Zerine headed into the compound after saying farewell to Neil. She was smiling, knowing that her little farewell had completely shocked Neil. The shock factor had been part of her plan, but she couldn’t quite ignore the small thrill she had felt kissing his cheek.

You're going to be trouble, she thought, aiming her ire at the part of her that kept pushing those intrusive emotions. The same part that had made her eyes wonder, noting someone’s attractiveness and messed with her imagination. Granted, the latter part wasn’t that bad, but still she wasn’t going to follow through with any of her feelings.

We’re friends and I just did that kiss to kinda mess with Neil, but also a thing that is traditional for this land…right? she thought. It had been the first time she had done such a thing, but had seen others do so. Quickly, she went through her memory of etiquette and sure enough, what she had done was common. She sighed, relieved. Her goal had only been to mess with Neil, who truly hadn’t expected her to do any etiquette related things, especially something that had her get that close to someone.

“Hey look at that bright smile,” Shiya said, spotting Zerine as she entered the side door, which opened to the kitchen, hoping to scoop up a snack. “I take it you and Neil had fun, then?”

Zerine blinked, startled for a moment. “I-I did. Um, can I steal some fruit?” Zerine wondered.

“Sure can. Here I was thinking you were going to steal a sweet before dinner,” Shiya said with a grin, gesturing for Zerine to take her pick of fruit in a bowl.

“I would never,” Zerine said theoretically, as both knew she would have absolutely attempted that if no one was in the kitchen at the moment.

“Hmm,” Shiya replied. “Wait for dinner. I will add a protective enchantment to these as well. Not just stoping you, but the pixies and Varino too.”

Zerine's shoulders slumped, and she sighed as she grabbed a pear from the bowl.

“Fine, I guess I can wait. But how was magic training?” Zerine wondered, leaning against the countertop.

“Like normal. Estel and Varino have come a long way on their staff work,” Shiya said, pulling out a mixing bowl and putting ingredients inside. First some flour, followed by butter, then a host of ingredients were added. That done, Shiya waved a hand, and the bowl began mixing itself.

“What about Mili and Sharā?”

“Milli went off with Mark to work on her sword and staff fighting. Magic wise, she was ahead of what I had Estel and Varino doing. Shara was working with Naro today.”

“Hmm. I noticed while sparring with Milli that she had excellent technique, but it felt like she was used to her movement and strength being different.”

Shiya glanced at Zerine. “You picked up on that, huh? You would be right. She was trained with her enhancement or enforcement, whichever one you heard or call it, but it was a core part of her training.”

“And that’s bad?” Zerine wondered. Magic things outside of arrays and rituals were still foreign to her.

“It’s common, but we don’t do that here. Care to guess why?”

Common, but not here? thought Zerine, taking the moment of silence to take a bite out of the pear. As she chewed, she thought. They focused on weapon mastery and techniques so they can adapt them to their affinities and magic abilities, but why would depending-

“Oh!” Zerine exclaimed.

“Figure it out then?”

“I want to clarify a thought first.” Shiya nodded for Zerine to go ahead. “Most fights are short, right?” Shiya smiled.

Seeing Shiya’s reaction, Zerine knew she was right.

“My guess is that fights may be short, but if your fighting groups of monsters or other mages, mana reserves become an issue, so if you use body enforcement too much in training, it can cause an unhealthy reliance on it. Which in a tough fight, can cost you.”

“Exactly. We train all of you, focusing on making you master fighting styles. But we have chosen them to best fit your affinities and ones that maybe useful,” Shiya saw Zerine raise an eyebrow at that. “As for you, we’ve just let you master styles we through at you. Gotta admit, I expected little from that approached, but the fact you’ve kept learning new fighting styles and modifying them to fit what you’ve already learned has been quite something to watch. And I’m not just saying that.”

Zerine starred, surprised for a moment, before breaking out into a smile. “Thank you. So Milli has to break that habit, then?”

“Yes, and has a lot of physical training to improve her base physicality, which will bring a few benefits regarding her magic.”

“Really, like what?” Zerine wondered.

“I forget you’ve avoided some magic topics,” Shiya said, mixing another bowl. “Your physical condition can improve how mana flows through your metaphysical channels. Not only that, but if you do an enforcement technique, the improved physicality is magnified. It can also help improve your mana regeneration as well.”

“Huh, that’s good to know.”

“I don’t sense you getting close to getting your crest, but I think you and I should cover some basics and we can practice more on spotting and senses them. Yes, I know your mana sensing range is limited, but you’ve gotten a bit more sensitive in the area you can sense so its best we pick up that training again.”

Zerine had opened her mouth to point out her ability to sense mana had remained small compared to the range that her instincts could sense.

“That sounds good, but I truly don’t understand all that channeling stuff.”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“We won’t talk about that stuff. Just the variations of the basic four techniques some more. Which leads perfect to part of my gift, which,” she held up a finger, not even looking at Zerine who had opened her mouth again. “Which you’ll see later tonight.”

“Alright,” Zerine said, disappointed.

“Zerine, it’s time for some lessons and your checkup with Kelly,” Sashi said, standing in the doorway.

“Have fun,” Shiya said as they left some more staff carrying bags of items past them. Zerine watched them head into the kitchen. There was more stuff being made than usual. A suspension popped into her mind, but it was brushed aside as Sashi spoke.

“Zara told me you used the powder again.”

“Yeah, the city was packed today, but I lasted longer than I expected before I needed it,” Zerine replied.

“That’s good to hear. No side effects or anything?”

“Not from what I can tell. And are you going to ask me this all the time before you ascend?”

“Yes,” Sashi said with a smile. “I want to ensure I didn’t make a thing that will have a negative impact on you before you even start along your path.”

“Getting my crest should remove negative effects, right?”

“Your body being remade will remove many things, but when it comes to the mind, it can get a bit more complicated,” Sashi said, leading them towards Kelly’s work rooms.

“Complicated?”

Sashi sighed. “The soul is…hmm,” Sashi paused, searching for the right way of explaining this without explaining too much that could impact Zerine’s future advancement.

“If you're debating about how to tell me this without exposing that parts of our soul are expressed as we rank up, affecting our appearance and personalities to a limited extent. Or that affinities and abilities are also tied to those expressions, then don’t worry. I already know.”

Sashi stopped walking and stared at Zerine.

“What?”

“That isn’t something you should know,” Sashi said.

Zerine shrugged. “It’s not that big of a deal. I don’t know everything about it, so I won’t over think it because I’m missing parts.”

“For now,” Sashi said. “What about when you get your crest?”

“Hmm, again, it’s not like I have a say in what parts get magnified. So no, I don’t think that knowledge will impact me. But back to the complicated?”

Sashi gave Zerine a flat look. “We will discuss this tomorrow. However, since you already seem to know parts of it, I will say it bluntly. The mind is an aspect of the soul. If you think of it as layers, then it’s the outer cloud-like layer to the soul. An expression, as you called it. That’s why certain abilities can affect your mind and why you can protect it. That is also the reason why we focus on willpower training to help you protect your mind.”

“Huh, I’m learning so many new things today. It really feels like my birthday,” Zerine said cheerfully.

Sashi only sighed and lead Zerine to Kelly.

“That talk tomorrow is going to be a long one, I hope you know that.”

“Fun!”

***

Milli sat at the dining room table. The place was a bit busier than what she had expected for Zerine’s birthday. Zerine had said she liked small gatherings and was fine with just the compound families, but it seemed there were some others joining them based on the seemingly never-ending amount of food being brought out from the kitchen.

“So,” Raith’s avatar said, sitting next to Milli, who suddenly found herself unable to speak. The Lucent Devil was actually talking to her. “You’ve been here for a few months now, so what do you think of this crazy place?”

Milli blinked rapidly. “I’ve learned quite a lot. Both training and from the tutoring Zerine has been doing.”

“That’s the polite answer,” Raith said, grinning.

“Overwhelmed still,” Milli said quickly, which got a laugh from Raith.

“Oh, I’m sure. I heard about the slime race and all the other things that have happened since you joined the family. Honestly, I had hoped some of the craziness would be turned down,” Raith said, her gaze flicking to Varino, who was currently zooming around the room giggling and playing a game with the compound's variety of pixies. The pixie’s glittering lights lit the ceiling with many colors. It looked to Milli like they were playing tag.

“Everyone has been welcoming, but I’m still getting used to the creatures being everywhere, the training routine, and some other things,” Milli said.

“I’m glad you feel welcome, but does it feel like a home?”

Milli’s bright smile answered Raith’s question with no need to say a word, which was good because Neil sat across the table from her.

“Neil, how was your little date?” Raith teased, which made Neil’s eyes go wide at the sudden verbal strike.

“Date!? What date?” Milli wondered, looking between Raith’s grinning avatar and Neil’s shock.

“It wasn’t a date,” Naro said, sitting next to Milli close enough that their legs were right up next to one another on the bench. “It was just Neil taking Zerine out to the city.”

“It was a lovely day. I wish we had some time to ourselves in the city,” Milli said wistfully, which made Naro smile.

“We will, I promise,” he reassured Milli, his hand finding hers on the table and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“You ruined my chance to tease Neil,” Raith said, sighing disappointedly.

“But what were you two talking about before we arrived?” Naro said, changing the subject for Neil, who still looked to be recovering from being teased. It made him wonder if Neil was actually starting to have feelings for his rather odd sister. He made a mental note to question Neil in a few days.

“Raith,” Milli said, her voice a little high and tense. Still finding it hard to address the legend of an adventurer by her first name. “Was asking me about how things have been since moving in.”

“Ah, she has done great getting used to the crazy stuff. Although she still gets ambushed by reading time though,” Naro said, which made Milli feel heat enter her cheeks.

“Reading time?” Neil wondered, confused.

“Oh yeah, you're not around on those days usually,” Naro said, then began explaining it to Neil, who only looked more confused as the explanation went on.

“I even tried to just stand outside to hear the story and see if it was interesting and I still get dragged in,” Milli said to Raith.

“Yeah, I guess from their perspective, if you're listening outside then you can listen with them,” Raith replied, thinking.

“Sounds about right. I literally saw a slime with a book. Then another time, a group of pixies were struggling to fly with a book. I think they really enjoy it that time. It’s just hard to avoid getting dragged in if you get too close to the doorway.”

Raith was about to say more when Zerine's happy shout made them turn to look at the entranceway.

“You guys are back!” Zerine shouted happily, running to Gary, who caught the girl after she had sprinted then jumped at the nine-foot tall four-armed man.

“Well, this is going to get loud. Great catching up with you Milli, but I have to say hello before my teammates become to routing being back home,” Raith said before getting up and heading to the group where Zerine was embracing the others, chatting all the while.

There was a happy whistle, and Varino zoomed to the entranceway as well.

Naro sighed. “With them all back, our training is going to be so much harder.”

Neil only nodded, watching Zerine talking to Ivron and Gary.

“Really?” Milli wondered, unsure if she could handle more difficult training.

“Just wait and see,” Neil said, his expression turning to dread, while Naro shuttered next to her.

“Wonderful,” Milli said dryly.

Milli was about to ask more about this horrifying training when a host of squeaks made Milli’s eyes bug out.

“Holy shit!?” she whispered as eight small dragons flew into the room along with a group of fairies.

“Oooh yeah, by the way, Zerine’s closest friends are dragons and fairies,” Naro said sheepishly.

Milli had no words, just stared in shocked silence.

“I think this surprise may have been too much. It looks like it broke her,” Neil commented, trying and failing to hide his grin.

“Hey, it’s exactly how you were like after meeting her friends,” Naro said.

Neil chuckled. “Yeah, but I was used to all the…uniqueness.”

“Fun craziness,” Estel interjected as she sat next to Neil.

“You said it,” Neil replied, still chuckling.

“It’s going to be a fun night,” Estel said, an accurate prophesy for everyone, but a bittersweet one for Zerine.