“Now cut that out.”

Instead of responding verbally Dan quickly rushed towards Mina more leaping towards her then running in the final meter. Before he could take hold of her thigh though something massive and fluffy slammed into him. He immediately recognized it as Mina's tail even as he was sent staggering backwards. Before he could recover though his field of vision was blocked and he tasted some fur in his mouth as Mina began to assault his face with her tail.

“Oh you think you're fast enough to get the better of me?”

Each time Dan tried to take in a breath he felt Mina's tail brush against his face. He had learned long ago that escaping her tail had to be one of his top priorities but he'd also learned how difficult that could be. Restraining Mina's tail wasn't an option she was just too strong. He wasn't fast enough to back away from it either so that as he felt her tail push against him he met the push and tried to rush past it. For a moment he felt her tail brush against him in an attempt to stop his charge but it was at a bad angle and he was able to rush past.

“Ahh!” As Dan pushed past her tail Mina tried to step away from him but she was slowed by the positioning. If she moved too quickly she could break something or worse hurt Dan. As she felt his arms wrap around her thigh and one of his hands going for the tip of her tail she tried to pull her tail in quickly enough to defend herself but she was too slow.

“I got you now.”

“Really!” Even as the words left her mouth Mina flexed every muscle in her leg. The massive limb seemed to exploded outward as the muscles were gorged on blood and expanded outward. The overall width of her thigh increased drastically and Dan was sent staggering backwards as the sudden expansion of muscle broke both his grip and pushed him backwards. Taking advantage of the situation Mina once again resumed the assault of Dan's face with her tail.

“Ah!”

“Who has who now?” A slight giggle escaped Mina as she quickly redirected her tail and stuffed the tip of it down into Dan's shirt. As she slipped her tail into Dan's shirt the garment exploded outwards and Mina began to rapidly wiggle her tail. Dan clenched his shirt clearly trying to get it off but it was too late. The massive fluffy object had found several ticklish spots and Dan had already began to laugh.

“Auh..” As Dan opened up his mouth he found it impossible to get any words out as he struggled to contain his laughter and keep Mina's tail from brushing against his face. Indeed opening his mouth proved to be a mistake as soon as it was open chuckles began to drift out which made it impossible for him to close his mouth once again.

“You should known better then to try and wrestle a lady with a fluffy tail like mine.”

“I..I..I” Once again Dan gave up speaking as each time he opened his mouth he began to chuckle. Instead he quit struggling and covered up his mouth with both hands. Fortunately for him this prompted Mina to quit moving her tail and she slowly began to withdraw it.

“Now about Joseph. I believe that you should help him with his project.” As she spoke Mina walked over to Dan who was still chuckling and placed one of her hands under his but and once again his back.

As Mina picked him up Dan gave a sigh and leaned forward. As he pressed his lips against hers he could feel her fur brushing against his face. It had been another thing he'd had to get used to but come to enjoy as he kissed Mina back. Her lips engulfed his entirely and he could feel them pressing against the skin around his lips as well. “Mirin seems to want me to help him as well.”

“You've been working in the shop for quite some time now Dan. You and I both know that is well beneath your skills.”

“True but it's not like I've been slacking. I've been working on my theories after all.”

“I know but surely you don't actually enjoy keeping track of all those records?”

“It can be rather tedious that is true.”

“So help Joseph out and get me some of the fruit to.” A slight giggle escaped Mina as she let her tongue flick out and pressed it against Dan's cheek. He tried to recoil from the warm wet muscle but her hand against his back prevented him from doing so.

“Gah! What was that for?”

“I wonder what will be tastier. You or that fruit.”

“Hm. Is that it? Well Maria sure seems to like the life bloom.”

“I swear each time I smelt the sugar on Maria's lips I wondered how long it'd be before we learned more about the life bloom.”

“Alright then I'll lend them a hand. I'm not entirely certain what I can do though. If Joseph already has a working product then the only thing we can do right now is testing. I'll try to get you some fruit as well.”

“Yay. Also, I'm certain that you'll be able to find a way to help out. Lean against me.”

Instead of asking why Dan leaned against Mina so that his head wrested against her shoulder. He then felt her hand leave his back and realized that she was working on their dinner. “You know I wouldn't have minded cooking tonight.”

“Last night you nearly burned my tongue off.”

“I just added a little spice for flavor.”

“That was not a little.”

In response to Mina's comment gave a slight chuckle. “My great big strong Mina is such a softy.” Upon finishing Dan leaned up a bit and gently pressed his lips against Mina's outer ear. A shiver that rattled Dan's entire body ran throughout her moments later.

“Dan not while I'm working with the food.”

“You like it.”

“Of course I do! I'm trying to cook though.”

“I believe you smell better then the food.”

In response to Dan's comment Mina could actually feel herself warming up and she tightened her grip on Dan's rear a bit more. “Someone seems to be a little worked up today.”

Before responding Dan pushed against Mina's shoulders and brought himself up to a seated position in her hand while using his own to steady himself now. “Well maybe a little. You seem rather excited yourself though.” Before Mina could respond Dan brushed his foot against stomach and the upper portion of her thigh that his leg could reach.

“Oh? Did something happen today?”

“Nothing in particular. I just found myself thinking about you a lot.”

“What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking about you eating the life bloom. In particular I was thinking about what it would be like if you grew even larger.”

“So that's what got you so worked up. Just what would you like to do if I got even larger?”

“I was thinking that it would be like if you got big enough for me to set on one of your breast.”

A slight giggle escaped Mina as she finished flipping her and Dan's food and she brought her now free hand up to press against the underside of her breast. “One of these large enough for you to set on? You want me that big?”

“I think even bigger would be nice.”

“Mm it would be nice. Then I would be able to just slip you down between my breast if I grew that large and have both hands free. I could go hunting and play with you at the same time.”

“You really believe you could hunt and play with me at the same time?”

“Mm I guess not. You can be something of a distraction.” As she spoke Mina once again placed her hand against Dan's back but this time she lowered him until his chest was level with her breast. She then pressed his chest against her massive right breast. “It's a fun thought.”

“Since you want me to work with Joseph I'll do as much as I can to make it happen.”

***********************************************************************************

How long had it been since she'd been out this far? Fera couldn't be certain but she knew that it had been a long time. It felt good to be away from the village and allowed to wonder in the forest so freely though she knew she had a job to do. It had actually surprised her whenever the brothers had requested her to make a trip to the kobold nesting area and thin out their population. It was a task normally left to smaller sisters and not a matron but apparently the brothers wanted to make a statement this time.

This had made it very clear to Fera why she'd been chosen for the tasks. In general most sisters relied on their noses and ears far more then humans and far less on their eyes. Fera was different from her sisters though as she relied on her eyes almost as much as humans did while hunting. It wasn't due to her not being skilled at using her nose and ears but rather due to the fact that her eyes saw things her sisters' didn't. Fera's eyes could see life energy. This was very useful in hunting prey where they could conceal one another and avoiding damaging things she didn't want to.

“Hello there you must be the dryad my sisters were telling me about.”

Xelaney wasn't quite certain what to say as she looked up at the massive being before her. It was very rare even for one such as her to see an animal so large. “Um yes. My name is Xelaney. Are you the one that was sent to help with my kobold problem?”

“Yeah. I wanted to stop and talk to you for a moment before I moved on though. Have the kobolds spoken about anyone? I don't mean to you but have you heard anything along the lines of. If we don't bring her back blank he, she they'll be angry?”

“Unfortunately I didn't tend to pay much attention to their conversations. They're hard to understand at the best of times and well they were trying to kill me.”

In response Fera gave a quick nod. “Alright then. Um on another subject could I ask you a question in regards to you dryads?”

“Sure?”

“I know that you're bound to your free and if it dies so do you but is there anyway you can change the tree you're bound to? It's something that I've always wondered. I mean if you can't change the tree you're bound to why not pick a small tree that you can move around?”

A grin formed on Xelaney's face as she gave a slight chuckle. “Yes we can change the tree we're bound to but it's not an easy task. A tree that was grown from our own is often much easier to shift to and at times we do actually grow a new tree for the purpose of movement. Such as whenever it's clear humans will be pushing into our territory in the next few years or decade.”

“Neat. That's just something I've wondered though now I have to ask. Why don't you move away from this area?”

“Generally the kobolds don't bother me and if what Maria speculated was true they're not trying to move through this area but rather they're targeting me. If I wasn't here they would just find another dryad to target and she might not be as capable when it comes to defending herself.”

“Mm I see your point. Well thanks for answering my questions.”

“You're welcome.” Xelaney couldn't help but grin as Fera began to walk away from her. While she felt that sending such a massive being to deal with the kobolds was a bit extreme she wasn't exactly concerned. Rather she felt a great deal of relief and even a bit of amusement whenever she thought about what was going to happen to the kobolds soon.

***********************************************************************************

Drofgin paced nervously as he looked out towards the trees. In the direction of the beast girl's homes. The kobold wasn't the brightest creature in creation but he'd heard from the other kobolds how the beast girls had become involved. He had been fortunate enough to be away from the village during the initial raid but now he was quite nervous. Many of the other kobolds felt confident that the danger had passed and they needed to regroup but he wasn't certain of that.

“What you so scared of?”

Upon hearing the voice Drofgin turned to face Griex. “Kitty girls still angry is us. They come back again.”

“Kitty girls not still angry. They come kill bunch of us and go away for long time. Should be worried that master angry with us. Maybe you go with next group to get tree lady.”

Instead of responding right away Drofgrin began to rub his hands together. Of course it was going after the dryad that had brought the beast girl's attention to their village and he knew it. “Me should take family and hides.”

“Master be upset if you leaves. You not come back if you go.”

Instead of responding right away Drofgrin looked around the village. He knew that the odds of them surviving in the forest alone weren't good. Hunting was dangerous alone. Instead of leaving the village he could always retreat to the lower reaches of the nest. If he hid there long enough and the village was attacked perhaps they would forget that he had hidden. It would be easier to hide there then sneak out of the village without being noticed. “I going.”

Griex gave a slight shrug as Drofgrin walked off. He didn't mention it but he'd tell their leader about Drofgrin and his cowardly behavior. That way Drofgrin would be sent away and probably die so the other kobolds wouldn't see him leaving and think they could leave as well. As Griex began to walk away though the sound of limbs snapping and falling to the forest floor hit his ears as did the sound of massive foot steps. Soon he could feel the slight vibrations in the ground and knew something was coming.

Fera liked her forest home so she tried to keep the damage to a minimum. This meant moving slowly though and trying to pick the paths with the most room to move in. There was limitations though and she wasn't going to walk on tiptoes the entire time. Fortunately as she neared the kobold nest she was able to pick up the pace as her concern decreased and she felt her hunger growing stronger. Her body knew that she was going to eat a decent sized meal soon and it was ready for it. “Hi my little finger food.”

Griex had retreated to one of the tunnels leading underground by the time Fera arrived at the village. Upon seeing the massive creature though and hearing her greeting he quickly hastened his pace. He could hear horns being sounded now and a furious amount of movement. Those kobolds that had been chosen to be the first wave of soldiers or guards were already rushing from underground to meet the intruder. This wasn't due to any sense of duty but rather due to the fact they would be killed if they didn't drive off the intruder or die trying to.

Kobolds tended to force the weaker and less intelligent members of their society to be the first wave of attackers or defenders. This tended to insure the weak died so they didn't hinder the species development and protected the stronger or smarter ones for future breading. Occasionally a kobold would survive long enough to strength itself as well and move through the ranks but it seemed very unlikely that was going to be happening today.

Fera knew about the kobolds tendencies as she looked at the defenders rushing from under the ground and shook her head. “I really don't like filling up on scraps whenever the main course is near by. It is regretful but you're going to have to settle for being stains on my foot rather then enjoying the honor of nourishing my body.” A slight chuckle escaped Fera as she quickly stepped forward and caught a group of kobolds underneath her foot. They didn't even have time to scream before her massive weight crushed them to paste.

While not the most skilled or knowledgeable builders kobolds had a knack for making traps and developing their tunnel systems. So despite the entire nest area being riddled with tunnels there was very little shaking even as Fera stepped down onto them. Grief felt confident that most of the tunnels would survive the battle so he had no fear retreating ever deeper into the tunnels.

Feav went to let out a horrified shriek as the massive foot landed near him but he was cut short as a burst of liquid struck his mouth. As he quickly spit out the jail he also noted a fine substance in it. Even the kobold was able to realize that he'd just been struck by the pulped remains of his comrades that had squirted out from under the massive creature's foot. Fear seemed to hold the kobold still until that foot began to lift into the air. A shriek escaped the kobold and it quickly began to dash forward instead of leaping though Feav remained close to the ground and quickly darted under the foot towards the cave.

“What this mean?” Griex could hardly control his anger as he was stopped by another group of kobolds. He recognized all of them as part of the military and leaders of the other kobolds.

“You join third attack force.”

“What? I shaman I not go out there to fight.”

“You go! You lousy shaman that didn't warn.”

Even as anger built up within Griex so did fear. He'd felt confident that he would be allowed to go deeper into the caves. Now he was being told to report to a military unit that would be sent up as soon as the first and second group had fallen. “I show you who lousy!”

Reoft realized what Griex was doing almost immediately and quickly rushed forward. Before Griex could finish the casting Reoft slammed his elbow into Griex's chest being certain to put all his speed and weight into the attack. It had the desired affect as Reoft sent Griex to the ground clutching where he had been struck. “You stupid. You go on second wave now. Go or I kill you.”

A shriek escaped the kobold as she felt Fera's fingers close around her. There was no pain as she felt the fur brush against her skin as that had moved to take hold of her and several others but there was fear. When those fingers tightened they all expected to feel the pain of their bodies bruising and bones breaking but there was none. The grip was tight enough to keep them from escaping but not tight enough to cause pain. That didn't diminish the fear as she looked up and saw Fera's tongue running along her lips.

“Mm tummy time for this bunch!” As she spoke Fera lifted the group of five kobolds towards her massive mouth and opened it up. The kobolds were roughly half the height of a large human and had even less volume so it was easy to stuff several of them into her mouth at once. Their cries of protest reached her ears but had no affect on her. The kobolds had brought this upon themselves. As long as the kobolds remained in their portion of the forest the sisters and brothers had grown content to leave them be. They had stepped outside of those bounds once again though and in large force. She was there to show them why that was a bad thing.

Fera's hand had been a great source of fear for the kobold but as she saw that mouth opening up for her and noted teeth longer then she was tall inside that mouth she grasped at those fingers. The kobold took as much of Fera's fur between her fingers as she possibly could and grasped the finger with her arms and legs tightly. As they neared that mouth she could feel the tension in the muscles changing and the hand began to relax. Then she felt it. Fera gave her hand a quick shake. The motion was brief but exceptionally fast and the soft smooth fur slipped from between the kobold's fingers, her arms and legs lost their grip and she found herself falling.

A shard of pain shot throughout the kobold as her shoulder was caught on the edge of one of those teeth for a second. The tip of the tooth easily cut through the kobolds flesh leaving a massive wound in her upper arm. Her scream of pain was interrupted by making contact with a warm, wet and somewhat soft surface. The wetness moved with her to an extent as the saliva coated and stuck to her body as she tried to raise up and turn towards the opening. Then she felt that tongue shift and saw the opening moving. Fera's tongue moved swiftly adjusting the kobolds position so that her teeth met them as they came down.

***********************************************************************************

“I'm surprised that you didn't think of this.” As Dan spoke he busied himself preparing the large tub of water. Several receptacles were currently floating in the water each with a precisely measured mass of soil.

“I wish that it had. This should really improve the rate of growth. Where did you learn about this?”

“It's a technique the Luvarians used for certain projects. By growing the plants in a water nutrient solution you can better control the concentration of nutrients the plants take in and better keep out contaminants. Are the seeds ready?”

“Yeah. I only have these two though.”

“That's not a problem. I take it they're from the fruit you let Maria eat yesterday and today.”

“You know I trust Maria but I'm really worried that she's going to bite the seeds in half or at least three quarters one of these days. She really has to strip the fruit to the core.”

A slight chuckle escaped Dan as he nodded his head. “That's normal for our sisters. I've actually seen Mina eat the core of some of the fruits she enjoys. I don't believe our sisters feel the same level of repulsion we do whenever biting into a seed or something along those lines. I know I couldn't stand to bite into a bone even if I had the mouth to chew it up.”

“Do you think that's a design feature or something that they acquired over time?”

“Both were probably involved. By eating their enemies they gain a food source and inspire fear in them. Also I imagine it has something to do with what they can eat. After all taste is related to survival. Things we need tend to taste really good to convince us to eat them while thinks that have a good chance of harming us taste unpleasant so that we won't eat them. Sure it isn't always one hundred percent accurate as to whether something is good for us or not but it's far better then nothing. Our sisters have a much larger range of things that are good for them though and far fewer that are bad.”

“You have a point. Dan do you think our sisters have taste other then sour, bitter, sweet, savory and sweet?”

“I'm not really sure. I know that they consider magic potions to be extremely sweet but is that really sweet the way we humans understand it? That could actually be an interesting test. Perhaps I should make a very bitter tasting healing potion and see how our sisters regard it. That would be an amusing way to pass the time.”

“Well the seeds are planted. Do you want to get to work? Perhaps whenever Mina and Maria get here they can try the potion and tell us.”

“Just be certain not to tell them that it's bitter. Rather tell them that we tried to change the flavor of a healing potion to see how they'd respond to it. I'm going to have to insure Mina that it isn't meant to be spicy though she's a little weary of my cooking since last night.”

“What did you do?”

“I tried adding some spice to our soup. I didn't add all that much or at least I didn't believe that I did but Mina sure thought I did. Next time I'll cut the amount of spice I add by half.”

“Why add any spice?”

“I'm going to help her learn to enjoy spicy food. After all she helped me get into shape.”

“Oh! So this is for revenge?”

“No. Mina really likes the flavor of spicy food actually she just can't handle it. If I can slowly introduce more and more to her though she'll develop a tolerance I believe. If there was nothing she liked about such foods though I wouldn't put her through this.”

“Dan how did Mina get you to exercise? Maria has taken to poking me with her claws every time I slow down too much.”

“I bet she hasn't broken the skin yet though.”

“Well no.”

“Mina would smack me with her tail. At first the smacks were extremely gently I'd even call them quick nudges. If I didn't respond though she'd slowly hit harder and harder until she began to inflict pain. Then if that didn't work she threatened to take away all my leisure reading material.”

“How hard was she hitting you before she threatened that?”

“It wasn't hard really she didn't even bruise me. I think she realized that I was pushing her just to see how far she would take it. So she decided to see how far I was willing to go in order to push her.”

“So did you speed back up?”

“Of course I did!”

Before Joseph could continue he couldn't help but notice some laughter on the other side of the door. Moments later there was some knocking and a voice. “You should have seen his legs move once I threatened to take away his books.”

Upon hearing the voice Joseph turned to Dan and noted a rather sheepish smile on his face. This brought a chuckle to Joseph and he quickly went to the door to open it. “It's good to see you Mina.”

“Nice to see you as well.”

Before continuing Joseph stepped to the side to allow Mina into the room. “I take it Dan told you why I wanted you to come by.”

“Indeed he did. Now he didn't do anything to coerce you into letting me be a tester did he?”

“No. Mirin did that before I even spoke to Dan.”

Instead of responding right away Mina went silent and took a moment to examine Joseph. “You're joking.”

“Yeah though he did suggest you. Still the fact that you had to stop and think makes me wonder. Is that something that Mirin would do?”

“I believe they're some situations that would lead to him behaving in such a way. Mirin is regarded as a bit of an extremist even amongst our brothers though he isn't the worse.”

“He seems to be quite well respected though.”

“Indeed he is. His views might be extreme but his methods are appropriate. In most situations at least. He's actually part or one could even say the leader of a group of brothers who believe sisters should be given incentives to do what I did.”

“You mean beat Dan with your tail and threaten to take away his books?”

A slight giggle escaped Mina as she glanced over at Dan. “Not quite.”

“Oh so you mean volunteer to go to sleep for a few years and reduce their body size in hopes of developing a new ability?”

“Yeah.” While she was speaking Mina felt a hand press against the inside of her thigh as Dan wrapped his arm around as much of that massive limb as he could. She then felt a kiss be place against the side of her abdomen. As the kiss ended Mina reached down and placed her massive hand against Dan's side pushing him more firmly against herself.

“How do the sisters feel about that?”

“Honestly many of us like the ideal in many regards. To volunteer to undergo such an ordeal is highly respectable. However, it's also so dreaded that few of us can actually bring ourselves to do it. Many of us believe that if there was more of a reward there we might be able to convince ourselves but we aren't sure.”

“Then why hasn't the group succeeded?”

“The only comprise about one third of our brothers. Actually their numbers are a bit smaller and many brothers fear that such an act would be bad for our mental health. It doesn't help that the group suffered a set back a few years ago. A few members actually began pushing not to just offer rewards but make it a requirement to gain keeper status. Even Mirin regarded this as too extreme though and a bit of infighting broke out.”

“How long ago was this and what happened?”

“It was five years ago. While there was no violence involved some of the brothers began to fear that a few had forgotten their true roll in our society. Naturally this prompted them to take steps to deal with those they felt had forgotten their roll. A lot of our brothers lost their positions especially amongst Mirin's camp. Others felt the need to distance themselves from such activities for a while.”

“How did Mirin get out of it?”

“He was quick to denounce the extremist and well. Mirin had Sora backing him.”

“I hope this is okay to ask but how did they even intend to force the sisters to agree to such terms?”

A slight giggle escaped Mina as she relaxed her hold on Dan and placed a hand against her forehead. “You know we're really not certain of that. That was a question the brothers began to wonder about after everything had been taken care of. In the end they just resolved the extremist no longer saw us as their sisters and instead saw us as common animals that would blindly follow orders. At least the ring leaders did the others might not have been thinking.”

“I see. So Mina what keeps the sisters from using the brothers like animals if well protected animals?”

“Ah well if I caught someone treating Dan like an animal I would pull their arms and legs off.”

Despite the severity of the comment Joseph couldn't help but grin. “I see. Well that's one very good reason.”

“They're lots of reasons though. Our brothers help us and we help them. They can do things that we can't do and it's much easier to cooperate then coerce one another. Besides, if we did try to force our brothers to work for us how would we stop them from escaping? We'd have to allow them access to the reagents they needed for their work and those could be used in any number of ways.”

“So has their ever been a group of sisters that came to see the brothers as pets that should obey?”

“Yeah. They are some now that hold that view point I'm certain of it but they keep quiet about it. There was a movement in that direction at one time though but it hit a wall very quickly.”

“What wall was that?”

“The sisters that didn't like the ideal of their mates or family members being treated like animals. I wasn't alive back then but what happened was recorded. Some of the sisters wanted to branch off and form their own community were they could run things how they saw fit. At first the other sisters agreed to it but whenever the ones leaving tried to take some of the brothers by force things got very ugly. Some of our brothers died.”

“That must have been very traumatic.”

“It was. It didn't help matters whenever some of the separatist were able to escape. This happened about three decades after the death of our first leader so things were still being organized at the time.”

“Do you have any ideal of what happened to those that escaped?”

“None. That was a long time ago and if they were still in the forest I'm fairly certain we would have learned of them by now. No one we've ever met from the outside world has mentioned them either.”

Before responding Joseph walked over to a table where a few slices of the life bloom were wresting. “You know that's kind of frightening to be honest. The ideal that they could have left the forest and have remained hidden all this time. Perhaps the reason you haven't heard anything about them is they went that far away or no one has lived to tell you.”

“You have a point there. They could be building their numbers and planning to take back the forest one day.” A slight giggle escaped Mina as a smile spread across her face revealing a mouthful of very sharp and long teeth. “I think we'd make them regret their ways though.”

“You sound quite confident you'd beat them.”

“Of course. What are the odds of them finding a resource like our forest? Plus we haven't been lazing around all this time. We know that the combative power of the outside world is increasing and if we're going to protect our forest our power needs to increase as well. That's one of the reasons Mirin wanted to encourage sisters to develop mutations.”

“To increase power without increasing the need for food?”

“Yeah.”

“That makes sense. Well Mina here is your first slices of the life bloom.”

Instead of commenting right away Mina walked over to Joseph and took a moment to examine the fruit. After a moment she reached down and picked up one of the slices and brought it to her nose sniffing it lightly. “Well here goes.” With that Mina quickly tossed the fruit into her mouth though she didn't begin to chew right away.

Joseph knew that he'd started Maria with a very small amount and had planned on starting Mina with the same amount. However, upon seeing her pick up the slice he'd been amazed by how small it'd looked in her massive hands. Fortunately she didn't seem intent on trying to get more out of him for the moment. “How does it taste?”

Instead of responding right away Mina held up her hand for Joseph to be quiet. She then carefully slipped the slice between her fangs and bit down. As she tasted the free flowing juice she sucked lightly on the halves of the live bloom noting the flavor of the fruit and the juice. She then began to slowly chew being certain to get every last bit of flavor out of the tiny bit of fruit she could.

While Mina was chewing Dan chose to speak up. “Mina is really careful to savor the things she really enjoys and this is her first time trying the life bloom.”

“I see.”

“Wow. That tasted really good. I haven't tasted something like that in a long while. I mean the last time I did it was healing potion. The texture of the fruit adds a lot to its enjoyability though.”

“I'm glad you liked it. Now to see if you have any adverse affects. Be sure to tell Dan if you notice anything.”

“Alright. Mm I guess you wouldn't be willing to use magic or alchemy to help the life bloom grow would you?”

“I would if I thought it could be done safely. There is already so much magic involved in the life bloom though that I'm worried it would alter the plant. Instead of having a plant that yields healing fruit I don't want to end up with a plant that yields fruit that's acts as a magically enhanced poison.”

“Ah yeah. Poisons it's still kind of a strange concept to me.”

“Huh?”

Before Mina could respond Dan spoke up. “Our sisters are nearly immune to any poisons you could think of. At least they're nearly immune to every poison you would find in nature and just about every other type I've encountered so they don't really grow up with an ideal of this fruit is safe to eat and this fruit isn't. They think more along the lines of. It's fruit so I'm going to eat it.”

A slight giggle escaped Mina as she nodded her head. “That extends to animals as well.”

“Hm. So bright colors that warn other animals to stay away just serve to tell you where your food is?”

“Yep.”

“Have there been any poisons found that could harm you?”

In response Mina gave a quick nod. “A few but it takes a pretty huge dose to kill us. The Luvarians apparently didn't like the ideal of a loan assassin sneaking into their base and poisoning one of their favored creations.”

“Woe. Hold on. What do you mean favored?”

“Our first sisters were considered an exceptional success according to all the Luvarian records. Mind you this doesn't mean they considered us perfect but they considered us as close to perfect as could be hoped for. At least in regards to the tasks we were meant to do. So we were taken very good care of.”

“I see. Does that mean that sisters after the initial ones were modified?”

“Not really. The resistants to poisons was part of our design to begin with given what we were meant to harvest. Seriously if you were to walk into the wrong part of this forest during the wrong time of the year you'd drop dead before you realized you shouldn't be there.”

“I take it you have some rather unpleasant plant life there.”

“Well they're pretty to look at but nothing travels through that region while they're blooming. Except for a few of the sturdier animals, myself and my sisters.”

“Hm I think I know the flower you're talking about. It actually gives of toxic fumes that kills any animals wondering near by. It then tends to grow towards the animal and actually uses the victim for nutrients during the blooming season. If only I could remember the name. Dan do you recall it?”

“Not of the top of my head actually.”

“Wow I figured you'd know the name of every plant in this forest.”

“Yeah I don't believe anyone person actually knows that. Besides some of the plant and animal life here haven't even been documented yet. The Luvarians designed this forest to live after all and at times new things are developed.”

“I guess with everything that happens here it would nearly be impossible for that not to happen.”

As she listened to Dan and Joseph, Mina found herself looking down at the remaining slices of the life bloom. “Do I only get one slice today or may I eat the wrest.”

“Huh? Oh yeah all of that on the table is for you.”

“Yay! So Joseph what do you like to do after work?”

“Huh? Typically I just go home and do some recreational reading. I've been thinking of going out and doing something with Mina but I have to admit I'm a bit lost. I mean I don't know what all of you have.”

“You know Joseph there is quite a gathering at the market whenever it gets late usually. That's where we like to socialize.”

“I know but is there anything else?”

“You could go listen to some music. We developed a taste for it a while back after all and they're the occasional plays but nothing happening soon.”

“Plays? Are you serious?”

A sigh escaped Dan as he shook his head. “Joseph you know that's a pretty insulting thing to ask about our sisters.”

“Huh? How- Actually I believe I see what you're saying. Yeah I didn't mean it like that but I'm surprised to hear you have plays.”

In response Mina gave a quick nod. “We like music and art to you know and a play is a nice art form. OH you could take Maria to look at some of the actual paintings and sculptures we've done. I don't even know if she's been to the library since she woke up.”

“Yeah and I haven't ever been to the library just what is it? I mean I know it's where you store books and the like but when is it from?”

“Well we actually have two libraries or several really.”

“Several?”

“The citadel has several libraries in it however we only have access to a few of them. We believe that's due to the knowledge contained within. We also have the main library that we built a while back in order to house the books we write. Well we also use it to house books we get from outsides and copies we've made from the citadel libraries. We don't want to find out if the protectors will respond to us trying to take a book from the citadel or not.”

“I would be interested in seeing it. Just how big is it and where is it located?”

“It's a bit past the main village going towards the citadel. I think having Maria take you there some day would be wonderful. Is it safe for you to leave the life bloom though?”

“I meant for the life bloom to grow in the wild so it's not insanely fragile. The only part that requires my absolute attention is the making of the seeds from scratch.”

After a moment of silence Mina gave a nod. “Well then I'll leave it up to Maria to tell you about the library then. I don't want to ruin any of the surprises after all.”

***********************************************************************************

“This is such a strange way to travel.”

A slight chuckle escaped Maria as she glanced over her shoulder at Joseph. “Would you rather walk there?”

“Given how fast you're traveling and the time we've been traveling? No. How did the Luvarians get around the forest though?”

“They didn't really wonder around the forest often. There is a transportation system inside of the citadel itself. Effectively they teleported into the forest from one of their other strong holds. They didn't like the ideal of building any roads as that would mean giving up precious growing land and possibly help their enemies more then it would help them.”

“Ah I see. So have you ever tried to raise some kind of animal the brothers could ride around?”

“To my knowledge there has never been such an attempt. Hm could be neat though. Perhaps they could come up with kind of animal that's not only good for riding around the forest but is also really good for eating. Something that fattens up far more nicely then most animals. What kind of creature would it be though? Well it'd have to be a plant eater naturally as a carnivore would be out of the question and it'd have to be docile smart enough for basic training but not smart enough to realize when it's about to be eaten.”

“Would it have to include that good for eating part? What if it could be raised so that it was good transportation and ate very little.”

“I think you'd have an easier time convincing me and my sisters if it was good for riding and also good for eating. That not eating much thing is nice and all but it's hardly equivalent to it being tasty.”

“Are you sure it would be a good thing to always have something you like eating running around you though? You might find it even harder to keep to your eating plan.”

“That is true. I guess you wouldn't like training something to be ridable only to have it in one of our bellies the next day either. It seems like something of a waste though to be honest. I mean. In some cultures the parents carry around the child whenever they have to travel to keep the child near and while the child is young. It's for the child's protection. You're a lot lighter to us though then that child is to their parents though.”

“What? So you think of us as kids?”

“No! Of course not. A young sister would absolutely kick your ass.”

A slight chuckle escaped Joseph as he shook his head. “So we rank somewhere lower then that in the self defense department then?”

“It's not like it's a big deal to us though. Most of us really don't think anything about it unless you've done something to upset us in the past.”

“Maria how much leisure time do you tend to have?”

“Eh define leisure time for me.”

“Time whenever you're not working.”

“I don't believe that's a very good definition. While I'm out searching the forest I'm also searching for things to eat after all. I tend to enjoy myself whenever I find something that needs taken care of as I get to let out my more brutal instincts as well. Reporting back in though that is boring and all the questions. I suppose on average I work for two hours to four hours a day.”

“You're out much longer then that though.”

“Yeah but I don't consider all that time work time. Keepers have it a bit rougher then I do and I'm sure my hours will be changing soon. I think I'll be earning a guardian rank soon.”

“Is that why it's felt like I've had more room back here as of late?”

“So you noticed!”

“Well yeah. So when do sisters start helping brothers get around?”

“As soon as we realize how freaking slow you are if we don't help you.”

“Huh?”

“It's not something that we're really taught to be honest. Young sister makes friends with a young brother. They want to go do something together. We quickly learn that we can either help our brother get there or we can wait ten times as long as it would take if we'd helped the. In most cases we decide to help them.”

“Have any sisters ever ran off and left a brother somewhere?”

“It happens from time to time but only within the designated safe zone. Such as whenever a brother and sister have an argument resulting in her running off angry. In that case the brother could have a long walk back if he keeps silent or if he doesn't call for help. In most cases we'll come and help him get home.”

“Hm how often does a brother have to walk back because all the other sisters are supporting the angry one?”

“That's a pretty rare event but I can't say that it has never happened. As long as he's in the safe zone though it's alright. A few brothers have made a fuss over it but they don't tend to get much sympathy from the others in such situations.”

“Could you give me an ideal of what has caused such disagreements?”

“Oh normally some silly little thing. It tends to happen whenever the brother and sister are trying to work out some disagreement in regards to their work. Two common occurrences is whenever the sister is trying to convince the brother to better himself or whenever the brother is trying to give advice about the sister's eating habits.”

“By better himself you mean like you making me jog every other morning?”

“That's one possibility. Say if you didn't like my methods and started talking to me about it right now. I could get angry and drop you then run off all upset.”

“Hm so I should probably wait until we're closer to my home to start complaining about that.”

“I'd recommend it.” A slight giggle escaped Maria as she gave Joseph's back a quick smack with her tail.

“Ouch! How much control do you have over that thing anyway? I swear I didn't think cats had that kind of control.”

“Oh they don't.” A slight giggle escaped Maria as she focused on her path. “We're not cats though. Joseph do you believe that the Luvarians based our design off cats?”

“I believe they drew heavily upon them for inspiration.”

“Ah well then you'd be-” Instead of continuing Maria went silent and glanced over her shoulder at Joseph for a moment. “Correct.”

A sigh escaped Joseph as he rolled his eyes. “Was that build up really needed? Why cats though?”

“They were looking for something ascetically pleasing but also functional. You should see the inside of the citadel some day. It starts off rather simple though functional but as we got deeper and deeper inside the more artful things become. You can also see it in the designs we've found for golems and the like. The mass produced models are pretty much what you'd expect from a golem but the design of the more powerful ones are lovely.”

“You mean you've gained access to some of the designs for the golems the Luvarians made?”

“A few yeah.”

“Why don't you make them then? They could easily help protect the forest.” It actually surprised Joseph whenever he felt Maria's body tense up for a moment.

“I. We don't like that ideal very much.”

“Is this a tender subject?”

“No. I well. I mean. They're not really needed and the creation of the power source for the golems is extremely difficult. We know that there are a facilities in the citadel for the rapid creation of magic power sources but we haven't gained access to it yet. After all the rapid creation of power sources for their golems was one of the Luvarians most powerful and closely guarded secrets.”

As Joseph listened to Maria he couldn't help but notice how the tone of her voice changed. Something about the golems had alarmed her. “It's true that producing such energy sources is hard. I guess if you had access to that part of the citadel you'd be working on energy sources for the sisters though.”

“Yeah. We probably would.”

“Maria what about the golems make you so nervous though?”

“I'm not nervous.” Upon finishing Maria noted Joseph's hands squeezing her shoulders a bit tighter as if to tell her he knew she wasn't being truthful. “Fine. The ideal of those golems being mass produced does make me nervous and it's not just because it would be difficult. It's because they don't have any true sense of loyalty. At least the ones we've learned to make don't. They're golems they do whatever their told I don't want a sort of mindless servant that doesn't know why it obeys only that it does wondering around our home.”

“Maria from what I know the Luvarians relied heavily upon their golems and artificial creations. That's only what's been recorded though. What did you find in the citadel?”

“On the outside they did depend on their golems an awful lot. However, when it came to more important things they tended to rely upon specially made creations. It's those creations that you're still dealing with today though. Some are probably still fulfilling their original function while others have probably gone insane whenever they finished their original task or due to the collapse of the Luvarians found themselves unable to continue the task.”

“Maria have any of you ever considered trying to destroy those monsters?”

“I'm certain that we could. It's just that we don't really have a reason to do it. Given the reception we tend to get from people whenever we leave the forest why should we help them?”

“Perhaps helping them would soften their reception?”

“Do you really believe that?”

“Not really. I doubt that many would believe you'd even been the ones to defeat it. From what I know most of them are considered rampaging monsters however if what you told me is true then they're not rampaging. They're staying within the confines that was previously set for them. It makes sense as they never left the regions they're located in. However, I guess all those stories of the world rising up against the Luvarians and destroying them are false.”

“Not entirely. In the libraries we have access to they are some military type reports. The Luvarians had just ended a very long period of infighting or where nearing the end whenever several of their enemies attacked them at once. In their weakened condition they weren't able to stand. A lot of the Luvarians chose to split up realizing that the guild itself was going to fall.”

“Why didn't they take those creations with them though?”

“I don't know. I guess it was considered best to make a clean break after everything that had happened. Joseph we can't be sure but after the internal struggle had come to a end we believe half the Luvarians were already dead.”

“So this wasn't just a political struggle.”

“No. We can be certain there was a lot of blood shed and a lot of using their own creations against them. The creations that are still in operation though are most likely some of the most powerful the Luvarians developed. One we're for certain is still operating is Elle.”

“Elle? What is that exactly?”

“Well her official title was the elemental focus. Effectively they attuned a beings body to the elemental plain of existence so that she could pull energy from it as fast as her soul could transfer the energy. Well that was the goal from the reports it wasn't a complete success. As the person was a sentient being her will could act as a filter for the type of energy they wanted and the amount as well.”

“You mean the elemental storm! That's the Luvarian's fault!”

“Don't get so excited she wasn't always like that. The records we have are dated earlier but from the way they talk she volunteered to undergo the change. She was a great source of energy for the guild but they soon hit upon a snag. While her spirit was happy to let elemental energy into this world it wasn't so happy about letting elemental spirits into the world. So while she could provide them with tremendous amounts of raw energy she couldn't really yield the type of energy they needed for their main projects.”

“So they abandoned her?”

“Goodness no! She was too valuable for that. The reports reveal that she was well respected and treated very well for the service she provided. However, as time began to wear on her state of being began to affect her mind apparently. In altering her body they'd granted her the ability to see things about the world that no one else did. For a while it was beneficial but it wasn't information the human mind was meant to deal with and apparently she wasn't quite able to adapt to it.”

“What did they do?”

“They began to use order magic to help her keep her mind together despite her state of being. They also began trying to find a way to permanently stabilize her mental state. Unfortunately we never read of them fully succeeding.”

“You seem to know a lot about the Luvarians.”

“All of us. They're our original creators so of course we want to know about their history.”

“Hey Maria I just thought of something. I know that teleportation zones can be created to connect one or more areas. It's difficult but it can be done. Why haven't you placed such devices inside the main village so that the sisters don't have to help the brothers get around.”

“Why isn't every major human city connected with such a system?”

“Well the magic is quite difficult and the systems can be hard to maintain but it seems like you have the abilities.”

“Oh we can build them. You're wrong about the reason every human city doesn't have one though. The reason they don't have one is because of the obscene amount of energy that's required to keep such a system functional. Some cities have them as they were fortunate to be built on top of a lei line or planned that way but ours wasn't.”

“I'm not aware of how much energy they require.”

“A lot. If we could only get access to one of the core extraction rooms inside the citadel we could set up a system. Even if it was just one of the most basic rooms. However, while we know where some of the smaller rooms are none of us are ranked high enough to enter into them.”

“Core extraction?”

“They're special rooms built with gates to various mystic plains. While we haven't been into one apparently they were designed to lure beings such as elemental spirits into the world, capture them and then trap them in spirit shards. If only we could gain access to even one of those rooms our lives would be so much easier.”

“How did they do that?”

“How the heck should I know?”

“Ah I see your point. I suppose if you knew how the rooms worked you'd already built your own. I know how a elemental spirit can be captured and contained to be used as a focus or a power source but from the way you're talking these rooms must have been able to do it at an exceptionally fast rate and handle very powerful elementals.”

As Joseph was speaking Maria began to slow her pace as they came closer to the library. “Now I'd suggest you hold any comments about the library until you've looked around inside. Also you're right.”

“Are we there?”

“Yep.” The minute the words left her mouth Maria brought herself to a stop halting in front of a cylindrical twelve meter tall structure. The entire thing was twelve meters wide with a slight over hang. Several columns ran along the structure except in front of the door.

“Okay I'm holding my comments.”

A slight giggle escaped Maria as she let Joseph down and stepped behind him. “Well go ahead.”

After a moment Joseph gave a slight nod and approached the structure. The doors appeared to be exceptionally heavy and had clearly been designed to allow easy access to sisters even larger then keeper status. At first Joseph didn't know what to do until he noticed some handles at his level which he took hold of. The moment Joseph hands touched the handles he felt something grasp his body and instantly recognized a slight magic affect. He then gave the door a slight push and slowly opened it. “The handles are enchanted.”

“Yep. They give you a little extra strength.”

“I guess we'd need it.” Even as he spoke Joseph stepped into the structure and immediately noted that the center of the room was actually open as he came to a twisting stairway. “I see you built the library underground.”

“Surprised?”

“It's not quite what I was expecting.”

“Well don't just stand there.” Before continuing Maria gave a quick leap and landed on the railing leading to the first floor of the library. “Come on oh and shut the doors.”

Joseph was caught off guard whenever at shut the door Maria quickly pushed off the railing and began to fall down into the opening. His first response was to try and reach out and take hold of her but he found his motions too slow. Upon closing his hands on thin air he realized how fortunate he was that his reaction had been too slow though. He doubted he could have actually caught Maria and he doubted she needed catching. So after giving a quick sigh he shut the door and began to make his way down the stairway.

“Hurry up there slow poke!” Maria had a wide grin on her face as she looked up towards Joseph. She'd seen him trying to take hold of her before she jumped and couldn't help her delight. She'd intentionally insured he wouldn't be able to respond quickly enough but she was glad that he'd tried to save her.

As Joseph made his way down into the library he quickly began to realize just how large the structure truly was. The stairway only went down by his estimate seven meters or so though he imagined that was for a purpose. “Maria is it so deep for the larger sisters?”

“Yep. Not all of us can fit into here but a good portion of us can even some of the matrons. It was designed so large in anticipation that we would be able to grow larger eventually. Of course we also had to make it rather sturdy in anticipation of that day.”

“Is all of it this big?”

“No just the first two levels. The levels where all the books are kept are smaller. Once we get so large handling books can be a problem so it's easier just to ask someone to go retrieve a book we want.”

“I see.” As he spoke Joseph took note of the stone work and especially how the light reflected off the stone. Upon reaching the bottom of the steps he bent down and ran his hands over the floor. “This isn't natural stone.”

“Like I said we had to build it sturdy. It was modified with alchemy.”

“Is this entire structure made from alchemically altered stone?”

“Nearly all of the stone work is.”

“Then, this isn't a recent work is it?”

A slight chuckle escaped Maria as she shook her head. “Oh no. This was began shortly after the brothers began to look into the citadel and copy down some of the books they found there. Enough of that though come on.”

After a moment Joseph gave a nod and began to follow behind Maria after a moment's hesitation. Part of him expected her to pick him up and take off running as she did from time to time. Instead he found her keeping a nice pace that he could easily match as they walked towards a hall branching out from the entrance. “So is this the center?”

“Yeah. From here the library branches out in all directions. The most valuable items we have and the most dangerous are kept on the lowest level while the less valuable materials are up here. Well no. Let's say the most dangerous items are on the lowest level while the safest are on the higher levels. Even if they aren't magical I can't help but think some of the art is quite valuable to.”

“So what are you taking me to look at?”

“The sculptures. It has the greatest variety of works and they date the longest as well. As you're always asking questions about our history I figure that would be a good place to start. Also if you're wondering. The majority of us like working with stone rather then painting. We're far more use to removing material then we're to adding material.” As she spoke Maria raised her right hand and extended her claws about halfway.

“I imagine you get lots of practice at that. So tell me what decides the art that will be kept here and what isn't suitable?”

“The library's keepers or community agreement.”

In response Joseph gave a slight nod and continued on behind Maria. It was less then a minute of walking at a regular pace that they came to the first work and Joseph immediately came to a stop. What it depicted was two sisters sharing the same waste and legs but having a separate upper body. One of the bodies had one hand extended and gripping the ground with the claws of the other hand at the ready her mouth opened revealing razor sharp teeth. The other figure was holding a small child close to her face and appeared to be gently nuzzling it. The child had its hands on the massive figures face though it didn't appear to be pushing away rather it seemed to be holding on. “I see you like to make things to scale.”

A slight giggle escaped Maria as she walked over to the statue. “At times.”

“Hm you know at first I thought that both those figures were the same sister but when I look again. The one ready to strike appears far more bestial then I've seen any of you while the other one seems to be far more humanoid. The legs seem to be the legs of a sister though.”

“What do you think of it?”

“Well art isn't exactly my thing. If I had to risk a guess though I would say its your natures. The one ready to attack is your bestial side in its extreme while the one holding the child is your more nurturing nature. It's also interesting that the one holding the child appears to be somewhat larger then the one ready to attack. I would have thought that the beast would be more powerful physically.”

“Joseph which side of our nature do you believe rules us?”

“Oh I get it. The one holding the child is larger as its meant to show that your more tender side is dominant over your bestial side.”

Before Maria could respond another voice chimed in. “Close. You're not entirely right though. The one holding the child is not our tender side. Rather the one in a crouched position is meant to represent our hunger and desire to consume thus the indiscriminate aggression. The one holding the child though is our capacity to reason and not be governed purely by base desires. If the one ready to strike had the child it would be eaten while the one who holds the child insures that it's protected. After all the child's value far exceeds that of food.”

Upon hearing the voice speak up Maria glanced over at the keeper. “Well that's your thoughts on it Liana. You know art is open to interpretation.”

Liana had a wide grin on her face as she walked over to the statue and placed a finger on the side of the child's head. “The one holding the child is more powerful then the beast because she is more powerful. That's just the way of things.”

In response Joseph took a step closer to the statue. “I don't know. They're quite a few beast that are more powerful then a human.”

“Oh? Name me a few.”

“Tuskers come to mind real quick.”

“Joseph who do you think kills who more often. A tusker or a human?”

“I guess humans do but that's typically at ranged or with the use of traps. A human without any weapons and no special training is just going to be killed by a tusker.”

A slight chuckle escaped Liana as she shook her head. “You seem to think a human has to be naked in the woods alone for them to be truly representing their abilities. Humans are tool users and have the ability to reason and plan ahead that's one of their powers. It's a power most animals don't have and that's why humans tend to win. The same goes for us. The sister holding the child knows that everything isn't food she knows to value the child and if it came down to a fight she would use a weapon to protect that child. They're other factors as well.”

“I imagine the beast wouldn't have a food source for very long. She would grow larger and more powerful very quickly but soon she'd be out of food. Okay I see your point though I believe they're still arguable.”

While Joseph and Liana were still talking Maria had made her way over to another work she hadn't seen before. This one depicted someone in a mage's robes laying down on a simple death bed. His eyes were shut and from the general body structure he was clearly dead. There was both human figures and several sisters surrounding the figure. The work was exceptionally large as Maria noted several figures surrounding the mage. As the figures moved back she noted them changing the ones representing the sisters became smaller while the clothing of the humans changed from elegant robes to simpler and simpler garments. “This is a new one.”

Upon hearing Maria Liana glanced over to her. “You do realize how far you've walked I hope.”

“Huh?”

“Joseph could you even hear what Maria just said?”

For a moment Joseph said nothing as he glanced around. He was a bit surprised to see how far away Maria was. “Whoops. I guess I'm holding things up.” With that Joseph began to more run then walk towards Maria. As he did he noted a set of legs moving beside him though far more slowly and he realized that Liana was walking alongside of him over to Maria. “What is that?”

Once Joseph was close enough Maria spoke up. “This is a statue of Licon the only person that's held the title of our single leader.”

“Licon I've heard that-” Immediately Joseph drew to a stop and looked at the massive statue. “Um he's still remembered in the outside world as well.”

A slight chuckle escaped Maria as she noted the expression on Joseph's face. “You can relax we know what the outside world thinks of the Luvarians and of our first leader. What do you know?”

“I know that he was a life mage but he was called the corrupted because of the way that he used his magic. One of the better known stories is how he took a healing spell that was meant to save lives and altered it so that it would heal certain strands of bacteria instead of healing the actual person. He then use this spell to greatly accelerate a plague.”

In response Maria gave a quick nod. “That sounds like something that he would do in accordance with his thesis on the proper use of life magic.”

“Huh?”

A slight chuckle escaped Maria as she pointed a finger down below. “We have a copy of the book down stairs. What most don't know is Licon was a very proficient writer and he put a good deal of his thoughts to paper. We found the book in one of the first libraries we reached in the citadel. There isn't any magic inside of it exactly but it does go into detail about some of his ideals and what he calls the proper use of life magic.”

“What was that for?”

“It was to help new members of the Luvarians get a better ideal of how the guild functioned. You know the Luvarians didn't just wait around for mages to join their ranks. They actively recruited and taught those with good natural potential. They even went to orphanages to look for children with high magic potential or at times even moderate potential. They have records detailing what children had such potential where they were found and who was brought along.”

“Brought along?”

“They were children that didn't have much magic potential and thus little value to the Luvarians that they still took due to being a sibling or close friend of someone who did.”

“Maria do you have any ideal how horrible that sounds? It's like they used those kids as tool to motivate the others. Do well so that you and your friend can stay and be taken care of. If you do poorly both you and your friend will be tossed out. Was that the set up?”

“As far as we can tell yes it was. They are also records of exceptions though where the tag along child became more valuable then the one who prompted their acquisition.”

“Acquisition?”

“Ah well depending on the age of the child the Luvarians didn't always take no for an answer whenever it came to bringing them in. Joseph you seem tense.”

“Maria, everything I know about this person says that he was a monster not a savior. He was considered a life mage but he earned the title the corrupted because of his use of life magic. The creatures he's alleged to have created are considered some of the most powerful and horrific abominations to have ever existed. It's even claimed that he didn't stop at creating golems or life forms but actually tried to create new forms of demons.”

In response to Joseph's comment Liana gave a slight chuckle. “Licon create demons? Not from his journals. As far as we can tell he had a hatred of demons that bordered on obsession at least early on in his youth. You're right about him making several very powerful creations. Though to him they were representations of the power of life magic not abominations. Actually, I speculate that his drive to create new life forms was born from a desire to create a creature capable of preying upon demons. Though he never openly claimed to be trying to do as much.”

“You know. In the outside world some speculate that lican were named after him. As if he was there creator.”

In response to this Liana gave her head a quick shake. “No. That's not possible. Werewolves existed well before our leaders birth. He actually studied them quite heavily for a while. It frustrated him that they were considered undead whenever there was nothing truly dead about them. He was especially interested in the bond that they shared with the natural and spiritual worlds.”

“I see. I. I just can't see this man as a savior though not considering what I know about him.”

Now Maria chose to speak up. “Hey now! Is that really fair? After all. You only know what his enemies had to say about him. Why don't you at least read what he wrote and perhaps let us give you a bit of his history before you decide that he was a monster beyond redemption.”

“Alright. Why did he make such monsters?”

“Liana you're better with history then me.”

“It depends on what monsters and I use the word monsters unfavorably here. The none sentient creatures he made were either done upon request or done as experiments. He didn't like making something that could think for itself until he felt the body was well prepared. The driving factor behind these actions though seems to have been a desire to create something. In a way I suppose you could say that he was an artist. He wanted to create the most beautiful artwork that he possibly could and life was the medium that he used.”

“Then why were so many of his creations destructive?”

“Ah well that was mostly business. Someone would come to the Luvarians wanting this or that and he'd make something for them. I want an army that is completely loyal to my bloodline, can reproduce is fearsome in battle and won't question my orders. That sort of thing. He didn't really produce monsters for free. Those creations that he made himself for his own goals rarely were seen by anyone other then a few other Luvarians.”

“Are you serious? He helped lay waste to entire cities with plague!”

“The vast majority of those acts were during military actions. You know Joseph. You were going to provide the life bloom to the Gale kingdom before as I recall. Don't you believe they'd use it as a weapon?”

“Well yes. Um pardon but I just realized. I don't know your name.”

“My name is Liana and it's nice to meet you.”

“Fine what about the experimentation on children?”

“Ah that. Well I can't deny that it did happen. Even if most of the work he did was done with blanks.”

“Blanks?”

“Effectively think of them as human bodies without a spirit or soul. They're useful for testing but from what we read costly to make. So he liked to start with adult subjects that were scheduled to die anyway. Murderers, rapist, demon followers and some thieves at times. Actually you really should read some of his works he has a whole list of acceptable test subjects that even if you don't agree with you might like. Anyway, he liked to experiment with them and gain as much knowledge as he could before any work was done with children or newborns.”

“That doesn't change the fact that he altered their lives though.”

In response Liana gave a slight shrug. “I'm not going to argue the point with you but you really should read some of his works.”

This time Maria chose to speak up before Joseph could respond. “Come on Joseph let's move on to something else. I'll get you some of Licon's books and you can read over them and get to know the person better. Don't you think it's only fair to read what he had to say and try to understand his reasons before you pass judgment on him?”

“Well yes. You're right about that Maria though I don't believe I could ever understand someone that would experiment on children.”

“Oh? Okay then Joseph let me ask you something. If you knew a method to insure that once born a child would never become ill would you use that method on the child?”

“Well yes.”

“How would you be certain it was going to work though until you tried it? No matter how much testing you do can you ever be absolutely certain that it'll work? That you didn't somehow overlook something?”

“Ah well. I see your point. Did he truly turn those children into monsters though?”

“Are we monsters Joseph?”

In response to Maria's question Joseph gave a slight sigh. “No. You're not monsters. I guess. I suppose there isn't really anything wrong with deciding that a child should be born something different. As long as the child is born better off for it. Maria do you believe that the first of your sisters were human?”

A slight giggle escaped Maria as she shook her head. “Oh no. We were never humans. The womb of our first sisters were specially designed chambers.”

Before either Maria or Joseph could speak up again Liana placed her hand against their backs and began to push them along. “Well you decided to move on so let's do so. It has been a very slow week so I want to show some people around. Maria you haven't been here in over a nineteen years so there are lots of new things for you to see.”

“Hey. Hey. Human here.” As Joseph spoke he tried to match the pace Liana was pushing them at but finding that very difficult.

A slight giggle escaped Liana as she shook her head. “You humans always want to play that card whenever you're feeling lazy. I know that you can move faster then this though now move. Come on there is one I want to show the two of you.”

Given that he had just met Liana Joseph couldn't help but be surprised by her statement. Instead of saying anything he began to pick up the pace though it meant that he was nearly running. It actually surprised him how easy it was though only until he considered that'd he had been being made to exercise every morning by Maria for a while. “Alright but why is this so interesting?”

“You'll see.”

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As Joseph looked at the work he couldn't help but grin. A sister was portray on a boulder with her arms extended and fingers dug into the stone. Her fingers were sunk into the rock up to her knuckles while her legs seemed to be tensed as if trying to keep from kicking. Her mouth was opened up revealing massive razor sharp teeth while her eyes were partly closed. The sister was positively massive even in terms of her muscles and a massive crack going throughout the stone seemed to show just how tightly she was squeezing it.

Despite all the power portray in the image it was exceptionally cute. Setting on top of the sisters back was another very young sister apparently as she was no larger then a human child. Along side of the younger sister was a male child as well. Both of the children were working the larger sister's back the human tickling an area just below the base of her neck while the younger sister seemed focused on her side.

“It looks like something Allen and Pera would do to Stella.”

A slight giggle escaped Liana as she shook her head. “I thought so as well. Though the sister that's pinned is clearly too large to be Stella.”

Maria was quick to speak up now. “I think Mina is about the only one of us that has muscles quite that large. Hm Joseph maybe you should ask Dan if Mina has a ticklish spot at the base of her neck? Even if he doesn't know I'm sure he wouldn't mind finding out.”

“So Liana do you believe this was made based off Mina?”

In response Liana gave her head a quick shake. “It couldn't have been. This statue was actually made before Mina developed her mutation and developed such a powerful body.”

It was impossible for Maria to hide her surprise upon hearing this. “Really? I don't recall having seen it before. Then again I could have easily over looked it there's so much.”

“Ah well this one was kind of out of the way though I'm not certain why. I found it while searching around earlier and just had to move it up here. We've got so many works showing internal struggles or power or the such near the front that I wanted something that was just really warm and playful.”

A slight chuckle escaped Joseph as he got a closer look at the two children on the larger sister's back. “How long ago was this made?”

“It was made fifty seven years ago.”

“Wow that's a pretty long time ago. Why do you believe the sister was portray as so large though? I thought sisters of Mina's size were rare.”

“They are. At least if you're talking about the relative size of her muscles. I believe they made it to enhance the warmth of the image. Here is this absolutely massive figure being pinned helplessly by two children. The sculpture did everything that he could to make the sister as powerful in appearance as possible. I mean even those teeth. I don't think our teeth look quite that vicious.” As she finished speaking Liana gave a smile being certain to show all her teeth.

For a moment Joseph said nothing but looked at Liana's teeth. “I can't really agree with you there. Those teeth look pretty wicked to me.”

“Well sure pretty wicked but not that wicked.”

“You clearly haven't had a good look in the mirror whenever you're smiling.”

A slight giggle escaped Maria as she took a moment to examine the sister and brother more closely. “You know I just noticed that the sisters tail is wrapped around the brother. However, he's in a better position to maintain his balance. I wonder if he's helping her to stay on or if she's insuring he doesn't fall off. Perhaps it's a little bit of both.”

Upon glancing at the brother and sister Joseph spoke up. “Well also, it looks like the sister who's pinned is even insuring that they don't get thrown off. Her tail doesn't look like it's preparing to brush them off but rather it's ready to catch them if they begin to fall.”

Before Maria could respond Liana spoke up. “I noticed that to. I personally think that the sister who's been pinned is their actual biological sister and they managed to ambush her somehow.”

Now Maria had to respond. “A biological brother and sister that close to one another in age with an older sister like this? Now that's really some wishful thinking right there.”

“Oh I know. It's just the way I like to think of the image though. How do you interpret it Maria?”

“I believe that they caught her napping. From the way she's position on the rock I'm thinking she was napping in the nice warm sun whenever these two sneaked up on her. I'm fairly certain that she recognized it was a brother and sister who pounced her from the way she's holding onto the rock. They'd have to be close to her to know where to tickle her like that in order to keep her pinned though. From the expression and body language I'm going to say she's laughing really hard. How about you Joseph?”

“Ah both of those sound pretty good to me.”

Maria gave a slight pout as she looked at Joseph. “Now that isn't how you're suppose to do it. You can't just agree with us you have to give your thoughts on it as well.”

Oh? Well I didn't know that. Okay. Let me think. I believe that the sister was pounced by too little monsters and is desperately trying to shake them off before they finish pinning her and consume her insides.”

At first Maria found herself at a loss for what she should say as she looked at Joseph. After a moment a slight chuckle escaped her as one did Liana as well. “Oh very funny.”

“Well just look at them! It's clear that the boy is focused on keeping her pinned while the girl plans to open her up from the side.”

It was as difficult for Liana to keep from laughing as it was Maria. “I guess she is looking rather aggressive at the moment.”

After a moment Joseph found it impossible to keep a strait face and gave a slight chuckle. “Honestly I don't know if I would say they're blood related but it's clear they're very close. The look on the sisters face seems to be one of intense delight going beyond even the laughter. I have no doubt that the two scamps that have her pinned with tickle torture are very important to her. Especially with the way she's dug her fingers and toes partly into the stone. She's doing everything in her power to keep her body still to avoid injuring them. One thing that really strikes me though is the size of the sister. If they wanted to show that she was powerful they really didn't need to go that far. Hey Maria, was it you who mentioned that the protectors of the citadel are nearly as large as Mina?”

In response Maria gave a nod. “I'm not sure if I was the one that told you that but it's true.”

“I wonder if this might have been inspired by them then. Perhaps the original sculptor believed that there was more to them.”

It was impossible for Liana to not speak up upon hearing this. “You know that is an interesting ideal. I really wish that we could learn more about them but they just won't talk to us. I wonder if they can talk or perhaps don't understand the language we've been speaking to them. Well languages. Wouldn't that be a shocker?”

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“All I said was that my feet hurt and I need a moment to wrest.”

“That would just be a waste of time.”

“How would giving me a little time to set down and wrest be a waste of time? It would only take five or ten minutes.”

“That's five or ten minutes wasted and besides you're not heavy at all.”

A sigh escaped Joseph as he leaned his head against Maria's back for a moment as she packed him around. “You know I'm still not used to having help traveling around and this is really pushing it.”

“Good. After this maybe you'll be less troubled when being packed to and from work.”

“I still find it hard to believe you haven't developed a transportation system.”

“It's really not something that we think about very often. They're so few brothers it's just easier to help you get around then have a third life form we have to think about living in our area. Honestly I figured it all started whenever a sister agreed to meet a brother somewhere and after waiting an hour went and got him. At least that's the most likely scenario in my mind. From that point on it became clear we can either wait around for you to show up or go get you ourselves.”

“Is there anything that I can do to help out?”