Chapter 11: Chapter 11

I sat in Calvin’s workshop after reporting the results of my mission to him. Currently he was preparing the setup for the ritual that would remove my birthmark. This consisted of the usual magic circle and three smaller circles connected to it.

I soon became worried as I saw him move three cages with rabbits inside and put them in the center of each of the smaller circles, “Um… What are the rabbits for?” 

This reminded me way too much of Ignatio’s human sacrifices to make Golems.

He looked up at me as he placed the cage with the second rabbit down, “We need the divine energy that connects their souls to their bodies to perform body manipulation magic. This is an easy modification, so three rabbits should be enough. Though, we can always ask a Follower of Geva if you don’t want to kill them.”

I recalled how the Followers of Geva were the only ones that could use life magic naturally, “Um… I’ll pass. Don’t want to see how they react to Mula.”

Calvin shrugged, “I got’cha, but if you want more drastic changes you might have to reconsider, because rabbits only go so far.”

I still hadn’t decided if I wanted more changes. My height was pretty much locked in at this point now that I had a level three soul gem, but there were still other things I could do if I wanted, “I’ll think about that after I see what I look like after this.”

Mula, who had been watching Calvin set up the magic circle with great interest, finally spoke for the first time since he started, “This one will help Tamana become more beautiful.”

I was actually tempted at Mula’s offer, she was the only real woman of the three of us and I felt she’d have better opinions than the two men that thought about looks with their privates more than their heads, “I’ll think about it.”

Mula didn’t seem happy with me not giving her a straight answer, but turned back to continue watching Calvin.

Calvin placed the last rabbit down and turned to me, “Alright! We can get started.”

I stood up, still feeling uncomfortable with the magic circle, “Might as well…”

Calvin had noticed my apprehension, “Relax! The rabbits were going to be dinner, anyway, and I promise I won’t use human sacrifices any time I do this.”

It seemed he knew about how sometimes human sacrifices were used for this ritual, but it made sense he would, “Rabbit does sound good…” I walked to the center of the circle, careful not to step on any lines, and lay down, “I don’t need to take anything off?”

Calvin thought for a moment, then looked at my mask I still wore, “Might be better to take that off so I can make sure the ritual is going smoothly. If I see something going wrong I can stop it before it gets too bad.”

I didn’t want my face to get worse, but he had said it was an easy ritual, so I took off my mask, “Uh… okay.” 

Mula raised an eyebrow, “Tamana will practice using ‘Uh’ and ‘Ums’ less.”

I really didn’t feel like having one of Mula’s behavior lessons right now, “Um…” Great… Now I was self-conscious about the way I spoke, “Can we do this later?”

Mula giggled, “This one just felt like teasing Tamana before the ritual.” Her face became more serious, “But Tamana does need to stop. It makes Tamana look weak.”

I could see Mula’s reasoning, and it was something I did want to stop doing now that it’d been brought up, “Okay. I’ll work on it.

Calvin coughed to get my attention, “Ready to start?”

I turned my head towards him, “Oh… yeah.”

Calvin nodded, “Please try not to move around too much.” He looked around him in vain to find Mula, “Mula, if you’re close to the magic circle, please move back.”

Mula moved back, but floated higher into the air where she could see the magic circle better.

Calvin knelt next to the magic circle and placed his hand on a spot made for accepting magic from the caster, “This shouldn’t take more than thirty seconds.”

The magic circle began to glow. I couldn’t see very well from my position, but I could make out a bluish-white glow rapidly spread from Calvin’s hand on the outermost circle towards each of the rabbits.

The rabbits squealed in pain as the smaller circles activated around them, but mercifully it lasted for only a moment, and soon they fell over, probably dead. From here, the glow changed from a bluish-white to gold as magical and soul energy flowed from the smaller circles and to the one I was currently laying in.

Once the magic circle I lay in started to glow, I felt a tingling across my whole body, which quickly focused on my face and my breasts, which I felt grow some.

It took all my willpower not to turn my head and shoot Calvin an angry look, but just by looking with my eyes, I was sure he had a smug grin on his face.

This irritation soon gave way to surprise as I felt my face begin to almost boil as the magic began its work.

The feeling was very uncomfortable and I forced myself to think of other things.

My family popped into my mind suddenly. I had tried not to think much about them since I knew I’d probably never see them again, but… I really should have spent more time with them. Even before I had died, it had been, what, a year since I’d visited them before I had died? It’s not that I hated them, but seeing my parents, and my successful brother and sisters and their families. I had always told myself that I didn’t need a great job or kids, and I was fine as long as I had food, a place to stay, and entertainment, but… I knew I would die alone. I had died alone. How long had it even taken for someone to find my body? How many people had even bothered to go to my funeral besides my family? I…

My thoughts stopped suddenly as I heard Calvin talking to me, “...done. You okay?”

I turned my head to Calvin, “It’s over?”

Calvin looked at me for a moment, “You looked like you were thinking about something serious there.”

I sat up and looked at the ceiling, “Just my family.”

Calving gave me a sympathetic smile, “I’ve heard thinking about your life regrets is common during these rituals. Something to do with divine energies and souls.”

I could see that, “Oh… that makes sense.”

Mula floated rapidly down next to me and looked intensely at my face, “Tamana is looking much better!”

I giggled at myself for having completely forgotten about my face, “Oh!” I turned to Calvin, “Mirror, please!”

Calvin chuckled, “Right! Your face!” He jogged over to a nearby table and grabbed a piece of polished metal before returning, “I did a pretty good job, if I do say so.”

My hand stopped just short of taking the polished metal when I remembered something, “You did something else to me, too…”

He looked away from me at seeing my scowl and started whistling innocently, “Don’t know what you’re talking about…”

I opened my shirt enough to look down at my bare chest, and saw that my breasts had indeed gotten bigger. They were still on the small side despite doubling in size and now actually gave me a respectable amount of cleavage compared to what I’d had before.

I pointed at my breasts, “You made them bigger…”

Mula looked pleased at the news, “Why is Tamana angry? This one thinks it is good that Tamana has a larger chest. It will help attract men.”

I turned my scowl to Mula, “You didn’t tell him to do this, did you?”

Mula’s expression didn’t change, “This one didn’t ask, but she did mention Tamana would benefit from it.”

I turned back to Calvin, “Well?”

Calvin backed up a little, “Just… call it a special service thanks to a job well done.”

I sighed, and took the polished metal from Calvin, “Just… please tell me next time?” I hoped that having larger breasts wouldn’t get in the way of my combat abilities. I’d heard that when they bounced they could get painful but I guess I didn’t have to worry about that, just the bouncing. Before they’d been small enough I didn’t even have to worry about support, but now… “You’re buying me… do they even have bras here?”

Calvin shrugged, “Don’t think they have bras here, but I’ll give you some money to take care of that as an apology. I’m sure Mula knows what to do about that kind of thing.”

Mula looked excited at the idea, “This one has many ideas!”

I… actually was kinda looking forward to it for some reason, “Alright, but first I want to see my face.”

I looked at my reflection in the polished metal. I almost didn’t recognize myself. My skin now looked almost unnaturally healthy. No blemishes. No puckered skin. No more discoloration. Even my scars were gone. My skin also looked as smooth and healthy as a newborn.

I then began to notice the other features of my face I hadn’t paid much attention to because I’d only focused on the scars and birth-mark. My too close together eyes. My too small chin. My too narrow face.

Not that it was all bad. I guess my small nose was kinda cute, and I liked my large, round eyes, especially the gold irises. I also loved my white hair. It wasn’t the kind of white that an old person might have, but brighter and more healthy looking like that of a white cat. The cat ears were also great too, but they always had been. Them and my tail.

Overall, I still wouldn’t say I was even average, but I had gone from, ‘woof’ to ‘eh, she’s not that cute, but maybe if she has a good personality…’ Sure, it’d be nice to be attractive, but I now felt I could live with this face. I didn’t want to get married or even date, so I didn’t care how attractive men felt about me, just attractive enough that I felt comfortable with myself. I’m sure Mula would have things to say, but I was fine where I was at.

My thoughts turned to the original Tamana. This is what she would have looked like if she hadn’t had the birth-mark. How much different would her life have been if she hadn’t felt the need to hide behind a mask?

A different thought came to me. Yes, I was fine with this face, but it was the original Tamana’s. Should I change it so I was less like her? I bet right now, if I saw her family I would easily see my resemblance to them, but they could never be my family. I… could I show them their daughter and how she could have been and never will be? Should I change my face some more to avoid that kind of situation, to be more than a reminder of the person whose image I had stolen?

I decided I should think about it more and turned my attention back to Calvin and Mula, “Thanks, Calvin. My face looks much better.”

Calvin nodded, “Great! I can tell by how much your tail is swishing. Now… do you mind talking more about business?”

Mula turned to him, interested.

I stilled my happily swaying tail, and blushed. 

I had wanted to take it easy for a day or two, but I guessed it wouldn’t hurt just to talk about it, “Sure.”

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Calvin motioned for us to follow him to the only barren table in the workshop, “Do you know who Alam is?”

I instantly recognized the name, “Yeah, he’s the one to the south that’s fighting everyone.”

Calvin stopped at the table, and with a wave of his hand, a map of the city appeared, “Well, Ignatio isn’t the only one snooping around in my city. Spies are expected, of course, but he’s also selling illegally acquired slaves somewhere. I want you to look around and see if you can find out when their next auction is.

“Not only do I want to stop the illegal slave trade in my city, but I also hate knowing that the money they get from it is going back to fund his war.”

I could get behind the idea of stopping slavers considering what I had just seen earlier, “I’ll do what I can.”

Calvin turned to me, “As for your reward… I can do another ritual for you if there’s anything else about your body you want to change, or I can pay you five thousand rupees.”

Mula looked at me expectantly.

I sighed, “Can I decide later?”

Calvin smirked, “Take your time.” He turned to the door, “Oh, I have also arranged for you a place to stay in the fortress. My guards have been instructed to take you there.”

I hadn’t expected to get housing, “Oh… Thanks. Don’t really need it, but… thanks.”

Calvin patted me on the shoulder, “Believe me, it’s still nice to have a place to relax and keep your stuff.”

I gave him a smile of appreciation, “Yeah. I can see that.”

Calvin patted me on the shoulder a second time, “I also left you some spending cash there. Ten rupees should be enough to get you a decent wardrobe going.”

Mula looked ecstatic at this news.

I sighed again.

Calvin laughed, “I take it Mula is pretty happy after hearing that?”

I sighed yet again and began walking to the trap door, “Yeah…”

Calvin watched me go, “Well, don’t let her push you around too much, and make sure you get on that job as soon as possible. We’re not sure when exactly it’ll happen, but you only have a few days at most.”

I turned to give him a nod, “Yeah, I’ll get on that tonight,” then put my mask back on.

I climbed down through the trap door, and turned to the guards.

A guard approached me, “Ms. Tamana, I will escort you to your room.”

I nodded, “Thanks.”

Mula floated excitedly next to me, “This one wonders what kind of room Calvin has provided us.”

I shrugged, “Well, we don’t need to use it for sleeping, so we only really need it for storing our stuff when we’re not using it.”

Mula thought for a moment, then giggled, “And this one can’t even use furniture.”

I smiled, “I guess I don’t need it either. Perks of not getting tired.”

Mula and I chatted about what we actually could use our room for, until finally, the guard took us inside the island and stopped us in front of a door.

I entered the room, thanking the guard as I did so, and closed the door behind me.

The room was empty, except a small bag with five gold coins hanging from a hook next to the door. The room wasn’t large, and had a single window with a latch made of magically reinforced glass that was currently the only source of light. The walls were made of a simple gray stone that looked like it had been crafted with earth magic.

I turned to Mula, “I guess you were wrong when you thought he’d decorate it for us.”

Mula chewed her lip, looking slightly upset as if someone had lied to her, “This one had hoped it was so.”

I grabbed the coin bag from the hook and walked to the window, “I think I can fit through this. Want to get our shopping over with? Not much to do here right now, anyway.”

Mula’s face lit up again, “Yes. Let’s go.”

I opened the latch and stuck my head outside, looking to see if I could find a market.

I couldn’t find one as it looked like the residential district was directly below the window, so I chose a back street that didn’t look busy.

I then climbed through the window.

It was now that I found my first reminder that my breast had grown bigger. I had squeezed through spaces this tight before and hadn’t had any trouble, but now I had to accommodate my chest where I hadn’t had to before. Still, it wasn’t a big deal, because it was my hips that gave me the most trouble as always. 

I got my hips through, and immediately started falling. I had expected this and didn’t try to stop myself.

Soon, I found myself on a fairly deserted street. I had found a large market near the anchor closest to me and started off in that direction.

Mula had already gone off ahead. I assumed she wanted to get a head start so we could get started with our shopping as soon as I got there.

As I jogged, I noticed a group of children staring at me, and I realized I should probably take off my mask if I didn’t want to stand out. I was so used to wearing it now, I had completely forgotten about it, but now, I didn’t really need it anymore, did I?

I went down an alley, and when I was sure no one could see me, I took my mask off. I then used invisibility to run into another alley leading to a different street, where I finally dropped my invisibility. I then walked onto a new, slightly busier street.

Here I got some looks, but I realized they were because of my clothes. Before, no one seemed to care about my clothes but now I heard people whispering about me when I passed by them as apparently it was unusual for a woman to wear men’s clothing like I was at the moment.

I realized it was because of my breasts again. Before, they’d barely been noticeable under my shirt and it was easy for people to assume I was a man, but now it was easy to see the shape of them underneath giving me away, even if they still weren’t what I’d consider even average.

I became self conscious and began to hide them, especially since I realized everyone could see them bouncing as I jogged along.

Soon, Mula found me, “Tamana! This one has found a clothier suitable for you.”

I nodded, and followed after her.

She led me to a larger shop, which we entered.

Inside, I found shelves lined with neatly folded clothes. The styles of the cuts didn’t look much different to me at first glance, but what was different were the colors of the fabrics used, though many were natural browns and grays. The fabrics looked like what I guessed were wool and linen. The men’s clothing was obvious with tunics and trousers, while the women’s were mostly robes that were similar in appearance to dresses.

A male shopkeeper dressed in some of the higher quality clothes approached me, “What can I do for you…” his eyes darted to my chest before returning to my face, “Miss.”

I turned to Mula.

Mula looked like she had already found what she’d wanted and stopped next to a folded red wool robe, “This one thinks this is a good color.”

I didn’t particularly care about the color… 

I spotted some clothes that had been dyed yellow and immediately felt they might go good with the color of my eyes.

Mula noticed where I was looking and shook her head, “Yellow is too expensive for us now. We can buy some later.”

I was slightly disappointed, but it wasn’t that important. So, I turned to the shopkeeper, who was watching me politely, and pointed to the clothes Mula floated next to, “Um… how much for that red one over there?”

The shopkeeper walked over to the clothes.

Later, I walked out of the shop wearing my new clothes. Sure they were robes like most of the others here wore, but of slightly better make combined with the color probably gave the impression I was more well off than I was.

Next, Mula floated off towards a different shop, “Tamana! Come! It is time to get Tamana some makeup!”

I smiled to myself. I thought I’d hate this, but after everything, I found this shopping fun and relaxing compared to trying not to get killed by mages and Fodder.

I walked after Mula, wondering what she planned on doing to my face with makeup.

Time for another poll!

This one concerns what our dear Tamana should do next regarding her appearance. Should she take the cash and not worry about it? Should she choose what she does herself? Or should she leave it up to Mula? 

The deadline is whenever I get to it, so who knows. If there's a tie, I'll vote, but only then.

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