The forest of Spirits
In the region of a kingdom called Heiden is a special forest right besides the town Siegberg, one of the biggest towns in the kingdom. This forest is special because it’s called the forest of spirits in which the spirits wander. The origin of the spirits taking form is a mystery no one has uncovered but it’s a sure thing they protect this forest from bandits and criminals who could harm it. But they are not alone, a tribe of elves had settled in this forest and helped protecting it. However the humans in the town of Siegberg felt threatened by the presence of the elves and launched an all out attack to destroy the forest. In this incident half of the forest was burned away and only one of the elven warriors survived. On the human side however, not a single person returned that day. The whole army got wiped out by the spirits and the elves, but the spirits don’t have a sense of anger or anything of the sort, so they didn’t hold a grudge against the attackers and left the town alone. The townspeople learned from their mistakes never to enter the forest again. The elven survivor however was trying her best not to be overtaken by her anger and frustration. A young elven lady named Vesta Milie, an archer who survived the attack which happened now over a decade ago. One day however a man entered the forest and Vesta took notice. It was a young man who seemed to be an adventurer. Maybe a guildmember or maybe a wanted fugitive, Vesta didn’t know but also didn’t really care about it because her anger has never settled and her grudge took over. As the man stopped at a pond to fill up on his water supplies, she surprised him with an arrow to the shoulder. The man dodged her arrow because else it was aimed at his heart. Vesta was a very skilled archer, to dodge a shot like hers, the man must be quite experienced. She sighed and went for another shot. This time the adventurer was prepared and blocked her shot completely with his sword. “Who is there? I don’t want to cause any trouble! I just wanted to restock on my supplies and rest a bit! But I will leave at once, so don’t shoot anymore!”, the man said with confidence in his voice. Vesta was convinced he wasn’t lying, but still she took aim and shot, her grudge against humans was just too great. “No one, not a single human soul will leave this forest alive!”, is what she had sworn on the day a whole decade ago. Suddenly after she shot the man vanished, she hit the ground. “Found you!”, a voice said behind her, she turned around in an instant. The man was now behind her. Vesta instantly took aim at him, point blank. But then she realized, his sword was sheathed and his hands held up in the air. Vesta was confused, he could have struck her in an instant from behind. “What is the meaning of this? Why did you sheath your sword, am I not even worth your time?”, Vesta asked him angrily. The man smiled and said: “That’s not what I mean, as I said I don’t mean any harm. Still I won’t let you kill me, I still have a mission to accomplish in a far away destination.”, “And I have sworn to never let another human escape this forest alive! For the sake of the forest and as revenge for my fallen comrades.” The man shakes his head: “So, revenge it is? I thought elves were a noble race of protection which wouldn’t fall in the disgraceful hands of vengeance. Anyway, I am Zeph, Zeph Rein. I’m a member of the guild of Siegberg and so just happened to come across a beautiful forest in which I just wanted to get some water and some rest. You could either lower your bow or we could fight to the end, but I think you know how this would turn out. So please, let’s just talk and I’ll be gone soon.” Vesta was furious but she knows when she has lost a battle. She sighed again andlowered her bow: “Don’t make me regret this. I’m Vesta Milie. The last survivor of my tribe after the attack last decade.” Zeph reached out his hand and Vesta shook it after a short hesitation. Both of them returned to the pond where Zeph wanted to refill his water. He took out a bandage from his bag and ripped out the arrow stuck in his shoulder: “Outch! You really were going for my heart with that shot, weren’t you? It was a close call, hadn’t I noticed your presence right before I would’ve been a goner. You are quite skilled with the bow.” Vesta chuckles and responds: “I told you what I had sworn, but I know when I’m outmatched. It was an interesting technique you used, how does that work? You were gone in an instant.”, “Oh, that’s a technique my master has taught me. It’s called Shadowstep. After I pinpointed your location from the second shot I vanished into the shadows and reappeared in a shadow around the place where you could be. It takes a lot of mana though, which is why I can’t really afford to use it too often.” Vesta looks at Zeph with interest written in her eyes. “So you said it’s called Shadowstep, are there any ways to learn this? I only know spells and techniques given to me by my elders, but there wasn’t any technique involving shadows or something of the sort. It could be quite useful for ambushes.” Zeph laughs: “So you want to learn the Shadowstep? On one condition, give up on your sworn revenge, you know yourself it wouldn’t be what your comrades would have wanted.” Vesta got rushed by a strong emotion of anger. “Who does he think he is, lecturing me?!” She thought to herself but calmed down quickly as she had known this fact for a long time already. She just doesn’t want to leave her comrades and family behind and had been rushed by her emotions in the moment she swore her revenge. “I know what I do is quite foolish but I can’t just turn my back and be like this never happened. Everyone is gone. All of my lowered her bow: “Don’t make me regret this. I’m Vesta Milie. The last survivor of my tribe after the attack last decade.” Zeph reached out his hand and Vesta shook it after a short hesitation. Both of them returned to the pond where Zeph wanted to refill his water. He took out a bandage from his bag and ripped out the arrow stuck in his shoulder: “Outch! You really were going for my heart with that shot, weren’t you? It was a close call, hadn’t I noticed your presence right before I would’ve been a goner. You are quite skilled with the bow.” Vesta chuckles and responds: “I told you what I had sworn, but I know when I’m outmatched. It was an interesting technique you used, how does that work? You were gone in an instant.”, “Oh, that’s a technique my master has taught me. It’s called Shadowstep. After I pinpointed your location from the second shot I vanished into the shadows and reappeared in a shadow around the place where you could be. It takes a lot of mana though, which is why I can’t really afford to use it too often.” Vesta looks at Zeph with interest written in her eyes. “So you said it’s called Shadowstep, are there any ways to learn this? I only know spells and techniques given to me by my elders, but there wasn’t any technique involving shadows or something of the sort. It could be quite useful for ambushes.” Zeph laughs: “So you want to learn the Shadowstep? On one condition, give up on your sworn revenge, you know yourself it wouldn’t be what your comrades would have wanted.” Vesta got rushed by a strong emotion of anger. “Who does he think he is, lecturing me?!” She thought to herself but calmed down quickly as she had known this fact for a long time already. She just doesn’t want to leave her comrades and family behind and had been rushed by her emotions in the moment she swore her revenge. “I know what I do is quite foolish but I can’t just turn my back and be like this never happened. Everyone is gone. All of my friends and family were taken from me that day. How could I not swear on revenge? But I guess I should move on already.” She said as she looked down on a pendant she wears around her neck. She inherited it from her father in his final moments, so this pendant is everything she has left and it means everything to her. “Alright! I will move on from my past. So please, teach me every technique you can while you rest in this forest. I swear I will protect this forest and the spirits within with all I’ve got, but to do so I’ll need allies and friends if a foe appears that I can’t take in my current form.” Zeph looked at her quite amazed. Vesta blushes: “What?! Isn’t this what you wanted? I gave up on revenge and my new focus lies in protection!”, Zeph laughed and said: “Alright, alright, you have my respect, I will teach you everything I can, for the sake of the forest and yours as well.” Vesta smiled. The next day her training began. Zeph started by improving her swordsmanship as she would be helpless with a bow in close combat. A few days passed and she got better and better at wielding a sword. After a week she improved and mastered the basics of swordsmanship and learned the technique Shadowstep as well as Vinecage. It’s a technique where the user concentrates his mana at a point on the ground and let’s vines grow in an instant capturing their target. “Well, now you know a few new tricks and the basics of swordsmanship. But I have to go on. I still have a mission to accomplish and not too much time left to finish it. But I’ll make sure to come back here when I’m finished and teach you some more tricks.” Vesta looked a bit sad but said: “Alright, I’ll be looking forward to it, my friend!”, as she reached out her hand. Zeph again looked quite amazed and shook her hand. “Till then, my friend!”, he said and left the forest. A few weeks passed as Vesta wandered through the forest and refined her sword techniques. She also trained her spirit arts, which are spell techniques unique to elves. Her specialty is a spirit imbue with which she can imbue an object, for example her sword or an arrow with the strength of a spirit giving it overwhelming elemental powers based on the element of the spirit. Vestas highest proficiency is with spirits of the wind and earth element, letting her imbue an aura of wind on her sword making it cut almost threw everything. With the earth element she can make almost everything shatter as the power of the impact is increased greatly.
