Chapter One Hundred and Nineteen - Mama

She was in a city, in the slums down by the docks, where only the poorest of the poor lived.

Naturally, she had to get out of there. Cities were hives of disease, and she was in no condition to be breathing this air with her tiny, laboring lungs. She really, really needed a Con boost, because she was in great danger right now.

Out of the city, into the countryside.

She eyed the city, the distant spires of temples, a palace, and a castle overlooking the place. She wavered for a moment, considering the options. The city would have wealthy families, nobles, and if she could get herself adopted into one, it would certainly make life easier.

But she hmphed silently, and turned away.

She had been brought into this world as a Ten Archmage. 'Easy life' didn't begin to describe what she was actually capable of. The only thing was... that huge negative Karma total glaring at her in her Assay.

Negative Karma meant no Gear, as she couldn't assign Karma to bind the magic into a new item. Not having Gear was a very bad thing.

And it went without saying that she couldn't take all the Secondary Classes she was missing until that Karma was paid back. What was worse, if she applied all that Karma to her Wizard Levels, she'd have to buy those Class Levels at the cost of a Ten.

Ugh!

She headed out over the water, towards the entrance to the harbor. If this world was anything like the game, massive Wards covered those walls, making them impossible to fly over. But it looked like this was still an Age of Sail, magically aided or otherwise, and that meant she could hitch a ride past them, without fear of being inspected. All she had to do was use the flight magic to keep her balance as she rested on one of the yards, and once past the Wards, she could fly away.

And dodge the seagulls on the way...

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The two-master was called Corsa's Bliss, and while she had no idea what it referred to, it did indeed resemble the Tall Ships she'd once seen in Philadelphia. She was interested in the array of lines and ropes pulling this way and that, leveraging the efforts of the sailors as they slid out of the city she was leaving behind.

She did not, however, like the look of the sailors. They had an air of bloodthirstiness that left her deeply suspicious of their preferred cargo.

Avoiding the seabirds swooping to and fro, and staying above the spray of the waves, she headed back towards the shore, keeping a very safe distance from the Wards of the city, looking for the smaller settlements and holdings that would proliferate around a main city, likely growing up around the properties of a wealthy or noble household, given the tech level here.

She'd already tied off the spell slots to her Flight Spell, and it would auto-Cast as long as the Slots were tied to it. With a thirteen-hour duration, she would have no problems being able to move, she just had to find a meal and shelter quickly. The thought of possibly having to suckle at a goat or cow was both squicky and amusing, but she knew she'd do it if she had to.

She also had to make sure she didn't get sunburned, and sighed as she spent another IV to give herself Fire Resistance so that wouldn't happen...

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The village seemed to be mostly run to service a large vineyard nearby, reasonably affluent for such things. Hazé thought it would fit the bill, as it was agriculture without a heavy emphasis on meat animals that might breed disease. That said, animals were essential to most of the households, so some contact was unavoidable.

Food, shelter, clothing.

Her attention was drawn by a small house outside of the town, probably two or three rooms, and a small barn out in the back yard, which seemed to be filled with flowering plants... a respectable herb garden, with a decent size field for livestock.

Swooping by the barn, she saw a couple of goats and a pony there, with clean stalls and hay. There were a couple cats around to keep down the rats and mice.

She swooped up to the open windows of the house, and looked inside.

There was a woman, probably in her late thirties, at work inside what looked to be a small kitchen and herb pantry. She had rows of herbs laid out in front of her, and was slowly and meticulously removing the leaves from every stalk, setting them precisely aside into a bowl.

She wore a large-knit shawl about her shoulders, and her black hair was going grey early. Her hands were callused with work, and seemed quite calm and precise as she went about her task.

Her eyes hung half-closed, and did not move. She was blind.

Hazé sighed one more time, and slowly cast a Detect Alignment, spending another IV for the II.

Rich gold. And the blind woman looked up, as if she could sense the movement of magic nearby.

She had Potential. An untaught Powered...

She took a deep breath for her tiny lungs, and slowly wafted inside as she tied in a Message effect, for she could not speak.

-Hello.-

The woman's hands paused instantly. For a blind person, to hear a voice out of nowhere, with no hint of such a person arriving, had to be a terrifying thing. Hazé marked the knife near the side, and the hand that came down next to it.

-I do not know your name, and I apologize. I am Hazé.-

A little bit of a released breath, a tilt of the head. "You are using magic to talk to me! Who are you, and what do you want with an old woman like me?"

-I am in need of someone to take care of me. Something bad happened as I was born, and I need help.-

The woman's expression changed. "What? I am not sure I understand you."

-I am a Ten Wizardess.- The woman's jaw dropped slightly, she obviously knew what that meant. -For some reason, I was reincarnated with my memories, and my mother died before I was born. I had to rip my way out of her womb, and I am roughly two months premature.-

The fingertips of the old woman whitened on the table in front of her. "And what do you wish of me?" she asked, in a tone that indicated she knew she might not have any choice in what was going on.

-I have need of food, shelter, and clothing. I am very young. In return for your help, I will be happy to help you wield your gift for magic.-

The eyes that could not see anything opened, the dark orbs flat and unseeing, but somehow showing hope within. "You know I have the Gift?" she asked, shaken.

-Magic flows warmly around you. You have probably learned a few Cantrips, but without a teacher, nothing more.-

The callused hands clenched. "No teacher would want a blind student." Bitter and knowing.

-No student would want an infant teacher.- Aloof yet vulnerable.

The callused hands slowly relaxed, and a slow laugh escaped her lips. "Well, then, we would make quite a pair, wouldn't we?" She clasped them on the table in front of her. "I am Gerta Oltadottir. Everyone calls me Mama Gerta. I raise herbs for the people in town, Miss Hazé."

-It is a pleasure to meet you. I think we will be great friends. May I call you Mama?-

She shifted in surprise. "Certainly. May I call you Hazé?"

-Of course, Mama.-

"Where are you?"

-I am floating directly above your cutting board in front of you.-

She paused, and then her hands reached slowly up, feeling the air, and then running into Hazé's dangling, curled foot. She touched it gently, following it up with her other hand, over Hazé's wrinkled skin, tracing the end of the umbilical cord still dangling from her, tiny arms, legs, and the small head.

"You... really are a tiny thing," Mama breathed, slowly cupping Hazé and bringing her closer. Hazé did not resist as she was brought in against the older woman's cheek.

-Yes, Mama. I am also very hungry. Could I have some warm milk?-

Mama Gerta smiled, unwrapping her shawl and a cloth, wrapping it around the infant in her arms carefully. "Of course. It will take me a moment to warm it for you."

-I can warm it quickly. It simply needs to be fresh and pure.-

"Even better. It was drawn just this morning." She gently let go of Hazé, who floated just above her cutting board.

-Very good.- It was difficult to stay awake, given her lack of endurance, but she was Sustained, so energy was not the problem. Her body, however, was growing, and clamoring for the stuff needed to do so.

She waited while a stone jug of milk was brought out, with a tiny spoon to go with it.

Despite herself, Mother Gerta gasped as she felt magic moving around an infant, and the milk in her hands heated itself up to body temperature almost instantly. "Very impressive," she murmured. "How are you casting spells at such an age?" she asked hesitantly. "The pain..."

-I am Casting very slowly, assembling the spell around myself instead of through myself, which would be much, much faster,- Hazé answered. -I will need a Focus at some point, to Cast decently. I need to work on my rep counts, and rebuild my familiarity with my magic. Once I Weird the Silent and Still Metamagicks, I will be able to Cast without spending higher Valences to do so.-

Mama Gerta began to spoon tiny amounts of milk into Hazé's mouth, who took them slowly and methodically. "I am afraid I know little of such things," she admitted.

-You will learn them all, Mama,- Hazé said firmly. -And you will see again!-

Mama trembled despite herself at those words. "Hazé, you best grow up tall and strong so you can fulfill your promise!" she said happily.

-When we are done, I will need to take a nap,- Hazé admitted. -But I will be very happy to help you however I can, Mama.-

Mama cradled her closer. "Don't you worry, child. Mama will take good care of you."

Hazé smiled and enjoyed the feeling of the warm milk going down. This was going to be a very different childhood then her first one, but that was fine...