"Regarding hexes: Can you convert water to gasoline? Metal to cloth? Lead to gold?"

"Yes. No. Yes."

Zamira whistles. "In that case, you should – wait, hold on. Do you transmute lead to gold via the sacrifice of Kisses or gems, or through other means?"

"No, Madam, it's free. But I have to use gems for water to gasoline."

"Alright. So. I'll mark you down as rank 3 hexes. As for witchery, can you modify the garments of others? If you're able to turn yourself invisible with your garment, you could probably learn tailoring."

"Oh, I don't know what ranks are. I didn't know that magic came in ranks.

I have never tried to modify the garments of others, so I don't know whether I can or not.

I cannot make myself invisible with my garment."

Is she going to be upset or angry that he can't do it?

She is not! (She is also not going to explain ranks in response to what might be an implicit question. It's not a good use of her time.) She is going to move onto her next question.

"How precise is your control over Firecalling, especially with regards to temperature?"

He was hoping that Zamira would talk more about ranks, but oh well. At least he's answering his other questions.

"I can control fire up to a range of 1500 meters. I can use my Firecalling to propel myself upward and glide, but I prefer using Windkeeping for that. I can concentrate fire to a thin ray, like a laser. I can control my fire to plus or minus 5 degrees Celsius. My eyes can track temperature, and I can use that to adjust.

I can also create fire that does not become dispelled or go out even if I leave it behind. That kind of fire doesn't need need fuel. However, I cannot make it move, unlike the first type of fire. This type of fire can also chill things. It can go below freezing temperatures. I have more control over the temperature of this fire – it can go from -20 degrees Celsius to 500 degrees Celsius with a precision of 1 degree Celsius. It also does not spread, unlike the other kind. "

"Alright, excellent, that has straightforward industrial applications. How are you at building structures with Earthmoving, in particular according to blueprints that call for gaps within the walls, and artistic sculpture?"

"I have only tried building very simple things like earthen walls using Earthmoving. My training focused more on power and speed than control. I have not tried making artistic sculptures with Earthmoving. I know how to extract metal from the ground using Metallurgy, and I can get ores too if I combine it with Earthmoving."

"Alright. If you're looking into longer-term contracts eventually, you may want to look into matrons who can offer Earthmoving control training, there's a lot of market for it. Did your Metallurgy training also focus on power and speed over control?"

"Both, Madam. Metallurgy, I think, is my best magic and it synergizes with my Gadgetry and my Integration. I can make stuff using it."

He will open his mouth and breathe out black and sparkling red sand, holding out his hand. It coalesces a few inches above it into a tiny Stirling engine with a wheel, and he uses Firecalling to conjure a tiny candle flame sized fire below.

The wheel turns.

"Oh, lovely. Very promising, very promising. We don't see a lot of call for windkeeping or psychotics work and you mentioned poor skill in waterworking, so I'll get started with the wild magic checklist. Are you immune to disease? Do you sleep? How hard is it for you to copy combat maneuvers you've seen people perform? Can you delegate simple tasks to telekinetic servantlike forces? Can you prevent organic material from rotting?"

"I have never had a disease before. I don't know if I'm immune to disease.

I do not sleep.

I can copy something someone does if I've seen it once before. It can work if it's a recording, but not perfectly. Usually I only get some intuition then, and I need further practice or more recordings or one with higher quality.

No.

Yes, if I put it in my hat's dimension, but that's not a wild magic. So no."

"Can you intuitively determine the most efficient way to kill a living being by looking at it? Do you have a particular talent for creating tunnels? Is it easy for you to use spells through electronics including computer networks?"

"No. No, except for Earthmoving, which is not a wild magic. It is easy for me to use spells through and on electronics, but I have not tested it through computer networks. I can replicate pieces of technology I break down with my nanite swarm – does that count? It includes networking equipment, like radios."

"It's certainly relevant."

"The next thing we need to discuss is your tolerance for positions involving combat. You will be expected to participate in defense of your household regardless of position, but you do likely qualify for more combat-intense positions than that, especially given your secondary species. However."

Zamira takes a breath. "Combat can be taxing in ways that combat training is not. Combat involves the destruction of life, often life which wants to exist exactly as much as you do. Combat involves making split-second decisions with serious stakes. It may be against people you think have good reasons for opposing your commander. It may be against Outsider-corrupted versions of people you care about."

"Clothildis does not want to recommend anyone for combat roles who does not think she– sorry, they– can tolerate this. If you turn down a combat role before becoming a client, nobody reasonable will think less of you for it. If you attempt to leave a combat role in the field, this will cause serious consequences for you and your matron."

He cannot relate to taking breaths, because he doesn't need to do that anymore.

"Oh. That's fine, I've already killed people before. I don't think it's taxing to me. What are Outsiders?"

"Outsiders are entities from far beyond the relatively normal parts of reality, everywhere you can reach on a broom and a lot of places you can't. They attempt to cause suffering and instability, and even looking at their true forms can be destabilizing, though Psychotics helps a bit. Incoherent masses of eyes and tentacles are characteristic of them, but the absence of this isn't a reliable indicator of safety."

"I see. I will look out for them. I don't think there is any risk of me encountering Outsider-corrupted versions of people I care about, because everyone I care about is dead."

"Mm. Further questions. Do you know what your weapon form is? Have you been wielded before? How do you feel about roles involving that?"

"Greatsword. Yes, though only for training. I haven't been wielded much at all. I think I'm fine with the possibility of being wielded, but I want to know who I'll be wielded by before agreeing, and have the option to refuse."

He breathes black sand and creates a scale model of the greatsword. It's a wide European style two-handed greatsword.

"It's about as tall as I am."

"Got it. I'd ask about bonding with a wielder, but you're looking for short-term agreements, and that's a longer-term thing."

"So. I will give your profile to Clothildis. I can let you know by Sending you once we have information on prospective matrons, or you can meet me here at the same time tomorrow, we should be able to find some offers then. I'm assuming you don't have a mailing address or such right now. Is there some other form of contact which would work better for you?"

"What is Sending?

No, I do not have a mailing address right now."

And now there is a message in his head, like Einodia used at first. «Sending is a rank-zero divination a witch can use to telepathically message people she has met. If you're not a natural awakening, it's unlikely that you're completely incapable of divination, so you should be able to learn to do it.»