Clear liquid sprayed the alley as the man fell to the ground. A trail of dark red blood funneled from the body until it withered.
The blood drained into a sphere and floated in the air in front of Lesha. I stepped forward to inspect the blood ball and kicked the dry husk out of the way before coming close to the blob.
It was hard to describe, there was nothing like it in this world. The blood didn't stay in a perfect sphere, instead, it undulated and seemed to rotate in the air.
The smell was of blood, but it was not sweet and succulent. No, it was the irony kind that I would have normally thought typical of blood. It was nothing like the cherry sweet nectar I had silk over my tongue.
'Absorb the blood, pull it into your body. While stored, you can use it as a catalyst for your blood Services you will gain.' -Drania.
I focused on the moving sphere, and at first, there was nothing. Then, I felt the power floating in front of me, begging to be taken in.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on the blood and the power it possessed. Then I felt it press into my chest.
When I opened my eyes, the blood was gone. I looked over and Lesha's eyes were huge. She had a look of concern, not scared, and that was strange.
"Are you human? I mean are you one of them? The gods?" Lesha asked, coming closer, not backing away.
"I was a human about two hours ago, now… I don't really know. There is no good answer, but this is not the place to talk. If you would please come with me, my father's house is a short walk from here," I said, taking her by the hand to lead her.
"Your father? You are not married?" Lesha asked as we started to walk, holding on to my hand.
"Are you?" I shot back, turning to scowl as we walked.
Lesha turned her head and started to examine the poorly built houses. She was concentrating on the with rapt attention as we walked without saying anything.
Good start Kiada, she asks you a question, then you react like you're talking to an idiot man. I signed, but we were at my dad's shack, it was no exception from the rest of the houses crammed together.
There were nicer parts to the city, but this wasn't one of them. I had to lift the door to open it, but I hardly gave it effort, and I had to stop Lesha from opening the door for me.
I really hoped she wasn't going to act weird around my father. That was all I needed, I didn't want to deal with him going on.
"Ooo, who is this strapping young lady? Kiada is this your new...just kidding! Don't hurt me, oh violent daughter of mine!" My father said the second we walked into the house.
I could feel my face heat up and I glared at my father. The tall, heavy-built man was wearing a shop apron that still had metal shaving on it.
The apron and shavings were from his job at the smith's sharpening weapons. The man should be running the smith, not taking orders from the imbecile Gastbo, my father's boss and supposed Mastersmith.
My father's name was James, and he had dark black hair and a five o'clock shadow that he shaved off every morning at work with a fresh blade. He was one of the few good ones.
"This is Lesha, and she will be staying for supper," I said without giving many options in my tone, but my father just gave me an insufferable grin.
"Oh? Sure, I will have stew with bread ready in twenty. Leina stopped by and said to say hi, she brought the bread, they had some extra at the bakery," my father said as he stirred the pot.
Leina was the woman my dad was seeing. It wasn't that I didn't like her, but she was very prim.
I was not and she never forced me to try on dresses or anything like that. Though, she would always insinuate about me wearing something other than thick stockings and chain mail.
What was wrong with these things?
I waved Dad off and dragged Lesha by the hand up the stairs. I heard my father's little girlish titters, and I stormed the rest of the way.
I practically dragged Lesha up, but it was only two flights of stairs. So, she was able to stumble along. I finally let go of her hand and pointed at the open door.
Lesha went in without asking any questions or making a sound. Now that I think about it, she hadn't said anything since I had snapped at her about not being married.
Had I offended her?
'No, she is not allowed to speak to others unless you allow it.' Drania.
"Lesha, you can speak whenever you want, you do not need my permission," I said without hesitation.
"Thank you, I was wondering why I couldn't talk, but it was probably for the best," Lesha put a hand up to her face to cover a smile that was spreading.
'You can always put it back whenever you want, just saying.' -Drania.
"I don't want to know," I closed the door to my room and motioned for Lesha to sit on my bed since there was not a lot else to use as a chair.
"This is a cute place, and your father seems like a nice man," Lesha commented.
"Oh yes, he is too nice and that's the problem. My father is the best man I know, he is hardly appreciated for the work he does. That isn't saying a lot since the rest are idiots or my brothers, which are worse."
"You have brothers? Where are they all? What do you mean by worse?" Lesha asked curiously.
Great, of course, she was interested in my brothers. She was a beautiful girl, so I shouldn't be surprised.
I felt weird around this person, something stronger than the blood connection we shared. I wanted to get mad, but that wasn't the answer. I didn't know what I wanted, so not being civil was not being helpful.
"Yes, four of them, and they all have their place now, and they adventure together as a group," I said, trying not to sigh.
"They live together?" Lesha asked with a bit of surprise.
"Eat, breathe, and shit together. they have always been close, and I have always been the youngest sister that had to be weaker than them...sorry, I get worked up about them," I said turning my head.
Both of us sat quietly for a while longer, but Lesha broke the silence.
"What are we now? And how did you become like this?" She asked, looking up into my eyes.
What are we? I didn't know how to answer that question. I didn't know what I was.
I decided to start from the party wipe and go from there. I explained everything in as much detail as I could to Lesha.
For her part, she sat quietly and nodded at the appropriate times, and it actually looked like she was interested in what I was saying. Weird, I wasn't sure why any of that was important, but then, I was just a stupid meathead head tank and a girl to boot.
My opinion on matters was usually not asked for or shrugged off when given. so, I guess it was just nice to have someone actually listen.
After explaining, both of us sat quietly, but my father shattered the silence. I was so distracted that I lost track of the time and let myself slip.
My father's bone-rattling yell for supper came at the top of his lungs. I was normally ready for him at the door to rip it open and attack him for his stupid antics.
"SUPPER TIME LADIES!" roared my father from outside my room.
I looked at Lesha and she had a big smile on her face. What was she smiling about?
"You and your dad have a nice relationship, I didn't have that kind of a father. He was a straight edge adventure and a general before that. So, I only got advice on how to be better, but I still am lacking so much…" Lesha said, her voice trailing off.
"Come on, let's go eat," I said, seeing that the memories were troubling her.
I stood up and offered her a hand up, but then dropped it. What was I doing? It was a bed, she wasn't sitting on the ground, but then she caught my hand before I fully let it drop.
I froze in place. Even though I had offered my hand, I never expected her to take it.
When she gripped my hand, I unfroze. I held her hand as she stood up and then she gave a warm smile.
Then she looked down at the hand I was still holding. I dropped it quick, too quick, I turned, almost walking into the closed door, but stopped myself, and let out a long breath.
I opened the door and headed for the stairs, hoping Lesha would follow. I didn't rush down the stairs this time, I wasn't in a rush to sit at the dinner table with the two of them.
I walked and took deep breaths quietly. I could feel the heat still in my face, and I was not walking into a room with my father and Lesha with a red face.
"K, your face looks like you soaking it in a bowl of tomatoes! Are you okay? What was that girl doing to you up there?" My father said in a lecherous voice with his eyes peeled back in mock surprise.
"I will end you old man if I hear just one more comment from you!" I growled.
"Calm down woman, come sit down with your lady friend and eat some damn stew!" my father said with a laugh.
I walked over to a dusty seat across from my father, he must have grabbed this from upstairs. He only brought them down if we had guests or the idiots visited, but they had been keeping busy.
As much as I didn't like the four idiots, they were some of the best in their class. To top it all off, three of them were Topaz ranks Adventure. Only Pike the youngest was an emerald, but last I heard he was almost ready to take the test.
I brushed off the seat and sat down. My clothes were already dirty, so a little dust wasn't going to hurt them.
Lesha took the chair beside mine, but the second she sat down, there was a knock at the door. Who would that be? I had a creeping suspicion I knew exactly who my father had run and told the second my door closed.
"James! It's so good to see you, I was walking by and thought I might stop by to say hi on my way home! Oh K, you have a friend over, that's interesting," Leina, the woman my father was seeing said, walking into the house.
That bastard! Perfect, this damn woman lived on the other side of town, and the bakery she worked at was the halfway point. She had no damn business being over here except to see my father. This only meant one thing…
"Liena! What a surprise to see you here, I would have never guessed that you would stop by at such a perfect moment! You should join us for a meal, K brought home a friend! A real friend!" My father said with a laugh, ushering Leina to one of the dust lest chairs that my father and I used.
I was going to skin him alive, but that's when I looked around. I finally noticed ALL of the chairs and the much larger than a normal pot of stew.
No, he wouldn't...they hadn't been around in months, there is no way…
"Liena!" Four male voices chimed, coming closer.
There was no way to escape, why would he do this to me?
'We could just kill them.' -Drania.
Woah! Where is the little angel to argue the point of why that was a bad idea?
'Or, you could try for once to act like a grown and mature woman around men.' -Drania.
'Don't act as you know me, and I would act better if they could keep their stupid remarks to themselves. Watch, I try this civility you speak of, and I will show you the results.'
I took a deep breath and prepared for the storm of hoots and cheers, but they didn't come. Liena and my four brothers, Mike, Rick, Mort, and Pike walked the house, and they all looked different.
I mean they were still my idiot brothers, but something had changed with them. They seemed more hardened and serious from what I remembered, but then they saw me, crap!
"K? Are you okay?" Rick asked, walking straight at me.
"What?" I asked, still confused, but the question and, well, all of them.
"You survived a party wipe! It's all over the guild!" Pike cheered.
"What? How do people already know?" I asked, completely stunned, but my father cut everyone off.
"WHAT?! Party wipe? What do they already know?!" My father roared.
"Did you really touch it, sis? Did you touch the Dungeon Core?" Rick asked walking up beside Mike.
"Who are you and what did you do with my idiot brothers?" I asked, squinting at them all.
"Calm down, K, it's been six months since we saw each other. Things...have happened, and now we are all a bit more level-headed about things," Mike said looking away.
"DAMNIT K, DON'T IGNORE YOUR OLD MAN!" My father barked.
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