The elves were peaceful creatures that lived in harmony with nature, and Gina could sense that harmony in everything around her. It was obvious that the forest loved them just as much as they loved it.
This wasn’t the first ’magical’ forest that Gina had been to, and she could still remember the intense magic that had been present in the Forest of Fire, where the dragons of Radagan lived. But for some reason, the feeling that Gina experienced in this forest was completely different from what she had felt in the Forest of Fire. In Radagan, the magic had been hot and oppressive, like it was only a moment away from igniting everything around it, and a single mistake would see you consumed by the raging inferno! But here, the magic was calm and peaceful, and Gina smiled as she felt the gentle breeze blowing across her face. Farlow led Gina past the borders of the main forest city, and they headed towards a large, dense region of the forest that had massive shrubs growing around the trees and blocking the way forward. There were two elf guards with silver armor and long spears guarding a seemingly unimportant region of the dense shrubs, and once they saw Farlow approaching, they both bowed and made way for him to pass.
Farlow put his hand forward, and Gina felt the air around her shift. There was no magic released from Farlow, but Gina could see the wind responding to his commands, and Gina immediately knew that this was Sagehood. This was the first time Gina would see a Sage using their abilities to control wind. At her level, Gina could only divert the wind coming toward her using her sage abilities, and she knew that what Farlow just did was far more difficult! The winds flowed into the shrubs before splitting them apart to reveal a wide open area behind them, and Gina’s eyes widened in awe once she saw what was behind those shrubs!
It was a beautiful garden unlike anything Gina had ever seen. A large lake glittered like silver diamonds as it reflected the sunlight shining on it, and at the side, a small waterfall flowed into the lake calmly. There was a wide open area in front of the lake that was covered in lush green grass that looked absolutely perfect, and many forest birds and tiny herbivorous animals called out calmly as they moved around the lake. On the other end of the lake, there was a large rock wall that had a massive opening on its surface, which led into a dark cave. Farlow spoke up calmly as he stepped forward.
"Take off your shoes before entering."
Gina looked down and saw that Farlow was already barefoot, and she followed his instructions and took off her shoes as she entered behind him. Once Gina stepped onto the grass, she felt an electric feeling go through her entire body, and she could feel the entire lakeside resonating with her wind magic! Gina smiled as she saw a deer nearby, and she reached out to touch it, but the deer snorted and quickly dashed away from her! Gina’s smile died down, and she continued following Farlow until they were at the edge of the large lake. The water was so clean that Gina could see the bottom of the lake, and there were fish of different colors swimming lazily in the water. This was the most peaceful place that Gina had ever been, and Gina couldn’t help but wish that Jason was here to see this!
’None of the worlds we’ve been to even compare to this.’
Gina looked around in awe, and Farlow allowed Gina to truly take it all in before he finally spoke.
"This is known as the Lake of Remembrance; it’s been a part of our world for millennia, and multiple generations of elves have come here to seek one form of enlightenment or another. Normally, it would be against Elven doctrine to invite an outsider into this sacred land, but I have gone against the laws of my people because I see something special in you, and it would be an insult to the wind spirits if I do not nurture that potential. Gina, what you did over the past month is not something normal. Sagehood is a sacred art form that has existed since the dawn of time, and in order to tap into that power, a mage must dedicate their life to the element of their choosing for decades – or even centuries. The fact that you were able to reach that power in the way you did shows that you have an innate potential that is greater than I initially thought. Tell me, Gina. Why do you want to grow stronger?"
Gina had been listening closely to Farlow’s words all this time, and she had been feeling a sense of pride fill her heart when she heard Farlow praising her growth. But Gina suddenly blinked when she heard Farlow’s final question, and she answered very quickly.
"I want to have enough strength to always stand beside Jason. I don’t want to lose him, and I don’t want him to go to a place I can’t follow, so I need to keep getting stronger."
Farlow hummed slightly when he heard that answer, but then he turned away with a small frown, and Gina wondered if he didn’t like the answer that she gave. Gina had been speaking the truth. When she first got her power, Gina’s only reason for getting stronger was to make enough money to support her family and also to help Jason’s family if they ever needed money. But now that both Gina and Jason had more money than they knew what to do with, the only reason Gina wanted to get stronger was because she didn’t want Jason to go somewhere she couldn’t follow. Gina wanted to support Jason as much as possible, and she knew that she couldn’t do that unless she got stronger! Farlow shook his head after listening to everything Gina had to say and he finally spoke.
"That is a noble reason, Gina. But tell me this. What will you do if Jason were to die?"
"What?"
Gina’s eyes widened, and she took a step away from Farlow like he had just said something unimaginable. Farlow didn’t look bothered by Gina’s reaction at all, and he just continued.
"In the world of Magic, there are many dangers and many possibilities. Jason’s death is not something completely out of those possibilities, and there is a small chance that you might one day have to deal with it. So tell me, what would you do?"
Farlow fixed Gina with an intense stare as he pressured her into giving him an answer! Gina’s hand went to her stomach as her brow furrowed into a look of despair, and no matter how much she tried to think about a life without Jason, she just couldn’t. It wasn’t possible!
"I... I don’t know what I’d do."
"And that is the main problem you must first tackle."
Gina looked at Farlow with even more confusion, and Farlow gazed at Gina with a wise expression as he explained what he meant to her.
"In order to become a sage, a mage must first deal with the truth of their own being. They must first understand themselves and accept who they are, and it is only after they do this that they can hope to understand the world outside them. When I asked you about Jason’s death, your response was that you did not know. Not that you would move on, or that you would destroy the world, or that you would even kill yourself in order to go and meet him in the River of the Afterlife. Instead, you did not have enough understanding of yourself in order to make a concrete decision about what you would do in such an unexpected situation. To become a sage, you must understand yourself well enough to face those unexpected situations with absolute certainty."