The cloud of spirits emanated from the tree, forming a light teal aura of glow arounnd it. The collective of spiritual lifeforms began twitching and clicking, the most complex form of communication they were capable of. The medium understood them without problem, and soon began questioning them.

  "Southwest." said Mila as the spirits retreated back into their vessel. "The aura is still southwest from our position."

  "So we keep riding the cow train." said Conrad.

  "It would have been too easy if it had been so close." Remarked Kurt. "We have about an hour before the train starts moving again. You guys want to do something?"

  "In this town?" Asked Conrad. "There has to be like two thousand people living here, tops. Not many prospects for entertainment in a place like this, at least if you're less than 80."

  "Yeah, I know." Agreed Kurt. "I just thought I should ask. Plus, I want to practice some sorcery now that we're not constrained into that wagon, so I'm gonna stay here for a while."

  "Okay, do as you will." said Conrad. "Just be sure you don't miss the train."

  Mila sat under the tree. "I'm gonna stay." she said. "Would rather spend that time surrounded by nature than in that iron cage."

  "Fine then." said Conrad, smirking. "I'll leave you lovebirds alone."

  And with that, he walked away.

  "Lovebirds, uh?" Asked Mila, smirking.

  "Just ignore him." Answered Kurt as he walked up to a large rock. It was about five feet tall and four around. Perfect for some target practice.

  Conjuring his wand and coating it in the green power of wind sorcery, Kurt formed a ball of pure air pressure at its tip. This was the first step of a Pressure Cannon and, if Kurt were casting that spell, the next step would be to simply release it in a short-ranged blast of blunt force. But he wasn't casting a Pressure Cannon.

  While his first wind spell could definitely be useful in the right circumstances, it just wasn't what he was looking for when it came to wind sorcery. It was too short-ranged and too centered on pushing back an enemy instead of... well, killing them.

  So, he would simply devise a new spell.

  Keeping the pressure sphere in place instead of releasing it, Kurt increased the amount of AP running through its surface, increasing its stability. Then, he centered his will in a pocket of air right at the front of the bubble,but still below the reinforced surface, and began drawing it towards himself. This mass began burrowing its way through the sphere, leaving behind itself a 'tunnel' of vaccum that no air filled, until it finally reached the opposite side of the sphere , the one closest to Kurt. The mass of air now possesed two extremes: One of null pressure facing forwards and one of exceedingly high pressure at its rear, and both were connected by a vent of vaccum connecting them.

  With the shaping of this new spell completed, the young sorcerer let go of it, unleashing it against the rock.

  The mass of air shoot forward faster than the eye could see, propelled by an internal jet engine, and soon crashed against its target with an explosion of air and sound. Once the dust settled and the rock could be clearly seen again, Kurt witnessed the damage the spell had done. He found it underwhelming.

  Part of the rock's surface had concaved slightly where the spell had hit it, and small cracks appeared all over its surface. Small pebbles now laid around the main stone, pieces of the stuff that had been dislodged entirely from the impact.

  But the rock still stood.

  Wind Sorcery: Jet Bullet (Rank E spell)

  A condensed mass of air, propelled forward by way of a makeshift jet engine, that blasts its target with great concussive force.

  Power increases with MND stat, Aetheric Attunement skill rank, Evocation skill rank and AP spent.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  "Whoa!" Exclaimed Milaa from her resting place. "That was awesome! You can control wind too?"

  Kurt looked back at her. "Yeah. I got the hang of it while you were napping. Haven't had the chance to actually use it until now though."

  "Well, that was a great first use!" She smiled at him. " You sure are getting the hang of being a sorcerer fast!"

  Kurt smiled back at her, but his thoughts weren't quite as positive as her words.

  That was way to weak. He knew wind sorcery wouldn't be as inherently destructive as fire, but the difference was still surprising to witness. A Fireball with the same amount of AP that he had just poured on that Jet Bullet would have made that rock crumble apart.

  He had to find a niche for his wind if he was to use it at all, that much was clear. But, what could that niche be? Should he go back to the principles of Pressure Cannon? To center his wind sorcery around the idea of pushing away his foes and inflicting blunt force damage upon them? It could work. After all, and unlike his fire sorcery, his wind carried actual physical mass with it...

  Mass... His wind spells manipulated actual, physical air with actual mass. And if there was physical matter involved, then maybe...

  It would be charged with his own magic after all, so the rejection effect could probably be avoided.

  Raising his wand once again, the boy prepared a second Jet Bullet in which he cast a quick Sharpening. The energies of the transfiguration spell mingled with the energies that held the evocation spell together, and started resonating together.

  Quite surprisingly,the spell's shape actually changed, perhaps beacuse the bullet's form was already being sustained through magic. It flattened, and its central section elongated forwards until the whole construct looked like a crescent moon.

  Once again, Kurt unleashed it against the rock.

  This new spell was just as fast as its predecessor, perhaps even more thanks to its aerodynamic shape, but it didn't make anywhere near as much noise upon impact. Its effect was still much more impressive.

  The rock was split in half. Sundered. Cleaved. A clean horizontal cut, smoking because of the friction between rock and air blade, now separated both halves of what had once been a single rock.

  Wind Sorcery: Wind Blade (Rank D spell)

  A blade of supercondensed air propelled forward by way of a makeshift jet engine.

  Power and sharpness increase with MND stat, Aetheric Attunement skill rank, Evocation skill rank and AP spent.

  This was wind's niche.

  Of course! Wind might not have the raw energetic yield of fire, but it had mass that could be shaped an altered in more extreme ways than the crimson element's raw energy. Plus, it being in a gaseous form allowed for it to become practically anything, like a blade of amazing sharpness beyond what would be practical for a solid...

  A whistle came from behind his ear. "That one was actually kind of scary." Mila had snuck up behind his back while he was lost in thought. "Can you imagine what that could do to a person?"

  Kurt turned back to look at the girl. "I wasn't planning on using it on humans. It would be overkill either way."

  "I can see that." she said while eyeing the sundered rock. "Heck, it would be overkill against anything short of that monster oak. Or... that demon."

  "Yeah." He agreed. "It will be useful in case we find something like it again. Should make beating it easier."

  Mila hummed. "And then you wouldn't be so sad after fighting it."

  Kurt tensed. "Mila, I..."

  "It's okay." She interrupted. "I know you don't want to tell me, and that's fine. But..."

  This time, it was Kurt that interrupted her."But I told Conrad about it, and now you are the only one that's in the dark about what happened in that seal."

  He turned back to look at her. She was averting her gaze in shame as she responded. "I know it's childish. And petty. But... it's like we are losing our thing."

  Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Our thing?"

  "Confiding in eachother." She clarified. "When you are sad, we talk about it and cuddle together. When I'm sad, you make something delicious for us to eat while we talk about it." She flashed him a coy smile." And then cuddle. But with this demon thing, you were sad, and we didn't talk it and cuddle it over. It feels like... I failed you as a friend."

  What?

  She... failing him? That wasn't right. That didn't feel right. It had been him who didn't want to talk about it out of shame. How had she failed him, that she was feeling so guilty?

  And then it hit him: Conrad. He had talked it over with him and him only. Even if she had shown enthusiasm about their-Kurt's and Conrad's- growing friendship, it was now clear that on some level she had felt, while not slighted, then hurt about it. 'Why had Kurt felt more comfortable confiding in Conrad than in me?' She must have thought.

  It was, as she herself had said, a childish thought, born out her distress over her perceived failure as a best friend.

  And Kurt, supreme idiot that he was, had been so distracted with his own distress and relief that he had noticed none of this. Not until she explicitly told him.

  Mila stood there, still averting her eyes. A small blush overtook her otherwise pale cheeks. Kurt approached her, and softly placed his palm on her right cheek to make her look at him.

  "Mila." he said. "You failed no one. It was me who clamed up about what was going on. Conrad basically had to drag the story out of me. I didn't want to talk about it, not even with you, because I was ashamed."

  "Ashamed? Of what?"

  "Ashamed about..." He looked at his feet, and tried to pry his hand away from Mila's face.

  She held it in place,

  "Hey, look at me" She gently requested. He complied, his amber eyes locking with her own sapphire ones. His heart skipped a beat. "I'm not interrogating you, nor did I tell you how I was feeling so you would tell me. I was just... feeling bad about it, and retorted to the usual strategy. I'm sorry it made you feel like you had to tell me, it really wasn't my intention."

  Kurt smiled at her. "Well, now that you mention it, I really could go for our usual routine. Wanna cuddle and talk about... everything that's bothering us?"

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  "Wow." Whispered Mila. They were sitting under the tree, with Kurt's back against its trunk and Mila's against his chest. "That's... horrible. Did it really make an illusion of your mother?"

  Kurt hummed.

  "Even for a demon that's... way too far."

  "That's the thing with demons, Mila. Nothing's going too far for them. They are made of stuff that's gone 'too far', and they build their entire psyches around it. From a certain point of view, they can't actually be called evil, because true evil is chosen through one's own free will, a choice they could never truly make."

  "Dang, that's deep." said Mila. "But I'm still glad you killed it."

  "So am I." He agreed. "I guess I've just been thinking about since that... thing gave me a taste of how a demon thinks. Bastard almost got me to agree with it."

  Mila nuzzled up against him. "But he didn't. It tried its darned best, but you were to strong for it."

  "Well... it showed me something that it shouldn't have. Kinda hard to have me agree with it after it."

  "What did it show you?"

  "You." he said. "Your corpse. It was trying to convince me that it was something I should do. That broke the illusion pretty much instantly."

  She turned to look at him."It did?"

  "Of course it did!" he said with a chuckle. "There is no amount of corruptive magic in The Abyss to convince me that a world in which you don't exist could possibly be something good."

  She blushed, and gave him a soft smile. He blushed and smiled back.

  Their faces drew closer...

  And a beeping sound came from Kurt's wristwatch.

  "Oh!" He exclaimed while looking at it. "We have to move. Train's about to go."