangerous location might be too risky, but even so, they still need to take the material somewhere…perhaps"

"A mining town nearby, at the very least some distance from the wods" Shynerai and Vaceris let out at the same time.

"Yes…yes, it's possible, they could be using a mining town or something like it to store and transfer the materials to wherever they get processed. That means...they might even have an off-site Teleportation Seal." Vauntuss added with a glint in his eyes.

A look of sudden realization quickly fell on everyone's faces.

"Doesn't that mean we could use the seal to get back to Aria" Herce exclaimed.

"Yes...I think...no, this IS our best shot at making it back".

Suddenly getting back to Aria didn't seem as daunting of a task and the group seemed to be all for it though a noticeable look of worry appeared on Vauntuss's face as he voiced his concerns with the plan they all seemed excited for.

He asked Vaceris how far the mine was from their current location as well as how fast she had to travel to get there.

"It's about three hundred kilometers away at a few hundred kilometers an hour".

The shock from how far and how fast they would need to travel was a surprise to Herce and Erai, Vauntuss somewhat expected this, considering that he had trained with Vaceris frequently, he understood her capabilities well.

Despite his initial concerns, Vauntuss informed everyone that the trip is possible though he isn't quite sure if Shynerai was even capable of keeping up since he doesn't know if he has any spells that can help him travel such a vast distance.

He is capable of creating an ice path for himself and both Herce and Vaceris can fly at incredible speeds.

Despite the comment, Shynerai said nothing with no reaction. He reached for his bandages to soothe the aching and told them that they shouldn't worry about him.

But Vaceris and Herce couldn't help but worry as they finished their meal.

Once they were done, they packed the last of their things and began setting off, all the while making sure to not travel at full speed out of a fear of leaving the injured Daumier behind.

Seeing the unintentional pity of their faces, he gave out a deep roar and took a stance.

While she was ahead of the group, Vaceris turned back to check on them, still worried about how far back they had left him, only to find that he had stopped in tracks.

Shynerai ripped off the remaining bandages to reveal his partially healed wounds...but they were different, now emanating a strange green glow, ribbon-like flows of green energy sewn themselves into his shoulder and torso, before the glow intensified.

He then put on his shirt and donned his father's coat, and with a single breath, he said…

"Willforce"

Once again the emerald wisps Vauntuss had seen before had begun gathering around him like the forceful winds of a storm before an explosion of green light erupted from him.

After the blinding light had disappeared, what was left was the young man, standing with bright green flames erupting from his eyes with a green decorative halo sitting above his head.

This time Vauntuss had noticed that the haloes were around the ankles of his feet and not on his wrists like before.

Within the blink of an eye, the glowing figure had disappeared, with the bystanders only bearing witness to the sudden shockwave that flowed behind him.

As they looked ahead, they saw Erai moving through the forest at inhuman speeds, the shockwave from each stride tearing through the dirt and uprooting trees.

The shockwave alone had left a pass behind him, refusing to be outdone by him, Vauntuss started surfing his ice wave as fast as he could with Herce and Vaceris still left in shock at Shynerai's sudden display of power, though Vauntuss's scolding was enough to get them to focus…and with that, they made their way for the outskirts of the Violain Woods.

Two and half hours later.

They had all made it to the mine…with Herce and Vaceris having ten minutes on Shynerai and Vauntuss since they left the campsite.

They inspected the area around the mine and found a rough road out from it, with that they decided to follow it to a supposed town.

Much to the group's surprise, there it was. The town of Pitchton Downs.

An entire town was populated by the staff of the company that owned the mine, Rhaight Ironworks. Considering how far the town and the mine were from the nearest Haven explained enough.

As the group strolled past the various utility buildings, something had seemingly caught Vauntuss's attention with him bolting from the group…the group, in turn, decided to follow.

When they finally caught up with him, the confused group found that he was finishing up a somewhat intense exchange of words with a well-dressed individual.

As the man finally met those of the group, he stared intently for a few moments at them, before ending off his exchange with Vauntuss with a bow, and turning to the group to them a bow as well before walking into the administrative facility nearby.

Herce scolded Vauntuss harshly the moment the fancy man disappeared.

Seeking an explanation from him and he eventually gives them one.

He described his sudden dash as simply exploring the possibility that the more "aristocratic" in the town might be aware of the presence of a Teleportation Seal, and he turned out to be right.

Since the fancy man he spoke to was the manager in charge of logging and auditing the transactions and operations of the cargo traveling through the Teleportation Seal. The Rhaight Ironworks company had many branches across the first, with Pitchton Downs being the closest to Aria.

Shynerai was starting to put the pieces together as were the rest of them, but one thing still didn't make any sense.

"If that's it, then why were you arguing with him?" He asked.

Vauntuss responds by stating that he was trying to convince that man to allow them to use the Seal as they were emissaries traveling with one of the princesses of the Falsetti Kingdom, but he refused to listen…that is until they had arrived.

To which he decided to prepare the Seal for travel, upon confirming that it was indeed the princess.

As he was concluding his explanation, the young man appeared once more from the building carrying a document.

He handed it over to Vauntuss and told him that the document acts as a pass with our sigil on it, so once you arrive on the other side, simply hand it over to admin and they will accept your presence and treat your request as a 'Diplomatic Service.'

Once he handed them the documents, the group thanked the man, though he simply passed over their pleasantries, opting only to bow at Vauntuss and Herce before taking his leave.

Such an act left Vaceris and Erai with what felt like a sour taste in their mouths before Vauntuss ushered them to the Seal with a clearing of his throat.

The group made their way to the Seal that was in a warehouse behind the administrative building.

When they got to it, they found that it had already been activated…so they entered the Seal and hoped that they would have an easy trip…after which an eruption of a dim light spurred from the Seal…and soon after they were gone.

Only a few moments later, the group arrived.

And once again they had to overcome a bit of delusion and hysteria before returning to normal.

After which they again tried to get their bearings, before setting off to the admin on this site, so that they could clear up the formalities of their trip.

Several minutes later, Vauntuss returned to the group as they were waiting at the Transport Point.

He got there and told them that everything was fine, but that they still had a ways to go before they made it to Aria since they were now in the Second Plaza of the city of Sprite Fontiss within Falsetti .

Realizing how far Aria was from their home, all but Erai understood the challenge that still stood ahead of them.

Resolving to succeed no matter what, Vaceris asks Vauntuss and Erai if there is another way for them to make it back in time, unfortunately, it seemed as though they would have to take the Teleportation Seals as close as possible to Aria, an idea that the both of them supported in unison, though much to one another's dismay.

Neither Herce nor Vaceris's drive to succeed was hollow as they all sought to give it all or nothing.

So with a nod of approval amongst one another, they set-off, traveling from one Teleportation Seal to another.

As 18h30 drew near, the gates of Trinity Cross Academy began to close, though, in the distance, a truly surprising sight began to draw closer.

The group had managed to make it back and before the gates closed, they managed to stumble in, although since both Vaceris and Herce were flying, the sight that met the students behind the gates was one of two plumes of dust racing towards the gates.

As the panting brutes were kneeling in exhaustion, they were approached by one of the invigilators of the exam.

'Well done, you can be proud of one another for pushing your team this far.' Announced the lecturer, though the two were immediately at one another's throats in disagreement of the fact that they were on the same team, a statement which brought forth an awkward chuckle for the lecturer before he asked the young men for their respective cores, sadly they were far too busy bickering to notice him...luckily Vaceris and Herce made their way to the skirmish and were able to stop the idiocy, an act that left the two quite and bruised before Herce and Vaceris presented the lecturer with their cores.

After taking the time to inspect and analyze the nature and authenticity of the cores, he confirms that the two teams have indeed passed the test, followed by congratulations for their outstanding performance and effort.

After hearing of their success, Vaceris and Herce were overjoyed with gleaming smiles and excitable jumping and cheering.

Although on the brute's side, they simply grinned with joy before laughing at one another's expressions...until Vauntuss's laugh was interrupted by his sudden groan in agony, remarking that the hit he took from Erai last night seemed to have left its mark, though Erai wasn't paying much attention...

When he looked over at him, he saw as the green energy left his body, the rings fading and finally the Halo above his head becoming evanescent.

Once all the energy was gone, the sudden appearance of a growing crimson mark stained his shirt as Erai simply smiled at the stupefied expression on Vauntuss's face before he fell over, lying motionless and entirely unresponsive.