Return Home

As soon as she returned home, she opened the laptop. The teddy bear on the necklace was an USB as expected. 

Only, the information inside is encrypted. It does not look like an easy peasy ciphering that's broken with a five dollar chip and a few hours either. 

This felt like military grade from what little experience she had with encryption. She had only ever seen information encrypted in the last two years of her career. To think her uncle had reached that stage before his death ! 

He must have been one capable man, despite his skills or mana not being up to date. 

For now though, she put the USB on the back burner. 

The first thing she noticed when she exited her home was the two loitering hooligans at the entrance. They started following her as soon as she got out of the apartment. One of them approached her from behind as soon as she reached the deserted road around the forest. He rushed forward, looked like he was very much about to collide with her. 

Claire used the 'shift' on both him and herself, letting him pass by a foot. 

He fell forward straight on his face. 

She just walked forward. 

" You bitch ! How dare you trip me ? " he screamed at her back, rushing towards her like a bull. 

She shifted her own position. 

He went forward like a train that went off track, falling face first once again. This time, he hit his mouth on a stone, chipping away two of his teeth. 

She walked slowly. 

Hooligan two, who was watching from behind, frowned. For a moment there, he saw Claire's feet did not touch the ground. She moved in the air, almost like teleporting. 

Hooligan one stood from where he fell, looking worse for the wear. His lip burst, two of his teeth fell. The profuse bleeding from his mouth trickled down his chin, wetting his white colored shirt. He very much looked like a halloween ghost come to life. 

She sauntered past him, neither slow, nor fast. 

Just as she was by his side, the Halloween ghost swung his arm, holding a knife in the back grip. 

Half way through the stab, the halloween ghost flew ten meters up in the air, landing right behind hooligan-two. He was acting too fast and too decisively to stop himself in time. 

The knife stabbed right through the kidney of hooligan-two. 

Claire did not even turn back, despite the blood curdling scream. 

She just walked away, with the same lazy saunter, not even pausing for a moment. 

Hooligan-two fell on the road, blood leaking from his back, as he watched her walking away as he lost consciousness. 

His heart palpitated in fear, and his features twisted into that of eternal horror. 

They came to this job thinking Claire was just a little girl, who could be scared easily. Once they have retrieved the storage ring, they will just arrest her entire family and herself, then sell her off to a trafficker. That was his initial plan. 

The hooligan-one took one look at where his knife was, and freaked out. He pulled out his knife reflexively. Blood gushed out from the wound. 

When Claire returned from the school with the children, the body was not there, neither was the blood. 

That alarmed her more than that two men attacked her. To kill is easy. These are tough times, it's kill or be killed. People tried to kill her, and she had killed people before. Most of it was within the dungeons, but a few attempts were out of the dungeon too. 

Moreover, one look is enough to know these two are cancers in society. 

One died to the other, the other will die in the wild, she knew. After all, the forest around is full of predators that could smell blood from a hundred miles away. If he ran away panicked, he would be wounded and killed before he could so much as gather his wits. If he did survive, she is sure the man who assigned these guys a task will kill him, so as to clean up witnesses. 

She began her daily routine of cooking. Today, Robin is assisting her with vegetable prep. His assignment is to do with using his mana, no matter how stupid or unwieldy it is. 

What shocked her was that Robin was a natural. 

Perhaps it's the flexibility of the children, or just plain natural talent, Robin was both precise and gentle. 

The water flowed down the tap, then by itself transformed into vegetable shapes. Then, the vegetables flew up, entered these veggie shaped waterballs, where the water rubbed them down. Then the ensemble of water and veggies decoupled inside the air, water flowing into the sink, and veggies setting themselves on the cutting board. 

Then, one by one, the carrots flew into the air, their skin being peeled off with perfect one mm thickness. 

Before she could so much as start the stove and swirl the veggies, they were set in front of her, only… in a single pile, all vegetables mixed together. The peels were spread on the counter top, forming a design in the form of a carrot. Onion peels are similar, they were arranged in the shape of an onion. 

Fortunately she has mana and the skills. 

If she had to clean up after this with no powers, Claire is sure she would turn into a shrew. The peels are all swept off the counter, straight into the bin. 

Then the vegetable pile got sorted, one after another, each vegetable piece settling separately on the tray, so it's easy for her to sort it out. 

In no time, dinner was ready. 

Claire prepared three takeaways, instead of the usual two. 

" Dears, you will have dinner by yourself today. You can do that, correct ? " She asked the kids. 

" Where are you going ? " Dolce ran to her, clinging on to her leg. 

" I am not going anywhere. I will be settling down for meditation, so you are to keep away from the second bedroom for the evening, till I come back. Can Dolce be a big boy and protect your brothers and sisters while I am busy ? " She asked. 

" Will I also have a superpower like brother Robin if I meditate ? " Dolce asked, his face full of expectation. 

" You are too young. One day in the future, perhaps. " she answered before she could edit her thoughts. 

" I am not young ! " Credence popped in. 

" Yes, we are older than Robin. " Prudence joined. 

Brea just looked at her, her eyes even more full of expectation than could be expected. 

" Not today. However, If you behave well, I will consider getting you a superpower seriously. Also, you guys having superpowers is a secret. You are not to tell anyone, save the family. Promise me. " Claire said, prepping her magic. 

She wove a curse when she asked for permission. If ever the children try to give the information, they will be muted. They'll be unable to speak up to five times. Once four hours pass, the limit refreshes. 

As usual, she made her trips to Zayne and Caspian. 

▬ ● ▬

" Have you thought about what you want from an ally ? " Claire asked as she set up the table for a meal. 

Caspian just looked at her, unable to comprehend what she was doing. 

His education had been very eclectic. He was an extremely talented fighter. As such, he joined the fighting too early. His earliest exposure to women came from the pirates, where he was thrown in a room, where he could barely catch enough sleep, before he was whisked off to the next fight. He saw them only in passing, and these lessons in luring women were learned from a pirate using a high quality mana crystal after his team mates teased him for not knowing women. 

His basic knowledge is missing, his expert knowledge is overflowing. 

" Woman ! Are you mine now ? " he asked, when he realized what she brought out was a food basket. 

The pirate told him when a woman cooks for him, she is completely his. 

" No. That's not how the real world works. Moreover, I am not a woman, I am Claire Bassett. " Claire introduced herself. 

Caspian walked over to the table, and sat down. 

Most of his catch was eaten by the turtle, which has grown to the size of a car today. 

" I thought about what you said yesterday. I want to free my comrades. You break the slave curse, I will help you out with whichever task you set for me. " Caspian proposed. 

" Good thinking. Let's shake on it. " She extended her hand. 

" Happy cooperation. " Caspian shook her hand. 

After the dinner, Claire drew a task list in the sand. 

" First, we need to determine how many comrades you are going to save, when and where. " She said. 

" You did not say what you wanted in return. " Caspian said, his voice very distrusting. 

" All in good time. Let's make a plan first. " Claire answered calmly.