Quinn

When I fluttered my eyes open, it was to the sight of Aldric's gorgeous face, a gentle smile about his sensual lips as he gazed at me. I must be dreaming, I thought, since Aldric hadn't yet returned from the monster subjugation. When I felt his hand cupping my face, however, I knew I wasn't dreaming. It felt too real for it to be a dream.

I brought my own hand up and laid it over his, feeling the warmth of his flesh. I said softly, "Aldric."

"Quinn," he said.

Because I very well couldn't help myself, since I had missed him dearly, I lifted my head and searched his lips for a kiss. It was nice, the feeling of his flesh against mine. When I moved back, I asked, "Are you hurt anywhere? Are the men safe?"

"I'm fine," he said. "And the men are safe."

Relieved, I said, "That's good." Then I wondered how I came to be here. Suddenly, everything came rushing back, and I said, "The lodge! Did I fail?"

He said, "Your magic is still working."

My magic was still working. Ah, that was right. Vicky stated it'd take five days.

Wanting desperately to check on the progress, I moved around in his arms and was about to get up when I realized that I was not in my sleeping quarters. Rather, I was in the great hall, and instead of the usual buzzing of noises, there was this sense of quietness that was not normal. What was stranger was that when I drifted my gaze across the room, I saw everyone had their heads bowed and some were even kneeling. Were they... praying?

I turned to Aldric and whispered, "What are they doing?"

He said, "They're worried about you."

I widened my eyes. They were that worried that they had to pray. I straightened, and as I moved out of Aldric's arms and stood, I said, "I'm fine now, everyone. There's no need to worry."

Heads were lifted then, and Frances said, "Quinn!"

"My lady," someone at the back said.

"My lady," another said as the usual loud noise erupted.

Jonah and Leo came to grab my hands, and Jonah said, pointing at the window, "Let's go look at the castle."

Castle? I drifted my gaze there and saw the golden light in the distance. It wasn't just the light that I saw but the structures of what would be our new home as well.

Chuckling and excited, I said, "Yes, let's."

We—me, Aldric, and the children and some adults—went up to the hill where a frenzy of development was taking place. As I got close, I couldn't help but chuckle in delight. The foundations and structures of the building were already done, and now the walls were being installed. There were workers—magical, digital-like forms of men—that went about their duties. There were even inspectors as well, checking off the building compliance codes.

"Look!" Leo pointed.

"That thing takes them up there," Jonah said.

"Ah, that's the elevator," I said.

The boys turned to look at me, and Max, amongst the crowd, asked, "What's an elevator?"

"It's a mechanical device that takes you up the floors instead of you having to walk up the stairs," I said.

The boys' eyes were wide with intrigue. In fact, it wasn't just them, but Mr. Lamont and Mr. Henley and some other men as well. I guess males were always interested in that sort of thing, weren't they?

I said, "The lodge will have elevators, too, since there'll be five floors altogether. Well, six if you include our penthouse, Jonah."

Jonah turned to me and asked, "What's a penthouse?"

"It's a house that's at the top of the building," I said.

"It's a little castle on top of this big castle?" he asked.

I chuckled. "Something like that."

His smile broadened. It looked like he was looking forward to living in a penthouse.

I was lost in thought, imagining what it'd be like living in our new temporary home when I felt Aldric's arm around me. I turned my gaze to him, and he said, "Let's get you out of the cold."

I nodded, and as we headed back toward the great hall, I asked, "Are there many injured?" I meant the men from the monster subjugation, of course.

He understood and said, "There are. Liam and his team treated them using the first aid kit, but some still need your attention as soon as possible."

"Then I'll take a look at them now," I said.

Soon, the new men—around fifty-five warriors who had been away protecting Norsewood's border from the invading monsters, were surrounding me, watching me while I healed their comrades. Needless to say, they were amazed at my ability, and a few said that I was sent by the deities to save them.

"My lady," one said. "We're saved because of your supplies."

Supplies? Ah, he meant those meal boxes and other essentials.

"I'm glad those helped," I said.

"The food was especially nice, my lady," another said. "It was hearty and warm and..." His face took on a poignant look. "And it got us through the last few remaining days." Beside him, the woman in his arms nodded. She must be his wife who had waited for his return. I was indeed glad they had reunited.

After the soldiers were healed and the maids had taken good care of them, serving them hot drinks and giving out blankets, I got to spend a little bit more time with Aldric. But, of course, it wasn't long enough since Aldric had a lot that needed to be done. In the late afternoon, I managed to sneak some alone time in the sleeping quarters upstairs, to take a breather and get to know more about Vicky.

"How did you come about being able to converse with me, Vicky?"

The voice in my head stated: Through your continuous creations and other magic usage, you've leveled up and an ability to communicate was unlocked.

Leveled up? Didn't that just sound like a gaming thing.

"You mentioned leveling up," I said. "Does that mean I can go even higher?"

Yes. Creation increases level. The more complex and immense the creations, the higher the level will rise.

Because I was curious, since Aldric mentioned a while back during our travel that I was something like a hero summoned from another world, I asked, "Vicky, what am I?"

You are an unknown being from another world. Lady Quinn Fairchild, Countess of Norsewood, Wife of Aldric Templeton, Infamous, Cold-blood Warrior of the North, Earl of Norsewood.

What the heck was she going on about? Listing all that? And she didn't even tell me what I really was. To her, I was also an unknown being from another world.

Would you like to see your status?

I raised my brows. "Status?" Ah, she must mean something like my profile. "Yes," I said.

A screen materialized before me, and I widened my eyes.

Oh, wow! It was indeed a status screen, showing my title, which was as she had stated, an unknown being from another world. Name was Lady Quinn Fairchild, Countess of Norsewood. Relationship was Wife of Aldric Templeton, Infamous, Cold-blood Warrior of the North, Earl of Norsewood.

So basically, she just read all that out, huh?

I scrolled down, noting my other statuses, such as health, which sat at one hundred, strength, which was twenty, and mana, which was...

I nearly dropped my mouth open. What the heck was with that ridiculous number? How many nines was after that first nine? I had to count, and it ended up being nine digits. Surely, there was a glitch with the status screen? Because nobody would have that much mana.

I said, "Vicky, what's the optimal status in a normal human?"

Optimal status for a normal human is one hundred.

One hundred, eh? Which meant my health was optimal, for a human, but my strength was pathetic, sitting at twenty.

I said, "Then why is my mana so high? Is there a glitch?"

There is no glitch. As a being from another world, mana is naturally high and can be increased to infinity when status is raised to a deity.

Wait! What? Did she just say that my mana could be infinite? And a status of a deity? Seriously?

I said, "I think this is too much for me to take in right now."

Understandable, Vicky stated.

Goodness but she sounded more human than I expected when she was supposedly a skill, especially when making that sort of comment.

I scrolled down my status screen, noting my skill sets and abilities. There were creation magic and communication magic (known as Vicky), appraisal magic, healing magic, purification magic, barrier magic, and elemental magic: fire, water, earth, and wind.

I noted that I could click on each, and it'd change to another screen with more sub-skills and explanations. How nifty.

As I continued to check my skill sets, I asked, "Vicky, you stated I can increase my mana level through creation, but how does that work? I simply can't have gained mana through air itself?"

Depleted mana can be recovered to the original status by going into recovery mode (resting). Mana status can be increased by using magic and increasing in database and information. For you personally, as a unique being from another world, mana status can also be increased through blessings and feelings.

Blessings and feelings?

"You mean through living being's blessing and feelings?" I asked.

Correct. Creation and magic usages that result in living beings' feelings of happiness, contentment, and gratefulness increases mana storage and status. Blessings or prayers from living beings—whether through verbal or thoughts—increases mana storage and status.

Oh, I see. So that explained my ridiculous mana storage? I had been creating food and clothing for the Norsewood people during their desperate time, thus saving them, and their feelings had increased my mana. In effect, I was paid for my kindness by the currency of mana, which I could use to create more things. How convenient.

I asked, "Vicky, is the increase in mana the same on every being?"

No. Higher beings will have a greater increase in mana. The same for the intensity of feelings.

I said, "So the greater the intensity of the feelings, the higher my mana will increase?"

Correct.

"Who do you mean by higher beings? Do you mean things such as nonhuman beings such as dwarves and elves?"

Incorrect.

Huh? Incorrect? I said, "Then what do you mean by higher beings?"

Being with power and influence. Being with many followers under them. Being with a higher mana storage than you.

I widened my eyes. "So a being like... Aldric?"

Correct. List of higher power beings are: Legendary beasts with infinite mana, power, and followers, kings and other royalties with powers and followers, noblemen with power and followers, chiefs of tribes with power and followers, and so on.

Ah, so the higher power a being wielded and more followers they had, the more my mana would increase. In other words, a lord like Aldric would be quite high, especially when he had many followers, the citizens of Norsewood, and that increased even more with the intensity of their feelings since they were in such dire straits.

I smiled, delighted that my increase in mana meant that they really do appreciate my aid during this time of crisis. Thinking about feelings, though, I thought to ask, since I was curious, "So, uh, Vicky, does it also mean my mana will be deducted if I make certain people, uh, angry?" My mind was on Lord Bedford and his family, of course.

Bad feelings have no effect on mana storage.

Phew! I sighed in relief. I was very sure I had pissed Lord Bedford and his family off after making them unable to, uh, get their little beasts up.

I was about to thank Vicky for clarifying that for me when she stated: Punishing evildoers increases mana by four folds due to: 1) punishing evildoers, 2) gaining gratitude from victims, 3) preventing future evil deeds, and 4) saving future victims.

I chuckled. Oh, wow! Four folds, eh? I see Vicky was encouraging me to become a heroine of justice, eh? How cunning, for a magical skill.

"Thank you, Vicky, for clarifying," I said.

Pleasure, she stated.

Again, I did not think she sounded like a magical skill at all, more of a being with a vast knowledge and a little side attitude.