Ember sat in her room staring at the item section of Keeper's Hold. Only one object shown on display - a gray sphere that looked like putty. She couldn't help looking at all the items spots that once held treasures but now only held empty cases. Of the three sections of Keeper's Hold, Abilities had changed the least and that was with all her abilities being locked or nerfed.

Her knowledge section wouldn't even allow her access. She turned back to Mally and summoned it to her. The clay ball appeared in her hand. With a thought, she had mally transform, wrapping around her waist like a belt.

She focused back on Keeper's Hold.

Each of the three sections of Keeper's Hold had rules. Abilities only allowed up to thirty abilities and if she wasn't strong enough to hold the abilities, she could use it only for a short while (sometimes not at all) before it returned to its owner. Any ability she released returned back to its owner, unless the owner was dead then, well, she wasn't sure what happened to it. Possibly it returned back to the Akashic Tree.

The Knowledge section allowed a person to keep any knowledge they obtain as long as it was from a source. It worked as a personal library and just like a library, having the knowledge didn't equal understanding. There was also a limit to what could be kept there before the brain gained maturity which happened around the mid-twenties. It was why nobles who were shooting for mind focused abilities often waited until they were in their late twenties to awaken as a Seedling. Ember figured that was the reason her Knowledge section was locked to her but not gone like her items. She had multiple lives worth of knowledge but not the brain maturity to use it. Which made sense. It was just extremely annoying. She had strange bursts of intense emotions she felt she was barely controlling and she was sure her judgement was impaired by her age.

Maybe that was why she was hesitating. She had made her plan and she was ready to start, but instead she was standing in Keeper's Hold. She balled up her fist.

Get it together.

She turned back to the Item section. It was different from the other sections with its limitations. There were three settings - number of items, weight of items, and soul size. Each of the settings effected the other, but whichever setting was chosen would have precedence. Number of items allowed 15 items to stay within Keeper's Hold. Something that would be problematic if you tried to put a bag of coins since it would count each coin separately. When it came to that, it was better to go with the weight setting, which allowed up to 500 kg, which added up to around 38 gold bars or 15,000 gold coins. Something she had tested out in her previous life.

Lastly was the soul size which she wouldn't need unless the item was a plant or egg. Animals and people couldn't be put in Keeper's Hold. Their Soul size was too big. She had tried to see if she could raise the limits on Keeper's Hold but so far she hadn't had much luck.

"Weight," Ember said. There was a click, indicating the setting had changed. She closed Keeper's Hold.

With a deep breath, Ember stepped out of her room and bumped straight into her mother. Her mother was carrying a large basket in her arms.

"I was wondering if you were planning to sleep the entire day away." Her mother gave her a sharp look. "Gather up the bedding. You can help me with the wash."

Ember froze. "I already made plans to-"

Her mother simply looked at her.

Ember stiffened and then sighed. "Yes, Ma'am." She hesitated. "I need to tell Priest Octorin I won't be coming."

Her mother frowned. "How long were you supposed to help him for?"

"Only a couple of hours. I can probably help him for an hour and then come back to help you with the rest of the laundry."

Her mother sighed. "I suppose you can go but you'll at least have to help me carry the laundry to the river and back. And you'll be in charge of hanging it on the line and putting the laundry away. Don't think I haven't noticed you running off early in the morning without doing any chores."

Caught! She knew it would be only a matter of time but she had hoped she could avoid it until they moved. Then she would have the excuses of lessons with Bloom Larisel. She hated cleaning. "Yes, Ma'am."

Her mother nodded. "Now gather up the laundry."

After that, Ember helped grabbed the bedding as well as her and Rowan's clothes. Then with two baskets of clothes, the pair set off for the river. The river wasn't too far away, a little past the fields. The fields were mostly wheat though several farmers had started planting bean crops. They passed through, several people waving at her mom.

They continued until they reached the river. It separated most of the western forest from the town. Already several women were at the river, washing. Most of the women tended to do laundry on the same day since it was safer that way. While the loggers were in the forest cutting trees, they sometimes went deeper to get particular trees that Lord Felis wanted or that would bring them more money.

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Mostly it was the hunters that kept the wildlife at bay, but they were hired by Lord Felis and tend to be pretty distant with the townsfolk. All hunting had to go through Lord Felis and he often kept the meat or sold it to the guards or merchants passing through. When meat came down to them it was usually the worst of it or meat that had been illegally poached. You would think a noble would take care of his people so he could grow his town, but Lord Felis refused to waste precious resources on such undesirable peasants.

"Set the basket right there, Ember."

Ember shook herself from her thoughts and turned to where her mother had pointed. It was next to a blond woman that Ember only vaguely remembered.

"Connie, are you almost done?" her mother asked and then she turned to chat with the woman, the pair talking excitedly about the preparations they were making for the Choosing.

Ember glanced down the river, seeing that many of the women had multiple baskets, making it clear that everyone was doing extra laundry in preparation for the Choosing. Lord Felis was putting on a festival and Ember had heard some merchants had already arrived at his manor.

Since they weren't the only town going through the Choosing, people would be spread out, but it was clear at least several visitors would be coming, so Lord Felis planned to put on a show and probably try to entice the rich to put down roots or businesses.

It was the perfect time to sneak into a house and do a bit of robbery, since the guards would clearly be busy. She glanced back at her mother, waiting for a lull long enough between the women for her to make her exit.

"Mom, is it okay-"

Her mother waved at her, interrupting her sentence. "Go on, but make sure to hurry back so you can help me carry the laundry back home."

Ember grinned. "I'll be quick!"

She turned away. She would go straight to the houses to rob then to the temple to help solidify her alibi. She'll work at the temple for at least an hour, then she'll return to her mother to help. Laundry could take hours to do depending on the amount of clothes and how dirty they were. She actually felt bad leaving her mother with so much work, but she knew it was for the best.

Ember glanced back at her mother with a guilty look when movement caught her eye. She stopped, frowning as she looked at the river bed. At first, she wasn't sure what had caught her eye. It was moving water and of course there were fish at times though most would have moved further downstream to get away from all the humans.

There! She saw it again. It shouldn't have been an issue to see something in the water but it bothered her. Maybe she was overthinking. Was she procrastinating because she was nervous about breaking into the guard captain's house? It could be that. She was a lot weaker than before and she didn't have a complete measure of what she could and couldn't do.

The answer seemed likely and she turned away, mentally scolding herself for allowing fear to delay her. She started walking away. A splash sounded behind her and then there a sharp scream rent the air.

Ember whirled around to see a black leech the size of a golden retriever was right next to her mother. Her mother was staring at it in horror. The giant leech's black body moved up and down in a grotesque slick wave.

Ember ran. She wasn't far from her mother but it felt like she was miles away. More screams filled the air just as she grabbed her mother, yanking her away from the river bank.

"Everyone, run away!" Ember shouted.

"Connie," her mother said, her voice shaking. "She's under that thing."

Ember twisted her head to see the giant leech with its shuddering moving and strands of blond hair underneath it. Then her gaze turned to more leeches coming up from the river. Most of the women had escaped and were already running but a few were like Conine. One woman was battering at a leech that attached itself on her leg and was steadily wiggling up her body.

Ember tugged her mother away and as she did something slammed into her mother's shoulder and she fell to the ground. Fear surged through Ember until she saw thick white mucus pinning her mother's arm down. Her mom kept pulling at it but it wouldn't budge.

Ember snatched Mally from off her waist and with a thought it shifted and became an axe. Ember slammed the axe down on the mucus breaking it apart. As she did, something flew towards her. She jerked back and then spun around.

One of the leeches was moving towards them. As it moved closer, it opened its mouth and spit a jet of mucus at them. Instantly, Ember expanded Mally, reforming it into a shield and smacking it in the dirt in front of them, protecting them from the onslaught. She turned back to her mother.

From the back of the shield a small chain poured from Mally and attached to it was an axe. It was smaller than before but Mally only had so much mass to work with and the bulk of it was being used as a shield.

She slammed the axe against the mucus. It was harder and sticky, but she managed to chop most of it away. Her Seedling strength just enough to handle it. Soon her mother was freed and she raised the shield, or tried to. The mucus kept it in place. She shifted Mally into a ball, freeing it from the mucus and then reformed it into a shield, lifting it slightly from the ground just as another of the projectiles hit it. From there she had them move away from the river, moving backwards to keep the mucus from hitting them. It was awkward but the leeches were slow and their projectiles while fast didn't go too far. Soon they were out of reach. Ember would have kept running but her mother stopped. She looked at the shield and then at Ember but didn't ask any question. Instead, she turned to look at the field.

The leeches were pouring from the bank. Some people had escaped but others were pinned down by the mucus. The leeches moved slowly out of the water so they shot the balls of mucus. Ember glanced to where Connie had been. The leech that had been on top of her was gone, but she stayed lying there. Ember was too far away to see what her body looked like but she had an idea.

This shouldn't be happening. It didn't happen before.

"We should help them," her mother said, looking at a woman that was pinned down by mucus. Her voice was shaking, filled with indecision. "I would want them to help me."

"I'll do it," Ember said.

Her mother looked at her with wide eyes and then shook her head. "No. You're a child. I should do it."

"It'll only listen to me," she said, raising her shield.

"No," her mother said, shaking her head vehemently. Her hand grasped Ember's wrist. "We'll get help."

Ember hesitated. She didn't owe these people anything. There was no reason to help them. She closed her eyes.

It could have been my mother.

She smiled at her mother. "Get help. I'll be okay." Then she pried her mother's hand from her wrist and ran.