"That's a lot of stuff you've got out," Dylan mumbles sleepily as he enters the living room.

  Since there's no wall between the living room and the kitchen, only counters, what I'm doing in here is visible from those within the living room. It also lets those who are in here see those who are in the living room, a design choice I've been using to keep an eye on Nolan.

  The kid's currently rolling around the room. He seems to enjoy doing that at times for no discernible reason, but I'm not going to stop him if it keeps him occupied. It's not as if he's hurting anyone or breaking anything. Why he wants to do that right now instead of play with the blocks, I don't know, but he's having fun and that's what matters.

  "Yeah," I respond. "Thomas stopped by earlier to ask if I was okay with him bringing the others for lessons. We discussed the time for them to arrive, and it was decided they'd all eat breakfast here, before the lesson. I was thinking of doing a few things for it."

  It took about a week before anyone else accepted the offer to come, but it seems all of the younger members of the village decided to receive lessons from me. There's also the possibility that it wasn't fully agreed to for the younger ones until Elaina asked about joining in on the lessons, too.

  Whatever the reason, all that matters is that I have additional guests coming over for breakfast and need to get started. I also need to make sure there's enough for everyone.

  "Nolan, buddy?" I ask. "Want to wash potatoes for me?"

  Nolan stops rolling around, scrambles to his feet, and walks over. The nature spirit hanging out with him manifests itself once he stops rolling, and Nolan gives it a small pat on the head on their way over.

  "What are we making?" Dylan asks as he joins us in the kitchen.

  "Monkey bread, breakfast wraps, and biscuits and gravy," I answer. "We'll also do fruit on the side."

  "I only understand the last one," Dylan tells me as he picks up Nolan to wash the boy's hands in the sink. "Biscuits and gravy. There are breakfast gravies?"

  "If you do it right," I confirm. "And we can use biscuit dough to make the first one. We'll make balls of biscuit dough, then roll them in melted butter, then a mixture of sugar and brown sugar, then plop them into a pan to bake. They'll be served with a blueberry sauce and cream cheese icing for dipping.

  "As for breakfast wraps," I say. "We'll make tortillas first, they're just flour, sugar, and a little bit of butter the way I do them. That's formed into balls which are then pressed into a thin, flat circle using this device here. Just quickly pull it down after plopping the dough onto the center, then lift it back up, and you've got it ready. Then it gets cooked quickly and it's ready for use.

  "That's the base for it," I tell him. "Then you put on it whatever you want. I'll make ground breakfast sausage and eggs, and we'll have some cheese and a few veggies as well. You can put them on the tortilla, then fold the edges over so that it's 'wrapped'."

  Preparing three different dishes might seem a little excessive when there are only seven people expected to be here for breakfast, but the others will likely have already done some chores and walked for five miles, one of whom is nearing his teen years and five of whom are in their late teens or early twenties.

  A large breakfast is necessary.

  Just as we're bringing everything out to the back deck, Thomas arrives with the others. Patrick, Cedric, and Elaina all wanted to join in, and they're quite grateful for the breakfast we've prepared for everyone. Making as much as I did was a good idea as there's nothing left by the time we're done eating.

  Though I am confused by Elaina. She came wearing a dress rather than pants and a tunic. The walk from the village to here is five miles, and it would've already been uncomfortable since none of them except Thomas has boots. To wear a dress here on top of that… why?

  I'm not going to ask, though, as it's her own choice. At least they'll be able to use the waystone next time – I'm going to make sure they learn how to use it before they leave.

  "Alright," I say once we're in the learning zone. "The morning lessons for today comes in two sessions. The first session is basic reading and writing skills. While I know you don't really need to read and write, knowing how to can help you if you forage or if you find something interesting. For example, I can take a look at a plant and know if it's edible or not just by reading its description. Or if it has some magical property useful in potions.

  "The second lesson," I continue. "Is basic magics. At first, you'll be focusing on manipulating your mana. Once you've gotten the hang of that, you'll be learning to actually use magic. The free lessons are only for the basics on both. Everyone understand that?"

  They all confirm that they do.

  "Finally," I say. "I'm shifting my lessons schedule a little. Today is Monday – Mondays and Wednesdays will have the magic lesson. For Tuesdays and Thursdays, it'll be weapons and combat. I'm no master, but I did pick up quite a few skills while traveling as an adventurer. For the combat lessons, you'll need to pay for those. I'm not expecting coin from this – just help with things like my gardens for now, or in constructing things. You can also trade goods for it."

  This was something I decided on after the discussion with Cedric's parents at the festival. Rather than offering it to just the boy, I'll offer it to all of them.

  "That said," I say. "Part of the magic lessons is just focusing on training your magic by yourself. You don't need me at all times for it, just for when I'm giving advice. So if you'd like to practice more, you can stay during the weapons training and practice with the orbs some more."

  "The orbs?" Patrick asks.

  "And another thing," I add. "Since we have a group now, please raise your hand if you'd like to talk and wait for me to call on you. This way, we're not all talking over each other. And Patrick? We'll get to what the orbs are once the magic lesson begins."

  "Okay."

  Now that all of that is out of the way, I have Nolan pass out the writing boards and pens, then begin the reading lesson. Since three of them already know a decent bit, I use words they haven't learned yet but which are still simple enough for the others to learn from. This simplifies the lesson for me and makes it easier to teach both groups.

  At the end of the lesson, Nolan collects all of the boards and pens and puts them away, then I let everyone stretch for a few minutes. Convincing Nolan to sit back down when it's time for magic takes a little bit of effort, but his companion nature spirit manages it with a few pats on his cheek.

  The same basic discussion I gave to Thomas, Dylan, and Nolan for their first magic lesson is given this time, so that the three new students can understand things.

  "Yes, Patrick?" I ask, and he lowers his hand.

  "How fast do we regen'rate our mana?" He asks. "I ain't able to do math like that…"

  "Your recovery rate is one-one hundred thousandth of your capacity," I answer. "So it takes about twenty-seven hours to recover to full no matter how much you can hold."

  "Ain't that a bit much?" He asks. "A long time. It's so slow."

  "Well, yeah," I say. "You can also use mana potions to recover some instantly, though they're a bit pricey. The reagents for them only grow well in mana-rich soil, like here, so they can't be produced everywhere. Often, they need to be imported from a place like here."

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  "And you can make 'em?" He asks.

  "I can," I nod. "I have the reagents here and can produce plenty. Unless I create a massive farm for the reagents covering dozens of acres, however, what I can produce and sell wouldn't be enough to change the price outside. And making a farm like that can cause problems."

  "How come?"

  I explain about the mana veins and what happens if they're drained too much. Then, I assure everyone that it's not a problem to do it on a smaller scale. If individuals grow it on their own property as just a small part of what they're growing, they won't draw up too much mana at a time. Even the large amount of mana-rich crops I have isn't enough to be a problem.

  But that's also because there's basically no one else doing it here. Even if I switched to fully magic crops, and everyone else here did as well, it still wouldn't be enough to cause problems. There just aren't enough people for that around in the area. Even if the local population went up by several thousand, there wouldn't be enough.

  Part of that is because the crops would be drawing from different mana veins, rather than all from the same one. If all of the crops were to draw from the same mana vein, then a problem might begin to show itself.

  In all fairness, this Mistland is also a little bit different from others. The amount of mana here, and the size of the mana veins, means it can handle even more draw than at others I've been to.

  Once I've assured them of the safety of our farming, I awaken their ability to sense their mana, then walk them through how to use the training orbs.

  "As for you," I look at Dylan. "You've gotten good enough to move on to actual magic now, rather than just manipulating your mana into the orb and its lines. Same with you, Nolan. I'll teach you the basics of both arcane and elemental magic, but we'll start with just one thing at a time for now. Yes, Patrick?"

  "Are mana potions the only way to recover your mana?"

  "Yes," I answer. "Now, start practicing."

  There actually is another way to boost one's mana recovery rate, but I'm not going to mention it to them. It's illegal in most countries because the risk of damage to one's mana veins is extremely high. Damaging one's mana veins has the potential to result in the mage becoming crippled in a way that cannot be healed with magic.

  Not that that little detail stops me from using it to boost my recovery rate when I want to recover in a few hours rather than a day. I'm not going to tell any of them that, though. Doing so would make it seem like it's actually not that unsafe while it's really just that my control over mana is simply just that good that I can trust I won't cause problems for myself. The influence of the amount of mana I've held in the past also makes things a bit safer for me.

  As everyone else starts focusing on their orbs, I look at Dylan and Nolan.

  "Do you want to start with the arcane school or the elemental school?" I ask. "Basic arcane-type magics are things like force magics, such as telekinesis. Basic elemental-type magics include things like generating and manipulating the elements."

  "I think the elements first," Dylan tells me. "Force magics ain't really for farmin' and stuff, while earth and water would be. Plant magic even more so, but that's an advanced one, yeah?"

  "It is," I confirm. "And yes, earth and water magics can be useful for farming. Earth magics to help you manipulate the soil, or even create some if you need to, and you can use water magics to generate water to water your garden, if you need to."

  I pull out a pair of wooden buckets and set them in front of Dylan and Nolan, then fill them with water.

  "First," I say. "You'll learn how to manipulate water. Creating it comes later, then shaping it into spells comes after that. It's only after your first spell that green will form around your pupils."

  "Okay," he nods.

  I spend the next twenty minutes teaching Dylan and Nolan the basics of water manipulation and walking them through the process. Dylan picks up the magic first, while Nolan takes a little bit longer, but that's understandable. He's two and lacks a magical bloodline, so it's impressive that he's able to do as much as he does.

  "Now pull out a little bit of the water and try to shape it into a ball," I tell him as I gesture with my hand, pulling a little bit of water up and shaping it into a one-inch ball. "Yours won't be as smooth and clean as mine is, but that comes with practice. Just like with scrubbing potatoes. So just try and get it into a sort-of ball shape, okay?"

  Nolan nods, then gets to work trying to do that. His mind wanders a lot, and he sometimes forgets to actually use magic, but that's fine. It's not like a two-year-old actually needs to use magic. Teaching him is more to set up the foundations for his future, much like teaching a two-year-old how to read.

  "Alright," I say after an hour has passed. "That's all for today's reading and magic lessons. I do normally make lunch for them as well, including a small rest session after, then dessert. Anyone who wants to stay for that can, though there's still some time left before then. For the kids, you three can play if you want, just stay out of the gardens, please."

  "Thomas said you can play guitar," Patrick says. "Can we hear? I wanna hear what city boys play."

  "I learned how in a farming village," I chuckle. "It was an attempt at impressing a handsome man I met there, and it worked. So most songs I know on the guitar are more songs similar to what you all have out here. My city-learned songs are on the violin. That said, I have neither instrument."

  "Thomas can get his!" Patrick says.

  "What about your ocarina?" Dylan asks. "I know you haven't played it for anyone here, but I'm sure you have one. You mentioned you know how to make them."

  I never should've mentioned the ocarina.

  "What's an ocarina?" Elaina asks.

  "It's a type of flute," I answer. "An instrument you play by blowing into it. Not many people play it, though…" I sigh. "And there's something unavoidable if I do play it."

  The villagers are starting to like me, and they're even trusting me enough with their kids without supervision. Sure, they'll say that Thomas and Elaina are here, but Patrick's parents and Cedric's parents all know that there's nothing those two could do to stop me if I had ill intent. If I wanted to curse the kids or something, I could do it without issue. And Elaina came out here despite barely interacting with me.

  All of that means the villagers are starting to accept me as one of them. They've all no doubt noticed the higher rate of spirit visibility around me, too. I know for a fact that Dylan and Thomas have been wondering the cause behind that.

  This is something I can reveal to them.

  "I'm something called a Spirit Saint," I admit, earning surprised looks from Dylan and Thomas and confused ones from the rest. "Gods and spirits alike can grant something called a Blessing, though with different effects. Both have titles with prefixes, or something which comes before them, with 'Holy' or 'Divine' if it's from the god, or 'Spirit' if it's from the spirits.

  "In order of strength, from weakest to highest," I continue explaining. "You have Acolytes, then Priests, then Archpriests. Someone with a holy Blessing can use holy magic without training, though they'll still need to actually practice to use them faster, more efficiently, and to use higher-level ones. Spirit-granted Blessings don't provide any special magics, apart from being able to sense partially-manifested spirits.

  "An Oracle is someone who accepted a role as a speaker," I say. "While a Saint has not, but has the same level of blessing as an Oracle. The gods and spirits view them as equals. There are no Spirit Oracles, as the spirits don't care for having a speaker."

  "How's that differ from a priest?" Patrick asks. "Ain't they speakers?"

  "They are," I nod. "A Holy Priest usually lives in one area and teaches the faith of the gods, provides minor blessings, and performs other holy magics. They might travel to another area, if their power is needed there, or if their patron god sends them there. An Oracle, on the other hand, performs those travels on a greater scale, often even bringing the faith to an area without it. They also tend to receive word of issues from their gods directly, to go and deal with them."

  "Oh."

  He still seems a little confused, but that's fine.

  "As a Spirit Saint," I say. "It just means that I'm very well-liked by the spirits. They also like the sound of an ocarina, so most people who play them are people liked by spirits and have received a Blessing from them. Due to my status, I can't play an ocarina without spirits making themselves visible to normal people."

  As I say this last part, Aluci joins us and takes a seat beside me, nuzzling my leg.

  "Aluci here is an Ancient Noble," I rub his head, then scratch behind his ears. "One of the eldest of all spirits in the Great Realm we live in. His life is nearing its end, but he's chosen to accompany me. One way to tell that someone is a Spirit Saint – or has the potential to become one – is if they have a noble spirit hanging out with them. They're naturally drawn to people with our qualifications."

  Aluci gives a dip of his head to the others as I pull out my ocarina, a simple one carved from a piece of wood which was then polished. It's not the best in quality, but I'll make a better one later.

  I press the instrument to my lips and begin to play. As I do, spirits of the three lower ranks begin to appear around us, from the motes to the small and chubby humanoids, to the spectral bestial forms of the high-rank spirits. Many of them gather around me, sitting on the ground around my stool, on my lap, on my shoulders and head. Others join the people before me, sitting and watching with them. The ground at the edges of the lessons zone becomes filled with spirits as well, and the area around us becomes packed as more show up.

  Less than half a minute from when my song begins, other sounds fill the air. Melodies in tune with my own song. All of the spirits above the low-ranked ones have joined in, many of them swaying gently with the song.

  Everyone remains silent even after my song ends, and I simply set the ocarina on my lap, a few of the spirits there deciding to inspect it.

  "Whoa," Elaina breaths, the first to break the charm of the song. "That was incredible."

  "So many spirits," Cedric's eyes are wide with wonder as he looks around. "Ain't ever seen this many before…"

  "The Mistwood Region has a high amount of them," I smile softly. "And even some of its traditions are rooted in them. The Arrival is simply one very large spirit showing up. If you succeed in the hunt, or a girl finds an oyster with a pearl, it's by the grace of the spirits. And I'm sure if you ask nicely, they'll play with you while waiting for lunch."