Millennial Mage

Tala stood, and Mistress Holly gestured. There was a ripple of dimensional magic, and the chairs and table that they had been sitting at vanished.

It was time for the more extensive testing.

Tala glanced to Terry who was still curled up in the corner. “Do you want to wait this out in my sanctum, or out here? I’m not sure I’ll be able to let you in during the middle of the tests.”

Terry lifted his head, regarding her. Finally, he huffed out a reluctant squawk. A moment later, he’d flickered up to her shoulder to headbutt her cheek.

“Alright then. Thanks for coming out.”

He trilled and looked down towards Kit.

“We’ll find something to hunt out in the wilds, soon enough. I’m getting a bit stir crazy, too.”

She opened Kit, and Terry flickered inside. Through the opening, Tala could see one of the grassy hills from the perimeter of her sanctum.

“Alright. Let’s do this.”

The series of tests were no faster this time around, and Tala entered an almost meditative state, not even really coming out of it to follow Mistress Holly’s occasional commands.

She used the time to work on her mental flexibility, reading a book that Alat was able to project for her in the air, and turning the pages with a thought.

What made this special was that Tala, not Alat, positioned the book and turned the pages. She didn’t create the image herself, nor the look of the page turning, but she did cause the page to turn.

-I know it seems like a small thing, but it really is a big step.-

I know, I know… Still, she was more focused on the content of the book than the mental tasks related to the book figment.

As before, Mistress Holly worked through the day and well into the night, facilitating the various assessments, scans, and measurements.

Finally, the long set of processes was complete, and Mistress Holly sent Tala home.

The Inscriptionist seemed content with the results. “Nothing stood out as being wrong or broken. We’ll want time to assess and compare in more detail, however. That, along with the next set of tests when you’re back to one hundred percent, should give us all the information that we need to offer a clean bill of health.”

“Thank you. Am I still limited in what I can do?”

“I think so, but not for much longer. You can add back in physical exercise, if you haven’t already. I’d avoid covering yourself in iron—or anything that could potentially lead to the need to heal—until your Refining has fully set. From these initial readings I think one month should be plenty for that, so just more than another three weeks.”

Tala fought off a grimace and simply sighed and nodded. “Will do.”

She left without another word to Mistress Holly, and the Inscriptionist seemed to already be engrossed in something else.

Tala did say goodbye to the new receptionist on her way out. She was new in the sense that Tala had never seen her before, not in the sense that it was the same new receptionist from the day before.

Mistress Holly really does go through these Mages quickly… She hoped that the young man from before got his chance, whether here or elsewhere.

But she put that from her mind as she stepped out into yet more new-fallen snow. The fresh air and cloudy sky allowed Mistress Holly’s words to finally sink in, so that Tala felt a huge weight lift from her.

We did it. We are Refined!

She kept herself from jumping for joy in the somewhat crowded street, so as to not disturb the morning traffic, but only barely.

Her body was her own once again. It was healing, but it was right. She was no longer at odds with her own flesh and blood.

Breakfast. I need breakfast.

She’d eaten through the previous day and even through the night while Mistress Holly ran her tests, as she was still trying to bring her reserves back up to acceptable levels. Even so, she wasn’t there yet.

She still had a long way to go, and she was hungry.

See if Rane’s available. I want to go to that omelet place on the east side of the southern market. They have good, big tables, too.

-Sent. Do you want to head that way? It might take him a bit to notice the—- Alat paused for only a moment before continuing. -Or, he could respond almost immediately. He’ll meet you there.-

Thank you, Alat!

Tala had a huge smile, resting gently across her features.

She no longer had a short fuse on her lifespan.

As she thought about it, she almost giggled. I no longer have any limit on my lifespan.

-So long as you survive. I feel like you haven’t thought this all the way through yet.-

Tala waved that comment off. Of course, but that’s true for everyone. Old age will never affect me, and if I am not killed, I will exist forever.

She blinked a few times even as she continued to walk.

Her smile slowly faded.

I’m going to exist forever or die in blood and pain.

-And there it is.- Alat sighed. -All that you’ve done is remove the possibility of a slow degradation into a chaotic, biological death.-

And a death with dignity, at a ripe old age, surrounded by my family: children, grandchildren, and more.

-Do you want children?- Alat obviously knew the answer, and she was likely just asking to help Tala process through her current turmoil.

Yes? It would be silly to never have children. But do I want to keep having them forever?

-Are those the only two options?-

No, of course not.

-You do want children, I know that you do.-

Of course, I do. Didn’t I just say that?

-Not really.-

Well… I do. Tala sighed, still walking towards her breakfast with Rane.

-You should talk through this with Lyn.-

Yeah, not Rane. That would be… unkind. Her stance hadn’t changed, even if she could see the general state of it changing in the coming decades. She couldn’t imagine still wanting to be single through the long centuries. Even so, now was not the time. Not yet. I don’t want that sort of attachment yet.

She let her mind wander through the whirls and corners of the potential of a family in the distant future.

It took her less than an hour to get to the restaurant, even walking relatively slowly as she snacked along the way.

Rane seemed to have arrived a bit ahead of her, as he had a table for them off to one side.

She felt a smile pull at the corners of her mouth as she saw him just finishing the set-up of a game of tafl.

He glanced up and saw her, waving her over.

She sat across from him, and he smiled. “I ordered you a spinach, sausage, chef’s special. I thought it would be a good start, and you can get whatever else you want after.”

She opened her mouth to grumpily protest, but then she realized that that actually sounded pretty good. She shook her head and sighed. “Thank you, Rane. That sounds great.”

He shrugged. “Defend or assault?”

“You know what? I feel like attacking right now.”

He seemed to hesitate, tensing up for a moment before he simply shook his head and smiled, gesturing at the board. “Well then, after you.”

They stayed at the restaurant until just before noon. Tala ordered enough food, often enough, that the servers didn’t seem to mind the two of them dominating a table for hours on end.

When lunch was approaching, Rane needed to go do his daily training, and Tala wanted to go home to sleep for a bit.

That evening, she had her meeting with Master Simon and his family, after all. It was never good to approach such things while short on sleep.

* * *

Tala laughed so hard that she almost choked. OH RUST!

She covered her mouth to keep from spitting out her food.

Master Simon put his head in his hands with a groan, while his wife, Mistress Petra, hid a smile behind her hand.

The older two kids had looks of horror as they stared at the youngest, Metti.

The six of them sat around a table in Master Simon and Mistress Petra’s home, with the dinner spread out before them.

Finally, Tala was able get herself under control enough to respond. “No, little Metti. I am not trying to marry your father.”

The little girl had a frown of confusion. “But mama and papa said that we might all move into your house. Why would we live with you if you aren’t our mama?”

Tala smiled again and nodded. “That is a very reasonable question. I need some help around my place, and your parents were recommended for the position.”

Metti opened her mouth, confusion still evident across her features, but her brother, Segis, covered her mouth with his hand from his chair beside her. “She means well.”

Tala waved away the concern. “She’s fine. How old are you, Metti?”

The little girl glared at her brother as he pulled his hand back. Then, she sat up straighter, clearly quite proud of herself. “I’m five.”

“Well, you are quite well spoken for a five-year-old.”

“I am, aren’t I?” Metti wiggled happily as she turned back to her food.

Master Simon groaned quietly again.

Tala just smiled, turning to regard Mistress Petra. “I have a brother a little older than her, and a sister a little younger.”

She felt a twinge of sadness and resolidified her resolve to go see her family. It had been nearly a year since she’d seen her siblings, and she hadn’t really let herself consider all that she’d missed in that time.

I’m going to see them as soon as I’m stabilized enough for the trip. Alat? Can you help me compose a message to them, letting them know when I’ll be able to come?

-Absolutely. They have been eagerly awaiting your visit, by the correspondence back and forth-

Exactly, and now, we have a solid timeline to convey.

-Consider it done.-

Mistress Petra smiled in response. “I’m sure they are lovely. Do you get to see them, often?”

Tala barely kept herself from grimacing, but something must have shown, because the older woman’s eyes softened.

“It can be a great source of joy, reconnecting with family after a time apart.”

Tala was able to smile at that. “That is quite true.”

The remainder of the dinner was actually quite enjoyable, and they even provided Tala with a reasonably sufficient quantity of food, much to the children’s increasing awe.

After bellies were full, dessert was eaten, and conversation had wound down to a certain extent, Mistress Petra took the kids off to get ready for bed, and Master Simon led Tala to a sitting room.

“Do you need to help put the kids down? We can talk later.”

“Oh, that’s kind of you to offer.” He smiled. “I usually help when I can, but they’re a well-oiled machine these days. Petra is quite capable of watching over the little ones, and they do the rest themselves. In truth, they’ll be up reading or working on personal study until it gets later.”

“Even little Metti?”

“Well, she won’t be studying. I’ve installed sound isolation scripts, otherwise you’d hear her practicing her singing.” The man had an expression that was an almost perfect mix of joyful contentment and resignation. “She is… improving.”

Tala chuckled. “Such are children.”

Master Simon settled into his chair with a contented sigh as Tala sat across from him. “Indeed.”

There was a small pause, and she decided to turn to the matter at hand. “So, what do you think about all this?”

“I’m honestly interested. I’ve done quite a bit of personal research into dimensional storage items, and I’d love the opportunity to study yours long-term and up close. I love cooking and baking, but I don’t sell my end results, so there’s only so much I can justify producing, while I’m a practicing Mage.”

Ahh, the blessings of form-maintaining inscriptions. “So, you’re interested. What would you need for that interest to be enough?”

He nodded. “Honestly, it would mostly depend on what you would expect of us.”

That began the discussion in earnest. Tala had discussed what sort of duties she should arrange for an assistant family to take care of with both Lyn and Rane.

In the end, they came up with a potential list of duties for both Master Simon and Mistress Petra.

Mistress Petra had come back by that point, taking a seat next to her husband in a chair that she was clearly used to. She had added her thoughts as they discussed duties and the like, but mostly she listened as they finalized the various aspects of the potential arrangement.

Tala had been concerned that one cook would tire of cooking the massive amounts of food that she often needed, so it was a decided boon that they both loved to cook and bake.

As it turned out, they both also liked to garden, and Mistress Petra had grown up in a farming family, specifically one that raised livestock of various varieties. She said that she’d always regretted not letting her older children experience what it was to raise up animals for sustenance.

For payment, Tala had to provide Archive access and tablets for the whole family, so that the kids could continue their education. Additionally, she had to cover the cost of a visit to Bandfast once every six months for the whole family. The visit would be at least one week in length and at most three.

If that required travel time, they would be given that time off as well.

Certain special events could allow that trip to come earlier than otherwise, in essence using up the upcoming sojourn in the case where it was necessary to do so.

Then, obviously, she was providing them with food and board. Unfortunately, with basically everything in her sanctum imbued with magic for her consumption, that meant that they’d have to plant other things for the family, and she’d have to supplement those harvests.

Though, she wouldn’t dream of taking any of Terry’s pigs.

She gave an unconscious shudder at the very idea.

Finally, there was the actual salary.

As it turned out, Master Simon was happy with most of his compensation coming in the form of access to the inside of Kit and the impressed magics that made the arcane-added systems work.

His wife, while a Mage, used her magic as ancillary to her work as a wife and mother. Thus, it was also perfectly suited for Tala’s needs. The two of them loved to cook—they emphasized that quite often—so the main thing that Tala needed was easily covered.

Between the two Mages and what they offered her, Tala agreed to two gold and forty silver per month.

I really commanded an insane salary as a Dimensional Mage.

-Well, danger pay factors in, and food and housing. Plus, don’t forget that you’re also paying for transportation for them back here twice a year. For five people? That’s no small amount. Even if we get the teleportation inscriptions up and running, that will be a minimum of three gold each way, give or take.-

That’s true enough. And if we use that method, we’ll have to pay for reinscribing for the two adults.

-Though, that’s a worst case scenario. We’ll be in this city pretty often, and the trips could easily line up.-

That’s true, too. Tala sighed but nodded once again. “Tentatively agreed. We should meet up in my sanctum next week, so I can show you around, and we can make the final decision as to if this will be a good fit.”

“That sounds excellent.”

Now that they’d discussed duty and pay, Mistress Petra cleared her throat. “Mistress Tala, if I may, what sort of living quarters do you have for us?”

Tala opened her mouth, then closed it. “Well. I have the room where my last adjunct stayed.” She frowned, trying to recall if she’d actually ever been into Thron’s room, situated on the other side of her library. “We will have to look at it, together, and we can commission some work to enlarge or modify it if you would like. There is no precipitation within, so even if the children wish to sleep beneath the stars, there wouldn’t be an issue. The temperature is moderate to promote the continued growth of the crops as well, so that’s not an issue either.”

The two looked at each other and shrugged. Master Simon was the one to respond. “It’s definitely worth having a look.”

Tala considered the idyllic setting of her sanctum from the perspective of young children and felt the need to add a few things. “Just so you know, it is a full ecosystem in there. Though there are no untamed apex predators, there are deer and other wild animals which can be aggressive if provoked. There is also open, flowing water in quite a few places.”

Master Simon’s eyes widened with obvious glee, while his wife’s narrowed as she frowned with concern.

He spoke first. “Just how large is your sanctum, Mistress?”

But she spoke at nearly the same time, “Why, under the stars, do you have such things in a dimensional space?”

Tala cleared her throat. “Well, Master Simon, the space is nearly three miles across. The footprint is roughly a circle, and its three-dimensional profile is that of a ellipsoid, at most a third as tall as it is across.”

Master Simon looked positively giddy, and he nodded to acknowledge her response.

Tala then turned to his wife, folding her hands in her lap and smiling reassuringly. “Mistress Petra, those things are in there to help make the space a fully functional, self-sustaining ecosystem, as I stated. Without a full breadth of life, it is harder to maintain in perpetuity. And I do mean in perpetuity. This system is meant to last for centuries, if not longer.”

Tala opened her mouth to continue but realized that she hadn’t actually told Mistress Petra that her space was expanded and outfitted by arcanes.

Now was probably not the time for such. Especially because Master Simon had likely already told his wife.

Still, I don’t want to rock the boat if he hasn’t told her, yet.

Instead, she decided to be a bit vague. “Those who outfitted it knew what they were doing, and they aim for extreme longevity of that which they create.”

Mistress Petra grunted but seemed somewhat mollified. Master Simon looked positively enraptured.

There wasn’t really much further to discuss, so Tala stood, causing the other two to rise as well. “Thank you for your hospitality, the wonderful meal, and for taking the time to discuss this with me.”

“Of course!” Master Simon gave a bow. “Thank you for considering us to assist you.”

Mistress Petra bowed as well. “We look forward to seeing your sanctum next week.”

Tala gave a shallow bow in return. “I look forward to it as well. Good night.”