Saina continued on hacking her way through monsters, freezing some of them solid in ice so that Maximus could easily come through after her and deal the final blow. A flying creature loomed overhead, narrowly sweeping in to attack her. At the last moment, Saina turned the ground to ice and power slid beneath, her back bending back wards before she brought her heel down hard. Stopping the motion, she used the slickness of the ice to kick off, back flipping around the flier, and slashing her katana straight down.

She landed, the ice fading while she panted. She stayed still a moment, ready to push on until Maximus spoke up.

[color=9e0b0f]"Where did you learn how to control ice magic so easily?" [/color]

Still panting and a bit ahead of the hall down from the others, she turned her head with a surprised quirk of the brow. Between breaths, the pale woman fought for an answer. It was still difficult to cast so much magic with mana so low. She'd yet to get an Elixir since shipwrecking that morning. 

[color=mediumslateblue]"It's... not as easy as it looks."[/color] 

She admitted at last, leaning her head down as she paused to catch her breath.

[color=mediumslateblue]"Actually, it even hurts a little."[/color]
 
Her gloved fingers trailed down the long scar on her abdomen, sighing as she stood up. 

[color=mediumslateblue]"It's a matter of will. Power always comes with price. What you see is ease, but what I feel is control."[/color]

She paused, letting her words be punctuated as she looked at her gloved hands. 

[color=mediumslateblue]"My magic has never been unintentional, and it's not just something formed on a whim. It's something handled with care and what precision I can give."[/color]

Her voice trailed off. Then she looked over at Maximus, inspecting her blade simultaneously. 

[color=mediumslateblue]"My power is different than most black mages, this much I know. I think what that difference is... I... understand this magic, better than most."[/color]

She nodded, then looked at another spherical indent in the wall as she stood up.

[color=mediumslateblue]"We are here."[/color]

She placed the sphere into the indent, causing it open up and reveal the room that comes before the Chamber of the Fayth. Saina walked in, placing her katana away, and sat down against one of the walls with her eyes closed, resting for the moment to try to regain her mana. With the Hymn playing all around them, she seemed at peace.

[color=mediumslateblue]"M'lady, I will not accompany you within the Fayth this time. Be strong, for all of us."[/color]