Maid with Necromancy

“Too completing our first day of classes!”  Alex raised his mug and drank deeply.

Harmony sipped the small glass of wine she’d selected. The menu boasted that it would soothe a troubled mind. And similar to Xera’s family tea, it did have an effect on her soul if she paid attention to it and nudged the errant energies. Not as powerful as the tea, but it added a faint jovialness, and considering how resistant her body was, it probably was added to help others overcome resistance to getting drunk as they walked down the path of evolution. Not that it lightened her mood much, she’d need to ingest enough to be lethal to get that level of effectiveness.

The rest of Harmony’s dungeon delving group was here, joining in on the toast, which was acceptable, but Harmony had hoped to extend her social circle a little more with classes. The problem was that the time to make connections in the Forbidden Arts class was at the end, and the whole process of switching to Material Manipulation took a toll on her, but the real exhaustion happened after she arrived. To not appear deficient, it took [Disintegration], [Dust], [Manipulate Dead], and [Mend] to break down and rebuild the wooden block. Wood had never been her strong suit; maybe if she’d selected rot, or something more plant-focused. It wasn’t that she couldn’t do it, but as the teacher started cheerfully handing out demerits to the slowest students, she found herself breaking into alternative options as they piled up.

Her [Heart] processed a bit of fate to try to bend the rules of reality, which brought a spasm of pain. The lack of seals, combined with its reaction to Oorty’s Tomb, made it unreliable.  Recovering was two more demerits. What did the bloody things even mean? She’d settled for mixing a few drops of blood into the deconstructed pile for additional control in the last portion of class, but earned her one final black mark on the last round in order to remove all of the evidence she did so.

It was straight to the dorms after, where she’d crashed out on the bed, only to be woken up for this social event by [Recall]. She’d been running on [Renew Spirit] to keep her propped up for too long while she worked on Alex’s problem. He at least seemed in a good mood.

“How was Combat 101, Harmony asked.”

“Um, one minor issue. I don’t even remember it. The instructor was more impressed with my ability to follow directions.“

“He ripped off a student's arm. But he was following directions.” Tasha interjected. They shared three of the five starting classes, and combat was one of them. “It’s okay, they reattached it.”

Harmony nodded her head at the casual violence. Nearly every one of these young adults had to undergo some extreme training to advance. It created an uncomfortable reality in some ways. Could she ask those at home to do the same? They should at least get that choice, knowing the benefits. In a few days, she’ll see them again.

Conversations drifted to tales of the first day. Xera joked about the instructor in Defensive Strategies 302 throwing boulders at students.  Tun-Knee talked of cooking imported silver fish and separating the venom sack carefully so as not to ruin the meat. Harmony bragged about getting second in the brawl of undead rats as her way of contributing to the conversation.  First place would have taken too much time, but she was confident she could have taken it. Would there always be a problem more important than winning? How were Len and Tyler doing in The Ascendant games?

“How was using one of the forbidden arts? Was it creepy?” Tasha asked.

“It was similar to Tun-Knee’s fish prepping.  A steady hand, following instructions, and understanding the anatomy of the work. I was to keep my personal powers out of it. Instructor Flint praised my diligence.“

“She could be the first new student invited onto his research team.” Alex slurred.

“You know my instructor?” Outside of looking up her teachers' names, she hadn’t done any in-depth research. Never enough time.

“Flint Steelheart, one of the six pillars of the school. He was a mercenary in two wars, tackling countries that unleashed soldiers trained or grown into forbidden magic or classes. Lobbied for sanctions on those countries afterwards. Headmaster Crottish recruited him to teach at The Academy with a large research budget and access to the growth chamber twice a month. He’s been here a hundred years, only leaving when some evil rises in the far corner of the world.”

Hero worship for a man who hunted her kind. [Poise and Bearing] kept Harmony still as a frozen lake.  But what if she were the “evil” in the far corner of the world? Actions would need to be taken to deal with those behind Queen Talia, and necromancy was her tool. Could the charter protect her? Can’t be involved in local politics, yet Von Trell was putting his thumb on the scale for this.

Xera laughed.

[Recall] brought up the conversation Harmony was missing. It was some cultural touchpoint about a vampire named Vincent. And Xera lived a quarter of the way around the world from here.

The cultural blow hurt. There was being an outsider or looked down upon in a place where you understood the system and mannerisms. The Ascendant Games introduced some new things, but there was always Tyler or locals like Gareth. [Keen Investigative Awareness] worked overtime with [Poise and Bearing] and [Analyze]. The homesickness wasn’t helping, but it was hard to admit she’d never fully acclimate to being so far removed. Maybe after years here, but that wasn’t her goal in life.

The calming aura of [Patient Calm] seeped into her. No one else twitched, so Harmony cocked her head slightly, meeting eyes with their support professional who used the skill. The man gave a subtle nod back.  How hard must it be to be a beast-kin and look so different from most of the population here? [Recall] riffled through her memories, showing it wasn’t so cut and dry.  

“I’m going to get some fresh air,” Tun-Knee announced, making his leave an ear twitch in Harmony’s direction.

[Keen Investigative Awareness] noticed the tell, one of those bits of body language she’d seen Loap use, at least when she wasn’t bouncing about without clothes on to distract people in other ways.  

“I’ll join you, if you don’t mind.”

“No, not at all, Lady White, some company would be nice.” He answered.

Tun-knee drew looks by the evening passerbys outside the tavern Alex had chosen, The Vulgar Unicorn, a name that inspired Harmony to question some of her team’s werebear’s tastes. The looks the beast-kin received were not wholly kind. There were reasons the majority of those attending The Academy stuck together or went to private establishments. It could be this simple.  

[Final Silence] walled the pair off, muting the sounds around them. Harmony asked the question that had been rattling around in her mind the past few days, based on her observations and Adric’s comments. “You know what I am?”

“A loyal and steadfast friend of Shin-ee Loap of the gleaming bunny clan.”

“So, the scry of the Ascendant Games was quite popular where you’re from?”

“I must apologize for any perceived deception.  Many question the bonding choice made by our diamond. This is truly not an attempt to get closer to her, nor me worrying about your class. The choices we forbid are different from those in the human lands.”

All her new teammates had a history, trauma, biases, and issues. She wasn’t lacking in any of those, enough so that under certain circumstances, she’d kill any of them to maintain her safety. Now she wasn’t going to hunt down every beast-kin enrolled at The Academy, as they all probably knew. That would be too messy a way to deal with this problem. “What I need to know is why?”

“You saw me as a person, not a big animal to test your strength against. My curiosity led me to you after I watched you in the Ascendant Games. But it was your kindness that brought me back. I did not need to choose to join your team.”

 Oh, so it was her gentle healing side that brought this man to her?

“Tiger shit.” Since he knew what she was, she laced her disbelief with the morbid feeling of death as she killed his lie. He’d inserted himself in with Alex and Tasha, contrary to the majority of beast-kin, who only a few joined mixed teams. He showed up at social team events but socialized less than she did, an impressive feat of deflection.  “You know who I am, and picked to be on my team. Tell the truth.”

The placid calm look on Tun-Knee’s face twisted slightly to turn a shade predatory. “Your weak speck of a country has involved itself with our royal bunny. It is not beyond us to challenge the charter countries if need be. We are protecting what is ours as much as you would protect what is yours. If this extends past an error of youth, you are a voice she might listen to. My deception was necessary, but I see you are more practical and observant than others of your kind.”

“And loyal,” Harmony added with emphasis.

Tun-Knee let out a low growl. “Yes, but not yet to these youths.  Your practicality isn’t without sentimentality, so you may get there. Your loyalty to Loap is and will be appreciated. I have been mostly true to who I am; only that side which most of your kind finds uncomfortable is concealed. There will be a time when our, as you say, princess, needs to return home. It will not be a betrayal to encourage her to do so. We will keep your secret as a show of good faith. In time, I will educate you on why that is the right choice.”

The silence was ending. This conversation couldn’t continue so publicly. She offered her hand. “Then truce.”

“Truce,” the beast-kin answered, extending his hand.

Harmony took the massive paw in her hand and started to squeeze slowly. Her grip didn’t let go or budge as the support tried to pull back. She’d healed his fractured hand and knew exactly where pressure applied would make it feel like it would rebreak. “A reminder that I don’t like to be let astray. We’ll talk more later.” Then she let go.

[Shadowed Graves] wasn’t even needed to produce respectful fear in his eyes.

The pair re-entered the tavern, Harmony with a smile hiding some of her conflicted feelings, and Tun-Knee with his schooled non-threatening easygoing mannerisms.

“How was the fresh air?” Alex asked, a tad more flushed from before.

“Nice. It really cleared some things up for me.” Harmony answered.

The tiger flexed his sore paw, and with a lingering R, he answered. “It was g-r-r-reat.”

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