"Shall we train together?" Relar asked, voice low, not expecting an answer but feeling the need to voice his intent, sending it along the bond he felt with his spectral companion. For a companion it was now.

With focus, Relar summoned the crane again, each manifestation smoother than the last. His control over his aether grew with each call, a tangible progress in the bond forming between them.

After some circling of their position, Relar glanced upward, squinting against the brightness of the sun. "Let's see how fast you can go," he said, excitement in his eyes. He turned to the crane, its form shimmering slightly in the daylight. "Fly up, circle the academy's towers. Show me what you can do."

Without hesitation, the crane unfurled its wings and took to the air, ascending with a speed that took Relar's breath away. He watched, awe-struck, as it became a mere speck against the vast expanse of the sky.

"Now, circle the buildings!" Relar called out, his voice carrying over the landscape. Though he didn't know if it would hear him over the wind. Still the crane responded immediately, its flight path widening as it swooped over the ancient stone structures of the academy, his wings still in glide or a blur of motion when needed.

"Further out!" he said in a voice that would barely be heard for a few meters, testing if he needed to speak at all. His excitement mounting. And the crane obeyed. Relar felt their connection stretching their boundaries. It seemed that's as far as they could go— 1-2 kilometers.

As the crane returned to Relar's side with ease, it had a little surprise for him. Rather than flying over the trees, the crane flew right through them. And not just trees, building and stones as well. He couldn't help but laugh, exhilarated by the display. "That is amazing. That… will be such a help," he praised, the bond between them strengthening with the shared achievement.

In that moment, Relar's train of thought was completely derailed as a notification pinged. A small symbol now extending from his spellbook. He almost lost the connection to his crane, but was able to keep it going. He hesitantly let the spellbook float up. And willed it to explain. To his surprise, the book opened to his spirit companion page. And there was a new message waiting for him.

Spectral Crane—Spirit Companion upgraded to level 2.

The page now read Spectral Crane—Spirit Companion (Level 2, Mastery: Initiate)

Relar studied the new words, a smile breaking across his face. He looked over at his companion and while subtle, he would swear its form was more defined now, less wisp and more substance. The strokes that made up it's form, especially the feathers had more detail now. It was beautiful.

He extended a hand toward the crane, feeling a cool brush of its spirit form against his skin.

"More? Let's go again." It lowered the hand as if in acknowledgement and the crane took flight once more. In barely a moment it was darting toward the academy with a swiftness that was hard to follow. It soared around the spires, wings cutting through the air with precision and grace. This time, however, as it flew through air, solid stone and timber alike, Relar noticed something different.

It left behind a faint trail, not quite light, more like stardust in its wake. Not always, and hard to make out in the sun. The trail lingered for a moment before fading into the air. "Amazing," he whispered to himself.

After a while of enjoying the flight, both for Relar and the crane, it circled back to him, alighting next to him.

"We'll make quite the team," he said to the crane, "Do you have a name?" When the crane didn't react, he asked again "Do you … do you want a name?"

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"Fletch," Relar said suddenly, the name coming to him unbidden. The crane fluttered. "Fletch," Relar repeated, "Do you like that?"

In response, Fletch spread its wings and opened its beak as if to sing, but no sound escaped the spirits form. "Is that a yes? I will take that as a yes if you don't fly away." He laughed, and after a second added "Fletch it is."

"Now, Fletch, what else can you do?" He looked around their training spot. "Can you bring me things?"

Relar bend down to pick up one of the many fallen leaves. He held it out to Fletch, but the crane turned away. As Relar stood there a moment longer, the crane dismissively swiped his arm through where the leave was held. Through it and Relars hand. It felt like nothing more than a cold breeze to Relar.

"No fetch quests for you then. Got it."

In response, Fletch beat his wings once and landed on Relars shoulder. Surprised, Relar looked up at the bird, now centimeters from his face.

"This is interesting, so you can touch me when you want?"

Fletch almost imperceptibly moved his head. "You are a proud one." Relar laughed. I like that.

Relar started to walk with Fletch on his shoulder. They moved through the outer academy ruins, their training ground, exploring together. Relar's confidence grew every time the bird took flight and returned. Every command followed. In the silence of the abandoned spaces, their partnership found its footing.

He had noted how the crane materialized with more ease now, its form becoming clearer, more vibrant. It was time for the next step. Relar concentrated on his spellbook, the familiar rush of Aether filling him as he prepared to move on to the second page.

The sun dipped lower on the horizon, casting elongated shadows through the columns of the training grounds as Relar concentrated. He sent the crane to alight upon a tree across from him.

Relar's control over his Aether ebbed and flowed like a quiet tide within him as he focused on maintaining a steady rhythm for the casting while maintaining the connection to the crane. He finished the movements that described the cast, and closed his eyes, focused on his connection to the crane. He felt Fletch there, even without seeing.

A violent twist. He stumbled. And to his amazement, he caught glimpses of himself. As he did, the disorientation from the sudden new view, that didn't align with what his brain was expecting overcame him. And the stumble turned into a hard fall. The connection broke. Both bird and sense spell disintegrated. But Relar felt exhilarated, laying on the floor, looking up at the waning day.

Relar extended his senses once more, this time allowing the Aether to flow with greater control. He watched through Fletch's eyes as the crane soared silently above the ruins of Moraine Academy. They had been at this for hours now, and evening had well arrived.

A rustle of leaves below caught Fletch's attention. Relar, through Fletch's eyes, saw two figures meeting in a secluded space between two crumbling walls.

Curiosity piqued, Relar directed Fletch to glide lower. Against the fading light, the bird should be hard to make out, and even harder to differentiate from a real bird. Fleetch descended with precision, landing atop a fractured column nearby.

Relar recognized the boy, one of the initiates from their year, with that unruly mop of hair that never seemed to lay flat. He didn't know him well though, only remembering him as a quiet guy that kept seperate most of the time. The girl, however, was unfamiliar, likely from the second season of initiates.

Relar was about to recall or dismiss Fletch, but the body language of the two didn't indicate any intimacy to come. It seemed they were arguing.

Relar was seated a few hundred meters away, which made it easier to stomach the sense distortion. He knew that Spirit Sense was able to do more than sight. Hearing was possible, but he hadn't tried that yet. Fletch could feel his intention, and send a pulse of encouragement through the bond. Heartened by this, Relar focused on shifting from sight to hearing. His first attempts were muddled, and he had to actually re-cast spirit sense again. But gradually, the murmurs below crystallized into discernible words.

"...can't just ask Baelor outright," the boy's voice came through a whisper laden with urgency.

The girl's response was a hushed tone of conspiracy. "We need those scrolls. If we're going to get them ever out, it's now."

Their words sent a shiver through Relar.

".. no one will notice if we're careful."

Another bird crowed. The initiates fell silent, looking around.

Relar held his breath as Fletch, hidden in shadows, ruffled its feathers nonchalantly like any common bird would do. After a tense moment, the conversation resumed. Deciding this was enough, Relar warned Fletch to move completely out of sight and be ready for dismissal.

In the last moment, Relar heard one more shred of conversation. "...they can't find out more about the shards," said the girl.