After two weeks of being read to every night, Elise was getting a pretty good handle on the world’s language. She was by no means fluent, but she knew most of the basic words, and could understand at least the gist of everything she heard. Reading the language was still beyond her though. Sophie only pointed at the words she was reading some of the time, and even then she seemed to fall behind or rush ahead at random, and Elise couldn’t make much sense of it at all.

She wasn’t too worried about it. She would figure it out eventually. Her main concern at this time was finding a way to level up. She had gotten a little bit of exp killing slimes and the occasional tree viper in the yard, but they were so far below her level that they barely helped. She had only leveled up twice more in those two weeks. And each one took longer than the last. She doubted she’d make it to her next evolution before winter.

Even still, she refused to go beyond the boundaries of the valley. After further inspection with {Mana Sense}, she found lines of mana just like those around the cabin surrounding the valley, and surmised that they were some kind of protection barrier or something. She had heard some bigger animals prowling around at night, but had never seen one, nor had she seen any signs of them entering the valley, so the barrier must have been effective.

In the morning exactly two weeks after Elise had arrived, the cabin was buzzing with activity. The father, whose name she thought was Corwin or Corvin or something based on what she overheard from their room at night, had stayed in that day, and was helping his wife and daughter clean the already almost spotless house and prepare food.

It seemed that the last member of the family, the eldest son, was returning home that day, and he was bringing someone with him. Whether that was a friend or a lover, she couldn’t tell, because she didn’t know the word, but she did know that at least two people were coming, and that the half elf family wanted to give them the warmest welcome possible.

Elise couldn’t really do anything to help, but she wasn’t allowed outside for some reason, so she was reduced to sitting on the kitchen table and watching the chaos around her.

“Sophie, have you finished _____ the _____?” asked Sylvanna.

Elise did not know those words yet because Sophie had not ____ the ____ yet.

“Why do I have to ____ the ____?” whined Sophie. “It’s not like we’ll be eating in the ____? And it will just get _____ again tonight anyway.”

“Sophie,” said her mother in a warning tone. “Your brother’s ____ is coming! Do you want her to think we live in a pigsty?”

So it’s a her, Elise noted.

“Why would she care how ____ the ____ is?” said Sophie.

“Sophie, just do as your mother says,” said Corwin. “And Sylvie, you don’t have to be so anxious. We still have an hour before they get here.”

At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

“Or not,” muttered Corwin. “I’ll get it.”

“Sophie!” called Sylvanna. “Come ____ the dough! I’ll ____ the ____!”

The _____ that Sophie had needed to _____ turned out to be the chimney, and Elise wasn’t sure what the English equivalent for what she had to do with it, but it was something along the lines of removing the soot. Elise decided to translate it as “desoot”. Sylvanna did a rapid dance, moving thrice as fast as a normal human should have been able to, and water flew from the sink and wind swirled around her and both entered the blackened brick fireplace and turned it back to red.

“Dad!” said a man’s voice from the door.

“Good to see you, son,” said Corwin. “And who’s the ____ young lady?”

“This is my ____, Bianca!”

“H-hi,” said a soft female voice. “A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gray.”

“Where’s Mom?” asked the younger man. “And Sophie?”

“They’re finishing up inside. Come on in.”

The young man was obviously Sylvanna and Corwin’s, but while Sophie had her mother’s slender figure and mostly her father’s facial features, her brother was the opposite. He was tall and had his father’s broad shoulders and thick limbs, but his mother’s blond hair and regal features. Elise couldn’t help but think he wouldn’t have been out of place playing some superhero in a movie.

The girl clinging to his arm was not small, but compared to her lover, she looked almost like a child. She was very pretty though. She had pitch black hair and pale gray eyes, and she was wearing a modest orange sundress that Elise would have loved to ask where she got it if she was still human and could speak the language. She was clearly very nervous, and was trying to stay as close to the young man as possible, but her face lit up when she saw Elise.

“Nicky, you never told me you had a pet rabbit,” she said. “What’s her name?”

“That’s Elise!” said Sophie, while she worked the dough. “And she’s my rabbit. You can pet her though. I’m Sophie by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Sophie, I’m Bianca.” Bianca nodded in her direction. “And nice to meet you too, Elise.”

Elise leaned into the chin scratches.

“Aww,” said Bianca.

“She is pretty cute,” said Nick, giving Elise a few pats. “But not as cute as you.”

Bianca giggled as he pulled her into a hug.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I think Elise might have me beat there.”

“Nick, are you gonna ____ Bianca?”

The couple’s faces turned red.

“Sophie!” exclaimed Nick.

“What?” she said petulantly. “I just wanted to know if she was your _____ or just your _____.”

“Sophie, it’s not polite to ask things like that,” said Sylvanna, walking around the corner calmly as if she hadn’t just been flailing about like someone at a rave. “Sorry for the late greeting. My name is Sylvanna. Welcome to our ____ home.”

“Thank you for having me,” said Bianca with a curtsey. “It’s a nice place. It’s so cozy.”

“Thank you,” said Sylvanna with a smile. “Would you like some snacks? We have some dried fruits and smoked sausages. Lunch isn’t quite ready yet, but I can’t have you going hungry. We also have tea. Do you drink tea?”

“Oh, I love tea!” said Bianca.

“I wouldn’t say no to some sausage,” said Nick.

“I’ll be right back then.” Sylvanna disappeared back around the corner as she went to retrieve the food from the pantry.

“So, Bianca,” said Corwin. “Nick tells us that you’re an expert on Nature magic.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say I’m an expert,” she said, “but I’m studying it, yes.”

“Oh, don’t put yourself down, B,” said Nick. “Dad, she’s incredible. She grew an entire _____ tree in a day for her __________ last _____ and made the entire ____ ____ pie.”

All the talk of magic reminded Elise that she hadn’t inspected either of them yet.

[Knight, lvl ???]

[Nature Witch, lvl ???]

[Inspect has leveled up! Lvl 18 -> 19]

“Stop, Nick,” she said blushing. “It wasn’t that great.”

“Yeah it was. That was the best ____ pie I’ve ever had.”

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“Growing a whole tree in a single day is impressive for someone your age,” said Corwin. “I’m not even sure I could do that now.”

“Oh yeah, Nick mentioned you were good with Nature magic too,” said Bianca. “I’ve been looking into different _____ for after I _____. Do you have any advice?”

“Sure. I grew up way out here, and I always knew I’d come back, but that didn’t mean I didn’t explore my options when I was at the ______…”

They launched into a long conversation about what Elise guessed to be different jobs that one could take with Nature magic expertise. She didn’t know most of the words they used, but she could make some educated guesses. She knew for a fact that one of the careers they discussed was gardener, and another was Corwin’s own class, Steward of Nature, but there were a few that sounded like various types of research positions that she couldn’t quite find a proper translation for.

At some point while they talked, Sylvanna returned with food, a pot of boiling water, and a half dozen teacups. Sophie also finished up her duty, and had rolled the dough into balls and placed them in the mana-powered oven below the counter. After washing her hands, she picked up Elise and stroked her back while listening in on the conversation.

The conversation carried on without lagging for another hour by which point the rolls were done, and Sylvanna had started slicing the meat, cheese, and vegetables for what looked to be a lunch of sandwiches with a side of fresh raspberries.

Though Elise hadn’t noticed when it was just the four of them in the cabin, it turned out that Corwin was a real talker when given the chance. It helped that Bianca had completely won him over with her enthusiasm for what he was talking about. He was beaming as he told her stories of his experiences working with nature, and whenever he neared the end of any particular tale, she would ask him a question that would start a whole new one.

Sophie was getting a little bored though, and hadn’t gotten more than a few words in the entire time, so she had resorted to trying to play with Elise, but even that wasn’t going well. Elise was just as enraptured as Bianca was in the conversation. Nature magic was her specialty too, so any opportunity she could take to learn more was one she couldn’t afford to miss.

After lunch, they gave Bianca a tour of the house and the garden. Sophie had Elise show off her {Sudden Growth}, which made Bianca clap with delight, and then they moved on to the rest of the valley. However, the valley tour was cut short when a slime crossed their path. It was no threat to any of them– a quick stomp from Sylvanna sent a stone spike through it– but the tour immediately stopped, and everyone’s faces grew grim.

“Nick,” said Corwin. “We’re going to be moving away soon.”

“Is it that bad?”

“Not yet, but we’re not taking any _____. I’ve been _____ on things. It’s still in the early _____, so it’s mostly just been slimes, but it won’t stay that way. The animals in the forest are _____ faster than usual.” He looked at Elise. “Even the rabbits are _____. In two _____, it won’t be safe to live here ______. We’re leaving next ____.”

A silence fell over the group. Elise, for one, was shocked. She hadn’t heard them saying a thing about this since she started being able to understand what they were talking about. She had also thought that slimes spawning was normal. Well, not totally normal. She was confused how the garden was still intact if slimes spawned in regularly, but she figured there must have been more enchantments keeping them out. The whole valley was lined with them, after all.

But moving away? That seemed a bit extreme. Even as a powerless rabbit, slimes hadn’t been a problem for her, and they were even less of a problem now that she could actually fight back. Maybe needing to keep an eye out for them all the time would get annoying, but wouldn’t the benefits of free leveling opportunities cancel that out?

She couldn’t really object though. There was probably more going on that she wasn’t aware of, or else the mood wouldn’t be so heavy. Still, it would be a shame. While slow, at least out here, she could consistently level. If slimes actually weren’t normal, then wherever they went next would make growth more difficult for her, and she wanted to evolve as soon as possible. She was tired of being stuck as a rabbit.

“Do you need any help?” asked Nick after a while.

“We’ve got everything handled,” said Corwin. “I rented a ____ to carry our ____, and hired a few _____ to help load it up. We can’t take everything though. If there’s anything still here that you want to make sure makes it out, get it ready now.”

Nick nodded, and silence returned, until Sophie broke it.

“Why’s everyone look so sad?” she asked. “We’re just moving.”

Sylvanna smiled. “You’re right. It’s a bit unexpected, but that’s all. No one’s dying.”

“Mom says I’m gonna go to the _____ once we move!” announced Sophie proudly.

“The _____?” asked Bianca. “But aren’t you only 12?”

“Mm-hmm! But I’m already almost at my second _____!”

“Wow, that’s really impressive! What’s your class?”

“Apprentice Mana Dancer!”

“Mana Dancer?” Bianca seemed genuinely shocked. “Isn’t that a _____ class?” She looked over at Sylvanna, who was trying to hide a proud smile. “Are you a Mana Dancer? _____, I’ve always wanted to see one! Can you show me a dance?”

“Oh, I don’t know…” started Sylvanna, looking very much like she did know.

“C’mon, Mommy, let’s do it!” said Sophie. “Let’s show her the water dance!”

“Well, if you insist,” she replied, pretending to be reluctant. “Let’s head over to the stream.”

Back near the cabin on the bank of the stream, Sophie and Sylvanna faced each other in a relaxed stance with their eyes closed. For a few seconds, neither of them moved, and the others watched with bated breath. Then, in perfect sync, they took a sudden step toward the stream while raising their arms. Two transparent serpents erupted from the shallow water, flying into the air above their heads.

The dance was not the same one that Sophie had shown Elise on the day they first met. It was different, and one that she had evidently practiced much more. Her snake was still obviously smaller and less distinct than her mother’s, but even after four minutes, it held its form, and her movements were much smoother.

The two women spun and leapt and crouched about, mirroring each other almost perfectly, except for the times when they crossed. The serpents flew above their heads, constantly making circles and loops and spinning around each other in a hypnotizing manner, and even with near omnidirectional vision, Elise found it hard to look at anything else.

Just when Sophie’s control started to waver, the two made one final spinning leap, and landed in a bowing pose as their snakes dove into the water behind them.

Elise didn’t know that three people could clap so loud. Corwin, Nick and Bianca gave them a round of applause as enthusiastic as any she had ever seen, and Corwin’s claps in particular were so loud they made her ears ring.

“Beautiful as always,” he said, embracing his wife.

“Sophie, that was great!” said Nick. “You couldn’t even make it through the first minute when I left, and now you’re almost as good as Mom!”

“I’ve been practicing!”

“I can tell,” he said, ruffling her hair. “You did really well!”

“_______, that was so cool!” exclaimed Bianca. “I’ve only ever seen a Mana Dancer from _____! I couldn’t control mana anywhere near that well when I was your age.”

“My Mana Control is at 200!” said Sophie.

“That’s almost as high as mine!” said Bianca. “You’re gonna _____ at the _____! You might even be able to get into _____!”

“You really think so?”

“I think that if they don’t _____ you into _____, they’ll be missing out,” she said.

“Nick, you should definitely _____ her,” she said, turning to her brother.

Nick blushed. “We’ll see.”

“Maybe sooner than later?” asked Bianca.

Nick blushed more. “...maybe.”

“Nick, why don’t you show us what you’ve been learning?” asked Corwin.

Nick laughed nervously. “I don’t know about that, Dad. I can’t really ____ anyone here, and unless you have some trees you don’t mind being ______, there’s not a whole lot to show.”

“I think we can make that work,” said Corwin. “We’ll be moving soon anyway.”

“Really?” asked Nick. “But, Dad, aren’t you a {Steward of Nature}? Are you allowed to say that?”

“Well, I won’t be getting any _____, that’s for sure. But I haven’t taken any ____ or anything. It’ll be fine. Follow me, I think I know a good place.”

Corwin led them along the stream until he came to a set of stepping stones across the water leading to a small clearing. Elise had visited this clearing a couple times while out and about. It was a memorable spot, since every single tree on the edge of the clearing was covered in slash marks. She had wondered where they came from, but seeing Nick draw his sword with a slightly embarrassed expression on his face, her question was answered.

“Stand back,” he said, holding his sword up like a baseball bat. “I still don’t have perfect control over this yet.”

Everyone took a few steps backward as his face scrunched up in concentration and his sword was filled with mana. He only charged it up for a few seconds, but there was so much mana in his sword that Elise’s fur was standing on end before he swung. The swing clove clean through two of the trees in front of him and left deep gashes in a few more behind them. He started to casually sheathe his sword and walk back in what Elise thought was an effort to look cool, but the effect was ruined when one of the trees started falling toward him, and he had to sprint to get out of its way.

Once that was over, Corwin and Bianca had some kind of tree growing competition. They found a pair of saplings near each other and focused their mana into them, making them grow. Bianca’s grew much faster in the beginning, but after just a few minutes, her mana had run out, and she sat down with her legs crossed to replenish it. Elise was much more interested in that than the growth of the trees, as she had been wondering if there was a faster way to recoup lost mana. Hers still regenerated fairly quickly, but the regeneration rate didn’t seem to be growing in sync with her pool size, and she was worried she would be stuck helpless at later levels if she used too much at once.

Corwin, meanwhile, kept steadily pouring mana into his own sapling. By the time Bianca got up again, his tree had surpassed hers. She caught back up, but ran out even more quickly that second time, and had to return to her meditation while Corwin carried on. In the end Bianca was too lightheaded to continue, and Corwin still had yet to exhaust his mana once, so he was declared the Victor.

Last up was Elise, who gladly showed off her ability to grow carrots from babies to full-sized in one go, as well as much of her {Prehensile Vines} as she could manage with her remaining mana. The group then retired back to the cabin, where they spent the rest of the day talking and laughing together.

That night, Elise slept on the floor. She was not being punished or anything. Sylvanna just refused to let Nick and Bianca share a room, so Bianca was sharing the bed with Sophie instead, and it was too cramped for Elise to be comfortable. The two girls stayed up late talking about lots of things, most of which Elise didn’t understand. She knew that they were talking about Nick in the beginning, and boys in general after that, but then the conversation had turned toward books or something and Elise was completely lost.

She didn’t know how long they stayed up, but when she fell asleep close to midnight, the conversation showed no signs of stopping. They must have stopped at some point though, because when Elise woke back up, everything was quiet. Too quiet.

And cold.