Circe had already made it a few steps onto the clearing as I left the house. She jumped and spread her arms wide before turning to me. I heard Mira chuckle quietly from inside as the door closed.

My friend’s sudden enthusiasm was rather infectious and I quickly found myself caught in a game of tag. Of course, I held back quite a bit. I did not use [Eldritch Shift] nor took to the air. I was still faster than her if only a little. Her much longer legs simply provided enough of an advantage my superior Attributes could not keep me ahead.

After a few exchanges of who was 'it', we decided to take a proper break. Circe had taken off the hat and sat down on the edge of the porch while I rested next to her. This way, our eyes were almost level.

“Hey, Fio. Do you think I could travel with you?”, she asked suddenly.

I decided to not immediately say no and think it over for a moment.

“The main issue is your speed. You can never keep up with me. From here to my parents’ nest is half an hour of flight. You would take a day if you had the skills to climb the mountainside.”

She sighed.

“I see. So I have to get faster.”

“I don’t think you can reach my top-speed while ground-locked. What is a two-week journey for dwarven vehicles is a half-day flight when I push for it.”

“Oh.”

I bobbed my head at her look.

“Is there really no way?”

“I can see two feasible options. Technically feasible, that is. The first is evolution. If you evolve into a flying Species, you might be able to learn the Skills necessary to keep up. The second is teleportation.”

“Evolution is kinda not possible.”

“I can imagine it to be difficult without any nodes easily accessible. Mira has vis enrichment, though only minor, so it can’t be impossible.”

“Even if I get access to it, it’ll take decades to get there.”

“From what I have heard, yes. It took me about half a year.”

“Your warp?”

“Most likely.”

She let out an empty laugh.

“And teleportation… I don’t even know where to start with that.”

“Find something with alienis essence. It is what gave me my Skill.”

She blinked.

“Eh? Well, that’s better than nothing but… I don’t know where to get that stuff?”

“I have only seen it in a single node myself. That node was one I absorbed completely.”

“That basically leaves familiar teleportation…”

“An option I do not want to easily take.”

“I mean… I get it but…”

I met her eyes. To Circe’s credit, she did not flinch.

“I don’t really see it like that. Sure, it’s a lifelong bond. But it doesn’t mean we can’t live without each other.”

“It means your Class will be severely crippled if I am not near you, doesn’t it?”

“A bit?”

“It also means I can not decide to easily drop [Witch] if I find a more appealing Class. It would make our bond one-sided all of a sudden.”

She let herself fall onto her back and groaned.

“Why don’t I ever think of those things? It’s so obvious!”

I chuckled into her mind.

“I don’t think of everything all the time. It’s impossible. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

She groaned once again and rolled away from me.

“Is coming with me a matter of leaving on a journey or is it simply about being with me in particular?”, I asked.

“It’s about you…”, she mumbled softly into her robe. If I did not have my enhanced hearing I would never make out those words. But I did.

“I see. I will come by to visit quite often. My family lives close by and there’s a goblin village half a day’s flight south from here.”

“You heard that?”, she turned around.

“I have good ears.”

Her eyes wandered to my ear-tufts.

“Not those”, I chuckled, “What do you want from life?”, I asked.

“That question! I know what I want. I want to be a [Witch] with an awesome familiar. And I want to help out people. My family, for one.”

“Then would it not be smart to stay here?”

“Probably…”, she mumbled, “What do you want from life?”

“Well, that is simple. I want to spend time with my friends and explore the world. And learn about magic.”

“But you came here all on your own?”

“Yes. Exploration and being with my friends will have to be separate most of the time. Unless I make new friends where I’m going. Then I can combine visiting them with exploring the areas in between.”

She blinked.

“That makes sense.”

At that point, I heard footsteps make their way through the forest. They were heavy boots accompanied by rustling clothes and a soft metallic clicking. I turned my head towards the path from the village.

“Someone is coming”, I said.

“Eh?”

“Should I hide?”

Mira opened the door.

“You should be fine. They might get scared but we’re witches. They’re always scared of us.”

“What?”, Circe stammered. It looked like she was rebooting.

“I sent that to Mira as well.”

It took until the stranger arrived for the girl to regain her wits. Out of the trees stepped a young man, maybe sixteen or seventeen years old. He wore simple leather clothing and a sheathed knife on his hip. His face was lined by budding sprinkles of stubble. When he entered the clearing, his heavy leather boots stopped on the spot. He raised a hand to wave.

“Yo, Sis!”, the boy called out.

“Leon!”, she answered, a smile spreading rapidly.

Mira nodded to him while I just sat still.

Circe ran up and jumped into her brother’s arms. He caught the girl and spun her around a few times. It looked like he had a few points invested into [Strength]. When he sat her down, she took a half step back.

“What made you come?”, she asked.

“Oh? I can’t visit my little Sis just ‘cause I feel like it?”

He smirked.

“Of course, you can!”, she pouted, “But you barely ever do that!”

The boy chuckled at that.

“You’re right. But today it’s not anything to do with your Master. It’s about you.”

She furrowed her brows.

“What about me?”

“I heard you got [Familiar Bond]. I had to come and see if you need help finding one.”

He glanced at me.

“But that’s clearly not the case”, he grinned.

I felt an [Identify] reach out to me. It was slow. So slow, in fact, I could connect to his mind before it even started to activate.

“I’m not her familiar”, I sent.

The Skill broke off. I could feel his confusion bleed into the telepathic bond.

“What?”, he said.

“Yeah. She’s just a friend”, Circe clarified.

He turned to his sister.

“Huh?”

“Leon”, Mira called out, “Why don’t you come inside now that you’re here?”

Her tone made it clear it was no request. The boy nodded, still a little perplexed, and followed after the [Witch]. Circe and I shared a look. She was smirking evilly.

“That was great!”, she whispered, knowing I could hear it.

I bobbed my head and we joined the others at the table. Introductions followed. Leon was the second son of the village head and had a [Hunter] Class. He wanted to lead the local militia and hunting group, which basically amounted to the same thing, and was still training for that. When he finally started to realize I was a proper sapient animal and not just a familiar, he got a little reserved. Circe managed to calm him down. By hugging me. I let her do it for a second before telling her to sit back down. At least she had not tried to pet me.

“So… why are you here?”, Leon asked me.

“Because I want to get to know humans. I was born not far from here and have only ever observed the village a little. Also, Circe is my friend. And I decided to become a [Witch Apprentice].”

“That’s… okay. Those are actually good reasons. But how did you become friends with this nuisance?”

He indicated his sister who let out an irritated “Hey!” and punched his shoulder.

“She’s a bit too overeager sometimes, yes. But she’s also fun to be around because of that.”

“A bit? She dropped everything she had planned when Miss Selvos offered to take her as an apprentice. Did you know she wanted to become a tailor before that? She had even taken the Class already!”

“Really? That reminds me. When do humans get their Skills and Class unlocked, anyway?”

“At seven years old”, Mira said, “Nobody fully knows why. Three years is when humans change from baby to child in the system’s eyes. At thirteen we become youths. At nineteen, adults. Why seven years is the important age, I can not tell you.”

“I see…”

Circe was moping in her chair but I could see the amusement sparkling in her eyes. She was probably already planning revenge on her brother.

“So, umm. Miss Catori?”

“Call me Fio. Catori is not a surname. It’s more of a second given name.”

“I see. Well, you said your family lives nearby? They are also owls, right?”

“Yes. What about them?”

“I just wanted to make sure. Are there any other owls that live here? Because if not, I’ll tell the hunters to not shoot them.”

“That… would be very nice of you. They mostly hunt from dusk to dawn so it should not be much of an issue but still. Thank you.”

“Of course. I… also wanted to ask…”

“No”, Mira said, “I vouch for her. You do not need to [Identify] her.”

“Well, if that’s the case. Welcome to our village.”

He smiled and reached out over the table only to stop halfway into the motion. I extended a tendril of darkness formed to be an approximate hand and shook his.

“Thank you. I’ll mostly stay with Master and my friend when I’m here. If you ever need help with hunting something dangerous, let me know.”

“That’s nice of you”, the boy mumbled. He was very entranced by my magic. I had to disperse the shadow for him to return his attention to the others.

“Ah, right. What about finding a familiar for you, Sis? Need any help?”

She shook her head.

“No, thank you. I’m still courting Fio.”

The blank face he pulled at that made it difficult to hold in our amusement. After only a few seconds, we were laughing. Leon joined in moments later. I was happy. I seemed like I could get along with more than just two humans.