After signing up for learning under Ella, the witch in charge of running the entire meet and greet disappeared for a few moments to make a final confirmation with Ella. Less than a minute later, she returned and confirmed that Ella was more than happy to accept me as an apprentice. She would pick me up from my home tomorrow, in the evening, giving me time to tell my family the good news, and then intended to get to know my parents and siblings a little before bringing me to my new sleeping quarters. I gave the witch the details about where I lived, along with a few polite words of thanks for her help. After that, I walked outside of the testing site, to find my mother patiently fiddling with a half-knitted children’s dress while she patiently waited for me.

When I walked out, she gave me an eager grin. 

“Good news, sweetie?” She asked.

I gave my mother a smile. “Good news, but let’s wait until we’re home. I don’t want to repeat myself.”

My mother’s grin widened, and I could see her eagerness and anticipation start to build up, but she still nodded. “All right, sweetie. Let’s go home and hear the good news, then.” 

My mother seemed to practically bounce on her feet as we walked down the streets toward my house, and I could see the occasional townsfolk giving my mother and me a knowing look.

Seeing a parent beside themself in excitement on the day of magic testing, while walking a young child home, seemed to be a universally acknowledged sign of a future witch or shaper. I saw plenty of people give me small, acknowledging nods before they returned to their day to day business. I hadn’t done anything for the city yet, meaning I was just a witch and didn’t have any sort of noble rank, but most people didn’t see the harm in showing normal witches a bit of respect as well. I gave the townsfolk friendly smiles and waves as we walked along. Since they were making an effort to be polite, I felt it was only reasonable to be nice back to them.

When my mother and I walked through the door, to my surprise, Jonathan was the first one to greet me. He was usually out of the house on weekdays to learn under his own master, so I was a little surprised to see him home.

“Little sis!” said Jonathan. He gave my mother a quick hug, before taking a step towards me, and then picking me up giving me a crushing hug as well.

Then, he winced, and put me down. “Goodness gracious little sis, you’re quite sturdy. Your big brother can’t keep up. Maybe you should be the master swordsman instead,” he said, chuckling. I couldn’t help but reflect on how much of a difference there truly was between aa transmigrator with grade 9 Fortitude and a regular human being in this world, especially in terms of physical ability. Jonathan was considered fairly exceptional for his physical abilities and potential as a swordsman, and he had maybe grade 7 in his physical stats. Even though I was suffering under major penalties for being a child right now, my body was still sturdier and stronger than his. And the difference would increase dramatically once my body finished developing. 

“How’d it go? Did you end up as a witch?” he asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

I decided to have a little fun, so I gave him a disappointed look. “No.” My mother gave me a confused look, before she seemed to connect the dots, and I heard her chuckle under her breath. Since I hadn’t told my mother what my test results were yet, she must have assumed I was a shaper, and then correctly realized I was pulling a little prank.

Jonathan’s gaze turned a little softer, and he gave me a soothing pat on the head, instead.

“Don’t worry. Even if you didn’t end up as a witch, you can still do amazing things in the world. Just look at me!” he said, grinning. “Don’t worry. If you’re looking for a master to have an apprenticeship under, I can beg my master to take you in too. Considering how strong and sturdy your body is when you’re only twelve, by the time you turn thirty or so I’m sure you’ll have exceptional talent as a swordsman! Or if you want to learn a craft instead, I can try to get something for you, even if you can’t find one on your own! I’m sure there are plenty of places in the city where you can excel, and I’ll definitely help you with that!”

I felt the urge to laugh bubble up in my stomach. I felt the corners of my lips start to curl up, and decided my prank had gone on long enough.

“I’m a shaper-witch, Jonathan! I’m not a witch at all!”

“Don’t worry, it’s.. wait, you succeeded?” Jonathan’s comforting smile turned into a twisted grin as he looked at me. “You little gremlin! You had me all worked up for a moment, too! I can’t believe you pulled that on me!” Instead of giving me a comforting pat on the head, he decided it was high time he gave me a noogie, as I tried to squirm my way out of his arms. Jonathan started laughing, letting me go, and a moment later, I joined him. “That’s great news, little sis! I’m glad you passed. Not that I think you wouldn’t succeed even without magic, but there are only a few shaper-spellcasters in the entire city! Since you’ve been wearing black for a few years, I assume you want to be an adventurer or a combatant of some kind?” Jonathan seemed to consider his words for a moment, before nodding to himself. “If you’re a shaper-witch, you’ll definitely have plenty of ways to improve your combat skills.” He gave me a teasing glare. “Maybe soon you’ll have no time for your weak older brother, as you journey into the wastelands, slaying Orukthyri left and right and becoming a little legend.”

I chuckled, and gave Jonathan a squeeze on his ribs as well. My mother, who was still standing off to the side, seemed to be having a small fit from excitement after I had said I was a shaper-witch.

“Even if I become stronger, I’ll still remember my roots,” I said, releasing him. Then, I took a few moments to think

“Although my friends and I are thinking about exploring the surface once we get older, but we’ll see what happens when the time comes,” I said, knowing full well that we would be exploring the surface unless something catastrophic happened.

My mother’s expression of excitement froze, turning into a frown as she stared intently at me.

Jonathan, seeing my mother’s stormy expression, winced. “Ermm…”

My mother glared at Jonathan. “Now look what you’ve done! If you didn’t always go around talking about going to the surface and fighting Orukthyri, Miria wouldn’t have worn black for a few years! Now she’s still talking about going to the surface, and she’s a shaper-witch!”

Jonathan started sending me pleading looks for the corner of his eyes, and I resisted the urge to sigh as I stepped in.

“Mama, I wanted to explore the world, with or without Jonathan’s words. I would have ended up aiming to become an adventurer with or without his input; in fact, it isn’t unusual for shapers and witches to go to the surface and look for old research,” I said. “Too much was lost when the second Orthan empire fell, and so collecting old knowledge is critical if one wants to make a difference in the city’s knowledge of spellcasting.” And if one wants to collect a silly amount of Achievement, I mused to myself.

My mother scowled, turning towards me. “Now listen here, Miria. I’ve let you wear black for a few years, but the surface is dangerous. Even if you’re a shaper witch, orukthyri are still a major threat. They were literally built for war with other shaper-spellcasters, and whatever the Orthans did to enhance their war-slaves, it’s lost to time now. If you think going to the surface is a good idea, I’ll need to have a talk with your teacher about your future-”

I seriously doubted my mother would convince a competent and experienced shaper, but my mother’s words did make me realize that I should probably leave this conversation to my teacher and my mother, instead. Since I was six years old, (at least, if I compared my age to a human child), I seriously doubted any argument I made would get through to my mother, so it was best to let an adult make them instead.

Thus, I quietly tuned out my mother’s rambling for a minute or two, until I heard a door creak open. My mother stopped grumbling at me, and turned to see who had interrupted her tongue-lashing session.

I saw Ruman make his way into the room, before giving me a curious glance. “Judging by the fuss you guys are making, I gather you did something silly, little sis?” He said, giving me a curious look. Then, almost as an afterthought, he looked me up and down. “Did you pass either test?”

I nodded. “Both of them. My teacher is coming tomorrow to meet my family and pick me up,” I said.

“I’m glad for you,” said Ruman, his gaze measured and steady. My mother seemed more distracted my Ruman’s entrance, which made me happy. I also gave Ruman another glance.

Over the years, Ruman was the sibling that had changed his attitude the most. I still remembered that when he was younger, he had been practically attached to Jonathan as a third arm, and had seemed almost as excited about swords and fighting as Jonathan. However, as he grew older, Ruman had started to favor more scholarly pursuits, and now he was developing into a proper bookworm instead of the little kid who had hero-worshiped his brother for years. He had gained an apprenticeship with one of the merchants who owned a few smaller metal caverns, and worked as an accountant in exchange for teaching and knowledge. He was thin and reedy now, unlike my tall and muscular oldest brother.

I quickly made my way towards Ruman, before the two of us hugged each other, and Ruman gave me a warm smile. “I hope she didn’t chew you out too badly,” he whispered in my ear, and I giggled.

So he had done it on purpose. 

Finally, as I was pulling away from Ruman, I heard a slightly bratty voice from an older girl sound out.

“Miria! You came back!” said my sister, who appeared from out of her doorway. “Did you end up with magic?”

I nodded, and grinned. “I am now a caster-shaper, Laura. Behold, my future unmatched magical prowess!” I waved my arms around a little bit, pretending to shoot a spell off. Of course, I avoided putting any actual essence into my ‘spellcasting.’ The events of the day had made it abundantly clear that there were dozens of ways to blow myself up if I messed up while using magic, and I didn’t intend to put myself at risk for no reason if I could help it.

Laura rolled her eyes and snorted. “I can’t believe you were actually lucky enough to get both. Only a couple in the city. Now there’s one more, I guess.” She sighed, making an exaggerated eye roll to let me know what she thought of my ‘luck’ with magic, and then walked over to me and gave me a brief hug.

“Congratulations, little sis. But just for the record, if I had awakened magic, I would have been a better spellcaster and a better shaper than you,” she said. Her tone contained a faint, buried feeling of bitterness. 

Laura had wanted to awaken magic more than any of my other siblings, and when she had returned with no talent found, she had been devastated for a week. Still, she had sort of gotten over it. At the very least, she could genuinely congratulate me, even if there was still a hint of buried longing in her voice. 

I tightened Laura’s hug before stepping away.

“So what brings you home, Jonathan?” I asked, giving my oldest brother a curious look. He was the one I had least expected to see here, given how busy his schedule was. My mother also gave Jonathan a curious look, which I noticed from the corner of my eye. Apparently, she hadn’t been expecting him home today.

“I came back just to see your results, of course!” said Jonathan. “How can I train easily today, knowing that your results were going to come out? It’s not like one of my siblings gets to undergo their magic test every day! So I asked my master for some time off for two days. To celebrate you becoming a spellcaster, of course!”

And to comfort me if I ended up not being talented, I thought. It seemed that Laura’s meltdown after learning she had no magical talent had remained firmly imprinted in Jonathan’s mind, and so he had explicitly set aside time this year to make the best of whatever situation I found myself in.

I felt a little warmth in my heart when I thought of the fact that several members of my family had set aside for my magic test. Even Ruman, who was just starting out his apprenticeship, had made time to be home today, just for me.

“Your father will be home in a few hours, Miria,” said my mother, grinning as she seemed to recover from the shock of realizing I still wanted to be an adventurer. However, her smile had an edge to it now, and I suddenly found myself wishing my master was coming tonight instead of tomorrow. However, she seemed willing to put aside the topic for now, which I was more than happy to do. “Since you ended up as a spellcaster, do you want to choose where we eat tonight? Having a spellcaster in the family is cause for celebration.”

I smiled. I expected that we probably would have gone out to eat at a nicer restaurant tonight either way. The reason simply changed from ‘cheering Miria up because she was untalented’ to ‘celebrating Miria’s magical talent.’ But one way or another, we would have eaten out tonight.

“So, what kind of master did you end up taking?” asked Ruman. “I’m a little less familiar with how apprenticeship works for spellcasters, since none of us ended up talented, but…”

“It’s close to how Jonathan’s apprenticeship works, except for the fact that I’m much younger,” I said. “So I’ll be gone for most weekdays, unless there’s some sort of special ceremony or holiday or something. And I’ll return on weekends.”

I saw my mother quietly nod from the background. “A bit different from school then,” she commented. “I’ll let your father know that we shouldn’t expect to see much of you during weekdays. Does your master provide room and board?”

“Yeah, she’s going to be in charge of my living situation whenever I’m with her. But I’ll still be around on weekends, so I’ll still see all of you a lot,” I said, grinning. 

My mother seemed a bit relieved at that statement.

“Do we get a chance to meet your master?” asked my mother.

I nodded. “She’ll be coming by to pick me up tomorrow night and start teaching me. I imagine that she’ll also take some time to introduce herself, get to know you, and so on. It would seem strange if she didn’t, at least,” I said. 

“Good, good. I’ll make sure your father takes some time off tomorrow so that we can get to know your teacher,” said my mother. 

After that, the more intense questioning session started to break down into a more relaxed family gathering. We passed time amiably chatting until my father returned home, and then the six of us went out to dinner at a restaurant I preferred. Since my time on the islands, I had a distinct fondness for fish, and while my family couldn’t afford to go to one of the fancier fish restaurants, we could still afford to go to a few of the more middle-class ones.

When we returned, I went to sleep for the night. However, I couldn’t help but think about the meeting between my teacher and my parents that would start tomorrow. I was hoping that I could finally convince my mother to get off my back about adventuring. While I was just a child right now, I didn’t intend to abandon my dreams of exploring the surface just because my mother was worried about the danger, even if I could sympathize with her worries as well.

Since spellcasters and shapers had much easier times surviving on the surface, I hoped my teacher could finally lay my mother’s worries to rest. However, while my mother and father loved me, they also weren’t prone to taking my opinions very seriously. I was equivalent to a six year old in this world, after all. And the three of us needed Achievement and Abilities if we wanted to live. I wouldn’t put that aside for anything.

Hopefully by tomorrow, this issue could be put to rest.

acaswell

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