For the first time this week, Amy woke up to loud children.

This time it seemed there was only a couple children snooping about, and it didn't seem particularly malicious. The lack of the three scrooges only confirmed that for her. At first she thought she could maybe wait it out, the children likely to get bored quickly without their prodding and running off back home. Yet, a peculiar idea crossed her mind as she thought back to last night's practising.

Playing through yesterday's motions, after getting changed, she began to cast Familiar once more, the familiar verdant radiance of her Fae mana coming to her almost immediately, illuminating her entire room in bright green. The attuned mana swam out and towards the Spellform, vibrating and swirling around as the familiar form of Felin was constructed out of it, the distinct lack of that otherworldly prescience more than noticeable.

"Ah! My-"

"Quiet!" Amy shushed, pointing towards her window, the black cat fully materialised in the air, "I've got something to show you."

"Alright, alright," Felin grumbled, shuffling over to her shoulder and peering over.

Behind the pack of children, their marching band swiftly closing in to her door, she projected a thin strand of her personal mana towards. It was a heavier cost to do it at range like this but it would be worth it. Ambient mana swam into her as her Illusion-Focused Magecraft spun out Illusion mana for her to use, channelling into the forming Spell. The Lesser Illusion. After spending an entire night practising it, she had finally cracked it just before she went to bed, the main struggle being the proper control of her split mana streams without the motes of her personal mana guiding them.

"Nice work, Amy. Congratulations," Felin smiled, patting her with his paw.

Forming into reality behind them was an almost perfect facsimile of the very black cat that sat on Amy's shoulder, although larger and angrier in countenance. The only oddities in it was its fur, not being entirely consistent in texture, and the eyes, being almost glassy and lifeless. Using the connection she had with the Spell in her mana, Amy willed it to prowl towards the children, back arched, and ready to pounce. Once the Illusion was near, a loud hiss was all that was needed for them to jump in fright, one even screaming, whipping around to face the cat.

Although she was unable to hear the scared chattering of the children, Amy could gather what they were talking about. It only took one more nudge from the cat, advancing on them menacingly, for them to give up and run away, the Illusion not giving chase. With a thought, the Spell dissipated, some of her personal mana returning to her, while the attuned mana deaspected and returned to the Mana Ocean, Pure.

"Artfully done, my dear Mageling. Though, I do ask why you couldn't scare them away yourself?" Felin wondered, "Though I don't deny the entertainment of it, especially so with it being 'me' scaring them off, it's a bit wasteful of your mana."

"It's... complicated," Amy said, her mood brought down by the reminder of that.

"To do with your perception as a 'pariah'? Oh, do pray tell..." Felin smiled, gently, walking into the air to face her.

"It never ends with just them, when I chase them off," Amy explained, averting her gaze and waking over to the kitchen, "They talk about it to their parents, whether that be to brag or complain, and before I know there's a group of them banging at my door, screaming at me for what 'I did to their children'.

"And what did I do? Tell them to bugger off? Scare them? Run them off my porch? It doesn't matter to them, they only needed an excuse..."

"...Do you know why they're all so hostile to you?"

"Sadly... yes, I probably do." Amy mumbled, taking a seat on her table. She saw Felin out of the corner of her eye strut up and sit on the windowsill, looking out to the village path, contemplative.

"Why, if I may ask?"

"Well, I guess I should start at the beginning then." Amy said, looking down at her fidgeting hands on her lap, "After all the details were sorted out, I was officially announced a Mage. I didn't have the affinities for a proper Mage School though, and my parents weren't rich enough to pay for private tuition. So, I ended up going to a public School, one run by the government."

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"The government?"

"Yes, of the Iyrtiran Empire."

"Hmmm... Sorry for interrupting, please carry on," Felin said, eyes sharp.

"Well, I was taught a lot of things there, though you could tell it was still geared towards preparing future Mages for the Wars. I learnt barely anything but offensive Spells, the defensive ones mainly for the protection of myself during battle, and the bare minimum of healing for first aid. What wasn't war-oriented was either gutted from the curriculum or too difficult for someone with my affinities.

"I ended up graduating though at 18, as expected, though I wasn't lucky enough to make Apprentice like some others were. They all ended up in future Schooling, private or otherwise, and those who didn't... they were given a choice. As a part of the contract you're 'asked' to sign when you become a Mage, if you go through public Schooling, you have to do one of two things. Either pay out your contract - which wasn't an option for me - or do some governmental work. Due to my skill and affinities, I wasn't qualified for much. Still, I ended up with the position I still have today.

"I am this village's Ward. I protect it from magical threats, and help around with the mundane ones if I can too. The contractual work is for 4 years if your service is deemed 'excellent' by a supervisor, or 10 if it isn't. If your service is especially bad, then it can be extended even beyond that. I only have a year or so before my evaluation is due, and....

"Let's just say, due to an... incident early on... I don't think I'm getting out of here in only a year. A major part of the evaluation is dependent on the village mayor, and while I think he likes me - he seems like an alright guy, and he knows what I am after all - he has to be fair in his judgement. I... haven't done a good job of protecting the village... and they hate me. The result should be pretty obvious."

"Is there any way to get transferred?" Felin asked, glancing over to Amy.

"After... the incident, I got tired of it all pretty quickly. I requested a transfer and it got rejected almost immediately. Almost as if they knew what I had done and... well, they didn't think I deserved one. I tried a few times after that, but they were all rejected in similar times too, though one of them was left late."

"Any friends? Your parents are still around right? Do you visit each other?"

"I got to know my regular shopkeepers well and though they still accept my coin, only one of them seems to like me still. One of the village girls is around my age and I got to know her quick as she was the only unmarried one. She stuck with me after... after that, and though she's been busy after inheriting the family business, we still catch up every now and again.

"My parents though... When I was in public School in the city, it was close enough that they could get their neighbour to look after my baby brother while they visited for a day or two. Now though? The village is way too far from home to be a comfortable trip. They can't take my brother because of the length, and the neighbours can't take care of him for weeks.

"They still send letters but... it's not the same."

"And, this... incident?" Felin hesitantly asked, cocking his head as he looked towards her.

"I don't... really want to talk about it. I just did something bad, let's leave it at that."

"Okay then," Felin nodded, strutting over to the table, "Want to show me the village then?"

"It's... nothing special. And they may not like me having you around so close to others." Amy mumbled, eyes wide.

"I can hide myself from mundane eyes easily enough. You can show me your friends then, right? Maybe the mayor too since you said he was nice. If you request another transfer, this could be the one."

"I guess... I'll see about the mayor but I do need to shop for some herbs. Maybe see if some venison's in at the butcher's too." Amy considered, before coming to a decision, "Fine, I'll show you around Triesen."

"Much appreciated, young Mageling. Much appreciated indeed." Felin grinned, jumping onto Amy's shoulder, weightless. A veil of something magical fell onto the cat, similar to the curtain of reality at the old Wizard Tower, and Felin was gone from her mundane sight, only barely visible by some strange green fluctuations in the mana through Mage Sight.

"That's very well hidden," Amy complimented, about to grab her jacket before realising something, "There's... someone else too. That I know in the village."

"Oh?"

"I don't want to meet them today... or any time soon really, but he's related to that... incident."

"What are you trying to say?" Felin said, his voice close to her ear.

"Well... I'll just say it then; he's a Mage too. But, he's hiding from the government. In the countryside like this it's pretty easy to slip through the gaps like he has, and he never went through proper Schooling or anything like the contract. From what I know he's pretty content living the mundane life, only using a couple Spells to help along the way. I just wanted to let you know about him in case you spotted him in the village, and pointing him out because he's a Mage."

"Even if I did notice such an oddity I wouldn't point it out so openly. I know how it is to act covert and panicking someone like you in the middle of the village? That's one way to get caught, no offence, young Mageling."

"No offence taken, I guess." Amy murmured, walking out the door, properly wrapped up in the chilly morning air, autumn taking its toll on the warm weather.

"While you head there, though, you have to tell me how you figured out the splitting method without motes so swiftly!" Felin grinned, his expression obvious through his tone.

"Fine, I'll tell you. Well, it started with the idea that the motes 'combined' in my vision-..."