Last Starborn

She was left to her examination for a several long minutes before she heard Yarrow approach. Keeping his voice low, he asked a simple enough question, "Do you normally cast magic…like this?"

She'd glanced to him politely as he spoke and didn't miss the way his eyes looked her over. He wasn't being sexual about it, merely curious whether she normally used spells in her elven form. He was correct to ask, though, as she did almost all of her casting as a unicorn.

She frowned slightly and activated the Unicorn Eyes skill before casting the shielding spell once more to look at it. Everything looked far more familiar to her, the magic forming the patterns she was used to and moving in the way she expected it to. She'd known to some degree that she saw differently as a unicorn but had never thought it extended to magic. Since she didn't often talk magical theory with others, she'd been left thinking all elves saw their spells the way she saw hers.

Leaning in close to the spell, she studied its patterns before drawing forth a different spell, the healing one, and examining it. She nodded slightly but realized that if she kept at it, she'd be studying the spells for hours. Instead, curious, she dismissed both spells and then pulled forth a ball of mana. Mana Manipulation was as much of a skill as it was a spell with the area where she was pulling showing the signs of the spellwork and the rest her pure mana. Next she placed a shield around the mana and then used Mana Absorption so she could spend a moment examining it.

Scowling slightly she compared all of the markings she saw within the two spells, finding them almost identical. She willed a spell to cast using Mana Manipulation with the different part for Mana Absorption attached, targeting only ambient mana in the air. Because she'd been thinking along the lines of her work as a Starborn Unicorn, the ambient mana targeted was tinted with emotion. Dyed deep yellow with the curiosity of her observers in her sight, it floated in her palm.

With a slight satisfied nod, she removed the shielding spell and absorbed the slight amount of magic. Her awareness of it enhanced by handling it for so long, she felt it settle in one of her horns alongside other magic that had already been taken in. If they continued to grow at such a rate, she'd likely need weekly trims to keep them from becoming too heavy.

"I believe I'm ready for that sparring match," she said with a slight smile as she looked up at the four people watching her.

Fi and Fel were talking to each other, trying to figure out the best configuration for teams in the match while Gardenia and Yarrow were watching her intently. Gardenia's gaze was a little more focused than Yarrow's, which was mere curiosity.

After just a moment, a conclusion seemed to have been reached and Fel's grin was sharp and slightly intimidating as she delivered it, "Ro's with you. He'll be your physical attacker and shield. The rest of us will be your opponents. Works out to two people capable of attacking on both sides since Fi doesn't hit people."

"Your task," Gardenia said a bit more gently, "Will be to assist Ro as best as you can so that you have the time to get used to your new magics. We are immune to his skills that draw the attention of monsters but will act as if we aren't for the purposes of this match so you needn't focus on defending or healing more than one person quite so soon."

Yarrow moved to a rack and selected a the practice weapon and shield he'd been using earlier, placing his own in their spots. Fel followed suit, grabbing the knives Ash had been making use of earlier and giving a slight wink a she said, "You won't be needing these for this round, so don't mind if I do."

Considering Gardenia attacked with magic and Fi didn't use offensive tactics at all, neither of them grabbed for anything. Yarrow glanced to her, frowning slightly as he realized that she might not know how to adjust spell damage for a friendly spar. She was, thankfully, a quick study though it didn't stop Fel from complaining the entire time.

"Aw, come on, she's new to all this. I doubt she can pack much of a punch to begin with," was her main complaint.

Ash took her place behind Yarrow, watching him ready the practice sword and shield once more. Fel made the first move, dashing for him and trying to dart daggers past his shield since she had an advantage in speed.

Yarrow blocked one of the daggers while Ash shielded against the other with a spell. It seemed intentional on his part, he'd had ample time to move the shield enough to block the second blade as well as the first. A scowl crossed her face as it collided with the magic. She felt the collision ripple through her magic, had to hold the mana in place as one would a shield. For someone used to retreating or combat from afar, it was an unpleasant sensation. Despite that, she continued to do so any time Yarrow's shield was not fast enough to take a blow either from Fel's physical strikes or Nia's magical ones.

She mulled over the spells she had, trying to figure out a way to make something that would protect Yarrow without feeling quite so jarring for her. The entire time she helped Yarrow on defense, realizing that unless she was able to personally attack, they were going to swiftly lose. Eventually she found a combination that might work and wove the spell in order to test it, prepared to reach for the proper shielding spell once more in case of failure.

Magic curved around Yarrow, taking several blows without showing signs of failing even as Ash sent a spell flying at Fel. Fi shielded the rogue from the spell, her generally neutral expression showing signs of surprise. New spells were often a rarity, coming about in a time of need or after much meditation spent mulling over the methods of casting.

Ash's ability to see the formula and her understanding of magic as a Starborn unicorn gave her an undeniable edge. With a three on two battle, though, they still stood no chance and were forced to surrender before too much longer. Fel was the main problem, gaining more speed and striking much harder as her playful blows continued to have no effect. The practice shield Yarrow had used looked like it would have to be replaced entirely from the damage the higher quality practice daggers had done to it.

"You did very well," Nia said with a small smile.

"You will be interesting," Fel grinned wolfishly.