"I'm off!"

"Be safe, Thariel," these were the only words Clyra said when replying to her giddy daughter's jubilant announcement of leaving.

She had never thought she'd see the day where she would allow her halfblood daughter to risk safety by intermingling with humans but here she was standing in the living room with her arms crossed on her stomach and putting on a soft smile.

All the while Thariel's looming shadow crept away from the carpeted floor and towards the distant grassland.

Be safe?.. huh?

Anywhere but here would be a safe haven for her daughter honestly.

Clyra closed the door and sternly gazed at the living room, at some point, she had been a renowned vampire hunter, it was during a time way before the birth of her lovely daughter however.

She had been permitted to bear a halfblood child then, and Thariel was supposed to be raised among her kin, but plans often went awry and anything that could go wrong, of often does.

To Vampires, Lycans were often considered a threat, but the Inquisition even more so, and both working together?

The brood had to relocate, was forced to really, and Clyra, with her child, was unable to fight and was thus forced to live away from them for the foreseeable future.

Thariel was adamantly drinking her mother's life force during her development, such a process would take a heavy toll to even a seasoned mage such as Clyra.

It was a blessing in disguise however as she was able to blend into the crowd of humans as nothing more than an old woman thanks to her new visage.

What followed was Thariel's birth, and after that their lives had become relatively peaceful but as of late...

Clyra cast a baleful glare out the window.

She could feel their presence beyond the treeline.

Even now, years after their separation, her sisters-in-name barely had the skill to control their power, let alone restrain their bloodlust and hide their tracks.

She's never noticed, mainly because she didn't think they'd be stupid enough to do this but this was expected, they weren't the kind to let a stray member of the brood live peacefully and would rather bury their corpses.

And if they thought that this goal of theirs would be easy, well, they were mistaken and thus would pay for it with their lives.

Clyra went down to the basement and grabbed her old tools; a sigil of the Sun Goddess, a stake, and a quiver full of silver-tipped arrows.

Like the moon's light being cast onto a Vampire's pale skin, her old equipment adorned her body once more.

Her sisters would not be killing anyone today. Or ever.

Clyra looked at the table, it seems her daughter left her a potion of magical amplification. It was unneeded but she appreciated the thought.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

She smiled and grabbed the potion, uncorked it, then took a sip. Clyra felt invigorated moments after imbibing the liquid. It was potent.

Thariel was talented, and if a few jealous hags were trying to cut that talent before it would fully bloom, then it was only fair that Clyra kills them in cold blood in response.

Clyra drank the potion to the last drop and headed out the door, she may not be as physically capable as she was in the past but her senses remains sharp and skill rarely dulls.

...

Thariel took one last glance at her house, she changed the timeline drastically just now didn't she?

She had a feeling that Clyra was strong and as she's seen the woman prepare for the past week, that feeling solidified into fact.

Her mother was a mage that specialized in the [Enhancement] department of Surge, and since she's so knowledgeable about it, Thariel requested that Clyra teaches her.

For the time being, she was taught how to use the three basic enhancement spells and told to practice them until mastery.

It was... A bit extreme.

This "training" method was probably why Clyra knew these spells by heart. Whenever Thariel sees her use them, it was like she was looking at a seasoned hunter and not a wrinkled woman past her prime.

Clyra had specialized in three spells in total; [Tough Skin], [Strongarm], and [Sense Boost].

All of them were also the heroine's starting spells in the game (actually, it is said that they're the starter spells in the lore) and as far as Thariel's experience went, they were just that, basic spells.

But Clyra's mastery over them obviously showed that they weren't as simple as they first seemed.

In Tainted Orchids, spells naturally had a limit to how strong they could get but that limit seems to be non-existent in this world.

Guess that weird in-game story about some guy who managed to become a legend using his mastery of the [Bolt] spell wasn't naysay after all...

Oh who was she kidding? It totally was. The bolt spell wasn't that strong.

Reinforcement spells on the other hand... Yeah, Thariel could definitely see them becoming useful the more a mage masters them.

And all three? Well, apparently someone specializing in the basics could buff individual body parts.

And that was just what Thariel could see on the surface, for all she knew, Clyra was good enough to use [Strongarm] on her muscles while her skin gets boosted by [Tough Skin].

Honestly, the possibilities are endless and she's going to explore every nook and cranny of it.

Thariel also had a plan for how she would grow the three spells over time, first, she'd prioritized [Tough Skin] since her durability isn't that strong, Vampires commonly got by with their regeneration but she didn't have that unless she's exposed to moon light.

The second spell she'd be improving was [Strongarm] since she also didn't have access to the fabled undead strength that vampires have.

Lastly, [Sense Boost] would be improved until she fully masters the only thing she got from her half-vampire bloodline, which were ironically better senses.

She could see in the dark, hear super well, and possessed a sense of smell that would make bloodhounds blush.

They were lessened, sure, but she'd rather have these than the full package, as the senses that Vampires possessed were sometimes crippling.

For example, their super hearing would often mess them up when they're in loud spaces, their eyes get blinded during the day, and their nose was so sensitive that they only live in rooms which have been thoroughly sterilized.

Her senses becoming weaker was a pretty big benefit, all things considered.

Going back to enhancement magic, she could only practice her two other spells for now, which wasn't a bad thing, as [Tough Skin] and [Strongarm] would only improve faster when she prioritizes them.

And speaking of improvement, the best way to do that are two things, either she improves her energy storage or lower her resistance to the flow of Surge.

That last one is what she is planning on doing for now and the best way to reduce her body's resistance is to let the energy of the spell flow through her channels.

This task was further aided by the ballistic suit on her skin and eventually, she might even have the ability to absorb spells and then shooting them back at the caster.

Because like its name suggests, Surge had the same properties as electricity, it can be conducted or be resisted depending on a mage's training.

Resistance lowers conductivity and vice versa, both were methods used by mages to control Surge.

Both methods also lead to two completely different ways a person can defend themselves against magic; redirection or resistance.

Thariel can, in theory, train her body to be just like that of her mother's, which is highly resistant to all forms of magic save for the main three reinforcement spells she uses.

It was an OP build, and one that was impossible to achieve in the game.

And since she had no clue about how it works or where it could lead power-wise, Thariel decided not to go with it and go with what the strongest characters of Tainted Orchids did; redirection.

However, this type of method requires expert control of energy and an unprecedented mastery over Surge but Thariel can circumvent that and skip all the training.

After all, Surge was just like electricity, and electricity can be redirected.

She's an engineer as well, not some prodigious mage. She's gonna invent her way to pulling off redirection!

Yes! She was going to make a lightning rod!

Now all that's left to do was to figure out a way on how to actually make it...

... Come to think of it, her ballistic suit was also quite surge resistant, so she may not even need to worry about magic at all!

She may have just jinxed herself by thinking like that.

Well regardless, she was going to have to deal with spells coming her way at some point since she couldn't just stand there and take it like she was the Earl of Stone, but how does she survive a Mage to Alchemist combat?

Her only solution to that so far was her lightning rod idea which wasn't bad, but it could be better.

Thariel took out her notebook and started to jot down ideas, this was a habit she had when she was still studying mechanical engineering.

It's a useful habit, especially when the person doing it is not easily distracted.

She looked away from the pages for a brief moment and stared at the road ahead of her, how long was Streamwise from her house again?