Chapter 56 The Ruby Ring

After neatly stacking her formerly orbiting balls, Evernya jogged to catch up to the long-limbed elf.

“Will dinner be Blue Serpent meat again?” Evernya asked upon catching up to Meira at the sliding door.

Meira waited to answer until they arrived in the kitchen. “Yeah, I still have enough for the rest of the week. I got lucky with him. Mana beasts of his caliber rarely venture this close to a settlement. Usually, mana beasts in the upper awakened stage to the low arisen stage stay at least thirty kilometers from a barrier-protected settlement. The only creatures to hunt around here are on par with the buck.”

“The snake is much better. The buck doesn’t even compare in taste or mana content.” Evernya proclaimed, ears and tail raised high.

A few seconds of silence later, after Evernya took her place on the stool at the counter, a question came to her. “When do you think I will be ready to go hunting?”

Meira glanced up from the stack of Blue Serpent meat, smiling at her kitten’s eagerness. “You’re almost ready. So maybe next week. Your telekinesis is good enough, but I want you to be in a little better shape before then.” Answered Meira, eliciting an excited screech from her kitten, who immediately covered her mouth, mortified at the sound.

Evernya watched while Meira diced the meat before placing it on a giant skillet mixed with several unknown vegetables, creating a stir-fry. Following this, Meira retrieved fresh lettuce from the fridge, shredding it with an application of air magic before tossing it into a bowl.

“You sure like salads,” Evernya commented.

“Elves require a lot of fruits and vegetables, so salads are perfect. While you are mainly a carnivore, my race leans towards herbivore with a side of meat. It's why I don’t have a stock of meat for you. Most of my food comes from the surrounding wild plants or my garden. I only occasionally hunt for something to add a little extra protein.” Meira explained while tending to the stir-fry.

“Sometimes I forget you aren’t human. You look almost identical to humans if you ignore the pointy ears. Well, and you are crazy tall. How tall are you anyway?” Evernya blurted, a little frazzled by the delicious smells assaulting her nose.

Chest puffed with pride, Meira replied, “I’m 191 centimeters. Fortunately, I descend from a humanlike race of elf. Not all Elves look as human-like as I do. Some have odd color eyes like pure white or an unusual facial structure. My clan of elves are mostly whitish blond hair and blue or green eyes so I can blend in with humans. If I couldn’t, the first fifty to eighty years of my exile would have been miserable. Though If I couldn’t blend with humans, I doubt my human interest would have grown to the point of choosing exile.”

“Yeah, when I first found out, I had ears and a tail, I didn’t know how I would survive in my old life. I would stick out since where I am from, everyone is human. It doesn’t help that It’s a lot harder to hide my ears and tail, though I could have passed them off as fake. Though if humans found out what I really am, they would hunt me down to find out all my secrets, willingness optional. At least I would have been if I didn’t have magic.” Evernya commented, shivering at the prospect of being captured and dissected by curious earthen humans.

“So, you were a human?” Meira inquired curiously.

“Yeah, but being the target of human racism and discrimination makes me disgusted with my former race. I don’t know why I’m surprised though since humans are the same where I’m from, they’re just racist to each other instead.” Evernya replied, disconnected from her previous life.

“Oh, they spend plenty of time discriminating against each other, especially those living within the inner ring,” Meira commented as she finished up the stir-fry.

Any further questioning ceased as Evernya hungrily watched Meira pour the stir-fry into a bowl meant to feed several people, only saving a small portion for her salad. As usual, Evernya forwent the use of utensils for her telekinesis, shooting the meat and vegetables alike through her wide-open fanged mouth. After devouring half the stir-fry, her rate of fire slowed considerably, allowing her to chew, savoring the exquisite mana-rich flavor.

Ten minutes later, she reached the bottom of the bowl, immediately peering up at her salad, eating elf pleading for more. “You don’t need more, besides you’ll be napping soon enough,” Meira responded between forkfuls of salad.

“I told you I won’t nap this time.” Insisted the wide-awake girl.

“Give it a bit. I doubt you will last over five minutes,” Meira predicted with certainty.

Meira continued while her kitten defiantly stared at her. “On the plus side, you’re eating slower, which is probably the reason you aren’t out cold yet.”

“There is no yet! I’m staying awake!” Evernya proclaimed, despite showing subtle signs of drowsiness.

Ignoring her kitten’s proclamation, knowing the inevitable, Meira said. “Restaurants wouldn’t take kindly to you scarfing down your weight in food. Plus, it’s only a matter of time until you choke.”

“The whole food coma thing would make restaurants impractical. Imagine I am on a date, and I fall asleep at the table.” Evernya added, already giving up on trying to fight her growing drowsiness.

“Yeah, that would be awkward, especially since only fancy high-end restaurants serve food mana rich food. I would suggest eating at a regular restaurant since I doubt low mana food will send you into a coma.” Meira suggested after finishing the last few forkfuls of her salad.

“Well, either way, I don’t plan on dating anyone anytime soon,” Evernya stated as her eyes fluttered, refusing to stay open for more than a few seconds.

“You never know. Once you spend more time out in public, you may find someone you fancy,” Meira remarked to the swaying, sleepy girl.

“Maybe, but I doubt it. So far, most humans can’t see past the ears and tail, and shifters only see me as a prized baby incubator.” Evernya grumbled, suddenly wide-awake, fueled by her anger at those who looked down on her.

“With your limited experience, you can’t say the entire shifter or human race view you negatively. Besides, there are many other races. With your beauty, I bet people will flock to you in no time.” Meira assured, watching her kitten’s burst of wakefulness dissipate.

Evernya shivered uncontrollably as a thought came to her. “I already have a catkin on my ass. What if some high influence human crushes on me? What do I do if I turn them down, they could make my life miserable? It’s a no-win situation. I’ll be miserable if I accept or not.”

Meira stared at her kitten with sympathy as she responded. “Unfortunately, sometimes having exotic beauty with talent can be a curse. Over the years, I’ve run into countless attempts by humans to force a relationship. Most of the time, they give up if you avoid them and show no interest. Unfortunately, some were so persistent I had to move to a new city, but that only happened a few times in the first hundred years of exile. By the century mark, my name reached untouchable status. Those of high enough status to cause more issues are my customers barring future attempts out of fear of losing an enchanter of my caliber.” Meira said with pride, flashing back to the dozens of male and female humans attempting and failing to get in her pants.

A droopy frown appeared on the sleepy girl’s face. “I don’t care about having influence. I just want them to leave me alone when I want to be,” Evernya commented, picturing spoiled nobles trying to impose their will on her.

“I only took advantage of a niche market. I wasn’t even the best enchanter my age in my elf clan. To be fair, elves and dwarves are much better at enchanting than humans. Either way, with your talent, I know you will find a way to force your independence.” Meira assured, brushing a warm wind past her kitten battling between worry, anger, and drowsiness.

“I may be talented, but my range disability will limit me.” Evernya countered with droopy eyes as her body lost ground against her food coma.

“With your talent in telekinesis, you would neglect your other magic gifts if you could snipe your targets from range. Your range disability may be a blessing in disguise, since it forces you to use your other gifts to compensate. Some of the most powerful recorded beings are shifters without external magic, unlike you.” Meira defended her point with a reassuring smile.

“I get it! I have more magic to use than telekinesis. I just hate having my range gimped against my will. I feel vulnerable, knowing someone could take advantage of my disability.” Evernya grumbled, slumped on the stool.

“You will be fine, don’t worry,” Meira assured

Evernya tried to smile, but her facial muscles felt numb. “Thanks, I needed that. I will try to look at the positives. However, it will still take me a while longer to get over my range disability. I don’t enjoy having my plans suddenly destroyed. As you said, I planned on focusing on telekinesis while using my other magic as support, but then this development pulled the rug out from under me. Having my plans abruptly destroyed sent me into a panic. My brain just shut down from shock and confusion, hence my breakdown.” Explained Evernya with a slight slur in her words as her eyes drooped closed.

Meira nudged her kitten with a gust of wind, ensuring full attention from her drowsy kitten before speaking. “Everyone hates their plans failing. It’s how you recover from the ruins of your plan that matters. After my exile, I spent several months wandering without purpose before laying out my plan. Fortunately, unlike me, you have support, so feel free to bounce ideas off of us. Elizabeth will monitor you at college, and I will visit as much as I can. So, even though you may feel isolated in college, we will always be watching. You have friends in high places around here.” Meira assured.

After her speech, her kitten immediately returned to her semi-awake state, prompting Meira to brush another wind. “Go lay down on the couch. I’ll wake you up in an hour or two,” Meira ordered before her kitten fell asleep at the counter.

“Okay.” Evernya slurred without complaints. With heavy, sluggish limbs, Evernya wobbled her way toward the couch. As soon as she reached her destination, her body shut down, causing her to fall face-first on the couch, out cold.

Three hours later, Evernya stirred awake. She sat up and stretched her hands above her head, yawning. A moment later, Evernya blurred toward the bathroom on the verge of bladder explosion. She plopped her butt on the toilet seat only to realize she wasn’t naked but, in fact, still wearing her training suit. Unfortunately, unable to hold it any longer, she peed directly into the suit despite sitting on the toilet. With a face reddened from embarrassment, she flushed the toilet and washed her hands. She scanned the empty bathroom for any witnesses with a telekinetic blade ready to launch. Thankfully, after a second, she found nothing, so she quickly left the bathroom.

Once back in the hall, she followed Meira’s scent, leading her to the enchanting room. She cracked open the door quietly, sneaking in to avoid the concentrating elf staring intently at a ruby ring. Silently, Evernya sat down on the vacant stool on Meira’s right to watch the enchantment process. Finding her eyes useless, she closed them instead, focusing on her mana sensing.

After pinpointing Meira’s mana, she followed it into the Ruby as it spread out in intricate patterns, forming a mini mana system within the Ruby. She lost track of time, mesmerized by the process of creating a mana system out of nothing.

An unknown time later, the mini mana system solidified, prompting Meira to brand a rune translated as ‘amplified fire’ on the mini mana core at the center of a spiderweb of mana veins. A moment later, Evernya’s mana sense cut off as Meira weaved in several complex seals, preventing tampering.

“Beautiful,” Evernya whispered, causing Meira to jump in surprise just as she finished the enchantment.

Meira turned her attention to her silent observer. “When did you get here?”

Evernya checked the time on her suit computer before answering, also surprised. “Over 30 minutes ago. I guess I was so into watching you enchanting the ring I lost track of time.”

Evernya’s response only increased Meira’s surprise, adding in curiosity. “What do you mean watching me enchant?” Meira inquired, leaning toward her kitten with intense interest.

Confused by Meira’s reaction, Evernya relayed what she observed. “I sort of followed your mana into the ring and watched you create that pretty little mana system in the Ruby, followed by the amplify fire brand before losing connection.”

Meira’s curiosity instantly turned into bouncy excitement. “Oh, my! Do we have a budding enchantress?”

A shiny black stone materialized in front of Evernya on the workbench. “Will your mana through the mana system template.” Meira forcefully instructed after grabbing her kitten’s left hand, placing it firmly against the stone.