Deep purple mana leaked out of Tiy as she walked closer to Isaac. The mana formed intricate curses, using the air around them as conduits for Circle magic. Black symbols lined the air around them.
Mana in the surrounding area joined Tiy's curses. Creating a grotesque cluster of a magic circle, the spell was multi coloured, like two rainbows that joined together to form a perfect circle.
Tiy looked down at Isaac from a distance and spoke.
"I have my reasons for placing that curse on you, Isaac, but I understand that its effects might not be the best for you."
Despite Tiy's words, the spell that sat between them slowly grows stronger, as each detail of the circle grows more defined. Isaac stood up and leaned against the wall before he made a quick dash towards the entrance.
Tiy was caught off guard by this. All of her previous interactions made her believe that Isaac would try to talk his way out of a confrontation, but to see him try to make a run for it made her rethink her opinion of him.
As Isaac ran towards the entrance of the cave, he swiped a few berries from his bag, which wasn't hard considering the amount he had brought back. Tiy was close behind him as she got closer, fully on her own speed, instead of magic.
Isaac quickly ate a few berries, which were the only form of prep he had for this fight. Tiy, on the other hand, was in a prime state for a fight, which was almost purely due to Isaac.
As Tiy approached, Isaac spoke.
"Why don't we talk here instead? I would feel a lot better not being stuck between a rock and a hard place."
Tiy did not stop walking closer, but the circle spell was not in sight, which was good for Isaac, as it must have drained a lot out of Tiy to make a spell like that.
Tiy was only a few feet away from Isaac when she spoke.
"Fine, then let's talk. I had a reason to curse you, Isaac, and it has to do with one of my traits."
Isaac took a few steps back to compensate for the distance that Tiy was narrowing, and then spoke.
"You better have a goddam good trait to make it worth it, Tiy."
Tiy stopped walking when Isaac took a few steps back and responded in an even and relaxed tone.
"Do you know about ancestral traits. It's basically like our species trait, but only for families."
Isaac had not heard of any such thing as ancestral traits, as information about the other worlds was limited on Earth due to Earth's minuscule amount of monuments.
Tiy continued.
"In Grassciair, all wanderers must have kids with each other so that traits can be passed down, and because the elders believe that you will have a higher chance of being chosen."
Isaac reeled at the foul traditions of the people from Grassciair. This made Isaac think about the new information that Tiy had told him.
'No wonder Tiy thinks that males are barbaric, if that's what they do to wanderers, and just so traits can be passed down, there is no way that a trait can be worth all of that."
Tiy seems to notice Isaac's distaste for the tradition, and spoke again.
"One of the more common traits are tracking traits. I also have one of them, I can track things I have cursed, you included. My reason for cursing you was to find you later on and have a nice chat.
Isaac speaks
"How can I trust that you are telling the truth? for all I know, you could just be trying to lull me into a false sense of security.
Tiy thinks this over for a moment before speaking.
"After you were first cursed, you went to a clearing near the middle of the forest, and stayed there for hours before returning to where I cursed you. You even went there again and came back with those berries."
Isaac was stunted, but this time, he tried to hide it, he was fully expecting Tiy to lie through her teeth about everything, but that proof is undeniable.
Isaac spoke after gathering his thoughts.
"So what do you plan to do now, then, considering you practically know everything I know more, why bother to keep me alive?"
Tiy responded without even giving a moment's breath, in the most even tone, wearing the most deadpan face.
"Because you have a use that I need."
Isaac wasn't that shocked about this answer, he was more shocked that she would just tell him without sugar coating anything. Isaac gave a follow up question.
"And what is that use that you need me for?"
Tiy responded with an almost taunting tone.
"I need your help to remove the elders from Grassciair."
Now that made Isaac's mouth drop. Not once would he have guessed that Tiy would need his help for something like that. To Isaac, Tiy seemed like a wall so high that he couldn't see the top, and they wanted him to fight people that even they couldn't fight alone.
Isaac looked at Tiy and spoke.
"How would I know that you won't backstab me, because for all I know, you might just offer me as a sacrifice."
Tiy thinks it over before responding.
"A curse. We will place a curse on each other that makes it so we can't harm each other, and if someone were to be cured of the curse, then we would know."
Isaac thought it over, but he couldn't find a flaw in the plan. The only thing that might be a problem is that Isaac might not be able to curse her, but he felt that she might have a plan for this.
Isaac spoke.
"Fine, I agree, but I want to curse you first."
Tiy walked forward and offered a hand
"At least you can use that brain of yours."
Isaac walked over and took her hand.
A voice that was plunged deep inside his head spoke
"New ally, Tiy: First Spark.