After our conversation I left. Lilith still had an Emperor to interrogate. I could have joined that, but I decided not to. She had far more experience in gathering information and could just fill me in afterwards.

Instead I returned to Lucy and Ben. He was having fun with his new armour. Nira and Adhira were here too, as was Iris. She was giving tips on how to use it properly. It was a full plate mail made from mithril, which reduced its weight. It was also enchanted for increased durability and would be able to grow with Ben. The armour came with a dimensional storage where unused material was stored. All this information was provided by a handy manual which Tyrell had included.

Of course I was the only one reading it. Ben had no interest in such boring things.

“I am knight now!” Ben declared. “Should I be a maid knight?” He wondered.

“No. You are my brother, so you are noble. The knights serve you.” Lucy said.

“Aren’t knights nobles too?” I wondered.

“Not necessarily.” Iris clarified. “Anyone who is officially knighted counts as noble but there are knight orders which are not knighted by any nation. A lot of religions have knights. Of course they are mostly treated like nobility, even if they technically are not nobles. And adventurers often refer to heavily armoured fighters as knights.”

Iris paused, contemplating. Then she continued: “As a countess of the Dominion you likely have the power to knight people. But I do not know the details about the process inside the Dominion. Also, nobles do serve as knights at times. Some orders actually refuse to recruit commoners.”

“That sounds stupid. There are plenty of talented commoners. You would want the best in an elite unit.” I replied, shaking my head.

“The Empire was not built on logic.” Iris responded with a sad smile.

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“As an archfey you are a noble anyway.” Adhira commented. “And elemental knights are sort of a big deal among the fey. The main elemental knight, Lily in our case, is a really big deal. That title holds a lot of respect and power.”

“Do kitsune have something like elemental knights? Or demons?” Lucy asked.

“I can answer the demons part.” Lily said, as she entered the tent. She had Alister and Lynn with her. “Demonic knights are a thing but demons don’t follow a naming convention. Demon lords name their servants however they like. Usually they are not granted special powers though. They are connected to their lords with a bond, as is any true servant of a demon lord. But the bond is there to control the servants, not empower them. I do not know anything about kitsune.”

“Kitsune are kind of rare.” Adhira added.

Lucy looked smug. “I am even rarer than you, Amaya.”

I looked at her, especially at her happily swishing tails. “You could grow even rarer with more tails. I wonder if you can have nine.”

“That is a lot of tails.” Ben stated. “They would be great to snuggle with! I like snuggling with my tail. Can I grow more tails?”

“You are not a kitsune. Foxkin have only one tail.” Lynn explained.

“But big sis became a kitsune! I want to be a kitsune too!” Ben protested.

“If you grow bigger, you could become my warlock.” Lucy suggested.

Hm. A kitsune should be on the level of an archfey, or demon lord. As such they should be able to create warlocks. But the ritual I used for Lucy required more spell slots than she had. More spell slots than any mortal could have. That is why a normal mage could not create a warlock. But what about more physically focused mythical creatures? Lucy’s fox form had a lot of power, even if she did not have that many 9th tier spell slots. Actually, maybe she would get more with more tails.

“Did you get more spell slots when you grew a second tail?” I asked.

Lucy thought about that. “No. But my aura has improved. And I think I can empower my spells with my fox form. They feel stronger.”

Empowering spells was something sorcerers could do. But it increased the spell level. Of course there were passive improvements, like my piercing lightning. Maybe each tail would provide different abilities, or improvements? I was certainly curious what all nine tails would unlock. And how fluffy they would be.

“You don’t need to become a kitsune, or grow tails. You will become a fine young man! You can settle down and manage a farm.” Alister suggested.

Ben pondered that. “I would rather grow tails tough. And slaughter things. Shani says that is more fun.”

Lynn sighed. She probably had this conversation many times in the past. “First you have to grow up. Until then, maybe Iris can give you some basic training. At least you have some armour now for Shani’s shenanigans…”

“I would be honoured to train the young lord. I am sure he will make a fine fighter one day.” Iris said.

“Magical fighter! I want to have magic too! And become a fox! A magical fox fighter!” Ben announced.

I did not envy Lynn. Raising Ben was certainly a difficult task in our company. But I would do what I can to keep him safe.