My day started at the brisk of dawn. Not because of a rigid lifestyle, nor was it for the lack of blinds. But the simple fact that Valeriana always awoke then. She would shuffle closer in my arms and hang there while trying to wake me up with gentle gestures. Afterward, she would stand up and lazily stretch – often drawing it out for my watching pleasure – before putting on each piece of clothing as she refused to sleep wearing any. And If I were to sleep in, I’d have missed all of that.

We’ve come to adopt a routine of sorts. I’d follow suit, getting dressed. We’d both head out together for an early morning’s hunt, securing breakfast, lunch, and possibly dinner. Though, it was more of a relaxing walk, really. Today had proceeded as usual for the most part. The sky was not fully bright yet, everyone was still asleep, and we were standing at the entrance of the forest – ready to start. However, before we could take a step inside, we heard a faraway shout. Turning around, we saw a figure was waving in the distance.

“My Lord!” The Wyvern – in her humanoid form – started sprinting towards us, and naked as the day she was born, her assets were freely bouncing in the air.

It was more of a natural reaction than a conscious decision for my eyes to be drawn to the sight. And even though I was looking straight ahead, I did not miss Valeriana’s eyes narrowing. She took a step closer to me, tightening our linked arms – her elbow accidentally jamming into my ribs.

Less than a minute after, she was finally before us – panting slightly. Her eyes glanced at the Cat glued to my side, and uninterested, they settled back on me. She remained silent for a moment, appearing conflicted; however, before I could say anything – she bowed her head. “May I… accompany you, my Lord.” Strangely enough, there was no hesitation in her voice.

Her head stayed low, awaiting my answer. I looked to my left to find Valeriana’s frown. Well, it was supposed to be our time together, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn the winged-woman down. Her confidence hasn’t been the best as of late, and a single day wouldn’t hurt. “Sure.” I smiled, ignoring the clear displeasure emanating from my right. “We’d love to have you.”

Inclining her whole upper body down, the Wyvern spoke with the most sincere tone I had heard from her yet. “Thank you, my Lord! I will not be a burden.” Flaring her wings, she folded them around her – cocooning herself. And moments later, her figure started to change: Growing in size yet shrinking in height, looking less and less human with each passing second.

I was expecting a repeating of last time, but I couldn’t be more wrong. Standing on her hind legs and two wings, her shoulders reached my chest. And with her neck straightened, we were standing head to head – her horns sticking in the air. She was heavier now, much heavier – that I knew – but it hadn’t occurred to me she was that much larger. Hell, she was almost big enough to support me riding on top.

With no words said from our side, the Wyvern spoke first, “I shall humbly follow your lead, my Lord.” Beating her wings, she summoned a gust of wind and flew high enough to seem no larger than a bird. She settled in the sky, continuously circling above us.

The display had not only left me impressed. Valeriana was staring at the sky, mouth agape. My chuckle woke her up from her stupor, and folding her arms, she pursed her lips in a pout.

“Come on.” I threw my arm around her. “It’s just for today. I’ll make it up to you.”

“You better,” she mumbled, coiling her tail around me.

We fell into a steady pace, strolling through the greenery in comfortable silence – the Wyvern hovering above us. Life had taken a sharp turn, from unruly chaos to tranquil peace. I had been so focused on what was next for so long that a break from the worries felt especially gratifying. Relaxing my shoulders, I took a deep breath. The cold morning air filled my lungs, and a satisfied smile split my lips.

Keeping her eyes on the surroundings, Valeriana tightened her hold on me. And sadly, my peace was short-lived as she reminded me of some unsavory subjects. “Did you speak with the bug yet?”

A sigh escaped me. “Nope,” I replied. “I’m not bothering with her until I need her mana for something.”

She shot me a questioning look.

“I’d rather work on my engravings for now.” Her eyes did not leave me, and I awkwardly rubbed my neck. “Honestly, I’m not sure what to do. On one hand, I don’t want to force her with the seal, but on the other-”

“Why not?” Valeriana interrupted.

I paused. “This is a hunch, but I don’t think the process would be the least bit enjoyable if she truly resisted. The damage done then would be… irreversible. I just don’t get why she’s playing these petty games. She needs me, and I need her.”

Valeriana did not respond, remaining quiet for almost a minute before humming. “I see…”

I waited for her to add something but was disappointed. Seeing the pondering look on her face and unable to hold my curiosity, I asked, “What?”

“Don’t worry about it.” She smiled brightly, tapping my arm. “I’ll handle this.”

I couldn’t stop the momentary halt in my steps.

“You trust me… don’t you?” Her tone was light, yet the multiple undertones beneath were anything but.

“I do…” Some of my doubts leaked through. If anything, Valeriana was definitely reliable, albeit she often needed a tad bit of direction. And with something as delicate as this, I wasn’t so certain I could leave it to her.

Rolling her eyes, she poked my shoulder. “I’m going to talk to her, not torture her. What do you even think of me?” She huffed, raising her nose.

I couldn’t sense anything nefarious in her words. The malicious little seed she held for the Arachne was no bigger than before. Raising my arm, I tried alleviating the mood by fumbling with her ears. And judging by the purrs that followed, I was successful. I doubted her endeavor would bear any fruit, but it wouldn’t make matters worse than they were, probably.

Nothing else of note occurred for the rest of our walk. We soon reached the tall grass, marking the beginning of our hunt. As usual, critters, small animals, and snakes were all around us, hiding in the yellow plains. We weren’t here for any of them, though, as anything less than a bore would not feed the masses awaiting. Our prey was an unusual-looking deer. It stood a little over 4 feet tall, weighing around 600 pounds with a neck too long for its body. Yet despite its peculiar anatomy, its yellow striped brown coat made it almost indistinguishable from the surroundings. I doubt we would have spotted it without my mini-map.

We stood a safe distance away, careful not to spook the animal, discussing what to do next. Normally, once I have our game located, I’d survey the land around it: finding any trouble stalking in the grass. Valeriana would then follow the safest path, sneak up on the beast, and quickly finish things up. Now, however, we had a third member, hundreds, possibly thousands, feet in the air. And unable to neither reach her nor call out, in fear of alerting the deer, we remained where we were, awaiting the Wyvern to come down.

Thankfully, it didn’t take her long to catch on. She circled above us twice before making up her mind and deciding on descending. As the dark figure above grew bigger and bigger, it was becoming very clear that our intentions were misunderstood – the direction of her falling was not towards us.

Valeriana shot me a glance, and I answered her with a shrug. There wasn’t much to do now other than watch, though I kept a piece of candy on hand, just in case.

The spectacle took no more than mere seconds. The deer was unsuspecting, happily grazing on the dead grass. Pulling her wings inward, the Wyvern dove straight down, picking up speed and tearing through the sky. She was a blur, too fast for my eyes to make out. Yet at the last possible moment, the deer dodged the flying bullet, dashing to the side and bolting away with all its might. The Wyvern spread her wings again and glided across the plain. In an instant, she was onto the deer, taking hold of its body and wrestling it into submission. The final strike was a crunch on its windpipe. The poor antlerless beast did not stand a chance.

I exchanged another look with Valeriana before heading towards the gloating huntress. She was seated beside the carcass, head raised. Entirely undisturbed by the blood flowing down her mouth, she greeted us with a calm gaze and a bow. Yet contrary to the collected and confident demeanor, she seemed anxious – her body tense and tail twitching slightly.

“Well done!” I put as much enthusiasm into it as I could. She was proving herself again, and the least I could do was acknowledge that. Though, I’d have to talk to her about teamwork and coordination at some point.

The Wyvern lowered her head further. My compliment had not gone unnoticed, and the single swish of her tail betrayed her poised bearing.

“That was exhilarating to witness,” I continued, evoking another swish. “I see that you’ve made great progress already. I can't wait to see you once you've made a full recovery.”

That did the trick. The scaly limb was all but wagging now. “Thank you… my Lord.” Her voice was shaking with what I presumed was pride.

I took a step forward, aiming to grab the deer – but I was interrupted.

“Come on, we just started!” Valeriana exclaimed. “Find another one.”

“Carrying two of these would be difficult.” I squinted at her. Our bond relayed an odd feeling: Not exactly jealousy but something along those lines. “It’d also be too much work to butcher more than one.”

She was about to retort but willingly stopped herself. Taking a quick peek at the Wyvern, she sighed. “Fine,” she said, folding her arms and planting her feet into the ground.

There was no need for rope this time. I squatted before the carcass and took each pair of legs in one hand. Grunting, I threw it over my shoulder and stood up. The animal’s long neck proved to be quite the boon as it hung limp behind my back, blood trailing onto the ground instead of on my body. Turning around, I was met with the Wyvern’s face twisted in angst. How such an inhuman face relayed this amount of emotion still escaped me. But seeing her eyes were fixated on the burden I carried, figuring out the why was simple.

“Baby steps.” I patted her on the shoulder. “Take your time to gather your strength. We’re not in a hurry.”

She replied with a deep, solemn nod.

I held in my sigh. Damn, she really knew how to make me feel guilty. Rolling the body on my shoulders, I started the march back.

Valeriana fell beside me, though silent and with furrowed brows. The Wyvern lingered for a moment, unsure, and with a bit of hesitation, she retook the sky.

With the winged woman gone, I was about to speak, but Valeriana beat me to it. “You still can’t figure out the reason for the sudden strength?”

I shrugged, unconstrained by the weight on my shoulders. “Not yet. Nothing is different. My manapool is the same, and I received no new gifts. But I’m definitely not complaining.”

She shook her head. “Unknown strength is not a blessing, and unchecked, it could very much be a curse.” She paused. “Since we can’t do much about its origin, we’ll just have to adapt.”

Hearing such an ominous statement, I almost fell headfirst. “That… would certainly be great. It’s a shame I don’t have the time right now.” Valeriana’s understanding of training was… skewed, and it clearly showed on those poor students of hers. By dusk, they were reduced to walking corpses.

“No.” She vehemently shook her head. “Your strength is wild and untempered. Not only is it a danger to others, but even more so to yourself. I’m sure you can spare an hour or two a day.”

Over the next half an hour or so, I presented half a dozen of well-crafted excuses, all of which fell short to reason. Releasing a dejected sigh, I surrendered to my fate, though, not before bargaining for no more than two hours of training a day. It was twice as long as the exercises I did back at the inn, but it was the best I could settle for.

We dropped off the hunt to the dwarves and split off. The Wyvern remained in the sky, and Valeriana found her disciples up and awaiting. The trio’s determination was admirable, and honestly, a bit creepy – especially the one girl in the group. The exertion was getting to her; she was glaring at everything and everyone, her gaze intensifying on me in particular.

Spreading my arms, I sunk into my sofa. The last couple of days were spent solely in the unoccupied room. But, calling it as such would be unfair – it was nowhere as empty as it were before. The higher part of the walls extended a bit further out, forming shelves and holding my various collections of books. Similarly, the center was raised and molded into a circular-shaped table, atop of which were a series of paper and a number of different stone-made contraptions.

Regrettably, the time spent here wasn’t exactly lucrative. My fumbling with engraving produced some interesting results, though nothing worth mentioning. I knew my previous streaks with the craft were borne of luck, but I never imagined it would be this hard.

The rest of the day was lost, much alike the ones before: Hours spent buried in books and surrounded by dirt. It wasn’t until my stomach growled that I dropped everything. One great advantage of the shop’s inventory was that any item held within remained in the same state as it was once stored. Meaning the extra serving from last night’s broth was just as good as it was yesterday. Again, I pitied those under Val’s mentorship – she had strict dietary restrictions.

I was waiting for the food to cool down when I heard footsteps. Figuring out the identity of the guest wasn’t difficult – it was the last person I wanted to meet right now.

As the tapping of the stone floor grew louder and louder, a familiar rabbitkin appeared at the entrance of the room. She stared at me. Her passive expression flickered, and like a switch turned on, she smirked. “The kitten came to me. She said you needed my help.”

I did not reply.

The Arachne puckered her lips. “I’m still upset, you know.” Looking away, she played with one of her dangling white ears.

My brows rose on their own. I regarded the girl in front of me for a moment before turning my head and picking up my spoon. The food was getting cold.