Chapter 14: Chapter 13: Aunt Eyfura

The next day, Gramps was in his office, tying off a few loose ends before he left for a bit. Jin had come to him and requested him to find someone to tutor Tess in combat with claws. Gramps had been happy to oblige; he couldn’t expect The Rumors to have expertise in such a niche fighting style, not when none of them even had claws to begin with.

Fortunately, he knew just who to ask. One of his old party members, Eyfura, fit the bill perfectly. She was an old wolfkin who had long since managed the elusive evolution to garmrkin, and she had been a particularly ferocious unarmed combatant before the party had retired. He had made a point of asking Fortune if it was OK to let her in on the secret, and Fortune had given the OK to let Eyfura in, but anyone else coming with her would need to swear a Fatebinder’s Oath.

Plus, she owed him a couple of favors and was completely trustworthy, so she was the perfect pick. So, he finished off his work, let the staff know he was leaving, and began his walk to the residential district. As usual, people called out to him fairly often, and he stopped to say hi when he could.

Eventually, he made it to her house, where he gave their party’s knock. It was something that they had thought up as youngsters, and, silly as it was, they stuck with it as a sort of nostalgic in-joke. A few moments later, a young wolfkin opened the door. “Uncle Evan!” She burst out happily, catching him in a hug, “Why are you here?!”

He smiled, tousling the girl’s hair. “Nice to see you, Ilmir. I’m here to talk with your grandma about some business, will you fetch her for me?”

“Sure thing!” Ilmir chirped, “Go ahead and take a seat, it’ll be a second!” Ilmir detached herself from Gramps, bounding off further into the house with her tail wagging. Gramps ducked into the sitting room next to them and sat down on one of the many couches, enjoying the somewhat nostalgic scent of Eyfura’s house. Soon enough, Ilmir was back, trailed by Eyfura. “Evan, to what do I owe the pleasure?” She asked, sitting across from him.

“Ah, I’m afraid it’s confidential.” He said, shooting a glance at Ilmir. “Sorry, Ilmir, I’m going to need you to step out for a bit.”

Ilmir pouted, but gave a nod, left, and shut the door behind her. Gramps applied a silencing spell to the room while Eyfura watched curiously. “What’s this about, then?” She asked once he had finished with the spell.

Gramps gave a sigh. “I’ve talked with you about my grandchildren, right?”

Eyfura rolled her eyes. “At length. Can’t say I don’t understand the sentiment, though.”

“Well, I finally introduced them to the Outlands a few days ago.”

“Congratulations. What went wrong?”

Gramps raised an eyebrow. “I never said anything about things going wrong.”

Eyfura waved a hand. “Please. You wouldn’t be here on confidential business if everything is going according to plan.”

“I suppose you could say something went wrong.” Gramps admitted. “Thomas got the lowest possible growths and Ellie got the highest. As a result, Fortune took notice and gave Thomas her strongest blessing.”

Eyfura gave a low whistle, but Gramps wasn’t done yet. “So, I took Thomas to the Challenge in Slime Tower, and wouldn’t you know it, he got something from it.”

Eyfura’s eyes widened. “Really?! What was it?”

“A class called Monster Breeder. A transformation class, too. It turned him into a girl, but, more importantly, she got four Phantasmal Skills.”

Eyfura was staring in disbelief, so Gramps decided to deliver the final blow. “And, according to Fortune, Heroes and War are personally optimizing her Skills.”

“You’re pulling my leg.” Eyfura whispered.

Gramps shook his head. “Deadly serious, I’m afraid. I won’t get into the any details of her kit right now; the important part is she’s an unarmed combatant that has started using claws as her main weapon. I’ve got The Rumors teaching her and Ellie, but they want someone who actually knows how to use claws to show Tess the ropes.”

“I’m assuming Tess is Thomas’s new name?” Eyfura asked. After Gramps nodded, she continued. “Honestly, I would normally say yes, but I’m busy training Ilmir right now, and I’m guessing she’s not allowed into this mess?”

Ah, so that was why Fortune had made the provision about multiple people. “On the contrary, I’d be happy to have her join so long as she swears a Fatebinder’s Oath to keep everything secret, and Fortune herself gave the OK. Oh, you don’t have to make one or anything, we trust you.”

Eyfura mulled that over, then grinned. “I suppose it’s about time I teach Ilmir about how to be in a party anyway. Would you care to do the honors of performing the oath?”

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Gramps shrugged. “Might as well.” He walked over to the door, opened it, and called for Ilmir.

There was the sound of footsteps from upstairs, then she appeared on the landing, jumped the entire set of stairs, and rushed to them. “Can I come in now?!” She asked excitedly.

“Yes.” Eyfura said, “Come in.”

Ilmir dashed into the room, and Gramps shut the door and reapplied the spell. “So,” he began, “We’re willing to let you in on the confidential stuff, as it involves you. But, in return, you have to swear a Fatebinder’s Oath to not reveal any of it. Is that acceptable?”

Ilmir nodded vigorously. “Sure thing!”

Gramps took Ilmir’s hand gently. “Ilmir, as one blessed by the God of Fate, I ask if you will swear to tell no one about Tess’s special capabilities or this Oath until the day she dies or releases you from the oath.”

“Um, yeah.” She said, apparently taken aback. “Who’s Tess?”

Gramps let the hand drop and explained the situation. “Don’t tell them I did the Oath, though. That’s on the down-low and I’m waiting for the right time to tell them.”

Ilmir nodded, tail wagging furiously. “So, you’re saying that I get to be in a party with Tess and Ellie, and that they’re going to be suuuuper strong? That sounds awesome!”

Eyfura, grinned again and clapped Ilmir on the back. “By the time we’re done with you, the three of you are going to be stronger than my party was, no sweat.” She stopped for a moment, then shot Gramps a sly look. “You think Ava and Atum would be up to have a couple of their grandkids join in? It would be like the second generation of The Titans.”

Gramps chuckled. “Let’s take it one step at a time. We’ll have to see if Ilmir meshes with them properly.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine!” Ilmir said happily, “When do I get to meet them?”

“Tomorrow.” Gramps assured her, “What level are you right now?”

“Thirty-nine!” Ilmir said proudly, “I’ve been doing some grinding.”

Gramps nodded sagely. “So, you’re higher level than them, but that’s fine. It doesn’t really…matter with those two. Ellie’s probably going to be just as tough as you at half the level, and Tess is the opposite. We shouldn’t need to alter things too much, then.”

Eyfura shot Ilmir a glance. “Alright, I’m going to need to talk with Tess’s current trainers about things, so you go through your exercises, alright?”

“Yes, Grandma!”

Eyfura stood up, walking over to Gramps and grabbing his elbow. “Let’s be off then, shall we?”

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Tess spent most of the time before Ellie got done with school grinding out Cub’s Den with Ker. They mostly just dashed through the floors while ignoring the monsters, killed the boss, and did it all over again until they reached the Rewards Crystal. Given the short nature of the dungeon, they were able to fully clear it in just about six hours, giving Tess an hour or two to relax before Ellie got there.

She had, unsurprisingly, made out pretty well from the dungeon. Her two picks had been magic based, the first All Magic Skill, and a Mana saving Skill. Both of those were things Fortune had assured her she would get later, but Tess didn’t really want anything else at the moment, so she opted to get them early.

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