Chapter 4: Chapter 3: Journey out of the forest

In the Forest of Woe Avvy is currently walking north and heading towards a possible human settlement. Flakes of ice are dropping off of her body as she is getting used to the feel of her ice mana orb inside of her core. Due to her natural inclination towards magic as a fairy she is not struggling at all when it comes to the feeling of mana. As she grips the ice mana in her core, she is subsequently producing flakes of ice which gently fall to the forest floor.

“It is weird that I don’t feel cold with this ice coming from me.” Avvy comments about the ice as she continues to skip through the forest not really minding her surroundings. “This is because of your natural inclination towards ice mana, and the constitution of your body. The weather will not affect you, nor will you need to eat.” 

“Hmm, you know a lot. Mom is amazing!” Avvy was happy to be with her mom in the forest as they kept walking past trees. “Yes, indeed! I know a lot, so it would pay dividends for you to listen to me now and in the future, Avvy. More importantly you need to grasp the feeling of the shadow mana to do the transformation. After all, it would be annoying for people to needlessly make assumptions about you.” Root was also excited about the prospect of Avvy learning more magic and visiting a human settlement though she wouldn’t show it in her voice.

Avvy thought about the feeling when she grasped the ice mana the first time. Inside of her core she could once again see the two spheres which corresponded to two mana types. The larger white sphere contained the ice, and the shorter black sphere contained the shadow mana. She grasped at her chest and a transparent hand once again reached inside of her core etching closer to the smaller sphere. As soon as she grasped the smaller sphere black mana was pulled into the transparent hand, and her body was soon covered in a thin veil of black mana. 

Shadow was leaking around her, and her wings had started to turn a light tint of gray. Similarly her white robes were turning a light tint of gray as well. Avvy turned around and looked at her now white/gray wings. “Why are my wings changing, mom?” Avvy looked a little scared, but it was her mom who told her to do this, and she trusted her mom after all. “This will happen as you get attuned to the shadow mana. Do not worry! Your wings will turn back, Avvy. For now try pulling out more shadow mana.”

As soon as Root had finished talking Avvy started to pull out more shadow mana from the black sphere. Slowly her wings turned to black and her robes became black as well. “Mom, I'm scared,” Avvy said as her hair also started to turn black. Miasma started coming out of her body, and Avvy started to lose consciousness. “Avvy! That is enough!” Before Avvy fell down, Root called out to her. Avvy barely managed to stop gripping at the mana in her core. 

She could tell that something inside of the black mana orb was different. It was something darker, and it was something that most likely should never be touched. It was just like an abyss. To prove the point several blades of grass around Avvy were dead or dying from being touched by the mana. Avvy was still light headed and wobbling, and she felt a sharp pain in her chest. The same pain gripped her head. It was so sharp and intense she gripped her head, fell to her knees and began to cry. 

“M-mom, Why? Wh-why d-does it hurt so m-much?” Avvy said as tears kept falling from her eyes. “I am so sorry, Avvy. I did not know this would happen. I… I am so sorry. Avvy, I am sorry” Root apologized vehemently, and she had sorrow in her voice. She truly did not know that mana would be contained within the little girl. ‘How did this even happen? Someone must have meddled with my descent.’ Root thought to herself.

After an hour or so of Avvy trying to gain her composure and Root doing everything she could, Avvy finally managed to calm down. Her mana core was also stable, and her hair, robes, and wings reverted to their original colors. Now that she was back to normal she once again grasped at the shadow mana to the surprise of Root. “What are you doing so quickly?”

“It is okay, mom. I understand now!” Avvy said as she returned to her cheerful self. “Just don’t overdo it… I wouldn’t want my d-daughter to be hurt.” Avvy beamed an even bigger smile when she heard Root call her daughter. As soon as Avvy gripped the mana this time, none of her features changed color. She was still covered in a thin black veil, but the veil subsided as her wings disappeared, and her eyes were no longer slitted.

“How did you even learn this? I never told you how to do this.” Root said with surprise in her voice. “Hehe, am I amazing, mother?” Avvy asked with a playful smile on her face. “You are indeed amazing! Yes, this is fantastic! Once again I am glad it was you.” Root's voice sounded extremely cheerful as well.

Avvy maintained her outward appearance of a human with white hair and robes as they reached the edge of the forest. In front of them was a large field of nothing but grass and a dirt road further away. The sky was beginning to darken as Avvy along with Root made their way towards the road. 

Once they started walking on the road the sound of horses could be heard trotting from behind them. Looking back Avvy glimpsed the sight of a carriage following along the road. Avvy moved to the side quickly to let them pass, but as the carriage approached the horses came to a stop along with the carriage right next to Avvy. 

“Say, little girl, what are you doing out here so late? We are a few kilometers away from the village of Norful where I am heading.” The large coachman at the behest of the wooden carriage asked Avvy as he came to a sudden stop. “Mom, what should I do?” Avvy mumbled into her robes as soon as the man asked her. As long as she had her mom she wouldn’t be scared of anything. “Just tell him you were playing.” 

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“I was playing! Also, I am not a little girl! I am Avvy!” Avvy exclaimed to the man. “Haha, yes! My apologies Avvy, was it? Well you are certainly playing pretty far from town. Where are your parents?” The man asked with a hearty smile. As Avvy looked at the man she could tell he was a nice man. He was well built with brown hair and eyes and a deep scar on his cheek. His face portrayed that of a kind man. 

“My mom is with me right now!” Avvy said with a smile. As soon as the man heard this he frowned for a bit before his smile returned. “Do you need a ride back to the village?” The man was sure that her mother must be gone. It is not uncommon in this world after all. He really hoped she would accept his offer as monster attacks are pretty common around here at night.

After a while of Avvy seemingly whispering to herself she accepted his offer and climbed next to him on the carriage. “By the way my name is Orton. I am sorry for my rudeness, Avvy.” He said to the girl as she climbed on the carriage. “It is okay! My mother told me to forgive you!” She said with a bright smile. Orton looked sad for a moment, but returned her smile and just said “Right… After we go over this hill we should see the village a little off.” Orton said as the carriage began to move again.

As soon as they went over the hill they could see the small village of Norful off in the distance. The village only contained a few houses and shops because of its location away from the capital of Arbhor it was just a small farming village. The village primarily made its money from the trading of wheat. There were two entrances to the village, and there were small wooden gates on either side just big enough for a carriage to pass through. Usually there were no guards posted here in this remote village, but due to the current state of the kingdom there was one guard on either side of the village. Avvy and Orton were approaching from the south gate.

As they stopped at the south gate a guard in a black and golden uniform approached them. “I am going to need to see papers, Orton. I am sorry. It is the King's orders. I can waive the cargo inspection though. As you are a respectable merchant in the kingdom…” he was about to continue as he noticed the little girl next to Orton he stopped. “Nevermind, you may pass through.” 

“Huh?” Orton just looked at the man guard that was allowing them into the village, and then he looked at the girl next to him and noticed her white hair. “Oh, I see, thank you.” Avvy looked visibly confused at the conversation between the guard and Orton as she tilted her head and put a finger on her chin. Orton just allowed the horses to pull the carriage into the village and stopped next to the only inn at the center of the village. 

As they stopped Orton looked over at Avvy, and it looked like she wanted to ask him something. “What is it, Avvy?” Orton asked her as the carriage came to a stop next to the inn’s stables. “What did you and that man mean? Why did he say he wanted to check papers? Why did he let us through without checking papers?” Avvy asked.

“Oh that… You needn’t trouble yourself with that. It is a grown up problem. Let’s just say that the kingdom is not in an agreeable state right now, and your looks portray that of a noble family, but I won’t pry for now. It is late and I bet you are hungry?” Avvy looked like she wanted to argue, but stayed quiet nonetheless and just followed him into the inn. 

The inn was pretty small, and only had two floors. The inside of the inn had four small tables and a long counter at the back. Behind the counter was a middle aged woman with long black hair as well as eyes. She was on the chubbier side, and she was currently wearing a white apron over her brown dress. As soon as they entered the girl behind the counter looked at Orton, and then at the little girl. As her eyes moved over to the little girl she adorned a bright smile.

“I see you brought me something really cute for once, Orton! Where the hell did you find this little thing? Did you steal her? Oh god, my dear Orton has finally resorted to crime! Just what am I gonna do with you? You show up for the first time in months, and you expect me to partake in your stealing of little girls? Well, she is a real cutie…”

“And stop! First of all, I didn't steal anyone. Second of all  you need to stop your bad habit of jumping to conclusions, and lastly aren’t you being rude, Aila?” Orton really wanted Aila to just stop or he would kill over and die. Aila went in front of Avvy and bent down. “Right, I am sorry little one! I am Aila! Please tell me if this here Orton has wronged you in any way. I will personally do something about it.” she shot a piercing glance at Orton to which he just responded by shrugging.

“I am not ‘little one’ or ‘little thing’. I am Avvy.” Avvy replied, visibly distraught. Aila looked over at Orton who flashed a cheeky smile of victory by the little girl's antics. Aila looked back at the Avvy. “Right, I am sorry. You are Avvy!” Avvy just responded by puffing up her cheeks. This had the opposite effect on Aila as Avvy intended. Aila just responded by hugging Avvy’s head to her chest. “Can we keep her?”

“You know that can’t happen. Instead you should be getting her a room to sleep in. You useless woman.” Orton was getting impatient with Aila. With that Avvy was led to a small room at the back of the inn on the first floor. “Feel free to call on me if you need anything, my little Avvy! If you have a nightmare you can feel free to join me in my room!” Aila said as she closed the door to the room. 

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