? Human Basic Mage

  She had mostly straight black hair with streaks of blue, almost the opposite of me in ratios. Her traveller cloak was concealing her form. She was shorter than grandma Bianca, making her the shortest Maxwell so far. Not counting myself, I have yet to reach my full potential. Barbain runs and hugs her mother.

  “Hello mother, did you miss me?”

  “Very much so, Barbain.”

  She sees me behind Marie, she arches an eyebrow.

  “When did you and mama have a chance at making me a little sister.”

  Marie flicks her in the forehead.

  “You've been gone for only a year, Barbain.”

  She rubbing the spot with both hands, smiling. Marie turns to me.

  “Come Sara, greet your aunt.”

  “Greeting aunt Barbain, I am Sara Maxwell, [Junior Attendant] serving [Lady] Bianca Maxwell underneath [Head Attendant] Maria Blacknell.”

  “She being overly serious, mother, and dressed like you, I didn't know your play has extended to making copies of yourself.”

  Marie reaches into her dress for her rod, by the time it's pointed at Barbain, Barbain has stepped back into a defensive posture, her eyes overlay with a diamond pattern that glows yellow. Her hand shoots up to block the rods shot, she then arches her back and yelps. A bolt of visible lightning had gone from Marie's other hand that she had hid behind her back. Not a mage she said.

  “You've gotten better, which shows you have not been squandering your time in school. Sara is training so she can follow the same path you have at school. Due to both having a shorter time to learn and to deal with some soul trauma she has elected to fully embody the role as an attendant. For your stay here, she will be acting as your personal attendant. I am sure you will be able to help her to better understand what her duties will be like when she enters school in five years.”

  “I am in your care, mistress.”

  “Your ten?!?”

  I seem to be getting that a lot.

  “Our [Lady] believes that due to her life beforehand and other trauma she still subconsciously sees herself as a small child, which due to her soul weight is resulting in her smaller size.”

  Wait shit really, it's my fault I'm tiny. Maybe I should start doing affirmations at night, be a taller Sara, be a stronger Sara, finally learn to tie knots Sara, have stronger lungs Sara. I should probably work on that list some. I hope my daily recharges from mom will help me grow … in more than one way. Zap, damnit Marie.

  “Pay attention Sara, you're still on duty.”

  “Does she do that often, and how could she have that much soul as a level nine.” Barbain looks like she being made fun of.

  “She is an inherited, she already formed a [Mental Mana Core], as for her lapses in attention, I have spent a great deal of mana correcting the issue but I feel she might be backsliding a bit recently.”

  I feel her glare on me and remind myself not to trail off … at least when she’s around.

  “Now come Barbain key yourself to her glasses, you understand how correct?”

  Barbain rolls her eyes at that, and touches my glasses. A message pops.

  “Testing, you can see this right, respond if you can.”

  “I can see it, mistress.”

  She nods, “I can understand bringing her into the family if she has a core already but you said niece not sister.”

  Marie smiles warmly at this, “It was Cecelia who met her first and Sara became rather attached. As of today your sister fully infused Sara, making her true family, she promptly grew Sara hair out afterwards.”

  Barbain hugging me now, “Aw, welcome to the family, I'm not ready to be an aunt yet so none of that now, and no mistress either.” She sees me start to protest, her voice becoming stricter, "That's an order from your mistress, you’re to use my name.”

  “As you wish, Barbain”

  “I can see she has accepted mana from more than just Cecelia.” She is eyeing Marie now with her suspicions.

  Marie coughs and clears her throat, “She had a mishap with her corset and I needed to supply with an inordinate amount of mana to prevent injury.”

  Barbain eyes flashes white as she studies me.

  “She has the waist of someone competing with royalty, that her mana is stable is surprising, how many refittings has she gone through, and don't you think its a tad early for a corset?”

  I turn to Marie, eyes wide pulling at her dress. “I'm not going to be executed for competing with royalty am I?”

  “Your fine Sara.”

  “Aw, she is not a mother duplicate afterall.”

  Marie gets her wolfish grin back, “Not yet at least, as to the decision of starting her early, her constitution was low and I felt it prudent to have her fitted. She is on her first and only fitting, as she gained knowledge of the process she inadvertently shrunk herself further, and then upon hearing her ratio further still.”

  Barbain eyes are wide at this, “How does she have any mana?”

  “She managed to fuse her ribs and thus negated the need for mana to maintain their shaping. It has still dwindled her recovery to be next to nothing. But as you have seen, she is stable. Don't use compels on her, Sara might be foolish enough to empty her reserves negating them.”

  “I'm not mama.”

  “I have dinner to prepare, Sara go collect Barbain's bags and bring them to her room.”

  “Yes, ma'am”

  “Sara, I'll help you.”

  “You are my [Lady] daughter, my duty is to serve.” Barbain pouts.

  -----

  I ended up carrying only one of the bags into Barbain's room, she can be rather insistent.

  “Huh, I would have thought you would have been staying in my room, are you so attached that you are staying in Cecelia's room?”

  “No, Barbain.”

  “Huh, you're not with mother and mama are you?”

  “I am not, Barbain.”

  “Certainly not Francis' room.”

  “It is as you say, ma'am”

  “Then where are you staying?”

  “In the smallest servants quarter as befitting a [Junior Attendant], ma'am.”

  She's pinching the bridge of her nose, I smiled at that. She catches me before I can return to a neutral Marie face. Her eyes narrow.

  “Well Sara, if you're going to be an attendant at school and end up serving someone of your age, it's best to set ground rules at the start. We are having this conversation now.”

  “As you wish.”

  She looks like she is ready to pull out her hair, or worse, mine. “First, while I understand you have your duties and are copying Marie, I expect casualness in private. As we are family that will include when you are around other family members.” She sees me start to protest and raises a finger. “You will still be required to perform your duties serving me, I only want our interactions to not be so stuffy, the more you do that the more I think of mother and mama relationship.”

  I think on that, then blush.

  “Ya I think you get what I'm implying.”

  "I only learned of their dynamic today.”

  “Really, mother and mama must have been rather passionate the last few weeks if mother has been keeping up this level of charades.”

  I am learning more than I probably want to.

  “Well, since we established my expectations. You can move back into my room with me, there is no need to maintain propriety, I'm sure you want to be back in this room.”

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  “I must refuse, I hadn't vacated the room because of your return but to help ground me more. My circumstances require me to sleep alone as well.”

  “Circumstances?”

  “I have a pariah aura which has caused a great deal of stress, I cannot risk fully containing it while I sleep. My nightmares could consume me if I did.”

  Barbain murmurs trauma, then speaks up. “You're containing a pariah inside yourself at your soul weight?”

  “All my levels have gone to mental fortitude and part of my trauma includes raising [Resist Mental Attacks] skill. It has grown even more so that it is now [Resist Mental Attacks 2].”

  She hugs me again, her speed almost as fast as Cecelia's. “You poor dear.”

  I pat her on the back, I'm quick to hug but this feels rather fast.

  “Well I understand a bit more, thank you Sara, knowing how fast mother works we should head to the dining room.”

  “Ah one thing before we go, I would like to still be formal at tonight's dinner.”

  She quirks an eyebrow.

  “I believe our [Lady] is having a bit of a game with Uncle Francis about who I am.”

  “You're referring to mama far too formally.”

  “And I'll keep doing so, I allow her an evening tea party where I forgo my duty but at all other times I'm committed to my duty.”

  “You allow her huh, I'll have to ask her to be included tonight. But to the other matter, you're telling me that Francis doesn't realize your part of the family, is he blind.”

  “I've even met him before and introduced myself as a Maxwell at the time, if you wish to help him dig a deeper hole I suggest asking him about anything interesting happening in Yetna.”

  Barbain puts on a rather familiar wolfish grin, “O, I can do that.”

  -----

  I'm standing behind Barbain as the meal starts. Velner is behind Francis and Marie is behind Bianca. Cecelia looks the most out of place by herself, when my eye meets her's, she sneaks smiles at me. She must understand the conspiracy then.

  There is not much to do but keep Barbain's glass full of water. Barbain sets the trap.

  “Anything interesting occur in Yetna, brother?”

  Francis goes right into my story. The embellishments are getting larger. Apparently, I am a fish story now. I think mom bent her fork when he got to the point where he caught my lie. He adds one new fact at the end.

  “Telling this story more than once has reminded me of one thing that was particularly strange about the little urchin.”

  “Oh, what is that brother?”

  “She had no title.”

  “Is it so surprising that she was a [Child]?”

  “Thats just it, [Identify] gave level and race but no title, like at all.”

  “Spooky.”

  He nods at this. No longer a fish story, I've become a ghost story. Good thing the adventurers cleaned my feet before taking me to see him. I can just imagine the embellishments if I was leaving bloody foot prints. Cecelia decides to add to my mythos.

  “You know Francis, I think I have some more to add to your story.”

  “You do, Cecelia?”

  “Yes, I had been approached by both Hilgurd and Yetna Adventurer Guild Masters one evening while having dinner with mother. They told us of a girl they found in a slaver encampment, the sole survivor, she was wearing an adventurer [False Soul] ring and they told me that she claimed to be a Maxwell.”

  “A [False Soul] ring are you sure? You believe it to be the same girl?”

  “I do, they also told me of her missing title, but the most spooky of it all was what else they reported.”

  Cecelia has a scary look on her face, I steel myself for what's to come. Francis leans forward looking eager.

  “Go on.”

  “They said she was barefoot and had blood on her feet, they tracked her footprints back to her cell, passing three corpses on the way. The most distressing part is she was unarmed, all the corpses they ran into look as if they killed themselves in various gruesome ways”

  “That is rather frightful, I can almost believe her threat about slaughtering the guild hall now.” He turns to my grandmothers, “Why didn't you tell me that you had heard some of this already?”

  He doesn't notice Barbain staring at me wide eyed, I go to fill her cup, murmuring a later, she murmurs back trauma. Barbain grabs my hand before I can resume my position, I position myself so it is out of Francis view. Velner does see this interaction and apparently croman show the paling of their face through the base of their beaks.

  Bianca answers Francis, “I felt the story should be told with the whole family here, in fact I have more to say of this girl's tragedy. I looked into her story and found out that she was taken by slavers on the day she was adopted, her father killed in front of her, that she survived two months in captivity is a miracle.”

  Barbain is squeezing my hand now, or am I squeezing hers, I'm not sure. Franics is starting to pale as he murmured two months and adopted. He shakily asks.

  “And why exactly did you have an interest in her story, mother?”

  “Why wouldn't I take an interest in my granddaughter's story?”

  Franics is cradling his head. “I sent my own niece to the executioner's axe.” He looks wide eyed at Cecelia not knowing how he could ever beg forgiveness.

  Bianca saves her son, “It is a tragedy, Francis, one that has some blame in my granddaughter's mistrust in people. It's not like she gave you all that much time to discover the truth before she ran away from you. Sara, that is her name by the way, did not die to the executioner axe, but when I retrieved her from the Inquisitor she was comatose.”

  “Is that why she is not here? She still comatose this entire time”

  Barbain burst out, “Seriously, are you blind.”

  Francis looks at Barbain and sees me behind her. The man is going to strain his eye sockets if he keeps widening his eyes.

  “I must apologize for not reintroducing myself earlier Uncle Francis, I am Sara Maxwell [Junior Attendant] serving [Lady] Bianca Maxwell underneath [Head Attendant] Maria Blacknell, you never did answer my question on whether I was the only Sara in the family.”

  He audibly gulps, “No Sara, I do believe you are quite unique.”

  He regains some of his composure, he turns to Cecelia, “Sister, why is your daughter being trained as Marie's replacement?”

  Grandma Bianca has her nose bridge pinched again, she answers before Cecelia can, “Sara is dealing with trauma from her experiences and requested to be trained in this manner to help keep herself grounded. Apparently she loses her sense of self if she is having too easy of a time. And we both have already told you that Marie is not going anywhere”

  “It is as you say, my [Lady].” One grandmother gives a cross look at the bemused face of the other grandmother. The tension has passed.

  -----

  Getting a tray with enough snacks and cups for three up to grandma's office was rather precarious. I think Marie enjoys making me forgo the cart for this. That I was tired from today's events was an understatement. After I took a moment to eat dinner and help clean the kitchen, I attended to Barbain's needs. Barbain did not stop me from wiping her down and helping her into her sleep wear. She understood it was necessary for me, both to learn and my trauma.

  I follow what is slowly becoming ritual, I place the tray down, knock on the door, wait for permission to enter, open the door, pick up the tray and walk in. I start to brew the tea.

  “I thought she said she was off duty at this time.”

  “She insists she is on duty until she pours her tea.”

  “Your tea, my [Lady].” In a whisper.

  I then pour Barbain a cup and finally my own. All three are a perfect pour.

  “A perfect poured tea is divine, snacks?” I held the snack tray out to them after I already snagged one. They each took one.

  “Did you really kill three slavers in an escape?”

  “Barbain!”

  Guess we are jumping right into it. Barbain is defending herself from accusations of uncouthness.

  “My aura density was brought to a level that caused four people to kill themselves in front of me.”

  “That was not the answer I was expecting.”

  “What were you hoping for?”

  “I dunno, hidden knives or poison.”

  That would have been nice to have.

  “Is that the trauma then, you watching them die? I'm sorry I brought it up.”

  I waved her off, “Not exactly, at the time I was so deep under the influence of my aura that I was dissociating. No, it's what came after.”

  Barbain quirks her eyebrow, but I decide to leave it hanging as I nibble my snack. Grandma Bianca does not.

  “It seems Sara's aura may of pulled in the souls of those who died, every night she is reliving the memories of those guards.”

  Barbain goes wide eyed, “The nightmares.”

  I sip my tea, only when I show up. “Suffice to say, I'm living Sam's life 208 days at a time, he is looking forward to his tenth soul day.

  “Sam is?”

  A young child who plays with friends, has hopes, bullies a girl he really likes, “The second guard I watch die.”

  “Has your intelligence not improved since three days ago?”

  “I think second grandma decided that I was at my limit for how long I can experience a different lifetime.”

  Bianca smiles at the second grandma statement, when do they get the time to talk. “And what do you think dear?”

  “I think you were right about how I needed to moor myself with family and I have a better sense of self now.” She smiles at that, then gets up to look at her books.

  “Just a moment, are you saying you experience 208 days of this guards life in like what, real time, like 24 hours of you watching Sam go about his day 208 times each night.”

  I give her sad eyes, “I'm not a passenger watching, I am Sam during the night. His thoughts, perspective, everything. There is no separation, I don't hear Sara's thoughts when I am Sam. It's why I wanted hard work, it's to ground me and remind myself that the here and now isn't a dream, that I am not Sam's dream.”

  “So when does it end?”

  “It will end the night Sam meets me.”

  Grandma places a book on the table, “If you read this dear, it will raise your [Common] to competent, you can control your pace, don't do more than one skill up a night. When your done I have a similar book to raise you to intermediate.”

  “Thank you first grandma, I think I might try that tonight.”

  “What with this first and second grandma business, you're not rating them are you?”

  “Sara just being a brat about not knowing about Marie and I, she ordering us by our introductions to her as her grandmothers.”

  “Damn straight.” I took a bite from my snack in a rather dramatic fashion.

  They roll their eyes in unison. I laugh.

  “So what's it like? Being a boy.”

  Guess we went past the horror of it all, wouldn't be the first time.

  “Wrong, it feels wrong. Not when I am him but right now thinking on it, wrong.”

  “Fair enough, so how did knowing more of the process cause your corset to get smaller.”

  “It was first grandma's fault, she corrected my assumption about hips.”

  Grandma scoffs, “Just cause you didn't know that your ratio would stay the same as your hips came in doesn't make it my fault for pointing it out.”

  “Kinda does.”

  “I'm sure the moment you started getting hips you'd know anyways.”

  I'm smiling at her, she is returning it.

  “And the second time, when she heard her new ratio, why did that matter?”

  Grandma looks at Barbain, then downs the rest of her tea and puts down her cup. I quickly fill it, perfect pour again and smile. I look up and see grandma pointing at her cup.

  “You see that Barbain, Marie has instilled a rather persuasive desire for perfection, what is you ratio, Sara?”

  Rude, “Proud to say my waist is a perfect two.”

  “So who was dumb enough to tell her the ratio she was at?”

  “That would be Sara herself.”

  “I don't get it, did she run out and do the measurements herself?”

  I intrude into my disparaging, “When my [Resist Crush] went to intermediate it was in the description what my ratio was.”

  “Does it still say that, I mean it's no longer true, right?”

  That's actually a good question. I open the status screen and tap the skill. It is a new description. I read it out loud.

  “Congratulations Sara, you may have lost a few ribs but you're now a perfect two point zero zero zero zero.”

  O, I do love the accuracy.

  “Your notifications refer to you by name.”

  It's like having personalized fortune cookies. I don't say that as only I would get it. Instead I just shrug. “Is that important?”

  “I don't know” Barbain looks to grandmother.

  She thinks on it, then responds, “Sara has dissociated a number of times, this might be her soul responding to that.”

  Yep, I still need therapy, throwing knives is soothing. My turn to ask a question.

  “So mother infused me today but I don't know what that means other than I gained her hair. Belna said that she wished she could have been the one instead, like, would I really become a lizard woman if she did that.”

  “Infusing generally makes the person being infused the child of the infuser, at a biological level. Depending how much you accepted Belna, you could have been a half lizard woman to full.”

  So you can just jump species if you have a great enough bond.

  “So why did mom try to have you infuse me instead of her.”

  “She probably thought I was having the greatest influence on you at that point, I did know your roots were turning blue afterall, it's either that or she was trying to avoid passing her mishap on. I don't suggest you ask her until after you gain what you want.”

  “What is Sara trying to get from sister?”

  I blush, grandma deadpans, “The mishap.”

  Barbain looks at my waist, “You're an absolute freak, you know that right?”

  Rude, only family, I smile.

  “Hey, no kink shame.”

  “What's that mean?” Barbain looks to grandma, she shrugs, I'm still not going to explain it.