A young mage's journey 3

As may be redundant to mention, but Tanya had not been adopted by Mennehl and Genivere. If you listened to the young wife’s whispered words, this was solely by her own design, but Tanya wasn’t entirely sure Mennehl would have done so on his own initiative either, if his discomfort whenever his wife subtly, by Genivere’s low standards, hinted that he should impregnate her if he wanted to be a father meant anything. 

In practical terms, this meant that Tanya only went for lessons/work four times a week, albeit for most of the day. The other three days, she was like any other orphan, with only minor differences that were accounted for by her already having an apprenticeship, so she could be allocated away from activities that involved skills she would not likely need, already possess, or would learn from Mennehl, like heavy physical labor, arithmetic, or reading. 

Instead, she was taught more domestic skills, as apprentices were rather typically utilized as domestic servants in return for their housing on top of their productive labor in return for their education. As she had not been moved into Mennehl and Genivere’s house, this had yet to occur, but it was seen by the nuns as an inevitability so she was taught to prepare for that event. 

It was rather… academically interesting to learn how humanity kept itself clean and fed before the times of electrical appliances and other modern conveniences, but that’s the kind of shine that wears off really fast; she was not happy with the prospect of having to keep washing clothes by hand for the rest of her life, but unless she got rich enough to afford servants, it was unavoidable. 

Even in the worst case, if something happened to Mennehl or if Genivere managed to fully sway him against teaching her, these skills would still serve her well in many other paths in life… even if they would be most useful for becoming a housewife or maid. Particularly the times when she was led to take care of the toddlers and infants, which were the only children young enough that an eight year old could be an adequate caretaker. 

At first, Tanya resisted the idea that she’d find these skills useful, but in the end, she had to remind herself that all she wanted out of life was getting into an economically stable position, where she can die peacefully of old age, without having to work until her dying day. That’s the only way she can win her rigged game with Being X, so if she ends up having to find a husband to do that… well, she’d prefer to avoid that fate, but it would be an adequate fallback. While she didn’t get the chance to see Being X’s hand in shaping her matured appearance, her cute features as a child did seem to imply that she’d be on the prettier side; it would not be out of character for Being X to make her beautiful specifically to make her life worse, but those are the kinds of problems that can be surmounted; being ugly is not so easy to compensate for. 

It was during one of these “life lessons”, assisting Sister Gloria with the five infants that the orphanage currently held, that she met someone that many of the other children raved about during mealtimes. 

L’arachel, the young noble who was apparently only twelve, four years older than Tanya, had apparently got it into her head that she wanted to be a hero, and whoever was in charge of her decided that it was easier to send her off with a towering bodyguard by the name of Dozla than to say no to her. 

Because this was a part of Rausten that regularly got minor monster incursions, she had decided to ride forth and hunt them down to keep ‘the innocent citizenry’ safe. What she spent most of her time doing was beyond Tanya’s ability to discern, but the forty-ish bodyguard never let the girl out of his sight, apparently a keen manipulator in how he used his professed battle lust to convince her that doing what he said was the best way to find more fights. He may have just thought it amusing to watch a ten year old girl chop wood for physical conditionin-err… “hero training”, though. 

All of this was information Tanya had passively gathered, with a little reading between the lines, from the other children; while L’arachel had been tasked to perform little odd jobs for the citizenry as part of her training, she seemed to gravitate to the orphanage so she could play games with the children, exerting whatever status she had to get the nuns to cancel whatever income-producing task was supposed to be going on in favor of entertaining her with play. When hearing about this, Tanya assumed that Dozla was ensuring a small bag of gold made its way into the Orphanage’s coffers to make up the shortfall. The girl’s jewelry certainly implied wealth…

“Oh! That’s a cute baby!” L’arachel gushed as Tanya entered the yard with the infant in question. 

“Most are.” Tanya said tiredly. She took a few steps past the girl and settled her back onto the magical lamps that were scattered around the orphanage’s grounds. They weren’t lit often, but it would be rather silly for an entire discipline of magic to be called ‘light’ magic if it couldn’t illuminate an area when needed, wouldn’t it? “This is Recca, she’s ten months old.” They think, at least. Every time a baby was left on the orphanage’s doorstep, there was a convention between the nuns to guess the baby’s age, and then they started counting from there. This one was left four months ago and judged to be about six months old at the time. 

“Hello little Recca!” L’arachel said, her voice even higher than usual. The baby giggled at the new person; naturally Tanya was given the most well behaved child to tend to. “So, I don’t think I’ve seen you around.” L’arachel said, transitioning her attention to Tanya after taking a step back. 

“I have an apprenticeship.” Tanya explained simply, “So I’m not here half the time. L’arachel, right? I’ve heard about you.”

“Indeed, it is I, L’arachel! Daughter of heroes, and I will take up their burden gladly, for the innocent of Rausten should live happy and free, like all of you do!” She declared dramatically, giving an unmistakable magical girl pose. 

Tanya snorted in laughter at the odd coincidence. Bad move. L’arachel huffed, offended at Tanya’s response. “I am too going to be a hero! Watch me!”

Uh oh. Damage control. “I’m sorry, that’s not why I laughed.” Tanya said quickly, “It’s just… we’re not exactly free.” It wasn’t exactly the best time to go into social commentary, but it was the first thing she thought of. “Orphanage life is very regimented, not as much as, say, the military, but this orphanage is run by six nuns, while being populated with fifty-five children. Rules must be strict for such an imbalance to not descend into chaos, and while the older children can be charged with assisting with younger ones, that’s not as reliable as it sounds. Career-wise, our paths in life are sharply limited by market forces.” Tanya huffed in amusement. “There are worse forces to be guided by, but when you are near the bottom of the social hierarchy, market forces tend to compel the sale of one’s health and lifespan rather than allow the development of safer, more valuable skills.” It took a rather substantial amount of planning and effort to set herself up as she did; a real child would have very little chance of replicating her feat. “It’s a respectable choice to make, to be sure, but…” She made that choice once. It didn’t work out. 

L’arachel looked utterly baffled at Tanya’s words. “But… you can play and run around!” She said, gesturing to the children that were currently play-fighting with sticks. Half of them had substantial amounts of mud on their clothes. 

Hm. Tanya supposed that to a child noble, that must seem like the height of freedom, to act without regard for dignity or propriety. “Normally, this time of the week, most of those children would be out in the woods, picking valuable flowers so the apothecary can make medicines.” She said, gesturing to the woods in question. The lack of such flowers means that Mennehl will have to find something else to do; it did look like it would rain soon, so if it was convenient they could beckon thunder spirits instead… “But because you are here, they instead get to be your playmates.”

To her credit, L’arachel seemed to understand what she was saying. “So it’s because I’m…” She trailed off, looking sad. 

“I’m afraid so.” Tanya said, patting the girl on the shoulder. Recca imitated her, patting L’arachel’s hand. “At times, it can seem that nobles and commoners live in different worlds, and part of that is that for a commoner, to refuse a noble’s request is dangerous. By requesting that you be allowed to play with the children, the nuns must weigh the possibility that you would not wish to wait for your playtime, and that the children may be too exhausted from their chores to adequately entertain you.” Tanya gestured to the courtyard. “The children, of course, are ignorant of this. To them, your arrival means they can play more, and do less chores. This is why they’re always so happy to see you.”

Dozla had apparently noticed that his charge was unhappy with something, and had decided to wander on over. “Oh ho? Don’t cry, L’arachel! Quite unbecoming of a hero, you know?” 

“Right!” L’arachel said, visibly gathering herself, then faltering. “...Dozla, is this the children’s normal playtime?” She asked. 

“I wouldn’t know!” Dozla deflected immediately. “I asked when the children would play so you could join them, and they told me to arrive with you when we did.” 

“She says they get extra playtime because of me.” L’arachel said, gesturing to Tanya. 

“Oh? What’s your name, then?” Dozla said, still as gregarious as ever. 

“My name is Tanya, Sir Dozla.” Tanya curtsied with one hand, the other still holding Recca to her shoulder. “I would presume that you’ve been making donations for the nun’s consideration?”

“Of course!” Dozla said, “It’s only right to tithe extra when you’re making a request to one of the Houses of God.”

“Which compensates nicely for the lost income in medicine production, and skipping a day will allow the forest to recover more, improving yields down the line. Furthermore, the local economy as a whole can only benefit from the economic stimulus of your actions, as it’s external money coming in without being in disruptive quantities.” Tanya said, smiling to herself for guessing correctly. “But in the immediate sense, as the Apothecary’s apprentice, it means that there will be no materials for us to work with tomorrow.” Tanya stopped herself and took a deep breath. It was important to stay calm in the presence of babies. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be burdening you with my petty concerns, Lady.” She offered the baby to the noble. “Would you like to play with Recca?”

“Yes!” L’arachel said before pausing. “You shouldn’t apologize for telling the truth, though.” She said firmly, “A hero should listen to the concerns of their charges, for not all problems can be solved with a sword. Sometimes, a willing ear is all someone needs.” That sounded like she was quoting someone… of course, L’arachel then picked up the baby and made a silly face. Recca giggled, copying the silly face and blowing a raspberry at the noble. 

Naturally, Tanya would be seen as weird if she didn’t join in on the playtime, even with a baby to watch, so over the next few hours, interrupted occasionally by Recca needing something, Tanya was elected to play the evil Gorgon who was going to eat the newborn princess (Recca, of course) if she was not stopped. 

“Fools!” Tanya half-shouted, projecting her voice but without screaming so as to not disturb Recca. “Only those with the blessing of the Unicorn can break my scales! Now, behold my… DEMON SURGE!” Tanya threw a glob of mud at L’arachel, staining her dress. 

“Oh no!” L’arachel dramatically fell to the ground. “Her magic is too powerful! My sword, it is broken!”

“I am the noble unicorn!” Declared Meri, an eleven year old girl. “I touch my horn to you and give you my blessing.”

“What?” Tanya overacted, jaw dropping. “No! Not the last unicorn. I will turn you to stone, blessed hero!” Tanya splattered the mud that was still on her hand in L’arachel’s direction. 

Gus, a thirteen year old boy, jumped in front of the mud. “Nooooo!” He shouted, falling to the ground dramatically. “Take… my sword!” He said through gritted teeth as he pretended to be turned to stone. 

“Sir Gus!” L’arachel shouted worriedly. She takes the stick from Gus’ hands. “Your evil ways are doomed!” She shouted, rushing forward and stabbing Tanya with the stick. 

Tanya caught it in her armpit, of course. “The blessing of the unicorn!” Tanya gasped, pretending that she had just been greviously injured. “No, my one… weakness…” Tanya fell over, giving her best rictus for her death scene. As she had laid her head next to the basket that Reccas had been placed in, the baby reached out and started patting Tanya’s head, giggling. 

“The land is saved!” L’arachel announced, looking upon the half-dozen or so other children that had ‘fallen in battle’ as Tanya’s minions. “The innocent have nothing more to fear, for L’arachel the hero prevailed!”

After a few more seconds, Tanya sat up. “Okay everyone, you can get up now!” The yard was filled with giggling as the spell of the dramatic scene was lifted. 

“Dinnertime!” Shouted Sister Leanne, who had been watching them all for the last four minutes. From the look of surprise on half the children’s face, they probably thought that it was lucky that the game wasn’t interrupted. 

The dinner was a meat stew and fresh bread from the bakery down the road that was of a much higher quality than was their usual fare, L’arachel joined them and praised the cooking skills of the nuns. Dozla ate five bowls, and while the nuns didn’t do anything so blatant as to tell the children to thank him, Tanya knew that he was to blame for this improved quality.

Still, L’arachel was a good kid, Tanya wasn’t going to snub her generosity, even if it inconvenienced her personally. 

----------------------------

Tanya really wished she had snubbed L’arachel’s generosity. Apparently, when Tanya had complained about losing her workload, she had interpreted it to mean that Tanya now had a free day, and had promptly commandeered her time. 

Mennehl, as Genivere was busy drilling her troops, had happily taken the escort job of making sure L’arachel didn’t get herself killed while “monster hunting”, i.e. ride around the countryside.

As such, he had brought a rather substantial arsenal of magic with him. He had his more powerful fire tome, referred to as Elfire, as well as his Thunder magic tome, plus two different healing staffs, a normal one and an additional one that could be used at range. 

Furthermore, he brought additional supplies for everyone to use: Dozla was given a more magically potent medicinal elixir to hold along with the massive axe he brought with him, the blade larger than Tanya’s entire body. Tanya had a new healing staff, both her and L’arachel had more ordinary healing vulnaries, and L’arachel had the one weapon she was capable of using: a rather small axe, small enough that a twelve year old girl could swing it with reasonable speed. It was enchanted to return to the linked bracelet when thrown, and she apparently also had enough priestess training to use staves as well, so she also had a healing staff, albeit a half-used one. 

More excitingly, though, in the unlikely event that they found battle on this trip, Tanya got to bring her experimental weapon with them. It was constructed quite similarly to a healing staff, but it was loaded with toxic chemicals instead of medicinal ones, including the poison of a local plant that was just incredibly irritating to the skin. In theory, it should inflict incapacitating amounts of pain when administered, and provide a lethal dose of venom to eventually kill if not healed. Naturally, Mennehl insisted that she also carry an antidote, and a staff that administered a somewhat broader spectrum medicine that included such an antidote. 

There were… mistakes in the experimentation. It wasn’t anything she didn’t experience during mage training in the Empire, their chemical protection spells were top notch, but training to use them… Well, there were a few controlled exposures. 

Still, she had a weapon in her hands for the first time in a long time, even if it wasn’t a gun, so she was feeling pretty good! She rode on the back of Mennehl’s horse, while L’arachel had a pony she rode as well. Dozla just jogged alongside them without seeming to ever get tired. In rougher terrain, he even outpaced the horses. 

They crested a large hill, and L’arachel immediately pointed into the distance. “Look! A monster!” She exclaimed, excited. 

In the distance, a single walking skeleton, called a Bonewalker in local parlance, listlessly wandered, carrying an ordinary looking spear. This was a much more common occurange to see in this area than packs of Mauthe dogs. 

“Oh ho!” Dozla said, similarly perked up at the prospect of action. “Okay, remember what I taught you.” He said, “Find a defensible position, then let the monster come to you.” He started to review the terrain. 

L’arachel seemed to make a decision on where to position, and gently led her pony towards a particularly dense cluster of trees. Right before entering the trees, she dismounted and ran to a spot between two large ones. “Hey!” She shouted, “I am L’arachel the hero, and I will destroy you, monster!”

Bonewalkers were not the stupidest monster species, that honor went to the zombie-like Revenants, but they were a close second place. Seeing a living creature, it rattled its jaw and clumsily charged with its spear outstretched. 

“Control the weapon!” Dozla shouted as the rest of the group ambled down the slope. Tanya had her healing staff out, while Mennehl had his Elfire tome readied. Dozla’s absolutely massive axe was held casually on his shoulder. 

L’arachel parried the thrust, but not well enough: her thick leather dress with additional metal plates bolted into it managed to deflect the blow, but she also had to regain her footing and breath from the strength of it. She dropped her axe entirely, but it returned to her hand when she flexed her fingers to trigger the bracelet. 

“Not yet.” Dozla commented, clearly readying himself to burst in. The second spearthrust was parried with much more ability, and L’arachel chopped the spear into one of the trees, severing the end of it. Now with a much less effective weapon, even L’arachel’s novice combat skills were able to chop the skeleton into immobility. 

“I did it!” L’arachel exclaimed happily, jumping in joy. At least, until she stopped and felt at her probably-bruised ribs. “Ow…”

Dozla walked up and slapped the little girl on the back, laughing. “Yep! All by yourself. And you brought your own healer this time, too!”

That was her cue… Tanya walked up and poked L’arachel’s side. 

“Ow!” L’arachel exclaimed, “Why did you do that!” 

“...No, I probably don’t need to see it.” Tanya said softly, thinking out loud, after seeing the full extent of the damage on the armor. It was probably not bleeding. She took her healing staff and channeled the medicine, guiding it to enter through the wound, flow into the heart, and then from there spread all over the body. All the while, keeping a firm image in her head as to what an uninjured version of L’arachel was supposed to look like. 

“Ah, much better!” L’arachel said, slapping the former wound location and smiling widely as there was no pain. 

“It was just a bruise.” Tanya announced, “It may have been prudent to stall healing so she gained some pain resistance.”

Dozla waved off her suggestion. “We have more healing than we need, that can wait for later.”

“Let’s find another!” L’arachel shouted, mounting back up on her pony. 

Dozla laughed, pointing in what may or may not be a random direction. “That way!”

----------------------------

They never found a single monster that wasn’t alone, and while one was powerful enough that Dozla bisected it himself instead of letting it dive at L’arachel from the air, overall it was a tired cycle of finding a monster, letting L’arachel fight it, and then heal up her inevitable injuries. In total, they found six; a respectable amount but it was still less than Tanya had seen Genivere’s patrols kill on a typical day. 

Unfortunately, the day was not over. They were on the main trade road, heading back to town, when they passed over a well constructed stone bridge, wide enough for two wagons to pass each other, with enough space beneath that the tiny stream beneath could pass without impediment. It would be larger and more vigorous, but the rainclouds still hadn’t unleashed their payloads yet. “I never have gotten the chance to show you how a thunder tome is scribed.” Mennehl said, breaking the silence. 

“You beckon the thunder spirits by standing on a hill with a thunder shrine, then bargain to give it safe passage through the earth in return for their help with the magic?” Tanya said, recalling the lesson Mennehl explained when going over the writing part of it. 

“That’s right.” He said, “You should stay the night, in case the rain comes when it’s dark.”

Genivere is not going to like that… She should sound excited, though. “Really?” Tanya asked, “Can I?”

“Yes, thunder is more dangerous than fire, but it’s the next step in your training.” Mennehl said firmly. 

“I can’t even use a fire tome yet.” Tanya pointed out.

“Using magic isn’t important right now, you’ll pick it up later.” Mennehl said, waving off her concern. “You just need to watch the process at least once to have any hope of controlling them, and I’m tired of waiting for the weather to line up with your lessons.”

Right as they crossed the bridge, two pairs of men came out from under the bridge to block off either side; four more men came out and fanned out behind the men in front of them. The clear leader was ahead of them; he was either a bit of a battle maniac himself or, more likely, he needed to lead from the front to maintain his authority among his fellows. 

There was no mistake; these were clear bandits. Five of them had woodcutting axes and the muscles to use them, the clear leader had a sword of reasonable size, and two of them had hunting bows, which were both trained clearly on L’arachel. 

“I see we have a fancy noblebrat here!” The leader said with joy. “Look at all of that kit!”

“Don’t do this.” Mennehl said, resigned. “Sand, you don’t need to rob a young girl to make ends meet. Walk away.”

“Who are you to talk!?” The now-named Sand roared, “You’ve never gone hungry a day in your life! You have fucking glasses, rich boy! You’re a fuck ton closer to that brat than you are to me, don’t go talking to me like you care.”

“I know times have been tough for you, but you can’t-” Mennehl continued. 

“I sure as fuck can!” Sand shouted, “We outnumber you four to one! You’re dead if that little girl gets a single hair harmed, but I’m going to be nice, because mercenaries like me just want pay: If you give over all your valuables, weapons included, right now, I won’t take the kid hostage and get even more money ransoming her.” 

The axe-wielding man to his side looked at Sand. “Wait, why aren’t we going for more money?”

“Because coins in hand are worth more, Bette.” Sand said condescendingly. “Ransoms take forever to clear, and if we can get what we want right now? Well, not worth the trouble.” He gestured with his sword. “But if we have to get our hands dirty anyway…” He added, trailing off. 

Mennehl didn’t immediately respond, and L’arachel seized the conversation: “Bandits, you disgust me!” She announced, raising her axe high. “Surrender to Justice or fall in battle!”

“You should listen to the girl.” Dozla suggested, “If any of you harm a single hair on her head, none of you will survive the day.”

“Tch. Loose!” Sand ordered, and a pair of arrows launched towards L’arachel. Tanya was ready, though, and pushed the girl off her pony with her staff, causing both to miss her. 

Dozla roared and threw himself forward, while Mennehl created an inferno behind them. L’arachel had managed to land on her feet and launched herself in Dozla’s wake, and Tanya cursed, following her. 

Glass ducked under Dozla’s axe, his nimble frame scoring a cut underneath the behemoth’s armpit, and slipped past him so as to gain an advantage by surrounding the warrior. 

L’arachel threw her axe at one of the archers, scoring a direct hit, but it left her wide open to Sand attempting to score a cut of his own… Until Tanya shoved her staff in his direction, invoking her new staff as she kept a firm mental image of the opposite of what she usually does, picturing a spreading blackness that ruined his organs. 

Sand screamed in pain as every single nerve ending in his torso flared up, falling to his knees. This left him wide open for L’arachel’s followup axe swing which decapitated him. 

A crack of lightning indicated the last of the bandits dying, Dozla and Mennehl efficiently exterminating them as no others got even close to harming L’arachel. 

Still, Tanya should probably prepare to deal with the usual rigamarole surrounding someone getting their first kill; monsters are one thing, but surely L’arachel’s composure would be thoroughly shaken by killing a person. 

“The roads are safer!” The girl announced, just as enthusiastic as before. “I got him, did you see me Dozla! I killed the bandit, like a hero!” 

…Oh.