Allison stood by the lake’s shore, watching me as I began my descent. She seemed ready to catch me the moment I got close enough. Unbeknown to her, however, I had altered the plan a little. My new intention was to try and land without any assistance. For the record, this wasn’t the child in my head taking over, but a simple desire to replicate what I had achieved once before. I did stumble that one time, but that was precisely why I needed to practise.

My goal was, in theory, quite safe for me. At least as long as my acrophobia wasn’t triggered. Considering recent events, it was something important to keep in mind. Though, while that was always a real threat, my previous experiences indicated that such a thing never happened when my wings were in control. They granted me the sense of security I needed not to fear flying.

Should something go wrong, I could simply stick to the original idea. Allison would become my safety net, and I trusted she could do it. Even if she couldn’t, there was always the option to keep going and fall into the water instead. Unfortunately for me, none of my planning mattered.

“Nora! Wait!”

Allison was quick to notice my precocious descent and took off sprinting towards me. I barely had any time to react as a large pair of arms wrapped around me and pulled me into a hug the moment I got close enough to the ground. Still not used to stopping her momentum, Allison ended up being the one to stumble for a few seconds.

Once stable, the giantess pulled me away from her and turned me around as she held me. “Are you okay? What happened? Did you get tired?”

She resembled a customer trying to spot any signs of damage on the doll she intended to buy at a toy store. The doll in question was quite disappointed.

Having recovered from the sudden interception, I sighed. “I’m fine. I just wanted to try landing on my own.”

Allison stopped and frowned. “And you didn’t tell me because…”

“I only thought about it once I was up there. I wasn’t expecting you to run like that and catch me. My bad.”

She pouted briefly, then slowly shook her head and put me down. “We can try that next time. Just let me know beforehand, okay?”

“O-okay.” I was fully expecting her to scold me for it. “Thank you.”

“Nora, are you okay!?” Mom shouted, still running my way. The time it took them to reach us served as a testament to how fast giants could be when they wanted to.

“Oh my gods! That was so cool!” Mary yelled right after. “There was the flying, and the running, and then the epic midair catch! And I got it all on camera!”

Allison jumped!?

I hadn’t even noticed she did. I really needed to watch that video.

“I’m fine, Mom. Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.” That seemed enough to calm her down. Fortunately, she wasn’t aware this would’ve been my second time landing on my own. “And Mary, I hope you remember that you can’t publish that thing,” I commented. “Or anything you record here for that matter.”

She snickered, “Oh, I know, I know. You don’t have to tell me. Plus, they are my treasures! Only for me!” Noticing my mother’s disappointment, she added, “Don’t worry, Emma. You know you’re the exception.”

Mom immediately smiled, “Thank you very much, Mary. You’re an angel.”

“Heh, I know,” Mary replied. “Well, that’s demonstration number two. Next is that illusion ring!”

I shook my head in response, “That will need to wait.”

She deflated upon hearing my refusal. “How come?”

“The ring may be enchanted, but it still uses my mana to work,” I explained. “I did use a lot to make that tree earlier, so you’ll need to wait for me to recover. I’m not even sure I’ll be ready for my class tonight.”

Sylvia’s eyes widened, “You mean Bel is really going to come?”

I nodded. “I saw Viken from up there. I could be wrong, but I’m quite sure that’s what he was trying to tell me.”

“Yes!” Mary shouted with a fist pump. “I get to meet the ancient master!”

“Calm down, Mary.” I pulled at her elbow, lowering it. “We only know she’s coming, not that she’s going to meet you all. Also, you may want to refrain from calling her ancient to her face. Just saying.”

---<>----------<>----------<>---

I watched the sun hide behind the canopies as I sat alone at the terrace, occasionally scrolling through my phone. My family remained inside the building. I knew they sat somewhere in the cafeteria where they could see me as I interacted with the elf. The mirror-like windows prevented that from seeing the exact location, though. They needed to be close enough for their silhouettes to even show.

Soon enough, darkness took over, and my teacher cautiously emerged from within the woods. She spotted me and looked around as she walked to my table. I stood to greet her.

“I thought your family would be with you today,” the old elf-lady commented as she took her usual seat across the table, right in front of me. Her wand now laid on the table, next to her resting arm. “Are they inside?”

I nodded. “I told them to stay there until my class is over.”

“Thank you for being considerate,” she said, smiling. “I’d like to meet them, though.”

I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow in response. “Who are you, and what did you do to my teacher?”

Belaury laughed in response, taking a seat. “Is it that difficult to believe? I thought I told you we were done with all the secrecy.”

“Yeah, but I also know you hate big crowds when teaching. I mean, you did give Alex a hard time when he tried taking the class along with me. You still owe him that special session, by the way.”

She shrugged and looked at the windows, trying to spot any shadows behind them. “Perhaps one of these days.”

“So? Why the sudden interest in my family?” I asked, sitting beside her.

“I simply wish to talk to them. We won’t be having our usual class tonight, anyway. Not after you already had a sufficient control session earlier today.”

“You saw that?” I asked her, wide eyed.

My teacher smirked. “Of course I did. I may be more open to interaction with humans, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be cautious about it. Vik told me your parents would be coming, so I had to judge them for myself before making my decision. Quite the loving family you got there. It reminds me of better times…” She cleared her throat and continued. “But I digress. As I was saying, I believe that tree of yours was enough training for today. You did drain your mana and put your control to the test. Because of that, there’s no need for you to push it any further today. Instead, I will fulfil an important tradition I had previously omitted.”

I tilted my head in confusion. “What do they have to do with this tradition?”

“You’ll see. It’s nothing complicated, but I’d rather explain that once your family joins us. I’ll probably have to repeat myself for them otherwise.”

“Okay,” I replied, taking out my phone. “I’ll just send them a message, then. It’s faster.”

Belaury’s eyes quickly focused on the device as it lit up. “Is that the same mysterious artefact Viken saw earlier? The one with the strange voices and images?”

Oh, right. This is the first time she sees it.

Still focused on typing the message, I explained, “We call it a smartphone. It’s something we use for communication. It can be verbal, written or with moving images. We can also use it as a way to share or obtain information, among other things. You could say it’s like a pocket library everyone has access to.” After I was done, I presented the phone to her. “I just told my family they need to come. Want to take a look at it while they arrive?”

My teacher nodded and eagerly took it in her hands. She examined it, pressed the buttons and looked at the screen as it opened a random app. My mother’s confirmation soon appeared on it as well. “I’ve seen many human creations over the last six hundred years, but this is the most intriguing by far. It’s hard to believe this wasn’t created with magic. Are these things expensive?”

She handed it back as I answered, “They can be. The price range is quite big, but most are something commoner families like mine can easily afford. As much as I hate to admit it, they’re such an important tool nowadays, that it’s actually quite rare to find someone who doesn’t own one.”

“You hate them?”

I shrugged. “Kinda? Don’t take me wrong, they are quite useful, but that means they can also become very addictive.”

“Excuse us,” Dad said as he opened the door behind me. Mom, Allen and Mary quickly followed him out of the building.

My teacher stood up and bowed. The first voluntary bow I had ever seen from her. “It’s an honour to finally meet you. My name is Belaury Deinast. I’ve been acting as Nora’s magic teacher for the past few weeks.”

“It’s nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Deinast,” Dad replied. “I am Adam Hayes. This is my wife Emma, and our son Allen.” Not used to the elven greeting, my family cautiously bowed.

“And I’m Mary! Nora’s best friend.”

“I thought only your family would come,” Belaury commented, leering at my friend. “What is she doing here?”

“Rude much?” Mary countered with crossed arms. Her smile showed she didn’t take it personally, as expected.

“Mary is like a sister to me,” I intervened, drawing my teacher’s attention back to me as I moved to sit next to her. “Please, don’t mind her.”

My teacher humphed. “Well then.”

Stolen novel; please report.

“Nora mentioned you wanted to see us,” Mom continued.

Bel nodded in response and sat once more. “To get to know each other, and also to to fulfil a rather short but important formality demanded by elven tradition. Please, take a seat.”

“What kind of tradition?” Dad asked, sitting in front of her. The rest of my family followed suit, while Mary chose to stay next to me.

“Before I start, how much have you told them, Nora?”

“I uh… I may have told them everything. I hope that’s okay.”

“Don’t worry,” she replied, patting my head once. “That just makes things easier for me now.” Facing my parents once more, she continued, “It’s actually rather simple. You see, back in my days, it was usually the parents’ duty to teach their children magic when these became old enough to learn. This was mostly because each family had their own technique and secrets to pass onto the next generation.

“Of course, even among elves, not everyone was proficient in the art, so when a child was interested in learning and their parents weren’t magic users themselves, the family would hire a tutor to take on the task. The tutor would then evaluate the child and decide whether to take the job or not.”

“I thought you were already teaching Nora, though,” Mary mentioned.

“Yes,” Belaury answered. “There’s a big difference, however. I didn’t become Nora’s tutor; I took her in as my apprentice.”

Everyone went silent for a moment. I wasn’t sure if my teacher knew we didn’t get what she was saying. To me, and probably everyone else, those two things were synonymous.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean, Mrs. Deinast,” Dad finally said.

“Please, call me Bel,” she interjected.

“Bel,” he nodded. “Could you explain the difference to us?”

“I suppose I should. The main difference between taking a student or an apprentice is the bond between both parties,” my teacher explained. “A magic tutor’s duty is to teach a child how to use magic. Some techniques may be passed on depending on the level of trust, but the tutor will rarely share their family secrets with a stranger. An apprenticeship, on the other hand, is a lot more personal. Some even considered it to be equal to an adoption, and this was actually the case when it came to nobility.”

“I’m sorry, but won’t let you take our daughter from us!” Mom intervened in panic. Dad immediately placed a hand around her shoulders to calm her down.

“You can’t be serious!” Belaury yelled back. “Do you think I don’t know how it feels to lose a daughter? That I would personally inflict that same pain onto someone else just to satisfy my own needs? I would never, ever, do such a thing!”

The elf paused and sighed. “I’m sorry about that. No, my intention is nothing more than to pass all of my knowledge down to her. I see Nora as my granddaughter, that much is true. No matter how brief our time together has been, she is my apprentice, after all. To me, that means she’s family. Or at the very least, I hope she continues to be.”

“What do you mean?” I asked in confusion. “Why would you stop?”

“I did mention a formality, earlier,” Belaury continued. “As I was explaining, before I got so rudely interrupted by your mother, an apprenticeship is, in a way, the opposite of hiring a tutor. This is because the teacher themselves would request to take the child under their wing and teach them as if the child was theirs. For the nobles, it was a matter of status. For the rest of us, a way to leave a mark on the world.”

“So all of this was just so we grant you permission to continue teaching her?” Dad asked.

Bel nodded. “Quite simple, right? In reality, nothing changes. You can keep on visiting her like you are doing right now, and I get to continue teaching her as I have been doing all this time. The only difference is that it will no longer be a secret, and I get to follow my people’s traditions. It may sound absurd to make such a fuss about it, but it’s important to me. It’s one of the few ways I have left to honour my fallen culture.”

My parents looked at each other for a moment, then they looked at me. I nodded silently, and they turned to face my teacher once more.

“We agree, Bel,” Dad finally said. “You have our permission to keep teaching our daughter, on the condition that she spends most of her time with us when we visit.”

Belaury smiled and stood up, extending her hand for a shake. “I can agree to those terms.”

After the handshake, the conversation took a lighter tone. My teacher gave them a brief summary about magic and my blessing, and then she commented on my overall progress during her lessons. She explained that my rejuvenation had actually been beneficial for me, since it’s better to increase one’s mana capacity at an early age, and that my own capacity surpassed even that of an elven child.

Since there was no need to spend my mana, Mary also suggested taking the opportunity to show them how my ring worked. Belaury agreed, and I did just that. The experience didn’t get any better for me. I imagined it was similar to having phantom limbs, but in my case, I knew they were really there.

My parents did celebrate the chance for me to have a ‘normal life’, but Belaury shot the idea down almost instantly by showing them that the spell didn’t work on reflections. I had yet to ask Keith about it, but, considering who was responsible for the enchantment, my teacher theorised the reason both Connor and I got such a simple effect had probably more to do with mental health than an actual disguise.

My teacher also explained that something more complex would require more mana, which wouldn’t help the werewolf, since it was important that he had it available at all times. My capacity was a lot higher because of my training, but that was something few people knew before Anna’s accident.

Her theory made sense. Connor got upset just from mentioning his condition. It was important that the ring functioned at all times. For me, though, it had the opposite effect. When I told this to Belaury, she recommended that I still kept it in case of an emergency. It wasn’t flawless, but it was still a decent disguise as long as I was careful.

The conversation continued until both Belaury and my parents concluded it was getting late. A few yawns here and there were proof enough of that.

As usual, I stayed up a lot later than the rest, and I took the chance to continue my now daily research. Reading Mysterium’s forums, I found out strange animals kept making appearances around the globe. Some of them even turned violent. As worrying as that was, I was glad they were taking all the spotlight, meaning there was no sign of any more research centres or patients exposed; only more cases of kidnappings and disappearances.

---<>----------<>----------<>---

My eyes opened wide as I felt cold for the first time in several weeks. The room was still dark, so dark that I was having trouble, even with my new eyes.

Still shivering, I sat up and looked at the drawer that contained the extra blankets Mom forced me to bring after my weekend with them.

Thanks Mom. I won’t doubt you anymore.

I was about to stand up to get them when a familiar whispering made me look at the opposite corner of the room. As I did, a silhouette emerged from the wall and stood there, seemingly staring at me. I quickly pinched my arm, and the lack of pain revealed I was having another nightmare.

Or so I thought…

“It’s me, Nora,” the shadow suddenly said.

Its voice was androgynous, making it impossible to tell who this ‘me’ actually was. I blinked repeatedly, trying to process what was happening. Realisation quickly dawned on me.

Spirit?

“Yes,” it replied, taking a humanoid shape.

So back then… were you?

“Also yes,” the spirit said as it walked closer to me. This time, its eyes glowed an icy blue, and an aura of the same colour surrounded its body. No other features were visible in the darkness. “I’m sorry for the scare. I was a bit too eager to communicate with you.”

I… I don’t know what to say. I have so many questions.

It nodded. “And this time, I can answer.”

How? What changed?

“I believe you already know the answer to that,” it answered with a smirk. “It’s your mana. I need it to project myself into this world, or in this case, your mind. I’m able to do this thanks to your training, and also the lack of it tonight. I do apologise. This means you won’t be at full capacity when you wake up.”

How much time do we have then?

“Enough for a few minutes. That should suffice, for now.”

Then, why did you choose me?

Now close enough, the spirit sat at the other end of the bed. “For the same reason I’m able to communicate with you tonight. You, Nora Hayes, have potential. Many spirits had an eye on you for this same reason, in fact. I was quite lucky to be able to claim you for myself.”

I don’t get it. What kind of potential.

“I believe you can become a great magic user. With time, that is.”

I felt proud hearing this. How could I not? A supernatural being was right there with me, telling me I was special. Then again, it could all be in my head.

How can I tell you’re real?

“What, is the blessing I gave you not proof enough?” it asked back, chuckling. “If that’s the case, I’m afraid I don’t have anything else. All I can do is ask for you to trust me.”

I nodded, still somewhat suspicious. Perhaps it was better for me to believe it, even if it really turned out to be fake. This entity really had no clear reason to lie, and it made sense to me. I did have a blessing, after all.

So you gave me the blessing, but what are you getting in exchange? Is it my mana? Do you need it?

“Only for communication,” it replied. “My motivation is simply a combination of boredom and merit. The realm we inhabit does not have much to offer regarding entertainment, you see. Helping mortals is also a nice way to earn favour from the gods. I’m afraid I can’t elaborate any further on this. It’s against the rules. All you need to know is that we get rewarded.”

Then, does that mean you will guide me in some way?

“No,” it replied, shaking its head. “What you do with my gift is your decision alone, so feel free to use it as you please. That said, I can offer some advice if you need it.”

It sounds too good to be true.

“Things can be like that sometimes. Trust me, it’s a fair trade, even if it doesn’t seem like it to you.”

Okay… Does that mean other demons are likely to get blessings, too?

The spirit frowned. “I’m afraid I don’t follow. What makes you think that?”

Well, you said you ‘claimed’ me because of my potential. Doesn’t that mean other demons are in a similar situation? Aren’t we all good with magic?

“Ah, I see what you mean now. You’re mistaken, though. To begin with, not every spirit has the same criteria for choosing their beneficiary. And when it comes to my own selection, it is you, out of any other demon, who has the biggest potential. Your teacher has also pointed out how special you are, has she not?”

Yeah, compared to elves.

“Which is good enough already, if you ask me.” The spirit interjected. “Elves are the race with the highest magic affinity, after all.”

Oh, right… Bel also said that. Does that mean not every demon is like me?

“Correct.”

Why?

“It’s your core, Nora. It is different from the rest. A mutation caused by the same event that turned you into a demon when you were meant to become an elf. That bat’s timing was impeccable. It showed up just in time to alter the course of your transformation while also allowing for the original elven core to partially form. As a result, your body contains a unique dual core.”

A dual core? Is it safe?

“Truthfully, I can’t tell. So far, it has behaved like any other, albeit with a higher reserve. All we can do is wait and hope there are no negative side effects.”

And if there are?

“Then you’ll have to deal with them somehow. Us, spirits, can’t intervene directly beyond our blessing. It’s best to remain positive, though. Don’t be nervous over something that might never come.”

I could only nod in understanding.

“Your mana is starting to run low,” the spirit suddenly said, standing up. “I must leave now.” It then walked to the bathroom, just as it did the first time we met.

Wait!

The spirit stopped and looked at me once more. “Yes?”

You never told me your name.

“Right. I'm Gelurein. Nice to finally meet you, Nora.”