"Noooooo!"

 

Kali jumped up, blanket and pillow flying through the air as she rolled off of the couch.

 

She yelped as she fell on her back, slamming down onto the wooden floor.

 

"Good morning?" she greeted as a green head leaned into her vision.

 

"It is evening," Avariel noted as she stared down at her, her brows crested in amusement.

 

"Good evening!" Kali smiled, jumping back onto her feet. What was she dreaming about again? It was something scary she felt?

 

 

Weird dream.

 

Anyway. She remembered almost the full cultivation technique and even the way Avariel guided the mana through her body as she activated it for a moment at the end. There was a strange dichotomy between the two memories, different emotions, different sensations but it all felt like both happened at the same time and when she put the together she saw how the Cultivation Technique was constructed both from inside and from the outside.

 

 

That one word pushed aside most of her worries. Maybe this was how it was supposed to be? I should ask Avariel later. Let's try this thing first.

 

"Uhm," Kali glanced up at the woman, the height difference between the two of them suddenly hitting her. "So can I try it out?"

 

"I'd advise you to make sure you can cast it perfectly first," Avariel crossed her arms, "but I'm not your mother. You can do whatever you want."

 

"Alright," Kali's throat tightened all of a sudden despite the woman trying to sound reassuring, "I'll make sure I can do it perfectly."

 

"Your friends will be back in an hour at most," the druid said, "Why don't you come with me? Vir doesn't like tea so it's been a while since I had someone to enjoy it with."

 

"Sure," Kali chirped with a smile on her face, a druid was offering to share some of her homegrown, fresh tea-leaves with her. Count her in!

 

The next hour flew by in a blink of an eyes and Kali heard the door clicking open sooner than she expected.

 

"Good evening Master," Virendel bowed slightly as he stepped into the house, "good evening Miss Kalitra."

 

"Hi," Kali waved back as she sipped on her third cup of delicious tea, this one being a sort of Black Tea with some relaxing properties from Kashgar of all places.

 

Her smile widened as a fluffy pink head popped out from behind Virendel.

 

"Hellow Lexy," she greeted, then her gaze flicked up to the daemon, "Hi Vorgnar."

 

One ran up to her and peered over her shoulder to look at her tea, and the other nodded with a grunt.

 

"Want some?" Kali asked as she held her cup under the girl's nose, who flinched back from it.

 

"Sour." Lexy grimaced.

 

"Yep," Kali smirked as she took in the last mouthful of it, humming in satisfaction as the warm liquid traveled down her throat and warmed her stomach.

 

"I have some that you might like, young lady," Avariel smiled gently, "though that'll have to wait for tomorrow. It is getting rather late."

 

Kali glanced out of the window and saw the weak orange sunlight seeping through the canopy. It was really getting late.

 

"Thank you for having me." Kali bowed her head as she stood up.

 

"Come by tomorrow," Avariel smiled, "let me check out your runework before you get into actual testing, if you don't mind?"

 

Kali ignored the slight contradiction from the woman's previous words, she was all to happy to wait a day if it meant she could try out her new technique under Avariel's guidance.

 

"Sure," One more day couldn't hurt. Rushing almost made me a raving lunatic with the mind of a beast. "Thank you."

 

"It's nothing," she nodded. "Good nigh children."

 

""Good night."" Kali and Lexy said together and Vorgnar nodded at the eladrin in a way that seemed respectful to Kali.

 

"Vir, you stay."

 

"Yes Master."

 

Kali drew in a deep breath, letting the cold night air fill her lungs as she skipped away from the door. She found a spot from where she could catch a glimpse of the gentle blue moon swimming across the night sky.

 

"Soo~" Kali turned to her two companions, "what now?"

 

"Sleep?" Lexy offered with a cute tilt of her head, but she didn't sound too into her own idea.

 

Kali's gaze drifted over and up to Vorgnar's finding his wolf-like eyes staring back it her.

 

"What were you thinking about?" Vorgnar asked with a tired sigh, almost making Kali scoff at him. He was higher level than her, so he should need even less rest than her. A single day of walking around should leave him with ample energy.

 

"Something fun," Kali said as she spun around. She was in a new place, with new people and new everything, and with Avariel here she could feel a tiny bit secure and free for the first time in a long while. She wanted to have some fun. Then she wanted to learn some magic. Those were her two primary goals in life at the moment.

 

She wanted to try out her new shiny technique, — Of course she did — but in the end it could wait another day. She was safe … maybe? Probably!

 

She could spend a day relaxing and having fun.

 

Or an evening.

 

"Fun?" Lexy tilted her head and Kali wanted to just stretch her puffy cheeks with how adorable she was.

 

"Fun?" Vorgnar's question was much less cute, but he made a face not unlike the pinkette next to him.

 

"Yep!" Kali put her fists on her hips and struck a pose intending to be domineering but not quite managing to as an amused daemon two heads taller than her just stared at her in amusement.

 

"What is it that you want to do?" Vorgnar asked, making Kali feel slightly stifled at his indulgent expression, not unlike what her brother had on his face when she bothered him.

 

"Explore a bit?" Kali tilted her head thoughtfully. "I want to see more of the village."

 

"Fruits?" Lexy perked up.

 

"We can get fruits too," Kali nodded.

 

"Why am I here again?" Vorgnar asked, though not sounding too annoyed, just curious.

 

"Protection," Kali smiled up at him. Stupid short body. I swear only dwarves are shorter than me. "I know Avariel and Virendel said we'd be safe here but some of the people here are … twitchy."

 

"Alright," he shrugged. "I will follow behind you."

 

"Thanks," Kali chirped before grabbing Lexy by the hand. "Let's go check out the village square first."

 

"Village square?" Lexy asked as she jogged next to Kali because of her long strides.

 

"Yep," Kali nodded, slowing a little. "They should have a village square, at least I think so."

 

"Think?"

 

"Yep, but if they don't, then we just spent that time looking at beautiful houses."

 

Kali — like always, whenever she saw something new or exciting — had a spring in her step as she looked around, gaze flickering from tree, to house and from house to people. The elves have mellowed out a bit, they weren't too welcoming still but they weren't hauling their children into their houses and locking the doors whenever they caughtt a glipse of Kali or Vorgnar.

 

It was saddening how far the once mighty Autumn Elves have fallen, theirs was the largest and most advanced of the four elven Kingdoms during the golden age of the High Elven Empire but now they were a collection of fugitives living in other countries or hiding in villages like this.

 

The elves here could be said to have had stellar luck even. They retained their culture and with an Archdruid protecting them; they were mostly safe from Human raiders and the dangers of a deep jungle like this one.

 

Autumn Elves once lived on open plains, making the most out of their muscular legs to run down prey and move around. It was their greatest strength; they were fast and had enough endurance to contest even the hardiest of beasts, but in a dense jungle like this they could barely make use of it.

 

Agility didn't come hand in hand with speed and strength. Spring elves were the ones who'd thrive in this environment, with maybe Winter elves like Kali coming in second.

 

Kali spun on her heels and changed direction on a corner at the last moment. A single eye contact with a group of five elderly elves on the street told her that there were few less fun things to do in life than to head down on that exact street.

 

The elderly were fearful too yesterday, but now that they knew Kali wasn't some spy for an incoming invasion, the deeply sated hatred that burned in the hearts for many centuries came to the surface. Wooden walls and doors were thin most of the time, and without glass to make windows out of Kali had no trouble picking up conversations from over half a village away.

 

Kali flinched at a derisive snort coming from an elf whose once ginger hair now only sported locks of red between a sea of grey.

 

"Should have stayed up in your precious mountains," he spat, his tone filled with venom.

 

"The jungles will taint that pretty white hair of yours," another remarked. "Or did you come to see how we lived like animals here?"

 

"What are they saying?" Alexis asked with a frown as Kali basically hauled her away.

 

"Mean old people things," Kali frowned. "Ignore them."

 

"They live in the past," Vorgnar noted with a wry tone. "Some people just die but keep on living. That is how you get people like them."

 

"Urgh," Kali groaned. "Fun things," she grumbled, "let's ignore the grumpy old elves, please."

 

Vorgnar nodded silently. Alexis following along with him, though obviously not really understanding what was going on.

 

"Look," Kali forced a chirpiness into her tone. "There."

 

The houses cleared out a bit, the mazelike village widening a bit into a small clearing. Well, not quite a clearing as the trees were still just as dense as before but here they didn't have houses built around and between them with only a meter between them.

 

Benches, tables and small boxes set up for selling wares were all around the clearing and the one Kali's eyes fixated on had some small things spread out on it with a group of children looking over the table and deeply considering their choices.

 

"I- um, I want the pear," a boy almost reaching up to Kali's waist spoke with a deeply thoughtful look on his face. "NO, the strawberry, yes, the I want that one please!"

 

The woman standing behind the stall handed out a strawberry shaped treat that looked like it was made out of something brown? Kali wasn't sure but the as the boy slowly bit into it a blissful expression spread on his face.

 

"Chocolate?" Lexy asked as she stood on her tippy toes to catch a glimpse over the other children's shoulders.

 

"Chocolate?" Kali asked back, blinked a moment. Oh! I remember, I read about it I think, they make it out of cocoa beans I think?

 

Her mouth watered already, they were covering the fresh fruits and other berries in chocolate and other sorts of covers, some were white and others were strawberry pink just like Lexy's hair but all the children who got a treat ran away smiling like they'd just received a treasure fit for kings.

 

Kali listened in as she walked over with Lexy while the big and scary daemon stayed back. She tried to figure out what they were using to pay here; she had some small mana crystals in her storage that almost everyone around the planet accepted as currency but here she haven't seen any trading hands here.

 

As she split her attention between a few other stalls she finally understood what was going on; bartering. They were just trading goods for goods without using currency as an intermediary.

 

 

Even if she felt her nervousness climbing as she stood in the line, which was behind a group of five kids still deeply considering their choices.

 

The seller — a woman with short lavender-purple hair — indulgently handing out treats to the children glanced up at Kali, then down at Lexy hanging off of her hand and vibrating from excitement as she watched a girl chomp down on a banana covered in white chocolate.

 

Her gaze warmed up significantly from the initial wary gaze she sent Kali's way, making the princess sigh in relief. She didn't really enjoy the hurt old people disparaging her to her face. Who would? It wasn't much of a stretch to say that they passed on their venomous hatred far Kali's kin to their children.

 

"Can I help you with something?" the woman spoke up, ignoring her little costumers for a moment.

 

Not that they are paying for anything. Kali thought in amusement.

 

"We'd like to try some of your treats?" Kali spoke up, startling some of the children who stared at her like they were seeing the most interesting magical plant of their little lives. "I noticed you are bartering around here, but I'm not sure what I have that you'd accept for two treats?"

 

"Oh," the woman exclaimed. "Right, crystals right?" she asked perkily, losing her initial wariness much too quickly.

 

"I have some," Kali closed her fist and took out some from her spatial ring before opening it up, revealing translucent bluish crystals.

 

The kids oohed and aahed at her little trick, putting a smirk on Kali's face.

 

"I don't really know how much they are worth," the woman confessed, handing out a slice of apple to a kid who finally came to a decision. "What do you think?" She asked with a genuine curiosity.

 

"Well," Kali stared down at the crystals. These were the uniform ones used in the Winter Kingdom, made to hold exactly 0.2 units of Mana but that was where her knowledge ended. Being essentially grounded her entire life, she'd never had to pay for anything before. Even these crystals were just gifts from Ly'Riel because a little Kali was once fascinated by the way the light danced on the prismatic crystal. "I think I could get a full meal in a small in for one?"

 

"Oh," The woman looked down on her stall, comparing her treats with a full meal in her head and back up at Kali with a conflicted look in her eyes. "Can you split them up?"

 

"Sorry," Kali shook her head, learning how to crystalize mana was up there on her to-do list but she had no idea how to do it yet and the story where the first Mages who managed it turned themselves into crystalline statues was a good deterrent to keep her from trying to experiment with it by herself. "Why do you ask?"

 

"I mean," the woman stared sadly at her treats. "You'd have to eat a lot of these to feel full, so I can't ask for one of those when I'm only giving two, right?"

 

 

"Here," Kali flicked over one of the crystals.

 

"But-"

 

"It's fine. We didn't have any 'chocolate' back home, even with this, I'm feeling like I'm robbing you."

 

"If you say so," the woman trailed off uncertainly, but held the crystal encased in her grasp like it was her precious little treasure. "The strawberries and banana with the cream and white chocolate coverings are my recommendations. The children tend to like them the most."

 

"These?" Kali asked, only having seen both fruits on illustrated drawings before.

 

"Yes," the woman nodded with a smile. "Take a third too. I see you have a … friend?"

 

"Thank you," Kali smiled at her. "I'm sure he'll love it."

 

"Come again please," the woman raised her voice as Kali turned away, the two recommended treats and one random she grabbed carefully held in her hand. "I'm here every afternoon, until the sun falls."

 

"Alright," Kali said with a thankful glance. "See you around."

 

"Goodbye."

 

Even Lexy waved back adorably as Kali dropped the strawberry into her waiting hands.

 

"A gift," Kali said as she held out her mystery treat.

 

"Thank you," Vorgnar said, holding up the little snack and making it look tiny in his large hand.

 

"Mhhhh," Kali hummed as she rolled the banana mixing with the taste of white chocolate in her mouth.

 

"Mean," Lexy said as she stared up at Kali, her own treat long gone into that black hole she called a stomach.

 

"But it's good," Kali moaned exaggeratedly as she bit down on it. "Hmmm, it'd be a waste to eat it in a single bite."

 

From the corner of her eyes, she saw Lexy puff out her cheeks and glare at her. It warmed her heart how the malnourished and scared little girl warmed up to her only after a few weeks.

 

Kali enjoyed the sight of Lexy adorably pouting at her for a few more minutes, poking the girl in the side until she got some annoyed giggles out of her, but she was back to pouting with renewed vigour after that.

 

In the end she had to go back to the lavender haired woman and get more sweets to make amends with the girl but even as she was stuffing her face with the new sweets Lexy still sent sideways glances at Kali which promised some retribution for the tickling.

 

Under the blue light of the gentle moon up above, the three wandered around the village and ending up at the edge where the druidic wall cut off the outside plantlife from expanding into the village proper. Kali stopped, her gaze taking in the space between the wall and the edge of where the houses began. It was a rather thin strip of land but it was more than wide enough for what she wanted.

 

"Let's play tag," Kali chirped as she turned to her two companions with her fists on her hips. This will be a perfect way of shoving Lexy what she can do, I doubt she ever had the opportunity to try out her new body since her Awakening.