664 10/12 4:37 (Autumn, Day, Midrar's Capital)
Sabel reached Luna before the door to her home, the Lunarian being busy observing it with her True Sight. "This is not normal wood. Ent? Or another use of Undeads to make more effective materials?"
"The former." Answered Sabel immediately. "My parents hunted it down themselves and then sold the extra limber at quite the price. It is both quite sturdy and very Energy efficient, especially as the Monster's Rank increases."
"I see." Luna nodded, most of her small curiosity having been sated, before knocking softly against its dense wooden frame and paying attention to the way that the Mana inside flowed in response to the force. "Surprisingly effective. Even without active Energy use, it possesses defensive ability comparable to steel while possessing much higher Conductivity. The Ent was... a new B-Ranked one?"
"Not yet. It was still at C-Rank, but it would have increased in Rank within ten days at the longest." Sabel corrected softly, observing nostalgically the door to her home, a two-and-a half metre tall, three metres wide and at least twenty centimetres deep plank of almost black wood.
Long patterns of gold and silver were carved upon its surface, breaking the monotony of what otherwise would have been a simple block of wood, starting from the image of a tree upon the very top.
Sabel's hand briefly passed over the flourishes, her gaze concentrated on the silver flowers binding various golden blades that pointed inward, subtly guiding the gazes towards the large, vertical metal bars in the middle, the door's handles composed of alternating waves of gold and silver, mixing together while maintaining their differences.
"This pattern is..." Luna blinked, examining the whole with her True Sight and Senses alike. "Not part of any Runic Array? Yet it is still heavy in Mana, being continuously fed upon the wood. Why, if it doesn't offer any actual benefit?" She wondered, receiving a gentle smile from her Human.
"Those were made once my parents figured out that, well, my mother was pregnant. The golden swords come from my mother while the silver flowers are from my father. The mixing between the two is, well, me." The black-haired one felt quite bashful at the last part, trying to evade the gazes of both Mafel and Amber. "Now, come on inside."
Tawn hands closed around the handles, their owner pushing slightly inward before pulling them towards herself, the door at first resisting her efforts before recognizing her and eagerly opening, almost on its own. "I'm happy to see you too." Sabel whispered, caressing the metallic handles briefly before turning towards her Mates, inviting them in.
Luna entered first, her crimson eyes scanning the place immediately, Recording everything first so that she could go over it later.
Mafel followed soon after, unwilling to be under the gaze of Ghosts any longer than necessary, her hands reassuringly clenching around her Unique Arma while her vibrant blue eyes searched for any traces of Undeads within the manor itself.
Amber, watching the other two, merely smiled in amusement, long ribbons of golden flames trailing behind her as she entered, counting on their very specialized nature to avoid damaging Sabel's home while at the same time releasing some of the stress caused by continuously supressing her non-Human physical traits, her wings and horns.
Upon Sabel's own entrance, the doors slammed closed on their own behind them, causing Mafel to jump and look all around with a raised staff, ready to blast anything moving with a wave of Holy-Attribute Mana.
Yet the only result of her preparations was the amused gazes belonging to her three Mates that now aimed right at her, causing Mafel's pointed ears to redden violently.
"What?! There is nothing strange about-!" Mafel's flustered tentative of an explanation was only met by Luna stretching slightly and posing one of her pale hands on her head, half-mocking and half-reassuringly.
"No need to worry, if I feel a Ghost near you, I will properly eat it. Spirit needs as much help as possible." Luna teasingly reassured, her lips turning up slightly upon feeling the indignation coming from the grey-haired one.
"I am not scared of Ghosts!" The Elf exclaimed, her irritation rising only to calm down upon feeling her Mates' emotions.
"We know you are not afraid; we are just teasing you." Sabel reassured, leaving aside the fact that her emotions were, in fact, closer to repulsion towards all ghostly Undeads, born of her previous memories as one and the instinctive understanding that, upon death, she would return to being such a Being.
Fate that would condemn her to an existence with a hole in her heart, a lack that would cause her to hunt and be hunted down by other People until her final end.
A fate that she loathed and would forever loathe and reject with every fibre of her being.
And in truth, one of the many reasons she so easily accepted belonging to Luna was the promise of eternity and the conclusive shattering of her previous destiny.
Mafel breathed in deeply, calming down her beathing heart and using the distraction of their new surroundings to help in this matter. "This house is... surprisingly humble." She noted, surprised at the simple feel of the insides when compared with the elaborated and luxurious outside.
"Neither of my parents are accustomed to luxury yet, because of their current positions, they need to show off their status. At the same time, however, both of them found a simpler environment more comfortable to live in." Sabel explained before stilling, her gaze moving to the stairs leading upwards.
Thoughts followed by dread filled her head, her face rapidly paling. 'Oh no. In what state is my room in right now? The last time I came here was a year ago. Did I make my bed? Are my clothes still on the ground? What about my books? Or my weapons? Oh no, my room is a mess!'
Sabel's thoughts started spiralling, her panic rapidly intensifying as mortifying scenario after scenario started playing out in her mind.
Mafel distracted herself from her own trepidations by focusing on Sabel's instead. "I wonder, how exactly will it look like? Full of chaos? Did you hide any scandalous materials there, books and magazines alike? Maybe belonging to famous Adventurers? Oh, what about childhood memoirs." She excitedly asked, her blue eyes now gleaming for more than just the Mana she constantly Channelled in them.
"D-Don't be ridiculous! There is nothing like that in my room!" The Human answered back causing the Spectral Elf to snicker to herself.
Luna merely smiled as they started bickering before turning her attention to her Artifact and the two Charges it was holding now that they were in a semi-private place.
Her mantle started shining from its metal ring, a complex iridescent pattern being branded upon its surface before a slight distortion surrounded her once more, a thin layer of mist enveloping her and feeding her more Astral Ichor, Energy that she immediately fed back to her Orichalcum Essence Conversion.
And considering its progress, she directed even more of it there, enough to reach a full 2% Progress when it comes to the Conversion of her blood equivalent, hoping for an additional Milestone.
Yet she remained slightly disappointed upon receiving no additional sign of changes.
Sighing to herself, Luna turned to Amber meeting her purple and orange eyes with her own shimmering crimson, her right arm pulling the Phoenix against her side, the blonde leaning her head against her shoulder. "Despite your words, be careful around the Ghosts. Even if they aren't a threat to you, their master is not someone you can afford to be an enemy to. At least, not yet."
The Lunarian merely rolled her eyes at her words. "I'm not going to make unnecessary problems between Sabel and her parents. And trying to fight what is in almost all aspects the head of their nation without a reason, would cause complications in their relation."
Amber fully leaned against Luna, trying to relax. "Oh, this is going to end terribly." She whispered to herself, already mentally preparing for as many worst-case scenarios as she could think up.
The Vampiric one, in response, merely became amused, her eyes narrowing sharply. "I'm not going to seek a fight with someone that old without proper preparations. And I am uninvolved with any criminal act in the city. If we fight, it's going to be a spar to properly gauge each other."
The Demon-blooded one breathed out, turning herself briefly into a mass of flames to escape her hold and rematerializing at the feet of the stairs. "I'm going first." She let out aloud, incensing Sabel and causing Mafel to grab onto the black-haired one, trying to slow her down.
"You go on without me! I will buy you time!" The Elf playfully affirmed, behaving as a great hero sacrificing herself for her companions.
And failing greatly at that considering the sheer difference in physical ability between herself and Sabel.
In fact, the latter was easily able to break her grip and rush towards the Phoenix, initiating a low-intensity, because of their location, duel between the two shortest ones.
A pair of crimson eyes observed the pair, an amused light in those normally indifferent orbs.
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