My family was very interested in the arcane speaker as I shared it with them. The voice of my father was still somewhat feminine at first but when I could hear it out loud it was much easier to adjust my tone. I was able to even speak a deep bass. It took a few more tries to replicate other sounds like Vivi’s meowing or a proper eagle’s screech but even those were possible. Though I was still having difficulties reproducing them perfectly. There was just that little something still missing. I was confident I just had to hear a sound more often in order to replicate it.
We ended up gathering at the nest to include the boys. Hik and Sem were much less scared this time around. They had not yet reached minor vis enrichment but I was confident they could in a few days, at most two weeks. That was how long it had taken the others, at least.
“You want us to live with humans?”, Mum asked after I explained the most recent happenings in the village.
“Not necessarily in their village all the time”, I sent. I was using [Telepathy] for sake of comfort, “I want you to get to know them so they don’t want to hurt you.”
“Is that necessary?”, Yuuna asked. My sister was nearly fluent by now.
“You could also leave deeper into the mountains or move to the Dwarven Hills.”
“How far?”, Dad asked.
“Two weeks of flight, give or take.”
“Too far”, Mum said.
“We can be friends”, Yuuna said.
Squawk!
One of my brothers wanted to be part of the conversation. Mum started preening him.
“Let’s try?”
Dad was still uncertain but it felt like there was a chance.
“If you don’t like them you can still leave after that”, I said.
That seemed to finally do the trick. Dad took the boys out for their hunting lesson while we returned to the node. It was decided they would follow me to the village the next morning and at least get to know Mira and Circe. I hoped Joanne would be there as well.
-----
Mira and Circe were up and had almost finished their breakfast when we arrived. I had taken the night to rest after making a second arcane speaker. The other brass ingots and my iron were still in Circe’s room and I had decided to leave them there for the time being. Joanne was on her way as well as I had seen from the air. She had just left the house as we dropped into the clearing next to the witches’ home.
“You’re back!”, Circe greeted me.
Mira spoke a little more softly and Grunk croaked his own greeting.
“And you brought more!”, the girl cheered.
“Circe, finish your food.”
The words from her master halted the girl halfway through standing up.
“Yes, Master.”
She glanced at us as we made our way over the wooden boards. I used my shadows to pull out two chairs, the two of them easily able to share one. It was still a little low for them, only being half a metre tall rather than my eighty centimetres so they hopped up on the backrests.
They looked around carefully as I connected everyone through [Telepathy].
“Good morning”, I sent.
“Greetings”, my sister followed up.
My mother stayed quiet.
“That’s my sister, you know her already”, I said, “Her name is Yuuna. And that’s my mum. She’s Aeria.”
“It is good to meet you”, Mira said, “Welcome to my home. I am Mira, the local [Witch]. That is Circe, my apprentice. And Fio has decided to become my apprentice as well.”
“Apprentice?”, my sister asked.
“Yes. They learn from me and gain a deeper insight into their aspired Class. When they progress towards being a true [Witch], they will have a much easier time and even be able to choose their starting Skills.”
“Is that good?”
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My sister glanced at me.
“Yes. But it’s not too important. You would need to throw away your current Class or reach level 100 in your race to unlock the second slot. Compared to that, I suggest just sticking with what you have.”
My family bobbed their heads. Circe squealed.
“Fio is correct”, Mira said, “Though you can still learn from others. We have records of many generations before us which Attributes are the most useful for which Classes. But beware who you share your personal details with. You need to trust someone deeply before you should talk about your Class levels and Attributes. And especially so for your Skills.”
Yuuna and Aeria blinked at each other.
“What’s that on your chest?”, Circe asked.
I chuckled. Out loud, from the arcane speaker.
“I’m glad you asked”, I said. Out loud. I said it twice. Because it is important.
“Oh!”, Circe gasped. Her hands rose to her cheeks and made little balls of joy. Even Mira could not help but smile widely.
“I had not expected you to be successful so soon, Fio”, the [Witch] said, “I would not have been surprised had it taken you weeks or even months.”
I shrugged my wings.
“I don’t know why but it just feels very simple to me. Might have something to do with my warp…”
“Really?”, Circe asked.
“No idea.”
“But, wow! This is so cool! A real, genuine artefact. And you made it in a single day!”
My facial feathers pulled into a grin.
We kept going back and forth as I showed off the vocal range of my arcane speaker. Circe asked me to imitate her voice and I managed to confuse even Mira. I had successfully distracted the conversation away from my family so they could simply observe and learn for the time being. Then, there was a knock on the door.
“That must be Joanne”, I said.
“How do you know?”, Circe asked.
“I saw her earlier.”
“Come in!”, Mira called out.
Of course, I was right. Circe’s mother stepped in and froze, her hand still on the door. She looked from me to my sister, to my mum and finally to Mira.
“Oh”, she said eventually, “They are here.”
I noticed how Mum became quite a bit more nervous with the focus returning to her. My sister took it a little better but still not great.
“Hello Joanne”, I said from the speaker.
“Oh!”, she gasped, “How wonderful! Was that what you were working on?”
I bobbed my head.
“How curious. Is it an artefact? Made like the dwarves do it?”
“I doubt many dwarves would be successful this quickly but at its base, yes.”
She hummed, a finger rubbing the side of her nose.
I took the lull to introduce everyone, which once again made my family a little nervous. This time, I took the effort to calm them down a little. And then, I pulled out the second arcane speaker. I gave the two items to Yuuna and Aeria while returning my voice to [Telepathy].
“There you go. Now you can talk properly.”
“Hello?”, my sister tried. Her talon pressed the speaker to the backrest she perched on in a mirror image of my mum.
“Yes, hello”, Joanne said, “Why don’t we settle down and get to know each other?”
“Help yourself”, Mira said, indicating to her chair as she stood up, “I will be cleaning up before we start with today’s lessons for these two.”
Circe jumped up as well and grabbed the dirty dishes to carry outside and wash them. She was out of the house before Mum could even process what was going on.
Joanne walked over, slowing down her steps when my mum flicked her face towards her. She smiled and made sure to keep some distance from them before sitting down calmly and placing her hands on the table.
“Mum, she’s fine. Don’t worry”, I sent.
I met her eyes, then my sister’s, trying to reinforce their courage. I could practically hear their hearts racing. At least they were not doing the threat display of lowering their heads and spreading their wings. They were just scared.
“Now, let us learn about each other”, Joanne said softly.
I stretched out a tendril of darkness on top of the table right next to her hands and activated [Eldritch Shift]. My body slipped through the Empty and reappeared where I had willed myself. Right next to Joanne’s hand. The woman flinched back, trying to suppress a scream with her hand. I could see her eyes wide and her chest rose and fell rapidly. Slowly, she lowered her hand to her heart. There was a slightly strained smile playing over her lips.
I clicked my tongue and looked right into Mum’s eyes.
“See? She’s just as scared.”
My sister tilted her head. Mum blinked.
“Right”, Joanne said, “You are damn right, I am. What even was that?”
Mira turned around.
“A Skill, as far as I know”, she said.
“But isn’t she just an apprentice?”
Mira smirked.
“That is her second Class.”
“Oh… Oh, my!”
Once again, I had distracted everyone. This time there was something different, though. My family had much better perspective. They understood more about the humans. Joanne and Mira were no longer scary, no longer potential threats. They knew we were seen in the same way. And they were finally able to achieve a semblance of calm.
I noticed from the way they held their bodies. There was curiosity in my sister’s eyes and something between mischief and interest in my mum’s.
“Hello”, she said.
“Good morning”, my sister followed up.
Joanne turned back to them.
“Yes. Good morning. Now, where shall we begin?”
I blended their conversation out as Mira waved me over.
“Go get these things for me”, she said and showed me one of the blackboards with a list, not unlike a shopping list. Only that the things I was supposed to get were not available for money but had to be picked fresh from the wilderness.
I bobbed my head and made to leave.
“Oh, and take Circe with you.”
“Of course”, I said, “Guys, I’m going out for a bit. I’ll be back. You don’t have to wait for me.”
My sister acknowledged me with a bob of her head. My mum was already in deep conversation with Joanne. Something about apprentice Classes. I was pretty confident I knew why she wanted to learn about that.
Now, though, it was time to gather some ingredients. Would I learn about a new potion? Or was it finally time for the first ritual?