Salem calmly set by the Orchidia River as it had managed to become one of his favorite places in the town. Having fallen in love with the Orchidia River’s natural beauty and gracious smooth sound of running river water, Salem felt that it would be more than the perfect place for him to do his arcane meditation as well as a little minor spell training. As it was no telling what the Magic Council was to soon have Salem doing as he tried his best to rise through the ranks of the Magic Council Rune Knights though none the less the young Magical Scholar knew that no matter what the Magic Council had in store for him he was going to give hit his all. This being the promise that Salem had made to himself, and his dead parents as he intended to make them and his adoptive father Oda proud as well. This being one of the main reasons that Salem tended to push himself so hard in his magical studies. Feeling that if he able to learn almost everything there is about magic then he could easily surpass many if not all.

Plus it was just something about Magic that tended to get Salem all excited and tingling up inside as the Young Magical Scholar was quite in love with the magical arts. Always being interested in seeing new and powerful magic’s, something Oda said would soon enough find Salem in trouble. Being that Salem had no discrimination against magic and wanted to learn about all that he could, even if it were a magic on the more sketchy side of the Magic council. Thus with that being said Salem knew more than ever that if he was going to be able to completely learn everything there was about magic he was going to first have to get himself into a seat of so called power so that first he could be capable of gaining the knowledge he so searched for. This being Salem’s personal focus of joining the Rune Knights, even though the young Magical Scholar loved his deceased parents and adoptive father. And wanted to join and rise in rank in the Rune Knights due to them, as he felt that this would be the best way for him to make them proud.

But none the less this was not Salem’s soul reason of joining the Magic Council Rune Knights, since Salem just like most people of the world tended to find his own personal reasons behind most of his decisions. As even Salem’s agreement of this trip to Orchidia was nothing more than a personal ploy of Sale, so that he would have a chance to look at other magic shops besides those of the capital of Crocus. Shops that were starting to get played out as Salem had found himself searching their inventory countless times never managed to find anything new that excited the young Rune Knight. And thus this being the reason that Salem now found himself on his somewhat extended leave from the capital. Having supposed to make his way back the other day, Salem figured the capital would not miss him much for now and sent a note back so that he could continue his little search. Plus Salem figured that know was the best time for him to actually take the time and get to explore around.

Having spent most of his life either in Era or the capital, Salem was still a little unfamiliar with the rest of Fiora. Only having spent time in the Northern part of Fiora when he was forced to attend a boarding school that hated him, Salem had still yet to see so much. This trip here being the first time the young Mage would even be getting to see the River town that was Orchidia. Oda tended to keep Salem deep in his studies meaning that it wasn’t much time for exploration, but now that he was an actual member of the Magic Council Rune Knights. Salem was free to move and do how he wanted a little more freely, not needing the complete permission of his adoptive father Oda. And thus with that being said Salem was sure now was better than ever to take a little journey. Knowing that the Magic Council, would probably love to see Salem to some other towns to do small jobs here and there for them.

Standing up Salem would start to stretch out his body, having started to cramp up sitting in his meditation position on the ground. Considering that the young mage was one who stood at a towering height of six four for a human was pretty shocking, and the long Pendragon hair did not make Salem’s appearance any less astonishing. As Salem’s hair would come to almost reach the ground even when the young mage was completely standing straight up, though the Pendragon’s hair was not wild and un tamed like the main of a Lion, but more sophisticated and straight forward being in one a long braid more in the brand of a true warrior who took pride in the hair that sprouted from their head. Though Salem’s long braid was not some slim regular hair, as it was way thicker than the average. Managing to make Salem’s hair completely stand out. With his body now completely stretched and relaxed Salem felt that now was the time for him to begin what he had truly made his way here to the Orchidia river for in the first place.

As Salem did enjoy his little meditation and time to think about some of his more inner thoughts and feelings to help in discovering himself. None of that was going to help him in accomplishing what he had come here for today. And that was for him to train some knew spells that he had been learning about, since Salem knew his spell arsenal was still lacking, especially if he was to ever want to find himself with a seat on the Magic Council. Thus meaning he was going to have to strive to learn new spells and that was no easy task. Especially when one was trying to learn magic of the Arcane arts. Standing completely still, Salem would begin to focus his magic proceeding to focus it all in one center point as he proceeded to form a magic circle made of pure Arcane energy. This being the first step Salem was to take if he was to ever learn to completely master his magic. Needing to know exactly how much energy and mana was needed per spell as Salem wanted to make sure he casted each and every spell he did with complete precision.

As a proper made sure that every aspect of the spell was done right, while standing still and harnessing the magical energy. Salem would soon start to feel his arms start to tingle and the magic circle in between his two stretched out shoulder with a part hand’s making a cuffing motion, would soon start to expand and get away from the mage. This showing that he was not capable of keeping a steady flow of mana in the circle, thus showing that Salem still lacked control over his mana. Something that every mage needed to have complete control over if they to ever want to consider themselves and elite. Feeling a little pissed at the fact that he was barely able to keep his mana circle going for more than a minute, Salem would drop himself down to the ground and proceed to do a set of twenty pushups, this being the tax of failing the mana circle as now he would proceed to begin the process again and repeat so forth.
WC: 1,309

Now while Salem continued redoing his method he would zone out his mind focusing on all the times that he had did this same exercise with his adoptive father Oda. One time in particular when Oda and Salem had went to one of the special training rooms in the castle so that Salem could get a better feel of his magic. And that was something that sort of turned into a slight disaster as one might say for the young magical scholar. He who at the time was still having a slight problem controlling his magic was not able to do exactly as Oda had asked of him, thus turning into a messy situation. Though none the less Oda being the person he was, was able to clean up Salems mess. Though Salem was sure that the accident could of possibly been a big reason that Oda had him sent off and away from magic so that he could focus on a regular education beforehand.

Something that Salem felt he really had no choice to be love and respect for, since no matter how much he hated having to go to that boarding school, he also knew how much it helped him learn and grow. Plus Salem had no intention of letting anything get in his way of his master goal of making it unto the Magic Council, as the Rune Knights was just his way in, with the young magical scholar having way bigger dreams and plans of just getting to the ranks of a seated Knight, or even being a Knight in general. Though Salem did love the Rune Knights, and had much respect and love for them due his deceased parents and adoptive father Oda. All who were respected members of the Knights, Oda still managing to be in the ranks of the Knights. Something that motivated Salem himself to push harder and rise through the ranks with him now only currently being an Apprentice Knight, thus meaning he still had a long way to go, especially if he was ever going to want to get a seat on the Magic Council.

The Magic Council, being some of the best Mages in the lands as well as those who had a big say in the world of Fiore alongside the royal family. And Salem was one who had much intention of bringing Honor to the Pendragon name, having it rain up there with the names of the noble families if not higher. All of which was going to take a lot of training and dedication since Salem though more fortunate than most was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth and had a lot of catching up to do. This was all that Salem could bring his mind to think about as he continuously attempted his mana circle over and over again trying to increase his time as much as possible each time he attempted the technique. Knowing that soon enough he would get it hopefully.

Dedication was something that Oda made sure Salem knew was important, making sure that he understood that he should never give up on his goals and to keep fighting no matter the outcomes he faced. This being the main reason Salem was able to overcome the pain and hate he felt while at boarding school, allowing for him to grow and prosper taking all of his built up emotions and expressing it in his magic. Salem figured that this was probably the main reason he loved magic so much, and was looking to learn everything about it so that maybe one day he could truly find a magic that expressed himself. While completely zoned out Salem would soon enough hear a strange sound in the not too far distance.
WC 630

It was a nice day, Sage woke up from his slumber early in the morning where the sky is still dark. Ever since he came to Orichidia, he could feel this aura of happiness and calmness. The nature surrounding him might be the reason why, he has a dryad inside him, a tree nymph living inside him, and Sage is having a hard time not revealing the beast inside him as he is afraid of what other might think of him. But he have this urge to let his dryad self out and spend a day or two in that form.While brushing his teeth, Sage had a great idea, he was thinking of being a dryad a day or two inside the forests surrounding Orichidia, nobody will notice him, plus he could bond with his dryad self more and get to know each other well, he was so happy that his hair starts to turn leaf green, he didnt realize this until he saw himself in the mirror, shocke, Sage strained himself and his hair turn red-violet again. He dont know what to do, he really cant stand it being in his human form only.

Sage decided to leave his room and head towards the forest right at that moment, he was excited to free himself. Very excited. He was running towards the nearest forest to the Inn he was staying in, the only thing that was parting between him and the forest is a wide ditch standing over 2m wide and 5m deep, Sage was passionate, he couldnt let anything like a ditch stand between him and the forest, when he stepped at the rear of the ditch, he gae it a leap, and luckily he passed the ditch. Sage was overjoyed, he want to feel it, the feeling of being a dryad, where the entire forest is his home, where he could easily flow with the forest. Sage's hair turned dark green, his entire body felt like they wanted to become a part of a tree, Sage undressed himself completely naked and his under parts of his body turned tree-like, his arms turned tree-like too, he feels like he was swimming, his body merging with the tree nearest to him and then merging to the grass next to it, and then merging again with a tree next to it, doing that a couple of time until he felt tired. Sage rested on a tree, his body shape can still be seen and the tree like part at his body doesnt look ugly at all, it looked just nice.

Then he could see someone by the river, sitting there doing nothing, then he saw him creating something between his palms, 'he is a mage too' Sage thought, seeing the man who dressed like someone from the east creating a sphere of magic, Sage knew that because he could feel the aura of his magic. Sage think that his magic is beautiful, creating a force field of something, Sage think that it is handy as it could blend with various type of situation, Sage was peeking him closer, leaning on a tree close to the river, then he made a sound, he stepped on a twig, 'crack', even tho the sound is not that loud, but the environment was quiet so it was easy to detect that sound from a far.

WC: 561

Being complexly over taking by his magic, Salem was focusing all of his energy in trying to be able to constantly keep the mana circle steady. This was something that took complete and precise control over ones mana. This due to the fact that the only way Salem was going to be able to completely form a magic circle in between his hands and keep it sustained was if he had complete control over his mana output. Meaning that Salem was going to need to be completely capable of sustaining a constant output of mana, without letting it spike slightly even the least. Since even the slightest of mana fluctuation could cause for Salem to lose complete control over the magic circle and lose it. This being the problem that the young magical scholar was seeming to find himself constantly running into today as he trained at the Orchidia River.

As it would come to seem that Salem’s meditation did not help as much as he had intended for it to do so. It having helped him slightly, as Salem was noticing that he was capable of maintaining his magic circle for longer periods of time, though still not the lengths of those that he considered to be master mages. Even his adoptive father Oda was able to maintain a mana for a complete twenty four hours, this being a goal of Salem’s. And a time frame that he honest hoped that he could one day completely surpass, double if not even tripling Oda’s time. This being what fueled Salem’s drive and what kept him constantly attempting time and time again. As no matter how many times he failed Salem was determined to not give up on his training assignment. Having stamped in his head that today would be the day that he managed to learn his knew spells. Knowing that the journey that he was about embarking on would probably through many new challenges at the apprentice Rune Knight.

Meaning that Salem was going to need a good arsenal of arcane magic spells at his disposal to make sure that he could handle everything that came his way, no matter the direction. Still standing in the same stance he had been standing in Salem would proceed to close his eyes and take a deep breath. This being a training method of his, that he used to be able to overcome all the things tending to block his mind from focusing on his one true focus at the time. As the mind of Salem’s was one that you could say ran at a million miles an hour and never stopped to take a break or even slow down. With his eyes now closed and Salem starting to zone out his surrounding area he would be able to come in tune with his other senses. Having closed his eyes losing the sense of vision, which one could argue was probably the utter most important of the abilities.

This would allow for Salem to slightly hear better, as he would be capable of hearing a small twig break in the distance. This causing for Salem to open his eyes and focus his vision towards the direction that he heard the sound to as his hand come up out of instinct, and would instantly send a mana blast at the direction of what Salem would now come to see as a person making their way to the Orchidia River. Salem could only hope that whoever this was that his spell was targeted at would have some possible way being able to stop it, as Salem did it completely by accident and meant no harm by it at all. Having only sent the attack do to being scared.
WC: 629

As Sage regretted stepping on a twig and disturbing the mage who was meditating by the river, the mage sent a blast of mana towards him, Sage panicked, reacting to his panic, Sage waves his hand, casting a spell and commanding the nature surrounding him, and in a blink of an eye, sprouts grow rapidly from the ground, slithering upwards like snakes and forming a barrier between Sage and the blast of mana. The blast of mana hit the barrier and a little explosion occured. Sage was very surprised, he dont know what to do next, should he do a counter attack or see if it was an accident or not. Sage lowered the barrier he made, the sprouts returning slowly to the ground.

When the barrier was completely gone, he could see a man that looks older than him, and about a feet taller than him. Sage could feel that the man's mana was forming inside him, Sage have an idea that the man was only meditating and was training with his magic. The scene was quite tense, Sage observed his face, and could tell that he was afraid, maybe Sage should start saying something as he was the one who made this all occur. "Ummm, Im sorry for surprising you, I mean no harm." Sage declared to the man before him, while a sweat could be seen dripping from Sage's forehead, showing that he was nervous about what would happen next.

WC: 244

Now Salem wasn’t one who was much for being afraid, or scared of things. But just like any other person or mage he could get spooked which could sometimes lead to incidents like this one that just happened now. Something that Salem was completely shocked at, as he had come to the Orchidia River in the hopes that no one would actually come near and bother him. Knowing that spell training could get a little dangerous at times, considering the fact that most times Salem was training spells he was training the ones that he could not control. Meaning that the outcome or possibility of the spell was just as a surprise to Salem, as it was to the one who witnessed it. Though he figured that it be best that way sometimes, though luckily that the spell that he had sent was a simple attack. One he was sure any basic mage would be able to block, hell Salem was sure anyone would be able to simply dodge and avoid the simple attack Salem had sent.

Looking at where he had sent his attack, Salem could only hope that whoever was about to fall victim to it would be smart enough to avoid it some way. The boy would manage to throw his hands up in response to Salem’s attack managing to make the roots and vines that made the ground their home spread and up form a barrier that was capable of blocking the simple spell that Salem had sent forward. Felling slightly bad Salem would proceed to leap forward from his current spot making his way towards what seem to be a younger boy. One who stood under the human of a giant as some would consider Salem, as he stood at a good six fee and four inches.

“Sorry about that little miss hap my dear Mage, as im sure you know spell training can get a little out of hand at times. This being the reason that I had hoped coming out here to the Orchidia river would allow for me to be away from everyone so nothing like this would of happened. But it was good to see that you were capable of defending yourself with that nifty spell you used. What kind of magic would that so happen to be? Wait my bad where are my manners; I am Salem Pendragon Apprentice of the Magic Council Rune Knights. Nice to meet you my fellow mage. “ Finishing his speech to the other mage, Salem would wait for him to respond still hoping that the young mage had no hard feelings towards the little miss hap that had just happened. Still waiting for the boy to introduce himself, Salem could really only wonder what the boy’s name was, feeling as though the boy looked like a Kyle to him.
WC: 477

As Sage's barrier disappeared, the mage he saw before was in front of him. Sage was horrified, he cant let anybody see him in his dryad form, but luckily leaves and roots became part of his clothes covering his hair with leaves and his arm and leg are covered with vines or could be said turned into some kind of root or branch. Then the tall man approached Sage closer, Sage felt tiny beside him, he could tell that the person before him is someone who is way older than him and seeing the spell that he cast before, Sage could tell that he is a mage around the same level as him. Then the mage introduced himself, his name is Salem Pendragon and is one of the rune knights. When Salem said that he is an apprentice of the rune knight, Sage felt a little bit comfortable as he could trust Salem. "Oh, you are one of the Rune Knights, my name is Sage, Elm Sage, one of the apprentice of the rune knights." Sage said, with a happy tone, forgetting that he is in his dryad form. "It is nice to meet another apprentice. Oh and my magic is Dryad Soul Magic, a kind of a take over magic." Sage explained, then again realized that he is in his dryad form after explaining what his magic is.

WC: 231

When he realized again that he is completely naked and is in his dryad form, Sage felt completely ashamed, plus he is facing another rune knight, he couldnt be featuring himself like that to a rune knight. Sage felt uncomfortable, he decided to leave the scene. Some part in himself felt like he is gonna burst and a sense of guilt starts to appear in his heart. He could feel butterflies in his stomach and he ran away towards the direction where he came from, Sage transformed back to his human form and picked his clothes up from where he threw it before, he wore the clothes back and see if the guy he saw before saw him, then suddenly Sage's head hurts a little like a pressure of something weighing his head, he dont know what it is but the thing that he is sure of is that he wants to get into his room safe from everything else. Then Sage would walk like a zombie towards his room, he is feeling a bit dizzy. Then he saw people loking at him with fear on their face, Sage dont know what they are looking at. But he kept his head low and walk towards his room with mixed feelings.

[EXIT]

Salem was still a little surprised at himself, having almost managed to hit the boy who just introduced himself also as a fellow Rune Knight Apprentice. Something that was starting to shock the young magical scholar Salem, as it seemed that his last few encounters with people tended to end with him running into fellow Apprentice Rune Knights of the Magic Council just like himself. Something Salem wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Though it did show the young mage that he was going to have a lot of competition if he wanted to move up in the ranks of the Magic Council Rune Knights. With becoming a Seated Knight being something that Salem was more than sure was not going to be an easy task for him to accomplish. Especially when Salem was going to have to go up against other apprentices like the ones he had been meeting.

Jeeray being the Rune Knight Apprentice Salem had managed to meet when he made his accidental trip to Marigold, having accidently stepped onto a train while he blanked out thinking of his home town Era. And sadly as it would seem, Era would not come to be the destination of Salem’s trip, though it did lead to him getting to meet Jeeray possibly the only current giant in Fiora. Something that was surprising to the young magical scholar, as giants tended to be something that those in the lands of Fiora only read stories about, and never actually got to see up close in person. Something Salem was glad he had got to accomplish, knowing that it was a rare site indeed. Though Salem was sure Jeeray would soon come to be known through all the lands of Fiora, especially if he stayed with the likes of the Magic Council Rune Knights.

Snapping back to reality and looking over to reply to the boy that introduced himself as Elm Sage, Salem would soon notice that boy had made his exit from the scene. Probably slightly aggravated at Salem, though he could only hope that it brought no hard feelings between him and the new mage that he had just somewhat met. Looking around Salem figured it time to finish his training and made his exit as well.
[WC: 385]
[EXIT]