Arrayed in front of me was a gathering of witches.

  Each of them wore forms that either hinted at inhumanity or decided that horror chic was the way to go. The most extreme was a man that was too lanky to possibly be alive, practically just just bone attached to skin while somehow still moving despite possessing nothing of muscle or fat.

  His upper body was exposed, and I got an exclusive peak into human anatomy as each of the organs below the ribs struggled against the confines of his skin. His eyes were pitch black, and he didn't even bother to acknowledge my presence when Umi strolled in with a little elf girl in tow.

  The boy standing beside him however, was positively scandalized at the sight of me. To be fair, I probably looked somewhere between shocked and confused when I saw him, so it was mutual.

  He was wearing a demon form too after all.

  It was...strange. I could tell it wasn't very developed, where some looked passably human, they seemingly did it by choice, while he was forced with the indignity of being immature. I could tell because their demon forms (or whatever the fuck it was called) each radiated mana.

  So many flavours, so many twisted concepts.

  The strangest was a woman who sat across from me around the roundtable and a bit to the right. She was giving me a contemplative look, and if I couldn't feel her mana, I would've mistakenly assumed she possessed any sanity.

  Her mana was laughing.

  I didn't know how, it wasn't the impression of laughter, it was literal laughter. Radiating off her form like a ballad for the insane. It was sharp somehow, cutting into my mind with every second I listened—

  I pushed mana to my mind, and hoped that it would do something.

  The invasion abated slightly.

  Then there was pressure.

  So much power enveloped the room that it demanded supplication. It wasn't mana, it couldn't have been mana. Mana didn't feel like the weight of the world was pressing down on your shoulders and demanded your obedience.

  "Linda, that's no way to treat a new member, now is it?" Umi said, perfectly pleasant with a tilt of the head and an eerie widening of her eyes.

  She looked kinda pretty now, after conjuring her illusion. Her scars were still there, but they accentuated her beauty in a way that scars shouldn't be capable of.

  Like someone out of a painting.

  The menace though, that stayed.

  Linda (weirdly normal name for a witch) struggled to give a nod.

  Then the pressure was gone, and I could breathe again.

  Umi clapped her hands, and the sound made everyone flinch. "Well, I didn't expect you lot to be polite, but honestly I'm disappointed. I bring in a little vulnerable witchling and the first thing you think of it to take advantage of her? Don't think I didn't notice you Rekten, you slimy cunt. Remove your curse or I'll remove your eyes."

  A man a little ways to the left of me grumbled as he scowled at Umi, he didn't look far from human, and his mana was unpleasant. Like a bad smell you couldn't escape. I felt...a little lighter after a few seconds.

  I turned to stare wide eyed at Umi, and she waved my worry off.

  "One of his minor curses, would've had you shitting blood for a month. Nothing dangerous."

  I blinked. Internal bleeding sounded pretty dangerous, but I didn't dare protest.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  She nodded as though that was par for the course.

  "Now, all of you. I know there's been a few friendly pranks over the past month, but you know there are lines we don't cross for the sake of peace. Don't look all innocent at me, you know who you are."

  "She ruined my elixir! All my resources, wasted! It was perfectly justified," A man to the right of the circle huffed.

  Umi picked up a knife from the table (was that always there?) and flung it at the man. He looked offended when the weapon punctured his belly.

  "That doesn't give you the right to kill off her assistant. Especially not to dismember her and hang up her pieces like festival decorations. The guards are looking high and low for the killer now, and attention does none of us any good."

  A woman with galaxies for eyes grumbled. "You got that right."

  Alvir chuckled, there with his grey skin, ridiculous height, and ram horns. He looked...anxious? Worried? Or maybe that was all a show. Making assumptions about the man was a mistake the first time around, so I didn't put much stock in his external mask.

  Umi moved on like she didn't just throw a knife at one of her comrades.

  "I don't often get the pleasure of inducting young witches, and you all had to ruin it," she pouted. "Ah well, I'm sure you'll all be just fine if I retract my protection a bit. You're all experienced enough to keep yourselves hidden."

  The whole group went from eerie silence to a monumental amount of yelling and complaining, silenced with another brush of whatever the fuck Umi called on before.

  She gave a sharp smile to the surrounding witches. "That's what I thought. I'll let you indulge in your depravities, so long as you follow the rules and fall in line.

  "Now, we're going to go about this pleasantly, because we can at least pretend to be pleasant people, right?"

  The coven nodded.

  "Good. Our newest member, Yir the rat-slayer, is a bit stranger than most our inductees. Unlike the rest of us, who've learned magic through the intimate tutoring of our demons, she's made a deal with an ork!"

  Some of the coven blinked, and a few brought forth their questions.

  Others looked disturbingly unfazed.

  "If her deal is with a green-skin, then doesn't that just make her...a mage?" One of the members asked.

  Umi tisked at the woman. "I know you're an idiot Onren, but you don't need to remind us at every opportunity."

  Onren scowled, but Umi interrupted whatever she was going to say.

  Probably for the best.

  "No, she has a demon. Alvir already confirmed the ritual earlier this spring, and her spontaneous awakening to mana coincided perfectly with the approximate time it was done," Umi said, and I was realing. Alvir knew about me for that long? How? Okama was almost two hundred miles away. "The better question is if she's even worth considering for the coven? The answer to that is yes, for the particularly slow among us. She's already learned a Word, not even a year after her awakening, and she has a spell. Courtesy of the ork.

  "Anyone who asks me how is implicitly volunteering their ribs in my next stew," she finished with lilt.

  A few froze before they could mouth their curiosity, returning the room to silence. Though one looked conflicted as he stared at me.

  "Splendid! Then let us commence with a little catch up. Umoa, why don't you go first?"

  The impossibly thin man, presumably Umoa, grunted and proceeded to speak. "I've got a few special bones I've collected, otherwise it's been the same old same old."

  "Wonderful!" Umi clapped. "Mundanity is our sanctuary, have you noticed anything...strange in the graveyards?"

  Umoa shook his head and Umi gave him a nod.

  "Perfect. Now what about you, Terra?"

  My eyes darted to the woman with galaxies for eyes when Umi nodded to her. That was the person I needed to speak to, the reason I agreed to this bullshit. Other than her eyes...she looked rather ordinary.

  Terra crossed her arms and let out a sigh. "The guard's been a mess. There's been another string of murders in the city, other than the ones you cunts have so generously placed on my shoulders. Honestly, Tairak is a pain in the ass on his own. Can't you idiots spare at least some consideration for the rest of the fucking coven?"

  "You know I've already tried to corral this lot," Umi shrugged. "Though your efforts are greatly appreciated, how 'bout I find something nice for you to sacrifice as compensation?"

  Terra grumbled out a few more complaints, but she seemed mollified.

  Umi gave a nod and moved on to the next person, staring directly at Alvir. "So, how's our resident rat been doing?"

  "Just fine," Alvir said with a smile. "Yir's training has been moving along nicely, and my rats have been well fed. I've been investing into Frisk, he's been growing at a splendid pace. Might match Skiski in the coming months! What a wonderful thing indeed, I'm debating between keeping him alive or letting Skiski eat him."

  "Quite the dilemma, but you know that's not what I asked."

  Alvir gave a grand chuckle and waved her off. "Yes, yes. The countryside's still recovering from the horde, the gangs are getting ever closer to another war, and the magistrate's been too busy with their political games to give a shit about either. Honestly, you should know that I'd say something if there was a change."

  "Hilarious," Umi deadpanned. "Moving along. Killian, do you have any news of the new merchant caravan that's graced our city?"

  I didn't bother listening further. Each of them went over whatever they'd been doing or hearing over the month, and that was a whole lot of pointless information to me. Instead I stared intensely at the woman I came here for.