It Takes More Than Will

Venturing back to where they just came from, Nina and Idril went through the forest, returning to Nina's cabin. The elves didn't have restaurants or any places that made and sold food. They were all expected to know how to cook their own food.

"Make me something too," Idril told Nina as she sat down next to the table and watched her student.

"Is there anything you want to eat?" Nina asked her teacher. She couldn't make much but if there was something that Idril wanted to eat, then Nina was more than pleased to make it, or try to make it anyway.

"Anything works. But if possible, I prefer it if it doesn't take too long to cook or eat," she responded to Nina. Eating had not been a part of her schedule for today and doing so is already taking away valuable time.

"That won't do. You haven't eaten in days, didn't you say that," Nina recalled what Idril said to her.

Idril sighed and said. "I have my preferences and you have yours. As long as the nutrients are there, I couldn't care less about how bad it tastes. You can even mash or blend all the ingredients into some sort of horrendous drink and I wouldn't mind."

"But eating is supposed to be fun and relaxing!" Nina told her. Eating was a time where one could enjoy their food and have some time to rest.

"Well, that's not for me." And she wasn't the only one. Idril and most of the other elves, including the ones that aren't even a part of the Sylvs, didn't understand the joy of eating. It was something that the humans did. In their eyes, it was just a waste of time, and Idril would love it if Nina could get rid of that habit as well, but didn't push her to do it. She wasn't an elf and this was something that made her human... Though that something didn't really make much sense to her.

"I don't get how you humans enjoy laundering your precious time like that..." Idril mumbled, somewhat annoyed at the humans for being so wasteful. "Humans don't even live half as long as us either, and yet..." The elf stopped herself and shook her head. It was a headache trying to understand humans.

"So, what would you like to eat?" Nina asked Idril again, her eyes sparkling. She really wanted to cook something nice for her and the elf saw that.

"Does it matter?"

"Yes!"

"Oh, just give me something. Anything works. Your best dish or whatever..." Idril let out a deep breath. "I guess it couldn't hurt to have a proper meal after so long..."

"Great! I'll start right away!" Nina cheerfully prepared the ingredients from her garden in her backyard and began to cook. Idril watched quietly as Nina worked. The cabin was filled with the sound of her cooking. It was somewhat nostalgic to Idril.

Without knowing, she smiled, remembering the times when she was a child and her mother or father would call her to the kitchen so that she could learn how to cook. It was so long ago and she had forgotten all the recipes that she inherited from them. Nowadays, Idril just picks plants and herbs and eats them raw to save time.

"Hmph, if only you were as proficient at magic as you are at cooking," Idril teased, observing Nina's remarkable culinary skills. She was fast and precise with the name, chopping up all the vegetables into equal sizes in just seconds. She was also boiling three different pots at once, keeping track of what and when to put in ingredients.

"Hey, unlike ice magic, I actually practiced cooking," Nina told her.

"It would be great if you could swap the two around and be proficient in magic instead," Idril joked with Nina, chuckling a bit.

"If that was the case, then you wouldn't be here teaching me, would you?"

"I suppose not."

Half an hour passed while the two chatted about random things and topics. Finally, Nina finished cooking and served the food to Idril and herself. Without saying a word, Idril ate her share, finishing the food in less than three minutes. Nina was surprised at how fast the elf ate and was even more astonished at how she didn't choke. Pressured by Idril to eat quickly, Nina gobbled down her food as fast as she could as well.

She finished eating in about seven minutes. She was nowhere as fast as Idril, but it was fast enough.

"See, you can eat fast too if you put your mind to it," Idril told her.

"I don't get why you need to eat so fast- Erp!" Nina's stomach was bloated since she rushed chewing her food and swallowed a bunch of air as well. It wasn't a pleasant feeling. "Excuse me... Anyway, how was the food?" she asked after taking a second to burp out the gas in her stomach. She put a lot of effort into making it and just ate everything without taking the time to enjoy it. But regardless, she wanted to know what she thought of her cooking.

"The food? Uh... It was tastier than what I normally eat?" she said, shrugging her shoulders. "I mean, it's not like I eat cooked food very often in the first place. I can't really compare it to anything. Is there really a point in asking me that question?"

"I guess not..." Well, at least it was tastier than what she normally ate. That was still a compliment even if it was not a great one.

"Now that you're full, let's start training."

"Already? Shouldn't we rest for a bit?" They just finished eating. Doing work right after is not a good idea.

"What are you talking about? We already wasted a lot of time. Also, we're not doing physical training. At least not yet anyway... We're training your magic first," Idril told her. She knew that Nina was in no shape to do physical training right now and that's why she suggested doing magic training instead.

"So what are you waiting for? Let's start already." Idril didn't wait for Nina to give an answer and took her hand.

"Can't we just rest for a bit longer?" Nina pleases. Her stomach really didn't feel well.

"No more resting. Procrastination gets you nowhere. You should know that, Selphie," Idril didn't listen to Nina and dragged her outside.

Idril let go of Nina's hand after they made it outside. The sun hadn't risen that high yet and it was still dark where they were. The shadows of the trees around them made the area cool. There were already animals up and scurrying about. The birds were singing and the bees were buzzing from flower to flower.

"I really don't feel well..." Nina told her teacher, putting both her hands on her stomach.

"Who told you to eat so much?..." Idril sighed and scanned the surrounding forest floor, looking for something. She spotted what she was looking for behind a tree and next to a small critter.

Idril went over to it, scaring the animal off. "Sorry." She kneeled down and put her hand around the plant. She yanked it, pulling it out of the ground, roots and all. "This should do."

Idril walked back to Nina and handed it to her. "Eat this," she told her.

Nina looked at the plant, not very tempted to put the thing in her mouth. "What is this?" she asked.

"Aren't you supposed to be familiar with the herbs in this forest? I thought that old man taught you everything."

"Elder Gildor did teach me, but he didn't teach me everything. He only taught me about the safe ones." The ones that he didn't teach her about were either poisonous or useless. This way, Nina would know which plants she could use and which plants she couldn't, and she would just stay away from the ones she didn't know.

"Huh, looks like I need to teach you about herbs too..." Another thing added to the to-do list.

"Um... So what does this plant do?" Nina carefully picked up the plant, afraid that it was poisonous or something.

"It's harmless," Idril told her, seeing how she was being so cautious about holding it. "It helps with digestion, and that's it's only use. Since its purpose is very specific, most elves just see it as a useless plant and don't bother touching it," she explained to Nina.

"Okay. Do I eat this then?"

"Not the whole thing. Just its roots. The rest of it serves no purpose. It might as well be fertilizer."

"Only the roots?" Nina sprayed water on the plant to wash off the dirt and then separated the roots from the rest of the plant. As much as she didn't want to put an unknown plant in her mouth, she mustered up the courage and bit off the roots.

A sweet sensation filled her mouth which surprised her. She was expecting it to be bitter like the medicine from before, but it was shockingly sweet. Nina chewed and swallowed it. The texture was strange and she didn't like it, but at least it didn't taste terrible.

"The effects should be immediate." As if on cue, Nina suddenly felt better. It was like magic. The bloated feeling in her stomach went away in an instant and she felt normal.

"Wow." The herb really did its job, and quite well too.

"Great, now we can start."

"Oh..."

Out of excuses, Nina had no choice but to begin her training for the day. Under Idril's supervision, Nina trained without stopping for the next hour. Eventually, Idril went through everything that she wanted Nina to practice for the day and then left. "I'm expecting you to continue practicing on your own even when I'm not looking," she told her, leaving for her next task.

After Idril disappeared out of view, Nina stopped and took a break. "Phew..." It wasn't hot where she was since she was in the shade, but Idril's training was brutal and she felt like she had been training for the entire day when it was in reality only one hour. Is training always this harsh for a Sylv?

For just today, Idril wanted Nina to master half of the basics for ice magic. Wasn't that a little much? At the pace she was teaching her, Nina was pretty sure that they would finish everything in just over a week. This was a lot of work... But she was going to make it through to the end.

"I can't give up now!" She encouraged herself to keep going. If she wanted to avenge her family, this much was nothing.

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