I roused from my sleep at dawn. The warmth from my nude wife’s buttocks awoke my penis as it was pressed against it. I grabbed her by the shoulder to make her face the planchement. My heart throbbed lasciviously as I admired her allure. I rubbed the back of my palm against her right cheek and then caressed her lips with my index finger. Her skin was as smooth or even smoother than a saitara’s finest silk. As I succumbed to my lust, I spread her legs and positioned myself on top of her. Her tantalizing scent compelled my body to act by itself. I gripped her hip from behind her back and passionately kissed the left side of her neck. My free hand melted into her breasts as I thrust inside her. The swelling warmth from her inside felt euphoric as I moved my hips and when I climaxed I was sent to pure lucidity. My eyes teared up a little when she innocently gave me her brightest smile. It was painful to accept she wasn't alive anymore.
I got up from our bed and held out my hand for her. She held it tight as she sat up and proceeded to stare at me blankly with her bewitching crimson eyes. I opened our almirah and put on my black trouser and seaweed green tunic which the twins forced me to buy. I browsed through my drawer of belts and picked up the darkest one to match my tunic and tightened it along my waist. I found my black crakows from underneath the bed and my feet slipped into it.
My wife got up when I was done and put her hands up. I took out a blue linen smock and helped her get into it and when we finished she sat back on the bed. I didn’t dress her up any further because if I did my girls would start pouting, it was their prime source of entertainment after all. I bowed down on one knee, took her palm with my right hand and kissed it.
“I have a situation to take care of in Mullakaava. It will take at least 9 months till it resolves, so my daughters will be taking care of you.” I paused for a few seconds at a loss for words.
”I will miss you, my dear Annora.” I declared.
It was customary for the master to handwrite grimoires for their pupils, at least that was how my master did it. I intend on doing the same for my daughters. One could feel the writer's presence through magically imbued scriptures, thus making the grimoires even more precious. I had already finished Moura's but I was a few chapters behind Hayden's. I wished to present these to them before I departed this afternoon, so I was in a hurry.
Annora followed me as I walked outside my bed chamber and climbed up the stairs. My research quarter consisted of the entire top floor of our mansion. I ignored all the magic circles and other mayhem my girls were playing around with hoping they wouldn’t dare summon a demon when I'm gone. I walked towards my desk facing the bookshelf. It was positioned at the perfect angle which made it possible for me to observe everything happening there. Annora sat on one of the chairs opposite mine and stared at me as usual. I opened my desk cabinet by pouring mana into the magic circle engraved on it and took out both of the grimoires from the top shelf. I designed that particular magic circle in a manner that it would only respond to my mana.
When it comes to magic prowess, both my girls were in the league of an archmage. They were proficient in advanced water, earth, flame, wind, light, and dark magic and since they were elves, they had a natural talent for spirit manipulation which is favourable for necromancy. Though, only Moura wished to pursue it. Heyden aspires to be a calamity mage, specializing in fire magic. I even taught them how to use a sword but neither of them had an aptitude for it though. Being one of the world's best necromancers in the world, it was easier to teach and write grimoires for Moura but as for Heyden, this would be the final grimoire I would be writing for her. My knowledge of flame magic extended up to king class but that prodigy consumed it like a maniac so after this, there would be nothing left for me to teach that child. My letter of recommendation could get her into any of the three magic academia, though I doubt they would have anything to offer her, besides I didn't want to expose her to halfwits who wouldn’t accept a 17-year-old achieving something that took them a lifetime. I planned to redeem a favour from a certain god mage after I deal with the Yakshi in Mullakaava for Hayden. I couldn't help myself from grinning imagining his reaction when he finds out I have a daughter with around the same aptitude for flame magic as himself.
I liked to write magically imbued scriptures with a crystal pen. To put its mechanisms in simple words, it functions by taking in mana imbued through my arms and frying the paper with mana from its tips. It may seem easy enough to do but it requires the utmost concentration. It won't work if one pours a meagre amount of mana and it might burn the entire scripture if one pours in surplus, also the mana requirement varies along with the quality of paper; A feat only the like’s of an archmage or its above can achieve. The paper I used was made from the fibres of a Jinmenju tree which makes it of the finest quality.
I proceeded to write down everything I had left about flame magic and I finished it questioning the sanity of those who feel pleasure from watching sentients burn. Though it was rare for elves to succumb to the Dark Penelope, I'd rather be a little paranoid when it comes to my daughters.
All I had left to do was to enchant the grimoires. I cut my palm with wind magic and collected the blood from it into a disposable Petri plate. I took out two dark objects from my dimensional storage after watching my palm heal itself. When I exposed the items to my blood, the small pieces of rocks one could find lying anywhere turned into two ebony brushes with runes carved in glistening gold. I dipped them in my blood and began to write and draw enchantments on both the grimoires simultaneously with both my hands. When I was done I nodded with satisfaction. The enchantments contained a complex integrated magic circle to prevent burning, soaking and ageing, a spell cursing anyone within a hundred-foot vicinity who intends to harm my daughters, a sealing circle for a demon I summoned impulsively for some extra protection and finally the most powerful concealing spell I knew to hide the enchantments.
I opened a small portal to my dimensional storage and inserted both of the grimoires into it. I put the brushes and the Petri plate on a magic circle in the top left of my desk. It incinerated them when I poured mana into it. I didn’t have much to do so I decided to sort out the mess the twins made on the bookshelf.
Suddenly I sensed someone chanting a spell. I knew it was Moura so I let her finish. She had made an impressive barrier preventing me from leaving the floor. It was the type of spell one would use to seal away monsters. My heart ached a little at the thought of my daughter using such a spell on me. I walked near the stairs and used wind magic to enhance my speech.
“Just so you know, I can break through this barrier with a touch.” I proclaimed.
“Pappy, wait. You’ll ruin our surprise.”
“Hooh… may I know what this surprise is?”
“Nope.”
“Lying to your father is bad manners, Maura.”
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“I’m just choosing not to answer your question pappy. I would never lie to you”
“I like to think not answering and lying are quite similar.”
“Now you're just making stuff up.”
“Am not”
“Hmm… I’m coming up.”
I was smiling throughout that conversation.
I could hear the sound of her footsteps as she climbed. I had taught her how to conceal it but I suppose not being on guard around the family was comparatively good. She cancelled the barrier as she climbed. She hugged me the instant I was spotted. I held her with one arm and patted her head with another.
“Do you really have to go?” she asked
“I do. It was a request from my master after all”
“It's not fair.”
“I have done many unfair deeds in my long lifetime, Moura. Fair treatment is a luxury in this world.”
“What? That’s not… I meant it's not fair that I can't go with you.” She looked up at me with puppy eyes.
“As I said, it's an unfair world and I would never expose you to any life-threatening situations”
“Not fair” She pouted and hugged me tighter.
“You can let go now that you have my answer”
“Pappy’s heartbeat helps me calm down”
I sighed and let her be. She let me go after a few minutes. I remembered how she and Heyden used to follow me around clinging to me all the time when they were little. Moura sat on the chair next to Annora.
“Pappy?” She asked
“Yes.”
“How does one kill a yakshi?”
“I do not know.”
“What?!”
“Well…A Yakshi is a plant creature with an unprecedented amount of mana. Luckily for us, none of them is sentient. So if we play our cards right we can just send them away.”
“Send it where?”
“Last time one appeared my master send it to the boiling sea”
“How?”
“He manipulated a dragon’s corpse to grab its attention and it chased it to the boiling sea”
“That's it?!”
“It was an epic sight. I was there after all.”
“How long ago was it?”
“Around 600 years ago. I was around your age.”
“Waah!... wait? Pappy got to go when you were my age, Not fair,” She pouted again.
“Well, you're a smart girl. Why don’t you tell me precisely why you're not allowed to come with me.”
“Because it’s dangerous”
“And?” I crossed my hand and grinned at her.
She looked down and replied.” Because you love me”.
I walked towards her and patted her head.“That’s my daughter.”
Annora put her down as if she wanted a head pat too. I was happy to have never lost either of my hands so that I could give a thousand head pats to my white-haired wife and golden-haired daughter at the same time. I was about to embark on a long journey so I didn't waste any of my precious time with my family. The two of us talked till we smelled something burning from downstairs.
“Now may I know what the surprise is?” I asked Moura.
“Well…um…you'll see,” She said as we walked downstairs. Annora was following us as usual.
That was the first time I saw either of my daughters cooking. I did teach them how to make basic items like tea but both of them would pout whenever I tried teaching them anything other than magic. I decided to eat whatever creations they made even if it kills me.
“Pappy, I can explain,” Heyden said, leaning with one hand on the half-burnt table.
Moura put her hand on her forehead and said. “You didn’t burn that ‘thing’, right?”
“Not yet,” Heyden replied.
“What is this ‘thing’ you children talk about?”
“You'll know when we’ll give it to you, pappy,” Moura said.
I sighed and took a seat on whatever was left of our dining table. Both of them and Annora took their seats. I looked at Heyden.
“Would you like to tell me why we’re having breakfast on a burnt table?”
“Well…um…uh…you see pappy, I uh… I tried to keep the food warm by enveloping the whole table in a flame bubble but uh… I forgot to reinforce the table before conjuring the uh… bubble. so…” Heyden replied. Her hands gripped her apron as she tried to put words together.”I’m sorry guys”
“Well… dear sister. I can’t be mad at your beautiful face.” Maura said with a smug face and a thumbs up.
Both of them were identical twins. They had the same face. I could easily identify them through their mana signature though.
“Pappy?” Heyden looked at me.
“I suppose I could forgive you if you tell me what the surprise is”
“It’s a sword”
“It’s a sword”
Both of them said simultaneously. It made sense though. The beastmen had a tradition in which the children would give a present to their father when he went to war so that he wouldn't forget them even after death. Both my kids lived more than half their lives here in Bhagarati, The country of beastmen and all of their friends were also beastmen. I never expected they would buy a sword though.
“Hmm, may I see this sword”
“We’ll give it to you after breakfast,” Moura said.
“Ah…Then I shall do the same with your gifts”
“Wait! Did I just hear gifts? Heyden asked.
“Did he just say gifts?!”
“You shall see after breakfast”
I took a piece of something that looked similar to our neighbour's special pie. It tasted noisomely but I ate as much as I could. It was their first try after all. I hastily took out the grimoires hoping they wouldn't ask me my opinion on their cooking. They could read my face like a book so lying would hurt them. Distraction was the only option.
“The white one is for Moura and the Red one for Heyden.”
“Sister, they look so pretty,” Maura said.
“Is there a demon in it Pappy?” Heyden asked.
“Maybe, Maybe not,” I replied.
“Pappy’s so cool,” Heyden said in a low voice.
“I’ll go get your sword pappy,” Maura said and walked.
“Heyden”
“Yeah?”
“That grimoire consists of king-level flame magic. Do you know what it means?”
“That you have nothing more left to teach me,” she said looking down.
“Yes. I have a friend from my expedition days who happens to be a god mage who specializes in flame magic and I’ll ask him to make you his student. if you still wish to become a calamity mage, that is.”
“Uh…but…but…i don’t… wanna leave the 3 of you”
“Don’t worry we’ll come and visit you whenever we can”
“But wouldn't it be too selfish for me to leave pappy?”
“You wouldn't be leaving us, child, a family is always”
“Pappy’s so cool”
“I suppose I am…cool”
Moura came back when I and Heyden talked about the future.
“Here’s your sword pappy”
“Hmm, a double-edged longsword. Ooh it's also enchanted to the max”
“Well, it wasn’t that difficult. Just a day's work for a future necromancer and a calamity mage” Maura grinned.
I was very proud of my daughters.
A few hours passed. I didn’t need to carry much since I had dimension magic. I decided to let my daughters choose my travelling gear and they dressed me up darker than a dark knight. Their Pappy looks so cool they said.
It was a bad omen where I came from to say goodbye before one left for battle. My daughters knew this so our goodbyes were finished during the breakfast in a sense. I opened a portal to Karuvapaara, the smallest district of Bhagarati bordering the Nellukaava forest. I jumped into the portal.
The district hadn't changed much from around 100 or maybe even more years ago. The moment I got out of the portal I was greeted by beastmen with unsheathed swords prepared to lay their lives to kill me.