It was past Midday before Bree's home came into view. Bertram and Vivian's followers stopped while their two commanders followed Bree, along with the horse that had kneeled before Bree. They approached the ground, and Bree's three new followers stopped outside the property line.
They looked at the large mansion, the little shack with a janky tower and a windmill turbine stuck to it, and the farm with two odd-looking scarecrows. Bertram and Vi both nearly jumped out of their skins when one of the scarecrow heads turned all the way around and stared at them with glowing yellow eyes.
A figure cloaked in blue and wearing a terrifying mask stood by the mansion's front entrance. It was the first to verbally notice them.
"Mistress Bree has returned," it looked to her companions for a moment before also screaming out, "And she has a Pony!" it moved forward, and the scarecrow that had been staring at them revealed it could move as it ran towards Bree with glee. Before either of them could make it to Bree, a Giant fuzzy creature the likes of which Bertram and Vivian had never seen slid out of seemingly nowhere and pulled Bree into a Hug before fully coming to a stop.
"Mistress Bree, Orion is overjoyed at your return,"
"Thank you, Orion; I missed you all as well," Bree assured him as she tried not to drown in his fur while the rest of her NPCs arrived. Winnie landed behind Bree and looked at Bertram and Vivian with interest.
"What interesting creatures!" she said, readjusting her glasses as she spoke. I've never seen anything quite like these before." She gave the horse a half hearted once-over, her eyes lacking the slightest of interest before turning back to Bree, welcoming her home with gusto.
Bertram and Vivian watched in shock and awe as Bree's attendance all gathered around to welcome her. Bertram particularly took notice that among her servants, he was far from the most impressive among them, a Large Oger dressed as a Maid, Orion the Cat, a Minotaur and Satyr in Overalls, and so many more fascinating creatures. He also quickly noticed that Bree herself was the shortest, save a tiny orange blob.
"Mistress?" Sheepy asked when she saw the trio standing just outside the invisible protective barrier. "Are they with you?"
"Oh yes," Bree said, turning to them somewhat nervously. My dear friends and attendants, this is Bertram and Vivian, evolved Axol-lights whose new species I've yet to come up with a name for, and an unnamed horse I plan to try and turn into a Centaur. They have all sworn their Loyalty to me on their souls, so do be nice to them, won't you?"
Bree waited, worried her followers wouldn't take too kindly to new faces. Orion, the NPC, provided the stance on newcomers when he walked up and declared loudly.
"Orion Hugs best of all!" His proclamation made, he proceeded to sweep Bertram and the Horse up in his arms and Vivian with his tail before turning around and proudly walking towards the farm with them. "Orion now gives house tour," Leafolio and Silver ran after them, determined to meet and greet the newcomers that Orion had stolen away.
"I welcome all who serve you," Bella said as she bowed, her fellow maids mimicking her.
"I agree," Winnie added. Any creature wise enough to bow and swear loyalty before you are wise enough to consider at least becoming a friend of mine." Winnie once again readjusted her spectacles, and Bree began pondering whether they were loose or if the habit had been in Winnie's Bio and she had forgotten about it.
"What more," Wininnie continued, "we have plenty of room for them, seeing how the third floor has nearly forty rooms, and since most all of us either bunk up or have private quarters elsewhere, we could easily fit well over forty servants, and even then, we would simply add to the mansion should you have more than that join us,"
"Well, Bertram and Vivian have a fair number of servants and a few extra horses, but they're going to be setting up a town nearby and providing us with simple labors, like acquiring the food for Manfred and Boris and other such things,"
"How very wise of you, my lady," Winnie said with a smile, "Manfred, you and Boris greet and then help the new attendance clear out some forest area. I will make sure Orion put young Inky in his crib and didn't just leave him lying around,"
"Thank you," Minerva and Sheepy said as Winning flew off to do her task.
"Come on, Minnie," Sheepy said, tugging on her wife's hand, "We should harvest the farm now that our guard duties are done,"
"You three continue your patrols," Bree said simply to her maids. "Once it gets dark, trade-off with Silver and Orion; tell them they're on night shift and the next day shift since neither of them needs sleep,"
"Of course my lady," Bella, Zoey, and Annie said before moving out, Annie taking the front door position while Bella and Zoey continued patrolling the garden.
With all of her attendance now distracted, Bree made her way inside and looked around her home. Instead of going up the stairs, she looked around the lower levels, ignoring the statue of herself that greeted her upon entry.
After a moment, she found what she was after, a large bathing area on the farthest left side of the lower floor. Having been a place to send NPCs when they were defeated in raids, it hadn't seen use for a long while, but now it should have simply been a place to enjoy a nice bath.
Bree turned the ring back into a staff before tapping it against the ground; her clothing turned into light, her staff was put in her inventory, and her clothing was sucked in along with it. She looked down at herself and found the steam from the bath had instantaneously wrapped around her body and covered her in a dress made our of steam.
"Oh, wasn't expecting this to be here still" She muttered, the game having not allowed adult themes, the bathhouse had been censored by having the NPCs equip bathing suits, they had all been bland and had no customization options, so she had bought a home upgrade pack that, among a fair number of other things like letting her shove a tower on top of a shack, allowed her to changed the swimsuits out for censorship steam that took the shape of different outfits at random.
Not particularly caring about being censored, she got in and found herself waist-deep in the shallow end of the hot spring bath. She moved to the further side before leaning back and sighing as she sank down to shoulder depth. The magical water was set to the perfect temperature, sometimes getting a little hotter and sometimes cooling down, depending on her desire at the moment.
Bree looked up at the bathhouse's roof, enchanted to look like a beautiful night with the full moon in full view. She could change the night sky with clouds or different star patterns or by changing the moon out with a few other options.
With no way to tell time, Bree didn't know how long she spent in the bath until the door opened and her three maids walked in.
"How does Silver do that all day?" Annie demanded as her clothing turned pink and disappeared, showing off her lack of anything to hide as she got into the water. Zoey's clothing turned purple as she spoke.
"Why are you complaining? You have pain nullification. I know your feet don't hurt," Zoey was censored as she got in, and Annie pouted.
"I was just so bored," She complained.
Bella's clothing turned orange and dissipated. Bree did her best not to freak out over what she was seeing while her maids got into the bath. Even though she had been there first, and they were all magically censored, she still felt like she was peaking.
"You should be honored. Mistress Bree asked us to guard the grounds," she said with pride as she entered the bath, barely sinking low enough to cover half her stomach. "Speaking of the Mistress, where do you think she went?" Bella wondered. "I was sure she would be in her throne room." Feeling the opportunity was perfect, Bree spoke up.
"Oh I'm right here," She said, all three of her maids turned bright red and slowly turned to her. She smiled back from the far side of the bath, her half-open eyes giving her a peaceful look, "Sorry to hear the day was boring,"
"Mistress Bree!" Annie said, covering her eyes, proving that even thought Bree was neck deep in the water, that was coated in a layer of censorship steam, resulting in nothing being revealable to anyone, she also shared Bree's feelings on the situation feeling like peaping "I am so sorry,"
"Please forgive us!" Zoey added as she covered her face in shame as well.
"We had no idea you were here, my Lady!" Belle added as she hid her own face, her size leaving her upper body completely visible to Bree, who avoided staring even with the censorship. "I can't apologize enough for disturbing you in such an unacceptably inappropriate manner,"
"What do you mean?" Bree asked, trying with all her might not to make this awkward. "This is the bathhouse. If nothing else, I'm the one who didn't lock the door." Bree waited for a moment before she herself began to feel like she was intruding on their private time.
"Bella," she said, getting her attendant's attention, "I hate to say this to you, but you've only halfway in the water." Bella instantly covered her already censored area with her arms and lowered herself as low as she could go, moving Father into the deeper parts of the bath.
"I am so sorry, my lady," She cried out, "Please forgive me,"
"It's quite alright," Bree said before making her final mistake of standing up to leave; just as all of the maids turned to apologize to her, they stared at her with wide eyes, although even standing on the underwater sitting area that surrounded the edge of the bath, her neck barely broke the water's surface. Doing her best to ignore their ogling her censored form she continued speaking, "This is a bathhouse. Mixed bathing was in mind when it was built, but I can show myself out,"
"Not at all, My lady," The tone of all three changed in an instant. "We would love nothing more than to bathe with you," Before she could react, her three Maids surrounded her.
"Please allow us to wash you, my lady," They all looked at her with a sparkle in their eyes.
"Oh dear," Bree realized as they closed in. "This escalated quite rapidly,"
-
Bree left the bathhouse trying to forget everything that had transpired within it.
"I think I'll be taking my baths at mid-day from now on," she decided as she made her way past the stairs once again and to the right side of the first floor. Past the door that separated it from the entrance hall, the entire right half of the first floor was split into a kitchen and a dining area.
Manfred and Boris were already hard at work preparing Dinner, sitting in wait for her meal she spotted Winnie, and off near the back Minerva and Sheepy sitting with Inky, who was happily using his nubs to tap on the arm Minerva was cradling him in. The final NPC present in the dining hall was Orion, who was waiting at the counter, presumably to deliver food to Silver while he was on guard duty.
Not wanting to sit alone and not wanting to disturb the family dinner, Bree walked over to Winnie and sat next to her. Winnie was nose-deep in a book and gave a disinterested glance at who had taken the seat before going wide-eyed and dropping the book as she looked down at Bree.
"Mistress Bree," She said in shock "What a lovely surprise, is there something I can assist you with Ma'am?"
"Oh, no worries, Winnie; I have simply decided that since so much has changed in one day, I might as well keep up the changes, so starting today, I'll be eating dinner with you all," There was a moment of Winnie looking at her with a blank expression before she got up.
"Pardon me one moment, My Lady, I'm going to ask if I could have a drink,"
"Do grab one for me two, won't you?" Bree replied as she leaned over and picked up Winnie's book. She looked at the cover, and the only label on it was the number seven. Upon looking inside, she could not come up with a proper reaction when she found it was simply a logbook filled with everything Bree had achieved in the game world, but warped so that any mentions of it being a game were gone.
Interested to see what her time in the game had looked like for her NPC's she began reading about the time she had been betrayed by her in game clan after a raid battle, only for them to realize to late she had looted the boss and taken all the best loot with her after being kicked out.
With Bree enjoying a warped trip down memory lane, Winnie rushed to the front counter and quickly obtained Boris's attention once he handed off the last of Orion's food order.
"Something wrong?" he asked as Orion bounded out of the dining hall. Winnie simply pointed with her wing, and Boris followed it, instantly spotting Bree, who was casually flipping a page with her default mellowed-out expression of smiling with half-open eyes. "Mistress Bree!?" he demanded, barely managing to keep his voice down.
"Our Lady has just decreed she plans to start eating meals with us starting today,"
"Wha...why?" Boris demanded in justified confusion, a question Winnie had often heard that day. Since saving them all from the end of days, their master had been acting odd.
In the old days, she might say a passing word or two in their general direction to open a door, harvest the fields, or do simple mundane tasks like gathering materials. In this one day alone, Bree spoke to them more than she probably had in years and issued orders unlike any Winnie had heard before. And Winnie was confident she knew why.
"She's looking for something," Winnie declared without a hint of doubt in her heart or mind, "Clearly, she suspects one of us, intentional or not, to be the reason her transportation spell failed, resulting in her glorious home being bound to the earth instead of soaring in the heavens where it belongs,"
"She does?" Boris asked in shock.
"Of course, I am confident that none of us would ever do something like that, and I am also confident she feels the same, but she must be thorough before she moves her investigation to the creatures of this world. After all, it could have just been an accident,"
Winnie readjusted her glasses before she spoke again. "Also, I will need two drinks, one for me, one for Mistress Bree. It matters not what I receive ensure Mistress Bree receives the finest drink we have in stock,"
As Boris rushed to inform Manfred that whatever he was cooking would be eaten by Bree, Winnie turned her attention to Bree and pondered about her.
"She probably doesn't suspect anyone who is presently in the room, otherwise she would be so casually looking at her own exploits, and would instead be watching them closely," Winnie looked to the door and thought about who was absent, "Her Maids are clear too, she handed them guarding during for the day, a reward I couldn't even imagine being given, Silver and Orion are clear otherwise she'd have removed them from the guard,"
Winnie shook her head as she tried desperately to understand the overwhelming brilliance that was her master. If she only knew how her beloved master had saved them, she might have been able to examine the spell and question the others on what they had been doing before the jump to see if they might have done something to throw off their master's aim.
"Leafolio, maybe?" she thought on it for a moment before shaking her head. "No, before she summoned them after the jump I wasn't even aware Leafolio could actually move, but if that's true, then—" Winnie pulled back in horror. "My original assessment was wrong! Her prime suspect must be in the room!"
"Winnie," Boris said, getting her attention as he passed her a tray with two drinks, one in a large decorative tankard and the other in a plain red cup.
"Thank you, Boris," Winnie replied as she delivered the tankard to Bree and sat beside her in silent contemplation, knowing without a doubt that only one person in the room could be the suspect.
"She tasked Minerva and Sheepy with guard duty, so they're both cleared. Inky, Manfred, and Boris lack the power even to be considered, meaning-" Winnie felt horror crawl across her body as she came to her conclusion, "-I am the only one present that makes any sense, It must be why she had me set up the barrier and then sit on the side-lines! I have to clear my name. I was in my tower for several weeks before the jump. Once my name has been cleared she can focus her efforts and find who in this world dared interrupt her divine spell,"
"Oh this is delicious," Bree said as she drank some of her drink, "Thank you, Winnie," Bree closed the book and returned it to Winnie as she drank, Winnie still deep in thought, was interrupted when Bree made a spur of the moment decision.
"I think tomorrow I'll go investigate the road near the Axol-light's old village. It's just on the edge of the map," Bree said, lost in thought. Winnie looked down at her, hoping she could try to grasp even a tiny fraction of her wisdom.
"Of course," Winnie said aloud. We must find out all we can about this new world as soon as we can, my lady." Bree smiled, having only been thinking of looking for a place to buy meats and spices since the food supply they had wasn't long for this world.
"Indeed," Bree agreed. "First, I'll have to see what kind of food is readily available since our own storehouses will only last so long, and we're going to have to map out the area between us and the nearest town," Bree thought for a moment "Winnie you will be accompanying me tomorrow, fly above and do your best to map out the area,"
Winnie did her best not to cry, the honor of going out with her Mistress settling without a shadow of a doubt that Bree had, somehow, found her innocent with her last simple statement. Winnie practically threw herself to the floor as she groveled before Bree.
"I humbly accept this task, my lady. If I am so bold, may I be permitted to suggest something?" Winnie looked up at Bree hopefully and was given a simple nod to speak, "We should bring Orion with us, my Lord. His eyes and ears will help us locate the best areas where we might find creatures worthy of being eaten. As for plant life that could be harvested for use we could bring Boris or Manfred. Being chefs, they would be best suited to spotting what could be used in the kitchen."
"Wonderful idea, Winnie," Bree praised, patting her atop her head. Winnie failed to keep her tears in as her Mistress praised her. "I'll go tell Orion the news. I'll leave it up to you to pick Boris or Manfred." Bree got up from the table, and Winnie continued groveling until she left the room. She readjusted her spectacles and wiped her face clean with her wing.
"A map," She said to herself. "Mistress Bree would never need such a thing. It must be a cover for something," Winnie fell yet again into deep thought, once again trying to unravel the new mystery her master was obviously using to test her.
-
The Dining hall was full of all of Bree's attendances; each one had their own plates of food, and some had enough food to warrant having their own table, but almost all were sitting silently. Bree had given the simple order that she be fed last, along with a statement that everyone eat dinner with her, Leaving Bertram's followers to guard the perimeter during Dinner.
Bree once again found herself sitting with Winnie; she sighed as her subordinates waited for her to be fed instead of eating their own meals. Even the Horse set up in the corner of the cafeteria was looking at her instead of eating its oats and hay.
The Doors to the kitchen swung open and Bree watched as Manfred and Boris approached with her meal, Manfred had a plate and a single bowl, and Borid held the silverware and a picture to top off her drink. Upon being set down, Bree smiled at the Chow Mein with chicken mixed in and drizzled with a bright red sauce in the bowl. On the plate were spring rolls, crab legs, and wontons. Boris provided her with a fork and topped off her drink. Bree happily took the fork and dug into her meal.
"Thank you, boys," she said after swallowing her first bite of chow mein. It's better than ever," Manfred sighed in relief, and Boris patted him on the back as the rest of her Subordinates cheered for them. Alright, everyone. It's time to eat!"
"Thank you, my Lord," everyone called out before digging into their meals with gusto. Bree did her best to ignore all of her subordinates, knowing they would begin throwing themselves at her if they thought she required their attention.
Trying not to think about those around her made her think about them more. She sighed as she set her fork down on the table, instantly catching Winnie's eye, who was using a form of telekinesis to hold her fork and knife due to her wings only having enough dexterity to hold things as large or larger as a book.
"Something wrong, my lord?" She asked with concern.
"No," Bree shook her head as she spoke, "I forgot to ask Vi something is all,"
"Such a polite way to say she forgot to report in with you, My Lady," Winnie said instantly. "Your Generosity is outstanding, but I suppose she is new, so some leeway is required," Winnie's eyes turned yellow, and her voice was heard by all who served under Bree. "Vi, Lady Bree requires your presence," They watched as Vi got out of her chair, waving to her brother before running to Bree.
"Yes, my lady," she asked. Winnie's eyes went wide with shock as she stared at Vi in silent surprise as Bree spoke to her.
"Did you set up the town for your people yet?"
"Yes, ma'am," Vi replied happily. Mr.Orion and Mr.Silver helped us clear out a section of the trees near your home, and I used Maximize as you instructed me to." Vi smiled happily before blinking. "Is something wrong?" She addressed the question not to Bree but to Winnie, who looked like she was about to have a stroke.
"You can use Maximize?" Winnie demanded in a silent voice that went unheard before shaking her head. "Nothing, I'm just seeing the potential lying within you, is all,"
"That was all," Bree replied. You may go back to your meal." Winnie waited in silence. Bree had the smallest portion sizes, so she inevitably was the first to leave.
"Right then, Come along, horse. Let us attempt an evolution." The Horse shook its head in response and trotted over to Bree, and together, the two left the Dining area.
Winnie waited a few moments before standing up, her eyes turning yellow as she spoke. "I assume most of you Overlooked that exchange." Everyone turned their attention to Winnie as she spoke. "Yes, it would seem so, Young Vi. Could you repeat the answer you gave to Mistress Bree?"
"Oh," Vi scratched her chin for a moment, "She asked if I had set up the town for the rest of my people, and I told her I cleared out some trees and used Maximize as she told me," There was a moment of silence as the room processed what they had just been told before everyone began speaking at once.
"You did what!?" Vi and Bertram looked around in confusion as everyone gathered around them. Even Boris and Manfred left the kitchen to listen in. Orion was the first to arrive and picked Vi up with a shine in his eye, his ears fully perked in interest.
"Such power for one so small,"
"Is that spell really that impressive?" Vi asked in confusion.
"Oh, it is not the spell itself that is impressive," Winnie said simply as Orion set Vi down. "But for someone so young to be able to use 4th-tier magic is unheard of. A Prodigy such as yourself is almost certain to rise to the highest of Mistress Bree's command; I'd be shocked if you were not one of her maids by the time you reach adulthood,"
Vi looked at the three women wearing maid outfits; they all gave her a curtsy in greeting.
"But I only have this power because Mistress Bree gave it to me," Vi replied, looking at Bertram, who nodded in agreement.
"And yet she chose you, no?" Winnie asked, her glasses shining as she spoke. "Think of it: upon meeting Bertram, that is your name, yes?" After Bertram confirmed that was indeed his name, Winnie continued,
"Our Mistress invited you to join beneath her immediately, did she not? "Maybe you lacked the power to activate yourself, but I assure you," Winnie held out her wings dramatically and decreed with certainty, "The Powers you have were dormant within you all along. Your kind would have one day advanced to what you are now. All she did was allow you to skip the evolutionary process and jump into your full potential!"
Bertram and Vi looked at Winnie in shock.
"But she didn't ask me. I asked her if I could serve her," Vi replied. "I even tried to pledge to her and did it wrong,"
"And yet, even after failing, she still let you join her, did she not?" Winnie asked, earning a gasp from Vi. "Clearly she had planned to recruit you regardless. Perhaps she was simply waiting for the right moment to offer it to you," Winnie smiled a genuine smile to the small child. "Oh, you offering yourself to her without her even asking is perhaps the greatest praise to her power one could ever hope to give her!" Winnie applauded her own intelligence as the maids began talking to Vi with great interest.
"What about the horse?" Bertram asked, gaining Winnie's attention.
"Oh, simply put the horse is an experiment, as Mistress Bree said she is curious to see if she can evolve a naturally weak creature into a powerful one, The fact that she is doing this at all proves you had this Might hidden away inside you all along. In conclusion, the horse is simply that, a Horse,"
Bertram flexed his arm and smiled, "If that is true thank, I must thank Mistress Bree for unleashing my power by using it to become even stronger and become worthy of being amongst her ranks,"
"I knew I liked this guy!" Silver declared as he slid in, losing his head as he did so; having been closest to him, Leafolio fumbled around beneath the table as Silver's headless body tried to fish his head out, Leafolio managed to swat it out enough for Silver to grab hold of it and put his head back on, Silver tucked his long hair into his hood as he continued speaking,
"Pardon my head. I used to have it tied on, but I seem to have lost my ribbon. Back on topic, have no fear. I, Silver the Dullahan, and Leafolio the nymph will happily aid you in your quest to increase your power, and in doing so, we shall increase our own powers as well!"
Bertram Held out his hand, and Silver grabbed it. The two squeezed each other's hands with as much force as they could muster while Leafolio put their wooden arm on top and tapped their hands.
While her brother and his new friends began discussing training, Vi walked up to Winnie, having one more question for the wise Harpy. "Ms.Winnie?" She asked with determination. "Even before I revealed I could use Maximize, you were still staring at me strangely,"
"Ah, it wasn't you I was staring at," Winnie corrected. She held up her wing, and the book she had on the table floated up into her grasp.
"You see, after the jump, when I was able to look through my Library properly," She shook her head sadly, "To my disappointment, a fair amount of my books have been destroyed or lost during our teleportation to this world, I'm only about halfway through cataloging the loses and thus far the best esitmation is that over half the collection has vanished" Winnie's eyes then began to sparkle like stars as she held up the book "But then I found a new collection of books, a fully comprehensive history of everything Mistress Bree has ever done!"
Everyone turned at the words as Winnie showed off the book, "Clearly a gift from Mistress Bree, I am already on volume 7," Winnie then pointed at Vi, "But, in volume one, when Mistress Bree first began her journey, she was weak, weaker than even Boris," Winnie pointed to the Liger man who reacted in absolute shock.
"Mistress Bree was once weaker than even me!" he demanded. The shock at the words hit the room like a brick, and some of the reactions were borderline violent.
"How dare you!" Bella said in rage, pulling her Kanabo off her back and pointing it at Winnie. "You will pay for such lies, bird!"
"I understand your reaction," Winnie said as she readjusted her glasses. "But I assure you, it is true, and to deny it would disgrace Mistress Bree," Bella blinked in confusion at the words.
"Orion does not understand," The Large cate declared. "How is saying Mistress Bree was once weak, not Disgraceful,"
"Simple fools," Winnie said, her eyes shining, "I've lived my life thinking Mistress Bree was always as powerful as she is now, but if she was once weak, that means her power is even more of a spectacle to behold, Imagine Mistress Bree fighting wars, rising up, becoming the legend she is today all by nothing more than her own hard work and determination!" Understanding began dawning across the group.
"Of course," Zoey said, "If this is true, then Mistress Bree's mental fortitude to become strong through hard work alone is unsurpassable,"
"To think," Bella said as she kneeled down and started crying, "Our great Lord started from a humble beginning and gained her power through her own fierce drive," Bella wiped her eyes, "To think I would dishonor her by believing her power was nothing more than her natural state," Bella stomped on the ground and swung her Kanabo upwards "Mistress Bree, I did not think it possible, but my love and respect for you have increased to limits unthought of before!"
"Amazing," Sheepy decided as she lightly ran her hands over the top of Inky, who let out a cooing noise at his mother's touch, "To think Mistress Bree gained her power on her own, I thought for sure such power could only be gained from birth,"
"She's an amazing Woman," Minerva agreed before squishing Inky and earning noises of glee from him, "Isn't that right, honey bunny," She asked as she nuzzled her child, "You're gonna be of great service to our mistress when you get big and strong aren't you, yes you are,"
Winnie smiled before turning to Vi. "I looked at you in shock because the staff you're holding seems to be the very staff Mistress Bree first used at the start of her journey." Vi looked at Winnie in shock as all the surrounding followers froze. Winnie's eyes turned Purple, and a circle appeared on the floor.
"Illusionary hologram," the circle filled with light, and a three-dimensional Hologram of Bree rose from the floor. She looked about the same physically speaking, but everything else was different.
She wore a scarf around her neck, a simple tunic, and plain pants; she did not have a belt or shoes. Her hair was long and wild, completely hiding her ears from view. She was dirty and scratched. In her right hand was a small white staff with a blue orb on the end.
"No actual images exist as far as I can tell, but based on what I have read in the stories about her life," Winnie held her wings up high for dramatic flair. "This is more or less what Mistress Bree looked like when she first began her journey." Vi looked at the Hologram before holding up her staff and comparing it to the one Bree had started out with. They were identical in size, shape, and color.
"W…wow," Vi said, now almost afraid to hold the staff, "To think she'd give me something as grand as her first staff,"
"Do her proud, young Vi," Winnie said. "She appears to have great plans for you and your brother. Both of you do your best to please her." Winnie turned and walked away. After a moment, she was stopped when Annie called out.
"Wait just one second, I wanna read about Mistress Bree's exploits! Give me Volume One!"
"Not before Orion, you won't!" Orion shot back.
"Like you can even read; as a head maid, I'll read it first," Bella said. The group stared at Winnie with anticipation, and after a moment, she turned tail and bolted for the door.
"None of you will be reading them until I make copies," Winnie called back in defiance as her peers gave chase.
Bree made her way to the first underground level of her home, levitating the horse behind her due to its inability to properly climb the stairs.
"I hope you don't mind," Bree said to the Horse. "But seeing how I'm trying to change your species instead of evolving you into a higher version of your own, it's going to take considerably more effort than just raising my hand and talking at you,"
The Horse looked at Bree, and thanks to Universal Translation, Bree understood its response. "Master Flint was a treasure to us all," She said. "Even before he asked us to follow you, I was determined to show my gratitude for freeing him from his chains; any effort you require from me will never be enough to make a warhorse such as myself falter,"
"My people sure seem to like me," Bree said with a chuckle; having not had any friends in her old life, being surrounded by people who loved and adored her was still a somewhat trippy sensation. "Well, either way, there's a good chance we'll fail. You'll evolve into something, but the chances of it being a Centaur is less than one percent. Once I do this to you, I should at the very least be able annalize the spell so I may do this to any other horse at any time, even without the use of the creation chamber,"
"I will take whatever body you give me with pride and use it to serve you to the best of my abilities, my Lord," The Horse replied as Bree set her on the ground. The floor they were on had several dozen rooms, but Bree ignored them all and made her way down the hall, with the horse following after her obediently.
At the end of the hallway was a large circular chamber. The horse looked down the hall and let the air out of her nostrils.
"This building feels longer than it should be," She noted.
"Oh, quite so. Special magic is used on all floors," Bree replied. Every floor in my home is enchanted, and so is each room; that way, I could fit as much as possible. Honestly, this entire floor is where I store the loot that couldn't fit on my person and wasn't interesting enough to use for decoration." Bree chuckled before actually thinking about the amount of loot she had.
She had been somewhat of a Videogame hoarder; when she first started playing the game, she still had her original base gear on a mannequin somewhere in the mansion, even though she had instantly swapped it out for the bonus gear and had never used it.
Once she reached level 10 and gained access to her own home, upon realizing that adding extra rooms for storage cost basically nothing, she had blown half her paycheck on expanding her inventory without even realizing it. At the time, it had been a serious problem, but now she was thankful for all those cold nights when she couldn't afford to keep the heat on to keep playing the game.
"I probably have enough loot to arm a medium-sized nation," she decided, "I should really organize this place," Bree shook her head. "Off-topic, this room right here is the most important room in the house, The Creation Chamber," Bree held up her hand, and the rounded room began shaking as tables filled with dozens of clay models rose from the floor. "This is where I made most of my subordinates,"
She smiled at the models when she spotted one of her older ideas for Winnie. "Oh yeah," She chuckled. "I was originally going to make her a Naga; why did I go with a Harpy in the end? Probably for the air support. Come to think of it; I need more people who can fly," Bree mentally cursed herself. "Focus dammit,"
Bree walked to the rounded end of the room, where a simple platform was waiting for them. "Simply step on the platform, and we can get started," the Horse said, doing as she was told. Bree held up her hands.
"Species Change, Centaur." Bree watched as the platform began glowing and the horse turned into light. Bree quickly confirmed that it had not gone to plan when the shape of a horse was replaced with that more akin to a Minotaur without horns. Not one to be disappointed by an expected failure, Bree held out her hand and began casting spells on the Horse while she turned into an unknown species.
"Maximize Size, equip basic gear, assign basic skills, assign skill points, Strength Level Five, Master of Blades Level Six, Resistance to Magic Level Four, Agility Level Three." Bree set her hands down and watched as the creature before she took shape. True to her previous thoughts, she took the shape of a Horse, like a Minotaur, Shorter than Minerva but taller than Silver.
Thanks to the specific spells Bree had placed, her Frame was muscular but slim, allowing her to be strong and agile. Even though she had a higher strength state, she was nowhere near as large as Bertram due to already being a strong horse, so the five levels of strength probably hadn't affected her nearly as much as they would an Axol-Light since the small creatures' maximum strength state probably didn't even get close to capping out at one point. The Light dissipated, and the Horse Minotaur looked at Bree.
She had hooves and was wearing a basic set of steel Armor without a helmet. She still had horse ears instead of human ears, but her face was lean and fierce. Her eyes were hazelnut brown, and she had long, flowing blond hair. She looked at the hands that were now hers in awe for a moment and made a fist before kneeling to Bree.
"Thank you, My Lady," She said. "I will use this body to serve you well," Bree looked at her creation, lost in thought; after a moment, the new creature raised her head, worried something was wrong. Bree suddenly snapped and declared with confidence.
"Daisy," she decided. "Oh, that will do; how does it sit for you? Sound like a good name?" Daisy gasps, tears rolling from her cheeks at the proclamation.
"A…a Name!" She went from kneeling to Groveling, something that didn't even phase Bree at this point in her day, "I will treasure your generosity for the rest of my days!" Daisy declared proudly, "From this day forward, the magnificent Name of Daisy is mine to treasure,"
"Wonderful," Bree said before holding her hand as a Dadao Sword formed in her grasp. Bree tapped it with her staff, and a stronger version of the enchantment she had stolen from Jacob Razzors blade was cast upon the Dadao; she added a few more to make it as strong as she could before she let go of it instead of falling is floated towards Daisy. "For your Promise of loyalty, I present to you this Enchanted Sword I created just for you; I call it The Dadao of Storms; you'll be reporting to Annie within the next hour for a basic sword lesson and instruction on how to activate its enchantments."
Daisy reached out her hand and took the Blade. In doing so, a seeth materialized on her back. She sheathed her sword and bowed.
"Thank you for your generous gift, my Lady,"
"No problem," Bree replied sweetly. "I've decided you'll be joining me, Orion, and Winnie tomorrow along with either Boris or Manfred, seeing as you most likely know the way to the human settlement, so make sure you make the most out of your time with Annie tonight,"
"Indeed, Ma'am, I do," Daisy replied, "I am happy to accompany you on your quest,"
"I'm sure you are," Bree replied. "Now come, Daisy, we must introduce you formally to everyone else,"