Chapter 12: New Beginnings

"Are you awake?
"Hello?"
"Wakey wakey…"

It was a rainy day when Chitose woke up, her still sleepy eyes tried to peek through the window in her bedroom, it was raining outside, a cool morning that would make you want to stay in bed longer than usual. The rhythmic sound of raindrops hitting the roof doesn't help in keeping her body from getting up from bed either.

Still lying down and staring at the ceiling, the events of the previous day came flooding back to her, how it was strange that after being struck by a powerful spell, she survived, and not only that, but she was completely unharmed and somehow her body became slim, even slimmer than Claire's (to the annoyance of Claire)

Some of her classmates, after being relieved that she was fine, started to joke about how Tusk and Meilou's combination spell blasted out all the fat from Chi's body. She had to admit, it was pretty funny and smart at the same time.

What puzzled her and even the teachers at the school, was the fact that there were no spells that could alter a person's body mass, so this incident was really a shock to everyone more so than the fact that she survived being hit by a powerful spell.

Chi finally got out of bed and went to the side of her room where there is a body sized mirror, it was given to her as a coming of age gift by Lyn's mom a year before.

Chitose barely recognised her own body, she had really become slim. Her fat belly, jelly back arms and thunder thighs are all gone. Her face was very different too, she now has a slender long neck and the shape of her face is more pronounced and the beauty hidden by the fat in her face had finally been exposed.

Her gold colored irises further enhance her beautiful face. Also she now has only one chin. She can see that her collarbone is now visible.

Her breasts are still the same sizes, but because her body has become thinner, her breasts look a bit big for her size.

"Hmm… Bigger than Claire's…" she nodded with approval.

Her hips had become shapely, and the curves are perfect for her body type, her thighs and legs are now slimmer.

"Aaand no more thunder thighs" she thought with a smile.

"Finished admiring yourself?" A squeaky voice asked.

"Who's there?!" Startled, Chi quickly scanned her room to look for the person who spoke. She carefully reached for a wooden broom standing just beside the mirror.

"No need to do that…" the squeaky voice said, understanding Chi's intent to smack it with a broomstick. With a resounding *POP* the owner of the voice revealed itself in front of Chitose.

"Hi! I am Hunai, your new familiar!"

A tiny sprite about seven inches tall, with wings similar to dragonflies, dressed in a body hugging gown that looks like orange leaves in autumn, suggests that it is a female. A soft white glow seems to bathe her body.

"My Familiar? How? Familiars are primordials that require to be summoned and need to form a pact with a human before becoming true familiars, I never performed a summoning, I don't even know how and I definitely did not make a pact with you!"

"Well, my case is different… I was never a Primordial to begin with..." The tiny sprite started to explain. "I am a mana, you see… but a different kind, I am unique, I used to belong to your ancestor Sinante, who is also unique, since he is not from this world…" The tiny sprite explained.

"Also because you have a tiny essence from an angel, when I was passed on to you, that certain essence bonded to me and gave me consciousness and this form, which was pleasantly surprising."

Chitose was overwhelmed by all of this… what does the sprite mean by 'not from this world and angelic essence' what is happening here? These thoughts flooded Chitose's mind.

"Are you okay?" Asked the sprite with concern written all over her face.

"I… I think I will, after I sort all of this up… but right now there are other things that concern me." Chi started to say, finally reverting to her normal pragmatic self.

"Back in that 'dream' my ancestor showed himself to me and told me that he would unlock my mana and also gave me his, what did he mean by that?"

"You inherited me for one thing, so that makes you a controller of a unique kind of power, a power that grows without limitations and restrictions, your own mana, that was unlocked was the accumulation of all the training for mana enhancements that you have undergone years before, that was trapped in your body because of your ancestor's seal…"

Hunai paused for a moment while placing her forefinger in front of her pursed lips, "That's perhaps also the reason why no matter how hard you work out, you always stay fat... probably…" explained the sprite while giving Chi a sideway glance.

"Interesting…" Chi ponderously replied, more curious than surprised by the information obtained.

"I wonder what element I can control…"

She then closed her eyes and started to clear her mind. All of her life she has been preparing for this moment, the sense of anticipation is making her heart beat hard and fast. Slowly she starts to feel a calming warmth, similar to what she felt when Sinante passed his mana to her, a feeling of joy and euphoria.

Slowly she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was an orb of pure light, dancing on her right palm.

"Well, well… looks like I can control illumination…" she calmly said, suppressing her elation.

"No surprises there, Sinante also controls illumination, he is the only one, but you have inherited it too, the different kind of mana from another world, the power to control the very light itself. I will help in guiding you grow this power, because I grow when you grow. Let us find out how strong you can be." Said Hunai with a serious face.

Chitose felt happy at finally being able to use MAGIC, and with that in mind, she hurriedly went downstairs for breakfast. What a great and wonderful day this is turning out to be, and even the heavy rain outside can't do a thing to dampen her spirits. Thanks to Tusk, her life will never be the same again… and that is a good thing… or is it?

..…………………..

Silma started to fire a barrage of arrows at the six goblins approaching her and Tara's position.

It was not even an hour when they finally entered the cavern, when the first monsters, which are skeleton soldiers, started to attack them.

"Good thing Tara was good with a sword," Silma thought silently as she continued to fire arrows after arrows at the goblins.

One by one, the goblins fell dead, arrows pierced between their eyes.

"Good shot!" Tara said with a flirty wink at Silma.

"Can't you take things seriously Tara?"

"I am serious!" Tara said after stabbing an attacking goblin through the heart.

"That's the last of them I think, let's press onward." Tara declared as she playfully slaps Silma's cute perky butt.

"KYAAAH!" A startled Silma squealed.

They continued to traverse the dark cavern, needing no light because Silma who is an elf can see in the dark clearly while Tara has expanded her mana around her body for thirty meters, acting like a bat's sonar.

The cavern's floor to their surprise was relatively smooth without any obstructions like potholes or jutting stones. Then the two girls saw a faint light from ahead of the tunnel they were traversing, they followed the light until they reached a huge brightly lit room.

They entered the large room, and they saw that it was mostly empty, except for a large statue of a giant with a bull's head.

"That's a Minotaur," Tara told Silma as she pointed her finger at the statue.

"What's a Mi-na-tor?" Silma asked, clearly curious.

"Minotaurs are a species of primordials, they are extremely strong and agile for their size, but slow witted. They are usually summoned by mages as tanks for the army."

"Wow Tara, you really are very educated on this, I am impressed!

Tara blushed at the praise that Silma gave her.

"Let's continue our exploration then… I still need more loot to collect!" Tara said happily like a little child, which drew a giggle from Silma who was watching Tara's antics with amusement.

But their warm interaction was interrupted by a sudden shaking of the ground. Both girls then felt a movement from behind them, slowly turning, they saw the giant statue start to move.

The Minotaur stood twelve foot tall at the tip of its upward horns, its muscular body as wide as two large men standing abreast. Powerful legs as thick as a grown tree. It started to walk towards the girls carrying it's enormous axe.

Silma wasted no time and started running along the corner of the large room, looking for a high vantage point she could climb and rain arrows on the behemoth. She found a jut along the wall, just enough for a foothold, but that is more than enough for the elf. She climbed over the jut and started to knock arrows into her bow.

The Minotaur was no match for Tara, that much she knows, but she doesn't want to reveal herself yet to Silma, so she acted like a normal adventurer in a bad situation… She ran around to draw the Minataur's attention, so that her companion could attack freely. She then drew her sword and started to slash at the Monster in the weakest way she could.

But she got a little carried away and started to hack and slash a little faster. And before she realised it, she was already slashing the behemoth so fast and so gracefully that it seemed that she was dancing a dance of blades and death.

Silma watched her dance, mesmerized by the grace and beauty of Tara as she whirled around like a ballerina with a blade instead of a ribbon.

The sword started to chip at the legs of the Minotaur, it tried to swing it's mighty axe, but Tara just dodge it gracefully as if it was nothing.

Again the Minotaur slashed it's axe in a sideways angle, which Tara dodged again by bending backwards and letting the axe glide past just a few inches above her face.

"Wow" was all Silma could say, slack jawed.

The powerful Minotaur, who was also agile in its own right, was getting outfought by this little woman. The Minotaur cannot comprehend what was happening, in its mind, it was supposed to win, like it always has, when foolish adventurers come to this place, so why wasn't it cutting apart this little pest.

Irritated, the behemoth let out a tremendous roar, both as a challenge and a howl of frustration, it saw the other one who annoyingly shoots the arrows to pester it.

It started to run towards Silma, thinking of her as the easier target.
With its axe above its head, ready to deliver a powerful blow the Minotaur has finally found its first victim for the day.

Silma saw the Minataur, suddenly ran towards her, she was surprised at how fast that monster could run. Caught unprepared, she lost her opening to make a run for it, now she is trapped. There is no way she could avoid the incoming blow from that huge axe.

"So this is how I end…" Silma muttered under her breath, as she let go of her bow and closed her eyes, waiting for darkness to claim her as the axe descended towards her head.

And then…

CRASH!!!

Slowly opening her eyes, Silma saw the Minataur faced down on the ground just below her. A short sword stuck at the base of its head just above the nape, the Minotaur looked very dead.

She saw Tara, standing triumphant at the back of the Minotaur with a cute smile on her face and her fingers in a V sign.

"I threw my sword when it came charging towards you. I got lucky and hit it in apparently it's weak spot." Tara lied, it wasn't a weak spot at all, but it was the fastest way to kill the Minotaur and save Silma at the same time without drawing suspicion.

Silma jumped down from her perch and hugged Tara tightly, tears streaming from her eyes, extremely grateful that she was saved from certain death.

"Thank you… Thank you very much Tara!" Silma was crying as she hugged Tara all the more tightly.

The angel did not hear those words of appreciation, all she cared about was how Silma's breasts were pressed tightly against her breasts, and that made her very happy.

……………………...

A glowing red orb floated from the Minotaur's dead body. Tara quickly took it before it floated away and handed it to the elf.

"Here take it, press it to your heart, that's a primordial essence from the Minotaur."

"What will it do?" Inquired the elf who obviously doesn't have any knowledge about primordial secrets that is only known to a very few people.

"You will gain its abilities for yourself." Tara explained.

Silma looked at the red orb with amazement, at last, a power she could use to exact her revenge against those who wronged her and destroyed her village and killed her loved ones.

Without delay, she pressed the red orb in her breast, and it entered her body. She suddenly felt a rising heat from where the orb entered, it quickly spread throughout her body; getting hotter as it went. Then all of a sudden it stopped.

Silma braced herself for what was to come, like a surge of power, but so far nothing.

"Is… is this it?" She asked Tara.

"How would I know?" Shrugged Tara

"Well, that was anticlimactic…" replied the elf.

They continued towards the other end of the room, they saw a door with a fox head engraved. Tara tried to push it open, and it opened without any issues. As they entered the new room, Silma noticed an altar at the left side of the room; curious, she approached the altar to see what's on it.

A ring with a fox head design and sapphire eyes. It looks ancient but mysteriously beautiful at the same time.

"Hey, Tara! Look, a treasure!"

Tara came towards the altar and looked at the ring.

"This is pretty! I love the eyes of the cute fox!" Tara gleefully told the elf.

"Let's see if it fits!" Tara then put the ring in her left forefinger.

"It fits perfectly!" Exclaimed Tara as she examined the ring under the light. She was very satisfied and very happy about the find.

Silma then found a scroll just below the altar, she unrolls it, but can't seem to read what was written. She handed it to Tara hoping she could read it.

Tara looked at the scroll and realised that she recognised the script used. She started to read what was written on the scroll.

It says:

Ancient Vulpen Ring of Sealing

Artifact that can seal the abilities of even a mid level class primordial

Handle with extreme caution

Tara stood still, her eyes fixed on the text, a feeling of dread crept at her heart. She knows she messed up pretty bad this time, she felt her angelic powers had somewhat started to diminish greatly.

"So what is it?" Silma asked

"Oh it just says that this ring is valuable to sell" Tara once again lied, she then proceeded to remove the ring, but somehow the ring won't come off.

"Must be a cursed ring," she thought, "I am in deep trouble, I must first know how much of my power has diminished, and maybe find a way to remove this."

"Looks like a dead end," Silma said after examining the room thoroughly.

They found a small chest full of rubies and three pouches of ancient gold coins, and a light hooded cloak that seems to have enchantments imbued.

"Let's head back" Tara said as she took one of the torches that lined the wall. She needed light to see now, since she just found out that she could no longer expand her mana.





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