In Loki's Honor

Been there, done that. Returning to a fleshy existence was never a good experience. The revolving door happened again as all the memories of my past lives were crammed into my new body and mind. At least Apricot died without regrets. But it wasn't painless. I remember clearly being pushed and ground against the ground for more than a mile as what I can only compare to a nuclear explosion devastated an entire country.

I went through everything again. Paradoxically as it may sound, Apricot's life had several happy moments. She loved her family so dearly that knowing they would have the god's and the Master watching over them gave me peace of mind.

But just like the Christmas carol, the list of gifts grew.

On the first life of isekai, Loki gave to me...

one New Yorker,

two amoebas,

three earthworms,

four Great White Ones,

five... Lily... kittens!

Six Apricot a'murderin.

Enough butchering of our traditions with unneeded levity. The metrics didn't even match.

I felt light. Silly. Relaxed. My new body and brain chemistry weren't one that led to bouts of anger. I felt my proclivities were more prone to laughter and mischief.

I had a body. A heartbeat once more. I lived again, but as in most tales, my brand of immortality was a mixed blessing. I felt light. I opened my eyes and saw a peculiar figure looking at me. A little man whose head was too big for his body, with tawny orange-brown skin, a wide broad nose and cheeks that seemed to be stretched to the sides. He had long curls of black hair falling down the sides of his head and wore trousers and a jacket made of scraps of cloth. The thick thread in his clothes told me he was too small.

Small for a dwarf. He might even be the height of three apples for all I knew.

We were in a tree hollow? It looks like, the raw bark and lack of sharp angles around us. There was a faint light coming from a reed curtain but I could see in the dark.

"How urr ye daein', lassie?" He slurred in what could be a butchered mix of Gaelic and Scottish. It wasn't neither, a new language that I somehow understood. Maybe Apricot's shopping spree of language skills paid off.

"Who?" I blinked and asked.

"Ah, ye keek tae be mighty doilt. That's expected, ye'v juist bin born!" He said.

Even though he seemed small, I wasn't any bigger than him. With trembling expectation, I looked at my hands. Yes, the same pale orange-brown of his. Hair... silver. I didn't have System access yet.

"Hello. Who are you?"

"Weel met. A'm phineas," He pulled suspenders underneath his jacket. Because of course the wee little man had suspenders.

"Bit th' real quaistion is, wha urr ye?"

"Are you my father?" I asked him.

He chortled, "Haw, th' lassie is a funny yin. Ah'ament yer daddy, lassie. We dinnae hae sic hings, we juist exist."

"Do I have a name?"

He snorted and giggled. "Noo, that's th' guid quaistion, isnae it? ye shuid hae a name, bit it's up tae ye tae define wha yer. Sae, lassie, whit's yer name?"

"First, what's your species? What are we?"

"We ur th' fair folk, th' caretakers o' th' world. We ur o' mony kinds bit ye 'n' ah, brownies we ur."

"Brownies?"

"Aye, milady. Althoogh yer a special kind. Female wi' silver locks. Ye hae bin marked by fate. Yer a Silkie, mibbie even royalty. Ah sense th' blood o' th' lanky auld knife-eared foolk in ye. Bit this is this 'n' that is that. Yi''ll need tae decide yer ain name foremaist. Ah cannae even introduce masell afore ye dae sae."

I reached for my chest. And truly enough, there were them wee bosom. I was clad in rags but not naked. I heard tinking and sharp-voiced giggles outside.

"We're fairies, is that what you are telling me?"

He frowned. "Urr ye deaf or dumb? ah juist tellt ye, we ur th' fair folk. Aye, fairies we ur. Brownies o' different kinds, ye 'n' ah. Noo a name ye gimme, 'n' tae th' future we kin be."

Yeah. Need to brush up my knowledge of fairies. But they are always regarding interactions between fairies and humans, not between fae and fae. Meg Moulach comes to mind, the hardworking but vengeful brownie matron. But I want to take it easy during this life. So another name. I chose Melody Symphony Crescendo Harmony.

Once I did that, a fanfare played.

CONGRATULATIONS. You have come of age and are now considered an adult of your species.

You are a Brownie [Silkie]. As an ultra-rare variant, you receive:

1 Attribute point every level.

+1 Magic every odd level.

+1 Dexterity every even level.

+1 Mind every third level.

+1 Willpower every fourth level.

+1 Luck every fifth level.

5 Skill points per level.

1 HP per level.

0 MP per level.

1 Perk every even level.

You are Very Small. All damage caused divided by 5. HP divided by 5.

You gained the Unlock Luck (very rare) perk. You unlocked the Luck Attribute. Your Luck will display in your Status. You can directly spend Attribute points on Luck.

You gained the Nimble Dodge (very rare) perk. When fighting creatures bigger than you, you gain bonus movement speed and a dodge bonus for every difference in size.

You gained the Spin Silk (very rare) perk. You can use MP to create, spin, and weave silk. You can choose the thread color and fabric pattern.

You gained the House Magic Affinity (uncommon) perk. You can use House Magic spells with greater effect and reduced cost.

You gained the Natural Spellcaster (very rare) perk. You need only your concentration and MP to cast spells to which you have an affinity perk.

You gained the Fairy Animal Shapes (rare) perk. You can spend MP to shapeshift into small harmless animals. You do not transform back if you die in animal form. Mortal magic cannot see you for what you are. Other fairies recognize you as one of them.

You gained the Faerie Invisibility (rare) perk. You can spend MP to turn invisible. Other faeries can still see you normally. Attacking breaks the invisibility. This is an illusion effect.

You gained the Boggart Transformation (very rare) perk. You can spend MP to transform into a boggart, a mischievous incorporeal spirit that can manipulate crafted objects at a distance.

You gained the Cold Iron Vulnerability (curse, uncommon) trait. You take 200% normal damage from attacks made of cold iron.

Your Attributes are above the cap. Redistributing points.

You gained the House Magic (uncommon) Skill. You can learn and cast House Magic spells.

You gained the Matvese fairy language (rare) Skill. You can speak the language of the Matvese fairies. Your rank is Journeyman 35.

Brownies were a cheat. The Silkie variant was a lucky one, quite literally. I mean, I got seven perks, one weakness curse, and one Attribute unlock. And their Attribute progression is very good. Two and a half points every level. Maybe that's because I'm a very rare variant. I wonder if some industrious God did something to help me.

That I was born knowing the language was something very strange. Born wasn't even the proper word. I had no idea how fairies came into being but I suspect it had to do with the number of broken objects in my hollow. If that was my hollow.

Being weak to cold iron was going to sting me in the butt. I needed to find one way to get rid of that. If not in this life then in the next ones. But there wasn't anything I could do now.

I didn't go for the class and profession selection yet. I needed to learn more about the setting and it's not like I'm losing Exp by delaying the choice. Some things in the System seems to have changed. The organic growth of the System was an interesting thing.

Back to the Scottish brownie. "I made my choice. A name I do have now. How should I call you?"

He smiled. "Ye'r smart. Maist newborns juist blurt thaim oot. Ah gang by Neep aroond thae bits. Keep th' name in yer hert fur yersel'. Noo ah will gie ye yin tae answer by. Ye'll be cried Silverstreak efter yer bonny mane. Did ye git yer system awready?"

"I did. It said I'm a Brownie, Silkie variant as you said."

He grinned and waved me to follow him, "That's braw! Ye git jammy! Noo come, ah will shaw ye aroond."

We were in the hollow of a tree's trunk, a few meters above the ground. The place reminded me of the Fulgen forest with its massive evergreens. But instead of elves going on with their lives in harmony, this place was utter chaos. Fairies of several kinds were frolicking around, playing pranks on each other, and having a very good time.

At first, I couldn't see the houses. But as I watched the faeries come and go, I was astonished as to how well hidden they were, and how easy they were to spot once you knew what to look for.

Neep led me to cross some vines to the next tree. Some winged fairies came to take a good look at me.

"Wow look at her, Sisters!"

"Her hair is so pretty! I want to cut a lock for me!"

"I saw her first."

I was outnumbered two to three. Time to even the odds.

The water fairy yawned.

She replied. Living inside my soul made her get some mannerisms from me. The bad ones, it seems.

Nenandil popped out from my chest. Not like she came out from a tiny spot. More like she detached herself from my chest, abdomen, thighs, and face.

"Wow! Just wow! So many sisters!" Nenandil giggled.

"Hey, you're the tall one now! That's unfair!" I protested when the water fairy landed next to me.

She hugged me. Her skin felt damp and cool but not clammy or cold.

Neep looked at us and grumbled. "Argh, th' list o' surprises ne'er ends. Howfur kin ye hae a fairy bound tae yer soul while bein' yin?"

"Oh. Neep, this is Nenandil, my soulbound familiar. And Nenandil, this is Neep, my Scottish guide."

"Whit th' hell is a 'scoop-tish'?" He asked.

Nenandil faced the trio of winged fairies hovering around me. "Begone, you. No trickery or wicked deeds will be done to the one under my protection. I swear by my mother's lake I'll drown you and freeze your pussies."

The three covered their crotches and gave Nenandil some distraught glances. Neep was guffawing and I feared he would choke on his own spit.

"That's a spirited yin if ah ever saw yin. This Nenandil fellow surely pat they pixies in thair steid. Brats in thair foremaist hunner years ur solid tae discipline!"

"Won't it backfire? They seemed hurt," I asked Neep.

He waved them off, "Na. They airheads wull forgoat aboot that 'n' gang pester someone else."

Nenandil fluttered around me and hugged me from behind. "I'm happy. You're a fairy now," She told me. "We're sisters now. Maybe we can travel to the underground to meet my mother."

And that makes me wonder, does Nenandil shares my languages? She probably does.

I caressed her arm. "Your mother might be pissed at me. When we made our deal, she thought her daughter would return when I died a mortal's death, and that was two lives ago."

Nenandil scoffed. "She can be angry as much as she likes. You beat her fair and square and you did mention 'until the final death' when you made our pact. I'm with you until the end of times."

"Or when the gods find a way to get rid of me."

She tensed and groaned. "That would be very callous of them. You saved a continent from that Demon Lord."

Neep coughed. "Wid th' lassies please mind a'm aye 'ere? ah dinnae think ah wis suppose tae hear that chat."

I didn't feel the paranoid need to keep my secrets from Neep. I must say, a fairy's way of thinking is weird.

"That's fine. Who would believe me?" I waved his worries off.

He shrugged, "If that's whit ye say. Anyway, we're 'ere. A' freish fairies ur suppose tae introduce themselves tae oor Queen."

Oh. The Fairy queen. Finally some royalty I won't have to fight to the death. Speaking of which...

I tried to put an {Assassin's Contract} on Neep. It didn't work. The mental compartmentalization ability Apricot had was lost. Speaking of which, what is my random disability this time? I browse through my ridiculously long Status sheet to find it.

Situational:

Dead Magical Conduits (disability, very rare): Your magical conduits are dead. You cannot spend MP or use magic in any way.

Bloody fucking curses.