Chapter 87: Mamma Mia

[Quest - Blood Borne updated!

Objective: Find your Mother [DONE]

Bonus Objective: Slap your Mother with a Fish.]

Emma wasn’t expecting who answered the door, though the System evidently was. The bonus objective also came as a surprise, but by now she was used to following her ancestor's guidance, no matter how strange it appeared, such that she swung without hesitation. Efishency caught her Mom in the chin, the force behind the blow sending Elizabeth Knight (née Faust) flying down the corridor to land awkwardly in a heap on the floor.

[Status Condition: Instant Death failed!]

A paper talisman remained floating where Emma struck home, bursting into flames that swiftly reduced it to ash, though not before Emma could get a good look at it.

[Fortune Lover (Consumed): Negate the first unwanted Status Condition inflicted upon the wearer.]

That actually did enough damage to activate the Instant Death effect?

Taking a closer look now, Emma realised that her Mom was struggling to stand back up; her left ankle bent unnaturally from the fall. After a few attempts, Elizabeth exhaled and began to glow. She was back on her feet moments later; her familiar blazer and suit dress replaced by a Victorian long-coat covered in more medals than a Soviet general, while her ankle wound was nowhere to be found. More importantly for Emma, she was finally visible to the System's scan.

[Elizabeth the Meek - Level 25 Magical Girl]

"I don't think the System likes you very much," Emma commented absently, her focus remaining mostly on the sudden stream of incoming notifications she'd caused. "Not if I'm getting rewarded just for attacking you."

[Bonus Objective: Slap your Mother with a Fish [X]

Quest - Blood Borne completed!

Reward:

Trait - It's About Time: Immune to Time Magic (ineffective against casters 30+ Levels higher).

Bonus Reward:

Trait - Babble Fish: You are fluent in every language known by the System.]

"I doubt she ever will," Elizabeth opined, sounding rather resigned to the fact even as she shrugged off Emma's combined greeting and murder attempt. "First impressions are important, and mine was botched quite thoroughly. It will be a long time before we're even neutral acquaintances, I fear."

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[Elizabeth noticed my presence in Noah's bloodline through his dormant System, shortly after the two of them first met. She proceeded to diagnose me as 'Magical HIV', and attempted a shambolic rite of exorcism that nearly killed them both from the backlash.]

"Pfft," Emma coughed, doing her best to suppress a fit of giggles. "That's, uh, quite the first meeting?"

"If you're done reliving my embarrassing past," Elizabeth grumbled, having a good idea what was being discussed behind her back. "Let's head to the dining room; Noah will be back home soon, and I believe we are long overdue for a proper family meal together."

Emma shrugged at that, but followed along, closing the door behind her. Saint, in the interim had clambered onto her shoulder, riding along like a particularly rotund parrot. Upon further examination, Emma found that the house to be fairly different from the old, now destroyed family home. Everything was wooden, for one; bare planks visible on the walls, floor and ceiling with no signs whatsoever of paint or wallpaper. The stairs only went up, with no signs of a basement annex, and the traditional fireplace was replaced with a glowing blue orb that winked at her.

[Fire Slime - Level 1]

"They're a lot more convenient than a hearth," Elizabeth explained, as she reached for a stack of wet cat food, six tins in total; feline eyes tracking her every movement all the while. "No need to collect fuel or dispose of ashes or other waste, you just have to feed them once a day. Honestly, they're less picky than most pets I've seen."

Five of the tins went into a large pasta bowl that she set on the floor; the moment Elizabeth turned away, Saint faded from Emma's shoulder, reappearing next to the bowl and digging right in. The sixth and final tin, Elizabeth poured directly onto the Fire Slime, which gurgled happily as it absorbed the mix of meat, fish and other unidentified ingredients, glowing slightly brighter now.

Could I do that? Emma wondered, placing her free hand on her chin. I still can't eat the normal way, not without a borrowed body.

[I don't see why you couldn't. Anima is in all things, living and dead, and you have the required competency in absorption.]

Emma took a seat at the table, taking a note of the decorations; gone were the paintings in the style of Picasso, or photographs of pop stars far past their prime. Instead, strange geometric sequences dominated, depicting scenes that MC Escher would feel quite at home in. Elizabeth, meanwhile, had moved onto preparing the main meal, putting together a vegetarian pasta bake in a metal tray. Looking around, Emma couldn't see any signs of an oven; something which was worked around soon after as Elizabeth placed a hand beneath the tray, bringing its contents to a boil without any of the usual mess involved.

[Open flames are prone to complications, something man can ill afford in times of conflict. One of my descendants in the United States reverse engineered this heating spell to work without magic, a few decades ago. He sold the resulting product to the Department of Defense in the form of a flame-less ration heater, and became a very rich man; for a year anyway, then several families of Magi came knocking at the door demanding their cut of the royalties. He was only a moderately rich man after that. Should have introduced his own variation on the spellwork, instead of ripping it off wholesale; he could have claimed originality, then.]

Is he still alive? Emma wondered, feeling a hint morose at the thought of previously unknown relatives, living their own lives an ocean away.

[The System connection is still active. I can't disclose further, private information until you find him via another method; a standard privacy policy for all users, you understand.]

Fair enough.

Emma was pulled out of her thoughts as Elizabeth set a plate of pasta in front of her; just as the door opened anew, admitting Noah into the house. His arm was healed, she noted immediately, then paused as she read his class.

[Noah Knight - Level 14 Invoker (Forbidden Arts)]