PaulMichaels
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IGIWS: FIRST DRAFT: Ch.295 Nieren the Story Teller.
🕑 Added 2024-11-03 12:04:01 +0000 UTCElaine was feeling down about being isolated from the other kids for being half-elf. After Rya finished testing the rest of the children. Sid noticed the sullen expression on Elaine's face and he hurried over and grabbed her hand.
"Hey? Are you alright, Elaine?" Sid asked.
"Yeah...," Elaine said with a depressed tone.
Sid believe her and he was about to speak when Mary came in and hugged the both of them.
"I'm a multi elemental mage!? Can you believe it!? And Sid! You have a Demi-God Mana Vein! You're like the boy in the fairytale Forgotten Hero!" Mary said excitedly.
Sid and Elaine were blindsided by her outburst, and blushed when there faces were so close to each other. Elaine was the first one to break free and she quickly stood up and looked away.
"Mary!? Why did you do that!?" Elaine shouted.
"What? Can't I be excited for us?... Hey? Why were you standing alone from the rest of us?" Mary asked as she turned serious.
Elaine started to panic and Sid didn't know what to say. He was the only one of the children to know that she was a half-elf.
"I..." Elaine was cut off.
"It's because she is a Vegetarian Mage. She's going to be trained by my Mother," Nieren said.
"A Vegetarian Mage? What's that?" Mary asked.
"It means that she has the power to communicate with the plants and can ask them to aid her. Like a wood elf. She'll be able to grow flowers, plants, and herbs," Nieren explained.
"So... Elaine is going to be trained by a real elf like you?... That is... AMAZING!? Elaine, your going to get trained by a REAL ELF!?" Mary shouted and jumped onto Elaine and hugged her tightly.
"Mary! Get off!" Elaine cried as she tried to get out of her friend's iron grip. Sid signed as he's seen Mary do this to Elaine plenty of times.
"But aren't you excited?" Mary asked as she got off Elaine.
"Uhm... I am... But... What if the Dark Elf doesn't want me to see you two again?" Elaine asked with a sad look.
Mary and Sid were speechless. Nieren shook her head at the half-elf's assumptions towards her sister.
"Was I this bad when I first ran into, Rya?... I was probably worse than her...," Nieren mumbled.
This caught the three's attention and they looked at Nieren with curiosity.
"What's your name, ma'am?" Sid asked.
"Huh? Oh, it's Nieren... And you need to stop bad-mouthing my younger sister," Nieren said sternly.
"Huh? Younger sister? But your a wood elf and she's a dark elf. How can you be sisters?" Mary asked with her eyes sparkling in awe.
Nieren sighed and shook her head. She then knelt down on the ground and gestured the children to join her. The three were a bit confused but joined her.
"Okay, I'll tell you the story, but you can't tell anyone else. This is our secret. Okay?" Nieren asked.
The three nodded and sat quietly.
"Alright. Well, my little sister, she had to run from the Divine Three when they attacked their citadel. She lost her parents and one of her friends knew time space magic and he sacrifice himself to save her from a paladin," Nieren started.
"She's an orphan like us?" Elaine asked.
Nieren nodded.
"So, what happened after that?" Mary asked as she was drawn into the story.
"Well, Rya was lost and alone and had nowhere to go in a forest of the Forgotten Kingdom where the monster stampedes destroyed everything hundreds of years ago," Nieren said.
"She was in the Forgotten Forest!?! I heard the Crown Prince went there to stop a monster stampede! How did she survive being in that forest!? There's a bunch of really dangerous monsters there!" Mary gasped.
Nieren giggled a little.
"Yeah, but from what the Prince told me was she was chanced by goblins, and was able to kill most of them by herself," Nieren explained.
"What!? She's that strong? I wish she was my sister too!" Mary whined.
Sid shook his head, "Mary! This isn't a story... It's real. So, please let Nieren continue."
Nieren smiled a bit at the boy's politeness.
"Thanks. Okay, so, she was able to fight off most of the goblins by herself, but the thing about goblins is they don't stop coming and things took a turn for the worst when Hobgoblins showed up," Nieren explained.
"Hobgoblins!?" Elaine gasped.
"I read a book that talked about how hobgoblins are the evolved forms of goblins. They can grow to be as tall as seven feet and are more dangerous than goblins," Sid said.
"Shut up, Sid! I want to hear the story about Princess Rya!" Mary yelled.
Sid huffed and looked annoyed at his friend.
"It's okay, Sid. Let's see... Yeah, she was fighting the goblins, but when the hobgoblins showed up, the goblins got the upper hand and chanced her deeper into the forest. She got captured around some old ruins and when things looked like the end for her, an old obelisk fell over towards her and the hobgoblins. She was able to avoid to giant rock and it made a hole into the ground that she fell in," Nieren explained.
"How did she survive the fall!?!" Elaine asked.
"Well, turns out there was an underground lake in the hole. And it was such a deep fall that none of the other hobgoblins chanced after her. But things only got more complicated from there because when she tried to escape by using her dark earth magic she couldn't," Nieren said.
"Really, why is—"
Mary jump in and cut off Sid, "She fell into a labyrinth!?! I read a story about the Labyrinth and how it has traps and dead ends that can lead people in circles for days!"
"It wasn't that type of labyrinth but the dungeon core's ether can stop earth mages from making new exits into the ground," Nieren said.
"A dungeon, you're saying Princess Rya was in a dungeon?" Sid asked.
Nieren nodded her head.
"Wow, and then what happened?" Elaine asked as the half-elf was getting drawing in as well.
"Rya found out that she was in a monster spawner labyrinth and she needed to escape it so she slowly snuck around avoiding goblins, hobgoblins, and the other monsters in the dungeon. She didn't have a weapon, so she needed to find one so she didn't have to use her mana as much. She was doing a good job of sneaking around and that's when she ran into him," Nieren said.
"Ran into him? Who?" Elaine asked.
"She found a the Crown Prince and his retainers fighting against the horde. She told me that she was going to use them as a distraction to escape the labyrinth. But she couldn't help but be drawn to..." Nieren glanced over at Quinus who showed a brilliant smile after hearing a joke from Fennic that made her heart race. The three children looked over and saw the prince and his group.
Mary and Elaine blushed as they saw the handsome young prince. While Sid's eyes went towards Rya's voluptuous figure and her long white hair that reached her waist.
Elaine saw his reaction and felt her anger rise, "Who are you staring at you pervert!?!"
Sid jumped and his face flushed red.
"Hey, hey, calm down Elaine. Sid was starting a the Prince like the rest of us," Mary said.
"He was not! He was staring at that evil harlot!" Elaine said.
Nieren frowned at the insult towards her younger sister, "My sister isn't a harlot. She's the purest person I know."
Elaine squeaked in fear as she forgot to keep her thoughts about Rya a secret.
Nieren continued the story, "So Rya watched the Crown Prince and his allies fight off the horde, and she was impressed by how the Prince was fighting. But she also noticed that another group led by the Prince's cousin left him for dead, and Rya didn't want to see the Prince get killed. So, she used her earth magic out of instinct and saved the Prince and his two retainers from a few hobgoblins that sneaked attacked them."
The group listened with bated breath, "She saved them? Really?"
Nieren nodded.
"Of course the handsome brave prince has a backstabbing cousin! That makes me want to see him die for trying to kill our beloved Prince!" Mary exclaimed.
Nieren chuckled, "After the fight, Rya and the prince's two retainers didn't trust her at first, but the Prince fell in love with her on first sight and Rya felt similar but she was afraid to fall for him. She must have had reservations about falling in love with the Prince since he was a human and her people don't trust humans."
"But she did fall in love with him, right!?!" Mary chimed in again, which caused both Sid and Elaine to laugh at her.
"Mary?... The Crown Prince called her his fiancee, so it's obvious she fell in love with him and he with her," Sid answered.
"I knew it! But how did they survive the labyrinth and did the evil cousin get what was coming to him?!" Mary said.
Nieren smirked and shook her head at this crazy girl. Most people would have brushed her off, but Nieren felt similar to this girl as she also loved reading fairytales.
"Well, from there Rya agreed to help the Prince destroy the Dungeon Core and—"
Rya walked up to Nieren and the three children.
"And then what, Sister?"
The kids turned around and gasped.
"Well, I was going to continue but I can let you take over if you want? We're at the part where you save Dalia," Nieren told her.
Rya shook her head and smiled, "Maybe some other time. I need to head to the Mage's Guild library and I wanted to know if you can take this one to see mom."
Elaine looked at Rya and shook her head, "I want to stay here with my friends!"
"Well, luckily for you, this boy will be learning how to be a squire in the Palace barracks. So, when you get done with your studies and training. You will have a playmate," Rya replied.
Elaine's eyes grew wide, "Really? Sid will be living here with me?!"
Rya shook her head and she ruffled the girl's hair, "No! You two are too young to be sleeping in the same room. And no boys are allowed in the girls' wing. But he will be in the palace grounds, and he'll be allowed in the Royal Library, but not in your room. Got it?"
Elaine blushed and slapped Rya's hand away from her head, "Yes, and stop acting like I'm your daughter!"
Rya's eyes widened at the comment, and then her lips curled into a smile. "What? You want to be my daughter? Well, I'll have to think about that."
Rya ruffled Elaine's hair once again, which caused the girl to pout at her.
Nieren giggled at the exchange between the two, and she had a smirk on her face. "You know, that could be a possibility in the future, Sister."
"Or you could adopt her, Nier," Rya replied.
Nieren had a dumbfounded look on her face, and her mouth was agape.
"I-I am too young to be a mother! You can't just put the responsibility on me, Sis!"
"But you're my big sister. That's what big sisters are supposed to do."
Nieren had a frown on her face, "Not a chance!"
"Oh, so you don't want to take care of Elaine? She's a very good kid."
Elaine frowned at Rya, "Stop teasing us! I don't want either of you to be my mother. And Sid, you better hurry up and learn how to fight! So we can go on are own adventure!"
Sid was stunned, "You mean it?"
"Yep. Once we're older, we'll have our own team. You're the leader, and I'm your second in command."
"Oh! And I can be crowd control once I learn how to cast spells! I would love taking orders from you, Sid!" Mary added.
Sid had a shocked look on his face, and he didn't know what to say. He looked over at Rya who had an amused look on her face, and she chuckled, "Well, I guess we have a future adventure team here. Anyway, take Elaine to Mom and let's get the ball rolling on training her. Also, make sure she's well fed, and that includes meat, alright?"
"I'm not a dog, you know."
Rya grinned and patted Elaine's head, "Sure you're not, kid. But you are malnourished, so it'll be a while before you get any muscle. I'm going to help you out in getting your mana veins strong. So, you'll need lots of protein, that way you'll have the strength to slay some monsters in the future."
Elaine's eyes widened at the comment, and she was confused by what Rya had said.
"How could a young girl like me be strong enough to slay monsters?"
"Don't worry... I've helped someone out who has never held a sword in her life, and she was able to take down a giant beast after slaying smaller monsters. Now say bye to your friends and go with Prince Nieren."
The children nodded at first, but then they did a double-take and looked at Nieren with surprise. She sighed and looked at Rya, "I didn't want them to know that, Sis. They might not be comfortable with me after finding out I'm the princess."
"Don't use them as a scapegoat. They deserve to know who you are and Mom wants you to act more ladylike before the party with the Ladies of the Court. Besides, those three won't care who you are. They like you because you're a good person, and you are good with kids. So, you'll make a good mom someday."
Nieren's cheeks reddened, "S-shut up, Sister. That's none of your business! Besides, I'm a maiden still and their isn't a elven man alive who is good enough for me."
"Sure, Nier... Anyway, I'm heading to the Mage's Guild with the Grand Master and Quinus. So, take Elaine to see Mom and tell her everything," Rya ordered.
"Yes, Ma'am!"
"And stop calling me that! I'm not your superior."
"Well, I'm your retainer and lady-in-waiting, Sis... You are Royalty now."
The two women rolled their eyes at each other, "Just shut up and get moving. We have a busy day tomorrow," Rya sighed and went to see the Grand Master.
"Alright, I'll drop her off and come back to pick you up at the Mage's Guild," Nieren promised and took Elaine by the hand.
The children all waved goodbye to each other and started going into their different groups. The children that were Majas were escorted by Lady Rachel and half of the Royal Knights back to the palace. The twelve Mage children were guided by Lady Saffron, Hajdah, Laika, and a few of the human guild members to the Mage's Guild where they got registered and slept their for the night before heading southeast to the city of Duskwild where the biggest Mage's Academy was.
The children who were not a Maja or a Mage stayed in the orphanage that night before Lord Brice came along and took them to a building that Quinus wanted to use as a schoolhouse for the children who weren't Mages or Majas. They had their own dorms, and they were taken care of by the orphanage's priestesses and clerics. The building was named the Quinus Schoolhouse and the children were all treated kindly and taught a lot of subjects and Rya used her money to finance the school and its students. Quin used Rya's gold to finish constructing the building, and she would often visit the students and help teach them when her schedule permitted.
Comments
PaulMichaels
Yep! Thank you!
Brian P.
Vegetarian mage? Then later says to make sure she gets meat to eat…. Tsk. Vegetation is probably what you meant.
Marek Gwalt
TFTC
PaulMichaels
No problem 😁
Micheal Kennedy
Thanks for the chapter
