51 – Gifts

Vivi had [Blinked] Saffra around a few times now, so the girl had developed resilience to spatially-induced nausea. Nevertheless, [Greater Warp] was an order of magnitude more powerful, so when the two of them popped into existence atop Prismarche’s wall, her tail dropped to the floor and she went pale in the face.

“That’s really unpleasant,” she groaned, a hand shooting to press against her stomach. After a few seconds of breathing deeply, she shook herself, and her color returned.

Her gaze drifted across the pine forest on the other side of the city’s perimeter, eyes widening at what she saw. “A warp spell. That’s how you got back so fast for the Convoy, isn’t it?”

“It is.”

Saffra didn’t seem surprised. She knew the extent of Vivi’s abilities in a general sense by now. Even an approximation of her level—or at least that she was above 1900.

“It took me two months to get to Prismarche,” Saffra muttered. She sounded genuinely irritated, though not at Vivi. “Must be nice to snap your fingers and cross the continent.”

“It certainly is convenient.”

“Why didn’t you use one to get to Meridian?”

“It takes spatial anchors. The ones I’d placed in Meridian had expired.”

“Oh. How long do they last?”

“A while,” Vivi said, querying that vast mental repository of magical knowledge. “They degrade faster in areas of high atmospheric mana. In most of the human kingdoms, they’ll last several decades.”

“Can they be renewed? Did you forget?”

Saffra was only asking out of earnest interest, Vivi could tell. Who wouldn’t be fascinated by super-high-tier magic? She would have been disappointed if her apprentice hadn’t asked questions.

“More or less,” Vivi said vaguely. She hadn’t forgotten to renew her anchors; she’d arrived in this world a hundred years after they’d, presumably, expired naturally. If they’d existed at all.

At the answer, Saffra seemed to realize she was asking questions maybe she shouldn’t—though Vivi hadn’t minded. She reined herself in, and green eyes turned back out to the pine forests.

“We’re here for ice monsters,” she guessed. “Since those are weak to fire. You’re going to take me over the Granite Spines?”

“That’s the plan.” She supposed it wasn’t an impressive deduction, but she gave the girl credit for figuring it out so quickly. “I know a hunting ground dense with ice elementals. Ones that’ll be especially weak to [Scorchlance] because of the impact factor. Brittle, and weak to heat.”

“Sounds fun,” Saffra said cautiously. A shiver went through the girl, and she grabbed her arms and rubbed them. “Took me ages to get used to the cold, and apparently it goes away the moment you leave.”

Vivi pointed her staff. “[Aura of the Ember Giant].”

“I wasn’t asking for help,” Saffra mumbled, looking away. “I was fine.”

Vivi didn’t comment. “[Farsight].” After scanning the streets and picking her destination, she held a hand out, and Saffra reflexively put her own in it. “[Blink].”

They appeared in an alleyway. Vivi strode out, and Saffra hurried to follow.

“Order something,” Vivi told her, fishing out a silver coin. A fried food snack stall stood in front of them. She remembered it from the festival and had tracked it down. The festival was still ongoing, if surely muted as the week’s conclusion approached. “I have something I need to do. Shouldn’t be more than five minutes. Ten at the most.”

Unsurprisingly, Saffra refused Vivi’s meager offering, pulling out her own coin purse and plucking out payment. “Okay. Good luck.”

Vivi repressed a sigh at the implicit refusal. She put the silver coin away. “Be right back,” she told the girl.

She was avoiding putting tracking spells on people she didn’t have a strong reason to suspect of wrongdoing, so she had no easy way to find Archmage Aeris or Tatiana. Thankfully, Aeris was a wise man, and, knowing Vivi had promised to come find him today yet they hadn’t arranged a meeting point, he had erected a beacon of mana. She wondered what other mages thought of it…if they could even sense it. It was a rather subtle thing, though she had spotted it immediately, even from the city’s walls.

She found him inside an inn, hunched over a table, parchment sprawled out in a mess. Tatiana sat across from him, nose in a textbook. With the orientation the two were sitting, Tatiana saw her first, glancing up and doing a double-take when she recognized Vivi. She jumped to her feet.

“Lady V—m-my lady,” she hastily corrected herself. Vivi had asked to keep her presence a secret.

“Vivi is fine,” she told the girl as she closed the distance. Aeris had turned in his seat and made to rise, but she insisted they both sit. “Thanks for the signal,” she told the archmage. “I didn’t think to set up a meeting point.”

“I’m pleased this old man’s foresight aided you,” Aeris said with a smile. “I imagine you are a busy woman, so I assign no blame for the expedited departure.” He cleared his throat. “I fear our mutual oversight inconvenienced my apprentice, though. She’s been missing classes.”

Vivi paused. That hadn’t so much as crossed her mind. Her eyes drifted to Tatiana, who was already waving her hands in a panicked negation.

“My apologies,” Vivi told her.

“I-it’s no problem! Of course it isn’t!” She glared at Aeris for putting her in this situation, then hastily returned to effusing, “Really, I don’t know why he brought it up!”

Aeris chuckled. “No man or woman, of any status, is above admitting an honest mistake.” He nodded at Vivi. “It’s time to return, then?”

“If you want.”

He hummed. “I’m not pleased with the progress I’ve made.” He patted Vivi’s closed notebook. “If it’s no trouble, I think it’s best I continue my studies. I’ve grasped so little. Tatiana, however, does need to return to her classes, if you could be so kind. I’ve given her instructions to deal with my absence as well. I doubt anyone’s noticed, but better to be safe.”

“Of course. I’ll check back each morning until you’re ready? Or if you need to visit for any other reason, please just ask.” She looked at Tatiana. “You have everything you need?”

“Um.” Tatiana’s eyes flitted around the table, and she hurried to scoop up her textbook and other miscellaneous supplies strewn about. “Yes. Yes, I’m ready.”

“Follow me, then.”

She took shelter in the nearest alleyway for privacy’s sake, then warped Tatiana back to Archmage Aeris’s office. The young woman handled the experience better the second time, but like Saffra, couldn’t help but look queasy afterward.

“Sorry again,” Vivi said to her. “That you would have classes slipped my mind. That was inconsiderate.”

Tatiana seemed horrified that Vivi had apologized not just once, but twice. “Please, it’s not a problem in the slightest, Lady Vivisari. I had my textbooks with me. I caught up on some of my coursework. I mean it: it was no problem.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Vivi doubted that; she was fairly certain the effusive assurances were because the one apologizing was a legendary figure of history. This was why she didn’t want to tell Saffra yet. It would undoubtedly change their dynamic, and Saffra already treated her with too much caution.

“I’m glad. Do you need anything else?”

When Tatiana gave a negative, Vivi warped back to Prismarche and returned to Aeris. She checked that he didn’t need anything, and after that, went and found Saffra.

The girl was finishing a ball of fried batter when Vivi arrived, and upon seeing her, she scarfed it down as quickly as she could, as if embarrassed to have been caught eating. Vivi had left her by the food stall on purpose; she’d suspected the girl hadn’t had a proper breakfast, having been out in the inn’s training courtyard so early in the morning.

As for why she’d slept poorly and rushed out to distract herself? Vivi could invent plenty of ideas. And for all the world-altering powers she’d been granted, she couldn’t help Saffra with her past. Issues like those required people skills. Meaning that in some ways, Vivi was the worst possible guardian for this girl. A depressing thought.

Hurriedly wiping her mouth with her sleeve, Saffra thrust out a second skewer of the treats. “I got you one, if you want it.”