“Good morning, dearie!” Avery chirped, acting way too happy for the sun being so low in the sky. Violet rolled over and grumbled something that may have been interpreted as a hello.

“We are going to have so much fun today! First, we need to get you all learned up on that poor excuse for magic you have been using. It has been so long since I’ve had a magical pupil.”

That succeeded in waking Violet up. She had been winging her magic this whole time with no chance of finding a real trainer. Her aspects left her with a general idea of what to do but not everything possible. She had so many questions she needed someone to answer about her magic.

Learning about her magic while she waited to make her escape sounded like a great idea to her. With that plan in place, she decided the only thing about her magic she would keep a secret was her limitless trait. She was close to 100% overall synchronization between Illusion and Water now. Her Illusion was at 81%, and Water was maxed at 12% because she could not get new aspects to bring it higher.

With how expensive Enchant was in mana, she had only been able to practice at night. Regular rocks worked just as well as the fancy-shaped stones back at the old academy. The only thing she needed to pay attention to was to make sure it was about the same size as the cubes had been. If she tried on a smaller rock, the mana cost went through the roof. Larger stones did not save her any mana.

“Well, child, do you want to learn the secrets of ancient magic or not?”

That knocked Violet out of her internal musings. “That would interest me quite a bit, Ms. Avery. What would you want in return for this knowledge?”

“Right to the heart of the matter, I see. Like I said yesterday, I am bored out of my mind, and these eggs will not incubate themselves. What I will require from you are three things. I’ll write them down so you can think about it. Don’t think too long, or I may change my mind.”

The ground in front of the nest began to morph into a list of terms.

A pact of non-aggression - Physical and/or emotional harm may not happen on purpose by either party. A pact of secrecy - Once you leave, you may not tell anyone about this place or its inhabitants. A minimum of two continuous years will be spent learning magic and keeping Avery company.

The terms that she listed were generous, but they required her to sacrifice two years of her life to live in an aviary. The non-aggression pact meant she would be able to relax around Avery a little more secure in knowing she would not become lunch at any moment. She was pretty sure if secrecy was a big deal to Avery, then there was no way she would get out of this place alive without the pact of secrecy.

“Is there a way to let my parents know that I am alive and doing ok?”

“I can arrange for letters to be carried between you once a season. It will likely take some doing to find them initially. One human looks a lot like the rest to us birds.”

“Would it help if I create their likeness with my Decoy aspect so the messenger can get a good look at them before leaving?”

“Ah yes, the wonders of Illusion magic. That would speed the search quite a bit. I will be reading any letter you send them before it goes out. This aviary is a secret place that is sacred to my kind.”

“If I can write to my parents, I would be happy to keep you company. Why do you need me to stay for so long? I am not far from getting my magic to 100% synchronization. Learning the details of each aspect surely cant take that long.”

That caused Avery to have a fit of laughing. After she had gotten herself under control, she said, “Oh, you are so precious dear one. Getting to 100% is just the beginning of a very long and involved process. You will never stop learning magic. As for why I require two years, it will take me nearly that long to infuse enough mana into these eggs for them to be able to hatch.”

“Is that something you would require me to help with? Infusing your eggs with mana, that is.”

“Oh heavens no, the only mana that will be touching these eggs will be mine. If you tried something stupid like that, the protections I have on the eggs would likely kill you.” Avery seemed quite offended that Violet would even suggest something like that.

“If you agree to my terms, go ahead and write up the contract for the system to enforce. Fortunately, you have Illusion magic. Without a contract, I would not be able to trust you at all.”

Violet’s heart dropped when she heard that. The only aspect she was unable to pick up for Illusion was Contracts. “I’m sorry, Ms. Avery, but I don't have the Contracts aspect.”

“Oh, that is easy enough to fix, dearie.” As she spoke, the bars on her jail cell melted back into the ground. At the very center of the building, a large stone slab was moved to one side, revealing what looked to be a Solar Crystal.

“Be gentle with the crystal honey. It is ancient and was open to the elements for quite some time before I found it. If it cracks, the enchantment on it will break, and the crystal will become useless.”

She stood and walked reverently to the solar crystal. Before she had made it halfway, Avery spoke again. “You may only use this to pick up the Contract aspect you lack. If you do more, I will know, and your life will be forfeit. No funny business now ya hear?”

Violet nodded her head and sat on the ground next to the crystal. Touching the crystal brought her back to the mindscape with which she was familiar. A prompt was waiting for her to choose which school of magic to visit. She selected illusion and spent an excruciatingly long time unearthing her last aspect. If she failed to get this aspect, it would likely mean her death.

Excavation integrity calculating…

100%

Congratulations, with your attention to detail, a bonus of 5% synchronization has been added to this aspect at the start for a total of 6%

When the prompt popped up asking if she wanted to enter the water area, she clicked no. Once she created a contract with Avery, she knew she would be allowed to come back. Just knowing a solar crystal was here helped.

Avery took a moment to inspect her after Violet had touched the crystal. “I am happy I don’t have to kill you, dear one.” The giant bird then did something unexpected. She created an illusion of Violet’s Magic sheet. It scared Violet quite a bit that someone other than her had access to this information.

[Magic]

Type

%

Aspect

Illusion

82%

Illusion

100%

Cloaking

Illusion

6%

Contracts

Illusion

100%

Dazzle

Illusion

100%

Decoy

Illusion

100%

Disguise Self

Illusion

26%

Enchant

Illusion

100%

Fear

Illusion

100%

Hypnotize

Illusion

100%

Shadow Blade

Water

12%

Water

100%

Water Manipulation

“6% for such an advanced aspect is quite good. You must have spent extra time and effort to make sure everything went right. Yes, dearie, I have been able to see your entire status this whole time. I needed to know if you could be trusted.”

“You can see all of it?”

“I’m not going to waste any more mana on this device to show you in an illusion, but yes, I know about your traits and your highly abnormal mental stats. I’m half tempted to start teaching you languages instead of magic just to see how fast you can learn them. Don't worry, sweetie. A deal is a deal. Now write up one contract for every bullet point on my list right there.” She said while tilting her head toward the terms she wrote on the stone floor.

Opening her first contract, she started to fill out the header.

Who: Violet Tidwell & Avery Swiftwing

Terms: Non-aggression - Physical and/or emotional harm may not happen on purpose by either party. They may not order another to cause harm and must do all in their power to prevent lasting injury from all other sources.

Term Length: Two years from this date unless both parties agree to extend or shorten the contract.

Consequences: Any harm inflicted to the innocent party will also be suffered by the aggressor two times worse.

She had consulted with Avery to get the wording correct and close any apparent loopholes. They left a clause in there so they could extend the contract if needed.

Who: Violet Tidwell & Avery Swiftwing

Terms: Secrecy - Violet will not tell or show anyone the location of the aviary. She will not speak of what she learns about the inhabitants of this place.

Term Length: Life

Consequences: If the information is extracted unwillingly, she will lose the knowledge of the aviary and its inhabitants. If the information was given willingly, Instant death.

The final contract she created had fewer teeth.

Who: Violet Tidwell & Avery Swiftwing

Terms: Companionship - Violet will willingly stay with Avery for the term length. In return, Avery will guide Violet in the ways of magic.

Term Length: Two years from this date unless both parties agree to extend or shorten the contract.

Consequences: If one party does not hold up their end of the bargain, the other may cancel the contract with two weeks’ notice.

Each contract she wrote was created in the system. It even started a new tab on her status sheet for active contracts. She would be able to go back at any time and read the wording of every agreement she had.

[Contracts]

Status

Title

Time Left

Active

Companionship

2 years

Active

Non-Aggression

2 years

Active

Secrecy

Life

She had gotten 5% synchronization for each two-year contract and a whopping 20% synchronization for her lifetime contract. When she asked Avery about it, she said it was because of the length of time and the severity of the consequences. Death or loss of knowledge were harsh consequences for a contract.