It turned out the dwarvlings had much more trouble finding their inner gate than I did. I could have maybe guided the vis in their bodies but with my Beast Core, I would most likely overwhelm their flux tolerance very quickly. It was some sort of materialized node, after all. I still spent a few hours at the Ionad the next two days. Selvie accompanied me most of the time, Harra having to help out with the caravan more often.

While I could not help much with their enrichment, showing them my magical shadows helped a lot with the dwarvlings’ excitement. I saw little reason to hold back and used the time to form complex shapes in the air. Animals, plants and dwarves, at first only one at a time. With a bit of practice, I was able to re-enact the fight against the Monstrosity while Selvie relayed the tale. Admittedly, it was still quite simple and small scale. Moving the shadows took a lot of focus. It also created a lot of flux compared to what the dwarves were used to and I found the children to exhaust quicker when draining the node. So I said my goodbyes on the second day and wished them good luck.

I had about another week until meeting the Nymph and not much to do, at least in Serrington. So I decided to use my wings. I was still hesitant to meet Vivi and Safrah this soon. I did not want to make a habit of returning in every ‘free’ moment. I feared I would explore much less if I did not make use of those times. Still, it had been over three weeks. I felt it might be a good idea to at least see how long it took to fly over.

I told the siblings I might be gone for a day or two and took off. Wings spread, I filled them with shadows. The darkness grew, nearly tripling the size of my appendages. I carefully started to beat them, accelerating to my new top speed. It took but a moment and the land was rushing past below me. I still made no noise even at this high velocity. The shadows were not fully tangible but just able to absorb any and all sound, just like [Owl’s Shadow]. The Skill had formed from it, after all. I wondered if I could use one of my Class Skills to empower a Racial Skill in a similar way. And if I did that, what would happen to the Racial Skill in case I changed Class?

There were still a lot of questions about how this world worked, especially the system. Where even did all this power come from? I had gained levels from killing, yes, but… What about my new species? I was able to level from gaining friends or learning about new cultures. That was not really abiding by any conservation of energy. Most of what had happened so far, even with all the magic I had experienced since coming to this world, was quite easily reasoned to abide by the concept. There was the Empty giving energy and when ‘used’ it became flux and returned to be recycled. If the system was not an outlier, it had to have some source to grant my Attributes and the physical changes coming with them. My evolution was almost easier to fit into classical physics than the status page. My best idea was the system also drew energy from the Empty. The why and how and who were questions I could not begin to answer, yet. Maybe I could find a hint somewhere in this world.

As I was ruminating on the matter of reality, I found the sun had already passed its zenith. More importantly, I could make out Borsdown and the lake on the horizon, quickly growing larger. A few more minutes and I had arrived. With some effort, I managed to slow down just past the lake and circled a few times while scanning the differences.

There was a new house basically fully built next to the lake. It had a simple dwarven style with lots of large stones making up the wall and a few wooden beams and logs as frames and pillars. There were no carvings, yet. I guessed Vivi wanted to decorate her house in her own time. Around, a few piles of building material lay. Mostly stone but also some more wood. The forest had been pushed back around the building, a few stumps still sticking out here and there. A new house, this one more of a barracks, was located on the new edge of the trees. I saw a good two dozen dwarves logging more trees or preparing them for building.

A simple dirt road had been cut through the forest which was in the process of being reinforced with pavement from both ends. There were a lot of dwarves out and about, working. I did not spot the captain or my friends. I wondered if they were inside and slowly dropped to the new house’s front door. Looking in through the windows, I spotted the three-storey building was furnished properly but nobody was inside the rooms I saw. I noticed a small hole in the wall and a brass plate fixed next to it. It read ‘Guardian Vivi’.

For a moment I was thinking about how to announce myself. Knocking with my beak or talons was not an easy feat. Instead, I decided to just walk in. The door was not locked and behind I found a hallway still lacking in furniture and decorations. Instead, a whole bunch of crates and boxes lined the walls. A dwarf was in the process of unpacking a few brass artefacts from one of them. He looked up as the door opened and nearly dropped the delicate tool in his hands.

“Ah, uhm. You’re… Fio? The… I…”

He seemed very confused about my presence but I simply gave him a nod and moved into the house.

“Right, I’ll just…”

A glance at what he was holding told me he must belong to one of the artificers installing all the useful household implements here.

From the hallway branched a kitchen in the process of being installed and a living room. Further back, stairs. Though someone had taken the time to include a branch-like bannister and there was enough space for me to spread my wings and fly up. It was almost like a small foyer with two more rooms going off to the sides. The doors were closed and I was unable to make out any noise so I went up.

The rattling of metal and voices told me someone was there. It turned out to be more artificers, this time installing a shower in a huge bathroom. Still no sign of Safrah or Vivi. I greeted the dwarves with a nod and checked the final floor. This one looked like a workshop for thaumaturgy and carving. Some tools and material had been brought over already, but there was no sign of my friends. I did see a pile of glass and steel feathers. Vivi seemed to have some plan for them but I could not tell what she was doing. They were lined up cleanly by length and shape, ready to be worked into something.

Not able to find my friends, I decided to check the townhouse. The flight was quick and after listening for a moment from the roof, I made out my friends talking in the living room. Or Safrah, at least. I entered through the window and started to make my way down when suddenly a yellow and black streak barrelled into me. The purring as I untangled myself made it clear who the culprit was.

Once I had gotten up, Vivi started to nuzzle the side of my head and I spotted Safrah coming up into the workshop.

“Oh! Fio, how great! You’re back!”

She rushed over and joined our little group cuddle until I had enough and shifted away from the two limpets. With [Eldritch Shift], not just my body. Vivi had found the time to connect her supersensory matrix at some point and greeted me as well.

After some small talk, we found ourselves in the living room, relaying everything we had experienced in the last three weeks. My friends had taken it slow after the initial excitement had died down. Vivi was only visiting the node a few hours every day and Safrah was getting things in order with her previous job. The tanning workshop she had been taken in by was giving her a proper sendoff being something of a second family. They promised to move into the new part of the city once it was built to be able to spend time with each other.

In between, my friends were planning the interior of their new house and had gotten Riggard to motivate some of his colleagues. They were currently installing everything necessary for a comfortable life. It would take another week but by then Safrah and Vivi could fully move into the new house. Which they were looking forward to very much. Captain Dor had forbidden them from practising any thaumaturgy in the town proper and even Riggard would not be allowed to make more thaumium in his workshop. Even though the danger was very low, the city council had made the decision to reduce the risk even more.

When it was my turn, we eventually came to the part where I visited the Ionad. When I explained to Vivi what I had told the dwarvlings, she was very interested and I gave my best to explain every little detail. Maybe it would help her reach major enrichment more quickly. She seemed to have a better understanding of her magic and how it interacted with her body. Most likely because she was already at medium enrichment.

Safrah also listened intently and mentioned she was pushing for medium enrichment. The captain had led a small group of guards to Vivi’s old pond and harvested all the crystals there. It was planned to make it into a secured location for crystal farming. Safrah had profited by getting a good number of the crystals to use for herself. I was confused why Captain Dor just gave the crystals away but apparently, that was the normal case for a Protector. Which Safrah had been appointed as by the council. Vivi was encouraged to name more Protectors once the town was turning into a city but for now, the one was enough. Interestingly, I was also a Protector. Though ‘only’ honourable. That meant I could visit ‘my Guardian’ any time I wanted without having to go through dwarven bureaucracy. Basically, I was one of Vivi’s official friends. I was supposed to assist her with anything she needed from the city or dwarven society as a whole but the exact duties had to be decided between Guardian and Protector.

When I told my friends I would probably meet Serrington’s Protector soon, they were very interested. I might have to come back here before following Stormbringer.

We spent the afternoon just hanging out and when night came around, Vivi and I decided to share a little hunt. Just a quick snack for each of us but it was really fun to flit through the trees at high speeds, looking for prey.

The next day I left early in the morning.

“Come visit often!”, Safrah demanded, Vivi supporting her with a long nod.

“I will.”

The return flight was devoid of surprises. Though had I had a human face I would have been grinning to myself for the whole duration.