Berea, the region between the sacred temple and the fortress of Valde. Two weeks had passed since the incident with the tree demon. Her main concern now was not her standoff with the Bloodstain, which she believed would be a sword, but her supplies.
The nuns had prepared food and water for the journey. Serena had also hunted several times to support herself. However, her matches, mechanical objects created to light fires, had run out a few days ago.
Her water ran out quickly and outside the forest, there were few rivers or wells available. The rain that fell a few times was her salvation. She hadn't eaten for three days.
Serena would set up an improvised camp every nightfall. "I need fire," she said, as she gathered twigs in a clearing. Picking up a stone she found on the way, she struck it against her blade... nothing. The fire didn't come.
Serena sighed and remembered her previous incident. She had used fire magic to defeat the demon, so all she had to do was that.
At that moment, a confident smile appeared.
Serena sheathed the broad sword and pulled the Bloodstain from her back, covered by a cloth. Lighting a fire with a powerful magical weapon would be easy. With an epic pose, she shouted aloud.
"That's right, here is born the legend of the Goddess of Flames, Serena. With this treasure, I summon INFERNAL FLAMES!!!"
... But nothing happened.
"Why doesn't this thing work!?"
For some reason, the Bloodstain was not responding to Serena's commands.
At the moment she used the column of flames, her mind went blank. She couldn't quite remember what had happened, much less how she had used that power. All she remembered was the huge hole it left in the cave wall.
Learning magic was not a simple process. There were some types of magic and miracles, but she had never learned any of them.
The monastery raised her to be a warrior. Even though the Bloodstain changed shape depending on the user, becoming a dagger, a spear and even a whip, it had never become a scepter.
She wasn't ready for that and perhaps no one was.