Honestly, by the way it behaved, Velvet saw Hyde more as an hermit crab than a spider.

Anyway, she now had Madam Dorna's approval to go to the Mergifari, whose doors would open in three weeks.

Going from Casrey to the Mergifari took two weeks at least. First she needed to take a boat from Casrey to Coris, and from Coris to Dodon. Dodon was the biggest island of the Charlampa Archipelago, and the most important, almost 50 times the size of Casrey. From there, she needed to take the ferry to Limani Island.

Limani Island wasn’t part of the Charlampa Archipelago. It was an island in the middle of the ocean, halfway to the Mergifari, and served as a stop for cargo ships, airships and ferries. Once a week, it sent provisions to the Mergifari on a dirigible, since it was impossible to do so from the sea. That was the one Velvet had to take.

That was one of the reasons she wanted Madam Dorna’s approval. Without it, she would’ve had to wait until she was 18, only to have a week to do all that trip, probably arriving late.

“Still, I better be going soon.” She wasn’t gonna stay idle for a week and then let a sudden storm, a migrating marine monster or a ship wreckage waste a few days and make her lose the time she had won.

Having her yes, she had to go.

Today was late, so she could make her baggage, say a few goodbyes and leave Casrey tomorrow morning with the fisherman.

Velvet praised herself and went to her bedroom. Well, a shared bedroom, because three other kids lived there.

No one was inside, which was perfect for her, since she planned on using magic to expand the insides of the suitcase, and, as much as she loved them, they were a big distraction.

Opening the suitcase on top of her bed, she went to pack her things: hats, some talismans, the grimoire she had started three years ago and was halfway done, underwear and two sets of clothing.

“Ah, I left my old dress.” She pulled out one of the two sets, changed her clothes to a simple light green dress and stored the city clothes. After all, she didn’t need them until arriving to Dodon, and wearing them now was a waste.

Looking at the half filled suitcase in pity, Velvet was disappointed.

“Almost all of my belongings, and it’s not even filled…” She itched to do some magic, but the lack of need was evident.

“I should pack some books.”

“You are from the path of knowledge, made to remember everything read.” Hyde said from inside the hat.

Velvet grimaced, “I should pack some food.”

“No need, you already know the taste of the food here, for your progression is better to try new things.”

“I should pack a beehive, with you inside.”

“If bees could breathe inside a suitcase, that’ll be a good idea.”

Velvet gave up, closing the suitcase and throwing herself on the bed.

“Weren’t you going to say goodbyes?”

“Yes, yes, maybe later.”

A minute later, someone running toward her room could be heard.

Bam! The door opened with a hit.

“Velvet!” The culprit, a short kid with wild black hair and simple clothes, entered with no invitation.

“Couger.” She saluted her second in command, without getting up.

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“Ordian’s gang have taken control of the old treehouse, and we can't get them out!“

“Who is Ordian?”

“The doctor’s son!” Couger jumped when Velvet raised suddenly.

“Bet.”

…

The buzzing of the angry bees was almost as deafening as the screamings that were running away from them, both progressively getting lost in the forest, towards the river.

“Oh, going to take a bath? They are getting smarter.” Velvet was sitting on a rock, her itch to do magic satiated.

“That will show them!” Couger cheered.

“Yes, who would have thought that a wild bee swarm would be inside the treehouse? It’s such a lucky thing none of you were inside at that moment.”

Some of the orphanage children looked at Velvet, wanting to add something, but she smiled at them.

“Because that’s what happened.”

“Yeah!” Couger added. “They were too noisy and angered the wild bees!”

The kids understood the meaning, and started agreeing with them. Now that Velvet knew that none of them had betrayed her trust, she was confident.

“Oh, by the way, tomorrow I’m going on a trip. Celia is the boss now.”

A young girl, 14 years of age, received surprised glares while being surprised herself. Then she started crying.

“Nooo, Velvet! Don’t leave!” The girl threw herself onto Velvet, crying on her dress. When she received no response, she suddenly stopped crying and looked up.

You’re gonna be soooo good at emotional manipulation Velvet grinned back at her, picking her up.

“Nooo, Velvet has to leave on a mission.” She answered in the same tone, using a lifting spell to throw Celia a few meters upwards before grabbing her again. The girl screamed, seemingly in panic.

“My little actress, I’m gonna miss you so much.” Celia gave her a dissimulated glare, pinching her arm.

“Velvet you bully!” Celia answered angrily, being put down, then Velvet pulled her ear a bit before releasing her.

“Alright! Who wants to fly next?”

“Me! Me! Me!” Happy screams were heard, the notice of Velvet departing temporarily forgotten.

…

After playing with the children and having dinner, night had already caught up with them. Later, laying in her bed, Velvet waited until everyone was asleep. At midnight, she opened her eyes, got out of bed, climbed down the window and went to the forest.

There was something she still had to do before leaving Casrey, after all.

It wasn’t something she couldn’t do during the trip, but it was better to take it off the list for a month at least.

Casrey was a small island, but that didn’t mean it was empty except for the village and the beach in Madam Dorna’s painting. It also had a mountain at the center, and a precipice, among other things.

On the mountain, there were several caves, and one of them had a little lake. That’s the one Velvet went to.

Since she had obtained magic almost a month ago, she still hadn’t tried to purify her body of the miasma. Even if her body wasn’t that poisoned at this moment, she preferred to do it in a familiar place. This lake was, after all, the place where she opened her Esca.

Taking off her clothes, she dipped her feet in the cold, freezing water, shuddering. Staying like that for a moment, she turned towards her pile of neatly folded clothes.

“Do I have to just… dive, shake the Esca and the miasma will go out on its own?”

“Don’t shake anything, just open it and it will go out on its own.”

Velvet nodded, entered the water and swam to the bottom. The lake wasn’t too deep, at most it had two meters to the bottom, and that was more than enough.

Some magicians used bathtubs, after all.

Taking a momentary break, she turned and laid back on the soil, before staring at her hand, and opening her Esca.

Even if it looked like an eye, the Esca was actually covering almost every single part of the magician's body. From their skin, to their meat, bones and soul. Even the hair, if they had any, wasn’t left out.

If anything, the barely open eye that Velvet had could be considered an outlet. Once opened, a black mist started pouring out of her body. Most of it went out from the Esca, but some still poured from the pores in her skin, her mouth and even her eyes.

It tasted like rotten meat. Not that she had ever eaten rotten meat, but the way it tasted made her remember the smell of the dead, maggot filled carcasses of dead animals found in the forest.

And yet, considering she was underwater, Velvet tried not to gag, not wanting a repeat of the other time.

After a minute, the black mist stopped coming out of her body, and she came out to the surface as fast as she could, coughing and taking deep breaths.

Taking some clean water in her hands, she cleansed her mouth, gargling and trying to get rid of the aftertaste.

“And don’t forget,” She heard Hyde’s mocking tone. “This is something you will have to do once a month, the rest of your life.”