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"Are you saying i need someone to teach me how to swordfight? Or does you mean i have to kill an oni to test myself?" Cairo asks wondering where to even find an oni "how am i even supposed to find someone to teach me? Who would teach me? Cairo says upset he would have to ask for someones help

Aislinn smiled, suppressing a chuckle.

"The Battle Sages of Candlekeep wouldst go on at length about knowledge being key to winning all battles.

"I wouldst say that fighting is hither," she stated, tapping her chest plate above her heart with a gauntleted hand, "and hither." She then tapped her head.

"Ye have heart," she said, "but ye have much to learn. Mine masters taught me how to fight, how to protect and most importantly, how to die.

"Ye must learn how to wield more than this mere tachi. Yer foes will not be so kind as to use a tachi against ye. Ye must learn the spear, the axe, and the hammer for only in knowing how ye would use it against someone will ye know how to they will wield it against ye."

"That's the reason why you have us", Ren told Cairo.

"Especially me!", Azumi said gleefully, "I think it would suit you to learn a bit of weapon enchanting, you know!"

Azumi walked over to an open space far from everyone and proceeded to gather the rocks around her to make some sort of makeshift training dummy. To Ren at least, it looked like a stone snowman, which made him chuckled a bit. Azumi simply rolled her eyes at Ren and proceeded to materialize a katana. She immediately sheathed it and proceeded to perform a stance that enchanted her blade. The grass around her withered and froze as she muttered multiple incantations. Every breath that she exhaled seemed to become a strong gust of wind surrounding her.

And finally, she struck the training dummy with an incredible amount of force, cleaving it cleanly in half.

"That... was a rather bad example of that. It was too advanced!", She giggled and wagged her tails, "I think we should start with the basics like enchanting your blade with the heat of your anger and determination or something similar!"

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to force his way into being a master swordsman Cairo swallows his pride with an inhale and asks "so...maybe... you guys could possibly teach me how to do all that stuff?" As he scratches the back of his neck with embarrassment on his face not making eye contact.

Hearing azumi bring up enchanting and demonstrating its effects Cairo stares wide eyed at the sight of azumi slicing the training dummy so easily "how did you do that?" Was all he could ask

Despite Linota's fierce determination not to let them fall, Lio could see the tears forming in her eyes, and she felt the power in her building and building. Lio needed to find a way to let it out that would be safe. "The problem isn't you, Linota. The problem is all of those people in your life who haven't accepted you for the great gift of who you are. You are a leader. You're strong and so very determined. You're curious and want to learn and know more. You want better for yourself than you've been given, you know you deserve better, and you're right."

Lio stood up, moving slowly as as to not startle the young woman and took a step closer."I don't know you're story, but I'm guessing that at some point in the past someone you loved told you that you weren't the way you should be. And you've been trying to figure things out ever since because you can't be any other way. But they were wrong."

As she took another step closer to Linota, Lio made the tiniest of movements with one hand, casting a large, invisible shield around the two of them, just in case what she was about to do backfired. "You're part of a group now that needs you and your talents exactly how they are." A step closer "There are others who can make big and little decisions if you don't to." A step closer. "Or who will gladly let you make them if you want to." A step closer. "We can all help each other." And with one quick movement, Lio took the final step to Linota, wrapped her arms around the young woman, gave her a huge hug, and spoke into her ear. "I never had the chance to have children, but if I had, I would have been thrilled if they were like you."

Linota stayed where she was, despite Liothryth’s steps toward her. What the mage was saying was distraction enough to make everything else around Linota go unnoticed. Her face had lost much of the anger, replaced with concern and shock. Concern for her ironwork pride and shock for the fact that Liothryth seemed to be something of a mind reader. Linota shook her head though her stare was unmoving, unyielding, and she felt a strange energy around her like clinging static. It grew stronger the more Liothryth spoke, the closer she got, and it made Linota’s scalp tingle. She wrongfully assumed that the energy was coming from the mage, but she still didn't back away from her.

The scarred woman was captivating, speaking things unto her that had never once been spoken. She was special? She belonged? She wished her own mother had thought so, but she was over that now– wasn't she? When Liothryth wrapped her arms around her, Linota squared her shoulders and stiffened. Something in her brain told her to writhe and hiss, while something in her chest made the tears in her eyes spill over. She closed her eyes and gave in to the hug, resting her forehead on the crook of Liothryth's shoulder and allowing the old mage to take care of her in this moment. Her grip on her staff loosened, though she didn't let it fall. She simply relaxed, body and soul, and let her tears soak into Liothryth’s skin and clothes as she quietly sobbed.

The hug appeared to light the two of them with a golden glow until Linota suddenly dropped her staff to hug Lio back with a force and a burst of energy radiated from them in all directions. Liothryth's shield glowed with them for a moment before it shattered, looking like glittering shards of glass. It rained down around them, outlining them in a circle before the energy twinkled away. What it could have done to everyone around them, without the shield, would never be known.

Linota stayed where she was, unaware of the soundless blast with her face pressed against Lio. It felt like a three ton weight had been lifted from her shoulders and she wished she could stay in that moment forever. Then, when she thought about it, she wished she could bury herself into Lio’s robes and hide forever. How embarrassing it was to show emotion!

Linota eventually unstuck herself from Lio and looked the mage ruefully in the eyes before peering over at everyone else, ready to snap a hard "what?” at anyone who might be staring at them.

Lio did her best not to flinch when the shield broke. Having that happen always hurt a bit, but oh was it worth it in this case. So that was what Linota was holding back! She returned the young woman's rueful smile with one that held something that Linota wouldn't quite be able to place - was it excitement? There was a twinkle in the mage's eyes that seemed to promise the fun kind of trouble.

"Will you try something for me, Linota?" Lio asked, not quite as if she hadn't just had the woman crying on her shoulder but with a much lighter tone than one might expect. "Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Try to clear your mind of everything around you. Once you've done that, hold your hand out in front of you and imagine it filled with a small flame. Try not to worry about whether or not anything will happen, just imagine the fire." Now the look that Lio gave Linota was filled with confidence and affection. "This is an experiment. So if nothing happens it's alright. When you have the image of the flame firmly in your mind, open your eyes and we'll see what happens."

Linota looked back at Lio, giving a sniff and wiping her nose with the back of one of her sleeves. The woman was smiling at her like a giddy ninny, as if she liked what she was seeing.
“I- I don’t know what’s come over me,” Linota stammered.
She was embarrassed and shaken up, but she felt good. She felt stronger, more awake, than ever before. What had this mage done to her? She was about to ask, when Liothryth asked something of her instead. The instructions she gave sounded similar to that of Assallya’s teachings and that made Linota skeptical. When Lio followed her instructions up with a disclaimer, Linota gave her a hopeless look, but she tried it anyway, after some stubborn hesitation.

’If she wants proof that I can’t do it, then fine,’ Linota thought as she stood there with her eyes closed. ’How does one clear their mind, anyway?’
She focused on fire and the way it flickered and danced in the dark while her hand remained steady and waiting. She didn't see that her sleeve slacked enough to show the coiled scars around her wrist that she most often hid. She thought about the heat of the flames and how she could almost feel the warmth of it in her hand. For a moment she thought it was too much heat and fear cooled the vision until the imaginary flame was nearly gone, but she willed it back. She thought about how fire was life and how this fire, was her’s. She was sharing her life force with it and she could control how big or how little she wanted it to be. The flames grew and determined anger gave the fire more life until suddenly–

Linota opened her eyes to find a small flame, no larger than one from a lighter, wiggling in the palm of her hand. She made a startled noise, her mouth agape and her eyes wide. Her hand was less steady now as it shook with excitement.
“What did you do?” Linota asked Liothryth, without taking her eyes off of her little flame.
The question was loud, demanding, and the flame in her hand grew five times its size. That scared Linota enough to yelp again and she held her hand out as far away from her face as possible. The lapse of fear seemed to startle the flame as well, for it flickered vigorously as if the wind, now still, had picked up around it.
Linota flicked her hand at the ground to rid herself of the flame, but it stayed lit. “Take it back!” She ordered Liothryth with worried eyes. She was only talking about the fire, as she thought it was a gift or some kind of trick. She remained unaware of any inherent magic she possessed.

Azumi heard a panicked yell. It was Linota, she could be in danger! She asked for Ren to follow her and he obeyed as they ran towards were Lio and Linota were. Ren was already frantically aiming his pistol somewhere near Liothryth and Linota, unsure as to where the threat was. Azumi, on the other hand did not sense the presence of anyone else. They both stopped in their tracks, though, as they finally realized what was happening. Linota was casting a spell. Ren sat down on the ground in relief, grumbling to himself out of worry and while he was doing that, Azumi approached Linota slowly and told her to relax with a calm voice.

"A simple fire spell?", She asked Linota calmly, "You can dispel that by thinking of an extinguished flame, how cold it could feel in a windy night without it"

"I could also extinguish that for you, but I prefer if you learned how to cast at least one spell. Never know when it might come in handy", Ren said to Linota

Hearing the scream Cairo rushes over sword at the ready "What going on?" his jaw drops at the sight of linota holding a fireball his shock becomes absolute joy "YES!!!!! HELL YEAH HAHA!! THAT IS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT!!!" Cairo shouts like a mad man how proud he was of Linota

A slight frown had come to Lio's face when she saw the scars around Linota's wrists - obviously something horrible had happened to her in the past - but it was quickly replaced with a huge grin when she saw the little flame. She did it on the first try! Before she could say anything, Azumi, Ren, and Cairo had all come over to see what the young woman had done.

"Just like Azumi said, all you have to do is imagine it going out and it will - because you're the one who created it. I had nothing to do with it except suggesting the experiment," said Lio, still smiling. "The magic has been within you all along, it just took a while to come out." She tried for a more serious expression but didn't fully succeed. "There's going to be a lot of work ahead learning how to use it and to see what kinds of things you're capable of, but you are now officially a magic user. At the very least you'll never need flit and steel to start a fire again, but I have a feeling that you are capable of much, much more than that."

Lio's mind started going through what she could remember of her early training and some of the basic exercises she had learned so that she would be able to help Linota discover this new, remarkable part of herself.

Linota, quick to startle at the moment, jumped at the sound of Azumi’s voice behind her. ”You can dispel that,” she said to her.
“Me??” Linota asked her incredulously. “She’s the one who…”
Her voice faded when she matched eyes with Lio again and saw that knowing, proud smile.
“I didn’t…” Linota continued to protest, but somewhere inside herself, she knew. She could feel it in her body like nerve endings she had never stretched before; this fire was truly her’s.

Cairo’s crazy, excited shouts made Linota laugh, a stuffy, joyous laugh. The laughter grew as her realization did and she stared eagerly at her flame. She looked like an entirely different person in that moment, red-faced and laughing, using magic. Her flame had calmed even without her focusing on it as it absorbed her happy thoughts. It was a cute, little ball and it swirled peacefully in her palm. The fact that Ren and Azumi had also come to help her, while a little embarrassing, warmed her soul. She smiled graciously at them, her gaze lingering briefly on Ren before she listened to Liothryth.

Linota focused on the fire again as Lio spoke, the boost in confidence at being called a ‘magic user’ allowing her more control over the energy in her hand. She had done this! This little fireball had really come from her! It was still new to her and it wasn’t so smoothly done, but she managed to put the fire out just as Liothryth finished saying, ”much more than that”. Linota closed her fingers into a fist as she snuffed it with thoughts of cold and non-existence, then looked up at Liothryth in surprise until the mage’s face made her smile again.

She was going to be making fireballs every hour on the hour for weeks now. Had Liothryth just created a monster? Only time would tell. For now, Linota was surrounded by people who seemed to actually care about her and she was happy. Much to her surprise, she was growing attached to all of them. Hope was a very dangerous thing, Linota knew, but family was family.

She already started trying to create another flame in her hand and would succeed after about a minute. She started to wonder if it had actually happened before a flame appeared, widening her eyes. She would keep trying at it, for each flame was assurance that she was indeed a magic user. At the fourth conjured ball of fire, Linota would feel woozy and drained, as if she had suddenly gotten a cold. She wobbled a bit and blinked confusedly, unaware of what was happening to her. The flame was still in her hand and she tried focusing it away again, but couldn’t muster up the energy to snuff it out.

“What’s happened?” Linota asked, sounding drowsy. “I feel like rot.”
She plopped down in the grass and lazily watched the flame dwindle in her hand, though it wouldn’t extinguish.

Lio crouched down and placed her hand around Linota's. As the old elf closed her hand, Linota would be able to feel a kind of connection made between them and through the connection Lio taught her how to extinguish the flame. After the flame was out, Linota would a feeling spread throughout her body like she was waking up from a restful nap.

"Magic takes energy to use," Lio said gently. "Sometimes it can be more exhausting to use magic than to do something without it. With practice you'll build up your stamina, along with the things you'll be able to do."

By this point Linota was feeling almost back to normal and Lio removed her hand. "I'll show you some exercises to do that will help. Being able to create a flame on the first try is impressive, I think you'll progress along with no problem."

Lio stood then offered her hand to help Linota up. "Right now though, I think it's time for breakfast."

Cairo out of joy grabs Linota by the shoulders not noticing her fatigue "i knew you could do it haha! That was amazing Lin!" He loudly says with a huge goofy smile

Linota bridled her initial reaction to Liothryth holding her hand, letting her do it with no more protest than a wary, tired scowl. Soon enough she could feel her energy return in a euphoric flutter of what felt like excitement, like she had just drank a strong cup of coffee. Her magic using muscles were sore, she could tell even before Liothryth explained, but she wanted to use them anyway, her amateur body be damned! When Liothryth said that conjuring the flame was ‘impressive’, Linota’s cheeks went rosy.

Then Cairo was squeezing her shoulders and giving her praise that made her smile, despite her lips trying to press it down.
“It’s not that impressive,” she told him shyly from her seat on the floor.
She knew the flame itself wasn't that impressive, but the fact that she could conjure anything blew her everliving mind. She only wished that someone would say something else to get the compliments to stop. She’d rather they all dog piled on top of her than shower her with praise.

“Breakfast sounds good,” Linota told Liothryth and found that she actually meant it. She hadn't been the best eater lately, having no real appetite, but now, she realized, she was starving.
She gave Liothryth an all encompassing look, that spoke of much more than her appreciation for breakfast, before accepting her help to get up. “Thank you,” she told the mage and found that she really meant that too.
After hurriedly adjusting her sleeves to hide her wrists, Linota would join everyone as they went to prepare food. She was still reeling from the discovery and would be for some time, though she did her best to hide it. If Cairo said more things about it, Linota would shove his shoulder playfully and tell him to stop, though her smile prevailed.

"Lin, you were all like 'fwoosh' and i was like 'damn' heh heh that was awesome" Cairo says before being jokingly shove by Linota telling him to stop "alright, alright i'll stop...but hear me out the title magic genius Linota sounds awesome as hell right?" Cairo says giggling "anyway where are headed again? I might be able to snatch up some more scrolls on the way...I meant buy! i meant buy!" Cairo corrects himself so he doesn't anger linota

Gwen saw Cairo and gave him a warm braces smile until she saw him talking with someone but she walked up to him and hugged him from behind and then came a gaint version of her standing behind her and then Looked back at Cairo "This is the Gaint Version of me"

“‘Magic genius Linota’ is going to light a fire under your arse,” she told Cairo as they continued to walk.
At his slip-up, Linota gave Cairo a sisterly punch on his arm. “I knew you stole those scrolls! We don’t have to be thieves anymore, you know. Unless they deserve it.” She added with a wolfish smile.

She was going to say more, but someone seemed to have found their camp nestled in the woods. It was a girl, wearing attire that Linota had never seen before. She seemed to allover oppose Linota’s gaunt, grunge look, looking so shiny and full herself.

“Uh,” Linota noised, taking on a defensive posture as the girl closed the gap between them. Then the girl hugged Cairo and a second version of her, much larger than herself, appeared behind her.
“UHH,” Linota said more loudly and took a step back from them, her scowling eyes wide.
When the stranger pointed out that, ”This is the Giant Version of me”, Linota gave her, and Cairo, a bewildered look. “Who are you??”

Gwen Foster daughter of black goliath aka bill foster and also Cairo Girlfriend

Assallya rolled her cool blue eyes where she sat on her perch high above the camp atop her vardo wagon. Linota had conjured the flame but she'd used sorcery to do it. Sorcery would be no help with what Linota wanted. Sorcery was rubbish when it came to crafting items and that was Linota's gift and wish.

Still, it did appear to have a boonful effect on Linota's confidence. The blonde elven woman could admit that Liothryth had done good.

She was about to call out when the small dark skinned girl emerged from the woods. What followed was a series of spells: invisibility to conceal herself, a spell to detect magic, a spell to eavesdrop on the girl's thoughts.

She knew enough in short order that the girl was not baneful and to not blare out an alarm.
The larger than normal clone was a surprise. The blonde elf considered that. This "Gwen of house Foster" apparently had a form of sorcery that combined conjuration and transmutation that resulted in an ogre sized version of herself being able to help her in combat. That was most interesting. It could also make the girl something of a target to evil magi who might want to dissect her very essence to see how it worked.