Binary Soul

> Narrator PoV <

“Look I'm telling you I can handle it!” yelled the young woman while slamming her hands onto the countertop. The thick pane of armored glass between her and the teller shook a little from the impact.

“Now listen here,” said the receptionist while rubbing her temples, “please understand that if I don’t follow the rules, the branch head will be seriously mad at me.”

She was refusing to let the young mage on the other side of the counter accept a commission from the Adventurer’s Guild. The job in question was a straightforward subjugation mission - clear out the trolls from their den and bring back their jaw bones as proof.

“But I completed a Rank C job just last week!” she insisted.

She was more than capable of pulling off such a feat completely on her own, but was denied from accepting it solo. However, the reason for that refusal was not because of the guild’s policies.

“And you nearly burned down half the forest while doing so! I’m telling you, the higher-ups will have my head if I let you have your way and run off without someone to keep you in check!”

“But Mom said I could-”

“Grandmaster Quasse was the one who told us not to let you run wild in the first place! And you know full well there’s no way the Branch Manager would dare ignore an order from her! I don’t care how much you plead and beg, you’re not going to get another job unless you have someone responsible around to keep you in check!”

The mage, Aura, clicked her tongue in annoyance. How ridiculous! So what if she burned down a forest or two? Her mother had cracked open an entire mountain in her youth and was lauded as a hero for it! What was with this impossible double standard?! Was it because they were coddling her again? Yes, that’s probably it. Those mothers of hers had always tried to discourage her from taking up a dangerous profession like this, despite them being accomplished adventurers themselves.

The 17 year old woman pulled back from the counter and crossed her arms in front of her sleeveless purple tunic. The light, shimmering fabric gave her a vaguely exotic feel, which was accentuated by the matching short pants that were tied off just above her knees. That is to say, where her knees would have been if she had any of those. Her elbows were missing as well. As a result, her forearms and lower legs appeared to be detached completely from her actual body, although it was not a cause to worry about. Such things were quite a common trait among Aura’s kind.

The Archon floated gently in the air, a few centimeters above the ground. Her yellow crystalline skin glistened beautifully in the ambient lighting of the Adventurer’s Guild building, making her look like a living, breathing gemstone. Short, spiky crystals of a more orange hue were growing steadily on the top and back of her head. Her ‘hair’ looked like she had permanent bed head and a short, unruly ponytail. Her glass-like sky-blue eyes seemed to grow with an inner light and the angular contours of her face gave her an undeniably pretty look. The outline of a pair of well-rounded, perky breasts were visible under her tunic. While she didn’t quite have the volume of her birth-mother, they were still quite formidable.

Four slim mithril bracelets hung loosely off her wrists, and two matching pairs of mithril anklets dangled over her bare feet. Mithril was a magic-conductive metal that was well suited for making mana focusing tools like staves, wands and rings necessary for mages to practice their craft. However, such things served as little more than simple accessories to someone like Aura.

The all-female race known as Archons had the innate gift to freely hear the Call of Mana, allowing them to conjure magic literally out of thin air. As a side effect, their crystalline bodies demanded regular intake of magical energy in addition to food and water. However, such a need could easily be fulfilled by simply absorbing it from their surroundings. And being the first of her kind, Aura always had a greater degree of control over this ability than the rest of her sisters.

One of whom was sitting in front of her, across the counter.

“Haaah. Alright, Nana. You win,” said Aura.

“Damn right I win! You’re way too hot-headed when it comes to this stuff, sis!”

Nana was Aura’s sister, younger by about 6 months and the second-born daughter to Kiressara mil Quasse. She looked almost exactly like Aura, save for having pale red skin and smooth, stylish crystals for ‘hair’ that were arranged into a short bob. It gave her a very calming, professional demeanor.

“Yeah, yeah,” said Aura dismissively. “I can go with aunt Yuri, right? When is she coming back from her dragon hunt?”

Having a distinguished Rank A adventurer babysit a Rank C like herself was more than a little embarrassing, but it was better than sitting around idly. Besides, Aura got along quite well with the well-endowed salamander, to the point where others constantly joked that the two had a more… intimate relationship than they let on. Such a thing wasn’t going to happen though. Yuri was an energetic and beautiful person, but she looked exactly like both of Aura’s biological parents. That sort of relationship was simply way too weird to ever work out, even by her weird family’s messed up standards.

“Umm… give me a minute.”

Nana started typing on the thin white keyboard in front of her with astounding speed and accuracy. It only took her a few seconds to find and pull up Yuri’s file, bringing it up on the Magi-Vision™ screen in front of her.

“Team [Scales] are scheduled to return tomorrow.”

“Alright, call me when she comes back okay?”

“Sure thing.”

“Thanks, sis.”

“Anytime. Now do you mind moving over? There’s a line behind you.”

Aura turned around and saw that 7 people were indeed queued up behind her.

“Oh, whoops! Sorry! I’ll be on my way then!”

The two sisters said their quick goodbyes and Aura swiftly headed out of the building and into the city of Runetap. Exiting into the street, she was instantly greeted by the warm light of the midday summer sun and the distant roars of multiple Mana Engines. Looking up at the sky, she saw four personal airplanes moving in for a landing at the airstrip just outside the city walls. They were ridiculously high up, and yet their mechanical roars could still be heard clearly over the hustle and bustle of the busy street. Adventurers, merchants, travelers and assorted weirdos all passed by each other in a hurry. Multiple signboards advertising various shops and services were lined on either side of the busy Market Street. The noise from the people alone was overwhelming for people who weren’t used to being in a sprawling metropolis like this. It’s a good thing cars were banned from entering the city, otherwise Aura was sure she would go deaf from the added loud engine noises.

She glanced about idly, wondering what to do with the rest of her day.

“I think… a walk would be nice,” she said to herself.

Well, ‘walk’ was more figurative than literal in her case. She simply glided along the street, floating several centimeters off the ground as usual. She had gotten so good at this particular spell that she could manifest and control its effects with a thought. And since Runetap always had a relatively thick concentration of mana in the air, she was able to use this particular magic pretty much indefinitely. A truly enviable skill!

Yet despite that, the only thing that was on her mind during this ‘walk’ was how inferior and insecure she felt. How could she not? Just look at her lineage!

Kiressara mil Quasse, her birth-mother, was the both the first Minister and first Director of the Ministry of Progress within this Kingdom of Ferseit. She even had the ear of King Frederick Ferseit himself even now, years after her resignation. However, that wasn’t really a good thing in her opinion. That old geezer kept pestering and intruding on her just so he wouldn’t spend his twilight years in boredom.

Ellie mil Quasse, Kiressara’s wife and Aura’s ‘father,’ was the acting Grandmaster of the Adventurer’s Guild. She had worked closely with Clara, the Guild Branch Manager here in Runetap, to reform the guild into a truly efficient and respectable organization. There was also the matter of Clara’s old fan club, which had grown so large since its inception that it was bordering on becoming a state religion.

Of course that was just the tip of the iceberg. The two of them were co-founders of the legendary adventuring team [Black Flame] that dominated the official #1 adventuring team spot for nearly a decade before it was disbanded. Each and every individual that belonged to that group was truly outrageous in their own right.

Ariel Noko became the first female Archbishop of Enuri. Her meritorious and righteous deeds had become so many that the position was more or less thrust upon her when the previous Archbishop had passed away. She also ended up marrying Inspector Lilly Alasandara, a snow-white furred female cat-folk official from the Ministry of Information. It was a relationship that saw no end of ‘cat that ate the canary’ jokes, although Aura never quite understood what was funny about that.

Kelly Darkhand was also another big name that came from that infamous team, though she was technically only a part-timer. She had maintained her opposition to becoming part of the Adventurer’s Guild and was the first of the team to give up completely on a life of adventure. Her passion had always been engineering and she had stated she simply wanted to devote her time to research and construction. The dwarf’s fascination and expertise with Mana Engines eventually led her to starting Ferseit’s first ever automobile racing circuit. The fledgling motorsport spread like wild fire to every corner of the continent and even beyond. It was insanely popular with humans, dwarves and werewolves. It was only natural that the one-armed dwarf would go on to become famous as the Mother of Racing, although her constant PSAs to avoid drinking and driving were understandably... less than convincing.

Was there even a need to mention Zublos, the Pastry King? There wasn’t a man, woman or child who didn’t know of his cake shop. Every major city and most towns had a Vestiges of the Empire branch in them. It had even spread into the City States Alliance to the East and the Republic of Ecebis to the north, contributing in no small part to the keeping the peace between all nations on this continent. It would seem that Zublos’s aggressive expansion strategy had calmed down in recent years as he spent more and more time simply enjoying life alongside his wife, Lara Alamein.

Speaking of people called Lara, there was the matter of Lara mil Quasse, Aura’s eldest human sister. While it’s true that she was adopted, none of the Archons held anything but respect and admiration for her. After all, she had managed to become the world’s first Technomancer and succeed her mother as the current Minister and Director of Progress. Right now she was spearheading the application of golem-assisted armor frames for construction and transportation purposes. Her marriage to Princess Shalia is still talked about today, even though it’s been over five years since it happened.

Of course, Lara’s biological sister, Sophie, did not fall behind either. She had become a bard and songstress of unparalleled beauty and skill. Hundreds of thousands of tickets were sold out in less than an hour whenever she made an appearance at the Arena at the capital city of Kotero. But that’s not all. News of her apparent engagement to Lyra had rocked the world to the point where it made people question if the editor of the Wyvernews had finally gone insane.

After all, Lyra was an Archon and Aura’s sister. She was the first child Ellie gave birth to and was merely two days younger than Nana. However, there was really nothing legally or morally wrong with the two sisters having that sort of relationship. They weren’t blood related, after all. And who could blame Sophie? Lyra’s crystal skin was a truly spectacular white color that seemed to rival the brilliance of diamonds, and her long, flowing, glass-like hair gave her a truly divine aura. It truly fit her image as a Priestess of Khamis. Being the first Archon to join a religious organization made her quite famous in her own right and was a welcome boon to the religious organization. The Church of Khamis has, understandably, had a hard time dealing with one of their beloved moons disappearing overnight 17 years ago.

Aura shook her head. Even her younger sister was pulling ahead of her. To speak nothing of the two gryphons that were also part of her huge family. Fluffles was standing ever by Lara’s side, keeping a close eye on her and the princess like a dutiful knight. They even had a special set of armor crafted just for him. His valiant and stoic presence around the royal palace eventually spawned the creation of a government-sanctioned Gryphon Knight Corps.

As impressive as it was for a gryphon to be knighted, his brother from another mother somehow still ended up one-upping him. Puff the Magic Gryphon somehow managed to earn himself peerage and had replaced Baron Luron as Lord of Runetap. The king even went as far as to give him the title of Viscount! The entire country had thought the old king had finally gone completely bat-poop crazy, but quieted down when the newly appointed Viscount Puff somehow proved to be a capable statesman. Or is that statesgryphon? His anti-criminal initiatives had brought about a drastic reduction in crime rate and his continued support of the Runetap General Academy, although clearly biased, had earned him a lot of favor from the citizens.

However, there were still some ominous rumors floating around Puff’s drastic rise to power. They all stated that Puff had somehow blackmailed both Baron Luron and King Frederick Ferseit to become a full-fledged noble. However, that was ludicrous. Puff was the noble steed of the legendary Ellie mil Quasse and a truly outstanding specimen that was smarter than most people. Surely such a being was beyond sinister things like behind-the-scenes blackmail and coercion. Besides, this was Runetap. The only strange thing about having a weird fire-breathing creature govern the city was that something like this didn’t happen sooner.

Aura just couldn’t get over the fact was that even her parents’ pets were more accomplished than she was!

““““Auraaa!””””

The firstborn Archon snapped out of her downward spiral of jealousy and envy by a small chorus of voices. Four of them to be precise.

“Big sis Aura! Big sis Aura! Big sis Aura! Big sis Aura!” they chanted.

“Hey you four!” said Aura with a huge smile on her face. Seeing her younger sisters never failed to improve her mood, especially when it came to these four.

The seven year old quadruplets flew steadily around Aura’s head. The color of their crystalline bodies was a rich purple that reminded one of amethysts while their red eyes shined like the highest grade rubies. They all wore matching yellow dresses that made them unbelievably cute. Indeed, these four girls were precious in every sense of the word.

Well, calling them quadruplets wasn’t quite accurate, but it was simpler than attempting to explain their circumstances. After all, they all looked and sounded exactly alike, even though they came from different mothers. Theirs was a truly exceptional case where Ellie and Kira each gave birth to twins at the same time.

“Did you come out all the way here just to see me?”

““““Yep!”””” they answered in total unison.

“Big sis Nana called,” said one of them while raising her small hand,” and she said you were feeling down, so we came to cheer you up!”

“Oh, how sweet!” replied Aura with a wide smile.

“Then big sis isn’t sad anymore?” asked another of the identical double-twins.

“Nope! I feel much better thanks to you!”

This was the truth. No matter how much she may envy her siblings, she truly treasured each and every one of them.

““““Alright! Mission accomplished!”””” they shouted while high-fiving each other.

Their voices always seemed to sync up for some reason. It would honestly be quite creepy if it wasn’t so endearing.

“Indeed! Good work! Ah, I know! Let me treat you guys to some ice cream as a reward!”

““““Really?!””””

“Yup!”

““““Yaaay! You’re the best, big sis Aura!””””

“Fufufu, I am pretty great, aren’t I?! Come on, I know just the place!”

The eldest led the younger ones towards one her favorite places to eats. The four purple munchkins kept circling around her head with arms spread while chanting ‘Ice cream! Ice cream! Ice cream! Ice cream!’ until they reached their destination - a simple unassuming stall on the side of the road.

The stall vendor was a retired lich by the name of Zain Looa Wong. He wore a simple brown robe with a white apron draped around his front and simply stared idly at the people passing by with hollowed out eyes. Even if he was an undead skeleton that claimed to be a being of immense power, he never really did anything to earn the ire of the citizens of Runetap. Him selling ice cream to people also wasn’t that big a deal. After all, Ancient Evils abandoning their ways to sell tasty treats had become somewhat of a tradition in Runetap.

Aura approached the bag-of-bones and greeted him with a positively beaming smile.

“Hey old man! Long time no see!”

“Oh! If it isn’t Aura!”

Zain returned the greeting with a light bow of his bleached skull. His oddly cheerful voice gave off the undeniable impression he was smiling, even though he had no face.

“How’ve you been, girl?”

“Ah you know, ups and downs, but mostly okay.”

“Still feeling inferior to your siblings, huh?”

“Yeah, little bit.”

“And I assume you floating bundles of adorableness are four of them?”

““““Yeah!”””” answered the quadruplets.

“Hahaha, quite spirited eh? My name is Zain, pleased to meet you!”

““““Hello, mister Zain!””””

“And would your names be?”

The four girls introduced themselves from left to right.

“I’m Prima!”

“Secunda!”

“Troika!”

“Troika Two!”

“Geh!” yelped Zain. “Shouldn’t that be Quatra?!”

“Don’t ask,” said Aura while shaking her head. “Quatra was already taken so my mom had to… improvise.”

“Is that okay? Doesn’t it make her feel bad?”

“Not at all. If anything she actually enjoys being the only one of the four with a two part name.”

“Yep!” confirmed Troika Two. The other three shared some meaningful glances between themselves that seemed to say ‘Is it really that big a deal?’

“... I’m afraid to ask but, how many siblings do you actually have?”

“90 younger ones and 2 older ones.”

“N-n-ninety?! Isn’t that way too many?!”

“Well… Apparently my moms made an off-handed promise to have four hundred babies together and… well… they always strive to keep their promises…”

Aura’s crystal blue eyes seemed to stare off into the distance, through the buildings and beyond the horizon.The old lich couldn’t muster a reply and just stared at her with his jaw hanging open.

“Anyway! Old man! We came here for ice cream so give us five cones!”

“... Oh! Right, of course. Coming right up!”

Zain snapped out of his stupor and immediately got busy selling them the ice cream. Less than a minute later all five siblings had a frozen treat in their hands. The waved goodbye to the old lich and floated away to continue their little ‘stroll.’ The quadruplets happily licked away at it, stopping only to exclaim things like ‘Yummy!’ or ‘Sooo goood!’ while floating around.

Aura also find it quite enjoyable. She wasn’t sure what the reason was, but that old man’s ice cream was the best! It even glowed slightly in the dark! How come Zain’s stall wasn’t more popular considering he had an amazing product like this?! It truly was a mystery!

The five of them kept floating around aimlessly and eventually ended up in a small park in the west area of the city. The four young girls had already wolfed down their ice cream by the time they got here.

“Gone… Was tasty though,” said Prima.

“Yeah! Really tasty,” echoed Secunda.

“Felt like something was missing though,” retorted Troika.

“Coulda used some of mom’s choco sauce,” added Troika Two.

“That’s it!” shouted the other three in agreement.

Aura on the other hand was still slowly savoring her. That is, until she heard a strange noise coming from the ground beneath her.

*CRACK*

The dried up dirt path she was floating over split open, and a filthy black-furred claw with extra long claws emerged from inside. It swiped at Aura’s feet, but she had already reacted by pulling herself up to an altitude of about 5 meters, well out of reach of the Molemen that started popping out from the ground. She was already a Rank C adventurer, so there’s no way she’d be caught by a clumsy trick like-

“AAAAAH!” she screamed. “My ice cream!”

The frozen ball of deliciousness had fallen out of her cone during her rapid ascent. The two pairs of twins that had already ran away even higher than Aura then looked at each other.

“Big sis will be mad,” pointed out Prima.

“Yep, mad,” agreed Secunda.

“We need to do something!” exclaimed Troika.

“How about we run away?” suggested Troika Two.

“That’s it!” shouted the other three in unison. All four of them then promptly flew even higher, making sure to give their notorious big sister plenty of space.

“My… ice… CREAM!”

Aura’s eyes moved away from the half-eaten ball of icy goodness rolling around in the dirt and zeroed in on the Molemen who were growling and hissing up at her. Those vermin were going to pay for ruining her precious snack tim- er, her bonding session with her cute sisters!

She took a deep breath and started soaking in all of the ambient mana around her. A few seconds later she extended an arm downwards with an open palm, pointing in the vague direction of the Molemen.

*BADZUZUZUZUZUZUZU*

A violent surge of forked purple lightning shot out from her and spread out in a wide cone. Arcs of high voltage electricity flew assaulted the impudent monsters, frying them to a literal crisp within seconds. There was nothing but ash left of the dozen or so Molemen by the time her electric fury subsided, causing a foul stench to permeate through the air.

“Fuuu…”

She let out the deep breath she took and calmed herself down somewhat.

““““Amazing! Amazing! Big sis Aura is amazing!””””

The purple-hued quadruplets praised and cheered for her while dancing around joyfully in the air. She responded by putting her hands on her hips and throwing her chest out.

“Hehe! How’s that!?” she said, brimming with pride. “Lowly molemen are nothing before one such as me!”

*KRAKAKOOOOOM*

A blindingly bright bolt of lightning struck in front of her, literally out of the blue.

“Wah!” yelped Aura.

The shape of a woman appeared before her. She had long, crimson hair tied in a messy ponytail, mismatched red and blue eyes and a face that was beautiful enough to move mountains. Several sparks of yellow electricity came off the black gauntlets she had on either hand. She also wore a luxurious, form-fitting black robe with gold embroidery along the neck, sleeves and waist. The backless garment honestly looked closer to a gown than a robe, especially when combined with her womanly figure. Her bust size alone looked like she had stuffed actual melons under it, but the formidable cleavage revealed they were, in fact, real.

“Aura Quasse!” she shouted with an unnaturally loud and stern vice.

The eldest Archon’s haughty demeanor disappeared in an instant.

“Uh, oh…” she muttered to herself. “Full name…” She floated down to the ground with a dejected look on her face.

““““It’s mummy!””””

The woman before her bore the name Kiressara mil Quasse. Distinguished adventurer. Founder of the Ministry of Progress. Court Wizard to the Kingdom of Ferseit. First Magus of the restored Order of the Eye. Archmage of the prestigious Magic Academy. A human that had ascended to become this world’s first true titan, known as Morgiana the Manaweaver.

Indeed, she had many titles, but at this very moment she was none of those.

“Just what do you think you’re doing, young lady?!”

Right now, she was just a mother looking to scold her unruly daughter.

“B-b-but- But!” stammered Aura. “The Molemen attacked us! What was I supposed to do?!”

“You can fly away from them for a start! How many times do I have to tell you to leave such things to the city guard! Look, those men are already on their way!”

She pointed towards the side. A squad of 12 shield-bearing soldiers were indeed running in their direction. Well, one of them wasn’t.

“Oh, hey mom! ‘Sup, big sis!”

The emerald-skinned Archon among them called out to her family members.

““““It’s big sis Ember!””””

The purple quadruplets floated down to greet the 15 year old rookie guard.

“Oh, you four are here, too huh?”

“Private Quasse! You’re out of line!” said the squad leader.

“Ack! Yes sir! Sorry sir!”

The grizzled officer then turned back to the scene before him. He looked at the charred Molemen on the ground, then at Aura and finally at Kira.

“Good day, Madam,” he said, nodding towards Kira. “I trust you’re doing well.”

“Good day, Lieutenant Simmons,” she replied in a calm voice and bowed slightly. “My daughter has caused you some trouble.”

“I noticed, Madam. An AR-5 by the looks of it. You know this is going to be her hundredth offense, right?”

“It wasn’t my fault!” protested the guilty party in question. “Besides, who cares if I zapped some giant rodents!?”

Kira sighed in exasperation.

“Young lady, have you looked at the surroundings?”

“Huh? What are… you… Oh.”

Her words trailed off when eyes finally noticed the scene around her. Molemen aside, the grass around them was charred pitch black, two trees were reduced to splinters and ashes and four more were currently on fire.

“What do you have to say for yourself?!”

“Uhm… Oops?”

“Wrong!”

The mother’s clearly displeased voice rang out with supernatural force. It seemed to quite literally press down on the rest of them gathered there.

“I’m sorry!” Aura corrected herself in a hurry. “I’m sorry, okay?! I didn’t mean to!”

“Better! Ah, I’m sorry you had to see that, Lieutenant. I’ll handle it from here, just send the bill for any damages to the usual place.”

“I still need to bring her into the garrison though,” insisted the guard.

“I will bring her there later. You have my word.”

“Good enough. Alright squad! Let’s get to clean up! Quasse - put out that fire!”

“Yes, sir!” answered the young Archon guard.

“Ricko, see if you can fix that grass!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Johns, go disperse those the onlookers!”

“Aye, sir! I mean, yes, sir!”

The city guard went about containing the incident in a highly professional and efficient manner, just as they always have. However, Kira wasn’t quite done scolding her daughter.

“Honestly, why do you keep overdoing things so much?”

“It’s not my fault, okay?!” insisted Aura.

“Oh really?”

Kira crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

“Prima. Come down here for a minute.”

The (technically) eldest of the quadruplets floated down to her eye level.

“Yes, mummy?” she asked while giving Kira a huge smile.

She was really glad to see her, even if it was unexpected. After all, both her mothers were busy people. They always tried to make time for their daughters, but having such a humongous family meant they couldn’t speak to all of them every single day.

“Why did your elder sister decide it was a good idea to unleash a magical calamity in the middle of the park?”

“Those things made her drop her ice cream!”

“Ack! Wait don’t tell her that!” shouted Aura with panic in her eyes.

“Oh hoh! Ice cream is it?”

“Er, well, that is… um…”

“Haah,” sighed Kira. “Where do all these highly destructive outbursts come from, I wonder?”

“Aren’t you the one that wrecked half the city on your wedding day?!” pointed out Aura.

“Th-that was… *Cough* Do as I say! Not as I do! Besides, it was only a quarter.”

“Oh, yeah, sure. Only a quarter. Well, this thing was only my ice cream! Humpf!”

Aura crossed her arms and defiantly turned away from  her with a pout.

“...”

However, her mother’s scolding didn’t continue. That was actually not a good sign.

“... What?” she asked, throwing a worried glance at her mother.

“I think Ellie should have a word with you.”

“No! Anything but-”

She didn’t even get to finish her sentence before a blue blur zoomed in. It approached at ludicrous speed, yet moved while ignoring all the laws of physics. It left no footprints, made no sounds and left even the air undisturbed. It even ignored momentum completely as it stopped on a dime directly between Aura and Kira.

“-that! Ack!”

The figure that appeared was a slender woman that bore the exact same face as Kira. She had shoulder-length ocean blue hair and a pair of matching blue cat ears stood upright on on the top of her head, swaying and pivoting towards the slightest noise. Her eyes were heterochromatic - one was red and the other was blue. They were just like Kira’s, except reversed and with a distinctive cat-like iris. A long, fluffy tail swayed idly behind her back, completing an image that was almost a parody of the more bestial cat-folk that were native to this world..

Her outfit consisted of a pair of dark gray, skin-tight pants, a loose-fitting navy blue shirt and an open coat that looked to be made of black leather. Her trusty wrist-mounted grappling hooks were there, although mostly for decoration and recreation rather than practical purposes. The same could be said about the unnaturally heavy black blade sheathed horizontally behind her waist. Her feet were protected by a pair of sturdy-looking leather boots that went up to her shins.

This was her other mother. Ellie mil Quasse. Grandmaster of the Adventurer’s Guild. Headmistress of the runetap General Academy. She was the second true titan and carried the moniker of Asura the Worldbreaker. Truthfully speaking, that extremely ominous title was mostly due to Nano, the artificial intelligence that dwelled inside her immortal body.

“Aura,” she said while glaring coldly at her misbehaving daughter.

“Eeep.”

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Ellie turned around and leapt at Kira with arms stretched out. The mage effortlessly caught her and spun her around almost like dance, then they shared a long, deep kiss.

“Hey, beautiful.”

“Hi, Kira!”

The stern expression Ellie had a moment ago was gone like it was a bad joke. Right now she sported the blissful smile of the luckiest woman in the world.

““““It’s other mummy! Yaaaay!””””

“Hey girls. Having fun in the sun?”

““““Yeah!”””

“That’s good. Exercise is important! Hmm?” Ellie sniffed at the air. “Oh, Ember’s around too, huh?”

“She is,” confirmed Kira. “She’s over there, assisting with cleaning up after Aura’s mess.”

“I see. And Aura is being stubborn again?”

“Yes.”

“N-no! I wasn’t!”

Now it was time for the smile to disappear and for the cold gaze to return. The way she changed her emotions at a moment's notice was more than a little freaky.

“I am not freaky.”

Oh shi- ! I mean! It wasn’t freaky at all! It just had a profoundly strong impact! In fact, the huge gap between her happy face and her serious face somehow made her even more alluring! Truly a person befitting of the love of the great and amazing Kira!

“Better,” nodded Ellie to nobody in particular.

“Who are you talking to?” asked Kira inquisitively.

“Nobody important.”

Hey, don’t glare at me like that okay?

“Anyway,” said Ellie, completely disregarding the extra-dimensional presence that insulted her. She turned towards Aura and resumed the scolding session.

“You overdid things again didn’t you?”

“I, uhm… a little bit…”

“Aura.”

“Yes! Okay! I did it! I flew off the handle again! I apologized already, okay?!”

“Good. But not good enough.”

“Ahhh! No! I’ll be good! I promise!” pleaded the guilty party.

Ellie disappeared and reappeared in front of Aura in the next instant. She held her hand up to the Archon’s forehead and gave it a single flick which sent the unruly girl flying backwards. She bounced two times across the grassy ground, then slid for a second before coming to a stop some 30 meters away from her initial position.

“Oowww! That freaking huuuurts!”

Aura rolled around on  the ground while clutching her forehead. The flawless crystal-like surface now had an obvious web-like pattern of cracks around the place Ellie’s finger had made impact. Her arms and legs had a number of scratches and dents from the rough tumble as well. It wasn’t a big deal, though. The crystal flesh of an Archon was extremely resilient and would heal rapidly as long as they absorbed enough ambient mana, so these injuries were hardly life threatening.

However, such bruises were merely a side-effect of her actual punishment. Ellie appeared next to Aura without disturbing even a single blade of grass. She leaned over the writhing Archon, her serious expression amplified by the shadows her hair cast over her face.

“I’ve sealed your magic for three weeks,” she declared. “Maybe now you’ll learn to treasure your gifts instead of flaunting them about all the time.”

“Oww! What?! Three weeks?! What am I supposed to do with myself for that long?”

Ellie’s lips curled into a pleasant smile.

“I suggest you re-take the Basic Adventuring course at the RGA.”

Her eyes, however, were far from pleasant.

“... Yes, ma’am,” replied Aura with a thoroughly dejected voice.

“Very good. Now come on, let’s go grab some lunch.”

Aura was picked up off the ground by Ellie’s Telekinesis and made to follow along whether she wanted to or not.

“You four,” she said while pointing at the quadruplets. The purple girls were giggling at the expense of their elder sister’s misfortune, but stopped immediately when they were pointed out.

“You’re coming with us.”

““““Yaaaay!””””

“Kira?!”

“Of course I’m coming, silly ~♡!”

“Hehehe ~♪! Ah, Ember?”

“She’s still on patrol. We shouldn’t disturb her duties.”

“Mm, good point. I’ll make it up to her later. Nano, we’re going home. Bodyslide by 7.”

{Aye, aye!}

The two titans and five Archons disappeared in a flash of light, taken away to their flying home base to enjoy some quality time together with the majority of their family.

One would expect this exotic group and their weird antics to draw curious glances from onlookers and form a crowd around them in no time, but such a thing didn’t happen. Not because people weren’t around, but because they simply didn’t care. And the reason for that was simple.

This was the city of Runetap. The largest trade city in the Kingdom of Ferseit, built on the crossroads of two major highways. Population at any given time exceeds 600,000 people, but only half of those were permanent residents. Most of those living here, temporarily or otherwise, were human. Elves, dwarves and cat-folk were in the minority, but they were still a common sight.

It was by no means a quiet place. Flying machines flew overhead regularly and trains passed through the central hub constantly. Loud cheers could be heard from the numerous bars and restaurants. Fights and disputes often broke out in the street. At first glance, Runetap was a noisy place that attracts trouble. However, the sheer amount of trouble that reared its head was staggering.

Titans walking the street? That was hardly out of place around these parts. Umph had been volunteered to teach Titan Lore at the Runetap General Academy, so their presence was hardly a secret.

Molemen springing out of the ground and attacking citizens for no good reason? Just another Monday.

The moon exploded into a puff of red mist and white chunks? So what - they still had another one, didn’t they?

That High Dragon approaching overhead? Okay, granted, that was slightly inconvenient, but it was no cause for alarm. After all-

*KRAKAKOOOOM*

“PIKYAAAAA!”

“COME BACK HERE YOU INSUFFERABLE POOP TORNADO!”

Kira had never quite forgiven their kind for ruining her wedding day.

Binary Soul - END