Malwine wasn’t even sure how they’d ended up in the foyer—Anna Franziska had been so enthralled by Adelheid’s mere presence that they just sort of wandered for a time.
By the main door of the estate stood Klaus, the attendant—presumably due to the staff’s lack of an actual doorman. “I don’t know. You?”
“I don’t know,” Anna Franziska said, just as she had the last time. “He’s just too new—and no, I don’t know who else might know.”
“Why do they need to know, anyway?”
“They’re… working on their homework?”
“Yep!” Malwine confirmed before repeating her initial explanation. “It’s my assigned reflection! That people have names and ages. And that sometimes, they are Grēdôcavan.”
“Only sometimes,” Adelheid confirmed—that was certainly the main takeaway about this entire thing. “But mostly, always?”
“Sounds about right,” Klaus laughed. “Personally, I’d think it’s a good exercise. I was, something like 12 years old when I found out foreigners existed. My father was that kind of man.”
Adelheid pouted at Klaus. “But you don’t know how old the forest guy is?”
“No.”
“Welp,” Malwine sighed, putting on the saddest face she could manage without having to fake-cry. “Can’t we just go ask him?”
“I remain unsure as to whether you have been taught of the months,” Anna Franziska seemed to hesitate. “But currently, we are in the month of The Fire. Going outside would be unsafe.”
“It’d probably be fine,” Klaus countered. “This estate has wards, and terrifying ones, at that.”
“Wards or not, I am not taking children outside during The Fire, Klaus.”
“Why not? The sights build character.”
“This is why nobody likes you.”
“Maybe we should go back to our room,” Malwine said with a wistful sigh, her wobbly steps taking her closer to the stairs. “No one wants to help.”
“So mean,” Adelheid agreed. In her defense, she took the hint, walking instead of disappearing. “They don’t like us.”
“Oh, don’t start. I have a child your age,” Anna Franziska tsked. “I know how it is.”
Klaus shook his head sadly. “They’ve reached the cooperation phase—we may be doomed.”
“I literally took you all around the interior of the manor to meet people!” Anna Franziska seemed a bit more hurt by it than she’d initially shown, despite her comments. “Wait! Let me carry you!”
Malwine huffed. “We can walk.”
“None of that,” Anna Franziska all but swept her off her feet before beginning the climb herself. “You could hurt yourself or worse on those steps.”
“But it’s exercise! It’s good for me!”
“You’re four!”
Klaus’s voice was heard from behind them. “The child’s gone, by the way.”
Indeed, it seemed Adelheid had taken advantage of the moment to disappear. Malwine wasn’t worried—she suspected the girl would appear back in their room, once they were alone.
At least, she hoped that would be the case.
----------------------------------------
The former last-in-line was having the most woeful of days, and that had been before she heard.
Bernadette was rarely surprised, least of all by her staff.
They did not ask Bernadette for a word.
If she needed to speak with them, she would let them know—and she did, often.
But to actually request an audience with her?
There had been a time when she would have ignored the request for the brazenness alone.
Reprimanded the maid, even.
But she had grown to understand others had different thoughts on what constituted urgency.
Others’ thoughts on that were usually wrong, but they affected Bernadette nonetheless.
“What troubles you?”
Bernadette phrased it in such a matter to send a message—obviously, this maid would not be asking to speak with her on short notice without a good reason.
“The child, my lady.”
“What of her?”
Adelheid was an endless source of problems for Bernadette.
Not only would she have put her ancestors to shame with what she was born with alone, but the child had talent.
Yet she was unreachable. Uncooperative, ignoring her tutors and parents alike.
“The child appeared shortly after we started preparing for the third meal, accompanying your husband’s grandchild,” the maid swallowed—whether she did so out of hesitation or concern remained unclear. “She remained for close to an hour as we walked through the manor.”
“Why did you walk through the manor?”
“The eldest Rīsanin’s child has been expressing an interest in getting to know people’s names. It is bizarre, but I am sure you are aware of the quirks children can have at that age.”
“And?”
“She asked to be introduced to others, and I saw no reason to deny her, especially not with the child present. The child even seemed interested in what Beryl’s child was doing.”
“Children can be curious,” Bernadette conceded that much. She did not know her own younger daughter well, not with the girl’s unruliness, but it stood to reason some patterns would always be followed. “Is this what bothered you?”
“I am impressed, not bothered,” the maid admitted. “It was baffling at first, but the thought struck me soon enough—do you believe we should encourage this, my lady?”
“How so?”
“The child is a rarer sight than good harvest drops at low Luck. Yet still, she chose to accompany the girl. I believe encouraging the latter’s… quirks could serve to draw your child out more, if they grow closer.”
“I doubt they will—Adelheid cares for nothing and no one.”
“If I may, my lady—she has little reason to. She is powerful enough to warrant us all watching out for her, yes. But she is a child.”
“A child who cannot be educated, cannot be taught. She might as well have been born as talentless as I,” Bernadette could not help but bemoan it. “I had hopes for her once.”
“You may still. I mean what I say, my lady,” the maid insisted. “Perhaps that has been what your child was missing—interaction with someone at her level.”
“Beryl’s child is not at Adelheid’s level—nothing short of somehow convincing a noblewoman to let a child of theirs come here could get Adelheid a peer. Mortals and those with potential simply can’t understand each other enough for deep connections.”
It was an irksome fact of life—but a fact nonetheless.
The last-in-line knew that well, especially when it came to nobles.
It is almost amusing… How would you have felt, mother, had you known the last memory of your power would someday lie in my girl?
Worse yet, Bernadette was growing increasingly nettled at her staff choosing to give her parenting advice—advice for handling her own children!
She knew better than to listen to them now.
Perhaps she might have, once.
But for one, the outsider in their forests had been wrong.
Bernadette had tried to speak to Adelheid. She had made an earnest effort and then some more!
The girl had chosen not to cooperate. So what was her mother to do?
She would not neglect the girl, but she would no longer plan around her. No more!
Then again… while it wasn’t as though an outsider to the family could understand, perhaps Bernadette could still draw inspiration from those words.
“Fine… If they want to walk around the estate, entertain them. Assign someone to them and speak with Fastēn for material from the late mistress’s library. If the child can indeed be convinced to stick around, perhaps she may be taught, yet.”
“I see, my lady. I shall begin making preparations at once.”
----------------------------------------
“How often can you teleport like that? Hide and unhide, I mean.”
As she’d predicted, Malwine found Adelheid standing by the edge of her bed the moment Anna Franziska shut the door behind her. While the girl was clearly bothered by their ‘work’ being incomplete, it wasn’t that hard to distract her by trying to resume their talk about Skills.
At least for now.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“I’ve never counted,” Adelheid admitted, her expression thoughtful. “But once the lower number… once [Toll] matches the number after the line, I can’t move by hiding.”
So her teleportation accrues [Toll]. It just doesn’t seem to be tied to a Skill. After some thought—and additional clarification from Adelheid—Malwine had concluded [That Which Lurks] seemed more closely related to her stealth capabilities than her actual movement ability.
It focused on ‘hiding’, as both Adelheid and the Skill itself had put it.
Malwine hummed thoughtfully. “What’s your max?”
“Max?”
“Maximum. As in the highest your [Toll] can go. It’s the number after the line, as you called it.”
“Oh! It’s 72.”
Malwine nodded. So she has some Circulation going on. “106 here.”
“Here?” Adelheid asked with a frown.
Right, I should make my wording as direct as I can. There was no telling which turns of phrase her half-aunt would understand and which ones she wouldn’t. “Here, as in, me. I have 106 maximum [Toll].”
“Oh, that.”
“Wait,” Malwine remembered Adelheid’s new level. “Have you put your attribute points anywhere yet?”
“No?”
“Okay. Can you put them in Circulation?”
Her little half-aunt clearly didn’t even hesitate at that.
“Oh! It went up!” Adelheid beamed. “[Toll] is 82 now!”
Oh, to be a child, putting 10 points into an attribute and actually getting 10 out of it…
Rather than let her thoughts show, Malwine returned the smile. “Yep! What you put on Circulation adds to it, plus every month of age.”
“I could move around so much more like this!”
It struck Malwine then that she should have done the same earlier, honestly. “I did it too! Now I have 126 max [Toll].”
And this should be enough for us to play around with [Shieldwork] for a bit…
Adelheid had other concerns. “You got more than ten?!”
Oh, right. Malwine supposed she’d technically gotten ten after the curse’s deduction. It just so happened that her single Class was multiplying all those attribute values under
“Oh!”
Hopefully, by the time Adelheid had a hundred Lifetime Skill levels and noticed that would give her 25 attribute points apiece, she’d have forgotten all about this.
“Anyway, Adelheid,” Malwine figured it was as good a time as any to ask about the third Skill the girl had. “So [The Thirl in Everything]? What does that one do?”
Once again, Adelheid read out the description and the Skill’s details, and Malwine represented it all in a panel. It was on the wordier side, for an Adelheid Skill.
[The Thirl in Everything]
Nothing exists that is flawless. Perfection isn't real. No defense is absolute. There is always a flaw, there is always a flaw, and it is always yours to exploit.
Of course she has two Legendaries… It shouldn’t have surprised Malwine, not with Adelheid having a Mythic Affinity plus whatever {Implicit} was at, but it still kind of stung.
I guess it could have been worse—she could have had a Mythic Skill.
I would have wept.
This also served as a frankly convenient way for her to segue into the topic of testing [Shieldwork], if Malwine said so herself. She hadn’t expected Adelheid to have a Skill that outright looked like a possible counter to defensive abilities, but it didn’t surprise her, not really. Not to mention, it sounded promising.
Perhaps that was what Malwine needed to overcome the disadvantage her own
Skills were at as far as growth went—and now she had more than enough [Toll] available to make a couple fist-sized shields.“Want to practice?”
Adelheid tipped her head. “Practice what?”
Without another word, Malwine formed a small shield around her right fist, watching as it glowed and faded as it always did. This took her to her former maximum [Toll].
[Toll] 105 → 106
Adelheid, meanwhile, seemed just as impressed as she had looked when Malwine had first shown her a panel—and Malwine might have been a bit too proud about that.
The girl was quick on the uptake, that much was undeniable. Once again reaching for the floor, Adelheid closed her eyes, before swiftly moving forward with both hands going up, as if she were tossing something.
[Toll] 106 → 109
It cost more to defend from than it cost me to make the shield. It was Malwine’s turn to be impressed. Honestly, she hadn’t expected it to have that much of an effect—she’d have to ask Adelheid about her attributes later. She doubted this was something those ridiculous values on {Missing} could achieve alone, even if the Affinity was backing Adelheid’s
category, as the girl had stated.“What about the other Skill?” Malwine asked, her eyes on her closed fists as Adelheid continued nearly whipping it with dark wisps from below.
“Which one?”
“[The Thirl in Everything].”
“I don’t know how it works. Maybe…”
All of a sudden, Malwine felt a tug, just as Adelheid’s latest shadowy ribbons touched her shield. She gasped despite herself.
[Toll] 109 → 115
“It leveled up!”
Malwine forced a smile. “I can tell!”
Your [Shieldwork] Skill has improved! 7 → 8
Oh, yes. This WAS a great idea.
It might have been almost entirely spontaneous, sure, but it had still paid off for her.
[Toll] 115 → 121
“You’re doing more damage now,” Malwine noted, though the shield itself remained invisible and solid as always. “Or at least, I’m accruing more [Toll] to keep it up every time you hit.”
“Sorry? Do I stop?”
“No, keep going.”
It was admittedly a bit enthralling to watch. At times, Adelheid’s [Shadow Manipulation] reminded of ink being spilled in water. The wisps moved slowly, but clung to each other, even as they wrapped around the sphere that was her shield. Each time Adelheid pulled back, they all but slunk off, almost as if melted.
[Toll] 121 → 126
Oh, heck. Malwine winced—she wasn’t particularly eager to stop right now. This just felt like such a great opportunity to both level her Skills and aid Adelheid that she didn’t want to stop. Then again, [Shieldwork] could work off her [Integrity] just as well.
[Integrity] 954 → 941
[Integrity] 941 → 925
[Integrity] 925 → 903
Okay. Maybe not as well.
“Hold!”
Adelheid gave her a look of sheer bewilderment. “What should I be holding?”
“I mean, stop.”
“Oh.”
Adelheid’s shadows disappeared in a manner oddly reminiscent of her own teleportation.
A part of Malwine wondered whether she should have backed out—her [Integrity] hadn’t gotten that low. But it would likely have gotten worse as Adelheid’s Skills leveled up.
“You were using both Skills, right?”
“Yep!”
Adelheid didn’t have to deal with a penalty to Skill progress on her
category over balancing, so her growth would outpace anything Malwine got out of this. This didn’t mean Malwine couldn’t continue practicing with her—she frankly refused to, with a match-up this good. No, she’d simply have to pace herself better.“Can you do it again, but without [The Thirl in Everything]? Sorry, it just raises costs too much for me right now.”
“Okay!”
As Adelheid resumed striking at her shield with frankly adorable swings from several feet away, Malwine pondered the matter further. Each strike was making her lose roughly one point of [Integrity] now. If she leveled [Shieldwork] enough… She wasn’t even sure as to which level she’d need in it before it could counter that blatant boost Adelheid’s third Skill gave her against defenses, but it’d probably be a while.
[Integrity] 890 → 889
Yet if she increased the Skill, she’d inevitably level up—which meant more points on Circulation, for now—and eventually, bringing Adelheid’s third Skill back into the equation would be justified.
Malwine was broken out of her reverie as a veritable claw of darkness rose from beneath and all but bit at her shield. She yelped like the toddler she technically was.
“Sorry!” Adelheid once again dismissed her mana in its entirety. “I was trying something.”
“Warn me next time!”
“I said sorry!”
This time, Malwine watched Adelheid’s hands as she worked, reaching for that sense she’d started to think of as some instinctive mana sense. When Adelheid drew on that Skill, the effect was less palpable than with her teleportation. Maybe that was because of how—as far as Malwine believed—the teleportation was something more intrinsic to the girl. Maybe Skills just drew on mana differently than raw manipulation did.
Malwine had frankly never questioned that. All mana manipulation she partook on, as far as she was aware, was within her core. Yet mana manipulation clearly existed. It was the only explanation she could think of for how Adelheid operated without the need for a specialized Skill.
Her [Shadow Manipulation] did resemble the smoky wisps that shrouded Adelheid’s disappearances, but it was closer to a thick cloud of smoke, moving close to the ground. When Adelheid moved to ‘attack’, it erupted, a veritable wall of mana that compressed itself into the wisps that became visible once Adelheid aimed.
It was honestly thrilling to watch—well, sense.
Who’d have thought ‘practicing’ like this could unironically be enlightening? Malwine knew better than to underestimate Adelheid at this point, but she found she kept doing it, if a bit subconsciously.
Your [Shieldwork] Skill has improved! 8 → 9 [Integrity] 851 → 850
Adelheid was laughing. “This is fun!”
Malwine’s smile widened. “It is.”
Oh, it is.
By the time Adelheid took a step back again, Malwine’s [Integrity] was lower than it had been in ages.
[Integrity] 678 → 677
“Sorry,” Adelheid nearly panted. “I’m tired. I’d… I don’t think I’d ever been this tired?”
“Same, honestly,” Malwine took a deep breath.
As Adelheid’s final dark wisp faded from existence, Malwine got another notification.
Your [Shieldwork] Skill has improved! 9 → 10
That looks like a good way to wrap this up for now. “I got [Shieldwork] to 10.”
“[Shadow Manipulation] is 7 now. [The Thirl in Everything] is 2,” Adelheid managed to smile. “I need a nap. Oh, I’m Level 12 now. Light green.”
“Oh! Awesome.”
“Do I put them in Circulation again?”
“Up to you, honestly.”
Adelheid turned, looking to the ceiling as if looking for something while Malwine sat down in her bed.
“I think I’ll take a nap, too,” Malwine said, and before she was done, she’d started yawning.
“I told Brother Alaric I’d visit later,” Adelheid yawned as well. “He was going to teach me how to play again.”
“Oh. Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you here.”
“It’s okay… Brother Alaric’s nice.”
“Mhm,” Malwine nodded, though she had to confess she barely knew the guy. He was the youngest of her full uncles, and she hadn’t gotten that many chances to interact with him. He’d been helpful, at least.
And if he was nice to Adelheid, that already put him several leagues over most of the family, in any case. It was probably just because of his age.
As the youngest of Katrina’s kids, Malwine figured Alaric likely grew up lonely. Maybe that was what made him more willing to connect with the younger siblings.
In any case, compared to everything going on, it was nice to know there was at least one normal guy in the family.