87th of Fall, 513 AV
The Caverns were dark and spacious, only illuminated by the soft glow of the magelight placed at regular intervals. The tall dark haired apprentice walked the path with easy direction, her notes had instructed her to follow the arrows that glowed the brightest. They hadn't been difficult to locate, from there it was just a matter of navigating the maze with these directions in mind. Indeed Sahova as a whole was rather mazelike in her eyes, constantly turning her around when she thought she was going the right way. It was rather irritating to say the least.
Annalisa Marin felt a little lost as of late, her encounter with Celeste a fresh memory. If she were being honest with herself she was still confused, she still lacked answers to her questions. That was actually part of the reason her steps were taking her towards the Elements Sanctum, the domain of Roknus Maelstrom. Rhysol lacked the answers she sought, in fact she suspected he was obscuring them. One thing she did know about herself though was that she was a wizard, and that still resonated true in her core. That was her power, hers to wield and command. It was hardly her identity, but it was a start to finding answers to other questions about herself.
The apprentice was a bit leery about entering this place, the last time she had her welcome had been a little much from what she understood. Maelstrom had nearly killed her, his casting perfection and his weaves complex beyond imagining. Considering her part to play in the death of Daren Marlow Anna suspected he was less likely to horribly murder her, however one never knew. Maelstrom was apparently quite the mad man, a whim might very well take him and then she'd likely be very dead.
Her steps could have taken her to the Testing Grounds, indeed they might later in the day but this morning she felt the Elements Sanctum warranted more attention. She didn't normally feel kinship towards other wizards, but those in the Sanctum were reimancers as well. They had undergone the same initiation and felt the same pain she had once. There was an odd feeling of connection there.
Finally the woman stood outside the iron doors that led inside of the Elements Sanctum, which she looked at with weary grey eyes. She was stronger than she had been since last she had visited, Amaryllis gift of two meals a day granting strength to her body. She was also more prepared than last time, purple liquid res already gathered into her palms and Djed gathering under her tongue. With a deep breath she place her hand upon the doors and pushed inwards.
The iron doors opened effortlessly, almost inviting her inside. She stepped inside, and was met with the sight of a fire bolt shooting towards her. The apprentice's grey eyes widened in shock, barely ducking in time to avoid getting blasted in the face. She could feel the heat licking at her as it whizzed overhead and out through the doorway. The near hit had sent her heart racing and adrenaline was already beginning to course through her veins.
She brought up her hands, willing further Djed to gather under her palms and push outwards to sheath her hands entirely with the warm purple liquid. The arrangement in the room was a little different than last time, a ring of individuals was arranged around the room with some cheering at what was going on in the middle of the room. A Pulser apprentice was facing a man wearing the distinctive robes of a master, whose back was turned to the doorway.
The Pulser fired off another fire bolt, which the master simply stood there with not a single movement made. A cloud of black res was at his side with frightening speed however, the air seeming to whip up around it. The fire bolt was cast carelessly aside before coming near the master and the wind was set out towards the Pulser. A sickening crack sounded through the air a moment later, the intense gale having jettisoned the man off of his feet and into the wall of the Cavern. He looked limp from where Anna was standing.
Anna couldn't hide a flinch at the sound but felt extremely impressed with the sight. Air was normally utilized as a defensive element in her experience, blowing aside projectiles. Killing someone with it by generating enough force to blow them back was rather difficult, yet another reason to fear and respect the Master of the Elements Sanctum.
"Time?" Roknus Maelstrom asked to seemingly no one.
"One Chime, twenty seven Ticks" A nervous feminine voice called from the ring.
"That's it!? Terrible! Petching terrible!" The Master roared.
He certainly didn't seem pleased by the offered time and Anna noted a figure from the crowd taking a cautious step back. She didn't exactly blame the individual, and was silently wondering whether coming here was such a good idea as she watched two apprentices carry away the body of their fellow. Maelstrom was caught up in his own ravings and apparently hadn't noticed her.
"No, that can't stand. Next! One of you whelps has to be able to last longer than that. Better yet, two, no three! Yes, that should make things much more interesting!" He nodded to himself, pleased by his apparent logic.
The gather apprentices looked more than a little nervous, again the woman couldn't blame them. The Nuit had effortlessly deflected an attack and killed another reimancer with the same spell, three more opponents likely would make no difference. It would likely just mean three more corpses.
"Uh, Master?" The same voice from before called out.
His tone had sounded rather infuriated a moment ago, switching to a near nonchalant level. The Master was certainly a fun filled emotional ride, rising and falling at seemingly random. He turned slightly in the direction of the voice.
"What? Are you volunteering? If not then I'll volunteer you myself." He said, from where Anna was standing she could make out the corners of an almost manic grin.
"No! I mean, as you say Master, but I think there is someone here to see you." The woman sounded rather afraid at the command, but she pointed in Anna's direction.
Maelstrom slowly rounded, his insanity filled eyes falling upon her hard and fast. The apprentice swallowed hard as she felt rather like she was pinned to the spot, another feeling that this might not have been such a good idea washing over her. Another grin found its way onto the Nuit's face and he held his arms out wide, the gesture seemed mocking to her but she got the message from it.
"Ah, the apprentice of the great Amaryllis returns! Welcome back. Are you here for another go?" He said, his words dripping with acidic sarcasm.
Anna heard the door shut behind her with a flinch, she didn't really have a desire to fight Maelstrom himself again. However as she opened her mouth to politely decline his offer his expression became almost thoughtful, seeming to consider something for a Tick. He nodded quickly to himself again and gestured for her to come forward.
The apprentice swallowed and made a few cautious steps forward, moving towards the center where Maelstrom stood. She halted about a yard from the insane Master of Reimancy, who had another grin on his face. Anna really didn't want to know what was making him amused but she really, really felt uneasy about it.
"Its good fortune you stopped by today actually. You see I'm trying to see just how long my newest servants can last in combat, unfortunately it seems like the Judges sent me a number of weaklings. None of them seem to know a thing about real fighting." The Nuit raised his voice at the last bit, earning some snickers from more seasoned apprentices.
The man slid up next to her, wrapping a hand around her shoulder and inching his face close to her ear. The apprentice noted that her notes had been spot on when they placed personal space issues as being attributed to the Master. Being this close to him was certainly sending warning bells off in her head.
"Here's what I'm thinking, Annalisa, maybe they are holding back. I mean less than two chimes is rather pathetic all things considered. Maybe they don't want to try and hurt their new Master. Sooo... maybe they need to be given a little more incentive and an opponent more at their level. Do you get me?" He whispered conspiratorially to the tall woman.
Anna turned her head slightly towards Maelstrom, noting that his expression looked deadly serious. An odd thing to see on the manic Nuit's face. She still felt ill at ease, but the absolute best chance of getting out of this alive was to agree.
"Of course, Master Maelstrom." She responded, very certain to keep any unease out of her voice.
He cackled loudly, delivering a forceful pat on her back. Anna grunted slightly at the blow, noticing again how his mood had shifted.
"Excellent! Now listen up you lot! Amaryllis' apprentice has volunteered to see if you new meat are actually worth the air you are breathing." The Nuit declared.
Was that what she had agreed to? Petch.
"Lets make this interesting... two on two combat, Annalisa can decide who fights with her." He said, nodding to himself.
Okay, that wasn't as terrible as she had feared. She'd have a partner here. Anna had never actually fought alongside someone in combat, so this would be a new experience. She'd also never fought multiple reimancers before, that would make things interesting. Still, being roped into this was rather jarring. Still, this was more a spar than a battle. She could hold back if she needed to, after all Maelstrom likely just wanted to assess them. She doubted he'd care if someone died though...
Holding back, it was something she wouldn't have previously considered. Perhaps Celeste had effected her a little more than expected, still considering that she was fighting more than one reimancer it was likely she'd need to reign herself in over much. Just enough to avoid killing someone.