Chapter 5: Welcome to Magna City, Part 3

"I still have matters to attend to. I have to go," I declared.

"What…"

I finally had the chance to say it. It's unbelievable that it took me a while to tell Mariana that I needed to leave. I should've left her on her own as soon as we entered the city gates, but I got pulled by her familiar nature once again. Was familiar even the right term? I'm not even sure. However, I concluded unless anyone mustered enough courage to decline her about something, she could make anyone agree to anything without second thoughts.

"Don't worry, I'll accompany you until you reach Nightingale. Let's go," I said as I started heading in the direction of the Nightingale Inn that Robert mentioned.

"Hey, wait Sir Ignis, do you want me to join you?" she suggested.

This is what I was talking about. I'm unsure if it's her face or the way she talked, but she had this ability to persuade me to agree to everything that she asked of me. It's truly annoying, but what's more vexing is the fact that it always worked. I felt like I'm being hallucinated or persuaded magically.

Was it her personality? No, I didn't think so. Her antics were only irritating at best and rage-inducing at worst, maybe. I hadn't experienced that yet, and I didn't want to.

I leered at her and there she was, flashing a charming smile under the light of illuminant pillars.

So it was her charm. The Lady of Sickle used to smile at me like that too every time she needed me for anything, and it never failed her. Not even once. Unfortunately for Mariana, she lacked the experience to use it properly.

I shook my head in response to her invitation. "I will have to decline. This does not concern you anymore."

A firm refusal.

Unless I gave her a firm refusal, she wouldn't quit. Four hours of her nonstop bombarding has given me enough wisdom on how to deal with her.

She scratched her chin, seemingly thinking of another plan. Then, she suggested, "Then how about I just accompany you until before you reach your destination?"

What was she saying?! I almost slapped my hand on my face. Still, her suggesting another foolishness meant that I wasn't firm enough.

"Stop saying nonsense. Didn't you say that you risked your life so you could study in Arcanus?"

This left her speechless. Her shoulders noticeably slumped, and her lips pouted as she said that she understood.

Negotiations over. Now, all I had to do was escort her to the inn, then I'd be free from being her caretaker.

According to Robert, Nightingale Inn was near the inner wall which separated the Mixed and Common district and was on the other side from where we are currently. There are many closer inns from where we were at that time, but he said that it would be too expensive for a girl who claimed she only had 50 silver coins in her pocket.

The path we were currently treading on was unlike the one that could be seen on the main road. This road was only fit to be traversed by pedestrians. The houses here were also close-packed, unsanitary, and some were even dilapidated. There were still illuminant pillars here, so the path was still visible, although it felt like this wasn't enough to guarantee that trouble wouldn't ensue from here.

The people here, on the other hand, looked much different. One glance at them and you'd notice that almost everyone here was walking with their eyes nailed on the ground. The smiles and laughter that could be heard from the people on the main road were absent in this area and it made the place dead-quiet. My ears could distinguish only the horseshoe of Mariana's mount hitting against the cobblestone road.

When I happened to land my eyes on Mariana, I realized she must have realized the same thing. This became even more evident when she decided to unmount and walk alongside me without uttering a single word.

Unsurprisingly, she decided to break the silence. "Isn't this place a little scary?" she whispered while leaning close to me.

I just ssh'd her.

"O-okay…"

It's fine if she felt that way, but the surrounding people might hear, and I didn't want to attract any attention.

As we approached an intersection, I overheard a conversation of two men standing under the light of one of the illuminant pillars.

"Hahaha! Man, it was really fun last night. I told ya to come, but you left me all alone in there. You missed the opportunity to taste-"

"Hey, someone's comin'…"

It appeared that they noticed us. They stopped their idle chatter and studied us with their rat-like eyes before opting to approach.

"What brings the both of you 'round these parts?" The guy who was laughing a while ago spoke first. This man was quite tall, standing at around three adults' arms' length. His muscles were also bulging in all the right places.

"Yes, and you, young lady. How can we help you?" The other man said with a sinister grin displaying his rotten teeth. This man was so skinny, I could visibly see his bones around his arms and shoulders.

Mariana slowly crept behind my shoulders without answering. Seeing this, the two men chuckled in unison and assured us they wouldn't bring us any harm. They told us it's their first time seeing us so they'd like to assist us in reaching our destination, saying that the place was still dangerous despite these artifacts scattered alongside the street.

They looked highly suspicious, but I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. One should not judge others based on their appearances, the Lady of Sickle once said.

I told them we were heading to the Nightingale Inn, to which they happened to know the location, so they suggested that they'd guide us to reach the place safely. Naturally, I gladly accepted their offer.

I hope nothing fun happens. I thought to myself.

***

"Hey!" I whispered to Sir Ignis. "Are you out of your mind?!"

I was absolutely sure that these guys would spell trouble, so I got afraid that they approached us, even if they claimed they would help us and other things.

But for some reason, Sir Ignis kindly accepted their offer. What was this guy thinking?! frantic,he have a death wish?

"Calm down…" he quietly replied.

"What do you mean calm down? Are you insane?! I don't want to die…" I started getting frantic but he didn't seem to care at all.

"I said calm down. Remember when I said that I'll teach you how to cast your magic properly? How about I teach you right now?" he suggested. He was not whispering anymore, and he looked more relaxed and carefree.

"Hey what's happening to you? You're starting to scare me, you know…"

"Just pay attention. I'd only tell it to you once so you better listen." he paused for a bit to see if I was willing to listen.

I didn't really want to do this but fine.

"Explain to me the spell you called 'icebolt'," he then demanded.

Reluctantly, I briefly explained how this beginner water spell worked based on the explanations I've read in grandpa's books and simplified it to him.

To cast icebolt, the water mage must first absorb mana from their elemental ring through their ring finger. It was said that this finger was directly connected to a person's heart, allowing the mage to freely disperse the absorbed mana throughout his body once collected.

When enough mana was accumulated, the mage must then concentrate on the image of mana forming in the shape of a spear in front of his palm. However, that was when the explanation became vague, as the book stated next was to keep practicing until the mage got the grasp on forming mana. Eventually, it said, the mage would definitely be able to form spear-shaped ice. The last thing was to cast the name of the spell, which would ultimately lead it to what it was supposed to do.

"That was a lousy explanation…" he commented afterward.

"I just got it from the book!" I retorted.

He only ignored me and spoke. "Try doing it like this," he leaned closer to whisper in my ear. "First, you have to… Then, the water… After that,… Finally, just follow what the book told you and cast the spell. Understood?"

I scratched my head after listening to his explanation.

What are molecules?

Nevertheless, I answered, "I did, but how would I be able to know if you're telling the truth?"

"You'll know soon…" he said, his face then turned blank.

Confused, I quickly scanned the surroundings, and it finally came to me why he taught me all of a sudden. These people had lured us into a trap!

"Nobles really are stupid…" The tall guy suddenly stopped and turned around. "Didn't ya learn that the outskirts of the Common district are dangerous for bastards like you?!" he started laughing maniacally.

So this was their plan all along. They tried to lead us to a dark path to accomplish their nefarious deeds under the pretense of helping us find our destination.

"Ah, the cries of a scum in society. It was all too familiar..."

Sir Ignis' taunt visibly irked the tall guy. He cracked his neck and his knuckles in response.

"You made him angry idiots, hahaha!" the skinny guy cackled evilly.

"Diiieeee!" The tall guy charged forward to sir Ignis, his fist ready to punch him.

"On my mark, use icebolt on me," sir Ignis commanded.

"W-what?! No, I won't-"

"Trust me, alright..." With those words, he tilted his head slightly, enough to dodge the attack he received.

Having left with no choice, I quickly tied Star's reins on my body and quickly recalled his instructions a while ago.

While I was doing this, sir Ignis was busy dodging the tall guy's attacks. Every punch, kick and grab almost hit him, but he never once lost balance. His movements were just enough to avoid his enemy's aggression without getting grazed, as if he had this fight perfectly calculated in his head. Because of this, the skinny guy tried to join the fight, but it seemed to have hurt the pride of his friend so he punched him in the face, which sent him flying to a nearby wall.

Eeeeekk!

"Mariana, are you ready?!" Sir Ignis reminded me.

"Give me a minute!" I answered, panicking.

I need to focus.

I closed my eyes and concentrated my attention on my elemental ring. I imagined the mana getting seeped by my nerves, slowly being condensed into my chest. After I felt I had enough mana, I quickly sent this mana to my palm.

I opened my eyes afterward, allowing me to witness the ball of water that floated in front of my right palm.

Last, with Sir Ignis' instruction added to the mix, I commanded my mana to mold the ball of water to the shape of a spear and lowered its temperature until it finally froze, and pointed my palm toward Sir Ignis.

"I'm ready!" I yelled at him.

"On three!" he answered.

"One…"

"Two…"

"Three! Now, Mariana!"

"[Icebolt]!" I cast.

WOOSH.

The bolt of ice swiftly flew in the direction of sir Ignis, but before it could hit him, he immediately dropped his body to the floor — opening the path for the raging spell to hit his enemy to the chest. The impact had sent this large man flying to an illuminant pillar four houses away, breaking the artifact, and leaving him unconscious.

The sheer power of the spell made my jaw drop.

Sir Ignis, after having recovered from being planted on the floor, wiped the dust off his hands and commented, "Nice spell… and hair. It suits you."

Perplexed by his other compliment, I picked up a few strands of my hair and it finally made sense; the black hair that grandma used to brush before I went to bed was now completely dyed in sapphire blue.