The Rise of the Exiled Villainess

Chapter 2: The Cursed Lands of Arcana (Umbra) Part IV

I know I shouldn’t know this yet but in the official game, the reason why daddy left the lands is because of an ongoing rumor of Umbral tribespeople being turned into slaves. Per generation of heirs, this is no longer new news for us. However, it’s a serious one that requires blood to be shed if needed. He’s probably been slashing heads like pumpkins (Please do not imagine this for the sake of your own sanity).

Problems like s*****y and discrimination are common concerns that daddy usually deals with especially if it’s a large-scale syndicate. As a matter of fact, ever since I was born I’ve only seen him make two to three business trips including this one. The second business trip was the reaaal mess… Daddy came home with his hands and face covered in blood. Momma had to use magic to clean daddy’s face since she thought those were injuries.

Of course, I have to act natural right now. However, the moment I awaken my eyes, I have to deal with it myself. I do have a “present” waiting for me too…

It wasn’t too long when we arrived in the fields. We got down and we were met by several servants that are trying to monitor the crops for any magical changes. Strolling through the place with the winds coming from the north, the atmosphere is really mystical due to the presence of magic on all sides.

Mother entered one of the rice fields and touched the grains gently while striding through. She rejuvenated the rice plants by manipulating her mana and dragging puddles of water from the aqueduct. After finishing her task, she then brought us to the farmhouse to rest and talk to some of the servants that are checking ledgers.

Out of nowhere, I saw a child behind one of the desks and on each side, he has multiple stacks of ledgers. What the hell are they thinking?? I know child labor exists in this world but I never expected that my family would also indulge in such things?

I came close to the kid and saw several distinct features on his/her face. Well, for starters this kid has pointy ears similar to an elf but his/her hair obviously curly and color brown. The pupils of this kid’s eyes are brown too with a touch of eye bags signifying the severe lack of sleep.

I began to tear up as I was looking at this poor creature that’s being abused by the adults.

The kid glared at me for showing a bit of care! I felt a vein pop out of my neck as we both started to stare at each other competitively. Momma then intervened and carried me in her arms.

“You seem to have a new friend Eka,” Momma said while tilting her head.

“This kid is a bully! He’s not friend!”

I could hear the kid gnashing his teeth in anger. “For the last time I ain’t a kid! I’m just…just short!”

“Come on now don’t tease him Eka.” Momma tried to de-escalate the situation and she did successfully.

Nanny Katalina spoke, “that guy right there is August. He’s a dwarf and his family serves the Bathory household for five generations. Amidst his size, he is already in his teens and has a prospective wife too.”

August blushed and tried to hide his embarrassment in front of the crowd. I smirked while being held by momma. His eyes met with mine and he saw pure mockery from the look of my face.

August grumbled, “I’ll focus on checking the tabs here… I don’t wanna have any distractions!”

Momma and I sat back down after laughing our asses off of August’s response. Nanny Katalina began talking to the other nannies while tending to my siblings. The entire office appears to be lively due to our presence as my youngest sister is trying to roll on the floor. Momma used her magic to bring in a soft clean rug since Oli likes to rub her body on anything soft. It wasn’t too long before she started napping. The rest of the servants brought in some stuffed toys for her to hug and my goodness I didn’t expect such an angel to be my sibling.

Then I asked momma, “How do you use magic? I’ve only seen Nanny light up the fireplace and use wind. But momma uses magic differently.”

It caught my curiosity since whenever mama uses her magic, there appears to be no element present. Considering her prowess as a magician, it should be possible for her to harness all elements. I’ve read all sorts of books related to magic and from what is obvious, all elements manifest characteristics similar to a fingerprint. For example, fire radiates heat and manifests itself in the form of flames. Wind on the other hand is usually formless but you can feel it. Water, earth, and even nature have unique features that literally make them stand out or identifiable.

“I’m an alchemist by nature Eka. Magic is just my secondary trait which means I can control the nature of objects depending on the procedures that I apply on it.”

Momma then showed a tattoo wrapped around her arm. Then she tried manipulating a few objects around using the tattoo as a form of wand. I can see it emit some sort of magical wave as she tried to float some of the items beside her.

“As you can see, I don’t need to cast anything because of the tattoo. Your father was the one who made it and he even added his own blood on the ink to make it more powerful than an average tattoo.” Ahh yes…

This is actually one of the features of the Bathory household. Throughout the previous generations, the usage of wands were pretty rampant to the point that they use native Umbral wood and branches as materials. Two hundred years ago, my ancestor realized that channeling magic can take numerous forms apart from the usage of a catalyst. Wands have two parts which is considered as the “dual principle” of magical tools.

The first one is the base which is the material used to process the wand. Just like what I stated earlier, Umbral wood is one of the best materials if not the bone of a beast. The second one would be the blood of a magical beast that is mixed with Liquid Magic stone. By using alchemy to infuse the material with the beasts’ blood, it gains the ability to harness magic similar to how the said beasts and plants change their quality according to the mana fluctuations in the surroundings.

Using the same concept, it was there and then that my ancestor used the blood of high-ranking magical beasts as a form of specialized Ink mixture to imprint on our bodies. Considering that the Tribespeople of Umbra are well known for their unique tattoo patterns, the patterns only react to the descendants of the Umbral lands. Any outsider that tries to mimic the patterns usually suffer severe magical backlash and might even lose a limb along the way. Our house of course, contains the highest concentration of the said blood which is why it is important for me to gain that power as soon as possible.

“Can I have a tattoo like that momma?” I asked innocently.

She paused and looked at me with curious eyes to the point that I feel like melting on the spot. Momma probably thinks that I’m just kidding with my words… Why you gotta do dis to me Momma??

“Probably when you reach eight years old. That’s almost near and you’ll be a big girl after that.” Damn, I wish I checked the calendar to see if it is near.

“Will I still get hugs?”

“Awww…” Momma pulled me close to her and gave me a big hug. “Of course you will sweetie!”

We went back to our house after finishing a few loose ends in the fields. Our day finally came to a conclusion as night fell. I’ve been tucked to bed plenty of times since I’ve arrived here but I’m still not used to it because of a few odd occurrences. 

(To Be Continued)