-Theodore Roosevelt

"Excellent," Moira said with a smirk as she moved her arm, gently flexing the defined muscles as she pulled at and inspected the skin near her elbow. "This time it barely hurt at all. Healing always causes some pain - hard not to when knitting skin and muscle together - but it's best to prevent any unnecessary suffering. I suppose it always is."

"Yeah… that's… honestly, that was harder than I thought," John said, glancing upward. His mana bar was nearly depleted, but he had a slew of pop-ups to make up for that fact.

Achievement Unlocked! "Everyone needs a little Support!" ~ Learn a healing spell, buff spell, or debuff spell. Supports are people too!
+200 EXP
+10% To Healing Effects [Except self-healing]
+10% To Buff Effects [Except from abilities that only self-buff]
+10% To Debuff Effects [Except debuffs cast on self/party]

Achievement Unlocked! "Just a Padawan!" ~ Gain a rank in a Faction. How long until you're running the joint?
+500 EXP
+10 Relationship with all Faction members

Rank Gained!
Order of the Golden Rose rank obtained: Squire.
Benefits: *Access to Brighton Mansion training grounds. All nearby Order of the Golden Rose members' HP and MP bars are visible without the use of Observe.

Skill Learned: Lesser Heal Level 1.
Lesser Heal: Restore an amount of HP to the target equal to [MP Used x (John's Level / Target's Level)]. If Lesser Heal restores HP equal to the amount of damage inflicted by any individual attack on the target, remove all wounds and impairments inflicted by that attack, including all status ailments (except ****). If Lesser Heal restores HP sufficient to equal more than one attack, the user may determine which attack(s) to remove the wounds/impairments inflicted by. Mana Cost: Variable, determined by user at time of use.

"What are you looking at, John?"

Moira's words startled John for a moment, before he realized that everything he'd just seen he could actually share with Moira, for once. He took a second to collect his thoughts before pointing vaguely above Moira's head, where the notifications rested.

"While we were training, some new things appeared."

As he explained the Achievements and rank-up to Moira, her brows furrowed, but she didn't look angry so much as thoughtful.

"That’s very interesting, John. Your abilities have converted your training to a statistical factor almost immediately after its conclusion. Maybe even during, if you missed when they appeared. It's not entirely out of the realm of the spell I taught you to do those things, but it normally takes far more training. Though, the restrictions based on your level do pose a challenge of their own. Healing a paper cut shouldn't normally take much more effort because of a person's relative strength, certainly not on any kind of percentage basis…"

"Maybe it's a form of balancing?" John asked, eyeing the skill. "If I used all my mana at a x2 ratio on you, I could heal over a third of your health. Considering how much stronger you are than me, that's quite different to me just healing a couple people around my level to full health. Keeping you in a fight is more effective than keeping me in it."

Moira glanced at John for a moment, but her eyes seemed elsewhere. Her voice came quietly, as if she were talking to herself more than him.

"Very interesting. So your abilities are certainly unique, but - perhaps literally - balanced to keep you from becoming too powerful because of any single ability. There is someone who could help us determine the extent of your abilities, who could show you what options you have to improve yourself further, but it may require some invasive testing… depending on her mood. The rewards would be great, of course; in the past, the few members of the Order of the Golden Rose she has deemed worthy of study have learned much about their abilities and have been able to improve themselves rapidly."

"What would I have to do to repay you for such a task?" John asked, raising an eyebrow. He was honestly more worried about what this person might uncover about him, but he wasn't going to tell Moira that.

"Nothing. It would be to our benefit as much as your own to learn about your capabilities, John, and… well, frankly, I think that if I simply pass on information about your natural talents, I would be hard pressed to stop her from coming here to study you. That's why I would not message her without your permission."

"Maybe we can decide after the mission, Moira. Until then, I want to focus on how to help you."

"Well, since you claim to be out of mana, and the sun is about to set, I think the best thing you can do now would be to go home and get some rest. I'll send for you whenever I have time and when I think it would not make your mother suspicious to have you leaving. Even cram school has its off days, of course."

"Of course," John said, smiling. He hadn't realized it at first, but now that the initial stress of revealing himself to Moira was over, he was starting to feel much more comfortable around her. He hadn't realized how much his secrets had been holding him back until after they were finally lifted. Well… partially, anyway.

"Safe tidings, Mr. Newman. Let me escort you to your limo… you do have appearances to keep up, after all."

"Seriously, if I have to see that Deception pop-up one more time," John said, threatening the empty room around him as he shut the door behind himself. Lying wasn't something he'd had to do often, and it put a bad taste in his mouth that every time he told his mother something to cover for his magical activities now, he got that "Deception Successful!" message.

Seconds after the door shut behind him and right after he finished speaking, the door to his closet fell open. Seras fell out, clad in his clothes, a poorly-fitting yellow polo with a pair of black exercise pants around her waist. She had changed, and it seemed she still had yet to find a pair of pants that could contain her ass successfully. He wondered if she'd ripped another pair while trying…

"M-master! Thank goodness you're home!"

"I take it you weren't exactly left alone?" John asked, eyeing Seras' demeanor as she climbed from the floor. Piles of clothes fell off of her; jackets, nicer shirts, dress pants, and other pieces of clothing that he'd had hanging up which she had somehow managed to tangle around herself.

"N-no! A woman came in here just a little-"

"Seras, quiet," John warned once. She immediately froze, popping her hands over her mouth. John listened for several seconds, making sure that his mother didn't shout to see what was going on or head toward the stairs. Then he locked eyes with Seras again, though he kept his expression skeptical.

"Now, continue. Quietly."

"Just a little while ago," Seras almost whispered, before continuing in a normal - if subdued - tone. "She said somethin' about a school, a Brighton, and missin' someone, but she was just kind of mumblin' about, didn't really specify…"

"That's fine. Just remember what I said about staying hidden. Are you ready to go, Seras?"

"G-go? Where are we going?"

"Maera and Mithra will be waiting," John said simply. "We're going back, I'm rested enough to take us there and more, and I won't have to worry about taking us back until the morning. I've already made arrangements for us to leave."

He didn't specify that those arrangements included telling his mother he was going to go to bed early because his first day at the Brighton Extracurricular seminars he attended had exhausted him. That seemed less like Alucard, more like... well, nobody in Hellsing was that lame, actually.

"B-but what about-"

"Your clothes are going to have to wait," John said, shaking his head. "It's too late now, anyway. The mall is already closed. You'll be fine, Seras. Or can you not handle something as insignificant as a few misfit clothes?"

"N-no, Master," Seras said quietly, hanging her head a little. John nodded, glancing off into the distance.

"Good. Because I have a plan for us."

John willed himself and Seras into the place between worlds, thankful that World Shift didn't require mana to use. In just a few moments, they were on their way to the distant world of John's own creation. There was no flash of light or tunnel; it was like blinking, if the entirety of the scenery around you changed when you blinked. They were not far from where they had left the place, if far at all, the forest clearly visible to the north.

"What kind of plan, Master?" Seras asked, glancing around.

"Soon. First, where are the Nekos? I thought we would be in the same place," John noted, glancing around. He couldn't see any signs of their camp, but it had been long enough there wouldn’t be many signs if they left shortly after he departed.

"To the north, Master. I… I think I can smell them. That's a long ways to smell, though…"

"Come now, Seras, haven't you noticed? Your senses are incredibly enhanced as a vampire. All you have to do is focus, and you're far ahead of any normal human. That's going to come in handy, soon. But that's for later, for now… let's find the Nekos."

Tracking them down wasn't especially hard - John worried that the dexterous and troublesome Nekos might try to avoid them or be lost in the forest somewhere, but as they traveled north, it wasn't long until they found a track of dirt and disturbed grass where the chest containing food had been dragged. Once they found the chest, it was only a few minutes of patient waiting before the Nekos arrived, with Mithra standing near the chest defensively while Maera attempted to tackle John, thankfully only succeeding in attaching herself to his front, arms locked behind his back.

"Myaster has returned!" Maera shouted. Mithra grunted in affirmation, but kept her distance, almost protectively hovering over the chest. John fought back his laughter, shaking his head at the difference between the two, and the fact that they were far too different for the gap to be solely due to their minor stat differences. It seemed like his Purify really did create fairly unique creatures every time he used it.

"Of course… that doesn't answer whether I can control it, or not…" John thought to himself. That was something he was determined to find out, because his plan involved finding someone to take care of the girls in his absence, and since the only people he could trust right now were those he created himself…

"Yes, I have. And I have a mission for all of us. Think you're ready?" John asked, smiling at Maera, who nodded frantically, rubbing her face all over his chest, smiling wildly. She didn't even seem fazed by the idea. Mithra, on the other hand, was clearly disturbed, her ears twitching wildly as she continued to stand between John and the chest.

"There might even be more food if we succeed."

Mithra's gaze softened a little, but her eyes now seemed more focused on Maera. Meanwhile, Seras was practically glimmering.

"M-mission?" she said quietly, eyes as wide as she could make them while she leaned into John's view from the side. "Y-you wanna go on a mission with me?"

"Of course… I have to see all of you in action, after all. Besides, I have some things I need to do that can only be accomplished on a mission."

John watched as a menu popped up at his words.

Form Party?
Suggested Members: Maera, Mithra, Seras Victoria.

John mashed the accept button, and all three of them were immediately added to his party, giving him a view of their health bars, mana bars, and level. He was pleased to note that, even without himself included, the party averaged level 4, which meant that he could choose something a bit harder than level 1 without risking their lives. But which level to choose? He needed decent loot, and more importantly, a babysitter for the Nekos who could handle their rambunctiousness.

John still had the same options as the other times he created a Dungeon Barrier, but now he was more meticulous in his selections, scrolling until he crafted exactly what he needed. While he couldn't exactly hand-craft enemies, he chose options he thought would have the best results. For what he had in mind, he chose Gnolls as the most intelligent creature he could recognize, as well as a setting in "Caves". While his past experiences with bats had him a bit on edge, he felt relatively confident that the feline nature of Maera and Mithra would benefit them in such a situation, especially with what he assumed was a hatred for canine foes… and, of course, Seras would absolutely thrive in any environment away from the sun.

"What are we gonna do, Master?" Seras asked, glancing around as the world began to shift. She seemed extremely nervous, even though they hadn't gone into the Dungeon proper yet, having only experienced such a ripple twice before.

"Well, I'm going to look for proper materials, as well as a… babysitter," John said, choosing the last word carefully as he eyed Maera's soft white hair, still rubbing against his chest. "As for you?"

John smirked at Seras' nervous appearance, confident in her but finding her uncertainty adorable since he had some idea of what she was capable of at her strongest.

"You're going to fight."