“—and then Cal casually said he needed to visit the cursed sinkhole! With no information! Can you believe that?” Tavia said with exaggerated hand movements. She had been on a similar rant ever since she pulled over two friends from their house in Mariner’s Rest.
Amara shared a glance with Vivi, rolling their eyes at what was to them a years old rant. It wasn’t the first time Tavia complained about Cal, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. In fact, they expected to hear more of Cal’s ‘peculiarities’ now that Tavia was actually dating the man.
“Tavia, if he annoys you that much, you could just leave,” Vivi said dryly.
Tavia gasped. “How could you say that? Cal’s the main reason you guys are safe! Imagine what would’ve happened if you were stuck in the Frostguard Dominion!”
“Vivi wasn’t being serious.” Amara rolled her eyes. “You’ve been complaining ever since you came to get us. We get that you’re annoyed, but this is a bit much, even to us.”
Tavia pursed her lips. Amara and Vivi, her closest friends, regrettably absorbed most of her complaints about Cal from their training days to the present.
She cleared her throat and looked away with some guilt. She supposed she was being a bit much. In her defense, venting usually helped her calm down and refocus.
“I do appreciate both of you coming with me this late… not like some others.” Tavia paused as she thought of two of her other friends. “Are they really that unhappy? Surely they get I disturbed the plans you all had for a good reason.”
Vivi scowled and said, “They’ll get over it, or we’ll force them to. Going to the Frostguard Dominion was a lapse of sanity and a decision made from desperation.”
Tavia felt a pang of shame at how she consciously kept putting aside helping her closest friends. She justified it by her own issues with the guild and being hyperaware that her rebellious actions after the Selection put her in an undesirable spot.
However, Tavia knew those issues were long resolved. Now, it was the difficulty of solving her friends’ issues that made her hesitate to act immediately. And that was shameful.
“… Give me some time. I’ll find a way to help all of you,” Tavia said with an apologetic tone.
Amara and Vivi shared another glance, this time with a smile.
The carriage slowed to a stop at a fork in the road. Taking the left would lead to Silverpine, but that wasn’t Tavia’s destination. She stood from her seat. “Let’s wait near the entrance of the town after we’re done.”
Tavia received twin nods before she hopped out of the carriage. She watched her cute horses continue towards the town before moving off the path. Unlike Cal, who Tavia was certain had no clue where the sinkhole was, she grew curious about the abnormal activity among the alchemists during her past visit.
It took little effort for her to get the exact location of the sinkhole. In fact, it would have been a feat of extraordinary obliviousness or disinterest since any alchemist wouldn’t shut up about the terribly monstrous sinkhole claiming so many of their friends’ lives.
Tavia laughed lightly to herself. It made so much sense that Cal knew so little.
She wouldn’t say that she knew him inside out yet, but she would be a fool to miss how he had a set of unknown priorities and paid little attention to anything that deviated from them, even something as obvious as the openly discussed sinkhole.
Tavia was more than aware Cal felt that the mission given to him had a negligible risk to him. She did not feel the same. As much as she believed in his future potential, that was in the future, and this was the present, when Cal was at his most vulnerable phase. Cautiousness was key, even when it seemed excessive.
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She walked steadily around the trees and made her way to the sinkhole. It wasn’t much further. She found it strange that there was a dearth of alchemists, considering how common it seemed to be to have those idiots rush to their deaths.
Tavia understood the desire to get their hands on rare materials, but she found it hard to believe they would brave death for such a reason. Unless there was material in the sinkhole that was worth risking their lives.
She was stuck on that thought for minutes as she tried to think of what a low-level alchemist would risk their lives for. Unfortunately, she couldn’t think of anything. Then again, her personal bias of life being too important to risk for mere materials might be a factor.
Tavia paused when the trees suddenly disappeared, clearly uprooted recently. More importantly, there was a man staring at her with surprise a few hundred feet ahead.
“A Mage?” the man muttered when she closed the distance. “Who are you?”
Tavia had been thinking the man was an Apprentice, but she was quickly corrected of her assumption.
“Apologies for the unannounced arrival, Master,” Tavia said with a small bow of her head. “I’m Tavia Voss, an Initiate Mage.”
“Voss?” The Master looked startled. “What would a Voss be doing in the Celestial Order? Are you from an offshoot?”
Tavia had lost count of the number of times she got this reaction. The Voss family was famous for their isolation and mindboggling wealth. “As far as I know, I have no relation to that Voss family.”
“Hm… if you say so. What brings a Mage to this accursed place?” the Master questioned.
“I want to see if the rumors in town are true. Someone close to me plans on dealing with the sinkhole, and I want to make sure he comes back unharmed.”
“Dealing with the sinkhole?” The Master repeated before looking exasperated. “You speak of Apprentice Cal. Just say so, girl, no need to be vague about it. You may pass, but watch your step. If you try to descend into the accursed thing, the sinkhole will pull you in.”
Tavia blinked foolishly and nodded. “Thank you for the advice, Master.”
The Master grunted. “Off you go.”
Tavia continued on, understanding why she had seen no alchemists. There must be more Masters that were guarding the place to prevent more needless deaths. It was a little funny since the whole incident started because of the guild encouraging alchemists to take their chances.
She scanned her surroundings as they changed rapidly. There was a scar on the land ahead that was getting clearer the more she moved forward.
Tavia kept the Master’s warnings in mind as she cautiously shuffled to the edge of the sinkhole, noting that there was a slight elevation to the ground before the steep drop at the jagged edge.
She came to a stop as she stared at the width and the immeasurable depth of the sinkhole, a misleading name for something that resembled a violent wound on the earth itself, ripped open by some unimaginable power. It was a massive circular void that stretched out for nearly a mile wide.
There was no doubt in her mind that even the guildmaster wouldn’t have been able to create this scar carved directly into the landscape.
Tavia stayed rooted in place as she peered into the shadowy depths, barely illuminated past several hundred feet where the sunlight vanished. She could still see faint pulses of light in the dark depths, but it wasn’t enough to make out any distinct features.
She took an involuntary step back, instinctively afraid that the ground would crumble beneath her feet before gathering herself. She was here to observe what she could and to match it with the rumors that Amara and Vivi would gather in town.
Tavia carefully return to her previous spot near the edge, ignoring how it looked like it felt like a gateway to another world.
She was about to catalog the features closest to the surface when she felt a powerful gust of wind that made her take a step forward. She quickly regained control and prevented herself from falling into the sinkhole.
Tavia calmed her frantically beating heart and immediately resolved to put more space between herself and the edge. She tried to take a step back and was shock to find that her foot hit a barrier.
She turned and saw a shimmering veil directly before her, separating the sinkhole from the lank beyond. She stared for several seconds before looking down.
Tavia noticed the subtle slope in the ground beneath her feet, exactly where the sudden gust of wind had pushed her. She recalled the Master’s warning that once she began descending into the sinkhole, it would forcibly pull her in. She had assumed he meant only after crossing the edge, but clearly, even this slight incline was enough to trap her.
She closed her eyes, resigned, before opening them and pulling up her interface.
[Arcane Amplification]
1. Mana Capacity: +100%
2. Spell Learning Speed: +100%
3. Magical Skill Growth Rate: +100%
4. Mana Regeneration: +100%
Cal might be a prodigy, but she might surpass his current capabilities as a [Mage] while the boost was active.
Tavia looked into the sinkhole with determination. If the Elder Council expected Cal to solve the origination of this sinkhole, then the same would apply to her as long as the boost was active.