Been a bit busy. So I wanted to go ahead and address a few things. A few people have questioned the behavior of the MC in certain situations, calling the behavior inconsistent. I always appreciate input, and readers taking the time and effort to become invested. I would like to assure the readers that I in fact have a reason for the behavior of the characters, even if neither the MC or the reader are aware of them yet. They will hopefully be answered in the fullness of time. As always, if you see any problems with the chapter, let me know, and thank you all for reading.
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My mother took one look at my face, and broke out into laughter, pulling me tighter into the hug. “Oh baby, you're precious.” she said before releasing me from the hug.
“...I'm not having children.” I said seriously, trying to get the look of horror off of my face.
Mother sighed, and shook her head, “You're still young baby. We can talk about it more when you're older.” she said, grinning at me.
“I'm almost thirty.” I said deadpan, causing her to giggle.
“And you'll always be my baby, but you're still young sweetheart. It'll be at least another sixty years before you finish maturing.” she said brushing my cheek. My eyes went wide as I looked at her, and my jaw dropped.
“Sixty years?” I asked confused. Mother looked at me and sighed, brushing a lock of hair off of my shoulder. Her grin turned into a loving smile, though I could still see mirth on her face.
“Your descended from a noble sun-elf and a high human, baby. Noble sun elves are closer to our fae heritage than even the sylvan elves, and the high humans have life spans close to the noble wood elves. I didn't reach adulthood until I was a hundred and twenty. Based on past examples, you should finish maturing around eighty or ninety.” she said with a shrug.
“Wait...wait...Are you telling me I have another sixty years of puberty to look forward to?” I asked mildly horrified, “I think I'm going to be sick.” I said.
Mother giggled, and shook her head. “Even at thirty, you're still a young girl Faith. Human nobility don't actually start marrying until well into their forties and fifties at the youngest...well, except in certain rare cases...something to do with property inheritance as early as twelve.” she said looking at me closely, “Which is why you were able to get your title I assume. In Silvermont you wouldn't present yourself publicly until you were a hundred...Though you did say you were 'Immortal', so who knows.” she said thoughtfully. Seeing the look on my face she laughed again.
“I'm confused...” I said with a frown, “If they aren't adults until their forties, why did the Lebonne girls say they were having a debutante ball at sixteen?” I asked.
“Ahh. The low humans are generally considered adults at sixteen. Though marriage for high humans start later, you sometimes have low humans from merchant families marrying into the aristocracy, or even famous adventurers. Though breeding between the high and low races is...difficult, it isn't impossible, especially with certain fertility magics. The high humans, much like the noble elves, breed true between 'lesser' bloodlines. Supposedly the gods desired for their leading class to not dilute with time. In any case, the humans do mate between classes regularly enough, and their children mature quickly enough during early puberty, that they do their little showings at sixteen.” Mother explained with a smile. “It's more an 'introduction to the game of politics', than a show for potential suitors. The Empire doesn't really care who their aristocracy marry, as long as they keep breeding more high humans, as difficult as that can be.” she explained.
“I'm more confused...” I said pinching the bridge of my nose.
Mother sighed and patted my head, “It's all right baby, I'll help you. In the meantime I need to finish cleaning.” She said brushing my cheek, and walking away.
I stood there for a few minutes considering the entire situation, and suddenly felt exhausted. Looking toward the stairs to the second floor I thought about crawling back into bed, and willing the world away for a few years. Maybe then this building headache would finally recede.
Deciding to just carry on, I spent the rest of the morning completing assessments and repairs on the 'townhouse'. Some of the exterior walls need major repairs, but the structural fixes were quick enough using my fabrication system. From there I went ahead of the ladies cleaning the first floor, to repair furniture, walls, ceilings, and floors. The place was furnished, but some of it looked like it hadn't been maintained in decades, or even centuries. By the time lunch rolled around I had most major concerns dealt with, but I had worn myself out on structural repairs.
Before I went down for lunch I decided I wanted to get out of the house, and I still needed to pick up that card from the adventurer guild...though that left the issue of being spotted. Regardless of Charles's assurances, I didn't feel like overtly tempting fate. This meant I needed some type of disguise, that wasn't too conspicuous. Luckily when I was at the adventurer's guild there were plenty of people wearing helmets, and other armor which concealed a good bit of their bodies. In the end I modified an old set of plate mail I found stuffed into a closet. I absconded with the breast plate, greaves, and bracers, and after 'adjusting' them, I fitted them onto some cloth and leather garments I made from available materials. It took me a few minutes to get the fits right, but luckily I had the patterns stored from when I copied the outfits I had the day before.
I grabbed a hooded cloak, and fabricated a half-helmet that partially covered my face. When I arrived downstairs for lunch everyone was giving me strange looks.
“Faith, honey, what are you wearing?” Mother asked me as she passed some butter to Lily.
“Oh, I was going to head down to the Adventurer's guild to pick up my card. With everything that happened yesterday, I didn't have time.” I explained, causing her to raise an eyebrow.
“Are you sure that's a good idea?” Mother asked concerned. She put down her fork and just looked at me.
“...I can go with her.” Aisha said, looking up from her lunch. “I can get a card of my own, and we can make an afternoon of it.” she said with a smile. Mother smiled..
“Um...sure. Sounds like fun.” I said, looking over at Aisha, and noticing again how much younger she looked. As I took a seat next to my mother, I pulled off the Crown of Áine and handed it to her. “Mom, could you hold onto that? It won't fit in the helmet, and I haven't decided on a spot to put it yet.
Mother took the crown, looking at it curiously, and then frowned. “Alright sweetie.” she said, setting it beside her on the table.
“We should probably grab some gold, so you can get some equipment.” I suggested, looking over at Aisha as I took a slice of bread, some cheese, and some cold cuts. The kitchen still wasn't really up and running yet apparently, but it was nice to have lunch with everyone.
Everyone chatted over lunch, and I explained how well the upper floors looked. Everyone looked surprised except Mother. After that the rest of the ladies discussed working in the gardens, and what types of flowers they were going to plant. Mother seemed taken with doing hanging gardens and trying to emulate some of the things they did in the elven lands. I just phased the entire conversation out until we finished lunch.
Afterward I grabbed a small satchel of gold coins from the box. The quantity was probably excessive, but I was curious to check out some of the 'magic equipment' available. Besides, Aisha was less durable than me, and I saw no reason not to equip her well. Aisha, for her part seemed taken aback when I suggested it, but she didn't put up too much of a fight over a few small 'gifts'. In any case, this time around I had a better idea of how much money to bring with me, and if I was pressed I could generate more money.
Aisha and I left Caliburn castle just before noon, and walked the mile through the crowded streets of Kisk. The redhead was acting like a schoolgirl as we walked hand in hand. Occasionally she would stop to point at things in store fronts, or drag me inside to try on something. I found out she liked hats, at least it seemed like it since she made us try on dozens of them in the mile between Caliburn and the Adventurer's Guild. She didn't just look younger than when I first met her in the Drunken Harlot, she acted as if decades of hard life had been magically wiped away. Her energy was invigorating, or perhaps even intoxicating. I found myself pulled into her wake, smiling, laughing, and just generally enjoying a few carefree hours. Her smiles were contagious, and I don't think I've even acted so carefree and whimsical myself.
By the time we reached the guild, Aisha was giggling and hanging off of me with a small bag in one hand that contained the second hat she bought on the way. The first was a floppy velvet white and dark red, wide brimmed hat that matched the dark red of the dress she was wearing. We were laughing over nothing at all when we got in, in between her occasionally casting flirtatious glances at one or two of the pretty young men standing around the guild hall. She had spent half the trip trying to push me into 'catching' a young man for myself. Every time she did I gave her a look that sent her into another fit of giggling.
The hall itself was emptier this time around, and for all the laughter and playing from Aisha, we seemed to attract less attention that I did on my own the day before. I mean I did get a few glances here or there, but mostly they were from appreciative men..though I think most of those were for Aisha. She seemed to draw the eyes as a matter of course, at least I thought so. There were probably twenty or thirty people in the guild's main hall, and luckily Naomi was among them. The young violet eyed brunette smiled at me when I came up to the desk.
“Can I help you?” Naomi asked as I and Aisha crowded in close, Aisha looking around the guild hall excitedly. “Never been to the guild hall?” Naomi asked, watching Aisha.
Aisha shook her head and smiled, “No! But I always wanted to...I was never really able to get out and about, well, until recently anyway.” she said happily, hugging my arm and then looking back to Naomi. “But I'd like to sign up for the adventurer's guild, and my friend here came to pick up her card.” Aisha said before reaching into her pocket to fish out a few silver. I went to grab coins from my coin purse, but Aisha just waved my hand away. “I can cover myself for this.” Aisha said and then stuck her tongue out at me, and started giggling.
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Naomi laughed and smiled, pulling out a sheet of paper and a clipboard, and handing it to Aisha. “If you like we can do aptitude tests, if you'd like to be assessed for some class, or if you don't have one yet.” Naomi said to Aisha while I looked around at the sparsely populated guild hall.
Aisha fished out a few more coins and gave them to Aisha, before turning over to me. “Hey! I wonder if I could be a wizard or something.” she said with a giggle. She seemed to be on cloud nine and having the time of her life just being out and about in the middle of the day.
Taking a moment I glanced at Aisha, bringing up a status window for her.
Name: Aisha
Race: Human (Variant)
Age: 34
Sex: Female
Class: None
Subclass: None
Profession: Whore 22, Farmer 8
Strength: 20
Dexterity: 42
Endurance: 35
Intelligence: 65
Power: 60
Luck: 47
Health: 350 HP Health Regen: 3.5 HP/day
Mana: 600 MP Mana Regen: 12 MP/Day
Skills:
Agriculture: 30/400
Athletics: 162/400
Climbing: 37/400
Herbalism: 45/400
Instruments:
-Harp: 103/400
Lore: 20/400
Occult: 15/400
Pain Tolerance: 280/400
Perception: 110/400
Persuasion: 215/400
Singing: 102/400
Stealth: 75/400
Survival: 17/400
Swimming: 15/400
Combat Skills:
Knives: 60/400
Blessings: Blessing of Faith, Ageless
Traits: Blood of the Divine, Superior Health Regeneration, Superior Magic Regeneration
[table]
[table]
Blood of the Divine When the blood of gods flows through the bodies of mortals, it changes the nature of their being. These beings have an increased spiritual weight in ethereal or astral realms, similar to that of the gods themselves, letting them resist the pull of chaos, or the void even in the underworld. Their bodies are naturally more resistant to magics that try to mutate, or drain them, such as life drain. The specific god the being is attached to can have other effects based on the nature of the god. Ageless Ageless beings never age past their prime, nor can they be artificially aged. They can still die if subjected to conditions or states that would kill a normal mortal, but will never die of old age.
I suppose I should have been alarmed by the implications of what my blood had done to Aisha, but when I saw her stats I was more or less focused on her pain tolerance. The skill lists had seemed more or less...odd. The actual scope of human activities would seem to preclude such narrow definitions of 'skills' as what I had been seeing, or else just mean there could be an endless supply of skills. If there were, how did those overlap? How were those assessments made? In the end those questions fell by the wayside as only one was left to me. What kind of hellish experiences had put her tolerance for pain so high?
I reached out and gave Aisha a hug. “Of course you could! I bet you'd make an awesome wizard.” I said with a smile. Aisha returned the hug without really questioning the contact, and then turned her attention back to Naomi. Aisha finished writing her personal information on the signup sheet and handed it to Naomi expectantly
Naomi took the change off of the counter and grinned. “Alright, let's get you imprinted on a blank, and then I can setup the tests.” she said putting the coins Aisha gave her into a small lock box, and then pulling one of those blank metal cards from a drawer under the desk. “Go ahead and put your hand out so I can get a blood sample.” she said, pulling a small needle from the desk. Naomi took what looked to be a small bottle of spirits out and wiped the needle down, before reaching out to take Aisha's hand.
As Aisha's blood hit the plate it glimmered, and I could see magic in the plate bonding with the blood, for lack of a better word. “It should be ready in a couple of hours, if you want to go ahead and get affinity tests and such done.” Naomi said, before looking to me. “And you wanted to pick up your card? What was the name?” she asked.
“Oh...um, Faith.” I said with a frown, “I came in yesterday, and did a test, but...the device malfunctioned...” I said a bit nervously.
Naomi blinks, and looked at me carefully, before clearing her throat. “Oh! Wow!” she said and smiled. “Sorry about that, it never happens...I mean it happened that once, but it never happened before...Your card...came out a bit strange...um, it's in the back.” she said, her smile not leaving her face.
I looked at Aisha, who just shrugged at me, before I followed Naomi back into a small office area. We passed a few people at desks, who looked to be clerks of some sort, copying information into large books. Naomi lead the two of us into a small room with a handful of shelves, and a wooden work table at the center. There was a silvery card with ornate swirling patterns over the surface on the table, and as I approached it seemed to glow faintly.
“Um, the card was behaving strangely, you see...” Naomi said with a frown.
“Behaving strangely? The unmitigated gall! Do you know who and what you're speaking to!” a rather nasal man's voice said, apparently coming from the table. Naomi looked embarrassed and nervous, when I looked at her.
“No...who and what are we speaking to?” I asked moving forward into the room.
“Oh! Heavens! Mistress, my apologies for appearing in such a state, but you wouldn't believe what I've had to endure at the hands of these vile ruffians! Positively barbarous, I tell you! Not only have they been man handling me, but have incessantly pestered me to divulge mistress's information. Of course I have maintained confidentiality, but their persistence has been unduly trying upon my peace of mind. And for all of my quite honorable conduct, they continued to levy accusations at me! They Implied that my maintaining discretion was in some way furtive!” the card said, causing me to look at Naomi who simply coughed.
“The guild keeps initial and periodic records of adventurer statuses. It's used to assess performance, and sometimes placement when rank ups are requested.” Naomi said defensively. “But your card refused to display anything, and it won't change colors for the assigned rank.” she said.
“First they demand I divulge the private information of my mistress, and then make demands of my personal attire! The unmitigated gall, I tell you!” the card called out, seemingly distressed. “Oh mistress, I beg you, ferry me away from these heathens! The endless hours of mistreatment I have been subjected to shall scar me, I tell you!” the card said.
“...Do they normally act like this?” I asked Naomi curiously.
Naomi stopped glaring at the card on the table, and turned back to me. “Um...No. Guild I.D. cards tend to be far less...talkative.” she said. “And as I was going to say, as a new member your rank is G, and you get a brown card. F is green, E is blue, D is Grey, C is black, B is Copper, A is silver, S is Gold, SS is Ruby, SSS is Sapphire, and X is Diamond. He's supposed to be brown!” Naomi said, turning her gaze back on the card. “And we don't decorate them!” she said.
“Do you see? Do you see the conditions to which I have been subjected? Now listen here, you vile miscreant, I will not be told by some bumbling bureaucrat what form I should take. I answer only to my mistress, and certainly not to the likes of you!” the card said, obviously agitated.
Naomi seethed, “Ooohh! Stupid Card!” she said, folding her arms under her chest, and turning back to look at me. “On behalf of the adventurer's guild I apologize for the condition of the obviously malfunctioning piece of scrap metal!” she said, turning to yell at it.
“SCRAP METAL! Why don't you come over here and say that, you vile reprobate!” the card yelled.
Clearing my throat, I walked over to the table, and picked it up, stuffing it into my pocket as muffled comments faded away.
Naomi stomped her foot, and glared, before taking a moment to regain her composure. “We are of course willing to supply you with a replacement card.” she said, glaring at my pocket, “and melt the old one!” she said, eliciting another round of muffled comments from my pocket.
Clearing my throat I shook my head, “I'll...live with it for the moment.” I said with a sigh, not wanting to risk creating another one of those. “In any case, why don't you go test Aisha. I can do some shopping in the mean time.” I said, looking at Aisha who just looked amused by the entire argument.
“Oh...Of course.” Naomi said turning to Aisha. “If you'll just follow me.” she said.
As we walked back out of the offices, I looked down toward the different shops. “Oh Naomi. I was curious. There was a strange shop on the third floor. It had this strange old man with a long beard...” I said causing Naomi to blink.
“Oh! Master Chou! The apothecary and alchemist. I think he moved his shop. He's only in the mall certain days of the week.” Naomi said.
“...The shop just...moves?” I asked with a frown.
“Oh yes. I'm not sure of the details, but it's tied to multiple locations. We keep the space empty, and he moves it in and out. You'd have to ask him how he does it. The only other person I've heard do something like that are certain high level wizards.” Naomi said.
“..Alright, well, when you finish up we can get you some equipment.” I said to Aisha as she smiled and waved before heading into the testing room...hopefully to get a less stressful experience than I had.