Joseph took a moment to tap the floor lightly and note the solid stone beneath his feet. His original home had a wooden floor. He then made his way over to the walls and pressed his hand against them. Once again he noted the use of stone and immediately felt certain one of the sisters had cut the stone. The outside of the house had a wood covering so he had thought that the walls were made of wood so the stone had surprised him. He then glanced up at the roof and was a bit surprised by its construction as well.

After a moment of examining the walls Joseph found his attention turning towards the furnishing. He wasn't surprised to see that animal skins had been used in their making but the quality was quite obvious.

“Is something wrong Joseph?”

In response Joseph gave his head a quick shake. “Ah no Maria. This building just caught me off guard. The door way seems rather large I've got to say.”

In response Maria gave a nod. “You thought it would be like the temporary housing we provided you with didn't you?”

“Well yeah.”

“Na. We can do better then that we just choose not to for temporary housing. It's encase one of the claimed does something foolish and destroys the structure. It's not very hard to rebuild. Now these buildings are meant to last they were also designed for greater protection encase something happens. It became a necessity.”

“Necessity? How come?”

“Joseph let's say that two sisters got into a brawl for one reason or the other and one of them was sent flying into the roof of your old house. Do you believe that it would have been able to stop them from falling through?”

“Ah I see. So encase a fight starts outside my door these walls are meant to keep the fight from spilling into my home.”

“Exactly. The market is a relatively confined space so the keepers can watch pretty much everything that goes on there so it isn't needed. They're a bit more spread out here though so things can happen and they don't always get there in time. So we made these buildings extra sturdy to protect our brothers.”

“Why the high roofs though?”

“Ah well this is to accommodate sisters up to and even slightly larger then keeper status encase the brother living there takes one as a mate. I know things may seem over sized but we tried to build them to accommodate both parties. Well that and encase you have company in general. How would you feel inviting someone like my mom or Mina over knowing that if they stood up they'd bang their head on your roof and possibly damage it?”

“Okay you have a point. It's just that this building is well quite a bit more modern then I expected it to be.”

“I swear I wonder what you humans have been doing for the last three hundred years.” As she spoke Maria gave her head a slight shake. “We've been building houses like this ever since we were united under one. Yet every human we bring here seems to believe that they're extremely modern or even beyond that.”

“Well in all fairness you have had access to a wealth of magic information that we're still struggling to catch up to.”

“That they're struggling to catch up to.” Before continuing Maria walked over to Joseph so that she was standing right in front of him. “Remember that you're one of us now.”

“That's going to take some getting used to.”

“I don't believe it will.”

For a moment Joseph said nothing but continued to look into Maria's eyes. “So will you be coming by to visit often?”

“Of course! Actually, I thought I would take you to where you'll be conducting your research from now on every morning. You really don't want to walk there.”

“I imagine you're right. It's going to be strange not going to see Dan whenever I need something though.”

“You two seemed to really hit it off. Ah well I'm sure you two can talk while at the dining hall.”

“True though I don't know how long it'll take me to get used to such a unique form of transit.”

A slight giggle escaped Maria. “Okay now that you might have to adapt to but don't worry we don't mind helping you all around. Just whenever you want to go somewhere call out your destination, ask nicely and someone that's heading in that direction or doesn't have anything else do to will give you a lift.”

“Why don't you use some form of pack animal?”

“They're too slow and not worth the upkeep! Plus they're liable to be eaten if they're a particularly tasty animal.”

“Now hearing that is still strange. Anyway, mentioning food I think I'll go check out the kitchen. Which way would it be?”

“Follow me. We already stored some provisions for you but let me know if there is anything you don't like. I'll be happy to take care of it.”

“I imagine you would be.”

“It looks like we'll have to wait on that it seems you have some company.”

Before Joseph could respond the sound of the front door being knocked on got his attention. Realizing that Maria had heard their arrival in advance he quickly made his way over to it. “This feels kind of awkward.”

A slight giggle escaped Maria as she waved her hand at Joseph. “Go ahead and open it. You're a brother now so we can't just poke our heads in whenever we want.”

“That's nice to know.” Upon finishing speaking Joseph quickly opened the door to find that it was filled by three ladies though their heads didn't come near the top of the doorway. He recognized them as guardian level sisters immediately.

“Hi neighbor.”

Immediately Joseph took note of the one that had been first to speak. While her stature was on par with most of the other guardians he immediately noted that her legs and arms seemed to be slightly more muscled though no where near Mina's level. Her fur was also colored such that she had a black strip going vertically through both of her eyes. “Um hello and pleased to meet you.”

“The name is Kesara may I come in?”

“Oh sure. I'm Joseph.” As he spoke Joseph stepped to the side and allowed the three to enter. The other two were currently being quiet and as he looked at them he noted they seemed somewhat smaller then Kesara. He also noted the two were each holding a rather large package.

Maria couldn't help but note the packages the two were packing and couldn't help but speak up. “Oh Joseph can I stay?”

“Sure you don't even need to ask but stay for what?”

A slight giggle escaped Kesara before she spoke up. “It's something of a greeting. Whenever we get a new neighbor we go over to their place and make a large meal as way of greeting. It gives us an excuse to break our diets for one meal and shows you're welcome.”

Now Maria spoke up. “If they only bring over a very small meal that means you're not all that welcome. If no one even brings food that means they want you gone. I think it means more to us sisters then the brothers though.”

“Ah I see. Damn, I wish I had known about this. I would have retrieved some food of my own.”

“Na you're the new neighbor it's our job to treat you this time. Well if you're welcome. The two with me are Esana and Tesa.”

“I'm glad to meet the two of you. So exactly what am I suppose to do? As you're providing the food I imagine I should at least help with the cooking.” As Joseph spoke he noted rather wide grins form on Tesa's and Esana's faces though he wasn't entirely certain why.

It was hard for Maria to keep quiet and not tell Joseph he'd just said the right thing. By offering to cook he'd essentially told them welcome. “Joseph I can smell what they're packing and while I'm sure you can help with the lighter work I don't think you want to be involved with the main dish.”

“Huh, what is it exactly?”

Kesara couldn't help but grin as she took the package from her friend. “Are you sure you want to know?”

“If I'm going to be one of the people eating it yes I would.”

In response Kesara gave a quick nod and opened up the package. What lay underneath looked to be a solid slab of metal and even had a slight shine to it. This was in fact the creature's skin and it was truly as strong as any steel made by human hands except that backed with magic or the occasional master. “Can you guess what it is?”

At first Joseph wasn't certain what he was seeing. He recalled that Mina had killed a basilisk for the sake of eating though so he knew not to rule out very rare and dangerous creature. “Is it safe to touch?”

“Sure I made certain it was quite dead before I wrapped it up.”

“I see.” As he spoke Joseph took a few steps closer and carefully inspected the corpse. “It looks like a form of rock borrower.”

“No.” As she spoke Kesara removed more of the packaging letting Joseph get a better look at the fish. “Do you recognize it now?”

“A steel fin! Where did you get one of those!”

A slight giggle escaped Kesara as she began to walk towards the kitchen. “The forest does border the ocean on one side you know. I ran across this little bastard while I was out dealing with some fish folk. Occasionally they get it into their heads to leave the ocean and try to set up residence on the edge of our forest.”

“I see. So it's your job to deal with them?”

“I'm one of the sisters that does.”

“I see. Kesara is that why your muscles seem to be a bit well large?”

In response to Joseph's comment Kesara flexed her right arm making the muscle even larger. “Kind of, I don't have a mutation like Maria or Mina if you're wondering. I do swim an awful lot though and have toned up my body due to that.”

For a moment Joseph went silent as he considered asking if the steel fin would be safe for him to eat. He refrained from doing so though. Rather he chose to trust Maria wouldn't let her sisters feed him anything that would be detrimental to his health. “Isn't such a thing a bit extravagant though?”

“Well you are a new brother so it's something of a special occasion Joseph.” Maria had a wide grin on her face as she walked past Joseph giving him a quick flick with her tail just before she was out of reach. “It's not every day or even every month that we get to welcome a new brother to the community.”

As Maria walked towards her Kersara could feel a bit of tension. Of course Kesara wasn't surprised by this. She knew that Maria was interested in Joseph from both talk and just Maria's smell on Joseph. In response Kersara lowered her tail though only for a moment. Just enough for Maria to get the message. She had no intention on trying to take Maria's prey. “That's true. I was beginning to wonder how long this building would be empty actually.”

“Huh. I can't say I know everything about your people but shouldn't my moving here be a cause for annoyance? From the way Maria was talking it means my neighbors have to be more careful then normal and well.”

“Hardly it's actually nice having a brother living near by. Plus they are some perks to being careful.”

A sigh escaped Esana as she spoke up. “No kidding about that. Sense you're near by it'll be easier to decline or put off a challenge for a while. Plus it'll keep our younger sisters from being quite so excitable.”

“Challenge?”

“You mentioned it so you explain it Esana.” As she spoke Kersara busied herself gathering the things she need to cook the fish from the kitchen and laying them out where they'd be easily in reach.

“Sure thing Kersara. Basically it means we don't have to worry about any of our other sisters trying to pick a fight with us as long as we're around here.”

“I thought you all got along so well.”

“I suppose that we get along well enough but they're certain instincts that run pretty deep. That and we do have some hot heads and general idiots amongst us that don't know when to let well enough alone. Kersara had to remind one of our sisters that all guardians are not equal.”

“That was a stupid bit of business and she should have just let it die.” A sigh escaped Kersara as she shook her head. “Okay I believe I've located everything I need.”

“May I know what happened?”

“I'd like to know as well.” Maria had by now backed away from Kersara having acknowledged her sisters response and relaxed a little. “Normally when one of us out right attacks the other it gets around quickly. After all we do have ways of handling grudges that can't be handled with words that don't involve being ambushed. I guess the ambushed part was the problem though.”

In response Kersara gave a nod. “Yeah. It happened while I was out swimming. I caught site of one of our sisters fighting with some of the fish men and went to lend her a hand. She went nuts though whenever I joined in on the fight and started screaming about not needing my help. In the end I got rather upset and made some comments and went on my way. Later I went and gave my report on activity on the beaches to our brothers and learned that our sister had already done so as well. Except she left out the part where I had lent her a hand. It wasn't a big deal to me but apparently it was a big deal to her. It's not like I said she needed my help though she was doing find I just didn't see a reason not to help her.”

Seeing Kersara slow for a moment Maria chose to speak up. “It sounds like she might have messed up a few things already and was trying to rebuild her reputation. Though that's hardly the way to go about it.”

“It's possible. Anyway, a few days later I was walking along and then she actually attacked me. The attack was pretty sudden so I wasn't able to truly block but well she didn't really have that much power in her strikes.”

“Pardon, Kersara I can see that you're more muscular then the other guardians I've seen but just how much stronger are you? Your bodies don't seem to change very easily.”

In response Kersara gave a nod. “You're right about that. Our bodies do respond to exercise and get stronger but to gain visible results there has to be a significant change in strength. I suppose if most sisters were average people then I would be a trained soldier physically speaking.”

“Was that intentional?”

“Not so much. I just really like swimming and really hate my prey getting away from me. The fish men can move faster in the water then most of us so I conditioned my body so that I can catch them. Well they can move faster then most of us over short distances if we can keep tracking them we'll catch up but I hate losing the burst race and tracking in the water is tough.”

“I see. So what happened with the fight?”

“I beat her down. I think I might have gone a little too far but I was pretty upset at the moment. I mean she got snippy with me whenever I was just trying to lend her a hand, she lies to our brothers and then she attacks me. Anyway, not many of our sisters were around to see it so it didn't really get far though I did tell Mirin and a few of the other brothers.”

“Any ideal what happened to her?”

“I haven't seen her on the beach for a while or smelt her. I still smell her scent around the village from time to time but I'm guessing that Mirin moved her to a less important task.”

“I see. Maria when you said you guess she was about to be demoted do you mean she would have to undergo the same punishment as you?”

In response Maria quickly shook her head. “No. No. Even guardians have ranks amongst them based on what task you're handling. Watching the beaches takes you far away from home even for us, requires you to fight in the water which isn't our primary strength, means you may encounter unknown and well some other factors. So it's viewed as a very respectable position. It's a good position to earn the right to become a keeper actually. They're less important task though.”

“I see. So I won't be seeing you around often Kersara?”

“Not every night that's for certain. I tend to be gone for two days at a time then get to come back and let our brothers know what's going on.”

“Hm just what are some of these less important jobs?”

“Well for one thing patrolling some of the inner regions of the forest are considered somewhat low ranking. That's why sisters that handled that are expected to bring back useful plants and animals every once in a while. Of course, that also depends on the range you inspect. Maria I'm pretty sure you don't have to bring back anything whenever you go out searching right?”

“Like I'd be that lazy!”

A slight giggle escaped Kersara as she nodded her head. “True but still you're not required to bring back anything due to the range you cover correct?”

“That's true. I feel a little strange about it at times though. My speed really lets me cover a massive area.”

“Yeah but you haven't reached guardian status yet either.”

“Well that's true.”

“Of course, don't let me give you any ideals that the danger or difficulty decides what task we end up doing or how it's viewed. Doing a task that the rest of us just plain don't want to do is considered a good thing.”

“Such as?”

“Those that handle the night time maintenance. I wouldn't put it up there with beach patrol but they aren't a whole lot of us that want to do that as it leaves less time to meet with friends.”

“I see. So Maria where you out performing your tasks whenever I encountered you in the forest?”

“Oh heck no. I was eating berries and napping. I would have thought that was obvious.”

“Er well.”

A slight giggle escaped Maria as she shook her head. “No. I wasn't out doing my shift whenever you bumped into me. At that time my greatest responsibility was to gather things we needed from the forest actually. You know you're not the only one that's been trying to gain status in the community.”

“Well dang now I feel like a self centered prick.”

Before speaking Maria made her way over to Joseph and moved behind him wrapping her arms around him as she did so and pulling him against herself. “Na, you're not self centered. I was moved to regular patrols a few weeks after I brought you back. Since then my territory has been changing and expanding a bit but I haven't gotten to do anything real important like monitor the more dangerous zones.”

“Dangerous zones?”

“Areas with creatures that pose a threat to the entire forest, us or could destroy an entire species in the forest. One quick example I can think of is the kobolds another is the basalisk dins. The entire beach is considered a danger zone due to the attacks from the fish people and the difficulty in chasing them. On top of that they're very far from our village so those sisters who guard there are very well respected for being willing to spend such a long time away from home.”

“I see. So Kersara you're a pretty high ranked guardian then aren't you?”

While they'd been talking Kersara had been busy removing the tough outer skin from the steel fin. She knew that no amount of cooking would let Joseph eat the skin but she and her sisters loved it. They'd let Joseph have the tenderest meat inside of the fish though even that would taking cooking to make tender enough. “I wouldn't say ranked. It's not like I have any real special authority or anything. I guess it does have its perks though. Like I tend to get my choice of meat at the dining hall whenever I come in but then again I wonder if that's just because my muscles.”

A slight giggle escaped Maria as she shook her head. “Kersara you know it isn't due to your muscles. If muscles decided such things the room would clear out whenever Mina walked in.”

“Ah but Mina is a big softy. I'm tough.”

It was impossible for Maria to keep from chuckling as she looked at Kersara. “Yeah right.”

“Some how I don't imagine any of you girls or your sisters respond very well to intimidation.”

In response Maria gave a quick nod. “Well it's not unheard of but well. It's just hard to imagine any of us especially a guardian or higher relying upon fear unless it was to break up a dispute quickly without bloodshed. That's when dealing with another sister at least.”

“What about that sister that jumped Kersara then? I mean Kersara you said that you hadn't seen her sense then but if she was willing to jump you wouldn't that suggest she'd used underhanded tactics.”

“Ah Joseph I don't like to think too much about that. If I do I might go and beat the day lights out of her. If she was willing to jump me she might jump another sister who she'd felt offended her and the ideal of someone jumping one of my weaker sisters.” For a moment Kersara went silent as she felt her upper body tensing up. She then took in a few deep breathes and gave her head a shake. “It really makes my instincts kick in.”

After a moment of silence and noticing the way Kersara's muscles seemed to swell Joseph opted to forget that subject entirely. “I'm kind of curious. How do you prepare a steel fin so that a human can eat it?”

“Ah well first I have to separate what a human can handle eating and what they can't. Me and the others will eat what you can't. The inner meat gets pretty tender once you go deep enough especially if I cut some of the connective tissue. A good cooking and it's more then tender enough for a human to eat. Of course, you have to go pretty deep into the muscle to reach the tender stuff that's one of the reasons I had to bring so much.”

“Ah and I thought you just wanted more to gorge yourself on.”

A slight giggle escaped Kersara as she looked at the fish. “Well maybe that's why I chose this. I thought it would be a nice way to greet you as well. I'm certain you tried most of the things at the dining hall so this was one of the few things I could think of that you might not have tried.”

“Not everything. Some of the things you ladies eat is just beyond my ability or willingness to try. I'm a little worried about what you're fixing now.”

“Well don't worry too much it's good. Maria can back me up on that.”

“Yep. It's been a while since I've had steel fin but I remember liking it a lot. Just not enough to go through the trouble of catching it.”

“Could you four tell me. Are the steel fins also part of the forest's design?”

In response Maria quickly shook her head in the negative. “No. Though I imagine aspects of the forest drew them to the coast. As it seems to draw everything else to the its borders.”

“When the fish people come into your forest what are they generally after?”

“Kersara you can probably handle this one better then I can.”

“They tend to be after everything it seems. Though those plants with particularly useful properties seems to be their primary goal. It's really something else the way they move though. I often hear and smell them before I realize they're coming. They often look like a sea wave rolling in until they get close enough.”

“Do you use any special tactics to fight them?”

“Let out a roar to show my sisters where I and they are then attack and kill as many as I can as quickly as I can. I've found that putting fear into them is a good tactic as it often makes them break what little formation they have. From that point on I just try to slaughter then all before they can retreat. It can be troublesome whenever something is motivating them to at tack though. They don't respond to fear as effectively and I just have to resort to flat out killing them.”

“I bet you tend to have a nice meal after you're done though.”

“Of course. Why do you think I call for my sisters? I really hate to waste food but if I let myself feast on the fish people until I'd eaten all that I often kill then well. I wouldn't be staying within my confines.”

“Wouldn't that be alright though if you aren't getting your food source from the forest?”

In response Kersara shook her head. “If it was a reliable food source that I could always count on then yes. However, I can never be certain when they're going to attack and they're not stable enough to be a reliable food source. Esana how are things coming along over there?”

“I'm ready to start adding heat but I'm having trouble finding any fuel for the stove.” As she spoke Esana was still busy searching through the various cabinets. “I know it has to be here I can smell it.” Even as she was searching with her eyes Esana was actively paying attention to the air. Finally she stopped and began to search through some drawers. “Ah darn it I hate these designs.”

“What?”

Before responding Esana took hold of the latch and pulled lightly opening the cabinet as she did so. “I hate it whenever the cabinets are hidden like that. I get that it was meant to add to the ascetics of the room but it's still annoying.” What Esana drew out was a small container of oil which she carried over to the stove. She didn't have any trouble finding the opening to accept the oil.

“I wonder. What would have happened if I had wanted a wood burning stove?”

“Do you? We can do that. It's just that we've found brothers prefer these types in their homes as they're easier to manage.”

“You mean once they get used to it. Honestly I was quite surprised whenever I was first shown how the stove worked. I thought all you had was wood burning ovens like the ones I'm used to. I guess this is all part of controlling what people do and do not know about you.”

To this Maria gave a nod. “It would be bad if one of the claimed that earned their freedom went out into the world and told them we build stone buildings and have stoves that use special oils for cooking instead of simple wood. It's better if everyone thinks that we're simply beast that like to cook all of our food over open fires.”

To this Esana spoke up. “Well in all honesty whenever I cook my food I do prefer if it is done over an open flame.”

Kersara couldn't help but glance back at her friend as she spoke. “Really? I spend so much time away from the village that I only get to eat food prepared like this every two or three days. So I eat most of my food raw or cooked over an open fire and I have to say I like this more. What about you Maria oil cooked or cooked over an open flame?”

“Neither of them are really my main preference. I think my favorite method of cooking is grilled like they tend to do at the dining hall. I like a hint of smokiness to my food. Joseph how about you?”

“I well. I guess I really don't have a preference. Stoves like this are kind of rare where I'm from after all. Do you know where they originally came from?”

In response Maria gave a nod. “The dwarfs originally developed them to keep from filling their tunnels with smoke whenever they got to deep for warm meals to really be brought from the surface. Also lumber tends to be used more as a bracing material then a cooking material for them. They were later refined once humans began to express an interest in them. We like to use them for a reason similar to the dwarfs. By not producing smoke we decrease the odds of someone stumbling upon this location.”

“It's kind of depressing whenever I think about it. These type of stoves have been around for so long yet only the wealthy have them. You would think after all that time we'd found a way to produce them effectively enough for everyone to enjoy such benefits. Then again there is also the oil to factor into this. I'm guessing that it comes from the forest as well.”

To this Maria gave a quick nod. “Yep it does. The making of the oil is simple enough that we even let the claimed make it.”

“You know it's odd now that you mention that. I've never heard stories from those that escaped this forest about you girls putting captured people to work making leather. Especially on the scale that you tend to. You'd think that would be an important bit of information that any survivors would be eager to share. I guess that's a testament to how few actually manage to escape from here.”

Esana couldn't help but speak up as she listened to Joseph. “Well how many do you believe want to admit that they helped us in anyway? There's also the issue of who would believe them and further speculation as to what we might be doing with such matters. I wonder if most would believe that we use it for clothing, some shelters, some containers and just about everything else humans use it for.”

“I guess they want to keep your people as monstrous as possible.”

After a moment of silence Esana once again spoke up. “Don't you mean our people? Aren't you one of us now?”

Joseph was made to jump a little bit as if he'd been startled. “You know you have a point. I guess I didn't think of that. Well now that thought is just plain upsetting when before it was only frustrating.”

A slight chuckle escaped Esana as she began to heat up the dishes she'd been preparing. “We don't get out often but I'm actually interested in what I can learn of the outside world. That's why I like to go to the border of the forest whenever possible and try to see what the humans are up to. I hope to one day reach the rank of keeper so I can speak with people from the outside more readily as long as I'm careful not to be tricked.”

“You know I could answer a lot of your questions if you have any.”

“I bet you could about the region you live in. What all could you tell me about the elfs though?”

“A bit. I haven't had much interaction with them but I've known some elfs.”

“Okay. Who do most elfs consider their greatest ruler and what is the actual reality of that person's rule?”

“Now that I couldn't tell you.”

“I bet just about any elf could though.”

“You have a good point there. Well I'll be happy to tell you anything about where I am from that I can tell you.”

“How long do you think the war will carry on?”

“When I left my employer I didn't see any signs of it slowing down or ending anytime soon. Both sides are pretty well matched and both are pretty much after the same thing. If one can defeat the other and hold onto what they take they'll become the dominant power amongst humans in this region. Of course, one major hindrance to the war effort on both sides is the travel time as they can't just go through your forest.”

Maria couldn't help herself as she spoke up. “Our forest.”

“Huh?”

“You said it wrong. You should say that it is our forest sense you're a brother now. You need to remember things like that.”

“You're not going to let me miss any slip ups are you?”

“Nope.”

“Thanks. As far as what got the war started. In truth it's both sides wanting to be the biggest and most powerful nation in the area as well as control the resources of the other. At the moment they have to compete with one another to fulfill the same roll after all. Sort of like when two alpha predators bump into each other and both have had a good season of hunting so they got energy to spare.”

Esana gave a slight nod. “So they're going to fight against one another until one gets lucky or until they're both so depleted that they can't even fight off the weaker predators that move in on them.”

“That is a possibility.”

In response Esana gave her head a slight shake. “Well I don't agree with your statement about alpha predators. Unless they have serious aggression issues they would size one another up, realize that they're evenly matched for the moment and both would retreat to their territory after doing some strutting. You humans attack whenever you're both in a position of strength and thus waste an important opportunity to deal with other issues in your domain.”

“So you're saying you think humans are dumber then animals?”

“Now I didn't say that! I like several things about humans and I'm happy whenever I can call one of you brother. Your behavior can be very foolish though then again you can be very wise at times. I don't see why you have kings though.”

“Didn't you have a single leader at one time?”

“Yes but he wasn't a king to us.”

“Huh? From what Mirin told me he sounded like a king.”

Maria couldn't help herself as she spoke up. “I wasn't around to know him. Only about a quarter of us were actually around that time but I've heard about him. One of your human kings rules through the might of a military at least that's the impression I get. Our leader led through the general consent of all the sisters and brothers. They respected him and trusted his judgment so they followed his guidance.”

“You don't believe he ever used their hunger as a means of controlling them?”

In response Maria quickly shook her head. “Of course not! I doubt they would remember him so fondly if he used such methods to control them. Why venerate a cruel ruler who used pain to gain your obedience?”

As Joseph listened to Maria he couldn't help but remember his talk with Mirin a bit over a week before hand.

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

Joseph gave a sigh as he looked around the forest and realized that he was well past the market. It had been the first time he'd been allowed this far and now that he was there he doubted that he had any chance of leaving the forest. That was alright though he'd chosen to stay. “Hey Flora what are we doing all the way out here?”

In response to Joseph's question Flora glanced down at him. “It's so you can ask questions freely without feeling watched.”

“Hm with your ability to sneak around I'm pretty sure I could be being watched even here.”

“That is true.”

“It's also so that I can move around freely.” Sora had a wide grin on her face as she proceeded towards Joseph and Flora. A slight giggle escaped Sora as she noted Joseph jump slightly upon noticing her. “Surprised that something as big as me can move so quietly?”

“Uh yeah. I take it you're one of the larger sisters I've been told about.”

“We're called matrons and indeed I am. My name is Sora and I'm glad you decided to stay brother.”

“Thanks. Wasn't I suppose to meet with a brother here though? A biological one.”

“Ha! Told you that he wouldn't notice you.” As she spoke Sora reached up and removed some of her hair from around Mirin. She'd used enough to provide a light covering but not conceal him entirely.

“If you weren't so imposing I'm certain that he would have. Greetings Joseph my name is Mirin. I believe you've heard about me and I've heard quite a bit about you.” As he was speaking Mirin felt Sora's massive hand reach up and her fingers wrap around him. He didn't even flinch or really move whenever she lifted him from her shoulder and began to lower him towards the ground closer to Joseph and Flora.

As Joseph looked at Mirin he could hardly believe what he was seeing. Mirin's hair was a light brown while his eyes were green. He was roughly one hundred eighty centimeters tall with rather light skin tone. His build was more athletic then what most would expect from a mage though he clearly wasn't conditioned for carrying heavy burdens. There was absolutely no fur on him, his ears were rounded like a humans his pupils didn't look feline in the least and he had regular teeth as well revealed whenever he smiled.

“I thought you were suppose to be a biological brother.”

“That's exactly what I am.”

“What?”

It was impossible for Mirin not to grin despite having done this before. “You see except for a few alterations those of us called brothers are human. That's why you never see any three meter tall males with fur all over their bodies walking around. We simply don't have the same features as our sisters.”

“How is that possible?”

“Well it was designed into our sisters of course not by us naturally. Rather it was a design feature their creators put in to insure that they wouldn't become a threat to humanity. Before I continue though Joseph do you recognize this symbol?” As he spoke Mirin reached into his pocket and lifted up a bit of cloth which he held out for Joseph to see.

Immediately Joseph felt his pulse quicken as he recognized the symbol right away. While the guild had vanished hundreds of years ago their mark was still well known. “It's the mark of the Luvarians.”

“Good and do you know what the Luvarians where?”

“The Luvarians were a mage's and alchemist guild that existed hundreds of years ago. They specialized in life magic but were considered heretics and monsters as the type of life magic they used wasn't healing. They created monsters.”

A sigh escaped Mirin as he nodded his head. “Yes that is the most common perception. Well as you're one of us now I suppose I'll start explaining. As you are probably well aware of the Luvarians were an exceptionally powerful guild and you're right in that they specialized in the creation of new life forms. They didn't just make new species of animals or people though. This forest is also one of their works. Joseph in the time you were here did the abundance of alchemical and magic supplies within this forest ever strike you as odd?”

“I didn't really think about it. The resources of this forest are well known even to those who live outside of it. Though I was surprised to see how rich in resources the forest truly was. From the way you're talking I'm guessing the Luvarians had a hand in that.”

“Indeed they did. They're actually the creators of this forest. You see they didn't just want to settle for small gardens growing limited quantities but rather they wanted an abundant storehouse of materials for their research. In order to obtain that they picked out a desolate region of plains land and began developing it into the wondrous forest you see now. Of course such an undertaking was massive even for such a powerful guild and they wanted to insure their investments were protected.”

At first Joseph said nothing but tried to take in what Mirin had just told him. Of course the forest was a remarkable source of alchemical and magic ingredients. The best that he knew of by far if only one could gain access to it. However, the ideal that a guild of mages and alchemist had managed to create such a vast forest with a treasure trove of life seemed beyond what could have been achieved. “So you really believe the Luvarians made this forest?”

“We know that they did. While we don't have access to all their records what we have been able to gather confirms that they grew this forest and that our sisters were meant to be its guardians. Just think. Nothing like our sisters exist anywhere in this world at least nothing that we've learned about. On top of that they are nearly perfectly suited to surviving within and protecting this forest from outside harm.”

“I see what you're saying but to think that even the Luvarians could create such a wondrous forest and even more wondrous our sisters is a bit hard for me to believe.”

“Joseph you have no true ideal of what knowledge the Luvarians had at their disposal. Though you're right to believe that it wasn't all their doing. While we haven't managed to gather much details from the few records we've managed to unlock it seems they had help from an exceptionally powerful being named Krysharan. Unfortunately we haven't managed to locate any information telling where this being lives.”

“Krysharan? The name sounds like a drow.”

“Yes we noticed that as well. I know what I'm telling you may seem impossible. The ideal that humans with the help of a drow could do all of this but if you look at the design of this forest and our sisters I believe it'll lead you to the same conclusion. This forest was created to produce rare and valuable alchemical reagents for some use. We believe that use was to supply the Luvarians the materials they needed for their research and creations.”

Once again Joseph went silent and looked past Mirin to Sora who was setting quietly with a large smile on her face. He then turned his gaze to Flora and back to Mirin. “I can't say that's very comforting information. I'm not a historian but from everything I know the Luvarians were one of the most evil guilds that have existed and one of the most powerful as well. Some of the monsters they are believed to have created still torment this world to this day.”

“Unfortunately the information we've uncovered would back up your belief. Anyway, please ask me anything you want to know and I'll see if I can answer it.”

“Alright. Was the first leader Maria spoke up a member of the Luvarians?”

“Indeed he was.”

“Then why weren't the sisters ever used as weapons?”

“As far as we can gather they weren't really meant to be used as weapons but rather as guardians. Their massive energy demands made it impractical to use them over long distances especially through a particularly baron region.”

“Alright, then what happened to the Luvarians that were stationed here?”

“The exact details are unknown even to use but apparently there was an upheaval in the guild. In fighting broke out and a good deal were killed by their own guild mates. However, the supervisor of the forest the one our sisters consider their first leader was able to keep them out of the fighting. Whether this was by merit of his magic abilities, his political influence, some hidden threat, his own cunning or some combination of the four we don't know. We do speculate but we don't know. All we do know is that he was able to keep the fighting that tore the wrest of the guild apart from tearing the sisters apart. After words he took the responsibility of leading the sisters upon himself.”

“I see. Maria mentioned to me once that for a long time their hunger wasn't the issue that it was now. Do you know anything about that?”

“Indeed I do. At one time the sisters were sustained not just by physical food but by a mystic energy source they were all tied into. While it wouldn't be accurate to say they knew no hunger the energy source allowed them to all sustain their bodies around the five meter mark which meant that compared to now their hunger was much less. Unfortunately this power source was lost at the same time their leader was.”

“I see. Mirin could you tell me why the sisters always have to wear those bracelets when around magic reactions?”

“It's because they soak up unstable mystic energy and convert it into their own energy. Actually it isn't just unstable energy they can absorb any form of mystic energy it's just unstable is far more vulnerable to this absorption. It's one of the reason why magic has so little affect upon them. They actually take in some of the energy for themselves.”

“They can't absorb it entirely though can they?”

“That depends purely on the nature of the spell. If you're using something like a weak fire ball you might as well conserve your energy they'll just absorb all of it.”

“I see. So I imagine saturating the area with weak magic in order to cause damage over time would be a bad ideal.”

“Without a doubt.”

“Is that ability related to the energy source they once fed upon?”

“In a sense yes. I can say that for certain. I believe that they were designed to be extremely resistant to magic damage from the very beginning though. By incorporating features that would let them absorb mystic energy though the Luvarians were able to provide them with energy more easily and gave them a powerful defense mechanism.”

“Would it be right to say that they made it so that any male children the sisters gave birth would be humans so that they wouldn't become a threat to the species?”

“That's extremely likely. If the sisters had been able to give birth to males of the same species as themselves they could have become a dangerous threat indeed. As things are now though they need other species of humanoids to continue their species and thus it would be very bad for them if they decided to use the entire world as a buffet.”

“Mirin are you just fooling around with me? As right now this is sounding rather plausible the more I think about it. If you are indeed a biological brother it seems exceptionally likely. After all I can't image nature ever developing a life form that could give birth to females of its species but not males being developed naturally.”

“It's the situation. We aren't sure if the low male birth rate is a design feature or not but it is also a major issue.”

“Flora is this the truth to the best of your knowledge?”

“Yes it is Joseph. Mirin is indeed one of our biological brothers and everything he's told you is true.”

“I'm having trouble imaging the Luvarians creating something like the sisters though. From everything I know the guild was completely malevolent!”

“Now Joseph who wrote the history that portray the Luvarians as entirely evil?”

“As they were destroyed it would have been their enemies.”

“Like I said before though. Our research would confirm the impression that the Luvarians were a very cold hearted group. However, I wouldn't describe them as purely malevolent. One matter I would like to point out in their favor. In all of our research we never found anything to make us suspect that our sisters have or were intended to have any form of external control mechanism. There is no fundamental part of them that could prevent them from exercising their free will.”

“For a mage guild to create such powerful life forms and not build in a control mechanism is unheard of though! Are you sure that there isn't something hidden?”

“We haven't found anything to indicate such a mechanism. Rather it seems the Luvarians relied upon their ability to work with the sisters and their design to insure they were loyal. They designed our sisters so they would be naturally inclined to perform the task the Luvarians had in mind for them and kept them happy. That was enough to insure their loyalty and with no control mechanism to be stolen they didn't fear them begin turned against the guild.”

“I take it this is all common knowledge amongst the sisters and brothers.”

“Indeed it is. We just thought it would be best if you met a brother in person so that you could see how human we truly are.”

“Are you entirely human though?”

To this Mirin gave his head a slight shake. “No. We're not entirely human. The main difference is that I could never cause a human girl to be conceived. My daughter whether by a sister or by any other mate able female would be one of our sisters.”

“Could a human even carry such a child?”

“It's not impossible. However, even if I were to find a woman to my liking and Sora didn't eat her I would never take such a risk. More then likely the mother and child would end up dead.”

While Sora waited for Mirin to finish she couldn't help but speak up. “Hey now! I'm hardly the jealous type. The ideal that I would eat a person just because you enjoyed spending time with her more then you enjoyed spending time with me isn't very nice.”

“Yet you don't deny that it's the truth.”

“I'm certain I could find numerous reasons for wanting to eat her if you enjoyed spending time with her. You're awfully depraved after all. I mean she wouldn't have to be-” Sora went silent as a slight snicker escaped her upon noticing the look Mirin was giving her. Her right hand came to cover her mouth but even that wasn't enough to block all the chuckles that escaped her.

Mirin couldn't help but glare at Sora. He wasn't truly offended but at times he forgot how proficient she was at turning his comments against him. “Anyway, yes it's possible but not very likely. In the end more then likely the mother and child would be lost due to the demands a sister would put on a human body. After all we only allow those sisters that are guardian ranked or higher to have children for a very good reason.”

Joseph had actually been caught off guard by Mirin and Sora though he kept quiet about that. It was hard to keep from joining in on Sora's laughter though especially as she was still trying to get herself to stop laughing. “To insure that the mother can handle the burden of the child?”

“Indeed.”

“I see. So what happens now? I imagine there are new rules I need to adhere to.”

“Well as you're part of the community now you're going to be expected to help better the community. Joseph quite a few of us are wondering when you're going to be ready to share the life bloom with all of our sisters.”

“I guess I can't say I'm worried about what you'll all do with it anymore. Can I?”

“How appropriate would that be now that you're one of us? Of course you do have a right to your knowledge though I would like to know your reason for not sharing that knowledge.”

“Well right now I'm still doing testing. I have however began supplying one of the sisters with fruit from the life bloom and seeing how she responded to it. So far all the results have been promising.”

“Maria.”

“I guess her regular visits makes it rather obvious that she's the one.”

“Yeah, that and the fact that Maria didn't really think things through as well as she should have.” A sigh escaped Mirin as he shook his head. “She knows how sensitive our sisters noses are yet she didn't do much to wash off her lips or clean her teeth. Of course they're going to notice the smell of a fruit they've never tasted before on her breath.”

A grin actually formed on Joseph's face as he considered the scent of Maria's breath. “It's very hard to hide anything here isn't it.”

“I'm afraid so. I've grown up with things this way my entire life but I know most who enter our society have much to adapt to.”

While Sora was mostly there to show off as a matron and help Mirin out she couldn't help but speak up. “Yeah I remember whenever Dan first realized that every sister knew when he and Mina had been making love. I think it was even worse whenever it sunk in that we all knew whenever he was sexually aroused. It's a good thing he was with Mina at the time or we'd made it really hard on him.”

“I. I well I see. Well then I guess it's a good thing I'm with Maria then.”

In response to Joseph's comment Sora leaned forward presenting him with a much better view of her cleavage as she did so. “Oh I wouldn't say that. Mina and Dan were quite a bit further along then you and Maria are. I can see some of my sisters deciding to have some fun with you especially if Maria isn't around.”

“I'll just have to refuse them then.”

“Oh. Now that's a good answer.”

Flora gave a slight chuckle as she placed a hand on Joseph's shoulder. “I'm certain that Maria will be plenty happy to hear that.”

“Well. So is there anything else I should know?”

To this Mirin spoke up. “Yes though most of this you already realized. You are not to reveal that us brothers are basically humans. As you're a brother now having you live in one of the temporary homes won't do you're going to be moved into the main village. We're also going to be moving your workshop to one of the larger research facilities.”

“Huh? The workshop I have now is fine.”

“Joseph this isn't really negotiable. Your home and workshop are going to be quite far apart and besides the main research facilities are far better suited to your work. It'll also give us the ability to relax patrols in that area.”

“You mean I've been being watched?”

“Of course. You knew that already though.”

“Well yeah it's still odd to hear you say it like that. Was Kiara just spying on me?”

“Um Kiara? Could you tell me who her mother is?”

“I didn't get her mother's name.”

Instead of waiting for Mirin to figure out who Joseph was talking about Sora spoke up. “No Kiara wasn't there spying on you. She really is quite an odd sister in how she takes to the night. She's basically tasked with going around to the various workshops and making sure that they have the basic supplies for in the morning. She also checks for any damage or odd happenings.”

In response Joseph gave a quick nod. “I was a bit worried there for a moment. So how many buildings does she see to?”

“In varies actually. With you moving out she won't be checking up on your old workshop as often. She'll probably have the range she watches extended to make up for that.”

“Mirin, Sora I haven't really thought to ask this before and I know it's not directly related to me but are they any sisters that choose not to do anything?”

Sora chose to speak up before Mirin could. “No. They are some however that would choose to only live off the forest and not help the community at all. However, such behavior is not tolerable. Though, some are allowed to take on a minimal effort approach. Those sisters are not permitted to grow to guardian size though and indeed are only permitted to grow to two or so meters tall at the very most.”

“I see. I was wondering as I never see them around.”

“Of course! The market is for those sisters that are productive and want to interact with one another. At most such a lazy sister would do is show up to make a delivery or eat at the dining hall. Though I doubt their presence would be very welcomed.”

“Um I see. So there is a lot of pressure to produce?”

A slight growl escaped Sora before she realized what was going on and she noted Joseph stepping back. “Sorry. That was uncalled for. I just have rather strong feelings on this subject.”

“I didn't mean to offend you.”

“You didn't. Anyway, I'll answer this one to. I hope you don't mind Mirin. Joseph it doesn't take a whole lot of effort to achieve guardian level and to maintain it. Really reaching guardian is mostly about self control. Those sisters that don't aspire to move beyond guardian often stick to the easier tasks which can basically be accomplished while doing what they enjoy anyway. Unless what they enjoy involves staying in the village all day and not even going on a hunt or helping out.”

“Yeah. I remember you have a natural instinct to hunt.”

“That is true. It was actually designed into us so that we'd be more aggressive whenever it came to defending our forest home. I just don't understand how one of our sisters can be content to do nothing and just feed on the efforts of others.”

After a moment of silence Joseph gave a nod. “So is there anything else I need to know? I'm certain I'll have more questions later but if what you've told me is true I can just ask Maria or perhaps even you Flora.” As he spoke her name Joseph turned and looked up at Flora.

“Sure thing.”

“Thanks. I guess the only question I have left for the moment then is what am I really expected to do? You've talked a lot about what is expected of the sisters but what of the brothers.”

In response Mirin gave a nod. “It's not a free ride for us. In all honesty we would like you to continue your research on the life bloom. With greater haste though so no more making healing potions. However, we also would like it if you would share the data you've managed to gather thus far and perhaps pick a team of people to work with you.”

To this Joseph gave a nod. “It would be nice to have a mage to work with me. I don't really know any of the alchemist around here though except Dan. Is there a chance that he could partner with me and pick the other team members?”

“If Dan agrees to it yes and given the situation I imagine he'll be happy to help you.”

“Situation?”

“Well perhaps situation wasn't the right word for that. Given how much it would help our sisters I'm certain Dan will be glad to aid you. Especially if it means Mina will get to share in the life bloom sooner.”

“Huh? Is such behavior really appropriate?”

A sigh escaped Mirin as he shook his head. “Joseph you're going to have to pick some test subjects for the life bloom other then Maria one way or the other. Mina is one of our most resolute sisters and one of the most trusted. She would be a fine candidate.”

“From the way you talked though it sounded like I would be bribing Dan through Mina to come and help me.”

“Joseph we don't use currency here the way you do in the outside world. You know that. So what do you think we use to encourage others to aid us?”

“I see. Favors and respect then.”

“Indeed though there has been some debate as to whether or not we should develop a currency system. In all honesty though our numbers are just too small to require such a system.”

Before Joseph could respond Sora spoke up. “Plus most of the sisters would take a nice big meal over some shiny coins as a form of thanks or reward.”

In response Joseph gave a nod. “I can believe that but what if they were so many of you that you couldn't keep track of who owed you a meal and who you owed?”

“Hm well we'd need a currency system in that case or all of us would have to start doing some form of book keeping. Gosh that would be troublesome though. We don't have a lot of metals in the forest after all.”

In response Joseph gave a nod. “Well not all currency systems are based off metal coins. Anyway, I didn't mean to side track things like that. So Mirin is there any form of ritual that I go through to be officially accepted as a brother or is this it?”

“You'll be getting new marks put on your clothing soon enough. As for any large gatherings there won't really be any of those. Though if it were up to our sisters I'm certain there would be a celebration. They tend to look for any reason to have a large feast. It's a good thing they don't see combat the same way as humans do or every time they beat down the kobolds or such they'd want to have a celebration feast.”

“You're darn right about that!” Sora had a wide grin on her face as she touched a finger to her cheek. “Wow getting to enjoy a large meal every time we killed off a bunch of kobolds. That'd be some good feasting.”

“Yes and you would deplete the forest resources in under a year.”

“Ah I suppose that is true.”

“Anyway Joseph. While a new brother joining us is an important event we tend to keep such things small. Even whenever a new child is born the gatherings are kept to those that are closest to the mother though that can be due to practical reasons.”

To this Joseph gave a quick nod. “I understand but what practical reasons are those?”

“Whenever one of our sisters becomes pregnant certain instincts become very strong. They get even stronger during the birthing process though such that they tend to become somewhat less rational. A sister with a newly born child would be liable to lash out at anyone she didn't trust completely. You can imagine what problems that can cause especially when dealing with a sister like Sora here.”

“Hm well that's good to know. So you said I was going to be moving into a new home? When would I be able to go see it?”

“Flora would you mind showing Joseph to his new home?”

In response Flora gave a quick nod. “We set you up in a nice one and I think you're going to get along with your neighbors.”

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

“Back!”

Joseph gave a slight jump upon hearing Kersara call out. Upon looking up a grin formed on his face whenever he took note of Maria beating a quick retreat away from the stove. “Maria what were you trying to do?”

“Hm? Oh nothing.”

In response to Maria's comment Kersara glanced over her shoulder. “Yeah right I saw how you were looking at that fish. You might be a lot faster then me but I know whenever one of my sisters is about to pounce.”

In response to Kersara's comment Maria gave a rather toothy grin. “Well it's smelling pretty good. Hey Tesa you've been quiet this entire time. Is something wrong?”

Instead of acting startled in the least Tesa just glanced back at Maria. “No. I'm fine.”

“Why so quiet then? Come on join in on the conversation.”

“Hm well I would but I don't have much to say.” As she spoke Tesa continued to work on the dish before her. She'd already cut up her ingredients and had them simmering in a rather large pot. As the flavors mixed together she took careful note of the sent to tell how far along the cooking process was.

Before Maria could speak to Tesa again Kersara spoke up. “That's just Tesa for you whenever she's cooking. She can actually tell how far along most dishes are by the scent. I don't even think she relies on sight anymore and I rarely see her taste anything.”

While Joseph hadn't been the one to mention it he couldn't help but feel awkward now that Maria had noted how quiet Tesa was being. Plus Kersara had pointed out something interesting to him. “That must be rather useful. I know I wouldn't mind having such a talent whenever it came to alchemy.”

Now Tesa chose to speak up. “Why is that Joseph?”

“Some potions need testing before you can be certain they're ready. Generally involves taking a sample of the potion which ends up being discarded after testing. If I could tell if the potion was ready just by scent though I wouldn't have to do much testing which over time would add up into a lot of saved reagents.”

A slight giggle escaped Tesa as she gave a nod. “Actually that's one reason I don't like to rely on tasting my cooking to see if it's done. Well sort of the reason. I don't like to rely upon taste because once I start it's rather hard to convince myself to stop eating. Plus if the food isn't quite ready tasting it just makes me more eager to taste it again to see how close to done it is. I think I emptied three fourths of a large pot of stew onces just testing to see if it was done.”

“Ah well I hope you weren't cooking for guest.”

“Actually I was. It was so embarrassing.”

“You mean the lack of self control?”

“Yeah. I'm just glad Kersara wasn't there.”

“Hey! Why wouldn't you have wanted me to be there?”

“Because I might not know how but I know that you would have come up with a way to tease me over it.”

A slight chuckle escaped Kersara as she refocused on the fish. “Ask Tesa about cooking if you want to get her talking.”

Joseph didn't respond to Kersara but kept his attention focused on Tesa. “So Tesa do you cook at the dining hall very often?”

“No. I wish that I could but I really don't have the time to cook their regularly other tasks tend to keep me busy. My nose isn't well trained for just cooking after all.”

“Ah I see. So what else do you spend most of your time doing?”

“A lot of the time I'm roaming around the forest looking for some of the rarer plants. Those that only grow in very specific areas or don't grow in concentrated numbers. So I don't really have a set region or distance to roam I just come back whenever I have everything that I need.”

“Hm it sounds like most of my neighbors won't be around very often.”

Kersara held her tongue for a few moments as she waited for one of the others to speak up. When it became clear they weren't going to she chose to. “One of us will probably be around all the time. So if you need help with something feel free to ask. We may exercise our right to say no but we don't mind being asked.”

“The thoughts appreciated. I hope I don't have to ask too often though. It often seems to me you ladies go out of your way to accommodate us brothers an awful lot.”

In response Kersara shook her head. “Some might agree with you but I don't. After all most of the research and planning done by our brothers is purely to insure our survival and comfort. We know that our brothers could survive quite well in the outside world without us. After all most of them are experienced mages and alchemist. I bet if they worked together and forgot us they could form quite a nice organization beyond the forest.”

“I don't think your brothers would abandon you like that.”

“We don't either. That's why we don't mind helping you out either. We can't use magic so our brothers us it on our behalf and our benefit. Our bodies are much more powerful then our brothers so we use ours to make up for their weakness. It has worked out quite nicely for a very long time.”

As Kersara finished speaking Maria chose to speak up. “Plus it feels kind of natural. I don't know what I would do with myself if the only thing I had to do was sleep and eat. I'd probably get so bored that I'd just eat until I depleted all the available resources.”

“Actually Maria I want to ask you about that. What's the largest one of you can grow?”

“Ah we don't know. No one has ever reached that limit and there was no data in the citadel that told us what that upper limit was. There is a lot of data detailing our estimated combat strength compared to the energy needed to maintain that ability but nothing really beyond that. I don't believe the Luvarians were really worried about reaching our max size though.”

“Have your brothers investigated it any?”

“No. I imagine they'd just say that as we don't even have the reserves to let you all grow over thirty meters there is no reason to find out what your maximum is or even think about it.”

“Thirty meters!”

All four of the girls seemed surprised by Joseph's outburst though it was Maria who recovered first. “Uh whoops. I guess you don't know how large some of the matrons are.”

“Thirty meters are you serious?”

“Ah well. Though they're not actually matrons. Typically we call such sisters the sleepers.”

“Sleepers?”

“Yeah they eat so much to keep their energy up that they aren't allowed to be awake for very long. They don't even have a week between waking up, eating and going back to sleep. They're pretty close to our final line of defense if anything ever managed to push that far into the forest.”

“Thirty meters? I hardly know of anything that grows that large at least nothing that's an animal and I most assuredly have never seen something that large. I've heard of some sea life but Maria are you serious?”

“Well yeah.”

“Such a life form could easily eat an adult dragon though! How do you feed such a being?”

“Well we can't feed them for long. Basically once they're woken up they're given a massive amount of healing potions and some solid food to go with it. They're given a few days of waking and then they have to go back to sleep.”

“Don't you believe such a massive size is excessive though? The dragons that are said to have grown to such scales are legendary.”

“That's why they're just about our last line of defense.”

“Has anything ever happened to required you to awaken them though?”

“Well no. Nothing that we have on record at least. However, our brothers feel that it's necessary to maintain them at such a scale just encase such a situation should arise. After all, it would take a very long time for one of us to reach such a massive scale even if we were to gorge ourselves constantly. By them only awakening for a very brief time period they're able to keep their size and power. Though I do feel sorry for them at times. To have to spend so much time sleeping just doesn't seem fair.”

“Maria, I didn't think to ask this when I was speaking to Mirin but do you age whenever you sleep?”

“Age? Oh we don't grow older like you humans do.”

“What do you mean?”

“We don't get weaker with age or sickly like you humans do. If you don't count changes due to exercise or injury my mother hasn't changed physical since the day she had me.”

“Maria are you saying that your species doesn't die of age?”

In response Maria shook her head. “No at least not the way you humans do. On average though our life spans are around three hundred years but that can differ heavily from sister to sister. It really depends on what kind of life you've led though.”

While Joseph had time to adapt to the ideal that Maria and her kind were created by a mage's guild he couldn't help his surprise at hearing this news. “Then how do you die?”

“It just tends to happen. Our bodies begin to grow weaker, we become tired sooner and in general slow down. Eventually we become so weak that our bodies can no longer sustain their life functions and we just die. The sister just lays down one day her heart rate slows and then it keeps slowing until it stops beating.”

“Do you know what causes you to die?”

Before Maria could respond Kersara spoke up. “It's fatigue really. Right now we're relatively young so the world is a place full of wonderful things to experience and do. What happens whenever you've experienced as much as you care to? We believe that it's a design feature our creators put into our bodies to keep us from going insane.”

After a moment of silence Joseph gave a nod. “I've heard of similar things happening with other very long lived species. An elf that was extremely passionate at one time begins to grow tired whenever they're a few hundred years old. Some even become shells of who they were and seem to just wait for something to come along and kill them.”

To this Maria gave a nod. “Of course, early on there were quite a few problems with our life spans. You can imagine the first group of sisters weren't too happy whenever their brothers began to grow old and die around them.”

“Yeah I can see where that would hurt you.”

To this Maria gave a nod. “Yeah I'm glad that I wasn't born back then. Fortunately since then we've been able to find a great deal of techniques to extend our brother's life spans. Well actually it was the brothers that found them amongst the archives.”

“Huh? Are you serious Maria?”

“Of course I am. Once you get a bit more age on you then you'll start receiving treatments to extend your life span. Fortunately the forest has all the reagents we need for the standard potions no doubt due to the Luvarians wanting to extend their life spans as well. The really good potions though we can only make so much of and only if we're lucky.”

Kersara gave a sigh as she stepped away from the stove and turned to Maria and Joseph. “Well the fish just needs a little attention every once in a while now. Tesa would you let me know whenever to check on it?”

“Sure. I have the sauce for the fish and one of our side dishes ready as well.”

“Already?”

“Yep!”

“You're really good at cooking. That or perhaps I'm just bad.”

“You don't have much time to practice.”

Before another comment could be made Joseph chose to speak up. “Well then what should we do to pass the time? I really wasn't prepared to entertain but there may be something that we can do.”

Before anyone else could respond Kersara spoke up. “Well we've told you quite a bit about ourselves. How about you tell us about yourself? I understand that you were a military alchemist before you ran into the forest. What did you do before that?”

“I can't say I did a whole lot. Honestly before I came to this forest my life pretty much revolved around my studies and developing new potions.”

“Oh that can't be true. Surely you had some friends that you enjoyed socializing with.”

“There were people that I enjoyed talking to. Even I needed to socialize every once in a while.”

“So tell us about them?”

“I guess the person I spoke to most was Danlin. He was a tavern owner though for a long time he lived as a wonderer. He actually survived that life style long enough and well enough to come back to town, buy a tavern and start a business for himself.”

“A tavern owner? You don't seem the type to go get drunk Joseph.”

Before Joseph could respond Maria spoke up. “I'd have to agree. I've never smelt much alcohol on you and none of it on your breath. I've actually wondered what you were doing that would require the use of alcohol but not have any on your breath.”

“I used alcohol for certain reactions and you're right I never really drank. Danlin's was a bit of a tavern and inn all rolled into one. I liked the food there and Danlin was pleasant enough to talk to as was his wife. I saw his daughter every once in a while whenever the tavern was quieter and even got to speak to her a few times. I liked it there as the food was good and it was actually kept quite clean and peaceful despite the alcohol. I liked to stop in there during the morning and later in the evening to eat. I'd always have some fruit and dried meats in a room next to my workshop so I didn't really go out for lunch.”

“Well what did you two talk about?”

“Danlin had quite a few stories to tell about his time wondering. At times I felt they were rather inflated but they were interesting none the less. The few times I got to speak to his daughter she well. She had more then a few questions regarding alchemy, magic and many other things neither I or her father really knew much about. I actually tried to make an alchemy book whenever I was visiting with them.”

It was impossible for Maria to hide her excitement upon hearing this. “Are you serious!”

“Well yeah but it didn't go too far and it wasn't something that you would really hand a trained alchemist. You see his little girl was so curious about alchemy that I thought that I would try to make a book for her. Nothing involving serious alchemy of course but something that a child could play around with.”

“Like what!”

It was impossible for Joseph not to grin though he felt himself blushing a bit to. “I don't know if I should even really call it an alchemy book. The first potion that involved any true alchemy though was just a weak potion to restore some stamina once you grew fatigued. I never got to see the results of this but apparently she ended up using her father as a test subject to see how well they worked.”

“Ah that's sweet.”

“I thought so to though I was glad whenever Danlin didn't have any complaints about drinking the potions.”

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“So what do you think Dan?”

“Shouldn't you be waiting for Joseph to actually contact me before I agree or disagree to be on any team? He might have some requirements that I can't agree to Mirin.”

“You know that we need to at least be planning ahead encase he does ask you. Besides in all probability you will be one of the team mates he requests after all you're one of the people he knows best and trust most.”

“That is true. Mina what do you think?”

“I believe that you should do it.”

“Alright but who else could watch the shop for me? It has to be someone skilled enough to recognize potential dangers from requests and organized enough to keep track of everything. The majority of those who can handle tasks are already working on projects.”

“Well actually Dan. I've been thinking about that and I believe that we should give some of our younger brothers and sisters a chance. Instead of just having one alchemist doing your job I believe that we'll have three of the younger do it.”

“I can see the wisdom in that. Even if they aren't as skilled as individuals if they all three specialized in the right disciplines and worked together they could even catch something that I might have missed. Do we have three such candidates though?”

“I know of two brothers and I believe that we'll involve a sister as well.”

“A sister?”

“Yes as long as she wears the protective amulets she won't destroy any of the reagents. Besides a sister's sense of smell could be quite useful in the alchemy shop. I have become suspect of some of the deliveries certain individuals have been making.”

“What do you mean? I check those deliveries myself.”

“Yes and you are a very skilled alchemist. However, even you have your limits as a human.” For a moment Mirin went quiet and looked away from Dan. “I swear I think some of the lazier members of our society have been bringing in reagents that are lacking. Reagents that should only be brought in if they have been recently picked and have to be preserved quickly.”

“It is possible that I could have missed something. Though if you're saying there is a large intake of such materials I believe I'm going to have to reevaluate my methods and may be offended.”

“Dan I mean no offense to you or your skills. However, you must admit as a human you wouldn't be able to tell the quality of certain reagents as well as a sister.”

“That is true. Still, just how many of these reagents are you talking about?”

“I believe that it's averaging five pounds of raw material a day. If this is spread out amongst several delivers I can believe that it is accidental however the way the distribution works. I believe that we have one or two slackers.”

“For five pounds to be a cause of frustration I assume these are rather useful reagents we're talking about.”

“Indeed.”

“Then even if Joseph doesn't approach me would you say that a sister should join me? Also I'm curious as to who you've chosen.”

“I believe that Tesa would be a fine choice. Her sense of smell is remarkable and she's had plenty of experience gathering raw materials so she should have no trouble detecting defective reagents.”

“Tesa? She's one of our best gatherers though. Don't you think we'll feel the loss in the field?”

“She has to move beyond being a gatherer eventually doesn't she?”

“That is very true. Though if you don't mind. Before Joseph approaches me could you have Tesa come by the shop? I want to make sure that she's alright with the ideal of working in such a position. She might worry that it'll hinder her progression towards keeper status.”

“Indeed, do you have any preference as to what brothers will be working in the shop?”

“Actually I do.”

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

“What are you so scared of Joseph?”

In response to Kersara's comment Joseph looked up from his plate with a slight grin on his face. “I'm just steadying my nerves. This isn't exactly the type of thing most people eat and most assuredly not what I ever expected to try.” As he finished speaking Joseph picked up a bit of the fish with his fork and quickly placed it within his mouth. His first impulse was to swallow for fear of the taste but he resisted and began to chew.

“Well?”

Instead of responding right away Joseph continued chewing the fish until he was certain of the flavor and then swallowed. “It's actually quite good.”

“I figured you'd like it. You don't eat a lot of fish though do you?”

“Well not really. I lived most of my life inland so the fish I did tend to eat was fresh water. This doesn't really taste a whole lot like fish though at least not the fish I'm used to eating.”

Now Tesa chose to speak up. “That has something to do with the cooking method that Kersara used. Depending on the method it can have far more of a fishy flavor. Perhaps you'd like to try steel fin some other way at a later date?”

“Um no thanks. After all. Isn't this a rare thing to eat?”

To this Kersara gave a quick nod. “Yeah pretty rare but I can catch another if you'd like to try it cooked another way or do you just not want to try it cooked another way?”

“I really don't like the ideal of bringing out the fishiness. I just don't care for that taste.”

“Ah I got you. Maria you haven't said a thing.” Instead of continuing Kersara glanced over at Maria. She was relieved to see that the contents of Maria's plate hadn't vanished entirely. “Is something wrong?”

“Nope I'm just taking my time and chewing carefully.” As she finished speaking Maria picked up a piece of the steel fins outer muscle and held it out towards Joseph. “Hey Joseph care to see exactly how tough steel fin can be if you don't try the inner muscle?”

“No thanks Maria.”

To this Maria gave a quick nod and tossed the fish into her mouth. “Suit yourself. So Kersara did anything happen to you recently? Well anything interesting at least.”