Lyna tried to get his attention in vain.
However, she felt something new blossoming inside her.
She could feel it again…
She was getting stronger.
Not only that, but something new was being given to her.
'At least he's not selfish.' She snorted, feeling her cultivation return, along with something else…
She then looked at the girls from afar and regretted not cultivating alongside him.
But in the end, she continued to follow them from a distance. Those girls would die if they stayed alone for too long, and that was clear to Lyna.
Thus, she followed them step by step.
As night slowly fell, Lena's group gathered some twigs to start a campfire.
A fire that didn't light… even after countless attempts.
Meanwhile, the boys were comfortably eating elk inside a warm tent.
Lyna clenched her teeth in frustration. Azriel was exposing her to two contrasting scenarios simultaneously, but he said nothing about what he was trying to show her.
He always seemed to want to say something, but instead of speaking, he showed it.
'Damn it!' Finally, Lyna took human form far from the girls and calmly walked toward them.
"Hey! Brats." Lena and her group heard a voice coming from the darkness, but they couldn't see who it was.
They trembled in fright, gripping the sticks tightly.
"Who's there?" Nelliel shouted. "Come closer carefully! Otherwise, my lion familiar will bite you hard!"
Lyna chuckled at the mention, but instead of replying, she extended one hand toward them, touched her palm with two fingers of the other, and pulled back.
A pink arc of fire formed, illuminating the darkness.
Then she fired it toward the twigs, lighting the campfire.
"Ah!" the girls screamed, dodging the flames as Lyna calmly walked up to them.
"Lion, huh? Then I suppose I could eat this goat." Lyna laughed amusedly as Nell's goat hid behind her.
"And that cat would make a fine skewer along with that snake. Maybe I should even cook him in your human blood."
She grinned broadly as the girls trembled more and more in terror.
"Relax, I'm just passing through," She said, sitting down on a thick log. "However, if you annoy me, I might get hungry."
Lyna laughed again, the sadistic gleam never leaving her eyes.
"Spirit…" Lena looked at the creature before her in awe and fear. "I've never seen one like you before."
Lyna laughed playfully.
"There aren't many like me around, and the few that exist usually don't like to be known." She then summoned a hare, grabbed a sharp stick, and placed it over the fire.
"You see what I mean?" She gazed deeply at the roasting rabbit. "It means I am a true mage, a knower of mysteries beyond your mortal comprehension…"
"And above all, a being who despises any mortal rule. I see no more in life and death than what they truly are…" She then looked at the cowering girls.
"Tools for my purposes." Lena swallowed hard upon hearing that.
Nyla was breathing faster and faster as her flight instincts screamed louder within her.
This was a wild spirit.
One that wouldn't toy with them.
Fear consumed them.
However, Nelliel faced that fear. Trembling, she stood up, walked over to Lyna, and slightly bowed.
"Great spirit mage, I thank you for sparing our lives and for your company."
Lyna chuckled, amused. That was how mortals should act in the presence of someone like her.
"Hey, you two, show your respect. She's a mage!"
Lena slowly stood up, walked over to her, and bowed, while Nyla rose even more slowly, trembling all over, and bowed as well.
"Not enough. Kneel." Lyna commanded, and they immediately obeyed, showing complete respect and reverence.
"Very good… at least mortals still know basic courtesy." She looked them up and down with a wide smile.
"Eat from this rabbit and share the fire. It's a gift from me." The girls soon smiled, grateful for such a wonderful gift.
They stood up and sat around the flame in silence, though smiles lingered on their faces.
"Do you mortals not talk while eating?" Lyna said, unable to bear the quiet. "Or do you think this mage is uninteresting?"
"N-n-no, my lady." Lena took the lead. "It's just that… we mortals don't have any topics worthy of a mage's attention."
"Don't say that…" Lyna's smile only widened, amusement flickering in her eyes. For a brief moment, she even imagined Azriel in Lena's place, saying those very words to her.
"I would love to amuse myself with your mundane, mortal conversations. No matter how pitiful or ridiculous they may be… after all, even your lives are a joke and yet, I still talk to you."
She laughed, fully entertained by her own sadism.
However, the girls simply accepted her behavior as normal, even proper.
She was a spirit mage, after all.
They didn't deserve to be in Lyna's presence.
"I suppose we can talk about the exam, then," Nelliel suggested, signaling to the others. Lena exchanged a cold glance with her, while Nyla remained motionless.
"Of course," Lena replied naturally. "We're being tested in a mage's exam, we wish to become mages ourselves."
"Mages? You humans with no talent whatsoever?" Lyna burst out laughing. "You'd better go back home. familiar spirits can help, but they don't perform miracles."
Lyna looked at the girls again, expecting reactions, but found only determination in their eyes.
"We're aware of that, my lady, but even so, magic means everything to us mortals," Lena said, her tone cold but steady.
"If we don't become mages, our lives are miserable from beginning to end, brief as a summer rain." Lena sighed.
"We want to live long, my lady, and we want to live worthy lives. Therefore, magic is the only path."
Lyna listened to the girl's words with interest, then simply snorted.
"I've never heard such mediocrity in a single sentence. True mages don't think like that." She looked at them sharply.
"True mages don't care for long or glorious lives, those are merely side effects of their greatness," she said sternly.
"Your pursuit is futile. Your mortal life will be far more comfortable without the hardships of a true magus…"
"Turn around and go back to your mortal home. You have no talent for magic whatsoever."