"That sounds good to me."

"And this is where my honesty gets me," she says good naturedly. 

"Honesty alone gets you very different places than this, lady."

"Well, I can hardly be honest unless I have other traits to be honest about."

Wow, she doesn't want to have this conversation, or, she does but only for backlash reasons and she'd rather talk to Lianelle! "Bye!" There's an exit, Ivan just went out of it, let's go that way.

"I'll see you later!" the old lady calls after her.

Lianelle follows her summoner out.

It transpires that they are underground and the way Ivan went up involved climbing a rather minimal looking ladder built into the side of a stone shaft.

"Wow, good thing I don't have dyspraxia any more. Since under the circumstances I'm not gonna fly. So - what does being bound to me do exactly, besides cause you to not be in the spirit world and let me read your mind if I wanted to which I don't 'cause of that being fucked up?"

"I also can't lie to you, you can project things at me, and uh, you can discorporate and recorporate me but I would rather not spend much time discorporated if you don't mind."

"I am not aware of any reason to discorporate you! Project things?"

"Thoughts, messages, emotions. That sort of thing."

"And this doesn't have backlash or any side effects?"

"No - it might technically cost magic but if so it's a very very small amount."

"What does it mean for something to cost magic?"

"You have a well of magic which replenishes naturally over time, I don't think any of the bond powers will put a dent in it at all - unless I were far away, though that would drain your magic significantly all by itself. Oh and healing me, that'll cost magic."

"Are you sure that I in fact have this thing?"

"You would not have managed to summon me if you didn't have any, I'm pretty sure. And having summoned me would give you more. You could try projecting at me?"

[Testing]

"Works! You'll have to intentionally try to pick up a response or leave it open or something like that if you want me to be able to reply. Normally that isn't required but you're doing a lot of automatic filtering of the bond I think - lots of summoners would also be instinctively reading emotions or projecting."

"I don't have any instincts about this!"

"Typically bonds act conveniently for their summoners?"

"I guess maybe that's why, I wouldn't find it convenient if I were reading your mind at all."

"I really wouldn't mind but you don't have to if you don't want to."

"Is it even useful in any way besides the telepathy thing which we can apparently do separately?"

"I think the telepathy isn't separate? You are picking the words out of my head that I'm attempting to draw your attention to, is what it feels like on my end."