Under the Light of the World at War: Early Chapter 28

Riding a Hawkstrider was a very strange situation, it wasn’t like a horse or something, it was a completely different beast. Literally.

But Mama knew how to ride so I mostly just clung on and tried to enjoy the experience.

That and I considered the situation.

The Stag had been powerful, and a reminder that even if I got the point I could fight Trolls there were stronger things out there. I still needed to get stronger, and that was the problem. I was a good all arounder right now, but my offense was weak, and I didn’t have enough defense. I really wish I had some armor, but I don’t. Even my shield was a torn apart mess, no longer good for much.

I needed equipment, better spells, and the force to be able to use them. 

There were a few paths I could take. I could focus on Mana Bolt, try to get my blaster magic strong enough to help.

I had a bow on my back, and could make infinite arrows. I could start shooting and not stop until either the Trolls were dead, or I was.

Or…

I looked at my hand. It was the path I had wanted the most, but I’d always felt like I wasn’t ready, like I couldn’t reach it. 

Holy Light had changed, or maybe I had. Either way it cost less than it had before. I could grind it now, and if I could grind it, I could improve. A Healer was useful in war, but I wouldn’t be able to stop the Trolls myself, then again, thinking I could solo a Troll super army when I was twelve was silly as well…

And maybe I would get… No, not maybe. I would.

And when I master Holy Light, I would start on my path to being a Paladin. I wouldn’t maybe become a Paladin. I would.

So stop hesitating, stop holding back Alah’Dorah, and become the Paladin you chose to become!

I breathed in deep, the smell of Mama’s hair in my nose was re-assuring even if after a few days of wilds the soap she used on it was fainter than usual. 

I’d been scared. Not during the fight exactly, that had been too much adrenaline shooting through me but after. It was scary to realize you had almost died, that one wrong move, and that would have been your end. 

I think this was more Hardcore mode, than PVE. 

So stop overthinking it, and just do.

The decision was reassuring, I had decided, and so now it was time to grind.

I conjured some water, letting the waterskin land in my hands with the normal magical noise.

“Dorah?”

“Just getting some water.” I told her, and I held out my hand. “I’m gonna practice my Healing spell for a bit.”

“Okay. Don’t fall off.” Mama said partially teasing and I nodded into her back so she could feel it.

“I won’t.” Then I let my desire fill me. I would cast this spell until I mastered it, and I wouldn’t allow it to keep skewing the mana costs up and up.

I had always intended to refine Holy Light soon, but I kept pushing it back for other things. No more. If it cost too much, I’d refine it. If it still costs too much, I’d force it. It was time to grind.. No matter what. 

I cast the spell, aiming at the Hawkstrider first, and it definitely perked up when the light flowed over it. “Dorah careful.” Mama said as the Hawkstrider didn’t freak out, but definitely jerked at the strange feeling.

But it was fine, and Mama kept going.

Less than half of my current Mana… With Mage Armor, and Arcane Intellect, hopefully I could keep the regeneration going. 

I guess it would be good practice for El’Tela’s teaching. That and I did have Evocation as well.

Sorry Mama, but your daughter is going to be a little busy back here.

I cast the spell again, dropping it on myself, and then taking a drink. “Eugh.” I groaned, it wasn’t even giving me that much mana back, as the water just wasn’t very good. Not like El’Tela Crystal Decanter water.

But fear was a great motivator. Plus it meant I was training the crappy water too.

The cloying gross taste in my mouth was good motivation to keep working.

“Holy Light.” I whispered as the spell filled the dirt road with light for a moment, once I was able to cast it again.

Then I took another drink.

“Eugh.”

“What are you doing?”

“Torturing myself.” I admitted, then took a breath and took another drink. Only when I was fully drained did I use Evocation as well. And even then only every once in a while.

Using Evocation over and over tended to hurt. Like a cramping muscle, you simply couldn’t just push through eventually, hit the point where you had to stop using it for a while. I was kinda hoping that leveling the spell would leave me able to use it more often, but until then, I just needed to synergize.

Water, Mage Armor, Arcane Meditation, and Evocation all working to try and keep the grind going for longer. 

Just keep grinding.

—--

The next village was larger than home, but thankfully more normal as well. There were still rich noble buildings, but also more normal sized homes showing this was actually a place to live.

Mama steered us into the Stables, and while I was a bit sore from riding it wasn’t much. Holy Light constantly healing myself left me feeling fairly refreshed.

But my mouth was die. Totally die. Not dead. Just die.

I needed something to wash the taste out with. “Okay, let’s see if this ranger tower has a message bird this time.”

Nodding, I followed along as Mama rushed to the tower, and while the ranger there wasn’t Mama’s professionalism he reminded me of Cal more than anything. He did have a bird, and took the matter more seriously.

“Belore, look at those. How big was this thing?”

“Big.” Mama admitted. She didn’t have the fur on her back anymore, that was currently in the stable with the Hawkstrider, but still.

“And arrows did nothing?” He asked, looking a bit annoyed.

“Nothing, pin pricks. Had to use Arcane Arrows to do anything.”

“Well that’s not good. I don’t know how to make them.”

“Me either.” Mama said frustrated, and the Ranger sent her a look.

“My Daughter is a prodigy, she picked it up.” Mama said and I just smiled as the man looked at me.

“Yeah, alright.” He said a little confused at my age no doubt.

Mama sent me a look. “Is there a place to eat around here?” She asked the Ranger, and he nodded.

“Ca’Loah, she’s got a little place. It’s good.”

“Dorah, why don’t you go get some food, I’ll join you once I got this all sorted?” Mama said, and then reached into a pocket and pulled out a few silver, and some copper coins.

“Sure.” I agreed instantly, as Mama was obviously wanting to focus on this message. I took the coins and headed out, but stopped for a moment. We’d put the Hawkstrider in the stable, but hadn’t really done much else before rushing away.

I walked over and checked her.

There was food in the Stable so she was snacking away so I walked over and unloaded her. Placing our bags to the side, and making sure she could rest for a bit.

“Good girl.” I whispered, brushing my hands through her feathers and she just ignored me, choking down the food that was left out for the Hawkstriders that would use the stable.

Patting her I moved on, and without much effort found the little restaurant. The smell of food was easily noticeable, as well as the little cafe style seating outside. It was nice, quaint, I think would be the right word.

I took a seat outside, so I could keep an eye out for Mama, and the nice lady running it soon had some really yummy little pastries with gooey cheese and meat inside them. 

Taking my time as it washed away the awful taste of soap in my mouth I looked out over the village. It was peaceful.

But only for so long. 

Only until it wouldn’t be. Right, not the time to fall behind.

“Holy Light.” I whispered and grimaced as it drained a majority of my Mana. “Uuugh! Stupid spell! Stop changing your energy requirements!” I groaned as I leaned back staring up past the wooden slats above the cafe area into the blue sky above. 

Light was so stupid. I really had to figure this out, and get the grind done… I couldn’t exactly refine the spell while I was traveling, and I didn’t have paper now, but… Well I had some water.

Okay.

Ice magic, and water, let me slowly draw the design on the table with frosted water, that’s Holy Light, it didn’t make much sense if I looked at it like an Arcane spell. Things were looser, less rigid, it was more…

Emotional.

That was fine, but not good enough. The spell was barely a spell compared to an Arcane cast. It was like creating a blueprint of a spell and filling 80% of it with ‘I just want it.’

It would take a different framework from Arcane, and it left me thinking that Arcane would be easier. I could just math it out, and be done with it.

Only.. When had math become my strong suit?

“Heehee?” I laughed at the idea that I was any good with math, but… I kinda was?

Sure I wasn’t really using a lot of math for my Arcane spells, instead I was basically doing the opposite just slamming my head into it over and over testing all the differences I could make, but between my system, and upgrades I was succeeding.

I was more an emotional type, than a math one. And if Light Spells needed the emotion I would just have to do it… But first?

I really needed to hit level 10 with Holy Light. It should increase my understanding of the spell by a lot.

[Holy Light Lv. 6 56/60]

I could do that.

No, I had to do that.

“Holy Light.” I whispered, my Mana having regenerated enough with the water supplied by the shop, and this time its cost was greatly reduced. 

I would get this down!

—--

“Dorah?”

“Huh, Mama! You done?”

“For now. I sent the message off to one of the large stations, and they can spread it out from there. I came to check on you. I’m going to take care of the Hawkstrider, and then-”

“I already did! Come eat.” I said patting the table and Mama sort of blinked.

“You did?”

“Yep! I took off our bags, and made sure she had food, and she seemed pretty happy.”

“Oh… Good. Thank you.” Mama said, smiling a bit at the fact that a task was already done. She walked over and sat with me, flopping back into the chair after a moment and just exhaling.

Heh. I did that too.

Mama soon had an order, and when it arrived she started devouring it, it was obvious both of us were tired, but she had definitely been pushing herself.

“Are we gonna head home now?”

“Yes. I’m taking you home.”

“That’s an oddly specific thing to say.” I replied back, and Mama smiled a bit amused at my words.

“I’m not liking what I’m seeing, I’m going to get Liennar, and we are going to check some things out.”

“Troll things?”

“Yes my Light, Troll things.”

“Be careful.”

“Always… Usually.” She said her voice stuttered for a moment as she winced. 

“Mama?”

“I’ll be more careful. I promise.”

“No one could have known that Stag was going to be like that. You said it yourself you were caught off guard.” I said, catching on to the problem. And Mama winced. 

“I should have watched it more. I rushed in, because I was worried it was going to disappear again.” She admitted sighing, and putting her head in her hands, then she rose up. “I nearly killed you Dorah, My Light. So please, if nothing else. Learn from my mistakes. Always, always prepare before leaping into things.”

“Okay.” I wasn’t sure how good at that I would be, but Mama was right. It was important to scout things out properly.

“Good… That’s a good girl. You done eating?”

“Mhmm.”

“Okay we are staying here tonight, I’m waiting for a message back, but we should be on the road home tomorrow.”

—--

“These are okay.” Mama said checking out an arrow in a shop.

“Preciate that.” The carpenter that made them said a bit flatly.

Mama just smirked.

“Ten for twenty.”

“Ten for thirty.”

“These? Without a head?”

“The shaft are solid Even Sprig, and those are Dragonhawk feathers.”

“Without a head. Twenty five, no more.”

“I’ll give you the head at a discount, but you won’t find better. Twenty seven.”

“You fix my daughters shield, and I’ll call it twenty seven.” Mama said and I blinked looking away from the wall of shields that I’d just been scoping out.

“Hmm. That’s not a shield, it’s the remains of one. It’ll be costly.”

“The brass is still good, only needs the wood.”

“Not as easy as you want to say it is… Forty.”

“Highway robbery. Thirty five.”

“Now who is robbing who? You’re a Ranger, so I’ll give you a discount, thirty eight, not a copper less.”

“Thirty Eight.” Mama said, instantly and dropped some of her coins onto the table and the Carpenter nodded, passing her the arrows, and then waving me over. 

“Let’s see it. Whew, that’s some damage, I see those horns as well. That what did it?”

“Yeah.” I replied as I slipped off my shield and passed it over. 

“Lucky to be alive then, the shield did good work. I’ll make sure it’ll do good work again.” He said confident. “It’ll take me some time for this.”

“We’re leaving in the morning.”

“You jest.”

“If you can get it done, I’ll agree to that fourty.” Mama said and the man grumbled, looking it over. 

“Yeah alright. Forty. But you’ll be robbing me of a good night's sleep.”

“A fair deal.” Mama replied and the man actually chuckled.

“Alright anything else?”

“No, that'll do us. My thanks.” Mama replied and we headed out. 

“Thank you.” I whispered and mama sent me one of her big smiles. 

“Can’t let your gift stay damaged like that. Besides, it saved your life so it was worth it.”

“Mhmm. I want to do more spell training.”

“Yeah? Okay. Why don’t you do that? I’ll go wait for the response, try not to wander off, this isn’t home. We’re staying at the tower tonight.”

“Yes Mama.”

I hurried away deciding the best place to practice was with a willing, or at least a target that couldn’t refuse.

“Hey there, rest okay?” I asked, as I slipped into the stable and saw the Hawkstrider laying back down, brooding again. She lifted her head giving me a look with her eyes. I hesitated a bit before wandering closer, and then slowly reaching out. The bird quirked its head not sure what to take of the action, but slowly I was able to get in and pet through it’s long neck. The feathers were weird, thick and fluffy up there, and it didn’t seem to mind.

Soon she relaxed back down, seemingly content to ignore me. I took a position resting against her which she ignored and prepared my spell grind.

“Holy Light.” I whispered, causing her to fluff up a bit, but she got used to it and was soon snoozing away as I cast spell after spell.

—--

[Holy Light Lv. 7 1/70]

[Conjure Refreshment Lv.9 40/90]

I managed to level both spells through simple repetition. Conjure Refreshment really was a miserable experience, but it let me cast Holy Light just that much faster. I stretched out a bit, the giant fluffy bird cushion was nice and comfy.

“You’re a good girl aren’t you?” I asked, and the bird opened her eyes, looking at me for a moment before just closing them and returning to her nap.

Yeah.

“Hmm… You don’t have a name do you? At least that one Ranger didn’t name you. Gotta figure out a good name for you. What do you think? Any preference?”

My question was ignored, and I just grinned. “How about Drowsy huh?” No response. I laughed, it wasn’t a good name, maybe something else cute… “Chocobo. I’ll name you Chocobo. It’s not really a name, it's what you are, but it works.” I decided, reaching up and stroking along her feathers which she ignored. 

I sat back up. Okay. Back to grinding. The sun was still up, and I was more than willing to keep working until I fell asleep, or until I got Holy Light to Level.

—--

When Holy Light leveled again. I had to really stop and firm up my emotions because the mana cost had surged again. Each cast was a massive drain on my Mana, even as I hyped myself up and screamed internally, that I would level this spell!

[Holy Light Lv. 8 4/80]

And that was just level 8, not even level 9… Dammit! At least I had gotten a benefit out of it.

[Conjure Refreshment Lv 10 40/100] [Apprentice Mastery] [Mastery Benefit +5 Spirit]

Not only did Conjure Refreshment keep leveling, it also finally tasted good!

Well not good, but it was just normal water! No more soapy dish water, it was just… Water.

I hadn’t tried the muffin yet, but I had some hope. 

Either way I was pacing around the stable. It was getting dark, but I’d cast a light spell around so it was well lit as I worked myself up.

“I can do this. No, I will do this! I will not be stopped! I will become a greater healer! So stop fighting me, you won’t win!” I growled as I paced back and forth in the hay that was laid out. 

Chocobo completely ignored me after the first bit of talking to myself so I didn’t bother her. 

Okay, I had this! I could do this! Just cast the spell!

“Holy Light!” I growled throwing the light at Chocobo and it washed over her. The mana cost was still a lot, but I had brought it down. Man trying to keep myself in the right headspace for the spell was hard. 

It was Conviction. I had to be utterly convinced I was doing the right thing. No, not even the right thing. I just had to be convinced I was right.

And I was. Leveling my Holy Light, becoming more capable as a Healer and hopefully unlocking more through it, was absolutely the correct path! There was no other. I would not fail!

Holy Light!

The stable was once more aglow and I fell to my knees. Breathe rushing out of me. Tired. I was really tired, but I wasn't out of mana. Just tired.

“Evocation.” I whispered, bringing my arms up, and feeling the world filling back into the empty space where my Mana had been.

My body clenched, as the power flowed. I felt almost sore from overusing it, but Holy Light Helped, and leveling Evocation had decreased the length of the cooldown.

“Dorah! Is that you?” Mama called out and I stopped casting, letting the lightning fade as Mama stuck her head in. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah! Just tired, working hard.”

“Okay, well we’re leaving in the morning, come in and get some sleep.”

“Okay.” I agreed, wiping my forehead of sweat and Mama frowned at the sight, but she didn’t say anything, just looking me over and nodding after a while.

“Why don’t we get a bath going as well.”

“Oh! I can help. I finally got my Conjure Refreshment to the point the water is nice.”

“Oh!?” Mama said, sounding shocked. 

“Yeah see?” I grabbed the Water skin I conjured and handed it to her, and after a hesitant moment she took a sip and then blinked.

“Dorah?”

“Yeah?”

“I think this is the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen you do.” She said and then started laughing at my put out expression.

“Mama!”

“I’m serious! It’s rare to see anyone manage to learn how to make something better than disgusting water! I’m really impressed!”

“I cast Arcane Arrow!”

“I’ve seen a lot of idiots manage that. But this?”

“That’s so mean!” I said laughing as she wrapped her arm over my shoulder and we both laughed as we headed inside.