The sun began its ascent over the imposing walls of Maldura Palace, casting a warm, golden hue that danced across the dew-kissed grass of the palace gardens. Each ray of light glinted off the tiny droplets, creating a shimring spectacle that contrasted with the eerie cries echoing from the nearby barracks. The air was crisp and invigorating, filled with the cheerful sounds of chirping birds and the gentle hum of busy insects, yet a sinister undercurrent of pain reverberated through the otherwise serene morning.
"Ugh!? How is one supposed to fight these monstrous beasts out in the wild? It's beyond !" exclaid Sara, the eldest daughter of the Revelia family, her voice a mix of frustration and disbelief.
At thirty-five years old, Sara felt entirely out of her elent. Gone was her usual elegant dress, replaced by a close-fitting set of leather armor, ticulously crafted by her uncle's esteed royal leatherworker. The gear had been made not just for her, but also for her three older sisters.
Clara, the youngest, had been deed too inexperienced and naïve to don armor, as she wasn't going to slay more than one monster a day.
Princess Rya was watching them from the sidelines with her sisters and a friend next to her. The dark elf didn't want the ten or eight-year-old Revelia sisters getting Mana Lust. And after seeing how her teenage sister almost succumbed to the lust of the mana. Rya wasn't about to risk letting the young girls kill monsters and not know how the mana would affect them.
Sara Revelia and her sisters were taking up Rya's offer to develop her Mana Vein by slaying captured monsters, mainly from the Raski Forest. The forest was a few hours south of Tairal, by the town of Mangst. Rya would send her Golems to capture the easier monsters and bring them up north for anyone to slay. And the Revelia daughters were the first to take up Rya's offer.
Sara had just killed her first monster with a dagger. The large hornet, known as Willow Wasps. It tried thrashing about, but the Golem wasn't phased by the stingers and continued holding the wasp tightly until Sara stabbed the weak point of the Willow Wasp's abdon, killing the monster.
"Ah! That was so gross," complained the youngest
Revelia, Clara. She hid behind Jemma when Sara yanked the dagger out, with orange blood coming out of the wound.
"Eww!" The 8-year-old grimaced.
Dalia snorted and laughed at the human kid's reaction. "Don't worry, Little Sliver. You'll get used to it."
Clara's expression twisted into a pout. "N-No, I won't. And stop calling , Little Silver!"
Dalia snorted again, which made Rya step in to rein in her friend before Lady Fyrella Coldforge finds out that the Wolfkin dropped her etiquette, Dalia would be done for.
"Dalia!? She's a daughter from a noble house. I don't know how quickly beastkin children grow. But, human kids aren't taught the art of battle unless it is necessary," Rya explained.
Dalia took a power pose, and she waved her left hand dismissively while turning her nose up at the girls.
"We are on the training grounds of warriors. Formalities an nothing if you're dead. It's best to teach the little human early and not late," Dalia explained.
The five Revelia daughters looked at her in frustration, while Rya's eyebrow twitched in irritation.
'Why is my friend so... dense? I need to co up with sothing to discipline her before she makes things worse.'
As Rya was trying to co up with a solution to get Dalia back into line. The wood elf, Nieren, looked like she had an idea. She slowly crept up behind the cocky wolfkin. She looked like she was getting into a proper mindset as she straightened her posture.
"I let this Wolfkin leave my sight for only a day, and you DARE act like an unrefined animal around nobles!?" Nieren said in a scolding voice that was eerily similar to the old dwarven noblewoman.
"Eep!?" Dalia stood at attention as she thought Lady Fyrella was right behind her. "I-I-I was only trying to show confidence, Stout One!"
Nieren used a wooden practice sword to imitate Fyrella's cane and wacked the ground by Dalia's feet.
*W—CRACK!*
"I AN!? LADY FYRELLA," Dalia replied after flinching from the sound of the wooden sword.
Rya, along with Elaine, Sara, Jemma, Eleanora, Lydia, and Clara, all looked dumbfounded by how spot on Nieren's impression was. Let didn't say anything as they watched in awe. 'Nieren can do impressions? I didn't know that?' Rya thought to herself as she continued to stay silent.
"P-Please have rcy," Dalia begged.
Nieren was trying her best to hide her smirk as she continued.
"Confidence?! That was arrogance. You dare show your shaful side to our guests! I tell you repeatedly that your actions reflect poorly on the Princess. And I hide out that not only did you show off your shaless self, but you also acted like a barbarian in front of the Royal family!" Nieren yelled in the old woman's voice.
"Y-Yes, I did," Dalia replied.
"Did what?"
"Showed my shaful side."
"And!?"
"And acted like a barbarian in front of the Royal Family."
"That's right! You are a proud Wolfkin... And proud Wolfkins aren't barbarians."
"Yes, Lady Fyrella."
Nieren was trying not to smile as she finished scolding Dalia. "I swear... It's like talking to a brick wall with you, Dalia. I'll forgive you this ti. But if I ever hear you speaking that way to the Princess or anyone of Royal blood. You will be severely punished! By my Goddess's hand I will—gah! Hahaha!"
Dalia realized that Lady Fyrella wasn't behind her until the breeze shifted and she was downwind of the wood elf. She turned and tackled Nieren to the ground.
"WOODY! YOU STUPID ELF! DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN, OR I'LL EAT YOU! WHOA!?"
Nieren swiftly rolled the pregnant Wolfkin on the grassy training grounds, and she straddled the beastkin's stomach. Dalia frantically tried to wiggle free like usual, but she was nearing the halfway point of her pregnancy. And her body was slowing down from the strain.
"Gah! Yield, Woody. Yield!" Dalia demanded.
Nieren didn't let up. And she was smirking, as she had her prey subdued.
"No! I don't think so," Nieren said, while her fingers lightly caressed the underside of the Wolfkin's arms.
"Ha! You aren't so tough with your belly full of pups," Nieren declared triumphantly.
Dalia kicked and grunted, but she couldn't free herself. Nieren had a firm grip on her wrists and wasn't letting go.
"What until I'm no longer pregnant. Then I'll show you who's the tough one," Dalia said, with a growl.
Nieren didn't even flinch. And she was enjoying watching the Wolfkin finally struggling with her added weight.
"Ha, Ha, ha... Don't make promises you can't keep, Pup-Mama," Nieren said mockingly.
"Don't call that, you stinky, wood-rotten, leaf thing!" Dalia spat as she struggled to insult the blonde Elf.
Rya wanted to laugh, but she heard the collective groans coming from Sara and Jemma, who were brought up as proper ladies. She glanced over at the five sisters and saw that Clara was holding back a chuckle.
"Are all demi-humans this immature?" Asked Eleanora.
"It seems so," Jemma whispered. "At least they are friendly... Despite their lack of manners."
Sara was a little judgntal by second nature; however, what Rya did for her and her sisters was amazing. For the first ti in decades, her future seed brighter.
"Princess Rya?" Sara asked, politely.
Rya turned to face her, and Sara gave a small smile. "Yes, Lady Sara?"
"How do you survive the... uh, constant barrage of second-hand embarrassnt? I an, how do you deal with your companions being so... immature?"
Rya looked back at the wrestling pair and saw Nieren trying to pull up Dalia's shirt. The Wood Elf was failing and trying not to laugh as she did so.
"It makes life interesting, Lady Sara. I try to make sure they stay out of trouble, but there isn't a lot that I can do. Besides, they are still learning to be polite."
Nieren, who was in a little slapping match with the pinned Wolfkin, looked over at her sister, Rya.
"Hey!? I'm a royal princess by blood, and I'm older than Lady Sara," Nieren said, in an offended voice.
"I would have believed her a couple of days ago. But no, I'm not sure," Sara joked.
"Hey!?" Nieren called back.
Rya couldn't help but feel relieved. After everything that happened during Lydia's coming-of-age party. The Revelia sisters were still a little worried about being in the presence of a Dark Elf. Sure, Rya freed Jemma from her horrible husband and all the girls found out that they were mages, but there was that underlying fear of the Dark Elf's powers. Luckily for Rya, Sara was showing signs of warming up to her, and it seems like the rest of them were following suit.
"Then get off the dirty ground and stop acting like children," Elaine chid in.
Dalia looked over at the newest addition to Yuliana's family and snorted.
"The young one acts older than us, Woody," Dalia comnted.
"You know what? I think you're right, Wolf," agreed Nieren as she slowly looked at her adopted sister, who was looking a little nervous.
"W-Why are you two looking at like that?" Asked Elaine.
"Oh, no reason," said Nieren with a wicked grin, while she got off of the Wolfkin.
"No reason at all," agreed Dalia as she rolled over onto her hands and knees.
Just as the two were about to pounce on the young half-elf. Rya finally stepped in and separated the two.
"Knock it off, you two. Or do you think you can go through to get to my little sister?" Rya asked as she stepped in front of Elaine.
"Awe!? Co on, Alpha. We were about to have—"
Dalia stopped mid-sentence as four new golems ford from the earth beside Rya.
Dalia looked over at Nieren, "Woody... There cos a ti in every proud Wolfkin's life when we fight... To run away!"
Nieren didn't respond as she took off after the pregnant Wolfkin.
"R9? Take your team after them and make sure they burn off enough energy to calm them down," Rya commanded.
The tallest golem nodded, took its three companions, and started chasing after the two demi-humans.
"Gah! There co—oof! Dalia!? You coward!"
The Wolfkin tripped the wood elf when she was looking behind her as they were running away from the golems.
"Survival of the fittest!"
"OH, you are so dead!" Roared Nieren as she scrambled back onto her feet as R9 and C2 were closing in on her.
Sara, Jemma, Elaine, and the others looked worried about the two demi-humans' fates. Elaine was the only one to laugh.
"I will try to understand Demi-human humor. But I fear that it is lost on ," Sara said.
"Oh, don't worry about the golems. They will wear them out. And they won't get hurt. My golems are made from a special type of earth," Rya said.
"Special?" Sara asked curiously.
Rya was about to explain the properties of her unique magic.
"Yeah, since those four are made out of soft dirt. They can't hurt them so easily. But that won't stop the golems from knocking them out if need be," Rya said.
"Ah, I see. That is quite a relief," Sara admitted.
"Wait? So you are saying that your golems are only as strong as the materials they are made out of," Jemma asked.
Rya smiled and bobbed her head side to side, trying to co up with a layman's term for it.
"Well, it is a part of it. However, a golem can be stronger with a lot more mana. But then they need to be recharged more often, which can put stress on my mana vein. That's when using stronger materials helps reduce the amount of mana to maintain their form," Rya explained.
"I see. So, have you made one of your golems out of steel? Or maybe iron?" Asked Jemma.
"Well, I have experinted with that, and it's a little more complicated than I like to admit," Rya admitted.
"How so?" Asked Sara.
"Well, if I create a golem out of pure iron ore, then they are really durable and strong. However, they are far less nimble than my Golems made from stone and dirt. It might have to do with the incandation itself, or there are limitations that not even I can brute force it," Rya answered, but then she started pondering. "Maybe a magical influence ore would work better, like Purple Iron? Maybe mythril? Or how about White obsidian?"
Everyone glanced at each other as Rya was lost in her thoughts.
"Your Highness? You're muttering," Sara pointed out.
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I tend to ramble when I think about the possibilities. Anyway, I was able to incorporate steel into a couple of golems. But instead of making them out of solid tal. I used enough steel to create a skeleton, then I added rock or dirt to fill in the gaps. This way, my golems were stronger and faster than normal. However, I need to brush up on my anatomy courses. So I can speed up the process of creating them. It's just faster to use a single material to create a golem."
"Ah, I see," Jemma said, with a nod.
Sara was surprised. She was under the notion that magic was simple. If you had an affinity for an elent and you had a good mana vein, then you could create fire or ice. She didn't know about the intricacies of magic, or that it could take ti and effort to master.
"That's quite interesting," Sara comnted and looked at the line of other golems standing there with monsters in their hands, thrashing about. Trying to escape.
'I need to learn from the princess. If I can beco a powerful mage, then no man could dare harm my sisters or ever again.'
With a newfound determination in Sara's eyes, she motioned for the next golem to step forward with a monster in its hand.
"I want to learn about this. Princess Rya. Will you teach and my sisters?"
"Uh, sure. But you aren't the only ones that I promise to help train," Rya replied, with a smile.
"Then I'd better not waste your ti... HYAH!"
Sara stabbed the Willow Wasp, and it died instantly. Soon after that, so of the mana coming from the slain monster flowed inside the woman. She had a serious expression as she continued her training.
'I-I think I can feel an energy coming into . Is this mana? I will do my best and not disappoint the princess.'
Sara was feeling a slight tingle in her loins after slaying her third monster, and she wondered if it was the mana going into her body. Or sothing else.
Sara blushed when her leather chest plate began to get snug around her chest.
'J-Just focus on your task, Sara,' thought Sara as she stabbed another monster.
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