Elizabeth walked back to the main road to meet with Dylan, whom she began to see further up the dirt path, facing away from her. The wind blowing through the decaying trees blew swirls of snow off every branch and caused Elizabeth's long, straight, black hair to flow behind her.
Dylan turned around and waved towards Elizabeth as she walked up, "Hey Lizzie, happy birthday! You're now officially eighteen, now that the sun's coming up." Dylan walked over and hugged Elizabeth to congratulate her.
"Thank you, but you know I was officially eighteen like a few hours ago, right? Cause of how time works?" Elizabeth squinted her eyes suspiciously at her adoptive brother.
"Well... how about you shut up," Dylan said as he rubbed the back of his head out of embarrassment. "It's not like we have watches or anything, and I didn't check the clock before sneaking out with you."
"Yeah, that's the reason you didn't understand how days work," Elizabeth rolls her eyes before laughing. "But now comes the hard part. Sneaking back into the house. Race you there," Elizabeth winked and started dashing through the village back to Roy and Dalia's house.
"You're on!" Dylan shouted as he started sprinting to catch up with her. Just as Dylan started to catch up with Elizabeth, she began using her magic to create snow underneath her feet, forming it quickly and using it to slide herself towards the house even faster. "Hey, you're cheating!" Dylan shouted as he laughed.
"How so? We didn't say no powers!" Elizabeth shouted behind her as she began increasing the distance between the two, easily outpacing him with little effort. "Don't worry, I won't tell Roy and Dalia you were out!" She laughed, looking back to mock Dylan. She then looked forward again and her eyes went wide, her body tensed up, causing her to immediately top using her magic and fall flat on her face in the snow.
"Well, what are you two doing out so early in the morning?" Dalia, Dylan's mom, stood above Elizabeth, arms crossed, her foot tapping in the snow. Her auburn hair was in a messy bun, wearing her slippers and a morning robe with a tattered and stained apron tied around her waist. "Your Uncle Roy was supposed to wake you up while I made you a birthday breakfast, and yet here the two of you are out and about when you should've been in bed." Her tone was humorous, yet she tried to maintain a stern look on her face, her brown eyes staring down at Elizabeth, now face down in the snow, and turning to Dylan as he got closer.
Elizabeth rose her face out of the snow and looked up towards Dalia, "I'm sorry, Aunt Dalia. I couldn't sleep last night, and Dylan woke up to follo-"
"Oh no no no, you are not smooth-talking your way out of this one, missy," Dalia wagged her finger disapprovingly. "And as for you," She turns to Dylan, who looks to be stifling a laugh after seeing Elizabeth in the snow, "It's not your birthday, you can't just do whatever you please, you know? Just cause you're nineteen doesn't mean there aren't rules, especially when you live under my roof."
"Sorry, Mom, I know I shouldn't have snuck out, but it is her last day in the village," Dylan responded as Elizabeth stood up and dusted the snow off her cardigan and jeans.
"Well, I suppose it's fine. Your father doesn't seem to think you did anything wrong, and it is Elizabeth's big day, so I'll let you both off easily today." Dalia's face finally shifts into a smirk as she shakes her head at the pair, "Now who's hungry? I'm making breakfast for the family, and then we gotta get you ready for the road, Lizzie." Dalia turns and starts walking back to the house, opening the dark wooden door, with a large silver knocker and a small circular window with a wooden cross in the middle for stability. She turned the doorknob, swinging the door inward.
"Roy! I found them!" Dalia calls into the house as she steps in, Dylan and Elizabeth following close behind.
"Well, of course you did, it's not like we need to be worried about the pair of them. Elizabeth can fight Ore-Trolls by herself like nothing. Speaking of, happy birthday, dear, eighteen is quite the milestone." Roy responded casually as he read a newspaper from two days ago.
"Thanks, Uncle Roy. So, what's going on in the capital?" Elizabeth asks as she walks into the log cabin, the side door she entered through leading right into the kitchen. The kitchen was nothing too special, but still rather nice given the size of the village. A center island sat with four stools on the far side from the wall, covered in two sets of cabinets, one overhead and one set on the floor. They formed an L-shaped pattern against the kitchen wall, with a sink in the long section of the cabinets on the floor and a window just behind it. There was a kitchen table of dark wood, carved nicely, in the shape of an oval, with six chairs, one at each of the heads, and two on either side. Roy sat at the head of the table, furthest towards the back wall of the room, which had a large window letting in the early morning sun to illuminate the room.
"Not much, just more talk about the Eight Archmagi. Apparently, the Archmagus of Entertainment is working on the largest theatre production ever produced. Somehow, it's all planned and supposed to be done by him and him alone." Roy answered as he folded his newspaper and placed it down on the kitchen table. Dylan walked in behind Elizabeth and closed the door. The sound of sizzling could be heard from the stovetop, as the morning daylight cast a sheen over the marbled, stone countertops. The smell of seared meat and a tad bit of sulfur made its way through the entire first floor of the house.
"Do I smell eggs?" Dylan asked, walking over to the stove stop where Dalia was working.
"Yes, and vaccia[1] meat as well," Dalia answered as she grabbed a spatula to continue scrambling the eggs. "I even plan on using the little bits of shredded cheese we got from the traders the other day, gotta make sure Elizabeth leaves with a properly full stomach."
"Well, it smells delicious, dear," Roy said while standing and walking over, giving Dalia a peck on the forehead. "Now, Elizabeth, have you finished packing for your journey to the capital?"
"Yes, everything I need to take my exam, a few days' worth of rations, and all the gold I've saved from helping you in the clinic and helping the village in the mines," Elizabeth answered, "I'm still a little nervous though, a week long journey by myself is... going to be tough I won't lie."
"Ah, I wouldn't be too worried about it, I had to make the journey loads of times when I was your age; it's not like they have many schools for medicine out here in the sticks," Roy said with a low laugh. "But I wouldn't be worried about it for you. With your mana, it'll be a cake walk. Speaking of..." Roy waited with a dramatic pause, putting his hand up in a symbol to wait for his next words. He walked over to a small metal cabinet, closest to the side door, and opened it, revealing the inside of an indoor icebox. Roy reached in to retrieve a small, brown, cardboard box. Roy closed the icebox door and placed the box on the counter. Roy slid the top of the box off, revealing a small, seemingly homemade cake. The frosting was rudimentary, but it was dark brown in color, with little beads of what seemed like colorful rice on top. "Ta-da!" Roy waved his hands as he revealed Elizabeth's birthday cake.
"Aww, thanks so much, Uncle Roy, it's wonderful!" Elizabeth looked down at the cake with a smile, overjoyed at the gesture. She walked over and wrapped her arms in a hug with Roy, which he then returned.
"Of course, Lizzie. We know we haven't always been able to afford cake for birthdays, but this is special; we can't let you leave without one." Roy smiled down as he held Elizabeth. After a while, they broke the hug, and Roy said, "The cake's made of a dessert known as chocolate. It supposedly comes from this plant from a foreign land, which is originally found to be bitter when crushed, but when mixed with sugar, it creates a delectable flavor. And the colorful bits on top are known as sprinkles. They're essentially tiny beads of sugar with different colors. They were made about three hundred years ago; it's a rather incredible invention, especially given the time. We had to order this special a while ago to have time to make it, but it turned out pretty well if I say so myself."
"It's beautiful, thank you guys show much," Elizabeth giggled as Roy rambled about the facts of the ingredients.
"I can't wait to try some," Dylan laughed as he peered over at the rather delicious-looking chocolate cake.
"Nobody is trying anything until after breakfast, it'll spoil your appetite," Dalia poked Dylan in the stomach, causing him to jump back slightly, which made the whole room giggle. Dalia walked over to a cabinet and pulled down four plates, walking back to the oven and beginning to dish out the meat and eggs evenly between the four. "Now, who's hungry?" Dalia said as she grabbed two of the plates and brought them to the table. The rest of the family began grabbing the rest of what they needed for a meal, with Dylan grabbing silverware, Roy grabbing napkins, and Elizabeth grabbing the other two plates.
"Last meal before your trip, Lizzie," Dylan said as he crammed food into his mouth, "Just make sure to remember us when you become the next Archmagus."
"Oh, relax, she'll be one before any of us realize she's gone," Roy laughed as he began taking bites of his food. "Isn't that right, Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth laughed nervously, "I don't know about that one, guys, I'd be lucky if they even accept me into the Royal Infantry." Elizabeth picked at her food nervously, he shoulders tensing up.
"And if they don't?" Dalia asked, "You'll still always have a home here, and we'll always be ready to take you in, no matter what. But I don't want to hear any of this 'will they, won't they?' You're meant for greatness, dear, never forget that." Dalia encouraged.
"Thanks, Auntie Dalia, it just spooks me sometimes to think about. Do you know how many people go out for the Royal Infantry?" Elizabeth's face contorted to one of worry.
"Roughly three thousand five hundred a year, with an acceptance of about three point five percent, give or take," Roy answered immediately, taking another bite of his food as all three other members of the table stared at him. "What? Did you all really think I didn't do my research on this?" Roy asked, putting his hands up defensively.
This made Dylan laugh, "Yeah, no surprise there, but who cares what the number is, or how many they accept a year, you're gonna make it, Lizzie. You're the most talented and by far the strongest person anyone in the village has ever seen. If they don't accept you, they're just idiots." Dylan punctuated the end of his sentence with a nod.
"I suppose you're right, but I haven't even learned spellcraft yet, all of these people trying out are those from high-class families. Most of them are already ranked before joining the Infantry. I heard that one year that one year the Archmagus of War fought every applicant one-on-one, and they had to be able to hit him to be accepted. I couldn't imagine even my magic coming anywhere near him. The first Archmagi fought dragons and gods, and what have I fought? Ore-Trolls? Greywolves? I don't know..." Elizabeth trailed off, just looking down at her plate.
"Does that mean you won't even try?" Roy asked, his voice getting serious. "If you've already decided you won't bother trying, maybe you shouldn't go. What would be the point? But this isn't the Elizabeth I watched grow up. Where is that girl, who at five years old was ready to fight Aquivis himself if he showed up in the village? The girl who, at twelve, could defeat every Ore-Troll in the mines? That girl wouldn't be sitting here talking about having to hit an Archmagus just once."
Elizabeth blinked several times in shock. She hadn't thought of herself that way, but Roy was right. She was capable of things nobody else in her village could have ever done. "Y-you're right," Elizabeth said in a surprised voice, "I-I'm sorry for being uncertain, but you're right. I have to try, no matter what, no matter what the odds look like."
Roy nodded back to Elizabeth, "There ya go. Was that so hard? Never accept defeat, Lizzie; otherwise, you shouldn't even be trying. You have to give everything you have to seize your destiny. Now anyway, I'm already finished with my food, can we move on to that cake?" Roy patted his stomach and laughed, his plate already licked clean of any traces of the meal, to which the table laughed.
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After Elizabeth and the Mitimus family finished their food, and everyone enjoyed a slice of cake, Elizabeth got her belongings in order, a large pack to hold her necessities, consisting of camping supplies, days of rations, changes of clothes, and other basics for travelling. As she put her pack on, she looked at herself one last time in her bedroom mirror. Her long black hair, braided by Dalia just moments prior, and her icy blue eyes were the same sharp, calm, and collected color. Elizabeth took a long, slow breath before walking towards her bedroom door and heading down the stairs of her home, one final time.
Elizabeth walked outside of her childhood home through the large front door, stepping out into the beautiful log village of the Custos Mountains. The sun reflected off the glistening snow coating the grounds around the gravel roads, with patches of ice and snow still littering them, too. Almost every person in the village stood on either side of the road to out of the village, all of them here for Elizabeth. Roy, Dalia, and Dylan stood closest to the door and joined Elizabeth as she began to walk down the path to the road.
"I knew that everybody in the village was rooting for me, but..." Elizabeth looked at the rows of her fellow villagers. "I didn't think everyone would be here to wish me goodbye."
"What do you mean?" Dylan asked, "Everyone here knows you, it's hard to miss a girl who changed the weather, and it's not like you haven't saved us all from Ore-Trolls too many times to count." Dylan waved his arm to gesture at the crowd.
The crowd began to clap their hands as Elizabeth and her adoptive family walked down the road to the edge of the village. Everybody began waving or saying goodbye as Elizabeth walked, some of she was closer with even offered hugs and words of encouragement.
As Elizabeth and her family finally reached the border of the village, the sun was in the middle of the sky, the clouds had gone away so as not to let the sun miss Elizabeth's day, leaving the village. Elizabeth turns to her family, Dalia's eyes watery with tears, her breath clearly caught in her chest. Roy looked choked up too, but managed to keep a smile on his face, looking towards Elizabeth. Dylan looked happy, looking down at his adoptive sister with a warm smile, his brown eyes almost shining with pride in her.
"Well..." Elizabeth began looking at her family and friends, "I guess this is it for a little while, huh? I'll come and visit you all as soon as I can."
"Not so fast, Elizabeth, you can't leave without your birthday present." Roy pulled a rectangular jewelry box from behind his back, handing it to Elizabeth. "This is from everyone in the village, a culmination of all of our magic and what this village does best."
Elizabeth turned her head to the side, and took the box, opening it up to reveal a beautiful silver necklace, with three chains dangling equidistantly in the middle, to hold three sapphire centerpieces, the middle one being slightly larger than the other two. Elizabeth reached out to touch the necklace, and immediately she felt a surge of mana from the necklace. "W-wait, is this thing enchanted?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes going wide.
"It's only as powerful as we could manage in this village, but we all contributed mana into it when enchanting. It should be about as powerful as something you could find in the capital. It took us months to make it, and we were just glad it came out in time." Dylan explained. "It should help you focus your mana, which should make spells easier to cast, and cost less of it at the same time. I'm not really sure how it works; the blacksmiths didn't explain, just that it needed constant mana poured into it over time to settle the enchantment."
"It's amazing..." Elizabeth said in shock, taking the necklace from the box and giving the box back to Roy. She then undid the clip in the back and placed it on herself, reclipping it around her neck. Immediately, she felt a difference in how her mana felt. "I can already tell, this necklace is incredible, this'll make spellcraft so much easier. Thank you all so much!" Elizabeth cried out to the villagers behind her family.
"We all just wanted to make sure you had a little extra help from all of us along the way." Roy grinned, "God, if your mother could see you now, I just know she'd be jumping with joy at how amazing her daughter turned out."
"I wish she could be here too, but I'm just going to be sure to do her proud," Elizabeth smiles, looking back at her family and giving each one of them long hugs. "Alright, guys, I've gotta get going, the exams are in a week and a half, I gotta get there before they start. I love you!" Elizabeth said to her family one final time before turning and starting down the path to the capital city, Bwetela. He family yelled they loved her and all of their good wishes as they watched Elizabeth finally begin her journey.
[1] The Latin word 'Vacca' means cow in English, so it's their world's version of beef or steak.