A few more days passed since the start of my magical show at the practice field, adding up to about an entire week spent inside the dwarven outpost.

All this time was spent in relative solitude, occasionally overhearing one or two ridiculous rumor circling my magical person. I heard them while spending time in the sparring room or dining hall. Those rumors were not that rude, and I thanked Axis for that every morning and night when I quietened myself to pray to the Lord.

I was grateful to receive this new life. A life with unmeasurable potential. Just think about it. I am a magic caster, which was a rare and respectful position. Beyond that, I took immense pleasure in activating the magical spells I was gifted with, while also being practically immortal.

Yes, I am still getting used to being a girl, and I am fairly sure that will be an issue for the foreseeable future, but aside from the inconvenience of getting used to that, this was a deal that favored me immensely.

That was the reason I prayed earnestly to Lord Axis, showing him my genuine appreciation.

In this world, praying to a God was quite different. The action didn’t feel sterile, as it often was back on Earth. However, I will say, even back then along my long life, on rare occasions I felt the hand of Divine Providence, but it always remained vague. You could describe it as a miraculous coincidence or find some other explanation.

Yet when I prayed to Lord Axis here, I could constantly feel his welcoming presence surrounding me in the barest of his radiance. I was certain that he was listening to my words, that a real God was listening to my foolish attempts at a prayer.

It was both a terrifying and a humbling experience. It also filled my chest with a sense of bravery that I never felt in my previous life. A bravery that frightened me, since it made me nonchalant and careless. It was something I couldn’t allow myself to do while being in the deep roads, or in an unfamiliar world in general.

Anyway, I was content with the assurance to feel the presence of a divine. Since it reminded me that I didn’t dream all of my previous life while actually being an immortal elf in this world.

It might sound stupid to feel like that after a mere few days here. However, that was how I felt. This place was both familiar and unfamiliar to me, since so many myths told about fantastic elements in this world were actually facts here. That strange familiarity made me think about possible explanations. The mind always tried to explain things, especially those which it could not comprehend.

Mine was no different at all. Even after crossing through the river of stars to get here.

I would love to ask someone’s opinion on this, but I was not half as foolish as to come up with such questions for any of the superstitious dwarfs here, or anyone else, in fact. And since Lord Axis didn’t wish me to do otherwise, I will not reveal my close involvement with a God to anybody here. That could cause unforeseeable repercussions, which I was not ready to endure.

Not that I had anyone to talk to…

I sighed, understanding that I was at least partially the reason for creating the current situation.

Aside from that, it was simply an unlucky combination. Being an elf and a witch didn’t really offer you a promising social life among a bunch of stereotypical dwarfs who were around a hundred years old each.

Why do I mention their age? Well, have you ever dealt with a bunch of elderly people? I have, for god’s sake, I was one until recently. And you know what? Old people, respect for the exceptions, which obviously exist, are not that agreeable. There are many reasons for that. Let me share a few examples.

If you injure yourself in an accident and now you have pain to endure for all day while unable to partake in activities that were so natural to you as breathing, your mood would sour. Now try to imagine living that way. When your body aches all day for no reason or doesn’t work the way it used to be. It’s really frustrating and annoying to the point that you would like to scream it out to the world but nobody would care or worst think of it that you are crazy.

There are many other issues on top of that, which I won’t get myself into… Yeah-yeah, I know that it’s not fair to say that some old people who are angry at the world just because they can be are right. I didn’t say that, but try to be a bit more understanding.

So… where was I? Ah, yeah, what I meant to say, that old people tend to be suspicious and uncooperative in general, especially towards strangers. That is a thing that comes with age and experience. And no matter how long you live, eighty years of experience will do that to you…

What I am trying to say, that these dwarfs here, who are in general above seventy years, are not going to warm up to me in a week or so… Even if secretly, that was what I expected… or hoped for? If I take human lifespans to a hundred years, they live thrice as long. So probably from their view point spending a week together in the same outpost equals for spending a few hours in the vicinity of a stranger to me?

I know… I know that I am supposed to be an immortal now… but I spent my last seventy-two years thinking that, in the best scenario, I will have a century to fool around. So telling me that I am an immortal now means basically nothing. I can’t comprehend it. I feel the same. My mind couldn’t stretch and integrate this supposed eternity. Which I was gifted. I don’t think that I even believe it as of now. It sounds like a fairy tale, expect that I actually live in a fairy tale now… haha… I think I am starting to drift into an existential crisis right now. I don’t really want that, so let’s track my thoughts back to being an old, angry bastard.

Now, to be fair, I liked to think about myself as a pretty open-minded old person. Seriously, I really enjoyed fantasy books, movies and even video-games. Those things are shockingly good outlets for the elderly to get back into life.

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Playing a video game your age, gender, the fact that you are bound to bed or having any other debilitating sickness or injury simply disappears to be a bother. Well, at least, until you have functioning arms and can see well enough. Which I, thank providence, had until the very end. It gives you a way to express yourself and mingle with other people from many generations while not being necessarily tiresome.

It’s really entertaining. Obviously, it doesn’t even scratch the surface of casting magic in real life, that’s just ecstatic. In fact, I think I got hooked from the start. Throwing around lightning strikes like a basketball in front of an audience of century old dwarfs does that to your brain… I guess… I-I think I started to cackle up half way around… then they began to hastily leave the practice room…

Now that I think about it, isn’t that the time those weird rumors began spreading?

Giggling like a fool was also a side effect of my daily magic show in the early afternoon since then.

Since I began to practice some of my spells publicly… the dwarfs witnessing my power stopped seeing me as a cute elf girl who was lost in the deep roads and miraculously survived.

Instead, they were starting to see me as someone who very much belongs to this place. I could sense a growing wariness. There was fear in some of the dwarf’s eyes… but above all, respect.

Well, it was still a lot better than being treated as a good-for-nothing kid. So I decided to treat this change as a win on my part.

Unfortunately, this also sealed my chance to leisurely mingle with the dwarfs.

Regarding my magical practices, I believe I have done a marvelous job. In the span of a few days, I managed to master the lightning blast spell. I was accustomed to its use both with or without my magical staff, which served as a conduit to my magic.

I could cast it five times with my staff and three times without it. It took a lot more effort to do it without my staff, but it was doable.

To be fair, after I explored the outpost a few times, realizing that most dwarfs were avoiding me like I was a plague, I had little else to focus on than my magic… And that accidentally backfired even more. Since then, the dwarfs were starting to regard me as some sort of superior.

I felt like a teacher walking in the class whenever I entered the dining room or the sparring fields. Every head turned in my direction, conversations died down wherever I went.

It was funny at the start, but now it was only frustrating. The obvious discrimination has caused me to spend more time and effort in practicing my spells. Which caused the unintended side effect that the dwarfs had witnessed more of my power. Making things more awkward than they were at the start. It was an evil cycle.

At least Balgrun, Emrum and Tymur were still there to talk whenever I felt too bored and didn’t have anymore magical powers for the time being. Speaking of which, I also mastered the three basic abilities that didn’t need incantations.

Meaning my basic defensive ability called light shield, which could create a sphere like defensive shield made of condensed magical particles surrounding my entire body or parts of it if I wished so.

I could even separate it as a barrier and close off a tunnel if I wanted, but I needed to remain in proximity to it to be effective. Therefore, it was not the ideal spell for permanently closing off tunnels, for that I was preparing a much better choice. I had the earth wall spell, after all.

It is going to be the one I practice next. I had to choose spells that weren’t going to bring down the ceiling on our heads after all. And so firestorm and earth spike forest were out of the question. No matter how interested I was in those.

But… back to the topic. I also mastered a spell called telekinesis. It didn’t require incantations, either. The spell was exactly what you would expect from such a power. I could move objects from a distance or if I injected enough magical power, I could push people off their feet or throw them into a cliff. It didn’t require that much magical energy, but the strain it put on my reserves and mind grew considerably by the size of what I attempted to move.

As it is now, I could probably lift a grown man in full armor off the ground, but that would be the extent of my current capabilities. Oh, by the way, I was clearly feeling my magic power grow with the extreme practice sessions I was putting myself through. I was pretty sure that with this rate of growth, I would be able to cast another lightning blast in a week or so.

That made me quite happy, to say the least.

I heard a sudden knock on my door, which jerked me out of my daydreaming. I raised my head off the bed, looking into the direction of the metal door.

My ears were twitching as I focused on my surrounding. I was getting used to the feeling by now, and only made a side note of the common occurrence.

“Ah… I guess Emrum came by for a chat.” — I whispered to myself, halfheartedly. Not seeing any other reason for the sudden visit.

Tymur never came by to talk on his own, and this time he was still at his guard post, so it was impossible for him to be here. The commander would never come to my room since he had to keep up the appearances and all. So it was obvious that Emrum was the one knocking.

I heard another knock. This time it was harsher, a sense of urgency emitting from the rhythm.

I hastily stood up. I was clothed in my usual wear. I even washed it recently, and damn, that made me feel blessed for the room I received. I didn’t have any other clothes, so I spent a good chunk of that day walking around wearing nothing else than my spare undies.

Obviously, I didn’t leave my room. I was not in the twenty-first century. I had a pretty good reason to believe that walking around half naked in a dwarven fortress filled with male dwarfs would invite quite the disaster on my head.

For a start, I was considered underaged. Beyond that, I am far from being comfortable in this body to think about anything like that. Even thinking about it felt wrong… like seriously, how did Lord Axis expect me to just go along with the flow?

I was once again reminded of my current situation with a loud banging on my door. I yelped, covering my ears slightly, shaking my head, frustrated by the sudden scare. I stepped to the door and opened it from the inside.

I was already preparing to lash out at the impatient Emrum, but those intentions immediately dispersed as I saw a vaguely familiar dwarf standing in front of my doorstep. I could not recall his name, but I definitely saw his face at one point. He was one of the rare blond dwarfs among the soldiers present in the outpost.

“Miss Selora, I am sorry to bother you, but the commander requires your presence immediately.” — The man stated in a no nonsense tone of voice. He was here in an official business and nothing else.

I looked the man in the eyes, slightly surprised that this man had blue eyes. I believe it was the first time I had seen blue eyes on a dwarf since I came here.

I nodded to him, feeling blessed that this didn’t happen the day I cleaned my clothes that would have been awkward beyond belief. Focusing back on the present, I spoke to him. — “I understand. Allow me to pull on my boots, and get my staff…”

The man nodded uninterestedly, and I dived back into my room, closing the door in a swoop.

I did what I said and went out of the room, meeting up with the blond dwarf once again. I nodded to him, and he began to lead the way straight to the commander’s office.

We didn’t talk, and I was fine with that. I could see that the man wasn’t interested in conversation right now, and I wasn’t planning to strain myself with a small chat if it wasn’t appreciated. I am not in my teens anymore. I could appreciate silence when it was offered.