Chương 67: Chapter 65: A Child of Lambstock

Dawn Has Broken, and the Curse Is Lifted For Now... We'd had a good night. I was the first up after our change - Sootpaw, poor thing, was still struggling and straining and trying - and failing - not to yelp out or scream hoarsely by the time my dress formed around my body from my collar like some kind of magical girl transformation. I didn't touch her - it would be torment. Instead, I just crouched near her and watched over her, took in what it looked like once again as I appreciated it from an alien angle.

The poor thing seemed to be pulling in on herself, bit by bit, bone by bone, shunting back into position as skin went lax and then tightened, weeping a clear fluid from every pore, weeping it, coughing up small gobs of pink liquid that evaporated in literal moments once it entered the open air as she lost mass, bit by bit. I activated my Insight skill.

[MONSTER] Lycanthropic Transformation, Rank F And a moment later, as I watched closely, 50 mana, 50 stamina Transforming from [MONSTER] Hybrid shape to Human A skill readout, I supposed. Also, info about the effects once I'd seen enough of it at play. That was neat - I could learn more about it by watching! It was gut-wrenching to watch, but... this was mine. This girl, was mine. I would care for her if I could, support her. World knows the transformation sucked.

How would she react if I treated her as something monstrous? SHE IS NOT Rachael Sootpaw the Strange, Black Beast of the Fallen Forest, Witch level?, in agony, sickened, [CURSED] Associates with YOU, Gelidia Windbinder, Unknown (feline), unknown (male, dwarf) A Cat, and a dwarf? I knew there were dwarves in this world already, but who was this? More info was waiting for me. [Health: 230/230] [Stamina: 180/230] [Mana: 235/285] She had pretty solid stats, too!

Ton of mana, but it made sense - she was a Witch after all, and high level on the same order of magnitude as Gelidia. I knew she had power, after all, I'd seen her use some of it tonight. 285 though?

"What level is she, hon?" I asked softly, and Gelidia, not watching, answered in a hushed tone.

"Twelve." Twelve? Good grief. She was much stronger than me, level-wise." But her Lycanthrope core is only level one. She got it after breaking that curse." she went on. My werewolf only gave me five per level, and if she was level twelve? that meant her leverage was... two health, two stamina, and three mana?

"Her leverage is higher than ours" I observed.

"She gets fifteen mana per level from Witch, I think. I thought cores only gave leverage of five total?" I asked her as Sootpaw panted in the grass, her body steaming in the morning fog. Gelidia turned her gaze on the naked little form before us. I still didn't dare touch her, even though every instinct in my heart told me to scoop her up and comfort her. God... it was gut-wrenching to watch, and torture to keep myself still and calm. Gelidia made no move, so maybe she knew that too?

"Yes... I suspect her Legacy core was Peasant. If your class changes like that when you reach your evolution, the World often gives you better leverage, especially if it was exceptional in how it happened. Basically any core evolution is special, but the World rewards the exceptional, for sure." she said softly. I looked at her.

"But... you stayed a Wind Sage, right?" I asked, she nodded.

"Your leverage didn't change."

"Yes... we call that Autoevolution - it means within the boundaries of our class, we evolved into a stronger form of it. That kind of evolution doesn't alter your Leverage, but it does make what you do with your Core better, improves it." she explained.

"The World doesn't explain that part herself, but there's good and bad to both ways of doing things." she said. Once her skin wasn't beet red, Sootpaw began to squirm to her belly. She was bare as the day she was born, so I unclasped my cloak and wrapped her in it tightly, scooping the kid in against me. She was confused for a few moments before she met my eyes, and... passed out. Poor pup. It was a short walk to get her things.

I found them quite easily - they were foul, actually had some mushrooms growing on them, in fact - and I decided that they were some of the nastiest garments I'd ever seen and resolved to clean them. With her sleeping form in my arms, I made my way back towards town. Gelidia and I walked together in silence for a bit. Sooty was small enough that I could clutch the little thing in one arm, so in the other I held the shade's hand, fingers linked and pace slow.

"So. You said she broke a curse?" I asked after a long quiet, and the wind sage I loved gave a micronod, as if unsure if she should confirm it or not. She didn't need to speak and I didn't need to look - I could sense her movements very clearly.

"Was that what the... uh, fire breathing was about? The lightshow? The purple explosion?" I asked, and again, she, sighing this time, nodded.

"Magic is not..." she began, hesitated, then went on"... magic is not as cut-and-dry as we might wish. I mean... even in what we have told you so far, there are three entire understandings of magic - Necromancy, both umbral and radiant - that is one understanding, and two approaches to the underlying idea. Then there is Elementalism like what Wizard Felorikaan and I do... and then there is Witchcraft and the Three." she said.

"Hexerei, Braucherei, and Seelerei" she said.

"Rachael said she could control curses?" I said with the lilt of a question and Gelidia nodded.

"Hexerei. It is not nice magic. Not... inherently evil, I suppose, but it tinkers with dark, dark forces that tend to betray and to corrupt. I could swear I have told you as much." She explained. I seemed to remember something about it, yeah.

"Braucherei, I have that one. It's... the blessing form?" I asked, and Gelidia nodded.

"It is subtle and flexible. It is peasant magic, like Hexerei and Seelerei. It is gentle, for healing and working forces to the benefit of yourself and others. It is not inherently good, but it tends to be used like that." she explained.

"So what's Seelerei?" I asked, and Gelidia sighed.

"Mostly unproven, and there are few who seem to practice it. It is..." she weighed her words, then continued"... more about the spirits inside things and bringing out the powers within everyday objects and places. It is more elemental in nature than Hexerei and Braucherei, though those two integrate some Elemental Sage into their makeup. Or rather, Elementalism integrates some of them." She explained like a schoolteacher. I banished a thought of her in a pencil skirt and glasses!

"Seelerei has more of a relationship with the elements though, literally - it is more like religion than magic - small gods, found and cultivated in everyday things and concepts." she explained, gripping my hand tight in both of hers.

"Anyroad, those are 'The Three' as my studies called them, but they are also called them The Crone, The Mother, and the Maiden, respectively. Hexerei, Braucherei, and Seelerei." she said.

"If I had to guess what she had done last night, I would bet firmly that she broke the curse she had been using to control herself before she was actually stable." she went on to say, and I blinked at her. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Hold on... she did say she could control curses, and that she could not control mine, but she cursed herself?" I asked, and she shrugged.

"Just a theory. Curses are internalized workings of power that affect a person, object, or concept specifically. Sometimes your luck, sometimes your health, sometimes something more ephemeral, but they are changing you, not the world around you." It sounded right. I felt I was on the edge of understanding here, so I pressed on.

"So a Hexer puts spells on other people, and they... internalize the magic into them?" I asked, and Gelidia squeezed my hand, smiling.

"Yes exactly, well done! And Brauchers put their will out into the world around them, to affect the way the world interacts with their aura and tilt things in their own favor. The difference is a subtle one, and there's some in-between, some bleed between the three in general let alone the Crone and the Mother, but that is the basic idea. Seelers entreat Spirits - not ghosts like me, but elemental spirits - to help them, and help them to exist, shaping them to purpose.

Then those entities act and offer out their will to change things on the Seeler's behalf" which sounded weird to me. I'd read enough Wicca books to get the idea, I felt, but it still seemed so odd to hear it spoken of as if it were scientific fact. I suppose on this world, it was. Sootpaw was awake. About halfway through that, she'd started breathing differently. So, I wasn't really surprised when she jummped in helpfully to add"A Seeler is just... a priest, really... everyone does it." She said softly.

I kissed the girl's forehead and she grunted, puppylike, letting out a sigh.

"Seelerei is... only-sorta a thing, never met someone who does it" she said.

"I'm... not a Hexer anymore." she said.

"Oh?" Gelidia prompted, and it was that special kind of 'oh' where someone doesn't want to sound judgy or say something out of turn in case the good choice someone was making turned out to be fragile Rachael shook her head.

"Nope... rejected it. I only ever picked it up so I could um... y'know." she said"It costs... too much." She sounded exhausted. Letting go of Gelidia's hand a moment, I carefully lowered the little thing to her feet. She at least was sort-of clean. Still not what I'd call truly clean, but at least she didn't have a crust of ashes and blood on eighty percent of her body like she had when I'd met her. Nobody's skin should have 'crust'!

She looked from me to my cloak to me again, then held the garment tight around her.

"Where um..." she began in a tiny voice. I held up her filthy robes and mushroomy pointy hat for her to see. She took them and without a care in the world, squirmed into the disgusting clothes which made an almost... moist, slippery noise. Ew ew ew...

"I think" said Gelidia diplomatically"That we should take you to meet a friend of my Family and get you some fresh clothing, hm?" She said. I was busy being squicked to remember the horror of the Ghoul. Oh. Oh beans. How was Rachael going to handle meeting a ghoul? Ms. Spruce was a nice person, made my clothes and everything, and... yeah, I'd admit she was a sweet pea, but she was also a walking, talking, wheezy nightmare that smelled like chemicals and had teeth like a cemetery! There was creepy looking, then...

there was Miss Spruce!

"I um!" Sootpaw managed to say, looking between us as she offered me back my cloak. I took it, then her hand and Gelidia's, cloak folded over my arm.

"I... oh." Rachael managed at the finish, but didn't object. She wasn't thrilled about the idea.

"... o-okay" she said, even so. I pet the back of her hand with my thumb, and favored her with a warm smile and a nod of approval, trying to look as proud as I could for her benefit. And because she was a hungry little kid, she said"... could we um... g-get something to eat, too?" she asked, and I nodded firmly. The town was of course open by the time we got there. The sun had risen, and there were still those two same guards, exchanging the evening report with two more when we walked up.

Rachael half-hid behind me as we stopped before the four of them. For some reason, even though their backs straightened and they seemed to take on a more official stance as they saw us, they still, quite seriously questioned us.

"Your Grace, Good Hound, good morning. Lieutenant Kepple." and the guard saluted.

"Who is this stranger you bring to Lambstock?" she said, a woman I was fairly certain, and one I hadn't met yet. Gelidia stood straight, putting a hand on Sooty's shoulder.

"This is Rachael Sootpaw the Strange, the Black Beast of the Fallen Forest." and Rachael cringed a little. I looked down at her and smiled, and the girl took a moment to smile back at me.

"She is my Ward, and that of my noble Hound, and a child of our House." she declared. I saw how Sooty's eyes widened a little - it had been a thing before but now it was somehow more official? The guards assembled couldn't help themselves - with the exception of Kepple, they gasped and murmured to each other softly like something out of a soap opera.

"I see, I see. Very good." Kepple manifested herself more fully, flesh forming over her skeletal appearance as she squatted down to Rachael's eye level. It really struck me again how small the kid was, despite being fifteen years old. In human form, she was itty bitty! Kepple was pretty big, taller than either Gelidia or I, and her pale, featureless eyes were compassionate.

"Well then, Miss Sootpaw. Welcome to Lambstock, young Lady" Kepple said. My brave Rachael looked right into her eyes then down at the ground again, and nodded, before responding"thank you... um... Lieutenant Kepple." she said, glancing again at the manifested skeleton's dead eyes before looking up to mine a moment. I smiled a little at her encouragingly, and she smiled back, just a little.

"I... c-could I ask a question, Lieutenant?" she said, and at the guard's nod, she pressed on"How did you die?" She asked, right out of the blue. Kepple took the question like a champ and smiled, taking off her helmet, shaking out short red spectral hair that moved as if caught in a wind. She held the helmet under hear arm and nodded at the girl, who took in her appearance with wide eyes. Kepple was... well, she wasn't a ten on anyone's scales. Even before death she'd been scarred up pretty good.

I could see one side of her face had been burnt and healed, and the eye lid on that side of her face was a bit misshapen. Even so, it paled compared to the fact of her death, the bones that were visible beneath.

"A fair question, young Miss." She began. She seemed to figure that honest was the best policy here. Her expression was one of concern for the girl, and up at her apparent parents. At my instinctive nod and Gelidia's shrug, she explained.

"Well... Lambstock was destroyed during the Demon wars. They flung big boulders of something called Poisonstone into the city, and created a miasma that most of us asphyxiated on" she explained.

"I fell holding the gate and trying to keep them out. It was a quick death, and I had my armor to protect me from the elements so I got to keep my bones." she explained, as if talking about nothing too significant. Was she being matter of fact for the kid's benefit? I liked this Kepple woman.

"Oh..." Rachael said, more a noise than a statement. But, she looked a little less afraid"Thank you um... for telling me." she said softly.

"Is this um, a monster town?" She asked, and Kepple gave her a smile and single nod.

"It is. Are you a monster too, miss? You've a name like our good Hound here." she said as if it was a thing to be proud of.

"She's a hero you know, saved the town, saved our Duchess." she said. Rachael's eyes lit up a bit and she blushed to the tips of her ears, but... nodded!

"Y-yes I... I'm... I'm a..." she hesitated. Kepple let her, waiting patiently"w-werewolf, like her." she said bravely, but in a tiny little voice. I could easily sense how much she was shaking.

"Well, that's alright. I'm a skeleton! Lots of folk here are ghosts, we have a ghoul, and of course you've met the Good Hound - nothing to be ashamed of at all. Just treat people well here, and we will look after you too. Okay?" I could have kissed Kepple. Rachael was all smiles as she nodded at that.

"O-okay!" the girl squeaked"I'll... I'll do that!" Kepple smiled. Was she a mother once? Or like, a big sister or something? I could see it. The men near her were smiling a bit, but they kept quiet as the scene played out.

"That's a bargain, Miss Sootpaw!" and offered her gloved hand for the girl to shake. The kid, to her credit, barely hesitated before taking her hand from mine to shake. Kepple noticed the kid's thin-ness and general state of poor health and gave me a look that said 'not a moment too soon! Good save!' with her eyes and expression before favoring the kid with a head-ruffle that made her make a very puppylike grunting noise. Then, hand still on the kid's head a moment, she stood, helm returning atop her own head.

She gave me a salute, and clicked her heels. I returned it, and Gelidia nodded in respect, my ghostly Duchess smiling radiantly all the while.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. As you were." Gelidia said, and we kept going on our way. Rachael was a brave kid. I'd known that already, but that drove it home again with a hammer. Instead of just letting fear rule her, she'd actively sought answers, sought to end her ignorance, to fight her fear. I felt proud! She'd be alright, I felt sure.

"Now then. A meal, and then let's go see Miss Spruce to get you some new clothes, hm?" Gelidia said, and Rachael slipped her hand into mine with a nod.