Several minutes and a few drinks later...
Your friends enjoyed their conversation and their low alcohol drinks but decided to call it quits when some of the regulars were starting to get upset with how much your big sister was beating them at card games and getting their money. And the funny part is that they did this for those same people's sake. Your sister wouldn't have had any issue beating them up or trashing the place, and they really liked that tavern.
"Aww, you guys are no fun" Ariadne pouted as she was being walked out with Farran and Gustav holding one of her arms each.
"We didn't want you to destroy the place. The drinks are nice and not very expensive" Farran said with a slight smirk.
"Yeah, remember last month?" Gustav then said.
"That was an accident! I kinda overdid it in that arm wrestling contest. But that place was flimsy anyway!" Ariadne replied with an annoyed frown.
"Okay but what about the one from 3 months ago? We weren't even drinking, we just wanted to have a nice meal and you obliterated the place" Pete said, walking next to them.
"I... I told you the meat was spoiled" Ariadne blushed.
"I didn't think a non Wind Mage could blow gales that powerful" Jeff noted, trying not to chuckle.
"Imagine if she were a Wind Mage... half of Varland would've been blown away!" Jim said with a smug grin, clearly having the most fun.
"Besides, why are you guys pulling me, I'm not even drunk... this time" Ariadne complained. Farran and Gustav promptly let go of her arms.
"Well, we just wanted to avoid getting in trouble, things have been quiet and peaceful so far" Caesar said.
"It's still the early afternoon, what do we do now?"
"Why don't you go for a swim at the Stralende Lake?" Ariadne suggested "I'm gonna go find my little brother. He better not be patrolling on a day off"
"Yeah, good idea" Jeff said "I want to practice some wind spells to move on water"
"For the last time, Jeff, that's not going to work! That's almost as crazy as grabbing some flat piece of wood and thinking something so flimsy can carry you across water" Caesar said, and being a Water Mage, he believed himself to be an expert on the vital liquid but Jeff still wanted to prove his little theory.
The rest of the guys and even Gustav who as a Fire Mage wasn't supposed to be overly fond of water gladly agreed to the new improvised plan. They were perfectly happy to relax after having done a lot of work of varying intensity, plus, given their overall age it was normal for them to feel a bit lazy. However, from this group, Farran stayed behind with Ariadne, letting the others walk ahead.
"You're going to test the limiters, aren't you?" He said once the rest of the guys got out of earshot range.
"Should've done it since he last turned 18 but with the little party we got done I didn't get the chance and I was honestly kinda lazy but it needs to be done every year" Ariadne replied with a sigh "I mean, might as well now that we have a chance without arousing suspicion"
"What about the other seal?" Farran asked.
"That one has been working perfectly since the beginning. It's a bit risky to take it off even for minimal testing. I'll get to do that when we go on a mission somewhere farther away from the cities and villages of Varland" Ariadne said and Farran nodded.
"Well, if you need me you know how to call me. I'll go with the guys" He said and Ariadne nodded back, he then began running to catch up to his friends leaving Ariadne by herself.
"Alright, where are you, little brother?" She asked quietly, smiling as she closed her eyes and concentrated. Her body emitted a very faint pulse of magical energy that would've been imperceptible to all but the most skilled Mages and as it traveled it allowed its caster to get an accurate picture of the entire thing, sweeping past everything inanimate.
When this pulse came into contact with a living being it would sort of create an echo that bounced back to her, giving her precise data on its strength, location and even the type of being that the life force being detected belonged to. Working very much like a bat's navigation system albeit with magic instead of noises.
Ariadne's energy pulse kept expanding like a sound wave and was able to cover most of the northern section of Varland's capital city with ease. She had learned long ago to ignore the lesser presences, belonging to animals and even tuned out people's since she was interesting on stronger presences, either yours or failing that, your trusty feline's. Soon, her magical wave echoed back with two above average presences located farther to the north, near one of the rivers that flowed across Varland's capital, providing it with fresh water.
"Got you..." She smirked and began walking in their direction.
Meanwhile...
After solving that relatively minor crime and going back to the guards, where you had left your sword all you had left to do was to write a statement on what happened for them to process the arrest, normal procedure. You had even been given a custom seal for some extra authenticity when signing these, something pretty unusual for someone not belonging for nobility.
You then picked up your sword and put it on your back. Due to its massive size, there was no sheath for it, and even an ordinary holder would've been clunky and unwieldy. But you had a rune tattooed on your upper back, hidden beneath your clothes that activated a minor spell, making the blade stick to it and stay firmly in place until you touched the blade and pulled.
Shingetsu laid on his belly and gently his head against your side, wanting more petting and most likely some more behind the ears scritching as well, which you were more than glad to indulge. A few minutes later you felt hungry and also heard the large feline's stomach, even though he appeared to be enjoying the petting too much to notice. You had money, buying food was no problem, but you felt like doing something more special, even more so for your feline friend.
"Come on, up!" You said and the enormous cat obeyed without missing a beat. You hopped on his back just like you always did. Your friend Gustav, an experienced Koteshkikon [Meaning "Feline Steed" in the old Fire Mages' language] breeder told you it was uncommon for these animals to be ridden bareback, though it was once common in the ancient Fire Mage clan, and even then, only the more experienced breeders and their children did so, most other people just used saddles.
For long travels you had a custom saddle made by Gustav himself, and despite being your friend you paid him for his work even though he was reluctant about it. But for the relatively short distances you traveled within Varland you didn't deem it necessary, and even Shingetsu himself seemed to find them a bit annoying.
"Let's head closer to the river" You said and the large black cat began walking in that direction. He could even tell that there was no urgency so he didn't start sprinting. It was a relaxing day after all and running on an empty stomach wasn't the best feeling. But he suspected that this was going to be related to sating his hunger.
Not very long after, you two reached the river and also were a few minutes away from the city for some peace and quiet. You smiled and dug into one of your pockets, pulling out a small metallic fish figurine with a hook embedded in it. With a quick gesture from your free hand, a thread made of golden light wrapped itself around the eye of the hook. You then made the light thread lengthen a good amount before you began spinning the hook for a few seconds and then threw it into the river.
You remembered an anecdote from a few years ago, when a bunch of fishermen saw that you came to the river to fish and asked you about it, noting that you didn't bring any nets, nor any sort of fishing rod and not even bait. They laughed at your apparent naiveté and jokingly challenged you, if you could catch a single fish worth eating, they'd give you enough to eat for the whole day. You smiled and agreed to the bet. The look on their faces was priceless when they saw you produce the thread of golden light and throwing the fishhook into the water.
"What in tarnation?!" One of the fishermen said, relatively young in the group but still roughly middle aged.
"I had never heard of Light Mages before, and I never thought that they could use their abilities like that" Another man commented.
"Gotta respect the kid's creativity. But will it work?" One of the older guys, a seasoned fisherman said, watching intently. Everyone kept silent, almost in a reverential manner, when the light thread got suddenly pulled down and immediately you made it retract, giving no time for the caught fish to react. Mere seconds later, you were holding a sizable trout with your hand.
"Okay, fair 'nuff" The middle aged fisherman that challenged you to this admitted defeat surprisingly gracefully.
"I thought Mages' spells were only useful to blow stuff up"
Getting back to the present, this time you felt a stronger pull, but it was no problem for you, making the thread retract into your hand. You smiled when you saw that it was a massive striped bass, roughly 4 feet long and it must've weighted about 50 pounds. The moment you turn to look at Shingetsu with the fish in your hand, he knew that it was a treat for him and eagerly jumped towards you, swiping the large fish off your hand just as he began eating while making happy purring noises.
"So, no cooked fish? Sheesh, you're like those stuck up nobles that eat their meat half raw" You joked. With him fed, you only had to take care of yourself.
You walked around and collected a bunch of dry twigs and, aiming your hand at it, you fired a brief beam of golden light that instantly lit a fire. Then you picked up a smooth and mostly flat stone slab, washing it in the river before drying it with another carefully applied beam of light. You put it on the fire you'd just made and got back to fishing. Unlike Shingetsu, you'd have your food cooked. Once more, you had a slight chuckle as you remembered when you disliked eating fish, something your grandma made you do semi often, telling you that it was good for your growing brain.
'Ah, if only you were still here' You sighed...
