When she woke up, the sun already fell.

She didn't know how, but she survived that fall relatively unscathed. 

Her body ached all over, and her right hand was awfully red with bite marks everywhere, but other than that, she was still capable of making the journey home.

Miraculously, the eggs had survived the fall. The combination of the leaf bed she had made and the protection of the satchel managed to keep them intact. That, the natural hardness they already possessed on their own. They were certainly harder than chicken eggs for starters.

The girl stood up, looking around to see how everything around her was nearly pitch-black; the source of light being only the full moon and the stars. Fear crept into her mind. How could she go home now, without getting lost in the way?

"Awooooo!"

Chills crawled down her spine. Her eyes nearly popped out from their sockets as they widened from pure terror. There was nothing more she wanted now than to run to the embrace of her parents, receiving their warmth as she cried into their bosom.

“Uuwaaaa! Father! Mother! It’s too scaryyyy! I can’t possibly go down from the mountains on my own!”

“Shh, it’s fine now, dearie, it’s fine. We’re here now. So you don’t have to be afraid of anything, alright?”

She sniffled. Her eyes started to wet with her tears. 

But she held strong. Clenching her fists, she declared to herself. She wasn't a baby anymore! She's a big sister now! She's going to go back, brew that potion, and save her family from that illness! She couldn’t let her fear of the dark and those wolves hold her down!

With a renewed determination, she made her way down the mountain as best as she could. She remembered something her father told her once, how hunters and fishermen would use the stars as their guide. She gazed at those celestial lights, moving those gears inside her head until she found a certain constellation that could guide her on the proper direction to take. The mountain she was at was to the west of the village, so she only needed to go east to find her way back.

There it is! The Enchantress!

It was a cluster of stars shaped like a female wearing a long robe. The constellation could only be found in the eastern sky, which meant as long as she followed it, she would be back in her village in no time!

Or so she naively believed.

---------

N-no! This clearing… I've been here before, haven't I?

Two hours later, she accepted she had lost her way.

Thanks to the thickness of the greenery surrounding her, more often than not, she couldn't get a clear view to her guiding stars. And she had enough of climbing up trees for the day. Her tendons and muscles still ached from the fall.

To make matters worse, the howling of the wolves sounded like it was closing in on her, and she couldn't find any Forsen trees she could mask her scent with. If she were to be caught by them, then that would be it. She doubted she could run fast enough to flee from a mountain wolf.

"Kyaah!"

Her feet slipped, making her tumble down the small hill she was on. She rolled for a good few seconds, all the while having branches and roots tear into her dress and skin.

Once again, she felt she was about to cry.

"Grrrrrhhhh…"

She gasped. Lifting her head from the dirt, she saw it—a pair of crimson eyes staring at her from the shadows.

It's a wolf.

Tears burst forth from her eyelids, but she kept her silence. Her lithe body shook, and she would no doubt wet herself out of fear if she hadn't relieved herself a few minutes ago.

Havetostayquiethavetostayquiethavetostayquiet—

The wolf slowly got closer, seemingly sniffing for her scent.

Blood! It's sniffing for her blood! Thanks to her fall, her ankles were bleeding now, and that attracted the creature to her!

If only, if only she could cast magic! Just a simple fireball is enough! She could fire it right at its head when it got close and that would be enough to allow her to escape!

"Grrrrrhhhh!"

It crept closer and closer. Now it was merely inches away from her head. She could feel its labored breath as its snout hovered over her.

Founder, please! Just this time, grant me your blessing!

She closed her eyes and prayed like she never prayed before. Every child born in the Magocracy would know about the Great Founder, Mira. In a way, she had taken the place of Milicis in the hearts of the citizens of the magic-worshipping country. She didn't know a single thing about magic, but she knew just how great of an existence the Great Archmagus was.

She held her breath. Droplets of the wolf's spit were hitting the back of her head.

And then, it pounced, moving its jaw to bite the girl's head off.

Only for a pitch-black spear to pierce its abdomen, mere moments before its sharp teeth could give her a swift death.

The wolf whimpered, before falling down to the ground—blood pouring out from its wound.

She didn't know then, but it was the very first time she ever used a magic spell.

She had become a mage.

-------

She ran as fast as she could, not even bothering to look back at the dead wolf. The wound on her feet stung terribly but she didn't stop. Not until she ran out of breath completely some minutes later.

W-what was that? Who saved me back then? Who attacked that wolf? She gazed down at her trembling hands. W-was that? Was that me? Did I just cast a spell? B-but, what was that spell? It wasn't a fireball. It was… something like a spear?

Am… am I a mage now? Me, who doesn't have any mage relatives? How can that be?

In the Magocracy, it is a widely accepted fact that to be a mage, one must be related to another mage by blood. So, for a complete commoner like her to suddenly awaken her magic talent, it was a rare event indeed. Normally, if something like that were to happen, the child’s family would throw a celebration, as their child was now almost guaranteed to have a better life and a brighter future than their parents. With magic, many gates would open to you that would be closed otherwise.

But now, she had no time to look forward to that. The only thought in her mind was to get out of this mountain, brew that potion, and save her family from that plague.

After she regained her breath, she marched onward. Lucky for her, that little bout of running brought her to a clearing where she could find the Enchantress once more.

---------

When she reached her village hours later, she didn’t spare any time to rest or to even change her clothes. She ignored the fact that she was terribly sleepy, and how her dress was pretty much in tatters and possessing quite the awful odor. She went straight to Granny Yan’s place and started brewing immediately. What followed was another couple of hours of cooking the eggs, grinding the leaves and bones the old woman already had in her storage, and throwing it all into the boiling hot cauldron. She then spent an entire hour standing in front of it. The cauldron was almost as large as she was so she had to tiptoe through the entire process as she carefully mixed the ingredients together, making sure that she did everything as the book instructed.

And then, only when it was time to let the mixture rest, she let herself rest as well. She fell asleep the moment she sat down on the nearby sofa. And that was when the sun was already climbing outside.

--------

This foolish girl… she actually did it...  just by reading my book nonetheless…

The old woman sighed, shaking her head. She had arrived back at her cottage this morning, and what did she find? Her little pupil, slumbering off on her favorite chair.

That, and a cauldron full of a bluish liquid she immediately recognized as Cool-Me-Down potion. It was a difficult potion to make for her, much less a beginner, but her pupil managed to do it nonetheless.

If there was ever any doubt of her talent, that doubt was completely gone now.

Glancing once more at the slumbering girl, she noticed her torn up dress and the many scratch wounds on her arms and legs, especially at her ankles who outright had a large and swollen bloody gash—a proof that the girl had climbed the mountain for the one remaining ingredient she didn't have.

It's a miracle you haven't died. I would have to scold you later for this, but now, rest. I'll take care of your potion.

She turned to face the cauldron.

...Even though it won't do any good.

After throwing a blanket onto Felicia, she began to work.

-------

'U-uuhhhhh…"

Felicia groaned. She softly shifted on the sofa before sitting up with a spring.

"The potion! I have to—"

"Here. I've finished it for you."

As she was currently facing the wall, she had to turn to see where the voice came from.

"G-Granny Yan?! You're back?"

"Hmph, just arrived this morning. And what did I find? My foolish pupil risking her life foolishly."

"I-I'm sorry…"

Felicia looked down. She never enjoyed being scolded, especially when it's from  someone she respected.

"We'll talk about that later. For now, go to your family and administer the potion.” The old woman pointed at the large bottle she had put on the table. It was one of her magical bottles, capable of storing an entire cauldron worth of potion in just a bottle. “Shoo! You’re dirtying my couch, sleeping there with your dirt-covered dress.” She gestured with her hand.

Felicia looked at the bottle, and a bright smile blossomed on her face. “O-oh, thank you so much, Granny Yan! I’m going to take it to them right away! With this, they can finally be cured!”

With her childish naivete and innocence, she grabbed the bottle before running straight outside, back towards her house.

The old woman sighed and shook her head. 

That potion will only dissipate the fever, not cure the illness itself.

There is no curing them, for there is no cure. This illness… no, this plague… It's something that no alchemist can cure…

She pulled the sleeve of her wrinkled right arm, revealing little white crystals, growing like tumors from her skin. 

I’m sorry, little one, but you would soon find that you are very alone in this world… not even I was spared…  She chuckled.  I suppose this disease really is selecting for the pure breeds. A country founded by magic has no need for magic-deficient humans and inferior mages like us alchemists.

Her journey to Karkala revealed one thing, that the plague didn't just exist in this humble little village. It was everywhere. It had spread all over the province like a wildfire, killing all the non-mages in droves. The province's mage ruler, Vehta, had declared a state of emergency, and that all infected people should be quarantined away from the rest of the populace.

The whispers on the streets, however, told a different story.

The corpses of those afflicted and succumbed to the plague, instead of being put into a mass grave, was instead being carried off somewhere else. And apparently, it was done by the orders of the mage lord himself. Some believed he was the one who engineered the plague. After all, it only targeted those with no talents to be a mage, and the plague would grow mana crystals on the victim's body, which were a very valuable commodity. Combined with the rumors how he had been gathering the same Mana crystals for these past few years, one could easily assume the worst to him. After all, he was the least popular mage in the Council. In contrast to the likes of Selendia, who was treated akin to a goddess by her people, Vehta never made any public appearances, and there were a lot of shady tales swirling around him. 

With what she knew about him, she was inclined to believe that rumor. 

To her, none of the Council mages were to be trusted, especially in matters regarding non-mages. To them, non-mages were nothing more than dogs—to be praised when they obeyed but to be disposed of when they rebelled. And Vehta was the worst of them, if these rumors were true.

Killing thousands of people for your magic crystals. Only a Council mage could do that, she thought with a grin smile.

--------

When Felicia returned, she promptly gave the potion to her entire family. One spoonful every four hours—that's what the book instructed. To her joy, she immediately witnessed the difference. Their fevers decreased in intensity and they were no longer coughing as often.

It works! It actually works!

She didn't hesitate. After her mother said to her that she was feeling better, the girl threw herself into her embrace, crying profusely on her buxom chest.

"Oh thank the Founder it works!"

"Oh, silly girl… of course it would! You made it yourself, my genius little alchemist! And you did it after climbing the mountain on your own! I would scold you for that but I'm just glad you came back to us safe and sound," she replied with a shaking voice. She too was crying—crying in tears of happiness and relief.

Her father soon embraced her too. And then Aaron. And Pip. And Bryn and Elt as well, even if the latter didn't understand what was going on, being too young for it. No one cared that Felicia was dirty and smelly, not until the mother teasingly brought it up to her, telling her to go take a bath in the nearby river. Aaron and Pip declared they wanted to go too, but she told them to stay and sleep some more, since they still hadn't recovered completely. After she cleaned herself, she made her way to the hunter's home and any other people who suffered from the safe fever as her family. It was a good thing she made extras as it turned out that pretty much everyone had been infected by it, even if the symptoms had only manifested as a light fever. Just in case, she gave it to everyone. 

It was the last day of Felicia's happiness.

------

"Granny Yan! Granny Yan! Something's wrong with Aaron!"

The next morning, the girl made her way to the old alchemist's house once again.

This time, however, she didn't find her in the middle of her breakfast cooking. Instead, the aged woman was lying down on the sofa, with her wrinkled face straight right at the low straw ceiling.

"Aaron, he's— there are crystals growing on his arms."

"...And so it begins."

"I-it begins? W-what do you mean, Granny Yang?"

The old woman sighed before fostering enough strength to sit up and look at the panicked, fearful face of her pupil.

"I have hidden something from you yesterday—something I learned about this… sickness. Come." She weakly patted the armrest of the coach, gesturing for her to come over. "Sit down."

The confused young girl could only nod obediently, kneeling in front of the old lady as she was instructed to.

"I'll tell you the truth, as far as this poor old woman knows anyways."

She didn't hold back in the slightest.

She told her everything, from how Karkala was filled with people falling prey to the Crystal Plague—the name the people had dubbed to the strange illness—to how it only affected those with no capability to cast spells. She didn't stop there. She told her with a bitter voice how the mage lord of the city was rumored to carry off the bodies of the deceased somewhere else instead of burying them, and how the corpses might be harvested for the mana crystals growing inside them. She then told her not to believe what she had been taught all her life, how she, as a non magic user, should praise and worship Monas Vehta, for the man could be behind the plague. He had been amassing magic crystals for years, and she believed he had grew impatient, thus using his own subjects he viewed as expendable as fodder for more magic crystals.

Felicia, naturally, was terribly overwhelmed by this revelation.

"W-what are you talking about, Granny Yang? N-no one can just create a plague! A-and Lord Vehta has guided and protected us! We owe the growth of our crops from his magic! We have the most bountiful soil in the entire continent!"

The old woman simply chuckled at her words.

"Aah, my poor, foolish pupil… you know nothing about this country… nothing at all…"

She then proceeded to tell her something that bewildered her even more.

"Do you remember your history lesson, little one? The Urkmuth rebellion. How many years ago was it? I can’t remember…”

“I… I only remembered a little…” she answered. “Some years ago, a group of non mages tried to rebel against Lord Vehta’s rule. They were selfish and greedy, refusing to accept their station and contribute to the province in the way they could. They desired to be treated the same as mages, even though they had neither the brains nor the wisdom for it. And then…” She suddenly paused.

“Hmm? What’s the matter, girl? Continue.”

“I-I can’t remember. I suppose Lord Vehta put an end to their corrupt ambition in the end. Father only ever spoke of it to me once, when he told me why he was proud to devote his entire life as a farmer. He knew that he wasn’t smart, so he wanted to be useful to those smarter than him, and supplying food and vegetables to the mages that protect us and keep us safe are exactly that.”

The old woman burst into a weak, wheezing laugh.

“G-Granny Yan! Please do not overextend yourself!”

“Oh, my poor Felicia… you kowtow to the mages so much, even though you share their blood. The blood of a mage, you have it, more than me, this poor old alchemist. I can only use magic in my concoctions, but you, you can do so much more. I’ve no doubt of it. If you couldn’t, you would’ve suffered from the plague as well.”

Felicia was about to deny her declaration, but she immediately remembered what she did two nights before. She had slain a wolf using her magic.

It was true. She was a mage.

The aging alchemist grinned. “So you did it. You cast your first magic, didn’t you? Tell me, what was it? A fireball? A lightning strike perhaps?”

“I-it was… it was a shadow blade."

The old woman's grin widened before she burst into another laugh.

"Ha! Darkness! That's your affinity! Oh, how could a naive girl like you be gifted such an element?! The Founder must be laughing at us from above!"

"D-darkness? I-I'm… I'm a mage of darkness?!"

Her entire body shivered. She had heard the tales, how dark-aspected spells were full of terrifying and horrible spells. Especially necromancy, the most terrible of it all. This nation nearly ended because of it.

"T-that can't be! I-I don't want to—I don't want to be a dark mage!" She shouted in tears.

"Hold your tongue, you stupid girl! Do you not realize what a gift you've been blessed with? I would trade an arm and a leg to have your talent!" The old woman had yelled, frightening Felicia into silence.

"Let me tell you something. I was there when our virtuous and generous Lord slaughtered my comrades one by one without mercy. That's right! I was one of those rebels! I stood with our comrades who wished for freedom—freedom from the yoke of that tyrant you call a Lord!”

“G-Granny Yan… used to be a rebel?” Felicia asked with her mouth wide open. The old woman replied with a chuckle. “Back then, I was a much younger and attractive lady. Like your mother, though not as blessed in the chest department, unfortunately enough.” She chuckled again. “I was an alchemist, one of the many who provided potions and any other magic items we could create for the sake of the rebellion. I’ll spare you the details on why we decided to rebel, but rest assured that if I were to be back there again, I would do it all over again without a second thought.”

Felicia gulped. In the back of her mind she felt a strong desire to run away from her master. “A rebel is a bad person and good girls don’t talk to them”. Such was the lesson taught to her by her parents. And yet, she couldn’t think like that for Granny Yan. Sure, she was sometimes too grumpy for her liking, but she had been nothing but good to her. Surely, she can’t be a bad person, can she?

“Alas, I was just that, an alchemist. I couldn’t fight alongside my comrades on the front line. And so, I could only run like the coward I was when I heard the word that they had all been massacred by Vehta. I hid myself away in this village, and somehow, I managed to live this long, until I am now just a decrepit old lady like this.”

Suddenly, she put her left hand on Felicia’s shoulder, making the poor girl jump.

“It’s all up to you now, Felicia. I won’t tell you to follow my path and seek the truth with your own eyes, for that is a thorny path. This nation has stood for a thousand years and not a single person would be able to change that by her own. You will have my blessing if you wish to join your own kind and forget about everything I had said here. However,” She broke out into a dry grin. “You will find that even if you’re a mage, they will still not treat you as an equal. You, who wasn’t born to a mage family, will be discriminated against. I am sure of it. But, if you can bear it, then even as a dark mage, you will still be able to make a decently happy life for yourself.” 

The woman paused with a sigh. Suddenly, she felt a terrible dryness inside her mouth.

“Whatever your choice is, my only hope that it’s a choice you won’t regret.”

Felicia stayed silent. Her brain had no idea how to process all this information her mentor had poured.

“G-Granny Yan, w-why are you talking all that nonsense?” She forced a smile. “T-the cure… s-surely you can—”

Air escaped her lungs with a gasp.

The old woman had pulled the sleeves of her right hand, revealing the innumerable crystals covering her skin from her fingers all the way to her shoulder.

“As you can see, I am not long for this world.” She granted her a grim smile. “And neither are your family, nor the rest of this village. I don’t know how long it would take until the crystals overtook our organs, but once that happened, we would lose our lives. And it would be very painful, I’m afraid, so if I were you, I would leave this village and go to Karkala. There is nothing else you can do here, other than waiting for their inevitable deaths. Though I have no idea where you should go there. Never have any relatives or friends that are willing to take in a little orphan girl.” She chuckled. “Just don’t do something dumb like becoming a beggar or a whore. You’re too clever for that. You’re an alchemist and a mage. Surely you can find proper employment somewhere., in this country of mages.”

“B-but that’s… no! I refuse to believe it! Y-you can’t just give up! You might be sick but I can still be the one brewing the potion! Just tell me how to do it! I-I’ll even go back to the mountains if I have to!”

The old woman looked away, still keeping her grim smile. She lowered her body, returning back to laying down on her back on top of the sofa.

“Silly girl. So many diseases and illnesses out there are incurable by alchemy. If we have some of those clerics from the Holy Continent, perhaps the story would be different… Oh, who am I kidding? This plague… if it’s really created by that bastard… it won’t be cured by just a simple healing spell either.”

She paused, saying nothing as she stared at the ceiling once again.

“But you, as a dark mage, you might just be able to. But not the girl you are now. No, you have to blossom and mature. You might not believe me but dark magic can be used for healing purposes as well. With blood magic, you can halt someone’s bleeding and extract poison from their bloodstream. And with necromancy, why, you can revive the dead themselves! No alchemy or holy magic can do that!” She burst into a laugh once again. “But no.” She shook her head. “Not now. Your family… and this whole village… there’s nothing you can do to help them.”

Felicia fell silent. Slowly, she backed off from the old woman. Her entire body was shaking, tears streaming down her eyes.

And then, she ran.