The cleaning took longer than expected but soon enough they were done. The boys left shortly after. Feeling rather gross, Azura immediately went to soak in the tub. After a vigorous scrubbing, which included noodle remove from her hair, she spent the rest of the day practicing fine control with her ki. A quick meal and it was bed time. It had been a long day. As soon as she settled down, the door opened. Her mother came in with her sleepwear on.

“What’s wrong?” Azura asked.

“Oh, nothing,” her mother said moving to the bed. She then began poking Azura.

“Hey!”

“Move over,” her mother chided.

Azura did so and her mother hopped in, putting her arms around her daughter.

“It’s been a long time since I held you while you slept… I guess, I feel nostalgic.”

“Okay,” Azura said not sure what brought this on.

Her mother was silent a moment then began rubbing Azura’s cat ears. She hadn’t done that in a long time.

“You know I’m proud of you right?”

“Yeah…”

“You could have been rich with all the mana beasts you’ve killed. Instead you gave it to the kin… and, well… I guess I hadn’t realize how powerful you’ve become.”

“Mom, what’s this about?”

“Oh nothing. I think today I just realized… you’re all grown up. You don’t need me anymore.”

Azura snuggled in closer, enjoying the feeling of her mother’s soft fur.

“That’s not true… How would I feed myself?”

Coralline laughed. “That’s true my little pig-kin.” She kissed the top of her daughters head as they both fell asleep.

Head master Rufus of Dageth Magical Combat Academy looked over the message from Deepmere and considered. It was small country with an even smaller capital on the far western side of the continent. It times past it was consider to be one of the four great nations, now it was a joke. Multiple civil wars and territory being lost to its neighbors had done it no favors. It was dying ember of it former majesty.

Previously the only item of interest in the area was their mage only policy. It had been a strange choice. Normally less than half of the population were mages. When Deepmere had exiled non-mage humans others were quick to snatch up the cheap labor. Rufus chuckled. The fools. It was hard to get mages to plant crops or clean sewage. So in the end they had to entice nulls from the local kin villages to assist. This way they could keep their mage only policy yet have the low pay workers that every nation needed.

Things had started to look up for the dying nation. No longer. In the end it wasn’t war or strife that caused it’s continued down fall, but the mists.

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The mists… now there was a concerning issue.

Where had it come from? How does it spread? What are the spawn?

The last one he had a partial answer. Apparently some mana corruption seeps into mana pools altering the creatures. It was speculated that creatures with dormant mana pools were affected to but very slowly. The trouble was no one knew anything for sure.

Now after over a decade of slow growth the mists had reached the Fortress of Fortunia. The last bastion against this plague. If it would end there Rufus wouldn’t have bothered even considering the proposal. The fools at Deepmere thought what they were giving up was valuable? Ha! Some backwater land was nothing. They flaunt it like having access to their worthless nation was some privilege.

However, the mists did change everything. Rufus didn’t doubt that once done with Deepmere it would spread beyond. It was better to fight in Deepmere than near his lands. There was also the slaves… Slavery was frown upon but accepted on the continent of Asluin, yet to declare that they would enslaved all the kin in Deepmere… It wasn’t too important to him. They were just one species of demi humans in a small insignificant country. Races without magic were constantly exploited. That was why the dwarves had gone to ground centuries ago and refused to deal with the surface folk. The magicless humans were treated better but not by much. Regardless, this wasn’t his problem. What was, was this proposition.

Rufus leaned back in his chair and thought some more. Easy access to slaves, free land, and an opportunity for combat experience against the spawn. That doesn’t even consider the chance to stop the spread of the mists before it threatened more of Asluin or more importantly, Dageth.

Rufus sighed. Damn those councilors. They knew he wouldn’t be able to refuse, as much as he wanted too.

Rufus crafted a message spell signaling his acceptance and began the preparations.

Supreme Elven lord Mistveil sat with his fellow councilors as he relayed the missive from Kelfina. Kelfina was a decent enough mage he supposed. But her true talent lay with information gathering. Which was why she was sent to Deepmere in the first place. This business with the mists was new, therefor troubling. His kind lived for hundreds of years and had records dating backing several millennia. Yet nowhere in those records was there anything that resembled the mists. That was troubling. He had even consulted his brethren on the other four continents to search for any records of these mists and the abominations residing within. Nothing. The proposal from Deepmere did offer a chance to stop this threat before it could spread. It also extended the elven influence in Asluin. They must truly be desperate.

“Is there any objections to the proposal Kelfina has suggested?” Mistveil asked.

“Do they truly intend to enslave all the nulls?” A finely dressed mage asked.

“They will enslave the kin,” Mistveil clarified. “I believe their own people will be spared.”

Ulvandia chuckled. “There aren’t many magical non-humans in Deepmere. They began a policy three decades ago to exile or sterilize any human who didn’t have magic. It was cruel but effective as now the humans of the nation are almost entirely mages. As such they rely on the kin to do most of the manual work. This step does make sense from their elitist view of things. Are we able to purchase the kin as well?”

Mistveil turned toward her. She was old for an elf, yet still beautiful with long blonde hair and pale skin. Elves didn’t age like the lesser races. They would stay youthful for centuries then in their last year of life or so quickly wither and die when their bodies could no longer sustain the magic flowing in them. One down fall to this longevity was, well… perversion. Boredom was often an issue with the long lived, especially the wealthy. Ulvandia was well known for her tastes…

“Yes I believe they will offer reasonable rates for kin once the subjugation is completed.”

The elven woman flushed, her excitement clear. Mistveil felt sorry for any kin that fell under her control.

“I am perfectly willing to lead the expiation to Deepmere. I’ll be sure to arrange for our interest in the capital.”

You mean grab your pick of kin for playthings, Mistveil thought but kept his expression blank. It didn’t matter to him. Besides, Ulvandia was powerful and well organized. She could arrange everything nicely.

He nodded to her. “So we are in agreement?”

Various signs of agreement came for all those present.

And just like that the fate of the kin became sealed.