I left Nightshade’s tower in a much better mood, but as I walked home, the task before me left me with little confidence. Ever since the incident with the toilet maintenance, Sis had been entirely unreasonable. Not that I blame her, but it’s been several months, and even now, just a couple days prior, she and her friends made my journey home a gauntlet of unreasonable traps.

  Is it still a successful prank if you need to pick up and throw your victim into the traps? I’m not sure, but Nightshade's warning was clear: our Earth human soul trait had non-apparent dangers that we both needed to address. Well, I’m not sure if I’ll ever get a full and proper truce, but if I can get Sis to put in the time, it shouldn’t be an issue. Though keeping her settled long enough to master meditation or whatever else Nightshade suggests isn’t a promising outlook.

  I reflect on the past growing up, and even when unable to actively move about, Sis had no interest in meditation. It took nine months of being trapped in our early development to get her 1 level in meditation, and that feat earned me the teaching skill. Hopefully Nightshade has suggestions for restless individuals; otherwise, I’m not sure how confident I am that Sis will succeed.

  Another question bothering me is just what Nightshade considers mastery. Grandpa considered breaking level 50 the mark of a specialist, and Masters Yoren and Gam considered exceeding level 70 with the support of other skills mastery. That was the perspective of short-lived mortals, but I know Nightshade is ancient and double Dad’s level. Nightshade had the kind of strength that made me feel like she was the true backbone protecting our town. Dad and the knights cleared out human-level threats, but Nightshade was the backbone, making the real monsters back off.

  Ahead on the path I see our house; it reassured me in a way I wasn’t expecting. It stood tall, glowing with the active runes, and inside Sis and Mom were laughing at something. It felt like a testament to our determination. We had built that house. We had gathered the wood, forged the nails, and built it up piece by piece into the dream we had shared. With all of Sis’s violence I had nearly forgotten that even if she pranked me excessively, she was still the person I was closest to.

  Nightshade seemed to have a far deeper appreciation and understanding for just what a bond trait means, and while I don’t know if I’ll ever reach her level of understanding, it was a wake-up into appreciating what I had.

  I open the door to our house and see Sis trying to stifle her laughter as Grandpa, drenched in syrup, stares in shock at Mom, who is crossing her arms with authority. I hear Mom declaring.

  “I thought it was Callia stealing my syrup, so I thought I would set a trap for her. Who knew I would catch an old man? Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

  I break into laughter as Sis sparks in outrage but also smothers that outrage in fear of Mom. Meanwhile, Grandpa still doesn’t seem to understand how Mom managed to trap him or that my kind, gentle, and patient mom would even consider using traps. He just couldn’t understand, and it was apparent as he sputtered.

  “I . . . I . . . What? Ela?! How?” Mom’s confidence, however, didn't falter in the slightest, and she smoothly explains while also waiting for Grandpa’s excuse for stealing the syrup.

  “I was cleaning Callen’s room, and I found an old stone on his shelf. I thought it might be the one from when he first began his apprenticeship. He told me all about how you didn’t dodge it, so I figured it would be good enough to catch a thief by surprise. I had Master Gam cut open a space to hold the syrup.” Mom’s explanation honestly slightly frightened me. Now it wasn’t just Sis getting more elaborate; Mom was seemingly taking steps to join the conflict. Had we gone too far at some point? I thought I had always been careful to keep Mom out of the crossfire. Dad and Grandpa were fair game; getting a hit on them was fair, but Mom wasn’t training to fight.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  I communicated my concern to Sis and immediately knew this was her fault. Too much embarrassment and misery was communicated back for it to be anything else, but then her attitude flips back in defense as it usually does. Now for some reason she was blaming me for her misfire. Great, just what I needed before we had our conversation about her joining meditation. Now her attitude would be prickly and opportunistic.

  Mom shoos us upstairs until she finishes scolding Grandpa and cleaning up the mess. Like the responsible adult she is, after her prank, she immediately cleans up her mess. I quietly communicated to Sis that I needed to have a serious talk with her.

  We go upstairs and meet in my room. I can tell she is impatient but serious enough to hear what I say. I give her the whole story: my new traits, my experience in the tower, and Nightshade’s warning. I can sense the distrust/distaste Callia has for Nightshade, but her trust in me for matters like this also shines through. It had been a long time since we had last been so serious, but her trust despite our years of fighting was something priceless. However, while she trusted my judgment in this, it was also something Mom and Dad needed to know about. I was in complete agreement, but I was worried if Nightshade’s poison would affect them since they didn’t share a bond.

  Mom called us down for dinner just as we sorted out how to share what we had learned. The meal was peaceful for the most part, though Mom did make a fuss about the trouble Madam Laina had stirred up in town for me. After reassuring Mom I hadn’t let it get to me, I asked Dad to have a private conversation. Since Dad had the highest vitality, it was safest to tell him first and gauge the danger from the impact on him.

  “Dad, I spent some time with Nightshade today. There is an important matter that needs Callia and me to learn from her.” Immediately his distrust was evident on his face, but he wasn’t visibly impacted yet, so I continued.

  “Let me know if you experience any symptoms; you know Callia and I have that special trait, Earth Human Soul. I was warned it may have consequences that can be avoided if Callia and I train with her.” Dad’s hand immediately clutched my shoulder, and I could see that the poison was already hitting Dad. It seemed telling Mom or Grandpa would be too risky, so we’ll have to see if Dad is willing to agree. I watched as he thought it over carefully and came to the most important question he had to risk asking.

  “Do you trust it?” To minimize the impact, I solemnly nod. Dad's nose begins to bleed slightly, but he wipes the blood away and nods in return.

  “If you trust it, then I won’t stop you, but promise me you will be careful. It isn’t human or even truly humanoid. You might end up hurt like you were yesterday.” With Dad’s warning, I left to share his perspective with Sis.

  It seemed we were going to be spending a whole lot more time together. This realization made me shudder as I felt the malicious anticipation emanating from Sis. It appears even if we were meditating, I’ll need to find some way to wrangle her into some kind of truce. I don’t think I could handle months or even years of relentless bullying, especially not Callia-brand bullying.

  Crescent

  Madam Laina berated Callen in the middle of town. Accusing him of being a shameless and selfish person. Laina yelled and yelled about how the boy wanted to impersonate the rich and successful or even to take advantage of lonely wives. As Laina stirred the crowd, seemingly getting lost in the attention this scandal brought her, Crescent quietly separated from the crowd.

  Crescent knew there was more to the story than Laina was saying; after all, Callen was one of her only friends. A quick glance at Guward showed Crescent that she wasn’t alone in her reservations. Crescent was sure that Callen had meant to heal himself; even if a full-body healing was more dangerous than an appearance alteration, it made more sense. After all, the town had just been poisoned en masse by the vines that had killed all those birds. Misjudging the danger of the poison made a lot of sense to Crescent.

  Crescent moved back to the sick coming to them for treatment. With Madam Laina distracted with her usual malicious, gossipy nature, Crescent was busy treating people. This incident had really helped make it click for Crescent on how to heal people, and all the conversations with Callen sharing what they knew were paying off.

  Callen had been really upset, and that sparked a fire in Crescent. She had never liked Laina, and spending time with Callen was precious. If Madam Laina wouldn’t fix his scars, then Crescent had resolved herself. She will become an amazing healer to fix Callen, and even if she gets punished for helping him, she won't regret it!

  This was the first time she truly felt a drive, and the excitement made her dizzy for a moment as blood rushed and her heart pounded. She quickly shook aside her distractions and focused on treating those with injuries. Quietly she worked while hoping Madam Laina would get back to treating people instead of inciting them.