Maid with Necromancy

“I don’t know why you’re inviting me to breakfast after you’ve given in to everything my Aunt requested.” Xera huffed.

Harmony ignored her, taking in the layered scent of spices that drifted over as one approached the cooking cube, also known as Alzar Hall, a whole building dedicated to gastronomic pursuits. Considering you kill most things before you eat them, one would think necromancy would be perfect for the trade, but every time she’d attempted using such skills, the end result didn’t taste right. Having tried, and failed enough times, Harmony had an appreciation for the skills it took to make delicious food. That, and experience being hungry on the streets, gave one a certain relationship with food. [Dust] could clear the scent, but why ruin the moment?

“Tun-Knee informed me his class always makes too much food. Your aunt also suggested we spend more time together, but where is her linked partner?” Harmony responded after they entered the building.

“Uncle Janas is banned from participating in family business. Which this counts as.”

“Cezna married whom they linked with? And he’s banned?”

“They’re not married, but he insists on being called uncle. There was an incident at the family reunion in the tea fields. Alcoholic tea and explosives. He ruined one of the better crops. Cezna got him off lightly. I still don’t know why you’re letting my aunt take charge.” Xera protested.

With Alzar Hall’s door shut, the magical tag attached to Xera became blocked by the building’s privacy wards. The thing buzzed enough in Harmony’s soul sight that Harmony deduced how it relayed their conversations, as its ripples mimicked the sounds around them. Inside the warding, it remained still.

“Your aunt has a listening spell on you, which the building is suppressing right now. As for me being accommodating. I’ve dealt with people like her before. The best thing to do is not be interesting, and she’ll move on. I’m sorry I had to subject you to more changes last night. It always makes you cranky after, but the faster we can get her approval and have her move on, the better. Has she hinted at how long she’ll stay?”

The emergency trip to the dungeon wasn't solely at Cezna’s request. There was pumping Randy for information about the Tournament, and refilling her coffers after Adric’s dress. Her pet had apparently left quite the impression. Sadly, showing off [Stride Before the Fall] shocked the porter into silence for the latter half of the delve. All she got from him was that Hyacinth and Adric would be transported with her, but not participating in combat.

“She’s spying on me!” Xera complained, outraged.

“Probably more likely spying on me and using you as a receiver. I know we haven't had a team training session recently, having completed the quarter requirements, but maybe we should arrange one and knock her bit of magic off of you. While you’re in an Academy building, it seems that we’re safe.”

Xera gathered herself. “Cezna is enjoying reminiscing about her time here, since you can’t get cans of ale back home for cheap. She’s camping in my room to watch me as I sleep, and I don’t see her leaving until after you quicken, as that will affect my development. Usually defensive changes from [Two Against] are slight, until that first larger benefit from a link’s quickening.”

Less than two weeks. Harmony masked her annoyance. The way Xera’s family was involved, they’d probably have someone here for that time. The fact that Xera got a benefit from her being able to gain levels was odd. In Hazeldown, most people didn’t make their first evolution unless they took the expense and moved to Naewauld. Being able to level again wasn’t even important because, unless you were adventuring, most people wouldn’t gain much more than a level or two in their profession after they started up again, if lucky.

It made sense that it was considered important if the status was involved in gaining quests and progressing towards graduation. Enough of the new students were quickening on campus that small celebrations were being held regularly. You could spot the souls that were a touch more stable than others. Harmony had put her quickening out of her mind, because it would happen when it happened.

“And why would mine affect you?”

“The connection is soft until your soul solidifies, and that allows the greatest transfer of the information that is needed for [Two Against] skills to act, as all future skills will be part of the link that firmness is needed. Cezna theorized that because our link is so full and your way to soak up risk, I’m getting what [Two Against the End] needs to adapt me early.”

[Recall] made a new note on Harmony’s ever-growing list of things to research to look into the entangled connective aspects of attachments. Her blood sickle could be summoned at a distance. Maxwell could summon a duplicate version of her half the world away. There was also the communication with Hyacinth and calling Adric to her. For something that important, which intersected with her soul, she’d focused mostly on playing with dead things and the synergies of skills within her soul and not all the risks of forming links, bonds, and oaths. The Academy probably had a class or seminar on the topic she could ask Von Trell to schedule for her next quarter.

“Then I recommend being boring until after my soul settles and she leaves. Old powerful people who’ll live for centuries have way too much time on their hands to meddle with the likes of us if we catch their interest.”

Harmony had spent a month being lent out to Lady Coodly’s friend, Maxine, after being too interesting. Maekus Von Trell was sticking around for the same reason. Xera’s aunt had the same spark to her, though maybe getting Cezna and Maekus together could solve that issue.

“If she gets too annoying, I’ll write to great-gramps.” Xera insisted.

If there were people more powerful than Aunt Cezna in the Chase family, Harmony wasn’t ready to meet them. Good that the girl was thinking ahead, but… “That won’t make her think you’re any less spoiled or coddled.”

Xera made a face as she chewed on that.

Tun-Knee’s class was ahead. They had no more time to talk freely. Opening the doors to room 217 revealed quite the spread, with a class of about twenty students working on final touches using piping bags, garnishes, and colorful sauces on about two dozen dishes. About half the students were beast-kin, making it the most condensed collection of their people Harmony had seen outside her visits to The Watering Hole club. A duck-kin was plating eggs, to which Harmony used [Poise and Bearing] to conceal her conflicted feelings. A rat-kin tasted three sauces.

That took a moment to get used to.

Tun-Knee stood proudly over a tray of flaky-crispy wafers, which he transferred to a bowl and moved to the table, next to a pitcher of milk.

“Su-primus White, thank you for visiting our humble class.” The teacher cried out, causing all the student chefs to speed up their finishing touches and line up on the far wall. The man wore a long white jacket, a poofy white hat, and a curling black mustache.

“I’m honored. Saucier Horace. My friend Xera Chase will be joining me.“ Harmony put that as a statement, not a question, indicating that if Xera was refused, she’d leave.

“I’ve heard of the illustrious Chase family, and her presence is welcome as well. We have plenty of food. It’s part of our tradition, as each quarter nears an end, that we have select guests judge our students' food. The su-primus has regularly been one; and on the last day of class we have Headmaster Crottish. Thank you for accommodating us.”

Harmony and Xera both gave a short bow to the teacher and students before taking seats. Tun-Knee hadn't said she'd be a judge. And the former su-primus Shin stood in line, even if he didn't have his badges; Harmony could tell the young, plain-looking boy was on the cusp of their second evolution.

“Each student will bring their dishes for you to try, and we have a stack of metal grading plates for you to rate how each meal rates on taste, texture, aroma, creativity, and soulfulness if you find it warming your spiritual side. Please Enjoy.” Horace stated

One by one, the breakfast started. With twenty dishes, it was nice that Xera came along too. It would be difficult enough to take a bite or two of each to judge without getting full. Hyacinth dozed in her pocket, uninterested in food that couldn’t fight back, or that he couldn’t chase.

To set standards, Harmony resolved to try the first five dishes to have a baseline before filling out the judging plates. It was all subjective, except for perhaps soulfulness, which, from her experiences eating in Ricort and drinking Xera’s tea, should be how much the food stirred aspects within her soul.

A seared peach on a layer of sharp cheese, a savory souffle with raspberry sauce, gelatin domes filled with vegetables, a steak, and jelly-filled rolls. The first five were quite a variety, and half the challenge was settling on a system to comparatively grade them. Only the steak, which melted in her mouth, edged her soul some, refreshing a touch of stamina. Xera finished that off, which made sense because the [Stride Before the Fall] sacrifice gave her a short growth spurt. Xera ate what Harmony didn’t, putting down food like the growing teenager she was.

Tun-Knee brought out his bowl filled with thin, crispy pastry flakes; they sparkled when the light caught them just right, a glimmer from little crystals of sugar on their surface. He poured the milk into the bowl with an anticipatory look in his eyes.

While she couldn't rate him highly on aroma, the first bite brought an intriguing mix of crunch, sweet, and creamy. Four bites in, Harmony could feel the texture change as the pastry soaked up the milk and sugars dissolved in the liquid. A meal of stages. It produced a subtle warmth in her soul, filling it as it did her stomach.

Xera got the fully soggy end to finish off, which she made a slightly sour face at, but it didn’t stop her from scraping the bowl clean and lifting it to drink the sugar-sweetened milk.

The rat-kin had a vegetable stew. The duck-kin’s eggs were duck eggs, which made it feel even more awkward to the point where Harmony was leaning on her social skills to keep a smile as she ate only one bite, while making a [Recall] note to ask Tun-Knee about how the relationship with animal counterpoint works.

Shin brought out a plate of tiny chocolates. The primus smiled as he set them down, leaning in to whisper, “Thank you for taking my spot. I have a father who considers me a failure, and don’t need the brand to back him up.”

The chocolates were mediocre. Harmony hadn’t seen any skills in the man that might be related to cooking, increased senses, or material manipulations that might help him in the class. Cooking was clearly a filler class as he tried to push through to graduation through evolution. But mediocre chocolate was still chocolate and a delicacy in most places, so she ate most of them and passed off two to Xera, who had to be full by now.

With the students done, Horace brought two small dishes of shaved ice. “A palate cleanser, but this one has a little bit of bam to it.“

The physical sensation from the ice worked to heal any stomach discomfort. The real bam was in soulfulness, as the burst spiraled outward with a ripple that highlighted the internal vision of her soul. Spots where she could tighten the swirl from [Mana Rotation], an insight about how [Shadowed Graves] needed attention on a wider scale. It let flashes of what was mostly invisible be seen. The protective and magnifying encirclement from [Two Against the End], threads stretching out from the oath that connected her to Agent Maxwell, and even flashes of the odd script running through her from [Eternal Fable’s Heart].

Harmony peeked to watch Xera have her own moment of blissful introspection grace her face.

They both rose to personally thank each chef using details of their meal, such as how the smoky under-layer of the peach added depth, and the way the raspberry sauce contrasted with the soufflé. [Keen Investigative Awareness] and [Beautician] worked to politically have each student feel good about their creations. Shin was happy even if his compliment was that chocolate always makes a meal; it was the joy of a mountain lifted off his back.

Shin’s request to talk wasn’t why Tun-Knee had invited her. There was no political pressure. The tiger had an aversion to attacking a problem head-on. It was always from the shadows where he’d pounce. The anticipation, the eagerness as he poured the milk over his creative meal. The poor kitty just wanted to show off his cooking with pride, as he rose to the challenge of his rival chefs.

Harmony shook his paw as she stared into the eye of the tiger. “It was gr-reat,” Harmony added with a little extra R and a touch of authority.

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