With surprisingly human reactions.

The elemental's focus changes to you who approaches almost as fast as an arrow. In response, the elemental does something quite...different.

She shrieks and backs away a little in surprise.

"A-an enemy?!" you hear the elemental exclaim in a silvery feminine voice that is a little distorted by the flames surrounding her. Ironically, it sounds like she is speaking underwater.

You didn't stop your approach, so the elemental quickly defends herself by raising her hands at you. A blast of fire bursts from the elemental's hands at you. With only a few meters of distance between you and the fire woman, you could immediately feel the hot air causing your skin to sweat.

You don't have any intentions of allowing her fire to touch you, so you jump, dodging to the wall above the ground, and then pushed off, sending you higher in the air and over the flames of the elemental's attack. You hover over her for a split-second, ready to kick her across the cavernous tunnels.

She squeaks, unable to respond to your agile movements and promptly gets kicked into the chest with your charged feet, sending her away six or seven meters away. She isn't able to recover and slams into the hard ground.

You aren't finished yet and know for a fact that she isn't dead which means she could end up attacking. You run, closing the distance before she can get fully up, standing next to her slowly extinguishing body. When she finds she is unable to defend, she whimpers, putting her hands in front of her face in fear.

You are about to raise your fists, but you stop, widening your eyes as you see such a human reaction. Elementals are normally emotional soldiers which make them perfect for summoning. They attack without question and are usually quick to react to opponents; however, this one made it clear from the beginning that she didn't expect you coming nor desires to fight. She was able to see you and shoot flames in your direction in defense, but other than that, she was in a clear state of panic.

"P-please...don't kill me," she shakily pleads, sounding like she is weeping even though no tears escaped from her complete yellow eyes. You can see her standing fiery hair is not burning as hotly and her body is darker, the fire within herself weakening as if describing her state before you.

"Araatris!" Maxius calls, worried as he sees you and the elemental have stopped fighting.

The elemental gasps and for the moment, forgets for the moment that her attacker is beside her. Her body reheats with life, recognizing the voice that echoes across the mountainous rock.

"No, it can't be," she whispers, causing you raise your eyebrows. You back away, giving her space as she stares intently forward at the incoming sorcerer who lights his path with a levitating light-ball.

Maxius stops, looking between you and the elemental sitting on the ground with an intense stare at him. Her mouth is open in disbelief as she looks at him.

"Uh...what is going on?" he asks.

You snort. "Well, you were right about her being friendly...or at the very least, she's different than the typical elementals I've fought considering she's afraid."

The elemental gasps again, her hair flowing hot as she is given a chance to stand up. She focuses her attention towards you and grows angry, stamping her foot on the ground.

"Of course, I am! I am nothing like those mindless elementals! Instead, I am actually self-aware thanks to my master! What's mindless is how you tried to kill me without any regard!"

You try to give a reassuring smile but failed considering that you really were planning on killing her. "Don't take it personally, elemental. I can't trust anyone straight away in these dangerous mountains."

The elemental harrumphs like a child. "I am taking it personally! The least you can do is apologize instead of making excuses!"

You raise your eyebrows, quite surprised by the range of emotions the elemental is displaying. Now that you know, you do feel guilty towards this strange female creature.

"I am sorry, elemental," you apologized with clear sincerity.

"I also have a name, it's Blaize! My master named me a long time ago."

Blaize? That's...an original name. You can hear a tinge of sadness as she thinks of her master. From what you can tell, her master probably died.

Closing your eyes and lowering your head apologetically, you corrected yourself. "Well, I'm sorry Blaize."

Blaize hums before she accepts your apology with relative ease. "Well, I suppose I can't remain upset. What is your name?"

"My name is Araatris," you reply simply.

"Nobody is going to ask what my name is? How cruel..." Maxius remarks gloomily as he feels being left out.

The elemental yellow eyes widen and her body expels a short flare from behind as if remembering something important, and it has everything to do with the sorcerer who arrived after you.

"A-actually," she begins, suddenly closing in towards the sorcerer. In response, Maxius backs away, not desiring to be caught on fire, burned, or anything of the sorts.

The elemental stares intently at the sorcerer, unmoving while humming. A flash of confusion crosses her face.

"I...I actually am here because I felt a disturbance. Unfortunately, my master died a long time ago and his last wish was for me to remain in this mountain. When I became self-aware, I still wasn't able to go out of the mountain; it's like an invisible barrier forbids me from crossing."

Her eyes narrow at the sorcerer and she curls her hot lips. "You...you sound so much like my master, but it isn't possible your him since I felt him disconnect from me. His last wishes for me wouldn't have been acknowledged unless I felt the disconnection!"

You widen your eyes, finally making the connection. This elemental was Maxius' creation.

"What is your name...er, human?" she finally asks, hesitant for a moment as she is unable to tell the race. You found that impressive considering that Maxius isn't fully human after having his vampiric blood activated.

Maxius feels confused as he comes to the same conclusion as you but isn't able to recall creating elementals.

"My name is Maxius and I should let you know that-"

"What? No! How is this possible?!" Blaize interrupted, taking a step back, her eyes wide with disbelief, "...you...have the same name as my master. Could it be...?"

Now Maxius is really confused and curious. He hums and puts a hand to his chin with a neutral expression.

"This is quite interesting. I do not remember much, especially not creating such a fine elemental, but I did 'die', so to speak. Allow me to tell you the wonderful tale of my fateful meeting with this beautiful monk-"

"Maxius, I am really in no mood to hear your mouth, so please keep it tidy," you warn.

Maxius clears his throat. "Of course, well I suppose the short version is that I was dying and decaying very slowly rather than completely dead. I have a family history that involves dhapires and I luckily met this monk who helped me awaken as a partial vampire. As a result, I was able to counter my dying by regenerating a new body! The only thing I have lost as years gone by was my memory, so I'm afraid I don't recall you."

Blaize seems to be at a loss of words with a million questions floating in her hot head. She started with one.

"I-I can't believe it, but your story makes sense. When you mean dying slowly, does that mean you took that...potion you spent years on perfecting?"

Yep, Maxius definitely was this elemental's creator. It made sense considering he also specializes in fire.

The sorcerer blinks and then his mouth slowly curls up.

"Yes! That's exactly it!" he shouts, extremely excited to find someone who understands him. He quickly tries to calm himself down, "...ah, but it worked too well, I'm afraid. By the time Araatris found me, I was only bones and would've probably passed on as I could feel my mana draining."

Blaize widens her eyes and emits a silent gasp, cupping her mouth in shock. Once again, you are amazed how...human this elemental seems. Did self-awareness also means being human? Then again, Maxius did model her after a human female...

...a busty and slender human female, to be exact.

As far as you can tell from Maxius' personality and fascination with color and 'beauty', such a creation isn't surprising. For some odd reason, you feel a little disgusted and disappointed towards the sorcerer.

"Y-you're really my master, aren't you?" she breathes hot air shakily.

Maxius chuckles, feeling pride swell in his chest. "Ah ha! This is splendid! Who knew that I created such a beautiful elemental. Now thinking about it, I would definitely have definitely done so!"

You could only stare at him flatly as his ego is boosted. You have the feeling he's going to be more trouble than he's worth now. Who knows what else he'll learn about himself as he travels through this mountain.

The elemental flinches, her fire rising higher. You had to take a step back as a precaution less you get burned.

"B-beautiful? M-master, surely you jest! I'm only elemental to you."

Maxius laughs reassuringly. "Of course not! Why would I create an elemental in such a welcoming female form?"

The elemental smiles and although you can't tell whether she is capable of blushing, you imagine the flames extending around her make up for her inner feelings. Surprisingly, her fire dies down and she grows doleful.

"The reason you made me in this form is to remind you of your dead wife," she explains, her tone solemn.

Maxius smile quickly faded. "O-oh..."

The mood quickly became forbidding. You correct yourself in thinking that the sorcerer was shameless. Whoever he was before, it felt more like he was hurt and mournful. Even Maxius seems surprised at the reasoning. As for the present, he is shameless..and yet, you'd rather he be shameless than mournful.

Maxius rubs the back of his head, wondering if it was wise to dive into a topic that generates such sadness. Honestly, he really didn't feel anything. Of course, he feels guilty about not remembering such an important event, but he still feels...disconnected. It is like someone else's wife died and not his.

"I'm sorry, Blaize," he surprisingly apologizes with a serious face, "...I forgot a lot of important details of my life. I am curious though, who was I?"

The elemental gladly helps with whatever knowledge about her master. "Of course master, you never told me anything personal as I did not attain self-awareness until after you 'died', but I know you loved your work with such passion. From my observations whenever I was near, you were always lonely, yet determined. I only know that you had two daughters, but you never spoke of them. I'm afraid that's all I know about you."

"I...I see. Well, I'd like to think I've been reborn thanks to Araatris. A-also...um...did I always look like this?"

He points at his face nervously, wondering whether he was born with such a effeminate features.

The elemental blinked a few times before shaking her head. "No master, I recall you having a more rugged look with a darker complexion and a more manly overtone. It doesn't matter what you look like now, master because you are finally back!"

"No!" Maxius cries, putting his hands on his head, "Why does my awakening declare me to look like a woman!"

You once again aren't able to stifle your chuckles as the sorcerer freaks out about his appearance.