Today is the 22nd of the 7th month. Today I start my enchanting lessons with Gimbo.

I open my eyes and slowly my body stirs, waking up from my dreams, yet I still feel like I'm dreaming.

Master Hilde is dead, I have been bought by a new master and he's a hero in the making. We even have a small dragon that can speak too! And now I'm going to learn enchanting from a master craftsman.

How can I even start to process all this? I'm just so... happy!

"Masterr~...!" I hug the fluffy pillow and moan.

Hilde gave me the freedom to love but I never thought I would meet someone like master Wolf! If only he would hug me as he does with Alissa and the others...

I hear a knock on the door, "Lina? It's time to get up," Alissa says from behind the door.

"Y-yes!"

Oh no, Alissa has good hearing, did she hear my moaning?

I shake my head and breathe in. No point in being ashamed of that, Alissa is helping me get closer to master.

I look at my wardrobe. The cute white and black dress is there, waiting to be used again.

Master liked it. I wonder, when will I be able to use it again?

I grab the usual clothes and put them on. I will have a lot more opportunities in the future to... seduce master.

Ciel and Alissa greet me with warm smiles. Sister Ciel pats my head and I feel like laying my head on her lap and taking a nap.

I can't! Focus! I have to study hard today!

Hana comes out of the room and her eyes run through my body, making me shiver. I don't understand why but I want her to hug me like I want master Wolf.

Am I a lesbian? No, I want... uh... I want master Wolf to... to... wait, what was I thinking about, again?

Roxanne comes out and I feel like pouting.

She's always so mean, but she's master's fiancee, I have to keep on her good side.

Master comes down and I feel my heart tighten. He gives me a smile along with his greeting and my face cramps, all I can do is nod back.

Sister Alissa, help me!

Aoi quietly crawls to the table, "Kweh!" She cutely cries in happiness when breakfast is served.

Those fangs are scary, though.

Then Ciel talks about how master is "Gifted" and how we all need to keep a secret about it.

Wow, another secret... Master is so amazing, so many mysteries and obscure powers. I mean, he literally gave life to a pair of dolls yesterday. What else can I think besides how amazing that sounds?

We finish eating and the time comes for me to leave. A little sad that I will be left alone with a moldy beard, not that Gimbo has any mold, or beard, I enter the dinghy alongside Ciel and we start to fly through the city.

"Feeling excited?" Ciel asks me.

"Yes," I nod repeatedly.

She chuckles softly and pats me again.

I want to take a na~p... Now that I think about it, her breasts do look like very soft pillows... and also massive.

We stop at the entrance to the Noble's Quarters and show our ID. The guard ogles Ciel's breasts and I'm not sure if I should feel envious or not. She sure doesn't look too pleased, though.

We start flying through the Quarters and I look around at every building that I can. They all look beautiful and sturdy, though the bright colors they are painted with hurt my eyes.

"You enjoying the view?" Ciel asks me warmly.

I nod repeatedly, "Most buildings here in Rabanara look like they would crumble with the smallest tremor, but not these." -I motion to the ones around us- "They would certainly survive a few monster attacks."

"They already did. Rabanara already survived many, many monster attacks without much damage. You would need a massive siege to enter the walls."

"Hm, the sieges here are different from Mountainhome's. If the monsters learned how to tunnel underground you would be in trouble, the foundation of the houses in here is not even reinforced."

"Perhaps we have the guardian of the Sea of Trees to thank for that," she smiles so brightly and I feel like blushing. "If monsters started to create tunnels they would certainly kill many trees on the Sea."

I nod repeatedly. Makes sense.

I scoot closer to Ciel and lay my head on her arm. I can at least do this, right?

We reach Gimbo's house and I think that we found the most beautiful house in this town. A black house with red streaks carved out of huge blocks of stone; couldn't do it out of a single rock, this far from Mountainhome, but it's still beautiful. There's a low shingle roof where small mushrooms and moss grows; and a concave facade that increases the amount of surface area for carvings, with the perfect observation point being right in front of the gate.

The carvings show the glorious front gate of Hombombein, the impregnable fortifications of the main wall, the long and complex artificial waterfalls, the Mountain's Scar, and the towering statues of our ancestors lining the main road. Even though I only saw it twice I still remember it vividly.

"Wow, this is different," Ciel comments, making me giggle.

We approach the guard in front and soon a human servant comes to greet us. He wears a very thin chain necklace, on it hangs his slave tag. I suddenly remember I'm wearing a slave collar too and get very conscious of it.

"Greetings, Grand guests," the servant bows to us and I almost yell for him to stop.

Ciel greets him back but I can only nervously nod.

Ciel puts a hand on my shoulder and speaks softly, "You'll be fine, you deserve as much respect as anyone will give."

I groan internally and nod.

With a last soft pat on the head, she sends me away. The servant eyes my collar for a moment but pays it no more mind.

The garden is simple and short, so we quickly enter the house. The hot and humid atmosphere changes for a cold and fresh one. It would be silly to think that an enchanter's house wouldn't be filled with small enchantments like [Breeze] to keep the air perfectly fresh.

On the left of the room there's a large set of sofas around a glass coffee table; and a large fireplace with a visible jewel on the middle of the mantel shelf, an enchantment, possibly the one who turns it on. On the right, there is a bar with crystal glasses hanging on top and bottles upon bottles of alcoholic beverages on shelves on the wall.

Forget about alcohol, Alissa said master doesn't like to deal with drunks. But if it's only one drink... Focus! I'm a slave! Grand Bombur wouldn't ever offer it to me.

Deeper in the room, after the bar, there is a spiral staircase that leads us to the second floor. After climbing it, we pass a long corridor with red thick carpet and finally we reach Gimbo's workshop.

The servant opens the door to me and I'm dazzled by the uncountable number of shining lights. On shelves in each side wall, there are jewels from all shapes and sizes, reflecting a colorful rainbow of lights. On long tables in front, there are multiple types of carving stations; holding arms of all shapes and sizes; carving needles of varying thicknesses and materials; multiple weapons, armor, and a few common objects being enchanted, all in multiple levels of completeness; a variety of physical-carving tools; and two cauldrons with magical heating tools that are used to melt gold and silver.

The room is very well lit; the ceiling and the front wall are made entirely of glass, letting in a large amount of natural light. Two very strong magic tool lights on the ceiling make everything even brighter.

"Hello, Lina," Gimbo says. He spins on his floating chair and removes the thick magnifying glasses from his nose. His face still looks young but his eyes show a lot of tiredness, a strong sign of his old age. He really has some good inheritance to keep looking this handsome at his age. His hair is a deep black and very healthy looking, reminds me of master.

Would master get jealous if I praised another man's looks? I hope he would.

The old dwarf makes a nearly imperceptible amount of mana course through his body.

Oh, he must be really old if he's using [Spirit of Gaia] just so he can walk.

I bow deeply to him, "Thank you for accepting me, Grand Bombur," I say.

"Ah... no need for this amount of formality when in private. Just call me Gimbo and that's it," he says softly.

I straighten. "U-understood, Gimbo."

I enter the room and the servant closes the door behind me.

Gimbo smiles and releases a soft sigh. "Now, let's start. How's your [General Enchanting] level?"

"Three."

"Hm..." He strokes his non-existent beard, "You stopped right at the beginning?"

"Yes, I did," I respond and nod.

"'Perception'?"

"Fourteen."

"[Sense Mana]?"

"One."

"[Mana Control]?"

"Two."

He makes a slightly disappointed face. "Let's start with the basics, then. This way, we can make sure that you are not missing anything." He motions me to a chair beside him. When I sit on it he turns on its [Telekinesis] enchantment and it starts to float in the air.

"What are the essential components of an enchantment?" He asks me.

"Channeling, attuning, mixing, coding, assembling, and... uh, manipulating."

"Correct. When was the last time you enchanted something?"

"Hm... When I was ten years old?" I tap my lips with my finger, "I think it was four or five years ago."

He turns around and pulls a carving station. It looks old but sturdy, the needles are thick and long. It's a training station...

"We will have to start at the beginning..." He looks at me with a little mirth and pity.

It's like I'm a child all over again.

I groan internally and pull the station towards me.

I shouldn't complain, this is the best thing that has happened to me so far. Well, second best.

We spend a long time carving paths into metal balls. Gimbo's caution pays off as I make hundreds of little mistakes.

"What's your 'Dexterity'?" He asks in a neutral tone to not offend me.

"Twelve."

"You are just out of practice."

I groan internally.

"How's your soul potential?" He continues.

"Positive, very positive."

"Continue practicing and soon you will gain another level."

I nod and continue working.

After some time I see that Gimbo stopped paying attention to me and now looks out of the window. We have a good view of the backyard, where I see a large plantation with all kinds of dwarven surface plants.

Kneeled over a small patch of Rock-Cracker Moss is another dwarf, by their figure must be a woman. She rises and waves towards us, Gimbo waves back and smiles faintly. The woman has light brown wavy hair that reaches her waist, it shines so much in the sun that even Roxanne would be envious.

"My wife, Nala," Gimbo says softly. "How about we take a break?"

I nod to him and he deactivates the enchantments of the chairs.

We go down the stairs and exit the house towards the back. The amount of familiar plants makes me nostalgic. For humans, they might look gnarly, but for us, they look welcoming.

Once we get closer, we see the old dwarven woman scraping off excess Rock-Cracker from the patch of stones. She sees us coming and slowly rises, having to use a lot of [Spirit of Gaia] to do it.

She doesn't have an inheritance similar to his, not everyone can be so lucky.

Her face is slightly wrinkled and her body is thinner than Gimbo's; but her beautiful hair is the only thing that retains some youth, it is bouncy like an elven ear.

They both have perfect hair, must be elven products from the High Forest.

"Bo, is that your new apprentice?" The woman asks in a hoarse voice.

"Yes, Nala, she is Lina."

We stop in front of her and she leans over the examine me, "My! How cute you are, you must be so young," she says softly and chuckles, "What a shame about the collar, but if Bo is teaching you then there must be a special reason."

"She has a very sharp tongue. She managed to convince me her Spark is still lit even while inside her cage." Gimbo sends me a wry smile.

Nala smiles wide and leans closer to me.

I wouldn't say I have a 'sharp tongue', I was just working towards what I wanted.

"It also seems she's quite shy when the [Spirit Light]s turn to her," Gimbo continues.

I twiddle my thumbs but no words come out.

"Would you like to have some tea?" Nala asks sweetly, "It's easier to talk when we are all sitting and eating something sweet."

I nod repeatedly and she chuckles. "The cookies must be almost ready, let's walk back to the kitchen," she says.

As we walk, she removes her gardening clothes and stores them in her [Item Box].

"We have a nice amount of Rock-Cracker now, Bo. Tomorrow I will make some Crackin' Crackers," Nala comments.

"Leave it for after tomorrow so Lina can eat them too," Gimbo says.

I look at them wide-eyed, "Y-you don't have to bother sharing it with me," I say.

"You must miss home occasionally too, right? It is no bother to share, on the contrary, let us all reminisce of home together," Nala says.

"Thank you."

"You are welcome."

Their kitchen is small and warm, it is made of white stone so we can see any dirt. There's a halfling chef cooking with human tools and there's a small rock oven on the corner, where most of the heat is coming from.

Nala opens the oven and pulls out the tray of purple cookies, they are made with Poppins-Sage. She grabs a plate and slides the cookies onto it.

"Liolain, serve some tea for us, please," Nala says as we sit at a small table.

The blonde halfling man stops his work and quickly comes towards us, brimming with energy. A complete tea set on a metal tray *poofs* out of his [Item Box] just like Alissa likes to do.

"Oh, hello, I am Liolain, the chef. You are...?" He asks me while pouring us all some simple green herbal tea. His legs seem to constantly twitch in a rhythm as if he can't stand to stay still.

"I am Lina, slave of Wolf Ryder. I am here to learn enchanting from Grand Gimbo," I say with a small bow.

"I consider my home to still be a private place," Gimbo comments and sips his tea.

"U-understood," I say. Liolain gives me a handsome smile that shows a large set of white teeth, making my heart tighten.

Do not tease me, please. My heart is already taken.

"Just a slave...?" Gimbo asks suggestively, raising an eyebrow. "Considering how much you were attached to him, I thought you were something more."

Liolain's smile reduces and he raises an eyebrow, questioningly.

"F-for now..." I say and keep my head down.

"That's enough, do not tease a pure maiden's heart," Nala says, disapprovingly.

"Apologies," Gimbo bows lightly and straightens.

"Accepted," I say and bow lightly too.

Liolain chuckles. He finishes serving us all tea and returns to his cooking.

"Where are you from, dear?" Nala asks softly.

"The surface, a village called Bersidon."

"Not part of our travels, I believe. We didn't go north of Hombombein and I believe it's there, correct?" Gimbo asks.

"Yes." I nod.

"How are you adapting to living here?" Nala continues.

I shrug, "I miss a lot of things from home, but it has been so long that I barely remember it all."

She looks at Gimbo and smiles, "So do we, but we have our garden here so we barely feel the difference," she says.

"Don't you miss sleeping underground?" I ask.

"The house is good enough," Gimbo says and looks around with a proud smile, "We miss more living around stones than the underground, actually."

"Human houses are far too stuffy and humid. Yes, even halfling ones," Nala says and chuckles softly.

The cook snorts and shrugs without even glancing back.

"Yeah, they let the humidity linger for too long, it's not good for the skin," I say, "Even my master doesn't seem to notice, but I got used to it so it doesn't bother me anymore."

"Well, the advantage of living this close to the High Forest is that you can get some good skincare, occasionally," Nala says with a wink, "Not that it works on my skin anymore, or that you need it, but it helps."

Could I even suggest such a thing to master? I have to talk to Alissa first.

The cookies bubble in my mouth and the sweet flavor of the fruit is released. A sip of bitter tea helps wash it down and make my tongue ready for another cookie.

Master is right, cookies and tea go well together. Sorry, master Hilde, you just weren't the most knowledgeable person about food.

The conversation dies down, and we enjoy the food in silence while the cozy warmth of the oven slowly fades.

Once we are done, Nala waves me goodbye and Gimbo takes me back to the workshop.

"You are improving already," he says while he examines the grooves I carved in the metal ball.

Yes! I'm not a failure!

I grab the thick, sturdy needle and visualize a spot deep inside the metal ball. I let the mana leave through my hand and enter the needle. It converts my mana into "destruction" and materializes it inside the metal ball, instantly annihilating matter that touches it.

Gimbo feeds his "attuning" needle and tries to locate the small empty spot I created. "Good precision, but the amount of mana that you used is minus," he says. I contain my cringe and keep my face stoic.

He looks at the clock and turns to me, "This is good for a first day, we will continue after tomorrow."

I nod and he turns the Emergency Ring in his hand, in a few seconds the slave servant comes. "Sebastian, take her to the living room while she waits for her master," Gimbo says to the servant.

I turn my Emergency Ring green and follow the man. Once we reach the living room, he motions for me to sit on one of the very comfortable-looking sofas. He stands a few steps away, with a perfect posture. The man is an imperial, he has black hair, faint brown skin, strong jaw, and a wide nose.

It is a little awkward to stay in silence for so long. I want to ask how is his life as a slave, but I don't have the courage. He looks completely stoic, yet proud. He seems to be living a pretty good life.

If his master was killed by someone... or something, would he rejoice and ask for freedom or try to avenge him? Would he prefer to serve his late master's family or search for someone else?

Was it right for me to leave the Roths...?

Ciel suddenly appears in the front door and I'm relieved that I don't have to stay alone with my thoughts anymore.

I scurry to her and she smiles warmly, making me blush.

"Had fun?" She asks.

"Yes..."

Wait, we sound like mother and child.

We climb the dinghy and go back home.

"I think that I will be able to enchant Alissa's bow real soon," I say, "If I... If I get a crystal I'm sure Gimbo will teach me [Loosen]."

"That's great, we can buy one for it, then," Ciel responds calmly.

"But... I can end up messing up and ruining the crystal." I lift my eyes to her and watch for her reaction.

She smiles and pats my head, "Then we will buy another crystal."

I twiddle my thumbs and lean closer to Ciel, so she has a better angle to pat my head. I almost fall asleep on the way home.