‘Crabapples.’
Excuse my Marianan1, but I couldn’t help but curse mentally as I saw my pupil progress through her transformation into her spirit form.
At first, I watched her in the mirror in amazement.
Her green leaf-like hair seemed to have died, slowly turning straighter and a color similar to hay.
Horns sprouted out of her head, and the rune on her face began to change.
Her ruby eyes twinkled adorably as she took in the shifts happening to her in front of her very eyes.
Around this point, I began to become worried.
I was the one that suggested that she try out the form, but truthfully, I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect. I was hoping that it was in the realm of a hair color change, or at least something similar to that, as most form switches are pretty minute.
My thinking was that the change might be a catalyst of sorts that might jumpstart her soul core, allowing her to use Soulia.
Instead, she was going through a full-body transformation, which wasn’t optimal with her already low Soul Level and the poisoning that she recently went through. It seemed to be sapping her core instead of boosting it.
Sure enough, as the form change finished, Maua collapsed, tumbling forward as she lost consciousness.
I quickly grabbed her, making sure she didn’t bang her head on the vanity. I proceeded to check her breathing, only to find that she wasn’t.
I panicked, thinking that she had died from having her soul core drained. Then it hit me, she was a spirit now. They don’t breathe.
Using my epiphany, I checked her soul core instead of her breathing, seeing it faintly glow.
I let out a sigh of relief, glad that I hadn’t killed my precious little protege.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of the issues. While her soul core was still active, it was slowly dimming, meaning that her life was seeping away.
‘Seaweed! I only know the bare basics about soul core repair…on beastmen. I don’t even know what the process might look like for species as complex as spirits.’
I lamented as I idly poked Maua’s cheek.
‘The timing couldn’t be worse, with both of my mothers being out of town on business trips. Kna’Ve is out meeting some family…which leaves me with…Haah. I guess I have no choice. I planned on introducing her to them later on, but I guess it can’t be helped.’
With my mind made up, I wrapped my wings around Maua, encasing her. From there, I exited the restroom, making my way to the library. Specifically, I went into the employee’s closet.
I briskly fished out two black robes, throwing one on over myself, and wrapped Maua in the other one.
I then rushed out, making my way to the shipping warehouse. I looked around, quickly boarding a carriage that was set to go in the direction of our destination. I set Maua down across from me. I then focused my attention on the fish attached to the carriage, easing them to set off.
As they started to build up speed, we set off covertly, hurriedly towards a small town a little ways away, covered in the blanket of the night.
As we smoothly traveled down the road, I looked across at my cute little pupil.
As I took in her new appearance, which look strangely similar to a younger inverted version of myself, my mind drifted to the last couple of weeks of her training.
To put it simply, Maua is a monster. An utter and complete monster.
Yes, she’s unable to use Soulia at this point in time, but that’s highly unlikely to stay that way. In several other metrics, she’s simply incredible.
To start off, the little girl’s physical stamina seems to be endless. No matter how many laps around the training area, she never would even get out of breath, far less tired.
Almost the same could be said for her mental fortitude. Even with the near-constant disappointment of not being able to use Soulia crushing down on her, she trained mercilessly. She never asked for a day off or a lighter training regime. She didn’t complain or pout. She just continued to go at it with full effort. It was only within the last couple of days that she began showing signs of frustration.
Her physical strength on its own was pretty lacking, as she was only a little bit stronger than one would expect from someone with body build. Generally, beastmen are much stronger than some would think just looking at them.
Not that this stopped my pupil, as she dwarfed this flaw with her ability to quickly understand most concepts, and to my avail, crush those concepts entirely.
One instance that I can’t seem to shake from my head being when I taught her about soul weapons. Soul weapons are objects that one creates from either the refinement of their own souls. I brandished my own golden fans as I spoke, proud of the product of my blood, sweat, and tears.
As if to crush my ego, my little student titled her head to the side and asked ‘Like this?’
She held out her hand face up. Her palm split in the middle, and an oddly shaped blade rose from the gouge.
The blade itself looked interesting, with its blood-red tint and odd shape. It seemly like it would be more aptly placed on the end of the spear than in my little pupil’s hand.
When I asked her about it, she said she got help from her friend in hell.
My face when from stunned to astonished as she exclaimed that she had an idea.
‘GET OVER HERE!’ she bellowed, making her move.
She threw the blade forward forcefully, only for a rope made of what looked to be a snake attached to it pulled it back towards her.
The move was a blatant copy of Adim and I’s favorite character from Immortal Konflict, Spider2.
If I had any doubt about Maua remembering a past life, or where she lived during it, it was crushed then in there.
I was shaken out of my stupor as the carriage came to a stop, signifying that we had arrived at our destination. I took a quick peek out of the carriage window, confirming that we were actually in the right place.
Once I was certain, I scooped Maua up and started down the main road of the small town.
Soon enough, I made it to the large house in the middle of the settlement. I proceeded to bang on the door.
“Who’s banging on the door!? Don’t you know it’s late?” a familiar voice grumbled as it neared.
I took down the hood of my robe, waiting for her to open the door.
It swung open shortly after, and in front of me was exactly who I was looking for.
“You got some real nerve- wait Rua?” she started scolding me, halting as she took a look at me.
“Heya sis,” I replied with a crumpled smile.
“Not that I’d ever be mad at my little sister visiting, but what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be pretty busy right now?” she asked leaning against the door frame.
I lifted Maua up in my arms and my sister focused on her.
“Sis, I messed up and my pupil is paying the price for my mistake. Please help her.” I begged.
“Your pupil?” she questioned.
I nodded in response.
“I’ll have to hear that story later…but haaah. If you’re going to ask like that then I don’t have much of a choice do I? Let me go get Bela.”
“Thank you sis, I owe you big time.”
“Of course you do.”
‘Ugh. My head hurts. Did someone come by and scoop my brain out with a spoon while I was asleep?’
As I pondered the origin of my headache, I opened my eyes.
It feels like fainting is just a vital component of my life at this point.
Instead of darkness or an unfamiliar ceiling, this time I got a pretty face.
A face that looked similar to the girl in the mirror. She was older, with dark hair, dark pink eyes, and a different marking under her eye, but they looked as if they could be related.
“Oh, you’re awake,” she said dryly as she looked down at me.
She backed away and turned towards the door.
“Mai, she’s awake,” she repeated in the same monotonous voice.
Receiving a muffled response that I couldn’t quite understand, the woman nodded.
“You should stay here. Your…master will come to pick you up in a little while,” she told me, walking out the door and shutting it behind her.
‘Like I’d believe that.’
I waited for the woman’s footsteps to move away from earshot before I began to make my move.
I felt strangely more defiant than usual, but it wasn’t like I had any reason to believe the lady.
‘Escape first, ask questions later.’
I made my way to the door slowly opening it, checking the hall as I did so.
Seeing that it was clear, I left the room.
I slowly crept down the hall looking for an exit.
As I stalked my way through the building, I walked past a door in which I could hear a conversation taking place.
I was about to ignore and move past it but a voice rang out in my head.
You’re going to want to hear this.
Cute-Ex Machina had returned from the dead.
I reasoned that it had never led me astray, so listening to the conversation might be worth the risk of getting caught.
I pressed up to the door, getting as close as I could.
“Something about that little girl throws me off,” a voice said.
“For some reason, she reminds me of my little Riot, and I hate it,” said another voice. This one I recognized as the lady who I saw when I woke up.
But what did she say?
‘No there’s no way.’
Did she say little Riot?
‘But that’s what my mama called me as long as I could remember…No, I’m just hearing things. There’s no way.’
“As if she could ever compare to my little angel,” the first voice scoffed.
‘Little angel? That’s my nickname from Ms. Azalea…this is just a coincidence right?’
“Hey!” another voice protested. This one was Master’s. “I understand she’s not Adim but I won’t tolerate you two bashing my pupil.”
‘She said Adim. That does it.’
With no more conscious thought, I open the door.
“I told you your master would be there shortly so just-,” the dark-haired lady, my mama, started.
“Forgive me for not following your instructions and intruding on your conversation,” I cut her off. “But are you Magnolia Day?”
I turned to the source of the other voice, a lady with pink hair.
“And are you Azalea Love?”
I then set my eyes on my master.
“Master, was your name Chrys Love?”
The room fell silent as the three absorbed the questions. The lack of objection was all the confirmation that I need.
I dropped to my knees, tears of joy flooding from my eyes. I barely registered the sharp pain coming from my back.
“It’s me. It’s me. I’ve missed you all so much.”
‘Crabapples.’
Excuse my Marianan1, but I couldn’t help but curse mentally as I saw my pupil progress through her transformation into her spirit form.
At first, I watched her in the mirror in amazement.
Her green leaf-like hair seemed to have died, slowly turning straighter and a color similar to hay.
Horns sprouted out of her head, and the rune on her face began to change.
Her ruby eyes twinkled adorably as she took in the shifts happening to her in front of her very eyes.
Around this point, I began to become worried.
I was the one that suggested that she try out the form, but truthfully, I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect. I was hoping that it was in the realm of a hair color change, or at least something similar to that, as most form switches are pretty minute.
My thinking was that the change might be a catalyst of sorts that might jumpstart her soul core, allowing her to use Soulia.
Instead, she was going through a full-body transformation, which wasn’t optimal with her already low Soul Level and the poisoning that she recently went through. It seemed to be sapping her core instead of boosting it.
Sure enough, as the form change finished, Maua collapsed, tumbling forward as she lost consciousness.
I quickly grabbed her, making sure she didn’t bang her head on the vanity. I proceeded to check her breathing, only to find that she wasn’t.
I panicked, thinking that she had died from having her soul core drained. Then it hit me, she was a spirit now. They don’t breathe.
Using my epiphany, I checked her soul core instead of her breathing, seeing it faintly glow.
I let out a sigh of relief, glad that I hadn’t killed my precious little protege.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of the issues. While her soul core was still active, it was slowly dimming, meaning that her life was seeping away.
‘Seaweed! I only know the bare basics about soul core repair…on beastmen. I don’t even know what the process might look like for species as complex as spirits.’
I lamented as I idly poked Maua’s cheek.
‘The timing couldn’t be worse, with both of my mothers being out of town on business trips. Kna’Ve is out meeting some family…which leaves me with…Haah. I guess I have no choice. I planned on introducing her to them later on, but I guess it can’t be helped.’
With my mind made up, I wrapped my wings around Maua, encasing her. From there, I exited the restroom, making my way to the library. Specifically, I went into the employee’s closet.
I briskly fished out two black robes, throwing one on over myself, and wrapped Maua in the other one.
I then rushed out, making my way to the shipping warehouse. I looked around, quickly boarding a carriage that was set to go in the direction of our destination. I set Maua down across from me. I then focused my attention on the fish attached to the carriage, easing them to set off.
As they started to build up speed, we set off covertly, hurriedly towards a small town a little ways away, covered in the blanket of the night.
As we smoothly traveled down the road, I looked across at my cute little pupil.
As I took in her new appearance, which look strangely similar to a younger inverted version of myself, my mind drifted to the last couple of weeks of her training.
To put it simply, Maua is a monster. An utter and complete monster.
Yes, she’s unable to use Soulia at this point in time, but that’s highly unlikely to stay that way. In several other metrics, she’s simply incredible.
To start off, the little girl’s physical stamina seems to be endless. No matter how many laps around the training area, she never would even get out of breath, far less tired.
Almost the same could be said for her mental fortitude. Even with the near-constant disappointment of not being able to use Soulia crushing down on her, she trained mercilessly. She never asked for a day off or a lighter training regime. She didn’t complain or pout. She just continued to go at it with full effort. It was only within the last couple of days that she began showing signs of frustration.
Her physical strength on its own was pretty lacking, as she was only a little bit stronger than one would expect from someone with body build. Generally, beastmen are much stronger than some would think just looking at them.
Not that this stopped my pupil, as she dwarfed this flaw with her ability to quickly understand most concepts, and to my avail, crush those concepts entirely.
One instance that I can’t seem to shake from my head being when I taught her about soul weapons. Soul weapons are objects that one creates from either the refinement of their own souls. I brandished my own golden fans as I spoke, proud of the product of my blood, sweat, and tears.
As if to crush my ego, my little student titled her head to the side and asked ‘Like this?’
She held out her hand face up. Her palm split in the middle, and an oddly shaped blade rose from the gouge.
The blade itself looked interesting, with its blood-red tint and odd shape. It seemly like it would be more aptly placed on the end of the spear than in my little pupil’s hand.
When I asked her about it, she said she got help from her friend in hell.
My face when from stunned to astonished as she exclaimed that she had an idea.
‘GET OVER HERE!’ she bellowed, making her move.
She threw the blade forward forcefully, only for a rope made of what looked to be a snake attached to it pulled it back towards her.
The move was a blatant copy of Adim and I’s favorite character from Immortal Konflict, Spider2.
If I had any doubt about Maua remembering a past life, or where she lived during it, it was crushed then in there.
I was shaken out of my stupor as the carriage came to a stop, signifying that we had arrived at our destination. I took a quick peek out of the carriage window, confirming that we were actually in the right place.
Once I was certain, I scooped Maua up and started down the main road of the small town.
Soon enough, I made it to the large house in the middle of the settlement. I proceeded to bang on the door.
“Who’s banging on the door!? Don’t you know it’s late?” a familiar voice grumbled as it neared.
I took down the hood of my robe, waiting for her to open the door.
It swung open shortly after, and in front of me was exactly who I was looking for.
“You got some real nerve- wait Rua?” she started scolding me, halting as she took a look at me.
“Heya sis,” I replied with a crumpled smile.
“Not that I’d ever be mad at my little sister visiting, but what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be pretty busy right now?” she asked leaning against the door frame.
I lifted Maua up in my arms and my sister focused on her.
“Sis, I messed up and my pupil is paying the price for my mistake. Please help her.” I begged.
“Your pupil?” she questioned.
I nodded in response.
“I’ll have to hear that story later…but haaah. If you’re going to ask like that then I don’t have much of a choice do I? Let me go get Bela.”
“Thank you sis, I owe you big time.”
“Of course you do.”
‘Ugh. My head hurts. Did someone come by and scoop my brain out with a spoon while I was asleep?’
As I pondered the origin of my headache, I opened my eyes.
It feels like fainting is just a vital component of my life at this point.
Instead of darkness or an unfamiliar ceiling, this time I got a pretty face.
A face that looked similar to the girl in the mirror. She was older, with dark hair, dark pink eyes, and a different marking under her eye, but they looked as if they could be related.
“Oh, you’re awake,” she said dryly as she looked down at me.
She backed away and turned towards the door.
“Mai, she’s awake,” she repeated in the same monotonous voice.
Receiving a muffled response that I couldn’t quite understand, the woman nodded.
“You should stay here. Your…master will come to pick you up in a little while,” she told me, walking out the door and shutting it behind her.
‘Like I’d believe that.’
I waited for the woman’s footsteps to move away from earshot before I began to make my move.
I felt strangely more defiant than usual, but it wasn’t like I had any reason to believe the lady.
‘Escape first, ask questions later.’
I made my way to the door slowly opening it, checking the hall as I did so.
Seeing that it was clear, I left the room.
I slowly crept down the hall looking for an exit.
As I stalked my way through the building, I walked past a door in which I could hear a conversation taking place.
I was about to ignore and move past it but a voice rang out in my head.
You’re going to want to hear this.
Cute-Ex Machina had returned from the dead.
I reasoned that it had never led me astray, so listening to the conversation might be worth the risk of getting caught.
I pressed up to the door, getting as close as I could.
“Something about that little girl throws me off,” a voice said.
“For some reason, she reminds me of my little Riot, and I hate it,” said another voice. This one I recognized as the lady who I saw when I woke up.
But what did she say?
‘No there’s no way.’
Did she say little Riot?
‘But that’s what my mama called me as long as I could remember…No, I’m just hearing things. There’s no way.’
“As if she could ever compare to my little angel,” the first voice scoffed.
‘Little angel? That’s my nickname from Ms. Azalea…this is just a coincidence right?’
“Hey!” another voice protested. This one was Master’s. “I understand she’s not Adim but I won’t tolerate you two bashing my pupil.”
‘She said Adim. That does it.’
With no more conscious thought, I open the door.
“I told you your master would be there shortly so just-,” the dark-haired lady, my mama, started.
“Forgive me for not following your instructions and intruding on your conversation,” I cut her off. “But are you Magnolia Day?”
I turned to the source of the other voice, a lady with pink hair.
“And are you Azalea Love?”
I then set my eyes on my master.
“Master, was your name Chrys Love?”
The room fell silent as the three absorbed the questions. The lack of objection was all the confirmation that I need.
I dropped to my knees, tears of joy flooding from my eyes. I barely registered the sharp pain coming from my back.
“It’s me. It’s me. I’ve missed you all so much.”
