An uneventful month followed Tessa’s reset. As she said, Tessa only slept during this time, waking only to eat. She looked horrible when she woke up, as if ready to pass out. I made food for energy but she only said more before falling asleep. The next time she woke, I had prepared enough to feed ten people and that hadn’t been enough. I had no idea where she’s putting it all, but it did force me to hunt to get more food.

I had spent my time ensuring that the food that I had prepared would be stocked with as much energy as possible, while also putting as much energy into it as possible to create dishes that would strengthen her. Ensuring that she would be fine after each of these meals, I spent the rest of the time with Alice, the two of us working on merging our magic together to see if we could replicate what we had done in the Tomb of Lilith, without merging ourselves.

We didn’t bear fruit with these efforts, but we did discover our magic had high compatibility with each other, which made sense considering our link. It also offset Alice’s boredom a bit, with her seemingly determined and a bit desperate to train like this. Thinking of what had happened when Tessa had unleashed her pressure on us that time, I realised that Alice may have been wanting to get stronger herself. She’s also at the Crossroads and has selected a Path, but her only condition is to be with me when I step onto my Path.

After this month passed, I heard a knock at the carriage down and upon opening it was met with Beth, who gave me a sly smile.

“We’ve arrived at Hiems. They’re confirming our identity chains. Captain Roland left before we arrived, so you’ll have to be ready to confirm your identity as our bodyguard.”

“Ok, let me know when we’ve stopped in the town.” Thanking Beth, I closed the door and wondered what to do about Tessa. Hearing a knock at the door, I opened it to see a guard this time who looked at my neck and grunted.

“Adventurer? You must be the bodyguard of these merchants. Any others in there?”

“My daughter and friend.”

“Then that’s fine. I need to confirm their identity chains.” I showed the guard Alice’s and when he asked about Tessa’s I pursed my lips and spoke.

“She doesn’t have one and is currently injured and asleep.”

“That’s fine, it happens on the road. I need to confirm her Status before letting you through, you can have an identity chain issued at the courthouse.”

Nodding slightly, I observed the man for a moment before realising he is only about level 80. Letting him in, I stood in front of the bed, allowing him partial sight to Tessa as he held a crystal lens to his eye, a magic coming from it. He nods and puts the lens away.

“Very good. Level 1 Human, no hidden illusions or System disguise abilities. I thank you for your time Miss Alisha.” The guard leaves the carriage and moves on, as if well practised in these sorts of situations. A bit relieved he didn’t kick up a fuss, I closed the door once more and sat down at the table, wondering what to do with Tessa. I had hoped she’d have recovered by now, but she’s still sleeping.

Feeling the carriage start moving after ten minutes, I picked up all of our belongings like the bloody clothing from my last fight and stored it all away, feeling eager and excited to finally finish this task. The carriage comes to a stop as a knock comes from the door once more. Beth informed me that the convoy ends here and upon getting that confirmation I ask her if there is an inn nearby that we could go to.

“There is an inn near the Guild branch here dear. They have good security too.”

“Thanks, Beth.”

“No, thank you, Alisha. If it hadn’t been for you we would’ve been killed. If you ever need a discount, all of the merchants here will be more than happy to provide one in the future.” After chatting with Beth for a bit longer, she left while I headed inside and with no other choice picked up Tessa gently.

“Alice, just be on the lookout in case anyone gets any ideas.” With Alice giving me a strong nod, the three of us left the carriage and following the directions Beth gave headed towards the adventurers district.

The town of Hiems is rather big for a town, but it’s still quite small with about ten thousand people living here in total. According to Beth, there is one Delta-Class who resided here that protected the town from monster tides and had been elected as the leader of this town for the last hundred years. The biggest attraction in this town is the auction that happens once every five years and is due to start in two weeks, meaning the town would start filling with more guests than before.

We made our way through the town attracting a few interested gazes but upon seeing the Gold Grade plate around my neck and Alice’s they turned away with a bit of fear. It seems like the citizens here are afraid of our status as Gold Grades, but without caring much I continued and soon we arrived before a small tavern called The Snowman’s Retreat.

Registering at the front desk, we were given the choice of having a Gold Grade room which cost 50 Mithril Coins for three months, but came with free meals, a tour guide and a maid for the duration of our stay. The room we would get would include a private room for the maid so they would be available twenty four seven. Wondering if they would assist me with my cooking without running away, we were led to the room and entering it I found myself satisfied at the sight of a rather well equipped kitchen, three bedrooms and cleanliness.

The receptionist leaves after informing us that the maid will be available the next day and seeing her off, I sat down on a chair and pondered on what to do now. I had slightly expected Alexander to have found us so we could head to Mt Lunaria. With Tessa here, travelling without others would be extremely difficult, especially since she’s only level 1 now. While I could travel by myself, I didn’t want to leave either Alice nor Tessa alone.

“Mum?”

“What’s up Alice.” Alice sat down next to me before glancing at Tessa.

“Is Auntie Tessa okay?” At first Alice had been a bit uncomfortable around Tessa, after all they hadn’t really conversed and everytime Tessa had been present around Alice it had been as an authoritative figure. Over the last few weeks Alice had asked me about Tessa and I had told her. From those stories, it seems Alice had realised Tessa had been helping us far more than we had thought and had started to call her Auntie Tessa.

“She’ll be fine. Remember, she did say she needed sleep. When she’s better we’ll go on a trip with her, ok?”

Alice lays her head on my lap and stays silent, and like that we spend another week stuck inside, though I didn’t mind, I wanted to ensure Tessa stayed safe. I had thought of claiming the rewards for 'killing' Tessa, but something told me not to until I have Alexander's protection, so I didn't.

***

Thankfully during the week, Tessa started to wake up more often, eating all of the food I had made while leaving some dishes untouched. Curious as to why, I found it to be food related to increasing or strengthening one's magic. At first I had been confused, but then realised why; Tessa is a blank canvas, meaning she has no magic to speak of, no mana realm or veins, meaning that food is useless to her. I was rather surprised she’d been checking each dish and skipping magic related food.

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On the eighth day, Tessa woke up after only four hours of sleep and walked up to us, she greeted me and Alice.

“Morning, or is it afternoon? Thank you for taking care of me.” Tessa sits down opposite me and starts eating happily. “This food has helped a lot. Stat increases, Stat Rank increases, meals that toughen my skin and much more. You have no idea how much you’ve boosted my foundation from just these meals, you truly are worthy of being the Chosen of Gastron.”

Smiling happily at her comments, I watched as she finished eating with a satisfied smile. Handing her a pouch, Tessa tilted her head and opened it, a chuckle escaping her lips as she pulled out dried meat, flavoured with a variety of spices.

“Ah, snacks. You shouldn’t have!” Eating a piece Tessa happily put the pouch away before looking at me. “I want to talk to you about my future. I know you’ve got your own path you’re on and if you don’t want me around, I’ll make my own way.”

“Mm, Tessa I can’t abandon you like that, you’re free to follow along with me, though I do need to head to Mt Lunaria.”

“So you’re indeed heading there.” Tessa looked me up and down before sighing. “I’ll talk to you about Lunaria later. For now, my plans are to remain at level 1 for a period of time. I’ll be building my foundations slowly before I start levelling.”

“Why are you doing that?” Tilting my head I see Tessa chuckling.

“I won’t go into a lecture about foundation building but I’ll give you the basics. See, a lot of people just go with the flow, which you have been doing yourself, when they first start out levelling. A general rule of thumb is to not interfere because everyone sticks with the rule of thumb that others must find their own way. Stupid rule, but the Sisterhood follows it to the extreme. Anyway, the Sisterhood doesn't matter for this discussion.

“If one builds a very strong foundation from level 1, they will of course be much stronger when they get to level 100. Common sense but a lot of people that are in power don’t want this to happen, imagine if a generation comes along that has far more potential? Though it does happen, the main difficulty is getting through the Crossroads as most just give up and remain at level 100. So for now my plan is to train my body and awaken my mana realm through a ritual to find my True Magic Nature and start strengthening my mana veins and realm.”

“Ritual? Where can you get that done, Vale?”

“Oh sweety, Vale is small time in comparison to the rest of the world. No, I’ll conduct the ritual myself, I know an ancient technique, I just need to find a pure mana lake that has started to crystalize pure magic stones, which is incredibly rare but I know the location of one.” Tessa gives me a wink as I smile slightly.

“That garden you spoke of?”

“Bingo! As you are now, we can’t go but once you’ve stepped onto your Path you’ll be strong enough to reach it. The garden itself is safe with no monsters within it, but the surrounding Wilderness is incredibly dangerous, but I know a route to get through safely so I can guide you once it’s time. Don’t worry about me though, Alisha. I’m already asking a lot and I can’t repay you, at least not yet.”

“It’s okay, Tess. I want to repay you anyway.” She smiles as I say that before I turn my attention to Alice, who had been listening with a bit of boredom. “For now, I want to look at heading towards Mt Lunaria.”

“Oh, not sticking around for the auction?”

“Will we get anything from it?”

“You never know, a powerful item may show. The auction attracts those beyond the Crossroads frequently and stories of world-class items appearing have circulated before.”

Thinking it over, I thought it would be good to see if there is anything and if we could get anything to help Tessa I would be more than happy to do so.

“Do you mind, Alice?”

“Alice is happy to be with Mum.” Alice hugs my arm as I smile at her. Part of me wanted Alice to be a bit more independent and not just follow me all the time.

“I don’t mind what you want to do, Alisha. This is your journey, I’m just here for the ride at the moment.” Tessa gives me a smile as I decide to stay for the auction. There is another objective I need to handle in Hiems as well.

“I need to find those twins.” Explaining the situation with the elven twins, Tessa frowns slightly while tapping her chin in thought.

“Yin and Yang magic? Pair of twins…I’ve heard of unique magic like that before. Twins commonly are born with very unique magic that connects them for life, though I’ve never heard of that connection being damaged before. The fact you can sense it means it’s related to Lunar magic in some way, though it’s also possible that those two need to evolve for that connection to be solidified. Alright, let’s go find them.”

We leave the inn, informing the maid, Jennifier, that hasn’t really done much, about our plans. She offered to lead us to the Guild, but I declined and asked her to get more food for us. I had provided her a Diamond Coin as a budget and though she had been shocked at being given such a high amount she had taken it in stride.

We left the tavern and headed towards the Guild while I kept myself alert. I wasn’t only on guard for surprise attacks but I also kept an eye out for the twins in case we ran into them. I noticed the stares that came towards us as we walked, some fearful, some full of admiration and others that were on guard. Ignoring the stares as usual, I heard Tessa chuckle.

“Is this a standard for you two?”

“Mm, but usually they ignore us too after a glance, but some are staring as if in disbelief.”

“It’s a small town, a Gold Grade arriving earlier than usual for the auction likely has some interest. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re the only Gold Grade here, after all small towns like this usually don’t have anyone above level 50 as most just leave for the city since the Guild can’t accommodate them above level 50 or they seek higher fame.”

“I see…” It made sense when explained like that. Vale had their dungeons and the surrounding areas that offered levels, money and a lot of shops. Most of the shops we walked past here were for clothing, food and blacksmithing, none seemed to be aimed at adventurers. The Guild appears in our sights and I further understood what Tessa had been saying.

The building is nothing like Vales. It’s a two story building, a bronze walled first floor and a silver coloured second floor. There wasn’t a floor for Gold Grades at all, and the foot traffic here barely existed.

“Are there no dungeons around here?”

“Nope. Most rely on going out and fighting monsters in the surrounding areas, collecting their materials and gaining experience that way. Those that come from these small towns are usually a lot stronger than those from a city. Those that come from a city usually have resources around them with usually little to no danger, while those in towns need to risk danger often to get stronger. The only problem is that when those from a town get to a city, they become complacent because of the luxury of safety and stop growing. Those like you, Alisha, that continue to face danger become far stronger.”

I found myself glad that Tessa had joined us, she didn’t hesitate to tell me all of this information when I asked, giving me a bit of relief.

“Are you going to become an adventurer, Tess?”

“Me, a dear old level 1? Maybe, the resources of the Guild are vast and the freedom is nice.”

“Oh, we need to get you an identity chain too.”

“Ah. Right, we’ll do that once we’ve finished here.” Tessa grins and we enter the Guild. The layout is very similar to Vale’s, except there is a board for requests on the ground floor and instead of half of the floor being a bar it has merchants peddling their wares. Approaching the receptionist, he looked up at me briefly before doing a double take before looking at Alice and Tessa.

“W-Welcome Madams. How can I assist you?”

“I’m looking for a pair of twins…” Describing Yin and Yang to the attendant, he nods and looks down at his notes.

“Yes, those twins have been here. They accepted a request to help set up the auction house and have been there for the last few days. The two come back here to report back for payment, would you like me to leave a message.”

“Please tell them Alisha is here and they can find me here…” Passing the details of our tavern room, the attendant nods and informs me he will advise the other attendants to pass on the message in case he isn’t here. Asking him if there are any requests that needed to be done, I had expected him to reject us, and he did.

"While I appreciate it, we do not have any problems. Madam, it will be best for you to ensure you're in peak condition for the auction instead."

Hearing his words made me feel a bit confused but deciding to leave it at that, we asked the attendant where we could get an Identity Chain for Tessa.

"We can organise it while also enrolling the young madam into the Guild."

"Mm, let's pass. We'll do it later." With Tessa's words, we decided to pass for the time being and headed out. "Alisha, don't worry about my identity chain. I just remembered that it can tell the age of the person. It's either going to tell them I'm only about a month old or my true age."

"How old are you, Tess?"

"Haha, let's change the topic! Can you make me more stat increasing food? Lets spend the next few days making food! You could even make a ton of money from selling Stat Rank increasing food!"

With our plans settled, we decided to buy out all the stores worth of ingredients, while planning to use the last of the high quality monster meat I had left.