Safrah’s house was a little further down the road. We passed the tanners and entered a little alley shortly after. The entrance was a few metres in on the left. She unlocked the door and waved me in.

“This is it”, she said, “This is my home and, for the time being, where you can find some rest.”

I looked around. We stood in a little reception area with a coat rack and a place for dirty street shoes. It opened up into a kitchen to the right and a staircase in front. There was another door at the back of the kitchen, most likely leading to a pantry. The furnishing was simple and sturdy mostly made from stone. The only exception was the oven which was not only made from metal but exuded fire mana in small quantities. There was a spot for a mana crystal on the back end of its top. A small crystal sat there and supplied energy for cooking. I took a closer look and spotted several fine lines of brass wiring leading away from it. The plate held several spiralling constructs of different sizes and through the glass front, I could see more patterns inside.

“Have you never seen a construct?”, Safrah asked, after watching me inspect the oven for a while.

I shook my head.

“Nothing this complex”, I answered.

The room was lit with another construct fixed to the ceiling. A little wire led to near the door and the stairs, a tiny crystal sitting in each place.

Safrah smiled at my inquisitiveness.

“You can look at it all you want later. Let me show you where you can stay.”

I nodded and followed the dwarf up the stairs. We came into a comfortable living room, a window giving a view of the other house across. That one had a window as well, though offset in a way that one had to be leaning out to see it.

Safrah pointed at a door to the side.

“That is my bedroom. I will not forbid you from entering but I would like to have my privacy when I’m sleeping.”

I nodded. That was fair.

She led me up another staircase. We came into what I deemed a hobbyist’s workshop. A workbench was covered haphazardly in tools and materials, shelves filled with more of them. A place on one wall was reserved for the finished products. Wood carvings.

“This is my old clan’s practice. They are carpenters and I learned the Skill early in my life. I still come here to work when I need to get my mind off things.”

She pointed at a mostly empty workbench that had been cleaned up recently from the looks of it.

“You can use that for whatever you want. I don’t need all this workspace, I just like to leave things lying around. As for living, I thought it would be best to give you the attic.”

With that, she pointed at a hatch in the ceiling. Grabbing a long stick with a hook on the end, she opened it up. A bit of dust floated through the hole. Safrah gave me a worried smile.

“I haven’t gotten to clean it up, yet. I only learned you would stay here a few hours ago.”

A ladder dropped down with the hatch and Safrah started to climb it. I wondered for a moment how to get up before resigning and pushing a tendril of darkness to the upper floor. [Eldritch Shift] activated and I found myself in the attic. The dwarf stared at me open-mouthed. A hand moved up to her face in slow motion while she took half a step back. I tilted my head at her and hooted.

“What is it?”, I sent.

That seemed to shake her out of it. She gulped and slowly got her bearing.

“Right. Magical beast. Of course, you have magic. Right.”

I looked around the room. It was dusty, alright, but it was not bad. It had the same size as the workshop below with a slanted ceiling. Several wooden beams held up the roof creating a few nice, elevated places almost like branches in a forest. The place itself was filled with a few boxes and chests, probably holding mementoes or things Safrah did not want to throw away. A few windows were spread out low enough for a dwarf to reach. They looked perfect for me to use as entrance and exit. I only needed to find a way to open and close them from the outside but I already had an idea for that.

“So”, Safrah began, “do you like it? I’ll get it cleaned up and then you can make yourself at home. Oh, and if you need a bathroom, it’s behind my bedroom. Come, I’ll show you.”

She made to leave the attic but I stopped her.

“Thank you. I want to try something, can you stay here for a moment?”

She nodded, confusion written on her face.

I stepped to a window and used my shadows to work the latch. It was actually very simple to unlock it but I only barely was able to exert enough force to open it. I quickly realized why. The frame was old and dirty and stuck together. I still managed to open it and get outside on the roof. I looked over the town of Borsdown as it spread before me. This was a weird perspective. I could only see far in the directions of the street below. In front and behind, roofs blocked my view. I walked up to the top and looked over once again. Sounds of dwarves talking in the streets made their way to my ears and smoke rose from chimneys. It looked to be mealtime, from how many voices I heard. I took a deep breath and enjoyed the scene for a moment.

A few minutes later, hesitant words reached through the connection.

“D-do you… want me to close the window?”

I went back down and looked at a slightly scared dwarf.

“No. This is what I wanted to try.”

I used my shadows to push the window closed and locked it from the outside. There were enough tiny gaps to keep a connection to my shadows. Once I was done, I sent a request to Safrah.

“Could you test if it’s locked properly?”

The dwarf nodded and went up to the window. She tested a few times and then unlocked and relocked it. With a thumbs up she took a step back.

“Nice”, I sent.

I made to unlock it again from the outside and pulled it open with my shadows. Once I stood in the attic again, I gave Safrah a nod.

“Looks like I have an easy way in and out.”

She nodded.

“That does make things easier”, she sent back.

I looked around once more. This was not much of a home, but the gesture was nice. And it was better than most places I had lived until now.

“Thank you, Safrah. Let’s see that bathroom.”

She nodded and started down the stairs again. As we made our way back to the living room, I took up conversation once more.

“I don’t mind if you speak out loud when I can hear you. You don’t have to use the connection.”

She started in my mind and then went to use her mouth instead.

“That’s… That’s nice. But, how does this connection even work?”

“Ah, well. I don’t know the nitty-gritty details but basically, the supersensory matrix lets me form a connection with someone else’s soul and allows for the transfer of memories, thoughts and images. I can also send you what I am seeing and hearing instead of forming words in my mind, or what I am feeling. I need to be within ten metres of someone to form a connection but then it reaches up to about a kilometre before it breaks. I can also cut the connection when necessary. Though I don’t know if you can cut it… you should be able to block or filter what I send you with a bit of practice.”

My explanation had made us stop in the workshop once again. Safrah was staring at me with wonder in her eyes.

“How could you even make something like this? That sounds so complicated!”

I hesitated.

“Well, it was easier than I expected to be honest. I am pretty good at thaumaturgy it appears.”

The dwarf’s expression froze.

“Oh”, she said.

“The guard captain knows about it. I won’t be bringing warp monsters into your home, so you don’t have to worry.”

Safrah seemed doubtful but after a moment, she turned around and walked down the stairs again.

I followed, of course, and when we reached the living room, we entered her bedroom. It was another simple room, furnished for function. I did not pay much attention, instead following the dwarf to her bathroom. This was a much more interesting place. The room was fully made of stone and glass. A mirror hung over a washbasin and the back end was lowered about a hand-width. A glass door could be moved in front and a showerhead hung on the wall.

Safrah moved to the tap and held a hand over it.

“There is a vis crystal here. Just push some mana into it and water will start to flow.”

I eyed the construct and closely observed the mana flow when the dwarf activated it. It was very simple, really. Mana went in, followed a pattern of brass lines and then water flowed out of the tap.

“Is this water created from mana?”, I asked.

“No, of course not. That would take way too much energy. Only someone with medium enrichment could consider such a tool.”

“So, you have minor enrichment?”

“Yes, I do. Every dwarf has, as long as they were raised properly. It is necessary to handle most day to day tools we use, so parents usually buy a few small vis crystals when a child is born. I heard some even crush the crystals into powder and mix it with the children’s meal, but that might just be exaggeration.”

That sounded interesting. It also explained why there had been no problem using the supersensory matrix until now. Without mana, it would be difficult for them to send their thoughts to me.

“When you want to stop the flow, just pull the release.”

With that, Safrah pulled on a small lever to the side of the tap and a tiny cloud of pink flux escaped which quickly dissipated in the air.

“Make sure to avoid breathing in the flux right after it comes out. Or, if your enrichment is at medium, you probably don’t have to worry about it.”

I gave her a look.

“I have a Beast Core.”

Once again, the dwarf shut down. She would soon get used to it. There were not many surprises left for her.