《When Plush comes to Shove》 LN reading recommendations v1.03 In another world with my smartphone It¡¯s what it says on the tin, guy dies and gets reincarnated in another world, god apologises for accidentally killing the guy and lets him bring his smartphone (With fully functioning calling and internet capabilities) into the new world. This one is very heavy on the harem aspect, they haven¡¯t actually done ¡°it¡± yet though so it¡¯s just a harem lovey-dovey adventure, though I have to admit I really like how the main guy defeats some of his biggest threats by spamming a spell that makes them slip.
*** Kumo desu ga, nani ka? Classroom explodes and the main girl gets reborn as a monster spider inside a labyrinth/dungeon, she has to survive by eating other monsters, get used to her new form and the new morals and ethics that come with it, eventually topple the dungeon, leave it and meet the rest of her classmates who had been reborn as humans and become heroes. This is actually one of my favourite light novels as well as one of the first I ever read, it''s got a sense of humour that I adore for being just right and not too overbearing while also nailing the character development (if only I could do that¡­), also it actually has a plot twist that I for one didn¡¯t see coming at all, in a good way.
The new gate Okay so imagine something similar to sword art online (stay with me, they skip all the doom-n-gloom and poor harem making) but after beating the final boss and clearing the game our main guy instead finds himself in a real deal fantasy world with all his skills from the game as well as some new ones for killing the big bad from the game world. Focuses a bit on the exploration bit, main guy is really over powered compared to your average dude in the new world, it¡¯s not a harem story, main guy gets a proper relationship with one girl.
Takarakuji de 40 oku atattanda kedo isekai ni ijuusuru Main guy wins the lottery and gets 40 million yen, uses the money to buy and old house from his parents only to find out that one of the doors is connected to a cave in another world, he then meets the locals and tries to help improve their lives while being confused for the previous person who came through the portal and became deified. Fairly standard world improvement story, all the stuff he brings from his own world is super effective in the new world.
Dungeon defense Super smart and manipulative guy beats a dungeon crawling game, the game then asks the guy a question, ¡°What happens next?¡±. The guy answers that the world will end due to the mana from the dungeon master (demon lords) dispersing and is then thrown into the world of the game as one of the demon lords, specifically the weakest, guy then has to use his wits and skills at manipulating people to survive, climb the ranks of the demon lords, wage wars, and maybe try not to get all of the demon lords killed to save the world if he¡¯s in good mood.
Legend Guy gets summoned to a fantasy world by the fantasy world¡¯s version of him that happens to be a pretty big deal, the two then fuse their minds into a body made by the fantasy guy, summons a badass petgriffin and an edgy scythe weapon as he explores the world, helps people and does fantasy stuff.
*** Legendary moonlight sculptor Main guy is the top player of a vrmmo but has to sell his account in order to repay some loan sharks, he gets a fuckload more money than he expected but still has to give the loan sharks all of that extra money as well, he then creates a new character in a new game and uses his experience as the #1 player of tons of vrmmos to climb the ranks of the game and find loads of hidden things, fuck around, earn tons of money and do a lot of things that fuck other people over in the best way possible. Main guy is super fucking incredibly greedy, will trick people any way in order to make money in the game which can be turned into irl money, takes care of his sister (they¡¯re both orphans) and we get to see all the hidden stuff in the game that only someone with the main guy¡¯s greed and determination would be able to find.
*** Spirit migration We find a spirit waking up inside a dungeon, the spirit has amnesia and no idea who it is, the spirit finds out that they can posses the monsters living inside the dungeon and starts exploring to further their knowledge, eventually leaves the dungeon and starts traveling with a group of humans. Not really giving it justice with my explanation, but trust me, I really like this one.
*** Dungeon Seeker Okay, remember when I said I didn¡¯t like too many gruesome depictions in my LNs? Remember how I said there was an exception? Well this is the one. Main guy gets summoned as a hero with a bunch of others (possibly his class, don¡¯t remember), due to various reasons the main guy is seen as unfit to be a hero and is sent to a village to live as a villager however is soon tricked into becoming a tribute to the local dungeon. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. A dungeon where the first monster you encounter has the same difficulty ranking as the demon lord. The dungeon employs the strongest and most deranged monsters and the most efficient and deceptive psychological traps, in order to survive here our main guy has to become even more deranged and sadistic than the god that made the dungeon as he descends deeper and deeper, tricks all the way-too-overpowered monsters, breaks through the traps and sometimes meet with the broken husks that were the dungeons previous delvers. If you¡¯re faint of heart this is not the story for you, but if you¡¯re into the way the human mind and psychology works this will be very interesting.
Death march Main guy is a programmer who falls asleep while programming a computer game only to wake up in a fantasy world, better yet he¡¯s even got the developer items that were only going to be temporarily added to the game as a way to test if everything works. Nothing big, just a few scrolls that summon meteor showers (which he accidentally uses and ends up killing the dragon god and his entire civilization with, instantly getting him to somewhere level 300) and a few mapping scrolls. Since this LN focuses on the whole ¡°Discovering the unknown¡± I can¡¯t really say much more without spoiling a bunch of stuff, but honestly there¡¯s not much more to say, if you don''t get the gist of it by now I don¡¯t think you ever will.
***Re:monster I¡¯m pretty sure tons of you know about this, I mean, I¡¯m pretty sure this is where the whole ¡°Re:____¡± naming thing even started. Main guy lives in a world where people have super powers, his is to get stronger when he eats stuff as well a learn to do things that whatever he ate could do, now in a normal world this doesn¡¯t do much unless you¡¯re willing to partake in cannibalism however when the main guy get¡¯s killed by a yandere (I think?) and gets reborn as a goblin(probably where this started as well) in a fantasy world where monsters exist it becomes one of the strongest abilities ever. Lots of gore and sex.
***Tensei shitara slime datta ken This is probably also one that lots of you know about, we¡¯ve probably all gone through a phase where we actively sought out slime reincarnation stories at some point, and this I would say is definitely the most successful and famous of the bunch. Starts off with the main guy already dying, joking about how he should be a great sage due to being a 30yo virgin as well as wishing he didn¡¯t have any blood since he was dying of blood loss, due to this he is reborn as a creature without blood, a slime, with a skill that greatly improves his growth and magic prowess due to claiming to be a great sage. Main guy/girl/thing then walks around the cave he found himself in, meets a locked up dragon that he absorbs inside himself to release it from his chains (he doesn¡¯t kill the dragon, the dragon comes back out later as a friend), discovers he can get skills by eating monsters and starts exploring the new world, meeting friendlies and un-friendlies, waging wars and making a giant city.
***Lazy dungeon master Main guy gets summoned to another world by a dungeon master after the dungeon master won a raffle, however due to a mistake with the contract that the dungeon master forced on our main guy the main guy instead becomes the new master of the dungeon. ¡°What a pain, I just wanna sleep¡­¡± pretty much sums up our main guy as he not so much struggles to survive as he struggles to keep a comfortable, rich and lazy life despite all the heroes, demon-lord wannabes and superior dungeon masters that keep coming and rudely interrupting his sleep.
***Knights and magic Main guy works at an office and is secretly a huge mech/gundam fan. Main guy dies and gets reborn in a fantasy world that just so happens to have giant magic powered mechs. Main guy starts training in magic from a young age so he can enroll in a school and become a knight pilot thing, however after discovering that due to him being only half the height of everyone else in his class he is unable to find a knight robot that fits him he decides to learn how to make them himself.
***Tate no yuusha no ariagari (The rise of the shield hero) Main guy gets summoned to be a hero in a game-like fantasy world along with three other, each of the heroes has a different weapon with our main guy getting a shield. Things seem to be good however shield bro is soon betrayed by the royalty that summoned him due to the religion of their country saying that the hero of the shield is the hero of the demi-humans and this world is completely racist against demi-humans. Shield bro now has to use hiw wits to survive in a stramge world with no one backing him as he has to gather enough power to survive the plots from the royalty as well as attacks from monsters. I said before that I don''t really like stories that try their best to make the life of the protagonist be a living hell however this is an exception as it''s not afraid to let the protagonist actually win every now and then, and later on be able to take revenge on the people that wronged him in a proper way. Not really thinking I''m doing a good job at explaining it but TL;DR this LN does a fucking great job at being incredibly satisfying to read, every time that shield bro won or succeeded I felt legitemately happy.
The man picked up by the gods Main guy finds himself in a white room with a god saying that main guy has died and that he''ll be rencarnated into a world of magic, due to various reasons main guy eventually finds himself living alone inside a cave while studying slimes and their evolutions while using various of the different kinds of limes to improve his living conditions, such as putting a certain type of garbage eating slime inside his toilet etc. Eventually a group of people find the cave he''s inside, and subsequently him, and he decides to tag along with them back into civilisation with his slime (numbering a couple hundred I think) where he becomes a beast tamer/adventurer/bseiness man as he uses his slimes to create various kinds of stores. Also when he met other people he realized that he was in fact very much better at magic than everyone else. Oh, and also he has most of the gods o this world on speed dial. Much like almost everything else on my list this is a chill reincarnation story of a guy that can go through life easily.
Tsuki ga michibiku isekai douchuu Main guy meets one of the many gods of earth from japanese culture and is told that he hs to go to an alternate world as payment from his parents after they fled from that specfic world some twenty years ago. Main guy agrees since if he had said no one of his sisters would have been picked in his place. (and also due to how nice the god was) However after arriving at the new world and meeting up with that worlds goddess he is thrown away into the wastelands by the goddess due to being "too ugly" for her, this is when he starts his journey to survive, which is very easy for him since he was given a couple of powers by the god from earth as an apology for having to go to another world. He then meets up and joins forces with a dragon that can read peoples'' memories and become a periodic drama otaku from seeing our main guy''s memories and a giant immortal regenerating spider and many, many more. I know the premise starts out like one of those perma-suffering stories but surprisingly it isn''t enough to make it unreadably, imo it''s just right. Prologue - Lifes ironic, innit? My name is Leo Lush, though most people at my school just call me Plush since I¡¯m always carrying around a stuffed toy, I don''t really mind it though, in fact, I kinda like it, I mean, at least it''s easy for my classmates to not get me confused with all the other brown haired, generic looking boys in the class. (Yes, I have astuffed animal even though I¡¯m 18, it''s a memento, bite me.) I¡¯m mostly a pretty easygoing person, other than when the accident happened, I try not to really worry about a lot of things, I usually do my best to go through life with whatever hand it decides to deal to me and not complain along the way, but now I''ve got something that I kinda can''t help but t worry about. You see, our class was going on a trip to the zoo and in order to get there we needed to take the train, so I and the rest of my class were standing on the train station platform while waiting for it to arrive. And it was then that it happened, it was just as the train could be seen in the distance that I noticed that my plush was missing. That''s when I heardsomeone shouting from the other side of the plateau. ¡°Oooi , plushguy, this yours?¡± There I see one of my classmates waving his hand around with my stuffed animal in it. I raise my hand and shout back. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s mine alright, mind tossing it over?¡± And so he did, he performed a simple overhead lob that let the plush sail slowly through the air, and yet even though I caught it, for some reason it didn''t stop, even though I¡¯m relatively fit, somehow this plushy that couldn''t have been going faster than a plastic bag without a breeze carried enough force to not just pull my arm, but to also pull down my entire body onto the tracks just as our train came by. You can probably guess the rest, but if you couldn''t, I died, simple as that.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. How ironic, I was killed by both my namesake and the one thing I tried to properly take care of. I even kept the plushy in my bed while I was sleeping. Well... there''s not really a whole lot that I can do about now is there? So now then, I¡¯ve always been curious about the afterlife, I mean,just what happens? Were any of the known religions accurate with their portrayal of the life thereafter? Now I admit, although I wasn''t exactly expecting to be picked up by Valkyries or for my soul to be dragged off into the sky by a grandiose beam of light, I definitely didn''t think the transition to be so smooth and seamless either, one moment my back was stinging with pain from falling a meter onto the iron rails, and then I was sitting in a tranquil forest where the trees were four times as tall as any I''d ever seen before. And yet, here I am, leaning on a boulder and hearing birds chirping all around. At least I seem to have died instantly and without any of the pain. But now here¡¯s where I got worried, when I was getting up my hands and feet felt really weird, like something was wrong, or as though something was missing. After I got up I decided that I needed to try and find out why it didn''t feel normal, and so I looked downwards at my body, something I have a habit of not doing for whatever reason, and discover that I only have three fingers and a thumb on each hand, and only three toes on my feet. Also the fingers and toes weren¡¯t exactly normal either, they all ended in what looked like a sharp point, like claws. My entire body was dark purple and my limbs looked weird, whenever I bent them the didn''t bend like they had elbows or knees, istead they bent like they didn''t have any bones at all, like a squid tentacle. Either that or they had way too many bones, like a snake or an animals tail. I looked around a bit trying to find something reflective so that I could see my face, but no luck. Although when I shook my head I did notice that I seem to have red hair, and I don¡¯t mean red as in ginger-orange, but wine red. Since I couldn¡¯t find anything to see my face in I was tempted to simply touch it to find out the general shape of it at least, but I realized I may just end up clawing out one of my eyes sine I''m not to used to this body and decided againt it. Well, I guess all those religions that talk about reincarnation were right, and whatever i reincarnated into seems to have hands and feet made for hunting so i should at least have an easy time surviving at least. ''Actually, how sharp are these claws?'' I touch them to find out. ¡°...!?¡± ''This feeling!'' ''There''s no denying it, this unmistakable feeling!'' My "claws" were soft. My hands were soft My arms were soft. My entire body was soft. ''It feels exactly like a stuffed toy!'' (P) Chapter 1 - Meeting with the divine After having freaked out for a few minutes (...half an hour¡­) I considered that maybe it wasn''t such a good idea to run around in a foreign forest while flailing my arms and making soft *thud* sounds as I tried to headbutt a tree to make myself wake up. Since i had no idea how large this forest even was I decided to try and climb up to the top of a tree and look around, hoping to find where the forest ended, however¡­ *Thump* ¡°...!?¡± As I was approaching one of the trees that had more branches than the others, I was stopped by the sound of something falling behind me, turning around I saw that it what looked like a giant rock moving towards me by¡­ wiggling? Even though it had neither arms nor legs it was somehow able to make itself stand up on one side of its body(?) and then rotate, making the other side come closer to me and landing on the grass with another *thump* I looked at it with great interest and a bit of fear and anxiety as it repeated this process and came closer and closer. What was this.. this¡­ can this even be called a creature? Whatever it may be, it was tall enough to reach my shoulders when it was standing on its side while also making me feel awe as i witnessed a feat of balance worthy of the olympics.. While I was standing half on guard and half ready to run away at a moment''s notice, the rock stopped when it was a distance of twice my height away from me and started making noises that sounded like someone was pouring a bag of stones onto a bigger stone. ¡°*rumble rumble*?¡± ¡°... ...¡± ¡°*rumble*¡± ¡°...?¡± ¡°*rumble rumble*¡± ¡°... ... ¡­!¡± The gentlemanly spirit of the mountain (whose name was Charlton btw) then waddled away after telling me about himself and his species while also answering a few of my questions and pointing me in the direction of a building where I could stay in case it started to rain. I wonder though, how did we have a conversation when neither of us said a word? for some reason i just sort of understood his intentions when he was making those rumbling sounds. I didn''t even have the chance to try and voice out my questions before he rumbled in response. Maybe it was his gentlemanly disposition that made him easy to understand and good at understanding others. I¡¯ve only been in this place for less than a day and yet I¡¯ve already found something worth protecting¡­ After having walked along a path for what I¡¯d imagine to be a good half an hour I arrived at a clearing. The house wasn¡¯t here, but that makes sense since Charlton said that I would still have a bit left to go from said clearing, so instead of feeling misplaced anger at a pure soul I instead decided to follow Charlton''s advice and climb one of the trees at the edge of the clearing. I walked closer to one of the trees, half both expecting and hoping to hear the melodic thumping of a true friend from inside the forest, and tried to climb the tree.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Jump. *flop* Jump! *flop* Jump! *flop* ¡°...¡± The tree''s branches were too high up for me to reach... (TT^TT) I was about to give up when I remembered the shape and form of Charlton. He believed in me! He knew i would be able to do this, so I¡¯ve got to give it my all! With a renewed vigor I charged at the tree, closed my eyes and jumped with all of my might! *Glomp* After a few seconds I deemed it safe to open my eyes, and O noticed that I was still stuck to the tree without falling. ¡°... ¡­ ¡­! ¡­ ¡­!¡± After having celebrated my success by trash talking the tree and praising the divine being that no doubt resided within Charlton''s earthy body, I finally calmed down and realized that I didn''t actually know just how I was keeping myself from falling. ¡°...?¡± As I was looking at the two things that I could feel my entire body''s weight hanging from, I saw that it was in fact my hands. Somehow, even though my ¡°claws¡± were as soft to the touch as an overly stuffed pillow, they had still somehow penetrated the trees bark, letting me hang there. I looked down towards my feet and tried kicking the tree to make make a foothold. *thud* Instead of going into the bark like I was expecting them to, my toes simply bent in all directions, kinda like what you''d expect would happen if a stuffed toy tried to kick a tree. And yet, even though my three toes were forcefully bent in a way that couldn''t have been healthy for the fabric, I didn''t feel any pain. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I could feel that they were bent in an unnatural direction and that I needed to stop bending them like that or something bad would happen, but even though I could feel that something about my foot was wrong, it didn''t feel as overpowering as pain usually does, instead it was more like I just knew that something was wrong, and not just that, I could even feel much more accurately just where it was that something was wrong too. I was suddenly snapped back out of my thoughts as i noticed the foot that I was still trying to push into the tree was beginning to fade into a dark, green color and was, millimeter by millimeter, slowly going into the tree. This however, felt different from my hands. It didn''t feel like fingers, where it felt like i was sticking my fingers in a bowling ball and I could feel the air around my fingers, instead I could feel the inside of the tree on all sides of my toes, and not just on the outside of my toes, but also the inside. I could feel the both the bark and the wood of the tree inside of my foot. I was phasing through the tree. As I tried to lift the green foot upwards I found that, although very slowly, I could move it inside the tree, it felt like miving through incredibly thick mud. I then tried to move it back down, only to find that instead of moving the foot downwards, I instead moved my whole body upwards, as though I was walking up a set of stairs. I slowly began to make my way up the tree by making holes in the bark with my hands and phasing both my feet through the tree for foothold, turns out I could only use each of the¡­ whatever they were on specific parts of my body Honestly it kinda felt like climbing a ladder. Once I finally reached the top of the tree and got past all the leaves (which takes a long time when the tree is four times as big as normal ones) I looked around and saw what looked like a octagonal house standing on eight large stilts, one in each corner, a few meters above the treetops a small distance away. I slowly began to make my way over to it by climbing among the leaves and scaring off all the birds that were in the trees I went through. As I finally came to the house I climbed up on a rope ladder that I found hanging from its side and got inside, there I saw that the house was just one big room with a very ornate octagon on the floor in the middle that was filled with all sorts of weird symbols in each of its corners, and inside of the octagon laid a single book. Just as I had gotten halfway to the octagon I was suddenly assaulted by a great sense of fatigue and fainted on the spot while fell to the side. Thank Charlton I don''t have any bones in my body to break by falling the wrong way. Chapter 2 - Book of Knowledge ¡°Oi! Oi! Wake up you stupid, freeloading little cunt!¡± What the¡­ ¡°Stop sleeping on my floor you little shit! Wait¡­ Don¡¯t tell me he died?! God damnit! I thought someone would finally be able to take me out of this cursed place! Fuck!¡± I remember having walked into the house and¡­ fainting immediately. ¡°Not only am I stuck in this rickety old place, but now there¡¯s a bloody corpse here too! Cunts!¡± I was hoping to get to use this house as a place to sleep, but no way is that possible with such a loud person living here too. I lift my head to look around and see that in the middle of the room, inside the octagon and on top of the book, there''s what appears to be a small child who would probably reach up to my knees if I had any. She¡¯s laying on top of the back and slamming it with both her hands and feet. speaking of the book, the book¡¯s cover seems to be made of brown leather and it completely lacks any sort of detailing on it, no name on the front nor on its side, and the paper inside of it don¡¯t look like normal white paper, instead they¡¯re blue and glowi- ¡°Ah! hey!¡± I quickly lay back down. ¡°No no no no no, I saw you moving! Stop pretending to be dead!¡± It seems that while i was absorbed in the blue paper, the little kid (who I now see has wings like a dragonfly) must have seen me. I slowly begin to begrudgingly get up and look towards the child. ¡° ah- er¡­. ehm¡­¡± ¡°...¡± As she¡¯s calming down a yellow light starts shining behind her and making her look like some saint from a church''s stained windows. ¡°My name is Elizabeth and I am the guardian of this sacred Grimoire. Welcome brave traveller¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°How unusual, I¡¯ve never seen a purple-skinned goblin before, let alone one wearing a mask with red hair.¡± ¡°...?¡± Did she just mistake me for a goblin? Of all things it could¡¯ve been, why did she mistake me for a goblin!? She squints her eyes and speaks again, this time with a hint of aggravation in her voice, most likely due to me not saying anything. ¡°Since you have made it so far into such a treacherous forest as this one you must have a purpose, would you mind telling me and I might be able to help.¡± ¡°... ¡­ ¡­? ¡­ ¡­, ¡­ ¡­¡± I tried telling her, but, unlike Charlton, she doesn¡¯t seem to understand me. ¡°Not much of a talker? I understand, the journey must have been very tiresome and perilous. Say, do you see the book that¡¯s next to me?¡± It seems that she had at some point stepped off of the book when i wasn¡¯t paying attention. ¡°...¡± *bulge* A vein could bee seen on her forehead. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s just say you do.¡± she said with even more annoyance in her voice. She then started glowing even brighter, as though she was trying to look like a goddess, and spoke with a voice that sounded forcibly calm.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°This book is what known as a Grimoire, they are magical books that gives its owner vast knowledge. As you have managed to make it all the way here i would like to gift it to you, I think it would help you on your journey.¡± I think she tried to smile at me the way that a mother smiles at her child, but honestly it just looked creepy. ¡°...¡± ¡°Well? Go on.¡± I slowly walk my way towards the octagon on the floor and try to stay on guard. ¡°That¡¯s the way, come here young goblin.¡± As i got inside of the octagon, Elizabeth''s smile turned wider. ¡°Go on, open the book.¡± She said, this time with a voice filled to the brim with undeniable anticipation. ¡°...¡± I sit down next to the book, open it and look inside. Just as i do that, Elizabeth stops glowing and shows as wicked of smile as she could make using a body as small as hers. ¡°About fucking time you dipshit! Now I¡¯ll finally be able to get out of this magic fucking formation! Now my minion, carry the book with you and go outside!¡± She shouts at me while pointing towards the entrance. ¡°...¡± I sit still, tilt my head and simply look at her. ¡°...¡± She responds to my silence with more silence. ¡°What the fuck! You¡¯re supposed to do what I tell you to do! Why aren¡¯t you taking me outside?!¡± I drop the book and close it.I look towards her and see her seemingly frozen in her pose and still pointing towards the door. As time goes on her smile becomes stiffer and she starts to visibly sweat. ¡°wai-bu.. n..¡± She seems to not know what to say. Her hand falls to the side and she says; ¡°B-b-bu-bu-but the magic formation¡­ It was supposed to make anyone who touches the book fall so madly in love with me that they''ll do anything i say... Don''t tell me... Am i ugly enough to negate the effect?!?¡± At this point she has fallen into a full on orz position and sobbing can be heard. While she¡¯s busy I decide to actually look at what that book of hers actually is. I open the cover and see the first page.
Index Skills Abilities Titles Achievements Storage
This is... what? what is this even? ¡°ah!¡± ¡°...?¡± I look up from the book and see Elizabeth (I¡¯ll just call her Lizz from now on) pointing at me. ¡°What are you doing?! Don¡¯t touch that!¡± I just stare at her, contemplating how my life could''ve gone from meeting a gentlemanly saint like Charlton, all the way to meeting someone with a fouler mouth than¡­ Than¡­ I don''t even know what, I¡¯m not that good at insults, but the point is, she swears a lot. ¡°Aarrgghh, give me that you stupid goblin!¡± She swoops in and grabs the book, trying to pull it away from me. ¡°... ¡­, ¡­.¡± Man I wish I could actually talk, then i could at least make her realize I''m not a goblin. Suddenly the book starts glowing brightly, and after it calmed down I see that the Index has changed.
Index Active Skills Passive Skills Titles Achievements Storage ¡è Notes ¡è
Wait, what? Notes? And what''s up with this book? The book then starts flipping its pages on its own, eventually arriving at one of the last pages, and there it said:
Notes This is... what? what is this even? What¡¯s she doing now? I¡¯m really starting to miss you know Charlton, how did I go from you to this? Man I wish I could actually talk, then I could at least make her realize I''m not a goblin. Wait, what? Notes? And what''s up with this book?
¡°...¡± I look at the book in silence. ¡°...¡± Lizz looks at the book in silence. ¡°..¡± ¡°...¡± We both look at the book in silence. Chapter 3 - The contents of the book ¡°I¡¯ve been stuck here for years trying to get this shitty book to accept me, and now it just chooses a fucking Goblin?!¡±
I told you, I¡¯m not a goblin.
¡°Well tough luck Gobbo, I don¡¯t fucking care.¡±
*Sigh* Fine. But can you at least tell me what this thing is?
¡°No. Fuck you.¡± she says as she goes and sits in a fetal position slightly outside the octagon, but not as far away as i had expected her to. Judging by what she said earlier, I guess she cant go that far away from the book. ¡®I guess I¡¯ll just have to try and find out what this is myself then.'' ''Let¡¯s see now¡­ The Index said something about Active skills?¡¯ And just as I thought that, the book starts turning its pages again with a *flutter flutter*.
Active Skills Hunting Claws Phasing
¡®Hunting claws? Phasing? I mean, I guess that must be what I used when I climbed the tree but¡­ that''s what this is? it shows my skills? I mean, that''s good and all but do I only get to know their na-¡¯*flutter flutter*
Hunting Claws Due to having been born as a being that possesses natural claws you have been given this ability, though considered a common ability by most, it is also vital to survival. This skill lets you harden and sharpen the claws on your two most dominant limbs. With enough practice you will be able to improve the effects of this ability while also make it usable on other limbs.
Phasing Due to having a ghostly disposition you have been given this ability. This ability lets you phase small parts of your body through solid objects. With enough practice you will be able to turn larger portions of yourself intangible.
¡®Oh. Well that''s helpful at least. And it does explain why I couldn''t pierce the tree with my feet. But Ghostly Disposition? what is that? ¡°...¡± *cricket sounds* ¡°...¡± *cricket sounds intensifies* ¡®Well it was worth a shot. But then what about the other things? Passive Skills?¡¯
Passive Skills Brainless Heartless Gutless
¡®OH COME ON! What did i do to deserve that?!¡¯ *pfft* I look to my side and see Lizz flying next to my head and seemingly trying her best to stifle her laughter. ¡°AH HAHAH HA!!!¡± And failing miserably. *Thud* Sheshe has now fallen on the floor and is currently rolling around laughing while holding her stomach. ¡°...¡± I try my best to send her a glare, but since I don''t know what i look like I¡¯m not sure if it had any effect, and also, according to Lizz I seem to be wearing a mask and that probably doesn''t make my eyes any easier to see, either way she''s laughing way too much to even keep her eyes open and see me. An indeterminable amount of time (but most likely between ten minutes and half an hour) later. *wheeze wheeze* I think she might have finally finished laughi- ¡°HA! That¡¯s what you fucking get you shitty little Cunt!¡±
As foul mouthed as ever.
¡°What, you think you got the right to complain? now hurry up and look at what those things do, I¡¯ve been researching this book for years so even though i hate your non-existant guts to the point where i would strangle you if you had any, that''s not enough to make me miss this opportunity¡±
Fine. But only if you explain to me what you know about this thing afterwards.
¡°Alright, alright, you got yourself a deal¡± I reach out my arm to shake hers a- ¡°But I still refuse to touch you! No way am i touching a goblin!¡±
I¡¯m not a-
¡°I don¡¯t give a damn! now hurry the fuck up with the book!¡±
Fine.
¡®Well then, book, what do my passive skills d-¡¯ *flutter flutter* ¡°...¡± ¡®I¡¯d really appreciate it if you tried not to cut me off everytime.¡¯
BrainlessUnauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Due to not possessing an organ with the purpose of adjusting hormone output you are invulnerable to most magic and skills with that have psychological effect.
Heartless Due to not possessing an organ with the purpose of circulating air throughout your body you do not need to breathe, you are also invulnerable to all poisons that need to be inside of your circulatory systems to have an effect
Gutless Due to not possessing an organ with the purpose of absorbing nutrition you do not need to feed
¡°Ohhhh, so THAT¡¯S how you resisted my spell! phew, I was really that it was¡­ something... else...¡± ¡®...Aaaaaand she¡¯s stuck in her own little world again.'' ''Well, I¡¯ll just keep looking then. err¡­ what¡¯s next? Titles?¡¯ *flutter flutter*
Titles One who chases the Dead
One who chases the Dead Despite having lost a loved one you refuse to give up and instead follow them to the world thereafter you have been given a ghostly disposition, this will alter what skills you learn in the future
¡®Oh, so that¡¯s where the ghostly disposition came from. But aside from that I don¡¯t understand what it means. Chasing a lost one to another world? Well, as far as I¡¯m aware this is the only time I¡¯ve travelled to another world, so then that must mean there¡¯s someone here who i used to know in my old world that died. Actually, there''s only one person who i was close to in my previous world that died. My great grandparents died before i was born and my normal grandparents were still alive when i died. So that just leaves...Shiona!¡¯ Shiona Offerson , or Shove as we both called her, was the girl who gave me my stuffed toy and my nickname back in my previous world, we got pretty close, even became a couple. But then one summer she had to travel down south on a plane to go to a family member''s funeral. She didn''t really want to go either, she was actually scared of heights, but she decided that her family was more important than her fear and went nonetheless. But then the plane crashed, there were many survivors, but Shove wasn¡¯t one of them. At first I was struck by grief, it felt horrible, but after I started carrying around the stuffed toy she made for me, that feeling of grief started slowly going away. Now that i think about it, after that time a lot of my negative feelings started disappearing. even when something bad happened to me it felt nowhere near as bad as it felt the last time that that exact same thing happened. ¡®Does this mean that Shove was reincarnated here too?¡¯! I quickly look around and see that Lizz is still sprawled out on the floor, crying tears of relief over something trivial. Knowing her I think that it¡¯s probably best if i don¡¯t let her know I¡¯m from another world. I go and tap her on her shoulder. *tap tap* *flutter flutter*
Hey, you alright?
¡°yeah, it''s just¡­ It was a matter of pride¡­¡± ¡°...¡±
Well, whatever, I¡¯m going to keep looking in the book.
¡°What?!¡± She immediately got back up and flew towards me. *shrugs* ¡®Oh well, good thing I didn¡¯t tell her back when i was looking at my Titles.'' ''Let¡¯s see, Achievements.¡¯ *flutter flutter*
Achievements Created a Blessed Doll Created a Cursed Doll
¡°WHAT!? YOU¡¯VE created a Blessed Doll AND a Cursed Doll? AND SURVIVED?!?¡± I stare at Lizz in shock at her sudden outburst. I have a feeling that if she had been drinking something I would¡¯ve been able to witness a majestic waterspout out of her mouth and nose. A few seconds pass and she''s still not responding so I decide to ask the book instead. ¡®What¡¯s the deal with them anyway? Book, could you show me what they mean?¡¯
Created a Blessed Doll Due to having subconsciously poured wishes into an object that carries resemblance to your species you have created a Blessed Doll. Blessed Dolls are a type of spiritual guardians, they will try their best to fulfill the wishes of their creators and doing so without harming anyone.
¡®Wow, that''s err¡­ that''s something. I''m pretty sure that the only ¡°object that carry resemblance to my species¡± that I¡¯ve had is the plush that Shove gave me, so does that mean that I was practically living with a genie? But¡­ I never noticed it doing anythi- wait... during all that time after Shove passed away, was this doll the reason that I started feeling better? At the time I believed that a soul wouldn''t be able to pass on if someone was still clinging on to them, did the plush make me feel better so that I would let Shove pass on? But then¡­ what about the other one? book, what is a Cursed Doll?
Created a Cursed doll Due to having created a Blessed doll by using the taboo wish of being reunited with the dead, your blessed doll was eventually been corrupted into a Cursed Doll. Cursed Dolls are malicious spirits that will try to fulfill their creators wishes, however these must not be confused with Blessed Dolls. Although they both grant wishes, Cursed Dolls will select a method of fulfilling the wish that¡¯s the most likely to severely injure, or even kill its creator.
¡®Wait, so¡­ at the platform, when i was dragged onto the tracks¡­ it was because of the plush? I¡¯m not sure how to feel about this, on one hand I was killed, but on the other, I now have a chance of meeting Shove again¡­ I¡¯m really not sure how to feel about that¡­¡¯ ¡°I can¡¯t fucking believe it! I finally meet someone who has a Blessed Doll, and yet they¡¯ve already ruined it with a fucking taboo! Shit!¡± I try my absolute best to stay calm. ever since I came to this world and got separated from my stuffed plush I¡¯ve been feeling a lot more¡­ well¡­ feelings, and I¡¯m afraid anger might soon be one of them. ¡°Not that I don¡¯t understand you though, I performed a taboo once as well, that¡¯s whole the reason I¡¯m stuck to this damn book.¡± ¡°...¡± She sounds¡­ sad¡­ like, not the way she¡¯s been sounding before this, but like she¡¯s actually regretting something. ¡°...¡± To get rid of this depressing atmosphere I decide to open up the last tab in the book. ¡®Storage¡¯ *flutter flutter* When it stops at the right pages both me and Lizz immediately see that it¡¯s different from all the other tabs. On one side it says:
Storage ¡è ¡è ¡è ¡è ¡è
And the other looks like one of those infinity mirror trinkets. So I do what any sensible person would, and stick my hand into the book to see whether it''s just a fancy illusion or actually a tunnel.
Storage ¡è Plush¡¯s hand ¡è ¡è ¡è ¡è
¡°...!¡± this time it was me that made a surprised silence, but rather it was Lizz. ¡°How could you just stick your arm in there?! are you daft?¡± She shouts at me While I pull out my arm again. ¡°...¡± ¡°Aarrgghh! It drives me crazy trying to talk with a mute! Know what? Fuck it! I¡¯m going to sleep!¡± She then lands on the floor, lays down and rolls so that she¡¯s looking away from me. I look outside and see that it¡¯s gotten dark, I guess this must¡¯ve taken a lot longer than expected. ¡®Well, i think I¡¯ll follow her lead.¡¯ And so I lay down and try to go to sleep. Chapter 4 - A good nights rest I wake up and feel a falling sensation. *THUD* And then a landing sensation. I get up and find myself on the grassy ground below the house. *wheeze* *wheeze* ¡°Fuck! Did you finally wake up you shitty goblin?!¡± I look back up to the house and see that Lizz is standing at the edge of the house¡¯s entrance while wheezing heavily. ¡®How did she even get there? I thought she couldn¡¯t move that far away from the book?¡¯ While I¡¯m looking at Lizz I also see a rope going over the edge of the house¡¯s floor and when I follow it I see that it eventually leads to me. It¡¯s tied around my waist. I start climbing my way back up to the house while trying to mutter something(Didn¡¯t work, I¡¯m still mute), this time on a tree that¡¯s a bit closer, all the while I hear Lizz swearing and throwing a tantrum about how much of a heavy sleeper I am. When I finally get back inside I see that the other end of the rope that¡¯s tied to my waist is tied around the book and that the book is now much closer to the entrance. ¡®So that¡¯s how she moved so far!¡¯ I try to send her a glare again, but judging by how she doesn''t seem to notice at all I think my mask got in the way again. ¡®Speaking of mask.¡¯ *flutter* *flutter*
Hey Lizz, you said I was wearing a mask yesterday, what¡¯s it look like?
¡°What, don¡¯t feel like taking it off and and showing your face in front of a lady?¡± She says while smiling mischievously.
I can¡¯t take it off, it¡¯s stuck to my face. Just tell me what it looks like already.
Lizz then starts looking me in the eyes, tilts her head and looks to be in deep thought. After a while she straightens herself out, holds one of her hands, palm upwards, in front of herself and hits it with her other. ¡°It¡¯s like a pearl!¡± She says, seemingly satisfied and proud of her answer.
Like a pearl? What do you mean?
¡°Well, other than your eyeholes it¡¯s completely smooth and shiny, I can even see a vague reflection of myself in it. Actually, you look kinda like a pearl with red seaweed growing out of it!¡± She says while leaning backwards, seemingly even prouder. I think she might have been trying to puff out her chest, but since there''s nothing to puff out it just looks like she''s leaning backwards. I look at her with pity as she seems completely unaware of what I¡¯m thinking. ¡®Come to think of it, what should I do now? I was originally planning on maybe just staying in the house and live peacefully since i don¡¯t really need anything to survive¡­ but since i know that Shiona is somewhere in this world now I want to go out and find her. And to do that I need information.¡¯Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
Say, you were stuck to the book, right? So that means that if I bring the book with me when I leave to find a town I¡¯d be forced to take you as well?
¡°Yup. Now that I finally found someone who can use the book I¡¯m not letting you get away from me, even if you are a shitty purple goblin.¡±
Honestly, why do you keep calling me a goblin? What part of me makes me look like a goblin?
¡°You¡¯re the same height as a fucking goblin so I¡¯m calling you a goddamn goblin until you prove me the fuck wrong.¡± Something about that remark seemed off to me, but I was too annoyed to pay enough attention to remember it.
Say, what does a goblin''s hand feel like?
¡°Very thin and bony, usually very ragged too, why? You of all people ought to know what a goblin''s hand is li-¡± While she¡¯s in the middle of talking I quickly stretch out my arm and grab her, my fingers reaching all the way around her and covering everything from below her shoulders to her knees. ¡°Iii! Thi-this is¡­ so.. sof..sof¡­¡± *Snore* ¡®wait¡­ what?¡¯ Suddenly the book jumps up from the ground, and with a *flutter* *flutter* it turns to a new page.
Lulling Touch Due to being a creature that is commonly believed to help ward off sleepless nights you have been given this ability. This ability will cause those who touch you while using this ability to slowly fall asleep. The effect of this ability is exponentially proportional to how big of a surface area of the target that you are touching
¡®What? it says slowly but¡­ Then again my hand was covering more than three quarters of her body so I guess that¡¯s why it worked so quickly.¡¯ And then i realise: ¡®Wait. I didn¡¯t have this ability before! Did I just get it? Or does the book only show them after I¡¯ve already used them once? If it¡¯s the latter then does that mean I could have more Active Skills that i don¡¯t know about?¡¯ Either way, when I looked at the Active Skills tab again Lulling Touch now showed up below Phasing. *drip* *drip* Suddenly I hear a dripping sound so I look outside, expecting it to start raining soon. but¡­ *drip* *drip* The sound is coming from inside. I look to where the sound is coming from, and see that Lizz, still sleeping in my hand, has started drooling and it¡¯s dripping on the floor. ¡°...¡± I decide to put her down, and the moment I let go of her fully, she immediately jerks upward with eyes wide open in shock. ¡°What¡­¡± ¡®Uh oh.¡¯ ¡°That was¡­¡± ¡®Oh no.¡¯ ¡°So soft!!!¡± ¡®Wha?!¡¯ Suddenly her eyes, which i thought were filled with shock, start sparkling while she¡¯s looking at me. ¡°I haven¡¯t slept that well since before I came to this place!¡± ¡°...¡± I start walking backwards to get away from her. ¡°I was already planning to follow you to see the book in action, but now there''s absolutely no way I¡¯m letting you get away from me!¡± She tries to fly towards me but it seems her wings are sticking to each other due to her drool so after trying it once she starts walking towards me instead, al the while having a crescent moon chaped smile and a dangerous glint in both her eyes. ¡®How can something so small be so terrifying?!¡¯ I keep walking away only to find that I¡¯ve backed myself into a corner, I try to run to the side only for her to run up and glomp me. As i struggle to get her off of me I slowly start resigning to my fate. I guess this means we won¡¯t be leaving for the town today either. *Snore* Chapter 5 - Leaving the house After Lizz finally wakes up on her own we decided to sit in front of the book and finally plan ahead for what we¡¯ll do in the future.
If we¡¯re going to to to a city then we need to know where a city is, any id¨¦as?
¡°Geez, I¡¯ve only lived here for a few years so it should I should be able to find my way to the nearest town.¡±
Really? So that means we have a destination at least, what¡¯s the name of the city by the way? And what species live there?
¡°For the most part it¡¯s humans, demi-humans and half-humans.¡±
Demi-humans? half-humans? This might be rude but, what''s the difference?
¡°That¡¯s not actually as rude as you think, a lot of people get them confused, although it¡¯s frowned upon no one would challenge you to a duel to the death just for getting them mixed up. But the difference between them is that half-humans look like humans with animal parts attached to them, like a tail, ears, wings or sometimes even half an animal like with centaurs, while demi-humans look humanoid animals or insects and sometimes even like normal animals simply standing on their hind legs.¡±
Alright, but then where do you fit in?
¡°heh heh, listen and be amaze gobli-¡± *pok* ¡°Ah!¡±
I told you, I¡¯m not a goblin, okay?
¡°uhhhhh¡± She¡¯s looking at me with teary eyes while rubbing her forehead where i flicked her. I think I may have gone a bit overboard by using Hunting Claws. ¡°Fine! I agree that you¡¯re way too soft to be a goblin, but then what the fuck are you even?!¡±
I¡¯m a plushy, and my name is Plush so stop calling me goblin!
¡°A plushy? I¡¯ve never heard of that species before, you must be from really far away then.¡± She keeps rubbing her forehead for a while and then wipes off her tears on her sleeve. ¡°Listen and be amazed!¡± I ready another forehead flick in case she decides to call me a goblin again She tries to seem unfazed and continue to speak, but I can see that she¡¯s sweating up a river ¡°I-I am the product of my own magic, I used to be human but in order to study this book in peace I used magic to change myself and become like this, I am truly one of a kind!¡± Starting off with a stutter but picking up speed midway through and still finish her little speech made me want to applaud her to make her feel better. But instead I decided to give in to my mischievous side and tease her.
But aren¡¯t your wings like those of a dragonfly? So if you¡¯re a human with insect wings, doesn¡¯t that make you a half-human?
*Crash* It was like I could hear her world break into pieces as i said it. ¡°bu-bu-bu-bu-bu¡­..¡± *Thud* She fell into a splendid orz position. ¡°No¡­...no¡­..no¡­..¡± I felt it was probably best to leave her to herself for a while and instead think a bit for myself. ¡®When I arrived here Lizz made such a big deal about the book, that must mean it¡¯s very famous and important so it would probably be bad to show it to everyone that i need to speak wi-¡¯The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. *flutter* *flutter* ¡°...?¡± The book Suddenly closed on its own and as I look towards it to see why. *THUD* *crack* *poff* It seemingly flew off of the ground and hit me square in the forehead and sent me flying to the house¡¯s wall, and by the sound of it my mask broke as well. I got up and it looked like I was wearing cracked glasses, my vision was hindered by a web-like shape and when I felt the mask with my hand I could feel small edges going across it. As i looked around to try and find the book the web-like shape slowly started disappearing, though it happened incredibly slowly, and when i felt my mask I can feel that the edges ere slowly realigning themselves. I still try to find the book and see Lizz, she¡¯s still in an orz position with her body but her head is looking at me with a wide-open mouth. ¡°a-a-a-a p-page fell out of the book!¡± ¡¯WHAT?!¡¯ I finally spot the book and go towards it. *flutter* *flutter* I immediately raise my guard, however this time the book just went to a page and stayed open.
Index Active Skills Passive Skills Titles Achievements Storage
¡®The notes tab is gone?! Forget talking with people I don¡¯t trust, now I won¡¯t even be able to talk with Lizz anymore! While I was talking my mask had healed fully, and when it did I felt different. ¡°...! Plush!¡± What now? Feeling better after my mask healed I wasn¡¯t quite as angry any more. ¡°There¡¯s blue text on your mask!¡± What?! ¡°I saw the page that fell out of the book go into the crack on your mask, I think it shows what you¡¯re thinking!¡± I stare at the book, this time with awe and surprise rather than anger, and go to pick it up. ¡°...¡± Lizz is still looking at me and the book with confusion and surprise showing in her eyes. Now feeling much, much better, my mischievousness starts to resurfaces. I lift my arm and make it ready for a forehead flick. ¡°Hiii!¡± Sadly she notices me and immediately flies off. ¡°Don¡¯t do that again!¡± She says as she looks at me while pouting. Alright alright, I¡¯ll save the forehead flicks for when you really deserve them, now that things have calmed down let¡¯s return to what we were talking about before. She lands and slowly starts walking towards me while looking at me like I¡¯m some sort of monster. When I came here you were making a really big deal about this book right? I¡¯d imagine that that means it¡¯s really important and/or famous and that probably means I won¡¯t be able to carry it around in publi- *flutter* *flutter* Suddenly the book closes and both me and Lizz both hurriedly crouch down on the ground. We hear what sounds like someone rubbing leather against leather for a while, with a few metallic *clinks* mixed in every now and then. (dunno any good onomatopoeia for rubbing leather) ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± Eventually we both look up at the book after it¡¯s been silent for a while and see that it has now grown three straps made of the same material as the book¡¯s cover, they all have metal buckles on them and two of them are going across the back of the book and look like backpack straps and the other seems to be holding the books closed. The books paper has also changed from glowing blue to normal paper white and if i didn¡¯t know better I would think it to be a normal book. Lizz and I look at eachother for a while and eventually I go to the book and try wearing it like a backpack. it fits. it fits perfectly. in fact it¡¯s kinda scary how well the size of the book fit on my back, it feels exactly like I¡¯m wearing a normal backpack, albeit a bit harder. I look at Lizz again. I¡¯m pretty sure that that''s all of our problems solved now, so I think we¡¯re ready to depart, do you have anything you need to take with you? ¡°Hell no! The sooner we get out of this shitty place the fucking better!¡± She almost immediately darts off to the entrance. But then something hits me. Wait! She barely manages to see me telling her to wait and stops to come back. Come here and look at me. I try to get my seriousness over to her in the text. She flies towards me and hovers with her head in front of my mask. ¡®Now then, if I can make anything I think appear on my mask as text when I want it to Then¡­¡¯ ( ?¡ã ?? ?¡ã) ¡°Hiii!!¡± She screams and flies off as far as the book lets her. Okay, now I¡¯m ready to depart. Chapter 6 - Sounds like trouble Once Lizz had finally calmed down after my little prank we departed and started walking away from the house. Are you sure this is the right way? ¡°Yes.¡± How can you tell? She turns around and points back at the house. ¡°See how the corner pointing this way is painted red?¡± Oh. So how far is it to the town by the way? ¡°It¡¯s not that far actually, the only reason people haven''t come here and disturbed me in my research is because they believe in some ¡°ghost of the mound¡± going around killing people mumbo jumbo.¡± Spirit of the mountain? However she¡¯s currently flying in front of me while looking forwards so she doesn''t see what I say. *tap* *tap* ¡°Hmm?¡± I said; Spirit of the mountain? *snap* ¡°Yeah, that''s the one.¡± She says as she snaps her fingers. ¡°Wait, don''t tell me you believe in them to?!¡± Believe and believe, I met one of them. In fact he was the one that pointed me to your house when I was lost. ¡°What!? You need to take me to him, NOW!¡± I don''t think so, Charlton, that''s his name by the way, said that they aren''t too fond of, what did he call them¡­ fleshies? Squishies? But other than that he was a really nice guy! ¡°Nice guy!? You do realize that every other sentient species is a ¡°fleshy¡± right?! Even half-insects and demi-insects still have flesh on them!¡± Oh. ¡°¡®Oh.¡¯ My ass! That guy would''ve probably fucking squashed you to death if you were any other fucking species!¡± ... *cough* "... Or so the rumors say, not that I believe them or anything...¡± And as she says that she turns around again with a slightly flustered face. *Clang* *shhhh* ¡°D''you hear that?¡± *Clang* Yeah, what is it? *Thud* ¡°Ugh!¡± we hear someone grunt. ¡°Hey, you okay Joanne!?¡± We hear someone else shouting ¡°I think there''s a battle up ahead.¡± Says Lizz. Let''s go look, we might get some information this way, and we''d better hurry before someone gets killed! And so we both hurry towards the sound, one of us running and the other flying,until we burst through a bush and onto the main road and see... Two young girls, one of them, seems to have fallen and is laying down on the road while wearing a giant backpack with loads of pots and pans hanging off of its sides,the other is wearing what I think is leather armor with metal bits attached to it and was trying to help the one who fell get up get up. The one with the backpack has brown haird which covers her eyes and the one with the sword has red, not red like mine but fiery red. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "..." ... Lizz immediately hides behind my back, seemingly hesitant to meet anyone, and me and red start a stare off. After staring at each other for a minute or so the girl¡¯s face becomes one shade more crimson. ¡°What happened Hannah?¡± The brunette asks. Red doesn¡¯t respond to her and simply keeps staring at me, so the brunette, seemingly having given up on getting an answer, turns her head towards what red is looking at. Towards at me. "Is that a¡­?¡± The brunette asks. ¡°Maybe it is¡­¡± Red replies. ¡°¡±Is that a Blessed Doll¡­!?¡±¡± ¡äThey both ask in unison while the red starts blushing more and more and the brunette tries to stand up. ¡°Oof!¡± But with no luck. ¡°!¡± Falling again seems to have finally been enough to drag red back to reality as she starts helping the girl back up. ¡°Thanks Hannah. What would a Blessed Doll be doing here?¡± ¡°I honestly have no id¨¦a Joanne, but...¡± ¡°Um¡­ Hi¡­¡± Without me noticing, Lizz had flown out from behind. ¡°A half-dragonfly? Are you the creator of this Blessed Doll? And¡­ And why are you here?¡± Lizz seems to barely be able to keep herself from breaking down when they call her a half-dragonfly, but she carries on nonetheless, just with a more hollow look to her smile. ¡°Err¡­ I think I heard you guys call each other Hannah and Joanne, right? I¡¯m Elizabeth, a traveler, I was taking a shortcut through the mountain forest to reach Eastern Lake city when I stumbled upon this guy en route, hes not actually a Blessed Doll but rather seems to be a part of a species called ¡®plushy¡¯, mind doing some self introduction?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Plush? What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°...¡± Lizz then smiles mischievously and¡­ *pok* Flicks my forehead. ¡°That¡¯s what you get for earlier!¡± And although I would love nothing than to get back at her, I have something more important that I need to know¡­ Why are they so huge?!? Lizz, I never heard you say anything about giants!!! Suddenly both the girls flinch and look oddly at me. ¡°te-text¡­¡± ¡°On his.. face... And once they finally calm down enough to talk Joanne tells me... ¡°Oh, um, err¡­ I-I assure you mister¡­" "His name is Plush" "Mister P-plush? We are not g-giants, we are just n-normal run of the m-mill humans.¡± Says Joanna while stuttering, but... Like hell you are! You¡¯re four times as tall as me! I write(?) as I point at her. ¡°Plush!¡± What! ¡°Of course humans are taller than you! you¡¯re only half a meter tall!¡± *Shatter* I could feel my entire world breaking apart like a mirror around me. ¡®I¡­ I¡­¡¯ Losing strength in my legs, I fall forwards into an orz position. Hannah and Joanna look at me with confusion while Lizz was trying to figure out how to mask what I was doing. ¡°H-Hannah, Johanne, err¡­ Sorry about that, Plush seems to have been born in the forest so he only knows about the outside world from stories I told him while we were walking through the forest, and, well I guess I didn'' clarify enough when I said us half-dragonflies were smaller than humans.¡± ¡°A-ah¡­ sure...¡± ¡°Err...Yeah¡­ ¡± Lizz almost starts crying for just having called herself a half-dragonfly and neither of the girls seem to really know how to respond, and yet all this time Hannah has still kept blushing. ¡°A-ah, well¡­ how about this, you said you guys were heading to Eastern Lake City right?! Well, we still have something we need to do first... But how about we meet up somewhere when we return?! How about¡­ Our inn! yes! Both me and Johanna live at the Quartets¡¯ Inn, when you get there, uhm¡­ This!¡± She quickly takes out what looks like a flat, round, multicolored piece of ceramic from underneath one of the metal plates on her armor. ¡°Give this emblem to one of the innkeepers and tell them you were sent by Hannah! They¡¯ll give you two a room to stay in, free of charge!¡± And as she¡¯s saying that her face has gone fully flushed and her eyes are sparkling while she¡¯s practically forcing the emblem on to me and ignoring Lizz¡¯s existence. Ah, erm, o-okay? when do you guys think you¡¯ll be back? Looking at the emblem it¡¯s a flat square which is divided into 4 differently colored areas, one yellow, one blue, one red, and one brown, and they all have a different shape, also the Yellow part had a small "X" in it as well. ¡°Oh it should only take a day at most.¡± Oh. Well in that case we¡¯ll meet up then, b- ¡°Yes!! I¡¯ll see you then Plush!!¡± And as she says that she grabs her sister and runs off. -ut where¡¯s the inn¡­ Without reading my whole message¡­ I stare at their backs as they¡¯re already disappearing from sight and Lizz bursts into laughter again. W-well, let¡¯s get going to the city then, I think I can see it over there. And so we resume walking towards the Eastern Lake city. Chapter 7 - Disturbance at the gate After having had our encounter with the two sisters we started walking towards the walls that could be seen in the distance. *sigh* Or rather I thought it was ¡®we¡¯, but it seems Lizz is just hovering where she is while hanging her head. *tap* *tap* ¡°...Mm?¡± What¡¯s wrong? ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ I was really proud of having made myself into what I am, and¡­ and yet they just confused me with a normal half-dragonfly¡­ I¡¯m not sure how long I can handle this if it keeps up¡­¡±She says while landing on the ground and entering a fetal position. ¡®Hmm¡­ I wonder¡­¡¯ I *tap* *tap* her shoulder, making her look towards me. Actually, I think I might have a way to fix that. And as I say that: ¡°You do?!¡± She responds with sparkling eyes and a big smile. Maybe. Probably. It¡¯s worked before. ¡°Before? You¡¯ve had this problem before?¡± Not this exa- ¡°Shut up! I changed my mind, I don¡¯t care! As long as it works I¡¯m fine, but what are you going to do?¡± Well there¡¯s only one thing that can fix as bizarre of a problem as this¡­ ¡®Do you think you could help us with this one boo-¡¯ And then, as if having eagerly awaited an opportunity to prove itself useful yet again, the book starts glowing with a blue light like before we left the house and, while still on my back, opens up and stretches out an arm, the arm looks to be made of the same material as the books paper and it shoots forwards, grabbing Lizz, pulling her back into the book and closing again. ''!'' I quickly take the book off of my back and open it.
Index Active Skills -> Passive Skills -> Titles -> Achievements -> Storage -> Familiars ->
¡®What¡¯s this? Familiars? Whatever happened to Lizz has to have to do with this new tab.¡¯
Familiars Due to various circumstances these creatures have become one with the Book of Knowledge, you can either summon them as companions or temporarily gain powers depending on the familiar. Elizabeth (Mutated Human)
¡®Become one with the book? Lizz was never able to go very far away from it so this explains that at least¡­ Wait, no, I¡¯m getting sidetracked! Book, please summon Lizz!¡¯ The book then starts to glow once again and a ball of light starts floating out of it and lands on the ground. When the book dims down I can see that the ball of light has been replaced by Lizz, Lizz is sitting down with both her arms and legs crossed and is looking at me with a pout. ¡°There was a really nice bed in there! Let me back in!¡± she says while flailing her arms aroundUnlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ... ¡°I sai-¡± Wait wait wait, a nice bed? In the book? Could you please explain what¡¯s going on? ¡°I have no idea!¡± Replies Lizz while leaning back with a smug look That¡¯s not something to be proud of¡­ ¡°Oh sure it is, at least I¡¯m able to admit when I don¡¯t know something.¡± She says with an even smugger look, only to realize she¡¯s gone of on a tangent ¡°But that¡¯s besides the point! After the book grabbed me I was in a really nice place, it was like a small house! It had a weird white stove and a giant box that was cold inside! I don¡¯t know what any of it is but since it has to do with the book I have to go back and understand it all! ...Also there might have been a really nice and comfortable bed that I was trying to sleep in¡­¡± Lizz has now started blushing and is facing away from me. Remembering how she acted when she found out I could make her sleep well I decided that maybe letting her sleep at her own place where she won¡¯t drool on me might be a good idea. Alright fi- ¡°Yes!!!¡± She shouts as she assumes a guts pose. ... *cough* ¡°Carry on¡­¡± Lizz is now blushing ever so slightly, what¡¯s up with her ability to always get herself into awkward situations? As I was trying to say, I¡¯ll summon you again when I''m in the inn so we can discuss what to do next. ¡°Okay. Now hurry up!¡± She now has a big smile on her face. And also she¡¯s drooling. ¡®Book, could you unsummon Lizz?¡¯ Lizz then starts to become a glowing orb of light again and gently floats into the still open pages of the book. ¡®Uhm¡­ well¡­ Onwards to the town I guess?¡¯ Now not really having any reason to not go to the town, I pick up the book again and leave. After walking for what feels to have been another half an hour I finally arrive at the town¡¯s walls and try to locate an entrance. ¡°Is that a¡­?¡± ¡°What¡¯s one of those doing here?¡± ¡°A Blessed Doll? But what could it possibly achieve at a port town like this?¡± When I get there people immediately start mistaking me for a Blessed Doll, Just like Hannah and Joanne. This time having learned from experience I decide to play myself off as just that, a Blessed Doll is a creature that tries to fulfill its master¡¯s wish right? ¡®Well I am here with the purpose of locating someone so I can probably pretend that that¡¯s my creator''s wish. Actually, since I created the Cursed Doll that killed me and sent me to this world and body, does it mean that I technically created the thing that created me? So in a way I am a either Blessed or Cursed Doll that responds to my own wishes? I guess this little act maybe won¡¯t be that far off from the truth then.¡¯ I start walking towards one of the guardsmen ¡°H-halt! ...Please?¡± I stop in front of a middle aged man wearing metal armour covered in cloth the color of fish scales, presumably since it¡¯s a lake city they decided to arm their soldiers in the color of their exports. ¡°E-excuse me but, i-in order to pass here you need to p-pay a toll of five copper¡± I look up at the man''s helmetless face and like any respectable person asked to pay money I- ? Pretend not to know what he¡¯s talking about. ¡°D-do you not have any money?¡± The man suddenly gets a noticeably more scheming aura around him. ? The man then crouches down and leans in close, whispering to me he says: ¡°How about this, you see that big wagon over there? If you want inside this town then go over to it and take as many of these as you can find.¡± He then holds out three round pieces of metal, they seem to be made of gold, silver and copper respectively. ¡°Then bring them to me and I¡¯ll let you pass, okay? You wouldn¡¯t want to disappoint your creator by giving up and not entering this city, right?¡± The guard then stands up with a wicked smile and starts to put away the three coins he showed me... *CLANG* ...only to get hit on the head by a gauntlet covered arm, making him faint, fall down, and drop the coins. ¡°Sorry about that little guy, this place doesn¡¯t force conscription onto its inhabitants so we¡¯re forced to accept all applicants, even ones as stupid as him.¡± The gauntlet covered arm belongs to a very tall, bald, dark skinned and muscular man. Upon closer inspection his arm isn¡¯t wearing a gauntlet but seems to instead be covered by white scales that sparkle like metal in the sun, signifying that he¡¯s a half-lizard. The man mumbles to himself. ¡°Seriously, trying to make a Blessed Doll steal? Does he want it to get corrupted and kill him?¡± He then looks down at me and says: ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that guy, we¡¯ll be stricter with his food rations for a while as punishment. Now the little guy, I dunno what you¡¯re planning on doing in this here town but rumors of a Blessed Doll staying in this town is sure bring around travellers, so feel free to enter and exit as much as you want, free of charge!¡± I then walk through the gate and into the city. I turn away from the main road and into an alley as soon as I can. When I¡¯m sure that I can¡¯t be seen by the muscle lizard I raise one of my feet into the air and use Phasing on it. *clink* *clink* *clink* And then a gold, a silver and a copper coin fall out from inside my foot. As I pick the coins up with my hand I can hear the sound of leather rubbing on leather again, when I get up I see that one of the straps holding the book to my back has gotten a small pouch on it. With a few more *clinks* I put the three coins into the pouch and walk outside the alley again. ¡®This should come in handy while I¡¯m here¡¯ I think to myself as I start trying to find someplace that could have a map or some other way of locating the Quartets¡¯ inn. Chapter 8 - Silly me After I exit the alley and enter the main road again I try to get some information as to where the inn is. *bump* ¡°Hey watch it!¡± *bump* ¡°Look where you¡¯re going kid!¡± *bump* ¡°Ah! I¡¯m sorry! Wait what? I could¡¯ve sworn I bumped into something¡± I ran back into the alley. ¡®Why are there so many people?! I can¡¯t walk five steps without crashing into someone! And being too *sigh* small for them to notice me certainly doesn¡¯t help.¡¯ ¡®Hang on, if I can¡¯t walk on the main road, then how about I just don¡¯t?¡¯ And thus I start climbing one of the walls in the alley and make my way to the rooftops, and since I don¡¯t want to be put in jail for property damage I decide to only use phasing rather than Hunting Claws to make holes in the wall. Unnoticed to me, when I had reached the top of the building, the green light that was signifying that I was using Phasing had spread across my arms and legs about a centimeter compared to when I started the climb. When I get to the start roof I try to look around, however I can¡¯t see anything on the side that the roof is in the way of, and looking behind me I only see the outer walls of the city Feeling proud with myself for having skipped traffic I then try start walking up from the start of the roof and onto the ridge at the top so I can see better. *slip* ¡®Oh shit!¡¯ *thud* Only slide off of the roof as soon as I stand up from my crouched position. ¡®*sigh*¡¯ I sigh internally as I start climbing back up again, this time I don¡¯t stand up as rashly as I did before, but instead I stay crouched down and think about what I should do. *puff* I try to snap my finger as I came up with a plan, yet it only creates a soft, dry sound. ¡®I need to remember to use Hunting Claws next time I do that¡­¡¯ Making a mental note due to my embarrassment, I then do what I had come up with. I phase my foot a centimeter or so into the roof tiles and focus to make it so it doesn¡¯t phase further down or to the sides. ¡®This might work¡­¡¯ I slowly start taking a few unsteady steps up the diagonal roof while carefully phasing my feet so I don¡¯t slip again. When I finally got to the top of the house I looked around and saw a big bell tower in the middle of the city, I start making my way towards it since I can¡¯t see any other landmarks that stand out as much as it does. While I¡¯m making my way towards the end of the house that I¡¯m on I start putting more speed in my steps as I become better at phasing my feet the right way. By the time I reach the gap between this house and the next I¡¯m already in full sprint while alternating which foot I use phasing on to make it easier to control (It was a very long house) , as I arrive at the end of the house I set down my right foot to prepare to jump to the next house. However due to my how over excited I was I made a mistake, since I was preparing for a jump I had left my right foot on the ground longer than when I was sprinting and without thinking very much about it I stopped using Phasing on my right leg and instead on my left one. While my right foot was still in the roof.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Luckily for me, rather than getting stuck in the roof like what you¡¯d expect from a teleporter accident in star trek, my foot instead fly out of the roof, like when you force an inflated ball underwater and release it. Spoiler: Credit where credit is due, this part was inspired by anime Tintin (Mirio Togata from the recent manga chapters of My Hero Academia, he also has rubberbanding pahse powers) Now this would be good and all since it made me jump further, however since I wasn¡¯t prepared for it my right leg was shot out in front of me, causing my body to spin in the air and land on my back on the other roof after having been forced to perform an impromptu backflip. *slide* *thud* And since I got caught off-guard by all this I wasn¡¯t prepared to phase into the roof, and thus I slid off of the roof and into an alley again. ¡®God dammit!¡¯ Did I mention how it took a lot less for me to feel things ever since I got sent here? Something about my old stuffed absorbing negative emotions. Well now I felt pretty angry. Can you blame me? I did fall off of a three story house. Twice. I look back out to the main road again, only to see that there¡¯s somehow even more pedestrians now than before, so I reluctantly begin climbing the wall again. After running and jumping/bouncing from house to house I eventually get to a place where there¡¯s no more houses, it¡¯s just a big empty (except for the people) plaza, and the giant bell tower is in the middle. At this distance I can see that the bell tower is attached to a very wide two storied house, and there¡¯s lots of clad in light armor and carrying weapons walking in and out of the building. Not paying too much attention to all of this however, I instead look at the ground of the plaza to try and find a way to the bell tower. Then I see a carriage being pulled by two horses on the main road draw closer to the plaza. I hurriedly get down from the building by phasing my hand into it and letting it slide down. When I reach the ground again I quickly run towards the main road just as the carriage comes by. I run up to it and in underneath it, I then phase my hands, and later my feet, into the underside of it, making me hang there without having to use much effort. Also I made sure to stick myself where I thought the seats might be, so that the passengers won¡¯t see my claws coming out from the floorboards. As my luck would have it, the carriage was actually going to the bell tower building, so when the carriage stops I quickly let go of it and run towards the building. When I get to the building I go to the back of it, the side with the least people, and start climbing again. Only to find that, when I pushed my claws into the wall, my entire arm up to my shoulder disappeared into to it. *thud* Since I wasn¡¯t expecting that to happen I had used a bit too much force and ended up face planting into the building. When I pulled out my arm again I could see that the green glow was going all the way up both my arms and ended somewhere that I couldn¡¯t see properly due to being covered by my hair. I start focusing a bit more and reduce the green glow so that it only covers my fingers again, and I then start climbing the tower. ¡®Why is this thing so fucking tall?!¡¯ I think to myself, apparently having been influenced a bit by Lizz. After a lot of effort I eventually get to the top of the tower, letting me finally get a good look of the town. The town is shaped like a giant square, with the main roads splitting it in¡­ four¡­ parts¡­ With a glow a blue hand reaches out from the book, on the hand there¡¯s white letters that spell ¡°Inventory¡± and it hands me the emblem I was given by Hannah. (I hope y¡¯all realize I plan to keep making the book better, I¡¯ve been somewhat limiting Plush¡¯s growth in order to make it so he doesn¡¯t get to strong too fast, but I ain¡¯t gonna hold back with the Book of Knowledge) The emblem is split into four different parts, just like the city, and on the floor of the plaza I can now see a loosely compass-like shape with four arrows pointing off into different main streets, two of them are blue and point towards two streets next to each other, while the two arrows on the other side are red. I hold the emblem by the chain attached to one of its corners and look at it. It¡¯s divided into four differently colored parts, the one the chain is attached to is yellow, the one on the right is red, on the left is blue and the bottom is brown. Looking at the yellow part I can see a small X on the side that¡¯s adjacent to the blue one, so I rotate myself and the emblem in such a way that the blue square is facing the side of the town with the two blue arrows and likewise for the red side. Spoiler: For those having a hard time imagining what the emblem looks like: MS Paint Master race! I then face myself towards the road in between the blue and yellow quarters, slide down from the building and hop onto another carriage that¡¯s going that way, this time I decide to ride the carriage to the inn rather than run across the roofs again. Looking at the emblem I can see that the inn is very close to the town entrance and on the right, so I look to the side to try and find anything that looks like an inn. After a short while I see a double door, with a big sign above that reads ¡°Quartets¡¯ Inn¡±, so I drop off of the carriage and walk towards the house, only to see¡­ That it¡¯s the same fucking house that I first climbed when I got here! Chapter 9 - A warm welcome I stand outside the in until it gets dark, lost in thought over my embarrassing mistake, not really sure if I want to stay in a place where I¡¯ll feel embarrassed every time I look at it. *drip* *drip* But it seems that the weather didn¡¯t want to let me choose though, so I¡¯m forced to enter the inn if I want to get through the night without drowning. ¡®Wait, I don¡¯t need to breathe so can I even drown? Eh, it would still be really uncomfortable.¡¯¡¯ And so I open one of the double doors and enter. ¡°Welcome... Will you be staying the night or are you just here to wait out the rai¡­ huh?¡± I stare up at the tired-sounding, blue haired receptionist and resume my role of being a stupid doll that you can¡¯t have a coherent conversation and prepare myself for what I need to do to get them to give me a room. ¡°Hiiii!!!¡± *glomp* ¡°It¡¯s adorable!!!¡± Only to be glomped by a squealing blonde haired girl who seems to have come out of nowhere. ¡°Huh¡­ I guess this must be who Hannah told us about... but shouldn¡¯t he have arrived sooner?¡± ¡°Ann.¡± The blonde says in a stern voice. She then picks me up before I realize it and hugs me close while she walks towards the receptionist. At first I struggle to free myself, only to eventually resign to my fate. The blonde then stares at the receptionist with a out, and says angrily: ¡°Better late than never! *Humph*!¡± She then turns her heel and starts climbing the nearby stairs. ¡°You must be Plush, right? Hannah told us that you would be coming. And sorry about Ann, she can be a real downer sometimes, but she usually means well. Oh, we¡¯re here. This will be your room while you stay here. Also my name is Anna, I¡¯m in charge of room keeping so if there¡¯s anything you need, just come talk to me, okay?¡± She then opens up a door in front of us and puts me down on the bed inside. ¡®Wait¡­ what¡­?¡¯ Throughout that entire thing I couldn¡¯t grasp what was going on. Apparently these two knew Hannah and Joanne? And they¡¯d also been told that I was going to come here?Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Well, since I¡¯m in the inn now I¡¯ll summon Lizz again. Maybe she can help me understand what¡¯s going on. *flutter* *flutter* *shine* A ball of light starts floating out of the book once again and starts to materialize into Lizz¡¯s form in mid-air. *thud* *inhale* ¡°GAHAHAHA!¡± Only to fall on the floor and start laughing immediately. And while she¡¯s defenselessly laying on the floor I- *pok* ¡°Ow! Give her a forehead flick. ¡°What¡¯s the fucking idea you big cunt?!¡± ¡®Oh great, she¡¯s violent again.¡¯ Weren¡¯t you supposed to tell me what you found in there? ¡°Oh! Right! After I had slept in the bed and started walking around I found this big black square on the wall, and inside of it I could see everything you did! I got to see all your fuck ups!¡± She barely keeps herself from having another laughing fit. ¡®Oh great, now I¡¯ll probably never hear the end of it.¡¯ And? Did you find anything else? ¡°Nope! After I found the black square I just couldn¡¯t make myself go do anything else!¡± Again, not something to be proud of¡­ ¡°Oh shut up! At least I didn¡¯t spend half the day walking AWAY from the goal.¡± Okay, fine. But what do we do now? I told you that I came here to find someone and for that I¡¯m going to need to gather information. Any idea where I could do that? ¡°Yep, only place a stranger like you could to that in a lake town like this is to enter the adventurer¡¯s guild.¡± Adventurers guild? ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a place where anyone who wants can accept a multitude of jobs, they range from small deliveries in the city, to killing monsters or gathering material, back when I lived in town I could regularly see people dragging giant corpses through the gates!¡± And how¡¯s that going to help me gather information? ¡°Because the adventurer¡¯s guild is a very widespread organization, far as I¡¯m aware there¡¯s one in every major city, so if the info you¡¯re looking for exists at all, then it exists in the adventurer''s guild. Plus, I heard that exceptional adventurers can get backing from the guild if they do well enough, which could help a lot in your search or even with travels.¡± Okay.. It sounds interesting, but I¡¯m not sure¡­ Where is it even actually? ¡°What do you mean ¡®where is it?¡¯ !? You went on top of it during your little adventure!¡± Well I went on top of a lot of buildings so you¡¯ll have to be more specific than that. *groan* ¡°Fine! It was the house with the giant bell tower on it!¡± Wait, really? In the middle of the town like that? Isn¡¯t that kinda inefficient though? You said that you kept seeing adventurers bring giants spoils with them all the time, right? Wouldn¡¯t it have been easier to build it next to one of the city gates? ¡°If I remember right it actually used to be, but the mayor at some time got really tired of having to clean up the bell tower after kids kept vandalizing it, so he put the guild there to be a repellant for anyone who tries to get close to the tower itself. Not that it seems to have stopped you though.¡± Well now we¡¯ve got plans for tomorrow at least. Oh! Right! One thing first, when the book first¡­ Absorbed? Absorbed you, it said that you were one with it, was that why you could never leave it? ¡°Wait, wait, wait, we only met three days ago, even if that damn book chose you I¡¯m not really ready to tell you my whole life¡¯s story you know? Let¡¯s just sleep and get up early tomorrow before the midday rush starts at the guild.¡± Alright then, well, see you tomorrow. I then get into the bed and get cozy to try and sleep, but while I¡¯m lying there I can feel Lizz plop down on my head and burrow into my hair. In order to not have her complain to me in the morning I start using Lulling Touch to at least make her have a nice nights rest. Chapter 10 - Never forget *knock* *knock* *knock* ¡®...¡¯ ¡°...¡± *knock* *knock* *knock* *groan* ¡°... Plush¡­ get the door¡­¡± ZZZzzz. ¡°Don¡¯t pretend to be sleeping by putting zeds on your mask¡­¡± ¡®*groan*¡¯ I start getting out of bed, making Lizz slide off of my head and onto the pillow. I look at the mirror insidethe room which I hadn¡¯t even seen was here yesterday. And see that Lizz¡¯s saliva has made for a nice substitute for... whatever it is that bed hair is caused by. *knock* *knock* *knock* I¡¯m coming, I¡¯m coming¡­ Too tired to even remember that I can¡¯t actually talk, I start to walk towards the door, but when I get there I¡¯m faced with a problem. ¡®I can¡¯t reach the handle¡­¡¯ *knock* *knock* *knock* I start trying to climb up to the handle of the door by phasing what would¡¯ve been the palms of my hands into the inside of the door, not very deep so as to not be seen from the other side. Once I get up to the door handle i grab it with one of my arms and hang my entire body weight from it while pushing the wall next to the door with my other hand, making the door open inwards. *creak* And as the door creaked open I could see a familiar blonde haired woman outside. ? ¡°Good morning! Since the chef doesn¡¯t know what you eat I was sent to ask you, what would you like?¡± I jump off of the door and go back to the bed. *pok* ¡°Ow!¡± And wake up Lizz with a flick to her forehead. Anna came and wanted to know what we want for breakfast¡­ ¡°You could¡¯ve at least woken me up a bit gentler you fuck! And you don¡¯t even need to fucking eat right? Oh yeah... ¡°Is ¡®Oh yeah¡­¡¯ all you have to say for forgetting something like that? But since you don¡¯t even eat I¡¯d rather just follow Anna to the kitchen and see what they have.¡± Alright, but hurry up, you said something about needing to be at the guild-whatever early right? ¡°No worries! I¡¯ll just grab the food and eat it in the book!¡± Lizz then flew up to the door and went outside with an unsteady path. I could hear her talking to Anna on the other side about how I don¡¯t need to eat as their voices slowly fade away.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Now that I¡¯m out of the bed I do what every person who isn¡¯t clinically insane does in the morning. ¡®Just five more minutes.¡¯ I get back in the bed while lying to myself and fall asleep again.
A while later I can hear the door opening again, when I look up I see Lizz followed by Anna who is carrying so many plates of food that I could hardly see her blond hair anymore. ¡°That will be fine, thank you, just put it down on the table plea-¡± *pok* ¡°Ow! What the fuck!¡± Don¡¯t force Anna to do so much work, we are staying here for free after all. ¡°Thanks, but this much is nothing!¡± I look behind Lizz and see that Anna has put down all the plates successfully and is looking at my mask while performing a guts pose, not even having broken a sweat. ¡°See?! There was no need for that Plush!¡± ¡°Since I have delivered the food I¡¯ll take my leave now, although she hope that LIzz enjoys her food, the chef was kinda down about not having been able to make anything for you Plush.¡± She says and closes the door before I can respond. ¡°Now hurry up and open the book so I can start eating!¡± Demands Lizz while drooling, but... Will you even be able to take this with you? ¡°Sure I will! I was able to take my clothes after all!¡± Well if you say so¡­ I pick up the book from under the bed. ¡®Book, is it even possible?¡¯ *flutter* *flutter* With a familiar sound the book starts glowing again opens up, then multiple glowing blue hands, all with the word ¡®Inventory¡¯ on them, appear out of the book and start grabbing the plethora of plates on the table and carrying them into the book. Then while Lizz was busy staring at the food with sparkling eyes and drooling mouth, one of the hands sneaks up on her from behind, this one reading ¡®Familiars¡¯, and grabs her, and with an ¡®Eep!¡¯ of surprise she is then dragged into the book. After the book has calmed down, instead of closing on its own, it stays open. Looking at the pages that the book is open on I can see a top down view of a modern day apartment with Lizz sitting in the living room, watching the TV while gorging food, making me hear all sorts eating and slurping sounds. ¡®Well at least it seems to have worked, but this place¡­ Why does it look exactly like my home!? It even has my couch and everything! She¡¯d better not spill anything on it, it was really fucking expensive!¡¯ While I¡¯m saying this Lizz suddenly stops eating and stairs at the TV. ¡°Is that you Plush? How the fuck can you speak to me in here!?¡± ¡®Wait, she can see what I¡¯m saying?¡¯ ¡°Not just see, I can even hear a Fucking voice! Since when have you had a voice!?¡± This went on for a while, eventually devolving into just shouting random words and phrases at each other, somehow. ¡°Don¡¯t be uppsetti!¡± She shouts while raising a plate of yellow food towards the ceiling. *SLAM* I close the book before letting her finish what she was saying. Yet I can still hear her talking in my mind. ¡®God fucking dammit!¡¯ And suddenly I can hear Lizz having a laughing fit, followed by a loud ¡®Ow!¡¯, which was in turn followed by a series of creative cursing, including something about how the sopha has betrayed her by not catching her when she fell off. ¡®*sigh*¡¯ I then put the book on my back while reluctantly accepting that I will have to deal with her lunacy, and unlike before I can no longer stop her with a forehead flick. I look outside the window and see that there are no carriages as far as I can see, while the pedestrians are as plentiful as yesterday, though now all of them seems to be fishermen rather than armored people with weapons. I walk out into the hallway and see Anna waiting outside, I ask her if it¡¯s fine if I exit through the window instead, so that I don¡¯t have to go to the ground floor only to climb up the outside of the house again. At first she¡¯s doubtful, but after convincing her that I¡¯m a good enough climber that the chances of me falling and getting hurt are much lower than the chances of me being stepped on by a pedestrian she agrees while giving me a thumbs up, saying that I might as well just use the window as both entrance and exit, and that she¡¯ll tell the others so they don¡¯t worry if I¡¯m suddenly not in my room, on the condition that I¡¯ll at least tell them when I¡¯m leaving for good and that I¡¯ll join them for dinner sometime, even if I don¡¯t eat anything myself. Agreeing to the terms and conditions, I then walk back into my room and exit through the window. Just like yesterday I start off slow and steady and increase my pace bit by bit until I''m practically flying across the roofs. When I get to the plaza I see that this part of the town is almost empty, all the people who were here yesterday are gone, so I slide down to the first floor of the building I¡¯m on and decide to try something out. Instead of simply sliding down all the way, I jump off of the building and try to use phasing to cushion the fall. As I reach the ground my legs start going into it, at first they sink as fast as I was falling, but they quickly slow down and decelerate the fall, eventually making me come to a standstillwhile the ground reaches up to my knees, but the green glow reaches all the way up to where my belly button would¡¯ve been if I had one, so I guess that means I had a good safety margin. ¡®But I should probably still practice this a bit more before I try from higher up.¡¯ I then get back up and start strolling towards the guild entrance. Chapter 11 - The guild As I trod my way to the entrance of the guild I start feeling a bit worried, would they even let me join? ¡®If it¡¯s just a matter of a fee then I should have enough.¡¯ I think as I look towards the pouch where I put the money. ¡®But what if it¡¯s a matter of something else? Something that makes it so I can¡¯t actually join?¡¯ Feeling three quarters grateful to her for cheering me up, but still a quarter annoyed at her tactlessness, I arrive at the guild¡¯s door. The door is the same kind of door that you would see on a saloon in old Wild West movies, you know, those that have a big gap at the bottom, and I prepare myself to stride on through while dramatically pushing the doors to the side as though declaring to everyone that I am here. *silence* Only to discover that I¡¯m too short to even reach the actual door and instead just walk underneath it through the opening. <...> At the very least it seems that Lizz didn¡¯t know what I was trying to do, and thus didn¡¯t realize I had just messed something up. When I get inside and looked around there were only a dozen or so people inside, they were sitting at round tables that four chairs around each of them and were spread across the room. Next to the left hand wall there were rectangular tables with a wide bench on opposing sides, while on the right hand wall there were wooden boards hanging off of it with pieces of paper on them. At the end of the room, straight ahead from where we entered, there were multiple booths, small wooden one man booths with glass windows, very similar to what you would find in a bank, at the back of these booths were doors leading to the room on the other side of the wall. To the right of these booths, still on the back wall, was another door, presumably leading to the same room as the booths. ¡®I guess those doors lead to the staff room.¡¯ And on the left side of the booths there was a staircase that lead upwards. As I walk up to the booths I see that the few people that are here don¡¯t seem to have noticed me since I didn¡¯t actually open the door or make any sound. When I get to the booths I see that only one of them was actually occupied, and the person within was sleeping. Since I can¡¯t actually reach the glass window I instead climb up one of the sides and stand on the wooden outcropping at the bottom of the glass window, presumably there for transactions, and try to see what I can do to wake him up. I harden my claws and try to knock on the window, but it doesn¡¯t seem to have any effect, however I did notice something, when I hardened my claws they became white. It wasn¡¯t a white glow like how phasing gave me a green glow, instead the purple cloth that made up my skin became white and porous, like bone, and looking like there was an actual claw sticking out of my finger, this effect spread from the tip of my claws, fading back into purple cloth the further it went from there and becoming completely normal at where the claws connected to my hands. After having looked at this for a few seconds I decide to try something else, I phase my hand through the glass and try to flick his forehead. However since I¡¯m using phasing my finger just passes through his head, not having any effect at all. I try to draw back the green light from my finger so that I can materialize my hands, and after a lot of effort I now have a green arm going through the glass and a purple hand on the other side, however-Stolen story; please report. ¡®Wait, if I can do this, then can I¡­¡¯ I then cover my hand in the green glow and pull back, I then cover my leg in it instead and move it to the other side. ¡®And then¡­¡¯ I pull back the green light from my foot and put it down on the wood, I then slowly keep moving through the glass while drawing back the green glow from the parts that have already passed through it and spreading it to the parts that haven¡¯t. After a few seconds I¡¯m fully on the other side of the glass, the man in the booth is still sleeping and the people sitting at the tables still haven¡¯t noticed me. I then go back to the other side, pleased with having discovered that this is something I can do, but before I pull out my right arm I harden it and give him a light flick. *pok* I then retrieve my arm before the man then looks up at me. The man is wearing a pair of round glasses and has his hair combed back in a ponytail, he also has a pair of goat horns growing out of his temples. Good morning. ¡°He-hello?¡± The man looks to still be half asleep, maybe if I don¡¯t do anything to surprise him too much he¡¯ll still be groggy when I leave and go back to sleep when I leave and think I was just a dream when he wakes up, though I¡¯m not really sure what good would come out of that. Before I can even come to a conclusion about whether it would be more beneficial for him to remember me or not he suddenly jolts up from his position, sorts a bunch of the papers that had been laying around messily in front of him into neat piles and then sits upright, now with an aura of a professional. ¡°Welcome to the adventurers¡¯ guild, how can I help you?¡± Err¡­ Join? Can I join the guild please? ¡°Very well, however seeing as you seem to be a species we have yet to record, the guild would like to know what sorts of abilities you have.¡± Err¡­ Is that¡­ necessary? ¡°Ah, yes, let me explain, the guild sometimes issues direct requests to its members in order to send the most suited people to certain quests, you don¡¯t need to tell us the abilities that belong to you and you alone, you only need to tell us the ones that your species as whole share. Although if you tell us all of your abilities it will let us decide more easily what sorts of quests we should send for you.¡± Ah¡­ I see¡­ Well in that case is there somewhere a bit more private where I could show you? I look around the room at all the people who have now noticed that I¡¯m here. ¡°Well I won¡¯t be the one to write them down, I just send you and any others who come here to the right person. Speaking of the right person.¡± He then pulls a rope that was attached to the left side of the booth and I can hear a bell ringing from somewhere above. ¡°They should be arriving shortly, are there any other questions you would like answered while waiting?¡± Umm¡­ You seemed very prepared for a new species, is this something that happens often? ¡°Yes, the guild is currently the only place keeping track of all the different species that exist, however we have only existed for ten or so years so there are still many new halfs and demis that enter the guild every so often.¡± I se- ¡°I¡¯m up! I¡¯m up! Please don¡¯t dock my pay!¡± *slip* ¡°A-¡± *THUD* ¡°SHI-¡± *THUMP* ¡°FU-¡± *CRASH* ¡°MOTHER FUCKER!¡± When I try to respond to the man in the booth we both hear someone shouting and swearing from the stairs, and then a small black ball of fur rolls down and crashes into a table, breaking off one of its legs. ¡°Miss Lines, though I applaud the speed of which you were able to get here, that table will however be coming out of your salary.¡± The black ball of fur then then stand up, revealing what looks like a black cat standing on it¡¯s hind legs, while clutching its head and screaming- ¡°NOOOO!!!!!¡± -it then points to the man, who I have yet to ask his name, and shouts: ¡°YOU EVIL, EVIL MAN!!!¡± This is? ¡°This is Catherine Lines, she is one of the best we have at keeping track of paperwork and making it easily accessible, she takes care of most of this branch of the guilds information...¡± Catherine then starts smiling smugly after the man reluctantly praises her. ¡°...despite the way she acts.¡± ¡°Hey! What¡¯s that supposed to mean!¡± As she says that she¡¯s stomping one of her feet on the floor, though despite her apparent anger it only produces soft sounds due to her paw pads, making me feel a certain comradery to her. ¡°Miss Lines, if you wish to make up for your earlier blunder then standing around while you have a customer waiting won¡¯t help.¡± Said the man while adjusting his glasses and producing a menacing glint in one of the lenses. I would definitely say that this man seems to be the one holding the reins here, if it wasn¡¯t for one thing¡­ ¡°Hey, mister perfect secretary, is that a trail of drool going down your cheek? Were you sleeping on the job again?¡± Catherine says this while covering her mouth with one of her paws, yet not covering it enough to hide her mischievous smile. ¡°That showed him!¡± She whispered while doing a guts pose. ¡°Well, a job''s a job, so follow me and we¡¯ll get started.¡± Catherine then leads me to the door on the right of the booths while the man desperately tried to come up with a comeback, with no luck. After we enter a door we come to a small room, on the left is another door while on the right there''s a set of stairs going downwards. ¡°Down there we have some special equipment so you can prove whether you actually have the skills that you say you do, but don¡¯t worry, there¡¯s nothing too dangerous.¡± After she says that we both start descending into the unknown depths below. Also it feels really weird walking next to someone the same height as me... (P) Chapter 12 - Exciting times ahead As Catherine and I get down to the underground floor we arrive in a wide room filled with all sorts of machines and contraptions, most of which I had no idea what they did or how they worked. ¡°Now then new guy, I saw the old grump upstairs talk with you, but I couldn¡¯t hear you at all, issat some sort of telepathy?¡± No, not really. Not at all actually. She then jolts abit in surprise, I guess out of all the things she might''ve been expecting, blue text appearing on my face wasn''t one of them. ¡°Oh. Well, before we start all the tests, what¡¯s your name? Mines Catherine, but feel free to call me Cathy.¡± I¡¯m Plush, nice to meet you. ¡°Plush eh? Odd name, then again most of the new species we encounter tend to have lived in isolated tribes for a very long time, so no wonder if they get their own traditions and names. Either way, let¡¯s start with what your species as a whole can do, what are you lot called?¡± Honestly, I just found myself in a forest one day, no memories of any others like me so I don¡¯t even know whether there are any more of¡­ ¡°us¡±. Either way, I suppose you can just call me a plushy for the meantime. ¡°Hang on¡­¡± She says as she picks up a pen and paper which were hanging on the wall. *scribble* *scribble* ¡°...alright. Now then, before we continue, take this.¡± She then hands me a small blue orb, the same blue color that the book''s pages are when it¡¯s active. ¡°Now, hold that orb to your forehead and you should start seeing some text.¡± I do as I¡¯m told and, sure enough, text starts floating in front of me when I remove the orb from my head. ¡°This text should tell you what abilities you have, as well as how you got them. No one else can see this so you¡¯ll have to tell me what they are.¡± And like she said, the text in front of me is the exact same as within the book, only difference being the color of it and the fact that the orb only shows skills, nothing else, making the book much better. I then feel a small vibration coming from my back, as though the book is purring in appreciation for my compliment. ¡°Well, what does it say? And don¡¯t worry if you can¡¯t read, simply look at the text for a while and information should start flowing into your head.¡± Ah, no, I can read just fine, I was just taken a bit aback by this. ¡°Oh yeah, I guess I should¡¯ve expected that now that you say it.¡± ...Uhm, the first skill that says it was given to me due to my species is called Hunting Claws, it does this: I then activate Hunting Claws on my right hand while holding it outwards to her. ¡°Hm¡­ Hold that for a bit.¡± She then runs off and comes back with a small hammer. ¡°This is to test how much more durable it become from the skill, shouldn¡¯t hurt too much.¡± She then proceeds to hit my claws softly with the hammer, producing small *tink* sounds. ¡®How cute, since I haven¡¯t told her I can¡¯t feel pain she¡¯s trying to be gentle.¡¯ ¡°Alright¡­¡± *scribble* *scribble* ¡°Next is?¡± The next one is called Lulling Touch, it says that it makes people that I touch fall asleep. Also it says that it works quicker the more of them that I¡¯m touching, so it probably works better on small targets. *scribble* *scribble* Uhm¡­ The next three are passives, they¡¯re kinda embarrassing¡­ ¡°That¡¯s alright, I won¡¯t judge.¡± <*giggle*> I can hear Lizz giggling from inside the book, I guess she knows what¡¯s next. *sigh* they¡¯re called ¡°Brainless¡±, ¡°Heartless¡± and ¡°Gutless¡±. I look at Cathy, fully expecting her to barely be able to hold back her laughter, but¡­ ¡°And what do they do?¡± Seems Lizz is just as confused as me. Hm? You¡¯re not going to laugh? ¡°How rude! I did say that I don¡¯t judge, right?¡± She looks at me with clearly over exaggerated surprise and astonishment. Right¡­ Well, Brainless makes me immune to most skills with a psychological effect, Heartless makes me immune to most poisons and makes it so I don¡¯t have to breathe, and Gutless makes it so I don¡¯t need to eat. ¡°Wow¡­ That¡¯s really good¡­¡± She looks at me again, this time however, her surprise and astonishment is sincere.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Err¡­ Are you going to write that down? ¡°Oh! Right!¡± *scribble* *scribble* ¡°Really though, you¡¯re immune to poisons and psycho magic and you don¡¯t need to either eat or breathe¡­ Then what about sleeping?¡± Well I can sleep, I¡¯ve never really tried staying up though so I¡¯m not sure if I actually need it. But one thing I know is that I have a really hard time waking up when I sleep. ¡°Ha! Don¡¯t we all?¡± Lizz says, and I agree with her, I don¡¯t understand morning people. Before we continue, can I ask you a question? It¡¯s been nagging at me ever since I entered the guild. ¡°Hm? Sure, ask away.¡± Well the man upstairs said that you guys get all kinds of species, which includes other ones that are also as small as you and me, right? ¡°Yeah?¡± Well then why was the guild¡¯s door to high up for me to use properly? This has been nagging at me since I came here, and especially when I saw that they already had people working here who were as short as me. ¡°Well¡­ It¡¯s kinda embarrassing but¡­ Honestly the guild master thought it looked cool and he wouldn¡¯t allow anyone to change it, even after the first small people were discovered.¡± Wait, that¡¯s it? ¡°Yup, nothing more, nothing less.¡± She then looks away from me and walks to where the papers are hanging off of the wall. ¡°Okay, lemme just put this away real quick, here we go¡­ there.¡± Cathy then puts the first piece of paper in a box and picks up a new one. ¡°So if those were the skills of your species as a whole, then what about you personally?¡± Erm¡­ Do I have to say all of them? ¡°No, however the more you tell us the more likely you are to get direct quests.¡± Okay, well¡­ Actually I only have two personal skills, and I¡¯d rather not say exactly what one it is, however I can say that it makes me very good at running, climbing, jumping, landing after a big fall and sneaking into places. *scribble* *scribble* "And the other?" The other is the one that causes text to appear on my mask, I guess it''s good for being able to communicate quietly? *scribble* *scribble* ¡°Alright¡­ Is that all then?¡± Oh wait! There''s one more thing I forgot about, but this one probably counts for my entire species. ¡°Right, let me just go get the other paper¡­ There we go, now what is it?¡± Uhm¡­ Have you heard of spirits of the mountain? ¡°Yeah¡­ Most everyone here has, how so?¡± Well, I was told that they kill anything they see that¡¯s covered in flesh, right? ¡°Everything covered in flesh? I thought they just killed indiscriminately¡­¡± Well, I actually came across one of them when I was in the mountains forest pretty close to here. ¡°Wait what!? How did you run away!?¡± Erm¡­ I didn¡¯t? He just sorta stopped in front of me and we had a nice chat, he told me that they don¡¯t like... err¡­ What did he call you again? ¡°Fleshies¡±? Something like that. Either way what I¡¯m trying to say is that I can meet up with spirits of the mountain without them trying to kill me. ¡°Hang on!¡± *scribble* *scribble* She then runs back to the wall with the papers and grabs a third one and scribble on it as well. ¡°Well we¡¯re done with the examination, but if possible could you follow me to the guild masters room? This stuff about the spirits, if it¡¯s true it could mean a lot for us!¡± Well¡­ Sure¡­ But is that really it? I¡¯m an adventurer now? ¡°Oh, sorry! You will still need to do some guild issued quests first to see how adept you are at certain tasks before we can really call you one of us. And sure, this whole thing was supposed to tell us what you could do for the same purpose, but talk is cheap so until you can prove that you can¡¯t just use your abilities, but also use them in the right way you will need to do some work.¡± Fair enough. ¡°Then let¡¯s hurry to the guild master!¡± We then start walking back up the stairs. When we get to the top of the staircase, rather than go out the door we came in through we instead walk through the other, and come out in a room filled with doors on our left and a bookshelf between every door. ¡°Shhhhh!¡± I follow her into the room, taking care to make as little sound as possible. We arrive at the third door from where we entered, and I can now see that there were five in total, so this was the middle door. She then goes to the bookshelf on the other side of the door and signals me to go on this side of it. She then grabs a hold of her side of the shelf and I do the same with my side. When I feel her pushing from her end I start pulling from mine, and since there''s no one here I phase my fingers into it to get a better grip. ¡®We look like two kids pulling a prank¡¯ Once we get the shelf in front of the door Cathy starts going back the way we came, this time exiting through the door leading to the room with the tables. She suddenly runs up to the man with the goat horns and, with sparkling eyes, she talks to the man. ¡°Hey! Is the guild master in!?¡± ¡°Hm? What? Why would you need to talk to that old man?¡± ¡°This new guy has info on the spirits! We might even be able to talk to them!¡± *SLAM* ¡°WHAT!¡± The man suddenly slammed both his hands on his desk, stood up and ran towards the door. *SLAM* ¡°FUCK!¡± Only to run headfirst into it, the door not budging and inch. The man falls on the floor of the booth with a *thud*, leaving two marks in the door from his horns. Cathy falls on the ground laughing, and I can hear Lizz doing the same in my head, while i realize that we had indeed been pulling a prank. The man then gets up with an angry look while covering his face in one of his hands and using the other to steady himself. ¡°Ha. Ha. Ha. It was so funny I almost forgot to laugh. I¡¯m guessing the whole spirit thing was all just a part of the prank?¡± ¡°Nope, that part was real, but the guild master did tell you that you needed to not run out of your booth when you get overexcited, right? So, can I meet him?¡± ¡°As much as I want to put the replacement door on your pay, you raise a fair point, somehow, and I¡¯m sorry to say but the guild master isn¡¯t in right now, but he should be back within a day or so.¡± ¡°Oh. Well Plush, in that case I guess you can start with the preliminary quests then? Long story short, you get three quests of each different kind, killing monsters, gathering resources and delivering packages, you have one week on you to finish as many as you can, and depending on how many you clear your starting rank might change.¡± Rank? The goat man then chimes in, explaining: ¡°Adventurers are split in different ranks, you¡¯ve already been told about how the guild can send each adventurer direct quests when they¡¯re deemed needed for the success of the quest, but there are also general quests, hanging off of those three boards over there.¡± He then points towards the wooden boards hanging on the wall. ¡°Each of those boards have a quests of different types, monster hunting, resource gathering and deliveries, each adventurer has three ranks, each corresponding with the three types of quests. Depending on what rank the adventurer is they may challenge harder, but better paying quests.¡± I see¡­ But what about the fourth board? The man then corrects his glasses again, as though waiting for me to ask that. ¡°That is the board for special quests, they are quests that can¡¯t be associated with the other types, such as escort quests or other jobs that don¡¯t correspond with the main three, due to there being much less of all the other types of quests than the first three they are all bundled together, and since they vary in what you need to do to clear them they don¡¯t have a rank attached to them either." I get it¡­ But then these three quests, can I start them now? Cathy then starts talking. ¡°Just one moment.¡± She then goes to each of the three main boards, climbs up on a nearby stool and grabs three papers from each of them, she then comes back and gives them to me. ¡°One thing I didn¡¯t get to say is that if you clear all nine quests your ranks can increase further depending on how fast you do it, so if you beat all quests of one of the types come back immediately or they¡¯ll still count as incomplete until you do come back.¡± Okay...Well I¡¯ll be off then, Bye! I then wave back and walk out through under the door as I hear the goat man ask Cathy to remove the bookshelf and Cathy answering by telling him to wait for when someone called ¡°Grizz¡± gets back. ''Wait... If it''s so important to communicate with the spirits, and I''m the only one that can do it... Does this mean I''ll be able to meet Charlton again in the future?!?'' Chapter 13 - One third adventurer While I¡®m walking through the overly spacious plaza, I realize it might be a good idea to actually check what quests I have. There are three delivery quests, all within the town¡­ three resource gathering quests, one for some herbs, one for some mushrooms and another for a flower¡­ It says something on the note about proposing with it. ¡®Why would they give me a quest that¡¯s as important as preparing a marriage!? Yeah,. sure, no pressure or anything.¡¯ And the last three were to kill a few goblins, some slimes and a single treant. ¡®Well since I¡¯m already inside the town I might as well to the deliveries first.¡¯ The three delivery notes all had a small map on them, the maps had an X where I would pick up the item and an O where I should drop it off. ¡®Hang on¡­ These are all the same¡­¡¯ The X¡¯s on each of the maps were all at the same place. ¡®Oh well. Makes it easier I suppose.¡¯ I then finally reach the end of the plaza and enter the main road instead. Well, enter the main road may not be quite right, since I climbed the nearest house and went by rooftop instead. I then head towards where I¡¯m supposed to pick up the deliveries, when I get there I see a building that looks like a shop, there¡¯s large windows next to its door, in the windows there are weapons, vials of liquid and powder, various plants and herbs, and a lot of things I can¡¯t even name. Two thirds climbing and one third jumping I get down from the house I was on and cross the street to get to the store. It doesn¡¯t seem to have a sign above it so I don¡¯t know what the store¡¯s name is. When I open the door and walk inside I can hear a small bell plinging from above my head, and when I look around I can see that there are a bunch of shelves in the middle of the room filled with all manners of seemingly miscellaneous items, and larger objects hanging on both the sides of the shelves, as well as covering every area of the walls of the room. ¡°Hello there.¡± I look towards the back of the shop, and see the bald guard from back when I first entered the town sitting at a desk. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, how''ve you been? Not that a Blessed Doll can even communicate.¡± I¡¯ve been good, you? The man then stares at me with both eyes and mouth wide open for a while, he then steadies his head on his hand while seemingly being in deep thought. While he does this I decide to walk up to his desk, when I get there I climb up on top of it (without phasing) and hold out the delivery request papers to him. ¡°Hm? Oh? You¡¯re joining the adventurers¡¯ guild? Well I¡¯ve got the stuff in the back, wait here while I go get it.¡± He then walks off to a door which I hadn¡¯t noticed due to having been tactically hidden behind a pile of metal scraps and various other broken merchandise. ¡°Here.. you.. go!¡± *thud* He then comes back outside, now carrying a large, overly filled wooden box, and sets down said box on his desk, proceeding to dig through it. ¡°Let¡¯s see here¡­ One¡­ Two... and¡­Come on... Where are these things when you need them? ¡­ Three! here you go little guy, these are the things to be delivered.¡± He then hands me three small objects wrapped in cloth, each of them having a wooden tag attached to them via a piece of string. ¡°Those there tags say who will be accepting the items, the rest is on the quest notes.¡± I grab the items, put one of them in my pocket and hold the others in my hands due to them not fitting in the pocket. ¡®That gives me an idea¡­ Though I should probably wait with that until I get outside¡­¡¯ Thank you. Do I need to return here after I deliver them? ¡°Nah, just get them to sign the quest notes and the quest will be finished, after that it¡¯s just to give it to the guild¡¯s staff.¡± Alright. And thanks again, bye! I then turn around and walk back out the door while I hear the lizardman say goodbye from behind me.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. When I get outside I walk into an alley again and decide to try what I¡¯d thought of. ¡®Book, is it possible to have items put in the pouch be put into the inventory?¡¯ With a sound that sounds like someone crumpling up a piece of paper, I can see a blue light slowly travel across the strap and into the pouch, after the light stops glowing I can see the pocket say ¡°Inventory¡± on the front, and the delivery items, as well as the three coins I had put there earlier, have now vanished. The pouch is too small for me to put my hand down it, so instead I simply put in two fingers, and when I pull them out there''s a copper coin stuck between them. I put the coin and other two objects, as well as the quest notes, back in the pouch and start climbing the wall again. When I get to the roof again I take out the three delivery notes, I check which is the closest start heading off that way after I put the notes back. The house I arrive at seems to be pretty normal, when I go up to the door and knock with the note and the correct item in hand, a woman opens the door, shouts at me for being late, rips both the note and the item out of my hand and goes back in. After having stood there dumbfounded for a while she comes back out and hands me the note, now with her signature on it. ¡®Her signature is as bad as her personality¡­¡¯ She then slams the door and I hurry to the next place and, just like before, it¡¯s a completely normal house, this time however, a small kid opens the door while carrying a cat. When she sees me she goes back in and comes back out with a pen, I then give her the note, she writes her signature and gives it back in exchange for the item. All the while somehow still holding the cat. When I get to the third house I immediately see that this one is different from the others, this one has the same color as the other, but in a more vibrant and bright hue, like it was recently painted, as well as having a fully fledged garden outside, filled to the brim with exotic looking plants and expensive looking objects. When I approach the house I even spot a guard walking around the outside of the house, unlike the guards at the town entrance however, this one didn¡¯t have cloth the color of fish scales, but rather the same vibrant color as the house. Assuming that he¡¯s a private guard for the house I walk up to him. ¡°Hm? what the...¡± I then hand him the note. ¡°Oh? It seems the young masters necklace has finally arrived, stay right here and I¡¯ll go get him.¡± While he¡¯s walking towards the door of the house I can hear him muttering something about the adventurers¡¯ guild apparently having made cloth golems¡­ ¡°...¡± ¡®Well at least it¡¯s better than being confused for a Blessed or Cursed Doll, that would¡¯ve taken forever to clear up.¡¯ The guard then comes out with a blonde teenage kid three times my height excitedly following in tow. I hand the kid the note and he quickly scribbles his name on it, hands it back and takes the object, almost not even giving me enough time to let go before he runs back to the house, now hugging the object between his arms. Not bothering to ask what it¡¯s all about I quickly go back to an alley, climb the house, and then hurry on back to the guild. When I get inside I see the goatman sleeping on his desk again. *pok* I finished the delivery quests. ¡°Wha...?¡± He replies, still very groggy. ¡°!¡± He then, just like last time, sits up straight and takes on the visage of a professional. ¡°Well done. Might I know what day it is? Since you finished already I must¡¯ve been¡­ *cough* resting for a bit longer than expected.¡± Err¡­ Well, I got the quests a few hours ago so it¡¯s still the same day, I didn¡¯t realize I had to keep track of the hours¡­ The man then looks at me with surprise evident in his otherwise flawless act. ¡°Earlier today¡­? You finished all three in a few hours...? E-excuse me for a bit.¡± He then pulls a string at the side of his booth, the same one that he pulled to call on Cathy yesterday. ¡°I¡¯m coming!¡± However unlike yesterday she didn¡¯t fall when going down the stair, and instead arrived at the booth without any problems. ¡°Hey Plush. Did something happen with the quests? Need some help finding your way around?¡± ¡°He claims to have finished all three of the delivery quests.¡± Says the goatman while readjusting his glasses yet again. ¡®Those glasses can¡¯t be the right size¡­¡¯ ¡°What!? That can¡¯t be?!¡± I take out the three quest notes from my pouch and hand them to her, she then immediately runs back upstairs. What¡¯s she doing? ¡°The three people you were giving the deliveries to were people who have sent many quests to the guild, Miss Lines went up to compare the signature on the notes with the ones we already have.¡± Hang on. ¡°Hm?¡± What¡¯s...What¡¯s your name? ¡°Ah! Err, yes¡­ I¡­ I seem to have missed the opportunity of telling you last we mee-¡± ¡°Bullshit! You probably just forgot!¡± Shouts one of the adventurers, interrupting the man. *cough* ¡°Erm¡­ Quite¡­¡± He says while his cheeks turn a shade more red. ¡°Whatever may be the case, my name is Rico Orn, specifically Captain Rico Orn.¡± Captain of what? "That''s rather private isn''t it?" ¡°I¡¯m back!¡± We both look towards the stairs as Cathy runs back down, waving one of her arms while holding the notes in the other. ¡°Huff¡­ Huff¡­¡± ¡°Well? How was it?¡± ¡°Huff¡­ They¡¯re all¡­ They¡¯re all cleared¡­ Huff¡­¡± Cathy then falls to the ground while panting heavily. I guess she doesn¡¯t have much stamina.¡¯ ¡°Really? Then¡­ he completed all three deliveries in a day?¡± Cathy raises the hand she¡¯s holding the notes in and starts waving it. ¡°Yes goddammit! Now let me catch my breath!¡± ¡°Right¡­ well, mister¡­ Plush, although we will record how fast you cleared them and change your rank accordingly, we still can¡¯t make you a proper adventurer until you complete the rest as well. Or at the end of the week. So keep going.¡± Alright, later. I then go back outside that guild and head back to the inn since it''s gotten dark. ¡®Wonder if that Grizz person came back and moved the shelf?¡¯ chapter 14 - Reunion When I get back to the inn I enter through the third floor window, inside I can see Anne waiting for me. ¡°About time you came back, Anna¡¯s been worried sick over you. Come on now, we were just about to have dinner.¡± Alright, I¡¯ll be back down soon, just let me unpack a few things. She then exits the room and closes the door behind her. A white orb then flies out from the book and forms into a dumbly smiling and drooling Lizz. ¡°Food¡­¡± *drip* *drip* ¡®Is that all she can think about?¡¯ ¡°HEY! That¡¯s really rude!¡± She shouts whilst pointing at me. Did¡­ Did you just¡­? ¡°What!? What did I do!?¡± She then widens her eyes in surprise. ¡°Wait, I¡­ I heard you¡­ even though I¡¯m not in the book¡­?¡± *knock* *knock* Before we can even think about it properly we hear a few knocks coming from the door. ¡°Hurry up already! Food¡¯s getting cold!¡± ¡°Oh shit! Plush, we gotta hurry!¡± ¡®*sigh*¡¯ Due to both Lizz¡¯s and Anne¡¯s insistence, I go out the door and follow Anne to the dining room. In the dining room there¡¯s a large table, Anne sits on one side of the table next to Anna, and on the other side are¡­ ¡°Heya!¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°He-hello¡­¡± Hannah and Joanne. All of them have already started eating. Err¡­ Hi? ¡°Hello!¡± Replies Hannah cheerily, greeting me for the second time, albeit this time with s light blush. *paff* ¡°Oh! I get it!¡± Lizz suddenly shouts after hitting her hands together in realization. ¡°This is the quartets¡¯ inn, so that means all four of you are sisters, righ!?¡± Anne then replies in a very monotone voice. ¡°Woooow¡­ Watch out everyone, we got a real smarty here¡­¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Shouts Lizz back at Anne, Anne then smiling mischievously. Well okay, so you guys are siblings? Are all of you the only ones running this place? ¡°Yup¡± responds Anna. ¡°In order of age, Anne takes care of the registry and important document, I take care of room service and cleaning and such, Hanna is our bodyguard, she¡¯s gotten a lot of experience in fighting from being an adventurer, and Joanne is our chef, she¡¯s the one who cooked all this food.¡± ¡°Wow! You made all this!?¡± Asks Lizz, her eyes glittering like snow on a sunny day and a stream of drool going down her cheeks and chin. Joanne then looks down at the floor with red cheeks. ¡°Ye-yes¡­¡± ¡°Well I¡¯ll just sit here then!¡± Lizz then sits down one of the sides of the table and starts chomping down food like it¡¯s her last meal. Although I had something I wanted to ask Hannah, Lizz makes too much sound while eating to have a proper conversation. After all the food is finally gone, Anne, Hanna and Joanne immediately shuffles off to bed due to food coma, while Anna stays and cleans up the table and Lizz lays down on my head. Hey, Anna. ¡°Hm?¡± Do you know if Hannah is going somewhere tomorrow? ¡°She shouldn¡¯t be, how so?¡± I¡¯m joining the adventurers¡¯ guild, and since I¡¯m new around here I could use some help to get to know where the monsters I need to subjugate are. ¡°Really? Are you sure you¡¯re allowed to get help?¡± Well when I was at the guid earlier today one of the staff members asked if she could help me, so I assume it¡¯s fine. ¡°Well alright, I¡¯ll tell her tomorrow, just to make sure she doesn¡¯t run off anywhere before you get to talk. Thanks, I appreciate it. I then walk off back to my room and lay down in my bed after I put the book below it. ¡®Good night.¡¯ Feeling too comfortable in the bed, I drift off to sleep without realizing that I heard her speak without her actually talking, the same way that I heard her when she was in the book. (P) Chapter 15 - Are you goblin? After me and Lizz manage to wake up, admittedly only due to one of the quartets helping us, we go and talk to Hannah. Hey, Hannah? ¡°Myeah? What is it?¡± She says while chewing on something. I was wondering if you could tell me where I could find some goblins, a few slimes and a treant? ¡°Goblins and slimes both exist in excess around the border of the mountain forest, the treants however tend to oddly enough prefer areas where there aren¡¯t any normal trees, some researcher said it was something about the ground having more energy. So if you wanna find a treant I¡¯d recommend just climbing something and looking for a clearing with one single tree in the middle. ¡± Alright¡­ Oh! And do you know where I could find some caves and lakes as well? I ask as I remember where I was supposed to be able to find the resources I needed. ¡°Yes actually, follow the edge of the forest to the north and you should find a lake next to a small hill, that hill also happens to have a cave in it.¡± Huh¡­ That¡¯s convenient. Well, thanks a bunch, see ya later. And as I say that last part I turn around and walk back to my room and out the window. After I run across the roofs for a bit I get to the wall, however seeing as there would probably be a lot of troubles if I go through one of the gates I instead simply scale one of the walls, as far away as I can get from the gates within a reasonable time. After I scale the wall I slide down it and jump after I get close to the ground. ¡°Hii!¡± Eliciting a response from Lizz who was holding onto my hair in order to keep up. I then keep on runni- ¡°Wait! Wait! Stop!¡± Lizz shouts just as I start speeding up. I come to a halt and ask her: ¡®What¡¯s the matter?¡¯ ¡°Just¡­ Just hang on a bit¡­¡± Shen then unsteadily flies behind my back, and ,with a blue light appearing behind me, she goes into the book. I shrug my shoulders and dash off again. When I get to the forest I follow it to the left. ¡®Let¡¯s see¡­ Slimes and goblins were common along the edge of the forest, the flower and the treant could both be found in clearings, and if I follow the forest further I¡¯ll find a lake with the herbs and a cave with the mushrooms¡­ Say, Lizz.¡¯ ¡®Do you know if goblins have weapons?¡¯ And I could practically hear her smile widen as she asked that. I look down at my claws as I answer her. ¡®Well I don¡¯t really have a lot lot of range, so it would be really bad if they were to have spears.¡¯ ¡®Really?¡¯ ¡®They grow up with clubs? But you said only half of them have clubs?¡¯ After having felt relieved about this for a while, I then come across a lake. Around the lake I can see small green creatures. ¡®Are those goblins?¡¯ (AN: Nose goblin= Boogers for those who don¡¯t know.) ¡®Well all I knew about them was you calling them ¡°Green fucks¡±.¡¯ ¡®I dunno, I was thinking maybe it was like how I use phasing? I mean the look soft enough to stick the hilt of a sword inside.¡¯ If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ''Oh yeah, that did hapen didn''t it...'' And as I heard her shout that I could also hear the sound of her ruffling her hair frantically. I leave her to her own devices and take out the quest note. On it it says that I need to subjugate three of these things. I put the note back and approach the green globs of sticky looking goop. As I got closer and could see them more clearly I could see that they all looked to have different viscosity, some looked almost like solid green balls and some looked like green oil spills with a small rock inside, however most of them were somewhere in between. ¡®Why are they so different?¡¯ I ask Lizz. However she¡¯s still too busy ripping out her hair to answer. I then grab a stick that I find on the ground and poke one of the oily ones, two things happen. The first is that Lizz starts screaming even louder, and the second is that it pokes a hole in the slime, making liquid flow out of it. ¡®Well, nothing bad happened, right?¡¯ ¡®But I think I killed it, so what do I do now?¡¯ <*pant* *pant*... See the rock? You take that and give it to the guild staff to prove you killed it¡­> She responds, seemingly finally having calmed down. I then go and poke one of the half liquid slime. This time, instead of poking a hole in it and spilling its insides, the slime grabs my stick and tries to pull it inside of itself, only succeeding to do to after I let go. I then pick up another stick, this time however, I swipe at the slime with it rather than poke it. When I do that Lizz freaks out again, and there''s now a long vertical gash going across the slime, with goop dripping out, and unlike the oily slimes goop which was like, well, oil, this guy¡¯s goop seemed to be the consistency of porridge, very slowly dripping and kinda chunky. I press down with my hands onto the still solid parts of the slime to make it empty quicker. ¡®Flesh eating?¡¯ I then walk towards where the goop spilled out and poke it with my foot. ¡®See? No flesh.¡¯ I then keep emptying the slime and grab the stone, immediately as I do so all of the porridge like goop becomes as liquidy as the oily ones. I then turn towards one of the really solid ball shaped slimes that can be seen rolling about. It¡¯s radius seems to be slightly smaller than my arm. I immediately swing my stick at it. *crack* Only to have i break on me. Seeing as the slimes can¡¯t seem to dissolve me I touch it to see just how hard it is. ¡®It¡¯s just like plastic¡­¡¯ Ignoring Lizz I use hunting claws on my hands and try slashing at it, however it only leaves shallow scratches on it, not even a millimeter deep. Feeling a bit annoyed that my attack didn¡¯t do anything I decide to play unfair. How unfair? well how about just phasing my arm into it and grabbing the stone immediately? Then again I have no idea if this is actually going to work, but it¡¯s worth a shot. And thus a dark green light starts covering my arm and I stick it into the slime. Then while my hand was inside it I activate Hunting Claws to try and have my claws solidify without bouncing back out like my feet when I jump across roofs. And the result? A success! Kinda¡­ You see although I did kill the slime, but since the entire insides of the slime was as hard as the outside I couldn¡¯t actually pull the rock around and instead had to break it into a few pieces, though it seems to have worked just as well. And a side effect of these results is that everything below my shoulders is covered in green oil. Not having learnt the lesson that Lizz seems to want to teach me, I keep ignoring her and open the pouch to put in the rocks and rock pieces. Before I can do that however, a blue hand comes out of the pouch carrying a blue note, reading the note it says:
Solidification Due to using a skill that makes you incorporeal while also using a skill that lets you solidify yourself as well as possessing a ghostly disposition you have been given this ability. This ability will let you solidify non-solid objects that come into contact with you, whether you¡¯re corporeal or not. If you let go of the solidified objects they will slowly begin to turn back to normal With enough practice you will be able to freeze objects you have solidified in spatial position for as long as you remain in contact with them as well as prolong how long it takes for an object to turn back to normal.
¡®Okay?¡¯ I stare at the blue piece of paper dumbfoundedly for a while, until it goes back into the pouch and I snap back to reality. ¡®but how do I even use it?¡¯ Thinking I might as well try it, I focus both of the skills on the palm of my hands. At first my palm starts glowing green, then the glow disappears and my palm instead hardens like bone. It keeps alternating between the two abilities for a while, until I notice that in between glowing green and being white there''s an orange glow for a fraction of a second. I try to focus, and I try to keep the orange glow for as long as possible, eventually succeeding in stabilizing it. I then touch the orange glow with my other hand and see that I can¡¯t actually move my hand through it, as though the air solidified. In fact I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s exactly what happened. I focus on the orange glow and try to mold it, try to elongate it, until I¡¯m holding a long cylindrical orange pole of light. I swing the pole at a nearby tree and with a *thwack*... Nothing happens¡­ Neither the tree nor the pole broke so it¡¯s probably just me not being strong enough¡­ I then head to the cave while I continue to experiment with this new ability, almost forgetting to pick up the herbs that I needed on the way. Chapter 16 - What about you then? Are you goblin? After I gather the herbs that I needed I went towards the cave. (The herbs were very noticeable, bright red on green grass.) Getting close to the cave I can see something moving inside it. ¡®Are THOSE goblins?!?¡¯ ¡®Kinda? I dunno¡­¡¯ ¡®Yeesh, no need to shout¡­¡¯ Lizz shouts back, making me feel like she¡¯s the straight (wo)man in one of those comedy duos. As I get even closer to the cave I solidified the staff in my hands again and focused my vigilance. When I arrive right next to the cave entrance there¡¯s a small green four limbed creature standing outside, carrying a club in one hand while steadying it on his shoulder. I sneak up on the goblin and¡­ *thwack* "!" "..." "..." Other than the goblin being slightly startled from the sneak attack nothing happens. And yet, even though it''s not injured in the slightest, it still runs off to some other part of the plains we were in. ''Hey...* ''Why did nothing happen?'' ''You sounded very prepared for that question, did you know that was going to happen?'' ''And you didn''t tell me ahead of time because...'' ''Oh.'' Realizing I wasn''t going to get anywhere by trying to make her feel guilty I decide to instead try to get a better weapon. I walk away from the cave and back to the lake, when I get there I crouch down and submerge my hand in the water. ''Come on...'' And when I lift my hand out of the water I''m now holding an orange stick, much like the one I had previously, only difference was that this one was filled with water rather than air, hopefully making it heavy enough to do something at least. Also while I''m at it I decide to widen the stick on certain parts to make it look like a baseball bat, letting me add more water to it. I look around to try and see where the goblin ran off to, and see it standing at the cave again, in the exact same spot as last time, looking like it completely forgot tht it was ever attacked there before. I sneak up behind it again, exactly like last time, however this time when I swing at it I also add a bit of extra force by making myself get launched at it by phasing my feet into the ground and letting go. *SLAM* This time when I hit it with the bat its head is launched clean off of its shoulders and sent flying off into the distance, making me feel rather quesy at the sudden red geyser that appeared where his head used to be, however before I get enough time to let the fact that I killed something sink in: ¡®What!? Don¡¯t tell me the thing I need to prove I killed it was on that¡­¡¯ ¡®Fuck!¡¯ Seeing that the head had already disappeared off to somewhere where I cant see it anymore, I decide to give up on it and walk into the cave instead, and seeing as just slamming them with the bat could cause more problems I make the tip of it thin out to a sharp point, if I''m lucky they won''t be sent flying if I pierce them with this instead. ''Hey, why did that do so much more damage? Sure, I used water rather than air, but should that really make it strong enough to send that things head flying?'' If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ''Wow... Can''t be easy living like that... Kinda feel bad for them now...'' ''What the fuck!'' And as she says that the small traces of grief that had set in from killing something instantly disappeared. After walking for a few ten or so seconds we start seeing some glowing moss on the walls, and on certain parts of this moss there¡¯s glowing mushrooms as well. I grab a bunch of them and put them in the pouch. Or at least I try to put them in the pouch, but it seems the opening is too small and they don¡¯t fit. ¡®Well¡­ Since there¡¯s no one here I might as well¡­¡¯ A blue hand then reaches out from behind me and grabs all the mushrooms I was holding, it then goes back to where it came from. ¡®The mushrooms would¡¯ve been the only reason to be in this cave, but since there was a goblin outside there might be more here, should we go deeper?¡¯ ¡®Honestly, why are you so rude?¡¯ She ignores my question completely and we continue walking in silence, until... ¡®I¡¯m not good enough at controlling this stuff yet, if you got a complaint then you do try doing better.¡¯ ¡®Exactly! So stop complaining!¡¯ While we¡¯re bickering I come across a bigger room with torches on the walls. ¡®What the¡­¡¯ At the end of this large cavern there is what looks like a throne surrounded by bowing goblins, and on top of the throne there¡¯s a creature sitting with a crown on his head. But before I can retrace my steps and leave the figure notices us. ¡°Oh? What have we here? The little doll from earlier, how quaint¡­¡± ¡®That¡¯s odd, he seems to know me¡­¡¯ ¡®Piss one off? I haven¡¯t even met a goblin before today! And you should¡¯ve known that!¡¯ ¡°Hm? It doesn¡¯t seem like you recognise me? How about I come closer¡­¡± As the high-goblin comes closer and enters the torchlight I can see it''s face. ¡®Wait¡­ What?¡¯ ¡°Does this face jog your memory!? Because of you I had my rations cut in half and had to go out to hunt food like some¡­ Some¡­ Barbarian!¡± Yup, in front of us stood not a high-goblin, but instead there was the guard that had tried to make me steal when I first got here. ¡°Because of you I had to trick these goblins to work under me and get me food! You¡¯ll pay for wronging me!¡± Lizz then flies out of the book and asks: ¡°But wasn¡¯t it the lizardman that cut your food? Why blame us?¡± ¡°Err¡­ Well¡­ Do you guys honestly think someone like me would be able to take on someone like him¡­?¡± @No. ¡°Not a chance.¡± I had expected the man to be surprised by the text for a little bit, but it seems this place is too dark for him to see it properly. ¡°Exactly! So if I can¡¯t get my revenge on him I¡¯ll get it on you instead! Goblins, Attack!¡± However¡­ The goblins simply keep staying where they are, bowing towards his direction. A sigh can be heard escape from his lips as he then says: ¡°Right¡­ Goblins.... Some of the most stupid creatures alive¡­¡± The man then pinches the ridge of his nose and sighs again while he draws a sword from his side. *clank* *clank* *clank* Can be heard echoing throughout the cavern as he hits the ground with the tip of the sword. *rustle* *rustle* And at that all the goblins got up from where they were bowing and looked at the guard whose name I still did not know. The guard then points the sword at us and yet again shout for the goblins to attack, which they now do while screeching horribly. I shirk from the sudden change in atmosphere but quickly recover and point my bat forwards, as if issuing a challenge¡­ Or at least that¡¯s what I hope I look like. *splatter* And one of the goblins runs straight into it, piercing his heart and dying immediately. ¡°You fucking idiot!¡± The guard shouts at the now lifeless goblin. I drag the bat back out from the corpse and prepare myself. The goblins keep running at me, seemingly not caring about their dead comrade. Or they¡¯re just too stupid to notice. As they approach I crouch down and swing the pole at the feet of the nearest goblin, making it fall, and while it''s falling it grabs on to one of the others, dragging them down too, and this new goblin then grabs onto another one, I let this continue for a while and eventually they''re all laying on the ground. I let go of the bat with my left hand so that I know hold the bat with only my right and use Hunting Claws on my free hand, I then quickly proceed to stab as may of the ones close to me as I can whith my white claws before they get back up, letting me kill nearly half of them before they can untangle themselves. Now there¡¯s only a handful left, and yet they keep charging at me with eyes saying that they are certain of their victory. As the goblins get within reach I start swinging my bat at them, trying to hit their bodies instead of their heads. As I keep hitting them they eventually fall, and as I deal the final blow to the last goblins I may have been a bit too excited, as when I hit him I hit him in the head which, just like before, ended up making the head go flying. Flying in the guard¡¯s direction. I couldn¡¯t see exactly what happened, however I did hear a loud *splatter* sound, and when I looked towards the man he laid fainted on the ground with a face covered in red liquid. ¡®There¡¯s only two quests left now¡­ But I get the feeling that this guy¡¯s going to be a lot of trouble if we don¡¯t take him to the authorities¡­¡¯ And then I do just that, I drag the man back with me to town while using Lulling Touch to keep him from waking up due to the bumpiness of the trip, and as we walked back I thought about how the goblins were so inept at fighting that I only had to randomly wave my arms around while holding weapons to kill them all. I also thought about how I''m grateful to my uncle for letting me go along with him on his hunting trips, he even made me help prepare the game for barbeque, all the way from a a fur covered animal to a slab of grilled meat on a plate, letting me get a bit more used to blood and gore. Chapter 17 - All done On our way back I carry the guard over my shoulder with one of my hands while I keep practicing Solidification with the other. Knowing that I have a problem with range I try to create a slingshot, however I get stuck immediately as I seem to be unable to make the solidified object rubbery or soft, instead the object just becomes as stiff as stone. So since I can¡¯t use a slingshot I try to think of any other simple ranged weapons that I know of. I get an idea when I remember a sport from my old world, however I would probably need to use both my arms for that so I decide to wait with it. So instead I just keep working on the pole, I try to make a large cylinder attached to the end of the pole like a hammer and try waving it around. And, well, it¡¯s shaped like a hammer, but¡­ Well one of the reasons a hammer would be so strong is because of its weight, but this thing literally weighs as much as the air around it, making it not that good. So instead of a weapon that uses its weight to build momentum, instead I just have a big stick with a lot of air resistance, making it even slower than a normal stick. So now knowing that air resistance is the only thing I have to worry about I instead try to make a sword by slowly thinning the pole until it gets semi sharp edges on both sides. It¡¯s¡­ It''s not really all that sharp, in fact the edges are about a good two or three millimeters thick. Well, no matter how sharp it was I would never have enough strength in these plushy arms to cut through metal armor, if they have leather armor I may be able to pierce it with a thrusting attack, while if they¡¯re someone who doesn¡¯t wear armor at all, like goblins, I could probably cut off a lot of things with it. One good thing though, is that even if this were to break or to get worn edges then I can just make a new one immediately. At this point we reach the gate of the city and I spy the lizard man who helped me deal with the guard over my shoulder last time. ¡®He looks really pissed off though¡­¡¯ The lizard man keeps looking around, with a really annoyed look on his face, until he sees me with the guard on my shoulder approaching. Once he does, he immediately turns around and starts shouting at the other guards, and then they all run towards me with weapons drawn, however when they get close enough to see me under the man they slow down a bit and put away their weapons. Good day. ¡°Err¡­ Yeah... good day to you too?¡± He¡¯s seemingly confused a bit by my easygoing greeting as he doesn¡¯t seem to know what to say, but he quickly gets back on track. ¡°That man you¡¯re carrying with you, I don¡¯t know what circumstances made you carry him around but do you think we could take it from here?¡± Sure, but should I come with? He kinda brought together a gang of goblins and attacked me due to having his rations cut. ¡°Wha¡­¡± I must¡¯ve accidentally stopped using Lulling Touch without realizing it as the man on my back wakes up. ¡°You!¡± The lizard man''s forehead is immediately covered with a number of bulging veins as he looks. ¡°I had LITERALLY just gotten to retire and start taking care of the shop, and then YOU decide to skimp out on guard duties so I had to be called back! Excuse me little fellow, but I need to grab this guy and bring him in, come to us sometime and we¡¯ll get you a reward for getting this guy.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. He then grabs the arm of the guy on my back and drags him off to the gate while being followed by the other guards. ¡®Yeah, good riddance.¡¯ ¡®Alright.¡¯ And so I do. ¡®Nah, let¡¯s go get the flower.¡¯ And so I turn around and walk back towards the forest. As we arrive and enter the forest I decide to try out the idea I had earlier. I create a normal staff again, about as long as I am tall, and then I widen the last third of the pole to be as wide as a quarter of the staff, I then pick up a random rock lying about, put it on the widened part and¡­ *Whoosh* Swung the spoon shaped object as hard as I could and made the rock go flying off somewhere into the distance. ¡®Seeing that rock fly off like that, it reminds me of something¡­ Oh shit!¡¯ ¡®We forgot to get the proof of subjugation from the goblins!¡¯ I quickly climb a nearby tree to look around for the lake, once I find it I leap from tree to tree and hurry into the cave. ¡®What even is the proof for these guys!?¡¯ At this point I get back into the wide cavern and quickly get the ears of all of the goblins, well, except for the guy whose head splashed into mush, his ear probably flew off somewhere but I couldn¡¯t find it. I then put the eleven ears into the pouch and exit the cave. Now feeling much calmer I climb a tree again and look around for a clearing with a single tree in it. ¡°...¡± Or rather I was going to do that, but then I spotted a small bit of ground sticking out in the middle of the lake with a tree and a single flower on it. ¡°...¡± ¡®Is that a treant? Are they just big trees?¡¯ I listen to her advice, create another giant spoon and throw a rock at the tree. *Whoosh* *thunk* And we could hear the sound of the rock hitting the tree from over here. Looking closely at the tree we could see some of it¡¯s branches slowly moving down and covering the point of impact as it slowly bends over. ¡®How do I even kill a tree?¡¯ ¡®You mean like the spot that I hit with the rock?¡¯ ¡®So the reason that it¡¯s crouching down like that is¡­¡¯ The treant¡¯s bark then started peeling off of it, looking like a flower was blooming, followed by the inner would, eventually leaving a small, bright red stalk in the middle with a single bright blue leaf growing out the top of it. ¡®I¡¯m guessing that that¡¯s the thing I give the guild?¡¯ I then enter the water and swim over to the small mound, which actually felt very different from normal due to how much bigger my head was in proportion to my body, albeit not to the point where I couldn¡¯t swim. When I get to the mound I climb the red stalk and pluck the blue leaf, after which the red stalk starts peeling just like the rest of the treant¡¯s body, the whole thing then quickly loses its shape and seep into the ground like some sort of liquid. ¡®Uhm¡­¡¯ I then walk towards the flower that I had seen while avoiding the ground that the treant had seeped into, and then pluck the flower and put it into the pouch. Lizz then flies out of the top and hovers in front of my face while staring at me. ¡°Hey, couldn¡¯t you just have walked over the water by solidifying a chunk of water? Or maybe make a small board of air and paddle over?¡± ¡®I.. I¡­ I didn¡¯t think about it¡­¡¯ TT^TT ¡°Eww! Stop it with the faces! They¡¯re really creepy!¡± ?_? *whimper* As much as I like teasing her, she looks like she would start crying if I continue so I decide to stop. ¡®Alright I¡¯ll stop.¡¯ I then walk to the water and try to solidify the water, with a fair bit of success. *splash* Well the success didn¡¯t happen immediately of course, but eventually I managed to solidify some water in place to walk on. Yes solidify, when I picked up a piece it wasn¡¯t ice, but it looked more like jelly, the water still looked like normal water, but it was hard to the touch. Once I reached the other side of the lake I quickly send a wave of green light from the top of my head and to my feet, making all the water fall off of me. Lizz then flies back into the book and I start walking back to the town, the sun still high in the sky. Chapter 18 - Busy busy busy. I get back to the guild and try to enter it, however¡­ ¡®I guess this is the midday rush people were talking about?¡¯ The entire plaza is covered by people with weapons strapped to theirs sides or their back, and although it¡¯s scarce enough to get to the guild, the entrance is so swamped that I highly doubt I¡¯ll be able to get inside. ¡®If the first floor is inaccessible, what about the second?¡¯ Thinking so I run through the plaza and climb the back wall of the guild house, I try looking in through the windows of the second floor to see if I can find a place to enter, while making sure that the parts of me which are phasing through the walls can¡¯t be seen from the inside. ¡°Plush?!?¡± As I look into one of the windows I can see Cathy sitting at a table and looking back out at me. Err¡­ Hi? The entrance is kinda swamped so I¡¯m looking for another way in¡­ ¡°Just¡­ Just go down to the ground and I¡¯ll come out and get you...¡± Okay. I then start climbing down the wall, and when I reach the ground I start waiting for Cathy to arrive. Having nothing better to do I just look at the guild house. The bottom meter or so of the walls are made of stone while the rest is made of wood, and where the floor of the second, well, floor is there are thick wooden logs going across the walls and stocking out a decimeter or so from the corners of the house. As I¡¯m looking at the building I see that some of the rocks (which were suspiciously square shaped by the way) start moving outwards like a door, and inside Cathy is standing while looking somewhat annoyed. ¡°Come on, come on.¡± Alright. When I get inside Cathy closes the stone door and I see that we are inside the small room that contained the stairs leading downwards. ¡°Now mind explaining a bit? Sure the place is cramped but why did you try to enter through the second floor?¡± I dunno, I¡¯m good at climbing? *sigh* ¡°Okay, you¡¯re good at climbing, but what if someone you didn¡¯t know had seen you?¡± Erm¡­ Would that have been bad? ¡°Well¡­ That depends on who sees you, so try not to climb around the windows of buildings that you don¡¯t know the occupants of¡­¡± ...Alright¡­ *sigh* ¡°Well, what were you here for then?¡± I wanted to give in quests. ¡°Really? Well there should only be monster subjugation and gathering quests left, so follow me to a place where it doesn¡¯t matter if you make a mess.¡± We then walk back down the stairs to where we were when I was telling them about my abilities. *tap* *tap* ¡°Hm?¡± When we were here last time you said that all this equipment was for checking if applicants really have the abilities they say they do, right? Well how come the only thing we use when I was here was a small hammer to see how much I could harden my claws?Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. I ask as I look around and see giant blocks of stone laying around. ¡°Well, let me explain a bit, when I said to find out if they had the abilities or not I meant more so on combat skills, like how certain people can cause small explosions when they hit stuff with hammers and other such things, while your skills were a lot more subtle so we didn¡¯t need to use a whole lot of this.¡± I guess that makes sense¡­ We then arrive at a metallic table with what looked like a plastic cloth covering it. ¡°Alright we¡¯re here, now please take out both the quest notes and the resources and proofs of subjugation.¡± I do as she says, I begin with taking all six of the receipt sized notes out of my pouch and put them in a stack on one of the corners of the table. ¡°And which of these is it that you¡¯ve completed then? All of them. I then take out the herbs, mushrooms, goblin ears, slime rocks, the flower and the blue leaf from the treant and put them in separate piles. ¡°...¡± I look at Cathy and see her massaging her temples with her paws and seems to be thinking. ¡°...Hang on for a bit, I know this may seem rude but, I need to go get some people who can tell if these are legit.¡± Didn¡¯t you do that last time though? ¡°I only take care of delivery quests, I don¡¯t know a thing about monsters or plants.¡± She then runs back up the stairs. ¡®Lizz, is this normal?¡¯ However she doesn¡¯t respond. Maybe she¡¯s fallen asleep? That would explain why she¡¯s so quiet at least. After a while Cathy comes back down, followed by Rico and someone I haven¡¯t seen before. (AN: Goat man¡¯s name is Rico Orn for those who forgot.) When they get to her Rico immediately takes out a stool from underneath the table and sits down, he then take out a small cylindrical object with glass on both sides from one of his pockets and starts inspecting the resources. The other man then walks up and greets me. ¡°Names Hugh Manning, how are you?¡± He says as he crouches down and reaches his hand forwards. The man looks like a normal human without any animal traits on him. I accept the handshake and reply: I¡¯m Plush and I¡¯m doing well. Seemingly satisfied by my response he then lets go of my hand and looks towards Rico. ¡°Oi! You done soon?¡± He shouts, making Rico drop the mushrooms he was holding. ¡°Not yet, but it would go a lot quicker if you hadn¡¯t done that!¡± ¡°Pish posh, now hurry up!¡± I can hear a *groan* coming from Rico as he picks up the mushrooms again. After a few seconds he puts down the mushrooms and says: ¡°These are fresh, no traces of being shipped in a carriage or carried by a merchant, they were all gotten from the forest not too long ago.¡± ¡°So that means they¡¯re legit?¡± Cathy asks. ¡°Although there¡¯s a chance he paid someone else to go get them for him he doesn¡¯t strike me as that sort of person, so they¡¯re most likely not illegitimate.¡± What¡¯s all this talk about them being legit or illegitimate? ¡°Illegitimate is when a resource for a resource gathering quest or a proof of subjugation for a subjugation quest was gotten through means other than going out and getting them yourself, like if you buy them from merchants or hire other adventurers to go get them for you.¡± Answers Rico. Do you guys do this for all the quests that are completed? ¡°HELL NO!¡± Hugh then shouts loudly. ¡°Like hell we would have enough time for that! Did you not see how many people were upstairs!? We only have four people working here! We only do this for the entry quests.¡± ¡°Speaking of which, Grizz is currently alone upstairs taking care of the adventurers, so if you no longer need my services I will go and help him now.¡± Says Rico as he hurries up the stairs. Wait, only four people? So if you three are down here, and the last one is upstairs, that means all people are here? So then the guild master is back? ¡°Yup, but that can wait until later. Hugh, could you check if the monster materials are legit to?¡± ¡°I already have, I don¡¯t need some fancy thing like a¡­ a ¡°loupe¡± or whatever Rico calls it to check them, they¡¯re all legit so hurry up and give him his card. In the meantime I¡¯m going back up, if this keeps up Rico will overwork himself like normal and be knocked out until tomorrow evening.¡± Hugh then rushes up the stairs as well. Wait, is that why he¡¯s always asleep!? ¡°Yup, Rico is really good at his job, but he¡¯s not quite as good at keeping healthy habits like getting eight hours of sleep every night.¡± Also you guys are only four people you said? Weren¡¯t there five booths upstairs though? ¡°Well we like to be prepared in case we get another staff member sometime. Now then, although Hugh said to give you your card immediately, we don¡¯t actually have any ready right now so come back tomorrow. Now if you¡¯ll excuse me I need to go back to my room and finish of the guild¡¯s paperwork. And just exit through the door I showed you, alright? Feel free to use it when entering as well if there are too many people.¡± Cathy then runs up the stairs again, leaving me alone to my thoughts. ¡®Wasn¡¯t supposed to talk about something important with the guild master¡­?¡± Realizing that they all forgot about it I decide to simply walk back home to the inn while the sun sets and dusk spreads. Chapter 19 - Shits magic & Chapter 20 - License to kill (monsters) After a bit of parkour I get back inside the inn, Anne already there waiting for e yet again. ¡°Come on, mealtime.¡± Okay. Lizz then flies out of the book while Anne is turned away and we all walk towards the dining room. ¡°Hello!¡± ¡°Evening!¡± ¡°W¡­ Welcome b-back¡­¡± And when we get there we¡¯re greeted by Anna and Hanna sitting at the table while Joanne wearing oven mitts and carrying a large steaming pot. We¡¯re back. ¡°... Food¡­ food...¡± And me and Lizz greet them back and sit down at the table. After a while they all finish eating and I decide to ask something that¡¯s been on my mind for a few days. By the way, why are you all letting us stay here for free like this? ¡°Well, why wouldn¡¯t we?¡± ¡°Because you run an inn and you need money?¡± Lizz says, asking the same thing I was about to. ¡°Eh. Our old man was kind of a big shot so he left us a fairly sizeable inheritance .¡± Says Anne But¡­ You¡¯re still running an inn, right? Even if you have a lot of money you probably shouldn¡¯t let people stay for free. ¡°W-well¡­ W-what Anne meant by ¡°big shot¡± was that f-father was a magic r-researcher¡­¡± ¡°Dad was kind of a fanatic when it came to all things magic, so since we grew up with him he had a big influence, especially on Hannah. Noticed how she almost always blushes when she sees you? She inherited his¡­¡±Enthusiasm¡±, so to say, for anything she thinks is magic.¡± Anne starts, followed by Anna. ¡°Wait¡­¡± However when Anna finishes Hannah¡¯s eyes open wide and she speaks with a hint of shock in her voice. ¡°Things I think are magic you say!? So you¡¯re saying he¡¯s not actually magic!?¡± Hannah stands up from her chair and stares at me in horror. Erm¡­ I don¡¯t know? I don¡¯t think so but¡­ I¡¯m not sure? Maybe? *slam* Hannah slams down her hands on the table and stands up again. ¡°That¡¯s still a maybe!¡± Wai- ¡°Hey! Wait for me!¡± Hannah then comes and grabs my arm and drags me off to somewhere, running so fast that Lizz almost can¡¯t follow fast enough to not get pushed by the book''s boundary. She goes down a set of stairs and into what looks like a laboratory and finally slows down enough for Lizz to catch up. ¡°Now then! Time to find out if you really are magic or not!¡± Hannah then puts me down on what looks like an operation table and drags forth a large black screen on wheels and puts it in front of me. ¡®Is that¡­ an X-ray!?¡¯ ¡°This should be able to see exactly how much magic you may or may not have!¡± She puts on a pair of leather goggles and pushes a button on the side of the screen. The black screen flashes white for a fraction of a second and Hannah takes off what looks like a black stained glass panel with a blueish green blob on it. ¡°And? What¡¯s that blue thing shaped like Plush mean?¡± I look towards Hannah¡¯s shoulder and see Lizz floating there, looking at the glass panel with great interest. ¡®You traitor!¡¯ ¡°A kindred soul, eh? Well these blue lines are energy veins, or at least that¡¯s what I decided to call them, I¡¯m kinda the first person to discover the-¡± ¡°Okay okay, you¡¯re impressive and whatnot. But what are they?¡± ¡°Ahem, energi veins are like blood veins, every creature has them, and they pump energy around our body, parallel to the blood veins, which is what we use to use skills.¡± ¡°Okay, but you said ¡°blue lines¡±? Then why is he just a big blue blob?¡± ¡°I...I don¡¯t know¡­ I¡¯ve never seen anything like it¡­ Then again I only discovered these not too long ago so I haven¡¯t been able to find mind examples, so for all I know this could actually be normal.¡± Could someone explain what you¡¯re talking about? And to my question Lizz responds by snapping both her fingers and then pointing index fingers at me while also pointing her thumbs upwards. ¡°This shit¡¯s magic yo.¡± Hannah then puts one of her hands in front of her mouth and desperately tries to stifle her laughter. Magic how? *shrug* ¡°I dunno, ask her.¡± She says and points towards Hannah. After a few seconds Hannah is finally speak again and tries to explain. ¡°Well what it means is that you are definitely magic! Or at least the cloth that your body is made of is, but then again that¡¯s like saying a golem isn¡¯t magic while also saying that the rocks the golem is made out of is magic.¡± Well¡­ What does me being magic mean? ¡°Ehm¡­ I dunno?¡± ... ¡°Okay okay, I don¡¯t know exactly what it means for your entire body being made out of energy veins means, but I do know that as a side effect it will at least let you channel and train skills quicker.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. So it¡¯s a good thing? *shrug* ¡°Probly. But there are certain creatures and skills that rather than attack the body of a target they instead deplete the target¡¯s energy, making them unable to use skills. Those things will probably be really dangerous for you.¡± Oh. *Yawn* ¡°Well I¡¯m going to go and sleep now, having fun is exhausting. Also I need to think a bit of what I can do now that I have a test subject¡­ Night.¡± She then runs off before I can object to the ¡®test subject¡¯ part, and since we don¡¯t know where her room is, and this inn is too large to try and search for it, we decide to just go to our room. Once we get there we immediately head off to sleep.
Chapter 19''s second AN: Slightly shorter chapter today, feels like I''m catching a cold, but I hope y''all enjoyed. Meta stats! TC: 10,485 total views, 583 average, 21 ratings, rank 740, 72 followers, 8 favorites, 4.48 overall score. TC: 12,154 total views, 640 average, 21 ratings, rank 741, 82 followers, 8 favorites, 4.48 overall score.
Chapter 20''s first AN 13. I added some parts to chapter sixteen, making it so that his weapon is now made out of solidified water rather than air, hopefully this fixes the "force equals mass times velocity" issue that was present before, with how waving a stick that weighs less than a feather can''t make enough force to make someones head go flying, almost no matter how much velocity it has, as well as some small parts hopefully explaining why he doesn''t feel bad about killing goblins. 14. The water that he solidifiied to walk across the lake shouldn''t have been able to support his weight. Remember how I wrote on Solidifications skill summary in the book that Plush could also freeze an objects position? That is how he prevented the solidified water from sinking when he walked on it. 15. Someone told me in the comments that apparently objects can be "inert" to specific kinds of acid, now I don''t know enough about all that to know what it means, other than that it is possible for plush to touch certain kinds of acid and not be burned by them, so let''s say the slimes are made of just such an acid. Aside from all that, tell me if you spot a mistake, and I hope y''all enjoy.
The next day we go back to the guild to get my adventurer license. ¡°Hey! Little guy!¡± But on my way into the nearest alley I¡¯m interrupted by someone calling out to me, and when I look back I see a familiar man with an arm covered in white scales waving towards us with the man who commanded the goblins being dragged around by a chain around his wrists. Hello. Did something happen? ¡°Well you never came around yesterday to collect your reward.¡± He then crouches down and hands me a small ring. This is? ¡°This thing has the ability to produce illusions, this guy-¡±, he points at the man behind him, ¡°-used it to trick the goblins you told us about that he was their leader.¡± I look towards the guard... Should that be ex-guard now? I look towards the ex-guard and ask him: ¡°Then why did you stop the illusion and show me your face? Shouldn¡¯t the goblins have attacked you when they saw you were a human?¡± The ex-guard just glares at me, while the lizard man clears his throat with a *cough* and explains. ¡°This ring is really tiresome for most people to use, so I would guess the reason he didn¡¯t use it was because of that, however I don¡¯t know why the goblins didn¡¯t attack him.¡± At this the ex-guard smiles and starts gloating. ¡°You fucking idiot! Can¡¯t even think of something so simple!? Anyone with half a brain would¡¯ve realized it¡¯s because I tricked them into thinking that I was a goblin using the ring to look human, rather than the other way around! You need a new brain old man!¡± *CLANG* Only to be hit by the lizard man again, just like back when I first came to the gate. ¡°And you need to shut up! Now come on, we¡¯re going to the dungeons with you! I¡¯ll see you some other time little guy¡± They then walk away in a direction I¡¯ve not been in yet. ¡°...¡± I stare down at the ring in my hand and put it in my pouch after having decided to test it out when I get back to the inn and continue to the alley. Since it¡¯s still early the place is mostly empty when I get to the guild, letting me walk in through the front door again, and once I get to the booth a see a different person than Rico sitting there and reading a book. He looks like a normal brown bear sitting down and reading a book. Kind of an odd thing to see. I climb up to the desk in front of the booth and knock on the glass. *knock* *knock* Hello. He then looks up from his book with his eyes, while still having his face facing the pages of the book he¡¯s reading rather than me. ¡°Yes, hello?¡± I was told to come here and get an adventurer''s license. ¡°Right, then you must be Plush?¡± Yup. And you¡¯re Grizz? I heard Cathy talk about you after she tricked me into helping pull a prank against Rico. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m Grizz, Grizz Lee. And that must mean you¡¯re half-responsible for those marks then?¡± He asks as he points at the door behind him, the same door that Rico ran into earlier. Erm¡­ yeah? *sigh* ¡°Well at least you¡¯re honest, unlike a certain cat who tried to blame Hugh¡­ Speaking of cats.¡± He then swivels his chair around and rings the bell. I didn''t know you guys had swivel chairs. He suddenly looks at me with a bit of surprise. ¡°Oops.¡± He lifts his book and hides his face behind it. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell the others, I only have enough materials to make one of them and if they find out they¡¯ll use it as well and break it.¡± Okay, won¡¯t say a thing. ¡°Thanks, here.¡± He then passes three gold coins through the opening in the glass window to me, and being the gentleman that I am I accept with neither hesitation nor refutation. Just as I put the three coins in my pouch Cathy comes down the stairs. ¡°Morning plush¡­¡± She says lazily while rubbing her eyes with one of her paws. Good morning. ¡°Here you go¡­¡± She stretches out her hand with a wooden square in it and I jump down from the desk and grab it. ¡°Good night¡­¡± And immediately turns around and walks back up the stairs. ¡°...¡± ¡°Excuse her, she¡¯s not very good with mornings.¡± No, I understand. ¡°Well since she was too tired to explain I guess I¡¯ll do that part, bring it and I¡¯ll show you what each thing means¡± So I climb back up to the desk, this time being extra careful to not let him see me phasing, and lay the license on the desk. ¡°This part is an artist''s rendition of you, this parts your name and this parts your species, though you could probably figure that out on your own, this part is how many quests you''ve completed of each of the four different types as well as in total and below that is what rank you are for each of them, you¡¯re currently C rank in all of them except for miscellaneous, which is because miscellaneous doesn¡¯t have ranks.¡± Wait, that¡¯s it? That¡¯s pretty simple¡­ ¡°Well there was also something about that picture being linked to you specifically by magic, but I don¡¯t know enough to go into detail.¡± No that¡¯s fine. ¡°You should already know this, but go to those wooden boards over there to choose what quest you want and then bring it to whoever is in the booth.¡± After that he starts reading his book again without waiting for a response, so I jump down from the booth and walk towards the quest boards. ¡°Wait, wait, wait, you might need this.¡± I turn around and look at the booth, and a small hatch opens up on the front of it, and out of the hatch comes a small stool. I pick up the still and put it down next to the board and start browsing. There''s a bunch of receipt sized papers hanging off of each of the boards. ¡®Defeat goblins, twenty copper per ear, defeat slimes, one silver per core, defeat kobolds, eighty copper per tail, defeat treants, five silver per heartleaf etcetera etcetera¡­¡¯ I get down from the stool and move it to the next board. ¡®Gather restorative herbs, sixty per leaf, gather luminescent fungus, eighty copper per cap, gather lucky garlic, one silver per bulb....¡¯ And again I go to the next board. ¡®Deliver goods to local orphanage, a large quantity of small sized packages, ten silver, deliver goods to blacksmith, a small amount of medium sized packages fifty silver, help the post office deliver letters, five silver per delivered letter, deliver goods to the Ronny nobles house, one very large package, ten gol- gold!? I don¡¯t know a lot about this places currency but that has to be a lot.¡¯ I immediately take the notice off of the board and go back to the booth, this time using the stool to get up rather than climbing. *knock* *knock* This one please. ¡°Okay¡­ Not a lot of people tend to accept delivery requests, especially when the recipient is a noble¡¯s house, most rumors about nobles don¡¯t speak for their kindness, and those that do tend to have started by those very nobles using a bit of gold. Also there''s the fact that this is a very large package.¡± How large actually? ¡°A good meter and a half in every directions, think you can do it?¡± Maybe, depends on where I have to pick it up. ¡°See this symbol?¡± He says as he points to a stamp mark on the paper that looks like a guild card. ¡°This means you pick it up straight from the guild.¡± Oh, okay. Well I¡¯ll take it then. *sigh* ¡°Alright, hang on.¡± Grizz then turns around and jots something down on another piece of paper while looking at the quest note. ¡°... Here you go, just walk in through that door and take a left.¡± He points towards the door leading towards the secret entrance. ¡°And in there there should be a bunch of packages, look for one that has this number.¡± He points towards a series of letter and numbers on the quest note. ¡°And deliver it to this address.¡± He says as he points towards a different part of the quest note. Alright, see you later. ¡°Wait, please push the stool back in before you leave.¡± And so I hop down from the desk and push the stool back in through the hatch, I then walk into the door and then into the next door immediately to the left, letting me enter the room where me and Cathy pushed a bookshelf in front of the booth''s door. I look in the corner that¡¯s the furthest from the door I entered and see a bunch of large wooden boxes, some medium ones and a table with a bunch of small ones on it. I go to the large ones and compare the symbols on the note with the ones on the boxes, eventually finding the one I need to deliver. ¡®It¡¯s twice my height¡­¡¯ I look around and make sure that no one¡¯s around, a blue hand then reaches out and grabs the box, a blue light then spreads throughout the box, shrinking its size until the hand can pick it up and put it in the inventory. I look around once again to make sure no one arrived halfway through and then leave through the secret entrance. Chapter 21 - Special delivery As I¡¯m about to exit through the secret doorway I realize that I have no idea where the address written on the note is. ¡®Wasn¡¯t there a map on the previous delivery quests we got?¡¯ ¡®Good idea.¡¯ I then walk up to the middle of the five doors and knock. *knock* *knock* *creak* ¡°What?¡± Is there a map I could use to find my way around town? He then seems to blush, only way I can tell is due to a scar on his cheek revealing the skin beneath his fur. ¡°Hang on.¡± Grizz then turns around and picks something up from his desk. ¡°Here you go, I forgot to give you this before.¡± No worries. Grizz then looks around the room and asks: ¡°I don¡¯t see the package anywhere, how the hell did you move something like that?¡± Erm¡­ Secret? ¡°Fair enough, however I will be adding transportation to your list of specialities, if that¡¯s alright with you?¡± Sure? ¡°Alright, just come and tell me if there''s anything else then.¡± Sure, later. He then closes the door and I exit the adventurers¡¯ guild. Once I¡¯m outside I do the usual, run across the plaza, find the nearest alley, and climb to the roof. Now on top of the roof I pull both the map and the quest note out of my pouch and sit down to try and find out where this is. After a couple of minutes I find where I¡¯m supposed to deliver to box and head off while having the map slightly phased into my hand so I can see where I¡¯m going without dropping it. When I arrive see a house very similar to the one owned by the nobles that I delivered to previously, however they were in what would be the yellow district on the emblem, while this place is on the exact opposite side of the town, in other words in thee brown district. Since I¡¯d only ever been in the yellow district before I never noticed this, but each district seems to also have the same color on their houses as the part corresponding to it on the emblem, meaning the inn I stayed in, as well as all the other houses I had delivered to, were yellow, while this place and every house around it were painted brown, with the place I¡¯m delivering to being a much richer color than those around it, as well as having just as luxurious of a garden as the nobles in the yellow district. As I exit through the alley that I had descended from the roof into and approach the house I can see that this place, much the same as the other, had a lone guard walking around outside, but unlike the yellow nobles guard this one wore brown cloth over his armor rather than yellow or fish scale green.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡®Now here¡¯s the troublesome part, how do I get the box out of the inventory without anyone seeing?¡¯ I look around at the nearby buildings and see that none of them have windows pointed this way, and that there are no pedestrians in sight. I pick up a rock from the ground and use a spoon shaped construct, which I have now made thinner so as to make it easier to swing, and throw the rock to the other side of the guard, making him turn around at the sudden sound of the rock hitting the stone steps leading to the door of the house. While the guard walks towards the steps to see what the noise was I quickly run up a little distance behind him, and when the guard turn around again after having made sure the noise wasn¡¯t anything important he sees me sitting on top of a one and a half cubic meter large wooden box. And when he sees me he gets really startled, trips on nothing and falls backwards onto the ground. While the guard is trying to get up while looking at me I take the quest note out of my pouch and hold it out towards him. After he finally gets up fully he takes the note and looks at it, he then walks inside the house. When the guard gets back outside he¡¯s followed by a teenage girl wearing a light brown dress and two burly men wearing brown leather jackets. The girl then skips towards the box while holding the note in her hands and I can almost see hearts floating above her head. The two burly men look exactly alike one another aside from some details on their jackets, and they follow her to the box. *heavy breathing* ¡°This must mean he got the necklace! You two, hurry up and carry it inside, I want to see what he thought of it!¡± ¡°¡±Yes ma¡¯am.¡±¡± The two men then walk up to opposing sides of the box, however they both freeze when they see my head following one of them. Hello. ¡°¡±¡±¡±...¡±¡±¡±¡± Although the guard had already seen me move, it seems he was still surprised enough by the text to become speechless. After a few seconds the girl then comes up to me and hands me the note and a small pouch. I take out what¡¯s inside the pouch and see that I¡¯m now holding ten gold coins. I put the coins and the note into my own pouch and give the one they were originally in back to the girl while trying my best to look satisfied. She blinks her eyes a bit in surprise while I get up from my sitting position, jump down from the box and walk back into the alley. I rush towards the guild hoping that I will get there before the midday rush, however judging by the amount of people outside the guild when I get there I understand that I had no such luck. Sighing internally I enter through the back door again, praying that at least one of the four people working here won¡¯t be busy, and when I get inside I decide to open the door leading to the main hall of the guild to see how full it is on the inside. There¡¯s people everywhere, all the seats are occupied and and the floor was covered by people who couldn¡¯t find a seat. Or at least that¡¯s what I was expecting, however in reality it was nowhere near full, although most of the seats were taken the floor was completely empty of people. ¡®That¡¯s odd. Then why were there so many people outside?¡¯ I walk into the main hall climb one of the booths, when I get onto the desk I can see Cathy sitting on an extra tall chair and looking back at me. Hello. ¡°Hello.¡± I then hand her the note through the gap in the window. and she starts writing things on at least four different papers. ¡°... Alright, here¡¯s your reward.¡± She says as she pushes ten gold coins back out through the gap. Wait, they already gave me the reward in person when I gave them the delivery. ¡°That wasn¡¯t the reward, that was a bonus. If people think you did a good enough job they can give you a bit of an extra.¡± Oh. Fair enough. Also how come the only person I haven¡¯t seen sitting in one of these booths is Hugh? ¡°Well he¡¯s the guild master so he only does that when he really needs to.¡± ... Cathy then opens her eyes wide and slams her paws on the desk, yet just like when she was stomping the floor in anger before it doesn¡¯t create a proper sound. ¡°He¡¯s the guild master! And he¡¯s back! We need to go talk to him, now!¡± She then runs out from the booth, however unlike what I was expecting she doesn¡¯t use the door, rather she uses the hatch that the stool came out of before. ¡°Follow me!¡± She says and runs up the stairs leading to the second floor. Once the both us get up the stairs I see that we¡¯re in a small room with a single door at the end of it, getting through that door we enter a corridor going all the way from one end of the building to the other with windows on both sides and multiple doors in between. We run a small distance down the corridor and enter the first door on the right, in there we see Hugh. *snore* Laying on a sofa, sleeping. Chapter 22 - A rude awakening. *snore* *Thud* ¡°Gah!¡± Cathy had picked up a shoe from somewhere and thrown it at Hugh, waking him up with a jolt and making him fall off of the sofa he was laying on. ¡°What was that for Catherine?!¡± Hugh stand up from the floor and points at Cathy while shouting. ¡°That was for sleeping on the job after you left the booth saying you had ¡®important business¡¯ to attend to!¡± ¡°Sleeping when needed IS important!¡± At this point they¡¯re both pointing at one another while accusing eachother of various things. I decide to simply sit on the sofa and wait for them to finish their, *cough*, ¡°argument¡±. However when I start walking towards it Cathy turns towards me, seemingly only now remembering that she brought me with her. ¡°All of that¡¯s besides the point! I came here with important news!¡± ¡°Important enough to wake me up?!¡± At this point I could no longer feel any general ¡°proper member of society¡± vibes coming from Hugh any more, instead I know thought he was uncannily similar to Lizz. ¡°Yes it¡¯s important enough for that!¡± ¡°Well?! Out with it!¡± She then face...paws? She then facepaws with her right paw while grumbling something that I couldn¡¯t quite catch. ¡°This guy says he can talk to spirits.¡± ¡°Dead people or alcohol?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Gah!¡± Lizz then threw another shoe at him, now letting me see that she picked both this one and the previous one up from right next to the door we entered through. ¡°Spirits of the mountain you dolt!¡± Hugh then decides to point at me rather than Cathy and continues. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to do that for years! Like hell those stupid rocks would suddenly choose someone like him!¡± ¡®Ah. Now he really reminds me of you Lizz.¡¯ ¡°Like I said! He says that he can talk to them, only way to find out for real is to take him there!¡± *creak* ¡°You guys might wanna stop shouting, you can be heard clear as day below.¡± *creak* Rico had suddenly opened the door and poked in his head while telling both Hugh and Cathy to be more moderate with their volume and then leaving. ¡°Ah...¡± ¡°Erm¡­¡± ¡°¡±...¡±¡± ¡°So¡­ What are we going to do, oh great guild master?¡± Asks Cathy, the second half of her question drenched in sarcasm. ¡°Well, like you said the only way to find out if he¡¯s telling the truth or not is to bring him to them, you alright with that little guy?¡± Wait what? Sorry, with how you guys were shouting at each other I stopped paying attention. *sigh* ¡°Fair enough, we decided that the only way to find out if you really can talk to spirits is to bring you to them. Oh. Okay, sure, but when? ¡°Well as soon as possible preferably, however I¡¯ll be busy the day after tomorrow so either today, tomorrow or after the day after tomorrow.¡± Says Hugh.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°What about you Cathy, any days you¡¯re unable to come along?¡± Well since rico seems to have taken over in the booth I¡¯m available today, but tomorrow I¡¯ll most likely have to take over Rico¡¯s shift to make up for it.¡± ¡°So that means either today or in three days, what about you then Plush, anything keeping us from going right now?¡± Can¡¯t say there is, I was thinking of maybe sightseeing a bit in the town since I¡¯ve been here for¡­ about five days I think? But that can wait until tomorrow. ¡°Alright, though we will need to gather our things first. Let¡¯s meet in the storage room once we¡¯re done.¡± Says Hugh Storage room? ¡°The place where we pushed the bookshelf in front of rico¡¯s booth.¡± Explains Cathy. Okay, see you guys there then. I exit the room, the door making a *creak* like when we entered, and make my way to the storage room. Once I get there I simply sit down in one of the corners and start practicing Solidification again. Remembering how much easier it was to make the small orange glow stick to my palm when I first used it rather than when I tried to make a detached pole I tried to cover my entire hand in it. Turns out, it really is a lot easier to do it this way, I now had an orange glow on my hands which extended outwards at my claws, practically doubling the length of my claws, as well as actually being sharp unlike when I tried to make a sharp point on the water bat I used against the goblins. In fact it left scratch marks on the walls when I applied a very small amount of force. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡®Fuck.¡¯ Erm.. an upgrade to Hunting Claws? I try to bullshit my way out of Cathy¡¯s question when she arrives before I can dispel Solidification. ¡°Oh? Longer range is it¡­ That does sound goo-¡± ¡°I am here! Let¡¯s go!¡± However before Cathy can finish Hugh bursts through the door while yelling excitedly. Alright. I get up and walk towards the door, now seeing the getup that each of them has. Hugh is wearing a large metal gauntlet on his left arm going all the way up to his shoulder and a broadsword on his waist. Attached to the gauntlet is a very small shield, no wider than the rest of the gauntlet, however it looks to be made of a different material than the rest of the gauntlet. Cathy on the other hand was wearing leather shoulder bags, one on each side, making the straps of the bags form an ¡®X¡¯ over her torso as well as a belt around her waist with a multitude of small leather pouches on it. One of the straps covering her torso had multiple cylindrical objects stuck to it, making it look almost like those machine gun ammo things, however what would¡¯ve been bullets were much longer and they were each a different color, and they don¡¯t actually seem to be attached to the strap in any way, they look more like they¡¯re attached by magnets or something. As we exit through the guild¡¯s front door both me and Cathy walk underneath it while I can see Hugh grinning from ear to ear. ¡®Guess that¡¯s why he doesn¡¯t want to get new doors.¡¯ We then proceed to walk along the same main road that leads towards the inn, and due to Hugh being with us I don¡¯t have to worry about being stepped on, everyone else just sorta avoids him, and in turn us since we¡¯re next to him. *tap* *tap* I can understand how Hugh fights with him wearing a sword, gauntlet and shield, but what about you? ¡°I use magic.¡± She says and taps one of her claws on the sticks stuck to her bags strap. How? I don¡¯t know a whole lot about it. ¡°Well it¡¯s hard to explain, but the easiest way of explaining it is that I channel the same type of energy as we use to use skills into the wand and then magic happens.¡± You channel the same energy into it? Is it any different from a normal skill then? Would anyone be able to use magic if they had a wand? And why do you have so many then? ¡°Slow down a bit, yes, it¡¯s different from normal skills, the only skill needed to use magic is a skill that lets you control the energy, there¡¯s lots of those so it¡¯s fairly common, and as long as you have on of those skills you can use a wand. The reason I have so many is that they¡¯re each attuned to a different spell, technically you can use any spell with any wand, however it becomes much easier to use it with a wand meant for that spell, I have more at the guild but these are my favorites.¡± Huh¡­ What¡¯s in the pouches? ¡°These.¡± She then opens some of the pouches on her belt, letting me see small jelly cubes in them, differently colored for each pouch. These are? For a moment she seems very surprised by my question, however she soon recovers. ¡°Right, you only came to a city a few days ago, o wonder you don¡¯t know. Well, you might have seen small glass vials of brightly colored liquid, right?¡± ¡®Now that she mentions it, I do remember seeing some of those in the shop run by that lizard guy.¡¯ Yeah? ¡°Well those are potions, they¡¯re made by alchemists and can help you recover from injuries, restore energy, or temporarily make you stronger.¡± She then looks for me, seemingly wondering whether I understood. Alright. ¡°Well not too long ago some adventurer decided that they were tired of how fragile the glass bottles were and started experimenting and trying to make it better. Eventually he got tired of failure after failure when he was using normal means and instead decided to try something new and different, he threw a slime core into a cauldron of healing potion, and out came a red slime made entirely of said potion.¡± But don¡¯t slimes just turn back to liquid after you remove the core from it? I don¡¯t see any cores inside those small cubes. ¡°Normal slimes do turn back to liquid, and so did this new red one as well, so the man then tried grinding the core to dust and mixing it with the potion while it was being brewed rather than afterwards, this time a slime didn¡¯t jump out of his cauldron, but instead the liquid became like these cubes and had to be dug out of the cauldron using a shovel.¡± Okay, sounds useful, is that why slime cores give so much of a bigger rewards than goblin ears? ¡°Yup. But there¡¯s also the fact that slimes are just so much stronger than goblins.¡± Well what do each of them do? "This red one makes the body heal faster, the blue one restore energy, the yellow one makes your skin hard as leather armor, letting you withsandblows easier, and this green one makes your muscles stronger, making you hit harder as well as move faster." And the purple one? "These?" She says as she eats one of the purple jellies. "These taste good." Chapter 23 - What. Once we get to the forest we stop walking next to each other and instead have Hugh walk in front of me and Cathy since he¡¯s the only one who know the way. By the way Cathy, I¡¯ve only met one spirit before and he didn¡¯t really tell me a lot about the way they live, well, other than that they don¡¯t like flesh that is, but do they like, do they live in villages or¡­? ¡°I dunno, I¡¯m not the one who tries to go visit them every week. Hey Hugh, what does the place the spirits live in look like?¡± ¡°Well the entrance is in the side of a mountain so I¡¯m pretty sure they live in a cave, but it could also just be a tunnel leading somewhere else.¡± ¡°You¡¯re pretty sure? What do you mean by pretty sure!?¡± ¡°Well I¡¯ve never actually gotten to their town, I¡¯m always forced to leave at the entrance if I don¡¯t want them to splatter me.¡± How can they even splatter someone like Hugh? The one I saw was only slightly taller than me. ¡°Well they come in different sizes, some of them are us-sized while some are as large as a cottage, and from what little we¡¯ve been able to see the different sizes seem to have different jobs in whatever community they might have, whenever we see ones of the same size they¡¯re always doing the same things, yet we¡¯ve never seen any other size do those things.¡± What kinds of things? ¡°We don¡¯t actually know why they do it, but the small ones seem to crush any large flowers they see, some of the mediums ram themselves into trees, and the large ones we have no idea what the hell they¡¯re even doing, no one ever sticks around long enough after they see one of them to find out what they do before running away.¡± All this talk about the spirits reminded me of something. ¡®Hey Lizz, when I first told you that I had met a spirit of the mountains you immediately wanted me to take you to them, why would you want that if they would try to kill you immediately?¡¯ ¡®Fair enough.¡¯ After that we were all mostly quiet until we reached a clearing next to one of the mountains, and on the side of that mountain was a large opening, however we couldn¡¯t see very far into the opening due to it being covered in vines. ¡°Alright little guy, it¡¯s your turn from here on out, go talk to that guy in front of the entrance and prove to use you really can, we¡¯ll be staying here and watch.¡± I look in front of the large cave entrance and see that there was indeed a boulder hidden in a spot of tall grass Okay. I then walk out of the bushes we were hiding in and approach the boulder, now feeling somewhat worried since I now know what these guys can do to people. The closer I get to the boulder the more familiar it looks, until eventually. ¡®Charlton?!¡¯ I realize why it looks so familiar and start running the last bit. *Rumble? Rumble?* ¡®It¡¯s me, you met me less than two weeks ago Charlton, and what do you mean by father?¡¯ *Rumble, rumble. Rumble.* ¡®Oh¡­ okay¡­ Don¡¯t get me wrong Charlie, it¡¯s nice to meet you and all but I was really hoping to meet Charlton again.¡¯The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. *Rumble.* ¡®Really? That would be great! But are you sure? I mean, how do you know I¡¯m not lying?¡¯ Rumble, rumble.* ¡®Okay, just hang on a bit¡¯ And just as I turn around to return to Cathy and Hugh I turn again, making a full circle, and ask: ¡®Oh yeah, how can you guys even hear what I¡¯m saying?¡¯ *rumble* *rumble* ¡®Oh, that explains it.¡¯ (AN: Y¡¯all better believe I¡¯m not going to explain that properly.) I then turn around, again, and walk back to the bush. Well? Believe me yet? ¡°Ah¡­ Ah¡­ Yeah¡­¡± Hugh doesn¡¯t quite seem to know what to say, while Cathy seems mostly uninterested. ¡®Guess she actually believed me already.¡¯ Also it turns out that this fellow is the daughter of the guy I met before, I was actually invited in, though I don¡¯t think it would be a good idea for you two to come along. Her name was Charlie by the way. ¡°Yeah¡­ Sure¡­ We¡¯ll head back to the guild, we¡¯ll¡­ *sigh*... We¡¯ll see you later¡­¡± Hugh then turns around and starts walking away while looking heartbroken, and Cathy follows along, but before she does that she gives me a handful of blue jellies. ¡°Take these, for safety''s sake.¡± Can I even use them if I don¡¯t have a mouth? ¡°Just channel energy into them and they¡¯ll return to liquid, if the liquid seeps into you it should still work.¡± I pick one of the jellies up with my other hand and channel energy into it, as though I was trying to use Phasing on it, and it turns into a blue liquid that looks like soda. Also of note is that it¡¯s the very same blue color on the jellies as the books pages. When the liquid starts going through my textile skin I start feeling a lot less tired, not less tired like I can use Phasing or other skills more, but just less tired in general. ¡®Maybe that has to do with what Hannah said about me being made entirely of energy veins.¡¯ I nod towards Cathy and she nods back, I then walk back to Charlie. *rumble rumble* I do as she says and follow her into the cave, all the while she¡¯s making rhythmic *thumping* sounds by walking. After a fair number of twists, turns, and inclines we come across a large room with a hole in it and large mounds of dirt all around. The hole in the wall is roughly the size of me, for whatever reason. Charlie tells me to stand still for a while as she walks right next to one of the mounds and... <¡®What the fuck!¡¯> Both me and Lizz think in surprise as Charlie starts falling apart into a pile of dirt, and out from the pile climbs a small creature. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡± Still not having recovered I start walking after her on auto pilot. Charlie looked kind of like a small human, same size as me, but her hands and feet were covered in brown fur which reached up to her elbows, though I can¡¯t see how far the fur on her legs go due to her clothes, her feet had two large claws, both facing forwards, and her hands had three equally sized claws, with one each facing the opposite direction of the other two, making them look like thumbs. She wore simple brown baggy pants which reached to her feet and a tank top made of the old cloth that you would expect of a medieval time period. Her hair went all the way down to her knees behind her back, it was the same color as her fur, and she had metal bands in her hair that tied it all together into a long stream, making sure that it doesn¡¯t go to her front side and get in the way of her eyes. She had armadillo looking ears as well as beige scales going down from her forehead like a triangle and ending at the tip of her nose, she also had a few scales right below her eyes. We walk through the hole in the wall, the hole continues as a very small tunnel which goes about twice as far as the other cave, even though this smaller tunnel had as many twists and turns as the previous one, this one always went downwards. Once we get through it we come into an incredibly large cavern, with loads of small square houses across the floor as far as the eyes can see, and the houses at the walls of the cavern having enough floors to go all the way up to the very distant roof. Speaking of the roof, it¡¯s filled the same glowing moss that I was collecting mushrooms from before, however this was glowing much brighter, bright enough to light up this entire place almost like we were outside. Currently we¡¯re standing on a large hill, the hill was large enough to put us in the middle of the giant cave, Charlie talks with another one of whatever kind she is, this one wearing metal armor and carrying a spear, and then returns to me. My mind then finally decides to restart again, and the first thing I think is: ¡®...Armadillo people¡­?¡¯ ¡°Well, I guess that¡¯s kind of correct¡­¡± She says while scratching the back of her head. ¡°But please don¡¯t call us that. It¡¯s rude.¡± ¡®Err¡­ Okay¡­¡¯ She then turns towards the giant underground city, stretches out her arms and proudly says: ¡°Welcome to our home! Now let¡¯s go find dad.¡± Her hair then becomes a beige color, they also turn more matte, making her hair look like her scales. She then runs towards the hill, jumps and crouches into a ball, her hair then covering her almost completely, and she rolls down the hill. ¡®Erm¡­ When in Rome¡­?¡¯ I run towards the hill and jump just like Charlie, however rather than use my non-existent natural scales to cover me I make my own by covering my entire body in a shell of solidified air and roll down after her. ''Let''s hope my Brainless skill makes it so I won''t get dizzy from this.'' Chapter 24 - Another reunion As I¡¯m rolling down the hill I start worrying about how to stop myself, what if I need to do something to keep myself from crashing into a wall? *CRASH* And turns out I was right, as when I reach the bottom of the hill I find myself embedded into a dirt wall. ¡°Hey! You alright!? We don¡¯t get a lot of visitors down here so I forgot you weren¡¯t one of us!¡± I release the solidification around me which in turn makes me smaller than the hole in the wall, letting me fall out of it. I get up, slightly shaken by the impact, and see Charlie bowing towards me. ¡®I¡¯m fine. I think.¡¯ I then turn around to look at the dirt wall, to see whether it looks expensive enough for them to be able to demand reimbursement, and see another one of Charlie¡¯s species on top of the wall, this one wearing robes and holding a fairly large wand. He¡¯s surrounded by blue light, which I¡¯ve now started associating with energy, and looking at where I crashed into the wall I can see the wall repairing itself, the hardened dirt inside the hole which was a result of me pushing it inwards when I crashed into it is flowing back out, making the wall very soft, almost like snow. Looking to my sides I see more robe wearing people standing further along the wall as well as loads of other¡­ people? ¡®Hey Charlie, what can I even call you guys?¡¯ ¡°Just call us Pickits¡± Well I could see loads of other pickits rolling into the wall just as we had done and climbing back out as the apparent wizards repaired it. ¡®That¡¯s odd, there was no one else at the top except for the guards so where are all of these coming from?¡¯ I look back up to the top of the hill and see that there are actually lots of holes in it and that there¡¯s a fairly constant stream of pickits rolling out of them. ¡®Oh. Charlie, should we get going? Frankly it doesn¡¯t look safe to stay here.¡¯ ¡°You¡¯re right. Follow me.¡± She then starts using her claws to climb up the wall of dirt and I follow by using Hunting Claws, once we¡¯re on the other side she stops with wide eyes and looks at me. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I forgot that you weren¡¯t one of us again!¡± She says as she closes her eyes and bows again. ¡®What?¡¯ She then stands up straight again, and looks at me with wide eyes, again. ¡°Wait, you¡¯re already here? How did you climb the wall with soft hands like those¡­?¡± I then hold out my hands and use Hunting Claws on them, making them look white and matte like bone. ¡®Speaking of doing things, how did you do that with your hair?¡¯ I look towards her hair which had by now turned back to the same glossy brown that it was before. ¡°Ehm, that was a skill called Hardening, it lets me harden my body like stone. I already know that the skill you used is called Hunting Claws, but how did you roll down the hill even?¡± ¡®That¡¯s a secret.¡¯ ¡°Okay¡­ Well let¡¯s get going!¡± After she says that we both start walking down the street we had entered. ¡®How many of you pickits are there even down here?¡¯ ¡°Each of our habits has a good few thousand.¡± ¡®Habits?¡¯ ¡°Err¡­ you guys call them countries?¡± ¡®Wait, does that means there''s more of these habits?¡¯ ¡°Yup, there¡¯s got loads.¡± ¡®Huh, that¡¯s gotta be a lot of pickits then, though I guess it makes sense, up top you guys are known as spirits of the mountains, not mountain.¡± ¡°Yeah we¡¯ve done a lot to keep up that reputation.¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡®Speaking of, is it true that you guys kill anything with flesh?¡¯ ¡°No, that¡¯s just a cover-up to help keep the rumors of ¡®spirits of the mountains¡¯ going, you see that big house over there?¡± I look towards where she¡¯s pointing and see that amidst the small pickit sized houses there¡¯s a couple of normal sized houses. ¡°Actually when we...Err¡­ ¡°Squash¡± people we actually pick them up inside the dirt we¡¯re controlling and take them down here, then they get asked whether they want to stay here and live an easier live than up-top, most agree but the few who don¡¯t are sent back outside and are bound by a magical contract to pretend that the person who got ¡°squashed¡± by us was a doppelganger and to not tell anyone about us.¡± ¡®But how do you guys make the ¡°squashing¡± seem realistic when you¡¯re just picking them up?¡¯ ¡°Oh that¡¯s done with illusions, but we¡¯re here now so let¡¯s enter.¡± As she says that we turn the corner and come across one of the human sized houses and Charlie opens the door, only to have only a small part of the door open, just large enough for pickit use. We enter the house and walk around few a couple of rooms, eventually coming across another pickit sized door, and entering that door we find ourselves inside of a pickit sized apartment. ¡°Since dads in charge of making sure the outsiders are contented with their conditions his house is inside theirs.¡± She then takes a deep breath and- ¡°DAD!!!¡± -shouts. ¡°I¡¯M COMING CHARLIE!¡± Could be heard from above, since pickits are only a third of the size of humans I guess they can have a three story apartment on just one human floor. Eventually another pickit comes rushing down the stairs while dressed in an old suit. ¡°Geez, what¡¯s so important that you need to shou-¡± He stops in his tracks and looks at me. ¡®Hello.¡¯ ¡°Hello.¡± We stare at each other for a while longer. ¡°Dad, why are you staring so much, you said you¡¯d already met Plush, right?¡± ¡°Ah, yes, I just wasn¡¯t expecting him to arrive so soon, it¡¯s only been a bit over a week since I told you about him.¡± ¡°Well he¡¯s here now, so I¡¯ll go get some tea ready and you two can talk.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± Charlie then walk off, presumably to the kitchen. ¡°Well then Plush, how¡¯ve you been?¡± Asks Charlton as we start walking to a different room. ¡®I¡¯ve been doing well, it¡¯s nice to see you again. Or is this technically the first time I see you?¡± *sigh* ¡°Plush I¡¯m sorry for tricking you like that before, us pickits have had this horrible past where we were used as free labor machines by humans before we went underground, so please understand that we can¡¯t show ourselves to anyone outside of this place.¡± At this point we both sit down on an L shaped couch next to a table. ¡®No that¡¯s alright, people are pricks so I understand. But I¡¯m still curious about why you guys are pretending to be boulders whenever you go outside, wouldn¡¯t it just be easier to not go outside at all?¡¯ ¡°No, us pickits love the outside as much as we love our homes, so we had to come up with some way of being able to be outside, and our ancestors figured the best option would be the one that made people stay away from us.¡± ¡®I guess that makes sense. But aside from that, Charlie said that you wanted to meet me again, has something happened?¡¯ ¡°Tea!¡± Both of us turn towards the doorway and see Charlie coming in with a tray with three cups on. ¡®I¡¯m sorry but I don¡¯t drink tea.¡¯ ¡°Really? Well more for me then, want me to get you something else?¡± ¡®No, I don¡¯t really drink anything actually, sort of don¡¯t have a mouth you see.¡¯ ¡°OH! Right! I¡¯m sorry!¡± She says as she bows again after having put down the tray on the table. ¡°You guys sound like you¡¯re discussing something important so I¡¯ll go up to my room.¡± She puts two of the cups back on the tray and picks it up. ¡°No, this involves you too, besides, even if you went to your room you would be eavesdropping through the floor and hearing us either way.¡± She puts the tray back down while looking embarrassed due to having been found out and sits next to Charlton. ¡°Plush, us pickits have lived underground for more than a thousand years by now, and I think that it is due time to find out whether we¡¯ve been forgotten enough to go back to the surface.¡± ¡®Okay, but how can I help with that?¡¯ ¡°We needed someone we can trust, and although I¡¯ve met a lot of people due to *cough* abducting *cough* them, I¡¯ve never met someone who has actually meant what they think when they speak, however you never speak anything dishonest, you always tell the truth, which is why I think we can trust you.¡± ¡®Okay, so you think I can be trusted, but I still don¡¯t know what I could do to help.¡¯ ¡°Due to believing that you can be trusted, as well as you having lived on the surface world, I, the leader of this city, humbly ask you to bring a group of us pickits to the top and let them see how the world outside of this mountain and forest has changed since we shied away from it.¡± ¡®Wait, leader? You¡¯re the leader of this city!?¡¯ ¡°Oh, I must have forgotten to mention it.¡± ¡°Uhm¡± Charlie stretches her hand upwards as though she¡¯s in class. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°What does this have to do with me¡­?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve always said you wanted to see the outside world, right?¡± Answers Charlton while smiling mildly. ¡°!¡± Her eyes widen yet again. ¡°I¡¯ll go pack my stuff!!!¡± She then runs up the stairs while squealing in glee. ¡®Are you sure about that? She¡¯s your daughter right?¡¯ ¡°As much as I want her to stay away from the topside and be down here where safety is guaranteed as a father, it¡¯s also a part of a father¡¯s duties to let his children grow up and do what they strive for.¡± As Charlton says that he takes a sip of his tea while closing his eyes calmly. Once he puts down his cup I decide to ask him, ¡®You said a handful, right? When will I be meeting the others?¡¯ ¡°Oh I¡¯ll make them gather at the gate and wait there for you and Charlie to get ready.¡± He then finishes his cup and hums a bit. ¡°Speaking of the rest, I need to go let them now to prepare themselves, just ask Charlie to lead you to the same tunnel you entered from when she¡¯s done upstairs.¡± He then carries the cup to the kitchen and proceeds to leave through the front door. ¡°I¡¯m ready! Huh? Where¡¯s dad?¡± A short while after Charlton left Charlie comes back down the stairs with two shoulder bags and a backpack. ¡®He went to let the others know that we¡¯ll be leaving soon, he told me to tell you that we could start heading towards the gate we entered through and await them there, say, do you need help with all of that?¡¯ ¡°Well I don¡¯t necessarily need it, but it would be appreciated.¡± I stretch out one of my arms and she gives me one of her shoulder bags, making us match since we¡¯re both wearing shoulder bags and a backpack (though mine¡¯s a book). Chapter 25 - More disturbances at the gate As we were walking back to the entrance of the town I realized how odd it felt to be walking inside of a city that fits my size again. ¡®Ow! Please don¡¯t scream so loudly inside my head!¡¯ ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡®She¡¯s, err, she¡¯s my familiar¡­¡¯ ¡°Oh, okay. But what was that outburst for?¡± ¡®Yeah, what was that for Lizz?¡¯ ¡®But why was it so delayed then?¡¯ ¡®So your brain turned off and it took this long to process everything that happened?¡¯ At this point I can hear giggling coming from Charlie. After a bit more bickering from me and Lizz we eventually reach the dirt wall and climb over it. ¡°Hey, we need to get back up.¡± Charlie says to one of the wizard pickits. The wizard nods and a part of the dirt wall we¡¯re standing on starts floating back up to guards we passed earlier. After we¡¯ve stayed up next to the entrance for a while another mound of dirt starts floating our way. When the dirt cloud arrives Charlton steps of off it with two other pickits. ¡°These are the other two that will be following along.¡± ¡®I thought you said a handful?¡¯ Charlton then raises his hand. ¡°We only have three fingers, so Charlie plus these two is a handful.¡± ¡®Oh, right. Well, should we get going?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s probably getting late outside, I wish you all luck.¡± Charlton then runs and rolls down the hill while us four start walking out the tunnel again. ¡®By the way, what are you guys¡¯ names? And in case we encounter monsters, how do all three of you fight?¡¯ Charlie is the first to answer. ¡°Well you know who I am already, and I fight by using earth magic, that¡¯s how I was able to disguise myself when I was outside guarding the entrance earlier.¡± ¡®So not everyone can go outside as rocks then? And speaking of before, did anyone else take over guard duty when you left?¡¯This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Yup, that¡¯s why I talked to the guard when we came here.¡± ¡®Just making sure, and you two then?¡¯ ¡°My name is Diifan Dar¡± Says one of the two, this one covered in full body plate mail and carrying a giant shield on his back. ¡°I take care of holding the frontlines while the others prepare magic or whatever they¡¯re using. This shield is real sturdy to, and the edges are sharp enough to use as a slashing weapon as well.¡± ¡®A large shield and sword in one? And I¡¯ll assume you have strength enough to wield it as well, which would need you to be really strong, especially if you do it while wearing all that armor.¡¯ ¡°Well actually I¡¯m using earth magic to make it all lighter. All pickits can use some earth magic, however each individual can use it at different strengths.¡± ¡®You¡¯re using it right now? But I don¡¯t see a wand?¡¯ Charlie then steps in. ¡°We pickits can use earth magic without needing a wand, but as a tradeoff we can¡¯t use any other magic, even if we have a wand attuned to those spells.¡± ¡®Okay, then how about you?¡¯ I look towards the other one who is wearing some dark green clothing. ¡°I¡¯m Baom Ann, I tend to either stay a distance away and shoot the enemies with arrows or I try and sneak up behind them.¡± ¡®Do you also use magic in some way?¡¯ ¡°No. I can use it, however throwing large boulders at people isn¡¯t very good for someone trying to stay hidden.¡± ¡®Alright, in that case, Charlie, Diifan, you might need these.¡¯ I then hand them a couple of blue jellies each. ¡®Eat these and they¡¯ll restore some energy.¡¯ ¡°Huh, that¡¯s useful, thanks Plush.¡± We then reach the end of the cave. ¡®You guys really sure about this? You¡¯ve never been outside without your disguises before, actually, have you even fought anyone with that shield or bow before?¡¯ ¡°Correction:¡± Says Charlie. ¡°Those two haven¡¯t been outside at all, neither with nor without their disguises. And don¡¯t worry about not having fought anything before, there¡¯re more than enough monsters underground to get a good bit of firsthand experience.¡± ¡®Good. Also it¡¯s starting to get late so we might want to hurry, how good are you lot at running?¡¯ ¡°We¡¯re not the best at running, however we have other ways of going fast, so go ahead and run, you won¡¯t lose us.¡± As she says that Baom starts running before I can even prepare myself. ¡°Last person there pays the troll toll!¡± ¡®Troll toll?¡¯ ¡°The entrance fee to the city, they do have one, right?¡± And as Charlie says that both she and Diifan start running, with me close in tow. We caught up with Baom due to him slowing down when he realized only I knew which way the city actually was, and now he¡¯s unable to create a lead again. After running for a bit we exit the forest, at this point all three of us are running side by side, neither of us capable of pulling ahead, however this is when all three of them jump and start rolling instead, and somehow going even faster than when they were running. Feeling too stingy to pay twenty copper out of my twenty four gold for the entrance fee I start using solidification to create stilts under my feet, making each of my steps longer, as well as channeling phasing into said stilts to make them go inside the ground and then letting go before I pull them out, making me shoot out and perform huge leaps with each step, and soon I¡¯ve both caught up AND passed with the three fur balls rolling towards the gate. ¡®Erm¡­ I didn¡¯t? It was just sort of a spur of the moment kind of thing.¡¯ <*Sigh*> Due to the giant leaps I¡¯m able to perform I reach the gate first and explain to the hectic guards that the three balls rolling this way while creating huge dust clouds aren¡¯t monsters. After a few seconds they all arrive, however- *SLAM* *SLAM * *SLAM* All three of them are unable to stop and simply crash into the walls next to the guard post to slow down. One by one they all fall out of the wall and walk over to me. First comes Diifan. ¡°I¡¯ve endured harder hits than that.¡± Then comes Charlie while holding her head. ¡°Ugh¡­ You didn¡¯t tell us we needed to stop ourselves!¡± And finally comes Baom. ¡°Why did I think there wasn¡¯t going to be a wall around the city¡­?¡± Charlie then uses earth magic to fix up the three holes in the wall and says. ¡°Well Baom? You may have gotten to the wall first but you certainly didn¡¯t get to the gate first, pay up.¡± ¡°What!? Just because I¡¯m an archer and can¡¯t take as hard hits as you!?¡± ¡°Well you¡¯re the one who suggested we did this in the first place.¡± ¡°Urgh¡­ Fine¡­, how much is it?¡± The familiar lizard man guard who was watching finally seems to snap back to reality. ¡°It¡­*cough* It is five copper a person, Plush goes for free since he''s got a guild card.¡± ¡°Okay, here you are.¡± Says Baom as he pulls out fifteen copper coins from a pouch that he had somewhere on his person. I then ask the guard: By the way, what¡¯s your name? I¡¯ve met you a lot but I never asked. ¡°I¡¯m Rupert Tillian, but call me Rupe.¡± He says while putting the coins Baom gave him into a different pouch. We wave to each other and part ways as me and the pickits walk inside the town. ¡®It¡¯s gotten kind of late so we should probably head to an inn, I know just the place.¡¯ Chapter 26 - Improving business It didn¡¯t take too long getting to the inn, now that we were four people they could actually see us when we were walking unlike when I was walking alone. *knock *knock* ¡°Coming! Who is i- Plush?¡± Anna. Evening. ¡°Did something happen? You don¡¯t usually come in through the front door.¡± I had some friends coming visiting from another country and they were looking for a good place to stay. ¡°Oh? Not only are you giving Hannah and outlet for her researching urges, but you¡¯re also giving us customers? My oh my¡­¡± ¡°Well miss? How much is it for the rooms?¡± Asks Diifan. ¡°Normally it would be five silver a night with extra for food, but considering you¡¯re all with Plush and also considering how all of you¡­ lack in volume so to speak, if you want to you can stay in Plush¡¯s room, free of charge, however you¡¯ll still have to pay extra for the food.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a pretty good deal, but how much extra for food are we talking?¡± Asks Baom ¡°Well that depends on what you want, we¡¯ve got the menu inside if you care to peruse it.¡± ¡°Alright, but what about beds if we¡¯re going to be sleeping in the same room?¡± Charlie asks. ¡°We will be providing an extra bed, though you will have to sleep two people in each bed.¡± ¡°Eh, you¡¯ve probly got needlessly large beds either way, it should be fine.¡± ¡°Plush, I have more chores I need to attend to, so could you show these guys to the room? Hanna and I will come by with the bed soon¡± Alright. ¡®Follow me you guys¡¯ ¡°Lead the way Plush.¡± All three of us then walk up the stairs and I lead the way to my room. ¡®You guys mind if I summon my familiar?¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m fine, I¡¯ve been wanting to see this familiar since back home. What about you guys?¡± ¡°Go for it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mind.¡± Lizz then flies out from the book, however it seems that even she knows it would be bad for them to see her coming directly out of the book, so instead she flies out from the pouch on the front, already fully formed rather than coming out as an energy ball. ¡°Phew! Finally!¡± ¡®I thought you liked it in there? With the comfy bed and all the food.¡¯ ¡°Well, yeah, but of course I¡¯ll want to get outside every so often!¡± All three of the pickits then look at her with sympathy. *knock* *knock* ¡®Could you guys tell her to come in?¡¯ ¡°Come in!¡± Shouts Lizz.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°We can¡¯t, we¡¯re carrying a bed!¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡®Oh.¡¯ ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Diifan goes and opens the door for them, Anna and Hannah then come in through the door while carrying a bed sideways, they then put it down on the other side of the room to the bed that¡¯s already there. ¡°Whew! There you guys go, I¡¯m going back to bed now Anna, night y¡¯all.¡± Says Hannah as she tiredly walks back out the door. ¡°And I¡¯ll be right back with some extra pillows, toodles.¡± Says Anna as she also exits the room. ¡®Well what do you guys want to do tomorrow then? If you want to find out information both Lizz and I would recommend joining the adventurers¡¯ guild.¡¯ Baum and Diifan then look towards Charlie. ¡°You¡¯re the chief¡¯s daughter so you¡¯re the boss.¡± ¡°What Diifan said.¡± ¡°Hm¡­ Well Plush, we don¡¯t know a whole lot about this place so if you recommend the guild then we¡¯ll try the guild, tomorrow that is.¡± *knock* *knock* *knock* ¡°Pillows!¡± This time Charlie goes and opens the door, she accepts the pillows from Anna while thanking her. ¡°Here you go, Diifan, Baom.¡± As she says that she throws a pillow at them each so that they all have one. ¡®Well while you guys decide where you¡¯re going to be sleeping I¡¯ll head to bed.¡¯ I think to them all as I lay myself under the blanket. *yawn* ¡°Me too...¡± Says Lizz tiredly as she lays on top of my head and we both fall asleep. ¡®¡­¡¯ ¡°...Ey!¡± ¡®¡­¡¯ ¡°Hey! Wake up!¡± ¡®...What?¡¯ I open my not-eyes and try to find someone to complain to about being woken up, only to find that I¡¯m no longer in my inn room, but rather I seem to be laying in a birds nest. A black and white bird¡¯s nest. ¡°Hey, get up already! Don¡¯t try to pretend you can¡¯t move, like hell an inanimate stuffed toy would be able to get here!¡± I sit up while scratching the back of my head and try to find where the voice is coming from. ¡°Ah! See!? I knew you could move! Now how did you get here!?¡± I look up at one of the sides of the bird''s nest and see a demi-human bird. ¡®Where the hell is this?¡¯ ¡°Don¡¯t try to play that trick on me! Like hell you would climb this mountain without knowing where you are!¡± She say while pointing one of her wings at me. The demi-bird has green feathers covering her entire body, except for her feet which are standard talons. Her legs are multi jointed, like those of a goat, and rather than arms she has wings, she¡¯s twice as tall as me, however compared to a human she¡¯s still fairly short, maybe one and a quarter meters. She¡¯s wearing a mask, well, I say mask it looks more like she just glued a very wide feather to her head. The stalk of the feather is going vertically across where her face is, with the barbs going out to the side and covering the rest of it, only letting the light of her glowing eyes get through it. ¡®Wait, you can hear me!?¡¯ ¡°Well duh, why wouldn¡¯t I be able to hear you?¡± ¡®Because I¡¯m mute?¡¯ ¡°Oh really? And how are you talking if you¡¯re mute?¡± ¡®I¡¯m not talking, I¡¯m thinking. I don¡¯t even have a mouth.¡¯ ¡°And I¡¯m supposed to believe you don¡¯t have a mouth under that mask of yours? Do you really think I¡¯m that stupid?¡± The demi-bird says, now looking at me with even more distrust than before. ¡®Not a mask, this is my face.¡¯ ¡°Oh really, know what? I¡¯m tired of this.¡± She says and runs up to me, puts her right talon on my face and lifts me into the air. She then starts dangling me while half shouting ¡°Why won¡¯t you come off?!¡±. She eventually drops me and falls to the floor panting. ¡°...Okay *pant* Fine *pant* It¡¯s your face *pant*¡± ¡®Thank god I can¡¯t feel pain, can¡¯t imagine it would be very pleasant to have a giant bird run up to you and try and rip your face off. Oh yeah, why did you run up to me? You¡¯re a bird, so wouldn¡¯t it have been faster for you to fly here?¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m sorry about trying to rip your face off.¡± She says, while turning her head away from me and ignoring my other question. ¡®...Don¡¯t tell me, you¡¯re afraid of heights?¡¯ ¡°!¡± She now gets up from the floor of the bird¡¯s nest and stares at me. ¡°How did you know!?¡± ¡®I used to have a friend who was afraid of heights as well, so I can usually tell.¡¯ ¡°Huh.¡± ¡®By the way, where is this place even? And why is everything black and white?¡¯ ¡°Ah!¡± She looks around and gasps in surprise. ¡®Did you not realize it?¡¯ ¡°...No¡­¡± She says while pouting ¡°I was too surprised by you appearing that I didn¡¯t even notice it¡­¡± ¡®Well do you have any idea why it¡¯s happening?¡¯ ¡°Not a clue.¡± ¡®Okay, well aside from that, where is this place?¡¯ ¡°The peak of a mountain?¡± ¡®Okay, I can see that, but do you know the name of the mountain?¡¯ ¡°And now how am I supposed to know that!? I haven¡¯t been able to leave this place since I was born due to my fear of heights!¡± ¡®Wait, if you¡¯ve lied up here all your live, how do you know so much? Well much may be a bit of a stretch¡­¡¯ ¡°Hey! That¡¯s rude! Also it¡¯s a secret, but I can tell you that it¡¯s not due to family visiting and telling me stuff, they left as soon as they could fly.¡± ¡®Then how are you getting enough food to eat even?¡¯ She then points towards a nearby cliff wall, on it there¡¯s a very large tree with a lot of very large and vibrantly colored fruits in it. ¡®Oh.¡¯ ¡°What¡¯s your name by the way?¡± ¡®I¡¯m Plush, you?¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m Shiona.¡± And then everything turns black. Chapter 27 - Intangible Influence ¡®Err, the way you say it makes me sound like a madman, but yes, essentially.¡¯ While the pickits were still sleeping I told Lizz about what I¡¯d seen. ¡°Can confirm.¡± Lizz and I look towards the other end of the end and see Charlie looking back towards us. ¡°It might take us a while to find the one you¡¯re looking for specifically, but next time we go home I¡¯ll talk to dad about it, it¡¯s the least we can do when you¡¯re helping us out, sides, you said we needed to do some quests before we can join the guild, right? Then we¡¯ll just run past home a little while we¡¯re out doing those.¡± ¡®...Really¡­ thank you¡­¡¯ ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± We get out of the bed and I look towards Baom and Diifan. ¡®Huh¡­¡¯ However rather than lay on opposite sides of the bed like me and Charlie, they were laying on the same side, hugging. ¡®I guess in some ways this place is more advanced than earth¡­¡¯ ¡®Err¡­ yeah¡­ By the way Charlie, when do you think those two are going to get up?¡¯ I try to change the subject. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be too long, any particular reason?¡± ¡®Usually there¡¯s a lot of people in the guild after midday so it tends to be hard to get anything done then. Especially for people of our stature. Also I needed to talk with some people who I grouped with yesterday.¡¯ ¡°Well if they too long we can just wake them up when we need to.¡± ¡®Alright, also you¡¯re acting very differently from when we first met, has something happened?¡¯ ¡°No not really, I guess I was just a bit too excited since it was the first time I got to talk with a different outsider than the ones living in our house.¡± *shuffle* *shuffle* ¡°Ah, they seem to be waking up.¡± Looking over to the other bed I could see that indeed they were, and after a short while they had both crawled out of bed. ¡°Well since we¡¯re all up, should we go to the guild?¡± ¡®Yup, let¡¯s go.¡¯ ¡°Wait, let me put on my armor first.¡± Says Diifan as he starts picking up his armor from underneath the bed. ¡®Actually, would it be possible for you guys to go on your own? I kind of have my own route to the guild that I tend to take but it¡¯s not really suited for anyone else.¡¯ ¡°It should be fine, this way we can explore a bit too, but it depends on how easy it actually is to get to the guild.¡± Answers Charlie.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡®Oh that¡¯s easy, just turn right when you exit the inn and then simply walk forwards along the main road, eventually you¡¯ll come across a giant plaza and in the center of the plaza is the guild.¡¯ ¡°Yeah that sounds simple enough, we¡¯ll see you there.¡± ¡®Later.¡¯ After I say that I climb out the window and scale the wall, all the while the pickits stare at me in surprise. Once I get on top of the roof a small blue strip of paper stretches out of my pouch.
Passive Skills Brainless -> Heartless -> Gutless -> Intangible Influence ->
¡®What¡¯s this?¡¯ As I think this the paper strip goes back into the pouch and a new one comes out.
Intangible Influence Due to being proficient enough in the Phasing skill to cover your entire body you have been given this ability. This ability allows the user to spread the influence of the Phasing skill to objects the user is in contact with. With practice the volume which can be turned intangible of other objects increases.
¡®Huh. I guess this was how I made the bottom of the solidified stilts phase into the ground, but then why did the book decide to wait until now with showin me?¡¯ ¡®Really? If so I¡¯m not even mad, that¡¯s impressive.¡¯ The book then starts vibrating softly, very reminiscent of a cat purring. ¡®Wait, hang on, I can use Phasing on my whole body it said? I¡¯ve never even tried that!¡¯ ¡®Yeah, maybe it is.¡¯ At this point we get to the alley I usually climb down in and I decide to try something out, I cover my entire body in the green light and simply jump down from the roof. *woosh* As I¡¯m falling I can hear the wind going past me and I see the ground quickly approaching and I prepare myself to have the Phasing skill slow me down, and then right as I hit the ground everything turns black. ¡®Lizz?¡¯ ¡®Did I black out?¡¯ ¡®Yeah, I guess that explains it.¡¯ I then cancel Phasing so that I go towards the surface, however only on one hand while I still keep it focused on the rest of my body and use it slow slow down my ascent, I don¡¯t know how deep I am but I wouldn¡¯t want to shoot out with enough speed to fly back to the roof. After only a second has passed I can feel air on my hand and then climb out of the ground since I now know where I am. ¡®Come to think of it, if I can slow myself down when I¡¯m Phasing into an object, and since when I hid the three coins in my foot I could move them around freely as long as I kept the area around them intangible, could I also control myself not just to stop, but also to go when I¡¯m phased into an object?¡¯ To try this out I simply phase my claw into the ground and will it to move forwards, and move forwards it does. *thud* Though maybe a bit too quickly¡­ Now knowing that this is possible I start experimenting a bit, I phase my entire body except for my head into the ground and start trying to move myself, and according to Lizz who had left the book in order to watch from another angle it looked incredibly unsettling to see my head sliding across the ground. I also tried a few other things as well, such as trying to swim by making my hands move less easily through the ground than the rest of my body and pushing them backwards, and this also worked, however it was much slower than when I moved by willing it. After a while I decide that I¡¯ve experimented enough. Enough with myself that is, I still need to try out one thing with Intangible Influence. I pick up a pebble that happened to be laying nearby, all the while having everything below my head submerged and moving my arms and legs as though I was in water out of habit. I cover the pebble with green light and drag it under the surface, it goes just as smoothly as moving my arms, and then I hold the hand that has the pebble palm up and let go. At first nothing happens, but after moving the hand downwards a bit a gap is created between the rock and my hand, making it so I¡¯m no longer in contact with it which makes it stop phasing. *woosh* The rock then shoots out of the ground, just as fast as the first time I launched myself by mistake, and reaching almost as high as the roofs. ¡®Wow, this could be a good weapon.¡¯ I then get back out the ground, Lizz flies into the book through the pouch and I walk through a few alleys, eventually coming out onto the main road and turning right to see the plaza right in front of me. Chapter 28 - How rewarding When I enter the guild Cathy immediately runs up to me. ¡°You¡¯re back! Come to Hugh¡¯s office, we need to talk immediately!¡± And proceeds to run up the stairs, however before I follow her I go up to the booth and see Grizz sitting there. ¡°You¡¯re not planning on taking a quest when the guild master wants to see you, are you?¡± No it¡¯s something else, I just wanted to tell whoever''s on booth duty that I have three friends from abroad coming over later today to join the guild. *sigh* ¡°People coming to join the guild means more work... Well thanks for giving me some time to prepare at least.¡± Isn¡¯t Cathy the one to take care new recruits and checking their abilities? ¡°No, that was just due to Rico being the one on booth duty at the time, as great of an office worker as he is, he doesn¡¯t know a thing about battles or combat related skills, he¡¯s the only one of us allowed to push new recruits onto someone else.¡± Oh. Well see you later then. ¡°Yeah.¡± Having finished with that I then walk up the stair and enter Hugh¡¯s office. ¡°Welcome back Plush.¡± This time Hugh is actually sitting at his desk and looking as professional as someone can look with a red mark in the shape of a shoe on their face. ¡®Cathy doesn¡¯t need magic as long as she has a shoe huh¡­¡¯ I think wryly Thanks. ¡°Now then, could you please tell us what you found in there?¡± I start feeling troubles by his request, so I do what most would do. I actually didn¡¯t get very far, after we entered the cave there was a cave in and I lost the spirit that I was following. However during the cave in I found another species which was living underground close to the spirits, in fact a group of them are actually on their way here to join the guild now, so if you still have any questions please ask them. I lie through my non-existent teeth and push the work onto someone else. ¡®At least this way I don¡¯t have to worry about accidentally revealing too much.¡¯ ¡°Well in that case I¡¯ll have to ask them after they join, I don¡¯t like being bothersome to people not a part of the guild.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re fine with being bothersome with anyone who is a part of it then?¡± ¡°Of course I am Cathy, and Plush, I really appreciate what you¡¯ve done Plush, depending on how much they know it could expand our knowledge about the spirits, really, thank you. In fact-¡± He then opens one of the desk¡¯s drawers and hands me something that was in it. ¡°-Have this as a reward, it wouldn¡¯t feel right not giving you something after you joined our little expedition. And Cathy, add a miscellaneous quest point to his license would you?¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± I look at the thing he gave me and see that it¡¯s a brown wooden bangle. This is? ¡°It¡¯s a new type of magic staff that someone created, it¡¯s much easier to carry around than normal staffs, however it can¡¯t be used for any other spell than the one it''s attuned to.¡± And the one it¡¯s attuned to is?Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Cathy you¡¯re the wizard so you explain.¡± ¡°Right, right. The spell attuned to this bangle is a secret for now, just channel energy into it like you did with the jelly to charge it up, once it¡¯s charged it will change color from normal wooden brown to a color representing the spell inside it.¡± Okay, I¡¯ll try. I try channeling energy into it like when I¡¯m trying to change the shape of a solidified object, and after a few seconds the bangle starts to turn less and less brown and more and more purple, eventually stopping at a purple a few shade brighter than myself. Is this right? ¡°Yup, now just focus on the bangle as though you were using a skill.¡± I¡¯m a bit surprised at how simple her explanations are considering how special she was making magic sound before, but I still try to follow her vague guidance and focus on the bright purple bangle in my hand. The bangle starts glowing a bit, but as far as I can tell nothing is happening. ¡°Was it a failure?¡± *clap* ¡°Nope! You seem to be using it right now, aren¡¯t you?¡± I stare at Cathy a in a bit of surprise until Hugh decides to explain. ¡°The bangle has a low class telepathy spell, we thought it would good for you to have in case you meet someone who can¡¯t read in the future. Also I don¡¯t like reading.¡± *knock* *knock* ¡°Come in.¡± ¡°Hey Hugh, have you seen Ca- There you are! I¡¯ve been ringing the bell for five minutes now!¡± ¡°What¡¯s the matter Grizz?¡± Asks Cathy. ¡°There¡¯s a new species here to join the guild so I need help.¡± ¡®Didn¡¯t you say anyone could accept new recruits?¡¯ Grizz stares at me for a bit but calms down when he sees the bangle in my hand. ¡°Yeah but you didn¡¯t tell me they were a new species, those need to be done directly by the paperwork girl.¡± ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t just call me the ¡®paperwork girl¡¯!¡± ¡°Yeah yeah, but come down already.¡± Grizz then exits and closes the door and Hugh says: ¡°Well we were just about done here either way, so get out of my office you two, I¡¯ve important business to attend to.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t sleep on the job.¡± We both exit the office and go back downstairs where I see some familiar faces. ¡°Hey guys¡± I say while playing with the bangle ¡°Heya Plush.¡± Answers Charlie. ¡°Oh, you guys must be the people Plush told us about!¡± ¡°He told you about us? What did he say?¡± Says Charlie with a hint of anxiety in her voice. ¡®Calm down Charlie, I only told them that I didn¡¯t know anything and that they should ask you guys instead, you¡¯re the chief''s daughter so just weave a story that you guys are comfortable with.¡¯ I make sure not to use the bangle this time to avoid Cathy hearing it. She then sighs in relief and looks at Cathy. ¡°Well? Are you the person who was going to inspect us?¡± ¡°Yup, just follow me.¡± ¡®I¡¯ll take a quick delivery quest in the meantime, i¡¯ll see you guys soon.¡¯ I say using the bangle and walk towards the booth to get the stool again. I try to put the bangle on my arm, however¡­ *thunk* It keeps falling off due to my arms being too thin. ¡®Maybe¡­¡¯ I step into one of the empty booths through its hatch when nobody''s watching me and use Phasing on the bangle to attach it to my neck. ¡®As long as I remember to use phasing on this whenever I phase myself this should be fine.¡¯ I then step back out through the hatch while dragging the stool with me and walk towards the quest board. ¡®Let¡¯s see¡­ Oh, there¡¯s one where I need to deliver to Rupe¡¯s shop, might as well since I wanted to go there either way.¡¯ I take the quest note and get it verified by Grizz before picking up the package in the storage room and heading off. Once I get to Rupe¡¯s shop I can see that the place is looking as dusty and unorganized as the last time I was here. I walk in through the door, a bell ringing when I open it, and walk up the desk that Rupe was sitting at. Seeing that Rupe is sleeping I take the package out of my storage a decimeter or so above the desk and with a loud *THUD* Rupe wakes up. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? With how angry you were at being torn away from the shop I wasn¡¯t expecting you to start sleeping on the job.¡± Rupe looks at me with surprise, which I really should be used to by now, until I tap at the bangle/necklace and he looks at me with an understanding look. ¡°Well this shop hardly gets any customers, it¡¯s too far away from where the adventurers hang out and I don¡¯t have anything anyone else would want.¡± He grabs the quest note I¡¯m holding out and signs it. ¡°That kind of gives me an idea, why not take it up with the guild then? The place is understaffed with only four workers so they¡¯d probably hire you if you asked, and maybe you could set up a shop around there?¡± *SLAM* ¡°That¡¯s brilliant!¡± He shouts as he picks me up and runs outside, he hangs a ¡°closed¡± sign on the door and locks it, he then runs full throttle towards the guild. While holding me. When we get to the guild he finally drops me to catch his breath and I walk up to the booth. ¡°There¡¯s a person who wants to work for the guild, is it possible to take him up to Hugh?¡± ¡°Work at the guild? Wait, you mean actually at the guild and not as an adventurer!?¡± ¡°Yup, long as I can set up his shop somewhere around here that is.¡± I look above me and see Rupe standing there. ¡°Well that depends on what kind of shop it is.¡± ¡°Well it¡¯s a-¡± ¡°Not with me, take it up with the guild master, Plush, you¡¯ve been there before so mind guiding him?¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, but first-¡± I hand him the quest note and he hands me five silver. ¡°Alright Rupe, follow me.¡± I say as I put the money in my pouch and walk towards the stairs. Chapter 29 - Adventure! (April fools!) Rupe and I knock on Hugh¡¯s door and enter his office. ¡°Hello Plush? Did you realize something about the spirits that you¡¯d forgotten about earlier!?¡± Hugh looks at me with sparkling eyes not befitting of a gruff old man. ¡°No, it¡¯s something else.¡± ¡°... Oh¡­¡± He leans back in his chair and looks both pissed off and horribly disappointed. ¡°This guy is looking for a job and I was thinking you guys may have an open positio-¡± *SLAM* ¡°WHAT!?¡± ¡°Erm, is it no good?¡± ¡°What are you talking about!? This is great! Come, have a seat.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be on my way then,¡± ¡°Nope! Since you¡¯re introducing this person you¡¯re staying for the interview!¡± I shrug my shoulders and go sit on one of the chairs, my head barely reaching above the table. ¡°Now then, why would you like to work here? And also what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°My name is Rupert Tillian, sir!¡± ¡°No need for the formality.¡± ¡°Ah, sorry, old habit from being in the guards corps.¡± Responds Rupe while scratching the back of his head. ¡°And the reason I want to work here is; I currently own a shop focused on selling things for adventurers, however due to it being so far away from any route adventurers take in their daily lives I get hardly any customers, and then Plush here thought that maybe if I worked here I could be allowed to set up my shop somewhere nearby.¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± Hugh starts thinking for himself while twirling his beard with his right hand while holding the other around his stomach. ¡°That¡­ Could actually be useful¡­ It would be another way for us to get more money so we can actually pay for more workers¡­¡± ¡°So then-¡± ¡°However! Like I said we don¡¯t have enough money to actually pay for workers, the central isn¡¯t sending us enough but we don¡¯t want to raise the price of submitting quests either, so at the beginning you will have to use the store room and one of the booths for your shop and you will only get salary out of the money you make from selling things, on the other hand depending on how well your shop does we may be able to hire workers to build an additional building attached to the guild for you to use, as well certain bonuses like not needing to pay as much to submit a quest among other things.¡± Hugh had been looking very professional during this talk and if I hadn¡¯t seen Lizz throw so many shoes at him I might¡¯ve even been able to take him seriously now. ¡°That¡¯s already more than I can ask you! Thank you very much!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, but if you really want to pay back the favour then make sure to earn us lots of money.¡± ¡°Yes! But, could I get some help moving all of my wares?¡± ¡°Since it seems mostly decided by now, can I leave? I want to go check up on those friends I said were joining the guild:¡± ¡°Sure, go ahead¡± I then hop down from the chair and exit the door while I hear Hugh and Rupe still talking, by now them seem to have moved on to the expected sales or something another. After I walk out of Hugh¡¯s office I walk back down the stairs and see pickits coming out of the door leading to the basement. ¡®Hey, did you guys just finish?¡¯ I ask them as the stop walking while Lizz goes towards the quest boards. ¡°Yup, and I¡¯ll tell you about our story later so don¡¯t say anything to anyone yet.¡± ¡®Alright.¡¯ At this time Cathy comes back with a handful of quest notes and gives them to Charlie. ¡°Since you guys are an adventuring party the number of provisional quests you need to do goes down to five of each type for a total of fifteen rather than the twenty seven you would¡¯ve had to do otherwise.¡± ¡°Adventuring party?¡± ¡°Oh, I never explained, did I? A group of adventurers can register as a party, this way they can accept quests together, however each quest only gives them half a completed quest on the license.¡± ¡°Interesting, is there anything else you¡¯ve forgotten to tell me as well?¡± ¡°Well if I knew that they wouldn¡¯t be forgotten, right?¡± ¡°*sigh* I guess¡­ By the way, is it possible for me to follow them or is there some rule against adventurers helping others to join?¡± ¡°No there¡¯s no such rule, being able to get others to do your work and gather connections is also a good skill to have as an adventurer, if someone can convince someone to help them with something it¡¯s still seen as partly being their feat since they were the ones who used either their powers or wits to get help, so whether you help them or not doesn¡¯t make much of a difference to the guild.¡± ¡°Plush, though it¡¯s good you¡¯re coming along since you needed to speak with father, please don¡¯t help us with the quests, we want to see how that goes by ourselves.¡± ¡°Fair enough, is there anything you guys need to go or can we go immediately?¡± ¡°We¡¯re all good to go, we were planning on doing the monster subjugations and resource gathering quests first.¡± ¡°In that case I might as well get some quests myself too so hang on a bit.¡± I then go to a booth and get a stool. ¡®How about some subjugation quests? Let¡¯s see¡­ slimes, goblins, kobolds, treants¡­ Wow there¡¯s a lot of different monsters¡­ for now how about getting used to ones I haven¡¯t fought yet? In that case, kobolds, hobgoblins and orcs? For every five I kill it counts as one quest completed, and looking at the others it¡¯s the same for them, except for treant, for them I still just need one, do you know why Lizz?¡¯ ¡®Huh, I guess that means the quests I got before where it was three for the slimes and goblins were just easier than normally. Huh, the orc one even says it''s a C rank, so I guess this will actually let me see how strong I really am. One silver and twenty copper per kobold, three silver per hobgoblin and five silver per orc doesn¡¯t look like a bad price either¡­ Alright, I¡¯ve decided.¡¯ I then grab the three notes and go to the booth where Rico is now sitting in the one next to Grizz. ¡°These three please.¡± ¡°Sir Plush, you do know that for subjugation and gathering quests you can actually simply come here with the gathered resources or proofs of subjugation without needing to actually take the quest note with you right?¡± I look towards the stairs that Cathy had disappeared into a while earlier. ¡°... No, a certain someone must¡¯ve forgotten to tell me¡­¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. *Sigh* ¡°Very well, at least you know now, do you want to take the quest notes with you either way? If not please put them back on the board.¡± ¡°Alright, later.¡± I walk back with the notes to the board and then put the stool back in the booth, after that I go to the pickits and tell them I¡¯m ready to depart. ¡°Alright, and all of these are in the mountains forest right? Then we¡¯ll go meet with dad after we¡¯re done with the quests, we already know where most of these can be found so it shouldn¡¯t take long.¡± We then walk out the town and into the forest, after walking there for a while we come across a group of goblins which the pickits take care of with minimal problems. ¡°That¡¯s one quest done, by the way, do you think we should split up Plush? I mean you have your own quests to take care of right?¡± ¡®Sure, let¡¯s meet back up at the cave we left through earlier.¡± The pickits then start walking again and I climb one of the nearby trees. ¡®Lizz, what are kobolds, orcs and hobgoblins?¡¯ ¡®Well now that you mention it¡­ but didn¡¯t you call the high goblins before?¡¯ ¡®Orcs and kobolds then?¡¯ ¡®But¡­ What¡¯s the difference between them and demi-humans? Why do these guys get hunted like goblins while there are other demi-wolves and pigs in the city?¡¯ ¡®Well, where could I find them then?¡¯ ¡®Well in that case I guess I¡¯ll start looking for kobolds and orcs first, and maybe I¡¯ll encounter some hobgoblins on the way there.¡¯ I look around and see that there are several meadows around, and I start making my way towards the nearest one. When I get there I see a lot of goblins sitting on boulders and eating¡­ ¡®Are those cats!?¡¯ ¡®Not any kind of monster, but just normal cats!?¡¯ ¡®What the fuck! How the hell did these weaklings even catch these guys?!¡¯ ¡®They drugged them!? Like hell I¡¯m letting any of the fucks leave!¡¯ Too angry to react to her teasing I simply cover my arms with solidified air, doubling my reach while also being very sharp, and get ready to start scattering red paint across the grass. As I walk out of the bushes and into the meadow I can see a group of six larger goblins sitting in a small circle away from the others. ¡®Are those the hobs?¡¯ I phase my feet into the ground and make myself move towards with great speed, once I get there all six of them have put down the meat they were eating and started running towards me. Remembering what had happened in the cave I simply hold my arms outwards, and just like with the goblin back then¡­ *shunk* *shunk* Two of the hobgoblins simply run straight at me and pierce themselves with my claws, however due to them being taller than normal goblins it doesn¡¯t pierce their hearts and they start swiping at me. ¡®These guys really don¡¯t seem smart enough to have been able to come up with the idea of drugging the cats.¡¯ I use phasing on my body, making the hobgoblins swipes go through me without causing any damage. I keep phasing active while making sure that the claws are still solid yet not falling off of me, and start slashing away at the rest of the hobgoblins, the two who pierced themselves already laying on the ground and dying of blood loss due to not having my claws in them to plug the giant holes anymore. Two other hobgoblins lose their legs, they then lay on the ground like the first two, however these guys are still swiping at me, seemingly not feeling any pain. While I¡¯m slashing at the last two the ones on the ground start slowing down, seemingly finally passing out from blood loss. I make another hobgoblins head come off, however since I slashed at his neck rather than bash his head it didn¡¯t fly very far, and the last one I simply stab where the heart should be, making him fall to the ground within a few short moments. After the six hobgoblins have died I look around to see all of the normal goblins running at me while screeching at raising their arms. I slash and swipe at the goblins, some of the head fall off, some of their bodies get cut in two, some of them get gutted and have their innards droop out, however I can¡¯t think of these guys as anything other than wild animals at this point and don¡¯t get phased by it. Some of the goblins get close and swipe at me and try to bite me, however due to constantly covering my body in phasing they don¡¯t touch me. Eventually I cover my legs with solidification as well and start performing roundhouse kicks, stretching my ankles straight and making the solidified claws go outwards, hitting more goblins. However the goblins never seem to end while I¡¯m starting to grow tired. I let go of the solidification on one of my arms to make it easier to use, and take out a few blue jellies from the pouch, after letting them seep into myself I make a new set of claws and resume fighting. There are so many goblin corpses now that it¡¯s getting hard for more goblins to get close, yet they still refuse to give up, so I launch myself a small distance away from the corpses and the stream of goblins speed up again. While I was in the air after I launched myself I could see that there weren¡¯t actually that many goblins left, while also seeing that there were several more hobgoblin corpses mixed in with all the goblin ones. Finally feeling like I was close to being done I try to cover the rest of my body in solidification as well and create spike, however I¡¯m still unable to make the solidified spikes properly sharp if they cover something that isn¡¯t already sharp, however luckily enough it¡¯s still sharp enough for the weak bodies of goblins, and soon enough there is no longer anyone trying to attack me. I go to a spot of grass that¡¯s lacking goblin blood and lay down, resting. <...> Lizz doesn¡¯t know what to say, and frankly neither do I, so we both just stay quiet for a while and try to gather ourselves. ¡®What do you mean¡­?¡¯ ¡®No, I didn¡¯t notice at all, after I saw them eating an animal I used to have as a pet, and you telling me they killed them by drugging them I just sort of¡­ I don¡¯t even know what I did¡­ Or how I did it, I just didn¡¯t feel right with leaving after I saw what they did¡­¡¯ ¡®Well¡­ If I had to guess, when I was younger, maybe three or so, my family got ourselves a pet cat, and later on when I became six and started school, well, I was kind of a loner. I didn¡¯t choose to be a loner, I just wasn¡¯t a fun kid to hang around¡­ To be honest, if I met a kid that acts the way I did when I was younger I would probably punch hem in the face¡­ But either way, when no one wanted to hang out with me and I didn¡¯t have any friends in school, it felt like that cat was my only friend¡­ However one day the cat went outside and didn¡¯t come back. My dad heard from one of the neighbors that they had felt like they hit something with their¡­ Err¡­ ¡°Wagon¡±, yet when they looked back there was nothing there. Both me and my dad think the cat must¡¯ve been hit and then ran off somewhere in the forest before it died¡­ I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if you think that this till doesn¡¯t sound like enough to do what I did, frankly even I can hardly take myself seriously right now, but when I saw them do what they did¡­ It felt like watching them eat a childhood friend...¡¯ <...> Lizz seemed to not know what to say again, and I could feel the book on my back shaking every so often, almost like it was crying. ¡®...Well, enough about that.¡¯ I think as I sit up ¡®Now I need to get all the ears from these guys¡­ This is going to be a pain¡­¡¯ Suddenly blue hands start appearing from behind me, grabbing every goblin corpse nearby and pulling it back inside. ¡®Huh, guess you go a plan then eh? Suppose I can always trust you when things get annoying¡­¡¯ I stand up and start walking towards the corpses that were too far away for the blue hands to reach them. After a few minutes the meadow is empty and looks like the battle never happened, well, except for the fact that all the grass was now red that is. The book then opens on my back and I can feel it spewing something out, after a minute or so it stops and closes again, letting me turn around to see that all the corpses that it had stored had been spewed back out, only thing was that they were all missing their right ears. *fwoosh* A small blue piece of paper comes out of the pouch attached to the book.
Storage ¡è 634 Goblin ears ¡è 57 Hobgoblin ears ¡è 3 High goblin ears
¡®Wow, that really is a lot¡­ You know what? I think I¡¯ll take the orcs and kobolds some other time, thank god I didn¡¯t actually officially accept the quests this time.¡¯ I then climb a tree again and look for the entrance to the pickit cavern, once I find it I start making my way over there. ¡®Huh, guess they¡¯re not here yet¡­¡¯ Lizz the flies out of the book. ¡®Know what? I think I¡¯ll take you up on that offer¡­¡¯ I then lay down on the ground where Charlie used to stay guard, there wasn¡¯t anyone there right now so the place was open. As I lay down on the grass I can feel my consciousness fading, and eventually everything turns black. Chapter 30 - Back to the mountain ¡°Oh? You¡¯re back, I was surprised when you left so suddenly before.¡± When the world stops being black I find myself back inside the bird¡¯s nest, I grab at my neck and find that the bangle is no longer there, worrying me intensely until I remember I don¡¯t need it to talk to her. Now being a bit calmer that the last time I was here I look at my torso and see that the book¡¯s straps are also gone, I must¡¯ve just not noticed it last time. ¡®Hello again Shiona.¡¯ ¡°You actually remembered my name, I¡¯m flattered.¡± The light which was glowing from her eyes and through her mask become thinner, turning from large folium shapes to crescent ones. ¡°And you were¡­ Plush, right?¡± She says as she claps her wings together. ¡®Yup, but call me Leo.¡¯ ¡®Leo? No, that can¡¯t be right¡­¡¯ It would seem that just like how she¡¯s able to hear my thoughts I¡¯m able to hear her¡¯s. ¡®Can¡¯t be what?¡¯ ¡°!¡± ¡®Can he hear me?¡¯ ¡®Yeah I can hear you, you¡¯re being very loud you know.¡¯ ¡®... Realy?¡¯ ¡®Really. Same way you¡¯re able to hear me, or do you still not believe that?¡¯ ¡°Are you still angry about that?¡± I could just tell her that I am who she thinks I am, but this is revenge for last time. ¡®It¡¯s not every day a rabid demi-bird tries to claw your face off. Now mind explaining what it is that ¡°can¡¯t be¡±? And not really a great idea to try and lie when I can hear everything you think.¡¯ *sigh* ¡°I used to know this one guy¡­ His name was the same as yours so I was just taken aback a bit.¡± ¡®Used to know him? With a reaction like yours it must¡¯ve been a bit more than that.¡¯ ¡°Never in my life did I expect to be interrogated by a stuffed¡­ Whatever you¡¯re supposed to be.¡± *sigh* ¡°But fine, you¡¯re the first company i¡¯ve had in two years so at least it¡¯ll work like a distraction.¡± She walks out of the bird¡¯s nest and sits down at the tree with the multicolored fruits, and I do the same. She *sighs* yet again and starts talking. ¡°We¡­ We were a couple, and a damn close one at that, most people our age thought of relationships as just being¡­ maybe one month long or so, they never put any real feelings into them while they lasted, and didn¡¯t think to much about it when they ended either, but me and him, we were as close as could be, and if we hadn¡¯t been separated we would¡¯ve probably lived the rest of our lives together¡­¡± ¡®... If you had such strong feeling for each other, how did you get separated?¡¯ *sigh* ¡°Some of my family had died and I was going to fly down to them to visit, I didn¡¯t really want to go down there, but do you know what he said when I told him that?¡± ¡®No way this guy would know, why am I even asking?¡¯ It seems it might¡¯ve been a bit too much to think back on all of this for her, she is completely ignoring the barrier between her two lives and isn¡¯t trying to disguise it at all, I even feel kind of bad for her, so let¡¯s end this. ¡®Yeah, I remember it like it was just yesterday that I told you that if you didn¡¯t board that plane and attend your grandmother¡¯s funeral you were going to regret it for the rest of your life. Shame how that ended up going though...¡¯ After the first few words Shiona starts staring at me, the lense shaped lights showing through her mask had turned to wide circles and she was shaking. ¡°How are you here¡­¡± ¡®... Leo¡­¡¯ *drip* *drip* sounds can be heard from the ground below her.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡®I¡¯ll come get you soon, so don¡¯t leave alright?¡¯ And then everything turns black again, letting me realize that: ¡®Maybe I should¡¯ve actually used this time to try and find out where we were¡­¡¯
When the world regained its color I find myself laying down in a bed, and judging by the size of the bed I must be inside the pickit city. I sit up in the bed and feel at my neck and my back to make sure the book and bangle are on me again. When I touch the book a blue hand stretches out of the pouch carrying a blue jelly. I grab the blue jelly and use it, afterwards the hand seems satisfied and goes back into the pouch, only for a thin blue strip of paper to take its place.
Revenant Reconnaissance Due to having a ghostly disposition and an intense yearning for being in a place where you are not you have been given this ability. This ability lets you project yourself outside of your body while you¡¯re unconscious. The more practice you have with this skill the more connected with reality you will be while you¡¯re using this skill, letting you more easily do things while projecting yourself.
The paper then rushes back into the pouch as the door to the room opens with a *creak*. ¡°Ah, Plush, you¡¯ve awoken.¡± In the doorway stands Charlton while drinking tea. ¡®Yeah, what happened?¡¯ ¡°Charlie and the others found you laying on the ground outside the entrance, when Lizz saw Charlie she tried to wake you up, however it didn¡¯t work so they ended up carrying you here. I heard Charlie even forgot you were not a creature of blood in her panic when she saw you covered in it. You must¡¯ve used your abilities to much, I¡¯m not sure what happened to make you use them enough for this to happen, but try to tone it down in the future.¡± ¡®I¡¯m sorry for causing trouble.¡¯ I realize that I probably shouldn¡¯t tell him that I had been using an ability while I was sleeping as well. ¡°Nonsense, just by helping the three I sent out with you to get a place to stay inside an above ground city you¡¯ve already put us all in a debt that we¡¯d gladly repay. Speaking of repaying debts, Charlie and Lizz told me about the situation and I accept to help you, however there are many mountains and not enough pickits to search all of them, so you will need to tell us anything you know about the place you saw and then we can start working. So, did you see anything noteworthy?¡± ¡®Well, it all took place inside a giant bird¡¯s nest, and the person I¡¯m looking for is a demi-bird.¡¯ *scribble* *scribble* Without me noticing Charlton has pulled out a pen and notebook and started writing things down, catching a glimpse of the notebook I can see large numbers and simply equations. ¡°... The bird¡¯s nest removes a tenth of the mountains, and knowing that it¡¯s demi-birds specifically lowers it by a third, leaving about six tenths. Anything else?¡± ¡®Wait, you¡¯re ruling out mountains as we speak? Do you have all of them in your head or something?¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m not the leader of this city for nothing you know, but what color was the demi-bird?¡± ¡®She was green, though I can¡¯t say I know the exact hue.¡¯ ¡°Oh dear, green happens to be the most common color for demi-birds living in mountains so that only removes a handful, well it was worth a shot.¡± ¡®Oh! She said that all her family had already left two years ago, and she can¡¯t fly so there can¡¯t be much activity around there.¡¯ *scribble* *scribble* ¡°Is that all? I¡¯m sad to say that with this many still left it¡¯s going to take very long.¡± *smack* ¡®How could I forget!? There was also a giant tree next to the nest, even though almost everything in the vision lacked color I could still see that the fruits on the tree all had bright, vibrant, and completely different colors from one another!¡¯ *clap* ¡°Good! That definitely cuts down on the matches.¡± ¡®Really?¡¯ ¡°Yes, those trees are very special, in fact there¡¯s only a few dozen in the entire world, It won''t be long until we find her, and when we do we¡¯ll contact you immediately, here-¡± He hands me a small prismatic crystal. ¡°-This will start glowing, vibrating, AND generating sounds when we want to contact you, however you will still need to come here to actually speak with us.¡± ¡®By the way, where is Charlie¡¯s bunch?¡¯ ¡°After they dropped you off they went back outside, saying they wanted to hurry up and register fully so they could join you on your trip after we find which mountain the person you¡¯re looking for is on.¡± ¡®... Really, those guys¡­¡¯ ¡°I will be going down to the living room, feel free to rest here as long as you need.¡± Charlton then exits the door. I take out the crystal from the pouch and, after looking at it for a while, I phase it inside of my body, letting it lay inside of my torso. I get out of the bed and start finding myself down to the first floor. ¡®I wonder where Lizz is¡­ A blue arm appears from the pouch, when it opens its hand I can see Lizz laying on it while sleeping. ¡°Haaa¡­¡± The arm then pulls her back in, and judging by a lack of complaints it did so without waking her up. Eventually I find my way to the first floor, I tell Charlton that I¡¯m going back to town and ask him to tell the others when they return. Chapter 31 - Love blooms After a long walk/climb/run I come back to the adventurers¡¯ guild. ¡®By the way Lizz, do you have any idea if there¡¯s anything I can disguise the books storage skill?¡¯ ¡®But then if the pickits hear about it they¡¯ll know something''s up¡­¡¯ ¡®That¡­ Could work¡­¡¯ I then enter the door and see Cathy on booth duty. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m here to hand in some monster material for quests, however the amount is pretty large so I was wondering if I could do it where I handed in the stuff for the provisional quests?¡± ¡°Sure, but since it has to do with monster materials I¡¯ll call down Hugh instead, why don¡¯t you go down first then?¡± ¡°Sure, later.¡± ¡®Guess I didn¡¯t even have to worry about coming up with an excuse then, but I suppose it¡¯ll be good to have in the future.¡¯ I then walk down to the basement and open the book about the table, letting it spew out a large pile of goblin ears, I then move it a bit and it spews out another pile, thisone of hobgoblin ears, I then grab the three high goblin ears and keep them in my hand instead. ¡°Alright Plush, show me what¡¯cha go-¡± Hugh comes down the stairs but freezes when he sees the table. ¡°This¡­ is that other pile hobgoblin ears...?¡± Feeling a bit mischievous I then hold out the hand with the high goblin ears. He just sighs and covers his face with his hand He sighs again and sits down on the chair next to the table *Sigh* And again. He sighs a fourth time, then turns on the lamp above the tables and starts inspecting the large pile of goblin ears one by one while writing down some things on a piece of paper every so often. ¡°This is going to take a while so you might as well just come back tomorrow, also would it be possible for you not to take any more requests for a while? No way is the quest numbers going to fit on your card like this, the one we gave you was an extra cheap one since we needed to make it fast, come back tomorrow and you¡¯ll get your reward for all of these, come back another few days later and we''ll have you your new guild card.¡± I look at Hugh and see him using the same kind of loupe as Rico was using to inspect the plants I brought in before. ¡°Weren¡¯t you the one who said you didn¡¯t need a loupe before?¡± Hugh looks up from the pile and gives me the evil eye. ¡°That was when I didn¡¯t need to see as minute differences t¡äbetween the things as I need to do now.¡± ¡°How DO you see the difference between them? They all look the same to me.¡± *tap* *tap* ¡°This thing lets me see the energy veins of objects held close to it, hobgoblins have more energy veins throughout their bodies than normal ones.¡± ¡®That actually gives me an idea.¡¯ ¡°Well I¡¯ll see you later then.¡± He just *grunt*s in response and looks back to the pile. I walk back to the quartets¡¯ inn and look for Hannah, when I find her I ask: ¡°Hey Ha-¡± *Stumble* *Crash*If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Who the fuck!¡± Hannah seems to have been a bit to surprised by my sudden telepathy to have realized it was me, however when she turns around she releases a breath of relief while holding her hand in front of her chest. ¡°... Please¡­ Don¡¯t suddenly talk to me using a voice you¡¯ve never used before¡­¡± ¡°... I¡¯ll keep it in mind in the future¡­ But Hannah, I was wondering if you could bring that thing you used to see energy veins to the guild?¡± ¡°Sure, but why?¡± ¡°I kind of brought in a very large pile of goblin ears and the people working at the guild only have enough of those magic vein loupes for one person.¡± ¡°Well I suppose I could let them borrow it¡­ But only if I can stay there and keep track of it so they don¡¯t steal it!¡± ¡°I doubt they¡¯d steal it, but that¡¯s probably fine.¡± ¡°Then let me just go get it, you can go to the guild before me and I¡¯ll be there soon.¡± Having finished the conversation I then walk back to the guild. When I get there I see that it¡¯s unexpectedly empty even though it¡¯s already gotten dark outside, so I ask Cathy who¡¯s still in the booth what¡¯s going on. ¡°Well Hugh came back up for a moment to get something from his office, anyone who¡¯s been here for a while knows that they should avoid him at all costs when he looks the way he did now.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°And what? They all ran away when they saw him. Wouldn¡¯t recommend going down there for a bit.¡± We then hear the door open, but rather than Hannah who I was expecting the pickit trio comes in. ¡°Hey Plush, feeling any better?¡± ¡°Lots, thanks for letting me stay at your place and rest.¡± ¡°Dad probably already said this, but that¡¯s nonsense, if you ever need a place to stay feel free to hit us up.¡± ¡°Sure thing then, by the way, how far did you guys get on your quests?¡± ¡°We got three of the subjugation quests and four of the gathering quests, we also did two delivery quests on the way back to the guild.¡± ¡°Sounds like it¡¯s going well then.¡± The door then opens again, this time Hannah comes in while pulling a small cart behind her. ¡°Heya Plush, and you guys to! Now where were we supposed to bring this thing again?¡± ¡°Down in the basement.¡± ¡°Hey Plush, didn¡¯t you hear what I said earlier?¡± Asks Cathy. ¡°You guys really shouldn¡¯t go down there.¡± Hannah then looks to Cathy and whispers ¡°Adorable¡­¡± with gleaming eyes, causing Cathy to start blushing, though it can only been seen on her nose and the insides of her ears. Hannah then shakes her head and starts speaking. ¡°Actually I brought something that Plush thought might be able to help.¡± ¡°Really? Well¡­ Alright, you seem like a good person so sure, go ahead.¡± Says Cathy while still blushing slightly. We then walk down the stairs while being followed by both the pickits and Cathy. ¡°Cathy, are you sure you can come too?¡± ¡°Sure, I rang Rico¡¯s bell before I left.¡± When we get downstairs Hugh looks up at us, he¡¯s already managed to build up impressive dark circles even though he¡¯s only been doing this for about fifteen minutes. ¡°WHAT!?¡± He practically shouts at us. ¡°We brought something that might be able to help, Hannah.¡± Hannah then pulls the energy energy x-ray to the front of our group. ¡°This thing¡¯s basically a giant version of the thing you¡¯re holding next to your eye, Plush here thought it might let some other people help you with sorting all of these.¡± Hugh drops his loupe and stares at us in disbelief. ¡°Also one of my sisters made this when she heard we were going to help you work.¡± Hannah Then pulls out an incredibly large picnic basket, surely one cubic meter large, and opens it, revealing it¡¯s filled to the brim with foor. ¡°Cathy! Go get Grizz and the new guy! We¡¯re pulling an all-nighter!¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± Cathy bolts up the stairs and for whatever reason Hannah follows. ¡°Plush, I really appreciate you deciding to ask your friend to help us, however this sorting business is something only staff members are allowed to do, so scram.¡± ¡°Is that true o do you just not want to share your food with these three?¡± ¡°Probably both.¡± Says Charlie. ¡°Definitely both.¡± Says Grizz as he comes down the stairs with Rupe. ¡°Where¡¯d Cathy go?¡± Asks Hugh. ¡°The red haired chick whispered something to her and then they both went to her room, I¡¯d wager they ain¡¯t coming down until tomorrow.¡± Responds Grizz while Rupe smiles wryly at the way Grizz revealed such private information without a care. ¡°Oh well, more food for us. Ah, wait Plush! That red haired girl left before explaining how this thing works, any idea?¡± ¡®Do you have any idea Lizz?¡¯ <*yawn* I¡¯m pretty sure you push the lower button on the left of it to start it, and the upper button if you wanted it to put the image on those glass panels.> I explain what Lizz told me to Hugh, but before I leave- ¡°Hey Rupe, does your shop stock any of those blue energy jellies?¡± ¡°Hm? Yeah, but we haven¡¯t moved them here from the old place, you¡¯ll have to wait until tomorrow if you want them, you might as well come over when you pick up your reward.¡± ¡°Sure thing then, see you guys tomorrow.¡± The pickits and I then leave the guild and walk back to the inn and go to bed immediately, however before I go to sleep I take the crystal out of my torso while I¡¯m under the blanket and look at it for a while. Chapter 32 - Cutting edge travel I come back to the familiar birds nest and see Shiona sitting next to the tree still. ¡®When I said to stay put I didn¡¯t mean it quite this literally you know.¡¯ She looks up at me. ¡°Are you really¡­?¡± ¡®Yup.¡¯ ¡°How?¡± ¡®Well this and that happened. A lot of this and that actually.¡¯ One of the trees fruits then fall next to Shiona and she tries to pick it up. ¡®Let me help you with that, opposable thumbs and all¡¯ I say as I walk closer and pick up the fruit for her, however my hands simply go through it. ¡®Oops, guess I¡¯ve got to actually be here to do that,¡¯ ¡°What do you¡­?¡± ¡®I¡¯m only here in spirit right now, but trust me, I have some friends looking for this place as we speak, they said there were only a handful of these trees around the world so it shouldn¡¯t be that long.¡¯ She nods weakly, finally having succeeded in picking up the fruit and starts eating it, however her mask is still in the way of the rest of her face so I can only see her mouth and chin. Once she finishes the fruit she puts the mask back on fully and sits down again, I do the same. While we¡¯re sitting next to each other I look around to see if I can see anything important looking. While I¡¯m looking I see that we are indeed above the cloud tops. ¡°Three years¡­¡± Says Shiona. ¡°For three years have I been on this mountain¡­¡± I start inching my way closer and closer to her while she speaks. ¡°At first it was fine, I had some family to talk to, ways to entertain myself¡­ But then all of my siblings learned to fly and it became winter¡­ Everyone left when it got colder, leaving me alone¡­¡± At this point my right side is touching her left. ¡°I have been staying here alone ever since the first winter, although I could survive off of the fruits from the tree, I had prepared myself to die up here¡­¡± She lowers her head and hides it in her wings. I stand up and walk over to her, she opens up her wings and looks at me with a steady *drip* *drop* coming from the ground below her chin and I hug her. At this point the floodgates open completely and she hugs back. We stay like this for a while until I let go and look her in her eye-lights. ¡®In order for us to find you quicker I need you to tell me what this place looks like when I¡¯m not here, when it¡¯s not all black and white.¡¯ ¡°... The tree, you can already see the color of the fruit right?¡± ¡®Yeah, but the trunk and leaves look gray.¡¯ ¡°The leaves are normal green leaves, but the tree¡¯s bark looks the same color as copper, and the grass is deep blue.¡± ¡®Okay, and have you ever seen any other kinds of creature flying by around here?¡¯ ¡°When my mother and siblings were still here we would see things that looked like those flying towards go by here every few months, other than that there¡¯s been nothing.¡± ¡®That should be more than enough.¡¯ I then sit back down next to Shiona and put my hand on her shoulder.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°... Do you promise you¡¯ll be back?¡± ¡®Yeah. Definitely.¡¯ We then stay like that for a while until I wake up. I get out of my bed and see that the pickits have already prepared themselves to leave and continue their quests, I then ask them to tell Charlton the color of the grass, the tree, as well as about the flying lizards. ¡°Deep blue grass and a copper tree with multicolored fruits? Are you absolutely sure that¡¯s what she said?¡± ¡®Yeah, no doubt about it.¡¯ ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll tell him when we go by.¡± ¡®Thanks.¡¯ The three then leave through the door and I leave through the window and go to the guild. Once I reach the guild and enter I can see Hugh leaning on one of the walls with his arms crossed, rapidly tapping his foot on the floor. Once he sees me he dashes up to me and hands me a large pouch ¡°After a long night of work we finally confirmed the stuff, here¡¯s the reward, three gold and seventeen silver for the goblins as well as one hundred and twenty six completed F rank quests, for the hobgoblins you got one gold and seventy one silver as well as eleven D rank quests, for the three highbreed ears you got six gold and three B rank quests, total to ten gold and eighty eight silver. Also Rupe added a load of energy jellies as thanks for giving him the idea to come here for work, the rest of us also added some as thanks for the new sla-¡± *cough* ¡°worker.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure how to feel about this, on one hand I¡¯m surprised that each new goblin skipped an entire rank since the previous one, giving me a good amount of high ranked quest completions, but on the other hand, even after all the work I did I only gained slightly more money than I did from the reward for the nobles delivery, so I decide to ask. ¡°Are the hobgoblins and highbreed really strong enough to be of such a high ranking?¡± ¡°Not really, it¡¯s due to them always traveling in such large packs, a lone hob wouldn¡¯t stand much of a chance in a fight, however they¡¯re each followed by around ten normal goblins that can distract you, unless you¡¯re able to fight more than ten opponents at once without getting hit you¡¯re in for a long and grueling battle, the highbreeds are even worse, they don¡¯t have ten goblins, they have at least ten hobgoblins, and each of those hobs also have ten normal ones, though they may be weak on their own, when they form as large packs as these guys do it gets tough and they start deserving their ranking.¡± ¡°Is that why I only needed one highbreed ear for a quest rather than the normal five?¡± ¡°Yup, also those buggers are really rare, I¡¯m legitimately amazed, not by the fact that you killed them all, but by the fact you were able to find three in a day. Okay, I¡¯m also impressed that you killed them, but not as much. Oh yeah, when you do get your new license you¡¯ll have been promoted to B rank.¡± ¡°Alright, well thanks a bunch for being so thorough.¡± As I say this I start feeling a vibrating sensation in my chest. ¡°No worries, in exchange could you tell where the person who cooked the food yesterday lives?¡± Ignoring Hugh I frantically cover my torso with my hand and take out the crystal. ¡°The red hair from yesterday left before I could ask.¡± After I take out the crystal I can see it shining with a prismatic light, as well as hear it creating a sound like that of an ice skate going across ice. ¡®!¡¯ I take the emblem that Hannah gave me and toss it to Hugh, I then run as fast as I possibly can outside of the city, leaving behind Hugh who was too busy looking at the emblem to pay me any mind. When I get outside the town I create stilts again and keep running to the forest, once I¡¯m there I submerge my whole body except for my head into the ground and make myself flow towards the pickits cave faster than I could run, going through any trees, boulders, or monsters that were in my way. As I go past the disguised pickit sentry outside the cave I exit the ground and start running normally again, I hastily shout towards it with telepathy that I don¡¯t have time to stop. I keep launching myself by using phasing, when I¡¯m inside the cave, using full body phasing whenever I¡¯m about to hit a wall and using an energy jelly whenever I start to feel tired. I end up having to stop at the gates for a short while to not have any of the guards thinking I¡¯m someone suspicious who needs to be chased, however they quickly let me through. I *SLAM* open the door to Charlton¡¯s mini apartment. ¡®Did you find Shiona!?¡¯ From the door I can see Charlie, Baom, Diifan and Charlton sitting around the table in the living room, all of them staring at me in surprise. ¡°... You got here a lot quicker than expected.¡± Says Charlton. ¡®Never mind that, did you find her!?¡¯ I shout in my mind. ¡°Calm down Plush!¡± Shouts Charlie back. ¡°We¡¯ve not found the demi-bird herself, however we know which mountain she¡¯s on, remember how I said that there was only a small number of those multi-coloured fruit trees? Well not only are they a small number in general, however out of all of them only a single one has copper bark, as well as only one mountain with deep blue grass.¡± Says Charlton. ¡®And how far away is it?¡¯ ¡°It is a few countries away, however Charlie told me about how you were able to roll just like us when you first came here so you¡¯re allowed to use our transport system.¡± ¡®Transport system?¡¯ ¡°Charlie, could you show him?¡± ¡°Sure, come with us.¡± She answers and we leave the house. After having walked for a good while we come across a building much larger than even the human sized houses, and enter it. Inside I could see stone blocks, one by one by one meters in size, each standing at the end of a long round indentation that go down a long tunnel. ¡°This is it, come here.¡± The three of them then walk and roll up into balls in separate indentations, I follow them and make myself a solid air shell. ¡®How does this even work?¡¯ ¡°Oh you¡¯ll see, just don¡¯t do that weird thing that makes you go through stuff.¡± Answers Charlie with a very muffled voice. ¡®Wait you know abou-¡¯ ¡°NOW!¡± As she says that the stone walls suddenly move at an incredible speed and launches us all like pinballs. Chapter 33 - Walking on sunshine As we¡¯re rolling along the tracks, getting an extra push by more pickit wizards every so often along the way, I start wondering how the hell this became their main mode of transport, however I¡¯m not allowed to think about it for very long as the tracks suddenly start going downwards. Going completely vertical. And then the tracks disappear, letting us freefall. *splash* For half a second before we¡¯re embedded into some sort of jelly like substance. Releasing my shell and climbing out I see that we¡¯re in what looks like a very deep swimming pool, filled entirely with see-through jelly. ¡°This way!¡± Shouts Charlie from outside the pool, so I make my way towards her. ¡®How the hell is this your modernized traveling?¡¯ ¡°Because we just traveled past three large countries in a matter of minutes?¡± ¡®Oh.¡¯ ¡°Now come here, you probably don¡¯t need it, but we need some climbing gear if we want to get up the mountain.¡± ¡®Can¡¯t you just use your earth magic?¡¯ ¡°No, us pickits become worse and worse at magic the further away from the earth we get.¡± ¡®Fair enough.¡¯ All four of us walk we continue our small talk. ¡°So this person you¡¯re looking for, when you barged into our house you said her name was Shiona?¡± ¡®Yeah, Shiona Offerson.¡¯ ¡°Are you guys together?¡± ¡®Together as in?¡¯ When she hears me and Lizz she seems to think for a bit, before performing a certain gesture with her hands, involving putting your thumb and index fingers together on one hand and moving your other index finger through that circle, making both Baom and Diifan start blushing. ¡®...¡¯ <...> ¡°¡±...¡±¡± ¡°Well? Are you?¡± ¡®... Do I look like I even have one of those¡­?¡¯ ¡°Well you¡¯re always wearing that purple clothing so how am I supposed to see?¡± ¡®...¡¯ <...> ¡°Well?¡± By now she¡¯s looking at me with a wide smile, as though gloating about her victory in an argument. <... He¡¯s not wearing any clothes you know, the only thing he¡¯s wearing is his backpack and the bangle around his neck. Or does that count as a necklace now? Either way, this purple cloth is his body.>If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Wait¡­ I¡¯ve been sleeping next to a nudist all this time!?¡± She stares at me in shock. ¡°That just won¡¯t do! When we come back we¡¯re going shopping!¡± ¡®Come back? Me and Shiona are going to have to take a different way back than your transport system.¡¯ ¡°So? That doesn¡¯t mean you can¡¯t stop by here first!¡± *sigh* ¡®Fine.¡¯ At this point we arrive at a store and the pickits buy a bunch of black magic wands. ¡®Weren¡¯t you going to buy climbing equipment?¡¯ ¡°This is climbing equipment, they¡¯re charged with a very special spell, you¡¯ll see when we get to the mountain.¡± ¡®... Alright. Are we ready to go then?¡¯ ¡°Yup, follow me.¡± We then walk to the edge of the town and enter a tunnel leading upwards, eventually we reach the outside. ¡°There.¡± She points at a mountain. ¡°That¡¯s the one.¡± Looking at the mountain I can see that it goes above the clouds, and that in the caves and on the outcroppings along the mountain I can see blue grass. ¡®That looks very steep, are you sure you¡¯ll be fine?¡¯ The mountain looks to be a vertical cliff on every side, only thing not turning it into a completely vertical wall being the aforementioned caves and boulders sticking out. ¡°That¡¯s what the wands are for, though you won¡¯t need them.¡± ¡®Speaking of, how do you know about that ability?¡¯ ¡°We were walking through town and saw you jump off of a roof so we ran up to where you were, thinking you might¡¯ve hurt yourself, that¡¯s when we saw you swimming through the ground. You¡¯re not very good at keeping it hidden.¡± ¡®...Oh.¡¯ We arrive at the mountain cliff, the pickits take out the wands and start charging them with energy. ¡®Also didn¡¯t you say you guys can¡¯t use anything other than earth magic, even with wands?¡¯ ¡°This is for earth magic, albeit a very different one from normal.¡± They then walk up to the cliff and- *step* *step* -Start walking up the wall as though it was horizontal, their hair and bags doesn¡¯t even hang towards the ground, but rather it hangs towards the wall they¡¯re scaling. ¡°Are you coming?¡± Asks Charlie. Seeing as they already know about my phasing ability I submerge myself down to my neck in the ground I¡¯m standing on and make myself slide towards the cliff, when I¡¯m at the cliff base I rotate my body to be horizontal and keep sliding up the wall, follow by three somewhat disgusted pickits. Every so often we end up needing to stop at one of the outcroppings in order for them to recharge their wands due to the spell coming close to running out, every time we stop it takes longer and longer for them to charge, likely due to the pickits getting higher and higher. Sometimes they use some energy jellies that they say they¡¯d bought from Rupe this morning. Although it takes more than a few hours we eventually reach the clouds and the blue grass. ¡°Plush.¡± I turn myself around and look downwards to the pickits, seeing them standing at the mouth of a cavern in the cliff. ¡°From here on out it will take way too long for us to recharge the wands, so we¡¯ll stay here instead and wait for you to come back down.¡± ¡®Alright.¡¯ I then speed up as I finally don¡¯t need to hold back and almost immediately reach the top of the mountain which we were only halfway up, leaving the pickits. ¡°So we were just holding him back huh¡­¡± Murmurs Charlie. *sigh* ¡°Seems that way, and we were hoping to help him and everything.¡± Says Baom. ¡°At least we can prepare some food for that Shiona girl for when they come back.¡± Suggests Diifan. ¡°¡±Good idea.¡±¡± Says the other two and they all enter the cave. However I couldn¡¯t hear any of what they said due to being too far away, and I reach the top of the mountain, however due to forgetting to slow down- *fwoosh* I shoot out of the top of the mountain like a bullet out of a gun and fly a good distance into the sky. After a few seconds I start to slow down and start falling down instead. Headfirst. I finally realize that I¡¯m in a very bad situation and start panicking, well, until I get an idea, something I¡¯ve not done in a while. I cover myself with a shell of solidified air and¡­ I freeze it in place, making me come to a sudden halt. I am now floating in the air, not moving any direction, and repeatedly make the shell fall for a split second before stopping it again, eventually reaching the mountain¡¯s top. Or so I¡¯d like to say, however due to the harsh winds up there I kept being blown to the side and I am now a good fifty meters away from the mountain. I try to release a large part of the shell, making it so that only my hands and feet are covered. I unfreeze one of my feet and move it forwards, freezing it again after I¡¯ve taken a step, I then do the same with the other one as well as freezing my arms whenever I feel like my balance is about to fail me, and start walking in the air back towards the mountaintop with the sun shining to my side. Once I reach the blue grassed plateau I climb inside the bird¡¯s nest and see Shiona laying there, sleeping. I sit down next to her, phasing some of my back into the nest¡¯s wall to make sure I¡¯m not blown away by the wind, and start resting. ¡°Leo?¡± Chapter 34 - Thrill ride ¡°You¡¯re actually here¡­?¡± I look towards Shiona and see her still lying down while looking at me. ¡®Yeah.¡¯ I answer her, however she doesn''t seem to be able to hear me so I try again, this time using the bangle. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m actually here now.¡± She reaches out one of her talons and grabs one of the fruits laying next to her and- *splat* Throws it at me. ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°Just making sure¡­ That you''re¡­ Actually¡­ Here¡­¡± Halfway through she starts to talk slower and slower, eventually breaking down and starting to cry. I hug her and lends her a bite-sized shoulder to lean on. ¡°You''re actually here¡­ You''re here¡­¡± ¡°Yes, I''m here.¡± We stay like that for a while. ¡°Come now, we''ve got to get down from here.¡± *!* ¡°How¡­?¡± She asks while still crying. I cover my whole body in a green light, I then hold her wing and try to cover her as much as I can with Phasing, however it only covers her wing and torso. ¡°What is¡­?¡± I try again, this time after having made the green light recede from half of my body, this time successfully going in a thin dark green line to her lower body and covering everything from her hips to her talons, however I don''t submerge us yet to not shock her. ¡°This is how we get down from he-¡± *CREAK* As I try to tell her how we will be going down the mountain I¡¯m interrupted by a loud series of creaking sounds, both I and Shiona turn towards them and see that copper colored tree with all the multicolored fruits is twisting and turning, shrinking and elongation, stretching like a tendril, shooting towards us before we can react and coiling itself around Shiona¡¯s waist, then uprooting itself and pulling the rest of itself towards Shiona. It then stops moving and we see that it has now turned from a large tree the size of a small house into a loosely fitting copper colored wooden belt hanging around Shiona¡¯s waist. The inside is covered by small green foliage, and on the outside there are circular indentations, most of which are covered by small colorful beads, the same colors and patterns which were on the trees fruits. ¡°This is¡­?¡± ¡°... I think I know someone who might know what this is¡­ But for now let¡¯s focus on getting down from here, we¡¯ll stop in a cave halfway down to meet some of my friends who came along, but I think you¡¯ll want to close your eyes.¡± ¡°... Okay.¡± ¡°This might feel weird.¡± She closes her eyes and I phase us both into the floor of the bird¡¯s nest, as a trial run I move us around a bit before feeling that I¡¯ve got the hang of it, I then quickly slide us both over the bird¡¯s nest¡¯s wall and down the mountain, Shiona is screaming next to me throughout the trip, and after a few seconds we¡¯re inside of the cave which was halfway down the mountain. ¡°Okay, you can open your eyes now.¡± As I say that Shiona slowly stops screaming and a small line can be seen glowing through her feathery mask while she¡¯s holding her breath. After she half-opens one of her eyes she then fully opens both of them and starts panting heavily. ¡°... Please¡­ Not again¡­¡± ¡°Sorry, but we¡¯re going to need to do that once more to get to the ground, at least it only took a few seconds. Also these three are some of the people that helped me find you, this is Charlie.¡± I motion towards Charlie. ¡°You must be Shiona, it¡¯s nice to meet you.¡± ¡°... Same¡­¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°And these two are Diifan and Baom, I¡¯m pretty sure they¡¯re a couple.¡± When I say this they both start blushing. ¡°H-how did you-¡± ¡°Oh please you guys, can¡¯t have been hard for him to figure out when you¡¯re always hugging each other when you sleep.¡± At this they both go silent. ¡°... Well... it¡¯s nice to meet you two¡­¡± Says Shiona, finally breaking the silence ¡°Li-likewise.¡± ¡°Yeah¡± They respond. ¡°Alright, greetings are over, here-¡± She says and hands Shiona bowl of food. ¡°Plush here says you¡¯ve been stuck up there eating nothing but fruits for years, have some meat.¡± ¡°... Plush? Ah! I forgot¡­ you got a new name¡­¡± ¡°What? That¡¯s not his real name?¡± ¡°Forget that, the new one fits better either way.¡± ¡°Pft... Agreed.¡± Says shiona, most likely with a wry smile under that mask. The four of them then start eating, and after they finish I slide myself and Shiona down the mountain, causing her to scream again, the pickits walking behind us. Once the two of us reach the ground the pickits are still very far away, so I decide to take some things with Shiona. ¡®Not yet, I need to explain some things to her first.¡¯ I take the book off of my back and open it in front of us. ¡°This book is a bit special you see, I found it after I came to this country, well not this country, in fact it was a few countries away, but still.¡± ¡°And what does it do¡­?¡± She asks while looking at it curiously. I then explain to her about how it shows my abilities, how it allows me to store items, and what¡¯s currently most important: ¡°When I found this book I found it together with a person who was doing research on it, apparently they had been staying there for years trying to understand how it works, and by doing so they had somehow bound their soul to the book, making it so they can¡¯t be further than a few meters away from it.¡± ¡°But if they can¡¯t be far away from it¡­¡± She starts imitating the act of scratching her chin, though I can¡¯t imagine it would work to well with the feathers and all. *gasp* ¡°Did you kill them!?¡± ¡°What!? No! What made you jump to that conclusion!?¡± I ask the book to flip its pages to where Lizz is staying. ¡°An apartment?¡± ¡°Yeah, apparently due to them having bound their soul to the book they were able to be absorbed by it and live inside of it, look in the kitchen.¡± ¡°A fairy?¡± Asks Lizz, this time letting us both hear her due to the book being open on her page, surprising Shiona. ¡°That¡¯s Lizz, she¡¯s the one who was researching the book when I found it. Be careful around her, she can be very rude.¡¯ ¡°Hey!¡± Says Lizz while sticking the top of her body out of the book. ¡°!¡± Shiona flinches for a moment before looking at Lizz with even more curiosity ¡°Well here I am, nice to meet you, I¡¯m Elizabeth, bla bla bla, can I go back in? I was in the middle of eating¡­¡± ¡°Again? Weren¡¯t you the one who got all excited about the tree belt before?¡± ¡°Well yeah, but you can¡¯t expect me to enter my research mode on an empty stomach! Food first, fun and games later!¡± As she says that she goes back in. ¡°She really is a fairy¡­¡± Says Shiona. ¡®Actually Lizz, since it¡¯s taking so long for them to come down, could you come out again with some food and keep Shiona company?¡¯ <*sigh* Fine¡­> She flies back outside again, this time followed by a blue hand carrying two large plates of food. ¡°Here, you can have one.¡± ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m already full.¡± ¡°At least someone here has a stomach proportional to their body. Shiona I was planning on going back up and getting those guys since they¡¯re taking so long, I¡¯ll be back soon.¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t sound so glum, you¡¯ve got me to talk to while he¡¯s gone.¡± Says Lizz- ¡°... That¡¯s what I¡¯m worried about¡­¡± ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°Ha! Glad to hear you¡¯ven¡¯t lost your sense of humor, later.¡± I then scale the wall and explain the situation to the pickits, taking them down one by one until we''re all gathered. ¡®So which way is back to the Eastern lake city?¡¯ ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t! You promised we were going to get you some clothes, and seeing she doesn''t have any either we''ll get her some too.¡± At this Shiona perks up and asks: ¡°Shopping?¡± As I resign myself to my fate I put the plates in the book while the pickits aren''t looking and we depart. While we''re walking the three girls have started talking to each other, making me feel happy that Shiona is able to talk to someone. ¡®Hey Charlie.¡¯ I whisper in my mind, checking whether she can hear me, however judging by her not reacting in the slightest I judge that she couldn''t. ¡®Hey Baom, Diifan.¡¯ I whisper, seeing whether Charlie was just too occupied to hear me, however the don''t react, so I try again, this time saying something I''m certain they wouldn''t be able to ignore. ¡®You guys are cute together.¡¯ However still no reaction, they don''t even blush. Judging that it''s safe I then ask the book: ¡®Hey book, since I got the telepathy bangle I don''t need the notes page anymore, think you could take it back? I feel bad keeping you from being in one piece.¡± At first the book starts vibrating in a manner similar to someone doing a poor job at holding back their anger, however when I said how I felt bad for it the way it shook changed to be more like when you¡¯re shaking of happiness, a blue arm then came out of the pouch and put its palm on my mask, then with a sound just like velcro it pulled back the arm, holding the page. ¡®!¡¯ Except it¡¯s not holding the page, it¡¯s holding my mask. Chapter 35 - Behind the mask =-Shiona POV-= I¡¯m walking next to the fairy and the conspiracy-theory worthy mole person as we¡¯re heading to back wherever these guys came from. ¡®Hope they at least have some clothes that fit.¡¯ I think, fearing I may be forced to wear clothing half my size. ¡°No worries, we¡¯ve got lots of other species living in our towns, we even have dedicated tailors for them where you can order clothing with almost whatever pattern you want.¡± Responds the one called Charlie to my thoughts. ¡®Not more mind readers¡­¡¯ ¡°Sorry to say, but that¡¯s right, you¡¯ll get used to it eventually.¡± Says lizz while she¡¯s hovering next to the weird belt and inspecting it. ¡°Either you can get used to us, or you can do like Lizz here and only think about the same thing constantly, you have any idea what it¡¯s like to have someone constantly listing of delicious dishes directly into your mind? We have to make an active effort to not hear her thoughts if we don¡¯t want to go mad.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a pretty novel way of taking care of mind readers though, just annoy them constantly.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t do anything like that, Plush once got some bard¡¯s performance stuck in his head even though he had already half forgotten it, we ended up having to listen to an incomplete tune on repeat for half an hour¡­¡± ¡°... I¡¯ll try, but no promises.¡± ¡°That¡¯s better than what Lizz is doing at least.¡± *GROWL* We then hear a loud growling noise coming from Charlie''s stomach, Lizz stares at her with a gloating look while Charlie stares back with a hateful one. ¡®If this belt really is the same as that tree, then¡­¡¯ At that I try to pry one of the small orbs out of the belt, and after I succeed I hand it to Charlie. ¡°Here, try eating thi-¡± *woosh* However just as I¡¯m about to give it to her Lizz flies up from the belt and grabs it, she then hovers next to us while taking bites out of the orb which was the same size as her head. *sigh* I take out another one, this time successfully giving it to Charlie and letting her eat it. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what this little candy will do, but then again Plush showed me those neat energy cubes, so maybe there¡¯s more to it than meets the eye. Oh well.¡± *chomp* ¡°Hmm. This is actually pretty good. It¡¯s not the most satisfying since it¡¯s only a bite, but I¡¯m already feeling much more full.¡± We then keep walking while discussing some things about Plush. ¡°So how did you guys know each other? Plush said you were from the same country, but considering us pickits don¡¯t have any knowledge about any country where people like Plush live it mustn¡¯t have many mountains.¡± Realizing that Plush probably didn¡¯t tell them everything on purpose I start to weave my own story while trying my best not to think any words indicating that it¡¯s a lie. ¡°We used to go to the same school together actually, but three years ago my mother decided she didn¡¯t want me to grow up a different way from how she did, so we all ended up moving from there to here.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Asks Lizz. ¡°Then where¡¯s your mother now?¡± ¡°She and my siblings left two and a half years ago, they didn¡¯t want to keep taking care of someone who couldn¡¯t fly and hunt by themselves.¡± ¡°Oh. Bumme-¡± *RRRRITCH* We¡¯re interrupted by what sounds like someone furiously playing with velcro, and we turn around. ¡°It comes off?!?¡± x5Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. We all scream out in shock, me louder than the others, when we see a blue glowing hand coming out of the pouch on Plush¡¯s backpack book. The reason I screamed louder than the other might have had something to do with me being a harpy, but most of all it was because I was even surer than the others that it couldn¡¯t be removed. The mask that is. The blue glowing arm was holding in its hand the mask that Plush always wears. Lizz seemed calm at first, she later told me that this was due to her already having seen the blue arm before, however when we saw Plush slump down to his knees all five of us bolted off towards him, the others reacting quicker than me. ¡°Hey! Are you okay!?¡± ¡°What happened Plush¡± ¡°Oh come on! Everything was going so well!¡± Shouted the pickits, Lizz having already arrived next to Plush didn¡¯t say anything, and likewise when the pickits got to him they all just stared. I couldn¡¯t see what it was that had shocked them all so, the arm was holding the mask in the way of what it was attached to. Finally snapping out of it I run towards them, and I ran much quicker than what I¡¯d expected to be able to, considering I¡¯ve lived on a mountain top that was too small to practice running this speed surprised me. Or at least it would have, if it wasn¡¯t for me only being able to think about one thing right now. ¡®Not again! Not when we finally met! Not now!¡¯ I scream in my mind, not daring to scream it out loud in fear of forcing me to stop to catch my breath. When I get to Plush I see that behind where his mask was, amidst all his red hair, there was a large hole, only slightly smaller than the mask itself, and within that hole we couldn¡¯t see anything. ¡°Plush!¡± I finally screamed. And then two yellow lights started to glow. =-Plush POV-= As I was standing there, looking at the removed mask in front of my face I felt so overcome by shock that I almost fainted, barely preventing myself from letting my fall to my knees become a facedown nap on the ground. I mean, you imagine suddenly seeing someone ripping your face off and holding it in front of you? Even though I couldn¡¯t feel the pain it still scared me. After the mask had been ripped off the blue hand had frozen completely, as though the book was as surprised by its feat as I was. During the moment that the mask had been pulled off everything had become almost completely white, like I was staring into the end of a flashlight, and I could hear a dull ringing sound. I could hear someone shouting towards me, though I couldn¡¯t hear what they were shouting, it all sounded like muffled cries, and I could barely make out Lizz¡¯s small stature flying next to me through the gap at the side of the mask. I then saw three more figures appear, though everything was still too bright for me to see anything other than their height, and the three figures who I think were the ones who were shouting had turned quiet. I could then hear soft thuds as another person had started running towards me, this one putting a lot more force into their footsteps, and once they appeared before me I could see that their shadowy figure was taller than the others, letting me realize that it was Shiona. And for the first time I could hear someone say something understandable. ¡°Plush!¡± And then everything became clear again, the ringing stopped and the bright light disappeared. The blue hand dropped the mask, making it fall to the ground with a *thud* as it retreated back into the pouch like a scared animal. I looked up towards the five people and saw them staring at me still. ¡°I¡­¡± They all shook once, as though startled by me. ¡°I think¡­ I think I¡¯m fine.¡± Charlie then held out a hand and helped me back up, Lizz then started floating right in front of me, staring right into my eyes, Baom and Diifan both fell to the ground, and Shiona was still standing still, not having moved since I got up. ¡°Are you okay Shiona?¡± I ask. ¡°Am¡­ Am I okay!? Think about yourself first! You just had your face ripped off for christ¡¯s sake!¡± Charlie seemed a bit confused by this ¡°Christ¡± who she hadn¡¯t heard of before, but dropped it when she remembered we were both from abroad. ¡°Oh yeah¡­¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡®Oh yeah¡­¡¯!? Think a bit about yourself first! I didn¡¯t even know you could take off that mask!¡± ¡°Neither did I, especially not after your previous attempt to do just that.¡± At this a pair of red lights appear below the two lights which were her eyes and she looks away. ¡°Speaking of the mask¡­¡± I bend down and pick up the mask which the book had dropped, even though I had been wearing this all the time and seen through it, looking at it now the inside looked as solid and reflective as a sheet of metal, no place for me to see through it. Looking at the reflective mask I could see myself, within my red hair there was a black shape with two yellow glowing eyes. The eyes weren¡¯t normal eyes, they were just large solid yellow shapes. I looked at the sides of the black shape, at my red hair, and saw that it looked very similar to a certain clothing. A hoodie. So very slowly, making sure to go be extra careful to be able to stop myself if I ever felt the same feeling of wrongness like when I kicked the tree, and I pulled back the hoodie. Chapter 36 - And under the hood =-Shiona POV-= ¡°I¡­ ¡° We all snap out of it. ¡°I think I¡¯m fine¡­¡± As we¡¯re looking at Plush he gets back up again and asks: ¡°Are you okay Shiona?¡± ¡°Am¡­ Am I okay!? Think about yourself first! You just had your face ripped off for christ¡¯s sake!¡± ¡°Oh yeah¡­¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡®Oh yeah¡­¡¯!? Think a bit about yourself first! I didn¡¯t even know you could take off that mask!¡± ¡°Neither did I, especially not after your previous attempt to do just that.¡± Being reminded of what I did when I first met Plush again my face feels hot and I turn around, not certain whether my mask could hide my blush. ¡°Speaking of the mask¡­¡± He says and picks up the mask which the blue arm had dropped and looks at his reflection in it. After having stared at himself for a while he puts down the mask, grabs his hair, and pulls it off. ¡°God damnit! Stop trying to fucking make us think you¡¯re going to die you cunt!¡± Screams Lizz, mirroring my thoughts pretty closely, albeit a bit more rudely. Looking at Plush we could see that behind where his mask was and below where his hair was there was a black orb with two yellow lights. =-Plush POV-= ¡°So, how do I look?¡± I ask. ¡°What do you mean ¡®How do I look?¡¯, you just ripped your hair off! How did you know nothing bad was going to happen!?¡± Shouts Lizz. ¡°Because I didn¡¯t feel any pain while doing it?¡± I say, cutting a few corners in my explanation to hurry it along. I pick back up the mask which I¡¯d dropped and look at myself again. After taking off the odd I look like I¡¯m wearing a purple onesie, the hood having the red fur which I had previously thought was my hair on it. My newly revealed head was a black sphere, touching it I could feel that it was made of a different cloth than the rest of my body, and through the black sphere two yellow lights were glowing, most likely my eyes. Satisfied with my head I look back up, only to see a yellow shape closing in on me. ¡°Don¡¯t ever do something like that without telling me first!¡± Screams Shiona, tears dripping from her chin yet again. ¡°I... Wo...n¡¯t¡­¡± try telling her, however it¡¯s hard to concentrate on using the bangle when she¡¯s saking me by my head with her talon like this. ¡°Ple...ase le...t go¡­¡± ¡°Ah!¡± She lets me go, however¡­ *woosh* She let me go before she had stopped shaking her leg, making me go flying straight upwards again.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Due to the way I was thrown I had started spinning in the air, not being able to tell how close I was to the ground, but I phase my whole body to prepare to land. Once I finally hit the ground, or rather once I¡¯m finally submerged in it, I realize that I¡¯m actually able to see now, even though I¡¯m inside the ground I can see through it just fine, as though the ground had become invisible. Feeling another wave of mischievousness I first have the book grab the mask and put it in its inventory, I then move over to below the others, grab one of them by their feet and drag them a few centimeters below the ground, and let go, causing them shoot out a meter or so into the air. Once they¡¯ve all landed and they¡¯re laying on their back I come out of the ground again, and the moment my eyes go above the earth I can no longer see through it. ¡°Enjoy the flight?¡± At this Shiona screams ¡°NO!¡± At me, Lizz is looking smug due to having avoided my prank by flying, Charlie looks to be in deep thought, and Diifan and Baom happened to fall on top of each other, so they¡¯re blushing to much to be able to do anything. I pick up the mask and hold on to it. ¡°Hey Charlie!¡± I say, snapping her out of her thoughts. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Turns out I was actually wearing clothes all along, guess that means I don¡¯t need any new ones right?¡± I say while tugging on the hood. *sigh* ¡°But we still need to get something for Shiona, she seemed very interested.¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess I agree with you on that. Should we get going now then?¡± ¡°Sure. Oi! You two lovebirds! We¡¯re going to start heading back to the town, or would you rather be left her alone to your own devices?¡± She says while performing the gesture with her hands again. Baom and Diifan immediately get up from each other, faces as red as though some had thrown paint on them. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go. And this time Plush, you¡¯re going in the front of the group so that we can keep an eye on you. I won¡¯t make you explain what that blue hand was to use since we¡¯re strangers, but you should probably take it with Shiona on your way back to the eastern lake.¡± ¡°Eastern lake?¡± Asks Shiona. ¡°it¡¯s the lake next to the city I¡¯m staying in, there¡¯s this really nice inn which is even letting me stay there for free. Speaking of that, which way is it even?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not telling until we¡¯re done shopping, but once we are I¡¯ll give you a proper map so you don¡¯t get lost.¡± We then start making our way back to the cave which lead to the pickit city, and once we arrive at the small pickit sized tunnel I start wondering whether Shiona is going to have to crawl through it, until Charlie makes it larger using earth magic, and when we get inside of the city another earth cloud floats up to use to let Shiona get down since she can¡¯t roll like the pickits. Once we get down we then follow Charlie as she leads the way to the person who would tailor Shiona¡¯s clothes. ¡°Okay, here we are.¡± Says Charlie. ¡°Hey Charlie.¡± Says Diifan. ¡°D¡¯you mind if me and Baom go shopping in a more reasonably priced place?¡± ¡°Go for it.¡± ¡°Hey, how much is the cost here exactly?¡± ¡°Oh it¡¯ll be cheaper for her, since this is one of the few places that deal in non-standard sized clothing it¡¯s the only place where our non-pickit sized inhabitants can get theirs, so the leader of the city pays a part of every purchase made by other species here.¡± ¡°Hey, can I also get some new clothes?¡± Asks Lizz. ¡°I don¡¯t see why not, in fact I they¡¯d appreciate getting to make some small clothing again rather than wrestle with the huge cloths needed to make the normal things they need to create.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Says Lizz while doing a guts pose which she hasn¡¯t done in a very long time. ¡°But then I have to come along too, and I was planning on exploring the cit-¡± A small bit of leather then shoots off from the book towards Lizz, covering one of her arms and forming small Lizz-sized armband. ¡°This is¡­?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one who¡¯s been stuck to the book for years, of all people you¡¯re the one who should know what it means to have a piece of the book on your wrist right?¡± ¡°!¡± She then flies up into the sky, going all the way to the roof, then to one of the walls, and then to one of the corners, and then- ¡°Well she doesn¡¯t seem like she¡¯s going to be done any time soon.¡± ¡°Yeah, in that case we should probably go and order the clothes, if we wait for her it will take too long time. Later.¡± They both wave at me and enter the house and I walk away. While I¡¯m walking I can feel something tugging at me, and when I look down I can see that the book is pulling one of its straps towards an alley, so I enter it, wondering whats going on. After walking through the alley and taking several turns into even smaller alleys, eventually the book stops tugging me, and a blue note stretches out from the pouch on it.
Notes We need to talk.
Chapter 37 - Shopping (Also Patreon)
Notes We need to talk.
I stare at the blue paper while being very confused.
I was hoping that you¡¯d respond, but I don¡¯t have enough time for that if you¡¯re going to be taking so long! I can only talk for a limited time!
¡®Wait what!? Who are you!?¡¯
Right, introductions, I¡¯m Cy, Cy T. Adel, nice to make your acquaintance.
While saying this the top of the strip of paper bends, as though a person was bending their head while greeting someone.
Ah! I don¡¯t have time for this!
At this the paper straightens completely.
I¡¯m only saying this once so pay attention! This here book is broken! It¡¯s lost a lot of its pages to greedy people who wanted its power for themselves! You¡¯ve awakened a few pages of the book due to it wanting to help you, and when you gave back the notes page it was barely enough for me to come out, I can¡¯t stay long enough to explain properly but you need to find the other pages! Or make more new ones! Either way works, just fill the book!
¡®Umm¡­ Sure?¡¯
Whaddya mean ¡°sure¡±!?
With the sound of leather rubbing against itself the straps attached to the book start multiplying and covering everything except for my face and I fall to the ground in surprise.
I need you to swear that you¡¯ll do it! If you don¡¯t I¡¯ll make sure you¡¯ll be stuck like this when I have to leave, I¡¯ll make it so not even the book itself will be able to undo it!
I try to move myself to get back up, and find that , despite the forcefulness of the person talking through the book, I can still move just fine.
Grraahh! Curse this weak body! If I could actually leave the book I¡¯d go and finish it myself!
¡®Dude. Calm down. I¡¯ll try and fix the book okay? It¡¯s not like I would¡¯ve ignored it if I saw a piece of paper that looked like the book¡¯s in the first place.¡¯
But the thing is that they won¡¯t look like the pages of the book!
¡®You mean like when the notes page went into my mask?¡¯
...
¡®Did they leave already?¡¯
No, I just didn¡¯t expect you to get it right on your first gue
At this time the strip of paper goes back inside the pouch. ¡®Did they leave this time? Hey book, are you okay?¡¯ The book shakes once and starts trying to take of the leather that was still wrapped around me, hwever nothing happens other than some more leathery sounds.. ¡®Wait wait wait, hang on a bit.¡¯ In order to not get smushed together I phase myself out of the leather, letting the book undo all the ties and knots now that it had some leeway, I then put it back on and walk back out the alley while thinking about what happened. -=Shiona POV=-This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. We stand next to the door, which was twice my size, waiting for Lizz to come back down, and once she does we walk into it. ¡°Charlie, you said this place mostly serves other species right? What types of species? Like, how tall are they?¡± ¡°Well most of them around between one and a half and two meters tall, how so?¡± ¡°And this door fits them all?¡± ¡°Yeah? What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± ¡®I¡¯ve only been with people shorter than me so I thought I was pretty tall, I guess it was just them being really short.¡¯ Charlie stares at me for a bit, smiling. ¡®Right. Mind readers. It¡¯s really creepy, please stop.¡¯ ¡°Well it¡¯s your fault for thinking so loudly, it¡¯s not something we can turn off, that¡¯s like asking someone to puncture their eardrums, just think more quietly.¡± I sigh and look forwards seeing that we¡¯ve left the corridor we were in and entered a large room. ¡°Excuse me, anyone here?¡± Asks Charlie loudly. ¡°Yes, yes, I¡¯m here, hang on, have a seat in the meantime.¡± Can be heard as a response coming from further in and we sit down on a group of chairs next to one of the walls. Out from one of the doorways comes aa elderly pickit followed by what looks like a human carrying large rolls of cloth. ¡°Now then, what would you dearies like? Oh, and I hope you know miss pickit that only those two will be getting the discount.¡± ¡°Yeah I know, but only those two are going to be getting clothes here.¡± ¡°Boss, where should I put these?¡± Asks the human. ¡°Oh just put them on the desk in the workroom.¡± The human then walks out through another door. ¡°Well then what would you like miss demi-bird?¡± At first I¡¯m a bit confused by her calling me a demi-bird rather than a harpy, but I soon recover. ¡°Uhm¡­¡± I say. ¡°I don¡¯t know a lot about clothing, but something easy to move in and not to warm? I do have a feathery coat after all.¡± ¡°And the little half-dragonfly?¡± She then asked, making me even more confused as to why whe called me demi but her half. ¡°Uhm¡­ I¡¯ve been thinking this for a while now, but doesn¡¯t it look like it would be really comfortable to be like Plush?¡± Lizz asks both me and Charlie. ¡°I guess?¡± Charlie responds. ¡°You mean like a onesie?¡± I ask her. The seamstress looks at me with doubt in her eyes. ¡°I thought you said you didn¡¯t know a lot about clothes, but a onesie is a very rare thing that only enthusiast know about.¡± ¡°Err¡­ It¡¯s pretty common where I¡¯m from? People use them as pyjamas there.¡± With interest evident in her eyes she repeats the word with a questioning tone, prompting me to explain. ¡°It¡¯s clothes that are specifically for wearing when you sleep so you don¡¯t need to wash the blankets and stuff as often.¡± *scribble* *scribble* She starts writing down notes on a paper that she pulled out from her clothes and then puts it back where she got it. ¡°So something light and breezy without arms for the demi-bird miss and a onesie for the miss dragonfly, I¡¯ll need to take measurements of you both before I can start.¡± She gets up from her seat and grabs a cane which I swear she wasn¡¯t using before, she then tells us to follow here to a part of the room partitioned off by a large cloth hanging from the roof. ¡°How about the dragonfly first? Should take the least time.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± They both walk inside, I hear some more scribbling sounds and Lizz then comes back out after a few seconds while the seamstress asks me to come in from inside. When I get inside I can see that the seamstress is standing on top of a half a meter tall metal cylinder with two levers on top, looking like someone stacked a bunch of roombas on top of one another, and a smaller wooden platform next to her. ¡°Stand there please, and if you could take of the mask and belt it would make it easier for me.¡± I take off my mask and put it on a shelf. ¡°Huh, I called you a demi-bird before, but now that I see your face I can tell you¡¯re a half-bird, excuse me.¡± Feeling a bit confused I then tug a bit at the belt and when I don¡¯t find a way to take it off I tell her I can¡¯t. ¡°I see, then I will have to think about that to while I¡¯m making it. Please stand here and I¡¯ll start.¡± She then pulls on one of the ends of the cane she came in with and reveals that it was actually a tape measure. After a while we both come out of the partitioned area, the seamstress gives Charlie a small crystal and we all leave. ¡°By the way, how many days until the clothes are done Charlie?¡± ¡°Days? Should only take an hour or so. Now come here, though Plush doesn¡¯t, you two will need some supplies for when you start traveling.¡± We then walk through a lot of alleys, stopping every so often for Charlie to buy a leather bag, a few wooden sticks and some vials of liquid. ¡°What are these even? Soda?¡± ¡°Soda? These are potions, drink ¡®em and stuff happens.¡± Says Lizz before Charlie gets a chance to answer. ¡°What kinds of stuff? I¡¯m guessing red is healing and blue is magic, but what about the green and yellow?¡± ¡°they-¡± *pek* Lizz begins to explain only to be interrupted by a forehead flick by Charlie. ¡®Those claws have to have made that hurt.¡¯ Charlie then clears her throat and starts explaining. ¡°The yellow makes your skin and flesh stronger, while the green has the same effect but for muscles.¡± ¡°Alright, well where to next? And what is this ringing sound?¡± ¡°Oh! I didn¡¯t realize.¡± She then picks out the crystal that the seamstress gave us, however now it¡¯s glowing, shaking, and generating a ringing noise. ¡°This means the clothes are done, let¡¯s go back.¡± Chapter 38 - Secret life of a witch -=Plush POV=- Not really feeling up to exploring the city anymore I instead head back to the clothing shop, once I get there I harden my claws and as I¡¯m about to knock I realize something. ¡®Do I even need to knock actually?¡¯ I ask no one in particular before thinking extra loudly. ¡®Hey Lizz, are you guys done yet?¡¯ In response I first hear a small eep before Lizz starts talking. ¡®Well I¡¯m just outside the clothing shop so it¡¯s probably not that far.¡¯ ¡®Okay.¡¯ So I sit myself down and lean at the wall next to the door, making sure I sit on the side opposite to the one the door swings to- *SLAM* -And seeing how hard the door was slammed into the opposite wall by Lizz after few minutes I¡¯m very grateful I did so. ¡®I hope the door didn¡¯t break, they could probably demand reimbursement if it did.¡¯ ¡°Ta-da!¡± Shouts Lizz as she flies higher and twirls in the air, however- ¡°You¡¯re too small for me to see properly if you¡¯re so far away.¡± All I could see was a splotch of yellow and a splotch of blue. ¡°It seems her excitement is getting in the way of her hearing, either way shouldn''t you focus a bit more on your girl¡¯s clothes instead of Lizz¡¯s? I¡¯m not sure about half-birds, but a pickit would be furious if you did that to them.¡± I look towards Shiona and see her wearing a very loose green tank top, a shade brighter than her feathers, ending a small distance above where the copper belt was, and a pair of brown baggy pants, similar to Charlie¡¯s, albeit a lot longer to accommodate her legs which were one and a half times as long as a pickits even while half crouched. ¡°It looks good.¡¯¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°By the way you two, you said you were from the same country right? Is it a thing there for everyone to wear masks or something?¡± Asks Lizz who has since flown down. ¡°Not really, I didn¡¯t even know this was actually a mask before, I thought it was my real face.¡± ¡°Oh yeah¡­ And you then Shiona, what about you and your mask?¡± ¡°Well¡­ It¡¯s a bit hard to talk about so I¡¯ll take it as quickly as I can, when my family left the nest this weather was all that they left.¡± Charlie is then surprised and asks: ¡°Wait, that mask is organic? And you¡¯ve had it for almost two years by now? How the hell does that thing even exist anymore¡­¡± ¡°Now that you mention it that is weird, but there¡¯s not a lot we can do about that right now is there? And was there anywhere else we needed to go before we leave?¡± ¡°What? In a hurry for some alone time?¡± Responds Charlie to Shiona with a mischievous smile, however the smile is replaced with a sigh when she doesn¡¯t get a reaction. ¡°But no, I¡¯d say you¡¯re all about ready to leave, here-¡± She says and hands Shiona a leather bag. ¡®They must¡¯ve purchase that while they were waiting for the clothes to be done.¡¯ ¡°All the stuff I bought is in the bag, along with a bunch of extra food and a map, it should come in handy. And don¡¯t worry about repaying either this or the clothes, I told you you¡¯ve already done more than enough to help Plush, now if you¡¯ll excuse me I need to go find the others and return to the eastern lake city, we still haven¡¯t done all the preliminary quests yet.¡± She then darts off and Shiona turns to me. ¡°I¡¯ve been wondering this for a while now, but what¡¯s all this about you having helped them so much?¡± I then explain about the pickits history and the spirits of the mountains, when I finally finish we¡¯ve already left the mountain and we¡¯re outside. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. -=Shiona POV=- ¡®Underground mole-people that kidnap people? I was right on the money when I called them conspiracy worthy huh. By the way which way is even to this eastern lakes place?¡¯ I take out the map from the bag that Charlie gave me and start looking through it. ¡°What the hell is this thing!? Did she give us a fake toy map!?¡± At my outburst both Lizz and Plush turn towards me, asking how I am, but right now I¡¯m too focused on the map. After a short while I calm down and remember: This is a different world, no wonder maps aren¡¯t as precise as back home. ¡®But seriously, this looks like a small kids treasure map, all the mountains are just triangles, it doesn¡¯t show the height of any of them and the country borders are wide belts rather than precise lines!¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s just drawn so differently from the way they were made back home, thank god it at least shows the roads¡­¡± I say as I cover my face¡­ Err¡­ Mask with my wing. Lizz then comes over and takes a look at the map. ¡°Wow, we came pretty far on the pickits transport, it¡¯s going to take a few days to get home by foot¡± ¡°By the way, what¡¯s so special about the pickit transport that makes it so I can¡¯t ride it?¡± ¡°Pinball¡± Answers Plush. ¡°Ah.¡± Since I had seen the pickits roll up before I immediately understood what he meant. ¡°Ahem! This will take a long time, BY FOOT!¡± Says Lizz suddenly. ¡°Yeah, so? As much quicker as it would be for me to just slide us there I can¡¯t control the speed well enough yet, and I told Shiona I wouldn¡¯t make her come along on those fast trips again. Besides, sightseeing is always fun.¡± ¡°No, what I mean is that!¡± She says and points at Shiona. ¡°You have wings, so why not use them!?¡± ¡°But what about Plush then? How¡¯s he going to come along?¡± ¡°I¡¯m his familiar, he can just borrow my wings for a bi-¡± *pok* ¡°Hey stop it Lizz, don¡¯t try and force Shiona into high heights after she finally got down from the mountain!¡± ¡°Plush, as much as I don¡¯t want to, I needto get over this, this place has all kinds of monsters right? I might need to be able to fly at some point to survive.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure, but I¡¯m going to need someone to teach me since I¡¯ve never actually flown before.¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t look at me, our wings work way different.¡± *sigh* ¡°Guess I¡¯ll just have to try find out how to do it myself¡­¡± ¡°At least wait until we get to a better place, according to the map there''s a lake not too far away from here, it should help ease up your, er, landings. In the meantime I¡¯ll go inside the book and sleep while you two work your asses off.¡± And as she says that she flies back into the book. -=Elizabeth POV=- *sigh* ¡®Finally, now what the hell was that guy trying to do earlier? Is she stupid? She is, isn¡¯t she?¡¯ After I entered the book I came back to the weird looking familiar rooms, however rather than going to sleep I walk towards the hall, grab a triangular hat which was hanging on the wall, and exit through the front door. When I close the door behind me I start to grow taller and my hair turns black, and once I look the way I did before I got entangled with this book I start walking down the aisle. Technically I could¡¯ve done this in my room as well since I¡¯m not in my physical body anywhere inside the book, but I didn¡¯t want to freak out Plush to much After walking for a bit I come up to a door and knock. ¡°Hey you fucking shitty city! I know you came out and attacked Plush earlier today, what the fuck is wrong with you!?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t pretend you¡¯re not here! You know that I know you can¡¯t leave!¡± *click* ¡°Oh, we locking doors now!? In that case I¡¯m telling the landla- *click* -dy!¡± The door opens, and inside is a metallic orb. ¡°If you hid in your shell this is only going to take longer.¡± The top half of the orb then splits into three wedges, the one in the middle slides off to the back, revealing a large eye, and the two on the sides tilt upwards, creating a gap beneath them from which a pair of very thin and long metallic arms come out of. It puts its arms on the ground and lifts itself, the lower half then splits into six triangles, each of them getting pushed out by a metallic leg, eventually looking a bit like spider legs. [...I¡¯m sure I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about¡­] Comes an artificial sounding voice from the eyeball, if you looked closely at it you could see that the pupil was actually a hollow hole, and if you listened as closely as you looked you would hear that the voice came from inside of it. ¡°Oh ha fucking ha! Like hell you don¡¯t! I can understand you wanting to come out of the book as fast as you can, but why the hell did you have to try and threaten him!?¡± [... I want out as soon as I can so I can enjoy all the food from the inn that you always look so happy when you¡¯re eating¡­¡±} *sigh* I swear, you¡¯re an even bigger glutton than I am¡­ You do realize there¡¯s no way he would actually let you out of the book for real after what you did right?¡± [... No¡­ no no no no no no n-] ¡°Listen, no matter how much you repeat it it won¡¯t change, you fucked up.¡± [-o no no no no no no-] ¡°Oh shut up already!¡± After I snap and shout at the shitty city a small spider like creature comes out of the hole in the mechanic creatures eyeball and runs off into another room, somehow closing to door afterwards. *sigh* ¡®Oh great, I scared the new guy¡­¡± I walk up to the door which she had ran into and sit down outside. ¡°Listen, I¡¯ll try and put in a good word for you and give you a second chance at a new impression, but you¡¯d better not fuck up the next time shitty city.¡± [Stop calling me that!] ¡°I¡¯ll stop calling you that when you stop being a little shit! Now are you going to take me up on my offer or would you rather wait for a new person to get approval from the book?¡± The door slowly opens with a *creak*, and outside comes the small black spider like creature, bending two of its legs upwards and carrying a small machine with them. [Do you promise¡­?] Asks the creature, the voice coming from the machine. ¡°Yes, I promise I¡¯ll try and fix the horrible fuck up that your first impression on him was, but you¡¯d better damn well know you¡¯ll owe me a favor in the future!¡± [Thank you!] The creature drops the machine, luckily the creature was too small for the fall do damage the machine, and it jumps and hugs my arm. ¡°Alright, alright, but I¡¯ve got to go back now if I don¡¯t want Plush to become suspicious, I can¡¯t use the excuse that I went to the toilet if he realizes I¡¯m gone if I take to long.¡± The creature jumps off of my arm and runs up to the machine. [Okay¡­] *sigh* I get back up and go back home, taking on my small form before entering as well as making sure that Plush didn¡¯t have the book open on my page when I enter. ¡®Now time for food!¡¯ Chapter 39 - Room #307 -=Plush POV=- We come to a small lake, and much like the one I was at a few days ago there was a single tree with a red spot and a single flower on a small mound of dirt in the middle of it. ¡°Shiona, do you see that tree?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Watch.¡± I then make a large orange spoon and use it to throw a nearby rock at the red part of the tree. ¡°Lacrosse?¡± Says Shiona with a confused voice before looking towards where the rock flew. ¡°!¡± But when she does look that way she is amazed by what she sees. ¡°The tree¡­ It''s like a flower¡­¡± Just like the first treant I defeated, this one started having its bark peeled off like a blooming flower bud, each new layer becoming more and more red, and within was a single blue glowing leaf on top of a red pedestal, a heart leaf as the guild called them. ¡°That was a treant, a kind of monster, if we can get that blue leaf we can trade it in for money.¡± I then start walking towards the small island, solidifying the water I walk on and freezing it in place. Shiona dips her talon in the water to see whether she can follow, but quickly yanks it back out while complaining about the temperature. When I get to the center of the lake I put the flower in my pouch before taking the heart leaf, I remember what happened to the previous treant and I don''t want to have that weird red goopy liquid all over me. After I take the heart leaf I and the treant disappears I look towards Shiona and see her looking at where the treant was in horror, and as I''m about to walk back I''m interrupted by Lizz. ¡®Yeah I was planning to practice with Shiona when i get to the other side actually.¡¯ I say as I start making my way over the water. ¡®Who?¡¯ ¡®I didn''t realize you had any friends, with you being stuck with the book and all.¡¯ <...> Lizz stops speaking and I reach Shiona. ¡°How are we even going to start practicing?¡± ¡°...¡± Both of us were somewhat awkward people when it came to messing up in front of others, so we both share an intense dislike of trying something new while someone is watching. Shiona looks to be thinking, and after a while she raises one of her wings and with a *flap* she creates enough force for the wind to blow me a good ten meters away. ¡°You stay over there and I''ll stay here, neither of us looks at the other and if we feel like we''re about to crash we aim for the lake!¡± ¡°Alright!¡± I say as loudly as I can with the bangle, not knowing how long the bangles range is, and seeing her turn around I assume she heard me. ¡®Hey Lizz, how do I even borrow your powers?¡¯ ¡°I see¡­ Become smaller and grow wings was it? Since that''s just you in general wouldn''t it be easier to have you as the image? Or would that not work?¡± So I do just that, I close my light-eyes and try to move the energy around my body, almost like when I''m using Phasing or Hunting Claws and try to think and concentrate on Lizz.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I can feel my feet dragging across the ground, most likely due to becoming smaller, and then suddenly the feeling changes completely and I open my eyes in surprise. When i look around I see myself standing in the hall of the apartment I lived in back on earth. ¡®Or more realistically I suppose this is inside the book¡­¡¯ I walk further into the apartment and inspect the different rooms. ¡®This place really is exactly like my apartment.¡¯ While inspecting each room I try all of the appliances I have, like the stove and toilet, to see whether they still worked, and they did. I then get to the living room and try turning on the TV, the screen lights up and I can see the place where I was before from a bird''s eye view, and every so often I could see something white and yellow appear for a fraction of a second in edges of the screen. Whatever camera it is that''s recording this then suddenly swoops down to the lake, and in the waters reflection I see¡­ Myself. Except rather than purple and red I see that my body has turned the same off white color and looks to have the same texture as Lizz¡¯s dress, while the red fur on the hood has grown longer and turned yellow, it also looks much more lustrous, smooth, and shiny, and I could see bug wings coming out from my back, but I couldn¡¯t see how many due to them moving. My head looked mostly the same, however the eye-lights had turned from yellow to brown. ¡®Lizz?¡¯ ¡®What''s going on?¡¯ ¡®Well let''s try to fix it before we start thinking about the details.¡¯ ¡®Well I''m not sure if it''s going to work, but how about this, I came here when I focused energy in my body and thought about you right? Try that but think about me instead.¡¯ <... I''ll try.> ¡®Wait!¡¯ ¡®Please land first¡¯ Lizz then flies my body over to where I was standing before, she closes her eyes and sits down, I then slowly see the wings becoming shorter and the colors turning back to normal, and before I know it I see through my own eyes rather than through the TV screen. ¡®I think you can open you eyes now¡¯ <... Oh thank god! I was worried I was going to be stuck in your body for forever!> ¡®...¡¯ *sigh* ¡®Well what now? Should I try again?¡¯ I keep sitting down and try again, this time keeping my eyes open. ¡®...¡¯ <...> And yet I find myself on the couch yet again afterfew seconds. ¡®I didn¡¯t! I thought about what I looked like with wings!¡¯ I go back outside again, and try to think of myself with wings rather than the white and yellow me that Lizz turned into. But it still doesn¡¯t work. ¡®I don¡¯t think I can.¡¯ ¡®Actually... I think that¡¯s exactly it.¡¯ <... Really? ¡­ What a fucking lame excuse!> ¡®Yeah, yeah, but I¡¯m pretty sure there¡¯s nothing we can do about it, so what now? Mind just taking over whenever I need to fly?¡¯ <*sigh* Fine. But this also makes something a bit easier, remember how I wanted to introduce you to someone?> ¡®Yeah?¡¯ ¡®Live here? How the hell do they live here!? Isn¡¯t this inside the book!?¡¯ <...> Realizing that Lizz won¡¯t be answering my questions I sigh and follow her directions. *knock* *knock* *knock* I knock at the door, however no one answers. ¡®Lizz, are you sure it¡¯s room 307?¡¯ Feeling incredibly doubtful I enter the door while internally preparing an excuse and a way to blame Lizz in case it¡¯s the wrong room. ¡®Hello?¡¯ I try to say with the bangle, however it doesn¡¯t make any sound, and when I touch my neck I can feel that the bangle doesn¡¯t seem to have followed me in here. [... Hello¡­] Comes a text-to-speech sounding voice from within. ¡®Can you hear me?¡¯ [Yes.] ¡®Well that makes this easier, do you happen to know a person called Li- err, Elizabeth was it? Yeah, do you know a Elizabeth?¡¯ [Yes.] ¡®... Did she tell you I was going to be coming?¡¯ [Yes.] ¡®...¡¯ [...] ¡®... I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m Plush, nice to meet you?¡¯ [We¡¯ve already met?] ¡®We have?¡¯ [...] ¡®... Err¡­ I¡¯m sorry? I must have forgotten?¡¯ [...] ¡®Could you¡­ remind me who you are?¡¯ Out from one of the many shadows comes a small flattened black orb, and on its sides are eight spider legs, it looks kind of like a spider that¡¯s missing its abdomen, and it¡¯s carrying a small metallic looking object on its back. [My name is Cy, Cy T. Adel.] I tense up and become confused, however when the small spider creature suddenly starts skittering towards me I turn tail and run towards the door, however when I get to the hall there¡¯s a large ominous metal creature standing in my way, taking up the entire hallway. I don¡¯t know whether I would¡¯ve been able been able to phase through the creature, however the spider freaked me out way too much for me to even consider it, so instead I stop in place and start trying to thinking. ¡®!¡¯ Only to feel something grabbing onto my arm, and when I look down I see the spider hanging onto my wrist with four of its legs. As I feel myself about to faint I can hear the computer like voice talking again. [I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m so-] ¡®Wait wait, calm down, you¡¯re sorry? For what, trying to strangle me!?¡¯ [Yes.] ¡®... ¡¯ Not really sure how to react to her frankness I just sort of stay still for a moment, and then I suddenly find myself back outside, leaning on a tree. Chapter 40 - Flight achieved *sigh* ¡®What?¡¯ <*sigh* I''m sorry for what Cy did, she''s not used to people.> ¡®Not used to people!? Oh I think that''s a bit of an understatement!¡¯ I think as I cover my face with one of my hands, but then I was surprised by a new voice. ¡®!¡¯ I take a deep breath, to distract myself from the thought that I have a spider inside my head, and ask: ¡®Why does Cy sound so different?¡¯ ¡®Could you please stop saying that?¡¯ <... I apologise.> I sigh and decide that the best choice of action, despite what she did before, is to make up and get past it, I''d rather not be on bad relations with someone who can follows me around everywhere. ¡®Fine, I accept your apology, but one more thing, you already said why her voice was different, but what about the way she acted? She talked in a completely different way than the first time we met. Also did you even know she had tried to strangle me before!?¡¯ <... No.> <...> <... Yes.> <*sigh*... There you have it, she was drunk¡­> ¡®...¡¯ I think about what''s happened and what we''ve talked about for a bit. ¡®Can I summon her?¡¯ ¡®No it wasn''t! Cy was tiny!¡¯ ¡®What is she even!? How can she be so tall!? And why''s she gone quiet!?¡¯ I wait for another explanation,however one doesn''t arrive. *sigh* ¡®Okay, but what is she?¡¯ ¡®I''ve been meaning to ask this for a long time, but how do you know all of this!? You talk about Cy like an old friend and you knew all kinds of things about the book, weren''t you supposed to be a random researcher who had only looked at the book for a few years!? Really, how do you know all of this!?¡¯ I turn around to where Shion''s voice is coming from and see her coming towards me quickly from the sky.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Very quickly. *crash* She slams into me and pushes me into the ground, after she gets up I phase myself out of the ground. ¡°Are you okay!? What was that!?¡± ¡°That¡­ I think that that was another of my familiars¡­¡± I explain what happened in the underground city, what happened when I tried to borrow Lizz¡¯s powers and my second meeting with Cy. ¡°Why didn''t you say anything!?¡± ¡°Well, the first meeting sort of ended with her saying she was unable to actually do anything, so I didn''t think she was going to be able to do anything¡­¡± She just sighs. ¡°But I saw you flying earlier, what was that!?¡± Two red lights appear below her eyes and she looks away. ¡°I¡­ sort of¡­ learned¡­¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Lizz flies out of the pouch. ¡°Cy woke up and I talked to her, like you''d expect she''d rather you didn''t try to summon her until you fix the book properly, but she gave me something else. Book, if you''d please?¡± The book then jumps into the air, its pages facing one of the trees, and out from it shoots a shiny metal orb the size of me and a smaller matte black cone with an orb attached to the flat end. The cone gets wedged into one of the trees, after a few seconds it starts shaking, eventually getting itself out of the bark and making it fall down to the ground. while it''s in the air the cone splits into eight equally sized parts, and by the time it lands those parts have been turned into eight spider legs which support the small black orb which was previously attached to the flat end of the cone. the larger orb the has a strip the size of a sixth of the orbs area fold open, revealing what looks like an eyeball, and the cone-turned-spider climbs inside of it through the pupil, causing me to almost faint at the sight. Two more strips of the orb the fold up, letting two spindly arms come out, the two strips becoming shoulder pads for them. The bottom of the orb then splits into six triangles which then extends into six legs [Hello. My name is Cy T. Adel, pleasure to make your acquaintance.] I hear the same metallic voice which came from Cy¡¯s machine from inside the orb-turned-robot. ¡°Err¡­ Hello? I''m Shiona¡­¡± It seems Shiona wasn''t quite sure how to respond. [Although proper introductions are important I believe it''s within our best interest to keep making our way to Eastern Lake city.] ¡°... Hey, why do you speak so differently from before?¡± Cy freezes up and goes quiet for a bit, Lizz responding for her. ¡°Excuse her, remember how I said she gets embarrassed easily? Well her best way of coping with it is somehow by acting like this¡­¡± She then sighs and rubs her temples. [... quite.] The lens shaped strips which had previously acted as shoulder pads then folded back and became wider. [Have a seat.] ¡°But¡­ we just learned to fly?¡± Asks Shiona. ¡°Please do it just this once, only way to get Cy to open up is to be close to her, please go along with this, at least until she gets more comfortable with you.¡± Responds Lizz in an almost whispering voice. ¡°Fine.¡± Seeing that the both of them seem to have decided by themselves I then sit on one of the shoulder pads turned seats, Shiona follows on the other while Lizz sits on my head. Shiona then suddenly speaks up. ¡°Plush, I already told you about what I did for these past few years, but what about you? What happened to you after you came to this place?¡± I then tell her about how I woke up in the forest, my meeting with Charlton and my meeting with Lizz, about the quartet and their inn, about the adventurers guild and about how one of the city guards tried to attack me with goblins, about how I discovered the pickit city and how I eventually came to get her, after I finish everything she then asks me: ¡°Wait, so you got an illusion ring as a reward from that Rupe guy for capturing the goblin guy, did you ever even use it?¡± ¡°... No¡­¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°... I forgot¡­¡± She sighs at me while Lizz giggles. ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°... Well?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Try it out then!¡± She tells me with an annoyed voice. Without me even asking it to the book stretches out a blue hand and gives me the ring. I sigh internally and out on the ring, and once I do the ring fots disturbingly well. ¡®Since both my skills, the bangle, AND the familiar thing just needed me to focus energy where whatever it is that''s going to happen is going to happen, maybe this does to? For now let¡¯s start with something simple.¡¯ I think quietly to myself before focusing energy arm. My arm the turns black and seems to grow fur, I then try spreading it to my hand and adjust the shape, once I''ve got the hang of it my arm looks like Cathy¡¯s. ¡°Pretty good. But why just the arm?¡± Says Lizz after she flies down and lands on the machines eyeball. Despite what she says I keep working on just the arm, this time however I make it look like Rupe¡¯s scale covered arm. I then quickly move it up to Lizz, I then pretend to flick her forehead, however due to it just being an illusion it just goes through her. At least she still eeped in surprise. ¡°Don''t do that!¡± She shouts while stretching her arms downwards. I then do it again. ¡°Ha! I won''t fall for th- *pok* However this time I made one of my claws longer by solidifying air in a long straight line from it and gave her a real forehead flick while also using the illusion ring to hide the elongated claw. ¡°Uuu¡­¡± Moans Lizz while rubbing her forehead. A blue slip of paper then shoots out from the pouch on my chest.
Trickster¡¯s Sleight Due to combined the use of a skill that allows you to create physical objects and a skill that allows you to create visual objects you have been given this ability. This ability lets you more easily use skills of these two natures in tandem to create imitations that both feel and look like the real thing. This will be easier to perform the more practice you have in the two combined skills.
¡®Wait what? What do you mean combined two skills? I only used one skills, the other thing was an item!¡¯ Another blue slip of paper then shoots out next to the first.
Risen Apparition You have been given this skill due to your ghostly disposition. This skill allows you to create intangible apparitions for the sake of fuddling the senses of others. Ease of use goes up when creating apparitions of creatures.
¡®...¡¯ ¡°Try it!¡± I turn around and see that Shiona¡¯s seat has been moved behind me while I was absorbed in the books messages. Getting distracted by how Shiona¡¯s seat has moved I look around at the rest of the robot and see that each of the six legs has curled up into small half-orbs which are now propelling us forwards much the same way a car¡¯s wheels does, with the two hands having a wheel each as the take care of steering us, we¡¯ve also been lowered a lot closer to the ground. ¡®It looks like someone put together two motorcycles next to each other¡­ Well, with four extra hind wheels that is...¡¯ ¡°Well? Try it!¡± At this point Shiona is looking very excited so I decide I might as well. I stretch my arm forwards and¡­ Realize I¡¯m not sure what to try and make. Both Shiona and Lizz look at me abit confused, and then an idea hits me. I focus energy throughout my body and imagine certain parts of Charlton overlapping with me, looking down I see that I¡¯m slowly being covered by a black haze. The haze eventually disappears, showing that I am still myself, however I am now wearing the same suit that Charlton has been wearing every time I met him. ¡®Well other than the first time that is.¡¯ The both of them make ¡°Ooo¡± noises and start clapping, however I start feeling tired and lean back in the seat. ¡®!¡¯ Only then do I realize that even though the suit had been made from the solidification skill I was still able to move in it as though it was fabric, something that would¡¯ve previously been impossible. I undo the suit, however it¡¯s already too late and I faint from exhaustion. ¡®Well this hasn¡¯t happened in a long time, guess this takes a lot of energy to use then¡­ I¡¯ll have to experiment when I wake up¡­¡¯I think before my consciousness fades fully. Chapter 41 - -=Shiona POV=- ¡°Hang on, I know what to do¡± Says Lizz before she flies into the book, leaving me to my thoughts as we keep moving forwards with the help of Cy¡¯s machine. ¡®Really now, a motorcycle of all things¡­¡¯ The machines eye suddenly turns towards me. [Motorcycle?] I¡¯m confused for a fraction of a second before understanding *sigh* ¡®Why does it always have to be mind readers¡­¡¯ After sulking for a bit I decide I might as well explain to her as a way to waste time, it¡¯s better than just sitting around at least. ¡°A motorcycle is a vehicle where me and Plush are from, it¡¯s kind of like this machine but it only has two wheels, it goes very fast.¡± [Hmm¡­] ¡°Wait what a- *crash* After I had said that the machine had started lifting most of its wheels into the air, however it wasn¡¯t able to keep its balance and we all fell over. [This is harder than I¡¯d thought¡­ Let¡¯s try again!] The machine the starts standing itself up again six of the legs which had wheels attached to them and using the other two to put me and Plush back on the seats, this time putting me in the front seat and Plush in the back seat. ¡°Wait! Try the two wheeled thing some other time, how about I tell you some of the other things that motorcycles have going for them instead!?¡± [Ah¡­] It seems Cy finally realized she got a bit over excited and takes a few seconds to calm down. [S-sure, let¡¯s do that¡­] I explain about rubber wheels, I don¡¯t explain rubber or how to make it, just what properties it has and what having air filled wheels does for stability. ¡°Testing¡­ Testing¡­ Hello?¡± Suddenly I hear a voice coming from Plush so I turn around. ¡°Can you hear me Shiona? Hello?¡± When I see Plush he looks different, the purple cloth had turned off white and the red fur had turned golden and become more sleek. ¡°Plush?¡± ¡°So you can hear me! And it¡¯s not Plush right now, it¡¯s Lizz, I decided to take over until he wakes up, it just took a while since he wasn¡¯t awake to help me, then again only reason I was able to take over at all was due to him not being awake as well.¡± ¡®Come to think of it he did become a lot smaller as well, but then...¡¯ ¡°What happened to the book when you shrunk?¡± Lizz turns around and shows that the book is still attached to their back, having shrunk as much as Plush¡¯s body had. The machine then throws us both off, Lizz catches herself and hovers in the air, however I¡¯m not quite used enough to flying yet to do that, the machine then turn back into an orb and rolls itself into the now opened book with the spider like machine still inside. ¡°Hey! What was that for!?¡± I shout, not really expecting Cy to hear me. A small thin black tentacle like thing stretches out from the book, on it is a single eye. [I will improve the vehicle.]The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. It then goes back inside the book, leaving me and Lizz. *sigh* ¡°... I guess we should get going then?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± We then take to the skies and follow the map, every so often Cy would poke out a small machine to ask questions along the way. -=Plush POV=- When I come to I find myself laying on the bed inside of Lizz¡¯s apartment. ¡®Lizz?¡¯ I then feel a slight pulling sensation, and when I stop resisting it I find myself outside again. In the air. ¡°Hang on, I gotcha!¡± Says Shiona as she swoops down after me to catch me. ¡°!¡± However since I had already started phasing myself to brace for impact with the ground and I was unable to stop myself in time when she grabbed me, as well as forgetting that I can solidify the air, making me to fall through her and into the ground. After I emerge from the soil I see Shiona looking at me with concern. ¡°Are you okay? And not just from the fall I mean.¡± ¡°Yeah I¡¯m fine, I just needed to sleep for a bit¡­¡± I then hear Cy¡¯s voice from behind me, looking that way I see a black eyeball machine poking out from the book¡¯s pages on a stem. [I¡¯m done with the vehicle, I¡¯ll send it back out again.] The eyeball retracts, the book opens, and out rolls a large glossy black sphere, the sphere had a white zigzagging line going across the middle as well as, the orb also had smaller black balls attached to it where the corners would have been if it was a cube. [Initializing.] The orb splits in two, the halves fall over and are now standing on the four orbs that they each had, also revealing a pair of red soft chairs, one in each, their backrests going above where the orb split. [Have a seat,] Both me and Shiona sit down in one of the halves each. ¡°These are really comfortable.¡± Says Shiona. I agree with her, however the chair was a bit big for me. The four orbs at the bottom of the halves we sat in then started spinning, at first we stay in place, the wheel substitutes only kicking up a cloud of dust behind me, but after a second or so we blast of at a high speed. Looking at Shiona¡¯s half I see that she looks like he¡¯s screaming, however I¡¯m unable to hear her due to the wind. After a few minutes we slow down and come to a halt. [... Out of energy¡­] A pair of blue hands then stretch out and grab both of the vehicles, making them disappear and causing us to fall to the ground with two thuds. ¡°Again with that!¡± Shouts Shiona angrily. ¡°Well there¡¯s not a whole lot left to do other than to just keep going then. By the way, did Lizz explain what happened when she possessed me?¡± ¡°Yeah, a bit.¡± ¡°Well with how she sounded when she left I doubt she¡¯d be willing to come back out again to help me fly, and Cy¡¯s machine is recharging whatever it runs on¡­ So I¡¯m either walking or sliding, but neither of them go the same speed as you when you fly¡­¡± While I¡¯m stuck in deep thought Shiona sneaks up on me and grabs my by one of my shoulders using one of her talons, she then moves her wings and we take off into the skies. As we were going through the skies we talked more about this world and what I¡¯d done in it so far. ¡®By the way book, is there any way for you to see what skills and abilities Shiona has?¡¯ At my question the books starts shaking, like it was shaking its head in a negative response. In fact- ¡°Hey! Stop that!¡± -It shakes us so much that it becomes hard for Shiona to keep us in the air for a moment. ¡®But I guess that means we¡¯ll have to wait until we get to an adventurers¡¯ guild, but I don¡¯t really feel like stopping anywhere on this trip, at least not until we get to Eastern Lake city.¡¯ ¡°Oh yeah, Plush, you said Cy was one of your familiars right? Did you ever actually check what you can do if you borrow her powers?¡± ¡°... No¡­¡± I say as I look down. ¡°Well why not take a look now then?¡± ¡®Book?¡¯ Blue strips of paper appear yet again.
Familiars Due to various circumstances these creatures have become one with the Book of Knowledge, you can either summon them as companions or temporarily gain powers depending on the familiar. Mutated Human (Elizabeth) Behemoth Spider (Cy Tha Adel)
¡®Cy Tha Adel? I didn¡¯t know the T stood for Tha...¡¯ ¡®Alright, I understand. But book, could you show me Cy¡¯s page?¡¯
Behemoth Spider (Cy Tha Adel) You can summon this mutated human to serve as a companion in battle or everyday tasks. While borrowing the powers of a behemoth spider you will be able to communicate with arachnids, most arachnids will also sense the origin of their heritage in you, actively approach you and treat you favorably.
I¡¯m at a loss of words¡­ If I had blood throughout my face most of it would no doubt drain away now. ¡°Well? What does it say?¡± The book extends the slip of paper up to Shiona without me even asking it to and she reads it. Suddenly she descends to the ground and lets me down. She walks off a small distance, Lizz flies out of the book and follows her, they then both take a deep breath. And then they start laughing uncontrollably. Chapter 42 - Shattered dreams ¡°Arachnophobia is a serious thing!¡± ¡°How!? They¡¯re adorable! That¡¯s like being scared of puppies!¡± Shouts Lizz at me while holding back her laughter. ¡°You- you do know the average person swallows eigh- eight spiders in their sleep a year r-right?¡± Asks Shiona while having a hard time speaking. ¡°Well for one that¡¯s been proven wrong! And secondly I don¡¯t have a mouth, so ha!¡± It seems that I won the argument, seeing as they have gone quiet and started staring at me. ¡°Plush¡­ Can you take out your mask again? I¡¯d like to take a look at it.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± The book then reaches out an arm and gives her the mask, after looking at it for a bit she flies up to me and holds the flat backside of it in front of my face. There I see myself in the reflection, a round black head with two glowing yellow circles for eyes and- ¡°!¡± And below those two circles there was now a sharp wavy yellow line, like a bunch of yellow ¡°w¡±s attached by their ends. ¡°What the¡­¡± I keep looking at myself, I then try, and succeed, at moving it, both at bending it like a ¡°u¡± or a ¡°~¡±, as well as actually opening it, and when I do it opens properly rather than just changing the shape of the light like with my eyes. The book takes back the mask and Lizz then asks me: ¡°... Can you eat?¡± And after she asks that Shiona puts her wing to her chin and seems to start thinking about something. ¡°... I¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Lizz then flies into the book, and after a few seconds she comes back out while holding a meat skewer. I take the meat skewer and try it, I take off one of the pieces of meat from the skewer and toss it in my mouth, and after I close my jagged cloth-lips I instinctively start chewing it with teeth I didn¡¯t even see that I had. I then somehow swallow, though I¡¯ve no idea how. ¡°Well?¡± Asks Lizz and the both of them stare at me in anticipation. ¡°... I don¡¯t feel like I did something wrong, actually it felt like when I used the blue jellies¡­¡± ¡°Could you taste it?¡± Asks Shiona as a follow up. ¡°Surprisingly, yes.¡± I say as I take another bit of meat, after which Lizz flies by and snaggs the skewer from me, I stare at her a bit in contempt. ¡°It¡¯s pretty good actually.¡± I say as I take out a new meat skewer from the pouch, at this it becomes Lizz¡¯s turn to give me the evil eye, however it soon changes and gains a mischievous glint which I am all too familiar with once I finish the skewer. ¡°Say, now that you have a mouth it means the spider thing could still happen, ri- Ah¡­ It disappeared¡­¡± Hearing what she said i take the mask back out and see that my mouth has indeed disappeared completely, leaving only the seamless surface of black cloth which my head is made of. ¡°Well that¡¯s¡­ convenient? I think?¡± Lizz sighs and flies goes back inside the me, Shiona and I then take off again while she¡¯s still giggling. After a while the trees below us disappear and are replaced by a mostly empty patch of yellowish-green grass with a few gray stones sprinkled about, there we see a dirt road, and on that dirt road was a carriage, however it didn¡¯t look very normal. ¡°Are those¡­¡± ¡°Those are goblins.¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure you meant ¡®were goblins¡¯...¡± The carriage was made of a rusted metal and was covered in half-meter long rusted metal spikes sticking out on all sides, on those spikes were a large number of goblins and a few hobgoblin who had most likely killed themselves on the spikes, and from the back of the carriage came a cloud of black smoke. It was the same for the horses, they seemed to be wearing full body rusted armor which was covered in impaled goblins as well as having small pipes on their helmets which black smoke came out of. Behind the carriage there was a long trail of still flowing blood.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I notice that we start descending, eventually my feet touch the ground and Shiona lets go of me. She then lands a meter or so away and throws up. ¡°Are you okay!?¡± After she finishes she responds to me. ¡°Are you kidding me!? How could I be okay after seeing that!? And how are YOU okay!?¡± ¡°You know I helped my father at the butchery, I¡¯ve seen enough gore to be fine with this.¡± ¡°But those weren¡¯t animals! These are sentient creatures!¡± She screams at me. ¡°Ha!¡± Laughs Lizz who had come out of the book. ¡°First of all I think you mean sapient.¡± This casual response catches Shiona off guard and she looks at her blankly. ¡°Secondly, these things aren¡¯t sapient at all, they¡¯re stupider than wild animals. Tell me, how do you think those goblins got impaled on that carriage?¡± ¡°It drove into them obviously!¡± Shouts Shiona, angry at how we¡¯re all looking at the same thing yet only she is reacting. ¡°Oh really?¡± She says and points to the back of the carriage. ¡°So that must mean those horses pushed the cart backwards in order to get those goblins then? Without impaling themselves first? And what about the ones on the roof? Trust me when I say this, those goblins are stupider than stone and I would bet all the food in my room in the book that they simply walked into the carriage and impaled themselves all on their own. Though I admit not even I¡¯m certain how they got on the roof like that¡­¡± Shiona seems becomes so shocked that her anger dissipates and just looks at the goblin corpses. ¡°Honestly, people have been researching goblins for centuries yet no one know how the hell they haven¡¯t gone extinct yet. There are some species that kidnap humans and use them for breeding, with the ones abducting males being much more successful due to a lot of them coming along willingly, however no one has ever seen that be pulled off by goblins, Every so often highbreed goblins are seen though, these are smarter than others and usually help the rest of their tribe gather food, when they come out it usually gets pretty ugly, even uglier than the goblins themselves, however even then it¡¯s incredibly rare to hear stories about goblins successfully taking out even the smallest of villages before doing something stupid and getting themselves killed, though that¡¯s not to say it hasn¡¯t happened, about once every century there¡¯s been an uprising of some highbreed goblin who found out how to make goblins stronger.¡± She finally takes a deep breath and then continues, both me and Shiona being to shocked by how she suddenly started acting to stop her. ¡°It¡¯s actually one of the thirteen wonders of this world just how the hell goblins are even born, no one has ever seen a pregnant goblin. Really, feeling bad for goblins is like feeling bad for mosquitos.¡± And with that it seems like Shiona was finally convinced as she stood up, her face still having a confused look on it due to the stream of information that suddenly flowed out of Lizz. ¡°HEY! You guys okay!?¡± Looking away from Lizz I see that the carriage had stopped and three people had come out of it and started approaching us. They were all very tall and thin, they wore simple clothing, brown pants and white shirts, both of which were covered in oil and grime, they all wore leather goggles, one wore them on his forehead, one wore them normally, and the last one, a woman, had them hanging around her neck. They all also had sharp pointy ears, white skin and blonde-white hair, the woman had short and spiky hair while the men had it long hair tied into a bun behind their heads. As they approached us we see that they didn¡¯t just look thin, but even malnourished, their arms were so skinny that they looked like they hadn¡¯t been used almost at all, neither having much muscle nor fat on them. Once they get to us all three of them crouch down and are completely out of breath. ¡°Are you guys okay!?¡± Asks Shiona. The female raises one hand, and on that hand she raises her index finger, telling us to wait. After a bit they all raise their heads and we see they all have large dark circles under their eyes, the eyes of one of the men turn inwards and he fall to the ground, fainted. *thud* The man who fell had had the bad luck of hitting his forehead on a rock and had started bleeding profusely. ¡°Ah! Shro! Are you okay!?¡± Asks the other man who I now saw had a short white beard, and in response the one who fell lifts a bloodied hand and gives a thumbs up. Shiona fumbles a bit in her bag and pulls out a glass vial filled with liquid the same color as the healing jellies and pours it on the back of the fallen man¡¯s head. In response the man lifts his other arm and gives another thumbs up and says thank you, though we don¡¯t hear it too well due to his mouth being in the dirt. The other two help the man back up, his now blood covered face looking like something straight out of a high class horror movie. ¡°Thanks.¡± Says the woman and starts scratching the back of her head while smiling wryly. ¡°We came out to see whether you guys needed help when we saw you standing next to the forest, turns out the roles got reversed.¡± At this the two men also smile just as wryly back at her, the man whose name was apparently Shro looking even scarier than before now that his blood covered face was combined with a smile which we can instantly tell hasn''t been practiced. ¡°Well the least we can do is introduce ourselves, I¡¯m Fallis, the man you helped is Shro, and that¡¯s his brother, Rosh. Also which one of you guys owns this blessed doll? I don¡¯t want to corrupt him by getting in his way....¡± ¡°Corrupt him?¡± Shiona asks and looks at me. ¡°You don¡¯t know about Blessed Dolls?¡± ¡°Erm, Fallis was it? I¡¯m not a Blessed Doll.¡± I say while holding up my hand to get her attention? ¡°Wait really? Then are you a Fleecy? Wait no, those guys all wear those weird masks, hum¡­¡± She puts one of her hands at on her chin and supports it with her other. Something she says catches my non-existent ears. ¡°This?¡± I ask and pull out the mask from the book behind my back, however to them it looks like the mask must¡¯ve been hanging off of it all the time. ¡®I probably shouldn¡¯t just tell them what I am, but this might be my only opportunity to find out.¡¯ ¡°Yes! Wait, how did you take that off? I¡¯ve never seen one without it¡­¡± ¡°Wait!¡± Shouts Lizz. ¡°He told you what he is, and you can easily see what we all are, but what are you? I¡¯ve never seen humans with ears like that. ¡°Oh! Sorry about that, I got a bit excited. Erm, I don¡¯t remember what the humans call us, but we call ourselves elves- -=Shiona POV=- ¡°... ourselves elves- ¡°NOOOOOOO!!!!¡± I scream, disregarding everyone¡¯s surprise. ¡®These can¡¯t be elves! They¡¯re dirty! They look like homeless people! They pollute the air! One of them even has a beard for crying out loud!¡¯ Chapter 43 - Handful of feathers for a handful of sleep. -=Plush POV=- Eventually Shiona calms down enough to stop screaming, however she still looks angry whenever she looks at the elves. I ask them more about the so called Fleecy, their plural name apparently also being just Fleecy ¡®Thank god they weren¡¯t called Fleecies at least¡­¡¯ At first Fallis looks a bit confused but Lizz makes a ploy saying that I have amnesia. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s got to be hard. Ehm¡­ You know what? Sure. Most elves don¡¯t really like outsiders, but sure, you did end up helping us. (Although the only reason we were in trouble to begin with was to help you¡­)¡± The last part was said in a whisper, almost quiet enough to not be heard at all. All six of us head to the carriage, when we get there Shro (the beardless one) pulls out something from his pocket and seems to push something on it, the back of the carriage then opens by folding upwards, like a cat door, and we step inside. Once inside Shro presses the devices again the door closes, making the inside of the carriage turn pitch black, however soon a lamp at the center of the roof of the carriage turns on. The inside of the carriage had a single table at the center which was surrounded by chairs, the chair at the front was a swivel chair and behind it there was a large window. Rosh sits down on the swivel chair and the other two sit on the sides of the table, we then follow their example, however there was only one more seat and since Shiona is the tallest of us she sits there while I and Lizz climb onto the table. Only now does it strike me just how tall these elves are, even Shiona, the tallest one of us, is only half the size of them, making them on average about two meters. Rosh then puts his hands behind his head and takes off his hair tie, his hair then expanding, eventually standing out like an afro, he then swivels on his chair, faces the window, and without touching anything the horses begin to pull the carriage. ¡°You said you wanted to know about the Fleecy, right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s really not a lot that i can tell you about them as a species that you probably haven¡¯t already found out, hell, you probably know even more than us, we¡¯ve never even seen one without its mask before, but what little I can tell you is just that they¡¯re helpful little people that run around our villages and, well, help us. We don¡¯t know where they live but a few times per day we just find them around the village helping us with stuff, and in return they get some food, then they just wander off. Like I said, we¡¯ve no idea where they live but if you meet one of them you can probably ask.¡± ¡°Alright, but where''s your village then?¡± Suddenly she opens her eyes wide for a moment but then begins to think.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Ouh... I just remembered¡­ Like I said, most elves don''t like socializing with strangers, it''s even to the point where they have completely forbidden outsiders from entering the village¡­¡± She says and hangs her head. Rosh who was somehow steering the carriage then raises his voice. ¡°How about I take it up with my father-in-law?¡± ¡°You''d go that far!?¡± Exclaims Fallis. ¡°Uhm¡­¡± Shiona raises her hand. ¡°Ah, well, Rosh here is married to the village heads daughter, however village head himself doesn''t like Rosh, in fact they can''t be in the same room without him trying to make Rosh feel as uncomfortable and awkward as possible.¡± ¡°Don''t worry about it, you guys did save my brother after all, that''s worth just slightly more than having to deal with that old man.¡± Shro and Fallis look at Rosh with admiration as he says that. ¡®It sounds kind of¡­ minor? I would¡¯ve expected it to be something way worse with how they made it sound¡­¡¯ Rosh then smiles at us, however due to his face being so skinny that we can see the shape of his cheek bones shadows were created across his face from the poor lighting and he just looked scary. Rosh then speaks up again. ¡°It will take us a while to get back home so it¡¯s probably best if you guys go wherever you were headed and we go separate ways. By the way, if I do get approval, where could we find you guys?¡± ¡°Well¡±- Responds Lizz before I have a chance to answer. ¡°-currently we live in Eastern lake city, we¡¯re on our way there now actually, and we shouldn¡¯t have any reason to leave again anytime soon, so if you get it then come tell us there, we¡¯re staying in an inn called the ¡®Quartets¡ä inn¡¯.¡± ¡°A-Okay, but Eastern lake city huh¡­ That¡¯s pretty far away as well, however we¡¯re heading the same way until we get outside this country and that¡¯s going to take at least a few days, maybe more, so how about traveling together until then?¡± ¡°Sounds good!¡± Says Shiona who had suddenly perked up, guess flying for so long took its toll on her after all. ¡°Shro, could you pull down some beds for them?¡± ¡°Beds?¡± I ask. Shro nods to Rosh and walks to the now closed door, when he gets there he grabs a long metal bar going horizontally along the door and pulls it back, when he does a large net which was attached to the bar follows it, and once he secures it in a few holes in the wall it looks like a giant square hammock made of a net. ¡°There you go.¡± He says. ¡°Us three are used to sleeping in chairs so you guys will probably be needing this bed more than us.¡± Shiona sits on the edge of the net hammock and tests it, after she¡¯s satisfied she then grabs me by the arm and pulls me up, I then find myself wrapped in her wings like a blanket. ¡°Hey!¡± Shouts Lizz as she tries to reach me, however after a while she stops making noise and I hear a small *plop* sound from outside, presumable from Lizz deciding Shiona was a good enough bed after all and all three of us then go to bed. When I wake up I slowly crawl my way out of Shona¡¯s wings, but only after I stick out my head do I realize how nice and toasty it was inside and return inside. ¡®How the hell are the elves able to sleep in such cold temperatures!?¡¯ I try to fall asleep again but just as I¡¯m about to i hear a loud rumbling sound. I stick my head back outside and come face to mask with a blushing Shiona. ¡°... Do you have any foo?¡± ¡°... Yeah.¡± I crawl my way out of her wings and open the book, I then stretch my arm inside of it and pull out a large number of meat skewers. ¡®At least this will be a quieter food than if we were to use a fork and knife on a plate.¡¯ Shiona tries her best to eat however her wings weren¡¯t meant to hold things so I end up having to help her eat with one hand while I savor the flavor of some meat skewers of my own with the other. I swear this wasn¡¯t what I planned for when I chose to take out the meat skewers, no sir. After a few four or so skewers each she seems satisfied, however she seems to have eaten a bit too much as food coma starts kicking in, she puts back on her mask which she had previously moved a bit upwards to eat and then hugs me again before I¡¯m even able to put away the sticks the meat was skewered on and she falls asleep instantly and starts breathing in a steady manner. Chapter 44 - Earthquake in the bathroom When morning comes all of us get up- The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Chapter 45 - Sub-space refrigerator We leave the forest which the carriage was parked, Lizz heads back into the book while I and Shiona head to the gate, once there I show my adventurer¡¯s license and pay five copper for Shiona¡¯s entry. We walked down the main road which went straight to the other side of the town, and since we could see the gate all the way from here the town seems way smaller than Eastern lake city, although there were too many people on the roads to see what was on the other end of the gate.But as though seemingly to make up for not being as large as Easter lake city this place had way more shops and stalls situated along the main road. We walked up to almost each and every one of them that stocked food, only shying away from the ones that looked¡­ less reputable, however by the time we got the the gate on the other side of the town we hadn¡¯t bought anywhere near as much as I would¡¯ve wanted. ¡°Halt!¡± As we were leaving the city through the gate we had gotten to we were stopped by a guard. ¡°To enter the high district a fee of fifty silver is required! Adventurers¡¯ licenses are not accepted!¡± He shouts while standing stiff as a spike. ¡®High district?¡¯ I look behind the guard and see that the other side of the gate is not in fact filled with the view of the outside, but rather it was more townscape, even more bustling than the part of the town which we had just gone through. ¡°Well maybe they have more stores in here, what do you think Shiona?¡± ¡°Could be worth a look at least, if you feel like giving him a whole gold coin that is.¡± I shrug my shoulders, or at least I think I do, I never really thought about whether I had shoulders or not, since I have neither elbows or knees, and hand the guard a gold coin, leaving me with thirty one left. The man steps aside and ushers us in, not letting the way he acts change just from seeing that we did in fact have the money to pass. ¡®Guess SOME guards are profesional at least.¡¯ I think as I remember my first encounter with a guardsman. Getting to the other side of the wall we immediately see a big difference between this place and the, err, low district? The houses in the temporarily named low district were a mix of one and two story building, most of them being one story with only a few taller buildings sticking out from the rest every here and there, while the high district seemed to have the same proportions, but opposite, with most buildings having two floors with only about a tenth only having a single floor. I look to Shiona and see her looking around i excitement. ¡®Come to think of it this is the largest town she¡¯s been in in the last three years. Wonder how she¡¯ll react when she sees the three-floored jungle that is Eastern lake city.¡¯ We continue walking down the main road which had become wider and had gained a pattern in the stones used to build it, eventually coming across what looks like a general store. *ding ding* A bell can be heard as we enter, and inside we see a woman chewing on a piece of wood sitting at the counter with her feet on it and reading what looks like a newspaper, she points towards the center of the roof where there¡¯s a see through orb with a red light inside and says: ¡°Security, don¡¯t try to steal.¡± And then continues reading. We walk around inside and the red light inside the orb follows us. ¡°Ugh, that thing creeps me out¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it.¡± Answers the shopkeep, not caring that Shiona wasn¡¯t talking to her. I look around and see small tables around the place with open wooden boxes on them, the boxes filled with various foodstuffs. ¡°Excuse me but is it possible to buy an entire box?¡± She looks back up at me, though due to my height she doesn¡¯t have to look up very much.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Depends on which box you want.¡± ¡°Well I¡¯m kind of short see? I can¡¯t actually tell what you have in stock.¡± Although the tables that the crates were on were short, they were still too tall for both me and Shiona. The shopkeeper sighs and puts down her book, she then points towards each of the crates and explains to me. *????*????* A good few hours later we walk out of the store, the book containing ten less gold but taking their place is all the food that we¡¯ll need for a very long time. When the shopkeeper had understood we were serious about the amount we would purchase she had ran out the store while telling us to wait and then coming back a couple of minutes with tens of other shopkeepers from various other stores, letting us stock up on fruits, vegetables, flour, spice, meat and all sorts of ingredients, as well as a large amount of the various kinds of potion jellies from one of the shopkeepers that dealt with adventurers. Luckily for us all of the shopkeepers left after we were done to discus ¡°information fees¡± with the one who ran the store we were actually in, letting me put everything in the book without them seeing me. We walk through the gate to the low district, pleased to discover that the fifty silver toll was only for entering and not for exiting, and then leave the town fully, paying another five copper. Once we get to the carriage I pick up a rock and knock on one of the spikes on it, letting the elves know we¡¯re there so they can open for us. After talking with the elves for a bit Fallis then sits down at the front and starts steering the horses which I have now realized are actually machines rather than actual horses with armor on them. ¡°Plush, do you¡­ Do you think you could start cooking please?¡± Asks Shiona sheepishly. ¡°Wait, how are you going to cook even?¡± Asks Lizz who has since flown back out. ¡°Well I was thinking you could take over for me here and I¡¯ll cook in the apartment.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± And so I borrow Lizz¡¯s power again, putting her in charge of my body while I go inside the book and head to the kitchen. While I¡¯m wondering how I¡¯m even get the food from the inventory and in here I open the fridge out of pure habit, and see the fridge isn¡¯t so much a fridge as it is a door to another room. ¡®Lucky I didn¡¯t ask just as I was doing that.¡¯ I think quietly as I imagine how much fun Lizz would¡¯ve had with my mistake. I head inside the fridge room and see all of the crates of food which we had just bought, as well as the food left from what we were given by the quartet. Touching the already made food I can feel that it¡¯s somehow still warm, but I decide not to mind it and simply grab the things I¡¯m going to use. A bag of flour, a small container of olive oil, some yeast, salt, cheese, tomatoes, ham, onions, and garlic. I go back outside the fridge and put them down on the counter. ¡­ Or rather I try to, however I¡¯m too short¡­ I try to create some stilts or something to stand on, however with no success. ¡®So I can¡¯t use skills in here¡­ But then what?¡± Out of all the things I was thinking would get in the way of cooking this one had never come to mind. I look back up at the counter and see- [Hi.] A spider. A spider the size of my face. A spider the size of my face, right in front of my face. I drop all the things I¡¯m holding, however yet again my small size made the fall too short for anything to break. ¡®...Hi.¡¯ [Could you let me out?] ¡® Wait what!?¡¯ [I want to talk to the elves about what they¡¯ve discovered.] ¡®That¡¯s not what I meant! You know the book doesn¡¯t have enough power to let you out, and even if it did you¡¯re way to conspicuous!¡¯ I think, letting my fear of spiders control how loudly I thought. [... I meant the way Elizabeth does it.] ¡®... Oh. Hang on, let me think a bit...¡¯ I then think quietly to myself, wondering if it¡¯s really a good idea to make Cy¡¯s powers inaccessible to me when I don¡¯t have her help, but then I realize- ¡®Wait, isn¡¯t that a great idea!? If I make it so I can only use Cy¡¯s powers while I¡¯m in the book, then that means I won¡¯t have to deal with the spiders that her power attracts!¡¯ I snap my fingers, however since I can¡¯t use my skills here it doesn¡¯t create any satisfying sound. ¡°Lizz, get back inside!¡± I can hear Cy asking one of the male elves, not sure who though, apparently she took out her talking machine. Responds the elf in a gloating way while holding one of his hands on one of the magic doors. <[I admit, the spell structure itself is impressive and new to me, but the rest is¡­]> At this I could hear a very fake sounding sigh coming from the voice machine, guess that''s something she needs to work on. <[It''s a huge waste.]> <[Both the parts which absorb energy from the surroundings as well as those which use skill energy to create mechanical energy is really inefficient, if you worked out those kinks you could probably fit a room twice this size inside.]> Cy then started talking more in depth about each of the parts of both the doors, the carriage itself, and the mechanical horses and how to improve them. *groan* *klick* All this techno babble was giving me a headache so I decided to turn off the TV. ¡°?¡± *sniff sniff* And when I did I could smell something tasty, I lost myself in the smell and before I knew it I found myself inside the kitchen, looking into a large white cube with a glass window, inside was a yellow bubbling¡­ Something, I don''t know what but it''s yellow and is bubbling almost like boiling water. ¡°Excuse me.¡± I hear a voice coming from behind me and I move out of the way without taking my eyes off of the food. ¡°Thank you.¡± Says the voice, after that two large arms covered in cloth stretch out and open the large white box, they then grab the metal plate which the food was on and take it out, putting it the top of the box.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. I then hear the sound of someone opening one of the tableware drawers and soon two human hands reach out to the dish with an odd round rotating knife and starts cutting it into triangles. I look away from the dish and see that there was indeed a human here, he had boring brown hair and a boring face, nothing special about him, he looked like he was troubled over something however soon snapped out of it, the human then used the circular knife to cut one of the triangle pieces into four smaller triangles and handed me one of them. ¡°Here you go.¡± He says while grabbing one of the larger pieces for himself. I wasn''t really sure about how I was supposed to eat this so I look at the man and simply use my hands like he does. A few minutes later the entire dish was gone and I was sitting contented on one of the chairs while the human was making more by flattening a piece of dough. ¡°Wait, who the fuck are you!?¡± The man just looks at me, a bit confused by what I said, his face carrying the feeling of ¡®What do you mean?¡¯ incarnate, however it then switches to a face of slight shock before he looks at himself and I swear his eyes go at least halfway outside of his head when he does. The man still doesn''t say anything, however with a puff of smoke the man disappears and in his place stands Plush. ¡°God fucking damnit!¡± ¡°What!?¡± ¡°Don''t scare me like that! I though an outsider had gotten in!¡± ¡°How the hell would that even happen!?¡± ¡°I don''t know and that''s why I was scared!¡± I start panting after all this shouting but manage to calm down from the small break. ¡°I''d ask what happened to you but more importantly; what is this food!?¡± ¡°I''m amazed by your sense of priority.¡± ¡°Like you''re one to speak mister forget-I-have-an-illusion-ring!¡± ¡°Point taken- ¡°Speaking of, before you fainted last time I heard you say something about needing to practice with that trickster¡¯s sleight skill, whatever happened to that?¡± ¡°... I forgot¡­¡± I sigh and keep staring at Plush until he understands why. ¡°Oh, and the food is called pizza.¡± ¡°...And?¡± ¡°... And what?¡± ¡° And how did you make something this tasty!? I''ve never seen anything like it before!¡± ¡°Well I didn''t make it myself, I''m not sure if this is true but I hear it was originally a farmers food where they just threw together what leftovers they had and put it in the oven.¡± ¡°Oven?¡± Plush points towards the large white box. ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°But man, you made me lose my momentum, i have no idea how I even did that¡­¡± I felt like I should tell him so he can make food, but instead I snag what¡¯s left of the pizza and hole myself up in my bedroom, after a while I can hear sounds coming from the kitchen so he must''ve figured it out on his own. -=Cy POV=- ¡®Honestly these elves, gloating about everything they¡¯ve made without even knowing how shoddy it really is.¡¯ -=Elves POV=- ¡®This is amazing! All these new ideas! This will revolutionise magic craftsmanship!¡¯ ¡°We will make you proud teacher!!!¡± ¡Á3 -=Shiona POV=- *sigh* Ever since Cy came out the carriage stopped and all three of the elves are staring at Plush/Cy with gleaming eyes, taking notes every time her machine says something and no one is willing to tear themselves away in order to drive the carriage. *sigh* ¡®I heard sighing is bad for you but I can''t help it.¡¯ -=Charlie POV=- ¡°Hold your ground!¡± ¡°Aye!¡± ¡Á2 ¡®Of course it had to be this!¡¯ I think as I jump to the side to avoid a translucent fist crashing down where I stood. I look up at the golem in front of us in contempt as Baom releases arrows trying to hit the golem in its core while Diifan is trying to get its attention. ¡®Of course the golem had to be made of fucking crystal! Why couldn''t it have been made of, I dunno, rock!? Then we could have just opened it up with magic!¡¯ *SLAM* ¡°Gah!¡± ¡°Here!¡± I throw a few red jellies towards Diifan who was just sent flying by the golem''s arm. ¡°Graahh!!!!¡± ¡®Oh no. he snapped.¡¯ I look towards Diifan, he hasn''t even used the jellies I threw him, as he charges straight at the golem, jumps high in the air and slams straight down with the sharp end of his shield sword into the head of the golem, piercing it and destroying the core. The golem falls apart, leaving all the crystal it was made out of in small chunks on the ground. -=Cathy & Hannah POV=- (Explicit content) -=Plush POV=- I keep making pizza while humming an old classic from an Italian cowboy. ¡®Pizza mozzarella, pizza mozzarella, rella rella rella rella¡­¡¯ -=??? POV=- SUNSHINE! ENERGY! NUTRIENTS! Chapter 47 - -=Plush POV=- After I start getting the hang on this whole form changing thing I continue making pizza, every so often I go back into the fridge room to get new toppings to try out, and after I¡¯m satisfied with the number of them I put them all inside of the cooler room. I don¡¯t know exactly why, I think something¡¯s up with the ingredients, but it only took a couple of minutes for the dough to rise rather than the usual hour it took back home, otherwise it would¡¯ve taken longer than a day to make all of these pizzas. I wipe my hands of the flour on a towel and walk into the living room, once there a just plop down into the sofa and almost fall asleep immediately. ¡°Hey.¡± Though I was kept awake by a certain someone. ¡°Give me more pizza.¡± ¡°No. Wait for lunch.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t give me pizza I will pester you about that form.¡± ¡°If you pester me about that then I¡¯ll pester you about your past.¡± Lizz starts grinding her teeth and then looks away while pouting and murmuring about pizza. ¡°Just let me rest for a bit a and I¡¯ll go outside and prepare for lunch okay?¡± ¡°Then undo your transformation!¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°... Oh. Right.¡± I hadn¡¯t even been thinking about that whole thing while I was cooking and completely forgot about it. I follow Lizz¡¯s advice and just stop thinking about my old self, I then quickly turn back into the stuffed toy, fast enough for me to be called a ninja had there been a small cloud of smoke. The moment I do return to, err, normal, I immediately feel rested again, when I look to my side I see Lizz looking at me. ¡°Well?¡± She asks. ¡®... I feel rested¡­¡¯ ¡°Then it¡¯s lunch time!¡± After she shouts that she flies off to somewhere and I soon hear her talking from the outside. ¡®Err, Cy?¡¯ ¡®Is it fine if I come back out? Or are you doing something important?¡¯ ¡®Ehm, sure, just grab one from inside the cooling room when you¡¯re here.¡¯ My vision then flashes black before I find myself sitting on the table inside of the carriage. ¡°Aww¡­¡± I hear all the elves sound out their disappointment as Fallis goes and sits back down at the controls, Rosh goes to the bathroom and Shro grabs a bottle of alcohol. ¡°Welcome back Plush.¡± Says Shiona. ¡°Thanks, here you go.¡± I say and have the book take out a pizza, and almost instantly the two elves still in the room turn to me with glimmering eyes, a few seconds later I hear the toilet get flushed and Rosh runs back outside and they all stare at the pizza. I look at them for a second before taking out the pizza slicer from inside the book and cut the pizza into six slices, I then han one slice to Shiona, one to Lizz, one the table next to me and- ¡°!¡± -Put the last three slices back in the book, causing the three elves eyes to tear up as they stare at the book in disbelief. ¡°I would¡¯ve given you guys some if you hadn¡¯t been so rude when I came back.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. When I say that Shro takes out two more glasses and pours some alcohol for Rosh and Fallis, they then take the glasses they were given and down it in one go, fallis then begrudgingly sits back down and continues driving. ¡°Should she really be driving after just having downed a third of a bottle?¡± Asks Shiona worriedly. ¡°She¡¯ll be fine.¡± Tries one of the Shro to reassure her, however the effect is weakened by Shro then proceeding to fall over fainted. ¡°Uhm, Fallis, if you let one of us drive I¡¯ll give you some pizza.¡± Fallis literally jumps out of her chair and bows to me. ¡°But first you¡¯ll have to teach me to drive.¡± ¡°No me!¡± Shouts shiona ¡°No. You never got your driver''s license so no.¡± ¡°That doesn-¡± ¡°It does matter!¡± Shiona starts sulking while eating the rest of her pizza as I walk to the seat Fallis was sitting on. * * * A while later we¡¯re speeding along the road, sometimes I slow down to take out another pizza or to use a blue jelly and every so often I speed up even more while receiving tips from Cy on ho to more efficiently use my energy to control the magic that these machine horses use. ¡°You¡¯re really good at this Plush, better than us at least.¡± Says one of the male elves, I don¡¯t want to turn around while I¡¯m driving so I don¡¯t know which one it is. ¡°Cy is giving me tips.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± I hear him reply, his voice dripping with envy, however he soon responds with a voice filled with admiration instead after I hand Him a slice of pizza and he sits back at the table. ¡°... Which way am I even supposed to be going?¡± ¡°*munch* Just go *chew* straight ahead. *swallow* I¡¯ll tell you when we¡¯re there.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± We then pass the time in silence, again with me taking out some pizza or jellies every now and then. *SLAM* *CLANG CLANG CLANG* ¡°OOOOUUUUHHHH!!!!¡± Until we hear a tons of metallic clanging followed a very loud cacophony of spirited yells. ¡°Now I dunt kno what kine of beasts these ¡®ere are buh I reggon we can take em! Wadyal say!?¡± *CLANG CLANG CLANG* ¡°OOOOUUUUHHHH!!!!¡± People starts walking out in front of the carriage while clanging their shields. At this all of the elves sigh, put down their pizza. ¡°Plush, I¡¯ll need to take over here for a bit.¡± Says Fallis while the other two fold out panels from the sides of the carriage, the walls then turn see through, letting us see that they¡¯re not just in front of us but also surrounding us on all sides. ¡°Shiona I heard Lizz say you weren¡¯t that good with blood so I recommend you go into on of the side rooms and close the door. Shiona nods her head and enters the bathroom, the people surrounding us then step close while their apparent leader keeps talking about killing the mechanical horses and selling the pieces for high prices while plundering everything we have. The two elves on the sides start pushing buttons on the panels they folded out and when they do- *fwuit* *schunk* ¡°Gah!¡± Every time they push one of the buttons one of the spikes on the outside are shot out at the people, piercing them and killing them too fast for them to react and within seconds each of the people surrounding us are laying down on the ground, dead. the two elves the push another bigger button, causing each of the spikes to get reeled back in on a wire, carrying the corpses with them. Fallis then pushes one final button, this one causing the spikes to start spinning rapidly, clearing our view of the corpses by throwing them away to the sides. ¡°Say, these guys wouldn¡¯t have anything important right?¡± ¡°Nah, these kinds of bandits usually keep all their loot in their base, but feel free to go outside and look if you want.¡± I look outside ad see a mess of flesh and blood. ¡°I¡­ I think I¡¯m fine.¡± Fallis shrugs her shoulders and goes to knock on the bathroom door. ¡°All the bandits are dead but you shouldn¡¯t come out until we get away from here.¡± I then sit down at the main drivers seat and start driving us forwards again. *???? * ???? * ¡°Hey Plush.¡± Shouts Fallis from behind me. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°I was expecting it to take at least another day for us to arrive at the edge of the country but we¡¯ll soon be there, us three are going to be staying at the edge for tonight so if you want you can sleep here before leaving in the morning.¡± ¡°What do you think Shiona?¡± ¡°I think that sounds good, if you¡¯re fine with taking a bit of extra time that is.¡± ¡°Well there you have it Fallis. By the way, how soon do you mean by ¡®soon there¡¯?¡± ¡°A minute or so.¡± ¡°And you said soon a minute ago, so do you mean a minute from now or from then?¡± I start slowing down the carriage. ¡°From then.¡± ¡°So then we¡¯re here?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± I sigh and stop the carriage fully, creating lines in the ground from the mechanical horses¡¯ hoofs. ¡°It will be a bit longer until it gets dark so feel free to do whatever.¡± Says Shro and brings out another bottle of alcohol and the others sit down with him as Lizz goes back in the book while yawning. ¡°Any plans Shiona?¡± ¡°I was thinking of heading outside to see what i can do, you have that fancy book of yours but so you already know your stuff but I¡¯ve no such thing.¡± ¡°I¡¯m coming with, nothing better to do.¡± ¡°No you don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Yes I do, I¡¯m not going to let you get killed by a goblin just because you couldn¡¯t bear to hurt them.¡± Shiona looks half angry and half embarrassed as we walk out of the carriage. Chapter 48 - -=Shiona POV=- After we leave the elven car-wannabe we walk around a bit before coming across a large open area. ¡°By the way, do you even have any plan on how to find out what you can do?¡± In response I wave one of my wings at him, creating a gust larger than what should¡¯ve been made with a wave the speed of the one I performed, sending Plush flying slowly into the crown of one of the trees nearby. ¡°By experimenting of course.¡± Plush then comes back out of the leaves with the sound of, well, someone rustling leaves and says: ¡°Point taken.¡± I keep waving my wings, not flapping them, but rather just waving them at a decent speed, creating gusts of wind which rustles the leaves of nearby trees as well as making a large number of them fall off, bothering the birds in the sky by interrupting their flight path and even making some of them crash into each other and falling to the ground. I walk up the the birds and see that they¡¯re about half the size of me. ¡°Hey Plush? Do you know how to cook birds?¡± ¡°... Would it really be a good idea to eat birds if you¡¯re almost a bird?¡± ¡°Well humans are almost monkeys but the tribe that Indiana found ate monkey brains.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Sides, I¡¯m not willing to give up nuggets!¡± ¡°... Fair enough, I don¡¯t know how to make any complicated dishes with anything other than chicken, but nuggets can¡¯t be that hard¡­ I think¡­¡± I nod with satisfaction and start thinking. ¡®Well what else have I been able to do since I came here three years ago?¡¯ I walk up to one of the trees and try kicking it. *thunk* Despite neither having any training, form, grace nor style my straight kick still left a large Y-shaped indentation in the bark of the tree. ¡®Okay, strong legs, fan arms, and what else?¡¯ I think for a while, however I¡¯m unable to think of anything, I mean all the time I¡¯ve been here the only things I¡¯ve done is stay at my nest and survive for three years by eating fruit from that one tree. ¡®Actually, speaking of the tree.¡¯ I look at my waist where the tree had wrapped itself around me and turned into a copper colored wooden belt. ¡®Well Plush has that fancy book, so what can you do?¡¯ I take one of the red fruits-turned-orbs from the belt and eat it. ¡°...¡± ¡®... I don¡¯t feel any different¡­¡¯Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! The fruit then grows back on the belt within a few seconds while I keep wondering about just what this accomplished. I try waving my wing. *fwoosh* However it doesn¡¯t seem like the gust of air is any stronger than before, so I then try kicking the tree again. *thunk* And again the indentation in the tree is no larger than before. I remember what Plush explained to me about those jellies, and about how the red ones were made from healing potions, so I fly up into the sky and grab on of the birds with a talon before they can fly away from me and land on the ground with the other. I then scratch the back of the bird, making red liquid start trickling down from the back of it, so sit down on the ground and grab another red fruit from the belt and feed it to the bird. *fzz* *VOOSH* The bird then gets lit on fire and burns to a crisp, not dying until halfway through when I finally stopped hearing that hellish squawking. ¡°...¡± ¡°... Shiona¡­ Are you okay?¡± I look at myself, worried that any moment my green wings will turn into chatcoal, however no such thing happens. I do see a bit of a red hint on my wings, though that¡¯s probably just due to the sundown. ¡°Yes¡­ I think¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s good, but¡­¡± Plush looks upwards and I do the same. ¡°All the birds must¡¯ve left from all that squawking, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be able to find out what the rest of them do¡­¡± It was as he said, there were no longer any birds in the sky. ¡°PULL!¡± I look to Plush and see that he¡¯s just thrown a small rock into the sky. *clack* The rock lands on the ground. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Target practice, let¡¯s try again, PULL!¡± He throws another stone into the sky, this time I try to hit it with a gust. *PHWUIT* But when I swing my wing forwards, rather than a gust of wind hitting the stone a small ball of fire is sent out, hitting the rock and carrying on for a bit, the rock now having a hole in the middle of it, before disappearing fully. Plush and I share another silent moment. I wave my wing again, just as fast as the last time, and just like then a small fireball flies out, though looking at it more closely I see that it looks more like an arrow of fire rather than a ball. I look at my arms yet again, and although the red color in the sky has disappeared it¡¯s still very much present on my feathers. ¡°... Do you still want to try and see what the other orbs do?¡± ¡°I¡­ No, I need to think this over a bit¡­ Let¡¯s go back to the carriage and¡­ Let¡¯s continue tomorrow¡­¡± And just like I said we then head back to the aforementioned carriage. *jiggle jiggle* On our way back we found ourselves facing a large see through blob with a rock inside, a slime if you will. ¡°That¡¯s odd¡­¡± Says Plush, however I realize it¡¯s a good opportunity to have one last experiment with the fire, and I wave my arm at the slime, still fairly quickly but much slower than before. *FWOOSH* This time, rather than an arrow, a cloud of fire the size of the gusts which I was previously able to make and covers the slime, setting it on fire and making it slowly dry out and shrink in size. When the slime has almost completely disappeared the slime suddenly starts growing larger again, becoming the same size as before, no, becoming a bit larger even, and now being red rather than see through. ¡°Uhm, what just happened!?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ the only slimes I¡¯ve seen were green¡­¡± We both look at the slime as it starts wiggling it¡¯s way- ¡°?¡± ¡°?¡± -Away from us. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but I really don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea to let that thing go!¡± Plush then runs up to the slime, starts glowing green and travels through the slimes while taking the core of the slime with him. *splosh* The red slime then liquefies completely and Plush puts the core inside of the pouch on his book. ¡°Well let¡¯s carry on, we can probably find out what this is when we get to the city.¡± Chapter 49 - The return. -=Plush POV=- ¡°Goodbye and have a nice trip!¡± The morning after we leave the elves while waving and saying our goodbyes and walking a separate direction to theirs. ¡°You said we were heading to Eastern lake city right?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°And the elves said we just left the Agrian country, which means we¡¯d be entering the Seran country now.¡± She puts back the map inside her shoulder bag. ¡®It always amazes me how she¡¯s able to do everything with only her feet.¡¯ ¡°We head along this path-¡± She points her wing along one of the roads on the crossroads we¡¯re on. ¡°-And we¡¯ll get to Eastern lake, no extra stops on the way and we should be there by sundown I think.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± And we both start walking along the path, every so often Shiona would stop and use on of her legs to try one of the tree belts fruits. *chomp* The edges of her feathers turned light blue from eating a fruit of the same color. *fwoosh* When she waved her wing a white cloud of snow and glimmering ice particles appeared and traveled a small distance along the ground, leaving a thin layer of frost on anything it touched before disappearing. *CRASH* She then swung her wing faster than before, the cloud still appeared, however it traveled much faster and soon shrank into a small five centimeter large spiked ball of ice which lodged itself in one of the trees, more ice then started growing around where the ball was stuck, eventually forming an ice shell three times as large as the small ball, or fifteen centimeters. ¡°Huh.¡± Was all she said before eating a somewhat see through gray foggy fruit and continued to walk, the fruit having returned her feather to normal once again. ¡°Do you think you could help me with something using those powers sometime?¡± ¡°Well that depends on what you want me to do.¡± ¡°You know how I use a kitchen inside the book to cook right?¡± ¡°Yeah, Cy opened the book and showed me when we were at the elves place.¡± ¡°Well the freezer in there doesn¡¯t actually work so I can¡¯t make cheesecakes or popsicles without someone¡¯s help.¡± ¡°Popsicles¡­? Do you¡­ Do you think we could make a few right now¡­?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Now that I think about it that would be pretty good right about now. Sure, let me just send out Lizz again.¡± But before Lizz can finish I find myself in the kitchen. ¡®Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make you one too.¡¯ I then enter the fridge freezer, it was the kind where it was a small fridge standing a an equally small freezer, or rather it used to be but now the two doors had combined into one large one that you opened to enter the inventory, meaning neither the fridge nor freezer worked. While there I grabbed a few fruits which looked reminiscent of oranges and went back outside. I opened one of the cupboards and grabbed a plastic mold, it had six popsicle shaped indentations and a plastic popsicle stick in each which were shaped in a way that made them stay at the right height and place where a popsicle stick should be rather than sink down inside fully. I put the popsicle mold down on the table and grabbed a carafe, I cut one of the citrus looking fruits in half, tasted a small bit of the juice and after having decided it tasted fine I squeezed to fruits juice into the carafe, I then filled the rest of the carafe with water and mixed it with a spoon, then I poured the juice into the popsicle mold, put in the popsicles sticks which then covered the openings on the mold so that the juice wouldn¡¯t spill out. ¡®Lizz, I¡¯m done so I¡¯m coming out.¡± I blink and find myself outside again, a blue hand giving me the popsicle mold. I put the mold down on the ground. ¡°Okay, your turn.¡± She eats another of the lightblue fruits and waves her arm and created a cold cloud which quickly froze the popsicles and I walk up to them. I get to the mold and try to take them out, however I¡¯m not strong enough so I phase three of them out instead, I hand one to Shiona, put both one of the popsicles and the mold which still had three of them in it in the inventory and kept one for myself. *chomp* ¡°This is pretty good.¡± *crunch* ¡°... I seriously don¡¯t understand how you can bite popsicles like that.¡± ¡°Pft!¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Lizz got a brainfreeze¡­¡± ¡°Pft!¡± Lizz then stops talking completely. After we finish the popsicles we continue to walk for a bit before we stop to try another fruit, this one being dark blue rather than the previous one which was sky blue. *chomp* ¡°What do those even taste like?¡± ¡°Err, it¡¯s kind of like those mini tomatoes actually.¡± *splash* When she waved her arm at a moderate speed water came out and soaked the ground in front of her. She then swung her arm again, much faster than the last time, this time the water which came out traveled soundlessly at a high speed and left a three or so centimeter deep gash in on the tree it hit. She then pops another foggy fruit and we continue walking again. ¡°Hey is the belt supposed to look like that?¡± I look at Shiona¡¯s waist and see that both the copper color on the outside as well as the lush green leaves on the iide have faded in color, and I now also noticed that the last fruit she ate hadn¡¯t grown back yet. ¡°I, I don¡¯t think so? I¡¯m not exactly a magic tree researcher you know? Ehm¡­ Maybe it¡¯s running low on fuel or something?¡± ¡°What do you mean? ¡°Can¡¯t imagine it can keep creating those fruits over you know? Not that I¡¯ve any idea what it runs on though.¡± She then shrugs her shoulders. ¡°Well it¡¯s a plant right? I think? Then maybe it needs sunlight or water or something, try going into the sky with it maybe.¡± And I too shrug my shoulders. Shiona takes off into the sky and faces towards the sun but soon comes back down while shaking her head. ¡°Nope, still looks just as sickly as before.¡± ¡°Uhm, maybe try putting it in water? Check the map if there¡¯s a lake nearby.¡± She does just that, she takes the map out of her bag using one of her talons and starts using her wings to fly in place so she can read the map with both her talons. ¡°According to this map there should be a river coming up soon if we just follow the road.¡± She then puts the map back in the bag, however rather than land she grabs me by my shoulders and we take of into the sky to see ahead better. ¡°There!¡± I say and point forwards, Shiona also finds the river and then takes off towards it, not letting me down before she dives into it, drenching us both in the cold water. ¡°Still no luck.¡± Says Shiona when she gets back to the surface, I had floated before her by quickly covering myself in an air filled bubble. ¡°We¡¯ll think of something when we get out of the water, I really don¡¯t want either of us to catch a cold before we get there, we¡¯ll probably need all the energy we can muster.¡± When I get out of the river I look behind me and see Shiona still floating where she had broken through the surface of the water earlier. ¡°No¡­ It can¡¯t be that simple¡­¡± She then swims towards me at a speed that would make olympic swimmers envious, once she comes out of the river she quickly takes out a blue jelly from her bag and liquefies it on top of the belt. The drops of the blue potion disappear the moment they touch the belt, restoring a part of its color with every drop. ¡°It¡¯s working!¡± She puts her wings on my sides and squeeze them together, effectively grabbing me without needing any fingers, and started shaking me. ¡°It¡¯s working!¡± ¡°I- get- it- so- please- stop- sha- king- me!¡± ¡°Ah.¡± She stops and puts me back down on the ground. ¡°Sorry.¡± She turns away from me while blushing. ¡°Why are you so excited about this? I¡¯d understand you being happy, but this much? You¡¯re as excited as when we first met here.¡± ¡°Aww, someone''s getting jealous¡­¡± ¡°Shiona¡­¡± She throws her arms in the air. ¡°alright, alright. It¡¯s just, you have the book and all those fancy ghost things while the only thing I can do is fan people, of course I¡¯d be excited to at least have something.¡± After saying that she shrugs her shoulders again. Not really sure how to respond I just let out a weak ¡°Ah.¡±. ¡°Well let¡¯s keep going.¡± She says and starts walking before I think of anything else to say. After *step step step*-ing our back onto the road Shiona pops another fruit, this one green, it hardly even changed the color of her feathers.. When she swung her wing fast it looked as though several of her feather shot out from her and embedded themselves into a tree with what sounded like an echoing *THUNK* sound. We look closer on the feather in the tree and see that they weren¡¯t actually feathers, rather that they were leaves, these leaves quickly withered up and disappeared completely. *woosh* She then swings her wing more slowly yet again, this time a greenish-yellow cloud appeared from her wings, traveled slowly and then landed on the ground. ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± We watched where the cloud had landed, however nothing happened. *woosh* She tried again. *woosh* And again. *woosh* And yet again. *woosh* *woosh* *woosh* *woosh* *woosh* *woosh* *woosh* *woosh* *woosh* *woosh* *woosh* *woosh* *woosh* *woosh* *woosh* She tried many, many times, however time and time again nothing happened. I look worriedly at Shiona and see sweat dripping almost like a stream down from where her chin is behind her mask and I quickly take out a handful of blue jellies from the inventory and splash her in her face with their liquefied versions, finally snapping her out of her trance and dragging her back to reality. ¡°Thanks, I think if you hadn¡¯t done that I would¡¯ve fainted¡­¡± She¡¯s still panting heavily however the stream of sweat dripping down from her seems to have stopped. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, but I think the best we can do with this if we use it in battle is to just hope whoever we use it on is allergic to pollen¡­¡± ¡°Probably¡­ Oh well.¡± After a few seconds she gets back up, eats a cloudy fruit and feeds a jelly to the belt, we then continue walking along the road again. A short while later we come out of the forest and enter a large plain, the road that we''re walking on converges with others into a larger one which leads straight to a very familiar city with tall walls and even taller buildings. ¡°Is that it?¡± ¡°Yup, that''s the Eastern lake city, now come on, let''s go.¡± We walk along the roads to the city, nothing special happening on the way, I show the guard my temporary license, there was a fuzz at first about how the photo didn''t match my face but once I took out the mask they calmed down a bit, makes me wonder what the guards at the previous city were doing, maybe they weren''t as professional as I had thought at first. I pay five copper for Shiona and we enter the city and walk down the main road. While we''re walking towards the inn Shiona keeps looking around at everything, possibly feeling nostalgic as this city is the most developed city she''s seen in three years. ¡°Here we are, this is the inn we''ll be staying at.¡± She looks up at the inn. ¡°Quartets¡¯ inn? Barbershop quartet?¡± ¡°Not quite, it''s run by four sisters, that''s why they named it this.¡± ¡°Oh, okay.¡± I knock at the door and Anna soon comes and opens it. ¡°Welcome back Plush, you all disappeared without saying anything so we were really worried about you until Charlie and company came back and told us.¡± I''m honestly somewhat disappointed by her lack of reaction to me not wearing the mask, but I come to the conclusion that Charlie must''ve told them. ¡®At least I still have something I can surprise them with, something Charlie didn''t know about when we split up.¡¯ Anna then continues: ¡°And then I assume this is your wife Shiona?¡± ¡°Wh-¡± ¡°Yes! Nice to meet you!¡± Before I could clear up the misunderstanding Shiona agreed very excitedly and when I look up at her I can see the corners of an elated smile below her mask. I just sigh and let the two of them talk for a bit before before Anna invites us in. ¡°How is the price going to change now that there''ll be another person staying in my room by the way?¡± ¡°Well the pickits moved out into their own room after they came back so there''s a lot of space in your room now, so let''s just call it a family discount.¡± ¡°Really? Sure, Joanne likes all things magic but I really don''t understand how you guys can be this kind to me.¡± Anna tells us not to worry about it and walks of, but before she disappears behind the corner she tells us dinner will be ready soon and to come back down soon as we can. We get back up to my, now our, room. We look around for a bit before realizing that we didn''t actually have anything we needed to do here so we go back down to the dining room ¡°Welcome back!¡± ¡Á8 I hear as we enter the room. ¡®Wait, eight voices?¡¯ I look around the table and see Anne, Anna, Hannah, Joanne, Charlie, Baom, Diifan and- ¡°Cathy? Hugh?¡± ¡°Hello.¡± Says Cathy calmly as she eats with one hand and holds hands with Hannah with the other, Hugh though- ¡°Ga-ha-hah! Thanks for introducing me to this place earlier! The food''s delicious! Better than anything I''ve ever had!¡± When he shouts this Joanne starts blushing and looking down to the ground. ¡°Now introduce us! Who''s the lass!?¡± Hugh asks, still shouting. Shiona rapidly introduces herself to them as my wife, possibly worried I wouldn''t have included that detail on my own. ¡°Shiona, these four:¡± I gesticulate to the four colorfully haired girls sitting on one of of the table. ¡°Are the people who work here, blue''s name is Anne, she''s the receptionist.¡± ¡°Yo.¡± ¡°Yellow is Anna, I''m not really sure exactly what she does but I think you can think of her as a maid maybe? Would that be right Anna?¡± ¡°Maid, aide, I take care of most of the housework and customer interaction outside the receptionist desk, if you ever need anything just ask.¡± ¡°That¡¯s Joanne, she¡¯s the cook.¡± It might be a habit from the other world but I don¡¯t quite feel comfortable just calling someone ¡®brown¡¯. ¡°And a damn good one!¡± Shouts Hugh with a mouth full of food. ¡°H-hi¡­¡± She barely manages to say her greetings through her raging blush after Hugh¡¯s praise. ¡°And red here is Hannah, she¡¯s an adventurer and the inn¡¯s bodyguard.¡± ¡°That¡­ That sounds pretty good, Red huh? I like it¡­¡± Murmurs Hannah. ¡°Ah! Hello!¡± Before catching herself and saying hi. ¡°The cat-kin is Cathy, she¡¯s a receptionist at the adventurers¡¯ guild and takes care of most of the paperwork.¡± ¡°H-¡± ¡°And my girlfriend!¡± This time it¡¯s Hannah that shouts and interrupts, causing Cathy¡¯s cheeks to shine almost as red as Joanne¡¯s. ¡°And finally this interrupting obnoxious prick is Hugh, he¡¯s the guild leader or the local adventurers¡¯ guild.¡± ¡°Hello!¡± He doesn¡¯t even refute my claim. ¡°Speaking of the guild, your new guild license arrived yesterday, you¡¯ll have to come and get it tomorrow.¡± Anna then leaves the room and soon comes back with two chairs, she puts them next to the table and gesticulate to us to sit down. Shiona sits down at one of the chairs which had a plate and utensils in front of it while I sit down on the other chair which didn¡¯t, however when I do Shiona picks me up with her wings and puts me down on her lap.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. I shrug my shoulder and look at the other¡¯s, Cathy and Joanne blush, possibly imagining themselves in similar situations while the others seem to be holding back their laughter. I start putting food on Shiona¡¯s plate, the peanut gallery which has now stifled their chuckles look at us with warm eyes as they think I¡¯m helping the hand-less Shiona eat. I then use the fork and knife to cut apart a piece of pork, and while everyone is still watching I open my mouth which was previously hidden and start eating. The mouths of everyone open wide as they see me doing something they thought I couldn¡¯t do, and they open even wider when they see me hold out another fork and Shiona using one of her digitigrade legs to somehow bend it so she could grab the fork with her talons and started eating as well, though I did still have to cut up the pieces for her since she wasn¡¯t quite comfortable with bending both her legs up to her heads in front of strangers. After we finish the meat I grab a piece of hard bread, when I eat it a loud crunching can be heard and it wasn¡¯t until then that the others snapped out of it. ¡°Wai- You- wha-¡± Anne, Anna, Hugh and the pickits simply continue eating when they come back to reality while the rest start combining words into a cacophony of unintelligible sounds, except for one¡­ *SLAM* Hannah slams her hands on the table and runs up to me. *WOOSH* Only to get blown away by Shiona. ¡°You-! You¡¯re getting in the way of my experiments!¡± Accuses Hannah. ¡°I¡¯m not letting some girl I don¡¯t know run off with my husband!¡± Refutes Shiona. ¡°At least consider that you¡¯re in the same room as your girlfriend before trying to forcefully elope with someone!¡± When Shiona said that we all look towards Cathy who we now see has her arms raised with a magic wand in each of them. ¡°Wait-, No! I can explain!¡± ¡°Oh? You can? Are you sure?¡± Says Cathy while half her face was smiling, the other half however wasn¡¯t doing anything of the sort. ¡°Yes! You know our father right!? Magic researcher guy!? Well-¡± ¡°Really? You¡¯re blaming this on your family now? Tsk tsk.¡± Interrupts Shiona, causing Cathy¡¯s eyes to sharpen further. ¡°Oho? Is that what you were trying to do?¡± She then activates one of her wands, it starts glowing in a very bright blue color as Hannah begins to float off of the ground and out of the dining room while followed by a small angry cat-kin. ¡°I¡­ I think I lost my appetite.¡± Says Joanne while blushing as she starts cleaning up the table. The pickits finish their meal first, likely due to their small stature, and they sluggishly walk back to their room while yawning, followed soon by Anne Anna and Shiona both finnish around the same time, Shiona and I walk back to our room while Anna starts helping Joane to clean up while Hugh is still eating. We leave the dining room and walk back up to our room, lay down in a hug like we did in the elves carriage. -=Elizabeth POV=- *yawn* I wake up after a long peaceful nap and walk towards the TV to see what Plush and Shiona are doing. ¡®Before I went to sleep Shiona said they should be there sometime today, I can¡¯t wait to get to eat more of that Joanne kids cooking!¡¯ I turn on the TV using the remote and- ¡®They¡¯re already asleep!? I missed lunch!? No!!!!¡¯ -=Cy Tha Adel POV=- ¡®Aww¡­ They really looked like they enjoyed that food¡­ It must¡¯ve been heavenly¡­ But there were so many new people¡­¡¯ *cry* I then hear another cry coming from the direction of Elizabeth¡¯s room joining mine, creating an eerie melody. * * * -=Shiona POV=- I wake up the next morning and get out of the bed as quietly as I can, so as to not wake up Plush. ¡°Morning.¡± When I leave our room I¡¯m greeted by Anna who was standing outside. ¡°How long have you been standing here?¡± I ask. ¡°Not too long, in fact I was in the middle of dusting everything off.¡± She answers. ¡°Without a dust cloth?¡± I ask, my suspicions of her rising. Without answering me she takes out a stick, similar to the ones that the cat person used to carry off red head yesterday, and soon leaves start growing out of the stick, eventually forming into a dust brush. ¡°Oh. By the way, when is breakfast usually?¡± ¡°It¡¯s usually in about an hour, feel free to get to know everyone a bit better until then.¡± She answers while smiling. ¡°Anne will probably be sleeping at the receptionist desk, Hannah might be either at the entrance or in the basement, and Joanne is in the kitchen preparing for breakfast.¡± ¡°Alright, thanks.¡± I say and walk towards the stairs. ¡°Wait, one more thing!¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Do you have a shower?¡± * * * I get out of the bathroom, turns out they didn¡¯t have a shower however they did have a very large bath. I¡¯ve already dried myself off and put on my clothes so I start walking towards the kitchen to get to know the chef better. ¡°No no! Like this!¡± When I get to the kitchen I see that she¡¯s already preoccupied, she seems to be teaching the muscleman from yesterday how to cook, also she is acting a lot less shy now than yesterday, maybe muscle guy has had a good influence on her?. ¡°Alright alright, like this then?¡± ¡°No! Like this!¡± They seem to be arguing over the proper way to peel a potato, I decide to leave them to their own devices. I walk out of the kitchen, the two people there not even having noticed I had ever entered, and walk towards where we entered the inn yesterday and see that, just like Anna said, the blue haired girl was sleeping while resting her upper body on the receptionist¡¯s desk, seemingly not caring about her job one iota. Looking at her and at how the customers are choosing to stay away from her I decide it wouldn¡¯t be a good idea to try and wake her up and instead try to find the red head. ¡°Hey! Shiona!¡± I hear someone shouting at me from a seat next to the door, looking over I see the red headed girl sitting there. ¡°Good morning, err, Hannah was it?¡± ¡°About that, just call me Red.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that what Plush called you yesterday?... You¡¯re going to change your name, because of something MY husband told you? Didn¡¯t your girlfriend teach you anything about being faithful yesterday?¡± ¡°Oh she taught me alright.¡± She says, flabbergasting me due to how casual she is when someone starts talking about her and her girlfriends nightly activities. ¡°But I have a real reason for getting a new nickname, and it is just a nickname mind you, not a lot of people take me seriously when I introduce myself as Hannah, it¡¯s not a very adventurer-like name you know?¡± ¡°Ah, I see¡­ I have to say I agree with you on that one¡­¡± ¡°Also I hate to be rude but, what¡¯s the deal with your mask? And what¡¯s the deal with Plush suddenly being able to eat yesterday?¡± I avoid the question about my mask and go directly to her second question. ¡°Well we don¡¯t really know how it works, but Plush said that when he ate it felt the same as when he uses those blue energy jellies.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Has he ever gone to the bathroom?¡± ¡°Err, I dont think so?¡± ¡°Interesting¡­¡± She says and puts her hand on her chin. *FWUIT* *SHUNK* Only to throw the sword stuck to her waist forwards just a few seconds later. ¡°Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t see you guys trying to steal from each other just because I¡¯m not looking!¡± She gets up and walks towards a person whose clothes had gotten stuck to the wall thanks to the sword. ¡°If I see you doing that again I¡¯m calling the city guards!¡± She jerks her sword out of the wall, the man falling to the ground, and puts it back in its scabbard, she then walk back to me. ¡°Now where were we?¡± * * * ¡°Breakfast!¡± Shouts Anna from the other room over. Everyone looks towards where the voice came from and start scrambling around to be first to the dining room, however- ¡°Why are they all going a different way than us?¡± ¡°Hm?¡± I look to my side and see a sleepy looking Anne. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you thought we all ate in the same room? Our dining room is only for our acquaintances or our acquaintances¡¯ acquaintances, you should¡¯ve realized that that room is nowhere near large enough for all these people.¡± ¡°... Right.¡± * * * We arrive at the dining room and see that the pickits, Hugh, and Joanne were already there. ¡°Anna is getting Plush and Cathy, she¡¯ll be here soon.¡± Says Charlie. Just like she said, a few minutes later they all come into the room while rubbing their eyes, this time they¡¯re followed by Lizz who was flying next to them. ¡°Good morning.¡± I say. ¡°Morn...*mumble mumble*¡± ¡°Good... morning¡­¡± ¡°Breakfast!¡± They each respond in their own way and sit down, Plush sits down on his own chair so just like yesterday I lift him over to my lap. We all finish eating our breakfast without anything special happening. ¡°Shiona, I¡¯ll be going to the guild today to get my new license, do you want to come along?¡± ¡°Of course she does!¡± Shouts Hugh as though it was any of his business. ¡°And you might as well have her register as an adventurer too! We need all the han- people we can ge-Gah!!¡± ¡°Stop trying to pressure people into joining the guild!¡± Shouts Cathy after having thrown a shown a¡­ Shoe? ¡®Where did she even get that?¡± I wonder. *cough* ¡°Thanks Cathy, but I was already planning on joining the guild anyways.¡± I say. At this Hugh bursts into a loud boisterous laughter while Cathy sends him a glare. ¡°Then we can depart together!¡± Suggests Hugh. We all agree and finish the rest of our breakfast while talking about various unimportant matters. ¡°Thanks for the meal! As good as always!¡± Shouts Hugh while us others respond in a more normal tone. ¡®Can he do nothing but shout?¡± And we all leave the inn and walk down the main road i the opposite direction of where we entered the city until we enter a large plaza with a single building and bell tower in the center. ¡°I don¡¯t remember that part, did you expand while I was gone?¡± ¡°Yup!¡± Answers Hugh. ¡°That¡¯s where Rupe set up his shop, turns out it became a lot more popular than we expected! In fact we¡¯d even say he¡¯s the one who works the most despite no longer having any booth duty!¡± And then he starts laughing again. ¡®Booth duty?¡¯ I think. ¡°I¡¯ll have to go say hi later then.¡± Responds Plush. We make our way to the building and enter it, Cathy opens a door on the left side of the furthermost walland asks me to follow her. ¡°You said you wanted to register as an adventurer right? Well follow me and we¡¯ll get started, we need to do a small examination you see.¡± I follow her and we walk down a set of stairs which were on the other side of the door. -=Plush POV=- While Shiona and Cathy were taking care of the registration I follow Hugh up to his office, once we¡¯re inside he takes out something from one of the desks and hands it to me. ¡°Here you are, this is what a real adventurer¡¯s license looks like.¡± It was just a small black card with a weird swirly copper colored and green pattern on one side while the other was completely empty and glossy. ¡°¡­ What?¡± ¡°I know you¡¯re confused but just listen, this things magic, think of it like the thing you used to see your skills and abilities during the examination.¡± After hearing that I channel some energy into the card, just like I¡¯d done during the examination, and when I do the glossy black side starts glowing with white letters. ¡°It¡¯s been attuned to you specifically so only you can activate this, if you try to enter a city and refuse to activate it the guards will assume it¡¯s stolen and arrest you.¡± While half listening to Hugh I looked at the license. the side which was previously fully black now had a thin white border, a picture of me, and four words. ¡®Info, quests, rank, accomplishments¡­ What?¡¯ As I¡¯m thinking what info could mean the black card changes and now displays something else. ¡°To use it just think about- Oh¡­ You already did¡­¡± Hugh was trying to tell me how to use it but when he sees I already somewhat got the hang of it he started sounding dejected. The license now showed my name, my species (Which said plushy rather than fleecy by the way), and¡­ ¡°Guild titles? Guild¡¯s little Helper?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Shouts Hugh back, now looking happy again. ¡°The people who made the guild had no idea how to create actual new titles that got displayed on things like the status orb or other such magic items! So they made their own system!¡± I waited for a bit, however Hugh seemed finished with his explanation. ¡°... And what does guild¡¯s little helper mean?¡± ¡°Well what does the card say it means?¡± ¡°... Right.¡± I look down at the card again and see that it does indeed display a small explanation of the title now. ¡°Awarded for helping a branch of the guild during dire times. Current level: ?. When level reaches max you will be allowed to¡­ apply for work¡­ as guild staff¡­¡± I was slightly flabbergasted and confused. ¡°... If this is a thing then why did you allow Rupe to work here? Did he already have this title maxed out or what?¡± ¡°Desperate times call for desperate measures!¡± ¡°And you¡¯re saying that those desperate times have passed?¡± ¡°Yup! Now that he¡¯s here and distracting all the adventurers with his shop we have a whole hell of a lot more time on our hands!¡± ¡°... And you use that time to go eat food at an inn rather than help Rupe in his shop?¡± ¡°Yup!¡± I sigh and look back at the license. When I thought about the quests it showed how many quests I¡¯d done in each category on each type of quest and when I thought rank it showed three letters, B, C and C. However, when I thought ¡®Accomplishments.¡¯ the license just turned black again. ¡°That means you don¡¯t have any accomplishments yet, don¡¯t worry though, those are reserved for big things so it¡¯s normal for people to not have anything yet.¡± ¡°That reminds me, why did it say that guild¡¯s little helper was at level two? I can understand if I got one from sending Rupe your way but what about the second one?¡± ¡°That was from introducing us to Red and the others during the whole goblin ear incident, you helped us get through the night without dying from boredom as well as give us some ways of relaxing outside the guild now that we have more free time.¡± ¡°... That¡¯s all it took?¡± ¡°Yup, we can¡¯t be too picky.¡± ¡°And then what about this pattern on the back? what do the colors and pattern mean?¡± ¡°Well you should be able to tell that about two thirds of the color is green while only one third is copper, this means that two of your ranks are C or below while one is B or above.¡± ¡°But why copper and green?¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you have gotten an explanation about this from Cathy?¡± ¡°Ehm, I don¡¯t remember her saying anything about this¡­¡± *sigh* ¡°An adventurers rank goes from F to A, you at least know this right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Well once you get all three ranks to A you go back to F rank but climb from a copper and green card to a blue card which turns silver when you get to B rank, after that comes a red card which turns gold.¡± ¡°Wait, so the highbreed goblin subjugation which I thought was a big deal was actually pretty bottom of the barrel all things considered?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± *sigh* ¡°I understand why you chose copper, silver, and gold, but what about the secondary colors? Why those?¡± ¡°Wow, you¡¯ve gotten really talky since you came back, in a good way too, that lass must be having a good influence on you!¡± Aaaaaand he starts laughing again. ¡°The secondary colors were chosen because that¡¯s what the respective metals look like when they rust. Now get out, I¡¯ve spent way too long explaining all this, I have work to do.¡± ¡°You mean sleep?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± I sigh and walk out the door and back downstairs and see Cathy explaining the quest types and ranks to Shiona. ¡°I¡¯ll go get you a couple of quests of each type, it won¡¯t take long.¡± Cathy then walks off to the quest boards and taking a stool with her to stand on. ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡± I walk up to Shiona and ask. ¡°It went well, though we haven¡¯t really done a whole lot. We only did a few tests on how strong the gusts I make and my legs are.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s good to know at least, right? And did you use one of those identification orbs? If so did you find out anything new?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve got one skill and two abilities, the skill had something to do with me being a specific type of bird kin, it¡¯s what allows me to create gusts of wind with my wings, also it said I can use this to fly fast, I¡¯ll have to try that sometime. Looks like Cathy is coming back, I¡¯ll take the abilities later.¡± And like she said Cathy was walking our way again. ¡°Here you are, three deliveries inside the city, three gathering quests in the forest outside and three subjugation quests. Take care now, I need to go work.¡± Cathy hands Shiona the papers and then walks up the stairs to the stairs on the right. ¡°Well what did you get?¡± I ask and look at the notes, and when I do I notice something- ¡®These delivery quests, they have maps just like when I did the initiation quests, guess the maps on the notes themselves are reserved for new people for whatever reason¡­¡¯ ¡°Uh¡­ all the deliveries are from right next to here and g to all over the town, the gathering quests are for¡­ Restorative herbs, luminescent mushrooms and oily oranges¡­¡± ¡°If you need any help I know where the herbs and mushrooms are, but I¡¯ve no idea what or where the oily oranges are.¡± ¡°Are you even allowed to help me?¡± ¡°When the pickits were registering I overheard Cathy say that apparently gathering strong allies is also a part of being an adventurer, apparently it¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Okay, but I¡¯d like to try on my own first.¡± ¡°Sure, but what¡¯s the subjugations for then?¡± ¡°Uhm, three Slimes¡­ Speaking of slimes, we need to ask about that slime you said was so different, next is one¡­ Orc? Really? They¡¯re throwing orcs at new guys? What the fuck? Well it¡¯s just one so I guess that might be fine¡­ And the last is three lesser chi- chimeras!? Okay what the fuck!¡± Luckily she was still talking quietly enough for people to not start staring too much. *sigh* ¡°Okay, I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ll need your help with the chimeras.¡± ¡°What¡¯s up with chimeras then?¡± ¡°... You don¡¯t know? Well you¡¯ll see later then¡­¡± ¡°Alright, fine. Also I need to go say hi to someone who works here, in the meantime you can probably go and ask Hugh about this thing...¡± I take out the weird translucent rock and give it to her. ¡° his office is straight ahead after you go upstairs and then we¡¯ll meet up here at the exit once we¡¯re done, Hugh¡¯s the guy who knows the most about monsters of the people working here.¡± ¡°Alright, see you in a bit then.¡± And we walk separate ways, Shiona walks up the stairs while I start walking towards a door on the right side of the room which wasn¡¯t here before. *ding ding* When I walk through the door I hear a bell ringing, just like in Rupe¡¯s previous shop, however unlike his last shop this place was actually kept fairly organized with weapons, jellies, powders, and monster parts in glass cases all around. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Welcome!¡± I can hear Rupe¡¯s voice coming from further in somewhere. ¡°I¡¯m a bit busy now so please hang on a little while.¡± I keep looking around the place at what he¡¯s selling and after a minute or so Rupe comes out from wherever he was. ¡°Plush! Welcome back, what can I do for you?¡± ¡°I just came to see how things were going and to browse a bit.¡± ¡°Fair enough, browse all you want and just ask if there¡¯s anything that catches your¡­ eyes?¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± Rupe walks off to somewhere and I look around. ¡®This place is a lot bigger than I¡¯d expected.¡¯ There were many shelves and display cases, a lot of them had a large multitude of different kinds of weapons, ranging all the way from magic wands to giant war axes and bows. There was a table with large glass containers, each container filled with a different kind of magic jelly. ¡°Hey Rupe, what¡¯s these white and black jelly do?¡± ¡°The white ones are simple antidotes, they can negate most weak poisons and venoms, heard you can even make edible foods out of poisonous stuff if you mix some of this in. The black ones were originally failures, kept exploding all the time, but they¡¯ve since been able to fix this by making it harden rather tham tur to liquid when it''s filled with energy, making it easier to throw as well as making it take a few seconds for them to explode.¡± ¡°Huh, alright, thanks.¡± I keep looking around and see a couple of mannequins wearing armor and holding weapons, bear traps hung up on the walls, large jars of goblin ears and other small monster materials as well as what looked like a meat and fish display for larger materials. He even had a bookshelf with books meant for adventurers, things like ¡°100 ways to kill a goblin!¡±, ¡°How to avoid kobold ambushes¡± and many more. In the end I end up buying magic jellies, a large number of every kind, leaving me at five gold, seven silver and twenty copper left, when I did i did I also asked for their names, however- ¡°They don¡¯t have any official names other than just ¡®magic jellies¡¯, though most just call them things like healing jellies, energy jellies, tough jellies, strong jellies, tasty jellies, antidote jellies and bursting jellies, but no names are set in stone so anything from ¡®red jellies¡¯ all the way to ¡®restorative candy¡¯ is usually enough for people understand what you¡¯re talking about.¡± After I paid for them all I walked back into the main guild room. ¡®The purples really don¡¯t have any other purpose than to be tasty¡­¡¯ *chomp* ¡®It¡¯s pretty good actually¡­¡¯ I was kind of disappointed that they didn¡¯t have any real names, but at the same time this is also good, I mean what¡¯s the point of giving them overly complicated and hard to remember names when you can just do this? -=Shiona POV=- I¡¯ve walked up the stairs which Plush pointed me to and gone through the door which was at the stairs end, now I stand face to wood with another door, this one slightly gaudier looking than the ones around it. I take a deep breath and steel myself, I then knock on the door by kicking it lightly. *knock knock* ¡°...¡± After not having received a response I try again. *knock knock* ¡°...¡± To be fair at this time I had completely forgotten that Hugh was the kind of person he was so I wasn''t quite prepared for what would happen next. *knock kno-* *SLAM* ¡°SHUT THE FUCK UP!¡± ¡°!¡± ¡°Oh, it''s you Shiona, I was expecting Cathy. What can I do for you?¡± ¡°... Please stop trying to salvage your image, you''re only making it worse¡­¡± ¡°GAHAHA!¡± He starts laughing for a bit. ¡°Well it was worth a shot! It''s useful when the adventurers think you''re actually capable of doing your job! Well what can I do for ya?¡± I hand him the see through stone which I had held in one of the folds of one of my wings. l¡±Plush and I came across this weird slime creature on the trip, when we hit it with fire magic it absorbed it and grew stronger, we were wondering if you knew what it was.¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± He holds the now red slime core and observes it for a bit before saying: ¡°Slimes are very adaptive creatures, every so often they will turn completely clear, just like the one you said you saw, and absorb energy from its surroundings, it then uses that absorbed energy to change its attribute as a way of fitting in better, so even a water slime would be able to turn into a fire slime if they were to fall into a fire while in the so called adaption phase, now as for the core itself it can be used to create magic wands, say, do you happen to have any skill that specifically states it lets you use magic wands?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t say I do.¡± ¡°That means if you were to have this made into a magic wand it would have to be of the same kind as Plush¡¯s bangle, the ones that can only use one specific spell no matter what, otherwise you would have needed some sort of advanced magic shaping skill to be able to use them.¡± ¡°Well how do I go about making it into a wand then?¡± ¡°That is a really long, complicated and boring procedure, lucky for you though I happen to have an acquaintance that can do it or you for a relatively cheap price, you¡¯ll just have to decide what spell you want it to have first.¡± ¡°Well what spells can I choose from?¡± ¡°How the hell should I know, I¡¯m a swordfighter not a mage! Go ask Cathy or something. Is that all?¡± I think for a bit before replying: ¡°One more thing, could you tell me a bit about lesser chimeras?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know about them? They¡¯re pretty well known you know?¡± ¡°Well I know a bit about them, but I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s enough. All I know is that they¡¯re amalgamations of a bunch of different animals.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s pretty much all you need to know, just be careful with the males, they¡¯ve got these weird reverse claws on their feet which are venomous, the venom doesn¡¯t do any lasting damage but it hurts like hell.¡± ¡°Do you have any idea where they might be?¡± ¡°Oh for- Do you want me to just do the whole quest for you!? I¡¯ll answer this but no more! Lesser chimeras can usually be found in rivers! Now go and decide what spell you want!¡± With a loud *pomf* sound Hugh lays down on his sofa and immediately starts snoring, whether he¡¯d actually fallen asleep or whether he was doing this to get me to leave faster I didn¡¯t know, another thing I didn¡¯t know was: ¡°But I don¡¯t know where her room is¡­¡± Hugh doesn¡¯t respond so I leave his office and on knock on all the doors in the corridor until someone responds. ¡°The doors unlocked!¡± *creak* ¡°Cathy? Could I have your help with something?¡± ¡°Shiona? Sure, just hang on while I finish this.¡± She is sitting at a desk next to a window and looks to be doing some paperwork using a very stylish feather quill as a pen. ¡°Okay, now I can take a small break, what¡¯s up?¡± ¡°I was wondering whether you could tell me what kinds of spell wands could be made with this fire slime core.¡± ¡°Single spell type or multi spell type?¡± ¡°Single.¡± I hand her the red core. ¡°Hm¡­ This thing isn¡¯t the highest quality, it was killed before it had absorbed enough energy to let you make anything big with it, but on the other hand it doesn¡¯t have a single scratch so what small amounts of power it can create can be used almost freely, just tell me what you want it to do and I¡¯ll write down the name of that spell on a piece of paper for you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ I have no idea honestly¡­ Do you have any examples?¡± ¡°The most common ones for this size would be to either just have it create a very small fire at its tip for lighting other things on fire, condensing the flame and making it even smaller to make it warm enough to melt a few more things, or to make the flame really weak but make it focus on giving off light instead. But just think of anything a fire could do and there¡¯s probably a spell for it.¡± I start thinking again, however I¡¯m still unable to decide on anything. ¡°Could I come back later?¡± ¡°Sure, but I¡¯ll probably be staying at the inn tonight to so you may not need to come back here, depends on the time. See ya.¡± ¡°Good bye.¡± I walk out from her room and down the stairs. ¡°Are we ready to go then?¡± Asks Plush who was already there waiting for me. ¡°I think so, did you buy anything at the shop?¡± We then walk outside the town and towards the forest while talking about what we¡¯d done, throwing around a few ideas for the wand as well as commenting on the nice coincidence that Plush bought antidote jellies when we were going to fight something poisonous. Chapter 50 - Change of plans -=Plush POV=- We get to the forest and just¡­ start walking around. ¡°Shiona? Do you have any plan for finding these guys?¡± ¡°Kind of? I mean both slimes and lesser chimeras were found around water right? So we just need to find a lake and we¡¯ll be mostly set. I¡­ I just don¡¯t know where to find one¡­¡± ¡°Have you tried just flying into the sky and looking around?¡± She starts blushing and takes off into the air while grabbing me without saying anything, she then speeds up and we fly to a lake that she¡¯d spotted. ¡°So¡­ Where are the slimes?¡± ¡°Not here I guess?¡± ¡°I can see that, but why?¡± ¡°Really?¡± We look to the voice and see that Lizz had flown out of the book while we were talking. ¡°Why would they even be here to begin with? Sure it¡¯s a lake, but not every lake has slimes necessarily you know.¡± We look at Lizz for a bit, slightly embarrassed before Shiona says: ¡°Wow, we must¡¯ve messed up really badly for Lizz to sound like the smart one.¡± ¡°Fuck you.¡± We take off again and start visiting more and more lakes until we get to a lake which was filled with floating trees and broken pieces of wood. We descend to get a closer look, and when we do we¡¯re flabbergasted by what we see just inside the forest. ¡°Is that¡­ An orc?¡± Asks Shiona. ¡°Yup¡± Responds Lizz. ¡°And it¡¯s fighting...¡± ¡°Lesser chimeras.¡± Inside the forest yet still close to the lake we could see a large light brown creature swinging around a club at small brown creatures while some of them were clinging on to it while hitting it their legs, likely trying to poison the orc with the spurs Shiona had been warned about. As we go closer to the skirmish we could see them all much better. The orc looked like a striped boar walking on its hind legs, the legs that it walkedon had normal pig feet while the ones functioning as arms had hands, the hands having three fingers and a thumb each. Its fur was a very light brown colour with darker brown stripes and it was tall enough for its head to reach the leaves of the nearby trees. The chimeras walked on four legs, they were about as long as I was tall and as tall as I was wide, making them about the same size as me if I were laying down, their fur was much shinier and much, much darker than the orc¡¯s, however that could likely be due to their fur being wet. The chimeras all looked the same, they had large bird beaks which were almost as big as the rest of their heads, though admittedly that didn¡¯t say much as their heads were fairly small compared to the rest of their body. Their legs ended in feet which were both webbed and clawed, and their tails were as long as their head and beak combined, basically- ¡°Platypuses.¡± States Shiona in a matter of factly voice. ¡°Yup.¡± I respond. ¡°What?¡± Asks Lizz. The small chimeras looked exactly like platypuses, they had the same beaks, body shape, feet and tails as the ones we¡¯d seen back home. The platypuses were with their back towards the lakes, most likely protecting their home from the giant orc. On the other side of the orc there laid dead bodies of platypuses which had seemingly been killed by the orc. ¡°I know we¡¯re supposed to¡­ subjugate the¡­ ¡°Chimeras¡±, But I just feel like helping them instead¡­¡± ¡°Well if you want to we could do that.¡± ¡°We could? But what about the quest?¡± ¡°Well Cathy should¡¯ve told you that you don¡¯t actually need to complete all of them to become an adventurer right? Sure, it will take longer, but I¡¯m fine with waiting if you are.¡± ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s do it!¡± She says with a satisfied smile. We land on the ground, the platypuses next to us realize that we¡¯re here and turn towards us while they start backing themselves into a corner between us and the orc. Shiona lightly lobs me into the air and sends me flying towards the orc with a gust of wind, sending me over the platypuses without harming them while also making the orc lose its balance and stagger slightly. When I reach the orc I cover myself in an orange solidified shell, hitting the orc square in the face and knocking t over completely. I could have just ended it right then and there but I didn¡¯t want to create a blood fountain while it was somewhere Shiona could easily see it. I¡¯m now standing on the torso of the orc as it tries to get free from the solidified bindings I had created. I cover its mouth using the bindings in order to avoid any splatter as I phase my hand into its torso and solidify the blood in its heart. The orc quickly stops struggling and dies without any mess and I release the orange light. Shiona flies up to me while holding the quest note in her talon and looking at it. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ It says the proof of subjugation is the snout¡­ Do you think you could...?¡± ¡®So much for the whole no mess thing.¡¯ I use Hunting Claws and cut of the snout, causing blood starts spilling out. We look back towards the pond where we see all the platypuses now looking at us, after a short while a larger one starts pushing itself through the others and towards us while carrying a small white object on its bill. ¡°...¡± ¡°I think it wants you to have that, maybe as thanks?¡± Shiona carefully grabs the egg with both her wings awkwardly holds it, afraid that it¡¯s going to break. The large platypus then turns around, seemingly satisfied, and the others follow it back to their home. ¡°Err, Plush? Think you could put this in the book?¡± Before I can answer a blue hand reaches out and grabs the egg. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°Err, no problem.¡± ¡°Well, are we done here then?¡± Asks Lizz impatiently. ¡°Just a moment.¡± I respond as I walk towards the platypus corpses which had been left behind and cut off their front right ¡­ foot? Paw? Whatever it was I took them from all the corpses, no point in wasting them right? ¡°Now we¡¯re done here, just the slimes left.¡± Since the pond in which the ¡°lesser chimeras¡± lived in only had one inlet we followed that river upstream hoping to come across slimes. ¡°Look! They¡¯re here!¡± Shiona thrust out her wing and pointed towards a bunch of green glob which were gathered on both sides of the lake, within the lake there was a single blue slime floating on the surface of the water. ¡°And that must be one of those elemental slimes! We¡¯ll be able to get another wand at this rate!¡± ¡°Be careful, I don¡¯t know about the blue one but the greens are filled with acid.¡± ¡°Alright, thanks¡± And with a juicy *crunch* sound she had eaten one of the copper tree¡¯s fruits, this one was a mix of black and yellow in a tiger stripes pattern. ¡°I¡¯ve not seen that fruit before, what¡¯s it do?¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but since it¡¯s yellow I¡¯m guessing electricity.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± She then swings her wings towards the blue slime and with a loud *swoosh* sound came a small bright yellow round ball of electricity which bounced on the water a few times, creating what looked like small ripples of electricity whenever it touched the water, before reaching the slime and with a *zap* half of the slime¡¯s surface was scorched and charred black. ¡°That seems to have worked rather well.¡± ¡°Yup!¡± Gloated Shiona with a smug grin. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t seem finished yet.¡± ¡°Hu-¡± *SPLASH* While Shiona was to confused to react the slime had shed the charred surface and seemingly grown back what it lost by absorbing the water it was in, it had then splashed a large wave of water at Shiona, she was caught in the water as it carried her off away from the slime down the river and back to the platypuses¡¯ home. ¡®She said she didn¡¯t want help, besides, she¡¯s good at swimming, she won¡¯t drown.¡¯ ¡°Mother fucker!¡± We heard Shiona¡¯s voice from downstream, looking that way we saw that she had gotten out of the river and was flying towards us. ¡°You shitty rubber ball!¡± <...> ¡®...¡¯ <... Did she snap?> ¡®... She¡¯s normally a very level headed person but, what did she call it again? She¡¯s very good at getting ¡®salty¡¯.¡¯ Shiona was flying this way incredibly fast, releasing balls of electricity behind her with every flap of her wings. ¡°Rraaaahhhhh!!!!¡± She screamed/roared as she approached us and dived straight into the slime, creating a large sphere of yellow electricity around them when she did, sparks flying off of it and hitting any unlucky slimes who were too close to the river. When the sparks disappear we see Shiona standing hunched over in the river, breathing heavily and covered in soot She dives under the water surface and starts ruffling her feathers using her wings, causing the soot to fall off and get washed away in the river, she then stands back up and takes a deep breath. ¡°Haaaa¡­ That felt good¡­¡± She said with a smile on her face- ¡°Shiona? What happened to your mask?¡± ¡°Ah.¡± It looked like Shiona¡¯s mask had fallen off, either when she was hit by the water or during the dive, letting me see what she looked like beneath. I only caught a glimpse of her face before she frantically started looking for her mask in the river, and from what I could see it looked the same as back on earth, except her hair, which she had been keeping short back on earth, had been replaced by feathers which went along the back of her head, her chin and on the sides of her cheek, looking almost like someone was poking their head out of green cotton candy. I get into the river and start helping her look for the mask. ¡°I think I found it, however...¡± I was holding what looked like a large green feather, however the corners of it had been singed black, most likely due to the lightning. ¡°...¡± Shiona looked at the feather which she had been using as a mask until now, gave it to me and said: ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a very good idea to keep using this, think you could take care of it for now?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± This time I was at least able to answer on my own before the book put it in its inventory. ¡°Thanks. Now for the others!¡± She looks like she¡¯s getting ready to fight only to see the slime cores laying around the riverbank with all the still living slimes already having scattered. ¡°Err¡­¡± ¡®Sure.¡¯ ¡°Do you think we should keep going and try to get the rest of the foraging stuff or do you want to call it a day?¡± ¡°Haa¡­ I was all prepared to get to fight the slimes and everything¡­ Let¡¯s keep going, maybe we can find some more while we¡¯re at it.¡± I take out one of the popsicles which we hadn¡¯t eaten yet and give it to Shiona to cheer her up, we then resume walking along the river while talking about where we could find the mushrooms, herbs and oranges. ¡°We¡¯ll we should be able to find the herbs next pond we get to, the mushrooms grow in caves, however the oranges I have no idea where to find.¡± ¡°We might need to ask someone for help and come back for those another day then.¡± Shiona crouches down on the ground and takes out the quest notes from her bag, after looking through them she puts all but one back and starts comparing the one left to the plants on the ground. ¡°This is it, let¡¯s see, five leaves per bunch and we needed three bunches¡­¡± She starts plucking the leaves from the plant with her talons and puts them in her bag, in a different pocket from everything else. ¡°Now for a ca- oh.¡± She had started to say we needed to find a cave only to get back up and see that there was a cave right in front of us. ¡°The last cave I went into was infested with goblins, I don¡¯t know whether it¡¯s the same with this one though.¡± ¡°I just need to be careful right?¡± She walks into the dark cave and I follow. ¡ä¡±Okay, I think I¡¯ve decided on what I want the fire wand to be.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°A flashlight, I can hardly see a thing.¡± ¡°Well what about the water core you got then? Any plans?¡± ¡°Err¡­ No.¡± We keep walking further into the cave, Shiona wincing every so often from hitting her foot into a rock or stone on the floor. Eventually was start seeing a gentle blue glow from further in, Shino takes out the quest note for the luminescent mushrooms and starts comparing them once we arrive. ¡°These are the ones, five caps it says¡­¡± She then picks five of them up and puts them in yet another pocket of her bag. ¡°That thing has a lot of pockets.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s very useful, Charlie picked a good bag.¡± We then backtrack and exit the cave, Shiona flies into the sky to see which way is to the city and we then start walking. The reason we¡¯re walking rather than flying is so that we will be able to look for the oily oranges while on the move, however we make it out of the forest without encountering neither monster nor fruit and we start making our way to the adventurers¡¯ guild as we feel like it¡¯s fine not to do anything more for today. When we get there Shiona starts talking to Cathy who is in one of the booths about the wands and hands in the quest materials, however Cathy doesn¡¯t sound as surprised as when I handed my stuff in way back when despite Shiona having done five of them in a day whereas I only did three. ¡°Plush, Cathy says it might take a while to do the magic thing, we¡¯ll be down when it¡¯s done.¡± Says Shiona as they walk upstairs. While they¡¯re talking about that I start looking for some delivery quests, accept a bunch of them and hand them to Rico who took over after Cathy. In the end I ended up taking various high ranking copper requests, turns out that the request ranking was judged based on how much you had to deliver, where it needed to go and when it needed to be there, however I was able to basically pass the first condition no matter what so I took three copper A ranking quests which needed me to deliver large heavy objects, I then put way more than three packages from the back and departed, each of the quests had a number of large cubic meter sized boxes. I delivered four of them to a restaurant in the blue district, when they opened them to verify I saw that they were filled with fish and that the box itself had been enchanted with magic to keep the fish fresh and any smell from leaking out. The next delivery was a single extra large crate which was marked with the word ¡®fragile¡¯, it was delivered to the same nobles in the red district which I had been to before. Finally was another three boxes which seemed to have the same enchantments as the fish boxes, these ones were delivered to a shop in the brown district and when an old white haired man with a hunched back confirmed the contents they were filled with meat, fish as well as one filled with hay. The shop which I had delivered them to had proven to be an animal or a pet shop where they sold domesticated animals and monsters, as well as a few books filled with basic information on monster biology. ¡°Excuse me?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes?¡± Answers the old shopkeeper, seemingly wondering whether they¡¯d forgotten something. ¡°I recently got an egg during one of my quests, I was wondering if I could get some help with what to do with it?¡± ¡°Sure, I can appraise it for you, if you can guess what it is before I tell you it¡¯s free, if you get it wrong it¡¯s fifty silver, if you get it wrong but close it can be anywhere in between depending on how close¡± ¡°Well it was given to my friend by a pla- err, lesser chimera when we saved them from an orc so I¡¯m guessing lesser chimera.¡± I take the egg out of the pouch and hand it to him, he then walks to a desk while holding one of his arms behind him back and starts comparing it to pictures in a book, after a few seconds he gets back up and approaches me. ¡°That will be fifteen five silver.¡± Feeling intrigued as to what I got wrong I hand him fifteen coins. ¡°You were almost right, it¡¯s indeed a chimera however not a lesser one, this fella is a greater chimera, they¡¯re sometimes born of strong lesser chimeras.¡± ¡°Okay, do you have any info I need to know?¡± ¡°Well this is a shop which specializes in that very thing, but it¡¯s still a shop so you¡¯ll need to pay, over there in that bookshelf we have books on some of the more common monsters, the one about lesser chimeras also cover greater ones, it¡¯ll be one gold for it.¡± I hand him a coin and he gives me a book, the books leathers is styled like a platypus beak on the front and like fur on the back, it¡¯s the size of a pocket book, roughly a quarter of the book of knowledge on my back. ¡°We also sell special food and other necessities for monsters, though the chimeras are omnivorous so you don¡¯t have to worry but if you ever get something else feel free to come by.¡± The man waves and puts his hands behind his back, he then turn around and walks to the boxes I had delivered. I mark this place as well as the restaurant from earlier on the map which I still had and went back to the guild and handed in all the quest notes. ¡°Good work, here¡¯s your pay.¡± Rico takes the notes and puts them in a box, he then hands me about twenty gold coins. ¡°Also you can expect your delivery rank to have gone up to copper A rank by tomorrow. Your friend asked me to tell you that she had gone back to the inn while waiting for you.¡± ¡°Thanks, have a good evening.¡± I leave the guild and walk towards the inn in the edge of the yellow district while wondering what Shiona decided to do with the water slime core. I enter through the front door and realize how long it¡¯s been since I took the roof path, when I get inside I see that there¡¯s no one around and understand that it must be dinner time so I make my way to the dinner room. ¡°I¡¯m back.¡± ¡°Welcome back.¡± Doubting I¡¯d be allowed to sit on my own I instead decide to immediately climb up on Shionas lap to save her the effort of lifting me with her wings, she nods approvingly and we start eating. ¡°Hann- err, Red?¡± Says Shiona. ¡°Yeah?¡± Answers Hannah. ¡°You¡¯re an adventurer right?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°Do you know where we could find some, err, oily oranges?¡± ¡°Uhh¡­ I think¡­ I think they can be found near the base of the mountain and growing on tropical looking trees if I remember right, but I¡¯m not sure¡­¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s a lead at least, thanks.¡± We then finish the rest of the meal in peace and head back to our respective rooms. While walking up the stairs and through the corridors I asked Shiona how it went with the wands. ¡°Like I said before I ended up choosing to make a light with the fire core, however for the water core it wasn¡¯t good enough quality, you know with the burn marks and everything, to do anything with it that I couldn¡¯t just do with the belts blue fruit so Cathy told me I could sell it at Rupert¡¯s shop, got thirty or so silver for it.¡± ¡°Alright, good night.¡± ¡°Night.¡± And we start slowly being dragged down under by the pleasure of sleep. ¡°Ah! I just remembered!¡± Exclaims Shiona suddenly. ¡°Ha¡­?¡± I ¡®answer¡¯ while rubbing my eyes out of habit. ¡°All of your skills require you to practice them to get stronger right? Well can¡¯t you just do that when you¡¯re about to sleep then? That way it won¡¯t matter if you exhaust yourself right?¡± ¡°... I¡¯ll try it, but if I feel like I have a hangover tomorrow when I wake up I won¡¯t do it again.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± Seeing as both solidification, hunting claws and phasing all seem to be as strong as they can be I instead focus on practicing Risen Apparition by creating small illusions of miscellaneous objects, I could have tried to combine Risen Apparition with Solidification to practice Trickster¡¯s Sleight, but with how quickly I fainted last time I tried that I instead focused only on the illusion part until I felt too tired to continue and fell asleep. Chapter 51 - I wake up in the morning and see that- ¡°Suu¡­¡± -Shiona is still sleeping soundly¡­ I squeeze my head out of her wings and see that it¡¯s still barely the break of dawn and yet I¡¯m awake and feeling better than I¡¯ve ever done in a morning before. ¡®Forget feeling like I have a hangover, if this was caused by me using up my energy yesterday then I need to continue doing that from now on.¡¯ I get my whole body out of the bed without waking up Shiona and take out the monster manual about the chimeras from the book which was laying on the floor. ¡®Let¡¯s see, wonder what¡¯s actually different between lesser and greater pla- chimeras?¡¯ I look at the table of contents of the manual. ¡®Introduction sounds about right, now then¡­¡¯ I flip the pages to where the introduction is. ¡® ¡®Owning a pet monster can be tough and intimidating, that¡¯s why this book was cre-¡¯ blah blah blah, let¡¯s see¡­ this looks like the right part; ¡®...Lesser chimeras will stay the way they¡¯re born until they die while greater chimeras will grow into a form more suitable for battle, that¡¯s why lesser chimeras are recommended if you¡¯re looking for a pet, but make sure it¡¯s female so it doesn¡¯t have any poison¡­¡¯ Well if this is a greater chimera like the shopkeeper said then that means it will grow up? But I can¡¯t really imagine a platypus as a combat creature regardless of how big it is¡­¡¯ I turn the pages back to the table of contents and quickly scour for anything that looks to be of immediate importance. ¡®Uhm, ¡®hatching¡¯, ¡®upbringing and growth¡¯... these seem to be the most important¡­¡¯ *flip flip* ¡® ¡®A lesser chimera egg can be identified by their yellow leathery surface¡¯, I guess that means it was pretty easy for the shopkeeper to tell it wasn¡¯t a lesser chimera, ¡®lesser chimera eggs can take about ten days to hatch after being laid. Greater chimera eggs are shaped more like traditional bird eggs and have the same colour, these can take up to a month to hatch from being laid by their mother.¡¯ ¡® I hold up the egg and look at it. ¡®But how do i know how long it¡¯s been since this guy was laid then? I guess I¡¯ll just have to hope it was about a month ago.¡¯ I look down at the book again and flip the pages. ¡® ¡¯A lesser-¡¯ Let¡¯s just skip the lesser chimera¡­ ¡®A greater chimera will look exactly the same as it¡¯s lesser variety once it¡¯s hatched but will soon grow and change in appearance, this process takes varying amounts of time depending on how well it was raised and fed.¡¯ ¡® And apparently that was it, there weren¡¯t any pictures of them or anything which made me feel like the book was a bit of a ripp-off. ¡®Lizz?¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ *sigh* ¡®... Cy?¡¯ <... Yes...?> ¡®How good are you at taking care of eggs?¡¯ <... I¡¯m adequate¡­> ¡®Then could I ask you to take care of one for me?¡¯ ¡®Okay?¡¯ *sigh* ¡®Fine. I¡¯ll put the egg in the books inventory, please take care of it.¡¯ And like I had told Cy I put the greater chimera egg inside the pouch and hear Cy confirm that she has gotten it. *yawn* ¡°Good morn-¡± With a big racket I¡¯m interrupted when I try to greet Shiona as she starts struggling in the covers to get out as fast as possible, in the end she lays on the floor rolled up in the blankets. ¡°Are you okay!?¡± ¡°How are you up before me!?¡± We talk for a bit before we hear a knock and a voice telling us breakfast will soon be ready. Shiona puts on her clothes while I put the book on my back and we go down to the ground floor, greet the others and finish breakfast, we then join Cathy, Hugh and the pickits as we walk to the guild. ¡°By the way Charlie, how¡¯ve things been going for you three since you came back?¡± ¡°It¡¯s been going well, we¡¯ve even done a few silver subjugation quests, though we¡¯re not the best at foraging or deliveries I think we¡¯ll do fine with just focusing on monsters.¡± We then talk abit about what we had been doing since after we split up until we arrive at the guild. Hugh is about to go up to his office when Shiona asks him a question. ¡°Hugh, any idea how long it¡¯s going to take until your acquaintance finishes the light wand?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t be more than a few days.¡± He then hurries up the stairs not wanting to be interrupted again. ¡°By the way.¡± Starts Cathy. ¡°Mind me asking what you two are planning on doing today? I thought you were doing the initiation quests?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no point in not taking a few extra quests as well right?¡± Answers Shiona. ¡°I suppose, normally it would be but since you have someone who¡¯s already joined I guess it¡¯s fine. I¡¯m on booth duty so just shout if you need me.¡± We nod to her and she walks into the back room while we go to the quest boards and start perusing it. ¡°Do you have any plans on what quests you want to do?¡± Asks Shiona. ¡°Well I was thinking once with monsters we haven¡¯t fought yet, wouldn¡¯t be fun if we get attacked by something we¡¯ve no idea how to handle in the future.¡± Shiona picks me up and holds me in front of the subjugation board. ¡°Let¡¯s see, for ones I haven¡¯t fought it would be kobolds- wait hang on- what are you-¡± Suddenly Grizz had walked up and stood between us and the quest board, not letting us see anything. ¡°Calm down, I¡¯m just adding some new quests now that winter is coming.¡± For some reason Shiona chuckles when he says that and he soon finishes and walk back upstairs.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it I look at the quest board and see that some of the old quests had gone away while some new ones had appeared. Treants, orcs and goblins had disappeared while various kinds of undead had appeared in their place. ¡°Spirits, shades, ghosts, haunts¡­ What¡¯s the difference? And ghouls and zombies? Witch trees? And three of them are silver quests!? And the proof of subjugation, three grade one charges for spirits? Three grade two for shades, grade three for ghosts, what the hell is this?¡± Both shades, ghosts and haunts had silver scribbles in the corners of their quest notes and since neither of us two really knew how to react to all of these new monster we went to the booth and asked Cathy. ¡°Hey Cathy, how come there¡¯s so many undead quests, and what¡¯s up with the proof of subjugations? And¡­ What is¡­ That?¡± On the desk in front of Cathy there was a machine. ¡°This? I can explain that in a bit, but regarding all the undead:¡± *cough* ¡°You should understand that this city got its name from being near the Eastern lake right? Well in hat lake there¡¯s a large island. With me so far?¡± We both answer yes. ¡°Well that island has been home to a lot of bloody battles in the past, way too many to recount, and every winter a large number of them come back as spirits and possess things, if they possess human corpses they become zombies, if they possess a non-human corpse they become ghouls, if they¡¯re strong enough to materialize without possessing anything they can become either ghosts, haunts or shades, and finally if they possess a dead tree they become a witch tree.¡± She looks at us and the continues. ¡°We don¡¯t know why they stay at the island, maybe they don¡¯t like water or something, but they stay there until it becomes warmer during late spring and they leave whatever they possessed. As for the proofs of subjugation, that has to do with this machine and these things.¡± She motions to the machine which I had asked about earlier and picks up two glass spheres, on was clear while the other looked foggy, as for the machine it looked almost just like an old dial up telephone, it had the detachable {-shaped phone and dial and everything, though the dial had much more numbers than just zero through nine and there were two of them. ¡°Since spirits, haunts, ghosts and shades don¡¯t have any real physical body they¡¯re really annoying to deal with, physical attacks pass right through them and so does most magic, and even if you had a way to attack them and defeat them they don¡¯t actually leave anything behind. That¡¯s where these spheres come in, while an apparition is disappearing you can hold this thing inside of it and a part of its power will be absorbed, then we use this machine to transfer the apparitions power into a sphere of our own like this:¡± She takes up the phone and puts it back on upside down, she then puts the foggy sphere where the microphone would¡¯ve been and the clear one where the speaker would have. When she out on the foggy orb the dials started moving on their own, one of them moved to the number one while the other moved to the number fourteen, the one that said fourteen then slowly goes down as the foggy orb becomes more and more clear while the see through one becomes dimmer and dimmer, when the dial finally hits zero so does the one that said one. ¡°This way you can have your sphere back and continue hunting while we can keep track of these, also these charges can be used to enchant objects which is why they¡¯re very valuable, even the ones only at grade one.¡± Shiona then voiced a question: ¡°Is there any way of telling if you have something that can touch the apparitions?¡± ¡°If only.¡± Answers Cathy. ¡°I heard the capitals branch of the guild has some magic artifact that can summon temporary apparitions that you can test stuff on, but they only have one of them so there¡¯s no way they¡¯d send it here.¡± Cathy sighs and we starts walking away while hearing her grumble and complain about how the capital doesn¡¯t even have any undead or any reason to keep the artifact there. ¡°Say Shiona, if we have the time after we get the oily oranges and do the deliveries, could we take a look at the ghosts?¡± ¡°Sure, but won¡¯t we need one of those glass balls? Maybe Rupert has them.¡± We walk into Rupe¡¯s shop, the bell on his door giving of a sound as we do so. ¡°Hey little guy.¡± ¡°Hey Rupe, we were wondering if you had any of those glass balls that you need to hunt apparitions.¡± ¡°Sure I do, just a moment-¡± He then crouches down below the desk he was next to and we hear the creaking sound of wood and metal hinges, a few minutes he comes up with what we asked about. ¡°These en-gems are pretty expensive so excuse that, three gold please.¡± I hand him the money and take the so called en-gem. We then depart from the guild and decide we might as well do the deliveries first. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t take long, I can fly you know?¡± Saying that she took the off into the sky while saying we¡¯ll meet up at the city exit so I start walking that way. While sitting against the city wall and waiting for Shiona to finish I look around at the pedestrians, every so often seeing carriages come through the gates and going into the town. Most of the wagons looked normal, simple wooden wagons with leather covers, most likely merchants from all the boxes which could be seen inside, but on the other hand there were a few gaudy carriages with large crests on their sides, three of which I recognised, two of them were from the two noble houses I¡¯d done deliveries to before, the other though¡­ ¡®!¡¯ The other was a large rusted metal carriage drawn by metal horses, undoubtedly elven, however I was made to scratch the back of my head when I saw that the carriage was completely identical to the one we¡¯d ridden, except it wasn¡¯t covered in large spikes. I walk up to the carriage and try to look in from the front to see if it was indeed Fallis & Co, however what had been see through from the inside looked completely like normal metal from the outside. So throwing caution to the wind I walk up behind the carriage, harden my claws and knock where I knew the door would open. *knock knock* However the carriage doesn¡¯t open so I devise another plan. ¡°I have pizza!¡± The carriage immediately stops, opens up the door and a ghostly white arms stretches out and pulls me inside. ¡°Plush?¡± I hear Fallis¡¯s voice asking. ¡°Hello Fallis. Could you let go please?¡± Fallis who was still holding me at that point then puts me down on the floor. ¡°Think we could stay somewhere near the gate? I¡¯m supposed to meet up with Shiona there.¡± ¡°Sure, Shro, turn around as soon as you can.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Answers Shro from the driver¡¯s seat. ¡°Hey, where¡¯s Rosh? And who¡¯s that?¡± I asked when I saw that the third member of the crew was missing his only defining feature, his large white afro haircut. ¡°As much as I hate to say this.¡± Responds the new elf. ¡°My son in law-¡± Suddenly the elf stops talking and looks like he¡¯s about to throw up. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I just can¡¯t call him that. Rosh is home taking care of my daughter. I am Kosei, the chief of our village.¡± As the new elf, Kosei, turns around I see that he looks just as thin, pale, malnourished and sickly as all the other elves, like someone who''s been sitting inside for years doing nothing but play video games or build figurines. ¡°Hello Kosei, I¡¯m Plush.¡± I try reaching out my arm to do a formal greeting however you have to understand the size difference; I am about a third the size of a normal human while they¡¯re one and a half times as tall as the average man. But it seems my intent still got across as he crouched down and shook my hand, he then Fallis asked: ¡°So onto business: Pizza?¡± ¡°...¡± I wasn¡¯t entirely sure how to respond to her. ¡°Fallis, our business here wasn''t this so called pizza, our business is whether Plush here is a trustworthy individual or not.¡± Reminds Kosei. ¡°...Yes.¡± Says Fallis dejectedly ¡°But then how to do that? We came here to fast so I didn''t get enough time to think about this¡­¡± ¡°Sir?¡± Asks Fallis ¡°Could you not just follow Plush here around for today and then make your decision depending on how he acts?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ That is a good idea Fallis. Sure, let''s do that.¡± ¡°Excuse me.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I hope you don''t take offense but, you elves really don''t look like people who could hold their own in a fight, are you sure you''ll be fine?¡± ¡°Though we elves may not have the physical prowess of some other species we more than make up for it with our machines and enchantments.¡± Kosei then walks into one of those enchanted doors. ¡°I''ll be out in a few minutes.¡± While I''m waiting for Kosei to come back out I notice both Shro and Fallis staring at me. Understanding why they''re doing it I take out a few slices of pizza and put it on the table in the middle of the carriage. They look down at the pizza, then back to me. ¡°... Your welcome?¡± They then quickly grab a slice each and start eating like there¡¯s no tomorrow until Kosei comes back outside, now wearing a very large bulky suit of armor, increasing his height even further to the point where he has to duck even in his own carriage as well as making him girthy enough to rival even Hugh. ¡°There we are, shall we depart?¡± Kosei¡¯s voice could be heard from the openings in his helmet. ¡°Well I¡¯m waiting for someone so it might be a few minutes before we¡¯re ready, feel free to try some pizza in the meant time.¡± ¡°Oh. Alright.¡± The chest of his armor then opens up to reveal his upper body, his head nowhere near where the helmet actually is and his hands hovering atop two glowing pieces of machinery, again nowhere near the arms of his armor. He then sits down at the table and joins us in eating pizza. ¡°Hey, this is actually pretty good.¡± A while later we hear some knocking on the carriages outside, Shro opens the door from the driver¡¯s seat and we see Shiona standing coming inside and grabbing herself a slice of pizza, once she finishes a slice she clears her throat, greets Follis and Shro and introduces herself to Kosei. ¡°I almost didn¡¯t recognise this thing because the spikes are gone.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, whatever happened to those?¡± ¡°Well we really didn¡¯t think we¡¯d be allowed inside the city with those things on so we used a different carriage, we didn¡¯t really need it either way with Kosei here.¡± ¡°By the way, now that Shiona is here are we ready to depart?¡± Asks Kosei. ¡°Yup.¡± Since we¡¯d finished the pizza everyone seemed pleased and we left the carriage and exited the city. Chapter 52 - Finally action after such a long time! -=Shiona POV=- We get to the forest a distance away from the city and just as I¡¯m about to grab Plush and fly to the mountain to search for the oranges I remember we¡¯ve a third person with us now. ¡°Excuse me Kosei, but can that armour of yours fly by any chance?¡± ¡°How preposterous, of course it can¡¯t.¡± Responds the armoured elf while sounding annoyed, giving me the impression this is something he¡¯s had to deal with quite often. ¡°...Well can you run then?¡± Asks Plush from next to me. ¡°That I can do, and where are we going by the way?¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to get some oily oranges for a quest, I¡¯ve been told they grow at the base of the mountain.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ That means there¡¯ll be bandits¡­¡± He says while holding his faux arms to his faux helmet despite not actually having his arms or head in there. ¡°First of all you¡¯re very good at acting as if this was a normal suit of armour, secondly why does that mean there¡¯ll be bandits?¡± I ask at his remark. ¡°Thanks, I¡¯ve been practicing a lot, turns out people think it is creepy seeing a walking suit of armour with no body language.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°And about the bandits?¡± ¡°Right, I forgot you were both from far away, maybe it¡¯s different over there but around here most mountains don¡¯t actually belong to any country or city, everyone just seems to think it¡¯s to bothersome to have to take care of the steep cliffs and harsh terrain so it¡¯s a free zone for whoever wants.¡± ¡°And why does that mean bandits?¡± Asks Plush. ¡°Think a little, a place completely devoid of guards, soldiers and people in general, it¡¯s a perfect hideout for the unlawful.¡± I smile wryly and I¡¯d imagine Plush would be doing the same if he showed his mouth as it seems the elves don¡¯t know about the pickits or the stories of the spirits of the mountains. Being the socially awkward people we are we end up not telling him, you know, just in case we¡¯re wrong and there actually are bandits here. ¡°Well, that armour looks really heavy so just shout if it gets tough with all the trees in the way.¡± I then grab Plush with my talons and fly off towards the foot of the mountain while we hear loud rumbling from behind us, most likely Kosei¡¯s heavy armour thudding along the ground. We get to the base of the mountain, Kosei arriving a few minutes later complaining about how we didn¡¯t hear him shout, we then start looking for any trees which look different from the rest since Red told us they grew on tropical looking trees. ¡°Hey Shiona, are those... Palm trees?¡± I look where Plush is pointing and see that indeed there were trees which looked just like palm trees growing out of the sides of the mountainous cliffs, and among the leaves of these trees there were coconuts. ¡°How the hell¡­?¡± We¡¯re both stupefied at the sight of a beach tree growing out of solid rock, we then look around and see that it wasn¡¯t just palm trees, but rather every tree around here looked different from one another, different shapes and colours of the leaves, they¡¯d grown in different ways and had a different colour of bark, however one thing they had in common was that they were all growing out of the cliff side. We look around at all the trees, see a lot of familiar fruit and even more which were unfamiliar, some looked like they were just the same fruits as we knew from earth but were a different colour, such as a blue avocado looking thing, while some were the opposite, it had the shape of a pear yet looked to have the peel of a banana, and some were completely different from anything we¡¯d seen. ¡°Is that it?¡± Asks Plush and points towards one of the more normal looking trees, I look at it and see black citrus fruits hanging from it like apples and take out the quest note to confirm it. ¡°Yeah that¡¯s it, we need ten of them it says.¡± I then fly up next to the tree and put ten of them in my bag, I then take a few extra in case they actually taste good, then while I was already in the air I ended up doing the same with all the other trees and throwing down the fruits to Plush who put them into the inventory. As I land on the ground I suddenly feel something shaking, looking down I see that it¡¯s the belt, and soon the ground joins in and a rumbling sound can be heard from the cliff wall. *BOOM* With a loud sound another tree had suddenly sprouted above the others, launching the rocks which had been in its way all around us. The tree then looked to be shedding, just like when a treant dies, revealing not the light blue heart leaf which we were used to, but rather what looked like a vaguely humanoid shape made entirely of wood, its body was covered in bark while its face looked as smooth as though someone had peeled off the bark of a tree, on the back of what I assume is its head there was bark going down the back, looking like long hair and giving it a feminine feeling. Suddenly three gashes opened in its face, two in the places where the eyes would have been and the last where the mouth would go. With creaking sounds it moves its body slowly and rigidly. ¡°!¡± Then suddenly without warning it stretches its torso and appears right next to me, staring at the belt on my waist, she now looked something like a bark covered half-snake coming out of the mountain. I stagger backwards in surprise only to find that there was now a concave wall of wood there, blocking any attempts I might do at running away, it was eve to close for me to swing my wings properly. Just as I¡¯m about to reach for the fire fruit on the belt the creature which I can only imagine being a dryad speaks while clear liquid starts dripping from the corners of what¡¯s supposed to be her eyes. ¡°... I¡¯d thought they¡¯d gone extinct...¡± Says a voice, the voice sounding much too human and catching me off guard. ¡°You! Where did you get this?!¡± She suddenly shouts while roots appear from the ground and point at me. ¡°I- I grew up in a nest next to it, when I left it wrapped itself around me!¡± I explain with a panicked voice as I see Kosei swinging around a giant war axe at roots which had sprouted around and were trying to slash at him while Plush was cutting down the ones which came at him from Kosei¡¯s blind spots, phasing himself whenever any of them tried to get to him. The few that had gotten through had created gashes in the armour metal, almost severing one of its arms. The dryad looks at the copper tree belt once more and after a few seconds all the roots around me go back underground and both me and the dryad sigh, my sigh was in relief and by the sound of it so was hers. She then starts grabbing at the belt with her smooth bark less hands and trying to take it off of me. ¡°I can protect you! Why must you insist on staying with these people!?¡± She screamed at the belt when it didn¡¯t come off, tears now streaming down her face. Feeling like I had had enough of this I grabbed a red fruit using two of my sturdier feathers (Something I had been practicing behind Plush¡¯s back) and ate it, the dryad then quickly let go, most likely expecting me to burst into flames like the bird I had tried feeding it to earlier, however when she see that I¡¯m completely fine she gasps and stares at me and my now red tinged feathers in awe. Still having no idea what I¡¯m supposed to do right now I just stand there and glare at her, trying to do my best at looking as intimidating as possible.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. She casts her head downwards, closes her eyes and clutches her hands in front of her chest. ¡°I see¡­¡± She then looks up, this time looking at me rather than the wooden belt. ¡°You! You¡¯d better take this! If you get this young one killed due to your own stupidity you will have me after you!¡± The dryad then tosses me a seed the size of a walnut. ¡°Tha-Thank you?¡± I respond while stuttering due to surprise. ¡°Plant it as soon as you can, it will help you stay alive.¡± She then turns her elongated body towards the others. ¡°And you! Elf! Your kind abandoned me and my god¡¯s ways! You are not allowed here! Leave!¡± She screamed at Kosei as a large root launched him away from the mountain like a catapult. ¡°I will now if it perishes, don¡¯t even think about tricking me.¡± Says the Dryad while scowling, she then retracts back into where she had sprouted from, the tree she came in covering her back up. ¡°Shiona! Are you okay!?¡± Shouts Plush as he runs towards now that he doesn¡¯t have to protect Kosei anymore. ¡°I¡¯m, I¡¯m fine Plush. But right now we need to hurry, you wouldn¡¯t happen to have something in that book that lets you grow plants? I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea to piss off the dryad any more than we already have.¡± ¡°Actually I think I have the perfect thing.¡± He responds, taking the seed and putting it in his pouch before his legs split in three, signifying that he¡¯s gone inside the book and that Cy has come outside. [Hello.] She says after she takes out the talking machine from their inventory. ¡°Hello¡­ just, you know that Plush has a telepathy magic item around his neck right? I don¡¯t think you need to use your machine.¡± [Telepathy would make it sound like my real voice.] Says the machine while the number of red circles on her face increased from eight to ten due to her starting to blush. [Here.] She says after she recovers as she takes out a white object, the chimera egg, from the inventory and hands it to me, when I grab it I can feel it shaking. *crack* Suddenly a small clawed duck foot cracked the eggs surface, creating crack all along the egg as the creature inside tried to force the shell apart. -=Plush POV=- I find myself inside Cy¡¯s apartment when I enter the book, I would¡¯ve switched with Lizz but Cy said she needed to talk with Shiona. I walk out of Cy¡¯s room and towards Lizz¡¯s, although Cy¡¯s still looked like the one I had in my previous life it had been renovated way too much and I doubted it still had the thing I needed. I enter Lizz¡¯s apartment, the one that looked almost exactly the same as the one I used to own and prayed that it stayed true to my memory. Personally I didn¡¯t have to worry much about the dryad as I was impervious to everything I knew of when I phased myself, however I was unable to fully phase both myself and Shiona so I wasn¡¯t sure if I¡¯d be able to protect her, this seed might just help if what the dryad said was true. I walked into the living room, Lizz flying behind me and wondering what I was planning to do, she had been staying here for a fair while yet had no idea what in here could help a seed grow. I take the seed from Lizz who had flown into the fridge room when I asked her to get it and stand in front of one of my shelves. I ask Lizz for help and we push the shelf, revealing a door behind it. ¡®I never thought I would ever end up being thankful for this.¡¯ Lizz looks at the hidden door with expectation and intrigue once she hears that, I then brace myself and open the door after returning my shape to that of my previous life. *CREAK* With a creak much louder than any I¡¯d ever heard from a door before it opens and we go inside. Inside the room where three long and thin tables, on the tables were pots filled with dirt and above it were some very strong lamps meant to imitate sunlight. Yes, just a few weeks before I was hit by the train I found out that the previous owners of this apartment had been growing drugs in this hidden room, now I normally don¡¯t care about what other people do, do whatever you want, but when the reason I found out about this room was due to the police having found it and started accusing me of being the one taking care of it my life became very hectic, in fact I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they chalked up my death as suicide due to that whole mess. I go into the middle of the room where there was a much bigger pot than the ones around it and buried the seed within. I wipe my now human forehead out of habit and go back outside into the living room and fall down face first into the sofa. ¡®I missed this.¡¯ I thought as I felt nostalgic about my life on earth and drifted off into sleep now that I could relax. ¡°Hey! You can¡¯t just show me that secret room and not tell me about it!¡± However her complaints simply fell on deaf ears as I was already in deep slumber. * * * ¡®This has been a while.¡¯ I think as I find myself inside a world of black and white. I looked around and saw that was on a beach, I could see blobs of very faint colour flying floating around in the sky, some faster than other, as I decided to explore and try to find out why this was a place I wanted to be. I walked in the way I was facing when i first came to and entered a forest which was next to the beach, I then followed a path further and further in. Although I had called this a forest I wasn¡¯t sure if I really could, all the trees were missing their leaves, they looked old and decrepit and the ground lacked any grass, in fact the path I was walking on wasn¡¯t a normal forest path but rather it was covered in what looked like some sort of dust or soot. As I walk further and further into the depths of the forest the trees start thinning out and my surrounding start becoming illuminated in a blue light. I look towards the centre of the clearing I found myself in and see four stone pillars surrounding a fifth one, this one shorter, and on top of the fifth one was a bright glowing blue piece of paper. A page of the book of knowledge. I looked around as I heard the sounds of dead twigs being snapped in half and footsteps on top of the dried dirt, I hid myself behind a boulder while peeking over at where the sound came from, there stood a lone figure wearing a dark robe and carrying a staff. I couldn¡¯t see the figures face, nor its gender, however just like everything else here he was coloured in black and white, whatever part of me it is that decides that this is a place I want to be in doesn¡¯t seem to think that this figure has any relevance to the one thing that¡¯s in colour, namely the books page. The man stands before the four pillars and taps his staff forwards, suddenly I see a light grey dome cover the pillars and what¡¯s inside them, suddenly I can see a fog similar to the one which was inside the en-gem Cathy showed us get drained out of the page and sent towards the figures staff, the figure then motioned with the staff, and judging by its chest movements it was either in pain or it was saying something as well. *rumble rumble* The ground he started shaking around us and the dirt right around where the figure was standing started bulging upwards, eventually falling off of whatever was rising from below and revealing bodies with fatal wounds and gashes who were rising from below the ground. Once thirteen bodies had climbed out of the ground the figure seemed satisfied as it turned around and started leaving in the direction it came from, only to suddenly stop and turn my way. ¡°I know you¡¯re there creature.¡± It then said in a weak voice which sounded more like a wheeze than like someone actually talking, and when I don''t respond the figure seems t sigh and keeps talking. ¡°You seem to think I¡¯m not talking about you, let me clarify then.¡± The creature then put its free hand in a fist in front of where its face should be and cleared its throat. ¡°You there with the ghostly disposition. I¡¯ll have you know I am very adept at telling when there are spirits nearby. Your disposition may be what allowed you to get this far on the island without getting attacked but your luck ends here!¡± Suddenly he waved his staff and a black stream started flying towards me, seeing this I phased my body fully in preparation. ¡®!¡¯ However the black strings and shapes still managed to pick me up as though I hadn¡¯t been doing a thing. ¡°You¡¯ve grown cocky. Thinking you could ambush me. As if any self-respecting necromancer wouldn¡¯t have any way of dealing with ghosts!¡± Said the figure while letting out weak laughter. In order to get out of this bind I tried a gamble, I used Solidification all around me, and luckily it paid off as the black shadows were solidified along with the air around me, after they were solidified I was able to phase through them like normal and dropped to the ground below. When I landed I swiftly phased myself into the ground and fled by sliding myself away from the figure, I could even hear it gasp in surprise, though I didn¡¯t know whether that was due to my hasty retreat or due to me being able to get out of the shadows at all. Seeing that the figure was able to keep up with me also told me that for whatever reason I wasn''t going as fast as I should''ve been, if I had I would''ve left him chewing dust miles behind. ¡®The book said the Revenant Reconnaissance lets me survive even if my projection dies so I won¡¯t have to worry about that, but let¡¯s at least find out where this place is!¡¯ As I thought that I could see something glow as i shot past me, barely missing my head. Since I was traveling by phasing my body I was allowed the luxury of turning around and seeing behind me without need to worry about going slower or crashing into anything, there I could see the dark cloak flying towards me while waving his staff, any of the trees in his path seemed to move out of his way when he got close as though alive. ¡°I don¡¯t know what sort of ghost you are or why I can¡¯t see you clearly, but if I catch you I will no doubt be able to create something spectacular!¡± Stated the figure with a voice as sure of his victory as if he¡¯d been playing catch with a toddler and he started slinging more glowing projectiles at me. Since I was able to see him while moving I was able to dodge all of them, as well as when one of them passed me a bit closely I tried to solidify it and found that it was possible just like with the shadows, however when I dropped the solidification and the projectile fell to the ground it spread a small distance along the ground like Shiona¡¯s Ice shots. ¡®If I get hit by that I will probably have a hard time moving around anymore.¡¯ We then came out of the deceased forest and onto the beach, and I started turning my head towards the waters every so often to try and see if there were any landmarks I could spot as I went along the beach, the self-proclaimed necromancer still following me, now laughing as though enjoying a sport. Eventually I finally saw something of note, on the other side of the large lakes I could see structure. A large wall. A walled city. Eastern lake city. ¡°The town caught your eye eh?¡± Heckled the necromancer as it seems to have realize I was looked at the city. ¡°It¡¯s a pretty gem alright, though a bit too, how should I put it¡­ Alive? It needs to be changed! Come winter and ice I will march over there with an army and start my descent into the history books!¡± The necromancer then started cackling like a madman as it started to raise its magic output. Feeling like I had seen what I needed to see I tried to cancel Revenant Reconnaissance, something I had never had the time to do on my own before, and then for a fraction of a second everything turned black before I found myself back on the sofa in Lizz¡¯s apartment, breathing heavily and covered in sweat. ¡®I have to tell the guild!¡¯ Chapter 53 - Alerting the guild ¡°We need to get back to the city, fast!¡± I yell telepathically as I come back outside. ¡°...¡± x2 They both stare at me, or at least I think they do, it¡¯s hard to tell what Kosei does with that half mech armor as Shiona called it. ¡°What?¡± Asks Shiona while stroking a small brown fur ball which was on her shoulder, Kosei on the other hand seems to hear how urgent it is and gets up from where he was sitting, preparing to start running. ¡°Is, is that the chimera?¡± I ask, the surprise of seeing the small platypus causing me to lose my momentum. ¡°Yup, she hatched after you went inside.¡± ¡°Plush, you were saying we needed to hurry to the city?¡± Reminds Kosei. ¡°Yes! Thanks Kosei, Shiona, you remember the skill that let me find you back then? Well it happened again, and this time I saw something bad! We have to hurry, I can explain once we get everyone together.¡± Shiona¡¯s faces tenses up when she hears how stressed I am and she picks up the chimera with her wings and puts it in her bag, the chimera then sticks her head and front feet and looks at us, its beak shaped in a way which makes it look like it¡¯s constantly smiling. Shiona grabs me and we take off, before we get too far I tell Kosei that we have to hurry and where the guild is in case we end up going to fast as we can¡¯t afford to stop. ¡°That¡¯s fine, you guys go ahead and I¡¯ll tell Fallis and Shro when I get there!¡± We fly towards the city and hear the sounds of Kosei¡¯s overly loud footsteps going further and further away as we¡¯re flying faster than before. We land in front of the gates and show our licenses to enter, the last thing we need now is the guards chasing after us, and then take off once we enter and fly directly to the guild since for whatever reason ever since I came back from the Revenant Reconnaissance I haven¡¯t been able to go as fast while phasing. We land outside the guild, run in and up the stairs and knock frantically on Hugh¡¯s office. *SLAM* ¡°What!?!¡± Shouts Hugh as he slams open the door. ¡°Necromancer!¡± I shout back. ¡°WHAT!?¡± Respond Both Hugh and Shiona... And Cathy who was walking by. * * * A while later I¡¯m sitting at the table in the basement which had been used to verify the goblin ears after having explained it to everyone around. Sitting around the table were Hugh, Grizz, Cathy and Rico, four of the five staff members, one of them had to stay behind on booth duty so they handed it to the most recent hire, Rupe. There was also the pickits who had accomplished enough while I was gone t gain the trust of the guild, Hann- Err, Red, who I now found out was apparently a shiny gold ranked adventurer, and the elves who had been allowed into an otherwise private meeting due to my recommendation. Shiona was right next to me, feeding bits of meat she¡¯d gotten from Rupe to the chimera. ¡°Those are dire news Plush. And you¡¯re absolutely certain of your skills accuracy and of what you saw?¡± Asked Hugh while acting like a proper guild master for once. ¡°Do you have any way to prove it?¡± Followed Rico up, causing Hugh and the others to nod. ¡°I am absolutely certain of what I had seen, as well as how accurate what I see is, if anything you can ask Shiona and those three.¡± I gesture towards Charlie, Diifan and Baom. ¡°They were with me when I left earlier due to one of my previous visions, in fact that vision was what has allowed me to even find Shiona.¡± I explained. Red, the pickits, the elves and Cathy nodded their head, signaling that they believed me, however Hugh, Rico and Grizz were still on the fence. ¡°As for a way to prove it?¡± Asked Rico again. ¡°I can try to use it, however I can only use it when I¡¯m asleep, and the only way I¡¯d be able to fall asleep now would be if I exhausted myself to the point of fainting, and I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯ll even be able to use it if I¡¯m out of energy.¡± ¡°In that case we can just use some energy jellies on you after you fall asleep.¡± States Grizz. I somewhat reluctantly agreed in the end and started creating objects behind my back with Trickster¡¯s Sleight until everything turned black while I was praying for it to work, I then felt something cold wash over my face and I found myself standing on top of the table we were sitting around, everything except for Shiona looking black and white again. When I appeared some people stared while others gasped, some sat still while others reached for their weapons. ¡°Is that you Plush?¡± Asked Hugh cautiously, Shiona looking at him with panic in her eyes, worried he was going to attack me. ¡®Yeah.¡¯ I thought, luckily they were able to hear me, much like how Shiona could hear me back then despite me not having the telepathy bangle with me. I then tried to wake up like when I was on the Island, succeeded, and sat back up (though I had to move the chimera first, little fellow had laid down on my chest while I was out). The three now trusted the skill, however they were still doubtful of the info, turns out necromancers hadn¡¯t been heard of for a very long time, the last time being when a single necromancer had taken over an entire continent south of the one we¡¯re on, only dying due to having eaten contaminated food which his minions had unknowingly brought him. ¡°As much as my common sense is telling me to just call you a liar and be done with this whole mess my responsibilities as a guild master forbid me from doing so. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust you, but necromancers are widely known to be a thing of the past, with all knowledge on how to become one gathered and destroyed, but if this is really true that one has arrived then we can spare no effort. Everyone, we need to prepare for departure. Rico, you can stay and keep the guild functioning with Rupert, Grizz and Cathy, you follow Plush, Shiona and me to the lake island. Pickits.¡± He says and looks at Charlie & Co. ¡°We¡¯ll come too.¡± Responds Charlie. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Charlie, but we¡¯re dealing with a necromancer, they can drain the very ground below them of energy to fuel their creation. Quite frankly, not even your expert earth magic would work on that island until several years after the necromancers been defeated and the soil has recovered. I won¡¯t sugarcoat it, you three only work so well due to all three of you putting in equal effort, even if it¡¯s only one of you who becomes unable to put in their full effort it¡¯s enough to take you down to a rusty bronze ranked party, you¡¯d only get in the way so I can not bring you along.¡± The three in question look very unwilling but accepted it without refuting him. ¡°And Hann¡­ No, Red was it? You¡¯re a shiny gold ranked adventurer on par with several of the guild branch masters, if you could come along we¡¯d be grateful.¡± ¡°Of course, if that necromancer comes over here all hell would break loose, we have to stop him while we can. I can even put in word back home and ask Anna to come help Rico and Rupert.¡± ¡°Thanks, as for elves-¡± However he¡¯s quickly interrupted by Kosei.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°I will come along whether you want me to or not, as for these two they can help around at the guild or Red¡¯s inn, wherever they¡¯re needed. If there¡¯s one thing us elves are good at it¡¯s monotonous work.¡± Kosei would have probably been immediately rejected if it weren¡¯t for the fact that he was currently wearing his armor. ¡°Thank you, you all have until tomorrow to prepare, we leave on a boat midday. Rico, follow Red to their inn, take the two elves with you and make sure you have things planned out with Anna so that nothing goes wrong, put people where they will be the best and don¡¯t just prioritize the guild. Dismissed.¡± We all rise from our seats and leave, Grizz, Hugh and Cathy walk upstairs to prepare everything while everyone else (Except Rupe) went to the inn. Once we got to the inn we had dinner, Rico, Fallis and Shro joined us, they talked to Anna about what we¡¯d discussed and they then left for the guild once again, the pickits followed them to do some late night quests since they were feeling restless while Shiona and I went to get some early sleep. * * * I open my eyes and see that I am once again back on the gray island, I immediately look around to try and determine whether the necromancer is around however he doesn¡¯t appear to be so I keep exploring the island and try to remember as much as I can, such as the shortest route to the books page as well as a few other things. While walking around the island I spot large groups of undead, be it zombies, skeletons or ghosts they seemed to be unexpectedly well grouped together for beings without brains as they marched around the island, whenever they got close I submerged myself in the ground to avoid being detected and hopefully whatever let the necromancer know I was here before doesn¡¯t work long range. I phase around the island, like the last time I did it I was somehow able to see through the ground, I tried counting the number of undead per group as well as how many groups there were, but there were too many for me to keep track of. I keep moving around the island, searching for the best place for the boat to arrive at, the best places to hide and- Suddenly my thoughts are interrupted as I travel through the roots of a tree. ¡°I¡­ found you!¡± Sounded the wheezing voice before letting out a true cackle of a laughter and black all the ghosts from above ground suddenly traveled under the surface and started homing in on me. Not willing to take any chances with this guy I immediately undo my projection and go back to a proper sleep. * * * I wake up in the morning, luckily it seems that tiring myself out with Revenant Reconnaissance works just as well as doing it with my skills since I woke up feeling swell even though I¡¯d forgotten to practice yesterday. *SLAM* The door to our room is opened with so much force I swear I could see one of the hinges bend in an unnatural way as I see Hugh in the doorway. ¡°Get up! Fast! Fuck!¡± He shouts at the both of us. ¡°I thought you said we had until midday?¡± Asks Shiona groggily. He then shouts something and we both open our eyes wide. We quickly get out of the bed, get our stuff and hurry towards the eastern exit of the town, we then come to a small port and see that Hugh, Cathy, Grizz, Kosei and Red were already gathered, behind them was the eastern lake. It was completely frozen over. ¡°Took you long enough!¡± Shouts Hugh who had somehow gotten there earlier despite us flying. ¡°Well excuse us for being woken up so suddenly!¡± Shouts Lizz who had just flown out the pouch back at him. ¡°And why is it so fucking cold!? It should be at least one more cunting month until the first shitty snowflake falls!¡± ¡°Honestly we haven¡¯t a clue.¡± Says Grizz, now sounding more tired than ever. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re okay Grizz? We know you can¡¯t handle winter very well and we weren¡¯t expecting it to come this quickly when we were planning yesterday, if you decide to stay behind no one would blame you.¡± Responds Hugh, now sounding more humane than he¡¯d ever done before, more than I thought was possible for this guy. ¡®Guess he DOES care about his companions then, couldn¡¯t tell from the way he acts around Cathy.¡¯ ¡°Now you listen here, I won¡¯t let you lot go there alone and get yourself killed, I would have to search for a new job then and you know no one would hire if they know I abandoned you guys, ¡®Because I was tired¡¯.¡± He says, they then both slime toothy grins at each other, Hugh asks if we¡¯re ready and we start walking across the ice. Well Shiona, I and Lizz are flying while Cathy is sitting on one of Kosei¡¯s amour¡¯s oversized shoulders, so only three of us are walking. The road to the island was completely white and blue, no one was in our path which meant the necromancer hadn¡¯t departed yet, maybe he didn¡¯t understand I wasn¡¯t there and was still looking for me? Either way this gave us more time. Shiona had been given winter clothes from Anna before we departed so she wore a thick armless jacket and down leggings with the copper belt going outside off all her clothes. Both Hugh and Grizz wore winter jackets and boots, they seemed to be the same size other than Grizz¡¯s clothes being more puffed up due to his fur. Hugh wore his full arm gauntlet shield on one arm on top of his jacket while his sword was in its scabbard on his waist, Grizz on the other hand was carrying two large forearm gauntlets with giant claws, one strapped to each side of his waist. Cathy was also wearing clothing now, baggy robes, proving that even she who goes in nothing but her fur most of the time can¡¯t handle this winter, apparently its color than it has been in tens of years. On top of her winter robes she wore her two shoulder bags, magic wands tied to their straps, and one her waist she had a leather belt with pouches filled with various magic jellies, the belt also served to keep her robes from flowing too much in the wind. We arrive at the island without problem, we keep our guard up and our eyes peeled, prepared for an ambush at any time as we walked around the island, meeting only a few lone undead every so often, but nothing compared to what I had seen yesterday. ¡°The necromancer is most likely waiting for us further in on the island, do we take up his challenge?¡± Asks Cathy. ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± Responds Hugh. ¡°If we go in there we¡¯ll be much more susceptible to ambushes.¡± *GASP* ¡°Guys, look!¡± Screams Lizz. We turn around and look where she¡¯s pointing, almost the entire field was filled with black frostbitten bodies. ¡°That Shit! He must have been on the ice and waited for us to pass! But how the hell did he hide!? How did he know we were here!? And how the fuck did he keep all those undead on the island!? They¡¯re cover more than three islands worth!¡± Shouts Grizz, his tiredness definitely getting to him now. ¡°We don¡¯t have time to complain! Undead are slow so we¡¯ll probably catch up to them but we still need to hurry! Shiona, you¡¯re our fastest please fly over there with Plush and Cathy and try to keep them occupied until we get there!¡± Responds Hugh to everyone. ¡°Roger!¡± Answers all three of us at once and take off. ¡®Cy, do you have any of those robots suited for battles?¡¯ I ask in my mind. Responds Cy to my question. We arrive above the undead horde, Shiona drops me and I cover myself in an orange solidified shell, I then create spikes on it as well as I can while I¡¯m falling. *CRASH* ¡®Okay, something is definitely up with this ice, it didn¡¯t even get a scratch from that.¡¯ I Undo my shell and create a pair of orange claws instead, I then swing hem around haphazardly at whatever¡¯s closest to me while Shiona, Cathy and Lizz are raining magic from above, Shiona having eaten the fire seed (again, the ice doesn¡¯t melt at all) while Cathy was being hanging onto her back by having attached her leather belt to Shiona copper tree one and Liz was flying right next to them, they were changing their spells depending on the situation, but they soon had to focus on protecting themselves as ghosts rose towards them. I kept slashing at everything around me even though I didn¡¯t even know whether it was actually taking them out, however since the ghosts were focusing on the sky group I didn¡¯t have to worry as much as it seemed neither zombie nor skeleton was able to touch me when I phased myself, so I kept going while being on the lookout for the necromancer until I heard Cy¡¯s voice. A blue hand then stretched out from behind me and gave me what looked like a small ball the size of an orange. ¡®Cy, everywhere is a large group of them!¡¯ I responded as I grabbed the ball with my orange claw covered hand and threw it forwards. It didn¡¯t travel very far since this body isn¡¯t exactly the most muscular one, however with the sheer amount of undead around it didn¡¯t have to. The orb started giving off smoke as it disappeared beyond a number of undead but I soon started seeinga number of the udead which wrere standing taller than the rest fall over From behind us I heard the sounds of more battles, most likely the others had arrived now and started making their way towards us through the horde, and since they were four working together it didn¡¯t take too long to get to us. ¡°We¡¯re here! But they don¡¯t stop! We have to ignore as many undead as we can and focus on trying to find the necromancer!¡± Shouted Hugh as we mowed our way forwards, taking out tens of undead with every attack. I hadn¡¯t played very many video game in my past life, but one of the few that I did was one which Shiona had introduced me to, it was the Dynasty Warriors franchise, and this battle definitely reminded me of it as we tore large opening in the undead ranks only for them to soon be filled back up as though we were shoveling sand in a desert. Both me and Grizz were slashing with claws, mine made from my solidification skill while his were a pair of gauntlets as we made various parts of the undead fall off of the rest of their bodies. Red was swinging around a large sword with both hands, letting go with one of them every so often to grab wands and cast various spells Hugh was swinging around a broadsword, not caring whether he cut of limbs, decapitated or straight up cut the undead in half with one hand while using the other and some skill to create shockwaves with his shield gauntlet when he swung it, the shock wave traveling about two meters before dissipating. Much like Hugh, Kosei was swinging around his war axe and shredding everything around him, every so often he would stop swinging and shoot out a large crossbow bolt from a crossbow which had been built into his armor¡¯s left arm, the crossbow being large enough to be called a great bow, this only working due to the sheer size of the upper half of his armor, the bolts piercing at large numbers of undead every shot. We kept going forwards and into the undead army, cutting up anything everything ahead of us while looking for the one being that was the cause of all this. Chapter 54 - Time passed, undead fell and undead rose, once we had noticed that any undead who fell disappeared in black smoke and that more undead kept appearing we realized they weren¡¯t going to end until we stopped the necromancer, so we decided to almost completely ignore all the undead around us and focus solely on looking for the cause of all this. ¡°¡°GIIIRIII!!¡±¡± I heard a cacophony of loud screams and screeches coming from above, the others seemed to occupied to notice, or maybe it had to do with something else, however when I looked up I could see figures, they had the shape of a various creatures¡¯ upper torsos. They were on fire. The fire was blue. They were falling. Once the burning ghosts hit the ground they ignited any nearby undead, the fire kept spreading for a short while before it started disappearing faster than it could spread, and above us, where the ghosts had previously been, was a bright blue, almost white ball of flames, below that was Cathy who was falling and frantically digging through her bags looking for a specific wand. The ball changed shape and unfurled, revealing what looked like a giant bright blue flaming bird of prey which flew around over everyone, and with every beat of its wings blue sparks fell down. Whenever these sparks touched any of the creatures below they were set ablaze almost instantly, however unlike the previous flames these did not spread, and whenever they touched any of those who still lived it only lightly singed their clothing. ¡®Ow!¡¯ Though that didn¡¯t happen to me for whatever reason, when they hit me they luckily didn¡¯t start burning, however they did hurt. Actually hurt. it was the first time I had felt real pain ever since I came to this world, and I only have a ghostly disposition, so I can only imagine what it feels like for full on undead. Cathy was caught in mid-air as Red had jumped over four times her height to catch her, when they landed Red jumped from undead to undead with agility and dexterity that made you wonder which one was supposed to be the cat of the two as Cathy was sitting on her shoulders and shooting flames. ¡°I found the necromancer!¡± Shouted Cathy from atop Red. ¡°I saw him when I fell!¡± We all started following them, this was made a lot quicker now that whatever Shiona was doing had ended up making the deaths of the horde more than rival the speed of which new members rose, letting us clear out a path more easily as we approached the place where Red was. *BOOM!* In front of us a large explosion or purple flames appeared, the shockwaves forcing us to get down on all four to stay still, unable to advance for a full ten seconds. Once we got back up we saw that we weren¡¯t the only ones who had been affected, Shiona¡¯s¡­ whatever it was had been reduced in size while the ground around us was devoid of undead, filled only with black smoke. In the centre of the now empty patch of ice stood a single robed figure. ¡°You insufferably insects refuse to get out of my way!? I¡¯ll just have to force you then!¡± It shouted with a voice so hoarse it sounded almost like the wind itself as it started waving and spinning around its staff, the ends of it glowing brighter and brighter in a purple light with every motion. ¡°Take this!¡± With one last gesture it looked like the necromancer was about to throw the staff, however he stopped it so fast that it would¡¯ve looked like time had stopped if it weren¡¯t for the giant purple flaming skull which shot out of it. I tried to dodge. I tried to run to the side. We all tried to escape. However the black smoke below us which had been left after the undead had solidified around our legs, trapping us where we stood. We heard it. The shouts fear. The screams of pain. The laughter of madness. The crying of heartbreak. All these sounds spewed out from the skull as more fire pulsed out of its eye sockets, nose and open, grinning mouth. With every new wave of fire came more sounds. Everyone felt pain, it started out as something minor, however the closer the skull got the worse it became. I didn¡¯t feel the pain, my skills made me unable to, however even I couldn¡¯t move through the smoke which bound us no matter what I tried. The skull approached us at the speed of someone running and reached us within few seconds. It passed through us, leaving us covered in the purple fire, for a moment I was worried, scared and shocked. ¡®What¡¯s going to happen!?¡¯ I thought. However this was soon answered as I heard screams erupt from all around me. Everyone had dropped their weapons and fallen below the black fog. And then, while the necromancer was cackling and about to turn around- *FWOOSH* Shiona who was still covered in the blue flames had dove down and passed right above use, the blue sparks which had previously decimated the undead now caused embers to erupt on the black smoke, the fires spread and before the necromancer was able to separate the fog to isolate the flames the smoke was already gone and everyone was uncovered. I ran up to them while the necromancer was trying to sling smaller but faster spells at Shiona who was distracting him.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. I went to Cathy first since she had some of her own magic gummies so she could help me help the others once she got up. I tried both the healing, energy and antidote jellies at once since I didn¡¯t have the time to experiment. Once the liquidized potions fell in her mouth she shot up with wide open eyes, at first she looked around in both confusion and horror, however once she saw Shiona distracting the necromancer and looked at me and nodded before getting up as she ran to Red to help her get up while I went to Hugh. ¡°That fucking Prick! Just you wait until I get close to you!¡± ¡°Wait Hugh! If you attack him before everyone is up he¡¯ll realize what we¡¯re doing, wait until everyone is conscious!¡± He looked like he had an objection but seems to realize I was right as he grabbed the three jellies I handed him and went to Grizz while I want to Kosei. I was troubled over what to do with him however, due to the way his armour was built I couldn¡¯t access his head and whenever I tried to phase the jellies they melted as soon as the energy entered them. ¡°Move!¡± Said Grizz as he pushed me aside, he then used his clawed gauntlets to force open the armour and expose Kosei. I fed Kosei the melted jellies and he soon got up, we were now all prepared and ready, we looked over to the necromancer and saw that only small patches and mounds of black smoke were left now and we started trying to sneak up on him as close as we could get before he noticed us. ¡°Ha!¡± Laughed the necromancer as he turned around and launched the spell which we thought he had been preparing for Shiona towards us. ¡°Did you forget!? I can feel where you are little cursed creature! Whatever you did before may have prevented me from seeing you properly, but you still feel just the same!¡± He then bent backwards and started cackling as we dodged the magic he shot while. We approached him, Hugh internally laughing at the necromancer for having looked away from us in the middle of battle. Suddenly all the black fog around us approached the necromancer in the centre, forcing us to jump high or turn around in order to dodge it, and when we looked back the fog had formed four pillars around him, the fog then disappeared, and where it had been were now four stone pillars. The necromancer kept laughing as we got to him, everyone were preparing to attack before the necromancer could do whatever he intended to, however I recognised those pillars. ¡°Stop!¡± I shouted as loudly as the bangle let me, however it was a bit too late. ¡°GAH!¡± Red who had jumped at the necromancer was unable to stop herself as she fell on the invisible barrier which had formed outside of the pillars, electricity running through she was shot away in a small explosion. The necromancer kept laughing. Shiona swooped in right above the barrier, raining down blue sparks on it, however they fizzed out of existence as they touched it. ¡°Your pet phoenix won¡¯t be able to help you now!¡± He screamed, letting us know why he had been laughing so much. Kosei tried shooting one of the giant crossbow bolts at the barrier, however it ricocheted off of the barrier and into the air, bouncing a few times before settling down. Cathy tried launching various different spells at it, but they all evaporated as they touched it. I heard a loud zap and saw a bright light from the bottom of the barrier as I heard Cy speak. ¡®That¡¯s fine, I¡¯ll think of something.¡¯ It was then I noticed something, through the purple barrier I could see another colour. Blue. From the pillars the blue light of energy was seeping out. The same blue light of energy which the book of knowledge was made out of. ¡®I think I have an idea! Lizz, can you hear me!?¡¯ ¡®Where are you!?¡¯ ¡®Please tell her to come pick me up, I need to get back to the island!¡¯ I didn¡¯t hear a reply but a few seconds later I heard Shiona¡­ Cawing? She flew down next to me and I grabbed on after covering my entire body in an orange shell, thanks to the shell I didn¡¯t directly touch the fire however I had to spend a lot of energy replenishing the solidification as it was burned away. I could see the Necromancer behind us look after me as we left to the now fairly distant island, the necromancer screamed at us and started throwing a multitude of spells we had never seen him use at us, making it apparent he had only been holding back and toying with us so far, most likely certain of his victory, however this would prove to be a mistake. We travelled towards the island while being followed by spells that would change their course to always stay on our tails, they kept getting closer and closer however we were approaching the island much faster than they were approaching us. I climbed towards the head of Shiona¡¯s fiery form, due to her flames making her as large as a cottage this was a tough thing to achieve, however achieve it I did. ¡°There! That way!¡± I told her while clinging on to her right next to her eyes so she could see where I was pointing, as i showed her the way to the where the books page was being kept. She started flying low, mostly just gliding at this point, and I jumped off of her right next to the blue page and its barrier, Shiona didn¡¯t stop but kept going and took the tracking spells with her as she started trying to shake them off. In the few seconds it took to fall to the ground I saw burning remains of other undead, I didn¡¯t know what kind they were but they looked to be horrid creatures, some amalgamations of tens of various undead creatures, some looked like moving piles of flesh and some looked like large centipedes made out of a large number of ribcages which had been put together, they had most likely been put there to guard the page, however whatever they may have been before was reduced to almost nothing by Shiona¡¯s blue flames. I looked at the page, and just as I had hoped the four pillars around it were absorbing the blue energy that the page was releasing, presumably somehow sending it to the necromancer to fuel his spells. I walked up to the barrier, tried to take a deep breath, however that failed which made me start missing my lungs, and I touched the barrier with my right hand warily. At first the barrier was solid, I wasn¡¯t electrically shocked like I would have been from the other barrier, however I was unable to pass through it as well. But then after I had been basking in the blue light of the page for a few seconds the book of knowledge started to stir. The book undid the straps which had held it to my back and fell on the ground, it then opened and reached out a giant blue hand from within. The previous blue hands it had made were the size of my hands, this one however? Its arm was as thick as an A3 sheet of paper and had a hand to fit, the arm moved through the barrier, diminishing in size the further it went, before finally reaching the page when it was just as thick as it normally was, it then grabbed the page, and once it did the barrier was undone and the quickly retreated along with the page into the book. I looked up into the sky, Shiona had turned around and come back and I saw the spells which were following her grow weaker and weaker with every passing second. The necromancer was no longer able to fuel his spells. We could win now. I quickly out the book back on as it had closed and recreated the straps, I then grabbed onto Shiona again as she passed by launching myself into the air by phasing into the ground and we flew back to the battlefield. As we approached the battlefield we were surprised to see that there wasn¡¯t one anymore, all the undead were completely gone, and more surprising than that was that the ice was gone as well, the entire lake was yet again filled with water. ¡°Are you guys okay!?¡± I ask everyone who I found swimming in the water. ¡°We¡¯re fine, just go chase the necromancer! He¡¯s flying that way trying to escape! We¡¯ll swim to the island since it¡¯s closer, there are boats around the island so we¡¯ll take one of those home, now hurry up!¡± Answers Hugh. I see a fluttering robe flying off into the distance above the water and we start chasing after him, while Shiona approaches the necromancer I see Kosei swimming and wonder how he¡¯s able to do that with his armour. We get closer to the necromancer, he must¡¯ve heard us as he turns around and starts flying backwards while shooting at us. ¡°...¡± Both Shiona and I are amazed as the spells which had previously been able to decimate our entire group had been reduced to purple sparklers. We kept gaining ground, however just like the spells which were chasing us while we went towards the island we weren¡¯t able to catch up by the time he made landfall. *THUD* ¡°GAH!¡± ¡°...¡± We reach the edge of the lake and look at the necromancer who had flown himself backwards head first into a giant boulder and fainted from the impact, I get off of Shiona as she perches herself on the boulder, I sit down next to the necromancer and start using Lulling touch to keep him unconscious while neither Shiona nor I know what to say. Chapter 55 - I wake up as I hear Shiona yawning next to me, we say good morning to each other and start petting our pet chimera as she walks from her spot on the bed towards us when she realizes we¡¯re awake. She has grown to the same size as the adult lesser chimeras already, or the same size as a normal platypus in other words, we have decided on a name as well, ¡°Litll Guy¡±, before we had a name for her we just called out to her by saying ¡°Little guy¡± and it ended up sticking around. As for the seed the dryad had given us it had sprouted into a bud, however it hasn¡¯t bloomed yet. ¡°Morning¡­¡± Greets a yawning Cathy once we exit our room. ¡°Good morning Cathy.¡± ¡°Hope the morning shift wasn¡¯t too hard on you.¡± We both answer back as we walk downstairs to start working. It has been a good few weeks since the necromancer incident, once the others had caught up with us they first laughed when we explained how we caught the necromancer and after that we all took him into custody in the city after relieving him of his staff. At first it had been decided that he was going to be executed, however he was able to bargain with the court and it was changed: ¡°Hee hee, you there, cat, you saw the staff I was using right? The staff is of my own creation, heh, I had been studying the best way to create wand for years on that island, completely undisturbed while using a relic to fuel my magic, heh heh, I wouldn''t be surprised if that staff is decades, no, at least a century ahead of the primitive wands you use!¡± Had the necromancer said while staring at the judge and grinning maniacally. The relic he was talking about was never found¡­ Or at least not by anyone else that is, the book''s page is back where it belongs without anyone other than our little group being any the wiser. As for what this page did? Turns out it was very similar to the inventory page, however it stored energy instead of objects. Basically it was a very potent energy battery that the necromancer had been leeching off of to fuel himself. It was then decided that in exchange for revealing how to make such staffs his sentence would be changed to one hundred years in an underground dungeon and depending on how much these new staffs helped keep people alive his time in the dungeon would be shaved off, maybe even letting him go free before he died of old age, though many doubted it as he seemed to already be on in years. Now some weeks later me and Shiona had been allowed to get a room inside the guild, me due to fulfilling the ¡°Guild¡¯s little helper¡± title and Shiona due to my persistence, though her assistance in the necromancer incident also helped a lot. Speaking of her assistance, while we¡¯ve been out doing some quests these past few days she¡¯s been trying to do what she did during the incident, however no matter what she does she never ends up succeeding for whatever reason, so as strong as she became back then it doesn¡¯t seem to be a skill which can be relied upon. Now what had happened in these past few weeks? Well to begin with it seems that while we were out fighting the necromancer Rico and Anna who had been staying back home to take care of the guild and the inn had grown respectful of each other, once they had finished deciding who would do what while we were gone they had started talking business almost immediately and after an hour or two they had decided to try and merge the inn with the guild in the middle of the city to be more convenient for both parties and their customers. They had actually both agreed to the merging within just ten minutes, the rest of the time had been spent trying to think of how to convince Hugh of this, but in the end they succeeded and now the guild had been rebuilt to be more than twice as large in order to accommodate for an inn and restaurant in one half while the guild worked the same as ever in the other half, also there was now a new staff only living room where we ate food which Anna and Hugh had been cooking, as scary as this sounds I can assure you that Hugh is a surprisingly good cook. This also caused the number of employees the grow as the quartet started helping out in the booth when the guild staff was busy and vice versa, and since Joanne had started teaching Hugh how to cook and Cathy and Red were teaching each other how to do paperwork and how to wield small weapons everyone left had decided to do the same by grouping together and teaching each other the ropes of their work, Rico and Anna grouped up and so did Anne and Grizz, leaving only Rupe alone as they taught each other how to validate the different kinds of quests. As for how things had changed for Shiona and I? Well the necromancer incident ended up giving the both of us both a guild accomplishment as well an actual title when I looked in the book and when Shiona used the status orb, stating how we had defeated a long lost profession who would have otherwise caused great damage. Our guild ranks had risen too, both of our subjugation ranks had become Copper A rank, it would have been more but it turns out none of your ranks can go to the next metal not all of them can, however since it was such a large accomplishment Hugh said that once we did become silver adventurers our subjugation rank would rise again immediately, which we did just a few days afterwards, causing us both to now be silver A rank in subjugation, silver F in gathering and silver D rank in delivery. At first we asked whether the silver A rank meant that it was going to rise even further if we got to gold but turns out this was where it actually stopped. We walked into the living room and sat down at the table while greeting everyone else, after the remodelling the stair which led down from the guild staff member rooms now led to the new living room rather than the main guild hall, we talked for a bit before we finished eating and everyone went their separate ways in pairs of two. Except Rupe. The pickits had left five days ago, they had finished making sure that this place had forgotten about their history and weren¡¯t going to use them as manual labour slaves but they still had to make sure about the rest of the neighbouring countries before they could be certain it was safe for everyone. The elves had to leave for their home country quickly together with the necromancer to find out how he could have gotten so adept in a profession which was thought to be extinct, turns out it was actually the elves which had put in the most effort into destroying all traces of necromancy so to them this was personal, when they left they also asked me to wait with coming to visit their village since it was going to be very hectic for a few weeks from now on.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Rico and Anna went towards the booths while the others went other ways, Shiona and I decided to take up some delivery or subjugation quests in order to raise our ranks, we had been rewarded for the necromancer incident enough so that we wouldn¡¯t have to worry about money for a very long time, so instead we focused solely on rank rather than reward, however silver ranked quests weren¡¯t very common here. ¡°Here¡¯s one!¡± ¡°Finally!¡± But it seems we got lucky this time as we found a quest where we needed to deliver some monster eggs from the monster shop I had been to previously to another city. Shiona takes out the map which she still had in her back and starts looking around for a castle town called ¡°Vartan¡±. ¡°You¡¯ve gotten a lot better at holding things with your fingers Shiona.¡± ¡°Thanks. Vartan doesn¡¯t actually seem to be more than a few days away by wagon, so if we leave so we should get there by evening since we take the sky route.¡± ¡°That sounds good, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything else we need to do today so I think we can just leave at any time.¡± We walk back to Rico to get the quest note stamped and officially recognised as ongoing and tell him we will probably be gone for a few days to try and raise our ranks. ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll tell the others and the elves if they come around while you¡¯re gone, have a safe trip.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± We go by the monster shop and get the eggs which we will be transporting, while we¡¯re there we also get some more food for Litly. After that we walk through the city gates and take off towards the city of Vartan, Shiona taking care of flying while I look at the map to make sure we don¡¯t make any mistakes. Litly is poking her head out of Shiona¡¯s backpack with an open beak, reminding me of a dog. * * * Maybe five hours later we¡¯re still flying and I¡¯m looking around to verify the landscape I spot something shimmering in an opening in a forest. ¡°Shiona, I think I see something over there, could we take a closer look?¡± ¡°Sure, hang on.¡± She then takes a sharp turn towards the right and we get closer to the thing I had seen. *fwuit* When suddenly an arrow flies towards us, Shiona barely dodging it while I phase myself and drop down to the ground. ¡°Kid, you¡¯ve better eyes than us, did she hit it?¡± Asks a burly male voice. ¡°I can¡¯t see well with the sun but I think I saw something drop!¡± Responded a much younger voice. Shiona stays up in the sky since everyone''s attention had been drawn towards me when I fell and the voice started to get closer to me. It¡¯s obvious they had been trying to hit us however I still feel like it would be better do watch what they¡¯ll do before going on the offensive, thus I phase myself below ground and through look at what they¡¯re going to do from below. ¡°There¡¯s nethin¡ä here! Ye be blind kid!¡± Shouts another new voice. Right where I¡¯d landed on the ground I saw a group of two men and one woman, the two first voices I¡¯d heard belonging to the men, the first burly voice coming from a muscular bearded one while the other came from someone who looked to be a bit younger than a teenager, the third voice came from the woman, she looked like an elf and had a very weird looking bow made of metal as well as a pair of goggles on her, though they looked more like a pair of binoculars. While they were arguing with each other (Though it was mostly the elf against the burly man) I move below the man and reach my arms up onto his shoes, and before they realize I''m there I pull him down under the ground to his knees and let go, causing him to fly up to the tree tops where a Litly jumps out of a Shiona¡¯s bag and starts scratching at him to keep him occupied. ¡°NOW!¡± I shout as a briefly come above the surface, when I do Shiona dives at them while dodging another arrow and grabs the boy as she flies back into the sky, then while the elf is busy focusing on aiming at Shiona I grab her ankles and put her to sleep. *THUD* Just as I do it seems that the burly man wasn¡¯t able to keep his balance while trying to grab at Litly and fell down from the tree head first and fainted. I get up and tie the both of them as well as the boy who had fainted from the sudden flight together with a rope I had bought from Rupe (always good to have) and we take them with us while we start walking, waiting for them to wake up and answer a few question. Obviously we also removed any weapons they had, and let me tell you, the elf was hiding a lot of knives which Shiona had to take out while I took care of the other¡¯s. ¡°This is taking too long, can¡¯t I just splash them with some water?¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± She then eats a blue fruit from her belt and drenches the three people with a *splash*. ¡°Now then, mind explaining why you guys were trying to shoot us out of the sky? Can¡¯t promise we won¡¯t do something nasty depending on the answer.¡± I say towards them, mostly trying to scare the boy and make him talk. ¡°Sorry!¡± Shouts the burly man suddenly, surprising us since we thought it was going to be the boy for certain. ¡°...Uhm¡­¡± ¡°We thought you were a winged snake!¡± Continues the man. ¡°How!?¡± Shouts Shiona suddenly, interrupting any further excuses as she seems to have taken personal offense. This time it¡¯s the elf that explain. ¡°Ye were flyin¡ä in the sun an¡ä carryin¡ä somethin¡ä, nea our fault ye was so intent on lookin¡ä like a snake wi¡ä wings!¡± She says while glaring at us, only causing Shiona¡¯s anger to rise further. ¡°Uhm uhm, when you w-were holding him w-with both your¡­ talons? Y-your legs and what you were carrying looked l-like a snake t-tail¡­¡± Says the boy, somehow squeezing out what he wanted to say despite his apparent fear, however his attempt at getting himself and his party out of trouble is soon foiled- ¡°Do yer worst!¡± -by the elf as she defiantly insists on getting on Shiona¡¯s bad side. *sigh* I walk up to the elf and put her back to sleep, fear and anger now appearing in both the others¡¯ faces. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s just asleep, I just wanted to be able to talk without her causing any more problems.¡± Both of them appear relieved when I say this. ¡°Sure, but if you want compensation we don¡¯t have much¡­¡± ¡°Nothing of the sort, the only ones who lost anything now was the elf who lost a few arrows, no harm done.¡± I try to assure them, however the scowling Shiona behind me doesn¡¯t seem to help put their minds at ease. ¡°T-then what do you want?¡± Asks the boy timidly. ¡°Well the two of us are adventurers in fact, and we were going to stay in Vartan for a while for some better quests, we were wondering if you who look to be fellow adventurers could give us a few pointers of the area around here.¡± We then talk for a while and we take off the ropes which we¡¯d bound them all in and start walking to Vartan which was now a walking distance away from here, the burly man carrying the elf on his back while I keep her asleep. *splash* ¡°Ye foggin¡ä-¡± *sigh* ¡°-Wank...ahs...¡± *snore* ¡°How about us two go first and you can wake her up when we get out of sight?¡± Everyone seemed to think this was a good idea so Shiona and I set off towards the gates before them an entered the city with a large castle in the middle, Vartan. We would be taking our time exploring the city however in order to avoid any more trouble with the elf we decide to simply hurry to the guild, maybe ask around for an inn while we¡¯re there and if things go well maybe even take a quest or two before retiring for the night, however- ¡°Where¡¯s the guild?¡± Asks Shiona. ¡°I.. Don¡¯t know¡­¡± Turns out not every city had their guild placed as prominently as Eastern lake city, leading us to wander around for quite a while before eventually deciding to simply ask some civilians for directions, due to this by the time we arrived at the guild it was much too late to do anything other than tell them we were there in case they needed help (With me now officially working at the guild this was something I needed to do) before we went to an inn that the people working here had recommended us, once we got there we paid for seven days and ate our own food once we got to the room. Chapter 56 - We wake up the next morning and head to the address where we¡¯re supposed to drop off the eggs. ¡°Hello and welcome to Vartan kingdom''s main street restaurant! Would you like a table for on-two?¡± Asks a smiling receptionist, only flinching slightly when she realized that there was in fact a second customer who she hadn¡¯t seen due to me being too short. ¡°Err, actually we¡¯re here with a delivery from Eastern lake city, from ¡®Monsters and you¡¯¡± ¡°Ah yes, the eggs, we had just run out and were unable to make anymore waffles, you came at just the right time!¡± ¡°Wait, you¡¯re going to eat them!?¡± Asks Shiona in a surprised manner. ¡°Well... This is a restaurant after all.¡± Responds the receptionist with slight difficulty. ¡°Actually if you want you can have a small discount as extra thanks for good timing, would you like a table?¡± *sigh* ¡°Fine, we haven¡¯t had any breakfast yet¡­¡± Responds Shiona, still a bit shocked that they¡¯re using eggs from a petshop as food ingredients. We pay the receptionist and we¡¯re led to a small square table with two chairs on oppsing sides by another staff member, we¡¯re then left alone for a bit before the waffles are finished so we decide to plan out the day. ¡°Well the things we came here to do was to raise our delivery and gathering ranks right? So then we should focus on those I think.¡± ¡°I agree, but also it wouldn¡¯t hurt to get a few subjugation quests while we¡¯re here, so we can learn the local geography quicker.¡± ¡°Good idea, after we finish breakfast we¡¯ll head over to the guild and see what they have available.¡± After having decided on our course of action we sat there in awkward silence while waiting for the waffles to arrive- ¡°Here you are, two whipped cream waffle plates.¡± -Which they did shortly. ¡°This- *munch* this is pretty good.¡± ¡°Yup.¡± We finish the waffles and leave the restaurant while thanking the receptionist for the discount as well as getting the quest note stamped, we then head back to the guild and hand in the quest proper. ¡°Yes, this quest has been confirmed as complete, here¡¯s your reward and thank you for your hard work.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± We didn¡¯t really know what to say, we¡¯d never seen a member of the guild actually act professional, the closest we had seen was Rico, however with him always fainting on the job that image didn¡¯t last long. Although he had admittedly gotten better ever since the guild and the inn fused together. ¡®Maybe anna has been helping him?¡¯ We take the reward money, somewhat disappointed we didn¡¯t seem to rank up (though it made sense disappointing things are still disappointing), and we leave for the quest boards. ¡°Excuse me, Plush and Shiona?¡± But we¡¯re called to the receptionist¡¯s desk. Also worthy to note was that this branch of the guild didn¡¯t have booths like Eastern lake city¡¯s guild, instead it looked more like a bar. ¡°Yes? What is it?¡± ¡°The guild master would like to speak with you, and if possible ask you to do a specific quest.¡± Responded the receptionist. ¡°Okay, sure. But where¡¯s the guild master¡¯s office?¡± ¡°Right this way sir.¡± A new staff member had appeared next to us, at first he had only been cleaning a few mugs so we didn¡¯t pay him any mind until he spoke up, he then started walking towards a door while beckoning us to follow him. ¡°This is the guild master¡¯s room.¡± *knock knock* ¡°The adventurers from Eastern lake city are here sir.¡± ¡°Let them in¡± The staff member who was with us nodded once to no one in particular before opening the door and gesturing for us to enter. ¡°Hello guild master, we¡¯d heard you wanted to see us?¡± I say right off the bat. In front of us sat a man at a desk, the man didn¡¯t look very special, not any particularly discerning features, he had short brown hair, no facial hair, brown eyes, neither fat, thin, nor muscled, and his face wasn¡¯t conveying feelings of either joy, relief, anger, or anything else for that matter. ¡°Yes, I had received a message from Eastern lake city¡¯s guild master that you would be arriving shortly, he¡¯d also written how you both, *cough*, and I quote; ¡°Weren¡¯t as weak as you looked.¡±, and though I feel bad saying this but if he hadn¡¯t included that part I wouldn¡¯t be asking this of you.¡± We had only been half listening to the guild master ever since we entered, instead we were shocked by how he was able to keep his room looking like an actual office, most everything looked neat and tidy save for a few papers on his desk which he was working on while talking to us, the floor looked clean and there weren¡¯t miscellaneous objects laying around as though it was someone¡¯s bedroom. It looked like he actually cared about the public opinion. ¡°We were told you had a quest for us?¡± Responded Shiona, still a bit to surprised by how tidy everything was to take any offense from what the guild master said. ¡°Yes, this is a subjugation guest which has been proving to be very troublesome, you see on a hill inside of a forest not too far from here there grows a certain valuable plant, this hill however has recently been made into the residence of a dragon. I would like to ask you both to go subjugate said dragon.¡± As the guildmaster said that last part he finally stopped doing paperwork and looked at us for the first time since we had entered. ¡°The reason this quest has been proving troublesome for us is that the people who would be satisfied with the reward aren¡¯t capable of subjugating it while those who are capable aren¡¯t satisfied with the reward,.¡± ¡°And what makes you think the quest is worth it for us then? Or that we''d even be able to kill the dragon for that matter?¡± ¡°And also can¡¯t you just raise the reward in that case?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t raise the price of the quest it¡¯s due to most of the reward coming from what the adventurers can get by selling parts of the dragon, there¡¯s no way our guild would be able to afford to purchase an entire dragon¡¯s body, let alone at a higher price. And the reason you two will think that the quest will be worth it is because I was told by Eastern lake city''s guild master you''re both trying to raise your ranks in gathering quests. And although I think that Easter lake city''s guild master must be overinflating your accomplishments I will admit that even if you''re fast the current record for getting to Silver A rank is six months, so you should at least have enough experience adventuring to make do." "You mean six weeks?" "What." "What." ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± *cough* ¡°Also Eastern lake city¡¯s guild master owes me a favour so since you work for him I¡¯m taking the favour out of you, if you want to blame someone blame mister Manning.¡± ¡°Right, we''ll be sure to remember when we get back...¡± Says Shiona. ¡°Well here¡¯s the official quest note, now is there anything else?¡± ¡°No not really...¡± I say and look to Shiona. ¡°One thing, what do we need as proof of subjugation?" "It changes depending on the type of dragon, however for the one we''ve had reports of around the hill it would be the centre fang in its upper jaw, they''re shaped differently than the rest to allow use of magic." We then leave the guild master''s office and re-enter the main hall to finally look at what we could find on the quest boards. ¡°Griffins, hippogriffs, more goblins, orcs, giant lizards, giant rats, giant owls, giant mantises¡­ etcetera etcetera¡± ¡°So other than the griffins and hippogriffs it¡¯s what we¡¯ve already seen and just giant forst animals?.¡± ¡°Seems like it. As for the gathering quests¡­ Hey, I¡¯m not sure but didn''t most of these grow at the dryads place?¡± On the gathering quest board there were a lot of quests which were asking for various fruits of even more varied colors, and since we had already seen them all we knew what the fruit looked like as well as the basic shape of the trees they grew on. ¡°By the way, when the guild master talked about selling monster parts, wonder what other monsters that includes¡­¡± ¡°Anything at Silver A rank or above.¡± I turn around and see the same staff member who had been cleaning mugs and guided us to the guild master sitting the the bar table as he¡­ cleaned more muggs. ¡°Err, thanks?¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± We slowly turn around and start walking away from the eavesdropping man and leave the guild after deciding we¡¯ll save any delivery quests for another day, or maybe later today depending on how long this would take. Shiona take out the map from her bag. ¡°Hey Plush, I think we¡¯ll need a new map, this one isn¡¯t doing too well¡­¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Looking at the map you could see that indeed the map wasn¡¯t in the best condition, although it hadn¡¯t been burned at all from back during the necromancer incident it seems that the rain we passed through on our way to Vartan was enough to change it from a map to a paper with ink swirls on. ¡°Guess the ink the pickits use isn¡¯t very high quality¡­ But the Vartan guild master said the hill we needed to go to was close enough to be seen once we exit the town so we shouldn¡¯t need t for now, we¡¯ll get one once we come back.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± We then walk back out through the winding streets and eventually make our way outside the gate, once there we look around for a short bit before seeing a large rocky hill sticking out of a forest about four times the height the tree tops a distance away and take off towards it, with how fast Shiona has gotten at flying we arrived after just a few minutes. We landed and saw that the hill was shaped rather oddly, from one side it looked just like a normal hill yet from the side which was facing away from Vartan it had been almost completely hollowed out into a cave. *gulp* As we readied ourselves to enter Shiona ate one of the red fruits, something we¡¯d discovered these past few weeks was that when she absorbed an element she also became more resistant towards it, and even I had heard of how dragons breathed fire so there were no objections from me. *GRAAH!* ¡°!¡± ¡°!¡± Then suddenly the dragon rushed out of the dark cave it had been residing in while roaring at us, however when it saw we weren¡¯t leaving it instead stood tall a small distance away from us with it¡¯s head up high enough in the sky to almost reach the top of the hill watching us. The dragon looked mostly like the ones I¡¯d heard about, giant reptilians with four legs, two wings, it¡¯s scales were a beige yellow color, almost like sand, it had a long tail and a long neck, and on top of that neck- *HUUAA-* -Was a head which was inhaling air to breath fire. ¡°Shiona!¡± ¡°Right!¡± Once I¡¯d shouted that I phased myself fully and saw that Shiona was bracing herself mentally, just because she knew she¡¯d be fine against fire didn¡¯t mean she felt fine being covered by it. But then something happened which neither of us was prepared for. Out of the dragon¡¯s scaly maw came not fire, but drool. *FWOOSH* ¡°OH COME ON!¡± Shouted Shiona as she tried to avoid the water which had within a fraction of a second turned from drool into a broken water hydrant on crack aimed right at us. ¡°Water!? Really!?¡± Shiona had to take off into the sky in order to avoid the almost industrial strength water jet, making her have to use both her wings and talons to balance herself in mid air, this made her unable to grab another of the fruits to at least make the water jet deal less damage when it hit, though both of us doubted she would escape unscathed even if she absorbed the water energy fruit. Thinking it would be best to get the dragon to stop before it was given the chance to actually hit her with the water beam I ran up to it and prepare myself to phase through it while dragging anything that felt important with me when I come back outside on the other side. ¡°!¡± *SLAM* ¡°Plush! Are you alright?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡± I respond. In front of me stood the sand colored water spouting dragon. And between us stood another dragon. A purple dragon. The same purple color as the spells which the necromancer was able to hit me with. ¡®Honestly, what is up with out luck today?¡¯ As Shiona was flying in the air trying to outmaneuver a seemingly endless supply of magically brought forth water from one dragon I had to jump around to dodge claw swipes and bites from the other while we both tried to think of how to do this. I had tried to simply go underground however when I did the purple dragon turned its focus towards Shiona until I came back up and started distracting it again. I tried to phase my hands into one of its feet before it could raise it again only to be met with the same sensation as if I had been trying to walk through a wall without any sort of skill, I then had to jump back to not get hit by its other front foot which it had slammed down where I had been standing. The dragons now stood back to back with me and Shiona being on opposite sides of them, because of this I was able to see how it was going for her, she was still flying around frantically however the dragon seemed to have learnt the way that Shiona dodged his beam and was slowly but surely aiming closer and closer. *SLAM* I had to jump again to avoid another stomp of the purple dragon, this time I jumped back towards it and tried to encase it¡¯s foot in a solidified shell, however with a loud *CRASH* The shell was fractured and split into hundreds of pieces as if made out of glass before vanishing completely. I tried to remember all the skills I possessed. What would be able to help me now. What hadn¡¯t I thought of. I tried to simply cut the dragon using Hunting Claws, however it only made the now hardened claws start forming cracks until I released the skill. I tried Lulling Touch, however as expected due to the nature of the skill there was no way for someone as small as me to affect someone as large as this with this skill. I didn¡¯t even bother trying Revenant Reconnaissance. Falling asleep now really wouldn¡¯t help me. Then what else did I have? ¡®Trickster''s Sleight is way to fatiguing for me to be able to create anything game changing before fainting.¡¯ A loud *CRUNCH* was heard when I dodged the dragon¡¯s attempt to bite me as it instead bit a boulder which was behind and turned it into gravel. ¡®Intangible Influence? On what? The dragon itself? And what would that do? Its feet were so large compared to me I¡¯d be able to pull it at most a millimeter below the ground.¡¯ *SWISH* Sounded the very air around us as I dove underground to avoid a claw swipe before coming back up again two a second later. ¡®Risen Apparition then? It¡¯s easier to use than Trickster''s sleight, though I still don¡¯t know how to use a small illusion to help right now¡­¡± And then suddenly I had an ide- *CRASH* My train of thought and my preparations were then interrupted as the dragon finally hit me, causing me to be sent flying into another boulder, then with a *thud* which was much to soft for the grave situation I bounced off of the boulder and landed face down on the ground in a cloud of dust which had been kicked up by all the commotion. Whatever it was that allowed me to see through things when I phased through them didn¡¯t seem to work for the dust so I could only see a vague silhouette of two dragons, one turning towards the other as they started focusing on the same target. That was when I put my plan in motion. The purple dragon seemed to have gotten too used to fighting creatures of flesh and blood, creatures that could bleed out and die from just minor blunt trauma if it hit in the right place. The purple dragon was walking towards the sandy dragon who was somehow still shooting at Shiona, however they had become arrogant. The purple dragon moved slowly. ¡®Why hurry when we¡¯ve already won?¡¯ Was probably the thought which was going through it¡¯s mind right this moment. Though it probably sounded different in over-sized lizard speech. It was then that I struck, now that the Purple dragon though I was dead and was moving slower I could fill up on as much energy as I wanted, both from energy jellies as well as the books new page, and once I felt I was back in tip top condition I dove underground and moved to right under the sandy dragon. And I dove into it. Through the sandy dragons feet which had yet to leave the ground once after it started firing its water beam I went inside of it, inside of its ribcage. The sandy dragon realized something was wrong the moment I entered it, kinda hard not to when all of the touch receptors in your foot suddenly go off, both the ones on the surface and the ones deep inside. However it was far too later as I solidified the blood inside its heart, making it unable to pump blood and oxygen throughout its body, causing it to slowly suffocate and die. A minute passes. Three minutes pass. I felt the entire dragons body shake as it hit the ground, however I kept my hold, I wasn¡¯t going to let it get up just because I wasn¡¯t being careful. Five minutes pass. Eight minutes pass. And once ten minutes pass I release the solidification, slowly at first to see if the heart will start beating again, but when I see it stay as lifeless as ever I release it fully and get outside the dragon¡¯s corpse. whatever allowed me to see through stuff seemed to only work on what I was currently phased inside, so when I was right in the middle of the ground I could see through the organs I touched but not the skin, so I had no idea what was going on outside. ¡°Took you long enough.¡± Was the first thing I heard as I came out of the sandy dragons side. ¡°Sorry, I have no idea how long it takes for a dragon to asphyxiate so I had to be on the safe side. And are you okay?¡± At first when I came out of the sandy colored dragon I had been looking back towards it to make sure it wasn¡¯t moving but now I turn towards Shiona and see her sitting with white feathers on top a frost covered purple dragon, some places of it even having chunks of ice stuck to it, while petting Litly who had been hiding in her bag all this time. ¡°Yup, as soon as I could get a different attribute I was just fine, turns out these guys really are just like lizards, cold blooded and everything.¡± She pushes herself off of the dragon with one of her wings, lands on the ground and puts down Litly who runs up to me and wags her tail almost like a dog. ¡°Now what to do about these guys. That book wouldn¡¯t happen to be able to store something as large as this would it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ve never tried.¡± ¡®Book? is it possible?¡¯ When I ask it this the book gets off of my back and opens fully, I don¡¯t see what page it opens on due to it glowing brightly though I assume it¡¯s on the inventory, a huge number of blue hands then reach out of it, even more than back with the goblin corpses, and they all start grabbing at the sandy dragons corpse, however even when they''re all holding onto various parts of the corpse they seem unable to budge it. "Ehm... Maybe we can help by taking the dragon apart into smaller pieces? You used to help your father at the butchery right?" "Well, we can try, but I have no idea how to dismantle lizards, let alone dragons..." Suddenly almost all of the blue arms let go of where they were holding and grabbed at one of the dragons wings instead. "I think it''s telling me where to cut it... But honestly I don''t think I can, I wasn''t able to pierce the other dragons scales at all, no matter what I did..." Says Cy suddenly from withing the book. ''Really? But then why couldn''t you have said so earlier when I needed it the most!?'' I thought angrily. Answered Lizz suddenly. ''No, don''t... don''t worry about it, I overreacted without thinking. But back to the point.'' A single blue arm let go of the dragon and came back to me, out of the palm of the hand cam what looked like a knife. ''This is?'' I took the knife from the blue hand and it went back to the dragon. Well, I call it a knife but in my hands it was the size of a short sword, so it looked like I was holding an oversized cooking knife. I moved over to the dragons corpse and wearily tried to cut the dragon, prepared for the weapon to bounce off of it or right out shatter, however the moment it touched the dragons body I could hear a *sizzling* sound as the part of the blade which touched the dragon started glowing white and began cutting through the dragons scales quite literally like a hot knife through butter. After the entire wing had been cut off I could even see that the scales which had been cut through had been melted like cheese in an oven while everything inside had the color of normal raw meat, as though the apparent heat of the blade had been a lie, and the blue hands which held the now detached wings quickly put it inside the inventory befre coming out and grabbing onto another spot on the dragon. Explained Cy. After that I continued cutting up the dragon with the guidance of the book and the magic cooking knife, once I had gotten through the scales everything and into the meat of the dragon everything went much slower, the knife seemed to only work it''s magic on the scales so until I started working on the other dragon it was just a really sharp knife. At least t was better than a dull knife though. After a while Shiona left to start gathering a bunch of ginseng so that we would be able to depart as soon as I was finished with this, and thanks to the book''s guidance it didn''t take as long as it should''ve so a few hours later I climbed out of the ribcage of the skeleton that used to be the purple dragon, quickly phased myself to get the blood off of me and let the book store the last piece of the second dragon. Only the sand colored dragon had a centre fang like the guild master had described so I assumed this was the one that had been seen while the purple one must''ve been staying inside the cavern. Shiona came back with a bag full of beige roots and put them on a pile which had even more of them, I had the book store all of them and we departe back to the city. Chapter 57 - Shiona grabs me by my shoulders and we fly back towards the city, nothing noteworthy happens (though we did see a few pretty birds) and we soon arrived back at Vartan, we then entered through the gates and headed straight to the guild. ¡°Hello.¡± I say to the receptionist. ¡°You are¡­ the adventurers the guild master hired yes?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°I¡­ *sigh* I¡¯ll go tell the guild master we¡¯ll need to find someone else to subjugate the dragon...¡± ¡°What? No! We already killed them!¡± I respond frantically, worried that she¡¯ll chalk up the quest as a failure. The receptionist gives me the stink eye before starting a lecture about how if we wanted to feed her a lie we should¡¯ve chosen a better one, however she stops just as soon as she started when I take out the centre fang of the sandy dragon from the inventory and show it to her. ¡°Ri-... Right this way sir!¡± She says as she personally starts walking towards the guild master¡¯s office. ¡°Wait!!¡± Says Shiona. ¡°We have other quests too, and we already know where the guild master¡¯s room is.¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± She then sheepishly goes back to the other side of the bar table and soon recovers her professionalism. ¡°What other quests do you have then?¡± ¡°Ginseng gathering quests, there¡¯s a lot so is there another room we could go to?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Responds the receptionist as she rings a bell that she picked up from underneath the table, soon the staff member who had a penchant for cleaning mugs appeared and led us to a separate room. After we entered the staff member left while telling us he¡¯d soon be back with someone who could inspect the ginseng, when the staff member came back he was met with a table covered by more ginseng than either of us should¡¯ve been able to carry, and we then leave the room to let the inspector inspect all the ginseng while we instead go and knock on the guild master¡¯s office¡¯s door. ¡°Yes? I¡¯m sort of busy so make it quick, who is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s us.¡± ¡°Who?¡± Responds the guild master, now more annoyed than before. ¡°The people you sent out to kill the dragon.¡± We¡¯re met by silence, then a sigh, and then the guild master tells us to enter, so we do., and there we see the guild master sitting at his desk while three adventurers sit on chairs around the same desk. The three very adventurers who we ¡°ran¡± into yesterday when we first came to Vartan, however they seem to all be deep in thought as none of them (including the rude elf) turn around or even acknowledge us being here. ¡°What is it? I thought I sent you to subjugate the dragon five hours ago?¡± ¡°We di-¡± Begins Shiona, however I interrupt her by nudging her with my shoulder as I realized I could mess a little with both the elf and the guild master. ¡°We got halfway-¡± ¡°You!¡± As I began to weave my web of lies for the sake of entertainment I was ever so rudely interrupted by the elf as the three adventurers seemed to recognise my voice now that there wasn¡¯t a door between us. ¡°Ye feckers! Guild master, dees two are de cunts who attacked us an¡¯ tried ter kill us!¡± ¡°What!? First of all you tried to shoot us with arrows without any provocation! And we never tried to kill any of you!¡± The elf simply harrumphed in response to Shiona and turned back to the guild master while trying to look as defiant as possible. *cough* ¡°As I was trying to say, we got halfway there but had to turn around-¡± ¡°Ha! Feckin¡¯ cowards! An'' liers tah boot, no way could you ''ave gott''n there an'' back in five hours!¡± I look at the elf, the elf smiles back, seemingly satisfied she got to interrupt us and the guild master doing nothing to correct her conduct despite how awkward the two other adventurers seemed to feel about it, so I just continued where I was interrupted. ¡°Oh we got there alright, keep in mind we can fly, but the reason we had to turn around saw that there were actually two dragons rather than one.¡± ¡°What!?¡± x4 Finally it seemed that the elf was shutting up so that I could talk to the guild master. ¡±Is that true!? And then what did the other one look like!?¡± Asked the guild master. ¡°Well we don¡¯t know which one of them was the one you knew about, but one was coloured like sand while the other was purple.¡± *sigh* ¡°The sand coloured one is the one e knew about, it¡¯s known as a beach dragon due to having the colour of sand as well as using water magic. As for the purple on you will have to be more specific, there are a lot of different purple dragons.¡± ¡°Well it didn¡¯t seem to be able to use magic, instead it tried to bite me, stomp me, or swipe at me with claws. It had two wings and four legs like the beach dragon. Is that enough?¡± ¡°Was it also the same body shape as the beach dragon, or was it more snake like, or maybe it had feathers? What about horns, did it have any? Like I said, there¡¯s a lot of purple dragons.¡± Responded the guild master, sounding more and more annoyed with every word he said, which in turn made the elf''s mischievous smile eve more gloatful , this caused me to also get more and more annoyed back at the both of them, making me look forward to what was going to happen more and more with every passing moment. "Ha! Ya prolly turned tail so fast yu couldn''t grasp anything but its color!" ¡°No." I said, ignoring most of what the elf said at this point. "In fact it looked just like the beach dragon had taken a bath in purple paint... Oh, but now that I think about it I think the purple one did have a single horn going backwards along its head, and when it tried to bite me I saw that it didn¡¯t have a centre tooth like the other one.¡± ¡°Okay, I know which one you¡¯re talking about now at least. It¡¯s¡­¡± He sighs and starts rubbing his eyes with his fingers. ¡°It¡¯s actually a fairly newly discovered kind of dragon, it hasn¡¯t been given a name yet since no one know what it actually does other than just be a giant lizard with wings.¡± ¡°Well¡­ Let¡¯s say we did go back and fight them, what would be the proof of subjugation for the purple one then?¡± Behind me Shiona seems to realize what I¡¯m about to do and has to cover her face with her wings to keep her smile from showing, however she still shakes every now and then from keeping her laughter back.. *sigh* ¡°That would be its horn, but I can see you¡¯re just trying to hide your injuries.¡± He says, seemingly having misinterpreted Shiona¡¯s shaking as full of pain rather than laughter, this only causes Shiona to starts shaking even more. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest, I''ve been trying to be extra kind to you since you arived due to the Eastern lake city''s guild master''s high praises of the both of you, but now I can see that he must''ve grown old and senile, damn that fool for making me waste my time with you incompetents! If you ran away yet still suffered this much damage there''s no way you''re fit for the job!¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. At this time I was pretty furious at both the guild master and the elf who was smiling like she was having the time of her life hearing us being lectured by the guild master. ¡°You. You¡¯re the leader of your party right?¡± Asked the guild master of the elf. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Well I heard you had been looking for a challenge as of late, think you can handle two dragons?¡± ¡°Ha! Unlike dees two useless as a chocolate taypot adventurer wannabes we can carry our own weight!¡± ¡°Good, then with that done you three are given the quest which those two failed, as or you two, please vacate my office immediately.¡± We start walking back out of the office of the guild master who only ever did the opposite of showing why he was given his job, I walk first into the doorway however before I actually leave I turn around and say: ¡°Oh, one last thing.¡± ¡°What!? I won¡¯t ask for any remunerations for the quest since it was clearly my fault for entrusting it to you to begin with, now get out!¡± ¡°Not that, this.¡± After I had said that I put my hand into the books pouch and asked it to give me both the beach dragon¡¯s centre tooth and the unnamed dragon¡¯s horn, and I then tossed them both onto the guild master¡¯s desk. The guild master¡¯s and elf¡¯s jaws dropped as they stared at the two objects and realized they''d both been played for fools for a good few minutes without realizing a thing. Laughter. From the room we were in laughter sprang forth. Not just from Shiona either, although she was the one who started but from Lizz inside the book and the two party members of the elf as well, and we all looked at the flabbergasted duo while we were laughing their lungs out before Shiona and I left and closed the door behind us. As soon as we had closed the door and turned around we saw the female receptionist from earlier standing there and trying her hardest to hold back her laughter. ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± We waited for a while however there was still no change from her. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Eep!¡± ¡®Well at least she responded¡­¡¯ I thought. The receptionist then gathered herself with a *cough* and told us that the ginseng inspection had finished. ¡°Here¡¯s you rewards,-¡± She handed us a leather bag filled with coins. ¡°-and if you give back the bag after you put the money somewhere you get another fifty silver, and you can expect both of your gather request ranks to go up to Silver A rank by tomorrow.¡± She crouched down and gestured for the both of us to get close so she could whisper something. "No one here really likes that stuck up jerk, so as thanks for the show we all threw in a little bonus." ¡°Thanks.¡± We then left the guild to get away from the annoying elf and guild master before they decided to rush after us for whatever reason, and even if he decided not to actually confirm our request as fulfilled due to personal feeling we already had both the dragons corpses, which as he said was actually the reward for the quest, and we were already Silver A ranked adventurers so we didn¡¯t really need to complete it for any other reason either, so instead we went back to the inn and started discussing what to do next. ¡°Well, something that I think we both realized is that we need another person in our little group, I mean, sure, Lizz can use magic, however like today what if they''re busy for whatever reason?¡± ¡°I agree, and although Cy could probably help with most anything with her machines they can take too much time to build.¡± ¡°Right now we basically have a rogue/summoner hybrid and a wizard, we definitely need someone more bulky, wonder if Litly would fit the role once she grows up?¡± We both look down on our pet chimera who was currently eating out of a bowl, she looks back at us and tilts her head to the side before continuing to eat. ¡°Also I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a very good idea to stay in this city much longer, honestly I think we should just get a new map tomorrow morning and leave for another town as fast as possible.¡± ¡°I agree with that too, even Hugh¡¯s a better guild master than that guy, there¡¯s no way we¡¯d be able to continue adventuring like normal here with Vartan¡¯s guild master personally having it out for us, then again I guess we can¡¯t really know for sure how he¡¯s going to act but with the way he was letting that elf act I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she has him around her finger.¡± ¡°Yeah, and if she does then he¡¯d definitely come after us. So we wake up tomorrow and leave town after getting a map then?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± Having finished making our plans I go back inside the book and start cooking up a little evening meal for us both before we go to sleep after I finish my Trickster¡¯s sleight training. * * * We wake up early the next morning and pack what little things we have, go downstairs and say goodbye to the innkeeper while asking where we can buy a map. ¡°The local library should have them, heard they¡¯re real cheap there too since they have some elven machine that makes more of them real easy. The library is...¡± After the innkeeper tells us the directions to the guild we say our goodbyes and start following her instructions, and after some ten, twenty minutes we come across a large building with a sign above its entrance which read ¡°Library¡±. ¡°Hello?¡± I ask a librarian who we saw sitting at a desk once we¡¯d entered. ¡°Yes?¡± She responded. ¡°We¡¯d like to buy a map please, preferably one that can handle some rain. And do you have any books on dragon? Specifically what you can do with parts of their bodies.¡± ¡°Well if you look at the wall behind me you¡¯ll see the different sizes of maps we have, lamination will cost thirty silver extra. Ah, lamination is what the procedure of waterproofing the map is called if you didn¡¯t know, as for the books on dragons as materials there¡¯s a book in the crafts and works section in the back titled, well, ¡°Dragons as materials¡±. They¡¯re all in alphabetical order so it should be easy to find.¡± ¡°Thanks, and is it possible to purchase the book rather than just borrow it?¡± ¡°Yeah, on each book there¡¯s a note which says how much it is to borrow, if you want to buy the book it¡¯s ten times as much.¡± ¡°Thanks, we¡¯ll come back with the book once we find it.¡± ¡°We then walk into the back of the library and start searching for the book, on our way there we also saw an area for pet keepers and decided to get a better book about greater chimeras since the one we had wasn¡¯t very good, and once we¡¯d gotten them both we returned to the librarian and got four maps, two of the country we were in while the other two were large maps of the entire continent, one of each for me and one of each for Shiona. After we were done in the library we went on our way, hoping to leave the city without bumping into the elf or the guild master, and as luck would have it we managed to exit the gates without any incidents and we take off again towards a new city. Lizz was as normal flying with me in the talons while I was looking at the map. ¡°It says that the swamp town Krull should only be two or three day''s flight away from here that way.¡± I say and point in the direction we¡¯re already going. After that I hold up the map next to Shiona¡¯s bag where Litly sticks out her and grabs the map with her beak before going back inside, I already had the other map of the country in the inventory so this one was Shiona¡¯s, and instead I take out the book called ¡°Dragons as materials¡± and start reading up while comparing the parts which the book said didn¡¯t exist in all different species of dragons to the inventory¡¯s list of what parts we¡¯d gotten from the two dragons. * * * After I finished reading the book it turns out that most of a dragoon¡¯s body could be used for at least something. The meat could be used as, well, food, and the book even had some recipes. The bones could either be sharpened into durable weapons or ground to dust for use in alchemy. As for all of the organs they could also be used for both alchemy and various rituals, but one thing all of these had in common was that they were excellent materials for use in magic wands or other magical creations, apparently strengthening some aspect of whatever the magical item would be able to do as well as becoming incredibly durable, this last reason was the biggest reason why all of these parts could be sold for as much money as it could, since apparently good wands were hard to come by. And then there was one thing, the thing which the both of us would get the most use out of, the magic gem which allowed each of the dragons to use magic. The beach dragon was pretty obvious, it used magic to shoot an incredible strong beam of water, however the unnamed dragon wasn¡¯t as easy to know what magic it used. Or at least it wouldn¡¯t have been if I didn¡¯t have the skills I did, but since I do have the skills I do I had been able to easily find out that the unnamed purple dragon had used some kind of magic which allowed it to touch ghosts, though what good that did for a dragon that lived in a place that Hugh said didn¡¯t have any undead was uncertain. As for what these gems could be used for? Well they could actually be used for the same thing as the slime cores, that thing being magic wands or trinkets, specifically it said in the book that a dragon¡¯s crystal could create either a wand which let us use whatever the dragon the crystal belonged to had used, or a trinket which increased the strength of any skills or magic we used which was of the same attribute, meaning if we made wands out of these we would have a wand which allowed us to touch ghosts and a wand which allowed us to shoot a powerful water beam, but since we could already do that we decided we will have them made into trinkets instead, one which Shiona can use to increase her strength when using the water attribute and one I could use to strengthen my ghost related skills For me this meant a lot of my skills, Phasing, Revenant Reconnaissance, Risen apparition, and probably Trickster¡¯s Sleight as well since technically that ability just made it easier to use two other skills in conjunction, one of which was a ghost skill while the other was already he combination of a ghost skill and a normal skill, so hopefully seventy-five percent was still enough to count. I then put the dragon material book back in the inventory and headed inside the book of knowledge to try cooking some dragon steak while Shiona finished today¡¯s leg of the journey with Lizz so I could have something ready for her once we set up camp for the night. Three days later of repeating the pattern of flying, eating, sleeping, eating and then flying again we finally reached the swamp city Krull. Chapter 58 - On our way to Krull we land in front of a large forest, and when I say large I mean large, when we were outside we couldn¡¯t see the end of it whether we looked to the right or the left, and the trees that the forest was made out of were giant misshapen moss covered trees, however both their leaves, moss and bark were a darker green and brown than any oaks I¡¯d seen before, the sky above the forest was filled by dark clouds which covered the forest like a shell, and inside the forest the ground was covered by a layer of mist which couldn¡¯t be seen through with a single raised dirt path which was just a few centimetres above the mist that went further inside,. (AN): Imagine a foggy forest made of these: Next to the path there was a wooden sign which confirmed that Krull, as well as some other places, were somewhere inside the forest. Seeing as the clouds above the forest didn¡¯t seem to be moving we decided to walk through the forest on the ground rather than risk flying where we can¡¯t see anything. ¡°This place is really eerie, I¡¯m almost expecting a zombie to just climb out of the mist...¡± ¡°You¡¯re the half-ghost, you should be feeling right at home here then.¡± ¡°Come on, don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t think this place is at least a little creepy?¡± ¡°I never said that, but you have to agree this place is a lot more mellow than scary at least.¡± I did agree with her, at first I was expecting this place to feel more like somewhere the grim reaper would have his holiday home, however after having walked around for a bit it honestly isn¡¯t as bad as it looked, it even felt like somewhere you¡¯d want to walk just to think for a bit. ¡°Shio-¡± *zap* ¡°Gah!¡± ...Or at least that¡¯s how it felt until small bolts of electricity started to fly at us from within the forest, Shiona was hit in her side by the first one and we both swore we could hear children''s laughter coming from coming from all around us when she was. Now this place wasn¡¯t tranquil anymore. Now it was just really fucking scary. After the first bolt had hit Shiona she ate the tiger striped magic fruit to absorb electricity into her feathers, after that we both calmed down since the lightning bolts weren¡¯t doing a whole lot anymore. But two people who hadn¡¯t calm down were Litly in the bag, as well as whoever was trying to mess with us. *zap* *zap* *zap* *zap* *zap* *zap* *zap* *zap* *yawn* After that we started to hear cries instead of laughter, and as the crying got louder the magic started thinning out before they both suddenly disappeared completely. Thank god they didn¡¯t realize Litly was with us. As for me, I didn¡¯t feel any pain from any of it since this was just normal thunder magic, nothing to do with ghosts or anything like that. A little while later we come across a fork in the road, there¡¯s no signs telling us where to go so we just started following the right side from here on out. A few minutes and a number of junctions later the forest gets more and more dense, now it looks more like a tunnel made of wood and leaves rather than an actual forest, and now just a short while later we see come across a grey brick wall with a single wooden door and two mounted torches, and as when we get closer to it we see a small hatch in the door. *knock knock* ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°...¡± *knock knock* ¡°Hello!? Anyone there!?¡± Then finally the hatch on the door opens and someone answers. ¡°...Bloody kids, trying to prank old men by knocking on people¡¯s houses¡­¡± The old voice coming from the other end then continues grumbling about prankster before slamming the hatch shut. ¡°Wait! Hello!? Are you still there!? We¡¯re a bit short so maybe you didn¡¯t see us!?¡± With a *click* the door then opens and we see a grumpy and spindly old man looking out at us through the gap, however when he sees that we¡¯re actually there his eyes widen for a moment. ¡°Alright, so you are here. Now what do you want? If you¡¯re sellin¡¯ I ain¡¯t buyin¡¯!¡± ¡°Err, we were looking for Krull, but there weren¡¯t any signs so I don¡¯t know if this is right, so what I¡¯m asking is if this is Krull?¡± ¡°Yeah this is Krull alright.¡± ¡°Oh, then can we enter?¡± ¡°The only thing you¡¯d enter through this door is my house, and I don¡¯t like strangers so no.¡± ¡°What? But didn¡¯t you just say this was Krull?¡± ¡°Yeah, I said this was Krull, but I didn¡¯t mean my house.¡± ¡°Then-¡± ¡°You¡¯re already in Krull, I don¡¯t leave town much but if I remember right you should¡¯ve officially entered our little swamp town a good five or so turns ago, just go back and hold left three times and then take a right, that¡¯ll take you to our adventurers¡¯ guild, save your question ¡®til you get there. Now if you¡¯ll excuse me you had interrupted my midday nap.¡± The man then angrily slammed his door shut as we started feeling guilty for interrupting his nap, we then turned around and followed his instruction, left, left, left, and then right, which led us to a clearing which lacked both trees, fog on the ground and clouds in the sky, we could even see the sun still shining brightly above us. In the middle of the clearing there was a building. The first floor of the building looked like a flattened cylinder, and the floor above looked like a thinner flattened cylinder, so the entire house looked like a giant cake. And the torches which looked suspiciously like birthday candles only helped strengthen that image. We walk up to what we assume is the guild and enter it, we¡¯re then greeted by an intense odour of alcohol, meat, the sounds of gambling as well as the sounds of fights which had broken out due to the gambling, and all around there were men and women who sat at tables, drank large amounts of alcohol, some laughed, some sang, and some cried, however maybe they were to occupied, or maybe it was due to us just being small? Either way no one seemed to notice us here until we walked up to someone who looked like a waitress who had just finished delivering large tankards to various tables.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Excuse me.¡± ¡°Yes? I dunno what species you are but you look a bit small for beer don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°Not that, we were trying to get to the adventurer¡¯s guild and we were wondering if we got right?¡± ¡°Yup, this is the swamp town Krull¡¯s adventurer¡¯s guild, but we¡¯re in the middle of celebrating an old local tradition so we can¡¯t do much today, but if you go the way you came, take a left and then a right you¡¯ll come to an inn, it¡¯ll probably be just as noisy as this place so I dunno how much sleep you¡¯ll get though.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, thank you.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Yet again we re-enter the foggy forest, and after having followed her advice the dirt road is replaced by a wooden ramp which lead up to house that¡¯s raised a metre above the fog covered ground by wooden stilts, and through the windows we see the shadows of people getting drunk and partying, but we still enter, find another waitress, and ask her if we got the right place when she doesn¡¯t look busy. ¡°yup, just go through that door and you¡¯ll find a receptionist that you can order a room from, have a good stay!¡± We thank her and she goes to deliver more tankards to the customers while we enter the door she told us about. ¡°Uuuuh¡­.¡± And in that room there was a man sitting on a chair while laying his upper body on a desk, he was crying, groaning, complaining, and generally being a sore loser about how he had quite literally drawn the short straw and had to be the designated receptionist for the night and before we could say anything he took a swig of a glass that looked to contain milk. ¡°Hello?¡± Asks Shiona timidly. ¡°What?¡± Says the man as he looks up. We now see that apparently just the fumes coming from the neighbouring room was enough to get him drunk as his cheeks and nose were red and his body wobbled with every movement. ¡°You two here to rub in how I¡¯m not allowed to go and have fun!? Oh I know something else you can ru-¡± *crack!* ¡°Gah!¡± Suddenly the man fell down as a figure with a creepy smile stepped out of the shadow behind him. ¡°Sorry about that, I¡¯ll be sure to let him have what he¡¯s due once he wakes up, now what would you like?¡± It was the waitress from before, and judging by how she had knocked the man out with a jug of beer she was just coming back after having picked up more drinks for the customers and saw the way he was acting. ¡°N-no worries, but we would like a room please, we don¡¯t know how long we¡¯ll be staying so we¡¯ll pay daily, and we have our own food.¡± ¡°Good, I doubt we have any to spare tonight, but one room will be¡­¡± After we pay the money we receive a key and walk up a set of stairs to a long corridor with a lot of doors, we enter the one with a matching number to our key, Litly jumps out of Shiona¡¯s bag and onto the bed while we put down all our stuff and lock the door. ¡°So, plans?¡± ¡°Well this giant swamp/forest town doesn¡¯t really seem that safe to walk around in, what with all those thunderbolts, so there should be some high ranked delivery quests if we¡¯re lucky.¡± ¡°And if there aren¡¯t?¡± ¡°Err, I dunno? Look for a delivery quest that¡¯d take us to another town I guess? We¡¯re in a town that, as far as I¡¯m aware at least, doesn¡¯t have its guild master out to get us so we have time to think if it doesn¡¯t work.¡± ¡°So put it off for tomorrow? Good idea, see you tomorrow.¡± And after deciding on the path of procrastination we go lay down in the bed and try to sleep. *slam* ¡°Gahaha!¡± ¡°You motherfucking-!¡± *crash* ...Though it doesn¡¯t really go that well due to all the drinking and brawling going on below. ¡°Shiona?¡± ¡°...Yes¡­¡± ¡°Do you want something to eat?¡± ¡°...Can you make hamburgers¡­?¡± She responds while looking up from the pillow mountain she had built around her ears. ¡°It would take a little while, but I should be able to.¡± ¡°...Thanks¡­¡± ¡°No worries, I¡¯ll switch places with C-¡± Interrupts Cy before I can fully finish the last vowel of her name. ¡®What?¡¯ ¡°Okay, Cy says she wants to watch me cook so I¡¯ll switch with Lizz instead¡± Screams Lizz in response. Says Cy triumphantly. ¡°Plush?¡± Asks Shiona confusedly. ¡°... Lizz and Cy are playing rock paper scissors to determine who gets to stay, and if Lizz loses she¡¯ll give half her burger to Cy¡­¡± x2 Says Lizz almost immediately. Before they can continue any longer I let Lizz out and take her place in the book, turns out she had been sitting on the sofa in the living room, and on the other side of the table there was a three-fingered metallic arm which had all fingers straight in the shape of paper. [She used rock twice in a row.] Says Cy before I have the time to say hi. ¡®...I see.¡¯ I walk into the kitchen while trying not to think about the spider following behind me and enter the storage room through the fridge. While in there I get a bunch of flour, yeast, ground meat, eggs, garlic, onion and a few spices, however I almost dropped it all when I turned around and was reminded that there are two skeletal dragons (minus a tooth and a horn) in here now. I take out an oven plate, preheat the oven, turn on the stove and put a frying pan on it. I mix the flour with yeast and water and started kneading it until it had the right consistency, I had also put in a bit of salt and some herb for the taste and leave it to rise on its own while I start mixing everything else for the meat patties. Before I was even finished mixing the meat I happened to look over at the dough and saw that within just a minute or so it had already risen fully, so I washed off my hands in the sink and start putting hamburger bun sized bits of dough on the oven plate and put them in the oven before returning to the meat. After I had mixed all the ingredients sufficiently I shaped them into patties before putting them on the frying pan and flattening them a bit with a spatula for good measure. And then something happened that made me once again remember that we aren¡¯t just in an apartment, but that we¡¯re in a magic apartment, as the meat patties I was frying all needed to be flipped within just a few seconds, and the bread in the oven had already started getting a charred surface so I had to take it out while flipping the patties and then immediately taking the frying pan off of the stove. ¡®Shit, forgot the toppings.¡¯ [Something I can help with?] ¡®Err¡­ Think you can get some lettuce? Big green soft things, look like a big bundle of leaves.> As Cy walked off into the storeroom I started cutting up another onion and filling the frying pan with a thin layer of olive oil, then I dropped the chopped onion into the oil and had to take them off again almost immediately as they¡¯d already been deep-fried to a crispy golden brown colour. I then poured the contents of the frying pan into a metal strainer and had a bucket beneath. It may not be the healthiest option but it¡¯s pretty economical to save the oil for later use. [Is this lettuce?] I turn around and almost faint as I see Cy a lettuce between her two most front legs. She was a lot larger than normal. She was as tall as me, and I looked like a normal human in here mind you. [Plush?] As it turns out I did more than just almost faint. [I know you don¡¯t like spiders but did you really have to scream?] I was pretty shocked by what she said, keep in mind in the two or so months I¡¯ve been here I¡¯ve not once made any sounds with my mouth (except chewing). ¡®S-sorry, but please don¡¯t sneak up on me like that, even people who aren¡¯t arachnophobic would be scared when they see a spider the size of themselves¡­¡¯ [...I see.] ¡®But yes, that¡¯s lettuce, let me chop up a bit of it and you can put the rest back¡­ And for my own sanity please shrink down again before you come back, I don¡¯t know how much I can handle¡­¡¯ I turn around and start chopping up half the lettuce into thin strips before handing the other half to Cy while trying not to look at her milk carton sized mandibles before she turns around and walks back into the fridge. Now then, let¡¯s try¡­ ¡°... A¡­ Ah¡­¡± I began slowly, like I said, I haven¡¯t actually spoken proper in two months so cut me some slack. ¡°... Ah¡­ I¡­ Speak¡­ Talk¡­. I¡­ I can¡­ Talk¡­¡± I tried to last through my feelings of embarrassment (If someone saw me speaking like a baby I doubt they¡¯d do anything but laugh) and slowly became better and better at saying the phrase. ¡°I can talk.¡± [Indeed you can.] ¡°...¡± I take a deep breath and try my absolute hardest not to let any of the not so friendly words I¡¯m thinking get loud enough for anyone to hear me as I turn around and see that a still giant Cy has been standing behind me and both listened and watched me rehabilitate myself. ¡°You...You¡­ Please, don¡¯t, do, that¡­.¡± Now the reason I was talking weirdly wasn¡¯t that I was unable to talk, but rather due to my suddenly re-existing heart beating so hard I would¡¯ve thought I¡¯d just ran a marathon. [Sorry. Are the burgers ready?] ¡°C-can you shrink again?¡± [Fine.] And as she said that she did indeed start shrinking back down to a manageable size again, however it was now the size of a tarantula instead of the finger thumb sized spider she was before, probably to be able to eat the hamburger better. ¡°Thank you, I¡¯ll leave two burgers here for you and Lizz as well as some toppings, you put them between the meat patty and the bread and then eat it like a sandwich¡­ Have you ever had a sandwich?¡± [Yes, now go back outside, Elizabeth has been having a nervous breakdown ever since I refused another match in r.p.s.] I follow Cy¡¯s advice and go back outside, I then share a few burgers with Shiona and apologise for them being a bit burnt while trying to ignore Lizz crying and complaining about how the half a burger she was allowed to eat was only enough to make her even hungrier than before as Shiona and I were finally able to sleep due to the people bellowing quieting down. Some had probably left, some had probably fainted due to the alcohol, and some had probably fainted due to the fights which were caused by the alcohol. Chapter 59 - We wake up and see that the sun is already shining brightly in the sky, so realizing that we woke up later than usual we have to shorten our Litly petting session in order to do make up for lost time and we head downstairs after having prepared everything. ¡°Good morning you two, did you sleep well?¡± Asks the female waitress when she sees us. ¡°I think? I mean we didn¡¯t exactly sleep poorly but we woke up a lot later than usual.¡± ¡°It was probably due to all the festivities though, but the rooms and beds were good.¡± ¡°Good to hear, should we prepare some breakfast?¡± I look up to Shiona and ask what she wants using eye contact I see her looking down at me with the same eyes, so I nudge her with my shoulder, hopefully conveying that I want her to choose. *nudge* But she just nudges me back and stares at me again, this time with slightly puffed cheeks. *sigh* ¡°Well what¡¯s available? Any local specialties?¡± I finally ask when I give in. ¡°Yes sir, that¡¯ll be two Krull breakfasts then?¡± Despite being slightly worried by how she only told us the name of the dish rather than the ingredients used I still agreed, I mean it can¡¯t be that bad right? And even if it is we have enough money for a few hiccups here and there. We pay waitress and she walks off into another room while telling us she¡¯ll come up to our room with breakfast once it¡¯s done since the actual dining room hasn¡¯t been cleaned up yet since last night. Once we get back upstairs we make up for lost time in a different way by finishing the petting session which had previously been cut short until the waitress knocked on the door and came in with a trolley and two plates, put them down on a table and left while telling us to have a nice meal. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn¡¯t squid¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, didn¡¯t they use to call it ¡®devil fish¡¯ or something back home? I wasn¡¯t expecting this place to have them as food¡­¡± ¡°Oh well, I always like eastern food, shame there¡¯s no chopsticks though.¡± After we got over our initial surprise we sat down and started eating the squid which looked to have been deep fried using forks and knives, however we were unable to stand how wrong it felt and I ended up having to go inside the book to make chopstick of our own, and, well, the only material I had to do so with was¡­ ¡°What are you doing?¡± Asks Lizz when she sees me doing something in the kitchen. ¡°Chopsticks.¡± I say as I¡¯m using the knife I got from Cy to carve away at what I¡¯m holding. I was back in my human form in order to get a better grip on all of it. ¡°What¡¯s a chopstick?¡± ¡°An eating utensil.¡± She takes a deep breath and I sigh as I drop what I¡¯m doing and cover my ears. ¡°WHY ARE YOU MAKING EATING UTENSILS OUT OF DRAGON BONES!?¡± I wait for a few seconds before uncovering my ears, just to make sure she was done you know. ¡°We didn¡¯t have anything better to use, now please don¡¯t scream when I¡¯m using a knife like this.¡± Just a second or so later I come back outside holding two pairs of chopsticks and we start eating again, all in all it hadn¡¯t been longer than maybe ten seconds since the waitress had arrived with the food. And then the waitress came back in again. ¡°I¡¯m back! You didn¡¯t actually think we¡¯d have you eat something like this right?¡± We look towards the waitress who¡¯s smiling so widely she can¡¯t keep her eyes open while our mouths are full of food, and when she finally gets curious as to why no one¡¯s responded she opens her eyes and sees us enjoying the food. ¡°...What¡­?¡± ¡°Tasty.¡± Says Shiona between her bites. ¡°This is really good, reminds me of home, send our regards to the chef.¡± I say, both Shiona and I pretend we didn¡¯t hear what she said to save her some face. ¡°R-right¡­ I¡¯ll tell our chef you both liked it¡­¡± She seemed to think that we really hadn¡¯t heard her as she pretended she never said anything and went back down with our plates once we finished them, at first she looked at our dragon bone chopsticks for a second but seemed to mostly disregard them as a foreigner thing before leaving. ¡°That was really good, I haven¡¯t had Asian in at least four years!¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll have to look around and see if I can buy a few squids before we will Krull.¡± We left Krull¡¯s inn and headed to Krull¡¯s guild instead, we notified the staff that we were there in case they had trouble with anything (hopefully we wouldn¡¯t repeat what happened with Vartan) and asked for a bit of info. ¡°You¡¯re after high ranked delivery quests? How high do you mean?¡± ¡°At least Silver A rank.¡± Responded Shiona. We¡¯d found it easier if Shiona took care of the talking when we and the other party were on opposing sides of a desk or some other object that made them unable to see me properly. ¡°Well you¡¯re kind of in the right place, but deliveries within the same town are never that high ranked, even with all the sparkwoods here there¡¯s not THAT much danger, but if you were to take a delivery quest that went from town to town it then the sparkwoods WOULD be enough to raise the rank. Let¡¯s see here...¡± She says and unfolds a map on the counter. ¡°We¡¯re here-¡± She says and points at Krull. ¡°-And I¡¯d say¡­¡± ¡°Wait, what are sparkwoods?¡± Asks Shiona while the staff member is thinking. ¡°Oh, sorry, forgot you were new here, sparkwoods are plant creatures that live in the foggy parts of the forest and shoot electric magic at anyone who passes close enough to them for them to be able to get the corpse if they kill something, you¡¯ve probably come across them on your way here.¡± ¡°Yeah, those things¡­¡± ¡°Now then, I¡¯d say if you took this-¡± She hands us a big bundle of letters. ¡°-and deliver them to the main guild it should be enough to get a few things, especially since each of the letters is technically its own quest.¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Hoo¡­. We kind of really don¡¯t want to set foot in Vartan is that¡¯s possible, but thanks either way¡­¡± ¡°Vartan? No way man, Vartan¡¯s just the home of some high ranking noble who¡¯s way to focused on looks, they spent all their money on building a castle that they didn¡¯t even have enough money to keep the house alive for another generation, by now the castle nothing more than a tourist attraction. The real capital is here-¡± We look where the staff member is pointing (I had to get lifted up by Shiona) and see their finger hovering over a large looking city called- ¡°Logholm?¡± ¡°Yeah, honestly I¡¯m surprised you¡¯re traveling with as little knowledge of the country as you are.¡± ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t have any excuses, but think you could tell us a bit more? Ehm¡­ It¡¯s kind of embarrassing but what¡¯s the name of this country even?¡± ¡°Wow, you really don¡¯t know anything.¡± Shiona and I laugh while scratching be back of our heads, and looking down at Shiona¡¯s bag we see Litly looking at us before trying to copy us with one of her paws. The staff member sighs and puts on a pair of half rim glasses as she takes out another more zoomed out map. ¡°This-¡± She says and traces a country on the map. ¡°-is where we are, the Engdom, and I already said Logholm is our capital.¡± The country she pointed at was a giant landmass of an island, the island was divided in two diagonally from northeast to southwest by country borders, Engdom was the south-eastern half of the island. ¡°And this-¡± She points at the north western half of the same island as Engdom. ¡°Is called Norther, pretty easy to remember with it being the northern half of the island, as for the capital it changes pretty often due to internal conflict. Next is this place-¡± This time she points at a separate island, this one to the west and slightly south of the one we¡¯re on now, looking closely we could see that it was actually connected to Engdom and Norther through a very thin stretch of land, to the point we didn¡¯t see it at first. ¡°-this is Niceland, their capital is called Greeting rapids, just don¡¯t get fooled by the name, if you go there you¡¯ll think you ended up in an old people''s house with how grumpy and drunk they always are there, and then finally there¡¯s Dayground here with Purchase Port-¡± She pointed to another island, this time it was actually properly separate from everything else. ¡±-As you can probably tell it¡¯s a country filled with mostly merchants, apparently way back in history one of the kings of Engdom decided it was a good idea to raise the taxes for traveling merchants since anyone from Niceland needed to cross Sveia to get to Norther and vice versa, so the merchants unanimously decided they¡¯d rather to go the sea route and stop by an at the time uninhabited island before carrying on, however since both countries had decided on the same thing without the other knowing they ended up meeting in the middle and doing business there instead, eventually they set up shops and made villages and gave the island the name of Dayground.¡± ¡°So¡­ We¡¯re in Engdom and our capital is Logholm, our neighbours are Niceland with Greeting rapids and Norther that doesn¡¯t have a capital, and if you go over the sea you get to Dayground with Purchase Port?¡± ¡°Yup, and well, there¡¯s obviously a lot more even further out past them, but no one really ends up needing maps that big except for the kings and queens of the countries so you won¡¯t come across them often.¡± ¡°Alright, thanks a lot, we¡¯ll be on our way then, bye!¡± ¡°Thank you to, we haven¡¯t been able to deliver our reports for a while so we¡¯ve been getting behind schedule, you¡¯re a big help!¡± After we leave the guild I realize something and ask Shiona- ¡°Didn¡¯t we purchase a map of the nearby countries so that we wouldn¡¯t need to ask people like this?¡± ¡°... Oh¡­ Right¡­¡± She looked embarrassed so I decided to drop it since I¡¯d also forgotten about those maps just like her and we walk back to the inn to ask where they got the squids from. ¡°Wait, you want more of them!?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± I answer with a confused tone. ¡°So you actually liked it? You weren¡¯t just messing with me?¡± ¡°Err, yes to the first and no to the second?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I-I¡¯ll tell our chef, you want to meet him then¡­¡± The waitress droops her shoulders and looks like she feels lost as she entered the kitchen again before soon coming back out and gesturing us to follow her back in. ¡°You two the ones who¡¯ve been messing with the waitress?¡± Asks a stout bald man with a white apron. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I said; are you two the ones who¡¯ve been messing with the waitress?¡± ¡°No? We just want to buy some squid, if you have any?¡± The bald man gives me an evil stare while I reply with one of confusion. ¡°Now I don¡¯t know what trick you used to make the lass believe you actually ate those slimy things, but unless I personally see you eat them I ain¡¯t selling a thing!¡± When the chef says that the waitress starts looking panicked. ¡°W-wait, isn¡¯t this the perfect opportunity to finally get rid of the squids!?¡± However the man ignores her and keeps staring at us. ¡°Yeah, alright, wouldn¡¯t hurt to have a meal before we leave. How much?¡± ¡°Oh your faces when I see you eat the squids without your tricks¡¯ll be more than enough!¡± He says and walks back into the kitchen while laughing. ¡°W-well dear customers, the dining room has been cleaned so please wait there¡­¡± So Shiona and I walk into the room which had been filled with drunkards last time we were there and sit down at one of the now empty tables while we wait and I take out the dragon bone chopsticks. ¡°Here you are, enjoy!¡± Says the chef as he comes back out with two very luxurious looking plates of squid, once he puts them down in front of us he takes out a monocle which has the same patterns on it¡¯s rim as the magic loupe that the guild used to differentiate the goblin ears. ¡°Just to make sure you won¡¯t try to cheat.¡± Says the man while putting on the monocle and smiling widely. ¡°Speaking of things, what are those?¡± He asks while pointing at our chopsticks. ¡°They¡¯re chopsticks, they''re a type of eating utensil.¡± He takes all four of the chopsticks and looks at them thoroughly with his monocled eye before sighing and handing them back with a disappointed look on his face. ¡°They¡¯re clear.¡± ¡°Okay, thanks for the meal.¡± After we thanked the chef we both started using the chopsticks again just like this morning to pick up small pieces of squid which had been arranged on the plate and ate them, and although we had a lot of trouble using the chopsticks this morning, what with me having a finger less than before and Shiona having to somehow use her feathers like fingers, but once we had finished breakfast we¡¯d both adjusted to it pretty well, so we finished this meal with much more ease than earlier today. Once we finished eating we looked at the chef who simply stared back at us. ¡°I always say that I don¡¯t believe something until I see it, but even now I don¡¯t believe what I just saw.¡± ¡°... Does that mean we can buy some squids? Or no?¡± ¡°Sure, we¡¯ve been looking for a way to get rid of them since no one wants to eat them, I¡¯d have sold them to you either way to be honest, I just wanted to play a little prank¡­¡± The chef takes out his monocle and walks off while dispersedly hunched forwards. ¡°Uhm, the squid?¡± ¡°Oh, right.¡± After I reminded him that we were in fact her to buy he turned around again and stood up straight as we talked prices, and after a few minutes we left the inn with a large basket of squids that we put in the inventory once we were out of sight ¡®It be great if we could use the inventory less conspicuously¡­¡¯ I think, half expecting to hear the familiar sound of leather rubbing together as the book does something, however only silence responds so I give up on that venture for now. ¡°The guild receptionist said that the things that shot lightning at us were called sparkwoods right? Well I think we should go and pay them back a little before we leave this place.¡± Says Shiona with a menacing grin, however- ¡°Not with Litly here we aren¡¯t¡± I answer and pat the bag Litly is in, making her stick out her head and look confused. *sigh* ¡°Fine.¡± And like that we leave the forest without any major trouble happening. *zap* Or at least so we¡¯d hoped, however it seems that the so called sparkwoods saw Litly when she stuck her head out and started attacking again, so Shiona quickly ate the tiger striped magic fruit again and started to jump around while holding the Litly filled bag between her wings to keep it from swinging around, however the lightning just keeps coming this time and doesn¡¯t let up even when the bag is covered by the electric proof wings. ¡°Okay, fine, we¡¯ll go pay them a visit, give me Litly.¡± Shiona hands me the bag and I take out Litly and put her on my head before handing back the bag, and since Litly is much smaller than Shiona I¡¯m able to cover her fully with Phasing, however I don¡¯t do it on myself to save energy since the lightning doesn¡¯t do anything to me either way and I started launching myself from tree to tree while Shiona flew behind me as the lightning bolts got bigger and bigger the closer we got. As we got past the last tree in our path we came into a bush filled clearing in the forest and started looking for what we expected to be a type of treant due to its name. *zap* And I was hit in my back by a small bolt of lightning as eerie laughter sprang forth from the centre of the clearing, and when we looked there we saw the bushes, their leafs standing straight as they crackled with electricity. *FWOOSH* However they¡¯re creepy child-like laughter is cut short end replaced by loud shrieking when Shiona ate the red fruit and lit almost all of them on fire simultaneously, causing them all to wither up and die after having spent three or so minutes perpetually screaming in pain, leaving only something glowing yellow under the fog where the sparkwoods had previously been, and after I handed back a now very excited Litly to Shiona I picked up what turned out to be thunder magic stones, much like the core of the water slime except yellow and glowing, and I put them in the inventory before we both travelled back to the road and left the forest and took off towards Logholm. Chapter 60 - Buddy Looking at the map we both see that Logholm is at least a few days of travel away, even with flight, so we start planning out if there¡¯s anywhere we¡¯d like to stop by before one our way, we may not have any bad feelings about sleeping outside, but we¡¯ve no good feelings either so if possible we¡¯d prefer to stop in towns to sleep in beds rather than just on blankets in the wilderness. ¡°How about this path? First we¡¯ll go here to Straitley, then here Gavely, after that we¡¯ll go here to Uphalla and then finally we¡¯ll get to Logholm.¡± ¡°Really? But the distance from here to Straitley and from there to Gavely is the same as the distance from Gavely to Logholm, so if we can get from here to Straitley in one day we should be able to go straight from Gavely to Logholm in one day too and skip Uphalla completely¡± ¡°Sure, but I want to go sightseeing as well you know? We found squids in Krull so who knows what kinds of food we can find in all the other towns!¡± Say Lizz and Cy from inside the book, when it comes to food you can always count on them, just maybe not in the right way¡­ ¡°Alright I get it, let¡¯s visit all three of them, and if we ever get done with the whole adventuring thing we might as well just explore the world and see what it has to offer.¡± After having mostly decided how we¡¯ll get to Logholm we pick up Litly and put her back in the bag, she¡¯d been put on the ground since we didn¡¯t know how long it would take us to decide everything, and then we took off into the sky towards Straitley. Says Cy. ¡®Yeah?¡¯ ¡®Probably, why?¡¯ ¡®Alright, thanks for notifying me Cy.¡¯ ¡°Hey Shiona, Cy said the seed the dryad gave us is finally blooming, we should probably land and take it out.¡± ¡°Alrighty.¡± We descend back down to the ground in a small clearing of a forest, Shiona lets me go and she lands a small distance away from me, before I take off the bookpack and open it. Out comes a single blue hand, larger than normal, and puts down the potted plant which had sprouted from the seed, and we see its sepals slowly open and revealing a flower bulb. It looked pretty normal, a two decimetre long stem with three green leaves right at the bottom of the stem. But then I noticed a few cracks in the pot it was in. *crack* And then another one appeared. *CRASH* ¡°!¡± ¡°!¡± And finally the pot broke. As the pot shattered the dirt inside lost its cylindrical shape and fell into a pile with the flower still standing strong on the peak of the pile without budging. The bulb¡¯s petals bloomed open and the entire flower slowly started to wobble and wiggle around, almost like a snake, and once the flower pointed back up towards us it stopped, again, just like a snake who has set its sights on something. The little guy looks like this flower but with two eyes on the center petal and the other petals droop downards a bit like human limbs The flower then lowered itself down until two of its five petals touched the ground as the stem stood tall behind it and it started reminding me more of a cat ready to pounce rather than a snake. It then somehow proceeded to pull its stem and roots out of the ground as it did the impossible by staying balanced using only the two petals which touched the ground despite its entire stem being in the air behind it and making it very back heavy. Of the five petals that the flower had, two now touched the ground, two were still pointing to the sides, and the last was pointing straight upwards, and on that last petal two blue lights of energy appeared and started mimicking eyes as the base of the petal bent just like a neck and made the two lights look towards us just like it was a living creature. Once it had locked onto us it started using both of the pedals which touched the ground to emulate legs as it bent and straightened them and started walking towards us while its tail like stem was still wiggling in the air like an animal¡¯s tail. While it was walking towards us the roots at the end of its stem started to bundle up into a ball before the three leaves on the stem bent backwards and covered the roots up, once it was finished with that it looked just like there was a green flower bulb at the end of the stem. It walked up to Shiona, and once its two makeshift eyes had set on the still unnamed copper tree belt the stem froze in the air froze for a split second before shooting out, the bulb of roots bloomed as the roots grabbed the belt and pulled the little flower creature up with it, and once it was standing on the belt the roots let go and covered themselves up again before the creature turned and looked towards me. I walked up to Shiona and the creature, and since Shiona was a lot taller than me I was already eye level with the small creature without having to crouch down. ¡°Hi?¡± I said and waved, hoping it would somehow understand me. The little creature moved its head petal and looked at one of its side petals, before raising it and waving back to me. I moved my hand towards it, almost like i was trying to get a bird to land on me, and the creature walked into my hand and I then put it on my shoulder. ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°I have no idea, we¡¯ll have to ask the dryad once we finish up in Logholm and return to Eastern lake city.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± I crouched down next to the book which was still lying open on the ground and I was about to close it and put it on when I remembered something. Something I hadn¡¯t done ever since the first couple of days I was in this world, but that would have no doubt been useful a lot of times if only I¡¯d remembered. *flutter flutter* As the book understood what I wanted to do it flipped its pages and opened the inventory for me, just like before one of the two pages which were open had a list of all the tons of things that I had put in while the other looked like a black void.
Storage ¡è Money ¡è Foodstuffs ¡è Dragon materials Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡è Engdom map x2 ¡è Engdoms neighbouring countries map x2 ¡è Dragon bone chopstick x4
I only just realized that it¡¯s been a long time since I actually saw the full contents of the inventory, since whenever I saw the contents listed on the small strips of paper that came out of the pouch it only showed specifically the things I had asked about, so I never knew until now, but it seems that if you have enough of a kind of item the book automatically sorted them into groups. I put my hand next to me shoulder and the little creature moved over to it, I then moved both my hand and he creature inside the page which looked like one of those fancy infinity mirror tunnel trinkets and I looked at the list to see what had been added by doing this.
Storage ¡è Money ¡è Food ¡è Dragon materials ¡è Engdom map x2 ¡è Engdoms neighbouring countries map x2 ¡è Dragon bone chopstick x4 ¡è Plush¡¯s hand ¡è Leafling
The first thing I noticed was that despite the elfs having called me a ¡°fleecy¡± it still said ¡°Plush¡¯s hand¡± rather than ¡°Fleecy hand¡±, So either the book is displaying my name or the elfs were wrong, we won¡¯t know until we meet the other fleecy. The second thing I noticed was- ¡°What are you doing?¡± Asks Shiona when I haven¡¯t moved for a minute. ¡°I put the creature in the inventory and the book called it a leafling.¡± ¡°...Well, that¡¯s good to know. But are we just going to call it that or should we give it some proper name?¡± ¡°The dryad said that it was going to stick around with us for a while right? So we probably should come up with a name¡­ Unless!¡± I put my hand on the telepathy bangle which I use to speak and phase it off of me, I then hold it next to the leafling. ¡°...¡± Realising that I know can¡¯t actually tell it what I want it to do I put the bangle back onto myself. ¡°When I take off the bangle I want you to try and¡­ Put your stem in it? I don¡¯t really know what but something that lets you pour energy into it, okay? If that¡¯s even something lealings can do...¡± The leafling nods its head leaf and its eyelights start shining more brightly with determination as I take of the bangle and hold it next to the leafling, the leafling then opens the bulb on its tailstem and grab the bangle with its roots, and after a second or so I can see blue waves going through the roots, from the stem and into the bangle, however even after waiting for a good five or so seconds we don¡¯t hear anything. I nudge Shiona and she seems to take the hint. ¡°Ehm, little guy? Could you try thinking something?¡± When I said little guy I can see Litly poking out her head from Shiona¡¯s bag, however when she sees I meant someone else she goes back down while looking slightly disappointed. The leafling nods its headleaf again, however we still don¡¯t hear anything so we¡¯re not certain if this is going to work. ¡°Maybe the bangle just doesn¡¯t work on, ehm, plants?¡± I grab the bangle with two of my fingers, when I do the leafling lets go and covers up its roots again while it bends down its headleaf and starts looking down at the ground while sulking. *pat pat* I gently pat its headleaf with one of my fingers as I use my other hand to put on the bangle again. ¡°Maybe Shiona, and don¡¯t worry little guy, you still did well and I still have one more thing to try, so don¡¯t start sulking alright?¡± As I said little guy for the second time Litly poked her head out yet again, however this time Shiona spots her and starts petting her and easing Litly¡¯s mood a bit. *flutter flutter* I have the book turn over to the notes section in hopes this might just work. ¡®Maybe it¡¯s like Shiona said and the bangle just isn¡¯t advanced enough. Book, are you able to try and see what this guy is thinking?¡¯ The book vibrates a bit, as though telling me ¡°Leave it to me!¡±, and I put down the leafling on the notes page. At first the leafling doesn¡¯t seem to realize what I¡¯m doing as it just looks at me while tilting its headleaf to the side, and nothing has appeared on the page yet. ¡°Ehm¡­ Do you have a name?¡± The leafling doesn¡¯t react, however this time something does appear on the notes page.
Notes
Or rather nothing appears, but the page changes colour from the normal blue to a new red colour, surprising all of us, except for Litly who doesn¡¯t understand what¡¯s so impressive about a red piece of paper. Shiona, I and the leafling all look at the red page. ¡°I think that means it doesn¡¯t have a name.¡± Says Shiona. ¡°Does it?¡± I ask the leafling.
Notes
And this time the page turned green instead. ¡°See? Red for no and green for yes.¡± Says Shiona. ¡°It probably is that, but how do we know it¡¯s not the opposite?¡± Shiona stops petting Litly and takes out two blue energy jellies from her bag, holds them where the leafling can see them and asks: ¡°Are these two the same colour?¡±
Notes
¡°See?¡± She says and puts back the jellies in her bag before she resumes petting Litly. ¡°Okay, fair enough, green for yes and red for no. Now the, do you want a name?¡± I ask the leafling.
Notes
¡°Alright, then we¡¯ll need to think of something¡­¡± ¡°Plush?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Look at its tail.¡± I look at the leaflings tail and I see that it¡¯s glowing. It¡¯s glowing green. The bulb of roots and leaves at the end of its tailstem is glowing green almost like an LED light. ¡°Huh. Are you imitating the book?¡± In response both the book and the leafling tail glow green. ¡°Can you do red for no too?¡± Yet again both the book and the bulb both glowed green. I sigh and decide to follow Shiona¡¯s example, I take out two blue energy jellies and ask: ¡°Are these different colours?¡± This time the book and bulb both start shining red instead of green. When the bulb glowed red t looked like when you put your hand in front of a strong light ¡°This means that we can talk while walking now right?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± I close the book and put it on my back and lift the leafling back up to my shoulders. * * * * ¡°Petals?¡± Red. ¡°Sunny?¡± Red. ¡°Flowey?¡± ¡­ ¡­ Red. ¡°Lilly?¡± Red. ¡°Leafy?¡± RED! ¡°Plush jr?¡± Red. We were walking through the forest and trying to think of a name for the leafling, however with a bright red glowing tail it turned down all of our suggestions. The reason we walked rather than flew was simple: We weren¡¯t sure if the leafling would be able to hang on without falling off. ¡°I hope you realize you¡¯re not exactly making this easy for us.¡± Green. *sigh* ¡°Any idea how longs left by the way Shiona?¡± ¡°Not until we get out of this forest, I can¡¯t tell what¡¯s what in here.¡± *sigh* x2 ¡­ ¡°Stemmy?¡± Red. ¡°Argoth the destroyer?¡± Red. ¡°Really Shiona?¡± ¡°Hey, at least I¡¯m not just saying a random part of a plant and putting -y at the end.¡± *sigh* x2 ¡°... Buddy?¡± ¡­ ¡°...¡± ... ¡°See, even it¡¯s getting tired of your names.¡± ¡­ Green. ¡°...¡± x2 ¡°Do you mean, do you mean you like that name? Green. *sigh* ¡°Well, it¡¯s better than nothing, but now we have little guy and buddy then?¡± As if to agree with Shiona Litly pokes out her head and starts rubbing her beak against Shiona¡¯s wing. ¡°Well then welcome Buddy, and do you think you¡¯d be able to hold on if we started flying?¡± Green. ¡°You heard, err, saw it, so shall we go? Maybe I¡¯ll even be able to check the map from up there?¡± ¡°... Can we stop for some food first?¡± ¡°Shit! Right, sorry, my bad, way back on earth I was always the one that grew hungry first so I guess I¡¯m not used to this. That looks like a good spot¡± We had just entered a small clearing in the forest and we went to sit down in the middle of it and I took out some food that I¡¯d already made, for both me, Shiona, and Litly. While we were eating I looked at Buddy and saw it staring at the sandwich I was eating. ¡°Do you want some of this?¡± I ask, not really sure if leafling can even eat sandwiches. Red. ¡°Okay, then do you want something else?¡± Green. ¡°... Then what do you want?¡± Blue. ¡°...¡± Considering the only blue thing that Buddy had seen were the pages of the book, the blue fruit on Shiona¡¯s belt, and the blue energy jellies I took out a jelly and put it on the grass in front of Buddy. When buddy saw the blue jelly its tail glowed green for a moment before it split open and revealed its roots again, its tail then pounced at the jelly and covered it with roots before covering said roots with leaves again, and yet again it had reminded me of a snake. ¡°Do you need another one?¡± Red. The tail bulb which contained the roots and the jelly was a fair bit larger than before, likely due to having the jelly there, however it was shrinking back to size as time went on and after a few minutes it looked the same as before. *CAW!* As I heard the sound of a crow cawing I looked up into the sky and only barely managed to see a craw swoop down before it grabbed the leafling by its tail bulb like it was a small egg. ¡°Buddy!¡± ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°A crow swooped in and kidnapped buddy!¡± ¡°What!?¡± Says Lizzas she starts appearing from inside the book. She grabbed a small pebble off of the ground and threw it with her arms. ¡°Stone bullet!¡± Says Lizz. ¡°Like hell it is!¡± Refutes Shiona. ¡°Listen, does it really matter what it is as long as she hit the crow?¡± *KAH!* AS I had said that the pebble did in fact hit the crow and it let out a cry as it lost its balance and fell to the ground. ¡°My job here is done, later.¡± And like a spring breeze Lizz left as quickly as she came. Shiona and I fly to where we saw the crow fall down, and at the point of impact we see Buddy standing next to the crow. The crow was covered in roots. We watched as the crow started to get thinner and thinner and looked more and more malnourished before it ten minutes later let out a final cry as it didn¡¯t have the energy to stay alive anymore. ¡°Buddy?¡± I call out to the leafling. Once it heard me it looked our way and positively started skipping towards us before it thrust its stem into the ground in front of us and performed what I can only compare to a pole jump as it got back onto my shoulder, and after we walked just a few more meters we came out of the forest proper and saw a town in front of us with a large sign that read ¡°Straitley¡±. Chapter 61 - Straitley We enter Straitley through the main gates by showing the guards our adventurer¡¯s license, though we had to go through a bit of trouble as the guardsman mistook me for a blessed doll again. ¡°Maybe the Krull and Vartan guards were the exceptions for not caring that I might be a blessed doll?¡± ¡°Or they just didn¡¯t give two hoots about setting a cursed doll free in their city.¡± ¡°Maybe. You¡¯re the one in charge of the trip so what¡¯s the plans?¡± ¡°Just the usual, tell the guild we¡¯re here, sightsee for a bit, try the different foods and see what¡¯s in the stores, then find an inn, and tomorrow we eat breakfast before we leave for Gavely and do the same there.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± ¡°You know I¡¯ve always been better at planning road trips than you.¡± ¡°Well, yeah, that¡¯s why you¡¯re in charge.¡± After a bit more couple-bantering we arrive at the guild, though we did stop at a few stalls on the way to buy some foodstuffs, both ones we¡¯d used up and ones we¡¯d never bought before, some animal parts, vegetables and fruits we didn¡¯t recognise from earth, as well as some things we did recognise, like chicken, some bread to turn into breadcrumbs for things like chicken nuggets and schnitzels, and a few bags of rice, ever since we had those squids in Krull we¡¯ve been craving more Asian food. * * * * ¡°Hello! We work for the Eastern lake guild and would like to report our presence.¡± Says Shiona with a strained smile, she seems to be putting in a lot of effort in getting better with people. ¡°Yes, could I have your guild card please?¡± We hand the guild worker our adventurer licenses which she hands back after a short while. ¡°All done, later after the guild closes for the evening we¡¯ll use one ofartefact to let your home branch know where you are.¡± ¡°Thanks, and do you know where we could go to get some sightseeing tips?¡± ¡°Yes, in fact we have pamphlets, here.¡± She hands us a small paper pamphlet, we wait with looking through it until we leave the guild, you know, so wewont be in the way for anyone.. ¡°Let¡¯s see, this has the locations of a bunch of restaurants, shops of vastly varying kinds such as blacksmiths which deal in weapons and armour, some that focus on foodstuffs, and¡­ Uhh¡­ You know what? Let¡¯s just stay away from the rest of them¡­¡± I hurriedly close the pamphlet to avoid Shiona seeing the parts of the map that say ¡°red light district¡±. ¡°Actually.¡± Shiona pinches the pamphlet with two of her feathers, yanking it out of my hands and opening the map page again. ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°What? We both know we need someone tanky, and maybe we¡¯ll actually be able to find someone here.¡± She shows me the map and points to the circled area which read ¡°black market¡±. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Well black market means three things, contraband auctions, auctions where you buy things to expensive to find anywhere else, and slave dealers.¡± At first I didn''t quite know how to word my doubts of what she just said, but after a few seconds of thinking I giv it my best shot. *sigh* ¡°... So let me get this straight, you, the person who couldn¡¯t handle killing a goblin due to thinking they were sapient, is willing to buy sapient slaves?¡± ¡°...That was then and this is now, besides, I¡¯ve been thinking and preparing myself mentally for anything I thought we might encounter or have to do, such as buy slaves.¡± ¡°Really? I mean, it¡¯s commendable, sure¡­ But I still have my doubts¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it!¡± *sigh* ¡°Fine, but black market also means they should only be open at night right? So we¡¯ll do it after we¡¯re done with everything else.¡± ¡°Alright! Now let¡¯s go get some grub!¡± We visit a few of the nearby restaurants and order any dishes whichwe haven¡¯t heard of before in order to broaden my repertoire and mental cookbook. ¡°This is good.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Right now we¡¯re sitting at a table right outside a restaurant and eating something that¡¯s like a hamburger but the bread was crispier and it had some condiments I didn¡¯t recognise, so I asked the book to write them down so I can ask people about them later or look them up in a cooking book. ¡°Check please!¡± Since this was the last restaurant we were interested in we move onto the stores, restock any jellies we¡¯ve used as well as buysome more foodstuffs that we didn¡¯t find on the way to the guild, and since it has yet to get dark after we get done with that we start looking through the pamphlet again for what else we could do. ¡°There¡¯s a library here, and it says this tower offers beginner courses and books in¡­ Wandless magic?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t even know that was a thing¡­ Well, apart from my feathers¡­¡± ¡°Neither did I, maybe it¡¯ll be a good souvenir for Red? Speaking of, we should probably look for souvenirs for the others too.¡± ¡°Yeah, maybe new glasses for Rico? Some tinkering tools for Grizz¡­¡± ¡°How about one of those eye covering beuty sleep masks for Hugh? What about Cathy, Rupe and the quartet?¡± ¡°...I¡¯ve seen Cathy glancing at her fur whenever Red¡¯s around, so maybe we can find some cat-kin beauty products? If they¡¯re even a thing.¡± ¡°That could work, and Rupe¡¯s been complaining about being kept awake since his arm itches due to him shedding, maybe we could find some medicine to help him fall asleep?¡± ¡°Yeah, could you ask the book to write this down?¡± We walk towards where we¡¯re going while talking about what we want to give to the quartet and in the end we decide for a pillow for Anne, a notebook and pen for Anna to keep track of her work more easily, since Red¡¯s together with Cathy and they both like magic as much as the other they¡¯ll share the magic book as well as something to shine up Cathy''s fur, and a local cooking book for Joanne. We decided that I would go get the wandless magic as well as take the beginner course while Shiona goes to the library to see what fun stuff she can find, and if there¡¯s enough time left before it gets dark even after that then we¡¯ll switch places, and as for all the other gifts we¡¯ll save those for when we get to the capital to make sure we get the best available. ¡°But how do we know when we¡¯re both done?¡± ¡®Lizz? Could you come out?¡¯ ¡®Just put it in the fridge Lizz.¡¯ After that Lizz flies out of the pouch on the book¡¯s strap and lands on Shiona¡¯s shoulder. ¡°There, Lizz still has the leather armlet that the book gave her so if either of us finishes we tell her and she¡¯ll tell the other.¡± ¡°Yeah, that works.¡± We wave goodbye and head to places while holding our own pamphlets. * * * * ¡°The field of casting wandless magic is very recent and was started in our town of Straitley, that is why you¡¯ll find this to be the only place that offers courses in the subject, and as for the books they would cost even more to buy imported from anywhere else, so please understand why we have such high prices, it takes very long to train new teachers as well as to keep them hired.¡± Right now I¡¯m standing in a queue outside a large tower with a single desk and receptionist outside who is explaining what everything costs and why a customer. ¡°Like hell! Fifty gold for a book and a hundred for a class!? This is a fucking robbery in broad daylight!¡± *slam* ¡°I demand a discount!¡± ¡°Sir, I can¡¯t do that, please don¡¯t make me call the guards.¡± ¡°Oh yeah!? Like the guards will get here before things turn ugly for you!¡± ¡°Sir please.¡± It¡¯s easy to tell that the disinterested receptionist really doesn¡¯t believe the man, she probably doesn¡¯t want to be here, and for all she cares she shouldn¡¯t be either and she was getting really tired of this man. I slowly push my way past the rest of the people in the line, each of them looking as exasperated at the man as the receptionist and when they see me walking towards the man they smile at me and rather than get angry they even drop a few copper coins to me. ¡°Excuse me sir?¡± ¡°Ha!?¡± The man shouted at me like some sort of back alley hooligan as he turned around. ¡°...Ha?¡± However it was soon changed to a confused sound when he actually saw me. Not really feeling like letting him start monologuing or try to threaten me I grab his leg, submerge him to his chins in the ground and make him launch out sideways into a wall, fast enough to knock him out but not fast enough to damage the building. The queue cheer and clap for me when I walk back to my spot, this time they hand me a few silvers even, and now the queue starts moving at the pace of a person per ten seconds on average, and then when it¡¯s finally my turn I take out two special iridescent coins, each worth a hundred gold, and hand them to the receptionist, in return I get two wandless magic books and entry through the door next to the desk.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I sit down on one of the many chairs inside the classroom looking place that was right inside on the ground floor, and I put the two books inside the book of knowledge when I¡¯m certain no one is looking, and then I realise something. ¡®Cy, are you good at sewing?¡¯ ¡®I was wondering if you could make a leather backpack that I can put the book of knowledge in, just so that I can put stuff in the book while making it look like I¡¯m using a normal backpack, is it possible?¡¯ ¡®As long as the end product looks like normal inconspicuous leather. Oh, and please make four holes in it where you would put the straps, that way the books strap can go through those holes and I can still use the little pouch for small things.¡¯ ¡®Thanks Cy.¡¯ I start paying attention to the rest of the classroom and see that it¡¯s already mostly filled up with robe wearing wizard and scholar looking people, though that¡¯s still just sixteen people, and then an old spindly bearded man in a plain robe enters the room and stands next to a blackboard at the wall of the classroom which all the desks are facing. ¡°Now then, I had heard what happened in the line outside so I¡¯ll skip right past introductions and right into the actual lesson.¡± The entire classroom cheers, claps, and whistles in happiness. ¡°As you know the way that magic normally works is by using a processed magic crystal, something to hold the crystal, and the user¡¯s energy. Before we start learning how to cast wandless magic you will first need to know the specifics of how a wand actually works, that way you¡¯ll know what you need to replace on your own for every part of the wand we remove, and eventually you¡¯ll be able to do it all on your own without any outside support. Questions?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Very well, then before we begin let me just say this, we¡¯ve received word that people over in Eastern lake city are developing a new type of wand, or specifically a magic staff, as the higher ups realize that the new staffs may help propel wandless magic as well each of you will be given a special discount coupon that will reduce the cost of another class session to ten gold, however it will only be valid if the staffs do indeed help us advance our craft. Questions?¡± ¡°Will the books also be discounted if you add more stuff to them too?¡± Asks one of the people sitting somewhere behind me. "Yes, there are still many elements which we do not know how they work, so in the future if you trade in your old books you get a discount for new ones." The whole class breaths a collective sigh of relief. ¡°Now then, a wand works by having a magic crystal attached to a piece of wood, it can be different materials however wood is the one with the best effectiveness that¡¯s still easy to get your hands on. Now look at this.¡± The man takes out a chalk and starts drawing on the whiteboard while holding a book very like the ones I just bought. He¡¯d drawn a single circle. Next to that he¡¯d drawn two circles connected to each other by a line. Then he drew a triangle with a circle in each corner. He then did the same with a square and a pentagon, and then just wrote ¡°Etc. Etc.¡± after the pentagon. ¡°This is what the inside of a wand looks like. Each of these circles can be fitted with a command for what the spell will do. The books sold outside have a full list of what the commands look like. The more commands your wand has, the more energy you have to push into it for it go all the way through the magic circuit and actually have any effect, and if the crystal attached to the gem isn¡¯t high quality enough it will shatter if you pour in too much energy, so that means low quality crystals can only be used for low circle spells. Also since higher quality crystals have higher energy capacity it means that you can make even low circle magic strong since you¡¯re able to add much more fuel to the fire so to speak. Questions?¡± ¡°Low circle magic? And where does the actual crystal element fit into this?¡± The old man takes out a long stick from within his robe and starts tapping the drawing on the blackboard in the middle of the circles he¡¯d previously drawn, as though counting them. ¡°Oh.¡± Responded the scholar embarrassedly. ¡°As for where the element of the crystal fits into the circle scheme.¡± He then draws a second circle around one of the already existing circles in each formation. ¡°This is the first command of each spell, the spells starting point, this is what the crystal adds to the spell scheme, the rest is made by whoever enchanted the wand. Questions?¡± ¡°...Do you think you could shorten it down a bit? Makes it easier to take notes¡­¡± ¡°Sure. In short, the crystal is the starting point and it adds the element of the spell, after that the rest of the spell commands are adjusted and created by its enchanter. The better the crystal the better the energy capacity, and the better the energy capacity the better the spells. I believe that¡¯s the gist, anything else?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Good, now as for how to use the magic without the wand, we will be working our way backwards and remove what the wand does step by step and do it ourselves. Could someone tell me what the first step would be then?¡± Feeling I¡¯ve been able to somewhat keep up I raise my arm, however at first he doesn''t seem to see me so I make a stick of solidified air and hold it upwards, this finally catches his attention. "Yes? I can''t quite see you but the small fellow holding a stick." ¡°The last part would be the last command in the scheme right?¡± ¡°Yes, good. As this¡­ Whatever you are just said the first step is to remove the last step of the spell scheme and try to create it yourself, so I will be handing out incomplete wands and you will try to create the last command of it yourself, and don¡¯t worry, even if you fail it¡¯s a special wand that won¡¯t become anything dangerous.¡± The man then pull out his own spell wand, and when he uses it wands start flying from beneath his desk, one to each of us. ¡°This wand is simple, it creates a small flame, as for the command you will add it¡¯s this.¡± He then draws a filled in circle on the blackboard. ¡°Put this inside the second command circle and the flame will materialise in the shape of a ball, and once you¡¯re done with that we¡¯ll move onto the next step.¡± At first I¡¯ve no idea how we¡¯re even supposed to add the command, however then Cy chimes in from the book and explains, turns out the other scholars had already taken a precursory class in enchanting to learn this, but I had a first class enchantress in my head to help out a bit so I got through it. * * * * With a bit of guidance from Cy I channel energy into the wand much the same way that I do to the telepathy bangle and- *fwoosh* -right above the wand a ball of fire takes shape, looking around I see that I¡¯m apparently the last one to do it. ¡°Good, now that you¡¯ve all shown you can handle enchants here¡¯s the next part.¡± He then uses the wand he used to give us our wands before, this time he takes all the wands back and hands us new ones. ¡°Next you will be making this.¡± He erases the filled in circle from the blackboard and in its place he draws a circle with a line going through it, this one looking an awful lot like a road sign. ¡°I¡¯m sure you all know that there are different kinds of wands, the ones that are focused to a single spell and the ones that are just focused to an element. The ones you just made were ones for a single spell, this means you can''t exchange the commands for new ones and they''re forever mere fireball conjuration wands, but now we¡¯ll be making ones of the second kind by putting this command in the scheme, after this command has been put into a wand you can still put another command at the same place again, however it will turn back to this after one use. This means that it will take more energy since you have to make a new ommand everytime you use it, however you can choose which commands you want to use, and as you can exopect this makes the wand more flexible, try it now.¡± And with the help of Cy I¡¯m able to get through it yet again, though this time it went a lot faster since I knew a bit about it now. ¡°When you¡¯ve put the variable command into the scheme you are to try and fill that variable with the command for ¡®ball¡¯ which you used before and use it.¡± *fwoosh* x16 Above the seats of every scholar a ball of fire appears for a second. ¡°Now, if you look at the scheme again you¡¯ll see that the command has reverted to the empty variable, feel free to keep this wand at your desk for the rest of the lesson in case you feel you need to practice more enchanting.¡± ¡°Uhm!¡± One of the scholars is waving their hand. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Err, what does this have to do with wandless magic casting?¡± *sigh* ¡°You should already realize this, but it''s good you asked so you don''t fal behind.¡± He then uses his own wand to give us each a low quality fire crystal, the same kind that we¡¯d been using on these wands we made. ¡°The next step is to hold these crystals and try to create the command on your own,before you had the handle the crystal was attached to to focus the scheme into, however now you have to do it without anything to hold it, and trust me, the leap between using an element focused wand and no wand at all is a long one, which is why you need to have that wand next to you to practice.That is why this has been important, and now you can easily practice the command on the wand you already have if you feel you¡¯re doing it wrong.¡± ¡®Hm? Is this new to you Cy?¡¯ ¡®... So that means I have to do it myself¡­¡¯ Right then the teacher talked again, as though he was sent from the heavens. ¡°For those who don¡¯t understand how to put the command directly into the crystal, that¡¯s the thing, you don¡¯t. You use the air around the gem as a substitute for the handle, so you try to enchant the air with the commands, however due to air being a gas the schemes will dissolve the moment you stop pouring energy through them.¡± Hearing the teacher¡¯s advice I tried to move my energy through the air and shape it in the form of the two circle magic scheme with the crystal in one of the circles and the ball command in the other, this ended up being much easier for me than for the others due to some of my skills already requiring me to channel energy through air, like Solidification and Risen Apparition, and then I poured a final push of energy into the whole scheme and out came a fireball. *fwoosh* ¡°Oh? Well aren¡¯t you a fast learner.¡± ¡°Err, was I not supposed to do that?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, I was just complimenting you. If you feel you have the hang of crystal only magic enough then come here and I¡¯ll tell you how to use it without the crystal fully without bothering the others.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Before I head up to the teacher I first keep practicing the crystal only magic for a bit and trying out some of the other commands which I found in one of the two books I¡¯d bought outside, letting me create fire cubes, fire cones, and even fire swords before I feel I¡¯m good enough to learn the next step. Though to be fair this was probably also made a lot easier due the whole"Every literal fiber of my being is made of energy veins"-thing that Red discovered. I get off of my seat and walk up to the teacher, fully expecting him to freak out for a second once he actually sees my like the guards did, but instead he just grabs a crystal from his robe and uses handle-less magic to create some sort of barrier around us. ¡°This barrier will keep the others from hearing what we say, it¡¯s a must for scholars and their teachers. Now before we get on with the lesson-¡± The teacher then pulls back the hem of his hood slightly, revealing two pointed elf ears. ¡°You¡¯re Plush right? Our chief told me about you, he said if I run into you I was supposed to tell you that it¡¯s calmed down back home and they¡¯re ready for you to come visit, when would be good for you?¡± It takes me a while to answer but I soon make up my mind. ¡°Well we have to travel to Logholm first to finish a delivery quest, we should be there in less than a week, how about then?¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll tell the chief after I¡¯m done here for the day, now back to the lesson. The final step to doing magic completely wandlessly is to create the magic scheme much the same as you did when you used the crystal, but instead of having the crystal as the starting point you have to make the actual command for the elementyourself.¡± A single circle magic scheme then appears above the elf teacher¡¯s hand, inside the circle is what looks like a sun, and right in the middle of it a small fire appears. ¡°I would recommend doing one circle schemes to begin with, the elemental command is much more taxing than even a five circle handleless scheme. After that you can try to add more commands, but if you do make sure to make the elemental command stronger too. As for how to do that it depends on what element you want to use so look it up in the guide book.¡± ¡°Alright, thanks.¡± He then undoes his magic and I walk back to my seat to practice what he told me about, so first I try to create a one circle scheme using only the fire command, and since I didn¡¯t get to see it for very long I look it up on the book. *fwoosh* ¡®Thanks, now to try the two circle one, let¡¯s see how to make the fire command stronger¡­¡¯ Looking in the book I saw that in order to make the fire command stronger you just added more sunrays to the command, so when I increased it from a sun with five rays shooting out in different directions to six I tried with a two circle scheme instead of just one. *fwoosh* And like when I used the crystal and the wands the fire that appeared this time was ball shaped, however I could definitely feel that this was a lot more taxing than the wands and crystals, when I used them I felt as though I could continue for forever but now I actually felt myself growing just slightly more tired from it. I mean, it wasn''t to the point where I could only use it a handful of times before fainting, but more like I was lifting something heavy, you know, so that I just need to take a few seconds of a breather in between the spells to keep going instead of using it continously. As for the other elements? They were all pretty simple, the one for water was an ocean with a single wave, add more waves to make it stronger, thunder was a cloud with a single lightning bolt striking the earth below that you added more thunderbolts to, wind was a tornado that you added more layers to, and nature was a tree that you added fruits too. There were many, many more to though, way too many for anyone to memorize without a book. ¡°Plush was it? If you want to there¡¯s a place where you can practice what you¡¯ve accomplished on the floor above, would you like to?¡± ¡°Yes please.¡± After practicing for a bit I was told that I had gotten the hang of it and was ready to leave, and when I asked about the others I found out that apparently this was an all nighter class for most people. All in all I was able to use all the one circle magic without breaking a sweat, however the more circles I made the stronger I had to make the element command, and with every level in the element command the energy needed grew exponentially. I told Lizz that I was done and she told me that they''d both lost track of time in the library but were also ready to leave, so since it had already gotten dark we were going to meet up outside the black market, so on the way there I practiced trying to replicate the enchantment in my telepathy bangle and wondering if I could actually make the element boosting trinkets now that I had a book that detailed every kind of enchantment, both for wands and trinkets. While thinking about that I made my way to our meeting place. Chapter 62 - Yes? Yes! On the way to the black market I met up with Shiona and we walked the rest of the way together while we talked about what we¡¯d both found out. ¡°Wandless magic was it? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll need it since I can already use a lot of it with my skills, but Cathy and Red will definitely love it.¡± ¡°Yeah, and what did you guys find?¡± ¡°Well, I¡­ I got stuck in the fiction section¡­¡± Shiona gives off an apologetic laughter as she embarrassedly scratches the back of her head. *sigh* ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it¡±. * * * * Half an hour later we¡¯re still following the map in the pamphlet, a little while ago we got a little peckish so I took out some meat skewers from the inventory and we ate them. ¡°This should be the place. Unless we just suck at following maps...¡± ¡°Well we¡¯ve done alright so far right?¡± ¡°True.¡± In front of us stood a very large man, both large as in muscular and large as in fat, he somehow pulled of both and combined them into a very menacing look as he stood next to an otherwise unassuming door in a full black suit with pointy sunglasses, a bald head and a double chin. ¡°Five gold to enter.¡± Says the bouncer. At first I feel a bit reluctant considering I just used two iridescent coins for the wandless magic stuff, however when I remember just how much money we actually have those worries disappear completely. Once the bouncer takes the ten coins (Both I and Shiona have to keep ourselves from laughing by the way, the man¡¯s body really doesn''t lend itself to a crouched down position) he gestures for us to enter the door next to him. *creak* Right inside the door there¡¯s a spiral staircase that goes downwards, and as we descend it the wooden walls around us are replaced with stone, and when we descend fully we pass another bouncer and find ourselves inside a small room with brick walls and two doors, one on either side of the room. ¡°First time here? Head through the door on the right to get to the auction hall and the door on the left to get to the slave merchants. The auction tends to have slaves that more people want but they¡¯re more expensive.¡± After thanking the bouncer I prepare to go to the auctions, however I get surprised when Shiona instead walks through the left door to the so called ¡°Unconventional¡± slaves, and once inside we¡¯re greeted by a small fat and round man with a wide grin who¡¯s rubbing his hands together. ¡°Is this the slave shop?¡± ¡°Yes! Would you like a tour or do you already know what you want yes!¡± ¡°We¡¯d like someone who can take care of themselves in a fight please.¡± ¡°Yes yes! Follow me yes!¡± Says the weird man, his grin growing wider. We walk past a bunch of half covered cages as we follow the man and eventually stop as we arrive at a couch and the man asks us to sit down. ¡°You say you want someone who can fight yes! But there are many roles to fit that position, yes, so we need to know more yes!¡± ¡°...Right¡­ Well we would like someone who fights close range, we already have someone who kind of uses magic and someone who¡­ Kind of uses magic....¡± ¡°I see yes! Brother!¡± ¡°Yes brother?¡± Out from the mess of cages comes another small fat grinning man who¡¯s face looks exactly like the first. ¡°Please keep these two company while I find the slaves, yes!¡± ¡°Yes? Cookies anyone?¡± A bit caught off guard by the question it takes us a bit to answer, however the man takes out a small box and plate from his clothes and starts arranging chocolate chip cookies on the plate. ¡®Holy shit! Calm down Plush, play it cool, play it cool damn it!¡¯ ¡°Excuse me, do you know where we could buy some of this chocolate?¡± ¡°Chocolate? Yes?¡± Asks the man. ¡°Err, the brown things in the cookies.¡± ¡°Yes? Sir means raisins yes?¡± When I heard that I blanked out as I decided I didn¡¯t want the cookies anymore, and soon the other merchant comes back. ¡°I¡¯m back brother! Yes!¡± ¡°Yes yes?¡± The second merchant gives us each a cookie before he puts the rest back in the box and walks away. ¡°I have gathered the slaves that fit the description yes! Please follow me yes!¡± We follow the merchant yet again, trying our hardest not to start saying yes as much as he, and soon we enter a room with a huge crowd of beastkin. ¡°It was still very broad yes! These are everyone that fits yes!¡± ¡°How are there so many slaves? I can¡¯t imagine a single town can produce or hold this many¡­ Yes?¡± The mans grin briefly changes to a smirk when he hears me say the magic word ¡®yes¡¯ but he still answers the question. ¡°Yes yes! Our boss is very good at teleportation magic yes! He made artifacts for us so we are connected to every other branch of our company at once yes! If you see anyone you want but don¡¯t have the money or time you can buy the same slave in any other city yes!¡± ¡®Wow, I¡¯ll have to tell the guild about this, maybe we could even make some of those artifacts ourselves and use in the guild.¡¯ ¡°Err, are there any rabbitkin?¡± Asks Shiona, surprising both me and the yes!-man. ¡°Yes! I had them stand in the back since usually only men want rabbit-kin yes! All rabbit-kin please come forwards and others step back yes!¡± After the large group of slaves finish shuffling around there¡¯s a large number of both half-rabbits and demi-rabbits standing in front of us. ¡°Only demi-rabbits please, and preferably brown fur.¡± ¡°Yes! Will demi-hares do as well?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Yes yes! It¡¯s good that customer knows what they want yes! You heard her yes!¡± The rabbit kin group shuffles around yet again while I try and think what she could be intending with this. ¡°...Are any of them martial artists?¡± ¡°Artists yes! I thought customer wanted a fighter yes!¡± ¡°...It means someone who fights with their bare hands¡­ Or paws¡­¡± ¡°Ah yes! You, you, you... and you yes! The rest stand back yes!¡± In the end there are four light brown humanoid rabbits of various sizes standing in front of us, one was as small as me, one the size of Shiona, one was as tall as an adult human and the last was as tall as an elf. ¡°... May I talk with them?¡± ¡°Yes yes! You four, follow us yes! The rest, brother will soon be here to take you back yes!¡± The rest of the slaves seemed let down by this while the four who followed us were looking very nervous and we could hear someone say ¡°Yes yes?¡± Some distance away. ¡°...Shiona?¡± ¡°Yes? ...Shit! Now I¡¯m doing it too...¡± ¡°Calm down, it¡¯s just¡­ My memory may be failing me, but if I remember right, back home you used to practice judo right?¡± ¡°...Yeah.¡± Shiona sounds a bit sheepish when she answers, leading me to believe I already have the answer for the question I was about to ask, but I ask anyway. ¡°And if I remember right you got a small good luck charm from the group you were training with, right?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Well?¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± ¡°Right. And lastly; I believe that good luck charm, was in the shape of a light brown rabbit thing wearing a judo gi?¡± ¡°...Yes¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re not doing this just so you can teach a rabbit judo, are you¡­?¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°... ¡­ Yes¡­¡± *sigh* ¡°Alright, just¡­ Try to pick someone that¡¯s not a crazed psychopath who¡¯ll try to kill us in our sleep, okay? Even if it¡¯s the only way to get a judo rabbit.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± The yes!-man led us towards a door which led into a small room with two chairs and a table, Shiona sat inside and the four slaves took turns entering and talking to her before coming back outside. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ve decided, The tall hare-kin girl.¡± ¡°Yes yes! twenty gold please yes!¡± When Shiona had decided to go with the tall one all of the rabbit-kin were surprised, the three shorter ones used to have a gloating smile on their faces while the tall one had just looked depressed, as though she was certain she was the only one we didn¡¯t have any reason to pick, however afterwards all four gasped in surprise and shock while the yes!-man kept going relatively professionally. ¡°Twenty? Isn¡¯t that a little low?¡± I ask, however I still take out twenty coins. ¡°Yes, most people buy rabbit-kin due to their nightly prowers yes, but not many men want to be outmatched in masculinity by a woman yes!¡± ¡°And so you haven¡¯t been able to sell her, alright, I got it.¡± I give the yes!-man the money and he hands us a scroll. ¡°Payment accepted yes yes! Please leave your fingerprints on this scroll to finish the procedure yes!¡± We both look at our hands/wings and see that neither of us actually has fingerprints. ¡°Yes yes! The fingerprints aren¡¯t needed if you can pour a drop of blood on the contract yes!¡± I hold the contract up for Shiona to pour a drop of her blood, she does this by biting her lip. ¡°Yes yes! Now for you?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t have any blood¡­ but isn¡¯t it fine this way though?¡± ¡°... Very well, but please be aware that the slave magic the rabbit-kin is under only makes her unable to harm those who are on the contract yes!¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Yes yes! Then please grab the contract miss yes!¡± When Shiona grabs the rolled up contract it burst into green flames before disappearing. ¡°Procedure completed yes! If you want to transfer ownership of the slave you must find someone proficient in slave magic yes!¡± ¡°Alright, thanks¡­ We¡¯ll- we¡¯ll go now¡­¡± ¡°Yes yes!¡± The three of us are then guided to the exit and back into the hall with the bouncer, and we then run up the stairs as fast as possible, just to get away from the yes!-man even a second sooner. ¡°We *gasp* We can do introductions later, for now let¡¯s find and inn¡­ *gasp*¡± After Shiona catches her breath (She¡¯s not used to running with her legs) we look at the pamphlets again and make our way to a nearby inn, once there we rent one room and all head up there. -=Shiona POV=- ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve caught my breath and calmed down a bit, so now introductions!¡± We¡¯re currently sitting in our room in the inn and Shiona finally recovered enough to do introductions. Or rather Plush was inside the book of knowledge and preparing food while Cy was in his body and Lizz was flying around the room. ¡°This little fairy looking fellow is Elizabeth, one of Plush¡¯s familiars, and this is Cy, his other familiar, currently Cy is controlling Plush¡¯s body while he¡¯s doing something else.¡± ¡°Hello!¡± [Hi.] ¡°You can do that with familiars¡­? Ah- Yes h-hello!¡± ¡®How cute, she was so caught off guard by Plush that she wasn¡¯t able to say ¡®hi¡¯ properly.¡¯ ¡°Plush himself is currently preparing something so you can meet him later, as for me I¡¯m Shiona, your master in two ways!¡± ¡°Two?¡± ¡°Yup! Both since I legally own you and since you will be my student in a martial art!¡± ¡°Marital art? We were taught the theory of how to satisfy men back in the black market, does that count master?¡± Asks the giant rabbit-kin while tilting her head. ¡°No no no!¡± I shout while waving my arms. ¡°Not marital, martial, it¡¯s a way of fighting with your bare hands!¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Err...¡± The hare-kin is mumbling her words while looking at my wings. ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking, ¡°Are you daft? Like hell you can teach someone that if you don¡¯t even have the hands to learn it yourself!¡±, right?¡± ¡°No!¡± Shouts the rabbit-kin in return. ¡°I would never think something so mean about master!¡± ¡°....Ah.¡± ¡®I was expecting her to sheepishly agree, not adamantly refute, I haven¡¯t practiced anything for this outcome!¡¯ *ahem* ¡°R-right, well, it¡¯s nice that you don¡¯t think that way.¡± ¡®Shit, I don¡¯t know what to say! I lost all my momentum!¡¯ [Plush says the food is ready so he¡¯ll come back out.] ¡®Oh thank god!¡¯ And right then Plush¡¯s body changed back from the brown and black colors it has when Cy is in control to the normal purple and red as Plush himself comes back out, he greets us and introduces himself to¡­ to¡­ ¡°Oh yeah, we¡¯ve told you our names, but what¡¯s yours?¡± ¡°R-right, My name is Ronnie, Ronnie Bits. Sorry about that, I¡¯ve been in that black market for so long I¡­ I kind of forgot how to talk to people¡­¡± ¡®To be fair I kind of understand her, I mean I certainly didn¡¯t do much better when Plush first found me.¡¯ ¡°That¡¯s fine, don¡¯t worry about it, now let¡¯s eat and then we¡¯ll go to bed.¡± Ronnie looks around in the room for a few seconds. *sigh* ¡°Master, can I at least have a blanket? The floor gets very cold.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? You¡¯ll be sleeping with us in the bed, Plush and I only take up half the bed anyway.¡± And before Ronnie can refuse Plush shoves a plate of food towards her, and it seems she¡¯s unable to hold herself back any more as she scarfs down the food and then falls asleep on the bed due to food coma without even remembering that she was trying to not sleep in the same bed as us, Plush and I then lay down next to her and also fall asleep. * * * * -=Ronnie POV=- ¡°-ng¡± ¡®Munya¡­¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s morning¡± ¡®Suu¡­¡¯ ¡°Ronnie, get up, it¡¯s morning.¡± ¡®...¡¯ *sigh* *SPLASH* ¡°AH!¡± ¡°There you go, I would¡¯ve expected you to be a bit earlier to rise, what with how you were so adamant about not sleeping in the same bed as us and all.¡± ¡°Ah! Crap! Sorry!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m the one that told you to sleep there right? It wouldn¡¯t make any sense if I suddenly admonished you for doing something I told you to.¡± ¡°Yeah, so calm down and relax Ronnie, we¡¯ll depart for Gavely after we have breakfast, here.¡± Half-master then pulls a large plate of pancakes out of the much too small pouch on his bag and puts it down on the table inside the room and they both sit down and eat. *sniff sniff* ¡®Aw man, that smells delicious¡­¡¯ As I was sitting on the edge of the bed, still half asleep, I was woken up by the sweet smell of pancakes and I found myself salivating as I stared at the open chair at the table. ¡°What are you waiting for? If you don¡¯t hurry up there won¡¯t be any left you know.¡± ¡°But-! I went through training before the slave merchant put us up for sale! I know a slave isn¡¯t allowed to eat at the same table as their master¡­¡± ¡°Oh pish posh, if that¡¯s how you¡¯re going to be then I order you to come join us for breakfast! ...Well, as long as you¡¯re not lactose intolerant¡­¡± ¡°...What?¡± ¡°Okay, scratch that, just come here and eat will you?¡± The person who taught us how slaves are treated and how they should respond to that treatment told me that this was something that I shouldn¡¯t ever do even if my master told me to, however the smell of the pancakes and the growling of my stomach caused a temporary lapse in judgement as I found myself walking from the bed to the table and sitting down next to my master and half-master. *chomp* ¡°!¡± ¡°It¡¯s good right?¡± I¡¯m unable to answer master¡¯s question as I start shoveling pancakes into my mouth, so without the self restraint to stop eating I start nodding my head instead. *hack* *cough* ¡°Are you okay!?¡± In hindsight it probably wasn¡¯t a good idea to violently shake my head around as I was eating in an already messy manner, however that didn¡¯t deter me from continuing and putting myself even closer to death¡¯s door. ¡®So good!¡¯ I thought as I savoured every moment of this divine treat which I¡¯d never tasted before while tears fell from my eyes. As the final piece left the fork and entered my stomach I leaned back in the chair and let out a hefty sigh in appreciation for the meal. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡± Says half-master suddenly. ¡°What? You can¡¯t mean we go now after we just ate!? I don¡¯t have any proper education yet even I know that it¡¯s a health risk to hike after you eat so much your stomach bulges!¡± Master and half-master look at me, confusion evident in their eyes until their sight fell from my face to my stomach and they go ¡®Ah¡¯. ¡°Well to be fair it was probably her first real meal in months, maybe even years.¡± ¡°Well yeah, but still.¡± ¡°Also you just make too damn good food to resist, even I find it hard sometimes, despite knowing better.¡± ¡®Wait, half-master made this!? To continue calling you half-master would be a true sin! But¡­ What else could I call him¡­?¡¯ While I was deep in thought of such important matters master and her husband were cleaning up the plates we¡¯d used and preparing everything for departure. ¡°Oh yeah, here.¡± Master¡¯s husband handed me some folded together white cloth. ¡°Shiona asked Cy to make you this, it¡¯s the uniform for what Shiona will be teaching you on the way to Gavely, put it on and see if it fits.¡± I walk into the bathroom (Oh the marvels of a high-class in!) and changed from the slave robes to the uniform and went back out. The new clothes were a pair of white trousers and a white coat with a white belt to hold the coat closed. It fit well. It fit scarily well. ¡°It looks good on you.¡± Commented master. ¡°Thanks for the clothes master.¡± Once I came back outside the bathroom the entire room had already been cleaned, leaving nothing for me to take care. That in turn made me feel weird, a master cleaning up instead of their slave? It went against everything I¡¯d been taught. ¡®But then again so does most of what master and her husband have done so far, I hardly ever know what to say around them when they keep shattering my expectations.¡¯ ¡°Alright, we¡¯re done here so let¡¯s go.¡± Master and her husband then put on their respective bags as we left the inn, and just like on the way inside I had to crouch under every doorway to not hit my head. As we walk towards the town exit I ask master something. ¡°Master, are we not going away from the stables?¡± ¡°Stables? We¡¯re walking to Gavely so why would we need to visit the stables?¡± ¡°B-but master! Please reconsider! Even as a slave I heard many people talk about the dangerous monsters on the road to Gavely!¡± ¡°But if they¡¯re so dangerous, what difference would a horse make? The horse would just get killed.¡± ¡°The monsters may be dangerous but they¡¯re slower than a horse, masters please!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it Ronnie, I think we can handle a few monsters, now come along already¡± Only now did I realize that I had stopped walking and I started catching back up with them again. Another thing I realized was that maybe I shouldn¡¯t have been so happy to have been bought yesterday. * * * * ¡°Here, this will do.¡± Says master when we reach a small clearing. ¡°Master, will we be setting up camp here?¡± I ask, a bit confused why we would stop when we haven¡¯t even walked enough for another meal. ¡°No, but this is where the lessons begin.¡± ¡°Lessons?¡± ¡°I told you I was going to teach you a martial art right? That is why you have those clothes you know.¡± Chapter 63 - -=Still Ronnie POV= ¡°I told you I was going to teach you a martial art right? That is why you have those clothes you know.¡± Master¡¯s husband started using magic when I wasn¡¯t looking and changed the ground where we stood, a large circle area around us had become completely flat with a few indentations as markings for something here and there. Or maybe it was for aesthetic purposes, either way master takes off her shoulder bag and puts it next to her husband and their pet crawls out of the bag and sits next to him. ¡°Alright Ronnie, when we bought you the slave dealer said you had experience in hand-to-hand combat, could you show me a bit?¡± ¡°Show you? How?¡± ¡°Attack me.¡± ¡°What!? But ma-¡± ¡°No buts. Do it.¡± Despite my refusal it seems I wasn¡¯t given a choice, so while preparing myself for the inevitable backlash from hurting my master that the slave contract would give me I took my stance and prepared myself. ¡®Though I have to say I can¡¯t really take this seriously when master is a third of my size¡­¡± ¡°Well? What are you waiting for?¡± I sigh, both internally and externally, and throw a punch at master, trying to hit the air next to her head instead of her and maybe make her change her mind. Master smirks. While my fist was in the empty air next to master¡¯s face she didn¡¯t get shocked or anything of the sort like what I¡¯d hoped, but instead she smiled. Master turned her body and faced away from me, and then before I had the chance to pull back my balled up paw she somehow grabbed my arm with her wings and pulled, and she must have used magic or something because I was sent flying several meters before I finally crashed into a tree and fell to the ground. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± I groan in pain as I get up and walk back to master, less surprised by what she did and more focused on how to avoid it happening again. Master hadn¡¯t told me to stop attacking, so I couldn¡¯t, and yet if I ever actually hit her the slave contract will cause me intense pain. I pretended to try and hit her again, this time much closer to her then before, and much faster as well. Yet just like last time she¡¯s not fazed by it in the slightest, instead she performs the same trick as last time. I thought I would have been able to pull back my arm this time, however as though she had expected me to do that she grabbed me faster than before and threw me again. *SLAM* This time however, instead of throwing me into the forest she slams me into the ground, and all the momentum I had put into my punch transferred into me as I fell on the back on the magically hardened ground. ¡°Are you even trying to hit me Ronnie?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Answer me Ronnie.¡± ¡°... Yes.¡± ¡°Ronnie, I order you to be honest.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°The contract punishes me if I harm master.¡± ¡°Punishes? How?¡± ¡°If I harm master I feel intense pain.¡± ¡°... I see¡­ Then this will be tricky¡­¡± Master seems to go into deep thought for a while, however her face soon lights up and she calls out to her husband. ¡°Plush, you wouldn¡¯t happen to have anything about slave contracts or slave magic in that magic book of yours?¡± ¡°... I¡¯m not sure, but I¡¯ll take a look.¡± Master¡¯s husband then takes out a small book from his backpack and starts skimming through it, eventually stopping at a page as he reads through it more carefully. ¡°This should be it¡­ Could you both come here please?¡± Master and I walk up to master¡¯s husband and wait while he holds one hand in the air while he holds the book with the other. A blue circle then appears above his hand, and inside the circle is the all too familiar slave magic symbol. ¡°It says in the book that this spell will take out the slave contract if I use it on you Ronnie.¡± Master¡¯s husband then brought the magic circle closer to me, and once it touched my leg a rolled up parchment started manifesting in the centre of the spell. As for the reason he touched my leg with it instead of anywhere else, he¡¯s only half as tall as master and master is already only a third of how tall I am. Master¡¯s husband then unrolls the slave contract and starts alternating between reading the contract and his magic book. ¡°Alright, this should be¡­ No wait, this should work better¡­¡± Master¡¯s husband then creates another magic circle, however rather than the first one he made this one is made of five circles attached to each other by lines, each filled with a different symbol and the only one I recognised was the slave magic one, however unlike the one he used before which was a chain with four links in it this one had eight links. He holds the slave contract in the middle of the five circled spell and activates it, and then with a *fwoosh* the contract starts glowing. ¡°There we go, now the ¡®Can¡¯t hurt her master¡¯ part has been changed so that you can do it if they ask you to.¡± Though I¡¯m thankful I¡¯ll be able to actually try properly, I still kind of wished he hadn¡¯t succeeded so that I wouldn¡¯t have to fight master. ¡°Alright, then let¡¯s continue.¡± And for the next hour we continued, every time I tried to hit her, be it with punches, kicks, tackles, or even head-butts, she kept throwing me just the same as the first time. Even when I finally snapped and punched right at her head she easily dodged it, grabbed my arm, and then swiped at my legs using her digitigrade talons, causing me to fall over in just one of the many ways she¡¯d shown since we started. However at this point I¡¯d long since stopped caring and just kept barrelling on, throwing everything I had, even trying to mix in faints, however not even once did she do anything than just stand there and counter attack, she never launched any attack on her own. * * * * ¡°Food¡¯s ready.¡± ¡°You heard him Ronnie, come on.¡± *gasp* ¡°Y-yes¡±¡± *gasp* ¡°master¡­¡± *gasp*The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. I lowly shuffle my way over to the blanket that master¡¯s husband had prepared and sit down. ¡°Here.¡± Looking at master¡¯s husband I see he¡¯s holding a number of the energy restoring blue jellies. *chomp* *munch munch* *gulp* ¡°Haa¡­¡± I had grabbed all the ones he¡¯d held out and eaten them all at once, and only after that was I able to sit straight and eat. ¡®This is so goooood!¡¯ While I¡¯m eating the food that Master has prepared I relish every bite as I feel like I¡¯m ready to take on the world. ¡°Master¡¯s husband, what is this by the way?¡± I ask him. ¡°Master¡¯s husband? Just call me Plush. As for the food it¡¯s french fries and dragon steak.¡± *spfff!* *hack!* *cough* ¡°Hey! Are you alright Ronnie!?¡± ¡°I¡¯m.. *cough* I¡¯m fine, I just wasn¡¯t expecting that¡­¡± ¡°Alright, just, take care okay? It would be no joke if you died from something like this you know?¡± ¡°Yeah, thanks¡­¡± *cough* After we finish our meals Master, Plush and I keep walking along the paths after Plush turned our little arena back to normal. Looking up into the sky I see that it¡¯s now midday. ¡°Well what did you think Ronnie? About the martial art I mean.¡± ¡°It¡­ It was impressive master¡­ I couldn¡¯t land a single hit on you yet you always struck true¡­¡± ¡°Right, and I will keep hammering it into you until you learn it yourself.¡± ¡°... Yes master.¡± This was the first time of many where I found myself wishing to have been bought by a more normal master. At least they wouldn¡¯t do all kinds of unexpected stuff like these two... -=Plush POV=- A while later and we¡¯ve already walked quite a distance since Shiona and Ronnie had their little bout, and just like Ronnie warned us our path had been filled with monster encounters. *fwoosh* *SHRIEK* Though luckily they were all just frenzied jumbo-sized animals, so it wasn¡¯t anything too dangerous. ¡°Shiona, you seem to be able to handle this just fine, mind if I go work on something?¡± ¡°What, in the book or?¡± ¡°Yeah, we still haven¡¯t done anything with the magic crystals we got from the dragons.¡± ¡°Oh yeah¡­ Sure, I think I¡¯ve got this. But make sure it¡¯s something we¡¯ll use a lot okay? With how much trouble those two caused us back then we¡¯ll have to have them pay us back in kind.¡± Though I agreed with Shiona¡¯s opinion, I was still a bit frightened by the sinister expressions she was making, however even I realize that this is not a good time to delve deeper so I let Lizz out and I start looking through the magic guide to see what fun things I could make with the gems. ¡®Let¡¯s see¡­ It seems that water magic is more developed than¡­ than whatever it is the other one is, so let¡¯s start with that¡­¡± While I was flipping through the pages of the book I remembered how Cy had been curious about how magic had developed since she became bound to the book, so I raise my voice and ask: ¡°Cy?¡± [Yes.] I turn towards the voice and see that Cy had decided to sneak up and sit on my shoulder while I wasn¡¯t paying attention. And she had grown bigger. To the size of a watermelon. So, seeing a watermelon sized black spider suddenly sit atop my shoulder I let out a cream unbefitting of any normal human being, and after a minute or so I run out of breath and finally calm down. [Sorry.] ¡°Please¡­ I¡¯ve already asked you to stop doing that¡­ Why were you even melon sized!?¡± [To have bigger eyes so I could read more easily.] *sigh* ¡°If you wanted to read it so badly then couldn¡¯t you have done it while I was outside!?¡± [No, you kept the book with you all the time.] ¡°... But I bought two books though?¡± [That aside-] ¡°Don¡¯t ¡®that aside¡¯ me!¡± [-it seems the language outside has changed since my time...] *sigh* ¡°... And that means?¡± [I don¡¯t understand what it says.] ¡°...¡± [Read.] ¡°You¡¯re being very commanding for someone who drank herself drunk and tried to kill me a month ago.¡± [...] *sigh* ¡°Alright, fine.¡± So because of this I ended up having to teach and explain everything that was in the book that had to do with magic. Which meant the whole book. * * * * [I see...] ¡°You do? So that means I can stop reading this thing out loud and start looking for what I came here for?¡± [Go ahead.] Cy then jumps off of my shoulder and I sigh in relief, she then scuttles off to somewhere else, most likely to practise what I just told her, and I finally start looking up what to do with the dragons¡¯ magic gems. ¡®Before I was told that they could be used to make trinkets that just strengthens any magic or skills that shares the gems element, but I wonder what other spells they could be used for¡­¡¯ Before I look at all the water spells that exist I first look for a way to identify how good of a quality the gems I have are. ¡® ¡®Pour energy into the magic crystals without assembling a magic circuit and they will glow with a symbol showing how much they can handle¡¯ is it?¡¯ I do as the book says, I take out the blue and purple crystals and hold one in each hand and channel energy into them, and on their surface appeared a circle with a pattern inside. ¡®A sea with¡­ seven waves, and an eyeball¡­ I think?¡¯ The water one had a symbol which I was already familiar with, however the purple one had one I hadn¡¯t seen yet, so I had to look it up in the book. The symbol was a biconvex lens-like shape with a bunch of circles inside. ¡®Here it is¡­ ¡®Unknown use¡¯ it says¡­ Well that¡¯s useful¡­¡¯ It seems that the people that made the book had actually left a lot of the elements and commands as unknown, though it makes sense since apparently they only started putting the book together a few months ago, and since they even gave me a discount if I want to go and buy a newer updated book in the future I¡¯ll forgive them. ¡®But even if I forgive them, right now I need to know what I can use this thing for, however it doesn¡¯t say in the book how this eye symbol gets stronger¡­ or maybe¡­?¡¯ Looking at the eye-like symbol in the book and comparing it to the one that appeared above my hand there was a very distinct difference, namely the number of circles within the eye. The one in the book only had one circle, making it look like an eye that only had a pupil, while the one that appeared over my hand had six of them. ¡®Well, all the other have been pretty simple, so maybe it¡¯s just one level for every ring?¡¯ If my hypothesis was right it meant that this was a grade six crystal, which meant it could have an extra five commands, so thinking this to be true I started looking through the book to see what commands I might be able to borrow from other elements to experiment on since there wasn¡¯t any list of compatible commands for this element. Or rather, I could have done that, but feeling like whoever is writing these magic books probably has a lot more time and resources on their hands than me I decide to just make a safe bet and make it into an element boosting trinket instead, leave the trial and error to the professionals. I look at the last couple of pages of the book where they had an incredibly bare-bones explanation of magic trinkets. Although I call it an explanation it was more of a ¡®Don¡¯t do this¡¯ where it just said that if I create the magic circuit a certain way it won¡¯t make any spells anymore and instead be a trinket. ¡®Guess they¡¯ve got something against trinkets¡­¡¯ I follow the ¡®Don¡¯t do this¡¯ instructions and create a bangle to attach the gem to and enchant it to work as a simple element boosting trinket. ¡®The next time I go outside I¡¯ll swap the telepathy bangle with this one since now that I learned how to use it myself I don¡¯t need it anymore. And as for the water crystal...¡¯ The only kind of trinket they covered in the book was the element boosting one, the others were simply swept under the rug with a feeling of ¡®Why would you make trinkets when you can make wands?¡¯, truly showing the author¡¯s contempt for trinkets. ¡®In that case it¡¯s probably best if I wait with this one until I get a proper enchanting book, maybe they¡¯ll have on in the capital?¡¯ Feeling like I was finished with what I could do for now I put the book and the blue water gem back on a shelf and prepare to head back outside, however then I realise that since Ronnie joined our group just yesterday she¡¯s never eaten any really good food other than the steaks and pancakes, so I head to the kitchen and prepare a few goodies, both foods, pastries and any other kinds of snacks, and then headed back outside- *thud* -while Lizz was still flying. ¡®... No deserts.¡¯ <...Ah?> ¡®...¡¯ Feeling better again I get up from the ground and start catching up with Shiona and Ronnie, turns out Lizz had been lagging behind due to grumbling to much over her interrupted nap,, so none of them saw my embarrassing display. When I reach them they greet me with a relieved expression, guess they were getting tired of hearing Lizz complain all the time. ¡°Welcome back.¡± x2 After walking for bit more the sky starts getting darker and we decide to set up camp for the night. ¡°We¡¯re going a lot slower when we can¡¯t fly.¡± States Shiona. ¡°... I¡¯m sorry master.¡± Responds Ronnie while looking at the ground. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, it was my decision to buy you so it¡¯s on me if I didn¡¯t think about this.¡± ¡°...Shiona?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°I just remembered, but when I was at the wandless magic class I met an elf.¡± ¡°Oh god, don¡¯t tell me it was the archer from Vartan?¡± ¡°Gods no, it was someone new, but they told me that things have calmed down in their town and asked when and where we could meet up...¡± ¡°Yeah? Carry on.¡± ¡°I-... I sort of told them we could meet in Logholm in a week from then?¡± ¡°Why are you saying it like a question!? And also couldn¡¯t you have told me a bit earlier!?¡± ¡°Well, I sort forgot? You were so excited about going to the black market it slipped my mind¡­¡± *sigh* ¡°Fine, fine¡­ Actually we should still make it in time, according to the map it should be one more day to get to Gavely, then one to get to Uphalla and another for Logholm, so we should get to Logholm with three days to spare.¡± ¡°Okay, good. I was getting worried¡­¡± Feeling relieved of my worries I take out tonight¡¯s dinner. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Asks Ronnie. ¡°It¡¯s pizza.¡± Shiona and I actually ate pizza right before we bought Ronnie so we probably shouldn¡¯t eat so much of it again so soon, but now we had the excuse of letting someone who¡¯s never eaten it before have some so our consciences were clear. * * * * Waking up the next day Shiona and Ronnie had another sparring session while I cleaned up where we slept, and after they finished their skirmish we had breakfast and started walking again. This time it seemed that Shiona was actually trying to teach Ronnie rather than just try to get Ronnie to think judo was cool, whenever we encountered a monster she would always take care of it herself, keeping her motions slow enough for Ronnie to see it and ask questions when she didn¡¯t understand but still fast enough for the monsters to take major damage, and after continuing like that for half a day we arrived at Gavely. Chapter 64 - After waking up and departing on the second day of our journey we reach Gavely, and judging by how he sun is still at its zenith it¡¯s only midday. ¡°The gate toll is five coppers.¡± ¡°We¡¯re adventurers.¡± Shiona and I take out our adventurer licenses and hand them to the guard. ¡°Hm-hm, this looks right. And her?¡± The man asks and points to Ronnie. ¡°... Here¡¯s five copper.¡± ¡®We should get her registered at the guild while we¡¯re here.¡¯ I think as we walk through the gates. ¡°Should we just do the normal and go eat at a bunch of places after we finish up at the guild?¡± ¡°Yeah. Wonder if they have pamphlets here like in Straitley?¡± ¡°Maybe? I¡¯d imagine so though, what with us being closer to the capital and all, only makes sense for the to get more luxurious and easy to sightsee in.¡± ¡°Yeah, guess so.¡± ¡°There, I think that¡¯s the guild.¡± The three of us enter the guild, we tell one of the receptionists that we¡¯re guild staff from Eastern lake city, and once they¡¯ve written down enough details to be able to alert our branch of the guild we ask to have Ronnie registered as an adventurer as well as have her home branch be changed from Gavely to Eastern lake city. ¡°Miss Ronnie? Please come with me for the preliminary examination¡± ¡°Master?¡± Says Ronnie in a worried tone. ¡°Go for it Ronnie, we¡¯ll go look around the town for a bit while you show them what you can do.¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± ¡®Lizz, go with her.¡¯ ¡®So we can communicate with each other.¡¯ <...> ¡®... I¡¯ll remove the desert ban.¡¯ After Lizz flies out and sits down on Ronnie¡¯s head Shiona and I walk back outside- ¡°Excuse me, do you have any sightseeing pamphlets?¡± -After asking a very important question that is. ¡°Yes, here you go.¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± We take the pamphlet and exit the guild while skimming through it. ¡°We should probably wait with going and eating anywhere until Ronnie is done registering.¡± ¡°I agree, but what do we do until then?¡± ¡°Well we could go rent a room at an inn for the night, and after that we could just look around the market district for interesting things.¡± ¡°That works, and speak of the devil, here¡¯s an inn.¡± Right in front of us was a very normal looking inn with a large sign above its entrance which read, well, ¡®inn¡¯. *ding ding ding* Rang a bell when we entered. ¡°Hello, would you like to rent a room? Or would you just like some food?¡± Asks a receptionist who¡¯s sitting at a desk further in. ¡°We¡¯ll take a room please.¡± ¡°Alright, five silver for a night.¡± I hand the receptionist five silver and she hands me a key. ¡°Just come back when you want alright?¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± And after finishing that we leave the inn and walk towards the market district- ¡®What a convenient town.¡¯ -which happened to be right outside the inn. ¡°What are you waiting for? Let¡¯s go!¡± I followed Shiona through the market district and we walked past all the different stalls they had. A lot of the merchants called out to us. ¡°Hey! You there, the blessed doll! I¡¯m certain you¡¯ll find what I¡¯m selling to be useful in accomplishing your master¡¯s wish! I¡¯ll give you some for free if you do me one small favour first...¡± ¡°Buy some of our medicine! You wouldn¡¯t want to find yourself next to a sick master without any way to help them would you?¡± All in all, this place was even worse than Straitley¡¯s black market, these merchants were trying to get a blessed doll to do something that they couldn¡¯t ask anyone else to do, most likely something illegal. ¡°Hey! Aren¡¯t these gems pretty? I¡¯m certain your master would love to have them! They can even be used to make one of the incredibly strong and famous seventh circle magic wands!¡± Feeling tired of all these people calling out to me I walk up to the one selling the magic crystals, Shiona stayed behind and just looked on when she realized what I was about to do. ¡°Good choice dear customer! What would you like? Maybe this fifth circle thunder gem, or this sixth circle water gem¡­ Or maybe, how about this seventh circle wind gem!?¡± ¡°How much for the wind gem?¡± ¡°Ah, err¡­¡± The man stumbled with his words, surprised that I could speak. ¡°Y-you seem like a good kid, so I¡¯ll give it to you for free?¡± ¡°Really!?¡± I ask, trying to sound as excited as possible, and judging by how the merchant calmed down he seems to have bought it. ¡°Yes yes! Just one thing, you see, frankly this store isn¡¯t doing so well, and neither is my family, so I can¡¯t just give it away for free, but if you do me one favour I¡¯ll give it to you.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good kid, you see, the thing is that¡­You see that guy over there?¡± The merchant points to another stall a short distance away, this one also selling magic gems ¡°That guy has been selling fake products and stealing all my customers with his silver tongue, so if you could go and get a bit rowdy over there and make him shut down his stall both me and my family would be forever grateful!¡± ¡°But¡­ My master said never to buy things without holding them first¡­ Is that no good?¡± The merchant was visibly shaken by my request, however he soon calmed himself down again and answered, most likely thinking something along the lines of ¡®No way this naive doll could actually tell the quality of the gem¡¯. ¡°Sure, here you go.¡± After the merchant hands me the gem I look at it for a bit. ¡°Hey mister¡­¡± I say, lowering my voice. ¡°Y-yes?¡± Responds the merchant, worried that his jig might be up. ¡°This gem¡­¡± I channel energy through the green crystal, and in the center of it appears the elemental crest for wind. The crest for the wind element is a tornado that you add more layers to, almost like an upside down pyramid. But the thing is¡­ The crest that appeared was a single upside down triangle. ¡°...This gem isn¡¯t what you said it was?¡± ¡°Ah, err-¡± ¡°don¡¯t tell me¡­ You lied to me?¡± ¡°N-n-¡± ¡°And then your story about your family? And what about that other merchant you told me to sabotage? Were those also lies? Were you... making me ruin an innocent person¡¯s life?¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡®Cy?¡¯ While the merchant was panicking and trying to think of a way to diffuse the situation I let Cy take over my body, causing it to change color and form. ¡®This guy thinks I¡¯m a blessed doll yet he still tried to swindle me, and you know what happens to blessed dolls when they see bad people? They turn bad, so why not play along?¡¯ When Cy took over I found myself back inside the apartment in the book, sitting on the couch and seeing what¡¯s going on outside through the TV, and oh boy is it entertaining. The merchant stares at my body with his mouth wide open as my eyes split into four and turn red, my furry hood turns rust brown, my body glossy black and my legs my legs split into three each. ¡°GYAAAH! Cu-cursed doll! Guards! Guards! Help! There¡¯s a cursed doll!¡± As the merchant backed himself into a corner in his own stall Cy used all of her limbs, both her six legs and her two arms, and climbed over the stall and closer to the merchant in as creepy of a way as she possibly could. ¡®Cy, you¡¯re really enjoying yourself aren¡¯t you?¡¯ <... Let¡¯s just say I have bad history with human trying to trick me, you wouldn¡¯t believe how satisfying these rare opportunities of payback are.> ¡®I think I have an idea, but fair enough.¡¯ Cy kept following the merchant, twitching every now and then as she opened a toothy mouth for added effect. If I¡¯d been able to see behind Cy I would¡¯ve seen people looking a quarter in shock and three quarters in a ¡®You reap what you sow¡¯ kind of way. ¡°There it is!¡± Shouts a voice from behind us. ¡°G-guards! A blessed doll suddenly turned outside my stall and started attacking me!¡± At first glance the merchant looked genuinely grateful that the guards were there- ¡°What do you mean suddenly turned!?¡± -until another pedestrian voices their thoughts. The guard turns towards the pedestrian and asks. ¡°Excuse me? You sound like you know something, care to share?¡± ¡°Yeah! I overheard they were talking about! That rotten greedy merchant was trying to have the doll sabotage another guy¡¯s stall while trying to look like a victim!¡± ¡°L-lies!¡± Shouts the merchant suddenly. ¡°How could you believe what a single pedestrian says! He must¡¯ve obviously heard wrong!¡± ¡°Wha-¡± ¡°Sir, although we understand your anger, we can¡¯t build a case on a single bypassing witness when there should have been tens of them, the only ones who were close enough to have their stories taken seriously are the merchant and¡­ well, the cursed doll.¡± ¡°N-¡± ¡°Enough! This guy may only have the merchant in his sights right now, but whether he deserves it or not is a whole nother thing! Once the merchant dies the doll will go on to kill anyone in sight! Men, prepare for combat!¡± Seeing how many guards they¡¯d brought just to take down little old me I felt almost flattered, however I decided it would be best not to keep the charade going. ¡°Ah, that won¡¯t be necessary sir.¡± I say and take back control of my body. ¡°Wha-¡± ¡°Here.¡± I hand him my adventurer license. ¡°I¡¯m actually neither a blessed or cursed doll, but this guy, and many others by the way, were trying to get me to do illegal things despite thinking I was a blessed doll, this one even tried to get me to ruin someone else¡¯s stall, said he¡¯d pay me in a grade seven magic crystal.¡± I picked up the green crystal that Cy had dropped when she transformed and fill it with energy, causing the one circle wind crest to appear. ¡°But as you can see this is just a grade one gem, so I¡¯d finally had it and decided to get them to shut up.¡± ¡°Ri-right¡­ I¡¯ll be honest, I¡¯ve no idea what any of that means so could you follow me to the station please?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°N-no, I don¡¯t want to and you can¡¯t force me!¡± ¡°As a matter of fact I can, doing things that could set loose a cursed doll in the middle of town is a very severe crime, even if it ended up not actually happening.¡± *click* ¡°Wha-¡± From behind the merchant another guard appeared and put a pair of handcuffs on him before the merchant noticed he was there. ¡°Come along now, and try to do so calmly or we can lengthen whatever punishment you get. You two as well.¡± ¡°Actually, I¡¯m here with my wife and we were waiting for our friend to register at the guild, could they also come along?¡± *sigh* ¡°Sure, this town can be pretty hard to meet up in¡­ You, follow this guy to the guild and then lead them to the guard post.¡± ¡°Sir!¡± Responded another guard. The head guard then walked off with the merchant and the pedestrian that had vouched for me while I met up with Shiona and we went back to the guild with the other guard. ¡°So¡­ You two are married? How does it work in the-¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t.¡± The guard kept asking similarly personal questions all the way to the guild. He was incredibly rude. And yet, despite the guard¡¯s hopefully sub-conscious efforts to piss us off to no end we somehow make it to the guild without throwing him through three buildings. ¡°So, who are you two looking for?¡± Asks the guard. ¡°Hang on¡­ Uhm¡­¡± Thinking it¡¯d be easier to show than tell both Shiona and I look around for our mountain of a friend. She¡¯s very likely to stick out in a crowd yes? And yet despite our less than vertically challenged friends height we still don¡¯t see her anywhere. ¡°Maybe the examination is still happening?¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± ¡®Lizz?¡¯ <...> ¡®Lizz¡­?¡¯ <... Suu¡­> *sigh* ¡°Lizz is sleeping so I can¡¯t get in touch.¡± Shiona walks off to the receptionist while asking me to keep the guard check so he doesn¡¯t piss anyone off, and after a few seconds she returns. ¡°I just told them to tell Ronnie where we are when she finishes.¡± ¡°Good idea.¡± We scan the area once more before leaving the guild and following the rude guard. -=Ronnie POV=- ¡°... come with us for the preliminary examination.¡± I look towards the staff member that suddenly told me to follow them while feeling surprised. ¡°Master?¡± I ask and look towards master, wondering what I missed while I wasn¡¯t paying attention. ¡°Go for it Ronnie, we¡¯ll go look around the town for a bit while you show them what you can do.¡± However she misunderstands me, she thinks that I know exactly what¡¯s going on and that I¡¯m asking for permission to do whatever it is I¡¯m supposed to do. ¡®Master please¡­¡¯ I ask in my heart, however my request goes unheard and I¡¯m soon made to follow the guild staff to an open field behind the guild house. ¡°You¡¯d better finish this quickly so I can get some ice cream.¡± And as if it wasn¡¯t enough to be separated from my masters I also had to hang out with the insufferable gluttonous gnat of a jerk that is my master¡¯s first familiar. ¡°...¡± ¡°Hey! I¡¯ve been Plush¡¯s familiar longer than you¡¯ve been his slave, least you can do is show some respect to your senior!¡± *glare* When I glare at her to the best of my ability she finally shuts up and seems to go into deep thought instead. ¡®Finally, a little peace and quiet.¡¯ ¡°Here we are this is where the examination will be held.¡± ¡®... Shit.¡¯ Normally I¡¯m able to keep my mood in check much better than this, however Plush¡¯s familiar ruined any chances I had of doing that today. ¡°Just tell me what you want me to do.¡± Somehow I was able to talk with the guild staff without screaming, but it definitely wasn¡¯t in a respectful way. ¡°Right, first I need you to tell me what you¡¯re capable of, and then we¡¯ll test you to make sure you¡¯re not lying.¡± ¡°I¡¯m good at fist figthing.¡± ¡°Fist fighting? Any special way?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Do you specialise in any particular field? Like, fighting other people,, fighting monsters, manual labour, etcetera.¡± ¡°I¡¯m good at fighting people and monsters, and honestly, are you daft? I¡¯m almost one and a half times as tall as you and I used to be a slave, how could I not be used to manual labour ?¡± ¡®I¡¯m sorry for taking out my anger on you miss staff member, but you¡¯d do the same if you were in my shoes.¡¯ Since master and Plush didn¡¯t tell the guild staff that I still was a slave I shouldn¡¯t have to either right? I said that I¡¯ve been a slave but never specifically said that I stopped being one so I technically didn¡¯t lie either. ¡°Right, sorry.¡± The staff member then walks back inside the guild while asking me to wait here. ¡°Hm?¡± In the corner of my eye I saw something moving, and when I turned to look I saw Plush¡¯s familiar¡¯s back as she slowly flew away from me, still in deep thought. ¡®I should probably call out to her, Plush said that she was the one I should talk to if I wanted to get in touch with him¡­ But then again¡­¡¯ The further away she got the calmer I felt, so I decided to just let her go off and do her own thing. ¡®If something happens I¡¯ll just say she flew off while I wasn¡¯t looking, worst that can happen is that she won¡¯t get sweets for a few days.¡¯ Valuing my sanity over her sweet-tooth I face the opposite way from master¡¯s familiar and pretend I didn¡¯t see anything. -=Nameless staff member POV=- ¡®You rude mother fucker, here I am trying to help you register and you start calling me an idiot? Fuck you.¡¯ I walk back inside the guild while letting such negative thoughts ruminate in my mind, best way to get rid of them is a bit of good old revenge yeah? So I was trying to think of something I could do without causing to much suspicion from my co-workers. ¡°Hey!¡± Shouts one of my colleagues. ¡°What? I¡¯m busy.¡± ¡°You got a letter, says it¡¯s from your brother in Vartan.¡± *sigh* I take the letter that my colleague was waving around and open it while I continue to where I was going. Right now I was going to the suite of the guild where we let some of the stronger adventurers rest in their off-time, I was going to pick out someone to help evaluate the hare-kin¡¯s abilities. ¡®Dear sister, I hope you¡¯re doing well these days¡­ ¡® I skip over the unnecessary pleasantries, my brother was way too good at making them way too long whenever he wanted something, and judging by how the letter actually looked like that of a concerned family member for the entire first page I knew he really wanted something. ¡®Here it is, ¡°Sister, I need your help with something¡­¡±¡¯ Once I finished the letter I smiled, picked the biggest and brawniest person there was and brought him with me. He also had a knack for making his fights look so easy that anyone would think they could do the same, he fit perfectly for what I wanted. I also bring along every adventurer that was moping around the guild, that way everyone could watch. But something happened that I wasn¡¯t expecting before the fight even started. -Ronnie POV=- The staff member soon comes back out to the field while being followed by a huge mass of people, probably adventurers. ¡°Right, miss Ronnie, this man is Burt and he will help evaluate you, I need you to do fight him one on one for everyone around us to watch, you don¡¯t need to defeat him though, we just need to see how well you do.¡± Since I was already in a marked area of the field Burt walked up to me while smiling menacingly and hitting his fists together. I smiled back, made sure to show my fangs, and I swear I saw him shake for a moment before he took a stance with his hands closed into fists. Seeing this I didn¡¯t panic, instead my smile just widened at this delicious opportunity to both practice what master taught me as well as vent some anger, so I took my stance and waited for Burt to throw his punches. Chapter 65 - -=Still Ronnie POV=- ¡°Areyoubothready?¡± Asks thestaffmember. ¡°Yeah.¡± *nod* ¡°Go!¡± Whentheguildstaffsignalledthe startofthe examination Burtranatmewhilewindingupa punch andeverypersonwatchingbrokeoutintocheer. ¡®It¡¯sliketheythinkthisissomesortoforganizedevent¡­ !Thoseguysareevenmakingbets!¡¯ You¡¯dthinkaslavewouldn¡¯tbeveryknowledgeable,butyou¡¯dthinkwrong. WhenIwasstill in the black market Iwastaughtaboutthelawsandetiquetteofthe country sothatIwouldn¡¯tembarrassmyfuturemaster, and aguildstaffmembersettingupan examination as a betting matchdefinitelybrokealotofguildregulations. Burtfinallygotcloseandthrewhispunch,howeveritwasn¡¯tanywherenearwhatIexpectedit to be. Itwasa normal punch, ithadno style, ithadno grace,howeverwhenIlookedathisfistIcouldseethatthe airarounditwasdistortingslightly, almostliketherewasafire. If itwasn¡¯tfor themartialart my mastertaughtmeIwouldn¡¯tevenhavenoticedit, Iwouldn¡¯thavehadanyreasonto look athisfistsforanythingelsethandodgingthemifIdidn¡¯tfightthiswayafterall. Toanyonefurtherawayit musthavelookedlike itwasacompletelynormal punch,howeverIsawthathemusthaveusedaskill. Ikeptdodginghisblowsover and over,watchingandwaitingfor anopportunity. Then,whenheseemedtohavegrownimpatientandtriedusingafeintIdodgedboththefeintand the real punchwhichcameafterwards, andwhilehewasoffbalanceIrippedoff afewhairsofmy fur andthrewit athisfisttofindoutexactlywhathedid. ¡°!¡± As the fur hit thedistortingfilmaroundBurt¡¯sfisttheydisappearedonebyone, IwasonlybarelyabletoseethemgetseenflyingdespiteBurt¡¯sfistbeingstationary. ¡®Windmagic? Ormaybeit¡¯saskill?¡¯ Ikepton the defensive,evadingblowsandlookingforopportunitiesto strike back. *shwishshwish* ¡®Bastard iseventhrowingdecentpunchesnowto!¡¯ WhenBurt gotmoreseriousyou¡¯dexpectmetofollowright?Wellyou¡¯dexpectwrong,becauseto behonestafterhavingbeenputthroughmaster¡¯strainingthiswaskids play! SweatcoveredBurt''sfacewhiletheonlythingthatcoveredminewasthewidesmileofasomeonewhofoundsomethingto playwithandventtheirfrustrations on. ¡°Haa,haa¡­¡± AlthoughIfelta bit bad for thenowwheezingBurt, Ineededtoventonewayoranotherand Iwouldn¡¯tget anopportunitylikethisanytimesoonagain. *shwish* Burtthrewanotherpunch,thisoneslowerthantheothers, andthat¡¯swhenIfinallysawit.¡¯ Theweirdwavydistortionsaroundhispuncheswereonlyaroundhishands, the restofhisarmswereonlycoveredbyhisclothes. WhetherthiswashowithadalwaysbeenorwhetheritbecamelikethisonlyafterhetiredhimselfoutIdidn¡¯tknow,whatIdidknowhoweverwasthatBurtwouldsooncollapse, andifIdidn¡¯ttakethisopportunitynowIwouldmiss itentirely. *shwish* ¡®There!¡¯ Burtthrewa punchthatwasevenmoresluggishthanthe rest, Icouldsawthathehadalreadygivenuphimself,howeverbeforehecouldtellthetemporaryjudgehewaswithdrawingImademymove. ¡°!¡± Igrabbedhisoutstretchedarm andusedmyownexceedinglylong arms tocreateenoughmomentumtothrowBurt tensofmetersintothe sky. ¡®I¡¯msorry master, asfunas it is to lobeverythingaroundthere¡¯snothingthatquitebeats thesatisfactionofagoodhit.¡¯ As Burtreachedthezenithofhisflight Irantowherehewouldland andliftedoneofmy legs in preparation. *CRACK* ¡°Guho!¡± Witha kickheflewbackintothe sky- *thud* -bouncedonce- *thud* -bouncedtwice- *thud* -beforefinallylandingandrollinga smalldistance. ¡°Phew.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°So?HowdidI do? Andwho¡¯snext?¡± Isaywhileputting my handstogether. Is it just myimaginationor is thestaffmemberlookingalittlepanicked? ¡°Excuseme¡­?¡± ¡°Eep!¡± Okay, scratchthat,verypanicked. ¡°?¡± *cough*¡°Y-youdid¡­ Allthingsconsideredyoudidadequate¡­ I-¡± Thestaffmemberwho¡¯snameI stilldon¡¯tknowgoesquietfor a momentbeforeraisinghervoiceagain. ¡°You¡¯vealreadyfinishedthispartofthe examination, theonlypartleftis foryoutocompletesomebeginnerqueststoproveyoucanworkon thefield.¡± ThestaffmembernowspokenormallyhoweverI stillsawsomesweatonherforeheadasherbodyshookwhenhewalkedasthoughshe¡¯djustranamarathon. Thewaysheactednowaswellashowthespectatorshadbet on the matchmademesuspiciousofher,howeversincethebattlehadendedwithoutanycomplicationsIdismissedthosethoughts. ¡®Maybeshejust has acoldorsomething? ¡­ Forsomeonewhoisn¡¯taslavetoworkwhilesick,shemust be agoodperson¡­Kindafeelbad forlashingoutatherearlier¡­¡¯ Theentirecrowddisperseswhiletheyhandeachothertheirwinnings. ¡®Ishouldprobablytry tofindPlush¡¯sfamiliar, IdoubttheywouldthinkthatI¡¯mtheonewholeftherbehindbutI¡¯veheardmuchweirderstories.¡¯ I walk over tobehindthefenceI¡¯dseenthefamiliarfly over tobeforeandhopedshehadn¡¯talreadyleft. ¡°Hey,rabbit.¡± Howeverinsteadthefamiliarcalledouttomefrombehind. Iturnaroundwithoutmysurpriseshow on my face. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Listen, Ihavestuff Ineedto do inthistown, stuffthatPlushandShionashouldn¡¯tknowabout, solet¡¯sjustpretendIflewawaywhileyouweren¡¯tlookingandyouweren¡¯tabletofindmealright?¡± ¡°...AndwhatifItoldthemyouweredoingstuffbehindtheirbacks?¡± ¡°Ha!I¡¯vebeenwiththemlongerthanyouhave, andI¡¯vehelpedthembothabunchaswell,youon theotherhand,youwereboughtas aslave, andmostpeoplewhoareslavesareso for areason, likethey¡¯dhaveanyreasontobelievethatthegluttonousmayflyLizzcouldhideanythingfromthemaslavetoldthem.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°Good,thenI¡¯llseeyo-¡± ¡°I stillrefuse.¡± ¡°Wha-¡± ¡°YousaidthatthiswassomethingthatMaster andPlushshouldn¡¯tknowaboutright?¡± Ismirkat thefamiliarwhoI¡¯venowgottena bitmorerespectfor. ¡°Thatmeanssomethingillegalyeah?You¡¯reright,slavesareslavesfor areason, socountmeinwhetheryouwantmeto or not.¡± Thefamiliarstares atmedumbfoundedlybeforesmirkingbackmuchthe sameway. ¡°You¡¯rerealcheekyfor arabbityouknow?¡± ¡°Andyoufor a dragonfly.¡± Despitemyproddingatherbeingsoalikeahalf-dragonflyshedidn¡¯tflinchat all,provingthatshereallyhadjustbeenplayingitupallthistime. ¡°Ha!¡± Shescoffsbeforeblack fogseepsoutofthegroundand coversher,thenafterexpandingthe fogdissipates,showingthatthemutatedhuman dragonflything(neverreallydidunderstandwhatshewaswhenPlushexplainedit)wasnowhereto beseen,insteadinherspottherestooda blackhairedwoman.Shehadlong pitch blackhairwithmatchingrobes and apointyhat. Shealsoheldinherarms averylongstaff, itwasas long asshewastall. Speakingofherheight,shewastheheightofanaveragehuman, so a fair bitshorterthanme.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. I¡¯dhatetoadmitit,butsheactuallylookedprettycool. ¡°Followme.¡±Shesaysandturnsaroundcausingherrobes toflutterin awindthatdoesn¡¯texist. Andthenshefreezesupand stops. ¡°...¡± ¡°Hey,whathappened?¡± Iask. ¡°... Suu...¡± Theshestartedmakingsleepingsounds. ¡°Oioi,don¡¯ttellmeyoureallyfellasleepafterallthatbravado?¡± Withoutrespondingtomesheresumeswalking,alwayskeepingaheadofmeand notlettingmeseeherface. Asweapproach themainroad I startpickingupvariouspiecesofclothfrom thegroundanddrapedthemaroundmybody, andalthoughitfeltveryuncomfortableIalsofoldeddown myearsalongmyheadbeforecoveringmy face inrags. ¡°WhoeverseesmewillstillseethatI¡¯mfreakishlytall,buttheywon¡¯tseethatI¡¯ma hare-kin¡¯ An all blackwitchand ahomelesslookingperson walkontoa road ready to dosomethingillegal. It sounds like the startofa jokebutitprobablywouldn¡¯tend inlaughter. -=PlushPOV=- ¡°Soyourslaveis arabbit?¡± ¡°A hare-kin.¡± ¡°Rabbit, hare, samething.Butsincedon¡¯thaveathingthatmeansit¡¯shers right?¡± ¡°Yesbutnot forthatreason.¡± ¡°Saysthejealoushusband.Besides,whatotherreasoncouldanyonehavingforowningarabbitslave?¡± ¡°For the loveofgodpleasejust stop.¡± ¡®FuckIhatethisguy.¡¯ Theguardgrins atmelikehejustwonan argument,normallyIwouldn¡¯tcareaboutitbutthewayhelookedsosmugand sureofhimselfreallyjustpissedmeoff to noends. Wefollowedtheguardacoupleofblocksfurtherbeforeheturnedandenteredthe door to alargebuildingmadeofstonebricksandwoodenlogs. Hedidn¡¯tevenbotherholding the dooropenforus, infactheevencloseditafterheentered. ¡°You¡¯rehere,thisway.¡±Saystheguardwhowemetback at themerchant¡¯sstall. **** Halfanhourlaterwewalk backoutwitha small bagofvariousmagiccrystalsfrom themerchantas anapology. Hewasstill sent tojailthough,buthissentencewasreduced. Wewalkedback to theguildto checkupon Ronniebutshestillwasn¡¯tthere, andwhenweaskedtheguildstafftheyhadn¡¯tseenher. ItriedtocontactLizzagain,howeverthistimeshedidn¡¯trespondat all. Ievenaskedthebookifitwouldbeabletofindher,howeverit justshookin averydejectedmanner. ¡°Well,it¡¯sLizzwe¡¯retalkingabout,sheshouldbeabletofindusifsomethinghappens.¡± ¡°Yeah,I¡¯mstill a bitworriedthough.¡± GettinganideaItakeoutthemagicformationbookagainand lookthroughitbeforefindingwhatIwanted. Afterweget back to theinnandclosethe door Icreateatwocirclemagicformationabovemy hand and make it comeintocontactwithShiona, themagicformation thedrawsouttheslavecontractagain. ¡°Thecontractis thephysicalembodimentoftheslavemagic, soifoneyoudiesand themagicdisappearsthensodoesthecontract, so as long asthisishereshe¡¯sfine. Ifthey¡¯renot back bytomorrowwe¡¯llstartsearchingalright?¡± Wetheneatsomedinnerbeforedoingmagicpracticeand going to bed. TurnsoutShionawasn¡¯tverygoodat normalmagic. -=Elizabeth POV=- Icastaguidancespelltohelpusfindourtarget, andabovemy handappearsapurplefoggyarrowthatpointsin thedirectionofmydesires. Wefollowtheconstruct¡¯sdirectionsinsilenceand makeourwaythroughmanyalleywaysbeforearrivingin adeadend. ¡°Guessmagiccanonlydo somuch.¡±SaysRonnie in analteredvoice, Ihadcastmagiconhertochangehervoice sowecouldtalkwithoutpeoplebeingabletorecogniseit. I walkupto thewalland touch itwiththeleatherarmletthatthebookmade, andwithsomerumblingthewallthengetscoveredbybluemarkings, symbols andpatterns. Afterhavingthankedtheheavensthatthemagicwasstillworkedaftersomanyyearscalledoutto Ronniewhohadjumpedontotheroofstoseeiftherewasanythingelseon theothersideofthewall. Witha*thud*shelands back on theground. ¡°So¡­What¡¯sthat?Someonegivea kidbluecrayons?¡± DisregardinghercommentItookoutanartefactfrom my robes andstartedaddingmoresymbols to thewall. ¡°You¡¯rekidding, itreallywasabluecrayon?¡± AfterdeemingitfinishedIgaveRonnie theartefactandtoldhertostandat thecenterofthewall. ¡°Whatnow?¡±Sheasks. ¡°Tightenyourfistaroundtheartefact-¡± ¡°Crayon.¡± ¡°-Artefact-¡± ¡°Crayon.¡± ¡°...¡± *sigh* ¡°Justholdit and punch thewallokay?¡± ¡°...What?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°... Is itbecauseofwhatIsaidaboutmagicbefore?¡± ¡°Just do it.¡± Ronnieresignsherselftoherfatewithasigh,takesoffsomeoftheragscoveringherand wrapthemtightlyaroundthe handshe¡¯sholding thecra-artifactin. Andthenshepunchesthewall. *CRASH* -=Ronnie POV=- ¡®Whatthefuck!¡¯ WhenIpunchedthewallwiththecrayonin my hand itshatteredlikesomeonehadjustthrownalargerockintoa glasswindow! Piecesfleweverywhere,theyrangedfrom thesizeofsand to thesizeofwagonwheels. Isheepishlyturnedaroundtoseethehugemessthatmust¡¯vebeenmadeby allthosestoneshards- ¡°!¡± -onlytoseethemallsuspendedinmid-air. ¡°Well?Areyoucoming or not?¡± IturnedaroundandsawLizzstandnextto theopeningithewall. Wherethewallhadbeentherewasnowtheentranceto a tunnel. Somepiecesofthewallwerestillthere, itlookedlikesomeonehadbuiltthewallspecificallyto coverthistunnel. Buthere¡¯sthething- ¡°How¡­¡± -thereshouldn¡¯tbe a tunnelhere. Ihadseenwhatwason theothersideofthiswallfromabove, it justwentintoanotherstreetand thewallwasonlyhalfa meterthick, itshouldn¡¯tbepossiblefor a tunnel to behere. *sigh*¡°Ithoughtyousaidyouweregoing to be comingalongRonnie.¡± ¡°Wellsorry forbeingsurprisedbymagicI¡¯veneverseenbefore!¡± Takingtheclothoffofmyfistand putting it backwhereI¡¯dtaken it offofbeforefollowingher. Lizzthenwalkedcalmlythroughthe tunnel and,seeingherexample, Ifollowedher. ¡°Arewegoing to bedoinganythingotherthanwalking?¡± ¡°Wewill, assoonaswegetthroughthistunnel.¡± ¡°Andhowlo-¡± Just asI¡¯maboutto askhowlong itwilltakeusto walkthroughthe tunnelI¡¯mbathedin abrightlight, andwhenI¡¯mfinallyabletoseeagainwe¡¯reinside a darkcavern. ¡°Thisis¡­?¡± ¡°Deep underground.¡± Lookingaroundwecouldbothseethatthewallswerecoveredinlargewritingand imageswhichdepictedundergroundcitiesand thepeoplewithinthem. ¡°Longagopeopleliveddownhere.Entirecivilizations,eachwiththeirowndistinctculturesandwaysofliving.¡± ¡°...Youmeanthepickits?¡± Plushhadtoldmeabouttheirencounterswiththepickitsandhowthey¡¯dhelpedthemout. ¡°No,longeragothanthat, andmuchdeeperunderground aswell.¡± ¡°Okay, sotheywereherebefore,butthenwhyaren¡¯ttheyherenow? Andcouldyoumakesomemagiclightorsomething?It¡¯simpossibletoseeanythingwithonlythisglowingcrayon.¡± Lizzwavedhergiantstaffaroundandconjuredawhiteglowingorbwhichroseintothe air andilluminatedtheentirecavern,revealinghowhugeitreallywas. Thecavernwewereinlookedlike the insideofagianttawnyeggwithfouropeningsonopposingsides. ¡°Youaskedwhytheyleft?That¡¯swhy.¡± Almostall the space in theentireroomwastakenupbywhatwasinside. Wrappedupinchain,coveredinmagicalcharms andhalfsubmergedin thegroundtherewasacreature. Itwashard toseewhatitwas,butfromwithinthemeshofchainsand charmstwoyelloweyesglaredatus. ¡°Theseancientcitieshadperfectedthe artofsummoningdemons andhavingthemworkforyou-¡± ¡°Itdoesn¡¯tlookveryperfected,whatwiththisthingprobablybeingthereasonthecity¡¯sabandoned.¡± *glare* ¡°... Sorry.¡± *sigh*¡°Theyhadperfectedthe artofdemonsummoning,theykneweverythingtheywouldneedtohaveand do in order to get the demonthattheywanted,howeveronepersonthoughtthatitwasn¡¯tenough.Theysoughttoimprovewhathadbeenthoughttoalreadybeperfect, and in order to dothattheycreatedamagicalartefacttohelpin the rituals.¡± Wewalkedcloserto the demon. ¡°Theartefactcouldstore theobjectneededfor the rituals,anyanimalsneededassacrifices, itwasabletocreateanentireselfsustainedecosystemtogrowmoreofferingsandbreedmoresacrifices, itcouldevenspeedupthetimewithintheecosystemtoinstantlyrestockwhatevergetsused, itmadedemonsummoningspracticallyfree.¡± Sheliftedherwand. ¡°Thismadethe personwhohadtheartefactabletosummonanydemon atanytime,includingonesthatnoonehadbeenabletosummonbeforewithouttheartefact.¡± Shegatheredenergyintothestaffcausingit toglowbrightred. ¡°But, the manthatmadetheartefactgrewgreedy.¡± Abovethestaffasingleredcircleformed, and fromthatcircleblueflameseruptedontothegiantdemon. ¡°Heknewthattheartefacthehadcreatedwasgoing to be themostpotentofferingin asummoningritual, andthenhedidexactlythat.¡± Theflamesspreadacrossthe demon as itstartedto roar in pain. ¡°Heusedtheartefactas anoffering,howeveritwastoomuch. Noonedemonwasenoughtobecomeanequivalentexchangefor thehugeamountsofenergythattheartefacthad,insteada gatewasopened,throughthatgatecameahugenumberofthesedemons¡± The demon in frontofushadbecomearaginginferno andstartedtogrowsmallerandsmaller. ¡°Theartefactbrokeandeachofthe demonsgrabbedapieceandranoff to dotheirownthingsincethesummoninghadendedbeforethe mancouldstrike a dealwiththem.¡± Thebluefirewhichusedto be a demonkeptgrowingsmaller. ¡°The demonsspreadfrom city to city, killingeveryonetheycouldfind, andwiththepowerofthefracturedartefacttheywerenighunstoppable,butthenaheroappeared.¡± The demongaveouta final roarofpain,yetevenafterthe demonappearedtohavediedthefirekeptraging. ¡°Theherograbbedthe brokenhuskofanartefactwhichhadbeenhiddenawaybyitscreator, theherothenproceededtohuntdown the demons andreclaimthepiecesoftheartefactfromthem, and as thenewsspreadamongthecitiestheinhabitantsstartedtotrainthemselvesand fight backagainstthe demons,theycapturedthemandawaitedthehero.¡± Thefirehadnowshrunkto thesizeofa small house. ¡°Butas thenewsspreadto thepeopleitalsospreadto the demons,somedemonsconfrontedtheheroheadon to try andkillthem,butthemajorityputalltheireffortsintorunningaway,becauseofthatitbecameharderfor theherotorepairtheartefactand save thepeople,eventuallytheherodiedofold agewithoutcompletingtheartefact.¡± Thesizeofa wagon. ¡°Theherowentdown in legends to thepeoplewhosurvived,theyalllongedtotakeupthehero¡¯smantleandcompletetheartefactonceand for all.¡± Thesizeofashed. ¡°Manyfollowedthehero¡¯sfootsteps,manyofthemsucceededin killing a demonbeforetheirlivesended,howeveronlyafractionofthemknewofthetrueheroanddidit for the sakeofcompletingtheartefact, the restsoughttousethepowersofthefracturedpiecesforthemselves,causingthepiecestoscatterthroughouttheworldand fallintothe handsofnot just the demonsbutalsothepeople.¡± Thesizeofa horse. ¡°Yettothisdaytherearestillsomepeoplewhoattempttokillthe demons andreclaimthepiecesoftheartefact.Somedo it for the sakeofgoing down inhistoryasheroeswhosavedthe land,othersthough¡­¡± Lizzreachedoutherhand andgrabbedthefire. ¡°Theydo it tohonourfamily.¡± Thefiretooktheshapeofaglowingbluepieceofpaper. ¡°Wellthat¡¯scool and all,butIthoughtweweregoing to bebeatingupsomepeople...Iwasreallylookingforwards to it¡­¡± ¡°Fufufu¡­Youalreadyhaveadisguisesoifyoulikewecouldlook forsomecriminalsbeforewefindPlushandShiona.¡± ¡°Deal!¡± Chapter 66 - -=Plush POV=- Waking up earlier than Shiona I snuck out of bed to start preparing breakfast. Pancakes. Before I could start doing that however, I saw that the other bed in our room was now occupied by Ronnie and Lizz, Ronnie was so tall her legs stuck out at the end of her blanket while Lizz laid on top of her head. Feeling relieved that they came back without anything happening I lay down on the end of the bed next to Litly, Shiona was too short to occupy the entire length of the bed after all, after that I switch places with Cy inside the book. As I walk past the TV I see Cy, now in control of my body, sleeping right where I was before switching places, making me think a made a good decision. I walk inside the storage and grab the things I need, milk, eggs, flour, sugar, and some dragon meat too. I mix the eggs, sugar, wheat and milk together in a bowl into a batter before pouring it into a frying pan that I¡¯d put on the stove already. While the pancake batter was half solidified in the pan I poured in some finely chopped pieces of the dragon meat which got stuck in the pancake. Dragon meat was incredibly versatile, there was some part of it that would fit for every dish. One part of it had the same consistency and texture as pork, another was the same as beef, one was the same as chicken, and finally there was even a part which was the same as salmon. They each obviously tasted different than their counterparts, but since they reacted the same way to heat as their counterparts they could be used in the same recipes without being ruined. When all the batter was used up all the pancakes laid on top of each other on a plate and I went to put them back in the storage, also bringing a few extra plates and spoons with me. Seeing as Cy was still asleep I put a plate with some of the pancakes on the living room table and sat down on the sofa, then I went back outside by changing places with her again. ¡°Good morning.¡± I say to everyone after I finish setting up the table with the food. ¡°...¡± x4 *sigh* ¡®Desperate times call for desperate measures.¡¯ I take out an arc of paper from the inventory, fold it into a fan shape and start fanning the air around the pancakes over to the sleeping people. *GROWL* ¡°Come on, come on, come get your pancakes.¡± All four of them, including Litly, rose from their beds like zombies and started shuffling towards the table, so I put some pancakes on their plates and took out some of the pet food we¡¯d bought at the monster pet shop for Litly. ¡®Shiona isn¡¯t normally this bad with mornings, she must have been unable to sleep from worrying so much about the others¡­ As for the people in question they could never wake up on time.¡¯ After the last pancake had disappeared from the tray we all leaned back in our chairs and let out a collective sigh. ¡°Thanks Plush, that really hit the spot¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m jealous master has been eating food like this for so much longer than me.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Shiona and Ronne both glared at Lizz for not saying anything while I just brushed it off as Lizz being Lizz and started cleaning up the table. *knock knock* ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Who is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the innkeeper.¡± ¡°Oh, come in then.¡± *creak* ¡®Honestly, what¡¯s up with this world and creaky door?¡¯ When the door opened and the innkeeper came in he was followed by a number of city guards. ¡°What¡¯s going on!?¡± I ask frantically, worried that we might have a repeat of Vartan. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you guys.¡± I turn to the voice and see the guard captain who helped us out during the merchant incident. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± I ask again, slightly less worried than before due to seeing a familiar face. ¡°There have been civilian reports of disguised individuals knocking people unconscious last night, the most recent reports say they were seen jumping to the roof of this building before disappearing. Basically we¡¯re just looking through the place to see if they¡¯re still here.¡± ¡°Sounds dangerous, by all means carry on.¡± The guards start looking through our room, in the closets and, much to our amusement, under the beds. ¡°You guys don¡¯t have a lot of baggage for travelers.¡± States the guard captain. ¡°We make do with what we find on the road.¡± Replies Shiona. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not pointing fingers or anything.¡± Soon the guards were finished with their inspection and they left the room again, leaving us to plan out our day. ¡°Is there anything we need to do before we leave?¡± ¡°Well, we didn¡¯t get to buy anything yesterday because of what happened with the merchant. How about we walk through there and take a look?¡± ¡°Oh yeah, I also need to stock up on more food for Litly. Anything else?¡± ¡°...¡± x2 Neither Lizz nor Ronnie responded so we put on what little gear we had and left the inn. * * * * About half an hour later we exit the town through its east gates and start walking down the road leading to Uphalla. As for the shopping it didn¡¯t take as long as we expected, everyone had heard what had happened yesterday so they stopped asking me to ¡®steal that¡¯ or ¡®destroy that¡¯ before we could buy anything. The guy who¡¯s stall yesterday¡¯s merchant had tried to make me destroy even gave us a discount as thanks for, well, not destroying it. ¡°Anything we need to be aware of? Like, any mountains or stuff.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, the map¡¯s not detailed enough to say.¡± ¡°I guess we¡¯ll just have to wait and see with our own eyes then.¡± We then started walking down the road according to the map. -=Castle City Vartan¡¯s Guildmaster POV=- ¡°I wonder how well sis did.¡± I was sitting in my office on a delightfully sunny day and finishing up some guild related paperwork while looking forward to news from my sister. ¡°She¡¯d better done well, otherwise I¡¯ll ¡®ve ter go hunt ¡®em down meself!¡± In my office I was joined by my significant other. I say significant other, but I doubt it will last long enough to even get to the point of engagement. She¡¯s a hot-headed elf with a penchant for revenge and causing suffering, and she has me wrapped around her fingers. ¡®Or so she thinks, but frankly that¡¯s just me playing along, this way if one of my future assassination attempts go wrong she won¡¯t suspect me.¡¯ I was a man who liked to be ready for every foreseeable event, whenever I did something big I would usually spend a few hours, maybe even days, weeks or years, creating contingency plans for all the possible outcomes, and little miss high and mighty betraying me was one of the first things I prepared myself for. *knock knock*If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Yes?¡± I answer to the knocking. ¡°Mail.¡± ¡°Come in.¡± The door opens (I had some workers oil the hinges so it wouldn¡¯t creak anymore) and in came a man wearing a blue and yellow scarf with a shoulder bag. ¡°Here you go sir.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I took the letters from the mailman and started sorting them while the mailman himself left the way he came in. ¡®Bills, bill, new registrations, more paperwork, bill, bill, bill, personal letter¡­¡¯ A few minutes later I had sorted everything into neat piles depending on what I classified them as. ¡°Here¡¯s a letter for you dear.¡± I hold out letter signed from her father towards her. *groan* ¡°Oi¡¯ve a ¡®eadache, cud yer read for me ¡®on?¡± As she said that she was pushing her breasts together using her shoulders and trying to look as seductive as possible. Frankly I couldn¡¯t care less, I¡¯ve already seen and touched everything so she doesn¡¯t interest me anymore in the slightest, however in order to keep up the charade I still have to comply. ¡°S-sure!¡± I respond while using a hidden low circle magic tool to heat up my cheeks and make it look like I¡¯m blushing. ¡°T¡¯anks ¡®on.¡± I take the letter, open it and skim through it before giving her the short version. ¡°It¡¯s from your father, it says that the village is expecting incredibly important guests and he¡¯d like you to come back home while the guests are there..¡± ¡°Ugh, if only dat auld coot cud die already! If things keep ¡®eading dis way an¡¯ ¡®e¡¯s and he¡¯s allowed ter write a ¡®ill before he passes there¡¯s feck dat I¡¯ll git any inheritance! It¡¯ll al¡¯ go ter me sister¡±¡± (Ugh, if only that old coot could die already! If things keep going and he¡¯s allowed to write a will before he passes there¡¯s no way I¡¯ll get any inheritance! It¡¯ll all go to my sister!) I start spewing some bullshit about how she doesn¡¯t need the inheritance and how if things go poorly I¡¯ll take care of her, after she finally calms down she asks if there are any more letters for her before leaving to get ready for her journey. ¡®Then the next letter is for me from¡­ sister. Guess she must have dealt with them already.¡¯ [Dear brother, I did what you asked and tried to hinder the adventurers you told me about as much as I could, however the two were hardly in the guild at all so I didn¡¯t get any chances and had to settle for the next best thing;their slave who was registering as an adventurer.] ¡®That¡¯s acceptable, maybe not optimal but acceptable.¡¯ [But here¡¯s the thing bro! I set her up against the strongest guy we had during her examination, but she still aced it!] ¡®Bah, guess Burt must¡¯ve left for another region, he was the only good one they had.¡¯ [The slave kept dodging all of Burt¡¯s punches! Even when he got serious!] ¡®M...M-maybe they got a d-different Burt¡­¡± I kept reading the letter and was filled with horror. Turns out that it was the same Burt I¡¯d been thinking of. The very same Burt who I used to party with. The guy who could take down almost anything in one good hit, and he never missed either. The companion ho I had never been able to beat in a fight. I started worrying about the female elf. I wasn¡¯t so much worried about her as I was about losing my chance at her father¡¯s fortune though. ¡®Hang on, she¡¯s just going to the elf village. She¡¯ll be safe there at least, right?¡¯ Feeling relieved I start looking through all the new paperwork that had come with the mail. -=Ronnie POV=- Yesterday Lizz and I went a bit¡­ Over the top to say the least. In fact I think we may have single-handedly put a stop to organized crime in Gavely. Though probably just a temporary one. And we may have been chased by guards. A lot of guards. Probably the entire guard corp. In fact it was tothe point where we couldn¡¯t run away unseen without Lizz casting an illusion spell when we were on a roof. Sadly that roof ended up being the roof of the inn we later found Plush and Shiona staying in and because of that the entire inn was searched through by the guard corp this morning. Luckily enough Lizz had burnt the rags I used as a disguise while she herself didn¡¯t have to worry since she looked nothing like what she did when she transformed. Before the guards searched our room we had some pancakes that Plush had made, it tasted as heavenly as usual, and after we finished breakfast we went around the town one last time and bought some travel supplies before leaving for uphalla. ¡°RRAARGH!¡± And as you¡¯d expect the journey got interrupted by monsters. Or rather A monster. Just one. It was a big lizard, bigger than a basilisk but not quite a dragon, proportion wise it was thinner than a behemoth but thicker than a wyvern. There are so many different kinds of monsters in this world so I wasn¡¯t taught all of them at the black market, but regardless of what it actually was it was soon killed by Plush and Shiona, as expected. ¡°Ronnie, this one¡¯s on you, show me how much you¡¯ve learnt.¡± -Or not. ¡®How the hell am I supposed to do this!? I can¡¯t grab this thing¡¯s arms! Does it even have arms!?¡± The lizard creature roared and rushed at me headfirst with its mouth open. ¡°RAAAH!¡± ¡°!¡± I was barely able to avoid the giant lizard¡¯s maw before it could clamp down on me. ¡°Go Ronnie!¡± I look to the side and see Shiona sitting on a picnic blanket and cheering me on while Plush is a small distance away with a¡­ a grill? ¡°The food¡¯ll be done soon so don¡¯t take too long.¡± WhenPlush started talking about food something inside me clicked. I waited for the lizard creature to charge at me again, then I grabbed it by its fangs and I used the creature¡¯s momentum to help lift it into the air and perform a suplex. ...Or as close to a suplex as you could get with a giant lizard the size of a small house. I don¡¯t normally see myself as a glutton or a picky eater, but after having tasted Plush¡¯s outstanding cooking I haven¡¯t been able to resist it at all. It¡¯s so good that you wouldn¡¯t think it¡¯d be possibly to make something like that in this world. After hitting the giant lizard few more times to make sure it¡¯s dead, such as through its eyes, I run over and sit down on the picnic blanket next to master and await the fo- Plush. ¡°Here you go.¡± And speak of the angel, here he is with a big plate of hamburgers. *crunch crunch* *chomp chomp* *gobble* gulp* *crunch crunch* *chomp chomp* *gobble* gulp* *crunch crunch* *chomp chomp* *gobble* gulp* ¡°Haa¡­¡± I lay down on the blanket and see Plush walk off towards the giant lizard with a fancy looking knife in his hand. Too tired to ask any questions I just observe him. When he gets to the lizards corpse he takes off the book he¡¯s always wearing and opens it. He pauses for a moment, probably to talk to one of his familiars, before two blue glowing arms reach out from the books pages and grab onto the lizards corpse. Finally feeling like my curiosity has finally reached its limit I ask master: ¡°Master, what¡¯s he doing?¡± ¡°He¡¯s dismantling the corpse for materials.¡± ¡°Really?I didn¡¯t know Plush knew so much about monster anatomy. Must have studied a lot. Also that¡¯s a very weird looking magic wand, don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen one in the shape of a book before.¡± Master smiles wryly but doesn¡¯t say why, and without us knowing so does Lizz inside the book. After Plush has cut up the lizard¡¯s corpse into sufficiently small pieces the two blue hands start picking them up and dragging them inside of the pages they came from. ¡°Storage as well? Thing must have cost a fortune. Little did I know that master was currently trying her hardest not to laugh while Lizz was already rolling on the floor laughing her ass off. ¡°Ronnie.¡± ¡°Yes master?¡± After a few seconds master calls out to me and I answer. ¡°You reacted pretty casually to the storage thing, is it that common?¡± ¡°No no no, it¡¯s just that you two have skewered my sense of normalcy, usually only high nobles and shiny gold ranked adventurers have access to magic storage artefacts.¡± ¡°Is that so¡­¡± ¡°Ah! Sorry if I was rude master!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, I just thought storage artefacts would be rarer, guess we don¡¯t need to hide it anymore then. Hey Plush!¡± ¡°Yeah!?¡± Shouts Plush back after turning around. ¡°Tell Cy we don¡¯t need to disguise the book anymore!¡± ¡°Why!?¡± ¡°Ronnie says storage artefacts are more common than we thought!¡± ¡°Okay!¡± After Plush turns around again and resumes dismantling the corpse I remove my paws from my ears, these two can be incredibly loud when they want to. ¡°Where are you going?¡± Asks master when I stand up. ¡°I¡¯m feeling a little restless, I figured I might as well go and see if I can finish any of the preliminary quests.¡± ¡°Oh shit, I forgot about those! That means we have to return to Gavely for you to finish the delivery quests!¡± ¡°Ehm, master, I actually asked the guild staff if I could get quests for Uphalla so I can deliver to there instead.¡± ¡°Oh! Good thinking Ronnie!¡± ¡°Oh it was nothing¡­¡± I say while sheepishly scratching the back of my head. I¡¯m not good with compliments okay? ¡°Then sure, but don¡¯t go too far and be back soon.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry like that mas-¡± ¡°That¡¯s an order.¡± ¡°...Yes master.¡± After reluctantly understanding that it wasn¡¯t a choice I walked off into the forest and started looking around for some feral warcats, wild weredogs and giant bats. If you¡¯re wondering what the difference between weredogs and dog-kin or between warcats and cat-kin is it¡¯s quite simple; cat-kins and dog-kins are sapient and get along with other species, they live in harmony with others as long as the others in question aren¡¯t cunts. Though like with every group of people there are individuals of each species that acts different than the stereotype As for warcats and weredogs? Well, they¡¯re both sapient just like their friendly counterparts, they can communicate and speak at the same level as any human, the only thing is that they refuse to integrate into society. Okay, let me word it a bit better, cat/dog-kin won¡¯t attack without a reason, warcats and weredogs will. You know how goblins will kill anything that isn¡¯t a goblin for the sake of eating it? Well warcats and weredogs are the same, if they meet any creature that isn¡¯t a part of their species they will act in a hostile manner, as though they truly were just wild beasts. Warcats tended to wear armor made of leather from their fallen enemies, easy to move in while still having some defensive power, as for the weredogs they wore armor made out of hand carved wood pieces which were attached by leather straps, they lost a bit of mobility but the armor was much sturdier. Now back to the present, every here and there I would see both pieces of fur, pieces of leather and chunks of carved wood scattered about, and judging by the pure amounts it meant that two large tribes of feral warcats and wild weredogs had engaged in battle. Seeing as the trails were still fresh I decided to simply turn around and walk the other way, maybe I¡¯d even find a cave with giant bats in it if I¡¯m lucky? And after that I would start following these trails again to pick the parts of the already dead corpses without needing to worry about sneak attacks. Chapter 67 - -=Still Ronnie POV=- Walking around aimlessly and hoping to stumble onto a cave wasn¡¯t working out for me, so instead I decided to just climb a tree and actually look for one.. ¡®Oh, there¡¯s one.¡¯ After which I proceeded leap from treetop to treetop, passing birds above and animals below, until I reached the cave. ¡®This shouldn¡¯t be, ¡°too far away¡±, right?¡¯ At the entrance of the cave I looked around for a moment, just to be on the safe side, before entering. Now, the giant bats actually have a pretty kill count, specifically in new adventurers. The thing is that, well, everyone knows how bats always hang upside down when they sleep during the day right? Well this specific species of bat actually doesn¡¯t, they actually huddle up on the floor in the corners, also they actually take turns sleeping, and when whichever one of them is awake sees someone walking around and paying attention to only the ceiling they wake the others and they sneak up and attack whoever is intruding. New people just take the quest because most bat type monsters are known to be beginner targets during the day. But since I knew better¡­ ¡®Let¡¯s see, a small rock¡­ here we go.¡¯ I gather a few small sharp rocks and delve deeper while paying attention to the corners, and when I see a group of them I pretend not to notice, and when they all start creeping up on me by crawling along the ground I turn around and punch right as they all leap at me, any giant bat that survive the first blow and try to escape by flying are soon shot down by having their wings pelted with holes from sharp rocks. Some *thwack*s, *screech*es, *thud*s and *splat*s later I walk out of the cave with a giant bat¡¯s wing tied around me like a carry bag with a bunch if giant bat claws. *phew* ¡®Wonder how it went for the warcats and weredogs? After I check up on them I¡¯ll head back to master, I¡¯ll do the delivery quests when we reach Uphalla and the gathering quests tomorrow on the way to Logholm.¡¯ Having decided on a course of action I start jumping and leaping my way back to where I saw the traces of warcat on weredog battles. ¡®Hup¡­ Hup¡­ Hup¡­ Here we go.¡± When I get back to where I was before I start following the splinters and fur rather than walk away from it. As I follow the trails I end up having walk through a bunch of bushes, the more bushes I walk through the more furr and pieces of wood I see, there are even entire pieces of leather and wood armor which had been severed and fallen off of their bearers. ¡®Is that¡­ Oh, it is¡­¡¯ A small distance later I come across a large amount both warcat and weredog corpses lying scattered in a meadow. ¡®Well that makes things easier for me-¡¯ *CLANG CLANG CLANG* ¡°ROARGH!¡± ¡°HSSS!¡± ¡®... So much for that.¡¯ Suddenly two monsters jumped out from the woodworks and back into the clearing, a white warcat with short fur which dual wielded daggers and wore light leather armor who had their daggers crossed and blocking a greatsword wielded by a brown pitbull-type weredog which wore light metal plating, but the rather than metal it was hand carved wood with deep gashes in it. ¡°GROAR!¡± ¡°HSS!¡± *CLANG CLANG CLANG* ¡®Huh, they¡¯re actually pretty good at this. Are they coming this way? They are! I wonder¡­¡¯ The warcat was slowly being pushed back by the weredog and forced to come closer and closer to where I was hiding. As for how tall they were, they were just a head short of an average adult human. *CLANG CLANG CLANG* I waited quietly in a bush for the two of them to come close, as soon as they were right in front of the bush I was in I was going to pounce at them! ¡°Urr¡­¡± ¡°Grao?¡± ¡°Nyao?¡± ¡°Urr...rr...roOAHR!¡± But then something else pounced at them before I could, leaving me to feel embarrassed for getting so into their fight that I wasn¡¯t paying attention around me. From the treetops a large green furred gorilla jumped down right into the middle of the one on one battle interrupting it. ¡°DON¡¯T INTERRUPT!¡± x2 As both the warcat and the weredog scream together at the oversized green gorilla they release their blades from one another and both slash and stab at the gorilla. ¡°URA!¡± ¡°GYAH!¡± x2 And they were both blown back almost immediately. The two humanoid monsters kept attacking the gorilla together, however they weren¡¯t doing a whole lot of good against it until the gorilla started stomping on corpses of both the weredogs and warcats, only then did the two monsters start working together to try and take it down. ¡®Guess that guy desecrating their tribe members was enough to make him their enemy number one.¡¯ However even then though the battle became much closer and they started to wound the gorilla they were unable to land a killing blow on it. As the fight dragged on the two monsters got better at working together and they started pulling off more and more daring tactics which required them to truly trust each other. ¡®Maybe they actually knew each other from earlier? Maybe they already had feeling for each other as well but it was covered by tribal conflict? Well, this is all just speculation, I¡¯ve no idea how it happened but despite having had a life and death battle with each other just a moment ago they now seem to really care about one another.¡¯Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. The gorilla must have realized how the weredogs armor was better since it started to focus more on the warcat, and when it was finally about to hit the blow was blocked by the weredog who jumped in the way. ¡°GAH!¡± ¡°NO!¡± ¡°Urrrah!¡± While the warcat was busy worrying about the weredog the gorilla hit her and send her flying a small distance before landing on the ground next to the weredog. ¡®Well, so much for those two.¡¯ I think while looking at the two fresh corpses who had been added to the pile. I then proceeded to grab a sharp stick and unceremoniously ram it into the back of the gorillas neck, killing it within moments. Even though I¡¯d just eaten with the others before this I¡¯d already worked up a bit of an appetite, so I started ripping pieces of meat off of the gorilla and grilling them over a simple fire. ¡®While these things are cooking I should probably go finish the collection quests.¡¯ I stick the meat pieces on some sharpened sticks and put them into the ground next to the fire before leaving into the forest once more. * * * * ¡°Ho? This is a nice amount.¡± I say while looking down at a big red patch in the grass. I¡¯d already finished two of the gathering quests so right now I was on the last one, for this quest I needed these red clovers, or more specifically the tubers which grew underneath. So basically potatoes but they grow from these red clovers. ¡®Might as well get all of them, could be tasty to have a few extra to eat with the gorilla meat. Now that I think about it I don¡¯t even know whether the gorilla is edible or not.¡¯ I dig through the ground and gather all the red clover tubers inside my makeshift bag before getting back to the fire. *munch munch* ¡°...¡± Only to see that the two monsters who I presumed dead were sitting around the fire munching up the meat. ¡®Well, at least now I don¡¯t have to worry about it being poisonous anymore. I mean, there¡¯s none of it left for me¡­¡¯ As I was thinking about the missed possibility of delicious food my stomach decided to sing the song of its people and alerted the two monsters- *hack hack* The two monsters who then both proceeded to get food stuck in their throats and cause coughing fits for the two of them. While they¡¯re busy trying not to die I sit down at the fire and start cooking some of the makeshift potatoes, as soon as the two monsters calm down I hand them both a potato. *munch munch* *gulp* ¡°¡°Haa¡­¡±¡± Go both the weredog and the warcat. ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you two being a bit casual for just having cheated death?¡± ¡°¡±!¡±¡± ¡°... Don¡¯t tell me you forgot I was even here? Wait, did you actually? EVen though I gave you both the food you¡¯ve been eating?¡± I fire a barrage of questions at the two of them, in response they both blush so hard that I can even see it through all their fur. ¡°We...We will not forget what you¡¯ve done for us today!¡± Shouts the dog. ¡°We will grow stronger and come back one day to repay this favour! We owe you our lives!¡± Followed the cat. They then both grabbed another potato before running off back into the forest. ¡°... Okay?¡± ¡°¡°We forgot something!¡±¡± Shouted both of them as they bursted out of the bushes once more. ¡°...¡± ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Asks the cat. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you say your own name before asking?¡± ¡°Grao.¡± Went the dog. ¡°Nyao.¡± Went the cat. ¡°... Okay. Well, I¡¯m Ronnie, nice to meet you.¡± I say while reaching out my hand. Nyao and Grao then proceeded to splendidly ignore my hand, grab another potato each and run back into the forest. ¡°...¡± * * * * ¡°Where were you!?¡± Shouts master at me when I get back. ¡°Erm¡­ around?¡± ¡°Ronnie.¡± ¡°... Yes?¡± ¡°What did I ask you to do before you left?¡± ¡°To not stray far¡­¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°To not take too long¡­¡± ¡°And what did you do?¡± ¡°... I walked far away and took and hour to come back.¡± Back at the black market I had actually received some acting lessons, but right now any guilt that showed on my face were my honest feeling. ¡°Hah¡­ Well at least you seem to be repenting¡­ Plush, how it going ?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just about done here¡± While master was scolding me Plush had been dismantling the giant green gorilla. ¡°Okay, that means we start walking again soon Ronnie. And this time with extra practice sessions sprinkled in more often as punishment.¡± *gulp* Despite knowing enough of the martial art that master taught me I had still to win a single spar, whenever I tried attacking she would counter with a throw, and whenever I tried throwing she would counter with a counter throw. It was impossible to hit her. And then, just like the last couple of days of our journey we spent the day alternating between walking, sparring and eating until we arrived at the gates of Uphalla. After entering the city we all walked together to the adventurer''s guild, master and Plush grabbed a sightseeing pamphlet and left to figure out what to do tonight while I handed in my quests with Lizz. ¡°Here, warcat tails, weredog tail, giant bat wings, red clovers tubers, minor healing herbs and wormrose stems.¡± ¡°... I have confirmed the materials and you have now completed the quests.¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± We then left the guild. ¡°Hey Lizz.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Is there another¡­ thing in this town?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°So then after I¡¯m done with these quests we¡¯ll go-¡± ¡°Yeah..¡± ¡°And after that we can-¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Sweet.¡± I take out the delivery quest notes from my bat-bag and we go finish them, it doesn¡¯t take all that long since I can just leap over most buildings. Lizz was helping guide me so that I wouldn¡¯t be seen by master and Plush, that way they wouldn¡¯t see how fast I actually finished the quests and I could use them as an excuse for being late. ¡°Thank you lass, my back¡¯s been killing me without my medicine.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it old man, sign this please.¡± ¡°Yes of course.¡± After I had finished the deliveries Lizz told Plush that we would be running later due to the delivery quests being harder than we¡¯d expected. Having finished the things I needed to do we veered off of the main road and into an alleyway, Lizz transformed again while I disguised myself with various scraps of fabric found here and there. But only after Lizz used a quick cleaning spell on them of course. After getting ready Lizz casts the black arrow compass thing spell and we started following it. ¡°Gehhe, what a pretty lady, you wouldn¡¯t mind coming and having some fun with us would you¡­?¡± Before we could arrive at where Lizz¡¯s spell was pointing we were interrupted by a bunch of hoodlums who were trying their best to look menacing with their knives and their mohawk hairstyle. ¡°GAH-HACK!¡± But we¡¯ve already gotten used to fighting lowlifes back in Gavely so it took neither time nor effort to dispatch them before carrying on. ¡°Is this the place?¡± I ask when we enter a dead end. In response she Lizz just hands me the magic crayon (we ended up compromising with what to call it) and backed off. So then just like last time I held the magic crayon in my hand and punched the wall. *SLAM* ¡°OW!¡± However all that happened was a few small cracks in the wall and a bloody red mark. ¡°Does that answer whether it¡¯s the right wall or not?¡± ¡°Fuck! No need to be such a cunt about it!¡± ¡°Probably wasn¡¯t, oh well.¡± I wrapped the bleeding paw in an extra layer of cloth while we walk before we come across another dead end, this time however Lizz starts drawing on it with the magic crayon rather than make me do something stupid. ¡°Now punch.¡± ¡°My hand hurts¡­ Can I kick instead?¡± ¡°As long as you hold the magic crayon with whatever touched the wall.¡± I wrap the another piece of cloth around my¡äankle and put the crayon in one of the creases, and then I proceed to kick the wall the same way I kicked Burt and the gorilla. *CRASH* And just like that it shattered like a glass window. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Said Lizz before she walked into the previously non existent tunnel. Chapter 68 - -=Still Ronnie POV=- ¡°So, I just realized I never asked but are all the demons gonna be as easy as the last one?¡± ¡°No, we got lucky last time. They¡¯re not usually sealed that well.¡± ¡°... What are they usually like then?¡± ¡°Not sure.¡± ¡°Oh for the love of-¡± ¡°Calm down, I mean that all demons are different from one another, that¡¯s sort of their thing, it¡¯s impossible to know what the one below here is like, hell, we don¡¯t even know for certain that there is one below here, it could have escaped ages ago, or maybe it was never even caught.¡± ¡°And we have no way of finding out but to go down there.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°...Right.¡± Having finished our poor attempts at communicating with one another we stop talking and just walk instead. ¡®Never realized Lizz could be this quiet before, it¡¯s even half pleasant just walking around with her in the evening now that she¡¯s not talking my ears off.¡¯ Despite not talking we could still pretty easily tell what the other felt like, this was actually caused by another one of Lizz¡¯s spells, I don¡¯t know the name of the spell however it worked similarly to the spell that Plush used to talk, but instead of the spell reading your mind and broadcasting it for everyone to hear it was limited to those who were also under the same spell, and it was also a lot weaker, it could only send vague emotions whereas Plush¡¯s spell could broadcast what he thought word by word. ¡®This tunnel feel longer than the last one, wonder when we¡¯ll get there?¡¯ However just as I thought that we were washed over by another blinding light before finding us in yet another underground dome structure. ¡®Think of the devil¡­ Hang on...¡¯ ¡°This place looks pretty empty.¡± I say, and although Lizz doesn¡¯t say anything I could still feel that she agreed through the spell, I also felt both worry and relief from her. ¡°We can¡¯t be sure if there really isn¡¯t anyone here yet though, some of these guys are way too good at hiding.¡± Lizz strengthens her light spell so that it covers the entire dome and we can look around freely. ¡®Yep, still looks empty.¡¯ I looked all around us yet the only things I saw were the decorated walls which told the story of the people who had lived down here. Seeing nothing else to do I decided I might as well start reading. Or rather try to read, doubt I¡¯d understand any of this ancient language. ¡®Let¡¯s see here, giant underground city looking drawing filled with tons of people looking things. Looks like a lively place.¡¯ at the heart of what looked to be a city there was a symbol which looked like an upside down teardrop with a line going through it, and further along the wall there was a huge number of them. ¡®I guess this means there were loads of cities then?¡¯ I followed the painting on the wall, but the further I got the more they started to incorporate the color red into the drawings, it made it look like the cities were flooded with blood. ¡°Find anything yet?¡± I ask. Through the spell I can feel that she still hasn¡¯t seen anything out of the ordinary so I keep looking at the walls. ¡®Oh, these must be from when the demons started attacking.¡¯ Past the towns which were filled with blood were more towns, these towns were also colored red, however it was a different kind of red. ¡®Fire?¡¯ Going even further the symbols which represented cities were charred black and completely lacked any of the people looking things. ¡®Is this the center?¡¯ Just past the burnt down cities there was a drawing of a red creature bound down by chains inside of an ovaloid shape, on the other side of the ovaloid shape the drawings started going in reverse, meaning that no matter where you started in the room, if you followed the trail of destroyed cities you would come to this guy. ¡®I guess this means he must have been caught here at some point then at least, though that doesn¡¯t say anything about whether he escaped from here or whether he¡¯s already dead.¡¯ The red skinned demon was bald with two small horns coming off of its forehead, it was neither muscular nor thin, it¡¯s legs looked like those of a goat and it wore a black cloak and- -the painting blinked. ¡°Erm, Lizz?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°I think I found the demon¡­¡± Lizz walked up to me and I gestured to the seemingly bound demon. ¡°Oh no.¡± ¡°Oh no? Oh no what!?¡± If even Lizz who¡¯s been doing this for god knows how long is worried then it can¡¯t be good. ¡°You see that cloak he¡¯s wearing? It¡¯s made of something special, it completely blocks magic, I can¡¯t do anything against him.¡± ¡°... Has this happened before?¡± ¡°Yeah, whenever I find one wearing a cloak like this I¡¯m forced to leave and try to find another way to kill them, they tend not to be very strong on their own.¡± ¡°No, I meant the whole ¡®sealed in the wall¡¯ thing.¡± ¡°Oh, that. Yeah, normally this is actually how the sealing process went, some couldn¡¯t be trapped this way so they had to find another though. Like with the last one.¡± ¡°...Oh. But if this guy is trapped like this it means he can¡¯t get out and hurt anyone right?¡± ¡°Yes, however the seal isn¡¯t can¡¯t hold him forever and we will need to find a way to kill him.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t hold him for forever? How long do we have left?¡± Lizz looks around at the drawings on the walls. ¡°A minute or so maybe.¡± ¡°What!?¡± *crack* I look at the wall and see cracks forming along the painted chains. ¡°... Or a few seconds.¡± ¡°Fuck! You said that cloak blocked all magic right!? Does that mean that the blue flame won¡¯t work either!?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± *crumble* ¡°The what the fu-¡± *CRACK* I look over at the demon on the wall- *thud*You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. -and see him fall out of the wall and onto the ground. ¡°Haaaa¡­¡± The demon was currently standing up with with his legs far apart, leaning forwards with his arms hanging straight down. ¡°... Haa¡­ Haa¡­ Haa-ha-ha-HA!¡± Seeing the demon suddenly regain its vigor I take a stance and start paying more attention to what it does. ¡°Heh¡­ How cute, the beast thinks it has a chance.¡± The demon looks at me with its yellow glowing eye and starts giving off a really eerie chuckle. ¡°If the beast would kindly look behind it I¡¯m certain it would agree.¡± ¡®Shit! Lizz!¡¯ I quickly turn around, worried that the demon somehow did something against Lizz. ¡°Ronnie no! He¡¯s running away!¡± ¡°What!?¡± I turn back to the demon and see that it had already ran a great distance into one of the four connecting tunnels. ¡°You fucking idiots! Not only do you look like a beast but you have the brain of one too! Gahaha!¡± ¡°GRAAH! Get back here cunt!¡± I scream and start chasing after him. ¡°Ronnie! The ar-¡± ¡°CRAYON!¡± I shout back and interrupt Lizz, though I¡¯m pretty sure I understood what she wanted to say, though I wait with actually doing it to make sure I don¡¯t fuck up trying to do it while running. The demon turns around while sneering however when he sees how fast my longer-than-his legs are letting me catch up with him his eyes fill with panic. ¡°Fuck off!¡± The demon stretches out his arm back towards me while continuing to run and start firing off large spray of small fireballs towards me ¡°Like hell I will! Fuck you!¡± I start bobbing and weaving through the onslaught of fireballs without slowing down and keep getting closer. ¡°Just fuck off!¡± Screams the demon and throws his black cape at me. I grab the cape with my injured arm and pull it to the side. ¡°Idiot!¡± Shouts the demon as when I stop the cape from covering my field of view all I see is a giant fireball which covers the entire tunnel we¡¯re in. Without being able to stop myself I run straight into the fireball- ¡°How the fuck!¡± -and right out the other side. ¡°You fucking dumbass! You literally gave me an anti-magic cape! How would I not be able to get through!¡± The demon starts focusing solely on running away as it realizes what it just did and that it can¡¯t even stop me with its fireballs no matter what anymore. ¡°You¡¯re not getting away you fucking cunt!¡± I finally reach the demon, take the magic crayon out of the cloth which tied it onto my foot and punch it straight into the back of the demon which then screams and falls down while turning into a blue raging inferno. While waiting for the inferno to condense into the blue glowing whatever-it-was I look at the cloak which remained after the demon. ¡®I was a bit worried at first but this thing really does work huh.¡¯ If I hadn¡¯t been so angry from being played by a cowards like this I would have never tried this without making sure that it worked first, but I guess my adrenaline made me unable to think properly. Once the fire had been put out I grab the what¡¯s-it and start walking back to the dome where Lizz was. * * * * ¡°And that¡¯s what happened.¡± ¡°Really? What a fucking idiot.¡± ¡°Right?¡± I was back in the center and had just explained to Lizz what had happened after I ran after the demon. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of a demon leaving things behind when they die before though.¡± ¡°Maybe it had something to do with him having thrown it away? I dunno but what if it had to do with those blue flames spreading to the things if the demon was holding them.¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± ¡°... Can I keep it?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Yes! Ah, here¡¯s the other whatchamacallit.¡± ¡°The piece of the artefact.¡± ¡°The what¡¯s-it.¡± We grin at each other as we walk out through the tunnel which e had entered through and back to the surface to vent some more steam by beating up criminals. I mean, sure, we did kill the demon, but I only hit it once you know? No way that¡¯s enough. And thus we spent a large part of the evening spying on people in alleyways to find criminals which we then proceeded to follow and catch red-handed before beating them up. But unlike last time we made sure not to be followed to the inn when we decided to stop. Also it turns out the cloak was made of some freaky fabric that could be folded almost endlessly without getting any thicker, in other words it was really easy to just store it in the cuffs of my uniform before entering the inn. The night was then spent dreaming away about what we might do once we get to Logholm by the end of tomorrow. * * * * -=The next day, Shiona POV=- *sniff sniff* *growl* *sniff sniff* ¡®This is¡­ !¡® ¡°Waffles!¡± ¡°Good morning Shiona.¡± ¡°Morning Plush!¡± I answer while smiling back. ¡°Mh¡­ Morning¡­ Plush¡­ Master¡­¡± ¡°Morning Ronnie.¡± *yawn* ¡°Good morning to you to Lizz¡± ¡°Uhm¡­ Master¡­? Is it just¡­ My imagination *yawn* or are you more upbeat than normal?¡± ¡°Of course I am! It¡¯s waffles!¡± ¡°Waffles?¡± x2 ¡°This.¡± Says plush and points to a small table with five plates, one for each of us and one for all the waffles to be stacked on top of. I excitedly get out of bed and go sit down at the table while the other two follow me like zombies while staring at the waffles like ravenous beasts. * * * * ¡°Phew...That was really good¡­¡± I say and lean back in my chair. ¡°Are you sure you should be eating so much? I¡¯m getting kind of worried for you.¡± Both Ronnie and Lizz gasp at what Plush said, though I don¡¯t understand why. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, I exercise enough by flying all the time.¡± ¡°Well if you say so¡­¡± Since we all finished eating I start helping Plush put everything inside the book while Ronnie is tidying up the beds before we all head downstairs and leave the inn. ¡°Oh yeah master, I still need to head by the guild to finish the delivery quests.¡± Says Ronnie. ¡°That¡¯s fine, I was actually thinking we might accept some more quests as well to have you raise your rank.¡± ¡°Thanks master.¡± We carry on walking until we reach the Uphalla branch of the adventurer guild, stopping a few times along the way for to buy a few things, like foodstuffs and magic jellies, before entering and approaching the receptionist. ¡°Hello.¡± Says Ronnie. ¡°Good day.¡± Responds the receptionist. ¡°I would like to hand in some quests.¡± ¡°Very well, could I see the signed quest notes please?¡± ¡°Yeah, here you are.¡± Says Ronnie and hands the receptionist three quest notes with some black text on them. ¡°Hmm¡­ This one¡¯s good¡­ This one¡¯s good¡­ And this one¡¯s also good. Thanks for your good work.¡± The receptionist starts filing away the papers. ¡°And since you¡¯ve already completed all the other preliminary quests that means you¡¯ll be a certified adventurer as soon as the paperwork finishes.¡± ¡°Alright! Thanks, and have a good day.¡± ¡°You too.¡± Says the receptionist. All of us then walk away from the receptionist and to the quest board, all the while Ronnie is staring happily at her guild card even though it¡¯s still just the temporary one rather than the official one. ¡°Here it is, see anything interesting Ronnie?¡± I say while gesturing to all four of the quest boards. Ronnie immediately homes in on the subjugation board while ignoring the other three. ¡°Ehm, Ronnie? Are you sure you don¡¯t want to look at any of the other boards?¡± ¡°Yeah, this is what I¡¯m best at so I might as well start with it.¡± She looks at the board for a while before she starts talking aloud to herself. ¡°Goblins, slimes, treants, orcs, snakes, giant spiders-¡± ¡°Nope!¡± ¡°...Ronnie.¡± I say with a serious expression. ¡°Yes?¡± Responds Ronnie with an equally serious expression. ¡°Giant spiders.¡± ¡°No!¡± Interrupts Plush. ¡°Yes.¡±Answers Ronnie. Ronnie then continues to look for more things while Plush is wallowing in self pity. ¡°... Let¡¯s try to find some tree snakes and giant mantises as well.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± And we all depart from the quest boards, from the guild and from the town as we decided we¡¯d finished what we needed to do in Uphalla and started to make our way to Logholm where we would hand in the delivery from Krull and meet the elves again. Chapter 69 - Arriving at Logholm -=Plush POV=- Not a lot happened during the trip to Logholm, we met a few more monsters that Ronnie killed in order to both train a bit and to finish some quests she had accepted in Uphalla. these monsters included some giant poisonous snakes, luckily enough their venom could be cured by just standard antidote jellies,, some giant mantises which ambushed us from the treetops and¡­ Uhm¡­ And... ¡®I swear there was something else¡­¡¯ Answered Cy from within the book, however¡­ ¡®I¡¯m sorry? Did you say something?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t hear what she said. ¡®I still can¡¯t hear you, I think something must be wrong with the book.¡¯ I was starting to get a bit worried, it would be horrible if the book broke. ¡®Oh, okay then?¡¯ Right now we were all standing in a long queue outside Logholm waiting to get inside. Around us were tons of people, adventurers and travellers alike. I think I even saw the red and yellow carriages owned by the Eastern lake city nobles that I had delivered to way back when. ¡°This is taking so long¡­¡± Complained Shiona. ¡°Usually it take even longer than this to get as far in the line as we have master. It be great if it keeps going this fast but expect it to slow down.¡± ¡°Oh come on! Why!?¡± ¡°You see the gaudy people a few paces ahead of us?¡± Asks Ronnie and points towards a group of people wearing shiny red robes with black on white leopard patterned fur hems. ¡°Nobles?¡± Asked Shiona. ¡°Yeah, some of the worst ones as well. They¡¯re a greedy bunch infamous for acting like they can¡¯t afford to spend a single copper, if anyone tells them they need to pay for something they¡¯ll do their utmost to come up with excuses or threaten the other party.¡± ¡°Oh for fucks sake¡­ And you¡¯re sure we can¡¯t just jump and fly over the wall?¡± ¡°They have court magicians working on guard duty who have great marksmanship, I wouldn¡¯t recommend it master.¡± ¡°Ughhh.¡± And so we stood there waiting, impatiently might I add, for the queue to advance, and just Ronnie had expected once the red robed nobles got to the front of the queue we had to stand still for at least an entire hour before they finally paid fifteen copper with both reluctant and disgusted looks on their faces while talking about how it was a great honor for the guard to personally hold the nobles¡¯ money in his hand. About ten minutes later it was finally our turn, Lizz had already gone inside the book so we entered for free since we all had adventurer licenses, even if one of them was just a preliminary registration. Also it seems the red robed nobles were actually blessing in disguise since due to them both the guards and everyone in the queue were to fatigued to pay any attention to me and freak out. ¡®I have to think of some way to get people to stop flipping out whenever they see me, maybe the other fleecy something that could help? We¡¯re going to meet the elves here in a few days and they¡¯d take us to their village where the fleecy lived so I¡¯ll ask then.¡¯ ¡°This place is really big.¡± I say. ¡°It¡¯s even bigger than Easter lake city.¡± Added Shiona. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the Engdom capital for you.¡± Responded Ronnie. The town was shaped like a layered wedding cake, the town seen from above was shaped like a circle and the houses which were closer to the center were taller than those near the edge, and then finally in the middle there was a castle surrounded by a moat with a drawbridge. ¡°Do we go to the adventurer guild or the inn first?¡¯ ¡°Let¡¯s take the guild first to get it over with, maybe pick up a map as well if they have any.¡± We agreed with Shiona¡¯s plan, and since Logholm seemed to agree that the adventurer guild was important for the country the guild was placed in an easy to see and reach area, we didn¡¯t even have to go through any side alleys to get there. ¡®Unlike a certain other castle town¡­¡¯ I thought begrudgingly. -=Inside the guild, still Plush POV=- ¡°Hello.¡± I said to the receptionist who was sorting papers on a counter. Ronnie had gone to a different counter to hand in her subjugation quests while Shiona had gone to scour the quest boards. ¡°Good eveni¡­¡± The receptionist pauses and starts inspecting me with her eyes. *sigh* I hand her my adventurer license. ¡°I¡¯m not a blessed or cursed doll see?¡± ¡°Ah, but of course¡­ *cough* Then what will it be?¡± ¡°Delivery of guild reports from Krull.¡± I say and take the tied up parchments and the quest note out of the storage and put them on the desk. The receptionist blinks a few times before staring blankly at the parchments. ¡®Oh no, don¡¯t tell me Ronnie was wrong when she said storage magic was common¡­¡¯ ¡°is¡­ Is something wrong miss?¡± ¡°N-no, it¡¯s just, just the other day we had a meeting where we were discussing what could have happened to Krull for their reports to be so late¡­ You¡¯ve saved us a lot of trouble.¡± ¡°Alright. Also those two-¡± I point at Shiona and Ronnie ¡°-are a part of my group, we did this quest together.¡± ¡°Very well, I will count it as a completed quest for all of you however the monetary reward will have to be split amongst you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± The receptionist asks Shiona and Ronnie to come over and asks them to show their adventurer licenses and whether they really are a part of my group, she then write some things down, puts away the parchments and hands us a bag of money. A bag of money which I immediately pour the contents of into the storage before handing back the bag and getting another fifty silver. ¡°Now then, I couldn¡¯t help but notice you said they were a part of your group rather than party, could it be that it¡¯s not an official party?¡± Asks the receptionist. ¡°... Would it be illegal if we weren¡¯t?¡± I ask, worried we might have accidentally broken some guild rule. ¡°Heavens no! I was just wondering if you wanted to make it and official party since having a party of two soon-to-be shiny gold adventurers and a shiny copper one would make it more likely to get people asking for you guys specifically rather than if you just appeared on our papers as three separate groups with only one adventurer each.¡± ¡°Oh, well then sure.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Very well, however there is a five silver fee and another five if you want to make a name for your party.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll think of a name later.¡± I say and hand her five silver coins. ¡°Then it will become official as soon as today¡¯s paperwork is finished, however since you brought the reports from Krul it might take another day before we get to your party request.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. And one last thing, both me and her-¡± I point to Shiona who¡¯s by the quest board ¡°-work at the Eastern lake city branch of the guild and would like to update our location so they know where we are.¡± ¡°Alright, however like with your party request it might take a day or two for them to get that info. Is that all?¡± ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± ¡°Have a good day.¡± I leave the receptionist¡¯s desk and walk towards Shiona. ¡°Did you find anything interesting?¡± ¡°Not yet¡­ Also I¡¯m wondering if maybe it¡¯d be best if we wait with looking at quests until we finish everything else we need to do, like check out the local cuisine, browse street stalls, shops and auctions, see the sights, buy the souvenirs for the people back home¡­ I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s a good idea to take up a bunch more things we need to do when we don¡¯t even know if we¡¯ll be able to do all this before the elves get here. When were they getting here again?¡± ¡°Well I met the mage elf in Straitley and that was¡­ three days ago, so counting today it¡¯s in four days.¡± ¡°Well then we¡¯ll probably have enough time, but rather safe than sorry right?¡± ¡°Hey guys.¡± Says Ronnie who appeared behind us. We explain how we don¡¯t want to take any quests until we finish everything else and leave the guild. On the way out we also took a simple map which they were giving out for free. ¡°So where to now master?¡± ¡°Well, I was thinking we¡¯d go check in at an inn before we do anything else, while we¡¯re there we might as well also eat some food.¡± ¡°Yeah, and after that we can look around the shops if there¡¯s still time.¡± ¡°Well it depends on how long the stores are open, got any ideas about that Ronnie?¡± ¡°I¡¯d imagine they close at sundown, and since winter should be coming around any day now it won¡¯t be that long until it gets dark.¡± Turns out that the early winter in Easter lake city was caused entirely by the necromancer and so when defeated him it disappeared. This time however it will be our first real winter in the new world. ¡®Speaking of the necromancer, wonder how it¡¯s going with the new magic staff research over at the elf village.¡¯ Following the map we come across an inn which was only a few blocks away from the guild, someone had apparently cashed in at the chance of having an extra cheap inn specifically for adventurers. ¡°I¡¯m sorry but we¡¯re full right now. We do however have open seats in the dining area if you¡¯d like somethin to eat.¡± We asked for their recommended meal and went to wait, soon came a waiter with plates with some extra easy to make food. it¡¯s base was a round piece of bread which was then cut in two and filled with various food scraps. It was kind of like a hamburger mixed with a taco in the way that there were hamburger buns filled with taco toppings. In the end we left the adventurer inn with satisfied stomachs,and since I¡¯ve always had a fascination with these kinds of¡­ This may sound a bit rude but, poor man¡¯s meals? You know the ones where you just take whatever scraps or leftovers that you have lying around and put them all together, like stir fry, pizza, tacos, and now this too. ¡®Though admittedly they¡¯re all pretty much just stir fry on different kinds of bread...¡¯ Since we didn¡¯t find any residence at this inn we carried on and walked to the next one- ¡°Sorry.¡± -where we were also turned down. Like before we still had another light meal before leaving to look for another one. ¡°No vacancies.¡± ¡°...¡± x3 This kept going until late into the evening, it even reached the point where we couldn¡¯t eat anymore and focused solely on looking for a place to sleep. In the end when we finally did find an inn with vacant rooms it was a very expensive one in the nobles district of the town, in other words very close to the castle in the center. ¡°Good evening.¡± Said the receptionist. ¡°Good evening.¡± I answered, surprising the receptionist as she no doubt didn¡¯t expect me to speak and was rather waiting for Shiona or Ronnie to answer. ¡°Hu-hum! Are you waiting for someone?¡± ¡°No, actually we-¡± ¡°Then I take it you¡¯re some low life criminals who think they can rob our wealthy guests?¡± ¡°What!? No! How did it become that!?¡± ¡°People either come here to rent a room, meet our guests, or to try and steal our or our guests¡¯ wealth. You said you weren¡¯t here to meet the guests, and you quite obviously don¡¯t have enough-¡± The receptionist closed her eyes and went on and on like she thought of herself as some master detective who just cracked a case before it even happened but soon shut up when she opened her eyes and saw me holding a bag of gold coins. ¡°How much for three nights?¡± ¡°T-three gold per room per night, meals included¡­¡± ¡°Can we extend our stay at a later date for the same price?¡± ¡°Y-yes.¡± ¡°Then here, a room for three nights, we might extend it to a fourth later.¡± Since we didn¡¯t know whether the elves thought that us meeting in a week meant we¡¯d meet on the seventh day or after seven days had already passed we didn¡¯t know whether we¡¯d stay three or four days. ¡°Uh, Plush? Could I possibly get to stay in my own room¡­?¡± Asks Ronnie sheepishly. ¡°Sure, but why?¡± ¡°...It just feels really awkward sleeping in the same room as a married couple¡­¡± ¡°...Ah.¡± Both Shiona and I start blushing as we¡¯d completely forgotten we were claiming to be married in this world. ¡®Wonder how marriage differs in this world from ours?¡¯ ¡°Then sure, did you mean just for today or for our entire stay Ronnie?¡± ¡°For the entire stay if possible..:¡± ¡°Alright.¡± I say and hand the receptionist another nine gold. ¡°Very well, here are your keys.¡± Says the receptionist and hands us two keys and we walk to the stairs. ¡°Well our rooms are next to each other so that¡¯s good at least.¡± ¡°See you tomorrow Ronnie.¡± ¡°Good night Plush, master.¡± ¡°Good night.¡± After saying goodnight to each other we walk into our respective rooms and we all immediately head to sleep. ¡°What an absolute cunt that guy was.¡± Said Shiona before we both laid down in bed andwent to sleep. -=Ronnie POV=- *knock knock knock* *groan* I get out of my bed, open the window and let Lizz fly inside. ¡°Thanks.¡± She says. ¡°Don¡¯t- *yawn* don¡¯t worry about it¡­¡± I respond groggily while rubbing my eyes before sitting back down on the bed. ¡°If you¡¯re too tired we can wait until tomorrow, there¡¯s only one demon and we¡¯ll be staying here for at least another two nights.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ll- *yawn* I¡¯ll be fine as soon as I get some fresh air.¡± I say and take the anti-magic cloak out of the cuff of my- ¡®I think master called it a gi right?¡¯ I take the cloak out of the cuff of my gi and start unfolding it. Unfolding. And unfolding. And unfolding. And- ¡°Okay, what the fuck is this!¡± Before I had folded up the cloak yesterday it was just my size but now the giant piece of cloth was at least four times as large! Too tired to try and deal with this magic bullshit I unfold the cloth a few more times before simply wrapping it around my body and covering myself almost like a mummy rather than try and find out how this thing works. ¡°Let¡¯s just go.¡± I say irritatedly to Lizz who¡¯s off in a corner chuckling to herself. Lizz transforms inside the room and casts an invisibility spell- "Hey Lizz." "Yes?" "How does this here invisibility spell work despite me wearing the demon guy''s cloak?" "That''s because this spell doesn''t target you, rather it targets the area around you. This of it like a barrier thathas an effect on thepeople outside rather thanthose inside." "Really? But doesnt that making it a blinding spell rather than an invisibility?" In response Lizz just shruggs her shoulders before jumping ou the window. * * * * ¡°This is the place.¡± Says Lizz and hands me the magic crayon. ¡°For real this time?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I really hope you understand that if you¡¯re just messing around I won¡¯t trust you again.¡± I say, clench my fist around the magic crayon and wind up my punch. I look at Lizz one last time and she nods, so I take a deep breath and punch the wall. *SHATTER* ¡°Oh thank fucking god!¡± I exclaim and breath out a big sigh of relief. ¡°See?¡± I say nothing and instead just grumble incoherently as I walk into the brick tunnel that appeared from within the wall. ¡°And we still have no idea what the demon will be like until we get there?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± *sigh* ¡°Well, let¡¯s just go and get this over with then.¡± Following that we¡¯re washed over by another white light before finding ourselves underground again. ¡°... Is that the demon?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± In front of us, right in the middle of the room, stood a very large silhouette of a full body plate armor which stood upright while resting its hands on an equally oversized sword. Well, the armor was tall compared to most people, but compared to me it actually stood as an equal. The helmet of the armor had a T-shaped hole with two red glowing lights inside, and on the helmet there were two curved horns sticking upwards. The armor grabbed its greatsword with one hand and took a stance towards us. ¡°We¡¯ve been getting pretty unlucky.¡± Says Lizz. ¡°How¡¯s that? Wait, don¡¯t tell me something with that armor makes it so you can¡¯t use those freaky flames on it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly right, only works on skin contact.¡± I held back my ¡®How the hell have you been fighting these things so long then!?¡¯ retort and took a stance towards the armored demon. Chapter 70 -=Logholm¡¯s lost city, Ronnie POV=- ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Lizz.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not moving.¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡± I had taken a stance with legs far apart, one paw ahead of me and the other next to my waist while the armored demon in front of me faced me with a great sword in hand, staring at me without moving an inch. Master had many times told me the theory of how the first to attack will be the one to lose, and although I didn¡¯t agree with everything she said I did agree with most of it. So I followed the armored demon¡¯s example and just stood still while continuing to observe it ¡°!¡± Suddenly the tip of the armored demon¡¯s sword started shaking! It swayed from one side to the other repeatedly until- -the demon grabbed the hilt of the sword with his other hand and stabilised it again. ¡°If you can¡¯t actually hold the sword in one hand then don¡¯t bother!¡± I shout reflexively at the armored demon. In response to this the demon let go of the sword with one hand again and used said hand to flip me off before grabbing the sword yet again and charging at me before I could recover from the shock of having a giant menacing demon get embarrassed. *slash* ¡°Hey-¡± *slash* ¡°No-¡± *slash* ¡°Wait-¡± *slash* ¡°Fuck off!¡± I scream, my patience finally having run dry as I hit the armored demon in the chest with all I have causing it to stagger backwards. I had been so caught off guard when he suddenly broke the serious atmosphere and hadn¡¯t been able to recover, but now that I¡¯d created some distance between us I took a proper- *thunk* ¡°Ow! You fucking cunt!¡± That bastard took off one of his shoulder guards from his armor and threw it at me! I flinched momentarily due to my surprise, the armored demon took this chance to charge at me with his sword raised above his head, I was barely able to recover my stance as the demon jumped and- *thunk* -the demon jumped, grabbed the shoulder guard which was currently in midair after having bounced off of me and threw it again ¡°Oh for fucks sake!¡± The shoulder guard bounced off of me again and back to the demon, it¡¯s like he only has that sword for show. ¡°Keep going like that!¡± Shouts Lizz from behind me. ¡°What!? What the hell did I do that was actually good!?¡± I respond, however before I could hear Lizz¡¯s reply the armored demon finally decided to slash at me with his sword when I had my back turned. ¡°I said fuck off cunt!¡± I dodged one of the armored demons downward slashes and closed the distance between us, then, before the armored demon could pull back his arm, I struck one of the demon¡¯s hands. The shock caused his grip to loosen so I grabbed the hilt of the word with my other paw and started trying to wrench it out of the armored demons hand while continuing to hit him with the my other paw. ¡°Eep!¡± *thud* *clank* When I started pulling the sword out of the armored demons grip he simply let go of the sword and since I was pulling the sword with everything I had I fell backwards onto the floor. ¡°What the hell is wrong with you!?¡± I scream at the demon, however he just seemed pleased by my irritation as he leaps towards me. ¡°So that¡¯s how you want to play huh.¡± I stand back up and ready myself, this time I would be prepared for that damn diskus wannabe! ...Aaaaand he leaped over me and landed next to the sword which I had dropped earlier instead. *thunk* And he also threw that damn shoulder guard again for good measure while I was distracted! While the demon was still no doubt grinning to itself proudly I put as much power as I could into my legs, jumped into the air and grabbed his shoulder guard before he could catch it again. ¡°Ha! Fuck you!¡± I finally felt just a tiny bit satisfied, however that soon disappeared when the armored demon started shaking his arms and legs like he was throwing a tantrum, it was so overly exaggerated that only an idiot wouldn¡¯t be able to tell that he was faking it and wasn¡¯t actually faced in the slightest. However, that was all I needed. Well, that and a bit of luck. When I landed on the ground I leapt again immediately, this time I lept directly at the demon however. I searched along my arms for one of the edges the the anti-magic cloth I was wearing and, when i got close to the demon, I pulled the cloth as hard as I could.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°!¡± For once I was able to catch the demon off guard as when I pulled the cloth the same thing that happened in the inn happened again. The cloth got bigger. with the now expanded cloth I covered the demon¡¯s head with it and easily disarmed him while he was trying to recover, then I rammed the sword straight into his left shoulder and cut it off entirely. ¡°Crieeee!¡± *clank* The demon let out a truly inhuman screech as it¡¯s arm fell from its body and landed on the ground, the plates covering the arm giving off a series of clanking sounds. The demon hunched forwards and covered what little remained of its let arm with its right hand as it fell on its knees. I take my distance from the demon to make sure he doesn¡¯t try anything funny again and- *fsss* I hear a sound coming from behind me. I quickly turn around, worried of what the demon might try next, and see that the sound was coming from the detached arm. Black smoke was seeping out from the armor, when the smoke disperses the only thing left is a metallic shell. No flesh inside. *WHAM* ¡°Gah!¡± *thud* Before I could turn back to the demon again I was hit in the back and sent flying,, I crashed into a wall and fell down to the floor. The demon stood in front of me, its arm regrown while it held its sword in the newly regrown hand and the rest of the armor that was attached to the severed arm in his other The demon raised its sword and- *FOOM* -had its arm lit on fire by Lizz. ¡°Crieeee!¡± The demon shrieks in pain and fall down to the floor, he clutches his head as the flames spread from the uncovered arm and into the suit of armor. ¡°Why¡­ Why the hell didn¡¯t you do that sooner... fucker.¡± ¡°If I had tried to hit him while only his shoulder guard was missing I would¡¯ve just missed and alerted him that we really could kill him if he wasn¡¯t careful. Here¡± Lizz walked up to me and haphazardly tossed some red jellies into my mouth, a fer seconds later I had healed enough to at least let me get up. *cough* *cough* The ¡°Thanks. Speaking of shoulder guard¡­¡± Feeling a lot better after having let the red jellies do their work I walk over to the shoulder guard which was laying on the ground, the only thing left of the demon. Well, other than the piece of the artefact that it. Like Lizz said, there¡¯s no way we would¡¯ve defeated this guy if he had been serious from the start. ¡°Hey Lizz, this thing have any special abilities like the cloak?¡± ¡°Nope, it¡¯s just a little extra sturdy.¡± ¡°Good enough.¡± After picking up the shoulder guard I tied it onto my left shoulder using the anti-magic cloth. ¡°Now I don¡¯t know about you but I really need to blow off some steam after that.¡± ¡°For once I actually agree with you on that Ronnie. How about going into the guard corp¡¯s headquarters and taking a look at what wanted posters they have.¡± ¡°Good idea, that way maybe we can even make some money while we¡¯re at it. by the way, you¡¯ve been at this demon killing thing for a long time right? How the hell have you been surviving when almost all the once we¡¯ve encountered have had something to nullify your magic?¡± ¡°Like I said, we¡¯ve been getting unlucky, they¡¯re actually really rare.¡± After making sure the shoulder guard was on right I walked back over to Lizz before we both went back above ground. I don¡¯t know whether I mentioned this already or not, but it kinda weirds me out seeing Lizz do some magic hoo-doo voo-doo something-another to repair the walls that the tunnels were in after we exit them, it¡¯s happened every time we¡¯ve done this but I still can¡¯t get used to it. ¡°I think we walked past the guard corp headquarters or office or whatever you want to call it. It should be this way.¡± I say and we both start walking to the guard corp¡¯s office. ¡®Okay, guard corp headquarter does sound better than guard corp¡¯s office.¡¯ -=Inside the guard corp, Ronnie POV=- Using Lizz¡¯s invisibility spell we snuck into the guard corp headquarters, currently we¡¯re standing right next to the door leading to the main office of the guard corp captain. ¡°Hey Lizz, couldn¡¯t we have used this against the demons?¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t work, they can all see through it.¡± ¡°Damn.¡± We get closer to the wall and listen to what¡¯s going on inside. ¡°God damnit!¡± We hear a female voice from inside the office. ¡°Previous captain! Why¡¯d you have to embezzle all the guard corp¡¯s funds and disappear like that!¡± I tap Lizz on the shoulder and start whispering: ¡°This sounds like it could be good.¡± Aguard approaches the office so I shut up and let the invisibility spell do its thing while the guard enters the office. ¡°Captain! The guild won¡¯t accept the wanted posters as quests if we don¡¯t give an adequate reward!¡± From inside the office we hear the sound of someone throwing a bunch of paper on a table. ¡°That¡¯s fine, I¡¯ll think of something. good work.¡± ¡°Yessir!¡± The guard then comes back out of the office and walks past us again. ¡°God damnit! We don¡¯t have the money for the guild! We don¡¯t have enough money to hire more guard either! What to do, what to do...¡± Shouts the guard captain as soon the the guard turns the corner. ¡°This sounds almost too good to be true.¡± I say to Lizz who agrees by nodding. We look around make sure there¡¯s no guards around before Lizz cancels the invisibility spell and we walk into the guard captains office. ¡°Wh-ho are you!?¡± Lizz stays next to the door while I walk into the office and stop next to the desk which the captain is sitting at. ¡°Helpers.¡± I say, pick up all the wanted posters which the previous guard had thrown on the table and both I and Lizz walk back outside the office. With a soft *click* we close the door behind us, the guard captain chases after us but before she can open the door Lizz casts her invisibility spell again, causing the guard captain to be unable to find us as we leisurely walk back outside the guard corp headquarters without any disturbances. * * * * ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ Murderer, scammer, murderer, drug dealers, kidnappers, another murderer¡­ Good god, they¡¯re all so equally bad and punchable that I don¡¯t know where to start!¡± ¡°Iyaaaa!¡± Suddenly we heard a scream from a nearby alley. ¡°That sounds like a good place.¡± Says Lizz mockingly. ¡°ThAt SoUnDs LiKe A gOoD pLaCe.¡± I respond in an even more mocking and overly ridiculing tone while shaking my head. Lizz laughs and we both start moving towards the scream, me by leaping from building to building and Lizz using some fancy floating spell. ¡°Oh dear, this looks pretty bad.¡± Says Lizz. Down in the alley in front of us there was a young ladylike girl surrounded by a man in a suit and a large number of hoodlums. ¡°Sebby! How could you!?¡± Screams the crying girl at the suited man. ¡°Shut up! My name isn¡¯t Sebby, it¡¯s Sebastian! Now get in the fucking bag!¡± The suited man, apparently named Sebastian, was holding a very large empty person-sized potato sack. ¡°If you don¡¯t come along peacefully I¡¯m going to have to ask these gentlemen here to get a bit rough! Eh, to hell with it! Best way to show off power is to use it! Guys, go have some fun!¡± The hoodlums started laughing disgustingly as they approached the girl with knives in their hands. ¡°Hey, I think I think I recognise a few of those hoodlums from the wanted posters. Lizz, do you by chance have any handy dandy spell to keep them from running away?¡± Lizz doesn¡¯t answer me with words, but rather with the weird half-telepathy spell. ¡®Shit, I forgot that that was even a thing¡­¡¯ Lizz raises one of her hands and starts making some fancy magic circle, when she finishes light spreads out from the magic formation and covers the entrances to the alley. ¡°Have fun.¡± ¡°Oh I will.¡± I jump down into the alley, pick up the girl and leap back out. ¡°Fucker! Don¡¯t let her run away! Catch her damn it!¡± I put the girl down and turn back around to the alley. ¡°Oh you won¡¯t have to worry about me running away, instead I¡¯ll give you something else to worry about!¡± I jump back down into the middle of the hoodlums again. ¡®Time to have some fun¡­¡¯ Chapter 71 - -=Day five, Plush POV=- After eating some breakfast (bacon and eggs) we get all our stuff and leave the inn. ¡°You still look really tired Ronnie, are you okay?¡± ¡°I- *yawn* I was having some trouble falling asleep yesterday¡­¡± ¡°Aww, you couldn¡¯t sleep in a different room from us?¡± Shiona cheekily chimes in. ¡°No... The bed was just too soft and fluffy, I¡¯ve never slept in a bed like that before and it really just made me feel uncomfortable and out of place¡­¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± ¡°But don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re only staying here two or three more days right? I think I can hold out.¡± ¡°Well if you¡¯re sure you¡¯ll be fine¡­¡± ¡°Yeah I¡¯m sure. So master, what do we need to do today?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Shiona?¡± ¡°Ah! Sorry, I was spacing out a bit¡­¡± ¡°Did something happen master?¡± ¡°No I, ehm, I was just caught a bit off guard by how dark that was¡­ Right, the things we have to do in Logholm, we need to buy some souvenirs for back home, that¡¯s really all the plans we had I think¡­ After that we could just go sightseeing? The guild did have those nice tourist pamphlets after all.¡± ¡°Sounds good to me. What about you Ronnie? Anything you want to do?¡± ¡°Ehm¡­ I don¡¯t think so? I hadn¡¯t thought about it actually.¡± ¡°... Wonder if they have dojos in this world¡­¡± whispered Shiona. ¡°What did you say Shiona? I couldn¡¯t hear you.¡± ¡°Err, training facilities, I was wondering if Logholm had any knight training facilities that we could check out, maybe Ronnie could join in on some sparring.¡± ¡°Do you really think so? Wouldn¡¯t a kingdom''s knights and their training regime count as classified info?¡± ¡°...¡± x2 ¡°You know, the kind of classified info that you wouldn¡¯t just let any random travelers find out?¡± ¡°Yeah, w-we get what you mean Plush, it¡¯s just¡­¡± Starts Shiona, however she doesn¡¯t finish her sentence. ¡°Just that¡­?¡± ¡°Uhm¡­¡± Starts Ronnie. ¡°We¡­ We sort of didn¡¯t expect you to be the one bringing in sensible logic into this?¡± ¡°Ah, no that¡¯s fine, I used to get that a lot in school.¡± I say, not even phased by something that certain others I know would certainly be outraged by. ¡°Right¡­ Well, have you two decided on what souvenirs you¡¯re getting? I don¡¯t know the people you¡¯re getting them for so I can¡¯t really help.¡± ¡°Yeah we¡¯ve already decided, it was¡­ What was it Shiona?¡± I say sheepishly. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t remember¡­¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± ¡°Ah! maybe you wrote it down in the book?¡± ¡°!! Good Idea!¡± I take the book off of my back and start looking through the pages.
Notes Gift list: Anne: Pillow Grizz: Tinker tools Anna: Notebook & pen Rico: New glasses Red & Cathy: Wandless Magic book Joanne: Cooking book Hugh: Sleep mask Rupe: Sleeping medicine
¡°Okay, here it is.¡± ¡°Phew, I was worried for a moment there...¡± While Shiona and I were merrily celebrating not having to think up gifts again Ronnie starting fidgeting. ¡°Uhm¡­¡± ¡°? What is it Ronnie?¡± ¡°Hate you rain on your parade, but do you even know what strength this Rico person¡¯s glasses needs to be?¡± ¡°Ah!¡± ¡°Ah!¡± ¡°Mumumu¡­¡± ¡°What to do¡­¡± ¡°Uhm, back in the black market the slave dealers would give the slaves that needed glasses these special enchanted glasses that would automatically adjust to the user- ¡°That¡¯s a great idea Ronnie!¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Sorry for interrupting¡­ But if magic glasses like that exist why do they even have glasses with different strengths anymore?¡± ¡°Ahem, normally they¡¯re much more expensive than normal glasses, but the black market boss had a few connections here and there and got them extra cheap.¡± ¡°Huh¡­ Okay¡­ Well do you know where we could get some?¡± ¡°Err¡­ I saw one of the crates they came in once, there were logos that read ¡°Ike¡¯s¡± on the sides.¡± ¡°Ike¡¯s?¡± I say, reminded of a certain store chain from back home. ¡°Yeah, guess the guy who owns it is called Ike¡± Responds Ronnie. ¡°Sounds like a sleazy pizza place.¡± Says Shiona.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡®I guess she likes pizza more than furniture, fair enough.¡¯ While Ronnie and Shiona keep talking to each other about the other gifts I take out the tourist pamphlet to see whether I can find Ike¡¯s anywhere. ¡®Here we go¡¯ ¡°Guys, I found Ike¡¯s on the map, it¡¯s in some place called the founder¡¯s square. Also there¡¯s some other places that might be worth checking out there.¡± I say, they both agree after looking at the pamphlet and we start walking to Ike¡¯s. * * * * ¡°Is this the place?¡± I ask Ronnie. Right now we¡¯re standing in an open plaza where the path splits in two and goes in two half circles before meeting back up again. It¡¯s practically a roundabout. No, it is a roundabout. The road was shaped exactly like a roundabout with a large stone monument in the middle, the roundabout was connected to two different paths, one of those paths was the one we came on while the other continued to the drawbridge in front of the castle. ¡°I dunno, can you see a place with a sign that reads ¡®founders square¡¯, or maybe one that says ¡®Ike¡¯s¡¯?¡± ¡°Uhh, yes actually. Right on that big monument actually.¡± The monument that was in the center of the roundabout was that of a large square tablet which stood on one of its short sides like a gravestone. At the top of the monument it said ¡°founder¡¯s square¡± In big bold letters, below that there was a paragraph of smaller text. Shiona started reading it. ¡°Suppressing diseases and furthering trades, bettering the economy and improving the lives of those in need, this monument stands before you to pay respect to the founder of Logholm and to honor the deeds of a very great man..¡± Shiona then looks at a similar but smaller monument which stand a small distance away from the big one. ¡°P.s this monument is a translated recreation of the original monument which was written in Ancient Normic, due to this there may be translation errors present.¡± She then looked at yet another monument, this one small enough that I¡¯d barely be able to hide behind it if I crouched. ¡°...¡± However she didn¡¯t read it this time, so then I did it instead. ¡°If you ca-¡± ¡°Tchut!¡± Only to be interrupted by Shiona with a complicated expression. So then I read it to myself rather than out loud. ¡®If you can read this you can read Ancient Normic and are thus requested to visit the Museum of Normic research and understanding¡­ What?¡¯ I look at Shiona, however when I¡¯m going to ask her about the monument I¡¯m¡­ ¡°Tchut¡±-ed again so I decide to wait with asking about it until we get to the inn later today. ¡°Well we''re at the founder''s square, but where¡¯s Ike- Oh.¡± The place was filled with people so it was hard to see anything, however Ronnie who was taller than me and Shiona easily found a large lavender colored oval shaped sign hanging on one of the buildings which read ¡°Ike¡¯s¡± in big simple letters. ¡°This¡­ This doesn¡¯t look like an optician.¡± Says Shiona. The storesign was hanging above two sets of doors, one for entering and one for exiting, and on both sides of the doors there were big display windows filled with a variety of seemingly random items. ¡°That¡¯s because it isn¡¯t.¡± Starts Ronnie. ¡°I heard it¡¯s supposed to be an ¡®everything store¡¯. That¡¯s why they¡¯re one of the few places that have these things.¡± ¡°Really? But then, what¡¯s the point of even having normal glasses when you can just have these?¡± I say. ¡°Well why wouldn¡¯t they? I already told you how normal glasses are much cheaper and appeal more to commoners.¡± ¡°Nobles then, what about them? Wouldn¡¯t they just buy these magic glasses to show off their wealth?¡± ¡°You¡¯d think so, and usually you¡¯d be right, however there¡¯s one thing nobles hate more than having cheap possessions, and that is having the same possessions as someone else. Because of this the nobles tend buy lenses made specifically for them and then install them in expensive looking frames instead. Actually I heard one of the excuses that a noble use once, something about feeling disgusted at the thought of having¡­ what did they call it again? Filthy common-gear? Something like that. Anyway, they said they felt appalled by having something that any money-wise commoner could wear so close to their eyes, kept claiming it made everything they saw through them look worse than if they didn¡¯t have any glasses at all.¡± ¡°Wow, erm, you seem to know a lot about this¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, some noble came by the black market and started prattling on about it, I still see his sweaty figure shouting at the slave dealer for even thinking that he¡¯d have his slave wear one of them when I close my eyes sometimes.¡± ¡°...¡± x2 Without saying anything else we enter Ike¡¯s. *ding ding* Rang a bell when we entered. ¡°Welcome!¡± Shouted an overly excited lady from within a group of people. The lady started sprinting from the group of people and approached us, when she arrived she bent forwards and started gasping for air. ¡°Wel- *gasp* Welcome- *gasp* Welcome to Ike¡¯s- *gasp* valued customer-¡± said the lady, barely getting her words through her mouth. I then saw the group of people that had been left behind by the lady, they were a group made a number of gaudy nobles and a number of muscular men look towards us with anger and jealousy evident in their eyes. And although I don¡¯t share their thoughts I do understand where they¡¯re coming from. ¡°This lady is¡­ Impressive in many ways.¡± Normally I¡¯m good at looking at people''s faces rather than their bodies, however when the lady bent forwards her face was way too close to her¡­ chest. Her face was way too close to her chest for me to only see one of them and not the other, it was so important that I had to repeat it twice. ¡°!¡± Suddenly I felt a very scary presence behind me, however when I turned around I only saw Shiona and Ronnie so I must¡¯ve been imagining things. For whatever reason Shiona picks me up by my neck like a kitten and- ¡°Here.¡± -hands me over to Ronnie who readily accepted as though it was completely normal. The lady then finally caught her breath and stood back up. ¡°Sorry about that. Again, welcome valued cust- IYYAAA!!!¡± ¡®Oh boy, here we go again¡­¡¯ I was starting to understand why they picked me up, it was to disguise me as a normal stuffed toy so people don¡¯t freak out like this. ¡®Maybe I should just stay in Shiona¡¯s bag like Litly? I wonder if the magic book has something that lets me use the telepathy spell with just a few people so I can talk to Shiona and Ronnie without people wondering why the bag is talking.¡¯ I think, trying to distract myself from the inevitable shitstorm that¡¯s about to go down. ¡°Guh?!¡± I reflexively release a weird sound as the lady hug-tackles me out of Ronnie¡¯s grip. ¡°Iya! It¡¯s adorable! Did one of you two make it!?¡± Asks the lady Shiona and Ronnie While I- ¡®I can¡¯t breath! I can¡¯t- wait... I can¡¯t suffocate.¡¯ ¡°...¡± x2 Suddenly the scary feeling I had before comes back and I soon find myself back in Ronnie¡¯s grasp while the lady has fallen to the ground with a big bump on her head. Next to the lady stood Shiona who had somehow managed to curl her feathers into a surprisingly efficient fist. ¡°How dare you!¡± x? Shouted a number of the men from the group a small distance away. ¡°To do this to the lady!!¡± Said one muscular man while tightening his fist in front of his face. ¡°For the first person to taste the lady¡¯s heaven to be an inanimate object¡­!¡± Said one of the fat nobles while staring at me with envy. The mob of seemingly made of suitor-wannabes all had very different thoughts from one another, however a single sentence was able to make them band together against a common enemy. That sentence was uttered by a certain demi-bird. ¡°How dare you try to seduce my husband!?¡± When Shiona said this a single unified thought traveled through all the men¡¯s heads. ¡®That thing is a male!?¡¯ x? All the men instantly looked at me with eyes filled with scorn. ¡°Uhm¡­ Hi?¡± I said while awkwardly smiling and waving my hand. Chapter 72 - Meeting Ike Right now I was sitting in a sofa next to a table. Sitting in the same sofa was Shiona, Ronnie and the lady who¡¯s probably a receptionist. ¡°¡±We apologize!¡±¡± On the other side of the table there was another sofa where the suitor-wannabes were sitting while bending forwards and apologising. They were so numerous and many of them didn¡¯t fit in the sofa and had to stand behind it. ¡°And what do you apologise for!?¡± shouted another man from one of the short sides of the table. The man was wearing a black suit with a red tie and had salt and pepper hair tied into a horsetail behind his head. He also wore a pair of glasses. ¡®Wonder if those are the auto-adjusting glasses we came for?¡¯ ¡°¡±We apologise for jumping to conclusions!¡±¡± ¡°What conclusion did you jump to!?¡± ¡°¡±We assumed mister Plush was a man when Misses Shiona called him her husband!¡±¡± ¡°Uhm¡­ I am a man you know?¡± ¡°¡±Do you have a penis!?¡±¡± Shouted the suitor-wannabes in return. I look down between my legs, I grab and shake a bit and- ¡°...No.¡± -repond dejectedly. ¡°¡±Then you are no man!¡±¡± Next to me Shiona and the receptionist were blushing while Ronnie was falling asleep. Back when the mob of suitor-wannabes had heard I was Shionas husband they got so angry they couldn¡¯t move for a bit, while that was happening Ronnie handed me back over to Shiona and started glaring at the men like a hunter who just found a group of hares. Wait¡­ Anyways, Ronnie was raring to go but before she could do anything this merchant, probably Ike by the way, and come and interrupted everything, so now Ronnie was bored out of her mind. When we sat down on the sofa I had sat myself in the middle, Shiona and the receptionist then sat themselves next to me. Or, well, the receptionist sat next to me until Ronnie picked her up like a kitten and put her down on the other side of Shiona from me while plopping herself down on the now vacant spot. Ike was currently rubbing his temples while sighing. ¡°No, that¡¯s wrong you fucking idiots!¡± Shouted Ike. ¡°¡±What!?¡±¡± Responded the men, completely taken aback at what they thought to have been the right answer having been proven wrong. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to apologise to the customers for attacking them! It doesn¡¯t matter why you attacked them, only that you did! Regardless of whether that is a man or not you should not attack customers!¡± The group of men only grumbled in response, completely not agreeing and without regretting it one bit. ¡°But what if it had actually been a man¡­¡± Said one of them. ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s no way we could let a man who experiences that live!¡± Shouted another. ¡°¡±Yeah!¡±¡± Shouted the rest with great vigor. *sigh* Sighed Ike. ¡°I¡¯m signing you all up for a temporary one month long transfer to our other store in Purchase port in Dayground!¡± ¡°¡±WHAT! WHY!?¡±¡± Shouted all the men, still not realizing they¡¯d done something they needed to be punished for. ¡®Dayground? If I remember right the guild receptionist in Krull said that Dayground was another country on a different island, to think these guys have store branches all the way over there¡­¡¯ ¡°Scratch that-¡± ¡°¡±Oh thank god¡­¡± Said all the men at once, yet again astonishing me with how they were completely in sync. ¡°Make it half a year!¡± ¡°¡±!¡±¡± **thud** When Ike said that all the men started foaming from their mouths at once and all fell to the floor with their eyes rolled back. Ike took out a wand from one of his suits pockets and a short while after using it a large number of people came into the room and started carrying away all the suitor-wannabes. ¡°Now that that¡¯s done, allow me to apologise on their behalf, is there anything we could give you?¡± Asked Ike. ¡°Oh, ehm, don¡¯t worry about it.¡± I say. ¡®We¡¯ve more money than we can spend so whether we get those glasses for free or not won¡¯t make any difference.¡¯ I think. ¡°Very well-¡± ¡°No no no, that just won¡¯t do!¡± Interrupted the receptionist. ¡°You guys are adventurers right?¡± ¡°Ehm, yes? But I don¡¯t see how-¡± ¡°Ally! Sign these three up as our go-to adventurers and VIP members!¡± Shouted the lady while raising one hand and smiling dazzlingly. ¡®Ally?¡¯ I think and look back to the door that the suitor troop had been carried out through. ¡°Yes mam.¡± Someone said, but it didn¡¯t come from the door. Instead it came from Ike. Wait¡­ ¡®Boy am I glad I didn¡¯t call him Ike out loud and make a fool of myself.¡¯ Next to me Shiona seemed to think the same thing while Ronnie wasn¡¯t even phased. ¡®Hang on¡­¡¯ I nudge Ronnie¡¯s arm. *nudge* ¡°...¡± *nudge* ¡°...Suu¡­¡± Turns out she¡¯d fallen asleep a while ago¡­ ¡°Your friend seems tired, there¡¯s another sofa that I could help you lay her down on.¡± Said¡­ Ally?This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Uhm, excuse me?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°She called you Ally, but is that your full name?¡± ¡°... Lady Ike may do as she wishes but I¡¯d prefer if others called me Alexander.¡± ¡°... I see.¡± ¡°Well all that aside!¡± Said Ike gleefully. ¡°What did you guys come here for?¡± ¡°Right, well we came to get one of our friends a souvenir, one of those magic pairs of glasses.¡± ¡®Come to think of it, Iwonder whether they have any of the other things we needed?¡¯ ¡°Oh yes! I¡¯ll go get a pair right away!¡± ¡°Ah, wai-¡± ¡®She didn¡¯t even check if we had enough money¡­ And I never got to ask if they had the other stuff...¡¯ *Ahem* Coughed Alexander. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I do hope none of you are thinking of taking advantage of the lady¡¯s kindness? The lady seems to like you so it would be a true shame if something were to, ehem, ¡°happen¡± to you.¡± ¡°...¡± x3 ¡°B-but of course.¡± I somehow responded. Admittedly the three of us had been getting a little¡­ Arrogant? No, overconfident maybe? Anyways, we were getting carried away thinking there wasn¡¯t that much we needed to worry about, but the pressure that Alexander gave off while saying that had made both Shiona and Ronnie get drenched in their own sweat. I would¡¯ve joined them, but I sorta didn¡¯t have any sweat glands or whatever. ¡°I appreciate it. I¡¯ve already warned all our workers but they seem to be getting braver as of late, I was worried I¡¯d lost my touch.¡± Said Alexander while smiling gently. Though his eyes were smiling in a different sense. ¡°I¡¯m back!¡± Shouted the ever cheerful Ike while she bursted through the door as though to clear up the awkward atmosphere. ¡°Here you go! One pair of adaptable glasses!¡± ¡°Thanks, how much is it? Also there¡¯s a few other things we¡¯d like if you have them.¡± ¡°Right! Ally here knows the stock better than I so you should probably take it up with him.¡± I was getting a little worried over how Ike just glossed over my first question, but they can¡¯t be that expensive right? ¡°Then Alexander, could you help me with some of these?¡± I ask and take out a piece of paper where I¡¯d written down the things we hadn¡¯t gotten yet. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ Yes I believe we may have most, if not all, of the wares you¡¯re looking for.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great. Actually we¡¯re kind of new in Logholm so we didn¡¯t know where else to look.¡± ¡°That is indeed convenient, but I do believe you¡¯ve all forgotten to introduce yourselves?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Yes¡­ Well, my name is Plush, that¡¯s my wife Shiona and that¡¯s our companion Ronnie.¡± I say while pointing to them one by one. Shiona waved and said hi while Ronnie was still fast asleep. ¡°And as you know this is Lady Ike, the owner of our store, and I am Alexander from accounting.¡± Ike waved her entire arm in an overly excited manner when she was introduced. ¡°Now then, let¡¯s be on our way shall we? I believe it to be best if we leave your sleeping companion here, she looks like she could really need this rest.¡± ¡°Yeah, I have to agree with you on that one.¡± Alexander, Shiona and I then walk out the door which we all came in through while Ike stayed to take care of Ronnie. *creak* sounded the door as it closed. ¡°Hey alexander, is it normal for doors to creak so much in Endom?¡± I ask, slightly tired of never being able to open a door properly. Alexander looks at me oddly for a moment before seemingly realizing something. ¡°Ah, you must be from out of the country then, well, yes I suppose that would explain it¡­¡± ¡°So¡­ Does that mean there is a reason?¡± ¡°Actually yes. It¡¯s due to an old folktale about monsters hiding behind closed doors and pouncing on their prey when the doors are opened, according to the folktale the sound of creaking door hinges scares off the creatures and has thus become a tradition.¡± ¡°I see...¡± A while later we walk through a metallic door and stop in a small room. ¡°This is¡­?¡± Says Shiona worriedly. Alexander then knocks on the door we came through three times before opening it again and leaving through it, we follow him and arrive in- ¡°?¡± x2 -the exact same corridor we were in before entering the room. ¡®Not sure what I was expecting but¡­¡¯ ¡°Welcome back boss yes!¡± ¡°Yes yes?¡± I turn around to see that Alexander had opened the same metallic door yet again, however now two familiar men stood on the other side of it. I look at Shiona and see that her face is entirely drained of blood and pale as Ronnie¡¯s gi. ¡°Yes? Customers from Straitley yes?¡± ¡°You know these two?¡± Asks Alexander the two yes-men. ¡°Yes! They purchased one slave in Straitley yes!¡± ¡°Is that so¡­ That means you¡¯ve already met these two, and for that I can only apologise.¡± ¡°Yes? Brother, boss is being mean again, yes?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± *sniffle* ¡°Oh shut it you two.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡®...Wait a moment, they called him boss!?¡± ¡°Could it be¡­?¡± ¡°Hm? Could it be what? If you wish to enquire something of me you will have to say what, I am no mind reader mister Plush.¡± ¡®Mind reader? Ah! Book, write down mind reading magic on the notes page!¡¯ The book on my back shook once as a response. This was something Shiona had helped me come up with, whenever I get an idea I just ask the book to write it down for me. ¡®That aside-¡¯ ¡°Could it be you¡¯re the owner of the black market Alexander?¡± ¡°Ye-¡± Begins Alexander, only to stop mid sentence and glare at the two yes-men. *Ahem* ¡°I would have thought that to be quite obvious at this point no?¡± ¡°I¡­ I guess?¡± ¡°Now then, you two get back to work while I show the customers the wares.¡± ¡°Ye-¡± Began the two men before promptly being hit in their respective heads. ¡°Now.¡± Said Alexander again, his voice filled with bloodlust as the two small round men practically bounced away without a care over how their boss just hit them. They even kept up their merchant-like smile throughout the whole ordeal ¡°Ahem, may I see the list once more?¡± Asked Alexander who had returned to normal as soon as the two yes-men were gone. * * * * * ¡°Thank you! Have a good day!¡± Cheered Ike from the store¡¯s exit while waving frantically. In the end they ended up having every single item we wanted, as well as a number of items that we didn¡¯t come for but still bought purely due to impulse, like a potion brewing set, a whetstone for sharpening blades, a couple of rolls of fabric and a sewing set. I may have become a bit loose with money. ¡°Well she was nice, even gave us a discount and everything.¡± ¡°... I suppose.¡± ¡°Something the matter Shiona?¡± ¡°No it¡¯s nothing. Oh! Let¡¯s go over there!¡± She says while pointing at a restaurant. ¡°Okay?¡± I say and we walk into the restaurant. ¡°Hello! Welcome to Biff¡¯s beef, the only one hundred percent meat only restaurant in Logholm! A table for three I take it?¡± ¡°Yea-¡± ¡°Table for four!¡± Says Lizz as she comes out from the book. ¡°... Right. Table for four please¡± ¡°A-okay little buddy, but are you sure you can eat this stuff? Not to diss dolls but do you even have a mouth?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± I say, take out a homemade cracker from the pouch and eat it in front of her. ¡°Then one last thing you guys, we¡¯ve got a reputation to keep so we¡¯d appreciate it if you could leave the salad outside the dining area.¡± ¡°Salad?¡± ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s one a rule for workers here, we have to call all plants salad.¡± Answers the receptionist and motions to Buddy. Buddy? ¡°Oh shit! I completely forgot we had Buddy with us!¡± ¡°They named their salad?¡± Whispered the receptionist. Shiona takes out Buddy from her hair and starts looking at me accusingly. ¡°How could you forget about Buddy!?¡± As Shiona said that Buddy¡¯s stem started to slacken as he took on his Leafling form once more. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, he just hasn¡¯t moved since we got him so I completely forgot¡­¡± *sigh* Sighed Shiona. ¡°Ehm?¡± Voiced the Receptionist. ¡°Yes?¡± Real soryy about that guys, I didn¡¯t realize it was one of your companions. So¡­ Does this mean I should change it to a table for five?¡± ¡°No, he can share with LIzz.¡± ¡°Oh come on!¡± Shouted Lizz in refutal, however no one listened to her. ¡°Well alrighty then. Steve!¡± ¡°I¡¯m here!¡± ¡°Guide these to a table for four please.¡± ¡°Will do sis, right this way guys.¡± Said the man called Steve who had just appeared from a door as he guided us into the depths of the restaurant. Chapter 73 - Meatngreet -=Biff¡¯s beef, Plush Pov=- ¡°Oh dear.¡± Said the receptionist¡¯s brother while guiding us through the restaurant. ¡°Oh dear? Oh dear what?¡± Asks Shiona slightly nervously. ¡°Sorry to say fellas, but I don¡¯t think we have any free tables left.¡± He responded sheepishly. ¡°Really?¡± I ask. ¡°What about that table over there then?¡± As I said that I pointed at a large square table, it was large enough for eight people yet there was only one occupied seat. The occupied seat in question was being used by a woman with skin that had the same color as the inside of a tree, she also had long dark brown hair as well as a leather jacket and pants the same color as her hair. ¡°That¡¯s a little problematic, you see she¡¯s a huge benefactor of Biff¡¯s beef, she brings us a ton of ingredients and in exchange we give her vip service.¡± ¡°¡°...¡±¡± ¡°... Also I think boss Biff has a soft spot for her¡­¡± ¡°¡°...¡±¡± Shiona then crouches down to me and whispers: ¡°Hey, doesn¡¯t she look kind of familiar?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve been thinking the same thing, I just haven¡¯t been able to understand why...¡± ¡°What about that spell you came up with yesterday? Maybe that¡¯s show you something.¡± ¡°Alright, It¡¯s worth a shot I suppose...¡± I then create a fairly simple two circle spell in my hand, the first having the symbol for illusion magic, namely a vertical eye, and the second having the symbol for break, a symbol which looked like a cracked window. Since it was a two circle spell it was shaped like two circles connected by a line, you know, like a pair of glasses? I then put held the spell right in front of my eyes, again just like a pair of glasses, and looked at the woman once more ¡°Huh.¡± Was all I could say. ¡°What? Gimme.¡± Said Shiona, grabbed me by my arm and help my hand in front of her face so she could see through the spell. ¡°Huh.¡± Said Shiona. ¡°I know right?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± When I had looked through the spell the woman¡¯s skin which looked like wood had turned into, well, wood, while her hair and clothes turned into bark. In front of us sat the dryad that had forced Buddy onto us, and she was eating various meat dishes with great relish. ¡°Hey dryie!¡± I shout to the dryad while waving my arm. ¡°How do you know her name? Oh wait, are you acquaintances?¡± Asks the guide. ¡®Wait, she actually went with the name ¡®Dryie¡¯? I just said that because it sounds like dryad¡­¡¯ ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ve met before.¡± ¡°Alrighty then, you guys can go sit down next to her, when you decide what you want just wave someone over okay?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± I say, our guide then leaves us and we walk to the table where the dryad is sitting. ¡°Hello Dryie.¡± I say while sitting down on the opposite side of the table from her. ¡°! D-do you want something?¡± Says the dryad panickedly, only now even noticing that we¡¯re here. ¡°I was just wondering if we could get to share the table with you, there¡¯s no other open spots see?¡± ¡°I-I see, w-well it can¡¯t be helped right?¡± Although the dryad said this her face clearly distorted into an unwelcoming face, though she probably doesn¡¯t realize it herself. ¡°Exactly, so it¡¯s fine then?¡± ¡°S-sure.¡± ¡®She¡¯s acting like she doesn¡¯t know us, is she pretending since she¡¯s disguised right now or¡­?¡¯ Either way we all sit down around the table, Ronnie and Lizz not having any idea who the woman actually is since one of them never met her before while the other is to busy thinking about food. The dryad across the table is eating considerably slower than before, most likely due to her hand suddenly shaking. Ronnie, Lizz and I start looking through the menus, Shiona soons joins in after putting Litly and Buddy down on the table next to Lizz. ¡°Hey, are you fine with this guys being on the table?¡± Asks Shiona the dryad. ¡°Sh-shouldn¡¯t you ask that before putting them on the table!?¡± ¡°Anyways, is that a yes or a no?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ¡®anyways¡¯ me!¡± Then without waiting for further response from the dryad Shiona starts looking through the menu with us while the dryad started getting teary eyed.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. I wasn¡¯t sure if the dryad was only acting this way due to being in disguise or whether she was acting last time we met and that this was how she was normally, but right now her image in my mind was crumbling rapidly. ¡°Nununuh! There¡¯s so much good stuff, I can¡¯t decide! Dryie was it? What do you recommend?¡± Asks Lizz while flying over to the dryad with the menu, still not realising that she¡¯s actually the dryad. Suddenly the dryads eyes sharpened and she seemed to regain some composure. ¡°The buffet.¡± She answered shortly. ¡°The buffet?¡± Responded Lizz. ¡°yes, if you don¡¯t know what you want then try the buffet, take a little bit of everything and see what you like. On the other hand if you like-¡± The dryad then kept giving us all advice on what we should order, and twenty minutes later she finally calmed down enough for us to wave over a waiter. ¡°Yes? what would you like?¡± Asked the waiter while smiling and holding a small notepad ready in his hand. Shiona starts off. ¡°Two number nines for these guys-¡±She points at Buddy and Litly. ¡°And a number nine large for me.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take a number six with extra dip.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take another number seven, on a separate tab please.¡± Said the dryad. ¡°And then two number forty-fives, one for me and one for her.¡± Says Ronnie while pointing and Lizz. ¡°Make mine extra cheese!¡± Said Lizz. ¡°Very well, anything to drink with that?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have another large soda please.¡± Said the dryad. ¡®They have soda!?¡¯ I thought, and looking at Shiona¡¯s face she thought the same thing. We then all ordered a medium soda each and finally let the waiter leave to pass the orders onto the chefs. ¡°You¡¯re really enthusiastic about the meat here Dryie.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s just so good I can¡¯t help myself!¡± She answers with a wide childish grin. ¡°Not very characteristic for dryads you know?¡± Says Shiona. ¡°!¡± You could almost hear a loud crack coming from the dryads face as her childish smile soon turned as rigid and rugged as broken stone while sweat poured from her face. ¡®Wait, if she¡¯s a dryad and made of wood then can she even sweat?¡¯ Regardless of what I thought there was a distinct dripping sound coming from the table right below the dryads head. ¡°Wh-wh-wh- I-I¡¯m sure I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about-¡± While the dryad was saying that Buddy stopped playing with Litly and walked up to the dryad. *touch* Buddy was holding one of his arm-leaves (or whatever we decided to call them) on the dryad like a parent trying to tell their child they did good enough. ¡®Shouldn¡¯t their roles be reversed though?¡¯ ¡°Uhh¡­¡± Started the dryad crying. ¡®Wait, don¡¯t tell me this is what the dryad is actually like? But how!? With the way she acted last time we met her¡­? Where the hell did the arrogance and general dislike and hatred for every living thing that¡¯s not a plant go!? Did she seriously fake all that!? How the fuck!¡¯ While I was in the middle of having my internal meltdown over what the hell was going on with the dryad a waiter came around with our orders stacked on a cart. Once the waiter put the dryads order in front of her she immediately perked back up again before looking back at all of us and suddenly blushing. ¡°Say¡­¡± Starts Shiona. ¡°... eating meat wouldn¡¯t happen to be taboo for you dryads right?¡± ¡°!¡± All the signs of stress and anxiety that the dryad had shown before suddenly came back in more than full force ¡®Oh boy, and I thought she was sweating hard before.¡¯ ¡°N-n-¡± ¡°No? Really? Because I remember you acting very differently towards us last time we met, so if it¡¯s not because we just got some prime blackmail material then I have no idea why you would be acting so differently.¡± Says Shiona while shrugging her shoulders. ¡®... Wow.¡¯ Was all I could think as I saw the exchange between them. ¡°Now I would love to continue and ask you some questions, but our food has arrived and talking while eating is just rude.¡± And with her queue all of us started eating, though it took a while for the dryad to get her hands to stop shaking first, yet despite all this she was still the one to finish first. * * * * ¡°Hah¡­¡± Went the Lizz and the dryad blissfully. ¡°Now that that¡¯s done-¡± ¡°!¡± Once Shiona had started talking again and reminded the dryad of her presence the dryad once more started shaking like a chihuahua. ¡°Why don¡¯t you come with us back to our inn, that way we¡¯ll be able to discuss without anyone listening in.¡± ¡°...¡± The dryad responded simply by nodding her head. Then suddenly a menacing grin spread across the dryads face. ¡°Oh and remember this guy?¡± Asked Shiona while pointing at me. I wave to the dryad. ¡°Yeah, I remember him.¡± ¡°Well do you remember how he phase his body and go through almost anything?¡± The dryads smile disappeared. ¡°Meaning!¡± Continued Shiona, despite the dryad clearly having understood what she was going to say. ¡°Even if you kill all of us to try and quiet us down you won¡¯t be able to kill Plush, so if you do anything he¡¯ll just find the other dryads and tell them about what you do here.¡± I wasn¡¯t really on board with how easily Shiona talked about her own death, however looking at the dryad it seems to have done the trick as she has now straight up started crying. ¡°We¡¯re staying in the Chessie inn in the noble¡¯s district, come around in the evening alright?¡± Again the dryad only nods her head in response, though this time despite us waiting for a short while no defiant or menacing grin appears on her face. ¡°Good, then it¡¯s decided. Waiter, check please!¡± Shiona finishes the conversation with the dryad and calls for a waiter, a minute or so later we all leave the dryad in her seat while we go on to do a few other things in the town. ¡®A few other things¡­¡¯ ¡°Say Shiona what is it even that we need to do in the town now? Just go sightseeing or¡­?¡± ¡°Pretty much, or can anyone else think of anything we need to do?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Not really.¡± Responded Lizz and Ronnie. ¡®Actually, what about you Cy? I there anything you¡¯d like us to do in the town before we leave?¡¯ ¡®Oh yeah, the mind reading magic I was thinking of might just be wishful thinking but who¡¯s to say I can¡¯t find that teleportation magic that Alexander uses?¡¯ ¡°I actually have a few things I¡¯d like to try and test out with magic, but I can wait with that until the dryad comes and visits later.¡± ¡°Alright, so no special plans for anyone?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°None.¡± ¡°No.¡± This time Buddy even joined in by making his tail glow red for a moment. ¡°Well then let¡¯s go sightseeing!¡± Cheered Shiona. ¡°And trying new foods!¡± Continued Lizz. ¡°... I wonder if there¡¯s anywhere I can try fighting people¡­¡± Went Ronnie. ¡®Oi oi! Didn¡¯t you guys just say you didn¡¯t have anything you wanted to do!?¡¯ And so we spent the rest of the day until the evening walking around the city, seeing the sights, eating the food, and, according to Ronnie¡¯s request, fighting the fights at this fancy arena and earning some prize money before heading back to the inn at dusk. Chapter 74 - When we got to the inn our room was empty. "Guess she hasn¡¯t arrived yet.¡± ¡°Well While we¡¯re waiting you can do those magic things yeah?¡± Said Ronnie. ¡°Oh yeah! Thanks Ronnie, I¡¯d completely forgotten about that.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, just make tomorrow''s breakfast extra good.¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± I then sit myself down on the bed, lean back on the wall and take out the magic spell book from the backpack and start reading through it. Ronnie and Lizz went back to Ronnie¡¯s room, Shiona was currently laying on the bed with her wings behind her head next to where I was sitting while Litly and Buddy were playing with each other on the floor. ¡®I hope this book has what I¡¯m looking for, it cost a lot of money.¡¯ When I bought the book I still didn¡¯t really have a grasp on the value of money in this world, but now that I¡¯ve travelled around a lot more and been to many different places I¡¯ve become at least slightly more knowledgeable about it, so now I realize that a platinum for a book is a pretty god damn expensive. ¡®I mean sure, they did say that the book wasn¡¯t finished, but maybe I can still get lucky and find what I want. Otherwise I¡¯ll just have to either go ask Alexander or go back to the magic research place where I got the book in the first place. They said we¡¯d get a discount by giving back the previous book if they make a new updated one.¡¯ I look through the book in a relatively systematic order by beginning with the elements. ¡°Hey Shiona, you know a lot about this fantasy stuff yeah?¡± ¡°Yeah, how so?¡± ¡°Think you could help me figure out what here could become a teleportation spell?¡± ¡°Sure, might as well until the dryad gets here.¡± Shiona then sits up, moves up next to me and starts perusing the pages which were open. ¡°... This? Maybe this? And this too... ¡° ¡°Which ones did you find?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I mean, if you try really hard you got probably turn anything into a teleportation spell¡­ But I think it would be easiest with¡­ ehm¡­ Maybe water? A spell that lets you walk into water at one place and out of water somewhere else.¡± ¡°Yeah, that could work¡­¡± ¡°But at the same time¡­ Maybe fire as well?¡± ¡°Fire?¡± ¡°Yeah, fire covers you and then when the fire is gone you¡¯re gone too? And then a fire appears somewhere else and when that fire disappears you¡¯re there?¡± ¡°Okay?¡± ¡°Or maybe combine them and just have you disappear in a puff of steam? Or maybe earth magic for a puff of smoke and dust?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Or have a thunderbolt strike where you¡¯re standing and where you want to appear?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°And shadow-¡± ¡°Okay, okay, You seem to have a good lot of ideas, but do you think you could come up with a few more that aren¡¯t as dangerous? Like, if a thunderbolt strikes and the magic fails you¡¯ll die.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°So more like the water and dust one please?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Shiona?¡± ¡°Oh, sorry, I was thinking about what you said¡­ But can¡¯t we just try the spell on some, I dunno, some fish to see if they survive?¡± ¡°I guess, but what if I muck up the spell? I don¡¯t think I could keep using a spell that could backfire so bad if I bugger up. I don¡¯t think my nerves could handle that.¡± ¡°But Plush.¡± ¡°Shiona.¡± ¡°But Plush.¡± ¡°Shiona I swear to god.¡± ¡°But Plush, you don¡¯t have any nerves.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°... Plush?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°... I¡¯m sorry¡­ ¡° *sigh* ¡°Just don¡¯t do it again please.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t. That aside however, I don¡¯t think his book has what we need.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve looked through it but I can¡¯t find anything that I think would be able to turn any element into an actual teleportation spell, I think we¡¯ll have to go ask that Alexander guy about it tomorrow.¡± ¡°Alright, I guess we¡¯ll have to do that then.¡± ¡°Well that aside, I have a plan for when the dryad gets here, but I¡¯ll need some help from Cy, think you could let her out?¡± ¡°Sure, but what do you need her to do?¡± ¡°Well-¡± * * * * -=Dryad POV=- ¡®The time has come¡­¡¯ I take a deep breath and supply air to the large lump of leaves that make up a dryads lung and exhale before entering the inn as I had been told to do. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Good evening young madame. Are you here to meet someone?¡± Responded the old receptionist. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m here to meet with a bird-kin by the name Ronnie.¡± For some reason the man seemed pleased with himself when I said I was here to meet someone, maybe something had happened here earlier? ¡°In that case the one you¡¯re looking for lives in this room.¡± The receptionist then points the a map of the building which was hanging behind him.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°I see. Thank you very much sir.¡± ¡°No worries young madame.¡± I bow to the receptionist before walking up the stairs next to him and finding my way to the room they¡¯re staying in. However inside my head a tempest was raging. ¡®Those tree cutting, soft skinned, bark less, power hungry, destruction thirsty¡­ They destroy all that is necessary to survive yet claim it¡¯s for the sake of their survival!? They¡¯re lust for strength and destruction has but ruined their own lives, withered away in the wind and returned back to the soil from which they came, the very soil they trying to delude themselves into thinking they aren¡¯t destroying! How dare such creatures do this to me!? Us dryads is the only reason harvests in this world are as plentiful as they are, the only reason these selfish creatures aren¡¯t attacked by even more monsters than they already are, we¡¯re the only reason the demons are taking as long to free themselves as they are! If it weren¡¯t for us I¡¯m certain the human races would¡¯ve been replaced by demons long ago! Though I¡¯m certain it would¡¯ve been an improvement compared to this! I¡¯ve heard the way they talk, ¡°Don¡¯t bite the hand that feeds¡± is it? Ha! I¡¯ll turn your own words right back to you!¡¯ While most of my mind was busy taking out my anger mentally in order to keep myself from taking out my anger physically and wrecking the whole inn what little sane parts were left of me kept looking for the right door while also keeping my thoughts inside my head and making sure they don¡¯t show up on my face. Finally finding the right door I calmly knock on it three times. *SLAM SLAM SLAM* Calmly indeed, I must commend myself for keeping my feelings under check, though for some reason I now notice a number of cracks and dents on the wooden door. ¡®Have people tried breaking into this room? Ha! Serves them just right!¡¯ Then with a creak so loud that it must bring shame to the tree this door used to be every time it was opened the door gently swung on its hinges. ¡°Ugh, do you have to be so loud¡­?¡± Sounded the voice of the doll. ¡®Oh come on, now they have delicate ears too!? All these creatures just get worse as time goes on!¡¯ ¡°Apologies.¡± ¡°Nevermind, just come in already.¡± Said the doll as it opened the door and went back inside. I followed the doll into the room and saw it sit down on a bed as it started reading a book. ¡°You¡¯re here.¡± Said the accursed bird. ¡°Guess that means I really hit it right on the money huh? I wasn¡¯t actually certain you were going to come but I guess eating mean really is that bad for you guys.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡®Wait, she wasn¡¯t certain!? I could¡¯ve just ignored them and nothing would¡¯ve happened!?¡¯ ¡°Well? Have a seat.¡± The bird was sitting on a chair in front of a small table, on the other side of the table there was another chair, on that chair there was a small ornate cloth, likely there to make it easier to clean. I sat down on the chair. ¡®Well, at least they don¡¯t know what tribe I¡¯m from, that could give me the time I need to convince the others back home that outsiders can¡¯t be trusted. Hell, they should have no reason to even know that dryads live in tribes!¡¯ ¡°So¡­¡± ¡°...¡± I wait for the accursed bird to state her demands, so as to at least make them believe that I¡¯m going to go along with their demands. ¡°...What tribe are you from?¡± ¡°!¡± ¡®No, keep it together! So what if they know we live in tribes!? I¡¯ll just lie!¡¯ ¡°I hail from the North.¡± ¡°South is it?¡± ¡°!¡± ¡°Well then, is it southwest or southeast? The south is very big you know?¡± ¡®Okay, okay, so they were prepared for me lying, then I¡¯ll just mix in both lies and truths! There¡¯s no way they¡¯ll be able to tell what¡¯s true and what isn¡¯t!¡¯ ¡°Yes, south I mean. Our tribe lives in the southernmost point of eastern Endom. We live at the top of the mountains next to the sea, far from any human settlements and surrounded by lush plants as far as the eye can see.¡± ¡°And the name of the tribe?¡± ¡°We¡¯re called the Barls¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Southernmost point of eastern Endom, amidst the arid desert canyons, far from any other races but also far from any green plants. Interesting. I¡¯ll have to go visit these Eks sometime.¡± ¡°!¡± ¡°Now then, I won¡¯t ask for much for us to keep your secret, however my husband here is a great cook so the only things I¡¯m asking for is ingredients.¡± ¡°Cook? Ingredients?¡± Honestly I was baffled, I was prepared to try and barter down a lot of different demands, however cooking ingredients definitely weren¡¯t one of them. ¡°Yeah, things like fruits, vegetable, maybe any animals that stray too close.¡± Then suddenly from behind me- ¡°!¡± *sniff sniff* From behind me came a smell at least ten times more wonderful than anything I¡¯d ever smelled at Biff¡¯s beef. I turned around and saw- *chomp chomp* -and saw the doll, still sitting on the bed, eating something. ¡°?¡± The doll looked at me with a confused expression. ¡°Tha-that- what is that¡­!?¡± I say, my voice shaking with every syllable. ¡°This?¡± In the doll¡¯s hand was a food which a had never seen before It was brown. It was beige. It was both red and green. ¡°This is a hamburger, want one?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Well, do you?¡± ¡°...¡± Despite wanting to yell yes with all my might I could not, for if I opened my mouth all the drool which had accumulated would pour out like a waterfall. ¡°Actually that¡¯s a good idea Plush, let¡¯s take a food break.¡± Said the bird, elevating her status from accursed bird to just bird. ¡°Alright, here you guys go.¡± The doll then takes out two more hamburgers from his backpack and hands them to us, one to me and one to the bird. However- ¡°What, you don¡¯t actually want it?¡± Asked the bird with a worried look on her face. -I was still unable to fix my problem. ¡®I want to eat it but¡­ If I open my mouth¡­ ! Wait! No! No no!¡¯ While I was in the middle of thinking about my dilemma roots suddenly started growing and reaching out of my mouth and wrapping around the burger one by one. ¡®No! N-¡¯ You see a dryad¡¯s body is very different from other creatures, not just on the outside but also on the inside. Much the same as how our lungs are internal bundles of leaves that contracts and expands in order to pull in air our stomachs were different from the normal sack of acid as well. As I just said, normal creatures have sacks of acid as stomachs, dryads on the other hands have a writhing mass of roots which grab onto anything that falls down a dryads throat and drains it completely, whatever¡¯s left has to be thrown back out however since there¡¯s so little left it usually only happens once a month, even for the gluttonous me. But sadly, just like most creatures, dryads don¡¯t have full control over their bodies. Just like a human is unable to suddenly have their stomach stop digesting food a dryad can¡¯t keep their stomachs from hungering, and sometimes when you try to ignore it for too long the stomach decides to get the food itself. That was what was happening right now. With panic in my eyes I tried to keep my mouth shut, however despite my best efforts I simply couldn¡¯t win over my own stomach and after only a few seconds my mouth was burst open by a torrent of roots that streamed forwards and grabbed the hamburger. When my mouth was opened a loud splash resounded through the room as all the saliva that had built up was released onto the floor, and as soon as one of the roots touched the hamburger even more saliva drooled down as I felt like I just tasted the pinnacle of heaven until the entire hamburger was covered and started being absorbed. Only then did my internal roots go back inside me and calm down. ¡°Haa¡­ Haa¡­ ¡° I gasped for air as my body was slowly recovering from the incident. ¡°This¡­ How could¡­ could something be this good!?¡± ¡°...¡± x2 Both the bird and the doll looked at me without eating, it would have been weirder if they could eat after seeing what just happened. ¡°I¡¯ve never had anything this good before! How could you make meat taste this good...this good despite soiling it with bread and plants!?¡± I shouted at the doll. ¡°... It¡¯s precisely because of the bread and the vegetables that it tastes this good you know? Combining different things is what makes it taste better, all the ingredients help each other out I guess.¡± ¡°!¡± The doll surely hadn¡¯t meant anything deep or profound by that statement, however to me, to someone who thought they had tasted the best the world had to offer only to be proven wrong so quickly it had a big influence. Biff¡¯s beef took a long time to prepare their food, they had the ingredients and the chefs which stood at the pinnacle of the mortal world and yet- ¡®And yet this doll was able to triumph in a such a short time just by having the ingredients working together¡­¡¯ ¡°What would happen if people could do this as well?¡± I whispered to myself, low enough for no one else to hear me. At that moment I swore to myself to follow these two and help them out throughout their journey as much as I could. For a sensible dible fee of course. *knock knock* Sounded someone from the door. ¡°Quiet do¡¯n innere would¡¯ja!?¡± Shouted a more than likely drunk man from the hall. The door creaked open and the man entered- ¡°Kee¡¯in¡¯ us awake all ni-¡± -only to see me, still in my human disguise, gasping on the floor in a puddle of my own bodily fluids. ¡°Sorry ¡®bou¡¯ tha¡¯.¡± Said the man as he walked back out with a reddening face and closed the door. ¡°NOOOOOOO!!!!¡± I screamed, though all too late. Chapter 75 - -=Shiona POV=- By now the dryad had already left, but before she did we reached an agreement: Once every few days, maybe once every week, she would find us using her fancy dryad/plant magic and give us a bunch of foodstuffs, and if we ever think we have more than we¡¯ll ever use then we can just ask her to slow down at that time. ¡®Thank god I asked Cy to help me with this earlier.¡¯ I walked over to the chair the dryad had sat on and picked up the cloth which laid on top of it, under the cloth was an indentation in the wood of the chair. Half the indentation was filled with a small magic crystal which had been turned into an energy battery, the other half of the indentation was filled by another crystal, this crystal however was attached to the cloth I just picked up and thus came with it out of the indentation. The crystal, and by extension the cloth it had been magically attached to, had been turned into a simple telepathy magic item, and thanks to it being in contact with an energy battery it didn¡¯t even need to be fueled, instead it worked automatically whenever someone touched it. Basically, if you were in contact with this cloth and battery combo everyone around you would hear every word you think. Things had mostly been going according to plan during the dryads visit, the cloth did what it needed to while neither I or Plush let it show on our faces that we heard what the dryad was thinking, however the dryads hamburger frenzy was a bit unexpected, to be honest it wasn¡¯t a part of the plan at all. Things would have worked out anyways, I would have gotten the dryad to give us the foodstuffs we want with very little chance of her crossing our back, however thanks to Plush deciding to have an evening snack we ended up not just swaying the dryads actions but also the thoughts and emotions behind them. [We¡¯ll have to streamline the design before we can put it into further practical use, maybe a two layered glove that¡¯s powered by the person wearing it but affects whoever touches the outside of it?] Said Cy through a machine which laid on the table. Cy was still inside the book but could communicate with us outside through this machine. ¡°Yeah, but wouldn¡¯t it be kind of conspicuous if you had to touch them all the time? Maybe making it into a post it note and putting it on their back would work¡­¡± I say, my words trailing off at the end. *yawn* ¡°That¡¯s great and all,-¡± Says Plush. ¡°-but d¡¯you guys think we could go to sleep soon?¡± ¡°Ah.¡± I exclaim stupidly. To be fair, this past month and a half we¡¯d gotten used to going asleep at sundown, right now however it had already been a few hours since it got dark. ¡°Well, sorry but do you think you could go to bed before me, I kinda got myself all worked up with all this. I think I¡¯d have to go for an evening stroll to calm down.¡± I respond to Plush while scratching the back of my head. ¡°Okay, I¡¯d like to come along but I think I¡¯d fall asleep in the middle if I did.¡± ¡°Really? I thought you didn¡¯t get tired though?¡± ¡°Oh yeah, that¡¯s weird¡­ I think I may just have picked it up as a habit actually¡­¡± ¡°What? It¡¯s become a habit to get tired? How?¡± ¡°I, I don¡¯t know? I¡¯ve still only been in this body for a month and a half you know? I still don¡¯t know everything it can do.¡± I shrug my shoulder. ¡°Fair enough, I¡¯ll see you later then, or in case you fall asleep before I get back: Good night, sweet dreams.¡± ¡°Good night Shiona.¡± After that Plush lays down on the bed and curls up in the blankets while I exit the room through the door and leave the inn. I bring Cy¡¯s talk-box with me, that way we can discus a bunch of things while walking around the town in the chilly nighttime air. ¡°So regarding teleportation magic, any idea how to use it?¡± [I think so, in fact it was one of the first spells I started trying to recreate after I first found out about this new form of magic that¡¯s been invented.] ¡°Really? That¡¯s great! How much progress have you made, and could you explain it to me?¡± We walked through the founder¡¯s square as Cy explained her ideas. [... right now all that¡¯s left is some sort of corner stone, or a central pillar if you will, something to keep the spell together.] ¡°Huh, so that¡¯s pretty much as far as me and Plush got then.¡± [It would seem so.] ¡°Well then what other spells have you been trying to recreate?¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. [Well-] I then continue to walk around aimlessly while paying more attention to the conversation than to where I¡¯m going. I walk over a flat wooden bridge. ¡°Then about the encyclopedia spell you were thinking about, maybe you could have the interface work kind of like what Plush did with the truth-sight spell!?¡± I say excitedly, I¡¯ve been in this other world for three lonely years yet only now am I able to do what I¡¯de been dreaming of for years in my past life. [That could have worked, if only the encyclopedia spell wouldn¡¯t be a five circle spell...] ¡°Well what about this then, as far as I could gather the spells are basically just circles arranged in a pattern and attached to each other by strings, yeah?¡± [Yes, so then your plan is¡­?] Asks Cy, almost letting me hear her excitement through the mechanical voice. ¡°But the circles aren¡¯t attached to each other in a loop right? They¡¯re more like a twisted string?¡± [How do you mean?] ¡°I mean, for a four circle magic it¡¯s not a square with a circle in each corner, instead it¡¯s like a horseshoe? Like, it¡¯s a square without one of it¡¯s sides.¡± [Yeah?] ¡°Then can¡¯t you just fold it in on itself?¡± [What?] Cy asks, clearly confused. ¡°Like,-¡± I pluck one of my feathers. ¡°-imagine that this is a two circle spell, like there¡¯s a circle on each end of the feather.¡± [Okay...] I hold the feather in front of a small black dot on Cy¡¯s talk-box, a camera if you will, and then- [!] -I fold the feather in half and the talk-box lets out a surprised sound. [That¡¯s-] ¡°And then you just fold it like this so that all the circles overlap!¡± I continue to explain. [This could work! But where did you get this idea from!?] ¡°You know... places¡­¡± [I¡¯m going to have to do some practice with this¡­] ¡°Glad I could help Cy!¡± All this talk about magic really only served to get me even more riled up, but now that we¡¯d gotten most of it sorted out I came back to my senses. [By the way-] ¡°Hm?¡± [Where are you even?] ¡°?¡± I look around and see that the surroundings look nothing like what they did before. Right now it looked like I was walking up a spiral staircase in a tower made of stone. ¡°How the fuck did I get here!?¡± I look out an opening in the towers wall. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m in the castle...? I¡¯m in the castle!?¡± I take a deep breath. ¡°What the fuck!¡± I shout as I throw my wings into the air. ¡°How the fuck did I walk in here without realizing it!? And shouldn¡¯t there be guards who stop trespassers!?¡± [For someone who thinks so much you sure are thoughtless.] ¡°Fuck you! ¡­ But what now?¡± [What do you mean?] ¡°This could be my only chance to see what¡¯s inside the castle you know?¡± [... Are you absolutely certain you didn¡¯t walk here on purpose?] ¡°...¡± [...] ¡°...¡± [Curiosity killed the cat Shiona.] ¡°Yes but satisfaction brought it back Cy.¡± After saying that I resume ascending the tower. [Are you really sure about this?] Asks Cy worriedly. ¡°Yeah yeah, I¡¯m just going to comb through the castle and see every single nook and cranny, who know, they might have some really sweet stuff hidden away in some secret passages or rooms that no one knows about, and if no one knows about it then no one will miss it right?¡± [And how, pray tell, are you so sure that you¡¯ll even be able to find them, or rather, how do you even know that they have any hidden passageways?] ¡°You know, reasons.¡± [Hah...] ¡°You know that little text to speech box is becoming better and better at sounding like an actual person. And anyways, if we¡¯re in a castle we¡¯ve never been in before then isn¡¯t it the perfect time to test out that other spell you¡¯ve been working on?¡± [The encyclopedia one?] ¡°No, the sonar one, I¡¯m no good at spells but didn¡¯t you say that you put a thingy in the talk-box to let you use spells yourself?¡± [... I guess the practice opportunity makes it worth a shot.] One of the sides of the box, the same side that had the little camera, started glowing and a blue circle appeared on the side. From that circle came a blue spell circle. After that another circle appeared at almost the same place as the previous, though a bit further out. a few more circles appeared, by now it looked more like a glowing blue cylinder rather than a series of circles, showing how truly complicated this spell must be. [This spell-bending thing really is working, and yeah, surprisingly there really are some hidden pathways and concealed entrances.] ¡°I told you so! Now let¡¯s see¡­¡± The sonar spell worked like the thruthsight spell, hold the spell circles in front of your eyes and you see a translucent white three-dimensional map of the near vicinity. Normally the sonar would have the range of a large sphere, however that sphere would not have been able to encase the entire castle so Cy helped by throwing in another spell circle to re-shape the range. Since the camera on the talk-box was on the same side as the spell she was able to see that map, so in order for me to see the map as well I just look in from the other side. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s those blue figures? And there¡¯s a green and red one too, is the green an ally and the red an enemy?¡± [What? Why would that be the case? No, the green means they¡¯re healthy, red means severely injured and the blue means asleep.] ¡°Actually that¡¯s probably better than what I thought, are there any other colors?¡± [Yes, a green person turns yellow and orange before turning red, as to judge how close they are to dying, and then¡­ I don¡¯t know, maybe I¡¯ll add more later.] ¡°Oh! What about this place? A big room that¡¯s not attached to any corridors, there¡¯s so much stuff in it that I can¡¯t tell what¡¯s what in there.¡± [Maybe, but what if it¡¯s all just a bunch of trash? And also I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t just start rushing off to the injured person.] ¡°What do you mean, of course I¡¯m heading towards that place first, I¡¯ve been running while you were looking at the map you know?¡± [...] Apparently Cy was too busy looking at the map of the castle to realize that we were moving rapidly towards the green and red marke people. I jump into the empty center of the tower and fly to the top instead of walking up the stairs, I then quickly arrive at a door at the top of the tower. Chapter 76 - -=Shiona POV=- I reached the top of the spiral staircase and landing in front of a wooden door, light flowed through the keyhole of the door. *click* Sounded Cy¡¯s talkbox as I fastened it to the copperwood belt using a clip at the back of it, then before I look into the keyhole I prepare myself by eating one of the fruits growing from the belt. This fruit was new, it had started appearing about a week or so after the necromancer incident. The fruit was grey and dry to the touch. *Ksh* Like all the other copperwood fruits biting into the grey fruit gave off a feeling almost exactly like chomping down on a cherry tomato, however unlike the other fruits this one had a very peculiar taste. ¡®Ugh, tastes horrible¡­¡¯ As the color and dryness of the fruit would suggest the taste of the fruit was like dust or gravel, it truly felt like some sort of punishment game. As I swallowed the chewed up remnants of the grey fruit that very same color started spreading across my feathers, skin, hair, eyes and talons, it made my entire body look it was covered in dust from gravel. Speaking of dust, from my entire body fell exactly that. Whenever I moved dust would fall down from my feathers and hair and down to the floor, however mere seconds after landing on the floor the dust disappeared. I¡¯ve been calling it dust all this time, but would it be better to maybe call it sand? It wasn¡¯t dust as in bits of hair and such stuff, but rather it was the kind of dust you would get on your shoes from walking on a path of gravel. The important thing about this fruit wasn¡¯t the dust however, rather it was the fact that this is the only fruit which didn¡¯t dye my feathers in bright and easy to see colors, it was the only one which let me be even the tiniest bit hidden in a place as grey and dreary as this castle. I shake my wings a bit to try and get rid of the uncomfortable feeling that comes with having your entire body be covered with a layer of dust, though to no avail, before finally looking through the door and seeing what was happening inside. ¡®I wonder if there¡¯s any royalty here in need of some convenient saving?¡¯ Having planted my face firmly against the door I look through the keyhole and try to find the two people inside. ¡®Is that the assassin?¡¯ In the room was a¡­ a very¡­ a very ¡°developed¡± woman who was for whatever reason wearing baggy pants over a skin tight black body suit, she also had a small black cape. The assassin also had half her face covered by a black cloth and a black turban, again, for whatever reason. ¡®But...why is the assassin the one laying on the floor in a pool of her own blood!?¡¯ The assassin was laying on the ground, clutching the grip of a wavy knife in her hand while glaring at another woman in the room. The assassins eyes then turned blank, and with a soft thud her head fell to the floor. [She¡¯s dead.] Said Cy through the talk box, she had been looking at the map since there was only one keyhole. The princess then dropped a knife which she was holding and simply went back to bed, she didn¡¯t check the assassin¡¯s pulse to make sure she was dead nor did she check if there were any more of them, she hadn¡¯t even gotten worried about the rest of her family. Not really sure what to think of the princess I walked away from the room with only two things on my mind, one being that I ate the disgusting grey fruit for apparently no reason, the other thing on my mind was the princess¡¯s peculiar clothing. ¡®Should a princess really be sleeping in a blue onesie with a blue santa hat? Well to each their own I guess¡­¡¯ After sorting out my thoughts I use the clear fruit to return to normal before flying halfway down the tower, then while standing in front of where a hidden room is supposed to be I pull on of the torches which was sitting in an indentation in the wall like a lever. *click* *rumble rumble rumble* ¡°With all the sound this is making we¡¯re actually pretty lucky everyone¡¯s asleep.¡± [...] ¡°Cy?¡± [I don¡¯t¡­] ¡°What?¡± [I don¡¯t understand how a single assassin could possibly make everyone in this castle fall asleep, especially when they weren¡¯t even stronger than a princess.] ¡°Who knows, maybe the princess is just really strong?¡± [And also¡­] ¡°?¡± [How the fuck did you know how to open this!?] During our little conversation the wall in front of us had been unraveling brick by brick into a doorway. ¡°You know¡­¡± [Reasons?] ¡°Yeah, that.¡± [...] After that we simply waited for a while as the doorway slowly but surely opened before entering. [You¡¯re really doing this?]A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Doing what?¡± [Stealing from royalty.] ¡°They probably don¡¯t even know that this room exists, no one will mind.¡± [...] ¡°Look! Shiny!¡± After walking through a short corridor we soon arrive in a small room with a single yellow torch lighting up a number reflective objects. ¡°... But how are we going to transport all of this?¡± [What do you mean we?] ¡°Oh please, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to find this if it wasn¡¯t for you so you¡¯re already an accomplice.¡± That was a lie, the part of the stairs where the door was was suspiciously flat as well as being the only place in the entire tower with a torch, my videogame instincts would have no doubt helped me find this place either way, though Cy doesn¡¯t need to know that. [*sigh*] ¡°Hey, that almost sounded like an actual sigh, the box is getting better!¡± [Well then I have an ide-] ¡°Oh! What¡¯s that!?¡± In my hands I held a¡­ ¡®A D20?¡¯ It was an object seemingly made of brass that looked eerily similar to the familiar dice, though it was as large as a fist. [...] ¡°... Sorry¡± [Anyways, can¡¯t you just carry what you want the most in your bag and leave the rest?] ¡°Hai¡­¡± I say, somewhat disappointed we didn¡¯t have any kind of do-it-all spell that could help us carry this stuff At that point I get an idea. I walk up to a large pile of objects, one that doesn¡¯t let you see what hides below the surface. I start rummaging around in the pile. ¡°If only we had a magic bag.¡± *clink clink* I feel my feathers touch something made of leather and pull out- ¡°...¡± -an old boot. [...] ¡°I said: If only we had a magic bag!¡± *clink clink* ¡°...¡± [...] ¡°Well it was worth a shot.¡± I say and give up as I pull out another equally old and worn out boot. I mean, plush had told me how the book had changed to fit his needs whenever he thought he needed something, so I thought I might just get as lucky as he does once in a while, however now that that silly idea had been dispelled I instead started properly looking through the pile for things that stand out before leaving the room and closing it once more with the torch-lever. After that I spent a majority of the night skulking about through the large castle, locating and re-locating anything ¡°interdasting¡± into my shoulder bag before finally deming my work finished and returning to the inn. -=Ronnie POV, just as the dryad left=- ¡°UuuwAAAAAaa¡­!¡± I mightily yawn as I get up from my short power nap. ¡°You¡¯re incredibly loud you know.¡± Complains Lizz ¡°Your point is?¡± ¡°...¡± I grin at Lizz as she turns away from me, she probably thinks the argument was too pointless to put any more effort into. ¡®Ha! Leaving and forfeiting like that means that I win!¡¯ I get out of my bed with a gloating grin plastered across half my face. ¡°Well that aside, any special plans for tonight Lizz?¡± ¡°Just the usual.¡± ¡°Sweet.¡± I take out a sandwich from one of the folds in my gi and eat it, after that both I and Lizz prepare ourselves for another night of ¡°alley cleaning¡±. It¡¯s a very fruitful job you know? We get to make the town better, improve relations with the law forces so it gets easier in the future, make money, and, most importantly of all, kick the shit out of people! I think Lizz has even started doing this for her own enjoyment rather than just to appease me, it¡¯s great! Both of us having finished our preparations we leap out the window once again and go from roof to roof to reach the guard corp. * * * * * ¡°So then this place is next huh?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Answered the energetic guard captain. In fct it was the very same guard captain who had cried out in anguish about having too few guards for all the crimes that are happening, after our first night of ¡°alley cleaning¡± we came back here with all the people we¡¯d, ahem, subdued, must¡¯ve left a real impression on the lass. The guard captain spoke again. ¡°This is a big one, these guys have been weaseling around the city, going from alley to alley and doing whatever they want! Killing, kidnapping, bribery and blackmail, you name it and they¡¯ve probably done it!¡± ¡°Huh¡­ Well alright, but we might need some help transporting them, doubt we can carry all these dudes.¡± Yes sir! Here, blow this whistle when you¡¯re done and we¡¯ll move in and transport them to prison!¡± Lizz grabs the small wooden whistle that the guard captain gives me. ¡°Really? So you guys are going to be staying nearby then?¡± ¡°No sir!¡± The young guard captain then takes off her blue guard hat and a pair of fluffy dog ears fall down. ¡°I¡¯ll be able to hear the whistle as long as you¡¯re somewhere in the town! That way you don¡¯t have to worry about staying in one plays and not pursuing any stragglers, sir!¡± ¡°I see.¡± Answers Lizz. The explanation seems to have been enough to satisfy Lizz, however I decide to take on a more hands-on approach. ¡°Yoink¡± I take the whistle from Lizz¡¯s hand and blow in it as hard as I can. ¡°...¡± *whimper* Neither I nor Lizz hear anything from the whistle, the guard captain however fall to the floor, clutching her ears in pain. *crack* Then- *crumble* -the whistle cracks, crumbles and breaks into small pieces. ¡°...Oops.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Is that, is that blood coming out of her ears!?¡± ¡°Make way.¡± Says Lizz as she shoves me aside and approaches the guard captain. ¡°Here.¡± Lizz reaches out her hand above the poor captain, in her hand a red jelly, and she pours energy into it, liquidising it before dropping it on the guard captains head. ¡°That should do it.¡± ¡°Ha!? A single health jelly!? They shouldn¡¯t be potent enough to heal something like shattered eardrums!¡± ¡°Well it did, problem?¡± ¡°Yes, actually, I didn¡¯t pay it much mind before but this happened with Plush and master as well, what up with that!?¡± *sigh* ¡°The more energy you pour into the jellie the more potent they become, satisfied?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ But then why haven¡¯t I ever heard about that before?¡± I pick up the fainted guard captain and put her down on in her chair with her upper body sprawled on the table. I then take out a bottle of wine from a cabinet in the room, take a swig before pouring the rest out on the table, after that I put the empty bottle next to the captain¡¯s hand. ¡°That should do it.¡± ¡°You really do have a knack for those kinds of things.¡± ¡°Thanks Lizz.¡± That wasn¡¯t a compliment, such a retort was most likely being held back by Lizz. ¡°Oh well, we¡¯ll just have to tie all the bodies together somewhere and leave a note.¡± I take the map of the town that showed our target and leave through the window with Lizz. ¡°Actually, why leave a note? Let¡¯s just leave them somewhere where they¡¯ll be found easily.¡± ¡°And where would that be?¡± ¡°I dunno, a kindergarten maybe?¡± ¡°Remind me to never let you take up babysitting.¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± Lizz was probably holding back some kind of retort again, though to me it didn¡¯t matter. In fact, judging by the wide grin on Lizz¡¯s face I doubt it matters much to her either. Chapter 77 - -=??? POV=- ¡°AHAHA!¡± ¡°We did it boss!¡± ¡°Just like you said boss!¡± ¡°GAHAHA!¡± It was a night like every other, me and my big band of bads were in our little hidey hole celebrating our success. Champagne bottles were opened, the finest wine was drunk, the most expensive and decorated mugs were tossed to the floor ad shattered, it was enough to cause even the wealthiest of nobles to faint. But we didn¡¯t care. ¡°AHAHA! I struck a deal with the devil and the devil with me! The devil has gone after the princess, she must already be dead!¡± ¡°Boss beat the devil and made them his handyman!¡± ¡°I still remember when the boss beat the devil in rock paper scissors, the most exciting thing I ever did see!!¡± ¡°GAHAHA! I knew old trusty rock would never lose! You lot! There¡¯s no way the princess wil survive the devil, she¡¯s the best assassin in the business!¡± ¡°¡±Yeah!¡±¡± ¡°So drink and feast ¡®til you drop! The reward we¡¯ll get for the princess dying will set us all well for life, no matter what we do from here on out!¡± ¡°¡±Yeah!¡±¡± ¡°Waitress! More drinks for everyone!¡± ¡°¡°Boss!¡±¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± Next to me came the waitress, carrying a silver tray covered in a multitude of mugs, each distinct from the others and containing equally distinct alcohol. ¡°Here you go sir.¡± The waitress was a beautiful young lady, she wore the same clothes that all the other waitresses wore. ¡°Waitress I¡¯m certain business would bloom for you if only your smile would do the same.¡± ¡°Hear that guys!?¡± Went one of my subordinates. ¡°The boss has been reading poetry again!¡± ¡°Oh shaddup!¡± ¡°Look! The boss is red as blood!¡± ¡°Waitress, you better not let your smile blom or the boss¡¯s third leg will surely follow!¡± ¡°¡±Ha!¡±¡± Went the whole room at once. ¡°... You damn sons of bitches.¡± * * * * *CLANG* ¡°Urgh¡­¡± I woke up. At least I think I woke up? I moved my hands and felt around. I was in a bed. My eyes hurt. My head hurts. ¡®I must¡¯ve drunk myself under the table yesterday¡­ My men must¡¯ve carried me back home¡­¡¯ I runned my eyes and scratched my chin, then I simply rolled over in my big king sized bed to return to the land of sleep. *thud* ¡°Fucking ow!¡± Well so much for that, I must¡¯ve rolled the wrong side cuz I fell right down at the floor. ¡°Ha¡­ Well I¡¯m already up so let¡¯s at least go get a glass of water for the hangover¡­ And was my floor always this hard?¡± ¡®I thought the guys installed a full floor carpet just a few days ago¡­¡¯ My eyes still hurt so I didn¡¯t want to open them yet, instead I waved my arm around until I found the bed and used it to help me stand up. ¡°Oi you guy!¡± ¡°¡±Boss!?¡±¡± Why did they sound so surprised? ¡°Get me some water!¡± *murmur murmur* ¡°Oi, what¡¯s taking so long!?¡± ¡°Uhm¡­ ¡° came the voice of one of my underlings. ¡°Boss... have you, have you looked around?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Uhm, looked around, have you done it?¡± ¡°I heard you the first time you wordy brat! Why would I-¡± I open my eyes and look around. I see the bed I was laying on. I see the floor and the walls. I see a little window. And I see thatone of the walls is made of metal bars. I was in prison. * * * * * -=Ronnie POV=- ¡°See, that went well didn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Well?¡± ¡°Alright alright! I admit, your method worked well enough!¡± Lizz smile at my reply as we¡¯re walking back to the inn, a small pouch of gold in each of our hands. ¡°I still wanted to hit them though.¡± ¡°Oh they would have been too weak anyways, you wouldn¡¯t have been satisfied at all.¡± *sigh* ¡°I know I know¡­ A woman can dream though yeah?¡± ¡°If someone heard you say you dream about hitting people the only thing they''d dream of is you suddenly revealing you''re a man.¡± ¡°Hey! I''ve never heard you use that kind of retort before.¡± ¡°Yeah, some of the big bad band people were using them, made me feel inspired. Think I might even add them to my regular repertoire.¡± ¡°Oh joy¡­¡± ¡°Though those people had a bit more of a¡­ a¡­ a bit more of a poetic touch, it will take some practice to get good.¡± ¡°Long as you don''t do said practice by keeping me up at night.¡± ¡°First of all you''re already keeping yourself up at night well enough on your own. Secondly I also have things I need to do so I don''t even have the time.¡± ¡°Thanks god¡­¡± Following our banter we walked backed to the inn, I went into my room and put the gi back on while Lizz returned to her sprite form and snuck back into the other¡¯s room.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. -=Plush POV=- It happened again. I think this is the third or fourth time this has happened I¡¯m in a world where everything is made entirely of black and white. But why would this happen all of a sudden when it hasn¡¯t happened in so long? Did I do anything different today? Anything that I haven¡¯t done for a month? ¡®Let¡¯s see here¡­ I was laying in bed falling asleep¡­ Shiona had to go for a walk¡­ And then I fell asleep?¡¯ What did I do differently- I thought, until I realized. ¡®Wait, I fell asleep? Yeah, I did, right after they left I fell asleep¡­ Without using up my energy!¡± Or so I thought, but- ¡®But hang on, didn¡¯t I use this back at this skill back at the Eastern lake city¡¯s guild quarters after fainting from using up my energy? Well what¡¯s different between that and this? Last time I materialized right next to my body, this time I¡¯m¡­¡¯ Looking around I find myself sitting on a grassy slope with my back against a brick wall. ¡®Somewhere else? Maybe the distance changes how much energy I need? Maybe it drains so little when I''m near my body that it got restored faster than I could spend it?¡¯ ... ¡®God I¡¯m actually starting to sound half smart, Shiona and Cy must be having a hell of a great influence on me.That aside where am I?¡¯ Looking around I once again confirmed that I was indeed on a grassy hillside with my back against a brick wall however looking at it properly I could see that it was so much more. ¡®Is this a mansion?¡¯ The house was as large as a high school from my own world and had large open areas, the kind of open areas that increase the price of a property at least ten fold. The mansion had numerous large windows on each floor. From the front of the mansion went a paved road that slithered down the side of the large hill that both I and the mansion were on. At the base of the hill there went a stone wall all around, only breaking up where the slithering road met with the wall, there they had put a shining gate instead. If I saw color it would probably be golden. And did I mention how the road slithered down the hill? Well I meant it. You see the paved path was literally a snake, it went from the front of the mansion down to the gate where its head was staring at the gate with two yellow eyes. I looked around the corner I was sitting at and saw that the tail went into the earth right in front of the front doors. It was kind of flat though, like, if you saw a cross section of it the snake would look like a sideways 0, probably to make it easier for carriages or whatever to stay on it. ¡®Is this one of those golems that Charlie said her and her group fought? But they said it was shaped like a normal human though, albeit three times as tall.¡¯ So I was on a large hill next to a large fancy mansion that had a snake road going from a fancy set of doors to a fancy gate. Very fancy. On the other side of the gate went a paved road, a normal paved road as opposed to the stone snake inside the mansion grounds. The paved road went through a grassy field and into a forest, I could barely make out the roofs of some buildings above the treetops, the might be either in the forest or on the other side of it. Recap, again, fancy mansion on a hill surrounded by a stone wall, weird snake-slash-road thing and we¡¯re fairly far away from any town by the look of it. ¡®Other than the snake nothing really seem to be wro¡­ Did that forest just-?¡¯ I look towards the autumn brown and orange forest. Except it wasn¡¯t orange. It had turned purple. ¡®What the hell¡­?¡¯ So, everything I said before but add an enchanted forest. Seeing this colourful landscape raised another question however- ¡®Why¡­¡¯ The green grass fluttered in the wind. ¡®...is¡­¡¯ The dark blue, almost black sky was filled with a bright yellow moon and the occasional cloud. ¡®...there¡­¡¯ The hillside had a few flowers. ¡®...colour?¡¯ While I was watching the scenery, unknown to me it had been being coloured in. It happened suddenly, one object at a time. Actually, suddenly is an understatement. Faster than a blink, faster than the sound of the snap of a hand, faster than even an instant, it was so fast that despite looking straight at it I didn¡¯t even realize the colour was there until just now! ¡®But why? Why colour all of a sudden? The only things that have had colour before were the fruits of the copper tree and the ghosts on the necromancer island, what¡¯s going on? Why everything?¡¯ ¡°Hello!¡± ¡®!¡¯ ¡°Ah! Where¡¯d¡¯ya go!?¡± Okay, fancy mansion, snake road, enchanted forest, town in the distance, and now girl with horns. A girl with horns that I ran away from by phasing into the ground out of sheer surprise. ¡°C¡¯mon man, I¡¯m sorry for scarin¡¯ ya so would ya com back up?¡± She seemed friendly enough so I pokemy head back out. Well, a couple of meters up the wall that is. Can¡¯t be too safe. The girl¡¯s skin was black as coal, her horns curled like a spiral and she had white curly hair. Not white like old people hair, but actual proper white. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°! How did you¡­?¡± ¡°Who are you? Do you live here?¡± If he was able to see me then there must be a reason. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Live here, do you do it?¡± ¡°Ehm, I guess? I mean, the dorms are on the other side but sure, I s¡¯pose I live here now¡­¡± ¡°Dorms? Why would you live in a dorm if there¡¯s this huge mansion?¡± ¡°What are you, bonkers? Why would anyone live in the school, only thing there is a bunch of classrooms and grumpy guards.¡± ¡°... school?¡± ¡°Yeah, school.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Is something the matter?¡± ¡°...Why am I at a school?¡± ¡°To learn I¡¯d wager, why else would anyone be at the school? Other than teachers, guards and groundskeepers I s¡¯pose¡± ¡®Is it really that simple?¡¯ ¡°Well? C¡¯mon then man, we¡¯ll be late for the entrance ceremony.¡± ¡°Entrance ceremony? This late?¡± I look up in the sky and see the stars twinkling in the dark vastness. ¡°I know right? It¡¯s always been during mid day before but apparently one of the new teachers has a condition that makes it so he can only be here during night.¡± ¡°Really? So that means he can only hold his classes at night too?¡± ¡°Yup, gotta be one helluva teacher for the headmaster to change everything just to let him be here, me an¡¯ my pals think he¡¯s gotta be a vampire or somthin¡¯.¡± ¡°Huh¡­¡± ¡°Well c¡¯mon then, if you plan on stayin¡¯ here then I¡¯ll just leave without you because I really can''t afford to be late, later man!¡± ¡°Alright.¡± I respond, however the girl has already run off before I could finish. ¡®...Welp.¡¯ Not having much else to do I get down from my wall and follow in the girl¡¯s wake into the school through the front door, a couple of hallways, exiting the school through another door on the other side and then finally entering a large garden. In the center of the garden was a stage where a few important looking people were gathered, and next to the stage was a large amount of chairs with students on them. None of the students looked alike but at least they seemed to be wearing similar clothes at least. ¡®Should I be wearing clothes like that too?¡¯ Feeling a bit out of place I look around for an empty chair on the outside of the mass of chairs and started moseying my way towards it while looking down at the ground. When I do I see my own purple clothed body. Or rather I see what used to be purple- ¡®Am I naked!?¡± -only to see that my body was the same black color as my head. ¡®N-no one is looking at me, and the girl from earlier didn¡¯t seem bothered, so I guess that means I still don¡¯t have a ¡°thing¡±... Hang on, since when have I even had anything at all below the purple onesie at all!? Since when have I been able to take that off!?¡¯ I was in deep thought as I walked up to the chair I¡¯d found. ¡°Now then,-¡± Went one of the important looking people on the stage. ¡°-those of you who have been studying with us before today may know that normally only the first years need to attend the entrance ceremony, however due to some major changes throughout the school we have made attendance mandatory for everyone. All the changes will be explained to make sure no one leave confused.¡± ¡®Sure, I never actually TRIED to take the onesie off, but why would I have tried?¡¯ ¡°Now before we start I¡¯d like to tell everyone something before you inevitably fall asleep, due to attendance being mandatory right now in the middle of the night all classes tomorrow will be canceled.¡± ¡°¡±Huzzah!¡±¡± Went almost all the students at once, thought a few looked disappointed while some had already departed to the starry dream lands. ¡®I mean, the hunting claws skill worked on the onesie so I thought it was a part of my body.¡¯ I had been walking very slowly to make sure I didn¡¯t trip since I was deep in thought so I only now got to the chair. Being as small as I am I had to halt my thoughts and climb the chair to get onto it before I sat down. ¡®These chairs are incredibly uncomfortable.¡¯ I kept twisting around and trying to get comfortable. ¡°Now then, some of you may have already heard that the reason we are doing this so late at night is due to one of our new teachers.¡± ¡®Honestly what the hell is up with this chair, did I sit down on something or what?¡¯ I slightly shift to the side and look at where I was sitting and see a black object. I tug at the object and try to move it. *tug* *tug* ¡®This is¡­¡¯ ¡°Due to various personal reasons our new teacher is only available during nighttime, thus al his classes will also take place during the night.¡± I follow the black object with my eyes¡­ ¡®Really, this night just won¡¯t stop surprising me, since when have I had a tail?¡¯ I adjust my newly found libm so that i sit at least somewhat comfortably. ¡°The new teacher will be taking care of the magic classes, both offense magic and support magic, though that¡¯s not all, he will also be taking care of most of your other subjects as well. Hell, the only classes he can¡¯t handle are history and geography.¡± The important looking person seemed to be saying something important, though I was still thinking to myself. ¡®Have I always had this tail? But how did it fit in the onesie then?¡¯ ¡°Now then, I would like to introduce this new teacher to everyone who is taking part in the magic classes.¡± ¡®Oh yeah, what class am I even supposed to be a part of if I¡¯m here to earn then? I didn¡¯t exactly sign up for anything¡­¡¯ ¡°If the new teacher Plush could please come up on the stage.¡± ¡­ ¡°What.¡± Chapter 78 - ¡°Could our new teacher Plush please come on stage?¡± ¡­ ¡°What.¡± I sit still, hoping that I just coincidentally happen to have the same name as the teacher, however when the important looking people on the stage all turn to look at me I resign to my fate and approach the stage. ¡°He...Hello¡­¡± I say to the man who had told me to come on stage, in response he nods. ¡°See those fancy blue markin¡¯s on the ground? Stan¡¯ there and everyone¡¯ll be able to hear what you say.¡± ¡°... Am I supposed to give a speech?¡± ¡°Nah, just say hi ¡®n stuff, maybe put on a lil¡¯ show.¡± ¡°Oh, okay¡­¡± ¡®Is he related to that sheep girl from before? Or is it just the local accent?¡¯ I walk up and stand inside the ¡°fancy blue markings¡±. *cough* ¡°Hello? Hello? Yes, hi¡­¡± ¡°¡±¡­ ¡­ ¡­¡±¡± ¡°Erm¡­¡± ¡°¡±¡­ ¡­ ¡­¡±¡± ¡°Right! Hello! My name is Plush and I guess I will be the new magic and miscellaneous teacher!¡± I say loudly, my stage fright and anxiety getting worse by the second. ¡°¡±... ¡­ ...¡±¡± ¡®You¡¯re not helping!¡¯ I shout at the students in my mind. ¡®Okay, what can I do to lighten the atmosphere? Back when I went to school the only way I could get through presentations and class readings was by throwing in jokes and distracting people from me¡­ That¡¯s it! I¡¯ll do something really flashy and distract them!¡¯ ¡°Alright enough of that, first impressions are important so let¡¯s do it with a bang!¡± I close my hands together and start casting two spells in the cavity between my two palms, one of the spells is simple, all it does is glow brightly to catch people attention and make them wonder what¡¯s going on. The other one though? ¡®Maybe this is going a bit over the top, but none of the other teachers seem to be trying to stop me so it can¡¯t be that bad right?¡¯ While everyone was busy being distracted by the fancy light that I was no doubt holding in my hand I activated my second spell. *tap tap* All the students turned around simultaneously. I mean, why wouldn¡¯t they? Someone just simultaneously tapped them all on their shoulders after all. Then while they were looking the other way I took the opportunity to use not a spell, but rather to use one of my skills, namely Risen Apparition. ¡®I wish my skills had easier to remember names, like Risen Apparition, who the hell even thought of that? Why not just call it ¡®illusion¡¯ or something¡­¡± Without anyone noticing I create a large flat illusion between us and the students, see through from our side and¡­ Well¡­ See through from their side as well. But here¡¯s the kicker: sure, they see through the illusion, but they see through it behind the stage. From their point of view they will only see what¡¯s behind the stage, in other words it will look like we just disappeared. I stood still where I had been standing and just looked at all the confused students. ¡°Well?¡± I ask, confusing the students even further since they couldn¡¯t see me. ¡°I may be a complete nervous wreck when it comes to standing on stage but at least you should know that when it comes to magic I¡¯ve got a few things up my non-existent sleeves.¡± Then as a final trick I change the illusion into a large cloud of smoke before making it disappear altogether, to the students it will have looked like the stage just reappeared in a puff of smoke. Looking down at the students and seeing their stupefied faces I felt like the atmosphere was just right for leaving. I walk off of the spell circle that I was standing in and approach the man that had called me up to the stage. ¡°Ehm, right, when I said I was a nervous wreck I wasn¡¯t kidding, is there an infirmary or something where I could go rest?¡± ¡°Bob, take this guy to the teachers lounge.¡± * * * * * ¡®All things considered that still went better than expected.¡¯ I was currently laying down on a sofa in the teachers¡¯ lounge and looking at the ceiling. ¡®I may have gotten a bit carried away though... All I wanted to do was lighten the mood but then I somehow got caught in my own pace and started spouting about my magic prowess¡­ Oh god just remembering it is embarrassing me!¡¯ Even though I don¡¯t blush anymore due to the whole ¡°not having any blood¡±-thing I still cover my face with a pillow out of habit. ¡®Okay, I have to do something to get my mind off of that.¡¯ I get off of the couch and look around the lounge for something to do, and as luck would have it the lounge happened to have a stove and sink in one of the corners. ¡®Cooking! Yes! That should help!¡¯ I jog to the stove with a pep in my step and take out some ingredients out of the¡­ ¡®Out of the¡­¡¯ I pat my back. ¡®Right¡­ No book¡­ Wait, maybe they have a big kitchen where they cook the food for the student!? Maybe I can borrow something from there...¡¯ I walk to the door and exit the teachers¡¯ lounge, then I walk back through the corridors and down to the ground floor. ¡®If I remember right I think I¡¯m pretty sure that I saw the cafeteria when I was walking through the school with the sheep girl earlier, shouldn¡¯t be too hard to find then, right?¡¯ Following some very vague memories I walk down a few stairs, through a few corridors and eventually reach the cafeteria. As if. ¡®Good god, how fuking large is this place!?¡¯ Yup, I was completely lost. ¡®This place all looks the same! I swear I¡¯ve been through this corridor a dossing times already!¡¯ Having reached the end of my patience I simply phase through the floor to reach the lower level instead of continue to try finding the stairs. Coming through the floor (or does it count as a roof now that I¡¯m below it?) I actually find myself right where I wanted to be, in the kitchen. I was still phasing through the roof with only my face showing, I wouldn¡¯t want to jump down and fall in a soup or a cauldron after all.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. There wasn¡¯t anyone in the kitchen so I dropped down to floor and started trying to find someone in the nearby rooms. ¡°Hello!? Anyone here!?¡± Every time I passed through a door and entered a room I came into yet another kitchen, they weren¡¯t all as big as the first one but it seemed like it was yet another never ending maze of rooms. ¡°...¡± Since no one was answering to my calls I decided to just stop and cook something up regardless. It¡¯s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission yeah? I start heading back through all the smaller kitchens, since they were all shaped the same I thought it would be easy. I walk out of the small kitchen I was in and- ¡°...¡± -and instantly find myself back in the bigger kitchen. ¡®I don¡¯t¡­ What?¡¯ Despite having walked through tens of similar rooms to get to where I was I only had to walk through one to get back here¡­ ¡®... You know what? Fuck it! Let¡¯s just start cooking something!¡¯ I start looking through the nearby surprisingly modern looking fridges, freezers and pantries to see what¡¯s available. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ I don¡¯t see any rice so I can¡¯t make any curry¡­ no potatoes either¡­ Oh! Breadcrumbs, flour, eggs and beef! Yes! It¡¯s been a while but I¡¯ll make some schnitzel!¡± At this point I¡¯d started talking to myself, it¡¯s a habit that¡¯s hard to stop when you¡¯re alone you know? ¡°They don¡¯t have the proper schnitzel hammer thingy so I¡¯ll have to make do with a frying pan. Actually before that, do they have any bags? I mean they shouldn¡¯t have any plastic but ,maybe they¡¯ve found a way to make do?¡± I look through the pantries once more and find a small box with a roll of bags. ¡°Really, this place just keeps surprising, it¡¯s supposed to be a medieval era world and yet they somehow have all these modern appliances and stuff¡­ What¡¯re these bags even made of?¡± I take the roll of bags out of the box and hold them up to to the lights. ¡°Wait, lights?¡± I look to the side of the roll of bags and look directly at the lights on the roof. This isn¡¯t something you can normally do but since I don¡¯t have any real eyes I¡¯m fine. On the roof I could see a bright white¡­ something¡­ that was giving off enough light for the entire kitchen. And then it moved. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± I moved to one of the doors leading out of the kitchen and get ready to flick the light switch. ¡°It can¡¯t be¡­ But then again knowing my luck it probably is¡­¡± And then I flick the switch and turn of the lights. ¡°... Okay, maybe I should¡¯ve thought that through a bit more.¡± In my free hand I cast a simple light spell and conjure up a small white ball that works like a flashlight, then I point it at the roof where I had last see the moving light bulb. ¡°No¡­¡± Right where the light bulb had previously been was now a head-sized spider scuttling along the roof. ¡°No, it can¡¯t be!¡± I turn the light back on and see the spider¡¯s abdomen light up like an LED lamp. ¡°...¡± I look back down from the roof and go back to the kitchen. ¡®Ignore the giant spider above you, ignore the giant spider above you, ignore the giant spider above you¡­¡¯ I start chanting in my mind. Despite being freaked the fuck out my curiosity over the plastic bags still got the better of me and I once more brought them up so that the light of the lamp shone through them. ¡®That¡¯s right, it¡¯s just a lamp, it¡¯s not a giant spider that could cover my entire face at once, it¡¯s just your normal light bulb-¡¯ And then the spider moved once more. ¡®... Let¡¯s just not look at the lamp, okay?¡¯ I think to myself. Despite not having found out what these bags are actually made of I get to work and start making the schnitzels. First fill three small bowls, one with some flour and salt, one with breadcrumbs and one with eggs that I then proceed to whisk together with some water. I cut up the beef into small nugget sized pieces, put one inside one of the makeshift plastic bags and- *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* Start hammering it with a frying pan until it¡¯s flat, I then take the almost-schnitzel and dip it in the flour, then I bathe it in the raw eggs before finally covering it with breadcrumbs and putting it on a frying pan that I¡¯d prepared previously. The schnitzel was about the same size as the frying pan so I could only do one at a time. ¡°Man, it¡¯s been so long since I cooked outside the book that I forgot how long time it actually takes¡­¡± Although it took much longer than normal, cooking still helped me take my mind off of things like my embarrassment and the giant spider on the roof so I simply stayed there for a good while and kept making more schnitzel until I ran out of beef. *sniff sniff* ¡°My, that¡¯s some mighty fine smelling stuff you¡¯re cooking there!¡± ¡°!¡± From behind me came a squawky old voice, the kind of voice you¡¯d expect from a rickety old man. *munch* ¡°Mh, don¡¯t mind me, *gulp* pay attention to the frying pan instead.¡± The squawky voice tells me however I still turn around to see where the voice comes from. *munch munch* There I see¡­ A thing¡­ ¡°Wha¡­ What are you!?¡± I asked the floating bundle of octopus tentacles. ¡°Goodness! For someone so good in the kitchen you sure have a nasty mouth!¡± Responded the creature as it turned its¡­ beak? ¡°Nasty mouth!? Says the guy eating the my food without permission!¡± I shouted back at him. ¡°My kitchen, my rules! Rule number one; head chef gets to eat what he wants!¡± *chomp* ¡°Rule number two; Only the head chef is allowed in the kitchen, so git! Ah, hey! Don¡¯t steal the head chefs food!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not your food you weird octopus! I swear I ought to make squid rings out of you!¡± I say and take a bite out of my hard earned schintzel. ¡°Squid rings!? Oh you racist piece of cotton!¡± ¡°!? Like you have any right to talk about racism!¡± I take the plate of schnitzels away from the tentacle create and put them all in one of those plastic bags. ¡°Rule number three! Don¡¯t talk back to the head chef!¡± Squawks the creature. ¡°Okay well here¡¯s my rule number one! Shut up!¡± ¡°No!¡± ¡°Alright, you broke my rules so I break yours!¡± ¡°Damn it!¡± Said the creature and slammed a curled up tentacle into the stove. *thud* ¡°I only broke one of youre so you still have to listen to the other two!¡± ¡°Oh fuck off! And why are you so damn focused on making these stupid rules!?¡± *gasp* ¡°How could you say that!? The kitchen needs rules to have order!¡± ¡°Oh, well one of those rules wouldn¡¯t happen to be about thanking the chef when they make you food would it!?¡± ¡°Of course there is! That¡¯s why I said ¡®thank you¡¯ when I started eating!¡± ¡°When did you say that!?¡± The creature raised one of its tentacles and opened its beak ith a smug expression. ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°... Oh.¡± It said and lowered its tentacle again. ¡°Well that aside-¡± ¡°No! I¡¯m not dealing with another ¡®that aside¡¯, we¡¯re getting to the end of this!¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°... Your hurt feelings aside-¡± *thud* I threw one of the schnitzels at the creature. ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± *munch munch* *gulp* ¡°This-¡± I started, however I stopped due to smelling a nostalgic smell. *sniff sniff* I smelled the air once more to be on the safe side. ¡°Okay, fine, I¡¯ll follow your rules and leave the kitchen.¡± ¡°Good! Take that door to leave!¡± Said the creature and pointed to a different door than the one I¡¯d tried leaving through before. I walked out the door without saying anything else to the smug looking octopus ball and found myself back in the corridor. ¡°There you are!¡± I turn to the voice and see Bob; the guy that brought me to the teachers lounge ¡°Here, you¡¯ll need this.¡± Bob said and held out his hand. ¡°... I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re playing at but I¡¯m not going to put on a collar with a bell.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a collar, it¡¯s an armband. And you don¡¯t need to wear it, you just need to bring it along.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Well, this academy likes to play tricks on people.¡± ¡°Trick people? How does a building trick people?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯ve been wearing my armband since I came here so it hasn¡¯t happened to me yet, however I heard from some other that it like to put people in endless corridors and stuff.¡± ¡°... Oh.¡± ¡®Well that explains a lot¡­¡¯ I think as I hurriedly wind the armband around my arm like you would wind a rubber band that¡¯s too big around something. "GYAAAAA!" "... Did you hear that?" Asked Bob. "Hear what?" "I''m... Not actually sure, it sounded like Ol'' Beaky wa screaming." ''Beaky? Guess that''s the head chef then.'' "You must be imagining it." Bob was quiet for a while and trying to listen for more of Beaky''s screaming, however when all he was greeted by was silence he shrugged his shoulders. "Guess so. Well, I gotta go now, teacher stuff to do. Also, Plush was it? Since we don''t have any lessons today the headmaster told me to tell you to back to the teachers lounge and try to find your schedule for the rest of the week and then your free to go." "Oh, okay, but how do I get back to the lounge then? Is there a map somewhere?" "Nah, long as you wear that thing the school will h3lp you get to where you want." "Alright, thanks." ''Sweet, then I can go to the principal''s office and ask how they knew I''d be here.'' I took one last sniff in the air and savoured the smell of fried octopus before walking away, it''s not every day that a giant tentacle creature willingly puts one of its tentacles on a hot stove you know? Chapter 79 - ¡°So, why am I here?¡± I had already been by the teachers¡¯ lounge and checked my schedule. ¡°What do you mean? You¡¯re a teacher here right?¡± After having finished in the lounge I decided to try and find the principal to ask what was going on. ¡°Am I though? I certainly don¡¯t remember ever signing up to be one!¡± I responded, still a bit annoyed at Beaky from the kitchen. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s what you mean!¡± ¡°What else could I mean!?¡± I didn¡¯t really like this principal, maybe I was still to agitated from Beaky but this guy is really good at getting on my nerves. ¡°I dunno, you could¡¯ve meant anything.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± The principal resumed his paperwork. ¡°And¡­?¡± ¡°? And what?¡± ¡°I asked why I was here.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s because you¡¯re a teacher aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± The principal once again resumed his paperwork. ¡°Principal please, I never signed up to be a teacher here, so why am I a teacher here?¡± I said, trying to sum my question up in one sentence. ¡°Because that¡¯s how this school works.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Is there anyone I can talk to that doesn¡¯t have a five second memory?¡± I accidentally voiced my thoughts. ¡°That door.¡± Said the principal and pointed to a door in the corner of the room. ¡°What?¡± ¡°What?¡± I start ignoring the principal and just walk to the door, the sound of paperwork resuming behind me. *knock knock* ¡°Come in.¡± Responded the principal behind me as he looked up at the door leading to the corridor, however after a few seconds pass he once again looks down at his papers. *sigh* Not waiting for a response I simply open the door and enter. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Hello? Who¡¯s there?¡± I heard from the principal¡¯s office. Once again ignoring the principal I entered the dark room, which is weird in and of itself since I can normally see pretty well in the dark. With a *fwoosh* I cast a small fire spell to create some light, however the surroundings are still pitch black so I throw it to the side where it seems to hit a wall. ¡°OW! Don¡¯t throw fire at the principal!¡± Right there in the darkness was a floating soot stain, touching the stain and around it I could feel that the pitch black darkness around me were actually walls that were somehow coloured so that they looked like expansive darkness. ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± Despite waiting this so called principal did not say anything more. ¡®Okay¡­ I¡¯m really too tired to care anymore¡­¡¯ I create a large number of fireballs and throw them all over the room, in response all the walls seem to start jiggle like jelly, though it¡¯s a bit hard to tell since I could only see it due to the soot, however there¡¯s no other response. ¡®Okay, so this place is alive and it seems to feel pain, then how about the old blackboard trick?¡¯ I harden my claws once again after a long time and prepare to start scratching the walls, hoping for a reaction. ¡°Okay, nope!¡± Sounded the voice once more before the darkness covering the wall retracted into one point at the opposite side of the room to the door before taking the shape of a humanoid lizard and turning green. ¡°Fine, you did it, you win. This chameleon concedes to your superior intellect.¡± Said the self identified chameleon as they threw their arms upwards. ¡°That sounds good and all but I¡¯m too tired of all of you being so over the top, please just answer my questions.¡± ¡°Alright, at least it¡¯s better than what some people ask me to do, you wouldn¡¯t imagine how many men I¡¯ve had to fire due to sexual harassment.¡± ¡°Please just tell me how you knew I would be here today?¡± ¡°What, not even gonna ask my name?¡± *sigh* ¡®Okay Plush, you can at least put up with this much, this is still normal right? ¡°Alright, what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you tell your own name before asking someone else¡¯s.¡± ¡°... I¡¯m Plush, what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t feel like telling.¡± She says and shrugs her shoulders. ¡°Okay! That¡¯s it! Fuck thi-¡± ¡°K¡¯mill.¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°...What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s my name, K¡¯mill.¡± ¡°Kamille?¡± She points to a nameplate that suddenly appeared on her chest where it said K¡¯mill. ¡°Oh. And why did you call yourself the principal?¡± ¡°Because I am.¡± ¡°And that guy outside?¡± ¡°He¡¯s the principal.¡± *sigh* Feeling too tired to even be angry sighing is the only thing I can do. ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re both the principal?¡± I ask, hoping for the answer to be this simple. ¡°Sort of, yeah. But enough about me, you didn¡¯t even know I existed so you can¡¯t have come just to ask about me.¡± *sigh* ¡°Alright then, why am I a teacher here? I never signed up for it, and for that matter how did you know I would even be here?¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s just how this school works.¡± ¡°And that means?¡± ¡°Well what do you think it means?¡± ¡°... That you kidnap your teachers?¡± ¡°Sort of..¡± ¡®...Well that took a turn.¡¯ ¡°Hang on, sort of?¡± ¡°Yeah. Normally we call the teachers about a week or so before they begin to discuss things like wages and if they even want to teach, you know, normal business practice and stuff.¡± ¡°Okay, then why didn¡¯t you do that with me?¡± ¡°I dunno, we tried but we couldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°You couldn¡¯t?¡± ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ve been trying to get you here for seven days with no luck.¡± She says and shrugs her shoulders. ¡°Okay¡­¡± ¡®Could it have be for the same reason that revenant reconnaissance hasn¡¯t been working?¡¯ ¡°Say, you wouldn¡¯t happen to be calling people here by using their energy?¡± K¡¯mill¡¯s eyes widen in surprise before she closes them and smiles. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since anyone was able to guess that, and I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve had anyone do it this fast before either. Guess we chose well this time.¡± Hearing this I felt a bit guilty, I mean, the other people they hired probably didn¡¯t have my circumstances and came to their conclusion all on their own, so it¡¯s kinda like being praised for doing well on a test that you cheated on. ¡°Speaking of, how did you choose me? I¡¯ve never met any of you before.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s the beauty of it, we didn¡¯t. We don¡¯t choose our teachers, we only do the interviewing part.¡± ¡°Then wh-¡± ¡°Come on, surely you¡¯ve noticed this house is a bit special. We don¡¯t know how it does it but every so often some talented individual is just summoned to this area for a day, and if anyone is here about a week prior to the proper summoning they get told about it. That¡¯s how we knew you were coming. If we decide that they¡¯d be a good teacher we take over the summoning with our own magic since the link has already been established.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± I respond, having no idea what she¡¯s talking about. ¡°Oh, and just so you know, we didn¡¯t actually cause this random ¡®talented people summoning¡¯, that¡¯s something that¡¯s been happening here for long before this school was made, you should consider yourself lucky that this place wasn¡¯t taken over by some militaristic nation or something.¡± She says and once again shrugs her shoulder. ¡°God knows what a place like Norther would do if they got a steady supply of talented individuals.¡± ¡°I guess¡­ By the way, where are we even? What with the living house, living snakeway and rainbow forest outside, can¡¯t say I¡¯ve ever seen anything like it.¡± ¡°Sorry, that¡¯s a secret. Wouldn¡¯t want the wrong people to find out.¡± ¡°Really? But how does a secret school get any students?¡± ¡°Oh the school isn¡¯t a secret, in fact it¡¯s pretty famous if I do say so myself, only the location is secret.¡± ¡°Then what about the town that I saw on the other side of the forest? Wouldn¡¯t they know about you?¡± ¡°... Wow, I¡¯m not sure what to think¡­ On one hand you were able to tell how the summoning magic worked, but on the other you didn¡¯t even consider a simple barrier or illusion¡­ And didn¡¯t one of the teachers say you even used an illusion at the assembly? I¡¯m really not sure whether to think you¡¯re smart or not¡­¡± ¡°...So it¡¯s a barrier then?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± *sigh* ¡°I was just a bit surprised that you didn¡¯t even consider it is all. Really though that town is one we made for the students.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Yeah, I met one of the students before and they said you had dormitories, so why a town?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a place where the students can go to get away from the school during the weekends and holidays, there¡¯s shops and restaurants like in any normal town.¡± ¡°Okay¡­?¡± I say, both confused and slightly disappointing since I thought I was onto something. ¡°Now then, anything else? You smell of food so I¡¯m starting to get hungry, I¡¯ll have to go pay old Beaky a visit soon.¡± ¡°Yeah, you said you normally spoke to people early to discuss wages and stuff?¡± *GROOOWL* ¡°... We¡¯ll take that tomorrow, I¡¯m too hungry.¡± ¡°...¡± I take out a schnitzel from the small bag, K''mill¡¯s eyes instantly lock on to it and I toss it to her, then while the schnitzel is still airborne she strikes at it with a tounge fitting of her chameleon body. *crunch crunch* ¡®I may not have much need for money but I¡¯m not going to let something important like this slip¡¯ Seeing K¡¯mill¡¯s blissful face I decided to take another schnitzel for myself as well *crunch crunch* ¡®I have to say, these turned out better than expected¡¯ **gulp** ¡°...That was pretty good, might have to assign you to take care of your class¡¯ cooking classes too.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t Beaky supposed to take care of that?¡± ¡°Oh he hardly has time to just cook for the cafeteria during lunch, if anything I think he¡¯ll be happy to get some free time. He¡¯s been extra grumpy ever since the students started wanting him as a teacher?¡± ¡°You mean he¡¯s not normally that annoying? I don¡¯t believe it.¡± ¡°Ha! Good one.¡± ¡°But there¡¯s an important thing though, I have this book back home that would be perfect for the magic classes, is it possible to bring it along somehow?¡± ¡°Oh that¡¯s easy, you just have to hold onto it when we summon you.¡± ¡°Okay, that brings two questions to mind.¡± ¡°?¡± ¡°Firstly: Really? Because I was laying in bed in my purple pajamas yet here I am, naked.¡± ¡®I¡¯ll just call the onesie pajamas.¡¯ ¡°That is odd, I¡¯ll have to look into that later then. And your other question?¡± ¡°At first when I came here I thought it was due to one of my own skills that activates when I fall asleep, that would have explained why the others on the stage said I can only be here at night.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°But you just said you summoned me, so why couldn¡¯t you just have summoned me during the day?¡± ¡°We couldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°... What?¡± ¡°We couldn¡¯t. I said we¡¯ve been trying to summon you for a week, that¡¯s both during night and day, tonight is the first time we¡¯ve succeeded so we thought maybe it has something to do with what you do while you¡¯re not here.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s why you decided to say I could only be here during night despite never having talked to me.¡± ¡°Yup. Thinking back on it it doesn¡¯t make as much sense to me as it did back then anymore.¡± ¡°Well if I¡¯m going to be a teacher here we¡¯ll first have to discuss hours and wages.¡± ¡°Tch.¡± ¡°Did you just¡­?¡± ¡°Never mind that.¡± Following that K¡¯mill and I discussed how much my nightly wage would be as well as at what time I would have to go here. It was then K¡¯mill told me that whatever it is that summons people here also seems to be able to manipulate time by about four hours, this means that if I get summoned at midnight it would be eight in the evening here, and if I leave at four in the morning I would come back at midnight, in other words, even if I get summoned to hold classes while something important is happening I still wouldn¡¯t miss it since I¡¯d be back the moment I left. Again, K¡¯mill has no idea how this actually works. What followed that revelation was us discussing my wages. Like I said I didn¡¯t really need the money, I just did this to get back at K¡¯mill for all the stress Beaky, the guy in the other room and her have caused me. It¡¯s only fair no? After a while we finally reached an agreement regarding my pay and I left the office of a downhearted chameleon before waking up back in my bed. ¡®I would get up and make breakfast-¡¯ *groan* ¡®-but right now this bed is really comfortable¡¯ And so I stayed in bed late for the first time in a very long time. Chapter 80 - -=Seventh day, Elizabeth POV=- It¡¯s afternoon. I wake up and slowly crawl out of my incredibly oversized bed, fall on the floor with a light thud and- ¡°Huwaaa¡­¡± -give off as mighty of a yawn as this little body allows while stretching as much as I can yet only covering a measly square decimeter of the floor. ¡®Staying up late is bad¡­¡¯ I think to myself. I look into the corner of the room where a large triangular corner-desk stands. Well, large to me at least. On top of the table, right in the middle, there laid an open book next to a small lamp. A book that I had stayed up reading well into the morning ¡®I know it¡¯s bad staying up late, but these otherworldly books are so interesting!¡¯ I pout to myself and fly into the bathroom, then while hovering in front of the mirror I point at myself and sternly ask: ¡°Why are you like this?¡± At first I didn¡¯t know Plush and Shiona were from a different world, and they probably don¡¯t know that I know either, only reason I do know is because of all of these books. Well, I already had my suspicions, what with everything else in this¡­ apartment they called it? Definitely doesn¡¯t look like anything of this world, however only when I remembered how Plush had freaked out when he first saw the inside of this place through the books pages did I connect the dots fully. In fact during my oh so very long life I¡¯ve met many otherworlders, and this apartment can be said to have everything that those otherworlders complain about us not having in our world. Now how could I have forgotten something like that before then? ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ I think me playing stupid all the time is starting to take its toll... Well, I kind of had to pretend you know? I used to be the past carrier for the book after all, so I know most of the things it can do, however I still had to pretend to be as freaked out as Plush whenever he did something, even someone like him would realize something''s if I don¡¯t freak out when something deserving of a proper freaking out happens. To be fair, I actually did freak out a little bit, I mean, some of the things that happened were actually new to me to, I just calmed down a lot quicker than he did. Only reason he¡¯s able to immediately start of with unlocking new abilities of the book is because I laid down the infrastructure for it in all those thousands of years before he arrived. I¡¯m going on several tangents at once here so back to the books on the desk. The books were incredible, some were filled with maps which portrayed an entire planet while the only maps I¡¯ve seen from this world only had our four Normic countries, while some books were filled with pictures and text explaining technology and animals I¡¯d never seen before. ¡®Damn shame I can¡¯t read them, I haven¡¯t seen anything this interesting since back home¡­¡¯ Home. *sigh* ¡®God damnit I made myself sad again! Fuck off moodswings, I really don¡¯t need you right now!¡¯ In order to cheer myself up I flew into the kitchen and grabbed a popsicle from the fridge, I had pestered Plush to teach me how to make them earlier just for occasions like these. Cy had even helped me make a popsicle mold proportional to me so I could eat them before they melted. *munch munch* *gulp* Having finished the popsicle I felt a lot better so I was able to start thinking again. ¡®Speaking of reading, if I can¡¯t read their language then how can they read ours? Maybe they have something that translates it for them like all the summoned heroes? What if they don¡¯t even realize that what their reading isn¡¯t¡­ whatever language this is. But as far as I can tell from this book about animals and creatures from their world humans seem to be the only sapient species, and I¡¯ve never heard about any summoned heroes changing race before.¡¯ I doubt anyone else would take the old legends of the summoned heroes seriously, but through my journey to fix the book I¡¯d actually met several of them, attended some summoning ceremonies while worming my way into a kingdoms upper echelons in order to access their lost city, trained a few of them as a teacher, followed one of them as a companion, hell, I even summoned some of them myself back in the day using a different artefact than the book. ¡®Haa¡­ Good times¡­ Shame they¡¯re summoned so rarely though, it only happens when a demon manages to break out from their lost city on their own.¡¯ The reason I didn¡¯t realize Plush was from another world earlier was because he acted so differently from any of the heroes I¡¯d met before, they would always ramble on about flags, settings, obtainable characters and all that incomprehensible stuff, also whenever the king or queen that summoned them asked them to make their armies stronger using information from the heroes world they all responded the same way. ¡®*No way! I don¡¯t want to ruin my fantasy adventure by bringing in modern day technology!* was it?¡¯ Well, they only stayed that way for a while though, one thing I noticed was that every hero seemed to go through one of three scenarios, the most common one being they died. None of the heroes took this world seriously, for some reason believing they can¡¯t be killed, because of this more than half of them died on their first proper expedition. I took to calling this lot the ¡®false heroes¡¯, I mean they didn¡¯t really act very heroic either you know? Later I found out that the end kingdoms had started to use this term as well to ease the populus whenever their hero died, they said they¡¯d gotten a false hero from their summoning and that their next summoning would certainly summon forth a true hero. Ironically this second summoning usually never happened, the summoning rituals took a lot of money to prepare, this caused the countries who summoned heroes to have to raise their taxes tremendously, so when the populus heard they were going to do another summoning they usually revolted against the king and took over. Well, even then the sheer number of heroes summoned made the remaining enough to take down a very good amount of demons, that¡¯s why there¡¯s a lot of artefact pieces above ground. The second scenario was that they started taking the world seriously, usually this happened after the heroes came in contact with the death of one of their close allies or when they barely escaped death themselves. These heroes realised how cruel this world was, they started putting their all into training themselves to become stronger while gathering equally strong and determined companions regardless how how attractive or unattractive said companions were. These heroes stopped talking about their old worlds, stopped talking using terms from their so called ¡®video games¡¯ and ¡®light novels¡¯, however even these guys refused to make anything from their own world, though no for the much more noble reason of not wanting to cause unnecessary bloodshed between humans once the demon had been vanquished. For these I coined the term true heroes, only heroes who actually acted like heroes yeah? And then finally there''s the third type of hero, though luckily there¡¯s only been one of these so far.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Remember when I said I accompanied one of the heroes as a companion? Well because of that he became something different than the other two kinds of heroes. Due to me being in his group he was able to brave many dangerous places and collect many lost artefacts that he then used to easily kill his assigned demon. I may be bragging a bit but the only reason everything went so well for him was because I had come along. The thing is, due to me he achieved this without maturing from the mindset of a false hero and because of this he did something no hero, neither male nor female, had ever done before. Unlike the true heroes who were fed up with fighting and chose to live the rest of their lives peacefully he decided to keep fighting. At this point he was strong enough so that the only ones who could possibly put up a fight against him were other demons, in other words the hero could do whatever he wanted to anyone else without them being able to say anything. After having played around thoroughly in the En kingdome he traveled north, he traveled to an area which hadn¡¯t been explored yet due to it¡¯s constant frigid climate and decided to create his own country while he chose himself to serve as the king of the new country which he named Norther. Although Norther hadn¡¯t been explored yet that didn¡¯t mean no one lived there, there were still many indigenous tribes of various beast-kins spread across the icy tundras, lakes and mountains which he forced to become a part of his country by using his overwhelming power as a successful hero. Enough of the details, basically this guy turned Norther from an icy dessert into one of the strongest countries using his power, however by the time he bit the dust due to old age he still hdn¡¯t decided which of his (at this point) hundreds of offspring would take the throne, this caused Norther devolve into what it is today, a constant struggle of force between his descendants for the position of king of the country made by the strongest hero to date. This guy did have a name, I just don¡¯t remember it, so instead I just call him king dumbass. ¡®Ah!¡¯ At this point I realized I had been standing still while thinking and talking to myself as though I was talking to an audience for a good number of minutes. When I realized that I remembered that I had something I needed to do and went out through the front door into the corridor and down the stairs to what looks like it would have been the ground floor, once I¡¯m there I walk towards a large brick wall. ¡®Uhm¡­ There¡­ There¡­ And there¡­ ¡® Having made up my mind I fly up next to the wall and touch one of the bricks. The brick in question fades away without making a sound. In the hole that was left after the brick I put one of the books pages that Ronnie had helped me get, after I did that the brick re-appeared and covered the page, I then flew over to two other places and did the same before heading home to my apartment, good old two-o-one. I didn¡¯t know what it said on the door since it was in Plush¡¯s and Shiona¡¯s language but I assumed it was the number assigned to the apartment and by using the other doors around as context I assumed it followed the pattern of having the floor the apartment was on followed by how close it was to the stairs, and since it was the closest to the stairs on the second floor I assumed it to say two zero one. I flew inside and ate a snack before heading back inside the bedroom, once there I started looking through the book that was on the desk once more. This was a book I had found only yesterday, it was inside a paper bag which was inside a cardboard box which was in the attic on the top floor. The box had writing on it that I didn¡¯t understand, however thanks to this book I later learned that it read ¡®childhood memories¡¯. Basically the book was a kids learning book. And yes, I felt embarrassed as all hell for someone who¡¯s a few thousand plus years old to read a book called ¡®baby¡¯s first (s)words¡¯. At least the joke was a good one, well, once I understood what it meant that is. As you can probably tell this book was about various bladed kinds of weapons, not sure who would buy an unexpectedly detailed book about swords for their kids when they live in the mostly peaceful world that all the heroes came from though. I had already read through a large number of these kids book, soon I¡¯ll be able to move onto ones that are meant for slightly older kids, if I¡¯m lucky I might even be able to find one about numbers so I can make sure which number my apartment actually has. The only way I could tell these were the first I should read back when I didn¡¯t know what they said was that they were made of soft fabric so that babies don¡¯t hurt themselves on any sharp edges. I then sank into a trance as I started cramming everything that the books said into my memory. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡®...Wait no! Fuck! I forgot!¡¯ I jumped down from the table and flew out to the door without even closing the book behind- ¡°Wait, no- Ah!¡± *thud* -only to realize that my wings had fallen asleep due to my bad reading posture and I fell to the floor my wings were assaulted by the feeling of bathing in metal shavings. I began to drag myself across the floor to the door while waiting for the cactus covering my wings to disappear. I couldn¡¯t get up since whenever I bent my back someone started throwing thistles at me. Even after reaching the door I still had to wait a few seconds for my wings to go back to normal before I could fly up to the door handle and open it, but once I did I immediately made a beeline for the first floor where I had put the books pages into the wall. In front of the wall there was a large blue image.
Enough power has been restored in order to further the recovery. You may choose one of the following: If you do not decide within [37 seconds] the decision will be made for you.
¡®Oh thank god I made it on time!¡¯ You have reset the automatic assignment timer.
Enough power has been restored in order to further the recovery. You may choose one of the following: If you do not decide within [40 days] the decision will be made for you.
¡®I really should turn that timer off, but then again last time I did that I forgot to do anything with the pages for ten years.¡¯ Last time I was here I had to restore Cy partially because I hadn''t collected enough pages to restore her fully, that¡¯s why the book can¡¯t manifest her outside properly. ¡®I¡¯m sorry Cy, but right now I need to prioritise.¡¯
There is only one inhabitant available for a full restoration. Do you wish to restore inhabitant Barry Greymoon? Restoring Barry Greymoon will require magic power equivalent to three collected pages. Leftover magic energy will be spent automatically within [40 days].
¡®Yes, I¡¯m certain.¡¯ I think as I try to catch my breath from flying her as fast as I could.
Inhabitant Barry Greymoon has been restored in room 203. Barry Greymoon will not awaken until you enter his room. Do you wish for the artefacts carrier to be aware of the new inhabitant? Leftover magic energy will be spent automatically within [40 days].
¡®Wait, there¡¯s more magical energy left?.... Oh yeah! the necromancer guy! And no, I will talk this out with Barry and explain the situation before I let Plush meet him.¡¯
Barry Greymoon will be kept hidden from the carrier until further notice. With the magical energy available you can do one of the below things. Leftover magic energy will be spent automatically within [40 days].
There is only one inhabitant available for a furthered restoration. Do you wish to fully restore behemoth spider Cy Tha Adel? Restoring Cy Tha Adel will require magic power equivalent to one collected page. Leftover magic energy will be spent automatically within [40 days].
¡®So there¡¯s enough magic power left to restore Cy, but I don¡¯t know¡­ Actually, sure. You never know when a mountain sized spider could come in handy. Just make it so that Plush can¡¯t actually summon her, if a behemoth spider suddenly appeared I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if some country decided to dust off the old hero summoning ritual.¡¯
Behemoth spider Cy Tha Adel of room 202 has been restored fully.. Behemoth spider Cy Tha Adel full restoration will be hidden from the carrier. Not enough leftover magic energy to spend on anything.
Having finished my business at the foyer I start flying over to room 203 while thinking about a few things. ¡®... Really though, for Plush to appear and bond with the artefact just as I finally recover enough of the artefact to restore its base functions¡­ It can¡¯t be a coincidence. Maybe the book¡¯s telling me to take a break?¡¯ I arrive in front of the room I¡¯m guessing is room 203 and open the door. Chapter 81 - Its Barry time -=Elizabeth POV=- ¡®I really don¡¯t want to do this.¡¯ Right now I¡¯m heading towards room 203, the room right next to mine, in order to talk to our new fr¡­ F¡­. Frie.... Ally, Barry Greymoon. ¡®Really that guy, even after all these fucking years I still can¡¯t make myself call him a friend.¡¯ Standing in front of door 203 I take a deep breath before opening it and entering. Obviously I was in my human form, if I show up as a sprite I would never hear the end of it. It would be like walking into a business meeting while wearing pyjamas. *creak* I open the door and walk inside, however as soon as I take my first step I stop. ¡®Right¡­ I forgot this was how he had it.¡¯ The inside if Barry¡¯s room was messy, as though a small tornado had come through, with the sofa having a large chunk missing from the side. And there were scorch marks everywhere, so a small fire tornado. But there was also a bunch of water damage, so a fire and water tornado. Somehow. *inhale* ¡°BARRY!¡± I shout, refusing to enter this place to search for him myself. In response I see one of the blankets laying on the sofa start shuffling about. ¡°Yes?¡± Responds a confused man as he erupts from a hole in the sofa which had been hidden by the blanket. ¡°Barry, we need to talk.¡± ¡°Over some tea I hope. I know it doesn¡¯t look very nice in here but come on in.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not taking another step.¡± For a moment I could see Barry¡¯s chin twitch. ¡°Oh come on Elizabeth, I¡¯ve changed. It¡¯s been, what,-¡± He looks over to a calendar attached to one of the walls. ¡°Five hundred years? Wow, really?¡± ¡°Ba-¡± ¡°Elizabeth, I¡¯ve had five hundred years to think, I¡¯ve changed.¡± ¡°Ba-¡± ¡°I¡¯ve also had five hundred years to learn how to make better tea ¡°Ba-¡± ¡°Ple-¡± ¡°Shut the fuck up Barry!¡± ¡°..:¡± ¡°Barry, I know how this book works, it may have been five hundred years for me but it hasn¡¯t even been a second for you, the only thing that¡¯s changed about you is apparently the quality of your slights.¡± Barry¡¯s chin twitches once more before he erupts. ¡°God fucking damnit woman!¡± The angry man (Barry) Walked up to me while breathing heavily. ¡°Ba-¡± ¡°You see this!?¡± Interrupts Barry, pointing right in front of my feet. Straining my eyes I saw a thin wire going across from wall to wall. ¡°All you needed to do was walk one more step!¡± He then uses a finger the pull the wire, when he does a bucket which was standing on the hat shelf fell and spilled a yellow liquid on the floor. *ssssss* And started melting the floor. ¡°Fuck! I really thought I had you this time!¡± ¡®Oh yeah, I never told him that killing people in the book doesn¡¯t work. Though that just makes each of his attempts at my life even more serious.¡¯ ¡°I was this close-¡± He holds his two hands close to each other, so close even a piece of paper would have a hard time falling through. ¡°-to finally getting control of the book!¡± ¡°Barry you know I¡¯m smart enough to not walk into your room.¡± ¡°Tch.¡± He then crosses his arms and sits down on the part of his sofa that¡¯s still intact. ¡°So? Whaddya want? You¡¯ve gotta have a helluva reason to wanna bring me back of all people.¡± ¡°Before that I have a question.¡± ¡°Go on then, aint got all day.¡± Responds Barry as he crosses his arms and impatiently starts tapping the floor with his foot *tap tap tap* ¡°Yeah well before the book put locked you up we didn¡¯t have these little apartments right?¡± ¡°Yeah, so?¡± *tap tap tap* ¡°So you¡¯ve only been here, in this apartment, for the few seconds it took me to get up here from the control panel.¡± *tap tap tap* ¡°Yeah?¡± *tap tap tap* ¡°How the fuck did you mess up your room this much in a matter of seconds!?¡± ¡°HA! Any wizard worth his salt needs to live in a bit of chaos and take pride in his battered home! T¡¯is the medal of my honour!¡± ¡®So kinda like how battle junkies take pride in their scars?¡± [AN: I almost typo¡¯d ¡®scars¡¯ into ¡®cars¡¯ and now I really want to make a battle junky character who¡¯s a car fanatic.] ¡°Anyways, I believe you remember Cy?¡± ¡°...Who?¡± ¡°The behemoth spider.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°The spider you tricked into making gadgets to use in your death traps.¡± He claps his hands together. ¡°Oh yeah! That lil feller! And?¡± ¡°Well right now she¡¯s the only other one here, as much as it pains me to say this, she can¡¯t leave the book yet.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Ooooh, I get it! You¡¯re feeling lonely and you want another companion is it? Don¡¯t tell me you fell in love with me? Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll take good care of y- Woah!?¡± While Barry was in the middle of his sentence I used magic to pick up a glob of the acid he tried to use on me and threw it at him. Which he evaded by jumping to the side and falling to the floor with a thud. ¡®As annoying as I knew Barry would be if I told him I need him, it¡¯s much better than how much he would pester me about letting Cy out of the book if he knew I could.¡¯ ¡°Geesh, I¡¯ve heard about tough love but this I can do without!¡± He says while picking himself back up from the floor. ¡°Shut it Barry.¡± ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± He responds while saluting, though for some reason it doesn¡¯t feel very respectful when it¡¯s coming from him. *sigh* ¡°The demons are getting stronger, as much as I wish it wasn¡¯t so I¡¯m going to need your help in the future.¡± ¡°The demons? Oh yeah, there was something like that in the contract, wasn¡¯t there¡­¡± He says while scratching his bearded chin. ¡°Hang on, since when did you get a beard?¡± ¡°This? Oh I¡¯ve always had it.¡± ¡°No, you really haven¡¯t.¡± He stops scratching his chin. ¡°Tch.¡± He clicks his tongue, pulls of his fake beard and throws it at me. Using magic I make the faux beard change directions and fly back to Barry. ¡°Oh no.¡± *BOOM* When the beard hit Barry it exploded into a multitude of various coloured flames. Once the smoke and flames clear Barry once more picks himself up from the ground, now with noticeably fresher scorch marks on his already pitch black robe. ¡°It¡¯s always amazed me how that robe of yours hasn¡¯t been burnt to cinders already.¡± ¡°Like it? Made from genuine fire dragon dro- sheddings.¡± He says while wiping some black stains off of his face. ¡®Was he just about to say droppings? I shouldn¡¯t have asked.¡¯ Barry then walks over to a desk and start mixing some liquids from different beakers. ¡°Okay, you want me to help you fight the demons, but what do I have to gain for it?¡± ¡°I dunno, how about I don¡¯t kick you out of here into the outside world permanen-¡± *poof* While Barry was mixing his beakers a large bright green cloud of gas blasts out, straight into his face. ¡°Tch, you bring a hard bargain.¡± *sniff sniff* ¡°Yeah this smells about right.¡± Barry says after taking a whiff of the green cloud. He then plugs up all the beakers except for the one the gas came out of, that one he covers the opening with his thumb and starts shaking it. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll come along and play with the big bad demons, hell, they might even make some good research subjects.¡± He then turns towards me and removes his thumb from the beaker, his shaking having caused the liquid inside to shoot out of the beaker towards me. ¡®Really now.¡¯ I wave my staff and cause the bright green liquid to fly back around and hit Barry¡¯s head from the side. *crash* This made him fall over to the other side. The side with the desk with all his beakers. *fwoosh* Safe to say, the contents of the beakers weren¡¯t very safe. *bang* ¡°Ha!-¡± Laughed Barry before being interrupted by a loud crackle. ¡°The robe-¡± *boom* ¡°-Insulated with authentic-¡± *rrrrr* ¡°-acid sacks!¡± Hardly half of what he said could actually be heard. ¡°Okay, have fun. Oh, and I¡¯m still not letting you leave the book yet. God knows what you¡¯d do if you met Plush..¡± I say before leaving his room and walking back to mine, leaving him and his love for self caused danger to himself. *click* Oh, and also I made the book completely lock his door. Just to be on the safe side you know? * * * * * -=A few hours later, 3rd POV=- (Fucking chapter 81 and it¡¯s my first time trying 3rd person. May it be a gentle first time.) Apartment 201. Sounds of cooking were coming from the kitchen. *click* *slide* Suddenly the window in the livingroom was opened from the outside ¡°Pst, y¡¯all want some health potions?¡± In through the opened window stepped a gangly old man wearing a soot black robe which covered his entire body, from neck to toe, and a very pointy cone hat which stood stiffly on end without drooping in the slightest, almost as if it was made of metal rather than cloth. This shouldn¡¯t need to be said, however the man¡¯s hat was just as sooty as his robe. ¡°I got the best health potions in the land, look at it.¡± The man picked out a red vial from somewhere in his robes and held it in his hand. ¡°Oh, and by potions I mean potion, I only got one. Oh hang on, that adds exclusivity¡­ Okay, change in price, now a hundred gold instead of seventy!¡± The man¡¯s common sense was obviously as bad as his ability to stay clean, even his first price of ¡®just seventy gold¡¯ was already incredibly overpriced. Also when the man went in through the window you could see his bare feet and hairy legs, leading any and all who saw him to believe he wore nothing underneath. He had short gray curly and disheveled hair, though the gray colour was covered by layer upon layers of more soot and various other residues from his¡­ explosive experiments. ¡°Or maybe you want a mana potion? Cuz I got a mana potion too. Premium quality y¡¯all.¡± The man then took out another vial, this one glowing blue rather than red. ¡°Wanna be a wizard? Well wha¡¯d¡¯y¡¯all need to a wizard? Mana! How do you get mana? A mana potion! Buy shit from me and become like me, an old wizard! Or maybe you should wait a bit with the old part actually...¡± The The man whose seemingly only magical aspect was his horrible sales pitch started walking towards the kitchen. ¡°To be a wizard a fuck ton of mana is a need, and I can deliver! Oh, and maybe also some weed¡­ Which I can also deliver by the way! Huh¡­ Need weed, that rhymes...¡± The man kept mumbling to himself as he started shuffling towards the kitchen while caressing his chin with one of his hands. *sniff sniff* ¡°Man, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s cooking but I bet it would smell great if I hadn¡¯t insulated my nose for all those trial and error sessions¡­¡± The man in question did still have a sense of smell, it was just very weak in order to not get overstimulated by all the noxious fumes from his experiments. ¡°What? Someone there? Sorry, I¡¯m trying to deep fry some octopus and the oil is very loud so I can¡¯t hear you,¡± Indeed, the closer the man, Barry Greymoon, got to the kitchen, the more he could hear the sizzling sound of oil, a sound he was surprisingly used to from his potion making days. ¡°Haaah¡­ A perfect sales pitch for all my produce¡­ Gone completely to waste because some twat decided to make fried octopus¡­ Wait, why the fuck would you fry octopus?¡± Barry walked into the kitchen and saw a small purple and black creature standing on a chair in front of the fancy white stove tending to a cast iron pot. ¡°Who the f-¡± *CRACK* Barry was about to ask the small purple creature who he was but was oh so rudely interrupted by an extra loud crackle of the oil. ¡°Fuck, I can never get used how much faster everything cooks in here.¡± The small purple creature¡¯s arm started to glow green as he put it into the pot of sizzling oil and took out a vaguely octopoid shaped piece of charcoal. *CRUNCH* He then bit into it. *munch munch* ¡°Well, there¡¯s a bit of octopus taste left, so I can at least use it as a quick snack if I ever need to.¡± The creature then took another octopus out of a large wooden bucket next to him and started to cover it in some dough looking substance before putting it down into the pot once more. ¡°Hello? You there, purple thing.¡± ¡°Just a mo¡¯, I need to pay attention to this.¡± Barry, not really sure how to initiate a conversation with people who didn''t absolutely hate him, sat down at the nearby table and started eating from a basket that was on the table. *munch munch* ¡°Is this¡­ Chicken?¡± Said Barry as he held a bread covered, deep fried piece of chicken in his hand. ¡°Nugget.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nugget, it¡¯s a chicken nugget.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Barry felt like he¡¯d been swallowed up in the pace of the purple creature, and he didn¡¯t like it one bit. ¡®Oh, I know how to fix this!¡¯ Having had a not-so-brilliant idea Barry snuck up behind the creature and tried to think of a way to cause a ruckus and, possibly, fourth degree burns. It was then that Barry saw that where the creatures black tail came out of his purple clothes the cloth looked like it had been ripped apart from the inside with broken strings dangling here and there. ¡°Hey, your clothes look like they¡¯ve seen better days.¡± Said Barry, once more assuming the nice-guy act he¡¯d tried to trick Elizabeth with. ¡°What?¡± The creature turned its head and looked at its back, using this opportunity Barry snatched the cast iron pot and threw its boiling oily contents at the creature before it had even seen what Barry looked like. ¡°Ack!¡± *thud* Only for the sizzling oil to once more come flying back at him and push him to the floor, though luckily for him pain was another sense he had artificially dulled for the sake of science. ¡°How the fu-¡± Barry looked up at the creature only to see that it had now been replaced by a very angry looking woman in a black hat and cape with her staff pointed at Barry. ¡°Oh fuck.¡± ¡°Oh fuck indeed.¡± Responded Lizz. Chapter 82 - -=Plush POV=- *yawn* ¡®Okay, that¡¯s it. I¡¯ve been laying here for several hours now but Shiona doesn¡¯t seem anywhere near waking up, I can¡¯t waste the entire day like this, especially not since the elves might be coming to pick us up today.¡¯ I start moving around a bit to try and get out of the living cage of feathers that is my girlfriend Shiona. ¡®Oh wait, we¡¯re going by ¡®married couple¡¯ instead of just ¡®couple¡¯ now aren¡¯t we? We should probably look up how to have a proper marriage in this world next time we get some down time.¡¯ *shuffle shuffle* ¡°No¡­.sususu¡­¡± As I tried to move around and loosen Shiona¡¯s grip on me she only started to hug me tighter, making it damn close to impossible to get out without waking her. ¡®Okay¡­ This is new¡­¡¯ And thus I stayed in the bed for even longer without getting out until I thought of a way to do it. ¡®... Lizz?¡¯ I asked, hoping for at least one the people in our little troupe to be awake. <...Yeah¡­?> Responded an exhausted voice. ¡®I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m kinda having trouble getting out of a tight spot, think you could help?¡¯ <*groan*... Fine¡­ But only if you make something tasty for me!> ¡®Okay, deal.¡¯ Following that Lizz and I switched places, she took over my body and made it shrink while I went inside the book and started thinking of what to make. Asked Lizz. ¡®Yeah?¡¯ ¡®Did you forget how phasing works? When I go through people they feel it.¡¯ ¡®Lizz?¡¯ <...uh?> ¡®It¡¯s going to take me a while to make the food so you can go back to sleep if you¡¯d like.¡¯ A short while after the sound of someone sleeping started our little chat ended and I was unable to hear her. ¡®Now what to make? What have I not tried yet?¡¯ I looked through the pantries in the kitchen, I¡¯d moved all the things that I used oftenly out of the fridge storage place for convenience, while I was thinking of stuff I could make with the things I saw. ¡®Flour? I guess I could make some more schnitzels, I¡¯ve only made them at that school place so the others haven¡¯t gotten to try it, but I don¡¯t know if I feel like it¡­ Sugar? We already had pancakes not too long ago¡­¡¯ And thus it went until every pantry and cupboard had been thoroughly searched and everything inside been denied. *sigh* ¡®Guess I¡¯ll look through the storage then.¡¯ I walked over to the fridge and entered it. ¡®Dragon? We¡¯ve already been eating too much dragon so let¡¯s take a break with that¡­ Hang on, what was this again?¡¯ As I was walking around in the cold storage I saw a number of large wooden barrels in the corner. ¡®... I forgot about these!¡¯ Inside the barrels were piles upon piles of squids and octopodes. [Fucking octopodes and their weird ass plural, they¡¯re not called octpuses or octopi but octopodes, why!?] ¡®Yeah! We haven¡¯t had squid since Krull! But how to cook them? I suppose I could try deep frying them¡­ Fried squid, that sounds good! And let¡¯s take some chicken while we¡¯re at it and make some nuggies as well!¡¯ And so I took two small wooden buckets, one with squids and octopodes and the other with chicken, and left the cold storage. ¡®Oops, almost forgot the eggs and oil, can¡¯t bread the nuggies properly without eggs.¡¯ And so I grabbed the last few things and started cooking. * * * * * *sizzle* *sizzle* ¡®...¡¯ *sizzle* ¡®Almost¡­¡¯ *CRACK* ¡®Fuck!¡¯ I hurriedly took out the charred remains of what used to be a squid, now only vaguely reminiscent of what it once was. ¡°God damn it!¡± I threw the squid-turned-charcoal into the empty bucket that used to have the chickens in it. ¡°Fucking hell, the nuggies turned out fine so why¡¯s the squid so fucking hard to cook!?¡± Then, using motions which had been practiced more than I¡¯d like to admit, I took an octopus, breaded it and put it in the boiling oil. *SIZZLE* ¡°-d a fuck ton of mana i-¡± *CRACK ¡°-ver! Oh, and maybe also so-¡± *SIZZLE* ¡±-r by the way! Huh¡­ Nee-¡± *CRACK*The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°What? Someone there? Sorry, I¡¯m trying to deep fry some octopus and the oil is very loud so I can¡¯t hear you.¡± Since it was a voice I didn¡¯t recognise I kinda wanted to go and see who it was¡­ But this here octopus was way more important. ¡°Who the f-¡± *CRACK* The other person had started to talk again, however I wasn¡¯t able to hear properly due to the oil and since I was busy taking out the hopefully perfectly fried octopus. Yet despite my inner prayer what came out of the pot was yet another charred piece. ¡°Fuck! I can never get used how much faster everything cooks in here!¡± I was about to throw it into the wooden bucket until I saw that the bucket was already spilling over with black inedibles. *CRUNCH* So I decided to try eating it, waste not want not yeah? Also this gave me the chance to chew as loudly as I wanted, a surprisingly good way to relieve anger. *munch munch* ¡°Well, there¡¯s a bit of octopus taste left, so I can at least use it as a quick snack if I ever need to.¡± Then I started to bread another octopus from the first bucket and put it down in the boiling oil. ¡°Hello? You there, purple thing.¡± ¡°Just a mo¡¯, I need to pay attention to this.¡± The stranger stopped talking and let me pay attention to my work and soon after I heard them start eating the chicken nuggies I¡¯d made earlier. *munch munch* ¡°Is this¡­ Chicken?¡± ¡°Nugget.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nugget, it¡¯s a chicken nugget.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± I kept standing right next to the pot and looking at the octopus, until now each of the octopodes had been going fine for the most part, but then suddenly they would shift straight from the golden brown colour that you want to pitch black charcoal. As I was staring intensely at the octopus I was reminded of Beaky from the school place. ¡®God, I need to ask what the school¡¯s actually called next time I¡¯m there, I can¡¯t just keep calling it ¡®the school place¡¯ now can I¡¯? ¡°Hey,-¡± Said the stranger, making me snap back to reality. ¡°-you¡¯re clothes look like they¡¯ve seen better days.¡± ¡°What?¡± Slightly confused by what the strange said I looked back at my, well, back. And then I saw my tail. While I was at the school place I thought the tail was just there due to something bonkers having happened with whatever had summoned me, but apparently not. The tail was still attached to my back, it had even torn a hole in my purple onesie as though it had grown just over night. ¡®Cy? I kinda need to get out again, is that fine? Okay thanks.¡¯ Before Cy was able to respond properly I changed place with her once more and found myself outside in the real world once more, just to make sure that the tail wasn¡¯t just something that appeared in the book, like how I¡¯m able to change my form back into a human while I¡¯m in there. ¡®Nope, still there¡­¡¯ The black lizard like tail was sticking out of my broken onesie as though it was proud of its work. *sigh* I looked over at the bed and saw Shiona still fast asleep so I sat down next to the table and prepared to write a small note. I sat there, a piece of paper on the table and a pen in my hand, when I noticed something off about my fingers. ¡®Oh for fucks sake¡­¡¯ Much the same way as my tail had broken through the back of my onesie so had my fingers broken through the onesie¡¯s¡­ fingers. Apparently they¡¯d also grown a bit during the night. With another *sigh* finished the note. I needed to go buy some supplies, see you when you wake up. -Plush Then I left the inn and headed off to Ike¡¯s place to buy a sewing kit. ¡®I¡¯m not good enough to be able to put a tail on the onesie but at least I can fix the edges of the tear so it doesn¡¯t grow bigger.¡¯ I once had one of my favourite shirts be ruined due to a small hole it had. At first I hadn¡¯t thought the hole would be any problem however once it got caught in a doorknob and ripped the whole shirt apart I quickly changed my mind. ¡®I¡¯ll at the very least prevent that from happening again. Actually, wasn¡¯t there something else I was going to do at Ike¡¯s place?¡¯ Notes Ask Alexander about the teleportation magic. ¡®Oh yeah¡­Good thing I wrote that down.¡¯ * * * * * *creak* Went the door to Ike¡¯s as I opened it and entered. *gasp* ¡°!¡± As soon as I entered I heard a gasp come from somewhere around, however I couldn¡¯t see from where. ¡°Hiiiii!!!¡± Came a squee-ing voice from behind me, however before I could react- ¡°Ack!¡± *thud* -I was hit from behind by a full body tackle from Ike. ¡°You came back!!!¡± She squeed as the force of her tackle made us slide across the floor. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I? This is a good store.¡± ¡°Why thank you! Also, I can¡¯t help but notice that Shiona isn¡¯t here, and your clothes look pretty tattered too. Did you two have a fight?¡± She asked, almost smiling towards the end. ¡°Nah, Shiona just stayed up a bit late yesterday so she¡¯s still asleep at the inn. As for my clothes I think I had a growth spurt overnight.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Ike responded, looking the saddest I¡¯d ever seen her so far. ¡°Well then, what brings you?¡± ¡°I was wondering if I could buy a sewing kit to try and fix my clothes with, and do you think you could let go soon?¡± While we had been talking we were still laying on the floor due to Ike¡¯s tackle. ¡°Aw¡­¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Fine¡­¡± While looking down Ike let go of me and got back up before starting to fidget with her hands. ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± I say while dusting myself off. ¡°But do you think we could hurry up and get to the sewing kit? I kinda want to fix this quickly so it doesn¡¯t get worse.¡± ¡°Alright,-¡± *ahem* ¡°-Ally!!!¡± Shouted Ike. ¡°Yes m¡¯lady.¡± Answered Alexander as he appeared from around a corner, most definitely by using his teleportation magic. ¡°Ally, could you help Plush here find some some sewing tools?¡± ¡°Yes m¡¯lady. This way Plush.¡± Thus I followed Alexander through as series of rooms and corridors until we came to a room which looked like the home of a professional tailor where I was allowed to choose which sewing needles and threads I wanted before buying. ¡°Will that be all?¡± Asked Alexander. ¡°Actually-¡± I take this opportunity to ask about the teleportation magic. * * * * * -=Elizabeth POV=- ¡°Okay, we¡¯ve had our fair share of differences.¡± ¡°A fuckload of differences.¡± I correct Barry. ¡°Okay, we¡¯ve had a fuckload of differences.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Was that going anywhere?¡± ¡°No, I was just stating facts. Ack! Stop throwing knives at me!¡± *sigh* ¡°Okay, I was going somewhere with it, I just wasn¡¯t sure how to get there.¡± ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°I want to go outside the boo-¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Oh come on! I¡¯ll even stay close to you so you can keep an eye on me...¡± *sigh* ¡°Fine, but you¡¯ll have to disguise yourself.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, a slime?¡± ¡°You mean those things we had as pets back in my time?¡± ¡°Yeah, well something happened and now they¡¯re monsters with proteins or enzymes or whatever that digest flesh.¡± ¡°Oh, you mean like pineapples?¡± ¡°What? N- Actually you know what? Fuck it! Sure, like pineapples." Chapter 83 - -=Plush POV=- ¡°You want me to tell you about my teleportation magic?¡± ¡°Sort of, yeah.¡± I had just finished buying the sewing needles and thread at Ike¡¯s and decided that I might as well take the opportunity to ask Alexander about his oh so handy spell that I witnessed the last time I was here. ¡°Okay, so let me get this straight: You want me to just tell you about my teleportation magic, the thing that makes taking care of the slave firm possible, the thing that lets me do all the shady things I need to do to keep both my and Ike¡¯s businesses going without her finding out.¡± ¡°Sort of, yeah. If you want me to pay for it I might be able to do that.¡± ¡°No merchant would give away the key to their success, especially not to someone who they have no way of knowing if they¡¯ll spread it to others. You must¡¯ve lived an easy life to think that you can get something just from asking for it with a bag of money in your hand.¡± ¡®Well to be fair that has worked ever since I came to this world.¡¯ ¡°Then what if I signed one of those magic contract thingies? To make sure I only use it myself I mean.¡± ¡°Ha! There are tens, no; hundreds of ways to bypass those. And even if you couldn¡¯t, did you not listen to me? I may have added the ¡®especially people who could share it¡¯ part to the end but that doesn¡¯t mean you can ignore what I said before that about not giving it to anyone.¡± ¡°Right¡­ But then what about some sort of magic tool with the spell on it?¡± ¡°So you can reverse engineer it? LIsten I appreciate the effort you¡¯re putting into getting this but you¡¯ll have to try way harder than that.¡± ¡°Ehm¡­ Well can I pay you for a two way trip to Eastern lake city at least? It¡¯s been awhile since I was there so I¡¯m kind of curious how things are going for my friends there.¡± ¡°Only if you leave everything you¡¯re carrying here.¡± ¡°Why?¡± I ask. ¡°There are ways to record magic being used in you, I¡¯ve had some acquaintances fall for that kind of trick before.¡± ¡°Okay, fair enough. And how much will it cost?¡± ¡°Fifty gold there, fifty gold back.¡± ¡°That¡¯s too expensive!¡± ¡°Yeah, how odd, it¡¯s almost like I don¡¯t actually want to do it.¡± *sigh* ¡°Fine, but is there anywhere I could put this stuff?¡± I asked while pointing at the book. ¡°Anywhere.¡± ¡°And how do I know no one will steal it?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t. But hey, you¡¯re the only to have anything to gain from this, I have no reason to want you to do it so either you take it or leave it.¡± In response to that I simply took off the book and tied it to a nearby support pillar for the roof after I took out an iridescent coin. Also I had made the book tighten its straps around the pillar enough for no one to be able to take it. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m ready.¡± ¡°God fucking damnit¡­¡± whispered Alexander. ¡±Alright, just give me the money and we¡¯ll go. But I¡¯m only gonna be there for fifteen minutes before we go back, time is money.¡± I gave Alexander the iridescent coin after which the ground below us started to glow blue and I soon found myself in one of the corners of the adventurers¡¯ plaza in the middle of Eastern lake city. ¡°Hurry up now, I¡¯m repeating myself but you¡¯ve only got fifteen min-¡± Before Alexander could even finish I had already started running to the adventurers¡¯ guild in the middle of the plaza. I lightly used phasing on my feet in order to go faster however I didn¡¯t want to show it fully to Alexander, though once went into a large mob of adventurers carrying their respective game to the guild I submerged myself in the ground to go as fast as possible. ¡®I could just go inside and say hi, but with how many adventurers are here I would probably be forced to help with booth duty and I don¡¯t have time for that. I¡¯ll just write a letter and leave it somewhere. How about Cathy¡¯s room? Since she does the paperwork she should have some paper and pens, err, quills?¡¯ And so I hurried to the side of the guild building and went up to the second floor where Cathy¡¯s room was. ¡®Oh¡­ Well let¡¯s try Hugh¡¯s room instead¡­¡± When I had gotten up to Cathy¡¯s window I decided that maybe it wouldn¡¯t be a good idea to try and write a letter in the same room as a couple¡­ ¡°exercising¡±. Luckily enough Hugh¡¯s room was empty. ¡®Guess they either finally managed to make him do booth duty or Joanne finally managed to teach him to cook. Either way works for me.¡¯ Thus I went inside by phasing through his window and wrote a letter about what we¡¯d been through, about Ronnie, the new magic I learned on the trip as well as a few of the less important things that would happen and where we would be going next.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m done.¡± I tell Alexander once I return to him. ¡°Tch, just barely on time.¡± He answered, still very much grumpy over having wasted precious time. After he said that the ground below us once more lit up with a familiar blue colour and we returned to Ike¡¯s store. ¡°Right then,-¡± I say while untying my book from the support pillar and picking it up. ¡°-thanks.¡± ¡°...Sure.¡± Then, as soon as I put the book on my back a nostalgic blue slip of paper came out from the pouch one one of the straps.
Ghostly haunting Ghosts have always been known to appear from certain places in folklore, so why shouldn¡¯t you be able to? Allows you to teleport to and from places associated with the appearance of ghosts, such as closets, beneath beds and at graveyards or morgues.. You can only appear somewhere during times when ghosts are thought to appear there, such as dusk or midnight. You can only appear in places you have a connection with, such as places you¡¯ve been or places where people you¡¯re acquainted with currently are.. You can only bring with you objects that ghosts in folklore are known to either take or leave during emergence or disappearance.
¡®Huh¡­ But what¡¯s with all these criteria? I don¡¯t understand most of it to be honest¡­ Shiona and Cy are smart so maybe they could help me figure it out later?¡¯ ¡°You sneaky little shit¡­¡± Came a frustrated voice from behind me. ¡°So that was your plan eh? Fucking hell I must be going soft to fall for something like that¡­¡± Said Alexander as he shook his head disapprovingly. ¡°What? N-¡± ¡°Shut it. I¡¯m really pissed off right now and your fake pity won¡¯t help. Just leave me alone and I¡¯ll recover and the for the sake of being a ¡®professional¡¯ I¡¯ll just pretend this never happened next time we meet alright?¡± ¡°Okay... But-¡± ¡°But what!?¡± Practically screamed Alexander. ¡®Good god, I must have fucked up real bad for him of all people to get this angry.¡¯ ¡°But I don¡¯t know what way to get out¡­¡± ¡°Oh for the love of-!¡± Then Alexander snapped his finger. ¡°Yes-men! Lead Plush outside!¡± ¡°Yes yes!¡± ¡°Yes yes?¡± ¡®Oh god no¡­¡¯ ¡°Enjoy.¡± Said Alexander with an evil grin as I was dragged off by the two small balls of flesh. ¡°¡±This way yes(!/?)¡±¡± I was pulled by the two small bouncing, mustached, lightly bearded, top hat wearing men by both my arms, and although I could escape by phasing through them that would only make it take longer for me to leave Ike¡¯s and thus take longer to get away from them. * * * * * ¡°Goodbye yes?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Right, right, bye.¡± I say exhaustedly as I¡¯m finally allowed to leave Ike¡¯s and walk away from the yes-men. On the way we actually passed Ike, she called out but gave up when she realised the yes-men weren¡¯t stopping for anyone. ¡®I suppose those yes-men fellows were actually a blessing in disguise then, honestly Ike kind of scares me.¡¯ I then started walking back to the inn while trying to make what had just happened seem like something positive. ¡®Oh yeah, I wonder whether Shiona and Ronnie are up yet? They¡¯ll probably be grumpy since I left them without any breakfast so maybe I should buy something on the way?¡¯ I think as I start following the Logholm pamphlet I got from the guild to the local marketplace. * * * * * ¡®Big stores like Ike¡¯s are good and reliable and all but when it comes to getting something cheap you can never quite beat places like this where the all the merchants have to battle amongst one another to have the best price for anything to get sold¡­ I¡¯m totally not just here to avoid going back to Alexander okay? Who am I even trying to convince with this¡­ Oh right, myself.¡¯ Thus I walked around the marketplace, avoiding the merchants that seemed like shady people or like they would freak out over thinking I¡¯m a blessed doll and bought a number of cooked foods, mostly grilled, and put them in the book¡¯s storage. ¡°This was a good haul.¡± I say to myself. ¡°That voice, is that you Plush?¡± ¡°! Fallis!?¡± ¡°Woah man, I know we all haven¡¯t met in a little over a month but no need to get so shocked.¡± Came the voice of Shro as he peeked out from behind her. ¡°Let him have his moment I say.¡± ¡®Kosei too!? I mean, I knew they were coming today or tomorrow but-¡¯ ¡°Why are you all selling pizza!?¡± All three of them were standing in a stall much like the other merchants and they were selling newly baked pizza which had been made on-site by the elves. ¡°And Kosei, aren¡¯t you the elf chief? Do you really have time to faff about making pizzas just a month after the necromancer incident!? And why are you making pizzas while wearing your armor!?¡± ¡°Hey, setting up this setting up the stall as well as kneading and rolling the dough is tough work, if the chief is willing to do it for us I¡¯m all for it.¡± Answered Shro as he took out a baked pizza from a stone oven. ¡°But that still doesn¡¯t explain why you¡¯re selling pizza in the first place.¡± They all looked at each other before both Shro and Kosei seemingly both agreed to look at Fallis who sighed and started explaining. ¡°Well¡­ We may not have packed enough fuel for the carriage, and we may or may not have also not brought enough money with us to buy more fuel¡­ So we may or may not have needed to earn some money to get the fuel which we may or may not be lacking...¡± ¡°I see¡­ Then what are the plans for today? Do we leave as soon as we have the fuel?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°All right, well you all seem to be doing fine so do you think you could come pick us all up when you¡¯re done? We¡¯re staying here btw.¡± I then hand Fallis one of the inn¡¯s commercial flyers which had been laying around in the reception, after handing it over I start walking away. ***grooooowl*** I stop in my tracks. ¡°A-actually Plush, we¡¯ve been here since morning without eating anything, d-do you think you could take over for a bit so we can fill our stomachs¡­?¡± She asks while putting one of her hand vertically in front of her face and smiling embarrassedly.. *Sigh* ¡°Fine, but I expect free pizza for me and my companions when we¡¯re done.¡± ¡°¡°¡°Thank you!¡±¡±¡± Shout all three at once. ¡®Lizz.¡¯ ¡®You still have that armband that lets you move far away from the book right? Could you fly back to the inn and tell the others to come here? You¡¯ll get some pizza if you do.¡¯ Lizz then flew out of the book, quickly greeted the elves and flew back to our inn, leaving me to make as much pizza as the three elves until they finished gorging themselves. ***munch munch munch*** Which didn¡¯t look like it was going to happen anytime soon by the way... Chapter 84 - -=Ronnie POV=- *knock knock* ¡°Ugh....¡± *knock knock* ¡°Fuck off¡­¡± *BANG* ¡°Oh fuck!¡± I shout as the sudden sound make me jump out of my bed. *thud* -or fall out of it to be more precise. ¡°Open the fucking window Ronnie!¡± ¡°Fucking fuck!¡± I shout at the little bug flying outside my window. ¡°No need to scare me like that alright!?¡± I pick myself up off of the floor and open the window to let the little bug fly inside. ¡°Fucking- what was that sound even?¡± ¡°That was me clapping two bricks together really hard.¡± (Think like a movie clapper but made of bricks and much much louder) ¡°Oh really, in that form?¡± I ask and gesture to her general lack of size. ¡°Magic.¡± ¡°...Right. Well did you want anything from me or did you just want to get inside?¡± ¡°I¡¯m supposed to go wake up Shiona but I have a few things I need to take up with you first.¡± ¡°Well you¡¯d better make it quick then, Plush¡¯ll probably not let you have any dessert today if he realizes you¡¯re dilly dallying.¡± I teased her. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine,-¡± She answered. ¡°-I¡¯ll just say the receptionist wouldn¡¯t let me in. With how he acted when you first got here I doubt they wouldn¡¯t believe me.¡± ¡°Suit yourself.¡± I say and shrug my shoulders ¡°Now then what did you want to talk about?¡± ¡°What I wanted to talk about is a new companion.¡± -=Shiona POV=- Someone knocks at the door. *knock knock* I respond. ¡°Ugh....¡± Correction, I almost responded. But they keep knocking *knock knock* ¡°Fuck off¡­¡± Then the knocking stops and I hear the voices of Ronnie and Lizz from outside. ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s going to wake her up? I mean, she obviously slept through it when you did it to me in just the other room.¡± ¡°That was magic, you¡¯ll see.¡± *BANG* ¡°Oh fuck!¡± I scream as the sudden sound make me jump out of my bed. *thud* -or fall out of it to be more precise. ¡°See? I told you it would work.¡± Said Lizz. ¡°You know this is all starting to feel really very familiar¡­¡± Commented Ronnie. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± I groaned to myself as I started to get up, though I stopped when I saw Litly hiding and shaking under the bed. ¡°Aw, did they scare you Litly? I¡¯ll make sure to nag them to death with some harsh words later okay? Plush is already out so I think it¡¯s about time to leave.¡± Litly seemed to calm down when I spoke and soon crawled out from the bed. ¡°Oh my, have you had a growth spurt or something?¡± Just yesterday Litly had been running in and under the bed without having to crouch or crawl at all. In fact when she came out from under the bed I could clearly see that she¡¯d grown in more ways thun just taller. Her platypus beak which was previously shaped like a wooden oar had grown sharper and was now shaped more like a trowel while her legs which were previously so small that her feet looked to be connected directly to her body, like a certain pink puffball, had now grown as long as her body was tall and her tail had grown longer. The webbing on her front feet had receded and now only covered half the distance of her toes, causing them to look more like the talons of a bird of prey rather than those of a duck, her hind feet on the other hand had grown more fur so that it covered parts of her feet. Much like a platypus she still looked like someone threw a furred animal and a bird together, only difference being that now it looked less like a beaver mixed with a duck and more like a lynx kit mixed with a falcon, she¡¯d even grown a pair of pointy ears, and although she didn¡¯t have wings like a falcon she did have two very long feathers coming out of her back where you¡¯d expect wings to sprout had she been a gryphon.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Aw, you¡¯re starting to really take after me!¡± I exclaimed and started to pet her head, in response she closed her eyes and started to nuzzle my hand while letting out a sound similar to the sound of a cat purring mixed with a bird chirping. ¡°Guess we weren¡¯t quite right about you guys just being the same as a normal platypus¡­ And say, those claws of yours look like they¡¯ve gotten awfully sharp so I don¡¯t think we can let you onto the bed anymore until we find out whether they¡¯re venomous.¡± *whine* ¡°Oh don¡¯t look at me with those eyes, you know male chimeras have venom so it¡¯s not that far of a fetch to say you might have some to.¡± Litly seemed to get a little depressed when I said that but still got inside my shoulder bag before I left the room. ¡°Morning master. Lizz came in a little earlier and told me something about elves arriving and that we¡¯re going to be leaving Logholm today.¡± Said Ronnie. ¡°Good morning to you to Ronnie, this means we don¡¯t have to extend our stay at the inn either.¡± ¡°...You sound a lot less tired than someone who was just woken up, don¡¯t tell me you were just faking your sleep!?¡± Rather than simply greeting me Lizz decided to accuse me. ¡°Well I¡¯m so sorry for not being tired after you just scared me half to death.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not buying it.¡± *pok* Came a sound as Ronnie flicked Lizz¡¯s forehead. ¡°I figured it¡¯d be kind of hard for you do that with your feathers and all.¡± ¡°Thanks Ronnie.¡± ¡°Uhh¡­¡± Cried Lizz while Ronnie and I started walking out of the inn. ¡°By the way do you know where Plush is Ronnie?¡± ¡°Yup, Lizz told me earlier, apparently he¡¯s helping the elves make pizza at the marketplace.¡± ¡°Pizza huh? That sounds like it would be good for breakfast.¡± I said, blissfully ignoring everything I¡¯d learned about eating healthily in the other world before we went downstairs and left the inn. ¡°Which way is the marketplace again?¡± ¡°This way!¡± Shouted Lizz who finally caught up to us after snapping out of the shock from Ronnie¡¯s forehead flick. ¡°Okay, lead the way Lizz.¡± Lizz then started flying ahead while Ronnie and I leisurely walked behind her. * * * * * ¡°Is that it?¡± I ask Lizz as I saw a peculiarly overwhelmed market stall. ¡°Yup! Though there weren¡¯t this many people here when I left¡­¡± Responded Lizz. ¡°Well it shouldn¡¯t be too hard to get there.¡± Said Ronnie. ¡°You two can just fly while I shove my way through, I doubt anyone would have any objection.¡± Said Ronnie. ¡®But that¡¯s pretty rude isn¡¯t it?¡¯ Was what would be going through my mind hadn¡¯t the smell of freshly made pizza decided to wander over to us. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do that.¡± I said while wiping the drool off of my face. Can you really blame a girl? I it¡¯s well past midday and I haven¡¯t eating since yesterday evening. -=Plush POV=- Roll the dough. Put tomato sauce and cheese on it. ¡°Plush?¡± Chop some onions and put them on. ¡°Plush?¡± Some ham- ¡°Plush!¡± ¡°!¡± *CLANG* ¡°Are you okay Plush? I¡¯ve been trying to talk to you for a while now?¡± I pick up the knife that I¡¯d dropped on the floor and look up to see Shiona in the way-too-big crowd outside the stall. ¡°Shiona? Why are you here?¡± ¡°What do you mean why am I here? You had sent Lizz to come get me!¡± ¡°I did?¡± I ask and look at Lizz who nods in response. ¡°Huh¡­¡± ¡°Plush you¡¯re kind of starting to worry me a bit, are you okay?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, I¡¯m fine-¡± ¡°Where¡¯s my order!?¡± ¡°Coming right up!¡± ¡®Now where was I? Right, the ham!¡¯ I start cutting up the ham and- ¡°Okay that¡¯s it, you¡¯re coming with me to take a break.¡± ¡°What? But the order-¡± Before I can even finish explaining why I can¡¯t leave work right now Shiona gestures to Ronnie who suddenly appeared out of the crowd, Ronnie then reached over the counter, grabbed me and pulled me out of the stall and¡­ well thinking back on it something really must have been up because I¡¯d completely forgotten that I could use phasing to get out and return to work. * * * * * ¡°Are you feeling any better yet?¡± ¡°Yeah, thanks Shiona.¡± Right now we were all sitting around a lone tree on a small hill right outside the city. Actually there were a lot of people out here but there were also a lot of small hills with lone trees on them. It was definitely man made to be a relaxing place, but is it really a bad thing that it¡¯s not natural? It¡¯s definitely a lot more relaxing this way than if everyone out here had to huddle together around a single tree at least. ¡°What happened to you back there?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure... All I remember is that suddenly the customers were coming in much faster than normal¡­ And then everything just sort of happened.¡± ¡°Everything?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°No I mean¡­ What do you mean by everything?¡± ¡°Uhm, the toppings, putting the pizza in the ovens and then taking them out¡­ Everything.¡± ¡°So by everything you just mean the pizza?¡± ¡°I think.¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡®I think¡¯?¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not sure¡­ It¡¯s just I¡­ Hang on no¡­ I¡­ I really don¡¯t know how to explain it but¡­ When all the customers starting coming in and the work got more and more hectic stuff just started happening¡­ Like, I would look at the dough, then I would blink and the next moment the dough was already rolled out in a perfect circle, then I could look at the sauce and suddenly the sauce was on the dough¡­ You saw it too right? It happened while you were there as well.¡± ¡°Plush what are you talking about? I saw you rolling the dough and cutting all the toppings yourself.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡®That can¡¯t be.¡¯ I thought, but then I vaguely remembered that right before the first time it had happened I had caught something blue in the corner of my eye. At the time I had been so surprised by the food cooking itself that I completely forgot about it. I took the book off of my back and quickly opened it while begging for the answer to be as simple as this.
The working dead Undead, be they spirits or walking corpses, have long since been thought to be the ultimate workforce, never tiring neither physically nor mentally. This skill allows the user to temporarily put aside their mind while performing monotonous tasks which have already been thoroughly ingrained into the user¡¯s mind in order to let the user rest their mind. Being woken up from this state by outside influence can cause great confusion and stress to manifest within the user.
...and miraculously it really did end up being that simple. I showed the page to everyone around, to which Shiona responded with a loud ¡°Ha!¡± when she read the title of the skill while the others looked relieved. Chapter 85 - -=Plush POV=- A short while later Shiona and I were still sitting under the tree while everyone else had huddled up and taken a nap on the other side of the same tree. Well, other than Litly who was still in Shiona¡¯s bag and Buddy who was still sitting in Shiona¡¯s hair. ¡°Man,-¡± Started Shiona. ¡°-I wish I had a skill like that back on earth, would¡¯ve made cleaning the room so much easier.¡± There¡¯s been a lot of things that Shiona have been saying since we came to this world that I haven¡¯t understood but just this once she actually said something that I could completely agree on without misunderstanding anything. ¡°Speaking of skills-¡± I say and show Shiona another page of the book.
Ghostly Haunting Ghosts have always been known to appear from certain places in folklore, so why shouldn¡¯t you be able to? Allows you to teleport to and from places associated with the appearance of ghosts, such as closets, beneath beds and at graveyards or morgues.. You can only appear somewhere during times when ghosts are thought to appear there, such as dusk or midnight. You can only appear in places you have a connection with, such as places you¡¯ve been or places where people you¡¯re acquainted with currently are.. You can only bring with you objects that ghosts in folklore are known to either take or leave during emergence or disappearance.
¡°-I was wondering if you could help me understand what this means?¡± ¡°Hang on, let me see that.¡± Answered Shiona and took a look in the book (AN: I¡¯m so sorry) She seemed to read through it a couple of times before looking up and saying- ¡°I think I understand, but I¡¯ll need someone¡¯s help to know exactly what you¡¯ll be able to do with it.¡± ¡°Anything I can help with?¡± ¡°No, I need someone from ¡®here¡¯.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Speaking of ¡®here¡¯, we still don¡¯t know what this place is called do we?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Anyways,-¡± Shiona brought the conversation back on track. ¡°-think back to when you were little, where you ever scared of ghosts or monsters appearing from under your bed or inside your closet?¡± ¡°Well I had a shelf for clothe rather than a closet and I always stored crates of Lego under my bed so there was never any room, so I didn¡¯t really worry that much about that.¡± ¡°Tch, lucky¡­ Anyways you¡¯ve heard stories about ghosts and monsters appearing from there at least right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Well this skill would let you teleport from places like that, under peoples¡¯ beds and within their closets to other beds and closets, or anything else that you hear about ghosts appearing. Well, as long it¡¯s near someone you know and it¡¯s night or halloween or something.¡± ¡°I see. But why do you need help, it sounds like you already know what it does.¡± ¡°Well the thing is that we don¡¯t really know a lot of ghost stories from ¡®here¡¯ now do we? What if ghosts are seen completely differently here than they were back home, like, I dunno, maybe ghosts appear from holy or comforting places like churches or stuff instead of scary places like damp forests and caves.¡± ¡°Do you really think that that¡¯s a thing?¡± ¡°What, do you have something on your mind?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s just that¡­¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Well all the ghost stories and fairytales back home were made for a reason right? Like stories that were made to scare kids from doing things that could harm them like running into forests at night. I mean, it¡¯s not like they were made completely by chance, humans made them for a reason so they shouldn''t be that different.¡± ¡°Maybe, but keep in mind that, ghosts actually exist in here, who knows what kinds of things they¡¯ve done over the centuries that have gone down into folklore and fairytales and changed them.¡± ¡°... I suppose¡­¡± ¡°Well now that we¡¯re done with that I¡¯ve got to ask; what happened with your finger? And how long have you had that tail?¡± Shiona asked and took a sip out of a mug of water. ¡°Ah¡­ Ah!¡± *Pfff* ¡°Wh-what!? Did something happen!?¡± ¡°Today has been to eventful, I completely forgot to tell you what happened yesterday while you guys were gone¡­¡± ¡°Wait something happened yesterday!? Did someone break in while we were gone!?¡± ¡°No no, calm down a bit-¡± Then I told Shiona about that the school which I still didn¡¯t know the name of, about what happened during the opening ceremony, the goat girl, Beaky, Bob and K¡¯mill as well as what happened after I came back and woke up. ¡°Fucking hell. Basically you¡¯re saying you¡¯ll be awake eight hours longer than us every night from now on?¡± ¡°I certainly hope not, K¡¯mill said teachers only really held classes for about four hours, the rest of the day the students were left to self study.¡± ¡°Self study? They really think that students are going to study on their own?¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Well who knows, though I only met one student so I don¡¯t really know what they¡¯re like but apparently only the most promising students were allowed to come study at this place, the cream of the crop or whatever, so they should be able to handle themselves¡­ I hope¡­ Well that aside what were you and Cy up to yesterday?¡± ¡°Uhm, well¡­ We may have sort of raided the royal castle for hidden treasure¡­?¡± *sigh* ¡°Well that aside!¡± ¡®That¡¯s not something you can just say ¡®that aside¡¯ about!¡¯ I wanted to retort but held it back. ¡°You said something earlier about a voice of someone you didn¡¯t recognise while you were in the book, did you ever check if anyone new showed up on that familiar list?¡± ¡°No, I guess I probably should.¡± ¡°Yup.¡± *flap flap* Eager to please as always the book which was still in my hands opened to the page I wanted on its own.
Familiars Due to various circumstances these creatures have become one with the Book of Knowledge, you can either summon them as companions or temporarily gain powers depending on the familiar. Mutated Human (Elizabeth) Behemoth Spider (Cy Tha Adel) Tropical Acid Slime (Barry Greymoon)
¡°Barry Greymoon?¡± ¡°Why, what a fancy and pompous sounding name. I betcha he¡¯s a right twat.¡± I could hear Lizz chuckling to herself from the other side of the tree we¡¯re all leaning on but I decided to ignore it. ¡°Should I try bringing him out?¡± ¡°Well maybe you should try just talking to him normally first, you know like you sometimes do with Lizz and Cy. ¡°Good idea¡­¡± I stopped talking. ¡°Did something happen?¡± Asked Shiona, however I was too surprised by what a saw to give an immediate response. ¡°... What happened to Litly?¡± From Shiona¡¯s shoulder bag Litly emerged drowsily and rested her head on Shiona¡¯s lap. ¡°Oh, that. Yeah I¡¯m not sure what caused it but I think she had an overnight growth spurt.¡± ¡°...Okay? I don¡¯t remember there being anything about something like that in the chimera book we bought back in Eastern lake city¡­¡± ¡°I guess they really were ripping us off then huh?¡± ¡°Probably.¡± ¡°Either that or we discovered something new, wouldn¡¯t that be nice?¡± ¡°It would be nice, sure, but she¡¯s just grown a bit though? I mean, how could no one else have discovered they they grow bigger when they get older?¡± ¡°Well that depends, what if it wasn¡¯t just normal growth?¡± ¡°Shiona you know I¡¯m not savvy with all this fantasy stuff, please just tell me what you mean.¡± ¡°Aw, you¡¯re no fun¡­ But fine, what I mean is: what if we did something to cause this?¡± ¡°And that something would be?¡± I asked, still very tired after what happened today. ¡°Well that is the question isn¡¯t it? Maybe it has something to do with the meat we let her eat at Biff¡¯s beef yesterday? Well enough of that, we still need to find out more about this Barry fellow and you still need to fix your clothes, I¡¯d help but you now I suck at sewing.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± ¡®I¡¯ve never spoken properly to Barry before so I don¡¯t really know what to expect, but it¡¯s worth a shot right? Barry?¡¯ I asked, hoping someone was going to respond. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Then finally came an answer. <*snore*> ¡°Shiona I think he¡¯s sleeping.¡± ¡°Really? Do slimes even need to sleep?¡± ¡°How should I know? I¡¯m not the fantasy fan here.¡± ¡°Fair enough, I guess we¡¯ll just wait with meeting Barry then.¡± ¡°Yeah, and I suppose we should probably go meet the elves again as well, we never really decided when we were going to leave.¡± I get up from where we were sitting and call to the others on the other side of the tree. ¡°Ronnie, Lizz, it¡¯s time to go.¡± I say, but I don¡¯t receive any response so I look to the other side of the tree and see- ¡°...su¡­¡± -Lizz sleeping on top of a sleeping Ronnie. ¡°Well,-¡± I say and look to Shiona. ¡°- I still need to fix my clothes and there¡¯s no time like the present right?¡± I sit back down with Shiona and take out the sewing kit to start fixing my clothes. Also while doing that I found out it¡¯s very convenient to have cloth fingers which don¡¯t bleed when you accidentally prick yourself with a needle. * * * * * ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ *clip* ¡°...There we go, all done.¡± I say as I make the final cut on the final string after finishing the final seam on my purple onesie. ¡°Now then, shall we get going?¡± I then ask everyone else. Lizz and Litly both yawn before going back to sleep and being picked up by Shiona and Ronnie respectively. ¡°Right, think the elves are still in the market selling pizza?¡± Asks Shiona as she carefully puts Litly inside her shoulderbag. ¡°Should be,-¡± Answers Ronnie before smelling the air. ¡°-I can still smell the freshly baked pizza all the way over here.¡± ¡°Well let¡¯s go then shall we?¡± I ask once more, both Shiona and Ronnie nod and we start walking back the way we came. * * * * * ¡°Hey.¡± I greeted the elves as we returned. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re back, right on time as well.¡± Answered the still armor wearing Kosei. Shiona and Ronnie seemed to up their guard, possibly worried Kosei was going to put me on pizza duty again, however- ¡°We just finished making everything we needed, made enough money for the fuel as well as a bunch for the trip. In fact, we were in the middle of packing everything up and I was just about to send Shro here to find you.¡± ¡°What!?¡± Shouted Shro seemed to have just finished packing everything away and had just sat down to rest. ¡°Oh calm down, they came on their own so no worries.¡± ¡°Easy for you to say¡­¡± ¡°Anyways-¡± Said Kosei and turned back to us. ¡°we just finished preparing and we¡¯re ready to go whenever you are.¡± ¡°We¡¯re pretty much done as well, or at least I think so.¡± I say and look to Shiona and Ronnie. Lizz was still sleeping on Ronnie¡¯s head so she couldn¡¯t really answer. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t have anything else I need to do here.¡± ¡°Me neither.¡± Answered both of them, in response the two elves start walking and we follow them to their carriage. Fallis was already inside when we entered. Specifically she was dead drunk on the table. ¡°Alright Shro, you remember the bet.¡± ¡°Bet?¡± Asks Shiona. ¡°Yeah, we settled who was going to drive us back to the village after we picked you guys up, you can probably guess it but Shro here lost.¡± ¡°No I didn¡¯t, My brother Rosh lost but apparently him having a wife back home gave him an excuse to stay and not have to drive for three days.¡± ¡°Yes and then we made another bet, which you lost.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you cheated! You buffed that seagull with magic!¡± ¡°When did I ever say we couldn¡¯t use magic? Well enough of this, we¡¯re wasting time so let¡¯s go already!¡± Answered Kosei, to which Shro grumbled loudly and Fallis snored. I felt tempted to ask what they had made the seagull do however I decided to refrain. Chapter 86~ish -=Plush POV=- ¡°Right then.¡± Said Fallis and put her hands together.. She woke up a few hours after we¡¯d departed from Logholm, miraculously without a hangover despite the large number of empty metal cans next to her. As you can probably guess by the whole ¡°A few hours after we departed¡± thing we¡¯d long since left logholm, in fact we¡¯d traveled longer than I had expected us to since it only took a day to get from big city to big city by foot, the again I suppose I may just be a bit to used to normal cars and how fast they can go on motorways back home. Anyways, back to what Fallis was saying: ¡°Since we have someone new here let¡¯s introduce ourselves.¡± After saying so she looked over at Ronnie who wasn¡¯t paying very much attention to anything other than the carriage itself. Shiona poked her with her shoulder. ¡°Oh, sorry. What did you say?¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t met you before so I said we should all introduce ourselves so we know what to call one another.¡± Ronnie shrugs her shoulders. ¡°Fair enough. I¡¯m Ronnie.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Hello Ronnie, I¡¯m-¡± ¡°Fallis right? The guy who fell over drunk while still wearing his armor is Kosei and the guy driving with a topknot is Shro. Plush and Shiona told me.¡± Ronnie then stopped paying attention to Fallis again and started looking around the carriage once more. Fallis blanked out for a second but after coming back to her senses she asked Shiona: ¡°Is she always this rude?¡± ¡°I heard that!¡± Interrupted Ronnie before Shiona could answer. ¡°But are traps gay tho?¡± Responded Shiona without minding Ronnie¡¯s comment. ¡°I''ll believe that when I see it.¡± Muttered Fallis before opening yet another beer can while grimacing. ¡°Say, mind if I have one of those?¡± Asked Ronnie, grabbing a can out of the pile without waiting for Fallis to answer. *glug glug gulp* ¡°Fucking what is this!? CANNED WATER!?¡± Shouted Ronnie, almost as if she had been personally insulted by the seemingly poor quality alcohol. ¡°How the fuck does anyone get drunk from this!?¡± ¡°I''ll have you know, missy, that us elves have been perfecting our beer for decades!¡± ¡°Well you''ve done a right rubbish job then haven''t you!?¡± Then, once more ignoring Fallis, Ronnie opened the door leading outside the carriage and heaved herself on top of it, leaving us all quite speechless. Except for Kosei of course, he was still mumbling drunkenly in his sleep. ¡°Well¡­¡± Said Shiona. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen her react like that to¡­ Well to anything before.¡± ¡°Maybe bad alcohol killed her parents?¡± We all turn and stare at Shro. ¡°What? I¡¯ve been fueled by nothing but coffee and stress for the past three days so just this once let me have my fun!¡± Chapter 86-proper + important info -=Plush POV=- ¡°Right then.¡± Said Fallis and put her hands together. She woke up a few hours after we¡¯d departed from Logholm, miraculously without a hangover despite the large number of empty metal cans next to her. As you can probably guess by the whole ¡°A few hours after we departed¡± thing we¡¯d long since left Logholm, it had already turned dark outside, quite a while ago at that, and we¡¯d traveled long enough for me to start missing the convenience of normal cars and how fast they went motorways back home. I suppose I should be grateful it took this long before I started being homesick eh? Not sure why it took this long but I¡¯d definitely say it¡¯s a good thing though. Anyways, back to what Fallis was saying: ¡°Since we have someone new here let¡¯s re-introduce ourselves.¡± After saying so she looked over at Ronnie who wasn¡¯t paying very much attention to anything other than the carriage itself. Shiona poked her with her shoulder. ¡°Oh, sorry. What did you say?¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t met you before so I said we should all introduce ourselves so we know what to call one another.¡± Ronnie shrugs her shoulders. ¡°Fair enough. I¡¯m Ronnie.¡± ¡°Hello Ronnie, I¡¯m-¡± ¡°Fallis right? The guy who fell over drunk while still wearing his armor is Kosei and the guy driving with a topknot is Shro. Plush and Shiona told me.¡± Ronnie then stopped paying attention to Fallis again and started looking around the carriage once more. Fallis blanked out for a second but after coming back to her senses she asked Shiona: ¡°Is she always this rude?¡± ¡°I heard that!¡± Interrupted Ronnie before Shiona could answer. ¡°She¡¯s actually really nice once you get to know her, albeit in her own way.¡± Responded Shiona without minding Ronnie¡¯s comment. [AN: Okay yeah I know putting an AN in the middle of the chapter like this can be distracting but I thought anyone reading might enjoy a little story, you see while I was writing this at school someone seems to have pranked me without me knowing and replaced what Shiona said here with ¡°But are traps gay tho?¡±, I¡¯m very lucky one of the readers noticed it and told me it didn¡¯t fit when I uploaded the preview of this chapter last week. Thanks for your attention, feel free to carry on.] ¡°Bah, I''ll believe it when it happens.¡± Muttered Fallis before opening yet another beer can while grimacing. ¡°Say, mind if I have one of those?¡± Asked Ronnie, grabbing a can out of the pile without waiting for Fallis to answer. *glug glug* *gulp* Shiona stopped moving for a second and just stared at the can like someone judging a painting. ¡°Fucking what even is this!? CANNED WATER!?¡± Shouted Ronnie, almost as if she had been personally insulted by the seemingly poor quality alcohol as she threw the can at the floor *clang*. ¡°How the fuck does anyone get drunk from this!?¡± ¡°I''ll have you know, missy, that us elves have been perfecting our alcohol for decades!¡± ¡°Well you''ve done a right rubbish job then haven''t you!?¡± Then, once more ignoring Fallis, Ronnie opened the door leading outside the carriage and heaved herself on top of it, leaving us all quite speechless. Except for Kosei of course, he was still mumbling drunkenly in his sleep. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen her react like that before¡­¡± Said Shiona. ¡°Maybe bad alcohol killed her parents?¡± We all turn and stare disapprovingly at Shro. Even Kosei looked at Shro this time, although it wasn¡¯t a conscious effort, instead he had just shuffled around in his sleep and just so happened to now be facing Shro¡¯s general direction. ¡°What? I¡¯ve been fueled by nothing but coffee and stress for the past three days so just this once let me have my fun!¡± Responded Shro to our disapproving gazes before turning back to the wheel and continuing to drive while Shiona and I wracked our brains trying to figure out what just happened. We would¡¯ve asked Fallis & co. about this world¡¯s ghost stories but right now we were a bit too worried about our friend. -=Ronnie POV=- ¡°Geesh, you really flew out in a rage didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Oh shut up.¡± ¡°Now why would I do that? Because you asked nicely?¡± She responded before snickering at me. I was sitting up on top of the carriage talking to a certain flying misfit who had snuck into my clothes and followed me up here. ¡°You know, Shiona and Plush didn¡¯t follow you up because they thought that since you¡¯d already put some effort into going away from everyone, well, almost everyone, that you¡¯d want some time alone, and right now I¡¯m starting to think the same.¡± ¡°Some fucking genius you are.¡± I responded before laying down in between the sharp spikes the carriage was covered in with my arms behind my head. ¡°If you¡¯ve already realized I want to be alone then bugger off would you?¡± ¡°Oh Ronnie you know I¡¯m not as needlessly nice as the people below us, so I¡¯m staying.¡± Lizz then laid down on the roof next to my head in the same posture as me. ¡°Well suit yourself.¡± I responded and resumed watching the stars, finally having some peace and quiet. It also didn¡¯t hurt that the temperature out here was just the right kind of chilly for stargazing. ¡­ ¡­ I¡¯ll be honest I¡¯m not even really sure myself why I got so angry over the shitty alcohol, but if I had to guess it¡¯s gotta be a remnant of when the slave dealers tried to train me to be a wine taster, back then they would try to get me to learn all sorts of things just to make me more appealing to any potential buyers. ¡®I suppose in some twisted way I should be thankful since other than this one time this knowledge has helped me help Master and Plush quite a lot.¡¯This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ...ZZZzzz. -=Plush POV=- ¡®Well, here I am again.¡¯ I think to myself as I¡¯m once more sitting on the lush green lawn around the academy, the slithering snake-way and rainbow forest both still just as present as yesterday. After Ronnie¡¯s outburst the mood had soured a bit and we¡¯d decided to go to sleep, thus leading me to once more come back here when the clock struck twelve. Not that I¡¯ve ever actually seen a clock here, but they still seem to talk about time in hours so they should have them in one way or another. ¡®Anyways, I have no idea what my schedule for the day is so I should probably try to find that out.¡¯ Looking down at myself I saw that unlike last time I was actually wearing my purple onesie, and although I wasn¡¯t sure why it was the way it was but I could always guess, but in addition to my onesie I also had my trusty magic book in my left hand which was going to be very useful. Such as, maybe it¡¯s because I was prepared for it this time? Maybe something had simply gone wrong last time? If I tried hard enough I could probably think of loads more reasons for this to have happened but I decided not to bother since for all I know I might already be late. * * * * * *knock knock knock* ¡°Come in.¡± ¡­ ¡­ The only answer I got when I knocked on the door to K¡¯mill¡¯s office was from the fake principal¡­ Or was it the second principal? Either way K¡¯mill didn¡¯t answer so Simply opened the already unlocked door and entered it the room which had once more been painted pitch black. At first I had gone to the teacher¡¯s lounge however neither people nor schedules were there so I had to go here instead. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just you.¡± Sounded K¡¯mill¡¯s voice from inside the room before the black walls seemed to melt and form into K¡¯mill standing in the middle of the room. ¡°Hey K¡¯mill.¡± ¡°Hey Plush, shouldn¡¯t you be having an introduction with the students right about now?¡± ¡°Well I dunno, should I?¡± I ask while shrugging my shoulders. ¡°You ever gave me a schedule.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t? Musta missed it after you fussed so much about salary.¡± K¡¯mill then moved behind her desk and opened a drawer. ¡°Hey now I distinctly remember you fussing just as much about lowering my pay as I fussed about raising it.¡± ¡°That so? Well anyways here¡¯s your schedule. Now hurry along before the students grow bored and leave the classroom.¡± I open the door and exit K¡¯mill¡¯s room only to once more see the¡­ second principal¡­ still sitting at his desk doing paperwork. I turn back to K¡¯mill. ¡°At some point you¡¯re going to have to tell me what¡¯s up with this guy.¡± ¡°Well I could tell you now but do you really have the time?¡± All things considered I sort of had to agree with her on me not having the time right now, and because of that I turned away from her once more, ignored the ¡°second principal¡± who asked who I was and where I came from, and hurried out of the room to try and find my way to the classroom. I look down at my wrist. ¡®Well I¡¯ve still got this band thing that Bob gave me.¡¯ I thought. ¡®That means the building itself is going to help me find my way right?¡¯ I turned a few more corners while hoping for this to be true before shortly finding myself in front of a door. In one of the corners above the door was a small metal plate which read ¡°O-37¡±. According to K¡¯mill every room in this school, which I now realize I still don¡¯t know the name of by the way, had a small plate similar to this one with a room number on them. Apparently on occasions where the students had pulled all nighters and were tired the following day whatever is controlling this school wouldn¡¯t let them leave their rooms because they would subconsciously wish to just go back to bed, these numbers however supposedly made it easier for students to concentrate on which specific room it was they wanted to go to instead of just vaguely thinking they want to go to where they¡¯re supposed to be. At this point I realize that I¡¯ve been standing here thinking to myself without actually entering the classroom for a few minutes, thus making me even later than earlier, and hurriedly open the door. ¡°Hello? Uh, I know we have these fancy armband things that are supposed to take us where we need to be but just to make sure this is the second year magic studies class right?¡± I said as soon as I entered, not even looking around the room before doing so. It was a surprisingly normal looking classroom, other than one minor thing which I¡¯ll get to later. It looked about the same as a classroom back home, a blackboard and desk in the front, windows on the wall opposite to the door I entered through, it was even about the same size. ¡°¡°¡°Yes.¡±¡±¡± Was the general consensus and response I got from the students regarding my earlier question The middle of the classroom was as expected filled with desks and chairs, though unlike the desks back at my school which came in sets for one, two or four students to sit at these desks were made for three people to sit at in a row with five desks on each side of the classroom separated by a small path for a total of ten desks or thirty students. Also the students had started mumbling amongst themselves, and although I only heard snippets here and there while I was walking to the blackboard I was able to piece together a conversation. ¡°What¡¯s with his new getup?¡± ¡°If he¡¯s wearing clothes now does that mean he was actually just naked yesterday?¡± That comment in particular made my cotton cheeks someone flare up and turn red. ¡°I heard from one of the other teachers that they hadn¡¯t been able to contact this guy before the entrance ceremony, maybe they just called him at a bad time?¡± Said someone, prompting me to sigh in relief at these understanding students. ¡°Yeah, yeah, I heard that as well!¡± Agreed someone else. ¡°Well at least that makes him better than our first-grade teacher who came here naked on purpose.¡± I wasn¡¯t exactly sure how to feel about that last comment. Now as for the biggest difference compared to my own classrooms it would have to be that the path in the middle between the desks had been raised to be about half a meter higher than the floor below the students¡¯ chairs. K¡¯mill said it was a special classroom for any short teachers they may hire in order to make it easier for us to see how people were doing and supposedly there were room which were the opposite, in other words where the floor below the students were raised instead, for the taller teachers to use. There were a few other comments here and there as well, such as an older lady with gray hair and wrinkles saying I would make a good fit for her grandson, though personally I think I¡¯ve been drooled on enough as is back when I still slept together with Lizz. ¡°Ehm, right, I¡¯m pretty new here but according to this here schedule I got from the principal it¡¯s arithmetic followed by¡­ magic study before lunch and then self study wherever you want.¡± I look up from the schedule and towards the students. ¡°You¡¯ve all been here for a year already, does this sound like a normal schedule for your class?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Said most. ¡°We also got copies of the schedule and it matches up.¡± Said someone wearing half rim glasses, judging by the voice it was the same guy who defended my being naked earlier. You¡¯re a good guy you know? ¡°It¡¯s more magic study than last year.¡± Said someone else. ¡°I¡¯m just happy there¡¯s no more history or religion this year¡­¡± Said yet another someone else. ¡¯religion?¡¯ I thought to myself. Shiona and I still hadn¡¯t encountered any sign of religion in this world yet despite having lived here for about a month and a half so I was starting to think they didn¡¯t have any. ¡°Well then it¡¯s math I guess¡­ I really haven¡¯t been told that much but apparently this is just a repetition subject in general for you guys with nothing new so you should be fine¡­¡± ¡°Aw, can¡¯t we have magic study instead? Show us some more of those spells you used at the entrance ceremony¡± Asked an eager voice from the back which caused the class to become rowdy again. ¡°Er, erm, he-hello? Excuse me?¡± I said, trying to get the class¡¯s attention once more. ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I don¡¯t think I can do that since I¡¯m new and don¡¯t know the rules of this place properly.¡± Most of the students complained a bit but soon took out a bunch of paper and some seemingly handwritten textbooks. Well, except for glasses guy, he took out his math stuff a while ago. As for the reason why I didn¡¯t want to do anything I didn¡¯t know I was allowed to do it was because back when I was a kid I had seen a commercial on tv of a teenager putting gasoline in a diesel car due to thinking every car just ran on ¡°gas¡± since that¡¯s what people called car fuel in general. Now it might not have anything specifically to do with this scenario but I really didn¡¯t want to make as big of a fool of myself as that guy had done and thus I started being a bit more cautious when I could be bothered to. I mean, I already fucked up by being naked the first time I came here so I¡¯d like to try and not to anything like that again in the near future. Then while everyone were working I walked around and peaked in their books, and although it was a bit hard to read the cursive from what I could gather the things they were doing were all things I¡¯d already done back home so at least that¡¯s one subject I won¡¯t have to be worried about their questions in. While I was walking around I also saw a few interesting looking students. As seen from the teacher¡¯s desk: On the left side in the first row there were three female bee-kin sitting next to each other and helping one another out. On the desk behind the bee-kin sat someone wearing something that looked akin to a red Hawaii shirt with white flowers and wearing a straw hat and one of those flower bands around his neck. I wasn¡¯t really sure what he or she was, other than that they weren¡¯t human that is. They seemed to consist of something orange and porous, almost looking like orange swiss cheese or an orange sponge. Glasses guy and the old lady sat next to each other on the right side of the third row and then right behind them on the fourth row sat a white frog-kin next to a very small bear-kin. In fact it was almost just as small as me. And finally the magic-eager guy sat furthest back on the left. After that I sat at the teacher''s desk all lesson, reading through my magic book and answering a few questions now and then- ¡°If I get an A in math can I give you to my grandson?¡± ¡°No.¡± -until the lesson was over and the class had recess for half an hour. Chapter 87 - storms abrewin (AN: I just realized that due to Plush¡¯s Lulling Touch skill he is now a teacher with the ability to put people to sleep, just like real teachers.) -=Plush POV=- The math class was over and the recess had begun. I had actually been wondering how we were going to tell when each of the lessons ended, what with me not having seen a single clock ever since I came to this world, but as it turns out they actually kind of had a solution here. ¡°Thanks Ollie.¡± Said Glasses as he left the classroom. By the way, during the lesson I actually found out that apparently only the people who work here go by their names, all the students go by nicknames so me calling Glasses Glasses instead of his real name, whatever that name may be, actually wasn¡¯t as rude as I first though But who did he say it to? Well¡­ ¡°You little! I keep telling you my name¡¯s Ollynd!¡± Responded the man in question, though judging by the big grin he was desperately trying to hold back he actually like the nickname. Ollynd, or Ollie as he secretly wanted people to call him, was an Owl-kin. He looked mostly like you¡¯d expect a humanoid owl to look like, only difference being that he had a normal mouth rather than a beak. Would¡¯ve been kinda hard to tell he was smiling earlier if he didn¡¯t. Also something interesting to note about Ollie was that unlike Shiona, despite them both being demi-birds, Ollie¡¯s face was covered in feathers unlike Shiona who only had her hair be made of feathers and the rest of her face and head having normal skin. Ollie also had both wings and arms while Shiona had only wings and Ollie¡¯s legs weren¡¯t digitigrade like Shiona¡¯s. But the reason he was here right now was because his specific subspecies of demi-bird had the handy-dandy ability of being able to keep track of time incredibly accurately. All the students left the classroom, however as Ollie was about to leave he turned to me and asked: ¡°Hey, wanna come along? Could be a good opportunity to get to know the students better.¡± ¡°N-no, I-I¡¯m good for now I think¡­¡± ¡°Alright?¡± Answered Ollie, probably confused as to why I sounded scared all of a sudden. Well why was I asked someone might ask, and the answer to that is simple. As Ollie turned around towards me I happened to see his ear or whatever they¡¯re called on birds. Now that wouldn¡¯t mean much if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that I could see thE INSIDE OF HIS FUCKING HEAD. I COULD SEE THE BACK OF HIS EYEBALLS AND THE NERVES THEY WERE CONNECTED BY. Okay, yeah, I heard somewhere back home that you could see the back of an owls eyes by looking into their ears, but seeing it for real is a whole nother thing, especially when IT¡¯S A SENTIENT CREATURE FOR FUCK SAKE! YOU IMAGINE WORKING SOMEWHERE NEW AND THEN THE ONLY COWORKER WHO HASN¡¯T PISSED YOU OFF YET SUDDENLY TURNS AROUND AND YOU CAN SEE INSIDE HIS HEAD THROUGH HIS EAR! Shiona once tried to show me a slasher movie back home, not that I know how she got it since we were both younger than fifteen but she did, and I felt like puking after seeing the bad guy¡¯s first victim. I¡¯m not good with this stuff okay! ...I¡¯m not proud to admit this but I feel like if I had actually had a stomach I would¡¯ve probably puked now as well. Really makes me wonder how I was fine with all the zombies a month ago¡­ According to the schedule we were supposed to be in a big field behind the school for the magic class, all things considered it would be pretty easy to get there since I could see it just by walking up to the window. Turning around from the windows and looking back at the classroom I saw that two of the students were still there. It was the white frog-kin, Frog, and the small light brown bear-kin, Bear. Simple nicknames like these definitely helped me remember who was who at least, though I don¡¯t know the nicknames of the three bee-kin and I¡¯m a bit worried that they¡¯ll just be Bee one, Bee two and Bee three, that would make it way too hard to remember. Frog was looking down nervously at their desk while Bear seemed to be trying to cheer them up. ¡°Hey, are you guys okay?¡± I asked them. ¡°Sorry, we¡¯ll get out of the classroom soon.¡± responded Bear apologetically and tried to help Frog get up from their chair.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°No no no,-¡± I said hurriedly while frantically shaking my arms. ¡°-stay as long as you need, I just wanted to know if you were both alright.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be fine, now please excuse us.¡± Said Bear before once more trying to help Frog up from the table, this time succeeding, and then exiting the classroom together. I didn¡¯t try to stop them to get any answers, considering how I¡¯m new here I didn¡¯t feel it right to butt into everyone¡¯s business since for all I know I might just make things worse. If they ever feel like they need my help and trust me enough to actually want it then they¡¯ll come to me then. Well, except Beaky, I¡¯ll gladly muck around with his business. Fuck that guy. Anyways, after Bear and Frog left the classroom I soon followed and hoped whatever was controlling this building would lead me down to the field. I mean, it can¡¯t have passed enough time for me to already be late right? Just a short while of walking around in random directions later and I find myself exiting the building through a large pair of doors and entering the field behind the school. Despite how the classroom was on the third floor I managed to get to the ground floor without even walking down any stairs. Leaving the building while pondering the nature of all this I continue walking towards the large field. It looked very much like some sorts of sports field, the green grass being covered in white lines and markings, though I didn¡¯t see any goals anywhere so I had no idea whether it was just a coincidence or whether it really was for some kind of sport. This lesson was going to be a joint lesson between my magic engineers class and another teacher¡¯s power improvement class. While the people of my class focused more on making intricate spells which had varied effects their class focused simply on improving and optimizing the pure strength and effectiveness of their spells. With all the fairytales from back home about ¡®brain over brawn¡¯ you¡¯d expect the engineers to be one step ahead but apparently the pure power of the power improvers made up for their lack of any cards up their sleeves and put both our classes on equal grounds. ¡°Second teacher, I can¡¯t wait for our other teacher so can¡¯t we start before he arrives!?¡± I heard the overly eager student asking the other class¡¯s teacher. ¡®Doing a real good job at making me want to let you start early in the future kid.¡¯ I thought sarcastically. ¡°I keep telling you no so fuck off.¡± the other teacher swiftly rebuked, clearly as fed up with the student as I was. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Groaned the eager student. Also should a teacher really be telling a student to just fuck off like that? ¡®I mean, no one¡¯s looking at him funny so I guess they¡¯ve gotta be used to it?¡¯ ¡°Teacher!¡± Shouted one of the other students. ¡°I said I¡¯m not going to-¡± ¡°The engineers¡¯ teacher is here!¡± ¡°What? Hang on, let me through-¡± The power students started to part and open up a path for their teacher to come meet me. ¡°You¡¯re the engineers¡¯ new teacher, Plush, ri- OH FUCK!¡± Shouted the voice as soon as its owner saw me. Wait, did I say shouting? I meant squawking. ¡°Heya fella, how¡¯s the burnt tentacle?¡± Did I forget to mention that the other class¡¯s teacher was the school¡¯s local chef and flying bundle of constantly frustrated tentacles Beaky? Anyways now that I think about it I don¡¯t remember actually seeing Beaky at the entrance ceremony so I suppose it makes sense that he didn¡¯t know I was going to be a new teacher here, for all he knew I was just another student who happened to be good at making schnitzel. ¡°You little shit! The fuck are you doing here!?¡± ¡°The-fuck-are-you-doing-here right back at you! I thought you were just some some shitty chef so stupid he burnt his hand tentacle thing by putting it on the stove for too long!¡± ¡°Hand tentacle thing!? And fuck you I¡¯m a teacher!¡± ¡°Oh really!? Well tough luck you fuck ¡®cause so am I!¡± I say and show the armband that Bob gave me. even though everyone at the school had similar armbands to avoid the house playing any tricks on them the teachers¡¯ armbands looked different from the students¡¯. ¡°Motherfucker! That¡¯s it! I challenge you to a duel to the de-¡± ¡°Uhm¡­¡± Intervened one of Beaky¡¯s students with sleepy eyes. ¡°What is it Katie!?¡± ¡°The principal told me to warn you that if you go through with anymore death matches with the teacher or students you¡¯ll be fired from the academy.¡± ¡°What!? How could you do this to me Katie!?¡± ¡°Ha!¡± I laughed, happy I didn¡¯t have to think of any excuse to not join the match. ¡°But she didn¡¯t say anything about normal sparring matches.¡± Responded the girl named Katie with a glint in her eye. ¡°Fuck yeah! That¡¯s my Katie!¡± All the students around us had been quiet and enjoying the show of us arguing like two sailors until now but when Katie said this they slowly started to murmur with each other and soon most of them seemed to make up their minds and started encouraging us. ...Though whether they did this because they saw it as a good learning opportunity or whether they just wanted to not have to do anything while we were sparring I didn''t know. ¡°And y¡¯all better fucking take notes during the spar! We¡¯ll be reviewing it next magic practice lesson!¡± ,,,Aaaaand instantly a third of the excited murmurs quieted down. Anyways, while Beaky had taken the lead and started shooing all the kids off to the sidelines and off of the field I felt hesitant to actually join the fight. Could you really blame me though? I mean, my track record isn¡¯t really the best when it comes to ending battles and having both sides survive, only exceptions I remember being the necromancer, who took himself out by flying headfirst backwards into a large boulder, and the ex-guard from way back when I first came to Eastern lake city. You know, the guy that started leading goblins? Then again I Wouldn''t blame you for forgetting him, I never even found out his name I think¡­ Anyways the way he was taken out was by me accidentally hitting a goblin¡¯s head so hard it flew off of its body and splatted like a rotten tomato on the guys face. I walked to the center and tried to clear my mind to get ready for a match that I never actually accepted. We met in the center and started floating/walking a short distance away from it once more before turning around and staring at each other, sparks being sent flying eft and right. And by that I didn¡¯t mean the ¡°people staring at each other¡± sparks that Shiona told me about but actual sparks, you see wed already started using magic on each other. Chapter 88 - (hopefully) more than a generic battle [IMPORTANT AN: Just in case I forget to go back and change it in the last chapter from this point onwards the field is made of bare dirt instead of green grass.] Last time: Beaky and I were staring at each other while using weak spells that created sparks when they hit one another in between us. This time: Beaky and I are staring at each other while using weak spells that created sparks when they hit one another in between us. The battle had sort of started but sort of not started? I wasn¡¯t actually really sure to be honest. It reminded me of playing dodgeball in kindergarten. More specifically it reminded me of when there are only two people left and they¡¯re both holding a ball, they want to throw it at the other but at the same time they know that as long as the other person also has a ball they¡¯ll easily be able to block it so no one really knew what to do and you sort of just stood there. The students were looking intently at us, making me think they way overestimate the difficulty of using these spark spell. Or maybe they were playing out in their heads how they would break out of a standstill like this? Today is the first time I really meet anyone of these two classes so I had no idea what any of the students were thinking. ¡°Kraa!¡± Beaky squawked as he suddenly reached a number of tentacles forward to conjure and lobb a few fireballs each the size of a fist at me without giving a rat¡¯s ass about the awkwardness of the situation which was preventing me from doing anything. ¡°Fucking hell! You¡¯ve got some balls to throw fire around all willy-nilly like that after what happened to your tentacle!¡± Having let my mind wander like that really wasn¡¯t helping me stay focused on the battle, I only just managed to jump to the side and avoid the fireballs yet even then one of them singed some of my toes. ¡°Wait, how the fuck do octopods even work? Like, do you even have balls?¡± I continued as I got back from a less than graceful landing Well, at least I wasn¡¯t lit on fire. Actually would I even have been lit on fire? After getting up from the ground I look at the students and see the guy that looks like orange sponge cake wearing tropical clothing from my class. I had specifically looked for a student of mine that was standing near Beaky so that I wouldn¡¯t have to turn my back to Beaky to talk to him ¡°You there, Coral was it? Remind me to check how flammable I am when class ends, god knows my memory is- GAH!¡± I shout as despite my grade A plan I¡¯m still hit in the back by a fist sized fireball and flung a meter or so forwards before landing somehow even less gracefully than before. ¡°Dude, that was just fucking rude, cunt. Actually how the fuck did you even do that?¡± I get up from the ground with a slight wobble to my steps, feeling a bit dizzy after having been knocked forwards like that despite not having a brain or those ear fluid things I saw a show about on tv once. ¡®Okay, no, stop it, I need to try and focus a bit¡­¡¯ I hold my head with one of my hands and try to steady myself. Getting out of my dazed state after about a second I look up and see Beaky creating a large nasty looking magic circle in front of him. Then suddenly the dizziness hits me again and I fall to the floor once more. ¡®Ah fuck, I need to do something or this could go real sour real fast¡­¡¯ I use one of my arms to help steady myself so I don¡¯t fall over completely while I use the other to create a small magic circle and use it on the ground below me, activating the spell made a small fist sized stone dig its way up through the dirt to let me pick it up. ¡°Fuck you you shitty octopus! At least squids have spines!¡± I shout with telepathy as I throw the rock at Beaky, wind magic helping it reach where I wanted it to hit. ¡°Gah!¡± *hack* *cough* Beaky coughed and hurched as the rock flew straight into his beak and got stuck in his throat. Then his spell activated- *BOOM* -though luckily it wasn¡¯t finished properly and instead blew up in his face, a large cloud of dust flying up from the ground due to the explosion. Using what little precious time I managed to make for myself I used both my hands to help stand up, then with some difficulty I created large claws out of ice around my hands, taking care to make them blunt enough to not actually pierce anything important, and then charged into the dust cloud where I last saw Beaky with my ice claws pointed forwards. I mean, it would¡¯ve been much easier if I made the claws with my Solidification skill but since this was a supposed to be a magic match and Beaky had yet to use anything other than magic I didn¡¯t want to be the first to break the rules. I don¡¯t even want to think about the kind of underhanded shit he could pull with whatever skills he had if he had the excuse of me starting it. I plunged into the cloud and- *woosh* I was suddenly lifted by a strong gust which threw me upwards in the direction I was running. ¡®So this is how it would feel to fight Ronnie¡­¡¯ I thought as I flew away from Beaky upside down. Well, while I was flying and looking back to where I came from I saw a bunch of soot stain all around the floor where Beaky had thrown his fireballs, odd thing was that the soot stains outnumbered the number of fireballs he threw by at least five to one.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Also I saw that some soot stains were seemingly hovering in the air in front of the students, proving that there was a barrier in place to protect them. ¡®I guess that¡¯s how he made it hit me from behind, that cunt made them bounce on the barrier!¡¯ ¡°And fuck you!¡± Squawked Beaky, very pleased with himself. *thud* *crack* I spun half a rotation in the air before landing on my back, my ice claws shattering in the process. ¡®Well, waste not want not.¡¯ I pick up some of the larger chunks of ice left by the claws which were laying around me and throw them at beaky, his wind spell having stupidly cleared the dust so I could aim properly. ¡°Oh fuck!¡± Seeing the barrage of ice shards he hastily created a fire barrier which turned most of the ice into steam in front of him, though the larger chunks weren¡¯t fully melted and still hit him through it. I was still feeling a bit dizzy ever since the first time I had been tossed around yet I took the opportunity and ran towards him before he could take down his barrier and see me again. By the time I reached him the barrier was still up so I used my own wind magic to disperse it only to see a large stone hand coming right at me. The hand grabbed me by my neck and held me down to the ground as Beaky used magic to get all the water from the melted ice chunks off of him. ¡°Fucking fuck! I thought I was going to get steam boiled!¡± ¡°I told you that you should¡¯ve stopped playing with fire!¡± ¡°Fuck you!¡± Just as I was about to break free from the stone grip Beaky sat down on the stone that was holding me in place, the extra weight making me drop the stone hand once more. It made me look like a person from one of those videos where people try to bench press but drop the weight onto their chest or throat. ¡°And fuck you right back! ¡®Oh I¡¯m an octopus and I¡¯m covered in suction cups, look at me go!¡¯¡± I shout mockingly. ¡°Real fucking classy!¡± ¡°Oh, and speaking of back!¡± *fwoosh* ¡°Kraa!¡± When I blew away Beaky¡¯s fire barrier I had put the fire out, instead I had made the wind spell keep the fire alive and now I had made it fly right into Beaky¡¯s back. Losing his concentration made his spell crumble and let me create some distance between us. ¡®Okay, size difference noted, didn¡¯t think it would matter that he was bigger than me since it was a magic match but I guess that didn¡¯t count as breaking the rules since he didn¡¯t use any skills¡­¡¯ ¡°Fucking hell you heavy cunt! Have you been eating a few too many schnitzels ever since you stole the recipe from me? You weigh too goddamn much!¡± ¡°Fuck you! It¡¯s not my fault you¡¯re so damn weak!¡± He squawks back at me as he gets up from the ground after having rolled around a bit to put out the fire. You¡¯d think me wasting energy on telepathy spell in a battle would be a pretty bad move right? Well you¡¯re wrong, though not for any of those fancy ¡°It distracts my enemy¡± reasons you might be thinking of. The reason I was using the telepathy spell so much was because for some reason whenever I used a spell and spent energy the dizziness I¡¯d been feeling all match would dissipate a little bit. I knew many spells which used more energy that telepathy but as much as I hated to admit it Beaky here seemed to have enough experience to counter anything I throw at him if I don¡¯t choose my moments carefully so I had to choose a spell which wasn¡¯t actually an atta- ¡°Kraa!¡± Beaky¡¯s squawk alerted me to a spell circle he was making so I quickly throw both my hands forwards to create a barrier, barely getting it up before multiple beams of electricity shot out from beaky¡¯s tentacles. *crack* Beaky¡¯s seemingly never ending onslaught of thunder and lightning started to make cracks appear throughout the barrier. ¡°Oh fuck!¡± I shout and abandon the barrier, jumping to the side to avoid the electric beams, barely catching myself with my arms and preventing my face from planting into the dirt a third time. ¡®Fucking fuck! Stop being distracted! Stop talking to yourself! Stop talking to the little gnome in your mind and get your head in the game god fucking damnit!¡¯ Since I caught myself in time I was able to get back on my feet much earlier than the other times and prepare another spell before Beaky can recover from his beam attack. ¡®Fuck! What do to! What to do! Ehm¡­ Rocks! Rocks worked well last time!¡¯ I use the same spell as before to make some stones dig their way out of the ground before using a different spell to throw them all at Beaky. ¡°Gah! You¡¯re seriously throwing rocks at me now!?¡± ¡°Aha! Throwing rocks using MAGIC you motherfucker!¡± ¡°Like hell that counts!¡± ¡°Says the guy who held me in place using a very similarly magic affected rock!¡± ¡°Fuck you!¡± Beaky then conjured a stream of fire which flew towards me, not yet having learned that fire is dangerous. ¡°Fuck off!¡± I shout back at him and use a spell to manipulate dust from the dirt around us to extinguish the fire before it can reach me, once more making us both loose track of each other. ¡°Kraa!¡± Beaky squawked and threw a barrage of air bullets at where I stood the moment the dust cleared up enough for him to see even just my silhouette through the dust. *woosh* *woosh* *woosh* *thud* *thud* *thud* The air bullets all hit. The ground that is. Beaky quickly turned around just in time to see me jump out of the dust at him with a ball of ice in my hands but was unable to do anything about it as I slammed the ball into him As soon as it touched him the ice started to grow and spread all across him, preventing the encased tentacles from moving. I¡¯d gotten the idea from seeing Shiona¡¯s powers after eating one of the ice fruits. ¡°What the fuck is this now!?¡± Beaky squawked in panic as the ice grew larger and larger. ¡®Please please please please-¡¯ I prayed as the ice kept growing, Then he started using his own spells to slow down the ice and even start pushing it back. ¡®Damnit! Okay, okay okay, he¡¯s pushing my trump card back but it¡¯s not over yet!¡¯ The ice spell had been given enough energy to grow util it encase Beaky fully but since he¡¯d started pushing it back I had to start supplying more or it would never be able to finish the job. ¡®Come on¡­.!¡¯ I thought tensely as the ice started to grow once more. ¡°Kr-¡± ¡°No fuck you!¡± I shout, interrupting Beaky¡¯s other spell which he¡¯d been trying to cast in secret by momentarily cutting the energy supply to the ice spell and instead using it to cover the tentacles he¡¯d been trying to cast it with with a cast made of dirt before ronce more focusing on the ice. We didn¡¯t say much more after that, Beaky put all his focus on halting the ice while I put all my focus on keeping it going until- -until Beaky was entirely covered and frozen like a popsicle, his mouth the only thing not covered to make sure he could still breath and wouldn¡¯t die. I fell to the ground with my arms sprawled out, completely exhausted. ¡°Haa, haa¡­¡± Despite how I apparently had neither lungs nor a heart I was still gasping for air, my chest going up and down and refusing to stop supplying air to¡­ something... despite my Lungless skill saying I didn¡¯t need to breathe. And it wasn¡¯t just me moving my chest out of habit without accomplishing anything either, the cold from the ice encasing beaky turned my every breath into fog, proving that I was indeed both breathing in and breathing out. After a short while my breathing calmed down before going back to normal and stopping completely once more and I got up from the ground. I walked over to Beaky and prepared to make the ice go away. Only to see his beak open with an air bullet spell circle formed above his tongue pointed towards me. He¡¯d probably been making this spell while I was recovering on the ground, at this point it was much more than just a normal air bullet. ¡°That¡¯s not fair¡­¡± I was way too exhausted to do anything. I got hit by the spell and blacked out while I was sent flying backwards. Chapter 89 - Arriving at Rustleaf -=Still Plush=- ¡°Oh crap!¡± *thud* I felt myself fall from something, but for some reason I felt so goddamn awful I couldn¡¯t even make myself want to get up. My throat was burning, my eyes hurt, I had a headache- no, actually my entire body was aching. The best part? I wasn¡¯t even supposed to have most of the things. Like, did I even have a throat? Do these glowing yellow eyes of mine even count as actual eyes? What about the ache that I was feeling in my entire body, only time I felt pain before was when we were dealing with the necromancer so why do I feel like some old dude on life support? And why did it feel like my face was covered in some of that cheap slime you can buy in toy stores? ¡°Oh dear, sorry about dropping you little fella.¡± Says Kosei. ¡°But look, at least he seems to have woken up now.¡± Shiona follows up. ¡®Wait, Kosei? Shiona? Wasn¡¯t I supposed to be at the academy?¡¯ Then with the sound of a fat woman wearing way too little clothing getting up from a plastic chair on a hot summer day I¡¯m pried off of the floor. *schli~ick* ¡°ugh¡­¡± I groan like a zombie. ¡°Good morning sunshine.¡± Everything looks blurry and I¡¯m just barely able to see at all but judging by the blob of metallic colour Kosei is in is armour and is currently carrying me by my hoodie the way you¡¯d carry a cat. ¡°Wh¡­ Whad¡¯s habb-¡± ¡®-ening?¡¯ I try asking using a telepathy spell but for some reason it sounds all messed up and the spell stops working halfway through. ¡°Kos.¡± ¡®-ei¡¯ I try calling out to Kosei, he¡¯s the chief of a village that supposedly lives in tandem with others of my species so he might know what was happening. ¡°So do you have any idea what¡¯s happening with him Kosei?¡± Shiona asks. ¡°Sorry little fella, whenever any of the Fleecy at our village start showing any kind of bad symptoms they disappear for a week or so and don¡¯t come back until they¡¯re all better. If you want to know what¡¯s happening you¡¯ll have to go ask the Fleecy when we arrive, though we never even knew Fleecy could talk until we met Plush so turns out the Fleecy are pretty secretive about themselves, might be hard to get them to talk.¡± Kosei then put me down in a large metallic bowl before wrapping me up in a shiny blanket that looked like it was made of tin foil. ¡°Lizz came out of that book of yours with these, she said Cy had made them to help prevent any stains.¡± ¡®I guess he must¡¯ve dropped me while he was carrying me to the bowl earlier then.¡¯ ¡°S-¡± ¡®-tains?¡¯ I try asking, but Kosei didn¡¯t seem to hear what little I was able to say before the spell stopped. ¡°Good news is that we should be at the village by tomorrow though.¡± Kosei said and went back to talking with Shiona, Fallis and Shro. Ronnie must¡¯ve still been on the roof. Calls Lizz from within the book. ¡®Lizz?¡¯ ¡®Goo-¡¯ I try asking Lizz what she means by ¡®goop¡¯ but I¡¯m interrupted by something happening inside the book ¡®Speaking of, I still haven¡¯t actually seen what Barry looks like. And what did she mean by ¡®goop¡¯?¡¯ I think to myself and touch my chin with one of my hands. True to Lizz¡¯s words when I then look at my hand the fingertips are covered in this dark muddy blue substance which can only aptly be described as ¡®goop¡¯. It was sparkling a bit end reminded me of the way energy looks when you use spells but much darker and murkier, almost like someone just mixed it with old engine grease. I wipe the goop off of my hand on the blanket and then tuck myself in until I feel nice and cosy. Well, nicer than before at least, everything still hurts though. ¡®Cy?¡¯ Responds Cy from within the book. ¡®Kosei said you made this blanket to prevent stains, is that right?¡¯ ¡®Does that mean you know something about this stuff?¡¯ ¡®Oh... well thanks for the blanket anyways, it¡¯s very soft and cosy on the inside.¡¯ After that we stop talking and I simply stare at one of the walls which suddenly started looking very interesting as the shaking of the carriage made me grow more and more tired before nodding off completely.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. * * * * * -=The next day=- ¡°We¡¯ll be arriving back home in just a short while.¡± I hear Shro say. I still felt just as miserable as when I woke up yesterday, my only solace being that I¡¯d been asleep almost the entire time since. ¡°Normally entering the village would take a while, you know verifications and all that, but with chief Kosei here-¡± Shro says and pats Kosei¡¯s metal armour. ¡°-it shouldn¡¯t take too long.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Shiona says what I think and breathes a sigh of relief. ¡°But then when we come inside how do we contact the Fleecy?¡± Kosei responds. ¡°Honestly I haven¡¯t the faintest, they just sort of show up whenever someone needs help so who knows, maybe they¡¯ll already be waiting at the gates when we get there?¡± ¡°We¡¯re he-¡± Shro starts but gets interupted ¡°Wait I¡¯ve got it!¡± Everyone looks at Kosei once again, well other than me. My neck hurt too much to look up anymore. ¡°They could be at the town hall, that place has been a wreck ever since it was abandoned, it always needs someone to help keep it in shape.¡± *cough cough* goes Shro. ¡°we¡¯re here.¡± He then says. ¡°Oh, good timing. Shro, open the doors, Fallis go outside and have a talk with the guards while I start packing a few things to make them easier to carry later.¡± Just as they¡¯d been told to Shro then opened the door while Fallis- ¡°Are you mad Kosei!? The entire forest is covered with snow and you refused to let us bring any winter clothes! If anyone¡¯s going outside it¡¯s you!¡± True to Fallis¡¯s words when I looked outside I was greeted by a frigid winter wonderland forest like something out of a fairy tale. ¡°What, and you¡¯ll handle the packing?¡± While Kosei and Fallis continued to argue Shiona put on some winter boots made for bird-kin that Lizz came out of the book with before she came to me and started wrapping me up in the blanket like a newly born infant before having Shro help tie me to her back. Lizz then flew out of the book and, despite me telling her to stop using the books special brand of telepathy, attached a bib to me since I was still drooling the muddy blue goop. Shion then went over to where the book had hidden itself and picked it up. ¡°Litly you¡¯re going to have to have to get out now.¡± Reluctantly Litly did what she was told and left Shiona¡¯s bag so she could put the book in there. ¡°Okay, we¡¯re clear to enter.¡± Said Kosei who came back inside after having been made to go outside to speak with the guards after losing in a coin toss against Fallis. Shro nodded and closed the doors once more before starting up the robot horses and entering through a large rusty metal gate. ¡°You guys probably want to meet the fleecy as soon as possible so you might want to go outside and start walking around while I go wash and park the carriage.¡± ¡°Fa-¡± ¡°No.¡± Kosei was about to tell Fallis to go out with us but she stopped him before he even finished his first word. *sigh* ¡°Well I guess it¡¯ll be a good opportunity to show off my town to you guys then¡­¡± Said Kosei, still sad he had to brave the cold. Though as luck would have it, as soon as Shro opened the door- ¡°Kosei, your second daughter came back.¡± Rosh, Shro¡¯s brother who stayed behind with his wife, stood right outside, covered from head to toe in thick winter clothes. Hearing and seeing this Kosei practically beamed a smile. ¡°Well then I have to go and welcome her back after all these months! Rosh, show Shiona and Plush here around the village would you?¡± ¡°Wh- But Isabell is cooking dinner tonight!¡± ¡°Well you¡¯d better bring them back with you in time for dinner then. Or are you disregarding a direct order from your father-in-law?¡± *sigh* ¡°Fine then, esteemed father-in-law.¡± Rosh said, his words colder than the snow outside and dripping with sarcasm. Shiona got of the carriage with me and Litly, At first it took Litly a while to get out of the carriage since it was her first time seeing snow but mere moments after getting outside she¡¯d started jumping and playing around to her heart''s content. But then before Ronnie could follow us off of the carriage Fallis asks: ¡°Actually, Ronnie, I was wondering if you could come help us unload everything? It¡¯s going to take forever with just us.¡± Ronnie looks at Shiona and she nods back. ¡°Alright, sure.¡± Ronnie says and sits back down. Before Rosh and I start walking he starts speaking. ¡°But heed my warning.¡± He said to Kosei. ¡°If I miss my wife¡¯s homemade dinner you¡¯ll be the first person I blame when she asks why.¡± What little colour kosei¡¯s pale face had instantly vanished but before he could take back his words Shro had closed the door and started driving away. And then despite the cold weather I was once more gripped by exhaustion and passed out. * * * * * -=Shiona POV=- ¡°Welcome to Ol¡¯ Rustwood, yada yada yada. Listen, I would give you a proper tour and all that nice stuff but I get the feeling we both want to finish this as soon as possible so let¡¯s just hurry up and get this over with.¡± Rosh says. ¡°Hm.¡± I reply busy fixing up Plush¡¯s harness once more since he suddenly turned limp again. ¡°Then follow me.¡± Rosh said, swiftly turning around and walking away without even checking that we were indeed following along. ¡®He must really love his wife¡¯s cooking... They¡¯re kind of like the opposite of me and Plush, where I can¡¯t cook anything more complicated than instant noodles while Plush whips up restaurant grade dishes on mere whims.¡¯ Although I wished to get to the fleecy and find out what was happening with Plush as soon as possible there wasn¡¯t a whole lot I could do. I didn¡¯t know where we needed to go so I had to follow Rosh, and he was already walking as fast as he could so as to not miss his wife¡¯s cooking. Hell, even if I knew where we were headed I¡¯m not sure I¡¯d be been able to get there any quicker since due to how fast I¡¯d put Plush¡¯s harness together I wasn¡¯t able to move my wings as much as I would need to in order to fly, and even though I could walk there faster if I asked Rosh for directions and simply left him behind I have a feeling that having the chief¡¯s step-son along with me would make a lot of annoyances move out of our way on their own accord. All in all the slow pace let me think to myself a bunch and actually take in my surroundings, or at least as much as I could with the thought of my husband possible being deathly ill on my back. ¡®This place looks like something straight out of¡­ Well I don¡¯t know really, some steampunk story? I don¡¯t read enough steampunk stories to know of any concrete examples but it certainly looks like what I¡¯d expect from what others say about it.¡¯ Rosh and I turned a corner, Litly following shortly while jumping through the deep snow like an adorable puppy. even though she looked more like a cat. ¡®Well, iggoring all the rust that is. Most things I¡¯ve heard about steampunk make it all sound pretty sleek, clean and shiny, not a rusty and rugged as this place. It actually reminds me a lot of the scrapyards that Plush¡¯s father would sometimes take us to, so if someone were to tell me that this place had been abandoned for some ten odd years after having been sprinkled with salt and water I¡¯d believe them. So what would that make this, scrap-punk? Is that even a thing?¡¯ ¡°Shiona.¡± ¡®Come to think of it, Plush¡¯s dad had a pretty odd sense of date-worthy places didn¡¯t he? Then again he was a huge fan of cars, bikes and pretty much anything with an engine so maybe it actually made some sense in his mind.¡¯ ¡°Shiona.¡± ¡®Though weird as he was I have to admit he had a number of talents, not only did he use to be a mechanic and a truck driver, he was also a chef at a restaurant and an all around handyman, so I guess that¡¯s where Plush got all that from. I¡¯m just happy Plush didn¡¯t get his annoying personality because god damn, as good as it was to have an acquaintance with as many different talents as that he was a ain to deal with every fucking time. Guess that means Plush got his nice and calm demeanor from his mother then?¡¯ ¡°Shiona!¡± ¡°...What?¡± I finally snap out of my daydreaming. Normally I don¡¯t fall into deep thought like this but I guess worrying over Plush like this has taken its toll on me. ¡°We''re here.¡± Chapter 90 - How to get what you want -=Shiona POV=- ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Rosh said. In front of us was a four storied building, or rather, a four storied castle made of various green, bronze and brass coloured metals with spires and towers with varying heights, some reaching not but a few meters higher than the roof of the fourth story while others reached a whole story and a half higher than the rest of the castle, and not only that but there was a large oddly shaped clocktower, shaped almost like an upside down pear cut in half, sticking out from the roof of the castle with a train-station-esque clock face covering its entirety, reaching even higher into the sky than all the spires and towers. The outside had stairs leading to several different doors on different floors, as well as some here and there that went underground, presumably to a basement, and a small plaza with cobblestone flooring right outside the main entrance with a faded pattern on the floor. Not only was the size and shape of the castle completely different from all the other scrap-punk houses we¡¯d passed on our way here but it was also only covered in half as much rust as all the other building. ¡°This place is¡­?¡± ¡°Well I¡¯d tell you but do you really have time for that?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, it doesn¡¯t matter what this place is as long as I can find the fleecy here.¡± ¡°Well then this is the place alright, you go on ahead without me since the fleecy don¡¯t haven¡¯t been too keen on talking to any elves before. Well that and I just laz- Wha- hey! At least listen to end of my self deprecating joke before you rush ahead!¡± Rosh shouted at me, though I hadn¡¯t heard a word after he told me to go ahead. A *clatter clatter* comes from the door as I try its handle, however when the door doesn¡¯t open I start knocking instead. *knock knock knock* ¡°Hello?¡± *knock knock knock* ¡°Hello!?¡± *bang bang bang* ¡°Hey! Open up damn it!¡± ¡­ No response at all. I walk away from the door a short distance before turning back to it once more, get a running start, jump and- *SLAM* -and dropkick the door right above the handle. The doors don¡¯t open but an indentation is made right in the middle of the two doors, repeating the same tactic a few more times causes the two doors to fly open. Litly who had been playing in the snow until now walked up next to me while I was catching my breath looking inside the dark castle. I stand still in the opening for a few moments to catch my breath and while doing so I spot something right inside. It was standing just a few decimeters short of where the doors had flown past mere moments ago, if I had taken any longer to kick open the doors they would flown right into it It was a small creature, and although I couldn¡¯t see much more than its silhouette it looked very similar to Plush. ¡°Are you... one of... the fleecy?¡± I ask, trying to speak through my heavy breaths, however when the creature looks at my face and sees my rough breathing which created fog in the air it starts shaking and slowly backing away from me. ¡°Ah- Hey!¡± I call out to the creature but instead of stopping it turns around and starts running away as fast as it can. ¡°God damn it! Get back here!¡± I start running after the creature with Litly in tow but I¡¯m forced to stop once it become too dark to see more than a few meters in front of me and I lost track of the creature. ¡°God fucking damnit!¡± I shout. I couldn¡¯t use any magic wands to light the way either since I had to use both my wings to keep Plush¡¯s harness from falling off when I ran. ¡°...I could just start walking slowly, eventually I¡¯d have to find the right way after all. Oh fuck it, might as well get started¡­¡± *step step step* I look down to my side and see Litly sitting down next to me while panting with her tongue hanging out of her beak. ¡®Even though you look like a cat you sure do act more like a canine don¡¯t you?¡¯ Crouching down I start petting Litly to calm down a bit. Then I noticed that Litly was staring awfully intently into the darkness. ¡°Litly?¡± She doesn¡¯t look away from what she was staring at. A smile spreads across my face. ¡°Litly.¡± I get up and prepare to run.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Fetch.¡± Litly bolts off into the darkness like a guided missile. *clang* *thud* *thump* *crash* Several such and similar sounds happened around me, sometimes getting closer and other times growing distant before finally stopping. For a moment I got worried that something had happened but Litly soon came out of the darkness with the creature in her mouth. Litly sat down and dropped the creature in front of her like a cat giving a dead rat or bird as a gift. The creature immediately tried crawling away and escaping, obviously, but Litly put one of her front paws on top of it and started glaring right into its eyes. The creature froze for a moment before sitting back down and hugging its legs in a fetal position. Getting a good look at the small creature I could finally say with certainty that this definitely had to be one of the fleecy. It looked like Plush if he was grey and more¡­ plump. Its hands and feet were pink and it had an equally pink tail right where you¡¯d expect a tail to be. Unlike Plush however this fleecy was still wearing its metallic mask and hoodie like Plush had been when he first appeared in my dream and when we first met in this world, though this one¡¯s hoodie had two pink ears attached to it. His mask was a bit different from Plush¡¯s as well, Plush¡¯s had been completely blank and smooth like some faceless apparition while this one¡¯s mask had blue lines which made a pattern similar to a mouse¡¯s or rat¡¯s face. A grey body with pink hands, feet, tail and ears made him look like he was wearing a mouse onesie. The chubby rat fleecy had been sitting completely still, like it didn¡¯t have a mind of its own. Was it trying to trick us into thinking it wasn¡¯t sentient like they¡¯d done with the elves for so long? Or maybe Plush is special and the other fleecy are actually all like this? Also it hadn¡¯t once actually looked at my back and seen Plush, only time it had even been behind me was while it was being chased by Litly and I doubt it would¡¯ve had the time to look at me while trying to flee. Actually speaking of Plush... ¡°Plush¡¯s skills talked about him having a ¡®ghostly disposition¡¯, whatever that means, so does this mean this one has a¡­ mouse-ly disposition? Rat-ly? Then again Plush doesn¡¯t really look much like a traditional ghost so maybe this doesn¡¯t actually mean anything¡­¡± Then the chubby rat fleecy reacted; the pink mouse/rat ears on its head twitched as I spoke about Plush, finally showing the slightest hint of being able to think for itself. ¡®Actually don¡¯t I have the perfect tool for finding out if someone can think or not?¡¯ I reached into my bag and dug around a bit before taking out a small colourful piece of cloth the size of a bandana. Cy and I had improved it bit since last time, embedding the magic crystal which acted as a battery into the actual cloth so it looked no different than a normal bandana, although it did get a blue tint of energy every so often. I sat down and reached out to the chubby rat fleecy to tie the bandana around its neck. ¡°Now I¡¯m gonna need some help from you.¡± I said with a strained smile. ¡°Like hell I¡¯d help some crazy bitch who sent her cat after me. God, why¡¯d this have to happen on my shift, can¡¯t even call for help like this.¡± Came a very grumpy and spiteful voice from the bandana while the chubby rat fleecy still sat completely unmoving. Now normally people would be pissed off if someone called them a bitch to the face, and frankly I actually was exactly that, but I knew that if I revealed I could hear its thoughts this early I¡¯d lose my biggest advantage. ¡°You see, something strange happened to one of my¡­ friends recently and I heard you fleecy might just be able to help.¡± ¡°Like! Hell! I! Would! Help! You!¡± ¡°As for what happened¡­ Well it would probably be best to just show you¡­¡± ¡°Yes! Yes! Do that! If she takes me outta here without permission the others will know!¡± I got up from the floor and went behind the chubby rat fleecy where it couldn¡¯t see me, it probably thought I would pick it up. Instead of that though I took Plush¡¯s harness, and by extension Plush himself, from my back and took him in my hands. To make it looks more serious I also took off the bibb that Lizz had put on him, doubt we¡¯d¡¯ve been able to keep a serious mood going if he was wearing a pink flowery bibb. ¡®Let¡¯s see now¡­ Doubt appealing to its compassionate side would work with how its acting, which means¡­ I¡¯m so sorry for this Plush.¡± The I reach the hand holding Plush and drop him at the floor in front of the chubby rat. *splat* Came a wet sound as Plush landed face down in the muddy blue goop. The chubby rat was still sitting still but- ¡°WHAT THE FUCK?!?¡± -but judging from what he said it was due to shock and fear. ¡°Now unless you want to end up like him you little shit you¡¯d better tell me where the others are, and don¡¯t even try to threaten me I know you can¡¯t call for help.¡± The chubby rat got up from the floor and ran for his life once more. ¡°Fetch.¡± I told Litly once more. Litly obliged and soon caught the chubby rat just like before. ¡°Try that again and I can¡¯t promise I¡¯ll be too fed up with your bullshit to not let my little friend here make you her chewing toy...¡± I grabbed one of the fiery red baby tomato-like fruits from my belt and ate it, my feathers turning bright red like cinder in a bonfire, the harness I¡¯d put back on my back againcatching fire and turning to ash. ¡°...Or maybe you¡¯d prefer me doing something a bit more hands-on?¡± The chubby rat frantically shook its head as it stared at me in horror. Or at least I think it did, hard to tell with it wearing a mask. ¡°Now what to do with this other one¡­?¡± I said and looked down at Plush. ¡°Oh! Let¡¯s keep him as a hostage! I¡¯ve always wanted to keep a hostage!¡± I pick up Plush and start holding him with my feathers. Since I¡¯d eaten the fire fruit while Plush was on the floor I didn¡¯t have to worry about making him sudennly combust anymore. ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve had a hostage, so how about this, I¡¯ll let you run away and save yourself if you want to wihtout chasing you, but if you do I¡¯ll kill this one instead. If you don¡¯t want that to happen then come with me.¡± A few moments later I severly regretted saying that as the chubby rat imeddiately bolted off once I¡¯d finished talking, turned a corner and never looked back, the bandana falling off it as it ran. ¡®Fuck. I mean, it¡¯s not like I was ever actually going to kill my, err, hostage, but there was no way for that thing to have known that, was it just that bad of a person that it¡¯d abandoned its own kind? ¡­ Not like I don¡¯t understand with how I was abandonded by my parents in this world close to three years ago.¡¯ Then before I could put Plush back down and start thinking of what to do next I spotted a silhouette come out of one of tha shadows and approach. I couldn¡¯t tell what it looked looked like other than that it had the shape of a fleecy. ¡°My my, what could this be? You wouldn¡¯t happen to intend on taking that chubby rat¡¯s place would you?¡± The unknown fleecy nodded its head, though it was a bit hard to tell in the darkness. ¡°Goodness me, an awfully brave fellow aren¡¯t you? Now normally I would¡¯ve killed this one regardless, but just for you being so brave I¡¯ll let him live a bit longer.¡± The unknown fleecy seems relieved until I stop smiling. ¡°Now down to business, did you hear my conditions before or do I need to take them again?¡± Chapter 91 - Patches ¡°Now down to business, did you hear my conditions before or do I need to take them again?¡± The little fleecy responded by nodding her head up and down. ¡®... I probably shouldn¡¯t have asked a this-or-that question to someone who can only answer ¡®yes¡¯ or ¡®no¡¯...¡¯ *cough* ¡°So you did hear then?¡± I asked once more. The fleecy kept nodding. ¡°Which means that you¡¯ve been listening to us, and that could mean a whole lot of trouble for everyone involved.¡± I grab Plush by his head. ¡°Especially for this fellow. Now I don¡¯t know how long you were listening to me for but you¡¯d better not try anything any more heroic than what you¡¯ve already done, do I make myself clear?¡± More nodding. ¡°Well then how about I start the demands off easy? Step out of the shadows would you kindly?¡± The fleecy follow my¡­ ¡°demand¡± and walk forwards so I can see them. ¡®Oh I¡¯ve always wanted to make someone do something by asking them that.¡¯ Now this might be rude but seeing this second fleecy finally made me think it looked like the toy of a homeless person. Its entire body was made up of a patchwork of bits of fade green, red and white cloth. ¡°Good! Good!¡± I say and clap my hand-feather things together, careful not to wake Plush up but not careful enough to make the fleecy notice. ¡°Now this might be my first time having the honour and joy of taking a hostage and blackmailing someone with said hostage, but I ain''t dumb.¡± The patched fleecy looked at me without reacting to my attempt at impersonating one the looney yet surprisingly dark villains from¡­ well from everything. Take your pick, the guy with clown makeup and green hair, that one weird dual coloured bear from the franchise I never got into, or whoever else , there were so many of them back home and it has been three years so it¡¯s a bit hard to remember all of them, but I do remember that these ¡°funny¡± villains were usually also the most terrifying of them all and since I was going for scare tactics that sounded like the right thing to do. ¡°So you see, Ol¡¯ pappy told me the steps to using a hostage, called them ¡°the three H¡¯s¡± or something, First step is to Hold them and¡­¡± I raise the wing I¡¯m holding Plush in and look at him. ¡°Well I think we can both agree to agree to agree to agree that I¡¯ve got that one covered. Next H is Healthy! Can¡¯t keep a hostage if they end up¡­ expiring, right? So unless you want this fella to go worse than milk that¡¯s been standing out for half a year you¡¯d better do like a tree and lead me¡­ No wait that¡¯s not how it goes... Anyways you get what I mean right?¡± More nodding. ¡®I really hope I¡¯m not overdoing the zany part here and making myself look like a fucking saturday morning cartoon villain, hopefully holding my¡­ ¡°hostage¡±... like this is at least enough to make them take me seriously.¡¯ ¡°Next is¡­ Erm¡­¡± I start scratching my head with my other wing. ¡°Oh bother¡­ I must¡¯ve forgotten. You know sometimes I almost wish I¡¯d never offed Ol¡¯ pappy all those years ago so I could ask him.¡± I shrug my shoulders. ¡°Eh, I¡¯ll just make it up as I go. Maybe Hell would be a good third one? Haphazard torture? Man this is harder than I thought¡­¡± Even though I was joking around I made sure never to loosen my grip on Plush while also shaking him around a fair bit with overexcaturaged movements and gestures while I spoke. You know, to make me seem like despite being an absolute idiot I could still do something dangerous. Sort of like if a kid picks up a loaded gun. I was a dangerous and stubborn idiot that didn¡¯t know the consequences of my own actions. ¡°Come on then Patches! Oh and I¡¯ll be calling you patches from now on by the way,-¡± I walk over and pick up the bandana which¡¯d fallen off of the chubby rat when it ran earlier. ¡°-but let¡¯s go already! Bring me to your people or this little guy will get a little dead!¡± I put the bandana back in my bag while Patches nervously starts leading me around. As for the reason I put the bandana in my shoulder bag rather than having Patches wear it like the chubby rat is because I didn¡¯t want them to get suspicious of it. She¡¯d already seen the chubby rat wear it before so if I try to put it on her she might suspect it being involved in something.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Actually I have no idea what the fuck I¡¯m talking about, I¡¯m just hoping this isn¡¯t a bad idea. ¡°And you¡¯d better not be thinking of leading me into a trap.¡± Thus Litly and I started following Patches. * * * * * -=A while before the encounter, fleecy scout corp¡¯s newbie Sam Ben ¡°Patches¡± POV=- *tap* *tap* *tap* My footsteps resounded through the nearby rooms. I was supposed to be quiet to make sure no one would hear me if I happened to run past someone but¡­ The longer I was out here the more I would think about why I was here. The more that I thought about why I was out here the more excited I became. And finally the more excited I became the more I would forget all about being quiet. You see; I was on my way to a date. One of the scout corp captains recently came back for an extended vacation with his crew after three years of bravely helping keep the deal our ancestors had made with the elves, and to think that of all the people someone of his standing could choose he would be me! ¡®It¡¯s a dream come true!¡¯ I was raised on stories of the scout corp so that truly is what this feels like. ¡®Not only was I allowed to join the scout corps despite being a woman, but to go on a date with my hero!¡¯ The man in question had sent me a very touching love letter that said to meet him at the front door. *tap-tap-tap* At this point I¡¯d broken into a full on sprint as my thoughts were completely covered by fluffy pink clouds of happiness without even a hint of worry over being caught. I was running and- ¡°WHAT THE FUCK?!?¡± *thud* -almost bashed my head in as I fell backwards of fright when I heard someone screaming. I got up from the floor and continued running running towards the meeting place. Then I started running slower. I tried to speed up again but felt like something was trying to pulls me the other way. ¡®No no no!¡¯ It felt as though I was trying to walk against a windstorm. ¡®Not now!¡¯ It took everything I had to keep walking. Right foot forwards. Left foot forwards. Right foot- ¡®I don''t have the time for this!¡¯ My right foot stopped in mid air, as much as I tried I couldn''t put it down. ¡®Of all the times for my damned scout¡¯s pride to be acting up why¡¯d it have to be on the way to a date!?¡¯ I turned around and started running towards where the scream had come from. As I got closer I suddenly started hearing a huge ruckus but as I got closer it stopped. ¡°Try that again and I can¡¯t promise I¡¯ll be too fed up with your bullshit to not let my little friend here make you her chewing toy...¡± Then a bright orange light flashes from around the corner and as I reach it I see a fiery humanoid creature and a small animal standing in front of a very scared fleecy. ¡°... Or maybe you¡¯d prefer me doing something a bit more hands-on?¡± The fiery creature said with a ball of fire in one of their hands. Their hands and arms looks kind of like wings but it was hard to tell due to the fire. As for the fleecy wasn¡¯t anyone I knew, or even recognised for that matter, but it was someone that needed help. ¡®Help that I, as a member of the scout corp, can give.¡¯ I slowly walked out from the corner I was hiding by and started sneaking up to the trio. Then I started retracing my steps and walked backwards right back to my little hiding place when I saw that there wasn¡¯t just one fleecy in need of help, but two. ¡®If there was only one of them I would¡¯ve been able to grab him and run away from him, I have confidence that my legs wouldn¡¯t lose to that animal, but there¡¯s no way I¡¯ll be able to pull that off with two people. And also what in the world happened to that guy!?¡¯ On the floor between the three of them there was a second fleecy laying in a puddle of its own vomit with its casing, or mask as some people called it, missing, most likely the creature¡¯s fault. In response to the fiery creatures question the grey fleecy who was still awake shook his head frantically and the creature let up on its fire until it only covered the tips of its feathers. Oh yeah, apparently it had feathers. ¡°Now what to do with this other one¡­?¡± the creature asked while looking at the one on the ground. ¡®Just leave him! He¡¯s already incapacitated so please just leave him here!¡¯ I prayed. But my prayer wasn¡¯t answered. ¡°Oh! Let¡¯s keep him as a hostage! I¡¯ve always wanted to keep a hostage!¡± it said before picking up the purple fleecy. ¡®No!¡¯ I screamed internally. If they¡¯d just left the purple fleecy I could¡¯ve hidden him somewhere and come back to save the other one. The only thing that made it somewhat better was that the creature had calmed down its fire so that the purple fleecy wasn¡¯t being burned alive while the creature held it. ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve had a hostage, so how about this, I¡¯ll let you run away and save yourself if you want to without chasing you, but if you do I¡¯ll kill this one instead. If you don¡¯t want that to happen then come with me.¡± ¡®The answer is obvious, you stay with the creature and try to keep everyone alive as long as possible until you can either escape with everyone or help arrives-¡¯ And then the grey fleecy ran off faster than an oiled weasel. I was completely caught off guard and surprised by the grey fleecy¡¯s actions and apparently the creature was as well as it just stood there. ¡®No no no! How could you!?¡¯ As I was screaming internally the creature¡¯s arms started moving, the one not holding the purple fleecy closing in on it and it looked ready to strike. ¡®No!¡¯ ¡°My my, what could this be? You wouldn¡¯t happen to intend on taking that chubby rat¡¯s place would you?¡± The creature said. At first I was confused but then I realised that I¡¯d subconsciously stepped out from the corner I was hiding behind. Seeing no other option I started nodding my head. ¡°Goodness me, an awfully brave fellow aren¡¯t you? Now normally I would¡¯ve killed this one regardless, but just for you being so brave I¡¯ll let him live a bit longer.¡± The creature smiled and I felt relieved. ¡®Maybe this creature can actually be talked to?¡¯ But then the creature stopped smiling and spoke seriously. ¡°Now down to business, did you hear my conditions before or do I need to take them again?¡± Chapter 92 - the plan [mapchangeauthornote] *Half an hour later, Sam ¡°Patches¡± Ben POV* Right now I¡¯m still leading the humanoid creature around. ¡°Come on, chop chop.¡± It said when I stopped in a fork in the corridor, clearly irritated it was taking so long. Our little village, Hideway, wasn¡¯t much farther, just take a right here, then a left and then p the stairs and we¡¯d be there. I turned back to the creature and gesticulated for it to follow me. The I turned and walked to the left. This is what I¡¯d been doing the past half hour, misleading the creature and taking the longest possible route, hoping we might run into some other scout corp member, or maybe my date would realize something¡¯s wrong and would come looking for me. Anything. *bzz bzz* The sound of something vibrating rhythmically came from the creatures bag. I would be impressed the bag hasn¡¯t been incinerated by the creature¡¯s fire if I wasn¡¯t so nervous right now. ¡°Not yet.¡± The creature says and pats its bag, the small animal next to it looking enviously at its arm. During this past half an hour I had also been taking care not to tread any paths we¡¯d already walked through; this creature was obviously smarter than it seemed. I had been forced to listen to it ramble almost drunkenly all this time, I almost even thought it actually was drunk most of the time, but every so often it would let its tongue slip and say something it shouldn¡¯t have. I didn¡¯t know why it was pretending to be stupid, all I knew was that I didn''t have time to try and figure that out. I knew that if I didn¡¯t put all my effort into tricking the creature I would inevitably be found out and I¡¯m not sure even god knows what it would do to us then. ¡°Say-¡± The creature started ¡°-did I ever tell about the time I made a guy- Wait yeah I did tell you¡­¡± The creature paused. ¡°...multiple times¡­¡± *sigh* ¡°I¡¯m starting to run low on stories, we there yet?¡± I shake my head in response. ¡°...Damn, this is a lot less exciting than I was hoping¡­ And my arms getting tired from carrying the hostage as well¡­¡± The creature shook around the purple fleecy a bit with its arm- -and then it slipped from its grip. ¡°Oh fuck!¡± The creature¡­ ¡®Okay you know what calling her an ¡®it¡¯ all the time is getting really tedious, she¡¯s obviously a woman!¡¯ *ahem* ¡°Oh fuck!¡± She shouted as the purple fleecy flew and landed in the corner of the room we were in. ¡®An opportunity!¡¯ ¡°Ah- Hey- No- fuck off!¡± The woman continued shouting as I dashed towards the fleecy. ¡°Stop that!¡± Cried the woman. ¡°Don¡¯t touch him!¡± A *fwoosh* was heard as a ball of fire flew right next to my head. This woman really was as crazy as she seemed, lobbing flames and almost hitting her hostage trying to stop me. ¡®Maybe I should just leave him here and run¡­ No! I would be no better than that gray guy if I did!¡¯ So then despite the crazy woman continuing to try and rely on her poor aim to fireball me to death I still- ¡°Litly fetch!¡± ¡®Oh fuck no time for overdramatized drawn-out inner monologues!¡¯ I grabbed the purple fleecy and booked it out of the room with all my might, focusing as much energy into my legs as I could. *tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap* My feet tapped the ground as I kept running until I was certain I couldn¡¯t hear any sounds of pursuers anymore. ¡®Have to- *pant* -recover energy- *pant* -and get back to Hideway!* *tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap* ¡®I stopped running damnit! You don¡¯t need any more running sounds since I¡¯m just standing still!¡¯ *tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap* ¡®I said no more-! ...Wait¡­¡¯ I calmly turn around and see a light and two shadows at the end of the corridor closing in on me fast. ¡®Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck! *unintelligible screaming sounds*¡¯ Very calmly indeed. ¡°Get back here you little fuck!¡± ¡®Nope nope nope nope-nope-nope-nope-nope!¡¯This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. * * * * * *tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap* ¡®I ain''t stopping!¡¯ *tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap* * * * * * *tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap* ¡®I ain¡¯t stopping!¡¯ *tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap* * * * * * *tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap* ¡®I ain¡¯t-! Okay I¡¯m stopping.¡¯ *tap-tap tap...tap* I turn around and listen carefully *...* *...* *...* *silence* ¡®Not yet¡­¡¯ *...* *...* *...* *silence intensifies* ¡®...Okay I think I lost them¡­ Now then...¡¯ I unload my passenger and prop him up against a wall. ¡®With how that woman was chasing you you¡¯d almost think she was in love with you¡­ Now where do I even begin; what in the hell did she do to you!?¡¯ The unknown fleecy was in shambles, his clothes were torn at his fingers and toes, his face cover was missing and cloudy blue mud was dripping from his mouth and eyes and pooling up in a¡­ ¡®Is that a¡­ a bib¡­?¡¯ The cloudy blue mud which was dripping down from his face was indeed filling up a bib with a flowery pattern attached to him by his neck. ¡®What did she- No that can wait until later, for now I have to get you back to Hideway, take you to a doctor and maybe see if we can¡¯t find at least someone who knows who you are.¡¯ I swing the feelcy back over my shoulder once more and feel his face touch my back with a *splat*. ¡®...Also I need a shower when I get back home¡­¡¯ I stand up and look in the direction of Hideway. ¡®But at least I¡¯m safe. And so are you.¡¯ I pat the fleecy¡¯s back. ¡®We¡¯re both safe from that crazy bitch now.¡¯ * * * * * ¡® ¡®But at least I¡¯m safe. And so are you.¡¯... Or at least so she must be thinking¡­¡¯ I take out a small bit of grilled¡­ Well I wasn¡¯t really sure what it was specifically but some kind of meat and gave it to Litly. ¡°Good girl.¡± I say and scratch her behind her ears and under her neck after she finishes eating. ¡°I didn¡¯t realise you were that good at acting Litly.¡± Litly answered me with what sounded like a mix of a cat purring and a dog barking in a pleased manner. *bzz bzz* ¡°Yes yes, I know you¡¯re there.¡± I stop petting Litly and reach my arm into my bag. ¡°I haven¡¯t forgotten, don¡¯t worry.¡± When I take my arm back up out of my bag I¡¯m holding a small black box. [It was very nice of that unknown fleecy to let us walk around and map this place for as long as we did] ¡°Cy please, their name is Patches.¡± [I am absolutely certain that their name is not actually Patches.] ¡°Well how do you know, maybe it¡¯s a fleecy thing?¡± [...] ¡°Anyways, did the thing work?¡± [Take a look.] I turn the small black box around in my hand until I see the side with a bunch of gowing blue circles layered on one another. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± Moving the black box¡­ ¡°Well I suppose it¡¯s really more of a cube than a box. Box makes it sound too big.¡± [Excuse me?] ¡°Nothing, nothing.¡± I move the black cube and look into the blue circles like I¡¯m looking into a loupe. Then just like when I did it in the Logholm castle I see a glowing blue translucent version of where I am, though a bit different. The biggest difference where two things, though I suppose three things if you counted this being an old town hall that¡¯s fallen into disrepair and the other place being a big fancy castle. Not counting that thought; the first difference was that unlike in the castle I didn¡¯t just see the area right around where I was like some shitty echo-location wannabe but instead it showed both that as well as the places I¡¯d already been, like one of those old top-down roguelikes back home. Cy had added that after hearing my complaints after we came back from the castle last time. The other difference and new feature was a red line that went from where we were, out beyond how far the map spell let m see, and eventually ended in a yellow rhombus with a red exclamation point in it somewhere. ¡°And you¡¯re sure this will work?¡± [Unless the unknown fleecy decides to leave Plush behind somewhere this should lead us straight to their village.] ¡°Well, yeah, but¡­¡± [But?] ¡°Well¡­ It wasn¡¯t Patches I was doubting, it was your tracker.¡± [Bollocks to you.] ¡°Oh, we getting feisty are we? Well I¡¯d rather have you be feisty than too shy to even use your own voice when talking to us like before.¡± [...] Last time while we were in the castle Cy had been using some fancy most-likely-magic voice alteration thingamajig but now, although it was still through the box rather than directly from her mouth, I was hearing her actual voice. Like how talking to someone on the phone is still hearing their actual voice compared to hearing someone speak over the phone with their voice on autotune set to eleven out of ten. ¡°Anyways-¡± I take out Plush¡¯s book from my bag and start knocking at its cover. ¡°Hey Lizz. Hey, hey, Lizz, he-¡± *knock knock knock knock-*. ¡°WHAT!?¡± Shouts the angry fairy as she shoots out ¡°Go back outside and tell Rosh to go ahead, this will probably take a while. And you might as well go back with him as well.¡± ¡°Fine! Ronnie is there too and she¡¯s much more fun than you guys!¡± Lizz *humph*s at us and flies out the nearest window. But then she turns around and looks back. ¡°Not that I¡¯m worried or anything but how are you going to find your way to the elves¡¯ place?¡± ¡°Well if everything goes right we should just be able to ask one of the fleecy, and even if it doesn¡¯t go that well I could probably just ask any of the elves outside. Kosei is their chief after all, most people should probably know where he lives.¡± Lizz stared at me oddly with a some concern for a bit- ¡°Well if you say so.¡± -then shrugged her shoulders and flew away. [And you¡¯re sure we¡¯ll be fine?] Cy asks through her box after Lizz leaves. ¡°Yes yes, I¡¯m sure already. All we need to do is go wait somewhere outside their¡­ whatever kind of habitation they have¡­ and wait for Plush to come out on his own after he gets better. Long as you give me some food and water from the book every so foten so I don¡¯t starve to death I¡¯ll be just fine.¡± [Shiona, Plush showed no signs of getting better at all since this first happened, it could be days, weeks, maybe even months or years until he gets better. We have no idea what¡¯s even wrong with him. He might not even get better at-] ¡°Cy.¡± I interrupt her. ¡°That¡¯s too much.¡± [I¡¯m just-] ¡°Yes I know. I know you don¡¯t mean it and you¡¯re saying it so that I can prepare myself for the worst and all the fancy ¡°kind¡± mumbo jumbo bullshit and I apologise in advance for saying this but please just fucking don¡¯t¡± [...] ¡°Please.¡± [...Very well.] ¡°Thank you.¡± I hang the small black cube around my neck with some string and start walking, looking at the map spell every so often to make sure I¡¯m going the right way. Chapter 93 - Five kilometers down under Outside the town hall a single elf was pacing back and forth. ¡°Ugh¡­ It¡¯s too cold¡­ I could¡¯ve been back home sitting next to the fireplace and eating Isabell¡¯s cooking if it weren¡¯t for Kosei!¡± The name of the elf in question was Rosh, he liked painting and warmth and although he wasn¡¯t born in a particularly influential family he was able to marry his childhood love, the village chief¡¯s first daughter Isabelle. Life wasn¡¯t all sunshine and rainbows for old Rosh though, as ever since he and Isabelle first started getting serious her father, the village chief Kosei, had started getting increasingly envious of Rosh for getting all of his daughter¡¯s attention. Rosh had had to put up with being Kosei¡¯s handyman for almost fifteen years, usually it was something simple, such as refueling their robot horses or going grocery shopping, he was alright with those. But every so often he had to do something a bit more than that, whether it was following Kosei on his cross country trip to visit the other elven villages, which had kept him from his wife for several months by the way, or such as that one time he had to go to the mountains of Thorson alone to- You know what, let¡¯s not talk about that one time actually. But the baseline was that Rosh had to put up with a lot of shit from his father in law. Rosh took a deep breath. *Haaa- Hack hack* Or rather Rosh had tried to take a deep breath but the cold, dry air felt almost like smoke when it filled his lungs and caused a coughing fit. ¡°Bloody hell¡­¡± Rosh had already resigned himself to possibly having to stay here throughout the night, the only thing keeping him from directly disobeying Kosei¡¯s order was the thought of how angry Isabelle would get at Kosei if she found out he was the reason Rosh was late. There was actually one other reason as well for Rosh staying, all things considered, relatively content with staying out here rather than back home. ¡°Ugh, Iris¡­¡± Rosh¡¯s shoulders shook just thinking about her. Iris was Kosei¡¯s other daughter and Isabelle¡¯s younger sister. Some would like Iris to a cat, but Rosh wouldn¡¯t. Because that¡¯s just stupid. ¡®At least cats are nice and loving half the time to make up for their asshole tendencies.¡¯ Was what Rosh thought on the subject. Although Rosh would never say it because he did not enjoy sounding harsh deep down he did think that Iris was never nice to anyone if not to further her own agenda, whatever it might be. Never. Rosh still remembered the winter when Isabelle first introduced him to Iris. They¡¯d all outside gathering¡­ something¡­ Rosh couldn¡¯t remember exactly what they were gathering because it was many decades ago, but he did remember that it was very important at the time. They had gathered what they needed and were heading back home only to get caught in a snowstorm. It had been impossible to see anything and the snow and cold winds made it so they couldn¡¯t use torches to see either. The only option they had was to trust the only person who could light the way with magic: Iris. Now at the time Rosh still trusted Iris to be a decent elf being, not to the point where he¡¯d trust her blindly but at least he didn¡¯t think she would lead him down a steep slope with a seperate ball of light when they got close to home. Rosh had fallen down the slope and sprained his ankle, the important things had broken in much the same way you¡¯d expect something important to break if it took a stumble down a steep slope and then have an elf fall on top of it. When Isabelle and Iris finally found him after he¡¯d started shouting in pain Iris had accused Rosh of getting drunk before an important expedition. Isabelle didn¡¯t believe Iris but also didn¡¯t believe that Iris could¡¯ve been the culprit, safe to say it took a while to get back on the good side of Kosei when he thought Rosh had put Isabelle¡¯s life in danger by getting drunk. Rosh still didn¡¯t know what Iris had gained from doing this but he did know that it must have been something. ¡°Hey! Afro wearing fuckface!¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. The afrod elf in question looked up from a seemingly particularly interesting mound of snow to see Lizz, a small blonde dragonfly-kin wearing a blue and black striped onesie. ¡°What?¡± Rosh asked Liss. Rosh and Lizz didn¡¯t like each other much, they didn¡¯t have any reason too, but they also didn¡¯t dislike each other due to similarly not having any reason to. Well, other than the small dragonfly-kin having a fouler mouth than a whole fleet of sailors. ¡°Shiona said to tell you that this¡¯ll take a whole, go home and play a good husband.¡± ¡°Wait, really?¡± ¡°Yes, now shoo! Shoo!¡± While saying so LIzz was also shooing Rosh away with her hands and a mildly annoyed expression on her face. Well the annoyed expression was normal actually, Rosh and the others had already learned the only time she didn¡¯t look annoyed was when she was asleep or eating. ¡°Yeah but¡­ Did she say how long it would take? Kosei is gonna go mental if I say I left you lot here.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget about Ronnie.¡± ¡°... ¡­ ¡­ What?¡± ¡°Nothing, I was just saying how Kosei won¡¯t be the only one wanting to rip you a new one.¡± Rosh sighed. ¡®Lovely.¡¯, he thought, ¡®That¡¯s just lovely.¡¯ ¡°Also you won¡¯t be leaving us.¡± ¡°Hang on, but didn¡¯t you just say-¡± ¡°Yes I did, what are, fucking deaf? You¡¯ll be going back to wherever the fuck you lot live but you won¡¯t be leaving us, instead we¡¯ll be leaving them.¡± Then before Rosh had time to think Lizz had already taken off, somehow flying the right way to the Kosei¡¯s place despite never having been there before. Rosh was very confused but decades of having to follow Kosei¡¯s seemingly random orders had conditioned him in such a way that he simply followed Lizz without thinking about it. * * * * * Meanwhile inside the town hall a sneaking figure could be seen¡­ sneaking¡­ The figure was a humanoid yet birdlike figure and went by the name Shiona. ¡°Cy, how¡¯s the thingy going?¡± Shiona asked despite there not being anyone around. [If by ¡®thingy¡¯ you mean the invisibility spell add-on it will be done soon, you¡¯ll be able to stay outside their village without worrying about being found.] a feminine voice responded. It had come from a small black cube hanging on a string around Shiona¡¯s neck. ¡°lovely.¡± Shiona stopped walking, the corridor in front of her split into three different paths. ¡°Which way Cy?¡± [Straight forwards.] ¡°Thanks, but anyways just how bloody big is this place? I swear this is some doctor who shit.¡± [Doctor who?] Shiona laughed but didn¡¯t explain anything to Cy. ¡°Okay, which way now?¡± Shiona asked Cy as they came to another split in the corridor. [...] ¡°Cy?¡± [Shiona you might want to look at the map] Hearing that worried Shiona greatly. She picked up the black cube and looked held one of its sides which was glowing blue up to her eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t get it, what¡¯s wrong?¡± [Follow the fleecy¡¯s trail.] ¡°Okay, uhm¡­ It goes there, then there and there, and then¡­ it stops? That means we¡¯re close to their village right?¡± [Shiona, it doesn¡¯t end there.] ¡°What do you- Oh.¡± [Yeah.] ¡°It starts again.¡± [Yeah.] ¡°Way underground.¡± [Yeah.] ¡°...¡± [...] ¡°How fucking deep even is that?¡± [At least some five kilometers.] ¡°Wait, wasn¡¯t the Pickits¡¯s place just fifty meters below the surface? Isn¡¯t that, like, a thousand times deeper!? How fucking even is this spell able to keep track of them like that!? And also just how in the fuck did they even get there!?¡± (AN: Pickits are the mole people who pretended to be boulders in case you forgot) [After I mark someone with the spell we¡¯ll be able to track them at least twice this distance, as for how they got there I don¡¯t know how but somehow they did, maybe we¡¯ll be able to figure it out once we arrive?] Shiona didn¡¯t respond, instead she looked down sullenly at the floor. [Come on Shiona, pull yourself together, even if we aren¡¯t able to get down there with them Plush will probably come back on his own once he wakes up right?] ¡°...Yeah.¡± Shiona said and looked back up and started walking again with a determined look in her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re right, let¡¯s go there first and we¡¯ll see what we can think of then.¡± Cy was very happy that her friend had cheered up again but other thoughts were racing through here head. ¡®This depth¡­¡¯ She thought. ¡®To get that deep that fast can only mean one thing¡­¡¯ Shiona didn¡¯t know what it meant but Cy did. A fair while ago Lizz had come to Cy¡¯s room to discuss various things. During those discussions they talked about who they were and what had happened to them to willingly become a part of the book of knowledge Cy had talked about her family and how she had been forced to slave for the people who killed them, accepting the books offer to get away from those people. Lizz had talked about her life in a society where they summoned demons to harness their power, about how everything had gone straight to, as she had called it, ¡°shit-ville central¡± after the summoners had grown greedy and started using the book of knowledge to summon demons stronger than they could control. Shed spoken about her brother, the first hero, and how he¡¯d fought the rest of his live killing demons to restore the book in hopes it could help them, how her brother had eventually died. She¡¯d spoken about how she¡¯d spent the millenia following her brother¡¯s footsteps, going down into the ruins of the abandoned civilizations to kill the demons and restore the book. ¡®This¡­¡¯ Cy thought. ¡®This has to be one of them.¡¯ ¡®A portal to one of the lost cities.¡¯ Chapter N/A - The bugger-up As you can probably tell by how this is posted a day and a half after I was supposed to post the chapter my schedule has been all buggered up, I really don''t have enough time to put the effort into staying on schedule so I''m going to have to go off-schedule for a while. I''ll still write every so often and post new chapters but I won''t be doing it on any schedule for probably a long while, sorryEnsure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. I was already planning to take an extended break sometime soon? but I as at least going to try and wait until I finished this elf village part but this was as far as I could delay that Again, sorry y''all, I''ll talk to y''all some other time