Abby was the first of the two women to wake up and as she did, Gwen was quickly by her side, helping her to sit up. “How are you feeling?” Gwen asked.

Abby rubbed her head and groaned in pain. “Like I was struck with a bolt of lightning… That was not pleasant.” she said as she sat up fully.

Abby’s eyes lost focus as she accessed her system and then a few seconds later, a huge smile snapped to her face. “It’s gone… The poison is gone...” she said almost as if she didn't believe it. Tears formed in her eyes instantly as she started weeping with joy.

Gwen immediately pulled her sister in close and began crying herself.

For several long minutes the sisters held each other, the excitement and relief clear from their body language.

Kelsey smiled internally as she watched them celebrate. It works... It actually works. First Gwen's scars, now Abby's poison. God, this Mageblood body is so damn useful.

Eventually, the two women regained control of themselves, wiping their tears away.

"Thank you, Kelsey. Truly. You have no idea what this means to me." Abby said gratefully as she started to stand.

Kelsey waved her hand. "You're welcome, but don't mention it. I'm just glad to see you back on your feet."

Abby smiled softly as she started stretching and moving her body with wonder on her face as she experienced the new increased attributes.

Kelsey grinned knowingly as she watched Abby experiment with her new body. “When Alana wakes up, I’ll walk you both through everything about the new body. For now, try not to use too much mana. Too much mana usage inside this dimension gives me a massive headache.”

Looking back at Kelsey, Abby’s eyes were once again tearing up slightly. “Thanks Kel, again, seriously, I can't thank you enough.”

“Like I said, don't mention it. I’d do the same for any of my friends.” Kelsey said, smiling. “Now, why don’t you two go outside and take those new attributes for a test drive? I’ll come down once Alana wakes up.”

They both nodded at her before they excitedly burst out of the door and started running down to the riverbank. Kelsey was excited too, because she would be able to watch their fight with her domain.

As the pair arrived down at the riverbank, Gwen immediately created two metal short swords and one long metal staff which she threw to her sister. Kelsey immediately felt a small twinge of pain as Gwen used mana. That is such an annoying limitation.

When Gwen and Abby finally had their weapons at the ready, their match began. It was immediately clear that Gwen had a huge advantage in fights that were restricted to melee weapons when compared to Abby. Gwen was a warrior main class with a mage class as her secondary. Abby’s classes were apparently both mage classes, and she didn’t seem to have any base body enhancements, at least not that Kelsey could see.

Abby still put up an admirable fight with her staff. She was able to easily keep Gwen at a distance, never letting her get close enough to land a clean blow. Kelsey realized that if she were to have dueled Abby, she likely wouldn’t be able to win without using at least some magic. The staff was an excellent defensive weapon and Abby seemed quite good with it.

Their fight was chaotic and disruptive to the land inside her dimension as they exploded through trees and knocked each other into the side of the mountain. Kelsey could see that they were both seemingly having the time of their lives, even as the floor beneath Kelsey’s feet began to shake and rumble from the impacts of their fight.

Thanks to their regeneration, they were both able to hit as hard as they wanted without worrying about hurting the other person.

Neither of them had landed any direct hits for over fifteen minutes of straight fighting. Eventually, Abby raised her hand and hunched over, breathing heavily. Kelsey could tell that her body was close to giving in. She hadn’t fought a real battle in over a decade, and it showed. She was out of breath and clearly not used to the physical exertion. Kelsey has no way to confirm her suspicions, but she would bet anything that physical health and training impacted stamina usage based on what she saw during their fight.

She wasn't out of shape by any means, but she was still less athletic than her sister, and significantly less athletic than Kelsey herself.

Kelsey hadn't paid much attention to the changes her body had gone through since arriving on Anoura, but it was clear that she was much more fit and athletic than she had been during any point in her life on Earth. This lack of attention to personal appearances was one of the things that apparently happened when there weren't mirrors everywhere. Thankfully, she had her domain to see herself with, but it wasn't like she watched herself most of the time.

Kelsey turned her attention back to the sisters. It’s incredible that she was able to fight as well as she did… She must have been a monster before her poisoning if she can still fight that well. I would have thought she would be at Gwen's mercy after two decades of being bedridden.

Kelsey was truly impressed. She had no idea that Abby was going to be such a force to be reckoned with once she was healed. More than anything though, Kelsey was extremely excited to see what the mage would be able to do once she practiced with her magic. Abby had told Kelsey that she was a plant mage, but she still didn't know what her other class was, nor what kinds of skills plant mages would have.

As the fight came to a close and the pair were sitting on the riverbank resting. Alana stirred from her slumber, groaning in pain as she sat up slowly.

“Hey. Welcome back. I know it hurts, take a few minutes to read your notifications and get familiar with your new body. Don’t use any mana though, it’ll give me a headache if you use magic inside my dimension.” Kelsey said as she turned around to look at the Queen.

Over the next few minutes Alana read her notifications, stood up, and summoned a rapier from her spatial ring. With her rapier in hand, she began moving in a strange rhythmic dance, morphing her body from position to position in easy, practiced motions. Her muscles were taut and perfectly still as she entered each stance. After a few of the stances, Kelsey realized that this must be some sort of sword style or practice. Damnit, I really need a proper teacher. Maybe I’ll ask her if her master would be willing to teach me for a few thousand platinum.

Wait... Shit... I hope the Queen of the damn nation isn't pissed that I can create money...

Once she was finished, Alana stored her rapier back in the ring and sat down on the ground in front of Kelsey, her legs crossed, and bowed her head respectfully. “Kelsey Kain. I, Alana Swanson, Queen regent of Cardona do humbly thank thee for a gift of such wonder. Your service to our Kingdom shall never be forgotten.” Her voice was formal and humble. It was clear that she was following some sort of ceremony or tradition by speaking in such a specific way.

Kelsey was stunned, she had no idea what to say. She hadn’t been expecting such a response from Alana. Thankfully, she didn’t have to say anything as Alana continued to speak.

“As a thank you for this gift, I will be more than happy to assist you in your mission to create a new dungeon. But there is more.” she said before pausing and standing up to look Kelsey directly in the eye and summoning a nearly identical rapier into her hands. It had the same hilt design as the previous one, but the blade was cleaner, less used.

“Kelsey Kain. I, Alana Swanson, alias: Queen, do hereby officially extend an invitation for you to join our Guild, The Wardens.” Alana said as she knelt down and proffered the rapier’s handle towards Kelsey. "We are a small group of like-minded individuals working towards a common goal."

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“We have been watching you on your journey, and after today, I, along with two of my companions, believe that you would make an excellent addition to our Guild. Our purpose is to protect Anoura and all those who inhabit it from threats both internal, and more importantly, external.” she added, the rapier in her hand never wavering.

Kelsey's mind froze in surprise as she listened to Alana's request. What the hell is going on? No preamble? No easing me into the shit? Just 'Cardona thanks you. Want to join the fucking Illuminati?'

"What the hell are you talking about Alana?" Kelsey asked, feeling more than a little out of her depth by the sudden question.

Without moving from her knelt position, Alana answered. "Leon and Autumn have both vouched for you. We believe that you would make for a wonderful addition to our Guild. I cannot say much more."

Autumn? Wait, the old lady from the auction?

Kelsey rubbed her face in frustration and refocused.

“Before I answer. What are these threats?” Kelsey asked seriously, eyeing the handle hovering in front of her.

“I… I cannot say unless you swear the Oaths.” Alana answered with a hint of guilt in her voice.

Kelsey sighed deeply, having somewhat expected that answer. “Who is part of this guild? And how many members are there?” she asked instead.

“Leon and I are both members, along with Autumn, as I said before. I cannot tell you who else is in the Guild. We have less than twenty members.” Alana answered confidently.

"Can you answer... Literally any other questions?" Kelsey asked, now feeling true frustration.

Alana paused for a second before answering. "We are on your side."

Kelsey scoffed. "Oh yeah? And whose side am I on?"

The Queen smiled knowingly. 'Humanity's side"

Kelsey leaned forward seriously. "So, you're saying there is something out there that is a direct threat to humanity?"

Alana didn't answer in any way, saying frozen in place and saying nothing, which was answer enough for Kelsey.

That's not exactly comforting. Okay maybe I should hear her out...

Kelsey considered her options for several minutes, saying nothing as the Queen knelt in front of her with the rapier handle extended.

On one hand, I am incredibly curious, on the other, this isn’t a whole lot of information to go on… Weirdly, I do trust her. I'm not exactly sure I should; She is a Queen after all. But I trust Owen and Gregory, and they seem to trust her. They aren't exactly unbiased... she 'is' their mother.

Do I trust Leon though? That bastard admitted that he's been spying on me. He probably watched Owen get kidnapped and didn't do shit about it. I don't know for sure that he saw it, but it's not like I can just assume he didn't. I don't think he's a bad guy, he just strikes me as a tad utilitarian.

Kelsey groaned quietly in frustration. This whole thing reeks. I don't know why or how, but something just doesn't feel right. I meet this woman, seemingly by complete chance, I give her a Mageblood body and the next thing I know she's inviting me to join some Guild that she can't tell me anything about? Bullshit.

I don't love the idea of something being anti humanity though.

A thousand other thoughts ran through her head, but she kept coming back to one that she just couldn’t shake.

“Why me?” Kelsey asked.

“When you were in your mid-level sixties you went off and brought down a slave trading operation single handedly. After becoming a Magus, something we weren't aware of until now, you helped a random street magician get a pendant back for no other reason that it was the right thing to do. You can literally create money. You could pay for the best teacher in Anoura, yet you help this woman who you barely know for one month of amateur training.” she answered simply.

Okay, doesn't seem too concerned with the money creation thing.

"You constantly risked your own privacy and secrecy in order to help others. The prisoners at Whitebranch, the bandit attack in the valley, the Yeti King at The Trial, saving my son, and killing the man ultimately responsible for his kidnapping. All of those things risked information leaking about your skills, yet you did them anyways." She added.

Queen paused briefly, considering her next words carefully. “You then discovered a perfected Mageblood ritual and the first thing you decided to do with it was heal a woman you barely know by giving her access to the strongest known rebirth in existence. On top of that, you plan on distributing this knowledge to the rest of Anoura, despite the massive advantage you would have if you simply kept it a secret.”

“To be fair, that woman is my girlfriend’s sister.” Kelsey said, grinning a bit before sighing and shaking her head. "You didn't answer my question though. You said a lot about the things I've done, trying to make me feel good about myself. But you didn't answer the why of it all. Why do you care that I did all of those things? Also, I didn't help Melody out of the goodness of my heart. I did it mostly because I was bored. So, answer. Why me? Why do the qualities that I supposedly possess matter to you and your Guild?"

Alana frowned in slight annoyance, not towards Kelsey, but towards her own restrictions. "I can't say. But, believe me, we need you, Kelsey. There are machinations unraveling around us that humanity is not prepared for, and The Wardens need every single advantage we can get."

Kelsey eyed Alana, looking for any signs of deceit or dishonesty. She saw none.

Kneeling in front of her was a woman seemingly laying every card she could on the table.

"What would the Oath's entail. Can I swear them and still refuse to join after hearing your story?" Kelsey asked.

Alana nodded. "We could indeed arrange that. But I am curious about something... Leon tells me that you are someone who trusts quite easily, I'm surprised you're so reserved. You 'are' dating someone who stabbed my son a week ago."

Kelsey shrugged. "She swore an Oath written by Gregory. It isn't like I just took her word that she wasn't some psychotic kidnapping murderer. He tells me the oath was quite specific."

"And you trust my son is being honest?" Alana asked curiously. It was clear by her tone that she was testing Kelsey, prodding at her logic and mental state.

Shrugging again, Kelsey answered seriously. "You have to trust some people, Alana. Can't go through life assuming everyone is out to get you. Gregory knew my brother, and my brother seemed to trust him."

"Even so, how do you know your 'girlfriend' hasn't been complicit in heinous crimes, even if she wasn't the one who did them directly?" Alana asked, once again prodding Kelsey for a reaction.

"I don't." Kelsey said simply. "In fact, I'm sure she's done things she isn't proud of. But it doesn't matter... I don't know what they are, but based on our talks, I know she had a line. A line that she would never cross and wouldn't have let her conspirators cross."

Alana arched an eyebrow. "Oh? And what line is that?"

"Well, I'm sure you've been informed of the events of that night. Let's just say that if I hadn't been there, she likely would have had to save Owen herself." Kelsey said confidently.

"And you believe that?" Alana asked condescendingly.

Kelsey felt herself starting to get annoyed, but she pushed her annoyance down and focused herself to focus. She could tell that Alana was simply trying to rile her up, throw her off guard. It was clear that she was being intentionally antagonistic, but Kelsey didn't know why.

"Yes." Kelsey answered after calming herself. "The same way I trusted Owen and Lisa. The Same way I trusted Gregory. You're right. I trust easily. Probably too easily. It is probably going to bite me in the ass one day, and when that day comes, I'll deal with it. For now? For now, I choose to trust in my gut, and my gut believes Gwen."

"Yet you don't trust me? Despite my son's trust in me. They were the ones who pointed me in Abby's direction in the first place." Alana said. "By all accounts, you should take me at my word."

Kelsey grinned, realizing what the Queen's antagonistic point was. "I never said I don't trust you. To be clear, I don't fully trust you, but I especially don't trust Leon."

Alana grinned back. "Good. I think a healthy amount of suspicion is warranted. I have to admit, I was worried that you would simply grab the rapier and swear without a second thought."

"Honestly, that was a distinct possibility." Kelsey said honestly. "Okay, give me a minute to think."

Closing her eyes and breathing deeply, Kelsey looked inward and considered her position. It felt as though she was standing on the edge of a cliff, one step away from falling into the unknown.

Ever since reaching civilization, Kelsey had always felt like there was something wrong, something... off... about Anoura. It had always felt like there was something she wasn't understanding, a thinly veiled secret hidden behind a curtain.

She had never felt particularly strong, or smart, or even gifted. She had always felt like it was everybody else that was simply lagging behind. She had been told True Creation was this rare, valuable power held by only a few. Then, through reading and study, she learned that True Creation is nothing more than a slightly more advanced version of minor creation skills, which were so common that farmers had access to them.

Anoura was a world where one man could build a city, one woman could create unlimited food, and one person was strong enough to wipe the entire monster population of a region in an afternoon. Yet, there were still construction workers, farmers, and adventurers.

There were clearly people, like Kelsey herself, that could create money from nothing more than the mana they regenerated for free, yet people still paid for things and the economy still functioned.

There was a dungeon where people could level to Immortality in a year, yet society somehow revolved around small groups of people risking their lives fighting monsters in the wilderness.

None of it made any sense, and Kelsey was tired of wondering why. Kneeling in front of her was a woman, that by all accounts, should be directly responsible for some of the strange inconsistencies she noticed in Anoura.

Maybe this is my opportunity to finally get a peek behind that curtain.

Kelsey sighed as she stood up and walked towards the Queen. “Alright, I have to admit, I’m curious. You’ve convinced me.” she said as she reached for the rapier. "I have a ton of questions though."