I woke up to the sound of my phone’s message notification. Groaning and still unable to open my eyes properly, I clawed at the nightstand in an attempt to grab it. My other hand was busy trying to remove a few persistent strands of hair from my mouth. Thankfully, the numbers on the screen were big enough that I could identify them despite my blurred vision.

Late morning, though it was still too early for me. A long yawn escaped my mouth as I slid my thumb along the dots on the screen, clumsily trying to complete the pattern and unlock the thing. After a few failed attempts, I was able to get past the security screen and check the message.

Mom: [We’ll be arriving earlier than expected!]

I blinked slowly, staring at the text. I was, most definitely, not the same morning person I was before. Another yawn made itself present as I typed my own text.

Nora: [Arriving wear?]

Ugh, stupid phone…

Nora: [where*]

A couple of minutes passed before she finally saw my question and replied.

Mom: [The centre, silly! Where else? Don’t tell me you forgot we are visiting today.]

Reading this, my eyes shot wide open. The sudden energy burst the message gave me was better than any coffee I had in the past. In retrospect, that really wasn’t that good of a comparison. I rarely had that stuff to begin with. The only way for me to drink the bitter beverage was by completely masking its taste with as many things as I could. It was probably worse after the age regression. I hadn’t tried it, nor was I that interested in finding out.

In any case, I was now fully awake, scrolling all the way up the message history in search of any indication of this surprise visit. I found none.

Nora: [Why didn’t you tell me yesterday!?]

Nora: [And what do you mean you’ll be here earlier?]

Nora: [How much earlier?]

Nora: [What happened to travelling when the sun is down?]

Mom: [Oh, we didn’t think it was necessary. We have the camping things Anna told us. They’re quite visible, so no one that sees us will suspect anything. And we were supposed to visit every weekend, right? We couldn’t go last time, but that doesn’t mean every week will be the same. Do you want me to remind you from now on?]

Nora: [Please do. And you haven’t told me why you’re coming early.]

Mom: [Right. We’ll be there sooner because classes ended early today. That’s what Allen says, at least. He told us there was an emergency drill in case of culling infection. I tried calling the school to confirm with them, but the lines are all busy. Anyway, he’s already on his way here. He placed his things in the car before leaving the house, so we’ll be ready to leave as soon as he arrives. Dad says we should be there by lunch.]

I sighed. That gave me a little over two hours to get prepared, so it wasn’t as bad as I expected. I had the feeling Dad made the decision based purely on the chance to get free food, though. What really worried me was how this sudden change in schedule would be perceived by Dr. Blake, Anna, and the rest of the staff. I didn’t even know if Anna had fully recovered to hear it.

The fastest way to confirm that was by asking Viken or Dr. Blake himself, and judging by the muffled voices I heard coming from outside, that wouldn’t be a problem. I could tell both of them were talking by the terrace. There was no mistaking their voices.

Nora: [Okay, Mommy. I’ll let everyone here know.]

Mom: [Thanks, sweetie. See you there!]

Wait…

Nora: [One more thing.]

Nora: [Is Mary coming?]

Mom: [“You bet I am!” Is what she said. She’s been here all morning, actually. You should see her. She’s wearing those long ears she bought when you went to that fantasy convention last year. Want me to send you a picture?]

Panic came back to me in an instant. I rejected the offer and proceeded to type a new message aimed at my crazy friend.

Nora: [Take those things off right now!]

Mary: [Aw, but I want to fit in!]

Mary: [I don’t think Anna will mind it. She was pretty chill.]

Oh, it’s not Anna that worries me.

Nora: [Just don’t. Please. She’s not the only elf we have now.]

Mary: [0.0]

Nora: [Yeah, I’m afraid you may offend the others if you wear them.]

I honestly doubted they would even agree to meet another group of people so soon, but it was always good to be prepared in case they did. Belaury had mentioned being angered by humans disguising as elves to catch survivors in the past, and I certainly didn’t want Mary to trigger those memories.

Mary: [Booo!]

Mary: [Okay, but you have to show me that crazy new magic of yours as payment!]

Nora: [Sure. Let’s do that.]

It was a small price to pay, though it was likely to affect one of my training sessions with Belaury. I assumed it would be fine as long as I did spend the mana like we agreed.

Mary: [Great! See you in a bit!]

I rolled my eyes. It didn’t surprise me to learn that Mary was already with my family. My parents treated her like another member of our household, and she certainly spent a lot of time with us each week. Additionally, there really wasn’t much she could do before college started. By law, students were given a six-month cooldown period between highschool and their professional studies. Supposedly, it was to clear our minds before the sudden increase in difficulty. We, however, could use that period however we saw fit, and many students took this chance to seek part-time jobs and gain a little extra during that time. I, myself, planned on doing just that. My goal was to earn enough money to buy one of the next generation virtual reality headsets, but fate had decided I would shrink and sprout wings instead.

Had I remained human, I was sure Mary would’ve applied to any job I did just to keep me company. She had no reason to work otherwise. Her family was quite wealthy, after all. The Knights of the Silver Guard were very well paid, and her father was requested by one of our city’s Verzels, the highest ranking position among nobles. Only the royal families were above them.

Despite their economic standing, Mary’s parents were incredibly humble. Clear proof of that was the fact that they enrolled their daughter in the same school I went to. That was how I met my best friend, and it was something for which I was forever grateful.

Smiling at the nice memory, I took a deep breath and locked my phone. I placed it back on top of the nightstand, noticing the fresh claw marks I left on the nightstand when I took the device. My claws weren’t razor sharp, but with enough pressure, they could really do some damage. It wasn’t the first time this happened, either. In fact, all of the furniture in the room, my phone and tablet, and even my bedsheets had accumulated similar damage over time.

I didn’t space out for long, however. There were more important things than a few extra scratches on my nightstand. On that thought, I turned to the window and ran to open it, sticking my head out to look at the terrace right after.

“Don’t you dare jump, Nora!” Anna yelled from below.

My face brightened when I saw her. She was sitting in her own wheelchair next to Sylvia. She was covered in casts, but at least she seemed to be in her usual mood.

I also spotted Viken, who was preparing to give his lesson. His audience was quite big from what I could tell. Allison and Rex were there as expected, but I could also spot Dr. Blake, Lily and Lucy sitting at another table. All of them looked up when Anna spoke.

“I won’t!” I replied. “I’ll be there in a moment! Wait for me, okay?”

“Uh, sure?”

I’ll take that.

With her confirmation, sort of, I dashed to the bathroom and took the quickest shower of my life. Having cold resistance meant I didn’t need to wait for the water to heat up, so it helped speed up the process. After that, I shook my head to get rid of any excess water and let my hair dry naturally whilst I dressed up with some jeans and a peach coloured blouse. My footwear of choice was a pair of white slip-on sneakers. I was thankful I had enough shoes I could wear despite having those annoying hooks protruding from my ankles. Finally, I grabbed my phone, the ring, and the fire stone. Once I made sure the phone was safely attached to my jeans, I left my room in a hurry.

I got quite a few stares on my way down, though no one, other than Jackie, tried to stop me or say anything about it. They all seemed too busy to care. Even the nurse simply limited herself to yell at me not to run with that annoying, overly high-pitched voice of hers. I didn’t listen, of course; only stopping once I was looking at the terrace through the glass of the back door.

Everyone I saw previously was there, chatting with whoever was next to them. Connor and Clarice were also there. The nurse was leaning on a wall behind Anna and Sylvia, probably waiting in case her assistance was required. Connor sat next to Lucy, still making use of the ring Keith gave him. It was a pity Viken’s life magic couldn’t help him, but the illusion spell seemed to be working well enough. Jack and Keith were nowhere to be seen.

“Good morning, everyone,” I said, sliding the door open. “Sorry if I interrupted anything.”

“Worry not, Nora,” Viken replied. “The lesson was only starting.”

I nodded before turning to Anna and walking her way. “How are you doing?”

“A bit sore, but I’m doing fine,” she replied. “Especially after Viken brought a potion to lessen the pain.” The old man bowed faintly in response. “It was quite the shocker waking up to see him sitting in my room, casually chatting with my father.”

It surprised me to hear that. Viken had always been more open-minded than his wife, but I didn’t expect him to go that far right after being discovered. It made sense, though. I assumed elven healers had similar oaths to the ones our own doctors made. Perhaps even stronger if they made them with their gods as witnesses.

“I should thank you as well, Nora.” she continued, drawing back my attention to her.

“Me?”

“You did help slow down my fall. Speaking of which, are you okay?”

“Oh. Yes, I am. You, uh, you kinda cushioned my own fall,” I replied, looking away. “Sorry.”

She smiled gently at me. “Don’t worry. I’m actually relieved to hear that. Apparently, they were so focused on me that they forgot about checking on you, too.”

I shrugged. “To be fair, I also forgot about it.”

She chuckled in response. “I suppose that’s a good sign then. So, what was it that you wanted to tell us? Seeing how early it is for you, I’m guessing it’s important.”

“Right. It’s uh… it’s about my family.”

“Are they not coming anymore?” She gasped. “Was your brother exposed to the virus?”

“W-wait, what?” I stepped back, tripping on the corner of a wood plank that was sticking out. I caught my footing, though Clarice was ready to catch me if I didn’t.

“I suppose that’s a no for both,” Dr. Blake commented. “For context, there was a confirmed MAV outbreak in Rosefield High School today. Jack and Keith should have things under control by now, but we didn’t know if it was your brother’s class.”

“Allen said it was just a drill, though.”

Anna slowly shook her head. “That’s because we told them to say that. They were quick and contacted us as soon as the symptoms showed. Thanks to that, they simply needed to isolate the affected room and send everyone else back home. It was the right thing to do, in my opinion. Remember, the MAV doesn’t exist out there; the Culling does, and that one is lethal. It’s better not to escalate things if we can avoid having an entire school in chaos.”

“I see.” Allen had dodged a bullet there. After all, being my brother made him compatible with the MAV. Pain and transformation aside, it wasn’t good for him to miss his studies because of it. I had been quite lucky to get it just before my grace period started.

“Back on topic, though,” Anna continued. “What was it about your family that you wanted to tell us?”

“Well, Mom sent me a message just now. She said they’re coming early.” I explained, fidgeting on my not so comfortable chair. “But you said they needed to do it while it was dark.”

“Oh, so that was it. We can overlook it this time, I suppose. There’s no real problem as long as they take proper precautions. Do they have their camping disguise?”

“They do.”

“Well, there you go. All people will see is a family heading out to the forest for a camping weekend. How early will they be coming then?”

“They expect to be here by lunch.”

Anna nodded, pulling out her phone. “That’s fine with us. I’ll inform the guys at the gates. They have clearance, but it will be better if security knows to expect them at that time.”

Viken started his lesson shortly after she did. He began by giving Rex and Allison some exercises to build up mana. Apparently, the main reason they had so much trouble getting started was that they had a very small pool and slower growth compared to the rest of us. Viken also pointed out that this had been the case for the dwarfs and giants of old, while vampires were known to be between these two races and the elfkin.

When Dr. Blake asked about the rest of us, Viken said that our attributes confused him greatly. First, there was Jack. They hadn’t interacted much, but he was interested in him and his mana based body. He couldn’t understand how the ghost stayed together and was capable of generating mana without a core. Something similar could be said of Lily. Given the fairy’s size, the core in her chest was too small to function normally. His theory was that she created mana instantly when using magic. Dr. Blake confirmed this theory, stating that he had proof of this. Finally, there was me, who started with a really small pool, yet managed to cultivate it faster than any elf could, according to my teacher.

With his actual students busy, Viken continued by explaining the basics of magic to everyone else. It was, as expected, the same things Belaury had taught me. Having no interest in the repeated knowledge, I moved my chair to a corner. When I was far enough not to interrupt the class, I took out my phone and returned to reading the articles I had saved previously. Unsurprisingly, most of those turned out to be fake, though a few in particular caught my attention. Perhaps I was biassed by my own encounter with that huge spider in my room, but the multiple sightings of strange animals around the world looked legit to me. From acid spitting lizards to oversized armoured fish. Some of them included pictures attached as proof. Unlike the typical cryptid or UFO photographs I was used to, these weren’t blurry at all.

I kept going through them until I reached a video that an exotic reptile breeder posted on Mysterium's forums. I played the video, making sure the volume wouldn’t interrupt the lesson. The man began with a small introduction. There was a particular clutch of eggs he was taking care of. They were scheduled to hatch days ago, but had been delayed. It worried him, and he used a flashlight to verify their condition. By doing this, he discovered they were very much alive. This morning, when he woke up and checked the clutch, he noticed they were finally cracking. He proceeded to show a nest full of eggs from which three-headed baby snakes kept hatching.

The breeder isolated and picked one with his gloved hand. He commented the species was venomous, so he needed to be really careful when handling it. Getting it closer to the camera revealed that two of the heads weren’t actually that. They had mouths with fangs, but no throats. The eyes were fake, too. At one point, he compared them to a species of lizard whose tail was shaped just like the head to confuse predators. A natural evolutionary trait, though clearly impossible overnight.

“Can I see that?” Anna spoke from behind my shoulder, making me jump a little. I hadn’t noticed her moving, despite how loud those wheelchairs were. I nodded and passed her the phone. She replayed the video, and her frown increased with each second she watched. “I need to make a few calls,” she whispered, handing the device back to me. Noticing that Anna was on the move again, Clarice followed her back inside the building. Nobody other than Viken seemed to notice this, though he continued his class..

I continued browsing. The three-headed snakes were, by far, the strangest discovery, although many other animals repeatedly appeared in both picture and video formats. Even the giant spiders starred in a couple of posts. It was clear why the creatures mutated, though I found it weird that so many different species were changing at the same time. The strangest part was how some of those animals had been infected despite being isolated from the outside world. The snakes from the video, for example, took that to the extreme by being born that way.

The sound of steps approaching made me look up. “Do you know where Anna went, Nora?” Dr. Blake asked, bending closer to my face.

I looked around, noticing Viken’s lesson had come to an end. “She went back inside to call someone.”

“Did she mention who?”

I shook my head in response. “No, but it's probably because of the video I showed her. One moment.” I went back to my phone and searched for the video with the snakes. Once I had it, I showed it to him. “This one.”

He took it and watched the video. “Interesting,” he commented as the nest came into view. “That explains it then.”

“I found a few other mutants, too.”

“Show me.”

I did as he told me. By the time we finished, everyone was surrounding us out of curiosity.

“They keep showing up everywhere... At least the snakes are the only new ones this time. All of the others are already documented in the database. That reminds me.” He turned around to face Viken, who had taken a seat on a nearby bench. “Have you spotted anything out of the ordinary in the woods lately, Viken?”

The elf raised an eyebrow. “Concerning these mutants you talk about?”

“Yes,” Dr. Blake responded. “Any plants or animals that look different? enormous spiders, for example.”

The old man went silent as he thought about it. “No,” he replied shortly after. “I saw not such things.”

“I see,” Dr. Blake ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “That’s good, I suppose.” He nodded and straightened up. “I better head back in, too. It seems like today is going to be quite the busy day. Thank you for your time, Viken.”

Viken bowed from his seat. Dr. Blake copied the gesture and walked inside, although not without calling Lily, who followed him in.

“I should probably go too,” Lucy said, standing up.

“Why?” I asked, confused. As far as I knew, she didn’t have anything on her schedule. Since her office was next to the staircase, I had the habit of looking at it wherever I passed by. I hadn’t done it this morning, but I was sure nothing was there the last time I did check.

She nodded. “I must be ready for when the infected students arrive. I’m sure some of them will need my assistance. The doctor also told me that two wildlings should be waking up later today.”

I had completely forgotten about the family with the cat. They were never mentioned, at least not in front of me. I found it weird that only two of them were waking up considering all three were infected on the same day, though. Perhaps the mother was taking longer. It made sense considering the size difference.

“I hope it’s alright with you, Mr. Deinast,” she continued, looking at Connor, who was also getting up.

“It is fine,” he replied. “We can begin your training tomorrow.”

My eyes widened when I realised they would also learn from him. Before I could say anything about it, both the metahuman and the werewolf went inside. That meant the only ones left were Rex and Allison, who were still training, and Sylvia, who now sat by the same table as Viken. The old man was calling me over to him with one hand. I nodded and sat down next to Sylvia.

“Your family is coming, yes?” he asked as I got comfortable.

“Will Bel postpone the class until they leave?”

“I do not know,” he answered, briefly glancing at the forest. If Belaury was there, I couldn’t spot her. The lack of humans made me think she wasn’t. There was no other reason for her to hide. “I will speak with her. If she is in agreement with it, she will come like all days.”

I nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”

Viken returned the gesture and got up. “Well done. You can stop today,” he said as he walked past Rex and Allison. They opened their eyes and bowed to him despite him not looking back. Once he was out of sight, I checked the time to discover that the time was almost up. My family would arrive soon.