Taking a deep breath and letting it slowly flow out of me again, I looked outside, hoping against hope to spot some thick clouds anywhere nearby. Sadly, the weather wasn’t cooperating, the day outside was picture-perfect, with a deep, blue sky stretching as far as the eye could see, the temperature just shy of being too hot with a gentle breeze keeping things from being stifling. Or in other words, it was just about the worst possible weather for me, meaning I had to consider my options in regard to a promise I had given Luna, namely that we’d visit Apple Gate Farm so she could meet a few people her age, maybe play with them or something along those lines.

On one hand, taking her there would be a pain, quite literally. The Sun outside was strong enough to burn through my Astral Power, even with my considerable reserves and ability to regenerate it, and scorch my pale skin, turning it into a scalded mess within a short time. If I had some suncreme with a protection factor in the millions, I might consider it but there was no such thing, nor did I have an alchemical alternative.

On the other hand, I had promised to take her and I didn’t want to break my promises, certainly not those I made to my daughter, leaving me with a bit of a problem. If there had been a nice thunderstorm rolling in, blocking out the sun, I could have waited for it but by the looks of it, the sun would continue to reign supreme in the sky until it finally disappeared behind the horizon in a few hours.

Stretching my hand forward, I let some of its rays hit my skin and immediately felt my Astral Power draining away. With just that small amount of skin under its rays, the drain wasn’t enough to overcome my regeneration, but it was a little uncomfortable nonetheless.

Watching for a moment, I pushed a bit of Astral Power into a different application, altering the cloak of Shadows I usually wrapped myself in for concealment and made it into just that, a cloak of shadows without any additional properties. It easily covered my exposed hand, my skin becoming obscured by a layer of darkness I could only see though thanks to my affinity, and the drain from the sun faded, though the spell used up just as much Astral Power, or maybe even more.

But it was a workable solution, at least I hoped so.

Just as I was about to call for Luna, so we could go to the farm, my eyes tracked across a large, black family umbrella standing in one of the corners. It was one of those massive things that could easily double as a tent if needed, sheltering an entire family under its expanse, though in this case, it didn’t really need that, did it? I had been so focused on using magic to ward off the sun that I completely failed to keep such an incredibly simple solution in mind. There was no need for magic, at least not to constantly use it, if I could carry my own shade with me and while it wasn’t a parasol, the difference was so minor that I didn’t really know it, other than that parasols had gone out of fashion a long time ago.

Picking the massive thing up, I wondered if I could only lift it thanks to my increased attributes, before walking to the door, opening it and pushing the umbrella outside before letting it unfold. The thing was as large as I had expected, the fabric keeping people dry maybe a little thicker than normal, but for me, that was perfect. It warded off the sun, keeping me nicely shaded and while the shade wasn’t dark enough to completely suppress my weakness brought about by my curse, it was enough to reduce the drain significantly.

Walking outside during a sunny day for the first time since the change, I took a few moments to make sure I didn’t accidentally expose any part of myself, before allowing me to really experience the day.

My curse had forced me to adjust to a nocturnal schedule, with only a few clouded days with Luna breaking that pattern, but now, standing in the Sun, I felt weird. There was a part of me that had missed the light, missed the sun, the warmth and what should be a nearly perfect day, at least by any normal reckoning, and yet, I couldn’t relax. There was a part of me that was discomforted, knowing that I shouldn’t be out in the Sun. For a moment, I wondered if this sensation was part of the curse, that it made me crave the night for some reason, that it was messing with my mind, but I couldn’t really pin down any foreign influence on my thoughts. They were just weirdly contradictory.

Instead of continuing to let my mind twirl in circles, I called for Luna, while making the umbrella a little more comfortable, using some Astral Power to darken the shadows around me even further while adding a minor bit of Ice Magic, making them feel cooler than they had any right to.

Luna happily skipped out of the house, taking one glance at me, standing there with my portable shade, and came over grabbing my free hand with a wide grin.

“Now, little one, we’ll be going over to the farm,” I told her as we started walking, “Keep in mind that you have to keep your aura reigned in, or the people there are going to feel it, and it’s not a nice feeling for them. They’d feel uncomfortable and if people feel uncomfortable, they are liable to lash out, okay?” I reminded Luna, knowing that her Charisma, now that she had invested her attribute points, was high enough to keep others from feeling the sheer difference in level, though they’d still feel something. Maybe a bit of awe, which was a lot better than the sheer intimidation I was radiating, at least in my book.

“Mhm, you told me and I trained with the dogs to keep myself reigned in, just like you showed me,” she nodded, skipping along before dropping my hand and running over to check out some plant that caught her eye. I could only smile at her exuberance while making sure that what she had found wasn’t about to react aggressively to her approach. But no, it was just a flower and even focusing on it, I was unable to detect anything but the most basic signs of life from it. No Astral Power coursing through the soil indicating that it was a lure, nothing in the air, no strange smells or tastes, nothing. Nothing, but a harmless flower. But I could never be too vigilant, not when it came to my daughter’s well-being.

A few of the dogs that had been hanging around our lair joined us, happily running along, sometimes playing with Luna as we walked. It didn’t take us long to get to the farm, even with the way my munchkin was playing along the way, and for once, we were noticed on our approach.

I almost wanted to applaud the guard, though given that I was carrying a massive black umbrella, had a few barking dogs and a happily giggling child with me, they would have had to be asleep to not notice our approach. And even if they’d been asleep, they might have woken up from the ruckus Luna and the dogs were making.

Given our open approach, they did little to challenge us, though that might be connected to the fact that there was likely only one person walking around with a bunch of dogs and a child. Or they simply kept an eye out for trouble, and my approach didn’t qualify, I didn’t know and didn’t really care.

Either way, Luna, the dogs and I made our way onto the farm proper, and for once, I could take a look at the place by daylight. While my night vision was excellent, there was something to be said about proper lighting, it revealed some nuances I had previously missed. Plus, people were out and about now, instead of sleeping like they did at night, giving me a much better idea about the numbers here at the farm.

There were a lot more people than I had previously considered, literally hundreds of people were walking around, though most of them outside the simple palisade, tending to the fields. Some were also working, building further structures, it was all quite interesting.

Sadly, the instant I was noticed my quiet observation came to an end, when quite a few people interested in magic lessons came over, not quite acting aggressively but certainly with a pressing interest. Similarly, a few younger children noticed Luna and her pack of dogs, immediately taking an interest as well.

Letting out a sigh, I kissed Luna’s hair and told her to have fun but keep in sight, before casually conjuring a stool out of Ice, making myself comfortable under the thick canopy of a tree, using what natural shadow I could find to lessen the amount of Sun hitting me.

“Now, let’s talk about magic,” I started my lecture, my audience quickly gathering.