Moonlight Demon

Ash waited at the table while Alys went and gathered his books. Putting a hand under her chin, she waited for him to return while she looked around. As someone who, unfortunately, had the reading skills of a literal child, it felt strange being surrounded by this many books. Shelves of them, entire rows dedicated to random information that Ash could not have less interest in. Still, if a place like this existed, she figured someone would be, and yet, she and Alys were the only two people in this library right now. 

It wasn't too hard to think of the kind of people who would love to be here. Ash had seen quite a few scholarly types walking the streets of Jade, barely holding on to the notebooks in their hands, while she sat down on the sidewalk under the searing sun and just watched them pass. There had to be people like that at Amber, so why was this place so empty? 

She noticed though that there was a set of stairs leading to a second-floor at the right-hand back corner. Maybe everyone was upstairs. Or, maybe people were too concerned with making sure they had food on their plates at the end of the day to really get much reading in. 

"Here," Alys said, completely disinterested, as he put down a pair of books in front of Ash. She looked back at him, leaning forward to see what he'd gotten. "One Light and one Dark. These should serve you well enough." 

"... So, can I take these back to my room or what?" 

"I would rather you didn't," Alys replied. "But with your level, if you chose to there wouldn't be much I could do to stop you." 

As he replied, the man sat down on the opposite end of the table and, as he had before, he crossed his arms and rested his head on them, face-down. Ash raised a brow, but then she chose to just ignore him and open one of the books up. 

Indeed, if there was something to a particular spell that she didn't understand, she'd need to ask him anyway, so she chose to stay here for now. 

The book she opened first was called "Miracles of Lumina," and it wasn't too hard to guess that this was the Light magic book. 

She flipped it open and ran through a few pages before she found the first spell. 

Spell: Burst Heal

Recite the incantation and provide fast, albeit mana-consuming healing. 

Int Required: 25

Mana Cost: 50

Incantation: Desperation begets action, but kindness must not be forgotten.

Okay, okay,  Ash nodded to herself.  Useful. Definitely the sort of upgrade I was looking for. 

She kept going, flipping through a few more pages to see what else she could find. 

Spell: Calculated Healing

Recite the incantation and mark up to three targets. Upon doing so, you will be able to recite the last part of this incantation and activate those marks, providing healing to everyone marked. 

Int Required: 25

Mana Cost: 20 (per mark)

Incantation:  Opportunity is not just a blessing, but a result of faith maintained. (To set marks)

Incantation: Activate. (To begin healing)

At this, Ash nodded, a little slowly. 

... Okay,  she thought.  More healing. Can I get something else though? 

She went almost halfway through the book and landed on a random spell. Reading this one, Ash sighed. 

Spell: Beacon of Healing

Recite the incantation and place a mark on yourself that heals everyone nearby. The mark travels with you as you move.

Int Required: 25

Mana Cost: 25

Incantation:  I am a symbol of Lumina's grace, therefore, allow me to be a safe haven to all of her believers. 

"Hey,"  Ash called out to Alys. 

"Hm?" 

"So, are there any Light spells here that don't heal?" Ash asked. 

"It's Light magic," Alys said, looking up at her, confused. It was, honestly, the most emotion she'd seen out of him so far. "What do you mean, 'that doesn't heal'? That's what the category is about." 

"Well that's not true," Ash replied. "What about the, uh, Barrier spell? Or that one spell that increases your energy?" 

"These are exceptions, and exceptions that are only found in the beginner stages of Light magic," he explained. "You asked for more advanced Light magic though. Advanced Light magic is all mostly healing spells." 

"... Seriously?" Ash asked. "Well, that sucks." 

He shrugged. 

"If you want spells that aren't like that, you'll have to make them," he said, casually, as he put his head down again. 

But, as soon as Ash heard that, she paused. 

"..." She thought about it for a second and said, "then how do I do that?" 

"Hm?" Alys looked up again, a bit of his silky hair falling messily in front of his eyes. 

The more she thought about it, the more sense it made. Vermia, after all, had outright told Ash she created her own Dark spells, and, as much as she obviously understood the importance and use of healing magic, she wanted something more... 

... Active, if you will. 

So, she crossed her arms and said:

"How do I make a spell?" 

At that, Alys actually sat back in his chair. He crossed his arms the same way and narrowed his eyes at Ash, as though what he said had actually caught his interest. 

"... There are a handful of ways to create a spell," Alys muttered. "The most standard though requires you to have a deep connection to the category you want the spell to belong to. And, it requires you to have quite a bit of willpower. The latter, I suppose, as a Savior, you have it, but the former, do you have that?" 

"Light magic is built upon faith, right?" Ash asked. 

"Yes." 

"Well, I'm sort of past the whole 'faith' part. I've seen the gods with my own eyes," Ash explained. "Every time I go to sleep there's a chance I'll see one. So, yeah, I'd say I'm fine in that regard." 

"... Is that so?" Alys asked. "Then... Alright, you might not be wasting your time." 

---

Yumi

After Ash went off to get her magic lessons, the group made a trip out of going to have Yumi's naginata fixed. Luvine and Opah were walking by Satsuhiro and Metsumi's side, as the married couple wanted to be able to keep an eye on them in case something happened, which left Keiko, Sinneah, and Yumi at the back of the group. 

While they walked through the streets, Yumi looked around, praising the strange nature of the architecture of Amber. 

This is nothing like what I saw of Onyx... Or anything that was described in my stories. We have only been walking for a few minutes, and I already feel like I have sand on my face. Not just that, but, everyone keeps giving us these peculiar looks. What a strange location this is. 

"Sinneah..." Keiko said. 

"Hm?" The woman turned her slitted eyes toward Keiko, which almost made Yumi laugh since the height difference between them was enough to where Sinneah almost had to tilt her head all the way down to meet Keiko's eyes. 

"So... You are half-dragon, is that right?" 

The way Keiko spoke reinforced something that Yumi had learned about her, while they were back at Onyx. Whenever Keiko spoke to someone she respected, or someone she wasn't too familiar with, her tone and vocabulary would change just a little. She sounded a little like Yumi herself, actually. 

She didn't know what to make of that. Despite the situation with Ash, Yumi still felt like she wanted to be close with Keiko. She hadn't been able to befriend any other Zayamas ever since the ones she would speak with through her mask mysteriously vanished, along with her handlers. 

"Yes. Why?" Sinneah asked. 

"Well... I was wondering if..." Keiko said, but then she paused. "Actually, never mind." 

Sinneah didn't reply to that. Instead, as the group arrived at a small shop with a dirt-covered tent over it, they heard metallic clanging which let Yumi know this was likely some form of a blacksmith. Not that she'd been to one, but she'd read about this sort of thing in her novels. 

It made her feel like she was currently in one of those, which was honestly pretty surreal. 

Satsuhiro and Metsumi did all of the talking, as they approached the young man working over the anvil in front of them, and told him about Yumi's naginata.

While, behind them, Keiko tugged on Yumi's right sleeve, getting her attention. 

Yumi looked over at her and saw the girl smiling politely, her hands clutched together in front of her, which Yumi had also noticed she tended to do when she was nervous.

"Uh, Amber's a pretty weird place, huh?" 

Hearing that, Yumi chuckled. 

"I suppose..." Yumi shrugged. 

"Y-Yeah."

And, with that, their conversation nearly ended as soon as it had begun. Keiko looked away, a little embarrassed, while Yumi smiled to herself, shaking her head. 

What an adorable person, she held back a chuckle. 

I... I just hope I do not cause her any sadness. If I do, it is certainly not because I wish to.

As she thought about that, she caught Sinneah sneaking a look at her. Yumi turned toward her and raised a brow. 

"Yes?" She asked. 

"Hm?" Sinneah replied. 

"You... Wanted to tell me something?" 

"No," Sinneah replied, shaking her head. 

"But, you were looking my way," Yumi said. 

"Yes." 

Yumi paused, looked at her, and asked:

"Why?"

"... Because I felt like it," Sinneah stated. "Is that not normal?" 

"I... don't think so?" Yumi replied, realizing that, if Ash's story was to be believed, both she and this woman had no clue how people worked. 

"Okay," Metsumi said, clapping her hands together. "Well, that's done. The blacksmith said he'll have your naginata remade in a couple of days." 

"Oh, so, what now?" Keiko asked, stepping forward. 

"Well, how about we see what the rest of this city has to offer?" Metsumi asked. 

"That's fine," Satsuhiro replied, "but we stay on the surface. I don't want any of us to go anywhere near the deeper layers without Ash. Understood?" 

"Yeah, yeah, hun, we know," Metsumi said, wrapping an arm around his back. "So? How does that sound?" 

And, with no objections, they went along with Metsumi's idea, scouting out the rest of Amber.

The surface, at least.