《Serving a Goddess in Training》


 Chapter 1

    Gin Soto sat alone in a dark room. The occasional click of the mouse was the only sound, his face illuminated by the dim glow of the screen.


    ¡°How long have I been awake,¡± He rubbed his eyes, he felt tired. Squinting at the numbers in the corner of the screen, he let out a heavy sigh. ¡°Time really flies when you have no reason to count the seconds.¡±


    He closed his eyes for a moment, he had to go to work tomorrow, or was it the day after? He needed to open his eyes to check, but he just felt so tired, unnaturally tired.


    ¡°Just for a short while.¡± He let go, sinking into a deep sleep.


    -


    Gin Soto had died.


    He wasn''t sure how he knew that. He didn''t remember dying, he remembered being tired. But right now he felt no such fatigue. His mind was still hazy but he knew two things for sure, he was dead and that he was tied to a chair.


    Why was he tied to a chair? He pulled at his restraints, thin red threads that were no thicker than hairs, yet no matter how he pulled at them they didn''t show any sign of snapping. He tried to twist his hand around so he could try to loosen them.


    ¡°Morning!¡±


    Startled by the voice Gin jerked his head back up. Standing a short distance in front of him was a small, dainty looking girl. She had long flowing hair that reached her waist, draping her frail body in a cloak the colour of autumn leaves. She wore nothing besides a single large shirt that barely covered her waist.


    ¡°Morning.¡± The room he was in was pretty empty, aside from the chair to which he was tied to, the only other piece of furniture was an unremarkable wooden desk. On it sat a little name plaque, which read;


    ''Eldro, Divine Protector and Goddess of the planet Fara''


    Eldro followed his gaze to the plaque on her desk. She turned back to him, smiling. A small clipboard materialized out of thin air and dropped into her right hand. ¡°Gin Soto?¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Yes.¡± He gestured to his restraints, ¡°Could you remove these things, they are kinda uncomfortable.¡±


    ¡°I''m afraid the restraints have to stay on, standard operating policy. Can''t have souls thrashing around, screaming how they can''t die yet, ''I had too much to live for''.¡± She chuckled, turning her focus to the clipboard, ¡°Which leaves me kinda surprised that you can act so calmly about it.¡±


    ¡°Not like I was planning to live forever. I''m already dead, thrashing around isn''t going to change anything.¡±


    ¡°It might.¡± She stared at him expectantly, he just stared back, ¡°You''re no fun.¡± She turned back to the clipboard, nodding every once in a while. ¡°Right. You''re probably wondering why you''re here, I''ve brought you here to give you a second chance at life. You see, even as the people Fara are in the middle of a new golden age, a great calamity, that I may or may not have caused, is approaching.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡±


    ¡°The time is ripe for a hero to appear, to prepare the people to face their first trial united as a...¡±


    ¡°One second, what was that last part?¡±


    ¡°It''s not my fault! How was I supposed to know that fantasy worlds just spawn demon lords every once in a while? I thought it was part of my job to airdrop one of those things in every few hundred years or so.¡± She lowered her voice, muttering bitterly, ¡°Well having two demon lords isn''t that different to having one, but, uh...¡±


    ¡°But?¡±


    ¡°They... they mated.¡±


    ¡°They mated.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, so there''s like seven or eight of those little fuckers down there.¡± She took a deep breath, forcing a smile, ¡°But I''d like to focus not on the problem itself, but the solution. So what do you say? A chance to be reborn as the Goddess''s champion and save an entire world from the apocalypse.¡±


    He thought about it for a moment, Eldro didn''t really seem that reliable, but in the end what other choice did he have? ¡°Sure, can''t be worse than being tied to a chair for eternity.¡±


    ¡°Excellent.¡± Her eyes began to glow red, a soft hum filled the room. She raised both her arms, crackling with arcane power.


    ¡°Wait, right now? Don''t you think you''re rushing things a little.¡±


    ¡°Nah. Hold still.¡±


    -


    ¡°Ugh,¡± Gin slowly shook himself awake, finding himself laying down in an open field. Getting up he scanned his surroundings, in the distance, he could make out the outline of trees, but aside from that nothing but the pale blue sky.


    A soft wind blew in from the west, pushing a bit of his hair in front of his face. His eyes widened, his hair wasn''t the black that he was used to, but a dull crimson. The grass rippled in the wind, brushing past his legs and something more.


    ¡°A tail?¡± Gin spun around in a circle, trying to look over his shoulder. Protruding his rear was a long tube of flesh, covered in scales the same dull crimson as his hair. He looked over the rest of his new body, the rest of him looked human.


    Yet he froze, noticing one more thing that was very clearly different. He slowly moved his hands to his chest and squeezed down, feeling something soft.


    ¡°Breasts?¡±

 Chapter 2

    Eldro sat at her desk, bored out of her mind. She leaned back in her chair, seeing how far she could tip it before it fell over.


    Ding


    She swung back forward, on her desk was a glass orb the size of a bowling ball. It had lit up and now slowly grew brighter and brighter, emitting a low hum.


    ¡°Come on, come on.¡± Eldro furiously tapped away at a glass orb. Eventually, the humming stopped, the orb becoming silent once more. Aside from a soft glow, it acted no differently as it did before. She placed her hands over the orb, letting the flow of arcane energy travel between herself and its core.


    An image formed in her mind, she soon found herself tracking Gin, as he, she? As she trekked through an open field, looking extremely pissed.


    ¡°Hi.¡± Gin turned towards the sound, ¡°It''s me, Eldro.¡± Gin turned back, ignoring her and just kept walking. ¡°Look I know you''re mad but there''s a really good reason for this.¡±


    ¡°There better be.¡±


    ¡°Demon Lords are the highest form of demon, in terms of pure power, nothing in this world can match them. Your old human body would fall apart if I tried to even match a tenth of their raw arcane energy.¡±


    ¡°This body is mostly human, but instead of loading all that power on your soul, I''ve loaded it all on the soul of an elder dragon that I''ve embedded in your core. It took months to find a balance so that the dragon''s soul wouldn''t overpower yours when I transferred you in.¡±


    ¡°When I received your soul it was already too late to change anything. I''m sure even you wouldn''t want to sit there, tied to a chair for several months while I make a new one.¡±


    ¡°I''m surprised.¡±


    ¡°Surprised?¡±


    ¡°I didn''t think there was actually a good reason for this, I just assumed you mindlessly dumped me into a random body.¡±


    ¡°How little faith do you have in me? You''re gonna make me cry.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°I''m sorry, but you didn''t exactly give me a great first impression.¡± Gin stretched her new body, the hatred she had for it slowly disappearing. ¡°Still, I''m surprised that you''d be given a male soul whilst having a female body prepared.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but there''s nothing I can do about that. For all their regulations and rules they overlook a lot of things. I even have a copy of the requisition form right here and there''s no section to...¡±


    ''Please write any preferences for the transferred soul. (Time period, Profession, Age, Gender)''


    ''Surprise me''


    ¡°Hello? Is there an issue? You went silent all of a sudden.¡± Eldro stared at the words, ¡°Eldro? You still there?¡±


    She spent an agonizing amount of time reading the words over and over again, breaking out into a cold sweat.


    I can never let her know about this.


    ¡°Hello? Gin? Can you hear me?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, what happened?¡±


    ¡°No idea, let''s move on. Do you see a grey orb floating close to you?¡± Gin paused, puzzled by how Eldro was rushing things but decided to ignore it, wasn''t exactly a break of character.


    ¡°Yeah, I see it.¡± Gin reached out to touch it, but her hand just phased through, ¡°What is this thing?¡±


    ¡°It''s your limiter, it basically assesses you and unlocks the rest of potential stored in your body gradually over time.¡±


    ¡°And I need this because...?¡±


    ¡°If I were to hand you free reign, it would be like giving a toddler a longsword. It''s a lot safer to gradually ease you in, otherwise, you might damage your arcane circuits beyond repair. But compared to the conventional method of committing decades of your life to cultivation, I think you''d agree this is preferable.¡±


    ¡°I guess.¡±


    ¡°But it does a whole lot more than that. It also functions as an encyclopedia, with information about almost anything about the world of Fara. Try asking it to analyse something.¡±


    Gin reached down and plucked out a few blades of grass, holding it up to the orb. Standing there awkwardly for a few moments.


    ¡°Its voice activated.¡± Gin blushed but quickly regained her composure.


    ¡°Orb, analyse the grass.¡± Nothing happened.


    ¡°Its called Aida.¡±


    ¡°You named the orb?¡±


    ¡°Yes, try asking it to analyse the grass again.¡±


    ¡°Aida, change your name to Orb.¡± Orb hummed briefly then emitted a soft ding.


    ¡°Why would you do that?" Gin shrugged, "You''re pure evil.¡±


    ¡°Orb, analyse the grass.¡± Orb scanned the grass in her hand, then


    ''Lowland Summer Grass. Light green coloured warm season grass that grows in dense patches. Most commonly found in the grassland region of the Kingdom of Midaria, it...''


    ¡°Not bad.¡±


    ¡°With that, you should be set. If you need anything just ask..." She paused, clearly annoyed, "...''Orb'' to pass along the message.¡±


    "Alright, thanks."


    Eldro detached herself from the orb, returning back to her desk. She let out a sigh of relief, ¡°Well time to take the rest of the day off.¡± Shesat for a while thinking about what to do, deciding that seeing how far she could tip her chair backward was to be this afternoon''s activity.

 Chapter 3

    ¡°Now what?¡± Gin stood there for a moment, enjoying the cool afternoon breeze.


    She had one big goal, to save the world of Fara from the Demon Lords, but she knew nothing about them. Furthermore, she started in this world with nothing but a new body, and thankfully, a set of clothing.


    But she had nothing else, no food or water, in the middle of nowhere in a land she knew nothing about. She stared at the endless blue sky, starting to panic a little. Realizing how lonely she felt.


    She snapped herself back to reality, ¡°Calm down, one step at a time. First things first, water.¡±


    ¡°Orb, where is the nearest stream or river?¡± Orb drew a little arrow on the ground, gazing along the direction it pointed at revealed nothing but more grass. ¡°I guess it''s pretty far.¡±


    She walked watching the endlessly monotonous scenery, the forest that she had spied in the distance on her arrival was now located to her left. She watched as it slowly passed by, sometimes creeping closer, before slinking away again, always in the distance, always nothing but trees.


    Eventually she got bored of asking Orb what kind of trees they were, an activity not helped by the fact that when Orb asked her to clarify which one she would always cheekily respond ¡°The green one.¡±.


    ¡°Orb, could you tell me about the Kingdom of Midaria.¡± Orb responded by bringing up text after text about Midaria, written and oral accounts of its history. Excerpts from the notes of travelers. Descriptions of its capital and major cities.


    She read each one with varied levels of interest, but the most entertaining to her were the poems and stories of its heroes. Founder Ashrim, Siran the Wolf Prince, Emperor Formynder Guardian of the South. Each one read like the fantasy novels she used to read, filled with epic battles and monsters she couldn''t even begin to imagine. Yet they were all real, set in the world she was currently walking in.


    So why did it all look so normal?


    She paused, reaching the edge of a forest filled with ordinary-looking trees which were in turn surrounded by boring little bushes. Listening closely she could finally hear it, the sound of running water. Walking through the forest she still found nothing, no mystical animals, no strange tracks, no markings on the trees. If not for her tail she might have not believed this was a fantasy world, maybe some elaborate, high budget joke instead.


    The stream came into view, it was fairly wide and deep enough to stand in, but the current was slow. It was quite beautiful, the rivers back home were often murky or had trash lining the shore. But this one was almost see-through, allowing one to make out even individual stones that had wedged themselves in its bed. She kneeled next to it.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°How much do I need to drink?¡± She didn''t feel parched yet, but she had nothing to carry the water with, and she highly doubted all the Demon Lords had chosen to live on its banks. She dipped her hands into the water, cupping the water to her mouth. Drinking until she felt a little bloated. Letting the ripples die out, she gazed in the stream at her own reflection.


    ¡°Holy shit.¡± It hadn''t crossed her mind before, but she had no idea what she looked like.


    She was cute, really fucking cute.


    She looked like one of those characters that she had spent forty plus hours in character creation fine-tuning every detail. Making sure that even the angle of the bloody eyebrows was absolutely perfect. She rubbed her own cheeks, gently squeezing them. Part of her still didn''t believe this was the face attached to her body. Although it was a little vain, she spent a short while making different faces into the water, feeling as giddy as a small child.


    Then a thought she maybe should not have had popped into her head.


    She stared blankly at the water as it slowly rolled by. Under her loosely fitting clothing, she could barely make out the outline of her own body. She blushed until her face camouflaged with her hair.


    ¡°I''ve been walking for quite a while, it''s completely normal to want a bath right?¡± She slowly undressed, leaving her clothes in a pile on the ground, ¡°There is no ulterior motive, just a completely normal thing to do.¡±


    She lowered herself into the water, although it was cold, her face still felt insanely warm. During the entire process, she had kept looking forward like a mannequin, not daring to look down. Her breath became short little pants, to match the thumping of the heart in her chest.


    ¡°It''s not perverted if it''s my own body. There is nothing wrong with what I''m doing.¡± She felt her head inch slowly downwards, closer and closer...


    Grrr


    She instinctively wrapped her hands around her rumbling stomach, her eyes followed her hands and found themselves seeing the rest of her body. She burst out laughing, all the tension melting away. She didn''t know what she was expected, she had seen naked people before, it was through a screen, but still.


    Climbing out, she stretched for a bit, letting herself dry a little before putting her clothes back on. Her stomach growled again, suddenly feeling extremely hungry. She wondered if she had been suppressing this feeling for a while.


    Beep, beep, beep


    Orb popped up a little message.


    ''You are hungry, consume food to recover stamina''


    She chuckled, funny how Eldro felt the need to have Orb tell her to eat. She wondered if she held her breath for long enough it would tell her she needs to breathe. She closed the message and prepared to set off again, wondering how she should go about finding food.


    ''Beep, beep, beep''


    ¡°Orb, shut up.¡± A few seconds passed, then Orb beeped again. ¡°Orb, mute, I get it, I need to eat.¡±


    Orb kept beeping, it wasn''t loud, but it didn''t stop. Every couple of seconds, beep, beep, beep. Slowly driving her insane. Covering her ears didn''t help, as the sound was not emitted from Orb itself, but injected directly into her brain. The message popped up again.


    ''You are hungry, consume food to recover stamina''


    ''Beep, beep, beep''


    She stared at Orb, her eyes glazing over. The beeping would stop eventually, right?

 Chapter 4

    The beeping had not stopped.


    She had spent hours walking alongside the stream, hoping that she might spot an animal drinking at its banks, or a fish through the clear water. Yet no such luck. She turned her focus to the trees themselves, scanning every branch and bush as she passed by. Looking for anything that could be considered food. Yet although the forest had no shortage of plants, they all bore no fruit or flowers.


    When she had started in this world she unknowingly began on an empty stomach. The hunger had been building all this time, a foe that only now revealed itself in the rumbling of her stomach and the beeping of Orb.


    When the hunger grew painful she had drunk more water in an attempt to curb her hunger, it worked, but only for a short while. When it faded and the hunger returned with a vengeance, she ate leaves, but Orb didn''t like this, beeping louder then hijacking her body to make her vomit it back out, violently.


    ¡°Great, it can ratatouille my ass.¡± She spat out the last bits of bile. Glaring at Orb. She suddenly screamed in frustration and wildly lashed out at Orb, yet her hands passed through it harmlessly, clawing at nothing but air. Feeling extremely unsatisfied, she turned to one of the many trees that surrounded her.


    ¡°Piece of shit tree!¡± She kicked it, hard. The tree shook from the impact, leaves falling to the ground. But her focus was no longer on the tree, for she heard a different sound. The scurrying of an animal through the carpet of dead leaves.


    She turned, her eyes seeing the tiny creature. She followed it as it ran, unusually slow for an animal its size, it stopped a small distance away, standing on its hind legs and peered around.


    It kinda looked like a squirrel, with a copper brown coat of fur, but on its back were several small spikes and instead of a bushy tail it had three tentacle-like tails that coiled and waved around.


    She sneaked up slowly, keeping close to the ground. She was drooling, her eyes focused on nothing but the creature. It twitched randomly and as she got closer she could see that not all of it was covered in fur. On the left side of its stomach was a large bulge of flesh, a yellow liquid oozing from it.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    The creature spotted her and starting running, Gin leaped to her feet and ran after it, finding she could easily keep up with it. She lunged, grabbing it in her hands, feeling something cracking in her grip.


    It struggled, emitting a series of high pitched screeches, she could feel the pus leaking from it, dripping from the gaps between her fingers. It was only now that the smell hit her, like that of a rotting corpse, shaking her out of her hunger-induced frenzy.


    Seeing her grip loosen the creature struggled once more, yet she barely felt it. She stared at the creature, feeling a bit sorry for it. It tried biting her fingers, but after seeing it had no effect it let go and resumed shrieking once more.


    She let go, letting it drop to the ground, but instead of running it simply limped, its back bent in a strange angle. She stared at it, watching it as it tried to crawl away, leaking pus everywhere. Closing her eyes she lifted her foot and brought it down on it, hard.


    Crunch.


    Gingerly lifting her foot, staring at what had occurred. The creature laid there, a canvas of red and yellow surrounding its lifeless corpse. She spent a while just staring at it. Half hoping it would begin twitching again and scurry out of sight, but it didn''t, it just stared back with one lifeless eye.


    Picking it up by the tail, she gently lifted it up. She licked her lips, then paused, she had no idea how to begin eating it. She had no idea how to start a fire and she really didn''t want to learn in the middle of a forest. But she was extremely hungry, and even the thought of raw flesh was quite appealing.


    Its stomach let off a disgusting smell and the wound had popped, dying the surrounding fur in a disgusting yellow tinge. She bit one of its legs instead, getting a mouthful of fur. She tore a chunk of flesh from it, trying to swallow it. The fur tickled the back of her throat, she tried chewing it but every bite squeezed blood from the flesh, it had a disgusting taste, but she did her best to force it down.


    It got stuck in her throat, she had to force it down, constantly swallowing her own saliva until it slid down. She gasped for air, she had done it. Any moment now the pain in her stomach would die down, satisfied with what it has...


    Orb floated into her view, she felt the same gag reflex as she had before. ¡°You fuck.¡± She vomited again onto the ground, this time she didn''t have water to throw up, just dry gasps until she hurled the piece of meat from her throat.


    She coughed, trying to ease the burning pain in her throat, ¡°Orb, you have a better idea you little shit?¡± Orb sat there, no response, ¡°Yeah that''s what I thought.¡±


    A little beep, she turned. Orb had brought up a small little box,


    ''There''s a small road close to your current position''


    Orb had left a small arrow on the ground, it was very faint, but Gin swore that Orb had turned a little smaller.


    ¡°Sorry, I didn''t mean to shout, none of this is your fault.¡± Orb didn''t respond directly, but it seemed to bob a little now. Her stomach grumbled again, reminding her she had to keep moving. So she did, along the path of the arrow, until she reached the road that Orb had mentioned.

 Chapter 5

    She stood there in the middle of the path. Although she was still surrounded by trees the dirt beneath her feet was surprisingly free of leaves.


    ¡°Orb, which direction do you think I should take?¡± Nothing, ¡°Orb, which direction is the closest settlement.¡±


    ''South''


    ¡°Orb, which direction is that?¡± Orb placed another little arrow on the ground, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    She kept asking Orb different things as she walked, finding that the more she talked to it the more open she could leave the questions. Eventually the path split, ¡°Orb, which path do you think I should take?¡±


    ''The one on the left.''


    The trees around her slowly began to thin out, growing sparser and sparser as she walked. At the same time, the sun was setting from the sky and everything yet dark. Yet she barely noticed it, finding she could see almost as much as she did during the day.


    Eventually, there was a break in the treeline, a few more steps and the forest gave way to open fields. Her eyes traced the landscape into her mind, lush open fields capped with the endless night sky.


    Having lived in the city all her life, this was her first time seeing the stars. They were laid out like a million little notes in a perfect symphony, playing the tune of the world over and over again, night after night, shrouded in the vast black of space.


    ¡°Cool.¡±


    She kept walking, the beautiful painting above barely leaving an impact in her mind. To her she basically traded the endless forest for endless fields. Yet as she walked further something was different, the cool evening breeze, no longer obstructed by trees, brought something else. A smell. She quickened her pace, unable to tell what the smell was but instinctively knowing it was important.


    Wandering off the path into the fields, she tore through the grass, fighting the hunger every step of the way. Shapes soon emerged from the dark, wooden houses, the smell came stronger now. She followed it to one of the smaller buildings.


    Pulling at the door she found it locked shut. She pulled harder, feeling the wood starting to give way. The boards began to bend, then snap, releasing loud pops one after another, the hinges and lock desperately held on until the entire door itself got ripped off, she tossed it away and peered inside.


    Food, not a large array but several large pieces of salted meat, bags of wheat and sacks of strange fruit. She hobbled in, tears welling up in her eyes. She wasn''t a fan of eating a mouthful of wheat, and the meat had strange green streaks running along its length, so she decided to try out one of the pieces of fruit.


    It looked kinda like an apple, having the same shape with a stem at the top, but had skin like a strawberry, bumpy with tiny seeds that dotted its shiny violet skin. She took a bite, enjoying the sweet taste that held a light tangy flavour at the end. Then another bite, followed by another until the entire thing was gone.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Her stomach rumbled again, asking for more and she was happy to oblige. One by one she gobbled up piece after piece, eating with greater and greater ferocity, almost tearing them one apart with savage bites.


    Then suddenly a beam of light came from behind her, casting long shadows onto the ground in her view, she spun around. Standing in the open doorway was a stocky, well-built woman in her twenties, her hair was a messy mane of gold that sat just above her shoulders. Dressed in a cloth gown, in her left she hand a lantern, in her right a loaded crossbow.


    They stared at each other, the woman''s eyes looked Gin up and down, hovering over her long scaly tail. Her grip didn''t loosen on the crossbow, but she kept it trained on the ground, her expression stoic and calm.


    ¡°What the hell...?¡± Gin just stared back at her, her mouth and hands dyed with purple juices. The woman kept her crossbow trained on the ground, her eyes looking Gin up and down, stopping at her tail. ¡°You speak Midarian?¡± Midarian? The words still sounded like English to her.


    ¡°I think so?¡± The woman nodded, clearly able to understand her.


    ¡°Follow me, better if we talk inside.¡± Gin did as instructed, letting herself be led to one of the larger buildings. The woman pushed open the door, revealing the interior. A simple room with pack dirt for flooring. In the centre of the room was what looked like a fire, surrounded on three sides by wide benches. She walked in and hung the lantern from a hook that hung from the ceiling, illuminating the room in its light.


    In the corner, a massive ball of fur stirred, rose up and walked over. It was a massive looking wolf that reached her shoulders and was almost three meters in length. Yet it didn''t look threatening, it merely walked over and nuzzled its snout gently against the woman''s side.


    ¡°This is Fenrir,¡± She scratched him behind the ears, Fenrir eyed Gin curiously, she waved at him meekly and he strolled over, letting her reach out to stroke his fur, ¡°If you try to run he''ll be the one tracking you down. Fenrir.¡± The wolf perked up, she pointed outside, ¡°Guard.¡± The wolf nodded and lumbered out the door.


    ¡°It can understand you?¡±


    ¡°Only simple commands, sit.¡± She gestured to one of the benches, Gin sat down, feeling the hard wood against her rear. The woman walked out of the room, coming back not with the crossbow, but with a blanket under one arm and piece of bread in the other. She sat down on one of the other benches and handed the bread to Gin.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± She took the bread and devoured it. The woman merely sat there watching her with great interest.


    ¡°You got a name?¡±


    ¡°Gin.¡± She spoke in short bursts between mouthfuls of bread, bread took priority in this situation.


    ¡°Mine is Avril, don''t usually see any demi-humans this far north.¡±


    ¡°A demi-human?¡±


    ¡°Half human, half animal, you''re one of them right? Judging from that massive tail you have.¡±


    ¡°I guess.¡±


    ¡°So, what are you doing in a place like this? You don''t look like a spy, you don''t have the scars of a convict and you look too young to be a deserter from the war. So why is a demi-human so far from home, all on their own, eating someone else''s Purple Apples by the dozen.¡±


    ¡°I''m really sorry about that, I was starving.¡±


    ¡°I can tell, most people don''t eat expensive medicinal fruit for dinner.¡±


    Gin froze, ¡°How expensive?¡±


    ¡°Expensive enough so that I can''t really just shrug it off and ignore it. But look on the bright side, you won''t be getting any throat sores for quite a while.¡± She chuckled at her own joke, ¡°You stopped eating, don''t worry I''m not gonna charge you for the bread.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± She resumed her eating, a little more shyly now. Avril watched her until she had eaten every last bite. She placed the blanket down on the bench next to Gin and turned to leave the room.


    ¡°Get some sleep, we can talk more in the morning.¡± She took the lantern off its hook, taking the light with her as she left the room.


    Gin laid herself down on the bench, awkwardly fiddled around with the blanket until it fully covered her.


    She laid there for a while just staring at the ceiling, although the room was completely dark her improved vision made it a lot brighter than she was used to, but eventually the fatigue of being awake for almost an entire day caught up to her and slowly drifted to sleep.

 Chapter 6

    Eldro filled out form after form, her daily routine. She had made it an involuntary habit of ending each morning with a nice stack to be collected, tucked into a little box and slid out the door.


    She would fill each line with information she didn''t realize she knew. Things like population numbers, but not just for people. For example, this one asked for the number of a certain species of cicada that resided in the western region.


    She scribbled down a number and kept going, she knew it was correct, at least for that exact moment, the gift of omnipotence at work. Yet if she tried to come up with that number by herself she would be unable to. Apparently, it''s something about being subconsciously triggered by the question itself, how it was worded, written and spaced. The first time she experienced this was fun, but it had long overstayed its welcome.


    Her hand grabbed around the bottom of the tray, feeling the smooth plastic surface it was made from. She collapsed face first onto her desk, letting out a little sigh of relief. She then lifted her head, stood up, gathered the papers, packed them, labelled the box and then kicked them out the door.


    ¡°Done.¡± She stretched, sitting back down in her seat, pulling out the orb, feeling its cool surface under her hands once again. ¡°Right, Orb...¡± She was still a bit iffy about the name, ¡°bring up everything that Gin has done.¡± Orb complied.


    She stared, her eyes glazing over as she read line after line of ''breathing'' followed by ''walking''. She started scrolling furiously, but the list seemed endless. ¡°Orb, permanently remove breathing and walking from the log.¡± A little ding and Orb brought the list back up again.


    ¡°Headed towards a stream, drank some water, fondled herself?!¡± Eldro was pissed, she had spent months preparing for this, hyping it up for herself. A new world on the brink of annihilation in a body that was built by the goddess herself and this was what she was doing with it?


    ¡°Starving to death, killed a stingtail?¡± Her eyes lit up, finally a heroic deed. Stingtail, what an epic name. She imagined a giant bear with a scorpion tail, or maybe a demonic soldier who wields a spear with a tip as fine as a wasp''s bite. Orb brought up a picture of a stingtail.


    ¡°What the fuck is that?¡± She sat there, disappointed. A glorified rat? She had spent an entire day walking, nearly dying and then ended it by fighting a rodent.


    ¡°Right, time for an intervention.¡± She got up and dragged out a little box, in it, were several small little jars. Shuffling through them, she picked out one, dusting off the label and smiling with glee. ¡°And so begins Gin''s first heroic deed.¡±


    She twisted the lid open, or at least tried to. Finding herself unable to open the jar she put it back in and grabbed another one, repeating this until she found a plastic one with a flip lid.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°And so begins Gin''s first heroic deed.¡± She popped the lid open, the creature inside woke from its slumber, letting out a deafening roar.


    -


    Gin slowly opened her eyes, for a while she just laid there, staring at the ceiling. Part of her still didn''t believe she was in a new world, that maybe it was all a dream. It had all happened so quickly, but the ceiling she stared at was not her own. Plus she could feel her tail under her waist, paralysed from her sleeping on it the entire night.


    She stood up straight, wiggling her rear in an attempt to wake her tail up, but it laid lifelessly on the ground.


    ''Bam Bam Bam''


    She could hear the beating of a hammer on nails, seemingly coming from outside. She pushed past the half-opened door and walked out. She called out as the other person came into view.


    ¡°Morning.¡±


    ¡°Morning,¡± She was trying to nail the half broken door back into its frame, she stepped back, watching as it wobbled precariously in the wind.


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Eh, it was falling apart anyway,¡± She dusted her hands and turned to face her, ¡°Had a good night''s rest?¡±


    ¡°Yep, so how am I to repay you for the apples?¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± She looked at her up and down, ¡°The autumn harvest was recently completed, not much work gets done around here until after winter. But the coming winter means that firewood is in short supply.¡±


    ¡°So I''m to head to the forest to collect firewood then?¡±


    ¡°That was my plan, but I have no idea how you would transport it, my father took our only cart to sell the first batch of the harvest.¡±


    Orb let off a little ding.


    ''I have plans for a simple sled you could make to transport the wood''


    Orb brought up the plans for it, simple really was the best way to describe it, one block of wood that sat on two planks.


    ¡°Yeah, that might work, thanks Orb.¡±


    ¡°Orb?¡±


    ¡°Yeah Orb, the little grey orb that is floating next to me.¡±


    ¡°Right..., either way, it sounds like you have a plan?¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry about it, I have devised a brilliant plan to transport the wood. I''m just gonna need to borrow a couple nails.¡±


    She raised an eyebrow at this, but didn''t seem to doubt her, ¡°Alright, grab as many as you need, then head to the shed over there. There should be an axe and some spare rucksacks you can use.¡±


    Gin nodded, a few moments later she was off, rucksack on her back, axe in hand. Humming a little, her first mission in a fantasy world, even if she was only collecting firewood.


    ¡°Wait a minute...¡± She paused in her tracks, ¡°A sled, on dirt? Orb, are you bloody stupid?¡±


    Orb beeped indignantly if that was even possible.


    ''I assure you that this sled can function on dirt surfaces and is used by hunters to more easily transport their quarry''


    ¡°Oh alright,¡± For a while she was satisfied with this answer, ¡°Wait, how much weight is the sled designed to carry?¡±


    ''By my calculations, one log''


    ¡°Are you kidding me?! What is the bloody point of making a sled if it can only carry one log?¡±


    ''You didn''t specify how many logs you needed to transport''


    ¡°So what now?¡±


    ''Not sure''


    ¡°What, in your infinite knowledge you can''t find any solution to transport more than one log?¡±


    ''Not with your limited ability to do anything besides complain''


    ¡°Are you getting cheeky with me?¡±


    ''Of course not''


    ¡°You''re lucky that you''re some kind of ethereal being or else I''d pummel the shit out of you.¡±


    Orb responded by floating a couple meters higher in the air.


    ¡°Why you little...¡±


    She was interrupted by a voice she really wasn''t in the mood to hear.


    ¡°Hiya, it''s me Eldro, remember me? Your patron Goddess.¡±

 Chapter 7

    ¡°Eldro? What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Now I know why you''re frustrated, you''re feeling the same thing I am. Your first day and nothing eventful has happened, is this how my new life is going to be? A boring existence where I do nothing but breathe and walk?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°But need not worry, for I, Goddess Eldro, has the solution. A creature with scales stronger than steel and jaws strong enough to crush boulders. A legendary creature whose kin plagued a world far away, killing thousands.¡±


    Almost on cue, the ground began to pulse softly. Gin pressed her ear to the ground, she could feel small vibrations in the loose soil, getting stronger and stronger.


    ¡°What the hell did you do?¡±


    ¡°Dun, dun, duuun. I present to you, your opponent. A Tortitan!¡± The monster came over the crest of a nearby hill, its massive body casting a shadow that seemed to stretch as far as the horizon, ¡°It''s a lot bigger than I thought it would be.¡±


    The monster was shaped like a massive turtle, with four massive legs pillar-shaped legs and a round head, but instead of a shell it had a massive round body, lined with thousands of small grey scales. It didn''t look special at all, almost kinda adorable with its smooth round head and giant round eyes. The problem was it was huge, although each leg was about the same size as a small tree, its body was the size of a barn.


    It looked at Gin and roared, the sound making every single blade of grass bend in terror. Then it came charging down the hill, running at a speed that should be impossible with how tiny its legs were compared to rest of it. It tucked its head in and slammed it into Gin, sending her flying through the air and then crashing into the dirt below. She crawled back to her feet, her head spinning. The axe and the rucksack no longer in her possession, lost in the grass somewhere.


    ¡°How the hell do you expect me to beat this thing?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, punch it or something.¡±


    It came charging again, Gin bent her knees and leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding it. Clawing with her hand on its hide she found a small gap and grabbed on, pulling herself onto its back. The monster stopped, turning its head in confusion. She steadied herself, then with all her might, slammed her fist into its back.


    Ping


    Her fist bounced off, causing her to lose balance and tumble off its back and onto the ground. The monster spun around with terrifying agility and slammed her with one of its front legs. Leaving her once again on the ground spitting out dirt.


    ¡°Uh, maybe you could try kicking it?¡±


    ¡°You shut it.¡± She pulled herself back up, just in time to see the skull of the Tortitan slam into her face, but with less force this time. She barely had time to think about this before she felt its foot onto her chest, slowly crushing her. She grabbed it with both hands and pushed back, but she could feel herself losing, a dull pain growing in her chest.


    Suddenly Orb let off a small little ding, barely audible over the Tortitan''s roar.


    ''Your combat rating has improved to allow the usage of the ability ''fireball''.''


    Gin felt her mind suddenly flooded with memories, memories of some kind of simulation. Feeling the arcane power flow through her arms and expelled, over and over again, until it felt as natural as breathing.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    The roar of battle was muffled from her ears, the pain faded away, she felt the flow of arcane power in her arm. She pressed her hand into its belly, letting the energy flow through her arm into her palm. The words slipping out in a whisper through her throat.


    ¡°Fireball.¡±


    Her arm flared up into flames, she felt the heat as it burned through the beast''s soft underbelly. She pushed it further, tearing deep into its flesh until she could sink her entire hand into it. The monster reared back in pain, backing away, a soft growl as it stared her down.


    Although the flames had greatly injured it in the spot where it hit, a small puncture on its massive body wasn''t going to bring it down. Its hide was tough, even the soft tissue on the inside wasn''t going to burn easily.


    She stood back up, staring right back at it. The arm that had used fireball laid at her side lifelessly, yet this was expected. In those memories were ones when she had first used the ability, her arms would sit like this for a couple of minutes.


    She stretched her other arm, ¡°One more, have to make it count.¡±


    The monster charged her once again, Gin charged right back. Both of them screaming as they tore across the field at each other. Instead of ducking its head down the beast lunged forward with its jaws open, snapping them shut around Gin''s arm. Blood sprayed from where jaw met flesh, stopping only at the bone.


    But Gin smiled, planting her foot on its snout and pushing herself till she laid on her head. The arm that the beast had in its jaws was the arm she had used, she plunged her free arm straight into its eye. She pushed down as far as she could until she felt the solid walls of bone, her arm nearly elbow deep in its squishy eyeball.


    ¡°Fireball.¡±


    The flames shot straight through, tearing through every hole in the beast''s skull. It roared letting Gin fall back to the ground. It writhed, screaming in pain. Smoke funnelled out of both sockets, the inside of its head slowly burning away.


    Then nothing, it froze up and fell to the ground, completely lifeless. Gin laid there, collapsed on the ground. As the adrenaline faded she slowly came to terms with what had happened. She stared at her own arm, mangled and bloody. Bits of bone could be seen through the deep gashes of bloody flesh and rivers of blood flowing out.


    ¡°You did it! I knew you could, never had any doubts at all.¡± Gin didn¡¯t respond, panting heavily. She couldn¡¯t feel the pain directly, but she was scared. Her arm looked like it was on the brink of just falling off completely. ¡°Hello? You still there?¡±


    ¡°What the hell were you thinking?¡±


    ¡°I thought the best way to help you was to give you a little combat experience, see you even learned a next skill ¡®fireball¡¯.¡±


    ¡°With no warning or any time to prepare? Against a monster you didn¡¯t even know the size of?¡±


    ¡°Your body is strong, it should be able to handle anything I throw at it?¡±


    ¡°Then what about my arm? You telling me that nearly getting it torn off it is handling it?¡±


    ¡°The bone is fine, you see, the bone is completely fine!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I can see that because the flesh that¡¯s supposed to be around it is fucking missing!¡±


    ¡°Uh, I think it¡¯ll heal in time.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean I think? Didn¡¯t you build this body?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t exactly cut into it randomly to see if it heals, hmm, maybe I should have done that." Her voice trailed off, then almost like an offhand comment, "You¡¯re losing a lot of blood, you might actually die.¡±


    ¡°I might actually die? How can you act so calm about this?¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­ It¡¯s only the start of your adventure, there¡¯s no way you¡¯d die this early.¡±


    ¡°You just said I might die from this wound!¡±


    ¡°You might, but you¡¯re the Goddess¡¯s champion, I¡¯m sure some helpful passerby will come along any time now and patch you up.¡±


    Gin felt more blood being lost, her head starting to get dizzy, ¡°I¡¯m lying in a ditch, out of sight of a road that I have never seen anyone else use, the chances of some master healer just walking by is extremely low. You¡¯re a Goddess, can¡¯t you do something?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t interfere with the world directly. Oh, I know, maybe Orb can heal you. Now that I think about it, Orb probably has a plan to patch you up right away.¡±


    Orb was hovering right above Gin¡¯s arm, just out of sight. Several messages had stacked up, Orb was scanning her arm over and over again, each scan getting more frantic, like she was beginning to panic.


    Gin scrolled through the messages, an array of different content ranging from small tips about Tortitans, to little suggestions on how to fight it. But the most recent ones read thusly:


    ¡®AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH¡¯


    ¡°That¡¯s probably not a good sign¡­¡±


    Her consciousness was beginning to slip away, kinda like the first time she had died, ¡°Help me, you, bitch.¡±


    ¡°Again, I can¡¯t interfere with the world directly. But help is on the way, a healer will walk out of that bush any second now.¡±


    Gin stared at the bush in question, it was tiny, barely reaching her knee in height. No way anything could be hiding in there.


    ¡°Any second now¡­¡±

 Chapter 8

    Gin woke up to find that the sky had turned dark, she couldn''t get up finding her body too weak and exhausted. It took a considerable amount of effort just to turn her head to look at her left arm.


    It was wrapped in bandages, or more accurately torn pieces of cloth, supported by two sticks that ran the length of her arm. Although she still couldn''t move most of her arm, at least there wasn''t any pain.


    Orb floated into her view.


    ''You''re finally awake. How are you feeling?''


    ¡°I''m doing okay, just a little tired. What happened?¡±


    ''You lost consciousness. During that time a group of goblins stumbled across you, they are the ones who patched you up.''


    ¡°Goblins? Aren''t they a kind of monster? Why would they help me?¡±


    ''They are technically not monsters, although they may look like monsters goblins are peaceful creatures and most historical records have them siding with humans rather than against. Currently, they are known for finding rare herbs and for this reason often trade with the local populace. In fact, if you look to your right side, there''s one quite close to you.''


    Gin turned her head all the way back over, the goblin looked very different from what she was expecting. She expected it to be green and it was, green like the grass around them. But instead of skin, it had a coat of short, soft-looking fur, that made it look really fuzzy. It had features that she expected goblins to have, like the pointed ears and sharp teeth, but it was strangely adorable due to its features having a certain childlike quality that suited its tiny form.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    It was dressed in a simple tunic with a small belt tied around its waist, decorated with tiny bags and pouches. On its back was a pouch the size of its body, aside from that nothing besides a spear that was resting off its shoulder. Currently, it was asleep, in an upright sitting position with its head pointed downwards. She dragged her arm over to it, nudging its foot. The goblin began to stir, slowly opening its round, yellow eyes. Once it did, it spoke.


    ¡°The human is awake!¡± It leaped to its feet and ran off before Gin could say a word, its voice trailing off as it disappeared into the grass, ¡°Gobbo, Gobbo. The human is awake!¡±


    Gin simply laid there for a while, unsure of what to do. After a while, the goblin returned, lead by another goblin. They slowly walked into the center of Gin''s field of view, the lead Goblin making a series of motions in what Gin assumed was an attempt to communicate.


    ¡°You can just talk, I can understand you.¡± Both goblins stared at her with shock.


    ¡°You speak Gobbo''s tongue? Gobbo has never heard of a human who speaks our tongue.¡±


    ¡°I''m pretty sure I''m speaking like a human right now.¡±


    ¡°No, Gobbo has heard human tongue. Human tongue is nothing like Gobbo''s tongue. Gobbo is certain the tongue you speak is not spoken by any humans.¡±


    ¡°Orb? Am I not speaking Mida...¡±


    ¡°That was like human tongue! Gobbo is amazed. Human speaks two tongues. Gobbo didn''t know one could speak two tongues.¡± Gobbo began making a series of weird noises, but eventually, Gin started to hear it, the word Orb repeated over and over again. ¡°Orb.¡± Gobbo smiled, pleased with how close the last one was.


    His companion sheepishly tugged at him, ¡°Gobbo, ask the human for the head.¡±


    ¡°Oh right, the head. Gobbo was trying to ask before. Gobbo was saying that Gobbo had treated your arm and applied a sedative which is why you can''t move, Gobbo was planning to ask if you would let us move you, but Gobbo can ask you directly now.¡±


    Gobbo looked serious, bowing his head to Gin, ¡°Gobbo knows that you killed the monster, Gobbo is very thankful for that. Gobbo doesn''t wish to ask for more, but Gobbo must.¡± A pause.


    ¡°May Gobbo have the monster''s head?¡±