I smiled at Cellestra’s response as I allowed her to hop onto my back once more. I’d built up quite a bit of dirt again, but I’d not cleaned myself as thoroughly as I could, either.

At least I didn’t have to worry about washing my clothes. Come to think of it…

“It’s about time we wash your clothes as well, isn’t it?” I asked.

“If you’re willing to help out with that, I’d certainly appreciate it.”

“I guess tomorrow is going to be a bit slow. Let’s hope it’s not a calm-before-the-storm type of day.”

“You mean with the dungeon the day after and all?” Cellestra asked.

“Yeah. Though, I think we’ll be fine. I assume Selleron has enough experience to know when it’s a good time for us to stop. As he said before, those wolves were not an issue, so I think he will allow us to continue for a while beyond that.”

I paused for a few seconds as another thought entered my mind.

“I am kind of curious about this other dungeon that’s supposed to be in the forest. I wonder what rank is required to enter it and if there’s possible treasure. This proving grounds dungeon seems kind of empty in that regard.”

“Can’t have everything, I suppose,” Cellestra suggested. “I mean, it’s a very predictable dungeon.”

“I see what you mean. Perhaps that’s the case.”

We reached my parents’ residence. My father sat at the table and seemed to be browsing through a small pile of papers. I would have told him to stop working on his day off, but I decided to not. That was his choice, after all.

Elira was playing with Shadow in front of the steps. Her attention quickly changed to me as we approached. Like a bolt of lightning, she came running at me, my father smiling in the background.

“Sis!” She yelled.

“Hey. How’s it going here?” I asked as Cellestra hopped off.

“Great! Thank you so much for the magic!”

“Hope you had fun with it,” I said as I patted her head. The little elf nodded in response. “Where’s mom?”

“She’s cooking. I helped her light the stove with that new spell!”

I giggled. “That’s great.”

I was happy to hear that my mother had found an average-day application for Elira’s newfound ability. The girl was simply overjoyed, and I couldn’t be happier for her.

I walked up to my father, Elira following closely at my side.

“And what’s dad looking at?” I asked.

“Dad is going through possible teachers for a certain magic-addicted little girl,” He replied.

I chuckled. “How bad is it?”

“Pretty bad. She almost passed out. Twice.”

Cellestra giggled behind me. It seemed her prediction had come true, well, almost.

“Well, finding out one’s limits is part of the learning experience,” I said.

“You’d be surprised how long she can keep that spell up. So much for a day off.”

Cellestra’s giggle grew into full-blown laughter. I couldn’t resist it myself either. It was just too hilarious to see my dad mention exactly what Cellestra and I had talked about, twice.

“Seems someone is having fun,” He continued, smiling. “Anyway, these prices are fairly high, Kealyna. I don’t really feel comfortable having you pay for all this. Though, it’s something for later. We want her to finish her basic education first.”

“What is fairly high?” I asked.

“Five gold coins per month, and that’s very rudimentary training.”

“It’s still hard for me to tell how much that is exactly. Mainly because I don’t know how much this dungeon exploration will earn in general. It doesn’t sound too bad to me, but we’ll have to see.”

“I want to learn more magic!” Elira said. “School is boring.”

“I know,” I replied. “But remember what we talked about earlier.”

“I know!” She responded, pouting. She was clearly unhappy about it, but at least she understood.

“Hey, Kealyna, Cellestra,” My mother called from the doorway. “How’s it going?”

“I’m alright. Just a bit nervous about tomorrow.”

“I'm okay too,” Cellestra added. “And I’d like to thank you for your hospitality.”

“No problem,” My mother replied. “Our house is always open to family and friends. Do you like apples, Cellestra?”

“I do very much, why?”

“Would you like some?”

“You got apples?” I asked in disbelief. “We couldn’t find any earlier.”

“That’s why we did our shopping in the afternoon.”

“Well, damn…”

“I’d love some,” Cellestra said. “Thank you so much.”

I looked at the brunette, a defeated expression on my face. She giggled softly at my reaction as my mother walked back inside. It left me wishing I’d known this before. Oh well…

My father stacked the papers and folded them before tucking them away in a pocket.

“I’m happy to have some time before this is needed. There are so many different types of teachers, I have no idea what exactly I need to look for. Perhaps I’ll ask Soranir tomorrow. Maybe he knows more.”

“Can we go for a ride?” Elira interjected.

“Not right now,” I replied. “I have a few questions for dad.”

“Please?”

“Elira,” My father called her name sternly.

“Okay…” She said softly, looking at the ground, clearly disappointed.

“We’ll go for one tomorrow,” I said.

The girl nodded and walked off to see Shadow who was in the process of cleaning himself.

Cellestra took a seat and eagerly awaited my questions.

“You said she possessed two different affinities or something, right? Could you tell me exactly what that means, how you know it, and what she possesses? I’m still new to this world and Cellestra, as much as she wants to, can’t tell me much about it.”

“Oh boy,” My father said as he leaned back in his chair. “Where do I even start?”

“The basics, I guess,” I suggested.

“I guess the true basics are that I don’t know anything besides that,” He said before sighing. “Well, everyone can learn magic, but some much more easily than others. That’s what I’ve been told at least.”

“Is that what an affinity is?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No. An affinity is something different altogether. An affinity for a certain school of magic allows someone to manipulate their mana in ways to create new spells of their own within that school.”

“I totally misunderstood what you said earlier then,” I said. “I thought it meant she could only learn those types, since you said they were weak affinities.”

“Sorry about that. I guess you couldn’t know. Affinities are probably the most interesting part about magic, but from what I can tell, she would need to learn magic fundamentals and then someone who can teach her how to use her affinities.”

He shook his head before continuing.

“Honestly, though, I picked up a bunch of flyers but none of it makes any sense to me.”

“How lucky should I consider myself that all I had to do was confirm a choice in my head and then I’d just know the spell?” I said, half-joking.

“Don’t let the mages find out,” My father replied. “They’ll hunt you out of sheer jealousy.”

“Sounds about right,” Cellestra added.

“Thanks a lot,” I said with a grin.

My mother exited the house, four apples in her hands, and placed them on the table in front of Cellestra.

“Thank you,” Cellestra said warmly.

“Hope you enjoy them. I sure do,” My mom told her.

“I’m sure I will.”

“Dinner’s almost ready. Have you found anything, honey?” My mom then asked my dad.

“I’ve found a lot, but I don’t know what I need,” My father repeated what he told us earlier.

“No worries,” She said, kissing his cheek. “There is plenty of time to find out.”

She walked back inside, leaving me to think about the affection she showed my dad. Was that common for relationships? I mean, I knew it was, but I wasn’t nearly at that level of confidence yet. Though, it was probably not fair to compare myself to them. They’d been together for many years.

“So what magic does Elira have affinities for?” I asked, quickly distracting myself from my thoughts. “And how did you find out?”

“We were told about them when we got her adoption papers. Her affinities are wind and time magic, but I haven’t really looked far into what those can do.”

“That’s fair, I suppose.”

Of course, he couldn’t have known that I’d suddenly appear in their lives.

“I would have helped her myself, but I have no idea how to explain magic,” I said.

“Maybe I can help,” Cellestra suggested. “At least with the basics. I had to learn those myself years back, and I think I can explain them well enough for Elira to get a bit of a head start.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Don’t worry about it. I don’t have to do anything dangerous. She needs to learn mana control first, and for that, I can use the same spell I use on you. I could also tell her about some simple spells, but I can’t show her how it’s done.”

“That sounds interesting,” My father said. “If you’re willing to help, then who am I to say no?”

I thought about what she said. Cellestra was right that as long as she didn’t cast her combat spells, there’d be nothing to worry about. The only thing that had me a bit anxious was the fact that her spell was unique, and highly valuable. We’d have to make sure that Elira told nobody about it.

“What do you think, Kealyna?” Cellestra asked me.

I nodded. “Sounds good to me.”