No.... No that wasn't working. DAMN it.

How long had it been? At times, Shizu honestly couldn't quite find it within herself to keep track of time. In that small, stuffy lab, she found herself burning through hours. Days. Weeks. The time spilled away like so many grains of sand through her fingers as she worked (or so attempted), the various machines and instruments that she had been left. At first they had been useful, she had been able to scrounge what she THOUGHT were important notes from the remnants left behind by her mother. But the magic that powered them slowly had begun to fade, and without knowing how to properly operate them on her own, what little information she had became ...less and less clear. And as the machines and instruments slowly died out, she began to wonder if they had simply been spitting nonsense at her from the beginning. And what was worse is that her own control of magic was not enough to keep them going. She had never needed such a thing, she had been almost enthralled by helping her mother with her work. And now here she was.... No Mother. And With a lab that was useless. Something would have to be done about it.


And so she found herself in this.... small little area, near the town of Nairn, but not quite within the surprisingly busy area. she had hoped to find something more REMOTE near the forsaken zone, but as Shizuyoru eyed the place from afar, she couldn't help but feel her hopes wilt as she made note of the crowds. She hated crowds, all of the noise. She sighed, leaning against a tree for just a moment before she gently raised a hand and glanced into her palm, furrowing her brows as she let the tiniest glimmer of magic coil about her palm. a small, tiny little bell formed in the very center, her brows knitting together. Before promptly, that tiny little thing BURST! The woman flinched slightly as the power without control took it's toll on the little construct. "Oh dear..." She murmured in a ...tired....forlorn little murmur. And to think she'd spent so much time studying spell matrices from her mother and she wasn't even able to pull off the simplest of them. BUT....well that's why she was here wasn't it? She glanced back up and steeled herself a bit. No spell she could rely on to give her a nice layout of the area. Truth be told, she almost wondered if those witches back at the forest had been lying to her. She had asked for help with her magic, and she'd been given some sort of cheesy line about ....what was it...experience? It seemed a bit ridiculous, and some small part of her wondered if they had simply been getting her out of their hair.

Those were the thoughts that muddled her mind as the ...uniquely-dressed woman braced herself and promptly put on a warm smile and began to make her way toward the village. Or ....hunting...outpost? It was SOME sort of little camp thrown together just outside of Nairn, even glancing around, she could spot a few large men hauling supplies about and prepping for some manner of exploration. Had a dungeon opened up or something? At a glance she couldn't even tell if this was a permanent camp or just something that'd been thrown together in preparation of some journey. Life in a lab had hardly prepared her for such an ......outdoorsy setting. She kept her face gentle and offered a warm wave as she passed them, trying not to think TOO hard about the few confused glances and perplexed stares she garnered. She ....kept on walking. She couldn't even sense mana from any of them, she wasn't sure she was going to get any help from them...and here she'd been hoping this was a camp one of those Mage Knight squads had. Did.....did they make camps like this? It occurred to her she wasn't sure. Well....all the more reason to start gathering information. All she needed was to track down a mana signature. Make contact, maintain a friendly demeanor, and if all went well, she might be able to get some help with her little....problem.

She smiled warmly, even a bit excitedly as a bit of bounce was added to her steps, oblivious to the onlookers at this point as she hummed to herself. Ah yes... all according to plan.