Prologue

Aibrean 4, 392

Report on the traveler Jade Winward.

Jade arrived on Fomhar 17 in one of the rooms at The Green Dragon. Reports state that she visited the healer Mike before making a name for herself as a zombie healer in the streets, where her existence came to our attention. She also visited and was rejected from the library, making contact with The Glass Phoenix after to light sculptures. An interview was arranged for the 18th where she demonstrated multiple magics and was given a library pass and study room to familiarize herself with the customs of our world. She was particularly motivated by books.

Jade met Prince William the morning of the 19th, who escorted her to meet the royal family. She then went to the library to receive her class schedule and was taken shopping by the princesses, who seem rather attached to her. The blood classroom at Dracona was converted to her workshop.

On the 20th, Jade had a near miss with death. She has a special ability called accelerated growth that she uses at night. It has caused significant physical changes, to the point where she doesn’t look remotely like the same person who arrived. Her body couldn’t support the rampant growth she forced upon it, and Mike barely saved her. She spent most of the rest of the day in her room at the library before being attacked by a mesmer on her walk home. It seems her blood is a potent attraction for them. She barely managed to attract the attention of the guards, who then killed the creature.

On the 21st, Jade visited the guards who’ve been attacked by mesmer and healed the taint left behind, though she has not passed the knowledge of how to do this on to any of the other healers, as far as we’ve been able to discover. She also identified a doppelganger using her magic, as well as providing plans for a trap to stop mesmer in the future. She showed an aversion to having guards by trapping her escort in the compound with a wind wall in order to explore the city. We have confirmed that she went to the church and attended a storytelling before returning to the library to read. Other stops are suspected, but not confirmed.

Jade started school with the other students on Aibrean 1st. She is receiving private tutoring in archery and small knives, as well as spending time healing students in the infirmary. She had a run in with Brodie in her fire class, and contracted five queen fellacai and their mates during her contractual magic class. She visited the art gallery after her business class, where it has been confirmed she met and healed Duke Vincent. Of note is that she had an altercation with the gate guards at Dracona and retaliated with magic. A second mesmer attack occured while on the roof of The Green Dragon, and she managed to kill or knock out three mesmer before help arrived. Of note is that Jade has figured out my capacity as spymaster and asked that we stop following her.

Aibrean 2nd, Jade visited the guards again. She has taken Frank’s kidnap by the mesmer personally, and called a Hunt. She left her guards at the compound again, and we’ve traced her purchase of crystals to Keenan’s Stone. Other stops may have been made before she reached Dracona, but have not been confirmed. After healing students, she went to her workshop and attempted to create a weapon which exploded on her. She managed to eliminate all the evidence very quickly. She is receiving private tutoring from Delaney, and bonded two fellacai to her. Reports thus far indicate that the bond is stable. She insisted on performing a contract with Brodie as well to prevent future harm, and promised to take him on the Hunt. She managed to convince Count Edmund to change his lesson to be entirely about Basaigh Woods before attending the water magic class. In her light magic class, she threw a fit at the lack of progress and took over the class to create more offensive and defensive breakthroughs. The amount of instant damage she can create and heal is growing at an astounding rate.

On Aibrean 3rd, Jade participated in the intermediate obstacle course and made it through on her first try with four people shooting arrows she’d magicked at her. She attended archery and small blades after healing. Lightning and illusion seem to have passed without incident, though she attacked my assistant when he startled her in dark magic. It seems to have upset her beyond what would be normally accounted for. It’s possible the stress of a new world and the attacks are placing great strain on her mind. She also seems to lack clothing boundaries, or awareness of how her changes affect those around her. She has figured out that I used compulsion on her several times, though did not pursue it further.

Aibrean 4th, Jade visited the Gates and lied to gain access to the dukes. She also uncovered another doppelganger and helped conduct an interrogation. The results are included after this report. The dukes have taught her how to make spatial bags, and she has adapted the concept to create rings of holding, as she calls them. After a failure to learn spiritual magic and a lesson in life magic from Queen Ashanna, Jade spent the time creating illusory images attached to crystals of a wide variety of things from her world to create, and enlisted us to help her create a business and production line. Metal and wind classes passed with only a small altercation with Duchess Ri’Tine that appears to be resolved. She performed a miracle after dinner by healing Kevin Elliot’s foot with the help of Scylla, Mike, Cody, and their apprentices. She made it to The Green Dragon afterwards without incident, where she stayed during the mesmer raid and moved the Hunt up. They leave in the morning.

Conclusions:

Jade is kind and thoughtful when treated well, but lashes out against those who disrespect her in any way. She can be persuaded by books, food, raw materials, and works of art. She does not react well to being watched or told she cannot do something. While she does not seem to want to fight, she is uniquely suited for it and tends to blame herself for things out of her control, which leads to a sense of duty. Her charisma, stats, and learning skills are growing in leaps and bounds. It is assumed that she will quickly be beyond any power to control by force, and recommended that she is kept as an ally. It is also believed that she has become the target of a Dark One. Spies have been sent out to try and gather more information from our neighboring countries.

If she survives the hunt, she will be a very powerful ally with the potential to become an enemy we cannot control.

S.

Chapter One - Sense and Sensibility

Jade’s senses were screaming in bitter agony, every cell in her body begging for relief. The familiar terror of weakness held her tightly in its grasp. She grasped at the red dots filling her mental vision, trying to comprehend what they were telling her.

Warning: You have siphoned more than your body can currently accommodate. Time spent adapting has been doubled. Adaptable reduces penalty by half.

Warning: Your body lacks the energy to complete the siphon changes.

There was food next to her, but she knew she’d never reach it. Her brain felt like she was slogging through mud, but finally remembered that she was in a room filled with magical light. With a mental yank, she began to drain the energy of the light around her, grateful she’d lit it up brighter than a christmas tree. Relief hit her veins like a soothing breeze and she felt her muscles slowly unclenching from their taut positions.

As soon as she was able to move, she reached next to her and began eating as quickly as she could in the new darkness. The light had saved her. She finally became aware of her babies fluttering anxiously around her and took a few minutes to soothe them. A glance at her pocket watch had confirmed that it was just after six, and that she still had at least three cycles of her siphoning to go through. When she finally felt full again, she moved wearily to her writing supplies and jotted out a quick note, sticking it through the small crack beneath the door.

She put the right mirror on her desk before slumping back to her bed in exhaustion. She lay down, falling into a fitful sleep, simply grateful that the last red box had gone away. She’d deal with everything else when she woke up again.

***

You know, most people who got transmigrated did it because they were hit by a truck-kun. Has the universe decided that because I came peacefully, I get to feel like I got hit by a truck-kun so much? She mused on the doings of truck-kun as she absorbed the precious rays of sunlight filtering in through her window to try and alleviate the weakness she still felt. She didn’t want to move, just bask in the sunshine on her face.

Sense told her yesterday that this was her last siphoning before she left for the hunt and she needed all the help she could get. Sensibility should have told her that trying to siphon almost two hundred and fifty people at the same time was a terrible idea. Or maybe it was the twenty five people who’d had advanced skills. Apparently, the people going through the gate had been some higher-end prospects. She supposed it made sense that the people who dedicated much longer lives to their trades would have higher skill levels.

“She’s awake, but she’s still absorbing light, so I think she’s still recovering.” She heard Kaylee’s voice from near where her desk was. She finally stopped absorbing light, feeling moderately better as the darkness faded around her and she opened her eyes to look over. Sure enough, there was Kaylee sitting at her desk in front of piles of food while talking into a mirror. She smiled wearily as Kaylee stood, bringing the mirror closer. “Jade, there you are! Countess D’Ard wants to speak with you.”

Nodding, Jade took the mirror gingerly, coming mirror-to-face with a haggard looking Marcelle. She looked like she’d barely slept all night, which was a bit how Jade felt herself. She felt her babies alight on her hair as Marcelle’s eyes widened a little, then she shook her head almost imperceptibly and greeted her. “Jade, it’s good to see you’re awake. Thank you for having a message sent to me. Our people are ready, just resting by the gate until you arrive.”

Smiling, Jade nodded again. “Thank you Marcelle, and I’m sorry for the delay. I bit off a bit more than I could chew last night. I’m just going to eat and change, then I’ll head straight there. Maybe you should get a little rest before I get there too?” Her voice was kind as she tried to suggest the woman take a break.

Marcelle laughed softly, shaking her head. “I’ll do that. But I think it might take you a little longer to reach the gate than you’re anticipating. Don’t worry about it, we’ll leave when you’re here. I sent my best trackers out last night, and they’re following the trail as far as they can to give us a direction.” She must have seen the worry on Jade’s face, because she quickly followed up, “They’ve checked in with mirrors, they’re fine. I’ll see you soon.” Before Jade could say anything else, Marcelle ended the connection.

She started to shake her head ruefully when she caught sight of herself in the mirror. While everything appeared basically the same, she could tell there were minor differences. She played with her hair, that while soft and sleek, was incredibly strong. Her eyes seemed to almost glow from within, and she was a dentist’s dream. After staring for a moment at the changes, she put the mirror away into her ring with a flick of her hand, glancing up at Kaylee. “Thanks for delivering my message and watching over me.”

Kaylee just grinned at her. “It’s a good thing you left that note. We still had to soothe a few ruffled feathers and stop them from barging in here. I think the fact that your little queens were guarding you so fiercely was the final deterrent for most of them.” She giggled a little, shaking her head. “I’ve never seen them like that before. I’d have said they were little old aunties scolding anyone who tried to go near you!”

“We protected.” Ramoth’s tiny voice came to her then, and Jade was inundated with images of the people who’d come to her door that morning. She tried to hide her smile and failed.

“You did wonderful. Thank you, my loves.” Jade mentally soothed her babies and they took wing around the room. She glanced at her room, noting the only light now came from the window. She’d completely depleted the light energy she and Lucas had filled the room with the other day. Apparently violent draining could destroy the permanent connection. Glancing at Kaylee again, she squared her shoulders. “Thank you, for everything. It’s time for me to get ready.”

Kaylee nodded a little sadly. “I understand. Please, come back safe. Also, just so it doesn’t surprise you...there’s a bit of a procession to the gate. I think most of the city is waiting to see you off.” She smiled, then scooted out the door and closed it behind her before Jade could fully process and ask questions. Jade snuck over to her window, peeking out of it only to find that the streets were…half filled. There was a very clear lane down the middle, and people were just there, talking to their neighbors and...waiting.

Drawing away from the window, she quickly returned to the desk, scarfing down food as quickly as possible before grabbing her clothes and heading to the bathroom. Her figure didn’t seem to have changed much, thankfully, though she had realized she had to be careful with her strength again. As she was washing up and plaiting her hair into a side braid, she called up her notifications to see if the pain and risk had been worth it.

The first thing she addressed was the blinking green dot, though she had an idea of what was coming.

Congratulations! Because you have acquired a basic understanding of Appraisal, Diplomacy, Haggle, Information Gathering, Intimidate, Mathematics, Persuasion, Sense Motive, Speed Reading, and Writing, your skills have combined. You will forevermore be known as a Merchant.

Well, that hadn’t been quite what she was expecting, but it was still nice. She mentally noted the different skills so she could tell Eric. She was also a little bit grateful. Her skill list was getting so large, and having it be compacted, even if only a little, helped her to be able to keep track of things. With that in mind, she pulled up her profile next.

Name: Jade Winward

Age: 18

Strength: 23.63

Dexterity: 22.78

Constitution: 23.77

Intelligence: 24.7

Magic: 27.12

Charisma: 21.38

Luck: 20.83

Special Abilities: Adaptable, Keen Senses, Siphon(2)

Skills: Accessorycraft, Acrobatics, Archery, Athletics, Aura Manipulation, Bluff, Cold Resistance, Climbing, Compulsion Magic, Contractual Magic, Danger Sense, Death Magic, Deception, Disguise, Dodge, Eating, Elementalist, Engineering, Flight, Glasscraft, Gravity Magic, Healing Magic, Heat Resistance, Herbology, Hypnotize, Illusion Magic, Insight, Life Magic, Light Armor, Magic Resistance, Mana Sense, Mental Fortitude, Merchant, Modeling, Navigation, Pain Tolerance, Perception, Perseverance, Poison Resistance, Resilient, Riding, Running, Shock Resistance, Singing, Sleight of Hand, Small Blades, Spatial Magic, Stealth, Stun Resistance, Summoning Magic, Swimming, Tailoring, Tracking, Unarmed Combat, Walking

She stood there, gaping at the mirror a bit. Sure, she’d prioritized taking the magic stat, but...she hadn’t expected it to jump a full eight points! Strength and constitution were up by five, dexterity and charisma by four, intelligence and luck by three. The two new skills on her list were aura manipulation and disguise, which aura she’d taken from the doppelganger and then found went up after her lesson with Ashanna, and disguise had come from her illusions around town. She’d even found two life mages who had aura in their list. Of course, the merged skills were missing now, and Merchant had been added, but she didn’t really count that as new, just changed.

She pulled up her skills list, mentally comparing it with yesterday morning.

Accessorycraft Intermediate 4 40% Acrobatics Intermediate 10 26% Archery Intermediate 10 6% Athletics Advanced 2 5% Aura Manipulation Beginner 9 64% Bluff Intermediate 10 37% Climbing Intermediate 2 75% Cold Resistance Beginner 10 60% Compulsion Magic Intermediate 5 45% Contractual Magic Intermediate 8 70% Danger Sense Intermediate 10 53% Death Magic Beginner 7 45% Deception Intermediate 10 20% Disguise Intermediate 5 54% Dodge Intermediate 10 11% Eating Intermediate 9 69% Elementalist Advanced 8 43% Engineering Intermediate 4 52% Flight Intermediate 3 88% Glasscraft Beginner 6 53% Gravity Magic Intermediate 2 49% Healing Magic Advanced 3 6% Heat Resistance Intermediate 6 24% Herbology Intermediate 3 65% Hypnotize Intermediate 3 28% Illusion Magic Intermediate 10 70% Insight Advanced 3 29% Life Magic Intermediate 3 34% Light Armor Intermediate 2 37% Magic Resistance Intermediate 5 52% Mana Sense Intermediate 7 21% Mental Fortitude Advanced 4 43% Merchant Advanced 10 11% Modeling Intermediate 5 81% Navigation Intermediate 6 78% Pain Tolerance Advanced 1 14% Perception Advanced 3 10% Perseverance Intermediate 10 71% Poison Resistance Beginner 8 99% Resilient Intermediate 8 6% Riding Beginner 9 60% Running Intermediate 8 96% Shock Resistance Beginner 9 89% Singing Intermediate 2 19% Sleight of Hand Advanced 1 10% Small Blades Intermediate 8 91% Spatial Magic Intermediate 7 8% Stealth Intermediate 5 18% Stun Resistance Beginner 9 3% Summoning Magic Beginner 4 64% Swimming Beginner 6 76% Tailoring Intermediate 1 8% Tracking Beginner 10 85% Unarmed Combat Intermediate 9 2% Walking Advanced 1 20%

Well, it seemed merchant was now her highest skill, on the cusp of...whatever the next level was. She realized she didn’t actually know what the next level was, but figured she’d find out soon enough. It was interesting though, because two of the combined skills had been at advanced 2 and 4, some of her highest. Apparently the learning curve got a lot steeper.

Elementalist was her next highest at advanced 8, and athletics, healing, insight, mental fortitude, and perception had all gone up one or two levels. Pain tolerance, sleight of hand and walking had also broken the barrier into advanced. Climbing, gravity magic, life magic, spatial magic, and tailoring had all broken into intermediate.Those were the most notable changes, though almost everything had gone up at least a level. Only compulsion magic, danger sense, herbology, magic resistance, modeling, perseverance, running, shock resistance, and small blades hadn’t gone up more than few percent.

Satisfied that her progress had been worth the pain, she finished up and went back to her room to make sure she didn’t forget anything. Her little tree went into her ring so she could pull it out for her babies, and she quickly expanded her ring on impulse. Something made her feel like she would need it.

Thanks to Kaylee’s warning, she wasn’t totally surprised to find the common room packed as she walked down the stairs. They must’ve cancelled classes today, because aside from Raphael, Jessica, and Kaylee, she also saw Will, Camille, and Victor standing to one side, Eric, Stephen, Lucas, and Jarom with them. Jackson, Evan, and Adam stood with Ian, Mathis, Chloe, Travis, and Steven, and she was glad they’d become friendly after her introduction.

Tristan stood with Randal and Dante, and she figured the assistant teachers were sticking together. Carter, Brady, Delaney, Edmund, Rachtin, Eamonn, Aiden, Vincent, Shara, and even Morpheus had stood from the table they were sitting at when she entered the room, and she smiled fondly at her teachers. She noticed Glen, Jayce, Angus, Seamus, Bryoni, Chase, Jeffrey, and even Kevin beaming happily at her behind them. Nearer the door stood Mike and Elisa holding hands and chatting with Sharon, little Tina, and Damien.

Nearly everyone she’d come to know and care about in the last week were here. Even though it was a solemn occasion, saying goodbye, hopefully not, but maybe for the last time...she had a bright smile on her face. In the quiet that descended on the room, she spoke gently, “Thank you all for coming to see me off.” She opened her mouth to say more, but found she really didn’t know what to say. There were a few nervous chuckles before people started to move forward.

“Remember, you promised to come back safely. I’m holding you to that. And here, take this food with you. Heaven knows you’ll probably need it.” Jessica spoke for her and Kaylee, pushing a large bag into Jade’s arms, which she quickly put into her ring so she could hug them. Her conversations with the rest of the room were along a similar vein as they hugged her and told her to take care. Only Eric’s had been very different, with her giving him an extremely quick rundown of her new merchant skill and what had gone into it. She’d promised to keep in touch via her mirrors, which seemed to appease them somewhat.

At the door she took a deep breath, straightening her spine and donning a calm smile as Mike opened it for her. She inclined her head ever so slightly to him in thanks, aware that there were a great many eyes that had just focused on her. She stepped into the sunshine with the royals right behind her, showing their determination to see her off as far as they could.

“May the heavens bless the traveler!” She recognized the voice, belatedly realizing that it was the man she heard orating in the church. The cry was taken up by other voices in the crowd, the roar almost deafening as people showed their support, faith, she wasn’t really sure what.

At least people weren’t throwing flowers or palm leaves. She already felt a bit sacrilegious at the procession. She was just a normal girl who’d been thrown into a world where she was trying to survive and thrive. She had no desire to be a messenger or avatar of the gods, or even the target of the mesmer and a Dark One. She had just wanted to live peacefully and comfortably, and now she was off on a war raid.

Just where was the sensibility in that?