[The night of the day Neiro went to church]
The Smith family was fast asleep after a small celebration in which Anastasia and Bertholdt praised their children for being so smart while Vamas,Lana and Neiro enjoyed getting complimented and getting to eat their favorite foods.
Lana ate a small salad, Vamas got a piece of Windu meat that was a bit too tough for him, which Neiro then cut up nicely for him, and Neiro got to eat both salad and Windu meat.
The meat was from a very old Windu that just died while Bertholdt was out foraging in the forest.
After eating their fill and talking with their parents about their favorite stories, the children quickly got tuckered out and fell asleep in their 'beds' which were simply some small mattresses put on the bedroom floor with a large shared blanket and some pillows.
Meanwhile, Stephen was to figure out a way to get Neiro how to buy things from the 'Stephen Store' when he heard that unmistakable emotionless voice in his mind.
-'I'm bored.'
-"Pardon?"
Neiro then slowly got up from his bed without making any sound, and after poking his family members on their faces a couple of times he then walked out of the Smith home. The door, opening and closing by itself for him all while Stephen was having a sense of Déjà vu.
'Why do I feel like something bad is going to happen?'
As Neiro slowly walked into GreenWood forest Stephen suddenly remembered a pretty important fact.
-"Um, sir. What has Lady Melissa been doing these past few years? I haven't seen her in quite some time."
-'I think she is playing with her toy. She has taken quite a liking to it so she must have already forgotten about her poor old father.'
Neiro shook his head after letting out a soft sigh but before Stephen could say anything he suddenly heard a girlish voice from behind him.
-"That's not true Papa! I still love you the most!"
Melissa, now being around the same size as a 5 year old girl hugged Neiro from behind, even picking him up as she did so due to the height difference.
As Stephen got a better look at Melissa he couldn't help but feel like she felt more...human.
Her once bald head was now covered with long locks of midnight black hair, her feet were inside two wooden shows and her hands were covered by a pair of gloves.
The gloves looked to be made out of human skin, with the ring finger part of the glove being 'empty' as Melissa had only four fingers.
The only thing that makes her look 'inhuman' would be her completely smooth face devoid of eyes, a nose or a mouth.
She then slowly turned around to look directly at Stephen and waved at him.
"I missed you to Mr. Box! Happy to see that you're as blue as ever!"
Stephen nervously waved back at her by growing a cartoonish arm on the side of his body while chuckling nervously to himself.
-"I uh missed you too miss, I heard you were busy playing with your toy, could you show it to us? I am sure that sir would be happy to watch you play."
'I still can't get used to her just...being able to see and hear me. Let's just go and see this new toy of hers. I just hope it isn't some Letos pup that she is tormenting.'
Neiro nodded at Stephen's suggestion and then started giving his daughter some 'head' pats.
-"I agree with him Meli, I was going to go to your playhouse anyway for what I will be doing."
-"Yaay! Let's go let's go!"
While Melissa was jumping up and down from excitement and leading them to her 'playhouse', Stephen was starting to get a really bad feeling.
Why was he unaware of this 'playhouse'? Or Melissa's toy? He started to lose his confidence as a system but then he felt a pat on his 'back'.
-"I apologize for not telling you about what Melissa was doing these past few years. I wanted to let her play by herself for a bit and if I had told you then you would've probably gotten a bit unsettled."
Stephen started to feel a little better. He knew that he had been very uncomfortable when Neiro and Melissa went out to hunt. He might be a system but he was still a man from modern times so he still gets squeamish when he sees blood.
-"Oh it's nothing, I just felt like I am not being as useful to you as I would've liked, and now me not being able to find out about something as simple as a child's playhouse had decreased my confidence. From the information given to me, system's are supposed to be things that are almost all-powerful and all-knowing for the people that possess them, but when I am just...not that, I feel like I don't have a purpose.
I cannot give you skills,traits or items that you want, because you don't need them and even the Status Window isn't listening to me."
Neiro continued following his daughter, his steps not making any sort of sound whatsoever.
-"You are my friend."
-"Hm?"
-"I said that you are my friend Stephen. Even I know that I am abnormal when compared to other humans and if I were to reveal how different I actually am, I don't know how my family would react.
I could make them accept me, love me and not care about how different I am to them.
But that wouldn't truly be their choice. I would be making them accept me. I would be controlling them like puppets and I do not want that.
I want my siblings to see me as a cool elder brother not because I made them think that or because I manipulated them into thinking that, but because they actually see me that way.
I don't want to make every relationship that I have to be artificial."
Neiro continued walking silently, his feet going over brittle branches and not causing even a microscopic crack to appear on their surface.
Stephen continued to listen to Neiro talk without interrupting him. This was something new for him.
"And so I treasure our friendship. You don't have to be useful to someone in order to be friends, you simply have to be there for them, at least that's what I think.
But that doesn't mean that I will be changing myself. I know what I am but you don't. You don't truly know me.
You see me as an unknowable being but you are misled by my appearance. I enjoy my time with my siblings, I enjoy getting complimented by my parents when I do well academically, and I enjoy talking with you.
But I love taking care of my daughter. To see her smile, jump in excitement, try to catch me by surprise when she thinks I don't see her."
A small smile appeared on Neiro's face as Stephen noticed that he could not hear anything apart from The Anomaly's voice.
Melissa was slowly walking towards a cave and turned around, slowly taking off her gloves and boots while her hide split in two, revealing her large, monstrous maw.
And Neiro's smile widened.
"I also love spoiling her and giving her toys."
Both Neiro and Stephen stopped a couple of meters away from the cave's entrance and just as Stephen was about to ask what was inside the cave, Neiro spoke first.
"There's a young woman called Mirelle inside that cave. She was a member of the group of mercenaries that came to the village around 3 years ago.
Melissa wanted a playmate as a gift and so I told her about Mirelle.
Do you want to go inside the cave Stephen?"
The questions as somewhat innocent, simply a friend asking another friend whether they want to enter a dark cave. Stephen was still reeling from Neiro had told him earlier and now that he was asked this question and then glanced at the cave...He wasn't sure.
He knows what 'playing' means to Melissa and now that he talked with Neiro, he also knows just how far he is willing to go in order to make his daughter happy.
But he also knows Neiro. He had been with him ever since he was born and he knows that he wouldn't hurt someone for no reason and so he asked Neiro something before he decided on his answer.
-"Did she deserve it?"
-"Hm? Now, what do you mean by her deserving it?"
Stephen knows that this is a small game to Neiro. He had just opened up to Stephen and now this is a test of trust. Does Stephen trust Neiro enough, now that he had been with him since birth, that he wouldn't make someone that didn't deserve it Melissa's plaything?
-"Just please answer the question. Did she deserve it?"
Neiro looked at the cave entrance and went silent. After a few moments he said one single word.
-"Yes."
-"Then no, I don't want to go inside. I am a bit squeamish when it comes to blood."
Neiro let out a small chuckle and then turned around with a small smile on his face.
-"That you are friend. Since you don't want to go inside then could you give me the Status Window? I am curious about how Mirelle's Status Window will look like."
-"Sure, now don't take too long alright?"
-"I won't, and thanks for trusting me Stephen, that meant a lot."
As Stephen made the Status Window materialize in front of Neiro, The Anomaly slowly walked towards the cave, picked up a torch that was laying at its entrance, and once inside the torch lit up on its own, providing light for its bearer.
[Inside the Cave]
Neiro was standing besides Melissa and looking at the passed out Mirelle. She was wearing her leather armor and under clothes which were now pristine. There was no wound on her body after The Anomaly returned her back to normal and cleaned the cave.
He was currently looking at Melissa with a slightly disappointed look while she was kneeling on the ground looking sad.
-"Now what did I tell you about not breaking your toys young lady?"
-"But Papaaaaa, she was still alive before you turned her back to normal!"
Neiro let out an exasperated sigh and then pointed at the unconscious body of Mirelle.
-"I thought you just wanted to play with her, why is she like this then?"
-"It's not my fault papa! She was being naughty and so I had to punish her!"
-"What exactly did she do?"
-"She badmouthed you! If anything, I was still going easy on her!"
Neiro sighed once again and then shook his head at his daughter's antics. But still decided to forgive her. After all, girls can be pretty cruel when they are young.
-"Fine I forgive you."
-"Yaaaaa-"
-"But you will be staying with your mother for a few years and learn how to better appreciate what you have."
Melissa was about to start throwing a tantrum but then very minuscule gears started to turn in her head and instead she put on a fake sad face and skulked.
-"Fiiiiine, and I'm sorry for breaking the toy you gave me Papa."
-"It's alright, now let's see how much you improved over these 3 years."
Once he said that the Status Window enthusiastically showed the Status Windows of Melissa and Mirelle.
[Melissa Status Window]
Name:Melissa
Species:Human
Existence Rank: Low Basic Human
Stats:
STR(Very Strong!):15
AGI(Trained her reaction speed by playing with Mirelle):18
DEX(Can now retract her claws and back toe into her body!):20
END(Ate a lot while playing with Mirelle):25
THG(Her skin is now covered in extremely small scales that are very tough!):25
PER(She has more eyes!):50
WIS(Can now train her toys until they are completely obedient!):15
CHR(Still a cutie!):300
INT(Learned a lot about the human body!):25
LCK(Fate is still confused):0
Mana Capacity(Started training a bit): 500/500(Full)
Trait(s):
-Diurnal vision(Her eyes can see well in both day and night time, adapting quickly to changes in light levels)
-Vomeronasal(Uses her tongue to detect chemicals in the air and to 'see' the heat that animals give off, allowing her to hunt effectively without having to use her eyes)
-Hybrid breathing(Can breathe both water and air)
-Improved Partial Mimicry(uses her tongue in order to hunt, making it look like an insect in order to attract birds. Can manipulate the feeler's on her tongue to make it look like she has hair, making herself look more and more like a normal human girl)
-Internal Analysis(Can use the feeler's on her tongue to enter the bodies of their targets if she can penetrate through their skin and inspect possible injuries or cause internal damage)
-Prehensile tails(Can use her tails to climb, balance herself, grab objects and attack.)
-Retractable body parts(Can retract select parts of her body, like her claws, fingers and toes into her body)
Skill(s):
Active:
-Call for Papa
-Animal Healing Magic(Expert):Allows her to heal animals by using Medium Quantities of Mana, healing wounds, greatly strengthening the natural immune system of the animal, allowing for the healing of small scars, damaged nerves and reattaching amputated limbs while also working as an alternative to food, water,air while also healing the target's fatigue.
-Animal Flesh Manipulation(Adept):Allows her to manipulate and inspect the muscle fibers, tendons and joints inside animals, allowing her to cause muscle cramps, twisted joints and even stop the heart's of others. Requires physical contact with the target.The higher the THG of the target, the harder it becomes to manipulate their flesh.
-Water Manipulation(Intermediate):Allows her to slightly alter the states of matter of water, letting her transfer the heat from a small barrel of water(50 L) and allowing her to either freeze it completely or to make it come to a boil. Physical contact is required due to the need of a conduit of heat. The higher the THG of the target, the harder it becomes to manipulate the water inside them. Can also create small waves and allows for water filtering, creating drinkable water out of contaminated water sources so long as the contamination isn't too severe.
Passive:
-Torturing(GrandMaster):Can use her various body parts and spells in order to induce unimaginable amounts of pain. Most techniques can make the target go into shock after only a few moments. Has gained knowledge on psychological and emotional torture technique as well.
-Surgery(Expert):Has learned how to perform intensive surgeries ranging from stitching wounds, reattaching cut off fingers and removing foreign objects from organs, muscles. Can also perform dental work.
-Butchering(Expert):Has learned how to expertly remove the skin, individual muscles, fat and a few organs from a body even while it is still alive. Her much tougher claw's can now comfortably cut through bones.
-Teaching(Adept):Has learned how to teach animals to perform tricks like burrowing, scratching, fetching and many other things. Has a small bit of experience teaching a human how to be a proper maid.
-Sneaking(Adept):In preparation of receiving her first playmate(Toy) she started learning how to sneak better by climbing the tall Vintu tree's and move silently above her prey.
-Cooking(Adept):Has learned how to cook various animals and how to properly cook and serve human flesh. Can mask the taste of human flesh and make it seem like different kinds of meat by using marination, spices and cooking methods.(Taste tested by Mirelle)
-Camouflage(Intermediate):Has a harder time camouflaging herself due to her increased size.
-Disguise(Intermediate):Can disguise herself using her feeler's and the dress she got as a gift in order to look like a normal human girl. Will only fool people with terrible eyesight or those that see her from a distance.
-Tracking(Intermediate):Uses the feeler's on her tongue to smell the lingering scent of her prey. Ends up relying on her superior eyesight anyways so her tracking skills haven't improved that much.
-Manipulation(Intermediate):Can make animals do her bidding through 'coercion'. Likes making her prey think that they have a chance to escape before she crushes their hope. Can coerce her Papa to do what she says if she acts cute.
Title(s):
-Firstborn of The Anomaly(Given by Existence)
-Cutest Daughter ever (Given by The Anomaly)
-Young Miss(Given by Mirelle)
[End Status Window]
[Mirelle Status Window]
Name:Catherine Ferus (Mirelle)
Species:Basic Midorian Human
Existence Rank: Peak Enforced Basic Midorian Human
Stats:
STR(Heavily weakened):10
AGI(Heavily weakened):10
DEX(Trained):25
END(Trained):75
THG(Trained):50
PER(Heavily weakened):10
WIS(Cannot think clearly, will need days to heal.):1.5
CHR(Very beautiful noble lady, her beauty was further improved by her reduced fat and trained muscles):15
INT(Has trouble remembering a few things, will need days to heal):1.5
LCK(Self-explained):-100
Mana Capacity(Forcibly expanded): 250/250(Full)
Trait(s):
-Forcibly Expanded Mana Capacity(Has had her Mana Capacity forcibly expanded, leading to possible health problems, mental problems and worsened potential)
-High Physical Pain Resistance(Has gained high resistance to physical pain)
-High Psychological Pain Resistance(Has gained high resistance to psychological pain)
-High Emotional Pain Resistance(Has gained high resistance to emotional pain)
-High Burning Resistance(Has gained high resistance to getting parts of her body burnt or boiled along with increasing her healing from such wounds)
-Low Poison Resistance(Has gained low immunity to poisons by getting poisoned repeatedly by eating various poisonous plants and ingesting some poisonous animals. Has gained resistance to food poisoning)
-Low Venom Resistance(Has gained low immunity to venom's by getting injected with venom repeatedly by various animals from GreenWood forest.)
-High Bleeding Resistance(Has gained high resistance to bleeding, leading to her blood coagulating quickly, closing up her wounds.)
-High Asphyxiation Resistance(Has gained high resistance to being deprived of air. Can survive without air for several hours)
-High Blunt Force Trauma Resistance(Her bones, flesh and skin were hit repeatedly with a high amount of force, making them much more resistant to blunt force trauma)
-Medium Fate Affinity(Gives her to ability to sense upcoming danger, the distance between her and the danger. Has been improved through training from Low Fate Affinity which simply provided her with a sense of 'something being wrong' when in dangerous situations. The more dangerous the situation, the stronger the feeling.)
Skill(s):
Active:
-Animal Healing Magic(Master):Allows her to heal animals by using low Quantities of Mana, healing wounds, greatly strengthening the natural immune system of the animal, allowing for the healing of small scars, damaged nerves, reattaching amputated limbs and regenerating various limbs and organs while also working as an alternative to food, water,air while also healing the target's fatigue.
Passive:
-Serving(Master):She has learned how to properly serve her master's needs, following orders without hesitation and due to her extremely high amount resistance to torture she has very low chances of divulging information or betraying her masters.
-Etiquette(Adept):Having lived most of her life as a noble lady she knows most noble etiquette required for the daughter of a Count from the Aurora Empire.
-Sneaking(Intermediate):Has a bit of experience sneaking around, hiding from her father's agents.
-Cooking(Intermediate):Has learned how to cook in order to better serve her masters.
-Cleaning(Intermediate):Has learned how to clean in order to better serve her masters.
-Disguise(Intermediate):Can disguise herself by using different clothes, changing her name and acting a bit like a different person.
-Seduction(Beginner):Has a small amount of experience in seduction due to wanting to elope with one of her father's knights.
Title(s):
-Loyal Maid of The Anomaly(Given by Existence)
[End Status Window]
-"It looks like you didn't just play with your toy, I am going to tell your mother to be less strict on you."
-"Yay! Thank you Papa! I love you!"
After Melissa gave her father a quick hug they both started slowly walking out of the cave and once they started moving Mirelle slowly got up and then walked out alongside them. Her eyes and face were completely blank and just before they went outside, Neiro poked her in the cheek.
Mirelle's eyes slowly started to gain focus as she walked around and once she saw Melissa she gave her a deep bow and then said:
-"I apologize for not greeting you young miss. Apologies for not greeting you Master and thank you for restoring my body."
Neiro raised an eyebrow at Melissa and asked her if Mirelle's behavior was because of her 'punishment'. In response, Melissa nodded her head and looked at Mirelle with a proud expression.
-"Yep! Apparently she was once a noble and she had a few maids so she knows how they are supposed to act!"
-"Well I suppose you could use a maid, make sure to take her with you when you leave with your mother."
-"Okay!"
The trio then walked out of the cave and the father and daughter waved at Stephen while Mirelle went to pick up Melissa's shoes and the gloves made out of the maid's hands.
Stephen looked at the waving at him and then his eyes landed on Mirelle.
She didn't really fit the image in his mind when he first heard about her and she seemed really...subservient. She couldn't see him, she wasn't like those two but she wasn't even batting an eye at how the two beings that imprisoned her for 3 years inside a cave were now waving at, in her eyes, nothing.
He felt really unnerved but he couldn't really say much about it.
-'I mean she looks fine physically, maybe a bit tired?'
He wasn't completely sure but something felt off about her but his train of thought was interrupted once the Status Window returned back to him and once he heard Neiro's voice.
-"Alright I suppose it's time to give Meli a few younger siblings."
-"Pardon?"
-"Yay!"
-"As you wish Master."
Before Stephen could let out another word, Neiro continued.
-"I was inspired by that version of Campbell creating humanity and so I have decided to let my children explore this interesting world. Melissa will be leaving with Mirelle in order to explore the Aurora Empire and my other children will be exploring the whole Planet."
-"But that's not fair Papa! Why do they get to go where they want?"
-"It's because you broke your toy and I had to fix her, but since you are their eldest sister, how about you choose a name for them? I think 'monster' is quite an ugly word."
Melissa's expression immediately changed to one of happiness as she started to use all of her brainpower to come up with a good name.
Meanwhile Mirelle was a bit confused about Neiro was talking about since she expected he meant something else while Stephen would have had a horrified look on his face if he had one.
Before either of them could object, Melissa shouted out:
-"Anōstrum!"
-"Hmmmm, Yes I suppose that is a good name for them. Good job dear."
Then, Neiro opened and the Anōstrum came out.
They crawledslitheredflewwalkedhoppedwaddledjumpedranclimbedcamehobbledswammovedfelldroppedphasedteleported out.