Ok, I don’t want to finish this as a proper book, because the original idea wasn’t.. good at all, but I can’t stand seeing how it is unfinished, so here is going to be a short version of the whole plot I guess…

Continuation of Arc 1.

Mirta did her best during her training. Aar discovered that she can use all of the elements: Darkness, Light, Illusion, Fire, Water, Earth and Wind and was fascinated by it. It’s a very rare gift, so he decided to polish the diamond he found. However, he didn’t have Illusion and light attributes and couldn’t help with their development.

At first, it was only the Magician Aar that thought her, but with time, Huki, his twin brother, also grew and fond of her and decided to teach her the way of the Sword and other weapons that he could wield. And oh Gosh, his arsenal was limitless…

Moreover, they also taught her how to read, write and survive in the forests such as the one they lived in. Ago-bird, Donne, was helping Mirta in what he could. Bringing her home after a day of exhausting training, chasing away enthusiastic teachers if they took things too far and also helping her in defeating monsters if that was required of her by her fanatic mentors.

Even though it was very tiring, Mirta preserved and pushed herself forward as if something from within her wouldn’t allow dropping out. Her parents were worried at first and it pained their hearts to see their girl undergo such things, but after they spoke to her and realised that it would be useless to persuade her, they gave up and did their best to let her rest when she was returning home.

Afald saw that as well and had very mixed feelings. He was unhappy that his friend wasn’t playing with him for long anymore, but was happy that she was getting even more incredible. However, he didn’t want to be too far behind and asked Uncle Kelm to teach him how to wield the sword. He practised diligently and when Mirta had a day off, she would teach him magic as well.

That’s when she realised something. Apparently, the Magus language that was so easy for her, wasn’t as simple for others. Afald couldn’t hear some of the sounds and pronounced things wrongly, causing the incantation to fail. Also, she realised that her own Mana capacity was way above average. Well, she had a hunch, but after seeing Afald exhausted just after five tries, she realised just how monstrous the difference was.

She never told him about it though. She knew that he was her friend and would abandon her just because she was stronger, but she didn’t want to plant the seed of jealousy, so she pretended to be tired after a dozen times of showing magic trick or incantation. This much was fine since the boy knew that she was training with some incredible people and it would be strange if she was weak.

Time passed by quickly in that peaceful atmosphere. She would help out in the house during her holidays, train Afald, Learn from her teachers and polish her skills. Occasionally, tax collectors would visit their village with some Magicians. They would take prepared taxes, that we’re not low, but somehow still bearable, Magicians would examine children with their Mana and all of them would leave. They never gave in explanation of their actions, but Mirta learnt it from her teachers. They were searching for children with high magic potential and take them away to the capitol.

Mirta didn’t want to be separated from her village, so during such days she would either try to be with her teachers or suppress her abilities as much as possible. And she succeeded. As she overheard from one Magician, she was ‘so weak that it is a miracle she is even alive’. Nothing could be further from the truth, but it was satisfactory as long as she stayed home.

She also learnt why was she teaches in the forest and never got out. They were cursed by some Sage and even though they were accounted as heroes by nations, they were forced to live the remaining years if their lives in isolation.

Not that they complained though. In fact, they were ‘glad to escape from annoying kings and women’. All they ever wanted, was to polish their skills in magic or weaponry and on their way, they would accidentally defeat dome kind of Magical creature that threatened the nation, catch some dangerous criminal organisations, prevent war by blocking or clearing certain paths. Everything above was just a small part of their heroic deeds, but there was one funny detail – none were done on purpose. It’s just, during their search for some kind of rare plant/beast/spell/weapon, those obstacles would come up, so they got rid of them. With time, they almost learnt everything they could, but since they were locked down, they did their best to pass on their knowledge and skills.

Mirta was a brilliant and very hard working, as well as talented. She would excel at anything given to her in a very short period, thus the teachers were jubilant. They were now sure that they would be able to pass on their skills since it would be a shame if they were to get lost. Some of them were very hard or too ancient to find again or lead alone.

Then one day, a tragedy occurred.

Mirta was sleeping over at her teachers’ house since she was too exhausted from the training and Donne was busy with something in his community. He was the king after all. Nothing seemed amiss and the next morning she went home.

She was no longer weak and knew all of the paths in the forest, so she went alone. She was in a good mood and picked up some herds on her way. Her mother said that they would need those soon and Mirta was planning to give those to her. Nevertheless, she soon discovered that there was no one to give them to.

Her village was destroyed. The Landlord, some Noble, ordered his soldiers and just like that, more than a hundred of lives were cut short. All of the houses were burnt down along with the corpses and only ashes and some remaining flesh signified that there was once a village.

Mirta searched through all of the shelters she knew about, but they were empty. Not even children were spared. Afald was also dead.