Chapter: 480 – A Bit Excited

Here Begins Book 12 – Outbound

Tala could barely contain her own grin, as the most recent Irondalian to be reborn stood and laughed with joy.

She could already feel the power coursing through him.

Advances in technique and procedure had made the whole process smoother for Tala and less painful for the reborn. Though, it would never be classified as a pleasant experience.

It was to the point that Kedva and Brandon’s younger children had all been reborn without any hesitation or issue. They hadn’t even asked for Healers to be on hand for the fourth or fifth.

Now that is going to be a powerhouse of a dynasty. Tala had been following those children’s growth, and while the magic hadn’t affected them too much—it was proportional enhancement after all, not a flat increase—it had manifested in faster learning and their excelling at most games.

Toward that end, Kedva had requested that Tala make most of the playgrounds, courts, and fields be low-magic zones, at least for her children. She didn’t want them to have an unfair advantage, nor to grow up with a superiority complex.

It was a bit finicky to get right at first, but Alat, Kit, and Tala had figured out how to set up conditional access to magic for various citizenry.

But that wasn’t what was important at the moment. The newly reborn man was what Tala should be focusing on.

That man leapt into the air, giving a startled cry and windmilling slightly as he didn’t get the jump quite right, not having expected to have quite so much power behind the leap. Even so, he landed well enough and spun and threw his arms around Tala.

She was used to these spontaneous outpourings from the reborn by this point. Thus, she returned the hug graciously before Ron—the head of training for the newly reborn—stepped forward to lead the man away.

Ron gave her a bow. “Mother Tala, thank you for your time and assistance.”

She had long since stopped trying to change how they addressed her. It was better for them to do it to her face rather than when they could pretend that she couldn’t hear. Even so, she had to fight back the usual twitch at his referring to her as ‘Mother.’ Regardless, she pressed on, “Always a pleasure, Ron.”

This newest man to be reborn was something of an experiment. He would not be joining the other peacekeepers within Irondale—not that they had much to do in that role. Instead, he was simply a citizen of the town.

He’d gone through the preliminary training, but other than that? He was just a gateless man.

They were curious how far he would progress, and how much the increased capacities would help him in his day to day life.

Given the fact that he was a builder, they expected it to be a direct benefit to his work, as well as to how quickly new homes and other buildings could be put up in the continually growing Irondale.

Lyn had a contented smile on her face as the two men left, moving over to stand with Tala. “It is always enjoyable to see their reaction to the rebirth.”

Tala smiled over at her friend, only feeling a little awkward. “And in this case, you are directly responsible for him being chosen.”

“Indeed. We were having trouble keeping up with demand, and I have no interest in forcing people to do certain types of work. Prices were in danger of rising too high to be reasonable, and while that got some more builders involved, we just don’t have a large enough economy to pull the builders we need from other lines of work. Even with the acceptance of immigrant applications being biased toward builder supporting professions, we are coming up short.” She laughed. “Even without inclement weather requiring houses, we are coming up short.”

“Hence, him.” Tala smiled.

“Exactly. He’s contracted to keep his prices at the going rate for a completed product, and he will now be able to do more. Thus, his time will be more valuable even without a premium on the end result.”

“And faster production will drop the going rate.”

“Some, but he’ll still come out ahead. Like I said, demand is high. And we are still a small community.”

“How are we looking, population wise?”

Lyn’s eyes flicked to the side as she recalled the exact figure. “Twelve thousand, four hundred, and seventeen.”

A small smile pulled at Tala’s lips. “Precise.”

“Accurate. We log people leaving the expanded space or entering. That way we can be sure we don’t leave anyone behind nor move our portal while still hosting anyone who shouldn’t be in here.”

Tala gave a long-suffering smile. “You know I have that in hand.”

“You do, but you could have all of this in hand. My purpose here is to take things off of your plate. This is but one of those things.”

Tala gave her friend a hug, squeezing lightly. “And you do such a good job of it too.”

Lyn pulled back from the hug and looked her friend up and down. “It’s been months since… How are you holding up?”

Tala sighed but smiled. “I do appreciate you asking, but you do so quite often. I’m fine. Master Grediv has had a bevy of experts poke and prod at me: body, spirit, mind, and soul. I’m in perfect health. They noted some oddities with my soul, but they couldn’t say if those came from my recent experience, my odd use of bloodstars, the dasgannach bond, or something else entirely.”

Lyn tsked before letting out a resigned breath. “You have lived an… exciting life, even when compared to other Refined.”

Tala huffed. “Isn’t that the truth. Like I’ve told you at least a dozen times, it was terrifying in the moment, but in the end, I think I’m better for it.”

Lyn rolled her eyes. “It has not been a dozen times, Tala. Don’t exaggerate.”

-It’s been ten times, and it’s still terrifying to me…-

“Alat says it’s been ten, so you’re right.”

“Really? Ten?” Lyn looked a bit abashed. Then, the woman frowned. “How is Alat?”

Tala gave a sad smile. “She’s alright. The experience was entirely different for her, and it’s still something that we’re working through, together.”

“Well, let her know that I’m thinking of her, and I’m here if there’s ever anything that I can do.”

-I know, Lyn, and I appreciate that. Thank you.-

“She knows, Lyn, and she’s grateful. We’ll let you know, and thank you.”

“Of course.”

Tala didn’t feel like continuing that line of discussion, and as she searched for something to switch the topic to, she glanced after the departed men and a smile tugged at her lips. Lyn noticed the expression and tilted her head to one side. “What is it?”

“I was just thinking… It won’t be too long before I have actual children of my own.”

Lyn chuckled. “Some people take a while to get pregnant after the wedding, but that shouldn’t be an issue for you two. You’re both Refined, after all. So, yeah. It could be less than a year before you have a little one on the way.”

Tala smiled in return. “Exactly. I’m… I’m nervous, but also a bit excited? It’s a new adventure. I think I need a new adventure right now.”

“You mean besides marriage?” Lyn teased.

“That’s fair.” Tala laughed along with Lyn. “But I honestly think that they’re one and the same… or at least very closely linked. One will feed the other, you know?”

“I think I do. But do you really want kids right away?”

Tala shrugged. “I don’t think we’ll actively try, but if one comes our way?” She gave a small smile. “I don’t think we’d be too unhappy.”

Lyn grinned in return. “Regardless, I’m excited for you both.”

* * *

Terry tore through the pride of arcanous creatures which seemed like nothing so much as ground squirrels crossed with lions and given a dose of earth manipulation magics.

He wasn’t defending Alefast at the moment. Tala—and by extension he—had been taken off that duty for the near future after their temporary deaths.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

No, he was deep in the mountains, in a place that very few humans had likely ever gone, seeking a challenge.

This pride? It sort of qualified.

Their ability to quickly and selectively armor themselves against his strikes made things interesting, so long as he didn’t use void-talons.

Even better, they could, theoretically, actually hurt him with their pebbles, which they could shoot out at nearly twice the speed of a human arrow.

Back before he’d bonded with Tala, he would have had to retreat from the concerted, coordinated attacks of this hunting group.

Not any more.

He flickered in and out, changing size to fit where he needed to in order to strike where he wanted.

He couldn’t get as big as he once would have been able to—not since his own death and reconstitution—but becoming giant wouldn’t have helped in this fight regardless.

Terry hamstrung the swiftest of the beasts, and when they began using their earth manipulation to compensate, he used that distraction to slash open more vital portions of their anatomy.

His own threefold perception was fantastic for spotting weaknesses and vulnerabilities in his prey.

It took a bit of the guesswork and intuition out of the hunt, and made it easier overall.

…a bit too easy.

Soon enough, they were all dead, and he was able to throw his head back and swallow each body in turn.

He was about to move on, feeling a bit grouchy for the lack of proper prey, when he felt a presence unmask itself on a nearby hill.

He crouched low, but the giant wolf didn’t attack. “Bound of the human sireling, your hunt seemed unsatisfying.”

Terry hesitated, then squawked a reluctant agreement.