Wednesday, February 18th, N.E. 807, 17:42

Olivia’s Warehouse, 7th Circle, Royal Capital Arvas, Fredirin Kingdom.

Michael Canyon Fredirin.

I was shocked speechless.

If what I was just told was true, not only had I been murdered, but a highly illegal and unethical item was used in my death. But, what shocked me most of all, was that the person who killed me, was my cousin, Olivia Pine Fredirin.

“Olivia… is it really you?” I asked hesitantly.

“It is. I think it has been… a bit over a year and a half since we last met? If I remember correctly, it was then that you used Gimmy to test a spell.”

Suddenly, a scene appeared in my mind.

It was late summer, the air had begun to cool, but the trees had yet to change color. I was traveling through the school’s grounds with a group of my friends. While we were just going about her business, a small child had stumbled up to me. She had been wearing a simple white and silver dress, her brown hair was tied to the sides in a twin tail, each held in place with a sapphire studded pin.

And in her hands, was a bright blue sheep.

I had had no idea who she was, which wasn’t surprising at all, the number of people I didn’t know far outweighed the number I did, especially so for small children. She looked as if she was four or five, and since I was twelve at the time, I would have had nothing to do with her.

She, however, knew me.

She tottered up to me, looked at me with a pair of big gray eyes, and then stuttered as she attempted to say my name.

When I looked at her confused, she got frightened, but then slowly introduced herself to me, she was my cousin, Olivia Pine Fredirin.

It took me a second to recall who exactly that was, I knew I had a cousin by that name, but I wasn’t sure if we had ever met before. Eventually, I did remember a time that I had been at a ball a few months prior, and I was pretty sure she had been there too. In fact, it was possible that someone might have introduced us, but I did not remember speaking or interacting with her at all.

While I was thinking about that, she had shyly approached and had begun pulling on the edge of my pant legs. She had timidly told me she had gotten lost, separated from her mother, and she wanted me to help find her.

It was then that I remembered, her Pine Family, and my Canyon Family, we were rivals. Long before then, I had already had various businesses put in my name and I was already participating in the race to see who would become the next king. Olivia might be a distant relative, but she was also a potential enemy.

But, when she looked at me with those sad, teary eyes, I wasn’t sure what to do.

The choice was, however, not one I need to decide, one of my friends did for me. He plucked the blue sheep from her and then mentioned to me that I had just been talking about how I finally mastered the acid arrow spell, now I had a target to test it on.

He was right, I had just learned that spell, after much effort. My brother Roy, two year younger than me, was already an accomplished mage, skilled mostly with fire magic. But, while earth magic was the field I was most skilled at, even Roy had already learned the acid arrow spell that I had struggled with. I wasn’t exactly jealous of him, but I feared for my own position. At the time, I had been putting my all into my magical studies, but I wasn’t seeing results. Then suddenly, a child two years younger than me came out of nowhere and surpassed me in my best field with one of his worst, I was under a large amount of pressure.

On one hand, I was excited and proud of my accomplishment in regards to the acid arrow, but I was also embarrassed and ashamed.

When my friend said that, anger took over the blood rushed to my head. I agreed to test the spell on the sheep.

Olivia seemed as if she was going to cry when we took her sheep, but we told her we were just going to play a game, and she reluctantly let us place it upon a bench.

I still couldn’t cast the spell instantly, so I needed to recite the aria. The crowd watched, my friends with anticipation, Olivia with apprehension.

When I finished, a wet-looking green line in the vague shape of an arrow formed in the air and then shot wobbly out towards her sheep. The acid splashed across its face and down its side. As it sizzled, there was a moment where I saw my friends smile and begin to congratulate me, but, before they could say even a word, my cousin’s ear-splitting wail echoed across the courtyard.

She dashed over in such a panicked rush that she tripped over the hem of her own dress. She fell and skidded across the cobblestone pavement, scraping her hands, dirtying and tearing her dress. Even while sobbing in pain, she continued to wail as she got up and continued towards the sheep. All the while, she kept crying and yelling out its name.

Suddenly, it occurred to my friends that not only was she really loud, but that it would be bad if we were caught. Without a word, my friends turned and ran.

And I did too.

That night, I spent my time in my room, expecting to have someone come and demand an explanation, but no one ever did. In hindsight I understood, even had the Pine’s lodged a complaint towards me, my family would have done nothing. Bullying a small child wasn’t a praiseworthy action, but the Pine’s were our enemies, and even if my family thought I was wrong, they would have defended me just to spite the other side.

Of course, not even that had happened. I didn’t know if Olivia hadn’t said anything, or if she had reported me and her guardian hadn’t followed through with it.

However, that incident had been a turning point for me. I gave up on my magical studies, focusing instead on the administration of our family’s businesses. I had also distanced myself from those friends. And a few months later, I had even met Shannon.

“What are you thinking about my cousin?” Her voice broke me out of my reverie.

“Ah, no, it’s nothing.” I stumbled over my words.

“You seemed to be remembering something.”

“No… that is…”

“Let me tell you something, cousin. Being a soul is a lot different from being in a living body. A body, it makes noise, lots of it in fact, but, you do not realize it because your mind filters it out. At the same time, the automatic functions, breathing, the beating of your heart, these, while they are done without your conscious thought, they still take up some of your mental resources. For you, however, all of that is gone, you are now nothing but a simple mind, unbound by anything else. You can now focus on your thoughts to a much greater degree. That is true for your memories.”

“I don’t understand?”

“Simply put, your memories are now able to be recalled in much greater detail than ever before. It is much easier for you lose yourself in them. And without any kind of outside stimuli, it is much easier for you to do so accidentally. This is why almost all spirit type undead go insane. Being an unbound mind without training is incredibly difficult.”

“Well, I am already dead, so what does it matter?” I asked with defeat.

“Do you want to be a raving, insane spirit?” She asked mockingly. “It will take you decades, if not centuries, to break down if I leave you in that stone, and you can spend that entire time lost in your memories, without a conscious effort, you will bounce back and forth between the good ones, and the bad ones.”

“Is that what you plan on doing? Leaving me here forever?”

“I am just warning you, think of it as you cousin being nice, you know all about that right? Extending a helping hand?”

“About that… Olivia, you said you did this for revenge earlier?” I asked.

“Hmm… Yes, revenge is a part of it. A big part if I am being honest. You do remember that day too? Do you not?”

“I do… About that Olivia, I know it will sound… insincere, but I want to apologize to you for that day.” I said resolutely.

“Oh? Do you?” her sharp voice shook the red fog that surrounded me.

“Yes, I do. I deeply regret what I did then. I have no excuses, I was young and immature. If I could-”

My words were cut off as a pressure surged around me, crushing me very being. A pain that I could barely comprehend assaulted me.

“Cousin Michael, do not think that just because you lack a body that you can not experience pain. You can experience a much greater degree of pain in this form.”

“Gaah… Ol...ivia… Sorry…” I choked out, but the pressure only increased.

I was being crushed, crushed to an extent that I could barely think of anything other than the pressure.

“Well then.” She said and the crushing sensation abruptly stopped. “You burnt my sheep, I shattered your skull, ripped your soul out, and imprisoned it in a tiny stone, so let us say we are even.”

“...Then…” I tried to speak, but even though I was free from physical constraints, I still found it difficult to do anything but freeze up from the memory of the pain.

“Yes, we are even.” Even though my cousin was the source of that pain, her voice still allowed me to break away from the past pain, calming me down.

“Then… you forgive me?”

“No.” Was her response.

“...No?”

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. You have wronged me, I have wronged you, we are even. Simply that.”

“But, you do not forgive me?”

“Forgiveness must be earned, not given. Even now, I still find my rage difficult to control.”

“... I am sorry…” I said.

“You have said as such before.”

“I know, but to me, it was but a single incident. And I already apologized for that. However, for you, it left behind a scar, you have felt pain for it to this day, so now I am apologizing for that.”

After I spoke, what might have only been seconds, or might have been minutes, passed in silence.

“... Let us move on, I want you to tell me everything you know in regards to your family.” Olivia said, breaking that long stretch of quiet.

“That…”

What was I going to do?

I had wronged my cousin in the past, and it could be said that her killing me was only fair. Well, if I do say so myself, I think murdering me and imprisoning my soul is not exactly equal to what I did, but since I started the hostilities, I have no grounds to complain on.

However, my death is a different matter entirely from betraying my family.

Judging from that pressure she emitted before, I know torture is certainly an option here, and while I do think of myself as strong willed, I also know my limits, I would not be able to resist that for long. Furthermore, I do not even have the luxury of death, she could unleash the worst upon me without fearing that I would succumb and die.

The question wasn’t if I would give her information, it was how much would I give.

“...Very well, I will answer you.”

“Oh? That was quick, I thought you might resist.”

“That is not really an option, is it?”

“No, it is not.”

“I did not think so. You would get what you want regardless, so I will make it easy on myself and cooperate.”

“Good.”

“However, since I am cooperating, I would like to ask you a question myself.”

“...”

“You do not have to answer if you do not want to.” I toned my demand down a bit.

“You may ask. I might not answer, but you may ask.”

“How did you kill me?” I asked.

“I thought I mentioned this? I cracked open your skull.” was her answer.

“Yes, but exactly how was that possible? My family’s estate is well guarded, I can not believe it was easy to sneak in.”

“You would be wrong, it was rather easy. For me at least. Rest assured, while I could make use of the same method again, assuming nothing changed, no one else would be able to mimic me.”

“That… does not leave me reassured.”

“That is a shame.” She said dryly.

“Still, so you snuck in?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

“Then…” I hesitated a bit, “Was I the only one who was killed?”

“... Ah, I see now. Haha, you mean to ask, was Shannon killed too?”

“...”

Shit, she saw through me.

“What if she was? What if I killed her too? I slight her throat, shattered her skull? What if she is sitting on the table in an identical small stone?” She laughed as she spoke.

“Then I will tell you nothing,” I said resolutely.

“So you say, but I do not think you could hold out for long.”

“I guess we would find out,” I said defiantly.

“Well, truth be told, how would I know who this Shannon is? How would I know if she was alive or not? Who is she?”

Of course, that was only obvious, why had I not realized that until she mentioned it?

“Shannon is… was, my… maid.” I said.

“A maid? I doubt that. Or should I say, she may be a maid, but she isn’t only a maid? She is something more than that, right?”

“...”

Dammit, I made another mistake.

Olivia was now aware that Shannon was important to me. She didn’t know how or why, but she knew I had a weak spot. Now, if I refused to help her, or if I did anything to hinder her, Shannon could become a target.

This… this was a massive mistake. What is wrong with me? How could I have messed up like this?

I could try and deceive my cousin, but it was probably too late, I have already painted a target on Shannon. At best, I could try to make it seem as if she isn’t that important and hope that the effort Olivia would need to expand to harm her is too much. But… I am not confident that I could pull that off, I do not even know how much effort Olivia needed to kill me.

What if I just refused to answer? No, that would be even worse. I would still leave Shannon in danger, possibly even more so, and I would start my cooperation with my cousin by disobeying her, that would be a really poor start.

Then, what if I tell her the truth? That is probably the worst thing I could do. Right now, Olivia only knows Shannon is my maid, but if I tell her everything, she will really understand how important Shannon is.

Think. Think. Think.

Okay, what will my family do? Investigate who killed me and how. If they can not find anything… they will likely hide my death for a short while, then reveal I died of an illness or injury. If they do that, they won't be able to continue the investigation, at least overtly. In that case, nothing happens.

If they discover something, they will seek some form of retribution, but, Olivia seems confident she will not be discovered.

Then, the most likely outcome is nothing coming from this.

So what happens to Shannon? Most of my family find her to be an eyesore, I doubt she’ll be a large concern for anyone. She will probably be allowed to continue her work as a basic maid, but that is it. Security around her will be extremely lax, and that is assuming that the family doesn’t kick her out.

I did leave a will, but, I do not think that will make much of a difference in how the family treats her, they might even ignore the will entirely.

In this case, Shannon will most likely be left to her own devices, so what will she do?

“So…? Who is this Shannon? Tell me, my dear cousin.” Olivia’s voice intruded on my thoughts.

Shit… I don’t have time.

Shannon will probably investigate on her own. Shit, that is the worst.

If my family ignores my will and kicks her out, that might be for the best. Without resources, she will likely not be able to get far, and while I am not okay with her wasting her life like that, at least she will be safe.

But… if they do support her, she might come too close to discovering who killed me. Not only will I have set her up as a target, but she will directly be threatening Olivia.

“Answer me!” She said, the pressure from before coming back to lightly crush me.

No time… What to do?

“... Shannon is… My maid.” I tried to stall.

“You said that. But that is not all.”

Shit! Shit, there is only one thing I can do.

“Shannon is… My maid, and also… My fiance…” I said slowly.

“Oh? really? “ She said as the pressure receded.

“Yes…” I said as I mustered my thoughts. “Well, she might be my wife now I guess?”

“Explain that.”

“Yes, of course,” I said calmly, all I could do now was see this through. “I had proposed to her before, and while she did not accept, she likewise did not reject me. She felt she wasn’t worthy to marry me.”

“Fiancee seems like a stretch, Wife even more so.”

“Shannon is an orphan, but she was originally from the south, the Holy Uvalin Theocracy. Unlike in the Fredirin Kingdom where marriage is just a binding of two people, in the Theocracy, it is a religious ceremony with strict rules. When a man proposes, he gives what is called an engagement ring, if the woman accepts, she wears the ring to indicate she is taken. Then, during the actual ceremony, both the man and women exchange two lesser rings, the pair of rings signify that they are married.”

“Fascinating. Well, not really, I could not care less. What does this have to do with anything?” She asked, her tone clearly annoyed as she suspected I was wasting time.

“I gave Shannon a ring that had single use magic stones in it. I told her it was simply to keep her safe, but I had it engraved with the marriage vows, so it also doubles as an engagement ring. I didn’t explicitly state what it was, but I know that she understood. We just never… verbalized it.”

“That explains the finance part, not the wife part.”

“Yes, about that… I also left a will. I had already bought our wedding rings and left them along with the will. If Shannon accepts, she will become my wife despite the fact I was killed. As my wife, she is entitled to some of my fortune, and my family will take care of her.”

“She might not accept.”

“Yes, that is true. My family might also not tell her. However… I think they will. Shannon knows everything about me, so to investigate, they need her assistance. And I think she will accept, because I suspect she will also want to investigate my death. Being part of the family will allow her to do so with ease.”

“I see. So it is just a matter of if she had discovered your will?”

“Most likely. How long… have I been dead?” A surreal question if one had ever been asked.

“Almost a day, I killed you last night, and it is almost sunset now.”

“I was probably discovered at dawn, unless you moved my body?”

“I did not, your corpse was in your bed.”

“I see, then, if she has not been informed of the will already, she will soon. Unless they choose to hide it.”

“Let us move back on topic.” She said.

“Wait… I would like to… make an offer.” I said as I decided to go all in with this.

“An offer? What makes you think you have anything to offer?”

“I will cooperate with you to the best of my ability, I shall be your pawn, your slave if you deem it. I will betray the Canyon Family completely, I will even give up my name. All I ask is that you give a message to Shannon.”

“...No.” She rejected me.

“Why?” I asked bewildered.

“Let us suppose, that I trust you to not hide something in this message, how would I see she gets it? Not only would I risk discovery, but I would be revealing that at the very least, I was able to interrogate you for information before you died. If they even considered that I had claimed your soul, that would be an even bigger problem.”

“...”

Shit, those were all very good points.

“Then…” I considered an alternative. “All I want is for Shannon to be safe. If she doesn’t do anything, then that is fine, and I will still fulfill my end of the bargain. But, if she appears before you, I ask that you do not harm her.”

“...”

“...”

Since she was staying silent, perhaps she was considering it?

I was not asking for much, but on the other hand, I was not offering much. And, she would need to trust me. Ideally, having me cooperate fully of my own will would be best, if I wasn’t, even if I appeared compliment, I could omit important information or provide information that is slightly wrong.

The problem was, even if I said I was fully cooperating, I could still do these things.

“A slave? Do you know what that means?’ She suddenly asked.

“Yes?” I answered, not exactly sure what she was getting at.

“You will become my thrall. You will not be able to disobey me at all. If I ordered you to, with your own two hands, to wring that Shannon’s neck, to squeeze the life out of her, you would not be able to resist. You understand this?”

“...I can only trust you.”

“I should mention, if you were to become my vassal, and you harbored any deceit, there would be consequences,” Olivia explained.

“Such as?”

“You will be destroyed. Utterly.” She answered succinctly.

“Well… That…”

“You might think that would be an escape, and you would be right. If you try to deceive me, and are obliterated, you will have successfully escaped.”

“But…?” I prompted her for more.

“Should that happen, I will be most displeased. And Shannon, she will bear the burden of that displeasure. I assure you, should you cheat me like this, I will not rest until your wife is in my hands. I will torture her until death. And then I will collect her soul, and torture her again. I will only rest when her very being collapses, until the entity known as Shannon becomes nothing but a mass of negative emotions. And then, I will use that as a basis to make an undead. Do you understand me.” Pure venom dripped from her voice as she explained that.

“...yes…” I whispered.

“Then for now…” She said offhandedly. “You should sleeeeeep…..”

Wednesday, February 18th, N.E. 807, 17:50

Olivia’s Warehouse, 7th Circle, Royal Capital Arvas, Fredirin Kingdom.

Olivia Pine Fredirin.

I leaned back on the chair and looked towards the roof. Shadows flickered as the candle burnt down steadily, but it didn’t hinder my sight at all.

Slowly I brought the crystal containing my cousin's soul up before me.

Light still swirled within, but it was more subdued now.

“What should I do?” I asked, “Gimmy, what do you think?”

The sheep offered me nothing, just as I knew it wouldn’t.

On one hand, I could torture information out of Michael Canyon Fredirin. Some of it would be useful, some of it would be fake, and much of what I wanted would be omitted. Torture could be rather satisfying, but it was also rather ineffective.

With this, I risked nothing, and at the very least, I would gain something.

On the other hand, I could bind his soul to me, making him my thrall, a vassal. If I did this, I would gain all of the information I wanted, and with no hidden issues. I would also gain a loyal underling, a powerful one at that.

My gains would be much greater, but at the same time, my risks would increase in proportion.

As I mentioned to my cousin, if he didn’t give himself over to me, he would be destroyed, and then I would gain nothing. But what I didn’t say to him, was that I would also suffer a severe injury if it was unsuccessful. My life would not be at risk, but I would be weakened considerably for at least several months.

Thinking about it, the risks vastly outweighed the benefits. But…

But… the risks depend on how much I trusted my cousin. If… if he was being honest, then the risks were actually very low. If on the other hand, he was lying, then the risks would be great.

It was a matter of trust.

How much did I trust him? My cousin, Michael Canyon Fredirin.

I had killed him after all.

But, his concern for his maid, Shannon, seemed genuine.

Yes, I was confident it was genuine, but that mattered little. I genuinely cared for Gimmy, as much as I hated it, it was embarrassing, but that blue sheep sitting across from me was important to me. I also genuinely cared for my brother and sister, more so than the sheep, if I needed to, I would obviously sacrifice Gimmy for Pamela and Timothy.

My cousin cared for Shannon, but did he care for her enough to betray his family?

“Gimmy, I have never had… a confidant. Someone who I could share my heart with, in a way, you, a stupid sheep, serve me a purpose.” I spoke slowly while still looking at the crystal I held above me.

“What should I do? If I weigh the risks… I conclude I should ignore him and simply resort to torture.”

That was the safe bet, and there was no reason not to take the safe bet, it was what I had always done.

“Right,” I suddenly sat forward and looked at the dirty and burnt sheep. “That is what I would conclude. It is, in fact, what I have concluded. A solution based on my experience.”

Now I stood up.

“However, those experiences, have already lead me to my end once already. I am now Olivia Pine Fredirin, if nothing else, this is a shining example of my past failures.” I nodded to the sheep.

“Michael Canyon Fredirin, let me try trusting you. If you betray me, I guarantee you're Shannon will suffer for it. But for now, let me try.”

I took my leather armor off without another word. Each piece, the upper arms, the shoulders, the neck guard, the breastplate, the under armor, I took it off one part at a time. Eventually, there was only a simple cotton undershirt on me, but I took that off too.

I reached to the table and picked up the dagger that Gimmy had held as I directed him to kill my cousin. It had some of his blood on it, but it was still sharp and undamaged.

I didn’t hesitate as I plunged it into my chest, between my ribs. I wretched it around a bit, and for my effort, I was assailed with a type of pain I had never known before, the pain of my physical body suffering severe damage. It wasn’t the worst pain I had encountered, but it was unique.

Still, I could bear it with ease.

With the gash now opened, I used my other hand to reach in, sliding my fingers between my ribs. Human bones would not hold up to my current strength, but these bones were already something beyond human, so I circled my mana to strengthen my hand, and with a quick jerk, I broke the first rib with a loud snap.

Three more snaps and I broke three more ribs. Then, using the dagger, I sawed through the connecting muscles. Satisfied with my work, I placed the dagger in between my teeth. With both hands free, I was able to reach into my chest and wrench my ribs apart. With an opening now giving me access to my chest cavity, I pushed past my lung and searched deeper within.

Gently, my fingers traced through the muscles, veins, and other tissues as blood poured out, splashing down my front, staining my armored legs, and pooling on the floor. Then, as my fingertips gingerly explored, I felt it, a light thump. Prodding the area, I found the exact location. I extracted my right hand and took the dagger out from my mouth, and then went back in with it, sawing through this last protective layer.

At last, I was at my heart.

The anatomy books Olivia had seen in school described a human heart as a large, always beating muscle with four chambers.

Mine was different.

There were bits of tissue anchoring it down, but I cut those too, and then slowly began pulling it out of my chest.

For a while, I could survive without my heart. I could probably even survive having it completely destroyed, assuming I could create another in time. Still, it was best to leave it intact, so I only cut the connecting tissue, I left the veins and arteries in place.

As I pulled it out, I could feel my major blood vessels being pulled, my neck bulged and my other organs shifted, but with the exception of some smaller blood vessels that ruptured, everything held together.

Still, it was a rather unpleasant sensation, even without considering the pain.

Finally, my heart was completely out of my chest.

It was small, smaller than it should be, even for a seven-year-old girl, it was barely larger than a chicken’s egg. It was also almost a perfect sphere, the only difference was the various bulges on its surface. A close look revealed that the bulges were moving in a steady, yet fast rhythm. Also unlike a normal heart, where the veins and arteries connected at one point, mine had several connecting vessels that originate from the edges of the pulsating bulges.

Those bulges were the chambers of my heart, each was much smaller than a normal heart’s, but I had twenty-four of them, six times as many as a normal human.

From the books I had read, many humans consider the heart to be the resting place of the soul, but I knew this to be wrong. The soul infused the entire body, but it was primarily focused in the brain, the source of thought. The heart, while important, was no different from the other organs, it held no special significance.

Without hesitating, I plunged the dagger into my heart. Using the opening I just made, I pulled it apart with my fingers, revealing the center of the muscle, where a vortex of crimson mana could be faintly seen throughout the flood of my blood.

The soul did not reside within the heart, but the heart was also the main junction for the body’s mana flow. Blood carried not only oxygen, nutrients, and waste products throughout the body, but also mana. While mana was generated internally within the brain, it was stored within the heart, even when it was used immediately after being formed, it would still go to the heart first.

Of course, only powerful mages would store enough mana that it could be seen. And even then, normally cutting into and opening the heart would, if not fatally wound the mage, deal enough damage that they would not be able to contain the mana any longer.

But for me, while I found this entire process unpleasant in the extreme, it wasn’t causing me that much damage. Plus, the damage it was inflicting, I was carefully healing with my mana.

I dropped the dagger I had been using to slice apart my insides, it bounced onto the floor where it was covered by the steadily enlarging pool of blood. Holding my heart open with my left hand’s fingers, I used my right to pick up the crystal that contained my cousin's soul. And then I carefully, placed it within my heart, slowly pushing it through the gash and towards the center, only stopping when it was enveloped by the vortex.

Once satisfied, I simply pushed the wound closed and it swiftly healed. I then pushed my heart back into my chest, pulled the surrounding cut tissues back towards it, and then placed my lung back where it was. I replaced my ribs, setting them back where they were originally, and then pulled my skin back and pinched it together. Within seconds, the wound had closed.

My insides were still a mess, but that would just take time.

I willed the blood that had leaked all over the room back to me, and it moved on its own, swirling towards my feet, then sticking to my legs and traveling upward. For a while, I was covered entirely in the red fluid, but it was swiftly absorbed through all of the ruptured capillaries on my body, and as they were repaired, the rest went in through my eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.

I spent around two minutes pulling out my heart, another opening it and placing the crystal within it, and then another thirty seconds repairing myself and collecting my blood. Less than five minutes, and there was no evidence of what just happened remaining.

My internal injuries would take several hours to heal under normal circumstances, but until Michael Canyon Fredirin finished absorbing my aura, the healing would slow to a crawl. I would be operating at a fraction of my normal power for at least a day or two.

“Excuse me, My Lady, it is Ula.”

“Come in” I called out as I began replacing my armor.

“Excuse me My Lady, but Captain told me to- My Lady! You are injured!” Ula almost yelled as she ran over to me.

I looked down at my still bare upper body and realized that my normally pale white skin was now largely a mottled blue and black.

“Hmm, it is just some bruising from earlier,” I said offhandedly.

“But… It looks really bad…” She said hesitantly.

“Do not worry about it, I am fine,” I said as I continued putting my armor on.

Ula didn’t say anything, even though she looked like she really wanted to. Instead, she lightly sniffed the air and looked confused.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I smell… blood I think? It is really faint.” She responded, unsure.

“Probably from my armor, enough of it splashed on me earlier,” I said, trying to sound unconcerned.

“Hmm… It is strange though. I didn’t smell it before, and it doesn't smell stale, but I guess when you removed the armor, the scent was released. Still, it smells odd…” She wondered.

“You have a good nose?” I queried.

“Ah, yes.” She looked embarrassed as she peeled back her lips to reveal a set of teeth that were pointed. She even tilted her head back so I could see that there was a second row of teeth behind the first. “One of my parents seemed to be a beast-folk, or a grandparent I guess. Maybe even further back since I do not have many obvious traits. But they must have been a shark-folk, so I got the teeth, my skin is kind of rough too, a bit sturdier also. I'm also pretty good in the water, but, my nose is really sensitive towards the scent of blood.”

“Hmm… I didn’t know.” I responded.

“I don’t exactly like talking about it. Beast-folk are considered barbarians. They aren’t exactly discriminated against, but still, it isn’t a good reputation. And half-breeds like me, people look down on anyone who marries a beast-folk.”

“I see.”

This was information that was completely new to me. In my previous life, I knew nothing about the intricacies of beast-folk relations in the Fredirin Kingdom, a nation I had never even heard of before. As for Olivia’s memories, she knew of beast-folk, having seen a few before, and having learned about them through classes and books. But no one would teach that kind of thing to a small child.

“Shark-folk are even more savage than the rest. They’re also really rare, so even if someone knew something was off with me, they wouldn’t normally be able to identify what it was,” she added.

“Hmm, well rest assured, it does not bother me. In fact, I should have inquired about your abilities before now.”

That was true, when I had left the Citadel of the Pines, I had received a dossier on all eleven of the Spectres, and it had mentioned that Ula had Shark-folk blood to some degree, and it also mentioned she was the squad’s tracker, but it hadn’t mentioned much else.

Not understanding the capacity of my subordinates was in fact, a huge problem, one that I would need to correct.

“Ah, no worries, My Lady, I should have mentioned it before.”

“It is fine,” I said as I waved it away. “Besides that, what is it that you needed?”

“Oh, right, Captain says we should head out soon, unless you still want to rest?” She said as she scanned over my now leather-clad form. The bruises were hidden, but I knew she still remembered them.

“No, let's go,” I said and followed her towards the door.

It was time to go home.