The text given to Nate was closer to a tome then a simple book. The Grandmaster had given him a hint about Mandy's origins and the power that could be within. Flipping through the pages were a myriad of descriptions of varying monsters and their properties. All of which are punctuated by the observations of its author.
[On Sucubi and their cousins Incubi, I have spent this last year within the colony of the lust drunk creatures. The immortal body curse upon me by my creator has fueled them for generations to come. Endless vitality now permeates their hollowed halls, yet they still seek out more partners. On a personal note one of the Succubus, Darla, has ceased all other coupling aside from our own. I suspect that it may be due to my overflowing power. Though each day she insists upon doing the tasks around my encampment meant for only those within one's family. Or that I would imagine the family would perform.] Next to the text was a note indicating where this particular piece of writing picked back up.
These small notes in the margin were strange to Nate as he would figure the author would have to write the book first. Thinking it over, it must have been added research notes for a second edition. Instead of bullheadedly taking on the book he made sure to check over the table of contents which readily delivered him upon the right path.
Monsters as per the book were split into many subdivisions. Often over the origin of their monstrous states, powers, or regional background. In Nate's case he brought into the portion that made up much of the book. It was also the one most densely packed with diagrams, explanations, and lacked side notations. The first of the chapter focused on the author himself. The stitches, placement of magical apparatus, and how best to deliver lighting to a corpse. His creator Frankenstein seemed to have dedicated many of the notes.
He spent some time flicking through the pages, it was easy to mark down what would and would not work. Anything too far outside of humanoid was discarded, furthermore something with little to no descriptions were less favorable. From there constraints bloomed left and right. In the end it was easier then he thought to come down to two and half options.
"Are you certain you don't want to go with this one?" Theodora said from over his shoulder. She had taken to reading along with him.
"This is another creation from a Necromancer. Technically it fulfills the parameters I had in mind but I don't think we can rely on it."
The page in question was not one of the ones Nate had selected. Having originally disqualified it for the very reason it would change her too much. A False Doppelganger. It was humanoid to the point that her appearance would not change. Instead it was splitting her into two.
It was noted classic doppelgangers were a wicked reflection of another person and often looked to replace or kill the said person. What made it false was that each body would work in tandem. Instead of killing it was supportive. It did have a massive problem that had Nate disqualify it from the start. Once emerged the shadowed copy would run off and hide. Whoever found it first would claim ownership of the creature and its original body.
"It would be good to earn two for the price of one would it not? Imagine two of her pawing you up and giving you those soulful pleading eyes. Not to mention it would double her power. This would make up for her lack of skill given her youth."
"It does release her spirit ability like the others but what if I can't find her right away?" Nate asked.
"Why worry about that now? You will just have to do it at the moment."
"How helpful." He clicked his tongue at her before picking the book up with its now four bookmarks. "Let's go make a pitch."
Mandy was tucked away with Teddy and Renee. The three of them were pouring over the available books that covered the Town Square spirit house technique. His younger brother believed he could calculate where the fold would be within Zeus' temple. Nate believed that was a long shot at best.
He could feel how complex his own magic system was formed. Layers of lines made from spirit and symbols from archaic civilizations. It was a miracle that his brother had seen the problem in the pre-revised addition at all, let alone come up with the idea to strike it. Nate considered that it was going to be an instance of saturating the field with attacks to find it.
"Nate!" Mandy chimed when he entered.
Her face fell a little when she saw Theodora clinging to his side. The mature woman gave her a hotty look before drifting over toward Teddy. Hands snatched him up into an unwilling hug that he complained and grumbled over.
"My I could just eat this little one up." She cackled while Renee tried to wrench him free.
"I have found something that could work. You know, instead of you killing yourself for no good reason." Nate said without preamble. He didn't want to get bogged down in the inevitable fight with Mandy.
"I told you I won't take no for an answer." Mandy said stubbornly.
"And I am only agreeing because I know you'll toss yourself into the middle of the battle if I don't."
"Then you better not say that you want me to stay behind and mind the children."
"I resent that statement." Teddy spoke from amidst the two women. His shoulders being squeezed tight by Theodora while his legs dangled in the air suspended by Renee holding his ankles. The young girl was letting out a barrage of complaints, all of which set Teddy off into laughter.
"Now that you mention it. Are you aware your brother has been visiting?" Nate fired back.
"Yeah, So what? He hasn't cared about me all this time and only shows up now. Like hell he won't take me back to dad. You're not that gullible."
"Doctor Mei says he seems serious about it. That he's not involved with the mayor."
"So? Why would I give a fuc-," She cut herself off tossing a look at the kids. "Why would I care if he wanted to help me or not? If it wasn't obvious I'm not leaving you."
An aggressive step brought her straight up to his chest. Reaching out a hand grasped him by his shirt and pulled him down to look in her eyes. He let her pull him along. As their eyes met he could see deep within that she was serious. A similar look had been upon Karah's face when she'd made her contract. One way or another he wouldn't be getting rid of her. Now she was becoming a sticky ball of responsibility.
"Last chance. If you truly feel this strongly then so be it. Just remember you've got competition." Nate said seriously.
Theodora stopped teasing the children for a second to cast a look over at the two of them. A mischievous smile played across her lips as she sauntered over behind Mandy. Catching the girl off guard she wound her arms around her midriff. Head resting on her shoulder. The sudden action made her jump but it didn't faze the woman.
"What the King says is true. Karah said she talked with you about it but I bet you didn't know that he had Boudica in his lap just earlier today. My oh my can you keep up? Or maybe you don't know how to share?" Theodora half whispered in Mandy's ear just loud enough that Nate could overhear.
For his part he looked unabashed. It might be shameless but she'd known him to be long ago. Returning to such a state seemed normal to Mandy. Her lip bled as she bit down. Roiling emotions that Nate wished she might throw into his face. At least then she could be taken from the danger of the town.
Nate seemed to have bad luck today as she brushed off Theodora. Stepping up forward she grabbed either side of his face and planted a kiss on his lips. He had expected as much given her obsession, it wasn't made any better that he was the only person she could rely upon. After a long kiss she pulled back with a huff.
"I don't care about that crap. We have some people to kill and then we can discuss who gets whom. Or at least I won't be the one left out." The last sentence was almost a whisper that came crashing out after a furious bellow to the world. At this point he thought this might say something more about the type of woman who approached him, rather then his own dastardly ways.
"Fine, I want to make you into a monster." Nate said resignedly.
"We picked out plenty of options, I promise." Theodora attempted to recapture Mandy but she slipped out behind her. Seeing Nate right in front of her she changed targets and pounced upon him. She was a much shorter woman then himself and he caught her with ease.
She peevishly looked up at him. Clearly his patience for her playing around was running thin. Instantly she straightened, smoothing out her dress and taking to his side. Arms entangling she cut a pose akin to a proper proud Queen. The playful look on her face receded to one wrapped in seriousness.
At her current appearance Teddy felt a chill go up his spine. The incongruence between how she acted before and now could have been comical. Instead it was terrifying. The boy couldn't tell which was really her, the playful woman from before or the current wizened looking queen.
"I thought you had to be born a monster, you know like Karah." Mandy smiled.
"Oh, it was in the fundamentals of Necromancy. There are actually a lot of lesser undead that Nate could make with only a bit of practice. Though I think you'd have to die first." Teddy added helpfully.
"That's right my little genius." Nate might have tousled his hair if Theodora wasn't clamped down on his arm.
"Don't draw this out any further you two. Tell her the options." Theodora chided in a motherly tone.
Nate continued on to explain the three options they had settled upon. The aforementioned doppelganger was followed up by two Yokai. Experiments conducted by the Omnyoji of Japan had led to the methods of making various Yokai. Many had already started as humans so it was an easier process then one might believe.
The next was a Kenjourou or a hair spirit. Along with a magic circle they only needed a copious amount of hair to successfully change her. The hair wouldn't even be used up in the process but simply connect to a theorized plain of hair. Nate wasn't sure if that last part was true or some transplantation error on the part of the author. The bonus was that she'd become highly mobile with the ability to move about with long tendrils of hair.
Last among the sure fire methods was the modified Murarihyon. A Yokia known for sneaking into homes and acting as its master. Slowly taking over the whole place. It was also considered the leader of the Parade of Spirits. Of the three Nate had the least confidence in pulling this one off. It required sneaking into and taking over someone's home. All without them becoming upset.
The only reason he had added it as a viable option was that they could possibly use illusions to fool the person. An elaborate set up would be required but it was worth mentioning at the very least.
"You know that last one will take too long to accomplish, right?" Mandy asked in disbelief.
She had been fairly receptive to the Doppelganger until the part of whomsoever found her claiming ownership. The hair demon seemed the most feasible to her but it did cap out on its suspective ranking somewhere in the grade four range. Even with the boost she'd fall behind Karah which didn't sit well with her.
"Bro is that really all you found? Doesn't seem like there are any great options." Teddy said, pulling a long sigh from Nate's lips.
"Well, there is the one you were holding back on my lord." Theodora ventured.
"I didn't bring it up for a reason." Nate countered.
"What's wrong with it?" Mandy asked interestedly.
"Nothing my dear, absolutely nothing. In fact it would unlock your soul's ability right away. You would even gain some fiery magic along the way. I think it's really the best thing he found. Shame he didn't want to tell you."
"What really?" Mandy asked. Nate shifted uncomfortably as he fought back the urge to berate Theodora.
"Its not an option." Nate stated flatly.
"It's my transformation isn't it? I can decide for myself. Now why won't you suggest it?" Mandy demanded.
"The Enera is a smoke Yokai, but has access via the method inscribed to use fire magic as well. In many ways the normal Enera's power will stop at even a grade three if that. Instead they never properly scaled how high this one could go." Nate responded bitterly.
"Isn't that great big sis. Now you can fight at bro's side." Teddy exclaimed but was clamped down upon by Renee. She gave him a tight shake of her head.
"Then that should be the one we do. I mean if we had the time ruling over a hoard Yokia would be nice but you'll probably end up doing that anyway." Mandy said excitedly.
"Brilliant you heard her, my king. She chose that one, nothing to be done about it." Theodora smiled viciously.
"Mandy. You know that you are essentially dying when you become one of these, correct?" Nate asked, still not ready to give her the answer.
"I was already going to die for the crossroads deal. At least this way I'm guaranteed to come back. Go on, what's the condition for it?" Nate bit his lip at her words and finally relented. She could always say no, but he doubted she would. Just wasn't in her nature.
"You have to be burned alive." Nate said coldly.