The log cabin.

I made it onto the tiny elf's finger!

Ok, let's be honest - I would have missed by a thumb's length if the tiny hermit had not moved its hand under me at the last minute.

Glancing up at the tiny elf's face, I felt I had caught the tail end of the shadow of a grin of satisfaction - which was instantly wiped away and the elf's face was just - serene...

Hmmmm.....

I was carried carefully towards the front door of the cabin on its narrow east end.

On each side of the door was a small window - the many smaller glass panes making up each window were held together in a lattice of wood. The glass panes themselves were a very light green and had a circular pattern, like a bulls eye - I remember that sort of glass was from around the 14th century in my past life, when the early renaissance glassblowers re-discovered the lost Roman window glass techniques.

Wooden shutters had been pinned open to each side of the two windows - very useful in bad and cold weather to protect the delicate looking glass panes.

As I'd much later find out, the amount of glass used in these and the many other windows of the tiny hermit's log cabin would be enough to pay for a small mansion in any capital city of this world. That rare glass still was! Hundreds of glass-blowing hours had gone into these windows.

"Let's go in, shall we?" [Tiny Hermit]

The door really was twice as tall as my current mode of transport, aka the tiny hermit - the door knob was just about the level of the cat ears on top of the small elf's hood.

Would the tiny hermit have to go on tippy toes to reach the door knob, or...

Oh, the door opened into the cabin all by itself.

For a moment I expected a six foot plus tall rabbit to be on the other side - but there was nothing - just the insides of the cabin.

The tiny hermit, with me still on its outstretched index finger, walked into the cabin as if automatic doors were just normal - and for all I knew at the time, that was indeed the case. After all, this was the first building I had encountered in this world, so what did I know?

As smoothly as it had opened, the door closed behind us with no-one touching it.

The inside of the log cabin was very cozy - windows ran down the sides on both walls, letting in enough light to read by.

There was no ceiling - the bare rafters, made of the same sturdy logs as the walls, had countless herbs on string hanging from them - a very classic way to dry herbs, indeed.

Was that a dream-catcher hanging in one corner? Two long multi colored feathers hung under it - they looked a bit familiar but I could not place them...

At the far end, the narrow west end, two doors. I would soon enough find out that the left one opened to a cozy bedroom, with a queen sized bed and thick carpet on the floor.

The door to the right opened to what I could only call a very modern bathroom - its interior did not match the rest of the log cabin, and indeed very much reminded me of the most fancy bathrooms from my past life.

Everything was sparkling clean white and sized perfectly for the tiny hermit - a cabinet shower in one corner, a Japanese style bathtub under the window, a low sink with hot and cold running water, and a small fancy toilette.

There was even a dark red crystal globe mounted on the ceiling that, when on, radiated a nice sun-lamp type warmth.

Of the three rooms, this was the only one with a ceiling, most likely to keep the damp rising from a steaming bath or shower out of the rafters - a ceiling fan even ran the moment the door opened!

Of course, as a Phoenix, I had no use for a bathroom, but it was interesting to see such an out of place setup.

In the very middle of the main cabin room stood a black chubby egg shaped cast iron wood stove on six stumpy legs. The black iron chimney exiting from the narrow top end of the egg shape disappeared into the rafters - this was the source of the white puffy smoke I had seen all the way from the endless cliff.

What mostly caught my attention were the books. 

There were books EVERYWHERE - stacked high in tall bookshelves, on chairs, on both sofas, on the coffee table between the sofas, and even on the floor! Tall stacks of books reached to just below the herbs hanging from the rafters.

There were only three clear spots - a small writing desk at the left wall, on which were only an inkwell, a quill pen, and a fancy looking ink blotter. The other two clear spots where the small chair in front of the desk, and the whole kitchen area, which was just to the right of the door, taking up the whole corner there.

I absorbed my surroundings in the few seconds that it took the tiny hermit to cross the room over to the small writing desk - the index finger I was using as a perch hovered a palm width above the desk top.

"I'll get breakfast ready if you wait here - we've got a lot of fruit and berries still, I'm sure there will be something to your taste - oh, I think there are also some nuts left, maybe!" [Tiny Hermit]

I nodded, and hopped onto the desk and then over to the blotter - it had a handle just perfect to be used as a perch!

A quick flutter, and after a couple of attempts I made it onto the blotter's handle.

"Hm, wait a moment - can you spread out your wings? I want to check if you are hurt anywhere... you seem to have trouble landing." [Tiny Hermit]

Silently I cried - in my mind - about my NULL skill level in landing - I KNOW I'M BAD AT IT!

Still, I nodded and did as asked - standing up straight and spreading my wings to show that everything is in order.

The little hermit poked my wings very very gently here and there, pushed on the back of them very lightly.

"Well, I don't see any issues... are you just very young maybe?" [Tiny Hermit]

As I closed my wings, I nodded again -  shame I could not talk - but I'm not a parrot or similar talking bird, so nodding was all I could do.

"Hehe, seems like you understand me, at least - what a clever feather ball you are! You see, often the forest folk - badgers, squirrels, foxes, bunnies, and such, come to me to be healed. So I thought maybe you were like that, too. Now, where was I... oh yes, FOOD!" [Tiny Hermit]

Breakfast time.

With that, the tiny hermit moved towards the tidy kitchen area.

The right wall of the cabin in the kitchen area had a cupboard above the work area with a collection of cast iron pans hanging below it.

There was no way the little elf could have reached the pans, let alone the cupboard - not without a ladder.

There was a small stepping stool in front of the work area, just high enough so that the little elf could reach the sink - but the tiny hermit did not use it this time.

One of the cupboard doors opened silently - the same as the front door had done, previously.

Ok, that could be some remote control contraption - we had that in my past life, no big deal.

But what happened next was straight out of a fantasy movie - several dishes and a mug with a cat print on it floated out of the cupboard and directly over to where I was perched - and landed carefully on the writing desk.

The tiny hermit then opened a drawer and pulled out some cutlery before turning back to me on the writing desk.

"Let's see... we have berries... slices of peaches and apples... soft fresh cheese... toasty buns... water for you... oh and cold goat's milk for me... that should be enough, for now?" [Tiny Hermit]

Each time an item was listed, the little elf would pull it from thin air - was that an item box? Seeing as how the buns were still slightly steaming, it was even one that stopped time!

SOOOOOO JEALOUS right now........

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself, have I? Just not used to talking to anyone for... oh, the last two decades, I think? My name is Annabella De Lorantia Ni Oberbergtal - ah... you can just call me Anna... oh sorry, you can't speak, can you?" [Anna the Tiny Hermit]

I shook my head sadly...  I tried to make some sort of usable sound, but all that came out was a quiet "chirp" - which was more embarrassing than useful.

"Hm... well, I can't really call you just birdy, can I? What about... um... Nitram? It's the honorable name a dear friend of my grand-mother's... I think it suits you." [Anna the Tiny Hermit]

Hm... oh well, why not - I hopped up and down and nodded.

"Well then, Nitram, help yourself, eat as much as you want, there is a lot more I can bring out - bon appetite!" [Anna the Tiny Hermit]

With the food arranged we dug in - oh, those peaches were divine!

Languages and books.

"Well, seems we are done with breakfast - just need to wash up, and then I need to write a letter..." [Anna the Tiny Hermit]

With that, the now empty but dirty dishes rose up into the air - and a ball of steaming water surrounded them.

"Oh, mustn't forget the soap!" [Anna the Tiny Hermit]

The water ball went cloudy as Anna tossed a small white ball into it.

A dishwasher in the air!

The soapy water eventually was replaced with a new ball of hot water - the rinse cycle, obviously - and after a few moments, the dishes floated out of the water and directly into the cupboard, the drops of water on them evaporating as they moved.

With the washing up done, Anna opened a drawer in the writing desk, took out some paper, and started writing.

I took the opportunity to have a short nap, with the sound of the quill scratching lightly on the paper as a soothing background.

After a while I awoke - the tiny hermit was still writing, but now a small pile of papers where stacked on the desk.

Looking at the top paper, I noticed it was not written in Ancient High Elvish - and just as when I first heard Anna speak previously, a bright golden very fancy blinking framed message appeared again .

Mid-word, Anna's writing halted - normally the quill's ink would seep out and make a mess, but that did not happen now as time froze.

{{[[

Second inherent skill transfer opportunity detected. Please wait a moment...

]]}}

Ah, I had been trying to read the letter - obviously I need to be careful going forward, otherwise I'd use up my remaining five language slots with maybe generally useless and maybe even dead languages!

This time I seemed to be lucky though... maybe?

{{[[

Thank you for your patience.

Secondary language now replaced with "Brundal Empire common tongue" at native-level proficiency.

Extra Note: 5 of 7 languages can still be transferred.

]]}}

The words on the page changed in front of me into something legible. Anna had written an order for quite a few books - the list was long indeed.

While Anna was finishing up the letter, I looked around at the countless books spread around the cabin - being extra careful not to try and read any titles that were not Ancient High Elvish - and it seemed there were quite a few different scripts to be seen.

My five remaining languages would be filled up in a second if I were not careful!

"So, done. Let's post this - do you want to come along for a bit?" [Anna the Tiny Hermit]

The letter had been folded and sealed with wax while I had been scanning the books.

I nodded - Anna put out her index finger again, this time right next to the blotter that I was perched on - so all I had to do was hop on.

With that we left the cabin and the tiny hermit walked now to the west end of the cabin through the abundant garden, to what was obviously a very classic mailbox on a post.

It even had a little red flag on one side and a green flag on the other!

Both were down at the moment.

Again, the mailbox was just above Anna's head height - but that wasn't an issue.

The letter floated up and the mailbox's door swung open.

Once the letter entered the mailbox and the door closed again, the little red flag popped up into the "there is mail to pick up" signal.

"Well, that's it for now... how about some lunch?" [Anna the Tiny Hermit]

I nodded - the sun was at its zenith.

What with my nap and the multi-page letter being written, already that much time had passed since breakfast...

Lazy summer days pass by...

I had no idea how long seasons were in this world, or even if there was any real season in the endless forest - maybe we were just in a temperate zone that never really got to be full winter.

Be as it may, the summerish days went by peacefully, with me being carried on Anna's index finger whenever we went outside to do some work in the garden.

Well, I just perched somewhere, either on the scarecrow's head or sometimes in the bean or pea trellis, depending on where the gardening was taking place.

Anna would often talk to me, using me as a silent sounding board for ideas, theories, stories - really just whatever was the focus of her interest for the day - or week. Of course, all I could do was nod or shake my head - I ended up using my embarrassing "chirp" as a question mark, when I was curious about something and wanted more information.

The tiny hermit would often read deep into the night - sometimes even aloud to me. Several yellowish crystal globes suspended - in what I can only call small fishnets - from the rafters provided more than enough light, brightening up the cabin more than daylight streaming in through the glass windows. Even though the globes where yellowish, the light they gave was closer to clean white sunlight.

Sometimes while perched on the ink blotter I would lazily watch Anna work on alchemy - mixing materials such as herbs and roots to create various bright shining potions in all colors of the rainbow.

Labels in the Brundal Empire's common tongue would be carefully affixed to the bottles in Anna's delicate hand writing, with names such as "Medium Mana Restorative", "High Heal", and "Cure-It-Now" - and then the bottles would disappear into the tiny hermit's "item box".

The first time I watched the process the little elf grinned, holding up a vibrant red potion.

"These will sell especially well at the inn again, I'm sure..." [Anna the Tiny Hermit]

The label said "Hangover Cure".

Outside on the north side of the log cabin was a small shack with a simple smithy in the tiny hermit's size. Strange minerals would be combined with iron to form alloys that - even with my extensive past knowledge - I could not identify.

When I squinted at the ingots, I could just about make out colored auras indicating that these alloy ingots had various effects built in after processing.

This was one of the new skills I had managed over the months to learn from an Ancient High Elvish book on beginner magic that I had discovered.

My new skills were - as expected - all at NULL...

"Status."

[[

Race: Immortal Phoenix

Name: Nitram

Level: NULL

Experience: -791

Mana: 0

Strength: NULL

Dexterity: NULL

Wisdom: NULL

Specials: NULL

Skills: Appraisal level NULL, Gliding level NULL, Landing level NULL, Dry Take Off level NULL

Magic skills: Mana detection level NULL, Aura detection level NULL, Mana manipulation level NULL, Mana control level NULL

Languages (2/7): Ancient High Elvish, Brundal Empire common tongue.

]]

Oh, I had a name now - seems gaining the name gave me quite some experience points - so, "SCORE!", I guess?

As I was not enveloping myself with fire, my mana was of course just zero - again I say, at least not NULL!

Sadly, even though the beginner magic book outlined many useful spells - many of which I ardently memorized to exhaustion - I had not been able to gain even one as an actual skill. Most likely because I could not manifest any of the spells with my mana stuck at zero...

Sigh...

And, even though I "appraised" every thing in sight, that skill was also stuck at NULL.

Grrrr...

Going shopping?

"Oh, I've run out of red alabaster powder... and also running low on bread and milk... Nitram, shall we go shopping tomorrow?" [Anna the Tiny Hermit]

I put my head to one side and chirped - a question.

"Oh, there is a Guild trading post relative near here - well, over the last decade or so it's become more of a village now, really. We can get a lot of supplies there, and some of the books I ordered a while back are probably waiting on me, too." [Anna the Tiny Hermit]

Oh this sounds interesting - but I wondered how long it would take to get there with the little elf's short legs.

In the evening I went around with Anna and we closed all the shutters in front of the windows - well, I say "we" but of course I just tagged along as company.

Very early the next morning the black egg shaped iron stove was extinguished, and the chimney closed.

I was riding on Anna's index finger when we exited the log cabin - the door closed behind us, and this time I could hear the soft "clunk" of a deadbolt sliding home. There was no visible lock on the outside.

We were standing at the eastern edge of the clearing, between the scarecrow and the forest.

"We shall travel in style! Tada!" [Anna the Tiny Hermit]

Saying so, the tiny hermit pulled a strange contraption from her "item box".

I blinked a few times to make sure my eyes were working.

What floated about a banana's length above the ground was a very comfy looking deep plush chair - the kind every lazy person would wish for. It had a pillow with a black cat sleeping in a basket embroidered on it. A warm looking blanket was draped over one arm of the chair.

That was not the weird part.

On each side of the comfy chair were strapped three straw brooms - or what I'd known as "witch's brooms" from my previous life.

"Yes, this is one of my proudest inventions! The super high speed six broom powered snooze chair, extra deluxe, with inbuilt multi-barrier and tushy heating! Complete with automatic navigation! I called it - the Enterprise CC! For ah, comfy chair, hehe... Ah, but I'm still working on the navigator. We can only save two destinations right now - the Guild trading post, and here... so it is kind of a bit limited, sigh..." [Anna the Tiny Hermit]

The chair lowered down to the ground as we got on... or in? The chair was so deep even with the cat embroidered pillow, Anna's short legs stuck straight out, with just the feet overhanging the edge.

After we got comfy, the chair rose again, this time about two banana heights above the forest floor.

A light blue transparent sphere surrounded us - the multi-barrier, obviously.

"All systems go, brooms are hot, shields are at full capacity, destination set to Guild trading post... Engage!" [Anna the Tiny Hermit]

And off we zoomed at a speed about a tenth of my gliding speed - which was still many time's Anna's walking speed.

The comfy chair contraption called "Enterprise CC" skillfully dodged the many trees, and low branches were safely brushed aside by the barrier.

After a bit, we both nodded off, the soft rocking of the chair lulling us into a restful nap...

Fainswift

A bit longer this time! Was thinking of splitting it up into two, but it all sort of fits together.
Next chapter: 005 - Tiny hermit's point of view - I met a cute bird today!