"We only have to go a little further." Leo says looking over to us. He put together a small caravan to transport all of the people out to the large field we are using as a training ground, using a relatively low level area. Anduda leans against me, her new armor tapping against itself. I am glad you are actually wearing it.
"Are you okay?" I ask her.
"Yeah... Just couldn't really sleep well last night for some reason."
"Alright, let me know if you want me to rub your horns for a little." I smirk.
"No thanks..."
"You sure?"
"Positive."
After a little longer the cart comes to a stop and we all hop out, my body slowly feeling more comfortable to move around as I am almost able to walk without issue.
I walk over to the group of mages, Anduda following behind me.
"Hi there," I greet them, "I'm Camaella and I will be here if you need me, if you have any questions just let me know." A few veteran players of the groups eyes widen and I know exactly what's about to happen... Here we go again, why does this always happen when I tell people who I am?
"You're... You're Camaella?" A woman says, rushing closer to me. You don't need to get closer to me! I feel Anduda grab onto my shirt.
"Yes?" How the fuck am I supposed to react to people doing this all the time, do you not believe me?
"I don't think that's THE Camaella..." A guy from the back says, his arms crossed. I... guess they don't?
"Um... I don't really know what to say to that." I chuckle, I could just send you a message to confirm it, but I think it will be fun to see where this goes.
The woman looks me over quickly, "They fit the rumors..." She says, seemingly in thought.
"All these damn rumors..." I click my tongue. I don't really care how many rumors their are, but I don't want them brought up every time I talk to new people...
"What does the tail feel like?" She asks.
"I think I need to ask what you mean by that, do you mean how it feels as a part of my body? Or how it feels to touch?"
"As part of your body." She clarifies.
"It's sensitive, beyond that it just feels like another limb, the extra weight throws me off sometimes." I shrug.
"Interesting..." She gets a little closer and I pull my tail back without thinking. "Oh sorry! I was a biologist before so it is very cool to see such diverse and fantasy like anatomy." She puts her hands up.
"It's fine, I just ask you not to touch my tail or horns."
"It doesn't matter," The guy cuts in, "are you really going to be the one to teach us?"
"Yes, if you need help that is." Why are you so confrontive...
"You have been here just as long as us, can you even give us any information that will be helpful?"
"I will just be giving my opinion, if it doesn't help that is on me." It's not like I am a teacher in the first place...
"I am going to talk to Leo, I don't want to be asking someone that is probably just here for the extra points with him." He starts to walk away. "They aren't even wearing clothes that help with magic..." He mumble to himself. What's wrong with my clothes? They are comfortable... And no, I am not trying to get in his pants dumbass...
"Aren't you going to stop him?" Another guy asks.
"No?"
"What will you do about him?"
"Nothing? It's not like it matters to me if he thinks I am lying. Plus, it's not like I am a high school teacher here, I am just here if you need help." I'm not lying anyway.
"What is he going to do then?" A woman asks. I have a guess but how the fuck would I know?
"I guess Leo is going to send him back over here... And if it is anything like the other times something like this happened, they are going to apologize to me..." I shrug, "Why can't he just leave this shit alone... It doesn't matter." I mumble.
"Are... are you really Camaella?" Another man asks from the group.
"Yes." Why do people seem so enamored with me just existing?
"Did you really play?"
"What does that mean?" I tilt my head. "Like, was I a plant by the devs?"
"Yeah..."
"No I was not part of the dev team, I just enjoyed the game a lot and had waaay to much free time." With not a whole lot else to do...
"Damn... Well there goes my theory..." He kicks a rock. What the actual fuck?
"You know that was a popular theory, right?" Another man chimes in.
"Why would you ever think they were a plant?" Another man asks. Why did this become a conversation about me..?
"I thought they were a plant until I saw them help with a dungeon clear." A woman says.
"I always thought they were just a rich kid living in their dad's basement." Another woman says with a chuckle, "No offense, by the way."
"None taken." It's not true so it doesn't matter.
They continue their argument, making me want to just leave at this point, they probably wouldn't notice anyway. Anduda tugs on my shirt and pulls my attention.
"Were you... always this popular in the game?"
"I don't really know, I never paid attention to the forums so I don't know how recent talks like this started."
"They seem really into it..."
"I have found out that I was a little more mysterious than I thought I was..."
The man from before walks over, his head down. He glances up at me a few times as he walks up.
"Sorry for not believing you Camaella..." Leo... I am going to have to have a talk with you about the state you leave these people in due to shit that does not matter...
"It's fine, really, I don't even care about it. Leo is the one who goes overboard, so don't think too hard on it."
"Alright..." He walks back into the group, getting a few odd glances in between the bickering but ultimately just blending back in.
I am going to have to stop this talk otherwise nothing will get done...
"Are you guys not going to practice magic... Like you came out here to do?" I ask, pulling the attention of most of the people.
"That would probably be a good idea... But I am more interested in trying to figure you out right now..." The woman who got close says. Wow... Very flattering... not... She turns back to the group.
"This went in a direction I did not expect..." I look down to Anduda, "Do you want to practice while these people do whatever they are doing?"
"Sure." She says, walking away to an open part of the field, me following close behind.
"What should I try?" She asks me.
"Anything you want, you could always summon the cute wolves again and practice giving them commands."
"That's probably a good idea... Wait! They are cool damnit!"
"Yeah yeah, summon them so you can pet them already." I chuckle.
She growls but quickly complies, summoning the wolves, who walk up to her and start to beg for pets, which she quickly does without hesitation. You are terrible at hiding that...
I sit down next to them, my 3 wolves walking over and sitting next to me. One of Anduda's wolves notice mine and walks over, and the new Blackbone Wolf cuts it off. They look at each other for a moment, sniffing just inches from their noses. They stop for a moment, then crouch down into a pouncing pose. Oh fuck... Oh fuck! Don't kill each other please!
They start to run around, chasing each other panting, while my heart decides to go ice-cold. God fucking damnit... Don't scare me like that...
They run past Anduda, causing her to giggle a little. I wish we didn't have to go through being put here to have moments like this again...
One of the people from the group finally walks over, a wolfkin woman on the smaller side wearing some tan robes and holding a staff, I stand up and give her a wave.
"Hey um... Ms. Camaella?" She says, reserved and shyly.
"Just Camaella is fine." Why are you so timid?
"Um... alright... Camaella?"
"Mhm?"
"I have issues casting magic... do you have any tips?"
"That kind of depends on how far you get casting, do you mind trying to cast something for me?"
"Okay..." She turns to an open part of the field, lifting her staff and closing her eyes. Um... You don't need to focus that hard on it...
A small flame appears just in front of her staff, flickering with instability. The flame disappears as she lets out a strained breath, looking to the floor with clear disappointment.
"This is what happens every time..." She says through her teeth.
"It's okay, let me ask you a few questions, how do you attempt to cast the spell?"
"I just focus on the name of the spell really hard... I can feel the heat of it for a few seconds, but I can't get it to finish..."
"Hmm, do you know what the spell looks like and what it is supposed to do?"
"Yeah? It's just the basic fireball..."
"Alright, you can try what I do, it helped out another mage but I don't know if it will work for everyone yet." I look to the field, casting the same basic fireball and holding it in front of me. "When you go to cast it," I look back to her, her eyes wide, what's wrong..? "try to imagine how the spell looks and acts, then feel for the right moment and push a little more mana into it." I look back and send the fireball into the field, airbursting it about 20 meters away. "That's what I do to cast magic, but magic is intuitive to me for some reason." I shrug.
"I'll... try..." She says, looking to the floor. Shit... I didn't mean to make her disappointed...
She looks back to the field, lifting her staff and closing her eyes once more. The fireball forms quickly this time, but is still unstable, shuttering as she strains herself. The fireball flies forward a few feet before fizzling out. She lets out another strained breath and growls to herself. I walk over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, startling her slightly.
"Try again, but this time, don't close your eyes, and don't try so hard. Let the spell do it's thing rather than forcing it."
"Alright..."
I step to the side, she looks forward seriously then takes a deep breath, relaxing herself. She creates the fireball, it being much more steady this time with small heatwaves radiating out from it. She holds it there for a few seconds, the fireball steadying even further before she lets it fly, it hitting the ground about 15 meters away with a small explosion. She looks to me excitedly, hopping up and down with her tail wagging slightly before quickly relaxing herself with a cough.
"Th... Thank you!"
"No problem." I smile.