But before that there was something that had to be done first.
"Can you sew my arm back on?" She asked the old geezer. "And please wear gloves when you do. I've recently discovered that my blood is harmful and last thing we need is for you to get poisoned."
A few hours without an arm was already too long. Even if she could still control her severed arm, it was weird and did not feel quite as right as it would attached to her body. She needed it back on yesterday!
"I'll be back," Bori replied after nodding.
Then he ascended the stairs, leaving her and the skeleton alone in the kitchen. As for the skeleton cooks, they were still outside where she had created the pit stove to roast the boar. Ever since she was summoned they had not moved a single bit.
She shook her head at the thought of this.
Mindless undead are really useless, she mused. Almost as useless as that cat. Looking around she asked herself. Where is it anyway?
Then, as if waiting for her to ask the question, she sensed movement in her shadow. Looking down she saw the little feline emerge from it. First was the ears, followed by the head, then the neck and finally the rest of the body. The black cat gave her a look that could melt the hearts of the most ruthless brutes, its adorable little eyes surveying her and stopping at her severed arm.
Then it opened its mouth.
"Master, did you get your arse kicked?"
This fucking cat! Sage fought not to grit her teeth, instead showing it a smile. "The other guy fared much worse."
"Is that so?" Nyx retorted. "Sounds like the words a loser would say to make herself feel better."
"You know Worthless," she began, emphasising the worthless part. "Familiars cannot be killed right? I'm thinking maybe I should test that theory by dropping one from the peaks of the Highlands to the feet."
Hearing this, the cat nervously shifted away from her while giving her a pitiful look. "You really won't do that to me, right Master?"
"I don't know," she replied with a forceful smile. "Why don't you try opening your mouth and see what happens?"
Nyx did not open his mouth again. Even when Bori returned with what looked like a sewing kit he remained silent. Sage could tell from the way the cat was looking at the geezer it wanted to say something and that something did not look like it would be a compliment. However, Nyx took one look at her and clamped his mouth shut. This action caused his tail and ears to droop sorrowfully.
"Did you steal the cat from somewhere?" Bori asked, as he settled back into his seat and beckoned her to come shift her chair closer to him.
In response to the question Sage gave him a disdainful glare. "As if I would stoop so low. This is my familiar Nyx. I just summoned him this morning." When she said this she could not help feeling a little weird. The fact that she had only contracted Nyx this morning, after everything she had experienced it felt like ages ago.
Continuing with the introduction of her familiar, she added. "He's really useless and pretty dumb, so dumb he doesn't know how to talk, can you believe that?"
She ignored the cat's death glare and moved her chair closer to the geezer, who was repeatedly switching glances between her and Nyx. Ignoring his inquisitive stare, she offered him the severed arm and lifted her stump to give him easy access to it. Seeing this, the old man sighed and lined the arm to the stump. Then he took his a sturdy-looking needle from the sewing case and sank it into her stump.
Sage closed her eyes and winced. She grit her teeth and clenched her fists. Her nose flared at the rapid intake of unnecessary breaths. The pain caused by the needle point sinking into her skin was intense as any other she had experienced on that day. However, unlike the previous times, she forced herself not to scream out in pain. She had already come to terms with the fact that pain would become a constant in this new life. She might as well get used to it while she was safe instead of later trying to adapt to it when she was in a bind.
Although, these were her thoughts on the matter, the reality was a little different.
The pain that accumulated every time the geezer inserted the needle; every stab of it made her want to scream bloody murder. Although she maintained her silence, her expression revealed just how badly she was taking the pain, so much so that when Bori once looked up from his needle-work and saw it he made a mistake and had to repeat the process again. The worst part about this was when she saw Nyx. His eyes were swimming in amusement, clearly deriving pleasure from her ordeal. If getting up and strangling the damned thing would not have interfered and caused the geezer to have to start all over again she would have done it already.
After an eternity of holding in her outbursts, the thick needle retreated for the last time and the geezer leaned back. "Done. How does it feel?"
She raised her hand and clenched her fist. Then she waved it before swinging her entire arm.
"It feels loose," she replied. "Like the only reason I can control it so perfectly was because I was able to do so even when it was severed. But I can somehow feel the flesh of my severed arm and the stump conjoining so that feeling will probably vanish after a day or so, so thank you."
The last part she said with as much sincerity as she could muster. If not for the old man it would probably have taken her a while before her arm and shoulder were reunited. Which is why she was truly grateful to him.
"It's good," Bori replied in a tired voice.
"Are you going to be okay?" she asked, pointing at his leg.
This caused him to sigh. "Unfortunately I left my leg behind. Even if it was here I would be unable to sew it back onto my body. The best thing to do now is get a wooden leg and hope to advance to the 8th Order so I can learn [Regeneration] and grow it back." After saying this he reached into his robe pocket and came out with a scroll. "But that is something to worry about in a few years. For now I will focus on memorising this spell before I try to inscribe it."
"What kind of spell is that?" she asked, curious.
"[Summon Undead]. It is a spell that will allow me to connect to the Deadlands and summon any type of undead I desire for five minutes," Bori's tone became excited as he delved into this, almost as if a moment ago he was not lamenting his missing leg. "The downside of it is that I will not be able to summon a creature above the 7th Order or one with a physique higher Grade 2, but that would be a lot considering this kind of strength is already rare among humans."
"I'm happy for you," she said in response. "How long will it take for you to learn the spell and advance?"
"About two months or so,"
This caused her to do a double take. "So long? Just for one spell?"
Her words caused the geezer to return a self-deprecatory smile. "We can't all be as gifted at learning magic as the Scions." After saying this he stood up and glided back to the stairs. "Since that is the case I should probably get started."
"I guess I should too," she responded as she too got to her feet.
Picking up the annoying cat, she held it in her arms and cast [Dimension Door]. Walking through the portal, she found herself in the study. Then she dropped Nyx onto the floor and walked over to the armchair and sank into it.
"Bring all the scrolls and tomes on this floor to me," she ordered.
In response the cat gave her a bitter look, but it obeyed. Leaping onto the shelves, it carefully swallowed some of the books before walking back to her and expelling the books onto the table.
"Great work," she said, rubbing the back of Nyx's ear. He seemed to enjoy this, but right after she retracted her hand he went back to death-glaring her. She pretended not to see it. "Your job's done here. You can do whatever you want until I call for you."
Without having to hear it twice, the cat jumped into the shadows and vanished leaving her alone on the floor.
Sage was not at all bothered by her familiar's behaviour as she reached for the closest tome. She opened it and began to browse through all the spells in it before coming to one that interested her. It was the 3rd Order [Haste]. After the encounter with that bastard of a Guard Captain she had become aware of what she was lacking. A spell to enhance her speed was a definite necessity.
As she concentrated on the spell she saw Bori's figure in the corner of her eye. The old man was just reaching this floor now. He took one look at her before shaking his head and continuing on to his room. Sage ignored him and began to search for 5th Order spells.
Even though she had just recently advanced she had already decided.
On this night she would reach the 6th Order.