Several days later.

I was sitting in the shroom garden at the back of the Dimhollow estate, as I came to call this unique place with phosphorescent mushrooms. I was presently drinking tea in a relaxed manner.

This was a pretty unusual situation, even if it wouldn't seem to be the case at first glance.

I took a small sip from the surprisingly strong drink. The comforting warmth of the tea gently warmed my body, which was always cold in this underground world.

Oh? The reason why I am still stuck in the estate instead of exploring the deeproads around the capital? Well... it was simple.

"He-he-he! Ha-ha-ha!" ─ The laughter of a pair of mischievous children echoed through the clearing. Soon enough, two young girls came into view as they ran around a nearby giant shroom, doing quick circles around the smaller ones, until they rushed into the pavilion and started to run around the sole table that served as my silent reprieve.

"Se-lo-ra, Se-lo-ra, Se-lo-ra!" ─ The girls chanted playfully. Seeing how I kept ignoring their plea for attention, they decided to start climbing into my lap, at which point I had to acknowledge their presence, lest I accidentally spill my hot tea over their heads.

"Now-now! Settle down, unless you want to flip the table on its side..." ─ I chided them in a tired voice. One child I could handle, but the moment there were two, the level of trouble they generated multiplied unreasonably.

They only laughed at my chiding while asking. ─ "Can we flip it, can we?"

"No." ─ I said in a firm voice.

"Awww~" ─ They answered simultaneously.

This was a perfect example in Bella's case. The girl, when alone, was a sweet potato (mostly); however, I got to realize that this wasn't exactly the case when her best friend dropped by for the entire afternoon.

"Selora~, you have to play with us! You are in big trouble otherwise, mister Emrum said so!" ─ Stated the so-called friend. A black haired and twin-tailed menace of a girl. Her most notable features were the large, silver-colored eyes, which were very similar to my own. She was a spoiled brat, but not to the level that it became obnoxious, even if it grated against that border sometimes. Her name was Elzmirra Silverrock, the youngest daughter of a dwarven noble house, one which often made business with the Dimhollows.

Bella chuckled at the reminder and didn't miss rubbing some salt in since her friend already threw up the figurative ball. I suspected the real reason was her being annoyed with me for constantly skipping her secret magic lessons. At this point, she was right to be mad. I just didn't know how to teach her. I didn't exactly learn magic myself.

"Yes! Big sister is being punished for running away with a girl!" ─ Hearing that, I almost spit out my tea. I coughed a few times before I could manage the question. ─ "W-where did you even hear that?" ─ I asked, not sure if I wanted to hear the answer. ─ She leaned her head to the side and answered innocently. ─ "Brother said it, and he heard it from grandpa after he got drunk, so it must be true." ─ The girl cheered energetically, while I cursed that old fool internally.

"You two must have wanted to play alone, right?" ─ Bella began, and I almost jumped out of my seat from fright. How much did that drunken idiot spill? ─ "Sometimes I also like to play with my friends separately, not all of my friends are friends with each other, and it can become tiresome when they keep arguing. Anyway, big sister has to play with us now, show us some pretty magic pleaseee~!" ─ Bella whined into my ears, while rubbing herself against my right side, until Mirra also noted the underhanded tactics' effectiveness and started mirroring her on my other side.

Pressed between a hard spot and a tight place, my defences quickly crumbled. ─ "Fine... but only a small one."

"YEAAHHH!!" ─ Both of them screamed, sending shivers across my body, as my ears kept flinching violently under the assault.

Soon enough, they dragged me to a clearing among the giant shrooms and waited for my magic enthusiastically. I sighed. I didn't even have my staff with me now, whatever, I have been practicing for this exact scenario, haven't I?

The edges of my lips quirked up a bit as a new idea took root, something I had never tried before. My control should be good enough by now. I turned to the two girls, making a strict expression. ─ "I will only do it if both of you girls promise not to touch the ice until I say you can."

They nodded. ─ "We promise!"

"Fine then... stand back a few steps." ─ I requested, and they followed. Taking one last glance at the girls to ensure their obedience, I turned forward and began my incantation.

"Winter of the coldest north, frozen rivers and blinding snow." ─ The air sharply dropped in temperature, making my skin prickle in the sudden cold breeze that concentrated around my person. ─ "Hear my woe! For those who do not fear, the coldest grasp of nature shall be the first to learn of its apathy." ─ The magic activated with a forboding sense of silence that seemed to seep into the very earth. The incantation's power was actively pulsing through my veins, a sensation that seemed to grow stronger the more I practiced with the spell.

I looked at the small clearing, imagining it filled with small flowers of various shapes. Flora from my old world, there were not many flowers I saw in the dwarven capital, in this depth and darkness, regular fauna didn't survive. What I have seen were depictions of flowers engraved on clothing or painted on the walls and windows of high-class businesses.

It took me some effort, straining my imagination to recall several flowers and manifest them in their general likeness. It was actually quite a good practice. With some effort on my part, the small clearing was soon covered in glistening white and blue flowers made with surprising detail. Meaning that I myself didn't expect such a good result. When I was done, I quickly cut off my magic, breaking the connection between myself and the ice. Doing so essentially turned my magical ice with an unnatural cold that would freeze anything that touched it aside from me, back into regular ice.

It could be freely touched by anyone and wouldn't do more than any normal ice. Unfortunately, or fortunately in this case, its supernatural toughness was also a thing of the past. It would melt and break easily as it was.

"It's done. You can touch it now, if you want." ─ I spoke to the girls, who were watching the scene with abated breath. I didn't have to tell them twice, as they bolted right beside me and in a second or two were kneeling beside the freshly created field of ice flowers. I could see the raw wonder in their eyes as they picked one flower after another and marveled at the foreign shapes created with meticulous detail.

I watched them with a warm smile until my eyes met with Bella's unexpectedly intense glare and noted the fierce pout on her face. Oh-o, a shiver ran over the entire length of my spine.

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~oOo~

Another week passed in a blink. Which wasn't that surprising, knowing how focused I was on an unexpected task that was simultaneously a matter of life and death.

After my little show of ice magic, we spoke our goodbyes to Mirra at the end of the day. At the time, I didn't yet know that Bella had decided to stop playing nice with me. After Mirra left, she straightout threatened me, that if I wasn't going to teach her my pretty ice magic, she was going to tell our daddy, I guess it was sweet of her to so readily share Emrum, that I am a really bad-bad girl who practices blood magic, and based on her imagination I would be at least confined to my room for the rest of the year.

There was no chance for me to get out of this, besides bending to the whims of a seven-year-old girl, and I had only myself to blame for that.

Therefore, for once, I did my best to try and teach magic to said girl.

It took me a lot of innovativeness and effort, but I actually managed to teach Bella a technique to stretch and control her magic without draining herself dangerously. Based on my own experiences, doing so will help her accumulate more mana over time. I left her with the instructions to practice it regularly, even if it was boring and didn't match the young girl's irrelevant expectations of learning magic. I reminded her that she was the one who asked me to teach her, and I never said it would be fun or easy. She kept grumbling like any child of her age would, but at least followed my instructions to the best of her abilities. She was quite cute, to be honest.

Well, at least I got her off my back for a while now. Don't misunderstand, I like her, but paired with Mirra, they were double trouble, so to speak.

Of course... If Alita's plan's worked out, we would already be in the middle of an exploration, and I was still not in the deep roads, evidently. Not that I wanted to go there so badly, but... to be fair... being treated like a young girl with an old man's soul was starting to get on my nerves. The fact that I was essentially in a confinment inside the estate for approximately ten days after spending a single night in the guild hall was annoying. Of course, I expected some repercussions, but ten fucking days... that was a hell of an overreaction.

We weren't even in any true danger... Then again... I kind of understand Emrum's thinking; he wanted to make a statement, I was not to go on another adventure without specifically telling them so. In a sense, I can't really complain. I am an elf, possibly the last of my kind, in a dwarven city. I didn't really think about the political ramifications that would follow my disappearance in dwarven territory.

Still... Alita was right about some things. We participated in a deadly battle not too long ago, knowing that, it feels comical that I got house confinement after a single night of revelry.

Mentioning Emrum, my intention to go beyond the gates in search of some unusual events earned me an adamant no and a few more days stuck at home.

This made me both annoyed and confused at the same time.

My stay in the Dimhollow's estate was starting to feel more like a partial imprisonment than a well-deserved vacation. I didn't know how to feel about that; my emotions were conflicting. I both understood and hated their reasoning with the rekindling of an old war happening at our doorstep; any venture into the deep was ten times more dangerous than it was beforehand. Even as I understood it logically, I still wanted to go. This underground world, no matter how spacious it was, started to feel suffocating. I could feel the endless layers of rock pressing down on my psyche, their weight growing with each passing day. It wasn't only me affected by this. I noticed that Aria was growing increasingly impulsive these days, which in her case meant you'd better run in the opposite direction when you see her. Unless you want to get scolded until you cry, Mirra learned that the hard way when she decided another elf essentially meant double the fun and jumped on her in the corridor without warning, only to get slapped.

Jeez, sometimes, Aria really goes over the board. I had to cajole the girl for an hour afterwards to calm her down. I worried that she might stop visiting Bella after that, but it turned out that I worried for nothing. The two of them instead decided to prank Aria, which I heard earned them some fierce spanking from the very same elf.

I shook my head, somewhat amused by the situation. I didn't plan to intervene in their dynamic. I barely got Aria off my back; I had no intention of getting her ire once again, specifically not so soon.

In my current situation, the only true relief came from the fruit of my magical practice. My mana levels have grown substantially, doubling if not tripling compared to what I had at the beginning. My control became refined and precise. I could create a magical armor around my body utilizing my ice magic, which was far lighter and even tougher than steel. Best of all, I didn't have to carry it around and could manifest it on command.

The only issue was that I am the only person who could wear it without being frozen, since my ice only felt warm to my own touch, oh, and if I accidentally bumped into an ally while wearing it... They would find some iceicles quickly becoming very attached to them.

~oOo~

A few more days passed, and I finally accepted Alita's invitation for a tea party. She was sending those invitations daily now, and I could see the growing frustration in her politely phrased requests. I couldn't postpone meeting her anymore, and simply ignoring her, after just apologizing for doing so, felt shameless.

I had no idea how to act around her now, and it was bothering me fiercely. The fact that she didn't mention in any way what happened back at the guild between us was bothering me. I could feel that this wasn't over; the tension she projected towards me was telling enough. How was I supposed to act in this nonsensical situation? It didn't feel right, but there was no way I could tell her my real problem. Absolutely no fucking way.

I shook my head and decided not to think about it. Not that simply thinking about this could solve anything in the first place.

The party will be held this afternoon at the Smith estate. I am not exactly dying to experience a tea party, but it can't be worse compared to staying home alone. Nerha took Bella to one of her other friends, while Emrum and his son were called for a meeting in the castle posthaste, along with various other nobles. Probably another one of those war meetings he participated in regularly.

One could easily forget this deep in the earth's silent embrace that there was a war currently raging in the world, threatening to spread its flames to every corner of Rixa. There were numerous clashes in the deep, too, but none could reach the gates of Bal Dorahl besides the initial surprise attack. The reason for such a large dark elven army to appear at our gates was also found and since then taken care of. The enemy has apparently discovered and reinforced a forgotten and previously believed to be collapsed deep road, which they used to unknowingly transport an army of their own deep inside dwarven territory. Since then, the Golden Company has recaptured the tunnel and, this time, permanently collapsed it. No more threats will come from that direction. It would be easier to dig a new tunnel from scratch than to cross that one again without being buried under a mile of stone.

It was what the rumors and official reports both said, and I believed them.

Hearing all the exciting news and developments while being locked in the estate was annoying. Fortunately, my confinement was over, and I wasn't willing to keep fiddling with my fingers alone in the house, nor visit the training fields and watch Aria beat up Camilla for the hundredth time. The old elf and the human redhead really hit it off after our heart-to-heart back in Camilla's retreat shack at the edge of the city. Since then, the two were constantly training together, which usually meant a one-sided beatdown by the elf. Still, I can't dismiss the change and variety in Camilla's reactions. She was lasting longer with every day, and sometimes she even manages to put Aria on the defensive, even if only for a short time.

It seemed that sharing my secret regarding blood magic with both of them had the unexpected side effect of tightening their relationship by leaps and bounds. There was a power in sharing such knowledge after all. Well, that or the two of them simply stick together to gossip about me. Neither of them missed the tension between Alita and me, nor my unusually silent self after spending a night at the guild with her. Of course, they noticed. Both of them were part of the escort that dragged me home afterwards. Emrum was really outraged that I didn't think it was important to mention my sudden outing. It didn't help my case to tell him we weren't supposed to stay out the whole night. The girls were teasing me over that whole fiasco nonstop. Telling each other in mock longing how fast children grow up, and such. It was humiliating, but since I kind of deserved it, I couldn't refute them.

I shook my head. No reason to cry over spilt milk.

Regarding Camilla's practice sessions... well...

It might take a hundred years for Camilla to actually pull a fast one on the wood elf, but against other, less experienced or vicious opponents, I could see how the redhead will eventually become a formidable foe. Camilla was already an experienced archer. Her main weakness was her fear of close-quarter combat. Something about to be a past issue rather than a current one.

I was proud of her development in that area.

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