"I have good news!" Helena announced the next day.

"What is it?" I wondered.

"It's warm enough that the beer garden has opened the outdoor seating again! We should go."

"We should go on Frigday evening." I suggested.

"Great! I will reserve a table and tell Cassie and Skadi." Helena replied.

Hatsumi insisted on her maid uniform, despite there being no use for a maid in a restaurant. We also had Frank with us and the cats were riding Chariot. The restaurant staff knew us well and did not mind all those undead. They even petted the cats and fed Nyx some treats.

"Ah, I have missed this." Helena said, as she filled her mug. "A shame that you can't enjoy the beer, Hatsumi."

"Hm. Do you think I could design a potion that gets undead drunk?" Cassie mused.

"You girls have fun but I think I am fine, and I do appreciate the potion you have made for me, Cassie." Hatsumi replied. She could enjoy a beverage made of blood, at least.

"I don't know. Beer is great, you are missing out." I said, as I filled my mug.

"I will make sure to keep my healing spell ready for your hangover." Hatsumi replied, with a smile.

I blushed, feeling slightly embarrassed. "I am not gonna drink that much…" I mumbled.

"I think the circulation technique also helps with that. Our bodies should recover more easily." Cassie added.

"Does this mean you can drink even more, as a spellblade?" I asked Skadi.

"I think so." She replied.

"How are the runes working with the circulation?" Helena wondered.

"Pretty good, so far. Mary has been surprised how quickly the runes are doing their job. I can already feel improvements to my body. I still have to work on using the control runes. It's weird having a smaller core to work with though." She replied.

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"How is your spellcasting now? Can you still do the blood armour?" I wondered.

"You know, using my own blood has become easier and I think it will be even stronger. But while controlling it is easier, it's rather exhausting to cast a big spell. I am not going to do a full blood armour any time soon. But I can coat my weapon. My skin is tougher now anyway." Skadi replied.

She took a sip of her beer, then continued: "You know, it's fascinating how well the circulation works with the runes. It's almost as if my body was prepared for the changes. Like, the circulation has already built the roads the runes use to get the mana to my muscles, skin and so on."

"Monsters have mana flowing through their body and the mana naturally improves them. What the runes do is guide that improvement towards specific things. Your circulation simply provides your body with mana. Your body then slowly absorbs it and changes. The runes just take that mana and give it instructions." Hatsumi explained.

"Hm. How does a monster's body know how to change? Without instructions?" I wondered.

Hatsumi shrugged. "How does a body know to grow a hand? I think your skin, organs, blood,... all your body parts just slowly absorb the mana and become stronger, more efficient."

I looked at my hands. "I wonder if we will change." Then I felt a hand at my tail. Helena was petting it.

"Maybe you can become even fluffier." She suggested.

I blushed.

"I think Skadi's hair is becoming a bit more red. Blood red." Cassie mused.

Skadi looked at her. "You think so?"

"Mhm. Maybe your eyes too? They are pretty." Cassie replied.

Skadi smiled.

Then our food arrived and we started eating. I had ordered a grilled sausage and potato salad. The food was not fancy but it was really delicious. And went so well with beer…

"So, have you heard anything about the field trip?" Skadi asked.

"Um, no. Why?" I wondered.

"We are second years now. At least some of us should get a command position, right?" Skadi said.

"I wonder where they are going this year. You think they will do the Korrah Forest again, just with more teachers?"

"I have heard rumours that they will send the army in first. Clear an area, form a perimeter and let the students hunt in a more controlled environment." Helena said.

"If all of us get command of a squad we will be split up. That sucks." Cassie stated.

"True. We work best as a team. Hey, maybe I can at least lend you a cat or something. Then you have some reliable backup." I suggested.

"You could create a personal cat for everyone." Hatsumi suggested.

"Huh?" I replied.

"Why not give all your friends their own undead cat? Yoru and Ivy have shown how deadly they can be. They don't look dangerous, which means they will catch any potential attacker by surprise. Maybe you can do a joint casting? Make sure the cats match them really well." Hatsumi suggested.

"Meow." Nyx was suddenly alert and hopped on the table. Then she was nodding very enthusiastically.

Cassie pondered that. "I would not mind. Normally Skadi keeps me safe but we are not always together."

"I don't need a protector but a cat could backstab everything I tank, I suppose. Honestly, Ivy would work well, I think." Skadi mused.

"I like cats." Helena stated, while petting Yoru.

Hm. In a way I had Nyx, if Skadi took Ivy and Helena Yoru we would only need one more cat for Cassie. Yoru was a draugr, matching Helena's element and Ivy was vampiric, matching Skadi. Could I make a fire undead for Cassie somehow? And where would we get a cat corpse from? I had no intention of killing a cat. Was there a cat cemetery? What did people do with pets who had passed away?

I took another sip from my beer. I liked the idea of giving Cassie a personal undead cat.

"We should create a cat for Cassie." I announced.

"To cats!" We clinked our mugs.

"Meow."

It was not just Nyx, all three cats meowed. Nyx really invested a lot of time commanding them to seem more cat-like.

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