When you try to rent or buy a place, there are lists.

  Checklists.

  What is the water pressure?

  How far is the nearest train station?

  Is there a grocery store within walking distance?

  ?I knew these things. I was an adult once.

  But apparently, I was an idiot.

  Because I didn't know you needed to ask these same questions when moving to a new dimension.

  ?Yesterday, Nora beamed at me, hiding something behind her back.

  "Vivian! Look!"

  She produced a slender, peeled stick.

  My heart leaped.

  'A wand? Finally? Is she accepting my destiny as a mage?'

  ?Then, she produced a pot of grey paste.

  "Open wide!" she chirped. "Time to clean those teeth!"

  ?It wasn't a wand.

  It was a toothbrush.

  Or the primitive, medieval torture device that passed for one here. She showed me how to chew the end, then dip it in the disgusting, gritty, salty paste.

  ?If only I had asked questions before Gabriel yeeted me into this world, I would have packed a bag.

  A general store run. Toothpaste. Shampoo. Body wash.

  But no.

  ?I had to do this instead, scrubbing my new set of twenty teeth with a twig.

  And me not hearing anything about a dentist here meant I needed to take meticulous care of them. Oliver with a chisel was not a future I wanted.

  ?Nora finished and stood up. "I'll handle breakfast. Oliver is bringing the water."

  ?Oliver returned a moment later, boots thudding. We sat to put the breakfast.

  "What do you think about the food poisoning?" Oliver asked, taking a big bite of the bread.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  ?Nora looked up. "Elder Harlan just confessed yesterday, didn't he? Why else would he say Alicia had poisoned them?"

  ?Oliver chewed thoughtfully. "I don't know, Nora. Didn't you hear him? Lily's parents mentioned him coming by their house, but he didn't get in."

  Oliver pointed his knife. "He just talked to Leo, Lily's younger brother, and then went on his way. And besides, why would he poison them?"

  ?"To heal them later," Oliver answered his own question. "To make them think there is no need for Alicia in the village. Just like he said Alicia has done."

  ?Nora sighed, rubbing her temples. "Even if he did that, it did the opposite thing. Let it just go, Oliver."

  ?I chewed my bread silently.

  'No, you shouldn't let it go.'

  What if he does something more reckless next time?

  ?But well, what could they do? We had no proof.

  ?We walked to the Hut.

  Alicia was energized.

  Unfortunately for me, she put all that extra energy into tormenting me.

  ?"Posture, Vivian!"

  "We are discussing High Elven etiquette today."

  ?'Elven nonsense.'

  ?"When entering a room," she lectured, pacing, "one must always cross the threshold with the left leg. The right implies aggression."

  I mean, who cares with which leg you enter a room? That's just absurd.

  ?But I was happy for her. Once the hut got crowded again, she would not have this much time to torture me.

  ?I needed a project.

  It was time for me to choose a new enchantment, to copy and gloss.

  ?I already had one in mind.

  The Barrier System

  ?There was one that sounded alarms when some intruder came close to your house.

  One that would stop them from coming in further.

  One that would shock the person who attempted to cross it.

  ?The last two needed mana stones. Probably because they would need lots of energy to operate.

  But the first one was simpler, and really useful.

  ?We had Milo to warn us, but seeing no better choice for now, I decided to learn the alarm. Who knew, it might come in handy one day.

  ?The enchantment was modular.

  The first part, the Anchors, was written outside. You would need at least three of these enchantments to make a shape around the house. Three would make a triangle, four a square...

  The hut had eight of them, forming an octagon.

  ?The second part is the Remote Controller.

  You would activate it, and in turn, it would activate all the others.

  ?I started on the second one first, because it was inside the hut, etched onto a window.

  I would copy the other runes after the snow melted outside.

  ?I climbed up onto the chair.

  I started to analyze the enchantments runes.

  ?I sighed.

  Just to find out, out of thirty, only three were real.

  Twenty seven were fake.

  I ended up glossing the Controller within a day.

  ?Now for the outside.

  I searched the windows.

  Thankfully, I found one Anchor visible from inside the hut, on a fence post.

  ?I pulled out my paper.

  Strategy: Magic ink for the real enchantments. Normal ink for the fake ones.

  ?I copied the Anchor.

  Then, I took it home. The paper was still fine, so I would be able to gloss the runes.

  ?Hopefully, I would be able to finish it before spring.

  ?Two days were left to the end of the winter.

  Most of the snow had already melted, turning the village into a slushy mess.

  I had finished the enchantments.

  ?I stood on the porch, subjecting myself to the stick and paste ritual.

  I cleaned my mouth with that stick, spit, and tossed the stick into the woodpile.

  Then, I walked inside to help Nora prepare breakfast.

  ?"Mom! I'll help!"

  ?I froze.

  Nora was leaning against the counter, her face pale.

  She was holding her hand in front of her mouth.

  She looked as though she was about to throw up.