In an ocean of trees all towering into the clouds, an expanse of forest covering a vast amount of land, an Elven woman slowly pushed her way through the endless trees, her eyes focused and ears perked to listen intently to the surroundings. 

The longer she walked, the more her eyebrows furrowed in anger.

She recalled the information she had been given, "Miss Elf, if you head toward the center of the forest, you'll see an eyesore of a tower stickin' out like a sore thumb among the trees; ya can't miss it. The evil witch lives there."

That's what the human man told Naya back at the village. Yet, she had been walking through this forest for hours and had not seen any signs of the so-called tower or anything else for that matter.

She found herself tempted to head back to that village to teach the human a lesson for lying to her. Shouldn't he be grateful for an Elf taking their time to assist him? The longer she spent wandering the dreary forest, the more she felt her frustration mount. Regardless of the outcome, I will have a talk with that human.

Still, the silence of the forest as not even a gust of wind blew past reminds her that this wasn't her home and that she was in an unfamiliar land.

It's been a year since Naya was banished from Aleria, the Elven island. She was supposed to be killing witches, a task she thought would be simple, but she underestimated just how difficult it was to actually find them. 

She spent the first half of the year aimlessly wandering, attempting to find witches herself. However, she only managed to kill one during that time, a Dwarven witch she caught off guard. 

In the months following that successful hunt, she found nothing and only recently realized she couldn't keep avoiding population centers, no matter how much she disliked the mortal races.

So she dealt with the annoying stares of the other races as she tried her best to maintain Elven etiquette and gain information and rumors about witches.

Even then, information was scarce, and she had only just received this piece of news from a human man who evidently had lied to her.

Mother was right, you can't trust the mortal races.

She couldn't fathom why he would have lied, perhaps to get her out of the village. I'll find out soon; nobody makes a fool of me.

Suddenly, her ears twitched.

She heard a noise, a low growl followed by a brief whimpering.

That was enough for her, and she smiled in satisfaction as she took off toward the noise. Finally, something in this dull place! She couldn't contain her excitement.

Her speed would leave anyone in shock as she flashed through the forest in a blur. 

She reached a small clearing in the trees just seconds after detecting the noise.

What greeted her brought a slight amount of relief.

A wolf clad in pitch black fur blended into the night, with bright crimson red eyes staring directly at her. Though she didn't know what animal the wolf was consuming, she knew what the wolf was.

The wolf growled at her, and the thought of a mindless beast attempting to threaten her made her feel funny. Such a thing wouldn't happen in Aleria.

She didn't want to give it any chance; she tilted and launched forward, leaving a cloud of dust and dirt behind her as she instantly reached the wolf.

She spun her body, delivering a powerful, quick kick to its skull. Her ears twitched as she picked up the disgusting sound of bone snapping, confirming her instant kill.

She smiled gleefully, the confirmation of her own strength easing her mood. The Aleria beasts are way more formidable than this thing. Although remembering that ruined her mood again, her heart sinks as she recalls her banishment. 

She shook her head to clear the negative thoughts bubbling in her mind. Her focus went to the wolf corpse; it had already started dissolving into a black, mist-like substance.

Her eyes widened, and she snapped her arm forward with an open palm to touch the black mist. Arcana. Her assumption was correct; the wolf was a summoned beast. 

A purple glow comes from her stretched palm as purple lines form from her fingertips and grow until they reach her wrist.

The mist, the blackened Arcana, stops dissipating and flows into her purple lines. 

This was how Naya could fight the witches; she could absorb Wild Arcana used in spells and instead convert it into her own energy. The downside was that she couldn't generate or gather her own Arcana to refine into Refined Arcana herself.

When the wolf's corpse dissipated completely, a small surge of power filled Naya's body. Her eyes glowed purple, and more bright purple lines formed on her other hand, stopping at her wrist.

She held her hands up, a confident smile forming at the sight. 

The Arcana improved her senses, allowing her to hear and see far better. She looked around at the ground and saw the small prints of the summoned wolf. Found you.

She felt the Arcana slowly dissipate within her; another downside to her ability was that she couldn't keep any Arcana. If she absorbed anything, she'd better use it soon.

That spurred her into action, and she ran in the direction of the prints, her attention on her senses to detect anything else.

She knew that if the witch was using a summoned beast and only a single one, she couldn't be too strong yet. Although her knowledge of witches was lacking, her knowledge of magic wasn't. 

Her Elven teachers were thorough. Summoned creatures were only useful as sentries, and even then, they were often easily discovered. Of course, stronger summons can exist, but the maintenance and effort needed to control something only marginally stronger than the summoner was wasteful. Maybe the cowardly mortal races need it. 

Finally, she reaches another clearing in the forest, one filled with vibrant green grass and flowers of all colors. The sight takes Naya's breath away, reminding her of Aleria and her mother's garden.

The image is ruined when she looked at the dull wooden house in the middle of the clearing, with skulls of many different species surrounding it.

However, the sight broke her from her stupor, and she closely watched the home while silently walking toward it.

When she reached the door, she paused and focused intently on her hearing. Got you.

She heard light footsteps tapping against the wood, clearly in no rush. The steps stopped on the right side of the home. Despite having her summoned beast killed, the witch evidently didn't know Naya was there.

Odd. The witch should have felt the connection shatter and yet she showed no signs of panic.

Naya didn't care; she would kill the witch regardless. 

She pulled on the Arcana within her core and created a small purple sphere in front of her finger. 

After powering a spell, Arcana becomes highly volatile, and outside of magic circles, only someone with her abilities can control it, even then not for long. Naya preferred to tame the power only to amplify its wild nature to form powerful projectiles.

She pointed at where she heard the footsteps stop. With a thought, she calms the wild Arcana in the sphere to create a projectile that wouldn't explode on impact. Naya felt the Arcana threatening to leave her control.

Her hands glowed, and she released it.

The sphere flashes forward, leaving a purple trail as it rips a small hole in the wooden wall of the house.

Naya didn't waste any time; she rushed forward and kicked the door open. Her hands glowed, and she created a thin purple layer to cover them, ready to meet resistance.

Contrary to Naya's expectations, the witch showed no signs of injury. She looked at the exit hole of the purple sphere, and Naya looked at it as well.

The Arcana within it would vanish immediately; she doubted it reached far from the house before dissipating. To where she had no idea. The mystery of Arcana alludes even her people.

She snapped her head back to the witch, who was still staring at the perfect hole in her wall.

"That was dangerous." The witch spoke with a light, uncaring tone. 

She turned to look at Naya and opened her mouth to speak before her mouth snapped shut. She looked to Naya's long ears, and her face twisted in disgust, "Elf."

Coming from what Naya considered a vile being and from a mortal race, that stare enraged her, "Revolting witch, you will die here for your sins." Naya spoke with a gentle but cold voice.

Though she had no idea how the witch survived her projectile, it did not matter. She wasn't one to enjoy sneak attacks anyway.

"Sins?!" The witch removed her dark hood, allowing Naya to see her features. 

It did not move Naya. The witch had short, unnatural orange hair and similarly colored eyes. The unnatural further disgusted her, as those unnatural colors, outside of her own race, were the sign of a devil contract.

Naya had no intention to explain herself, and the witch picked up on that. 

"Ha!" The witch scoffs, "Arrogant Elf, your skull will make a fine deterrent to add to my collection."

Naya didn't care to argue. She launched herself at the witch with a loud burst, her body slightly tilted forward and her arm raised to deliver a slicing blow.

However, when her arm sliced through, nothing but the sound of air hit Naya's ears, and the witch's body vanished. Shadow magic? There was a crack in the air as a black tendril snapped at Naya from behind the phased image of the witch.

Naya smirked and whipped her hand out to grab it, and the tendril instantly shattered as the black Arcana flowed into her body.

"What are you?" She heard the witch's voice, and the more she heard, the more it grated her. 

Naya turned back; the witch was now standing on the opposite side of the room, in front of a door Naya assumed led to her bedroom. Black tendrils rose from her shadow and squirmed in the air around her. Disgusting. 

The tendrils gave Naya pause, but only for a moment. She took in her status and felt the small amount of Arcana given to her by absorbing the beast and the tendril. It wasn't much, but it should easily be enough to handle what she knew was such a low-caliber witch.

She glanced at her arms, a confident smirk on her lips; the purple lines on her hands had grown past her wrist now, going slightly up her forearm.

"Your end," Naya answered the witch's question.

The witch's mouth opened, but Naya wasn't having any of that. She launched forward again and instantly appeared in the witch's radius, into the range of the shadowy tendrils.

The tendrils could have been a problem, but not one Naya couldn't handle. The witch evidently lacked control, as when one snapped at her, the others would freeze as if uncontrolled. She must have just recently contracted. When one snapped at her, Naya would flash her hand to shatter it and absorb the little Arcana. 

Naya wanted to shatter all of them, to break the witch's spirit.

Flashes of black and purple and the sound of air cracking filled the room as the witch's face twisted into one of horror. No matter how fast she'd launch a tendril, Naya's speed would instantly catch it. Evidently, Naya was correct; she had yet to master her Devil's power.

The purple lines on Naya's arms reached her biceps, and her eyes glowed a bright purple as she coldly stared at the witch who wasn't doing anything with the last tendril. 

Her face was one of abject horror as she stared at Naya's glowing eyes. Good, this is how a witch should look.

Naya stepped forward and snapped her hand out to grab the last tendril, shattering it and absorbing the Arcana.  

The witch stumbled back, only to hit the wall, "W-wait..."

"No," A purple light flashed in Naya's hand, and the witch's body fell to the ground.

This had been Naya's first fight, and she knew it wasn't a real battle since any powerful witch would not have their home in such a place. Still, it filled her with confidence since she managed to kill her 2nd witch, though the time it took left her wanting. 

Her thoughts were broken when a black orb slowly rose from the witch's corpse. Naya jumped back; she had no idea what that was.

The orb hovered above the dead witch's body, pulsing slightly. 

Naya waited a moment to observe it, but it didn't do anything other than hover up and down in the air. Oh well. Her goal wasn't to investigate them; it was to kill them.

Her mood was excellent, with a giant smile etched after her recent victory. Soon, Mother.

She prepared to leave the house; she'd inform the village of the witch's death, and they could deal with it.

You stupid Elf, you must take it!

The voice of a young girl resounded, "Come out!" Naya instantly commanded. She looked at the witch's lifeless body, confirming with her senses that she was dead.

The voice's laugh echoed in her head. In my head...

"What sort of magic is this?!" Naya had never seen or heard of any magic capable of infiltrating an Elf's mind, which brought her no small amount of panic.