"No person is an island that stands alone and apart from everyone else. Most everyone could do with having a shoulder to lean on, or even just an ear to listen to their woes." - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.
When Cal woke up refreshed the next day, she walked down the stairs and found that most of the house had already gathered at the table for breakfast. Ying Xiao was already eating, still as timid as usual even around Cal's family.
That said, the presence of the family pets had allowed the young girl to relax more. She was seated between Sidonie and Leila, and their respective animals were all too happy to act spoiled with the young girl in the hopes of treats.
Cal couldn't help but smirk when she saw how the young girl gave in exasperatedly after Sidonie's pet malamute stood on its hind legs and laid its forepaws on Ying Xiao's lap, while its tongue lolled as the dog snuggled up to her. She gave it a slice of smoked meat from her plate, which the dog all too happily accepted.
With a smile, Cal took a seat by the table, and helped herself to some of the breakfast set on a large platter at the center of the table. It was a simple meal of eggs scrambled with potatoes, tomatoes, onions, herbs, spices, and lots of butter, served with some of the flaky, chewy flatbreads the elves favored.
"Thanks for the meal, aunt Tia," said Cal to the smiling Unitia after she took a bite. It was rather easy to tell who did the cooking, as none of the younger half elves were that good at it, which only left the adults. Out of them only Unitia cooked traditional elvish cuisines like these well, as Idania wasn't that good at it.
"You're welcome," replied the old elf as she smiled beatifically. Apparently Unitia had been in a very good mood every since the family decided to stick together. Vark and Krystal still resided in Levain, but they were a mere gate jump away, so it was convenient for either side to visit often.
Her mood was further lifted when Mimia and Drietven had visited back at spring, although the idea of meeting someone who was literally their ancestor was a bit unnerving for the younger generations. They had also promised to visit more often after they went back.
"So how long are you staying this time?" asked Unitia when Cal went for seconds of the meal.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
"Likely a bit longer, until the second month of spring or thereabouts," replied Cal as she set down the refilled plate before her. Her trip this year was notably shorter, as she had waited for Leila's graduation in spring before she departed, and they returned before winter had set in.
In the upcoming year, she would likely wait until Levain's spring graduation again because her other erstwhile students had expressed their wishes to tag along. Giselle had graduated early, just a couple months ago at the beginning of autumn, whereas Willa and Ognar would do the same next spring.
Fheeri would also join them by that time. The course for hunters and trackers at the institute normally took four years, but her prior life in the goblin plains coupled with her natural endowments as a therian meant that Fheeri could simply skip over half the classes as she was already experienced with those subjects. She too would graduate early next spring.
But where others joined, yet others would depart. Cal remembered that this would be Ying Xiao's last year in training before she returned to Al-Shan. She thus decided that she would work with the girl to cover her weaknesses and further hone her skills in the short few months they had.
After the meal was concluded, Cal gave free reign to her nieces to do whatever they felt like, while she took Ying Xiao with her as they left the house. Skillwise Ying Xiao had grown tremendously over the past couple of years, though she still rather lacked in experience.
What troubled Cal more was the way the girl had reacted back at the slaver's dungeon. She clearly still had a deep seated trauma from the past she would rather not talk about, and while Cal was not unfamiliar with trauma herself, she was wholly unfamiliar with this sort of trauma.
Because of that, she dropped Ying Xiao off at Shi-Huang and Erycea's place, and told the girl to train well, while she herself headed elsewhere. Cal took a straight path towards Aideen's mage tower, as she figured that the unliving woman might have some ideas on how to handle such matters given how long she had lived.
Fortunately, Cal found Aideen in her tower, as the unliving woman practiced her weapon skills. Cal had to blink in wonderment when it dawned on her what Aideen did for practice. The unliving woman whirled her three-sectioned staff around her body so fast it looked like a blur, despite the blades that jutted out from its ends.
Before her was a cut of log a meter and a half long, which stood upright unsupported. Aideen practiced her strikes on said log, each strike so measured that they chipped off exactly the amount and shape of wood she wanted. Even as Cal came in, the rough shape of a scuplture that depicted a wolf as it howled had begun to take shape.
Cal chose not to disturb Aideen during her training, and just stood to the side as she watched. She knew the unliving woman noticed her entrance, as Aideen had turned her head and nodded at her, yet her strikes just kept flowing, her movements fluid yet structured, almost like a dance.
By the time Aideen was done, the top half of the log had turned into a wooden sculpture of a wolf, as it howled towards the moon. Its quality not much worse than what actual sculptors usually managed. It had baffled Cal that Aideen managed to create such a piece of work using her unwieldy weapon, a feat that spoke of her inhuman levels of skill with it.
"So, you wanted to talk about something I reckon?" Aideen asked Cal as she rejoined her weapon into its staff form and folded the blades in via some clever mechanisms, before placing it in her own storage artifact.