Iona’s eyes sparkled as she looked up at the [Biomancer].

“You can really do that?” She practically squealed. She… had almost grown out of most of her childish habits.

The [Biomancer] - Lawrence - exchanged a glance with Alruna. He was an arachne, of all things, and not something seen every day. A spider body, like a gigantic wolf spider turned into an elvenoid torso of pale flesh, but that was only the start of the wonders and oddities that was Lawrence. Each leg was different. One was covered in sharp hair spikes, while a second had a chitinous blade attached to it. No - not attached, it was growing out from the leg. A third ended in a sharp point, and were those scales?!

Iona tore her eyes from the mystery of Lawrence’s body. Thinking about it - it made sense with his profession.

“I thought all squires were informed of this ahead of time.” He grumbled at her.

Alruna swatted Iona, who still wasn’t fast enough to duck.

She had figured out not to backtalk Alruna, or whine that it hurt. That was the point. Being a squire was a painful job, and being a Valkyrie even more so. If a bit of pain was enough to drive Iona away?

She might as well quit now, find a nice farm, and settle down. Live in the dirt her entire life, bowing to the whims of every passing noble and lord.

“I did explain it to her.” Alruna’s tone was one of long-suffering. “Half the stuff I tell her goes in one ear, misses her pea-sized brain, and right out the other.”

“But this sounded totally impossible!” Iona protested. “You teased me before.”

“Nothing is impossible with the System.” The [Biomancer] sniffed.

“Except time travel, mental manipulation, soul magic, killing gods, blowing up the planet, destroying the moons…” Alruna promptly listed. She - and the rest of Order Valkyrie - needed the [Biomancer], but it didn’t mean they particularly liked him. He traveled around in a large loop, peddling his services, and they didn’t come cheap. Not for what he could do.

“We just don’t know how to do them yet.”

Alruna gave a tiny shrug, not willing to argue it further.

“Your usual room?” She asked.

“Please.” Lawrence dumped his bags onto Iona. Alruna led the way through Castle Valkyrie, with Iona struggling to keep up. Squires and Valkyries roamed through the halls, with almost double the support staff bustling around, keeping things neat, tidy, and clean.

Lawrence had a deal with the Order Valkyrie. In exchange for a discounted rate, he got treated well, and was guaranteed a number of clients every time he visited. Iona wasn’t the only squire due to get treated by him, simply lucky enough to be attached to Alruna, who’d been assigned to personally greet the mage.

One of the perks? A reserved room that wasn’t used by anyone else. His home away from home.

Iona wanted to dump the bags down, but no. She was polite to the visitor, as hospitality demanded. She carefully put them away as Alruna and Lawrence talked, just general chit-chat. She wanted to interject, to make her comments, but no. [Charming] was nudging at her, helping her interpret the situation that she was seeing. Her input wouldn’t be appreciated.

Finally, the polite chatter seemed to wrap up a bit.

“Dinner’s in a few hours, but I’m sure you’re ravenous, coming off the road. My squire is naturally at your disposal, but before I leave, can I get you anything?”

Lawrence stretched, working out some kinks in his back and neck.

“Well. I feel fit to eat a whole pig, but before that, my mana’s full. Might as well get started. Sooner I’m done, the sooner I can relax for real.”

Iona nodded. Play was much more enjoyable when she didn’t have any work looming over her head.

“Right. What’s your name?” Lawrence focused on Iona.

“Iona, sir.” She gave a polite bow, letting [Charming] guide how much was appropriate.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Charming] leveled up! 34 -> 35]

“Age?”

“Ten, sir.”

“Eh. It’ll do. Eleven’s optimal, but I doubt I’ll be back around next year. Right. I see you’re a warrior. Going to stick with that? Double down? Go for a spellsword? Assassin? What’s your plan?”

Alruna was staring at Iona from behind Lawrence’s back. Iona knew the look well.

“I believe Valkyrie Alruna can best explain.” Iona smoothly passed the buck over.

“Physical balanced front-line warrior primary, something physical secondary.” Alruna rattled off. “We’re not sure what flavor it’s going to take, but it’s not going to be an assassin, rogue, or anything small.”

“Mmmm. And a human.” The arachne mused, looking over Iona once again. “Same budget?”

“Total, yes. Per squire? Slightly less, we’ve got three more than last time.” Alruna apologized. Lawrence waved her off.

“A small thing. You always treat me so well.” He waved her off. “What are we doing here?”

Iona knew she should keep quiet, but it all burst out of her anyways.

“Can you give me a sword arm? And claws? What about vampire fangs? Can I get those as well? What about-”

Iona only managed the four questions before Alruna smacked her again.

“Sorry.” Iona apologized as she rubbed her head.

“No, no, it’s fine!” Lawrence laughed. “Always nice to see someone take an interest, instead of running screaming. Lady Valkyrie?”

Alruna snorted.

“It’s only slightly your call.” She said, and Iona deflated. “If you’re really interested in having fangs, we can discuss it. I have a suggestion, and you’d be wise to take it.”

Iona straightened up. She knew she had no knowledge about this, just fantastical stories that happened to come knocking on the keep’s door this afternoon. Jumping to what was TOTALLY COOL was probably a bad idea.

She didn’t know why - dagger fingers sounded AWESOME - but she was willing to listen.

“We’re both humans. Sadly, we’re on the weak end of the spectrum.” Alruna started off by pulling no punches. “One of the things Lawrence here can do is make us stronger.”

“Wait, he can increase my Strength?” Iona asked. That… was impossible, right?

“Not your Strength - your strength!” Lawrence was energized by Iona’s interest. Like all nerds, he loved talking about his favorite subject - Biomancy.

“See, Strength multiplies your muscles that are already there. You can do things to help improve the muscles yourself-”

“Like all the endless running and barrel lifting they make me do.” Iona whispered under her breath. Everyone heard her, of course, their Vitality boosting their hearing, but Lawrence plowed on anyway.

“But I can make your muscles better. More. Then, as the System multiplies them, you’re much stronger for practically free!”

Iona’s eyes were shining.

“Can you also make my skin tougher? And spikes on my knuckles? And-”

The look Alruna shot Iona promised swift death. Barring that, endless laps around the castle with said heavy water barrel strapped to her back. Iona shut up.

“All that and more! The issue is, of course, money.” Lawrence’s tone was apologetic, and one leg jerked towards Alruna.

“Only got so much budget for everyone.” Alruna said. “It wouldn’t be fair to use all the money on one squire, and everyone else has to do without.”

Iona figured that was fair. Her luck wasn’t great, and her ability to win tournaments sucked. No way would she get picked to have glowing eyes and flaming elbows.

“Muscles are best for you.” Alruna put her foot down. “It’s not big. It’s not flashy. But it’ll make you stronger, better at everything you do.”

“Something to keep in mind.” Lawrence said. “My modifications last. It gives your body a new blueprint to work off of, and when a healer restores you, you’re restored with the modifications intact.”

With some effort - Iona was still ten, the peak of kid intelligence before puberty threw it all out the window - she let go of her dreams of multiple sword-arms, and acknowledged that flat-out getting stronger was her best option. Or at least, the adults seemed to think so, and the memory of when Iona had last thought she knew better still haunted her dreams.

“That counts as a big modification.” Lawrence grabbed a book out of one of his bags, and started writing down some notes. “You also get one small. Standard small modifications include eyes - either seeing in the dark, seeing further, seeing better details, etc, modification of the cardiovascular system, poison resistance, fixing your poor digestion to eat more foods, etc. Just ask!”

Most of that went right over Iona’s head. The heck was a car-di-o-vas-cular system? Poison resistance didn’t sound that great, and just what was Lawrence imagining Iona eating that she didn’t already?!

Iona glanced at Alruna, who gave her a small nod.

“Can I be big and tall?” She asked. “I want to be big and strong. I said I’d be the pillar, the shield that protects, and how can I do that if I’m a shrimp?”

“Mmm. Size modifications at that scale are usually a major modification, nowhere close to being a small one.” Lawrence half-muttered to himself. “However, there’s a reason we do this when you’re younger, and it’s not just your low vitality making this possible in the first place. What I can do is fiddle with how you grow, which is such a tiny change it hardly counts. It won’t be nearly as well-controlled as a direct modification, but hmm. Hmmmm. Yes, yes, it’ll do nicely, especially as you’re a human. Now. Stand still, the image for this takes quite a long time to construct, and if I do it wrong you will be unhappy with the results.”

Iona stood perfectly still as Lawrence put his hands on her shoulders, and closed his eyes.

Alruna half-snorted.

“This is going to take some time. Stay right there, and don’t move. You will know when it’s over.”

Thankfully, she stuck around. For the first hour. Then the second.

It was nearing the third hour of standing still when Iona’s entire body erupted in pain.