Lady of Curses

Following Maya, Aella went through a side gate, that was right, next to the massive wooden gate. The moment Aella arrived on the other side of the wall, she was greeted by a somewhat wide dirt road with wooden buildings lined on each side. 

''You're coming?'' Turning her gaze to where the voice came from, Aella saw Maya standing some distance in front gazing with her three green eyes at Aella who just stopped for some reason.

''Yes.'' Moving her legs at a light, fast pace Aella caught up to her guide while holding her cloak so that it stays in place. 

''So before we start, I would like to know how mature your mind is.'' Both of them were following the road while walking side by side when Maya asked Aella a question.

''How mature is my mind?'' 

''Well yes, I want to know what you know about this world, how much knowledge you gained when you awakened.'' Maya tried to explain what she wanted from Aella, but looking at the black eyes looking at her with confusion Maya decided to go into more detail. '' Looks like you're confused, okay we have plenty of time. So we are Safury, we start our lives as weak little creatures, and with time we grow, the more mana we consume the faster we grow. But at one point we reach a point where we gain intelligence and become sapient in the process our body changes its form.'' 

While Aella was still listening to Maya, her gaze on the other hand was directed at the settlement. The different styles of wooden buildings, the shops, and the stalls, all of it attracted Aella's gaze, but the most interesting part of all this was the people. None of them looked really human, yes many looked kind of human but all of them had something that shouldn't be on a regular human being. But although many look similar to a human there were those who looked nothing like a human. 

For example, one of the Safury Aella saw looked like a humanoid figure made out of grass, like a green grass manakin, as they had no facial features. It was fascinating and creepy at the same time, making Aella want to meet more interesting-looking people. But while Aella was looking around Maya continued with her explanation.

''Simultaneously we gain some knowledge of this world, some less and some more but all of us get the ability to speak to some level. But here's the fun part, some of Safury get the bare minimum level so that they could communicate while others gain an amazing amount of knowledge of this world. So based on this knowledge, we look at how mature is your mind.''  

Suddenly Maya reaches out her hand in front of Aella stopping Aella in her tracks. At first, Aella was a little confused as to why a hand was blocking her path, but in the next moment, a bunch of kids just ran past them a few steps in front of them, they were crossing the road without looking, playing some kind of game.

Pulling back her hand Maya continued where she left off. '' Usually, you can tell by the form if the Safury has the mind of a mortal child or adult, but there are plenty of exceptions. All in all, I'm asking if you know basic stuff.'' Hearing Maya stop talking Aella turned back her wandering gaze to Maya.

''I probably have an adult mind, I know basic stuff, for example, I know that we are in a settlement place where people live, I know what a house and a road are, or that this settlement is encased by a wooden wall.'' Aella's dark eyes were still looking straight at Maya as she continued to talk. ''I know those kinds of basic stuff, but I don't know what are these abilities, I can guess what they do, but I don't have the inherited knowledge about them. Or another example would be that I didn't know we are called Safury.'' 

''That's great to know. So now that we got that out of the way, I will tell you how things work in this settlement.'' Before Maya contained she saw a stall making some kind of meat and vegetable kebabs. Seeing and smelling the wonderful food she changed course while dragging Aella by hand, to the stall. 'Two please.'' After getting her order Aella saw that Maya paid with some kind of crystals, probably this world's currency. Maya gave one of the kebabs to Aella and continued where she left off.

''Where was I ah yes how the settlement works.'' Pausing in the middle to take a little bit of her food Maya continued. ''The first 15 days we will provide the essentials for you but after that, you're kind of on your own. Now you can choose two options, either become a regular citizen, where you somehow get an income and live here normally or become a subordinate citizen in which case you will be provided with all the basic necessities on top of everything, basically becoming a regular citizen with benefits.'' Slowly the kabab in Maya's hand disappeared as she took little bites from it as she talked.

''Subordinate citizen?'' Aella looked at Maya with a confused gaze. ''What is that and how do you become one?'' 

''Well as I said earlier subordinate citizen is someone who gets their basic necessities without doing anything, but to become one, you need to become a servant to the settlements lord.'' Maya explained to Aella. ''Now if you want more information you should go to our library, there you will be able to get more accurate and detailed information about subjects you are interested in.''  When Maya mentioned the library she gestured with her hand at one specific building, that looked somewhat like a cylindrical tower.

''But now you should probably rest, you can visit the library tomorrow.'' Aella looked up when she heard Maya, and what she saw convinced her that Maya was correct because the sun was setting and soon it would be night. Even though Aella didn't feel any kind of physical strain on her body, it couldn't be said the same about her mental state. 

Following Maya, they arrived at the place where Aelle could sleep. From outside it looked like a small wooden house. Opening the door Aella was greeted by a simply furnished room that looked like it was a living area and kitchen combined. Exploring a little bit more she found where the bathroom and where the bedroom is located. While Aella was exploring her new living area Maya was just standing by the house door waiting for Aella to finish. 

It didn't take long for Aella to finish her little exploration before she returned to where Maya was standing. ''Finished?'' To her question Aella just nodded.

''Perfect, now then, few more things you ought to know. First of all your food will arrive every morning so that you can feed yourself, but don't expect anything fancy as it's only there to feed you so that your mana absorption doesn't get hampered. Next is about abilities, you will probably wake the next morning with words floating in front of you, just don't panic that's normal, there you will be able to choose your first ability. Choose carefully as it has an impact on your future path, but you should be okay.'' Telling about the food and warning about flying words in the morning Maya had done her job, but before she left.''Good night.'' She wished Aella a good night so Aella returned in kind. ''Good night Maya.'' 

After seeing Maya walk away Aella closed the wooden door and went to her bedroom. She threw her cloak in one corner of the room and with her body fully naked she jumped into the bed. The moment her skin couched the mattress and her head landed on the pillow Aella was ready to sleep, but not before she is comfortably tucked in her blanket. Now after achieving perfect comfort Aella fell asleep.