The early morning rays filtered through the opening at the top of the yurt, falling on my face and causing me to stir. I opened my eyes ever so slightly and was accosted by the sunlight. I grumbled wanting to roll over and go back to sleep, still feeling tired from our long night. But my contemplation was interrupted by a high-pitched shrieking that caused me to shoot upright.

Now at full alert, my eyes darted around the room, trying to find the cause of the screaming. My question was answered as I spotted Makadian attempting to flee from the Brood Room, he managed to get most of his body through the door when a familiar yellow-orange hand grabbed him by the back of his neck and dragged him back into the room.

“No!” I heard Maka cry, followed by the distinct squelching sound like he had been thrown into something thick and slimy. I smirked. Looked like mother was up and wasting no time in indoctrinating my brothers into our traditions. I saw Malkadian step out of the Brood Room, he had his arms out like his skin felt raw and he walked over to where I was sitting.

“Looks like mother gave you your 'bath',” I said smirking, he glared at me as I stood to face him.

“I really thought you were making that up,” he replied with a pout and I couldn't help but laugh at that.

“It could be worse,” I replied and he looked at me like I had grown an extra pair of arms.

“How could that have been worse?!” he exclaimed at me, but before I could reply we heard the sound of belching and retching coming from the Brood Room.

“Good. Expel your weakness. Your brothers that come after you will bathe in it and be purged as well,” we heard our mother say through the door, followed by more retching. We grimaced at each other.

“Looks like it was a good thing you went before Maka,” I said feeling overwhelming gratitude that I had bathed first out of all of us, but also a pang of sympathy for my younger brothers. Mal shuddered in response. I looked around the room, most of the other boys had also been awoken by Maka's hysterics and were milling about the room.

I was about to check the pot for some breakfast when I noticed that there were two goblin boys I didn't recognize standing with the others. After staring at them for a moment I recognized them, though they were definitely taller and leaner, their features were still recognizable. It was Tamar and Inash, but they had still been babies last night, how had they managed to become children? Malkadian saw my confused expression and answered my unvoiced question.

“A few of us stayed awake longer and decided to see if we could get the last two stragglers grown,” he stated simply and I raised an eyebrow at him.

“How did you manage that?” I questioned. Mal shrugged at me.

“Same way you did it with the rest of us. Mostly. They can't seem to see their milestones as we can, so we basically just had them do all the things we did and hope for the best,” he informed me.

“We're honestly lucky that all their Corporeal Milestones were things we had already done,” I nodded, then something occurred to me.

“We needed four milestones to become children,” I recalled, “How did they manage to do that if they could only complete their three Corporeal milestones? How did you manage to get them to complete the fourth one?” I asked bewildered.

“They didn't,” Mal answered and I felt even more lost.

“They only completed the Corporeal ones and they grew into children. We're not really sure why,” he confessed. I contemplated this new information, it seemed that the number of milestones determined when we would advance to the next stage of growth. But that clearly wasn't the case if Tamar and Inash had managed to become children after only three milestones. So if the number of milestones didn't determine it, what did? A flash of realization hit me.

“It's not the number of milestones, it's the percentage of growth!” I exclaimed. Mal looked at me, his brows furrowed, not comprehending what I had just discovered.

“You remember when we achieved our milestones? The notification told us what the milestone was, but it also allotted us a percentage of growth. I thought it was the number of milestones that decided when we grew, but it was the total percentage of growth we accumulated from completing them that did it,” I explained and his eyes grew wide with understanding.

“So,” he began slowly as he worked it out in his own head.

“They only needed three milestones because they don't have Player milestones. So the growth percentage they earned for each was more than ours because we have more milestones in total. Right?” he looked at me for confirmation and I nodded.

“Right, we have extra milestones so the growth percentage we earn is less, thus we need to complete more milestones,” I concluded and Mal seemed to contemplate this.

“But doesn't that put us at a disadvantage?” he asked, “If it takes us longer to complete our milestones, they can outpace us pretty easily right?” I pondered his question, he wasn't wrong.

“You do have a point,” I conceded.

“But I think it also gives us a bit of an advantage too. More milestone means more opportunities to learn and grow, Inash and Tamar were the last to become children after all” Mal seemed hesitant to agree with my assertion.

“Plus, we seem to share the same Player Milestones. So that means if one of us advances, the rest can too,” Mal furrowed his brow, still not looking convinced.

“I guess that makes sense,” he conceded but didn't look confident in his words. I gripped his shoulders reassuringly.

“We still don't fully understand what being a 'Player Soul' means. There's no point in fixating on it right now, as we learn and grow we'll start to gain a better understanding of things. But for right now just focus on the present, if things change down the road we can always rely on each other,” I told him. He smiled at me, then broke from my grasp and ruffled my hair. I shoved him back and we both laughed.

I looked up and spotted Inash talking with Tamar off to one side. I headed toward the two of them, ready to welcome them and get a feel for my brothers. Inash and Tamar were the only ones without Player Souls, which meant they were different from the rest of us. But I didn't know what exactly that meant. It obviously meant they didn't have Player Milestones but did they also have no memories of a past life? Did they have a test with Ignis too? I was burning with questions, and I was only a few feet from them when a large shadow passed over me.

I suddenly felt aware of a presence behind me and I froze. Slowly, I turned around and gazed up at the towering figure of our mother, who glared down at me. Her golden eyes seemed to blaze once again. I swallowed hard, trying to displace the lump that had formed in my throat.

“For a moment I thought my daughter a thoughtful girl, bringing me furs as I slept. But it appears to have been a ruse, as while I rested you plotted to help this pack grow and make more work for me,” she said gesturing at the room that was now teamed with children. The boys had all gone silent and stared wide-eyed at our mother's imposing figure. I opened my mouth to reply when I saw my mother's hand move swiftly and I closed my eyes bracing for the inevitable punishment.

Instead, I felt something being jammed into my mouth and my eyes opened in surprise. The first thing that hit me was the flavor. It was sweet and savory at the same time, with a hot spice that came threw as it saturated my tongue. It was the single most delicious thing I had ever tasted. I grabbed the end that was sticking out of my mouth, it was long and thin, like a stick. As I worked the treat with my teeth I also found it was chewy as well. I looked up at my mother as I happily continued to munch on the stick, confused. I had thought she was angry.

“That is a Dwart Blood Stick,” she told me. While still looking stern, I thought I saw the hint of a smile pulling at her mouth.

“It's your father's favorite. A much-loved treat, it is made from tendons rolled in fats and spices that are then marinated in Bloodwine and baked in a mixture of salts and sugars,” she informed me. Hearing 'fats' and 'tendons' threw me off for a moment. But I quickly decided it was far too delicious to care.

“It is a rather expensive treat, so don't expect it often,” she concluded. I took the stick from my mouth and looked up at her, still confused.

“If it's so expensive, why did you give it to me?” I asked, my mother raised an eyebrow at me.

“Do you not want it?” she questioned, and I quickly shook my head clutching my treat to my chest. My mother chuckled and placed a hand on my head and gave me a warm smile.

“You helped your brothers and guided them to become stronger and to grow, that effort and consideration deserve to be rewarded,” I smiled up at her and continued to munch happily on my treat. It was the first time my mother had praised me for something.

“You also showed concern for my health. These are both important traits any good Blood Matron should possess,” she continued and I coked my head to one side.

“Blood Matron? What's that?” I asked looking up at her intently.

“A Blood Matron is a woman who heads a clan or a family,” she explained, “It is her job to ensure her family's strength and well-being she concluded and my eyes widened in understanding.

“So that means you are our Blood Matron, right?” I guessed, and mother nodded as she smiled down at me.

'I'm the only girl, so does that mean I'll be the Blood Matron after mother?' I wondered, afraid to ask any more questions and ruin my mother's good mood. It would make sense why she was proud of me for looking after my brothers and helping them grow stronger if that were the case. I beamed up at her as I continued to chew on the Dwart Blood Stick and she straightened up.

“Alright, let's see who is next for their bath,” she announced and all the boys went pale. I spent the remainder of the morning sitting beside mother, happily gnawing on my reward, and watching as she dragged my brothers one by one into the Brood Room. I felt a little bad watching their horrified faces as they were each dropped into the bucket filled with the mixture of fats, grime, molds, and the remains of Maka's bile. Though once or twice I did need to stifle a giggle, as I watched each of them tip-toe out of the brood room. They looked as if they were worried their skin would fall off if they touched anything. And each wore an expression that was a combination of disgust, shock, and mortification.