Kosmos: The Witch

Morgana stayed a few days at the mansion to ensure Cassandra was fine, but since Magnus was taking care of her day in and day out, she felt like it'd be fine if she left for some time to visit Helen. She projects a small burst of flames at the red gem above the entrance, and shortly after that Helen shows up at the door, walking down the hall.

- "Morgana ! It's been about a month since I've seen you for the last time, how's the Academy treating you ?"

- "It's been going pretty well, I like it."

- "And your speech improved dramatically too ! That's great. So, what did you come here for ?"

- "Remember how you taught me to harden magical energy ? It's nice but I'm too slow with it. Can you teach me how to do it faster ?"

- "Yes of course ! Give me a week or two and I think I could teach you how to weave energy more efficiently."

- "Thank you. Also, where is Adelaios ?"

- "You're in luck, he's inside." She taps her staff on the floor. "Bring me Adelaios !"

A rumbling is heard in the hall, and an armada of maids emerges from one of the doors, carrying Adelaios above their heads. They place him on the ground next to Helen.

- "Thank you very much, you can return to your activities." she says, and the maids scatter.

- "Helen, I thought we agreed not to do this, you know I hate being kidnapped by your staff at random times…" Adelaios notices Morgana standing in front of them. "Oh Morgana, how's it going ?"

- "Very well, thank you. Helen probably told you I live at the Academy now." Morgana replies.

- "You speak so much more clearly now…" Adelaios has a sob. "They grow up so fast…"

- "She's not your daughter, Adelaios." Helen comments.

- "Ahem, right. So, what brings you here ? I heard that students at the Academy of Magic are often very busy."

- "Here. I wanted to give this back to you." Morgana hands him a fabric bag, and when he opens it he sees the cape he lent to her during their travels, cleaned and neatly folded.

- "Oh, I thought you forgot about this ! Thanks, that means a lot, those are expensive."

- "No problem. I wouldn't steal from you."

- "Of course, you've always been so honest !"

- "Adelaios, you've known her for less than a year." Helen observes.

- "Ahem ! Right ! So, how's it going at the Academy ?"

Morgana starts recounting the events that led up to this point, from the practical exam to the first classes. Adelaios seems outraged by all the danger she's been put through. Eventually, she says:

- "I've purposefully left one part for the end."

- "What is it ?"

- "We're going to the Hyperborean Territory."

- "How about you don't ?" He replies, his smile fading and being replaced by a look of dread and concern.

- "It's very important. I need to get stronger if I want to. Rescue the other captives mother has."

- "Right, talking about your mother, we discovered something. It's really hard to track her down, because the entrance of her laboratory apparently changes locations all the time. On top of that, it's usually invisible and magically untraceable even by some of our most competent witches, so we have to rely on dumb luck or Hermes' blessing to find it."

- "But I can sense it, I remember."

- "You what ?... That has to be because you're descended from her or something like that." he turns to Helen. "Best not to let the queen know, or she'll probably make Morgana run around the entire continent to find her mother. I don't want that for her, it's too dangerous."

- "Well I don't think the queen would do that, but hey if you say so." Helen replies.

- "Alright Morgana, listen up. No matter what, even if you find an entrance, don't go in. You know what your mother is capable of, and what kind of freakish creatures she can throw at you." Adelaios says.

- "...I'll think about it." Morgana replies.

- "Oh come on… Well at least it's not a straight no."

- "So, I wanted to know. Could you give me tips on how to survive. The Hyperborean Territory ?"

- "First off, don't fight the Hyperboreans themselves. The fauna ranges from fine to straight up walking disasters, so I can't say much about that, but you should know that the Hyperboreans are ice giants. They're freakishly strong, can regenerate quickly, can be up to five hundred meters tall, and they can generate a cold so intense around them that you could die without them even attacking you. On top of that, they have shamans. You will recognize one if you see them wielding a staff instead of a more standard weapon for them like a club or a sword. Those are the most dangerous ones, since they wield Ice magic."

- "Ice magic ? Is the manipulation of ice that dangerous ?"

- "At base, it's fine. It can even be a bit sub par in some categories. However, it gets more powerful the colder it is, increasing exponentially."

- "Exponentially ?"

- "I'm not going to give you a math lecture right now, it essentially means it increases very quickly, and it gets a lot, lot worse for every increase of power it gets from the environment."

- "I see. I will be careful of them then."

- "Don't be fooled though, most of the fauna knows Ice magic. What you really should watch out for is the fact that Hyperboreans are rarely alone. If one attacks you, there is a good chance it will call other ones nearby to help it. They also have domesticated some of the frost dragons there, and their villages are usually located in mountains, so avoid those."

- "I understand. Thank you."

- "There's more stuff I should tell you, but I'll let you digest that info for now ! Are you coming back any time soon ?"

- "I'm staying for a couple weeks to learn from Helen."

- "Perfect then ! I'm here on standby for now anyways, Helen doesn't have any work for me since a third of her workers are out of town."

- "Could you sound less happy about this ?! I'm losing a lot of money here !" Helen complains.

- "Oh no, Helen's workforce is gone ! How dreadful. I wish she could work me to death instead of letting me take it easy !" Adelaios wails.

- "You're the worst." Helen replies, exasperated.

Date: February 1st Location: Castle, Pyromancy Faculty

- "The day has come ! Are you all ready ?" Nova shouts.

They were all in front of the castle, and students passing by were giving them weird stares. They all have large leather backpacks on them, and Cassandra starts complaining.

- "I feel like I'm in high school again… Are the bags really necessary ?"

- "Only if you don't want to starve !" Nova answers. "You'll be hunting for your food too, so you want to be able to transport rations if need be !"

- "Ugh. It's messing with my style…"

- "I took my cooking utensils, so we got cooking covered !" Magnus says.

- "I brought my tea pot and some leaves ! I hope I can find some exotic tea leaves during the trip too !" Adriana adds.

- "You've really got your order of priorities wrong, Adriana." Sophia comments.

- "Miss Nova, how long are we going to be gone for ?" Theo asks.

- "Since you're on foot, three months there and three months back if everything goes according to plan !" she answers.

- "Adelaios told me nothing ever goes according to plan. For people that are on foot." Morgana comments.

- "Well, that Adelaios guy was right ! You guys could really use some mounts, but that's up to your own discretion ! Anyways, I'll still be holding lectures around the scheduled time, but most of the time I'll just be monitoring you from above. Let's go, class !"

They head out to the residential village and teleport away from the campus grounds using the building in its center, bringing them to Eretria in front of the exact same building with the flag flying on top of it. They then exit the city through one of the gates, and head onto the long path leading to the Hyperborean territory. Quickly enough, Nova diverts their course and directs them towards the wilderness, saying that the path didn't continue all the way up to their destination anyways and that it'd be faster to cut through the forests and plains. They choose to follow a river sourcing from the north, and their journey begins.