: An Flame Elementalist

Kayda looked at the axe. Not showing any signs of awe or surprise.

This sorely disappointed Gerrin who wanted to show off his prized possession. With a cough, he put the axe back into his spatial ring and sat back down on the tree trunk.

"Since you now have an idea of what kind of

mana users there are, let's figure out what kind of mana user you are." Pointing with his finger, he motioned at Kayda.

Luckily, he had some experience in this field so he wasn't too worried.

"Since we don't have the proper equipment to assess what type of user you are, let's just do this the old fashioned way. But before that, let me ask. Do you have any clue as to what type you are, because if you do, that will save us a lot of time."

Kayda though for a second. A million thoughts running through her mind. She took her time to digest all the new knowledge she had gained.

She knew exactly what kind of user she was. And she wasn't keen on sharing it with someone.

Gerrin seemed like a nice enough person, waiting for her patiently, but she could feel the distance he put between them. The feeling you would get when meeting someone you knew you never become closer to, or someone you wanted to keep as a stranger.

She never had any doubts about hiding herself from these people. And she wasn't just going to show them her cards just because they were nice.

So lifting up her hand, a small white flame danced at her fingertips. She weaved it through her fingers as if playing with a string.

It flickered in her hand before she closed it into a fist, diminishing the flame as a wisp of smoke hovered in the air before dispersing.

Her control over the flame was precise. To Gerrin, this small Drakin was full of surprises.

A trate of the Drakin was their strength and lack of mana. They were warriors who wielded swords and held shields for their kingdom. For one to be born with such strong mana was rare.

Gerrin smiled. "So an elementalist. That's uncommon. Well, since you know what you are, let's practice with that spell. Dimitri will take off at dusk and he isn't one to wait for others."

Kayda paused for a moment, before finally asking what was on her mind.

"Don't you need to be a spell caster to be able to summon runes?"

Gerrin looked at her as he stood up. "This is what I mentioned before. Clouse is a bit of an anomaly. He isn't like other rune users. He can summon runes as well as inscribe them.

Gerrin hesitated before he continued. "He created a spell that doesn't need to have runes summoned, but just needs to have mana poured into runes already there."

Kayda narrowed her eyes. Is that possible?

"Well, it is a fact that you can't use the spell without Clouse's help but he already told me what to do. So here."

Taking out a pendant from his pocket, he handed it to Kayda. The pendant was just a small multi colored translucent stone that was woven with silver wires hanging from a thin metal chain.

"This pendant contains the runes that you need to use the spell. Don't lose it."

Kayda was a little hesitant to put it around her neck before finally putting it on and letting it dangle above her chest.

Gerrin nodded and started giving Kayda a few instructions on what to do before they actually tried the spell. Kayda sat there silently watching him as she nodded.

"Ok. Now all that's left is to just put it in practice."

Kayda stood up and stood in front of Gerrin as he instructed.

Gerrin started pouring his mana into a band around his wrist with an identical translucent stone.

Runes formed within the stone before they seem to start to form around him.

They shined lightly as they surrounded him. Like a haze falling over him, his appearance changed back to that of a normal human.

Once the runes had disappeared, Gerrin looked at Kayda.

"Your turn." He folded his arms and waited.

Taking in a breath, Kayda closed her eyes in concentration as she focused on the pendant. She gouged out the pendant. Testing its limitations and its bottom line.

After getting a good understanding of the mana she needed for this to work, she started pouring as little of mana that she could inside of the pendant and runes started to shine on the stone.

After a second, the runes surrounded her.

She felt a thin layer of mana cover her body as she concentrated. After pouring a bit more of mana inside the pendant, she stopped.

Opening her eyes, she looked to Gerrin, wondering if she had succeeded.

She didn't feel any different and could still feel her tail which she moved lightly.

Gerrin's eyes shone as he looked at Kayda.

She had succeeded on the first try when it took him two whole days to get it right as too much mana would break the stone and not enough would cause a defective spell to occur.

She could be a prodigy with her level of control.

Looking at her, Kayda's horns, tail and claws disappeared. Her scales around her eyes turned into flawless skin and her feet now had little toes instead of claws. She was still skinny and gangly, looking extremely malnourished and weak. But now she looked human.

"It worked."

Turning around, Kayda looked behind her to see Dimitri and Clouse standing at a distance.

Clouse held a smile on his lips but Dimitri was still cold and indifferent.

Gerrin turned to Dimitri, he saluted.

"Captain, I've finished my task."

Dimitri strode forward with the same overpowering air. Clouse following behind him.

"We can see that."

Clouses usual smile was adorned on his face as he teased Gerrin.

"It seems like she has a better handle on it then you did when you first tried to learn the spell."

Gerrin's expression didn't change. "Indeed. She is also talented at controlling her own mana. It also seems that she is a divergent flame elementalist."

Dimitri looked at Kayda when he heard that while Clouse turned his head in interest.

Gerrin told them the whole situation as if he was giving a report to his commander.

Once he was finished, Dimitri turned to Kayda. She now looked even more like a child with her small frame and thin and malnourished build without her horns, scales or tale.

"A flame elementalist?"

He said it as if he was doubting her.

Kayda wasn't fazed in the least under his piercing stare and just nodded silently under his gaze.

That was all he was going to get out of her. She was never going to change her answer. If they knew what she really was, she could say goodbye to her new chance at revenge.