Completed Home Sweet Home (Arvan)

[Tsaba]

"A... witch?" Tsaba said slowly, rolling the word on her tongue. She wasn't entirely certain what it meant. She'd heard it as a child, hissed in shadows about certain women in the community. Not often, but enough to remember it. Judging by the tone, she'd always rated it akin to 'whore' or 'drunkard'. She shot Arvan a sharp look, but he didn't seem to be intending to insult her. It sounded like a serious question. Perhaps a witch was a whore, and he was genuinely asking... but that was a strange question to ask when talking about their classes.

Or he might be making fun of her, of course. There wasn't exactly a nice way to ask.

"I'm a scribe," she said finally, hoping that that was an appropriate answer. "I take notes and copy books. But I am interested in life on the mainland, how it has changed since I was a child and how it changes between places. Sahova is... insular by design. It is a side effect of being such an isolated place with such a clear focus, I think; the residents don't care much about what happens on the mainland, but I'm worried that by limiting out access to new information, we might be holding ourselves back. And the other wizards will come around, I expect, when I start to learn valuable information. Knowing some magic will make it easy to travel, and the workings of the university here -- as opposed to Sahova -- is a good place to start my work." She raised a brow at Arvan. "What about you? What brings you to these hallowed halls?" She pushed open the library doors as she spoke, stepping back to allow Arvan in before her.

[Arvan]

She glared him with a dangerous look out of sudden. Her piercing eyes haunt for a brief moment, cold blue eyes shot him like a pair of freezing icicles that ripped him apart. Did he just insult her? He held his breath for a moment before her eyes once again soften. The way she reacted at his word was quite... unnatural, or may be it was his lack of politeness that cause it? Perhaps she misunderstood his word 'witch' for other word? Or even that word has a different connotation in her common language? Arvan ripped his head to find another synonims of the word.

"Magician, I mean wizards" He just hoped that it would be enough for clarification. It will ruined his day if he messed up with his new friend."I need to learn certain kind of magic. I was once a hunter --and would always be a hunter. But In order to survive, I found it necessary to learn magic. Out there at the wild, it getting more dangerous nowaday." Once again he tried not to lie to her.

The Library was exceptionally huge. Rows of high shelves aligned each other as long as the building goes. Couples of table and chair could be seen between shelves where visitor.could sit and read the tomes and books. Almost half of these shelves was magic tomes. The library collection was classified by sections, disciples after disciples, than rows that dedicated for the historical books, and at the far end of the building there were section for books other than magical tomes and historical books.

"Is it hard to learn magic?"

[Tsaba]

"Ah." A synonym for 'magician'... that sort of made sense. "A hunter, huh? If it's so dangerous, why not do something else? I'm sure there are jobs in the city you'd be suited to." Her eyes raked the high, stacked shelves searching for the organisational pattern. She hoped there was one, beyond 'just put all the similar-themed books together'. Sahova had had golems to help, but she couldn't see any about... did everyone at the university have to memorise the entire library layout instead?

"Magic is... I've never found it all that easy," she said in answer to his question. "But I was being taugh hands-on Auristics, by a very practical-minded person. I'm hoping that a theoretical basis might make it easier. Guess we'll find out together." She wandered over to a shelf and pulled down Principles of Personal Magic. "And I've not tried anything except Auristics," she continued. "Maybe other magics are easier, or harder." She flicked through a few pages. "Can you read?" she asked suddenly. If Arvan hadn't had any formal education, he could very well be illiterate... and that was probably something to get out of the way right away.

[Arvan]

"Yeah may be I could find another job at the city. But I couldn't think any that would fit me" He gave her a meaningful look "It is a part of me. Could you even could imagine to stop studying magic at all? To abandon all of it? No you couldn't, and so did I"

He searched the shelves lightly, it has been days since he first came to the library and he know this corner much. With his right eye, he scanned through rows and rows before reaching for a yellowish tome. It was indeed one of the first book he ever read there. Magical Theory: Magic Overview. So she was indeed a magic user. He wondered if she could teach him some of the Auristics. May be not now, he must bid for the right timing.

"I struggled to achieve it. The hard way, but I think it worth enough." He turned at her "What about Sahova? Many people keep said to me that if I want to learn some practical magic, I should go there instead. So I think that the island must be full of great wizards"

[Tsaba]

Tsaba smiled at Arvan's assumption that she must have some drive to study magic. She felt like she needed to study, certainly, but if studying magic put her life on the line daily, she was pretty sure she could find another thing to interest her. Still, she didn't correct him.

"It is. The Sahovan wizards are very accomplished, and practical skills are greatly prized. They also have a very extensive library, often mined for details hidden in the past on how to improve narrow, practical aspects of magic... which, frankly, seems like a waste. It's not a safe place for humans, though. I nearly died... four, maybe five times, I think, before the Daek-Nuit. I wouldn't recommend it if a long life appeals to you... unless an extremely long life appeals to you. But, yes, if you can be useful enough not to be a burden without being useful enough for anybody to want to hang onto, it can be a great place to advance your practical skills very quickly." Balancing the book in the crook of her elbow, she pulled on a pair of woollen gloves. Then she let it fall back into her hands and began to flip through. "What sort of magic are you hoping to learn? I don't know of any magic that would be useful to a hunter."

[Arvan]

Judging by the way she pulled on her woolen gloves before starting to opened the book, he know that the she dedicated her life for study. The one who really walked the path of the academic. And it seems that he was right about his late guess about her. She was human after all, may be a long time ago before she become Nuit, an immortal race that known for their great wizards. Indeed, if you have an eternity to life, what would you do to fill it with? Magical study was one of the most complex thing in the world that would likely consume much of your time to learn it. Without limitation to death, Nuits would be more likely to achieve it than many others. Still, that didn't means that they could not part and sailed to the afterlife, otherwise one could say that they were avoiding the reaper of their life. They would live as long as they want to. Arvan looked at his new friend with a new perspective. Indeed, He was very lucky to be friend with Sahovan wizard at his first day.

"Certain kind that would help me track cattle or... people" He felt that he can't lie to her anymore. "Actually... I'm looking for certain kind of magic that would help me to find someone. To help me hunt him."

[Tsaba]

"Auristics, then?" Tsaba had heard that master Aurists could use their abilities to see where people had been, but she wasn't sure how true that was. She'd also heard of a Drykas magic that sounded sort of like what Arvan wanted, but she may be misunderstanding either him or the magic; it wasn't exactly central to her research. Tsaba had never met a Drykas to ask about it, and she strongly doubted that it could be learned at the university.

"Who are you looking for?" she asked casually. "I mean, you might not need magic at all. If they move about a lot or if you know what city they're in, they probably leave records." She didn't ask for details on why he was 'hunting' people, but carefully filed away in her mind the suspicion that she may, in fact, be talking to some kind of serial murderer. That was something she'd need to determine before she decided whether to help him with his 'hunting'.

[Arvan]

"It might be help me" He nodded slightly. In fact he didn't find anything else about particular kind of magic that would help him aside from auristics. He has read it somewhere that prominent Auristic practitioner could sense Djed that remains from people to pick up their trail. He didn't know how long to mastered it, even if he could master it, he didn't sure that the remains would still be visible for him that time. Still he wanted to try. What else he would do? He turned the pages of the tome slowly. Tsaba observed him with her keen eye, other people might be careful enough when they get involved with Nuits. They are powerful yet dangerous. While obviously not the same as another undead that crave for bloods or brains. The only natural thing that drive them is to search a suitable corpse for next body. Arvan didn't find it hard to trust Tsaba.

"Certain people" He filled his black eye with burned spirit and smiled a little. He didn't sure she would understand his problem, he didn't know Nuits at all. But as a living being he generally want to reach the remains of her heart. "I'm looking for the bane of my life. The one who murdered my family" Arvan stared at her for a second, he couldn't see anything from her blue eyes. But he felt it somehow... Soften?

"So... how about you? How could you ended up in Sahova if you're grown up at Sunberth?"

[Tsaba]

The one who murdered his family? That could mean anything. 'Murdered my family' could mean 'broke into my house and cut everyone up, looking for money'. It could also mean 'defended their own family from my family of professional hit men', or even 'refused to give us money so my family all died of fever'. It was hardly useful information.

But she was there to read, not interrogate random students. So Tsaba didn't press the matter.

"My life story is really long and mostly boring," she shrugged, rebalancing the book so she could count points off her fingers. "Basic rundown: born in Sunberth; orphaned young and taken in by local healer; healer was a Nuit who was basically run out of town for being a Nuit when we were eighteen and offered us eternal life if we wanted; we accepted; went to Sunberth; underwent the Daek-Nuit in due time; got bored; decided to comeback to the mainland and see what the mortals had been getting up to. That's... that's basically the past ninety-three years. My life isn't exactly dramatic story material." She smiled. "But yours sounds a lot more exciting. A hunter on a quest for vengeance and all that."

[Arvan]

"We were nomad hunter, moving toward anywhere the game lead us to. It was a year ago at the woodland near Sylira when someone attacked us out of sudden and killed my family that night. He gave me this" Arvan pointed at his left eye "I am tailing him but I couldn't find anything. I am trying as hard as I can, but everything I do seems like it didn't take me anywhere. I bet he is a skilful hunter out there. I need a new perspective to bring me closer to him. Magic should help me, no, it must help me. That's why I am here." Arvan didn't know if he is doing the right thing to tell her the truth. But he need her help. After all, magic books won't help him much more than the practitioner itself. "But even with all of the knowledge beneath this roof, I might be need a season or two to learn magic."

Arvan turned at her when she said "Ninety three". He did know that Nuit only need a sufficient body to retained their life. Tsabas current body, might be thirty or forty in human reckoning, though her silvery hair blurred the certain years. Arvan himself didn't sure if he also desired an eternal life. For him death isn't something fearful, it's normal. Every life would come to an end, wether they like it or not.
Of course he knew that there were people that chose life rather than dead and he won't argue them. It just the matter of choices. Things that good for him might not be good for other and vice versa. Still he sure that even his longing to vengeance wouldn't made him choose immortality. Tsaba might have a reason to accept immortality, goals that drive her to remain in Mizahar. He won't questioned it.

"How is immortality feels like, if I may ask you?"