Cecelia and Mags were awoken by my wails. They hugged me as I cried.

  “Whats wrong, Sara.”

  “I…I…I ate them. After the first night I ate them. How can you not think I'm a monster? I ate them. Not just their blood, all of them, I think I even shattered their souls.”

  “Sara, I will keep telling you you're not a monster. You still regret it.”

  “I enjoyed it all.” I screamed at Mags.

  “Then why do you cry now? Why do you scream as if you are gravely injured?” Cecelia prods me.

  It's true, I still shed tears. But—

  “Regret doesn't mean I am not a monster. I am not absolved of this just because I feel bad about it. Fuck, my very revulsion of the act spurred me on. The very idea both sickens and titillates me at the same time.”

  Mags hugs me tighter, “Your blood soaked at this point dear. More my daughter than you know. I cannot condemn someone who has murder a fraction of the number I have.”

  “You didn't eat them.”

  She looks at me sad and a bit angry, “I've eaten the corpses of my friends to survive dear, true cannibalism of those I love because my ambitions brought them too deep into a dungeon. You've not even eaten the same race.”

  “I once was human.”

  “Not when you ate them. You’re the [Matriarch] of the Tibyder now.”

  “Shouldn't you be trying to put such a race to the sword. To save humanity.”

  “I already signed up to have eight legs. Besides, regular Tibyder aren't vampires.”

  “Just me and my daughters.”

  Cecelia grips me as well, “My own ascension to tier two was a bloody path Sara, I did it to save you, to be strong enough to reach you. The number of lives I ended dwarfs your count, though not as many as Mags.”

  Just an entire family of monsters. Mags sticks her tongue out at Cecelia. Cecelia snaps her teeth at her. Mags lets her, her stats so dwarfing Cecelia that she is not worried about injury. She smiles at Cecelia, her tongue caught, she waggles her eyebrows. The anger increases in Cecelia and something else. She blushes and releases Mags, turning away. The fuck just happened. No, is there fucking waiting to happen? I laugh as I cry, the absurdity too much.

  -----

  This is a daily reminder: You have 8 unallocated stat points

  “What do you mean I can't say no. She is supposed to be my attendant.”

  “It's a favor to [Countess] Magdeline, if it truly does not work out I am willing to make the apologies myself but I want you to at least try.”

  Of course it was. I would love to have words with Mags but at the moment she is visiting my sister with Cecelia. My plan required me to actually succeed at being hired, and it seems Mags has made it a certainty. I huff as I listen, I hear them approach the door. It opens. A yellow skin girl with teal hair walks in, her hair in ringlets. She looks at me then her father.

  “You said she'd be my age.”

  The father looks at me.

  “I have only passed my eleventh soul day, my lord.”

  Slept through it.

  “Thats absurd you look to be at least fifteen.”

  The guard behind me speaks up when the lord looks to him, “There is no lie in her words.”

  “Ages at this point are all over the place in terms of physical development. Come ask your questions.”

  The girl rolls her eyes.

  “Name?”

  “Sara.”

  “Best food you can prepare?”

  “Pancakes.”

  The girl rolls her eyes and looks at her father. He just motions her to continue.

  “Highest magic.”

  Thank the system, my sister spent her time changing our scales. Doubt [Necromancy] would result in a call back.

  “[Body Morphic Magic 2] at the competent stage.”

  She looks at my ears. My false soul labeling me as a chimera again.

  “Could you give me your ears?”

  Her father intrudes on the request.

  “Your duties do not include changing my daughter's appearance in any way that is not temporary.”

  She looks annoyed at her father.

  “As you wish, my lord.”

  Now she looks annoyed at me.

  “Why do you have a manacle around your neck?”

  “It is a manacle of obedience, I placed it around my own neck. I have a set of prohibitions that prevent me from becoming blood crazed.”

  “To be so afflicted at such an age.” The father intones, pitying me.

  The girl on the other hand is more interested.

  “Would you tell me what your prohibitions are?”

  “No, discussing them will invariably weaken their hold on me.”

  Disappointed. Her interest wanes.

  “I see you have the Adventurer title, will you escort me through Bandit’s Suicide?”

  “I can guarantee you will not be harmed.”

  The father interrupts, “That is rather arrogant to say.”

  I put my left arm out, I turned my head to the guard.

  “Use your sword to cut off my left arm.”

  The guard stiffens, pulls his sword and brings it down full force. The sword shatters when it hits my bone. It hurts, I pull the mana of the compel out of him. He is shocked at what he just did, shocked that he failed to do it. I unstrap my sword at my side and hand it to him. My arm is already mending the cut.

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  “My apologies for using you to demonstrate my ability. Take this sword, please, as a replacement for the one you lost.”

  The guard flabbergasted, he spoke out of turn.

  “But how?”

  It is to my benefit.

  “I have grafted mithril to my bones.”

  “Can you graft mine?”

  The girl is growing more interested. The father denies her.

  “I doubt the adventurer has mithril to spare for your bones, Delores.”

  “It is as you say.”

  The girl huffs and asks another question.

  “If you're so capable, why do you want to be an [Attendant]?”

  I smile, “I find the act of pouring a perfect cup of tea calming.”

  -----

  “Your tea, my mistress.”

  Delores did her best to ignore me. There was no conversation on ground rules. I presented cookies to her first then her guest. I stood behind her watching their cups.

  “So now you have an adventurer to be your tea pourer.”

  “Father demanded I take her on, she is apparently half a year younger than me. It's all decorum with her, she never cracks.”

  “Bet Hischurl could crack her.”

  The Orc attendant to Delores' guest smiled at the thought. I maintain my demeanor, even as I fantasize about the blood that would spill.

  “Father would not approve of such. He has, though, approved of a trip into our newest dungeon. Do you want to come along?”

  “Truly, anything better than just tea.”

  I fill the ungrateful one’s cup again. Must not harm the mistress's guest … or the mistress.

  “Would you like me to brew more tea, mistress?”

  She waves me off and I collect the dishes.

  -----

  This is a daily reminder: You have 8 unallocated stat points

  -You sure you don't want me to kill her and drain her of blood, Sara.

  It would not be proper.

  -Sooooooo you do want that then. I saw you eat them, the more revulsion at the act the faster you do it. Was it good in the end?

  Incredibly mortifying that only heightened my desire to do it. I prefer to not get a taste for the mistress' blood.

  -Liar. Sara a liiiiiiar.

  She is sing songy again. It's true any blood would be grand but it is for the best. My body doesn't need blood at the moment. Sister's lake has begun to replenish due to my decreased needs. The desire though…

  -Drank us dry, tore our soul then just went straight to killing. Now we're collared again. By Sara herself. You know you could just trust yourself to keep on eating.

  Sister, are you trying to trip my poise? Delores notices my small smile. I make my face blank again. Sister titters in our soul.

  “What made you so happy, I never saw you smile until now.”

  “I feel a connection to my sister here, it's as if I could hear her laughing at me.”

  -Smoooooooooth, Sara smooth.

  I always did find telling absurd truths delightful.

  -Planning on more supplicants, Sara? Your soul is going to dwindle every time we level now.

  What Delores? I'll have you know not every girl I meet becomes attached to us. Besides, it will just spread us out more. Not diminish us.

  -Name one Sara.

  …Lindur, ha.

  -We never did offer it to her, Sara. Think she would have gone for it?

  Not with the fear of spiders we instilled in her.

  -Could you imagine her seeing us now? Alright, name a second one, Sara.

  … De..l.ores.

  -Nope Sara, that's yet to be seen.

  Well I certainly am not offering it to the tea hater. Sister titters at that.

  We walk past the rabbits into a clearing. There is a well. Hischurl starts to draw from it but then lets the bucket fall back into the underground lake of blood.

  “Why do you stop, Hischurl?” Jesmine the tea hater asked.

  “It's blood, not water. They say dying here results in you being tossed out and missing a pint of blood. This must be where the dungeon stores its tax.”

  -Far more economical than eating rapist, Sara.

  I know you felt the difference. I still remember the difference.

  -I wasn't capable of stopping you, Sara.

  I feel her sadness at that. I breathe. Do you keep using our name to make sure I know it's you?

  -I wanted to say something but I felt you'd never leave if you knew, Sara. It was too soon though. I still regret it. Mags was supposed to watch you.

  She couldn't stay awake forever. I think she wanted me to come to terms with it.

  -Thats a fucking horrible thought, Sara.

  Well I'm full of them, Sara.

  -...

  “First dungeon I ever heard of that has a blood tithe. We get so many applications for the keys. I was surprised Sara was able to secure one.”

  Mags keeps paying the rental fee for the one I ate. Sara, how close are we to making another?

  -... You know that annoys me, Sara. We stopped leveling skills after you left.

  You have gained [Dungeon 2] Intermediate 8

  Gained 16 exp

  -Guess we need our soul to be closer, Sara.

  I smile, sorry Sara but I can feel our soul warm when I say our name when referring to you. You feel it too. I'm going to think real hard on the next tier being a second entrance. Then we can be together again.

  -Don't. Our soul can't take it, Sara… and you're still thinking about it. Damn it, now I want it. Should we level before you go?

  Speaking of our soul not being able to take it. Let's wait for the dungeon tier, Sara.

  -It goes up faster when I kill people, Sara.

  Still wouldn't be proper. A large amount of tittering goes through the dungeon.

  “The dungeon cracked, before it would scream now it laughs when someone dies in here.”

  -It encourages the suicides, Sara.

  -----

  This is a daily reminder: You have 8 unallocated stat points

  “I don't get what the big deal is, I was told you start to want to kill yourself the deeper you get but nothing.”

  I fill her tea cup again. Perfect. My thirst lessens. I smile.

  “Total let down. Hischurl, you said it was a bad idea to go.”

  “Our journey to the keep was atypical. I never saw so many of the monsters down, nor felt the usual pressure. I can only assume Sara procured a cleared dungeon instance.”

  Delores looks at me. “Is this true, Sara.”

  “I did say I would guarantee your safety."

  She hrumpf at that. I smile when she is not looking. Hischurl saw it though and laughed.

  -----

  This is a daily reminder: You have 8 unallocated stat points

  -Coming here after midnight for three hours is not going to level [Dungeon 2], Sara.

  Can't make yourself longer to force overnights, Sara? She appears next to me. Hugging my shoulders.

  “You're so much bigger than me now.”

  “You can be any size you want.”

  “I still like being able to walk through doors.”

  “That is a problem, and you want me to hunt something to give you more things to kill with. You know we will grow bigger.”

  “Qorth said there is a dryad in the woods.”

  And she ignored me. She titters at the thought.

  “How did you even make trees?”

  “They're stone.”

  “What?”

  “Every tree is made of stone, some jackwagon tried to make a fire once and was quite annoyed. It was the highlight of the week.”

  “Do you want real trees?”

  “You can feel our cores straining to maintain this, I think real trees might be less strain than stone textured trees.”

  “Both our arcane and life core barely regenerate now.”

  “You could release some stress on the life core if you add your scales or hair back.”

  “Too risky. I kept getting us in trouble because of our mithril dreams.”

  “O that reminds me, I made you a new sword and set of knives. I'm out of sheddings from you though.”

  “Thank you sister, I'll take the knives but the sword will have to remain here.”

  “Aw but I got the backflip rune onto it, just think how quicker we could have bathed in blood if mister drake shoulder tore itself.”

  I smile. Just a bunch of blood junkies.

  -----

  Mags led me through the woods. We had to leave both Qorth and Cecelia behind. The reason was in front of us.

  ? ? Dryad

  I will my clothing into my soul and became my true self. I breathe. Naked. Both of us. I walk forward.

  “Oh my, I haven't seen one of your kind before.”

  The words attempted to worm itself into me. To make me abandon myself to the passions of my desires. I had to resist it with pure mental fortitude. I had no ability to gain skills at the moment.

  “Pardon me, I just wanted to talk to you for a bit. One monstrosity to another.”

  She laughs at that.

  “You resist your passion, yet think yourself a monster, how very droll. Do you want me to break you further child, so that small part that screams stop just says please more. I feel you've almost done it yourself. Perhaps I could talk you into removing that neck ornament.”

  Everything she says just makes me yearn to be free. I had Mags cut my hair four times before coming here. I was ravenous.

  “Well really I was curious if you had any qualms about killing or violence in general. I make it a point to only eat terrible things.”

  She just starts laughing at that. Even that carried her enchanting song.

  “I eat the desires of intelligent creatures, the more complex the desire the better. I am not ashamed of what I am. Perhaps if you rebirth yourself you lose that self hatred of what you are. Sadly your desire to consume is more akin to an animal than a queen. This will be a rather boring meal.”

  On those words my mind blanked. When I came too I had already eaten half the dryad. Mag came over and rubbed my back.

  “You okay?”

  I take another bite. My body shudders.

  “Dunno, kinda missed the fight, kinda a mistake to unleash my passion when she was the only one here.”

  Another bite, her leg? Snap.

  “Sara… you're still eating her.”

  I look down, then shrug and eat another piece.

  “I am not even really tasting it, the bliss of revulsion not there at the moment. But I still feel the need to finish.”

  “What was the last thing you heard?”

  Mags had blocked her ears from hearing. Told me I was dumb for risking myself like that.

  “She told me this would be a boring meal…ah her phrasing came true.”

  I ate another piece.