Alaster spent the afternoon and evening creating more Shadow Assassins. They had already proven their worth several times over. They might not be as effective during a battle as some of his other Adept Minions, but they were without a doubt the best when it came to information gathering.

Of course, the Minion Alaster had in mind for his next creation would be undoubtedly better, but he still had to sit down uninterrupted in order to work through its creation. He already knew the basic steps to make it, but the actual act was much more complicated and intricate.

He could have of course simply begun, but Alaster suspected that if he didn’t respond when Lunaria came to get him, she would just barge in. If she did that during his Weaving, there was no telling what the result would be.

Alaster actually felt her coming before she knocked on the door. He felt his Magic begin to pull against his grasp, attempting to get away from her, even from a different room.

Without even attempting to be quiet, she loudly pounded on the door, throwing the door open the next moment.

“Come on! Food is done!”

Alaster allowed his Mana to flee from her and opened his eyes. Lunaria was now wearing an apron with flour stuck to it in a few places. Her hair was tied back. She also had a bit of dough stuck to her cheek.

“Come and get it while it’s still hot!” She exclaimed, interrupting Alaster’s thoughts and leaving the next moment, leaving the door wide open.

Alaster felt his eye twitch.

Annoyed that his work was interrupted yet again, Alaster turned to face the edge of the bed and uncrossed his legs. Standing up, Alaster lightly stretched and left the room, closing the door as he went.

Despite his annoyance, Alaster had actually made good progress, at least considering his goal.

He had made nearly twenty more Shadow Assassins. Most of them were still heading to their individual destinations, but a few had already arrived, allowing him to already learn quite a bit.

Granted, the information that the Shadows conveyed to him was basic, but that was valuable. If he wanted more detailed information, he would have to Bond with the Shadow.

Alaster saw that Azemar was already sitting at the table, reading yet another book. Lunaria was in the kitchen portion, getting three bowls of soup from a stove and two loaves of bread from the oven.

Enchantments made both devices very easy and safe to use, even for a child. So, they were fairly common items in even homes of middle income.

The table was small, with only four chairs arranged around it. Alaster moved to sit down in the chair to the right of Azemar.

“Wait!”

Alaster stopped and looked at Lunaria.

“Sorry, but your chair is here.” She said with a faint smile, motioning to the chair across from Azemar.

Alaster nodded and sat down in the correct spot. He thought that Lunaria wanted to sit there, but he was wrong. After placing a bowl of soup and a chunk of bread in front of both Alaster and Azemar, she sat down to her father’s left.

Alaster raised his eyebrow, but left it alone, instead grabbing a spoon. Azemar set down his book.

“Thank you hun, it smells great.”

“You’re welcome father.” Lunaria said with a big smile.

The three ate in silence, but Alaster found it almost amusing to see Lunaria dive into her soup and bread. He had grown up around women who always ate with dignity and grace, so seeing a woman completely ignore that caused him to crack a smile. Which Lunaria saw but ignored.

The meal was actually quite good. It was filling and not at all as pompous as he had grown expectant from Nobility. Of course, he had long since grown used to his only meals being roasted Monster meat.

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Alaster was actually not sure where the family fell in the City’s hierarchy, so he asked when Azemar finished his soup and pick his book back up, snacking on what was left of the bread.

“I guess you could say that we are next in command after the City Lord. If anything happened to the Lord or his family, everyone would look to me to lead them. Of course, I stay away from all that and simply protect the city from excessive threats.

That’s why they call me Elder and not Lord or some other title.”

“Doesn’t stop all the boys from chasing after me.” Lunaria grumbled.

Azemar chuckled, “No, it doesn’t. They all attempt to court my daughter in hopes of creating a relationship with me, but most fail miserably.”

“And those that don’t?” Alaster asked.

“Fail spectacularly.” Azemar said with a rare grin, “I remember one time a particularly stubborn Noble boy kept pestering Lunaria about marriage, so she spiked his drink with very powerful laxatives. The kind that you would use to counter poisons of a Magical nature. To this day the boy won’t eat or drink anything until a purification spell has been cast over it in his presence.”

Alaster glanced over at the young woman, expecting an embarrassed look, but saw nothing but cruel pride.

‘Perhaps we do have something in common.’

“The worst of it was when Nobles were pushing me to form a marriage contract with them for when my daughter turned fifteen. Back then she was still reliant on a walking stick! And still they wanted her just so they could be next to me. Damn annoying flies.” Azemar cursed.

“Walking stick?” Alaster asked with a tilt of his head.

He had not seen the woman struggle with walking. He had personally experienced that when she ran into him. Though perhaps she had some strange difficulty in stopping.

“Have you not noticed? Lunaria is blind. She was born that way, something about how her Mana Channels were twisted. Awakening the System fixed the Channels, but by then the blindness was permanent.”

“But the System did give me an Ability that allows me to see, in a way. It’s kinda hard to explain actually. But I can see just as well as any normal person, just differently.” Lunaria explained.

“So, are you a Warrior, Mage, or Ranger?”

“A Mage Ranger hybrid. Mostly Mage, but I do have a few Abilities that are more of a Ranger Class. I might even be able to make you sweat if we spar!” She exclaimed with pride.

“I doubt that.”

“No, she just might. You specialize more in large scale battles, while she is more individual. She doesn’t have as much experience in actual combat as you do, but you’ll find that everyone in Galmore has extensive combat experience.” Azemar chuckled.

“That should be interesting. Though she might have an unfair advantage.”

“In what way?” Lunaria huffed, offended at the thought that she couldn’t win without some sort of cheat.

“Your Holy Mana. It naturally repels mine.”

Azemar smirked, “She doesn’t have Holy Mana.”

Alaster set his bowl aside, “Then what Mana does she have?”

“It’s not actually any Mana. It’s Counter Magic. It’s a special Body Constitution. My body just naturally repels Magic. Except that its more complicated than that.” Lunaria explained, standing up and grabbing the dishes.

“In what way?” Alaster asked.

He had always been interested in the different types of Magic. Finding someone that could naturally repel Magic was fascinating.

Lunaria looked over her shoulder, “Help me do the dishes and I’ll tell you.” She said with a cheeky grin.

Sighing to himself, Alaster stood up and followed the young woman into the kitchen.

She placed the dishes next to the small pile she had used while cooking. The pile sat next to the wash basin, which had a few enchantments carved into the iron that would create water at various temperatures if someone imbued them with their Mana.

Alaster got to work washing the dishes. It took a few moments to find the appropriate temperature, but he soon had it figured out and was washing the dishes. Except there was something missing. Or someone one.

Looking to the left, Lunaria was sitting on the counter, her feet dangling, watching him work.

“I thought you asked me to help, not do.”

“Oh, but I am helping.”

“How so?”

“Do you know where those dishes go?”

Alaster looked around for a moment, “No.”

“And that’s how I’ll help! I’ll tell you where you can put them!”

Azemar chuckled from the table, once again reading his book.

Alaster glanced at him, “What is he always reading?” He asked Lunaria.

“Don’t know. He never actually lets me see, but it changes pretty often.” Lunaria shrugged.

“I thought I was helping you do the dishes in exchange for how your Mana works.”

“What? You were just going to let the poor maiden do all the housework? Where is your honor?” Lunaria asked, acting like a damsel in distress.

“First, honor has nothing to do with housework. Second, honor doesn’t mean much, least of all to me. And third, why do you even do the housework? Couldn’t your father just summon his armor suits to do it all?”

“Couldn’t you summon your Minions?” Azemar countered, still reading at the table.

“I could, but they aren’t really suited to simple housework.”

“And there is my reason.”

“Oh shush you two! What do you mean honor doesn’t mean much? Honor is everything!” Lunaria exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.

“Sure, to some people. But it is so easy to use against them.” Alaster said, scrubbing a burnt spot at the bottom of the pot.

“In what way?”

“Like forcing them to duel you, ‘in the name of honor’. Or knowing they will be offended or defensive in some way. Where does the pot go?”

Lunaria pointed to one of the cupboards.

Alaster quickly finished cleaning and put the dishes where she instructed him.

“So how about that spar?”