Chapter 32: The Forgotten Lands, Part Ten

"What do you mean? How do we 'fight' the hatred here, or whatever?" Rin asked.

"It has a corporeal body," he responded. "Beneath this floor, lies the ruins of our old community. Within these ruins is the gathered manifestation of the hatred of every warrior who perished here, before and after the Curse struck. Find it and eliminate it, and we will all be released."

It was a heavy thing to consider. A part of Rin felt like it might be easier to just try and run. There was obviously a chance a skeleton would catch her mid-sprint with a sword, but she felt like that was undeniably better than just looking around for fights.

However, Xhez had a different look in her eyes altogether. With one glance, Rin could tell that she was close to having already made her decision.

So, Rin sighed and asked:

"We... We don't really have any weapons we can use against them though," she stated. "Xhez can throw [Fireballs], but not forever, and my fists were pretty much useless against those skeletons."

"... I see," nodding, Jessen paused. "I can mitigate this issue if you would promise to fight for us."

"... How?" Rin asked.

"A gift," he replied, then. "The undead were a very common enemy to humanity, even before what happened here. Fire is the most effective tool against them, and so, much work went into honing fire-based abilities to fight them. I would teach you an ability, one a hand-to-hand combatant could use, to aid you in your battles. You did say you fight with your fists, right?"

"Yes," Rin answered.

"Then, in that case, do not fear. Accept this task for us, and you will be given a weapon to use against your enemies."

[... Now, that sounds good,] Rin thought as she looked over at Xhez.

"What do you think?" She asked.

"W-Well, we should help," Xhez quickly answered, which Rin had predicted. "These spirits, Rin, they are being tied down to this place, unable to reach their next lives. We have to help them!"

As Rin heard that, she sighed.

[Yeah, I could just run,] she shook her head, [but... I'd rather have Xhez with me than leave her here. And it seems pretty clear that she's not just gonna abandon this place, so...]

"Okay," Rin said. "We'll do it then."

"... Good," Jessen responded. "In that case, please, wait just a second."

Taking a deep breath, Rin did just that. A moment later, a rose-colored string came out from the spirit's chest passed through the air, swirling as it landed on Rin's own. Her body grew hotter and hotter until it was almost unbearable. But, suddenly, it stopped.

And Rin felt knowledge of a new ability manifest in her mind.

"Spirit Flame," she muttered.

"Yes," the spirit replied. "Fire, in and of itself, is already a powerful tool against the undead. This flame elevates that strength and is even more useful against them. With it, you will be able to rid this land of its corruption."

"But... I'm not a mage," Rin shrugged. "Wouldn't it be better to give this to Xhez?"

"The sprite possesses far more Essence than you do," the spirit agreed, "however, this is not an ordinary form of magic. It is one born out of the combined hopes of all our souls, and as such, not only does it not consume as much Essence as other spells but its strength is dictated by your own willpower and might. In other words, grow in strength, grow in courage, and this ability will grow alongside you."

Hearing that, for some reason, Xhez said:

"O-Oh..."

"Hm?" Rin turned toward her. "What is it?"

She sighed.

"Sprites cannot grow stronger, physically..." she let Rin know. "That is likely why this ability is being given to you."

[Ah, so that's it,] Rin nodded.

"As for the sprite, if she was able to locate us like this, she should already have enough tools to fight the corruption."

"With the [Fireball] you taught me," Xhez told Rin, "I should be able to continue helping."

"Yeah..." Rin said as she looked down at her hands. "Let me try this out first. Before we do anything else."

And so, Rin took a deep breath. The spell she'd been given functioned in a unique and interesting way. It had a spellsign, but, the spellsign wasn't drawn with her hands. It was to be drawn in her mind.

So, Rin closed her eyes and pictured it. Her own body along with a single ember in a dark room, flowing in in this empty space. It spun in circles, traced a few strange shapes, and then finished by spinning around Rin multiple times.

And, when Rin opened her eyes, her hands and feet were covered in a white flame.

"By the Divine..." Rin muttered as she looked down at herself. The knowledge she'd received let her know that the flame would last for an indefinite amount of time until Rin herself extinguished it with a thought. That said, she only had enough Essence to cast this spell once maybe every thirty minutes.

"With this gift," the spirit said, "you have what you need."

Rin nodded.

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"Where do we have to go?" Rin asked. "I didn't see anything like what you said while we were coming here."

"You will have to enter Derain itself to find the source of this hatred. To do so, head that way," the spirit told her, pointing to its right. "Eventually, you will encounter an elevator. That elevator will take you into our ruined town. And, in that place's heart, you will find the enemy."

Hearing that, Rin was relieved to be given some direction.

"Xhez," she said, turning toward her. "Is it time to rest?" She asked and Xhez replied:

"I need to gain my Essence back. After that, we can begin."

"Alright," Rin replied, extinguishing the fire. "Come on, let's sit down."

---

{Maria}

Without Rin to teach in the evenings, it was shocking to Maria to realize how badly her days dragged on and on without her student to train. She would generally pass the time by meditating, practicing, or walking around the academy, but no matter how long she did these for, eventually, she would always reach a point where all she could do was sit down and look out the wall, letting her eyes rest on the landscape beyond the city.

Every now and then, someone would come and knock on her door. Maybe to ask for some tips, or clarification on a technique or two that she taught in class, or for something else entirely. This was one of those times, as someone tapped on the door behind her, and Maria stood up.

Walking over to it, she opened the door and found Harriton standing there.

"Harriton?" Maria asked, raising a brow. The Essence teacher barely ever paid her any visits like this. "What do you need?"

"Well, miss, if you've got the time, Mannon would like you to write a little letter for him."

"A letter?" Maria asked, crossing her arms.

"To... Rin's family."

"..." At that, Maria sighed. "I see."

It was fairly easy to understand why he would want that. Simply put, it meant Mannon had all but lost hope that Rin would be found. Admittedly, Maria was walking down that same mental path as well. Still, hearing this did make it feel far more real to her.

"Do I need to cover anything specifically?"

"No, no, just let them know what happened and... Try not to give them any false hope, is all."

"... I understand. But, why me?"

"Well, it wasn't exactly a secret that you were training the girl in private," Harriton shrugged. "Mannon figures you knew her better than the rest of us."

"Hm... I didn't get much time to truly 'know' her, but, I suppose that's true," Maria nodded. "I'll get to it then."

"Gotcha," Harriton bowed a little. "I'll let Mannon know."

With that, Maria closed the door and she heard the Essence teacher walk away. Sighing, she turned away from the door and walked back to the spot where she'd been sitting. Here, she thought about it.

[... What should I even say?] She wondered.

This wasn't the first time she'd had to do something like this. Other students had gotten hurt in the past, or worse, and she'd always been the one to take the pen and inform the families involved. Still, this time, she thought it would be hard to write anything without going into a rant halfway through about how much she blamed Cara for this.

And, maybe that would feel good to write at the moment, but in the long run, such a thing would only further hurt the Academy, and the Guild's, reputations.

So, trying to be reasonable, she started to think about what she was going to say.

"Dear Mr. or Mrs. Asahiro," she muttered, "we at the Academy regret to inform you that your family member, Rin, suffered a tragic accident while..."

Already, she was tempted to toss some blame in Cara's direction.

"... After which," she skipped over it though, "a great effort was made to find her..."

She trailed off again, but this time, for a different reason.

[Yes,] she sighed. [A great effort was made. By everyone but me.]

Glaring at nothing in particular she balled her hands up into fists. Looking out into the world, some anger bubbled inside of her, before it all dissipated in an instant, leaving her with nothing but her own pathetic fears to focus on.

"I-I can't..." She muttered. "I just..."

And so, she continued to sit there, as a single tear came out of her right eye.

Alone, overwhelmingly powerful, but too scared of reliving old tragedies to do anything about this.

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