A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

A few moments later, their group was once again on the move, with Erik sporting a wide grin. If it wasn't for the fact that several other matters needed to be resolved first, he likely would have started experimenting with his new toys straight away.

Four doors were now explored—with one leading to the portal they came in from, one to the living space, one to the library, and one to the crafting rooms. Now, they stood before the fifth door, which housed a plaque above it, informing them that it lead to the training room.

Naturally, this held great interest for all of them.

"Mistress spend a lot of time and effort on making this one just right," Eira smiled pridefully as she floated through the passageway leading to the next area.

"Whoever would become the harbinger was, originally, supposed to take control of the guardians and work to stabilize Earth until they were ready to enact Mistress's final plan," Eira continued. "So obviously they needed to be as strong as possible. Now, the plan may have changed a little, but strength and power is more important than ever! So I hope you'll spend a lot of time here, Harbinger!"

Her chest was puffed out in a show of pride and authority, while she did her utmost to sound wise and sagely.

Erik couldn't help but softly chortle at her behavior. Having seen the way she behaved, it was hard to take her seriously now.

That wasn't to say that he didn't like her, or that he didn't respect her. In fact, he did both. She was bright, innocent, and energetic, while her loyalty and endurance were impressive. Naturally, some of that was simply because she was a sigil construct, but that didn't make her any less likable to him.

Plus, it was possible that Eira was unique in some way, as Elora mentioned that Eira seemed different from what she thought she knew of sigil constructs. That said, her knowledge in this area was a little spotty, so it was hard to say if there actually was something strange about Eira.

Either way, Erik intended to find out.

"Do you have to keep calling me Harbinger?" Erik asked after he stopped chortling. "It sounds so ominous."

She pouted, "I've gotten used to calling you that for eight thousand years… but I'll consider it."

"Thank you," Erik chuckled.

A few moments later, they now stood on the threshold of yet another circular hall.

This time, everyone apart from Emma looked on with shining eyes.

The room was divided into multiple sections that all seemed to cater to a different style of training. There was even a section located for training in sigil craft, which particularly interested Emily and Elora.

Other sections included one that seemed focused on quiet meditation, presumably for Arcanists, and one that seemed to be geared towards physical training, presumably for Runebound.

Erik was pleasantly surprised to see that the room had both, as he was afraid it would only be geared towards Runebound, considering that the Harbinger was always supposed to come from his family of werewolves.

Naturally, it was no surprise Audumla knew what a Runebound needed for advancement, although Erik continued to wonder what exactly her role was in the fate, and perhaps even existence, of Runebounds and supernaturals.

Elora, however, was far more surprised by the sigils surrounding the Runebound training section. "I don't recognize any of those…" she mumbled in Erik's mind. "Could those actually be sigils primarily focused on Runebound training? I need to study those!"

"Calm down, Elora," Erik chuckled. "Perhaps there will be a book on them in the library."

"There's already so much I want to read in there, though," Elora groaned.

While Erik laughed at Elora's misfortune, Alice and Astrid were looking with excitement at another section of the room: the sparring section.

It was a large area, fully surrounded by protective sigils, allowing those inside to go crazy as much as they liked.

Astrid immediately turned to Erik with sparkling eyes and an excited grin. "Erik? Wanna spar?!"

Alice also looked excitedly at him. She may not yet be strong enough to fight either of them, but she loved watching.

Erik immediately had flashbacks to their youth, where Astrid would have that same look in her eyes and tone in her voice. He was always reluctant, but Astrid would wear him down eventually, and it was clear she intended to do the same once again.

"Later, Astrid," Erik smiled. "I believe Eira is almost done with her tour."

Astrid narrowed her eyes and stared at him with suspicion, "Is that the old Erik creeping back in? Because mark my words, I will drag you into that ring if I have to!"

"I'd like to see you try," Erik grinned, while sparks began to fly between them, both gearing up for combat.

Seemingly oblivious to the flying sparks, Eira floated back to the passageway, seemingly even more excited than before. "It's time for the last part of my tour! Which includes the affinity seed! This is also the moment where you truly take this place as your home, Harbinger!"

The mentioning of the affinity seed that was supposed to be inside of him quickly tore Erik away from his incoming confrontation with Astrid.

"Later, Astrid. I promise," he winked, before quickly following Eira out of the room, intending to find out if he really had a spatial affinity seed inside of him.

When they entered the original circular hallway again, however, Erik was surprised to find that Eira was floating towards the orb in the middle, rather than the last remaining door.

"Eira? Aren't you missing a door?" he wondered, as he looked at the closed door, and noticed that there was no plaque detailing what was behind it.

"Ah," Eira yelped when she heard Erik's question. She poked her fingers together and looked a little embarrassed. "Behind that door is… is me… my core, so to say. I'm… not supposed to let you in there."

"Oh?" Erik raised an eyebrow in surprise. "And why's that?" he asked, even though he could very well imagine why that was so.

"It's… it's just for my safety, I promise," she mumbled with embarrassment. "P— Please don't ask me to disobey Mistress."

It wasn't that she cared so much about what Erik wanted, but rather, that she was afraid he would abandon both her, and the search for Audumla, if she didn't. Originally, Audumla herself was supposed to convince him to follow the plan, but now, with her mistress's silence… Eira had become desperate.

If Erik refused to follow the plan, her entire existence would become meaningless and she would be alone again, while her Mistress's fate would remain uncertain.

She couldn't allow that to happen, even if she had to disobey Audumla, no matter how much she hated that thought.

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