I spent the morning helping Katye get some of her things put away and reorganizing her room. Most of her stuff was still in her storage ring, but her bedroom now felt very comforting and inviting. Her dog, Razputin or Raz for short, had a basket of toys that he had scattered throughout the room while we worked. He was very friendly and loved new people as I learned since most of the girls stopped by Katye"s room at some point to meet the little guy. He ended up running around between people so much that he had tuckered himself and fell asleep on the couch which let us sneak out of the room to get lunch."So, is there anything else you want to do after lunch?" I asked as we walked.
"Nothing special," she replied, shaking her head. "I"ll probably keep reading the books Alice lent me."
"Alright, I"ll probably get some training in before sunset, so you know where to find me."
"Is that all you guys do, train?" she asked.
"The others? Not really, but my brother and I, kinda... My brother is just compet.i.tive and is determined to match my effort, but it helps me release a lot of the pent-up energy and frustrations that my bloodline brings with it," I said with a shrug as I held open the door for her.
The kitchen was empty, except for the golem which carried over a tray with cold sandwiches and a half-filled bowl of salad with nuts. I took a couple sandwiches while Katye opted for some of the salad. We sat down at the table and I pulled out a soda from my storage, offering one to her as well.
She picked at her food, not seeming that interested in it, for awhile before she asked the question I knew had been bothering her. "How... how long did it take you to control your bloodline?"
I sighed and took a swig of my soda before I answered. "I still haven"t or I wouldn"t have my horns, believe me. I know you are worried about safely touching people, but since it"s just a matter of controlling your mana, you should be able to do that, consciously, in a week or two."
"That"s a relief, but that isn"t my only worry," she said, fluttering her wings to emphasize her point.
"Yeah, I can see that being another problem," I laughed. "It took me a year to fully suppress my scales and another year to get my horns down to where they are now."
"You also said something about it bothering your emotions."
I chuckled and scratched head as I looked away, trying to hide the blush that I was sure was creeping across my face. "Think of legends about dragons... When I first came here, I had a lot of violent outburst, Gustavo taking the brunt of them. Alice was actually the one who helped "shift" the problem to something else... Well, over time I"ve learned how to handle my urges and, when I can"t, I go back to basics and break a few of the golems in training yard."
"Fairies are supposed to playful and mischievous... I guess that isn"t too bad."
I chuckled and returned to my food. Katye began to eat with a little more enthusiasm, but it wasn"t long before we were joined my Sophia and Lesedi. As usual, they came in laughing and full of smiles. Lesedi, in particular, was excited to see me as she bounded over and sat down in Alice"s normal seat. She had beautiful ebony skin and a toned body that could rival my own, but her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were double the size of mine, approaching the d-cup range. Her very short black hair was starting to show a few signs of crimson showing through, coming "bleaching effect" of the fire mana she was always working with in her forge.
"Becca! How much do you love me?" she asked sweetly and leaned against my arm.
"More than there is water in the sea, my queen," I said sarcastically. "What do you want?" I asked dryly.
"Can I please have a few more scales?" she asked.
"What happened to the last ones you harvested?" I grumbled.
"She got carried away in testing and blew up half of them," Sophia answered.
"Traitor," she cursed, but quickly moved back to begging me. "Please, Rebecca, this could save lives! I"ve had a break through, I just need some more to make the final product."
"Can we talk about this later, Lesedi?" I sighed.
"Stop treating her like material," Sophia said, whacking Lesedi on the head before she sat down.
"Just a normal day in Dawn Manor," I said, smiling at Katye.
Katye returned my smile as Lesedi seemed to suddenly realize she was there and asked, "Eh, new girl, how ya doing? Been a rough day?"
Katye gave a light chuckle and shook her head. "No, we just gathered my stuff and came back and I didn"t even do that."
"That"s good, I was in tears for days after leaving my little brother and sisters, but Alice arranged for them to be moved to the States and I can pop in on them sometimes," Lesedi said.
"Where are you from?"
"South Africa, a city outside of Cape Town called Hermon."
While the two of them began chatting, Sophia leaned over and said quietly, "We finished your knife set, so don"t let her leverage that against you."
"Thanks... now tell me, did she really have some kind of breakthrough?"
"Once we was finally able to grind it into a fine dust, she added it to some mithril which was how she lost the majority of it when the mixture ignited. She used the remaining amount with gold and the improvements certainly qualify as groundbreaking," she answered in an a.n.a.lytical tone.
"Tomorrow then," I sighed, "but bring Melissa to treat my back. It"s not a pleasant feeling being skinned."
"You really don"t have to do this, Becca, there are other ways to block chaos energy."
"I know, but with this, she can incorporate that effect into everyone"s gear without wasting mana. What doesn"t kill you make you stronger, especially in my case," I responded with a smile.
Sophia sighed and turned her attention to her salad. Lesedi and Katye kept talking the whole time it took for Sophia and I to finish lunch. We slipped out of the room without alerting them and continued on our way, parting when she headed into the workshop while I continued on to the training field.