A fresh new morning. Phenolp is there waiting. I look at her and she just smiles. Creepy. She helps me out of my night gown and braids my hair. I do my ten thousand swings while I still can.
[Sword Arm] has become the skill [Sword Arm 2] Basic 1
Sword Arm 2 - keep swinging that blade Sara
Basic - a higher chance to be bathed in your opponents blood for each cut
Gain 2 exp
I roll my eyes. I thought we accepted ourselves and moved on, system. I shrug and let Phenolp wipe me down.
“A good tier up, mistress?”
Still as observant as ever.
“Yes it will prove useful in battle, though it will no doubt increase your burden.”
She tilts her head at that. I smile at her.
“Sword arm has become two and has decided to make sure I am showered in blood for my blade cuts. I doubt it will be to your amusement when it comes time for laundry.”
She titters at that, “Ah I see ma'am, removing blood from your iron clothing will be a simple matter.”
“Still got to make it first.”
“Planning on dismembering anything before then?”
“I suppose not, but you never know.”
I start to walk out the room.
Temporary buff has ended
You have gained [Resist Curse] Basic 6
Gain 1 exp
You have gained [Resist Curse] Basic 7
Gain 1 exp
You have gained [Resist Curse] Basic 8
Gain 1 exp
I stumble, Phenolp catches me.
“Mistress!”
“I'm alright, my mother's curse has ended and the stat shift was a bit much.”
We head to the dinning room. She splits off to do horrible things to eggs.
“Sara, I just gained three skill ups from you. Did you receive the same?”
“I did mother, I assume we are still testing the amount Phenolp needs to provide.”
She nods and comes over to give me a life scan.
“You seem to be healthy at the moment. Have you had bowel movements since the change?”
I nod, rather embarrassing to be asked but it's important. Especially when eating food that doesn't actually provide anything but hair growth. Phenolp is back. The eggs looked undercooked this time. I accept the bounty. Strangely enough, runny eggs taste just fine. Maybe it's the tiger in me. There is a glass that holds my real meal. I do not apply more to Phenolp curse. There is no need to increase her burden.
You have gained [Vampire] Basic 4
Gain 5 exp
“Would you prefer tea or water, mistress?”
She is afraid of my answer.
“Tea of course, Phenolp.”
She shudders a little as I bring my water wand out. She attempts to do that perfect pour again. Phenolp has enough burdens as is.
-----
Still no [Attention to Detail]. Phenolp proves stubborn in the ways of perfection. I am in the tailor shop again. The tailor never says a word to me, he acknowledges my greeting and just carries on.
The corset he has made weighs forty pounds. It's rather absurd. It is around my waist and I supply it mana. There is no great shift, my body was already at one point five. My posture is fixed again though, my breathing once again shifted to just the upper portion of my lungs. My breast meager as they are, are thrusted up into perfect poise. Heaving bosom reachieved. I smile, I missed the feeling, and now it is warm. The tailor measures.
“A perfect one point five.”
It will do for now. I need to finish growing. Mother is happy. We send Phenolp back with the summer corset. The winter corset is nice and toasty. I put on my robe as mother is fitted into her new corset as well. She gasps a bit. I raise an eyebrow.
“It would seem I have slimmed down further than expected.”
“A perfect one point seven, ma'am.”
She quirks an eyebrow. But waves it off and pays the tailor. We head to the clinic
-----
“Sara, I suspect your threads might be trying to make me smaller.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I was a one point seven six before dear, I had no intention of going further.”
I shrug, “It looks wonderful, mother.”
She gives me a rather withering look, “We each have our own esthetics sensibilities dear, do try to keep your mana purer when working.”
“And how does one make purer mana?”
“Post competent, your converts will begin to not reduce the amount of arcane it takes but makes the mana have less intent, hence purer.”
"I thought your body would resist going further than you want. Certainly my soul can't compete with yours mother.”
She pouts at that, “You seem to be better educated than I thought. You are correct dear, I must want to be closer to my daughter. I still want you to make purer mana all the same.”
I shrug and create some fire magic and turn on my fire eye. I keep a flame burning on my nose as I work on embroidery. When mother turns to look at me she barks out a laugh.
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“Why your nose dear.”
I shrug, “My hands were full.”
An adventurer comes in. He looks like something is eating him alive.
30 Human Tier 4 Adventurer, Apprentice Mage
You have gained [Identify] Competent 1
Competent - hey, you can see second titles now
Gain 4 exp
“Scratches watch with your Life eyes. Sir, 5 large silvers. I will perform the initial treatment, afterwards my junior will maintain you till the afternoon. If the curse is still active I will take over then.”
The adventurer pays. Mother mana repairs the damage that was present and then leads him to the patient room. I take up a seat next to the man. He turns and looks at me.
“Um little priestess, your nose is on fire.”
I give him a smile, “Nothing to worry about sir, it only burns a little."
I start embroidering again as I watch him. He doesn't say anything, he just watches as I make the repel water enchant and then undue it over and over again. Whenever a part of his body festers I throw some healing at it. It's weird to be both bored watching him and being fully engaged. I've gotten better at borrowing a hand without breaking my focus.
By the time lunch time rolls around, I've started to feel peckish. Thirsty really. Mother comes in and takes over.
“Proper job Scratches, you may head off.”
The moment my focus breaks, the headache starts. I grin and bear it. I do my best to not show any issues but the wry smile on my mother's face shows I wasn't fooling anyone.
You gained 4 unallocated stat points
-----
“Your mother told me to wait till this evening, my mistress.”
A strange situation has arisen. I have asked for blood from Phenolp and she denied me it. It's for the best but I'm still thirsty. I sigh and do my best to ignore it.
I check the request board for anything interesting. No more iron horned rabbit requests. Guess Ren got my threads now, he doesn't need them anymore. No death trillium either. O the ptra back up though. Ten this time.
“Fancy a jaunt through the forest, Phenolp?”
“Best not be going without us, Cat.”
I look and see a bemused Xerc and a fuming Alicia.
“Alright then, let's make the alchemist guild bewildered.”
She smiles at my acquiescence.
-----
“Hi Ren, I could use some more twine.”
He looks annoyed at me again, but just sighs.
“Magic iron or twill.”
I smile, “Just twill, please.”
He nods and pulls out the twine from his shelves behind him.
“Have you crafted any new belts yet?”
He knows I am asking if there are any made from my threads.
“Not yet, hatchling, I was thinking of selling one for eight large silver. The new material I have appears to be quite sturdy though its weight is a detraction.”
Seems everyone wants me to eat a better metal.
“Will it be done soon? My current belt is not going to last.”
“Two days from now, I think.”
I smile and head out, waving my goodbye. My party meets me outside. We head out the east gate.
-----
“I thought you said you didn't want to go into the forest until we had fifty mental fortitude?”
“Ah but Xerc, I can now make the density around you less while the density greater further out. I can drive back any predators while not crushing you.”
He looked at me as if I couldn't. I don't disabuse him of the notion. Maybe confidence will combat the negative effects. We entered the forest. I take a good deep breath. I smell a great deal of blood.
“Whats wrong, mistress?”
I take a moment to steady my breathing.
“There is a large amount of blood in the air, I'm not sure it's a good idea to venture forward.”
“Can you tell whose blood it is, Cat?”
I shake my head. It's not human, croman, orc, dwarf, troll, gnome or elf. The time spent with the baron army at least taught me those smells. I take another breath, the blood is some distance away. A part of me wants to go track it down. A smarter part says to avoid it at all cost.
“I think I can keep us away from it. May cause us to miss some of the more abundant spots.”
“Are you sure, mistress.”
I nod and start setting up my auras. After checking everyone we head towards the first clover patch. I smell more blood being shed but it never comes closer. I lead my party further away. We do pretty well. We find half the ptra we need. Phenolp annoyed that I am carrying the clover bundles.
“It trains my magic.”
I say it while sticking my tongue at her. She is not amused. We continue to gather when the blood starts heading our direction. There is some human blood mixed in it now. Even as I attempt to move my party further away it continues to approach. As it draws near, the underlying smells start to become more noticeable. An adventurer party perhaps. Why are they approaching? As tempting as it is to strengthen my aura towards them, I do the opposite. If they need to take full blast from my aura it can be after I learn their intentions.
“Heads up, whatever is out there is approaching us, I can smell four individuals.”
We wait in an open clearing, it's obvious that whatever's coming is heading towards us. Xerc and Alicia take a forward position while I wait next to Phenolp.
28 Human Tier 4 Adventurer Basic Mage
27 Human Tier 3 Adventurer, Basic Mage
19 Drakenoid Tier 3 Adventurer
10 Human Tier 1 Adventurer
The first two look to be in their twenties. While the Drakenoid was fully grown, I couldn't place his age. The porter looked younger than me. The level twenty-seven is injured. It's a jagged cut.
“Hail, sorry to spook ya, my team was doing some ear collecting and Islda got hurt. Do you have a potion we could buy?”
I start to walk forward when Phenolp stops me. I look at her but she is keeping an eye on the other party.
“Send her over, we have life practitioners here.”
The man looks relieved, he starts to walk his friend over.
“Just her, we are in the forest and we prefer to not have to rely on trust.”
That's rather harsh but it can't be helped. The woman approaches by herself. When she reaches us I close her wounds.
“Thank you, priestess.”
I smile and nod. She heads back to her party. When she rejoins them, they head off towards town.
Temporary buff has ended
You have gained [Resist Curse] Basic 9
Gain 1 exp
The thirst increases, Phenolp looks at me. I wave her off. Best to find out where the limit is … and if there is an issue with control.
“You're looking pale there, Scratches.”
“O you alright, Cat.”
“Nothing to worry about, I can smell another patch this way.”
-----
“Oh my hun, you manage to close out all three requests.”
I smile, we had gotten twenty clover, fifteen mandrakes and ten ptra.
“Alright it's, twelve hundred for the clover, ten fifty for the mandrakes and eight hundred for the ptra and eight contribution. Shall it be an even split.”
I nod, Phenolp does not interrupt the distribution this time. Things are different now. It makes me slightly melancholic. My take ended up bringing in seven small silver, two large copper five smalls.
We head to the guilds bar. Chatting as we go. We sat at our familiar table. The adventurers who we assisted join us.
“Just wanted to thank you again for the aid rendered, my name is Zack.”
“Islda.”
“Nacknor.” The Drakenoid.
“Ubecki.” The porter.
We introduce ourselves as well. When they ask my real name I just smile. Then I change the subject.
“You all seem rather high level for goblin hunting.”
Vance was doing it at level ten.
“Oh well, someone completed the death trillium request, I figured there might be an unguarded graveyard to check in on. They say death trillium petals can last a year after plucking. Being ready on hand to turn in a quest is just proper planning. If it was already all taken, well plenty of graves to check.”
I blink at that. Didn't realize my efforts would cause others to follow my trail. Though they weren't anywhere close to the graveyard I went too. I prod again.
“O, how did it go?”
“Terrible, we found a patrol of goblins. Never saw so many grouped together. They seemed to be out of sorts to be honest. A good pay day though.”
“I say, I must have managed ten myself.” Nacknor is proud of his slaughter.
“The forest has grown odd again, it happened two months ago as well. The predators are shifting their territories. I think it's causing them to butt up with the goblins, which forces the goblins to patrol in greater numbers.” Islda this time.
My plate arrived and I used it to distract my growing alarm. Am I inadvertently causing disruptions in the forest? Perhaps a smaller radius than for the aura. System, this food just reminds me of my thirst. I need to see how long I can go without. I keep reminding myself of that. I feel lethargic though.
“Did you run into any?”
“Nope, not a single one.” Xerc answers the porter.
“That's doubly strange, so deep and yet no encounters?” Islda responds.
“Our scout is the best.”
Alicia claps me on the shoulder. I just want to hide, and grasp my nose bridge in consternation. I do neither and continue pecking at my meal.
Islda continues the conversation, “A priestess scout, how rare.”
“Oh, Scratches, would you be willing to scout for us then?”
Damn, I look up, “I am satisfied with my current group. My schedule is rather split at the moment. I have clinic duties as well.”
The last bit of food doesn't taste like anything. I should leave but I don't really have the energy. The other adventurers continue chatting and order drinks for themselves. My focus wanes.
-----
You have gained [Vampire] Basic 5
Gain 5 exp
I open my eyes. It's the patient room from before.
“I'm glad that simply applying blood to your skin can sustain you. Makes things easier when you are unconscious.”
“Mother?”
She smiles, “That's me, you lost consciousness in the food hall. Poor Phenolp was rather distraught.”
“I'm sorry. We were trying to find my limit and then a different party started talking to us and I kinda just ran out of energy.”
“Well, I think three feedings a day is what we should aim for. We should try to see if monster blood can suffice. You'll be heading to the dungeon tomorrow, correct?”
I nod.
“I will provide you with some containers to store blood so it doesn't spoil. At the levels you need, me and Phenolp won't be enough without using sustainer magic.”
That would age them.
“Our options aren't limited yet.”
I give her a brave smile, she returns it.
