Kind-ship

"Henri, I can't-" Louise starts, unwilling to even entertain the thought, despite how much she wanted to truly master her magic.

"No. Louise. I've been selfish, callous, even. Using you as a weapon against the enemies of Tristain, and putting you in supreme danger more times than not. I've been a terrible friend, and I see that clearly now." she says, feeling guilty that she'd refused all those missives from Romalia simply to keep control over Louise, so that she could use her as a weapon in future.

"Princess-" "No! Louise, I've made my decision! Do not hold back on my behalf! Truly, I want the best for you, and the best would be in Romalia..." Henrietta presses, not mentioning that she thought that Tristain was doomed regardless of what they did. And wanted her best friend to flourish elsewhere, instead of barely surviving here.

Louise' eyes tear up, "But I want to stay here, with you Henri! I want to be useful to you! As a weapon, if I have to! Don't send me away, please!"

Henrietta shakes her head, "This is the only way, Louise. I love you, and I won't see you throw your potential away just to stay with me."

"This is all his fault!" Louise exclaims while tears run down her face, "If he hadn't stolen the Prayer Book!... If he hadn't killed Guiche! If-"

"Stop, Louise. Thinking on 'Ifs' will lead you nowhere. That's all in the past now, we have to look to the future, and your future is in Romalia."

...

Louise slowly gets to her feet and wipes the tears from her eyes, not even looking at Henrietta as she stomps off, down the hill and back towards Tristania, alone.

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The next morning :

Michael slowly awakens in his tent and tries to wipe the sleep from his eyes but finds his hand locked in a tight hold by Tiffania, who'd hugs it tightly against her chest. She'd fallen in his arms as he walked through the forest in an attempt to find a good campsite, so he was surprised she'd continued sleeping until now. The magical exhaustion must've hit her harder than he'd thought.

He lies back down again, enjoying the relative peace he currently has. His sleep had been much lighter than usual, and he could only scratch that up to Sheffield's demise. That, or finally recovering the Prayer Book, which would be the key to leaving this world.

Ralf leaving had been a big blow, as they lacked any meaningful transportation, a magic teacher for Tiffania, and sword instructed for him. Still, Michael wasn't too upset about it. If that man left just because he'd gotten revenge against Sheffield in a slightly overboard manner, then so be it.

It was better that the man discovered the lengths of which he was willing to go now instead of later. Plus, he was surprised that Tiffania had been so accepting of it... Perhaps her encounters with the dark side of humanity had rid her of most sensibilities concerning the wellbeing of her enemies. That, or she trusted him enough to not start picking random people off of the streets.

Regardless the negotiation had gone pretty well. He'd traded the princess for the book, killed his most hated enemy, Sheffield. And escaped alive and well. The loss of the Ring of Andvari was a shame, but it was good enough that no one else would be able to use it... Still, he wondered if he'd caught the ire of the Water Spirit down in Lake Lagdorian for destroying the artifact it'd been protecting... Hopefully he'd have left this world before encountering it, as he didn't think he could fight an elemental as he is.

Rhasta's teaching may allow him to commune with it, maybe reach a deal that suited both parties, but he wasn't willing to risk it based on pure curiosity.

Shaking his head, he pulls out the Book of Heroes and checks his Anti-Mage Spirit progress, Sheffield should have provided a good amount of EXP, so hopefully that was enough to give him another level up.

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Spirit : Anti-Mage

Level : 3 > 5

Abilities :

Mental Fortitude (Rank 1) : Grants resistance to mental attacks that gets stronger when against magic.

Mana Break (Rank 1) : Burns the mana of any target struck, dealing damage to them based on how much mana is burned.

Blink (Rank 1) : Short Range but fast teleportation. Less range when unable to see location.

Counter Spell (Rank 2) : Provides passive magic resistance, can be activated to form a shield for a short time that blocks and reflects any single target spells cast towards the user.

Mana Void (Rank 0) : Attacks an enemy and deals damage to them and their surroundings based on how much mana they are missing.

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He puts his two skill points in Blink and the second rank of Counter Spell, Magic Resistance would never be bad. The influx of new knowledge burrows into his mind, and quickly confirms his suspicions about the Blink spell.

As he had thought, Blink was a more flexible, yet shorter version of Blink Strike. Not requiring a target for its use, not only that. It wasn't technically a spell, not in the traditional sense at least. Activating it required him to perform a complex set of foot movements while channeling magic into his legs. It was more difficult than Blink Strike, which only required him to chant it to activate it... Though, this could be attributed to the fact that it was probably a racial ability possessed by Riki.

As Tiefling(Or whatever he is), such an ability might be instinctual, instead of it being technique based like the Blink Anti-Mage possesses. There was another option as well, that the difficulty of learning it could be because Hero ranked spirits were more complex and powerful compared to the Commoner ranked ones... This was all just speculation however.

The only other abilities he could base his opinions on were the active component of Counter Spell, which required him to manipulate his magic in strange ways before forcing it out of his core, creating the shield. And Mana Break, which had him circulating his magic through his weapon in a strange pattern, allowing him to disrupt, and ultimately drain the mana from any target he strikes.

Hopefully, his next Spirit would give him a bit more to work with. Shaking his head, Michael checks his main status to see his improvements.

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Name : Michael Hunt

Rank : Hero

Stats :

Strength : 17 > 19

Agility : 35.1 > 36.6

Intelligence : 18 > 19

Abilities :

[Gandalfr] : Enables user to utilise any weapon at two ranks above their current proficiency while granting them the knowledge necessary to use them. While wielding a weapon, temporarily gain +100% in all stats.

[Language Comprehension] : Enables user to understand all spoken tongues, and increase the rate of which they learn reading and writing.

[Basic Mana Manipulation] : Allows user more control over his magic, spells, and some abilities. Mana efficiency and control of power is increased.

[Pain Tolerence] : Allows user to endure great amounts of pain with little to no negative effects as a result.

[Novice basic Swordsmanship(Two handed swords/One handed swords)] : Determines how skillful the user is when handling swords.

[Novice basic Dagger techniques(Single edge, curved, straight, double edge.)] : Determines how skillful the user is when handling daggers.

Affinities :

[Lesser Water Affinity], [Lesser Fire Affinity], [Lesser Lightning Afffinity], [Lesser Darkness Affinity]

Spirits :

Commoner Tier :

Shadow Shaman : MAX

Slark : Lvl MAX

Riki : Lvl MAX

Hero Tier :

Anti-Mage : Lvl 5

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