Violently sent flying, she lost all sense of bearing and control. However, before Quins' magic had surged out of control, she managed to catch glimpse towards where she was headed.
The field that laid in front of her was covered in extruding spikes, seemingly placed there to impale any poor passerby unfortunate enough to fall onto them. Hope realized that she would be able to land once before her fate was sealed then frantically brainstormed.
'The only thing on me are my clothes and the sword. I also have the ether, but it's too destructive. Wait, maybe that's the solution!?'
As her momentum eventually dissipated and she entered a steady falling pose, she aimed her hands to the grounds and prayed her idea would work.
' If gods exist, please please please help me!'
The familiar light of her ether enshrouded the area around her, banishing all shadows, even the ones not in directly targeted by the radiance of her light. However, this time it was followed by an explosion, the sound resembled the shattering of glass, but of indescribable intensity.
Using the destructive force of her ether, Hope planned to launch herself above the spikes, which at her point of view she now realized were plants, and soared way above them, not expecting it to send her that high.
'How am I going to land!?'
Her thoughts ran faster than ever while she was panicking. Before she could decide to do something quite possibly more idiotic, gusts of wind surrounded her body, as if welcoming her back into its embrace, and held her in place.
Soon the sound of Quins' voice could be heard by anything close to the area as she started battering Hope with insults.
"I've never met a bigger idiot than you! Who in their right mind uses ether around mana!? Don't you know that ether and mana don't mix?!"
And spoke several strings of words that Hope concluded were definitely curses in a different language. After she decided that Hope had been scolded enough, she glided them around, aiming to slow their fall.
Hope brought up a question. "Why couldn't we just fly from up here, isn't it safer?"
Quin stared at Hope with a dead look in her eyes, and slowly answered. "Our race lost dominion over the sky long ago. I used to hear stories about how breezies could be easily found soaring across the sky whenever someone stared at the clouds." She paused, then looked up for a moment. "They say a Demon ripped the divine concept of Sky from our guardian and restricted our racial magic, which allowed us to fly with ease."
Quin hurriedly changed the subject, saying that she'd it explain it at a better time. Hope nodded then remained silent to give Quin some space. Taking a closer look at Quin, Hope realized that the words that she had rediscovered overnight finally gave her a description of Quin. Her skin was semi-translucent, resembling clouds that were narrowly spread, yet solid. Her long hair always remained floating like little tufts of smoke and were tied into separate sections with cloud like material. Tilting her head to take a look at Quins' wings, she flinched, taken aback by the fact that the fairies' wings were extremely minuscule compared to the rest of her body.
Noticing her stare, Quin glared at hope. "Anything you need buddy?"
Shaking her head aggressively Hope replied. "No-no, I just found your hair pretty that's all."
Quin grinned. "Aw thanks! Your hairs nice too, it's like a nice blend of everything!"
Hope looked at her confused. "Well, I haven't seen my hair but thanks!"
Quins face slowly changed, appalled by her reply, then she regained composure after she realized. "Oh yeah, your memories. Sorry Hope! We should find a mirror one of these days, I think you'd love the look once it's brushed!"
Hope threw her a smile then prepared herself to land, the ground swiftly approaching. Using her experience of falling from high places one too many times, she braced her legs and prepared her body for the impact. As her feet finally made contact with the ground, the force was evenly spread through her legs, then towards her core, eventually dissipating it.
'Wait… the way that pressure was dissipated through my body. Couldn't I reverse this, but with ether and focus it's flow on specific parts of me?'
Hope filed that thought away for the moment and turned to Quin. "You never gave me a chance to tell you, but my body is perfectly healthy Quin."
She spun around slowly, revealing no wounds or even bruises from the previous day.
Quin paused, closed her eyes, then massaged her temple for a good while. "Of course you have insane regeneration."
She scowled at Hope. "You had a broken leg, bruises on every single limb, and I heard the cliff crack as you slammed into it a hundred meters away?! And you're telling me you healed from all that in a single day?!"
Nothing but silence came from Hope, who was currently staring at the ground. Suddenly she looked up and said dryly. "I guess I did."
Quin sighed, exasperated, and started floating to the left. "Follow." It seems she had enough to speak for the day.
'I wonder why she's so mad?!' Hope cluelessly thought. As they traveled in entirely unknown region to Hope, she was left to her own thoughts.
'I can't tell Quin that being an angel probably lets me heal fast; she could react in a totally unexpected way. Wait… if I'm an angel where are my wings?'
She moved her hands behind her, pretending to scratch her back. 'Nothing?! Are wings part of the racial magic she mentioned? But she also mentioned that it was tied to a divine concept. What even is that?! The guardians she mentioned are probably the leader of each race if I'm guessing right… If Sky is one of the concepts what would the others be? Earth, Nature, and Sea maybe?! Would mana count as well?'
After an hour of trekking the terrain slowly shifted she noticed the terrain had shifted. Instead of seeing nothing but jagged rocks and plants of similar nature, the flora life drastically changed. Every plant within view had a subtle glow and purple hue that made them appear mystical in some sense. The area they were approaching appeared to host the thickest clusters of these plants. Using her senses, Hope felt the energy from each of these trees and shrubbery.
'It feels like I'm surrounded by a second layer of air. One that feels alive and thick with a similar energy to ether. Is this mana?'
Noticing Hopes curious eyes, Quin spoke, clearing up some confusion. "You're probably wondering where we are, if you knew energy sense you would definitely feel the fairy energy absolutely filling the air. It's a subtype of mana by the way and only fairies can utilize it. Most creatures would suffocate from the concentration of mana and eventually die, but I figured you wouldn't with the strength of the ether flowing through you." She pointed at her chest. "Ether works better at enhancing something better than mana, and since it's constantly flowing it's acting as a shield for you right now. Of course, once I teach you mana, you won't need it as protection."
Hope stared at the ground for a moment, contemplating how she could tell Quin that she had always been able to sense energy. Then she spoke faintly, in a meek voice. "Hey Quin, I kind of already have energy sense…"
Quin sighed, closed her eyes, and continued on her way, as if her mind had gotten accustomed to being shocked. Hope stared at Quin, expecting a reply, then realized that she had given up on expressing her surprise.
'Ah… it must be one of those things that take people a long period of training. Nice! She mentioned that fairies could use the energy here, but I don't feel any of it pulling to her. Are breezies a sub-species of them? I'll just call her a fairy until I find a better way to describe her'
Suddenly the fairy stopped and spoke quietly. "Do you sense that…?"
Hope expanded her senses on the energy around her, looking for anything that stood out. She had given up after a while of not sensing anything and opened her mouth, ready to disappoint Quin. However, at that moment she felt it, hidden in the layers of thick mana was a different type of energy. At first glance she assumed it was weak ether but slowly realized that whatever the ether had belonged to was masking its presence. It controlled its ether to such a slow speed and strength that the its presence felt almost nonexistent. Focusing her eyes even further she could see the faint outline of its body in a crouch, in a perfect position to pounce on anything that strayed within range. Hope whispered "A… a panther?"
Quin shook her head. "No, pure-blooded panthers don't exist anymore. That's definitely a Garta, they can grow to a few meters tall depending on their bloodline, but that one's an infant, only 4 feet tall."
Quin glanced at Hope. "Well, that's supposed to be your food, do you want to hunt it?"
Hope stared back, mortified. "What, No!"
Hearing the two distracted, the young garta chose that moment to jump out of its hiding spot and bolt to its prey. However, before it could even go within a meter of them, the air around it constricted, binding it tightly. Putting her sword on the ground, Hope walked over calmly. "I dunno… it's kinda cute, I'd feel bad killing it." The creature snarled, baring its moth and revealing rows of lethal fangs.
Quin scowled at Hope. "Cute?! Are you blind?!"
Hope shrugged, not caring to insult her back. "Just release it, maybe it'll go back to its pack or something?"
Shaking her head Quin spoke. "Gartas are known for abandoning their young and living fully solitary lives."
Hope looked at the creature with pity, noticing its body had been starved and looked frail. Then she turned to Quin and smiled, "I want to keep it!"