Nora felt a flicker of excitement. In her past life, she and Ethan couldn't afford a house and were renting an apartment before the war started. She had always dreamed of a house.
Torin, seeing her excitement, chimed in quietly, "The houses here are really nice; they do not spare any expense."
Nora nodded along. She had seen some of the buildings on the way here, and most of the tree houses that she assumed were people's houses seemed really nice.
"Ok, first let's get your name," Mina said, placing a line of the alphabet on the board in front of Nora. "Please point to the first letter of your name."
Nora scanned the alphabet briefly, noting that it was the exact same as the English aplhabet. then, she placed one of her talons on N. Then O, then R, and finally A.
"Nora.. what a lovely name, well, Nora, can you tell me what age you are?"
Nora tilted her head in confusion. In her past life, she had just turned 25 before she died, but now she had only been in this world for a couple of months or so.
"It's ok if you don't know the exact age; we just need a rough estimate of how long you've been alive, which won't really affect much except to measure your growth." Mina chimed in, explaining helpfully.
Nora still hesitated. 'I don't think I could say my actual age, it would be too suspicious if I had grown several levels in just a few months, then again I honestly don't know how fast people in this world level up… I'll just go with like 18'
"18 huh? That's pretty young! You really are an impressive bird." Torin praised her, genuinely sounding surprised.
'Shoot, that was the wrong guess,' Nora thought, but it was too late to change her answer now; Mina was already writing it down.
"Okay, and from the looks of it, you are some type of crow, yes?"
Nora nodded her head.
Mina reached under her desk and pulled out a rather large book, flipping to the page labeled CROW. She then asked Nora to point towards the subspecies that she was, if any, on the list.
Nora scanned the page briefly before simply placing her talon on the big word 'CROW' emboldened across the top.
"Uhm, just crow? Not a different subspecies or anything?"
Nora nodded her head.
"Interesting, we usually don't see many crows around here, and usually the ones that we do see can't necessarily understand us until they evolve into a subspecies of crow."
'That's kind of strange,' Nora thought, making a mental note of the interaction. Slowly but surely, she was building her understanding of the world.
"Anyway, since you're just a regular crow, this shouldn't be too difficult. I just need to register you in the system and get your appointment with the ritual hall. You may move on to the next step, going over to that room over there, where you can sign the contract and take the oath." Mina continued explaining, gesturing with one of her hands towards a gold-framed door with intricate designs.
Nora and Torin headed over to the door. On the way, Torin struck up a conversation again, "I had no idea your name was Nora, that's such a great name. And you're only 18?? How are you this powerful at only 18? You have to tell me your secrets!"
Nora simply shrugged, but then she began to wonder about Torin. She tilted her head and made a gesture at him that said, 'What about you?'
"Oh well, I'm 23, I'm kind of like you, people call me really powerful for my age, but that's really just cause of my family… Voltrake are known to be relatively powerful birds due to the circumstances for how they're born or become a Voltrake."
'Interesting,' for the first time since Nora had met him, she took a look at his status, wanting to know what level he was at at only 23.
Ding!
————————
Torin
species: Voltrake
level: 15
Power level: 6
————————
'Huh, a level 15, not the highest I've ever seen, but I should still treat him with respect; he's probably way more powerful than I am. His power level even says 6, which is twice what I am right now.'
Nora and Torin kept chatting while they waited outside the door. They were told by one of the staff members passing by not to enter the room until someone called them.
After a few minutes of chatting, the door creaked open a bit. Torin turned to Nora and gestured for her to go, but Nora hesitated.
"I'm not allowed to go in there since the oath is a pretty serious thing. I'll wait outside for you."
'A pretty serious thing?!? All of you have been talking like this is nothing.' Nora huffed but went inside alone.
The room was large and very dark, and had ominous runes written all around the dimly lit walls. It was a circular room, with a colosseum-like structure; all around the walls were arched inlets.
As Nora's eyes adjusted, she noticed that there seemed to be figures stationed in each of the inlets. There were 12 of them in total. In the center of the room was a podium.
Nora quietly approached the podium, and all the figures stayed completely still, except their heads turned to follow her. She felt a sense of unease from the moment that she stepped into the room, which increased dramatically when she noticed the figures following her.
When she got to the center, she noticed a large leather-bound book in front of her. The book was flipped to a page labeled "NORA"
The page read:
Let it be known to all who soar, perch, glide, or dwell under the open sky, that on this day, within the sacred bounds of the Bird Clan's territory, a pact is to be forged.
Article I — Recognition of Sovereignty
The signee, known henceforth as Nora, acknowledges the Bird Clan as a sovereign and autonomous collective of winged beings, bound by ancestral rites and aerial law. Nora enters this realm as a member of this sovereign, not as a conqueror, predator, or infiltrator.
Article II — Oath of Non-Harm
Nora shall, by beak, talon, spell, thought, or wing, cause no intentional harm—physical, magical, or spiritual—to any member of the Bird Clan, its eggs, its sacred sites, or its skybound traditions.
This oath extends to:
-All avian and non-avian beings residing within the bird clan and associated territories
-Their offspring, shelters, nests, relics, and rites
-The skies above, winds between, and roots below
Article III — Conduct Within the Flock:
You shall not intentionally incite violence, discord, or panic. She shall follow all posted laws, yield during sky-circle priority maneuvers, and respect flight formation hierarchies.
She shall treat all avian voices with equal weight, regardless of size or species.
Article IV — Breach and Consequences
Should you violate this pact, the following consequences may occur at the discretion of the Council:
-Immediate expulsion from Bird Clan territory
-Revocation of any gifts, rights, or honors granted
-Skybranding (a mark of betrayal seen by all birds)
-In grievous cases, invocation of the Skykeeper's Judgment
Article V — Duration of Contract
This contract remains in binding effect until formally released by:
-A unanimous vote of the Council of Wings
-Completion of a specified mission or diplomatic exchange
-The death of either party
Sign here:
Nora looked to her left, seeing how a pad with some sort of ink appeared suddenly. She hesitated, replaying what the contract had stated.
'Hmm, it isn't too bad, I think I can handle this, I don't exactly have plans of betraying the bird clan sooo....'
Nora placed her talon on the ink pad firmly. Making sure that it covered the entire bottom part of her foot. Then she placed it on the paper, effectively signing that she agreed to the contract. She felt a part of her mana enter the page, binding her in more ways than just one.
As soon as the page was signed, each of the figures disappeared from the arches, and so did the book. Nora looked around, a bit confused, before eventually realizing that the ritual was over.
'Weird… I thought I had to do an oath too… oh well! Less work for me.' Nora thought as she headed towards the door. Pushing it open, she saw Torin on the other side.
"All done? That was fast."
Nora chirped, nodding her head.
"Well, that's good. While you were in there, Mina came over. She told me that your ritual appointment is scheduled, and your house can be assigned after that. We should head over there since your ritual is soon."
Nora nodded her head excitedly, wanting to get a human form asap.
"Great, I'll show you the way. It's a little far away, so we shouldn't waste any time."
They both took off into the air, heading out of the town hall-esque building, and flying deeper into the bird clan.