A New Star Chapter 6

Having gotten a good grasp of the history and some of the current politics, I moved on to a slightly deeper, though still fairly basic, study of mana and the many affinities that sprang from it. I was particularly interested to see the differences between how the people of this world understood mana and how I understood qi in my previous life. I spent quite a few months lost in this research, my third birthday coming and going.  

The primary difference, I learned, was mainly in perspective. I had spent centuries using qi to reinforce my body and build up my stamina and endurance. People on this world spent their time using mana to hone their affinities and concentrate on the external application of force. That naturally led to people moving mana through their body in different ways, the biggest one I spotted early on being that they spent far less time focusing on their skeleton. The skeleton was the foundation of the body's strength and not having mana flow through it meant it was far harder to reinforce and manipulate, even forgoing the fact that nobody here did any body cultivation.  

I spent my fourth year studying beasts and monsters. It was information that would be incredibly useful, especially as I didn't plan to wait decades before I began battling beasts and raising my strength. Fighting was a great way of honing and enhancing one's affinities, and it could also prove to be quite lucrative. Every part of even a low-grade beast was useful; meat, blood, bones, organs, and especially the core. Even A-grade beasts would often have a core where their mana was concentrated and, while it wouldn't make a particularly good crafting component or power source, all Z-rank crafters started as A-rankers. The amount of money even a fairly large group could make hunting beasts just by selling their parts was somewhat ludicrous, let alone if those beasts were part of a quest from the Guild. 

While I had continued constantly cycling my mana, I had not really put much time into building up my affinities. As my fourth birthday came and went, I decided it was time to get started on something more than books. I had started working when I was eight in my previous life; four years earlier was not too much different, and the earlier I got started, the better off I would be. 

I had noted a tendency in my watchers to be late to arrive in the morning, and to pay little attention to me throughout the day. I had done nothing to encourage or discourage this laxness, I had merely observed it as time passed. The level of dissatisfaction with being assigned to the youngest's 'nanny' duty had created the perfect opportunity for me.  

A week after my fourth birthday, which passed with very little fanfare, I was up and ready just as early as usual. My maids had adapted to my early rising, and were there every single morning to bathe and dress me. The guard or servant that was assigned to me was almost always late, the sole exception being the minotaur captain, who would occasionally insert herself into the rotation as my chaperone. 

Fortunately for me, it was not the quite large, pretty minotaur lady this morning, but in fact the first guardswoman to have been assigned the duty that second day two years ago. The great thing about Tabitha, or Tabs, was that she was incredibly lax when watching me. I followed along behind her to the library, allowing her to open the door for me before proceeding to what I had claimed as 'my' table by the windows. I had convinced everyone else that made use of the room to leave my table as it was, even when there were books scattered about, and that allowed me to resume right from where I left off. 

I clicked my tongue as I hopped up from the table not even a full hour later, noting that Tabs had wandered off. Not far, of course, but when watching somebody who practically already had a B-grade Dark affinity due to their compatibility, even a small gap was a massive opening, one that I could and would fly a starship through. I slipped to the door and listened as I scanned the room, making sure no one else was present. I could hear Tabs just faintly, the sound of her voice drifting back down the hallway. It sounded like she was around the corner where the hall turned to lead into the central section of the house.  

I slipped out the door without a sound, cloaking myself in a Dark working that made me harder to detect, especially if I walked in shadow, without causing a large patch of darkness to be moving around. My movement was easier thanks to the fact my maids had capitulated to my demands in terms of my dress, allowing me to wear a plain but finely stitched tunic and breeches of matching quality. I kept my hair cut to jaw-length, and had it tied in a loose ponytail for convenience.  

I slipped away from Tabs and to the nearest hidden door, sliding behind a tapestry and into the servants' passages. I made my way through the twisting labyrinth, having dropped my active use of mana, simply slipping along like a normal child. I passed one or two servants, but none of them even gave me a second glance, used to seeing other servants and their children in the back passages.  

I made my way to the kitchens using as efficient a route as possible, only detouring once to avoid having to walk through an office to continue back and down. The kitchen was located rearmost and just about lowest in the building. Our estate had a single basement level, as the sheer footprint of the building meant that even that one level covered an enormous area, only some of which was used with any kind of regularity. The kitchen was a little strange in that it was sunk partially into the ground, part of some consideration paid to how the massive ovens that were used for bread and large-scale baking functioned and needed to be exhausted/vented. 

I strolled into the kitchen from one of several side doors, the large room full of servants bustling about as well as having several tables where servants could grab a quick meal without having to venture to the cafeteria that served both them and the guards. I moved to head towards the tables before I was intercepted by the head cook herself, looking none too pleased with me, though I had no idea what offense I could have possibly committed.  

"It's not good to shirk work, child," she reprimanded me, to which I simply stared at her. I suppose, with my accelerated growth thanks to my mana cultivation, I could pass for an eight- or nine-year-old in a pinch. 

"What work?" I asked right as she made ready to speak, eliciting a tsk from the large woman. 

"You think the boxes on the wagons will move themselves inside?" she asked. "Well, see to it."  

I didn't know what boxes she was talking about, but I figured it couldn't be all that difficult. Considering what I was planning on starting either tomorrow or the next day, carrying a few boxes would be a light warmup. I moved out one of the large doors at the far end of the room, up a set of steps and out into the rear courtyard.  

The main building of our estate was only slightly U-shaped, with the two wings being rather stubby, as the main building itself was rather deep. The rear courtyard was, therefore, not really contained much within the area of the building itself, but was a large area that extended back to the guard barracks, behind which was the training yard. To the east, or my right, were several greenhouses and an area where hounds were raised. To the west, or my left, was an area with gardens and a small hedge maze, used during the summer when parties were thrown during the warm months.  

There were five large wagons drawn up a short distance from me, each of them powered by the still relatively new magitech engines. I could sense just from where I was standing that they were terribly inefficient, mana burning off them in almost palpable waves. Then again, beast cores were plentiful and the engines, for all their sloppy design, got the job done. I moved to the rear wagon and grabbed a crate roughly the size of my torso marked 'salt,' turning around and carrying it back into the kitchen. I followed others who were bringing in crates and boxes to a large pantry, setting the crate on a shelf that had similar boxes and items of the 'spices' variety. 

This is where captain Mina (the minotaur) found me nearly half an hour later, helping with the last of the crates. She came stomping into the kitchen in rather a huff before spotting me hauling one of the last boxes into the pantry, snorting as she commanded, "Put that down." 

"That's what I was intending," I replied calmly, being slightly obtuse on purpose as I carried the freight into the pantry and set it roughly where it needed to be. 

"Not like you to get cross over a servin' girl," the head cook said to Mina. 

"Teresa, you're wonderful, but you're fuckin' dense as hell sometimes," Mina snorted in reply. 

"And what's that supposed to mean?" the head cook, Teresa, responded crossly. 

"This is Alexandra," Mina said as I walked to stand in front of her. 

"And?!" Teresa snapped, becoming annoyed at this point. 

"And she's the fourth daughter of those two monst-, er, of the duke and duchess, stars bless them," Mina said, rubbing at the center of her forehead. 

"Wait, wait, wait," Teresa said, holding her hands up in a stopping gesture. "You're tellin' me this brat is that little lady? Isn't she only supposed to be four?" 

"I am," I said with a deadpan expression, deciding to speak for myself. 

"You're what?" she asked. 

"Four. And named Alexandra," I replied crisply. 

"Oh. Right. Well then," Teresa said, eyes a little wide and face blank, though I could tell from the way she was fidgeting and looking down and to the side that she was likely rather nervous.  

"Can I get food now?" I asked calmly, continuing to watch the head cook's reactions. 

"Oh, yes, of course dear, whatever you need," the woman immediately responded, beginning to scuttle around before I could even tell her what I wanted. I looked up at the captain, who was now rubbing her rather thick, long horns while looking down at me. "What?" 

"You're a very unusual child," she said bluntly. 

"No more than any child," I deflected mildly. 

"See, other kids wouldn't've responded like that," she said, snapping her fingers on her left hand and pointing at me.  

I reached up and grabbed her finger, surprising her with the gesture. That surprise increased greatly when I twisted her finger down and to the side, partially locking her left arm from just my grip on her finger. "Do not point; it is rude." 

"Ah. Right. Can I, uh, have my finger back now?" 

"Yes," I stated simply, releasing the offending digit. It was at that point that Teresa brought me something that resembled porridge and a cup of water. I frowned at the woman, glancing back down at the offered dish and cup, before looking back up at her. 

"Not to your likin', my lady?" the head cook asked a touch nervously. 

"I need meat," I stated coolly. "And a large amount of vegetables; steamed, preferably." 

"Ah, are you sure, my lady? You're a bit young for all that still," Teresa asked, seeming rather surprised. 

"I am sure," I stated calmly. "I will need the protein and vitamins." 

"Ah, if you say so…" Teresa replied, not seeming to follow exactly what I meant. 

"It's fine," I said, holding up one hand to wave back-and-forth in a dismissive gesture. "I require plenty of meat and vegetables. Also, any whole fruits that we might have." 

"Ah, right. Uhm, ah, I'll see what we've got," the woman bustled away, taking the porridge and water glass with her. I walked over to the tables and sat down, the captain following along behind me. I tilted my head up and back slightly, able to easily see her looming above me. 

"Yes, captain?" I asked. 

"You've gotta be watched by somebody at all times," she replied stoically. 

"Yes, your guards have been doing a fantastic job," I replied coldly. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" grumbled the captain. 

"Teresa's worst sieve has less holes in it than this estate's security," I replied. 

"What does a four-year-old know about estate security?" the captain asked incredulously. 

"A lot more than you likely think," I muttered, but the captain's response was interrupted by Teresa setting a large platter with steaming cuts of meat and a pile of vegetables slathered in a butter sauce in front of me. I grabbed the fork and knife in the proper grip, force of habit from my last life, and began tearing through the food. I would have preferred the vegetables plain, but the butter sauce was light and imparted a nice, savory flavor that I didn't mind, so I chose not to comment on it.  

When I had cleared the plate and slugged down quite a bit of water, I hopped up from the table and headed toward the backdoor, grabbing an apple along the way. The captain followed along behind me, not saying anything as we exited the main house into the courtyard. I made straight for the barracks, not deviating to either side as I approached the squat, blocky building.  

"And what are you up to now?" the captain asked as we entered the barracks. The guard at the door had sent the captain a questioning look, which she had dismissed with a quick wave of her hand.  

"Running errands," I replied with a slight shrug, beginning to eat the apple. I hadn't been in this building before, but helpfully, and foolishly, everything was properly labeled. I tsk'ed when I saw that; damn security hole. I was, however, able to easily navigate to the armory thanks to that. The guard at the door once again looked at the captain, who waved away their non-verbal question with a quick gesture. I imagined they might be able to hear my eyes rolling at that; I couldn't believe the security protocol was at the level of a few grunts and waves to get access to highly restricted areas. 

I entered the armory and proceeded to take a lap, checking where everything was and what exactly was stored in the general area. There were a host of weapons, ammo of various types, what seemed like generic armor pieces worn by the lower-level guards, and several tools. I wasn't particularly interested in most of it for the time being; I took note of the section containing the one-handed swords and moved on, finishing my inspection with the area dedicated to training items. I had finished the apple at that point, and tossed the remains in a rubbish bin that was located by the doors, one that definitely needed emptying. 

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