Looking again at the full list of dungeons, Ash frowned slightly. She wanted to be more help than just going after the dungeon near her own grove, of course, but was a little uncertain about how to manage it. Considering Bris' tendencies from Terra, staying out of sight and the like, she doubted he was the type of fighter that could easily take blows in the same way as someone like Ro.
She muttered to herself as she looked over everything, not particularly concerned about doing so since Ailan was engrossed in his own planning and she wasn't saying anything that could cause him insult to begin with. He, also, wasn't the kind of front-line fighter that drew the attention of monsters and took blows for other party members.
"Maybe Misty," she mumbled after a few minutes of looking the list over. Despite her willowy build, Misty was a magnificent guardian and Ash had often worked with her when she'd actually fought in dungeons rather than just ripping them apart.
Responding to a name she hadn't heard in a while, Luna drew close and spoke in a worried tone, "Asha, Misty's gone."
Ash grimaced a bit, realizing that she hadn't actually mentioned the Shadewing Phoenix that took the form of a Shadow Elf when explaining everything to Luri. She took the opportunity to do so, acknowledging in the end that Luri had been right all along and they had misunderstood the intentions of the hunter all along.
Latching onto the mention of the mysterious hunter, one whom rumors had already begun spreading about even in Fantastoria, Ailan tuned in to their conversation and added his own information, "Do you mean the Draequus that serves under Lord Venatio?" He asked, waiting until Ash had nodded her confirmation to continue, "He is quite the shady sort to look at, or so I have heard from my brethren, got himself in a bit of trouble over in Gold Arches because of it. Despite that, like most of the members of the bound races, he is an honorable type."
"Draequus," Ash frowned again as she went back to her confusion over what exactly the rings he wore were made of, "I…do not actually know what they look like. Lord Venatio kept himself quite isolated for most of my childhood…"
Ailanthus turned and browsed the shelves for a minute before bringing back a book on the gods that had been tucked in a far corner as a reference rather than an important document. Turning to the page on Lord Venatio, it showed a drawing of a man that resembled him very strongly in the same kind of way that Ailan resembled Lord Virtus. He looked like the type that was good at everything he did and everything about him, even in his unassuming human form, radiated a sense of danger.
Flipping the page to reveal the sketches of his true form, though, only increased that sense of danger. Ash felt like she was looking at a Unicorn because it was shaped somewhat similarly to herself. Despite that, there were enough differences that she knew he was something else. Lord Virtus had indicated, though, that the second generation of gods were much like the first. They were either Unicorns, Phoenix or Dragons. She felt most certain he wasn't a Unicorn or a Phoenix.
"Draequus," Ailan said simply, "Are often mistaken for Unicorn because they have the same body shape. They are very powerful, very compact Dragons, capable of incredible feats of strength that far exceed their size. At least," he scratched his cheek absently, "That is what the legends say regarding Lord Venatio himself. He is capable of the same kind of feats that Lord Mineralis and Lady Petra, the first of the Dragons, though he is only a third of their size."
Their conversation shifted again as he flipped the book closed and saw the elemental sigils carved into its cover. Reminded of Ash's strange spells during the fight, Ailan asked what they were.
She explained that they were elemental arrows woven of the power belonging to the gods that were bound together in marriage. She intended, of course, to make the reverse of each arrow at some point.
Somewhat confused as to why, considering Ailanthus, like most magic users, cast the spells that were given to him by Lord Virtus, he asked curiously, "What is the point of casting the same spell in a different way?"
Ash glanced up at him, her expression confused before she realized that her way of casting magic was unusual, then explained that intent made magic what it was. In Fantastoria, that intent was defined not just by words but by their order.
"If I craft a spell with the words arrow, dark and light I get a Night Sky Arrow," she demonstrated, taking the spell apart to showcase each word though she knew Ailan couldn't see them in the same way as she did, "If I change the order, though," she swapped light and dark and the newly crafted arrow looked entirely different, "I get a Solar Eclipse arrow," she read the name from its description.
Looking at the two arrows, he scowled ever so slightly and asked if they were different in function as well, rather than just in form. Ash nodded slightly and eagerly explained. Night Sky arrows were a combination of dark magic damage punctuated with that of light magic. It translated that damage as a combination of extreme heat and cold. Solar Eclipse arrows, on the other hand, dealt their light damage by quite literally exploding in a damaging flash of light before doing the same again, but with darkness. It blinded an opponent first by overwhelming their sense of vision then by removing it entirely to leave them in the dark for several seconds past when they were able to see again after the bright flash. As a result, it did less damage overall than a Night Sky arrow but caused status effects.
"The simple way to tell what a spell does, at least for me," she finished her explanation, "Is to read it, essentially. A Night Sky arrow is read as arrow of dark and light. The Solar Eclipse Arrow is read as arrow of light and dark. All spells work like that and I can use the words from any spell to build entirely new ones."
Ailan grinned, once more expressing his eagerness for another match against her, "Particularly once you have crafted something new with my own Lord Virtus' magic, I would love to fight against you again," he paused and asked an offhanded question, "What would happen, though, were you to join magic of the gods whose magics do not regularly interact with each other?"
Ash gave a slight shrug, though the expression on her face betrayed her great interest in finding out. When they parted ways, Ash was already plotting over what kind of spells she could weave considering intent was important to the spells. Only when corrupted did one magic cancel others so even magic that combined Fire and Water should be possible.
Luna sighed and steered her back towards her other tasks, making potions while she tried to get hold of Bris and arrange a physical meeting. Ash huffed slightly, not exactly opposed to making potions as she'd just use the time to brainstorm more ideas, but a little frustrated she had to pay enough attention that she couldn't actively weave new magic while doing so.