The resounding sound of metal colliding with a dull substance kept Kirim alert. She had already met one of her kind in the light lands. A lost child of Vector. She went now with Alice to meet the other, the son of Kirito. A part of her was nervous. Another part of her anticipated a fight between them. When they passed into the clearing around the colossal tree, she saw a light brown haired boy around her age, a little taller than her, and a boy the very same height as herself with the same hair colour, same uncut length from behind. She wondered what kind of eyes the son of Kirito would have. Would they be kind eyes, or the eyes of a fierce warrior. She realized upon seeing the light brown haired boy winding up to strike the tree that the dull sound was because of the collision of an old, dull ax against the tree.
She didn't understand why they would be trying to cut down such a large tree, but she decided she would leave it for after meeting her very first student. Between the current swing and the next, Alice called out to them.
"Eugeo~! Kirii~! You have a visitor!"
Her voice was loud and piercing enough for Kirim to feel the need to cover her ears. She already had her fruml cotton earplugs in to prevent the cracking sound of cutting into the giant tree. The piercing loudness of Alice's voice went right through the earplugs. Noticing the boys stop their chopping at the tree, she pulled out the plugs, hoping that she wouldn't find blood on them from her eardrums breaking. The clear untainted film of earwax being the only thing on the plugs relieved her and she heaved a sigh in relief.
"Oh, it's Alice. Who's...the visitor...?"
Kirii was the one to speak up. His voice was very gender neutral, but that was common for boys their age. At least within the dark lands. His golden eyes gave off a burning sensation as if he were seeing a monster.
"What is a person from the dark lands here for? Why is this person with you, Alice?"
His vocabulary sounded limited to Kirim. Like he was bereft of language from a young age, only taught what was necessary. Kirim wanted to cry already from the lack of teaching. Kirito wasn't necessarily to blame, because she was a lost. She had no memory of being raised in the dark lands by the highly adept blood elves. She was incredibly capable herself, but the practice of imparting knowledge to their young might only be in regards to their sacred task in the light lands. It was the fault of the light lands, not the fault of herself.
"Hello, Kirii, Eugeo. I am Kirim of the same dark lands tribe Kirii's mother was lost from. The blood elves. I have been requested by miss Kirito to teach you of traditions of our tribe. Please do not address me as a monster. I assume many on this side of the world see those of the dark side as monsters, but at our age we typically rebel and have minds of our own. I'm a little more rebellious in wanting to come and understand the light lands and its people. I wasn't expecting to find others of my tribe here...but it's welcome, especially since the naming sense your mother and yourself have comes directly from my family in particular. You would be a first cousin to me. It's a pleasure to meet you, not matter how you see me right now."
She kept her emotions in control and brightened her smile so she was being as friendly as possible. Her gentle expression made Kirii second guess his natural animosity toward her.
"You're...family?"
Kirim nodded.
"Where's...mom?"
Kirii seemed in pain when he asked it. Like he realized the meaning of Kirim's words when she said she had been requested to teach him.
"Your mom is at the local Axiom church at the moment. She told us how she was so exhausted when she went to find Alice, and passed out. I carried her there and left my belongings at the church with her."
Kirii softened a little more, he gave Kirim a firm stare. It was the truth and she knew it was second nature to blood elves to hear through lies. Kirim hadn't told a lie. She simply didn't disclose that Kirito had passed away.
"Then...if mom collapsed it was her time...what did she say...in her last moments?"
Kirim was baffled that he had picked that much up. She underestimated him because she assumed he was mentally lacking. He well understood that his mother was gone because she was frail and old. He knew that it was close to her time. He would know better than anyone else.
"'Thank you, Kirim. I'm...so thankful. I thought I'd never know where my name came from, or why I stopped growing after reaching twenty years old. I thought I'd never understand my aptitude for fighting, the desire. I'm just...glad to meet someone peaceful from the dark lands...' is what she said."
Kirii drooped his shoulders.
"Why did you perfectly mimic her sleepy old voice too? I didn't ask for that. But...thank you. I will try to complete any promise she made you."
Kirim shrugged.
"I already told you my interest here. To learn of the light lands. In exchange, she wants you to know what it means to be a blood elf without knowing the blood lust and constant fighting. Unfortunately a large portion of learning blood elf traditions is knowing several methods of fighting and building personal strength. Some of it is being literate and very capable with language. But most important is ability with magic. The people of the light lands, I assume call magic something different. I believe magic is these 'sacred arts'. You will learn everything I can teach you, as the most recent prodigy of my home settlement. Kirito asked me to not bring you there, so learning from the village is out of the question. Learning from me alone was her request."
She sighed as she finished explaining.
"I don't know how it is in the dark lands...but we need to keep to our sacred tasks here in the light lands."
Kirim looked to Eugeo since he interrupted and she shrugged.
"What exactly is your sacred task? To cut down trees for a living? Or to cut down that monster of a tree alone? If the tree is felled, would you be relieved of your sacred task?"
Eugeo gave her a disbelieving look. One which made her feel like flexing her strength.
"It's the demon tree, yes. After it's cut down we wouldn't have a sacred task anymore. I don't know what comes after, but the village chief would know the answer."
"Do you need to deliver the finishing blow to the tree yourselves? Or would it be fine for someone else to cut it down?"
Kirim was fully taunting him at that point.
"The tree just needs to go down."
Kirim drew the stiletto she had kept with her, and she levelled it at the gash in the tree.
"How long have you been cutting at this tree?"
Eugeo blinked a few times.
"We've been cutting it since we were six, so three years now. But it's been a passed down sacred task for several generations..."
Kirim wanted to cry hearing how little of a dent they made. They only chunked away in several generations maybe a single percent of the tree, barely biting past the bark.
"I wanted to avoid damaging ego if I could manage, but this will be a good lesson so you three understand my lessons aren't to be underestimated. I won't be able to totally fell it immediately, but I will easily outclass several generations in a single slice."
She strengthened the durability of the blade and enhanced it with heat so the very edges of her stiletto would melt through the tree. Kirii, Alice and Eugeo stared in disbelief as without chanting, she visibly made change to her weapon they immediately knew would be able to prove her right.
Kirim didn't hesitate in the slightest as she put forward her full physical strength with the elegant slice she leveled where the tiny chunk was taken out of the tree. On contact, her blade slipped right through where she aimed to cut. The entire blade swiped through and the heat penetrated a little deeper. A good three percent came out of the tree in that one slice. Were she to do that repeatedly around the circumference of the tree, it would chunk away a significant portion of the tree. It would be far more efficient with a larger blade though.
Kirii, Alice and Eugeo just dropped their jaws staring in disbelief at the new significantly larger red chunk in the tree. Kirim blew through centuries of a sacred task in a single motion. They could sum it up to her strength as magic as someone from the dark lands, but that would be putting it lightly. Combining her strengths as she did to take that chunk out of the tree was beyond impressive to them.
"If we learn from you, we could take down the tree in no time!"
Eugeo was ecstatic. Kirii rubbed the back of his head in nervousness. That he had the potential to become that strong just from training under her was embarrassing. Three years hacking at the tree and he had been the same as any human when he could have such impressive strength. Alice beside them was just in shock.
"I knew you were strong, carrying around that giant pack, but that..."
"I might as well teach all of you while I'm here. If you consider learning as part of the job in taking down the tree, then you can cut it down yourselves still, and my knowledge could only be considered helpful in the end. I believe your work in the sacred arts might also benefit from learning from me, since I have the feeling my magic and your sacred arts function the same."
Alice blinked and her shock became more prominent.
"Magic? What is that? How does it function the same as sacred arts?"
Kirim shrugged and sat on the dirt where she was. She began explaining while laying out a visual explanation for them.
"For light landers, the sacred arts require a very specific set of sacred words which make otherwise no sense to us in the dark lands. They pray to your goddess Stacia to fulfill the desire of the words you offer. At least from what I've observed so far."
Alice nodded in confirmation.
"A little more than how I understood it, but that sounds accurate."
Kirim continued with a firm teaching expression she learned from her mother.
"As for dark landers like myself, we learn magic as a form of energy. It's a mixture of our very physical energy which dictates the ability to move our bodies, and our spiritual energy. Spiritual energy comes straight from our souls. However we can also tap into ambient energy around ourselves. There are some in the dark lands who use sacred arts, but they're people who use magic to torture those they fight, to make them suffer before ripping them to pieces."
The description and how she showed it through her projection magic made them want to look away in horror.
"Sorry about showing that, not really needed in this description since you might never have to deal with those witches. Anyways, back to discerning the differences between magic and sacred arts."
She collected herself and reset the projection magic.
"Sacred arts have set performance, only adjusted by the amount of energy they're allowed to consume from the user. If the person has a high natural spirituality, their sacred arts would be immensely stronger. They could be adjusted with using additional or different words, but that makes them unpredictable and dangerous. On the flip side, magic doesn't have set performance. Magic is based on the spiritual strength of the user and their connection with their ambient surroundings. Ambient surroundings equate to the very space around them. The more connected, the more they're able to borrow from the energy around them. Emotions and a firm understanding with a visual depiction of the result in mind is required to properly cast magic. If you have all the requirements for casting magic, then you can do it freely and change it slightly to your imaginings. You just need to start with the foundations and learn to control the flow of energy through you and your surroundings. At base, magic and sacred arts are similar in that they take energy from the user and potentially their surroundings to fulfill the cast. Without enough energy, they will not work. Magic has a severe understanding limitation in comparison, so mage dark landers are rarely experts. Those who are experts though, are more than capable enough to outstrip any sacred arts user by far if in their element."
The explanation had them interested.
"So, how do you do this magic then? Can you show us an example?"
Kirim nodded and conjured an orb of lightning energy above her hand. Lightning was her affinity, so it was easiest for her to conjure.
"For this magic, I imagine a lightning strike and form it into one point, concentrating the power into the shape of an orb. This orb could be used as a source of energy to power other things, to rejuvenate oneself if they were lacking in energy by casting the spell while pulling in ambient energy, or to use it as a form of attack. Here, a target for me to hit with the power within the orb."
She conjured a goblin faced target and attached it to the space where the slice was cut into the tree before. As soon as the target fixed to the tree, she pointed the lightning orb over the palm of her hand at the target and unleashed the energy in a high powered blast. The blast itself burned into the tree beneath the target and gouged further into the tree by a significant chunk. She stopped, closing her hand over the rest of the energy.
"...sorry about that, didn't realize how much power was in that orb."
She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment with the opposite hand that didn't conjure the orb. She had a bad habit of underestimating her talent with magic. She easily pulled in immense amounts of ambient energy wherever she was and it made her spells infinitely more powerful than the typical dark lander mage.
Alice tried to mimic the same thing, skipping her sacred arts entirely and devoting the moment into imitating magic. She took a solid minute before finally producing a tiny light above her hand. There was barely any energy there. It seemed she had trouble focusing the energy. Kirim explained it and projected ways for them to think. By the time she finished teaching them the ways of the lightning orb, they were all able to mimic the size of her orbs, but not the power by far. At least they were all able. The next day, she would teach the pole arm, then pugilism, then short swords and finally the bow. She had been keeping her bow training secret from her parents and the rest of the village since the bow was a 'secret' gift Vector gave her for her ninth birth year.
The priority wouldn't be teaching magic, since it was the last thing she learned. Having a bit of understanding to practice with was more than enough for the time being. After getting started on their foundations, they could practice and hone their talents together, training their abilities and making themselves stronger. They would have Kirim to aim toward for a time in terms of goal abilities, but she had a feeling they might be able to get stronger than her. Kirii in particular for physical ability, while Alice might be better at magic. Eugeo seemed a little stubborn. It might be that he could be somewhere between Kirii and Alice in terms of ability, a little underwhelming to both of their strengths, but he could also potentially catch up to Kirim. Catching up to Kirim alone would be immense, especially as a normal mortal.
"I think about the only thing you're missing now is to understand the strength of what you're conjuring. For the time being, all of you lack true understanding at just what you're conjuring. All you're getting is a replica, an imitation of what you saw me do with magic."
Alice nodded, but she smiled understanding she had performed Kirim's magic fairly easily.
"You all learned rather quickly. I had to learn a more difficult way and I had to do so secretly, but it's great seeing you pick it up quickly. While I taught you these basics for magic today, I'll be moving on to some physical ability next. If you aren't chopping at the tree for a while, your local elders might suspect something distracting you too much from your sacred task."
Eugeo nodded.
"This magic feels like it could be really helpful, especially since your magic on its own chunked away even more than your blade."
Kirim nodded with a blush on her face.
"That was more from me underestimating the amount of energy I had gathered for the spell. I thought I might not be in tune with the environment here enough to gather much ambient energy and it overflowed. I'm not a very good judge at just how much energy I've collected..."
Alice pouted.
"I saw so much energy moving from the demon tree to you, maybe that's what it was..."
Kirim shrugged.
"If it did, then maybe the tree is just weaker overall. At any rate, I'd like to find out what I'm doing tonight, whether I'm camping out or if I can stay at the church."
With that, Alice led Kirim away, leaving Kirii and Eugeo to stare at the baffling result of letting Kirim use examples of her ability. It was terrifying, if they were honest with themselves. It was a good thing they didn't fight her for being from the dark lands.
Kirim stopped Alice just before they were back in the village.
"Should I conceal myself again, or will you be able to convince the rest of the village that I'm here in peace?"
Alice gave Kirim a smile.
"It'll be fine. Let's go to the church first and we'll get my father to figure out your sacred task. It'll just make things easier when you're talking with other light landers like me."
Kirim nodded and followed Alice's lead. The village was small, had short buildings but many of them, and the roads were mostly gravel and dirt. From a distance, it had been impressive aside from the buildings being made of wood and straw. Up close the only thing that was impressive was the church, built of bricks. It was the most fancy type of building she had seen so far. More impressive than the clay homes her tribe lived in.
They arrived at the church quickly and Alice's father was there already, waiting for them.
"Welcome back, Alice and Kirim. How did Kirii take the news of her mother?"
Kirim looked to the ground in embarrassment.
"You were right about him. He asked what her last words were when I avoided telling him she passed. He took it very well, but I think he's hiding what he's really feeling."
Alice's father nodded.
"Of course, he is still quite young. You are too, however. I expect this from children of our lands, but how are you handling it?"
Kirim's expression darkened.
"I am unfortunately well acquainted with the loss of life. It was surprising to me and still is considering her age, but it doesn't make it any less tragic. I've not known one of my own to pass yet. We're a highly skilled and long lived tribe. One of us dies as often as one is born. Every ten or more years. Mostly our kind pass from old age. I didn't get that impression from miss Kirito, but appearances often deceive...perhaps she didn't know her own age."
He sighed.
"Well, hopefully her soul goes on to meet Goddess Stacia now in peace. I have arranged to have you stay in Kirito and Kirii's home, but you will need to pray here for a moment to find your sacred task while you reside in these lands."
Kirim nodded and followed as he led inside the church. He stood to the side of the altar at the head of the main hall they entered through and motioned for her to stop.
"Close your left hand over your heart, bring it up in front of your face and I'll recite the prayer for sacred tasks, which you must repeat within your mind while fixing your gaze on the altar to Goddess Stacia."
Kirim nodded and waited for him to recite the prayer as he told her to.
"Goddess Stacia, I thank you for your blessings and keeping me safe to this day. I ask what work you have for me, as one who has yet to perform your sacred tasks. I ask that you continue to guide and bless me as I move forward in performing my assigned sacred task."
She repeated the words in her mind and as the final sentence she recited neared its end, she noticed the altar give off a gentle glow. A set of symbols appeared which Kirim didn't understand but Alice wrote down. She translated it using something else as reference and the sacred task assigned to Kirim was revealed to be "freelancer".
"This sacred task...sounds unique."
Alice's words had her father and Kirim nodding in agreement.
"It does sound perfect for me. If freelancer means the same here as in the dark lands. It would mean I could do any work I'm able to."
Alice laughed nervously and her father sighed in response.
"That is indeed what it means. I wonder just why Goddess Stacia would be so loose with her sacred task assigning now, of all times. It's incredibly fitting considering Kirim's range of talents, but usually sacred tasks are..."
"Yeah..."
Both Alice and her father were stuck at the surprised stage regarding Kirim's sacred task assignment.
"As long as it doesn't pose me any problems, then it's fine."
Alice looked to her father to give the warning Kirim needed to hear.
"There is a problem unfortunately. A sacred task that might never end is what you just received. Having a sacred task binds you to the taboo index. This means you can't do anything taboo. Things like doing other people's jobs or hunting won't be an issue, but one of the few rules in the taboo index is that none effected can so much as set a foot into the dark lands without alerting the integrity knights. It means...you can't return home."
When it dawned on her, Kirim fell to her knees in realization. She pulled Rithi out of her breast pocket and poked him until he woke up.
"Rithi, wake up."
With her voice, he yawned and began stretching.
"What is it, young master?"
He blinked a few times and saw the depressed expression on Kirim's face.
"I might not be able to return home for a long time, Rithi. Can...can you tell my parents about this for me? It turns out I've been caught up in the sacred tasks of this land which bind me to something called the taboo index. One of the rules of the taboo index is to never cross into the dark lands...if this isn't obeyed, integrity knights respond quickly. I would be in immense danger."
Rithi shivered and the trembling traveled from her hand up through her arm.
"Understood, young master. Is there anything else before I return to your parents?"
Kirim looked at her feet, trying to think of anything else to relay to her parents.
"Ask if they know of a blood elf by the name Kirito."
Rithi nodded and waited for anything else.
"...and one last thing. Tell them I'm sorry, and I'll do my best to figure out how to get back."
Rithi nodded and flapped his wings strongly, throwing himself into the sky.
"Let's make you a little bigger. That small and you'll take a long time to get there, and your full size you'll draw too much attention here."
He flapped to keep himself in place until he felt himself return to a fairly large size.
"That should do so you can make the trip there and back in a day. Please fly safe."
Rithi snorted.
"Don't underestimate me. My size doesn't determine my strength."
With a smile from Kirim, Rithi flew off. She looked back to Alice and her father and tried to smile but tears leaked out from the sides. Kirim realized as Rithi went to deliver the news to her parents that she was still a child, couldn't return home, and no matter how talented she was, she had immediate access to her family and people familiar to her at all times. People she had spent her whole life with. Now she was essentially surrounded by strangers in a land she knew very little about. While Kirii might as well be family, and Alice and Eugeo were understanding, she couldn't blindly trust any of them. She was used to being surrounded by other blood elves when she could return home. Now she had no choice but to brave the chance that she might be poisoned by light lander food. To follow through with her promise to Kirito. To live with light landers.
No matter what Kirii was, even if they were family, he was a light lander. He was born and raised naturally in the light lands. He might even have a normal human life span because of his circumstances. The more Kirim thought about it, Kirii and Kirim weren't much alike. Their appearances had similarities, but their lives were so different until that day that they had no similar personality traits.
"Are you okay?"
Kirim wanted to say with confidence like usual that she was fine if she was thinking otherwise, but she couldn't bring forward the strength she usually had. Her fear was getting the better of her. Her tears poured out more strongly and Alice hugged her.
"It's okay! We're here for you! You won't be stuck here forever, and we'll do what we can to help you be able to return home. Just start by believing it's possible, and try to do what's able to be done right now."
Kirim was limp at first when Alice hugged her, but as Alice finished saying what she did, Kirim closed her arms around Alice and rubbed her face against Alice's shoulder. She hadn't realized their sizes until then, but she was a little shorter than Alice. Part of her could have sworn she was taller, but she had no proof in her mind or currently for fact.
"The first thing we should do is...make sure you can eat our food. What do you normally eat so we can test you against something small you don't normally eat?"
Kirim rubbed the tears from her eyes but they still slowly dripped out.
"I normally eat barely cooked meats with a little seasoning"
With that, Alice rushed away and returned in less than a minute with a basket containing several small portions of different foods. There were fruits, vegetables, bread and something else Kirim didn't recognize. She didn't recognize any of them but a small part of her was in revolt, telling her to run away and not let the food anywhere near her mouth.
"How about...start with berries? Some spices come from berries so that might be easy."
Alice pulled a couple of berries out of the basket and handed them to Kirim. It took her a few seconds to accept them but she was fighting the tiny instinctive part of herself that felt unsafe. She needed sustenance or she would die. Though, wrongfully sustaining herself with food she wasn't compatible with could kill her...
She closed her eyes, popped the berries into her mouth and chewed and swallowed them quickly, waiting for some kind of reaction and there was none. Just the fantastic sweet taste she had never experienced before. It continued as Alice gave her more and more samples until she had one of everything in the basket with only one negative reaction. Her whole body refused to let the bread anywhere near her mouth. Vegetables were fine, fruits were fine, but bread was an absolute no for her.
"Is Kirim here?"
The sound of Kirii's voice was somehow comforting when she heard it. Kirim leaped at him in a hug.
"I'm trapped...and I'm scared...please keep me company until I know I can return home..."
Kirii nodded and hugged her back, accepting her into his home.