"The Academy dedicates an entire wing of our school to research on elementally opposite mixed spells but early on in the history of this wing, we found out not to even attempt weaving two opposite elements into one spell is an extreme in it of itself.

I had written an extensive report on the risks involved in such a process. I am saddened to have my hands bound to rewrite my previous complaint to the High Sophist upon hearing of professor Julia's sudden yet preventable demise. I remind you that such reckless practice invokes the ire of all magical creatures for the rest of the practitioner's life. Even the most docile and friendly monsters are thrown into almost suicidal fits of rage upon even the slightest of suspicion. An example of this was professor Hassan who was shredded to tiny pieces by wind fairies upon attempting to create a new spell combining wind and earth elements...

In summary, all rumours concerning miraculous spells utilising opposite aligned elements are unfounded a fairy tales fueled by ignorance of magical arts and their rules."

-Extract from a complaint file by professor Potr.

 

 

---

 

 

  The two undead had walked inside the stone structure, its wall thickly covered by a layer of fine dust. Iris noticed Kia absentmindedly running her fingers on the smooth pearly stone, pale sparks followed her slender fingers marking their path as she seemed to enter her own mind in search of answers.

 

"Kia, look." The elf pointed at the wall behind them.

 

"Oh." 

 

 In a memorising pulsating motion letters started to appear on the stone wall, illuminating the corridor in a sickly pale light. As the light slowly spread, it started to expose more text which quickly reached the ceiling before reviling a mural carved above them. The image portrayed two figures offering fruit to the figure below them. The entire image was created using small shapes utilising pale light to create the glowing “painting” above them.  The humanoid figure on the right with long hair wore a long dress and a floral crown from which a pair of antlers grew. The other figure was shown to lack clothing as half of its body was shown to be replaced with a skeleton. Both of the figures towered over the kneeling person their stretched forms resembled that of stick puppets. The divine figures held two halves of a stone in their hands, extending them to the lesser being kneeling in front of them. In the sea of the devotees a person with a halo above their head had go against the grain and seemed to reach toward the two gods, reaching for both of their gifts.

Curiously to Iris, the kneeling person’s ears were long, longer than any elf’s ears should be and in addition instead of pointing up the tips of the figure’s ears pointed down.

 

“The Divines extended their gift towards us, let us reach it and achieve true life.” Iris read the letters at the bottom of the image. “I feel I saw a person similar to that one, portrayed in almost the same way.” She pointed at the Divine at the right to Kia.

 

“What you mean?” The girl beside the elf looked confused at the other undead words.

 

“Its hard to miss a giant signed carving on a certain Tyrant of the Pale Star's front door,” Iris replied.

 

“Oh,” The girl's eyes widened as she was remained of her domain. Her eyes held still for a moment and the edges of her lips dipped down while image's of the first few hours they spent together flashed inside the elf's mind.

 

“Sorry.” Iris said, feeling guilty about causing Kia to remember the awful way she treated her, saddening the usually joyful girl.

 

“Don’t be,” Kia took the elf's hand and snuggled her cheek into it. “I like all memories I have with you. I just feel sad I made you angry.”

 

  Iris’s non-existing heart skipped a beat upon hearing Kia’s words, her mind was barely able to prevent her body from fidgeting as the girl let go of her hand letting the matter die. The undead girl stared at the elf, waiting for her to move.

 

“Do you know what this is about?” Iris finally said.

 

“No, I don’t even know who that person is,” Kia pointed at the woman at the right. “And why I am shown bald and why I don’t have…” She suddenly stopped, her flushed with pink as her hands touched her petite body. Her different colour eyes travelled from the image to her breast and ended up staring enviably at Iris’s chest. 

 

“I think you look better with your hair~" The elf fained ignorance.

 

"Don't change the topic!” The girl pouted at the teasing elf.

 

“But you're perfect the way you are now,” The tall undead said, stepping away from Kia and turning back towards the image. “Anyways, what do you think about this.”

 

“It is awful!” The pouting undead mage continued to huff.

 

“I meant the meaning, not the image itself.”

 

“Oh... I-I don’t know I found things like this to be too boring after reading and examining them for the hundredth time.” Kia answered shrugging her shoulders.

 

“I imagine it would be boring.” Iris replied turning away and continuing their walk.

 

 It did not take the two long to find more shambling corpses of the unfortunate miners, Iris made quick work of the miners turning them into charred bodies under her fire spell. Further on the single corridor lead them to a cavern. The underground cave was illuminated by orange flames dancing on torches lining the rocky walls. The cavern was filled with boxes and barrels which acted like a wall blocking the two from seeing much.

They carefully navigated their way through the makeshift labyrinth finding a hunched-over body with long ears. Iris flinched as the dried-out body jerked emitting a screechy grunt, it stood up and walked over to a box. The long-ear creature unaware of the two undead fished out a loaf of barley bread covered in white fluff. It examined the loaf grunting angrily before messily devouring its moldy dish. 

In worry of possibly alerting the possibly dangerous creature, Iris chooses to not cast [Inspect].

The hunchback walked towards a stack of bloody boxes and with some struggle, it managed to place a body of a human on top. It then waddled over to a shelf half filled with glass jars, a dull noise sounded as the shrivelled monster slammed the jar beside the human. 

 

*Ahhh!* 

 

  A terrible shriek deafened the elf as the monster unsealed the glass jar, the long stick-like fingers quickly snatched something invisible to Iris out of the air.

Iris glanced at Kia standing beside her. The girl muttered darkly under her nose as her eye's stared daggers at the unsuspecting monster. A dark fog gathered in both of her hands.

 

"Slave... Defiler..." The elf could make out from the dark whispers muttered by the undead girl.

 

  An arc of onyx lighting arced towards the hunchback creature. The shocked monster swiped at the air in desperation trying to grab something, its face snapped in the direction from which the lighting came. 

 

[Inspect]

 

[Vetarii Level ???*]

* Knowledge partially shared due to [Anchor] trait. 

{Member of one of the oldest races and once completely servile to the Cyclopian race..}

 

  Iris stood up and rushed the mummified Vetarii, another lighting zipped beside her head towards her target. The hunchback monster resurrected the human laying in front of it before escaping deeper inside the cavern.

 

  Iris pierced the newly resurrected undead, the pale blue flames burning in its eye sockets flickered as its hand swiped at the elf's face. The undead flew backwards as Iris kicked the undead off of her spear. She pinned down the undead to the floor as it still desperately attempted to attack her. The blue flames danced inside the hollow sockets as they separated themself from the human before fleeing toward the girl behind the elf.

 

"You should have earned your duty and died with your master! You ungrateful slave!" Kia screamed as she ran after the Vetarri.

 

"Wait!" The undead hoplite ran after the furious necromancer. She quickly caught up to Kia pulling her shoulder. The two jewels threatened to petrify the tall undead after the split second they stared at her. 

 

  The stone wall in front of Kia was hit by a spell sending many stone fragments to fly into the air, hitting the elf who quickly shielded the shorter girl with her body.

The blue and golden eyes soften slightly as they stared at Iris before regaining their dangerous edge as they snapped back to the strange undead monster.

 

  Iris charged the Vetarii standing behind an altar. As she rapidly closed the distance between her and the monster, a devilish smirk appeared on the dried-out face in front of her as a crimson fog in a shape of a giant skull swirled towards her.

The risen attempted to jump out of the way of the spell as it tore the ground below it. Iris felt the spell going through her legs as her body hit the ground, she gritted her teeth in expectation of the upcoming pain. The elf caught a glimpse of the necromancer calmly walking through the crimson whirlpool which only caused her black hair to violently flay in the air.

The spear-wielding undead quickly stood up realising the spell did not hurt her. The previously smirking Vetarii stared at the two, scrambling to cast another spell. 

 

Behind the strange undead, shadowy hands emerged from the ground grabbing the mummified legs of the hunchback monster.

A stream of water violently impacted the Vetarii's body leaving a circular hole in its body as it was dragged down to the ground by an increasing number of shadows.

 

  Kia stormed to the tackled monster kicking the longear's head. To the shock of Iris observing from the side, the girl angrily kicked at the monster's head until the putrid green blood started to cover large parts of  her body. As soon as the dark blood touched her pale skin it started to hiss loudly. She continued kicking until Iris picked her up, putting her body between the frenzied undead and the other ancient.

As soon as the undead lost sight of the other mage she stopped fighting Iris's hold on her body. When the elf sat Kia on the floor the ancient  turned into a distraught girl who took heavy breathes. Iris could tell from the time spent with other mages that the girl was suffering from mana deficiency having used much of her reserves fighting.

The Vetarii's face although covered with blood looked relatively undamaged with only minor cuts caused by the undead mage's physical attacks. As if to prove a point to the elf, the shadows holding the long-eared creature started to tear it to shreds, until one of the hands ripped open the ribcage of the monster snapping its old bones exposing the still beating heart inside.

 

*Sniff* "Kill it," Kia said between haggard breaths. "I wouldn't level from killing him." 

 

  The steel tip of the elf's spear pierced the veiny heart desperately trying to still pump more blood around the body. When the heart stopped a painful wail echoed inside her mind system notification layered themselves over each other. 

 

"Hey." Iris walked over and sat down beside the quietly sobbing girl. Without a word, Kia hugged her. Not knowing or understanding the cause of the girl's sadness she started to run her fingers through the silky hair as Kia buried herself deeper inside her clothes.

 

"Why!" A muffled scream came from the mage. "Why would people do that, it's disgusting, evil, horrible?" Not knowing how to answer Iris stayed silent, tightening her grip on the slightly trembling girl. "That ungrateful slave deserved bigger punishment."

 

Iris glanced at the scraps of skin laying in a puddle of greenish blood, she felt a weight pull on her heart as the girl spoke. "And what did that slave do?" She calmly asked.

 

Kia lifted her head slightly, she stared at the elf dumbfounded. "He tried to mix death and life mana! Aren't you disgusted by this!?" A hint of feeling betrayed echoed weakly in her voice.

 

"I was just asking." Iris answered not knowing what to say, the only thing she hated about the now pile of bloody scraps was causing Kia to be angered.

 

"Sorry," Kia's intimidating stare soften a little. "It is just wrong to mix opposite elements and that slave deserved bigger punishment." She said hiding her face in Iris's clothes.

 

The risen heart was once again pulled as Kia spoke. "I was a slave before." Her thought slipped through her lips.

 

"And?" Kia asked.

 

"Don't you hate them?"

 

"I don't see why would you bring it up," The girl once living with the oldest race in Niuran asked, her upset features smoothing out as she tried to understand her creation's words. "You are not one now and how could you had been? Did the humans beside you were not slaves too?" 

 

"No."

 

"But you were as strong as them?" The once too powerful girl wiped her eyes as she furrowed her eyebrows in genuine confusion. "You were the last one to be defeated?"

 

"Thanks but I was the weakest person there and they were the strongest humans in the world." Iris clarified, she did not know how to feel about the conversation but Kia seemed to stop crying as she stared confused at her.

 

"Strongest? That summons was not even high level. How could anyone assume the position of Master while being so similar to their slaves? How can day give them purpose?" Kia asked as she perched herself on the elf's knee. "I don't understand your strange custom but they are quite dumb."

 

"The dumbest." The sole risen in existence jested as an ancient pair of eyes watched her, full of concern about her and human intellect.