Before I can respond to Ahnya's unexpected question with anything other than a wide eyed stare, she smacks a hand over her face. "No no. Sorry. Forget I asked. I do not want political convenience to be the reason I propose to a cute girl. Ah, not that I would be, uninterested. Just not for this reason. Or, quite so soon."

"How would, what? What would be, convenient about, uhh, that? And, why'd you ask?" I can't stop myself from grinning, but also can't look up at her face.

She manages an awkward laugh. "Weeeell, the circumstances are rather outstanding. I panicked a little, and blurted out the first idea I had to make the situation easier to deal with. Basically if we had every reason to be a fully united front in regards to, everything. It would be much more, permissible, for me to shelter you. I should be able to come up with something else. But jeez, how much were you hiding about Monster Conversion?"

"Huh? I wasn't hidin' anything. I can't remember every little detail all the time. Plus I didn't know I could upgrade other people's skills. Talk about hiding things, you have three Unique Skills? Mmm? Oh, wait. There is one thing I was hiding. Cause Mera told me not to ask other people about it."

"Ara, telling people that you're keeping a secret isn't a good way to keep it." Mera slides over and bumps my hip with her own. "But, you two sure get along, don't you~?"

"It has felt like a bit of a whirlwind romance, yes." Ahnya is blushing lightly, the steady sway of her tails says more than her expression though. "You are, surprised that I have more than one, Aradain? I believe I said I'd tell you about one of mine. Which should have implied that I had more. Mmm, Ara? Can I call you that, or is it specific to Mera?"

I quirk an eyebrow at her. "It's fine, I guess. But, can't you come up with another nickname?"

"Oh, I can think of a few, I'm sure. Little Blue, obvious but workable, Brat, because of what that dhampir minx said, why, I wouldn't even mind calling you Kitten~ But, Ara is amusing because of a thing people from earth like to say, 'Ara ara', was it? Suppose that's not really anything to do with me, but Dan might find it amusing, no?"

Dan makes a strangled noise, like he started to laugh, then stopped himself.

"Mmm, why Kitten? Bah, you know what. I like Little Blue. From you. Anyone else calling me that gets kicked. Cept Mera, I guess I'll just pout at her." I shake my head. "Anyway, what are your other Unique Skills? I can't get anything from the names. First one at least was pretty obvious."

"What? A girl can't keep a few trump cards secret? But, I suppose I'll tell you, if you can make it worth my while~"

"Well, what? I only have one. And you already know about Dan. Uhhh, are you just using that to get another kiss?"

"That would be a nice tip, but I was more thinking you could convince Mera to tell me about her Unique Skill, though I think I have a fair grasp on it from the description alone, or tell me about whatever she asked you to keep secret. Or, I don't know, upgrade my Fire Magic Arts skill, for example? I mean we'd need a lot of mana crystals. One greater mana crystal for an Arts Skill. One moment. The conversion rate is, five lesser mana crystals for one minor, five minor for one modest, ten modest for one major, then two major for one greater. Ugh, random rates that make the coinage seem simple. Mmmmm, five hundred of the lesser ones? Can Dan make the higher quality ones? I can foot the bill with my own mana. If that's how you want to do things?"

"I can make better ones, but it didn't make my monsters stronger, so I haven't done it much."

Mera steps forward to match Ahnya's gaze. "How about this. I'll tell you about the, detail, I asked Ara to keep secret, and you can upgrade one or even some of your skills for some strong monster parts to feed into her skill later?"

"Ohoo, interesting proposition. You sound like a merchant." One of Ahnya's tails swings around and swishes side to side several centimeters before Mera's face. "But I suppose that works for me. I even have some things to trade in my bag. Ah, conveniently, some of them are even things I could not figure out. So we may learn a bit about those through her."

Mera's eyes follow Ahnya's tail, and her fingers start twitching. "S-sure. Lemme touch your fur a bit while I explain the secret and you've got yourself a deal." With that settled, Mera shoos me away a bit, then grabs Ahnya and Rin's hands to lead them a bit further into the room. "Ah, wait. Dan, don't listen to us for a bit, okay?"

"Well, now I wanna know more. But, fine. I'll ask Sol to, literally hold my attention. Got some other things to check on anyway. Like this crazy dwarf who is stripping the thin layer of metal off the walls in my Metal section. C'mon man, you'll never get much that way, aaand I'll have to redo it! Anyway, just tap one of the Cores if you need me."

"Like the light fixtures?" Ahnya reaches over to tap the nearest light.

"Yeaaah. It was the best option at the time. I'll probably phase most of the Cores out of that role. Though, could keep a few. Different look that way. Laters!"

After that, Mera whispers to Ahnya for a while. Eventually Ahnya groans loudly. "Okay, I would like to renegotiate. Can I come on that date~? Pleaaase? I'll do anything. Even follow your lead~ That sounds like so much fun! And a threesome for her first time would be, very impactful~ Foursome? No, Rin gets a little, zappy."

Mera puts her hands on her hips and tilts her head to the side. "You're a noble aren't you?"

Ahnya pauses for a few seconds. "All B-Rank adventurers are granted noble status."

"That, sounds true. More importantly, it sounds like a tangentially related detail, that is being used as a deflection."

Ahnya laughs aloud at that. "Okay, you got me there. Glad one of you is socially perceptive. Tell you what, I'll introduce myself properly if you invite me along on that daaate~"

"Well, I was already gonna. She's clearly way into you, and you are, really hot."

"Ah, then I suppose I don't need to introduce myself!"

"Uhh, you're such a tease."

"Sorry, my first girlfriend was a Kitsune. Though, I admit, my own personality does lean that way anyway."

Given that they're talking loudly enough for me to hear now, I approach. "You two need a minute still? Sounds like the plan is me being pampered by two girls next time? What's that got to do with the uhh, that Menu Mera told me not to talk about?"

They both stare at me for a few seconds before Ahnya giggles. "You are a bit of a Brat, aren't you?" There is a swoosh, and suddenly she's behind me. Her right paw comes down on my shoulder and one of her claws lightly scratches my chin. She leans down, as if to whisper in my ear, but speaks loudly enough for the others to hear either way. "Oh, I'll pamper you all right. But, I'll make you work for it first~"

"Eep?" Nevermind my face, even my ears feel warm. I tremble in her loose grasp, but don't try to slip out of it. "D-don't know what you mean, but sounds, uhhh, interesting?" Even I can tell my voice came out higher pitched than usual.

Ahnya slowly, seemingly regretfully draws her hand away from me. "Oop, best not get going on that again." Then mutters something else I barely hear. "Geeze, just how pent up are you?"

Mera is staring at me wide eyed. "Wow. So that's how you want to be treated? Guess that collar is even more fitting than I thought."

I stumble forward and hug Mera. "Haaa, swear. Half'tha time she touches me I feel like I'm gonna pass out. But in a good way."

"That's uhh, looks like it'd be fun to, erm maybe?" Mera mutters to herself a bit.

"Feeling conflicted, Mera? Can't quite decide if you want to treat her like that, or be treated like that yourself, perhaps?"

I take a deep breath, then turn to look. Ahnya's tails are swishing in a nearly doglike manner. She also looks like she's about to pounce, but Rin rolls her eyes then glares at her.

Ahnya sighs, then shakes her head. "Right right, not now. But oh so soon~" She clears her throat, then straightens up. "Okay, got my payment for discussing my Unique skills, and a, delectable appetizer of things to come. So, where shall I start? Perhaps, covering all three so Mera is up to date?"

She pauses with a contemplative expression, then smiles. "When I was a young girl, I was deeply fascinated by the idea of magic. Despite the fact that I was, ehem, larger than my closest siblings and other peers, I had little interest in physical training. When given the option, I would always focus on mana control exercises, element compatibility tests, or the like, instead. One might even say I was, hungry to know more."

I snort at the last line, seeing where she's going with it. But Mera just looks on curiously.

"So, I had a deep desire to know everything about magic. Then when it was determined that I was close to developing a Unique Skill on my own, I was taken to the northernmost Lighthouse of the Isle, or rather, a Node of the Guardian Light System. To, speed and stabilize the process. There, I met a vestige of the Goddess Vestria, who spoke of my potential, and aided the awakening. Thus I gained Magic Eater, a skill that ensured I could understand any magic I came across, by devouring it all. Additionally, I was given the quest to gain the Sage Advanced Class. A peculiar quest really, but it suited me, well enough. Though, naturally I had to wait till after I came of age to even gain a Class through Lady Vestria's blessing."

"There are, a few kinds of Magic that I can only use because of Magic Eater, you know? Spatial Magic and Time Magic for instance. Both normally need their own specialized Advanced Class to utilize fully, and aren't broadly available, even to Sages. Though I am likely to eventually learn enough spells from those categories to gain their Magic Arts skills on my own, as my understanding grows. Bite by bite, if you will."

"Due to the delay in completing my Quest, I ended up developing my second Unique Skill, all on my own. It is, a tad bit embarrassing now. How much I was affected by such a thing, but. One of my brothers made a rather, crass declaration towards myself and my first girlfriend. That two girls could not become one the same way a man and a woman could. That idea got stuck in my head. Long enough that I was most of the way through leveling as an Enchanter, when something strange happened."

"I wanted to become one with her, in a deeper way than we ever had during the times we twined our bodies together in passion. But, I did not have a clear idea of how to do that. That issue, mixed with an envy I felt towards her, regarding the natural power all Kitsune possess to blur the line between Illusion and Reality, lead to an unprecedented outcome. I accidentally reached out to her, with the embers of Divinity deep within myself. The next thing we knew, there was no longer a distinction between the two of us. Physically, mentally, even our souls were blurred together. It was a, deeply confusing event, but also quite amazing. We were, someone else, together. With new powers that should not exist within this world."

"Thus, the Unique Skill, Fusion Diva. It allows me to temporarily merge myself with girls that I like, and allows us, to derive new powers from some of the most prominent abilities of myself and the other girl in question. For instance, when I fuse with Rin, it mixes my innate powers of Fire and Ice, with hers of Lighting. Creating what we have dubbed as Plasma Magic. Which even I have been unable to reproduce alone. It is, most similar to Lighting, but still something entirely different in ways I can scarcely put to words."

"I have been told by those who have made an extensive study of such things, that my Divinity is forever marked by the concept of Fusion because of it. Or, to put it simply, if, or likely when, I become a Goddess myself, Fusion, will be an aspect of my Divine power. No way around it now. Just, part of the risk involved when mortals gain Unique Skills on their own, I suppose."

Mera's eyes are sparkling. "Sooo romantic!"

I tilt my head, a bit unsure of some things. "I, kinda get it. I've heard that some monsters can fuse into stronger forms. But it'd help if you demonstrated."

"Please, no interruptions from the audience. This story is not yet done. As for a demonstration, it'd be best not to. Even now my Divinity is, fairly weak. So I cannot do it long or often."

Mera pipes up with, "Bit like how men perform in bed?" The other girls share a wicked chuckle about that.

Despite the smirk on her face, Ahnya rolls her wrist. "Moving on. Umm, drat, lost my groove. As for my third Unique, the circumstances were a bit. Well, Kumei, my first girlfriend, didn't say her name before did I? Kumei and I got in a fight, about our tails, of all things. Things like, how pretty they are, color, fluffiness, and number. Being a young Kitsune, she only has one tail. I being a Nekomata always have two. She declared that one day she would have nine tails. I being upset with her because of the mean things she had been saying, said I'd get there first. She said that doesn't make sense, and stormed off."

"Wow, I am really not conveying that part well. Mmm. Well, this was, shortly after I actually advanced to the Sage Class, and was gaining all sorts of Magic Arts skills, and was starting to grow, concerned that I couldn't make good use of them, because I simply had too many, and even I did not possess enough Mana. Eventually, I visited one of the other Lighthouses, one far to the east, and a bit south of here, but still within Engale, and was granted the Skill 'Cat'O'Nine-Tails'. Which, fulfilled my declaration of gaining nine tails before her. After a fashion. Unfortunately that didn't help our relationship, exactly."

"Cat'O'Nine-Tails, allows me to, well." She holds her hand out to the side, there is a flash of light, and she appears next to herself? The second one only has one tail, but otherwise they are fully identical. The copy takes her own hand, and lifts it up, then both speak. "Make up to eight copies of myself. With, an easy tell of which is a copy and which is the original, if you pay attention to the number of tails. Though Illusion magic can easily cover that. Two for the original. One, three, four, and so on till nine for the copies."

"There are, various limitations. But basically I grant the copies some of my Magic Arts skills, to use them from the copy. And I have to pour my energy into the skill before using it. Basically, it gives me nine times my natural total energy. But I can't use the skills I have invested in the copies from my original body. And if any of the copies die, I have to fully refill the skill before I can regain the skills I granted them. Between that, and sharing all of their senses, it is, unpleasant to allow them to die. Combine that with the fact that the copies don't recover energy on their own, in fact they slowly burn mana to exist, and it is reasonably limited, but still extremely powerful. Hence why I claim to be on the high end for a B-Rank adventurer. I can, even if only briefly, fight as NINE B-Rank Sages. I like to think that would be a challenging battle, even for most A-Rank people."

"Aw come on!" Mera looks a bit upset. "One girl inspired two of your unique skills and you're not still together with her?! And it's because you fought about who had prettier tails?"

Both Ahnyas grimace, then the one tailed one poofs away. "That was, a culmination of our issues. The deeper problem was down to her species, I'm afraid."

I tilt my head. "Whats wrong with being a Kitsunii?"

"Cute mispronunciation. Kitsune, darling. And, nothing. At least, not as long as you are, patient enough to wait a few hundred years to become actually powerful. Which, Kumei is not. She has tried, so hard to grow stronger. But has had an uphill battle. Last I heard, she was level sixty, and could barely gain any level progression even from killing level seventy monsters. Kitsune grow stronger by leaps and bounds as they gain more tails, which only happens as they age. They gain one tail for every hundred years they live, up to a maximum of nine tails. But, they are sharply hampered when it comes to any other progression. Frankly, the fact that she has gotten as far as she has is, a bit of a miracle. And I have no doubt that she will be one of the strongest people on the Isle of Origins once she grows her, sixth or so tail?"

Ahnya draws a deep breath, then sighs deeply. "I, want to support her. Always did, but she grew, upset as I left her behind. There was a time where we were as much rivals as lovers, before that, it was a cute romance, during we were, very passionate. But after, once I was clearly much stronger, and leaving her behind. . ." She rubs her face with the side of her hand. "As much as I care, I will not sit there and take abuse just because she couldn't keep up. So, we have grown apart. Sad, largely, but there are complicated and, painful, feelings there."

I scratch my cheek. "Hang on. That's odd. All of your unique skills, have reasons? But I don't feel all that interested in monsters, beyond adventuring, so what caused Monster Conversion?"

"Oh well. Not all Uniques are inspired by personal things. Might be more down to your species having something to do with monsters? Like, Mera's Nature Worshipper makes sense for an Elf, even if she isn't all that into nature, right?"

Mera's eyes are tearing up, then she suddenly hugs me. "Don't worry, I won't be mean when you get way stronger than I can."

"Wha? Eh! What makes you think you won't keep up?" I squirm out of her grasp, then run to hide behind Ahnya when Mera won't stop trying to hug me.

Ahnya suddenly claps her hands together. "You two are simply adorable. Enough of my melancholy. Bug Dan to get better mana crystals, I'll start digging for monster parts in my bag."

I walk over and start knocking on the nearest light. "Dan, switch out the monsters for ones with higher mana crystals."

Ahnya turns away from her bag's enchanted paper to look at me. "Why switch out the monsters? Just get the mana crystals."

"Why would I be able to use monster conversion on them if they weren't monsters before?"

"Why would being a monster briefly change them? Ah, this is just about your mentality. If you think it'll work to just use the Crystals, then it will."

"Ooookay?"

She rolls her eyes. "Think of it this way, they can become monsters, so they basically already are."

"Ah, that makes sense."

"Will you stop that? I was occupied, but that's really annoying!"

At Dan's declaration, I stop knocking on the crystalline light. "Oops. Anyway, Ahnya says I can just convert Mana Crystals directly. So lets do that for upgrading, however many of her skills. But I'll still wanna kill monsters for mine."

"Oh? You don't mind doing a few? Then, perhaps. Fire Magic Arts, Ice Magic Arts, and my first Rune Lore Pack. So, two Greater Mana Crystals, and one Major one? Mmm, wonder why Lores are only one step down from Arts. Actually, I'm quite curious about what upgrading a Lore will even do."

"Uhh, that should be simple enough. None of my Cores have a capacity at five thousand mana points. But I do have a lot of them. Just gotta move some mana around."

After a few seconds a small table made of stone rises from the floor, and three crystals appear on it. One the size of my fist and the normal light blue of mana crystals. The other two, far smaller, maybe the size of my pinkie nails. But a far darker blue, and in a somehow, more refined shape. As if they were cut gemstones instead of rough crystal lumps.

"Well now, that's. Interesting. Based on the amount of mana, even the major one should be bigger than that. But the Greater ones are high density?" While Dan is contemplating that, I shrug and swipe them up with Monster Conversion. "Hey, I was looking at those."

I look back towards Ahnya. She now has several things scattered on the floor in front of her. The hide of some kind of black furred beast, a large reptilian head with crystalline scales and horns, something that looks like a mummified corpse, a large golem split in half at the waist, and a few smaller bits of other monsters. Claws, horns, and the like. "Ah, I have, one or arguably two more things, but they're the most mysterious, so I figure I'd present those last."

I open the Skill Enhancement Menu with Ahnya as the target. "Oh, trusting enough to let me go first? How sweet. Well, select Fire Magic, ah, or can I just do it from here?" She reaches up to tap her instance of the Menu.

"What? All of my Fire Magic skills are, compiled? Hang on, skill description. . . Oh?" Ahnya holds up a hand, then streams of fire dance around her fingers for a moment, before turning into a flickering flame around her entire hand, then shifting again into a small fire bird that flies off and around her. "All forms of Fire Magic, at will? I merely have to think it, and it will happen. No more need to craft the magic, or even focus to make fire mana. That will make things, far easier. And far faster, certainly. Regaining skill points is also quite useful. Ethos of Flame is an, interesting skill. Though I'll need to thoroughly test its limits later."

While she's repeating the process with Ice Magic Arts, and chuckling to herself. I notice that Ethos of Flame has joined the N/A club with her Unique Skills. After briefly playing around with Ice and Snow, she moves on to Upgrade her Rune Lore.

"What does that even mean? Oral Language Rune Transcription. No. It, couldn't be? . . . It is?! I just, know and can make Runes for EVERY word I know? That's entirely ridiculous! Now I can be far more specific, or downright exact with runes instead of filling in gaps with intent. Serious Enchanters would fight each other, to the death, barehanded, to get this." Ahnya rubs the bridge of her nose, then shakes her head. "I fear to imagine what would happen if I upgraded it again, so for now. Not touching that." She waves towards the monster parts on the floor. "Your part of the deal is more than fulfilled."

I convert all of the parts she set out. For a moment I think the most interesting thing is the reptilian head, which turns out to be from something called an Adamant Dragon, though the only usable recipe from it is an Adamant Skin Potion using ten units of Adamant Dragon material and one hundred units of Slime material. The rest have multiple unknown components. Then I convert the Mummy. I have a brief flash of vertigo as the ancient corpse fades away under a stream of my own energies.

[5000 Units of Goblin Material obtained] [Goblin variant: Honored Goblin Ancient, converted. Recipe Unlocked; Heart of Honor 1000 Units Goblin Material and 1 Major Holy Mana Crystal. Recipe Updated; Vestria's Favor 1,000,000 Treant Material and 100,000 Goblin Material and -Unknown-] [10,000 total Units of Monster Materials obtained. Auto-Conversion function unlocked. Monsters killed by skill user or party members can now be converted passively within (Level×0.5) Meters. Feature is toggleable at will]

"Wow, that was. The most material I've gotten in one go. Also, I got an auto conversion thing. Which sounds convenient. I can uhh, toggle it. Whatever that means. But it'll activate monster conversion on anything I or anyone in my party kills at, level x zero point five meters?"

"Sounds like toggle means you can turn it on or off, instead of it just being always active. And I bet you mean it will have a range of half of your current level." Ahnya smiles my way. "Ready for the real prize of the day?" She reaches into her bag again. "Even my Sage's Eye appraisal skill hasn't been able to tell me much about these. But they certainly feel, important. Hopefully a Unique Skill will have more to say." She pulls out an odd lump of somehow blue-gold crystal, with a silver horn impaled into it. The free end of the horn is jaggedly broken. "The strangest thing, the crystalized part regenerates from any damage, despite the fact that it clearly isn't alive. And the Horn is very hard to damage, even for me. I shaved a small fragment off the side with Spatial Magic, but that negates durability. And even that sliver was hard to damage with anything short of Annihilation Magic. So the forces involved to shatter it from whatever beast it came from must have been, staggering."

"That all sounds, pretty weird. Why is the horn still stuck in the crystal? Couldn't you have removed it?"

"Well, yeah. The crystal isn't too hard to damage. But, my idiot father suggested taking the horn out would cause the crystal to return to whatever it had been in life. Something like the horn sealing the crystal lump away. I was, just paranoid enough that he was right to leave it be. I mean, it sounds moronic, but he has an odd, sense for that kind of thing. Sometimes." She shrugs, then places the pair of strange items on the floor. "Well, can't come to life if it no longer exists, right?"

"I, guess? I'm gonna target the crystal first though. Or, both? I can probably do both." I trigger Monster Conversion. There is an odd sense of, trepidation, that lingers for a few seconds, before the strength suddenly leaves my body as all of my mystical energies flood out to smother the strange objects. The only reason I stay on my feet is Mera grabbing me the moment I started swaying. Everything goes out of focus for a moment before a menu pops up.

[---ERROR---]

I wince away from the flash of light from the strange oversized text, which sends pain and dizziness roiling through my head like angry wasps. Something hot and wet falls from my nose, and look down to follow it, finding a splash of bright crimson upon the white snow.

I can barely hear Mera's shocked yell, or Ahnya's question of, "What's wrong?"

[Oh dear, you've certainly overreached with those. I'll have to confiscate them. But, you can have them back, once you're strong enough to absorb them. And, just to be nice I'll compensate you with a few things.] [Typhon's Horn Suspended, Essence of Creation Suspended. Ulugrus' Plasm Suspended, Essence of Restoration Suspended] [Function Unlocked, Conversion Threat Perception. It will piggyback on your natural threat perception ability, so you should be able to parse what is safe to convert, and what isn't.] [Unique Skills analyzed; Monster Creation, Stable Regeneration, Rapid Regeneration, Degenerative Regeneration, Slime Division Mutation, Slime Kin Reincarnation]

[Functions Unlocked through Unique Skill analysis; Monster Spawn Box: Spend one hundred units of any monster material to create a box that spawns monsters when it absorbs enough energy, with the type and level dependent on other materials added after box creation. Minimum of level one monster of matching species for placing one unit of any monster material in the box. Item Restoration: Spend energy to repair any non-consumable item made by Monster Conversion, at a slow pace. Item Repair: Spend materials of matching type to repair any non-consumable item made by Monster Conversion, immediately. Item Jury Rigging: Sacrifice an item's overall durability to restore the important part of it in an instant, example, damaging a spear's haft to restore its tip for one final attack. Slime Mystery Box: Spend one hundred units of slime material to create a box that spawns one random level one slime at dawn each day, presuming it can absorb sufficient energy. Ninety percent chance of the spawned Slime matching a species that has previously been converted, five percent chance of a new slime species, and four percent chance of a new variant, and one percent of random other result, such as conglomerated fusion slimes. . . The last one is a little, odd to adapt. Hmm. Monster Restoration: Recreate a specific Monster in perfect, living condition, at the cost of fifty percent extra material, either with the corpse present, or after converting the monster.]

My gaze moves past the screens without coming close to reading all of it when Ahnya grabs my chin to lock eyes with me. She still seems oddly muffled. "Hmm. Well, her condition isn't getting worse. So I'll just heal her and we'll figure it out. Lil' Blue, sorry, but this will be a touch unpleasant. For you, since it's Holy based. But I can guarantee the results." She holds her other hand up, a quarter meter from my face. "Miracle Magic, Drop of Life."

An odd, bead of liquid gold falls sideways from her finger to my forehead. The mental haze and headache that were so blended that I could scarcely recognize either disappear like fog under the morning sun. Then the excess Holy energy flowing through my body sets my skin to itching and twitching for several seconds before it fades away. "Ow?" I blink owlishly and glance around at the many screens surrounding me, and the two girls fawning over me. "Ow. But, better now, I think. Ummm, here, you two make sense of these." I share everything from the giant Error message on with both of them. To Ahnya's brief surprise.

"It would seem that, the will behind the Guardian Light System intervened? So, thank whatever god or goddess actually established that for keeping the situation from getting worse. Wish I knew which one specifically did it. But." She shakes her head, then kneels down to bring her face closer to mine, then grabs both of my hands and lowers her head a bit more. "I am, very sorry, for that Aradain. I clearly did not give things the consideration they were due."

I stare at her wide eyed. "I uhh, what. Well. That's okay? I didn't think it through either. Next time I'll know, right?" When I try to move my hands, she releases them without fuss, but keeps hers held up. I tilt my head, then try to interlace the fingers of our right hands. Though the difference in the size of our hands makes it feel a little silly. Then I pet the fur on the back of her hand with my free hand and sigh.

Ahnya manages a slight smile. "Yes, I suppose you will."

Mera leans against my back and reaches around to grab Ahnya's hand with me. "If you're holding hands, I want in on it. Plus I need some cuddles after that scare. That said, can we wash her face? The blood is a little frightening still."

"Aha, yeah. Rin, could you grab a washcloth from my bag?"

I tilt my head. "Mmm? Ah, yeah. Guess I did notice a bloody nose."

Mera shudders against me. "Gods I wish it was just that. You've got, little trails of it leading down from your eyes and ears too."

Ahnya nods. "It was, deeply concerning, certainly. Though your eyes themselves look clear already. That's a little, odd." She furrows her brows, then conjures water to dip the cloth Rin handed her in. Her left hand trembles with the cloth gripped tight, then she sighs and carefully rubs my face with it, even though I'm still holding her right hand captive. "What was the strongest monster you had converted before those, mmm, terrible things?"

I close my eyes when she's washing close to them. "Probably the Origin Treant? Dad said it was like level thirty five. Er, maybe that goblin mummy you just gave me? It was worth more material." It takes me a few seconds to notice that she's stopped moving the washcloth with it over my right eye, so I open the left one slightly to look at her.

She's staring at me with even more concern than she had shown over my recent injury. Then she sighs heavily. "Firstly, I need to stop being surprised, or I'm going to get mental whiplash dealing with you. Secondly, where and how in the Thousand Hells did you encounter an Origin Treant?"

"Oh, should I have, not brought that up? Shit. Sorry. Uhh. Thousand Hells?" Her glare, with a slightly hurt undercurrent, does not humor the question. "Sorry, it was my fault."

Mera releases our hands, to wrap me in a hug. "Nuh-uh, it was MY fault."

Ahnya's head tilts to the side, with her right ear quirked further. "What? How would it be either of your, faults? No, no blame games. Just tell me, what happened."

Mera and I try to talk at the same time, then she covers my mouth with her hand. "My Quest from the Lighthouse ghost is to plant a grove of a hundred or more Hesvunt trees, in a well protected area, her Unique Skill lets her make Hesvunt seeds from Treant materials. We got overeager and planted one without knowing why it needed to be protected, and a treant got to it. Then her Dad killed it. Won't happen again, I swear."

Ahnya stares blankly, then dips the rag back in the bubble of water floating next to her, then passes the cloth to Mera to hold up her index finger. "That's, a lot to process. Like, a lot. Blue, hold my hand as long as you like. I'm gonna think some things through. Mera. Please finish cleaning her up." She sits on her own feet, holding her hand up where I can reach it, and closes her eyes.

Chaos_Sinner777

Mmmm, it is way easy to get into other stuff and not do action. Oops? Also, I kinda find it fun to give characters more, support leaning Unique Skills, especially if they're gonna be strong anyway. Also amusing that two of Kitty's Uniques do exactly opposite things. I know Cat O Nine Tails is a special type of whip, but here it is about a cat with nine tails instead, in homage of Kitsunes' nine tails. Kek.

Originally intended Fire Magic Arts to evolve into "Essence of Flame". But decided that two unrelated things using the same word and wording would be, confusing. Oh, and the Silver Horn/Essence of Creation are from another one of my characters. In a story I've kind of, dropped, as things stand. Well, we'll see if I ever get back into that.

Ah, and you were right that Monster Conversion could analyze Unique Skills, just, didn't happen that time.