Since the inn she had decided to hole up in did not serve lunch, Sage turned to the local taverns. She chose one on the more affluent side of town, an establishment where everyone was so elegantly dressed that she stood out in her leather armour. Fortunately, the disparity did not cause an altercation as she was able to walk past the guards, up to the counter and- after a few queries to the child which were met with nods- order their food.
When she entered the inn, her initial intention had been to get their food and go, as she was obviously not going to lower her mask to eat in front of everyone. It turned out that, although the tavern was not the epitome of class, it was a well enough off establishment to provide rooms for private dining. Learning this, she immediately changed her mind and opted for one of the rooms. After being escorted to the room by one of the tavern girls, she did not have to wait long before their food was delivered.
Mylah’s meal consisted of a single large slab of meat that had been thoroughly cooked and peppered with fragrant spices. The child’s dish was the complete opposite of Sage’s, which was made up of potatoes, butternut and green vegetables. Until the rawness of the previous night faded, she had decided to lay off meat.
The moment the tavern girl left them, Sage dropped her mask and stabbed a potato with her fork, bringing it to her lips and inserting it into her mouth. Chewing the tater a few times, she could not stop the corners of her mouth from quirking up. A single bite was enough for her to acknowledge this was the best meal she had had since coming to Aran.
She looked up from her plate and saw Mylah sitting there- just sitting there- her eyes occasionally darting between Sage and her plate. From the expression on her face, it was obvious the child was eager to dig in; however, when her gaze settled on Sage, the hesitation on her face was clear. She was waiting for permission to eat.
“Go ahead,” Sage told her, stifling a sigh.
This was why she hated kids. Instead of thinking for themselves and taking initiative, they waited to be told everything! After this I’m fucking done, she swore. When she was done examining the brat, she would be sure to port her back to the bastard who begged Sage to turn the child.
As she thought this, she looked in a certain direction, frowned, before looking back at the child.
She watched as the girl forewent the cutlery at her side and picked up the meat chunk with her bare hands. Then she opened her mouth, revealing rows of teeth sharper than her tusks, and made short work of the meat. By the time Sage swallowed her second bite, the meat was gone. From the look on her face, Mylah was not satisfied.
“More?” Sage asked simply before going for her third bite.
“Yes Mistress,” the girl replied timidly, her eyes cast downwards.
Fortunately, the private rooms came with a small bell one could ring to summon the tavern help. Sage put back her mask and reached for it.
Minutes later the tavern girl entered once more, this time carrying a plate with six slabs. By then Sage had already finished her food, so she was content to lean in her chair and watch as the meat dish was placed in front Mylah. The look on the tavern girl’s face as she did so was one of puzzlement. When she finished placing the plate and gazed at the child, Sage could almost hear the gears in her head creaking while she wondered where the child was going to put all the food. However, she did not say anything as she left the room again.
After the door closed and the footsteps vanished, Sage got up from her seat and walked over to the other side of the table. She grabbed the girl’s untouched knife and used it to pick a slab off the table, which she flung to her empty plate. Immediately, the cat who had been salivating from the shadows leapt out of them and onto the plate. Then he started nibbling at the meat.
“Nyx is in his own world, pay him no mind,” she told a gapping Mylah. Then she pointed at the stuffed plate. “Go ahead, the rest is yours.”
Again, the child looked hesitant, but she did not stand on ceremony. When she lifted a slab of meat from her plate, her teeth had morphed back to their jagged forms.
Sage watched her eat for a while before she raised her hand and touched the top of Mylah’s head, causing the child to tense up. She kept her hand there, not moving it until the child realised she did not intend to do anything. After being reassured, the child returned to her meal. It allowed Sage to close her eyes and do what she intended.
Physical contact was a way to utilise the bond to examine the abilities of a contracted creature. Since she learned [Summon Familiar], Sage had been using this method check up on the improvement of Nyx abilities. This method though could only be used by the dominant party in the contract; as such Sage was unable to use her bond with the half-elf to gain in-depth knowledge of all her spells, while the opposite was possible; not that she would ever allow it.
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The creature Mylah had become, which Sage had named rakshasa, had four abilities. The first of these was {Mend}. This ability had the effect of closing all wounds she obtained. One unfortunate side-effect of the power was that it made the undead child susceptible to hunger. From what Sage could tell, use of the ability not only consumed mana, but also had the effect of increasing the girl’s hunger. A boon to this ability however, was that regeneration improved after consumption of meat. Only meat, that was all she was capable of eating now; the fresher, the better; more so if it was sourced from a human.
If the child had not been a cannibal, part of Sage would have probably felt bad for turning the child into this sort of undead. However, considering the girl was a cannibal, there was nothing to regret. And after the child got used to her new state, she would appreciate the fact that her disgusting habit actually benefited her, as opposed to before.
The second ability was the opposite of {Mend}, called {Rend}. This one was used to tear flesh and intensify injuries. As long as foe had a scratch or an open wound, Mylah could use this power to enlarge it. It was similar in many ways to the spell [Harm]. {Rend} shared a connection with {Mend}, the nature of which she was unable to make out at present; probably only when the child got stronger would she be able to tell. Like its sibling, use of {Rend} also increased hunger.
The third ability was {Osteomancy}, the ability to manipulate bones which was shared by bone knights. At the moment, the only thing the girl was capable of was changing her teeth, and maybe setting her own bones. The ability was only in its infancy though; theoretically, it was possible to develop it until, just like bone knights, Mylah could use it to manipulate not only her bones but all exposed bones in the same way a bone knight could; to the point where she could fashion armour and weapons out of them.
The last ability of the girl was called {Shadow Tread}, which- when her mana improved- would allow her to escape through the shadows. Sadly, it did not appear to be as powerful or versatile as Nyx {Shadow Travel}, much less Sage’s newly acquired {Shadow Manipulation}. Still, it was good enough to allow Mylah to escape perilous encounters, which she would definitely encounter in her new unlife.
Having learned all she could about the child’s current powers, Sage retracted her hand and returned to her seat. Her actions caused Mylah to momentarily pause, but quickly returned to attacking her food when Sage took a seat. There were three chunks of meat left on her plate, they would not last three minutes.
Although she had returned to her seat, Sage’s examination was not done. There was one last thing to do for her to get the full scope on the creature she had created. She cast {Mystic Eyes} and looked upon the child.
Mylah was definitely unique compared to the undead Sage had met. Her aura was that of an amalgamated undead; giving off the impression of a ghoul, a bone knight and tiny bit of vampire. The addition of what she had gleaned from vampire transformation into the rakshasa ritual had been minimal, but it had been effective enough. Because of this, it was highly likely that the child’s mana was proportional to her physique. The downside to this was that the paltry rays from the window seemed to have a negative effect on the child; not like the vampires, but enough for the day to have a minor weakening effect on her.
In her eyes, the child’s enormous mana was presented, greater than any she had encountered barring her own. Not that she could make a comparison; the first thing that Sage noticed after turning her [Mystic Eyes] on herself was that her aura was not showing. Her mana was not visible either. Even with the spell, nothing could be gleaned from herself. Similar to how rocks appeared in her sight, she was basically a part of the environment.
Phantom, that was the only explanation for why she could no longer see her auras. Up to this point she had not been much of a phantom, a fledgling some would call her. Her abilities had not been up to par when compared to what was said of phantoms. However, something must have happened to change that, allowing her to finally escape the observation of [Mystic Eyes]. Was it her physique improvement, or the awakening of her Scion ability? What she was sure of was that it had to do with her Advancement. This was the first time since becoming a 9th Order sorcerer that she had used the spell. Before then, she had not been able to avoid its prodding.
Her earlier estimation of three minutes turned out inaccurate as the child took less than half the time to clean up her plate. It was the same for Nyx, who was now licking the plate. Sage cancelled [Mystic Eyes], picked him up and dropped him into her shadow; she did not feel like explaining to the tavern staff where a cat came from. Afterwards she put on her mask and rang the bell. Shortly after, the same tavern girl returned to collect their plates and billed them fifteen silvers, thrice the price of their inn accommodation. Sage had hundreds of gold though, so the price could not even be considered spare change to her.
With her belly full and the child fed, she had no more need to remain in the tavern. She left the establishment promptly after, her thoughts on visiting a smithy. Since she was going to pose as a combatant, it was only right to get herself a weapon. The ornamented dagger she nabbed long ago could serve as one, but its blade was too thin; she doubted it would survive a single clash against an actual weapon.
Before that though, she craned her head to the right just as she left the tavern.
Not far from them stood a black armoured knight, his towering figure catching the attention of everyone who entered the street.
After moving all around Rupheus for whatever reasons the last couple of hours, a few minutes prior she had felt him approach their location.
As she approached his helmeted form, she noted the sheet of paper clutched in her hand. She briefly glanced at it before her gaze settled on the knight’s visor.
“What brings you here Isaac?” she asked.