The talk show host introduces the show and himself, “…and with us today we have Lars Eikeli, which you might know as the new years’ phoenix. Lars, you’re a bit of a celebrity, but how about you tell us what you do for a living?”

“Well,” I start, before pausing to piece together a good answer, “I have a business, Terra Arcana, where I sell magical goods and services. I believe a lot of these are fairly commonly known by now, and it’s all up on my website.”

“I see, and that’s what you’ve been doing here in the US, after your record flight?”

“That’s right. Due to… the… constraints of flying like that I couldn’t bring that much, but I’ve been making some here and my focus is on the services at the moment.”

“Putting aside the services for later, could you talk about these goods? I’ve heard you sell magic bags?”

“Well, they’re handmade bags with various enchantments. The primary one, of course, is a bit of spatial magic that makes them bigger on the inside. How much bigger varies, but for normal-sized bags the inside is about two times bigger, give or take. That’s good for normal use, but I also make bigger ones on order.”

The host shifts and leans forward, “What’s the biggest you’ve made, if I may ask?”

“In relative size increase, I made a garbage bag something like six or seven times bigger, but the forces involved tore it up. In sheer size increase, though, there’s a cave back home about the size of a normal bathroom I made maybe three times bigger, but the mana drain becomes an issue at those kinda sizes.”

“So there are things that make it harder to do?”

“Yeah, I mentioned mana usage already, which goes up if the original object is bigger and very quickly as you make the size increase bigger, and whatever you enchant must be able to survive the mana involved as well as the gravitational forces. Spatial enchantments interfere with each other, too, so separately enchanted pockets don’t work very well, and don’t put one bag into another, or they might both break. Possibly violently.”

“Has that happened before?”

“In testing? Yes, but I haven’t heard any complaints. Smaller enchantments are more stable, though, and as mentioned most enchantments aren’t that big. I have also been warning people, and so far haven’t heard any complaints.”

“Moving on, what else do you sell? I’ve heard rumors of little stones which give you telepathy?”

“The mind-bond stones? They don’t- well I suppose you could say they do. They’re these little stones -I try to make them pretty, or at least decorative enough that you can leave them on a table or windowsill- which sorta links the minds of two people. The normal ones let you feel what the other person is feeling and don’t need you to be able to use magic, but I make stronger ones, too.”

“How strong?”

“Well… The correct answer to that, I believe, is ‘how strong do you want it to be?’ But practically speaking you can’t have the best effect without someone or something supplying it with mana, and at some point there’s ethical concerns regarding mental privacy and whatnot.”

“What do you mean by mental privacy?”

“Well, the upper limit of what I’ve sold so far, and probably for a lot longer, lets you sense the mood of the other person as usual, but if you concentrate you can send thoughts through it. Those thoughts could be words, memories, or concepts. Imagine that, but stronger.”

“So you’re saying you can read someone’s mind with a strong enough enchantment?”

“Yes. At least you can with the magic it is based on.”

“So you know this mind-reading magic, then?”

“Yes, I know [Mind Magic]. And just to be clear: Unless the other person cooperates, the most I can get is their mood and maybe a vague idea of the… general thought-space they’re in. On the other hand- No, forget it, let’s not ramble on too much.”

“Yes, perhaps it’s time to turn to your services,” the host says, probably getting my point, “Not only can you shapeshift, but you also sell this as a service to others, correct?”

I nod, and then he asks about what kinds of shapeshifting I sell, he brings up the flight service, mention the tutoring, and so forth.

“And to finish off the services you offer, it isn’t listed, but there’s rumors that you can make people younger?”

“You mean the youth rejuvenation? Oh yeah, that’s a thing. Uhh, disclaimer: I do not claim to make you live longer, and will not change the brain, but I can make the rest of the body younger and if not healthier, then at least very fit. Potentially beyond human norms. And it’s believed that a healthy body fosters a healthy mind.”

“So you could become superhuman despite being past ninety?”

“Oh yeah, with some time to get used to it you could probably try a marathon or something.”

“But with shapeshifting like that, being able to freely change your age or sex or even turn into something entirely different, what about crime? How do you stop people from commiting crimes and getting away with it or framing others?”

“Ahh, but what about the bad guys? Well, America has a recent history of disastrous ‘wars’, and I don’t mean actual wars, I mean the war on terror, well, more the war on drugs. Those hardline laws and whatnot just grew the prison population -which, by the way, the US treat inhumanely- and otherwise did the opposite of what they were supposed to. So don’t do that.”

I shake my head. “Aside from not making unnecessarily rigid, forceful, and sweeping laws, I don’t know, but the general idea is to make it easier and more worth it to do ‘good’ stuff compared to ‘bad’ stuff. I can’t say anything specific to handle shapeshifting aside from maybe put money into some magic ID method and see what comes out?”

“That’s certainly an idea. Speaking of shapeshifting, you shapeshift others, how do you make sure people don’t use that for crime?”

“I don’t. It’s not my job. But I do some things to help those whose job it actually is. Those whose? Those whose…? You get what I mean. If the changes I make are enough to significantly change how they look, particularly the face, I have them get a new ID via the police.”

“I see, that’s one way to handle it. There’s another topic, that you seem to be advocating for. There's all of these monsters and magic animals running around, and some of them are pretty smart. While we haven’t found any non-human civilizations yet, you want to give rights to smart animals?”

“Well, that’s one way to put it. With all of these new animals it’s pretty clear that intelligence is a sliding scale. In fact, I would guess humans are no longer the smartest beings around, for whatever definition of intelligence you can come up with. My definition is practical: If something can convince you that it’s intelligent across a wide range of tasks, it is.”

“And that’s how your wyvern got a citizenship?”

“You mean Leda? She didn’t get a citizenship, but is recognized as a person, with about the same rights as a minor. That test was a bit beyond just plain intelligence, though. She was also tested for theory of mind and some other things, and had to explain and discuss ethics and some human laws and norms.”

“Discussing ethics? So she’s really smart, then?”

“As far as animals go I’d say she’s pretty smart, but not particularly more than a child. Also, I think that particular discussion was unplanned. I mean, the plan was to have a discussion, at the end, and of a topic she could choose, but she answered something ‘wrong’, no, unexpected, to an ethics question, and they asked her why she thought that, and- well.”

“A dragon discussing ethics with some scientists? Hah, I’d like to see that.”

“Yeah, well, it was certainly interesting. She was using her human puppet form, though. Her main body isn’t well suited for talking. Or being inside a human-sized building.”

“I suppose that’s true. Speaking of which, how big is she?”

“Oh, she’s… The size of a small plane, maybe? Hold on…” I look around in the studio, Yeah, it seems to be big enough. “I can demonstrate. Don’t freak out, it’s just gonna be an illusion.”

I start by drawing lines of light across the room, forming an illusory ‘skeleton’. “About this big, and if you’re wondering, this pose is how you soar. Should I fill in the illusion?”

The host looks off to the side, behind the scenes, and I see a thumbs up, before he nods to me. And so, I slowly, but steadily fill out the skeleton with ribs and a ‘skull’, eliciting a few gasps even before I finish it with the hide, scales, and teeth.

“That’s impressive,” he says, before reaching out a hand towards the ‘left flank’ “it’s almost lifelike.”

“Thanks, I’ve practiced.”

From there we discuss (well, I mostly monologue. Bad habit, I know) a few different things, like flying and how that feels, the ‘air traffic rules’ regarding levitation and such, both in cities and beyond, as well as in the sky, and what should be different, if anything.

Eventually time is up and we round things off with a handshake and cut the cameras. After that we talk a bit about the editing, but there isn’t really anything in particular I want cut, so I just leave it up to them.

I spend the next week finishing up the appointments that have been made as I circle down south. I didn’t exactly expect to get famous and thus get so much interest, but after being away for more than one month I want to go home, so I’ve started to decline almost everyone.

‘Almost’ because, well, I’d be stupid to turn away the people who are willing to pay for youth rejuvenation. I mean, I’m a dollar millionaire now! Or at least my business is. There’s taxes, too, but even after that…

Well, I better invest some of it. If I had gone here earlier I could pay myself enough to pay down my student and mortgage spread over two fiscal years and save on taxes. Oh well. At least money for experimentation (or R&D, as they call it) should be no problem.

As it turns out, that magical forge Karma has been planning turned into an entire, pretty big, workshop. I’m not sure where he found all of them, but the amount of people chipping in to make it is quite impressive. Karma and his buddies end up the owners of the place, while the others gets access to use the equipment. I wish whoever schedules that good luck…

He shows me the current state of things, and I can see that they’re installing a number of machines and power tools, apparently some directly from other’s workshops, some bought. The plumbers and electricians finished just yesterday, and there’s still the sawdust here and there, but they’re doing most of that work themselves.

I set up a mana collection formation and distribution network for the low, low price of I also want access to this place, and would like some guidance on how to properly smith stuff. I also work a bit more on the magical equipment while finishing and setting up the magical components for a set of three small bloomeries, as well as teach everyone present how to operate it.

That evening I check the social media as usual and find an interesting conversation in r/eikelispotting, a subreddit for some reason dedicated to spotting and cataloging Leda’s and my appearances and our various forms. It started as a joke among bird spotters after images of my birdkin form circulated with someone asking what bird it was, they then made a subreddit for that, later deciding to include Leda, and, well. That’s the internet for ya.

Leda hasn’t been seen the last three days, so they’re speculating where she went. It’s amusing to read until I get to this comment, and the thread it started: “I spoke to her last week, and she said her egg was about to hatch. Maybe she’s nursing her baby?”

…

I missed it. Damnit! I should’ve seen it coming, too, since she had it before we even met. Well, that’s another reason to head home, and it might quiet down some of the more vocal people I’ve turned down. Now that’s gonna be on my mind until I get back, and I just got rid of- nope, don’t want it back, Focus on finishing everything here first so that I can head home ASAP.

I say farewell to Karma after finishing the last of the magical equipment (for now, anyway) and setting up magical shielding of various types in the walls as well as to separate areas. The result is quite magnificent, with the mana density having risen to past what my apartment had before I flew here.

Wait, shit, I didn’t turn that off, I guess I’ll find out if there is a max size to magic crystals.

The forge is already in use, too, and the heat is contained to just the sections with the furnaces and bloomeries, though with both magic and technological means of circulating the air, and the internal walls can be dropped too. Not that it should be needed, the blacksmiths have a spell to increase their heat resistance and have started enchanting their aprons and other clothes.

“Thanks for fixing up the spearhead. When I get back, you better have figured out some cool techniques so we can make some artifact level… I dunno, super blacksmith hammer or something?”

“Haha, will do. Have fun with your new son or daughter!”

“I already-! Know what, not worth it. Maybe I’ll bring em over next time and see how you like being played with by a wyvern or two.”

“It can’t be that bad with how much you’ve been looking forward to it.”

“Yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that. Maybe I should look for a resurrection spell. Anyway, I gotta go now to get there in time. Until next time!”

And with that I’m off, stopping by an American-Canadian border check to make sure everything's in order before flying east-northeast to some small town on the Canadian east coast where I spend the night.

I the morning I set off, aiming for Greenland’s southern tip, and some six hours later see it in the northern distance as I continue towards Iceland. Thanks to moving forward in time zones, by the time I reach Reykjavik it’s dark, and with a cover of clouds it becomes dark indeed. Not that cities are hard to see, but the sparse moonlight makes it somewhat hard to see how far up I am, and I’m not sure how much I trust the GPS altitude.

Waking up after a surprisingly long, but still a bit too short sleep, I enjoy a breakfast more like what I'm used to, before heading out to sell stuff for a few hours, since the last flight is relatively short. It’s nice to hear my name pronounced properly too, despite the accent. It’s those small things…

When a customer, or rather a small group of teenagers who did not buy anything insists I have to come with them so they can show me something, I decline, stating that I don’t have much time here before flying home.

Eventually I relent and agree to come with them if interest dies out. I kinda regret that when interest dies out a bit less than one hour before I plan to leave, but I guess you can’t compare this little city to the ones I’ve gotten used to in the US. And given how insistent they were, it should at least be somewhat interesting.

Less than a minute after sending an SMS to the number I was given, they practically storm out of a nearby cafe. Ok, so either they’re really bored, or this should be good. After calming them down they tell me it’s twenty minutes away by car, or a bit longer by bus and then skis. The only problem is, none of them can drive, and the bus just left.

Sigh. “Okay, so is there any of you who can not you magic? No? Good. I’m gonna form a mana link between us, and then I’ll levitate us over there. You guys will need to tell me the way. Okay?”

That seems to be more than okay, and by going over any obstacles it takes only fifteen minutes to reach the spot. I put them down and look around, not finding anything remarkable, except for the far that there is actually some trees here, while most of the surrounding land is pretty barren. “So, what do you want to show me?”

One of the two girls in the group pats the back of a boy who found the trip a bit too extreme and tell the others to go ahead while he recuperates.

“Come on, it’s just in here!” A much more energetic boy explains as he walks in among the trees.

They seem almost tense as I follow them. After just hearing our footsteps in snow for a while, the remaining girl breaks the silence, pointing to my feet “Isn’t it cold like that?”

“A little bit, but these feet are actually very insulating, and I can just use magic to heat up, too.”

They stop in front of two trees that are slightly taller than the rest and form a sort of arch over the trail, each with a little red strip among their branches, and footprints in the snow are all over the place. “Here!”

“Oh?”

“Yeah! You, you go first.”

I shrug and walk past the tree to whatever it is they want to show me, but come to a stop with an involuntary shudder just after walking under the trees.

“What the…” is all I can say after processing what I sense.