Rasmus did not make her wait long to fly her back to the aviary. He let her know that he had been keeping an eye on the gigantic hedge bear. If it had gotten too close to her, he would have warned her. He said he did not realize such a creature made a home in the maze until it was already too late.

She was allowed to ride on his back on the way back, and they were able to have a delightful discussion. He and Avery were able to communicate mentally through the mating bond that they shared. There was a range on how far the bond would stretch, but he was not willing to elaborate on how far that range was. When she asked if humans received that, he only knew of it happening for sapient animals. He then teased her a little and told her to find a mate so he could experiment on them to find out if it was possible for humans.

Rasmus had Air and Illusion for his schools of magic. With some prodding, he agreed to show her a few tricks he had learned over the years. She would need to get to a minimum of tier two in Illusion before he could teach her anything interesting. Hearing this made her even more motivated to finish getting her Illusion magic to 100%.

When they returned, there was a feast of fruit and cooked meat waiting for her. Violet was so hungry she did not even think to question what kind of meat she was eating until it was already in her stomach. Avery laughed when she asked about it. Thankfully it was from a domesticated cow-like animal that one of her delivery birds traded for.

The delivery birds that lived in the aviary were well known throughout the Queendom. They were known as sapient beings and were allowed to trade within the country whenever they liked. Violet was happy to hear they had also procured a large amount of jerky to supplement her meals.

“Now that you have passed the test, I believe we can cancel the Companionship Contract. You will be my student and may come and go as you please. I sent a letter to your parents to let them know to expect to see you four times a year.” Avery had said when she had finished her meal.

“I would like to see them and let them know I am ok. When can I send a letter to tell my parents I am coming?”

“You can leave at any time, dearie. Rasmus said he would be happy to fly you near the city. He can use Cloaking to hide his presence. Keeping our existence a secret saves us so many silly headaches.”

“Thank you! I have missed them quite a bit. I’ll write them a letter to let them know to expect me in two weeks.”

“In the meantime, let us work on your synchronizations, and I’ll see what I can do about guiding you through learning Etching the hard way. I will need to call on a friend with Water magic so she can show you how it is done.”

The friend Avery knew with Water magic was a cute little miniature river otter that could not have weighed more than twenty pounds. Her name was Tilly, and she had a high-pitched squeaking voice. She had black fur everywhere except the tips of her ears which were a dark blue. It was difficult for Violet to keep up with her to interpret her fast, squeaking voice.

Avery had asked Violet to use her Water Manipulation to fill a bowl created from stone. The bowl was five feet across and two feet deep. While it was humid, Violet could only fill the bowl halfway before she ran out of mana.

When Rasmus had flown in with her this morning, Tilly had filled the bowl the rest of the way. Once she had completed that, she turned to look at Violet.

“Let’s have a look, yes, let’s have a look. Yes, I see you found a human youngling, Ms. Avery. Yes, she is quite small, still only four feet tall, and quite skinny. Does she get her blonde fur coloring from her parents? Oh, yes, look at those lovely purple eyes.”

Violet was at a loss for words. The otter was talking about her like she wasn’t even there. Violet thought that Tilly was not trying to be rude. It was just because she did not interact with humans often. It was difficult for Violet not to pet the cute creature.

After the initial pleasantries were out of the way, Tilly had Violet sit in the water with her while she demonstrated each of the Water aspects. It turned out that Tilly was referred to as a pure mage because she only had one school of magic and could pick up every aspect for Water.

Ordinary people without the limitless trait could pick up nine aspects total between the two schools of magic. Most people only ever received aspects from the first two rows of difficulty. Each aspect test was tailored to the individual based on their life goals or talents.

The test Tilly had taken to receive her aspects involved searching a large lagoon for pieces of aspects. Her first three aspects were able to be completed without a timer. Once she obtained access to the moderate difficulty pieces, she had to collect them on a timer. For the final difficulty, the time she needed to collect the items in was reduced. The parts were also harder for her to find. She said people were expected to use their previously unlocked aspects to help unlock the more complex difficulties.

Jumping row difficulties like Violet had done was unheard of and explained as a quirk in the system because she did not have any limits. Reaching for the more complex aspects before she was ready could cause them to be more challenging to obtain.

To help Violet learn Etching, Tilly first needed to teach her how to see spells. To learn this, she needed to focus on someone else while they were casting using her peripheral vision. It was difficult for her to focus on something not in her direct line of sight, but she had gotten the hang of it reasonably quickly. Tilly said it was a basic skill, so she was not surprised it did not take long to learn.

[Skill gained: Spell Vision 1]

As soon as she gained the skill, Violet was able to see the shape of the spell Tilly was holding in her paws. They spent the next week leveling the skill until it was at eleven, and she was able to look at spells directly. It was a skill that Violet would now be able to level on her own using her direct vision. At higher skill levels, the color would change based on which school of magic it was cast from.

Using Spell Vision to watch Tilly’s cast, she understood why it would be nearly impossible for people to learn aspects without a teacher. When an aspect was invoked, a complicated spell form was created subconsciously. In the case of Etching, she needed to shape mana in the form of the Runic Language’s symbol for it. While she was maintaining the mark, several other runes were drawn around it.

Knowing the Runic Language helped Violet quite a bit, but it was not enough just to read the spell form. She also needed to shape her mana to match the symbols. As Tilly pointed out, the words around the mark changed based on how the aspect was used. Thankfully all she needed to do to unlock Etching was master one of the spell forms. They decided to have Violet learn the form to etch stone because of the availability of rock in this area.

After several days of forcing her mana into the correct spell form, she received an unexpected skill. She was a little disgruntled that they had not told her about this skill yet because of how useful it would be. When she asked, they told her it was a skill that not everyone could obtain, and she had the best chances of succeeding if she did not know about it beforehand.

[Skill gained: Mana Manipulation 1]

Violet used Visualization to memorize one of the spell forms for each of the Water aspects while Tilly was helping her. She was warned that it would be nearly impossible for her to gain aspects in this way if she had not already failed to receive them through her mindscape.

It brought up something that had been bothering her for quite a while now. “How do people gain aspects and schools of magic without access to ancient enchanted crystals?”

“There are a few ways, yes. Yes, the most common way is having all of your current aspects at 100% synchronization. Yes, when this happens, the system gives you a prompt asking if you would like to enter the mindscape. Yes, yes, most people use this method. The other method is to have an affinity for an aspect or school of magic. My people are often born with Water magic, and the aspect for waterbreathing comes unlocked from birth. Yes, this is due to genetics. Some are born with the ability.”

“The crystal just helps you unlock aspects earlier?”

“Oh yes, yes. The crystal can also unlock dormant magic, which is nearly impossible to do without it.”

Avery added her two cents and said, “Don't mix up ancient magic with the watered-down stuff the other races are using nowadays, dearie. Anyone can study long enough to learn the simple spell forms used in modern magic. Affinity helps, but it is not required to cast a modern spell.”

“How is the modern magic watered down?” Violet asked.

“It is all about how much power you get for your mana. You cannot level up a modern-day spell. It will hit just as hard the first time you cast it or the hundredth time you cast it.”

They had spoken at length about the differences between the two types of magic. An example that made things clearer for her was the Nature magic aspect for Create Food. For ancient magic users, all that would be required to learn how to create food would be an intimate knowledge of each ingredient used. Once that knowledge was gained, the caster could conjure complete meals until they ran out of mana. The mana cost depended on complexity and how highly the user had their Create Food leveled up.

If you wanted to duplicate the same feat with modern magic, the best the caster would be able to do would be to conjure base ingredients. Fruit and vegetables were the spells most commonly learned, and conjuring food this way was very mana intensive. Most modern magicians were required to carry a large spellbook to cast more than a few spells.

It had taken a little over a week for her to receive a response from her parents. They had needed extra time to secure the proper paperwork for her to enter the city. Her mother had included a beautiful purple dress and a pair of sock-like shoes in the parcel. The enclosed note gave her directions to the house they were staying at in the city of Lindow.