9

"Show me." Serie told Teufel with an expectant but very curious look as she grinned a bit at the half elf girl.

Teufel looked back up at Serie with an equally curious look at the elf woman, "I can…and I do have my work documented…" she began to say with a certain look on her face, "However, I am not about to just show and give my work for nothing in return." Teufel challenged back.

Serie, with an ever widening grin, looked down at the half elf girl, "Oh? Even better. Tell you what." she began to bargain with the half elf child as she paced around the girl, who tracked her movement as the elf circled around the girl, "If you provide enough evidence and substantial written work, then I will provide you a grimoire of your choosing…" she trailed off saying while circling back around to look directly at Teufel.

Teufel's eyes where now as sharp as ever at Serie's bargain, and could not help but gleam a rather expectant smirk of her own, "I see…" she said with an anticipated tone, "Then I shall leave for the day, I'll be needing to gather my things and come back tomorrow to earn a book." she challenged back.

"Good." Serie remarked with a smirk, before allowing her expression to become dull as she looked elsewhere, "Now begone, and make haste." she ordered with a bored look on her face, earning an annoyed look from Teufel as the half elf marched off.

Present

Continental Magic Association Building

As Serie stood outside with Sense standing beside her while standing away from the entrance, the elf and apprentice watched the half elf girl walk back to the cabin she said she was staying at for the time being. While Serie expressed an amused but small smirk on her face, Sense kept up a placid and calm look as she watched the little half elf girl walk off.

"Sense." Serie spoke up, earning a slow look from Sense as the young first-class mage lady looked over at her master, "Do you ever get the feeling you will ever see a new field of study in magic in your lifetime?" the elf asked in a very curious tone.

Sense, tilting her head a bit at the question, gave her master a negative head shake after thinking on it, "No, Mistress Serie." she answered, before looking back in the direction of the young half elf girl that was already far off in the distance down the street. "Does it have to do with that girl you spoke with?" she asked curiously.

Serie, looking back in the same direction too, spoke with an ever present excited small grin, "It does…" she answered as the two stood in silence for a bit, before Serie spoke some more on the topic, "I do so hope she has substantial evidence of her work." she began to muse, earning more of Sense's attention with a calm sideways glance. "She's had all the time to document her work afterall." Serie said as she watched the Half elf girl finally disappear as the girl turned on the street.

Getting a little more curious now, as to what the girl researched on that has caught her master's attention in such a way, Sense spoke with a soft curious tone, "What is the girl researching on that has caught your interest, mistress Serie?" the young first-class mage asked, as Serie began heading back in through the entrance with Sense following after her.

While the two walked in through the front entrance, Serie spoke with a momentary glance over at Sense as they walked through the building, "There have been mages throughout time that have wanted to test mathematics with magic, with Zahlen being the most recent one." the elf answered her apprentice as the two of them continued to walk beside each other.

Earning a curious but attentive look from Sense, Serie took that cue to continue on, "That Teufel girl, contrary to her looks, is over eighty years old, and in that time, has had enough time in a field of study where Zahlen failed to continue before his life was cut short." The elf explained to her young apprentice.

"I see…" Sense said, her tone still placid but a hint of curiosity were in her eyes as she looked forward while walking alongside her master. "Then I see what your question meant." she remarked in her ever soft and placid tone.

Heiter's Cabin

With the day waning into the twilight hours, Teufel was presently making her way out of the woods and into the clearing where Heiter's cabin stood; the half elf walked at a relaxed gait as she headed towards the front door. While Teufel approached the front door, from out of the woods in the opposite direction of where she came from, came Fern with a basket of herbs and mushrooms she collected from the woods.

"Oh! You're back!" Fern remarked in an observant tone as the young girl hurried over to go inside Heiter's cabin along with Teufel. "How was your visit to the city?" she asked the half elf girl with an excited tone.

Teufel, who was in the midst of reaching up for the doorknob to Heiter's cabin front door, paused and looked over at Fern as the young girl caught up with the half elf, "It was…" she paused in thinking while opening the door for Fern to enter first, before letting herself in next, "interesting to say the least." she answered with a thoughtful look.

As the two girls entered the cabin, Fern spoke again to converse with the half elf, "Did you find whatever it was you were looking for on your own?" she inquired as the two of them calmly walked through the main room of the cabin.

"More like someone found me, really." Teufel answered Fern with a frank tone while she entered the kitchen area with Fern following after her.

"Oh!" Fern said with a surprised look, she herself stepped into the kitchen to begin making the dinner prep with the herbs and mushrooms she found in the woods. "So that means you did not have the time to look for any books on goddess magic and how it works?" she asked earnestly.

While Fern pulled herself her stool to allow her access to the island counter, Teufel was in the midst of pulling out one of her suitcases that she stored beside the kitchen window that was just precariously lying there. "Unfortunately, no, but an equal opportunity presented itself during my trip in the city." she answered while hefting her suitcase over onto the floor while kneeling next to it.

As Teufel unclasped her suitcase, she continued to talk with Fern, "I know I should have asked Heiter for any knowledge on goddess magic, but given his state, I did not want to pester him." she commented.

Fern nodded in understanding as she began chopping the mushrooms with a simple knife, "I'm sure he'd be fine with it, nonetheless." she argued with a small smile.

Just as Teufel was about to deny the help from an aging man that was in such an advanced age, Heiter himself spoke up from the other room, "What's this I hear?" he asked as he hobbled his way into the kitchen with an amused look on his face. "Teufel, I couldn't help but overhear you two from the room over." he remarked.

"Ah." Teufel expressed with an uncertain look as she remained on her knees next to her suitcase, her gaze directed over up at Heiter who stood in the entrance way of the kitchen, "I didn't want to trouble you, really, and sought some knowledge on goddess magic." she answered the aging priest.

Heiter chuckled warmly as he stood with his cane in hand helping him stand up, "Think nothing of it, Teufel, if you had asked, I would have given what books I have, no reason to go off on your own like that without asking." he remarked with an amused smile.

Teufel sighed to herself, and smiled a bit back at Heiter, "That…that is acceptable." she answered the man, before getting back to digging through her suitcase. "But, regardless, I plan on going back to the city tomorrow, I have some business to finish, and a grimoire to acquire."

Frieren

Noting that the day was almost over from the window of the study she was working in, Frieren sighed to herself as she pushed herself away from the desk, the chair itself that she sat on made scratching noises against the floor as she pushed the chair out from under her to stand up and leave the room.

Making her way out of the study, Frieren internally thought to herself; while it was nice to stay in one spot for the time being, she really liked to head out and explore a dungeon or two to find a grimoire or a hoard of treasure. 'It's been more than…what…three or so years since Teufel and I came here?' Frieren thought to herself in questioning, unsure how much time had passed, be it a year or so.

While Frieren walked out into the main room that led to the kitchen and cabin entrance door, she saw Heiter standing in the middle of the entrance to the kitchen, speaking with Fern and Teufel, whose voice she heard along with Heiter's while she was making her way through the small hallway of the cabin.

"-without asking." Heiter finished speaking, while Frieren walked toward him.

Teufel spoke back at Heiter from within the kitchen, "That…that is acceptable." Teufel's voice echoed from out of the kitchen as the half elf herself was in the midst of doing something. "But, regardless, I plan on going back to the city tomorrow, I have some business to finish, and a grimoire to acquire."

Heiter, who turned around, greeted Frieren with a nod before making his way to the table in the main room.

At the mention of a grimoire to acquire, Frieren spoke up as she walked into the kitchen to converse with her Daughter, "What's that about a grimoire?" she asked with an interested smile, to which Teufel looked up from her briefcase, "Ah, it's a bit of a story, really." Teufel answered Frieren.

"I see." Frieren mused on what her daughter said, approaching her half elf child to see what she was doing, "It's been a bit of a day for me really, deciphering that book…what sort of event did you run into that makes it a story?" she asked her daughter.

Teufel, Pausing in her current activity of rummaging through her suitcase of booklets, looked back up at Frieren with a cautious look, "Well…." she started with saying while looking up unsuredly, before looking back at her mother with a steadfast look in her eyes, "I sort of ran into another elf…someone I know you are familiar with." she answered Frieren.

Her attention now fully on Teufel, Frieren bent at her knees to converse more directly with her daughter, expressing a surprised look, "Oh…was Serie at the city?" she asked, more surprise than anything.

It was a possible outcome for Frieren's daughter to eventually meet Serie, one way or another, but for the life of her, Frieren never imagined it to happen so soon…or maybe it was just the right time?... 'I wonder what Serie had to say to Teufel when the two met.' were Frieren's passing thoughts.

Teufel, going back to arranging the booklets in her suitcase to take out and go through as she took out some and left in others, spoke back to Frieren in a casual tone while her focus was on her various booklets, "Yes, in fact, she was." Teufel nodded as she finished taking out the booklets she wanted and set them aside, before shutting her suitcase closed.

"Hmm… I see…" Frieren said with a curious tone, "And she was the one that offered a grimoire to you?" she asked inquisitively, watching as her Daughter carried her suitcase back to where she got it from, and picked up another one to set down and open.

"More like she gave me a challenge for one." Teufel answered her mother, the half elf girl began to rummage in her other suitcase of various leaflet pages of papers that detailed many intricate number formulas and inscription circles written by the half elf in her ever ongoing project with calculations.

"Sorry, but who is this Serie elf you two are speaking about?" Fern spoke up as she finished chopping a few radishes, and pushed them aside while setting down her knife.

"Hmm?" Frieren hummed as she calmly stood up and looked over at her impromptu apprentice she had been teaching over the years or so she had been here, "Oh...right…" Freiren nodded in understanding that Fern wanted some context to who she and her daughter were speaking about, "Uh…How should I put this…" she remarked while tilting her head a bit as she thumbed her chin in thought.

Looking back at Fern while Teufel was busy doing her own thing in the background, Frieren spoke with the girl as she approached the island counter to converse with Ferm "Serie…is…well she is a very long lived elf…she was the master to my master, so to speak." She tried to answer the human apprentice of her's as plainly as possible.

Looking to the side a bit, Frieren also added, "Though, if you need to know any more than that, she is also head of the Continental Magic Association." she explained, haphazardly shrugging.

With a wide eyed look, "OH!" Fern remarked with a surprised expression on her face, and looked over at Teufel who was in the midst of organizing her booklets and notes together, "And you met her?" she asked, surprised at the luck that Teufel had.

Grumbling a bit to herself, Teufel spoke back to Fern as she finished organizing her things together and put them all back into the suitcase she brought out, "Met and coerced to follow her." she answered.

"Let me guess." Frieren started saying with an unsurprised face, "Do what she says or be banned?" she questioned her daughter.

As Teufel finished packing her notes for tomorrow, she stood up and faced her mother with a raised eyebrow, "What, do you know her that well enough?" her daughter asked her.

With an amused smirk, Frieren spoke back to Teufel, "Let's just say, I doubt she changed that much since the last time we met." She explained.

"Figures." Teufel commented, as Frieren's daughter walked over to Fern, "Need any help finishing dinner?" her half elf daughter asked the human apprentice of hers, while Frieren walked away out of the kitchen to wait for dinner to be finished.

"Oh! Sure!" Fern's voice echoed from the kitchen as Frieren made her way towards the table that Heiter sat at.

While the two girls helped themselves in making dinner for the four of them, Frieren spoke up as she pulled a chair out from the table of the main room to sit with Heiter and converse with him. "I should be about half way done with that book you need me to decipher." she talked to him.

With an amused look in his eye, Heiter looked back at Frieren with a knowing look, "And? Anything so far you learned from the book?" he asked.

Frieren shook her head calmly, "Nope, not really, just a lot of recipes for making soups. The Sage is definitely hiding something in his notes though, something I've come across in other books from his time." She answered him.

Chortling a bit on his part, Heiter spoke back to Frieren with a fond smile, "I thank you though, for all your work…by the way, your daughter had brought up something that you should know." he remarked, earning a curious look from Frieren.

"Oh?" Frieren began to inquire, her attention on Heiter as she looked at the priest, "What it be?" she asked the old priest.

"Oh, you know, just the curiosity into goddess magic." Heiter answered Frieren with a small but amused smile, "She's welcome to try her hand at it, and I have the books on the subject."

"Huh…" Frieren began to muse as she conversed with Heiter, tilting her head a bit in thought, "Do you not need to go through something first or something to even cast goddess spells?" she asked Heiter.

"Well…" Heiter began to explain with an uncertain look, "The Goddess magic is utilized by priests, and Teufel is no priest for one thing, and second, the spells are done with the assistance of holy scriptures." He explained shortly, earning a nod from Frieren.

"That's right." Frieren commented, "I remember you always needing that one book of yours to cast the spells you learned."

Heiter, smiling back at Frieren, "I'm actually touched you remember that much." he remarked in jest at Frieren. "In those ten years of our adventures, I wasn't sure if you'd bother to remember much of it at all with that long lifespan of yours."

Frieren expressed a frown at that, "Not my fault those ten years felt go by fast, you humans see time flow differently." she shot back at him, earning a hearty chuckle from the old priest.

"Anyway…" Heiter continued from where he left, "I do not know if Teufel would even possess the natural talent like I did, as priests are usually granted the blessing by the goddess herself to be able to cast such spells."

Remembering the vague memories of the various murals she's seen of the goddess herself, and how they always portray her with pointed ears, Frieren had a passing thought of asking Serie a pertinent question, but chose not to say it to Heiter.

Opting to otherwise nod to the aging priest, "Who knows…" Frieren said with an amused smirk, "she might like Teufel and give her a blessing to cast her spells." she joked, earning a chuffed chuckle from Heiter.