Eir strangely fancied running errands.
Half of his quests were quite mundane, but this would be his first time this far out of the region. And it's cold.
In his past life, cold days were hell. There was never enough power in the heater, never enough blankets, never sufficient jackets. He hated the winter, because his hands were always chapped, his lips were always blue-- and the few toes he's missing would never grow back.
Now he soared across the field, wind bursting against his face, and he's got too many jackets to spare. Reedus gave him his old one, then Makarov shoved one of Ivan's old sweaters in his direction, and then the trend began.
He also had quite a few spares from all his modelling work.
Eir felt so, so blessed-- but he didn't need that many, so he told Cana to hand them to the kids at the church orphanage. Then he invested in a proper heater machine for the building and then a huge heated bath and then he's bankrupt again.
Eir had terrible spending habits, yeah.
Now he had gloves, goggles, and even a winter cap and winter boots. He's never felt so warm in this season before.
He touched the snow, and for the first time, it was a pleasant thing to feel, to experience. Now he kinda understood anime winter episodes.
(If only he could bring this warmth back to his kids...)
He shook his head, away from the thoughts, from the needless reminiscing.
He had better things to do.
-
-
Isvan was pretty big, but it's not bigger than Fiore. It's a whole ass country so it makes sense-- but a few thousand acres of this snow made him lose his motivation...
"Two acres north of Brago..."
Eir was rather confident in his map-reading ability, but this was ridiculous. There was nothing but snow out here. Is he trekking the North Pole? If Isvan is like this, what does Iceberg look like? Or is Iceberg filled with grass and they're pulling an Iceland Greenland on us?
(In case you're confused, Iceberg is the name of the very large country two continents east of Fiore. I've never been there, I don't think I want to be.)
"Ah, I think that's a sign. And that was a tower... so this is Nilhe?"
He came as quickly as he could, but it was dark by the time he made it. Maybe he should have rested with the caravan campers he passed by a kilometer back.
Or maybe he should've stayed in Brago, even if all the villagers had evacuated from the news of Deliora being nearby... he could've, like, stolen a bed or something... actually Master would kill him if they learned he risked a night like that. Nevermind.
Nilhe was decimated.
Barren land all around, shattered wood, and a musty overcast. Debris and blood sprayed across the ground, and the pure white snow was anything but.
Deliora was long gone, but the scar remained.
Eir looked on sadly, spotting a crushed house with a shattered dog statue at its gates. There was no sign of life-- and though there was a lot of dirt, mud and rain-- there were also no dead bodies.
"This is Toby's house... so two streets down, I'll find Yuka's school... right?"
Perhaps someone had come and buried them. There are signs of rubble being shifted around... Eir is evidently not the first mage to be commissioned to check out the state of this city.
He picked up a dog tag, and it read Milo, and at the back, not lost, he's just smarter than us. Sincerely, the Horhortas.
Eir stared at it. What kind of joke is this? Well, maybe Toby would want it as a memento, so he pocketed it and continued on his way.
When he looked out into the horizon, he found a cliff overlooking the scenery.
There were a multitude of sticks over the top, used as markers of makeshift tombstones. So that's where they were all buried... he'll have to go over to pay his respects later.
He walked along the town.
Thunk!
And then he stopped.
"What is this...?" he moved his foot from the strange metal lid on the ground-- and crouched down to remove the rest of the debris. There's a stubborn pillar in the way, so he lifts a whole roof off the part before he has to move a few bricks...
Argh, what a pain.
He picked up a branch, and braced it against the ground-- before spinning it like a top. "Enchant: Wind, Rotor!"
And then everything went flying, shattered wood and splinters flying every direction, and Eir barely turned away before one nasty piece took out his eye. The wind had shredded away most of the biggest pillar while busting out the smaller pieces, so all that was left to do was to break through and force the rest of the way in.
"Maybe I should have planned that better," he muttered to himself.
He didn't want to slash it and damage the metal in case it was important, so he used a twig-- but said twig was just splinter hell. Thank god for long sleeves.
It took a little longer, and it was dark out by now, but he managed to clear the way and find himself looking at something that resembled a manhole lid.
"The sewers? No..."
There's no label on it. No company, no town association or anything-- in fact, it's not made of iron or metal.
"It's not metal."
It clunks when you knock it-- but it's smooth and cold, like stone. The colour's all over the place, too. Opaque, but it's gray, white, and black, and even silver in some parts...
"It's rock," he realized, "granite?"
There were no words on it, just symbols drawn in a circular array, and the emblem of a lock branding proudly in the centre. He put a hand on it, and the magic circle came to life, silver markings floating a little above the lid so Eir could inspect it.
He couldn't quite read much of it, but one thing is clear.
This thing is a magically constructed barrier.
Someone had used whatever this is as an escape pod, and Eir is almost entirely sure there's a human inside of it.
-
"Enchant: Wind," he pointed his sword at the center of the barrier-- "Wind Bullet!"
There's a second of lull. Then the sword exploded into light, thundering straight down with a roaring shudder-- and the force of wind blew through like a ripple.
The barrier remained unharmed.
"You've got to be kidding. Wind Bullet can usually dig a twenty feet hole, you know?" he groaned, exasperated, "what kind of crazy barrier is this?"
Something strong enough to withstand a Deliora attack is probably crazy, yeah, but dude, maybe think about how we're going to dispel it?
He could sense magic from it, so he knew there was someone down there. One... probably a child.
Did they have supplies down there to live? Food, water, warmth, air?
He couldn't dig it up, either. The lid was just that small, but the barrier went underground, too. From the flow of magic, the barrier was a cube, forming a small space under the ground that was indestructible, safe, and perfect as a hideout.
He pounded his fist against the rock lid, and he yelled. "Anyone down there! Can you hear me?" but there was no answer.
He couldn't just leave like this...
"There's gotta be a way to dispel this..."
The Magic Seal is inscribed on the stone, bit by bit. That meant it was a language-- ugh, it's getting harder to see. He made a fireplace, and set up his tent there before he continued working.
He'd read somewhere about the language structure of magic spells... all magic was once casted by ancient chants. Then seals were constructed, which saved time and enabled quicker casting-- but weakened the power.
So the owner of the barrier wrote it down, bit by bit. That explained how the barrier was so strong... but the key to reverse the barrier should be here, somewhere...
"God, if I could read this..." he swore, then put his hand on the centre carving. "It's a lock. That means I need a key."
In this rubble?
If the person that made this barrier didn't expect to survive, why would they hide the key somewhere no one could find it? Where could they even hide a key, when everything's destroyed?
(Unless the key isn't a physical object.)
He channeled a handful of magic into the center. Not to destroy, not an attack, not even a gust of wind. Just raw magic power, from one medium to another.
Because if this is built to defend against Deliora, power isn't what it's looking for.
(It's looking for a mage that could scout it out.)
(It's looking for any, non-destruction form of magic.)
"Man, now I wish I brought Cana along," he muttered to himself. Most Caster type magic, like Eir's and Gildarts', were highly destructive in its natural form. Something calm and gentle, like a calm water attack or something, would've been ideal.
Thankfully, Eir had plenty of reserves. He just needed to channel a whole gunk of magic into this--
Crack!
Bingo. There's a literal split running down the stone, splicing it into a clean half, then another. The lines crossed over the lock, forming a huge X over the stone lid.
Eir ran his hand over the structure again, and the magic was gone.
Quickly, he dug through the soil and the snow, and finally-- finally, it opened.
And inside, sleeping on a layer of thick mats and covered in a duvet, was a girl with dark pink hair.