《Devour》
Awaken
The girl opened her eyes.
She was lying on her back in a forest. More specifically, a clearing, where the sun warmed her body, and the soft grass served as a bed.
She did not feel any of that.
All she felt was the urge to eat- an overriding desire.
She slowly got up, testing unfamiliar limbs, and looked around.
As far as forests went, it was a fairly standard one. With densely packed trees and bushes teeming with wildlife, it was a sort of near-paradise.
The girl felt a tickling sensation on her arm, and saw that an ant had crawled onto it. Without any hesitation, she pinched it between two of her fingers, brought it to her mouth, and ate it.
It was so small it didn''t even register as food to her- but then, suddenly, she felt compelled to work, and work hard without stopping.
She had gained the gift of Diligence from the ant.
She stood up, and looked for more things to eat. She saw a frog, and grabbed it from the ground, where it had been resting. With a loud croak, the frog protested its capture- but the girl took no heed, and bit down on its head. It was the only part that fit in her mouth, as her body was that of an extremely young girl.
She bit down on the frog, hard, until it stopped wriggling. She then worked her teeth left and right until the head became severed from the body, and chewed, blood and errant strings of flesh trailing from her lips. When she was satisfied that the lump of frog in her mouth had been masticated thoroughly, she swallowed. Without further ado, she gulped down the rest of the frog much the same way.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Again, she felt a new, unfamiliar desire- to run, to jump, to scamper from one location to another. She had gained the frog''s gift of Agility.
The girl walked up to a tree, and climbed it, having no problem doing so thanks to her newfound Agility. She perched lightly on a branch, and saw a flutter of movement. Her hand flashed out, and caught a sparrow mid-takeoff. It struggled fiercely in her hand, but she gripped tightly, and continued tightening until the bird''s body burst into an unrecognizable mass of bloody guts and shit. She lapped it all up, and placed the unharmed head into her mouth. She had some trouble eating the beak, but managed to break it into tiny pieces of keratin and bones, although it chipped her teeth.
The girl''s vision suddenly became sharper, and colors seemed slightly more contrasted- she had gained the sparrow''s gift of Perception, which was much superior to a human''s, if not so to other birds.
She crept along the branch, scanning the ground, until she saw a lizard dart out from under a branch, its tiny legs furiously making for the cover and safety of another. Soundlessly, she jumped from the branch, and landed on the ground, the lizard pinned under her fingers. With her two hands, she ripped it in half, and ate both pieces. Then, she felt a sudden, furious itching in her teeth, and her hand felt them to find that the chipped teeth had been repaired. The lizard had given her its gift of Regeneration.
Even after eating the ant, frog, sparrow and lizard, she was not sated, and wandered around in the forest, looking for more morsels to eat. She found two more lizards, an earthworm, and another sparrow. But those were insignificant compared to her last meal- a common hill mynah. After she had devoured it down to the last feather, she felt a strange sensation in her neck, and she opened her mouth. Somewhere nearby, she heard a bird call out- and she let out the same call. She had gained the gift of Vocalization. The source of the call, a small warbler, fluttered towards her, then turned around after noticing it had been tricked, but was caught in the girl''s grasp. She looked at it interestedly, but let it go. She was full; she had no more need for food. She was not wasteful.
The girl stretched out on the tree, and soon drifted off to sleep, spurred on by her pleasantly full belly. In her dream, she was eating- what she ate was unknown. All she knew was that she was eating everything. Everything in the world.
Growth
When the girl came to, she found that she had grown slightly. Her head, which had been comfortably laying on a branch, was now barely touching the tree trunk. Of course, she didn''t care. To animals, growth is simply a nondescript fact of life. And she was barely more than an animal.
The feral girl stretched, and climbed down from the tree. She would go hunting for bigger game.
She walked until she found a river. It was an idyllic sort of river- not too wide nor too deep, the perfect place to swim or play. But the girl''s eyes were fixated on one thing- a beaver.
The beaver had built a dam on the river, and it was currently standing on the dam itself. It would be harder than her previous catches- the beaver''s teeth looked like it could do serious damage.
She lay down on her chest, and slowly began crawling on all fours towards the beaver. Its back was turned to her, and she crawled as quickly as she could without making too much noise. She was alert for changes in the wind, for anything that could signal to the beaver that there was a predator behind it, looking to kill it. Thankfully for her, no such signal came.
The girl had crawled so close that she could barely touch its tail if she reached out. And that is precisely what she did- she grabbed the beaver''s tail, and yanked hard. The beaver, startled, thrashed around, but the girl held fast, and the beaver couldn''t escape. It tried jumping into the river, and the girl used its sidways momentum to swing it onto the riverbank, where it lay, stunned. She took a small rock, and began methodically beating its head in.
On the first strike, one of the beaver''s eyes were put out, and the rock glistened with blood. On the second, the rock sank into the skin of the beaver''s head. On the third, the rock pulverized the skull, and went on to crush most of the brain as well, coating the girl''s hands with a fluid of reddish hue. She threw the rock into the river, and got to work. The beaver''s thick hide posed a challenge, and so did its bones, but both were eaten by the girl.
And then, she felt the urge to build. She took two thick sticks of similar lengths from the dam, broke them in half, and plunged them into the ground in a roughly rectangular formation, broken point down. She then used a rock to split the unbroken tops and widen them into a Y-shape. The next step required four more sticks, laid across the planted sticks, and wedged into the groove. This she covered with more sticks, and then finally a layer of brown leaves, until she had what was unmistakably a bed. An extremely rudimentary, uncomfortable bed, but a bed nonetheless. She had gained the gift of Construction.
As she walked along the riverbank, she saw the blood-covered stone she had thrown into the water. There were clusters of tiny fish, nibbling at the tiny bits of brain and flesh on the stone. Her hands thrust into the water, grabbing scoops of the fish, and she shoved both into her mouth and chewed. The taste was unfamiliar to her- but it was meat, and meat was good.
For no apparent reason, she slowly walked into the river, until the water was almost over her nose. Then she jumped forwards, and began swimming with strange, oddly frantic- yet strangely effective movements. The fish had taught her the gift of Swimming- but it was their own brand of swimming, not the flailing around most humans do in the water.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
To build a more permanent shelter, she sought out one of the trees near the riverbank, and used the wood in the dam to build herself a treehouse. Of course, as she had no idea what a house was, it was more of a wooden floor and nothing else, but it was a start. After this, the dam was so flimsy and top-heavy that it collapsed, leaving the tooth marks on nearby trees as the only sign a beaver had lived there.
The girl finished building the ''treehouse'', and promptly abandoned it. She had no use for it at the time, as she was neither tired nor sleepy. She would simply make her way back to it once she felt fatigue slowly encroach on her consciousness.
By this time, the animals had started avoiding the area the girl had appeared in. A rumor of a quick, starved predator carried on the wind to all who would listen, and it became increasingly difficult for her to find prey. She was forced to try hunting bigger animals, some of the predators, for they were the only ones bold enough to approach her territory.
One such animal was a grey wolf. Lean and lithe with not even a hint of fat on its body, it considered itself the apex predator of the forest. It would soon be proven wrong.
The girl watched as the wolf passed by under her tree. She would have to find a way to take it by surprise, but how? Its sense of smell, far superior to hers, would be able to sniff her out if she got close to it- and its jaws would deliver a swift death. She decided that if she couldn''t kill it with her hands, she would have to use something else.
It took her the better part of two days to drag a fallen log from the riverbank into the forest, and to balance it on two branches of a tree. She had noted the wolf came by the tree often, usually to leave a scent marker at its base- she would roll the log onto it when it next appeared.
As sure as clockwork, on the third day the wolf passed by under the tree, sniffing at its own piss. With bated breath, the girl waited until the wolf lifted one of its back legs, then jostled the log. The only warning the wolf got was a sudden rustling of leaves, which made it prick its ears up and growl, and then the log crashed down on it, crushing its torso and killing it instantly.
The girl heard the crash, the sharp yelp and sudden silence, and the sound of breaking bones, and knew she had succeeded. She climbed down the tree, and struggled to push the log aside so she could reap the spoils of victory.
Due to being crushed, its organs and mostly either split or completely burst, leaving stains on the grass and log, but the girl didn''t mind. She cupped her hands, filled them with the bloody soup inside the carcass, and drank deeply. She sucked at the broken pieces of bone for marrow, and then crunched them with her teeth. To her, the brain was a delicacy- the fact that it had been missed by the log was an added bonus. She cracked open the skull, and scooped out the brain and eyeballs, which she eagerly devoured. It was her first meal in two days. After she had eaten, she was suddenly assaulted with a torrent of stimuli- she could smell the wolf corpse, the scent marker it had left, the clean, fresh smell of the trees, a small mouse, hurriedly fleeing, the scent of a starling, cracking open a seed with its beak.
But the gift of Scent was not the only trait she gained. As she thought of the mouse, her brain pinpointed its location and the best way for her to catch it. She had gained a hunter''s Instinct. Tentatively, she slowly let the Instinct gain control of her body. Instantly, it sprang into action, running through the brush toward the mouse, and slowly catching up. When her body was barely two feet from the mouse, it threw itself forward, not caring about the numerous scratches and abrasions it sustained, and caught the trembling grey mass. After regaining control of her body, she ate the mouse in two quick bites, and sighed with contentment.
She made her way back to the treehouse, grabbing a small bird as a snack to munch on. When she arrived, it was already dark, and her limbs felt heavy and sluggish. She climbed into the tree with some difficulty, lay down, and slept.
Encounter
The man was lost.
A casual observer would note that his hair was extremely filthy, and that his armor had seen some wear. An experienced observer would note that said armor was mismatched, and his weapons were crudely made. In short, he was a bandit.
But what would a bandit be doing in a forest? He had either deserted the group he was working with after stealing their money, or had narrowly escaped being caught by the law and was on the run- or both, in this case. This particular bandit had worked as a highwayman, robbing any who passed by. He had been part of a group of four men, with no particular obligation to help each other. They were in it for the money, and it was out of convenience they joined forces. One night, while the others were sleeping, one of the bandits cut his comrades'' throats, and was going to make off with a bag full of money, when he heard the sound of hooves approaching. It was a patrol force from the nearby city of Talur. Cursing his bad luck, he ran for the nearest convenient hiding place- the Great Talur Forest.
If he had understood the speech of the animals, he would have been warned that a terrible creature wandered the forest, looking for animals to eat. That he would fare better simply turning himself in. Of course, even with the warnings he would have proceeded anyway- as with many bandits, he was filled with an arrogant bravado.
The man cursed, and leaned against a tree, panting. He had been running for at least a hour so far, and although his arms were fairly well-muscled, his legs were not.
The girl watched the man. It was the first time she had met another human- and she didn''t have a very good opinion of her species so far. It was rather unfair to compare herself, the combination of the best parts of a dozen species, with the degenerate below her, now retching from the exercise. He would make good food, at the very least. Her sphere of influence had expanded considerably recently, and now she was hard-pressed to catch enough animals to make for a good meal.
Her Instinct told her that the best place to strike for a quick kill would be the soft, fleshy unprotected neck, and recommended that she simply drop down and rip out his throat that very second, but she shushed it and continued observing.
The man considered his options. Now that the militia were after him, he couldn''t simply waltz into Talur undisguised. He''d have to find a decent disguise, buy a horse and supplies, and flee- flee to a different kingdom, where tales of his crimes were yet unreported. But first, he would have to make his way out of the forest. As he had been running with no particular destination in mind, he had no idea where he was. If it wasn''t nighttime, he could simply follow the sun until he managed to reach the edge of the forest. He supposed he would have to sleep in the forest.
Like the girl, he planned to climb a suitable tree- and he managed this, after much cursing and slipping and loud thuds when he fell to the ground. However, after tentatively testing the branches, he found that they most likely would not support his weight. Now he was stuck- he didn''t think he would be safe sleeping on the ground, and he didn''t think he could stay in the tree. He tried to position himself as comfortably as possible without straining the branches, and tried his best to fall asleep. His head jerked abruptly as a nearby clump of leaves rustled, but relaxed when a small bird hopped out.
The girl had caught the sparrow and held it in her hand with her fingers around its beak to silence its sounds of protest. She stealthily moved through the trees until she was in the tree next to the one the man was in. When she crossed over, the rustling sound made by her movements caught his attention, and she froze, only moving her fingers to let the bird escape. In the darkness, the limbs of a skinny girl could look an awful lot like branches.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
She positioned her self until she was directly above the man, who had closed his eyes, and slowly reached her arm towards him. When it was so close it almost brushed his neck, she jabbed her fingers into the man''s throat.
The bandit''s eyes flew open, his thoughts jumbled due to the sudden agony he felt in his throat. His eyes didn''t have time to register the hand flying towards his neck, and then he felt nothing.
The girl was furious with herself. She had misjudged the thickness of the man''s skin, and her fingers had merely left scratches, although on the inside his windpipe had been crushed. The second time, though, her fingers managed to tear out the man''s throat. The spray of blood splashed her face, and she wiped it off with her clean hand, and licked it. It wasn''t much different from the blood of other animals, and she was disappointed. She pulled at his hide, to discover that it came off easily, without any gore- what she had removed was his leather jerkin, and as the concept of clothing was utterly alien to her, she had thought it was the man''s skin. She pulled at the man''s legs, and found that his pants came off, albeit after some tugging, and again without any blood. Frustrated, she climbed down the tree, and found the shiny pieces of metal the man had been wearing before he had laid down in the tree. She cast them aside, as they were of no use to her. She went back up, and rummaged through the man''s pants, and found his dagger. Even she could understand that this was a tool for cutting, and after admiring the sharp blade for a moment, she went to work dismembering the man.
After she was finished, she had around thirty pieces of evenly-sized hunks of flesh, and she ate half before her stomach was too full to eat any more. She lay down beside the dead man''s corpse, and went to sleep.
The sun''s rays woke her from her slumber, and she immediately began eating the rest of the dead man''s flesh. When she had eaten the very last morsel- a thin, tube-like piece of meat she couldn''t figure out the purpose of- she convulsed, and fell to the ground, although she barely noticed. The reason for the spasm was due to the huge amount of information that was being poured into her head- tens, no, hundreds of times more vast that any of the animals she had consumed. In the short span of 2 hours, she learned every human concept there was to learn- Language, Good and Evil, Society, and countless other ideas. The only one she couldn''t accept was Emotion. To her, it was a completely unnecessary thing. What use was emotion to someone like her, whose only purpose was to devour? Her mind battled with it for a while until they came to a compromise- she would only have the barest minimum of emotion. Enough to convince other humans that she, like them, was human- no more, no less.
She opened her eyes, seeing the world through a completely different light. None of her animalistic traits had been dulled- on the contrary, they were sharper than ever- but they now had to cope with a new trait, taking up the most space in her mind.
The first fully human thought she had was that she was naked. She felt no embarassment from the fact- after all, all animals went naked. However, she understood that to mix with other humans, she would need to possess something called ''dignity''. She climbed back into the tree, and tugged on the man''s jerkin. It smelled, and was scratchy, but it would have to do. Due to her slight stature, the vest was extremely large for her, and its hem went down to her knees. She picked up the bloodstained knife, and after licking it clean, went to work on modifying its length to fit her. In the end, she was left with what looked like an extremely baggy t-shirt. She did the same for the pants, and after tightening the belt to its limit the pants stopped falling off her. She liked the knife- she would definitely be taking it with her. The ''armor'', however, was of no practical use to her. Even if she could ''sell'' it, the compensation would not be equal to the effort of carrying it. She checked the ''sword'' the man had owned, and shrugged- it was a weapon, and weapons were good. It wasn''t as heavy as the armor, so she would be able to carry it more easily.
When she was done looting the dead bandit''s belongings, she began making her way out of the forest. After eating the bandit, she had felt a sort of tugging sensation, telling her that she needed to become part of human society. She allowed the sensation to continue telling her so, because she felt that joining civilization would help her find more things to eat. It was a pity eating the way she had done in the past would be looked down upon, but she could bear it. If the memories of food the man had carried were accurate, then she would like human cuisine a lot.
Journey
The girl had made it out of the forest. It was her first glimpse of the outside world.
She, even with her lack of emotion, was astounded by what she saw. She had not imagined that the world was this big- before she had eaten the bandit, her entire world consisted of the forest, and even after that she had been skeptical of his memories. Surely, the world could not be so big. Surely not.
Yet evidence to the contrary was right in front of her- green, grassy plains, rolling hills, fog-covered mountains in the distance, and walls, merely a tiny speck at this distance, which unmistakably belonged to the city of Talur.
She noticed that there was a sort of a road near where she had come out of the forest- although it was more of a dirt track with no paving- snaking its way towards the city. The road curved around the forest- and the girl couldn''t understand why, although it would be apparent to anyone else. To her, it would be much simpler to cut through the heart of the forest instead of curving around it, which would cost any traveler valuable time. But, as she doubted there would be any travelers forgoing the road for the forest, and she dearly wanted to see if there were human beings different from the bandit she had killed, she decided to follow the road.
The first half of the journey was very uneventful, punctuated by occasional snack breaks in which the girl caught whichever furry creature was unlucky enough to be near her at the moment. After around four hours of walking, the walls suddenly loomed into view, and the grassy plains gave way to rich farmland. It was there that she found a small herd of cows, placidly chewing grass and occasionally mooing. She walked up to one, and it turned its head to stare at her with its large black eyes. She observed it for a moment, not moving a muscle, and the cow turned back to its grass. Although it would be too much meat for her to eat at once, she reckoned she could cook it using the techniques she saw in the bandit''s memories.
She killed the cow, with a cut to its neck. It fell to the ground, writhing in agony as its lifeblood poured from the wound. When it stopped moving, she began the long process of dismembering it. After she divided the carcass into two vertically, she scooped out the organs and ate them first, as they would spoil early. Then, she sat down and cleared the ground in a 3-meter radius so she could build a fire. She gathered dry brush and sticks, then realized she didn''t have a way to start the fire. She would need to raid a farmhouse. The nearest one was around 300 meters away, and she walked towards it.
She checked the barn next to the house first. She didn''t want to attract too much attention, so she would leave the farmhouse for last. Inside the barn were plenty of tools that she did not need, and loads of dry hay, which she did not need at the moment. If she needed it, she would stop by later. Next in line was the farmhouse- here she proceeded much more carefully, just in case someone was inside. Thankfully, she heard nothing- and she took a tinderbox, a stack of firewood, and a bag to store the meat in.
She returned to the carcass, and stacked the wood so that it would have enough room for the fire to spread. She carefully packed the kindling between the wood, and pulled out the tinderbox. It took her a couple tries to get right, but in the end she succeeded in lighting the kindling on fire. The girl took the dismembered pieces of meat, and held them over the fire as they slowly browned. And then in the distance she saw an approaching figure. She ignored it, and continued to roast the meat. At this point it would be impossible to avoid detection, not with the fire sending a clear signal into the sky. The figure came closer, and she could make out its features. It was a middle-aged man, most likely a farmer. She guessed that he was the owner of the farmhouse, and had seen the smoke and assumed the worst. As he neared, he slowed down, confused at the scene in front of him.
"Young lady, what do you think you''re doing?"
The girl ignored him, and continued cooking the meat. When it was done, she put it into the pack. This made the man angry, and when he saw the bloodstains on the ground he fell in a rage at the slaughter of one of his cows. he raised the hoe he had been holding, and swung it downwards.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
The girl, without even looking, caught the hoe in her hand, drew her knife and slung it at the farmer. It flew through the air, hitting his throat and sinking into it. The man collapsed to the ground, a confused expression on his face. The girl resumed cooking the meat.
When the sack was bulging with pieces of roasted meat, she stood up, stalked over to the dead farmer, and tugged the knife out of his throat. She wiped it on the grass, and put it back in its sheath. She looked around. There wouldn''t be any way to disguise the murder that had happened here, but as she had made sure none of the blood got on her clothes she could probably get away with it. The girl turned towards the city, and began walking.
Talur, as a walled-in city, could not grow in any way. Because of this, farmers grew crops outside the wall, and went inside it to sell their harvest. Occasional patrols would check the outside for any signs of a monster invasion. Archers lined the walls, and rotated shifts every two hours. At the main gates were at least four guards at all times, stopping anyone trying to enter and checking them. The girl walked up to the gates, and one of the guards stopped her.
"Halt! Do you have papers?"
She didn''t, but according to the bandit you could have them issued after paying a small fee. There were two types of papers- a citizenship certificate, and a travel permit. To enter a city, one needed either a certificate from that city or a travel permit.
"I lost mine on the way here. I decided to risk taking a shortcut through the forest, and I was almost mauled by a pack of wolves. In the chaos I lost everything other than what I''m carrying now."
As it was the first time she had spoken whatever language this city used, she was relieved that there weren''t any traces of a strange accent.
To his credit, the guard wasn''t fazed by the fact that a girl would dare travel alone.
"Alright. What''s your name?"
The girl hadn''t prepared this in advance, and her mind whirled as she contemplated what might be a good name. The bandit''s own name had been Gellart Grimsby, but as that was a male name she didn''t think she could take a part of it for herself. So she took the word "Talur", and divided it into two parts- "Tal" and "Ur". With Tal, she added a l and an i to make Talli, which she made her first name. With Ur, she reversed it and added an a to make Rua.
"I''m Talli Rua. How much do I need to pay for new papers?"
"Talli Rua, huh? Hold on- let me check if your name''s on the criminal list."
The guard took a look at a line of papers hanging on the inside of the gates. When Talli looked at it herself, she saw that it was a list of names. Presumably, it was a list of aliases used by criminals. The guard finished inspecting the list, and turned back to her.
"Nothing there, good. Now, you''ll need to pay two silvers for a travel permit."
The currency used in Talur was straightforward- it used a system of hard currency, made of bronze, silver and gold. Each coin had the emblem of whichever kingdom Talur belonged to, which was an eagle gripping a halberd with both feet. 10 bronze coins were of equal value to 1 silver coin, and 10 silver coins were equal to 1 gold.
The girl fished around in the pouch she had taken from the bandit, and took out two shining coins. The guard accepted them without comment, and handed her a small wooden plaque and what looked like a stylus made of metal. As soon as he took it out, she felt a strange, prickling sensation on her skin, and as she reached out her hand to take it, the feeling became stronger.
"Here, just touch the pen to the card and it''ll fill it out for you."
Fill it out for her? What did he mean? Talli brushed these thoughts away, and put the tip of the pen on the card. Instantly, some sort of bright light flowed from the pen, spelling out her name on the card. Then, it traced a portrait of her in a square outline on the right side of card. When the glow dissipated, the shapes the light had made were etched into the card.
The guard, noticing the girl''s astonishment, chuckled.
"That''s brand-new, that. Something the people at the Magus Academy thought up. Now we don''t have to use knives to etch the names manually. It''s almost like magic!"
The guard let out a guffaw at his own joke, but the girl''s mind was a whirlpool of confusion.
The Magus Academy? Magic? Whatever they were, they could make incredible things happen. The girl resolved to find out more about this strange phenomenon.
Almost subconsciously, the girl dragged her feet through the gates and into the city, while contemplating what this ''magic'' would be like.
Settle
The man crouched over the corpse of the farmer. He was a captain of the Talur guard, and he had been on a routine patrol when he noticed smoke and ordered the rest of the patrol to check out what was happening. They had assumed a forest fire was burning down someone''s fields, and thus were extremely surprised when they had discovered the gruesome murder scene. This one was a bit of a mystery- the farmer had been well-respected, and was one of the most prolific producers of wheat. His throat had been slit with a sharp implement, most likely a knife, and the captain began piecing the story together.
A traveler, most likely an adult man, if he was strong enough to overpower the farmer, who had not only been holding a hoe, but had been well-muscled after years of farming. The traveler had butchered one of the farmer''s cows, and built a fire to cook it. The farmer, enraged, had attempted to attack the traveler, who skewered him through the neck with his knife. He had then left, presumably to enter Talur.
The captain scratched his stubble-coated chin thoughtfully. He would have to increase security at the main gates, and check whether an armed man had entered through the gates that day. It wasn''t much to go by, but it was a start. He stood up, signaled to his patrol to move on, and left.
Inside the walls, the city was a booming hive of human activity. The roads were teeming with wagons, horses and other animals, and haggling could be heard on every street. There were vendor stalls everywhere, each advertising a different product, whether it be fresh fruit or well-made flowerpots.
The girl disliked crowds. Her enhanced hearing meant every conversation was magnified in her ears, and as she made her way through the sea of bodies she became increasingly disoriented.
"... Prices of apples are ridiculous..."
"... I''ll have two, thanks..."
"... Spread yer legs, girlie..."
At that last one, the girl turned her head sharply, and her eyes picked out a man in an alley holding a woman''s hands behind her back while he dragged her underwear down. The woman was screaming for help as her assailant struggled to free his member from his pants. The girl, after watching the scene for a moment, turned away. It was not her place to interfere with the natural order of the world- the weak served the strong, and it was only the strong who had the freedom of choice. This is why the girl aspired to be strong. That way, she would be able to reach her goal much more easily than if she simply stayed at the level she was currently.
As the man finally got his member unstuck with a triumphant grunt, the woman''s cries for help took a different tone.
"Help! Please, help! Anyone, please... I can pay! Stop it, you bastard, don''t do it! Don''t you dare- nononoNONONO-"
This changed things. The promise of recompense intrigued the girl. She understood that currency was one of the most important concepts of human society, and that obtaining large amounts of currency would indirectly lead to also obtaining large amounts of power.
However, that was still not enough- until she realized that her skin was prickling again, the way it had in the presence of the magical stylus. Could she possibly be able to sense magic?
The girl turned, and as she turned, her fingers, previously poised on the hilt of the knife, tugged it free of its sheath, and as soon as she gained enough momentum for the knife to be launched at a reasonable speed she let go of it. Instinct had told her that the best target for immediate death would be the throat or the head, but also told her that at this angle, she would also be able to target the man''s penis. Due to its high sensitivity, cutting it would inflict great pain, and the loss of his manhood would also shame him- not that she was willing to let him live. However, she did want to make an example out of him, and she deemed that maximizing his terror before death would be a good way to do so.
The knife, whirling through the air, reached the man''s penis just as he put it at the entrance of her vagina, just about to ram it in. Spinning vertically, it passed through the extended organ like butter, and embedded itself in the wall behind it, quivering.
For a second, the man was bewildered. He had been about to take the woman''s virginity, but then, with a swishing sound, something had passed in front of him. He looked down, to find that almost all of his penis was gone, leaving a bloody stump. He screamed, falling backwards and pushing himself against the wall of the alley, hands grasping at his dick as though he could make it grow back by squeezing it. The woman, realizing the predicament the rapist was in, was watching him with wide eyes, her hands over her mouth.
The girl walked into the alley, coldly glaring at the rapist, now weakly moaning as he attempted to staunch the flow of blood from his crotch. Too preoccupied with his pain, he did not notice her as she drew out the sword she had stolen. She turned away from him slightly, holding the sword at waist level, and turned in much the same way she turned when throwing knives. The sword whistled through the air, cutting through the rapist''s head at the bridge of his nose and continuing until it met the wall behind it.
The dead body of the rapist slowly slumped to the ground, and the top half of his head slid off the blade as the girl pulled it out of the wall and cleaned it on a part of the man''s trousers that weren''t soaked with blood. She had not expected the sword''s weight to affect her swing so much. If it had been a proper longsword, she would have likely missed completely. As it was, the weight had been enough to drive the strike up higher than when where it had been intended- his neck- and hit his face instead. As she walked over to the wall where the knife was embedded to check it for dents, she heard a voice behind her.
"Th-thank you so much! I don''t know what I would have done if that beast has managed to have his way with me."
It was the woman, profusely thanking the girl for saving her from the rapist. She glanced at the corpse, gulped, her face turning slightly green, and looked back at the girl.
"You are...?"
"Talli. Talli Rua."
"Well, er, Talli, as a noblewoman of the Arkadis family, I, Petra Arkadis, swear that I will repay you for this service!"
The woman drew herself back, standing with her hands on her hips, with a determined expression on her face.
"Your crotch is showing."
"Huh?"
Petra turned scarlet as she remembered that the rapist had torn her underwear from her body, leaving her hips bare. The girl had not meant the remark to purposefully embarrass the woman, but she simply did not feel like talking. To her, the knife she was examining right then was more important than the woman prattling on behind her.
Now fully redressed, Petra turned back to the girl.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"I''m afraid I can''t repay you right now, as I don''t have any money on me, but if you accompany me back to my mansion, I''m sure my parents will be more than happy to reward you for your efforts."
"Why didn''t you have any guards with you?"
The girl had learned from the bandit''s memories that nobles often hired warriors to protect them, and thus wondered why this woman would not have any with her, if she was indeed the daughter of a noble.
"Well..."
The woman''s shoulders drooped.
"I''m not allowed to leave the mansion, so I snuck out without anyone else accompanying me."
"... Which means that your parents will most likely be too furious at you to care about repaying some commoner girl for saving your life. I see."
The girl was disappointed. If she had her way, she would have simply killed Petra right there- however, she did not want to cause too much of an uproar. She would no doubt already have guards on her tail for killing the farmer. She turned and began walking out of the alley.
"Wait! Um, please accompany back to my family''s mansion! I don''t want to be attacked again, and I''ll try my best to convince my parents that you deserve a reward."
This, of course, was not enough to convince the girl that she should follow this spoiled brat anywhere, but the lure of a possible reward tempted her. While she wasn''t that badly off in terms of money- the bandit''s bag had contained a decent amount, but nothing substantial- more could never hurt. And thus, she turned back, and waited for Petra to make her way out of the alley.
On the way, the woman never stopped talking. After the first few sentences, the girl simply tuned her out and concentrated on finding gaps in the crowd.
"The way you took out that guy was incredible. How did you aim that well? If you''d been off by even a single inch he''d have taken my virginity, and made me unfit for marriage. It doesn''t help that I''m an acolyte of the church of Lumenia, goddess of light. Do you follow Lumenia? She''s the main deity of this city, may she illuminate our way. By the way, did I mention that I''m a second-year at the Magus Academy? I''m not very good at magic, but I do well enough that I never fail. Hey, who taught you how to use weapons? My mother didn''t let me learn how to fight, because she thinks it''s unbecoming for a noble lady."
This continued for a while, until she suddenly grabbed the girl''s arm.
"Hey, that''s my mansion!"
Still leading the girl by her arm, Petra stalked past the guards, through the gates and kept going until she stood in front of a large, elaborately detailed wooden door.
"You''re going to have to wait here, until I explain everything to my father. This is his study."
The man was pacing on the maroon carpet, on which designs were embroidered in gold thread. The room was furnished with wooden shelves laden with thick, leather-bound volumes, and in the center was a mahogany desk piled with documents, with an unlit lamp taking up one corner. In the armchair in a corner was a severe-looking woman, with grey hair drawn up into a tight bun. Her lined face was drawn into a tight frown.
And then, the door to the room creaked open, and a woman, wearing torn, dirty clothes entered. The older woman immediately jumped to her feet, and the man advanced upon her, evidently furious.
"How dare you make us worry like this! Do you have any idea how worried your mother was? What would you think, if your daughter went missing before morning and returned covered in filth?"
This was from the man, furiously winding his long moustache around a finger.
"What happened to you? Why are your clothes so torn? Did someone try to hurt you?"
"I''m fine, mother. A man assaulted me, but a girl saved me."
"A girl? What do you mean, a girl?"
"Well... You should ask her yourself. She''s standing outside the door."
A feminine voice from inside the room called out.
"Enter."
The girl pushed open the door, and walked into the room. She could feel the eyes on her, judging her for her grimy appearance- then taking in her knife and sword.
"So you''re the so-called warrior that saved my daughter, eh? Looks more like a rat to me."
Without responding, the girl threw her knife sideways, cutting through the woman''s bun and embedding itself in the wall behind her. To her credit, the woman merely narrowed her eyes at her even as the cut strands of hair fluttered down around her. Of course, not everyone responded with such calm- Petra gasped loudly and fell backwards, while the man started forwards before being stopped by a gesture from the woman.
The woman stood, and walked towards the girl. After inspecting her thoroughly from all angles, she stepped back, a severe expression on her face. The girl was confused- what did she intend?
And then the woman smiled. It was not a very nice smile- it was a predatory sort of one.
"Yes, I think you''ll make a fine bodyguard for my daughter."
At this, Petra, who had been cringing against a wall, gasped.
"But mother, I already have guards! Ronaldo and David are perfectly fine-"
"And because they''re men, you ordered them to stand guard outside your room, which you took as a chance to escape out the window. Perhaps, with a fellow woman guarding you, you won''t be able to get yourself into these foolish escapades."
The woman turned to the girl.
"So, what say you? If you agree to guard my daughter, I guarantee that you won''t go lacking in terms of money- although I do not tolerate failure."
"Exactly how much are you offering?"
"10 gold per month. You won''t have to find a place to stay, as you''ll be staying in the same room as Petra."
"Mother-"
"How else will she guard you from threats- and most importantly, yourself?"
While the two bickered, the girl considered the offer. It would be very convenient, yes, but it would also force her to stay in this city. And if she was to eat the world, being tied to a person this way would not be the right way to go about it.
She lightly cleared her throat, and the two turned to look at her.
"I accept."
The woman''s face split into an even wider grin, while Petra scowled from behind her.
"Good. Now, I expect you to stick to my daughter like a leech. Do not ever let her out of your sight."
Here Petra interrupted her mother.
"But how is she going to follow me all the way inside theMagus Academy? You know they don''t allow anyone except those with magical talent in. That''s why Ronaldo and David can''t protect me there."
"We''ll just have to register her as a student."
"Excuse me?"
The girl did not like the sound of that at all.
"I don''t think I have any sort of magic. The first time they care to check, they''ll know that I don''t belong there."
She absentmindedly rubbed the knife sheath on her belt while she thought.
"But I am able to sense the presence of magic. I can sense that your daughter has some innate talent- and so do you."
At this point, the grin was almost exceeding the limits of human physiology.
"So you could tell that I am a mage? Good, good. You''ll be able to detect any magic-capable assassins. On the issue of your own talent- we''ll just have to see for ourselves."
She turned to her husband, who had been standing in place, arms folded across his chest, watching the conversation with a bored expression on his face.
"Charles, do we still have the old magical aptitude tester we used when Petra was a baby?"
"I think so. We never threw it away, but I don''t know where it is. It''s probably somewhere in the storage rooms. I''ll ask one of the stewards if we do."
"Get that done later."
She turned back to the girl.
"Now that you''re officially on the job, you''re going to need to get equipped. Report to the armory to get what you need."
"Where is the armory?"
"Behind the mansion, to the right of the training grounds. You can''t miss it."
The girl walked past Petra''s mother, yanked the knife from the wall, and walked to the open door. Turning to face the others, she pulled from the bandit''s memory to snap out a salute, turned on her heel, and walked out of the room. After she was gone, both parents turned to Petra.
"We never did get around to punishing you for leaving the mansion without our permission, did we?"
The captain was not in a very good mood. First, the guards at the gate had reported that no unidentified men had entered through the gate- and that the only unregistered traveler had been a lone girl, which certainly did not fit the archetype of the criminal they were chasing. Secondly, another murder had been reported, although it was regarded as low-interest due to the victim being a known smuggler, until the higher-ups found out how he had been killed. The captain and his squad had been dispatched to investigate the murder, but they weren''t able to find much.
Not only that, but the kill was sloppy- more showy than the efficiency used by the man who had killed the farmer. Still, the captain was still cautious, even if the higher-ups decided that the first killer must have run away.
His mind moved on to the unknown girl who had entered Talur. The guard had said she was armed, but he had dismissed her as she was very young. But at this point, he wasn''t willing to rule anything out. He would have to keep his eyes out for her- a girl who looked to be around 8 years old, with long, unkempt black hair, grey eyes, and carrying weapons would be very conspicuous, even in the crowded city.