{Xhez}

{The Next Day}

"Hey, Xhez?" Rin's voice called out to her and the sprite looked up from inside the bag. In one of her arms, she was holding the books she'd brought down when they were looking for an Illusion spell.

"Rin?" Xhez called out.

"Hi," Rin told her, looking down into the bag. "Had a good sleep?"

"Taking these short rests still feels strange, but, I think I am getting used to it," she replied.

"Good, good. So, do you wanna walk around a little?" She asked.

At that, Xhez smiled, with some excitement building up inside of her. What happened in the town had certainly diminished her hopes quite a bit, but she was still eager to learn more about humanity. What she'd do with the information, she had no idea, but she wanted to have it.

"Yes!" She replied.

"Okay, come out the bag then, and use that spell. I'll give you some more clothes," Rin said and after a brief moment of trying and failing to cast the spell, Xhez was standing in front of her in her human colors, still naked though. "I got you these, by the way," Rin stated as she pulled up a pair of gloves. "They'll hide the fact that you don't have any nails. The only thing we really need to be careful with is that hair of yours."

"Ohhh, I see!" Xhez replied as she took the cinnamon-brown shirt and shorts that she was given, and put them on along with these gloves Rin had acquired. They felt strange on her hands, but she saw the logic behind them, so she didn't mind it too much.

"Alright, you're all set!" Rin said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Where will we go?" Xhez asked, curious.

"I had a place in mind for you. I think you'll appreciate it. It's called a 'library'," she explained.

"O-Oh! I remember this word!" Xhez exclaimed, "you said it was a place where humans store information?"

"Yeah!" Rin replied. "I figured you'd like it. Does it sound good?"

"Of course," Xhez giggled and Rin nodded.

"Then, in that case, come on. But, try to stay out of sight so no one bothers us or anything, cause, uh, technically you need permission to do stuff here. But, if anyone asks, I'll tell them you're with me. I'm guessing they won't think too much of it."

"What is 'permission'?"

"Never mind, just stay low, is all."

Rin took her up a couple of floors. On the way, humans would glance Xhez's way, but only one person interrupted their walk to the library.

"Maria," Rin called out, bowing.

A short, thin woman then approached them from the front. Xhez's eyes roamed over her figure. She had brown hair that just touched her shoulders and wore clothes that didn't seem as tight on her as Rin's or Xhez's own did. Additionally, although her eyes first went to Rin, when she noticed Xhez, she looked at her for a while.

She approached the two of them and looked incredibly confused. Xhez did her best not to look nervous, as Maria finally spoke up.

"Who is this?" She asked quietly.

"... Uh, this is Xhez," Rin replied, "m-my sister!"

At that, Xhez turned toward Rin, surprised, but then she caught on that Rin was making something up. Lying wasn't something Xhez or her mothers did often, so it was an unusual thing to see.

"... Really?" Maria asked, her eyes fixed on the disguised sprite.

"Yeah," Rin nodded, and then she wrapped her free arm around Xhez's back, pulling her into a half-hug as she tried to force a grin. "She just arrived here a little while ago, uh, i-isn't she just the cutest? Oh, gosh, my dear little sis!"

"..." Maria looked entirely unimpressed.

As other students walked past them, however, she looked around, cleared her throat, and was about to leave when she stopped and said, "be careful not to take... your sister, too deep into the city, Rin. Some people don't take too kindly to foreigners."

"Right, right, I'll remember that!" Rin responded, and the woman walked away.

"Who was that?" Xhez asked.

"My teacher," Rin breathed a sigh of relief. "She's really cool, honestly. I like her. Anyway, come on, let's keep going."

A few seconds later, they were walking into a place that Xhez could have never imagined from just hearing about it. The first thing she noticed was that there were dozens, maybe hundreds, of books just like the ones Rin was carrying right now. There was only one human here, who was sitting to the left, reading from one at the moment.

Rin gestured at Xhez for her to sit down at a table to the right, and the sprite did so while she went to go talk to the man to the left. He didn't notice Xhez, which the sprite was happy about. Even if the disguise seemed to work, whenever a human looked at her like the woman from earlier had, it made her nervous.

"Did you get some use out of 'em?" The man asked Rin.

"Yeah, thank you," Rin bowed.

"Eh, don't sweat it. Just doin' my job."

Then, Rin walked over to the table without the books in her hands anymore and said:

"Okay," she spoke quietly. "I'm gonna bring you some stuff, and, I dunno, maybe it'll be interesting? I haven't read any of this myself."

"I am excited!" Xhez replied at an equally low volume.

"I thought you'd be," Rin replied with a wink. "Sorry I haven't been able to do more like this for you, I've been busy."

"Do not worry," Xhez shook her head. "I understand that you have responsibilities. My curiosity can wait."

"... You're something else," Rin said as a natural smile came to her face. "Wait here."

Xhez did exactly that. She admired her surroundings for a while, as Rin gathered up a few books from different shelves in front of her. This entire place was made of a mix between wooden furniture and metallic decorations, which made it seem otherworldly to Xhez. Then again, everything else in this city had that same effect.

Still, what she'd seen in the streets had lowered her opinion of humanity quite a bit. She just couldn't understand how sprites like her could be reduced to just a set of special hairs to sell. She couldn't imagine doing the same to a human.

When Rin came back, she placed a few books down in front of Xhez.

"... Wait," Rin muttered, "shit, you don't know how to read, do you?"

"You are correct," Xhez nodded with a smile.

"Awesome. Okay, uh..." Rin paused. "Oh," she leaned in and lowered her voice further. "Well, whatever, I'll just read it to you out loud... We should probably go a little farther away though, just in case."

The two moved to a different table then, with Xhez feeling eager to begin learning more, and Rin opened one of the books and coughed.

"Okay," she took a deep breath. "Let me know if anything sounds confusing."

"I will."

"... Alright. Let's start."

---

{Rin}

{Hours Later}

"Steady," Maria told her, as Rin failed to perform the technique she'd been given for the third time. "Remember, it is just like drawing a spellsign. If you are not precise in your movements, it will not succeed."

"Got it, got it," Rin nodded as she tried to calm herself down and went through the process again.

[First,] she thought, [drag my heel on the ground, spin, come up and turn it into a crescent kick. Simple.]

"Don't overthink it. We have plenty of time. If you do not succeed, we will just try again," Maria added as Rin prepared herself.

Then, she did it. She kept her left foot planted in front of her, pushing Essence out from her right foot. Then, she spun, dragging that right foot along and she noticed that her body sped up of its own volition, meaning that the ability was working. Finally, she raised her leg, performing a crescent kick, and when she did, her foot was covered in fire, which reminded her of her [Spirit Flame] ability.

"D-Did I do it!?" Rin asked.

"Yes, good job," Maria told her. "That was the [Flame Arc] technique. Simple, easy to execute, and devastating against weaker enemies if it connects."

[... Now I kinda wish I had this when I fought the skeletons,] Rin thought with a chuckle. [Oh, well.]

"Rin... May I ask you a question?" Maria suddenly said as Rin sat down in front of her teacher and smiled.

"Yeah, what's up?"

Maria paused.

"... Who was that blue woman?"

And, when she heard that, Rin's smile faded.

[... Crap.]