Kalika stared at the reflection in the cracked mirror shard. Minutes passed by as she continued to examine her blue skin, black hair with those white strands, and even her golden yellow eyes. She frowned, unsure what to even feel anymore.
Anger?
Frustration?
Sadness?
She turned and looked at the other side, looking a grief-stricken version of herself, who looked drained of life. She tensed, and with a forced sigh, she released the shard, letting it shatter to the ground. "Stupid mirror…"
She stared at the tan stone ceiling above. With memories of her encounter with Gerna still fresh in her mind, she turned to her side and hugged. "Why did I have to meet that stupid god? I was better off not knowing the stupid truth."
Kalika took a deep breath and exhaled shakily, then turned to the curtain-covered window where a subtle light shone through. "I might as well get up." Picked herself up and gathered her things. "The sooner we get out of this pit, the better."
Kalika stepped out of the lone stone inn and shielded her face from the rays of the crystal light in the ceiling. She panned her gaze across the lake view as ships sailed the vast waters, admiring its simple beauty.
"You're finally awake?" Bjorn asked. He tied the cart reins to their Garu's, preparing for departure.
"Like I had any choice." Kalika glanced around the empty clearing. "So, where's Donovan?"
"He's in the cart. Reading his little book."
"Book? Where'd he get one of those?"
"Ask him yourself. If you're prepared, hop in, and we'll be off. I'll be the one driving."
Kalika narrowed her eyes. "You? Driving? Are you sure the cart won't topple over?"
Bjorn rolled his eyes at the remark. "The back wheel is heavy. So yes, the cart will be just fine." Without hesitation, Bjorn entered the driver's seat.
Kalika held her breath, half expecting their supplies to be catapulted into the air. However, the cart seemingly defied the laws of gravity and leveled, staying completely grounded to her surprise.
Despite the certainty being clear, Kalika slowly approached. She then glanced at Bjorn, watching as he fixed his seat with earth magic.
Still cautious, Kalika entered with a growl. "You better not get us killed," she eyed Donovan, sitting, skimming a worn book, and saw him narrow his eyes, trying to decipher the text in the book.
Now inside, Kalika quickly closed the back gate and plopped herself and her things down next to Donovan. Curious, she peeked at the book of scribbles and drawings, becoming increasingly puzzled by its drawings. "What kind of book is this?" She asked. "And where'd you even get it?"
"Hmm?" Donovan glanced, then turned and shared its contents. "It's-"
The cart shook, and the book fumbled out of Donovan's hands. "Crap," he reeled the book back and glared at Bjorn. "You could warn us, you know!"
Bjorn ignored them, driving the cart into the road.
With a sigh, Donovan presented the book again. "So this is a journal Cyrus gave when we first met. I skimmed through some of it while I was with him. It's mostly a bunch of hypotheses and formulas for the magic elements blessed by the celestials."
Bjorn peeked back curiously. "Hypothesis and formulas?"
"Yeah. And some of the stuff actually works. You saw it for yourself, too. For example." Donovan flipped a few pages back, showing it to Kalika, then Bjorn, " L-like this. It goes into a little detail on how to make magic as sharp as swords. As it turns out, you have to compress the source of the magic as flat as possible, then you can make sharp slashes. But, uhh… Apparently the range is dependent on how much magic you have? So, I guess mine wouldn't go that far…"
"So you've learned another attack from the book," Bjorn said.
"Well, it's not like you told me how to use it."
"Because it's more advanced and requires much more energy and experience to actually utilize. Both of which you were lacking," Bjorn retorted. "Attacks like those can kill you if you're reckless, especially since they force the energy from your body quicker than an average elemental attack".
"Hey. I still got it to work, didn't I?"
"That's not the point. The next time you want to try something for that book. You should talk to me first. The last thing we need is for you to croak because of some mishap in using some hypothesis from that book. Besides, I've used magic far longer than both of you combined. I'm sure I'll understand most of what that book has to say."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that…" Donovan said. "Honestly, a lot of this is hard to read anyway, so your luck will probably be as good as mine."
"I'll judge that for myself." Bjorn reached his hands.
With a huff, Donovan relinquished the book. Letting Bjor peek closer.
"Hmm… The handwriting on this is back." He flipped through the pages with one hand before tossing them back into the cart. "I'll look at it later. Until then, you should stop trying to read it."
Kalika, Curious, pulled and took the journal and skimmed its contents. "Yeah. Some of this is a little hard to read. But I've seen worse."
Donovan Bjorn turned to Kalika at once. Surprised by her statement.
"What? You don't believe me. I'll have you know, I once read a report from some explorer who drew maps for a living. It practically took me days to decipher justa page."
"You've read before??" Donovan questioned.
Kalika glared. "What do you think? that I was pampered like some prize-winning cattle?" She hissed. "My father hired tutors who had me studying till my skin turned white. The only thing I liked about it was the books I got to take for myself." She sighed, reminiscing on the books read. "They really did help to stave off the boredom during those times." Kalika flipped the page, reading it. "This one is talking about a barrier using… Water and wind?"
"Oh, hey! That's the one I used when you were trying to kill me." Donovan blurted.
"You know… You don't have to sound so giddy about it…"
Kalika's eyes soon met a page referring to a launcher that used many of the same elements, with the added use of earth and fire. Seeing the shape drawn, her eyes narrowed as she remembered seeing something similar. "Curious… So who's the author?" Kalika flipped to the front page and read. "Spellcraft? Written by… 'Sylph Mana'?"
Kalika flipped to the next page, reading it intently. She immediately clung tighter to the journal, shocked as she read two other familiar names. "Jarred? Magnus? So this was her journal… How did this get here?"
"Hey, Kalika, are you alright?"
"Y… Yeah. Do you mind if I can read this book?"
"No," Bjorn said. "Currently speaking, you both are ill-equipped to actually utilize anything in that book."
"Yeah? And you would know that?" Kalika rolled her eyes, annoyed.
"Donovan almost killed himself trying to use whatever was in that book. And you, Kalika… You have yet to control your blood magic. Not to mention, control over the other magic elements." With the snap of his fingers, Bjorn manifested a cover of earth over the book in Kalika's hands.
Kalika dropped it to the ground and scowled. "Fine, so if I master this stupid blood magic thing, will you stop complaining?"
"And if you show some level of competence in magic, too, sure," Bjorn said.
"Don't you think you're being a bit harsh, Bjorn?" Donovan questioned. "I mean, we're what? Five or six days until we reach this Kasak town and another few until we get to this exit."
"Did you forget about Rakon?"
Kalika cringed. "What about him?"
"Did you two already forget about his subordinates that attacked us? Like Magnus, Mae, and Gaz?"
"Who?" Kalika looked more confused.
"Magnus, an ogre like me, along with that little ogre girl, Mae. Who was saved by that Incubus Gaz? You killed Magnus and allowed the other two to go to Rakon."
Donovan stroked his chin, remembering, "Oh yeah. Those two. I think I remember that Gaz demon from back in the dungeon, too. Back when I was trying to help your maid."
Kalika glanced at Donovan, even more confused. "My… Maid?"
"Rhonda?"
"In any case, you both need to prepare yourselves. I know you have your pipe, Donovan, but you need to prepare for the occasions when you don't have it. The same for you, Kalika. Especially now that your blood blade was destroyed back when you were trying to destroy that core."
"Who told you that?" Kalika glanced at Donovan.
"Cyrus," Bjorn explained. "Me and him were able to have a little talk thanks to Zelak. We talked a long time about things I wanted to know."
"Well, did you find your answers?"
"No. Unfortunately, he knows as much as we do."
"Isn't that a shame?" Kalika sarcastically said. She laid the stone book down and leaned back, with her eyes to the sky. "So what are you going to do now without your precious answers?"
"I'm going to hold up my end of the deal and get you out of the pit. Expect a bounty will be put on our heads soon, and it's possible one is out now for us."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Donovan asked.
"Don't forget when Mae and Gaz found us. We were likely thought of as dead. By now, Rakon likely believes me to betray him. Above all else, he's a demon that expects loyalty to those of us below him."
Kalika scoffed. "Loyalty. How ridiculous."
"Ridiculous or not, we'll be met soon with mercenaries and bounty hunters from this pit."
"Which is why you want us to train." Donovan finished.
"Exactly."
"If that's the case, shouldn't we just read the stupid book?"
"No, Kalika. I think I get what Bjorn is saying now. If we're unable to control and harness the magic, the results of using whatever's in that book could backfire. Badly. I felt the effects of it before. And it doesn't feel too good."
"I'm glad at least one of you understands," Bjorn said.
Kalika rolled her eyes and turned away from the two. "Whatever."
"Since we'll be needing as good an edge as possible, I'll even take us to a contract smith I know. She should be able to fix your blades up, no problem, including that dinky kitchen knife you have… Kalika."
"Doesn't it already have a contract or whatever it's called?"
"It doesn't. At least not an actual one with benefits or drawbacks."
"What do you mean?" Kalika stared intensely at the back of Bjorn's head, awaiting an answer from him.
"All you need to know for now is that the only thing that knife is doing for you is calling you its master. But we can do more with the right smith."
"If you say so…"
"Since the road is long and you two have some time, you should get to practicing harnessing and controlling your magic now. Donovan. The crystal."
Donovan chuckled at Bjorn's request. "Sorry, Bjorn. About that… We're actually all out of the crystals."
"What?"
"Y-yeah. We kinda used the last of them to pay for our stay at the lodging."
Bjorn's face palmed. "You can't be serious… and you don't have any more left. At all?"
"Well, I do have the red on in my pipe-"
"Then use that! We shouldn't waste any time."
"I… I guess I can pull it out…" Without hesitation, Donovan moved to rummage through his things as Kalika distracted herself with the back view of the cart.
She watched the land they trailed ahead of. The swaying yellow grass, the alien-like tree with purple and black leaves. Even the strange landscape, where the mountainous terrain had different ecosystems of plants and fauna.
Unexpectedly, Kalika caught a glimpse of a very familiar beast. Hidden behind the terrain of rock and yellow foliage, a large horned wolf with a plumped stomach followed. "That wolf… Isn't that…?"
She chuckled at the somewhat goofy sight of the wolf attempting to hide behind the rocks. Growing worried, she glanced at Bjorn, then back to find that the wolf vanished. "Where did it…"
"Here you go." Donovan suddenly said, offering the red crystal. "Hey. Are you alright?"
Kalika sighed. Disappointed. "Yeah. I'm fine," she took the crystal in hand and watched as it turned grey with no feeling to take note of.
"Yeah. It looks like we'll probably be at this for a while. Hopefully, we find a nice big crystal we can break along the way." Donovan joke.
Kalika chuckled weakly. "Yeah… Hopefully."