Ong smiled at her with a toothy smile as she mention her home. He rarely revealed his teeth as they appeared as sharp as daggers though, in truth, he had round molars as a full bloodied human would. He didnt mean to frighten anyone but, the woman naturally intrigued him with her skills at magic. His mind was far beyond scaring and more interested in her abilities. "Parvpora! I've met some traders in the savvanahs that came from there. It sounds like a wonderful continent to explore, I can only imagine the lore surrounding it. The east you say? An oni?!" he replied as she hoisted her rod in the air to catch some skyfish. "Well, from your size, I'm sure most would consider you human. However, you are a master of magics and your able to tame such peculiar creatures, I suspected perhaps you may have been a fae folk of some type. Then again most foreigners seem to think Im some sub-species of Goblin. They are partial right but…my lineage is rare". One looked above him to notice to tiny bumps on her head, she stood slightly taller than him so he had to stand his toes to examine them. Remarkable he thought, as he returned the map to his satchel and pulled out a tiny journal to begin scribbling.

"My tribe?! Oh yes! I came from a tribe of Goblin's known as "He'hemy'Da" in our language but, others call us the Marshtoad Tribe. There Territory covers southern Igbo and a strip of Sahel. There rather reclusive and normally only trade or ally with the local tribes who offer them protection in exchange for potions, salves or those in need of shamanic talents. Its how my parents met you see… I am only Half Goblin, I am also Half Human." replied Ong to her question.

He took a small pencil began to write down notes. This was the first time, he had encountered an Oni before and he was excited to learn she was a talented mage. Ong himself, had learned mostly from his father but, after leaving his village he had only himself to practice with. Without magic, he may not have survived long on the road on his own. He endeavored to be a mage of Myouga's talents. The fact she was an instructor, maybe she could mentor him for a time? Perhaps, he should travel to Parvpora himself and embark on a new journey there. What talents would he gain? What lore would he learn and record?

"I see, so your stature also affects your talent for magic? correct. That is interesting! Your a professor you say? Do you teach at a school of some sort? Are taking any students? Will you be staying in Onnen long?"

Ong looked up into the sky to see a group of fish swarm closely to the rod.

"Yep, pretty much. To be fair, there isn't really any clear definition of what is or isn't anything once you move away from the basic categories like humans. Most races are just groups of individuals who share a lot of the same characteristics under a fancy name. Like in Canelux people call anything that has horns and isn't an animal a demon, while other areas differentiate based on moral alignment. It's super complicated." She once tried to participate in a debate panel about cultures and race as a professor. But when they came to this topic it was like splitting hairs or deciding the 'right way' to pronounce tomato. At the end of the day her head hurt, and she decided not to do that ever again. Ong was very willing to share about himself, giving both the traditional name and translation of his tribe. He explained where his tribe typically lived and went into more detail about his ancestry, another fun tidbit for Myouga. "Ooh neat! You're the first half-goblin I've ever met! Both my parents are oni, though actually my great-great-great-great-great…." This list of 'greats' proceeded to trail on for a bit until she finally came to the end, "–grandparents originally came from Kujishoku. A lot of oni you see out in Nisshoki are distant descendants of the original oni who emigrated to Ataiyo and intermarried with humans. And then those kids married with other half-oni, Kujishoku oni, and humans 'til you have people like me!"

Ong's turn to ask a question was up and he started with the topic of how her height and magical ability were related. "You're half right there! Actually I was born with a rare congenital disorder–that's just fancy speak for 'abnormal condition'–that affected my physical growth rate. Compared to other kids my age I didn't have a lot of stamina or strength and I would grow reaaally slowly. But on the upside it gives me big plus in learning and using magic! Casting big spells isn't as hard and easy spells are no problem, even after firing several times in a row. That's why I wanted to become a professor, it's a job I can do without having to worry about doing any heavy work." Moving on she gave more of her personal background. "Right now I'm a professor at Iria's Mage Academy! It's another place in Parvpora, south of where I live. It's the place where people go to study magic on the continent, we even get transfer students from Canelux. Unfortunately I'm not teaching any classes right now since I'm working on learning more about Onnen. I got picked to come so here I am! I'll be staying for a while, probably several months at least before I gotta go back and do paperwork."

Rubbing her chin thoughtfully with one hand, she rolled the idea of taking a foreign exchange student in her head. "You know…I don't mind giving you a few pointers about what I know. My area of expertise is alchemy and the fundamentals of magical theory. Every place has different ways to make their magic work, but once you get the basics down it opens up a lot more possibilities to experiment with. Soooo~ Whaddya want to know first?"

Ong scribbled in his small journal, trying to make sure he recorded as much as Myouga was willing to share. Oni, Kujishoku…all new groups of folk he had yet to encounter. This would be beneficial to him should he encounter more Myouga's folk in Parvpora. She was a professor as well, and curious about Onnen perhaps, he could show her around until she had to return home. There were parts of Onnen, even he had not ventured such as the lands to the south. Looking to the sky he say a few fish surround her lure with curiosity. He watched the them fly around and get closer with ever increasing curiosity. "I see, so over the year of mixed coupling your form resembles a human but, your still very much oni. Fascinating!" His stomach grumbled as one fish soared around the lure. "Forgive me, I have not yet had lunch" he said patting his grumbling stomach.

Ong looked Myouga over as she mentioned have a hereditary disorder. She looked to be a normal human girl unless, you inspected her further. "I see, well I myself have no great strength to boast of myself. I know how to wield a blade but, more so relying on speed than strength." he replied. Ong scratched his chin as she mentioned the academy. He thought to himself it would be nice to visit such a place someday. However, Ms. Myouga could probably need a guide or a least someone willing to show her more of Onnen. He set his journal in his sack and nodded to her as she mentioned staying for awhile. "Perhaps, we could help each other? I have venture across Onnen and could show you more of it. Though, I will admit there are areas I have yet to visit. I would be happy to accompany you on your studies. In exchange maybe you could show me some of your magic skill? Perhaps, how you where able to conjure your hat?

Ong smiled at her in a natural wide grin before, his stomach grumbled loudly. He quickly clutched his belly and gave an embarrassed look. "Also, if you have any more questions, I will be happy to answer them"

"It's a deal!" Myouga said, causing her kite line to wiggle a little. "Oh whoops, gotta stay still… That'd be perfect for me! You show me around and I'll show you some stuff I can do!" Ong's stomach started talking and Myouga knew just the way to keep it quiet for a little while. "Nah that's nothing to be embarrassed about! That's why I keep a bunch of snacks handy in case I need to eat something. Gimme a minute. Hey, Patchy! I got something fun for you to do!" At her call a strange creature with bird wings, deer antlers, a rabbit like body and a long fluffy tail emerged from her travel sack. Looking at her, the familiar warbled and she handed the skyfish rod to it. It was clearly magical as fitting the little arcanist's job, and it hovered in the air while its paws clung to the glorified stick attached to a kite. Sticking her hand deep into her bag, she made faces as she tried to search for something. "Aha!" Triumphantly she pulled out a small hand mirror, then stuck her hand into the surface of said mirror.

Pulling it back out, she had a delicious flaky berry danish wrapped in paper. "You like sweets? Here, it's some of the stuff you can find in bakeries across the ocean! If sweets aren't your thing I've got something salty on the other side." Thinking about this gave her an idea on how to answer Ong's question on conjuring her hat. "Hmm…so there's a few basic rules when it comes to conjuring things. It varies on the spell, as the spell determines the purpose. If you want to bring something that belongs to you that isn't in your line of sight, conjuring picks it up wherever it's from and drops it where you are. This sorta thing is easy if it's small and lightweight–like a hat or a pair of shoes. But the bigger and heavier the thing you want is, the more difficult it'll be. This is totally different from summoning–which is when you bring a pet or friend over to your current location. The distance between you and your friend sometimes matters when summoning, conjuring not so much. Describing how it feels like is kinda…hrm." 

The small oni mumbled to herself as she worked out a less complicated and wordy way to say it. "Well for me I sorta think about what I want, focus my magical energies, and poof! There it is!" She waved her arms about as if hand gestures would help. "How do you feel when you use magic? It might sound silly but everybody has different ways of activating spells and making things happen."

Ong's brows rose as she produced a quick treat for him to eat. She was rather kind, especially for one from a foreign land.  Ong wasen't so used to most folk welcoming him or offering him much without some type of compensation. Full tended to treat him as an outsider and some human tribes frowned upon him. Occasionally, however, he would come upon a village in need of a shaman or spell caster and he was happy to help in exchange for food. Other times, he would find himself in a bid for land from rival tribes looking to raid the others. This meant he would fight along the side that gave him homage, it was how he made a living traveling on the road by himself. He smiled at her with a true toothy grin and took the bun from her hand. "Sweet is fine. Thank you for this Ms. Myouga"

Ong took a deep bite into the sweet bun; slowly shutting his eyelids as he did so. Pausing, he allowed the sweet flavor to roll over his tongue. "Mm..mmmm, this…this…is….AMAZING" he shouted before beginning to scarf down the rest. He licked his fingers as she mentioned the beginners guide to conjuring. He looked over and thought about what she said before answering. He imagined being able to conjure small animals for other locations, that might be easy enough but, something larger hmm… definitely risky if he tried using his method. He rubbed his chin and looked up to her as even though, she was small she still stood slightly taller than him.

"Well my magic comes from my core so to speak. I channel it from stomach and it flows through my body for example: Casting elemental spells require a few seconds before, I launch them through a conduit. In my case, my conduit is my wand but, I can also use weaponry as well. Do you think I'll be able to master conjuring easily? Im sure one of your talents  has another way of using magic right, Ms. Myouga?"

Ong he reached into his satchel and produced to small old map again to hand to her. "Oh by the way, I bought this old map awhile ago, its a map of Onnen. So far I, I have stayed around the center but, I have yet to visit the south. Is there an area that interest you?"

Watching the half-goblin have his first taste of  a 'danish', Myouga nodded in serious agreement. "I know, right? I swear puff pastries are magic." When Ong started to explain his experiences when using magic she listened carefully. She noted the casting time, method through which the magical energies flowed, and mode of magical translation. "Hmm, very interesting! Your description sounds a lot like the sorta techniques used in ascetic training, developing one's inner energies and expanding internal mana reservoirs. That's good! That means you might be better at mastering defensive and self-enhancing magic since you already have some experience. Since the flow of your power comes outward from you the most important thing would be to boost your magical output and speed up magic recovery. Using a conduit works very well as it helps you to focus that energy where you want with more finesse. That's why lots of magic users carry staves, wands, or other foci." She was dipping into jargon again, showing a more professional attitude compared to her carefree silliness earlier.

"For me, instead of magic coming from inside out my magic directly works on what's around me. Like when I used that wind spell to fly the kite I spun the air around and used that to give it a lift. Conjuring and summoning are a lot easier for me because of that. I guess if you want to make it specific, different types of spells require different mindsets. Conjuring and summoning are more 'specific goal-oriented' as they're designed to do one certain thing. Using elemental spells like casting fireball or lightning requires more imagination as you need to direct your magic to control what happens and where it goes. Your channeling technique will be suitable for that. Anyway, even if the way you use your magic is different you can still learn the same spell as somebody else! It'll just feel different from your perspective that's all. The most important thing is to try, that's how you learn." 

When Ong brought out a map to show her, she eagerly pored over it. As this was the first time seeing a map of Onnen, she wasn't going to let a chance like this pass her by! "Ooh~ Wow! A map of Onnen, this'll be great! Hrm…well if you ask me, anywhere I haven't been yet interests me! I wanna see it all, at least before the end of my life that is. Let's start with places you're familiar with; it'll be safer and you can show me what you know!" The jackalope familiar warbled and she looked up to see a few skyfish dancing around the kite. "Oh! Perfect! I gotta get this one quick!" With her wand, she cast a spell on a skyfish, and suddenly it began to sink towards the ground! The creature was flapping its fins and wriggling trying to fly up to no avail. As it descended rapidly, Myouga was right under it with a bag–snagging it in a successful capture. "YES!! VICTORY!!!"

Holding the captured skyfish in the sack above her head she did a little dance before she opened a small portal. Carefully she positioned the bag's mouth in front and the skyfish now relieved of the reversed gravity spell darted straight in. She closed up the portal immediately and looked quite satisfied. Meanwhile across the world, a small portal opened up in the Mage Academy's staff room and the skyfish was zipping about sending several professors into a panic trying to contain the strange thing. Opening a portal to the same location again, she tossed in a hastily scribbled note stating Professor Ryou had sent an express delivery of a live specimen straight from Onnen. 

"You…use magic around you?! How are you able to perform such a feat? I suppose, I've never really tried doing so myself…is their a trick to it?" asked the Half Goblin with great interest.


As Myouga wrangled the fish in her bag, Ong looked down at the map and placed a finger down on there position. "We are here in Namiba, one of the central points of the Savannah. If we head west we may encounter a few other site but, we must be careful as we traverse. The local tribes can be pretty hostile in the area and I can't promise they will be to kid to us. If we head Northeast along the Weylatya mountains, we could make our way to Benin. Its a lovely place full of Waterfalls, lakes and ponds. It also has very beautiful beach within a cavern" he said looking down over the map. Ong pulled away and looked up to the west and then to the east. The could cross the Savannah potentially without threat but, as he looked back to Myouga he decided not to risk her safety by, simply crossing. She proved to be a master mage but, as her guide she was under his charge now. Ong scratched his bald head and began to think of ways westward should she choose to head west. "If the west does appeal to you we must cross the Savannah until we come upon Cameroon and evenutally upwards through Sahel until we come upon my ancestral lands"


Ong returned his finger to the map and traced downward through south of the continent. "If we head South, we will come upon a great marsh and eventually the ancient city of Kanuri. I really dont advise we go there, it can be dangerous". More skyfish flew above them, one even nearly nipping Ong on the ear. He batted the creature away, as it hissed and flew off. There breeding season was very fruitful this year and their natural predators stayed clear of this particular region. He looked over to Myouga's bag with curiosity. Was she collecting them?  "Southeast, there are lands I still have yet to visit, such as Lower Sotho, though great mysteries surround this region, it could be worth investigating for your studies, perhaps?"

Ong himself, was curious as to wait lay to the lands of the south but, he would leave the choice to Ms. Myouga. He was fortunate enough to have made her acquaintance and she could teach him much before, the end of her journey. Maybe, if he'd proven a capable study she, would invite him along to her land. What great mysteries await him there, he could dream of. 

"By the way, I'm curious but, are you collecting skyfish? If so, we have other species in different parts of Onnen."

"Hmm…well there's no trick behind it, just the way you think about using magic. There's lots of ways people do it, like yours." Ong pointed out their current location, Namibia. It was pretty close to the center of Onnen in general. The area around Namibia was a savanna, and northeast separated by a mountain range was the lake region. South was a marsh which he said was dangerous, and she nodded to show she understood. Ong's hometown was westward, which was where Myouga determined to see next. "Ok, got it! Lots of new names I've never heard of, but that means more fun for later. Sotho and mysteries sound right up my alley, buuut I wanna see your village first! If you don't mind I'd like to record your tribe's culture and language for future generations. There's lots of cultures that have been lost to time, so I want to keep a record of everything." She knew some people might find her enthusiasm a bit intrusive, and some cultures didn't like outsiders recording things about them. There wasn't any malicious intent behind her actions, just an honest to goodness interest in preserving the cultural diversity of the world. After all if everybody was the same, wouldn't the world be boring?

When Ong pointed out her catch of the day, she nodded. "Yup, I am! I've never seen one before coming to Onnen! Over there fish don't fly and I've always wondered how they could do that here. We don't have skyfish in the other continents, y'see." At the mention of there being more varieties of skyfish, the arcanist's eyes lit up. "There are? That's so cool! This'll be great for a first year study to send back home! Aside from magic theory and magic circles we professors study pretty much anything. I'd love to see how regional differences have developed due to the isolation of populations or due to factors from the environment!" Catching one was enough for her today, as she had yet to determine the differences between male and female skyfish. The last thing she wanted would be to send a second skyfish over that was the opposite gender and create an accidental population boom of a foreign species. When she had better equipment on hand she'd send back more samples, as she was confident the other professors could keep her first specimen contained.

"If I'm going to be catching more, I'll need to call for some backup. I have a former student of mine who has better equipment for containing live specimens. I was her teacher for a few years, so she can be your tutor on stuff you don't get!" She hadn't seen Lise in a while, but she was sure the idea of discovering new plants and animals on the new continent would convince her to visit. "I'll send her a letter and ask her to come meet with us either here or in Mamjaku. How's that?" 

Ong's brow raised at her interest in traveling to his village and meeting his people. It had been many years since, he left home to pursue his career as a chronicler. Having walked through so many different regions and meet so many different people, he never got homesick or lonely but, he did miss the beautiful coral beaches. The Marshtoad tribe tended to stay to themselves unless, visited by one of their allied tribes in the region. If, they didnt wish to be found, the shamans had a way of "hiding" the village with their magic but, Ong has spent many years under the tutelage of his father, he could easily find the village on his own. Also, there was the issue of his father and how he'd have to explain bringing strangers. Bel'fong the One Eyed, was one they greatest shamans in the Marshtoad tribe history and Ong's father. He never approved of his sons descision to leave and Ong was sure there would be an argument if he returned.

Rubbing his chin he looked over to Myouga, perhaps, Myouga might impress them with her magic? No…no… It wouldnt be that easy. Perhaps, he could just introduce her to the few friends he had in the village that were willing to meet her? Perhaps Sahel or a neighboring tribe of Goblins would do. Maybe he could lead her to the Efte mountains but, even as he though of other destinations, his amber eyes met hers and he could help but, blush a bit. "Igbo it is..Igbo…is a great selection. I will introduce you to my tribe" he said in rather bold yet peculiar tone. What are you thinking, Ong? You have met a great mage and she's willing to teach you a new skill. When your old man sees what you can do after fifteen years, he'll be chewing on his headdress. thought Ong.

"If your looking for other species there is smaller species that hibernates in the mud for half the year until, the rainy season. There are also larger ones off the coast of my home, they prey on the little ones" he replied nodding to her. "I'd be happy to wait for your student here Namiba but, if you wish to get an early start and meet her at Mamjaku we could also do that. Which would you prefer? Also don't worry about danger, I know you said physical combat may exhaust you but, I have martial skills as well though, we would best avoid danger. How soon would you like to embark?

"Hmm…" Myouga contemplated tapping her chin. "I'm not in a rush for anything really. Portals don't take long, so I can send her an 'express message' and see if she'll be able to come when she replies back. She has a big family so gotta give her time to let them know where and for how long she's going. Lise might bring a few of her pets to help out too." Ong's reassurance that he could handle a little melee was good news, to which she grinned. "That's great! Still just as you said, avoiding danger is easier than getting in a full-on fight. I can't wait to meet your family! Hope they don't mind me poking my nose around." The little arcanist said, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. Conjuring a journal and quill, she quickly scribbled herself a note to investigate the mud-puppy variant and cannibalistic skyfish later, and a few other things in shorthand. Her handwriting wasn't particularly neat in the book, and her drawings were much worse. In fact, they were downright horrific. Anyway, Myouga was quite satisfied with how things had turned out today. 

As the festivities were winding down, people were packing up and preparing to leave or stay for the night. "I'm going to stay in the city for a few weeks. Rest up, get my bearings, stock up on supplies, maybe chat with the locals. Sending mail will take some time since it's across the ocean. While we wait, I can pop over and grab some of my books from my office and we can compare notes. Buuut~ that'll have to be 'til tomorrow! All this excitement's got me tired." She stretched, covering her incoming yawn with a hand. "Where do you want to meet up again in the city? We should probably keep in touch before I know if Lise is coming or not." Namibia was a big place as cities go, and not being a local meant getting lost wasn't hard. She still wanted to stick to safer neighborhoods if she could help it.