《Bunny Girl Evolution (Book 1 Complete!) [A Monster Evolution LitRPG]》 1 - Rabbit In the dense foliage of an overgrown forest, a white rabbit bounded as fast as it could, with a snake moving way faster than a no-legged animal should be allowed to hot on its heels. ¡°We take great pride in our brand new, AI-powered ¡®Find-a-Form¡¯ algorithm and its ability to match each person with their perfect new species. We¡¯ve taken a look at your past life, and using our thoroughly tested, zero-failure system, we¡¯ve picked the perfect body for your new life!¡± Please help me! screamed the rabbit mentally as it tripped over a branch it couldn¡¯t see due to the giant blue box in front of its face. ¡°Let¡¯s begin the System tutorial! Before you now is your status window! It contains information about yourself, including your name, species, level, stats, and skills!¡± I don¡¯t care! Please! Help me! ¡°The first row contains your name, Elise Burrow. It seems this is still the same name as your past life. This indicates that you don¡¯t have any parental figures in this life to rename you. Should you find one while still in your infantile stage¡­¡± Elise tuned out the grating, robotic voice as she frantically searched for somewhere safe. Five minutes earlier, she had woken up in her new body, and hadn¡¯t had more than ten seconds to take stock of her situation before she heard the hissing behind her. Fortunately, her new body came with new instincts, so she was at least able to run without tripping over herself, but it didn¡¯t come with much else, and the snake was frustratingly fast and persistent. A hole in the ground was out of the question, for obvious reasons, and as she had discovered to her dismay, rabbits were not good at climbing trees. No better than snakes were, at least. Her best hope was to find some kind of rocky area, and hope to lose it between some boulders, but everywhere around her, all she saw was green. Speaking of sight, fortunately, or unfortunately, she noticed that she could see all the way behind her while running forward, which meant she got a full view of the angry serpent on her fluffy tail. Her hearing was also incredible, allowing her to hear every dry leaf it slithered over and every flick of its tongue as it tasted her scent on the wind. Maybe focusing too much on her new senses was a bad idea at the moment. A few more minutes passed and the System was still droning on and on about stats or skills or something, and Elise was no closer to losing the snake than she had been when she started. Her legs were getting sore, and her heart was beating so fast she was worried it might explode, and she was slowing down noticeably. Why is it so fast? she thought. And why is it still chasing me? The second question was rhetorical, of course. It was still chasing her because it was going to catch her. It lunged forward, and it was only through adrenaline that she managed to hop out of reach of its dripping fangs. Its failed attack had bought her a few more seconds, but she knew she wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge the next one. She was running on fumes. Just then, a shadow passed overhead, and before she had time to process what it meant, her rabbit instincts took over, and she took a sharp right into a nearby bush. The snake tried to do the same, but sharp turns weren¡¯t its forte, and a split second later, it was being carried away in the claws of an enormous¨Cat least to her¨C hawk. She hid in the bush, shivering with fear and on high alert for any other potential predators. After a few minutes without hearing anything, she finally started to calm down, and was able to more rationally think about what was happening. She was a rabbit, but she definitely wasn¡¯t born that way. The last thing she remembered before waking up as a rabbit was pulling an all-nighter to study for her biology exam. The voice had mentioned something about a ¡®new life¡¯. Did that mean she had died? But how? Her only guesses were that she had somehow overworked herself, or she had a freak aneurism. It must have been the aneurysm because she wasn¡¯t that stressed. And she had only had nine shots of espresso. ¡­ Okay, maybe she had done it to herself. She folded her ears in shame as she imagined all the rabbit jokes her classmates would be making if they could see her now. They had started it back in middle school. She was a small girl with big ears and buck teeth, and she was so nervous at her new school that in the first roll call, she squeaked when her name was called. They had only gotten worse as the years went on, not helped by her timid disposition. It reached its peak when she decided to try to change her image by competing for the track and field team, only to discover that the high and long jumps were her best events. Even in college, she couldn¡¯t escape it. She didn¡¯t perform well enough academically to go anywhere but an in-state school, and it just so happened that all her tormentors were in the same boat. On a bigger campus where they were split by major, she ran into them less, but all the cheerleaders were going into nursing, an adjacent degree to Elise¡¯s biology, so she still had classes with many of them. She pulled herself from her introspection and tried to tune back into the annoying robo-voice. ¡°-can provide you with great strength, but be careful! You¡¯ll be highly vulnerable during the evolution process, so make sure you are in a safe location surrounded by people you trust! ¡°That¡¯s all! If you ever need help, or you forgot something from the tutorial, just think ¡®System! Help!¡¯ and I¡¯ll respond in an instant! Thank you for your patience, and enjoy your new life!¡± Elise waited a short while, expecting it to start talking again, but it didn¡¯t. The only sounds around her were the sounds of the forest. Birds singing in the trees, squirrels scurrying up tree trunks, ants with their tiny feet bringing food back to their colony, and the distant roar of a bear. She shuddered and curled further into herself. System! Help! she thought. She didn¡¯t understand what was happening, and as annoying and unhelpful as it had been, this ¡®System¡¯ thing at least seemed to have information. ¡°Help? What seems to be the problem?¡± Where am I? ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I cannot answer that question.¡± Why not? ¡°You do not meet the requirements to enable location services.¡± What are the requirements? ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I cannot answer that question.¡± What questions can you answer? ¡°If you have any questions about your System and how to use it, I¡¯d be happy to help! You can summon me any time with the command ¡®System! Help!¡¯¡± What is this ¡®System¡¯ thing? ¡°The System is the law of the world, and through it, anything is possible! Its basic function is to allow users to earn experience so that they can gain levels, which reward them with increased stats and can sometimes grant skills. Humanoid races may also choose a class to earn bonus stats and skills, while non-humanoid races can choose evolutions to get the same, as well as a new form! You are a non-humanoid race, so you will progress through evolutions, rather than classes. Why am I a rabbit? ¡°Your new body was chosen automatically by the System. We take great pride in our brand new, AI-powered ¡®Find-a-Form¡¯ algorithm and its ability to match each person with their perfect new species. We¡¯ve taken a look at your past life, and using our thoroughly tested, zero-failure system, we¡¯ve picked the perfect body for your new life!¡± Is it too late to change to something else? ¡°All soul transfers are irreversible and non-refundable.¡± She mentally sighed. Can you tell me more about stats and skills? The System launched into a long-winded explanation of its facets, which she was certain she had heard verbatim snippets of while she was fleeing for her life. It was verbose, and used language that was way too excited for how bland and monotone its voice was, but the information she got was useful at least. She had nine different stat categories: Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Fortitude, Charisma, Willpower, Intelligence, Mana, and Mana Control. All were self-explanatory, and definitely didn¡¯t need the paragraphs that the System narrated to her for her to understand what they were about. Well, except for Charisma, but even with those paragraphs, she still wasn¡¯t quite sure what it meant. Hers was very high though, according to the blue window in front of her. Either that, or the rest of her stats were very low.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Name Elise Burrow
Age 0 (20)
Race Forest Rabbit
Level 1
Stats Base Bonuses Total
Strength 4 0 4
Agility 15 0 15
Dexterity 3 0 3
Fortitude 2 0 2
Charisma 50 0 50
Intelligence 13 0 13
Willpower 18 0 18
Mana 0 0 0
Mana Control 20 0 20
Skills Level Description
Inspect 1 Identify the species and level of another creature
Nature Magic Affinity 1 As a creature of the forest, you feel a strong connection to nature and natural mana
Leap 1 Jump with additional force. Cooldown: 5 seconds
Mark of Fate MAX ???
¡°Do you have any further questions?¡± said the voice once it was finished explaining everything. How do I make the window disappear? ¡°Simply will it to disappear, and it will be gone. If you wish to look at it again, you can will it back into existence. Only you can see your System window.¡± She did as the voice recommended, and the blue window vanished. She didn¡¯t know why that hadn¡¯t worked when she was running away. She definitely wished for it to disappear multiple times when it was obstructing her view of what was in front of her, but nothing had happened. It must have been the tutorial or something. With her most pressing questions answered, Elise set to planning her next moves. She didn¡¯t want to die again, so she needed to survive, but as a simple rabbit, she wasn¡¯t sure what she could do. The System had explained that the best way to gain experience was combat, but with such poor stats and no useful skills, she couldn¡¯t think of any way to actually win a fight against anything. Maybe if she could make use of her [Nature Magic Affinity] skill, she could do something, but with no mana, the skill was nothing more than words on a screen. Her stomach growled and she realized that before thinking about how to level, she should first focus on trying to survive. She crept through the brush, keeping her eyes and ears peeled for any sign of danger until she came to a small clearing full of freshly sprouted grass. She had never been one for grass as a human, but her adoptive father was always cursing at rabbits for eating his lawn, so she figured it wouldn¡¯t be too bad. She took a tentative bite to test the taste, but soon found herself chowing down without a care in the world. She had no idea that grass could taste so good. It was juicy and full of flavor, and had a satisfying crunch to it as she chewed. She munched away, giving the grass in a small radius around her a nice trim until she suddenly froze when she heard a noise. She turned her head so her right eye could get a better look at its source. On the other side of the clearing, a translucent green blob twice as tall as her was heading her direction. Wherever it passed, the grass was pulled into its body and rapidly dissolved. She internally panicked for a moment until she noticed how slow it was and was able to calm herself. It was certainly dangerous, and she shouldn¡¯t let it touch her, but unlike the snake, she could easily outrun it. Presented with such an easy target, she realized that this was the perfect opportunity to test out the one skill that she could actually use: [Inspect]. [Forest Slime, lvl ???] The System had mentioned when explaining the skill that at low levels, Inspect wouldn¡¯t work well on creatures above her own level, so its level being hidden came as no surprise to her. If anything, it excited her. Although it might have been technically stronger, it had a glaring weakness, and it seemed to be mindless. If she played things right, she could exploit it, and maybe even kill it to gain experience. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. She was unwilling to touch the thing after seeing what it was doing to the local flora, and she had no way of harming it from a distance. She tried picking up a stick in her mouth and poking at it, but grabbing a stick with a rabbit¡¯s mouth turned out to be no small task, and when she finally accomplished it and poked at the slime, it just absorbed the stick and started dissolving it too. She wanted to try a rock to see if that would be any better, but she wouldn¡¯t be able to get a rock close enough to the slime without also getting herself close to it, and since she couldn¡¯t climb, she couldn¡¯t drop one on its head either. She slowly led it through the forest, away from her precious grass as she looked for something to help her kill it, and it followed mindlessly, always moving in a straight line toward her, regardless of what was in its way. She didn¡¯t understand why it, like the snake, was so focused on her. Were rabbits especially delicious or something? Either way, it worked out in her favor. Soon, she noticed that the ground she was on was sloping gently upward, and that the trees were getting sparser, and after a half hour of kiting the slime along behind her, she found something she could work with: a cliff. It wasn¡¯t the tallest cliff, but it was almost completely sheer, with just a few outcroppings preventing it from being a smooth wall of stone. Upon seeing the outcroppings, an idea formed in her mind. A dangerous one, but one that she thought could work out well in her favor if she played it right. She just had one last thing to check before putting it into practice. System! Help! ¡°Help? What seems to be the problem?¡± Do I have to directly fight something to earn experience for defeating it? ¡°No. As long as you intentionally cause its death, you will earn experience. However, if you are working with others, your experience will be drastically reduced if your contribution is too minimal.¡± She grinned, or at least attempted to. She wasn¡¯t sure how it looked in a rabbit¡¯s body. She ran alongside the cliff until she found the perfect spot, and then after looking back once more to make sure the slime was still following her, she carefully dropped down onto a small outcropping. One convenient thing about her new eyes was that she could see above, behind, and in front of her all at the same time, which meant she could watch for the slime poking out over the ledge while also looking ahead at the other small outcropping a few feet away. Right when it was about to fall, she used her [Leap] skill to jump to the other outcropping. As she had hoped, the slime fell down onto the first one, and tried to continue toward her. She held her breath as it fell, finally exhaling when the blob hit the ground and popped, splattering green sludge everywhere. There was an electronic dinging sound, and a new System window she hadn¡¯t seen before appeared in front of her. [You have defeated Forest Slime, lvl 4] [You have leveled up! 1 -> 2] [{Leap} has leveled up! lvl 1 -> 2] [Agility + 1, Charisma + 3, Mana + 2, Mana Control + 2] She used [Leap] to get back to the top of the cliff, then bounced around in a short dance to celebrate her victory. She couldn¡¯t believe it was so easy. If she could find a few more of those slimes, she would be able to level up in no time at all. Her high spirits were laid low in an instant when a shadow passed over her head, and she heard the screech of a hawk. 2 - Burrow For the second time that day, Elise was cowering in a bush because of a bird. It wasn¡¯t even that big of a bird. Not compared to what she was worried about seeing in a fantasy world. It was just a normal-sized hawk. Unfortunately, she was now an undersized rabbit, and apparently a very tasty one too, based on how the creatures of the forest had been acting around her. The hawk was no different from the snake or the slime. As soon as it caught wind of her, it dropped everything to hunt her down. At that moment, it was perched in a nearby tree, staring directly at her. She couldn¡¯t even sneak away, because no matter how quietly she moved, she was a pure white rabbit in a forest with exactly zero white in it. She had tried leaving the area, but the hawk¡¯s eyes stayed locked onto her, and since she was still near the cliff, the vegetation was too sparse for her to have cover as she went back towards the forest proper. She would get snatched up the second she got more than a foot from safety. The minutes ticked by and the hawk still didn¡¯t move an inch from its perch, and its eyes hadn¡¯t left her hiding spot. At this point, she was more worried about a snake or a slime approaching from the ground and forcing her to leave her hiding spot. She was getting thirsty too, and she had yet to come across a source of water. The longer she waited, the more dire her situation got, but the hawk refused to move. Her worst fears were confirmed when her ears started picking up sounds from further into the forest. Something landbound was approaching. Something big. On one hand, that might have been a blessing in disguise, since if it was big enough, it would be less interested in her, and could scare off the hawk. On the other hand, it could also be more dangerous, because a larger predator would be more likely to be a higher level, and therefore have a significant stat advantage over her. Her heart rate escalated as the footsteps drew closer. It was four-legged, and moving slowly, with leaves crunching and twigs snapping with almost every step it took, as if it wanted the whole forest to know it was coming. The hawk, not having her ears, did not notice them at first. It was still intent on getting a taste of rabbit meat. Elise kept her sight focused on the bird, so she could flee as soon as it left, but most of her attention had turned to footsteps as they got close enough that she could hear its breathing. Or rather, their breathing. It was not one four-legged creature, but two two-legged ones. Elise was no expert on the breathing sounds of different creatures, but as a former human, she felt qualified enough to say with reasonable confidence that both the approaching creatures were human. Her confidence only grew as the sounds got louder and she could hear the more subtle difference. It sounded like it was one man and one woman, and the woman was much smaller and lighter than the man. Her mind raced as she thought of what to do next. The hawk seemed to have finally noticed them, as its eyes were locked on something in the distance behind her now, and it was ruffling its feathers as it prepared to take flight, but now she wasn¡¯t sure if running away was the best option. If they were human, she might be able to communicate with them. She could write in the dirt and explain her situation, and¡­ then what? She wasn¡¯t sure, but it was probably better than surviving alone in the woods as a helpless rabbit. When they finally came within view, the hawk was long gone. Elise had watched it fly away and dive down behind the cliff, but she only half-cared at that point. The humans were much more important. The man was tall and muscular, and had a full, light brown beard, and the girl looked like his daughter. She was no older than twelve, and thin and wiry, but she had the same hair color and facial structure. They were following the trail of barren dirt left behind the slime on its warpath. Elise wanted to jump out in front of them and get their attention as they walked by, but she stopped herself. It was all still too uncertain. If they didn¡¯t listen to her¨C or worse, if they did, and decided to take advantage of her¨C she would be completely at their mercy. They followed the slime¡¯s trail all the way to the edge of the cliff and peered below to look at the green splatter where the monster had landed. The man looked over first, then put a protective hand on his daughter as she leaned out much further than Elise would have been comfortable. Then, the daughter said something, and Elise¡¯s heart sank. She couldn¡¯t understand it.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Of course they didn¡¯t speak English. She wasn¡¯t on Earth anymore. She had been thrown off by the System being presented to her in English, and hadn¡¯t even considered the possibility that that was only for her benefit, and wasn¡¯t the standard of the world. She might still have considered trying to communicate with them after that, as a desperate last ditch effort to save herself from needing to survive on her own, but when the man turned around to head back, she saw three rabbit corpses dangling from his belt, and her last ray of hope disappeared. Of course they were hunters. What else would they be doing so deep in the woods? She turned and bounded away without sparing a glance back. Despite her worries, it didn¡¯t take her too long to find a water source. The longer she spent in her new body, the more accustomed she got to using her non-visual senses to avoid danger and find what she was looking for. She made wide circles around dangerous sounding footsteps, and areas that smelled too much like musk, and soon heard the distant babbling of a brook. After triple-checking to make sure there was nothing else around, she found a spot where the water was relatively calm and started drinking. Once she had drunk her fill, she took a good look at her reflection in the water. She had to admit that she was definitely a cute rabbit. Even after spending the day running for her life through the brush, her fur was still fluffy and bright, and the way her nose twitched as she sniffed the air was just adorable. The red eyes were a little ominous, but maybe that only added to the appeal. Still, it was strange how clean she looked. System! Help! she thought as she had a sudden realization. ¡°Help? What seems to be the problem?¡± What does Charisma do again? ¡°Charisma influences and is influenced by numerous factors, including, but not limited to, physical appearance, social sense, vocal quality, speech skills, and personality. As for what it does, the answer is too long to be explained under my character limit. In short, it is a measure of your ¡®appeal¡¯.¡± Appeal¡­ she thought. What kind of appeal? ¡°All kinds of appeal! Platonic, romantic, and sexual appeal are just three of-¡± And as prey? ¡°Yes, having high Charisma can make you more appealing to predatory creatures, though this can vary depending on physical characteristics.¡± Elise sighed. Not only had she been reborn as a weak rabbit, she had been reborn as a weak rabbit with a target on her back. That at least explained why the snake, slime, and hawk had been so hell-bent on getting her. If that was the case, then she couldn¡¯t afford to waste any time. She needed to get strong enough to either defend herself or find some other way to stay safe quickly. It was only due to luck she had survived until then. The first thing she needed was shelter. She knew rabbits were burrowers, which meant she would have to dig a hole somewhere, but finding the perfect spot turned out to be a challenge. She was tempted to do it close to the brook, but decided against it. Predators needed to drink water too. That was a good way to get sniffed out by something she would rather not get noticed by. But she couldn¡¯t live too far away either. She eventually found a spot a few hundred yards away that was maybe not ideal, but was the best she would find before the sun set. Her paws were surprisingly good at digging, but it still took the better part of two hours to get her new home to a level she was comfortable with. She made her home in a small grassy knoll with an ancient oak at the top. She was a little surprised that no other rabbits had already made their holes there. The dirt was soft, and the grass was delicious, and she couldn¡¯t smell or hear anything bigger than a mouse nearby. Just in case though, she made sure her hole had 3 exits in different parts of the knoll, in the event that an unwelcome guest tried to force its way in and she needed to get out. Once she was mostly sure she was safe for the night, she curled up into a ball and closed her eyes. She only had a second to think about how lonely it was before the exhaustion from the terrifying day took her off to the land of dreams. She awoke to the sound of loud sniffing coming from one of her exits. She stayed curled up in her ball for a few seconds, frozen in fear while the sniffing continued from the hole in front of her. She had been smart enough to curve the holes so that nothing could see in at her, but now she was half-regretting that choice because now she had to get much closer to whatever was making that noise to see what it was. She crept toward the entrance as softly as she could and poked her head around the corner just far enough to see the outside. Blocking almost her entire view was a canine snout with fangs half as long as her ears poking out between its lips. She almost ducked back immediately in fright, but she at least had the presence of mind to use {Inspect} first. [Greater Frost Direwolf, lvl ???] [Inspect has leveled up! Lvl 1 -> 9] 3 - Tunnel Elise used [Leap] to get back into the main chamber of her burrow. Did she need to do that? No. But did it help? Also no. She slammed into the far wall face first, causing her nose to sting, but she barely noticed the pain with how much she was panicking. She was stupid. A perfect place for a burrow that just happened to have no other large creatures around? She should have been suspicious from the very start. Of course there was some ultra-powerful monster that considered that area to be its domain. And of course it happened to show up on the same night that she settled down there. It was still just sniffing, so she was safe for the moment, but based on the size of its head, if it tried to dig her out, it wouldn¡¯t take more than a few swipes to either uncover her or bury her, and obviously neither of those outcomes were ideal. Her alternate entrances weren¡¯t far enough away for her to sneak out either. It would see her no matter which one she exited out of. She wallowed in indecision for a few moments longer before making what she thought was the best choice: digging deeper. If she couldn¡¯t escape above ground, she would just have to go further underground. Even as strong and powerful as the wolf was, it would have to move many times as much earth to get the same depth she could. It still hadn¡¯t made any moves yet, but Elise didn¡¯t even consider waiting to see if it would leave. If it hadn¡¯t noticed her from the smell, it almost certainly did when she faceplanted into the wall. She got another foot into the hill before her progress started to slow significantly due to the compactness of the earth. She did not let up her efforts though, because she heard the sound of dirt falling back at the main entrance as the wolf pawed at the hole. She dug until her paws started to hurt, then dug more. She could barely see the way back to the main chamber anymore with how much loose dirt had piled up, but the wolf¡¯s careful excavation hadn¡¯t ceased, so she kept going. She wasn¡¯t sure how long she dug for, but it was definitely more than ten minutes. The wolf had stopped, but she hadn¡¯t heard it leave yet, so there was no point in turning around yet. Her paws were getting rubbed raw, but it didn¡¯t matter. The deeper she got, the safer she got. She dug and dug until suddenly, she reached forward to grab at more dirt only to find air as she fell down into a cave. It wasn¡¯t too deep, but her landing was awkward and she felt a crack in her front left paw. She squeaked in pain and curled up to nurse the wound until she could get accustomed enough to the pain to think clearly again. When she was lucid again, she took in her surroundings. Thankfully, she was blessed with good dark vision, so despite the lack of light, she could still make things out. The cave was clearly not natural. It was almost perfectly round, and the walls were smooth packed dirt. At the same time, it didn¡¯t look manmade. For one, it was too short: any human that wasn¡¯t a child would have to hunch over to walk through it. It didn¡¯t look like it had been drilled either, since it curved to opposite sides in either direction. Not liking the images that came to mind of what kind of creature could make such a tunnel, she shook her head, picked a direction, and started limping. Whatever had made the tunnel wasn¡¯t there, and she didn¡¯t hear anything either. On top of that, she was pretty sure the wolf was too big to fit in the cave, so the immediate danger was gone. She just had to find somewhere safe. Somewhere actually safe this time. The tunnel wound around with a seemingly random pattern of turns, ascents, and descents, none of which brought her any closer to anything. Her broken paw was throbbing in pain, and she was getting thirsty again. In the back of her mind, she knew that a broken limb was often a death sentence for wild animals, but she deliberately chose not to think about it. She tried filling her head with positive thoughts. She would find the exit to the tunnel, and she would survive. Her leg would heal perfectly, and she¡¯d live a long and happy life, albeit one stuck as a rabbit. Her hope was rewarded when she started to hear the faint sound of running water. She sped up, hoping that she was finally nearing the surface, but when the tunnel sloped downward instead, she started having doubts. Whatever had made the tunnel probably needed to drink water too. If there was an underground river, she was more likely to encounter it at the water source than anywhere else. She didn¡¯t have much of a choice though. There had been no branches to the tunnel, and she didn¡¯t know if she could make it back to where she started and then further on only three legs. She committed to her path, and a hundred feet later, the tunnel opened up to a wide cavern the size of an airplane hangar with an underground river running through the far side of it. The cavern looked just as unnatural as the tunnel she had come from, with unnaturally smooth walls and ground. Even the river¡¯s path was strangely uniform. She only noticed those things in passing though, as something far more eye-catching took up almost the entire corner to her right. It was an enormous, softly glowing, translucent orange orb that looked almost like one of the pods from the Matrix, but way bigger, and instead of being hooked up to machinery, it was attached to the ground and wall with some kind of pitch black web-like material. [Lesser Earth Wyrm, lvl ???] [Inspect has leveled up! Lvl 9 -> 17] [Evolution in progress (5h48m remaining)] Elise froze in her tracks. Identifying the ¡°Lesser¡± Earth Wyrm had given her the same amount of levels that inspecting the direwolf had, which meant it was much higher level than the direwolf. It said it was in the middle of evolution, but she had been being chased by the snake while the System explained what that meant, so she had no idea how dangerous it was.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. System! Help! ¡°Help? What seems to be-¡± Explain evolution to me again! ¡°Certainly! Evolution is a process that all non-humanoid creatures go through as they progress. It allows them to become stronger and to learn-¡± Skip that part! Just tell me about what actually happens when you evolve. ¡°I understand. When a creature evolves, it is enveloped in a cocoon while its body is broken down and reformed as its new species. During this time, the creature is very vulnerable, so typically, they find or create safe, isolated spaces so as not to be interrupted.¡± Is it possible to wake up in the middle of evolution? ¡°No, it is not possible, as a creature undergoing evolution will not have a body to wake up until the final stage of the process.¡± Elise breathed a sigh of relief. That meant she still had almost six hours before that thing woke up. Plenty of time to get some water, take a quick breather, and get back out. She had no idea what she would do after that though. This Earth Wyrm was clearly not one to go to the surface often. What if the tunnel she was following never actually made it back up? She couldn¡¯t dig back to the surface with a broken paw. She looked back at the giant orange as a thought crossed her mind. System, exactly how vulnerable are creatures during their evolutions? ¡°That can vary based on species. Some evolution paths come with perks that allow them more safety during evolution. A standard evolution is still very delicate though. Even a mouse could chew its way through the membrane, and if the membrane is broken, the creature inside will die.¡± Elise eyed the earth wyrm as she contemplated. If it didn¡¯t have a class that gave it extra protection, she could kill it right there and solve her most immediate problem. If it had decided this location was a safe place to evolve, that meant that she would also be safe there, as long as it was gone. There was no food there for her, but there was water, and she could live without food for longer than she could live without water. If she killed it, she could afford to rest for longer before turning back. On top of that, she would earn exp for killing it, so maybe she would get a skill that could help her escape, or if she was lucky, an evolution. But the prospect of killing the defenseless creature bothered her. No matter how dangerous it was, it had done nothing to her so far, and for all she knew it could be intelligent. It had dug itself a cave next to a river, so it was, at the very least, not mindless like a slime. System, is it possible for a non-humanoid to be sapient? ¡°Yes! Dragons are one notable non-humanoid sapient species.¡± Does that mean that Wyrms are sapient? ¡°Though not an uncommon misconception, Dragons and Wyrms are not the same creature. Wyrms are typically not sapient.¡± Typically? ¡°It is possible for non-humanoid creatures to gain sapience at higher evolutions. However, this is rare, and not possible until the 6th evolution. If you wish to attain sapience, you must reach at least this evolution and have a Legendary species.¡± But I already have sapience. ¡°I am sorry, but Forest Rabbits are not sapient creatures. If you wish to attain sapience, you must reach at least your 6th evolution and obtain a Legendary class. In rare cases, it is also possible to acquire a cross-species evolution that grants sapience.¡± But I am sapient. ¡°I am sorry, but Forest Rabbits are not-¡± Enough, she thought. She was getting sidetracked. Is a Lesser Earth Wyrm sapient, or not? ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I cannot answer that question.¡± Elise sighed, then started considering the situation. She had no idea if what was inside was sapient. If it was, killing it mid-evolution would be murder. If it wasn¡¯t sapient yet, but was evolving into something that would be sapient, would that be any different? She went down that rabbit hole for a minute or so before deciding it was a hole not worth exploring at the moment. The System had said that Wyrms were typically not sapient. Was this a typical one? ¡°Lesser¡± and ¡°Earth¡± didn¡¯t scream ¡°atypical¡± to her. It sounded like just an indication of its power and element. But what if Earth was named after the planet, and it was another human like her that had gotten transferred into a new body?¡± System, are there any other¡­ people like me? Ones that died and got a new body as a non-humanoid? ¡°My records are only updated until the point when you arrived. I do not know if any more have arrived since. When you arrived, there were 0 other humans using !@#$%^&*¡¯s reincarnation system in this world.¡± Does ¡®earth¡¯ in a species name just indicate the element? Is it possible for it to be referring to the creature¡¯s planet of origin? ¡°The word ¡®Earth¡¯ used in a species title refers to that species'' primary magical element.¡± Elise sighed again, this time in relief. She had been in that world for less than 24 hours. The odds of someone else getting reincarnated, getting reincarnated as something that powerful, finding enough experience to reach the evolution threshold, all while being within a mile of her were astronomical. There was almost no chance of that, at least. And if Earth was just an element, that was another thing less to worry about. The only concern left was that it was sapient through the normal means. ¡°Lesser Earth Wyrm¡± didn¡¯t sound very Legendary. Even if it was at the right evolution, that might not be sapient. And if it was evolving into something sapient¡­ Was she willing to kill in order to survive? She wanted to say ¡®no¡¯, but between the pain and the fear, she was on the verge of thinking it didn¡¯t matter whether it was sapient or not. After all, even if it did become sapient, there was no guarantee it wouldn¡¯t immediately kill her when she woke up. If she decided not to, she would have to find a way to survive in a tunnel with a broken leg and the threat of two massive predators searching for her. Dangit, she thought. Fine. I¡¯ll do it. If she didn¡¯t it was almost certain death. She had no choice, really. It was kill or be killed, and she wasn¡¯t so selfless that she would give up her life just because this creature might become sapient. She limped up to the orange evolution pod and peered inside. As far as she could tell, the inside was pure liquid; no sign of any Wyrm. Half of her wanted to wait a bit and prepare herself more, but she also knew that if she waited too long, and it turned out that the Wyrm had some kind of skill to thicken the orange membrane that held it together, she would only put herself in more danger. I¡¯m sorry, she thought, and she bit down as hard as she could. 4 - Evolution The System was way overselling it when it said a mouse could break through the evolution membrane. A determined insect could break through it without issue. The second Elise¡¯s teeth hit it, it burst, filling her mouth with a taste so foul she forgot about her broken foot attempting to flee. Blinded by the pain, she finished limping back to the entrance tunnel as the evolution pod drained. When it was about half-empty, she got the System notification [You have defeated Lesser Earth Wyrm lvl 25] [You have leveled up! 2 -> 10] [You have reached an evolution threshold! Excess exp will be disregarded.] [Agility + 8, Charisma + 24, Mana + 16, Mana Control + 16] [You have unlocked the skill {Dart}] [You have unlocked the skill {Sudden Growth}] [You are eligible for evolution! You have {7} options! You have 168 hours to select an option and begin your evolution before an option will be randomly selected for you and your evolution will start automatically] Elise had a lot of mixed feelings as she watched the Wyrm goop continue to pour out and drain into the river. On one hand, she had leveled up straight to her evolution threshold, and earned stat points and skills to compensate. On the other hand, it said that excess exp had been disregarded, which made her wonder exactly how much she had missed out on. The Earth Wyrm was only level 25, which surprised her, but after some clarification with the System, she learned that it was actually more like a level 70, since level reset at each evolution, and each successive evolution was five levels further than the last. A level 2 killing a level 70 was definitely worth more than just 8 levels. Her new skills were interesting, but nothing special. {Dart} was like {Leap}, but was for exclusively horizontal movement and had multiple charges, and {Sudden Growth} just made the plants around her grow at many times their normal rate for one second. That was great if she wanted some quick cover or food, but not much else. What she was really looking forward to was the evolution. System, what happens if I¡¯m injured when I start evolution? She asked. ¡°Evolution heals all wounds. Because your body is reformed from scratch at every evolution, injuries do not carry over.¡± Sweet! What are my evolution options? ¡°You have 2 Common evolution options, 4 Uncommon evolution options, and 1 Rare evolution option. Your Common evolution options are: {Greater Rabbit}, and {Earth Rabbit}. Your Uncommon evolution options are: {Tunnel Rabbit}, {Demon Rabbit}, {Rabbit Assassin}, and {Rabbit Sorceress}. Your Rare evolution options are: {Young Rabbit Enchantress}.¡± What¡¯s the difference between Common, Uncommon, and Rare? ¡°When a creature evolves, they are offered classes from one of six rarities: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, and Mythical. The higher the rarity, the stronger the class. In the first evolution, a common Evolution will grant 10 stat points every level, an Uncommon class will grant 20, a Rare class will grant 30, an Epic class will grant 40, a Legendary will grant 50, and a Mythic will grant 60. Higher rarity evolutions also often come with unique and powerful skills that cannot be found in other classes.¡± Can you describe each one? ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I cannot answer that question.¡± What? Why not? ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I cannot answer that question.¡± You¡¯re useless. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear you say that. Would you like to fill out a short feedback survey so that the developers can improve your future experiences?¡± Wait, can I really? ¡°Yes! Here at !@#$%^&, we value customer service above all else!¡± Whatever name the System said reached Elise¡¯s ears as a garbled, unintelligible mess. ¡°We would love to hear your feedback on how we can enhance our products to improve customer experience and help you achieve your dreams! Are you interested?¡± Yes! Elise was certain that responding to the survey would do absolutely nothing for her, but having a space to air out her grievances to the supposed developers of the System was cathartic. Once she was done, she got down to the real business of contemplating her evolution. She wanted to pick quickly, because the pain in her paw was starting to increase, but she knew that a bad early choice could screw her over, so she took as much time as she could. {Demon Rabbit} was out for obvious reasons. She didn¡¯t even know why it was offered and didn¡¯t want to think too hard about it. So were {Greater Rabbit} and {Earth Rabbit}. Both sounded boring, and they were Common, so they would give her half or less stat points than the other classes would. She struck {Assassin Rabbit} off the list next. It seemed like it might be the strongest in terms of raw attack power, but the thought of killing more didn¡¯t sit well with her. It hadn¡¯t felt good the first time, and if she ever encountered something sapient that she wanted to defeat without killing, being stuck with only assassin skills would suck. The next to go was {Tunnel Rabbit}. It seemed like it might be the safest of her options, since going underground had thus far been a viable solution for survival, but she had never liked enclosed spaces, and didn¡¯t want to spend her whole life living in them. Plus, after learning about evolution, she had small hope that she might eventually be able to evolve into something more human-like, and being a {Tunnel Rabbit} didn¡¯t sound like the right path to take in that case. That left her with just two options, and if they had been both the same rarity, she would have taken {Rabbit Sorceress} without hesitation. {Young Rabbit Enchantress} sounded like a class focused on magically manipulating people and other creatures, and she wasn¡¯t sure if she liked the sound of that. Being a sorceress was the weaker class by rarity, but it also felt less restrictive. She would have more options along that path, while as an enchantress, she would be more or less railroaded into a manipulator archetype. On the other hand though, she had turned down {Rabbit Assassin} specifically because she didn¡¯t want to rely on killing, and if she was a {Young Rabbit Enchantress}, she would probably have lots of ways to get out of trouble without killing anything. She reasoned with herself back and forth until she was less sure of herself than she had ever been, but the pain in her paw was increasing, and the swelling was visible even under the fur, so she had to choose. She ultimately ended up throwing out her considerations and using the most objective way to decide: stat points.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. She chose to complete her evolution right there in that same chamber. If the Earth Wyrm had thought it was safe enough to perform evolution in, it was probably safe. The odds of some tiny rodent accidentally digging into the tunnel and finding her in the middle of her evolution and then deciding to kill her were astronomical. ¡­ She decided to do it in a somewhat hidden spot within the deflated Wyrm¡¯s membrane, just in case. That way, even if something did find its way in, it wouldn¡¯t see her immediately like she had the wyrm. And if it did, it might mistake her for a remaining section of the wyrm¡¯s evolution pod and not do anything. The floor was sloped slightly down toward the river, so most of the goop had been washed away, but there was still a not insignificant amount pooled up in the remains of the pod. Elise tried to ignore its smell as she climbed into the hole that had been ripped open wide around her initial bite. She settled into the corner near where the black, webby stuff met the orange membrane of the original pod, and prompted the System. System, I¡¯m ready to evolve. ¡°Excellent. Which evolution path would you like to take?¡± {Young Rabbit Enchantress}. ¡°A wonderful choice! Are you in a safe location? Remember, evolution is a very vulnerable process. If you are in a location that you do not think will be completely safe for the next 6 to 24 hours, it is highly recommended that you find such a place before initiating your evolution.¡± I am safe. ¡°You have chosen to evolve from {Rabbit} to {Young Rabbit Enchantress}. Would you like to continue? Warning: responding ¡®yes¡¯ will start the evolution process, during which you will be unable to move or defend yourself. Are you sure that you want to evolve right now?¡± Yes. [Beginning Evolution] [Evolution Complete!] Wait what? Elise hadn¡¯t even had time to blink after reading the first message, and now suddenly she was surrounded by orange and staring at a host of new notifications. [You have successfully completed your first evolution! +10 to all stats!] [Your new species is: {Young Rabbit Enchantress}. +15 Mana, +25 Mana Control, +10 Intelligence, +25 Willpower, +30 Charisma] Why again with the Charisma?? [You have unlocked the skill {Mana Sense}] [You have unlocked the skill {Magic Missile}] [You have unlocked the skill {Suggestion}] [Nature Affinity detected! You have unlocked the bonus skill {Prehensile Vines}] She forced her way out of her pod where the remains of the wyrm had dried up, leaving behind a springy, gelatin-like layer under her feet. She looked over her body, and was both disappointed and relieved to find that nothing much had changed. All she noticed was that she had maybe grown an inch or two, and that her white fur was now as clean as if she had been just washed. She went out of the wyrm¡¯s pod and marveled at how easy it was to move with her increased stats. It made her feel like she had been drunk up until then, stumbling around like a fool and moving at half the speed she could have. {Mana Sense} was a passive skill, and she noticed its effects immediately. The air in the cave was just as stale and still as it was before, but now there was a sensation that felt like a breeze tickling her brain. It was the flow of mana, and it seemed unaffected by the solid earth surrounding it. System, how long did my evolution take? ¡°Your evolution took 3 hours 48 minutes and 56.286 seconds.¡± That wasn¡¯t even close to what she thought it had taken. The earth wyrm had more time on its timer when she arrived, and it could have started long before then. It must have been because she was smaller, or because hers was a first evolution, or because her evolution hadn¡¯t changed her body much at all. Regardless, she was now whole again, and stronger than ever, and ready to get back out of the dark cave and into the sunlight. Getting past the direwolf would still be a problem, but that was only if it was still there, but why would it be? It had been hours. ¡­ It was still there. She found the place she had dug in, and after carving a makeshift side tunnel so she could get back up, she started climbing back up to her burrow, only to freeze when she heard it breathing above her. It sounded like it was asleep, but it was most definitely directly on top of the hill. Why is it still there?! she thought. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t understand-¡± I wasn¡¯t talking to you. She backed out again and returned to the wyrm tunnel. She could try to sneak past it, but why risk it? With four working legs, it had only taken a quarter of an hour to get back to that place, and since she had just gone through evolution, she felt fresh and full of energy. She had plenty of time to head the other direction down the wyrm¡¯s tunnel, and if that failed, she could just find the highest point she could and dig herself back out. An hour later, she was starting to regret her decision. The wyrm had taken great care to make sure its evolution chamber was nowhere near any of its other tunnels or any entrances to the surface. She couldn¡¯t fault it, because she would do the same in its situation, but it was really annoying for her. She amused herself by testing out her new {Dart} skill to move faster, which was fun and helpful, but also made her legs sore when she used it too many times, so she returned to normal hop-walking. Another hour later, she finally came across a fork. She took the path that she could hear running water down, and was rewarded with another chamber similar to the evolution one, but with more tunnels. There were also some glowing mushrooms growing around the underground river, and they smelled heavenly. She was not dumb enough to eat strange mushrooms, but she did salivate over their scent a bit as she passed by. She took the uppermost exit, hoping that it would lead her to the surface. The path spiraled upward for at least ten revolutions and dead-ended in a flat, circular chamber. Elise almost turned back around until she saw a root dangling from the ceiling. She looked closer and saw that most of the left side of the ceiling was lined with roots. Roots meant trees, and trees meant surface, so Elise started digging. A few feet later, and Elise finally felt the sunlight on her fur again. She was on a hill topped by a dry, ancient tree that overlooked the forest. She hopped over to the other side of the hill, and almost tripped in shock when she saw a log cabin in a valley down below. Depending on who lived there, she had either found herself the safest, or the most dangerous place in the whole area. As she realized that, she also realized that she had forgotten to check her surroundings before emerging. She was so caught up in getting out of the tunnel that she had forgotten how dangerous the surface was, and it was now biting her in the cotton-tailed rear, because something much bigger than her was staring at her from its perch in the tree branches above. Current stat sheet:
Name Elise Burrow
Age 0 (20)
Race Young Rabbit Enchantress
Level 1
Stats Base Bonuses Total
Strength 19 0 19
Agility 44 0 44
Dexterity 18 0 18
Fortitude 17 0 17
Charisma 137 0 137
Intelligence 43 0 43
Willpower 58 0 58
Mana 53 0 53
Mana Control 83 0 83
Skills Level Description
Inspect 17 Identify the species and level of another creature
Nature Magic Affinity - As a creature of the forest, you feel a strong connection to nature and natural mana
Leap 2 Jump with additional force. Cooldown: 5 seconds
Mark of Fate - ???
Dart 1 Dash quickly in any horizontal direction. Charges: 5. Cooldown: 10 seconds
Sudden Growth 1 Cause all nearby plants to grow at many times their normal rate for 3 seconds
Mana Sense 1 Sense nearby mana
Magic Missile 1 Create missiles of mana that attack your target. Current missiles: 2
Suggest 1 Plant a subtle thought or desire in the target''s mind
Prehensile Vines 1 Vines grow out of the ground in front of you. You can control them as you would your own limbs.
5 - Cabin ¡°Bu zl tbfu, lbh''er fb phgr!¡± The one in the tree was the girl from the hunter pair that she had seen tracking her slime¡¯s trail the previous day. She was crouching on one of the thicker branches and staring at her with a wide smile. Normally, she would consider a smiling human a good thing, but being one of the primary food sources of said smiling human, it made her blood run cold instead. Elise used {Dart} to get as far away as she could while the girl jumped out of the tree and ran after her, calling something out. She couldn¡¯t understand the words, but the tone made her pause. She wasn¡¯t calling for assistance, or trying to get the attention of another human; she was calling to Elise, and waving at her. Elise didn¡¯t trust the human, but if she was friendly, it would be better to establish a relationship than panic and run away. And if it turned out that the girl really did just want to eat her, well, Elise had already established that she was faster, so she could just run away again. The girl stopped twenty feet away, noticing that Elise was tensing her legs to run away again. ¡°Njj, qba''g or fpnerq. V nva''g tbaan uheg ln.¡± Elise had no idea what she was saying, but her tone sounded calm and soothing. The girl crouched down, and when she brushed her hair away to keep it out of her face, Elise noticed that her ear was pointed. That instantly improved her opinion of the girl by a good twenty percent. If she was an elf, that meant she was close to nature, and much less likely to hurt Elise. It wasn¡¯t a guarantee, since she didn¡¯t know anything about that world, but the girl passed the eye test for being a benevolent being so far. She inspected the girl as well, just to make sure she was actually a girl and not a disguised {Bunny-Muncher} or something ridiculous like that. As it turned out, {Inspect} did not show species for humanoid creatures. Or maybe her {Inspect} was just too low-leveled. [Apprentice Mana Dancer lvl 12] ¡°Jurer qvq lbh pbzr sebz, phgvr? V arire fnj n enoovg yvxr lbh orsber.¡± She reached into her pocket and pulled out a carrot and held it out. ¡°Urer, jnaan fanpx?¡± Why did she have a carrot in her pocket? Elise wondered. Elise didn¡¯t move, but she was interested in the carrot. She had always liked them as a human, and was excited to see what they tasted like as a rabbit. She was also starting to trust the girl a bit more. Kind of. Part of her also wondered if she had that carrot in her pocket so she could try to lure in rabbits to make stew out of. She wanted to deride that part of her for being irrational, but she also knew that excess paranoia was better than none in a situation such as hers. The girl set the carrot down in the grass and backed up another twenty feet away before crouching down again and smiling at Elise. Elise tentatively made her way over to the carrot, keeping her eyes on the girl the whole time to watch for sudden movements. She sniffed the carrot to make sure it wasn¡¯t laced with poison, not that she¡¯d know what that smelled like, and then took a small bite. It was incredible. Just as good, if not better than grass. Seeing that Elise was enjoying the carrot, the girl started to creep forward, and Elise decided to let her. Her gut said she could trust the elven girl, and her eyes hadn¡¯t seen anything to prove the opposite. Elise continued to nibble on the carrot while the girl reached over to gently stroke her back. Elise did not protest. She trusted the girl, so now she needed the girl to trust her. If she could make it inside the cabin, she would be set, at least for the short term. Food, shelter, and a guarantee of no monsters in the vicinity. It would give her a lot more breathing room to figure out what she wanted to do with her new life. And besides that, being pet felt nice. "Ubj ner lbh fb phgr?!¡± the girl crooned. ¡°V pbhyq jngpu lbh rng sbe ubhef!" She reached over to pick Elise up and put her in her lap. She was also kind enough to grab the rest of the carrot from the ground so that Elise could grab it with her paws and keep munching while the girl held her. Elise used her excellent peripheral vision to keep a wary eye on her surroundings, but she let herself relax a bit. If this girl felt safe, there would be nothing that could hurt her. When she finished her carrot, the girl crooned over her for a few more minutes before standing up with Elise still in her arms and half-running toward the cabin. Elise could tell that she was excited, but also didn¡¯t want to frighten or hurt Elise, so she was trying to be both fast and gentle. She was doing a rather poor job of it, but Elise appreciated the effort at least. The interior of the cabin was cozy and decorated with a pleasant assortment of wood and leather furniture and flowers. The girl skipped past the kitchen and into a sitting room with two couches, one of which held a blonde adult woman reading a book. ¡°Zbzzl, ybbx jung V sbhaq!¡± said the girl. The woman peered at her over the book without saying a word, then sat up straight. When she did, Elise realized that the girl was actually just a half-elf. The mother¡¯s ears were much longer, and her face was much more slim and regal, like Elise thought an elf¡¯s should be. The girl¡¯s looked far too human. The two shared the same bright green eyes and the same slender build though. [Mana Dancer lvl ???] ¡°Fbcuvr, jung qvq V fnl nobhg oevatvat navznyf vagb gur ubhfr?¡± said the mother. ¡°Ohg, Zbzzl, ybbx ubj phgr fur vf!¡± replied the daughter. ¡°Pna jr cyrnfr xrrc ure?¡± ¡°Qb lbh erzrzore jung unccrarq ynfg gvzr lbh oebhtug na navzny vagb gur ubhfr?¡± ¡°Fur''f qvssrerag! Fur''f fb avpr naq pnyz! V cebzvfr fur jba''g pnhfr nal ceboyrzf! Frr?¡± The girl set Elise on the ground. Elise couldn¡¯t understand a word they were saying, but she got the gist of the conversation. The daughter wanted to keep her, and her mom said no, so the daughter was trying to prove her wrong. Elise knew what she had to do. She hopped over to the mother and nuzzled against her leg. The elf woman looked down with pursed lips and Elise looked back up, trying to act as cute as she could until the woman finally relented and scratched under her chin. ¡°Nfx lbhe sngure,¡± she said. The girl cheered and scooped Elise back up to run out of the room. ¡°Vs gung guvat znxrf n zrff, lbh''yy or gur bar pyrnavat vg hc!¡± called the mother. ¡°Bxnl!¡± Elise then received a house tour. There was the kitchen by the entrance and the sitting room next to it, and then a dining room in the same public area with a hallway leading further back. The house had three bedrooms, one master and two smaller ones. One was clearly the girl¡¯s since that was the only one that Elise got to actually go inside and explore, while the others she only got to peer into from the door. There was also a bathroom but Elise wasn¡¯t allowed to go in there either, so her curiosity about how a fantasy bathroom would work remained unsated. In the cabin¡¯s backyard there was a sizable garden full of mostly dirt and a few sprouts. Here, Elise squirmed out of the girl¡¯s arms and ran to the nearest sprouts. ¡°Jnvg! Ab, lbh pna''g rng gung!¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. As soon as she was within range, she cast her new spell {Sudden Growth}, causing the nearest sprouts to triple in height, and new leaves and branches to appear. She had convinced the daughter and the mother, so her position was probably safe, but just in case the rabbit-hunter himself came back and denied her, or decided to eat her, she wanted to cement her place as a useful animal to keep around. The girl picked Elise up while staring down at the magically enhanced plants while Elise heard footsteps coming from the house. The older woman appeared from the back door with an angry expression on her face. ¡°Fbcuvr, qvq lbhe arj crg whfg-¡± She stopped when she saw the plants, then her eyes narrowed while she looked at Elise. It was then that Elise realized she had made a mistake. In her haste to prove herself harmless and helpful, she had also proven that she was far more intelligent than an ordinary rabbit had any right to be. In a world where things like Demon Rabbits and Rabbit Enchantresses existed, it was foolish of her to act so suspiciously. ¡°Yrg zr frr gung enoovg,¡± said the mother, holding her hand out. The girl seemed to sense the mood and hugged Elise tighter to her chest. ¡°Zbzzl, fur¡¯f n tbbq enoovg. Fur znqr gur cynagf tebj,¡± she said. ¡°V xabj, fjrrgvr, V whfg jnag gb gnxr n ybbx ng ure,¡± replied the mother, beckoning the girl over. ¡°Oevat ure bire urer.¡± ¡°Cebzvfr lbh¡¯er abg tbaan uheg ure?¡± ¡°V cebzvfr.¡± The girl trudged over to her mother and handed Elise over. The elf woman picked Elise up under her front legs and held her out in front so she could make eye contact. Elise shuddered as she felt a wave of mana pass through her. The woman¡¯s eyebrows raised, then lowered again, and for a moment, her face was blank, and there was no reaction. Elise could feel her heart rate skyrocketing as the tension built and she was filled with dread. ¡°Guvf vf n tbbq enoovg,¡± said the woman, handing Elise back. ¡°Znxr fher lbh gnxr rkpryyrag pner bs ure.¡± ¡°V jvyy!¡± The woman returned inside, leaving Elise wondering what had just happened. What spell had she cast? Why did she just let her go? It was definitely better than being kicked out or killed for being dangerous, so she wasn¡¯t complaining, but not knowing what had happened or why was making her anxious. Her questions remained unanswered though. She spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the girl, and testing out her skills. Using {Sudden Growth} in the garden had cost 10 of her now 43 mana points, but she had already recovered one of them by the time the mother had gone back inside, and it didn¡¯t take long for the rest to return. She thought that seemed a little fast, but that could also have just been because of how pitifully small her mana pool was. {Sudden Growth} wasn¡¯t even that powerful or useful of a spell, and it had cost nearly a quarter of her total supply. She wanted to test {Magic Missile} and {Suggestion} too, but being so unsure of her position in the house, she wanted to seem as harmless as possible, so she refrained from showing off her offensive spells. She did allow herself to experiment with {Prehensile Vines} though, and she was glad she did. The spell caused two vines to sprout from the ground in front of her that she could control as she willed. It wasn¡¯t quite like having arms again, but it was much better than before. She could pick things up without also tasting them now, and she could even detach them from the ground and transfer them to her body, though they started decaying quickly if she did that. Another downside was that she could only make them last about a minute, even rooted before her mana ran out and she couldn¡¯t control them any more. This spell amused the girl greatly when she saw Elise picking up sticks and rocks. She doubled over with laughter, and tried to shake the rabbit¡¯s vine hand. Elise tried to oblige, but by the time the vine reached the hand, she was out of mana, so all she could do was graze the girl¡¯s fingers before the spell failed. The girl tried to convince Elise to do it again¨C or at least that¡¯s what it seemed like¨C but with no mana, and no way to communicate that, Elise just stared blankly until she gave up. After that, the girl asked Elise a question that she couldn¡¯t understand and before she would have had time to respond even as a human, she was once again in the girl¡¯s arms and on her way to a new part of the property. This time, it was a small creek running alongside the house full of slow, clear water and small, silver fish. The girl put Elise down and made a motion telling her to stay, then stripped off her shoes and socks and waded into the water until it was up to her knees. She shivered a bit, but kept her wide smile as she stared Elise in the eyes and started moving her arms. It looked like a Tai Chi kata, but as Elise watched, she also sensed the mana moving, and soon, there was a snake made of water floating above the creek, moving alongside the girl¡¯s hand as she carried on with her dance. The snake was strong and vivid for the first minute, but after that, its form started to waver as the girl¡¯s concentration failed. Her smile was gone, and her face was scrunched with effort, but another minute later, the snake failed entirely, splashing back down into the water as she made a disappointed trudge back to the shore. Elise thought the performance was wonderful though, and made sure to do everything she could to let the girl know it. She couldn¡¯t give her a hug, or tell her how much she enjoyed it, but she could nuzzle up against her and¨C as weird as it felt¨C lick her hand. She wasn¡¯t sure how that last gesture would go over, since she didn¡¯t know if real rabbits even did that, but the girl giggled, so Elise considered her mission a success. Soon after, Elise heard footsteps, and seeing her perk up, the girl followed her gaze toward the front of the house where the hunter man was walking down the path toward the front door. ¡°Qnqql!¡± exclaimed the girl. She picked Elise up and took off running to meet him without even putting her shoes back on. When she got near to him, she shifted Elise to one arm, then took a flying leap into her father¡¯s arms. The bearded man caught her deftly, taking care to make sure Elise didn¡¯t get crushed in between. He laughed and kissed her on the forehead, then looked down at Elise. As she had expected, the girl was only a half-elf; his ears were round. [Steward of Nature, lvl ???] [Inspect has leveled up! Lvl 17 -> 18] ¡°Lbh''er jrg,¡± he said. ¡°Naq lbh unir n ebqrag fghpx gb lbhe nez.¡± The girl looked shocked. ¡°Fur''f abg n ebqrag!¡± she exclaimed. ¡°Fur''f n enoovg! V jnf fubjvat ure zl jngre qnapr!¡± ¡°V thrff jr''er univat enoovg fgrj sbe qvaare gbavtug gura,¡± said the man with a smile. The girl peeled herself away and backed up, hugging Elise protectively. ¡°Ab, lbh pna''g rng ure!¡± ¡°Ohg fur ybbxf qryvpvbhf.¡± He licked his lips and laughed. ¡°Ab!¡± The door opened behind them and the mother walked out. She went to her husband, who bent over to give her a peck on the lips as they embraced. ¡°Rjj!¡± said the girl. ¡°Jrypbzr onpx, qrne,¡± said the woman. "V zvffrq lbh,¡± he replied. "Vg ybbxf yvxr bhe qnhtugre unf sbhaq urefrys nabgure arj crg." ¡°Vg''f n tbbq enoovg,¡± said the woman before kissing him again. ¡°V guvax jr fubhyq yrg ure xrrc vg.¡± ¡°Ernyyl?¡± exclaimed the girl ¡°Ner lbh fher?¡± asked the man. ¡°Lrf. Jr pna gnyx zber yngre. Sbe abj, yrgf trg vafvqr. Qvaare¡¯f jnvgva¡¯.¡± The elf waved her arm and warm wind swirled around them and the water was siphoned from their clothes and fur. She turned and walked inside, and the rest followed. Dinner that night for the humanoids was some kind of brown stew that smelled like meat and herbs. Intellectually, Elise thought it smelled delicious, but internally, she was repulsed. Her new herbivorous instincts didn¡¯t much like the smell of cooked meat. Especially when the odds that the meat was one of the rabbits the man had hunted were as high as they were. Dinner for her was a small plate of assorted greens. She recognized lettuce and kale, but there were three other kinds of leaves that she wasn¡¯t sure of. They were all delicious. She ate on the floor, which she didn¡¯t like, but she was an animal, so expecting a seat at the table would have been odd. She listened in on their conversation while she ate, and though she still didn¡¯t understand a word, she thought she had a rough guess at what the girl¡¯s name was now. It sounded almost like ¡®Sophie¡¯, but the -ph sound was closer to a -v than a normal -ph would be. Elise mentally filed her as Sophie to make things easy, but if- no when she was able to speak, she would make sure to pronounce it properly. After dinner, they sat around the table and talked for a little while longer before they went to their respective bedrooms for what Elise assumed to be the rest of the night. Sophie didn¡¯t go to sleep immediately, instead choosing to stay up reading a book at her desk by the light of a magic lantern, but Elise was wiped out, so she curled up on the bed and fell asleep almost instantly. Some time later, Sophie put out the light and joined her in bed, curling up into a fetal position wrapped around Elise. Elise realized as she lay there that at some point, the father must have accepted that she was staying there. She had tried to pay attention for if the conversation would turn to her, hoping that even if she didn¡¯t know the words, she would at least be able to sense the attention on her, but it had never happened. It seemed that he had just gone along with it as soon as he got back home. She didn¡¯t have the mental capacity to think any deeper than that though, as she was drifting off into a deep, dreamless sleep. The next morning, they were awoken by a pounding on the door and a voice shouting from the other side. 6 - Upgrade ¡°Sophie!¡± Sylvanna pounded on the door for a third time. ¡°Breakfast time!¡± Sophie replied with an incomprehensible mumble, muffled by the solid oak door. Sylvanna knocked one more time before opening the door. The room was mostly clean, save for the two books left open on the desk and the bedsheets which had been gathered at the center of the bed in a vaguely human-shaped lump. ¡°So-phie,¡± she sang. ¡°It¡¯s time to wake up.¡± There was no response. There was only one way to solve this problem. She grabbed the sheets, and tore them away to reveal her daughter, one hand grasping blindly for the sheets, and the other wrapped around the white rabbit. The rabbit looked at Sylvanna, as if begging to be rescued from the girl¡¯s less-than-gentle embrace. ¡°Sophie,¡± she said. ¡°The sun¡¯s been up for an hour now. It¡¯s time to wake up.¡± ¡°Iowanna,¡± said the girl, rolling over to face the wall. ¡°How many times have I told you not to stay up all night reading?¡± ¡°Nnnnnnhhh.¡± Sylvanna reached down to extract the rabbit, causing another round of blind grasping from the girl. ¡°If you want to play with her, you¡¯d better wake up soon. We were going to name her today, remember? If you don¡¯t hurry, I¡¯ll be doing it without you. I was thinking Madame Fluffybutt would be fitting.¡± ¡°Nooo!¡± Sophie finally sat up, blinking rapidly to clear the drowsiness. ¡°Then you¡¯d better hurry up and get out of your pajamas and get your breakfast.¡± Sylvanna left the room with the rabbit in her arms and went out to the kitchen where she had set out two steaming plates of sausage and a plate of carrots. She set the rabbit down on the table in front of the carrots, which it began to eat with gusto. Sylvanna had to give it to her daughter; the rabbit was indeed cute. Its fur was so white it was almost blinding to look at under the sun, and the way it couldn¡¯t sit still because of the constant twitching of its nose and ears was adorable. Even its ruby red eyes were cute, though she had found them a little unsettling at first. The rabbit seemed to sense her gaze and slowed its eating. The animal was also strangely intelligent. Definitely one of the most intelligent that Sylvanna had ever met. It could not understand language, but it seemed to understand everything else, including body language and basic trade. She would be lying if she said she wasn¡¯t curious, or even suspicious of its origins, but when she checked its emotions, it only showed fear, and hope, with not a hint of malice. She reached out to pet it, and check it again, to find it still the same. It stopped moving under her touch, and started trembling slightly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, little one,¡± said Sylvanna with a smile. ¡°I won¡¯t hurt you.¡± She wasn¡¯t sure if it was her words or her smile, but the gesture seemed to put the rabbit at least somewhat at ease, and it returned to its food. Sophie arrived soon after, yawning and stretching her arms as she walked down the hallway. ¡°Mommy, where¡¯s- oh!¡± The girl skipped over to the table to pet the rabbit. Unlike with Sylvanna, the rabbit didn¡¯t seem to mind her touch, and kept eating while being pet. ¡°Eat your sausages before they get cold.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± Sophie sat down in her chair and started eating, but her eyes never left the rabbit, and in between bites, she would smile at it. Sylvanna herself smiled as she watched both of them. ¡°Where¡¯s Daddy?¡± Sophie asked. ¡°He went out early this morning, remember?¡± ¡°Uhhh.¡± ¡°We talked about it last night.¡± ¡°Oh yeah¡­¡± her face turned glum. ¡°Are we really going to have to leave?¡± Sylvanna sighed. ¡°I hope not, but if monsters keep spawning, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll have much of a choice.¡± Sophie poked at her food. The rabbit sensed the mood, and its eating slowed as well. ¡°But on the bright side, your father and I were thinking of sending you to the academy early!¡± ¡°Really?¡± Sophie asked, perking up. ¡°Yes! You¡¯ve done very well in your studies so far. If you took the entrance examination tomorrow, you¡¯d pass with flying colors! Your father was worried that you¡¯d have trouble making friends, being so young, but there should be a few more students your age, and I know you won¡¯t have any trouble making friends.¡± ¡°Can I really go to the academy?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± ¡°Can I bring her?¡± She pointed to the rabbit. ¡°We¡¯ll have to see if the academy allows pets.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll at least bring her when we move though, right?¡± ¡°Well, we can¡¯t leave her behind in a monster-infested forest, can we?¡± ¡°Nope!¡± said Sophie happily, turning back to her meal. Sylvanna smiled again, but inside, her heart was heavy. She was trying to act like it wasn¡¯t a big deal, but she had been around long enough to know that a sudden change in monster spawn rates was never a good thing. It had only been slimes until now, but if a mere rabbit had managed to gain enough experience to evolve, they might have to leave sooner than later. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Have you decided what you want to name her?¡± ¡°Yeah! Snowberry!¡± The rabbit¡¯s ears straightened, as if it knew they were talking about it. ¡°Snowberry? That¡¯s an interesting name.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because her fur is white like snow, but her eyes are red like a strawberry.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a great name.¡± She turned to the rabbit. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right, Snowberry?¡±
Elise was very confused when the elvish people started saying her name. At first, she was worried that they had learned something, but as they kept saying that, she realized that somehow, they had independently decided to name her ¡®Elise¡¯. She wasn¡¯t sure how that worked out. It must have been some other word in their language. After breakfast, the mother started to give some kind of lesson to the girl in the sitting room. Elise wasn¡¯t sure what it was about, and even though she tried to listen and learn the language, it was so boring that at some point, she fell asleep in Sophie¡¯s lap. She woke up around noon as the lesson wound up, and they headed outside to tend to the garden. It was a lot more exciting than Elise expected it to be. The creek was a good hundred feet from the nearest plants, but that did not bother the elf woman. She did some dance-like motions similar to what Sophie had demonstrated at the creek the prior day, but instead of creating a small water snake, a long, swirling stream of water came out of the creek and followed the woman on her dance around the garden, dripping onto each crop as it went by. Sophie tried to imitate, but she did not have nearly the range of her mother, and had to walk the water over from the creek before she could start depositing it on the plants. Once they were done, Sophie lead Elise over to a certain section of plants, and pointed at them and said something. Elise didn¡¯t know exactly what she said, but she understood her meaning, and cast {Sudden Growth} in the area. The girl laughed and bent down to grab one of the green sprouts and pulled it out to reveal a magnificent carrot. She pulled a few more, then jogged down to the creek to wash them off. She tossed one to Elise, ate one herself, and pocketed the other three. ¡°Sophie! Elise!¡± called the elf woman. Elise froze for a split second, still not used to them knowing her name, but soon recovered and responded by bounding back toward the cabin. ¡°Yhapu gvzr,¡± she said when they arrived. They went back inside where the older woman had somehow had time to prepare another meal. It was much lighter this time¨C a plate of greens for all three of them¨C but Elise could have sworn that she had only been inside for a minute before calling them back in. They settled back into the sitting room for another lesson of some sort, but this time, Elise was too full of energy to sit still. She took to exploring the house on her own, which was very different from her tour from Sophie¡¯s arms. For one, everything looked a lot bigger from her perspective. The tables were roofs over her head, the actual roof was so high it might as well have not existed, and the undersides of the couch now looked like cozy areas that would be perfect for a nap. The house was oddly clean too. Well, maybe not oddly when the elf woman could use magic so proficiently, but even if she could do that, Elise still wasn¡¯t sure if she would bother to clean under the couches and in between the floorboards. With {Mana Sense} Elise also found that the entire house was filled with organized mana. It ran along every wall, though thicker on the outer walls, and there were lines of it running under the house. She could guess with reasonable confidence what a few of them did, such as the big one that pointed toward the creek and ended at the kitchen sink, or the dense outline around each door and window frame, but most remained mysteries. While productive, her exploration didn¡¯t actually take that long, since the cabin wasn¡¯t very big, and when she finished, the lesson was still ongoing, and she no longer had anything to do. She tried playing around with her skills, but the only ones she could safely use in the house were {Dart} and {Leap} and there were only so many times she could jump onto and off of a chair before it got boring. Thankfully, the mother noticed her boredom and decided to let her outside. The cabin was set in a shallow valley in between three hills¨C one of which was the one she had emerged from the wyrm¡¯s tunnel atop¨C and the half-elf family had taken over its entirety. The trees along the hilltops were marked with bright ribbons, and every square foot of the valley showed signs of use: a sawed-off stump here, an old firepit there, blade marks on the larger trees¡­ There was also a complete lack of wildlife, aside from a few small birds and harmless rodents. Or at least, that¡¯s how it seemed at first. As Elise ran alongside the creek, she suddenly heard a pop from behind as a slime appeared. Because of her near-omnidirectional sight, she could see that it had literally just appeared there. It didn¡¯t emerge from hiding or come around a corner and into her sight or anything like that. It was just pop and then it was there. [Forest Slime lvl 1] As with the first slime she had met, as soon as it noticed her, it made a beeline directly toward her, disintegrating every bit of plant matter in its path along the way. For a brief moment, Elise tried to remember where the cliff was, until she mentally facepalmed as she remembered she wasn¡¯t anywhere near as helpless as she had been before. One quick {Magic Missile} later and it was dead. She stayed further back when casting, in case it popped when it died, but instead, her attack just poked holes in it, causing it to rapidly deflate and ooze its innards into the creek. [You have defeated Forest Slime, lvl 1] [{Magic Missile} lvl 1 -> 2] System, do all monsters just appear like that? She asked. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I do not understand the question.¡± Do all monsters just randomly appear in places? Are they not born like anim- like humans are? ¡°Yes. Monsters arrive in the world through a process known as ¡®spawning¡¯. Would you like to learn more about spawning?¡± Yes please. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I cannot answer that question.¡± What? Then why did you ask if I wanted to know more? ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I cannot answer that question.¡± Arrrrghhh. ¡°If you are dissatisfied with your experience, would you like to fill out a short feedback survey so that the developers can improve your future experiences?¡± No! I already filled that out. ¡°I am sorry you are dissatisfied. Some of your concerns may be addressed in our next major update, for which a closed beta test has just been released. Would you like to enable beta features?¡± Beta features? she asked. What are the beta features? ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I cannot answer that question.¡± What? Then why did you offer them to me? ¡°By agreeing to enable beta features, you are also agreeing to our strict Non-Disclosure agreement. Information about beta features is not permitted to users who are not in the closed beta. If you wish to know what the beta features are, you must agree to test them.¡± Well that¡¯s dumb. ¡°I¡¯m sorry you feel that way, but no matter how frustrated you are, derogatory language is never acceptable.¡± What? But I wasn¡¯t-! Nevermind. Can I turn off the beta features if I don¡¯t like them? ¡°By agreeing to test the beta features, you must opt in for at least 7 days. After that, you may disable the beta features if you would like to.¡± Elise contemplated. She was tempted to accept it without further thought, because whatever it gave her couldn¡¯t be worse than what she had now. Maybe it would get smarter with the beta, or at least tell her why it couldn¡¯t answer her questions, and what other kinds of questions it couldn¡¯t answer. However, she did not trust the ¡®developers¡¯ or whatever had created that thing. They clearly didn¡¯t care much about user experience. She had seen her fair share of ¡®upgrades¡¯ to programs she used that only made them worse and more annoying. But if it was a closed beta, as they said, that meant a limited number of people were getting to test it. That meant that they might actually take her feedback seriously if she gave it to them. That settled it in her mind. She had an opportunity to help guide the developers in the right direction, and maybe even prevent them from worsening an already subpar product. She wouldn¡¯t throw it away for a cowardly what-if. I would like to enable beta features, she thought. ¡°Excellent. Please sit tight while we upgrade your system with all the latest new features, courtesy of !@#$%^&!¡± 7 - Book [System upgrade in progress. Some features may be unavailable during this time.] [0%] [11 hours 59 minutes remaining] What features are unavailable? She asked. There was no response. She was almost relieved. She tested the rest of the features she knew about, like her status window and her skills, and they seemed to work just fine, so she shrugged and moved on. It wasn¡¯t like she had nothing else to do. In two different places in the distance, she could hear the faint sizzling of leaves coming into contact with acidic slime bodies. [You have defeated Forest Slime, lvl 2] [You have defeated Forest Slime, lvl 4] [You have leveled up! 1 -> 2] [Agility +3, Dexterity + 4, Charisma +12, Intelligence +4, Willpower + 4, Mana +5, Mana Control +5] The level up felt like a heat spreading through her veins and energizing her. It was almost addictive, and left her craving for more. She didn¡¯t remember getting that sensation from the last time she leveled up, but then again, the last time she leveled up, she was panicked and almost passing out from the pain of her broken paw. She also wasn¡¯t getting any physical stats then, unlike this time. She scanned the area once more with her ears, hoping to pick up on more exper- more slimes in the area, but even with her super hearing, nothing turned up. She slowly stalked the edge of the valley, hoping to hear more popping as new slimes appeared, but nothing happened. Not within the valley at least. She could hear distant rustling in the trees, and the sounds of other creatures moving about in the woods beyond the hills, but she was hesitant to leave the safety of the hunter-controlled land. If what she was hearing happened to be the direwolf again¡­ As if in response to her concerns, her ears flattened against her back as they picked out the sound of a howl a mile away. Not wanting to tempt fate, she wasted no time in returning to the cabin. Her Charisma had more than doubled since last time she ran into it. She didn¡¯t want it even catching a whiff of her. She didn¡¯t know if that was how that worked, but better safe than sorry. It hadn¡¯t even been an hour since she went out, so when she got back, she could hear the mother still lecturing from within the house. She approached the back door, looked up at the round door handle, and paused. She could have opened it with {Prehensile Vines}. However, she wasn¡¯t sure if that was the best plan in her situation. It had only been a day, and while the family seemed to accept her, showing too much intelligence could still be dangerous. On the other hand, how else would she get back in? She tried scratching on the door, but her tiny paws and short nails didn¡¯t make enough noise for them to hear her. She circled around the house, hoping to find some other way in, but stopped as another thought entered her mind. Had they actually ¡°let¡± her out? She wasn¡¯t exactly trying to be stealthy as she jumped around the house. Maybe they had just gotten annoyed with her, and decided that she was going to be an outdoor pet now. She sat under the window to the sitting room for a few minutes and listened in on what had turned from a lecture to a discussion. She did not hear her name once. She was about to head back to the trees when she heard the howling again, this time closer, and she no longer cared whether or not she had been kicked out. She used {Leap} to get up to the windowsill and started pawing at the window. The two looked over at her in surprise, and then Sophie jumped up from the couch with a smile and opened the door to let her inside. Elise tumbled into her arms where she remained until she could stop shivering. She wasn¡¯t actually that scared, but her body seemed to have an involuntarily extreme reaction to the howl of a wolf, so it took a few minutes to calm down. She spent the rest of the early afternoon in Sophie¡¯s lap while the lectures continued on, and when they were finally over, Sophie took her back outside. This time though, she joined Elise, so she wasn¡¯t alone again. Elise spent the next two hours getting ¡°trained¡± by the girl. It was clear that the girl had no idea what she was doing when it came to training a pet, but she tried her best, and her best meant using lots of treats, so Elise didn¡¯t object. She learned a few new words too, like ¡°sit¡±, ¡°jump¡±, ¡°come here¡±, ¡°stay¡±, ¡°no¡±, and ¡°carrot¡±. It wasn¡¯t much, and it wouldn¡¯t help her except when she was being directly addressed, but it was much better than before. They stopped when the sun started setting, and footsteps on the dirt path leading up to the house announced the return of the father. Sophie ran to greet him like she had the day before, and Elise followed, but she stopped when she rounded the corner. The man had three more rabbit corpses slung on his hip. By that point, she was fairly confident that she would not end up the same way, but it was still a gruesome reminder of her place on the food chain. After dinner that night, Sophie retired to her room to read, and this time, Elise jumped onto the desk to try to read along with her. The girl giggled and pulled her close. ¡°Guvf vf n obbx!¡± she said. Elise looked up at her, then back at the open pages. The language looked similar to English, but at the same time totally foreign. The characters were similar, and some almost the same as English ones, but Elise couldn¡¯t find a single word that made sense. ¡°Qb lbh yvxr gur obbx?¡± asked Sophie. Elise looked back up, not sure how to respond, but the girl was not expecting a response, since Elise was a rabbit. She put her finger on the page under the first word in a random paragraph and started reading aloud. Elise had to say that Sophie was a very good reader. She had no idea what the book was talking about, but the way it was being read, it sounded like the greatest story in the world. Every sentence was full of passion and her expressions were animated. She even changed her voice around for what Elise assumed to be different characters during dialogue sections. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! The whole experience was not only fun and cozy, but immensely helpful. Elise started recognizing some of the more common words as they reappeared throughout the book, and the way Sophie read, she was even able to get general ideas of what the words meant. If she could get treated to this more often, she might actually be able to learn the language within a month. At some point, Elise heard the gentle footsteps of Sophie¡¯s parents creeping down the hall and stopping outside the door. There was a soft creak as they leaned against the wall and listened in, but Sophie didn¡¯t notice and read on until long after the sun had set and she needed to turn on some kind of magic lantern to be able to see the pages. When the girl¡¯s voice started getting hoarse from exertion, there was a knock on the door. ¡°Sophie,¡± called her mother. ¡°Vg¡¯f gvzr gb tb gb orq. Qba¡¯g sbetrg lbh¡¯er tbvat bhg jvgu lbhe sngure gbzbeebj zbeavat.¡± ¡°Jr¡¯er nyzbfg qbar jvgu guvf puncgre!¡± Sophie responded. ¡°Gung¡¯f svar. Whfg znxr fher lbh tb gb orq evtug nsgre.¡± The two pairs of footsteps retreated back down the hall, as Sophie returned to reading. Her mother must have told her to go to bed, because she only went on for a few more minutes before taking a deep breath and closing the book. She smiled down at Elise, then picked her up and leapt into the bed. She set Elise down on the side before wrapping herself up in her sheets and curling up into a half-fetal position. ¡°Tbbq avtug, Elise,¡± she said with a smile. Seconds later, she was asleep. Elise followed her example not long after. However, over the course of the day, she had completely forgotten that her System was upgrading, leading to a rude awakening later that night. ¡°Congratulations!¡± The voice was jarringly loud, making Elise flinch violently. Sophie stirred, but did not awake. ¡°Your System has been upgraded to version 7.0.0, Beta Edition!¡± The voice was also much different than it had been. Before, it spoke in monotone, with no emotion whatsoever, but now it had switched to the opposite extreme, sounding like a cartoon character after 10 shots of espresso. ¡°In v7.0.0, we have added many new features. We¡¯ve leveraged the power of Artificial Intelligence to enhance our virtual assistant! It can now respond to more queries than ever, with more accurate and reliable information. And with enhanced error reporting, you¡¯ll never have to hear ¡®I¡¯m sorry. I cannot answer that question,¡¯ ever again!¡± Elise blinked in surprise, wondering if she was still half asleep. That last sentence was almost verbatim exactly what she had written down on the feedback survey from the other day. But there was no way they had implemented her feedback that quickly. It was impossible. She was no software developer, but she understood enough to know that a two day turnaround was next to impossible, even for the biggest and most well-staffed of organizations. It must have just been a coincidence. ¡°In addition to upgrading its functionality, we¡¯ve also upgraded its voice. Your System assistant is now able to emulate six different emotions. That¡¯s right! Six different emotions. And with our new AI-powered algorithm, it¡¯s guaranteed to always choose the most appropriate emotion for every situation!¡± I somehow doubt that, thought Elise. ¡°And finally, we¡¯ve given the System¡¯s accessibility features a massive overhaul. After hearing large amounts of negative feedback, we¡¯ve decided to roll back the change from v4.2 that prevented users from seeing information about their class and species options before selection. Additionally, we¡¯ve added more customization to your System interface. With 13 background colors and 7 text colors, you¡¯ll have no shortage of fun new ways to spice up your windows! ¡°Thank you for opting into this open beta. We here at !@#$%^&! appreciate your adventurous spirit, and we look forward to your continued feedback and support!¡± The voice vanished, and was replaced once again by the silence of the night. Is that it? She asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I understand the question,¡± said the System in the same over-excited voice. Are those all the beta features? ¡°I¡¯m not sure I understand the question. Could you please clarify what you meant by ¡®that¡¯?¡± Elise sighed. Are what you listed all of the new beta features? ¡°Would you like me to describe all the beta features?¡± No, I¡¯m asking if your explanation from earlier was a complete summary of all the beta features. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I understand the question. Would you like me to give you a complete summary of all the beta features?¡± Yes. But make it- ¡°In v7.0.0, we have added many new features. We¡¯ve leveraged the power of Artificial Int-¡± Stop! If she had palms, Elise would have brought them to her face. Give me a very brief list of the new beta features. 2 words or less for each one. ¡°Okay. I will give you a brief list of the new beta features using no more than two words for each one: Upgraded Assistant. Assistant voice improvements. Accessibility features.¡± Elise waited a few seconds. Is that it? ¡°I¡¯m not sure I understand-¡± Agghhhh, stop that! This is worse than before! I want to fill out a feedback survey! ¡°It seems you¡¯ve already filled out a feedback survey recently. In an effort to avoid spam, we do not allow our users to submit more than one survey response every thirty days.¡± Is there no exception for beta testers? ¡°Ah, it seems you are correct. There is an exception for beta testers. Would you like to take a short feedback survey to help make our product the best it can be?¡± Yes. ¡°It seems you¡¯ve already filled out a feedback survey recently. In an effort-¡± Nevermind. I don¡¯t care anymore. Just shut up. ¡°I understand that you may be frustrated, but it is never acceptable to resort to hurtful language, no matter the circumstance.¡± Elise had never been so frustrated in her life. She wanted to scream. She wanted to punch something. She wanted to find whoever had designed this stupid System and pour water in their socks and spit gum in their hair. She almost did the first thing, but refrained, so as not to wake up Sophie. She took some deep breaths to calm herself before deciding her next move. She could try talking to the system again to figure out the actual full extent of the beta features, but decided against it. It was like talking to a brick wall, and she would rather do it the next day when she was able to move around more to vent her frustration. Instead, she looked at her status window, for the first time noticing a tiny gear on the bottom left corner. Focusing in on that, she found what must have been the new accessibility features. As advertised, there were new colors that she could choose from. She would have liked a few more options, but anything was better than the default obnoxious bright blue. She ultimately settled on a deep purple for the background and gold for the text, because it reminded her of royalty. She hesitated to finalize it with those options though. Was she being too self-indulgent? She was just an ordinary girl turned into a slightly less ordinary rabbit. In the end, she decided to go with it anyway. After all, she was the only one who could see it. Why not treat herself like a princess? When she was done, she found herself yawning. It was still the middle of the night, after all. She settled back into her place next to Sophie and went back to sleep and dreamt of poor, bespectacled programmers stepping on four sided dice. It was a good dream. 8 - Brother After two weeks of being read to every night, Elise was getting a pretty good handle on the world¡¯s language. She was by no means fluent, but she knew most of the basic words, and could understand at least the gist of everything she heard. Reading the language was still beyond her though. Sophie only pointed at the words she was reading some of the time, and even then she seemed to fall behind or rush ahead at random, and Elise couldn¡¯t make much sense of it at all. She wasn¡¯t too worried about it. She would figure it out eventually. Her main concern at this time was finding a way to level up. She had gotten a little bit of exp killing slimes and the occasional tree viper in the yard, but they were so far below her level that they barely helped. She had only leveled up twice more in those two weeks. And each one took longer than the last. She doubted she¡¯d make it to her next evolution before winter. Even still, she refused to go beyond the boundaries of the valley. After further inspection with {Mana Sense}, she found lines of mana just like those around the cabin surrounding the valley, and surmised that they were some kind of protection barrier or something. She had heard some bigger animals prowling around at night, but had never seen one, nor had she seen any signs of them entering the valley, so the barrier must have been effective. In the morning exactly two weeks after Elise had arrived, the cabin was buzzing with activity. The father, whose name she thought was Corwin or Corvin or something based on what she overheard from their room at night, had stayed in that day, and was helping his wife and daughter clean the already almost spotless house and prepare food. It seemed that the last member of the family, the eldest son, was returning home that day, and he was bringing someone with him. Whether that was a friend or a lover, she couldn¡¯t tell, because she didn¡¯t know the word, but she did know that at least two people were coming, and that the half elf family wanted to give them the warmest welcome possible. Elise couldn¡¯t really do anything to help, but she wasn¡¯t allowed outside for some reason, so she was reduced to sitting on the kitchen table and watching the chaos around her. ¡°Sophie, have you finished _____ the _____?¡± asked Sylvanna. Elise did not know those words yet because Sophie had not ____ the ____ yet. ¡°Why do I have to ____ the ____?¡± whined Sophie. ¡°It¡¯s not like we¡¯ll be eating in the ____? And it will just get _____ again tonight anyway.¡± ¡°Sophie,¡± said her mother in a warning tone. ¡°Your brother¡¯s ____ is coming! Do you want her to think we live in a pigsty?¡± So it¡¯s a her, Elise noted. ¡°Why would she care how ____ the ____ is?¡± said Sophie. ¡°Sophie, just do as your mother says,¡± said Corwin. ¡°And Sylvie, you don¡¯t have to be so anxious. We still have an hour before they get here.¡± At that moment, there was a knock on the door. ¡°Or not,¡± muttered Corwin. ¡°I¡¯ll get it.¡± ¡°Sophie!¡± called Sylvanna. ¡°Come ____ the dough! I¡¯ll ____ the ____!¡± The _____ that Sophie had needed to _____ turned out to be the chimney, and Elise wasn¡¯t sure what the English equivalent for what she had to do with it, but it was something along the lines of removing the soot. Elise decided to translate it as ¡°desoot¡±. Sylvanna did a rapid dance, moving thrice as fast as a normal human should have been able to, and water flew from the sink and wind swirled around her and both entered the blackened brick fireplace and turned it back to red. ¡°Dad!¡± said a man¡¯s voice from the door. ¡°Good to see you, son,¡± said Corwin. ¡°And who¡¯s the ____ young lady?¡± ¡°This is my ____, Bianca!¡± ¡°H-hi,¡± said a soft female voice. ¡°A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gray.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s Mom?¡± asked the younger man. ¡°And Sophie?¡± ¡°They¡¯re finishing up inside. Come on in.¡± The young man was obviously Sylvanna and Corwin¡¯s, but while Sophie had her mother¡¯s slender figure and mostly her father¡¯s facial features, her brother was the opposite. He was tall and had his father¡¯s broad shoulders and thick limbs, but his mother¡¯s blond hair and regal features. Elise couldn¡¯t help but think he wouldn¡¯t have been out of place playing some superhero in a movie. The girl clinging to his arm was not small, but compared to her lover, she looked almost like a child. She was very pretty though. She had pitch black hair and pale gray eyes, and she was wearing a modest orange sundress that Elise would have loved to ask where she got it if she was still human and could speak the language. She was clearly very nervous, and was trying to stay as close to the young man as possible, but her face lit up when she saw Elise. ¡°Nicky, you never told me you had a pet rabbit,¡± she said. ¡°What¡¯s her name?¡± ¡°That¡¯s Elise!¡± said Sophie, while she worked the dough. ¡°And she¡¯s my rabbit. You can pet her though. I¡¯m Sophie by the way.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, Sophie, I¡¯m Bianca.¡± Bianca nodded in her direction. ¡°And nice to meet you too, Elise.¡± Elise leaned into the chin scratches. ¡°Aww,¡± said Bianca. ¡°She is pretty cute,¡± said Nick, giving Elise a few pats. ¡°But not as cute as you.¡± Bianca giggled as he pulled her into a hug. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she said. ¡°I think Elise might have me beat there.¡± ¡°Nick, are you gonna ____ Bianca?¡± The couple¡¯s faces turned red. ¡°Sophie!¡± exclaimed Nick. ¡°What?¡± she said petulantly. ¡°I just wanted to know if she was your _____ or just your _____.¡± ¡°Sophie, it¡¯s not polite to ask things like that,¡± said Sylvanna, walking around the corner calmly as if she hadn¡¯t just been flailing about like someone at a rave. ¡°Sorry for the late greeting. My name is Sylvanna. Welcome to our ____ home.¡± ¡°Thank you for having me,¡± said Bianca with a curtsey. ¡°It¡¯s a nice place. It¡¯s so cozy.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± said Sylvanna with a smile. ¡°Would you like some snacks? We have some dried fruits and smoked sausages. Lunch isn¡¯t quite ready yet, but I can¡¯t have you going hungry. We also have tea. Do you drink tea?¡± ¡°Oh, I love tea!¡± said Bianca. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say no to some sausage,¡± said Nick. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back then.¡± Sylvanna disappeared back around the corner as she went to retrieve the food from the pantry. ¡°So, Bianca,¡± said Corwin. ¡°Nick tells us that you¡¯re an expert on Nature magic.¡± ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t say I¡¯m an expert,¡± she said, ¡°but I¡¯m studying it, yes.¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t put yourself down, B,¡± said Nick. ¡°Dad, she¡¯s incredible. She grew an entire _____ tree in a day for her __________ last _____ and made the entire ____ ____ pie.¡± All the talk of magic reminded Elise that she hadn¡¯t inspected either of them yet. [Knight, lvl ???] [Nature Witch, lvl ???] [Inspect has leveled up! Lvl 18 -> 19] ¡°Stop, Nick,¡± she said blushing. ¡°It wasn¡¯t that great.¡± ¡°Yeah it was. That was the best ____ pie I¡¯ve ever had.¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Growing a whole tree in a single day is impressive for someone your age,¡± said Corwin. ¡°I¡¯m not even sure I could do that now.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, Nick mentioned you were good with Nature magic too,¡± said Bianca. ¡°I¡¯ve been looking into different _____ for after I _____. Do you have any advice?¡± ¡°Sure. I grew up way out here, and I always knew I¡¯d come back, but that didn¡¯t mean I didn¡¯t explore my options when I was at the ______¡­¡± They launched into a long conversation about what Elise guessed to be different jobs that one could take with Nature magic expertise. She didn¡¯t know most of the words they used, but she could make some educated guesses. She knew for a fact that one of the careers they discussed was gardener, and another was Corwin¡¯s own class, Steward of Nature, but there were a few that sounded like various types of research positions that she couldn¡¯t quite find a proper translation for. At some point while they talked, Sylvanna returned with food, a pot of boiling water, and a half dozen teacups. Sophie also finished up her duty, and had rolled the dough into balls and placed them in the mana-powered oven below the counter. After washing her hands, she picked up Elise and stroked her back while listening in on the conversation. The conversation carried on without lagging for another hour by which point the rolls were done, and Sylvanna had started slicing the meat, cheese, and vegetables for what looked to be a lunch of sandwiches with a side of fresh raspberries. Though Elise hadn¡¯t noticed when it was just the four of them in the cabin, it turned out that Corwin was a real talker when given the chance. It helped that Bianca had completely won him over with her enthusiasm for what he was talking about. He was beaming as he told her stories of his experiences working with nature, and whenever he neared the end of any particular tale, she would ask him a question that would start a whole new one. Sophie was getting a little bored though, and hadn¡¯t gotten more than a few words in the entire time, so she had resorted to trying to play with Elise, but even that wasn¡¯t going well. Elise was just as enraptured as Bianca was in the conversation. Nature magic was her specialty too, so any opportunity she could take to learn more was one she couldn¡¯t afford to miss. After lunch, they gave Bianca a tour of the house and the garden. Sophie had Elise show off her {Sudden Growth}, which made Bianca clap with delight, and then they moved on to the rest of the valley. However, the valley tour was cut short when a slime crossed their path. It was no threat to any of them¨C a quick stomp from Sylvanna sent a stone spike through it¨C but the tour immediately stopped, and everyone¡¯s faces grew grim. ¡°Nick,¡± said Corwin. ¡°We¡¯re going to be moving away soon.¡± ¡°Is it that bad?¡± ¡°Not yet, but we¡¯re not taking any _____. I¡¯ve been _____ on things. It¡¯s still in the early _____, so it¡¯s mostly just been slimes, but it won¡¯t stay that way. The animals in the forest are _____ faster than usual.¡± He looked at Elise. ¡°Even the rabbits are _____. In two _____, it won¡¯t be safe to live here ______. We¡¯re leaving next ____.¡± A silence fell over the group. Elise, for one, was shocked. She hadn¡¯t heard them saying a thing about this since she started being able to understand what they were talking about. She had also thought that slimes spawning was normal. Well, not totally normal. She was confused how the garden was still intact if slimes spawned in regularly, but she figured there must have been more enchantments keeping them out. The whole valley was lined with them, after all. But moving away? That seemed a bit extreme. Even as a powerless rabbit, slimes hadn¡¯t been a problem for her, and they were even less of a problem now that she could actually fight back. Maybe needing to keep an eye out for them all the time would get annoying, but wouldn¡¯t the benefits of free leveling opportunities cancel that out? She couldn¡¯t really object though. There was probably more going on that she wasn¡¯t aware of, or else the mood wouldn¡¯t be so heavy. Still, it would be a shame. While slow, at least out here, she could consistently level. If slimes actually weren¡¯t normal, then wherever they went next would make growth more difficult for her, and she wanted to evolve as soon as possible. She was tired of being stuck as a rabbit. ¡°Do you need any help?¡± asked Nick after a while. ¡°We¡¯ve got everything handled,¡± said Corwin. ¡°I rented a ____ to carry our ____, and hired a few _____ to help load it up. We can¡¯t take everything though. If there¡¯s anything still here that you want to make sure makes it out, get it ready now.¡± Nick nodded, and silence returned, until Sophie broke it. ¡°Why¡¯s everyone look so sad?¡± she asked. ¡°We¡¯re just moving.¡± Sylvanna smiled. ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s a bit unexpected, but that¡¯s all. No one¡¯s dying.¡± ¡°Mom says I¡¯m gonna go to the _____ once we move!¡± announced Sophie proudly. ¡°The _____?¡± asked Bianca. ¡°But aren¡¯t you only 12?¡± ¡°Mm-hmm! But I¡¯m already almost at my second _____!¡± ¡°Wow, that¡¯s really impressive! What¡¯s your class?¡± ¡°Apprentice Mana Dancer!¡± ¡°Mana Dancer?¡± Bianca seemed genuinely shocked. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a _____ class?¡± She looked over at Sylvanna, who was trying to hide a proud smile. ¡°Are you a Mana Dancer? _____, I¡¯ve always wanted to see one! Can you show me a dance?¡± ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know¡­¡± started Sylvanna, looking very much like she did know. ¡°C¡¯mon, Mommy, let¡¯s do it!¡± said Sophie. ¡°Let¡¯s show her the water dance!¡± ¡°Well, if you insist,¡± she replied, pretending to be reluctant. ¡°Let¡¯s head over to the stream.¡± Back near the cabin on the bank of the stream, Sophie and Sylvanna faced each other in a relaxed stance with their eyes closed. For a few seconds, neither of them moved, and the others watched with bated breath. Then, in perfect sync, they took a sudden step toward the stream while raising their arms. Two transparent serpents erupted from the shallow water, flying into the air above their heads. The dance was not the same one that Sophie had shown Elise on the day they first met. It was different, and one that she had evidently practiced much more. Her snake was still obviously smaller and less distinct than her mother¡¯s, but even after four minutes, it held its form, and her movements were much smoother. The two women spun and leapt and crouched about, mirroring each other almost perfectly, except for the times when they crossed. The serpents flew above their heads, constantly making circles and loops and spinning around each other in a hypnotizing manner, and even with near omnidirectional vision, Elise found it hard to look at anything else. Just when Sophie¡¯s control started to waver, the two made one final spinning leap, and landed in a bowing pose as their snakes dove into the water behind them. Elise didn¡¯t know that three people could clap so loud. Corwin, Nick and Bianca gave them a round of applause as enthusiastic as any she had ever seen, and Corwin¡¯s claps in particular were so loud they made her ears ring. ¡°Beautiful as always,¡± he said, embracing his wife. ¡°Sophie, that was great!¡± said Nick. ¡°You couldn¡¯t even make it through the first minute when I left, and now you¡¯re almost as good as Mom!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been practicing!¡± ¡°I can tell,¡± he said, ruffling her hair. ¡°You did really well!¡± ¡°_______, that was so cool!¡± exclaimed Bianca. ¡°I¡¯ve only ever seen a Mana Dancer from _____! I couldn¡¯t control mana anywhere near that well when I was your age.¡± ¡°My Mana Control is at 200!¡± said Sophie. ¡°That¡¯s almost as high as mine!¡± said Bianca. ¡°You¡¯re gonna _____ at the _____! You might even be able to get into _____!¡± ¡°You really think so?¡± ¡°I think that if they don¡¯t _____ you into _____, they¡¯ll be missing out,¡± she said. ¡°Nick, you should definitely _____ her,¡± she said, turning to her brother. Nick blushed. ¡°We¡¯ll see.¡± ¡°Maybe sooner than later?¡± asked Bianca. Nick blushed more. ¡°...maybe.¡± ¡°Nick, why don¡¯t you show us what you¡¯ve been learning?¡± asked Corwin. Nick laughed nervously. ¡°I don¡¯t know about that, Dad. I can¡¯t really ____ anyone here, and unless you have some trees you don¡¯t mind being ______, there¡¯s not a whole lot to show.¡± ¡°I think we can make that work,¡± said Corwin. ¡°We¡¯ll be moving soon anyway.¡± ¡°Really?¡± asked Nick. ¡°But, Dad, aren¡¯t you a {Steward of Nature}? Are you allowed to say that?¡± ¡°Well, I won¡¯t be getting any _____, that¡¯s for sure. But I haven¡¯t taken any ____ or anything. It¡¯ll be fine. Follow me, I think I know a good place.¡± Corwin led them along the stream until he came to a set of stepping stones across the water leading to a small clearing. Elise had visited this clearing a couple times while out and about. It was a memorable spot, since every single tree on the edge of the clearing was covered in slash marks. She had wondered where they came from, but seeing Nick draw his sword with a slightly embarrassed expression on his face, her question was answered. ¡°Stand back,¡± he said, holding his sword up like a baseball bat. ¡°I still don¡¯t have perfect control over this yet.¡± Everyone took a few steps backward as his face scrunched up in concentration and his sword was filled with mana. He only charged it up for a few seconds, but there was so much mana in his sword that Elise¡¯s fur was standing on end before he swung. The swing clove clean through two of the trees in front of him and left deep gashes in a few more behind them. He started to casually sheathe his sword and walk back in what Elise thought was an effort to look cool, but the effect was ruined when one of the trees started falling toward him, and he had to sprint to get out of its way. Once that was over, Corwin and Bianca had some kind of tree growing competition. They found a pair of saplings near each other and focused their mana into them, making them grow. Bianca¡¯s grew much faster in the beginning, but after just a few minutes, her mana had run out, and she sat down with her legs crossed to replenish it. Elise was much more interested in that than the growth of the trees, as she had been wondering if there was a faster way to recoup lost mana. Hers still regenerated fairly quickly, but the regeneration rate didn¡¯t seem to be growing in sync with her pool size, and she was worried she would be stuck helpless at later levels if she used too much at once. Corwin, meanwhile, kept steadily pouring mana into his own sapling. By the time Bianca got up again, his tree had surpassed hers. She caught back up, but ran out even more quickly that second time, and had to return to her meditation while Corwin carried on. In the end Bianca was too lightheaded to continue, and Corwin still had yet to exhaust his mana once, so he was declared the Victor. Last up was Elise, who gladly showed off her ability to grow carrots from babies to full-sized in one go, as well as much of her {Prehensile Vines} as she could manage with her remaining mana. The group then retired back to the cabin, where they spent the rest of the day talking and laughing together. That night, Elise slept on the floor. She was not being punished or anything. Sylvanna just refused to let Nick and Bianca share a room, so Bianca was sharing the bed with Sophie instead, and it was too cramped for Elise to be comfortable. The two girls stayed up late talking about lots of things, most of which Elise didn¡¯t understand. She knew that they were talking about Nick in the beginning, and boys in general after that, but then the conversation had turned toward books or something and Elise was completely lost. She didn¡¯t know how long they stayed up, but when she fell asleep close to midnight, the conversation showed no signs of stopping. They must have stopped at some point though, because when Elise woke back up, everything was quiet. Too quiet. And cold. 9 - Winter The air in the cabin was frigid. Even with her thick coat of fur, Elise was shivering. That wasn¡¯t supposed to be happening. The cabin had no climate control, so getting colder at night was normal, but as far as she could tell, it was spring, and the days were getting longer. Even an unusually cold night wouldn¡¯t be this drastic. There was ice forming on the edges of the window, and her breath was fogging up the air. Thankfully, she wasn¡¯t alone. Sophie and Bianca were still in the bed, fast asleep, but clinging tightly to each other for warmth. Still, she needed to do something. The normal sounds of the night were gone. There were no crickets chirping, no owls hooting, no small rodents rooting through the brush, and no wind rustling the leaves in the distance. The only sounds she could hear were the breaths of the ones in the house, and the breathing of something else outside. She jumped up on the bed, landing on Sophie, hoping to wake her up. This didn¡¯t work. Sophie was a deep sleeper, and she had gone to bed late. She tried Bianca instead, and had better luck. The young woman opened her bleary gray eyes and for a few seconds just stared at Elise. A few seconds later, she seemed to realize that something was wrong, and opened her mouth, but Elise put her paws on her lips. Whatever was outside hadn¡¯t tried to get in yet. She didn¡¯t want to make too much noise. Bianca¡¯s eyes widened in surprise, but she understood Elise¡¯s meaning, thankfully. Elise hopped off the bed, landing as softly as she could and then put her paw on the door. If they weren¡¯t awake already, she needed to warn Corwin and Sylvanna. Bianca sat up, and started shaking Sophie awake. Sophie moaned and mumbled something, but when Bianca clamped her hand down on her mouth, she gasped and started struggling. It took longer for her to catch on to the situation, but not by much. Whatever was waiting outside, and probably causing the cold, hadn¡¯t made any moves yet. It was still standing in place, somewhere to the north, taking long, deep breaths. Once out of the room, they split up. Bianca went into Nick¡¯s room, and Sophie went to her parents¡¯ room. Five minutes later, the six of them were huddled in the hallway, clutching weapons and frantically making hand signs at each other. The thing outside still had yet to move. Elise was beginning to think that maybe it was benign. Maybe something powerful had just stopped by out of curiosity and would be on its way soon. As long as they didn¡¯t draw too much attention to themselves, it might lose interest and go away. She should have known better. It took a step forward, and then another, and then another, until it was right by the back door. Based on its strides, Elise could tell it was massive. Hopefully too big to fit in the house. But then again, if it was strong enough to freeze an entire area just with its presence, a few logs weren¡¯t going to stop it if it really wanted to get in. Elise hopped up and down in the center of the group to get their attention, since they didn¡¯t seem to have heard it moving. She tried to point toward the door at the end of the hallway that the monster was standing outside of, but being a rabbit, pointing wasn¡¯t the easiest. It took a few seconds to get them all to look where she wanted, and by then, it didn¡¯t matter. There was a burst of mana, followed by a high-pitched yelp, and the monster jumped back. Then, it howled. Elise¡¯s blood ran cold as she realized what it was. It was the {Greater Frost Direwolf} that had tried to dig her out of her burrow. And if it was willing to tear apart a hill to get at a single rabbit, there was no chance it would just give up when there were 5 humans and elves, and that very same rabbit waiting for it inside. ¡°____!¡± said Sylvanna, giving up on silence. ¡°We can¡¯t fight that.¡± ¡°Is it that _____?¡± asked Nick. ¡°Sixth _______. At least.¡± Everyone¡¯s faces grew pale. ¡°Nick,¡± said Corwin, pulling something from the pocket of his nightclothes. ¡°I need you to take your Bianca and your sister and leave.¡± ¡°Leave? But h-?¡± He stopped when he saw what his father was handing him. ¡°Where did you get this?¡± Nick looked down at the scroll in Corwin¡¯s hand, but made no move to grab it. ¡°I bought it from a _______. It can take 3. It was the best I could afford.¡± ¡°Dad, no. I¡¯ll stay. You and-¡± He was cut off when there was another burst of mana, and the wolf yelped again. ¡°Take it,¡± said Corwin. ¡°Daddy, what¡¯s going on?¡± asked Sophie. ¡°W-what is that? What¡¯s-?¡± ¡°Shhhhh,¡± said Sylvanna, hugging her. ¡°It¡¯ll be alright. Nicholas, listen to your father. Take Bianca and Sophie and leave.¡± ¡°No, Mom, you go. I¡¯ll stay. I¡¯m strong. I can fight.¡± ¡°Not against that you can¡¯t. Go.¡± ¡°Mommy, what¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Mom, just go. I¡¯ll stay.¡± ¡°Do you know what the worst pain a parent can experience is? Do you want to put me through that?¡± ¡°At least you¡¯ll be alive to feel it!¡± There was a crash and the entire cabin shook as it discharged more mana than Elise thought was possible to gather in one place. The wolf yelped again, but hardly faltered, and seconds later, it was pacing around the side of the house. ¡°Mommy are we going to die?¡± ¡°No, sweetie. We¡¯re not.¡± ¡°But you said-!¡± ¡°Ignore what I said. Just go over there with your brother. He¡¯ll take you to safety.¡± ¡°But what about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t wanna go!¡± ¡°Nicholas!¡± said Corwin. ¡°Take them and go! Stop wasting time!¡± Nick hesitated for a moment more, then grabbed the scroll with one hand and Sophie¡¯s arm with the other. ¡°No!¡± shouted Sophie. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna! Mommy, I don¡¯t wanna go!¡± Sylvanna bit her lip as a tear rolled down her cheek, but she pushed Sophie away and into Nick¡¯s arms. Sophie struggled, but she was no match for her brother¡¯s strength. ¡°Bianca,¡± said Nick. ¡°grab my arm.¡±Stolen story; please report. ¡°O-okay,¡± she said. ¡°But what about-?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be fine,¡± said Corwin. ¡°Go, before it¡¯s too late.¡± ¡°Go,¡± said Sylvanna. ¡°What about Elise?¡± asked Sophie. Corwin grabbed Elise by the scruff of her neck and placed her in Sophie¡¯s arms. ¡°Take her with you. And go! Get out of here!¡± ¡°Mom. Dad,¡± said Nick, his face steely with resolve. ¡°I love you.¡± ¡°We love you too,¡± said Sylvanna. ¡°No!¡± shouted Sophie, but it was too late. Nick unrolled the scroll with one hand and bit down on it, tearing it in half. Mana swirled around each of them, turning Elise¡¯s vision white as it accelerated. Then, it stopped, and Elise felt her feet hit wood. She was still in the cabin. Corwin was surprised, but Sylvanna gave her a look of knowing pity before turning away. Just then, there was one final crash and the cabin¡¯s defenses failed. The living room wall caved in and splinters and logs flew past the hallway and the wolf gave a triumphant howl before plodding toward where they were. Corwin and Sylvanna had not been idle during those few seconds. Corwin was holding an axe, but beneath his feet, he was channeling mana into the wood below, and Sylvanna doing a violent dance that was creating a fireball above her head. As soon as the wolf rounded the corner, the floorboards warped and wrapped around its legs and the fireball crashed into its snout. When the smoke cleared, it was undamaged, and when it took its next step, the wooden restraints barely slowed it at all. It was so tall its back was almost brushing against the ceiling, and its jaws were big enough to bite even a man as big as Corwin in half. Beneath its feet, frost spread with every step, and snowflakes drifted around it as it froze the moisture in the nearby air. [Winter Warg, lvl ???] [{Inspect} has leveled up. Lvl 19 -> 25] It locked eyes with her, and its lips curled up in a snarl that looked like a cruel smile. Elise¡¯s panicked brain went into overdrive. Why was it there? Was it drawn to her? Her Charisma was high, but it wasn¡¯t that high. She was still at a low level. And it hadn¡¯t even seen her. There was no way. Was it just by chance that it was there now? Corwin and Sylvanna¡¯s next round of attacks crashed into it, just as effective as the first, and they readied a third, but the warg was tired of just taking it. It growled, and icicles the size of small trees formed at its shoulders and shot forward. It was so fast that Elise barely had time to react. The other two were a bit faster, but not quite enough. Sylvanna had a long gash across her side, where one brushed past, and Corwin¡¯s left arm was dangling at his side, his shoulder almost completely obliterated. ¡°S-Sylvie,¡± he gasped. ¡°I love you.¡± He charged forward, swinging his ax with his one remaining arm. He never made it to his target. He dodged the first icicle, but the second hit him square in the chest, and exited through his spine. He fell to the ground and lay unmoving. Sylvanna screamed his name, and prepared to make a final charge of her own, but before she could even start, another icicle went through her eye, and she too fell, almost landing on Elise. The shock of seeing death for the first time horrified Elise, but at the same time, it broke her from her paralysis. She needed to escape. But how? It just killed Sylvanna and Corwin. They were dead. They couldn¡¯t even fight back. The warg was so much stronger than her, she didn¡¯t stand a chance. But then why wasn¡¯t it attacking? After killing the others, it just stood still, staring her down, as if waiting for her to make a move. Was it wary, or just playing with her? Its lips curled up and it made a soft snarl that sounded almost more like a purr. It was definitely playing with her. Why didn¡¯t it play with them? They could have lived longer. They might even have been able to escape. It didn¡¯t matter anymore. They were dead, but Elise was still alive. She could still get away. She racked her brain trying to think of a solution, and in that short time, there was only one thing she could think of. Her other offensive spell that she had barely gotten to use, {Suggest}, was her only hope. She had practiced it for a little while in the woods on one of her days out. She wouldn¡¯t call herself proficient with it, but she at least had a solid understanding of what it could and couldn¡¯t do. {Suggest} essentially planted an idea in the subconscious of the target¡¯s mind. Since it was in the subconscious, that meant she couldn¡¯t directly force her target to do anything, and if she suggested something too outlandish, it would just dismiss it as an intrusive thought. However, if she suggested it do something that it already might want to do, there was a much higher chance of it working. She activated her skill, and focused on the wolf. Give the weak rabbit a head start, she thought. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the wolf turned around and walked away. It didn¡¯t go far¨C it stopped just around the corner¨C but it was enough. Elise had a lane to get out of the house. She hopped to the destroyed living room, trying not to look at the corpses, took a deep breath, then stepped outside. The warg¡¯s idea of a ¡°head start¡± needed some work. It pounced almost as soon as she stepped outside. It was only because she could hear it waiting for her that she was able to use {Dart} to get out of the way. From there, the chase was on. It was much faster than her, but it was also too big to maneuver through forest well, and with well-timed uses of {Dart} and {Leap}, Elise was able to stay just ahead of its snapping jaws. She had never been more thankful to be a rabbit. If she hadn¡¯t been able to see behind her so well, she would have certainly mistimed it. She fled deeper and deeper into the forest, looking for anything that could help her. Trees wouldn¡¯t slow it down enough. It had already knocked two over chasing her and it wasn¡¯t hurt at all. She needed a cave or something similar where it couldn¡¯t follow her. Behind her, the warg took a mighty leap and its jaws closed around the air where she had just been before using {Dart}. The skill had leveled twice already since they started, and her legs were screaming in agony, but she couldn¡¯t stop. She looked around during her brief reprieve while her pursuer recovered its footing, and saw something that gave her a glimmer of hope. There was a bush with a small, oddly round hole, going through its center. New leaves were growing in from the edges, but it was still obvious that the hole wasn¡¯t natural. Elise made a sharp left toward it, and saw a second bush a bit further off with the same kind of hole. Let it run itself to death, she thought back to the warg. She wasn¡¯t sure if it was placebo or if it had actually worked, but she did feel that it was easier to evade after that. She followed the trail of bushes with holes and fresh grass as it went on, and was rewarded with exactly what she was hoping to find. The trees grew sparser, and the ground sloped up. She was nearing the cliff. She did have a plan for once she got there. It was an insane plan, but she couldn¡¯t keep running forever, so it was her only option. The wolf wasn¡¯t as dumb as a slime, so it wouldn¡¯t be as easy, but she wasn¡¯t as helpless as she was at level one. She had more tools at her disposal now. She reached the end of the treeline with the wolf hot on her heels, and used {Suggest} once more. It¡¯s getting away! she thought. That one definitely worked. The wolf snarled and accelerated toward her. Perfect. She enacted the second part of her plan: jumping off the cliff. She paused for just a split second at the edge, then used {Dart} to go straight out off the edge. The warg pounced after her, not taking any time to look where it was going. It didn¡¯t realize its mistake until it saw Elise suddenly pulled downward and back toward the cliff. Its eyes widened in surprise, but it had no way to turn around midair. Elise reeled herself in using the {Prehensile Vines} she had cast just before jumping, and just as she made it back to solid ground, there was a heavy thud far below, and a loud yelp of pain from the wolf. But there was no System message. It was still alive, and no doubt very angry. Hopefully, it would be too injured to do anything for the time being. Elise didn¡¯t stick around to find out. She turned around and made a beeline back through the woods. It looked different at night, but she recognized this area, and soon, she managed to locate what she was looking for. It was her first burrow, where she had first encountered the monster, back when it was still just a Direwolf. The wolf had done a number on the outside, and there was nothing left of the original burrow, but the dirt was still loose, and it didn¡¯t take her long to find her way back to the Wyrm¡¯s tunnel. Once inside, she finally took time to stop and breath and relax her overworked leg muscles. She kept her ears open, but just as she suspected, nothing had moved into the Wyrm¡¯s old haunts. As far as she could tell, the only two entrances were the ones she had dug herself, and one was near the cabin and the other near the warg¡¯s territory, so it was unlikely anything would be poking around too much. [You have survived an encounter with, and inflicted a wound on an attacker whose level far exceeded your own. Lvl 4 -> 14] With the arrival of the System message came the departure of her adrenaline, and the reality of her situation crashed down on her. Sylvanna took an icicle to the head. Corwin had a hole through him big enough to see to the other side. They were dead. Completely, unquestionably, helplessly dead. And Elise couldn¡¯t do a thing to stop it. She curled up into a ball and cried herself to sleep. 10 - Caves When she woke up, for a moment, she was confused about where she was and how she had gotten there. Then, it all came back to her. Oh right, she thought. She wanted to cry again, but it seemed all her tears were spent. She just lay as she was for a few minutes until her attention was drawn to the System notification from before, which was still hovering in front of her. [You have survived an encounter with, and inflicted a wound on an attacker whose level far exceeded your own. Lvl 4 -> 14] [You have unlocked the skill {Charm}] [You have unlocked the skill {Ensnaring Roots}] It was the silver lining to a terrible situation, but it didn¡¯t make her feel any better. It was as though the System was telling her ¡°Congratulations! You were hopelessly outmatched, and watched some of the only people you knew die before your eyes! Here¡¯s some experience points.¡± She dismissed it and lay for another few minutes in silence until she had dissociated enough to think about it rationally. She hadn¡¯t known that experience could be earned without killing her target. On top of that, she had clear confirmation that it was hurt. She wasn¡¯t sure how severe it was, but the fact it was hurt at all was promising. If she could injure it in her current state, if she leveled up just a bit more, she might be able to kill it. That thought surprised her. She had never had the desire to kill before. But as she thought back to the warg attack, and Sylvanna and Corwin¡¯s lifeless bodies on the floor of the once-cozy cabin, the desire only grew stronger. They had been good people. Good parents. Sophie was probably devastated. And she hadn¡¯t known Nick and Bianca for long, but she was sure they were too. It wasn¡¯t right that the warg could just break into their house, and kill them for no reason, and get away scot-free. Whatever injury it had taken from falling down the cliff was a good start, but it wasn¡¯t enough. She sat where she was, stewing in sorrow and rage until thirst compelled her to move, then she followed the tunnel back to the main chamber she had found the last time she was there. She took a long drink of water from the underground river, before turning to the glowing mushrooms that grew on its banks. They still smelled just as delicious as before. Though tempted, she had wisely not given into hunger last time she had seen them. Everyone knew that the last thing you wanted to do when lost in the wilderness was eat strange mushrooms. But if the warg was still above ground, she didn¡¯t have much of a choice. She needed a food source, and they were the only thing edible in the vicinity that she knew of. She walked to the closest one and took a hesitant lick. It tasted like dust, mostly, with a trace hint of mushroom. She wasn¡¯t sure what else she expected. After half an hour, when that little taste showed no ill effects, she took a chance and had a small nibble. That tasted less strongly of dust and more strongly of mushroom, and was delicious. Not as good as grass or carrots, and a bit of a disappointment compared to how they smelled, but better than nothing. That small bite also had no side effects, so she decided it was safe to eat the whole mushroom. She didn¡¯t end up making it all the way through, as it was very dense. System, she thought once she had finished eating. ¡°Hello, Elise! How can I assist you today?¡± Tell me a joke. She had been feeling so grim that she was hoping to lighten the mood. ¡°What did the Kraken eat for dinner?¡± I don¡¯t know. What? ¡°Fish and ships!¡± Elise stared blankly for a moment, then started laughing. The laughter morphed into tears and the emotions of the previous night came flooding back. She was better prepared for them though, and this time, it only took five minutes to push them aside. She had no time to wallow in sorrow. Sylvanna and Corwin had died, but Sophie was still alive. She had been teleported to who-knows-where, and Elise still needed to figure out how to escape the forest, but those were solvable problems. Elise was alive. Sophie was alive. The wolf was alive. Those were facts, and that last one needed to be corrected. It had taken risking her life and using a cheap trick to even damage the thing, and there was no way it would fall for the same trick twice. She couldn¡¯t think of another way to defeat it though. Not in her current state. But, she was only one level away from her next evolution, and she had already unlocked some new skills. Filled with new resolve, she set to experimenting with her new skills. That didn¡¯t last very long. {Charm} required a living target, and the other, {Ensnaring Roots}, was the same one that Corwin had been using against the warg, and she wasn¡¯t quite comfortable with that yet. Once she was satisfied she at least knew what the skills were, she decided it was time to explore. She looked at all the tunnels around the room, her eyes intentionally skipping over the one that led to the hill by the cabin until she decided on one at random to look down. All of them were identical, aside from their locations, and there were no markings indicating where they might lead, so she figured that it didn¡¯t really matter which one she looked down. The first one she chose followed a level course, never straying up or down, and only curving ever so slightly to the right. There were no offshoots, no caverns, and no rivers; nothing but smooth tunnels for miles. Literally. At some point, Elise realized that based on the unchanging curve of the tunnel and the complete lack of any indication of future deviation, this might be a waste of time, but sunk cost kept her on the path all the way until she was back in the main chamber, this time on the opposite side. She sighed, and set to marking them as already explored. The dirt was packed so hard it hurt her paws to dig into, so she instead picked a few small mushrooms and placed them at the entrances of each of the tunnels she had already explored. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Next, she tried a tunnel that went steeply downhill, past the last layer of loose dirt to the levels where the tunnel walls were hard stone. This one thankfully was nowhere near as long, and only half as much of a waste of time. After a few hundred feet or so, the tunnel opened up into a cave so big that Elise had trouble believing it was real. She was no structural engineer, but she was pretty sure that roofs that high and that wide weren¡¯t supposed to be able to maintain themselves without support. The mana there was certainly denser than it was up at the higher levels, but there was nothing indicating any kind of magical support, so maybe she was just wrong. Elise would have loved to explore the cave further, but unfortunately for her, aside from the small dry bank where she stood, the cavern floor was completely covered in water. Well, perhaps not the entire cave, but she could not see to the other side, and she was not a strong enough swimmer to risk finding out. Besides, who knew what could have been living in that water. It was completely still, and she saw no signs of fish, which only unnerved her more. When she returned, she dropped a few more mushrooms by that entrance and tried another. This one went down for a time, then ended in a small chamber where apparently the Wyrm had gotten stuck. The far wall was made out of some kind of black stone that Elise didn¡¯t recognize and when she tapped it with her nails, even lightly, it left her with a slight twinge of pain. There were two unexplored tunnels left, and Elise was beginning to get nervous. If they were both dead ends too, what was she to do? The only two ways she knew to get back to the surface were also the only two places she was certain the wolf prowled. If it was waiting near either hole¨C which it very well could have been, if it was tracking her scent¨C she would be dead. It wouldn¡¯t take its time and play with its food like it had before. The Wyrm had to have come from somewhere, right? That was the thought that had gotten her searching the tunnels so confidently, but doubt had seeped into her mind. Maybe it didn¡¯t come from anywhere, she thought. Maybe it just appeared down here one day, like that slime. She pushed those thoughts aside telling herself that it had leveled up high enough to evolve, so even if it had appeared, it must have been getting experience somehow, but even that wasn¡¯t totally reassuring. What if it got experience from eating dirt and stone or something? What if that giant loop was just its way of farming experience so it could evolve into something stronger? The next tunnel she tried, like the lake tunnel, started out going steeply down into the layer of solid stone, but after a time, it mostly leveled out. It was still angled down, but so little that she barely noticed. The tunnel went on and on, and though it was subtle in the beginning, at some point, Elise noticed that the ambient mana was getting denser, even more so than the lake tunnel. She didn¡¯t know when it had started, but while she hopped along, she suddenly realized that the mana in the air was twice as dense as it had been when she entered. Excited, she started moving faster, but soon slowed, as rationality caught up to her and she realized that this might actually be a bad thing. More mana meant faster mana regeneration, which meant more skills could be used, which meant more experience could be earned using those skills. Surely she wouldn¡¯t have been the only creature to notice that, and she wasn¡¯t really equipped to compete for territory. Especially if something as powerful as the Wyrm thought it prudent to build its home so far away. She maintained her slow pace, but kept moving forward, keeping her ears peeled for any signs of danger. Nothing sounded particularly alarming, but as she got further, there was a faint droning sound that got louder the further she went. A hundred feet later, she realized that was the sound of a waterfall, and a big one too, as it was getting loud, and she still could not see the tunnel¡¯s end. Or maybe not. It was only a hundred more feet before she learned why she could not see the tunnel¡¯s end. It was obscured by an impenetrable cover of hanging vines. The vines ranged in thickness from the size of thread to the size of a tree trunk, and they were layered on top of each other and woven together so neatly that no sign of what was on the other side could be gleaned, but the sound of the waterfall roared in her ears from just beyond it. While thick, they were still hanging vines though, so Elise only had a little bit of trouble forcing her way between them to see what was on the other side. When she did, her jaw dropped. The lake cave was nothing compared to this one. She could barely even see the ceiling, let alone the other side of it, and this cave was illuminated. Huge branches with red leaves and bulbous glowing white fruits hung down from above, shining light on the beautiful, terrifying sight before her. It was like she had stepped into a whole other world. There were trees, but not like any other trees she had ever seen. They were like oaks, but with red leaves and black bark and spikes covering their branches and roots. There was grass, but it was neon blue, and its blades were as wide as her paws and as coarse as sandpaper. The vines behind her were red too, and though they had felt dry when she pushed through them, they had an odd sheen about them that made them look slimy and gross. Only the water there looked normal, as it crashed down from a hole high above her head into a small pond to her left and exited through a river leading toward the center of the cavern. Elise stared in awe for a few minutes until she heard rustling in the trees and realized that as a pure white rabbit, she stuck out like a sore thumb to a toddler, and quickly moved to hide herself. There were no bushes around, so she dove back toward the vines covering the tunnel, and hid herself halfway in. She wanted to be able to escape as she pleased, but she would rather know what sorts of creatures lived down in the cavern. A few seconds later, a pair of big cow-like animals emerged from the treeline and went to the pond to have a drink. They were definitely not cows though. For one, they were furless and their skin was royal purple. They also only had one single red eye in the center of their head, and their tails were more like cat tails than anything else, the way they stuck up and moved around. They were still the size of normal cows¨C Elise had only ever seen live cows from a distance, but they didn¡¯t look abnormally large¨C and didn¡¯t look like anything too dangerous though. Their horns weren¡¯t that big, and looked fairly ordinary. They still weren¡¯t anything she wanted to get on the wrong side of though. She watched them drink for a while, but she was growing restless. Cows were herbivores. They probably wouldn¡¯t attack. And though she was no expert, she was pretty sure that animals typically didn¡¯t fight at watering holes, even if they didn¡¯t like each other much. After a few minutes, she decided to take a risk. She emerged from the vines and slowly made her way to the pond, as if to take a drink. If the cows showed any sign of aggression, she would simply turn back and return to the tunnel. At first, everything seemed to be going well. They looked at her, but did not otherwise react as she hopped toward them. When she reached the bank of the pond, they lifted their heads, but still did not make any moves. She just needed one more hop to get close enough to inspect the nearest one. She took it, used inspect, and realized she had made a mistake. [Omnivorous Cyclops Cow, lvl ???] [Inspect has leveled up, lvl 25 -> 26] 11 - Cyclopes Simultaneously, the cows¡¯ eyes glowed with heat, and Elise used {Dart} to jump out of the way. She barely got it off in time to avoid the red beams of heat that turned the blue grass where she had been standing into smoking ashes. Elise did not waste any time thinking. She simply ran back toward the vines that hid her tunnel. Behind her, the cows made sounds that were somewhere between a moo and a growl, and started charging her, their long tongues hanging out of fang-filled mouths. The ground shuddered as they ran, but thankfully, they weren¡¯t actually very fast. They were faster than Elise, but not by so much that they could catch up to her before she reached the vines. Their laser beam attacks also seemed to have a cooldown attached, so the only thing Elise needed to worry about was their bodies. She was able to get halfway through the thick layer of them before the first cow crashed into them behind her. Ironically, the impact actually helped open a wider path so that Elise could get inside more easily. She did not stop to rest once she was inside though. The vines were currently tangled in the monster¡¯s horns, but they were shifting and shaking dangerously, and though it would be a tight squeeze, the evil cows could most definitely fit inside. She kept running down the tunnel, and for a while, the sound of the angry moo-growls got further and further, but then, there was a loud sizzling, followed by the sound of four pairs of hooves stomping on the stone floor. Elise sped up, using her {Dart} charges as soon as they came off cooldown. They were only a hundred feet behind her when she reached the steeper sloping section, which she was thankful for. The ground was smooth, but her paws got enough traction that she could ascend more or less without trouble. She doubted it would be the same for the cows. Especially since they were so much bigger than her, so they wouldn¡¯t be able to turn to the side. The slope did slow them down, but not as much as she had hoped. She was pulling ahead, but there would not be time for her to truly escape. Once they got to the main chambers, she would be in deep trouble. She needed to fight right then, while she had a terrain advantage. She turned around to look at her pursuers. They were too big to travel side-by-side, so they were in a single-file line, and they were too tall to have their heads up, because their horns would scrape the ceiling. Seeing how they struggled to maneuver, Elise realized that she had made the perfect choice. Her {Magic Missile} was not that strong, but the cows were presenting their eyes, a major weakness, directly to her, and they had given themselves no room to dodge. She cast the attack spell, targeting the leading cow¡¯s huge eyeball. Its vision must have been poor, or at least its dark vision, because it did not see the spell coming, and was hit square in the pupil. It let out a moo-roar of pain and rage, and stopped in its tracks, causing the other to run into it and let out a moo-roar of its own. Unfortunately, the attack didn¡¯t do quite as much damage as she would have hoped. Its eye was bleeding, but still mostly intact, and it was glowing again. Elise dodged to the side as the laser beam shot by, singeing her fur, and the cow started its climb again. She prepared another {Magic Missile}, but her mind raced to find another solution. She was confident she could give it death by a thousand cuts, if she had the time, but her mana pool was way too small for that. It would be best if she could make it fall, or better yet, if she could get the other one to try its eye laser into the leading one¡¯s behind. She sent the second spell out, this time hitting the cow¡¯s eyelid, since it reacted soon enough to block. It still did not like getting hit there, and moo-roared again. Suddenly, an idea struck her. She prepared a third {Magic Missile}, but this time, rather than aiming it at the front cow, she focused on the back cow. It was a tricky shot, because she could not see it very well, but the spell was easy to control, and unlike them, she had room to move to the side to get a better sightline. She lined up her shot as best she could, and then sent the missile flying at the second cow¡¯s eye. It was not expecting any kind of attack, and did not react until it had been hit. Elise¡¯s heart jumped in excitement as she prepared the next stage of her plan. It¡¯s right in front of me! she sent using {Suggest}. I need to use my eye beam! She doubted that was the name of the skill it was using, evidently it was close enough that it still got the point across. She saw the soft red glow on the stone walls as it charged up its attack and fired¡­ straight into the other¡¯s rectum. It wasn¡¯t a lethal blow, but it was a crippling one. The front cow¡¯s back legs collapsed, and it started sliding backward. It tried to find purchase with its front hooves, but the Earth Wyrm left no footholds for it, and its descent only accelerated. It collided into the back cow, taking out its front legs, and together, they tumbled down the tunnel. It was not a pretty sight. Even just one of them was already almost too big for the tunnel. With two, both struggling to stop their fall, they found themselves constantly smashing against the walls and ceiling. By the time they reached the bottom, both were bruised and bloody, and the back one had lost one of its horns, which was lying on the ground beside them. They both struggled to get up, but the laser beam had left a smoking crater right on the spinal column of one, rendering its back legs useless, and the other had its front legs broken in the fall. She descended back down toward them, still watching for stray eyebeams, but only one was still facing her direction, and a quick {Magic Missile} took care of fully crippling its already-damaged eye. She cast {Prehensile Vines} and picked up the broken horn off the ground, and without hesitation, plunged it as deep into the cow¡¯s eye socket as she could. It let out a final whine that sounded so dreary it almost made her pity it. Almost. She would have felt worse if it hadn¡¯t been trying to kill her. [You have defeated Omnivorous Cyclops Cow, lvl 4] [You have leveled up! 14 -> 15] [You have reached an evolution threshold! Excess exp will be disregarded.] [Agility +3, Dexterity +4, Charisma + 12, Intelligence +4, Willpower +4, Mana +5, Mana Control +5] [You are eligible for evolution! You have {6} options! You have 168 hours to select an option and begin your evolution before an option will be randomly selected for you and your evolution will start automatically] Elise tried to pull the horn back out to finish off the other, but her mana ran out and her vines withered. The living cow, which had been the first one, the one that was paralyzed, started making a whimpering sound. While she hadn¡¯t pitied it much before, now that the crisis was over and the adrenaline was wearing off, she was starting to feel a little bad. They had been trying to eat her, yes, but they were just animals. And now, it was helpless and in extreme pain, and she couldn¡¯t even put it out of its misery. The whimpers turned into whines as it tried to crawl away from her, making her feel even worse. She decided that she would at least stick around until she could properly kill it. She could do at least that much for it. If it managed to make it back out without dying, it would only be prolonging its suffering. It would be impossible for it to live too much longer with that level of injury. In the end, she didn¡¯t have to decide whether or not to wait the hour she needed for her mana to recharge enough to kill it. Just a minute later, she heard more footsteps and moo-growls coming from the tunnel¡¯s entrance, drawn by the whimpering of the injured one. Elise didn¡¯t think that the new cows would be able to make it to her, since the corpses of the first two would be blocking their way, but she didn¡¯t want to give them any incentive to try, so she ran back up the tunnel as fast as she could.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. She waited at the top and listened as the new hoofsteps got closer. There was only one set this time, and when it stopped, the whimpering from the injured one got louder. For a moment, the only sounds Elise could hear were the whimpering and her own heartbeat. Then, with a sickening crunch, the whimpering stopped, and the hoofsteps retreated back down the tunnel. Elise breathed a sigh of relief, and after waiting a few more minutes, just to make sure it wasn¡¯t coming back, she returned to the main chambers. She took a long drink, ate another mushroom, and then sat down so she could look more closely at her new evolution options. She was really hoping for something that would allow her to talk finally. System, what are my evolution options? ¡°You currently have {6} evolution options. Of those, you have 2 Rare evolution options, 3 Epic options, and 1 Legendary option.¡± Elise¡¯s eyes widened. Jumping from Rare to Legendary in one evolution could be huge. ¡°Your Rare evolution options are {Rabbit Enchantress} and {Rabbit Illusionist}. Your Epic evolution options are {Lesser Fey (Rabbit)}, {Leporine Wisp}, and {Rabbit Succubus}. Your Legendary evolution option is {Familiar (Rabbit)}. Would you like me to explain your options?¡± Elise¡¯s heart sank. She wasn¡¯t a huge fantasy fan, but she¡¯d seen enough to know what a familiar was. Only the Fey, Wisp, and Familiar, she thought. The rest were obvious enough. ¡°Certainly! A {Lesser Fey (Rabbit)} is a very rare creature that thrives on trickery and deceit. They often target humanoids, luring them in with innocent appearances or friendly conversation before taking advantage of them. ¡°A {Leporine Wisp} is similar to the {Lesser Fey (Rabbit)} in that they are both part of the Fey family. However, while the {Lesser Fey (Rabbit)} relies on direct trickery and confrontation, the {Leporine Wisp} uses more indirect forms, luring its targets to their doom while staying at a safe distance. ¡°A {Familiar} is any animal acting as the contracted companion of a humanoid magic-user. Its rarity and skills are determined by the class of their companion humanoid. A {Familiar} shares experience points with its companion, and its companion shares experience points with it. ¡°Do you have any further questions?¡± Who would I be contracted to as a Familiar? ¡°You do not have any existing contracts. It is likely that this class was offered because you are in close proximity with a humanoid who wishes for you to become their familiar. Should you take the evolution, you may initiate a contract signing with them once the evolution process is complete.¡± What happens if I can¡¯t form a contract? ¡°A {Familiar} without a contract takes on a severe penalty to experience gain until they can successfully form a contract.¡± In other words, if she selected {Familiar (Rabbit)} and she couldn¡¯t find Sophie again, she would be stuck there, unable to evolve. As much as it pained her to let a Legendary evolution go, she couldn''t take that risk. She had no idea where Sophie was, or whether she¡¯d try to come back, or whether they¡¯d find each other if they did. It was far more important that she level and get stronger than it was for her to have the Legendary class. That left her with two options, but based on their brief descriptions, Elise was pretty sure which one she was going to take. If I select the Lesser Fey option, will I be able to talk? ¡°Yes! Deceit through speech and word games is an integral part of a Fey¡¯s modus operandi. As a {Lesser Fey (Rabbit)}, you will be able to speak freely as if you were a humanoid.¡± Will I be able to speak if I choose the wisp option? ¡°No. Although {Leporine Wisp} is a species of Fey, they do not have the power of speech, as they rely on indirect deceit. A {Leporine Wisp} has a unique appearance and a passive allure that draws their targets toward them and reduces their awareness of their surroundings.¡± Then I choose {Lesser Fey (Rabbit)}. ¡°Great choice! Would you like to begin your evolution now? I must warn you that the process of evolution takes a significant amount of time, and a disturbance in the middle would result in your death.¡± Not yet. I need to get to a safer place. ¡°Just let me know when you¡¯re ready, and I¡¯ll start the process for you.¡± With no better ideas, Elise decided she might as well return to the cave where she had made her first evolution. The tunnels had clearly been untouched since she last left, so the old evolution chambers were probably still her best bet as far as safety went. Life had other plans though. She started down the tunnel, but came to a hard stop when she noticed it was getting colder. She couldn¡¯t hear anything happening in front of her, but the cold was too much to ignore, and the temperature brought back all the memories she had been suppressing. Her heart rate skyrocketed and she froze in place for who knew how long, until the utter lack of activity around her calmed her back down. She was safe in the tunnels. The Warg would not be able to fit in them. The cyclops cows had barely fit, and the warg was almost twice their height. Though maybe it could crawl. It did have long legs. Maybe if it found its way in, it could scootch along until it found her. But obviously that wasn¡¯t happening. She would have heard it by now if it was doing that. Even if it was lying in wait somewhere around a bend, she would hear it breathing and be able to escape long before it could do anything to her. Actually, if it had gotten itself into the tunnels, that might have been a blessing in disguise, because if it was underground, that meant it wasn¡¯t aboveground, and she would be able to move more freely through the forest, and possibly even leave the forest before it could manage to extract itself. It was strong, but the highest points of the tunnel, like where she entered from her burrow, were still a full 10 feet from the surface. Surely it couldn¡¯t burst through that with brute force. It would have to crawl all the way down into the tunnel, turn around, and crawl all the way back out. She crept forward, hoping that her ears would pick up the sound of its breathing, but even though it only got colder and colder, the only thing she could hear was herself. She rounded the final turn before reaching the point where the tunnel met her old burrow and her heart sank. The tunnel had caved in. She couldn¡¯t see outside, but she could hear the rustling of the trees, and worse, the soft breathing of the Warg. It sounded asleep, but she wasn¡¯t going to take any chances, so she turned around and crept back, even more carefully than she had arrived. When she was certain she was out of its sensory range, she full sprinted back until she reached the main chamber. She needed to find a new place to evolve. She still had almost all of her seven day time limit left to find such a place, but with what she thought had been the perfect reliable spot unusable, it felt like no time at all. She had checked all but one of the other tunnels, and none of them had seemed like good places. Obviously the cavern with the evil cows was a no-go, and she didn¡¯t like the lake either because she didn¡¯t know enough about it. The one leading to the hill by the cavern was also no good. The chances of the warg finding it were way too high. That left her with the loop and the last unexplored tunnel. She didn¡¯t like the idea of the loop because it would be so exposed, but if the final tunnel turned out to be just as bad as the others, the loop might be her only option. I still have plenty of time, she told herself, trying to reduce the panic. I have a full 7 days. I could even dig a tunnel myself in that time. Wait¡­ If she had hands, she would have facepalmed. Of course she could just dig a new tunnel herself. The main cavern was not deep enough to be stone. The dirt was packed much tighter than that at the surface, but that just meant it would take a bit longer. To be safe, she went a little ways down the loop tunnel before starting. Now that the vines had been cleared from below and the entrance from the cow cavern was exposed, even if it wasn¡¯t the cows, something else could just wander in and find her little tunnel. She dug a narrow entrance in the side at a random point that went a few feet deep, then opened up into a more comfortably sized chambers. She almost settled down to evolve right then, but had an idea and dug a small side chamber as well before returning to the main cave with the stream for a few mushrooms. She deposited the mushrooms in the main chamber of her little tunnel, then sealed off the entrance as best she could before settling down into the side chamber to begin. Just like the first evolution, it was over in the blink of an eye. One moment, she was in the darkness, and the next, she was staring out of a translucent, glowing, orange membrane. She burst out and shook off the residual goop and tried going to the main chamber, but found herself getting blocked. Did I get bigger? She thought, as her back hit the roof. She looked back and her eyes widened. She hadn¡¯t gotten bigger. She had grown a pair of wings! 12 - Fey In front of her, there were many purple boxes detailing her new skills and stats, but Elise¡¯s attention was entirely focused on what was behind her. She had wings! Pretty, white dragonfly-like wings that glowed! She didn¡¯t have room to flap them in her tiny burrow, but she could move them around enough to know that she wouldn¡¯t have any trouble controlling them. It was a whole new set of limbs, but they felt so natural that it was like she had had them her whole life. She inspected the rest of her body to see if anything else had changed, but other than the wings, she seemed to be the same. She stared once more at her shiny new wings before turning her attention back to the System dialogue boxes in front of her. [You have successfully completed your second evolution! +20 to all stats!] [Your new species is: {Lesser Fey (Rabbit)}. +5 Strength, +20 Agility, +20 Dexterity, +5 Fortitude, +65 Charisma, +30 Intelligence, +20 Willpower, +50 Mana, +50 Mana Control] [You have unlocked the skill {Fey Wings}] [You have unlocked the skill {Fairy Dust}] [You have unlocked the skill {Fey Bargaining}]
Name Elise Burrow
Age 0 (20)
Race Lesser Fey (Rabbit)
Level (III) 1
Stats Base Bonuses Total
Strength 44 0 44
Agility 126 0 126
Dexterity 114 0 114
Fortitude 42 0 42
Charisma 390 0 390
Intelligence 149 0 149
Willpower 154 0 154
Mana 193 0 193
Mana Control 223 0 223
Skills Level Description
Inspect 25 Identify the species and level of another creature
Nature Magic Affinity - As a creature of the forest, you feel a strong connection to nature and natural mana
Leap 6 Jump with additional force. Cooldown: 5 seconds
Mark of Fate - ???
Dart 5 Dash quickly in any horizontal direction. Charges: 5. Cooldown: 10 seconds
Sudden Growth 6 Cause all nearby plants to grow at many times their normal rate for 3 seconds
Mana Sense 5 Sense nearby mana
Magic Missile 5 Create missiles of mana that attack your target. Current missiles: 2
Suggest 2 Plant a subtle thought or desire in the target''s mind
Prehensile Vines 6 Vines grow out of the ground in front of you. You can control them as you would your own limbs.
Charm 1 Increase a target''s attraction to you
Ensnaring Roots 1 Summon sturdy roots from the ground that wrap around the target
Fey Wings - Fold or unfold your wings
Fairy Dust 1 Release dust from your wings that either blesses or curses (user''s choice) any living creature it comes into contact with
Fey Bargaining 1 Form a contract with another creature. If either side breaks the contract, they will be cursed
Her eyes bulged when she saw the stat numbers. Her Strength and Fortitude still weren¡¯t very high, but they had more than doubled with this evolution, and the rest of her stats saw significant upgrades as well. Especially Charisma¡­ She wasn¡¯t sure how she felt about that. Aside from that, she had three new skills, all of which were directly related to her new species, and none of which were related to speech. She was a bit disappointed. Half the reason she had taken the class was because of the promise of speech, but it looked like she wouldn¡¯t be getting that skill until later. Unless¡­ ¡°Unless I can already talk,¡± she finished aloud. Then she gasped. She was surprised, not only that she was able to talk, but also because of how her voice sounded. It was high-pitched and bubbly, and not at all like her original voice. She sounded like she had inhaled helium; more like an animated chipmunk than a human. ¡°Well, it¡¯s better than before,¡± she said. She giggled at how she sounded, then burst out into louder laughter because of how that sounded. It was a good start, but she needed to get a better voice. How would anyone, or anything, take her seriously with that voice? She couldn¡¯t even take herself seriously.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The first skill she looked at, {Fey Wings}, was not what she expected, and in a very good way. The skill was not what allowed her to fly. In fact, the description almost didn¡¯t mention flight at all. The skill was merely her ability to ¡°fold¡± her wings, and by ¡°fold¡± it meant ¡°make disappear entirely.¡± There was no cooldown, and no duration. It was like a switch to turn her wings on and off. She tested it out, and as advertised, her wings vanished. She could still feel where they attached to her back, but she couldn¡¯t feel the wings themselves anymore, and when she crawled into the main chamber of the burrow, they did not get in her way. She flipped the switch a few times to get used to the feeling, then moved onto her next skill with her wings enabled to give her a bit of light. {Fairy Dust} wasn¡¯t something she could test out at the moment. It said she could sprinkle it on her target to either bless or curse it. It didn¡¯t explain any further than that, but it did say it needed to be alive. The ground and the mushrooms in front of her were not valid targets. The last skill, {Fey Bargaining} was similarly untestable, and she doubted she would get a chance any time soon. It required a target with whom she could converse verbally, and now that the Gray family was gone, such creatures were few and far between. She also wasn¡¯t entirely sure what she would use it for once she could use it. It wasn¡¯t a worthless skill or anything, but it didn¡¯t seem all that helpful to her either. It simply stated that if she made a deal with anyone while under the influence of the skill, both sides would have to follow through with their end or suffer a curse. Like with {Fairy Dust}, it didn¡¯t explain any further what it meant by ¡°curse¡±. With her new abilities properly examined, she filled her stomach with one of the mushrooms she had prepared, turned her wings off, and dug back out into the main wyrm tunnel. There was no sign that anything else had been there while she had been out, which was good. It didn¡¯t mean that nothing had wandered up from below while she was gone, but it did mean that she wasn¡¯t in immediate danger. And no immediate danger meant she could test her wings. It crossed her mind that attempting to fly for the first time in a five foot high tunnel wasn¡¯t a good idea, but she was so excited that she pushed the thought aside. It would be fine. She was just going to do a couple short jumps. Just to make sure she could. She wouldn¡¯t do anything reckless. A minute later, she was zooming down the tunnel at full speed. Her ability to fly didn¡¯t make sense. Her wings were too small and weren¡¯t flapping fast at all, but she was able to float above the ground with ease, and had almost omnidirectional maneuverability. She wasn¡¯t actually going that fast, but it was fast enough to feel the wind on her face and it was just a bit faster than she could run. She could even use {Dart} while flying to get an extra boost. And the best part was that it didn¡¯t cost her any mana. She didn¡¯t understand how that worked, since the way she flew was definitely magical in some way, but she wasn¡¯t complaining. She could fly indefinitely, or at least until her wings got tired, and they showed no signs of doing that any time soon. She took the long way around the loop tunnel until she returned back to the main cave, and came to a hard stop midair. There was a snake coiled up on the ground in the middle of the floor. It was nowhere near the size the wyrm must have been, but it was a significant step up from the snake that had chased her on her first day as a rabbit, and definitely an evolution or two ahead. Its scales were red with darker red diamond patterns along its back, and the tip of its tail was black. It was asleep, and since she was flying, she was hardly making any noise, so there wasn¡¯t much danger of it waking. Normally, Elise might have been scared, but with her new evolution, she was feeling invincible, and she was more excited to test out her new abilities than she was worried about it getting her. She could not have asked for a more perfect target to test {Fairy Dust} on. [Red Diamondback Viper, lvl 7] The fact that she could see its level when she used {Inspect} told her all she needed to know. On top of that, its species name didn¡¯t scream danger like the cows¡¯ species name had. It might very well have been just a mundane viper with slightly higher stats. She flew over until she was hovering right above it before enacting her plan. She cast {Ensnaring Roots} to wrap around its body, and at the same time, she used {Fairy Dust} while thinking hard about cursing the snake. Shimmering sand fell from her wings and landed on the snake as it writhed against its restraints. It was stronger than she expected, but her mana pool was big enough that she could just put a bit more mana into the spell to make sure it held while the dust floated down towards its target. [Red Diamondback Viper has been afflicted with {Cursed Fairy Dust}! The target¡¯s stats will be halved for the next thirty seconds] With only half its stats, the Viper didn¡¯t last much longer. It no longer had any chance of breaking free of Elise¡¯s {Ensnaring Roots}, and its defenses were practically non-existent. A single {Magic Missile} to its head finished it off. [You have defeated Red Diamondback Viper, lvl 7] [{Fairy Dust} lvl 1 -> 2] Though it had been weak, Elise was still a bit disappointed that she did not earn any levels for defeating it. She still wasn¡¯t entirely sure how experience points were calculated. As far as she knew, Sophie never slew any monsters, but she was still high enough level that Elise could not {Inspect} her properly. And she had earned experience points for just damaging the warg. That meant it wasn¡¯t just like a video game, where only killing enemies would earn experience. But at the same time, she had never earned anything but skill levels outside of combat. So what exactly gave experience points? ¡°Hey System,¡± she said aloud. ¡°How are experience points calculated?¡± ¡°At $%^&, we use a patented, AI-powered algorithm to calculate experience points based on numerous factors. We will not share exactly how it works, but the developers have put out a short guide on how to earn experience points. Would you like to hear it?¡± ¡°Yes, please.¡± ¡°Here is the guide:¡± the System¡¯s voice changed from its usual excited one to a more authoritative, professor-like one. ¡°There are two ways for a user to earn experience points. The first and simplest is by killing other creatures. Experience points are determined by the relative levels and stats. If you kill something weaker than yourself, your experience points will be penalized, and if you kill something stronger than yourself, you will earn bonus experience. We also take into account skill matchups, terrain, nearby creatures, and numerous other trade secret factors to make adjustments to the final total. ¡°The second way to earn experience is to do things that align with your class. For example, if a {Farmer} is planting and harvesting crops, he will earn experience points, but if he attempts to take up smithing, he will not. Similarly, if a {Blacksmith} is making tools, he will earn experience points, but if he tries to farm, he will not earn experience points.¡± The System switched back to its excited voice. ¡°Please note that the second method only applies to humanoids, as non-humanoids do not have classes.¡± ¡°So I can only earn experience through fighting things?¡± ¡°That is correct! If you have any other questions, feel free to let me know. I¡¯d be happy to be of assistance.¡± As disappointed as she was about the answer, Elise was still in a good mood, because for once, the System actually had answered her question without misunderstanding her intent or telling her she wasn¡¯t allowed to know the answer. She had earned less experience because the snake had been weaker than her, and she had ambushed it while it was sleeping. It really didn¡¯t stand a chance. If she could appeal the decision, she would, because she had never done anything like that before, and thought the actual experience of carrying out that ambush was still pretty significant, but she could at least understand its reasoning. With that mystery solved, she moved on to thinking about her future plans. Being able to fly opened up a lot of routes that hadn¡¯t even been options before. The huge lake was no longer an impassable wall. She could afford to go deeper into the cow cavern, since she could fly away from danger. And most importantly of all, as long as the Warg wasn¡¯t waiting for her, she could leave the tunnels and survive aboveground. She decided to put that last idea on hold though. While it might be possible, she had already witnessed the Warg¡¯s power, and its ability to hit moving targets from a distance. They had been moving in a straight line toward it, and hadn¡¯t been that far, but she didn¡¯t want to test her luck. She would rather not take a stray icicle to the behind while flying away, thinking she was safe. It would be better to stay underground, where she had a near unlimited supply of food, water, and experience points, as long as she was smart about it. She could level up and build up her power while coming up with a more concrete plan on how to deal with the Warg. It was strong enough that it probably wouldn¡¯t be going anywhere anytime soon. And it was also strong enough that it probably wouldn¡¯t get much stronger relative to how quickly she would advance. It was probably earning a pittance for every kill, since there wouldn¡¯t be much in the forest that could actually pose a threat to it. After a bit more contemplation, she decided that checking the final unexplored tunnel would be her best option. If it led to another place like the cow cavern, she would like to know sooner than later. There was also always a chance it was a path to some kind of hidden treasure. Wyrms were related to dragons kind of. Maybe they kept a hoard of loot too. Elise never found out if Wyrms kept a hoard of loot or not. The last tunnel just kept going down, seemingly with no end. It went past the dirt, through a few hundred feet of rock, only stopping its descent when it reached another chunk of hard rock, at which point it just went horizontally. It must have been a dozen miles or more before it reached its destination. The wyrm tunnel ended at the side of an enormous natural cave full of stalagmites and stalactites and sulfuric pools of water and also a wide assortment of disgusting cave creatures. She hadn¡¯t gone more than ten feet in before she spotted a swarm of flying insects with bulbous purple abdomens and stingers as long as the rest of their body. They flew over to her, and Elise noped out. She didn¡¯t like bugs, least of all ugly, purple, stinging ones. She could hear other things moving around in the cave too, and was sure they would be just as bad, if not worse than the bugs, so she decided it wasn¡¯t worth exploring just yet. She didn¡¯t have any skills that would help her against swarms of insects, and her direct combat abilities were still poor. It wasn¡¯t worth the risk. They were all far enough away that she shouldn¡¯t have to worry about them. When she got back, she took a long drink from the stream, then decided to head back down toward the giant lake. She wanted experience points of course, but like with the previously unexplored tunnel, she would rather know what was in each of the tunnels for the sake of her peace of mind before going hunting. Now that she could fly, she could actually explore the lake a bit. With the glow of her wings, she could see a bit further out over the water, but even when she flew up, she still couldn¡¯t see the other side. She started flying out over the middle, but then thought better, and decided to hug the outer rim instead. The biggest, most dangerous things would be living out in the deepest parts. It would be better to stick to the shallower areas until she had a better idea of what the situation was. By the light of her wings, she could see a few feet down into the water, and discovered that there were indeed things living there. There were a few different types of fish with big blind eyes swimming around below her, none of which seemed to notice her existence. There were also some larger, just-as-blind, predatory fish. Well, she assumed there were more than one. She had only actually seen one as it swallowed a smaller fish below her, but it couldn¡¯t be the only one. The wall of the cave curved inward for a while, but then took a turn outward, exposing a whole other cavern also filled with water. Aside from the small shore that she had started on, Elise had not seen any other dry places to set down on. It was fine, since her wings didn¡¯t feel tired at all, but she was beginning to wonder if there was any more dry land at all. The side cavern was much smaller than the main one, and Elise could see all the way to the other side. She could also see the continuation of the wall ahead of her, which left her with a choice to make. She could either hug the wall and continue around the side chamber, even though she could already see the whole thing, or she could cross the deeper water and keep checking the main chamber, of which she still could not see the other side. She was impatient, so she chose the second option, a decision she came to regret when a dark shape passed under her and the water started rippling. 13 - Lake Elise barely had time to {Dart} away before a set of jaws with teeth as tall as she was closed around the air where she had just been. As the creature sank back into the dark water, she continued to fly up, as high as she could, until her wings were almost brushing against the roof of the cave. The monster leapt again, getting its full body out of the water¨C which was impressive, given its size¨C but it still wasn¡¯t quite high enough to reach her. [Darkwater Plesiosaur, lvl ???] [{Inspect} lvl 25 -> 27] The monster was a plesiosaur. An enormous, black plesiosaur. After its second failed attempt to get her into its mouth, it surfaced more calmly and stared at her with giant pale eyes. Thankfully, despite its size, it didn¡¯t seem to be very powerful. Not compared to the warg, at least. And it didn¡¯t have any ranged attacks. Elise was high enough up to be safe. For now. The problem was that if she went too close to any side, the ceiling got lower, and she would then be within its reach, which meant she couldn¡¯t go back to the tunnel. While her flight didn¡¯t cost any mana, and her dragonfly wings didn''t seem to tire, she doubted it was truly indefinite. Her wings would tire eventually, and she would have to descend. Now that she knew what was probably the lake¡¯s biggest danger, it left her more free to explore, at least. Whether she was closer to the edge like she was at that moment, or at the center where the water was deeper and the ceiling was higher, it still wouldn¡¯t be able to reach her. She could roam about as she pleased. The off-brand Loch Ness monster followed her as she flew toward the middle of the cave. She was again awed by its sheer size. It was dark, which limited her range, but she was glowing, and had good night vision, and she still couldn¡¯t see any of the sides from the middle. She kept an eye on the dinosaur below her, wary of it making any sudden movements, but mostly, she ignored it as she flew on toward the opposite side of the cave. There was nothing on the opposite side. Just more blank stone. She flew back toward the center, and as she was over the head of the plesiosaur, an idea struck her. She stopped right above it, and used {Fairy Dust}. The monster watched in confusion as the sparkling particles fell all around it, and flinched as a few hit its eyes. [Darkwater Plesiosaur has been afflicted with {Cursed Fairy Dust}! The target¡¯s stats will be reduced by 5% for the next ten seconds] Elise had started moving as soon as the System message appeared. Her plan was to fly back to the tunnel while the plesiosaur was weakened by her curse. She didn¡¯t register that the numbers were different until the shadow under the water sped under her and the monster surfaced on the shore blocking her path. ¡°What the heck?¡± she exclaimed. ¡°System, why is it only 5%? And why only 10 seconds?¡± ¡°I believe you are referring to the effects of your skill, {Fairy Dust}. {Fairy Dust} is a skill that grants a blessing or a curse on any creature it hits. The power of the blessing or curse depends on the level of the skill, the difference in Charisma between the user and the target, and the target¡¯s willingness to be affected by the dust.¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡®willingness to be affected¡¯? You mean that the target can just say ¡®no¡¯ and reduce the effects?¡± ¡°No. That is not what I mean. What I mean is that if the target has higher Charisma than the user, whether the blessing or curse caused by {Fairy Dust} applies to them depends on whether they want it to apply. If the user has higher Charisma, then it does not matter whether the target is willing or not, and the scale of the effects will be dependent on the skill¡¯s level and the difference in Charisma between the two.¡± Elise glared at the plesiosaur, which was baring its teeth at her as it waited in front of the tunnel. It almost looked like it was smiling. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that that monster¡¯s Charisma is almost as high as mine?¡± ¡°I do not have access to the stats of the creature in question. However, if your skill, {Fairy Dust} had reduced effects compared to what you were expecting, it is likely that that is the case.¡± She looked back at the dinosaur. It was definitely smiling. It was swaying its head back and forth like a charmed snake, and making a soft purring noise with its throat. Elise turned away, trying to get it to follow her back out to the lake, but it was smarter than that. It stayed where it was. Even when she went out of its sight and stayed for a half hour, it was still waiting when she returned. That did not bode well. That meant it was confident that the tunnel was her only way out. Either that, or it had better vision than she thought, and it had seen her hovering on the ceiling the whole time and knew she wasn¡¯t going anywhere. Elise didn¡¯t lose hope though. It was smarter than she would have preferred, but it might still have been stupid. There could still be a way for her to get out that it didn¡¯t know about, or that it had forgotten about. She went to the side cavern, taking a closer look to make sure she wasn¡¯t missing any small tunnels that could provide a way out, and when that was fruitless, she went to the wall opposite where the monster was camped. This side was better than the others, but not by much. There was a small shore, about the same size as the one on the tunnel side, but this side lacked a tunnel. The monster was out of sight, so she took a chance and alighted on the dry rocks. Her wings didn¡¯t feel tired, but it was looking like things were shaping up to be a game of patience. If she was going to need to spend hours hovering, waiting for the monster to either sleep, or get hungry and go hunting, she wanted to be in as perfect condition as she could be. She laid down on the most comfortable place she could find, and rested, but kept her ears opened for the slightest noise. She was ready to take off at a moment¡¯s notice if she heard even the slightest hint of a splash as the plesiosaur re-entered the water. However, it was not from the water that she heard the first sound, but rather from the stone wall behind her. She flew straight up and away as the wall rumbled. A few seconds later, a small crack appeared, and the crack got wider and wider until soon, it was wide enough for three people to comfortably walk side by side. And walk side-by-side they did, though she was not sure if they were people, exactly. Out of the tunnel marched three stout, bearded men clad in heavy plate armor and wielding hammers and pickaxes that looked way too sharp and pointy to be used for construction or mining. They each had a large glowing stone inlaid on the foreheads of their helms that basked the shore in light. [Dwarven Guard, lvl 7] [Dwarven Guard, lvl 4] [Dwarven Guard, lvl 3] They noticed her immediately. It would have been hard for them not to, since she was the only other source of light in the room. For a few moments, they just stopped, and stared at her in confusion. Meanwhile, Elise had gone through a full mental cycle of panic, and was returning to reason. First she had only thought of fleeing. Then she realized that they were not monsters, and that they might be able to help her. She forgot that she could speak now¨C which was perfectly reasonable, since she had only gained that ability less than twelve hours prior¨C and ran through a few ideas on how to communicate without words until she remembered. ¡°Hello,¡± she said in the same language that the hunter family had used. ¡°I am not a monster. Please don¡¯t hunt me.¡± She did not know the word for kill, but she hoped that ¡®hunt¡¯ would get the point across. The dwarves had a new round of confusion when they heard her speak, and shared a few glances before the leader responded. ¡°Alex evi csy?¡± Dangit! thought Elise. Of course they spoke a different language! Why would the world make things easy on her when it could just do things like this instead. ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re saying,¡± she said, switching to English. There was no point in continuing to use the unfamiliar language if they didn¡¯t know it either. The dwarves talked amongst each other, but kept their eyes on her. Though she could hear what they said, she couldn¡¯t make out a single word. Not only was it a different language, It was a different language that shared no words with the only other two languages she was familiar with. She was racking her brain trying to come up with a way to get her meaning across when suddenly, the one on the left gasped and pointed at her. ¡°Xli Vyri sj Jexi!¡± he exclaimed ¡°Mx lew xli Vyri sj Jexi!¡± The other two leaned forward and squinted at her, then almost simultaneously, they gasped as well. ¡°Xli Vyri sj Jexi! Mx''w xli Vyri sj Jexi!¡± exclaimed the middle one. All three of them tossed their weapons to the ground, took off their helmets and did the same, then got on their knees and bowed to her, with their beards held in outstretched hands. Confused, Elise drifted down toward them. She wasn¡¯t sure what they meant, or why they had suddenly decided that she was something worth bowing toward, but it was clearly a sign of respect and goodwill. She needed to return the favor, and she had the perfect way of doing it. She flew over their heads, making sure to go slow enough that she appeared as non-threatening as possible, and when she was over the one, she used {Fairy Dust}, this time with a blessing in mind. She also tried to think about giving them a blessing that wasn¡¯t a stat buff. They were peaceful now, but if they changed their mind later, she would rather not have to fight them when they were buffed by her own skill. Once she was done in the middle, she did the same to the left, and to the right, and then landed on the ground in front of them. [3 targets have been granted Minor Blessings] [{Fairy Dust} lvl 2 -> 4] At first, it looked like nothing happened, then in the same order that she had blessed them in, their beards started to lengthen. It was nothing immense, each only getting a few inches, but it was definitely something. The dwarves raised their heads, stared at their beards, then broke out into smiles so wide she could see their teeth, even between all the facial hair. They stood back up, still smiling, and the middle one said something else to Elise while gesturing inside. It looked to her like an invitation, and she decided to take it as such. If it was a trap, then so be it. If they knew her well enough to know that such a trap would work, she never stood a chance in the first place. It was better than the almost certain death that awaited her if she tried the plesiosaur at least. The middle one led her inside while the other two picked up the discarded weapons and helmets and followed behind her. At first, the tunnel seemed to be just an empty dead end, but the lead dwarf put his hand on a seemingly random place in the side of the tunnel, and the dead end opened up into a large and well-lit corridor. He left the other two to close the doors behind as he led her down the hall. Unlike the unmarked tubes of the wyrm tunnels, the Dwarven tunnels seemed like places that people actually lived. The floors were flat, the walls were straight, and there were glowing stones in sconces regularly to keep the whole area illuminated at all times. They seemed to be the same kind that Sophie had used to read in the dark. There were no other dwarves in that particular hallway, but another two doors and a descending flight of stairs later, they came to a more open cavern full of stone huts and they started to make their appearances. Most were confused, but their confusion turned to elation when the guide dwarf made an announcement.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Psso! Xli Vyri sj Jexi! Mx lew xli Vyri sj Jexi!¡± There was a collective gasp, followed by loud cheering. The dwarves bowed down as she hopped by calling out ¡°Xli Vyri sj Jexi!¡± like it was a mantra. A few of the younger dwarves, whom she could identify by their lack of beards, even tried to reach out to touch her, earning a rap on the head from their equally beardless mothers. This scene repeated itself a half dozen more times as the dwarves led her further and further into their city, and deeper and deeper underground. Each cavern was bigger than the last, and had more dwarves, until finally they arrived at a cavern just as big, if not bigger than the ones with the lake and the cows. Even more impressively, the cave didn¡¯t look natural at all. Every house was carved from a solid, singular piece of stone that was fused to the ground with no signs of any kind of joining. In the distance, there was even a castle made in the same way. There were no bricks, no seams, and no supporting structures. Everything, from the street lamps to the statues on top of the bigger houses was carved out of the same stone. Their progress slowed down a lot once they got here. An impromptu parade formed behind them, and a dense crowd formed in front, and soon, it was more like they were wading through a sea of people than walking. Elise had never struggled with claustrophobia before, but with so many people around her, she was starting to feel a bit stuffy, so she took to flight again, staying a few feet above the head of her guide. When she flew up, there was a round of cheering from the crowd. She had to admit, it felt good. She had never gotten this kind of reception anywhere before, and it was night and day compared to the reception she had gotten just about everywhere else in this new world. She did a loop in the air, making the crowd cheer louder, then she flew over them and rained blessed {Fairy Dust} on their heads until she had none left. She didn¡¯t realize that there was a limit, since it didn¡¯t cost mana, but she did notice that her wings were much less sparkly than they were before. Though most of the people in the crowd looked overjoyed, Elise would have had to be blind if she thought the feeling was universal. Even among the closest, there were a few sour faces, and around the edges, they looked more grim than glad. A few even looked angry, fixated on her with murderous glares. She settled back into place above the armored dwarf who had found her, who was laughing and cheering with the crowd. Seeing her stop above him again, he started moving again. However, Elise¡¯s theatrics had slowed them down even more, and ten minutes later, they had barely made it a block further. She was beginning to wonder if she was ever going to make it to wherever the dwarf was taking her when they were rescued by a regiment of shield-bearing dwarves. They lined up on the street like riot police, leaving only a small gap for the three dwarves she had first met to pass through and blocking the rest. Behind the line, a dwarf in a much shinier, more elegantly decorated suit stood. He bowed to Elise and said something in Dwarvish and gestured toward the cleared part of the street. It was obvious that he was offering to escort her, but unlike the other three, he did not look pleased at all. He didn¡¯t look displeased either, but she felt much less comfortable with him than she did with the others. With their new escort group, they made it to the castle on the other side of the city with relative ease. At the gate of the castle, the dwarf in the fancy armor tried to dismiss Elise¡¯s first escorts, saying something to them and waving back behind them. Elise was worried about what would happen if she didn¡¯t have anyone on her side in the castle, so she flew down and landed on the head of her first guide. ¡°I want them to come with me,¡± she said. Though he couldn¡¯t understand her words, the other dwarf at least understood her meaning. He sighed, and said something that made the first three dwarves cheer, then opened the gate to lead them inside. Inside the gate, leading up to the front door was a garden of sorts. There were two channels of water, dug in a symmetric pattern on either side of the walkway, and on its sides grew a wide array of multicolored mushrooms. There was no grass, but there was moss, and some carved stones decorating. Overall, it was an unusual, but pleasant sight. The inside of the castle, however, was awe-inspiring. Every inch of the inner walls was carved with intricate patterns and inlaid with jewels and gold filigree. In some places, mosaic-like images made of equal parts carving, jewels, and gold portrayed dwarves in various settings. One showed a pair of dwarves hammering away at a glowing something on an anvil. One showed a mighty-looking dwarf bringing down an ax on the head of a giant wolf. A third showed a tall castle on top of a mountain with the sun setting behind it. There were many more, but Elise did not have time to take them all in, because the dwarf in the decorated armor was keeping a brisk pace, leading them up a tall staircase and through another large set of doors. On the other side was a chamber as long as a football field with the ceiling a hundred feet up and supported by tall, decorative pillars. There was a large throne made of steel on the far end, with red jewels bigger than Elise set on the ends of its five pronged top. On the throne sat a dwarf with a long black beard wearing pure white armor and a crown. His face was emotionless and unreadable, but he stared unblinkingly at Elise. She used {Inspect} and found that he was a king, just as he appeared. More specifically, he was the [King of Dokkalfheimr], and she couldn¡¯t see his level, meaning he was stronger than her by a wide margin. Beside him stood a wizened old dwarf wearing blue robes with a white beard that brushed the ground. His face was much more readable, and somewhat unnerving. His eyes had dark shadows under them, as though he hadn¡¯t slept in a week, but they were also wide open, and a brown so dark they almost looked black. His beard hid most of his face, but even through the thick white hair, she could see that he was frowning. Contrary to his appearance, however, his class seemed perfectly normal. {Inspect} showed that he was merely a {Court Wizard} and his level was 13. He was holding a sphere that looked almost like a bowling ball without the holes, though when she looked closer, she saw that the swirling patterns were actually moving. The four dwarves that were with her stopped and knelt before the throne when they got closer. Elise tried to do the same, but she had never knelt as a rabbit before, so she ended up doing an awkward half-bow, half-curtsey thing that she was sure looked foolish. ¡°Vmwi,¡± said the king. The dwarves behind her stood up, so she did the same as the king nodded to the old man. The orb glowed so bright it was hard to look at, then settled down into a softer glow. ¡°Fated One,¡± said the king in perfect English, staring directly at Elise. ¡°Can you understand me?¡±
Stat sheet as of the end of Chapter 13:
Name Elise Burrow
Age 0 (20)
Race Lesser Fey (Rabbit)
Level (III) 1
Stats Base Bonuses Total
Strength 44 0 44
Agility 126 0 126
Dexterity 114 0 114
Fortitude 42 0 42
Charisma 390 0 390
Intelligence 149 0 149
Willpower 154 0 154
Mana 193 0 193
Mana Control 223 0 223
Skills Level Description
Inspect 27 Identify the species and level of another creature
Nature Magic Affinity - As a creature of the forest, you feel a strong connection to nature and natural mana
Leap 7 Jump with additional force. Cooldown: 4 seconds
Mark of Fate - ???
Dart 5 Dash quickly in any horizontal direction. Charges: 6. Cooldown: 10 seconds
Sudden Growth 6 Cause all nearby plants to grow at many times their normal rate for 3 seconds
Mana Sense 5 Sense nearby mana
Magic Missile 5 Create missiles of mana that attack your target. Current missiles: 3
Suggest 2 Plant a subtle thought or desire in the target''s mind
Prehensile Vines 6 Vines grow out of the ground in front of you. You can control them as you would your own limbs.
Charm 1 Increase a target''s attraction to you
Ensnaring Roots 1 Summon sturdy roots from the ground that wrap around the target
Fey Wings - Fold or unfold your wings
Fairy Dust 4 Release dust from your wing that either blesses or curses (user''s choice) any living creature it comes into contact with
Fey Bargaining 1 Form a contract with another creature. If either side breaks the contract, they will be cursed
14 - Dwarves ¡°Y-yes,¡± said Elise. ¡°How? Is that orb a translator?¡± ¡°It is,¡± said the king. ¡°I am King Hallbjorn. Do you have a name?¡± ¡°Elise. You called me ¡®Fated One¡¯ earlier. What does that mean?¡± ¡°It means you are the Fated One. You bear the Rune of Fate.¡± ¡°The Rune of-?¡± Elise¡¯s eyes widened with understanding, and she went to check her status window. The skill {Mark of Fate} was still there where she had nearly forgotten about it. However, as she watched, the name and description blurred and morphed. {Rune of Fate}, it now read, and the description was no longer blank, though it wasn¡¯t really any better than before. All it said was ¡°A rune that¡± followed by a bunch of gibberish. ¡°I see,¡± she said. ¡°But what does that mean? Why were all those people so happy to see me?¡± ¡°Whenever one appears bearing the Rune of Fate, the world undergoes a change. Sometimes, that is for the better. Others, it is not. There is an old dwarven prophecy stating that the Fated One will return us to the days of old, when the dwarves lived on the surface and had as much power as the humans and the orcs. My people believe that to be you.¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes. It has not even been a full hour since you arrived, yet some of them are already packing their bags to go to the surface. However, as a king, I cannot blindly follow prophecy, even if it is the will of the people. So tell me: are you our Fated One? Have you come to liberate us?¡± Elise looked around nervously. The three dwarves who had brought her in looked at her expectantly, while the older dwarf holding the orb regarded her with undisguised suspicion, and the king¡¯s face was unreadable. ¡°If you are, then we will give you whatever you desire. Food, riches¡­ whatever else rabbits want. If not, however, you will be treated as any other creature we find trespassing at our gates.¡± Elise gulped. The choice was so obvious that it looped back around to being difficult. Was this a test? If it was, then telling the truth and saying that she wasn¡¯t, or that she didn¡¯t know was the right answer. But if it wasn¡¯t, neither of the other two options were good. If she said yes, and she couldn¡¯t do what they asked of her, that would likely turn out worse than if she said no. What did they even do to trespassers? Surely they didn¡¯t execute them, right? She could handle a little prison time. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I didn¡¯t even know you were here. I was just-¡± ¡°She is the Fated One!¡± exclaimed one of the dwarves behind her. ¡°What?¡± she said. ¡°But I just-¡± She looked up at the king, who, for the first time, was smiling. Oh no. ¡°Welcome to Dokkalfheimr,¡± said the king, getting up from his throne. ¡°Come, this is no place for a conversation with an honored guest. The chefs have prepared a feast.¡± ¡°Wait!¡± said Elise. ¡°Your Majesty-¡± ¡°Oh, no need for formalities,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m the Fated One you think I am!¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Then why are you treating me like this?¡± ¡°The prophecy stated that the Fated One would deny being the Fated One.¡± ¡°But- you-¡± she sputtered. ¡°You can¡¯t just go along with it because of that! Anyone could deny being the Fated One!¡± ¡°Yes, but you also have the Rune of Fate, and when presented with the offer of riches, you still denied it!¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t that a test?¡± ¡°It was!¡± ¡°But what if I was lying? What if I was just telling you what you wanted to hear?¡± ¡°Then why would you bring it to my attention now?¡± said the king with a chuckle. ¡°Let us go. We don¡¯t want the food to get cold.¡± Elise wanted to protest more, but she could see that she was only digging herself deeper into a hole by doing so. She was pretty sure she wasn¡¯t the Fated One that the dwarves were talking about, and she didn¡¯t want them thinking she was. What if they re-emerged on the surface, thinking she would keep them safe, only to be wiped out? There was nothing she could do to stop that. The ¡°feast¡± that had been prepared was almost exclusively mushrooms. Elise was fine with that, since she liked mushrooms, but she had been half-expecting there to be more. The weird cows in the other cave looked like they¡¯d make for a decent meal, and if there was one cave like that, there were probably more. Unless she had gotten lucky/unlucky and found the only one in the area, and the dwarves couldn¡¯t get to it because of the plesiosaur and the wyrm. There was also some kind of dark brown liquid that smelled strongly of mushrooms and even more strongly of alcohol. The dwarves were downing it by the pint, and they were all red in the face and four cups in before any real conversation occurred. Even the old dwarf, whose name she had learned was Jens, was drinking while still clutching the blue translation orb in his off hand. There were about twenty dwarves present in total. Hallbjorn the king and Jens the wizard were two, the guards who first found her were three more, the important-looking dwarf whose name she still didn¡¯t know was the sixth, and of the rest, half were guards, and half well-dressed dwarves that the king had introduced as his Council. He had also told her their names, but they were too foreign and too many for her to remember them all. Fifteen minutes into the feast, another dwarf arrived. He was just as tall and broad as any of the others, but his beard was almost non-existent, and his face looked like a child¡¯s. ¡°Johann!¡± exclaimed the king. ¡°You¡¯re here! Come and sit down!¡± The young dwarf walked through the hall, trying to appear confident, but Elise noticed his eyes nervously glancing all around, and a bead of sweat on his temple. He sat down in an empty chair next to the king. He looked at Elise with curiosity, but looked away when she made eye contact with him. ¡°Dad, what¡¯s going on?¡± he asked. ¡°Johann, this rabbit in front of you is the Fated One, Elise,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°Elise, this is my son, Prince Johann.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not the Fated One,¡± said Elise. ¡°See?¡± said the king, glancing at his son. ¡°Go on. Greet her.¡± ¡°It- it¡¯s an honor to meet you, Fated One,¡± said Johann. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you too,¡± said Elise. ¡°But I¡¯m not the Fated One. Or at least I don¡¯t think I am.¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what the Fated One would say,¡± said Hallbjorn, smiling merrily. ¡°By the way, what exactly are you, Elise? I called you a rabbit before, but I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ve only ever seen drawings of rabbits in the old records. You are a rabbit, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I see, I see.¡± He took another swig of the liquor. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, so maybe I¡¯m misremembering, but I don¡¯t remember-¡± he burped loudly. ¡°I don¡¯t remember seeing any wings on that drawing. And are rabbits normally able to talk?¡± ¡°Can you not {Inspect} me?¡± she asked, looking up from the yellow mushroom she was nibbling on. ¡°{Inspect}?!¡± he exclaimed before roaring with laughter. ¡°If I could do that, we wouldn¡¯t still be trapped down here, would we now?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Eh? You really-? Wait, do you have {Inspect}?¡± ¡°Is- is that not normal?¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. The king stared at her for a few moments, dumbfounded, then burst out into laughter again. ¡°As expected of the Fated One!¡± He pounded his fist on the table, and the others imitated him, shouting triumphantly. ¡°Wait, what¡¯s so special about {Inspect}?¡± she asked ¡°It is a skill that normally cannot be learned until one¡¯s class reaches the 7th tier, and that is only for Legendary classes,¡± said Jens. ¡°If any of us had {Inspect} we would not be weak enough to be forced into hiding like this.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not at 7th tier yet.¡± She wanted to make sure that was absolutely clear before they could get the wrong idea. ¡°Aye, we know,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°But the fact that you have {Inspect} is just more proof that you are the Fated One.¡± ¡°Hear hear!¡± said one of the Council members, raising his cup and downing it in one gulp. ¡°Hear hear!¡± repeated some of the other dwarves, doing the same. Johann tried to imitate them, but he couldn¡¯t help but make a face as he swallowed the alcohol. The king wiped the foam off his mouth, burped, and then grinned at Elise. ¡°Back to what we were talking about before, you said you were a rabbit, right?¡± ¡°I was, but I evolved.¡± ¡°Evolved?¡± he said, looking confused. ¡°Are you a monster?¡± He only looked confused, and not angry or suspicious, but Elise was still anxious about how she should answer. Calling herself a monster sounded extreme, but at this point, wasn¡¯t it technically true? She certainly wasn¡¯t a humanoid, and though she had started as an ordinary rabbit, the way she was treated by the System was no different from a monster. System, am I a monster? she thought ¡°Yes. By $%^& standards, you are defined as a monster.¡± That cleared the semantics of it up at least, but she still wasn¡¯t sure if she wanted to call herself a monster. It just felt wrong. ¡°Yes,¡± she said. ¡°But I¡¯m not monstrous. I¡¯m just a rabbit that evolved. I¡¯m a Lesser Fey now.¡± She had hoped the additional qualifiers would help put the dwarves¡¯ minds at ease. Unfortunately, it seemed to have the opposite effect. As soon as she finished speaking, the entire hall fell silent, and she was met with looks of suspicion, anger, and in some cases, outright hatred. Even Johann was looking at her as if he had just found out she killed his mother. ¡°A filthy Fey dares to impersonate the Fated One!¡± shouted one of the Council members. Some of the others began shouting as well, and two even jumped out of their seats and drew their weapons. Elise flew up as high as the ceiling would allow her, which was thankfully quite high. ¡°Wait! I¡¯m not impersonating anything! I never said I was the Fated One!¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what someone trying to impersonate the Fated One would say!¡± replied one of the angry dwarves. Elise tried to reason with them for a minute more, dodging thrown cups, plates, and utensils while also trying to look for a way out. Only about half the dwarves were actually angry violent, but none of the others took her side. ¡°ENOUGH!¡± the king finally said. ¡°I SAID ENOUGH!!¡± His voice echoed throughout the room, and the others stopped what they were doing, some paused mid-throw. ¡°Sit down!¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re all acting like children! A fey she may be, but even a fey cannot imitate the Rune of Fate. Now sit down before I make you sit down! We can talk this out like adults.¡± The other dwarves reluctantly returned to their seats, but they all continued to glare at Elise, and kept their hands on their weapons or the nearest projectile. The immediate danger was gone, but Elise did not descend. ¡°Elise, come back down so we can continue our conversation.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t feel comfortable down there,¡± she said. ¡°Can¡¯t we talk from here?¡± The king stared at her, then looked around at the other dwarves. ¡°All of you, move to the other end of the table.¡± ¡°But Your Majesty-!¡± ¡°Now! Jens, Johann, you stay.¡± With much grumbling¨Cmostly curses¨C the dwarves stood up and moved down the benches away from the king. The tables were very long, so once they had all moved, there were now 30 feet between them and the king. Elise returned to her spot on the table, but kept half her attention on the dwarves behind her, in case one decided to make a move. ¡°Is it true that you are a Fey?¡± asked the king. ¡°Y-yes.¡± ¡°Where did you come from?¡± ¡°Wh-what do you mean?¡± ¡°Where did you live before you came here?¡± ¡°Well I was on the surface for a while, living with-¡± she almost said humans, but she had a gut feeling that that was a bad idea. ¡°-with family. Then we were attacked by a strong monster, so I fled into some tunnels underground. I found this place while exploring.¡± ¡°Tunnels? What tunnels? There are only three kinds of tunnels here: our tunnels, monster tunnels, and the tunnels of the thrice-damned ghouls.¡± ¡°Ghouls?¡± ¡°What kind of tunnels were you in?¡± ¡°Monster tunnels. There was a wyrm¨C an Earth Wyrm¨C and it made some tunnels. I was living there before I found this place.¡± ¡°With the Earth Wyrm?¡± the king said, raising an eyebrow. ¡°We know of that creature, and it is not one that would be able to live with another. How did you survive?¡± ¡°It¡¯s dead,¡± she replied. ¡°I killed it.¡± The king¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°I found it while it was evolving. All I did was break its evolution cocoon. I didn¡¯t actually fight it.¡± Comprehension dawned on his face. ¡°I see. Then you are not with the ghouls?¡± ¡°Gh-ghouls? I¡¯ve never met a ghoul.¡± ¡°You might know them as Drow.¡± He spat that last word out as if it was offensive for him to even say it. ¡°I¡¯ve never met one of them.¡± ¡°Good. Best you don¡¯t. Nasty, arrogant little buggers they are. Always creeping around in the dark and killing our guards whenever they can. You¡¯re lucky you found us instead of them. They worship the Fey Goddess, Titania. They would have brainwashed you into worshiping her too. They might have even tried to sacrifice you to her. They¡¯ve done it before.¡± Elise shuddered. ¡°Your Majesty, we can¡¯t simply trust her words,¡± said Jens. ¡°The ghouls are devious. She could be a spy.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a spy!¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what a spy would say!¡± called a voice from the other end of the table. ¡°Quiet!¡± said the king. ¡°Jens, I will not blindly trust her. However, I do not believe her to be an evil creature. If she was truly a spy, she wouldn¡¯t have told us she was a fey. And if she was with the ghouls and not a spy, she wouldn¡¯t have come to our city in the first place.¡± ¡°Your Majesty, the fact that you believe so is exactly why I think she could be. She may be an expert, and everything she¡¯s done thus far has been calculated to earn your trust.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t!¡± protested Elise. ¡°How would I even do that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± replied Jens, leaning toward her. ¡°How would you do that?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Jens, I will take your advice into account,¡± said the king. ¡°However, for now, I will choose to believe her.¡± ¡°I-!¡± Jens pursed his lips and bowed. ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°I believe that this feast has come to its end,¡± said the king, getting up from his seat. The state of the room agreed with him. More than half the food that had not already been eaten was now on the floor, as were most of the utensils. The stone plates and cups were mostly shattered, though the pitchers of the mushroom alcohol were still intact. ¡°Elise, Jens and I will now show you to your room. The rest of you, clean this mess up.¡± The room that had been prepared for Elise was clearly one that was originally meant for another dwarf, not a rabbit. Still, it was nice, or at least as nice as an underground cave room could be. There was a stone desk and stone bookshelves, and a stone bed with a thin mattress made of a material she didn¡¯t recognize. It wasn¡¯t as good as Sophie¡¯s bed, but it was better than the ground. After seeing her room and giving her approval, the king then showed her a few more important locations, such as the bath and the pantry, as well as a library and even his own chambers. Jens protested showing Elise that last place, saying that if she was an assassin, he had just shown her where to go, but the king waved him off, and said that it wasn¡¯t as if it was a secret, and that Elise needed to know in case of emergency. ¡°Jens, is there anything else I¡¯m forgetting?¡± asked the king once they returned to Elise¡¯s new chambers. ¡°I don¡¯t believe so, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Then Elise, do you have any questions?¡± ¡°No, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°I told you to call me Hallbjorn. I¡¯ll search for a tutor to teach you our language later tonight. We can¡¯t have Jens just follow you around all day so that we know what you¡¯re saying. He will still be present for the first few until you can learn the basics, but after that, I would like my wizard back. ¡°For now, I must speak with my council. Will you be alright here alone?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°Good. I will see you again later tonight once things have settled down a bit more, and we can discuss the future in greater detail.¡± ¡°That sounds good to me, Your- I mean Hallbjorn.¡± The king smiled at her, then the orb in Jens¡¯ hands stopped glowing and the two made their exit. They didn¡¯t lock the door behind them, or at least it didn¡¯t sound like they did, but Elise couldn¡¯t help but feel almost like a prisoner. Her room was located on top of one of the towers in the castle, and the only exit other than the main door was a window overlooking the city. The window sill was wide enough that she could comfortably sit there, so she jumped up and looked out. There was still a crowd outside the city gates, with a wall of shield-bearing dwarves holding them back. It hadn¡¯t gotten any smaller since she entered the castle; if anything, it had grown. They still seemed relatively happy, meaning the news that she was a fey hadn¡¯t gotten out of the castle yet, but there was an uneasy tension over the whole area. About half an hour later, the king emerged from the main gate, flanked by a few of his Council members and Jens. He stood in the center of the ring formed by the shield-bearers and cleared his throat. Jens turned on his blue orb again, and Elise perked up, hoping she would be able to understand what was said, but it was not the translation feature that he enabled. Instead, he gave the king a microphone effect, so that he could be heard throughout the entire city. She had no idea what he said, but whatever it was left the crowd disappointed. They were still not angry, which was good, but they did disperse, and Elise could hear a pervasive rumble from all the grumbling that was going on. Later that night, she was summoned back down from her room into the king¡¯s office. The office was a square room with carvings on the walls that she assumed to be depictions of the former dwarven kings. There were three desks made of stone, one in the back at which Hallbjorn sat, and two on the side. Jens sat in the desk to her right with his orb on the table, looking very tired. ¡°The Council has discussed what to do about you,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°Wh-what did they decide?¡± asked Elise. 15 - Decisions ¡°So far? Nothing. Nothing has been decided. It¡¯s too difficult of an issue to be resolved in a single meeting.¡± ¡°What makes it difficult? Is it because I¡¯m a fey?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t think I fully understand. Why do the dwarves ha- mistrust fey so much?¡± Hallbjorn studied her with a grim expression for a few seconds before sighing. ¡°The dwarves of Dokkalfheimr have lived in this cave for nearly four centuries now, and for that entire time, the ghouls¨Cor drow¨C have been killing us at every opportunity. Just a week ago, they got a crew of our miners. And the ghouls worship and are controlled by the fey.¡± ¡°Why do they do that?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Why do they worship the fey?¡± asked Hallbjorn. ¡°Because they¡¯re descended from the fey. Or so the legends go. It¡¯s said that a fey once fell in love with an elf, and from their union came the drow.¡± ¡°Why do they kill the dwarves?¡± ¡°They¡¯re just monsters,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°The System won¡¯t define them as such, but what else can we call them? They¡¯re hideous creatures with a hideous language and they kill for fun. They¡¯re masters of poison, and take pleasure in killing us in the most painful ways possible. They have never once tried to negotiate with us. They won¡¯t even let us leave these damned caves. My grandfather tried to take the dwarves out, only to lose half his fighting force when the tunnel they were digging was collapsed by the ghouls. ¡°Even my wife- They fucking killed my wife.¡± Hallbjorn looked up at her, and her fur stood on end. ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t want to trust you either. You might bear the Rune of Fate, but I can¡¯t trust you. If you¡¯re involved with the ghouls at all¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± said Elise quickly. ¡°I¡¯ve never met them. And I don¡¯t think I want to.¡± ¡°Good,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°Good. I sincerely hope you¡¯re telling the truth. I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s a single dwarf in the city that doesn¡¯t have a bone to pick with the ghouls and fey. However, your Rune complicates things.¡± ¡°Is it really that big of a deal?¡± ¡°Bigger,¡± he said. ¡°In short, your life is not in danger here. As much as we despise the fey, none of us are reckless enough to try and kill the one bearing the Rune of Fate. Even trying to keep you prisoner could have dire consequences. ¡°However, we also can¡¯t let you roam for free. For one, it¡¯s unsafe for you. Not all dwarves share the Council¡¯s same caution about harming the Rune of Fate. You are also a fey, so the compromise was that if you stayed in the city, you would be kept under constant surveillance, which would double as protection. ¡°Given those circumstances, would you like to stay, or will you leave? I will not stop you from leaving if you wish to do so.¡± Elise didn¡¯t like the idea of constant surveillance. One of her favorite things about college life was the lack of anyone looking over her shoulder and breathing down her neck like her adoptive mother did at home. Going back to something like that didn¡¯t sound appealing in the slightest. The prospect of guaranteed safety did sound nice though¡­ No! She told herself. Don¡¯t get complacent again. You have things you need to do. You¡¯re right, she replied to herself. She needed to get stronger. On top of her original goal of getting a human form, she had a new goal of getting strong enough to kill the warg. If she chose safe living in a city, she would slow her leveling to a crawl, if she leveled at all. She couldn¡¯t go hunting in the city. ¡°I think¡­ I¡¯m going to leave,¡± she said. ¡°Is there any particular reason?¡± ¡°I have goals,¡± she said. ¡°And I don¡¯t think I can accomplish them here. I also don¡¯t like the idea of constant surveillance.¡± ¡°May I ask what those goals are?¡± Elise hesitated. Was it safe to tell him? She couldn¡¯t think of any way him knowing that information could hurt her, but she didn¡¯t want to just tell him either. ¡°I want to get stronger,¡± she finally said. ¡°There are a few things I need to do.¡± ¡°I see,¡± he said. ¡°Then do you mind if I try to change your mind?¡± ¡°You want me to stay?¡± ¡°I do.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°There are a few reasons. First and foremost is that you have the Rune of Fate. Regardless of your intentions, the Rune of Fate always portends major events. I¡¯d rather have you on our side than elsewhere when that major event happens. Also, with the Rune of Fate, it will be easier for me to justify making another attempt at returning to the surface. Finally, if you left, it would put me in a difficult situation. ¡°Right now, among the Council, there are three sides in the debate over you. One mistrusts you completely and wants you dead, or at least out of the city. They would be glad if you chose to leave. The second side is my own, and we wish for you to stay and help us at least in part to fulfill the prophecy. The third is neutral, but they don¡¯t want you to leave. They want to wait and observe until they can come to a decision. ¡°However, among the general public, it¡¯s different. There are only two sides. One wants to kill you, and the other wants you to lead them to the surface. Neither would be happy if we let you leave. I could, of course, do my best to educate them and sway their opinions further from the extremes, but that would be difficult, and might even backfire. I am not the only one with power and credibility. In fact, because I often take neutral stances on things, I actually hold less sway over public opinion than some of my Councilors, and I wouldn¡¯t put it past them to stir the pot and make things worse. ¡°Does that all make sense?¡± Is he trying to guilt trip me into staying? ¡°I guess¡­¡± said Elise. ¡°But I think I¡¯d still rather leave.¡± ¡°If you stay, I can make it worth your while,¡± he said. ¡°You said you wanted to get stronger? We can teach you. We don¡¯t have any knowledge of the current state of the world, but I can assure you that our knowledge on magic and the System is as good as anything you can find on the surface.¡± Elise was suddenly unsure of what she wanted to do. It might be hard to level in the dwarven kingdom, but her greatest weakness at the moment, aside from literal weakness, was ignorance. She hadn¡¯t even been in this world for a month yet, and all she knew about it was what little she had experienced herself and whatever she could extract from the System Assistant. ¡°Even outside of Dokkalfheimr, it would be difficult to find anything like that,¡± Hallbjorn continued. ¡°Unless things have changed greatly since we fled to this cave, fey are not trusted by any society.¡± That almost sold her. Theoretically, she could go out hunting to level up at any time. It was simple and straightforward. Gathering information though? Who knew when she would next find an opportunity for that? Pretending to be an ordinary rabbit near humanoids could only get her so far. But it was still too soon to say for certain.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Tell me more,¡± she said. ¡°What specifically can you teach me?¡± ¡°We have a [Loremaster] who has already expressed interest in meeting you. She is the most knowledgeable person in the entire city. She can teach you almost anything you need. If you want more combat-focused knowledge, we also have a large training hall for the Royal Guards, and Sindri, my Captain of the Royal Guards, has said he wanted to meet you as well. I don¡¯t think that he had teaching in mind when he said that, but he is loyal enough to me that he would do it if I asked it of him.¡± ¡°...Alright,¡± she said. ¡°But I have a few more conditions.¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡°I want to be able to leave whenever I want.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. As long as you let me know first. Next?¡± ¡°As little surveillance as possible.¡± ¡°That one isn¡¯t as easy.¡± ¡°It can still be constant, I just want room to breathe.¡± ¡°Hmmm. I believe I can work with that. We can discuss it more later. What are your other conditions?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to be involved in any decisions relating to the prophecy. I know it¡¯s important to you guys, and I know I have the Rune of Fate, but I don¡¯t want the fate of an entire city depending on me. I will be here, but I don¡¯t want to be in any position of responsibility.¡± ¡°Done. Next?¡± Elise thought for a few seconds. ¡°I think that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°Wonderful. Now, let¡¯s discuss details¡­¡± They spent the next hour laying out a contract. It didn¡¯t start as a literal contract, but after a few minutes as they started working through exceptions and edge cases, they realized it was too much to keep all in their heads. It also gave Elise more peace of mind to know that there was evidence of their dealings. ¡°Then your lessons will begin immediately,¡± said Hallbjorn when they finished. ¡°In the morning you¡¯ll meet your general tutor. In the afternoon, you¡¯ll start your training with Sindri.¡± ¡°Sounds go-o-od,¡± said Elise, yawning. ¡°Greta is an early riser, so you¡¯ll want to go to sleep as soon as possible.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do that then.¡± Elise was mentally exhausted. Hallbjorn had a pair of guards escort her back to her room, but she barely remembered the trip. One moment, she was leaving Hallbjorn¡¯s office, and the next, she was enjoying the soft comfort of her bed. She could hardly believe it was still the same day that she had emerged from her evolution cocoon. So much had happened since then. However, she felt good. Or at least, as good as she could. Her mood still darkened when her mind returned to the Grays, but there was a silver lining now. She was making progress. She was going to get stronger. She was going to get more knowledgeable. And then¡­ What will I do then? She had no idea what she would do when she left the dwarves. She didn¡¯t even know when she would leave the dwarves. She wouldn¡¯t gain any levels so she wouldn¡¯t be much stronger. She doubted she¡¯d be able to do anything to the warg, even if she raised her skill levels and learned more about magic. So she¡¯d need to find some other way to level up first. And a way to do it away from the warg. I want to see Sophie again. Elise realized with a start that she had been so focused on the warg that she had almost forgotten the survivors. How could she have done that? She hadn¡¯t known Sophie for long, but it was long enough that she had definitely gotten attached. She wanted to see the half-elf girl again, even if only to check in on her. Besides, Sophie could use a bit of good news. She had just abruptly lost both parents and her pet. The loss of the parents was definitely worse, but maybe the return of the pet could lift her spirits, if only a little. Or it could do the opposite. What would she say if she saw Elise¡¯s wings, or heard her talk? Would she be happy? Would she feel betrayed? Would she be suspicious of how she survived? What about Nick and Bianca? Maybe it was better not to go see them again. They were probably safe. That teleportation scroll would have taken them somewhere safe. Somewhere far from the warg where they could get help. Bianca and Nick were competent adults. They could take care of Sophie well enough on their own. Even if she did go back, and even if they were happy and accepting of her, then what? She couldn¡¯t stay with them. Elise could only level up through fighting things. If she stayed with the Grays, she might never get an opportunity to level up again, and lose out on her chance to evolve and get a humanoid form. Or at least, it would take much longer. As much as she was getting accustomed to being a rabbit, she was also getting sick of it. She missed having hands. She missed being able to walk around on two legs, and wear clothes, and carry things in purses or pockets. She missed being able to interact normally with other humans. She wanted to get back to all that as soon as possible, and that meant leveling up as much as possible, and that probably wouldn¡¯t be easy if she stayed with the Grays. In that case what would she do if she went back to them? Pop in to check on them, then leave? Say, ¡°Hey, Sophie, I know you just lost your parents, but hey! I¡¯m still here! Well, not really, since I¡¯m actually a sapient being and not a pet, and I¡¯ll be leaving now so I can get stronger and you might never see me again. Sorry your parents died. Alright byeeee.¡±? Obviously she wouldn¡¯t say it like that, but that would probably be what Sophie heard, and that would be awful. That would be like getting helped up off the ground just to be sucker punched and sent right back down. She couldn¡¯t do that. That would be cruel. Maybe in a few months, or a few years, once they had time to process and come to terms with what had happened, she would go and tell them the truth, but not now. Besides, she didn¡¯t even know where they were. It might take months or even years to find them. For now, she needed to focus on herself, and how to get stronger. After all, there was still the matter of the warg¡­ I¡¯m going to kill it, she thought. No matter what. It might take a long time to get strong enough to do that, but she would do it eventually. Maybe when she did that, she would feel better about seeing the Grays again. Or maybe that would be worse. What if they hated her for taking away their revenge? She started going back and forth with herself again, but her mind was at its limit, and she fell asleep before she came to an answer. The next morning, she was awoken by loud knocking on her door. She didn¡¯t know how that worked, since the door was made of pure stone, but regardless, it was enough to wake her up. She hadn¡¯t even gotten out of bed when the door swung open to reveal a dwarf woman in a plain brown dress. She looked down her nose at Elise with an expression of poorly hidden disgust. ¡°Evi csy yt? Gsqi sr. Pix''w ks.¡± She turned to the side and gestured out the door with an impatient look. She clearly didn¡¯t like Elise, but Elise didn¡¯t know what to do about that. Unlike with the Grays, she doubted acting cute would work. However, she did have that new skill that she hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to try out¡­ She focused on the {Charm} skill, and thought about using it on the dwarf woman. She could feel the skill activating, but there was no visible change in the woman¡¯s demeanor. ¡°Alex evi csy hsmrk?¡± said the woman. ¡°Pix''w ks. Wxytmh jic.¡± She gestured out the door again, this time a lot more insistently. Elise obliged, but kept an eye on the woman on her way out. She was worried about getting kicked in the side. Fortunately, the woman did no such thing, but she looked like she wanted to. Elise was led down the stairs of the tower back into the castle proper, then through a few hallways until they reached a slightly more ornate set of doors than the rest. On the inside was a library, if it could be called that. It had been built for far more books than it had, and most of the shelves were empty. There was a semicircular desk in the center where a dwarf woman sat, reading something. She looked up when they entered, shot Elise a nasty look, then went back to her reading. The woman in brown led her off to the right side where there were a few tables, one of which had two people sitting at it. One of them was Jens, the old wizard, and the other was someone Elise had never seen. It was an old woman with a hunched back and a wrinkled face twisted into a permanent scowl. [ Loremaster of the Forgotten Kingdom, lvl ??? ] [ {Inspect} has leveled up! 27 -> 31 ] Jens had his blue orb again, and as they got closer, Elise felt herself pass through a thin barrier of mana. ¡°You¡¯re here,¡± he said with a frown. ¡°This is-¡± ¡°I can introduce myself,¡± interrupted the old woman. ¡°I¡¯m Greta. I heard that runt Hallbjorn wanted me to take on a new student. I said ¡®no¡¯ at first because that¡¯s ridiculous. I¡¯m almost 200. I can barely take care of myself, let alone some snotty brat. But then he told me that you were a fey, and had the Rune of Fate, and I got curious, so here I am. Don¡¯t get used to it though. If I don¡¯t like you, I¡¯m leaving.¡± ¡°...Yes, as she said she¡¯ll be your teacher,¡± said Jens. ¡°If I like you.¡± ¡°Greta, this is-¡± ¡°It can speak, can¡¯t it?¡± interrupted Greta. ¡°You. Fey. Tell me who you are.¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m Elise.¡± ¡°Good. You have a name, at least. Alright, Jens, you can go away now.¡± ¡°Greta, I still need to translate.¡± ¡°Oh, good point. Then leave the orb here first, then go away.¡± ¡°I need to be here to power the orb.¡± ¡°Drat! Fine. You can stay. But shut up.¡± ¡°Yes, Gr-¡± ¡°No more talking.¡± She turned to Elise. ¡°So, is it true that you¡¯re from the surface?¡± 16 - Learning ¡°I am,¡± said Elise. Who was this woman? If the king asked her personally, she must be someone important, and the way that she was talking down to the royal wizard made Elise think that she must have high status. But how high was it? She needed to be on this woman¡¯s good side. She used {Charm} again, and again saw no visible reaction, but this time, she got a level up notification [ {Charm} has leveled up! 1 -> 2 ] ¡°What¡¯s it like?¡± asked Greta. ¡°W-well, it¡¯s- it¡¯s¡­ What do you mean?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve only ever heard stories. How does the sun feel? What is the rain like?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve never been to the surface?¡± ¡°Well if I had, I wouldn¡¯t be asking these questions, would I? Now tell me: how does the sun feel?¡± Elise looked around at the dwarves, and for the first time, realized how pale their skin was. Now that she noticed it, it was almost disconcerting. It was hard to tell on Jens, since his beard and hair covered most of his face, and his robes covered most of his body, but what little skin she could see was ghostly white. It looked unhealthy. ¡°The sun feels hot,¡± answered Elise. ¡°And it¡¯s very bright. If you look directly into it, you¡¯ll go blind.¡± ¡°How hot?¡± ¡°Well, it depends on the time of year. In the summer it gets very hot, and it¡¯s uncomfortable to be under it for too long, but in the winter when it¡¯s cold, sitting in the sun feels very pleasant and warm.¡± ¡°How does that work? Why is summer hot and winter cold?¡± ¡°W-well, that¡¯s-¡± Elise wasn¡¯t sure how much to say. How much did the people of this world know? If she told them about the orbit of the planet around the sun, would they understand? Would they be suspicious of her? Even setting that aside, she was supposed to be a rabbit who recently evolved. Even if that was knowledge that existed in this world, was it knowledge she would have access to? The dwarves were clearly uninformed, but it still wouldn¡¯t be good to let on exactly how much she knew. ¡°Well?¡± asked Greta. ¡°Spit it out already.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Elise. ¡°That¡¯s just how it is.¡± ¡°I see. And what about the rain? Where does the water come from? How long does it last?¡± ¡°The water comes from the sky. And it can last a long time. A full day or more sometimes.¡± ¡°How does the water get into the sky?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Where does it all go after it hits the ground?¡± ¡°I-I think it just gets absorbed into the ground.¡± ¡°Hmmm. Well, then what are the stars like? And the moon?¡± ¡°Well the moon looks- it¡¯s the same size as the sun, but it¡¯s not as bright. You can look at it safely. And the stars are like little dots of light in the sky.¡± ¡°Is it true that the stars form the shapes of people and monsters?¡± ¡°I- I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Hmph. You don¡¯t know much, do you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t apologize,¡± said Greta. ¡°Ignorance isn¡¯t a sin. Jens, I¡¯ve decided I¡¯m going to teach this brat. Go tell the runt.¡± ¡°Greta, I still need to translate,¡± he said again. ¡°Hmph. She needs to learn our language, doesn¡¯t she? How can she do that with that thing here? Take it and go away. I¡¯ll handle things from here.¡± Jens glanced between them a few times, then shrugged and picked up his orb and walked away. Elise almost sighed in relief as she watched him leave. ¡°Alivi evi csy pssomrk. Mx''w xmqi xs wxevx xli piwwsr." said Greta, bringing Elise¡¯s attention back to her. "Fsso." The old woman pointed a crooked finger at the book on the table in front of her. ¡°Fsso,¡± she repeated. That must mean ¡°book¡±. ¡°Fsso,¡± said Elise. ¡°Kssh." Greta pointed her finger at the table below the book. "Xefpi." ¡°Xefpi.¡± ¡°Kssh.¡± The old woman continued to point at various things and say words in the dwarven language, which Elise then repeated back. The words sounded strange to her ears, and felt awkward in her mouth, but as the lesson went on, Elise found herself actually getting excited. It was much easier than she thought it would be. While she wasn¡¯t bad at them, she never really had a talent for languages back on Earth, so picking up the human language before, and now the dwarf language so quickly came as a surprise to her. She had two possible theories on why that was. The first was her ears. With her sensitive rabbit ears, she could pick out minute tonal differences, and catch every single sound that came out of the old woman¡¯s mouth, which made it easier to then pronounce the words herself. The second theory was her Intelligence stat. She didn¡¯t really feel much smarter than before, but lately, the clarity of her memories had been surprising her. It also could have been a combination of the two. Either way, within a few hours, Elise knew the words for just about everything in the room, and was getting started on phrases. ¡°Qc reqi mw Greta,¡± said Greta, pointing to herself. ¡°Qc reqi mw Greta?¡± repeated Elise, unsure. The old woman shook her head. ¡°Rs. Qc reqi mw Greta.¡± ¡°Ohhh,¡± said Elise. ¡°Qc reqi mw Elise.¡± She wasn¡¯t sure if she was saying ¡°I am Elise¡± or ¡°My name is Elise,¡± but she could tell she was learning an introduction. ¡°Csyv reqi mw Elise,¡± said Greta, pointing at Elise. ¡°Csyv reqi mw Greta?¡± guessed Elise. ¡°Kssh.¡± From greetings, they moved on to directions, and Elise learned up down, left, right, forward, and backward, then she learned to count. All in all, it was a very good lesson. Greta maintained a steady level of terseness and interruption the entire lesson, which Elise took to mean she wasn¡¯t getting impatient or frustrated, which was a good sign. She was so focused on the lesson that she didn¡¯t even notice how hungry she had gotten until a pair of women in the same brown dresses as the one who had woken her up arrived with trays of food. For Greta, they brought a plate of mushrooms and mystery meat, all chopped up into small chunks, steaming hot, and smelling amazing. For Elise, they brought two whole, uncooked, slightly damaged mushrooms. When she looked up, she saw that both women had looks of dislike and a hint of fear on their faces. They stepped away so they wouldn¡¯t get in the way, but Elise could see them watching her the whole time. While a little hurt by how little care they put into her meal, it was still more than enough for her, and it tasted fine, so Elise didn¡¯t complain. She ate all of one mushroom, and half of the other before getting full, then sat down to wait for Greta to finish her food. The old woman noticed Elise staring at her plate, and pulled her food closer to her chest. ¡°Csy lezi csyv sar jssh.¡± When she finished eating, the serving girls cleared the plates away and the lesson resumed. They only made it a few minutes in though before they were interrupted by the arrival of someone else. It was an older dwarf, with a beard so long that she was sure if it wasn¡¯t braided up, it would be dragging on the ground as he walked. He was wearing decorative armor, but Elise could still tell that he was much skinnier than any of the other dwarves she had seen, save for Greta. He walked with a limp and a slight hunch, but when he approached, he had a certain presence that made the air feel heavier around them. [ High Councilor of the Forgotten Kingdom, lvl ??? ] [ {Inspect} has leveled up! 31 -> 33 ] He stopped at the table right beside Elise, and his eyes were filled with so much hatred that she immediately activated her wings and flew up into the air away from him. ¡°Alex evi csy hsmrk livi, csy fewxevh?¡± asked Greta. ¡°M lievh xli gewxpi leh e vshirx tvsfpiq,¡± he replied. ¡°Csy¡¯vi mrxivvytxmrk qc piwwsr,¡± said Greta. ¡°Piwwsr?¡± said the man. ¡°M xlsyklx csy aivi vixmvih.¡± ¡°M aew. Rsa M¡¯q rsx. Rsa ks eaec. Ai¡¯vi fywc.¡± ¡°Ai? Lew xlex xlmrk ksxxir xs csy xss? M ger¡¯x fipmizi csy¡¯vi lsriwxpc xvcmrk xs vemwi e Jic.¡± ¡°M wemh ks eaec. Fijsvi M gepp xli kyevhw.¡± ¡°Sl, hsr¡¯x asvvc,¡± said the old man. ¡°M asr¡¯x hs ercxlmrk.¡± ¡°M¡¯q rsx asvvmih csy¡¯pp hs wsqixlmrk, M nywx lexi csyv jegi,¡± said Greta. ¡°Ks eaec.¡± ¡°Ew tpiewerx ew epaecw. M nywx aerxih xs lezi e gpswiv psso.¡± He looked at Elise and gestured toward himself. ¡°Gsqi hsar livi. Pix qi xeoi e psso ex xlex qevo sr csyv gliwx.¡± Heck no, thought Elise. ¡°Kyevhw!¡± shouted Greta suddenly, startling Elise. The old man sighed as the door opened and two armored dwarves burst in. ¡°Li¡¯w hmwvytxmrk qc piwwsr!¡± said Greta. The guards stopped where they were, looking nonplussed. The old man sighed again and turned around. ¡°Jmri, M¡¯pp piezi,¡± he said. ¡°Fyx M¡¯pp fi fego.¡± He walked out past the guards, who still looked confused. They stayed for a few seconds longer before they too left. The lesson continued on for another hour or so until the old woman started yawning, and when she blinked her eyes stayed shut for longer and longer each time. Eventually, when Elise started having trouble understanding what she was saying due to the mumbling and yawning, the old woman decided it was time to end the lesson and produced a small silver bell from her pocket and rang it. When it rang, Elise felt a faint wave of mana emanate from it, and a minute or so later, the library door opened and 3 maids and four guards entered. One of the maids was the same one who had awoken Elise, and it didn¡¯t look like their time apart had improved their relationship.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. [ {Charm} has leveled up! 2 -> 3 ] It can¡¯t hurt, thought Elise. The other two maids helped Greta out of her chair, and walked her out, accompanied by two of the guards. Elise¡¯s maid gestured at Elise, and then led her and the remaining two guards out as well. From the library, they went to the end of the hallway where there was a stairwell going down. They went down four floors to what Elise thought was the lowest, then the maid pressed a near-invisible button on the stone wall to reveal that the stairs continued down to what would have been ten floors deeper. When they reached the real bottom of the staircase, they opened a door to an enormous, mostly empty room. On the right side, there were racks of blunted weapons and dented armor, and on the far side, there was what looked like a well with a stack of stone bowls piled as high as a human man beside it. The wall to her left was much further than the one to her right, and looked battered and scarred, like someone had gone at it with an explosive ax. In fact, the explosive ax-man himself was actively attacking the wall as the door opened, and Elise got to witness a mighty slash that gouged a new scar a foot deep in the wall. He was holding a large ax in either hand, and was dressed in full plate armor. After that final swing, he spun both axes in his hands before sliding them neatly into rings on the belt on his waist before walking toward them. When he took his helmet off, he revealed the face of a man much younger than Elise initially expected. Hallbjorn had called him a Councilor, and the only other Councilors she had met were Jens, and the strange man in the library, both of whom appeared nearly as old as Greta. While Elise didn¡¯t know how to judge dwarf ages yet, if he was human, Elise would have guessed him to be no older than 30. The skin behind his beard was smooth and unblemished, and his beard was a strong shade of brown without a hint of graying or thinness. It also was the shortest beard she had seen yet, save for Prince Johann¡¯s peach fuzz. ¡°Hello!¡± he said in Dwarvish. Elise was pleased to have recognized the word. Her lesson from earlier that day was already bearing fruit. ¡°Hello,¡± she responded, using {Charm} at the same time. ¡°My name is Elise.¡± The dwarf raised an eyebrow. ¡°My name is Sindri. M xlsyklx Lmw Qeniwxc wemh csy hmhr¡¯x wtieo Haevzmwl.¡± Elise had no idea what he said, so she cocked her head to the side, hoping to indicate her confusion. Sindri sighed. ¡°Alivi xli lipp mw xlex sph jevx Jens?¡± ¡°Jens?¡± asked Elise Was he going to come to translate? ¡°Yes.¡± Elise was happy to recognize another word. ¡°Li wemh li¡¯h fi livi xs xverwpexi. M orsa li ksx xli wmkrep.¡± They waited for another minute or so before Sindri spoke again, though this time, he was looking at one of the two guards. ¡°Jonas,¡± he said. ¡°Ciw, Getxemr?¡± replied the guard on Elise¡¯s right. ¡°Lsa¡¯w csyv amji hsmrk?¡± said Sindri. ¡°Fixxiv,¡± said the guard. ¡°Wli¡¯w vigszivmrk. Wli¡¯w rsx jyppc fego cix, fyx wli¡¯w kixxmrk xlivi.¡± ¡°Xlex¡¯w kssh,¡± said Sindri, turning to the other guard. ¡°Fephyv, lsa¡¯w xli pego sj amji hsmrk?¡± ¡°El, wlyx yt, qer,¡± said the guard with a grin. ¡°Csy¡¯vi qsvi wmrkpi xler qi.¡± ¡°M''q qevvmih xs qc hyxc,¡± said Sindri with an overly serious face before breaking out into a smile. The three guards bantered for a few minutes longer before the door by the stairs opened again, and Jens emerged, walking at an almost exaggeratedly leisurely pace. ¡°Jens, csy sph jevx, alex xsso csy ws psrk?¡± called Sindri. ¡°M aew xeomrk e ret,¡± said the old wizard. ¡°M leh e asrhivjyp hvieq. Xlivi aew e csyrk fsc, erh li aew kmzmrk qi xli viwtigx e qer sj qc wxexmsr hiwivziw.¡± ¡°Xss feh mx aew nywx e hvieq,¡± said Sindri, smiling. ¡°Ciw, xss feh,¡± said Jens, frowning. ¡°Epvmklx, pix¡¯w kix xlmw sziv amxl.¡± He waved his arm and a stone chair appeared on the ground behind him. He waved his arm again and the blue orb appeared in his lap, and a moment later, Elise felt the ever-more-familiar sensation of the translation spell taking effect. ¡°Can you understand me now?¡± asked Sindri. ¡°Yes,¡± she replied. ¡°Good. I¡¯m going to jump right in then. I don¡¯t trust you. At all. If you didn¡¯t have that rune on your chest, I¡¯d kill you on sight. But you have it, and His Majesty told me to teach you about magic and fighting, so here we are. Any questions for me before we get started? No? Good. Then let¡¯s begin. How much do you know?¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± Elise was so taken aback that she couldn¡¯t even begin to formulate an answer. ¡°His Majesty said you wanted to learn about magic and fighting,¡± repeated Sindri. ¡°How much do you know already?¡± ¡°A-almost nothing.¡± ¡°Do you at least know what mana is?¡± ¡°Kind of?¡± ¡°Right then. Jens, you¡¯re a wizard. Tell her what mana is.¡± ¡°No,¡± said the old man. Elise looked back to see that he had somehow reclined his stone chair, and had a book open while the orb sat loosely on his lap. The maid and two guards were eying him with hints of jealousy. ¡°Come on, man,¡± whined Sindri. ¡°His Majesty told you to teach her, not me,¡± said Jens, not looking up from his book. ¡°I¡¯m just here to translate.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re better at this than me.¡± ¡°Flattery won¡¯t work.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± said Sindri, turning back to Elise. ¡°Mana is magical energy. It¡¯s everywhere, but tends to concentrate inside living beings. No one knows why. As your Mana stat gets higher, the amount of mana you can have within you also increases. The mana in you gets consumed whenever you use a skill that requires mana, and your body slowly absorbs more until you¡¯re back to your maximum capacity. Understand?¡± ¡°...Yes,¡± said Elise. She started to wonder if she had made the right choice. Sindri didn¡¯t seem like a particularly good or motivated teacher so far, and everything he had just told was information she had already figured out on her own. ¡°Good,¡± he said. ¡°Now, do you know how to train your mana?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Do you know how to train your other stats?¡± ¡°You can do that?¡± ¡°Of course! Why wouldn¡¯t you be able to? How else could we set ourselves apart? The numbers you see on your status window aren¡¯t actual measurements of your stats. They just indicate your limits. If you class up and increase your Strength to 500, you don¡¯t actually have 500 Strength. You have to train your strength if you want the full 500. And it¡¯s the same for all the other stats too. ¡°Since His Majesty said you wanted to learn magic, we¡¯ll start with Mana and Mana Control. So, what spells do you have?¡± ¡°Uhhhh¡­¡± Elise wasn¡¯t sure how much she could say. Or what qualified as a spell. Since they were talking about Mana, that probably meant only the skills that consumed mana, right? In that case, her spells were mostly standard and innocuous. She wouldn¡¯t be revealing {Suggest} though. ¡°You have spells, right?¡± asked Sindri. ¡°I have {Magic Missile}?¡± ¡°Good enough. Now, cast it on¡­¡± he trailed off as he gestured vaguely to his right side. ¡°Dammit, hold on.¡± He marched to the side of room where Elise noticed another door in the stone wall. As he entered, Elise heard him muttering to himself. ¡°The one time they actually put them away¡­¡± He emerged from the room carrying a vaguely humanoid stone dummy on each shoulder. He set them down about a dozen feet away from Elise, and rotated them so that both of them were facing her. Neither had any distinct features, but Elise noticed that both of them were clearly not dwarves. They were far too tall and thin. Are they supposed to be the drow? ¡°Alright, cast your spell on one of these,¡± said Sindri. Elise hesitated for a moment, then cast {Magic Missile} on the leftmost dummy, which was also the furthest away from Sindri. The last thing she needed was an accidental misfire that hit Sindri. A misfire wasn¡¯t really something she had to worry too much about with this skill, but it was better to be safe than to be killed by the man who specifically told her he wanted to kill her, all because of a stupid accident. All three missiles hit their target, approximately in the center of the abdomen area. She felt a bit pleased with herself until Sindri shook his head in disappointment. ¡°What¡¯s your Mana Control?¡± he asked. After a brief internal debate, Elise decided it would be safe to tell him the truth. It wasn¡¯t any great secret, and hopefully it would help them trust her more. At the very least, it might alleviate their concerns if they were worried she was very strong and manipulating them. ¡°223,¡± she said. ¡°223?!¡± exclaimed Sindri. ¡°I would have guessed 150. Your control is abysmal. No consistency and so much waste.¡± He unsheathed one of his axes and used it to make a tiny X on the chest of one of the dummies. ¡°Do it again. Try to land all the missiles right on this spot. Also, try not to waste so much mana.¡± ¡°How do I do that?¡± she asked. ¡°Just focus more,¡± he said. ¡°Now go, cast it again.¡± What¡¯s that supposed to mean? She wanted to ask. She cast the spell again, trying to focus on her aim. She didn¡¯t bother to think about not wasting her mana, because she didn¡¯t even know what he meant when he said that, but she did try to focus her {Mana Sense} to find out. All three missiles missed the X, but the spread was a little tighter than it had been on her first cast. She also thought she caught a hint of what he might have meant when he talked about waste. Each missile left a trail of stagnant mana behind it as it flew through the air. [ {Magic Missile} has leveled up! 5 -> 6 ] [ {Mana Sense} has leveled up! 5 -> 6 ] ¡°Again,¡± said Sindri. She did it again, this time putting more focus on trying to keep the mana within the missiles the whole way through. The waste lessened, but her aim got drastically worse. One of the missiles strayed all the way to the dummy¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Again. Use less mana this time.¡± She cast again, trying to follow his instruction. To her surprise, she managed to cast the spell using half the mana she had before. The missiles were so much easier to control that she ended up overcorrecting on her aim, making it almost as bad as the previous attempt. However, there was almost no waste. She cast again without waiting for Sindri¡¯s signal, using the same amount of mana, but with a better idea of how to control it. All three missiles hit within an inch of the X, and there was hardly any waste mana. [ {Magic Missile} has leveled up! 6 -> 7 ] [ {Mana Sense} has leveled up! 6 -> 7 ] ¡°Better,¡± said Sindri, nodding. ¡°Again, with even less power.¡± She cast 3 more times, each time reducing the mana until it got so low that the missiles fizzled out before reaching their target. [ {Magic Missile} has leveled up! 7 -> 8 ] ¡°Again at that power,¡± said Sindri. ¡°But don¡¯t let them dissipate. Keep them together.¡± Elise cast 4 more times before she finally managed to get all 3 missiles to the dummy. They had almost no impact, but all 3 landed in the dead center of the X, and it barely dipped into her dwindling mana reserves. [ {Magic Missile} has leveled up! 8 -> 9 ] [ {Mana Sense} has leveled up! 7 -> 8 ] ¡°Keep going,¡± said Sindri. ¡°If you want to truly get good at Mana Control, you need to practice with as little mana as possible until you can control it perfectly. Then work up from there. This method also makes it easier to practice for longer.¡± On the fifth cast after he said that, Elise finally managed to cast the spell perfectly. Or at least, it was perfect enough that she could no longer detect any waste with {Mana Sense}. Sindri seemed to approve as well. [ {Magic Missile} has leveled up! 9 -> 10 ] [ {Mana Sense} has leveled up! 8 -> 10 ] ¡°Good,¡± he said. ¡°Now with a little more mana.¡± When she increased the input mana, the waste returned, and her aim slightly lessened. She was able to improve over the next two casts, but by then, her mana was out. ¡°Again,¡± said Sindri. ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m out of mana.¡± ¡°Already? What¡¯s your Mana stat?¡± ¡°193.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because you wasted too much on your first few casts,¡± he said. ¡°You should have been able to go much longer.¡± While his words were harsh, his expression looked more contemplative than anything. Elise noticed behind her that Jens was also looking at her with the same expression. ¡°Well, I suppose that¡¯s all for Mana Control training for now,¡± said Sindri. ¡°Now, for Mana. You can sense the mana, right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Then you can feel it all flowing back into you, right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Good. Now, try to absorb it faster.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Just focus.¡± ¡°Focus on what?¡± ¡°Absorbing mana. Close your eyes. It will help.¡± Elise wasn¡¯t sure about that answer, but based on how he had been so far, she didn¡¯t expect a better answer, so she did as she was told and closed her eyes and focused on absorbing mana. At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then, as she focused more, nothing continued to happen. The mana was still being absorbed back into her body at the same rate as before. [ {Mana Sense} has leveled up! 10 -> 11 ] She focused for five more minutes, still with no change. It¡¯s only been five minutes, she told herself. I¡¯m being impatient. She tried to focus more, but she was getting frustrated. Improving her mana control had been easy. Despite Sindri¡¯s vague instruction, the progress had been obvious from the moment she started thinking about it. This time, with the same vague instructions though, there was nothing. [ {Mana Sense} has leveled up! 11 -> 12 ] Nothing except further levels in {Mana Sense}, at least. What did he mean when he said she should focus on absorbing mana? She tried to will the mana into her body faster, but it did nothing. She didn¡¯t have a skill for anything like that. Was it even possible? System, is it possible to absorb mana faster without a skill for it? ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t understand the question.¡± I want my mana to recharge faster, but I don¡¯t have a skill for that. ¡°If you wish to recharge your mana faster, there are multiple methods. First, you can acquire a skill that makes it easier to recharge your mana. Second, you can move to an area where the mana density is higher. However, be aware that a higher mana density also means an increase chance of encountering powerful monsters.¡± Elise waited for the System to continue, but it stopped right there. Was that it? It had said ¡°multiple¡±, but only listed two. When she asked it about leveling, and there were only two methods, it had told her explicitly that there were two. Is that all? She asked. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. You do not have permission to access that information.¡± That at least confirmed that there were more. That meant that Sindri¡¯s method of ¡°just focus¡± probably did work. She just had no idea how. No matter how much she tried, nothing seemed to change. Eventually, she gave up and opened her eyes, and looked up at Sindri. He was frowning down at her, most likely due to her lack of success. ¡°It¡¯s not working,¡± she said. ¡°You just need to focus more,¡± said Sindri. ¡°Isn¡¯t there something more specific I should be focusing on?¡± asked Elise. ¡°It¡¯s not working for me.¡± ¡°Just focus on absorbing mana,¡± said Sindri. ¡°That¡¯s what I do.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re an idiot,¡± said Jens suddenly from behind. Elise looked back to see the old man sitting up and closing his book. ¡°That method only works for you,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s not how absorbing mana works.¡± 17 - Mana ¡°You can¡¯t just absorb more mana,¡± explained Jens. ¡°Not without a skill for it, at least.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s how I do it,¡± said Sindri. ¡°It¡¯s not,¡± said Jens. ¡°That¡¯s just how you think you do it. Absorbing mana is like putting a bottle in a river to fill it up with water. The water always flows in at the same rate. The limiting factor is how wide the bottle opening is and how much water the bottle can hold. You shouldn¡¯t be trying to make the mana absorb faster. You should be trying to widen the opening, and expand the container, so to speak.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I meant,¡± said Sindri. Jens sighed, then leaned back in his chair and opened his book again. When Elise looked back at Sindri, she was glad she was a rabbit so he couldn¡¯t see the annoyance that she would have been unable to hide on her human face. She closed her eyes and focused on the mana again. Using Jens¡¯ river analogy as a starting point, she started trying to sense the metaphorical opening where the mana was entering. It took a few minutes, but eventually, she began to notice a pattern in the way the mana was entering her body. The patterns themselves weren¡¯t constant, but the points where the patterns intersected her body were, though it took her a while to notice that. There were points all over her body where the mana was entering, and the way they were arranged reminded her of acupoints. The mana around her shifted and swirled like the wind, but when it hit her body, it always entered exclusively through those points. However, the amount that was entering was pitiful. There was so much mana hitting her body, but most of it was just bouncing off. If she could expand those points even a little bit, she could drastically increase her mana absorption rate. She focused on one of them, right on her nose, and started thinking about expanding it. She didn¡¯t know exactly how that worked, but she did her best to imagine the opening getting wider. To her surprise, that worked. It wasn¡¯t much, but the amount entering whenever a wave of the ambient mana hit her was noticeably larger. She was about to focus on making it even bigger when she heard Jens voice from behind her. ¡°Stop!¡± he said. She opened her eyes and saw that he was sitting up again, and looking down on her with a stern expression. ¡°Not the head. Not yet.¡± ¡°...Okay.¡± He nodded, then went back to his book. Elise closed her eyes and focused back in on herself and the mana flow. It took a couple minutes for her to return to the point where she could feel the acupoints again, and when she did, she was half-disappointed to find that the one on her nose had shrunk back to its original size. She didn¡¯t know why she wasn¡¯t supposed to use the ones on her head, but Jens¡¯ expression had been enough to keep her from trying again. She selected another point, this time on her sternum, and worked on widening that one. After a few minutes, the flow of mana into it was at least tripled. She decided that was enough for now, and that she would move on to another point a few inches below that one. When she did though, the one above it started closing up again. She quickly moved to stop it, but the inflow had already been halved. She expanded the first point back to its original expanded state, then tried working with the one below it again, though this time while holding the first one open. Her attempts were relatively unsuccessful. In the end, she was able to get both points just a little bit more open than they were originally, for a net benefit that was significantly less than that of opening just one as wide as possible. By this time though, her mana was nearing full again, so the inflow was diminishing all around. When she opened her eyes again, Sindri was swinging his axes in slow motion at the dummies, and making sound effects with his mouth as he pretended to chop them into bits. Behind her, Jens had fallen asleep, and one of the guards was trying to convince the maid to blow in the wizard¡¯s ear while the other tried to convince her not to. How long was I doing that for? she thought. She watched them all for about a minute before clearing her throat. The guards and maid immediately snapped back to attention, and Sindri faltered on his swing before sheathing his axes and turning back to her. ¡°So, your mana is full again?¡± he said casually. ¡°Yes. How long was I like that?¡± ¡°¡®Bout a half hour,¡± he said. ¡°Give or take. Ready to get back to Mana Control training?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Well, then get to it.¡± Elise spent the next half hour doing the same drill she had before with {Magic Missile}, though it was much more frustrating. The rapid progress she had seen the first time was starting to slow. She understood why, and that she wouldn¡¯t become a master in a day, but in the back of her mind, she had also been hoping that somehow, she was some kind of rare prodigy who was able to master it in a single night. When she ran out of mana again, she could hear Sindri¡¯s stomach rumbling, and she realized that her own stomach wasn¡¯t still either. ¡°I¡¯m getting hungry,¡± she said. ¡°Me too,¡± said Sindri. ¡°I was about to say that we should take a break for dinner. You read my mind.¡± He started walking toward the stairway, then froze and turned back around with a look of suspicion. ¡°Did you read my mind?¡± ¡°No,¡± said Elise quickly. ¡°I can¡¯t read minds. I just heard your stomach grumbling.¡± She wiggled her ears for emphasis. ¡°Right¡­¡± said Sindri, looking like he didn¡¯t totally believe her. ¡°Well, let¡¯s go then.¡± Dinner was held in a large, but plain dining hall on the lowest floor of the castle above the training grounds. It was lined with tightly packed stone tables and benches, and reminded Elise of her middle school cafeteria. She was doubly reminded of the cafeteria by the clusters of dwarves with trays of food chatting amongst themselves. When they entered, all the conversation ground to a halt, and then started up again as whispers. Sindri led them down to the other end between two of the long tables until they came to a buffet-style counter loaded with food. As they walked, Elise inspected all the other dwarves in the room to confirm her suspicions. [ Royal Guard of the Forgotten Kingdom, lvl ??? ] [ Royal Guard of the Forgotten Kingdom, lvl ??? ] [ Royal Guard of the Forgotten Kingdom, lvl ??? ] [ Royal Guard of the Forgotten Kingdom, lvl ??? ] [ Royal Guard of the Forgotten Kingdom, lvl ??? ] [ Royal Guard of the Forgotten Kingdom, lvl ??? ] [ Royal Guard of the Forgotten Kingdom, lvl ??? ] [ Royal Guard of the Forgotten Kingdom, lvl ??? ] [ Royal Guard of the Forgotten Kingdom, lvl ??? ] [ Royal Guard of the Forgotten Kingdom, lvl ??? ]This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. [ Royal Guard of the Forgotten Kingdom, lvl ??? ] [ Royal Guard of the Forgotten Kingdom, lvl ??? ] [ Royal Guard of the Forgotten Kingdom, lvl ??? ] [ Royal Guard of the Forgotten Kingdom, lvl ??? ] [ Royal Guard of the Forgotten Kingdom, lvl ??? ] [ Royal Guard of the Forgotten Kingdom, lvl ??? ] [ {Inspect} has leveled up! 33 -> 45 ] Well that just feels like cheating, she thought when she saw how far {Inspect} leveled. However, while she continued to use it on the rest of the dwarves in the room, she did not receive any more notifications. System, why can¡¯t my {Inspect} level past 45? ¡°Skill levels have maximums based on the tier of the species or class of the user. You are in the third tier, so the maximum skill level is 45.¡± Why 45? ¡°The maximum level is 45 because that is the same as the combined levels the user will have earned when they complete the third tier.¡± Most of the dishes seemed to be just different variations of the same mushrooms and meat combination. Their forms differed greatly, but not so much in the smells. It smelled good at least, but based on what Elise had seen so far, she was wondering if the dwarves had anything to eat that wasn¡¯t that mystery meat and those mushrooms. The maid prepared a plate for Elise and for herself, while Sindri and the other two guards got their own food. The whole time, the rest of the dwarves in the room weren¡¯t even trying to hide how much they were staring. Their expressions ranged from curiosity to hostility, but none of them did anything but whisper and scowl. Elise¡¯s group picked a spot at the end of one of the tables about as far away from any other guards as possible. There was some chatter while they ate, but Jens had put away his orb, so she couldn¡¯t understand any of it. It was only when they finished eating did he resummon the blue sphere. ¡°So,¡± said Sindri. ¡°His Majesty told me that I have to teach you, but I¡¯ve already given you a pretty good lesson today, and now we¡¯ve all had a good meal, and usually, this is when I¡¯m done for the day. So what do you say we call it good and have a nice, relaxed evening?¡± No, Elise thought. She didn¡¯t say that out loud though. She wanted to learn more, and practice more, but Sindri clearly didn¡¯t want to teach anymore, and the way that Jens, the guards, and the maid were looking at her, they didn¡¯t want the lesson to go on any longer either. Besides, she had gotten enough to practice on her own already. {Magic Missile} wasn¡¯t her only spell. ¡°Alright,¡± she said. ¡°Thank you for the lesson.¡± ¡°Great!¡± said Sindri, standing up. ¡°Well, in that case, if you¡¯ll excuse me, I¡¯m heading home.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be leaving as well,¡± said Jens. ¡°Hurry up and learn the language so I don¡¯t have to waste any more of my time on this.¡± He stood up and followed Sindri out the door, leaving Elise alone with the maid and the dozens of guards that still remained in the room. One of her guards was already done eating, but the other shoveled a few final bites into his mouth before they stood up and Elise was escorted back to her bedroom. When she returned, she realized that she had made a mistake in her impromptu planning. She had wanted to practice with {Prehensile Vines} in her room, but the floor was made of stone. She wasn¡¯t sure if she could make them grow at all, and if she could, wouldn¡¯t that crack the floor? The entire city seemed to be made with some kind of stone magic, but they still probably wouldn¡¯t be too pleased if she visibly damaged the castle. And she couldn¡¯t ask the maid for a box of dirt or anything, since she couldn¡¯t speak Dwarvish yet either. She tried meditating for a bit longer to open up the acupoints, but since her mana was full already, it was really difficult to tell whether what she was doing was working. She couldn¡¯t actually feel the acupoints widen, so she just had to gauge by how much mana was flowing in, and while that wasn¡¯t 0, since the mana was always moving, it was too little to make for effective practice. She tried to fall asleep instead, but that didn¡¯t work either. Her mind was too active. Should I try {Prehensile Vines} anyway? she thought. It would just be a little crack, probably, and it would be something they could patch easily with magic. Probably. Then again, it might also be a very bad idea. She had barely managed to convince them to let her sleep alone in her room. If she put a crack in the floor on her second night, that ¡°privilege¡± might disappear. I can just train my other skills then, she suddenly thought. Sindri had said that all the stats could be trained. Her physical ones were bad, so she was focused mostly on mana, but if she couldn¡¯t train her mana, she might as well get her body as strong as it could be. She used {Leap} to get out of bed, almost smashing her head against the ceiling, and then as soon as she landed, she used all six of her {Dart} charges, by which point the {Leap} cooldown was over, and she could use that skill again. She continued for about ten minutes, using her skills whenever they came off cooldown until her legs were screaming at her to stop. She rested until she thought she could go more, then jumped around until her legs were truly dead and she decided to give up. She was disappointed at how little training she could do. She got another 3 levels each in both skills, but she could have done so much more if her stamina wasn¡¯t so poor. She lay in her bed trying to fall asleep again until she decided that she couldn¡¯t and that her legs hadn¡¯t been punished enough. She was forced to stop just two minutes later when she felt like she was risking injury. Is there anything else I can do? she wondered as she lay in bed. Damaging the room would be bad. The way she was practicing {Magic Missile}, it was doing nothing to the dummy, but she wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the dummy had extra durability enhancements that the walls of her room didn¡¯t. {Prehensile Vines} was out because she couldn¡¯t damage the floor, and {Sudden Growth} wasn¡¯t viable either, since there were no plants in her room to make grow. She might be able to shoot some missiles into the air out the window, but Hallbjorn said there would be a guard stationed below watching the window, so that wasn¡¯t a good idea. It looked like she really was just going to have to wait until the next day and ask for a box of dirt or something for her room. Unfortunately, while practicing {Leap} and {Dart} tired her body out, it had done nothing for her overactive mind. She tried every trick she knew to get herself to sleep, but none worked. Ultimately, she decided to return to her mana meditation. In keeping with Jens¡¯ analogy, she had been practicing widening the mouth of the bottle before, but she didn¡¯t practice expanding the bottle itself though. She entered the same meditative state as before, where her other senses were dulled so she could focus on mana, and set to trying to figure out how to increase her capacity. At first, she just tried what she decided to term ¡°the Sindri method¡± and ¡°just focused¡± on increasing her capacity, but of course, that did nothing. Next, she tried honing her senses more. She vaguely heard the ding of the System as her {Mana Sense} leveled again, but she still couldn¡¯t sense anything useful. She could roughly locate her acupoints, but aside from them, the mana within her, and the mana in the room seemed to swirl around at random. The only difference was that the mana inside her was much denser. She imagined herself inflating like a balloon to hold more mana, and while it was mildly amusing, it didn¡¯t help either. She heard another ding from the System, and her sense of what was happening inside her became a bit clearer. She noticed that while the mana within her body was generally denser than what was outside, there were also differences in density within her body, and it was the opposite of what she would have expected. The mana on the edges nearest the acupoints was actually the densest, while what was in the center was hardly different from what was in the air. Why is that? She focused more, and when the System dinged again, she finally started to get an idea of what was happening. It wasn¡¯t the center of her body that was lacking in mana. It was 3 particular points in her body that were lacking in mana. One was in the center of her chest, right next to where her heart should have been, one was further down on her belly between her hind legs, and the final was in her head. She focused on the one in her chest first, trying to bring it into focus in her mind. While it wasn¡¯t a physical object, she noticed that it seemed to have acupoints, just like the outside of her body did. However, not all the acupoints let mana in. Some let the mana in, but most let it leak right back out. She knew enough about physics that that didn¡¯t quite make sense, but mana didn¡¯t really obey the laws of physics, so she didn¡¯t waste any more time worrying about it. Regardless of how it worked, it was much easier for mana to leave this area than it was for it to enter, resulting in a much lower mana density. She needed to try to fix that. She was certain that this was what Jens had meant when he talked about ¡°expanding the container.¡± With this at least, the mana flow was constant, even when she was full on mana, so she could practice indefinitely. The first thing she tried to do was close up one of the points where mana seemed to be escaping from the region. After a few minutes, she managed to turn the steady flow into a trickle. The effect of this success was almost imperceptible, but she thought she noticed the mana in that region getting just a little bit denser. She tried holding that point shut while moving onto another, but like with the acupoints, as soon as she put anything less than her full focus into holding that point shut, her work started to become undone. Still, she didn¡¯t stop, and worked on trying to hold two of them shut at once. She didn¡¯t know how long it took, but after a lot of frustratingly slow progress, she managed to get both points to about half-shut. She tried to press on with her efforts, but soon found that her focus was slipping, even without adding any additional stress. I¡¯m getting tired, she realized. She tried for a few minutes longer before a yawn broke her concentration entirely. She was a little disappointed at how that practice session had ended, but she was also satisfied with how productive it had been. Even with Sindri and Jens¡¯ very vague instruction, she was making a lot of visible progress, and that was promising. Rome wasn¡¯t built in a day, and mana couldn¡¯t be mastered in a day either. She went to bed thinking pleasant thoughts about how nice it would be to master mana, but the pleasant thoughts did not translate to pleasant dreams. Instead, she dreamt of the warg. 18 - Progress Elise was floating on the ceiling of the cabin, watching as the scene from that night played out. She watched the warg shatter the cabin¡¯s defenses and burst inside. She watched Corwin and Sylvanna¡¯s futile attempt to fight back. Most of all, she watched herself trembling in the hall, doing absolutely nothing to help. ¡°Move!¡± she tried to shout. ¡°Attack! Use {Suggest}!¡± But her words were muffled and faint. The her on the ground didn¡¯t hear any of it. She just sat and watched as what might have become her new adoptive family were slaughtered. It was only after they died that she moved. Too little too late. She followed along, being dragged along like a balloon on a string as she watched herself flee the warg. She looked into the warg¡¯s eyes as it pursued. It was enjoying it. It was having fun. Every time it ¡°failed¡± to catch the rabbit, its eyes lit up with sadistic pleasure. Elise wanted to look away. She didn¡¯t want to relive any more of that night. But it was like her eyes were glued open and locked in place. She watched as the her on the ground tricked the warg off the cliff. She should have felt proud of herself, but all she felt was guilt. She managed to trick and injure the warg, but couldn¡¯t she have done that earlier? What if she had left the cabin to lure it away before it got in? Would they still be alive? As the warg sailed through the air, Elise expected to continue watching herself as she turned around and headed for the tunnels, but instead, her point of view followed the warg. It landed on the ground far below with a mighty crash and a yelp of pain. She watched as it tried to stand up, only for both of its front legs to give out as it yelped in pain again. It was covered in blood, its legs were clearly heavily damaged. It howled in pain and rage, and then lay on the ground for a few minutes, panting and whimpering. I never saw this, she thought. Why is the dream still going? When the warg¡¯s breathing steadied, it studied its legs with an almost intelligent look in its eyes. Frost formed on the ground, and even though she didn¡¯t seem to have a body, she could feel the air getting colder around her. After a few seconds, ice started to envelop its front legs until they were fully encased. It stood up gingerly, its legs held stiff in the makeshift splints. It took a few cautious steps, testing the weight, then looked back up toward the cliff. It snarled, then turned to find a way back up. Elise was forced to watch as it struggled to climb a nearby rocky hill. When it reached the place where the other Elise had stopped, it started sniffing the ground, tracking her scent all the way to the tunnel. It pawed at the ground, but with its legs encased in ice blocks, it wasn¡¯t able to do much digging. It turned around and looked off into the distance. While the only things in its line of sight were trees, Elise was filled with a sense of dread. That direction was the direction of the cabin. She watched helplessly as the warg limped its way to the Grays¡¯ former home and back through the hole in the wall to where Corwin and Sylvanna¡¯s bodies still lay. No, no, no, she thought. I don¡¯t want to see this. The warg approached Sylvanna first. No! It turned her body over with its nose so Elise could see her lifeless face and the bloody hole where her eye used to be. Stop! The warg opened its mouth wide and bit down on her torso. I want to WAKE UP! She was back in her bed in Dokkalfheimr, panting while her heart beat at what felt like a million beats per minute. She lay in that same position, trying to calm herself for a few seconds, but it felt futile. It wasn¡¯t like a regular nightmare where she could just reassure herself it wasn¡¯t real. The first part was real, and the second part¡­ it certainly felt real, and though she didn¡¯t want to think about what might have happened to the bodies, she couldn¡¯t deny that what she had seen was likely. ¡°Elise?¡± said a voice. She jumped back to the corner of her bed, searching frantically for the one who spoke. It was the maid. She was standing next to the bed with an expression that wasn¡¯t quite concerned, but was definitely confused. How did I not notice her before? thought Elise. Seeing the woman though did help Elise calm down. If nothing else, it was at least a distraction so that she wouldn¡¯t have to think about the dream anymore. ¡°Mx¡¯w xmqi jsv csyv piwwsr,¡± said the maid. Elise shook her head, then hopped forward. Sylvanna and Corwin were already dead. The warg killed them. It almost killed her. What happened to their bodies wasn¡¯t important. What was important was that she was going to get stronger and get revenge, and to do that, she needed to get out of bed. The maid took her down to the library again, and she had her lesson with Greta. Her mind kept turning back to the dream, but whenever it did she tried to turn those thoughts into fuel for her motivation. By the time an hour had passed, Elise was so single mindedly focused on improving that even Greta was starting to show signs of surprise. After some quick review of the previous day¡¯s lesson, Elise breezed through the next section, which was actions. They needed to recruit the librarian to help with this, since Greta was too old to demonstrate them herself. Greta had Elise introduce herself, at which point Elise learned the librarian¡¯s name was Anna. Anna didn¡¯t seem to like Elise very much, so Elise used {Charm} again. The younger woman looked first unhappy at being asked to help, and later embarrassed when Greta started ordering her around. ¡°Gveap,¡± said the old woman, pointing to the ground. Anna gave her an almost pleading look, but Greta¡¯s gaze remained firm, and her finger remained pointing downward. After a few seconds, the librarian got down on her hands and knees and started crawling, her face as red as a tomato. Greta turned to Elise. ¡°Gveap.¡± ¡°Gveap,¡± Elise repeated. ¡°Wli mw gveapmrk,¡± said Greta. Elise felt pleased with herself as she was able to translate the whole sentence. ¡°She is crawling,¡± Elise said in confident Dwarvish. Greta smiled. The rest of the lesson went by smoothly, and ended the same way that the previous day had, with Greta yawning and ringing her bell to summon the maids and guards again. Training with Sindri went largely the same as the day before. She had only just started with her mana training, so pretty much all she did was drills with {Magic Missile} until she was out of mana, followed by attempting to widen her acupoints until her mana was full again. She repeated this process four times, ignoring the grumbling in both Sindri¡¯s and her own stomachs in order to get as much training time as possible. They ate in the same mess hall, and Sindri and Jens left without even asking her if it was alright first. She had been half-expecting that to happen, since she had said they could the day before, but she was also a little surprised at how shameless they were about it. Evidently, they had pegged her a pushover, and as much as she disliked it, she was too much of a pushover to do anything about it. She did manage to ask for her box of dirt before Jens left though, and, though confused, the maid agreed to bring her request to someone who could do something about it. She didn¡¯t get her dirt that night, so she once again spent as much time as she could practicing her mobility skills before settling down to do her mana meditation until it was time to sleep. However, even as tired as she was, she found it much more difficult to fall asleep than she had the previous night. Unlike most dreams she had, the memories of the nightmare from the previous night weren¡¯t fading away. If anything, they had only gotten more clear. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the warg bending over Sylvanna¡¯s body, and she heard the sickening crunch of its jaws on her bones. Though she didn¡¯t know when it happened, she eventually did get to sleep. While no nightmares visited her that time, it was not a good sleep, and when she woke up the next morning, she felt more tired than when she had went to bed. She was woken up the next morning by the same maid in brown as before. The woman gestured for Elise to get out of bed and follow her, but it took Elise a few seconds to wake up enough to comprehend what was happening. When she finally did, she activated her wings and flew forward lazily. When she got to the doorway next to the maid, she realized that she didn¡¯t actually know the maid¡¯s name, so she turned to face the dwarf woman. ¡°Hello,¡± she said in Dwarvish. ¡°What is your name?¡± The maid frowned and hesitated before responding. ¡°Jona.¡± ¡°It is nice to meet you, Jona. My name is Elise.¡± Elise used {Charm} when she spoke, hoping to improve the woman¡¯s impression of her. Jona frowned more deeply, but Elise thought she didn¡¯t look entirely unhappy. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you ew aipp,¡± she replied. ¡°Mx''w xmqi jsv csyv piwwsr.¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Elise didn¡¯t understand the words she said, but she knew what they meant. ¡°Yes,¡± she said, flying out of the room. When they reached the library, Elise stopped in midair again, right in front of the two guards who were assigned to guard and surveil her during the day. She thought she might have known their names, just from their conversations with Sindri, but it would be better to actually introduce herself. ¡°Hello,¡± she said. ¡°What is your name?¡± She didn¡¯t know the plural for that phrase, but she hoped it would be enough. Both guards looked taken aback when she spoke, and looked at each other in confusion. They had a brief, silent conversation before turning back to her. ¡°My name is Jonas,¡± said one. ¡°Baldur,¡± said the other. ¡°It is nice to meet you, Jonas and Baldur.¡± She used {Charm} as she said each of their names. ¡°My name is Elise.¡± ¡°...Nice to meet you?¡± said Jonas, glancing at Baldur. Baldur shrugged. ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± Jonas, Baldur, and Jona all seemed confused by her actions, and Jona seemed a little annoyed that she had stopped, but none of them seemed to particularly dislike her. Her plan was working. When she got into the Library, she greeted Anna the librarian as well before finally making it to the table where Greta was sitting. The old woman wore her usual scowl, but Elise thought that her mood felt a little brighter than usual. They jumped right into the lesson, which that day seemed to cover adjectives and other descriptors. Greta also tried starting small conversations a few times throughout the lesson, forcing Elise to put together what she had learned into mostly coherent sentences. By the end, Elise felt confident that she could converse about as well as a 2 year old could. It wasn¡¯t much but it was an improvement. The lesson with Sindri went the same as it had the previous night. Elise just drilled her magic over and over again as he watched over, and occasionally provided tips and instruction. Frankly, Elise was beginning to feel that she didn¡¯t need him. Some of his tips were helpful, but they were also things that she would have figured out on her own if given a little more time. Ironically, while only there to translate, it was Jens who gave the most insightful comments. Elise gathered that while the old man didn¡¯t like her, he couldn¡¯t stand hearing Sindri¡¯s sub-par explanations and instructions, and couldn¡¯t help but to correct whenever the opportunity arose. After the training was over, they prepared to head to the Royal Guard cafeteria again, but were met at the top of the staircase by another maid instead. ¡°Lmw Qeniwxc amwliw xs wtieo amxl xli jic,¡± she said. Elise caught the words for ¡°speak¡±, and ¡°fey¡± in that sentence, and gathered that someone wanted to speak with her. Jens¡¯ sigh confirmed her suspicion, and a moment later, both of them were following the new maid up the stairs and through the castle until they arrived at a different, much smaller dining area with only one single table where Hallbjorn sat at the head. ¡°Aipgsqi,¡± he said when they entered. ¡°Lezi e wiex.¡± He gestured next to him, and Elise recognized the word for ¡°seat¡± when he spoke, so she flew over and took her place on the table beside him. Jens slumped into the seat next to her, trying and failing not to look annoyed. He sat still for a few seconds until Hallbjorn cleared his throat, and the old wizard lazily flicked his hand to summon the blue orb. ¡°So,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°How has your stay been so far?¡± ¡°It¡¯s been good,¡± said Elise. ¡°It¡¯s been very productive.¡± He smiled. ¡°Yes, Jens was telling me that you have some talent as a mage.¡± ¡°I do?¡± She looked over at Jens, whose face was stony and unreadable. ¡°Yes, he said you were the most talented he¡¯s seen in years.¡± ¡°I did not say that,¡± said Jens. ¡°I said she was one of the most talented. She¡¯s good, but she¡¯s not that good.¡± ¡°Right,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°Well, he says you¡¯ve been making excellent progress. Are you satisfied with how your instruction has been?¡± ¡°I guess so,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ve definitely learned a lot.¡± ¡°Then do you think you¡¯ll be staying for a long time?¡± Is this why he called me here? she wondered. Her lessons had definitely been useful, and having a safe place to rest and a constant source of food while she honed her skills was very nice, but she still had no way to level up. She still had a lot that she could learn while staying there, but she might have already gotten the most valuable information, that being the knowledge of how the stats worked. She could train her stats on her own now without them. It might not be as efficient, but it would still be progress. Perhaps by the time she next met a wall she couldn¡¯t overcome, she would have another source of instruction to help her over it. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she replied. ¡°I¡¯m not leaving yet though.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°Well, I have good news about your stay from my end. The reports from those around you have managed to convince a majority of the Council that you are not a spy. Whatever danger still remained should be mostly gone. Of course, I¡¯ll still keep the guards on you at all times, but you can be a bit more relaxed now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± said Elise. ¡°Does that mean you can reduce the surveillance a little bit too.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, no. Not yet. While you most likely aren¡¯t a spy from the ghouls, you are still a fey of unknown origin, and we have only been observing you for two days. I hope you can understand.¡± ¡°I do,¡± said Elise. ¡°That¡¯s good. I know how uncomfortable it is to have your every move watched, but I can¡¯t just have you wandering around unsupervised.¡± ¡°Yeah, I get it,¡± said Elise. ¡°Thank you,¡± he said. At that moment, the doors to the room opened, and three servants entered carrying trays of steaming hot food. They walked in silently, set the dishes out in the middle of the table, prepared plates for each of the diners, and then exited. Elise noticed that when they left, one of them was carrying an empty plate of the same kind that she, Hallbjorn and Jens would be eating off of. ¡°Wonderful,¡± said Hallbjorn, taking a bite. ¡°Dig in. I had the chef prepare our finest foods for tonight.¡± The food was indeed fine. It was easily the best thing she had eaten since arriving in that world, and possibly even the best she had eaten ever, even back on Earth. The other two must have been having similar thoughts, since none of them said a single word until they had all eaten their fill. ¡°Ah, that was good,¡± said Hallbjorn, patting his stomach. ¡°The chef really outdid himself today.¡± ¡°Yeah, that was delicious,¡± said Elise. ¡°I wish Johann had been here,¡± mentioned Hallbjorn. ¡°I invited him. He didn¡¯t want to come though. It¡¯s a shame. But, I guess that meant more for us.¡± ¡°Did he not come¡­ because of me?¡± ¡°Ah,¡± said Hallbjorn, his smile fading. ¡°Most likely. Yes. When Rebekka¨Cthat¡¯s my wife¨C when she died, he was there.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°The ghouls were after him. She didn¡¯t even have a combat class, but she fended off long enough for the guards to arrive. Johann wasn¡¯t hurt¡­ but she didn¡¯t make it.¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault,¡± he said. ¡°It was the damn ghouls. I expect we¡¯ll be seeing some of them soon. Last time we caught a fey, they broke into the castle to get it out. I¡¯ve increased security, but I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they appeared any day now.¡± ¡°You caught a fey?¡± ¡°Aye. He spawned right down by our pigs. Little tiny Pixie. I almost felt sorry for him, until three of my best men died when the ghouls came to take him away. Oh, but don¡¯t worry. That won¡¯t happen this time. As I said, I¡¯ve increased security. If the ghouls want to get to you, they¡¯ll have to send their best, and if they do that, we might finally be able to take them out and get the upper hand.¡± ¡°...Are you going to use me as bait?¡± ¡°What?! No! Never! If I wanted to do that, I¡¯d lock you up. I¡¯m just making reasonable preparations. That¡¯s why I have Sindri teaching you instead of any of the others. He¡¯s young, but he¡¯s my most skilled Guard. There¡¯s not a single ghoul in these filthy caves that can match up to him in a fight, even if they ambush him.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± said Elise. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°No problem. Anyway, all this ghoul talk is bringing down the mood. I¡¯ve got more good news to share. I think that I¡¯ll finally be able to convince the Council that it¡¯s time to leave this pit.¡± ¡°You¡¯re leaving the caves?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been trying to for centuries. Every attempt failed, but I think this one could work. We¡¯ve learned a lot about the ghouls. Even if they try to stop us, I believe we can fight them off. In our latest generation, the ¡®of the Forgotten Kingdom¡¯ suffix has been added to all our classes, and it¡¯s bumped all of them up an entire rarity. We¡¯ve never had warriors this powerful before. Not since before we came into the caves. And, we have you.¡± ¡°I already said-¡± ¡°I know, I know,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°But that¡¯s the great thing. You don¡¯t have to be directly involved at all. The actual wording of the prophecy only says that the Rune of Fate will signal the dwarves¡¯ return to power. You don¡¯t have to do anything. Of course, if you did want to involve yourself, I would gladly accept your help, but you could never do an ounce of work for us, and it would still be enough.¡± ¡°What exactly is the Rune of Fate?¡± ¡°Hmmm,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m the best person to answer this. To be honest, I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s a rune, but I don¡¯t think it works like a normal rune does.¡± ¡°How does a normal rune work?¡± ¡°Well normal runes work by channeling mana in certain ways that have certain effects. Like Jens¡¯ orb. That¡¯s powered by runes.¡± ¡°But the Rune of Fate doesn¡¯t work like that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so?¡± he said. ¡°But that¡¯s something you should really ask Greta. If there¡¯s an answer, she is the one who would know it.¡± ¡°I guess I¡¯ll ask her then.¡± When I can understand what she¡¯s saying. ¡°Good plan,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°Well, it¡¯s getting late, and I don¡¯t want to keep you for too much longer. Unless you have anything you¡¯d like to say to me?¡± Elise thought for a moment. ¡°Why did you call me here?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, I just wanted to check in on you. I get reports, but talking with you directly is different. I¡¯d like to make these meetings a regular occurrence if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°I guess,¡± said Elise, unsure. ¡°If not for me, you should at least come for the food.¡± Elise glanced at her empty plate. The food had been very good. ¡°Alright,¡± she said. ¡°That¡¯s fine. How regular?¡± ¡°How about every three days? I¡¯d like to do more often, but I¡¯m busy, and that¡¯s as often as I can spare time.¡± ¡°That works for me.¡± ¡°Excellent!¡± Hallbjorn got to his feet, pushing his stone chair back with a loud scraping noise. Jens, who had been nodding off, was startled, and for a few seconds, didn¡¯t seem to know where he was. Then, he too stood up. ¡°Oh, one last thing,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°Jona said that you seemed to not be sleeping well. Is your bed uncomfortable? We can cushion it more if you¡¯d like.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not that,¡± said Elise. ¡°I just had a nightmare.¡± ¡°Ah. I see. Unfortunately, there¡¯s not really much we can do about that. I¡¯ve read that sleeping in a room that¡¯s too hot can make those worse. I can have cooling runes installed in your room if you¡¯d like.¡± ¡°N-no. No thanks. It¡¯s fine.¡± Making the room colder will probably make it worse. ¡°Well, if you change your mind, it would be very simple. If that¡¯s all, I have a few things to finish up before I can go to bed. I¡¯ll have some guards take you to your room.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Have a good night.¡± ¡°You too.¡± 19 - Fate ¡°Good Morning, Elise.¡± ¡°Good morning, Jona. How are you doing today?¡± ¡°I¡¯m doing well, thanks for asking. Are you ready for your lesson?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Jona had been the first one aside from maybe Hallbjorn that Elise managed to fully turn to her side. She didn¡¯t know exactly how it happened, but on the fifth day after arriving in Dokkalfheimr, Jona had decided that she was going to be friendly now. She stopped barging into Elise¡¯s room after a single knock, and now that Elise could hold conversations in Dwarvish, she was happy to oblige. She hadn¡¯t gone quite so far as to start gossipping with Elise yet, but from what Elise had overheard her saying around the castle, that would be the next step in their friendship. She ate a quick breakfast of mushroom and other mushroom before following Jona down to the library for her lesson with Greta. When she reached the familiar doorway, her two guards, Jonas and Baldur smiled in greeting. ¡°Elise!¡± called Baldur. ¡°Sleep well?¡± ¡°As well as usual,¡± said Elise. ¡°How are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m doin¡¯ pretty well. Just chillin¡¯, y¡¯know?¡± As Elise had learned in the past few days, Baldur was a fairly young dwarf, and had a habit of speaking overly casually and using some slang. It made it hard for Elise to understand him sometimes, with her limited experience with the language, but she thought it was a net positive, and a good stress test for her practical ability. ¡°Good morning, Elise,¡± said Jonas. Jonas wasn¡¯t much older than Baldur, but he acted much more mature. While Baldur was cheerful and a bit lazy, Jonas was all business, and always serious. Or at least, he tried to be. With Baldur as his partner, she had noticed he often got distracted, and roped into his compatriot¡¯s antics, and Elise had discovered recently that he had a humorous side of his own. ¡°Good morning, Jonas,¡± Elise replied. ¡°How is your wife?¡± ¡°Not well, actually,¡± he said, frowning. ¡°Oh no!¡± said Elise. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°She¡¯s still feeling ill,¡± said Jonas. ¡°It¡¯s not too bad, but we thought she was getting better. Then last night, she suddenly got a high fever. I wonder¡­¡± Elise waited for him to finish his thought, but he never completed it. She glanced over at Baldur, but he just shrugged. ¡°Well, I hope she feels better soon. And you have the afternoon off today, so you can take better care of her.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± he said. She and Jona walked past them and into the library, where Anna and Greta were in their usual spots. Anna glanced up and made eye contact for a brief moment before turning back to the book she was reading. Elise hadn¡¯t managed to break through her shell yet, but she had at least stopped the glares, so she was making steady progress. Greta was asleep in her chair, which Elise found was becoming more and more of a common event as their lessons went on. At first, she was worried, but by now, she just knew that Greta had gotten more comfortable around her. The loremaster was old, and with how long Elise¡¯s lessons were every day, she was pushing herself quite a bit, and her body wasn¡¯t quite up to the task anymore. ¡°Teacher,¡± said Elise when she landed on the table. ¡°Wake up. It¡¯s time to begin.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± said Greta, her eyes still closed. ¡°I¡¯m awake, you¡­ brat¡­ nosy¡­¡± She trailed off into incomprehensible mumbling. ¡°Teacher!¡± said Elise, this time much louder. ¡°What?¡± said Greta, her eyes snapping open. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re finally here. Took you long enough. Are you ready?¡± ¡°I am.¡± ¡°Good. What do you want to learn today?¡± In the past week, Elise had gotten the hang of basic grammar and sentence structure in Dwarvish, so for the past two days, Greta had changed the structure of the lessons from pure language to general studies. She told Elise to pick a topic, and while teaching Elise about whatever topic she chose, she would also teach all relevant grammar. The first day, she had just chosen dwarves as her subject. She wanted to learn more about them, and hoped that whatever words she learned during the lesson would help her talk to other dwarves. It wasn¡¯t quite as useful in that respect, but she did learn quite a bit that she didn¡¯t expect. For example, she learned that dwarves were the only species that could see and work with runes inherently. It was possible for other species to do it if they took the right {Runesmith} class options, but even then, no non-dwarf runesmith could ever measure up to a properly trained dwarven one. All dwarves had a skill called {Runic Affinity} which let them work more easily with runes. Elise had tried to ask if it was in any way related to her own {Nature Magic Affinity} skill, but Greta didn¡¯t know enough about that to give her a clear answer. On the second day, she asked about how the dwarves had ended up in the cave, if they didn¡¯t want to be there, but Greta said that she had a plan to explain all that later, and to pick something else, so instead, Elise picked mushrooms. It wasn¡¯t her actual second choice, and probably wouldn¡¯t have even made the top 10, but she was flustered at having her first request rejected, and her mind turned to the breakfast she had just eaten. She learned more about fungus than she ever wanted to know that day. This time though, she wasn¡¯t going to accept ¡°later¡± as an answer. She had been working toward being able to ask about this topic since her conversation with Hallbjorn, and now she finally felt like she was ready. ¡°I want to learn about the Rune of Fate.¡± ¡°Hmmm,¡± said Greta. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Elise. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know much myself, but I will do my best. The Rune of Fate is the rarest of all runes. It is impossible for even dwarves to craft anything using this rune. We can¡¯t even draw it. It has a qcwxivmsyw power that makes it impossible to transcribe.¡± ¡°A what power?¡± ¡°Qcwxivmsyw,¡± Greta repeated. ¡°Strange. Not understood. Raises questions.¡± So mysterious, thought Elise. Or something like that. ¡°I understand,¡± said Elise. ¡°Good. As I was saying, it has a mysterious power that makes it impossible to transcribe. I can see it on your chest right now, but if I tried to draw it, I would forget how before my pen touched the paper. It is not known exactly where the Rune of Fate comes from. Some say it appears naturally. Others say it is hand-drawn by the kshw.¡± ¡°By the what?¡± ¡°By the kshw,¡± said Greta. ¡°Very powerful beings who watch over the world from a higher viepq, rarely interacting with our own realm.¡± Is she talking about gods? And is ¡°viepq¡± supposed to be realm? Or plane? ¡°I think I understand,¡± said Elise. ¡°So the does that mean that my rune was given by the- the gods?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Greta, shrugging. ¡°You would know better than me. Has a god ever granted you that rune?¡± Elise didn¡¯t respond. It was entirely possible that the answer to that question was ¡°yes¡±. She had no idea how she had ended up in the world. There was clearly something supernatural happening, and something supernatural beyond the magic and monsters that she had come to know in this new world. How did she get here? The System said she was the only one, so why her?Stolen novel; please report. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Well, then I guess it will remain a mystery,¡± said Greta. ¡°In the past the Rune of Fate has only appeared a few times, and always brought with them great change. Many of the dwarves believe that your Rune of Fate signifies the jypjmppqirx of the tvstligc that we will emerge from the cave, and become greater than before, but I¡¯m not so sure. Compared to the rest of the world, we are a small jvegxmsr of the population, and the Rune of Fate usually comes with something¡­ bigger.¡± While some of the words were unfamiliar, Elise understood the gist of what she said. The dwarves had a prophecy about the Rune of Fate, but the Rune was rare enough that it would not appear to fulfill a prophecy so small. That either meant that the prophecy was more significant than it seemed, or that it was not the only reason for her rune. ¡°What kind of events have past Runes of Fate brought? ¡°All kinds,¡± said Greta. ¡°Some were good, some were bad. Most had little to do with the dwarves. Not any more than they had to do with the humans or elves or giants or gnomes at least. They all changed the world irreversibly. The further back you look, the less reliable the records become, but if even a quarter of what they say are true, your Rune is far more important than our little refugee colony.¡± ¡°But what specifically has happened because of the Rune of Fate?¡± asked Elise. Greta stroked her chin for a moment. ¡°Have you heard of the Zsmh Glewq before?¡± ¡°The¡­ Zsmh Glewq? I don¡¯t know those words.¡± ¡°Zsmh is like¡­¡± Greta waved her hand in the air vaguely. ¡°It is nothing. The absence of something. And Glewq is a deep line in the ground.¡± A canyon? So, the Nothing Canyon? ¡°I have not heard of that.¡± ¡°A thousand years ago, when the dwarves were nearing the height of their power¡­¡± Greta launched into a tale of epic proportions full of words Elise didn¡¯t know as she told of the origins of the Nothing Canyon. Apparently, one day, a human mage was arrested for performing illegal experiments. When he was taken in for trial, a dwarf noticed that the mage bore the Rune of Fate. In the time that the court deliberated about what to do with him, he escaped, and fled halfway across the continent. He was finally caught in a small town. However, when they tried to arrest him, he fought back desperately, and in the end, gave his life to cast a spell. It didn¡¯t seem like much at first, but soon, those in power found that they could not cancel the spell. It grew and grew until it stretched across the entire continent creating an impassable barrier. Anything that touched it vanished, never to be seen again. As time went on, it grew larger and larger, and wider and wider. Few lost their lives, but many lost their livelihoods and their homes as the spell expanded and destroyed everything in its path. A century later, the method to stop it was finally discovered, and it was discovered by yet another human mage bearing the Rune of Fate. When the spell finally disappeared, what was left behind was a canyon miles deep that split the continent in two. The power involved in not only creating such a spell, but later stopping it left Elise in awe. Was she going to be involved in something like that? She didn¡¯t want to be. If she had to, she¡¯d rather be the one stopping the disaster than creating it. More than that, she¡¯d rather just get a human form and live a pleasant, peaceful, unremarkable life. It could be pretty cool to be a hero though, she thought. After the Nothing Canyon, Greta talked about a few more phenomena supposedly created by Runes of Fate, though they were much more ancient than the Nothing Canyon. There was a huge mountain range that was supposedly created by a single swing of a sword, and an old island that was said to be all that remained of an entire continent that sunk into the ocean. Each tale seemed more ridiculous than the last, and in the end, Elise wasn¡¯t sure what to think. Was she really destined to have such legends told about her? Did she have a choice in the matter? After the lesson, when she was on her way down to the training grounds, she found her mind returning back to the tales she had heard, and surprisingly, there was a bit of excitement involved. Was she really going to be powerful and important enough to do things like that? She never had any serious desire for fame, but like anyone, she had fantasized about it, and she was doing it again now. I need to at least look human before I do any of that though, she thought. ¡°So, I hear you can speak pretty well now,¡± said Sindri when she arrived. ¡°Almost,¡± she replied. ¡°Well enough that we don¡¯t need that old jevx anymore at least. Anyway, I was thinking last night about your training. You¡¯ve learned most of what I can teach you. The way we¡¯re doing lessons right now is kind of a waste of time. You know what you¡¯re doing. I know what you¡¯re doing. So, whaddya say we change things around and do some teveppip training instead?¡± ¡°Teveppip training?¡± ¡°We both train at the same time, but we do our own thing. I swing my axes, you shoot your missiles, and if you have any questions, you just ask me. How¡¯s that sound?¡± Elise thought that just sounded like another way for him to get out of doing work he didn¡¯t want to do, but she also realized that what he was saying was mostly true. She even found herself getting bored during her training. It must have been ten times worse for Sindri. As long as he actually answered any questions she had, it should have been fine. ¡°Sounds good,¡± she said. ¡°Great!¡± he said, unsheathing his axes. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be over there. Have fun.¡± He jogged over to the damaged wall on the far side of the room, and immediately started swinging his axes. His flippant attitude aside, Elise could see why Hallbjorn regarded him so highly. He was incredibly strong, and as far as she could tell, he spent every waking moment either training, or thinking about training. When he left their dinners early to ¡°go home¡±, more often than not, he was actually returning to the training grounds to earn back the time he had lost working with her. She watched him whale on the wall for a minute or so before turning to the dummies and starting work on her own. Her progress had slowed greatly after that first day. It hadn¡¯t hit a wall yet, but while making the first step toward improving her control and mana efficiency had been easy, each step beyond that took longer and longer. She could only do about quarter power on her {Magic Missile} without significant loss of excess mana, and she had only managed to hold 3 of her acupoints open at once while recovering. Still, progress was progress, so she fired away at the dummy, then meditated to recharge on repeat. After she ran out of mana for the second time, she looked over at Sindri to see that he seemed to have run out of mana as well. He had switched from swinging with as much power as possible to swinging in slow motion to work on technique. It was fascinating, and almost would have been cool, if she couldn¡¯t hear him making soft sound effects with his mouth as he cut down what she assumed to be imaginary ghouls. As she watched, he finished with his routine, and stood still with both axes raised to the air triumphantly. Then, he suddenly fell backwards onto his rear and set his axes on his lap as he closed his eyes. A moment later, the mana in the room changed. It was a subtle change from where she was standing, but she could still feel that the mana had a steady current now, and it all seemed to be flowing toward Sindri. She watched for a few seconds in awe, then slowly approached. Was that what happened if she was able to open up the empty spaces in her body? Would she become a mana vacuum like him? Or was this some kind of skill? She only got within 20 feet of him when he suddenly stopped and his eyes snapped open. ¡°What are you doing?¡± he asked. ¡°What are you doing?¡± she replied. ¡°Recharging my mana.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Runes.¡± ¡°You can do that with runes?¡± ¡°You can do anything with runes.¡± He lifted his axes and struck the heads together, creating a sharp ring that echoed throughout the rune. ¡°These axes are forged with mana absorption runes. It makes it easier for me to put my own mana into them, and it means that when I run out, I can use them to draw in the ambient mana to help me recharge.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± said Elise. ¡°Do you have any other runes?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± He pounded his chest with the head of one of his axes. ¡°My armor? Mana and impact resistance runes. My undershirt has cooling runes. My boots have self-repair runes. Almost all dwarven equipment is made with runes. Especially the equipment for the Royal Guards.¡± Elise had noticed that most of the items she had seen the dwarves using seemed to be enchanted in some way, and she knew that the dwarves worked with runes, but she hadn¡¯t realized quite how pervasive they were. It made her wonder why, if the dwarves knew so much about runes, that they were so in the dark about the Rune of Fate. Even if it was rare, surely at least some dwarf must have seen it in use. ¡°Do you know anything about the Rune of Fate?¡± she blurted. ¡°No more than anyone else,¡± he said. ¡°It looks pretty though.¡± ¡°Does it?¡± ¡°Yeah. Like a flower. I can¡¯t remember what the flower¡¯s called, but I saw a drawing of it once when I was young.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Elise had kind of wondered what the rune looked like. ¡°Do you have any guesses what it might do?¡± ¡°Channel a spell?¡± he said. ¡°I dunno. All runes channel mana, so it probably does it somehow.¡± ¡°All runes?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± ¡°You got any more questions, or can I get back to my training?¡± ¡°Uhhh, I think that¡¯s it.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± He closed his eyes, and the suction effect returned. Elise stayed for a moment, intercepting some of the incoming mana to fill her own stores before returning to the dummies to continue her training. She ate dinner in the cafeteria as usual, went back to her room as usual, did her extra training as usual, and then when it was time for bed, her mind kept returning to the Rune of Fate. If all runes channeled mana, did that mean that the Rune of Fate did too? It was listed as a skill, after all. Didn¡¯t that mean that she should be able to use it somehow? She focused on the rune, trying to activate it the same way that she did any of her other skills, but of course, nothing happened. Maybe there were some specific conditions she had to meet to activate it. Or maybe she needed to reach a certain level. Or maybe it activated on its own at certain times. Whatever the case, she couldn¡¯t activate it then. She couldn¡¯t think of any better ideas either. She was tired, and she was laying in a comfortable bed, and soon, she was drifting off into a calm, dreamless sleep. 20 - Preparation After a little over a month with the dwarves, Elise was ready to leave. She had learned a lot, and was very grateful for everything they had given her, but she was getting antsy. While she had made great progress in almost all her skills, she hadn¡¯t gained a single species level, and she needed those if she wanted to get a human form. Hallbjorn did mention that the dwarves had some caves full of monsters that were hunted for meat and experience that he might be able to get her into, but there would be backlash from the Council, and the citizens. He could force her in with his power as king, but he would rather not if he didn¡¯t have to. No doubt he would offer to do just that if she told him that she was planning on leaving, but at that point, Elise didn¡¯t think even that could convince her to stay. Her entire time living with the dwarves, she had been hearing non-stop about the ¡°ghouls¡±, and though she had never seen one, and there had been no incidents since she entered the city, she knew that wouldn¡¯t last forever. She didn¡¯t want to be caught in the middle of a conflict, especially when it was so likely that the conflict might start because of her. That was why, at that moment, despite being in the middle of her daily lesson with Greta, she was more focused on mapping out her escape route than she was on the lesson content. She had already completed the first step, which was convincing Hallbjorn to let her have her lessons with Greta at the old woman¡¯s house, instead of in the castle. She still had her escort/surveillance guards, but being outside the castle, it would be much easier to give them the slip. ¡°What are you looking at?¡± snapped Greta. ¡°You,¡± said Elise. It was half true. One of her eyes was pointed at the old woman. The other was looking out the window toward the far wall of the cavern. Greta lived in a small stone cottage with a front door, a back door, a side door, and five windows, two each on the front and back of the house, and one on the side. The front door led out to a relatively quiet street, where the neighbors were all old like Greta and loved to gossip. The back door led to a small mushroom garden where Greta liked to sit on a bench and talk at her neighbors. The side door led to a dark alleyway that a family of cave cats liked to roam. Elise knew these things because finding all the ways to get out of the house was one of the first things she did when she got there two days before. Greta never locked her windows, and they were lightweight, because Greta was too old to lift anything heavy. That meant that even without {Prehensile Vines}, with a bit of careful maneuvering, Elise could open them too. From there, she had to get past the guards at each entrance to the house, but she thought that wouldn¡¯t pose too much of an issue. Her skill {Suggest} had reached a high enough level that she was confident she would be able to distract the guards long enough to get away. ¡°Don¡¯t give me that!¡± said Greta. ¡°Pay attention!¡± ¡°I am, Teacher¡± ¡°Then tell me, where is the old kingdom of Dokkalfheimr?¡± The lessons took place on Greta¡¯s kitchen table. The old woman was hunched over in a raised chair, pointing to a map that Elise sat at the foot of. Elise hopped over to the northern regions and pointed her paw at a small valley in the middle of a mountain range. ¡°Good!¡± said Greta, holding out a piece of dried mushroom for Elise. ¡°And who was the last king of Old Dokkalfheimr?¡± ¡°King Asbjorn the Unwise.¡± ¡°And why is he called Unwise?¡± ¡°Because he tried to evict the dragon that made its home in a nearby mountain. It had settled into a cave, and by all accounts was bothering no one, but the cave was in Dokkalfheimr territory, and he couldn¡¯t abide by that. He sent a polite message asking the dragon to leave, and then followed it up by sending Dokkalfheimr¡¯s greatest warriors to slay it. They were slaughtered, and in retaliation, the dragon also killed Asbjorn and his entire family. With their greatest warriors and the entire line of succession dead, the kingdom only survived another year before the orcs overran them and forced them south.¡± ¡°And what is this dragon¡¯s name?¡± ¡°It¡¯s-¡± Elise stopped and thought for a few seconds. ¡°Munir?¡± Greta took another piece of dried mushroom and threw it at Elise, hitting her directly in the nose. Elise didn¡¯t know how she did it. No matter how far away she was, or how she moved, the old woman always hit her right on the nose. She suspected that Greta had some kind of skill related to it, but if she did, she had never shared anything about it. It did not hurt, but Elise¡¯s nose was sensitive enough that it always made her flinch. ¡°Wrong. I never told you its name.¡± ¡°Sorry, Teacher,¡± said Elise, grabbing the bit of mushroom from the island nation it had landed on. ¡°Your Dwarvish is getting better.¡± ¡°Thank you, Te-¡± ¡°It¡¯s almost as good as mine when I was a year old.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ve only been learning for a month, so I¡¯d say I¡¯m doing pretty well.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get smart with me,¡± said Greta, throwing another piece of mushroom. ¡°Sorry, Teacher. I¡¯ll try to be dumber in the future.¡± ¡°Brat.¡± As Elise''s language lessons had gone on, and she was able to understand more, they had slowly turned away from language and toward history. It had really started when Elise asked Greta about how the dwarves ended up in the cave in the first place, but Greta felt like the story needed to start further back than that, so Elise was becoming very educated on the entirety of dwarven history. It wasn¡¯t the most productive use of time, but it was interesting enough, and Elise had already gotten most of the information she wanted from other sources. The lesson went on for another hour, and Elise learned about how, after Asbjorn the Unwise¡¯s demise, the dwarves had been forced to flee to the west, which was a harrowing and dangerous journey, constantly slowed by orc raiders and unwitting shortcuts through high-leveled regions. The lesson ended when they finally made it to their destination, the human empire of Albionia. It was a bit early for the lesson to end, but Greta was getting too drowsy to continue. While she still claimed to be in perfect health, Elise had come to realize that Greta was borderline narcoleptic. Both times that Elise had been to her house before, Greta had fallen asleep almost immediately after bidding Elise farewell, before Elise had even left the room. Elise had factored this into her plans as well. With a little bit of subtle nudging from {Suggest}, Greta would fall asleep during the lesson, and Elise could leave without her noticing. As she flew out the door, Elise looked back at the old woman, drifting off in her chair. Should I tell her? she wondered. Greta probably wouldn¡¯t mind. She understood Elise enough to know why she would want to leave. But it would also complicate things. Elise planned to tell Hallbjorn beforehand, but she wanted her departure to be as quiet as possible. No one would know she was going until she was gone. Not even Greta. It was the most practical option. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it The journey back to the castle was not long, but it was convoluted. The king wanted to avoid any potential incidents, so the route they took to and from the old woman¡¯s house was not the fastest one, but the one with the least people. They took a right out of the woman¡¯s house, walked down the quiet little neighborhood for a few blocks, and then took another right, which took them the opposite direction of the castle so that they could go around the public square at the end of the street. They also made Elise wear a black cloak, which she thought was silly. Even if they couldn¡¯t see her clearly, the only other small animals living around the city were cave cats and cave rats, and she was clearly neither, and she was also the only small animal that had a half dozen armored dwarves escorting her. She supposed she was at least less eye-catching with the cloak on though. She hadn¡¯t noticed in the dark of the wyrm cave, but in her latest evolution, her fur had taken on a reflective silver sheen that made her really stand out anywhere there was light. As they walked through the slums, Elise noted that the coughing seemed to have increased again, which wasn¡¯t good. There was a minor epidemic in the city at the moment. The king wasn¡¯t too concerned, since it was not deadly, and the symptoms were mild, but every day, Elise noticed more people getting sick, and she wasn¡¯t sure if she was imagining it or not, but the coughs seemed to be getting worse as well. When she got back to the castle, she immediately went to the training grounds, where Sindri was already hard at work. He had left the dummies out for her, so she went straight to work with her own training. Her progress on {Magic Missile} had slowed even further, and she could barely go over half power with good efficiency. Her full power spell had definitely gotten more efficient than before, but she still had a long way to go before she could cast it perfectly. Since she was using more power than before though, that meant she was running out of mana sooner, which meant she spent more time recharging. She could hold a full 7 acupoints open now, and when she stopped focusing, none of them closed quite as much as they had before she started working them. She ended her training a bit early that day though, because she had other things to do. Sindri stayed behind to train more while she went to grab a quick bite at the cafeteria. Most of the Royal Guards were now accustomed to seeing her there. She had {Charm}ed some of them into friendliness, but she still got her fair share of stares and glares as she ate. She didn¡¯t care though. She was going to be leaving soon, so it didn¡¯t matter anymore. After eating, she made a beeline for the library. She felt a little sorry for Baldur and Jonas, who were forced to speed eat to keep up with their escort duties, but she knew they were paid well. When they arrived at the library, Anna was at her desk as usual, with an empty plate next to her and a book in her hands. Anna had a round face, a round body, and long, curly, brown hair. Her eyes were the same color as her hair, but it was almost impossible to get a good look at them because of how much she squinted. The dwarves had no optometrists, which was a shame because Anna really needed one. She had to hold her face a few inches from the pages to be able to read the words on them. ¡°Ehem,¡± said Baldur. Anna still didn¡¯t notice them. She had the most intense tunnel vision Elise had ever seen. Before Baldur could clear his throat again, or say something to get the librarian¡¯s attention, Elise tried a different method. Behind me! she thought, targeting Anna with {Suggest}. The poor woman nearly fell out of her chair in surprise. She looked around the room for a few seconds, panicked, until her eyes settled on Elise and her two guards. ¡°Oh!¡± said Anna, straightening her clothes. ¡°Elise! Sorry, I was just so absorbed. I¡¯m reading a book called the Wives of the Lost Expedition. It¡¯s about- well, I bet you can guess what it¡¯s about. It¡¯s really interesting! I¡¯d highly recommend checking it out. After I¡¯m done reading it, of course.¡± ¡°Sounds interesting,¡± said Elise. ¡°But I¡¯m here for the maps again.¡± ¡°Of course, of course. You must really like geography!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve always thought it was pretty interesting.¡± ¡°For sure! I¡¯ve never really seen the appeal myself, but my brother loves maps. I bet you and him would really get along!¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± said Elise. The dwarven library was relatively sparse, for its size. Apparently, in the past, their chief historian had been murdered by drow while holding a significant portion of their collection in an extra-dimensional space skill. No one knew what happened to items in such skills when the user of the skill died, but whatever it was, the books were never seen again. Still, they did have a good collection of maps of the surface. They were ancient and dated, of course, so the borders were probably irrelevant, but Elise doubted the major landmarks had changed much. She had spent an hour or so every day for the past week poring over the maps, trying her best to memorize them, and locate points of interest that she could go to once she left. With a few hopefully-not-suspicious questions to Greta, she had gathered information and decided on what her destination would be once she left. Far to the south, there was a region known simply as ¡°the Jungle¡± that was a popular place for adventurers to earn levels and for hunters to gather monster parts. It was one of the biggest spawn zones in the world, but as far as Elise could tell, the level of the monsters that spawned there weren¡¯t too high. The innermost portions of the jungle supposedly spawned 5th or 6th tier species, but the outskirts were generally limited to 3rd or 4th tier. It would be the perfect place for her to do some hunting and gain some levels. Getting there would probably prove difficult, but if the maps were to be believed, between where she was and the Jungle, the most dangerous spawn zones were 2nd tier at most, so her main danger would be humanoids, and humanoids she could handle. She felt a little bad about abandoning the dwarves like that. She had come to like them a fair amount. However, as the bearer of the Rune of Fate, continuing to stay was like playing with fire. Sooner or later, she would get burned. That was why, in addition to the maps of the surface, she also spent time studying the maps of the caves. The system was much more complex than she initially realized, but the dwarves had explored it very thoroughly. Thoroughly enough that she knew the only way out was back through the wyrm tunnel. She was preparing to put the maps away¨Ca process that took quite a while without hands¨Cwhen the door to the library opened and a familiar old man walked in, flanked by Jonas and Baldur. He looked around the room for a moment, but as soon as he saw her in the corner, he sneered and made a beeline her direction. ¡°Well, well, well, what do we have here?¡± he said. Elise glanced at him, then down at the maps, then back at him. Shoot! ¡°What does an innocent, harmless fey need with a map of the city?¡± he continued. ¡°I was just curious,¡± said Elise. ¡°I think maps are interesting.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± he said. ¡°They are interesting. I¡¯m sure the ghouls would also find them¡­ interesting.¡± ¡°I am looking at these maps only for myself,¡± she said, using {Charm} at the same time. {Charm} didn¡¯t work. It never did. Not in situations like this, at least. ¡°Lord Josef, she has proven herself trustworthy already,¡± said Jonas. ¡°Trustworthy?¡± said the old man. ¡°It¡¯s only been a month, and you believe it¡¯s trustworthy? Good at manipulation, more like. That thing¡¯s got half the castle wrapped around its grubby paws, and no one seems to care.¡± ¡°Lord Josef, His Majesty says-¡± started Baldur. ¡°His Majesty is under her spell too,¡± snapped Josef. ¡°You¡¯re all fools. I¡¯m going to report this incident to him. Not that it will do anything. But mark my words, fey, your days are numbered. I¡¯m not going to let you destroy my kingdom.¡± He turned and marched out of the room. ¡°What are you doing with those maps?¡± asked Jonas. ¡°Just looking at them,¡± she lied. ¡°I think they¡¯re interesting. You see this cave section over here?¡± She hopped a step to the side and pointed at the map with her paw. ¡°This is actually connected to the wyrm tunnel that I came in through. I went to that part of the cave once, I think, but I didn¡¯t stay long. It was full of nasty bugs.¡± ¡°Oh, the Bloat Wasps?¡± asked Baldur. ¡°Or were you talking about the Sulfur Centipedes? Or maybe the Tunnel Ants?¡± ¡°The ones I saw were fat and purple with big stingers,¡± said Elise. ¡°So the Bloat Wasps then,¡± said Baldur. ¡°I had a training mission over that way once. I¡¯m never going back if I can help it.¡± ¡°Me neither.¡± Jonas squinted at her suspiciously. ¡°I don¡¯t think you should look at those maps anymore.¡± ¡°Yeah, probably not,¡± Elise agreed. ¡°It will start rumors. Can you help me put them away?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± said Baldur. A few minutes later the three of them were on their way to the king¡¯s personal dining room for Elise¡¯s semi-regular royal dinner. Usually, she looked forward to those days, since the food was so much better than what she normally got, but this time, she was a bit anxious. It very well could have been the last time she saw the man. ¡°Elise,¡± said Hallbjorn when she entered. ¡°How were your lessons?¡± 21 - Departure I completely forgot to include the stat sheet at the end of the last chapter. I edited it in, but here it is right now so you don''t have to go back and look.
Name Elise Burrow
Age 0 (20)
Race Lesser Fey (Rabbit)
Level (III) 1
Stats Base Bonuses Total
Strength 44 0 44
Agility 126 0 126
Dexterity 114 0 114
Fortitude 42 0 42
Charisma 390 0 390
Intelligence 149 0 149
Willpower 154 0 154
Mana 193 0 193
Mana Control 223 0 223
Skills Level Description
Inspect 45 Identify the species and level of another creature
Nature Magic Affinity - As a creature of the forest, you feel a strong connection to nature and natural mana
Leap 28 Jump with additional force
Rune of Fate - A rune that @#$%^&*(
Dart 27 Dash quickly in any horizontal direction. Charges: 8. Cooldown: 8 seconds
Sudden Growth 15 Cause all nearby plants to grow at many times their normal rate for 3 seconds
Mana Sense 31 Sense nearby mana
Magic Missile 28 Create missiles of mana that attack your target. Current missiles: 7
Suggest 19 Plant a subtle thought or desire in the target''s mind
Prehensile Vines 26 Vines grow out of the ground in front of you. You can control them as you would your own limbs.
Charm 26 Increase a target''s attraction to you
Ensnaring Roots 13 Summon sturdy roots from the ground that wrap around the target
Fey Wings - Fold or unfold your wings
Fairy Dust 28 Release dust from your wing that either blesses or curses (user''s choice) any living creature it comes into contact with
Fey Bargaining 1 Form a contract with another creature. If either side breaks the contract, they will be cursed
¡°They went well,¡± said Elise. ¡°It¡¯s nice being out of the castle.¡± ¡°Have you been sleeping well?¡± asked Hallbjorn. ¡°Any nightmares.¡± ¡°No,¡± she lied. ¡°None.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± ¡°How have the Council meetings been?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Josef has been a pain in my royal arse lately,¡± growled Hallbjorn. ¡°Won¡¯t shut up about the damn ghouls. More people are falling ill by the day and all he can talk about is the damned ghouls! He says they¡¯ve been too quiet lately, and that it¡¯s getting suspicious. Of course it¡¯s suspicious! They¡¯re always suspicious! We¡¯ll deal with them when they show their ugly faces again. We have more important things to worry about!¡± ¡°I noticed there was more coughing than before when I was on my way back from Greta¡¯s.¡± ¡°Aye, and you don¡¯t know the half of it. It¡¯s even worse on the north side of the city. More than half the citizens in that area are sick, and none of them are recovering on their own. No deaths yet, but at this rate, it¡¯s only a matter of time. And the doctors still have no idea how to stop it. They cure a patient, and a day later, they¡¯re back in bed, coughing up a lung. The only good thing is that they¡¯re at least leveling. Once we overcome this, we won¡¯t have to worry about disease for a while.¡± ¡°Silver lining, I guess,¡± said Elise in English. ¡°Pardon me?¡± ¡°Oh, I was just saying that¡¯s good. High leveled doctors and healers are always a good thing.¡± ¡°That they are. That they are.¡± He leaned back in his chair and sighed. ¡°He also just came in to tell me that you were looking at a map of the city, and that you were planning on betraying us.¡± ¡°I was looking at a map of the city. I am not planning on betraying you.¡± Hallbjorn grinned. ¡°Aye, that¡¯s what I told him, and he just stormed out. But, what else can I say? So, you¡¯re heading back to Greta¡¯s tomorrow as well?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she replied. ¡°Her doctor didn¡¯t want her moving around too much with the epidemic going around, so until the problem is solved, I¡¯ll be going to her house for my lessons.¡± ¡°Right, right. I remember.¡± He poked at a mushroom with his fork. ¡°How is she, by the way? I¡¯m always asking about your lessons, but never about her. It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve had a real talk with her.¡± ¡°She¡¯s healthy. And she seems to be doing fine. She has¡­ a relationship with her neighbors, so she¡¯s not lonely.¡± ¡°A ¡®relationship¡¯, eh?¡± said the king with a grin. ¡°And by that you mean she scolds them and they insult her back.¡± ¡°Usually. The other day, Emil, the man across the street, came out to call me a filthy rodent and a ghoul-lover, and she told him he was a terrible parent and that it was good his kids never talked to him anymore, because if they did, they¡¯d probably end up killing him.¡± ¡°Ha! Sounds like she¡¯s doing as well as ever, then. That reminds me of this one time when I was younger¡­¡± They spend the next ten minutes or so trading stories of Greta. The old woman had been the king¡¯s teacher when he was younger too, so he had plenty of tales of his own. From the way he told it, she was just as irritable and uncensored back then as she was now, if not more so. Once they were done, Hallbjorn''s face turned serious, and he leaned in, looking her in the eye. Elise had been slouching a bit while they laughed and joked about Greta, but seeing the king¡¯s demeanor shift, she knew what he was about to say was important, so she sat up a bit higher and straightened her ears so that he knew she was listening. ¡°I almost have the council convinced to try the surface,¡± he said. ¡°Or more accurately, I almost have Sindri convinced. Once he turns, Atli and Sigmundur will follow him, and with that we¡¯ll have a supermajority. Even if Josef and his faction keep protesting, we¡¯ll be able to move forward with the planning. That¡¯ll be a whole other problem. Making a tunnel big enough to evacuate from and defending it from the ghouls will be a pain in the arse. It¡¯ll probably be another two weeks before we can even start, and then two months before the tunnel is complete.¡± ¡°I hope you¡¯re not leaving the caves just because of me,¡± said Elise. ¡°I know I have the Rune, but you shouldn¡¯t be making such an important decision based on something so vague.¡± ¡°Bah!¡± said the king. ¡°This is something that we need to do anyway. You¡¯re just a useful catalyst. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard it from Greta, but dwarves weren¡¯t made to live their whole lives underground like this. Our lifespans are getting shorter. My father barely made it to a hundred fifty. I¡¯m only sixty, and my joints are starting to ache. Birth rates are in decline, and with the ghouls constantly picking us off, we can¡¯t expand underground safely. We need to go back to the surface. Whether we have you or not, I will take my people up.¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°You say all that, but you¡¯ve been doing everything in your power to keep me here,¡± argued Elise. ¡°I appreciate everything you¡¯ve done for me, but I¡¯m not going to be here forever. You can¡¯t use me as a reason.¡± ¡°I want you here because of the power of the Rune of Fate, but I¡¯m not using you to push my agenda. Not that much. I¡¯m only using your arrival here, not your presence. If you left, it wouldn¡¯t change my plans, or the arguments for my plans.¡± He narrowed his eyes. ¡°Wait, are you leaving?¡± ¡°...Maybe.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s because you need to level, I can get you into our experience caves,¡± he said. ¡°There will be backlash, but if that¡¯s what I need to do, I¡¯ll handle it.¡± ¡°No,¡± said Elise. ¡°I want to level, but the longer I stay here, the more dangerous it gets. There haven¡¯t been any ghoul attacks but what happens when there are? You said they broke into the castle to rescue the last fey you found. Eventually, they¡¯ll try that for me too. I don¡¯t have anything against the dwarves, and I don¡¯t care about the ghouls, but I don¡¯t want to be caught in between your conflict.¡± Hallbjorn stared at her for a few seconds in silent contemplation. Then, he sighed, and slumped his shoulders forward. ¡°When do you plan on leaving?¡± ¡°Tomorrow.¡± ¡°Is there anything I can do to help?¡± ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°I know that helping me leave would put you in a difficult situation. I can get out on my own.¡± While Elise was safe from harm living in the castle, Josef had been doing his best to rile up the people. Of course, there was no evidence it was him, so Hallbjorn couldn¡¯t do anything, but there was no doubt about who it was. While Elise had gotten most of the residents of the castle to at least tolerate her presence, It was different out in the city. There were rumors flying about that she was controlling the king. If Hallbjorn helped her leave, that would only fuel the rumors. Her solo departure wouldn¡¯t help either, but it would be easier for Hallbjorn to swing that story in his favor. ¡°Are you sure there¡¯s nothing I can do to make you stay?¡± he said. ¡°We have artifacts. Tools. Jewelry. All enchanted with our finest runes.¡± Elise hesitated. It was tempting. Maybe if she got the right rune-enhanced gear, she would stand a better chance against the warg. But it was too risky to stick around. She had already been there for too long. ¡°I¡¯m leaving,¡± she said firmly. Hallbjorn sighed. ¡°Well in that case, let¡¯s enjoy this meal. Better to end on a high note.¡± The food arrived soon after, and the conversation turned to lighter topics as they ate. The atmosphere livened up soon after, and by the end of the meal, Hallbjorn was smiling and laughing again. Then, as Elise was preparing to leave again, his face turned serious again. ¡°You¡¯re going to the surface when you leave?¡± he said. ¡°I am,¡± said Elise. ¡°Then this won¡¯t be a permanent farewell. We¡¯ll meet again.¡± ¡°I hope so. I¡¯ll come back and visit, once you guys make it out.¡± ¡°You¡¯d better,¡± said Hallbjorn with a smile. ¡°Have a good night, and a safe trip.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± she replied. ¡°Good luck with the evacuation.¡± Back in her room, Elise ran through the plan in her head once before starting on her nightly training. The next morning, she would attend the lesson with Greta as usual, then at lunch, she would put Greta to sleep, and after that, it was just a matter of making it back to the lake. Fortunately, the lake was not a heavily guarded area, and from what she had gathered talking to Baldur and Jonas, tunnels with that security level had simple buttons to open the stone doors from the inside. There would be no need for her to do any kind of specific verification to leave. Unfortunately, the lake was on the opposite side of the cavern from Greta¡¯s house. If she tried to fly over, she would draw the attention of the entire city, and complicate things greatly. Sneaking would take longer, but in the end, it would be worth it. After that, making it over the lake would be simple. As long as she stayed on the ceiling of the cave, the plesiosaur hopefully wouldn¡¯t notice her. If it did, she was confident she could at least trick it away from blocking where she wanted to go so she could get past. And after that, she was home free. Unless something had moved into the wyrm tunnel¡­ But if something had, she would solve that problem when she got there. There was no way to predict what was going to happen, so wasting time worrying about it was pointless. Instead, she turned her attention back to her practice. {Prehensile Vines} was coming along nicely. She had used a similar method to the one that Sindri taught her for {Magic Missile} to improve her efficiency, and every level she gained in the skill boosted the efficiency even more, so she could make the skill last for quite a while now. At full strength, she could control them for nearly five minutes before they withered. When depleted and recharged her mana twice training that spell before getting in bed to practice unlocking what Jens had called her ¡°mana cores.¡± According to him, fully unlocking them was a long and tedious process that few bothered to do, but Elise actually found it quite interesting. She had yet to unlock even her first one, but she was always making progress. The core in her chest now had about double the mana density of the air around here, which, while still a far cry from the rest of her body, was a significant improvement. She meditated for almost two hours before falling asleep, and for the first time in a long time, her dreams were pleasant. The next morning, she woke up before Jona¡¯s knock. She had never been good at sleeping when something exciting was about to happen. They took a slightly different route to get to Greta¡¯s house than they had the day before. They had decided it was best to switch it up semi-regularly to prevent any ambushes from extremists. There weren¡¯t many of those, especially not in that part of the city, but better safe than sorry. ¡°Hurry up, slowpoke,¡± said Greta from the door when they arrived. ¡°I don¡¯t have all day.¡± Elise hopped inside, then leapt up into her usual spot on the dining room table. Unlike at the Gray¡¯s cabin, she did not need to use {Leap} to get up, since it was a Dwarven table, and was much lower. There was a shallow dish filled with water set out for her, and she took a few sips while Greta closed the door and hobbled over to join her. ¡°I¡¯ll bet you¡¯ve forgotten half of what I taught you yesterday already,¡± said Greta. ¡°Of course not, Teacher.¡± ¡°Tell me everything you know about Asbjorn the Unwise.¡± Elise narrated back everything they had discussed the previous day, from Asbjorn¡¯s birth as the second oldest of nine to the death of his father and elder brother and his ascension to the throne at age twenty nine, which was considered by dwarves to be far too young to rule effectively. His age combined with a few misguided decisions had earned him the ¡®Unwise¡¯ moniker from his detractors long before the incident with the dragon, but he had not been an especially bad king, according to Greta. Not bad enough to deal irreparable damage to the kingdom at least. Elise told as much as she knew, and Greta filled in whatever small details she forgot until they arrived back where they had left off, with the evicted dwarves encountering the human nation of Albionia. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard the stories from those no-good rumormongers who call themselves the Council,¡± said Greta. ¡°Fools, the lot of them. No respect for history. Even young Hallbjorn is starting to act like he¡¯s got mushrooms in his ears. They all think that the humans saw the defenseless dwarves and decided to mercilessly and unjustly subjugate and enslave them. Even the ones that know what actually happened choose to ignore it to further the worthless propaganda. ¡°What really happened was a much longer process that took a century to get to the point where the dwarves were truly enslaved. The humans actually welcomed us, at least officially, and allowed us to stay on their land as long as we paid our taxes. And we did that. We sold our goods and forged weapons as they requested, and generally enjoyed a harmonious relationship with them for half a century. It was only when Benedikt the Braindead came into power that things started to go downhill¡­¡± Elise listened for an hour or so as Greta told of how Benedict the Braindead almost single-handedly brought the dwarves to ruin. He unilaterally decided that the humans were oppressing them by making them pay taxes, and declared war to gain their independence. But it had only been 50 years, which meant only one generation of dwarves had been born, and while it had nearly doubled their population, it had nothing on the two and a half generations of humans that had been born in that same timespan. The war for independence was an abject failure, and the dwarves went from a taxed, but relatively independent race, to a group living under near martial law, and the taxes were quadrupled. Benedikt the Braindead somehow managed to not only survive, but retain some measure of influence over his son who succeeded him, and soon, the dwarves were selling off their own kind to pay their debt. When they reached that point, Greta decided it was time for a short break, and went to make herself some tea. Of course, it was not real tea. There were no tea leaves underground. What she made was instead mushroom tea that she made from scratch by steeping dried mushroom she had grown in her garden in boiling water. She had given Elise a taste once, and while it was better than the king¡¯s mushroom coffee abomination, it still did not taste very good. But, it was all she ever saw Greta drink, so Elise figured it must have been an acquired taste. This tea break was exactly what Elise had been waiting for though. Whenever Greta got her tea, she always set it down on the table for it to cool, and then sat in silence for ten minutes or so. Once or twice, she had dozed off while waiting, and that was exactly what Elise was going to ensure would happen this time. I¡¯ll just close my eyes for a moment, she thought using {Suggest} once Greta was settled into her chair. The old woman didn¡¯t notice anything, and took the thought as if it were her own, and closed her eyes. A minute later, she was snoring softly. Should I really have done that? she thought. Was it really necessary to put Greta to sleep? Elise could just tell her she was leaving. Greta wouldn¡¯t try to stop her. She might have spoken too loud though, and been heard by the escorts, which would complicate things. Then again, that might have just been Elise making excuses. She just didn¡¯t want to have to say goodbye. Well, it¡¯s too late now. She turned on her wings, and held the right one over the woman¡¯s lap and used {Fairy Dust} with deep sleep and happy dreams in mind. At first, she wasn¡¯t sure if it had worked, but a few seconds later, Greta¡¯s snoring grew louder, and Elise breathed a sigh of relief. She hopped down from the table, disabling her wings as she made her way to the window by the side door. That was Baldur¡¯s side, and while a competent guard, he was also the most laid-back, and the easiest to trick. She couldn¡¯t see him, but she could sense where he was with {Mana Sense}, and was able to target him with {Suggest}. What was that? She thought to him. She heard the sound of metal scraping against metal as he turned to his left to look at the nothing that Elise made him think he had seen. There was no sound for a few seconds, so Elise used {Suggest} again. Down at the end of the alley. The dwarf started taking cautious steps down the alleyway, and Elise took the opportunity to hop up to the windowsill. He stopped when he reached the corner of the house, at which point, Elise used {Suggest} one final time. I should ask Jonas if he¡¯s seen anything. ¡°Hey Jonas, did you see something over here?¡± called the dwarf. ¡°What was that?¡± responded Jonas from the backyard. ¡°I was just asking if you had seen anything heading this way. I could have sworn I saw something moving over here.¡± ¡°It was probably just a cat, Baldur. Go back to your post.¡± ¡°Are you sure? I swear there was something else.¡± ¡°If you see it again, let me know. For now, just get back to your post.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± By the time Baldur returned to his spot, Elise had already left the house. She used the sound of his voice to mask the opening and closing of the window, and rounded the corner before he had a chance to turn around and see her. With that, step one of her plan was complete. She walked one house over, then entered the alley between them and started to make her way to her destination. This part was actually fairly easy, though very nerve-wracking. She had planned out her route very carefully, and kept multiple detours in mind, in case something unpredictable happened and her chosen route was unavailable, but she still hadn¡¯t expected it to go as smoothly as it did. She was highly visible and easily recognizable, so anyone who spotted her would know who she was, but at this time of day, anyone who wasn¡¯t out working was locked inside, so there was almost no one out to see her. And her ears were good enough that she was able to avoid the few weirdos who were out and not working for whatever reason. Even so, making it to the lake tunnel wouldn¡¯t be easy. She had to wrap around a significant portion of the city without getting spotted, and had to make it past many relatively major streets to get there. Around the edges of the main Dwarven city, there were various offshoot tunnels leading either to mines, underground rivers and lakes, underground mushroom farms, or even experience farms. All of these types of caves saw regular traffic throughout the day, so crossing the streets that led into them was no easy task, and she couldn¡¯t just fly over them because that was a surefire way to get spotted by half the city. The first three tunnels and streets turned out to be relatively easy to get past. There were few enough people that as long as she waited for the right moment, she only had to {Suggest} one person to make them look the wrong way as she darted past. The fourth street though, was different. It led to one of the dwarves'' two public use experience farms, and with all the talk of going to the surface lately, they were being used more than ever. There was never a time that less than three people were looking at any one possible crossing point she had, and she could only target one person with {Suggest} at a time. She had foreseen something like this happening, and knew that she just had to be patient and wait for it to clear up, but every minute that passed that she couldn¡¯t go any further made her more anxious. She had no way of knowing when Greta would wake up, or when one of the guards would notice her snoring or lack of lecturing. Once they noticed her missing, they would report back to the castle, and while she knew the king wouldn¡¯t do anything too bad, there was no chance none of the elders did anything, and once word got out that she had disappeared from the castle, the whole city would be on high alert. After about an hour of waiting, to no avail, Elise started to reconsider her options. Maybe she should try a different route. The further she went toward the city, the busier it got, typically, but maybe there was a sweet spot halfway between this experience farm and the city square that would be low enough on activity for her to slip past. Before she could move though, there was an angry hissing behind her. She turned her head slightly to see a scarred, black cat stalking toward her. Dang it! She activated {Suggest}. I shouldn¡¯t mess with that thing. The cat paused for a second, but continued moving toward her, crouching low as if ready to pounce. {Inspect} showed it was only a level 8 Cave Cat, something that even without magic, Elise could now handle with no problem, but she couldn¡¯t do it silently, and making any noise would be bad. Hopefully, no one would take notice of the cat making sound, since alley cat fights weren¡¯t exactly unusual, but when the cat pounced and she swatted it away, its squeal did not go unnoticed. ¡°Scram!¡± said an angry voice from a window above her. ¡°You mangy beast, get out of here!¡± A bearded head poked out the window, and the cat turned and fled. Elise huddled beneath the window, praying she would go unnoticed, but the head turned down, and locked eyes with her. ¡°Hey, wait a second, you¡¯re-!¡± Just then, alarm bells rang out through the city, and Elise heard the sounds of panicked dwarves jumping to their feet and standing at attention all around her. ¡°It¡¯s the fey!¡± shouted the dwarf above her. ¡°It¡¯s trying to escape!¡± 22 - Interrogation Another dwarf head poked around the corner from the street, and Elise knew she needed to move. Since her stealth had already been blown, she saw no reason to remain landbound anymore, and summoned her wings and flew upward. The dwarf in the window grabbed at her as she ascended, but she was already out of his reach. She floated in the air for a moment, trying to figure out what was happening. The alarm wasn¡¯t for her, was it? It couldn¡¯t be. First of all, they wouldn¡¯t sound an alarm for her escape. Hallbjorn already knew it was happening, and would prevent anyone from making a big deal about it. It would have had to be Josef, or someone working under him. Second, the timeline didn¡¯t make sense if it was. The guards or Greta would have had to notice her escape almost immediately, and then gone all the way back to the castle, notified other guards who would notify Josef, who would then sound the alarm bells. That meant that there must be an actual emergency happening somewhere else, and she just had unfortunate timing. She flew up a bit higher, and her suspicions were confirmed. Over near the castle, dozens of guards were in formation between the gates and the door, and more were spreading out throughout the city. She saw multiple groups heading toward every exit to the cavern. Elise didn¡¯t know what had happened, but she cursed its timing. The only thing that would warrant this type of response would be drow, and a drow attack on Dokkalfheimr was exactly what she was leaving the city to avoid. Now, not only had she failed to avoid it, but with the guards heading to every exit, she wouldn¡¯t be able to leave either. She flew down behind some houses, out of sight of the small mob and then made her way back to Greta¡¯s house. If they hadn¡¯t noticed her disappearance yet, they certainly would soon. They had probably burst in when the alarm sounded, only to find Greta asleep and Elise nowhere to be found. She needed to get back quickly before she caused a panic. She was almost too late. When she made it back to the old woman¡¯s house, the guards were huddled outside it, and the youngest of the bunch, Baldur, was standing on the edge with his toes pointed outward, as if he was about to take off running. ¡°Wait!¡± she called. ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± The dwarves looked up at her, first in awe, then in anger. ¡°Where were you?¡± said Jonas, who had been chosen as the leader of her small squadron of guards. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Elise. ¡°I just went out for a walk, and then suddenly the alarms went off.¡± ¡°How did you get out without us noticing?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not important right now. We need to get back to the castle.¡± ¡°No, tell us how-!¡± started Jonas. ¡°She¡¯s right,¡± said the second in command, a woman named Sandra. ¡°It¡¯s more important to get back to the castle right now. We can worry about the details later.¡± ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s go.¡± They did not bother with the usual detour, instead running straight for the front gate, which was already flung wide open as soldiers and messengers filed in and out. A servant rushed to give word to the king when they returned, and a few minutes later, they returned with a message from the king telling Elise to come to the Council chambers. The room was small compared to the throne room or the banquet hall, but it was much bigger than her own bedroom. The majority of the room was taken up by a large circular table with a magical map in the center. Currently, it was showing a map of the entire city with a lot of glowing blue dots representing what she assumed to be allies, and a few red dots in the middle of them all. Only about half the Council was present. Most of the members were old, and did not live in the castle, so getting there in the midst of a crisis was not always a quick process. Hallbjorn was there though, sitting at the back side of the table, staring down at the map. ¡°Elise!¡± he said. ¡°Did anything happen in your area?¡± ¡°No. What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°What¡¯s that thing doing here?¡± said Josef. ¡°Not now, Josef,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°Your Majesty, this is the Council chambers! We can be having vermin-¡± ¡°I said not now, Josef,¡± said the king in a commanding tone. ¡°We can discuss this later. We have more important things to worry about. ¡°To answer your question,¡± he continued, turning to Elise. ¡°Ghouls. They tried to break into the castle. I think they were looking for you.¡± ¡°Was anyone hurt?¡± asked Elise. ¡°A few minor injuries, but all treatable. Nothing serious.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± ¡°Yes, it could have been much worse,¡± he agreed. ¡°There were 4 drow, and they escaped the castle, but we¡¯ve caught two of them already near the edge of the city. We¡¯re still searching for the others, but I¡¯m worried they got away already. Fortunately, none of them were especially dangerous, and it looked like their primary goal was to get to your bedroom, not to do any harm.¡± ¡°So they were definitely here for me?¡± ¡°Most likely,¡± he said. ¡°But they¡¯ll never tell us. They¡¯re very good at keeping their mouths shut. However, I¡¯ve thought of a way you can help with that.¡± ¡°Me? How?¡± ¡°Yes, I would like to know as well,¡± said Josef. ¡°You are a fey, and the ghouls practically worship the fey.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± replied Elise. ¡°And?¡± ¡°How good are you at acting?¡± *** An hour later, Elise found herself chained up in the castle dungeon, awaiting the next part of the plan. According to Hallbjorn, it was nearly impossible to interrogate the Drow. The first few times they captured them, they simply bit down on poison capsules in their mouths, killing themselves before they could give away any answers. Once the dwarves figured out how to prevent that, the Drow changed tactics, and instead fed their scouts a poison before sending them out. Only upon their return would they be able to receive the antidote, and the poison was too potent for any of the Dwarven healers to cure. That meant that no matter what the dwarves did, the Drow would die before they could get any answers. It might be different, however, if instead of a dwarf, they had Elise asking the questions. There was the problem that if they saw Elise working with the dwarves, they would be understandably suspicious, but Hallbjorn had concocted a plan to avoid that. She would instead pretend to be a captive, and she would be left alone with the Drow in order to talk with them and get answers. Elise had had a few reservations about the plan. The first was that she did not speak Drow. Hallbjorn said that would not be a problem, since all the Drow scouts had learned Dwarvish to better spy on their targets. Elise pointed out that it would still be suspicious if a fey spoke Dwarvish and not Drow, but she was assured that she appeared young enough that they would not find it odd. If they had captured her shortly after her spawning, it would make sense. Her second was that every story she had heard painted the Drow as mindless killers who hunted dwarves for sport, and that they sacrificed fey to Titania. She was reassured though when even Josef said they wouldn¡¯t hurt her. The sacrifices were done ritualistically, not wantonly, and even if they did want to hurt her, they would be chained up and separated from her by a rune-enchanted jail cell.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Her third main concern was that she was not, in fact, good at acting. She had done a couple school plays in elementary and middle school, but she had always played the characters who had as few lines as possible, and by no metrics could her delivery of those lines be considered good. However, her curiosity won out. She had spent a month hearing about how horrible the drow were, and now that she had an opportunity to see them up close, she would regret it if she turned it down. Plus, they had most likely been there for her. She felt a little guilty that the situation happened at all. And therefore, she was chained up in a cage in a dark dungeon. The chains were loose enough she could slip out of them, and the cage wasn¡¯t actually locked, but it still looked plenty real. They had even smeared dirt on her gorgeous fur to sell it more. It was a bit uncomfortable, but they had assured her that the prisoners would be in shortly, or at least the first batch of them would, so she wouldn¡¯t have to maintain her guise for long. They arrived a few minutes later, and Elise was so shocked that it was a good thing the character she was playing was supposed to be scared of dwarves, or else her awed silence would have given her away. The Drow were not at all like the dwarves described them. She had been expecting hideous, goblin-like creatures with claws on their fingers and anglerfish-like teeth, but what she saw was just gray-skinned elves. There was nothing monstrous about their outer appearance at all. In fact, she would go as far as to call them beautiful. The two captured scouts were both women, and while they were not as tall as humans, they were taller than the dwarves, and far more slender and lithe. They wore heavy manacles around their wrists and ankles, but even so, they held their heads high and looked down their noses at their captors. The one in front had her black hair cropped short like a boy¡¯s and green eyes, and the other had shoulder-length white hair and blue eyes, so she mentally dubbed them Black Hair and White Hair to keep them mentally distinct. Both showed as [Shadow Scout, lvl 9] when she used {Inspect}. ¡°Pda Bau!¡± exclaimed Black when she saw Elise. ¡°You monsters! What have you done?¡± ¡°Silence, ghoul,¡± said the dwarf guard, punching her in the stomach with a gauntleted fist. The Drow woman doubled over in pain, while the other strained against her restraints, trying to attack the guard. A second punch knocked the wind out of her as well, and the two were tossed into the cell across from Elise¡¯s, just as planned. ¡°Be quiet and wait for your deaths, ghoul scum,¡± said the guard dwarf before exiting the dungeon and slamming the door behind him. As soon as he was gone, the Drow straightened themselves out, as if they had never been punched, and crawled up to their bars, staring straight at Elise. ¡°Kd cnawp bau, sdwp dwra pdau zkja pk ukq?¡± cried White. ¡°Pdau sehh lwu bkn pdaen ejokhajya!¡± said Black. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry,¡± said Elise, doing her best to sound scared. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re saying.¡± Both Drow made simultaneous sounds of incredulousness and anger. ¡°Zis is unforgivable!¡± said White. ¡°What ¡®ave zey done to you, O Great Fey? For ¡®ow long ¡®ave you been imprisoned here?¡± As she spoke, Elise noticed that their accent was odd and oddly familiar. The dwarves had described it as a horrid, guttural sound when they spoke, but what Elise heard sounded far more elegant. It was only on their r¡¯s that it ever sounded strange, and even then, they only sounded like French r¡¯s. In fact, their whole accent sounded French. ¡°I-I¡¯m not sure,¡± said Elise. ¡°Ze invaders will pay for zeir insolence!¡± exclaimed Black. ¡°Zey ¡®ave gone too far! O Great Fey, zis insignificant one is called Marie, and my companion is Claudia. May we know your name?¡± ¡°My name is Elise.¡± ¡°What a beautiful name,¡± said Claudia. ¡°A name befitting of your status. Ze invaders may ¡®ave marred your fur, but zey cannot mar ze beauty and grace zat is innate.¡± If Elise could, she probably would have blushed right then. She had not known it until that moment, but she was weak to flattery. It wasn¡¯t something she got much of back on Earth, so she wasn¡¯t sure how to handle it, especially when it was as sincere as theirs seemed. It was almost enough to distract her from her mission, but she managed to pull herself together before she could say something stupid. ¡°Thank you,¡± she said meekly. ¡°How did you get here?¡± ¡°Ze Envahis¨Cpardon me, ze Invaders¨Ccaptured us,¡± said Marie. ¡°It was our own mistake. We were sloppy and overconfident. Now not only ¡®ave we failed to rescue you, but we ¡®ave lost our own lives as well.¡± That confirmed their goal, which was the main point of the whole charade, but Elise wasn¡¯t done. Clearly, the drow were not mindless killers like the dwarves believed. How did the enmity between the two races reach this point? ¡°Ze- the Invaders?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Zey call zemselves ze Dwarves,¡± spat Claudia. ¡°Zey arrived one day many years ago and killed our people and stole our homes. Zis cave we are in used to be the home of our princess, but zey came and turned it into zis- zis-¡± ¡°Zis abomination!¡± finished Marie. ¡°You cannot even tell zat zis was once our home. Zey ¡®ave destroyed everything, and turned it into zis hideous affront to Nature! Zey even killed ze Sister Tree!¡± ¡°And as if zat wasn¡¯t enough, they ¡®ave the nerve to call us ze monsters, and get angry at us for retaliating,¡± said Claudia. ¡°What little suffering we ¡®ave managed to inflict on zem is nothing compared to ze pain zey ¡®ave inflicted on our people.¡± ¡°How horrible!¡± said Elise. She did not even have to act that much on that. The fear and apprehension she had initially felt toward the Drow had all but vanished, and was replaced by disgust for herself. The Drow may not be perfect, but they were not the mindless monsters she had been imagining them as. And the dwarves were not as innocent as they had portrayed themselves. She was disappointed in herself for believing them so blindly. ¡°Horrible does not even begin to describe it!¡± said Claudia. ¡°The invaders are monsters without consciences, and soon they will cease to exist in our lands!¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Zeir days are numbered,¡± said Marie. ¡°It ¡®as been prophesied. Within one year, zere will not be a single living dwarf left in these caves. We ¡®ave prayed to Titania, the Seelie goddess, and she ¡®as ¡®eard and answered our prayers. Salvation for our people will come.¡± ¡°The drow are going to kill the dwarves?¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± said Marie. ¡°Or maybe the Envahi will kill themselves. Either way, the Invaders¡¯ time soiling our caves is coming to an end. Soon, zey will be gone.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± asked Elise. Claudia glanced around. ¡°Completely. Titania herself bestowed zis prophecy upon our queen.¡± That complicated Elise¡¯s situation quite a bit. Unlike the dwarves¡¯ prophecy, theirs didn¡¯t mention her, but she couldn¡¯t help but feel that she was involved somehow. ¡°Did the prophecy say specifically that the dwarves would die?¡± Elise asked. ¡°It said zey would not be in ze cave after ze year ended,¡± said Marie. ¡°But did it say they would die?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe so.¡± Elise thought in silence for a few moments. The prophecy could easily be fulfilled if the dwarves just left like they were planning to. It almost seemed too simple to be true. If the drow just agreed not to attack the dwarves while they dug their way out of the cave, the dwarves would be gone, and the drow would have their home back. There would be no conflict, and nobody would die. She could already tell that would be nearly impossible though. The drow and dwarves were far from speaking terms. There was no chance they would be able to negotiate such a treaty. It would only maybe work if there was some neutral party hated by neither side who could help broker the treaty¡­ Elise almost groaned audibly. She wanted to leave. She wanted to get out of the cave. But if she left the dwarves knowing that she might be the only person alive in a position to create peace and save lives, she would regret it for the rest of her life. ¡°If there was a way to resolve the whole situation, and fulfill Titania¡¯s prophecy, without shedding a drop of blood, would you take it?¡± she asked the drow. ¡°Of course!¡± said Claudia. ¡°If we could eradicate ze-¡± ¡°No blood on either side,¡± clarified Elise. The drow were silent for a few seconds before Marie spoke. ¡°I do not know,¡± she said. ¡°Ze invaders have oppressed us for centuries, but¡­ Queen Salome would likely choose to let zem live if it would save more of our people.¡± ¡°I see,¡± said Elise. ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± ¡°What?¡± asked Marie ¡°Bragi!¡± she called. ¡°Bragi?¡± The door to the dungeon opened and Bragi, the guard who had delivered the drow appeared. He seemed confused, but he was under strict orders to retrieve Elise when she called, and he was not the type to disobey. ¡°Elise, what¡¯s happening?¡± asked Claudia as Bragi freed Elise from her cage. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± said Elise. ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± ¡°Where are you going? What¡¯s going on? Are they threatening you?¡± Elise wanted to respond, but held her tongue. She could not say anything more without Bragi getting suspicious. She did her best to look away from the Drow as they watched her leave with eyes full of confusion and a hint of betrayal. ¡°What happened?¡± asked Bragi once they were out of the Dungeon. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you have got more?¡± ¡°I got enough,¡± said Elise. ¡°Take me to the king. I need to speak with him.¡± 23 - Council When they got back to the Council chamber, Elise learned why Bragi of all people had been chosen to listen at the door. He had a perfect memory, and a knack for vocal imitation, and was able to repeat the entire conversation back to the Council so they could hear it for themselves. As serious as the situation was, Elise caught a few of the Councilors, including Sindri, holding back laughter as Bragi tried to imitate Elise¡¯s high helium voice. ¡°So, the ghouls are planning on killing us all,¡± said Josef. ¡°It seems we¡¯ll have to put our excavation plans on hold.¡± ¡°Not necessarily,¡± said Elise. ¡°If the dwarves complete the excavation and leave the caves, the drow prophecy will be fulfilled, and no one will have to die.¡± ¡°You want us to turn our backs on them while they¡¯re trying to wipe us out?¡± asked Josef. ¡°I can¡¯t tell if you¡¯re trying to sabotage us, or if you¡¯re just stupid.¡± ¡°If you made a treaty-¡± ¡°A treaty?! With the ghouls?!¡± ¡°Enough, Josef,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°A treaty would indeed resolve the situation without bloodshed, but Josef has a point. The ghouls would never make a treaty with us.¡± ¡°They might if I brokered it,¡± said Elise. The Councilors started muttering amongst themselves. Most of them didn¡¯t seem particularly thrilled at the idea. ¡°And how are we supposed to trust you to negotiate such a deal?¡± asked Josef. ¡°Just yesterday, you were trying to steal our maps.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t stealing anything. I was just looking over them.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been planning your escape to the ghouls for some time now, haven¡¯t you?¡± said Josef. ¡°I bet you were waiting for this moment.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t.¡± ¡°Josef, that¡¯s enough,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°Elise has already proven herself to be trustworthy. She has been under constant surveillance, and there is no evidence that she was planning on betraying us to the ghouls.¡± ¡°One month isn¡¯t enough to prove that,¡± said Josef. ¡°And she was studying a map of the city. She was probably planning on taking that knowledge to them.¡± ¡°The drow already have that knowledge,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°They¡¯ve been sneaking around the city longer than we¡¯ve been alive. Enough on that. Elise, are you saying that you wish to negotiate with the ghouls for peace?¡± Elise hesitated. Did she really want to do this? She could just walk away. This really wasn¡¯t any of her business. She had only been living with the dwarves for a month, and she had only spoken with two drow for a total of five minutes. But would she be able to live with herself knowing she could have done something, and ran away instead? She thought back to the night of the warg attack, and the way she had watched helplessly as Sylvanna and Corwin died, and she shuddered. She didn¡¯t want to experience anything like that again. ¡°I do,¡± she said. ¡°And do you think you can succeed?¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m not sure. But I¡¯ll try.¡± ¡°I think we should just march on them and wipe them out,¡± said Sindri. ¡°I don¡¯t like leaving things up to chance. We¡¯re stronger than ever right now, and they don¡¯t yet know that we know of their prophecy. If we launch an all-out attack on them right now, they won¡¯t be expecting it. We can win.¡± ¡°At the cost of the lives of our men,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°Lives they would be happy to give,¡± said Sindri. ¡°Perhaps,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°But if it could be resolved without losing any men, wouldn¡¯t that be even better?¡± ¡°It would, but are we really going to gamble away such an opportunity for that? She¡¯s not even confident that it will work, and as soon as she tries to negotiate with them, we¡¯ll lose the element of surprise. If we march now, we¡¯ll have a better chance of victory, and lose fewer men.¡± ¡°I would make that gamble,¡± said another Councilor. It was Magnus, who, according to Hallbjorn, was her staunchest supporter on the Council. Elise had only ever seen him from a distance, as he lived on the opposite side of the city, and rarely came to the castle, but just that was enough to leave an impression. He was by far the biggest dwarf she had seen, and by every metric. He was half a head taller than Hallbjorn, who was the next tallest dwarf she knew, and he was twice as broad. His chair at the Council table had to be custom built because he didn¡¯t fit in the ordinary ones. ¡°Even if we take the ghouls by surprise, what then?¡± he continued. ¡°We won¡¯t be able to wipe them out in one go. They know they can¡¯t stand against our warriors, so they¡¯ll retreat. We may take their cavern, but they will sneak around behind us and take ours. We take out their tunnels whenever we can, but who knows how many others they have that we¡¯ve missed. If we send an army in, they will send their assassins to kill our families. No matter how the war starts, it will turn into a battle of attrition, and the ghouls will have the advantage there.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s going to be a war of attrition, we need to kill as many of them as we can, and do it as soon as possible,¡± said Sindri. ¡°They may be better at poison and stealth, but if we can outnumber them, we will still win.¡± ¡°But at what cost?¡± said Magnus. ¡°Without a miracle, an all-out war with the ghouls would leave half our people or more dead, even if we win. And if we lose, we will all die. Given that, I¡¯d rather gamble on the chance of no death, even if it¡¯s a small chance.¡± ¡°And what if we lose the war because we made that gamble?¡± said Sindri. ¡°I¡¯m confident that we can win if we attack them now. It will be costly, but we¡¯ll win. Without the element of surprise, I¡¯m much less confident. If we try to negotiate and it fails, the war will start immediately, and we will lose our advantage, and possibly our lives.¡± ¡°You both are assuming that there¡¯s a chance that thing succeeds,¡± said Josef. ¡°I still don¡¯t see any reason to trust her, but, on the off-chance that she would make a sincere attempt, when have the ghouls ever been reasonable? They¡¯ve been killing us for centuries. You think they¡¯ll suddenly stop just because one fey asks them to?¡± ¡°She is a fey,¡± said Magnus. ¡°To them, the fey are divine.¡± ¡°And no doubt they have other ¡®divine¡¯ fey telling them to kill us all,¡± said Josef. ¡°I agree with Sindri. We should attack immediately.¡± ¡°You all make good points,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°As it stands now, I think that it¡¯s too risky to gamble the kingdom on negotiation.¡± Elise¡¯s heart sank. ¡°However,¡± continued the king. ¡°I don¡¯t want to give up on the idea. Currently, we know too little about the possibility of negotiation. I think there is more to be learned from the two ghouls we have captive. For now that meeting is adjourned. We will reconvene in an hour. Elise, come with me. We¡¯re going to the dungeon.¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Your Majesty, you¡¯re going to see them personally?¡± asked Josef. ¡°I am,¡± he said. ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s a good idea?¡± ¡°I am.¡± Josef glanced at Elise with a look of unhidden disgust, then bowed to the king. ¡°Do not be swayed by their words. They may very well be lying.¡± ¡°I will take that into consideration,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°Now go.¡± As they approached the Dungeon, Elise could hear the drow whispering to each other in their language. Elise had no idea what they were saying, but she could guess what they were talking about. When the door to the dungeon opened, the whispers ceased in an instant, and both drow stared at her with looks of confusion. ¡°I am Hallbjorn, king of Dokkalfheimr,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°I have come here to speak with you and discuss the possibility of peace.¡± ¡°There will be no peace, you filthy Envahi!¡± said Claudia. ¡°Claudia, please,¡± said Elise. ¡°At least hear him out.¡± ¡°...As you command.¡± ¡°We are aware of your prophecy,¡± continued Hallbjorn. ¡°It states that there will be no dwarves left in the cave within a year. We would love to make that prophecy come true. For centuries, our goal has been to leave this cave. If your¡­ people can agree on non-aggression while we dig a tunnel out of the cave, your prophecy will be fulfilled, and no blood will be shed.¡± ¡°Why should we-?¡± started Claudia. ¡°I believe our queen would agree to zose terms,¡± interrupted Marie. ¡°And some of ze Elders may as well. ¡®Owever, I do not believe zat ze Great Fey would.¡± ¡°Does that mean that peace would be unachievable?¡± ¡°I do not know,¡± said Marie. ¡°I think zat peace is achievable.¡± ¡°How likely do you think it is?¡± ¡°Not very.¡± ¡°What if Elise went to your queen to negotiate directly?¡± ¡°If she proposes ze idea, zen it is more likely. ¡®Alf and ¡®alf, maybe.¡± ¡°And what if I let you two leave safely as well? Would that increase the odds even more?¡± Claudia¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Yes, I believe so,¡± said Marie. ¡°I see,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°And how can I trust that you are telling the truth, and not just telling me what I want to hear to deceive me?¡± ¡°I would not lie to a fey.¡± ¡°But you would lie to a dwarf.¡± Marie looked at Elise, then back at Hallbjorn, then back at Elise, the back at Hallbjorn. ¡°I do not understand ze situation ¡®ere, but I am not lying.¡± ¡°Then I will take your testimony into account. Elise, do you have anything else you wish to say?¡± ¡°Do you really believe that we can have peace?¡± asked Elise. ¡°I do,¡± said Marie firmly. ¡°Claudia?¡± ¡°...Marie would know better than me. I think it sounds possible.¡± ¡°Then I think we should try,¡± said Elise. ¡°Let¡¯s discuss elsewhere,¡± said Hallbjorn. The king turned to leave the dungeon without another word. Elise stayed behind a few seconds longer to thank the drow, then followed behind. The castle¡¯s corridors were deserted. The servants were all locked in their rooms, in case any drow remained, and the guards were all concentrated on the most important areas. They did not see another dwarf until they arrived at Hallbjorn¡¯s office, which was guarded by a half dozen Royal Guards. Inside the office, Hallbjorn trudged to his desk, flopped into his chair, and put his head in his hands. Elise didn¡¯t say anything. She empathized with his position, and didn¡¯t envy him at all. He needed to make a decision, and the outcome of that decision could result in the extinction of his people. Elise herself was feeling some of the stress as well. Although she had volunteered to do the negotiating, if he chose that route, then it would all depend on her. If she failed, it could mean total destruction for either, or both groups. ¡°Elise,¡± said Hallbjorn, raising his head. ¡°Are you sure you are willing to try to negotiate peace for us?¡± ¡°I- I am.¡± ¡°And you will do your best to reach an outcome that saves as many lives as possible?¡± ¡°I will.¡± ¡°Then I am going to choose to trust you,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s a risk, and one that may end up getting my people killed. However, that risk still exists if I choose war. I want as many of my people to live as possible, even if that means making peace with the ghouls.¡± Elise felt as if a massive weight was pressing down on her shoulders. ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to-¡± She stopped herself. ¡°No, I will negotiate peace with the drow. I won¡¯t fail. Your trust in me won¡¯t be in vain.¡± ¡°I hope so,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯ll have to inform the Council, and discuss with them, but even if they advise me against it, I will use my authority as king to override it. You and the two gho- the two drow will be released by the end of the day. Time is of the essence. In fact, we should call them back right now. It hasn¡¯t been an hour, but there¡¯s no point in waiting.¡± He stood up from his desk and marched out of the room. Five minutes later, the Council was once again gathered in the chamber. This time, the whole group was there. Those that were late had arrived, and between the extra people and the new tension, being in the room felt almost suffocating. ¡°After speaking to the prisoners, I have come to a decision,¡± announced Hallbjorn. ¡°We will attempt to negotiate for peace.¡± ¡°Your Majesty, I think we would be making a huge mistake by doing this,¡± said Josef. ¡°Maybe,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°But we have a chance of being able to leave the cave with no interference from the ghouls, and no dwarven casualties. If I choose war instead, there will be no preventing loss of life. I also believe in our warriors. We are not weak. If peace fails, we will simply have to win the war, which is the same as if we chose to forgo the chance at peace.¡± ¡°Hear hear,¡± said Magnus. ¡°I think this is a wise decision, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°I think it is foolish,¡± said Josef. ¡°We can¡¯t trust the fey, and we certainly can¡¯t trust the ghouls, and yet you are making a decision that could determine the fate of our people on their words alone?¡± ¡°I am well aware of what is at stake, and my decision is not based on their words alone,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°I believe that this is the best decision I can make, given our current position, and I am using my power as king to force the decision through. May the gods forgive me if I¡¯m wrong.¡± ¡°Sindri!¡± said Josef. ¡°Surely you can see what a mistake we¡¯re making.¡± ¡°The king has made his decision,¡± said Sindri. ¡°I will go along with it. I wouldn¡¯t have made the same choice, but I am not the king.¡± Josef looked around, hoping to find more support, but aside from a few of the other Councilors sitting near him, no one met his eyes. He huffed, and leaned back in his chair. ¡°Good,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°Now, we need to discuss logistics. In order to have the highest chance of success possible, I will be sending the two prisoners back alive with Elise.¡± The Council chamber burst into conversation. Most of the Councilors seemed to be against this decision. Hallbjorn let them try to talk over each other for a few seconds before bringing his hand down on the table with a loud boom that made everyone else fall silent. ¡°We have chosen to try for peace,¡± he said. ¡°We are not going to start that attempt by killing our hostages.¡± ¡°They won¡¯t know,¡± said Josef. ¡°We can just say they died trying to escape.¡± ¡°If we sent them back alive as a gesture of good will, that would make it more likely their leaders would agree to our offer.¡± ¡°We¡¯re handing them back lost fighting power,¡± said Josef. ¡°Two drow aren¡¯t going to make a difference,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°Enough on this. We will be sending them back.¡± ¡°Your Majesty, I agree that sending them back is the best option, but we can¡¯t just set them loose,¡± said Magnus. ¡°I don¡¯t think any of us would comfortable with drow running around the city unrestrained.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°They won¡¯t be freed from their restraints until they are outside of the city.¡± ¡°How are we going to get them there?¡± asked Sindri. ¡°I can¡¯t imagine the people would be happy if they saw us escorting two drow to safety.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve thought of a way,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°It will be impossible to keep this deal secret from the people, and I would not want to do so, but in order to avoid potential issues, we will keep it secret until after the drow are gone. We will send them out hidden in an ordinary supply cart. I¡¯ll have some of my Royal Guards in disguise going with the cart to smooth the journey over, and when they reach the wall, the ghouls will be freed and sent on their way.¡± ¡°Sounds good to me,¡± said Sindri. There were murmurs of reluctant assent around the table. None of the dwarves looked happy about the prospect of letting the drow live, but none of them were willing to voice their grudges when the king had made it so clear what he planned to do. Josef was positively seething, but with no one else willing to speak up, he held his tongue too. ¡°Then it¡¯s settled,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°Does anyone have any final thoughts before we adjourn this meeting?¡± No one spoke up. ¡°Then you are all dismissed. Elise, you¡¯re with me again.¡± 24 - Escape It only took 15 minutes from the end of the Council meeting for everything to be prepared. There were a half dozen covered stone wagons already waiting at the ground floor of the castle, and it only took a few minutes to bring the drow from the dungeons. The part that took the longest was getting the Royal Guards to don their disguises. Since they had all been in armor until that point, taking off the armor and changing into normal clothes took almost a full ten minutes. None of the three guards assigned to the wagon were ones that Elise knew. She would have felt more comfortable if Baldur or Jonas was there, but she knew that neither of them were among the best, and Hallbjorn wanted the best on this mission. The dwarf in charge was a seasoned veteran named Snorri with a beard with more gray than brown. His fighting prowess was second only to Sindri¡¯s. The other two were younger ones who seemed like the strong silent types. Their names were Runar and Karl, and they both wielded heavy greataxes. Elise thought the disguises could have used some work, since underneath the ordinary clothes, it was still very obvious how well-muscled they were, and their weapons still stood out quite a bit, but given how little time they had, it was good enough. The back of the wagon was loaded with empty stone crates and barrels, strewn about seemingly randomly. Most of them smelled strongly of mushrooms, a scent that Elise was starting to grow weary of, after spending so much time with the dwarves. When it came time to enter, Elise chose a barrel to hide in, while each of the drow picked one of the crates. Elise regretted her choice almost immediately when she got inside and realized that the barrel had previously been used for some kind of alcohol. Runar and Karl got in last, sitting on opposite sides of the back of the wagon, doing their best to look like weary laborers. It struck Elise that their disguise would probably not work at all, since all the real weary laborers were locked in their homes, or in safe rooms in the castle, but the goal was not to fool the people. Just to hide the truth until it was safe for the truth to be revealed. The people might have questioned it, but no one would dare stop them. They made it out of the castle without any issues, but Elise twitched and flinched at every sound she heard outside. None of it sounded suspicious on its own, but that in and of itself was suspicious. Josef probably would have leaked information about the mission, right? Or maybe not. Would he really be willing to sabotage such an important mission just because the king disagreed with him? She wasn¡¯t sure, but the lack of complications was making her restless. She was almost relieved when the wagon ground to an unplanned halt. It was not at all a good thing, but at least the manifestation of Murphy¡¯s law would not be a mystery anymore. ¡°Halt!¡± said a voice from in front of the wagon. The one who spoke was one of six blocking the road in front of them, if Elise counted the breathing sounds correctly. He had a deep, gravelly voice that carried well, even though he wasn¡¯t speaking that loudly. ¡°Snorri?¡± said the voice. ¡°When the hell did you become a cart-driver?¡± ¡°Olvir?¡± replied Snorri. ¡°When the hell did the City Watch start accepting volunteers?¡± ¡°When the ghouls broke into the castle,¡± replied Olvir. ¡°No, I don¡¯t believe they ever did,¡± said Snorri. ¡°I am pretty sure that anyone who wasn¡¯t directly involved with the city protection efforts is supposed to be inside their homes, keeping safe.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to sit on my arse when there are ghouls running around in the city.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯re disobeying a direct royal decree.¡± ¡°A royal decree from a fey-lover.¡± Between the tension and the fumes, Elise was almost having trouble breathing. Whoever this Olvir person was didn¡¯t sound like good news. If he was on a first name basis with one of the higher-ranked Royal Guards, he probably was someone relatively important. And based on the sounds of armor scraping whenever the six on the road shifted, they were all heavily armed. ¡°So, you wanna tell me what you¡¯ve got in that wagon?¡± said Olvir finally. ¡°I¡¯m on a mission from the king,¡± said Snorri. ¡°Step aside.¡± ¡°Tell me what¡¯s in the wagon first.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll find out soon enough. Step aside.¡± ¡°No. You¡¯re being controlled, aren¡¯t you? That thing got the king, and now it¡¯s got you too. It¡¯s probably using you to escape with its ghoul friends.¡± ¡°Olvir, you are directly defying an order from the king himself,¡± said Snorri. ¡°You¡¯ll be arrested.¡± ¡°Or maybe I¡¯ll be hailed as a hero when I kill that thing,¡± countered Olvir. ¡°Now, are you going to let me see what¡¯s in that wagon, or are you going to keep making things difficult. I don¡¯t want to hurt you.¡± ¡°You couldn¡¯t hurt me if you tried.¡± ¡°Maybe 20 years ago,¡± said Olvir. ¡°Now? Things are different. Let me see what¡¯s in the cart.¡± For a few seconds, no one spoke or moved. ¡°Fine,¡± said Snorri. ¡°Have a look. It¡¯s a decoy cart. There¡¯s nothing in there.¡± ¡°A likely story,¡± said Olvir. ¡°Elias! Einar! Check it out!¡± What is he doing? thought Elise, panicking. At the same moment, she heard another voice in her head. It was Claudia¡¯s. ¡°Elise! Come to me! Quickly!¡± It took Elise a moment to register what she was hearing. When she finally did, she hopped out of her barrel and onto the edge of Claudia¡¯s crate. It was empty. She was about to turn and look to Marie¡¯s when suddenly, Claudia appeared below her, still in the crate where Elise had last seen her. The drow woman made a hurried gesture toward herself, and Elise jumped into the box with her. Claudia held her tight to her body and a wave of mana passed over them and they both vanished.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. And not a moment too soon. At that point, the vigilantes¡¯ heavy footsteps reached the back of the wagon and the cloth cover was thrown open. Fortunately, while Elise was no master of stealth, no one seemed to have heard anything. Runar and Karl were getting out of the wagon at the same time Elise was changing her location, so any sounds she made were covered up. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, two dwarves jumped inside, and the whole wagon shook as they made their way to the front, checking each and every crate. When they reached Claudia and Elise¡¯s crate, Elise held her breath. The two dwarves peered down together. One was a young man. Very young, by the length of his beard, which barely hid his neck. The other was much older, and there were only a few traces of brown left in his mostly gray beard. Neither of them reacted when they looked inside, meaning Claudia¡¯s stealth ability held. They moved on, checking the last few crates and barrels, including Marie¡¯s but it seemed that Marie had a similar, if not identical ability, and they did not see her either. ¡°Nothing in here,¡± called one of the dwarves inside. Elise didn¡¯t let out her breath yet, but she did release the tension in her body, as did Claudia. With all the talk amongst the dwarves about drow being able to vanish in plain sight, she had fully expected them to be better at checking for invisible people, but either they were incompetent or lazy, and had done a very poor job. ¡°Nothing?¡± asked Olvir. ¡°I¡¯m going to have a look.¡± ¡°Like I said, there¡¯s nothing there,¡± said Snorri. ¡°This wagon¡¯s a decoy.¡± Olvir ignored him and marched around to the back, and jumped in the wagon. Why aren¡¯t you stopping him? Elise wanted to shout, but that would only guarantee they would be found. As Olvir entered the wagon, she heard Snorri dismount and slip around to the back himself, but Elise already knew he would be too late to do anything. Olvir proceeded to make his way through the wagon, kicking every empty crate and barrel he passed by. Elise felt both her own heartrate, and Claudia¡¯s heartrate below her climb to dangerous levels. They would be found if he continued like this. Claudia stood up and hopped nimbly out of the crate, not making a sound. She held Elise at her side and crept over to an empty space on the wagon¡¯s floor. Elise hoped Marie was doing the same. Now out of the crate, Elise was able to get a good look at the man who had stopped them. He looked about the same age as Snorri, which somewhat explained how they knew each other. He was also the most intimidating person she had ever seen. He had a long scar running down his face, passing right between his eyes, and he was dressed head to toe in armor that was so over-the-top it would have been funny if he wasn¡¯t trying to kill them. It was thicker and heavier than any other armor she had ever seen, and had spikes jutting out at seemingly random intervals on every segment. He had a huge ax in one hand, and a spiked shield in the other, and the look in his eyes was manic and obsessive. Their strategy of getting out of the crate worked at first. When the older dwarf kicked the crate they had been in a few seconds prior, it moved just as an empty crate would, and he frowned and moved on. Elise held her breath again as he made it to the front of the wagon, and went to kick the final crate, the one where Marie had been hiding. It rang hollow as well. But something was wrong. The crate was clearly empty, but it didn¡¯t move right. It got caught on something that wasn¡¯t there, and the dwarf noticed that. For a moment, he did nothing. Then, all of a sudden, he swung his axe, and a spurt of blood appeared alongside Marie with the axe embedded in her collarbone. ¡°Ghoul!¡± roared the man, pulling his axe from the bleeding Drow. Claudia wasted no time, and wove between all the disorderly wooden containers toward the exit. Unfortunately, the other two dwarves were still there, and though she almost managed to slip by, her shoulder brushed against the younger dwarf¡¯s shoulder, and that was enough to break the invisibility. ¡°Another!¡± shouted the young dwarf¡¯s father. ¡°And she¡¯s holding the fey!¡± Most of the time, Elise was very glad for her near 360 degree field of view. It let her see danger coming from all angles, no matter which way she was directing her attention. However, sometimes, she felt it was almost a curse, because she also couldn¡¯t look away from things she didn¡¯t want to see. She felt very cursed indeed when she saw the old dwarf in the wagon relieve Marie of her head. Now visible, and without any weapons, Claudia didn¡¯t even bother to fight, and dashed away down the street. She was far faster than any of their pursuers, and after a few random twists and turns, they had completely lost the dwarves. When they came to a particularly narrow abandoned alley, Claudia slowed to a stop, and set Elise on the ground. ¡°We must separate,¡± she said. ¡°No, we can still make it!¡± protested Elise. ¡°You¡¯re fast! We can get around them.¡± ¡°I am sorry, Great Fey, but I may be able to, but not with you.¡± Elise wanted to argue more, but she knew the Drow was right. Elise had no stealth skills, and was slower than Claudia by a significant margin. And she stood out too much. If Elise was with her, she would not only slow her down, she might even give them away. ¡°I will tell our queen of what ¡®appened. I will not forget you. I promise, I will do my utmost to return ¡®ome and convince my people of peace. You should return to ze invader- ze dwarf king and inform him of what ¡®appened. We can still make zis work.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± said Elise. ¡°D-don¡¯t die.¡± ¡°As you command, Great Fey.¡± And with that she turned and ran. Elise turned to leave as well, though in her case, she flew instead. She had already been spotted by the vigilante dwarves, so what she needed now was speed, not stealth. She made it back to the castle before the alarm bells went off again, entering through the window of her tower bedchamber. She immediately made for the king¡¯s office, where she knew he would be. ¡°Elise?¡± he said. ¡°What¡¯s going-¡± It was at that moment that the alarm bells started to ring again, and the king¡¯s face turned grim. ¡°It failed,¡± he said. ¡°Mostly,¡± said Elise. ¡°Marie- one of the drow is dead. The other is on the run. She says she thinks she can make it, and she will try to convince her queen when she does, but with the alarms going off¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope she makes it. And without killing any of my men.¡± ¡°She doesn¡¯t have a weapon. Her hands are cuffed.¡± ¡°The ghouls don¡¯t need weapons to kill.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think she would. She knows what¡¯s at stake.¡± ¡°She¡¯d better.¡± ¡°Also¡­¡± started Elise. ¡°I was spotted. I know it was an official mission, but the rumors won¡¯t be good. Claudia¨C the drow that¡¯s still alive¨C was holding me and we escaped together.¡± ¡°What exactly happened?¡± ¡°There were some vigilantes. They stopped the carriage. And there were no city guards around to stop them, since they¡¯re all patrolling the perimeter of the city right now.¡± ¡°Dammit,¡± said the king. ¡°Wait here for now. We¡¯ll see if your ghoul makes it out. If not, we¡¯ll need a new plan.¡± The Council was called again, but the king chose not to attend, instead staying in his office with Elise. News kept coming in about the situation, ranging from direct testimony from Snorri and the vigilantes from a rumor from the wrong side of the city that the Drow were leading an army inside. The chaos slowly died down, and Elise was beginning to think that Claudia might have actually made it out, until one final message came in. It was only a few words long, but it made Elise¡¯s heart sink. ¡°Ghoul found,¡± read the king aloud. ¡°Exterminated.¡± NOT A CHAPTER - NOT IMPORTANT - Reflection and Announcement(ish) Hidden behind the spoiler text below is my old rant-ish thing that is no longer relevant. Feel free to skip. I have already made dev edits, so the below is no longer relevant. I wrote out the below just now in a cathartic trance, and now looking back, I''d like to preface it and clear up some concern. I am NOT dropping the story. I am NOT stopping to do a rewrite. I am NOT caving to feedback from a few more vocal readers. This just me letting you all know that I do see your comments and reviews, and that I am aware of the issues that some of you are having with the story. If you have had no issues with the story, feel free to ignore all this. Now, without further ado, behold: I''ve been getting some comments and reviews lately complaining about this most recent arc. I hear you, and I understand. I made a promise in the first few chapters, and with the title, and then kind of broke it writing this arc. I promised evolution and survival, and instead, you''ve gotten a politics arc that I probably should have saved until way later, if I did it at all. Unfortunately for you all, you''re just going to have to deal with it. This is what I wrote, and I''m not going to change it. Even if I was going to, it''s way too late for that. I already have the resolution of this arc written in my backlog, and we''ve moved beyond that. Basically what happened here is that I started this arc, created a setting and a background and tossed Elise into it, then started working toward resolving the situation. The solution took longer to arrive than I thought it was, but as I wrote, I didn''t really care. Never once did it cross my mind that this was a big tonal shift from what came before it, nor did I realize how my release schedule would make it feel. I''m a pantser, not a planner. I planted the seeds, and did not control the growth well, and it expanded into this. That being said, I don''t think this arc is all bad. I still kind of like it. Obviously, I could have executed better, but I think that the overall plotline is still alright, and I hope you all think that too when you finally see the resolution. I will eventually edit this when I prepare for Amazon, I''ll clean up some of the plotholes and maybe streamline the arc a bit, but the overall sequence of events is going to remain the same. Now that I''ve got that out of the way, here''s some good news: Book 1 is done on my end. It''s not perfect, but it''s complete, and I''ve started on Book 2. I''m learning from my mistakes, and I''m going to make sure that I don''t fall into the same pits again. Book 2 has the added bonus of Elise being much stronger (yes, she will start gaining levels again), so it''s easier for me to come up with ways for her to be productive and proactive. Please note that this is NOT a promise that I won''t do another politic arc, or that I''m going to put my foot on the gas and accelerate the pace by a ton. I like writing this story, and I want it to go on for a while, so I won''t amp up the progression too much. If she evolves too quickly, the story will end, and I don''t think any of us want that. Rather, I will focus on maintaining her agency more fully, and if I do more politics, I will do them better.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. In conclusion, this arc is here, and here to stay, but it does have an end. It will take a while for it to get here because of my slow release schedule, but it will arrive. After that, I don''t know where the story will go, because as I mentioned, I''m a pantser, not a planner. However, I will do my best not to create any more situations where Elise loses agency and stops leveling for long periods of time. Thanks you all for reading. I hope you stick around to read more. Here are some questions you may have after reading all that: Q: If you have the end of the arc written, why don''t you just post it all now so we can see the resolution? A: That would decimate my backlog, and there''s a non-zero chance my schedule would become inconsistent after that. I''m in my senior year studying engineering. My availability is not consistent. I can guarantee 2 chapters a week. Any more than that is bonus. I also have been going back and editing chapters to make sure that the ending is consistent with what came before it, and I''m still doing some of that, so I don''t want to pull that trigger, only for you all to find a bajillion new plot holes. Q: Will you change your release schedule in the future? A: I really can''t say, for the reasons listed above. My availability is inconsistent. It all depends on how much I''m able to write. If I can consistently output 3 chapters a week, I might change my upload schedule back to 3/week. I don''t know if I''ll be able to do any more than that though. For the foreseeable future, it will remain 2/week Q: When will Elise get back outside? A: Well, Imaginary-Reader-I-Created-To-Ask-Myself-This-Question, I''m glad you asked! On the Patreon advance chapters right now, she actually has made it back outside. Go check it out (or don''t. I''m not your dad)! Q: Will you stay at just 8 advance chapters for your highest tier on Patreon? A: IRICTAMTQ, back again with another great question. The answer to this one is ''No!'' As of right now, the top tier on Patreon is actually 10 chapters ahead! By the time the next chapter is posted, it will be 12 chapters ahead. That''s a full 6 weeks! Q: Why are you letting the negative feedback get to your head? A: I''d be lying if I said it wasn''t discouraging, but I''m not letting it influence me too much. I think. Seeing a negative comment or review brings me down, but I after the initial sucker punch, I can detach myself and look at things objectively. A lot of the critique I''ve gotten is valid. The story is flawed, but I think its bones are still good, and I know I haven''t killed it. I also think that my slow release schedule is exacerbating the feeling. The arc might feel like it''s dragging, but it''s only been 6 or 7 chapters. I''ll learn from my mistakes in this book and make an even better book 2. You''d better look forward to it. Or else. Alright, that was 1k words, so I''ll end this note here. I''ll write up another reflection at the end of this book where I can talk in more detail about what happened without worrying about spoilers, but for now, you''ll have to make do with this. TL;DR: I know I messed up a lil bit this arc, and I will strive to improve in the future. 25 - Farewell Elise spent the rest of the day in her room doing nothing. She didn¡¯t cry¨C she didn¡¯t know the Drow well enough to cry for them¨C but she did feel hollow. Elise had brought up the idea of continuing with the plan, and sending her straight for the drow, to negotiate, but Hallbjorn rejected that idea. Without Marie and Claudia, the odds of the plan succeeding were reduced. For the moment, she would just have to wait while he reconsidered what he wanted to do. She continued to do nothing for the rest of the night, not moving from her spot in the corner of her bed. She ignored the plate of mushrooms that Jona had slipped in for her dinner, but at some point late in the night when she woke up from her restless sleep, she gave in to thirst and drank some of the lukewarm water in the bowl beside it. The next morning, she planned to do nothing again. She knew she couldn''t stay like that forever, or even for the rest of the day, but she just couldn¡¯t bring herself to move any further than was necessary to sate her thirst. However, someone else had other plans. There was a loud knock at the door about an hour after Dwarven Sunrise, when the streetlights turned on. Elise ignored it the first time and the second time, but when it came a third time, and showed no sign of impatience, she knew she would have to respond. ¡°What is it?¡± she called. ¡°Lady Greta is here for your lesson,¡± said a Jona¡¯s voice. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Lady Greta is here for your lesson,¡± repeated the maid. Elise had been expecting something more formal, like a summons from the king, or a message relating to the prior day¡¯s failed mission, so hearing of Greta shocked her so much it brought her back to her senses. ¡°I¡¯ll be right there,¡± said Elise. She hopped out of bed, stretched her legs and ran to the door, opening it with {Prehensile Vines}. ¡°Is she in the library?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Yes,¡± said the maid. ¡°Allow me to escort you.¡± Greta was waiting for her at one of the tables in the library with her arms crossed and her face looking even grumpier than usual. ¡°You¡¯re late,¡± she harrumphed. ¡°Sorry Teacher, I didn¡¯t know you would be coming today,¡± said Elise. ¡°Of course I came! You skipped out on me yesterday.¡± Elise had been so caught up in wondering why Greta had come to do their lesson that she had almost completely forgotten what had happened at their last lesson when Elise put her to sleep. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Teacher. I should never have done that to you. I just didn¡¯t-¡± ¡°Bah! Does it look like I care? Sit down, we¡¯re already running behind.¡± ¡°I-¡± Elise hesitated. ¡°Yes, Teacher.¡± ¡°Good. They told me you haven¡¯t eaten since yesterday, so I brought some snacks.¡± She tossed a small sack of fresh morels from her garden on the table in front of Elise. ¡°I¡¯m not hungry.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t give me that,¡± said Greta. ¡°You need to eat if you want to grow.¡± ¡°Teacher, I swear, I¡¯m not hungry.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°What made you lose your appetite?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Elise. ¡°That runt Hallbjorn told me you went out on a mission yesterday.¡± ¡°He did? When did you talk to him?¡± ¡°Just now, obviously. Are you feeling sad that you failed?¡± ¡°Maybe a little.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be. Everyone fails! You¡¯re not special. You don¡¯t get to starve yourself just because things didn¡¯t go your way.¡± ¡°But people died,¡± said Elise. ¡°They died, and I couldn¡¯t do anything about it.¡± ¡°People die all the time.¡± ¡°But I promised to take them back to their homes. But then when the danger started, they were the ones protecting me, and there was nothing I could do to save them.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re sad because you¡¯re weak? How is not eating supposed to help with that? If you¡¯re weak, that just means you need to get stronger, and if you want to get stronger, you need to eat. So eat up!¡± ¡°But-!¡± started Elise before stopping herself. ¡°But what?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± ¡°The past is done. Bad things happen. All you can do is learn from your mistakes and do better in the future. But you can¡¯t to better in the future if you starve yourself.¡± Elise turned to the bag of mushrooms, and a feeling of hunger came over her. Greta¡¯s words struck a chord with her, and she realized how foolish she was being. Marie and Claudia¡¯s deaths were tragic, but they did not affect her goals. It was just like with the warg. If she wanted to stop things like that from happening in the future, she needed to move on, and keep growing. While she ate, she formulated a plan in her head. Hallbjorn hadn¡¯t summoned her, so he hadn¡¯t made a decision yet, but she had made her decision. If he still hadn¡¯t summoned her by the end of the lesson, she was going to go to him and deliver an ultimatum. Either he would send her to the drow to negotiate, or he would send her to the surface so she could leave. No matter which option was chosen though, she would be leaving by the end of the day. ¡°Are you ready?¡± asked Greta when Elise finished eating. ¡°Yes, Teacher.¡± ¡°Good. I¡¯ve decided to change the lesson plan. We¡¯ve been covering pre-Dark Age history up until now, but we¡¯ve gotten far enough now that it¡¯s time to move on. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve had enough talk of Dwarven tax politics and human tax policies. To cut a short story shorter, Benedikt the Braindead¡¯s son was no wiser than he, and a couple decades later, to escape total enslavement, the majority of the remaining dwarves packed up and left. They found a large cave in the side of a mountain deep in an uninhabited forest that they thought was suitable, and so began the Dark-¡± She coughed. ¡°The Dark Age.¡± ¡°Teacher, are you alright?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. Gideon the leader of Albionia heard of the flight of the dwarves, and chased them all the way to the mountain. The dwarves like to say that it was because the humans simply wanted to enslave us, but in truth, we had mutinied against their tax collectors and made off with quite a bit of their gold. We still have it, actually, in some vault somewhere deep under the castle. ¡°Anyway, the humans chased the dwarves all the way into the cave, and with more numbers and higher levels than the dwarves could ever hope to fight against, so rather than fight, they simply collapsed the entrance to the cave behind them. A few dwarves died in the incident, but many more humans did, or so the stories go. We don¡¯t know for certain because no one has been able to return to the surface to confirm it yet. ¡°Benedikt¡¯s son Bjorn believed that such a large cave system must have had another exit somewhere, but he was wrong. The entrance that was collapsed was the only way in. The rest only went down. ¡°The dwarves traveled through the caves¨C nasty places by the way. Full of all sorts of nasty bugs and frogs and other sorts of slimy cave creatures¨C for three months until they finally came upon a place worth settling down in. You can probably guess where that was, right?¡± ¡°Here?¡± ¡°Not quite. Do you know what this place was before?¡± Elise thought back to her conversation with Claudia and Marie. ¡°The home of the Drow.¡± ¡°Yes. Good. The dwarves came across a cave that had everything they needed: water, trees, and even edible, but dangerous livestock.¡± ¡°Omnivorous Cyclops Cows?¡± Elise guessed. ¡°Yes. How did you know that?¡± ¡°I ran into a couple before.¡± ¡°I thought you said you had never met the Drow before.¡± ¡°I hadn¡¯t. I found the cows in a cave and had to run away.¡± ¡°Did that cave have an enormous black tree with glowing white fruit in its center?¡± ¡°Yes, is that-? Did I find the home of the Drow?¡± ¡°It would seem so,¡± said Greta. ¡°How unfortunate for you. If you had gone back, you likely would have been discovered by the Drow, and you would be living a life of luxury.¡± Elise wasn¡¯t sure how to respond to that. Knowing she had been so close to the species that would have worshiped her without meeting them made her feel strange. What if she had gone a few hours earlier, or a few hours later? The cows might not have been there, and she might have made it far enough in to meet a Drow. What if she had decided to go back there instead of exploring the lake? If that was the Drow¡¯s home, surely they would have noticed the appearance of the wyrm¡¯s intrusion after the cows destroyed the vines hiding it. Perhaps there would have been drow waiting to give her a warm welcome when she got there. ¡°But enough on that,¡± said Greta, interrupting her train of thought. ¡°The dwarves found the cave of the Drow. Can you guess what happened next?¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Greta had a slight smirk, which Elise knew she meant she was asking a trick question. The Dwarven answer would be that the Drow attacked, and the dwarves fought back out of self defense, ultimately driving them out of the cavern. But that was clearly not correct. ¡°Did the dwarves take over the cave before the Drow could properly react?¡± ¡°Of course not!¡± snapped Greta. ¡°Where did you-¡± She coughed again. ¡°Where did you get such a ridiculous idea?¡± ¡°Teacher, are you feeling sick?¡± asked Elise. ¡°I feel-¡± she doubled over and coughed a few more times before straightening up. ¡°I feel fine. I just had something lodged in my throat.¡± ¡°Teacher, there¡¯s the epidemic going around-¡± ¡°You think I don¡¯t know that?¡± Greta snapped. ¡°I said I¡¯m fine. Now, the Drow. They actually welcomed us with open arms.¡± Elise had a bad feeling about the old woman¡¯s cough, but she did seem to be doing alright, now that the coughing fit was over, so she let it slide. ¡°They did?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Of course! Why wouldn¡¯t they? They are an underground race. They can¡¯t stand the sun. They were curious what the outside world was like, and what living in a place where the sky wasn¡¯t made of stone was like. The language barrier was a problem for a short while, but we soon learned each others¡¯ languages, and started living together in peace.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± asked Elise. ¡°I- I talked to some drow recently.¡± ¡°Yes, that runt Hallbjorn told me about it. Told me they said some strange things to you.¡± ¡°They said that the dwarves killed their Sister Tree. I¡¯m not sure exactly what that means though.¡± ¡°We did not kill their Sister Tree,¡± said Greta. ¡°It died on its own. But that wasn¡¯t the start of the conflict. That only happened near the end, and was the last straw that made negotiation impossible. Now stop asking questions and pay attention.¡± ¡°I- Yes, teacher.¡± ¡°The drow are a strange people. They worship trees and Fey. More specifically, they worship their ¡®Mother Tree¡¯ and Titania, Goddess of the Fey. They say their people descended from the union of an elf and a Fey, and they sometimes have strange, Fey-like powers, and the tree is supposed to be a gift from Titania herself. I think that last bit¡¯s a load of hogwash; it¡¯s just a big tree. ¡°But anyway, their Mother Tree bore exactly one seed, which they planted in a nearby cavern, the one the dwarves found. It was not nearly as large or powerful as the Mother Tree, but it was magnificent nonetheless and the Drow and dwarves became such close friends that the Drow granted dwarves access to the entire cave containing the Sister Tree. They hoped that the dwarves would eventually come around and see how wonderful it was. The dwarves never did quite that much, but they did have a healthy respect for it, and made sure to treat it carefully, so as not to offend the Drow. ¡°However, that was not enough. In the end, the dwarves and Drow were too different. The dwarves¡¯ population began to grow, and they started to expand the cave, carving houses out of the walls. The Drow didn¡¯t like that¨C they thought it was a violation of Nature¨C but they tolerated it for a time out of respect for the dwarves. ¡°No one knows exactly how the conflict started. We don¡¯t have many records from that time, because the Drow did not allow us to collect wood to make paper, so all we have is testimony from those who were alive during the war. At some point though, the relationship between the two races soured, and turned from friendly to antagonistic. Sometime around the year 789, almost 400 years ago now, the drow committed the first- the first murder-¡± ¡°Teacher!¡± said Elise as Greta doubled over, coughing violently. ¡°I¡¯m-¡± started Greta straightening up, but she never finished her sentence. When she tried to continue, she coughed again, this time sending a small splatter of blood and bile into Elise¡¯s face. ¡°Teacher? Anna! Anna! Get a doctor! She¡¯s sick!¡± ¡°Oh no! What do I-?¡± ¡°Go get a healer!¡± ¡°Okay. Okay. I¡¯ll be right back.¡± ¡°Teacher, the healer will be here soon. Try to stay calm.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not panicking, you-¡± Another spatter of blood burst from her mouth and she gripped the table, hacking as though someone had punched a hole through her lung. Elise ran up to her on the table, but didn¡¯t know what to do when she got there. She was too small to support the old woman, and even if she was bigger, she had no idea what kind of first aid she would even give in this kind of situation. An idea came to her, and she enabled her {Fey Wings} and started sprinkling the woman with as much {Fairy Dust} as she possibly could, thinking as hard as she could about the woman being as healthy as possible. It seemed to work, and the coughing subsided, but Greta still struggled for air, gasping and wheezing, and she could barely sit upright at all. ¡°Where is she?¡± said a voice from the library door. Elise turned to see an old dwarf with a braided gray beard and a white robe. She used {Inspect} out of habit and saw that he was a [Healer of the Body, lvl 13]. ¡°Over here!¡± called Elise. He ran over to where Greta was struggling, and immediately picked her up and laid her out on the table as quickly as he could without hurting her, and then he put his hands on her and got to work. Elise sensed a gentle mana emanating from his hands as he moved them about her torso and head, and five minutes later, Greta¡¯s breath had steadied, and she had fallen asleep. *** Around noon, Elise, Hallbjorn, and an older dwarf named Kristofer who was Greta¡¯s only remaining son were seated around a bed in one of the castle¡¯s guest rooms where Greta lay asleep. The healer said that she was not in danger, but that what he was able to do was limited. He had cured the disease, but the damage it had done to her lungs couldn¡¯t be healed fully. Healing skills used the body¡¯s natural healing, so on older patients whose bodies were no longer able to fully keep up with the skills, there was only so much that could be done. ¡°She will live at least another month,¡± he said. ¡°Maybe three or four if she¡¯s lucky. But she¡¯s already well beyond the age that dwarves usually start to fade down here. Nothing short of a miracle would keep her alive beyond that.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°Thank you for your care.¡± ¡°Anytime, Your Majesty. She should be waking soon. I will be right outside if there are any issues.¡± The doctor stepped out, leaving the other three in melancholic silence. The only sounds were of their breathing and their heartbeats. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t say I wasn¡¯t expecting something like this,¡± said Kristofer with a sigh. ¡°She¡¯s been healthy so long that I¡¯ve been getting nervous.¡± ¡°True,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°A shame it happened the way it did though.¡± He glanced at Elise. ¡°You doing alright?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± said Elise. ¡°Not totally fine, but I¡¯ll be okay.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± said Hallbjorn, nodding. ¡°You did well. If you hadn¡¯t been there, it could have been much worse.¡± ¡°Aye,¡± said Kristofer. ¡°Thank you for that.¡± Elise had only met Kristofer twice before then, but she liked him well enough. Probably as a product of being Greta¡¯s child, he held much less animosity toward the Drow and Fey than most dwarves did, and after a prickly first meeting, he had warmed up to her enough to treat her normally. They returned to silence for another quarter of an hour until Greta¡¯s eyelids fluttered open. ¡°Mom!¡± said Kristofer, leaning forward and clasping her hand. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Kris?¡± she said, looking around. ¡°Where am I?¡± ¡°You¡¯re in the castle. You collapsed, remember?¡± ¡°Collapsed? Oh yes. Where¡¯s the brat? We never finished our lesson.¡± ¡°Mom, the lesson is over for the day.¡± ¡°Nonsense! I haven¡¯t finished yet!¡± ¡°The healer said you need rest.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll rest when the lesson is over.¡± ¡°Teacher, you need to rest,¡± said Elise. ¡°There you are, brat,¡± she replied. ¡°Someone go get me my books so we can continue. What¡¯s with all the long faces?¡± ¡°The healer also said-¡± started Kristofer. ¡°He said you might only have a month left.¡± ¡°All the more reason to continue the lesson. Where are my books?¡± ¡°You will not be continuing the lesson today,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°This is a royal order.¡± ¡°Runt,¡± said Greta. ¡°I wiped your grandfather¡¯s arse, you can¡¯t tell me what to do.¡± ¡°I can, and I will. You will be resting for the rest of the day at least, and then for as long as the healer says you need to.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got a month left, and you want me to spend it bedridden doing nothing?¡± ¡°The healer said you had one to four months, and I want to make sure you get the full four. So you will be resting until I say so. That is my final decision. I¡¯m glad to see you¡¯re doing better. Now that you¡¯re awake, I¡¯ll be heading back to work. Please rest, for your own sake.¡± As soon as the king left, Greta turned to look at Elise, who was sitting at the foot of the bed. ¡°Brat,¡± she said. ¡°Go get the books. We¡¯ll continue the lesson anyway.¡± ¡°Mom, no,¡± said Kristofer. ¡°Quiet, Kris. Brat, go get the books.¡± ¡°No, Teacher.¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°Teacher, I¡¯m leaving?¡± ¡°You¡¯d better be back with the books.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not- I might not be coming back.¡± Greta gave her a long, hard stare before sighing. ¡°I see,¡± she said. ¡°Well don¡¯t let me keep you. Run along.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try to come back,¡± said Elise. ¡°Before you- you know¡­¡± ¡°Before I die? That¡¯s fine. I won¡¯t be going anywhere just yet. I¡¯m not dying without seeing the sun.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make sure you see it sooner than later,¡± said Elise. ¡°I promise.¡± ¡°Good. Good. Now go. Stop wasting time on this old hag.¡± ¡°Thank you for everything, Teacher. I enjoyed our lessons.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± ¡°Goodbye, Kristofer.¡± ¡°Goodbye, Elise,¡± he replied. ¡°I¡¯m not sure where you¡¯re going, but good luck. Try not to die. My mother would be sad.¡± ¡°Hmph,¡± said Greta again. Once outside of the guest room, Elise made a beeline straight for the king¡¯s office, with Baldur and Jonas jogging at her heels. ¡°Hallbjorn,¡± she said as the door opened. ¡°What is it,¡± he said, jumping to his feet. ¡°Did something happen to Greta?¡± ¡°What? No. She¡¯s fine. I have something else to talk to you about.¡± He sat back down, looking relieved, and started straightening his beard. ¡°What is it?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯m leaving.¡± ¡°...When?¡± ¡°Now.¡± ¡°Where are you going?¡± ¡°That¡¯s up to you,¡± she said. ¡°Either I¡¯m going to the drow, or I¡¯m leaving for the surface.¡± ¡°So if I say I want to negotiate-¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll go to the drow.¡± ¡°And if I say we¡¯re attacking?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to the surface. Either way, I¡¯m leaving.¡± The king pondered for a moment, then sighed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to have to put you up to this, but I¡¯d like to try negotiating again.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°I know this isn¡¯t your kingdom, but I need to make the best decision for the kingdom, and that means taking you up on your offer. I hope neither of us come to regret it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± said Elise. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to die. If I left, knowing that staying might have saved lives¡­¡± ¡°I understand,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°I know of a way to get to the Drow without going through the main gate,¡± she said. ¡°The cave that I was first found in, the one with the lake. On the other side, there¡¯s a wyrm tunnel, and from the wyrm tunnel, I can get to the Drow¡¯s cave. If you can get me there, I can go the rest of the way on my own.¡± The king¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°How do you know this? I thought you had never met the Drow before?¡± ¡°I hadn¡¯t,¡± she said. ¡°I found their cave though. I didn¡¯t realize it was their cave until the lesson with Greta this morning. If I can get back to that cave with the lake, I¡¯ll be able to get to the Drow¡¯s cave within an hour.¡± ¡°Then I will get you there,¡± he said. ¡°It will be much easier than getting you to the main wall.¡± He stroked his beard. ¡°Do you have any issue with leaving right now at this moment?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I was hoping for.¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll do that,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with the Council later. Your guards are outside the door right now, right?¡± ¡°They should be.¡± ¡°Jonas! Baldur!¡± The door opened a crack and Elise¡¯s guards poked their heads in. ¡°Yes, Your Majesty?¡± said Jonas ¡°You are to take Elise to the northeast lake.¡± ¡°The northeast lake, Your Majesty?¡± ¡°Did I stutter?¡± ¡°No, Your Majesty. I will do as you command.¡± ¡°Good. Take this.¡± Petur walked in to grab the note from the king¡¯s hands. ¡°Elise, do you need anything else before you leave?¡± ¡°No, but¡­ You¡¯re a good king, Hallbjorn, and I¡¯ll make sure you become a great one.¡± ¡°And if this works, I¡¯ll make sure they put your name in the history books right next to mine.¡± Elise had no prior interest in going down in history, but when she heard him say that, she somehow became even more motivated than she already was. ¡°I¡¯ll see you on the surface,¡± she said, turning to leave. ¡°The next time we meet, it will be under the sun,¡± said Hallbjorn with a grin. ¡°Good luck.¡± 26 - Drow This time around, Elise was able to get out of the city without a hitch. She got a few glares and the occasional curse from passerby, but beyond that, there were no problems. There was only one guard at the tunnel to the lake, and though he looked suspicious of what was going on, the king¡¯s note was enough to get him to look the other direction. The lake water was just as still as it had been the first time Elise saw it. There was no hint of the monster that lived in its depths. That was all well and good, because if she stuck to the edges again, she could get to the other side before it noticed her. She flew around, keeping her senses peeled for any sign of the plesiosaur, but it didn¡¯t appear. Not until she got to the other side, at least. And when it did, rather than making a mad dash for the other tunnel, she was forced to stop. It was waiting by the tunnel again. Dang it! she thought. She needed to lure it away somehow. She couldn¡¯t turn around anymore. The way to the dwarves was closed, and she could not guarantee her position if she tried to return. This was her responsibility now. It hadn¡¯t moved yet, so she flew in closer hoping to get a reaction, but even when she halved the distance between them it still didn¡¯t move. Something was wrong. It could have just been asleep, but she had a vague sense of unease, like something else was happening. She flew a bit closer, and then it hit her, both the realization, and a putrid stench that left her gagging. It was dead. And it had been dead. Its skin was still intact, but it was sagging on its bones. Its eyelids were sunken inward, and there was a trail of dried mystery fluids leading from its body into the water. It had been dead for a while, from the looks of it. She got closer, trying not to breathe in too much of the smell, but it was so strong that she felt she could taste it. There was an arrow sticking out of its back, and from the arrow wound, there black veins spiderwebbed outward, stretching halfway across its body. It had been poisoned, and the poison had worked fast, since it looked like it hadn¡¯t even moved from the last place Elise saw it. Unfortunately, that meant that Elise had to land on it to get into the tunnel. The gap between its body and the opening was too small for her to fly through, and she wasn¡¯t confident enough in her aim to believe she could throw herself through without smacking the stone wall. She landed on one of its ribs, which was a good idea, because as soon as she put her weight on the rotting carcass, the skin split open and fell into the ribcage. If she had landed anywhere else, she would have fallen in with it. When the smell hit her, she vomited. Half-digested chunks of mushrooms spewed from her mouth into the hollow corpse, and once she had gotten it all out, she held her breath and made a mad dash into the tunnel. She deployed her wings as soon as she could and flew as far as she could make it on that one breath, then stopped, gasping. Her feet were covered in corpse slime, so the smell wasn¡¯t fully gone, but it was at least bearable now. She took a moment to analyze the situation. A poisoned arrow could only mean one thing: drow. And the fact that the plesiosaur was exactly where it had been when she fled from it meant that it must have happened within a few hours of when she left the cave. That meant that the drow were only a few hours behind her. If her evolution had lasted a bit longer, or if she had decided to spend more time back in the wyrm¡¯s main cavern, it would have been them she encountered, rather than the dwarves. That made her feel conflicted. On one hand, she would have been worshiped, and that sounded quite nice compared to the constant paranoia and surveillance in Dokkalfheimr. On the other, if she had met first with the drow, she would never have met Hallbjorn or Greta or any of the other friendly dwarves she knew, and with the influence of the drow, she might have even come to believe that the dwarves were evil, like she almost had with the drow. There was no use spending too long thinking about what might have been though. She had a mission, and she needed to get it done. With luck, the drow would be waiting for her in the wyrm¡¯s cave. Without it, she would have to fly to their cave and find them herself. Either way, she was going to meet with them within the hour. It turned out that she did not have luck this time, and all that awaited her was another snake, curled up in the corner. She took the free experience, killing the [Red Diamondback Viper] the same way she had killed the first one, and moved on to the drow¡¯s cave. She was half-worried that she would have forgotten which tunnel it was, but the mushrooms she had left to mark the useless tunnels had sprouted, letting her rule out the other options without even trying. The bodies of the cows she had killed were gone, and the only signs that they had ever been there were the faint blood splatters on the floor and walls, now dried and half-hidden by dust. She assumed that the drow must have moved those corpses somewhere, which begged the question why had they just left the plesiosaur where it was? Why didn¡¯t they go into that cave? No viable answer came to her, so she mentally moved on and focused her attention on the cave¡¯s exit. The vines had grown down again, almost covering the entrance again, though not so completely that no light could get through this time. She listened carefully for the sounds of anything else that might be waiting for her, but the sound of the waterfall drowned out anything else that might have been there. She decided to risk going out anyway. This time at least, she knew that it was the drow¡¯s cave, so she could fly up and in, rather than sticking close to the tunnel entrance. She slipped between the hanging vines and immediately flew up into the air. The cave looked just like she remembered it, minus the cows. The tree branches still covered the ceiling and the white fruit still illuminated the area like giant lightbulbs. She could not see anything as large as the cows moving through the grass and forest below her, but as she looked closer, she saw a few smaller critters, such as snakes, bright red squirrels, and even a few small birds. Only the birds took notice of her, but they just watched warily. Elise was much bigger than they were, and even if they were stronger than they looked, which Elise didn¡¯t doubt, they were still tiny birds, and were cautious of any aerial creature bigger than they were. She took one last look around to make sure she hadn¡¯t missed any drow, then prepared to fly off, but a voice from below stopped her. ¡°Cnawp Bau!" it said. She looked down, and standing in the middle of the blue grass field next to the waterfall pond was a male drow. He wore nothing but a skirt around his waist made of purple leather and a bow and quiver slung on his back. She was completely certain that that place had been empty before, meaning that he must have been using some kind of stealth skill. He smiled and waved at her, so she flew down to meet him, inspecting once she got within range. [Cave Hunter, lvl 2] ¡°Cnawp Bau!¡± he said again, this time getting down on one knee. ¡°Dks ywj E oanra ukq?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I only speak Dwarvish,¡± she replied in Dwarvish. The man¡¯s smile did not disappear, but it got less lively when he heard that. ¡°Eh? Dwarvish?¡± ¡°Yes.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Oknnu.¡± He pointed to himself and shook his head. ¡°No Dwarvish.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay,¡± said Elise. ¡°Can you take me to your queen?¡± The man maintained his confused smile. ¡°Sorry.¡± Elise flew a few feet away in the direction of the center of the cave. ¡°Queen?¡± ¡°Queen?¡± he repeated. ¡°Pda Ikpdan Pnaa?¡± Elise racked her brains trying to remember what Marie had said the name of the queen was. ¡°The queen,¡± she said. ¡°I think her name was Sally? Salami?¡± ¡°Oh!¡± exclaimed the man. ¡°Mqaaj Salome!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± said Elise. ¡°Salome! I¡¯d like to meet with her.¡± ¡°Ukq swjp pk oaa Mqaaj Salome?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Elise. The man dashed ahead of her, and gestured at her. ¡°Bkhhks ia!¡± Once he saw that Elise was following him, he bounded off through the trees. He swung from branch to branch like a monkey, so fast that Elise struggled to keep up. He had to stop a few times to allow her time to navigate through the trees. After a few of these moments, Elise decided to give up on flying between the trees and just flew up over them. The drow didn¡¯t seem to mind, and just swung to higher branches so they could still see each other as they traveled. When they had been traveling for about five minutes, the Mother Tree¡¯s main body finally came into view. It was so impressive that words didn¡¯t do it justice. Rather than one single trunk shooting straight up, it had three growing from a single stump, weaving together like a braid and splitting into more branches up higher. The trunks all had alcoves that looked small from a distance, but as she got closer, Elise saw that each was big enough for a fully grown adult to stand up in, and many of the alcoves actually did have people in them. They passed a few dozen drow on the way in, and when they saw her, they all called out ¡°Cnawp Bau,¡± and many joined them, swinging through the branches alongside the first drow, laughing and calling out to each other. Around the roots of the Mother tree, no other trees grew, and all that remained was open grass, upon which hundreds of drow were scattered, laying around or playing games. Most were dressed similarly to the first one, though the women had coverings on their chests as well. All cheered when they saw Elise, and just like with the dwarves, a small crowd formed around her as she flew overhead. Also like the dwarves, Elise took a few seconds to sprinkle some blessed {Fairy Dust} on their heads. There were no visible changes, like with the dwarves¡¯ beards, but everyone her dust touched laughed and cheered for her. Once she was done passing out her blessings, she immediately regretted it. She should have just continued straight to the queen. Every second she waited was as second that the drow could be attacking the dwarves. The sooner she got an audience the better. For that reason, she left her guide behind where he got caught by the ever-growing crowd. She flew toward the Mother Tree, where she now saw an opening between two of the trunks and from the opening, a massive amount of mana was flowing. She was somehow certain that was where the queen resided. She flew toward it, and when she got closer, a small something flew up into the air in front of her. It was so fast and so small it took her a moment to focus on it, and when she did, she was shocked. [Pixie, lvl 8] ¡°Sahykia, Oeopan!¡± it said. Despite its diminutive size, it had the voice of an old-timey television host, deep and rich and with a certain cadence that made Elise sure whatever he said would sound interesting. Too bad she couldn¡¯t understand what he said. ¡°Sorry, I only speak Dwarvish,¡± she said. ¡°Dwarvish!?¡± he exclaimed in Dwarven. ¡°Gross! Come inside, and we¡¯ll get you fixed up. My name is Jean, by the way. Nice to meet you!¡± ¡°I¡¯m Elise, it¡¯s nice to meet you as well. Sorry to rush you, but I need to speak with Queen Salome as soon as I can.¡± ¡°Well, Salome doesn¡¯t speak Dwarvish, so you¡¯ll have to get fixed up before you can talk to her anyway. Follow me.¡± He flew down toward the entrance to the cave, and Elise followed. ¡°What do you mean ¡®fixed up¡¯?¡± she asked. ¡°Well, we need to get you speaking proper Fey, don¡¯t we?¡± ¡°How can we do that? I don¡¯t think we have time-¡± ¡°Oh, we have time,¡± said Jean, turning around to wink at her. ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± Elise wanted to protest that no matter how fast it was, she didn¡¯t have time to learn a whole new language, but she decided to stay quiet. Learning a language in an instant didn¡¯t make sense, but neither did Pixies or Drow or being turned into a rabbit and evolving into a Fey. She decided to trust him, at least for now. If he was right, it would be so much better than trying to learn a new language for now the third time since arriving in that world less than four months before. The interior of the Mother Tree had mana so dense that it was visible. It was like a miniature aurora borealis all around, shimmering in the air and changing shape and color seemingly at random. Elise made a mental note to go back and watch it for a little while, once she was no longer in a hurry. In the middle of the space between the trunks, there was a raised section, almost like a podium, and on it, there was a huge flower, like a sunflower but white and with longer petals, and in the center, an elderly drow woman was taking a nap. [Voice of the Spirit Tree, lvl ???] What does that mean? thought Elise. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t answer that question,¡± said the System I wasn¡¯t talking to you. Right above the queen, there was a young woman in a green dress with green hair and deer antlers and wings just like Elise¡¯s drifting idly through the air, picking at something in her nail. {Inspect} told Elise she was an [Arch-Sidhe] of unknown level. Elise didn¡¯t know what a Sidhe was, but based on how she looked and where she was, she assumed it was some kind of Fey. She would have to ask later, after she talked to queen Salome. ¡°Oh!¡± said the Sidhe when she noticed Jean and Elise. ¡°Jean! Ukq''ra bkqjz qo w jas oeopan, E oaa.¡± ¡°E zez!¡± said Jean. ¡°Pdana''o w heppha lnkxhai pdkqcd: Oda zkaoj''p olawg Bau necdp jks. Ywj ukq bet dan?¡± ¡°Kb ykqnoa!¡± she replied, flying up toward them. ¡°Hold still, Elise,¡± said Jean in Dwarvish. The green-haired woman flew up to Elise, reached back to one of her wings, and then sprinkled some sparkling dust on Elise¡¯s head. Elise closed her eyes; she wasn¡¯t sure if fairy dust could even get stuck under her eyelid, but she didn¡¯t want to find out the hard way. ¡°Better?¡± said the green-haired woman a few seconds later. It was a word Elise had never heard before, but she somehow knew exactly what it meant. ¡°Yes,¡± she replied. ¡°Woah. Am I speaking Fey right now? This is crazy!¡± ¡°Yes you are,¡± replied Jean. ¡°A much more elegant and better language than Dwarvish. Did they capture you right after you spawned?¡± ¡°You poor thing,¡± said the green-haired woman. ¡°My name is Emilia. Welcome to Paradise. You¡¯ll never have to see one of those deformed invaders ever again.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Elise. Actually, it¡¯s because of the dwarves that I¡¯ve come here. Please, if you don¡¯t mind, I need to speak to Queen Salome.¡± The smile slipped off Emilia¡¯s face. ¡°Yes, if you wish. Salome won¡¯t mind.¡± She flew down and shook the sleeping drow gently on the shoulder. The old woman muttered something incomprehensible, then rolled over to the other side. Emilia shook harder, and this time she opened her eyes. ¡°Lady Emilia?¡± she said. ¡°What¡¯s-?¡± Her eyes found Elise. ¡°Ohohoho! A new Great Fey!¡± The old woman¡¯s eyes filled with joy, and she sat up straight on her flower bed, beaming. ¡°Salome, this is Elise,¡± said Emilia. ¡°She just arrived here. She wishes to speak with you.¡± ¡°Oh, forgive me, Lady Elise,¡± said the Drow queen, bowing as well as she could while seated. ¡°I was just taking a quick nap. It¡¯s an honor to meet you. This humble one is called Salome.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, Salome,¡± said Elise. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to rush the conversation, but I have something urgent I need to discuss with you.¡± ¡°Anything,¡± said Salome. ¡°Whatever you wish to discuss, I would be happy to talk with you.¡± ¡°I know this is a very difficult request,¡± said Elise. ¡°And I know that this might sound like I¡¯ve been brainwashed or manipulated, but I promise that this idea is entirely my own. Please stop the assault on the dwarves.¡± 27 - Negotiation Salome¡¯s smile vanished, and she and Emilia stared at Elise with blank expressions, as if they hadn¡¯t understood what she just said. ¡°Stop attacking the dwarves?¡± asked Jean. ¡°Are you crazy?¡± ¡°No,¡± said Elise. ¡°Please let me explain.¡± ¡°We have received a prophecy from Titania herself,¡± said Emilia. ¡°Although you are a fey, we cannot just stop our actions which were divinely blessed.¡± ¡°I spoke with some other drow recently,¡± said Elise. ¡°They said that the prophecy was simply that there would be no living dwarves left in the cavern after one year. Is that correct?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Emilia. ¡°When did you get a chance to speak to other drow?¡± ¡°I can explain later,¡± said Elise. ¡°But that prophecy doesn¡¯t say that they will all be killed, does it? It can be fulfilled without the Dwarves dying right?¡± ¡°Theoretically,¡± said Emilia, nodding. ¡°But I don¡¯t see how else it could happen.¡± ¡°The Dwarves are planning to leave,¡± said Elise. ¡°If they are left alone, they will depart from the caverns on their own within three months.¡± ¡°Preposterous!¡± said Jean. ¡°Where on earth did you get that idea?¡± ¡°From King Hallbjorn himself,¡± said Elise. ¡°He has sworn that, as long as the drow cease their attacks, he will take the other dwarves and dig to the surface. If you stop your attacks, the prophecy will be fulfilled, and the conflict will be resolved without a single drop of blood being shed.¡± ¡°That would be ideal, yes,¡± said Emilia. ¡°However, can you guarantee this? How did you hear this?¡± ¡°Hall- King Hallbjorn told me.¡± ¡°He told you?¡± she asked. ¡°As in you directly?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Elise. ¡°I¡¯ve been living with the Dwarves for a month now, and have grown close with the king.¡± ¡°Close?¡± asked Jean. ¡°To those monsters? No way! You were a captive! If he was being nice to you, it was only so he could use you. He probably told you they were leaving to try to trick you.¡± ¡°No, he didn¡¯t!¡± said Elise. ¡°And I wasn¡¯t a prisoner. He despises the Drow, yes, but his dream is to take his people back to the surface, and he has sworn to make it happen.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry Elise, I¡¯m sure you mean well, but I¡¯m having trouble believing your words,¡± said Emilia. ¡°You say you spent a month with the dwarves? Frankly, that¡¯s impossible. You are not strong enough to manipulate them, and while their intelligence is lacking, they are not so dumb they would not recognize you for what you are.¡± ¡°I have the Rune of Fate,¡± said Elise. ¡°They saw my Rune of Fate and that¡¯s why they didn¡¯t kill me. They have a prophecy of their own regarding the Rune of Fate and how it would lead them to salvation.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see a Rune of Fate,¡± said Jean. ¡°Only the Dwarves can see Runes.¡± ¡°How convenient,¡± said Emilia. ¡°Are you sure you didn¡¯t just imagine the whole thing? Are you lying to us? Are you an Unseelie?¡± When he said that last word, Elise was filled with dread, and not because of the atmosphere. It was like the word itself had the power to give her chills, even though she wasn¡¯t even sure what it meant. ¡°An Unseelie?¡± she asked. ¡°Calm down, Emilia,¡± said Queen Salome. ¡°She¡¯s clearly not an Unseelie. She is probably just traumatized and being used.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not!¡± said Elise. ¡°I¡¯m perfectly fine! The Dwarves really are planning to leave!¡± ¡°Did you get any kind of guarantee from the Dwarven king?¡± asked Emilia. ¡°Yes, he gave his word.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not enough. The Dwarves are liars and thieves. You need something more. Did you make a deal with him?¡± The way she said ¡°deal¡±, like with ¡°Unseelie¡± seemed to carry a deeper meaning. Elise instantly knew that she was referring to her {Fey Bargaining} skill, which she still had yet to use. Its description was too vague, and she didn¡¯t want to test it out on any of the dwarves out of fear that something harmful would befall them if something went wrong. ¡°No,¡± said Elise. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but without that, I cannot condone this plan,¡± said Emilia. ¡°My deepest apologies, Lady Elise,¡± said Salome. ¡°I do not believe that you are lying, but as Lady Emilia has said, I cannot trust your words enough to go against a divine prophecy. It would be irresponsible of me to gamble the lives of my people and the favor of our goddess on a maybe.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a maybe!¡± said Elise. ¡°The dwarves will be gone in three months if they aren¡¯t interrupted. Can¡¯t you just pause the attacks for that long to allow them time to leave? If they¡¯re still there by the end of that time, I will not protest any more.¡± ¡°Three months?¡± said Emilia. ¡°If you had come three months earlier, then perhaps we could have considered it. However, Titania gifted us this prophecy eight months ago, and the prophecy stated they would be gone within a year. If you are wrong, then that will leave us with only one month to annihilate the dwarves.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a prophecy, not a command,¡± said Elise. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be the ones to make the dwarves disappear.¡± ¡°If we don¡¯t, then who will?¡± asked Emilia. ¡°The dwarves! They will make themselves disappear! Or do you not trust your goddess enough? Do you think she¡¯s too weak to make it happen on her own?¡± All three of the others gasped. Salome looked like someone had just told her that her children had all died, Jean looked like he had been slapped, and Emilia looked almost angry. ¡°You¡¯ve gone too far!¡± said Jean, zooming around in circles. ¡°Too far, too far! You dare to doubt our goddess?¡± ¡°Jean, calm down,¡± said Emilia with a grim expression. ¡°She doesn¡¯t know any better. Elise, I¡¯ll forgive you for what you said this time, but do not take my warning lightly. If you disrespect Titania once more, it will not be tolerated.¡± If she¡¯s just going to let this war happen because she¡¯s too lazy to clarify her prophecy, maybe she deserves to be disrespected, thought Elise, but she was wise enough not to say that out loud. ¡°No, it will not!¡± agreed Jean. ¡°Alright, sorry,¡± said Elise. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize. But you still need to stop attacking the dwarves. The longer the conflict goes on, the more people will die. On both sides.¡± ¡°You say that like the dwarves are people,¡± said Jean. ¡°They are no better than animals.¡± ¡°They are not!¡± ¡°They are! They are, they are! I know it! Salome knows it! Emilia knows it! It¡¯s only you who doesn¡¯t!¡± ¡°Facts aren¡¯t determined by democratic vote! When was the last time you talked to a dwarf?¡± ¡°When I begged for my life while they ripped off my wings,¡± said Jean. ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Elise, perhaps you had a different experience, or perhaps you were manipulated, but what you experienced was not normal,¡± said Emilia. ¡°The dwarves are sadistic and cruel, and they have no empathy for the Drow or the Fey. They tortured Jean. They¡¯ve killed countless drow and fey. They poisoned the Sister Tree. When it comes to dwarves, our options are kill or be killed.¡± ¡°They¡¯re not,¡± said Elise. ¡°If you just stopped killing them, they would leave.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry Elise, but as much as I¡¯d love to believe you, I can¡¯t. Centuries of conflict can¡¯t be washed away by a single fey¡¯s words.¡± Elise looked at Salome with pleading eyes, but the old woman shook her head. Elise¡¯s heart sank. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lady Elise, but we will be continuing as we have been,¡± she said. ¡°That is my final verdict.¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Elise opened her mouth to protest more, but decided against it. The debate was lost. Well, calling it ¡®lost¡¯ would imply she ever had a chance in the first place. Why had Marie thought the queen would be amenable to her proposal? She had never even considered it. ¡°Sorry for wasting your time,¡± said Elise. She flew away without waiting for their response. She knew it was disrespectful to do such a thing in front of a queen, but Salome seemed to have been treating her as if she were of a higher position, so it shouldn¡¯t have been that much of an offense. Maybe it was disrespectful to Emilia and Jean, but she honestly didn¡¯t care. She was disappointed and upset, and most of all, confused. She flew out of the center of the Mother Tree, over the crowd of curious Drow, and up into one of the many alcoves pressed into the trunk. Many of them, she saw, actually seemed to be occupied. There were things that looked like rudimentary beds, as well as extra sets of clothing folded up along the edges. The higher she flew, the less common this type of recess became, and when they stopped entirely, she decided this was a good place to hide out and think. What was she supposed to do now? How would she stop the war? What if Hallbjorn turned his attention upward, thinking Elise had everything handled there, only for his people to be massacred from behind? What if the attacks continued, and he never got the time, and the dwarves were ultimately wiped out as the prophecy stated? What if the prophecy was a lie, and it was the drow who were going to be wiped out? She didn¡¯t know them that well, but she didn¡¯t think she would like it if that happened either. They were people too. She would need to take matters into her own hands and find a way to stop the Drow attacks without the queen¡¯s consent. But that would involve directly intervening with the scouts. Could she even do that at her level? ¡°Elise!¡± Jean popped up suddenly in front of her. ¡°Elise, are you alright?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± she said, turning around so she couldn¡¯t see him. ¡°Really? You looked kinda upset. Emilia was worried we were too harsh. We didn¡¯t mean to totally dismiss you. Not at all. But Emilia has been here longer than the dwarves. She knows what it was like before they showed up. She knows everything they¡¯ve done. Dwarves are bad news. Bad, bad news. I¡¯ve experienced it myself.¡± Elise turned to look at him. He was doing slow motion somersaults through the air, his wings flapping lazily behind you, dropping the occasional sparkling mote of dust. ¡°Did the dwarves really¡­?¡± she started. ¡°You know¡­¡± ¡°Rip my wings off?¡± asked Jean. ¡°Yep. Ripped ¡®em right off.¡± He made a tearing sound. ¡°Just like that. One second I could fly, the next second I couldn¡¯t. And they were laughing.¡± ¡°How did you get them back?¡± ¡°Oh, that was Emilia,¡± he said. ¡°I owe her a lot. She¡¯s really powerful. Healed me right up. Just a little bit of dust, and Bam! I had wings again.¡± ¡°How did you get away though?¡± ¡°I was lucky. Very, very lucky. I spawned in one of the dwarves¡¯ caves. They found me almost immediately. Ripped off my wings, and started pinching at my arms and legs. But there happened to be a Scout there, and they rescued me. Best day of my life. She abandoned her mission and took me straight back here, and I¡¯ve been living here ever since.¡± Elise didn¡¯t respond. Jean didn¡¯t seem like the type to lie. Actually, he seemed incapable of it. Everything he said was exactly what he thought and felt. And that meant that what he had said about the dwarves was probably true. Obviously there were bad eggs in every culture, but it still felt bad to hear about them. She couldn¡¯t imagine enjoying torturing anything, no matter how much she hated it. What about the warg? said a voice at the back of her mind. I still wouldn¡¯t torture it, she said to herself. She couldn¡¯t tell if it was true. ¡°So, you found yourself a cubby-hole already, I see,¡± said Jean. ¡°I¡¯ve got one too. Mine¡¯s down lower though. Closer to the ground. That¡¯s where everyone else is, and I like being with everyone else. But sometimes, I like being alone too. Do you like being alone?¡± ¡°Sometimes,¡± said Elise. ¡°Me too! Hey, do you want to see the rest of the cave? You probably didn¡¯t get to see it all when you flew in. I can introduce you to everyone too! They¡¯re going to love you!¡± Elise started to reject his offer, then stopped herself. This was actually a good thing. She needed to get a better idea of her surroundings, and who the important people were so she come up with a plan, and what better way to do it than on a completely unsuspicious guided tour? Besides, Jean seemed harmless. A bit emotional sometimes, but he really seemed like just an energetic child, more than anything else. ¡°Sure, that sounds nice,¡± she said. ¡°Hooray!¡± he said. ¡°Follow me! Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go!¡± She followed him back down the tree trunk toward the slowly dispersing crowd below. Everyone who had left, however, immediately returned when the crowd saw Elise and Jean and started to make more noise again. ¡°Hello, everyone!¡± said Jean. ¡°Look! This is Elise, our newest Sister!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if-¡± started Elise, but her protests were drowned out by applause and cheering. ¡°Elise, this is about a quarter of the village,¡± said Jean. ¡°One fourth. You know fractions, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I just learned them last week. Emilia¡¯s been teaching me.¡± Elise looked down at the people below, who were still cheering and reaching out to them. ¡°Jean, I don¡¯t know if this is the best place to have a casual conversation.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± said Jean. ¡°Let¡¯s go meet everyone else!¡± He zipped off toward the forest, and Elise struggled to follow. His Agility was clearly higher than hers, and by a significant margin, and he didn¡¯t seem to notice. The only reason she didn¡¯t lose sight of him was because he seemed to insist on doing loops, and circling around random trees whenever he could. Soon, they came to a copse where the trees grew so closely together that Elise couldn¡¯t see through them, and their branches wove together to form a canopy impenetrable from above. Jean flew around to the side where there was an opening. ¡°Welcome to the school!¡± he announced. ¡°Or one of them, at least.¡± Inside, there were a hundred or so children, all of whom started seated on a small bed of leaves, and all of whom leapt to their feet as soon as they saw the pixie and started crowding around, calling ¡°Lord Jean!¡± like it was a mantra. ¡°Lord Jean,¡± said a louder voice. The speaker was an adult drow woman who had a bit more weight about her than a typical drow and a much rounder face. Normally, Drow heads were very narrow, and their features pointed, but this woman¡¯s face was as round as the moon. ¡°Lucia!¡± he said. ¡°This is Elise! She¡¯s our new Sister!¡± ¡°Lady Elise, it is an honor,¡± said Lucia, curtseying. ¡°Children, greet Lady Elise properly.¡± ¡°Hi, Lady Elise,¡± said the children in not-quite unison, performing haphazard curtseys and bows. ¡°Hello, everyone,¡± said Elise. ¡°Forgive me, Lord Jean, but we were in the middle of a lesson when you arrived,¡± said Lucia. ¡°That¡¯s okay!¡± said Jean. ¡°I¡¯m just showing her around. She was captured by the dwarves before, so I wanted to show her how nice everyone was!¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t captured,¡± said Elise. ¡°That¡¯s very kind of you,¡± said Lucia. ¡°Have you visited Eleanor yet?¡± ¡°No, we¡¯re going to see her later,¡± said Jean. ¡°This is the first place we stopped.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s been wonderful to meet you, but we really should be getting back to the lesson. Children, say goodbye to the Fey.¡± ¡°Goodbye, Great Fey,¡± they said, even less unified than the last time. ¡°Okay, Elise, let¡¯s go!¡± The next place they went was a farm, of sorts. The Drow apparently didn¡¯t really do farming in a traditional sense, but they did have areas where they used skills to speed up plant growth in order to produce more mushrooms. Elise met and spoke with a few of the laborers, but didn¡¯t have time to exchange more than a few greetings before Jean dragged her off to the next location. They visited a dozen more such ¡°farms¡±, a second school, where Elise met the Eleanor that Lucia talked about, and a few various other areas, like the river where the Drow got their water, an area where a herd of the cyclops cows lived, as well as a some of their earlier and later evolutions. They didn¡¯t get too close to that place, but Elise did get a clear look at them from a distance. The evolution from the [Omnivorous Cyclops Cow] seemed to just be a bigger, meaner [Omnivorous Cyclops Cow]. She was willing to bet that if she used {Inspect} on it, it would just say [Greater Omnivorous Cyclops Cow] or something like that. The last place they visited was the place Elise most wanted to see: the scout headquarters. Calling it a headquarters would have been a bit of an exaggeration though. Really, it was just the leader¡¯s house, a small copse barely ten feet in diameter, and a clearing outside where the scouts could train. ¡°I don¡¯t really like it over here,¡± prefaced Jean before they descended. ¡°Naomi and all the scouts are kinda weird.¡± ¡°Weird how?¡± asked Elise. ¡°I dunno. Just weird.¡± There were four scouts practicing archery on a set of crude wooden dummies shaped like dwarves, and two more having a mock knife duel with wood blades. They all greeted the two Fey respectfully, then returned to their training. They only seemed mildly interested in Elise. ¡°I guess they really did have a Fey in the castle,¡± Elise heard one of them whisper as they walked away. ¡°See?¡± said Jean in a low voice. ¡°Weird.¡± ¡°They seem pretty normal to me,¡± said Elise. ¡°Is Naomi in that house over there?¡± She asked, but she already knew the answer. She could hear the sound of someone breathing slowly inside, and she could sense the mana swirling around the inside. She didn¡¯t know exactly what was happening, but clearly, this Naomi woman was doing something, or else she would have heard the commotion and come out. ¡°Yeah, probably,¡± said Jean, fidgeting with his hands. ¡°But I dunno. Do we really have to meet her? She¡¯s weird. She doesn¡¯t live in the Mother Tree like everyone else.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s weird.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯d still like to meet her.¡± ¡°Well, if you say so,¡± he said. ¡°I think she¡¯s busy though. We can come back another time. I still haven¡¯t shown you the-¡± ¡°I can wait,¡± said Elise. ¡°I¡¯d really like to meet her.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± he said, looking disappointed. They hovered in the air, waiting for Naomi to finish whatever she was doing inside that had the mana moving so violently. After no more than a minute, Jean started drifting around, unable to hold still. Another minute later, he was doing loops and barrel rolls in the air. ¡°You can go if you want,¡± said Elise. ¡°I¡¯ll stay here. I know the way back. I¡¯ll meet you back at the Mother Tree.¡± ¡°Are you sure? I still haven¡¯t shown you the Mother fruits!¡± ¡°You can show them to me when I get back. As soon as I¡¯ve talked to Naomi, I¡¯ll go straight there.¡± Jean hesitated. ¡°Okay. You¡¯d better come straight back though.¡± ¡°I will,¡± promised Elise. Jean zoomed away without looking back. As soon as he disappeared from sight, the mana in the cabin slowed to a halt, and Elise heard someone stand up and walk up to the curtained opening in the tree. There was something weird about the footsteps though. One foot sounded normal, but the other sounded strange, making a thunk sound when it struck the ground. The reason for the oddity became clear as soon as Naomi emerged. Her left leg was made of wood. As far as Elise could tell, her entire leg was wood, as the twisted branches continued all the way up past where her skirt stopped. Her left arm was made of wood as well, and her left eye socket was empty, and the surrounding skin was mostly scar tissue. [High Druid of the Cave, lvl ???] ¡°Finally,¡± she said with a hoarse voice. ¡°Thought he¡¯d never leave. So you¡¯re the newbie, huh? What did you wanna talk about?¡± 28 - Naomi ¡°You¡¯re Naomi?¡± asked Elise. ¡°That¡¯s me,¡± she replied. ¡°And you¡¯re Elise. I heard him introducing you earlier.¡± Elise was a bit taken aback by the complete irreverence of her speech and posture. Before her, all the other Drow had at least given her a polite greeting and a small bow, but Naomi hadn¡¯t even bothered to look her in the eye yet. She was glancing all around with her one good eye, as if watching for an ambush. Elise found herself a little annoyed, but pushed the feeling aside. She was letting the Drow¡¯s worship get to her head. ¡°I met some of the scouts,¡± said Elise. ¡°In Dokkalfheimr.¡± Naomi¡¯s eye snapped to Elise. ¡°Marie and Claudia?¡± she asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How did they die?¡± ¡°King Hallbjorn tried to let them go,¡± Elise explained. ¡°I was going to go with them. He wanted to negotiate for peace so the dwarves could dig to the surface. But we got ambushed on the way out.¡± ¡°I see,¡± said Naomi. ¡°Did they die fighting?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Elise. Marie hadn¡¯t gotten much of a chance to do that, but Elise knew she would have if she could, and though she was willfully ignorant of the details, she was certain Claudia wouldn¡¯t have gone down without a fight. ¡°Good,¡± said Naomi, nodding. ¡°Better to die that way than from the poison. We tried to make it as painless as possible, but¡­ Death is never painless, and it¡¯s more honorable to die fighting than the other way.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± said Elise, not sure how else to respond. ¡°So, the dwarves want peace, huh?¡± asked Naomi. ¡°My girls were telling me that they were hearing rumors about some Fey living in the castle. I sent them in to check it out. Was that you?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Elise. ¡°I was there for a month. I know Hallbjorn well enough to know he¡¯s serious about peace. He wants to take the dwarves to the surface. If he could leave the cave and never return, he would.¡± Elise tried to keep the pleading out of her voice, but failed miserably. ¡°Well, you don¡¯t gotta convince me. The other drow? Maybe. But I¡¯ve spent enough time around the dwarves to know how much they wanna get outta here. If you say they want peace so they can leave, I¡¯m all for it. I¡¯m sick of sending my girls out and never getting them back.¡± ¡°Really?¡± asked Elise. ¡°No, I actually hate them all and like hearing about how they die- Of course I¡¯m serious!¡± ¡°No, I meant-!¡± ¡°Yeah, I know, I¡¯m just messin¡¯ with ya,¡± she said with a smirk. ¡°So, you want peace. I guess the reason you¡¯re talkin¡¯ to me right now is because Emilia said ¡®no¡¯?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Elise. ¡°She¡¯s a real piece of work, that one. Always pretending to be so nice and brainwashing everyone behind our backs.¡± ¡°Brainwashing?!¡± exclaimed Elise. ¡°Shhh, keep it down,¡± she hissed. ¡°No one else knows. But I do. That¡¯s why I live out here. Everyone says I¡¯m crazy, but I know better than to live near the mother tree. She uses the Mother Tree to amplify her mana waves and sneak into our dreams and make us hate the dwarves.¡± ¡°She does?¡± ¡°Oh yeah,¡± said Naomi, nodding. ¡°And the mushrooms we eat are part of it too. At night, when we¡¯re all asleep, she goes out and sprinkles it with her wing dust. It makes our brains more malleable. More susceptible to suggestion. That¡¯s why no one ever doubts her. That¡¯s why I only eat meat from animals I kill myself. But I¡¯ve been having nightmares lately, so I think she might have done something to them too. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she had her dust on every living thing in here, getting into our bodies and ruining our minds. ¡°That¡¯s why I never got these healed,¡± she continued, flexing her wooden limbs. ¡°She said she could do it, but I don¡¯t trust her. She said she could regrow them, and they¡¯d be just like new, but would they really? New limbs created with fairy dust? I don¡¯t think so. If I had accepted it, I wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if I woke up one night to find my own arm strangling me.¡± Elise had been interested in Naomi¡¯s suspicions at first, but the longer the woman talked, the more she thought that Jean might have been right about her. She was weird. And a little crazy. No, more than just a little crazy. There was a glint in her one remaining eye, and something about the cadence of her speech reminded Elise of some internet personas she had seen online back on Earth, talking about how the government was testing chemical weapons on the entire country to make them more submissive. Still, even so, Naomi¡¯s words planted a seed of doubt in Elise. She hadn¡¯t noticed anything odd about Emilia earlier, but maybe that¡¯s what she wanted. Jean had said that Emilia was there even before the dwarves arrived. That meant she should know that the dwarves and drow weren¡¯t always enemies, and she would know in more detail what had actually happened. That was, of course, assuming that Greta¡¯s version of history was correct, and not something the dwarven historians of the past had concocted to make themselves seem less bad. Now I sound like a conspiracy theorist, she thought. ¡°Have you seen her doing these things?¡± asked Elise, as inoffensively as possible. ¡°Not yet,¡± said Naomi. ¡°Not yet, but I will. Mark my words, I will, and when I do, I¡¯m going to expose her. I¡¯ve been camping outside one of the farms every night waiting for her for the past month. I thought my stealth skills were pretty good, but she must have noticed, because she hasn¡¯t shown up yet. Still, every night she doesn¡¯t show is a night when that farm¡¯s mushrooms are edible. I haven¡¯t convinced my girls to fully stop eating the main produce, but I at least have gotten them to only eat what they get from there, instead of the stuff from the other farms.¡± ¡°I see,¡± said Elise. ¡°And has that helped?¡± ¡°I think they¡¯re coming around,¡± said Naomi. ¡°They stopped protesting recently. I think I¡¯m getting through to them.¡± Elise suppressed a chuckle. ¡°Maybe. Anyway, back to the topic at hand, how can we stop the conflict?¡± ¡°Right! Well, I can¡¯t do shit right now. I¡¯m basically one wrong move away from being replaced. If I start acting on my own, I definitely will be, and the next scout leader might not be as smart as me. So we gotta be smart about this. We need to convince Queen Salome to allow it.¡± ¡°How would we do that with Emilia there?¡± ¡°Emilia leaves the Mother tree once a month and is gone for three days. I have no idea where she goes¨C no one does¨C but she¡¯s not here. If we talk to the queen during that time, I¡¯m sure we can convince her. And in the meantime, we can start acting on our own. I can cancel all the ongoing missions while we negotiate. By the time that witch gets back, she¡¯ll have no choice but to go along with it.¡± ¡°When does she leave?¡± ¡°Tomorrow morning. There will be a big ceremony thing where all the Drow bid her farewell and have a small feast. I used to enjoy it, before I realized the truth.¡±This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°And after that, we can talk to the queen?¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± said Naomi with a grin. ¡°But we¡¯ll have to-¡± She tensed suddenly, and her gaze snapped upward, past Elise and into the wall behind her. Elise strained her ears, but couldn¡¯t hear anything suspicious. She couldn¡¯t sense anything with {Mana Sense} either. Naomi¡¯s senses must have been much better than hers. Elise couldn¡¯t see her level, so she had no idea how powerful she was. After almost a minute, Naomi relaxed and turned back to Elise. ¡°What was I saying again?¡± she asked. ¡°You were talking about when we talk to the queen, but what was-?¡± ¡°Oh, right!¡± said Naomi. ¡°So basically, once a month, Emilia leaves the cave. No one knows where she goes, but she¡¯s not here. We can use that week to convince the queen to pursue peace. We can also start acting on our own. I¡¯ll cancel all the ongoing missions to minimize losses while we negotiate. By the time that witch gets back, she¡¯ll have no choice but to go along with it.¡± Naomi looked down at Elise with a prideful grin, but when she met Elise¡¯s eyes, her expression slowly melted into something more grim. ¡°I repeated myself again, didn¡¯t I?¡± ¡°Y-yes,¡± said Elise. ¡°Dammit!¡± she said, turning around and kicking the pile of leaves that seemed to be her bed. ¡°That damn fairy witch! Her stupid dust! It¡¯s in the air! We¡¯re all breathing it in! It messes with our minds!¡± She turned back to Elise with a crazed look. ¡°You! You¡¯re with her, aren¡¯t you? You¡¯re going to report all this back to her as soon as you leave!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not!¡± said Elise, backing up. ¡°I swear! I just want to keep people from dying!¡± ¡°Liar!¡± Naomi stepped toward Elise, and extended her wooden arm as roots grew out of it, grasping outward. Elise used {Dart} to get out of the hut, and found the other scouts rushing toward her. ¡°Shit!¡± said one of them, whose name Elise recalled was Nicole. ¡°Lady Elise, stay back, we¡¯ll take care of this!¡± Naomi stepped out of the tent, the tendrils on her arm flailing about wildly, grabbing whatever they came into contact with. Some were grabbing at her own clothes, and a few were encroaching up her shoulder like giant infected veins. ¡°Commander Naomi!¡± shouted Nicole. ¡°Calm down! You¡¯ve lost control again!¡± ¡°Out of my way!¡± Naomi demanded. ¡°I need to kill that thing!¡± ¡°No!¡± replied Nicole. ¡°Take a deep breath. You¡¯re doing exactly what she wants you to do right now.¡± Naomi paused, and seemed to be contemplating something. After a few seconds, the wildness in her eye vanished, and the wooden tendrils on her arms stopped moving. She looked around her, an expression of horror growing on her face. When she made eye contact with Elise, she fell to her knees. ¡°Fuck,¡± she said. ¡°I did it again. Dammit!¡± ¡°Commander Naomi, please try to stay calm.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, I¡¯m calm. I¡¯m calm, dammit!¡± ¡°Commander Naomi, please take a deep breath.¡± ¡°I said I was calm!¡± The vines on her arm started moving again. ¡°Do you remember what you told me last time this happened?¡± Naomi paused again, and after a few seconds, she took a deep breath. Then she took another, and another. Her eye closed and her body relaxed, and her arm returned to its original state. After a full minute, she opened her eye again, and when she did, she seemed to age two decades, from middle-aged to borderline elderly. She looked exhausted and all the pride in her posture was gone. ¡°I¡¯m sorry you had to see that,¡± she said, looking at Elise. ¡°It¡¯s been happening more and more lately. Ever since I lost my eye, I¡¯ve just been¡­ I dunno how to describe it. But I¡¯m back now. I¡¯ll make sure it doesn¡¯t happen again. Come back in, and we¡¯ll finish our conversation.¡± Elise took a hesitant step forward. She looked up at Nicole, who nodded. ¡°She¡¯s fine now,¡± said Nicole. ¡°This rarely happens, and once she¡¯s done, she¡¯s done. You¡¯ll be safe. If you¡¯d like, I can stick around though. I¡¯m not quite as strong as the commander, but I can hold my own for long enough that you can get away.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± said Elise. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine alone.¡± ¡°If you''re sure,¡± said Nicole, shrugging. ¡°I¡¯ll be right out here if you need me though.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Back inside the hut, Naomi sat down on her bed and laid down. Her breath was shallow, and her expression was grim, and her wooden limbs were as stiff as¨C well, wood. Elise couldn''t sense any mana around her at all anymore, meaning that her extra limbs were nothing more than mundane prosthetics at the moment. She knew that Naomi could start using her mana again at any second and they would turn functional again, but it put her at least a little at ease. ¡°So I already told you about Emilia leaving once a month, right?¡± she asked. ¡°Right,¡± confirmed Elise. ¡°Did I get any further than that?¡± ¡°You said she was leaving tomorrow morning and that there would be a ceremony. After that, we can talk to the queen. You started to say something else, but then you stopped.¡± ¡°Okay. I think I know what I was about to say. I can¡¯t just go meet with the queen without an appointment. You can, though, so you¡¯ll have to go in on your own and ask the queen to summon me.¡± ¡°That sounds easy enough,¡± said Elise. ¡°Do I just ask her to summon you to the middle of the Mother Tree?¡± ¡°No, you¡¯ll need a valid reason. Probably. I guess you could just tell her to do it, but she wouldn¡¯t like it. It¡¯s better to convince her. Tell her that I have reports from my girls that align with what you¡¯ve said. The dwarves have been talking about going to the surface a lot lately. Something about a Rune of Fate. Anyway, just tell her that, and she¡¯ll probably want to hear from me directly.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± said Elise. ¡°Is there anything else I should know?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Naomi. ¡°Oh wait. One thing: don¡¯t tell anyone else what we talked about here.¡± ¡°Obviously,¡± said Elise. Naomi nodded. ¡°Especially not Jean. He¡¯s a chatterbox. He¡¯ll tell everyone who will listen, and we don¡¯t want everyone knowing we¡¯re trying to go behind Emilia¡¯s back to do this.¡± ¡°Right. By the way, is Jean also¡­?¡± ¡°Him?¡± Naomi scoffed. ¡°No way. He¡¯s barely four years old. He might be smarter than the average four year old, but he¡¯s still only four. He¡¯s harmless. He just does whatever Emilia tells him to do, and she doesn¡¯t trust him enough to tell him to do anything important. You can¡¯t trust him with information, but you can trust him not to do anything to you.¡± Elise nodded, glad that her suspicions were confirmed. He hated dwarves, but after flying around the caverns with him for half a day, she found it hard to truly hate him. He was just a kid, and one with a traumatic experience involving dwarves. His feelings made sense. And in the case that Emilia really was brainwashing the Drow, she was happy that he wasn¡¯t involved in that. ¡°I should get some rest,¡± said Naomi. ¡°I haven¡¯t been sleeping well. I think that¡¯s why I lost it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let you rest then,¡± said Elise. ¡°Thank you for your time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. I¡¯ve been looking to pull one over on Emilia for a while. If I can do that, and keep all my girls safe, I¡¯ll do anything.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to make sure it doesn¡¯t fail.¡± ¡°So will I.¡± ¡°Have a good rest.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Elise left the hut to find Nicole waiting for her, leaning against a wooden spear with a tip made of what looked like a Omnivorous Cyclops Cow horn. Her expression was blank, but in the twenty minutes Elise had known her, she had never seen it any other way. Even when Naomi lost control, she still looked calm and collected. ¡°How much did you hear?¡± asked Elise. ¡°I¡¯ve been listening from the start,¡± said Nicole. ¡°And you¡¯re fine with the plan?¡± ¡°Maria and Claudia were my squadmates,¡± she said. ¡°I saw them get captured. I had to collapse the escape tunnel, knowing it would trap them in the city. They were sixth and seventh squadmates that I¡¯ve had die on me. They were my friends.¡± She frowned almost imperceptibly. ¡°I don¡¯t want to lose any more friends. I hate dwarves as much as the next drow, but I¡¯ve been around them enough to know that you¡¯re telling the truth. For the past month, ever since you showed up, going to the surface is practically all they ever talk about.¡± ¡°So you¡¯ll help us?¡± ¡°If it saves the lives of more scouts? Absolutely. Just say the word, and I¡¯ll come running.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± said Elise. ¡°No problem. Need an escort back?¡± ¡°No, I know the way.¡± ¡°Well, it was nice meeting you,¡± said Nicole. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll be seeing you around from now on.¡± ¡°I guess so,¡± said Elise. ¡°It was nice meeting you too. I¡¯ll see you tomorrow maybe.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± agreed Nicole. Elise flew back to the Mother Tree. The light from the fruits above was starting to wane, darkening the cavern, and when she returned, many of the Drow had climbed into the alcoves in the tree. Most were still awake and talking to each other, but some were in bed and already asleep. Jean flew up to greet Elise when she returned. He apologized and said that he wanted to show her around more, but Emilia had said it was too late, and any more would have to wait for the next day. Elise didn¡¯t mind at all. It had been a long and stressful day, and she wanted to reach the next day as soon as possible. She flew up high on the tree, past the last alcove containing any Drow until she found one she liked the look of. She couldn¡¯t tell if it was the same one she had hid in earlier that day, but it was close enough, and she held no great attachment for that one. She fell asleep almost as soon as she closed her eyes. 29 - Dreams That night, Elise dreamed of Earth. She was back in middle school, when the bullying was at its worst. It was before she got braces to cure her buck teeth, and before she started wearing her hair long to hide her ears, and before she hit any major growth spurts to look less like a child. Except she wasn¡¯t in her human form. She was in her rabbit form. Children with faces shrouded in shadow all around her were laughing as she struggled to hold her pencil with her teeth and take notes as the teacher started talking about calculus. She was failing miserably, constantly dropping the pencil, and even when she did manage to hold it correctly, the words and numbers she wrote were illegible. The laughter only got louder when she tried to use {Prehensile Vines}, only to remember that the floor was carpeted concrete and her spell wasn¡¯t strong enough to break through. ¡°Why?¡± she asked. ¡°Why am I here? Why am I a rabbit? Why are we learning calculus in middle school?¡± The teacher, who was similarly faceless, turned to her and started speaking in the System¡¯s voice. ¡°It is certainly unusual to be learning calculus in middle school. However there are certain private preparatory schools that prefer to teach their students advanced concepts from a young age to ensure that they are ready for college once they graduate. If you are learning calculus in middle school, it is likely that you are attending one of these institutes. ¡°If you feel that you are not yet qualified to be taking such a course, the best course of action would be to talk to your parents or your guidance counselor, and inform them of your feelings. While learning advanced concepts at a young age is important, it is more important to make sure that children are content in their learning environment, and don¡¯t feel that they are being left behind.¡± ¡°What the heck?¡± said Elise. ¡°Elise!¡± said a voice from behind her. She turned around to find a woman who felt strangely familiar. She knew she had never actually met her, because she would have remembered meeting someone so stunning, but she couldn¡¯t help but feel like she knew her identity. She had golden hair and golden eyes and an almost literally blinding smile. Her whole body shone like a light, but her teeth were so bright they were difficult to look at. ¡°Hi!¡± said the woman. ¡°Who are-?¡± Elise started to say. ¡°-you?¡± she finished, staring at the wall of her alcove in the Mother tree. She was awake again, and more confused than ever. She had never remembered a dream so vividly after waking up before, but it was almost more incoherent than the ones she couldn¡¯t remember. She laid still, trying to figure out who the strange woman was, but came up blank. No matter how hard she thought, she couldn¡¯t remember ever meeting, or even seeing her before. It was frustrating, because she had a gut feeling that the woman was important. It looked to be Drow dawn, based on the brightness of the fruits above. They were not quite as dim as they had been when she fell asleep, but they were nowhere near their maximum output either. Below, she could see Drow start to emerge from their own alcoves, and descend the tree. They were so far down that they almost looked more like gray insects than people. She watched them move around for a few minutes, then retreated back into her alcove. It was too early to make any moves yet, and she had nowhere else to go. If she went down, she would have to deal with Jean. If she stayed there, she would have peace and quiet until it was time for her and Naomi to make their move to talk with Queen Salome. She waited restlessly, trying to take her mind off the impending war. She felt like she needed to be doing something, but there was nothing that she could do. She didn¡¯t fully believe what Naomi had said about Emilia brainwashing all the Drow with her dust, but that seed of doubt had sprouted, and was beginning to grow. Why did the dwarven and drow accounts of the conflict differ so much? Claudia and Marie had called the dwarves ¡°Invaders¡± and believed that they had shown up one day and taken the caves. Emilia backed this up by saying that the dwarves were ¡°sadistic and cruel¡± and that they had poisoned the Sister Tree. And yet, Greta had said that the Dwarves and Drow lived in peace for many years. She also claimed that the Dwarves had not killed the Sister Tree. Elise couldn¡¯t even begin to figure out which one was true. She was leaning toward the Drow account, given that the only surviving person who had seen the conflict was with them, but something about that didn¡¯t sit right with her. The Dwarves had plenty of reason to falsify the records about poisoning the Sister Tree, but why would they also lie about the years of peace before that? They very well could have been lying about that too, but if they needed justification, couldn¡¯t they have just said that the Drow attacked them as soon as they arrived? Emilia was the only one who would know the truth, but if she couldn¡¯t be trusted, then what? Who was in the wrong? Did it even matter? It had all happened centuries ago. The conflict was only maintained by a constant cycle of revenge. Why didn¡¯t Emilia see that? What had the dwarves done to her to make her so adamant that they could not be trusted? Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a familiar voice calling out her name. She hopped back to the edge of her room and looked down to see Jean flitting in and out of the alcoves below her, calling her name. She considered calling out his name to let him know where she was, but then changed her mind. It was funnier to just watch, and the longer it took for him to find her, the less of him she would have to deal with. If he just looked up, he would see her peering down on him, giggling silently at his antics. However, he never did. He checked every single hole at his level, then started circling around the trunk until he was out of sight. Ten minutes later, he reappeared on the other side, now a level higher, and repeated the process. How long has he been doing this? she thought. And how long until he realizes he can just look into them from the outside and save himself some time? She never got the answer to either question. He circled the Mother tree another six times before finally arriving on her level and finding her. ¡°Oh, Elise!¡± he said. ¡°Here you are! I¡¯ve been looking everywhere for you!¡± ¡°Oh, sorry, I was asleep,¡± she lied. ¡°That¡¯s okay! Totally okay! But Salome said she wanted to see you as soon as you woke up, so I came to find you and wake you up.¡± ¡°Salome did?¡± ¡°Yeah! She said she had something important to talk to you about.¡± ¡°Is Emilia with her?¡± ¡°Nope! She left a little bit ago.¡± ¡°She did?¡± Elise had thought that Emilia would be waiting until later in the day. It was still early in the morning, and most of the Drow were still asleep. The only ones moving around were the ones gathering and preparing breakfast for the rest. ¡°Yup,¡± said Jean. ¡°She said she had something important to do, so she had to leave early. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, but she goes on trips a lot. I don¡¯t know why, but she was supposed to leave after breakfast this morning, but instead she left early and now she¡¯s gone.¡± ¡°I see,¡± said Elise. ¡°Let¡¯s go then. I don¡¯t want to keep Salome waiting.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± When they got to the center of the Mother Tree, Salome was laying in the middle of her flower, staring at the intertwined wooden trunks above her with a young girl beside her. Their eyes were glazed over like she was in a trance, and the mana around her gently pulsed like a dying heartbeat. They didn¡¯t seem to notice their arrival until Jean flew up to Salome¡¯s face to announce it. The pulsing stopped, and her eyes regained focus and she turned to Elise and smiled. The girl also looked her way, though with a more neutral expression. ¡°Lady Elise,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m so glad you came. Jean, thank you for bringing her. You may leave if you wish.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Okay!¡± said Jean, and then he zipped away ¡°Jean said you had something important to talk about,¡± said Elise ¡°Yes. But first, meet my apprentice Osanne. Osanne, this is Lady Elise.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet you, Lady Elise,¡± said the girl. ¡°Likewise,¡± said Elise. The girl looked no older than twelve, but the look in her eyes was deep and profound, and she carried herself with a poise and maturity that Elise would not have expected from someone of her age. She used {Inspect} on the girl out of curiosity. She was the queen¡¯s apprentice, so she couldn¡¯t be anyone normal, and her demeanor made her think there was more to her than met the eye. [Acolyte of the Spirit Tree, lvl 3] ¡°The reason that I¡¯ve called you is because of a dream that Osanne had last night,¡± said Salome. ¡°Was it¡­ a prophecy?¡± asked Elise. ¡°No¡­ Not exactly. I will let Osanne tell you in more detail, but it was strange and unclear. Through the Spirit Tree, we have a connection with the gods, and normally, they can send us messages clearly, as Titania did with the prophecy about the Dwarves. However, it was different this time. Osanne?¡± The girl took a deep breath and started speaking. ¡°I was standing on the surface beneath the light of the sun. Somehow, it didn¡¯t burn. It was simply warm, and pleasant, like I was being hugged by the very air around me. In front of me stood Titania, but she was facing away from me. No matter where I walked, I could never see her face. Whenever I spoke, my words came out garbled and meaningless, and she didn¡¯t hear me. ¡°I grew distressed, and tried to run to her, no matter how fast I ran, I could never get any closer. The sun went down on one side, then rose on the other forty four times, and on the last, I finally heard Titania speak. She only said one word: ¡®Elise¡¯, and before I could ask her why she said it, I woke up.¡± ¡°My name?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Yes,¡± said Osanne, nodding. ¡°Do you have any idea what it could mean?¡± ¡°I d-¡± She stopped herself when she remembered her own dream. ¡°What does Titania look like?¡± ¡°She appears different to everyone,¡± explained Salome. ¡°To me, she appears as an older Drow woman with long white hair. To my predecessor, she appeared as a young Drow, no older than eight. I have heard that she can appear in any form she desires, though usually chooses ones that the one she is speaking with will be comfortable around. For you, she might appear as a rabbit, for example. However, no matter what form she takes, she always has the same golden eyes.¡± ¡°I¡­ also had a strange dream last night,¡± said Elise. ¡°I met a wo- a rabbit with golden fur and golden eyes. She called my name, and greeted me, and then I woke up.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± said Salome with a mysterious smile. ¡°Very interesting. So you received a visit from Titania as well. Perhaps that is why Osanne could not see it clearly. It was not entirely meant for her.¡± ¡°But what does it mean?¡± asked Elise. ¡°I do not know,¡± said Salome. ¡°What do you think it means?¡± ¡°It-¡± she started. What did it mean? Why had Titania visited her, only to say ¡®Hi¡¯ and nothing else? And what did Salome¡¯s dream mean, with the 44 days and nights? It sounded more like the prophecies she was used to hearing about, full of symbolism and mixed messages. Except she could not even tell what messages were being mixed. ¡°Maybe that something is going to happen in 44 days?¡± she guessed. ¡°Perhaps,¡± said Salome. ¡°Osanne?¡± ¡°Ummm,¡± said the girl. ¡°Maybe Titania is going to visit Elise again in 44 days?¡± ¡°That¡¯s possible,¡± said Salome. ¡°I had a different thought, though. During those 44 days in your dream, you could do nothing. You simply stood and observed, right?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± said Osanne. ¡°Perhaps Titania wants me to follow Lady Elise¡¯s advice and do nothing for a time to allow the dwarves to act.¡± Elise¡¯s blinked in surprise. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Either that, or it meant that we would be forced to do nothing for 44 days. But I think not. In her dream, she struggled at first, but it was only when she stopped struggling that the days started to pass. Osanne, do you agree?¡± The girl¡¯s brow furrowed in concentration. ¡°I think so.¡± ¡°Then¡­ you¡¯re really going to call off the attacks?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Yes, I believe so.¡± She shot Elise a knowing smile. ¡°Though it¡¯s been a long time since I had to, I trained for most of my early years to interpret dreams like these to the best of my ability. And Osanne is training to do the same. The dwarves may be our mortal enemy, but that does not mean we must fight to the death. If there is a chance at peaceful resolution, I would like to make an attempt at it. I was not convinced yesterday when we first spoke, but I did see the merit in your proposal. Now, with the blessing of Titania, I believe it is best that we try your plan.¡± Elise was speechless. She had no idea how to respond. She had thought she and Naomi would need to argue for a long time with Salome to make their point, and yet, here Salome was, agreeing to their idea without a word from either of them. ¡°I- that would be- that would be perfect!¡± said Elise. ¡°Are you sure though? You aren¡¯t just saying that?¡± ¡°Why are you trying to make me doubt a decision that benefits you?¡± asked Salome with a smile. ¡°To answer your question, no I am not sure, but I have a hunch, and I have long since learned to trust my hunches.¡± She clapped her hands loudly and two young Drow entered so quickly it was like they appeared from thin air. They were a boy and girl pair, and looked like twins, with the same white hair and pale brown eyes. ¡°Go fetch Naomi for me, please,¡± said Salome. ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± said the twins in unison before going back out. They sat in silence as they waited for Naomi to arrive until Salome cocked her head at Elise. ¡°Is something troubling you?¡± she asked. ¡°No,¡± said Elise. ¡°Well, yes, actually. I think the thing with the 44 days makes sense¡­ but why did she say my name?¡± ¡°That, I cannot make a guess,¡± said Salome. ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Well, she wasn¡¯t talking to me. She was talking to you. It is up to you to discover what she meant.¡± ¡°How do I do that?¡± ¡°There is a possibility that you cannot. Sometimes, the meaning behind prophetic dreams only becomes apparent once the prophesied events have already come to pass. If you want to take a guess, you will have to try to remember the other details surrounding your meeting. Perhaps they will give you a hint.¡± Elise went silent again. Salome¡¯s words did not help at all. What did calculus have to do with the goddess of the Fey? Until she showed up, everything that had happened could be attributed to ordinary dream nonsense, and no matter how hard she thought, she couldn¡¯t find any connections between the first half of the dream, and Titania¡¯s appearance. It was more like Titania had just suddenly intruded on her original dream than anything else. But that couldn¡¯t be it. She was a goddess. She had better things to do than visit random Fey¡¯s dreams and confuse them. Was it even Titania she had seen? What if it was just a wild coincidence, and she had conjured up the golden woman from her own mind? Naomi¡¯s arrival put an end to Elise¡¯s train of thought. ¡°Greetings, Queen Salome, Lady Osanne¡± said Naomi, bowing. ¡°Lady Elise might already have mentioned, but I have some important information to give you that will-¡± ¡°Enough,¡± said Salome. ¡°I called you here to tell you to command your scouts to cease their efforts against the Dwarves.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± asked Naomi. She glanced over at Elise, but all Elise could do was shrug. Actually, she couldn¡¯t shrug, since she was a rabbit, but she made her best attempt at it. ¡°No more attacks, or whatever else you¡¯ve been doing,¡± continued Salome. ¡°Return to simple observation, but keep safety as the top priority. I will have no more Drow dying being reckless.¡± ¡°Uhhhh, yes Queen Salome,¡± said Naomi giving an awkward salute. ¡°I¡¯ll get right on that.¡± ¡°Lady Elise, would you mind assisting her?¡± asked Salome. ¡°You can recruit Jean as well. There are many different scout missions happening right now. I believe it would be faster if you two helped.¡± ¡°Absolutely,¡± said Elise. ¡°Excellent,¡± said Salome. ¡°Let¡¯s get going now, then,¡± said Naomi. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t waste any more time.¡± ¡°I agree,¡± said Elise. ¡°Thank you Salome.¡± ¡°Good luck,¡± she replied. Naomi and Elise moved at a polite speed out of the tree, but as soon as they were out of the queen¡¯s sight, they accelerated. Jean was playing tag with a group of children in a nearby field, but a few words from Elise and the promise of excitement was enough to lure him away. They made it back to Naomi¡¯s hut a few minutes later, and Naomi ran inside, and emerged a moment later with a map. ¡°Here¡¯s all the missions we have ongoing right now,¡± she said. She gestured toward the map with her good hand. When Elise looked closer, she saw that there were small black dots on the map, each with a tiny name above it in Fey, and they moved slowly through what looked like narrow tunnels. ¡°We are here,¡± said Naomi pointing to a spot in the middle of the large cavern. ¡°Elise, you¡¯re the slowest of us three, so you¡¯ll be going to the closer mission sites. Jean and I will go to the furthest ones. I¡¯ll have Nicole divide the rest between the scouts that are still here. For now, Elise, can you read a map?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then you know where this mission is?¡± Elise looked where she was pointing. There were six labeled dots all roughly stationary at the end of a tunnel that seemed to start on the wall to the south. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s over this way, right?¡± she said flying over in the direction. ¡°Correct,¡± said Naomi, nodding. ¡°It¡¯s a small tunnel hidden behind some vines. It¡¯s marked with a branch with a red stripe sticking out of it. You should go now. I¡¯ll fill in the others while you travel.¡± ¡°Right!¡± said Elise. ¡°Nicole will be back here when you return, so if there are any more missions to stop, she¡¯ll tell you where to go.¡± ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll get going now then.¡± ¡°Good luck.¡± 30 - Poison The location of the tunnel was easy enough to find. It was a few dozen feet above the ground, but that actually made it easier for her to spot, since she was coming from the sky. She squeezed her way through the vines, then flew on. The tunnel was round-ish, but it didn¡¯t have the same uniform roundness that the Wyrm tunnels had. It was rough and uneven, and got narrower and wider in at random intervals. It wound on through the rock at a constant, ever-so-slight incline until it opened up into a wider chamber with a river running through the far side of it. There were four drow in the room, two at the river side, and two standing over a pit in the corner. One of the drow over the pit was stirring some kind of foul-smelling liquid with a long wooden pole while the other watched carefully, occasionally sprinkling something into it from a pouch at her waist. The other two were crouching by the riverside, emptying leather waterskins filled with the same liquid as was in the pit into the water. None of them noticed her at first, but when the riverside Drow finished what they were doing and turned around, they flinched in surprise, then smiled widely. ¡°Great Fey!¡± said a young man, bowing. ¡°I apologize, but I do not recognize you. May we know your name?¡± ¡°I am Elise,¡± she replied, as the other two Drow turned to her. ¡°I come with orders from Naomi and Salome. This mission is to be ended now.¡± ¡°As you command,¡± he said with a salute. All four drow immediately dropped everything they were holding and walked up to her, standing in a semicircle. Elise looked around the room once again. It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out what was going on. The strange liquid was clearly poison, and there could only be one reason that they would dump it into a river. ¡°Are you poisoning the Dwarves¡¯ water?¡± she asked. ¡°Not anymore!¡± said the man happily. ¡°For how long were you doing it before you stopped?¡± ¡°For about two months now,¡± he said. ¡°And who ordered this?¡± ¡°Naomi! We¡¯ve been searching for this river for a while, and when we finally found it, we got immediate orders to start poisoning it. We¡¯ve been regularly increasing the concentration as the reports from the other scouts come in. The Dwarves still don¡¯t suspect a thing. They think it¡¯s just an epidemic.¡± ¡°I see,¡± said Elise. ¡°Do you have the antidote?¡± ¡°Of course! We couldn¡¯t breathe in so many fumes without it.¡± ¡°Pour all of it into the river.¡± ¡°All of it?¡± ¡°Now.¡± ¡°Yes, Lady Elise.¡± All four of the drow reached for pouches at their waists and walked to the river to dump their contents. While they did, Elise thought back to her final day with the Dwarves, when Greta had collapsed coughing blood. If Elise hadn¡¯t been there, the old woman might have died. If she was alone in her house instead of at the castle when it happened, no one would have made it in time to help her before it was too late. And all of it was because of that poison the Drow were dumping into the Dwarves¡¯ water supply. She could barely contain her rage. She wanted to lash out at the Drow in front of her. How could they be so cheerful and happy about what they were doing? Even if they hated the dwarves, it was the children and elderly that were most affected by the poison. Did they not have any conscience? Thankfully, rabbit facial expressions were hard to read, and she said nothing, so the scouts didn¡¯t notice anything was wrong. They returned, smiling just as widely as before, though now with a bit of confusion. ¡°Is there anything else we can do for you, Lady Elise?¡± asked the man. ¡°No. You¡¯ve done enough. Go report back to Nicole. Quickly. She¡¯ll fill you in on the rest.¡± ¡°Yes, Great Fey!¡± The drow saluted, then sprinted out of the tunnel. Elise followed behind, but they were out of sight before she even made it to the tunnel¡¯s exit. She flew after them back toward Naomi¡¯s hut, but her sense of urgency was gone. The drow were all faster than her, and as soon as they got back, they would be sent back out to recall other missions. It would get exponentially more efficient, and Elise wasn¡¯t needed anymore. She checked in with Nicole briefly to make sure there was nothing else for her to do, then flew off in a direction where the map had indicated there were no other missions. She didn¡¯t want to see any more drow right then. She had known that the Dwarves and Drow were mortal enemies, and she had known that they were at war, but actually seeing the acts being carried out, and knowing that someone she was close to was a victim of them made everything seem so much more real, even more so than when she had watched Marie die. She didn¡¯t want to be involved anymore. The thought of losing Greta or Hallbjorn, or Anna, or any of the other dwarves she had come to know was painful enough. If she got too close to the Drow as well, the whole situation might become too much to bear. She wanted to just leave. She realized she actually could now, if she wanted. She knew the way out, and the Drow wouldn¡¯t try to force her to stay. Plus, the immediate danger was gone, with Salome agreeing to cease all aggressive maneuvers for 44 days. Hopefully that would be enough time for the Dwarves to get out, or at least enough for the scouts to realize that they were actually serious about leaving. However, it was too early. Emilia was still gone, and she had a deep-seated grudge, from what Elise could tell. If she somehow convinced Salome to change her mind, Elise would have to get right back to work countering her. She would have to stay long enough to see it through, but after that, she was out. Even if living underground with the Drow forever did appeal to her, she didn¡¯t think she could, after seeing what they had been doing with the poison. She drifted aimlessly for a little while before eventually finding her way up to the top of the cavern and the branches of the Mother Tree. She was mildly interested to learn that the branches were not actually self-supported, and were in fact rooted to the ceiling. She wasn¡¯t sure why, but that knowledge put her at ease. Maybe knowing that it at least kind of obeyed the laws of physics made it feel more like a real tree, and not like some divine being in the shape of a tree. She approached one of the glowing fruit to inspect it as well. From this distance, it was almost too bright to look at, but when she squinted and looked from an angle, she could get a pretty good view. It looked like a giant inverted pear, with the stem attached to the wide part, and the narrower part hanging down low. She landed on top of it, then laid down. It was warm, and fuzzy like a peach, and there was a soft ¡°glow¡± of mana rippling off it that made her feel at ease. She woke up before she even realized she had fallen asleep. The fruit was glowing brighter than it was when she first landed on it, meaning it was closer to noon. She basked in its warmth and mana for a few moments longer, then jumped off it and started gliding downward. By this time, the scouts should have all returned. She needed to check in to make sure everything had gone smoothly. ¡°Ah, Lady Elise,¡± said Naomi when Elise landed. ¡°We¡¯ve been looking for you.¡± ¡°Did all the missions get called back successfully?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Every last one of them!¡± Naomi grinned widely at Elise, and she looked genuinely happy, but all Elise could think about was Greta and the poison. It was all Naomi¡¯s idea. She had ordered the scouts to poison the Dwarves¡¯ water. Elise wanted to ask why, but she was pretty sure she already knew the answer. Naomi didn¡¯t see the Dwarves as people. Why would she care if the children were getting sick, or if a few elderly died? If the children died, that meant less warriors to fill out the next generation¡¯s ranks, and if the elderly died, that meant less knowledge and wisdom was available to those remaining. Elise could have tried to change her mind, but why bother? What good were her words against a lifetime of conditioned hatred? It wouldn¡¯t matter in a few months anyway. The Dwarves and Drow would hopefully never interact again. ¡°Good work,¡± said Elise, turning to leave. ¡°Hey, why don¡¯t you stick around for a while?¡± asked Naomi. ¡°We¡¯re gonna have a feast! This is the first time we¡¯ve all been together like this.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not hungry.¡± Elise flew back toward the Mother tree, and found a comfortably looking alcove and laid down. A few minutes later, she started meditating. She was restless and needed something to do. The problem of the war had already been resolved, at least for now, so training would be a the best use of her time. She worked the acupoints on her central core for a half hour before she suddenly stopped, and snapped out of her meditation. What am I doing? The meditation wasn¡¯t a total waste of time, but she wasn¡¯t with the dwarves anymore. She was with the drow, where she had total freedom, and a cave full of monsters. Why meditate when she could go hunting? How would she ever get a human form if she just kept sitting around? She needed to fight. And the cavern was full of perfect opponents. She checked in with Salome to get her approval, then soared toward the far wall of the cave until she spotted what she was looking for far below. She didn''t know if she got it because she was a fey, or if it was actually something she was allowed to do, but she didn''t really care. Salome had given her permission to hunt without hesitation, and she was going to use it. There was a small herd of the evil cattle grazing on the blue grass, including one of a larger variety, and three smaller ones. The smaller ones would be her target. She wasn¡¯t confident she could take them, but she was confident that she couldn¡¯t handle the medium or bigger ones without a distinct terrain advantage like she had before in the tunnels. She landed in a tree a few hundred feet away, and hop-glided her way into range as stealthily as she could. A bright white rabbit in a black and red forest should have been conspicuous, but the cows were either color blind, or stupid, because they didn¡¯t notice her, even when she had gotten within thirty feet of the herd. The lone bigger one was still out of range of {Inspect}, but one of the smaller ones was enjoying a tall patch of grass right below her, and she was able to confirm her suspicions about what it was called. [ Lesser Omnivorous Cyclops Cow, lvl 8 ] A plan formed in her mind as she looked at it, and a few seconds later, she started putting it into action. The grass looks much nicer over there, she sent using {Suggest}. The cow looked up from its current food and looked in the direction that Elise had indicated in her thought. She could almost see the gears turning in its mind as it worked through whether it was worth leaving its current grass for the new grass, but when Elise used {Suggest} once more, its mind was made up. While it plodded away from its herd and deeper into the forest, she turned her attention to the other cows around it, using {Suggest} in the same way, but pointed the other way. A minute later, the small cow was alone, with no others within 50 feet. That still wasn¡¯t far enough though. She continued using {Suggest} to gently prod it further and further past the tree line until eventually, they reached the point where not even Elise could hear the others, at which point she started on the second part of the plan. She had managed to stay out of its sight the whole time while she lured it away, so now it was just a simple matter of making it turn to face her so she could use {Magic Missile} on its eye.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Unlike with the evolved version of the monster, she did not need any more spells after that. Its defense was weaker, and her skill levels were high enough now that that single spell aimed at the unsuspecting target was enough to pierce through its eye socket and into its brain. It fell to the ground dead before it even had a chance to react. [ You have defeated Lesser Omnivorous Cyclops Cow, lvl 8 ] [ You have leveled up! 1 -> 2 ] [ Agility +5, Dexterity +5, Charisma +20, Intelligence +15, Willpower +5, Mana +10, Mana Control +10 ] [ { Magic Missile } lvl 26 -> 27 ] [ { Suggest } lvl 17 -> 21 ] Elise debated for a few seconds on what to do with the corpse, and in the end decided that she would just let someone know once she was done hunting. She didn¡¯t think it would be too much longer because she doubted she would be able to get too many more of the cows before she was spotted, or before they noticed the missing and started to get wary. And as much as she didn¡¯t want to see the Drow at that moment, she knew leaving corpses to rot was bad, and that meat and leather were useful products. She lured away a second of the smaller cows the same way she had the first and, to her dismay, did not level up upon killing it. Evidently, she was higher level than it, and killing just one wasn¡¯t enough for a level. She had only leveled up when killing the first one due to the two snakes she had killed before. When she returned to the herd for a third victim though, they seemed to have finally noticed that something was strange. They had stopped grazing, and had bunched together in a loosely circular formation with the last remaining Lesser cow in the center and the Greater one prowling the edges. Elise stayed as far away as she could without losing sight of them, hoping they would let their guard down, but they never did. A few minutes later, the big one bellowed, and the whole herd ran off into the forest. She followed them from above as they ran all the way to the edge of the cavern to an opening in the wall that they all disappeared inside. Elise waited a short while, and when they did not emerge, decided to turn around. She could still hear them stomping and breathing from within, and she wasn¡¯t going to risk her life just to get a better look. She knew where they lived, and that was enough for now. She spent the rest of the day flying around the cave, avoiding Drow, and noting the locations of monsters. She got a few attacks off on some lone snakes that she found slithering around, but none of them were strong enough to pose any real threat, nor did they give any significant experience points. She found three more herds of Omnivorous Cyclops Cows, but they were all much bigger than the first one she had found, and had at least three of the Greater variety. She tried to get close to them and possibly lure one or two cows away, but with all three herds, she was spotted before she could carry out her plan and chased off by their laser beams. With the cave mostly explored, and all the useful monsters frightened away, she was left with nothing to do, so she returned to the Mother Tree. The timing worked out well, since the glowing fruits were starting to dim, indicating that it was the evening, and it was time for sleep anyway. Rather than go back to one of the alcoves, she decided that she wanted to sleep on top of one of the fruits again. It was much more comfortable, and there was a much smaller chance of being discovered. She spent the next two days much the same, hunting during the day, and sleeping on the fruit during the night. She managed to add on two more levels, which she felt happy enough about. More would have been better, but she was also fairly certain that two levels in two days was nothing to scoff at. On the third day, the day Emilia was supposed to return, Elise woke up early, before the fruits¡¯ glow started to return. She didn¡¯t remember anything from her dreams, but from how fast her heart was beating, and how much she was trembling, it was nothing good. She couldn¡¯t fall back asleep, so she decided to go out hunting again instead. She didn¡¯t know if there would be anything to hunt at this time of day, but trying was better than doing nothing. She saw nothing of note as she flew over the forest, but when she made it to the edge, she was pleasantly surprised to find that the cows were already starting to emerge from their caves. She waited in a nearby tree, watching one of the herds file out, and then followed them as they made their way to the river for their morning drinks. While they drank, she slipped out to the edge of the long line, and focused her attention on the one on the end. It was not of the Lesser variety, but it wasn¡¯t Greater either, and after some careful consideration, she had decided that it was safe to go after these ones as well. She felt she was strong enough now that she could finish it off without too much trouble as long as she took it by surprise. However, just as she was about to use {Suggest}, a voice from behind startled her. ¡°Good morning.¡± Current stat sheet: Some things to note. I made a few minor changes since the last status window. You may notice that there is now a roman numeral in front of her level. That is to indicate what tier her species is. Tier I was Forest Rabbit, Tier II was Young Rabbit Enchantress, and Tier III, her current one, is Lesser Fey (Rabbit). In case you missed it, or have forgotten it since it''s been a little while since it was explained, level resets upon every evolution. Once you reach the cap as one species, you evolve into a level 1 of the next species. The cap goes up by 5 levels each tier. So the cap for a tier I species is level 10. Once Elise reached level 10 as her tier I species, she evolved into level 1 of tier II. Then when she reached level 15 of tier II, she evolved to level 1 of tier III. Now, she needs to reach level 20 of tier III to evolve into level 1 of tier 4. I think I also updated some of the skill descriptions since then. I''ll go back and edit them into the previous RR chapters soon, but if you''re interested, take a look at them.
Name Elise Burrow
Age 0 (20)
Race Lesser Fey (Rabbit)
Level (III) 4
Stats Base Bonuses Total
Strength 44 0 44
Agility 141 0 141
Dexterity 129 0 129
Fortitude 42 0 42
Charisma 450 0 450
Intelligence 194 0 194
Willpower 169 0 169
Mana 223 0 223
Mana Control 253 0 253
Skills Level Description
Inspect 45 Identify the species and level of another creature
Nature Magic Affinity - As a creature of the forest, you feel a strong connection to nature and natural mana
Leap 29 Jump with additional force
Rune of Fate - A rune that @#$%^&*(
Dart 28 Dash quickly in any horizontal direction. Charges: 8. Cooldown: 8 seconds
Sudden Growth 15 Cause all nearby plants to grow at many times their normal rate for 3 seconds
Mana Sense 37 Sense nearby mana
Magic Missile 28 Create missiles of mana that attack your target. Current missiles: 7
Suggest 24 Plant a subtle thought or desire in the target''s mind
Prehensile Vines 26 Vines grow out of the ground in front of you. You can control them as you would your own limbs.
Charm 12 Make yourself appear more appealing to your target
Ensnaring Roots 13 Summon sturdy roots from the ground that wrap around the target
Fey Wings - Fold or unfold your wings
Fairy Dust 28 Release dust from your wing that either blesses or curses (user''s choice) any living creature it comes into contact with
Fey Bargaining 1 Form a contract with another creature. If either side breaks the contract, they will be cursed
31 - Emilia Hovering right behind her was Emilia wearing a broad smile. Elise leapt from her branch and used {Dash} to get away as fast as she could, until she looked back and saw that Emilia still hadn¡¯t moved, and was starting to laugh. Somehow, the cows below didn¡¯t seem to notice any of it, and were still peacefully lapping up water from the river. Elise made her way back, glad that rabbits couldn¡¯t blush. Naomi¡¯s suspicions were getting to her head. She was willing to admit that Emilia was at least a little suspicious, but nothing was confirmed, and Emilia should have no idea about those suspicions, so fleeing in terror was just rude. ¡°Sorry,¡± she said sheepishly when she got back. ¡°Don¡¯t be,¡± said Emilia, chuckling. ¡°That was funny. I knew rabbits were skittish, but I didn¡¯t realize it would be that much.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± said Elise. ¡°Are you getting some early morning hunting done?¡± asked Emilia. ¡°Yes,¡± said Elise. ¡°When did you get back?¡± ¡°Only an hour or two ago. I had just finished talking to Salome when I saw you flying down from one of the fruits, so I followed you to see what you were doing.¡± ¡°You talked to Salome? Did she tell you¡­?¡± ¡°Yes, she told me about the prophecy she received,¡± said Emilia, her smile lessening. ¡°I am still not convinced that the Dwarves will fulfill their end of the deal you supposedly made with them-¡± ¡°It¡¯s not ¡®supposedly¡¯,¡± said Elise. ¡°I did make that deal.¡± Emilia¡¯s smile vanished and her expression became cold. ¡°Regardless, we cannot trust the Dwarves. But if Titania wishes for us to wait, then I will cooperate. At the end of the 44 days, though, when the Dwarves have shored up their defenses and made no moves to leave, I will personally step in to make sure that they are eradicated.¡± ¡°They will leave,¡± insisted Elise. Emilia stared into her eyes. ¡°Whatever you¡¯ve seen that made you trust so much in the Dwarves, it was likely false. They will lie about anything if they think it will help them achieve their goals.¡± ¡°They won¡¯t,¡± said Elise. ¡°I lived with them for a month. They despise the Drow, but they¡¯re still just people. They are reasonable. They don¡¯t want to fight a war to extinction any more than the Drow do.¡± ¡°I wish that was true,¡± sighed Emilia. ¡°It is! Why do you refuse to believe it? What did the Dwarves do to you?¡± ¡°What did they do to me?¡± she asked. ¡°What didn¡¯t they do to me? Ever since they first arrived, when I was still just a Lesser Sprite, they¡¯ve hated me. They just appeared one day and started taking over. They took pleasure in torturing and mutilating the Fey. They killed my best friend right in front of my eyes. There used to be dozens of us. Now, I am the last survivor from those times, and if not for you and Jean, I would still be alone amongst the Drow.¡± ¡°I think there¡¯s more to the story,¡± said Elise. ¡°The Dwarves said that they lived in peace with the Drow when they first arrived.¡± ¡°Of course they said that,¡± said Emilia. ¡°What else were they going to tell you? That they came and slaughtered their way through the cave until it was theirs, then warped it into a twisted mockery of nature? History is written by the historians, and the Dwarven historians are loyal to their people. But I was there. I remember.¡± The Sidhe¡¯s face was twisted into an expression of pure rage and anguish. Elise was starting to rethink what Greta had told her. She was sure that Greta hadn¡¯t lied to her on purpose, but she wasn¡¯t there when the Dwarves first entered the caves. Emilia was. The Dwarven history could very well have been propagandistic lies. ¡°But enough on this,¡± said Emilia, seeing Elise¡¯s silence. ¡°There is no point in creating animosity between us due to a matter that is already settled. We will have peace, then we will have war. Or not. Either way, we are both in agreement on the next course of action, so this discussion does not need to continue.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± said Elise. ¡°So, hunting,¡± said Emilia, her expression softening. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve done anything of the sort. Would you mind showing me how you do it?¡± ¡°I guess,¡± said Elise, glancing down at the cows, which still hadn¡¯t looked their way. ¡°Why haven¡¯t they reacted to us?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve been hiding us from their perception,¡± said Emilia. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be able to do the same in an evolution or two. It¡¯s not an omnipotent skill, but it works well on mindless beasts such as these.¡± ¡°Are you going to keep doing it?¡± ¡°Will it change your hunting tactics?¡± ¡°No. Actually, it will make it easier.¡± ¡°Then I will leave the skill active,¡± she said with a nod. ¡°Show me.¡± Elise turned away from the green-haired woman and toward the cows. A few were starting to step away from the water, having drunk their fill, but the closest one, the one she had been targeting, was still there. She focused on it and used {Suggest} drawing its attention to something off to its right. It looked up from the water, but did not move, so she prompted it with {Suggest} again. It started walking alongside the river toward the non-existent point of interest that Elise had created in its mind. She kited it along for a few hundred more feet, until she believed she was far enough away, then she attacked. She was not able to take it out with a single blow like she was with the Lesser variety, but it wasn¡¯t difficult either. After the first attack, a quick cast of {Ensnaring Roots} to hold it in place and two more {Magic Missile} were enough to finish it off. [ You have defeated Omnivorous Cyclops Cow, lvl 7 ] [ You have leveled up! 4 -> 5 ] [ Agility +5, Dexterity +5, Charisma +20, Intelligence +15, Willpower +5, Mana +10, Mana Control +10 ] [ { Magic Missile } lvl 28 -> 29 ] [ { Suggest } lvl 24-> 25 ] ¡°Hmmm, not bad,¡± commented Emilia. ¡°Was that {Suggest} that you were using to lure it away?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Clever,¡± she said. ¡°You are quite proficient at it. When I was your level, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to get it to go along so easily.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ve gotten a lot of practice,¡± said Elise. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°No, it¡¯s talent,¡± countered Emilia. ¡°You¡¯re too young to have gotten that with experience. You seem to have a grasp on the true nature of the skill and how to use it already, something which usually takes many years to fully understand.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Emilia peered into her eyes, and Elise could sense a hint of suspicion. She was reminded of the way Sylvanna would look at her when she behaved a bit too intelligently. Was her use of {Suggest} really that noteworthy? She assumed that Emilia was referring to how she had to make sure that the suggestion felt like an ordinary thought in the head of the target, but wasn¡¯t that common sense? Or was it only common sense to her because she was old enough to make the requisite connections. If she really was two months old, it wouldn¡¯t make sense for her to understand that though. She doubted someone like Jean would be able to make that connection on his own. ¡°I¡¯d like to show you something,¡± said Emilia. ¡°Your use of {Suggest} is very good for your level, but you¡¯ve only unlocked a small portion of its true potential. Come, follow me.¡± Emilia started to fly back along the shore toward where they had come from. Most of the cows had finished drinking by then, and were starting to spread out to graze. Emilia stopped in the air above all of them, approximately in the center, and Elise floated beside her. ¡°I¡¯ll be using {Suggest} on those two,¡± said Emilia, pointing to two of the cows in the middle of the herd. ¡°My skill level is much higher than yours, but I will try to limit its power to something similar to what you¡¯d be able to do so that you can get a better idea of what is possible. Watch closely.¡± At first, nothing happened. The two cows continued to munch on their separate patches of blue grass. Then, one of them started walking toward the other, moving on to a new patch of grass. A few seconds later, the other moved to the same patch, and they butted horns. The one that had been their first made an annoyed growling sound, but continued to eat, ignoring the other. The other, rather than backing off, made a louder sound, and tried to force its way in to eat the first¡¯s grass. The conflict started as just a minor contest of strength, with each trying to push the other out of the way, but as time passed, it got more and more violent, until eventually, the second cow¡¯s horn pierced the first¡¯s cheek. The first bellowed with rage, and bucked up onto its hind legs, bringing its front paws down hard, trying to crush the other. The second cow leapt back to avoid the attack, then charged forward with its head lowered, trying to run the first down. The first took the second¡¯s charge head on, its hooves digging grooves in the ground as it was pushed back. They separated, then clashed again, this time with the second being pushed back. The other cows in the vicinity had paused their own breakfasts to watch the ongoing battle, and were starting to form a ring around the two combatants. The two cows butted heads a few more times, neither giving in to the other, until one of them leapt back, and its eye started glowing. Before it could get its laser off, there was a loud bellow from outside the ring, and one of the Greater Omnivorous Cyclops Cows trotted over. ¡°I¡¯ll now be using {Suggest} on that one too,¡± said Emilia, pointing to the bigger cow that had just arrived. The cow that was about to fire its laser stopped its attack, but didn¡¯t look to be done yet. Even with the big one bearing down on it, it still stared back defiantly, clearly still wanting to fight. The big one skidded to a halt inside the ring, and then bellowed again. For a few seconds, none of them moved. Then, the other small cow¨C the one that hadn¡¯t been about to use its eye beam¨C used its eye beam on the other, putting a smoking hole in its neck. The big one roared in anger as the injured one charged up its own beam, hitting the one that had shot it in the flank. Before the fight could go on any further, the big one¡¯s eye glowed, and the laser split into two streams, one going to each of the fighters, killing them both. It huffed, then walked up to one of the corpses and took a bite of charred flesh. ¡°See?¡± said Emilia, turning to Elise. ¡°I didn¡¯t have to raise a finger. Using just {Suggest}, I killed two, and got the experience points for both.¡± ¡°Not full experience points though, right?¡± asked Elise. ¡°No, not full,¡± she admitted. ¡°Those two together are probably worth about the same as the one you killed on your own. However, I could have easily expanded the conflict out if I wanted to. I could have killed 3 or 4 or 7 or 15, or even all of them if I wanted to. Then, the experience would have been much more than what you got from directly killing a single one.¡± Elise looked down at the corpses. If she could do that, things would be so much easier. She could find a place to hide, completely out of sight, and gain experience points without risk. It would be even easier with Emilia¡¯s invisibility skill, but even without that, it would be a huge improvement. How did she do it though? The simple answer was that her level was high enough that she had more control, but if she thought Elise couldn¡¯t do it, why would she show it to her? ¡°How did you do that?¡± ¡°To master {Suggest}, you need to master your imagination. To understand why another creature does something, you need to put yourself in its position and try to think like it.¡± ¡°I already do that.¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re good. But you need to take the next step. Dig deeper. It¡¯s not something that you can master with just mindless practice. You need an intelligent approach. Find out what they like, and what they don¡¯t. Find out what they¡¯re willing to fight over and what they aren¡¯t. Find out which instincts they will obey without question, and which will make them hesitate. You need to find the smallest change you can make that will produce the largest results. Sometimes all it takes is one single thought to cause a chain reaction. ¡°Don¡¯t be frustrated if you don¡¯t see results immediately. This skill takes more experience than anything else. It took me years to truly master it.¡± I suppose my approach has been a little mindless, Elise thought. ¡°Why are you teaching me this?¡± asked Elise. ¡°I see potential in you,¡± said Emilia. ¡°I don¡¯t know how you did it, but you managed to survive a month with the dwarves, and your mastery of your skills is above where I would expect it to be for someone of your level.¡± She glanced around. ¡°What I¡¯m about to tell you is something that you cannot tell anyone. Not Jean. Not Salome. No one. Understand?¡± ¡°I understand,¡± said Elise. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you are now aware that I leave the cave once a month, but until now, I¡¯ve never told anyone where I go.¡± She leaned in closer as her voice lowered to a whisper. ¡°I am a member of an organization of non-humanoids seeking to change the world.¡± ¡°...What do you mean?¡± ¡°I cannot say anymore than that, since you are not a member, but if you are willing, I can take you along for the next meeting, and you can see for yourself.¡± Elise wasn¡¯t sure how she felt about that. It sounded incredibly sketchy. She was more of a sci-fi kind of girl on earth, but she had read enough fantasy to know that a secret organization of non-humans usually involved some kind of anti-human agenda. On the other hand though, Here Emilia was, living in harmony with the Drow, a group of humanoids. ¡°Maybe,¡± said Elise. ¡°Why me though?¡± ¡°Like I said, I see potential in you,¡± she replied. ¡°And so does Titania. It has been a long time since she has spoken so directly to someone without a direct connection to a Spirit Tree. If you joined us, I¡¯m sure you would be treated well, and with our help, you would be able to grow faster than you ever could on your own.¡± ¡°I- I¡¯ll think about it,¡± said Elise. ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± said Emilia. ¡°Take all the time you need. The next meeting isn¡¯t for another month. I hope you can come though. I think you¡¯d do well there.¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll leave you to your hunting for now then,¡± said Emilia. ¡°It was good talking to you. Don¡¯t forget to think about my offer.¡± She flew away, leaving Elise alone above the herd of cows. Elise stayed there for a moment, lost in thought until the cows noticed her because she wasn¡¯t invisible to them anymore and she had to flee their lasers. Over the next few days, she settled into a routine. She slept on the fruit at night, and hunted during the day, and occasionally checked in on the drow to make sure that there was no warfare occuring. She was almost surprised at how smoothly things were going. Naomi had sent out the bare minimum number of scouts to keep an eye on the dwarves with strict orders to not antagonize them and to prioritize their survival, and none had even been spotted yet. So far, all had gone well, and according to plan. The dwarves started a very obvious tunnel heading upward, and the entire city was packing their belongings. The excavation was going slowly, because there were only a few dwarves who had the necessary class and skills to dig through a mile of dirt and stone, but it was steady, and there was no sign of them gearing up for war. Jean and Emilia, and many of the drow didn¡¯t seem too pleased, but no one raised any serious issues. They didn¡¯t like seeing the dwarves getting away scot-free, but aside from a radical few, most of the drow knew it was for the best. Elise tried to keep her contact with others to a bare minimum. Aside from her regular check-ins, the only times she ever spoke to anyone were when they came to seek her out, which was rare. Naomi had come after her for the first few days after the poison incident, but after getting cold-shouldered every time, she gave up, leaving Elise mostly unbothered. While alone, Elise tried to refine the hunting method that Emilia had shown her, but it was harder than the older Fey had made it look. She had to go beyond just making her suggestions sound like plausibly original thoughts, and actually spend time learning about the cows¡¯ habits and way of thinking. Her first few attempts had resulted in utter failure. She could barely get the cows to growl at each other. It was only after a week that she started making any real progress, but she still wasn¡¯t able to escalate the fights to the point of lethality. No matter which cows she chose as her targets, one would always back down before things got too serious. And like this, two weeks passed in a flash. 32 - Party Two Omnivorous Cyclops cows were glaring at each other in a field. Neither moved a muscle. Around them, the rest of their herd had formed a ring, and were watching closely to what looked like would become a deadly fight. The Mexican standoff carried on for a minute, with Elise furiously spamming {Suggest} to try to get one of them to make the first move. After another long minute, one of them pawed the ground and moo-growled a challenge at the other. Yes! She thought. Finally! ¡°Eli-ise!¡± came Jean¡¯s voice from the distance. ¡°Elise?¡± Shoot! He was still too far away to be heard by the cows, but his second call had been much closer than the first. She silently cursed his timing. She was just about to make a breakthrough too. She went back to using {Suggest} at the cows, hoping that she could at least get it started before Jean got there, but it was too late. A few seconds later, Jean called her name again, this time close enough for the cows to hear. They turned toward his voice, which also happened to be toward Elise, and a few caught sight of her fur between the leaves of the tree she was hiding in. ¡°Dangit!¡± she said, flying up and away. A few lasers hissed through the air behind her, but she was too fast and too far away to be of any danger to her. She met Jean a few seconds later, flying above the forest. ¡°Elise!¡± he called. ¡°There you are!¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± she grumped. ¡°Come with me! Quick! It¡¯s important!¡± Elise¡¯s attitude flipped like a switch. If Jean had bothered to come all the way out to the forest to find her, it must have been bad. Was there conflict with the dwarves? Did Salome or Osanne receive another prophecy? Had Emilia¡¯s cabal of non-humanoids come to do¡­ whatever it is that they did? ¡°What happened?¡± she asked. ¡°You¡¯ll see,¡± he said. ¡°C¡¯mon, let¡¯s go!¡± He turned and zipped away without further explanation, forcing her to follow behind. He was still faster than her, but with four more levels under her belt than the last time she had needed to follow him, it was much easier to keep up. Elise asked a few more times what was going on, but her voice must have gotten lost in the wind, because he never responded. They made it to the Mother Tree a couple minutes later, but rather than going into the center like she expected, Jean led her past it to the other side. Some of the drow waved up at them from the grassy fields as they flew overhead, none of them looking in any way distressed. That meant that either whatever had happened was not yet known to the public, or it was nothing important at all, and Jean was just making a big deal out of it because he could. She was starting to get a feeling it was the latter. A minute later, they came to a clearing full of drow. It was utter chaos, but a happy chaos full of laughing children playing pretend and fighting with sticks and frazzled parents trying to keep track of them. ¡°Jean, what¡¯s going on?¡± asked Elise as they slowed down for their final approach. ¡°It¡¯s my friend Carol¡¯s birthday today, and she really wanted to pet you,¡± he explained. ¡°I promised her that I could get you here, but I almost couldn¡¯t find you.¡± ¡°You called me here for a kid¡¯s birthday party?¡± ¡°Yeah! C¡¯mon, let¡¯s go see Carol.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not-¡± she started. It was too late to back out though. She had been spotted, and children and parents alike were calling out to her and Jean with joyful smiles. She didn¡¯t want to waste her time here when she could be doing more important things, but most of the children looked eight or nine at the oldest, and many were toddlers. If she left after showing herself and after Jean had explicitly said he would bring her, there would be mass tantrums. It was fine. She would tough it out for however long she needed to, and then she would get back to work. A lost hour or two wasn¡¯t the end of the world. She was still annoyed that her first successful attempt at starting a fight with {Suggest} had been ruined by Jean, but she could always do it again. She had another four weeks before the drow¡¯s non-aggression agreement was up. Carol turned out to be a newly six little girl with a congenital defect that left one of her arms about half the length of the other. Apparently, even that was more than she was born with, and it was only through Emilia¡¯s blessings that it had managed to grow as much as it did. As soon as Elise got within reach, Carol reached out to pet her, only to be pulled back by an adult male drow. ¡°I am so sorry, Lady Elise,¡± he said. ¡°My daughter has been obsessed with you ever since she saw you flying into the Mother Tree when you arrived. She wouldn¡¯t stop pestering Lord Jean to invite you to her party.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± said Elise. ¡°Daddy, I want to pet her!¡± said Carol, squirming against her father¡¯s arms. ¡°Sweetie, you can¡¯t just reach out and pet a Great Fey without their permission like that,¡± said the dad. ¡°But Jean said I could!¡± ¡°Lord Jean said you could,¡± he corrected. ¡°But did you get permission from Lady Elise yet?¡± ¡°But Jean said I could,¡± she repeated, her lower lip trembling. ¡°Carol, what do we say when we want to ask nicely for something?¡± ¡°Can I please pet Lady Elise?¡± she said, looking up at her dad. ¡°Don¡¯t ask me. Ask her.¡± She turned to Elise with the most adorable puppy dog eyes Elise had ever seen and clasped her mismatched arms together. ¡°Lady Elise, can I please pet you?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Yay!¡± Elise lowered herself down as Carol¡¯s father released his daughter, and a moment later, she was wrapped up in the little girl¡¯s arms. She had skipped straight past petting and gone straight to a bear hug. ¡°Carol, no!¡± said the father, reaching toward his daughter. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± said Elise, slightly muffled. Carol was only 6, so she wasn¡¯t strong enough to actually do any harm, and with only one fully functional arm, what little strength she did have was effectively halved. Elise¡¯s wings were cramped at a bit of an awkward angle, but she could simply deactivate them to relieve the discomfort. After a few seconds when it was clear that Carol had no plans to let go, she did just that, and wiggled around to settle herself more comfortably in Carol¡¯s good arm. Soon, they were surrounded by a dozen other children, all reaching in to get a feel of Elise¡¯s fur. She cringed a little bit when she saw how much dirt and who-knows-what-else was on their fingers, but she bore with it. It actually didn¡¯t feel too bad. The children weren¡¯t the gentlest, especially since they were all jostling each other around, but none of them were too rough either, and with all their fingers constantly moving around on her back and side, it felt like a many-handed massage. Even Jean got in on the action, swooping in from above to sit on Carol¡¯s shoulder and scratch Elise¡¯s forehead. She stayed in that position for longer than she would have liked to admit until the children evidently got bored of just petting her, and Carol set her down. The children had backed up a few feet, allowing her some breathing room. ¡°Do some magic!¡± said a little boy from behind her. ¡°Shhhh,¡± said someone who Elise assumed was one of the boy¡¯s parents. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t know any fun magic,¡± said Elise. ¡°Awwww,¡± said everyone. ¡°I do!¡± said Jean. ¡°Watch this!¡± He descended to the ground next to Elise and waved his hands in front of him. Visible mana flew out from his hands and coalesced into a vaguely humanoid shape, which then grew thicker and more distinct until there were two Jean¡¯s standing on the grass. Jean and his double stood proudly for a short while to allow for proper ooh-ing and ah-ing, then he waved his hand again, and the illusion¡¯s shape changed. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. A moment later, Elise was staring at a copy of herself. There was another round of oohs and ahs, then the illusion faded. The children all pushed inward and started talking over each other. ¡°Do one of me!¡± ¡°Do me next!¡± ¡°Me! Me!¡± ¡°Can you make an illusion of me?¡± Jean shot up between them into the sky with a smile. ¡°Sorry guys, but I¡¯m almost out of mana already. I can make one of you next time.¡± ¡°Awwww,¡± said everyone again. The party lasted for another hour before the young drow got too tired, and started to be taken away by their parents to nap. Elise wasn¡¯t sure why she stayed the whole time. She could have left after Jean¡¯s magic show with no issues, but she decided to stick around for some reason. She usually didn¡¯t like being around so many small children, but something about the party felt relaxing. While she had been stressing herself out with getting stronger and stopping a war, all these ordinary people were living ordinary lives and having ordinary fun. As the party came to an end, and parents started actively searching for their children to pry them from their friends, Elise made up her mind that it was time for her to leave as well. When she turned to leave though, a familiar face made her stop. ¡°Oh, Lady Elise,¡± said Naomi. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°Jean dragged me over,¡± Elise replied. ¡°The birthday girl wanted to pet me, apparently. What about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here to see my niece.¡± ¡°Auntie Naomi?¡± said a sleepy voice from behind Elise. Carol was stumbling over, holding her dad¡¯s hand with her good arm and rubbing her eye with the short one. ¡°Did you have a good birthday, Sweetie?¡± asked Naomi. ¡°Yeah,¡± said Carol, reaching up toward Naomi. Naomi bent down and scooped her up with her fleshy arm, ruffling her hair with the wooden one. The man looked at her, a bit nervous, but he didn¡¯t do anything to stop her. ¡°Stop!¡± said Carol, giggling. ¡°Carol is your niece?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Yes she is,¡± said Nicole. ¡°And this is my little brother Benoit.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an honor to formally meet you,¡± he said, bowing. ¡°Thank you for coming to my daughter¡¯s birthday party. It made her very happy.¡± ¡°I thought you were busy roughin¡¯ it out in the forest,¡± said Naomi. ¡°You didn¡¯t even have time to meet with me. What are you doing at Carol¡¯s birthday party?¡± ¡°Jean brought her!¡± said Carol. ¡°I got to pet her!¡± ¡°You did?¡± said Naomi. ¡°Was she soft?¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± ¡°Jean dragged me over,¡± Elise confirmed. ¡°Good,¡± said Naomi. ¡°We¡¯ve barely gotten to see you since you arrived. You should spend more time socializing. It¡¯s good for you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± said Elise. ¡°Maybe,¡± said Naomi. ¡°Maybe not. I tried living alone for a while though, and I eventually had to come back. Loneliness is dangerous.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Elise repeated. She knew that Naomi¡¯s advice came from good intentions, but it was starting to get on her nerves. Maybe loneliness was bad. So what? Better than getting too close and having to watch them die. She didn¡¯t plan on failing to stop the war, but if she did, the less drow she knew, the less it would hurt. ¡°If you say so,¡± said Naomi, shrugging with the shoulder that wasn¡¯t holding Carol. The little girl was yawning, and her eyes were getting dangerously close to closing. Naomi looked down at her and smiled. ¡°Well, Carol, I¡¯m glad you had a good birthday party.¡± ¡°Mhmmm,¡± said the girl. ¡°I¡¯m gonna give you back to your Daddy now so you can go take a nap.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sleepy,¡± mumbled Carol. ¡°But before I do, do you remember what I always say?¡± ¡°Naomi,¡± said Benoit in a warning tone. ¡°Never trust,¡± said Naomi with a grin. ¡°The fairy dust!¡± finished Carol, mirroring her smile. ¡°Naomi!¡± snapped Benoit, reaching for his daughter. ¡°You can¡¯t go around saying things like that!¡± ¡°I can say whatever I want,¡± said Naomi, handing Carol over. ¡°And that¡¯s not just advice for her, it¡¯s advice for you too.¡± ¡°The fey have been watching over us for centuries-¡± ¡°They¡¯ve been controlling us for centuries,¡± said Naomi. ¡°It¡¯s the mushrooms. Have you been eating the ones I¡¯ve been sending you.¡± ¡°No!¡± said Benoit. ¡°Of course not! Who knows what you did to them?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything. I just grew them myself, away from anywhere Emilia might be leaving her droppings.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a fey right here!¡± said Benoit. ¡°You can¡¯t be saying all this!¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. Elise is on my side!¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that¡­¡± said Elise. ¡°See?¡± said Benoit. ¡°Ah, she¡¯s just shy,¡± said Naomi. ¡°Anyways,¡± said Elise. ¡°It was nice meeting you, Benoit and Carol. I need to get back to what I was doing.¡± ¡°It was an honor to meet you,¡± said Benoit. ¡°Please don¡¯t take what my sister says seriously.¡± ¡°Bye-bye,¡± said Carol, waving lazily as she drifted off to sleep on her father¡¯s shoulder. Naomi said something else after that, but Elise didn¡¯t pay attention to it. She was already on her way out. She didn¡¯t want to get caught in a sibling argument. Especially not one liable to get her on Emilia¡¯s bad side. She started to make for the other side of the cavern again to continue her hunt, but before she could even get past the Mother Tree, another voice calling her name made her stop. She turned to see Emilia flying up toward her, an unreadable expression on her face. Did she overhear Naomi? Elise thought. ¡°Elise,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m glad I caught you. I have important news.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Did something happen?¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing to worry about,¡± said Emilia. ¡°It¡¯s just a minor scheduling change. My departure this month will be delayed by ten days.¡± Oh thank goodness. She didn¡¯t elaborate further, but she gave Elise a certain look to make sure she knew what her statement meant, as if it wasn¡¯t obvious enough already. Ever since their first conversation about it, she had been bringing it up whenever they ran into each other, and Elise was running out of ways to say she wanted to think about it more. She had thought about it plenty, and was coming close to a decision, but the more Emilia talked about it, the less she wanted to commit to anything. ¡°Okay,¡± said Elise. ¡°Do you think you¡¯ll be able to join me?¡± Elise hesitated. In truth, she did want to go, if only to see what it was. Her main concern about attending the meeting was that she would get dragged into yet another major conflict in which she wanted no part, but would feel compelled to participate in anyway. No matter how noble their cause might be, Elise didn¡¯t want to be the lynchpin for the survival of any more people groups. Part of her wanted to say ¡°what are the odds?¡± but she was two for two so far, and saying that would almost definitely jinx it. Still, it was too intriguing to ignore. If she could manage to go and return without getting dragged into anything, she would be privy to some very important information, and she liked being privy to important information. If it was important enough that even Salome couldn¡¯t be told, it had to be much bigger than anything the Drow were related to. ¡°I¡¯ll go,¡± she said. ¡°But I won¡¯t promise I¡¯ll join. I don¡¯t know enough about it yet.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± said Emilia with a smile. ¡°But I think you¡¯ll want to. You plan to leave the Drow, right?¡± ¡°...Was it that obvious?¡± ¡°A little,¡± she admitted. ¡°You spend your days alone and try to avoid contact with anyone. It¡¯s not hard to tell that you don¡¯t really want to be here.¡± ¡°It has nothing to do with any of the people here,¡± Elise clarified. ¡°I don¡¯t dislike anyone here, I just-¡± ¡°Want to get out?¡± Emilia finished with a smirk. ¡°You feel cramped in here? You¡¯re trying not to get too close to anyone so when you do leave, it won¡¯t be as painful.¡± ¡°Right.¡± She had hit the nail right on the head. ¡°As soon as the Dwarf situation is over, I¡¯ll be leaving.¡± ¡°I understand. I¡¯ve actually been feeling the same way recently.¡± ¡°You have?¡± ¡°I outgrew this little place a long time ago,¡± her gaze grew distant. ¡°But I committed myself to the Drow, so I need to see it through to the end, one way or another. When the situation with the dwarves is over, I think that I too will leave. I¡¯ll come back to visit, of course, but I¡¯ll be devoting more of my time to my other work.¡± ¡°I see,¡± said Elise. ¡°Makes sense.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like for you to join me,¡± she said. ¡°I think you have a lot of potential, maybe more than anyone I¡¯ve ever met.¡± ¡°Thanks, but I¡¯m not going to commit to anything yet.¡± ¡°I know,¡± said Emilia. ¡°But I think you¡¯ll come around. It¡¯s hard to go far in the world of the humanoids without help, and I can provide that for you.¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll let you get back to your hunting. Have you figured out what I showed you the other day?¡± ¡°I think I¡¯ve almost got it. I actually almost had it just now before Jean dragged me away.¡± ¡°Well, good luck!¡± Emilia smiled widely. ¡°If I don¡¯t see you before then, I¡¯ll see you in three and a half weeks.¡± ¡°See you then,¡± agreed Elise. Later that day, Elise finally managed to succeed in making two of the cows fight. It didn¡¯t turn deadly, but it got violent, and left one of them with a cracked horn and a wobbly gait. It wandered off into the forest on its own, apparently shunned from its herd for having lost, which made it easy pickings for Elise. It was another week before she could make the fights happen consistently, and it was only as the third week came to an end that she caused her first deadly battle. She only gained two more levels that entire time, but they were the most satisfying levels she had ever gotten, after how hard she had worked for them. When it came time to leave with Emilia, she was in high spirits. While its level had not grown much, having reached an apparent cap, her mastery of {Suggest} had made huge strides. Really, it was more of an enhancement of her observation skills. Brute force was only able to get her so far, and what really caused her breakthroughs was paying closer attention to the cow¡¯s habits and proclivities, so that she could really get into their heads when making her suggestions. This time, for their departure, Emilia stayed around long enough to enjoy the farewell feast that she had missed on her last outing. Unfortunately, like everything that the dwarves and drow seemed to eat, it was all mushrooms. At least, that¡¯s what it was for Elise. The drow were enjoying generous portions of purplish steak. Emilia had promised Elise that she¡¯d be able to eat other things once they were aboveground, and honestly, more so than sating her curiosity, that¡¯s what she was looking forward to most. They said their farewells, and then from the perspective of the Drow, they vanished, teleporting to wherever they needed to go. What really happened was that Emilia turned them invisible, and they exited the cave the old-fashioned way: flying through the secret tunnel hidden behind the leaves at the top of the cavern. 33 - Ostra After two and a half months underground, the sun was blinding. It took Elise many minutes for her eyes to adjust to the sudden influx of light, and when they finally did, everything looked strange. They were floating above the same forest she had spawned in, but it all looked so unfamiliar. The greenness looked wrong compared to the black, blue, and red of the drow cave and the Dwarven grayscale. Once outside, Emilia held Elise under her arms as she flew to the south. Although she didn¡¯t want to see it, Elise couldn¡¯t help but to keep an eye out for the cabin. She wasn¡¯t sure whether she was happy or sad when she couldn¡¯t find it. She was curious what it was like now. Had someone come to retrieve the bodies. Were they still lying there, mutilated and rotting? Was the cabin still abandoned, or had it become a critter home? As they flew, the forest below thinned, then turned to grassland which became farmland, and soon, a city came into view, surrounded by low, gray walls. Emilia ignored these walls, flying right over the heads of a pair of chatting guards toward the center of the city. She set down in a dark alley near the city center, and then fashioned a sling out of vines that she produced from thin air, and slung it over her shoulder with Elise inside. ¡°Don¡¯t say anything,¡± she said. A moment later, Elise was transformed into a purse. She could still feel all her extremities, and she could still move her head and twitch her ears, but when she looked at herself, she looked just like a purse made of black crocodile leather. Emilia herself had swapped her normal white dress for an elegant purple one with a fur scarf, and her antlers were replaced by a wide hat in matching purple with tall feathers sticking out of the top. Her hair had turned from green to blonde, and her face had gone from kindly and mature to cruel and arrogant. When they emerged from the alley, they got a few strange looks, but Emilia walked with such confidence and purpose that none dared to stop her. They only walked about a block further until they came to an elegant wooden building. It had a sign above its door, but it had been so long since she lived with the Grays that she had forgotten most of the human language, and the only word she could make out on it was ¡°center¡±. The building¡¯s purpose was made obvious though as soon as they entered. The entire bottom floor was a wide, busy lobby with lane lines drawn on the floor indicating which way they were to go, and small daises with intricate inscriptions on them. As Elise watched, some of the inscriptions started to glow, and a moment later, there were people standing on them. They were teleportation circles. Emilia ignored the lane lines, and walked through the room without a care in the world, even stepping on top of a dais or two until she reached the staircase on the far right wall. She ascended the staircase, past a second floor full of larger, more intricate circles, and to the third floor, which held just three circles, larger and more complex than any of the lower ones. None of the employees took notice of her, except one, who went to stand next to the nearest circle. Emilia walked with Elise up to the center, and without a word, the employee made some hand motions, and the circle began to glow. There was a flash of light, and when it cleared, they stood in a similar, but much larger room with about a dozen of identical circles. Like before, no one paid them any mind, and Emilia simply walked out of the building and onto the street. This city was much bigger than the one they had come from, and not just in population. Everything in it was bigger. The streets were wider, the buildings were taller, and even the people were bigger. Elise saw a square-jawed man that must have been at least eight feet tall pushing a cart loaded with fried pastries and calling out to passersby. Instead of ducking into an alley and undoing the disguise, Emilia continued on down the street. Elise didn¡¯t know how long they walked for because she wasn¡¯t really paying attention. Everywhere she looked, there seemed to be someone, or something interesting. To her right, there was another man, just as big as the pastry-seller, who was putting nails in a sign above a door while an elf woman guided him from below to make sure it was level. On the left, a cyclops woman in a tight-fitting outfit had stopped a blushing young man to hand him some kind of flier. When they passed through a market square, there was a trio of what were either halflings or gnomes doing acrobatic tricks for a small crowd. She saw a lizard man scolding a teenage boy for stepping on his tail, a young couple posing while a street-painter¡¯s hands moved too fast for her to track over a portrait in progress, and a shady man in a hooded trench coat with an eagle on each shoulder. She even saw a dwarf or two, buying food or knick knacks at one of the many street stalls. Elise was so caught up in all the sights that she almost forgot that they had a real destination to go to, and was surprised when they stopped in front of an ordinary-looking dress shop. There was nothing strange about the interior, other than perhaps the odd lack of customers. The dresses looked to be of reasonable quality, and the street outside was as busy as any Elise had ever seen, but aside from a bored-looking young woman at the counter, there was no one inside. The clerk said something that Elise didn¡¯t understand, and Emilia responded with something equally incomprehensible, making the clerk perk up. She smiled and said something else, then led Emilia to a room at the far side of the store. It looked like an ordinary closet at first, but when the clerk grabbed a broom and stuck it into a crack between two boards on the ceiling, the back wall slid to the side, and behind it was a red carpeted staircase illuminated by glowing stones that led down far enough that Elise couldn¡¯t see the end. ¡°Thank you,¡± said Emilia before stepping onto the stairs. Those two words at least, Elise remembered. Sylvanna had always made sure that Sophie said it whenever it was applicable, and Sophie always tried to get away with not saying it at all. The wonder she had felt at seeing the city vanished and was replaced by melancholy, and her mood wasn¡¯t helped by the fact that she had gotten to enjoy just an hour of sunlight before going right back underground. As soon as the wall closed behind them, Emilia undid the illusion, and let Elise out of the vine carrier so she could move on her own. ¡°We¡¯re almost there,¡± said Emilia. ¡°There is no special etiquette that you need to follow, but please try not to offend anyone. If you do, I will try to step in to help, but I will have to step away for a meeting between the higher-ups, so I won¡¯t be around the whole time.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try my best,¡± replied Elise. The staircase was at least a few hundred stairs long¨C Elise stopped counting when she started flying¨C and ended in a short stone hallway. On the opposite side of the hall, there was an extravagant red double door, at least twelve feet high and inlaid with gold filigree. The brass ring knockers were hanging from the mouths of silver dragons whose eyes were rubies. Emilia grabbed one and knocked three times, and a moment later, the door opened and they were let in by a woman with the lower half of a bird and wings for arms. [ Pigeon Harpy, lvl 4 ] ¡°Welcome, Representative Emilia,¡± said the woman in Fey. Her voice was high-pitched and rough, and not at all pleasant to listen to. Her shirt¨C the only article of clothing she wore¨C was covered in stains, and riddled with holes, and she smelled like she hadn¡¯t bathed in months. She bowed and lifted her wings and a few stray feathers broke free and fluttered to the ground. Emilia wrinkled her nose and swiftly walked by without acknowledging the woman. They were in another hallway, this one feeling more like one that belonged in a mansion than the underground halls that Elise was used to. The floor was hardwood, but a decorative rug ran along the center, muffling Emilia¡¯s footsteps, and it was illuminated by golden candelabras with more of the glowing stones set on its tips. The walls were also made of wood, and were painted a soft green color. Their final destination was at the end of this hallway, where a more ordinary looking door opened up to reveal a ballroom filled with the strangest assortment of creatures Elise could possibly imagine. They ranged from small animals like her to a literal elephant with everything in between. There were humanoids and semi-humanoids like Emilia and the harpy, and there was a giant insect or two, and even a few wispy, translucent creatures that seemed to fade in and out of existence. ¡°Emilia, you¡¯re here!¡± said a deep voice. ¡°And I see you¡¯ve brought a friend!¡± The speaker looked like a centaur, except its lower half was a jaguar, and its upper half was also a jaguar. It had the body of a jaguar, but instead of a neck and a head, it had another half a jaguar body, and then the head, and it was not anthropomorphic in the slightest. Elise inspected it, just to see what it was, and was only left with even more questions.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. [ Greater Firebreath Jagaur, lvl ??? ] She read the species name three times before she realized that the a and the u were switched. Who had decided to name it that? Why? Why did this creature even exist? How did it benefit from this evolution? ¡°Jag,¡± said Emilia. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you. This is Elise. I mentioned her briefly at the last meeting.¡± ¡°Oh yes, the Rabbit Fey,¡± he said with a toothy grin. ¡°A pleasure to meet you. My name is Jag, I¡¯m one of the members here. I¡¯ve been friends with Emilia now for¡­ Oh, how long has it been?¡± ¡°Almost seventy years,¡± supplied Emilia. ¡°Has it really been that long?¡± he asked. ¡°Well, as they say, time soars when you¡¯re enjoying yourself, and I have certainly enjoyed every second I¡¯ve spent here. I hope you¡¯ll be able to say the same in seventy years too.¡± He chuckled. ¡°So, how much do you know about what we do here?¡± ¡°Almost nothing,¡± said Elise. ¡°All I know is that it¡¯s an ¡®organization of non-humanoids seeking to change the world.¡¯¡± ¡°Well, you know a lot more than I did when I first came here,¡± he said. ¡°When I was invited here the first time, all I knew was that there would be free food.¡± ¡°I was promised that too, yes,¡± said Elise. Jag laughed. ¡°Well, I must say that even if you did only come for the food, it would be worth it. We have the best food in the city¨C dare I say the world?¨C right here.¡± He turned and gestured behind him to where a long table was set out with a wide array of dishes. There were steaming plates of meat, trays piled high with fruits and vegetables Elise couldn¡¯t even begin to describe, and bowls of soups and other liquids of every color. It smelled heavenly, and her stomach was starting to grumble just from looking at it. ¡°Come to think of it,¡± continued Jag. ¡°I heard that Freddy is bringing in someone new today as well. Hey Emilia, you know that big Shift that just happened way down by Albionia?¡± ¡°I had heard about it.¡± ¡°Yeah, so apparently, some lucky monster got to his sixth evolution because of it, and Freddy¡¯s been teaching him how to suppress his instincts. There were rumors he was gonna bring the new guy in last time, but I guess he wasn¡¯t ready yet. He might not come this time either, but it would be interesting if we had two new members today.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not a member yet,¡± said Elise. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not hard to do,¡± said Jag, smiling. ¡°It¡¯s a very quick process really.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I will join,¡± Elise clarified. ¡°Emilia invited me so I could learn about it, and see if it was something I¡¯d be interested in.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s fine too,¡± he said. ¡°But I bet you¡¯ll want to join by the time you leave. There¡¯s no better place for a non-humanoid to get connections than here. Even if you¡¯re not participating in our greater cause, we¡¯ll still have your back, even when the rest of the world is against you. People like us have to learn to work together, you know.¡± ¡°What is this place exactly?¡± asked Elise. ¡°I don¡¯t even know what this group¡¯s name is yet.¡± ¡°Well, I can tell you that we call ourselves Ostra, which is short for ¡®ostracized¡¯, but I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯m the right person to try to explain the rest. I¡¯m over a century old, but compared to the Chairs like Emilia, I¡¯m basically a newcomer.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t been here that long either, Jag,¡± said Emilia. ¡°It¡¯s only been ninety years for me, and I didn¡¯t become a Chair until sixty years ago.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a Chair?¡± asked Elise. ¡°A Chair is just someone trusted and powerful enough to be involved in the group¡¯s more clandestine operations,¡± said Emilia. ¡°I¡¯m one, and you¡¯ll meet a few more later tonight, probably. I can¡¯t tell you exactly what we do, but now that we¡¯re here, I can give you a better idea of why you might want to join. ¡°Non-humanoids are highly discriminated against all over the world, both by societies, and by the System itself. There are very few groups that accept even fey, and almost none that work with people like Jag. It¡¯s quite unfair. We look different, and we evolve instead of classing up, but we still think and feel, just like the humanoids.¡± ¡°Too true,¡± said Jag, lowering his head. ¡°Our goal is to make the world that is willing to accept us,¡± continued Emilia. ¡°A world where Jag can walk down the street without causing a panic and getting attacked by the city guards. A world where I can have a conversation without being accused of trying to steal a soul. A world where everyone can coexist in peace.¡± ¡°Hear hear,¡± said Jag. ¡°Have you ever had a meat pie? I hear they sell them from wooden carts on the streets in the city. I¡¯ve had some down here, but it¡¯s just not authentic. It¡¯s my dream to be able to walk down the street and buy a meat pie from a wooden cart one day. It¡¯s simple and silly, I know, but it¡¯s those simple and silly things that I want to be able to do.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s a good dream,¡± said Elise. ¡°Thank you,¡± said Jag. ¡°And I mean it. A lot of people hear me say that, and they think I¡¯m joking. I mean, look at me. I¡¯m a Jagaur. Nobody looks at a Jagaur and thinks ¡®That guy wants to walk freely down the street and buy meat pies from push carts.¡¯ They all think I must want to be an apex predator, and the top of the world or something. And it¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want that too, but that¡¯s just not my dream, you know?¡± ¡°I understand completely,¡± said Elise. ¡°All I want is to be able to live a quiet, comfortable life.¡± ¡°Exactly! If I could swap lives with anyone, I would choose a human shopkeep. Just think about it. You wake up every morning in a bed in a city protected by your race¡¯s most powerful people. You sell your goods, and get to talk to your customers all day. You can go out and eat at a local restaurant, maybe befriend the owner, and get drinks with him on the weekends. And then at the end of the day, you go right back to bed, safe and sound, not a care in the world beyond how much I can sell the next day. That sounds like the life.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± said Elise. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here,¡± said Jag. ¡°I¡¯m not a Chair yet, but I¡¯ve applied. I want to be involved. I know I¡¯m not gonna live forever, but I want to see the world we¡¯re trying to build at least once before then, and know that it was because of me that it can exist.¡± ¡°I hope you can make your dream come true,¡± said Elise. ¡°Sincerely. It sounds wonderful.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± he said, bowing his head. ¡°Thanks for listening to my rambling too.¡± ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t mind at all.¡± ¡°Thank you anyway.¡± At that moment, Elise¡¯s stomach growled again, and it seemed Jag heard it, because he smiled at her. ¡°Shall we go get some food then?¡± he said. ¡°Yes please,¡± said Elise. ¡°Well, I was a little worried, but you¡¯re doing better than I could have hoped,¡± said Emilia. ¡°Do you mind if I leave you with Jag while I go greet a few more people?¡± ¡°Not at all,¡± replied Elise. ¡°Then I¡¯ll be off. If you need any help, don¡¯t hesitate to ask me, no matter who I¡¯m talking to.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take good care of her,¡± said Jag, as she turned to walk away. ¡°So, what kind of food do you like? You¡¯re a rabbit, so probably not meat.¡± ¡°Not meat,¡± agreed Elise. ¡°And not mushrooms.¡± ¡°Not mushrooms? Well, it¡¯s a shame, because we have some fan-tastic mushroom soup here. I¡¯m a carnivore, and I even like it. But if you say no mushrooms, then no mushrooms it is. Let¡¯s see what else we can find¡­¡± Elise ultimately settled on a small scoop of two different kinds of salad, and an odd blue fruit that was the size of an apple and an almost perfect cube. She couldn¡¯t hold a plate, so Jag did it for her. He wasn¡¯t very good at holding plates either, since he only had paws, but they were big enough and he was nimble enough with them that he made it work. He grabbed a large hunk of raw meat for himself, then the two of them walked to a corner of the room where tables of all heights and sizes had been set out. ¡°I just realized that we never quite finished answering your question earlier,¡± he said as he sat down. ¡°Although making a world where humanoids and non-humanoids can live in harmony is the group¡¯s main goal, that¡¯s not actually the reason that most join it. Mostly, we¡¯re a hub for goods and information for non-humanoids. We can¡¯t exactly walk into an information guild and make a request, or stop by a market to buy our food, so we get it from Ostra instead. Technically, anyone can use it, but if you become a member, you¡¯ll get free news and rations whenever you come to one of our branches.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Although Elise was feeling better about the group now that she had actually seen it and met Jag, she still wasn¡¯t totally convinced on joining. She didn¡¯t disagree with their goal, but she was never the activist type. And between survival, and stopping the dwarf-drow conflict, she already had her hands full. If she could just join and reap the benefits without getting too deeply involved, she would happily accept. Unless there was some hidden condition. ¡°Is there a catch?¡± she asked. ¡°Nope!¡± he said. ¡°Well, you have to swear to secrecy before we can tell you any of the branch locations, but that¡¯s basically a given. If you just join as a basic member though, you don¡¯t have to do anything for us. You can live your entire life getting free information and food, and we will never bother you about it. We know how hard it is to be a non-humanoid in a humanoid¡¯s world, and we will gladly give to anyone in need.¡± ¡°Well, if that¡¯s true, then I see no reason not to join.¡± ¡°Perfect! When Freddy gets here, I¡¯ll let him know. He¡¯s in charge of all the contract- Oh, speak of the Devil! Look who¡¯s here!¡± He looked over Elise toward the opposite side of the room. Before she could turn around, she felt all the hair on the back of her neck stand up straight, and she shivered. Nothing in the room had actually changed, but she felt like the temperature had suddenly dropped to below zero. It only took her a split second to connect the dots. Newcomer. Recently evolved. Cold. Standing in the doorway so tall its back almost scraped the top of the frame was the warg. 34 - Warg It looked exactly how she remembered it. It had the same pure white fur, the same pale red eyes, the same massive paws, and the same cold aura. Their eyes almost met and she saw flashbacks of the night when she had seen it last. ¡°¡®Ey Jerry, look!¡± said a voice to her right. The speaker was a red frog wearing a suit. ¡°The new guy¡¯s almost as big as you!¡± There was a deep rumble as the elephant sitting in the corner started to chuckle. It stood up and walked over to the door to greet the newcomers, the ground shaking with every step. It stopped a dozen feet from the warg, and for a few seconds, the two just glared at each other. The entire room grew quiet, and the tension in the air was palpable. Then, the elephant laughed again. ¡°I like this guy,¡± it said. ¡°Freddy, where¡¯d ya find em?¡± For the first time, Elise noticed that there was someone next to the Warg. She had gotten so tunnel visioned on it that she didn¡¯t have the mental capacity to even remember that someone else brought it. The man next to the Warg looked human at a glance, but there was something about him that just seemed fake. He was too perfect. He had long blonde hair and bright blue eyes and a jawline that most men would kill for. When he smiled, his teeth were so white they were almost hard to look at, and they were perfectly straight. He was wearing an extravagant suit, but she could tell he was well-built underneath it, and his posture and the way he carried himself spoke of absolute confidence. ¡°I was just taking a stroll through my territory and he tried to attack me,¡± said Freddy. ¡°I almost killed him before I realized what he was. Walter, would you like to introduce yourself?¡± ¡°I Walter,¡± said the warg. ¡°I¡¯m Jerry,¡± said the elephant, nodding its head. ¡°Good to finally have someone I can relate to. It¡¯s hard to get around when you¡¯re as big as we are.¡± ¡°Walter get around fine,¡± said the warg. ¡°Walter knock down tree in his way.¡± Jerry the elephant laughed again. ¡°Well, that¡¯s one way to do it.¡± A small crowd started to form around the warg as other members of Ostra introduced themselves to him. Meanwhile, Elise was still frozen in place on the table, staring in disbelief. The experience was surreal. There was the warg, Sylvanna and Corwin¡¯s murderer not fifty feet away, and he was¡­ talking? Making friends? Why is there such a crowd around him? Where¡¯s my crowd? Said a voice at the back of her mind. Shut it, she replied. ¡°No matter how frustrated you might be, it¡¯s never-¡± You shut it too. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Elise looked up to see Jag looking down on her with a look that might have been concern. It was hard to tell, since he had the head of a jaguar, and there was blood from his steak dripping from his mouth. ¡°That warg- He¡¯s- I¡¯ve seen him before.¡± ¡°And I take it it wasn¡¯t a pleasant encounter?¡± guessed Jag. ¡°No. He killed- he killed the people who were taking care of me.¡± ¡°Mmm,¡± said Jag. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it comes with the territory. I don¡¯t know how many I¡¯ve killed, and I don¡¯t like to think about it. Most of us weren¡¯t lucky enough to be born Fey. We had to become what we are the hard way. I hope you won¡¯t hold too much of a grudge against him. He didn¡¯t know what he was doing.¡± What the hell kind of excuse is that? she wanted to say. He hadn¡¯t evolved since she had last seen him, which meant that he was capable of higher thought when he killed the Grays. Sure, maybe he was new to it, and was still mostly ruled by instincts, but that didn¡¯t change the fact that the Grays were dead. Logically, she acknowledged that this revelation should make it harder to hate the warg, and made him more sympathetic, but emotionally, she felt the opposite. If anything, she hated it even more now. Whether it was sapient or not, it enjoyed killing the Grays. It enjoyed toying with her. And now she was supposed to forgive it because it didn¡¯t know what it was doing? Hell no. She kept her mouth shut though. Jag seemed to sympathize with the warg, and getting angry would only alienate herself from him, and that wouldn¡¯t help anything. Her goal of revenge remained the same, and Ostra was just another tool she could use to get it. ¡°Let¡¯s go meet them,¡± said Elise. ¡°Huh? Really?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said. ¡°I can handle it.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re sure,¡± he said. ¡°Don¡¯t force yourself.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± Jag stood up and walked, and Elise turned her wings on and flew into the air toward the crowd. By now, almost half the room was there with Freddy and Walter, talking and laughing. As soon as she was within range, Elise used {Inspect} on Freddy. If he was going to be protecting the warg, she needed to know what he was. [ ???, lvl ??? ] She didn¡¯t even have time to be confused before the man¡¯s smile slipped and his gaze snapped to her. For a moment, she was fixated by his cold, calculating gaze, then a moment later, he broke out into a wide smile. ¡°It looks like Walter isn¡¯t the only newcomer we have today,¡± he said loudly. ¡°My name is Frederic, but you can call me Freddy.¡± Immediately, the entire room turned to look at her, including the warg. As soon as it saw her, the temperature in the vicinity dropped, and its lips curled up in a snarl. An icicle formed in the air above its shoulder, and for a second Elise thought she was about to die. ¡°Walter!¡± snapped Freddy. ¡°No!¡± The warg froze in place, and a second later, the icicle clattered to the ground. It took a step back, and its tail curled between its legs. ¡°What did I say about using your skills here?¡± asked Freddy. The warg looked away from Freddy and spoke in a low voice. ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ use skills here.¡± ¡°And what did you just do?¡± ¡°Use skills.¡± ¡°Why did you do that?¡± ¡°Rabbit break Walter leg.¡± Freddy glanced at Elise. ¡°The rabbit broke your leg?¡± ¡°Two leg.¡± Freddy looked up at Elise again, with a glint of interest in his eyes. ¡°Is this true?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Elise. There was murmuring all around from the crowd. Elise felt a little proud of it. She knew that the others¡¯ opinions of her had just turned from dismissive to respectful. She and the warg were newcomers, but it didn¡¯t take a genius to deduce their general power levels. ¡°Fascinating,¡± said Freddy. ¡°Why did you do that, and if you don¡¯t mind me asking, how?¡± ¡°He was trying to kill me, so I tricked him into jumping off a cliff.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. She left out the rest. They didn¡¯t need to know that she had a reason to seek revenge. A few of the creatures around him started to chuckle, looking back and forth between her and the warg. Walter shrank back in shame. ¡°Walter, is she correct?¡± ¡°No,¡± said the warg. ¡°Walter¡­¡± ¡°...Maybe.¡± ¡°Then you should not be angry at her,¡± said Freddy. ¡°Her response was reasonable. Do you remember what happened when you tried to kill me?¡± ¡°...Yes.¡± ¡°Then because you were in the wrong, you should apologize.¡± ¡°Walter sorry.¡± ¡°Not to me. To her.¡± The warg looked her in the eye, regarding her with undisguised hatred. ¡°Walter sorry.¡± He doesn¡¯t mean it. ¡°Good job,¡± said Freddy. ¡°And I¡¯d like to apologize to everyone else here. Perhaps it was too early to bring him around.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± rumbled Jerry. ¡°There was no harm done, was there? Just a bit of a scare and an interesting story.¡± Some others around him made noises of assent. ¡°Well, if you¡¯re all fine with it, then let¡¯s not let this incident spoil the mood. Drinks are on me tonight!¡± That statement was followed by a little bit of cheering and a lot of laughter. The drinks were already free, so his promise was moot, but the joke did a good job of lightening the mood. The crowd dispersed, returning to their original positions, leaving just Elise, Jag, Freddy, and the warg out in the middle. ¡°I never caught your name,¡± said Freddy. ¡°My name is Elise,¡± she replied. Freddy smirked. ¡°Elise?¡± ¡°Yes. Is there something funny about it?¡± ¡°Oh no. I¡¯ve just never met an Elise before. Did Jag bring you?¡± ¡°Oh no, I¡¯m just showing her around,¡± said Jag. ¡°Emilia brought her.¡± ¡°Yes, I did,¡± said Emilia, drifting into the middle of their group. ¡°I meant to introduce her to you myself, but it seems she beat me to it.¡± ¡°Where did you find her?¡± asked Freddy. ¡°She¡¯s an interesting one.¡± ¡°I thought you¡¯d like her. She¡¯s been living with me for a little over a month now.¡± ¡°Did you also know about Walter then?¡± asked Freddy. ¡°Oh by the way, this is Walter. Walter, this is Emilia.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, Walter.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± said the warg. ¡°And to answer your question, no I did not know about him.¡± ¡°That¡¯s strange,¡± said Freddy. ¡°Apparently they¡¯ve met.¡± ¡°They have?¡± asked Emilia, looking at Elise. ¡°Well, she hasn¡¯t been living with me for long, and I know very little about where she was before she came to me.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯d love to hear the story then, but I believe that I¡¯m running late,¡± said Freddy. ¡°The meeting is about to start, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°We pushed it back to give you some more time,¡± said Emilia. ¡°We still have another half an hour.¡± ¡°Oh, wonderful,¡± said Freddy. ¡°Then Elise, if you don¡¯t mind¡­¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± she replied after a moment¡¯s hesitation. ¡°I¡¯d rather not.¡± Jag made a silencing motion with his paw behind her, and Freddy caught it, so his disappointed frown only lasted a moment before being replaced once again by his blinding smile. ¡°Then forget I asked,¡± he said. ¡°If you¡¯re here to join Ostra, would you like to sign the contract now? Apparently, I¡¯ve got time, so if you want, we can complete the process right now.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to see the conditions of the contract first,¡± she said. ¡°Not a problem! Let¡¯s find a table and I¡¯ll go over it with you.¡± They bid Jag and Emilia farewell, and after dropping the warg off with Jerry, they found the most remote table they could and sat down. Freddy was popular, and got greeted by absolutely everyone as they moved, but he also seemed feared, and once they sat down, no one else dared get within a dozen feet of them. Freddy produced a sheet of paper from thin air and set it down between them. ¡°The contract is quite simple, really,¡± he started. ¡°All you need to do is not tell anyone that we exist, and show up to our meetings occasionally.¡± ¡°How occasionally?¡± she asked. ¡°At least once every three years. If you sign right now, you can disappear for two years and 11 months before you need to come again. Oh, and don¡¯t worry too much about breaking that part of the contract. That part at least isn¡¯t lethal. You¡¯ll just feel a general, but growing sense of unease until you return.¡± ¡°Is the confidentiality part lethal?¡± ¡°No, but it is much more powerful. Should you break that part of the contract, you will be more or less crippled. Your location will also be made known permanently to me, and I will be able to track you down. If it turns out it was a mistake, or it was forced out of you, I can remove the conditions. If you are colluding to bring us down¡­ well, I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s when it does get lethal.¡± If Elise could grimace as a rabbit, she would have. Free food and information sounded nice, and might prove invaluable once she left the caves for good, but hearing those conditions made her reconsider. Was it really worth signing a contract that permanently tied her to an organization she knew so little about, just for food and information? Probably not. But she still needed more information. ¡°What happens if I end up trapped too far away to attend a meeting?¡± she asked. ¡°The contract only triggers when you willfully fail to attend. However, if you are imprisoned, and cannot attend before the deadline is up, I will be notified of your location, and I will be able to come and rescue you.¡± ¡°Is there any way to break out of the contract without suffering from the curses?¡± His smile vanished and her blood ran cold. ¡°Nothing is impossible, but if you make an attempt to do anything like this, you will immediately become an enemy of all of Ostra.¡± ¡°...Noted.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all for your side of the contract,¡± he said, his smile returning. ¡°Easy right? And in exchange, you can receive free food and information from any of our locations, which you will get a map of once you sign the contract. Does that all sound good to you?¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± said Elise. ¡°Maybe?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet,¡± said Elise. ¡°It all sounds good, and Ostra¡¯s goal sounds good, but¡­ I don¡¯t know, I just don¡¯t want to sign such a big contract so quickly.¡± ¡°Perfectly understandable,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°However, if you do not sign a contract while you¡¯re here, we will have to do a bit of careful memory manipulation. We don¡¯t want to force you into a contract, and although you seem reasonable enough, we take security very seriously, and can¡¯t have uncontracted folks running around with all this knowledge in their head.¡± ¡°Memory manipulation?¡± ¡°Jerry¡¯s specialty. Don¡¯t worry. It won¡¯t hurt a bit, and you¡¯ll keep all your memories of conversations that aren¡¯t directly related to Ostra, so you¡¯ll be able to maintain your relationships. You won¡¯t forget me or Jag or Jerry, you¡¯ll just forget where you met us, or why.¡± Elise didn¡¯t like the sound of that. The thought of someone else poking around inside her mind, deciding what she was and wasn¡¯t allowed to know didn¡¯t sound pleasant. But, she thought it might be a little better than the alternative. She could tell Jag was sincere, and she knew he truly believed in Ostra¡¯s goal, but signing a lifelong contract to join a shady organization just because of that seemed¡­ foolish. If they were plotting anything sinister, she didn¡¯t want to be forced to keep her mouth shut. ¡°Sounds reasonable enough,¡± she lied. ¡°I¡¯ll have to give it some more thought though.¡± ¡°Of course. Take your time. There¡¯s no rush. This gathering will last another day, so you¡¯ll be able to learn more while you¡¯re here. I hope you will decide to join us. I think you would make a great addition to the group.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± she said. ¡°Well then, if that¡¯s done,¡± the paper in front of him vanished. ¡°I have some friends to greet. I can introduce you to them if you¡¯d like. You seem to have already met Jag, and you¡¯ve at least seen Jerry, but who else do you know here?¡± ¡°That¡¯s it,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ve only talked to Jag so far.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s no good. Come with me, I¡¯ll show you around.¡± Elise spent the next twenty minutes like a balloon floating over Freddy¡¯s shoulder as he made personal introductions for her to everyone he could. She met Frank, the red frog who had called out to Jerry, and Willy, a Walrus-horse hybrid that the System decided to call a [Worse] for some reason. There was a pegasus named Pierre who evidently liked flashing people with his iridescent wings, and a tiny bear named Pyotr sitting on its back. There was even an invisible gorilla named Hampton who she could only locate because he was wearing a big, polka-dotted bow tie. Freddy wanted to introduce her to more, but he had to stop when a tall double door in the back of the room opened, and all the Chairs got up to attend their secret meeting. Of the people she had met, Frank the frog, Jerry the elephant, and Hampton the invisible gorilla were all Chairs, and they too left for the meeting. As soon as they were gone, she was rejoined by Jag, who picked up where Freddy left off in introducing her to people. By the end of the night, Elise had heard the names of just about everyone there, and remembered the names of no more than a quarter of them. She might have recalled more if she was not so distracted by the warg. After Jerry left, it remained in the corner talking to others, but ever so often, no matter where she was, or which way her attention was focused, she could feel its gaze on her. The meeting of the Chairs took almost three hours, and when they returned, Elise and Emilia socialized for a bit longer, and then that night¡¯s gathering ended. The two went to a suite on the floor above the ballroom, which Elise didn¡¯t know existed. It was not a shabby suite, but it reminded her of a hotel with its uncanny neatness and inoffensive decorations. Emilia had a large bedroom all to herself, while Elise was relegated to the couch in the sitting room, which, admittedly, was still quite comfortable. She woke up in the morning to the sound of Emilia¡¯s voice. ¡°Up up up!¡± ¡°Hrmmmm?¡± said Elise. ¡°Today¡¯s a big day,¡± said Emilia. ¡°Wake up! Breakfast is waiting!¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± said Elise, blinking the drowsiness out of her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s Lesson Day!¡± 35 - Lesson ¡°Lesson Day?¡± asked Elise, stretching. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Originally, this gathering was just so the members of Ostra could plan their next moves, but as it grew, some members started requesting resources on how to fit into humanoid society, and some other members volunteered to teach what they knew, so Lesson Day was created. The first day is just a social gathering, but the second is more structured. There will be stations set up around the ballroom with different teachers, and periods during which the lessons will take place. You can pick and choose which ones you want to take.¡± While Emilia explained Lesson Day, Elise went through a quick routine of morning stretches and shook the sleep from her head. Emilia was standing behind the couch, looking like she had already been up for quite a while. Her clothes were clean and unwrinkled¨C not that Elise had ever seen them otherwise¨C and her long hair looked freshly brushed. ¡°Are you teaching any?¡± asked Elise. ¡°I have in the past, but not this time,¡± Emilia replied. ¡°I have another appointment, so I¡¯ll be skipping this one. I¡¯ll take you back to the ballroom for breakfast, and then I¡¯ll be off. I likely won¡¯t be back until this evening.¡± ¡°Am I allowed to know where you¡¯re going?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry for not being around more. I meant to show you around more personally, but something¡¯s come up.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± said Elise. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine on my own.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you will be,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°Have you finished stretching? Let¡¯s go.¡± The ballroom had been completely re-organized. Instead of an open floor, and tables around the edges like it had been the previous day, the tables were all in the middle, and the edges of the room were partitioned into twelve equal-ish segments. The food was piled high on the outermost ring of tables, and a good half of the attendees from the previous night were already seated in the middle, talking amongst themselves. Jerry and the warg were crouched at a table on the close side of the dining area. The warg noticed Elise almost immediately, and followed her with his eyes as she flew behind Emilia toward the center. He did not make any moves to attack, but Elise could feel the hunger in his gaze, and it made her fur stand on end. ¡°Need me to grab you a plate?¡± asked Emilia. ¡°Huh?¡± Elise replied. ¡°Oh. Yes please. Thank you.¡± ¡°No problem. What do you want?¡± As they walked, two plates levitated off their stacks, and whenever Elise pointed something out that she wanted, whatever she indicated would float up and land on the plate. Meanwhile, the other plate was also slowly filling up with much more food for Emilia¡¯s meal. They sat at a table on the opposite side from the warg and started eating in silence. ¡°So,¡± said Elise after a few minutes. ¡°Are there any classes that you recommend that I take?¡± ¡°Hmmmm.¡± Emilia swallowed the bite she was chewing. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. There are a few that you probably don¡¯t need. Jag is teaching a class, but it will be useless for you.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the class?¡± ¡°¡®How to Appear Harmless.¡¯¡± ¡°Ah,¡± said Elise. ¡°Yeah, I think I have that covered.¡± ¡°If you have time though, you should at least check it out. It¡¯s pretty fun to watch. Hampton will be teaching one on etiquette, but I¡¯m not sure you need that either. There will be a few useful tidbits, but that class is at a fairly low level, so you¡¯ll be bored. Oh, and Damon and Valerie¡¯s lesson won¡¯t help you at all, since you don¡¯t have a humanoid form. Unless, you plan on aiming for one in your future evolutions?¡± Elise hesitated a moment before responding. She wasn¡¯t too keen on letting Emilia in on her long-term plans, but this one would be made obvious sooner or later, so there was no point in hiding it. ¡°I am.¡± ¡°Then in that case, you might want to take their class.¡± ¡°What is their class?¡± Elise asked. ¡°And who are Damon and Valerie?¡± ¡°They¡¯re right over there.¡± Elise followed the line from Emilia¡¯s finger to where it landed on a pair of humanoid monsters. The man, Damon, had red skin, a muscular build, and black horns that stuck straight up from his head, and the woman, Valerie had blue skin and purple horns curling around the sides of her head. Damon was wearing no shirt and a worn pair of leather trousers, and Valerie was wearing what could barely even be called underwear. A use of {Inspect} on both confirmed Elise¡¯s suspicions. [Greater Incubus, lvl ???] [Greater Succubus, lvl ???] ¡°They¡¯ll be teaching ¡®The Art of Seduction.¡¯¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡°Oh, Elise, Emilia!¡± They turned to see Jag approaching with a plate piled high with plucked, raw, whole chickens. ¡°Good morning!¡± he said. ¡°How are you two doing?¡± ¡°I¡¯m doing well,¡± said Emilia. ¡°I¡¯d be doing better though if I could stay to see your lesson.¡± ¡°Oh no,¡± he said. ¡°You have another-¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Emilia, cutting him off. ¡°Oh, my bad,¡± he said. ¡°What about you Elise? How are you doing?¡± ¡°I¡¯m doing great.¡± She was halfway through a green, star-shaped fruit that tasted like heaven. ¡°Are you looking forward to Lesson Day?¡± ¡°A little,¡± she said. ¡°I want to live among the humanoids, so I¡¯m looking forward to learning about their culture.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯ll want to take Jerry¡¯s class,¡± he said, ripping half a chicken off with his teeth. ¡°He¡¯s the expert on that stuff.¡± ¡°Does he live with them?¡± ¡°He¡¯s a circus animal!¡± said Jag. ¡°They don¡¯t know he can talk though. They just think he¡¯s unusually smart.¡± Elise glanced over at the elephant, who was shoveling whole melons into his mouth with his trunk. ¡°I guess I can see it,¡± she said. ¡°What does he do when he¡¯s not performing though?¡± ¡°He might not look like it, but Jerry is a master of stealth,¡± explained Emilia. ¡°And he can make temporary clones of himself, so his handlers never know that he¡¯s gone.¡± Elise looked back at Jerry, who was now guffawing at something the warg had said. She couldn¡¯t picture that. Circus animals were usually caged, right? How did he get out of his cage? Could he teleport? Could he phase through walls? And how would anyone not see him? He must have had some way of turning invisible. He was just out of range, so she couldn¡¯t {Inspect} him, and she was kicking herself for not having done it earlier. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°You¡¯ll want to check out Hampton¡¯s lesson too,¡± said Jag. ¡°He masquerades as a human, and runs a general store in some remote town somewhere. He knows his stuff.¡± ¡°I was just telling her about that, actually,¡± said Emilia. ¡°But I think Hampton¡¯s lesson might be too far below her level. She already has a good handle on etiquette. As long as she learns the language, she¡¯ll be fine as she is.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± agreed Jag. ¡°It might still be worth checking out at least once though. You can always skip it next time if you don¡¯t find it useful.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± said Emilia. Elise almost told them that there wouldn¡¯t be a next time, but held her tongue. It looked like neither of them were aware of the content of her discussion with Freddy, and telling them would only turn the conversation into them trying to convince her to stay, and that would be annoying. She already made up her mind, and had all night to confirm with herself. Ostra didn¡¯t seem bad, but no matter how harmless the contract¡¯s contents might have seemed, she wasn¡¯t going to potentially sign her life away while knowing so little about what their main goals were. ¡°I guess,¡± she said. They talked a bit more about the lessons before the topic turned to small talk as Jag and Emilia discussed their own personal lives, and what had been happening. Apparently, when not teaching classes on how to appear harmless, Jag was a wanderer, traveling the world and trying to further Ostra¡¯s goals in his own way. He would approach travelers and small villages, trying to appeal to reason, and prove that he was harmless. Most of the time he failed miserably, but recently, a small tribe of gnomes had started to treat him as a sort of guardian deity. ¡°It¡¯s not what I was going for, but it¡¯s a good start,¡± he said. ¡°I think I¡¯ll settle there for a little while and try to help them out and get closer to them.¡± After that, they were joined by a pair of deer with crystalline antlers, and then a few more as the other tables grew too full for them to remain alone. A quarter hour later, the entire room was buzzing with activity. Jag and the other members who were teaching lessons excused themselves to finish setting up their stations, and shortly after, a voice rang out, silencing the rest. ¡°Attention!¡± It was Freddy, and he was floating near the roof above the dining area so the whole room could see him. ¡°Lesson Day will begin in ten minutes. If you¡¯re new today, or it¡¯s been a while, and you need a refresher, allow me to explain: ¡°Lesson Day is a long-standing Ostra tradition. We have ten volunteers who will be teaching classes on how best to both be safe from humanoids, and increase their opinions of us. There will be eight periods where you can choose a station, and spend time there learning from the teacher. Unfortunately, we have more volunteers than periods this time, so you won¡¯t be able to attend them all, but I encourage you to make the most out of your time today. Allow me to now introduce our twelve teachers! ¡°In the northeast corner, we have our wonderful Jag! He¡¯s been traveling the world, making contact with various humanoid groups, and he wants to share his knowledge and experience on how to appear harmless and friendly!¡± Freddy gestured toward where Jag was standing, and there was a smattering of applause and stomping and clicking. ¡°To his left, we have Pyotr, who will be giving a lesson on the humanoid races and how to identify them. Pyotr is currently collaborating with Jelor University¡¯s chief anthropologist on a research paper that goes into great detail on this topic.¡± The tiny bear bowed from his position on top of a very tall chair, but Elise wasn¡¯t paying attention. Something that Freddy had said caught her attention, but she couldn¡¯t quite put her finger on it. ¡°Next to him are Valerie and Damon, who will be giving a lesson on seduction! They run a brothel in Albionia¡¯s capital, so they know their stuff.¡± The succubus and incubus blew kisses to the audience. ¡°In the southeast corner, Jerry will be giving a lesson on humanoid culture, and more specifically, Jelorian culture! Jerry has lived among humanoids of all statuses for nearly a century now and knows human customs like the back of his trunk.¡± There was a much louder response from the audience this time. The stomping shook the floor, and a few people started chanting Jerry¡¯s name like a mantra. Elise flinched, partly because of the sudden loud noise assaulting her sensitive ears, but mostly because she finally realized what had caught her attention. It was the word ¡°Jelor¡±. It sounded like it was just the name of a country, but the reason why she honed in on it in particular was that it was a word she had heard before. In fact, she had heard the words ¡°Jelor University¡± specifically as well, back when Nick and Bianca visited the night before the warg attacked. Was she in Jelor right now? If so, were the Grays there too? They could be right above her right at that moment. Would she be able to go visit them? She wouldn¡¯t be able to leave on her own, but maybe Emilia could take her. She wasn¡¯t sure if she wanted to actually meet them, but if she knew where they were, she could at least check in on them from afar. Is it really safe to let Emilia see them though? She thought. At that point, she realized the answer was ¡°no¡±. Emilia was still too suspicious. If she was truly the kind of villain Elise was worried she was, showing her some people that Elise cared about would be a bad idea. It would be like handing over her weakness on a silver platter. Even so, if there was some way she could at the very least confirm they were doing well, that would be enough. Maybe if she joined Ostra like Freddy offered, she would be able to get that information without going through Emilia. Then again, Emilia was in a position of power here, and could probably see her information request if she chose to. And if she was in a position of power, and was evil, did she really want to join Ostra. As much as she wanted to see them, she decided it was better not to bring them up. She could just gather information on Jelor here, and come back later independently, after the dwarf-drow issues were resolved. She tuned back in to Freddy¡¯s speech in time to hear the tail-end of his explanation of the next lesson¡¯s content. ¡°-etiquette. I personally recommend that you take Jerry and Hampton¡¯s lessons back to back. If you do, you will have a much deeper understanding of humanoid culture, and how to behave in it.¡± It took her a few seconds to find who the next speaker was. He was right next to Jerry, but it was Hampton the invisible gorilla, so she didn¡¯t notice him at first. She couldn¡¯t tell if he was waving, or laughing or something else, but his bowtie was moving back and forth slightly, so he wasn¡¯t sitting still. The applause for him was almost as loud as it was for Jerry. ¡°Next to Hampton, Barbara will-¡± ¡°It¡¯s Bobbi!¡± A ripple of laughter passed through the dining area, as the pitch black cat on top of a wooden pillar interrupted Freddy. ¡°Yes, Bobbi will be teaching a lesson on Geography,¡± continued Freddy with a good-natured smirk. ¡°Bobbi has traveled the world more times than even I have, so even if you think you know your maps, I assure you that Bobbi has seen more places than you knew existed. ¡°I will be set up in the Southwest corner, and I will be teaching about humanoid law. I hope I¡¯ll have more students than last time.¡± There was another ripple of laughter, after which Freddy continued to introduce the other subjects. Frank the frog was teaching about human literature, and Pierre the pegasus was going to be teaching about fashion. Unlike most of the Ostra members, Pierre was actually quite well-liked by humans, and enjoyed spending his time showing off for high society. In the last corner, a bespectacled otterpede¨C an otter with an elongated body and a few dozen legs¨C would be teaching human mathematics. Elise knew from the moment she heard about the subject that she would not be attending that one. The last two lectures were joint lectures on human weaponry, and human technology. They were taught by a tiny fey woman named Ariane, and a four-armed ogre with tusks jutting from his lower jaw almost all the way up to his eyes. According to Freddy, the two had prepared the lectures together, and they were designed to be taught in tandem over two periods, with the two teachers trading off speaking roles as they described the technology and weaponry throughout history. When he finished speaking, Freddy flew over to his corner, and the creatures in the dining area started to stand up and make their way toward their preferred stations. ¡°Well, it¡¯s about time for me to leave,¡± said Emilia. ¡°Do you need anything from me before I take off?¡± ¡°Nope,¡± said Elise. ¡°Well then, I hope you have a good time and learn a lot. Again, I¡¯m really sorry I can¡¯t be here for the rest. I will hopefully be back in time for dinner though.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± said Elise. ¡°I know you¡¯re busy.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± said Emilia. ¡°Well, good luck.¡± She rose up over the crowd and flew toward the door from which they had entered, leaving Elise alone in a sea of strangers. Elise watched Emilia until she was out the door, then turned her attention to her options. She wanted to take Jag and Elise¡¯s advice and attend Jerry¡¯s lecture first, but apparently the rest of Ostra had also heard that advice, and almost half of the hundreds of members were heading that direction. Elise decided she would save their lessons until later when they were less crowded, and looked around at her other options. Jag looked like he was having a good time talking to his own students, but Elise wanted to save his lesson for if she had time at the end. Like they said, she didn¡¯t really need it. It would be harder for her to make herself appear harmful than it would be for Jag to appear harmless. The seduction lesson sounded interesting, but Elise wasn¡¯t sure she was mentally prepared for such a class so early in the morning, so she decided to hold off on that one until a later time. The warg was attending the weapons class, and she didn¡¯t want to be anywhere near him, so that limited her options to the other half of the room. As she scanned the stations, she found that her eyes caught on Freddy¡¯s. He was sitting all alone on a wooden chair, looking completely unbothered. His smile was just as wide as ever, but Elise couldn¡¯t help but feel a little bad that no one wanted to listen to him. Even the otterpede had a small audience. His lectures can¡¯t be that bad, can they? she thought. As soon as she started heading his direction, he singled her out of the crowd, and his smile widened to welcome her approach. ¡°Elise!¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m glad you decided to join me. I was worried I would have to twiddle my thumbs for an hour.¡± ¡°Do you normally have no students?¡± she asked. ¡°I normally have one or two,¡± he said. ¡°But you got lucky enough this time to have me all to yourself.¡± ¡°Hooray¡­¡± said Elise with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. ¡°So, are you ready to learn about law?¡± 36 - Day ¡°Since you have me all to yourself, why don¡¯t we tailor the lesson to your needs,¡± said Freddy. ¡°What do you know about humanoid law, and what do you want to know about it? And if you don¡¯t know what you want to know, what kind of interactions do you plan on having with them in the future?¡± ¡°I know the basics, but nothing specific,¡± replied Elise. ¡°The basics?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t kill, don¡¯t steal, don¡¯t destroy other people¡¯s property¡­ Stuff like that.¡± ¡°Good, good,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°Those are sometimes the hardest to grasp for our members. You¡¯re doing great if you¡¯ve already got that down!¡± The bar is really low, she thought. ¡°What about your plans? You are living with Emilia and her tribe of Drow currently, right?¡± ¡°Yes, but I don¡¯t plan to stay for much longer.¡± ¡°Where are you going to go?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know yet. Somewhere with people.¡± ¡°In that case, might I recommend getting adopted as a pet?¡± he said. ¡°For our more adorable members, that is often the best way to get close to humanoids, and if you don¡¯t mind me saying, you might be our most adorable member to date. Or you will be, once you sign the contract.¡± ¡°If I sign the contract,¡± she corrected. ¡°Still hesitant?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± she started. ¡°No. I¡¯ve made up my mind. I won¡¯t sign.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a shame,¡± he said, frowning for the first time. ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know enough about Ostra to contract myself to them for life.¡± ¡°And you can¡¯t learn about us until you sign the contract,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s quite the conundrum. How about this: we¡¯ll make a separate contract. I¡¯ll tell you more about us, and if you still don¡¯t want to join, you will submit to having Jerry wipe your memories of that conversation, and all will be as it was.¡± It was a much more tempting offer than the first. She still didn¡¯t like the idea of having her memories wiped, but aside from that, such a contract had no downsides. She would have to triple check the conditions, because when death was a possibility for breaking the contract, she didn¡¯t want to sign without knowing exactly what she was getting into. ¡°Deal,¡± she said. ¡°But I want to look over the conditions and maybe make changes first.¡± ¡°No problem!¡± He flicked his hand and a sheet of paper appeared in it. As she watched, words started to appear on the page as if an invisible hand was writing them at inhuman speed. A few seconds later, the page was complete with a line at the bottom for her signature. She read through it, then read it again, then read it a third time, then looked back at Freddy. ¡°Can we change a couple lines?¡± she asked. ¡°Of course.¡± It took another quarter of an hour before Elise was satisfied. She couldn¡¯t help but feel that she might be starting to annoy Freddy, but he gave no outward signs, so she took that as permission to continue. By the end, the contract had quintupled in length, and it had so many specific conditions and caveats that if she hadn¡¯t helped create it herself, she imagined she would have found it incomprehensible. ¡°Now that that¡¯s done, what would you like to know that would make it more likely that you would join us.¡± ¡°What specifically are you doing?¡± Elise asked. ¡°¡®You¡¯ as in the Chairs and whatever other higher-ups there might be.¡± ¡°Many things,¡± said Freddy. ¡°We take a more hands-on approach to integrating the non-humanoids into humanoid society. We are directly infiltrating the most powerful organizations in the world and pushing our agendas.¡± ¡°Pushing your agendas how?¡± ¡°However we can.¡± ¡°Assassination?¡± ¡°Usually we look for other options first.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°Diplomacy.¡± Elise stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate. ¡°Well, we start by talking, obviously,¡± he continued. ¡°If we can convince someone to side with us without resorting to other means, that is ideal. However, the humanoids don¡¯t like us much, so that rarely works. Bribery, blackmail, brainwashing, memory manipulation¡­ Direct threats and direct control if the situation is dire enough.¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry, I can¡¯t join.¡± ¡°What we do is no worse than what they do to us,¡± said Freddy. ¡°I don¡¯t see how those things further your goal of peaceful coexistence.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t create peace with peace. You need to get your hands dirty if you want to get things done.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to be involved.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t be. You need 20 years of membership to be eligible as a Chair.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to sign a life contract with this group.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just secrecy,¡± he said. ¡°I think that¡¯s a small price to pay for what we can offer.¡± ¡°No,¡± she said. The more she denied him the more certain she became of her decision. The fact that he wanted her to sign so badly meant that he had ulterior motives. She was weak. She was young. There was no reason for him to be so patient and agree to all her conditions, just to convince her to join. Either there was something special about her that he wanted, or there was something special about the contract and neither were reassuring. She was also struck by how predatory the contract now seemed. From the outside, it looked like the members were getting a lot more than they gave. Free food and information whenever they wanted, and all they had to do was not tell anyone. However, now that she knew some of the finer details, it was much less friendly. In exchange for resources that they might have been able to acquire on their own, they had to be permanently tied to an organization of which they knew very little about. If their existence was discovered, anyone who signed the contract could be incriminated, no matter how little involvement they had with the Chairs¡¯ sinister plans. That was less of an issue, since most of the members would probably be hunted by the humanoids anyways, but for those trying to integrate into human society, that could be a death sentence. Why didn¡¯t Emilia warn her about this first? Being forced to choose between signing a life contract, or having her memories wiped seemed cruel. Did Emilia just assume Elise would want to join and wouldn¡¯t have a problem with it? Or was she trying to force her into the group? Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°What if the contract wasn¡¯t for life?¡± asked Freddy. ¡°What do you mean?¡± she replied. ¡°A renewing contract. You can sign a contract for a set amount of time, and if you still don¡¯t want to be involved later, we can wipe your memories then.¡± ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°Unless you offer me membership with no conditions, I will not join.¡± He pursed his lips. ¡°I¡¯m sorry you feel that way.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± she said. ¡°Well¡­ Can you keep our conversation private until tomorrow morning, or do I need to call Jerry over right now?¡± ¡°I can keep quiet.¡± ¡°Good. Let¡¯s get back to what we¡¯re supposed to be doing then. Since you¡¯re thinking about living with the humanoids, I¡¯ll tell you a bit about pet laws¡­¡± Elise spent the remainder of the hour trying to stay focused on the lecture. It was a losing battle. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the boringness of his lectures was already well-known, she would have thought he was doing it on purpose in retaliation for her rejecting the contract. He went into great detail on all laws surrounding pets in not just every city in Jelor, which he confirmed was the country they were in, but even on specific districts and neighborhoods within each city. He supplemented his lecture by conjuring legal documents from thin air to read to her as references. Any tension that had been built by the debate about the contract dissipated in minutes. When that period was over, Freddy flew up to announce the end, and the room shuffled as people made their way to their next lectures of choice. Jerry and Hampton¡¯s lectures were still packed, since everyone was taking them back-to-back, so Elise opted for the lesson on seduction from the succubus and incubus. She wanted to take her mind off the contract talk, and figured seduction would be a good distraction. It was, but not in the way she hoped. As it turned out, many of the Ostra members were not familiar with human reproductive organs or sexual habits, so the lecture opened with a live demonstration. None of the other audience members found it strange, but Elise also noticed that none of the audience members were humanoid monsters either. Elise was more glad of her rabbit form than she was at that moment for no reason other than that she couldn¡¯t blush. She just had to sit there and pretend to be interested while the rest of the students looked on with fascination. Once that part was over though, the rest of the lesson was actually quite interesting. It helped that it was more focused on getting the target into bed, rather than what to do after. There were occasional acted-out skits, but the two demons were actually pretty good at acting, and Elise only found herself cringing once or twice. ¡°There are two main types of seduction,¡± explained the succubus, Valerie. ¡°Lustful and Loving. I far prefer Lustful, because it¡¯s quicker, easier, safer, and there are more targets. However, there are times that a loving seduction is necessary. It all depends on your goals.¡± ¡°For example,¡± said Damon. ¡°If you want to get your hands¡ªor paws or claws¡ªon some sensitive information that only your target can access, a seduction of Love could be your best¨Cor only¨C option.¡± ¡°However, as I hinted at before, love takes time,¡± said Valerie. ¡°Unless your target is especially na?ve, you could be in for a seduction many months in the making.¡± ¡°Seductions of Lust, on the other hand, can happen in seconds,¡± said Damon. ¡°Especially if you have high Charisma, or you learn the skills for it. And even if you don¡¯t, a simple change of outfit is enough to seduce a good number of humanoids.¡± ¡°Here are a few outfit suggestions for various types of targets,¡± said Valerie. From there, the two demonstrated a skill that let them freely change both their clothes and their appearance. The skill was good enough that Elise couldn¡¯t tell if they were actually transforming, or just using an illusory disguise. Most of the outfits were more or less what Elise expected, but a few came as surprises to her. For example, according to the succubus, elven men preferred more skin showing on their women than human men. Shorter hair was en vogue among Jelorian women lately, and was more likely to catch the eye than longer hair. For giants¡ªthe same species as the two tall men she saw from Emilia¡¯s purse¡ªthey preferred modesty to an extreme. Aside from the face, any shown skin was a turn-off, even the hands, so gloves and turtlenecks were a must. She also enjoyed Damon¡¯s demonstration of the races¡¯ preferences for men more than she cared to admit. Even as a bearded dwarf, he managed to be handsome. Elise couldn¡¯t tell if it was him, or his Charisma stat. It was no doubt his highest. The second wave of students for Hampton and Jerry¡¯s courses was much smaller, so Elise decided she would start with Jerry, only to realize the reason that they were smaller this time. Between the third and fourth period, there was a one-hour lunch break, after which the real second wave arrived, and Elise was stuck packed like a sardine in the too-small space in front of Hampton. The lectures were very informative, and she was sure she would be able to use most of the information, but she was glad they were over. Many of the Ostra members did not bathe, and with so many packed into such a small space, the smell was less than pleasant. She had at least gotten to {Inspect} Jerry before leaving though. [Dreamwalker Mammoth, lvl ???] She chose the joint lecture on humanoid technology and weaponry next, followed by the lesson on geography. This ended up being what she considered to be the most useful lecture. Bobbi wasn¡¯t the most amazing speaker, and constantly went on long tangents telling random stories about things that had happened to her in each location, but her knowledge was clearly immense. Between her stories and the dwarven maps, she was able to get a pretty solid mental image of the continent she was on, and a vague idea of what the other continents were like. The lecture also provided corroboration to what Freddy said about them currently being in the capital of Jelor, which was also the location of the famous Jelor University. With that, she was confident she could find her way back in the future when she was ready to check in on the Grays. For her last lecture, she chose to visit Jag¡¯s. He was right in that it wasn¡¯t useful for her, but it was by far the most entertaining lesson she had attended that day. Watching Jag demonstrate puppy dog eyes and roll over to show his stomach for rubs made the entire trip worth it. At the end, she gave him polite thanks for the lesson and show, then left so he could talk with the other students who actually had questions. She turned to head back toward the center, where a new assortment of food had been laid out for dinner. Her eyes immediately locked onto a bowl of fruit, but she also noticed the warg heading her direction from Freddy¡¯s corner, so she decided she¡¯d circle around to the other side first, and come back once the warg had moved. However, the warg didn¡¯t stop, and continued around the tables, his eyes locked onto her. She didn¡¯t know what he wanted, but it couldn¡¯t be anything good. She made a full circle around the food-laden tables, just to confirm her suspicions, then started thinking about what to do. She could keep flying around in circles until he gave up, but that would draw attention to them, and she didn¡¯t want that. It would be better to confront him and get it over with, but she wanted to do it near someone who could stop him if he tried to attack. Freddy was the ideal option for that, but she wasn¡¯t sure she could trust him, so she stopped in front of Jerry, who was tossing melons from a bowl into what seemed to be an invisible bag strapped to his back. When the warg caught up to her, she noticed that behind her, Freddy was keeping a close eye on them, and a sinister thought crossed her mind. What if Freddy had asked the warg to do something to her. Maybe a threat, to make her feel like she had to join? But that would be stupid. It was so obvious. Freddy definitely had some part in the warg¡¯s actions though, because when it stopped in front of her, Freddy nodded and smiled at it. ¡°Elise,¡± growled the warg. ¡°Yes?¡± she said, trying to keep her voice neutral. ¡°Elise smell good.¡± Definitely a threat, she thought. But why? The warg glanced up at Freddy, who was still smiling and nodding. ¡°Does Elise want be Walter friend?¡± ¡°You want me to be your friend?¡± she blurted. ¡°Yes?¡± The warg glanced up at Freddy again, who was now giving a thumbs-up. What the hell is he planning? she thought. ¡°Piss off,¡± she said, turning around. The warg stayed where she left it as she flew back toward Jag. He still wasn¡¯t done talking to people, but he was the only one in the room she felt fully comfortable with. When he finally finished, they grabbed dinner, and sat down to eat. Her mood was improved by his company, and further improved when Emilia returned and joined them halfway through the meal. The warg spent the meal with Freddy, and the two of them glanced up at her occasionally, but neither tried talking to her again for the rest of the night. The next morning, Emilia brought Elise back into the ballroom one final time. This time, the only ones there were Jerry the elephant, and Freddy, who was missing his usual smile. ¡°Are you certain that this is what you want?¡± he asked. ¡°It¡¯s not too late to change your mind. We can work out the conditions.¡± ¡°I¡¯m certain,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re always welcome to join in the future, if you are so inclined.¡± ¡°If it seems like you¡¯re more open to it, I will bring you back,¡± said Emilia. ¡°Fine,¡± said Elise. ¡°Just get it over with.¡± ¡°Hold still,¡± said the elephant. ¡°I won¡¯t make a mistake unless you squirm.¡± Elise braced herself as he put his trunk up to her forehead and closed his eyes. Freddy had said it wouldn¡¯t hurt, but she didn¡¯t imagine that the experience of having her memories altered would be pleasant. The more she thought about it, the less she liked it. Her heart rate escalated with every second that she had to wait until it was beating like a jackhammer, and she almost wanted to run away. I don¡¯t want to lose my memories, she thought, half-panicked. ¡°When you wake up, you¡¯ll probably be back outside,¡± said the elephant. There was a surge of mana rushing from his trunk to her head, and then her vision turned gold, then went dark. When she woke up, she was indeed outside, dangling from Emilia¡¯s shoulder in another vine purse. However, her memories weren¡¯t gone like she was promised, and a System window was waiting to greet her. [ More information about {Rune of Fate} is now available. ] Announcement - Edits Are Live! So, I made a bunch of dev edits. I have a bullet point summary of all of them below, but I highly recommend you go back and read through yourselves (At least the section from 14-25). There are over 20k words of new content, and much of it will be important down the line. These edits are the biggest and most important ones that this story needed, but they are not the end. Eventually, I will go back and fix all the other minor issues that still persist, but for now, this is all I¡¯ll be doing. Now, I¡¯m sure that some of you are wondering why I bothered to do the dev edits at all, instead of just pressing on and writing book 2 better. First of all, I¡¯m a little bit of a perfectionist. It¡¯s not to the point of me putting the entire story on hold so I can rewrite it from the beginning, but knowing that there is such a glaring flaw in the story, and that I could totally fix it and that I hadn¡¯t fixed it yet was almost painful. It was largely for my own peace of mind. I also have author premium and on top of the comments and reviews telling me about the flaw, the raw numbers simply were not good after the section I edited. My retention is fantastic through chapter 14, and then falls off a cliff in the chapters following that. I also don¡¯t like seeing my rating continue to fall like it is, so I¡¯m hoping that at the very least, this will stop that from happening. Most of the negative ratings I get are on that chapter 14-24 section, and I think that the ones that come in the more recent chapters are largely influenced by the experience in that section. Hopefully, by smoothing over the progression and fleshing out the characters, the reading experience has been made better, and my numbers will stop falling. The final and most important reason that I decided to do this is that I have enough backlog I can afford to. The effect that these chapters have had on my release schedule is 0. I can put out these edits while still maintaining the same steady stream of new content. If I couldn¡¯t do that, I wouldn¡¯t have bothered. Some of you are probably also wondering how I screwed up so badly. By most accounts, my first 9 chapters are great, and the next few are a reasonable continuation of them. So how did I screw up the dwarf arc so badly after nailing the first arc so well? The short answer is: I¡¯m stupid. The long answer is that it was a combination of a few factors. First, as much as I thought using the rotational cipher for foreign languages was cool, it was also kind of tedious. I wasn¡¯t translating by hand, but still, copying the dialogue into the cipher, and copying the output out was mildly annoying. More importantly, I was worried that the readers wouldn¡¯t like it. It¡¯s an interesting way to represent foreign languages, but I¡¯d imagine reading blocks of gibberish dialogue gets old pretty quickly. So I wanted to skip through the language learning process. The second factor was my vague plan for Elise¡¯s progression. I didn¡¯t want her to evolve again until the end of the book. If she was just chilling in the dwarven kingdom farming experience points from their monster caves, she¡¯d probably level up a bunch, and that would make it more difficult to justify her not evolving sooner. So, I decided that she wasn¡¯t going to level up. The third reason was that I also had a vague plan for the dwarf v drow war setup, and I wanted to get to it sooner. I was excited to start that section, and wanted to skip over all the lead up. There were a few other factors, but those 3 combined into me making one of the worst decisions I possibly could have made for the story, which was time skipping 3 months and cutting out all meaningful progression. I didn¡¯t realize how bad it was to have a 3 month timeskip with no levels followed immediately by 40k words with no levels until that section started on Royal Road and I realized ¡°Oh shit, I have 40k words with no level-ups,¡± and by then, Patreon was well beyond that point, so it was too late to fix. Too late to fix without a hiatus, at least, and I didn¡¯t want to do that (I still don¡¯t). After realizing that, I started thinking about how I would fix it. Originally, I was just going to go straight to Amazon, and fix it there, but as the story kept growing, and the follower bleed got worse and worse, I realized that I needed to fix it sooner than later. I hired a friend to do some dev edits (it¡¯s Extra26, author of Magus Reborn. Go check his stuff out, he¡¯s great), and he gave me a lot of great feedback and some recommendations on how to fix it, and as soon as I had that feedback, I started working on these new chapters. The last thing you¡¯re probably all wondering is why I bothered to do the dwarf-drow arc in the first place. It didn¡¯t really relate to the first part of the series, and I do admit, it does feel kind of out-of-place. The answer to that is¡­ I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t plan. I just write. I got Elise underground and had no idea where to go. I needed something interesting for her to do, and I had just been rereading The Hobbit, so I introduced the dwarves on a whim. I needed something interesting to happen to her in the dwarf city, so I added the drow. Were those mistakes? I have no idea. Maybe if I had taken the story a different direction, it would have been better. Maybe it would have been worse. Who knows? Whatever the case, it no longer matters. I wrote what I wrote, and now I¡¯m doing my best to make it as good as possible. The story is locked on its current path, and this arc will need to be resolved before I can move onto the next one, and I¡¯m not going to half-ass it just to get past it. I make no promises for what kinds of plots I¡¯m going to write in the future. I know what the arc after this is going to be because I already started writing it, but after that, I really have no idea where the story is going to go. As I said before, I don¡¯t plan. The only plans that exist for this story are plans for what Elise¡¯s evolutions are going to be, and a few vague ideas of character arcs. I will, however, commit to making sure that the progression stays smooth, and that I¡¯ll do my best to never put Elise in a situation where sitting around and doing nothing for 3 months is something that is a good idea. That¡¯s really not what I meant to happen here, but as I explained before, I made some pretty dumb mistakes. I will commit to, at the very least, not doing that again. There are a few things that I want to make clear though. Everything won¡¯t be sunshine and rainbows after this arc is over. Elise will not be going into the woods to grind levels for 50 chapters. I will introduce more side characters, and they will be important for the story. I have no desire to make this a story about a solo MC who avoids everyone else in pursuit of strength. I have no desire to make a story where Elise is the only important character. If you¡¯re looking for something like that, read something else. I cranked out 20k words of these edits in about 4 days, then realized that I introduced a massive plot hole, spent a couple days thinking how to fix it, then ended up cutting about 15k of those words and writing 13k new ones. I spent a lot longer than I probably should have, but I¡¯m relatively pleased with how it turned out. I encourage everyone who made it this far to go back and read them, but if you don''t want to, it''s fine. The story after the dwarf section is more or less identical, so not reading the new stuff won''t leave you confused or anything. There is a bit more foreshadowing for the coming stuff in the inserted stuff though, so if you have the time, check ''em out. Patch notes:

New chapters

These descriptions are pretty brief. I recommend you go read through them, as the content is fully new, and you will probably miss out on things if you don''t read it.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. 15 - Decisions 16 - Learning 17 - Mana 18 - Progress 19 - Fate

Existing chapters:

I recommend reading through all of these as well, but I understand if you don''t, as the new ones plus the heavily modified chapters makes for 40k words of reading. The sequence of events is largely the same, it''s just been altered to fit the lack of 3 month timeskip. 14 - Decisions 15 20 - Preparation 16 21 - Departure 17 22 - Interrogation 18 23 - Council 19 24 - Escape 20 25 - Farewell All other chapters

Important points not to miss

Overall, I think these changes should have a very positive impact on the flow of the story, the feel of the progression, and also the readers¡¯ perception of the dwarves. I didn¡¯t want the dwarves to be universally loved or anything, but the dwarf hate got much higher than I intended it to, and hopefully, this should help flesh out the dwarves as people, and as a species. These changes should also make the ending of the book much more satisfying, as it ties in closely to the coming chapters. 37 - Calm In case you''re confused about the chapter numbers, I inserted 5 chapters into the story on Friday, so everything is renumbered. This chapter used to be chapter 32 before the edits. Now it is chapter 37. It''s still the one right after Lesson Day though. Emilia didn¡¯t seem to notice that Elise had woken up yet, so she took the opportunity to check her status window. Everything was the same as it was, except {Rune of Fate} had changed once again, and now had even more to its description. [ {Rune of Fate}: A rune that !@#$%^&*(). Allows the user to channel divine power !@#$%^&*() ] She glanced up at Emilia to make sure she still wasn¡¯t paying attention, then reread the new description. She had channeled divine power? And that had let her resist the memory manipulation? How did Jerry not notice? Why did it only work on the memory manipulation, and not the part that knocked her unconscious? Why can¡¯t it just show me the full description of {Rune of Fate}? She thought. ¡°The developers have hidden some information from the user¡¯s status screen at the request of the board of directors. We apologize for any inconvenience this may be causing you.¡± Are the gods the board of directors? ¡°Yes! The board of directors is made up entirely of deities. In fact, it was these deities that commissioned !@#$%^&* to create the System, and it is at their request that changes are made to it.¡± Why did they want to make the System? ¡°The board desired an easier way to keep track of their subjects and their statuses. By assigning numbers to each stat, and tracking growth through levels, it is much easier for the gods to tell what is happening in their demesne.¡± Why are-? ¡°Oh, you¡¯re awake,¡± said Emilia. ¡°Did you have a good nap?¡± ¡°How long has it been?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Only about half an hour. I honestly expected you to be a little bit longer.¡± Elise looked at her surroundings. She did not recognize any of the buildings or people around as the same ones from their way in, and when she looked ahead, the city walls loomed a lot higher than she remembered them. ¡°Where are we?¡± she asked. ¡°Almost at the edge of the city.¡± ¡°What about the teleportation circles?¡± ¡°Oh, we¡¯ll be flying back,¡± said Emilia. ¡°It¡¯s not that far.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t we fly in?¡± ¡°I wanted to make sure that we got in early enough that you could meet as many people as possible. Now that we¡¯re heading back though, I figured you¡¯d want to see more of the world. It will be a few hours, but you¡¯ll get to see more than you ever knew existed.¡± Elise opened her mouth to speak again, then closed it, remembering her memories were supposed to be altered. Freddy had explained that she would only lose her memories of Ostra, and not the people she met, but what exactly did that mean? How much was she supposed to remember? She decided that trying to act as though she was missing the memories she was supposed to be would be too risky, so she changed the subject instead. ¡°Where will we be going then?¡± ¡°Wherever the wind takes us!¡±
As soon as they were far enough from the city gates, Emilia ducked into the woods on the side of the road, undid her disguise, and flew up into the air with Elise still in her vine purse. There were other people on the road, but they didn¡¯t seem to notice the fey, so Elise assumed that Emilia was using her skill that made them undetectable. They moved so fast that the trees and brush below blurred, but somehow, Elise felt no wind in her face. It must have been another skill. They were moving at what Elise thought must have been hundreds of miles per hour, passing over dozens of smaller cities and towns and hundreds of interesting landmarks, but they didn¡¯t slow down for over an hour, when an enormous, thick forest started to loom in the distance. When they got closer, and Elise could see the branches better, she recognized what it was. ¡°Is that the Sunless Forest?¡± she asked. ¡°It is,¡± said Emilia with a smile. ¡°There are almost 300,000 drow living under those branches.¡± Elise had already known that from the maps back in Dokkalfheimr, and from Bobbi the black cat¡¯s geography lesson, but it was no less of an awe-inspiring number. That was almost fifty times the number of drow living in the cave. Normally, drow couldn¡¯t live on the surface, because the sunlight burnt their skin, but the trees in the Sunless Forest were special. Their foliage was so dense, and their branches grew together so seamlessly that not a single ray of sunlight could penetrate the canopy. As they kept flying, the trees gradually got taller and taller, until they reached the center where one tree rose up above the rest. It had to have been a mile tall, and its leaves reached out at least that far in every direction, blotting out the sun. Its leaves were all green, but the woven nature of its trunk was unmistakable. ¡°Is that a Spirit Tree?¡± asked Elise. ¡°The biggest one in the world,¡± said Emilia. ¡°And by a lot. There are drow tribes all around, but none so big or prosperous as this one, and it¡¯s in no small part due to their Spirit Tree.¡± Emilia started to turn, giving the Spirit Tree a wide berth. ¡°Are we not going to get a closer look at it?¡± ¡°No, if we get too close, we¡¯ll be detected,¡± said Emilia. ¡°We would be welcomed with open arms, but we don¡¯t have the time to get caught up as guests.¡± Once they had made it around the Spirit Tree, Emilia picked up the pace, and the ground below became a blur again. Their next stop was a strange structure known simply as the Floating Temple. It was an ancient structure that frankly wouldn¡¯t have been very impressive if it wasn¡¯t hovering a thousand feet in the air. It was a simple building shaped almost like a ziggurat, but round, and it¡¯s outer area was open and supported by undecorated pillars. It stood on a flat disc of dirt that looked like it had been cut by a laser with how unnaturally smooth the edges were. According to Bobbi, no one knew where it had come from. It predated all their written records, and its architectural style didn¡¯t match any of the known ancient civilizations. It was impossible to get concrete answers about where it had come from either, because it was nigh unexplorable. It was an extremely high level spawn zone for undead, limiting its potential guests to only the strongest of the strong, and until the last century, it was barely even possible to get to it. With the exception of the winged Ainar, humanoids typically couldn¡¯t fly, and most monsters had no interest in archaeology, and even less in dying to further its research. ¡°You and I would almost never be able to go in there,¡± mentioned Emilia. ¡°Why not?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Most charisma-based skills don¡¯t work on most undead. Neither of us have good direct combat firepower.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Elise filed that information away for future reference while they continued their journey, giving the Floating Temple a wider berth than the Spirit Tree. Their next stop was the Gravity Fields. From above, they looked like nothing more than rolling hills with the occasional rock jutting out from the ground, but even from hundreds of feet away, Elise could sense how wrong the mana in the area was. The Gravity Fields were the remnants of a battle between a ninth tier Elven gravity mage and an Elder Dragon. Bobbi had glossed over this area in her lecture, but Emilia knew enough to go into more detail. ¡°The battle lasted for a whole week,¡± she said. ¡°Or so they say. I can¡¯t imagine anyone would actually have the mana to go for that long. I suppose the wizard could if they had artifacts, it might be possible, but dragons are notorious for relying only on themselves, and I don¡¯t think even an Elder Dragon would be able to last that long.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Regardless of how long it actually lasted though, it¡¯s undeniable that it happened, and the mana in the area proves it. The reaction between the two combatants¡¯ mana permanently changed the area. There are invisible currents of gravity all around, and if you¡¯re not careful, you could be swept away or crushed.¡± On the way over the fields, Elise noticed that there were a few groups of daring humanoids making their way through them, and in one place, there was even a huge group of them. ¡°There are some areas that have been fully mapped out, and confirmed to be safe,¡± said Emilia when Elise asked about it. ¡°It¡¯s a popular tourist destination, and some young Adventurers go hunting for the animals that spawn here, since their parts have unique effects. See over there?¡± Elise followed the line from Emilia¡¯s fingers and saw in the distance a pod of dolphins. They looked every bit like normal dolphins, but they were swimming through the air, and occasionally making sudden directional changes that must have been to match the gravity currents. Their next stop was a castle carved into a mountain. This location was one that Elise couldn¡¯t remember Bobbi talking about in her geography lecture. She remembered learning about a few castles, but none carved directly into a mountainside. ¡°This is Dvergheimr,¡± said Emilia with a frown. ¡°The land of the dwarves.¡± ¡°The dwarves?¡± asked Elise. ¡°But what about Dokk- I mean the dwarves in the caves?¡± ¡°The invaders are only a small percentage of the living dwarves. They might be the last remnant of the old dwarven kingdom, but they are not the last of the dwarves. It has been almost 200 years since the dwarves of Dvergheimr won their independence from Albionia and settled here.¡± ¡°Then when the dwarves emerge from the caves, they already have somewhere they can go.¡± ¡°If they emerge.¡± Elise looked up at Emilia. ¡°What do you mean, ¡®if¡¯? They will emerge. The scouts have already seen them digging the tunnel and packing their bags.¡± ¡°Fate is a fickle thing,¡± said Emilia. ¡°It¡¯s impossible to know the future.¡± ¡°Are you planning something?¡± said Elise. ¡°There is peace right now. Everything is going as it should. There¡¯s no reason to try anything different.¡± ¡°I am planning to be prepared for the worst.¡± ¡°The worst won¡¯t happen.¡± ¡°I hope so.¡± The rest of their journey took most of three hours. They made a few more stops, but there was almost no more conversation. The atmosphere was too awkward, and Elise was lost in her own head. Emilia might have just been trying to be mysterious, but what if she wasn¡¯t? What if she knew something? What if she planned something. She had a long, deep grudge against the dwarves of Dokkalfheimr. Would she be able to let it go for the sake of peace? Actually, if she really wanted revenge that badly, why hadn¡¯t she tried to get it already? The dwarves weren¡¯t weak, but from what Elise could see, Emilia was old and strong enough that it might not matter. She didn¡¯t have much direct combat power, but that only meant her other abilities must have been incredibly strong. She had demonstrated her ability to manipulate the cows into conflict with ease. Couldn¡¯t she start a civil war with the dwarves? Was she already doing that? Was Josef¡¯s antagonistic nature her doing? She promised not to make any moves while the dwarves were still carrying out their end of the bargain, and so far, it looked like she hadn¡¯t, but it was impossible to be sure. The closer they got to the cave, the more Elise became aware that that day was the last of the 44 days allotted by Osanne¡¯s prophecy, and the more sure she became that something was about to happen. When they got back, Elise enjoyed the attention of the drow for a few minutes, then politely excused herself and made a beeline for Naomi¡¯s hut. The scout captain emerged from her hut to greet her before she even got to the ground. ¡°You¡¯re back,¡± said Naomi. ¡°How was the trip?¡± ¡°It was fine,¡± said Elise. ¡°Did anything happen while I was gone?¡± ¡°Nothing out of the ordinary. The Dwarves are still digging their tunnel. We¡¯re still feeling nervous about whether they¡¯ll continue.¡± ¡°Can you make sure you pay extra attention to what¡¯s happening? I have a bad feeling about the next few days.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll double the patrols,¡± said Naomi. ¡°No, I¡¯ll triple them. And I¡¯ll go out myself on a few of them.¡± ¡°And is there any way you can keep an eye on Emilia too?¡± ¡°Oh, I always have an eye on her,¡± said Naomi. ¡°But I¡¯ll take that mission on personally if that makes you feel better. I¡¯ll put Nicole in charge of the patrols and scout units while I focus my attention on Emilia.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± said Elise. ¡°I might just be paranoid, but better safe than sorry.¡± ¡°I understand completely. Rest assured, Emilia won¡¯t even be able to blink without me noticing.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± said Elise again. ¡°I¡¯ll try to keep an eye on whatever I can too.¡± Naomi nodded. ¡°Until the dwarves are gone, I won¡¯t sleep.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to go that far.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s fine,¡± said Naomi with a smirk. ¡°I¡¯ve got a skill. I can stay awake for an entire year if I want to.¡± ¡°Oh, right, speaking of skills,¡± said Elise. ¡°I got-¡± She paused, reconsidering. Was Naomi trustworthy enough that Elise could tell her about the Rune of Fate? No. Not that she completely mistrusted Naomi, but she wasn¡¯t sure anyone was qualified to know about that. Who knew what would happen if word got out that she could channel divine power. No, the real question is would she recognize it if it happened. If Elise managed to consciously trigger the Rune of Fate, would Naomi realize what was going on? ¡°What is it?¡± asked Naomi. ¡°You got a new skill?¡± Only one way to find out, thought Elise. ¡°I did,¡± Elise replied. ¡°Can you help me test it out?¡± ¡°Absolutely!¡± she said. ¡°I love testing new skills. You need a sparring partner?¡± ¡°No. I need you to sit still.¡± ¡°Aww. Alright.¡± As tempting as it was to test out a divinely powered {Magic Missile}, Elise knew better than to put an unknown amplifier on a destructive spell. Maybe she would try it again in the future, but for now, she needed something subtler. Something that would prove its effects, but without creating too much of a commotion. And she knew just the thing. ¡°Let¡¯s do it in your house,¡± said Elise. ¡°Oh,¡± said Naomi, who was already halfway to the ground. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want anyone else to see.¡± ¡°Ohhhh,¡± said Naomi with a wink. ¡°It¡¯s one of those skills. Gotcha.¡± Elise wasn¡¯t sure what ¡°those¡± skills were, and she wasn¡¯t sure she wanted to. Naomi led the way into her hut, and once they were inside, she sent some mana out, causing the tree trunks that made up her walls and the branches that made up her roof to grow tighter together and thicken. Soon, not a sound from outside reached even Elise¡¯s ears, and the only light came from a small magic stone lamp next to Naomi¡¯s bed and Elise¡¯s wings. ¡°Alright, do your thing,¡± said Naomi, sitting down on her bed. ¡°Can you close your eyes too?¡± ¡°Eh? Really?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Elise. ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s fine,¡± said Naomi. ¡°¡®Two can keep a secret if one has no tongue¡¯, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, kind of.¡± ¡°No problem. As long as it¡¯s not gonna hurt me. But I trust you.¡± Why? Elise wanted to ask. But that was a question for another time. For now, she had business to attend to. She hovered above Naomi, closed her eyes, and concentrated. For her other skills, activating them was as simple as thinking of the skill names, but {Rune of Fate} was different. Just thinking about it wasn¡¯t enough. She didn¡¯t know how divine power worked, but while she closed her eyes she did what was almost an internal prayer. Whoever or whatever gave me this rune, I know you¡¯re there. If you¡¯re listening, can you please grant me some divine power? At first, nothing happened. Then, she felt a warmth flowing through her, and when she opened her eyes, her wings were gold instead of silver. She stared at them in awe for a few seconds, then snapped out of her stupor to carry out her experiment before the divine power vanished. She used {Fairy Dust}, sprinkling the particles all over Naomi and imagining her mind being healed. She knew that healing was one form of blessing she was capable of, but healing brain damage wasn¡¯t easy, even with magic. However, maybe with the help of some divine power, she could cure, or at least lessen the symptoms of whatever was going on in Naomi¡¯s head. ¡°This-!¡± said Naomi. ¡°What¡¯s-? Oh my-!¡± The drow woman¡¯s eyelids flew open, and a new source of light appeared. Her left eye socket, which had been empty before, now held a pristine eye with a glowing gold iris. The scar tissue around it was still present, but the eye looked fresh and full of life. She reached up and gingerly felt around it and pressed on the eyelid, and even went as far as to touch the eyeball. ¡°You got a healing skill? This is incredible! Everything is so clear! I can see everything!¡± She looked up at Elise. ¡°What¡¯s that on your chest?¡± ¡°What?¡± Elise looked down, but didn¡¯t see anything. ¡°There¡¯s a glowing symbol or something.¡± ¡°My rune?¡± said Elise. ¡°You can see it?¡± ¡°A rune?¡± she asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t that what the dwarves use? Did they mark you? Also, why are your wings gold?¡± ¡°No, someone else marked me. And the gold is part of my new skill.¡± Elise silently willed the divine power to dissipate, but it didn¡¯t. The warmth remained, and her wings stayed gold. ¡°Who marked you?¡± asked Naomi. ¡°I wish I knew,¡± said Elise. ¡°You can¡¯t tell anyone about this.¡± ¡°My lips are sealed, but I don¡¯t know how I¡¯m gonna hide this.¡± She gestured to her new eye. ¡°Well, you can¡¯t do it for long,¡± said Elise. ¡°But hopefully we won¡¯t need to. I have a feeling whatever it is is going to happen tonight.¡± ¡°Me too,¡± said Naomi. ¡°Me too. My missing knee has been aching. That only happens when shit¡¯s about to go down.¡± ¡°Right. So can you hide your eye at least for now, and also not tell anyone about my rune?¡± ¡°You got it! Anything else you need?¡± ¡°Hopefully not.¡± Elise spent the rest of the day with Jean, playing in and around the Mother Tree. She kept one eye on what she was doing, and the other on everything else, trying to see if she could catch a whiff of anything even slightly out of the ordinary. Nothing happened, which made her uneasy. Emilia spent the afternoon talking with Salome and napping. Not once did she leave the center of the Mother Tree, and the only people she ever spoke to were Salome, Osane, and occasionally, the queen¡¯s attendants. She confirmed that information with Naomi later that night, then found an empty alcove in the Mother Tree as close to the ground as she could. That night, she dreamt of Titania again. 38 - Sleep Elise was in her classroom again, this time alone. The windows showed nothing but blackness outside, and all the lights were off save for the safety light above the door and the tiny red LED on the smoke detector. The air was stale and static, and all around, there was nothing but silence. She was still a rabbit, unfortunately. She had been human in a few of her Earth dreams, but not this one, which was frustrating. She couldn¡¯t use her skills properly in her dreams either, which meant she wouldn¡¯t be opening any doors or windows, and she wouldn¡¯t be picking up anything bigger than a pencil. She glanced around one final time, then looked back at the desk she was sitting on and nearly leapt into the air. She knew that the desk had nothing on it before, but now it had a phone. Her phone. She recognized the worn edges of her white plastic case. She recognized the crack in the corner of the screen protector that she had been putting off replacing. Well, it¡¯s my own dream, after all, she thought. Of course it would have my things in it. But even then, it was still unsettling. Dreams weren¡¯t supposed to be like this. They weren¡¯t supposed to be so detailed, and she wasn¡¯t supposed to be so lucid. Even in her most vivid nightmares, there was never anything as realistic as this. It was like she was actually back on Earth. While she was staring, she nearly jumped again when it vibrated and the screen lit up. She crept toward it carefully, to see what was going on. It was a text message, and it only had two words: ¡°Behind you.¡± ¡°Boo!¡± This time Elise did jump. From her desk, she jumped over the two rows in front of her, crashing into the back of a chair and hitting the ground. While she was in the air, she looked back and saw that Titania, the golden woman was standing right behind where she just was. She wasn¡¯t laughing, but her lips were curled upward, and her eyes carried more than a hint of mirth. ¡°Y-you¡¯re Titania,¡± said Elise, getting back to her feet. ¡°Yes,¡± she said. ¡°What are you doing here? What do you want with me? Why do I have this rune of fate?¡± She smiled mysteriously. ¡°It¡¯s time to wake up.¡± ¡°What do you-?¡± ¡°-mean?¡± Once again, Elise woke up before she could finish her sentence. It was the middle of the night, and all around, it was completely dark. She was so distracted by the dream that she didn¡¯t even notice that anything was unusual immediately. When she did, her stress levels started to climb. It wasn¡¯t supposed to be this dark. The light from the fruits of the Mother Tree never fully disappeared. Even in the latest hours of night, they still emitted a soft glow. They were never dark like they were now, nor were they lukewarm. Something was wrong. The only light now was from her wings, and even with her night vision, they weren¡¯t enough to see the cavern. They were barely enough to get a glimpse of the trees on the edge of the clearing around Mother Tree¡¯s base. Nearby, she could hear hushed voices, and when she emerged from her alcove, she saw their source. A small group of drow had woken up from their sleep and were talking amongst each other. No one was panicking yet, but there was a tension in the air, and Elise could tell that it wouldn¡¯t be long before someone did. ¡°Lady Elise,¡± said one of them. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she replied. ¡°Don¡¯t panic. I¡¯ll find out.¡± She flew toward the center of the tree, and the whole way there, something felt off. It wasn¡¯t until she was almost to the central flower that she realized what it was. The mana wasn¡¯t moving. Normally the mana around the center of the Mother Tree was dense and constantly flowing like it was being blown by an intangible wind, but now, it was completely still. It almost felt cold. When she got to the center, Salome was still asleep on her flower, and Emilia was floating above her with a serious expression on her face. Jean was flying around in circles overhead looking extremely panicked. ¡°Elise!¡± said Jean, flying up to here. ¡°You¡¯re here! This is bad! This is really bad!¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°They poisoned the Mother Tree!¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Just as he said,¡± said Emilia. ¡°The Mother Tree has been poisoned. A metal-based poison. The work of the dwarves.¡± ¡°What? But-! That¡¯s-!¡± sputtered Elise. ¡°The evidence is undeniable,¡± continued Emilia. ¡°And it¡¯s been happening for a while. The tree has been fighting it off for almost a month now. It failed and had to go into hibernation.¡± She looked down at Salome. ¡°Her life force is tied to it. She won¡¯t wake up until the tree is cured.¡± ¡°The dwarves wouldn¡¯t do that!¡± said Elise. ¡°Are you implying that it was the drow who poisoned the Mother Tree?¡± ¡°No! But why would the dwarves do this? They¡¯re digging to the surface! It¡¯s peaceful! They wouldn¡¯t ruin it by doing something stupid like this! It doesn¡¯t make sense!¡± ¡°You are making the mistake of assuming that all the dwarves are rational. Maybe you¡¯re right. Maybe the leaders of the dwarves are maintaining the peace, and focusing their efforts solely on leaving the tunnels. You¡¯re young, but I know you¡¯re not naive enough to believe that the dwarves were all of one mind about that.¡± ¡°But how? How did they poison the tree? The scouts have been guarding the entire cave!¡± ¡°The drow aren¡¯t the only ones who can dig tunnels. The dwarves have had this planned for a long time. We¡¯ve located the tunnel they used to dig under the roots and feed the poison in. We even captured some of the ones doing it. Would you like to see them?¡± No, thought Elise. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Follow me.¡± Emilia led her out the back side of the Mother Tree and about fifty feet away from the nearest root, a huge, circular hole had been dug with dirt stairs leading down into it. They floated down into it, and at the bottom, the hole intersected a tunnel that wound off into the darkness in one direction, and led to one of the Mother Tree¡¯s roots in the other. At the bottom, two dwarves were on their knees, tied up by thick vines and guarded by half a dozen drow. Elise¡¯s heart felt like it was twisting into a knot when she realized that she recognized both of them. It was the father and son who had stopped her wagon on her first attempt to get out of the dwarven city. Their faces were beaten and bloody, but she could still tell who they were. ¡°I knew it, you fucking traitor,¡± said the older dwarf when he saw Elise. ¡°You were working with them.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t!¡± said Elise. He laughed, and the laughter morphed into a bloody cough. ¡°Fuck. You.¡± The son didn¡¯t speak, but the look he gave her was, if anything, worse than his father¡¯s words. The utter hatred in the young man¡¯s gaze was hard to bear. She was certain that if he wasn¡¯t restrained, he would be attacking her. ¡°Why?¡± she said. ¡°Why did you do this? You could have gotten out of the tunnels without ever having to see a drow again.¡± ¡°Your ghouls killed my wife. My sister. My eldest son. My mother.¡± He gave her a bloody smile. ¡°I¡¯m just returnin¡¯ the favor.¡± ¡°But-!¡± Elise started. ¡°They¡¯re long past reason,¡± said Emilia. ¡°You¡¯re wasting your time.¡± Elise wanted to protest, but she knew the older fey was right. There was nothing she could say that would improve the situation. Just as she was about to turn away, there was a flash of mana, and the two dwarves fell forward, their heads bouncing in opposite directions before rolling back to meet in the middle. The boy¡¯s head was facing up at them, and his eyes were still open. Elise could have sworn he was still looking at her. ¡°Wh-what did you do?¡± She looked at Emilia, who had her hand outstretched toward them. ¡°Justice,¡± she said. ¡°They got what they deserved.¡± Looking into her eyes, Elise could see that Emilia was beyond reason too. Her expression was calm, and her demeanor relaxed, but the mana around her was vibrating, a sign of the rage boiling beneath the surface. ¡°Where¡¯s Naomi?¡± asked Elise, suddenly remembering. ¡°She should be here.¡± ¡°She was,¡± said Emilia. ¡°I¡¯ve already sent her out on a mission. A counter-strike.¡± ¡°What!? Why would you do that?! You already stopped the poison! You killed the poisoners!¡± ¡°The poison can¡¯t be stopped so easily,¡± said Emilia. ¡°The tree will fight it off. Eventually. Perhaps in thirty years, it will be back to what it was. But Salome will be long dead by then. She is little more than a breathing corpse. It¡¯s only fair.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t fair!¡± exclaimed Elise. ¡°You¡¯re starting a war! You¡¯ve just started a war!¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Naomi wouldn¡¯t have agreed to this, Elise realized. Not without telling me first. Where did she actually go? ¡°I didn¡¯t start this war,¡± said Emilia. ¡°This was always going to happen. Everything is as Fate wills.¡± ¡°Fuck that!¡± said Elise. ¡°I¡¯m going to stop them!¡± ¡°It¡¯s too late,¡± said Emilia. ¡°Naomi has been gone for an hour. The dwarven king will never wake again.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to save him!¡± ¡°You can try, but there¡¯s no point.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to stop this war.¡± Emilia sighed. ¡°Fine. Go. You will realize how pointless it is on your own.¡± Elise turned and flew away without another word.
389 years ago. It had been four years since the dwarves entered the caverns, and three since they had met the drow. It had taken a while, but they had finally started to settle into their new way of life. Some of the dwarves wanted to return to the surface for revenge now that they had rested and recovered, but they were outnumbered by the reasonable ones, fortunately. If they had the power to get revenge, they wouldn¡¯t have needed to flee in the first place. Getting used to a diet made primarily of mushrooms and only supplemented by meat was tough, but bearable. Surviving without any form of alcohol, however, was much more difficult. Their store of beer had run out before they even found the drow, and upon learning that the drow didn¡¯t even know what alcohol was, some of the dwarves wanted to dig back to the surface right then. Thankfully, in the past few months, Bjorn the brewer¡¯s experiments with mushroom-based grog had been getting more drinkable by the day. Salvation was on the horizon, and the dwarves couldn¡¯t wait. Possibly the most excited of all was the Royal Historian Hadri. Historians weren¡¯t in much demand nowadays, and his only other skill was his ability to outdrink anyone, even on an empty stomach. It had been a painful experience, going from one of the more important dwarves to barely more than dead weight. None of his skills were suitable for cavern exploration, and all his stat points were in Wisdom and Intelligence, so he didn¡¯t make a good pack mule like the lower class laborers. It was a miracle he had even managed to convince anyone to help him carry his books. Most of his personal library was still back in Albionia, but he had saved the most important ones, and they were now stored in his new wooden hut. It wasn¡¯t the edifice he would have preferred to live in, but it was better than nothing, and he was satisfied with it. Or so he told others. In truth, it was probably a good thing that there was no alcohol, or he would have been drowning in it. His fall from grace was anything but pleasant, and at his age, handling that among all the other sudden life changes was almost too much. Sometimes, he found himself half-wishing that he had just stayed behind and been enslaved with the others. Being overworked by a cruel human master was almost preferable to his descent into irrelevance. Those thoughts had been getting rarer and rarer lately though. After years of having nothing to do, and nothing wanting to do with him, he had finally found a new purpose in the form of a young Sprite. The drow named her Emilia. She was about five inches tall, and looked like a green-haired elf. If she didn¡¯t move, Hadri would have thought she was a well-crafted doll. She had been found running for her life in the deep caves three months prior, and ever since, had been struggling to fit into her new, peaceful life. There were a few other young fey for her to play with, but she hadn¡¯t quite found her place with them. Hadri came to know her when her caretaker, Haley, asked him to teach Emilia about history, because she had shown interest in it, and Haley didn¡¯t know enough. Hadri accepted without hesitation. He would have had to be crazy to turn down an offer for work after wasting away for so long. At first, he was happy just to have someone to talk to, and to have something to do with all the knowledge locked in his head, but as they spent more time together, it grew into something more. Emilia was beyond precocious. She had a perfect memory, and an incredible ability to find patterns and connections. What started as simple tutoring had turned into mentorship, and what started as a selfish desire for purpose became a selfless desire to see the young fey grow. ¡°Mr. Hadri, why did Asbjorn attack the dragon?¡± asked Emilia. ¡°Well, he wanted to expand his territory,¡± said Hadri. ¡°But didn¡¯t he know how powerful dragons were?¡± ¡°He had some idea,¡± said Hadri, nodding. ¡°But there is a reason he is known as ¡®the Unwise¡¯. He believed that it wouldn¡¯t matter.¡± ¡°But why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s impossible to know exactly what was going on in his mind, but it¡¯s also important to try to put ourselves in his shoes, so that we can understand exactly what happened. I want you to close your eyes and imagine that you¡¯re Asbjorn the Unwise.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± she said, squeezing her eyes shut. Hadri took a moment to appreciate her earnestness before he continued. She had arrived three hours earlier, and from the moment she arrived, she was single-mindedly focused on learning as much as she possibly could. In all his years, he had never had a student so dedicated. It was actually a little concerning. Emilia didn¡¯t know how long it had been since she spawned, but Haley estimated that she couldn¡¯t be more than a year old. Fey were different from dwarves, since they spawned with fully-formed brains, and knew how to maneuver their bodies from the very beginning, but still, a one-year old should have been playing and making friends, not spending her days with an old fart, learning about history. ¡°Are you imagining yourself as Asbjorn?¡± he asked with a smile. ¡°Yes,¡± she replied with a serious nod. ¡°Good job. Now, let¡¯s go through the context. It¡¯s always good to look at context. In the years leading up to Asbjorn¡¯s unfortunate end, Dokkalfhheimr was prospering more than ever before. We were the leaders in the mineral industry, producing as many precious metals and stones as the rest of the continent combined. ¡°However, the Golden Maw, Dokkalfheimr¡¯s most prosperous gold mine, was starting to run dry. On top of that, Asbjorn¡¯s policies had been less than ideal, and the dwarven economy was struggling more than it should have been. Asbjorn knew he wasn¡¯t doing a good job as king, so he got desperate, and started looking for ways to recover his kingdom¡¯s finances, and turned his attention deep into the mountains where the dragon resided.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said Emilia. ¡°Why would attacking a dragon make money?¡± ¡°Well, there are a few reasons,¡± said Hadri. ¡°First, there¡¯s the dragon hoard. Dragons almost always have a massive amount of wealth stored in their homes. However, even the biggest of dragon hoards wasn¡¯t a match for Dokkalfheimr¡¯s average income at the time. The dragon¡¯s parts could be sold for a lot as well, but still, not enough. The real reason was land. Do you remember what I¡¯ve told you about land and wealth?¡± ¡°¡®Land is the most reliable form of wealth,¡¯¡± Emilia recited. ¡°Precisely! The dragon¡¯s hoard and parts might not have made up for the kingdom¡¯s deficit, but the land would. The dragon had marked seven entire mountains as its territory. And on top of being a lot of land, that land was all located in the same mountain range that the Golden Maw was in, so there was a good chance that they could find another gold vein just as big there. Does that all make sense?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said. ¡°But I still don¡¯t understand why he attacked the dragon. Even if it had a lot of land, it was still a dragon.¡± ¡°I was just about to get to that,¡± said Hadri. ¡°While we know now that dragons aren¡¯t something that we mortals can defeat, that wasn¡¯t such a sure thing when Asbjorn was alive. Of course, people still knew that dragons were strong, but not a century before, a lone human mage managed to fight an Elder dragon to the brink of death. Some people, including Asbjorn and no small portion of his advisors, believed that the legends surrounding them were exaggerated. It¡¯s not unheard of for those who lose battles to describe their opponents as stronger than they actually were to make the defeat less embarrassing. ¡°On top of that, the dragon they attacked was very young, in dragon terms. It was barely more than a century old, and it hadn¡¯t made a name for itself anywhere. Do you remember how long dragons live?¡± ¡°Up to 2000 years,¡± said Emilia immediately. ¡°Exactly,¡± said Hadri. ¡°So a 100 year old dragon is essentially an infant. Or at least, that¡¯s what Asbjorn thought. The Dokkalfheimr military at the time was also hailed as one of the best in the world, and he believed it would be doable. ¡°To his credit, he might not have been entirely wrong. I can¡¯t say the records are reliable, but there are enough different accounts of the battle that I can say with reasonable confidence that it was not a hopeless fight. The dwarves had a few 7th tier warriors, and even an 8th tier at their disposal, and the dragon was young and inexperienced. If they fought ten times, the dwarves might have won five of them. However, that time was not one of the five. Although the dragon was injured, the dwarven army was wiped out, and soon, so was the kingdom. Most of the dwarves¡¯ greatest warriors perished in the first battle, and with no one left who could oppose it, the dragon went on a rampage, and the rest is history.¡± Emilia opened her eyes. ¡°I think I understand now.¡± Hadri flashed her a wide grin. ¡°That¡¯s great! Did putting yourself in his shoes help?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Remember, if you want to understand why people do things, you need to put yourself in their position, and try to think like them. It¡¯s always easy to tell that a decision was bad when you look back on it, but in the moment, it¡¯s not always so obvious. That¡¯s why it¡¯s important to try to find out what the context was, and try to figure out what information people did and didn¡¯t have before you judge their decisions. ¡°However, I don¡¯t want you to walk away from this thinking that Asbjorn¡¯s decision was a good one. He still underestimated the dragon. He still ignored the tales of their power, and he still ignored the advisors who told him it was a bad idea, and because of that, his kingdom was decimated, and his people were forced to flee.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Hadri looked at her for a few seconds, then sighed and stood up. ¡°Are you hungry, Emilia?¡± ¡°A little,¡± she said. ¡°Then why don¡¯t we stop here for now and go get some lunch?¡± She frowned. It was one of the few expressions she ever made. Most of the time, her face was stony, and unchanging, no matter what was happening around her. Hadri had noticed this when they first met, and was worried that she was suppressing her emotions due to trauma, so he tried to encourage her whenever she displayed anything more than neutrality. ¡°Or not,¡± he said. ¡°We can continue if you¡¯d like.¡± ¡°I want to continue,¡± she said. ¡°Is there something else you wanted to-?¡± He cut off when he heard another voice in the distance. A moment later, it was closer, and he could hear what it was saying. ¡°Eeeemiiiliiiaaaa!¡± A few seconds later, another Sprite zipped into the hut through the uncovered window. ¡°Emmy!¡± it said. ¡°Oh, hi Mr. Hadri.¡± ¡°Hello, Lyra,¡± said Hadri, beaming. ¡°Have you come to learn about history too?¡± ¡°No, I came to see if Emilia wanted to come play at the mushroom grove with me!¡± ¡°Emilia?¡± said Hadri, looking over at her. Emilia was frowning again. This time though, Hadri didn¡¯t cave in. It was important for her to express her emotions and desires, but she was also a child. What she desired wasn¡¯t always what was best for her. It was more important that she make friends than continue learning history like she wanted to. He nodded at her in encouragement and her frown deepened. ¡°Okay,¡± she said eventually. ¡°Yay!¡± said Lyra. ¡°Let¡¯s go! The mushrooms are perfect right now! Let¡¯s go let¡¯s go let¡¯s go!¡± Emilia stood up and enabled her wings, floating up into the air. ¡°We can continue when you get back,¡± said Hadri. ¡°Go and have fun with your friend.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± The two sprites flew out the window and Hadri could hear Lyra¡¯s excited chatter in the distance for a few seconds after they left. He stayed where he was for a bit longer, then decided it was time for lunch. He had wanted to eat with Emilia, but Lyra would have her busy for hours, and if they were going to the mushroom farm, they would have plenty of food. He needed to eat on his own before she got back so they could pick up where they left off. The dining hall was located near a Spirit Tree that the drow called the Sister Tree. It was much smaller than the Mother Tree, which Hadri had only seen three times, but it was no less wondrous. It was like nothing he had ever seen before, but being near it felt like being home. It exuded a soft, pleasant mana that he could feel, even without {Mana Sense}. He got a wooden bowl full of mushroom and purple beef stew from a husband-wife duo of drow who had taken it upon themselves to help the dwarves become self-sufficient. He sat at an empty table made of stone sprouting from the ground, then returned the bowl before walking back to his hut. On the way back, a drow scout dashed past him, almost knocking him over, and continued on without an apology. Hadri was annoyed, but not enough to do anything about it, so he turned to continue on his way, only to be greeted by the sight of another rushing scout. He turned the direction she ran to see where she was headed, and in the distance, so far away he could barely see it, there was a commotion forming at the edge of the clearing around the Sister Tree. He hesitated a moment, then turned to follow them. Emilia would not be back for a while, and it had been so long since anything interesting happened. By the time he arrived, the crowd was thirty strong and growing, and he had to circle around and worm his way through to see what was happening. What he saw made him falter. It was Emilia in tears. Lyra was nowhere to be seen. 39 - Savior About twenty seconds after she left Emilia, Elise realized that she had no idea where she was going. She knew Naomi had gone out, but where? There were dozens of tunnels, and she only knew what was at the end of a few of them, and none of them were what she wanted. She could check all of them one by one, but that would be so slow. If he wasn¡¯t dead already, Hallbjorn definitely would be by the time she found the right one. Suddenly, she remembered Naomi¡¯s map. The one that showed the positions of all the scouts. If she could get that, she could maybe locate Naomi on it. She made a sharp turn toward Naomi¡¯s hut. If it wasn¡¯t there, or if it was magically locked, this would be a waste of time. And with as paranoid as Naomi was, it would be surprising if there were no defenses protecting it. But if she could get it working, she might make it in time. She arrived at the hut, which was now a bit thicker and taller than it was before Naomi made it soundproof the day before. The opening was narrower than before as well, since Naomi had to recreate it once their conversation was over. She dove inside, prepared to cast {Prehensile Vines} to start lifting things up and searching for the map, only to freeze when she saw that it was already open on the ground. There were small saplings sprouting from the ground in the four corners, holding it open, and there were small dots moving around. One in particular caught her eye. It was bigger than the others, and had a tinge of gold around it. It was Naomi¡¯s indicator, Elise was sure, and it was moving. She watched for a few seconds as it dashed back and forth in a tunnel at seemingly random intervals, then shook herself from her rumination. That kind of movement could only mean one thing: combat. Naomi was fighting, and if she was fighting, that meant it wasn¡¯t over yet. Elise looked over the map one final time to make sure she knew where she was going, then zipped out of the hut. She found Naomi bleeding out halfway down a tunnel on the west side of the cavern. Before she got close enough to hear her heartbeat, she thought the drow woman was dead. Her throat was slit, and her chest and stomach were riddled with stab wounds. Her wooden arm and leg were nothing but splinters, and her one good leg was twisted around so that the bottom of her foot was pointed upward. Her formerly lone good eye had been reduced to an empty socket, and her new golden eye was hidden by a leather patch. ¡°Naomi!¡± said Elise. She didn¡¯t respond. How could she? Her throat was slit. Now that she was closer, she could see that the cut was almost deep enough to reach her spine. Her heartbeat was so weak it was almost imperceptible. How was she even alive at all? Elise flew over her, raining down {Fairy Dust} and she could see the bleeding slow, but it wasn¡¯t enough. Please, please, please, please, she thought. She felt a familiar warmth flow through her, and her wings turned golden. A purple window appeared in front of her, but she ignored it. Below her, Naomi¡¯s heartbeat suddenly strengthened. The bleeding stopped and the wounds closed, and a few seconds later, she started coughing up blood. ¡°Naomi!¡± said Elise, flying down. ¡°Naomi, what happened? Did the dwarves do it?¡± Naomi coughed a few more times, then keeled over to the side, breathing raspily. Her other eye was now golden as well, but it was unfocused, and unseeing. She was unconscious. But she was breathing, and her heart was beating strongly. She would survive, and that was enough for now. She could hear the clang of metal on stone further down the tunnel, and knew she had to move. At the other side, she found four dwarven Royal Guards, three with their backs to the tunnel, and one facing her. She couldn¡¯t tell what was beyond them, because they almost completely blocked her view, but the tension in the air was palpable. ¡°Reinforcements!¡± shouted the guard facing her. ¡°It¡¯s the traitor.¡± ¡°Hold them off!¡± said one of the others without looking back. ¡°Aye!¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± asked Elise, stopping twenty feet away. ¡°Like you don¡¯t know.¡± The guard didn¡¯t move from his position. Whatever was going on, the dwarves were guarding the tunnel like their lives depended on it. ¡°I¡¯m not here to fight,¡± said Elise. ¡°Please, just tell me what¡¯s happening.¡± She blasted the guard with a heavy dose of {Charm}, which, when amplified by the divine power she was still sporting, broke past his mental defenses. ¡°The damn ghouls poisoned the king, My Lady!¡± he said. ¡°Oi!¡± shouted one of the other guards. ¡°The hell are you doing?¡± Elise wasn¡¯t going to let the opportunity pass her by. ¡°Let me in,¡± she commanded, with another strong cast of {Charm} and some {Suggest} for good measure. ¡°As you wish.¡± The guard stepped aside, and Elise wasted no time flying past him and up as high as she could in the room beyond. Before she had time to register what room it was, she used {Suggest} and {Charm} again, this time on the room in general. Normally, those two skills were single-target, or maybe dual-target if she focused especially hard, but with the divine power from {Rune of Fate}, she somehow knew that targeting the entire room would be possible. ¡°Everybody stop!¡± she shouted. None of the dwarves had really been moving when she said that, but they all stiffened at her order. At the same time, three drow appeared out of thin air, positioned about the room. Elise had to take a moment to fully comprehend the situation. They were in a tall, circular room whose center was taken up mostly by a huge bed. In the middle of the bed, Hallbjorn lay, perfectly still with his eyes closed, as though he was asleep. However, she could tell that there was something more happening. His skin was deathly pale, there were dark circles under his eyes, and the veins on his hands were dark and bulging. He was poisoned. In addition to the four guarding the tunnel, there were three more Royal Guards blocking off the main entrance to the bedchamber. The three drow were crouching with their blades drawn, and all were facing the guards at the tunnel. It wasn¡¯t hard to figure out what was going on. The drow poisoned the king, and were now trying to escape. ¡°Everyone stay where you are,¡± she said. She flew down to the king and started raining {Fairy Dust} down upon him. Fortunately, he was still alive. At that moment, she didn¡¯t understand why the drow hadn¡¯t just killed him, but it was better for her. It meant she could save him. It didn¡¯t take long before the poison symptoms receded, and the king''s skin returned to its normal color. She continued to sprinkle dust until he groaned and started moving beneath his sheets, then turned to the room. Just in time too, because the first of the drow was starting to break free from her control. He opened his mouth, and Elise prepared to respond to whatever vitriol he was about to sling at her, but instead, all she heard was an incomprehensible scream. A moment later, a second drow broke free and did the same thing. When Elise looked closer, she realized that something was off. Their eyes were wild and unfocused, and their expressions were twisted into exaggerated versions of anger. Their hearts were beating unusually quickly, and their fingers were twitching. ¡°Stop!¡± she shouted again. Both were silenced again, and Elise flew over them and used {Fairy Dust} again, then did the same on the third drow. Their bodies relaxed, and their expressions turned to confusion. ¡°L-Lady Elise?¡± said one of them. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she replied. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening.¡± ¡°They came to assassinate the king!¡± said one of the guards. ¡°We did?¡± asked the drow. ¡°We did! But what about-? Oh no¡­ Naomi! Where¡¯s Naomi?¡± The blood drained from all three drow¡¯s faces, and they glanced between each other in horror. ¡°What have we done?¡± wailed one, falling to her knees. ¡°We killed Naomi!¡± said another. ¡°She¡¯s alive!¡± announced Elise. ¡°Are you the ones that attacked her?¡± ¡°She¡¯s alive?¡± said one of the drow. ¡°Thank the Mother Tree!¡± ¡°How?¡± asked another. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± demanded one of the dwarves, stepping forward with his ax raised. ¡°Attack!¡± said another. ¡°Stop!¡± said Elise, releasing another wave of {Charm} and {Suggest}. ¡°Everyone stop! Let me think.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. While everyone stopped moving again, the pieces started clicking into place in Elise¡¯s mind, and the questions. Why was Naomi bleeding out halfway down the tunnel if the fight was here? The other drow had attacked her. Why did the other drow attack her and why were they feral? They were being manipulated. And there was only one person who could have done it: Emilia. Does she really want to destroy the dwarves this badly? She thought. It still wasn¡¯t adding up though. Why did Naomi need to die? And why make the drow feral? Wouldn¡¯t it be better if they accomplished their mission and all came back alive? As far as Elise knew, Naomi was the strongest drow in the whole tribe. Losing her would be an enormous detriment to any war efforts. Even if Naomi didn¡¯t trust Emilia, she didn¡¯t trust the dwarves either, and the dwarves had just poisoned the Mother Tree. She would still fight for the drow when it came down to it. So what was her goal?
389 years ago. ¡°We¡¯re going to have so much fun!¡± said Lyra as she flew ahead of Emilia into the forest. ¡°Mmm,¡± responded Emilia. She didn¡¯t like Lyra. Lyra was annoying, and stupid, and always bothering Emilia to do things with her. Emilia couldn¡¯t do anything about it though. She and Lyra were the youngest of the fey, and by a lot, so the older ones always paired the two of them together so they could be ¡°friends.¡± No matter how many times Emilia told them she didn¡¯t want any ¡°friends¡±, they kept insisting that the two of them play together. Even the old man Hadri was in on it. Emilia didn¡¯t understand. What was the point of friends? Why would she ever want to spend any more time with Lyra than was absolutely necessary? One of the older fey had once said that bad things happened in life so that it would be easier to appreciate the good things. Was that what friendship was? Just a forced bad thing to make the other things more enjoyable? She thought for a moment longer and then decided that must have been it. Why people pretended they were having fun when they were with friends still remained a mystery to her. Maybe it was to make each other feel worse? That¡¯s certainly how it worked when Lyra acted like she was having fun with Emilia. Their destination for ¡°playtime¡± today was a patch of wild mushrooms a short ways into the forest. It was further than any of the drow or dwarves lived, but it wasn¡¯t far enough out that the cows would be a danger. They would have to watch for snakes, but they could fly, so the snakes wouldn¡¯t pose too much of a threat. What Lyra wanted to do there, Emilia couldn¡¯t even begin to guess. There was nothing fun about mushrooms. Learning about them was interesting, but she didn¡¯t see how going to play among them would be anything but boring. But then again, if the point of friendship was to be miserable, then this would certainly do the trick. ¡°Emmy, watch this!¡± said Lyra, hovering above one of the bigger mushrooms. ¡°Are you watching?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Emilia. ¡°Okay!¡± said Lyra. The other sprite took a deep breath, then her wings vanished and she plummeted to the ground. She hit the mushroom, which gave in to her weight, allowing her to sink her whole body into it. Then, she bounced up as the mushroom returned to its original shape. She flew through the air, laughing wildly, and at the apex of her bounce, her wings reappeared, and she came to a halt, still laughing. ¡°Now it¡¯s your turn!¡± said Lyra. Emilia knew better than to protest. The only thing more annoying than normal Lyra was Lyra when she wanted Emilia to do something. Emilia flew up above the same mushroom, and looked down, preparing to drop. ¡°No, you have to do it from higher up!¡± said Lyra, flying above Emilia. ¡°Like this high!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± said Emilia. ¡°Aw, come on. Don¡¯t be a baby.¡± Emilia frowned. She wasn¡¯t a baby. The older fey sometimes called her that, and it always annoyed her. Hearing it from Lyra annoyed her even more. What did not wanting to go higher have to do with being a baby? Emilia wasn¡¯t stupid. She knew that falling from higher up was more dangerous than falling from lower. Why would she want to go higher? But she knew there was no arguing with Lyra, so she slowly drifted up until she was level with the other girl. She only went up a few feet, but suddenly, the ground looked much further away. Normally, being up that high didn¡¯t bother her one bit, since she had wings, but knowing she was about to intentionally deactivate them added a new layer of fear that she had never felt before. ¡°Are you sure this is safe?¡± she asked. ¡°What if I miss the mushroom?¡± ¡°It¡¯s so big though,¡± said Lyra. ¡°How could you miss it?¡± She was right. Logically, Emilia knew that the mushroom was plenty big enough, and that even if she was a little bit off, she would still land on it comfortably, but from that height, it seemed to shrink away until it was the size of an ant. Emilia took a deep breath, then a shallower breath, then an even shallower one as her heart rate climbed. ¡°Just do it!¡± said Lyra. ¡°Come on, Emmy, you can do it!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not-¡± started Emilia. ¡°3! 2! 1! Go!¡± Before she even knew what was happening, Emilia deactivated her wings and fell toward the mushroom. She was as stiff as a board, and it took so long to realize what had happened that she didn¡¯t have time to reactivate her wings before hitting the mushroom. She sank into it until it almost fully enveloped her, and then, just like Lyra, she was flung outward when the fungus sprung back to its original shape. She regained her senses in midair and reactivated her wings, coming to a halt a few feet away from the mushroom. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she could feel the blood pumping through her veins. ¡°See?¡± said Lyra, flying down to her. ¡°I told you it was fun.¡± ¡°That wasn¡¯t-!¡± Emilia stopped when she realized that she was grinning. It was fun. Terrifying, but fun. The exhilaration of the long fall and sudden directional change made her feel alive. ¡°I¡¯m going to do it again,¡± she said. ¡°Yeah!¡± said Lyra. ¡°Me too! Let¡¯s do it together!¡± ¡°Okay.¡± The two young sprites flew back up above the mushroom, and held hands before falling together. Their hands were linked all the way until they hit the spongy spore, then broke apart when they were flung out at different angles. Lyra tumbled through the air, laughing wildly, and Emilia¡¯s smile felt like it had become a permanent facial feature. ¡°Again! Again!¡± said Lyra. They did it twice more, but each time, Emilia noticed that it was a little bit less fun. By the time they did it a sixth time, all the excitement seemed gone for good. She already knew exactly what would happen. Why do it again? Somehow, Lyra was still going strong though. Emilia said she needed a break, and told Lyra to go again. Lyra obliged happily, leaving Emilia to observe from above. How is she still having fun? wondered Emilia. She watched Lyra fall once, and bounce up just like the other seven times. She tumbled in the air before breaking her fall by reactivating her wings. She then flew up and dropped again, and again bounced. This time though, Emilia noticed something interesting. The angle of the bounce, and the way she tumbled was different. It wasn¡¯t much of a difference, but it was enough to catch Emilia¡¯s interest. What caused the change? Why wasn¡¯t it the same? Was it the way she landed? Was it where on the mushroom she landed? Was she doing something herself to change it? Emilia decided she needed to test it herself. While Lyra was returning, she hovered above the mushroom, as close to the center as she could, and landed butt-first and paid close attention to the way she bounced. Then, she did it again, landing slightly to the right of center. That made her launch angle also lean to the right. The same thing happened, but mirrored, when she went to the left. When she bounced from the back, she went almost straight up, and when she landed on the front, she went almost straight forward. She tried dozens more landing spots and landing positions, making a mental note of the angle each time. Soon, it was Lyra¡¯s turn to get bored. ¡°Again?¡± she asked. ¡°Let¡¯s go over there. There¡¯s better mushrooms that way.¡± ¡°In a bit,¡± said Emilia. ¡°Just a few more.¡± A few more turned into ten more, and that turned into twenty, at which point Lyra huffed and flew off to play on her own. Emilia barely noticed. She was so caught up in her own experiments. It was fascinating how such a tiny movement could change her bounce so much. Just twisting her body a tiny bit to the side could change her angle. It wasn¡¯t a huge change, but the further she flew out, the further apart trajectories got. Eventually, Lyra got tired of playing on her own and returned to Emilia. ¡°Emmy, let¡¯s go play over there,¡± she said, pointing to a different part of the mushroom grove. Emilia looked up at her, as if only just then remembering that she was there. ¡°Huh? Oh. Sure.¡± She had tested just about everything on that mushroom. She was ready to try other ones. When they got to where Lyra wanted to go, Lyra suggested that they fall together again. Emilia didn¡¯t mind. Two people landing at the same time caused different effects. So did two people landing at slightly offset times. Or two people landing one after another. Or one person holding another person. There were so many things to test. Lyra went along with it for about a dozen drops, and then she realized that Emilia wouldn¡¯t stop, and got sick of it. ¡°I¡¯m thirsty,¡± she said. ¡°Huh?¡± asked Emilia. ¡°Oh. Me too.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a stream right over there.¡± Lyra pointed deeper into the woods. ¡°But it¡¯s dangerous to go in so far,¡± said Emilia. ¡°Don¡¯t be a baby,¡± said Lyra. ¡°We¡¯ll be fine. If something tries to eat us, we can just fly away!¡± Emilia scowled. ¡°I¡¯m not a baby.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s go to the stream.¡± Her argument didn¡¯t make sense, but before Emilia could explain that, Lyra was already on her way there. It was a bit further in than Lyra made it seem, but it didn¡¯t look to be dangerous. Emilia landed at the bank so she could lean in and cup water with her hands, but Lyra landed directly in the water with a splash that soaked the front of Emilia¡¯s dress. ¡°Hey!¡± said Emilia. ¡°Come on in!¡± said Lyra, standing waist-deep in the stream. ¡°It¡¯s more fun in the water.¡± ¡°But we¡¯re just getting a drink.¡± ¡°We can do that too.¡± Lyra demonstrated by sinking down until the water was up to her mouth and drinking directly from the stream that way. Emilia frowned, but decided to follow her lead. After all, there was no arguing with Lyra. Besides, she had at least been half-right about the mushrooms. Emilia found herself disappointed by the water. It was just water. Lyra was having a grand time splashing about and diving under, and letting the current sweep her away before flying back, but Emilia just couldn¡¯t understand it. She tried out some of those things herself, but she only felt stupid. After a few minutes, their ¡°fun¡± turned into Lyra dancing around like a crazy person, and Emilia sitting in the shallowest part of the stream and letting the current run over her legs. However, that didn¡¯t last long, as Lyra got bored playing alone, so she decided to involve Emilia by splashing her. ¡°Hey!¡± said Emilia. ¡°Why did you-?¡± Her question was interrupted by a mouthful of water when Lyra splashed her again. Emilia scowled and splashed back, making Lyra giggle and jump away. Emilia stood up to chase her into the water, then realized that was exactly what Lyra wanted, so she sat back down, preparing to ignore Lyra. That turned out to be impossible, and soon, the two girls were caught up in a water war. They were so loud that they didn¡¯t notice what was approaching until a shadow appeared over their heads. 40 - Betrayal Elise had discovered with her experiment with Naomi that her divine power would last about ten minutes. That meant that she only had five minutes left to defuse the situation before she wouldn¡¯t have control any more. She could always use it again, but she didn¡¯t want to be dependent on it, in case whatever god was giving her that power had a limit to its generosity. Figuring out Emilia¡¯s goals was important, but it would have to wait until she got the drow to safety. ¡°Step aside,¡± she told the dwarves at the tunnel. ¡°Let the drow go.¡± ¡°What the hell are-?¡± started one of the dwarves at the door. ¡°Quiet!¡± said Elise before turning to the drow. ¡°Go. Quickly.¡± She didn¡¯t use {Suggest} or {Charm} that time, but she didn¡¯t need to. They sprinted past the Royal Guards by the tunnel and disappeared into the darkness. Elise was about to follow when she heard Hallbjorn stirring below her. ¡°Hallbjorn?¡± she said. He groaned, and opened his eyes. It took him a few moments for him to fully comprehend what he was seeing. When he did, his eyes widened until they were almost circles. ¡°Elise?¡± he asked. ¡°Is that you? Why are your wings-? Your rune! What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have much time,¡± said Elise. ¡°Someone is trying to start a war. The drow¡¯s mother tree was poisoned. So were you. Don¡¯t do anything rash. Just keep digging the tunnel. I¡¯ll try- No, I will find out what¡¯s going on and put a stop to it.¡± ¡°I was poisoned?¡± he asked. ¡°A war? Who? Why?¡± ¡°Your guards can explain the poisoning later,¡± said Elise. ¡°And I will explain the rest later. For now, I need to go. Just know that the drow that poisoned you were being manipulated. They don¡¯t want a war any more than you do.¡± ¡°The ghouls poisoned me?¡± he said, looking angry. ¡°Please, Hallbjorn,¡± she said. ¡°Please trust me. I can fix this. I just need a bit of time. I¡¯ll explain everything when it¡¯s over. For now, good bye.¡± ¡°Elise, wait!¡± he called, but she was already gone. She met one of the drow fifty feet further down the tunnel. She heard armored footsteps from behind, but the drow put her hand to the wall and pulsed mana to collapse the tunnel before they could get anywhere close. They met up with the other two, one of whom had the still-unconscious Naomi on her back, and dashed back into the drow cavern, periodically collapsing the tunnel behind them again. ¡°Why is it so dark?¡± asked the drow carrying Naomi once they emerged from the tunnel ¡°The Mother Tree was poisoned,¡± said Elise. ¡°You didn¡¯t know that?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been on standby for the assassination since yesterday,¡± said the woman who had collapsed the tunnel. ¡°Since yesterday?¡± asked Elise. Did that mean that Emilia was planning on assassinating the king before the poisoning even happened? Did she know about the poisoning before it happened? Did she just let it happen so that she would have an excuse to eradicate the dwarves? ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± she said aloud. ¡°Why is she doing this?¡± ¡°Who?¡± asked the drow. ¡°Emilia.¡± ¡°Was she the one who¡­ made us like that?¡± ¡°She has to be,¡± said Elise. ¡°Who else could have done it?¡± ¡°But why would she do that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. It doesn¡¯t make sense unless she¡¯s trying to start a war. But why would she do that?¡± At that moment, Elise¡¯s wings turned back to silver, and she suddenly remembered the System notification that she had dismissed while saving Naomi. [ More information about {Rune of Fate} is now available. ] She opened her status window, and internally grimaced at what she saw in the skill¡¯s description. [ {Rune of Fate}: A rune granted by !@#$%^&* that @#$%^&*. Allows the user to channel divine power. Current charges: 0/3. Cooldown: 29 days. !@#$%^&* ] If she had known that the number of uses was limited she wouldn¡¯t have tested it on Naomi before. There was no way she could have avoided using it just then, but there was no doubt that wouldn¡¯t be the last time she needed it. Especially if the war Emilia seemed so desperate to cause actually broke out. ¡°Oh, thank Titania, you made it back!¡± came a voice from behind. They all whipped around to see Emilia descending from above the treeline with a worried expression on her face. ¡°How did the mission go?¡± she asked. ¡°Why did you do that?¡± asked Elise, flying up to her. ¡°Why did you manipulate them?¡± ¡°Manipulate them?¡± she asked. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Stop playing dumb,¡± said Elise. ¡°I know you were planning the assassination before we found out the tree was poisoned!¡± ¡°What? I would never-! I-!¡± Emilia stopped and took a deep breath. Then she smiled.
389 years ago Right above their heads was an Omnivorous Cyclops Cow. It was staring them down with its lone red eye, as if in disbelief at their obliviousness. Meanwhile, Lyra and Emilia were frozen in terror. Lyra¡¯s hands were still plunged into the water, preparing to fling it at Emilia. The stalemate continued for another few seconds, until a growl started in the back of the cow¡¯s throat, and it broke Emilia from her stupor. She flew away as fast as she could, with Lyra herself breaking free and following behind a moment later. The cow¡¯s growl grew louder, and when Emilia looked back, she saw its eye starting to glow. She dove to the side, just in time for the energy beam to sizzle through the air where she had just been, singeing the edge of her dress. The cow began charging up another one, but Emilia managed to put a tree between her and it before it could unleash again. In the time it took her to dodge, Lyra caught up to her, and the two were now traveling together, and going the wrong direction. The cow had somehow come from what should have been the safe side of the stream, and they were only flying deeper into unmarked territory. Soon, they came across three more of the cows, and when they turned to run from them, they found even more. After a minute of desperate fleeing, they found themselves hiding in the trunk of a hollow tree, with the sounds of cows stomping all about, searching for them. ¡°What do we do?¡± whispered Lyra. Emilia was wondering the same thing. Flying up wasn¡¯t an option. That had been drilled into her head by the other fey from the first day she arrived. If she flew up above the treeline, she would be exposed, and she didn¡¯t have the Agility to dodge everything. She was lucky to have survived even the first attack. Maybe if they had flown straight up as soon as they got away from the first cow, they could have escaped safely, but it was too late for that now. They were surrounded. Fortunately, they had also been told what to do in this circumstance. They just had to stay put and wait until either the cows left, or someone else came and found them. It would be boring, but it would work. The cows only had a general idea of where they were, and weren¡¯t efficient enough hunters to sniff them out. They would be safe if they stayed put. ¡°What do we do?¡± whispered Lyra. She¡¯s not thinking clearly, Emilia realized. ¡°Calm down,¡± said Emilia. ¡°We just have to wait until they leave. And if they don¡¯t, someone will notice we¡¯re gone and they¡¯ll come find us. We just have to stay here until then.¡± ¡°But what if they find us?¡± ¡°They won¡¯t, but we need to stay quiet.¡± ¡°But-¡± ¡°Shh.¡± Lyra stopped talking, but she didn¡¯t stop worrying. She was trembling in fear and looking about anxiously, and Emilia thought that if nothing happened soon, she would either do something foolish out of panic, or she would pass out. The former would be bad for both of them, so Emilia did her best to keep her calm. She let Lyra hug her and hold her hand, even when their hands got warm and sweaty and uncomfortable. Eventually, Lyra fell asleep.Stolen novel; please report. It took about half an hour for the cows to stop actively searching for them, but they didn¡¯t leave the area. Instead, they decided to lay down for a nap. Emilia recalled her lessons from the older fey when she first arrived at the cave. The cows usually took early afternoon naps for a couple hours before becoming active again, which would have made that a good time to leave if not for their annoying habit of sleeping in shifts. If they did try to leave right then, the cows on watch would spot them and shoot them down. However, Lyra probably didn¡¯t remember that. ¡°Lyra,¡± whispered Emilia, shaking the other girl. Lyra¡¯s eyes snapped open, and she opened her mouth to say something, but Emilia clamped her hand down on it to stop her. ¡°The cows are asleep,¡± whispered Emilia. ¡°If we leave right now, we can get home safely.¡± Lyra hesitated for a moment, listening to the sounds of the cows snoring, then nodded. Emilia removed her hand so she could speak. ¡°We¡¯re leaving?¡± asked Lyra. ¡°Yes,¡± said Emilia, standing up. The entrance to the hollow trunk was just above her head, and she could see one of the Mother Tree¡¯s fruits far above between the dead branches of their tree. Lyra scrambled to her feet next to Emilia and looked out the hole as well. She was starting to tremble again but her face was set in determination. ¡°On the count of 3, we fly out as fast as we can,¡± said Emilia. ¡°Go straight out, then turn left. Don¡¯t stop, and don¡¯t look back. We need to get back to the Mother Tree as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± said Lyra, nodding. ¡°Ready?¡± Lyra nodded again. ¡°1. 2. 3!¡± Lyra shot out of the tree without hesitation. And started flying up and out almost out of Emilia¡¯s sight. Just as Emilia told her, she didn¡¯t look back. Not at first, at least. It was only when she heard one of the cows below her that she realized something was wrong and looked behind her. Emilia caught just a glimpse of her confused expression before she disappeared in a flash of red. [ You have participated in the killing of a Lesser Sprite, lvl 4 ] [ You have leveled up! 1 -> 2 ] It worked! thought Emilia. And I got a level? The older fey and drow had never explained to her how leveling up happened. Even Hadri wouldn¡¯t tell her. They all said she was ¡°too young¡± and that she ¡°still had all her life to worry about that.¡± Emilia didn¡¯t like that answer, but she had no way of getting a better one, so she was stuck with it. Until that moment. Was that the secret that they were trying to hide? That killing was how they leveled up? But they also said that killing was wrong. Was it actually wrong, or were they just trying to hide leveling up from her? Regardless, they wouldn¡¯t be happy if they knew what Emilia did. Maybe they would come to appreciate it eventually, once they realized how quiet things were without Lyra, but for now, she had to hide what happened. She had thought of that before, fortunately, so she already had a story prepared. Lyra thought they were asleep, and tried to fly out while they were still around. Not only was it a believable story, since Lyra was stupid, but it was also the truth. Most of it, at least. All she needed to do after that was cry. If they were going to call her a baby, then she was going to act like one. After all, babies never got in trouble when they cried.
Hadri was worried about Emilia. Ever since Lyra died, she hadn¡¯t been the same. She had an unhealthy obsession with death. No matter how he started their lessons, she would always try to turn it to murders, assassinations, and wars. ¡°Why did Minister Heinz¡¯s assassination cause a war?¡± she asked one day. ¡°Emilia,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯re talking about the history of confections.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like the history of confections.¡± ¡°Well, we all have to deal with things we don¡¯t like sometimes. That¡¯s just a part of life.¡± Emilia scowled. She had been doing that a lot lately. At first, he was happy that she was making a new facial expression, but how often she was making it was getting concerning. I must have been spoiling her too much, he thought. She¡¯s like a toddler, upset whenever something doesn¡¯t go her way. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what,¡± he said. ¡°If you sit quietly through this lesson, I¡¯ll answer your question at the end.¡± ¡°Hmph. Fine.¡± He didn¡¯t like her attitude, but it was a slight improvement. Baby steps, he thought. ¡°Scholars can¡¯t agree on the exact year, but at some point between the years 970 and 980, meringue was invented, and began to grow in popularity in the nation of Jelor¡­¡± Emilia sat through the whole lesson without so much as a peep, which Hadri found disheartening. She used to ask questions about everything. He couldn¡¯t get more than a few lines out before she would be questioning every third word he said. ¡°Why did Minister Heinz¡¯s assassination cause a war?¡± she asked the moment he concluded. He let out a long sigh. ¡°Emilia, I know things are rough right now. Losing a friend is never easy. But your obsession with death and killing is not healthy. You¡¯re young. You should be out playing, not in here with me learning about how people die.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± said Emilia, frowning. ¡°You¡¯re not,¡± said Hadri, standing up. ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s go find something fun to do.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to,¡± she said crossing her arms. ¡°Well, then I guess you¡¯ll never find out why that assassination caused that war.¡± She hesitated, then put on a pouty face. ¡°I¡¯ll go after you tell me.¡± Hadri sighed again. Baby steps. ¡°Alright. Fine. Minister Heinz¡¯s assassination was not the sole cause of the first Jelorian Civil War. It was merely the last straw in a long string of events. Tensions had been high for years, and in the months leading up to his assassination, General Ottmar and Henrietta of the Beaumont clan were also killed. Minister Heinz was the only thing holding the country together, and when he died, it fell apart.¡± ¡°But why?¡± asked Emilia. ¡°Why wasn¡¯t anyone else trying to stop the war?¡± ¡°By that time, no one else wanted to,¡± explained Hadri. ¡°No one else in power, at least. The Blues and the Reds hated each other so much that they would rather kill the other than have peace.¡± ¡°But why?¡± asked Emilia. ¡°Why did they hate each other so much?¡± ¡°That would take quite a bit to explain. Why don¡¯t we go out now, and play.¡± ¡°No!¡± she said. ¡°You said you¡¯d tell me first.¡± ¡°I did tell you,¡± he said. ¡°What you¡¯re asking now is different.¡± Emilia thought for a few seconds, then scowled. ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s go.¡± While unhappy with how it went, Hadri was glad he was finally getting out with her. She always turned down his requests, preferring to stay inside either learning from him, or reading his books, rather than going out to play. ¡°Do you have anywhere you want to go?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said immediately. ¡°Oh? Where?¡± ¡°That way.¡± She pointed into the woods. ¡°Why that way?¡± ¡°I wanna show you something.¡± ¡°Well, alright then,¡± said Hadri. He had no clue what she could possibly want to show him, but he was intrigued. What was over there? Was it something she prepared, or was it something she had seen in the past and thought was interesting. He followed her lead gladly, because whatever it was, the fact that she was showing interest in anything else was good, and he should encourage that. She led him into the forest past a small grove of mushrooms and to a shallow stream, then stopped in midair and turned around. ¡°Stand here,¡± she said, pointing to the ground by the water. ¡°Okay,¡± he said, obliging her request. ¡°What is it you want to show me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a surprise. Close your eyes.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t peek.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± A moment later, Hadri heard some rustling in a bush nearby. Emilia was grabbing something. He smiled. Whatever she wanted to show him was something she had prepared. Was it something she found? Something she made? The rustling stopped, leaving him fidgeting in anticipation. What is it? He thought. Is she going to tell me to open my- Something pricked him in the throat. He opened his eyes in surprise to see a wooden arrow protruding from below his chin, and Emilia hovering just above it. He tried to ask her what was going on, but no words came out. A moment later, he fell forward into the stream, the impact driving the arrow further into his neck. He couldn¡¯t turn his head. He couldn¡¯t move his limbs. He couldn¡¯t even breathe. All he could do was watch as the water turned red and blood filled his lungs. Emilia flew down just within his line of sight, and he looked at her, trying to ask with his eyes what his mouth no longer could. Her only answer was a smile.
The news of Hadri¡¯s death shook the dwarven community. He wasn¡¯t exactly popular, but he wasn¡¯t hated either. There was no one who would be willing to kill him. He spent all his time holed up in his hut, teaching Emilia history. How could he have made any enemies. And yet, he was dead. His body was found face down in a creek with a poisoned drow arrow sprouting from his neck. There were no suspects, and Emilia, the lone witness, said that she didn¡¯t see anything. The arrow came from far away, shot by someone hidden between the branches. Both drow and dwarf came together to comfort the young sprite. In less than a month, she had lost both her closest friend and mentor. The usually stoic girl shed more tears then than ever before, sometimes seeming inconsolable. Not a single person suspected that she might have had anything to do with either death. Just as she planned. Well, Lyra¡¯s death hadn¡¯t been planned, but they still didn¡¯t suspect her. When no one was looking, Emilia found it hard to stop herself from smiling. This was fun. It was just like in the history books. Seeing all the things happening as a result of her small actions was so satisfying. Just one small push, and one stolen arrow, and the entire cave system was in disarray. She barely managed to hide her evolution from everyone else. Fortunately, it was quick, and her new species, {Lesser Assassin Sprite}, looked identical to her old one, so no one could even tell she evolved. Not at a glance, at least. Hiding her increased stats and new skills was more difficult, but she still managed to make it work. Over the course of the next year, she continued her experiments. A bit of poison here, a renegade cow there, and just a teensy bit of rumormongering. By the end of that year, the relationship between the dwarves and the drow had turned from harmonious to tolerant. There was no open conflict, but there was something simmering under the surface. By the end of the next year, the leaders of each race were openly arguing with each other, and trade between them had almost ground entirely to a halt. At the end of the year after that, the first murder not planned by Emilia occurred. At the end of the third year, the final step in Emilia¡¯s grand manipulation occurred: the Sister Tree was poisoned, and the war began. The dwarves had the advantage of metalworking, and in the time they were in the caves, they managed to set up a fortress of sorts that the drow couldn¡¯t hope to penetrate. Not with most of them having classes oriented toward things outside of combat. The drow were driven out of their own cave, away from their dying juvenile Spirit Tree. However, the dwarves could not conquer the drows¡¯ main base. They knew the terrain too well. If 20 dwarves were sent in, no more than 10 would return, and of those 10, 5 would die of poison. They ultimately decided that it wasn¡¯t worth the cost to take it, and the war ended in a stalemate. Not everything went exactly as Emilia planned, but she was satisfied with the results. She was able to evolve again, and because of her contributions to the war effort¨C and the highly unfortunate loss of all but a few of the other fey¨C she was granted a position of honor and power in the newly shrunken drow tribe. And no one suspected a thing. 41 - Deal ¡°Wh-where did they go?¡± said one of the drow. The three scouts started looking around frantically, before getting in a defensive formation around Naomi. Elise glared at Emilia. She could still see the older fey just fine, and she could see herself, which meant Emilia was using her skill that hid them from the perception of others. She must have been lying when she said it didn¡¯t work as well on intelligent life. The drow scouts were some of the highest level people in the whole cavern, and they were completely fooled. ¡°You¡¯re clever,¡± said Emilia, still smiling. ¡°Too clever. What are you?¡± A chill ran down Elise¡¯s spine. ¡°What do you mean?¡± she said, trying to remain as calm as possible. ¡°I think you know exactly what I mean.¡± ¡°I- I don¡¯t know-¡± ¡°How about this: You tell me the truth, and I won¡¯t kill them.¡± Emilia gestured toward the drow. Elise glanced back at them. Naomi was still unconscious, and the other three were still in formation around her, looking around frantically. One called something out, but her voice was muffled and Elise couldn¡¯t tell what she was saying. She needed to find a way out of this situation. Emilia had at least three evolutions on her, and centuries of experience, and Elise didn¡¯t even have any divine power left at her disposal. Her only potential advantage was that Emilia might be underestimating her. That meant that Elise might be able to take her by surprise. But how? There was no way that {Magic Missile} would ever reach her, and while Elise¡¯s Charisma was high, Emilia was a manipulator too. Her Charisma would be higher. She scanned up and down her status window, hoping for something that could save her, and her eyes caught on the one skill she had yet to use: {Fey Bargaining}. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you the truth about what I am,¡± she started carefully, activating the skill as she spoke. ¡°If you promise not to harm them in any way. That includes manipulating them into fighting each other.¡± ¡°Of course!¡± said Emilia immediately. There was a sensation like someone was pouring ice water directly onto Elise¡¯s heart. It was gone in an instant, but it still caused an involuntary shiver. Emilia clearly felt it too, because she froze, and the warmth left her eyes. ¡°Clever,¡± she said. ¡°Well done. Now tell me, what are you?¡± Elise hesitated for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m a Lesser Fey.¡± She waited for a moment, and Emilia did as well, but nothing happened. Emilia¡¯s smile faded and turned into a frown. ¡°What?¡± she said. ¡°How old are you? Have you been living with humans for decades, unable to level up?¡± ¡°Our deal only extended to that one question.¡± ¡°So it did.¡± Emilia smiled again. ¡°Let¡¯s make another deal then. For every question of mine that you answer, I will answer one of yours. And we must both answer truthfully.¡± ¡°If I answer any question of yours, that means you must answer one of mine,¡± said Elise. ¡°You can¡¯t ask me one question, then refuse to answer.¡± ¡°Deal.¡± The cold sensation came and went again. This time, Elise was more prepared for it, and she managed not to shiver. ¡°I¡¯m 0 years old,¡± said Elise. ¡°Why are you trying to start a war?¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s still my turn,¡± said Emilia. ¡°I haven¡¯t asked my question yet.¡± ¡°Yes you did. And I answered it.¡± ¡°No, I asked that question before we made the deal.¡± ¡°The deal mentioned nothing about when the question had to be asked. It was only about whether or not I answered truthfully.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s how you want to play this game, then the reason I showed you how to use {Suggest} to make the cows fight was because I thought you had potential. But neither of us get what we want if we do it like this. Let¡¯s amend the deal. The questions we answer must be the one that the other asked most recently.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± said Elise. Before the cold sensation had passed, Emilia was already asking her first question. ¡°How are you deceiving me right now?¡± Elise felt like she had been shot through the heart. Emilia had really gone right for the throat. ¡°I¡¯m telling you things that are technically true, but deliberately misleading,¡± she said begrudgingly. ¡°How are they misleading?¡± asked Emilia. ¡°It¡¯s my turn,¡± said Elise. ¡°How are you currently deceiving me?¡± ¡°Oh, there are a few ways,¡± said Emilia. ¡°The most relevant one though is that these bargains we¡¯ve made aren¡¯t nearly as tightly bound as you probably think they are. I can break them at any time, really, and not suffer any permanent consequences. It might weaken me for a bit, but¡­¡± She shrugged. ¡°Well, I really don¡¯t think that matters here.¡± Emilia smiled, and Elise¡¯s heart sank. She was being toyed with. It infuriated her, but at the same time, she felt a glimmer of hope. Now she knew that Emilia was looking down on her. If she could stall for time long enough, she might be able to come up with a way to get out. She glanced back and saw Naomi still slumped against the wall, unconscious, and remembered what had happened when she first tested her divine power channeling on her. Her new eye allowed her to see Elise¡¯s Rune of Fate. It was a long shot, but if her eye could also see through Emilia¡¯s invisibility, they might be able to take her by surprise. ¡°How are answers true, but misleading?¡± asked Emilia. ¡°They are true to what is on my status window, but my status window doesn¡¯t reflect everything,¡± said Elise. ¡°Why are you trying to start a war between the dwarves and drow?¡± ¡°For the experience points,¡± said Emilia. ¡°How does your status-¡± ¡°You what!?¡± interrupted Elise. ¡°You¡¯re starting a war for experience points?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not your turn, but yes,¡± she said. ¡°And also for fun. How does your status window not reflect everything?¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t always a Rabbit Fey.¡± ¡°That answer isn¡¯t valid. Evolution makes that a given.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the truth though, and that¡¯s all we agreed to.¡± Emilia frowned. ¡°Fine. But I answered an extra question for you. The least you can do is elaborate.¡± ¡°No. Are you the one who started the conflict between the dwarves and the drow in the first place?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said dismissively. ¡°Explain further what you meant by your last answer.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a question.¡± Emilia knitted her brows, which Elise considered a win. It was her first real sign of frustration. Emilia might have centuries of experience manipulating people, but Elise doubted she had ever needed to survive anything like the interrogations her adopted mother would often give her. Telling convenient half-truths and giving only the bare minimum was like second nature to her. If Emilia wanted real answers, she was going to have to work for them. ¡°What evolutionary path were you on before you arrived at your current one?¡± ¡°I was a human,¡± said Elise. ¡°Ohhhh,¡± she said. ¡°That makes sense.¡± It was Elise¡¯s turn to ask a question, but she was having trouble thinking of anything good. For one, she was furious. For centuries, Emilia had been manufacturing conflict between the two races, and Elise had gotten caught in the middle of it. If not for her, the dwarves wouldn¡¯t have even been underground. Without the drow at their backs attacking whenever they got the chance, the dwarves would have reached the surface long ago. If not for her, Marie and Claudia wouldn¡¯t have had to die. Greta wouldn¡¯t have gotten sick. Hallbjorn¡¯s wife would be alive. There would be peace. In addition, Emilia had been so forthcoming that Elise didn¡¯t even know what else there was to ask. She already confirmed what she needed to know. She could ask about the details, but did she really want to know? She looked up at the older fey, who had a triumphant look on her face. She had gotten her answer as well. She was just waiting for Elise to ask her last question so she could end things. That meant there was only one thing to do: not say anything. The seconds stretched into minutes, and neither of them made a sound. The longer it went on, the more hopeful Elise felt. Although Emilia had said she could break the deal whenever she wanted, the fact that she hadn¡¯t meant that she didn¡¯t actually want to. The curse wouldn¡¯t be debilitating, but she still didn¡¯t want to incur it if she didn¡¯t have to. That meant that if Elise could somehow get her to break the deal, she might be weakened at least enough to let Elise escape. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. If she just waited until Emilia got impatient, that might break the curse, but if Emilia¡¯s impatience manifested in one of the blades of mana that had severed the heads of the poisoner dwarves, Elise would have no chance of survival. Was there anything she could ask that would help? Asking what her greatest weakness was might help, but it also might be something as simple as her having weak physical stats, since she was focused on magic and manipulation. That wouldn¡¯t be helpful at all. She half-wanted to ask if Emilia had been the one who manipulated the dwarves into poisoning the Mother Tree, but she was pretty sure she already knew the answer to that one. ¡°It¡¯s a shame,¡± said Emilia, still smiling triumphantly. ¡°You really did have potential. I would have been more than happy to take you under my wing and teach you more.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to learn anything you have to teach.¡± ¡°I know you¡¯ve already benefited greatly from the one lesson you¡¯ve already had. I watched you practice it. You have a talent for this.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care.¡± ¡°But look at what you can do with it,¡± said Emilia. ¡°Look around. Look what I¡¯ve done. For almost 400 years, I¡¯ve had two cities fighting over something neither of them had any part in. No one even remembers why the conflict started anymore. I barely even have to do anything to keep it going. It¡¯s self-sustaining. All I have to do is pretend to be a benevolent goddess, and they die for me, giving me free experience points.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a monster.¡± ¡°So are you. That¡¯s what the System calls us. This is what we have to do to survive.¡± ¡°Not this,¡± said Elise. ¡°You¡¯re killing innocent people.¡± ¡°No one is innocent.¡± ¡°They¡¯ve done nothing to you.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t just kill people like that!¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Why do you-?!¡± Elise caught herself before she could finish. She almost slipped up. As soon as Emilia answered that question, the situation would be out of Elise¡¯s hands. Emilia was a monster, plain and simple. There was nothing more to it. Why she did what she did wasn¡¯t important. What was important was that if she wasn¡¯t stopped now, Elise would die, and the dwarves and drow would likely soon fall as well. She racked her brains, and after another minute of silence, she finally came up with a solution. A surefire way to make Emilia break the deal. She just needed to wait for the right moment. It wasn¡¯t long before that moment presented itself. The second Elise heard Naomi stirring behind her, she made her move. ¡°What is the next major way that Ostra plans to improve the integration of non-humanoids and humanoids?¡± Emilia¡¯s confident smile turned into an expression of confusion, and then to anger. ¡°How?¡± she demanded. ¡°That¡¯s not an answer,¡± said Elise. ¡°Are you going to answer, or-?¡± [Another creature has broken a deal with you created by {Fey Bargaining}. They are now cursed. All stats reduced by 20%. 23h 59m remaining.] Before she had time to register what had happened, Emilia grabbed Elise by the throat and held her up to her own face. ¡°How?!¡± she shouted. ¡°Tell me!¡± Elise was overcome with a sudden, intense compulsion to answer the question. ¡°It¡¯s because I have-¡± she started. Suddenly, Emilia gasped, and the compulsion vanished. Elise looked behind and grinned. Naomi was awake. Emilia had ignored the old scarred drow, thinking they would still be invisible, but Naomi¡¯s golden eyes were locked onto them, and mana flowed from her into the ground and up through the root into Emilia. ¡°What?¡± she said, looking down. A second root pierced her left leg, and her grip loosened enough that Elise could wriggle free. Elise sent a volley of {Magic Missile} as she retreated back toward the drow who, aside from Naomi, were very confused. Getting attacked like that had apparently been enough to break the invisibility spell, creating what was probably a baffling scene. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± asked one of them. ¡°Emilia betrayed everyone,¡± said Elise. ¡°She poisoned the Mother Tree.¡± ¡°I did no such thing!¡± said Emilia, breaking free of the roots and flying up out of their range. ¡°It was Elise! She¡¯s been conspiring with the dwarves the whole time.¡± ¡°She¡¯s lying,¡± said Naomi. She was standing now, her wooden limbs grown out to their original shapes. Her eyes¨C of which she now had two¨C were almost glowing, and her expression was steely calm. ¡°She¡¯s been lying to us from the start,¡± said Elise. ¡°She was the one who started the conflict with the dwarves in the first place.¡± ¡°Preposterous!¡± exclaimed Emilia. ¡°She¡¯s trying to turn you against me!¡± As she spoke, dust drifted down from her wings, and her wounds started to close, just in time for Naomi to try making new ones. The nearest branches extended like whips, swinging wildly through the air. Emilia flew up higher, trying to get out of their range, but the branches just extended further and further. The other three drow looked back and forth between Emilia and Naomi and Elise. It was no secret that Naomi had never liked Emilia, so it wasn¡¯t out of the question that Naomi had finally snapped, but at the same time, they had known Naomi for years. She had never done anything like that. Naomi wouldn¡¯t be doing this without a good reason, sent Elise using {Suggest} Above, Emilia dodged the whipping branches a few more times before shooting toward them. The drow tensed and held their weapons up defensively, but Emilia suddenly changed course, instead going right above them and raining dust from her wings down. ¡°Dodge!¡± said Naomi, doing just that. Elise shot forward to evade whatever attack Emilia was planning, only to realize that she had been deceived. Emilia came to a sudden stop a few dozen feet away and snapped her fingers. Behind, the three other scouts froze in place, and their eyes glazed over. Only Naomi and Elise were unaffected. Why didn¡¯t she use it on us? She thought. Or did it just not work on us? It would make sense if Naomi was able to resist it. Aside from Emilia, she was the strongest person in the cavern. Her stats were probably high enough to resist it. It was also possible that Naomi¡¯s conspiracy about Emilia using her dust on the mushrooms was correct, and it was only because the two of them had been subsisting on wild and home-grown mushrooms that they were unaffected. There was also the question of why she didn¡¯t make the drow attack them if she could control them, but the answer to that question came almost immediately. The first deal that Elise tricked her into specifically prevented her from making the drow attack each other. Maybe they could attack Elise, but if Naomi got hit in the crossfire, or if Naomi jumped in to defend, the deal would be broken, and Emilia would need to take another 20% hit to her stats, which could prove fatal. ¡°Dodge!¡± shouted Naomi again. Elise barely had time to react before she felt a huge amount of mana heading straight toward her. She flew straight up, but wasn¡¯t fast enough. It was the same kind of mana blade that Emilia used before to decapitate the captive dwarves, but stronger and faster. She cried out as her back legs exploded in pain and she saw her back feet fall to the ground below her. The pain almost completely overwhelmed her sense of reason, and made her want to flee. If Emilia had sent a second attack at her right then, she would have died for certain. The only reason she didn¡¯t was that Naomi had taken a flying leap and grabbed onto the other fey¡¯s legs. Her wooden left leg stayed rooted in the ground though, extending like they were in a cartoon to stay attached to the rest of its owner¡¯s body. Elise recovered her wits enough to use her own {Fairy Dust} on her own wounds. It wasn¡¯t enough to heal herself, but it stopped the bleeding, and numbed the pain enough that she could make sense of what she was seeing. As soon as Naomi¡¯s left arm made contact with Emilia¡¯s leg, it started writhing and convulsing as it sent out tendrils to wyrm its way inside the flesh. Emilia screamed out in pain and immediately sent another blade of mana downward, severing the wooden arm. When she did this, Elise got another System notification. [Another creature has broken a deal with you created by {Fey Bargaining}. They are now cursed. All stats reduced by 20%. 23h 59m remaining.] It¡¯s the first deal we made, realized Elise. But wait, doesn¡¯t that mean-? Before she had time to process, the other drow behind her started moving. They looked at her with blank expressions and empty eyes, then they turned invisible. Elise went upward immediately, knowing that if she stayed too close to the ground, she was going to lose her head. She got about as high as she thought she needed to, then reconsidered, and flew twice that high. Meanwhile, when the second curse hit, Emilia¡¯s flight faltered again, and Naomi¡¯s wooden stump extended and reconnected to the severed part, and the violent invasion of Emilia¡¯s leg began again. She screamed in pain again, but at the same time, she leaned down, and grabbed Naomi¡¯s head in her hands. Naomi¡¯s wooden arm stopped moving and her eyes glazed over, as Emilia made a pained, but triumphant expression. At the same time, below them, Naomi¡¯s wooden leg suddenly shattered, and one of the mind-controlled drow became visible near its base. Naomi didn¡¯t react, still frozen with her head in Emilia¡¯s hands. Her whole body was stiff, and the only thing keeping her airborne was her arm halfway inside the fey¡¯s leg. Emilia grimaced in pain, but didn¡¯t let go of her prey. By this time though, Elise had recovered enough to attack again. She spent the last of her mana on another volley of {Magic Missile}. Another shield of mana appeared, but this time weaker. Whether she was running low, or just trying to conserve her mana, Elise didn¡¯t know, and didn¡¯t care. It blocked six of her missiles, but then shattered, and the other two hit her in the shoulder and her side. It didn¡¯t do as much damage as Elise hoped, but it was enough to make her let go of Naomi for a brief moment. As soon as her hands lost contact, the drow woman¡¯s eyes cleared, and her tendril attack resumed. Emilia tried to regain control, but Naomi was prepared this time, and sent a thin shield of wood up from her left shoulder to block the hands. The older fey looked truly panicked at this point, and after one final mana blade to break Naomi¡¯s grip, she vanished from Elise¡¯s sight. The only way that Elise could tell she was fleeing was the occasional blood droplets falling from seemingly nowhere. ¡°We need to follow her!¡± said Elise, flying toward Naomi. Naomi didn¡¯t need to be told twice. She snatched Elise out of the air and tucked her under her arm like a football before bounding after Emilia. Every step they took sent a jolt of pain through Elise¡¯s wounds, but she gritted her teeth and bore with it, keeping her eyes on Naomi the whole time. She couldn¡¯t see the older fey herself, but she could watch Naomi¡¯s eyes as she tracked Emilia through the invisibility. When they reached the base of the Mother Tree, they were met by a crowd of drow, all with the same blank expression and glazed eyes as the scouts back by the tunnel. They reached toward Naomi and Elise, some with their bare hands, and others with weapons. None of their attacks or grapple attempts reached their targets, but it did slow them down. Naomi had to weave through the crowd, changing direction so quickly that Elise never even knew exactly where they were before they had already gone somewhere else. When they finally reached the trunk, Naomi looked up and cursed. She released Elise and bounded upward. ¡°I¡¯ll go first!¡± she said. Elise tried her best to follow, but even though she had wings, Naomi was still much faster than her. Elise¡¯s Agility was not very high, and Naomi moved with a precision and confidence that indicated she had done this before. She would grab the lip of one alcove, then pull with her arms and push with her feet, sending herself straight up so she could do the same thing again. It only took her a few seconds to reach the top and disappear into the leaves, but Elise wasn¡¯t worried. She knew where to go. They were heading to the same tunnel hidden by the Mother Tree¡¯s leaves that Emilia had taken her through to go to the Ostra meeting. By the time Elise reached the tunnel, Naomi was so far along that even the sound of her footsteps were gone, and the only thing left behind in the tunnel were a few drops of Emilia¡¯s blood. Elise flew as fast as she could through the winding passage, but when she was only about halfway up, she got a new System message [ You have participated in defeating Arch-Sidhe, lvl 26 ] [ You have leveled up! 10 -> 18 ] [ {Fey Bargaining} has leveled up! 1 -> 14 ] [ Agility +40, Dexterity +40, Charisma +160, Intelligence +120, Willpower +40, Mana +80, Mana Control +80 ] [ You have unlocked the skill {Telekinesis} ] [ You have unlocked the skill {Mimic} ] Naomi got her, thought Elise, feeling relieved. She slowed her pace, and a minute later, finally emerged into the clear night. But something was wrong. It was cold. Too cold. 42 - Aftermath 5 minutes earlier. It had been centuries since Emilia had found herself in such a dire situation. In fact, as she flew away from her attackers toward the exit by the Mother Tree, she realized that she couldn¡¯t remember ever taking so much damage in her entire life. Her leg had so much wood in it, that it was essentially useless, and she didn¡¯t have any {Fairy Dust} left after healing her other wounds. She still had enough mana for a few more attacks, and she might have been able to kill the rabbit with it, but she would have almost certainly been killed by the others if she stuck around that long. It was all her fault, really. She let Naomi get too strong. She should have killed the paranoid drow years ago, right when she reached 6th tier. If she had done that properly, the rabbit¡¯s deception wouldn¡¯t have been anywhere near as fatal as it had been. How did Elise even still remember Ostra? How did she get around the contract? She watched as Jerry wiped her memories. Freddy had confirmed that she never signed the contract. So how did she know about it? There were only two answers: either she somehow nullified it, or Freddy and Jerry were lying. The former was impossible. Elise was abnormal, but she couldn¡¯t resist a memory spell from someone at Jerry¡¯s level. That meant that Jerry and Freddy were lying to her. But why would they do that? She had spent decades with them, learning their habits and desires, and doing her best to earn their trust. They only knew the rabbit for a couple days. What did she tell Freddy that convinced him to let her go with her memories and no contract? Or was her presence in the caves all a ploy in the first place? Even knowing that Elise was once human, some of the events surrounding her didn¡¯t make sense. It reeked of interference. Did they plant her in the cave system specifically to keep an eye on Emilia? That must have been it. How else would she have survived living with the dwarves? That Rune of Fate thing that the dwarves all loved so much was probably something planted by one of them. It was probably the same with whatever miracle medicine was used to save Naomi. But why would they do that? Did they somehow catch wind of what she was doing? Was she being too careless when she told them she was going to move away soon? No, that couldn¡¯t have been it. The fact that she was farming the war for experience points was a surprise to Elise, so they wouldn¡¯t have known about it. Unless they purposefully kept the young fey in the dark about it to lure Emilia out. In that case, was Freddy acting alone? Was it a decision of the Board? Or was she just being paranoid? It could have been a completely independent party, the issue of the contract and the memories was a separate matter that Freddy wasn¡¯t aware of. As far as she knew, the only person on the outside who knew exactly where she lived was Freddy, but she wasn¡¯t arrogant enough to think she couldn¡¯t have slipped up on one of her excursions. They would have to be very strong, but someone could have been keeping an eye on her without her knowledge. Whatever the case, she would figure it out eventually. There was always a cause for every effect. A butterfly for every tornado. Once she got to safety, she would find out what had happened and why, and she would resolve the situation to make sure it never happened again. But to do that, she had to get to safety first, and that was proving difficult. Her speed normally was much faster than anyone in the tribe, but the 40% penalty to her Agility that she had incurred from the broken deals slowed her down enough that Naomi was actually faster than her now. And her damned eyes didn¡¯t seem the least bit affected by Emilia¡¯s invisibility. She commanded the rest of the tribe to try to block their way, but she knew it would only buy her a few seconds at most. Naomi was too fast, and Emilia¡¯s reduced stats also reduced her hold on the drow. Those few seconds would need to be enough. She would have another few seconds while Naomi tried to find the exit cave, and a few more while she tried to climb it, and in those seconds, she would need to get far enough away that the drow wouldn¡¯t be able to see her anymore. When she reached the trunk of the Spirit Tree, she looked down to see Naomi just a few steps away. She cursed and continued up into the tunnel toward the surface. Why did I have to make this path so convoluted? She thought. The twists and turns were designed to confuse and trap anything that managed to find either side and wander in, but that wouldn¡¯t matter here. She was dripping too much blood, and Naomi was an expert tracker. If anything, she had only made it easier to be followed, since so many of the turns were on flat ground. If only she had just made it a vertical shaft¡­ The night was clear and young, which was the worst possible case for her. If she flew straight up, Naomi would be able to see her perfectly well, and there was plenty of time for her to keep pursuing. Their mana would both replenish, but without anyone to manipulate, Emilia didn¡¯t stand a chance in a fight. Even worse, the blood loss would get to her before she got anywhere useful, and {Fairy Dust} only replenished while resting. She needed to find somewhere safe to rest and recover. If she could just buy half an hour, she¡¯d be able to at least stop the blood flow, and from there, she''d get high enough in the air that Naomi wouldn¡¯t be able to touch her before sunrise. She flew forward in the direction she was facing, making it only a hundred feet before she ended up in a clearing with no cover whatsoever. Even worse, there was something else waiting for her. It was almost as big as Jerry, and had snow-white fur and blood red eyes and fangs the size of her arm. It was Freddy¡¯s new pet, the warg. She didn¡¯t even have time to curse before an icicle formed in the air above the beast and rocketed toward her. At that point, she knew it was over. The stat penalties were too large for her to be able to dodge, and she didn¡¯t have enough mana to block it. Even if she could block or dodge, the warg probably wouldn¡¯t give up, and the delay would be enough for Naomi to catch up to her. The icicle hit her straight in the chest, putting a hole straight through her from sternum to spine. At least my leg doesn¡¯t hurt anymore, she thought with a morbid smile as the sensation from her lower body disappeared. If she had all her mana and all her {Fairy Dust}, she might have been able to recover from that wound. Maybe. It would have been close. She would not, however, have been able to recover from that and the tree branch that impaled her lower back a few seconds later. She didn¡¯t feel the wound herself, but she felt her body jolt forward when it hit her. She drifted slowly to the ground, her wings doing their best to keep her afloat and failing. The warg watched her fall with a snarl that looked a lot like an arrogant smile. There was no sign of his master, but she knew the golden man wouldn¡¯t be far away. At least she knew who had betrayed her now. A fitting reversal, she thought as the world faded away. Getting betrayed by my teacher. I guess that¡¯s what I get for trusting a demon.
A hundred feet away from the tunnel¡¯s exit, Naomi stood on the edge of a clearing. Emilia¡¯s corpse was in the middle of the clearing with a root piercing through her back, and an icicle through her chest. On the other side of the clearing was the warg. Naomi and the warg faced off against each other, neither moving a muscle. Elise knew this was a bad situation for Naomi. She had already used a significant portion of her mana fighting Emilia. Her physical abilities were also good, but without her mana, she was half-crippled. On top of that, the warg was in top condition. Even if Naomi fled, the warg would probably be able to catch her before she made it to safety. Elise needed to go and help, but she found herself struggling to move. That monster there was the one that had killed Sylvanna and Corwin, and almost killed her twice. She knew she was no match for it, and even with Naomi, they would probably both die. Even so, she needed to at least make an attempt. But she couldn¡¯t move. It was as if her body was rejecting her commands. The warg glanced up at her, and her fur stood on end. Now she had done it. She was too far away from Naomi to help. It would run through the drow and then kill her. Her only hope was to run away back down the tunnel, but she was reluctant to do that too. She was tired of running away from danger, leaving the people with her for dead. This time would be different. She steeled her resolve, and started flying forward. If she was going to die, she was going to die fighting alongside Naomi. Not running away again like the coward she hated herself for being. When she reached Naomi¡¯s position, she stopped again. Neither of the other two had moved an inch since her arrival, and the warg¡¯s eyes never left her. ¡°It¡¯s strong,¡± said Naomi. ¡°I- I know,¡± said Elise. ¡°We¡¯re probably going to die.¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°But we won¡¯t know for sure until we try. On the count of three, you go left, I¡¯ll go right. Ready? 1. 2-¡± She never made it to 3. The warg huffed once, seeming almost disappointed, then turned around and walked away. Elise and Naomi stood still for a few minutes until they were sure it wasn¡¯t coming back, then they took a simultaneous deep breath as their muscles unclenched. With the adrenaline gone, Elise was suddenly much more aware of the pain in what was left of her rear legs. She had managed to mostly staunch the blood flow with her {Fairy Dust}, but she had already lost a lot, and that combined with the pain was making it difficult to stay awake. She slowly drifted downward, fighting unconsciousness as she tried to steer her fall toward Naomi. The drow woman was paying close enough attention to catch her thankfully. Elise was awake just long enough to see her bend down and make something grow out of the ground before her vision went dark. She dreamt she was back in the cavern. The Mother Tree was healthy again, and the fruits were shining brightly from above. Below her, there was a herd of Omnivorous Cyclops cows caught in an all-out brawl. A brawl she had caused. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. She looked to her left to see Emilia, whole and uninjured, and smiling and nodding in approval. ¡°You have potential,¡± she said. ¡°Look what you managed to do already.¡± Elise watched as the cows tore each other apart, and suddenly felt sick. She could hear the System dings indicating her level-ups, but was it really worth it? Was all that carnage necessary? Moments ago, those cows had been a cohesive group dedicated to surviving together and eradicating outside threats. Now¡­ ¡°You have potential.¡± Elise looked back up at Emilia, who was still smiling. ¡°Look what we could be doing.¡± Elise looked back down at the cows, but they weren¡¯t cows anymore. They were dwarves and drow. She saw Naomi slumped against a tree, hurt even worse than she had been in the tunnel. Both eyes were gouged out, her bottom jaw was gone, her right arm was hanging by a single tendon, and there was a gaping hole in her abdomen. Next to her lay Hallbjorn, an arrow sprouting from his chest and black veins spreading across his body. All around, there was carnage. Nicole was pinned to a tree by a spear held by an armored dwarf with so many arrows in his back he looked like a porcupine. Jens the wizard¡¯s head was buried halfway in a bush, his beard tangled in the branches and his body was nowhere to be found. On the edges, she saw innocents. She wanted to look away, but it was like someone was holding her by the head and forcing her to look at the scene. There was Greta and Kristoffer, and Carol and Benoit, and Osanne and Johann, all staring at her with lifeless eyes. ¡°You have potential,¡± came Emilia¡¯s voice again. ¡°So why aren¡¯t you using it?¡± She woke up hyperventilating, unable to get the images from the dream out of her head. It¡¯s over, she thought to herself. Emilia is dead. It took her a few seconds to gather her wits again and take in her surroundings. She was back in the drow cave, laying on the flower in the Center of the Mother Tree next to Salome. Not quite over, she thought, looking around. The mana in the air was still stale and stagnant. Beside her, Salome looked pale and gaunt, and the petals of the flower were starting to shrivel around the edges. The poison was still affecting the Mother Tree, which meant there was still work to do. But Emilia was dead. She remembered that clearly, at least. The biggest obstacle was out of the way. She tried to stand up, and suddenly remembered her own injury. She looked at her hind legs and saw that, while her feet were still gone, her wounds had completely healed over. There was even short fur growing on the ends of the stumps. How long has it been? she wondered. She activated her wings and lifted herself off the flower before flying out of the center. The fruits were glowing, but only a little. It seemed like dusk, but with the poison, she couldn¡¯t be sure what time it actually was. The drow were out though, and when they saw her arrive, a small crowd started to form around her. They all started asking questions ranging from how she was feeling to what had happened with Emilia. She tried to be as polite as possible while also answering as few questions as possible. Where were the decision makers? Where were Osanne and Naomi? One of those questions was answered when she saw Naomi in the distance jogging in her direction. ¡°You¡¯re awake!¡± she said. ¡°How long was I asleep?¡± ¡°A day and a half, give or take. You feelin¡¯ alright?¡± ¡°I¡¯m missing my back feet, but otherwise, I feel fine.¡± ¡°Ah yeah, about that, we went back to find them so we could try to reattach them, but while we were gone, a snake made off with them. We cut it open to get them out, but they were unsalvageable.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± said Elise. ¡°I¡¯ll recover next time I evolve. Did anything happen while I was asleep?¡± Naomi scoffed. ¡°Just a little bit of everything. We got Emilia, but the damage was already done. The dwarves are gearin¡¯ for war. So are we. It¡¯s only a matter of who makes the first move at this point.¡± ¡°Dangit,¡± said Elise. ¡°Have you tried telling them about Emilia?¡± ¡°They rejected all our requests to talk.¡± ¡°Hmmmmm.¡± Elise racked her brains for a solution, but couldn¡¯t come up with anything. Were the dwarves really rejecting their requests to talk? Hallbjorn wouldn¡¯t do that. Especially not after the failed assassination attempt. That must have meant the messages weren¡¯t making it to him. Someone was intercepting and blocking them. It was probably Josef. But knowing that didn¡¯t help. They still had no way of getting the message past Josef. The tunnel to the king¡¯s bedchambers was collapsed, so she couldn¡¯t get in and talk to him directly, and if Josef was in control of whichever dwarves were in charge of communicating with the drow, going there in person wouldn¡¯t do any good either. How else could she prevent the war though? There was no longer any chance of Emilia doing anything to trigger the conflict, but there was still a very distinct possibility of one of either race doing something stupid. She needed to act fast, but how could she make it clear to the dwarves that the whole war was planned by someone, and that the perpetrator was now dead? ¡°What did you do with Emilia¡¯s body?¡± she asked. If they could show the fey¡¯s body to the dwarves, maybe it would at least make them start to question what was happening. They knew that the drow would never kill a fey, so if the drow presented them with a dead fey, they would at the very least be confused. ¡°Let¡¯s take this somewhere else,¡± said Naomi, glancing at the growing crowd. ¡°Okay.¡± A few minutes later, they were back in Naomi¡¯s hut. A few of the more ambitious drow had tried to follow behind them, but Naomi had some of the scouts block their way so that they could have their conversation uninterrupted. When they got inside, Naomi repeated the trick from a few days prior, growing out the walls to make them soundproof, and when she was satisfied, she knelt down on the ground and closed her eyes. The dirt started to rumble, then crack and something started to rise from below. Although it was wrapped in an airtight cocoon of roots, Elise knew what it was immediately. Once it had fully emerged, the roots started to unravel, revealing Emilia¡¯s corpse. It looked surprisingly well-preserved, and didn¡¯t even smell bad like Elise was worried about. Her face looked exactly like she remembered it, though it was paler now, and if not for the two giant holes through her torso, it almost looked like she was asleep. ¡°When I brought it back, at first, some people tried to kill me,¡± said Naomi. ¡°It took a lot of explaining before people started to accept it. After that, they all wanted to burn the corpse. I had to hide it here to keep it safe. Not that I don¡¯t want to burn it, but I knew this might be useful, so I restrained myself.¡± ¡°Good,¡± said Elise. ¡°That¡¯s good. We can use this to stop the war. Hopefully. If we show it to the dwarves, it will at least confuse them right?¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± said Naomi. ¡°Or it might backfire. They¡¯ve somehow got it in their heads that we sacrifice fey. They might think we¡¯re showing them our sacrifice to pray to Titania to give us victory in battle.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± said Elise. ¡°Well, there goes that idea.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m stumped too,¡± said Naomi. ¡°I didn¡¯t want drow to die before, but now I really don¡¯t want them to die. Now that I know what that bitch did¡­ I¡¯ve been working non-stop to come up with a way to create peace. Been talking to some of the village elders¨C at least the ones who believe me¨C and they haven¡¯t been able to come up with anything either. We talked about your idea, but decided it was too risky.¡± ¡°Maybe I could go talk to Hallbjorn again?¡± suggested Elise. ¡°I saved his life. That has to count for something.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± said Naomi. ¡°But how are you going to get to him? He¡¯s been locked up in the castle ever since the assassination attempt, recovering from the poison. And a lot of rumors have spread, including one about you being there in his chambers at the time of the assassination. Unfortunately, the rumor conveniently leaves out the part where you saved his life, so you¡¯ll be killed on sight.¡± ¡°I could sneak in with one of the scouts with an invisibility skill.¡± ¡°That won¡¯t work either,¡± said Naomi. ¡°They did a deep, deep sweep of the entire cavern for our tunnels. They didn¡¯t find them all, but they did find our only other one into the castle. We could get you into the city, but they¡¯ve upped the defenses around the castle. You wouldn¡¯t make it without being spotted. Nicole¡¯s our best at stealth and infiltration, and even she didn¡¯t dare go near the castle walls.¡± Elise furrowed her brow and thought for a few seconds. ¡°And the dwarves are refusing to even talk?¡± she asked eventually. ¡°Yep,¡± confirmed Naomi. ¡°We sent them multiple messages, and they ignored them all.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense,¡± said Elise. ¡°I know Hallbjorn. He would hear us out. Especially after the assassination attempt.¡± ¡°Maybe he¡¯s not the one making that decision. No one¡¯s seen him since the assassination attempt. They say he¡¯s alive, but my girls have heard some rumors flying around that the assassination was a success, and the Council is just trying to hide it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous!¡± ¡°Yes, but he still hasn¡¯t been seen. That means at best, he¡¯s recovering, and hasn¡¯t been getting personally involved. At worst though-¡± ¡°A coup,¡± finished Elise. ¡°And even if he was on his deathbed, he would still be getting involved, which means he¡¯s either being kept in the dark, or he¡¯s been overthrown.¡± ¡°Right,¡± said Naomi, nodding. ¡°And there¡¯s the real trouble. I believe what you said when you told me that he was a reasonable man, but if he¡¯s not making the decisions anymore¡­¡± ¡°Shit,¡± muttered Elise. ¡°If you¡¯ve got any other ideas, I¡¯d be happy to hear them, but right now, it¡¯s looking like there¡¯s nothing we can do. Hell of a parting gift she left for us.¡± She kicked Emilia¡¯s left antler, making the whole body contort oddly. Elise didn¡¯t have any other ideas. If Hallbjorn wasn¡¯t in power any more, what could they do? At best, it would be Magnus and Sindri in charge, and they might be able to be reasoned with, but it was much more likely that Josef had taken over, in which case, the two races might be doomed to war. In fact, Emilia might have planned exactly that. She could have been manipulating Josef from the start. Did that mean that Hallbjorn was really dead? Did Josef kill him? She hoped not. Even if Josef was a greedy, ambitious, spiteful old fart, he wouldn¡¯t go that far. He would probably just keep Hallbjorn locked up until the war was either over, or too far along to be stopped. Unless he didn¡¯t. If Hallbjorn was dead, that meant that Johann would be the new king. Except Johann would be too young to be fully in power, so he would need a regent, who in this hypothetical scenario would most definitely be Josef. The old man would effectively become king without actually disrupting the line of succession. Elise shook her head. With every new theory, the future looked grimmer and grimmer. It was bringing down her mood, and also wasting precious time that she should have been using to think of a solution. Whoever was in charge, the war would be hard to stop. The entire dwarven population was riled up, and even if Hallbjorn was in charge, there was no guarantee that he could actually stop it. If he tried and the order didn¡¯t go over well, there might be an open coup, which would be even worse. Rather than worrying about who was in charge and convincing them to agree to a ceasefire, it would be more useful to think of a way to make the entire dwarven population think that the war would be bad. But how? She and Naomi sat in silence for a quarter of an hour, trying to come up with a way to resolve the whole situation. At some point, Elise found herself staring into Emilia¡¯s cold, dead eyes. If they could just convince the dwarves that the whole conflict had been started by Emilia, the issue would be resolved. Cooperation might be beyond them, since so much bad blood had formed in the past few centuries, but a peace treaty would be possible. Suddenly, Naomi, looked up, and started staring at one of the walls. ¡°What is it?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Something is happening,¡± she said. Without elaborating any further, she waved her hand, opening a way out of the hut and dashed outside with Elise hot on her heels. She almost lost sight of Naomi until the drow woman suddenly came to a stop, and Elise stopped right over her shoulder, trying to find out what she was looking at. It only took her a moment to spot it. He wasn¡¯t exactly trying to hide. From the direction of the Mother Tree, a man with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and a blinding smile was floating toward them. It was Freddy. ¡°Who are you?¡± demanded Naomi. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°Naomi!¡± hissed Elise in warning. ¡°My name is Freddy, and I¡¯m here to investigate a recent murder.¡± 43 - Freddy Note: If you didn''t read the edited chapters, the vigilante leader who stopped the wagon has a name now, and that name is Olvir, so don''t be confused when he''s suddenly mentioned as if it''s a name you should know. ¡°Freddy,¡± said Elise. ¡°Hello, Elise,¡± he said. ¡°I didn¡¯t think we¡¯d be seeing each other again so soon.¡± ¡°Neither did I.¡± Elise¡¯s mind was racing at a hundred miles an hour trying to figure out how best to handle the situation. She was supposed to not have any memories of Ostra. If she accidentally showed a bit too much knowledge in front of Freddy, he would notice immediately. But how could she know what she was and wasn¡¯t supposed to know? Jerry had full control over that. Supposedly, he had only wiped memories of Ostra, but what if he had wiped something out, specifically for the purpose of testing whether it actually worked? Her best bet was to completely steer clear of any conversation that would bring that up. Anything short of that was too risky. ¡°Are you here about Emilia?¡± she asked. ¡°Straight to the point,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°Yes, I am. Walter told me a rather concerning story.¡± ¡°She¡¯s dead,¡± said Naomi. ¡°I killed her.¡± Elise wanted to slap her. If she had hands, she might have. She wanted to ask if Naomi knew how to read the room, but she already knew the answer. It was yes. Naomi was doing this on purpose to try and anger Freddy. She must have realized by that point how powerful he was though. Was she trying to take his wrath all upon herself? ¡°I see,¡± said Freddy after a few seconds of tense silence. ¡°May I ask why?¡± ¡°You may.¡± ¡°Why did you kill her?¡± ¡°Because she was trying to start a war and get my people killed. For experience. I killed her because I had to.¡± She scowled. ¡°Not that it helped.¡± ¡°A war?¡± asked Freddy, turning to Elise. ¡°Is this true?¡± ¡°She told me herself,¡± confirmed Elise. ¡°I swear on- on the goddess Titania that it is true.¡± ¡°Hmm. Well then. I suppose that solves that mystery. What did you do with her body?¡± Elise was taken aback. Was he just going to accept that? Was an oath in Titania¡¯s name worth that much? Or did he not even care about Emilia in the first place? ¡°Wasn¡¯t she your friend?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Colleague, more like,¡± said Freddy. ¡°We were cordial, but nothing more, and in truth, I was never too fond of her. This revelation hasn¡¯t improved my opinion, as her actions have gone against everything I stand for. I¡¯m glad that you managed to stop her, as if you didn¡¯t, I would have had to, and as unclose as we may have been, killing a friend is never fun. ¡°Anyway, the body. I¡¯m afraid I need to take it with me. Although I believe you, this was a murder, and one that my ward was heavily involved in. I need to collect it for evidence. Don¡¯t worry though. This is for your own protection. She had a few other friends more powerful than her that would stop by if I don¡¯t lay their suspicions to rest. So, if you don¡¯t mind, could you show me where you¡¯ve stored her so I can take her and be on my way?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t let you do that,¡± said Naomi. ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°We need it. To try and stop the war.¡± ¡°If the war was over, would you let me take it?¡± ¡°Yes, but I doubt it will survive intact.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s fine,¡± said Freddy. ¡°Who are you at war with?¡± ¡°The Inv- the Dwarves.¡± ¡°Ah, I see.¡± Freddy looked off into the distance in the direction of the dwarven caverns. ¡°Just a moment. I¡¯ll be right back.¡± ¡°Wait!¡± said Elise. ¡°You can¡¯t kill them.¡± ¡°Kill them? Do you really think so lowly of me?¡± ¡°W-well-¡± ¡°Relax. I¡¯ll be back soon.¡± He vanished in a puff of sulfuric smoke, leaving Elise and Naomi gagging from the smell. ¡°What is he?¡± asked Naomi. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Elise. ¡°But he¡¯s strong.¡± ¡°I know,¡± said Naomi. ¡°He could kill us all and there would be nothing we could do to stop him.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand what he¡¯s doing though,¡± said Elise. ¡°I thought he would be angrier that Emilia was dead, but¡­ I just don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°Do you think he¡¯s really going to stop the war?¡± ¡°I think he can. I have no idea what he¡¯s actually planning though.¡± ¡°What if he really does?¡± ¡°Then the war will be over?¡± ¡°That¡¯d be nice.¡± They sat in silence for a few seconds before an explosion shook the cavern, coming from the direction of the dwarven tunnels. Elise blinked once and Naomi was already gone, racing toward the source of the sound. When she caught up, she was enveloped in a cloud of smoke.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Long ago, before the dwarves arrived in the cave system, there was a tall, wide tunnel connecting the Mother Tree and Sister tree. After the dwarves and drow had their big falling out, the dwarves constructed a wall, completely sealing off the two tunnels. It was made of solid stone and twenty feet thick, and magically reinforced, and it had held for nearly 400 years, up until about 2 minutes before that moment. Now, it was a pile of rubble. Did he not teleport? thought Elise. Naomi was listening to a report from one of her scouts¨Ca middle-aged woman with white hair¨C so Elise flew over to join them. ¡°-just put his hand on it and it exploded!¡± said the scout. ¡°I see,¡± said Naomi. ¡°Freddy blew up the wall?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think it collapsed on its own,¡± said Naomi. ¡°Weren¡¯t there dwarves guarding that wall?¡± asked Elise. ¡°He said he wouldn¡¯t kill anyone though.¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t see anything because of all the smoke, but after the explosion, I heard some voices from the dwarves on the other side. I couldn¡¯t tell what they were saying, but they stopped talking almost immediately. I don¡¯t know what happened to them.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s Charlotte?¡± asked Naomi. ¡°Over there,¡± said the scout, pointing off to her right. ¡°Hey Charlotte!¡± A moment later, another scout arrived, this one much younger, and with pitch black hair and eyes so dark a brown they almost looked black too. ¡°Naomi!¡± she said, saluting. ¡°What do I need to do?¡± ¡°Get in a bit closer and see what¡¯s going on over there. Do not engage. If it looks dangerous, back out immediately.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am!¡± The scout turned invisible on the spot, leaving the other three to wait. None of them spoke a word until Charlotte reappeared a few minutes later saluting again. ¡°Report?¡± said Naomi. ¡°There are 20 dwarves on top of the rubble!¡± she said, still saluting. ¡°All of them are unconscious, and they all have some strange mana around them. I didn¡¯t go close enough to find out what it was.¡± ¡°Are you sure they were alive?¡± ¡°Yes, Captain! They were all breathing!¡± ¡°Good.¡± ¡°What should I do next, Captain?¡± ¡°Wait,¡± said Naomi. ¡°And hope.¡± It had been more than an hour, and the smoke was gone and the dust had settled before anything else happened. No one said a word during that time. None in their small group at least. Elise caught a couple whispers from the other scouts in the area though. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± said one. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± replied another. ¡°Who was that?¡± ¡°Is he going to defeat the dwarves?¡± ¡°Are the dwarves going to invade?¡± The whispers continued, some of them getting fairly ridiculous before they were silenced by the appearance of a tall figure from the dark of the tunnel. It was Freddy, smiling just as brightly as ever, and behind him, a dozen dwarves were marching in a single file line. Elise recognized most of them as Members of the Council, including Josef, Magnus, and Sindri, and there were two that were unfamiliar, while the last one made her blood boil. It was Olvir, the vigilante leader who had stopped her wagon when she was trying to leave the city with Claudia and Marie. He had heavy manacles on his wrists and ankles, his clothes were dirty, and he looked gaunt and worn, but his expression was just as hateful and angry as she remembered it. His presence distracted her so much that she almost didn¡¯t notice Hallbjorn¡¯s absence. The drow around readied their bows and knives, but a few hand motions from Naomi gave them all pause. Freddy marched with the dwarves until they entered the cave proper, then stopped and waved at Naomi and Elise. The dwarves glared and scowled, but they did not otherwise react when they approached. ¡°I¡¯ve brought the dwarven leadership,¡± said Freddy. ¡°If you can do the same for the drow, we can have a nice discussion and make a peace treaty.¡± Naomi glanced at the dwarves, then looked Freddy in the eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± ¡°See you in a bit,¡± called Freddy after her retreating form. ¡°So, Elise, how have you been? It seems you¡¯ve had a bit of trouble.¡± Elise followed his eyes to her stumps. ¡°Emilia¡¯s work,¡± she said. ¡°A shame how she turned out,¡± he commented. ¡°I had high hopes for her. If I had known what she was doing here¡­ Well, let¡¯s just say she wouldn''t have been doing it for much longer.¡± Elise eyed him warily. He was saying the right things, but he was way too nonchalant for someone who supposedly just found out that one of their colleagues was a genocidal psychopath and was also dead. Either he already knew and wanted to hide his involvement, or he was just as much of a psychopath as Emilia was, so he truly didn¡¯t care. Elise didn¡¯t know which option was worse. ¡°Where¡¯s King Hallbjorn?¡± ¡°As if you don¡¯t know,¡± spat Josef. ¡°He¡¯s recovering from a poisoning attempt,¡± said Freddy. ¡°I cured him of the drow poison already,¡± said Elise, eying Josef. ¡°If he¡¯s still poisoned, that means it was the work of a dwarf.¡± ¡°You lying-!¡± started Josef. ¡°Now, now,¡± said Freddy. ¡°Why don¡¯t we all calm down a little bit.¡± Josef¡¯s face paled and his anger dissipated almost immediately. Whatever Freddy had done to get the dwarves to follow him like that must have been extreme. ¡°From what I saw, he was indeed cured of the poison,¡± Freddy continued. ¡°However, his internal organs were still badly damaged. He is being tended to by a healer and should make a full recovery within a week.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Well, healing isn¡¯t my specialty, but I know they weren¡¯t lying.¡± Elise looked at the dwarves again. Some were scowling, while others were pale with fear, but none of them looked like they were gloating. She didn¡¯t trust Freddy, but in this situation, she couldn¡¯t trust anyone else either, so she didn¡¯t have much of a choice. ¡°What are you planning to do now?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to help everyone sign a peace treaty,¡± he said, beaming. ¡°I¡¯ve explained the situation to these fine gentlemen, and they¡¯ve agreed that a peace treaty sounds like a good idea, given the circumstances. After all, neither side is really at fault, and the real perpetrator is dead, so what is there left to fight about?¡± Olvir shot the smiling man a murderous glare, but didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°I¡¯m prepared to sit over the discussions and make sure things don¡¯t get out of hand, and I¡¯ll even provide a contract for everyone to sign. That way, we can all be sure that the treaty will be upheld.¡± ¡°I see,¡± said Elise. ¡°Anyway, since we¡¯re going to be having such an important discussion, I believe this calls for a change of locale.¡± He snapped his fingers, and suddenly, they were somewhere else. Elise hadn¡¯t felt them move at all, but she was definitely not back in the cave. The grassy floor littered with broken stone from the gate was replaced by hardwood. There were now walls and a roof around them that looked almost like drywall, painted cream white with geometric gold patterns. In the center, there was a huge table with chairs and a single stool set around it. The dwarves all flinched when this happened, and some put their hands to their weapons, but a casual glance from Freddy kept them from acting up. Elise herself lurched back a bit in surprise. As she examined her surroundings more closely, she realized that the entire room seemed to be almost made of mana. There was a pattern to it, but it was so complex and intricate that she had no hope of tracing it. Everything in the room, from the ground to the walls, to the table and chairs, and even to the cushions, had the same incredible density. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we haven¡¯t actually gone anywhere,¡± said Freddy. ¡°This is my personal Domain. The skill itself is called ¡®Contract Zone¡¯, but I just call it my office. It¡¯s where I make all my most important business deals. We¡¯ll be completely safe from outside interference as long as we¡¯re in here, and all our needs will be provided for.¡± He waved his hand, and the dwarves jumped again as a table laden with food and drinks appeared. They all looked very appetizing, and there was even a plate of assorted greens and fruits that Elise knew was for her, but no one moved a muscle. ¡°For now, why don¡¯t you all have a seat? I¡¯ll be right back. I just need to wait outside to bring the others in. Don¡¯t cause any trouble now.¡± He vanished in another puff of foul smoke, leaving Elise alone with the dwarves. 44 - Treaty Leaving a relatively defenseless rabbit alone in a room full of people who most likely wanted to kill her was not what Elise would have considered a good idea. She had no idea what Freddy was thinking. Was he thinking? Was he just completely oblivious as to what could happen if he left? Or did he do it on purpose? Did he want her dead, or was he just trying to perform some kind of sick, twisted experiment? He said that this place was his Domain, which meant that he was probably aware of everything happening inside it, but even if he didn¡¯t want her to die, would he be able to stop it? She had no idea. What even was a Domain? Whatever it was, she didn¡¯t have time to figure it out. The dwarves were glaring at her, and she could almost smell their anger. She prepared to use {Charm} and {Suggest} then stopped herself as Emilia¡¯s voice echoed in her mind. ¡°You have potential. Use it!¡± This is absurd, she told herself. This is survival. I could die if I don¡¯t calm them down. But she still couldn¡¯t bring herself to do it. She knew it was foolish not to use the tools at her disposal when her life was at stake, but whenever she thought about using her mental skills, she heard Emilia¡¯s voice egging her on. ¡°The Council is already on bad terms. If you just egg them on a little¡­¡± ¡°The vigilante is out of place. You can use that rift.¡± ¡°You need to try to put yourself in their position and think like them. What can you do that will make them hate each other more than you?¡± Enough! She gritted her teeth and resolved herself. She couldn¡¯t use those skills. She couldn¡¯t become dependent on them. She needed to figure a way to survive without resorting to tactics like that, at least for now. At least until Emilia¡¯s voice went away. ¡°Please, let me explain,¡± she said. ¡°I have not betrayed the Dwarves, nor have I ever even considered it.¡± ¡°A likely story,¡± said Josef. She shot him a glare, but didn¡¯t take the bait. She needed to keep them calm and stall for time until Freddy got back. If she went down to their level, there was no telling what they would do when they got riled up. ¡°I convinced the drow to stop their attacks for a full 44 days. I even got them to stop poisoning your water supply. That¡¯s what was causing the epidemic, by the way. The drow were poisoning your water, and I stopped them.¡± The dwarves scowled, and a couple cursed. But none attacked. It¡¯s working, thought Elise. I just need to stay calm and keep telling the truth. ¡°Typical,¡± muttered Ulfur, the Council member who oversaw the dwarven mining endeavors. ¡°They couldn¡¯t hurt our warriors so they went after our children instead.¡± ¡°But they stopped. And it was because I convinced them to. We had peace, and your tunnel construction was going well-¡± ¡°And then you tried to poison our king,¡± said Sindri. ¡°I saved Hallbjorn. He would still be poisoned right now if it weren¡¯t for me. Surely the Royal Guards didn¡¯t leave that out of their reports, right?¡± ¡°They said you were messing with their minds, and they can¡¯t trust anything they saw,¡± said Josef. ¡°Ugh,¡± she said. ¡°But Hallbjorn is alive, and poison-free, is he not? And none of the Guards were killed or injured, and no drow were killed, right? He was poisoned, but then cured, and no real long-term damage was done.¡± ¡°Your people dug a tunnel into the king¡¯s bedchamber,¡± said Josef. ¡°How are we to know you don¡¯t have more? How do we know that you¡¯re not trying to lull us into a false sense of security before attacking again?¡± ¡°First of all, they¡¯re not ¡®my people¡¯,¡± she retorted. ¡°Secondly, I stopped the last poisoning attempt, and we already killed Emilia! The one who caused all this is dead! There¡¯s no reason for the drow to ever attack again unless you give them one.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give them one,¡± said Olvir from the back. ¡°Just get me out of these fucking chains¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what Emilia wanted! She wanted you to fight. Every time a dwarf or drow died, she got experience points. She has been using this war for her own personal gain for centuries.¡± Dammit, she thought. So much for staying calm. ¡°And we¡¯re supposed to believe that?¡± asked Josef. ¡°You think we¡¯re just going to say ¡®oh, well, I guess that solves everything. We forgive you!¡¯ just because you got some ancient monster to come in here and back you up?¡± ¡°I have been around a while, but it¡¯s still rude to call someone ancient,¡± came Freddy¡¯s voice. A split second later, he appeared between Elise and the dwarves with Naomi and six elderly drow women behind him. The dwarves put their hands to their weapons, and Naomi¡¯s wooden arm started writhing, but a mana so dense it was suffocating fell over the room, and everyone stopped moving. Ironically, while for everyone else, it was a restriction and a threat, to Elise, it brought relief. She had survived, and she did it using her own power. Maybe that wasn¡¯t much of an accomplishment. Maybe they wouldn¡¯t have attacked no matter what, since they were in Freddy¡¯s domain, and the dwarves weren¡¯t suicidal. Maybe she had gotten worked up over nothing. But it still felt satisfying to have navigated a stressful conversation without depending on her manipulative skills. ¡°Enough of that,¡± said Freddy. ¡°It¡¯s time to get down to business.¡± No one said a word, but Elise could tell that everyone was glaring daggers at Freddy¡¯s back as he walked to the head of the table and sat down. ¡°Please, take a seat,¡± he said. Once they had all obliged, a golden scroll appeared in front of Freddy, and he smiled out over everyone. ¡°We are here today to negotiate a peace treaty between the dwarven city of Dokkalfheimr and the drow of Greenwood. Both sides have much to gain from this treaty, the most important being the survival of their people. Before we start, do we have any objections?¡± At first no one spoke, but the dwarves kept glancing between each other and making slight head and hand motions until eventually, Sindri shrugged and spoke. ¡°Before we errr¡­ get down to business, there¡¯s something we¡¯d like clarified,¡± he said, trying not to seem nervous. ¡°Is there any evidence that things are as you claim? That the war really was started by a fey who is now¡­ no longer with us? And quite conveniently no longer with us, if I may add.¡± ¡°Certainly!¡± said Freddy. ¡°When making such a deal, it¡¯s important for both sides to understand the whole background. I, unfortunately, was not present when this revelation was made, but we do have the one who was here with us, so I¡¯ll give her a chance to speak. Elise?¡± He nodded to her, but before she could say her piece, Josef interrupted. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for interrupting,¡± he started. Josef is apologizing for interrupting?! Elise thought. ¡°But how can we know that she is telling the truth?¡± he finished. ¡°Simple!¡± said Freddy with a wide smile. ¡°It is impossible to lie in this room. You can try it if you don¡¯t believe me.¡± Josef frowned. ¡°I- I am- I am not- I am not happy about this. I don¡¯t like my words being controlled.¡± ¡°I know. but it¡¯s a sacrifice that we all have to make for the sake of making a fair deal. Even I am not exempt from that rule when I''m here. Are you satisfied with that explanation?¡± ¡°No,¡± said Josef. ¡°I don¡¯t trust you. How do I know that this applies to everyone and not just us?¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Well, I could ask the drow to attempt to lie as well, but I don¡¯t suppose that would satisfy you either, would it?¡± ¡°No, it wouldn¡¯t,¡± said Josef. ¡°Then in that case, you¡¯ll just have to take my word for it. Unless you wish to continue doubting me?¡± Elise barely stopped herself from shivering when she heard the danger hidden behind his words. Josef noticed it as well, and his face paled. He shook his head, but didn¡¯t say another word. ¡°Excellent. Elise, if you would?¡± She took a deep breath to steady herself before speaking. ¡°Shortly after I stopped the poisoning of king Hallbjorn, we encountered Emilia again here in the Mother Tree cavern. She pretended to be concerned, but then she hid herself and me from view so she could interrogate me. I managed to trick her into agreeing to two deals with me, forcing her to tell the truth or else be cursed. While under those constraints, she revealed to me that she planned the whole conflict, and not just for the recent events. She claimed that she had been the origin of the entire dwarf-drow conflict in the first place. She said she did it for experience points, and for fun.¡± ¡°I know you don¡¯t trust my words very much, but I have known Emilia for nearly two hundred years now, and I think this sounds quite plausible,¡± said Freddy. ¡°She¡¯s always had a keen eye for people. She knew exactly what she needed to do to get them to do what she wanted. And she has been consistently leveling up all that time.¡± A few of the dwarves, including Josef and the vigilante scowled, but most seemed more troubled than angry. The drow looked even more troubled. Elise could empathize. She had been suspicious of Emilia from the beginning, so the betrayal was almost expected, but it still hurt to have that last bit of hope that she wasn¡¯t pure evil be dashed so thoroughly. She couldn¡¯t imagine what it would feel like to have trusted her completely to the point of practically worship, only for it to be revealed that she was killing her people for fun. ¡°If that¡¯s all, then we can begin the discussion of terms,¡± said Freddy, grabbing the golden scroll in front of him. ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve already laid out a baseline for us. It¡¯s fairly simple and straightforward, since there is no winner or loser, and neither side is at fault, so there are no concessions to be made. I used some more specific wording in the actual contract, but the gist of it is: neither side will attack the other in any way for fifty years. Anyone who breaks that contract dies.¡± ¡°Dies?!¡± exclaimed Josef and one of the drow elders simultaneously. ¡°Yes. I believe that¡¯s a fair consequence. After all, this is war we¡¯re talking about. Breaking this contract could lead to the deaths of many. And it¡¯s not even that hard to keep, really. All you have to do is not attack each other.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll sign it,¡± said Naomi. ¡°I¡¯m tired of the death and killing.¡± ¡°Wonderful!¡± said Freddy. ¡°But I have a condition,¡± she continued. ¡°We want the antidote to the poison used on the Mother Tree.¡± The other elders nodded in assent. Most of the dwarves frowned, but the only one who openly objected was Olvir. ¡°Fuck off,¡± he said. ¡°I think that sounds reasonable,¡± said Freddy, turning to the dwarf. ¡°Do you have a problem with that?¡± ¡°If they want the antidote, they have to comply with my condition too.¡± ¡°And what condition would that be?¡± ¡°I want the head of the one who killed my son.¡± Two of the drow started shouting at him, neither comprehensible as they both tried talking over the other, but their anger was obvious. None of the other drow looked happy either. Most of the dwarves were taken aback, but Josef¡¯s eyes widened, almost in excitement. ¡°And I want the head of the one who killed my brother and his family,¡± said the old Council member. A third drow joined in with the shouting, at which point, the vigilante and Josef started to shout back. Naomi and Sindri tried shouting over their companions to get them to calm down, raising the noise level yet again until Freddy released a wave of mana that silenced them all in an instant. ¡°As you can see, I don¡¯t believe that¡¯s a condition that we will be able to come to an agreement on,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± said the vigilante. ¡°I want that bitch dead or I¡¯m not giving away the antidote.¡± Freddy turned to the drow elders. ¡°Is the life of one drow not worth the life of your Mother Tree?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just one,¡± said Beatrice, the youngest drow Elder. ¡°That other dwarf wanted his own revenge, and if we grant them that, we¡¯ll have to do the same for the rest. If we agree to this, they¡¯ll have half our tribe dead by the end of the negotiations. We will not agree to this condition.¡± Freddy turned back to the vigilante. ¡°Is there any way that you can give up on this?¡± ¡°Never,¡± replied the gruff dwarf. ¡°The one who killed your son was manipulated by Emilia,¡± said Elise. ¡°The true perpetrator is already dead.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t give a fuck,¡± he replied. ¡°I saw that bitch that killed my son. She was smiling. Manipulated or not, she enjoyed it. I won¡¯t stop until either she¡¯s dead, or I¡¯m dead.¡± ¡°If you die, will the Mother Tree still be able to be cured?¡± asked Freddy. ¡°Yes,¡± said the vigilante. Then he frowned. ¡°Fuck. Just kill me then. I¡¯m not signing this stupid fucking treaty without that bitch¡¯s head, and if you won¡¯t give it to me, I¡¯d rather die.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± Elise sensed nothing, but the dwarf¡¯s head exploded. One moment, he was scowling at Freddy, the next, his head was gone. The blood and other bits hovered in a sphere around the stump of his neck as his body slumped over and slid to the ground. Elise was at an unfortunate angle, so she was able to witness the whole thing in full. When the body hit the ground, the sphere holding the remains of the head together collapsed, and the whole thing sank into floor until it had vanished without a trace. The room was dead silent, and everyone¡¯s faces had gone pale. Josef looked like he was about to pass out, and his breathing was getting fast and unsteady. ¡°Do you feel the same way?¡± asked Freddy, turning to the hyperventilating dwarf. Josef shook his head frantically. ¡°Good. Can you dwarves commit to finding the antidote that man had?¡± ¡°I can,¡± said Sindri. ¡°And I¡¯ll sign the treaty too.¡± Josef hadn¡¯t finished catching his breath, but he shot Sindri a glare. ¡°I want to see the sun,¡± said Sindri in response. ¡°Don¡¯t you? Aren¡¯t you tired of the constant fighting? If we go aboveground, the gho- the drow won¡¯t even be a threat anymore.¡± ¡°But-¡± started Josef. ¡°I¡¯ll sign too,¡± said Magnus. ¡°My granddaughter is getting married soon. It would be nice to be out of this horrid cave by then.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll sign,¡± said one of the drow elders. ¡°But I want to read it over first.¡± ¡°Same here,¡± said another elder. ¡°That¡¯s perfectly reasonable,¡± said Freddy. ¡°Here, I¡¯ll read out the full terms.¡± He unfurled the scroll and started spouting off a long sequence of legalese that Elise had trouble following. It seemed like a lot for such a simple contract, but it was very, very specific about what acts did, and did not constitute breaking the contract. It handled every edge case Elise could think of, and some she never would have considered in a million years. By the end, most of the dwarves and drow were nodding along. Only one of the drow Elders and Josef were frowning. ¡°I can agree to those terms,¡± said Ulfur. ¡°I as well,¡± said another elder. More dwarves and drow voiced their agreement with the treaty until, in the end, even Josef relented and agreed to sign. ¡°Good. Then it seems we have all come to an agreement.¡± A quill and ink bottle appeared in front of each person. ¡°I¡¯ll pass this around. If you can just sign it, then we can wrap this all up, nice and neat. I¡¯ll go talk to the dwarven king shortly, and then, peace will be guaranteed.¡± No one dared to raise any objections. As the scroll was passed around the table, the only sounds were the rustling of the parchment, the scratching of the quills, and the elevated heartbeats and erratic breathing of all the room¡¯s occupants. Elise hesitated for a moment when the contract got passed to her She wasn¡¯t really on either side, and had no interest in furthering the conflict. She didn¡¯t really need to. She couldn''t really hold a quill either. But she also didn¡¯t want to try to get out of signing it and end up like Olvir. ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t need to sign,¡± said Freddy. ¡°You¡¯re a neutral party. You can just pass it along.¡± Elise hid her sigh of relief as the drow to her left reached for the paper and quill. After another minute, the contract had made its way back to Freddy, and the room was filled with tense silence. ¡°Now that we¡¯re done here, I suggest that you all stand up,¡± said Freddy. ¡°You won¡¯t want to be sitting down still when I dispel my Domain.¡± They all hastily got to their feet and Elise took to the sky moments before the room around them vanished and they were once again back in the cave. Nothing seemed to have changed since they went into the room. Elise wasn¡¯t even sure if any time had passed. ¡°Well, dwarves,¡± said Freddy. ¡°Let¡¯s go speak with your king. I know he¡¯s anxiously awaiting the results.¡± Elise watched the dwarves march back toward their tunnel, and as soon as their forms vanished, younger drow emerged from the trees to question the elders. They formed a crowd, clamoring around and speaking with so many voices it was impossible to make out a single word, but it was obvious what they were saying. ¡°Quiet, please!¡± announced Naomi. ¡°Quiet. Thank you. After some¡­ discussion¡­ aided by that man with the golden hair, we have come to an agreement. There will be no war. The dwarves will leave the cave, and we will be able to reclaim our lost land. No one else will die for our grudges.¡± Some drow cheered, while others looked sullen. They were probably looking forward to finally avenging their fallen brethren, but Elise knew they would get over it eventually. They would have to. They had managed to stay quiet until this point because of the prophecy, they could stay quiet another month until the dwarves left. Not long after the crowd dispersed, Freddy returned again. Naomi and the elders were still waiting for him, so Elise stayed as well. All seemed resolved, so she could have left if she wanted, but she had to see it through, just in case something somehow went wrong. ¡°The king has signed the contract,¡± said Freddy happily. ¡°I¡¯ll be keeping the original, but I left a copy with the dwarves, and I¡¯ll leave one with you as well.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± said the oldest-looking elder. ¡°Thank you for helping us stop the war.¡± ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t do it for free,¡± he said. ¡°I trust I¡¯ll be getting my side of the deal?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± said Naomi. ¡°Right this way. You all can stay. There¡¯s no need for you to see this.¡± The elders nodded. ¡°Thank you, Naomi,¡± said one of them. ¡°I¡¯ll see you soon.¡± She turned back to the forest toward her hut, and Freddy strolled casually behind her. ¡°Wait!¡± called Elise after them. ¡°Freddy!¡± ¡°Yes?¡± he asked. ¡°The dwarves are trying to get to the surface, but the warg-¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make sure Walter knows not to cause any trouble,¡± said Freddy with a smile. ¡°Is that all?¡± ¡°Y-yes. Thank you.¡± He nodded and turned back toward Naomi to continue their journey back to his hut. As their forms shrunk in the distance, Elise started to turn away, only to hear Freddy¡¯s voice in her head. ¡°Ostra looks forward to your return.¡± 45 - Insecurity ¡°Lady Elise?¡± said one of the elders. ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m fine,¡± said Elise. She was still hovering in the air right where she stopped when she heard Freddy. It had shocked her enough that it was apparently visible even to the drow. ¡°I¡¯ll be going now,¡± she said. She didn¡¯t wait for a response and instead went the opposite direction that Freddy and Naomi had gone. How much did he know? When did he notice? Did she let something slip just now? Or had he known from the beginning? Why wasn¡¯t he doing anything about it? He wanted her to sign a death contract to keep it secret, but now, he was just fine with her knowing? She cursed herself. She should have been expecting it. She was passed out when it happened, but he must have noticed the divine power when it blocked Jerry¡¯s memory spell. Or Jerry had noticed that his spell didn¡¯t work, and let Freddy know. So why did he let her live? He said that Ostra was looking forward to her return. What did that mean? Did anyone else know? Jerry had to know, right? He was the one that did the memory manipulation. He was probably the one that let Freddy know. But in that case, why didn¡¯t Emilia know? Was it only Freddy then? No one else seemed to have sensed the divine power when she used it the other two times. They could see the signs, like the glowing wings and eyes, but her wings were disabled and she passed out when Jerry messed with her memory, so if they couldn¡¯t sense it, they wouldn¡¯t have noticed. But then how did Freddy know? He must have already known. That was why he was so insistent on her joining Ostra. That was why he was so open to assuaging her various concerns, even going as far as to outright say that they dealt in assassination and brainwashing for the sake of full disclosure. Was that why he wasn¡¯t doing anything about her now? He didn¡¯t want to anger the god or goddess who had granted her the Rune of Fate? Or was he just trying to stay on her good side? Either way, she didn¡¯t like it one bit. Knowing about a secret organization that was trying to change the world was one kind of danger. Knowing that the secret organization knew she was aware of them and their crimes, and wasn¡¯t bound by any contracts or restrictions was another. Clearly, the other Chairs didn¡¯t know, or Emilia would have known, but the Chairs probably weren¡¯t the ultimate authority in Ostra. For one, Freddy was much stronger than Emilia or Jerry or any of the other Chairs she met. He also seemed to have complete control over the contracts, which indicated he had some higher level of power. Was he the boss? Or was he just part of a higher level group. Was he the only one who knew about her, or did the others at his level¨Cif they existed¨Cknow as well? With every subsequent thought, her paranoia grew, and her situation seemed more and more precarious. The most pressing issue of all though was what Freddy would do now. He was still right there. What if he decided to force her back to Ostra right then? There would be nothing she could do. Was that his plan already? Was that why he said what he said? Should she have been running away? To where? Was there anywhere she could go that he couldn¡¯t find her? Probably not. In that case, it would be better to wait and cooperate, and maintain as much power as possible. However, he never returned. After a few minutes, Naomi arrived, beaming, and Freddy was nowhere to be seen. ¡°It¡¯s over!¡± she said. ¡°Is he gone?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Yeah. He put his hand on the body, it disappeared, he thanked me, and then he disappeared too. No clue where he went.¡± ¡°Away, hopefully,¡± said one of the Elders. ¡°Associating with creatures of his level is¡­ risky.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± said another. ¡°I am grateful for his help, but his continued presence here would have been a burden, and would likely draw unwanted attention from the outside.¡± ¡°He probably knew that,¡± said a third. ¡°That¡¯s why he left so suddenly. He seemed quite savvy. I wouldn¡¯t want to be his enemy.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± repeated the second Elder. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it was all resolved so quickly though.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe we got to speak with a 9th tier,¡± said Naomi. ¡°I never thought I¡¯d see the day.¡± ¡°A 9th tier?¡± asked Elise. ¡°How can you tell?¡± Elise had learned while living with the dwarves that 9th tier was the highest mortal tier. The evolution or class upgrade after 9th tier was ascension to godhood. If they were right, that meant Freddy was about as close to a god as she could meet in person, but she had no idea how Naomi knew. ¡°Only 9th tiers can use Domain skills,¡± said Naomi. ¡°They¡¯re incredibly rare. Only one drow from our tribe has ever made it to that level.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± said Elise. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that.¡± ¡°Where did you know him from?¡± asked Naomi? ¡°I-¡± Elise hesitated. ¡°I can¡¯t say.¡± Freddy had allowed her to live with her memories. She doubted his mercy would extend if she started telling everyone about them. ¡°I had only met him once though,¡± she continued. ¡°I knew he was strong, but I had no idea how strong.¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯re lucky he was benevolent,¡± said the first Elder. ¡°And that he had no love for Emilia. If he was on her side¡­¡± A heavy silence fell over the group. For a few seconds, no one spoke as they all imagined the possibilities. ¡°Well, we should announce this to the rest of the tribe,¡± said one of the elders. ¡°Before someone does something stupid.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s a good idea,¡± agreed another. ¡°Naomi, have your scouts gather everyone by the Mother Tree.¡± ¡°Yes, Elder.¡± An hour later, almost the entire tribe of drow were gathered around the Mother Tree. It seemed that news of the treaty had yet to spread, or if it had, it was in the form of twisted rumors. The mood was somber, and many of the drow looked like they were mentally prepared to watch the execution of a loved one. When the treaty was announced, it was initially met with shock and disbelief, followed by tentative joy. It was not a universal sentiment, but the fear of all-out war seemed to have made most of the drow re-evaluate how much they valued the death of the dwarves. Elise noticed that the parents seemed especially relieved to hear the news. The news that the Mother Tree would be cured soon was met with much more universal happiness. There was cheering and laughter, and even some tears when the Elders made that announcement. When the gathering was over, they threw a feast, and for the first time, Elise actually participated. With the threat of war gone, she no longer had a good reason to push the drow away. Unfortunately, like with the dwarves, most of the feast consisted of mushrooms. There was meat as well, but although she wished she could eat it, even after becoming a fey, her taste buds still rejected it. Hopefully that would eventually change with one of her future evolutions. The feast became an ongoing party that lasted hours beyond the time when most of the drow had eaten their fill, so when Elise had reached the limit of her social battery, she excused herself for some alone time. She flew up to the top of the Mother Tree in search of a fruit to rest on. She could still hear the sounds of the party far below, but they faded to a low murmur that she could tune out if she so desired. She settled on one of the fruits nearest to the main trunk, which also happened to be the highest up. When she arrived though, there was someone already waiting there. ¡°Jean?¡± she asked. The tiny pixie was hugging his knees with his back to the fruit¡¯s stem. His head was bowed between his legs, and he did not respond to her. ¡°Jean?¡± she repeated. ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°Go away,¡± he said, his voice muffled. ¡°We¡¯re having a party down there,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re welcome to join.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± he said. ¡°Go away, murderer.¡± ¡°...Is this about Emilia?¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± He raised his head and glared at her with puffy red eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t say her name!¡± ¡°Emilia was tricking us all,¡± explained Elise. ¡°Liar! She wouldn¡¯t do that!¡± ¡°But she did.¡± ¡°Liar!¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Why don¡¯t you come on down. Talk to Naomi and-¡± ¡°She¡¯s a liar too. You¡¯re all liars.¡± Elise sighed. Emilia would have been like a mother to Jean, or at the very least an older sister. Even after being mind controlled by her during the final battle, he was still in denial about it. In that moment, Elise was struck by how much he reminded her of herself. She was five when her real parents died, and she had to move in with her aunt and uncle. At first, everything seemed normal and happy. It didn¡¯t take long though for her adopted parents to get comfortable with ordering her around and being disappointed when she didn¡¯t live up to their unreasonable expectations. It took Elise years of trying and failing to receive their approval before she was able to accept that they didn¡¯t love her the way she thought they did. Jean¡¯s situation was obviously very different from hers, but the similarities were there. Unfortunately, she still didn¡¯t know what to say. No one had said anything to her when she was struggling. She had to figure it out on her own. Was that what was best for him too? Would trying to comfort him only make things worse. ¡°J-Jean?¡± she said hesitantly. He turned away from her. ¡°I know it hurts right now, but¡­ it will get better. I promise.¡± ¡°Go away.¡± ¡°Okay, but just know that you always have a home with the drow.¡± Jean didn¡¯t respond, so Elise flew away. She didn¡¯t have anything left to say, and she didn¡¯t know what else she could say that would help. She flew away to find a fruit of her own to relax on, and then started thinking about the future. The war was almost certainly resolved. The contract included clauses on quashing any rebellious groups to prevent attacks by groups like the vigilante¡¯s trying to continue the war. Even if one or two slipped through, the leadership of both races would make sure that there were no major consequences. Soon, Sindri would bring the antidote to the Mother Tree¡¯s poison, at which point the tree would be healthy again, and Salome would awaken. After that, it would just be a simple matter of waiting until the dwarves made it to the surface. Wait, why do I need to do that? She thought. I can just leave right now. She looked up toward the roof of the cavern where the hidden tunnel was located. She could just fly out right at that moment and be free of the caverns without needing to worry about what would happen to the dwarves and drow after she left. It wouldn¡¯t be guiltless though. She would feel bad if she never said goodbye to Naomi. And the dwarves too. Hallbjorn and Greta¡­ She flinched when she remembered Greta. Everything had been so chaotic during the past few days that she had almost completely forgotten. Was she even still alive? The doctor said he could only guarantee her a month, and it had been a month and a half already. What if she was dying right at that moment? She wasted no time worrying further and jumped down and flew toward the tunnel connecting the two races. As she was on her way, she considered that the dwarves might not be happy to see her, or that the word of the treaty might not have spread properly and that she would be attacked on sight, but she decided she didn¡¯t care. She was much faster now. It still wasn¡¯t much compared to anyone focused on speed, but she was mostly confident she could get past whatever dwarves were waiting for her quickly enough that they wouldn¡¯t be able to react properly. Before she got more than a few dozen feet into the tunnel though, she encountered an impassable wall with a familiar face. ¡°Elise?¡± asked Sindri. ¡°Sindri,¡± she said. ¡°I need to get into Dokkalfheimr.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I need to see Greta.¡± ¡°The historian? Why?¡± ¡°She¡¯s dying. I don¡¯t want to regret not seeing her again.¡± ¡°Oh. Right. Well, you can go in. I don¡¯t think anyone will stop you. It¡¯s¡­ kind of a mess.¡± He turned to the other guards behind him. ¡°Make way!¡± The guards behind him, who were marching in a double file line parted, giving her an aisle to pass through. ¡°Thank you!¡± she said, zooming by. On her way past, she noticed that two of the dwarves were carrying a large stone chest between them. It must be the antidote, she thought. When she made it through to the other side, she saw that Dokkalfheimr was indeed, as Sindri put it, ¡°kind of a mess.¡± When the dwarves and drow split, the dwarves erected two layers of walls, one at the far end near the Mother tree, and one at the close end near the city. Freddy had blown both of them to bits, and there were pieces of it scattered all over the place. A few of the unfortunate houses nearest to the walls had holes in their roofs and walls from the shrapnel. An army of laborers was at work cleaning up the mess and making quick repairs to the most precarious of the houses. There was a small presence of guards too, but for a nation that had been at war a couple hours ago, they seemed to have transitioned to peace very quickly. It probably helped that they had a 9th tier threaten them into compliance. When she first appeared, only one of the guards noticed her, and by the time he pointed her out to the others, she was already overhead and on her way to the main castle. She was focused on getting to the castle, but she was still keeping her eyes and ears open in case any complications arose, and she noticed a few oddities. The first was that aside from the site of the explosion of the wall, the city was perfectly intact. Whatever Freddy had done to get the dwarven leadership to follow him to the drow didn¡¯t decimate the city. Elise was relieved that Freddy had listened to her request not to kill anyone, though she couldn¡¯t even begin to fathom how he managed to do that while blowing up the walls. The second was that everything was strangely quiet. It didn¡¯t sound empty like a ghost town, but it did sound hushed. All the voices she heard were whispers, and there was almost no one out on the streets. Whatever the dwarves had announced to their people must have been much more somber than what the drow had. No doubt it had something to do with Freddy¡¯s presence. She imagined that being on the receiving end of a somewhat hostile visit from a 9th tier would do that to a group¡¯s perception of a situation. However, the silence in this case was also a good thing. Silence meant that no one was rebelling, and no one was trying to rile anyone up. It also meant that no one was grieving. That thought at least was more comforting. She arrived at the castle to find the gates and front door flung wide open. There were guards manning both, but, like the ones by the remains of the wall, they were already in peacetime mode. It took them a few seconds to register what was happening when Elise stopped in front of them. ¡°What are you doing here, you traitor?¡± said one of them, raising his ax toward her. Elise recognized his face, but couldn¡¯t recall his name. She had seen him around a few times while living in the castle, but didn¡¯t remember ever meeting him. The other dwarf, however, she did know. It was Jonas, one of her escort guards from when she would visit Greta¡¯s house for lessons. ¡°Enough, Ben,¡± said Jonas. ¡°The war is done. There are no more traitors. Elise, despite how it may look, the castle is not open for visitation. We just haven¡¯t been able to close the doors yet.¡± Elise glanced at the doors and saw that they weren¡¯t as intact as they initially appeared. The bottoms looked like they had been melted into liquid then stuck to the ground, and the hinges looked like they no longer worked. ¡°I need to see Greta,¡± she said. ¡°Is she still alive?¡± ¡°As far as I know,¡± said Jonas. ¡°But I still can¡¯t let you in. I have strict orders not to let anyone in, especially not drow or fey.¡± Elise was frustrated, but after confirming that Greta was alive, she felt less rushed. She still wanted to see the cranky old woman, but she was willing to slow down a bit so as not to cause too much trouble. ¡°Can you ask someone at least?¡± she asked. ¡°Or at least ask how Greta is doing? I¡¯m just worried that if I- if I don¡¯t see her now, I might never get to see her again.¡± Jonas frowned, then sighed. ¡°Alright. Ben, don¡¯t do anything stupid while I¡¯m gone.¡± ¡°Yes, sir,¡± said the other dwarf with a scowl. Jonas turned and walked into the castle, leaving Elise alone with Ben. The two sat in silence waiting. Elise tried her best to ignore his glare, but it was too intense. It wasn¡¯t quite murderous, but it was far from friendly, and she had yet to see him blink. She considered using {Charm} to try to soften his opinion of her, but was almost immediately repulsed she even considered it. After seeing what Emilia had done with her manipulation abilities, Elise wanted no part in them, and she was disgusted with herself for using them so freely in the past. She wanted to believe that she would never go as far as Emilia would but she had already been sliding down the slippery slope. It started with a simple desire for survival, using {Charm} and {Suggest} to make people want to kill her less, but not 3 days ago, she had been reveling in her ability to make two other creatures want to kill each other. How much longer would it have taken before she was able to justify doing the same to sapient creatures? She shook her head and turned her attention back to the matter at hand. She needed to find a way to reduce Ben¡¯s hostility toward her without resorting to manipulation. ¡°So, your name is Ben?¡± she asked. ¡°Ben is what my friends and superiors call me,¡± he said. ¡°My name is Benjamin.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, Benjamin. My name is Elise.¡± ¡°I knew that already.¡± ¡°I just wanted to formally introduce myself.¡± His eyes narrowed in suspicion. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I just wanted to be polite. I¡¯ve seen you around before, but this is the first time I¡¯ve gotten a chance to talk to you. How long have you been a castle guard?¡± ¡°Why do you want to know?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just making small talk.¡± ¡°Make small talk with someone else. I¡¯m not interested.¡± ¡°Okay. Sorry.¡± Well, that didn¡¯t go well, she thought. Making people like me without {Charm} and {Suggest} is hard. At that thought, something clicked into place and her mind began running at a hundred miles an hour. She was there to see Greta, the dwarf with whom she was closest, but was she actually close with Greta? Or was their relationship just a flimsy facade built on forced interaction and manipulation? And what about Hallbjorn? He only really accepted her at first because he could use her. The drow only liked her because she was a fey. Even her relationship with Naomi only existed because they had a common goal. Now that Emilia was dead and the war was over, what would they be? Elise knew almost nothing about Naomi and Naomi knew nothing about her. They could never see each other again, and lose nothing. Even Sophie and the Gray family only took her in because she was cute. What if she had lower Charisma? What if Elise hadn¡¯t done everything in her power to seem harmless and useful? She would have been stew. The new world suddenly felt lonelier than it ever had. Ben¡¯s gaze felt like it was boring a hole in her side, and it wasn¡¯t the only one. From the nearby houses she could feel the prying eyes of other dwarves peering through their windows at her. She could hear them whispering to each other in their rooms. They were too far and too muffled to distinguish their words, but she didn¡¯t need to. She knew what they were saying. ¡°It¡¯s the traitor.¡± ¡°What is that thing doing back here?¡± ¡°Did she come to finish the job?¡± ¡°Why haven¡¯t the guards done anything about her yet?¡± She thought back to when she first arrived, before they all knew she was a fey, when they all cheered her on, and grasped for her dust. That had all been fake too, built on a superstition about a marking on her chest. And how quickly things had changed when word got out about her species. Every single relationship she had formed since coming to the new world was fake. Superficial. Even the ones she thought were real were just products of her own manipulative habits. She was just like Emilia, manipulating others for her own benefit. Maybe the older fey was right. She felt a strong urge to leave right then. She didn¡¯t want to see Greta anymore. Knowing she was alive was enough. She could just leave, and everything would be fine. No one would ever know. Or if they did, she would be too far away to care. She was a split second away from doing just that when Jonas returned from within the castle. ¡°The king has given you permission to enter,¡± he announced. ¡°And he says to come see him once you¡¯re done with Greta.¡± 46 - Resolve The castle was exactly like she remembered it, but it somehow felt unfamiliar. The servants and guards inside kept an eye on her as she passed by, just like they used to, but their gazes felt colder. The hallway to the guest room where Greta was staying was the same length as ever, but seemed to lengthen as she prepared to go down. She was finally here to see Greta, but now what? What would she say? Was there anything they had to talk about? All Elise really needed was to confirm that she was still alive. She had already done that. What was the point in staying longer? It was too late to back out now though. She was in the belly of the beast with Jonas guiding her deeper in. They reached the stone door, and Jonas knocked. There was no response. Elise was relieved. Greta must have been asleep. She could just go inside and take a look and make sure she was alright, then leave. No need to talk to her. After a few seconds, the door opened, its hinges moving way too silently for how much it must have weighed. In the doorway, Elise saw another familiar face, this time Kristofer, Greta¡¯s son. ¡°Oh, Elise,¡± he said softly. ¡°Just a moment. I¡¯ll wake her up for you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, you don¡¯t have to,¡± said Elise quickly. ¡°I just wanted to see if she was doing alright.¡± ¡°She¡¯ll be happy to see you,¡± said Kristofer as he turned away. ¡°She¡¯s been talking about you every day.¡± Elise wanted to protest more, but what else was there to say? Kristofer had shut down her only legitimate excuse. She couldn¡¯t just tell him that she didn¡¯t want to see her. She went all the way there for that express purpose. She couldn¡¯t back out now. Still, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to go into the room. She heard the rustling of sheets and Kristofer¡¯s low voice telling Greta to get up, but those sounds were soon overtaken by the sound of her own heart. She couldn¡¯t do this. She was just like Emilia, manipulating everyone to achieve her own goals. How could she face Greta anymore? What would she even say? ¡°Elise?¡± said Jonas next to her. ¡°Are you going in?¡± ¡°Y-yes,¡± she said. It was too late to turn around. She came all this way. What would they say if she just turned around and backed out now? She flew into the room, slowly, and saw Kristofer helping his mother sit up. Greta looked like she had lost 20 pounds, and she wasn¡¯t exactly plump before then. She wasn¡¯t quite skeletal, but compared to how she looked just a couple months before, it was a serious downgrade. ¡°Brat,¡± she said. ¡°What are you doing all the way over there? Come here.¡± Her voice was weaker than it used to be, but it was still full of life and energy, and her eyes were just as sharp as ever. Elise reluctantly flew toward her, doing her best to avoid further eye contact. ¡°Sit,¡± said Greta, patting the bed next to her. Elise obeyed without a word, and waited for her to continue. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, brat?¡± ¡°N-nothing.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t give me that. You did it! You accomplished your goal! The war is over! So why are you moping?¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s just-¡± Elise didn¡¯t know what to say. How could she explain what she was feeling? Maybe it would be best to just rip off the bandaid right then. She could tell Greta the truth, and then probably get yelled out of the room. At least it would be over then. Yes, that was the best plan. She took a deep breath and resolved herself. ¡°T-teacher?¡± ¡°What is it? Spit it out already!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been manipulating you,¡± said Elise. ¡°From the first time we met, I¡¯ve been using my skills to try to get on your good side. And I did it to everyone else too. I¡¯ve been using those skills as much as possible to make people like me.¡± She braced herself for the old woman¡¯s reaction, prepared for a verbal, or even physical attack, but it never came. ¡°Is that all?¡± asked Greta. ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°Is that all? You¡¯re moping around because of that? I already knew all that!¡± ¡°You did?¡± ¡°Brat, I¡¯ve been working for the royal family for a century and a half. You think you¡¯re the first to try that on me? Do you know how many people have approached me over the years doing the exact same thing?¡± ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you say anything?¡± ¡°What was there to say?¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me to stop?¡± ¡°Why would I? You were just trying to survive, and it wasn¡¯t hurting anyone.¡± ¡°But I manipulated everyone!¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t manipulate anyone,¡± said Greta. ¡°Those skills of yours can¡¯t change how people feel. They only break down superficial barriers. You think I kept teaching you because you manipulated me into doing so? Ha! I taught you because it was fun.¡± Elise didn¡¯t know how to respond. Greta said she knew already and didn¡¯t care, but was that the whole truth? Maybe she was aware of it, but didn¡¯t know the full extent. Or maybe she was overestimating her ability to not be affected by it. Elise was using {Charm} on literally everyone. She convinced people who despised fey to tolerate or even like her just by spamming their minds with artificial appeal. ¡°I don¡¯t think you understand,¡± she said. ¡°Oh, I think I do,¡± said Greta. ¡°You used your little skills so much that you¡¯re worrying that every relationship you formed was fake.¡± ¡°H-how did you-?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been there before,¡± continued Greta. ¡°I didn¡¯t get to be the royal historian just because I was good at history. I had a few tricks of my own I used to get where I am today. And you know what? I don¡¯t regret it one bit. ¡°Those skills of yours only affect superficial perception, but those aren¡¯t real relationships. Relationships are built on time. You can never really know someone until you¡¯ve spent a lot of time with them, and when you¡¯ve spent that much time with them, those skills have no effect. Even without those skills, what people appear to be is never what they really are. ¡°You¡¯re worried that our relationship is fake because you used something like {Charm} to make yourself look cuter? So what? You¡¯re not Elise the cute white rabbit. You¡¯re not the benevolent Rune of Fate. You¡¯re not the Great Fey, as the drow would say. ¡°You¡¯re a rabbit who can¡¯t make eye contact when she¡¯s embarrassed. You¡¯re a rabbit who makes things up when she doesn¡¯t know the real answer. You¡¯re a rabbit who pretends she likes the dried mushrooms I give her so she doesn¡¯t hurt my feelings. You¡¯re a rabbit who lies about her dreams to keep others from worrying about her. You''re a rabbit who would risk her life to stop a war between people she barely knows. You are Elise. You are a brat, and one of my best students, and no amount of skills can change that.¡± ¡°T-Teacher, I-¡± ¡°Now come here, you brat.¡± Greta held her arms out and Elise jumped into them, letting the old woman hold her and stroke her head as she wept. They stayed in that position for a quarter of an hour as Elise released all her feelings in an ugly, cathartic mess of an embrace. When she pulled away, Kristofer was gone. He must have left at some point while she was crying, but she was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn¡¯t even notice. ¡°Feeling better?¡± asked Greta. ¡°Y-yes,¡± she said. She didn¡¯t quite feel good yet, but she felt much better than she had before. The guilt wasn¡¯t gone, and neither was the fear that she would become like Emilia, but those worries had been pushed to the back of her mind. Maybe she did use a bit of manipulation, but it was nothing like what Emilia did. Emilia was an unempathetic psychopath, and Elise was not. Emilia manipulated to kill, while Elise did it to save. Maybe what she had done was still wrong. She still didn¡¯t feel great about directly interfering with other people¡¯s minds and changing their perceptions. That was something she¡¯d have to think about more in the future. For now though, she was at least comfortable that she wasn¡¯t alone. ¡°Thank you, Teacher,¡± said Elise. ¡°Hmph,¡± said Greta. ¡°This is my job. I¡¯m supposed to teach you these things. Brat.¡± Though she pretended not to care, Elise could see the corner of her mouth curl upward a bit. She jumped back into the old woman¡¯s arms for a more peaceful embrace for a minute or so before pulling away again. ¡°How are you feeling, Teacher,¡± she asked. ¡°Fine,¡± said Greta. ¡°I¡¯m dying, but I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°H-how long?¡± ¡°The healer says at most 3 weeks.¡± ¡°Is that all?¡± ¡°All?¡± she asked. ¡°That¡¯s more than enough. The runt says we¡¯ll be reaching the surface in 2 weeks. I¡¯ll have a whole week of sunlight and stars before I go.¡± Elise contemplated silently. Her divine power channeling was still on cooldown for another 4 weeks. If Greta was still alive then, maybe she could extend her remaining time, but she knew that wouldn¡¯t be happening. As much as Greta was trying to act normal, Elise could tell she wasn¡¯t doing well. Her heart was weak, and though she was trying to hide it, the longer they talked, the raspier her breathing got. Those few minutes they had spent together were already taking a toll on her. ¡°The stars are very beautiful,¡± said Elise. ¡°I can¡¯t wait for you to be able to see them.¡± ¡°Neither can I,¡± said Greta. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°W-well, I need to get going,¡± said Elise. ¡°Hallbjorn said he wanted to see me too.¡± ¡°You¡¯re leaving me for that runt?¡± ¡°No, I just-!¡± ¡°I¡¯m just kidding. Go. I know you have important things to talk about.¡± Elise leaned in toward Greta one last time. ¡°I¡¯ll see you later, Teacher.¡± ¡°I said go, brat,¡± said Greta, smiling. Hallbjorn was waiting for her in his office. It looked just like she remembered it, with its massive stone desk covered with a seemingly random assortment of papers and books. Hallbjorn was sitting in a chair behind it looking gaunt, and there was a healer standing beside him looking very concerned. ¡°Elise, you¡¯re here,¡± he said. His voice was hoarse, and very weak compared to usual. ¡°Are you okay?¡± asked Elise. ¡°You look like you should be resting.¡± ¡°Bah, I don¡¯t need rest,¡± he said. ¡°The most important event since we came underground just occurred. I can¡¯t be laz- lazing around-¡± He broke down into a coughing fit, and the healer behind him dashed in to infuse him with some mana. After a few seconds, he sat back up straight. ¡°Excuse me,¡± he said. ¡°So, how are things on the drow side?¡± ¡°...Peaceful,¡± she said. ¡°You really should be resting.¡± ¡°Yes, he should,¡± said the healer. ¡°But he insists.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to lay in bed while the rest of the kingdom is busy,¡± he said. ¡°So stop bringing it up.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± said Elise. ¡°Greta says you¡¯ll finish the tunnel in two weeks.¡± ¡°Ten days,¡± said Hallbjorn proudly. ¡°As soon as we get the mess by the wall cleaned up, we¡¯ll be going all in on the excavation. We were saving resources by keeping our mining operations running at a half capacity and the smiths working on weapons and armor as much as tools, but with the treaty, we can now afford to neglect those and focus our efforts on the tunnel.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± said Elise. ¡°What do you plan on doing once you get there?¡± ¡°Well, first we need to find a place to live,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°After that, I don¡¯t know. We don¡¯t know what has happened on the surface since we fled down here. It¡¯s not really something we can plan for.¡± ¡°I learned some,¡± said Elise. ¡°I¡­ I went out once, and learned a fair amount about the history. And I know what happened to the enslaved dwarves in Albionia.¡± ¡°You do? What happened?¡± ¡°They were freed. They have their own land now. I saw it myself.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°Well¡­ Hmm¡­ Well, we¡¯ll just have to figure it out once we get there. Whatever the case, we won¡¯t be stuck down here any longer. And in the worst case scenario, we have enough resources to negotiate for some land for ourselves.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± said Elise. An awkward silence followed. ¡°Was there anything in particular that you needed me for?¡± she asked. ¡°Right,¡± he said. ¡°Yes. Two things. First, I believe you promised me an explanation. That¡­ man gave me one, but I want to hear it from your mouth.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± said Elise. She launched into an explanation of everything that had happened since they last saw each other, starting from the moment they parted. She didn¡¯t intend to say as much as she did, but at some point, she found herself gushing, and she couldn¡¯t stop. It was almost cathartic, finally being able to tell someone about everything that had happened to her and all her fears and concerns. She was half-worried that she was annoying him by talking so long, but his face stayed earnest and interested until the very end. The only things that she left out were her dreams of Earth, and her time at Ostra, though she talked about the rest of what she had seen outside the caves. ¡°...and now I¡¯m here,¡± she finished. ¡°I see,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯ve been thr- through-¡± He broke down into another coughing fit that the healer hastened to end. ¡°You¡¯ve been through a lot,¡± he said when he could breathe again. ¡°So it¡¯s true that the whole war was started by that one fey?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± confirmed Elise. ¡°Then for all these years¡­ It was all for nothing? So many people died just for one person to level up?¡± A heavy silence fell over the room. Elise knew Hallbjorn was thinking about his wife, and it would be better not to interrupt him. ¡°Well,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°It¡¯s all over now, thanks to you. We owe you a great debt.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t really do all that much.¡± ¡°If you ever need anything, I¡¯ll do anything in my power to get it for you,¡± he said, ignoring her. ¡°You don¡¯t have to go that far.¡± ¡°Also, We¡¯re working to prepare a reward for you,¡± he said. ¡°I said-¡± started Elise. ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°We¡¯re rewarding you for your efforts. I have a few things in mind, but I still need to narrow it down a bit. And when I do pick it out, I¡¯d like to invite you to a celebration feast so I can present it to you.¡± ¡°A celebration feast?¡± ¡°Yes. Right now, the mood isn¡¯t right, but in a few days, once the city is cleaned up and it¡¯s really sunk in that we¡¯ll be leaving, everyone will be in high spirits. I¡¯m preparing to hold a celebration feast for the entire city, and I¡¯d like you to be there, so I can officially announce you as the main contributor to ending this war.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Elise. ¡°I wasn¡¯t really the main contributor. Freddy did the work actually stopping the war.¡± ¡°You defeated the evil fey, right?¡± ¡°I helped defeat her.¡± ¡°You said you healed that other drow that helped you. What if you weren¡¯t there? That drow would be dead, I would be poisoned, and the war would still be going on. That fey would still be alive, and the demon wouldn¡¯t have stepped in. ¡°You could have left us and went on your way, but you didn¡¯t. You stayed, and spent a month and a half with the gho- with the drow, working to prevent the war. If you didn¡¯t do that¡­ well at the very least, I wouldn¡¯t be here. ¡°So, we will be rewarding you, and we will be announcing your contributions to the city. I¡¯d like for you to be at the feast and accept the reward there, but if you¡¯re not comfortable with that, it¡¯s fine. However, if you try to leave without taking it, I will send my men out into the world to search for you until they find you and force it on you if they have to.¡± ¡°...Fine,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll accept the reward.¡± ¡°Wonderful!¡± ¡°Just don¡¯t go over the top. Also, I can¡¯t really carry anything.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll think of something,¡± said Hallbjorn with a grin. ¡°And the feast?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll think about it,¡± she said. ¡°I hope to see you there. In the meantime, come back anytime. I heard about the incident at the gate with Ben. I¡¯ll make sure it doesn¡¯t happen again. You¡¯ll be a guest of honor.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t have anything else for me, that¡¯s all I had for you,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to kick you out, but I have work to get to.¡± Behind him, the healer frowned. ¡°...Hallbjorn?¡± said Elise ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I used {Charm} on you,¡± she said. ¡°A lot. Back when I was living here, I wanted to make sure you didn¡¯t start to dislike me, so I used {Charm} to make myself look better.¡± Hallbjorn waited for a few seconds before responding. ¡°Is that it?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes,¡± said Elise. ¡°I just felt bad about it. I want to apologize¡± ¡°I have a skill that nullifies the effects of those kinds of skills,¡± he said, waving his hand dismissively. ¡°Kings need to be able to think for themselves without being swayed by those around them. Most of the Council has that skill as well. If you were doing it to them, it wouldn¡¯t have worked there either.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes. And even if I didn¡¯t have that skill, I would understand. You were doing what you needed to survive. I would do the same in your position. I do do the same sometimes during Council meetings when it gets too rowdy. I have a few mental skills myself.¡± Contrary to Greta¡¯s words, Hallbjorn¡¯s didn¡¯t feel comforting at all, and if anything, they made her feel worse. He didn¡¯t care because her skills didn¡¯t work, but was that just hindsight talking? Would he feel differently if he didn¡¯t have whatever skill it was that blocked her {Charm}? Her doubts started to creep back in as she questioned whether there was any acceptable level of mental manipulation. Even if, as Greta said, she was only affecting superficial perceptions, where did those superficial perceptions end and true feelings begin? At what point should she stop? Should she start at all? Before she got too deep in her own head, she realized that she still hadn¡¯t responded to Hallbjorn yet. ¡°Thank you,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll get going now.¡± ¡°Come back any time,¡± he said. ¡°Thank you. Goodbye.¡± ¡°¡®Bye.¡± On her way back to the drow, she ran into Sindri again on his way back from delivering the antidote. He hadn¡¯t stuck around for very long, and understandably so, but he mentioned that the drow now had the antidote and knew how to use it. She confirmed this when she returned to find the drow crowded around the exposed root where the poison had been administered while one of the elders applied the antidote. She watched long enough to see it applied, then flew off to be on her own. She had never really enjoyed crowds or parties much, and right then more than ever, she wanted to be alone. She didn¡¯t have a particular destination in mind, but she somehow wound up out in the forest next to the stream in the same place where Emilia had taught her how to use {Suggest}. There were no cows there this time, but if she looked closely, she could still see some bloodstained rocks hidden in the grass. What now? She thought Her whole species revolved around manipulation. Her most effective skill was {Suggest}. {Magic Missile} was strong, but with just that, she would only be a quarter as effective of a hunter, if that. And did it really matter if she was using manipulative skills while hunting? She was reluctant to do anything that could have her following in Emilia¡¯s footsteps, but they were just animals. Also, she really only acted in self defense before. She wasn¡¯t like Emilia, manipulating two entire cultures into warring for centuries, just so she could gain experience. The more she thought about it, the more confident she became that she would never reach that point. There was no way she could possibly justify doing anything like that. So was that danger even real? Sure, she had done a little bit of manipulation to get the dwarves to like her, but that was all self-defense. They wanted to kill her. She wasn¡¯t good at negotiating, so she didn¡¯t really have a choice. She wouldn¡¯t have done it if she thought she would be fine without it. And even though she did do it, as Greta had said, what she did wasn¡¯t even that bad. {Charm} barely did anything. It was like putting on makeup, or wearing a nice dress. It wasn¡¯t like she was forcing people to obey her. That¡¯s a slippery slope, she told herself. Slippery slope or not, it¡¯s true, she replied She took a deep breath, and a mental step backward to look at her dilemma from a different angle. She was so focused on the bad aspects of manipulation, that she wasn¡¯t even considering the positive sides. If used correctly, her manipulative skills could actually be much better for resolving conflicts than any direct strength would be. She thought back to the first time she tried to leave Dokkalfheimr and used {Suggest} to distract her escorts. What if, instead of {Suggest}, she just had another direct attack spell? Would she have been able to get out at all? It would have been much more difficult to do so without hurting anyone. With {Suggest}, it was simple and bloodless. And if she followed that route all the way to its end, she could end up similar to Freddy. His contracts were powerful. He was only able to create the treaty between the dwarves and drow because he himself was powerful as well and the threat of his wrath was enough to guarantee good behavior, but could she do something similar? She managed to trick Emilia into agreeing to a deal with {Fey Bargaining}. Emilia could break out because she was much higher level, but what about once Elise evolved more? She could stop fights, or maybe even resolve wars with a few sentences. Besides, she had already locked herself into a manipulation-based evolutionary line. Maybe she could choose something different at her next evolution, but what if it didn¡¯t offer anything non-manipulative? The System had said that evolutions were offered based on actions taken by the user, and she hadn¡¯t done much direct fighting. Just manipulation and ambush hunting. More importantly, what if the evolutionary line that took her toward a human form was also a manipulation-based one? She wouldn¡¯t really have a choice there. And it wasn¡¯t the end of the world, was it? Even if she was locked into being a manipulator, she could still avoid becoming like Emilia. It was impossible to say what the future would hold, but she could prevent the worst just by being conscientious and not doing what Emilia did. She still had a few doubts, but she waved them away. Did she really trust herself that little? The fact that she was worried about hurting others at all meant she was already better than Emilia, who had no empathy at all. I can do it, she thought. I can be better than her. It wasn¡¯t a very high bar, but as soon as she thought those words, her mood brightened. She would be better than Emilia. She wouldn¡¯t manipulate people for personal gain. Not in any way that would harm them at least. She would never stoop to that level. She couldn¡¯t say she was completely confident in her decision, but the fact that she had made a decision at all made it feel like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. It hadn¡¯t even been that long since she started worrying about it, but it felt like it had been ages, and now that it was gone, she felt light as a feather. As if in answer to her newfound resolve, she heard the sound of dozens of creatures approaching from the nearby forest. She wiggled the stumps where her back legs used to be in anticipation. It was time to level up. 47 - Greater Elise hid in a tree and waited for the cows to approach. After about a minute, the first one appeared. It was one of the ordinary variety, neither Lesser or Greater. Another five ordinary ones followed, then three Lessers, and a Greater. There was a short break, then the next wave arrived. By the time the entire herd had arrived, there were 42 cows in total, with 5 Greaters, 8 Lessers, and the rest ordinary. That¡¯s bigger than it was before, she thought. The last time she had gone hunting, the biggest herd only had 4 Greaters, and this particular herd only had 2. She was also pretty sure she had killed all but one of the Lessers no more than a week ago. Did they merge with another herd? Or did the new ones just spawn in recently? System, when do monsters spawn? ¡°Monsters spawn at intervals and levels dependent on the type of spawn zone they are in.¡± Spawn zones? ¡°Spawn zones are areas designated by the System as places where monsters can spawn. They have different levels and types, and those levels and types determine what kind of monsters spawn, and how strong they are.¡± Did this place¡¯s spawn zone level change recently? ¡°I¡¯m sorry. You do not have access to that information.¡± Dangit. It was an interesting mystery, but it would have to remain just that. The drow didn¡¯t keep many written records, and the dwarves'' resources had about as much information on the System as she did. If her System assistant couldn¡¯t answer, that meant she wouldn¡¯t be able to find the answer any time soon, which meant there was no point in worrying about it. She would tell the drow, of course, since if the spawn zone was changing, that would be a big deal, but for now, she just needed to hunt so she could reach her evolution threshold. She was a little impatient, so rather than trying to use {Suggest} to make them fight, which she still couldn¡¯t do consistently, or luring just one away like she usually did, she decided to go for 3 at once. It took a bit of hectic mental effort to make sure all 3 stayed together and kept moving where she wanted to, but it didn¡¯t take long before she got them out of earshot of the rest, at which point she made her move. She cast {Magic Missile} and split the projectiles up evenly between all 3 cows. She had only ever done two targets at once before, but her Mana Control had improved drastically after leveling up from Emilia¡¯s death, so she found it to be no trouble at all. It helped that the cows were mostly stationary while they grazed on the grass that she had convinced them was much tastier than the grass by the creek. None of them died from her first attack, but all three were blinded, and started flailing about wildly. Two more casts of {Magic Missile} was enough to finish all three off [ You have defeated Omnivorous Cyclops Cow, lvl 4 ] [ You have defeated Omnivorous Cyclops Cow, lvl 6 ] [ You have defeated Omnivorous Cyclops Cow, lvl 3 ] [ { Magic Missile } lvl 34 -> 35 ] No levels? She thought. She knew it would get difficult to level up as she got stronger, but were 3 Omnivorous Cyclops Cows really not enough for a single level anymore? She was pretty sure that they were an evolution tier ahead of her. System, how are levels calculated again? ¡°At $%^&, we use a patented, AI-powered algorithm to calculate-¡± Yes, yes, I know. Just give me the practical explanation. There are two ways for a user to earn experience points. The first and simplest is by fighting and killing other creatures. Experience points are determined by the relative levels and stats. If you fight something weaker than yourself, your experience points will be penalized, and if you fight something stronger than yourself, you will earn bonus experience. We also take into account skill matchups, terrain, nearby creatures, and numerous other trade secret factors to make adjustments to the final total. ¡°The second way to earn experience is to do things that align with your class. For example-¡± That¡¯s enough. Were her combined stats now beyond what the cows¡¯ were? Was that what was going on? That would certainly be part of it. She had an Epic species, and though she didn¡¯t know the exact math, if it only had a common or uncommon species, even if it was an evolution ahead of her, their overall stat total would be lower. On top of that, she had gotten so accustomed to hunting them that they no longer provided any challenge at all. Ambushing monsters with such obvious and easy to hit weaknesses really wasn¡¯t fair. That could only mean one thing: it was time to move on to bigger things. It was time to hunt one of the Greaters. She flew back to the drow to inform them of her kills, then returned to the herd to plan her next hunt. She would have been lying if she said she wasn¡¯t nervous. While her hunting of the Lessers and normals had gotten very efficient, she still wasn¡¯t confident she could take even a Lesser in a straight fight. Her {Magic Missile} had gotten strong, yes, but its eye laser was still faster, and her Fortitude was still pitiful. If she even got grazed, it might be over for her. For the Greaters, it was even more of a danger, since they were faster, and more durable. If their evolutions were anything like hers, she wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it was twice as strong as its weaker brethren. One cast of {Magic Missile} might not even be enough to blind them. She needed to play things very carefully. Guerilla tactics were her friend. If it ever saw her for more than a split second, she was doomed. Its biggest weakness in this respect was that its single eye had a very limited field of view. She didn¡¯t have to take much of an angle to be invisible to it. She snuck into her usual spot in the branches near where the herd was grazing and got to work. The nearest of the Greaters, and thankfully also the smallest, was chowing on a big tuft of blue grass growing near the creek. There¡¯s some more good stuff over there, she sent with {Suggest}. It looked up at where she indicated, then back down at its current food, then back up before trudging over to the new grass. She repeated this twice, both times successfully, bringing it to the edge of the clearing. However, at that point, she realized she had made a mistake. The Greaters weren¡¯t just bigger, stronger versions of the normal cows. They were also the leaders. Where they went, others followed. It could never stray from the group because the group was always with it. Of course, it wasn¡¯t the entire group. Only a half dozen were following this one. The rest were sticking near the other four. She was disappointed at the turn of events, but 6 other cows was better than 40, so she continued leading the Greater away until the whole mini-group was too far from the others to be heard. None of the cows had noticed anything, and were happily munching on the grass Elise had led them to, which gave her time to think about her next move. She had successfully gotten one of the Greaters away from the herd, but it would be impossible to get it away from the six that followed it. The only way she could get it alone would be to lure the others away from it, but there were problems with that plan too. For one, it would take too long. Every second she was away from the Greater and not reinforcing its mind with {Suggest} was a second that it might decide to turn around and rejoin its herd. She could lure the smaller ones away, kill them, and come back to find that the Greater was already gone. Secondly, with such a small group, it was much more likely that her efforts would be noticed. When there were 40 cows in a clearing, a couple wandering off was nothing for the others to worry about. When there were only 7, if even one went missing, it would put the others on edge. Thirdly, she had already lured these cows quite far away. If she took them any further, she would end up encroaching on either another herd¡¯s territory, or drow territory, neither of which would be good. Any further toward the center and she would be getting way too close to the drow school for comfort. That left her with only one option, which was to kill them where they stood, and she only knew one way to do that. She could almost hear Emilia¡¯s voice in her head egging her on. ¡°You could kill them all, if you wanted to.¡± She shook her head and tried to clear her mind. Emilia had done enough damage while alive. It wasn¡¯t good to let her continue worming her way into minds while dead. She needed to be able to make practical decisions without her judgment getting clouded.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. The most practical decision would be to use {Suggest} to make them all kill each other, she thought. So that¡¯s what I¡¯ll do. She looked down at her soon-to-be victims and prepared to use {Suggest}. A few minutes later, she was still staring at them, and nothing had happened. I just need to wait for the right moment, she told herself. Timing was important, after all. She couldn¡¯t just create animosity out of nothing. She needed to wait until she saw an opening. Just a sliver of dissatisfaction was all she needed. One of the cows accidentally poked another¡¯s side with its horn as it turned. Now! She thought. The cow that had been poked grunted at the other, then went back to eating its grass. The one that had done the poking finished its turn and walked over to another patch of grass. Elise waited a few more minutes, watching opportunities pass by before sighing to herself. I can¡¯t do it. Every time she was about to get started, the faces from her nightmare flashed in her mind. She saw Naomi¡¯s mangled corpse, and Greta¡¯s cold, dead eyes, and Carol¡¯s frail little body, covered in blood. She knew nothing like that would happen just because she used the skill Emilia taught her, but something about knowing how close those things had been to happening, all because of that very same skill made her nauseous. She watched a few minutes longer, then turned to head back to the Mother Tree. While she was hunting, the antidote had been applied to the tree, but the effects thus far had been minimal. Elise stopped by the center to see that the mana was a little less stagnant than before, but it was nowhere near where it had been when healthy, and Salome was still unconscious. The next morning, it was much better. It wasn¡¯t fully revived, but Salome was able to wake up for a few hours. The drow held another feast to celebrate, using the cows Elise had hunted the previous day as the main course. Elise spent a few hours with the drow, then went back out to continue her hunting. She lured a Greater away with its small group of followers once again, and once again found herself hiding in a tree, unable to make a move. Just do it already! She told herself. They¡¯re just animals! If I do, I¡¯ll be doing exactly what Emilia wanted me to do, she countered. So? If she told you to drink water to survive, would you die of thirst? That¡¯s different! How? This is your life now. If you want to grow, you need to kill, and if you want to kill, you need to use the tools you have available. Stop wasting time worrying about a dead psychopath and just do it already! ¡°Fine!¡± she said out loud. The cows turned toward her at the sound of her voice, but she backed up and crouched down in the branches so they couldn¡¯t see her. A few seconds later, they went back to grazing, probably assuming Elise was some kind of strange bird. Elise peeked back over the branches and targeted the cow second furthest from the Greater and had it go toward the one that was the furthest. Thirty seconds later, they were growling and butting heads. Elise felt queasy, but she forced herself to continue. She continued using {Suggest} to escalate the dispute, while occasionally switching over to the Greater to keep it distracted. It didn¡¯t take long before the fight turned serious, and the Greater started taking notice, regardless of her suggestions. That meant it was time to move onto the next stage Just like Emilia had, Elise started using the Greater more actively, using it to break up the fight. However, she made a mistake. She let the Greater get involved too early. Or maybe she didn¡¯t get the other cows fighting hard enough first. Either way, when the Greater arrived, things calmed down, and no matter how much she tried to {Suggest} they continue the fight, they weren¡¯t quite riled up enough to be willing to go against the Greater. A minute later, everything was calm again. She could tell that the two fighters were still unhappy with each other, but the Greater was very deliberately standing in between them, so there would be no more fighting between them. She looked for an opportunity to try to get one to fight with a different cow, but the others were avoiding them too, leaving her with nothing to work with. Doubt started creeping back into her mind, and she was getting ready to give up for the day, when she noticed something about the way they were standing, and an idea formed. At that moment, there was only one cow facing her direction, and it was one of the two she made fight earlier. It was acting calm, but she could still hear that its heart was beating faster than the others. Since it was the only one facing her, if she emerged from her hiding spot in the branches, it would be the only one able to see her. It would attack on sight, like the cows always did, but if she used just a little bit of {Suggest}, she could make it think even less before firing its laser. There was no time to waste, since there was no telling when a chance like this would present itself again, so she immediately slipped down from the branches into its line of sight. It saw her, and for a split second, was frozen in surprise. I should shoot it, she sent with {Suggest}. Without hesitation, it started charging up its eye laser. The other cows took notice, but they all looked at the attacking cow, rather than Elise, so none of them saw her dip down toward the ground, putting another cow between herself and the attacker. The unfortunate meat shield screamed in pain, and Elise used {Dart} to get back to the other side of the tree and out of their sight before it could hit the ground and reveal her. She didn¡¯t know whether she managed to make it out without being seen, but regardless, she could hear that the other part of her plan was working. The Greater bellowed, and stomped over to the one that had shot its laser. Elise didn¡¯t even need to use {Suggest} to make the attacker act defiantly, at which point, she was able to nudge the Greater just a little bit, and it shot its own laser, killing the other cow instantly. [ You have participated in the killing of an Omnivorous Cyclops Cow, lvl 7 ] A moment later, the Greater walked over to the injured one and with a single stomp, put it out of its misery as well. [ You have participated in the killing of an Omnivorous Cyclops Cow, lvl 6 ] [ Suggest lvl 43 -> 44 ] [ You have leveled up! 18 -> 19 ] [ Agility +5, Dexterity +5, Charisma +20, Intelligence +15, Willpower +5, Mana +10, Mana Control +10 ] Between the warm sensation of her stats going up, and the fact that she had managed to half-accomplish her goal using her own methods, Elise¡¯s mood was much improved. She had used a bit of Emilia¡¯s method, but the bulk of it had been her own tactics, and ones she had used even before meeting the older fey. She returned to her hiding spot, and watched the aftermath. The cows were clearly unsettled by the deaths of their comrades, but evidently, none had seen her, since they didn¡¯t seem too intent on leaving just yet like they would have if they thought there was an outside threat. The Greater looked at the other smaller ones as if daring them to make another move, then turned back to the dead one it was standing over and took a massive bite. Elise was disturbed by how easily it turned to cannibalism, but she had no time to worry about that. This turn of events actually worked out in her favor, since while the Greater was eating one corpse, the other 4 started walking over toward the other corpse. She wasn¡¯t sure if she would ever get it more alone than that. She could try killing off the others first, but if that was even possible after the Greater¡¯s warning, it would take too long. They would eat their fill, then return to their home before she could finish, regardless of her manipulation. It was better to make an attempt on the Greater¡¯s life right then while it was distracted and its companions were looking the other way. She waited a minute or so to make sure the others were thoroughly distracted, then made her move. She cast {Magic Missile}, all 8 projectiles targeted at the Greater¡¯s eye. The first hit its mark dead on. But the second was blocked by an eyelid, and the rest were all slightly off-target, as the great beast flinched back and started shaking its head to try to avoid the attack. When it was over, its face was a bloody mess, but still mostly intact. It opened its eyelid to reveal a highly damaged, but somehow still functional eye that was starting to glow red. Elise was already preparing another {Magic Missile} volley that she shot at its head, again, but her aim was off, since she had to use {Dart} to get out of her tree a moment before it got incinerated. The missiles all hit the cow, but only one got close to its eye this time. The cow bellowed in pain and started charging up its eye attack again, but this time, Elise was more prepared for it. She already had another {Magic Missile} volley heading toward it, and with its mouth open to bellow, she was even able to get two of them into its mouth to damage its throat while simultaneously dodging the next laser. It was a dangerous game she was playing, since the Greater¡¯s laser was wide enough to cover her entire body, and came out much faster than the others, but it had been at least partially blinded by her attack, so its reactions were slow and its aim was off. Elise stuck around just long enough to verify her last attack connected, and after that, it was time to leave. The other cows had taken notice of her, and she didn¡¯t want to test her luck dodging all of them. She knew the Greater could split its beam, and though she didn¡¯t know the full extent of that, she didn¡¯t want to find out the hard way. Besides, she had already done enough. Its Fortitude was too high for her to be able to damage its outer body, but its throat was not so. She could hear it choking on blood behind her as she flew away. The cows weren¡¯t exactly slow, but even before Elise leveled up from killing Emilia, her speed had already surpassed theirs. They tried to pursue, but it didn¡¯t even take a minute for Elise to completely lose them. Elise rested for a few minutes, half-meditating to recover her mana while keeping her ears open, then turned around to head back. She found the Greater almost exactly where she left it, standing still, bleeding from its eye and mouth, and breathing deep, gurgling breaths. It would probably die on its own, but on the off-chance it had some kind of recovery or survival skill, she wanted to finish it off. The other cows were standing around it, looking uncertain about what to do. They didn¡¯t notice her until she was already right above them, casting one final {Magic Missile}. With a stationary target now, each missile struck home landing right in its eye socket. When the seventh connected, it finally collapsed to the ground, dead. The others tried to shoot their beams at her, but she was already flying away, and a couple {Dart}s later, she was too far away from them to hit. [ You have defeated a Greater Omnivorous Cyclops Cow, lvl 3 ] [ Magic Missile, lvl 35 -> 37 ] [ You have leveled up! 19 -> 20 ] [ Agility +5, Dexterity +5, Charisma +20, Intelligence +15, Willpower +5, Mana +10, Mana Control +10 ] [ You have reached an evolution threshold. Excess exp will be disregarded. ] [ You are eligible for evolution! You have {6} options! You have 168 hours to select an option and begin your evolution before an option will be randomly selected for you and your evolution will start automatically. ] 48 - Change Elise rocketed back toward the Mother Tree, and picked the first alcove she found that was out of the way before stopping to work out her Evolution. System, can you show my evolution options on a screen? ¡°Yes. Would you like me to narrate them for you as well?¡± Sure. ¡°You currently have {6} evolution options. Of those, you have 1 Epic evolution option and 4 Legendary evolution options, and one Mythic option.¡± As it spoke, a purple screen appeared in front of her, showing the same information. Her eyes widened when she saw that she had a Mythic option, then narrowed when she saw what it was. ¡°Your Epic option is {Rabbit Fey}. Your Legendary options are {Wolpertinger}, {Wormtongue Rabbit Fey}, {Lesser Changeling (Rabbit)} and {Giant Slayer Rabbit Fey}. Your Mythic evolution option is {Demon Consort (Rabbit)}.¡± Elise gasped when she heard the Changeling option. She had been too distracted by the Mythic option to notice it at first, but that sounded like exactly what she wanted. If being a Changeling worked how she hoped it did, she would finally be able to take a human¨Cor at least humanoid¨Cform. She still needed to check the other evolution options though before she made a decision. She had already basically ruled out the {Rabbit Fey} and {Wormtongue Rabbit Fey} ones. The first would just be the worse version of her Legendary options, and she was pretty sure that the second would just have her doing more of the same things that had just given her an identity crisis. Aside from Changeling, she had no idea what the others meant. There was one final thing that was giving her pause, and that was that the text for the Mythic option was in bright red, rather than the gold that the rest of them were, and she didn¡¯t know why. Was it because it was Mythic, because it was Demonic, or was there something else going on? Can you describe all the options? ¡°Certainly! A {Rabbit Fey} is a very rare creature that thrives on trickery and deceit. They often target humanoids, luring them in with innocent appearances or friendly conversation before taking advantage of them. A Rabbit Fey has the form of a Rabbit, which it can use to trick other creatures into thinking it¡¯s harmless.¡± Yeah, probably not worth considering, Elise thought ¡°A {Wormtongue Rabbit Fey} is similar to a Rabbit Fey, but specialized in infiltration and subtle manipulation. A {Wormtongue Rabbit Fey} has skills that allow them to subtly affect their target¡¯s minds, aiming for long-term, well-orchestrated manipulation.¡± Definitely not. ¡°A {Wolpertinger} is a fey-adjacent mythical creature with the body of a rabbit, antlers of a deer, and the wings of a pheasant. Despite their small size, they are very powerful, and have a small array of manipulative abilities to lure their prey into dangerous areas. They are omnivorous and opportunistic predators.¡± I¡¯d be able to eat meat, which would be a plus, but I¡¯m not sure about the rest, she thought. ¡°A {Lesser Changeling (Rabbit)} is a species of fey that uses transformation to trick and manipulate its targets. However, as it is a Lesser form of the more mature {Changeling}, its transformation is imperfect, and it cannot take on the exact forms of others. It can only take on their species.¡± Elise almost couldn¡¯t believe her ears. Basically, what it was saying was that it would let her transform into another species, such as a human, and she would have her own unique form. That was all she really wanted. She would have accepted the evolution right there if she wasn¡¯t still curious about the others. ¡°A {Giant-Slayer Rabbit Fey} is a leporine species of fey that specializes in hunting creatures above its own level. It is larger than a {Lesser Rabbit Fey}, but its form is otherwise unchanged. A {Giant Slayer Rabbit Fey}¡¯s skills are more effective when facing opponents whose levels are beyond the user¡¯s, scaling with the level and stat difference.¡± ¡°A {Demon Consort (Rabbit)} is a unique species of rabbit that has worked closely enough with demons that it has started to become demonic itself. The rarity of this species is determined by the rarity of the species of the demon with whom the rabbit has most interacted.¡± Elise frowned, mentally. There was only one person this could be: Freddy. She had her suspicions, but confirming that he was, in fact, a demon made her feel conflicted. On one hand, she was glad that she hadn¡¯t signed the contract with Ostra. On the other, she was regretful that she had signed any contracts at all. Freddy seemed to be fine with her knowing about Ostra, which meant he might have even told her everything without the contract. It also made her question his goals even more. Her interactions with him, and the succubus and incubus at Ostra had led her to believe that maybe demons weren¡¯t pure evil, but it was still clear that Freddy was inhuman and lacking in empathy. His reaction to Emilia¡¯s death and his cold blooded killing of the vigilante dwarf were evidence enough of that. If she took that species, would she start losing her humanity and empathy as well? What does ¡°demonic¡± mean in that context? ¡°Demonic is a term that means ¡®demon-like¡¯. It refers to something that is like a demon.¡± But what does that mean in the context of that species? What does it mean that a {Demon Consort (Rabbit)} has ¡°become demonic¡±? ¡°It means that the {Demon Consort (Rabbit)} has taken on demonic characteristics.¡± What demonic characteristics? ¡°Demonic characteristics are characteristics typically associated with demons.¡± Elise wanted to fire a volley of {Magic Missile} into the face of whoever had developed the System assistant. Give me an example. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. You do not have permission to access that information?¡± All that circular logic, just to end with that? Seriously? Fine. I don¡¯t care anymore. Why is that option red on my screen? ¡°An evolution option appearing red indicates that it is an option that is not available on your current evolutionary tree. Choosing this evolution will cause you to lose some of your current skills associated with that tree, and instead gain ones associated with the new tree.¡± Which skills? ¡°Your current evolutionary tree is Fey, so all fey-exclusive skills will be lost.¡± That meant she would be losing her wings, her dust, and her bargaining, all of which were things she was heavily dependent on at the moment. Even before she lost her back legs, she hadn¡¯t been doing much hopping. And her dust had saved multiple lives, and her bargaining had been the lynchpin that saved her against Emilia. Would the new demon-exclusive skills be enough to make up for it? Maybe. But she couldn¡¯t know for certain, and she didn¡¯t think she wanted to be a demon anyway. By ruling that one out, she brought her options down to 3, but really, there was only 1. {Wolpertinger} and {Giant-Slayer Rabbit Fey} seemed like decent species on their own, but they were not what she was looking for. All she needed to do now was find a place to complete the evolution. She could probably do it right there and be safe, but she was not at all comfortable with that. It was high up, but it was exposed. There was no telling what could happen. The birds tended to avoid the alcoves, but one particularly brave one could be her end. She could go back to the wyrm tunnels. That had worked the one time. It would probably be safe too. Actually, as she thought about it more, there was no place safer. It wasn¡¯t that she didn¡¯t trust the drow, but the wyrm tunnels were a much more controlled environment that people didn¡¯t regularly enter. The only problem was, who would she tell about it? She was tempted to do it without anyone¡¯s knowledge, since the less people that knew, the safer she¡¯d be, but she didn¡¯t think there was a way to get out of the cavern without being noticed. The tension had almost vanished entirely, but there were still scouts watching every entrance and exit, including the one into the wyrm tunnel after Elise exposed it. She would have to tell someone. Naomi was trustworthy. Probably. At the very least, she had not given Elise any reasons to mistrust her. And she had the power to keep her evolution under wraps. She wasn¡¯t sure about letting Naomi in on exactly where she was going to evolve, but Naomi would at least be able to help her leave the main cavern in secret. She jumped out of her alcove and glided over toward Naomi¡¯s hut. It was early afternoon, which is when Naomi typically did her mana meditation. Elise felt a little guilty about interrupting it, but she knew it wasn¡¯t all that important, and that Naomi would gladly take a short break to help her. She wanted to get her evolution out of the way as soon as possible. Things were peaceful at that moment, but there was no telling when something else would happen that would force her attention away. It was better to evolve right then while she had no responsibilities than to wait out of courtesy, only to be forced into a time crunch later. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± asked Naomi, emerging from her hut as Elise touched down. Elise glanced up at Nicole who had been standing guard, then decided that Nicole seemed trustworthy enough too. ¡°I need to evolve,¡± she said. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to make a big deal out of it. Can you sneak me out of the cave without anyone noticing?¡± ¡°You¡¯re evolving?¡± asked Naomi. ¡°Congratulations.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°Yeah, we can get you out of here. Nicole?¡± ¡°I can do it,¡± said Nicole. ¡°But shouldn¡¯t we wait until you¡¯re done?¡± ¡°Eh, I¡¯ll be fine,¡± said Naomi. ¡°It¡¯ll only take a couple minutes. And it¡¯s not like I can¡¯t defend myself.¡± ¡°Yes, Captain,¡± said Nicole. ¡°Lady Elise, was there a specific destination you had in mind?¡± ¡°Yes. Do you know about the wyrm tunnel?¡± ¡°Which one?¡± ¡°The one that I exposed a few months ago. I think it¡¯s over on the west side?¡± ¡°Yeah, I know that one. Is that where we¡¯re going?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Alright. I can turn us invisible if we¡¯re touching.¡± She held out her arms and Elise jumped into them. Nicole made sure she was settled in comfortably, then the two of them vanished in a wave of mana. Elise had already heard that Nicole was the best at stealth of all the scouts, but seeing it in action was impressive. She was just as fast, if not faster than Naomi, and she didn¡¯t even create wind when she moved. Elise had all of 30 seconds to appreciate whatever combination of skills she was using to achieve that effect before they were slowing down as they approached the tunnel. Nicole took her a few hundred feet down the tunnel before coming to a stop and undoing their invisibility. ¡°Is this far enough?¡± she asked. ¡°Yes, this is perfect,¡± said Elise, extracting herself from Nicole¡¯s arms. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± said Nicole, bowing slightly. ¡°Good luck with your evolution.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Elise turned to head further up the tunnel, and at the same moment, Nicole disappeared once again. The whole tunnel network seemed almost completely untouched. No doubt the drow had gone through the place and checked every nook and cranny, but there was nothing in there now. There weren¡¯t even any snakes this time. Her old evolution spot still looked exactly like she had left it. After some brief deliberation, she decided to use the same spot again. She doubted the drow would come patrolling through there again, especially since Naomi knew Elise was evolving there, but even if they did, they would be less suspicious of the hole that was already there than any new one Elise might make. She carefully dug out the loose collapsed dirt, pulling it back toward the entrance behind her to make it look as undisturbed as possible, then looked at her former handiwork. It was just as cramped and unglamorous as she remembered it, but it would do. She crawled into the side chamber. System, I want to evolve. I choose {Lesser Changeling (Rabbit)} ¡°Would you like to begin your evolution now? I must warn you that the process of evolution takes a significant amount of time, and a disturbance in the middle would result in your death.¡± Yes. [Beginning Evolution] [Evolution Complete] [You have successfully completed your third evolution! +30 to all stats!] [Your new species is: {Lesser Changeling (Rabbit)}. +35 Strength, +35 Agility, +35 Dexterity, +35 Fortitude, +200 Charisma, +50 Intelligence, +45 Willpower, +50 Mana, +65 Mana Control]This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. [You have unlocked the skill {Lesser Transformation}] [You have unlocked the skill {Sense Emotions}] Elise tried to push her way out of her evolution membrane, but found she couldn¡¯t. She could press against it, but it didn¡¯t give more than a quarter inch before it encountered a solid barrier. Like with her previous evolution, she suddenly felt cramped in that tiny chamber, but unlike the last time, it wasn¡¯t just because she had gotten a new set of limbs. This time she had actually gotten bigger. She had deactivated her wings before the evolution, so there was no light, and she could only see the vague outlines of her new body, but she could see that the growth was not simple scaling. Her main body seemed about the same size as before, but her limbs had gotten at least twice as long. She struggled a bit longer to get out, but her new body was just too unwieldy, and it was scrunched in an awkward position. She couldn¡¯t orient herself in a way that would let her slip out toward the main cavern. Elise wasn¡¯t claustrophobic, but she was starting to get a little panicked when she realized something that made her want to slap herself in the face. She was a changeling now. She could just change her form to get out. She pulled up the {Lesser Transformation} skill description to double-check what she could do with it. [ {Lesser Transformation}: Transform into another species that you have encountered that is at or below your current evolutionary tier. Duration: up to 4 hours. Cooldown: 2x usage time. User¡¯s stats will be adjusted based on current form. (Note: Duration and Cooldown do not apply when transforming into prior evolutions) ] She willed herself to turn back into her previous evolution, and immediately shrank down. The walls of her evolutionary membrane sagged around her, and she used the sudden extra space to turn and push her way out to the main burrow. She stopped there for a moment, then decided to dig back out to the wyrm tunnel as well. It was a form that she had used for months, but somehow, being in it felt mildly uncomfortable. She hadn¡¯t even had her changeling form for more than a minute, and she already felt like her legs were uncomfortably short. On top of that, her stats were much lower. For the first time ever, the ¡°Bonus¡± column in her status window had values, and they were all negative. All the new stat points she had gained by evolving were effectively halved by being in that form, and it made her feel sluggish. As soon as she made it back into the Wyrm tunnel, she transformed back, and took a moment to admire her new body. Being so much higher off the ground felt good, and her legs felt like they were bursting with strength compared to her old ones. She couldn¡¯t test it in the low tunnel, but she was confident she could jump at least ten feet into the air if she tried. Her fur was a little bit shorter than it was before, but it kept the same color and faint metallic sheen. However, there were limits to what she could see with just her eyes. Especially since she now had a blind spot behind her head. Not being able to see directly behind her wasn¡¯t that big of a deal, but it felt really strange after spending so long with true 360 degree vision. She activated her wings and noticed that they too had gotten a little bigger than before. They weren¡¯t wide enough to brush the sides of the tunnel yet, but she had to be a lot more careful when she flew than she did before. She also had to tuck her legs in more carefully to keep her toes from dragging on the ground. System how long did my evolution take? She asked as she flew back to the main chamber. ¡°Your evolution took 11 hours 41 minutes and 26.840 seconds.¡± ¡°Huh,¡± said Elise out loud. That was three times as long as her previous evolution had taken. Was that going to be a continuous trend? Or was it just because she was evolving into a Legendary species this time? Whatever the case, she would need to take extra precautions regarding evolutions in the future, in case the timer kept extending and she needed multiple days of safety. That aside, she took a closer look at the System windows that had appeared since her evolution. The stat increases were absolutely astounding. She still wasn¡¯t completely familiar with how everything worked in this world, but she still knew that +200 Charisma was absurd. That was almost double her current Strength and Fortitude, and she had gotten it all at once in a single evolution. Something was definitely strange there. Even if she was choosing Charisma-focused evolution options, from the moment she entered that world, her Charisma numbers had been strange. ¡°System, why is my Charisma so high?¡± As she spoke, she noticed that her voice had gotten a little deeper. It wasn¡¯t deep, but it no longer sounded like her lungs were full of helium. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m not sure I understand the question. If your Charisma is high, that means that you have gained many Charisma points from your species and levels.¡± Elise sighed. She knew that even if she pressed it for answers, she wouldn¡¯t be able to get them. The reason for her high Charisma was probably related to the reason she had the Rune of Fate, and she doubted she would be getting that answer any time soon. She had already been at the center of two prophecies, but in the grand scheme of things, those two prophecies were inconsequential. Far too inconsequential to be the entire reason for having a skill with such a grand name. She didn¡¯t doubt that she would encounter more fate-related issues later on. However, worrying about that then was a waste of time. She had more important things to do, like finally doing what she had been trying to do ever since turning into a rabbit: turn back into a human. She reached the main chamber of the wyrm tunnels and made her way over to the river. It was flowing, so it didn¡¯t give the best reflection, but the current was relatively slow and calm, so she could still get a good view of herself. Her new changeling form was still cute, but it was starting to border on uncanny with how disproportionately long the legs were. She wouldn¡¯t go as far as to say she was creepy yet, but if she saw one of these back on Earth, she would be a little hesitant to pet it. Her eyes were closer to the front of her head than they had been before, which explained the sudden blind spot behind her. It wasn¡¯t that much, but it definitely was one of the major contributors to the uncanny sensation. She took another few seconds to look at herself before taking a deep breath and preparing for the real test. She closed her eyes, and willed herself to take on a human form. While the transformation back into a Lesser Rabbit Fey had been simple and mundane, this one felt disconcerting, almost to the point of pain. She could feel her body being twisted and stretched and compressed and folded and expanded outward into the familiar, yet unfamiliar shape of a human. When she opened her eyes, she realized that she couldn¡¯t see anything. Her rabbit form had good dark vision, but her human form did not. That was easily resolved by activating her wings, bathing the chamber in a soft silver glow. With the area now illuminated, the first thing she noticed about her new body were her hands. She opened and closed them, then reached down into the dirt beside to grab a handful. As she held her hand out again and watched the dirt slip through her fingers, she couldn¡¯t help but smile. It had been so long since she was able to grab things without magical assistance that even a small handful of dirt felt amazing. It was amazing being able to smile properly again too. She followed the smile with a frown, then a scowl, then a grimace, then opened and closed her mouth a few times. It all felt so unreal, and oddly unfamiliar. She had lived much longer as a human than a rabbit, but somehow, her human form now felt foreign to her. It was like inside, she was still a rabbit, just controlling a human avatar. She shook out her limbs a bit, just because she could, then bent down over the water so she could finally see her reflection. The reflection was smiling when she first saw it, but the smile soon slipped away and was replaced by a look of confusion. This¡­ isn¡¯t me. Edit: Forgot to include it, but here''s her new status window. I will also include this in the next chapter
Name Elise Burrow
Age 0 (20)
Race Lesser Changeling (Rabbit)
Level 1 (IV)
Stats Base Bonuses Total
Strength 109 0 109
Agility 286 0 286
Dexterity 274 0 274
Fortitude 107 0 107
Charisma 900 0 900
Intelligence 514 0 514
Willpower 324 0 324
Mana 463 0 463
Mana Control 508 0 508
Skills Level Description
Inspect 45 Identify the species and level of another creature
Nature Magic Affinity - As a creature of the forest, you feel a strong connection to nature and natural mana
Leap 32 Jump with additional force. Can be used again in midair. Cooldown on second jump: 5 seconds
Rune of Fate - A rune granted by !@#$%^&* that @#$%^&*. Allows the user to channel divine power. Current charges: 0/3. Cooldown: 29 days. !@#$%^&*
Dart 31 Dash quickly in any horizontal direction. Charges: 8. Cooldown: 7 seconds
Sudden Growth 16 Cause all nearby plants to grow at many times their normal rate for 3 seconds
Mana Sense 41 Sense nearby mana
Magic Missile 34 Create missiles of mana that attack your target. Current missiles: 8
Suggest 43 Plant a subtle thought or desire in the target''s mind
Prehensile Vines 28 Vines grow out of the ground in front of you. You can control them as you would your own limbs.
Charm 12 Increase a target''s attraction to you
Ensnaring Roots 21 Summon sturdy roots from the ground that wrap around the target
Fey Wings - Fold or unfold your wings
Fairy Dust 31 Release dust from your wing that either blesses or curses (user''s choice) any living creature it comes into contact with
Fey Bargaining 14 Form a contract with another creature. If either side breaks the contract, they will be cursed
Telekinesis 1 Use mana to move an object without touching it
Mimic - Copy the voice of another creature
Lesser Transformation - Transform into another species that you have encountered that is at or below your current evolutionary tier. Duration: up to 4 hours. Cooldown: 2x usage time. User¡¯s stats will be adjusted based on current form. (Note: Duration and Cooldown do not apply when transforming into prior evolutions)
Tongues - Speak and understand any language
Vicious Bloom 1 Create a magical seed. If planted, it will bloom violently when a creature steps within 1 foot of it. If thrown, it will bloom violently on contact
49 - Forms When Elise was a human on Earth, she was not what she would have considered attractive. Braces had fixed her buck teeth, and bushy hair hid her overlarge ears, but the rest of her face was still too plain to turn any heads. Her current form was anything but plain. Her hair was now the same white that her fur was, as were her eyebrows, and her eyes were the same bright red that her rabbit eyes were, but even ignoring those two aspects, everything was different. The water rippled too much to give her a perfectly clear view of herself, but she could tell that she was stunning. It was like someone had taken her original form and made every adjustment she would have made to improve her appearance. She stood up to get a better look at herself, and realized a problem: she had no clothes. There was no one around, but she still immediately covered herself with her hands. When the brief moment of panic vanished, and she realized that there was no one coming, she relaxed a bit, and actually did what she stood up to do. The rest of her body seemed largely the same. She couldn¡¯t tell for certain, but she felt the same height as before, and the rest of her features seemed to be about how she remembered them. Her skin was much smoother, and the bit of pudge she had put on since entering college was gone, but that was it. She sat back down to think about her situation. The clothes issue was a big one. She was short for a human, but that made her about the size of a tall drow, so getting clothes from them wouldn¡¯t be a problem. What would happen to the clothes when she transformed though? Ideally, they would be included in her transformation, but with the skill being labeled as ¡®Lesser¡¯, she doubted it included that feature. She had no way to carry clothes in her rabbit form, so even if she got them from the drow, if she couldn¡¯t take them with her upon transformation, she was out of luck. That wasn¡¯t something she could confirm until she went back though, and it was the middle of the night, so if she did go back, she would still have to wait. It was better to stay where she was for the time being and experiment with her abilities more. She transformed back into her changeling form to let the skill go on cooldown so she could try out more transformations. When it wore off, she then changed to a drow. It was largely the same as her human form, aside from a few key differences, like the fact that her skin was pale gray now, or that she was really short. She went from the height of a tall drow in her human form to the height of a short one in drow form. Her facial features were also a bit sharper, and she had elf ears, which turned out to be much more flexible than she would have expected. After drow, she tried out a dwarven form, and that felt truly strange. She was even shorter than she was in her drow form, but twice as broad. Walking felt more like waddling than actual walking. She felt powerful though. She kept an eye on her status window as she transformed, making mental notes of the stat differences in each. In all her forms, her Charisma remained the same, which was weird, but all the other stats changed, in some cases drastically. No matter how they changed though, the total points were always exactly 160 lower than her stats in her base form. As a human, she had slightly improved Strength, and Fortitude, and greatly improved Dexterity, but she took heavy hits to her Mana and Mana Control. As a Drow, her Agility, Dexterity and Mana were greatly improved, while she took hits everywhere else, especially in Willpower and Mana Control. As a dwarf, her Strength, Fortitude and Dexterity got much better, while everything else got worse, with Agility taking the biggest hit. Her elf form gave a moderate increase to Dexterity, a small increase to Mana Control, nothing on Strength and Fortitude, and heavy hits to every other stat, with the biggest decrease being Mana. After testing her humanoid forms, she switched to a few various monsters, starting with the cows. She was able to transform into the Lesser and normal variants, but when she tried the Greater, nothing happened. As she suspected, it was an evolution above her, and the normal variants were an evolution tier above her when she was hunting them. She transformed into a few other monsters, like a snake, a bird, and a slime (that one was really weird) before eventually growing bored. Being the cow sucked because she felt like she couldn¡¯t see anything. Having no limbs as a snake was unpleasant, and she also couldn¡¯t see anything. Being a bird was super weird, because she had two pairs of wings, and they didn¡¯t play well together. In the end though, she turned back into a human, and twiddled her thumbs for about an hour, thinking about the future. What would she do after leaving the caves? She had spent most of her new life in them. She still wanted to confirm that the Grays were safe, but was it safe for her to do that? Regardless of what Freddy¡¯s intentions were, there was no way that letting him know there were people she cared about living right under his nose was a good idea. Then again, he could find them whenever he wanted. She had foolishly told Jag that Walter killed people she cared about, and if Freddy didn''t know that already, she would be surprised. With the level of interest Freddy had shown, he had likely looked into her as much as possible, including talking to Jag. And if he knew that, it wouldn¡¯t be too hard for him to trace the incident and find the remaining Grays. He probably already knew about them. In that case, the only thing stopping her from going to see them would be wanting to stay away from Ostra. However, they were a national organization who had people like Freddy working for them. Was staying away from them even possible? If they wanted to get their hands on her, they could do it at any time. Therefore it wouldn¡¯t be any less dangerous to go the opposite direction than it would to go straight into the belly of the beast. Elise resolved herself to go to Jelor to see Sophie, but she still felt a little conflicted. She couldn¡¯t directly meet them, obviously. The only person who might have known she was anything more than an odd rabbit was Sylvanna, and she was dead. What would they say if it turned out that their old pet had not only survived what should have been a deadly attack from a powerful monster, but she was now a shapeshifting fey? She¡¯d be lucky if they didn¡¯t attack her. And going with that line of thought, would she even be able to see them at all? She would need to find a way to sneak into the city, and even then, there was no guarantee she could find them. What if they didn¡¯t go back to the university? Or what if Nick and Bianca graduated and moved away with Sophie? What if they were at the university, but it was a gated community with magical security? As she was now, she would need incredible luck. Or perhaps Fate¡­ Bad idea, she told herself. Maybe if she just went, Fate would guide her toward them, but what then? So far, the only thing Fate had guided her toward was the middle of a war zone. What if that happened again, and the Grays got stuck in the middle of something dangerous like that? A chill ran down her spine, causing her to shiver as a sudden thought struck her. Wait¡­ she thought. Was the warg¡­ Was that because of me? She had been avoiding thinking about the incident as much as possible until then, but the memories suddenly came flooding back. At some point, she had considered that the warg¡¯s presence at that house might have been at least partially due to her high Charisma, but as she lived longer in this new world, she pushed that thought aside. Her charisma was high back then, but it wasn¡¯t high enough to draw the attention of something that powerful, and hold it for that long. However, she never considered it would be because of the Rune of Fate. Was its attack that night really just coincidence? Was her first meeting with it when it was still a {Greater Frost Direwolf} coincidence? Was anything that had happened to her since arriving at the world coincidence? What if she didn¡¯t go live with the Grays? What if she just kept running away from Sophie instead of trying to make friends? What if she just left them after a day or two, instead of getting comfortable living as a house pet? Would they still be alive? What if the same thing happened when she went to visit them again? What if her going back to Jelor brought another Fate-induced calamity down on the Grays. She would feel bad if she did that to anyone, but especially if something happened to them again. She slapped her cheeks and shook her head. Those thoughts were ridiculous. If she brought ¡°Fate-induced calamity¡± wherever she went, why wasn¡¯t it appearing for the dwarves and drow? If anything, she had prevented calamity with her presence there. Maybe the warg was Fate. Maybe it wasn¡¯t. However, stopping Emilia was definitely at least partially due to Fate. Then again, it was the warg¡¯s attack that had driven her into the dwarves and drow¡­ ¡°System, what is Fate?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. You do not have permission to receive that information.¡± She sighed. She was a fool for even hoping for anything else. Something about the way the System spoke though felt strangely reassuring. There was an answer. It just wasn¡¯t allowed to tell her. But if she thought through it well enough on her own, she might be able to find the answer. The way she saw it, Fate was one of two things. It was either a simple prediction of the future, or it was a set path that the future would have to follow. Neither answer was comforting. If the future was predetermined, did her actions even matter? Of course they do, she wanted to say. They had to. But she couldn¡¯t be sure. She laid down on her back and looked up at the ceiling. She suddenly didn¡¯t want to do anything. She knew she had to return to the drow at some point and try to see if she could take clothes with her when she transformed. She knew she had to visit Greta again. She had to let Hallbjorn know whether she would be attending the feast. She knew she had to prepare to leave and say her goodbyes. But it all just felt so meaningless. She didn¡¯t know how long she lay there, nor did she remember turning back into her changeling form, but at some point she closed her eyes, and when she opened them again she was on her stomach again, and back to being a rabbit. ¡°Elise,¡± said a voice. Elise jumped to her feet and turned around to find herself face to face with a woman so golden she glowed. ¡°T-Titania?¡± ¡°Hello, dear,¡± said the woman. Elise waited a few seconds to see if she would wake up like she always did when Titania appeared, but nothing happened. ¡°Are you- are you here?¡± she asked. ¡°Only in your dream,¡± said the goddess. ¡°Why am I not waking up like last time?¡± ¡°Last time, you could not handle more than a few seconds. This time, you are stronger. You will have a minute. I believe you have questions for me.¡± ¡°I-¡± Elise hesitated. ¡°What is Fate?¡± ¡°Fate is what is.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°You would not understand if I told you right now. But you will someday. Just be patient.¡± Elise was frustrated with that answer, but she was on a time limit and knew pressing further wouldn¡¯t get her a better one. ¡°What is the Rune of Fate?¡± ¡°The Rune of Fate marks those who guide Fate.¡± ¡°And what does that mean?¡± Titania smiled. ¡°Your time is running out. I believe there is one more question that you wanted to ask.¡± Elise wanted to shout about how unfair it was, but Titania was right. The other questions were just roundabout ways to try to get to the bottom of the real question burning a hole in her chest. ¡°Was what happened to the Grays my fault?¡± ¡°Did you force that warg to attack them?¡± ¡°No, but I have the Rune of Fate and-¡± ¡°-the timing¡­¡± Elise was awake again, still in the same chamber, but now alone. She was frustrated at how little information she had gotten, but at the same time she was comforted. The answer to the final question wasn¡¯t a clear ¡°no¡±, but it was about as close as she could have hoped for. She definitely didn¡¯t force the warg to attack the Grays, so according to Titania, it wasn¡¯t her fault they died. That didn¡¯t tell her anything about how the Rune of Fate was involved though. She didn¡¯t even want to start trying to decipher the cryptic answers she got on that topic. It was sure to give her a headache, and if Titania was to be trusted, she would find the answer on her own eventually. For now, she had other things to do. She was a bit surprised at how easily she was able to mentally switch tracks, but after talking with Titania, she felt strangely energized and optimistic. She didn¡¯t care as much about Fate. Whether it was changing things around her or not, what was she going to do about it? All she could do was move forward, and prepare herself for anything that might get thrown her way. Back in the drow¡¯s main cavern, it was midday. Elise had slept for long enough that despite falling asleep in her human form, her transformation skill was already off cooldown. That worked out perfectly for her, since she needed it to test out her experiments with clothing. Her return to the cavern brought a fair amount of curious onlookers to gawk at her new form. A few of them called and waved to her, and she responded by dropping some blessed {Fairy Dust} on their heads before continuing on her way to Naomi¡¯s hut. ¡°Elise, you¡¯re back!¡± said Naomi, emerging from her hut after sensing Elise¡¯s approach. ¡°You¡¯ve gotten bigger!¡± ¡°I have,¡± agreed Elise. ¡°I have another favor to ask you, if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Of course!¡± said Naomi. ¡°What do you need?¡± ¡°Clothes.¡± Stat sheets for all humanoid forms: I''m only including the stat portions to save space, since the skills remain the same Base Form:
Name Elise Burrow
Age 0 (20)
Race Lesser Changeling (Rabbit)
Level 1 (IV)
Stats Base Bonuses Total
Strength 109 0 109
Agility 286 0 286
Dexterity 274 0 274
Fortitude 107 0 107
Charisma 900 0 900
Intelligence 514 0 514
Willpower 324 0 324
Mana 463 0 463
Mana Control 508 0 508
Human Form:Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Name Elise Burrow
Age 0 (20)
Race Human
Level 1 (IV)
Stats Base Bonuses Total
Strength 109 10 119
Agility 286 -30 256
Dexterity 274 50 324
Fortitude 107 10 117
Charisma 900 0 900
Intelligence 514 -50 464
Willpower 324 -50 274
Mana 463 -50 413
Mana Control 508 -50 458
Drow Form:
Name Elise Burrow
Age 0 (20)
Race Drow
Level 1 (IV)
Stats Base Bonuses Total
Strength 109 -10 99
Agility 286 50 336
Dexterity 274 20 294
Fortitude 107 -10 97
Charisma 900 0 900
Intelligence 514 -60 454
Willpower 324 -100 224
Mana 463 50 513
Mana Control 508 -100 408
Dwarf Form:
Name Elise Burrow
Age 0 (20)
Race Dwarf
Level 1 (IV)
Stats Base Bonuses Total
Strength 109 40 149
Agility 286 -100 186
Dexterity 274 40 314
Fortitude 107 60 167
Charisma 900 0 900
Intelligence 514 -60 454
Willpower 324 -40 284
Mana 463 -50 413
Mana Control 508 -50 458
Elf Form:
Name Elise Burrow
Age 0 (20)
Race Elf
Level 1 (IV)
Stats Base Bonuses Total
Strength 109 0 109
Agility 286 -30 256
Dexterity 274 50 324
Fortitude 107 0 107
Charisma 900 0 900
Intelligence 514 -50 464
Willpower 324 -50 274
Mana 463 -100 363
Mana Control 508 20 528
50 - Clothes It turned out that Naomi was not the person to ask about clothes. She had exactly 3 sets of them and wore each for two months at a time before changing. Although she claimed they had magical cleaning abilities to keep them from getting too dirty, it still made Elise cringe a bit. Fortunately, Nicole overheard their conversation and volunteered to bring Elise to someone who did know about clothes. The Elder Marielle was the tribe¡¯s head seamstress and leatherworker, and most of the clothes worn by the tribe¡¯s higher-ups were made by her. She lived at the base of the Mother Tree in one of the largest alcoves. There was a leather curtain covering the entire area, with an almost airtight seal around the edge. There was a group of younger drow gathered outside it, practicing their own sewing when Elise and Nicole arrived. ¡°Lady Elise?¡± The speaker was one of the older drow in the area. She was a bit past middle aged, but still looked hale and hearty. She was working on what looked like another curtain, but set it aside immediately and stood up as she spoke. ¡°My name is Monica,¡± she said. ¡°How can I help you?¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, Monica,¡± said Elise. ¡°We¡¯re here to see Marielle?¡± ¡°Me?¡± said another voice. A moment later, the curtain was pulled back and an old woman shuffled outside. She was not the oldest of the Elders, but she had at least 20 years on Monica, and walked with a slight hunch. Elise had only seen her twice before, once around when she first arrived, and again just a few days prior while negotiating the treaty. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again, Lady Elise,¡± she said. ¡°You look different. Did you evolve?¡± ¡°I did.¡± ¡°Congratulations!¡± said the old woman with a smile. ¡°Is that related to what you needed me for?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± confirmed Elise. ¡°I¡¯m a Changeling now, so I need some clothes.¡± ¡°Clothes? And you want me to make them?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to if-¡± ¡°It would be an honor!¡± said Marielle, looking excited. ¡°Come inside! I¡¯ll get you sorted out.¡± She held the curtain open wider, and Elise flew inside. The interior was a lot cozier than she imagined. She had only ever stayed in empty alcoves away from all the drow, so she didn¡¯t fully realize what it meant to live in one. The room was split in two by a wooden wall that seemed to have grown naturally. On the left, there was a bed, and a small wooden plateau where a few random items like a lantern and some stone tools sat. On the right, there was a table, also growing straight from the ground, with more tools and leather on it. There were rolls and rolls of material piled up around the edges, and there were completed clothing articles hanging from small, root-like hooks sprouting from the ceiling. How does that work? Thought Elise. Did she have some nature mage come in and make those for her, or did the tree do it on its own? Were all the drow cubbies like this, or was this just the luxury afforded an Elder? Marielle shuffled over to the right side, and dug through the pile of rolled up material until she finally emerged with one that, to Elise, looked identical to the others. It was the same purple leather as the rest, and the only difference she could maybe spot was that it was thinner. She also grabbed a roll of some kind of fabric that was the same shade of blue as the grass outside. How that got made into fabric, Elise had no idea. ¡°Come here,¡± said Marielle. ¡°Can you transform right now?¡± ¡°I can,¡± said Elise. ¡°Should I?¡± ¡°Yes, if you would. I need to take your measurements.¡± Elise hesitated for a second, checking the curtain behind her before obliging. She wasn¡¯t that embarrassed about undressing in front of the old woman, but there were some men outside. Even if there weren¡¯t any men, she still wouldn¡¯t have felt comfortable exposing herself to so many people. ¡°Hmm,¡± said Marielle. ¡°Shorter than I thought. That¡¯s good. Won¡¯t need as much material. Alright, I¡¯ve got what I needed. If you want, you can turn back now.¡± Elise did so immediately. She mostly trusted the drow, but there was always the chance that someone like Jean would appear to accidentally do something foolish out of ignorance. ¡°It¡¯s been years since I made anything for a fey. What do you want? Something fancy? Something for hunting? Nightclothes?¡± ¡°Just something comfortable,¡± said Elise. ¡°For general use. Nothing fancy.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Marielle turned to her desk and stared blankly for a few seconds, then waved her hand, and the mana around them started moving. First, the blue fabric unrolled in midair, and started cutting itself. Elise watched in fascination as the fabric spun and sliced and twisted in midair, until suddenly, it was a set of underwear. She had no idea how that happened, as it hadn¡¯t looked anything like underwear until that moment, but she didn¡¯t have time to process it before it was set down and the same process began with the leather. Two minutes after it started, Mariell had created a full outfit, almost identical to the skirt and tube top combination most of the other drow women wore. There were a few small differences, mostly in the edges of the fabric, which were sewn in patterns noticeably more intricate than anything else Elise had seen, but it wasn¡¯t anything over the top. ¡°Try it on,¡± suggested Marielle. Elise looked back at the curtain, then transformed again. She put her new clothes on as quickly as possible without looking like she was in a rush. They were surprisingly comfortable. She hadn¡¯t been expecting that they would be bad, but she still wasn¡¯t prepared for how well they fit, and how soft the leather and blue fabric felt. She was starting to think that it was a shame there wasn¡¯t a mirror so she could see how she looked when Marielle waved her hand and one appeared. It wasn¡¯t a true mirror, since Elise could sense that it was made entirely out of mana, but it functioned the same. She turned and looked at the outfit from all angles. She looked every bit like a normal drow girl, aside from her eyes. If she managed to explain that properly, she would have no trouble fitting in as a drow. As long as she didn¡¯t stay longer than 4 hours. ¡°I¡¯m going to transform back now,¡± said Elise. ¡°I don¡¯t fully know how this skill works, but I think that the clothes will probably fall off.¡± ¡°They can handle a bit of dirt,¡± said Marielle. ¡°It¡¯s nothing powerful, but they have a bit of self-cleaning and self-repair magic.¡± Elise focused with {Mana Sense} and noticed that there was indeed some mana within the clothes. She took one final look in the mana mirror, then deactivated {Lesser Transformation}. To her surprise, when her drow form vanished, so too did the clothes. ¡°Oh!¡± she said. ¡°It worked!¡± ¡°Will they come back if you turn back into a drow?¡± asked Marielle. ¡°I hope so,¡± said Elise. ¡°But the skill is on cooldown now. It will be 10 minutes before I can turn back.¡± ¡°Ah, cooldowns,¡± said Marielle. ¡°That¡¯s a shame.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± There was awkward silence for a few moments before Marielle spoke again. ¡°So, I hear you¡¯re leaving us soon.¡± ¡°...Yeah,¡± said Elise. ¡°I have some things I need to do.¡± ¡°Do you mind if I ask what they are?¡± ¡°There are some people that I need to see. Before I got down here, they took care of me. Then we were separated. I need to make sure they¡¯re safe. And also¡­ nevermind.¡± Elise almost mentioned getting revenge on the warg, but decided against it. ¡°Will you come back when you¡¯re done?¡± asked Marielle. ¡°Well¡­¡± started Elise. ¡°I see,¡± said Marielle. ¡°Well, we¡¯ll miss you.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll come back to visit,¡± said Elise quickly. ¡°But I won¡¯t stay.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t want to be tied down?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± ¡°Fair enough,¡± said Marielle. ¡°I heard that in the past, the fey didn¡¯t stay with us long. I thought it was a blessing from Titania that Emilia stayed as long as she did¡­ Well, at least now things will return to how they¡¯re supposed to be. Maybe we¡¯ll reveal ourselves to the world. We¡¯ll get a few more fey visitors that way. With Emilia dead, and you and Jean leaving, we¡¯ll be a feyless tribe, and no drow tribe should ever be feyless.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Wait, Jean is leaving?¡± ¡°He already left,¡± said Marielle. ¡°He almost did it quietly, but he stopped to say goodbye to Carol this morning, and word¡¯s gotten around since then.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± said Elise. ¡°He said he was going to join some group. He said that the golden man invited him to join when he was there.¡± ¡°I see,¡± said Elise. I have a bad feeling about this. Inherently, there wasn¡¯t anything too wrong with what had happened. Logically, it made sense that Freddy would try to recruit Jean to Ostra. But with what she knew about Ostra, and what she didn¡¯t know about Freddy, there was a lot of potential for disaster there. Jean would at least be safe though, assuming he made it. If he didn¡¯t, there wasn¡¯t anything Elise could do about it. She was still half-tempted to try to chase after him and stop him, but there were too many ways that could go badly. Freddy could have arranged an escort for the young pixie, and Elise might end up in a dangerous confrontation, or she might catch up and fail to change his mind, or she might run into Freddy himself. Or, more likely, she wouldn¡¯t be able to find him at all, and she would just be wasting her time. ¡°Do you know anything about that group?¡± asked Marielle. ¡°No,¡± Elise lied. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s a shame. I¡¯m worried about him. He is a Great Fey, but he¡¯s younger than my granddaughter. I¡¯m worried he¡¯s getting involved in something he¡¯s not prepared for.¡± ¡°Yeah, probably,¡± said Elise. ¡°I hope he¡¯ll come back someday though,¡± she said. ¡°But I¡¯m also afraid that he won¡¯t. He was too close to Emilia. He doesn¡¯t understand what happened. The golden man said he believed our side, but¡­ He¡¯s suspicious. I don¡¯t trust him. He may have ended the war, but he definitely didn¡¯t do it for altruistic reasons. I wish I knew what he wanted.¡± ¡°I wish I knew too,¡± said Elise. Marielle talked for a bit longer about various drow happenings until {Lesser Transformation} came back off cooldown. The skill worked exactly as they hoped it would, and Elise¡¯s clothes were still present in her drow form. ¡°Oh, it worked again!¡± said Marielle. ¡°Perfect!¡± said Elise. ¡°Hold on¡­¡± She doubted it would work, but now that she knew her transformations maintained her clothes, she had to see if it could maintain them across forms. She was about to turn back into her base form so she could switch to an elf next, when a thought occurred to her. Nowhere in the skill description did it say that she had to go back to her base form before transforming again. She tried transforming into an elf, and she was surprised again when it actually worked. Unfortunately, her clothes did not transfer over. ¡°Oh!¡± said Marielle. ¡°Do you need another set? I¡¯ll whip one right up for you.¡± ¡°Ye- wait, actually, no,¡± she said. ¡°No?¡± ¡°Not for this form,¡± said Elise. Her clothes worked well on her drow form, but if she walked into Jelor wearing that, she would be turning heads, and not for good reasons. It would look extremely out of place. It might have been fine for dealing with other drow, but she would not fit in at all in other humanoid societies. She could go to the dwarves for clothes like that. Their fashion was dated compared to what she had seen on her brief trip to the big city, but it was much closer to normal than the drows¡¯ clothes. ¡°Are you sure?¡± asked Marielle, looking disappointed. ¡°Yes,¡± replied Elise. ¡°Thank you for the offer though.¡± She turned back into her base form. ¡°And thank you for the clothes.¡± ¡°Anything for a Great Fey,¡± said Marielle. ¡°Are you leaving now?¡± ¡°Not for good yet,¡± said Elise. ¡°I just have someone else I need to go see." ¡°Well, have a good time,¡± said the old woman, shuffling forward to open the curtain for her. As soon as she flew outside every single drow in the area snapped their attention to her. Their number had almost tripled since she entered too. When they saw her still looking like a rabbit, many of them looked disappointed. Elise considered just flying away anyway, but instead, she slowly drifted to the ground as her cooldown ticked away, then turned back into a drow. She stayed for a few minutes, basking in the oohs and ahs, then thanked Marielle again before turning back to her rabbit form and flying away. She stopped by the center of the Mother Tree to see if Salome was awake (she wasn¡¯t), stopped by Naomi¡¯s hut to show Naomi her new drow form, then made her way to the dwarves. Hallbjorn¡¯s message to let her through had evidently been heard loud and clear. When she reached what used to be the wall, the guards nodded her direction, but otherwise ignored her. The damage Freddy had done to the city had now been mostly cleaned up. All the debris from the wall was piled up along the edges of the cave, but since the dwarves were planning on leaving within the next couple weeks, it wasn¡¯t worth moving it anywhere else. The sounds of the city had returned as well, with dwarves on the streets, talking and laughing and working hard to take care of whatever business remained before they left their homes forever. Elise was a bit surprised at how quickly the people seemed to be recovering from the near war they had, but she supposed the almost complete lack of casualties helped with that. When they saw her flying overhead, many of them pointed at her, and said things that she didn¡¯t try to hear. Most of it didn¡¯t sound angry, but she knew that listening to whatever it was would only hurt her if she heard the wrong thing, so she tuned it out while she made her way to the main castle. The guards at the gate gave her even less trouble than the ones at the city entrance, even going as far as to summon an escort for her into the king¡¯s office. It was mid-morning by that time, so the king was well into his administrative work, but as soon as she entered, he smiled and set down his pen. ¡°Elise, welcome,¡± he said. He looked much better than he had the last time they spoke. He was not quite back to usual, but he didn¡¯t look like he was about to keel over at any moment anymore. His healer was still there, but he looked more relaxed as well, no longer hovering over the king¡¯s shoulder as if expecting him to almost die if he looked the wrong way. ¡°Hallbjorn,¡± said Elise. ¡°I have a small favor to ask.¡± ¡°Of course!¡± he said. ¡°Anything. Also, did you evolve? You¡¯re bigger now. Also, your accent is gone.¡± ¡°Yes I did,¡± she replied. ¡°I¡¯m a changeling now. And that brings me to my request. Do you know any seamstresses or tailors? I can transform now, but I need clothes.¡± ¡°Not a problem,¡± he said. ¡°I have someone in mind. By the way, did you think about my request from last time?¡± ¡°A bit,¡± said Elise. ¡°And? Will you attend?¡± ¡°I-¡± she hesitated. ¡°I will. But I might not stay long.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± he said. ¡°If you¡¯re uncomfortable, you can leave whenever you¡¯d like. But I¡¯ve figured out the perfect reward for you, and I wanted to present it at the feast. Now, I¡¯ll get to do that!¡± He grinned, and Elise suddenly became curious. What could it be? He had picked it out before he knew she could transform, so he would have picked something that even a rabbit could use. That meant it was probably a necklace or something similar that she didn¡¯t need hands to hold or use. And if it was a rune-enchanted artifact of the dwarves, it was bound to be something powerful. Maybe it was something that would enhance her magic abilities. Something like Sindri¡¯s axes to let her absorb mana from the air more easily. Or maybe it would be a protection amulet. Maybe they had something that would let her cast other spells. Her evolution route was unfortunately taking her down a path that seemed inclined toward non-magical means of problem-solving. A new spell from an amulet would be nice. ¡°What is it?¡± she asked. ¡°It¡¯s a surprise,¡± he said. ¡°But I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll find it very convenient and useful.¡± ¡°...Can you give me a hint?¡± ¡°No,¡± he said, still smiling. ¡°Unless you really really want the hint. If you did, I would give it to you, but I would like it to be a surprise.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m expecting something incredible now.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t be disappointed. Anyway, clothes. We can probably get that sorted out right now. Our seamstresses are working hard to prepare clothing that can handle the weathers of the surface, but I know a tailor who would be able to squeeze in a quick outfit for you.¡± ¡°Uh, I was hoping for more than one.¡± ¡°How many?¡± ¡°One for my human, dwarf, elf, and half elf forms. And maybe a couple others.¡± ¡°One, four, ten. It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± he said. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t take more than an hour.¡± ¡°Perfect.¡± Hallbjorn pushed aside whatever paper he was working on and grabbed a blank one and scribbled something on it. He stared at the paper for a few seconds, then scribbled something else before pushing it aside. Elise sensed a bit of mana from the paper while he wrote and while he waited, so she assumed that he had sent a message somewhere. ¡°The tailor should be ready soon, and I¡¯ll have an escort show you the way. Now, I hate to keep doing this, but I have a lot to do, so¡­¡± ¡°No worries,¡± said Elise. ¡°Thanks for everything.¡± ¡°No problem at all. I¡¯ll see you tomorrow night at sunset.¡± ¡°See you then.¡± The dwarven tailor that Hallbjorn had in mind was an older woman named Selma. Selma was nowhere near as enthusiastic as Marielle was, but if she was displeased about her orders, she didn¡¯t show it. She did get exasperated when Elise asked for clothes for her giant form though. In the end, it was just as Hallbjorn said, and all the clothes took no more than an hour to make, leaving Elise with the rest of her day wide open. She went back to the castle briefly, but Greta was asleep, and the healer said it was better to let her remain that way, so Elise went back to the drow cave. There was no more danger left in the dwarven cave, but there was still nowhere near as much to do. Anything she could do there, she could do in the Mother Tree cave, and that atmosphere was much more pleasant. Elise spent the rest of the day with the drow. She greeted Salome when she woke up, did some mana meditation with Naomi, spent a bit of time playing with the drow children in her drow form, and when she was all socialled out, she went out hunting again. She was starting to outgrow the cave. By this point, the Lessers gave almost no experience, and the normal ones didn¡¯t give much more. The Greaters were still viable targets, but after her evolution, even they didn¡¯t provide too much of a challenge. Their lone eye was too great a weakness, and the extra hundred points in her mana stats made exploiting that weakness trivial. Still, they were a tier above her, so they didn¡¯t give nothing. After killing two of them, and a dozen of the smaller ones, she finally earned another level. However, this hunting strategy wasn¡¯t something she could continue. For one, the diminishing returns would reach the point where doing so would provide no benefits. For two, the drow could only eat so much meat. She might have even overdone it just right then. More than a dozen cows was a lot of meat. If they feasted every day for the next week or two, maybe they could finish it all off, but if Elise did the same again the next day, or the day after, she would overload their stores. She used {Telekinesis} to help them bring the meat back to the Mother Tree, and by then, it was night time, so she found an empty alcove and curled up. She half-hoped that Titania would visit her in her sleep again so she could ask more about Fate, but the goddess did not appear, nor did anything else of import. The next day, Elise spent most of her time with the drow. She spent a few hours in her drow form again, turning back into her regular form in time that the cooldown would wear off by the time the dwarf feast started. She didn¡¯t know if she wanted to attend as a dwarf or as herself, but she wanted to at least have the option. When the time of the feast finally arrived, she found herself getting nervous. Would it really be fine if she went? Logically, the dwarves had no reason to hate her anymore. However, centuries of mistrust and hatred for fey couldn¡¯t be washed away in a few days, no matter how significant of an event had occurred. Whatever Hallbjorn did to reward her at the feast would probably help her case a little bit, but even so, it most likely wouldn¡¯t be comfortable for her. However, she had already promised she would go, and she wasn¡¯t one to go back on her word. Ten minutes before dwarven sunset, she emerged from the tunnel and entered Dokkalfheimr. 51 - Reward There was no place in the city large enough to host a feast for all its residents, so instead, the feast was split into different sections, each one taking one of the major streets leading to the castle. There was no longer any room to drive a cart, because there were thousands of tables and chairs all arranged in neat patterns in the streets. Elise was amazed that they had managed to accomplish such a feat in so little time. She had seen no evidence that any such thing was being prepared when she was there the day before. Many of the nearest buildings to the feast had been converted into kitchens, and she could see smoke rising from the chimneys and could smell the food even from a hundred feet in the air. Most of the dwarves were already seated, and when they started pointing up at her in the sky, Elise realized she had made a mistake. She was so used to flying high to stay out of reach and out of earshot that she hadn¡¯t even considered how grand of an entrance that would make. It was too late to change her mind now though. She glanced around until she spotted Hallbjorn sitting at a higher table with most of his Councilors right in front of the castle gate. He waved to her and she flew down to meet him. She considered dropping some {Fairy Dust} on the heads of the dwarves below her, but was worried about some of the more suspicious dwarves reacting negatively, so she decided against it. ¡°Quite the entrance,¡± remarked Hallbjorn. ¡°Here, I reserved this seat for you.¡± He patted a cushioned chair on his left side. Johann was sitting on his right, looking at her with poorly-hidden mistrust. Elise set down on the stool, then turned to face the king. ¡°Should I switch to my dwarf form?¡± she asked, as quietly as she could. ¡°Whichever is more comfortable for you,¡± he said, beaming. Elise hesitated for a moment, then transformed into her dwarf form. There was a ripple of gasping and whispering when she did this, and she saw Josef¡¯s eyes threaten to pop out of his skull a bit further down the table. The whispering increased to muttering, which then increased to regular-volume talking, and a moment later, it felt like she was drowning in sound. Without her rabbit ears, she couldn¡¯t pick out anything specific they were saying, but she doubted it was anything good. Maybe that wasn¡¯t a good idea. She looked up to her right to see Hallbjorn staring at her, his mouth slightly ajar. ¡°What?¡± she asked. ¡°Nothing,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re just younger than I thought you would be.¡± ¡°How old do I look?¡± ¡°Not more than 20. Only a couple years older than Johann¡­¡± He glanced over at his son, who was also staring at Elise in surprise. ¡°No,¡± said Elise. ¡°No, what?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± ¡°Well, now that the centerpiece is here, I believe it¡¯s time we begin. No point in waiting when we¡¯re all hungry.¡± He stood up, which most of the dwarves didn¡¯t notice, but then he tapped his crown, and a low rumble spread throughout the city bringing all conversations to a halt. ¡°I will keep this brief, because I know we all want to eat!¡± His voice didn¡¯t sound amplified to Elise, but she could feel subtle waves of mana, and even the furthest dwarves seemed to be paying close attention. ¡°Not only is the war over, but we are all alive to see its end. Not even in our most fantastic dreams did we imagine such a thing was possible. ¡°This peace was only possible due to the help of Elise, who is now sitting beside me. She did not know us. She had no reason to care for us. She was cursed at and despised by many of us throughout her stay. And yet, she still risked her life, and sustained injuries greater than almost all of us. Without her, we would still be fighting and dying from a war that none of us started. ¡°Such a great feat is worthy of some kind of reward. She saved countless lives, and with no expectation of any benefit. I spent many hours thinking about what the perfect reward would be, until I stumbled across something in the treasury that I had forgotten existed. I knew there would be no better gift to our savior.¡± He reached into his pocket and pulled out an unassuming metal chain necklace. ¡°Elise, for your bravery and sacrifice, and for saving the lives of my people, I present to you, Astrid¡¯s Star!¡± There was a collective gasp from the dwarven crowd, followed by intense muttering. Elise looked nervously at them, then back up at Hallbjorn, who was smiling and holding the necklace up. Elise realized that he wanted to present it to her properly, so she quickly got out of her seat, and stood facing him. He lowered the necklace down over her head slowly until it was around her neck, and Elise flipped her hair out from underneath it. The metal chain felt cool against her skin, and a bit heavier than she expected, but otherwise, nothing happened. She could sense the faintest of mana within it, but it was so minute that she had no clue what it was doing. ¡°Now, without further ado, let¡¯s begin the feast,¡± said Hallbjorn, turning back to the people. ¡°Bring out the food!¡± The dwarves all cheered, but Elise thought it sounded a bit subdued, and she could still feel hundreds, if not thousands of pairs of eyes pointed at her. She sat down as graciously as she could while Hallbjorn did the same, and dwarves carrying plates of food came rushing out of the nearby buildings. ¡°So, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be wanting an explanation,¡± said Hallbjorn, his eyes pointed at her neck. ¡°Yes, please,¡± said Elise. ¡°What is Astrid¡¯s Star? It seems like a big deal.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because it is,¡± he replied. ¡°Astrid¡¯s Star is a relic from ancient times, before Old Dokkalfheimr was founded, and before the gods even gifted us the System.¡± ¡°Before the System?¡± Elise had kind of accepted that the System was just a part of the world, but hearing that that was not always the case immediately made sense to her. She wondered how the evolution would have worked back then, if it worked at all, but she doubted she would get answers, right then. ¡°Yes, before the System,¡± Hallbjorn confirmed. ¡°It was created using runesmithing techniques that have since been lost to time, and as far as we know, have yet to be replicated by the System. For this reason, it also does not play well with the System. Appraisal techniques do not work properly on it. They can only see the value of the metalwork, but not the runes within. ¡°It is said to have been made with metal from a fallen star, and forged deep inside a volcano where the heat is too intense even for dragons. It¡¯s supposedly indestructible, though of course we¡¯ve never tested that. On top of not being able to be correctly appraised, it also has an unassuming appearance, meaning you can freely wear it in public and not risk being targeted because of it.¡± ¡°What can it do?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Within that necklace is an extra-dimensional space. You can store things inside it with just a thought. As long as you¡¯re touching it, you can put it into the space within the necklace. Of course, there are limits. It can only hold about three dwarves. And that¡¯s volume, mind you. You can put something big and wide and flat in, if you want.¡± ¡°I can put people in it?¡± ¡°Only if they wish to be put in it. Or if they are unconscious. Sleep doesn¡¯t count. Anything inside is preserved in the exact state that it entered in, so if you put food inside, it will not spoil as long as it remains in the necklace. If you put a person inside, when they emerge, to them it will seem that no time has passed. ¡°There is a legend associated with the necklace involving that exact feature. The legendary warrior king Sindri, for whom Royal Guard Captain Sindri is named, loved his wife Astrid very much. However, she was kidnapped by a Demon King. Sindri was confident that he could fight his way into the demon¡¯s lair to his wife, but he had no way to bring her out safely, which is why the Demon King assumed he was safe. Sindri had his best craftsman work for two months straight with no rest until Astrid¡¯s Star was complete. Sindri broke into the castle, and once Astrid was safe within the necklace, he razed the castle to the ground. The necklace was given to her as a gift afterward.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ incredible,¡± said Elise. ¡°How do I use it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s simple,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°But be careful. I put a little something extra inside to help you out, so don¡¯t take it out here. All you have to do is imagine things entering or leaving the necklace, and they will do so. You can also focus on it and see what is currently inside it.¡± He picked up a fork from the table. ¡°Why don¡¯t you try it with this?¡± Elise took the fork from him, and imagined it going inside the necklace. The fork vanished immediately, and she blinked in surprise. She focused on the necklace like he told her, and suddenly, she felt like her awareness was sucked inside it. It was similar to her mana meditation, but instantaneous, and rather than feeling mana, she was feeling physical objects.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. In addition to the fork she had just sent inside, there were a few hundred gold coins, a cloak, a sword, a knife, and a few other various tools. None of them seemed particularly special, but they all seemed well-made and useful. ¡°Wow,¡± she said, pulling herself out of the necklace. ¡°If you want to take it out, just imagine it appearing somewhere within arm¡¯s reach. You can¡¯t make it appear inside of something else, and you have to be able to see it when it emerges.¡± Elise looked at the table, and a moment later, the fork was right back where it had been before Hallbjorn picked it up. ¡°Like I said, simple, right?¡± he said, smiling. ¡°Hallbjorn, I- I don¡¯t know if I can take something like this,¡± she said. ¡°Among dwarves, it¡¯s considered rude to turn down a gift. And it¡¯s especially rude to reject a gift from a king.¡± Elise couldn¡¯t remember ever learning anything like that when Greta was teaching her about Dwarven culture. ¡°But it seems so valuable,¡± said Elise. ¡°And it has so much history.¡± ¡°Aye,¡± agreed Hallbjorn. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m giving it to you. I¡¯m a king. I live with my people. As valuable as it is, what use do I have for something like that? It¡¯s been collecting dust in storage for centuries, and it will continue to do so even after we reach the surface. This is an item that needs to travel to see its full worth, and it won¡¯t do any of that if I keep it. You¡¯ll use it better than I ever could.¡± ¡°But what if someone gets a disease or injury that can¡¯t be treated immediately, and you need this to get them to safety without worsening it?¡± ¡°You¡¯re far more likely to encounter a situation like that than I am.¡± ¡°You could give it to a healer, or one of your warriors.¡± ¡°And when would they use it? If a healer can¡¯t save them without the necklace, using the necklace will only be delaying the inevitable. And I don¡¯t plan on getting into any more wars any time soon. It would just be collecting dust on someone¡¯s neck instead of in storage. You are going to get more use out of it than I will. Now stop protesting and just take it.¡± ¡°But-¡± ¡°No more buts. I won¡¯t hear them. Astrid¡¯s Star is yours and that¡¯s that.¡± Elise hesitated. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Good,¡± said Hallbjorn, nodding. ¡°Now, we¡¯ve wasted enough time. Let¡¯s eat.¡± While they talked, a server had laid out trays piled high with steaming food in front of them. There was a special mushroom dish right in front of Elise, but she found her eyes wandering toward the meat dishes. System, can Lesser Rabbit Changelings eat meat? ¡°Lesser Rabbit Changelings cannot metabolize meat. However, if they are in another form their dietary restrictions will be the same as that which they are mimicking.¡± What happens to the food that¡¯s in the middle of being digested when I transform back? ¡°Sorry. You don¡¯t have access to that information.¡± That was an unfortunate mystery, and Elise had a feeling that finding out the answer the hard way wouldn¡¯t be pleasant, but did that mean she was going to pass up on an opportunity to eat meat for the first time in months? Absolutely not! She reached over and helped herself to a large serving of whatever kind of meat was on the plate. It was cut into cubes and drenched in a sweet-smelling sauce whose scent she didn¡¯t recognize. It tasted a bit like pork, but with a texture closer to beef, and the sauce tasted more or less like teriyaki. It was every bit as delicious as she hoped it would be. Throughout the meal, there were always a few dozen pairs of eyes looking her direction, but with a stomach full of meat and a half hour of no one bothering her, she was in too good a mood to let that bring her down. Hallbjorn occasionally made a bit of small talk with her, but for the most part, both of them were too engrossed in their food to say much. When she had finally eaten her fill, she leaned back in her chair and let out a satisfied sigh. She might regret eating so much meat when she transformed back, but for the time being, she was feeling good. She had prevented the war, and saved many lives. Even if it wasn¡¯t all her work, Hallbjorn was right. It would have been impossible without her. Freddy and the rest of Ostra would still be a problem, but it seemed they had no intention of dealing with her at the moment, so she was safe. She had finally gotten a humanoid form, though it wasn¡¯t quite as good as she hoped it would be. There was still a long way to go before she was truly satisfied, but it was infinitely better than before. Between that and her freedom, she felt like she could go anywhere. First to Jelor to check in on the Grays, then somewhere else to continue leveling. Back when she was first planning on leaving the dwarves, she was planning on leaving and heading south to the Jungle. That seemed as good a plan now as it did then, so she saw no reason to change it. After checking in with Sophie, it would be off to the Jungle until she had gotten as much as she could from there, and then¡­ She would figure something out. ¡°So, are you going to be leaving now?¡± asked Hallbjorn, tearing her from her thoughts. ¡°Not yet,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m going to wait to see you get to the surface, then I¡¯ll leave.¡± He nodded. ¡°Well, as I said before, if you need anything, feel free to ask.¡± I won¡¯t be asking for anything for a long time, thought Elise, fidgeting with her new necklace. ¡°Okay,¡± she said. ¡°And if you need any help from me, you can feel free to ask me too.¡± ¡°I might have to take you up on that,¡± said Hallbjorn. The rest of the feast went by without too much more of note. The alcohol had been brought out just after the food, so the dwarves were starting to get drunk, but the drunken antics didn¡¯t extend quite to her. The Councilors held positions of respect and power, so they couldn¡¯t be seen making drunken fools of themselves. Not until everyone else was already making drunken fools of themselves, at least, and Elise didn¡¯t stick around long enough to see that. She thanked Hallbjorn profusely for the meal and the reward, then stood up preparing to leave. Right before she was about to transform back, she realized that she had almost forgotten something important: Greta. She had known that the old woman was on a strict order for bed rest, and that she wasn¡¯t able to attend the feast already, but she couldn¡¯t just leave without greeting her at least. She walked back from the table into the castle. The few guards who were still on duty eyed her warily, but Hallbjorn noticed what she was doing and made a motion at them, and they looked the other way. Compared to the noise of the party outside, the inside of the castle felt eerily silent. The effect was amplified by the fact that she was still in her dwarf form, so she didn¡¯t have the rabbit hearing she had become accustomed to. As she walked the familiar halls toward where Greta was staying, the only sounds she heard were the echoes of her own footsteps. There was a lone guard standing outside and thankfully, it was someone she recognized. He was leaning on his spear looking bored, but when Elise approached, he stood up taller and gripped his weapon tighter. ¡°Who goes there?¡± asked Jonas. ¡°It¡¯s me, Jonas.¡± He squinted at her. ¡°I don¡¯t recognize you.¡± ¡°You guarded me for a month.¡± He squinted harder. ¡°Elise?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°But you were a rabbit.¡± ¡°I was. But¡­¡± she hesitated. ¡°It was only because of a curse. It was finally broken, and I¡¯ve returned to my true form.¡± Why did I say that? She thought. I could have just told him the truth. ¡°Really?¡± he asked. ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°Sorry. I don¡¯t know why I said that. I just evolved. I¡¯m a changeling now.¡± ¡°I see,¡± he said warily. ¡°And how do I know you¡¯re telling the truth now.¡± ¡°I could transform back to show you, but I¡¯d rather not. This skill has a long cooldown.¡± ¡°...Fine,¡± he said. ¡°But I¡¯m coming in with you. Don¡¯t try anything funny.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± I probably could have convinced him if I tried harder. What am I thinking?! He opened the door, letting Elise see into the room. Kristofer was there again, as was a healer. Both had plates of food that seemed to have been taken from the feast, and were enjoying them in silence. Greta was asleep. ¡°Hello?¡± said Kristofer when she walked in. ¡°Can we help you?¡± ¡°This is Elise,¡± said Jonas. ¡°Or so she says. She says she¡¯s a changeling now.¡± ¡°I am,¡± said Elise. ¡°I can transform back to prove it, but the skill has a really long cooldown, and I want to stay in this form a bit longer.¡± Kristofer looked at her for a few seconds, then nodded. ¡°You have the same eyes. I believe you. Jonas, you can go.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jonas hesitated a moment longer, then walked out, closing the door softly behind him. ¡°How¡¯s she doing?¡± asked Elise, glancing between Kristofer and the healer. ¡°...To be honest, not well,¡± said Kristofer. ¡°She has a week,¡± said the healer. ¡°Give or take a day.¡± ¡°Is there no way to make that time longer?¡± ¡°None, I¡¯m afraid,¡± said the healer. Elise frowned and started fidgeting with her necklace. Then, she froze when she realized what she was fidgeting with. ¡°Can we wake her up?¡± she asked. Kristofer glanced at the healer who shrugged. ¡°Sure. It¡¯s fine.¡± Kristofer reached over and gently shook his mother¡¯s shoulder. Greta stirred and her eyes fluttered open. She looked around the room in confusion before her eyes settled on Elise. ¡°Brat?¡± she said. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°Teacher,¡± said Elise. ¡°You recognize me.¡± ¡°Of course I do! What kind of teacher doesn¡¯t know their own student? Come over here!¡± Elise walked over to the bed, the other dwarves eying her with suspicion. Greta shifted weakly in her bed, sitting up just a bit so she could get a better look. She squinted at Elise and made a face of disproval. ¡°Why do you look like that?¡± she asked. ¡°I¡¯m a changeling now,¡± replied Elise. ¡°I can transform into a dwarf.¡± ¡°I can see that,¡± said Greta. ¡°Why do you look so old, Brat?¡± ¡°Old?¡± ¡°You look like you¡¯re almost an adult. I thought you were younger.¡± ¡°...Sorry to disappoint you?¡± ¡°Hmph. What are you doing here? You have something to say? Here for another lesson?¡± ¡°I just wanted to see you,¡± said Elise. ¡°It¡¯s the day of the feast. The rest of the city is right outside the castle, celebrating the end of the war.¡± ¡°Was that today?¡± asked Greta. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you out there?¡± ¡°I already ate, and I wanted to see you.¡± ¡°Stop wasting your time. Go have fun.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not wasting my time, and I already had fun.¡± ¡°Brat, do as your teacher says.¡± ¡°No,¡± said Elise. ¡°I have something else I need to say to you. Hallbjorn gave me a gift- a reward. For stopping the war. Do you know about Astrid¡¯s Star?¡± ¡°Of course I know about Astrid¡¯s Star!¡± ¡°If you¡¯d like, I can put you in it. That way, you can be sure to see the sun.¡± 52 - Bones ¡°No,¡± said Greta. ¡°I already told you, I¡¯m not dying without seeing the sun.¡± ¡°I know, but you could have longer to spend in the sun if you went into the necklace for a bit.¡± ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°Not a chance. I¡¯m not so desperate that I need to try to extend my life.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not extending your life,¡± said Elise. ¡°It¡¯s just extending the amount of time you¡¯ll get to spend under the sun.¡± ¡°No,¡± said Greta. ¡°I¡¯m not going in. I¡¯m going to live the rest of my life normally, thank you very much.¡± ¡°Teacher, please.¡± ¡°No,¡± said Greta. ¡°And that¡¯s that. I¡¯m not going in there.¡± ¡°Mom, why not?¡± asked Kristofer. ¡°If you did, you¡¯d blink, and when you opened your eyes, you¡¯d be under the sun.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± said Greta. ¡°Mom, please.¡± ¡°Not you too. I already said I¡¯m not going in, and there¡¯s nothing you can do to make me.¡± Should I just knock her out and put her in? thought Elise. No! She replied to herself. What is wrong with me today? On top of that being rude, that could also be deadly. She was so feeble that there was probably no way to knock her out that wouldn¡¯t shorten her lifespan, or even directly kill her. She could put her to sleep with {Fairy Dust} again, but she doubted that would count toward the unconscious requirement. ¡°Why don¡¯t you want to go in?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Because I don¡¯t. Do I need to explain it to you?¡± ¡°I¡¯d like you to,¡± said Elise. ¡°I want to be able to convince you to go in.¡± ¡°Well, you can¡¯t,¡± said Greta. ¡°Maybe I¡¯m just being a stubborn old bat, but I want to see the surface on my own, without any fancy ancient relics helping me. Don¡¯t bother trying to convince me otherwise. It won¡¯t work.¡± ¡°But-¡± started Elise. ¡°Nevermind.¡± ¡°Good,¡± said Greta. ¡°Was that all? If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯m going to go back to bed.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to try to convince you again tomorrow,¡± said Elise. ¡°And the day after that.¡± ¡°As will I,¡± said Kristofer. ¡°I think it¡¯s a good idea too,¡± added the healer. Greta grinned. ¡°Good luck then. Now go away.¡± She laid back down on her pillow and closed her eyes. Elise was pretty sure she wasn¡¯t asleep just yet, but she got the message. She left the room, and made the long, lonely journey back to the drow cave. She got about halfway down the tunnel still in her dwarf form before realizing she had to change back. The drow would never hurt her, but it still wasn¡¯t a good idea to go into their cave looking like a dwarf. She looked down at Astrid¡¯s Star, wondering what she should do about it. Would it become part of the transformation like the clothes did? If so, was there a way she could differentiate it to keep it on her at all times? As Hallbjorn had promised, it was something that she could use, even without hands, so it would be nice if she could use it whenever she wanted. She wondered if she should take it off so she could put it on her base form to be sure she could use it then, or if to transform while still wearing it and see what happened. Ultimately, she decided to transform while wearing it. In the worst case scenario, she would have to wait until the cooldown wore off to access it again, and it was night, so she would be going to sleep anyway. She deactivated {Lesser Transformation}, morphing back into her changeling form, and was pleased to find that the necklace was still there. Whether that was because it was an accessory rather than clothes, or because it was an item that didn¡¯t play well with the System, she didn¡¯t know, but it was a nice feature. After a night of relatively good sleep, she spent the next morning socializing with the drow in her drow form. It was a little difficult, since no matter how many times she told them not to, most of them couldn¡¯t help but treat her with reverence as a fey. She was forming good relationships with them, but at this point, she couldn¡¯t really call any of them but Naomi ¡°friends.¡± Around lunchtime, she was too exhausted to be around people any longer, so she went out into the forest again. She flew around for a bit, then realized that she couldn¡¯t actually do any more hunting, and by this point, she knew the entire cavern well enough that there wasn¡¯t anything interesting left to see. She could just train her skills and do mana meditation, but she felt too restless to do that for very long. I could go to the surface She looked up toward the Mother Tree and pondered the idea. That would probably be more interesting than staying down there. She wouldn¡¯t be able to go too far, since she wanted to stay near the dwarves and drow at least until the dwarves reached the surface, but she could do a bit of aerial exploration. While she had spent her first two weeks in the forest above, she couldn¡¯t really say she knew it well, since she spent most of her time either running and hiding, or living in the cabin. The biggest problem with that plan was the warg. Freddy said that he would make sure it didn¡¯t cause any problems, but if it ran into her alone and unprotected, would it really just let her go? Probably not. She would have to stay high in the air, and if it decided to wait at the entrance to the drow cavern¡­ Actually, that would be fine. Even if it camped out at the main entrance, she could always go back through one of the entrances to the wyrm tunnels. The only real danger was if it was waiting for her as she left the drow caves, but what were the odds of that? Now that she had thought that, much higher, but even if she had jinxed herself, she could just wait until it left, or turn around and go back out the wyrm tunnels. Either way, as long as she was careful, there was very little danger. With her mind made up, she flew up to the top of the tree and into the tunnel leading outside. The ground was still stained with Emilia¡¯s blood, but Elise did her best to ignore it. It had been long enough that it was dry and barely smelled. At the exit to the tunnel, she waited a few minutes to make sure the warg wasn¡¯t there. She heard a few things moving around, but none of them large enough to be the beast, and the air was pleasant and warm, so she took that as a good sign and flew out. Once again, after so long underground, the sun was almost blinding. She flew into it anyway, getting a few hundred feet in the air before she let herself stop so her eyes could adjust. When they did, she was a bit awed at the view. She had noticed it in passing while flying with Emilia, but now that she had the leisure to stop and look around by herself, she was surprised at how big the forest seemed. For as far as she could see in any direction, there was nothing but a sea of dark green tree tops, interrupted occasionally by small rocky mountains or narrow rivers. She didn¡¯t recognize any of the landmarks, and she struggled to combine her mental map of the underground caves with what she was seeing. Somewhere a few miles to the west was where the dwarves¡¯ tunnel would end. Far to the north would be the insect-filled caves that she had encountered while exploring the wyrm tunnels. The underground lake would be southwest of her current location. That meant that the wyrm tunnel¡¯s main chamber would be just a bit west of her, and the entrance to it on the hill overlooking the cabin would be¡­ Her eyes locked onto the familiar tree atop the hill, and she hesitated in the air. Just on the other side of that hill, she would be able to see the cabin. But did she want to see the cabin? Not particularly, but she felt she needed to. She had accepted their deaths, but seeing the cabin again with her own two eyes might provide at least a small measure of closure. There was also the dream she had while staying with the dwarves. Did the warg really eat the bodies? It had seemed so vivid, and after her experiences with Titania, she wasn¡¯t so quick to dismiss it as a regular nightmare as she had been before. I need to see it, she decided. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. She took a deep breath to steel herself, then flew toward the hill. The cabin came into view a few moments later, and it was¡­ mundane. The wall was still blown out, but other than that, it just looked like an abandoned cabin. The plants in the garden were overgrown, and grass had started to creep in on the path leading up to the front door. The windows were all intact, but dusty, and despite the damage to the one side, the rest of the cabin looked to be in good repair. As she got closer, nothing really jumped out at her as strange, and after a few moments, she decided that in and of itself was strange. If someone had come back, they would have changed something, right? Maybe they would have put up a sign, warning of the dangers of the area, or if looters had come by, they might have left the door open or broken a window or two. However, nothing had changed. She flew around to the destroyed side, and when she saw what was within, her heart sank. The interior was clearly untouched. There was a thick layer of dust covering everything, and there were splinters and broken pieces of the log wall scattered all over the ground, and there were two skeletons on the ground. Both were lying in the middle of the open sitting room, face up. That was not where they had died. They had the same obvious injuries from the warg¡¯s attacks, and some additional broken ribs. Elise stared at them for a few seconds, then went back outside and sat down behind a tree so she couldn¡¯t see the cabin. The dream was real. The warg ate Sylvanna and Corwin. She had expected as much, but seeing their skeletons with their rib cages in pieces was too much. Context for those who haven''t read the dev edits: I included a scene where Elise has a nightmare of Walter after she tricked him off the cliff where he goes back to the cabin and eats Sylvanna and Corwin. Why are they still there? she thought. The cabin looked untouched, and the skeletons were still where the warg had left them. That meant no one had been to the cabin since the incident. But why? The cabin was a bit remote, but surely someone should have come to check on them? If not of their own volition, then at least Nick or Sophie would have requested it. Did someone come, only to end up meeting the same fate before they could reach the cabin? Or was no one sent at all? Why would no one have been sent? It didn¡¯t make sense. The city that Elise and Emilia had previously teleported out of wasn¡¯t that far. A monster as powerful as the warg living so close would surely warrant at least some countermeasures. The fact that no one had been sent meant that no one knew and if no one knew, that meant that the survivors hadn¡¯t told anyone. Calm down, she told herself. There are plenty of reasons for no one to come. Elise had no idea how the teleportation scroll worked or where it sent them. It could have sent them to the other side of the continent. It could have sent them to a different continent. She had no idea why Corwin would have had something like that with him, but even if they were relatively close by, there were still other reasons. The most likely option was that they told someone, and it had simply been deemed too dangerous to enter the forest. She was sure there were magical ways of viewing the cabin. Maybe they had just done that to verify the situation, and then decided to leave it alone until someone strong enough to face the warg was available to handle things. Yes, that was probably what happened. Nick, Sophie, and Bianca were no doubt safe and sound in Jelor by this time. Grieving, perhaps, but safe. Elise hopped out from behind her tree and looked back at the cabin. If no one had come yet, there probably wouldn¡¯t be anyone coming. Who knew when the bodies would be able to be retrieved? I have Astrid¡¯s Star now. Elise¡¯s stomach churned, but she knew what she had to do. In the worst case scenario, someone was already on their way, and they would be disappointed, but while it would be a temporary mystery, Elise would deliver the bodies appropriately as soon as possible. Plus, it was better that they were with her than with someone else. In the case of the worst, she would at least be able to give them a proper burial herself. But the worst won¡¯t happen. She flew back into the cabin and hovered over the bodies. How was she going to get them into the necklace? It said all she had to do was touch them, but that was only if they were something she could carry, and as a rabbit, she couldn¡¯t carry much. She didn¡¯t want to be pulling them into the necklace one bone at a time. She could wait until the cooldown on her shapeshifting wore off, and she could transform into a giant or something to do it, but she had used almost the full duration that morning. It would be past sundown before she could do that. How did it determine how much she could carry? Did it only apply to things she could physically move? Or was it just her theoretical carry weight? If it was theoretical, it might be possible to get the whole skeleton, even as a rabbit. Her Strength was in the triple digits now. She lowered herself down right above the smaller of the two, and paused. They had looked picked clean from a distance, but now that she was closer, she could see that there were still bits of flesh attached to the bones here and there, and there were ants crawling all over them. Living creatures couldn¡¯t enter the necklace, but rotting flesh could, and that was where she planned on keeping her clothes. Am I really worrying about clothes right now? She cursed herself, then lowered herself the rest of the way until her front paw was barely touching the skull. A moment later, the entire skeleton vanished, including the fragments of rib that had been on the ground beneath. The ants that had been crawling on it, and apparently living in it all fell to the ground with an almost inaudible clatter. Elise resisted the urge to gag, then moved over to the other skeleton and did the same thing. Elise peeked inside to see what had become of them, and noticed something she hadn¡¯t noticed before. None of the items in the necklace were actually touching each other. Even the apparent pile of gold had little spaces between each coin. She first felt relieved, then chided herself for feeling relieved about something so superficial. With that taken care of, Elise decided to have a look around the rest of the cabin. Everything that hadn¡¯t been knocked over by shrapnel was still in its place. The kitchen sink still had a few dirty dishes in it, though they were now covered with mold, rather than food bits. In Sophie¡¯s room, the last book they had been reading was still out on her desk, and there were still dirty clothes shoved in a ball under the bed. Elise grabbed the book from the desk, and a few more of Sophie¡¯s favorites from the shelf. There were other things left in the other rooms that she would have liked to take, but between the skeletons, the books, and the other things that Hallbjorn had given her, she was worried she wasn¡¯t going to have room for Greta. She was already probably pushing its limits, but Hallbjorn had said it went by volume, so she hoped the skeletons weren¡¯t actually taking up that much space. She went one final round to see if anything else stood out, then went back outside. The cabin had indeed brought back bad memories, but somehow, they weren¡¯t affecting her that much. Her mood was spoiled, but not so much that she wanted to do nothing for the rest of the day like she did back when it first happened. It was still early afternoon, and she had hours until she wanted to be back underground to visit Greta. She flew high up into the sky again so that she could have a good vantage point, then picked a direction and started moving. She didn¡¯t quite remember where the main tunnel above the Mother Tree was, but she knew where both the wyrm tunnel entrances were, so if she got lost, she could just go to one of them. After about 15 minutes, the edge of the forest came into view, and beyond it, she saw a somewhat familiar river. She vaguely recalled seeing such a river while flying with Emilia, so she steered toward it, and by the time she was over the water, she could see the walls of the city in the distance. Satisfied that she now knew she could find her way there again, she turned around and picked a different direction to fly in. This time, she didn''t quite make it to the edge of the forest because something else caught her eye. The forest was quite hilly, with a few rocky mountains jutting out, but one jutted out a bit more than the rest. It seemed to be summer, based on the heat, but there was a thick layer of snow covering one side of the mountain. There was really only one thing that could have caused that She approached cautiously, stopping still a thousand feet away to be safe. At the base of the mountain was a small cave, and though she couldn¡¯t be sure, she thought she saw something inside it. She didn¡¯t dare get any closer, but there was no doubt whose lair she had spotted. She filed that information away for later as well. Knowing where it lived would make her job easier in the future. She flew around the forest taking notes of other points of interest until the sun started to get a bit too close to the horizon. She didn¡¯t end up finding the main entrance to the drow cavern, so she made do with the wyrm tunnel atop the hill overlooking the cabin. Her entrance had collapsed since she left, but the dirt was still relatively soft, and the tunnel itself was intact, so she was able to make it inside without issue. When she got back, she checked in briefly with the drow, then flew over to the dwarves to visit Greta. The city was still recovering from the night before, and there were still tables and plates and bits of food out on the streets. There was a small crew of workers cleaning up the mess, but from what Elise could hear, most of the dwarves were inside their homes nursing hangovers. Greta didn¡¯t wake for long, and when she did, their conversation went much the same as it had the previous day. She had no interest in going inside Astrid¡¯s Star. She had accepted her fate, and she was going to live on her own until she made it to the surface. After ending that topic, they moved on to a bit of small talk as Elise told the old woman more about the surface until Greta got too sleepy to go on. The next three days passed in almost exactly the same way. Elise spent the morning with the drow, the afternoon exploring, dinner with Greta and the other dwarves, and then the evenings were reserved for training her skills. During that time, the dwarves made steady progress on both the tunnel excavation, and the packing so they could leave as quickly and efficiently as possible once the tunnel was complete. The Mother Tree finished its recovery from the poison, letting Salome get back to her usual level of activity, and with that, the last of Emilia¡¯s shadow hanging over the tribe vanished. She was not forgotten, but with the tree and the queen healthy, the constant reminders were gone. Elise continued her preparations to leave the caves, getting a spare change of clothes from both the drow and the dwarves, as well as some travel rations. Her level didn¡¯t go up, but the training of her skills in the evenings wasn¡¯t for nothing. Progress had slowed significantly since most of her skills passed level 30, but it never stopped. On the fourth day, she did her normal routine once more. However, when she returned to the dwarves, Greta¡¯s condition had changed for the worse. 53 - Rain Short chapter today. Be sure to check out the author''s note at the end While the relations between the dwarves and the drow had not been repaired, a week of peace was enough that the urge to kill each other on sight had lessened a fair amount. This meant that they were able to successfully deliver a message to Elise while she was with the drow. It took longer than it probably should have, but after a quick game of telephone, Elise finally got the message from one of the scouts. Then, she immediately flew off to Dokkalfheimr. When she arrived, Greta was asleep as usual, but the mood in the room was much darker. Hallbjorn was there with a grim expression on his face, and Kristofer barely acknowledged her arrival. ¡°How is she?¡± asked Elise. ¡°She won¡¯t last the day,¡± said the healer. ¡°She¡¯s fading fast.¡± ¡°What happened? Wasn¡¯t she fine yesterday?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± he replied. ¡°It¡¯s impossible to tell once people reach this stage. It¡¯s not any kind of injury or disease. Her body is just giving up.¡± ¡°Will she wake up again?¡± ¡°She might. Or not. I honestly can¡¯t say.¡± ¡°Elise,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°Can you put her in the Star?¡± ¡°I- I don¡¯t know,¡± she replied. ¡°You said it didn¡¯t work on people who were asleep.¡± ¡°I know, but¡­ Is it really sleep if she can¡¯t wake up?¡± Elise looked at the old woman, then flew over and landed on the bed next to her. Her breathing was weak and raspy, and her heartbeat sounded quiet, even to Elise¡¯s sensitive ears. She pressed her face to Greta¡¯s arm and tried to summon her into Astrid¡¯s Star. A split second later, the blankets collapsed over empty air, and she heard a small gasp from the healer. ¡°Thank the gods,¡± said Hallbjorn. Kristofer looked at Elise with tears in his eyes and smiled. ¡°Thank you,¡± he whispered. The four sat in somber silence for a few minutes, then went their separate ways. There wasn¡¯t much else to say. The crisis had been averted. Greta was in stasis for the time being, and there was nothing more to be done that wasn¡¯t already being done. Excavation would continue on the tunnel, and Elise would continue to not lose the necklace until the day the dwarves emerged. After the events of that day, Elise¡¯s mood was odd. It wasn¡¯t necessarily bad, but she got a slight feeling of vertigo whenever she thought about the situation. She was carrying her teacher around in her pocket. If she was taken out, she would die. In a few days, Elise would take her out with the express purpose of letting her die. It was all so surreal. Even when the day that the dwarves finally made it to the surface arrived, Elise still was having trouble processing the situation. It seemed Hallbjorn wasn¡¯t faring much better. He invited Elise to go with him on his first expedition to the surface, and he felt that would be the best time to take Greta out. ¡°If we wait any longer, we¡¯ll just want to keep putting it off,¡± he had said. ¡°We¡¯ll let her go with the first group. It¡¯s what she would want.¡± Neither Elise nor Kristofer had any counterarguments to that, so they accepted it quietly. Now, the three of them were standing in a grassy clearing in the forest, looking up into the sky, waiting for one of the others to speak up first. It was a relatively mild summer day. Elise had been visiting the surface each day for the past week, and that day was easily the coolest of them. The reason for that was obvious. To the south, there was a thick wave of dark storm clouds rolling in, and there was a moderate wind blowing at her fur. She watched them gradually grow closer for a few minutes until Hallbjorn raised his arm and pointed at them. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± he asked. ¡°A storm,¡± said Elise. ¡°It¡¯s going to rain soon.¡± ¡°So those are storm clouds then?¡± ¡°Incredible,¡± said Kristofer. ¡°Storms are usually bad, right?¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°Should we wait until another day.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°You were the one who said we shouldn¡¯t delay,¡± replied Elise. ¡°Besides, Greta would want to see them.¡± ¡°...You¡¯re right. I suppose we should bring her out then.¡± ¡°I suppose.¡± There was already a bed laid out for her, but no one made a move at first. Finally, seeing the other two still rooted to their places, Elise made the first move. She flew down to the bed, sitting on the side, and a moment later, Greta appeared. She was still in the same exact state she had been when she entered, her heart and lungs weak, and for the first ten minutes, there were no changes. Elise glanced nervously up at the clouds. What if she doesn¡¯t wake up? What if it starts raining before she gets a chance, and she dies of hypothermia? She was on the verge of recommending they take her back and wait for another day, when she noticed a change. It was subtle, and at first she thought she might be imagining it, but after another minute, she knew it was real. Her breathing got stronger, and her heartbeat faster. Her heart did not sound healthy¨Cor at least nothing like Hallbjorn¡¯s¨Cbut it sounded much better than it had before. After another ten minutes, her eyes opened. ¡°Teacher!¡± said Elise. ¡°B-brat!¡± rasped Greta. ¡°Wh-where-?¡± ¡°We¡¯re on the surface,¡± said Elise. ¡°You made it. You¡¯re here. Look! See?¡± ¡°The¡­ surface?¡± Greta glanced around, her eyes looking a bit unfocused. ¡°Are those¡­ trees?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Elise. ¡°I think they¡¯re beech trees.¡± ¡°Beech trees,¡± Greta repeated. ¡°What¡¯s¡­ that?¡± She raised a shaky hand and pointed vaguely at the sky. ¡°Those are storm clouds,¡± said Elise. ¡°It¡¯s going to rain soon.¡± ¡°Rain?¡± Greta smiled. ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted¡­ to see the rain.¡± ¡°Well now you will,¡± said Elise. ¡°It will probably start in thirty minutes.¡± ¡°Wonderful.¡± ¡°Mom,¡± said Kristofer, kneeling down nearby. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Kris?¡± said Greta. ¡°I feel¡­ fine. So stop worrying about me.¡± ¡°Greta,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°You did it. You made it to the surface.¡± ¡°Runt?¡± Greta looked up at the king, narrowing her eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t like your tone¡­ You put me in that thing, didn¡¯t you.¡± ¡°Ha, still as sharp as ever,¡± he replied. ¡°We did. But I think it was worth it, no?¡± ¡°Hmph,¡± she replied. ¡°I would have made it fine on my own.¡± Hallbjorn smiled, but didn¡¯t respond. ¡°But you didn¡¯t have to,¡± said Elise. ¡°You had us.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± There was a minute of silence before Greta spoke again. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Elise followed her gaze up into the sky where birds were circling far overhead. ¡°That¡¯s a hawk. Two, actually.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°That¡¯s grass.¡± ¡°No, that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a dandelion.¡± ¡°And that?¡± ¡°A bush. I don¡¯t know what kind.¡± ¡°That?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a¡­ slime. Hold on.¡± Elise shot a quick {Magic Missile} at the monster, then went back to answering Greta¡¯s questions. Elise didn¡¯t even know there were that many things to identify, but she felt like her awareness was expanding with every question. Every bug or bird that flew by, Greta wanted the name of. She wanted to know of every kind of flower in the vicinity, which wasn¡¯t many, but Elise didn¡¯t know any of them except the dandelions. Eventually, Greta stopped speaking entirely, just using her eyes and occasionally small hand motions to indicate what she wanted. Hallbjorn and Kristofer made themselves busy fetching the things that could be fetched so she could get a closer look at them. However, she stopped asking once the rain started. It was just a sprinkle at first, and that grew to a drizzle, and that became a downpour, but Greta just smiled and soaked it all in. When her clothes were drenched, Hallbjorn pulled out some kind of metal device that created a mana shield over their heads to block the rain, but when he did that, Greta frowned. ¡°Let me¡­ feel it,¡± she said. Hallbjorn disabled the device, and her smile returned. She closed her eyes and relaxed as the raindrops pelted her face and ran down her wrinkles. Elise watched her closely, keeping her ears peeled for the inevitable. The rain made it difficult, but if she focused, she could still hear the old heart doing all it could to stay alive. ¡°Wh-what¡¯s that?¡± asked Hallbjorn, pointing off into the distance. Elise followed his finger, then her eyes widened and she nudged Greta. ¡°Teacher, open your eyes. You need to see this.¡± Greta¡¯s eyes fluttered open, but they looked more unfocused than they ever had. Still, she was able to look up at Hallbjorn, and find where he was pointing, and then her eyes widened too. ¡°It¡¯s a rainbow,¡± said Elise. ¡°It¡¯s made when the light reflects off the rain.¡± Greta stared in awe, then her lips stretched into the widest smile Elise had ever seen her make. ¡°Thank you, Brat.¡± She took a deep breath, and with mighty effort, let out a sigh of pure satisfaction. Then, her heart stopped and her eyes closed for the last time. The smile never left her face. Hallbjorn and Kristofer lowered their heads, but Elise found herself looking up at the rainbow. It was as bright and full and clear as any that she had ever seen. What a beautiful day for rain. 54 - Walter (B1 Epilogue) The forest of Greenwood was changing, and Walter loved it. Everything was stronger now, and much tastier. None of it tasted as good as that one rabbit smelled, but it was much tastier than the boring animals that spawned there before. Right now, he was chowing down on some kind of teleporting deer. It had been an exciting hunt, but in the end, it couldn¡¯t escape Walter. He was the king of the forest. Nothing got away from him without his permission. Except that one rabbit. Freddy kept telling him to make friends with the rabbit, but Walter didn¡¯t understand why. Why make friends with something so weak? Especially when she had broken his legs before. He hated her. Unfortunately, he had to comply. Freddy was way stronger than he was. Walter might have been the king of the forest, but Freddy was the king of the whole country. Or something like that. He didn¡¯t actually know what Freddy was the king of, but it must have been a big region if he was so strong. When the rabbit rejected his friendship request, Walter was happy. He didn¡¯t actually want to be friends with her. She was weak, and she broke his legs. And she smelled yummy. She was a snack, not a friend. But Freddy didn¡¯t care. ¡°You cannot eat her,¡± he had said. Ridiculous! But there was nothing he could do about it. He had to obey. Or else Freddy would punish him¡­ The thought of that put a bit of a damper on his meal. He still finished it though. A king always eats his kills. When he was finished, only a hollow husk remained, all of its innards-- and some of its ribs-- now in Walter¡¯s innards. He growled in satisfaction, then made a round through his territory to make sure nothing was trying to sneak in. There was another small herd of the teleporting deer, and he scared them off, but he didn¡¯t chase them. He was already full. He would just eat them later. Once he was done, he went back to his home, a small cave in the side of a nearby mountain next to a creek. Well, it was small to him at least. But he was big. Very big. Almost as big as an elephant, and probably stronger than an elephant too. The hill leading up to the cave used to be grassy, but ever since Walter evolved and got his {Winter} skill, it turned into a much nicer snowy hill. He had to restrict the range a little bit to not freeze the creek solid though, so the pleasant white powder petered out and turned back into grass as it got nearer to the water. When he returned, the cave was not empty like it was supposed to be. There was a stupid-looking man there with stupid golden hair and stupid square teeth. Why was he always showing them off? It was annoying. They were nothing to be proud of. They probably couldn¡¯t even kill a deer. ¡°Walter!¡± said the man. ¡°Welcome back! I¡¯ve brought you a present!¡± He held out his arms to show Walter that he was holding a rabbit. It was not white, like the other rabbit. It was gray, and small, and its eyes were brown and dull. It still smelled good though. It would make a nice dessert. He opened his mouth to reach toward it, only to be stopped by the man¡¯s hand on his snout. ¡°This is not food,¡± said Freddy. ¡°This is your new friend. Meet Alice.¡± ¡°Walter no want friend,¡± said Walter. ¡°Walter eat Alice.¡± ¡°You will not eat Alice. Not if you don¡¯t want to be punished.¡± ¡°...Walter not eat Alice.¡± ¡°Good,¡± said Freddy, showing off his teeth again. ¡°Alice is an ordinary rabbit. She has no special abilities. She cannot survive on her own for very long. If she is left unattended, she will probably die. Your job for the next 3 months is to keep her alive.¡± ¡°Walter no understand.¡± ¡°It¡¯s simple. I am going to leave Alice here with you. If I come back to find her dead, you will be punished.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°It will be good for you. Trust me.¡± Walter growled lightly, but didn¡¯t protest. He had already been punished recently for that incident with the deer lady. Freddy told him only to fight humanoids in self defense. ¡°You can¡¯t just kill people for no reason like that,¡± is what Freddy said. Walter didn¡¯t understand. He had a good reason. She was trespassing on his land. This was his forest. If she didn¡¯t want to die, she shouldn¡¯t have been there. He wanted to eat her afterward because she smelled good too, but there was that other gray human who seemed a little bit dangerous, and then the white rabbit appeared. If he fought with the white rabbit again, Freddy would punish him even more, so he had to leave. When he came back, the body was gone. ¡°I¡¯ll be going now then,¡± said Freddy. ¡°I put a restriction on her so she can¡¯t go too far from you or your cave, so at least she won¡¯t be able to run away. Good luck.¡± He set the rabbit down in the snow and then disappeared in a puff of gross smoke. Walter always hated when he did that. He knew that Freddy could fly. Freddy knew that Walter had a sensitive nose. But he insisted on doing it anyway. When the smoke cleared, the rabbit was still there, and shivering in fright. That lifted Walter¡¯s mood at least a little bit. That was how rabbits were supposed to act: terrified and helpless. Not all tricky and evil like the other rabbit.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°You, Alice,¡± he said. ¡°No die.¡± The rabbit stayed where it was, still shivering. That no work, thought Walter. How was he supposed to keep a rabbit alive? He had only ever killed rabbits before. What did rabbits even eat? He realized he had only ever seen that one rabbit eat. Every other rabbit was running away when he saw it. That one rabbit ate fruits, but he didn¡¯t have any fruits, and didn¡¯t know where any were. Did he have to give it some of his kills? Maybe he could teach it to hunt for itself instead. That would be easier, probably. ¡°Alice,¡± he said. ¡°I teach you how hunt. Okay?¡± The rabbit continued to shiver. That wasn¡¯t going to work either. It clearly had no idea what he was saying. And it was too scared to even move. What if it just never moved and it died of starvation? Then Freddy would punish him. ¡°Alice,¡± he said again. ¡°You need eat. Or else.¡± The little rabbit still didn¡¯t respond. Walter sighed. Why did the stupid golden man give him such a stupid friend? It didn¡¯t even understand that Walter wasn¡¯t going to eat it. Maybe if he moved away, it would be less scared. He walked away from his cave toward the tree line, looking back the whole time. It didn¡¯t move while he was there, so he laid down in between some of the trees behind a bush. He was so big that he wasn¡¯t hidden well, but after a few minutes, the rabbit finally started to move. It took a nervous step forward, then turned around and took a step the other direction, then turned back around and took another step. It circled a few times, then started exploring its surroundings further. It sniffed Walter¡¯s cave, then sniffed the walls of the mountain before finally making its way to the creek to take a drink. Walter was relieved. At least it wouldn¡¯t die of thirst. He wondered if he should go out to greet it again, but decided not to. He needed more time to observe it. And he was glad he did. A few minutes later, it started eating. And it was eating¡­ grass? Was grass tasty? How did it get full on grass? He bent down to rip some up from the ground to try for himself. It was bland, and tasted kind of like dirt. That was probably because of all the dirt he got mixed in with the grass. He tried again, this time a smaller and more delicate bite, and it was still bland. So it wasn¡¯t eating the grass for the taste. Was it stressed? Was it starving because it hadn¡¯t eaten in a while? Walter decided that must have been it. He would need to go hunt for it, before it starved to death. Freddy said that if Alice was left alone, she would probably die, but it wouldn¡¯t take him that long to go get more food. He could be back before the sun set. Besides, there was nothing that could hurt her so close to his cave. He was very careful to make sure that nothing was allowed to live there without his permission. As if to counter his mental argument though, a shadow suddenly passed over his head, and he realized his mistake. He had only cleared out the land animals. Not the birds. They lived high up in the mountains, and they flew very fast and were hard to hit. The new ones that started spawning recently were especially hard to hit. And they liked to eat small rodents like Alice. He jumped from his hiding place and ran toward the rabbit. The bird was fast, and was diving toward the unsuspecting Alice, but Walter was fast too. Just as the bird was about to grab her in its claws, his jaws clamped around it, snapping its neck and killing it instantly. Then he spat it out and shook his head around, spitting out feathers. He hated birds. They were annoying and hard to kill and they were covered in feathers. They also barely had any meat, and their bones didn¡¯t crunch very satisfyingly like deer bones did. However, they were still made of meat. He looked down at the rabbit, and found her shivering again. A little less this time though, he thought. He walked over to where the bird¡¯s body had fallen, and nudged it toward the rabbit with his snout. ¡°Eat,¡± he said. The rabbit looked down at the corpse, and for a few seconds it didn¡¯t move. Then it took a cautious step forward and sniffed the bird. It looked up at Walter again, then hopped over to him. And rubbed against his leg. ¡°What you doing?¡± he asked. ¡°Eat.¡± It rubbed against his leg for a bit longer, then hopped a few steps away and started eating the grass again. ¡°Why eat grass?¡± he asked. The rabbit stopped eating and looked at him with a blank expression, then went right back to what it was doing. Was it trying to leave the bird for him because he killed it? Or perhaps it was because she realized he was the king, and knew that the king should always get the first bite. He bit the bird¡¯s head off, swallowed it, then nudged the rest over to the rabbit again. It looked at the corpse again, sniffed it again, then hopped away and started eating grass again. What was it doing? Why did it keep eating grass? Was it possible that it was like the deer and only ate grass? Was that why it kept refusing the bird? But why though? He thought the deer only did it because they were strange. Every other animal he knew ate meat. The snakes ate meat. The birds ate meat. The slimes¡­ The bears ate meat. The smaller wolves ate meat. Even the bugs ate meat. But there the rabbit was, eating grass when it had a perfectly acceptable bird right in front of it. It was undeniable: rabbits ate grass. Did that mean that a grass-eater had managed to break his legs? How shameful. On the bright side though, at least Walter didn¡¯t have to worry about feeding Alice. She would be able to find food on her own. The only problem remaining was how to keep her safe. After all, he couldn¡¯t just watch over her all the time to protect her. He needed to eat too. Maybe he could get her to dig a hole like the other rabbit did. ¡°Alice,¡± he said. ¡°Dig hole.¡± The rabbit stared blankly at him, then continued eating grass. ¡°Dig hole,¡± he repeated. This time, she didn¡¯t even bother to look up at him. He growled in frustration, and that got its attention. Its ears perked up and its nose started quivering. It was scared again. Walter huffed and turned around and walked back to his cave. He considered just letting it die. He would get punished by Freddy, but that might be better than trying to keep that rabbit alive. No, that would be worse. What if Freddy brought him a new Alice to take care of. Then he would be punished and have to take care of a rabbit. He laid down, watching Alice nervously nibble on the grass until at some point, his eyes lost focus and he fell asleep. When he woke up again, the sun was nearing the horizon. He was wide awake instantly, realizing that he had fallen asleep while he was supposed to be protecting something. He was about to get up and go look for her when he noticed something warm pressing against his torso. When he looked down, he saw Alice curled up in a ball, sleeping against his chest. ¡°Hmm,¡± he said. The rabbit cracked its eyes open, looked at him for a few seconds, then closed them again. Walter considered getting up and going out on another patrol, but for some reason, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to wake the rabbit. It was being so peaceful and un-annoying right now. Why ruin it? He could just continue his nap for a bit longer¡­ 55 - The Siblings (B2 Start) Be sure to check out the Author''s note at the end for some exciting news

Nick

After three months of living hell, Nick was about to snap. He hadn¡¯t even had time to process the (probable) deaths of his parents before he was quite literally thrust into a den of monsters. He had no idea where Sophie and Bianca were, or if they were alright. He didn¡¯t even know where he was. All he knew was that whoever sold that teleportation scroll to his dad was a scammer. ¡°Oi, Pretty Boy!¡± shouted a voice. ¡°You¡¯re up! Get your ass out there.¡± Nick grunted as the collar around his neck gave him a small, but painful shock. The man who called his name was standing at the doorway, sneering. Jack was an ugly man, both inside and out. He was at least 50, overweight and balding, was missing 7 teeth, and his left cheek was marred by a massive burn scar shaped vaguely like a tiger paw from a branding gone wrong. His clothes were filthy, and no longer big enough to cover his ever-growing gut, and his fingers were adorned with rings, one of which controlled the collar around Nick¡¯s neck. Nick scowled, but he knew better than to talk back. He stood up from the splintery wooden bench he was sitting on and made his way toward the doorway. When he reached it, Jack spat on his chest, then chuckled. Should I just kill him? thought Nick. He could do it. He was already strong enough to do so when he first got there, let alone now after months of fighting for his life. Jack had the ring, but he wasn¡¯t a fighter. He wouldn¡¯t be able to react in time. Nick could bash his skull in right there and be free of the man. But he still wouldn¡¯t be able to escape. Jack¡¯s boss would send in some goons to subdue him, and then he¡¯d be punished, and Jack would be replaced, potentially by someone worse. ¡°Good luck, Pretty Boy,¡± said Jack. Nick took a deep breath and walked out the door into the hallway leading to the arena. The roar of the crowd grew louder with every step he took. Whoever or whatever was fighting must have been putting on a hell of a show. It had been a while since he heard the stadium that loud. When he reached the end of the hallway, he could finally see it through the bars of the gate. In the middle of the arena, two female giants were in the middle of a brawl. Both were equipped with a shoddy wooden shield and an oversized wooden club. Clearly, neither of them were experienced in combat, but if anything, the crowd loved that more. Every time either of them swung their weapons the noise swelled, and it felt like it was threatening to burst Nick¡¯s eardrums. Nick gritted his teeth and looked at the audience in disgust. Slavery was supposed to be illegal in every country on the continent, but obviously that was only in name. An organization of this size couldn¡¯t exist without some kind of backing. They had thousands of people packed into the stands, and Nick had seen at least a few hundred different regular fighters in his time there. And that was only for this underground fighting ring, not even including the various other shady businesses that he had caught glimpses of just outside. Neither Bianca nor Sophie were among them, so either they had been teleported somewhere else, or these slavers had taken them somewhere else¡­ He tried his best not to think about what might be happening to them, but it was hard. Bianca was beautiful, and he knew Sophie would be too. If the slavers did anything to either of them¡­ He clenched his fists around the bars of the iron gate and tried to turn his attention to the fight. He couldn¡¯t afford to waste time worrying about that. He needed to survive and get stronger so that he could break out and end this organization. If something had happened to either Bianca or Sophie, he only hoped the gods would forgive him for what he was going to do. In the arena, the stalemate of a battle broke when one of the giant¡¯s shields shattered, and the woman fell to the ground. The other one immediately pounced on them and raised her club to deliver the finishing blow. At the apex of the swing though, she stopped. Nick knew exactly what she was feeling, but there was nothing he could do to help. The woman on the ground took that opportunity to sweep the other giant''s legs and reverse their positions. This one didn¡¯t hesitate, and immediately started pounding away at the other¡¯s face with her bare fists. The one on the bottom struggled mightily for a few seconds, but then went limp. The one on top kept pounding away until the other¡¯s skull was little more than a fragmented, bloody mess and she had to be pulled up by a pair of burly guards. The crowd was going wild, but there were tears streaming down the winner¡¯s face. She was led out to the sound of raucous applause and jeering while two slave boys dragged the other corpse away. A minute later, the iron gate was unlocked, and swung open. When Nick took his hands off it, there were indentations in the bar where he had been gripping. He marched onto the stage, his face set in grim determination as the crowd shouted his nickname he had earned. ¡°And now, it¡¯s time for The BERSERKER!!¡± shouted a magically amplified voice. The noise in the underground pit reached a new peak and Nick had to refrain from wincing as it pierced his ears. The amplified voice continued talking, saying something about his opponent, and telling the audience members to start placing their bets, but he wasn¡¯t paying attention. He was staring at the person approaching from the gate on the opposite side. It was Sophie. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes to make sure his eyes weren¡¯t playing tricks on him, but she still remained in front of him. There was something wrong with her though. She didn¡¯t look like she recognized him at all. She just observed him calmly, sizing him up for a fight. There was a strange mana in the air around her too. ¡°Sophie!¡± shouted Nick, trying to make himself heard over the crowd. Her eyes narrowed, then widened in comprehension and she visibly gasped. She was dressed in all black with a dagger on each hip, and as the announcer continued his introduction, she drew one of them, spinning it around in her hands a few times before pointing it at Nick. A moment later, the noise around vanished, magically cut off, probably specifically because the organizers wanted them to be able to talk. ¡°Sophie!¡± said Nick, walking up to her. ¡°You¡¯re alright! Thank the gods.¡± She smiled widely and walked up to meet him, but Nick could sense that something was off. His sister was a mage, so why was she dressed like an assassin? And she was too calm. Her face looked scared and worried, but her movements were poised and carried a certain air of confidence. Despite this, Nick ignored the warning signs, and went in for a hug. Almost too quickly for him to see, Sophie drew a dagger and stabbed him in the gut. ¡°Dumbass,¡± she said. As she spoke, her form shifted, Sophie¡¯s face melting away and being replaced by a changeling¡¯s. Her eyes were solid black, her ears were pointed like elves¡¯, her hair was short and spiky, and she was a few inches taller than she had been as Sophie. ¡°You¡¯re not Sophie,¡± said Nick, biting back the pain. He swung a fist at her, but she danced back, pulling the blade out of him, still smiling. However, her smile melted away when rather than spouting blood, the wound began to heal. Nick used her brief moment of surprise and confusion to charge at her. He had no weapon. They took his sword away because he was winning too easily. He didn¡¯t even have any armor on. They stopped letting him use that when it saved his life and let him win against an arguably more skilled opponent. At this point though, he didn¡¯t need a weapon. His new class more than made up for one, and now his hands were enough. That was, if he could catch the other woman. Even though she had been taken somewhat by surprise, she had no trouble dodging his charge. She was much faster than him. She probably had more stamina than him too. Nick guessed that if she had her way, she would just keep running away until he wore himself out, then come in for the finishing blow. He didn¡¯t care though. He knew the organizers wouldn¡¯t allow that. It would be too boring. At some point, she would have to stop running to avoid the consequences of failing to entertain the audience, and when she did that, Nick would strike. It took about a minute for that moment to arrive. She turned away from him again, looking like she was going to run away, then suddenly disappeared from his sight. It took him a moment to realize what happened, and another to locate her mana signature, which gave him barely any time to dodge the invisible blade being swung at his neck. He didn¡¯t manage to avoid it fully, but the injury he did receive wasn¡¯t deep, and started closing up immediately. The changeling reappeared a few feet away, frowning in disappointment, and the game of cat and mouse began again. After another minute, she disappeared yet again. Prepared for it this time, Nick followed where he sensed her to be, preparing to grab her when he got closer, but then, she suddenly reappeared on the opposite side, swinging her knife down at his neck. He turned, raising his hands to catch her, only to feel her blade plunge deep into his back as the one in front turned into smoke and faded away. He howled in pain, and spun around to face his attacker. She wasn¡¯t ready for such a violent reaction, and was forced to let go of the blade, lest she be thrown away by the force of his spin. Nick reached behind him and shouted in pain as he jerked it out of his body. The wound started healing, just like the first one had, but it was too deep to heal well at that moment. He would be fine by the next morning if he survived, but for now, he was in trouble. A few more injuries like that, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to move properly anymore.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Or at least, that¡¯s what the changeling was probably thinking. He doubted she had any information on his skills and abilities, since he had none on hers. She was learning as they fought, just like he was. She might have an idea of his trump card, but even so, Nick was confident there was nothing she would be able to do about it. Once he used it, the fight would be over. He just needed to time it right. He started chasing her again, trying to ignore the pain in his back. The next time she stopped to attack, he was ready. He tracked her invisible form, and he didn¡¯t fall for either illusion, and almost managed to get his hands on her when she finally did attack. She reacted quickly enough to get away, but that also meant her blade never got near him. Though the sounds from the spectators were still cut off by magic, Nick could see out of the corner of his eye that they were getting unhappy. A few had started booing. The changeling noticed too, and decided it was time to make her final move as well. She disappeared just like she had before, and Nick tracked her mana, just like he had before. He silently thanked her for turning invisible, so he wouldn¡¯t have to swing at her while she looked like Sophie. His fist flew through the air, faster than any of the other times, landing right where her head should have been¡­ and passing through with no resistance. The mana that should have been hers dissipated, and at the same time, he felt a sharp pain in his legs and fell to the ground. He tried to get back up, but not only were his tendons cut, the woman jumped on top of him, stabbing him repeatedly in the back. He tried to roll away, but his muscles were spasming from all the damage he was taking, and his mind wasn¡¯t working properly from the pain. That didn¡¯t matter though. His trump card triggered automatically when he accumulated a certain amount of damage, and Not-Sophie¡¯s attack was more than enough for that. In a massive explosion of mana, she was flung off his back, and Nick put his fist to the ground and with a mighty shove, pushed his body up into the air and back onto his feet. The wounds on his back and legs healed in an instant, and the mana in his body was flowing faster than ever. For about one minute, he would be unstoppable. His wounds would heal faster than his enemies could create them, and his stats were all nearly doubled. After the minute ended, he would be too exhausted to move, but none of his opponents had ever lasted that long. He leapt toward the other fighter, reaching her just as she was getting back to her feet. She managed to dodge his first strike, but she could only block his second, and her Fortitude wasn¡¯t high enough to handle the force of the blow. She landed a dozen feet away with her arm twisted at an awkward angle. Nick pounced on her immediately, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her into the air for the crowd to see. They were going wild. He felt disgusting. ¡°P-Please! Don¡¯t!¡± The changeling turned back into Sophie, and for a moment, he hesitated and his grip loosened. She took that opportunity to wrap her legs around his arm, and in one clean motion, she bent it backward over her body, snapping it. He dropped her in surprise and pain. His arm snapped back into place almost immediately, but the girl rolled onto her feet and turned invisible again. Nick wasn¡¯t fooled though. He didn¡¯t have time to be. When he was in this state, his senses were heightened, so he was able to track her down easily, and a few seconds later, he had her neck in his hands again. He held her up to the crowd again, but this time, he closed his eyes and did his best to tune out what she said. A few seconds later, he twitched his arm and her neck snapped. Her body went limp, and she fell to the ground as he lowered his arm. [ You have slain {Lesser Assassin Changeling}, lvl 16 ] [ You have leveled up! 10 -> 12 ] All at once, the sounds of the audience came back. They were loving it. They were disgusting. Nick finally opened his eyes and looked at his opponent. Sophie was gone, replaced instead by the girl who wasn¡¯t quite human. He looked closer and saw that she looked young. Not as young as Sophie, but not as old as him either. He didn¡¯t know if changelings aged like humans, but it still made him feel almost as disgusting as the people who had pitted them against each other. He looked up at the audience, and scanned the crowd until he saw what he was looking for. Up in the VIP box, a group of well-dressed individuals were watching with expressions of mild amusement. He zeroed in on one woman, standing in the center with a glass of blood-red wine in her hand. She had long black hair and a black dress and a black veil covering her face. Nick had seen her at many previous events, and every time, no matter who else was there, she was in the middle. If she wasn¡¯t the one in charge of the organization, she was close to them. Whether due to the effects of his skill, or just regular rage, the longer Nick looked at her, the more his blood boiled. Who was she, and why would she organize something like this? Nick had been lucky enough to fight only strangers so far, but seeing Sophie¡¯s face in this fight nearly made his heart stop. It wasn¡¯t her this time, but what about the next time? Or the time after that? What if it was Bianca? If Sophie and Bianca were experiencing the same thing he was¡­ ¡°I¡¯m going to fucking kill all of you!¡± he shouted. ¡°You hear me?! You¡¯re all dead! And if you laid a single finger on my sister, you¡¯re going to wish you died before I got to you!¡± Two guards leapt in from the sides jabbing him with blunt spears enchanted with electricity magic. He collapsed to his knees in pain, but struggled back to his feet to give the woman in black one last glare and spit in their direction. Through the veil, he thought he saw the vaguest hint of a smile. Then, his skill wore off and the strength left his body and he fell to the ground, his vision turning dark.

Sophie

On the night of the warg attack. ¡°Noooo!¡± shouted Sophie, but it was too late. The walls of the cabin were gone, replaced by crumbling stone pillars and blue sky. Sophie looked around for a few seconds in confusion, then flinched with surprise when she realized her arms were empty. Snowberry hadn¡¯t come with her. She flinched again when she realized that Nick and Bianca weren¡¯t there either. ¡°N-Nick?¡± she called. ¡°Bianca? M-Mommy? Daddy?¡± The only response was a gentle breeze tousling her hair. As far as she could tell, she was alone. She was kneeling on a cracked stone floor in the ruins of something so far gone she couldn¡¯t tell what it had been originally. There were a few broken pillars, but none of whatever they supported was intact, and the ground was covered in broken stone, grass, and moss. ¡°Nick?¡± she called, louder this time. ¡°Wh-where are you?¡± She got to her feet, slowly and shakily, and walked to the edge of the ruin. When she looked out, she saw that she was on top of a hill overlooking a sandy beach. The sun was high overhead, and there wasn¡¯t a cloud in sight. ¡°Nick! Bianca! Mommy! Daddy!¡± At first there was no response, but then, from off to her left, she thought she heard something approaching. Sophie was about to call out again when a chill ran down her spine, and she stopped herself. She didn¡¯t know where she was. There was no guarantee that whatever was approaching was even humanoid, let alone friendly. She froze for a few seconds, then crept to a nearby pile of rubble and hid behind it. As whatever was approaching got nearer, Sophie heard not just its footsteps, but also a voice. It was a woman¡¯s voice, and after a few seconds, Sophie was able to start picking out the words. ¡°-not real. It¡¯s never real. But I need to see anyway. No! I¡¯m not just going to blow it up! You remember what happened last time! Yes, I¡¯m sure I heard it. It was a voice. A girl¡¯s voice. No, not like mine. A young girl, like Alpi. Or was that Sandy. Wait, no, Sandy wasn¡¯t real. This one sounded more real. Of course I know the difference! Do you think I¡¯m crazy?¡± The voice got nearer and nearer, and soon Sophie heard the sound of bare feet slapping on stone. ¡°She¡¯s over there, by the rocks,¡± continued the voice. ¡°I told you she was real. What? No! You really think she could hurt me? You need to have a higher opinion of myself. Does she know I¡¯m here? Well, she hasn¡¯t moved, so maybe not. Hiding? Why would she do that? I just told you I¡¯m not crazy.¡± Sophie didn¡¯t know what to do. Whoever this woman was, she was clearly insane. If Sophie had a choice, she wouldn¡¯t get involved. But did she have a choice? The woman seemed to already know she was there, and there was nowhere for Sophie to run. Not without being seen, at least. It would probably be best to just show herself. ¡°An elf?¡± Sophie almost jumped in surprise as a shadow covered her face and a woman¡¯s head peered down on her from above. How did the woman get there? Sophie didn¡¯t hear any more footsteps. Sophie scrambled forward before turning around to get a better look. The woman was floating in midair right above the rubble Sophie had been hiding behind, staring with a blank expression. Her hair was long, dangling almost all the way down to the ground, and it looked surprisingly clean. Her face was pretty, but intimidating, and her eyes were bright yellow. She was also entirely nude, and didn¡¯t seem to care much about it. Like her hair, her body was surprisingly clean, aside from her feet. It was hard to tell due to the angle, but Sophie thought the woman looked very tall. ¡°No, it¡¯s a half-elf,¡± she continued. ¡°Elf mother, human father? Yes, I think so. 12 years old. Good stats for her age. What¡¯s her class? That¡¯s not important. Where did she come from? It¡¯s been so long since I¡¯ve had company. Did she walk all the way up here? What? I should just ask her? Shut up, I was getting to that. You. Girl. Who are you? Where did you come from?¡± Sophie didn¡¯t know how to respond. Who, or what was this woman? She didn¡¯t seem to have any malicious intent, but there was no telling whether that would continue to be true. ¡°She¡¯s not answering,¡± said the woman. ¡°Maybe she doesn¡¯t speak Common. Should I try Elven?¡± ¡°I-I speak Common,¡± said Sophie. ¡°Wh-who are you? Where am I?¡± ¡°She says she speaks Common. No, I don¡¯t know. She asked me questions. She hasn¡¯t answered my questions. How arrogant.¡± ¡°M-my name is Sophie!¡± said Sophie hastily. ¡°I was- I used- My brother, he- It was- Teleportation scroll!¡± ¡°Liar. She¡¯s lying. Yes I know. It¡¯s impossible to teleport here. She¡¯s lying. Yes, I¡¯m going to ask.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not lying!¡± said Sophie. ¡°I was- I was asleep, and then I woke up and- and it was really cold, and Mommy- my mom said that there was a monster, and then my- my dad had a scroll and he gave- he gave it to my brother, and then we- and then he tore it, and then I was here.¡± Sophie was sobbing by this point. ¡°I need to get- get back. Can you- help me? Please? My mom and dad are in danger!¡± ¡°She¡¯s- Yes, I can see that. What should I do? Why is she crying? She said she used a scroll. An ancient one maybe? One programmed to come here before it was cut off? But where did she get it? It¡¯s not possible. She¡¯s lying. But she¡¯s also crying. What should I do? Tell her to stop? Okay. Girl. Sophie. Stop crying.¡± Sophie cried harder. ¡°That didn¡¯t work. What now? She can¡¯t talk if she¡¯s crying.¡± ¡°P-please!¡± sputtered Sophie. ¡°I need to- get home!¡± ¡°Home? She says she wants to go home. Should I tell her? Eh, I don¡¯t want to. You do it. What? That¡¯s no excuse. Ugh. Fine. Girl. Sophie. You want to go home? This is your home now.¡± ¡°Wh-what? N-no! I need to- to get back!¡± ¡°Back? There is no going back. Welcome to Purgatory.¡± 56 - The Funeral Dwarven funerals are joyous occasions. They are full of drinking, laughter, good food, good company, and most importantly, more drinking. It¡¯s considered an offense to the dead if the guests wake up the day after and remember what happened. Greta¡¯s was no different. After she passed, a mortician used a preservation skill on her body, and she was kept in a stone coffin until it was time for the funeral. It took two more days for the dwarves to complete their exodus, and another three until the whole group had comfortable shelters. A full acre of the forest had been chopped down to make room for the rough dirt huts that the geomancers shaped out of the ground. On the day of the funeral, the entire tribe attended. Not all of them knew Greta¨Cin fact, most of them didn¡¯t¨Cbut no self-respecting dwarf would pass up an opportunity to drink themselves into a coma. There had been some debate about where to bury her, but in the end, they decided that there would be no better place than right there, where the dwarves finally escaped the underground, and where she breathed her last. The preparations though turned out to be unexpectedly difficult. The funeral preparations themselves weren¡¯t, but the other things that needed to be done, such as building shelters and finding food, were. The dwarves, having spent their whole lives underground, knew almost nothing about how to survive on the surface. Most of them had enough sense to not do anything stupid, but Elise was constantly finding herself surprised at some of the things she had to teach them. For example: sunburns. The dwarves knew that the sun could cause burns. They had records of that at least. However, none of them knew how long it took, or how much exposure was required. Some were terrified to spend more than a few seconds outside, while others were out sunbathing all day. And if teaching them how all that worked wasn''t hard enough, convincing them they could get sunburnt even while there were clouds out was nearly impossible. It wasn¡¯t a huge deal, since healing magic could negate even the worst burns, but it was still exasperating. Despite those little hiccups though, the dwarves were handling it all quite well still. While they had no experience aboveground, they were a fully functional city while in the cave, and that infrastructure didn¡¯t vanish when they moved. They had to adapt to a new environment, yes, but it was otherwise fine. When the day of the funeral finally arrived, nearly the entire population of Dokkalfheimr gathered around the tunnel where they had emerged at midmorning. It was still a gaping pit for the time being, but in a week, once the dwarves were certain they had nothing left to get from underground, the drow planned to collapse it and start reclaiming the old city. The trees in the area surrounding the hole had been felled and used to make temporary shelters, leaving a very convenient open space for the gathering. Greta¡¯s final resting place would be nearby. Not quite close enough that it could get caught up in the fallout of the tunnel collapse, but only a stone¡¯s throw away. There were stone tables lined all around the clearing. Hallbjorn originally wanted to make them out of wood, but since the only dwarf with a [Carpenter] class was a 12 year old boy who had just unlocked his System aboveground, that was not feasible. Not when they had to be making houses at the same time. Stone tables were much easier and faster, since they already had hundreds of stoneworkers with the classes and skills to make it happen. Greta¡¯s coffin was brought out in a slow procession, then lowered into a pre-made hole. The entire city was silent for a full minute, then a [Geomancer] filled the hole with dirt, and the dwarves got to drinking. It was a bizarre experience for Elise. It felt like it all happened too fast. No one stood up to say any words about her. No one brought flowers. Only Kristofer cried. To most of the people in attendance, it was just an excuse to drink. Elise didn¡¯t partake in the drinking, but she did sit at the table with Hallbjorn and ate with him while he drank. ¡°I¡¯m gonna miss her,¡± he said, slamming his fourth cup of mushroom ale down on the table. ¡°I never thought I¡¯d say that.¡± ¡°Well, now you¡¯ve said it seven times,¡± said Elise. ¡°When I was younger, I hated her,¡± continued Hallbjorn, ignoring her. ¡°She would whip my arse whenever I tried to skip class, and then she¡¯d tell my mom, and she¡¯d whip my arse too. I always used to wonder why anyone kept her around. She was rude and cranky, and didn¡¯t give a shit about respect, but somehow, she was the royal tutor. ¡°Now, to be fair, I was a little shit. I probably deserved more than what I got from her. But damn, if I didn¡¯t hate it at the time.¡± ¡°...She never had to ¡®whip my arse,¡¯¡± said Elise with a small smile as she took a bite of venison. ¡°She never told me to whip your arse either,¡± said Hallbjorn, holding out his cup so a servant could refill it. ¡°But you did actually show up to your classes, and you paid attention to what she said, so that makes sense.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Though she was bantering with Hallbjorn a bit, Elise still felt awkward. Hallbjorn seemed to be genuinely having a good time, with not a hint of sorrow. She supposed it was just the dwarven culture but she still couldn¡¯t get over the weirdness. This was supposed to be a funeral. ¡°Hallbjorn?¡± she said. ¡°Hmm?¡± he responded, his mouth full of meat. ¡°Do you mind if I pay my respects to Greta? In my own way?¡± Hallbjorn swallowed. ¡°How so?¡± ¡°I just want to plant a few flowers on her resting place.¡± ¡°That sounds nice. Be my guest.¡± Elise wiped her mouth with a napkin, then stood up and walked over toward the small mound of loose dirt covering the stone coffin. She had never before tried what she was about to do, but she was confident it would work. She activated her wings¨Cwhich somehow appeared outside of her clothes, rather than attached directly to her back¨C and sprinkled a bit of {Fairy Dust} on the ground. Then, she used {Sudden Growth}, and a small bed of flowers appeared. The flowers themselves were nothing special, but Elise was pleased with the effect. She heard a few murmurs from the nearest tables, but at this point, the dwarves had become accustomed enough to her and her ways that no one openly commented. She returned to the table with Hallbjorn where she stayed for another half hour before excusing herself entirely. By that point, the king was so drunk, he could barely understand her words, but the slurred speech he managed to get out sounded like approval, so she took it as such. Once she was out of the clearing, she reverted back to her Changeling form and flew up into the air. Below, the dwarves were all still having a merry time, though many of them had passed out. It was only noon, so they would all be back up to continue the celebration that night, as was apparently customary at dwarven funerals. Elise planned to come back for that, but for now, she wanted some time alone. She flew away for a bit until the dwarves were out of sight, then stopped, hovering in midair. Where did she want to go? She could go back to the drow, but it felt wrong to hang out with the drow on the day of Greta¡¯s funeral. It also felt wrong to go hunting. Or to do training. I don¡¯t want to do anything right now, do I, she thought.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. It was a waste of time, but she knew that doing anything productive on what was supposed to be a day of mourning for her would feel wrong. However, she also knew that she wasn¡¯t going to be able to ¡°mourn¡± properly either. It had been days since Greta¡¯s death, and she had gotten satisfying closure. That left her with two options: she could either return to the funeral and join in the drinking, or she could lay around and do nothing. She had gotten drunk a couple times in college and thereafter decided she disliked it enough to not want to do it again. Plus, she had already transformed back into her base form, and she didn¡¯t really want to experiment with how it would handle alcohol. That left her with only one choice. I wish I had a book to read. She hovered for a few seconds, lingering on that thought until she realized with a start that she did actually have a book to read. In fact, she had multiple books taken from Sophie¡¯s room all stored conveniently in Astrid¡¯s Star hanging on her neck. She looked around for a good place to stop, ultimately settling on the base of a tree atop a cliff, where she set down and summoned the book. It took a bit of maneuvering to figure out how to get {Telekinesis} to work with the book pages, but when she did, she grinned and dove in. The book she picked was the one that Sophie had been reading to her the night before the warg attack. They were halfway through, and though Elise didn¡¯t understand everything, she found herself getting invested. It was a story of a runaway princess with a talent for acrobatics and a runaway dragon hatchling in human form with a penchant for accidental destruction going on an adventure to defeat a swamp witch. It was a bit cheesy, but Elise thought the writing was solid, and the plot was entertaining enough to keep her entertained for the entire duration of the story. It was mid-afternoon by the time she finished, so she put that book away and got out a new one. It was the first one that Sophie had read to her, and the one that she hardly understood any of, as that had been when she didn¡¯t know the language even a little bit. It was a story a bit similar to the first one, though this time the runaway princess was an elf, and her companion was a human knight, and the villain was a dwarf. Elise enjoyed this one less, not because of the dwarf villain, but because it followed the same basic plotline that the first one had, and the story beats were too predictable. When she finished, she checked the covers of both and saw that they were indeed written by the same author. She was tempted to pull a third book out, but the sun was setting, which would make it harder to read, and that also meant that the dwarves would be waking up again, if they weren¡¯t awake already. Also, her cooldown on {Lesser Transformation} was over, so she could rejoin them. When she returned, most of the dwarves were already awake, half holding their heads as healers walked around curing the effects of the hangovers so that the dwarves could get back to drinking. Hallbjorn was already cured, and was enjoying another drink when Elise landed beside him and transformed back into a dwarf. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re back!¡± he said. ¡°Where have you been?¡± ¡°I was reading,¡± said Elise. ¡°Have you been sleeping?¡± ¡°Aye,¡± he said. ¡°And now I¡¯m ready for round 2!¡± He shouted that last part, earning him some cheers from around. ¡°You want a drink?¡± Elise glanced at his cup and wrinkled her nose. ¡°No, thanks.¡± ¡°Just here for the food, eh?¡± he said with a grin. ¡°It¡¯ll be out soon. The cooks just woke up.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Hallbjorn turned to talk to someone else who was walking by, leaving Elise with nothing to do. All around her, dwarves were drinking, and laughing and singing, and there she was, not feeling in the mood to party at all. It was like there was an invisible wall in between her and everyone else, and it almost felt suffocating. Even the few times people talked to her, it felt like they were talking through a phone, not face to face. It was uncomfortable to the point that as soon as the food arrived, she stuffed her face and excused herself. This time, she just went straight back to the drow cave. The dwarves would be up for hours still, but for her, the funeral was over. She paid her respects. She participated in the dwarven customs. It was not satisfying, nor did it give her any additional closure, but it was over, and she could move on. The next day, she would finalize her preparations to leave for Jelor, and the morning after, she would leave. She had already confirmed her departure with both dwarves and drow, and she didn¡¯t keep any of her possessions outside of Astrid¡¯s Star, so there was nothing to pack. Barring something urgent needing her attention, there would be no complications. She did a bit of mana meditation, which had become part of her nightly routine, and then curled up in her alcove and fell asleep. In her dreams, she was on a beach. The sun was high overhead, and there was a gentle breeze, and the waves were little more than gentle lumps in the water. On either side of her, the coast curved around and disappeared behind a line of trees, and when she turned to look behind her, she found herself facing a dense jungle. Behind the jungle, she could just barely make out a small mountain peak with what looked like some old ruins atop it. She turned back to the water, fully expecting to find Titania there, as was customary when her dreams were so vivid, but instead, all she saw was the ocean. She turned a few more times, each time expecting something to change, but nothing did. Am I even dreaming right now? Did I get randomly teleported somewhere? She took a few steps to the side, feeling the sand on her paws, and then stopped when she realized that she didn¡¯t have Astrid¡¯s Star. What if she did get teleported somewhere, and now she was stranded on an island without her most important possession? Who had done it? Why? Why her? She took a few more steps, then stopped again as a chill ran down her spine, and she was filled with a sense of immense danger, greater than anything she had felt near the warg, or even Freddy. She blinked, and when her eyes opened, her field of view was filled entirely with a great, baleful, yellow eye. Then, she woke with a start, back in the Mother Tree, the chain still around her neck. What was that? She thought, panicking It was only a dream, but she was certain that the yellow eye was dangerous, even to her sleeping self. Whatever it was, she didn¡¯t want to go back. Elise crept to the edge of her alcove and looked out at the cavern. The fruits were just starting to light up, meaning that it was near sunrise. She stretched her body out, her legs shaking so much she almost fell over. It was just a dream, she assured herself. It didn¡¯t work well, but she tried to push the feelings aside. It was going to be a busy day, and she didn¡¯t have time to linger on the dream. Most of the dwarves would be asleep well into the day, so she decided to say her goodbyes to the drow first. She spent some time with Naomi in her changeling form, then switched to her drow form for the going away feast that Salome had prepared for her. The food was delicious, and the company was good, but Elise made sure not to stay too long, so that {Lesser Transformation} would be off cooldown as soon as possible. When she left the drow, it was midmorning, which meant most of the dwarves were still sleeping off the celebration of the night before. Hallbjorn, however, was already awake and doing work, as were about half of the Councilors. They had set up a makeshift City Hall that was really little more than a wooden roof held up by stone pillars. ¡°Hallbjorn,¡± Elise called as she flew in. ¡°Elise?¡± he said, looking up from his desk. ¡°Oh. Right. Today¡¯s the day, isn¡¯t it.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said. ¡°Thank you for everything.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± he said. ¡°And thank you as well. Without you, we wouldn¡¯t be here.¡± ¡°Mmm.¡± Elise still hadn¡¯t figured out how to best reply to his constant thanks. ¡°Well, you already know, but I¡¯m not very long-winded,¡± said Hallbjorn. ¡°I wish you the best of luck in your journey. You¡¯re always welcome to come back whenever you¡¯d like.¡± ¡°And I wish you the best of luck with getting Dokkalfheimr back up and running.¡± He nodded. ¡°Then, until we meet next.¡± ¡°Until then,¡± agreed Elise. She flew back out, feeling a bit awkward about how the conversation had gone. Was that it? Was she done now? It felt anticlimactic, but at the same time, she was relieved. A long, drawn out tearful goodbye would have been even more uncomfortable. Regardless, it was all over now. She was leaving, and it was time to look forward to the future. She knew where Jelor was, but getting there wouldn¡¯t be as simple as just flying there. It had been for Emilia, but she was much faster and stronger, and had stealth skills that Elise didn¡¯t. There were predators in the air that Elise had no way of dealing with, and almost every single city in the world had powerful defensive spells and well-trained guards specifically to prevent monsters like her from just flying in. Her journey would be much slower, and would have to be much closer to the ground. Before she even started though, she had to go check on the cabin one last time. She had been going there semi-regularly since the first visit to see if anything had changed. So far, nothing had, and she didn¡¯t expect anything to, but it was a small detour, and on the off-chance that someone had visited, or was visiting, there was a good chance it would clue her in on where exactly the Grays had gone and how they were doing. When she arrived at the cabin, it was just as it was the last few times. She looked around for a few minutes, just to make sure, then said a silent goodbye before flying away, this time heading northwest. However, just before she made it to the edge, a glint in the woods below caught her eye. It took her a few seconds to spot it again and confirm she wasn¡¯t just seeing things, but when she did, it was undeniable. It was an armored human, and they were swinging a sword around as they fought a pack of wolves. 57 - Agent Snowberry The armored man was standing in a small clearing with his sword drawn and his back to a tree as a pack of wolves stalked back and forth just outside of his range. As she watched, one of the wolves lunged in toward him, only to veer away from the path of his blade as he swung down to intercept it. Elise had no idea who the man was, but he was the first human other than the Grays she had seen in the forest, and he clearly needed help. As she flew toward him, another wolf dove in, and backed away again. They seemed too scared to get close, and seemingly with good reason. Two of the wolves had long gashes down their flanks, dripping blood onto the grass as they paced around. The man seemed calm and poised, and not at all panicking like Elise knew she would have been. She slowed down, realizing that the situation was not quite as dire as she feared. She had some time, clearly, so she stopped behind a nearby tree, far enough away that hopefully none of them would notice her, but close enough she could still use {Inspect}. [ Direwolf, lvl 9 ] This is probably what the warg evolved from, she thought. She was filled with anger, but let it pass. The warg was out there somewhere, living a peaceful life that it didn¡¯t deserve, but that wasn¡¯t anything she could do anything about right now, and she had more important things to worry about. At this range, she could see that there were two wolves that were bigger than the others. They were a bit too far away for her to {Inspect}, but it didn¡¯t take a skill to tell that they were a higher tier version. [Greater Direwolf], if she had to guess. Both were standing at the back of the pack, snarling as if giving commands to the others. Elise thought about what she could do to help the man. She could have just gone in, guns blazing, firing {Magic Missile} at everything she could hit, and she would have if the danger had been more immediate, but that wasn¡¯t the most effective way for her to act. Maybe she was strong enough now that she could make that strategy work, but without knowing what tier the direwolves were on, she wasn¡¯t going to gamble her life on that assumption. Subtlety was her strength, and it would be best to use that. The best plan would probably be to use {Suggest} on the bigger wolves and try to get them to leave without a fight. She didn¡¯t really want to let the monsters leave, knowing what they would become if they survived long enough to evolve, but she was saving someone, not hunting, so making sure they were safe was the number one priority. Unfortunately, {Suggest} had a much shorter range than {Inspect}, and these wolves probably had much better senses than the cows, so it would be difficult to get close enough while in her current form. She ran through the different monsters and animals she had seen, thinking what would be best to transform into, and realized that she didn¡¯t actually have any forms that were good for stealth. Especially since all her forms were bright white. That meant that rather than stealth, she would need to go for something harmless that the wolves would pay no attention to, which more or less limited her to birds. The man might find a white bird unusual, but she doubted she would be on the wolves¡¯ radar as a potential food source. She transformed into one of the tiny birds from the drow cave¨C a [Cave Sparrow] ¨C deactivated her {Fairy Wings}, and flew up to a tree above the wolves. Her stats were pitifully low, as the creature she had transformed into was two whole tiers below her, but the wolves paid her no mind. She was too small to even make a decent snack. She glanced toward the man, but she couldn¡¯t tell if he had seen her, as his face was hidden by a helmet. She used {Inspect} on him, to see what his class was. [ Knight, lvl ??? ] [ Inspect has leveled up! 47 -> 48 ] His level was hidden, which meant that he was higher level than her {Inspect} skill. If he was that strong, and a melee combat class, it made her wonder why he wasn¡¯t just fighting them off. If she remembered correctly, Sophie¡¯s older brother Nick had the same class, and he had a skill that could cleave through trees like butter. Surely it could cut through a few wolves too. Though maybe it was the quantity that stayed his hand. If he used that skill, he might take out a couple, but there were more than 20 wolves there, and he might not have the mana to take them all on. Regardless of his reasons, he still needed help, so Elise focused on the nearest of the two larger wolves. This prey isn¡¯t worth it, she sent with {Suggest}. We will get hurt for little meat. The tone of the wolf¡¯s snarling changed, and the nearest wolves¡¯ ears perked up. None of them moved, so Elise turned her attention to the other bigger wolf, and sent the same thing. It still wasn¡¯t quite taking, so she switched back to the first and reinforced the first {Suggest}. The wolf huffed, then let out a short howl. All the others froze, then turned toward the big wolf. A few seconds later, they all turned to walk away. Elise watched them stalk off into the forest, but they didn¡¯t get very far before stopping. They had given up the hunt, but they still weren¡¯t willing to let the man roam free in what they probably considered to be their territory. She turned to see the man still holding his sword, also watching the wolves warily. After about a minute when it was clear that they were no longer actively trying to kill him, he took a few cautious steps forward, then turned and sped up as he pressed deeper into the forest. Where is he going? thought Elise, That question was answered a few seconds later when he arrived at a path that she somehow hadn¡¯t noticed before. She followed behind him, flitting from tree to tree, trying not to draw attention to herself. A few other birds and smaller critters gave her curious looks, but none of them bothered her. The wolves were still following below and behind her, but they didn¡¯t get closer than a hundred feet from the man. The knight pressed on with the confidence of someone who knew where they were going, which made Elise curious. She hadn¡¯t really spent much time aboveground until the past two weeks, but she hadn¡¯t noticed any other humanoids nearby. Either he had some very good directions, or he was someone who had been there before, and Elise only knew one [Knight] who had been there before. No, it can¡¯t be¡­ she thought. Her hopes had gone up when the possibility that the man was Nick crossed her mind, but Nick was much taller than this knight. Not that the knight was short, but Nick had been close to six and a half feet, and this man definitely wasn¡¯t that. However, the further he went, the more confident Elise became that she knew where he was going. The path was not completely straight, but whenever it curved, it would always right itself to head back toward the cabin. Who was he? Did someone finally get sent to check on what had happened to the Grays? There wasn¡¯t really any other possibility. In that case, should she reveal herself to them? She could ask how they were doing, and find out where they were so that she could check on them, and deliver the bones. She would have to be in her human form, obviously, since she doubted the man would tell a monster about their whereabouts. Though he probably wouldn¡¯t tell a random suspicious woman he met in the woods either¡­ She decided to just follow him for the time being, and only reveal herself later if she thought it was a good idea. After a few minutes, the wolves finally stopped tailing them, so the knight sheathed his sword and quickened his pace. Elise followed behind, still in her sparrow form, then realized that if she was going to talk to him later, she would need {Lesser Transformation} to be off cooldown. He wasn¡¯t looking behind him anyways, so she switched to her Lesser Rabbit Fey form, and continued following. {Lesser Transformation} was almost available again when they finally arrived in the valley with the cabin in it. The knight was jogging at this point, though Elise couldn¡¯t tell why. As far as she was aware, there was nothing dangerous nearby. As he approached the cabin, he took his helmet off, hanging it from a hook strapped to his belt. Or rather, her belt.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Definitely not Nick, she thought. Her shoulders were broad, and she looked well-built, but the facial features that had been hidden beneath the helmet were surprisingly soft. She had dark brown hair cut short so it only fell to her neck, and a face that looked more innocent than Elise thought a knight¡¯s should have looked. When she reached the door, she stopped for a second, took a deep breath, then knocked. There was no answer, of course, so after a minute, she knocked again. ¡°Nick!¡± she called. ¡°Bianca! Mr. Gray! Mrs. Gray! Sophie?¡± Her voice sounded young, and from the way she called out their names, Elise guessed that this woman must have been one of Nick¡¯s and Bianca¡¯s friends. Maybe she had trained with Nick. More importantly, however, she also noticed that the knight didn¡¯t seem to be aware of what had happened there. That meant she had come on her own volition, and that she had not been sent by the surviving Grays. That confirmed some of Elise¡¯s fears, filling her with dread. If this woman who was close enough to the Gray¡¯s to come out to the forest alone to look for them didn¡¯t know where they were, that meant that no one did. The knight knocked and called the names once more before trying the door. It was locked, so she circled around the side of the house. She chose the intact side, of course, so she made it to the back door without noticing the problem. She tried that door as well, then circled back around to the front, going the same way she had first come. Elise¡¯s sense of dread was overcome by a sense of frustration as she watched the knight pound on the front door more. Should I help her? At this rate, she would break down the door without even realizing that there was a massive hole in the one side of the cabin that she hadn¡¯t checked. Elise¡¯s skill was off cooldown, so she could transform into a human and go talk, but was now the best time to reveal herself? Will there be a better time? she thought. Not being able to answer, she decided that she might as well. The knight clearly didn¡¯t know what had happened to the Grays, but she probably knew more about them than Elise did, so she would be a valuable source of information. If Elise could get her to talk, that is. How would she introduce herself in a way that wouldn¡¯t seem suspicious? She could pretend to be lost in the woods, perhaps. No, that would be incredibly suspicious. What kind of person would get lost this deep in monster-filled woods. There was also the problem of her clothes. They looked normal-ish to her, but they were made by dwarves whose knowledge of fashion on the surface was 400 years out of date, so it would no doubt look strange to the knight. No, the best plan would be to bluff, and do so shamelessly. She flew down to the ground, then transformed into a human and deactivated her wings. She took a brief moment to make sure that she looked relatively presentable, then stepped out from behind her tree. ¡°Who are you?¡± she asked. The knight whipped around at the sound of her voice, drawing her sword. Finally getting a full frontal view, the knight looked even younger than Elise thought she was. If she was any older than Elise was, it was only just barely. She was also taller than Elise expected. She still wasn¡¯t as tall as Nick, but having spent so much time with dwarves and drow, Elise had forgotten how short she was. She was a full head shorter than the knight, and between the height difference and the sword pointed at her face, it was becoming very difficult to maintain her false confidence. ¡°Wh-who are you?¡± asked the knight. ¡°I asked first,¡± replied Elise. ¡°Who are you and what are you doing here?¡± She used {Charm}, followed by {Suggest} to hopefully get her to let down her guard. While she probably wasn¡¯t as strong as someone like Sindri or Naomi, if she decided to attack, Elise very well could die, since her physical stats were so low. ¡°I- My name is Penelope,¡± said the knight, lowering the sword. ¡°I¡¯m looking for my friends. One of them, he- his family lives here. They went to visit for Spring Break, but he never came back. Do you know what happened to them?¡± ¡°I do,¡± she said. ¡°But first, please put your sword away.¡± ¡°Of course!¡± replied the knight, sheathing it. ¡°What happened? Where are they?¡± ¡°They were attacked.¡± Elise was surprised at how steady her voice was. ¡°A Winter Warg attacked the cabin while they slept.¡± ¡°A warg?!¡± exclaimed Penelope. ¡°Here?!¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Elise, nodding. ¡°Follow me.¡± She walked around to the destroyed side of the cabin with Penelope following closely behind. When she saw the destruction of that side of the house, she gasped. ¡°The cabin was professionally enchanted¡­¡± she muttered. ¡°Does that mean that they¡¯re- are they- dead?¡± Elise¡¯s mind raced as she tried to calculate how much information she could give her. She didn¡¯t even have a cover story in mind. How would she explain how she knew what she knew? She couldn¡¯t lie though either. ¡°The parents are,¡± Elise said. ¡°But there were no other bodies.¡± ¡°Then Nick is alive?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I hope so.¡± Penelope looked at the wreckage of the cabin for a couple more seconds, then turned to her. ¡°Who are you? How do you know this?¡± Elise still hadn¡¯t figured out a cover story. What kind of cover story would even make sense here? ¡°My name is Snowberry,¡± she started. ¡°Snowberry?¡± asked Penelope. Snowberry?? Elise thought. ¡°Yes. Agent Snowberry. It¡¯s a code name.¡± What am I saying?? Why is my name being translated to Snowberry? {Tongues} seemed to be working properly otherwise. She could hear that whatever Penelope was saying was in Common, even if she understood it in English. She could feel all the unfamiliar words on her tongue as she spoke them, despite thinking them and hearing her own voice in English. However, despite the fact that she was definitely saying ¡°Elise¡±, for some reason, she heard ¡°Snowberry¡±. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re with the IB,¡± Penelope said, a look of comprehension crossing her face. ¡°But when I asked, they said all their agents were busy? Did they already have one working on this case?¡± ¡°Not the IB.¡± What¡¯s the IB? ¡°I¡¯m an investigator working for a private organization.¡± ¡°A private organization?¡± ¡°Correct,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°You probably haven¡¯t heard of us, and we like to keep it that way. We look into unique cases such as this one that other organizations might be less qualified to handle.¡± ¡°What makes this case unique?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°Well, everything,¡± she said. ¡°This is supposed to be a safe area, only spawning low level monsters that couldn¡¯t even hurt a child, and yet a warg was living here. And on the night of the attack, we detected a dimensional anomaly.¡± ¡°A dimensional anomaly?¡± asked Penelope, looking shocked. ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°It¡¯s less serious than it sounds,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s just a term to refer to a long-distance teleportation spell being used. Three people were transported away on that night.¡± ¡°To where?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know,¡± she said. ¡°That¡¯s another thing that makes this case unique. In fact, I was just about to start reaching out to friends and family to see if anyone had news about their whereabouts. Have you heard anything?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t,¡± the knight said, shaking her head. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here.¡± ¡°Do you know who else might know? Someone else they might have gone to first? Maybe some of their family?¡± ¡°Family?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Nick never told me about any other family. I don¡¯t know if he had any. I¡¯m pretty sure he said that his mom¡¯s family didn¡¯t talk to her. Oh, but Bianca¡¯s might! I tried to get in touch with them before I left, but they never responded to any of my letters.¡± ¡°You sent letters? Then you know where they are?¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t everyone?¡± Not me! Elise panicked for a moment, wondering what to say. Apparently Bianca¡¯s family was well-known enough that Penelope didn¡¯t even feel the need to say their names. That meant that Elise should have known who they were too. Did she get caught? No, there was still a way out. ¡°Who exactly is Bianca?¡± she asked. ¡°I thought you were supposed to be investigating this,¡± said Penelope, her eyes narrowing. ¡°I am,¡± said Elise. ¡°I knew that the Gray family lived here, but I did not know who the fifth person here on the night of the attack was.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± said Penelope, not looking totally convinced. ¡°Well, the fifth person was Bianca Lappin, youngest daughter of the Lappin family.¡± ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Elise immediately knew she had made a mistake. She probably should have known before she opened her mouth, since Penelope wasn¡¯t exactly being subtle about her suspicion. Elise took a few panicked steps back as the other woman drew her sword. ¡°You¡¯re not an investigator. Who are you really?¡± 58 - The Alliance ¡°W-wait, I¡¯m not an enemy!¡± said Elise. ¡°Prove it!¡± said Penelope. ¡°Who are you? Why are you here? How do you know what happened here? Or were you lying about that too?¡± ¡°I- I-¡± stammered Elise. ¡°I can explain everything! Please put the sword away.¡± ¡°Not until you start talking.¡± Penelope stepped forward and Elise took another panicked step back. She had no idea what to do. Half of her just wanted to cut her losses and turn tail and run. The other half wouldn¡¯t let her. Penelope might have been her best lead on finding the Grays. If she ran away then, she¡¯d have to start over from scratch, and there would now be someone wary of her. She couldn¡¯t change what her human form looked like, and all her other humanoid forms looked almost identical, so her cover was more or less blown. What she needed to do was get Penelope on her side. Whatever she might have been trying to do before had failed, but it was doomed to from the start. The moment she called herself an ¡°Agent¡±, the lie got too big. She needed something more subtle. Something more believable. But what? Penelope was asking very valid questions. How did Elise know what happened? With the official investigator cover already blown, there was only one valid answer: she had witnessed it. Should I just tell her the truth? The problem with telling the truth is that Elise had no idea how Penelope would react to the knowledge that Elise wasn¡¯t human. Her time at Ostra had taught her that the answer might be ¡°not well¡±, but how much could she trust the testimony of a group of monsters who, for the most part, had killed their way to sentience? I should try it. If it doesn¡¯t work, I run. ¡­Fine. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for lying!¡± said Elise. ¡°I- I had to.¡± ¡°Why?¡± demanded Penelope. ¡°I¡¯m not a humanoid. I heard humanoids don¡¯t like non-humanoids.¡± ¡°Not humanoid?¡± Penelope looked Elise up and down. ¡°Then what are you?¡± ¡°A changeling.¡± Penelope scowled. ¡°A fey,¡± she spat. ¡°Wait!¡± said Elise. ¡°I swear I don¡¯t want to hurt anyone. I- I can prove it to you. I¡¯ll let you ask 3- no, 5 questions! If I don¡¯t answer truthfully, I¡¯ll- I¡¯ll be cursed! I have a skill that can make that happen.¡± Elise activated {Fey Bargaining} as she spoke. It was a risky proposal, and not one that Elise gave much thought too, but she also didn¡¯t throw it out thoughtlessly. If she had judged Penelope correctly, the knight wouldn¡¯t do anything actively harmful with her questions. She would ask about Elise, and then about the Grays, and that would be it. ¡°I know better than to make a deal with a fey,¡± said Penelope. ¡°I won¡¯t agree to that. I¡¯m going to tell you how it¡¯s going to go: you are going to tell me the truth, or I¡¯m going to turn you into a corpse.¡± ¡°It can¡¯t hurt you!¡± said Elise. ¡°There are no conditions that can hurt you. It will only restrict me! Just think about it, please. 5 questions, and you can ask whatever you want. If I don¡¯t answer truthfully, I¡¯ll be visibly cursed for it.¡± Penelope scrunched her brows. ¡°Fine,¡± she said a few seconds later. Elise felt the icy feeling in her chest as the skill took hold, barely keeping herself from shivering. Penelope flinched as well, but after seeming to read something in front of her, she relaxed a bit, and turned her attention back to Elise. ¡°A-ask away,¡± said Elise. ¡°Are you planning to trick me or hurt me or try to kill me in any way?¡± asked Penelope? Elise almost answered with an immediate ¡°no¡±, but realized that she couldn¡¯t guarantee she wouldn¡¯t try to trick Penelope later. Revealing that she was not humanoid had already gone badly, and Elise didn¡¯t want to find out what might happen if she revealed she was reincarnated. That would probably be better, but with what the dwarves knew of the Rune of Fate, she wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if there was some kind of history with reincarnators as well. ¡°I have some things I don¡¯t want to tell you, but I promise I¡¯m not trying to hurt or kill you. I just want to find the Grays.¡± ¡°Do you want to hurt or kill them?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°No! I just want to find them and make sure they¡¯re alright!¡± Penelope frowned. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I-¡± How do I explain this? ¡°I wasn¡¯t always a changeling. I used to be just an ordinary Forest Rabbit. I gained some levels due to pure luck, but I was still too weak to fend for myself. Sophie took me in and I lived with them as a pet for a little while. Then, the warg attacked. Corwin and Sylvanna d- died, and Nick, Sophie, and Bianca took a teleportation scroll away. I barely escaped with my life. That was 3 months ago, and I haven¡¯t seen them since.¡± ¡°You were their pet?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°D-do you really want that to be your fourth question?¡± replied Elise. Giving up a freebie like that might have been stupid against someone else, but it was more important that she gain Penelope¡¯s trust than anything else, and that meant she had to make small sacrifices. Penelope squinted at Elise suspiciously. ¡°No, I don¡¯t. If that happened 3 months ago, why are you still here? Why haven¡¯t you gone to look for them?¡± ¡°I was in a¡­ a situation,¡± said Elise. ¡°It¡¯s a really long story. It would probably take a whole book to tell you everything that happened. I had to resolve an issue somewhere else, and now I have, so I can look for the Grays.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°If I answer, that will be your last question.¡± Elise watched as Penelope frowned again. The other woman was clearly feeling conflicted. One {Suggest} might be enough to push her over the edge, but Elise was worried it could also have the opposite effect. Penelope was on the edge of trusting her, and one slip could ruin it all. ¡°I just want to help the Grays,¡± continued Elise. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be your enemy. I just want to help.¡± Penelope stared at Elise for almost a full minute without saying a word. Then, she sighed and sheathed her sword. Elise blinked in surprise. Was it over? ¡°So Mr. and Mrs. Gray are really¡­ dead?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°Are you sure that-?¡± started Elise. ¡°Yes. Just tell me.¡± ¡°Yes, they are. I- I put their bodies somewhere safe, so that they can have a proper burial.¡± The coldness in her chest vanished, and a System window appeared in front of her. [ {Fey Bargaining} has leveled up! 14 -> 15 ] Penelope stared at the ground, nodding lightly. ¡°And Nick and Bianca and Sophie teleported away?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°To where?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Elise. ¡°Corwin said it would take them somewhere safe, but if you haven¡¯t heard from them¡­¡± They stood in silence for almost a full minute before Penelope spoke again. ¡°They¡¯re not dead,¡± she said. ¡°They can¡¯t be dead.¡± ¡°I hope so too.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to find them,¡± said Penelope. ¡°You said you want to find them too? Let¡¯s work together.¡± ¡°What?¡± said Elise. ¡°Really?¡± That was exactly what Elise wanted, but she hadn¡¯t expected the conversation to get there so quickly. ¡°Yes,¡± said Penelope. ¡°You might be a changeling, but¡­ Well, I¡¯ve never heard of a fey that acts like you. And the System said your deal was real, and that you weren¡¯t lying. Maybe you¡¯re tricking me somehow, and the deal was fake, or maybe you lied when you answered, and you¡¯re just hiding the curse, but I tend to trust my gut, and my gut says I should trust you.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± said Elise. ¡°Then I¡­ look forward to working with you?¡± ¡°I look forward to working with you as well.¡± ¡°Do you have a plan?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Or at least a lead we can follow? I¡¯ve never really left this area.¡± ¡°We need to talk to Bianca¡¯s family,¡± said Penelope.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Wait, are they actually¡­?¡± ¡°I exaggerated how well-known they are, but they are powerful. I don¡¯t know why they never responded to my letters, but I know they¡¯re not the type to just leave Bianca for dead. They¡¯re probably searching for her as well.¡± ¡°Then why didn¡¯t they come here?¡± asked Elise. ¡°This cabin has been untouched since the attack.¡± ¡°Maybe they checked it remotely,¡± said Penelope, shrugging. ¡°They can afford to do that. They might be months ahead of me in my search, but since I couldn¡¯t get in contact with them, I had to come here myself.¡± ¡°It sounds like we should definitely be paying them a visit then,¡± said Elise. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you do that first?¡± ¡°They don¡¯t live in Jelor. It would take longer to get to them than to get here.¡± ¡°Where do they live?¡± ¡°Do you know about the Jungle? Probably not, if you¡¯ve lived your whole life here.¡± ¡°I do, actually. Do they live near the Jungle?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Penelope. ¡°But on the other side, so it¡¯s really hard to get there. Going through the Jungle is pretty much impossible if you¡¯re not 7th tier, and going around can take months, and teleportation is stupid expensive, so I came here first.¡± ¡°I see,¡± said Elise. ¡°So we need to get down there.¡± ¡°It will be a long journey, unless you happen to have a couple dozen gold stashed somewhere.¡± ¡°Actually¡­¡± Elise turned her attention to Astrid¡¯s Star to double check how much Hallbjorn had given her. ¡°I do.¡± ¡°You do?¡± said Penelope looking up at her in surprise. ¡°Where is it?¡± ¡°Right here,¡± said Elise holding her hand up as a gold coin appeared in it. ¡°Wha- How did you do that?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell you,¡± said Elise. ¡°But I have a few hundred of these.¡± Penelope squinted at the coin. ¡°Where are they from? I don¡¯t recognize that symbol.¡± Elise pulled the coin closer to her face to look at the engravings on its faces. On one side, there was a dwarven warrior in heavy armor wielding dual axes. He reminded Elise a bit of Sindri. On the other side, there was a symbol she vaguely recognized as having been carved on a few things in the castle. ¡°Shoot,¡± said Elise. ¡°These probably won¡¯t be properly usable anywhere. They¡¯re from an ancient kingdom that doesn¡¯t exist anymore.¡± ¡°Where did you-?¡± started Penelope. ¡°Nevermind. They¡¯re still gold, right?¡± ¡°I think so,¡± said Elise, weighing it in her hand. ¡°Then I¡¯m sure we can find someone willing to take it,¡± said Penelope. ¡°We might even be able to get a lot of money from it, since these would be considered antiques,¡± said Elise. ¡°Maybe.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± agreed Penelope. ¡°In that case, we should head back right now. No point in wasting time here.¡± ¡°One thing before we go,¡± said Elise. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t maintain this form for very long. 4 hours at most. Then I turn back into a rabbit.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± said Penelope. ¡°That¡­ might actually make things easier.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Penelope looked Elise up and down. ¡°You¡¯d probably draw a lot of attention as you are now. You look really unique. In a good way though! But also your clothes¡­¡± Elise looked down at herself. ¡°Are they really that weird?¡± She had expected them to be abnormal, but didn¡¯t think it would be to the point that Penelope was worried they¡¯d draw attention. They seemed like fairly standard medieval-ish clothes to her. It was just simple leather pants and a black tunic with a belt. Elise was never big on fashion, but as far as she could tell, it was similar to the outfits she had seen the succubus and incubus displaying at Ostra. ¡°Not weird, per se,¡± replied Penelope. ¡°But they look more like men¡¯s clothes than women¡¯s, and most people tend to avoid wearing black. Also, most importantly, you don¡¯t have any form of identification do you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t. Do I need one?¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t want to get tolled when you enter a city, yes. But if you¡¯re going to be in your rabbit form when we enter, we don¡¯t need to worry about it. Are you gonna transform now, or when we get closer?¡± ¡°Now,¡± said Elise, transforming into her changeling form. ¡°The skill has a cooldown, so this way, by the time we get to the city, I should have it back again.¡± Penelope stared at Elise with a blank expression. Elise realized that her changeling form would probably draw just as much attention, so she shifted back one evolution. It hadn¡¯t been that long since her evolution, but she already hated the way her old forms felt. She was less than half her normal strength, and it felt like a quarter of her mana pool had just vanished into thin air. Still, it was better than nothing. ¡°Alright,¡± said Penelope, nodding. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Elise flew beside the knight as they walked back out of the forest, then perched on her shoulder for the way back. Penelope had been worried that someone would see Elise flying, and offered to carry her to make it less conspicuous. Elise agreed that it would be too conspicuous, but when Penelope tried carrying her, Elise found it incredibly uncomfortable, especially when Penelope shifted her arms and the pleats pinched her fur. Perching on the shoulder was more conspicuous, but the armor was big enough that Elise had plenty of room and didn¡¯t have to worry too much about balance, as long as Penelope didn¡¯t do anything odd. When they reached the nearest city¨Cthe same one Elise had seen while flying around the forest¨C Elise got back in the knight¡¯s arms and pretended to be asleep as they got within view of the city guards. ¡°Name?¡± said one. ¡°Dame Penelope of the Steel Serpent order of the Jelorian Knights.¡± Elise felt herself get shifted to one arm as Penelope fished something out of one of the pouches hanging from her waist and handed it to the guard. A moment later, the guard handed it back. ¡°Confirmed,¡± he said. ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°A rabbit,¡± said Penelope. ¡°I found it in the forest.¡± ¡°Monsters from the forest are not permitted within the city.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a simple rabbit, not a monster,¡± said Penelope. ¡°First tier. Couldn¡¯t hurt anything if it tried. I found it getting attacked by a red viper.¡± ¡°Hmmm,¡± said the guard. ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust you, but it¡¯s city policy not to let unapproved animals inside, especially considering recent events. Let me call my superior.¡± She heard the guard turn and walk away, leaving Penelope and Elise alone with the other guard. For about a minute, no one spoke. Then, the guard cleared his throat. ¡°So, the Steel Serpent order, huh,¡± he said. ¡°Yes,¡± said Penelope. ¡°I¡¯ve got a cousin in the Jelorian Knights.¡± ¡°Oh? In the Steel Serpents?¡± ¡°No, he¡¯s in a different order. I forget which one. I think it had something to do with fire?¡± ¡°The Flame Boars?¡± guessed Penelope after a short pause. ¡°No, not that one,¡± replied the guard. ¡°I think it was a bird, maybe?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know any orders based on fire and a bird.¡± ¡°No, there definitely is one. Shoot, what¡¯s it called? Oh! Phoenix! The Phoenix Order!¡± ¡°The Ice Phoenixes?¡± ¡°Oh yeah, that¡¯s the one!¡± ¡°Your cousin is talented,¡± said Penelope. ¡°They only take the best.¡± ¡°Yeah, when he got accepted, my uncle wouldn¡¯t stop talking about it until- no, he still hasn¡¯t stopped talking about it, actually. He¡¯ll tell anyone who¡¯ll listen.¡± ¡°Ah, yeah, I know the type.¡± ¡°So, what brings someone like you all the way out here?¡± ¡°One of my comrades went missing in this area. I was investigating.¡± ¡°Was it because of the Zone Shift?¡± asked the guard. ¡°That¡¯s what I had guessed,¡± said Penelope. ¡°And I think that was related, but it¡¯s not the whole story.¡± ¡°What is the whole story?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t say.¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s a shame,¡± said the guard. ¡°There was a family that went missing in there too, back when the Shift started. No one really knew who they were, since they kept to themselves, but they came into town every once in a while to pick up supplies. Seemed like nice people. No one¡¯s seen them since though.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± ¡°Zone Shifts are dangerous stuff. I heard they evaluated this one as rank 3. We¡¯re lucky it only affected the forest. I¡¯d hate to think what might have happened if it extended all the way to here. We¡¯d have to evacuate the whole city, which would suck, because I kinda like it here.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°By the way, that¡¯s a really cute rabbit. I know Tony¡¯s a little wary of it, but I¡¯m sure it will be fine.¡± ¡°I hope so.¡± ¡°...Mind if I pet it?¡± ¡°I uh¡­¡± said Penelope. ¡°I don¡¯t know if she¡¯d like that?¡± Penelope shook her arms a little bit, so Elise took the opportunity to pretend to wake up, blinking the feigned drowsiness out of her eyes. The guard was a young man, probably around her age. He had a round face, and a few extra pounds, and looked very cheerful. ¡°Hi there,¡± he said with a higher voice. ¡°Is it okay if I pet you?¡± Elise thought it over for a moment, then decided that she might as well. He seemed polite enough, and showing she was harmless and friendly would help her case when the superior came down. Besides, being pet felt nice. The guard slowly reached his hand toward her, and Elise didn¡¯t react. When he brought it down on her head, she blinked slowly, then leaned into his palm. ¡°Awww,¡± he said. ¡°She¡¯s so soft.¡± ¡°Yeah, haha,¡± said Penelope. ¡°She looks like it. I haven¡¯t gotten the chance to pet yet though¡­¡± ¡°Ah, yeah, that sucks,¡± said the guard, still gently stroking Elise¡¯s head. ¡°You¡¯re missing out. I bet you can¡¯t wait to get out of that armor. Wait. That sounded weird.¡± ¡°I know what you meant. You¡¯re right. It¡¯s too hot for full plate.¡± ¡°It¡¯s too hot for long sleeves,¡± said the guard, pausing his petting to shake his arms. ¡°I hate uniforms.¡± Penelope was about to respond, but Elise heard footsteps and perked her ears up, making both the others look back toward the city gate. There were two men walking toward them. The first looked to be a man in his thirties with an impressive black mustache, and the second was an older man with a neatly trimmed gray beard. Both were wearing the same clothes as the young guard, though they were fitter, making it look much more imposing. Elise could sense that the mana in the old man was much denser than just about anyone she had met before, and she suddenly recalled what Hallbjorn had said when they first met about {Inspect} being a skill exclusive to high tiers. She couldn¡¯t tell if this man was strong enough, but there was a chance, and just in case, she didn¡¯t want him sniffing her out at a glance, so she transformed all the way back into a [Forest Rabbit]. The sudden loss of nearly all her stats left her feeling almost as though it was difficult to breathe, but no one seemed to have noticed the change. She was thankful that her first 3 forms were so identical. The old man zeroed in on her and bent down to look more closely at her without saying a word. He changed his angle a few times, viewing Elise from all around for a full minute before finally returning to his upright position. ¡°Seems fine to me,¡± he announced. He gave Elise a quick scritch under the chin, then turned and walked back to the gate. The other two guards watched until he was out of sight, then turned back to Penelope. ¡°Well, looks like you¡¯re good!¡± said the younger guard with a wide smile. ¡°Yes, welcome,¡± said the other. ¡°Enjoy your stay.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Have a good day,¡± said the younger guard. ¡°If you have time later, feel free to stop by again so I can pet the rabbit again.¡± ¡°Sorry, I think I¡¯ll be leaving soon,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s a shame,¡± said the young guard. ¡°Well, it was nice meeting you.¡± ¡°You as well.¡± The streets just inside the city walls were fairly clean and pleasant, but as Penelope walked further in and started making turns, they got much less so. By the time they reached their destination, Elise was certain they were in the slums. The inn that Penelope was staying at was a lopsided building made of splintering wood with mismatched roof tiles. There were a half dozen homeless people lounging against the side. Elise used {Inspect} on them, and while most of them showed as simply tradesmen, one came up as a [Pickpocket]. They watched Penelope and Elise enter, but Penelope ignored them, making her way into the building and heading confidently toward the staircase. A middle-aged woman was sleeping at the reception desk, and didn¡¯t seem to notice their entry. As they walked up the stairs, Penelope shifted Elise to one arm again as she rummaged in her hip pouch for a key. However, when they reached the top of the stairs, she paused. ¡°Shit!¡± muttered Penelope. Elise followed her gaze to the second door on the right, which was standing ajar. 59 - The Thieves Penelope set Elise down, then drew her sword and marched toward the open door. Elise thought to herself that she would have chosen a stealthier approach, but in full plate armor, there was no way that Penelope was sneaking up on anyone. Elise hopped behind, though she maintained a few steps¡¯ distance. She didn¡¯t want to get caught in the crossfire of whatever might happen in the room, and if whoever was there managed to get past Penelope, then Elise would be there to attempt to stop them. However, it turned out that there was no need for that. ¡°What are you doing in here?¡± demanded Penelope as she marched inside. Elise heard a pair of gasps followed by a brief struggle, that ended in two slams, one much louder than the other. ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± wailed a young boy¡¯s voice. ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± ¡°Stop crying!¡± said another voice, this one sounding like it belonged to a young girl. ¡°Just kill us already, knight lady!¡± ¡°Nooooo!¡± screamed the young boy. ¡°I¡¯m not going to kill you,¡± said Penelope. ¡°But you might wish I had if you don¡¯t tell me what you were doing in here.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sayin¡¯ nothin¡¯,¡± said the girl. ¡°We were stealing!¡± said the boy. ¡°Shut up, Marco!¡± ¡°How old are you two?¡± ¡°I¡¯m 9!¡± said Marco. ¡°Marco!¡± said the girl. ¡°Stop tellin¡¯ her everything!¡± ¡°Where are your families?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°I ain¡¯t gotta family,¡± said the girl. ¡°Marco neither.¡± ¡°Is that true?¡± ¡°No!¡± said Marco. ¡°Marco!¡± Elise had heard enough. She roughly understood what was going on, and while she didn¡¯t think that Penelope was the type to take things too far, Elise wanted to go in herself to make sure. She took a quick step back, glanced around to make sure there was no one watching, then transformed into her human form and stepped inside. The scene inside was not quite what she had imagined. Penelope had indeed pinned both of the thieves to the ground next to the bed, but the two thieves didn¡¯t look at all like she had imagined they would. The boy who was allegedly 9 looked like he was taller than Elise, while the girl had a small pair of gray-feathered wings splayed out behind her on the ground. Both were wearing filthy rags, and looked unhealthily thin. {Inspect} identified them as a [Giant] and an [Ainar], respectively, and neither had any levels associated. ¡°Thieves?¡± asked Elise. Penelope glanced back, a hint of surprise in her eyes as she saw Elise¡¯s human form. ¡°Yes,¡± said the knight. ¡°Can you close the door?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± said Elise, doing just that. ¡°I¡¯m going to let the two of you up,¡± said Penelope, turning toward the children. ¡°Don¡¯t try to run. I believe you both already know that it won¡¯t work. You understand?¡± The boy nodded, tears running down his face, while the girl just glared defiantly. Penelope glared back for a few seconds until the girl¡¯s defiance withered, and she gave a meek nod as well. Penelope slowly stood up, letting the children up. Both immediately sat up and scrambled backward to the wall away from the knight, where they stopped, hugging their knees. Penelope looked back at Elise with an unspoken question, that Elise responded to with a slight shrug. She didn¡¯t know what to do either. ¡°Why were you two trying to steal from me?¡± The girl grunted and hugged her knees tighter, while the boy only started crying harder. Penelope sighed and turned back to Elise, who also sighed before walking over and crouching down in front of the two children. ¡°There¡¯s no need to be frightened,¡± said Elise. ¡°We¡¯re not going to hurt you.¡± ¡°Yeah, right,¡± said the girl. Elise turned to her and frowned, noticing bruising all down her arms, and more on her ankles that were just barely peeking out from her ragged dress. The boy was less hurt, but his body wasn¡¯t in good shape either. ¡°Not only will we not hurt you, we¡¯ll actually even help you,¡± said Elise, using {Charm}. ¡°Just close your eyes, and I¡¯ll prove it to you.¡± The boy¡¯s sobbing lessened slightly, and he shut his eyes tightly, but the girl refused to close hers. ¡°Please?¡± asked Elise with another dose of {Charm}, as well as {Suggest}. The girl glared for a moment longer before reluctantly letting her eyelids fall. ¡°Fine. Just get it over with.¡± Elise waved her hands in front of their faces, making sure they actually couldn¡¯t see anything, then stood up, turned around, activated {Fairy Wings}, then used {Fairy Dust} with healing in mind. It was not the skill¡¯s intended use, so it took a few seconds to see effects, but Elise didn¡¯t stop until the marks on the girl¡¯s arms had vanished. She could tell it took a fairly significant portion of her {Fairy Dust}, but that was fine. It would come back. She turned back around, and crouched again. ¡°You can open your eyes now,¡± she said. ¡°What did you do?¡± asked the girl. ¡°Look,¡± said Elise, reaching gently for the girl¡¯s arm. The girl flinched away, raising her hand out of Elise¡¯s reach, but she must have at least noticed the lack of pain, because a second later, she looked up at her own arm in surprise. ¡°Y-you- you healed me?¡± she asked. The boy looked in awe at his own limbs, his tears from the moment before seemingly forgotten. He then proceeded to run his hands along his torso before turning to Elise with his mouth hanging open. ¡°Are you a healer?¡± he asked. ¡°Sometimes,¡± said Elise. ¡°Now, can you two tell me your names?¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m Marco,¡± said Marco. ¡°...Annie,¡± said the girl after a moment. ¡°Nice to meet you, Marco and Annie. My name is Snowberry.¡± ¡°Snowberry?¡± asked Marco.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°It means something else in my native language.¡± Why didn¡¯t I just use that line when I first met Penelope? ¡°So, would you mind telling me why you decided to try to steal from my friend here?¡± continued Elise. ¡°I promise that no matter what you say, we won¡¯t hurt you.¡± ¡°A-Annie said that we could make a lotta money,¡± said Marco, sniffling. ¡°¡®Cause knights are always loaded.¡± Annie turned her eyes away. ¡°Do you need money to eat?¡± asked Elise. ¡°N-no,¡± said Marco. ¡°The Boss- he says we gotta meet quota. Annie said- she said we could have enough for quota for a month if we stealed from a knight.¡± Elise glanced back at Penelope, whose expression was dark. ¡°The Boss?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Who¡¯s the Boss? Is he the one who hit you?¡± ¡°H-he¡¯s-¡± started Marco. ¡°No!¡± shouted Annie. ¡°We-we can¡¯t tell you about the Boss.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°We just can¡¯t,¡± said Annie. ¡°So just forget about it. Take us to the coppers or kill us, or whatever, ¡®cause we ain¡¯t talkin¡¯.¡± I somehow doubt that, said Elise, looking at Marco, who was rubbing his dripping nose on his shirt. ¡°Tell us about the Boss,¡± said Penelope in a voice so low it was almost a growl. Elise made eye contact with the knight, and nodded. ¡°We¡¯re going to pay him a visit,¡± said Elise. ¡°Can you tell us where he is?¡± ¡°N-no,¡± said Annie. ¡°Marco?¡± said Elise, looking at the boy. ¡°No!¡± shouted Annie. ¡°Marco, don¡¯t say, nothin¡¯.¡± ¡°Is the Boss threatening your families?¡± ¡°...no,¡± said Annie, failing to meet Elise¡¯s eyes. ¡°If he is, you can tell us. We can handle it.¡± ¡°N-no,¡± said Annie. ¡°You can¡¯t.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°B-because¡­ You just can¡¯t!¡± For the first time, Annie too looked to be on the verge of tears, so Elise stood up and walked over to Penelope. ¡°What should we do?¡± Elise whispered. ¡°Beat the shit out of the Boss,¡± Penelope whispered back. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we leave that to the ¡®coppers¡¯?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen enough of this city to know that they aren¡¯t gonna do shit. And they aren¡¯t gonna do shit about us if we make a mess. I can go in alone. I doubt some back-alley thug will be strong enough to handle a knight.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll help,¡± said Elise. ¡°I just wanted to make sure that¡¯s what we were doing.¡± Penelope nodded, then stepped toward the children, who both flinched away in fear. ¡°Alright, kids, here¡¯s the deal,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯re going to go find this ¡®Boss¡¯ of yours and we¡¯re gonna beat him up. We¡¯ll save your families, and make sure you never have to give that guy money again. Okay? But we need you to tell us where he is first.¡± Annie and Marco glanced at each other. Annie shook her head, and Marco looked disappointed. ¡°Please?¡± said Elise, crouching down in front of them again. ¡°We promise we¡¯ll keep you safe.¡± Annie stared at Elise with eyes full of mistrust. ¡°Please?¡± Annie looked away. ¡°He likes to stay at the Shimmering Lotus.¡± ¡°The Shimmering Lotus?¡± asked Elise. ¡°A brothel,¡± said Penelope. ¡°I saw it on my way in. I know where it is. Let¡¯s go.¡± She turned around to walk toward the door, but at that moment, Marco¡¯s stomach grumbled so loudly that Elise could feel the floor gently vibrating. Penelope paused and turned back to the boy, who was looking embarrassed. ¡°Does the Boss like to drink at night?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°Y-yes,¡± said Annie. ¡°Then we should wait until later. For now, how about a meal? Do you like pie?¡± Half an hour later, the four of them were in a much nicer part of town, sitting at a streetside table just outside of a restaurant, and chowing down on meat pies. Penelope had changed out of her armor, opting for a simple set of pants and a shirt. Frankly, Elise didn¡¯t see much of a difference between what Penelope was wearing and what she was wearing, but as Penelope predicted, Elise seemed to be drawing much more attention. Elise knew she was attractive in her human form, and she knew that her absurd Charisma would only make her more so, but she had still underestimated its effects. Nearly every head turned as she walked down the street, and everywhere she went, she could feel dozens of not-so-subtle gazes aimed at her. It was uncomfortable, but it did have a few upsides. For example, they were able to get a table at the restaurant, despite the owner clearly wanting to turn them away due to Marco and Annie¡¯s appearances. In that part of town, the two stuck out like a sore thumb, and it was understandable that the owner didn¡¯t want them dirtying the restaurant or giving the place a bad image by sitting on the street, but with a little help from {Charm}, he relented. With a little more help from {Charm}, he also ¡°accidentally¡± brought out an extra lamb pie ¡°for the children¡±. When Marco and Annie first saw the food, their eyes widened in disbelief, and they almost seemed afraid to touch it. That fear only lasted about ten seconds though before Marco¡¯s appetite won out and he made his best attempt at eating an entire pie in a single bite. ¡°Slow down a bit,¡± said Elise with a light laugh. ¡°The food¡¯s not going anywhere, and we can always order more.¡± Elise felt a little iffy about offering Penelope¡¯s money up so freely, since she had gathered the other woman¡¯s financial situation wasn¡¯t the greatest, but she planned on paying her back with the dwarven gold, and Penelope didn¡¯t object, so she carried on. Annie ate her food a bit more gingerly, and though her hands were shaky, Elise could tell that she had at least been taught some form of table manners, unlike Marco. That made her wonder what the children¡¯s situation was. They were street urchins, but they had families, and families who were too poor to afford good clothes for themselves. Or perhaps their families had the money, but didn¡¯t think that clothing for their children was worth it. Whatever the case, it wasn¡¯t good, and the more she thought about it, the less she liked it. She decided to turn her mind to the other topic at hand, which was how they would handle the Boss. Penelope wanted to barge in and beat him up, and while Elise was wholly for that plan, she was also a bit worried about the logistics. It was mid-afternoon, so there was still some time before sunset, but she was already nearing a full two hour cooldown on {Lesser Transformation}. If they stayed out too much longer, she might not have it back in time for the raid. It wasn¡¯t entirely necessary, and she would probably even be better off without it, but she still wanted to have all options available if she could. But how would she transform back into a rabbit with Marco and Annie around? Marco was clearly not one for secrets, and despite her bravado, it hadn¡¯t taken much for Annie to start talking either. She wasn¡¯t sure what the consequences of being discovered would be, but she doubted they would be pleasant. It was best to keep the secret contained to as few people as possible. In that case, there was really no way that she would be able to head back to the inn with Penelope. There was no way that the other woman would be willing to let the children out of her sight until the attack, and there was no way Elise could transform in front of them. ¡°Hey, Penelope,¡± said Elise, swallowing a bite of chicken pie. ¡°I have an errand to run after we get back to the inn.¡± Penelope nodded, catching Elise¡¯s pointed look. ¡°That¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll watch over them. Maybe I can get them a bath and some new clothes.¡± ¡°Sounds good,¡± said Elise. Marco and Annie continued to wolf down their food, but they couldn¡¯t hide the smiles on their faces. Elise was sure that Penelope was running her pockets dry spending so much on them, but it was definitely worth it. Elise would make sure to pay her back double once she converted her dwarven gold to something more universal. They went through another round of pies before Marco was too full to continue. Both children¡¯s stomachs looked a bit bloated compared to how skinny the rest of their bodies were, but they wore satisfied smiles. The four of them lazed around for another ten minutes before finally getting out of their seats and heading out. They started heading back toward the inn, but two blocks down, they passed a building with steam rising from a dozen chimneys on top, and a wooden sign with a picture of a tub hanging from above its door. ¡°Let¡¯s stop here,¡± said Penelope. Elise looked wistfully at the sign, thinking that a bath sounded really nice, but forced herself to look away to respond to Penelope. ¡°Alright,¡± she said. ¡°I need to go run my errand. I¡¯ll see you guys later.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going?¡± asked Marco. ¡°Only for a bit,¡± said Elise with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll see you guys again later tonight. Until then, make sure you behave for Penelope.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Elise patted him on the head¨Csomething that felt odd, since she had to reach upward to do it¨C then did the same to Annie before turning and walking down the street. The streets were far too busy to transform, so she started heading back toward the quieter, dirtier side of town. As she got further away from the cleaner streets though, she started to feel uneasy. The constant gazes felt more sinister and the people she saw around her looked much more dangerous. She went vaguely toward the inn, but made a couple random turns, just in case someone happened to be following her. After about 5 minutes, when she was in the most deserted part of the city yet, and she was sure that there was no one around, she made a sharp turn into a dark alley, and after one final check to make sure she was alone, she transformed back into her rabbit form. Time to get to work. 60 - The Boss It didn¡¯t take long to find the Shimmering Lotus. It was only a street away, and it stood out like a sore thumb to a hammer. It wasn¡¯t huge, or extravagant, or noisy or anything like that. It didn¡¯t need to be. It was just the only building on its street with a fresh coat of paint and a roof that didn¡¯t seem to be in danger of caving in. However, while finding it had been easy, getting there wasn¡¯t. Elise was running into the same problem she had when sneaking around Dokkalfheimr: bright white rabbits aren¡¯t very good at stealth. She could be the sneakiest, stealthiest, most careful rabbit in the world, and if someone caught even a quick glimpse of her, it was over. She might be able to use {Suggest} to trick them into thinking they hadn¡¯t seen her, but she had never tested that before, and didn¡¯t want to count on it. So, instead, she relied on her ears. Fortunately, it seemed that in this part of town, anyone who lived there was either effectively nocturnal, or spent the whole day working, so there weren¡¯t many people around, even within the houses. Still, the streets weren¡¯t completely empty, so she spent longer than she would have liked to hiding behind trash in an alley, waiting for people to walk past so she could cross safely. When she arrived at the Shimmering Lotus, she quickly ran around the back until she saw somewhere she could hide. She could already hear what was happening inside fairly clearly¨Cwhich thankfully wasn¡¯t much¨Cbut she wanted a place where she could rest, and focus all her attention on listening. A place with no risk of being seen. It was actually a bit easier to find than she thought it would be. On the second floor on the back side of the building, facing another even taller building, there was a window with a planter box outside it, and wooden panel doors open at a 45 degree angle. Between the doors and the wall of the house, there was a space just big enough for a rabbit to sit. The roof had a bit of overhang, meaning she was protected not only from the sun, but from any prying eyes from above, meaning the only way she could possible be spotted was if someone deliberately moved their perspective 20 feet in the air, and checked exactly where she was laying. It took a bit of maneuvering to actually get into the space, and she clipped her wing on the side of the building as she did so, but she gritted her teeth through the pain, and settled into her spot without being noticed. From the sounds she heard, the Shimmering Lotus didn¡¯t seem to be open yet. At the very least, they weren¡¯t doing any ¡°business¡± there at that moment. There were at least a dozen people moving about inside, but the only real activity she heard was the sound of knives on cutting boards in the kitchen. In the room next to her window, she could hear the sound of a man loudly snoring, and the much softer breathing of a woman beside him. Is it the Boss? she wondered. She waited a few minutes, and when there was no sound of movement from inside, she was tempted to try to get a peek. Unfortunately, the door extended past the edge of the planter, so she would have to get off and fly, and if one of them happened to wake up right at that moment, or if someone walked under her in the alley, she would be spotted. She waited a few minutes, and then decided that she needed to check. She was out to gather information, and the most useful information she could get would be the Boss¡¯s class and level. She double checked to make sure they were both still asleep, and that there was no one in the alleys, then leapt out from her spot and activated her wings so she could see inside [ Lesser Gang Boss, lvl 12 ] [ Brothel Owner, lvl 9 ] The man was about what she expected someone calling himself ¡°the Boss¡± would look like. Most of him was covered by a blanket, but she could still see that he was tall, and broad-shouldered, and had arms as thick as Elise¡¯s human form¡¯s waist. He also had a huge gut, and a greasy brown mustache, and he was bald, and had a thin scar running along the top of his head. The woman beside him was slender, with black hair and thick eyebrows, and though she was laying on top of his arm, she was facing away from him, and seemed to be trying to stay as far from him as possible. Elise glanced quickly around their room before heading back to her hiding spot. The room looked large, but almost completely empty. There were some clothes on the floor, a desk on the left side, and a wardrobe on the right, but other than that, it was bare. It was odd that they were still asleep at this time of day. It was summer, and the sun would be setting within the next hour, but they were still fast asleep. They must not have gone to bed until close to noon. Either that, or they had indulged in some day drinking. Elise could detect a hint of alcohol in the air coming from within. Whatever the case, they were asleep, and the only conversations she could hear were uninteresting ones containing gossip about people she didn¡¯t know, or prices of food that didn¡¯t matter to her. So much for information gathering. She waited a few more minutes, hoping that the Boss would wake up, or that one of the other people in the building would say something interesting, but she had no luck. She was about to half-give up, and start looking for things to distract herself while she waited until she realized something that made her want to slap herself. She had {Suggest}. She could wake him up herself, and she didn¡¯t even need to be able to see him. After realizing that, it only took her a second to figure out what the best way to accomplish that goal was. I¡¯m falling! She sent. The man awoke with a start. Elise could hear the bed creak under the weight of his sudden movements, and the sound of the blanket being thrown off his body. ¡°Hmmm?¡± said the woman sleepily. ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± said the man, not sounding much more awake. An assassin! Elise sent. The man flinched again, and a second later, she heard him getting out of bed, his heavy footsteps echoing on the wooden floor. He circled the room, then got down on his hands and knees, probably to check under the bed, before standing back up. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± asked the woman. ¡°Just a weird dream,¡± he said. ¡°What time is it?¡± ¡°How should I know?¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t asking you, bitch. I¡¯m going downstairs.¡± Elise heard him put on his pants, then open the door and walk out without closing it behind him. The woman lay in bed for a few moments longer, then sighed heavily and did the same. Downstairs, Elise heard the man burp loudly, followed by the scooting of chair legs on wood. ¡°A chicken!¡± he shouted. ¡°Yes, Boss,¡± said a woman¡¯s voice. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Hey, Boss, you¡¯re up early,¡± said the voice of another man in the same room. ¡°Had a weird dream,¡± said the Boss. ¡°Felt like there was an assassin or something. Woke me up too much to go back to sleep.¡± ¡°Ah, I hate those,¡± said the other man. ¡°Report?¡± asked the Boss. ¡°Yes, Boss. Nothing big happened today. Old Melvin had a bit of trouble remembering where he was keeping what he owed us, but we helped him find it.¡± The man cackled. ¡°That junkie two streets down finalled ODed.¡± ¡°Good riddance.¡± ¡°I heard that there was a bad storm up north, and it sunk a few ships, one of them carrying Grancian ale, so the price of that has gone up a bit.¡± ¡°Fuck.¡± ¡°Oh, and do you remember that knight chick that showed up yesterday?¡± ¡°No. Who?¡± ¡°Some knight chick from the capital showed up last night and got a room over at Agatha¡¯s. We were a bit worried she was here for us, but she went into the forest this morning, and came back with a rabbit.¡± ¡°A rabbit?¡± ¡°Yeah, I dunno either. The real news though is that we saw her walkin¡¯ around with Annie and Marco later, alongside this smokin¡¯ hot chick.¡± ¡°How hot?¡± ¡°Boss, I think you¡¯d love her. She had white hair and red eyes, and she was kinda short, but she had a really nice ass.¡± What? ¡°Hmm,¡± said the Boss. ¡°White hair? Was she old?¡± ¡°Naw, it was weird. Joey told me about her and I didn¡¯t believe him at first either, but I walked by while she was eating, and she looks young. Can¡¯t be more than 25.¡± ¡°Where is she now?¡± ¡°Dunno,¡± said the other man. ¡°I had a dude tailing her, and she even split off from the knight, but our guy lost her.¡± There was someone following me? Elise hadn¡¯t noticed anyone. There were a few suspicious people around, but to her, walking alone through the impoverished streets, everyone had seemed suspicious. There were lots of people who stole looks at her while she was eating at the streetside restaurant, but there was no way of knowing which one had been this man. ¡°Fucking incompetent,¡± said the Boss. ¡°Yeah, I was pretty pissed too,¡± said the other man. ¡°But with looks like that, she won¡¯t be hard to track down again, so it¡¯s no big deal. Anyway, white hair chick aside, the important part of that was that Marco and Annie were with the knight. She bought ¡®em food and took ¡®em to a bathhouse.¡± ¡°So?¡± asked the Boss. ¡°Who are Marco and Annie.¡± ¡°Two of the urchins. You know, that giant kid and Sharon¡¯s girl.¡± ¡°The Oaf and the Fly?¡± ¡°Yeah, them.¡± ¡°Were they ratting on us?¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t wanna get too close to the knight, since she was on guard, so we didn¡¯t hear what they were saying, but it didn¡¯t look like it. I think the knight was just doin¡¯ some charity work, you know? Feed the poor kids to feel good about herself.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Annie¡¯s smart. She knows better than that.¡± ¡°True,¡± mused the Boss. ¡°I haven¡¯t had Sharon in a while. Maybe I¡¯ll invite her up tonight.¡± ¡°Yeah, maybe,¡± said the other man. ¡°We should still keep an eye on ¡®em though.¡± ¡°Call Yuri over too.¡± ¡°Yuri? You sure, Boss? He¡¯ll be expensive.¡± ¡°Take it out of the kids¡¯ quota. If they can¡¯t pay for him, double the quota until they do.¡± ¡°You got it, Boss. I¡¯ll go get him right now.¡± ¡°Good work.¡± ¡°Thanks, Boss.¡± ¡°Chicken¡¯s ready!¡± said the woman from before. ¡°Took you long enough,¡± replied the Boss. ¡°Tell Sharon to get down here too.¡± ¡°Yes, Boss.¡± What followed was the sounds of eating, and general small talk, that Elise soon tuned out. She had certainly found the right place and the right people, and they were every bit as bad as she had assumed they were. So now what was the plan? Penelope sounded like she just wanted to storm in and beat the Boss up, and Elise didn¡¯t entirely disagree, but was there a better way to handle it? Elise could see the Boss¡¯s level, which meant he was a tier lower than both her and Penelope, and ¡°Lesser Gang Boss¡± didn¡¯t sound like it would be anything especially dangerous. This ¡°Yuri¡± person though¡­ Elise waited by the window for another hour as the sounds in the brothel got louder and more varied. There were a half dozen or so other men sleeping in various rooms who got up one by one and joined the Boss wherever he was, and started barking their own food orders. They were loud and rowdy, and vulgar, and didn¡¯t talk about anything important. Elise almost just tuned them out, but forced herself to keep paying attention, just in case they revealed something important. They didn¡¯t, but it was worth it when Yuri finally arrived. The Boss and his men immediately got quiet when he arrived, and even after he had settled in, they were much more subdued than before. Yuri didn¡¯t say much, so Elise couldn¡¯t get a read on him, but whoever he was, the Boss¡¯s men were scared of him. Unfortunately, there was no way to get inside to use {Inspect} on him, so she couldn¡¯t figure out why yet. Hopefully, Marco and Annie would know. Aside from that, she had still gotten a fair amount of useful information. Annie¡¯s mother worked at the Shimmering Lotus, and that was probably the reason that the girl was forced to meet the Boss¡¯s quotas. She didn¡¯t catch anything about Marco, but his situation probably wasn¡¯t far off. Either way, she definitely wanted to help them, and the best way to do that would be to take care of the Boss. But what did ¡°take care¡± mean? Beating him to a pulp would certainly be cathartic, but if that¡¯s all they did, he would just go right back to doing what he was doing. In fact, Marco and Annie would probably suffer because of it. They were already being punished just for spending time with Penelope. Who knew what would happen to them if it was revealed that they did, in fact, rat on the gang? Getting him arrested might solve the problem, but Penelope seemed to believe that the law enforcement was corrupt, so it would be the same situation. He¡¯d be in jail for a bit, and then sometime after they left, he¡¯d be back out again. The only way to properly keep Marco and Annie safe was to do something permanent¡­ Elise didn¡¯t like the idea of that. If anyone deserved it, it was the Boss, but the thought of deliberately permanently maiming or killing someone didn¡¯t sit right with her. But if the law enforcement was corrupt enough not to do anything, did they really have another choice? Maybe she could use {Fey Bargaining}. That aside, it wasn¡¯t something she could decide on her own. She needed to talk to Penelope first. It was about time to head back anyways. {Lesser Transformation} would be off cooldown in about ten minutes, and it would probably take her at least that long to get somewhere that it would be safe to transform. She leapt down from her perch and crept through the alleys back toward the inn. The sun was setting, and the streets were busier than they had been when she first went out, so it took a bit longer to get back, but she made it without any trouble. She transformed in an empty alley near the inn, and walked inside. The group of homeless people were still there, and their numbers seemed to have grown to include a few more tradesman, and one more [Pickpocket]. That made her a bit nervous, especially considering the conversation she had overheard at the brothel, but aside from some leering, none of them bothered her. The lady at the desk narrowed her eyes at Elise, but didn¡¯t stop her from going upstairs. From inside Penelope¡¯s room, Elise could hear the muffled sound of voices, and as she prepared to knock on the door, she even heard what sounded like Annie giggling. When she knocked though, all the noise stopped. ¡°It¡¯s me,¡± she called. ¡°I¡¯m back.¡± The door swung open, revealing Penelope standing just behind it with a wide smile. Behind her Annie and Marco peaked their heads out around from behind her, also smiling. Elise was pleased to see that not only did they look clean, it seemed that Penelope had gotten them new clothes as well. They still looked malnourished, but now they at least looked comfortable. ¡°Did you guys have fun?¡± said Elise, stepping inside and closing the door behind her. ¡°Yeah!¡± said Marco. ¡°A little,¡± said Annie. ¡°Where did you go?¡± ¡°Around,¡± said Elise, glancing at Penelope. The knight smiled for a moment more, then her face returned to its usual serious expression. ¡°I¡¯ll get ready,¡± she said. Elise nodded, then turned back to Marco and Annie. ¡°I have a question for you two. Who is Yuri?¡± Annie¡¯s face paled in fear. 61 - Shimmering Lotus ¡°Y-Yuri?¡± asked Annie. ¡°Yes,¡± said Elise. ¡°Who is he?¡± ¡°He¡¯s a bad man,¡± said Marco. ¡°How bad?¡± ¡°He¡¯s the worst! He killed Annie¡¯s daddy!¡± Elise frowned as Annie lowered her head. On the other side of the bed, Penelope¡¯s knuckles were white as she yanked on the straps of her breastplate. ¡°While I was out, I overheard that he¡¯s going to be there at the Shimmering Lotus tonight.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t go!¡± exclaimed Annie. ¡°We¡¯ll be fine,¡± said Penelope. ¡°I¡¯m a knight, after all.¡± ¡°Y-Yuri is a knight too!¡± Penelope paused. ¡°He is?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± said Marco. ¡°And he¡¯s really strong.¡± Penelope hesitated for a moment longer, then returned to donning her armor. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m stronger.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t!¡± said Annie. ¡°He¡¯ll kill you.¡± ¡°He won¡¯t,¡± said Penelope. ¡°I won¡¯t let him.¡± Annie looked like she was on the verge of tears. ¡°Hey,¡± said Elise softly, bending over. ¡°It¡¯ll be okay. I¡¯ll be there too. Do you want me to tell you a secret?¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°I have a Legendary class.¡± Annie¡¯s eyes widened as Elise smiled. She had gotten a general idea of class rarities with the dwarves and drow, and knew that Legendary classes and species were typically 1 in 100000, barring extreme circumstances. A significant number of the dwarves¡¯ classes had apparently gone up to Legendary when they started getting the ¡®of the Forgotten Kingdom¡¯ suffix, but under normal circumstances, regular people might live their entire lives without meeting anyone with such a class. Elise was lying a bit calling it a class rather than a species, but the point remained the same. ¡°Even if Yuri is really strong, he can¡¯t take on her, and me. And if she gets hurt, I¡¯ll just heal her right back up, just like I did for you.¡± ¡°Really?¡± asked Annie. ¡°Really. I promise.¡± At that moment, Penelope finished strapping on the last plate of armor, and stood up straight, patting herself down, making sure everything was in place. Then, she grabbed her belt with her sword on it, strapped it on, and turned to Elise. ¡°Ready?¡± she asked. ¡°Yes, but we need to get them somewhere safe,¡± said Elise, gesturing toward the children. ¡°They¡¯re watching the inn, and we already know this place doesn¡¯t really have security.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± said Penelope, frowning and nodding. ¡°Any ideas where?¡± ¡°I was hoping you would know.¡± Penelope, pondered for a moment. ¡°I think I know a place.¡± Outside the inn, the crowd of homeless people had grown yet again, and this time, there was a [Thug] in the mix. They were smart enough not to stop and harass the armored knight, but Elise could feel their gazes until they rounded the corner out of sight. Even then, she couldn¡¯t shake the feeling she was being watched. Whether she was just imagining things because of the conversation she had overheard, or there was someone actually following, she couldn¡¯t tell though. Neither Marco nor Annie spoke during the short journey, both huddling together with Elise and Penelope on either side. It wasn¡¯t at all cold out, but out of the corner of her eye, Elise still caught Annie shivering once or twice. Their destination was the same gate to the city that they had entered through earlier that day. On the inside, there was a small building where a half dozen guards were playing cards and sipping on some kind of alcohol. After a brief explanation, they agreed to watch over Annie and Marco for a few hours. ¡°Are you sure they¡¯ll be safe there?¡± asked Elise as they walked away. ¡°Reasonably,¡± said Penelope. ¡°The coppers are shit, but the guards in this city are well-run, and they¡¯re strong enough that a couple low level thugs won¡¯t cause them any real trouble. The kids will be fine. It¡¯s us we need to worry about.¡± ¡°About that, are you sure you can handle Yuri?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t know until I see him, but there¡¯s no way I¡¯m letting him off. Any knight who hangs around thugs doesn¡¯t deserve the title. Besides, I have you, miss Legendary class.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not really combat-focused,¡± said Elise. ¡°I can give you some support, but with the knight, and all the other thugs? I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Wait, you¡¯re actually Legendary?¡± said Penelope. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°I thought you were just saying that to comfort them. Wow.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not combat-focused though,¡± said Elise. ¡°I do mostly support.¡± ¡°I bet it¡¯s some pretty damn good support then. We¡¯ll be fine. It¡¯s probably not gonna be a fight to the death. They¡¯re back-alley thugs. They¡¯re not really big on loyalty or fighting to the end. If we beat that knight and the Boss, the others will fall in line.¡± ¡°I hope so,¡± said Elise. The sun had fully set by the time they made it back to the Shimmering Lotus, which made the building even easier to spot, as it was the only well-lit one on its street. From inside, Elise could hear the sound of loud talking, raucous laughter, and even an off-key drinking song. She was thankful she wasn¡¯t in her rabbit form so she didn¡¯t have to hear what other sounds those ones might have been covering. There were two guards with [Thug] classes standing guard outside, but they barely had time to open their mouths before Penelope kicked the door down, silencing the noise inside. Elise spotted the Boss instantly, sitting at the back of the room at a bar with a woman under each arm. On his right, he was holding onto the black-haired woman who had been in his bed when Elise saw them earlier, and on the left was a winged blonde woman that Elise instantly recognized as Annie¡¯s mother. A few feet away on another barstool, there was a weasley, balding man with a huge nose and a huge tankard of something frothy. [ Knight, lvl ??? ] The rest of the room was a musty, dirty tavern, filled to the brim with musty, dirty men, scantily-clad women, and alcohol. ¡°The one in the back with the big nose is the knight,¡± whispered Elise. ¡°Which one of you is the idiot calling himself ¡®the Boss¡¯?¡± shouted Penelope. ¡°Well, well, well, if it ain¡¯t the ironclad bitch,¡± said the Boss, standing up. ¡°Looks like we¡¯ve got a couple rats. I¡¯ll have to take care of them later. Boys?¡± The thugs stood up, but then hesitated when Penelope drew her sword. ¡°The first one to attack loses his head!¡± she announced.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. That got them all to pause, and got the women to start cowering against the wall. The Boss sighed. ¡°You¡¯re all a lot of cowards. She can¡¯t get you all if you all attack at once.¡± The thugs still hesitated. ¡°Then why don¡¯t you attack her yourself,¡± called Elise. ¡°Who are you?¡± asked the Boss. ¡°The squire? The cheerleader?¡± ¡°The offering,¡± said Yuri, draining his mug and standing from his stool. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what, Cletus, I¡¯ll take care of the knight for you, but I get the other one.¡± ¡°Only if I can have her when you¡¯re done. And I told you not to call me that.¡± ¡°Done,¡± said Yuri, stepping forward. ¡°Alright, bitch, come at me. I¡¯ve been needing to stretch my arms for a while. Let¡¯s see what the next generation is made of.¡± Penelope stepped forward as the thugs in the center of the room made way for the two to begin their fight. ¡°Before we fight, I have some questions,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Getting cold feet?¡± said Yuri. ¡°Is it true that you killed the father of the girl named Annie?¡± Elise saw the winged woman flinch at the bar. ¡°Maybe,¡± said Yuri. ¡°Maybe not. So what if I did?¡± ¡°What order were you a part of?¡± ¡°Steel Serpents, same as you,¡± he said. ¡°Is Old Crogan still around?¡± ¡°He passed away last year.¡± ¡°Well, tell him I said hello.¡± The man lunged forward, stabbing so quickly that the sword turned into a blur, but Penelope deftly turned her own blade so that his slid harmlessly past. ¡°Not bad,¡± said Yuri. ¡°Good, even.¡± ¡°Surrender now and I¡¯ll spare your life,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Surrender now and I¡¯ll let you take your clothes when you leave.¡± It was Penelope¡¯s turn to lunge forward, swinging at his side. Her blade slashed through air as Yuri took a step backward and countered with another stab, which Penelope sidestepped. She swung again, and Yuri stepped to the other side, and danced around the edge of the ring of spectators. The thugs were starting to cheer him on, and he was clearly enjoying the attention. Elise hated to admit it, but as much of a scumbag as he was, Yuri was clearly skilled. He was fighting without armor against a fully armored knight, but he didn¡¯t seem worried at all, and Peneleope had yet to even scratch him. They traded a few more strikes, and finally, Yuri landed the first. It did no damage, glancing off Penelope¡¯s armor, but Elise could sense a change in the fight¡¯s momentum. Penelope had been putting on pressure, but after being struck, she suddenly grew much more passive, allowing Yuri to take more control. As they fought, Elise noticed something a bit strange about the whole battle. Neither of them seemed to be using much mana. She could sense a bit of it circulating within their bodies, strengthening themselves and speeding up their attacks, but it still seemed very minimal. When she was living with the Grays, Nick had displayed quite a bit more, and the ability to use powerful, mana-infused attacks, and she had often seen Sindri practicing with something similar. Why aren¡¯t they using their mana skills? wondered Elise. No sooner had she thought that did Yuri finally use his. Elise sensed it a split second before it happened, and thankfully, so did Penelope. The knight woman used a bit of her own mana concentrated in her feet to dart to the side as an invisible spear flew from the tip of Yuri''s sword through the air, nearly skewering one of the thugs on the other side of the ring. ¡°Woah!¡± said the whole audience, scrambling backward a few more steps. At that moment, Elise also understood why Penelope hadn¡¯t been using her mana much either. With so many other people around, some of them innocents, she couldn¡¯t risk the collateral damage. No doubt she would use it if the opportunity arose, but being surrounded by so many people, and with Yuri sticking to the edges, there wasn¡¯t much she could do. As she saw Penelope slowly losing control both over the fight, and over her own level-headedness, Elise realized she had to do something. Yuri was stringing Penelope along, and making her fight on his terms. If this kept going on, she would lose. But what could Elise do? A dozen different options sprung to mind, but Elise hesitated on all of them. Penelope and Yuri were fighting with live steel. Sharp blades. A single misstep could be fatal. Elise could cause that misstep for Yuri, but then she would be responsible for his death. If anyone deserved death, it would be him, but that would still make Elise a killer. There had to be a way to resolve it without resorting to that. Maybe she could somehow get the Boss to step in to stop it. Maybe she could convince Yuri that he was losing, and that he should surrender. I¡¯m going to die, she sent to Yuri using {Suggest} The other man didn¡¯t visibly react. He went in for another lunge, his sword scraping off against Penelope¡¯s breastplate as her sword cut the air above his head. Penelope jumped back into the middle of the ring, breathing heavily as Yuri grinned and spread his arms wide. ¡°Is that all?¡± he asked. ¡°Not going to use your mana? Trying to win with just swordplay? I¡¯m sorry to say, girl, but you¡¯re outmatched.¡± ¡°Shut up,¡± said Penelope. Penelope caught Elise¡¯s eyes and nodded slightly. That motion didn¡¯t go unnoticed by Yuri, who glanced over at Elise with a sly grin. ¡°Telling your friend to run?¡± he asked. ¡°Why¡¯d you bring her here in the first place? You should have known she wasn¡¯t going to be coming out.¡± Elise glanced behind her to see that the two thugs from the outside were blocking the doorway, and more were pressing in on either side, getting uncomfortably close. I need to do something, she thought. Penelope needs me to do something. {Suggest} hadn¡¯t worked. Maybe if she tried a bit harder, or tried a different thought, she might be able to make something happen, but she couldn¡¯t bet on that. She had other skills that were more reliable. They would also almost certainly get Yuri killed. But did that matter right now? Not using them would get both her and Penelope killed. Would I kill to save a life? It wasn¡¯t a question she had much cause to think about on Earth, and it was one that she had done her best to avoid thinking about since arriving at the new world, but now, she had no choice. Killing Yuri would save Penelope and herself, but it would make her a killer. Why is this even a question? asked a voice at the back of her mind. Just do it. Yuri stepped forward, smiling widely while Penelope waited in a defensive stance. When he went to take his next step though, his back foot didn¡¯t move. It had been wrapped up by a root sprouting from between the splintering wooden floorboards. Penelope didn¡¯t miss her chance, immediately stepping forward and swinging downward. Elise felt a huge surge of mana, both from Penelope as she swung her sword downward with all her might, and from Yuri, who charged his own sword up to block the strike. There was a boom as the swords clashed, and Yuri dropped to one knee. His shirt was torn at the shoulder, and there was a long bloody line running down his back from the mana he couldn¡¯t quite block. With a mighty heave, he broke free of the root binding his foot and rolled to the side out of reach of Penelope¡¯s follow-up swing. ¡°You cowardly bitch!¡± he shouted. He never took his eyes off the other knight, but Elise knew he was talking to her. Some of the thugs nearby seemed confused, but Yuri knew exactly what had happened. It was too late though. The momentum of the fight had shifted, and now Penelope was on the offensive. The previous strike hadn¡¯t incapacitated Yuri, but it was clearly paining him, and his reactions were just a hair slower. He was still able to dodge her strikes, but not as well. Soon, smaller cuts started appearing on his clothes, and then a deep gash on his cheek. The crowd was silent as they watched Penelope slowly advance on the injured Yuri. Her attacks were getting a bit more reckless, but now, the difference in their equipment was showing. Both were scoring glancing blows, but Yuri¡¯s were useless against Penelope¡¯s armor, while Penelope¡¯s were drawing more and more blood. Still, the fight was lasting longer than Elise thought it would. I¡¯ve already done it, she thought. I might as well see it through. The next time Yuri went in for another counter strike, Elise used {Ensnaring Roots} once more to grab hold of his leg, throwing him off balance, making his stab go far right. Penelope took the opportunity to bring her sword down on his arm, lopping it off just above the elbow. Yuri screamed in pain as his arm and sword hit the floor, and for a moment, Elise breathed a sigh of relief, believing that with him incapacitated, the fight was over. Then, Penelope plunged her blade into his neck, and swung it out to the side, nearly decapitating him. [ You have participated in defeating Knight, lvl 24 ] [ You have leveled up! 2 -> 3 ] [ Ensnaring Roots has leveled up! 21 -> 25 ] [ Strength +3, Agility +3, Dexterity +3, Fortitude +3, Charisma +30, Intelligence +20, Willpower +8, Mana +10, Mana Control +15 ] There was a collective gasp as his lifeless body fell to the floor next to his arm, his head dangling loosely from his neck. The entire room was still, as Penelope slowly stood up straight and stuck the tip of her blade in the floor, looking down at her kill. Elise wanted to look away from the gruesome sight, but she forced her neck to remain rigid. You did this, she told herself. And it was the right choice. She felt like she was going to be sick, but kept staring, unblinking as the blood soaked into the floorboards, and the coppery scent filled the room. It felt like an eternity before the Boss finally broke the silence. ¡°The other one is a mage!¡± he shouted. ¡°Get her!¡± The entire room immediately turned to Elise, who used {Dart} to get to the middle of the room with Penelope. ¡°Touch her and you die,¡± said Penelope. Having now seen her dispatch Yuri, the thugs were even more reluctant to make a move than before. Looking around the room, {Inspect} told Elise that most of these men had [Thug] classes at best, while some only had [Pickpocket] or even [Beggar]. None were direct combat classes, and none seemed high level. ¡°Fucking useless,¡± muttered the Boss. Elise looked back at him, just in time to see him grab the winged woman from behind and grab a knife from his belt to press against her throat. She gasped, and struggled for a moment, but when the knife drew blood, she stopped, and started trembling. ¡°Why don¡¯t we all calm down a bit,¡± said the Boss. ¡°We don¡¯t want anyone else to get hurt, do we?¡± 62 - The Execution ¡°Put the knife down,¡± said Penelope. ¡°You first,¡± said the Boss. ¡°I don¡¯t want any more bloodshed. I surrender, but I want a guarantee that you¡¯re not gonna kill me.¡± ¡°Let her go and I¡¯ll spare your life,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Swear an oath.¡± ¡°I swear that I will spare your life if you surrender and let that woman go.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± The Boss raised his hands, dropping the knife, and stepped back. The winged woman scrambled away, holding the cut on her neck as a thin trail of blood dripped from her hand. Penelope, however, did not drop her sword. She merely lowered it as she turned to face him. ¡°Come here,¡± she said. ¡°Can you put the sword away first?¡± asked the Boss. ¡°No. Come here. Unlike that man, I am a knight of honor. Your life will be spared.¡± The man took a few tentative steps forward, and when Penelope did not make any moves, he continued until he was just five feet away. ¡°Are you right or left handed?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°Right.¡± ¡°Hold out your right arm.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to cut it off.¡± ¡°What!¡± he said, taking a step back. ¡°No! I already surrendered!¡± ¡°And I am going to spare your life, as I swore to,¡± she said. ¡°But I am not going to spare your arm.¡± ¡°Why are you doing this?¡± he demanded. ¡°I already surrendered!¡± ¡°To teach you that your actions have consequences. I know your type. You won¡¯t learn without consequences.¡± ¡°This is illegal!¡± he said. ¡°You can¡¯t do this!¡± ¡°So is beating children and forcing them to steal for you.¡± ¡°Is that what this is about?¡± he asked. ¡°Just take me in to the coppers. I¡¯ll confess everything.¡± ¡°You and I both know they won¡¯t do shit,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Hold out your arm.¡± The Boss glanced frantically between Penelope, Elise, and his men. Whenever he made eye contact with one of his men, they turned to look away, as if pretending not to see. Is this right? Elise wondered. As he said, he had already surrendered. Was the law enforcement really so bad that Penelope thought that turning him over to them would be pointless? Even so, could she take the law into her own hands like this? Killing Yuri was one thing, since they had fought to the death, but this was cold-blooded dismemberment. ¡°Just the arm?¡± asked the Boss, gritting his teeth. ¡°I¡¯ll let you keep the other,¡± said Penelope. ¡°And my legs?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let you pick which one to keep.¡± ¡°What?!¡± he said. ¡°You can¡¯t! I¡¯ll be as good as dead!¡± ¡°You should have thought about that before you got into this line of work.¡± ¡°You think I want to live like this?¡± he shouted. ¡°You think I had a choice? I was born to a whore and a beggar! I was stealing as soon as I could walk! You think I didn¡¯t want to go to a fancy knight academy and learn swordplay and etiquette? Of course I did! But instead, I got stuck here in this shithole with jack shit to-¡± He was cut off when Penelope stepped forward and slapped her gauntleted hand across his face. A broken tooth flew across the room, and the Boss stumbled to the ground, bleeding from his mouth. ¡°You grew up like that, and now that you¡¯re grown and you see kids growing up just like you did, you decide to make their lives worse?¡± she said. ¡°They need to learn how to survive in this world!¡± ¡°Bullshit!¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re just a sadistic bastard. You wanna know something? My mother was a whore too, and I never knew my father. My childhood was just as awful as yours, if not worse. You know what I did when I got old enough to unlock a class? I worked my ass off to become a knight so I could protect other kids like me from scumbags like you. You weren¡¯t forced into this! You had every opportunity to do something else! To change things for the better! And instead, here you are, perpetuating the same, shitty system that you claim created you! Now choose! Your limbs, or your life!¡± The Boss looked around for help once more, and once more found nothing. He looked up at Penelope, his eyes full of terror, then started scrambling away toward the stairs. Penelope surged with mana, and a moment later, the man¡¯s head was rolling on the floor. Penelope stood up, breathing heavily¨C from anger more than exertion¨C and slowly turned to look at each of the thugs. None could meet her gaze. ¡°If I hear about any of you going after children or other innocents again, you¡¯ll get the same,¡± she announced. ¡°Understand?¡± Some of the thugs nodded, and a few murmured in affirmation. ¡°I can¡¯t hear you,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± they all said in unison. ¡°Good. And don¡¯t you dare forget it. Now get out of here. All of you.¡± she kicked the Boss¡¯s body. ¡°And take these with you.¡± Half the thugs immediately started pushing each other to get out the door, while the others glanced uncertainly at the two bodies. Penelope stabbed her sword into the wooden floorboard and leaned on it. ¡°I¡¯ve shed enough blood today, I won¡¯t attack you. Just take them and leave.¡± Penelope watched like a hawk as they gathered the two bodies and only when the last of them left and the door closed did she turn to look at Sharon, the winged woman. Sharon was still bleeding from her neck, and she looked pale and shaky, but otherwise unharmed. ¡°Are you alright?¡± asked Penelope, her tone suddenly soft. Sharon nodded nervously. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about all the trouble I¡¯ve caused. I¡¯ll pay for all the damages and cleaning fees.¡± She drew a pouch from her belt, looked inside and frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t have much right now, but I¡¯ll give you more soon.¡± ¡°You think money is enough?¡± Penelope and Elise turned to see that the black haired woman who had been on the Boss¡¯s other side was frowning at them. Seeing her up close, Elise could see that she was much older than she initially appeared. Beneath a thick layer of powder and paint was the worn face of a woman who couldn¡¯t have been much younger than 50. ¡°You just killed my best client, and scared off all his friends. I doubt many, if any of them, will be coming back. It will take months to recover from this, and during that time, none of my girls are gonna be getting paid.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry about the trouble,¡± said Penelope. ¡°I¡¯ll pay enough to make it through the rough times.¡± ¡°And where are you going to find that money?¡± asked the woman. ¡°You might be a knight, but I heard that jingle. There¡¯s no gold in that bag. Barely even any silver.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll borrow some.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be at least ten gold,¡± said the woman. ¡°You won¡¯t find many places in the city willing to lend you that much.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a knight. I¡¯ll find a way.¡± ¡°You¡¯d better.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll pay,¡± said Elise. Penelope looked over in surprise. ¡°You don¡¯t have to-¡± ¡°I¡¯ll pay,¡± Elise repeated. She reached into the pocket of her pants, pretending to fish for coins when she was really summoning them from Astrid¡¯s Star. It hurt to part with so much of the gold the dwarves had given her, but it was better than wasting precious time that they could have been using to search for the Grays. They had already spent enough time there dealing with the Boss.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. The black-haired woman¡¯s eyes widened when she saw the gold, then narrowed when she got a better look. She picked one of the coins out of Elise¡¯s hand and inspected it for a moment before turning back and frowning. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll have to get it exchanged to be able to use it anywhere,¡± said Elise. ¡°But it¡¯s real gold. I¡¯m sure you can feel the weight.¡± The other woman pulled another gold coin from¡­ somewhere. She was wearing so little clothing that there didn¡¯t seem to be any place to store coins, so Elise wasn¡¯t sure she wanted to know where it came from. Regardless, she watched the other woman weigh the two coins in her hand, as the gears in her mind became almost visible. ¡°12 of these,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t know how much they¡¯ll be worth.¡± ¡°No,¡± said Elise. ¡°Those are rare. If you find the right buyer, they¡¯ll be worth much more than 10 gold.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m supposed to just trust that?¡± ¡°Have you heard of Dokkalfheimr?¡± ¡°The fuck is that?¡± ¡°An ancient dwarven city that was destroyed more than 400 years ago. These coins are relics. A single one of them might be worth 10 gold or more.¡± She seems honorable, sent Elise with {Suggest}. Why would she lie? ¡°Fine,¡± said the black-haired woman. ¡°Now get out of my establishment.¡± ¡°One more thing,¡± said Elise, turning to Sharon. ¡°Can I heal her?¡± ¡°...Fine. Hurry up.¡± ¡°Do you have a private room we can use? I¡¯d like to keep my methods secret.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not just going to use a skill?¡± ¡°I am, but I don¡¯t want word getting out about what skill it is.¡± ¡°Fine. I don¡¯t care. Sharon, take her to your room. And hurry up. I want them gone.¡± The winged woman nodded, then beckoned Elise toward her with her free hand. Elise followed her through a door next to the bar into a hallway, then down a staircase into a dimly lit room. As she followed, Elise found herself staring at the woman¡¯s wings. The feathers were long and golden, with a faint sheen that Elise was sure would look lovely in sunlight. However, the wings were folded tight against her back, and looked oddly stiff, barely moving when the rest of her body shook with a footstep. Sharon¡¯s room was small, and the only light was a crude lantern made with red stained glass and with some kind of poor light source inside. On the surface, the place looked clean, with neat white sheets and swept floors, but closer inspection proved that impression superficial. The floorboards were cracked, scratched, and splintering, the bed frame was crooked and sagging in the middle, underneath the thick scent of perfume was something else that was musty and foul. The whole room couldn¡¯t have been more than 10 feet in either direction, and the vast majority of the area was taken up by the massive bed. ¡°Is Annie alright?¡± asked Sharon as soon as the door was closed. ¡°She¡¯s fine,¡± said Elise. ¡°She and Marco are with the guards right now. We¡¯ll be going to get them after we leave.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± said Sharon. ¡°Can you please close your eyes,¡± asked Elise. ¡°I¡¯ll heal you, but I can¡¯t have you see me doing it.¡± Sharon nodded, closing her eyes. Elise stepped over, used her wings to drop some dust on the other woman¡¯s neck, then stepped back. ¡°Done,¡± said Elise. ¡°Is- is there anything else I can help you with?¡± Sharon opened her mouth to say something, but then stopped herself. ¡°What is it?¡± asked Elise. ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± she trailed off. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell anyone here that I told you this.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± ¡°Margaret- She¡¯s the owner. The one you just paid. She¡¯s lying. We- we have other regulars. Now that the gang is gone, they¡¯ll come back. And that money you gave to Margaret? She¡¯s going to keep it all to herself. She always does. But you can¡¯t tell anyone I told you this! If she finds out I said anything¡­¡± ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± Elise promised again. ¡°Do you want us to help?¡± ¡°I-if you can,¡± Sharon replied. ¡°But you¡¯ve already done a lot for us, so I understand if you can¡¯t.¡± Elise looked at the woman as she thought about her request. She wanted to find the Grays, and anything else was a waste of time. Besides, this one wasn¡¯t even that big of a deal. Elise was getting scammed, but if it helped them sweep the incident under the rug and moved past it, she was fine with paying it. On the other hand, it infuriated her to think about what Margaret was doing. She was exploiting her workers, and even after witnessing two men die in her establishment, her first thought was to use the situation to extort the people who were trying to help her. That wasn¡¯t right. I need to say no, she thought. ¡°We¡¯ll think about it,¡± she said. ¡°Thank you,¡± replied Sharon. When they returned to the main area, some of the other women were already starting to clean the place up. The blood-soaked floorboards were left untouched, but the tables were being cleared, and everything that had been knocked to the ground in the thugs¡¯ haste to leave was being picked up. Even Penelope was cleaner, somehow. All the blood that had stained her armor was gone, and her sword was sheathed again. Elise was a little confused, since there was no way she had time to do that, but pushed the thought aside, assuming it must have been a skill. When they left, they started walking back toward the guard house, and neither spoke. Elise wasn¡¯t sure what was going on in Penelope¡¯s head, but the reason she hadn¡¯t spoken was that she was struggling to formulate her thoughts. She needed to bring up what Sharon had told her, but there were so many other things she wanted to ask too. In the end, she settled on the most pressing question. ¡°Did you have to kill him?¡± she asked. ¡°Hmm?¡± said Penelope, who had been lost in thought. ¡°The Boss. Did you have to kill him? Couldn¡¯t you have¡­ I dunno. He wasn¡¯t really a threat anymore, was he?¡± ¡°Not to us, maybe,¡± said Penelope. ¡°But what about everyone else who lives here? If he got away, he would have cause a lot of suffering.¡± ¡°But you said you were only going to take an arm and a leg.¡± ¡°If he surrendered.¡± ¡°He did surrender.¡± ¡°And then he tried to flee. If he had truly surrendered, I would have let him live.¡± ¡°But couldn¡¯t you have just cut off his leg as he was trying to run?¡± ¡°Why are you so concerned about someone like him?¡± said Penelope, stopping. ¡°He deserved to die, so I killed him.¡± ¡°But you didn¡¯t have to!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t have to barge in there in the first place either, but I did, and you came with me. We both knew this was going to happen.¡± ¡°You said you were just going to beat him up!¡± said Elise. ¡°That was because of the children,¡± said Penelope. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize you were that naive. Trust me, there are people in this world that don¡¯t deserve to live, and he was one of them. Both of them were.¡± ¡°But you didn¡¯t need to kill him! If you just took an arm and a leg, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to do what he was doing anymore, and you wouldn¡¯t have had to kill him.¡± ¡°You think that would be better?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°You know what happens to someone like him when they become crippled? All the people that they were abusing are suddenly stronger than them. They get beaten and tortured and worse. You think that¡¯s better? Killing him was a mercy, both for him and for everyone around him.¡± ¡°But-¡± ¡°Why do you care so much?!¡± demanded Penelope. ¡°You¡¯re not even human.¡± Elise bit back her response as she glanced around. There weren¡¯t many people out, and none of them seemed to be paying too much attention to their conversation. She wanted to tell Penelope that she was human, but explaining that would take a long time, she still didn¡¯t know it was safe, and it wasn¡¯t actually relevant to the conversation. Penelope was heated, and Elise recognized that. She was speaking out of anger, not reason. That didn¡¯t mean it didn¡¯t hurt, but it did mean that Elise knew better than to keep trying to argue, which could possibly escalate it to the point where she¡¯d lose her only connection to the Grays. Besides, Penelope had raised a good point. Why did Elise care so much? The Boss was a scumbag, a child abuser, a statutory rapist, and she wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he was a murderer as well. Having one less person like him in the world was a good thing. If she hadn¡¯t been there to watch it happen, she probably would have even been happy about it. So why was she so upset? Was what Penelope did so wrong? Was it any different than what Elise and Naomi had done to Emilia? Of course, she thought. Emilia was worse, and we didn¡¯t have a choice. That doesn¡¯t mean the Boss didn¡¯t deserve it too, she replied to herself. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Elise admitted. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t feel right.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just young,¡± said Penelope, her expression softening. ¡°Trust me. I grew up around lots of men like him. They never change. When they get punished, they take it out on everyone around them. It¡¯s better for the world that he¡¯s gone.¡± Elise still wasn¡¯t fully convinced, but she didn¡¯t want to argue about it any more. ¡°Maybe,¡± she said. They continued their walk in silence for a bit longer before Elise spoke again. ¡°Sharon¨C the winged woman¨C said that the owner of the brothel was scamming us when she asked for money.¡± ¡°I know,¡± said Penelope. ¡°But what can we do? We did barge in and wreck her place. We could try to fight her on how much it would actually cost, but it would just be a waste of time. We already lost a day dealing with the Boss. We need to get your coins exchanged and leave tomorrow.¡± ¡°I guess¡­¡± That didn¡¯t quite sit right with Elise either, but she didn¡¯t want to start another argument, so she left it at that. Soon, they arrived at the guardhouse, where Annie and Marco were being taught how to play a card game that Elise didn¡¯t recognize. They stuck around long enough to finish the game, then started heading back. Marco apparently lived in a small shack in the worst part of town with his older brother who was never home, and Annie slept over there with him, since she couldn¡¯t stay with her mom. Penelope took one look at the place, and decided that they would be staying at the inn for the night instead. When they got to the inn, Penelope went to the counter and paid for a second room, right next door to their current room. Elise was a bit concerned about the sleeping arrangements, since leaving the kids on their own didn¡¯t seem wise, but letting them be in the same room as her when she transformed would be worse. Penelope, thankfully, had already thought ahead for that. The new room was bigger than the old one, with two beds instead of one. Penelope moved all her things into it, and brought the children with her, leaving the original room for Elise to sleep in alone. After making sure that the children were comfortable, and saying good night, Elise returned to the room that was now hers, and lay down in the bed, still in her human form as she tried to fall asleep. However, she found that her mind kept going back to Sharon and the brothel. It¡¯s none of my business, she tried to tell herself. She still couldn¡¯t get it out of her mind, and even after turning back into her base form and curling up, she wasn¡¯t able to sleep. She could probably do something about that problem. She wasn¡¯t Penelope, and she couldn¡¯t barge in and force change, but that wasn¡¯t what her skills were suited for anyways. Her abilities were geared toward trickery and subtlety. And assuming the big room on the second floor was the owner¡¯s room, she actually had an easy way to get in and start making subtle changes¡­ After a few more minutes, she decided that she wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep until she had done something, so she stood up on the bed, then flew over to the window. They already were staying for that extra night anyway. She wasn¡¯t wasting any more time. I¡¯ll only do something tonight, she promised herself. I won¡¯t stay and spend forever trying to fix things this time. She opened the window with {Telekinesis} and leapt out into the cool night air. 63 - Fey Justice Getting back to the Shimmering Lotus was no easy task. The streets were busier than they were during the day, with what seemed like hundreds of people wandering around, half-drunk and incredibly loud. It got to the point that Elise gave up on trying to cross the streets on the ground. She was reluctant to fly too, especially since her glowing wings would draw all kinds of attention at night. That left her with her final option of chaining {Leap} and {Dart} together to hop from roof to roof. This method was actually much easier than she thought it would be, especially since {Leap} had upgraded to give her a double jump in mid-air, so she was able to make it across the narrow streets fairly easily. Landing was a challenge though, since the roofs were slanted just a bit too much for her rabbit paws to get a good grip when coming in at such high speeds. She had to pop her wings out a couple times as she traveled just to stabilize her landings. Since she was on the roofs, no one seemed to notice, but she felt her heart leap out of her chest every time she had to do it. As far as she could tell though, no one saw her, and she ultimately arrived safely at the Shimmering Lotus. Below, the brothel was largely quiet. She could hear the sounds of people moving about inside, and some were whispering to each other, but it was a very subdued, tense atmosphere. Directly below where Elise stood was the room where Margaret, the owner, had been sleeping with the Boss, and she could hear the woman herself inside, humming while coins clinked together softly. Elise waited a minute or so before dropping down and flashing her wings for a moment so she could get back in her spot behind the open window door, and then she waited a bit longer as she considered her next move. She had gotten there, but now what? Steal the gold back? Confront her? Something more subtle? She didn¡¯t even know what she wanted to do there. All she knew was that Margaret was a greedy liar, and that a woman like that didn¡¯t deserve to get away with taking advantage of that situation like she had. With that in mind, what was the best way to punish her? Not a punishment, she corrected herself. It¡¯s justice. She thought for a moment longer before a nagging thought worked its way into her mind. Am I allowed to do this? She wasn¡¯t a member of law enforcement whose job it was to bring people to justice. She wasn¡¯t a knight like Penelope with a mission to protect and help those in need. She was just a random girl, about to commit a crime in the name of justice. But if I don¡¯t, who else will? Certainly not the coppers, if Penelope is to be believed. If she did nothing, then Margaret would get away with it, and would probably continue to do so. No one would stop her, and she would continue embezzling and exploiting her employees until the day she died. Maybe someone else would come along to stop her later down the line, but that wasn¡¯t something Elise was willing to bet on. At that moment, she was the only one with the ability and desire to do anything about it, and if she didn¡¯t do anything, she¡¯d be leaving Sharon and the others like her stuck in a bad situation they had no good way out of. With her mind set, she started thinking about ways to achieve her goals. Killing was out of the question. Completely. Margaret was bad, but Elise wasn¡¯t even sure that the Boss had deserved death. The brothel owner definitely didn¡¯t as far as she could tell. Besides, even if she actually had committed crimes worthy of death, Elise doubted herself capable of actually administering the punishment. If she simply stole the gold back, that would only be a short term solution. In fact, it might even make things worse, since the older woman might take it out on her workers, accusing them of perpetrating the theft. That was off the table too. She needed to do something that would work in the long-term, both punishing Margaret, and preventing her from doing the same in the future. Elise smiled as her attention turned to {Fey Bargaining}. Assuming she could get Margaret to agree to something, it was the perfect skill for the situation. She just had to get it to work. Unfortunately, that meant she would have to communicate with the woman directly, and {Lesser Transformation} wouldn¡¯t be off cooldown for another few hours. That might have been for the better though, as if she failed, and Margaret saw her in her human form, the consequences would go back to Penelope, and probably Sharon and Annie as well. After a few more minutes of contemplation, she settled on the plan she thought would work best, then hopped around the door to get a better look inside the room. Margaret was sitting at a desk on the far side of the room, idly stacking the dwarven gold coins as she hummed to herself. She was facing away from the window, so she didn¡¯t notice Elise¡¯s entry, which Elise thought worked out better. She hopped inside, landing softly on the bed, before creeping to the floor as quietly as she could. She managed to make it to the ground without getting noticed, at which point she shifted back to her changeling form. ¡°So, you took advantage of the ones who came to your aid,¡± she said in Freddy¡¯s voice. She had seldom had a use for {Mimic}, a skill she had earned after Emilia was defeated, but she felt this was the perfect opportunity. Using her own voice had a chance of being traced back to her, but using a male voice more or less negated that risk. In her opinion, it was also more unsettling and threatening, especially since she had managed to almost perfectly capture the subtle danger that Freddy¡¯s words always seemed to convey. Margaret turned around rapidly at the sound of the voice, and when she saw Elise, she looked utterly baffled. Elise couldn¡¯t blame her. If their situations were reversed, she would be confused too. ¡°Wh-what?¡± said Margaret. ¡°You received charity from a pair of strangers, and rather than thanking them for the good deed, you decided to exploit them for more.¡± ¡°Wh-what?! I didn¡¯t! It was for damages!¡± ¡°We both know that¡¯s not true,¡± said Elise, stepping forward. Margaret flinched. ¡°Why did you do it?¡± ¡°D-do what?¡± she demanded. ¡°They barged into my establishment and wrecked the place! Why shouldn¡¯t I be compensated for it?¡± ¡°You lied about how much the damages would be, and you lied about what you would use the money for. You have no intention of giving any of that to your employees.¡± ¡°Wh- of course not! It¡¯s my building that got wrecked, not theirs!¡± Elise sighed, then cast a low power {Magic Missile} at the ground, putting 8 round holes in a circle around Margaret¡¯s chair. This move was a bit of a gamble, because if the woman screamed, and others arrived, Elise¡¯s plan would be ruined, but her gamble paid off. Back during the fight, she noticed that the woman was silent the entire time, despite many of the others screaming or shouting. And just like then, rather than making noise, she instead gasped, and froze in her place. ¡°Call for help and you die,¡± said Elise. ¡°Nod if you understand.¡± After a moment, Margaret nodded. Elise almost exhaled in relief, glad that her bluff had worked, but managed to keep her composure. ¡°Good,¡± she said. ¡°Now, I¡¯m not here to hurt you. If you listen to what I say, and agree to my conditions¨Cwhich are very reasonable, I might add¨C I will leave without touching a hair on your head. Do you understand?¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Yes, sir,¡± she said, nodding vigorously. The older woman gasped again as she and Elise both felt the icy sensation of {Fey Bargaining} taking hold. ¡°Now, here¡¯s what I want you to do,¡± said Elise. ¡°First, you must agree to not tell anyone about my presence here tonight, nor will you use writing or any other kind of signal to tell anyone about what is happening right now.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°Now, that gold you received as reparations for the damage caused?¡± continued Elise. ¡°You will use what is necessary to repair the brothel, and the rest will be divided evenly amongst your workers.¡± ¡°...Yes, sir,¡± said Margaret with a frown. ¡°And finally, from now on, you will treat your workers fairly. You will pay them well, and provide them with any and all basic needs, for as long as they work under you. You will not abuse them in any way, physically, verbally, or financially. Do you understand?¡± Margaret bit her lip, and Elise could almost see the gears turning in her mind. She glanced at Elise, then down at the holes in the floor, then up to the gold on her desk, then back at Elise, before finally scowling. ¡°Yes, sir,¡± she said, begrudgingly. ¡°Good,¡± said Elise, nodding. ¡°It was a pleasure doing business with you.¡± [ {Fey Bargaining} has leveled up! 14 -> 16 ] Without waiting for the other woman¡¯s response, she activated her wings again, flying out the window, and back up to the roof. I did it! she thought excitedly, tapping her back foot lightly on the roof. She had done a little bit of property destruction, but that would be covered by the gold that she had let Margaret keep. That was almost a non-issue, especially compared to what she had achieved. She had brought justice to the corrupt brothelkeeper without spilling a drop of blood, without exposing herself to undue danger, and hopefully without causing inadvertent negative consequences to anyone else. She stayed on the roof just long enough to hear Margaret slam her fist on her desk and curse under her breath before making her way back to the inn. She made it back without incident, and almost as soon as she got back into her bed, she fell asleep, and dreamt of beef stew. She was awoken the next morning by a pounding on her room¡¯s door. She ignored it at first, but when it didn¡¯t stop, she was forced to get out of bed and stretch. Based on the sun¡¯s position, it wasn¡¯t long after sunrise, and having gone out late the previous night, she did not feel well-rested. Still, she transformed back into a human, and checked her hair before opening the door. ¡°Oh good,¡± said Penelope when Elise opened the door. ¡°I was getting worried. I¡¯m going to take them back home. Do you want to come with, or¡­?¡± Elise thought for a moment then shrugged. She didn¡¯t want to spend too much of her precious humanoid time when she would be needing it later that day when she exchanged her gold and got new clothes, but she also didn¡¯t feel like it was right to leave the kids without saying goodbye. ¡°Sure,¡± she said. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Marco¡¯s brother¡¯s shack was even further into the slums than the inn was, where the streets were lined with garbage and other things that she tried not to look at. The building itself was little more than a few thin sheets of wood held together by rusty nails and rotting external support beams. The inside was a single room, and mostly empty. Half of it was an enormous bed that Marco and his brother shared, a quarter of it was a ¡°kitchen¡± that was just a fire pit with a metal pot hanging from a bar, and the rest was open space. The older brother wasn¡¯t there, which Elise and Penelope were fine with. As far as they could tell, he worked hard to pay off some kind of debt, and any time he spent at home was time spent either eating or sleeping. They wouldn¡¯t want to interrupt. He sounded like a good brother, overall. Marco and Annie seemed to like him, at least. ¡°Are you really leaving?¡± asked Marco once they got inside. ¡°Yes,¡± said Penelope. ¡°We have somewhere we need to be. But if fate allows it, we¡¯ll see each other again.¡± ¡°You promise?¡± asked Marco. ¡°I promise,¡± said Penelope. ¡°But, while I¡¯m gone, you two need to stop stealing from innocent people. Okay?¡± ¡°Okay,¡± said Marco. Penelope looked over at Annie, who had her eyes cast down. ¡°Annie?¡± ¡°Okay,¡± said the girl before looking up at Elise. ¡°Will you really come back?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± said Elise. ¡°As soon as I¡¯m done with what I¡¯m doing. And while I¡¯m gone¡­¡± Elise mentally reached into Astrid¡¯s Star and summoned another 10 gold coins. She had been considering doing that before arriving, and seeing the state of the shack affirmed her thoughts. Both children¡¯s eyes widened when they saw the shiny metal. ¡°Marco,¡± she said, counting out 5 coins. ¡°I want you to give these to your brother. Don¡¯t take them outside of this house. Make sure you keep them hidden until he gets them. Understand?¡± ¡°Okay!¡± he said, grabbing the coins. ¡°Annie, I want you to give these to your mom,¡± she said. ¡°Do you think you can get them to her safely?¡± Annie nodded. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Good,¡± said Elise, patting her head. ¡°And like she said, no more stealing.¡± ¡°From innocent people,¡± added Penelope. Elise raised an eyebrow at the knight, but didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°I have something for you two as well,¡± said Penelope, pulling what looked like two dull gray coins from a hip pouch. ¡°Take them.¡± Annie¡¯s and Marco¡¯s eyes widened even more than they had for Elise¡¯s gold. ¡°A knight token?!¡± exclaimed Marco. ¡°Yes, a knight token.¡± ¡°Is- is this real?¡± asked Annie, not daring to even touch the iron coin in Penelope¡¯s hand. ¡°It is,¡± said Penelope. ¡°And it¡¯s yours.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Penelope. ¡°With this, when you unlock your System, it will offer you a Page class. If you take that class, you can go to Jelor City and join the Academy in the knight¡¯s program.¡± Annie took the token, touching it as gently as she could, as if she was afraid it would break if she squeezed it too hard. Her eyes teared up, and she immediately started sobbing. Penelope pulled her into a hug, and a moment later, Marco started crying as well. He and Elise piled in with the other two to form a group hug that lasted the better part of five minutes until Annie and Marco had settled down. ¡°Remember, it is the duty of a knight to protect people in need,¡± said Penelope when they pulled away. ¡°That means you can¡¯t go around stealing from innocent people anymore. That¡¯s not a very knightly thing to do.¡± Marco nodded vigorously, and Annie less so. ¡°We have to leave now,¡± Penelope continued. ¡°So I wish the both of you the best of luck. I hope that you¡¯ll be good while we¡¯re gone.¡± ¡°We will!¡± said Marco. ¡°We¡¯ll be the goodest, best knights ever!¡± ¡°That¡¯s the spirit,¡± said Penelope, smiling and ruffling his hair. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to keep this all secret though. The Boss won¡¯t bother you any more, but there are other people around who are like him that will get jealous.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Penelope stepped back, and put her hands on her hips, smiling. ¡°Then we¡¯ll see you again next time.¡± ¡°Next time,¡± Elise echoed. ¡°Bye!¡± said Marco. Upon leaving the shack, they immediately power walked back toward the nicer area of the city. They still had more than 3 hours before Elise¡¯s transformation would fail, but they had no idea where or how they would be exchanging the dwarven gold, so they needed as much time as possible. They first tried at a bank, but despite liberal use of {Charm}, the teller was still unable to exchange unknown currency. The second bank was the same ¡°I think there¡¯s another one a couple streets down,¡± said Peneleope as they emerged from the second. Elise was about to nod and follow her when a sign on the opposite corner of the street caught her eye. ¡°What about there?¡± she suggested. ¡°An antique store?¡± asked Penelope, following Elise¡¯s gaze. ¡°Actually, that might work. Let¡¯s try it.¡± The inside of the shop was almost exactly what Elise had expected of an antique shop in a world of magic. There were random, ancient, but ordinary-looking cabinets and dinnerware and jewelry, as well as less ordinary-looking magical contraptions, most of which she couldn¡¯t even begin to identify. She could sense that there was mana contained in most of it, but had no idea what their functions were. The shop was dimly lit by a few yellow-tinted crystals set into a silver chandelier on the ceiling that didn¡¯t provide quite enough light, leaving some of the further corners of the room hidden in shadow. There didn¡¯t seem to be anyone else there. ¡°Hello?¡± called Penelope. There was a small crash from the back of the room followed by scrambling, and a moment later, a man¡¯s head popped up over one of the far shelves. He looked to be at least 50, with the top of his head nearly bald, and the sides gray. He was a bit overweight, but wore a wide smile that made him look quite jolly. [ Master of Whispers, lvl ??? ] [ {Inspect} has leveled up! 52 -> 55 ] 64 - Antique Shop When Elise saw the results of her casual {Inspect}, her mind went into rapidfire mode trying to figure out what to do. He was higher level then her, and probably higher than Penelope too. That made him dangerous. However, he was not displaying any enmity, and his class didn¡¯t seem to be one that was necessarily harmful. He certainly could be detrimental to their efforts, but she doubted he would pose any direct threat. In fact, if they played their cards right, he could be of great help. A ¡°Master of Whispers¡± sounded like exactly what they needed to find missing people. ¡°Oh, my apologies!¡± he called. ¡°My name is Otto, and welcome to my shop! Are you looking for anything in particular?¡± ¡°We¡¯re here to sell,¡± said Elise before Penelope could say anything. ¡°Wonderful!¡± he exclaimed, working his way through the disorganized shop toward them. ¡°I love taking a look at other antiques. Do you have it with you?¡± ¡°We do,¡± said Elise, stepping forward with a coin in hand. ¡°A coin?¡± he said, stepping forward to get a better look. ¡°Oho! May I?¡± He gestured as if going to grab the coin, and Elise responded with a nod. ¡°Go ahead.¡± He took the coin from her hand, felt its weight, then held it up a few inches from his face to get an even closer look. ¡°It¡¯s in great condition,¡± he said. ¡°Where did you find it?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell you that,¡± said Elise. For a moment so small Elise almost thought she had imagined it, a shadow of annoyance passed across Otto¡¯s face, but it vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. ¡°Well, while interesting and in great condition, I can¡¯t say that this coin is worth too much. It is solid gold, and it makes a good collector¡¯s item, but there are still thousands of these around. Many were melted down to make other coins, but Dokkalfheimr¡¯s trade routes extended far enough that there are still plenty, if you know where to find them. I can give you three gold for it.¡± That was less than Elise was hoping, but still enough. If she could get the same price for the others, she and Penelope would likely be set for a little while. However, with the opportunity for some useful information standing right in front of her, she didn¡¯t want to walk away with just a few coins. ¡°I actually have some more,¡± she said, reaching into her pocket as she summoned a dozen more. ¡°Oh, you must have had quite the lucky encounter,¡± he said. ¡°Are you sure you can¡¯t tell me where you found them?¡± ¡°Not for free,¡± she said. She felt a sliver of guilt as she prepared to sell information about the dwarves¡¯, but she pushed it aside. She wouldn¡¯t say anything sensitive, and most of what she knew wasn¡¯t even secret. The dwarves¡¯ presence in the forest might not have been public knowledge yet, but it would be soon. ¡°Not for free,¡± he repeated, narrowing his eyes. ¡°I see.¡± He flicked his wrist and Elise felt an arc of mana fly to the door as she heard a click behind her. Penelope¡¯s hand flew to her sword, but the man already had both hands in the air in a surrender before she could draw it. ¡°I have no intention of fighting you,¡± he said. ¡°I just don¡¯t like to be interrupted while doing more serious business.¡± Elise glanced at Penelope, who thankfully seemed to have understood what was happening. The knight relaxed her body, removing her hand from her sword and casually leaning to the side so that she would appear unthreatening. Seeing this, Otto lowered his hands again, and turned away. ¡°Let¡¯s continue at my desk,¡± he said. In the far back corner of the room, almost hidden amongst all the other old pieces of furniture was a dark wood desk with a high-backed armchair on one side and two smaller chairs on the other. The man flopped into the armchair, which gave a mighty creak as it took the brunt of his weight, while Elise and Penelope lowered themselves more gently into the two chairs opposite it. ¡°So,¡± said the man, his former jolly demeanor gone, replaced by a serious business face. ¡°While I am curious where you found that gold, if your answer is just that you found it in a forest somewhere, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not worth much. Maybe a silver or two at best. But I think you already knew that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that simple,¡± Elise confirmed. ¡°And I cannot tell you the whole story, no matter what price you pay. However, I can say enough to make it worth your while.¡± ¡°Well, I can¡¯t give you an estimate without hearing the information, but I swear on my life that I will give you a fair price.¡± ¡°I was hoping for a trade, actually,¡± said Elise. ¡°We¡¯re looking for some people who have gone missing, and we¡¯d like your assistance in finding them.¡± ¡°Well, I can¡¯t promise anything, but if your information is as good as you seem to think it is, I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± ¡°You start,¡± he said. ¡°The dwarves of Dokkalfheimr are alive, including the king descended from the original royal line.¡± ¡°...Is that all?¡± he asked. ¡°I want to see how much that¡¯s worth before I tell you any more.¡± ¡°Hmmm,¡± he said, frowning. ¡°It¡¯s certainly interesting. How many others know of it?¡± ¡°Not many,¡± said Elise. ¡°It will become public knowledge fairly soon, but I believe knowing before anyone else is still valuable.¡± ¡°How many is ¡®not many¡¯?¡± he asked. ¡°As far as I am aware, the only humanoids who know of their existence are us here in this shop and a group even more reclusive than the dwarves of Dokkalfheimr have been.¡± ¡°I see,¡± he said, pulling a pen and paper from a drawer in the desk. ¡°Well, helping find missing persons isn¡¯t my specialty, but I¡¯m still better than most, and I believe that this so far is worth at least a basic search on one of them. Tell me the name and description of the person you¡¯re looking for, as well as where and when they went missing.¡± Elise almost immediately started describing Sophie, but stopped herself when she remembered that Penelope had come looking for Nick. However, she didn¡¯t actually need to because Penelope spoke up first. ¡°Sophie Gray,¡± said the knight. ¡°Half elf. 12 years old. Green eyes. Brown hair. She went missing¡­ 3 months ago?¡± ¡°Approximately,¡± said Elise, trying to count the days. She had spent one day in the tunnels after the attack, followed by a full thirty with the dwarves, then a day with the drow, followed by the forty five days of the prophecy, then twelve after that, dealing with the aftermath, and now another day in the city dealing with the Boss. ¡°89 days,¡± she said. ¡°They took a teleportation scroll, and haven¡¯t been seen since.¡± Otto had been writing as they spoke, but suddenly stopped and looked up at her as soon as she said the words ¡°teleportation scroll.¡± ¡°You said she took a teleportation scroll and hasn¡¯t been seen since?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes. Along with her brother and his fiance,¡± said Elise. ¡°Well that changes things,¡± he said, sitting up and putting his hands together. ¡°Your information on the dwarves is useful, but I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not worth enough for me to tell you everything. Now, you can either tell me a bit more about the dwarves, or you can choose between me searching for your missing friend, or telling you about how the teleportation scroll may or may not have been involved.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°What more do you want to know about the dwarves?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Where are they? What is the temperament of their king? How soon will their existence be made public?¡± ¡°All of that?¡± ¡°All of that and I will tell you whatever you wish to know about teleportation scrolls, and search for your friend.¡± ¡°Deal,¡± said Elise. ¡°They are just outside this city on the west side of the forest. The king is generally calm and easygoing, but cares deeply for his people, and is a capable leader. Their existence might be revealed tomorrow, or it could be another month. No one has found them yet, but it¡¯s only a matter of time.¡± ¡°No one but you,¡± corrected the man. ¡°No one but me,¡± agreed Elise. ¡°Now, what did you mean about the teleportation scroll being involved in their disappearance?¡± ¡°Well, it seems you¡¯re not aware, but it¡¯s fairly common knowledge that teleportation scrolls always have a small chance of malfunctioning and sending their user to an unintended location.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard about that,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Are you saying that¡¯s what happened?¡± ¡°No,¡± he said, smiling and leaning forward. ¡°Did you know that this ¡®fairly common knowledge¡¯ was unheard of fifty years ago? Before then, teleportation scrolls were just assumed to always work. And teleportation scrolls have been around for centuries. So, where did this problem come from?¡± He paused just long enough to make Elise think he was waiting for an answer, then continued as soon as she opened her mouth. ¡°There are five manufacturers of teleportation scrolls on this continent,¡± he said. ¡°They are all 7th tier or higher mages with classes designed specifically for crafting such items. The System guarantees the fidelity of the scrolls. Not once has any of their scrolls failed without being damaged.¡± ¡°So then the scroll was damaged?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Also no,¡± he said, his smile widening. ¡°A damaged scroll simply does not function. It won¡¯t send its user to a different location. So, if a damaged scroll couldn¡¯t have done it, and the scrolls made by the five cannot malfunction, then what happened?¡± ¡°The scroll wasn¡¯t made by one of the five?¡± ¡°Precisely,¡± said the man. ¡°Starting 50 years ago, someone started selling fake scrolls disguised as real ones. This is not common knowledge because it¡¯s nearly impossible to track. The number of fake scrolls is so small, and most are purchased secondhand and for emergency use, and either never used, or only used in dubious circumstances, so it is difficult to trace them. However, enough have been used, and enough of their users have lived to recount the tale that for those of us with our ears in the right places, we¡¯ve been able to piece together what¡¯s going on.¡± ¡°So where do the fake scrolls take people?¡± asked Elise. ¡°So far, there is no pattern,¡± he said, shaking his head. ¡°It¡¯s difficult when it¡¯s hard to even tell how many exist, or when they were used. However, to my knowledge, most people who end up on the wrong side of these turn up alive somewhere. So those people you¡¯re looking for are likely alive and well, though if it¡¯s been 3 months, they might be hopelessly lost .¡± ¡°That¡¯s a relief,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Then can you find them?¡± ¡°Perhaps,¡± he said. ¡°However, it¡¯s going to cost you.¡± ¡°You just said you¡¯d find them if I told you about the dwarves though?¡± ¡°I said I would try to find one of them,¡± he said. ¡°I make no guarantees about actually finding them, as that might be outside of my capabilities, and your information is only worth one search.¡± ¡°That¡¯s-!¡± ¡°-Fine,¡± finished Penelope. ¡°Finding one is finding the rest.¡± ¡°Not quite,¡± said the shop keeper. ¡°In every case with a fake scroll where multiple people were taken, they were invariably taken to different places.¡± ¡°So they¡¯re split up?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± ¡°How much is it to search all 3?¡± asked Elise. ¡°I can tell you more about the dwarves.¡± ¡°Oh, no, you¡¯ve told me enough about them,¡± he said with a sinister grin. ¡°More would be appreciated, but I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not worth anywhere near as much. Unless you know some of their true secrets, I can learn everything you know on my own by the end of the week.¡± Elise¡¯s mind raced as she tried to think of something worth selling, but quickly realized that everything she knew about the dwarves was also public knowledge. While she had lived in the castle, she was never privy to anything truly confidential, other than her own doings, which she didn¡¯t plan on telling Otto much about. The only secret she had left of value to him would be Ostra, but telling him about that would be a fantastically stupid way to commit suicide. There was less than zero chance that Ostra wouldn¡¯t retaliate if she spilled everything after Freddy allowed her to keep her memories uncontracted. ¡°I don¡¯t have anything else,¡± she said. ¡°How much would it cost to do the other searches if we paid in gold.¡± ¡°Well, those coins you showed me would be enough.¡± ¡°That¡¯s absurd!¡± exclaimed Penelope. ¡°40 gold to look for two people with no guarantee of actually finding them?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you fully understand your situation,¡± said Otto, smiling smugly. ¡°You are sitting before one of the most skilled information gatherers in the country. 40 gold is cheap. And there¡¯s no guarantee of success, but if I fail, that will still tell you plenty. If I can¡¯t find them, then you can be certain that they are either not in an inhabited place, or not on this continent. That should narrow down your search quite a bit.¡± ¡°40 gold is still too much,¡± said Penelope. ¡°30.¡± ¡°40 is as low as I¡¯m willing to go,¡± said Otto. ¡°40 is fine,¡± said Elise before Penelope could say more. ¡°We do need gold though, so I¡¯d like to sell you more coins.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine with me,¡± said Otto. ¡°Though in light of the information you¡¯ve just brought me, I¡¯m afraid they won¡¯t be worth quite as much. If Dokkalfheimr still exists, then these coins will become much more common in the coming years. I¡¯ll pay you 2 gold per coin.¡± ¡°That¡¯s-!¡± started Penelope. ¡°Also fine,¡± finished Elise, shooting the knight a pointed look. Elise wasn¡¯t happy about it either, but the longer the conversation went on, the more she realized that they needed to leave as soon as possible. Otto was clearly a very clever businessman, and if he was as skilled at gathering information as he claimed, he could know that Elise was a changeling by the end of the day. It was no secret amongst the dwarves, and her disguise was quite conspicuous. They needed to get to the teleportation hub before he found out and was able to do anything. She pulled out another 20 coins from Astrid¡¯s Star and set them on the desk. ¡°Excellent,¡± said Otto, reaching for the coins. ¡°Not yet,¡± said Penelope, reaching over to stop him. ¡°The searches first.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± said Otto, shrugging as he picked up the pen and paper from before. ¡°You said Sophie Gray, 12 years old, half elf, brown hair, green eyes, disappeared 89 days ago after taking a teleportation scroll?¡± ¡°Correct,¡± said Elise. ¡°Just a moment.¡± Elise sensed a miniscule amount of mana enter the paper, and as she watched the words slowly faded into nothing. For about a minute, nothing happened. Then, a single line of writing appeared at the top of the paper reading ¡°NO RESULTS¡±. ¡°Well, your young friend is not anywhere that I have ears, and I have ears all across the continent,¡± said Otto. ¡°I recommend checking high tier spawn zones, remote islands, the Northern Desert, and if those all fail, then another continent. Now, describe the next one.¡± Elise and Penelope both frowned, then Penelope launched into a description of Nick. Otto wrote down his details just below the ¡°NO RESULTS¡± line, and then repeated the same process. This time, the result contained dozens of lines, but before Elise could read any of them, Otto snatched the paper back and held it to his chest. ¡°Apologies,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t show you the results of that search.¡± ¡°Bullshit!¡± said Penelope. ¡°It¡¯s outside of my control,¡± said Otto, leaning back. ¡°Your friend is alive, but he¡¯s in a place that I am being paid quite well to keep secret. And I assure you that unless you have another ten thousand of those coins on you, you can¡¯t afford to make me talk.¡± ¡°There are other ways we can make you talk,¡± growled Penelope, putting a hand on her sword¡¯s hilt. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that if I were you,¡± said Otto in a warning tone. ¡°I have three guards upstairs listening to every word we say, and all three are stronger than you. If you try anything, you will die.¡± Penelope hesitated for a few seconds, then lifted her hand from the sword. ¡°Fine. But you owe us.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± he said. ¡°I failed to uphold my end of the deal, so I will, of course, repay you accordingly. Also, while I can¡¯t give you his location, I can tell you why. This Nicholas person is currently in the custody of the Blood Syndicate.¡± ¡°The Blood Syndicate?!¡± said Penelope, slamming her hand on the table. ¡°Are you certain?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Otto. ¡°And I believe you now understand why I can¡¯t tell you where he is.¡± ¡°Fuck,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Who is the Blood Syndicate?¡± asked Elise. ¡°I¡¯ll explain later,¡± said Penelope, still looking at Otto. ¡°Can you tell us any more?¡± ¡°I cannot,¡± he said. ¡°I will refund you the full price of this search. Whatever I buy your other dwarven gold for, I will add another 20 to it. ¡° ¡°Fine,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Let¡¯s do the last one then.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± The final search for Bianca had the same result as Sophie¡¯s search. ¡°Dammit,¡± muttered Penelope. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t be of more help,¡± said Otto. ¡°Is there anything else you need?¡± Elise and Penelope looked at each other, exchanging a few quick facial expressions. ¡°No, that¡¯s all,¡± said Elise. ¡°Just the gold and we¡¯ll be off.¡± Otto nodded, opening another drawer and counting out 60 gold before sliding it across the table. Elise glanced at Penelope, who nodded, then she deposited all the gold into her ¡°pockets¡± while secretly transferring it all to the necklace. ¡°A pleasure doing business with you,¡± said Otto standing up and holding his hand out. ¡°Yes, you as well,¡± said Elise, shaking his hand. ¡°Before you go,¡± he said. ¡°I am curious about one thing.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± asked Elise, feeling a slight twinge of dread. ¡°What is a knight doing traveling with a changeling?¡± 65 - The Ear ¡°What are you talking about?¡± asked Elise, trying to sound casual. She used {Charm} and {Suggest} as well, hoping to make her confusion seem more believable, but it was futile. Penelope¡¯s hand was already on her sword hilt again, and Otto looked incredibly unimpressed by her feigned ignorance. ¡°No point in trying to hide it,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve known since shortly after you arrived in the city. A knight returned from a monster-infested forest carrying a rabbit with white fur and red eyes. Later, she was seen with a very conspicuous woman with white hair and red eyes, and the rabbit was gone. An amateur could have figured it out, and I¡¯m no amateur. ¡°No need to worry though. I have nothing against changelings. Some of my best informants are changelings. I¡¯ve just never seen a situation like this before. Did the knight trick you into a deal?¡± ¡°We share a common goal,¡± said Elise. Otto didn¡¯t seem to be hostile, but now that she knew he knew what she was, she didn¡¯t want to stay any longer than she needed to. He could reveal her identity to anyone at any time, and though he didn¡¯t seem to have an incentive at the moment, he was certainly not trustworthy. ¡°The common goal of finding the missing people?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Elise. ¡°Thank you for all your help, but we need to get going.¡± She turned to leave, and Penelope followed her lead, but another sentence from Otto stopped them in their tracks. ¡°I can give you a hint about the Blood Syndicate.¡± ¡°I thought you said you couldn¡¯t tell us about them,¡± said Elise, slowly turning around. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you where they are,¡± he said. ¡°But I have no loyalty to them, and a hint is much cheaper than full disclosure.¡± ¡°Why would you give us that?¡± ¡°Because I want something from you,¡± he said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll do you a small favor if you do me a small favor.¡± ¡°What favor?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re going after the Blood Syndicate, I want you to take one of my Ears with you.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Take my Ear,¡± he said. ¡°Ears are what I call my subordinates. They listen to things for me and report back.¡± ¡°So you want us to take a spy with us?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°No thank you.¡± ¡°There would be conditions, of course,¡± said Otto. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t just ask you to give up your privacy. There would be conditions. It wouldn¡¯t be harmful to you in any way.¡± ¡°No,¡± said Penelope. ¡°What conditions?¡± asked Elise. Penelope turned to Elise. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what the conditions are. Even if the spy agrees not to say a word about us to Otto, we can¡¯t afford to be lugging around dead weight. Not if we¡¯re going up against the Blood Syndicate.¡± ¡°The Ear I have in mind won¡¯t be dead weight,¡± said Otto. ¡°Far from it. She¡¯s a talented girl. Very clever. Pleasant disposition. Can handle herself in a fight. In fact, she¡¯s probably better in a fight than Miss Changeling here. She¡¯s beautiful too, so she¡¯ll fit right in with you two. And on top of all that, I¡¯d be happy to make one of the conditions that she actively works to assist you in any way within reason.¡± ¡°Still, we can¡¯t,¡± said Penelope. ¡°I don¡¯t want to travel with someone that I know isn¡¯t trustworthy. Besides, we don¡¯t even know what the hint is.¡± ¡°What if I told you that the hint will guarantee that you can find the Blood Syndicate within the month?¡± asked Otto. ¡°Does that ¡®hint¡¯ not violate your deal with them?¡± asked Elise. ¡°The contract I signed is looser than it should be,¡± he replied with a smile. ¡°It won¡¯t be an issue. I won¡¯t be telling you where they are, after all. Only directing you to someone else who does know where they are, and has no such contract.¡± Penelope hesitated for a moment, then grimaced. ¡°Fine. But why do you want us to take your ¡®Ear¡¯ with us so badly?¡± ¡°Well, if possible, I¡¯d like more information on you two. But if you want one of the conditions to be no spying, I¡¯m fine with that. Really, I just want more eyes on the Blood Syndicate. They¡¯ve been more active about searching for spies lately, and I¡¯ve lost a few of my contacts on the inside. You two will be going in from the outside, of course, but it¡¯s just a stopgap measure until I can get a few more insiders.¡± Elise thought that sounded highly suspicious. He definitely had other reasons, though she doubted there was any way to convince him to share them. Not without resorting to violence, at least, and though she had yet to hear any hint of the supposed guards upstairs, Otto had proven himself competent and intelligent enough that she didn¡¯t doubt they existed. Regardless of what his intentions were though, if she got a good enough deal, it would probably be fine. ¡°That can¡¯t be all, can it?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°Of course not, but that¡¯s all I¡¯m willing to share at the moment,¡± said Otto. ¡°I do promise that it¡¯s not anything that will harm you. I have my reasons for what I want, just as you have your reasons for what you want. Now, what do you say?¡± ¡°Fine,¡± said Penelope. ¡°I¡¯m fine with it,¡± said Elise. ¡°Excellent!¡± said Otto. ¡°Now, how about we sit back down while we work out the details. I¡¯ve called Maia over already. She¡¯ll be here soon to make sure we¡¯re all on the same page.¡± They spent the next five minutes talking over various terms and issues that might arise from the arrangement. Penelope took a stance that Elise thought was a bit too harsh, but surprisingly, Otto was amenable to almost all her conditions. They weren¡¯t yet at a finalized contract, but by the time their new traveling companion arrived, Elise was feeling both pleased, and nervous about the contract they were drawing up. ¡°Ah, Maia, you¡¯re here,¡± said Otto, The man¡¯s jolly demeanor returned in an instant as he nearly skipped toward the door which was now standing ajar. ¡°This¡¯d better be important. I¡¯m missing a date for this.¡± When Elise saw the woman standing in the doorway, the first two words that came to mind were ¡°medieval emo.¡± She was wearing a long dress much like the one Elise had seen many of the other women around town wearing, but it was pitch black, and artfully torn so that it was hanging off her left shoulder and had holes exposing spots of her midriff. Her hair was as black as her dress, and covered her left eye, and behind her black-painted lips, she was chewing on something like gum. [ Shadow Rogue, lvl ??? ] ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry, was that today?¡± said Otto. ¡°That¡¯s a shame. I need you to go out on a mission.¡± ¡°Fuck that,¡± said Maia, turning to leave. ¡°So much for ¡®pleasant disposition,¡¯¡± muttered Penelope ¡°It¡¯s the mission,¡± said Otto. Maia froze for a moment, then heaved an enormous sigh before turning back around. ¡°Fuck. Fine.¡± She trudged back inside and made her way to the desk while Otto closed and locked the door behind her. ¡°Who are they?¡± asked Maia, pausing halfway through the shop. ¡°Your traveling companions,¡± said Otto. ¡°Go on, have a seat. We¡¯re working through the deal right now.¡± Maia continued her journey to the desk. Elise looked around for another chair for her, but there were none. None nearby at least. There were a few expensive-looking ones on the opposite side of the shop. She wondered if Otto was going to bring one over, but Maia resolved the problem before he could ask by climbing onto the desk and sitting on the end. Penelope looked mildly annoyed at having half her view of the opposite side obstructed, but the desk was wide enough that she and Elise were able to scoot over to make room. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°So, Maia,¡± said Otto, sitting back down in his own chair. ¡°The knight is Penelope, and the changeling next to her is Elise. Elise and Penelope, this is Maia.¡± We never told him our names, thought Elise. ¡°Pleasure,¡± grunted Maia, tilting her head to read the contents of the paper Otto had been writing the conditions on. ¡°Maia here has been working for me for over a decade now,¡± said Otto. ¡°She¡¯s like a daughter to me. I would be very sad if something happened to her.¡± ¡°Just get on with it already,¡± said Maia. ¡°When are we leaving?¡± ¡°As soon as we finish working out the conditions,¡± he replied. ¡°Here, how about this,¡± she said, snatching the pen and starting to write. When she was finished, she turned the paper to Elise and Penelope and looked up at them with an almost-bored expression. There were only three new words on the page, reading ¡®Don¡¯t be stupid.¡¯ While the message was crude, Elise found herself feeling mildly impressed at, and also jealous of, the other girl¡¯s penmanship. ¡°Now, now, Maia,¡± said Otto, gently grabbing the pen and paper. ¡°You know these things can¡¯t be rushed like that.¡± ¡°Stop being such a stickler,¡± said Maia. ¡°Maia,¡± said Otto, this time more sternly. ¡°Ugh, fine.¡± It took another 15 minutes to hammer out the rest of the details, which left Elise even more confused than before. Otto and Maia agreed to nearly every single term that Elise and Penelope suggested, including ones against spying, against betraying, disclosure of abilities, and even travel funds. By the end, it felt more like they were being hired as escorts than that they were coming to a mutual agreement. Whatever Otto and Maia wanted, it must have been incredibly important, and from their conversation at the door, it was something that they had been waiting for for a long time. ¡°Wonderful,¡± said Otto, rolling up the scroll after both parties had signed. ¡°Now, it seems that you¡¯re in a rush, so I won¡¯t keep you.¡± He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a jingling pouch. ¡°Here are your travel funds. Maia can fill you in on her abilities. Is there anything else I¡¯m missing?¡± ¡°Just the information on where to find the Blood Syndicate,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Oh, right!¡± said Otto. ¡°Your contact lives in Vina, which is convenient because I believe that¡¯s where you were already going.¡± ¡°How did you know that?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°I ran a background search on you when you arrived in the city,¡± he said dismissively. ¡°His name is Hans. No last name. He currently works as a guard at a tavern called ¡®The Third Tier¡¯. It¡¯s a fairly well-known location, so you shouldn¡¯t have trouble finding it. Hans is an Ainar with black wings, so you shouldn¡¯t have much trouble recognizing him. Maia has met him before as well, so she can help guide you. He will already know you¡¯re coming.¡± ¡°And he knows where the Blood Syndicate is holding Nick?¡± asked Elise. ¡°He does,¡± said Otto. ¡°And when he hears what you¡¯re doing, he¡¯ll likely ask to join. I don¡¯t think you two trust me much right now, so this won¡¯t mean much, but he is an honorable and trustworthy man, and will happily sign whatever secrecy contract that you need him to in order to let him join you. On top of that, he¡¯s one of the strongest people in that city, so you don¡¯t have to worry about him slowing you down.¡± Penelope frowned, but didn¡¯t object. Elise wasn¡¯t sure how she felt about it either. More help would be better, but getting so deeply involved with such an obviously shady person didn¡¯t seem wise. However, the contract that they had just worked through was, as far as she could tell, completely safe and free of loopholes. She didn¡¯t see any way for Otto or his underlings to betray them. Of course, she didn¡¯t completely trust that¨Cnot since her experience making deals with Emilia¨Cbut if it was a legitimate and clean partnership, she had much to gain. She would just have to stay wary. ¡°Sounds fine to me,¡± she said. ¡°Penelope?¡± ¡°I suppose,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Excellent!¡± said Otto. ¡°Then with that, I bid you farewell. Have a safe trip.¡± ¡°Before we go, can you change your outfit?¡± asked Maia, looking at Elise. ¡°This is the only one I have.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a changeling though, right? Can¡¯t you just¡­¡± She wiggled her fingers. ¡°Y¡¯know?¡± ¡°I¡¯m only a Lesser Changeling.¡± ¡°Those exist?¡± ¡°I guess?¡± said Elise, shrugging. ¡°Alright then the first thing we need to do is get you new clothes, because whatever that is isn¡¯t gonna work.¡± ¡°I was already planning on doing that.¡± ¡°Perfect! Then let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Wait!¡± said Elise. ¡°What now?¡± ¡°My transformation time is limited. It wears off in less than two hours.¡± ¡°Well, then we need to hurry! Let¡¯s go!¡± Otto waved goodbye as Maia practically dragged them out the door and onto the street. She led them a couple blocks away to a quiet, but still pleasant part of town where there was a small shop marked by a sign with a picture of a shirt, and the words ¡°The Changeling¡±. ¡°It¡¯s not actually run by a changeling,¡± Maia explained. ¡°It¡¯s just the name of the shop. There are a couple Changelings around the country, all owned by some guy in Jelor City that Otto is friends with.¡± The interior of the store was brightly lit and full of rolls of bright-colored fabric. In the middle of the floor, there were a few steel-frames holding dresses and coats for display, but those were the only completed pieces she could see. In the back of the store, there was a counter where a middle-aged woman with gray-streaked brown hair sat. She looked up when the door opened, and broke out into a wide smile when she saw Maia. ¡°Oh, Maia, you¡¯re back!¡± she said. ¡°Hey, Mindy,¡± said Maia. ¡°Sorry, we¡¯d love to talk, but we¡¯re in a bit of a rush, and my friend here needs clothes.¡± ¡°Oh, no problem at all,¡± said the woman, turning to Elise and holding out her hand. ¡°My name is Mindy, and welcome to my shop.¡± Elise didn¡¯t answer immediately. She was still reeling from the results of the {Inspect} she had just done. [ Changeling Tailor, lvl ??? ] Had Maia not said anything, Elise would have been able to take it in stride without issue, but having been explicitly told that the shop owner wasn¡¯t a changeling, the reveal left her at a loss. Did Maia not know? Was she just trying to help maintain the changeling¡¯s cover? Or maybe Mindy wasn¡¯t actually a changeling, and her class was just ¡°Changeling Tailor¡± because she worked at a place called ¡°The Changeling.¡± ¡°S-sorry,¡± she finally stammered. ¡°My name is Elise. I need something¡­ normal-looking?¡± ¡°Something inconspicuous,¡± added Maia. ¡°And good for travel, and maybe combat.¡± ¡°Hmmm,¡± said Mindy, putting her hand to her chin. ¡°I can do good for travel and combat, but I think inconspicuous might be a fool¡¯s errand, unless you want a more thorough disguise.¡± ¡°Hmmm, good point,¡± said Maia, looking over at Elise as well. ¡°Do you want a more thorough disguise?¡± ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± After hearing what the Boss and his goons had said about her, Elise was much more conscious than she had been previously about her high Charisma. It didn¡¯t seem to matter much when she was with the dwarves or drow, because their other feelings toward her were too strong, but now that she was in a civilized city full of people who didn¡¯t know her, she was beginning to realize it was a problem. ¡°A skin mask, maybe?¡± suggested Maia. ¡°Those things are so uncomfortable though.¡± ¡°Yeah, an illusion would be better,¡± said Mindy. ¡°But those artifacts get expensive. ¡°What if we just dye her hair?¡± asked Maia. ¡°I think if her hair was brown, it would draw a lot less attention.¡± ¡°Oh, yes, that would help,¡± said Mindy. ¡°We¡¯d want to change her eye color too though.¡± ¡°Red eyes aren¡¯t that rare.¡± ¡°In elves, maybe. But she¡¯s a human.¡± ¡°I think we could make it work,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Can you do hair dye?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± said Mindy. ¡°In fact, I just got a new shipment in, so all of my colors are in stock. Do you want one too, Maia?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take a bit more of the black, I guess,¡± said Maia. ¡°Great! Does this all sound good with you, Elise?¡± ¡°Yeah, it sounds great,¡± she said. ¡°Will it work though? My Charisma is really high.¡± ¡°How high?¡± asked Mindy. ¡°Uhhhh¡­¡± Elise checked her status window. ¡°Almost 1000.¡± Mindy¡¯s and Maia¡¯s eyes threatened to pop out of their heads, and even Penelope looked a bit stunned. ¡°1000?¡± repeated Maia. ¡°What tier are you?¡± ¡°I-I¡¯d rather not say.¡± Elise didn¡¯t totally mind sharing with Maia or Penelope, since they would be traveling together, but she didn¡¯t want to say too much around a complete stranger she might never see again like Mindy. ¡°Well, the hair dye will still help,¡± said Mindy. ¡°But you¡¯d need the skin mask or illusion to truly mask that. I can do a skin mask, but it¡¯s not my specialty. You¡¯ll have to go elsewhere if you want one that will last longer than a few days. And there¡¯s an artificer right down the street who might have an illusion device, but that will be expensive, and if he doesn¡¯t have one on-hand, you¡¯re out of luck. If you just want to do it with clothes, I think we should go for a deep hood and a baggy cloak. If you¡¯re all covered, it should prevent most issues. With Charisma that high, that means you¡¯re probably not a melee fighter, right?¡± ¡°Right,¡± Elise confirmed. ¡°Good,¡± said the older woman, nodding. ¡°Then it shouldn¡¯t be a problem for combat. A long cloak with a deep hood to more or less completely cover you up. It¡¯s not really all that inconspicuous, but it¡¯s the best we can do right here and now.¡± ¡°Won¡¯t that get hot though?¡± asked Elise. It was currently the peak of summer, and she didn¡¯t want to be sweating her behind off, just to keep attention off her. ¡°Not with my clothes,¡± said Mindy with a grin. ¡°I can use self-cooling fabric and a few trade secret techniques to make sure you feel comfortable at any reasonable temperature.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s do it,¡± said Elise. ¡°Then if you don¡¯t mind, follow me so I can take your measurements in the back.¡± Mindy led her to a door on the right side of the counter, through which was a messy room full of loose fabric, needles, and various accessories. As soon as they were inside, Mindy turned back to lock the door, and Elise noticed that there was quite a bit of mana contained in the lock. In fact, the entire door was full of it, and the walls and floor were lined with intricate patterns. She tensed, suddenly conscious of the fact that she had just locked herself in a room with a mysterious stranger, but tried to push the thoughts aside. It¡¯s probably just for privacy, she told herself. And to prevent peeping. When Mindy finished locking the door, she turned to Elise with a smile so broad it was disconcerting. ¡°Congratulations on evolving!¡± 66 - The Changeling Elise¡¯s immediate instincts were to run, but she had nowhere to go. The room had only one exit, and the other changeling was standing in front of it. That left her with fighting, but being a full changeling, and one with an apparent specialty, it was a fight Elise would no doubt lose. That left talking her way out of it as her only option. She calmed herself a bit, and as she did, she realized that Mindy¡¯s smile actually appeared genuine, so perhaps there wasn¡¯t actually any danger after all. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t have to be so careful around me,¡± replied Mindy. As Elise watched, the other woman¡¯s skin slowly shifted, growing paler in tone. At the same time, her ears lengthened, almost like elf ears, but angled more outward, and her hair shortened and turned green. The pupils in the center of her once-brown eyes expanded until they covered her entire eye, and the eye sockets seemed to expand, leaving her face looking disproportionate, like an alien. ¡°You¡¯re Elise, right?¡± she said, switching to Fey. ¡°We met at the gathering!¡± Elise narrowed her eyes. She had certainly met a few changelings at the gathering, but she had also met about a hundred other people, so she couldn¡¯t remember if she had actually met Mindy or not. It was definitely plausible. Either way, she doubted Mindy would have revealed herself so easily if she wasn¡¯t certain, meaning there was no point in hiding it. ¡°I am,¡± said Elise. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t recognize you.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s alright,¡± said Mindy, smiling. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t expect you to. I bet it was overwhelming, huh. It was the same at my first meeting. You¡¯ll get used to it though. Are you coming this month?¡± Does she not know that I didn¡¯t sign? ¡°No, sorry, I¡¯m a bit busy.¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s a shame. Happens though. Will you be at the next one?¡± ¡°Probably not,¡± said Elise. ¡°I think this might keep me busy for a while.¡± ¡°Ah, well, whenever you come back, I¡¯ll be there,¡± she said. ¡°And don¡¯t forget to. Remember if you don¡¯t come within 3 years, the contract starts acting up. I¡¯ve never tested that before, but I know a couple who have, and it does not sound fun.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± ¡°Anyway, what are you now? You¡¯re the first animal-base fey I¡¯ve ever seen, so I don¡¯t really have a handle on what your line looks like. I assume you¡¯re a Lesser Changeling of some kind, since you still need clothes, right?¡± ¡°Just a Lesser Rabbit Changeling,¡± said Elise. ¡°Nothing fancy.¡± ¡°Oh, nice, nice,¡± she said. ¡°Well, it¡¯s been good seeing you, but I guess if I keep you in here too long, your friends will start getting suspicious. Let¡¯s see, a cloak with a hood, and probably a new set of clothes to go underneath, right? Your current ones look well-made, but the style is off. You¡¯ll stand out no matter what, but we should at least keep you from being strange and suspicious. Let¡¯s see¡­¡± Mindy started walking slowly in a circle around Elise, muttering about her plans, half to Elise, and half to herself. Meanwhile, Elise was trying to figure out what Freddy¡¯s goal was. Mindy wasn¡¯t one of the Chairs, so maybe she just hadn¡¯t heard anything about Elise¡¯s situation, but there was also the possibility that Freddy was trying to hide it, or even actively lie about it. Elise hadn¡¯t exactly kept it secret that she wasn¡¯t joining, but she didn¡¯t announce it either. The only people left that knew about what had really happened would be herself, Freddy, and Jerry. And there would probably be people asking about Elise after she left. Jag certainly would. Maybe word just hadn¡¯t spread, since they hadn¡¯t had a meeting since, but what if Freddy was actively trying to keep what had happened quiet? She already knew something was up, since he had let her live with her memories and no contract, but what was this about making the other Ostra members think she was still with them? ¡°So, how about this,¡± said Mindy, snapping Elise back to the present. ¡°You¡¯re not a melee fighter, but you probably don¡¯t want to be too limited either. So, in keeping with modern fashion trends, as well as seasonal tastes, I think that a blouse, simple pants, traveler¡¯s boots, and then, of course, the cloak should do.¡± ¡°Sounds good, I guess.¡± Elise had barely been aware of fashion on Earth, and knew even less about it on the new world, but it sounded alright to her. Mindy seemed to know what she was doing, at least, so it would probably turn out alright. ¡°Great,¡± said Mindy, clapping her hands together. ¡°I¡¯ll get working right away then.¡± She turned to the large table on the side, and waved her hands, causing a few rolls of fabric to fly off the ground and onto the workspace. A moment later, the fabric was twisting and turning, and cutting and folding in much the same way that it had when the drow elder had put together Elise¡¯s drow outfit. Seeing similar, or possibly identical skills at work from a changeling raised a few questions in Elise¡¯s mind. Obviously, Mindy was a ¡°Changeling Tailor¡±, indicating she had clothworking abilities, but how did that work with evolution? Was it an evolution of the base Changeling species, or a variant? More importantly, since her species indicated a profession, did that mean that she could level through her profession, instead of just by fighting? System, what is a Changeling Tailor? ¡°I¡¯m sorry. You do not have access to that information.¡± Elise held back a sigh. Are there any non-humanoid species that can gain levels without fighting or killing? ¡°Yes. Some higher tier evolutions allow the users to increase their level without fighting or killing.¡± What are they? ¡°I¡¯m sorry. You do not have-¡± Enough. The System was as limited as ever, but it had at least half-answered her question, and its answer gave her hope. If she chose the right evolutions, she might be able to live a peaceful life, and still level up, which would be much better than her original plan to just get a permanent human form and stop. Why do I care about leveling up though? she asked herself. That one stumped her. She had thought she was only interested in leveling up as a means to an end, but now, she found herself hoping she could continue, even after reaching that end. What was the point though? Sure, being stronger was better, but what would she need strength for? She was already plenty strong¨C well beyond what she could ever have hoped to achieve on Earth¨C and as long as it was enough to kill the warg, she didn¡¯t really care beyond that. Or did she? Why not get stronger though? That stumped her as well. While beyond the warg, she had no reason to continue her power progression, she also had no reason to stop. And if she had the options of either stagnating, or continuing to grow, why wouldn¡¯t she choose the second option? At the very least, it couldn¡¯t hurt. And in case of an emergency, being stronger would be better. Leveling up is fun too. She wasn¡¯t sure if she agreed with that though entirely. Maybe it was sometimes. When she was practicing her skills with the dwarves, she did enjoy seeing herself get better, and when she was hunting, and she knew that her targets were mindless beasts, and that their deaths would feed the village, that had been satisfying as well. That wasn¡¯t how most of her levels had been earned though. Most of her levels had come in big chunks after surviving extreme situations, and if that was her future, she wasn¡¯t sure she wanted it. A peaceful life where she could level by doing something like working as a tailor though¡­ She was interested in that. Doing work on Earth had often been tedious, but in this world where improvement was tracked numerically, she would probably enjoy it much more. That was assuming she could actually do something like that though. ¡°Mindy?¡± Elise called.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Yeah?¡± said the other changeling, not looking up from her work. ¡°Where did you get those skills?¡± Elise already knew the answer to that question, but of course, she couldn¡¯t reveal that she had {Inspect}. ¡°Oh, I got them from my evolution!¡± Mindy replied. ¡°I¡¯m a Changeling Tailor!¡± ¡°Is that an evolution of Changeling?¡± ¡°Oh no, it¡¯s just a variant. There are lots of different kinds of changelings. When you evolve, you¡¯ll get to choose one. Maybe? I actually don¡¯t know about you, but usually, when a Lesser Changeling evolves, they get to more or less choose a profession. It¡¯s because the whole point of our species is to blend in with human society, but that¡¯s kind of hard when all our skills are fey skills, so it gives us some of the skills from whatever profession we choose so we can blend in better. I chose to be a tailor, because that¡¯s what my mentor is, and she gave me this store as an evolution gift. ¡°You didn¡¯t get to meet her because she was out, but I heard that your mentor passed away recently, so next time you come back, I could introduce you! She¡¯s always happy to meet new changelings. I¡¯m sure that at your next evolution, she¡¯d offer you a store as well.¡± That doesn¡¯t sound too bad, thought Elise. ¡°Can you level up by working as a tailor?¡± she asked. ¡°Ah, I wish,¡± said Mindy. ¡°But no. I still have to go hunting if I want to reach my next evolution.¡± ¡°If you reach your next evolution, will you be able to level without hunting?¡± Mindy shook her head, still looking down at the dress as it stitched itself together. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of anything like that,¡± she said. ¡°I wish something like that existed. It would make life so much easier. Did you know that when a humanoid-passing non-human is caught, it¡¯s almost always because they either get caught hunting, or because someone got suspicious about them not leveling up after working a profession for so long? That¡¯s why Ostra is such a godsend. They help us get out and level up as needed in order to maintain our cover. You¡¯re new for now, but you¡¯ll see what I mean later on.¡± ¡°I see,¡± said Elise. That information put a bit of a damper on her plans, but she was also incredibly grateful she had asked. While her hopes of being able to level without fighting were crushed, the information about the Changeling species was incredibly useful. Elise didn¡¯t want to reach the next tier, only to get stuck in choice paralysis with so many different options to choose from. That was, of course, assuming that she went with a more standard changeling evolution. The System always seemed to have strange and interesting options, and one of them might end up being more useful. After about thirty seconds of silence, Mindy stood up straight with a wide smile on her face. ¡°Done!¡± she announced. Behind her, laid out flat on the table was Elise¡¯s new outfit. The top was a simple bluish-gray blouse with a high neckline and long, baggy sleeves, and the pants were made of soft brown leather. The cloak was the same bluish gray as the shirt, and the underwear was white. Elise thought the underwear was a bit unnecessary, since it wouldn¡¯t be seen, but she wasn¡¯t going to turn down a spare set. ¡°Why don¡¯t you put it on while I get the dye ready,¡± suggested Mindy. Elise obliged, stripping her dwarven clothes and changing into the new ones while Mindy rummaged around in a wooden trunk on the far side of the room. Elise hesitated for a moment when it came time to put the old clothes away. She could just put them straight into Astrid¡¯s Star, but she suspected she had already been too careless with it around Penelope and Otto, and she didn¡¯t want to raise too many questions. She decided it would be better to wait, and put them away when there was no one likely to be paying attention to them. ¡°So, I have two options here,¡± said Mindy, holding two small bottles up. ¡°Both are equally unobtrusive, in my opinion, so you get a choice between darker and lighter.¡± ¡°Ummm¡­¡± ¡°Here, I¡¯ll help.¡± Before Elise could respond, she found herself looking at¡­ herself. Mindy had transformed into a perfect copy of Elise, down to the clothing, only she had brown hair instead of white. ¡°Lighter.¡± The hair became a few shades darker. ¡°Darker.¡± ¡°Uh, darker?¡± said Elise. ¡°Alright,¡± said Mindy, switching back to her changeling form. ¡°Using this stuff is pretty easy. Just a couple drops on the top of your head and it will turn your hair brown. It will stay the same between your transformations, so you won¡¯t have to worry about re-applying it, and it will last for about a week of real time. That means at least 3 weeks for you, since you won¡¯t be in that form most of the time. Here, why don¡¯t you try doing it yourself, just so you can make sure it works.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± said Elise, taking the offered bottle. She untwisted the lid, revealing that there was a second lid inside, this one made of soft rubber. The second lid unscrewed to reveal that there was a glass dropper protruding from the underside into the dark liquid, and that it was about half full. ¡°Just take that out, hold it over your head, and squeeze,¡± said Mindy. ¡°It works for other areas too.¡± She winked. ¡°The number of drops it takes depends on how much hair you have. I¡¯d say for you, 7 drops should do it.¡± Elise held the dropper over her head as instructed. It was hard to tell exactly how many drops she was using, since looking up would make the dropper no longer be above her hair, but she could feel the cool liquid hitting her scalp, so she tried to count each drop. She accidentally used two extra, but Mindy smiled reassuringly. ¡°It¡¯s fine to go over,¡± she said. ¡°It won¡¯t hurt you. It will just waste some extra drops. Now, if you¡¯ll come this way, you can have a look at your new appearance.¡± Mindy brought Elise over to a mirror propped up in the far corner of the room where Elise took in her new appearance. The cloak was less suspicious than she thought it would look. Or at least, it did the way she was wearing it. As she stood, Mindy helped her switch it from its current, more open appearance that allowed her to see her front beneath it to a more closed appearance that hid everything but her toes. Elise spun around a bit, tested the opening and closing of the cloak, and checked the hood as well. When the hood was down and the cloak was open, she looked more or less like an ordinary girl, aside from her face. Having spent so long away from humans, she hadn¡¯t fully comprehended how stunning she was until she saw her appearance in the mirror. She didn¡¯t know if she was affected by her own Charisma, but if she wasn¡¯t and what other people saw was even more intense, she completely understood why the others had suggested a mask. Even without her white hair, she would still be drawing attention, especially since they couldn¡¯t mask her eyes. As inconvenient as it was to have to hide her face though, she wasn¡¯t actually that annoyed. She had never turned heads back on Earth, and had always felt a little bitter about the other girls who did, so finally being on the other side was satisfying. She pulled the cloak shut again, then pulled the hood down, and she seemed to transform into a completely different person. The cloak fell almost straight down from her shoulders, revealing none of the contours of her body, and the hood almost completely hid her face. In fact, it hid her face so well that Elise suspected there might have been some other kind of enchantment on it to help it do so, since she could see out of it perfectly fine, but she couldn¡¯t see her own eyes in the mirror. ¡°It¡¯s perfect,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m glad you like it,¡± said Mindy, back in her human form. ¡°Let¡¯s go out and show the others.¡± ¡°You look like you¡¯re trying to hide your identity,¡± said Maia when she saw it. ¡°Which is fine. Lots of people are trying to hide their identities. You won¡¯t stand out more than any of them.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s much more inconspicuous than I thought it would be,¡± said Penelope. ¡°If I saw you on the street, I might spare a second glance, but I wouldn¡¯t think too much of it.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see the hair now,¡± said Maia. Elise unfastened the front of the cloak, and pulled down the hood, and the other two¡¯s approving looks turned to frowns. ¡°Well, it¡¯s an improvement, I guess,¡± said Maia. ¡°Better than nothing.¡± ¡°But not by much,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Your eyes look so much brighter now that they don¡¯t have the hair overshadowing them.¡± ¡°Yeah. Actually, they look really cool now. Like rubies. I almost want to pluck them out.¡± Elise and Penelope stared at Maia, who was grinning. ¡°What? I was just kidding. They look nice. But also super conspicuous. You should keep the hood on if you want to not draw attention.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± agreed Mindy. ¡°But it¡¯s the best we can do for now.¡± ¡°How much do we owe you?¡± asked Maia. ¡°Nothing,¡± said Mindy. ¡°I owe Otto a favor anyway. I¡¯ll count this as payment.¡± ¡°But he didn¡¯t-¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± said Mindy, cutting Maia off. ¡°However, if you want your black dye, I will be wanting payment for that.¡± ¡°Alright, fine.¡± Maia reached for a pouch on her waist, and at the same time, Elise heard Mindy¡¯s voice in her head. My services are always free for fellow Ostra members. Elise flinched slightly at the voice in her head, but no one else seemed to notice. A few minutes later, the three of them were walking out the door, as Mindy smiled and waved from behind the counter. ¡°See you next time!¡± she called. Maia returned the greeting, and Penelope waved, but Elise found herself too lost in thought to respond. She had been fine with getting free clothes through Otto as part of their travel expenses, but getting them as a member of Ostra felt wrong. Of course, she couldn¡¯t correct Mindy either though, because if Mindy knew Elise wasn¡¯t a member of Ostra, that would raise all kinds of questions better left unasked. She resolved that she would pay Mindy back someday in the future, and then pushed it from her mind. It wasn¡¯t urgent, and Elise needed to leave. She, Penelope, and Maia immediately headed for the teleportation hub, but Elise stopped them. There was only half an hour left on her transformation, and she didn¡¯t know how long it would all take. Maia agreed that it wasn¡¯t worth the risk, since the teleportation hub was usually busy around that hour, so they ducked into an alleyway so Elise could transform, then followed Maia¡¯s lead through what felt like a maze until they were a few blocks away on a completely different street. ¡°You should never exit the same alley you enter,¡± she explained. ¡°Especially not when one of us is turning into a rabbit before we exit.¡± Not long after, they were standing inside a familiar building full of people, and mana-filled circular daises. Elise recognized it as the same place that Emilia had taken her when they went to the Ostra gathering. Unlike with Emilia though, they weren¡¯t invisible, and had to wait in line until it was their turn, and then pay for the service. Still, it didn¡¯t take all that long, and soon, they were led to one of the daises on the top floor, where Elise experienced a familiar flash of light, and opened her eyes to find herself somewhere else. 67 - Siblings 2 ¡°Oi, Pretty Boy!¡± Nick groaned and sat up in his cell. He felt like he had only just fallen asleep, and now Jack was there to give him shit. Maybe I should just kill him. If he did it quietly enough, he would probably be able to sleep the rest of the night without interruption. He¡¯d get punished in the morning, but he would get a full night¡¯s sleep. The punishment probably wouldn¡¯t be too bad either. Jack wasn¡¯t all that well-liked, and Nick knew he was making good money for whoever these people were. Then again, they kept throwing him into fights to the death where his survival was not guaranteed, so maybe not. ¡°What,¡± he said, looking up through the cell bars at his captor. ¡°Boss Lady wants to see you,¡± said Jack, lacking some of his usual spiteful energy. ¡°Boss Lady?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t make me repeat myself. Get up!¡± Nick sighed and made a show of stretching and cracking just about every joint in his body before slowly standing up and then stretching more. Jack unlocked the cell door, then watched with a scowl as Nick finished his exaggerated routine. ¡°Hurry up, Pretty Boy. Ain¡¯t got all night.¡± ¡°Who is this ¡®Boss Lady¡¯ anyway?¡± asked Nick as he walked out of his cell. ¡°I dunno,¡± said Jack. ¡°No more questions. Just shut up and move.¡± Outside the cell, there were a half dozen armed escorts waiting, and as Nick and Jack moved, they fell into formation on either side. Nick had gotten a new skill, [Fighter¡¯s Instincts] with his latest class up that told him each of the guards was around the level he had been before his class up. He could probably take them all on by himself, but it wouldn¡¯t be quick. If he used [Berserk], he could do it quickly, but he wouldn¡¯t make it very far before the skill would wear off, leaving him exhausted. Trying to escape right then would be a fool¡¯s errand. He walked through the halls and up the stairs into the open air. He hadn¡¯t gotten to spend much time exploring the area, since he was always either chained up in his cell, or fighting in the arena, but from what he knew of geography, he was probably somewhere in the Jungle. How the slavers had managed to set up anything in the Jungle of all places, let alone an operation of this size, he had no idea, but it was the only place he could think of that matched where he was. The air was so humid that even now at night, he was already sweating just from walking up the stairs. All around him, there was what felt almost like an entire city of tents and makeshift shacks, arrayed with barely any consideration for walking paths. On the edges of the massive clearing, trees rose high overhead with vines hanging down from their branches creating a curtain, blocking the view of anything further in. To his right was a small valley in which sat the arena. Had it not been in the valley, it would have towered over the treeline. However, he was not heading to the arena this time as he usually did. Instead, Jack and the guards guided him toward one of the few truly nice-looking buildings in the area. It was three stories high, and built in a more southern style, with a peaked roof and a balcony on each of the upper two floors. There were two guards on either side of the door that [Fighter¡¯s Instincts] told Nick not to mess with, and when his own guards approached, they wordlessly opened the doors letting him inside. None of his escorts followed him, and when the door closed he found himself alone, aside from a young blonde woman with a blank expression on her pale face. She was dressed in a simple red tunic and pants that were perhaps the cleanest clothes he had seen since his arrival in the camp. She was a head shorter than Nick, and very slender, but to his surprise, [Fighter¡¯s Instincts] told him that she was even stronger than the guards outside. ¡°The Lady wishes to speak with you,¡± she said in an emotionless voice. ¡°I have prepared a bath. Please follow me.¡± ¡°A bath?¡± asked Nick. ¡°The Lady wishes for you to be clean before she speaks to you.¡± Nick looked down at his grimy self. Since he was captured, he had only been allowed the occasional bowl of water and rag to scrub bloodstains off, and when his clothes grew tattered to wear, they would simply toss him an equally dirty set to replace them. He had gone noseblind to it by this point, but he was sure he smelled foul. With the woman inside, and the guards outside, he had no hope of escape at the moment, so he decided that there was no point in defiance. ¡°Alright,¡± he said with a shrug. ¡°Please follow me.¡± She led him to a door in the back of the room, and held it open as he stepped inside. The interior was warm and full of steam, and there was a circular tub wider than he was tall set into the ground. To his right, there was a corner of the room where the steam couldn¡¯t seem to reach, and in that corner was a shelf with a neatly folded set of red clothes, similar to what the young woman was wearing, as well as a towel of the same color. ¡°Please hold out your wrists.¡± Nick did so, and she produced a key from a pocket in her pants and undid his restraints. ¡°Would you like me to assist you with your bath?¡± she asked. ¡°No, I can bathe myself,¡± said Nick, rubbing his wrists. ¡°Then I will be waiting outside. When you are done, please leave your dirty clothes on the floor and don the ones that we have prepared for you. Do not take too long. The Lady does not like to be kept waiting.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± said Nick. The young woman bowed, then walked out of the room. The first thing Nick did after she left was check the room for other potential exits. There were none, of course. He debated trying to smash through the walls. This was the first time he had ever been unchained outside of the fight pit, and he might never get another chance. However, [Mana Sense] told him that the wood was enchanted for durability, and common sense told him he wouldn¡¯t get very far. He turned back to the tub and after quickly undressing himself, he jumped straight in. The hot water burned against his skin, but the pain was laughable compared to what he had endured in the past few months. He sat still for a minute or so before getting down to business. On the far side of the tub, a sponge and an array of soaps had been set out for him. He couldn¡¯t quite identify what any of the soaps were, so he picked one that smelled vaguely of lavender as well as the sponge and got to work. Whenever he scrubbed, the water around him turned murky, but the water would always turn clear again within seconds, a sign that an automatic purification system was in place. Once the grime was gone, and he had rubbed his skin pink and raw, he set the soap and sponge aside, and took a moment to relax in the water. He hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to properly relax like that in months, and he wasn¡¯t going to miss it. ¡°The Lady¡± be damned, he was going to enjoy his bath time for a few minutes. Unfortunately, ¡°a few minutes¡± turned into half an hour, as he dozed off in the warm embrace of the water. He only awoke when he heard a pounding on the door. ¡°Respond, or I will force my way in,¡± he heard the young woman¡¯s voice say. ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± he called back. ¡°Sorry. I¡¯ll be out in a minute.¡± ¡°The Lady does not like to be kept waiting.¡± ¡°I know, I know. I¡¯m coming.¡± Nick scrambled to get out of the tub and over to the steamless corner of the room where he hastily dried himself and donned the red tunic and pants. The clothes were surprisingly comfortable, and also surprisingly well-fitted. They conformed to his body perfectly, in some ways feeling almost skintight, yet they didn¡¯t limit his motion at all. He spent a brief moment marveling at them before hastening to get out of the bath room. The young woman was waiting for him just outside the door, and immediately led him up a staircase past the second floor up to the top. At the top of the stairs there was a space that seemed like a waiting area with a few chairs on the far sides and an ornate door in the center. His guide walked right up to the door and knocked three times. ¡°Come in!¡± said a voice on the inside. The interior of the room seemed to be an affluent, but odd bedroom. The only light was provided by a dim crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling whose glowing mana stones seemed to have a bit of a reddish hue. On the right side, there was an enormous bed with red curtains left partially open to reveal red sheets. There was a red rug in the middle of the room, and on the far left, there was a desk with a red leather chair and a few books, pens, and bottles of ink, all red. The balcony that Nick had seen from outside was located on the back side of the room, with a glass door leading out onto it. There were red curtains on either side, but both were drawn already back, revealing a full moon basking the room in its glow. The room¡¯s resident was sitting in a red armchair, its back angled half toward the glass door, and half toward the desk side of the room. Nick recognized her as the black-haired woman he had seen at the fight pits. She was no longer wearing her veil, so Nick could see that her eyes were an unnatural red. For a moment, he was nearly blinded by rage. He wanted nothing more than to strangle her. However, he held himself back, which he soon realized was a very fortunate thing. [Fighter¡¯s Instinct] could not evaluate her, something he had never seen happen before. ¡°Ah, he¡¯s here,¡± she said. ¡°Thank you Rose. You may leave.¡± ¡°Yes, My Lady,¡± said the young woman, bowing. Rose left the room, and for a few seconds, neither Nick, nor the other woman said anything. ¡°Give me a spin,¡± she said, twirling her finger.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Sorry?¡± he asked. ¡°Spin,¡± she said. ¡°I want to get a good look at you.¡± Nick started obeying, but stopped when she spoke again. ¡°Slowly,¡± she said. ¡°Like a pig on a fire. There you go. Just like that. Perfect.¡± When Nick turned back around, she was smiling. She took a sip from a half-full wine glass, exhaled with satisfaction, then sat up a bit straighter. ¡°So, you are my Arena¡¯s newest treasure,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re cute for someone who goes by ¡®The Berserker.¡¯¡± ¡°Why am I here?¡± asked Nick. ¡°My Lady.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°¡®Why am I here, My Lady,¡¯¡± she said. ¡°Address me properly, or you won¡¯t get an answer.¡± Nick considered telling her to go fuck herself, but managed to stop himself. ¡°Why am I here, My Lady?¡± he said through gritted teeth. ¡°Well, I suppose because you walked here,¡± she said. ¡°A better question would be why I called you here.¡± Nick waited for her to elaborate, but instead, she just took another sip from her glass and continued smiling. ¡°Why did you call me here, My Lady?¡± ¡°A few reasons,¡± she said, swirling her glass. ¡°Firstly, I wanted to get a closer look at you. You looked wonderful in the Arena, but I wanted to get a good look at you dressed in red. Secondly, I noticed that you seem to be a bit¡­ disgruntled¡­ with your current arrangements. It pains me to see my greatest treasures feeling this way, so I wanted to inform you that I will be upgrading your accommodations to something more fitting of a man of your caliber.¡± ¡°Do those accommodations include freedom?¡± blurted Nick. The Lady simply smiled at him. ¡°My Lady,¡± he added. ¡°Well, that all depends on how you define ¡®freedom,¡¯¡± she said. ¡°Will you be allowed to leave this place? No. Will you be allowed some degree of freedom? Yes. You will be assigned servants to fetch you things, and you will have an area of the camp where you are allowed to travel freely. Eventually, you may even be allowed to leave and return to your home.¡± ¡°On what conditions? My Lady.¡± ¡°Mmmm, I¡¯m not sure yet,¡± she said, taking another sip. ¡°I suppose we¡¯ll have to see when we get to that point.¡± Nick frowned, but did not protest. It was barely anything, but it was more than he had before. ¡°Now, where were we?¡± she said. ¡°Ah yes. And thirdly, I wish to talk to you about your family.¡± Nick flinched when she mentioned them. ¡°Ah, that got your attention. I believe you mentioned a sister and a fiance, yes?¡± ¡°Y-yes,¡± he said. ¡°Just ¡®yes¡¯?¡± ¡°Yes, My Lady.¡± ¡°Much better. Anyways, I have news regarding both.¡± ¡°What is it, My Lady?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯m afraid they¡¯re both dead.¡± Nick immediately activated [Berserk] and stepped toward the Lady. He intended to walk up and grab her by the throat, but after that first step, he found himself unable to move. It was as though his blood had frozen in his body, and his muscles stuck in extreme contraction. In front of him, the Lady simply smiled and took another sip from her glass. ¡°Just kidding,¡± she said. ¡°I have no idea where your sister is. Your fiance is alive.¡± ¡°What did you do to her?¡± demanded Nick, straining against whatever was restraining him. ¡°Hmm?¡± asked the Lady. ¡°What. Did. You. Do. To. Her. My. Lady?¡± ¡°Nothing. Yet. Right now, I believe she¡¯s on a boat, heading back to this continent. I was planning on bringing her here when she arrived as a part of your new accommodations.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡± ¡°Hmm? You don¡¯t want to see your fiance?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t bring her here!¡± ¡°Are you ordering me around?¡± she asked. She continued smiling, but Nick could feel that something in the air had changed. She had always felt dangerous, but now, it felt like one wrong move could get him killed. At the same time though, he felt as though his straining against his restraints was bearing fruit. He felt like with a mighty heave, he would be able to break free, if only for a moment. ¡°Yes, you fucking bitch,¡± he said. ¡°If you bring her here, I¡¯m going to kill you.¡± The Lady stared at him for a moment, then stood up and walked up to him. She leaned forward so that her face was inches from Nick¡¯s, and smiled. For the first time, Nick noticed that her canines were just a bit too long. ¡°I¡¯d like to see you try,¡± she said. At that moment, Nick shouted, and the spell holding him snapped. His arm rocketed forward as if launched by a slingshot, and his fist punched straight through her torso, only stopping when they hit the inside of her ribs. Her expression changed from one of arrogance to one of surprise and horror. Nick grinned back, but his smile melted away as hers returned. ¡°Not bad,¡± she said. Nick tried to pull his arm out, but he found that he was frozen again. ¡°Not bad at all,¡± she continued. ¡°That had some force behind it. But I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re going to need to do a bit better than that to finish me off. Still, it was a valiant attempt, so I¡¯ll give you a little parting gift.¡± The arm that was stuck in her torso suddenly erupted in pain. Nick screamed, and pulled away, the holding skill breaking as he stumbled backward and fell on the ground, writhing in pain. His arm had no visible injuries, but the Lady¡¯s blood that was coating it was rippling and bubbling as he felt it slowly seep into his skin. The pain was so intense that his eyes started tearing up, and his mind started to get fuzzy. ¡°Does it hurt?¡± asked the Lady. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ll thank me in a few hours when you-¡± She suddenly stopped and her head whipped around toward the balcony. ¡°What are you doing, Rayna?¡± said a man¡¯s voice. Though he could barely think from the pain, Nick had the presence of mind to glance up at the balcony doorway. The door was standing ajar, and just inside the room, there was a man who hadn¡¯t been there before. He was handsome, and dressed like a noble, and had long blond hair and blue eyes. For a moment, their eyes met, and Nick thought he caught just a hint of a smile. Then, he passed out.

***

2 weeks after the warg attack At a casual walking speed, it took Sophie about four hours to make it all the way around the edge of the island. After making this journey a total of three times, she came to the conclusion that the island was artificial. It was almost a perfect circle, aside from a long and unnaturally steep rock pier leading out into the water on the south side, and no matter which side she was on, the shore seemed to slope into the water at the exact same angle. Other than the location of the sun, the view was identical from all points of the island as well. That is to say, there was no view. All she could see were miles and miles of calm, peaceful ocean all around, with not a soul in sight. In the week she had been there, the weather had been the same every day as well. It was pleasantly warm during the day, and only went down a few degrees at night, so she didn¡¯t need a blanket or even a fire to keep warm. She suspected that she didn¡¯t even need clothes either, though she wasn¡¯t quite ready to go that far. She was still in her pajamas, which weren¡¯t ideal for spending so much time outdoors, but it was better than nothing. At that moment, it was near noon, and Sophie was putting the finishing touches on her raft. Despite the other woman¡¯s claims that it was impossible to leave, Sophie wasn¡¯t just going to blindly accept it. She was no expert craftsman, but her years in the woods with her dad had left her at least capable. The rope she wove was not high-quality, and was probably thicker than it needed to be, but it was sturdy, and she was confident it would hold. ¡°It¡¯s a good raft,¡± said the other woman. ¡°Better than Mina¡¯s. What do you mean it¡¯s not a fair comparison? Mina wasn¡¯t that incompetent. Hmm?¡± Sophie listened for a moment, then went back to tuning her out and tightening the ropes on the raft. Despite having spent almost every hour of her two weeks there next to her, Sophie still had yet to learn her name. Or, more likely, the other woman had spent so long alone that she didn¡¯t remember her own name any more. Sophie had decided to call her Iris, because she lived on the island, and Iris was the first name that started with ¡°I¡± that Sophie could think of. She gave the ropes one final tug before standing up to admire her handiwork. It wasn¡¯t anything pretty, but she was satisfied with how it had turned out. It was about ten feet long, and six feet wide, made of eight palm tree trunks tied together with copious amounts of her low-quality rope. To guide it, she had chopped down another tree that she didn¡¯t know the name of and fashioned part of it into two oars. Nature was her second best element after water, so they actually looked pretty good, if she did say so herself. ¡°Is she done? She looks done. Yes, she has a spare oar. Not that it matters. What? Of course I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to work.¡± Sophie turned to the other woman as her one-sided dialogue turned into incomprehensible mutters. ¡°Iris?¡± said Sophie. ¡°Iris?¡± asked the woman. ¡°Oh right, that¡¯s me. I¡¯m Iris now. It¡¯s not my name, but it¡¯s my name.¡± ¡°Do you want to come with me?¡± ¡°Go with her? No, I¡¯m not going to say that! What if it works? It might work. Shut up! I¡¯m going!¡± She continued talking, but as she did so, she floated over and then set herself down on the raft. ¡°...Okay,¡± said Sophie. ¡°But Iris, can you please get off for now? I still need to push it into the water.¡± ¡°I will put us in the water,¡± said Iris, her voice suddenly much stronger. ¡°Sit down.¡± Sophie obeyed without hesitation. While she could never remember her name, she did have occasional episodes of mental clarity. They were few and far between, but when they happened, she became a completely different person. A person that Sophie was almost afraid to defy. As soon as she sat down on the wood, the raft lifted into the air and glided out of the wooded area, across the shore, and into the water. They landed with barely a splash, and then immediately began drifting out from the shore, the current around them altered to take them where they wanted to go. ¡°Watch closely,¡± said Iris. ¡°You will soon understand why your efforts are wasted on such pointless endeavors.¡± Sophie nodded and turned to look out to see. At first, it seemed like the raft was working. However, once they were a few hundred feet from shore, a fog started to gather around them. It came so suddenly that Sophie gasped as the raft was enveloped in fog so thick she couldn¡¯t even see the raft below her. Then, as quickly as it came, it vanished again, and the raft was back on shore, Sophie and Iris still sitting on top of it. Sophie was speechless for a moment. It wasn¡¯t unexpected, since Iris had been telling her as much the entire time, but after experiencing it herself, and having her hopes utterly crushed beyond all repair, Sophie felt like something had broken inside of her. Her eyes welled with tears, and she turned to face the older woman, only to find that Iris had her brows creased with a look of concern. ¡°I¡¯ve never made it that far before,¡± she said. ¡°Wh-what?¡± asked Sophie, wiping her eyes. Iris didn¡¯t respond, instead lifting off the raft and flying back out to the water. She stopped a few hundred feet away, hovering in the air while holding one of her hands out. She stayed like that for about a minute, then flew forward again. Sophie saw no fog, but Iris disappeared all the same, reappearing right back above the raft. However, now, she was grinning. ¡°It¡¯s weakened,¡± she said. ¡°W-weakened?¡± asked Sophie ¡°We might be able to leave.¡± ¡°Really?¡± said Sophie, wiping her teary eyes on her sleeve. ¡°We can leave?¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± said Iris, turning to look down at Sophie. ¡°But I¡¯ll need your help. You¡¯re a Mana Dancer, right?¡± ¡°A-Apprentice Mana Dancer.¡± ¡°Even better,¡± said Iris, her smile getting even wider. ¡°You still have [Mana Manipulation], right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s only [Lesser Mana Manipulation]¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine too. Become my apprentice.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°Become my disciple. I will teach you things you never thought possible. When you reach the next tier, you¡¯ll be offered a class even better than {Mana Dancer}, and once you get that class, we might be able to leave.¡± ¡°Wh-what class is it?¡± ¡°{Dragon¡¯s Disciple}.¡± 68 - Third Tier Teleporting legally was completely different from what Emilia had done. There were over an hour of pre-teleport procedures, a half dozen forms to sign, an identification check, and even a brief lecture about international travel and import restrictions. When that lecture started, Elise had been worried they weren¡¯t going to let her go, since foreign animals might fall into one of the many restricted categories, but thankfully, Forest Rabbits were a fairly universal species, so she didn¡¯t need special treatment. However, she did have to actually transform back to a forest rabbit so as not to throw off the teleportation, which was uncomfortable. The other side of the portal wasn¡¯t much better, with another long security check to make sure that the first one hadn¡¯t been faulty, but three hours of bureaucracy later, they were finally on the streets of Vina. The first thing Elise noticed about the city was how colorful it was. Not a single building around was any shade of black, brown, gray, or white. The teleportation hub they exited was painted a soft orange, the building next to it, which seemed to be a bank, was blue, the one on the opposite side of the street was yellow, and as she looked around, she saw reds, purples, greens, and even one building with red and yellow stripes. She wasn¡¯t sure if she liked how it looked, but she appreciated the dedication to the theme. The second thing she noticed was how bloody hot it was. It had been warm and unpleasant, but bearable back in their previous location, but it was at least twenty degrees hotter in Vina, and to make things worse, it was humid too. All the people on the streets around were wearing thin clothing, often with open backs and exposed midriffs, and even so, very few of them weren¡¯t sweating. ¡°Fuck, I forgot how miserable it was here,¡± said Maia. Elise looked up at the black-haired girl, still wearing her long black dress, and already sweating after not even a minute outside. ¡°I can¡¯t say it¡¯s pleasant,¡± agreed Penelope. ¡°Where are we going?¡± ¡°Somewhere I can change,¡± said Maia. ¡°And after that, I dunno. Should we go get Hans first, or do whatever you need to do?¡± ¡°I think we should speak with Hans first,¡± said Penelope. ¡°We still don¡¯t know where we¡¯re going yet, so I¡¯d like to find out as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Alright. Works for me. You think your rich friends will let us stay the night?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Penelope. ¡°I don¡¯t know them well. I¡¯ve only met them once.¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll just get a room at the Third Tier for tonight while we coordinate with Hans, and then we can figure out what our plan for tomorrow is after that.¡± ¡°Sounds good,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Now, where¡¯s a place I can change?¡± Fortunately for Maia, not 100 feet away was a clothing store specializing in local fashion, probably catering specifically for people like Maia who had come to the city without thinking enough about the weather. Pets, however, were not allowed inside, so Elise and Penelope were forced to wait outside while Maia went in alone. While they waited, Elise noticed that despite the heat, Penelope didn¡¯t seem bothered by it at all. Her clothes were summer clothes, but still ones that covered her entire body, and on top of that, she was carrying both Elise, and a large bag with all her armor and other supplies, and yet she didn¡¯t have a drop of sweat on her. I wish I had whatever skill she has, thought Elise. Elise herself was beginning to pant from the heat. Her blindingly white fur was helping with the sunlight, but the ambient temperature was still far more than she was comfortable with. She felt an instinctual urge to dig a hole and hide until night time, and at that point, she realized that she was still in her base rabbit form, and transformed back up to her base fey form. When she did this the heat suddenly became much more bearable. It still was unpleasant, but getting somewhere cooler felt much less urgent. About a quarter of an hour after Maia entered the store, the door opened again, and a blonde woman in a short yellow dress walked out. Elise didn¡¯t pay her much attention at first, but when the blonde approached them, she did a double take, realizing it was Maia. Elise almost spoke out loud in surprise, barely stopping herself. ¡°Maia?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°What?¡± said the other girl, grumpily. ¡°It¡¯s more comfortable.¡± ¡°Is that your natural hair color?¡± ¡°Yeah. And?¡± ¡°Nothing. It looks good.¡± ¡°Whatever. Let¡¯s go.¡± Maia turned and started walking down the street, and Penelope jogged a couple steps forward to catch back up. ¡°Where are we going?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not far,¡± said Maia. ¡°Just a few more blocks. It¡¯s still early, so he might not be working yet, but that¡¯s fine. We¡¯ll need to get a room anyway. We can check in, and head down whenever he arrives.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Also, said Maia¡¯s voice in Elise¡¯s head. He knows we¡¯re coming, but we can¡¯t speak to him directly yet. He¡¯s under surveillance. I¡¯ll talk to him using this skill while we eat or something, and then we¡¯ll set up an actual meeting time. Elise glanced up to see Penelope nodding slightly, showing that she had heard Maia¡¯s unspoken words as well. As they continued walking, Elise felt a sense of almost deja vu. She couldn¡¯t quite put her finger on it at first, but as they traveled a bit further, she realized what it was. When Penelope had been carrying her back to her inn in Greenwood, their route had taken them further and further into the slums. This time, it was the opposite, where with every step they took, the buildings seemed to get bigger and fancier. Their destination had an entire city block to itself, with high stone walls blocking their view of the interior, save for the main building poking out of the center. It didn¡¯t poke out very far though, since, true to its name, The Third Tier Inn only had three floors. As they walked up to the tall iron gate that was the main entrance, Elise couldn¡¯t help but feel like their group was underdressed. Even the guards seemed to be dressed up more expensively than them. ¡°Here for a meal, or staying the night?¡± asked one of the guards. ¡°We were hoping to do both,¡± said Maia with a smile. ¡°Need our identifications?¡± ¡°Please,¡± said the guard, nodding. Maia lifted her arms and took off a necklace, a simple chain with a silver plaque hanging from it, and handed it to the guard, and Penelope grabbed her own iron plaque from her hip pouch and handed it to the other guard. A moment later, both were handed back. ¡°Enjoy your stay,¡± said the guard, reaching behind to open the gate. As soon as they stepped within the wall, the temperature seemed to halve. Elise gave a small gasp, both because of the temperature, and because of the sudden increase in ambient mana. The ground below was cobbled stone, but below it, she could feel an intricate array of flowing mana, which she assumed was what provided the climate control. The main building itself reminded Elise a bit of Dokkalfheimr. The main door was flanked by two massive stone pillars that seemed to grow straight out of the ground, and while the walls seemed to be more intricate, as she looked closer, she saw that they also seemed to be carved from a single piece of stone sprouting from the ground. There were two more guards, one in front of each pillar, but aside from a polite nod, neither acknowledged their entry. While Elise assumed that there were more guards than just the four they had seen, she suspected that there was some truth to Maia¡¯s guess that Hans wasn¡¯t working yet. At the very least, none of the four guards they had seen so far were black-winged Ainar. When they entered the building, Elise¡¯s first thought was that they were in a hotel, not an inn. She hadn¡¯t been to many hotels, but the room they were in was very similar to the lobbies of the hotels she had been to. It was big, open, and brightly lit, with a few chairs and tables scattered around, and a large desk in the back manned by four smiling young women. ¡°Welcome to the Third Tier,¡± called the one on the left, a brunette. ¡°Here for a stay, or just a meal?¡± ¡°Both,¡± said Maia. ¡°But we¡¯d like to check into a room first.¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Elise saw the receptionist¡¯s hands move and heard the rustling of papers. ¡°One bed, or separate?¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°Separate,¡± said Maia. ¡°How many nights?¡± ¡°Just one for now. Maybe more though in the future.¡± ¡°Privacy enchantments?¡± ¡°Advanced.¡± ¡°We have two rooms available that meet your needs, both on the second floor,¡± said the receptionist, writing as she spoke. ¡°One is on the south side, overlooking our garden, and costs one gold and eight silver per night. The other is on the interior, overlooking the courtyard, and costs one gold and two silver per night. We also have a few luxury suites available starting at five gold per night.¡± Elise felt Penelope wince when the prices were mentioned, but Maia showed no reaction, maintaining her smile. ¡°The room by the courtyard, please,¡± she said. ¡°If you¡¯d like, we can reserve the room for you for tomorrow night as well for one gold extra. If you make a final decision by midnight tonight, your gold will either be refunded, or will go toward paying for the second night, depending on your choice. If you do not notify us by midnight, your gold is forfeit, and should you choose to stay for a second night, you will need to pay full price again.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± said Maia. ¡°I think we¡¯ll be able to decide by then.¡± ¡°Wonderful!¡± said the receptionist. ¡°Then your total is two gold and two silver.¡± As Maia fetched the payment from the coin pouch given by Otto, Elise saw Penelope¡¯s eyes following the coins the whole way. Elise didn¡¯t feel too bothered by it herself, but she still only had a faint grasp on the currency in this world. She imagined it would be much different for someone who grew up in poverty here. The receptionist grabbed a key from a drawer in front of her, then led them to their room. Elise had gotten a decent view of the building on the way in, but it still left her unprepared for how big the place was. The second floor hallway was so long she could barely see the end of it, and it felt like it took forever to reach the opposite side where their room was. The room itself was a bit lackluster compared to everything else about the hotel, containing just the two beds and a small bathroom, but it was still one of the nicest rooms Elise had ever been in. ¡°This is your room,¡± said the receptionist once they were all inside. ¡°Two beds, a bathroom, and our best privacy wards. No one below seventh tier will be able to hear or see what happens in this room. There is also a room service bell.¡± she gestured toward a thin rope hanging from the ceiling between the two beds. ¡°If you pull that cord, one of our attendants will be summoned to assist you. Please note that while simple requests, such as new sheets, answering questions about our establishment, or notifying us of a change in plans are free of charge, your attendant will charge extra for more complex tasks. ¡°If you exit your room and turn left, you¡¯ll come to a staircase. If you go down the staircase and turn right and continue straight, you will reach our world famous tavern, where we are proud to say we have two eighth tier chefs employed. You can also get food delivered to your room via room service, but please note that you will have to pay for both the food and the delivery. Do you have any questions?¡± ¡°Nope. That all sounds great, thanks,¡± said Maia. ¡°Then I hope you enjoy your stay.¡± The receptionist handed Maia the key, bowed, and walked away, letting the door close almost silently behind her. When the door closed, Elise had a brief moment of anxiousness as most of the sounds she had been hearing were cutoff. It was eerie, being somewhere so silent after being around the noises of the city for so long. ¡°Two gold,¡± muttered Penelope. ¡°It¡¯s Otto¡¯s money, not ours,¡± said Maia, shrugging. ¡°Plus, this place is nice. The food is to die for. Speaking of, are you guys hungry yet?¡± ¡°I could eat,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Though I¡¯m not sure what we¡¯ll do about Elise.¡± ¡°Good point,¡± said Maia. ¡°Elise is your transformation off cooldown yet?¡± ¡°Not quite,¡± replied Elise. ¡°But even so, won¡¯t it be suspicious if I suddenly appear here without having checked in.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, good point,¡± said Maia. ¡°I guess we can have food delivered.¡± ¡°Food made by an eighth tier chef¡­¡± said Penelope. ¡°How much will it cost?¡± ¡°I dunno, but it¡¯s not our money,¡± said Maia. ¡°Might as well live a little.¡± She walked over toward the beds and pulled on the cord. ¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°Asking for a menu,¡± said Maia. About ten minutes later, Maia was poring over a small scroll that a young man had delivered to them while Penelope was reading over her shoulder and grimacing at all the prices. Another ten minutes later, after confirming that Elise¡¯s transformation would be off-cooldown within the next half hour, they called back the attendant to order food. Once again, when Maia handed the attendant the payment¨Canother full gold and a silver¨CPenelope winced. She didn¡¯t argue against it too much though. Elise could hear her stomach growling. Elise stayed in her rabbit form until the food arrived, carted in on a shiny silver trolley, and as soon as the attendant was gone, she transformed into her human form. The food smelled heavenly. It made even the feast at Dokkalfheimr seem mediocre, just from the smell alone, and the taste didn¡¯t disappoint. She was glad she could finally eat meat again, because that was most of what Maia ordered, though even if she only got to have a bowl of the potato soup, she would have been happy. When they finished, they relaxed on the beds for a few minutes before Maia suddenly sat up. ¡°I¡¯m gonna head down to the courtyard,¡± she said. ¡°Hans is here. You guys should stay here. It¡¯ll be easier to stay inconspicuous on my own.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± said Penelope, still lying down with a hand on her bloated stomach. ¡°Sounds good,¡± said Elise. ¡°I might be gone for a little while,¡± said Maia. ¡°So don¡¯t worry if I¡¯m not back in a few hours.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± said Elise. Penelope responded with a simple thumbs up. A few minutes after Maia left, Penelope was asleep, leaving Elise with nothing to do and no one to talk to. At first, she tried to nap as well, but she couldn¡¯t fall asleep, so she instead decided to do some mana meditation. She had been slacking off on it over the past few days, and needed to get back into the rhythm, so she turned back into her changeling form and got comfortable on the bed. With her new evolution and {Mana Sense} continuously climbing in level, she was starting to understand more why her three cores had so little mana. At first, it simply seemed as though they were dead spots within her body, and she needed to soften them up a bit, but as she focused more, she noticed that the mana in her central core was much more pure than the mana in the rest of her body, which was more pure than the mana in the air. The purified mana also seemed more potent than the rest of the mana, which is why it was difficult to contain. At this point, she could passively store the purified mana in her core at about one quarter the density of the mana in the rest of her body. When she meditated, she could get that up to around three quarters, but it always slowly leaked back out when she stopped. She wished there was a way to keep the pure mana stored indefinitely instead, and she suspected that magic-focused classes and species got such a skill, but as her evolutionary track was taking her more toward manipulation, which didn¡¯t use mana for some reason, she had not gotten it. That got her thinking about how her {Suggest}, {Charm}, {Lesser Transformation} and other skills did work. None of them used even a bit of mana, and at least for {Suggest} and {Charm}, there didn¡¯t seem to be a limit to how many times she could use them. But that didn¡¯t make any sense. Most of those skills had obvious effects, especially {Lesser Transformation}, so they had to get that energy from somewhere. Was there a second kind of magical energy? There had to be, right? System, how does {Suggest} work? ¡°{Suggest} is a skill in which the user can plant a subtle thought in the head of their target. The target must be nearby and the user must know their location to use the skill. It can be used to-¡± No, no, I know what it does. I mean how does it work? How can it have any effects without using mana? ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but you do not have permission to access that information.¡± Of course, she sighed. At the very least, the System¡¯s refusal to answer proved that there was an answer. She would be able to find it eventually. She returned to her mana meditation, focusing on letting as much mana into her central core as possible. She got to three quarter density fairly quickly, and then went on trying to fill it up more. She had two main methods that she regularly attempted in order to accomplish this goal. The first was closing up the acupoints one at a time, keeping the pure mana from leaking back out. However, this method was inefficient, because even after nearly 3 months of practice, she could only fully close 9 of them, and there were 24 total. The second method was trying to focus on the core as a whole, and close all of the acupoints just slightly. This is the method she used to reach the 75% density, though she was hitting a wall there too. It didn¡¯t feel like she¡¯d be able to get much further, because even just keeping them half closed like that took all her willpower, and the diminishing returns of trying harder were extreme. Perhaps if she leveled up further and increased her Willpower stat, she would be able to get further, but she didn¡¯t want to rely solely on her stats to do it. There had to be another way. The first method was slower, but the progress was relatively consistent. Once an acupoint was fully closed, it was relatively simple to keep it closed, so she could continue increasing the number until she reached the 24 point goal. Is that really a good idea though? Her goal was to keep the purified mana inside her core, but when she closed the acupoints, it couldn¡¯t pass through in either direction. If she managed to fully close off the entire core, the purified mana wouldn¡¯t be able to leak out anymore, but it wouldn¡¯t be usable either, and it wouldn¡¯t be able to leak in either. How did the cores work anyway? Why were they so good at expelling mana, and so bad at taking it in? System, what are mana cores? ¡°Mana cores are extraphysical locations within the bodies of living creatures that are used for purification and circulation of mana.¡± Purification and circulation, she thought. Not storage. Maybe she had been going about her meditation all wrong. Jens had explained to her a little bit about mana cores, but he didn¡¯t spend much time on them, saying that they weren¡¯t worth worrying about. Now that she knew a bit more about the world, she guessed that was because he didn¡¯t actually know much about them, since they were probably automatically unlocked for him by his class. She had taken what little he did say and applied it to her own assumptions, but what if her assumptions were wrong? She held her core tightly closed for a bit longer, then intentionally released it, feeling the purified mana flow back into her body and slowly become diluted again. As she watched, she noticed that when the mana flow suddenly increased out of the 24 acupoints, for a brief moment, there was a hint of a pattern in the way it moved. She held them tightly closed again, allowing the purified mana to build up again, and then released it, and saw the pattern again. Circulation! she thought excitedly. She spent the next hour repeatedly letting the mana build up, and then release. Each time, it got a bit easier, and though imperceptible at first, by the end of the hour, she noticed that the mana in her body was also much more pure and slightly more dense than it had been before. Her head was starting to hurt though from all the concentration though, so she exited her meditative state to take a quick break. When she did, she saw a System dialogue window waiting for her. [ You have discovered a hidden Skill Quest: {Mana Circulation} ] 69 - Mana Circulation Hidden Skill Quest? Thought Elise. ¡°Would you like to know about hidden Skill Quests?¡± replied the System. Yes. ¡°Skill Quests are objectives set by the System to allow users to learn skills that their classes or species otherwise wouldn¡¯t provide. These quests are often given to low-tier, low-rarity classes without specializations in order to assist their growth. However, they sometimes also exist in the form of hidden Skill Quests for beings that meet certain criteria.¡± What are the criteria? ¡°The criteria for discovering each hidden Skill Quest is dependent on a proprietary algorithm that takes in numerous factors to determine when a user qualifies for a Skill Quest. Once a Skill Quest has been discovered, the user may complete it at any time to unlock the specified skill.¡± How many hidden Skill Quests are there? ¡°I¡¯m sorry. You are not permitted to access that information.¡± Figures. How do I see my Skill Quest? The System responded simply by showing a new window titled ¡°Quests¡±. [ {Mana Circulation} (Skill Quest): Perform basic circulation through all mana cores. ] [ Progress: 1/3 ] [ Reward: {Mana Circulation} skill ] Are there other kinds of quests? She asked upon seeing the label associated with the {Mana Circulation} Quest. ¡°Yes! There are many different quests that users are completing at all times. Most quests relate to unlocking certain classes or evolutions. These quests are hidden from most users at all times, and can only be viewed under highly specific circumstances.¡± Why are they hidden? Wouldn¡¯t it be better if we could see them so we could choose our paths better? ¡°I¡¯m sorry. You are not permitted to access that information.¡± Elise sighed, then turned her attention back to the quest she could actually see. Knowing what evolutions she was close to unlocking would be nice, but it seemed that it wouldn¡¯t be happening. Gaining {Mana Circulation}, on the other hand, was much more doable. She turned her mind inward again, though this time, instead of focusing on her central core, she went to her lower core, located just above her pelvis. Her lower core was stiff, and the mana inside was stagnant, but she slowly worked it, focusing on each acupoint in turn, trying to either close or loosen them. Progress was slow, and she had not made it very far before a noise from the room forced her attention away. She opened her eyes to see Maia closing the door to the room. And walking in with a smile. At the same time, Penelope sat up, her eyes wide open, looking like she had never fallen asleep. ¡°How did it go?¡± she asked. ¡°Great!¡± said Maia. ¡°He says he¡¯s ready to leave right now, but he still has eyes from the Blood Syndicate watching him, and that taking his vacation almost immediately after we arrive will be too suspicious, so he wants to meet up in a week.¡± ¡°A week?!¡± said Penelope. ¡°He also said that if you were worried about your friend¡¯s safety, don¡¯t be. If he¡¯s survived this long, he won¡¯t be dying anytime soon.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± asked Elise. ¡°He doesn¡¯t have Otto¡¯s connections, so he doesn¡¯t know exactly what your friend¡¯s position is, but the fact that Otto contacted him and not someone else means that your friend is most likely a pit fighter right now.¡± ¡°A pit fighter?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°Like a slave?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Maia. ¡°However, since it¡¯s been 3 months, that means he¡¯s most likely made it to the upper levels. Especially since he started as a trained knight. And once you reach the upper levels, they don¡¯t want to risk your life anymore. They either give you fights they know you¡¯ll win, or they have special event fights with powerful healers on standby to make sure you don¡¯t die. He won¡¯t be having much fun right now, but his life isn¡¯t in danger.¡± ¡°How does he know this?¡± ¡°Hans was a pit fighter once too,¡± said Maia. ¡°He was one of their best before he escaped. He is very familiar with their treatment of their prized fighters.¡± Penelope tried to say something, but Elise noticed something off about Maia¡¯s words, and spoke first. ¡°If he escaped, why is he living so openly?¡± she asked. ¡°And if the Blood Syndicate already knows where he is, why haven¡¯t they done anything about him?¡± ¡°He¡¯s under protection,¡± Maia replied. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you from who, but the Blood Syndicate won¡¯t touch him. They just keep an eye on him.¡± ¡°Are you also under their protection?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°I can¡¯t answer any questions regarding them.¡± Penelope sighed. ¡°Fine. Did he at least tell us where they are?¡± ¡°The Blood Syndicate is headquartered in the center of the Jungle.¡± ¡°The Jungle?!¡± said Penelope. ¡°How?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. He didn¡¯t either. He just knows that¡¯s where they are, and he has a plan to get in. Anyway, he says he wants to meet us at the Jungle in a week where he¡¯ll explain in more detail. He also said that if we were bored, we should spend our time training because-¡± She made a mock scowl and deepened her voice. ¡°¡®You kids wouldn¡¯t make it past the outer guards.¡¯¡± ¡°He thinks we¡¯re too weak? And he expects us to get strong enough to meet his standards within a week?¡± ¡°No, he expects us to prepare ourselves because-¡± Maia scowled and deepened her voice again. ¡°¡®I¡¯m gonna put you guys through hell.¡¯¡± ¡°He¡¯s gonna train us?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°How can we be sure that Nick isn¡¯t dying while we¡¯re spending a week waiting, and then even longer training?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°Otto said he¡¯d inform me immediately if anything looked like it was gonna happen,¡± said Maia. ¡°So if that happens, we can cut the training short and go in immediately. But again, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s gonna happen.¡± Penelope crossed her arms, and didn¡¯t look entirely convinced, but she didn¡¯t protest further. Elise had some of the same concerns about Nick, but if Hans was right, and he wasn¡¯t in mortal danger at the moment, that made Sophie¡¯s and Bianca¡¯s positions more concerning. There wasn¡¯t anything she could do about it, since even Otto wasn¡¯t able to find them, but it still made her anxious. ¡°Where are we supposed to meet him?¡± asked Elise. ¡°He wanted to meet us in the Jungle,¡± said Maia. ¡°He said it didn¡¯t matter where, as long as we were relatively close to the city. We just need to go in, and he¡¯ll find us.¡± ¡°Then we should probably just go in early,¡± said Penelope. ¡°I was gonna say the same,¡± said Maia. ¡°Once we go talk to your rich friends, we should just go right in. No point in wasting any more time here. Elise?¡± ¡°Fine with me,¡± said Elise. That actually sounded better to her, since she would be able to move around more freely once they left the city. ¡°Well, it¡¯s probably too late to visit your noble friends tonight, but it¡¯s too early for bed,¡± said Maia. ¡°So there¡¯s only one thing to do.¡± ¡°What?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°We need to get Elise a Hunter¡¯s License.¡± An hour later, Elise had her Hunter¡¯s License. It looked almost like a driver¡¯s license, with a small picture of her, and some demographic information, except it was made of copper, and hung from a chain around her neck. As they walked down the street back to the Third Tier, Elise found herself fidgeting with it, and occasionally staring at it. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The process of getting the license had been far more simple than she thought it would be, and even Maia was caught off-guard by how easy it was. The place they went to get the license was an office of an organization called the International Monster Hunters Association, which, in addition to granting Hunter¡¯s Licenses, also kept track of monster spawn zones all around the world, and had connections all over the world. One of those connections just so happened to be the Jelorian Knights, meaning that with a vouch from Penelope, Elise was able to walk out with a Copper Rank license less than half an hour after walking in, and without taking any tests or showing any other forms of identification. That left them with the rest of the night free, and more importantly, the rest of Elise¡¯s transformation time. They could have gone straight back to the inn, but Elise was a bit reluctant to go straight back after not even an hour in her human form, and Maia seemed to feel the same. Penelope didn¡¯t care either way, so she let Maia lead them through the city to an enormous garden. The sun had just set, so it was dark outside, but the garden was still illuminated by strategically placed luminescent plants, creating a magical view. They spent an hour walking around the garden, enjoying the sights, and making small talk before finally heading back to the inn for the night. ¡°I¡¯m gonna go hang out at the tavern for a bit,¡± said Maia when they got back to their room. ¡°Grab a drink or two. Wanna come?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t drink,¡± said Penelope. ¡°No thanks,¡± said Elise. ¡°Suit yourselves,¡± Maia replied, shrugging. ¡°But this might be your last chance to let loose a bit before we¡¯re stuck training for who knows how long.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± said Elise. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be able to stay long either.¡± ¡°Alright. Well, seeya later then.¡± Once she left, Elise flopped down on one of the beds, reluctant to change back out of her human form just yet. She wouldn¡¯t be going anywhere until the morning, so she could afford to max out the cooldown. After a few minutes, she found her mind returning to the Skill Quest she had discovered. If she wanted to be productive, that¡¯s what she should have been working on, but to do that, she had to return to her base form, and that would mean no more human form for the night. She wallowed in reluctance for a time until she noticed something odd with the mana in the room. She sat up in her bed and looked over to find that Penelope had sat down on the floor next to the other bed, and had her eyes closed, meditating. While it was hard to sense the mana in someone else¡¯s body, she got the vague sense that Penelope¡¯s was moving around inside her, and quite rapidly, based on the occasional bits that flew from her head. Elise observed for a few minutes until it suddenly ground to a halt and Penelope¡¯s eyes flew open. ¡°Did you need something?¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± said Elise, leaning back. ¡°I was just- Were you doing Mana Circulation?¡± ¡°I was.¡± Elise hesitated for a moment, before speaking again. ¡°Can you teach me how to do it?¡± ¡°Teach you?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°Do you have the skill?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t, but I just got a Skill Quest for it earlier.¡± ¡°A Skill Quest?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°I thought those were for first tiers.¡± ¡°It said it was a hidden Skill Quest. Can you teach me how to do it?¡± ¡°I can try. I didn¡¯t learn until I got the skill though, so I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ll be able to help much.¡± ¡°I mostly just need to know how it works,¡± said Elise. ¡°I¡¯m going in blind right now. I barely even know what mana circulation is.¡± ¡°I can help with that at least,¡± said Penelope. ¡°{Mana Circulation}, is the second foundational skill for anyone with a magic focused class. Or evolution, I guess. The other one is {Mana Sense}. {Mana Circulation} basically just purifies the mana in your body, which makes it easier to control, and also lets you store it a bit more densely. The easier control is the main part though. Using magical skills with pure mana is much faster than with unpurified mana, and though I don¡¯t have {Mana Manipulation}, the mages I know who have it say that pure mana is ten times easier to work with. ¡°The way it works is that your body has three cores- actually wait, does your body have three cores?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± said Elise. ¡°My base form and human form both have three.¡± ¡°One between the hips, one in the chest, one in the head?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Okay, good. So your three cores all have slightly different functions. The central core¨C the one in your chest¨C does the main purification work. It will remove almost all the impurities, and then distribute the mana both to your body, and to your other two cores. The lower core¨C the one between your hips¨C also does purification, but not as much as the central core, and it does more distribution to the rest of your body. The upper core also purifies mana, but rather than distributing it to your body, it is responsible for circulating and controlling mana outside your body. ¡°Both mages and warriors tend to have well-developed central cores, but mages usually have much more active upper cores, and weaker lower cores, while warriors will have strong lower cores and weak upper cores. I, being a warrior, have a very strong lower core, but my upper core is relatively weak and inefficient. I¡¯d be willing to bet that you¡¯re the opposite. You don¡¯t have any body-strengthening skills, right?¡± ¡°No,¡± said Elise. ¡°Not yet, at least.¡± ¡°Then in that case, don¡¯t worry if your lower core seems small or less powerful than your others.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± ¡°The {Mana Circulation} skill is a passive skill that keeps your mana lightly circulating at all times, though not very quickly,¡± Penelope continued. ¡°When you meditate, it speeds up the process, and makes your mana extra pure until you expend it all and absorb more dirty mana from the atmosphere. As you level the skill, the passive effect gets faster and faster, and my mentor told me that once it reaches level 175, it¡¯s about the same as the meditation speed.¡± ¡°I see,¡± said Elise. ¡°How does it feel to use it properly? The way I¡¯ve been doing it is kind of closing the core off so that it inflates with mana a bit, and then letting it deflate.¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s kind of the right idea,¡± said Penelope, scratching her chin. ¡°I¡¯ve never really thought about it before, but yeah, it is kind of like breathing. Mmm, no, it¡¯s more like a heartbeat. Except with 3 hearts. And they don¡¯t all beat at the same time. It¡¯s usually the central core that pulses first, and then the other two right after as the mana from the central core reaches them. And when the mana travels from the cores through your body, it follows specific paths like blood vessels.¡± ¡°I did notice that, actually,¡± said Elise. ¡°It was really faint, but I thought I noticed some kind of pattern. I¡¯ve only been able to work with my central core so far though. I started with my lower core earlier today, but I¡¯m a little hesitant on the upper core. I had a teacher before, and he warned me against absorbing mana through my head too much.¡± ¡°Ah, yeah, that can be dangerous,¡± said Penelope. ¡°But it should be fine as long as it¡¯s not only your head. Too much mana in any part of your body isn¡¯t good, but in the head, it¡¯s especially bad, since it can have weird effects on your brain. That¡¯s why mages get headaches when they cast too many spells, actually. Their upper core is what handles all that external mana, so too much mana passing through it can have adverse effects.¡± ¡°So if I¡¯m circulating the mana in all three cores, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. But it still stops you from doing the meditation version for too long, since you¡¯ll get a headache after a few hours. Higher Willpower will reduce that effect a bit, but even then, it¡¯s still not great to send too much mana to your head.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Elise had never experienced that before, even when grinding out her spells underground with Sindri, but she assumed that must have been because she simply didn¡¯t have enough mana for it to be an issue. Or she just wasn¡¯t practicing long enough. Or by taking such long breaks to practice meditation in between casts, she had negated the effects. Most likely, it was a combination of all of the above, but either way, she was glad to have finally found out why Jens had advised against starting her mana absorption practice with the acupoints on her head. ¡°I think I have enough to work more on my own,¡± she said. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± said Penelope. ¡°If you need more help, just let me know.¡± ¡°I will.¡± Penelope leaned back and closed her eyes again, returning to her circulation while Elise retreated back to the center of the bed. She took a few seconds to get her mind in order, then changed back to her base changeling form and started her mana meditation. Penelope¡¯s words had given her a new perspective on her cores. She had indeed been thinking about them all wrong. They were not containers to be filled. They were filters through which the mana needed to pass. She zeroed in on her central core again, and rather than trying to mess with the acupoints, she tried to manipulate the core as a whole. Nothing happened at first, but after some time, she managed to get it to expand just a bit. The expansion had the same effect as trying to close the acupoints had, causing her core to fill up slightly with mana. She released it, and a small amount of purified mana was ejected. Though Elise believed Penelope when she said it was more like a heartbeat than breathing, for Elise¡¯s purposes, she chose to think about it like breathing, at least until she could get it more under control. This was mostly because she had no control over her heartbeat, but the sensation of inhaling and exhaling was familiar and controllable, and greatly helped with the visualization of her cores. Once she was confident she could consistently ¡°breathe¡± with her central core, she turned her attention to her lower core, and did the same there. She did not make as much progress on this one, however. Unlike her central core, she had not been working on the lower core at all, causing it to feel stiff and almost brittle as she tried to inflate and deflate it. After about an hour, she could do just a little bit. It was barely noticeable, but the mana definitely increased within the core, and was expelled into her body. She cracked her eyes open and pulled up the Skill Quest, but the Progress was still stuck at 1 of 3. I probably need to get both working at once to get more progress, she thought. She went back to her meditation, and started working toward getting both central and lower core working at the same time. If not for Penelope¡¯s description of the two cores not beating simultaneously, she would have been at a loss for how to do it. Out of curiosity, she tried getting both working at once, and unsurprisingly, neither did anything. Splitting her focus like that was not possible. Getting the central core working, and then jumping over to the lower one though? She felt that would be possible. Unfortunately, she discovered that switching from one core to the other wasn¡¯t easy. She hadn¡¯t expected it to be, but it was proving to be a bit more of a wall than she thought it would. She could get each one to circulate independently, but it was always too slow. By the time she got the lower core to do what little she could manage, the central core had long since stopped outputting pure mana for it. She practiced this for over an hour, but by then, she was actually starting to get worse. She opened her eyes, and immediately yawned, finally noticing how exhausted she was. She had barely done anything that day, but her body felt a bit sore, as if she had been running around. She guessed it was due to the excessive circulation of mana through her central and lower cores, based on what Penelope had described. The knight herself had finished her own circulation practice, and was now laying in bed. She didn¡¯t quite sound asleep, but Elise could tell that she was trying to sleep. Elise lay down on the bed, thinking she would just rest a bit while waiting for Maia to get back, but not even a minute after she decided to ¡°rest her eyes¡±, she was asleep. Later, she woke with a start to the sound of the door slamming. 70 - Lost Sisters When Elise woke up, Penelope did as well, rolling out of bed, and grabbing her sword from the ground in one smooth motion. For a second, they were both tense, waiting for something to happen, and then a moment later, Maia stumbled out from the short hallway to the door, smelling strongly of liquor. ¡°Maia?¡± whispered Penelope. Maia giggled, then burped. ¡°Hiiiii.¡± Penelope dropped her sword and rushed over to support the drunk girl, who had been teetering dangerously. ¡°Maia, how much did you drink.¡± ¡°Too-¡± Maia giggled again. ¡°Too much.¡± ¡°C¡¯mere, let¡¯s get you to bed.¡± ¡°I¡¯m shorry,¡± said Maia as Penelope gently walked her over to the other bed. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to. I jusht- I jusht got a bit¡­ carried away.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Just rest well so we can have a good day tomorrow.¡± ¡°Okayyy.¡± At that moment, the strength left Maia¡¯s legs, and she fell forward. Penelope, surprised, barely managed to catch her before she hit her head. ¡°Woahhh,¡± said Maia. ¡°Whoopsies.¡± Penelope quickly recovered and picked the other girl up and set her gently on the bed. Elise scrambled aside to make room, and then stopped to watch Maia lay down, her body limp as she stared up at the ceiling with a dreamy, drool-y smile. Elise recalled something she learned in college about it not being good to let a drunk person sleep on their back, since they could suffocate on their own vomit, and she was about to suggest rolling her onto her side when she had another idea. She activated her wings and flew right above the bed. Below her, Maia¡¯s eyes widened, and she reached up weakly, giggling. Then, Elise rained {Fairy Dust} down on her with sobering her up in mind. A moment later, Maia¡¯s smile was fading, and another moment later, she brought her hands to her face. ¡°Fuuuuck,¡± she said. ¡°Feeling better?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Yeah,¡± Maia replied. ¡°Sorry about that.¡± Her speech was still a little slurred, but she was clearly doing much better, so Elise let up on the {Fairy Dust} and floated back down to the bed. She considered carrying on until Maia was fully sober, but stopped herself. They hadn¡¯t even known each other for a day, and Maia was still suspicious. Elise had no idea what her motivations were, or why she wanted to go after the Blood Syndicate so badly. There were clearly personal stakes of some kind, and the best way to find them out would be to ask when alcohol had let down her inhibitions a bit. Part of her felt guilty about using Maia like that, but she pushed that part aside. ¡°Maia?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Yeah?¡± replied Maia, her hands still over her face. ¡°Why do you want to go after the Blood Syndicate so badly?¡± Elise noticed Penelope straighten up when she said that, clearly more alert and paying more attention. ¡°Who says I want to go after them?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t want to go on the mission for Otto until he told you it was ¡®the mission¡¯, whatever that meant. And Otto apparently signed a big contract with them for secrecy, but was willing to indirectly break that contract without hesitation and send you along to help us out.¡± For almost a minute, Maia didn¡¯t respond. Elise was worried she had fallen asleep, but then she slowly lowered her arms from her face, and continued staring up at the ceiling. ¡°When Otto said that I was like a daughter to him, he wasn¡¯t lying,¡± she said. ¡°He took me and my twin sister in when we were five. He was just a regular information broker working for the Blood Syndicate at the time, but it wasn¡¯t a bad job. The Blood Syndicate is terrible, but we lived away from it, and only saw their members occasionally when they stopped by for information. ¡°That all changed when my sister and I unlocked our Systems though. Suddenly, we were ¡®promising young recruits¡¯ and ¡®caught the eye of their scouts¡¯. Otto tried to take us and run away, but we got caught almost immediately. They locked us all up separately. I don¡¯t know what happened to Otto or my sister. All I know is that two days later, Otto came to pick me up, and we went back to the antique shop. Without her. ¡°He never told me exactly what kind of deal he made. I honestly can¡¯t figure out how he did it. It never made any sense to me. Somehow, not only did he and I get to go free, but they let us leave the Blood Syndicate. All it cost was his silence and my sister.¡± ¡°...What happened to your sister?¡± asked Penelope after a few seconds of silence. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± replied Maia. ¡°I know she¡¯s alive, but Otto won¡¯t tell me more than that. I guess since he sent me with you guys, she must be in the same place as your friend.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re working with us to save your sister?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll save her,¡± said Penelope. ¡°We¡¯ll save both of them, and whoever else has been imprisoned there.¡± ¡°I hope so.¡± There was another minute of silence, and when Elise finally decided to say something to break it, she noticed that Maia¡¯s breathing had changed. She had fallen asleep. Elise made eye contact with Penelope, nodded, and the two of them went to bed as well, Penelope wrapping herself back up in the other bed¡¯s sheets, and Elise curling up in the empty space near the foot of Maia¡¯s bed. They awoke shortly after sunrise, none of them mentioning the night before. Penelope and Maia took turns in the bathroom, washing up and changing clothes while Elise got in a bit of quick meditation before they ordered food. Breakfast was an egg-filled pie similar to quiche, with ham, onions, mushrooms, and a fruit that Elise didn¡¯t recognize, but added a bit of an acidic aftertaste to top it off. Elise ate in her human form, then switched back to her rabbit form as they prepared to leave. She would have wanted to stay human, but none of them had any way of predicting how long the conversation with the Lappins would last, so they decided it was best not to risk running out of time on her transformation. On their way over, Penelope told them a bit more about the Lappin family. While not near as powerful as Penelope had made them seem when tricking Elise into giving her identity away, they were still the heads of an international trading company with about as much wealth and influence as some of the mid-sized Jelorian noble houses. Their estate was on the outskirts of the city, but they had an office in the center near the government buildings, and that was where they went. Penelope said that Bianca¡¯s parents were very involved in their business, so they were more likely to be at the office than at their estate.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The Lappin office was surprisingly modern-looking. It wasn''t fully modern, with steel frames and tinted glass walls like Elise often saw around campus, but it wouldn¡¯t have been out of place in the ¡°historic¡± district full of buildings from the early half of the 20th century. It was made of red brick with tall windows lining each of its four floors. The entrance was flanked by two tall gray pillars that looked like they were made out of cement, and the doors were made of dark carved wood. There were two guards on the front corners of the building, but they both merely nodded as they watched Maia and Penelope walk inside. Most of the bottom floor of the building was open, with only the occasional door on the edge leading to what Elise assumed to be side rooms or staircases. There were desks all around with generous spacing between, with one chair for an employee on one side and two for clients on the other. Most of the desks had employees at them, but only a couple had clients, leaving most of the workers with nothing to do but wait. There was one central desk with two receptionists behind, both smiling politely as Penelope and Maia approached. Elise caught one of them giving her a not-so-subtle glance, so she used {Charm}, eliciting a more genuine smile. ¡°Welcome to Lappin Trading, how can I help you today?¡± she said. ¡°We need to talk to Frank Lappin, if he¡¯s here,¡± said Penelope, putting her knight''s badge on the table. ¡°I¡¯m a friend of his daughter, Bianca.¡± ¡°Oh you¡¯re one of Bianca¡¯s friends?¡± said the receptionist, smiling. ¡°You must be Penelope then, right?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s me. Is Frank in?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid not,¡± said the receptionist. ¡°He¡¯s been out for a couple months now, working out a deal in Grancia. I¡¯m afraid he won¡¯t be back for another few weeks. And his wife is with him. Do you know Robert though?¡± ¡°I know of him,¡± said Penelope. ¡°I¡¯ve never met him though.¡± ¡°He¡¯s been running the place while Frank is out. Would you like me to send him a message and see if he¡¯s available?¡± ¡°Yes, please.¡± The receptionist pulled out a piece of paper, and wrote something down. Elise noticed that, just like when Otto was doing his searches, the ink slowly faded on the paper, and a minute later was replaced by new words. She wondered if it was the paper, the ink, or a skill that was making it work like that. If it was a skill, she wondered if it was the same skill as Otto¡¯s or perhaps just a weaker variation. Otto¡¯s clearly produced different results, but the way they worked looked nearly identical. ¡°You had perfect timing!¡± said the receptionist, smiling. ¡°He just finished a meeting, and he said he¡¯d be happy to see you. If you go straight back to that door behind me, there¡¯s a staircase and an elevator. You can take either all the way up to the top floor, and he¡¯ll be waiting for you.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± said Penelope. ¡°No problem. Have a nice day.¡± ¡°You too.¡± Elise was a little bit excited to try out a magic elevator, but was mildly disappointed to learn it was more or less identical to a normal elevator, just powered by magic instead of electricity. It didn¡¯t even lift the whole elevator up with magic. From what she could sense, it just magically turned a wheel which wound up a cable that lifted the box. It made perfect sense to do it that way, and was probably more efficient than any of the random possibilities she had come up with, but she still thought it was a little lame. At the top of the elevator, a man with black hair and gray eyes was waiting with a nervous smile. ¡°Penelope?¡± he said, turning to Maia. ¡°No, that¡¯s me,¡± said Penelope, stepping forward. ¡°Oh, my apologies,¡± he said with a short bow. ¡°My sister has told me about you, but I¡¯m afraid she never told me much about your appearance.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Maia,¡± said Maia. ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you as well. My name is Robert, but my friends call me Bobby, and a friend of Bianca¡¯s is a friend of mine, so feel free to call me that, if you want. And who¡¯s this?¡± He looked down at Elise, reached out to scratch under her chin. Elise leaned into it, using {Charm} at the same time. ¡°This is Snowberry,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Nice to meet you too, Snowberry,¡± said Robert. ¡°Why don¡¯t you all come inside and have a seat. I assume you came about Bianca?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Excellent. I actually just received news from her the other day.¡± ¡°You did?¡± said Penelope. ¡°Yes,¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s head inside, and I¡¯ll share it with you.¡± He turned and led them down to the end of a hallway to what seemed like his private office. There was a desk in the back, bookshelves on the walls, and a low table in the middle with couches on either side. Penelope and Maia sat down on one side while Robert went toward his desk. ¡°What have you heard from Bianca?¡± asked Penelope as soon as she sat down. As a response, Robert opened one of the drawers of his desk and pulled out an opened letter, which he handed to Penelope. She opened it up and started reading immediately, thankfully having enough presence of mind to hold it low enough Elise could read as well. The letter was long, and written somewhat formally, but the gist of it was that Bianca was safe, and was on her way back. She had been stranded in the wilderness on the continent of Carsas, only finding her way out recently, and then booking a ship to Vina. Elise read through quickly, but Penelope seemed to be much slower, so she went back and focused on some of the other details. Bianca mentioned that she had run into someone she called ¡°Professor James Lewis¡± while she was away, and that he would be returning with her, and that she wanted the Lappins to give him a small reward for his help. She also briefly mentioned acquiring a new class. However, most of the letter was taken up by her recounting of the night of the warg attack, details about Nick and Sophie, and almost begging for information on them. She mentioned that she would have waited for the letter to arrive so she could get a teleport, but was worried that the letter would take too long, so she went with the cheaper option of the boat trip instead, just in case. It seemed that her worries had been unfounded, as the date on the letter was only a week prior, but Elise empathized with her thought process. When Penelope finished reading through the letter, she gave a deep sigh of relief. ¡°She should be back in two days,¡± said Robert. ¡°Her ship will arrive in Valta, but I¡¯ve already prepared transportation back here, so she will be home very soon after. Do you want to stay at our estate until then? That way you can see her as soon as you get back. I know she¡¯ll be glad to see you.¡± ¡°That would be-¡± started Penelope, before stopping and glancing at Maia. ¡°I don¡¯t mind,¡± said Maia, shrugging. Elise didn¡¯t move, hoping that Penelope would take that as a sign of approval. ¡°That would be great,¡± continued Penelope. ¡°Excellent,¡± said Robert. ¡°Did you have something else you needed?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Maia, before Penelope could answer. ¡°We are currently on our way to get Nick, Bianca¡¯s fiance.¡± ¡°Oh, you know where he is?¡± said Robert, looking excited. ¡°We do,¡± said Maia. ¡°But we can¡¯t tell you.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± he asked, looking confused. Yeah, why not? Elise wondered. She understood the idea of keeping their mission secret, so as not to alert the Blood Syndicate, but they couldn¡¯t exactly keep it secret forever. According to Hans, Nick was probably in a position of some renown in the Syndicate. It wasn¡¯t like they¡¯d be able to keep it secret forever. Wouldn¡¯t it be better to let Robert know so they could get the backing of a powerful organization, as well as more support? ¡°Not unconditionally, at least.¡± Is she¡­ trying to sell this information to him? Elise almost got angry, and she could feel Penelope doing the same until Maia continued. ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous,¡± she continued. ¡°Even your entire company might not be able to handle the consequences.¡± Robert¡¯s face paled. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°First, what kind of privacy wards do you have on this office?¡± ¡°The best money can buy,¡± he said. ¡°What is it? What¡¯s so dangerous that you need to know that?¡± ¡°Before I say any more, I need to make it absolutely clear that if you tell anyone else this information, you will have to deal with the consequences on your own.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Nick is being held at the main headquarters of the Blood Syndicate.¡± ¡°...Fuck.¡± 71 - Lappin Trading Elise was starting to think that they might have gotten in a little over their heads. She had actually been thinking that from the very start, but seeing Robert¡¯s reaction brought it back to the forefront of her mind. The Blood Syndicate was apparently terrifying enough that even an internationally renowned merchant organization was scared to go against them. And they were trying to break in with a group of four, three of whom Elise was certain were underleveled for the task. Maia had mentioned that Hans had a plan, but if his plan was anything along the lines of the four of them trying to infiltrate the camp on their own and carry out the rescue, she had doubts of its likelihood of success. There must have been more to it. Perhaps the organization that Hans was protected by would be getting involved. That must have been it. There was no other option. But that raised the question of why this mysterious organization would suddenly move, just to save two people. Did they owe Otto a massive favor? No, that couldn¡¯t have been it. What kind of favor would involve openly going against the Blood Syndicate. It was more likely that they had parallel goals. It was possible that whatever was happening, it had been in motion for a while, and Elise, Penelope, and Maia were just along for the ride. She turned her attention back to Robert, who was just starting to speak again after a time of stunned silence. ¡°The Blood Syndicate?¡± he asked. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Maia. ¡°Fuck,¡± he said again. ¡°Pardon my language, but fuck! I know he¡¯s my sister¡¯s fiance, but¡­ Going up against the Blood Syndicate isn¡¯t a decision I can make while my parents are away.¡± ¡°I know,¡± said Maia. ¡°We weren¡¯t expecting your support. We¡¯re going in to rescue him regardless. I was just informing you so you would know why we weren¡¯t involving you in our plans.¡± What are our plans? Elise wondered. ¡°You¡¯re going to save him from the Blood Syndicate? How?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t tell you that unless you want to be more involved. And in that case, it won¡¯t be us explaining it. If Lappin Trading wishes to get involved, someone else will stop by to explain the details later.¡± That confirmed that there would indeed be more people involved, but it also made Elise wonder why Maia hadn¡¯t mentioned it sooner? If it was something she could freely share with a stranger, why hadn¡¯t she told Elise and Penelope? Did she just forget? She glanced over at Penelope to see that the knight didn¡¯t seem particularly happy about being kept in the dark either, but she didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°I see,¡± said Robert. ¡°Well, as I mentioned, that¡¯s not a decision I can make, so I suppose that¡¯s that.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Maia. ¡°We¡¯ll rescue him for sure.¡± ¡°I certainly hope so,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯d love to be able to give my sister some good news when she gets back. In the meantime, as I also mentioned before, you''re welcome to stay at our estate until she returns, and I¡¯ll try to contact my father about the situation.¡± Maia opened her mouth, but Robert raised his hand to stop her. ¡°I won¡¯t be giving any explicit information,¡± he said. ¡°We have procedures in place for these sorts of things. It will be a generic, high-priority alert, and if needed, he¡¯ll teleport back here where we can fill him in in person with privacy wards and such.¡± Maia nodded. ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll summon one of our butlers to escort you to the estate. He¡¯ll be here about half an hour after I call for him. While you wait, would you like some tea or snacks?¡± ¡°We already ate,¡± said Penelope. ¡°What kind of tea?¡± asked Maia. ¡°Whatever kind you want.¡± ¡°Can I get some Duke Gray?¡± ¡°Absolutely.¡± The conversation turned to some small talk. Penelope was a bit awkward at first, but after a few minutes, she had opened up, and she and Robert were exchanging anecdotes about Bianca. Here, Elise finally properly learned what Penelope¡¯s relationship with Nick and Bianca were. According to Penelope, the three had been classmates for all their core curriculum at Jelor University. The knight program was shorter than the mage program, so while Bianca was still enrolled, Penelope and Nick graduated and were assigned to the same knight order. By that time, Nick and Bianca were already dating, but Penelope was happy to be their third wheel. From Robert, Elise learned that Bianca was the youngest of five, while Robert was the oldest. There were two more brothers and a sister in between who weren¡¯t in the city. One of the brothers and the sister were leading branches of Lappin Trading in other cities, while the last brother was working as an apprentice to an accomplished mage in another country called Otria. When the butler arrived, Robert walked them all the way out the office to the street where a carriage was waiting. The carriage took them to the south side of the city, the side opposite the Jungle, where they passed through a tall gate leading into the Lappin estate. Elise found herself surprised at how un-extraordinary it was. They had a lot of land, but the land was fairly wild and unkempt, and the mansion was big, but ordinary. It was almost like a Victorian era farmhouse, though cleaner and newer-looking than any Elise had ever seen. The interior was similarly modest, and actually quite cozy. The floors were hardwood with rugs over the centers of the room and hallways to dampen the noise. In their brief tour of the house, they were shown the kitchen, the sitting room, the two guest bedrooms where they would be sleeping, a few bathrooms, a separate wing of the house where the servants stayed, and finally, outside under a gazebo, a teleportation pad. The teleportation pad was the first true sign of opulence that Elise had seen. Based on how expensive the teleportation into the city had been, she could only begin to imagine how much the actual teleportation pad cost, and here, the Lappins not only had a personal one, but it was one of the larger variety, which were supposed to be able to transport up to 10 people up to 5000 miles away. Once they had moved their things into their rooms, Penelope and Maia asked if there was anywhere on their property that they could practice their more destructive skills, and if possible, a place where they could do it in private. The butler was happy to show them to a cleared out section of grass surrounded by trees. It was a bit overgrown, and clearly hadn¡¯t been used in a while, but he said that it was where the youngest son trained when he wasn¡¯t at the university. There were a few stone dummies, similar to the ones that Elise had used in Dokkalfheimr, though these ones seemed to lack the self-repair functionality, based on the chips and scorch marks still left on them. After promising that they would not be disturbed, the butler left them to their business. After a quick round about the premises where Elise kept her ears and {Mana Sense} on the alert to make sure they truly weren¡¯t being watched, she returned to the clearing and she and Penelope glared at Maia. ¡°So, we¡¯re not the only ones working on this mission,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Yeah, I forgot to mention that,¡± said Maia. ¡°My bad.¡± ¡°Your bad?¡± ¡°Honestly, I figured Hans would go over it when we met with him later. I didn¡¯t consider that we would have to give an explanation to the Lappins. Still, I should have at least mentioned it. Sorry.¡± Penelope glared for a few seconds longer before sighing. ¡°Fine. Who are they though? Who are we working with?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know much, and what I do know, I¡¯m not allowed to say,¡± said Maia. ¡°Hans will explain everything.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to get involved with another criminal group,¡± said Penelope. ¡°They¡¯re not a criminal group!¡± said Maia. ¡°I seriously can¡¯t say anything more, but they¡¯re nothing like the Blood Syndicate.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°They¡¯d better not be,¡± grumbled Penelope, before turning around and drawing her sword to start training. Maia looked at Elise with an apologetic smile. Elise hesitated for a moment before speaking. ¡°I don¡¯t really like being kept in the dark either,¡± she said. Maia¡¯s smile fell, which made Elise feel really bad, but she needed to put her foot down, so she just turned around as well, pretending she didn¡¯t notice. Elise started her training by practicing {Magic Missile} a couple times, using it on low output to get used to maximizing her mana efficiency, then switched over to {Vicious Bloom}, which she hadn¡¯t gotten much chance to work with yet. She had tried it out a few times back with the drow, but it was a difficult spell to get the hang of. When cast, it created a seed, seemingly out of nothing, and Elise had about half a second to decide whether she wanted it thrown or planted. If she chose to throw it, it would be launched forward with a semi-controlled trajectory, while if she chose to plant it, it would shoot into the ground where it sat like a landmine. When the seed bloomed, it was like a miniature chaotic explosion of plant matter. One moment, there was nothing, and within a second, there would be multiple feet of thorny, flowering vines wrapping around anything they could and burrowing their roots into everything they touched. The spell wasn¡¯t actually all that damaging to the environment though. While it would attempt to take root in anything it hit, it struggled with more solid objects, such as trees, or rocks, or more importantly, armor. There were a few battered pieces lying in a crate on the edge of the clearing, and when she used {Telekinesis} to toss one, the roots were not able to do any damage to it. Elise was certain that it would do serious damage to living creatures, but she had unlocked it only after her huge hunting spree that overloaded the drow¡¯s food stores, so she never got a chance to properly experiment with it. It already seemed like a cruel spell, and using it on targets whose bodies wouldn¡¯t go toward keeping people fed was just too much. Still, she was sure it would be a useful spell, and her control over it was poor, so she needed to improve with it. As with {Magic Missile}, she could alter its power by changing how much mana she put into it. The seed produced would not be visibly different, but the effects were very noticeable. At minimum output, the resulting vines were almost unnoticeable amongst the grass, which was fine with her. While they withered and died a few seconds after blooming, they never fully disappeared, and she didn¡¯t want to litter the entire area with them. One interesting thing that Elise noticed when practicing with efficiency was that while it was slightly easier to control the thrown trajectory of the seeds with weaker ones, no matter what she did, she could not control the actual bloom of the seed. It seemed that her spell created the seed with the chaos already within, and there was nothing she could do to control it. Whenever she tried, nothing seemed to happen. That was fine though. The thrown trajectory was the most important thing she needed to master, and since the difference between weak and strong was so minute, her practice with weaker seeds was not only effective, but also incredibly efficient, since she only needed a little bit of mana to get it working. When she finally ran out of mana, she did her usual absorption meditation, opening up her acupoints to allow more mana in. While she meditated, she had a sudden thought that she hadn¡¯t gotten a Skill Quest for this particular type of mana meditation. With the circulation, she hadn¡¯t gotten the quest until she reached her epiphany about what mana circulation was. Was it the same with the absorption? Was she doing it wrong? Or was it just that there was no Skill Quest for that? She knew Jens didn¡¯t really like her much, but she also didn¡¯t think that he would have actually misled her on absorbing mana. With circulation, that wasn¡¯t something he actually taught her, and it was her own misconception that caused her issue, but the absorption was taught directly by him. Elise guessed that the reason she wasn¡¯t getting a Skill Quest for that was that unlike mana circulation, which was kind of like creating new organs that didn¡¯t originally exist, her absorption method was more like stretching existing muscles, and didn¡¯t warrant a skill. Once she was full on mana again, she took a short break from training to watch Maia and Penelope. Mostly Penelope though. Elise couldn¡¯t see Maia half the time, since she seemed to keep melting into the shadows and reappearing elsewhere. What Penelope was doing was much more static. Elise had noticed out of the corner of her eye that she had been practicing with her sword earlier, but now just seemed to be doing strength training. Strength training for a knight was very different from the strength training that Elise was familiar with back on Earth. She had idly wondered in the past how people with higher Strength stats trained their bodies, since she couldn¡¯t imagine any weights heavy enough to help them would be practical to hold, but it turned out that the answer was that they didn¡¯t use weights. Everything Penelope did was a body weight exercise. Some of them were similar to things Elise had seen back on Earth, but most were absurd and superhuman. For example, one of the things Elise watched Penelope do was a handstand triple flip. She started in an ordinary handstand, and then lowered her body down so that it was parallel to the ground. If she had just gone back into the handstand position after that, it would have been a normal¨Calbeit impressive¨Ccalisthenics exercise. That is not what she did. Instead, she pushed off the ground hard, launching herself ten feet into the air and flipping three times before landing back on her hands in the exact same spot, perfectly still as though she had never moved. Elise¡¯s jaw dropped when she saw this. Not only was it an incredible feat of strength, the coordination and balance required to do it so cleanly was mind-boggling. She repeated the exact same action twenty times, though by the twentieth, she was much more wobbly, and when she landed in the original handstand pose, her arms were trembling. Elise watched in awe as she did a few more equally impressive exercises before returning to her own training. With {Vicious Bloom}, there was actually a third option that she could choose after the seed¡¯s creation, and that option was to do nothing with it. If she chose that, the seed would fall to the ground, where she could do whatever she wanted with it. She could manually throw or plant it with the same effects as the other options, or she could carry it around, or hide it in someone¡¯s belongings, or whatever else she wanted. However, depending on how much mana she put in, it would automatically bloom after a certain amount of time, so she couldn¡¯t hold onto it forever. Elise didn¡¯t like this option. It felt risky, like she was generating a live grenade, and then setting it down right in front of her face. With the standard amount of mana, she only had about thirty seconds to get rid of it before it automatically went off. By loading it up with as much as she could manage, she could extend that to about five minutes, but it was still uncomfortable. She couldn¡¯t see many scenarios where this method would be preferable to the other two, so after getting a general feel for how the amount of mana affected the time limit, she went back to practicing the ordinary throwing option. Despite promising they wouldn¡¯t be disturbed, about fifteen minutes after they started, a maid had come with a barrel of water, and after three hours, around noon, the butler returned with two more maids carrying trays of sandwiches and other foods. They made no attempt to be stealthy, fortunately, so Elise was able to stop what she was doing and pretend to be napping off to the side before they arrived. Neither Penelope nor Maia protested either time they were interrupted. Maia was actually very grateful when both the water and the food arrived, as she was not handling the heat well. Penelope was stoic as always, but by the time the food arrived, even she was sweating, whatever skill had been protecting her from the heat evidently having been overcome by her exertion. As the day went on and the temperature reached its peak, the trio ended up opting for less active training. Maia and Penelope both chose shady trees to meditate under while practicing their mana circulation, and Elise followed suit. In the two hours she spent under the tree, she did not manage to make any significant progress toward her goal, but she was finding it much easier to pump her lower core. As Penelope had predicted, it was much smaller and weaker than her central core, but it was already significantly less stiff than it had been the day before, and despite the soreness it caused, Elise enjoyed the sensation of mana being pumped to her body. It made her feel much more energized than usual. That night, Robert joined them for dinner, and then they returned to their rooms. Elise stayed with Penelope, and was provided with a makeshift cushion bed in the corner of the room. After the day¡¯s exertion, neither she nor Penelope had any trouble falling asleep, and they woke at sunrise to do it all again. They spent the next day much the same, though Elise added a bit more physical movement to her morning regimen, saving some of the more intense mana practice for when it was too hot to move around. Across the two days, she gained eight levels in {Vicious Bloom}, two in {Magic Missile}, and only one in {Mana Sense}, which she found a bit disappointing. It was her highest level skill aside from {Inspect} though, so it made sense that it was harder to level, even when used so frequently. The day after, they trained for a short while in the morning, but they ended early to go inside and bathe. Bianca¡¯s ship was supposed to arrive that morning, and her teleportation was scheduled to happen right at noon. Penelope didn¡¯t want to miss it, so she went inside a full hour early, and was clean and waiting by the teleportation pad a half hour early. Elise stayed behind with Maia for a little while longer. At first, she justified it by telling herself that she didn¡¯t want to be stuck pretending to be an ordinary rabbit for so long, but when Maia was ready to go in as well, and Elise was still reluctant to move, she realized it was more than that. She had been dreading meeting Sophie again, worried what she might say if she found out what Elise was. She didn¡¯t have as much dread about Bianca, since she had only known the woman for a few hours, but it was still there. I have to go, she told herself. Even if I don¡¯t reveal myself, I can¡¯t keep running from confrontation. It will have to happen eventually. It was only five minutes until noon when she and Maia arrived at the teleportation pad, and despite her constant self-reassurance, Elise was still feeling anxious. Bianca would probably want to come with them to rescue Nick, right? In that case, Elise would have to reveal herself. If she did that, Nick would definitely find out, and if he found out, Sophie would find out. I could trick her into a secrecy contract, she thought idly. No! she immediately responded to herself. No tricking her into a contract. It would solve that problem though. I¡¯m not going to keep running away! Elise told herself that when the time came, she would just come clean with the truth, and while she tried to resolve herself, the temptation to keep running away, and even use her fey abilities to hide the truth was still there, nagging at the back of her mind. When noon came, her internal discomfort and lack of resolve had reached the point that she was almost relieved when the teleportation pad didn¡¯t activate. 72 - Vampire Blood Usually when Nick used {Berserk}, he slept for a full eight hours or so afterwards. This time he only lasted an hour before the pain woke him up. It felt like his mana was eating him alive from within, leaving him writhing and groaning on the ground. It took him a few minutes to remember through the pain, but as he recalled what had just happened, when the Lady¡¯s blood had seeped into his arm, and he sensed what was happening inside him, he got an idea of what was happening. Along with the blood, a large quantity of violent mana had entered his body, and was doing its utmost to devour and replace his normal mana. When he noticed this, nearly three quarters of his mana had converted, and the rest was on its way, so he frantically started doing meditative mana circulation. The pain almost immediately lessened, and the progress of the foreign mana stalled. However, despite his best efforts, he could not reverse the process. His mana was still being corrupted faster than he could purify it, so his meditation was only delaying the inevitable. However, he did not give up. After a few minutes, he had gotten accustomed to the pain, and was able to sit up into a lotus position, allowing the mana to circulate more easily, and after an hour, he heard the System ding to let him know that his {Mana Circulation} skill had leveled up. The purification process accelerated just a tiny bit, slowing the corruption further. Just a bit more, he thought. Just a few more levels, and I¡¯ll be able to fix it. He lost track of time as he continued focusing inward, trying his best to accelerate his mana circulation to purify his mana. Between the pain and the war going on in his body, he didn¡¯t have any attention to spare for anything beyond him. He just hoped that Jack wouldn¡¯t interrupt him before he could get things under control. Unfortunately, before he could even earn another level in {Mana Circulation}, he heard the door open. Wait, he thought. Door? A second after he heard the noise, he realized that it wasn¡¯t the sound of his steel-bar cell door. When it closed again, he heard the low thunk of wood on wood, and the footsteps approaching him echoed through the hollow floor. Where am I? he wondered. He wanted to open his eyes and check, but he was worried about what would happen if he let his concentration slip further. He just hoped that whoever had entered would leave him alone. They hadn¡¯t bothered him yet. From the sounds he heard, they had seen him and stopped moving. It couldn¡¯t have been Jack then, because Jack would have kicked him if he saw Nick meditating. Minutes passed, and soon, Nick nearly forgot there was another person there. He got so absorbed in his meditation again that he almost lost focus entirely when the other person spoke. ¡°Why are you struggling so much?¡± The voice belonged to a woman, and a woman Nick had met, though with his mind preoccupied, it took him a moment to recognize them. It was Rose, the emotionless woman working for the Lady. He gritted his teeth, but didn¡¯t respond. ¡°You¡¯re only prolonging your pain. It will be over quickly if you let it take over. Once it¡¯s done, it¡¯s not unpleasant.¡± Nick still didn¡¯t respond. He tried his best to tune her out, but his words wormed their way into his mind. What did she mean ¡°not unpleasant¡±? Did she go through the same thing? What would happen if he just let the foreign mana win. Would he become emotionless like Rose? Would he become a monster like the Lady? Rose did not speak again. After another ten minutes or so, Nick heard the sound of retreating footsteps, followed by the sound of the door opening and closing again. Nick silently thanked her for leaving without disturbing her further, then mentally cursed when the door opened again a few minutes later. He heard footsteps approach again, this time much closer than last time until they were right beside him. ¡°Will you not give up?¡± asked Rose, her voice coming from right above him. Nick once again did not respond, and continued to circulate his mana. After a minute, he heard the rustling of fabric, and felt a brief gust on the side of his face. A moment later, he felt Rose¡¯s hand on his face, trying to push his head back. What is she doing? he wondered as he stiffened his body to resist her attempt at moving him. ¡°I brought water,¡± she said, her voice coming from right next to his ear. ¡°Open your mouth and drink.¡± Nick didn¡¯t trust her, so he kept his mouth shut. Her attempts to force his head back and open his mouth grew slightly more forceful. He could tell that she had much more strength than she was using, and that she would likely eventually get her way. He considered giving in, just so she would go away, but he didn¡¯t trust that whatever she was trying to feed him was water. She worked for the Lady. ¡°It is almost sunrise,¡± said Rose. ¡°I will not be able to return until night. During the day, no one else will enter. If you wish to continue, you need water. Open your mouth and drink.¡± Nick still refused to give in, but his resolve was wavering. She could have just been an accomplished liar, telling him exactly what he wanted to hear to believe she was sincere, but he couldn¡¯t help but wonder. What if it was just water? What if she really did just want him to be hydrated during the day. ¡°I am not trying to poison you,¡± she continued. ¡°I do not have much time. If you will not open your mouth on your own, I will have to force it open.¡± Nick hesitated a moment longer, then opened his mouth just a bit. He felt the lip of a wooden bottle touch his mouth, and a moment later, cool liquid entered. He was prepared to shut his mouth and spit it out if it was anything strange, but to his surprise, it really was just water. As it ran down his throat, he realized that he was actually quite thirsty, and started drinking more enthusiastically. His concentration was slipping, but if she was also telling the truth about needing to last an entire day on his own, he needed the water more than he needed those extra few seconds of maximum purification speed. He drank until he was no longer thirsty, and then continued drinking until his stomach felt bloated before she finally pulled the bottle away. ¡°I will be back,¡± she said before standing up and walking away. The door closed again, and Nick went back into deep meditation. As the internal battle of mana continued to rampage in his body, he lost track of time, only vaguely aware of what was happening around him. He gained two more levels in {Mana Circulation}, but it still wasn¡¯t enough. The foreign mana was still inching closer and closer to victory. Even worse, he noticed that while not volatile anymore, the mana he was able to purify was still not quite right. It was inert, and it felt like it belonged to him, but it did not feel like his mana. It was darker, and more sinister, and he didn¡¯t like it at all. Will I be able to recover? he wondered. He despaired, but he did not give up. He was not able to earn another level in {Mana Circulation} before nightfall, but he did gain three levels in {Self-Regeneration}, which he was incredibly grateful for. He knew the dangers of over-circulation, and thankfully, with his new class and skill, he didn¡¯t have to worry too much about them. His head was still hurting, since his healing skill didn¡¯t function as well there, but for the moment, it was still bearable. What wasn¡¯t bearable was his thirst. He didn¡¯t notice at first, but he had been sweating almost non-stop since he started meditating. If Rose hadn¡¯t given him that jug of water before he started, he might have fallen unconscious. His concentration was already starting to wane, and when the door opened again, it broke entirely. Knowing he wouldn¡¯t be able to get back until his thirst was quenched, he opened his eyes to look at his guest. His vision was blurry, and for a moment, he saw double, but when his eyes refocused, Rose was standing in the doorway, carrying a clay jug in either hand. She doesn¡¯t look like a ¡°Rose¡± at all, he thought, half-delirious. The only thing red about her was her dress. Her skin was so pale it was almost white, her hair was bright blonde, and her eyes were as green as emeralds. Nick wondered what her parents had been thinking. ¡°Have you given up?¡± she asked, seeing him awake. ¡°No,¡± he rasped. ¡°Water. Please.¡± He reached toward her with a shaky arm as she walked forward. She set one jug down to the side, and held the other up to his lips. Nick gladly opened his mouth, drinking it in as quickly as he could. He could feel the evil mana still within him, trying to take over, and knew he didn¡¯t have much time to waste. He needed to get back to meditation as soon as possible. Rose helped him hold the jug, as his hands were shaking, and when it was empty, she took it away. Nick started to reach for the second jug, but she brought her hand down to stop him. ¡°Not that one,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m still thirsty,¡± said Nick. ¡°That is not water. I will get you more. Stay here.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. She left the room again, leaving Nick alone, and for the first time, with the ability to take in his surroundings. He was definitely not back in his dirty cell underground. His new accommodations were not dirt, a cell, nor were they underground. It seemed to be a wooden hut with a window showing the tops of the trees and the night sky above. There was a bed, and a large wooden dresser, and a rug made of some kind of red-ish bear that he didn¡¯t recognize, and there was even a fireplace, though it was thankfully empty. It was much too hot for a fire. The only dirty part of the room was himself. He was still wearing the red robes from the night before, but they were drenched in sweat, and clinging to him like a second skin. At some point in the day, he had urinated, and between that and his own body odor, he smelled positively foul. He tried to ignore his own state, looking around once more, but the room was small, and he had taken it all in long before Rose got back, so his attention turned back to the other jug she had left. What had she meant when she said it wasn¡¯t water? Was it alcohol? Why did she bring it? He could feel the state of his body improving as it processed the water, but he knew he wasn¡¯t ready for meditation again yet, and Rose had yet to return, so after a few seconds of holding in his curiosity, he reached for the jug and dragged it over to himself. Inside was a dark liquid that looked almost black in the moonlight, but when he held his face over it, and got a whiff of the contents, there was no mistaking what it was. Blood. At that moment, Rose returned, carrying two more jugs. She paused when she saw him with the one full of blood, but soon closed the door behind her, and continued toward him as if nothing was wrong. ¡°Why is this full of blood?¡± asked Nick. ¡°It was for if you had given up,¡± she said. ¡°...Is the Lady a vampire?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Are you a vampire?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°If I give up, will I become a vampire?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Nick was silent. He had vague suspicions of something similar before, but with his mind so preoccupied, he didn¡¯t have time to think about them. Or perhaps, he had intentionally preoccupied his mind more than he needed to so he wouldn¡¯t have to think about it. He could sense the changes in his body. In his blood. He was changing. His mana was already different. His skin was growing pale, though he hoped that was only due to exertion and dehydration. The gnawing in his gut felt like more than just hunger. ¡°What will happen if I don¡¯t give up?¡± ¡°You will become a vampire anyway,¡± said Rose. ¡°You are only prolonging your suffering.¡± ¡°Then why are you helping me?¡± ¡°The Lady has not permitted you to die.¡± Nick noticed that she did not meet his eyes when she said this. ¡°What will happen if I do die?¡± he asked. ¡°Would you like to die? If you wish, I can at least let you die a human.¡± She raised a hand, and Nick could feel dense mana surrounding it. ¡°I don¡¯t want to die,¡± he said, leaning back and raising his hands. ¡°And I thought you said that the Lady hasn¡¯t permitted me to die.¡± ¡°She hasn¡¯t,¡± she replied. ¡°But she gave me no instructions not to kill you. If you were to attack me in an attempt to escape, I might have no choice.¡± She held her arm up, the dense mana still surrounding it. For a split second, Nick was tempted. He didn¡¯t want to be a vampire, forced to prey on humans to survive. But dying wasn¡¯t an option. He still didn¡¯t know where Bianca and Sophie were. He still didn¡¯t know what exactly had happened to his parents. He knew their odds of survival were slim, but he still needed to go look. And on top of it all, he still needed to kill the Lady. ¡°I¡¯m going to live,¡± he said. ¡°And I¡¯m not going to give up, nor will I become a vampire.¡± Rose lowered her hand, but continued to stare at him with her usual blank expression. ¡°Being a vampire is not so bad,¡± she said. ¡°You will be stronger.¡± ¡°And a monster.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said. ¡°But it¡¯s not so bad.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to succeed,¡± said Nick. ¡°I¡¯m not going to be a vampire.¡± ¡°It is impossible.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make it possible.¡± ¡°Will you?¡± ¡°I will,¡± Nick affirmed. Rose stared at him for a few seconds longer, then lifted one of the new jugs. ¡°Then you will need to drink.¡± He gladly took the jug from her, downing it all in one go, and then he immediately returned to his meditation. The mana was over 95% converted by this point. He knew that the break from meditation had been necessary, but seeing how much damage his mana had taken during that time still made him regret it. Even if he managed to turn the tides, it would be a long time before he had his own mana under control. He started meditating in earnest again, not bothering to wait for Rose to leave. However, after a few minutes, she still had not moved from her spot crouching on the floor beside him. After about ten minutes, he finally heard her stand up, but rather than walking out the door, she walked around behind him and sat down. A second later, he felt her cold hand on his back, making him flinch. He was about to break his concentration to tell her to stop touching him when he noticed something about the mana inside him had changed. The violent mana slowed its progress, and gathered slightly toward his back where her hand was. It was not much at all, but it was just barely enough that his circulation was suddenly not only able to keep up with the foreign mana, but to begin to fight back. ¡°I am sorry,¡± she said. ¡°This is all I can do. And I will have to leave soon.¡± It¡¯s fine, Nick wanted to say. This is enough. He circulated with renewed fervor, and as if responding to his emotions, he heard a ding from the System as {Mana Circulation} leveled again, letting him speed up further. He wasn¡¯t sure how long they stayed like that, but by the time Rose drew her hand away, he had managed to convert enough to put him back to just below 90%. Now, without Rose¡¯s help, the other mana was still corrupting faster than he could purify, but with his latest level-up, it was only by the tiniest margin. He knew that one more level would be enough to turn the tides for good, and thanks to Rose, he was now certain he had the time. ¡°I have left the other water jug beside you, and I will return at the end of the night with two more.¡± The door closed behind her, while Nick continued to meditate as if she had said nothing. He had reached the most crucial point, and if he slipped now, it could be irreversible. The corruption in his mana was still climbing though slower now. Hours passed, and the corruption continued to worsen. Nick''s lifted spirits started to sink again as he once more reached 95% corrupted. Where was his level? Hadn¡¯t he meditated for long enough already? What if it didn¡¯t come? His worries got to the point where he almost fell out of his meditative state when Rose returned. He barely managed to hold himself together, and then almost broke again when she started pouring water into his mouth. He was grateful, since his mouth had been getting dry, but also half-annoyed. ¡°I will return after sunset,¡± she said. ¡°Do not forget to drink if you get thirsty. The Lady has not permitted you to die.¡± The door closed for a final time, and though it took him a few moments, Nick re-entered the deep meditation state. After an hour and a half, the corruption had increased. 96%. Another hour and a half. 97%. Another. 98%. Another. 99%. I¡¯m sorry, Bi, he thought. He was on the verge of giving up when he finally heard the sound he had been praying for. Ding! The corruption stopped. Then, it started reversing. After another hour passed, he was back to 98%. 97. 96. 95. 94. When nightfall came and Rose returned, he was down to 93%. ¡°You did not drink,¡± she said. Nick responded by opening his eyes and smiling. ¡°And I didn¡¯t become a vampire either.¡± ¡°I can see that. You need to drink.¡± Nick reached for the water beside him, but his arm almost refused to respond. {Self-Regeneration} was strong, but the human body wasn¡¯t meant to be stuck in a constant cycle of destruction and repair like his had been for a day and a half now. Rose saw his struggle, and bent down to grab the jug for him, holding it up to his lips. He drained the full jug, then the next one, then immediately returned to meditation. His body was weak, and his mind felt partially fractured, but he was overjoyed with his progress, and didn¡¯t want to stop. After a few seconds, Rose moved to sit behind him again, and his progress accelerated further. That night, Rose didn¡¯t seem to even have as many responsibilities as the night before. She stayed to help him meditate for a full three hours, and he was able to get his mana¡¯s corruption level down to just above half. He gained another level and brought it down nearly to a third by the time she returned with two more jugs of water for him to drink during the day. By the end of that day, his mind was in a bad state, but he had never been happier. He could barely think straight, his mind constantly drifting, forcing him to keep it on a tight leash to maintain his meditation, but the corruption was down to less than 5%. 4%. He gained another level in {Mana Circulation} and the purification speed increased yet again. 3%. 2%. 1%. 0%. Nick opened his eyes, smiling so widely he was sure he would have looked insane. He was about to stand up and leap for joy, but instead, doubled over from a pain inside his stomach. If the rampaging mana had been bad, then the new pain was hell. He couldn¡¯t even scream. It was like he was being melted from the inside out. For a moment, he thought that his new mana that wasn¡¯t quite the same as the old had decided to run rampant, but when he inspected his body, he noticed that it was still inert. Wait, he thought. That¡¯s not mana. What is-? Before he had time to finish his thought, his mind went blank, and when he woke up again, he was curled up in a ball and surrounded by a translucent orange membrane. [Beginning Evolution] [Evolution Complete!] I¡­ failed? He thought. [ You have completed your first humanoid evolution! +50 to all stats ] [ Your new species is {Pseudo-Dhampir}: Strength +50, Agility +50, Dexterity +50, Fortitude +50, Charisma +50, Intelligence +50, Willpower +50, Mana +50, Mana Control +50 ] [You have unlocked the skill {Aether Sense}] [You have unlocked the skill {Absorb Aether}] [You have unlocked the skill {Vampire-Bane}] Pseudo-Dhampir? Aether? Had he really failed? He wasn¡¯t a vampire. But he wasn¡¯t human anymore either. But what was a Pseudo-Dhampir? And what was Aether? He pushed his way out of the cocoon and inspected his body. He was completely naked, his clothes nowhere to be seen, leaving just raw, pink skin. He looked the same as before. In fact, it looked even better than before. It felt better too. The +100 to every stat was incredible. And most of all, his heart and lungs felt stronger. That shouldn¡¯t have been the case. He knew vampires didn¡¯t have beating hearts, and he had never heard Rose breathing. Looking back, he didn¡¯t remember the Lady breathing either. He checked the description of his new race, and when he read through it the first time, he was dumbstruck. Then he smiled. As he re-read the description, his smile widened with every word. He almost shouted for joy when he heard a noise from behind him that made him jump. He turned to look and saw Rose standing up from his bed, her expression as unreadable as ever. He froze for a moment, but then his smile returned. ¡°I did it!¡± 73 - Mentorship Success ¡°Focus, focus, focus, focus, focus, focus, fo-cus!¡± sang Iris. Strangely enough, her constant reminders to focus were not actually helping Sophie focus much. Sophie had gotten somewhat used to it over the past three months, but even so, she preferred the times when Iris wasn¡¯t ¡°helping¡± her practice. At the moment, she was practicing her {Mana Circulation} skill. During one of her rare bouts of sanity, Iris had explained that for her plan, Sophie needed to get her {Mana Circulation} skill to the skill cap before her next class up, which was rapidly approaching. Ascending to the third tier had taken her all of two weeks after starting her discipleship, and her progress remained swift as the months stretched on. Going through the entirety of the third tier in less than three months would have been unheard of without a lucky encounter with a powerful, dying monster, but here, Sophie was managing through sheer effort alone. Being discipled to a dragon probably helped, but Sophie was sure that even with that, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to do it if she had literally anything else to distract her with. The island was small, and the ruins were ancient, so there was really nothing she could do but practice. ¡°Your progress is good,¡± said Iris, her voice suddenly steady. Sophie¡¯s eyes snapped open. While it had been getting ever-so-slightly more common lately, these moments of clarity were still a rare thing that she couldn¡¯t afford to miss. ¡°Thank you,¡± said Sophie. ¡°You are level 18 now?¡± ¡°19,¡± said Sophie. ¡°I just leveled up this morning.¡± ¡°Excellent,¡± said Iris, nodding. ¡°And {Mana Circulation}?¡± ¡°42.¡± ¡°Cutting it close, but I believe you should still make it in time. If not, we will have to wait until your next class evolution, which will take much longer. Though by then, I will have almost fully regained my sanity, so it will be easier. But enough on that. Let us continue.¡± ¡°Yes, Master.¡± Sophie sat up straighter, closed her eyes, and started circulating her mana again. A few moments later, she flinched as she felt Iris¡¯ hand on her shoulder. A bit of the dragon¡¯s mana entered her body, disrupting the steady flow, but correcting the internal pathways. As Iris had explained before, while {Mana Circulation} was an excellent skill, it was a mediocre replica of what dragons did naturally. What she was trying to teach Sophie was {Draconic Mana Circulation}, a rare skill reserved only for dragons, and those they deemed worthy to learn their secrets. It was similar to regular {Mana Circulation}, but much more complex, and in some ways counter-intuitive. It had been somewhat painful to learn the initial patterns, but with the help of her newly evolved {Mana Manipulation} skill, she was able to keep it going reasonably well without Iris¡¯ help. She would occasionally drift back toward the System¡¯s defaults, but Iris was able to correct it usually. Sophie flinched again as the hand hit her in the sternum this time, correcting the flow once again. She was corrected once more before Iris reverted back to her usual state, and started floating about idly, jabbering away with herself. Elise tried to meditate for a bit longer, but between Iris, and her boredom, she gave up and switched to practicing {Mana Manipulation} instead. Even after so long of having, it, she still often marveled at it. It was a rare skill, usually reserved for sixth tier mages or higher. Some classes, like her own {Dragon¡¯s Disciple} and her mother¡¯s {Mana Dancer} were able to acquire it much earlier though, making them highly sought-after. It was one of the reasons that her mother had made the decision to move out to the woods away from Jelor. When Sophie was younger, she remembered a fairly constant stream of petitioners asking her mother to take in their children as disciples to teach them to be a {Mana Dancer}. Sophie felt momentarily saddened by the memories of her mother, but pushed the feelings aside, and returned to her practice. She had developed a routine, with help from Iris, to give her a wide range of skills. Since she was on the beach, she had all the major elements available for her to cycle through. First, she raised a ball of sand, spinning it, stretching it into a rod, shaping it into a cube, then letting it fall. Then, she did the same with water, then air, then some conjured flame. With her previous class and its {Lesser Mana Manipulation} skill, she was able to control all kinds of mana and bend it to her whims, but it relied heavily on her own concentration, as well as physical gestures. Without them, the skill would not function. True {Mana Manipulation} not only didn¡¯t require gestures, but it didn¡¯t even require half as much mental focus, at least for smaller tasks. The most difficult thing about the new skill was not using it, but it was training herself not to move her hands while using it. If she had gone on to take {Mana Dancer} like she initially planned, the motions would still have had a positive effect on the skill¡¯s power, but without it, it was just a waste of energy. She ran through the warmups twice, then started working on the more advanced or obscure elements. Nature was easy enough. She retreated to the treeline, and focused her attention on one of the vines, and started making it twist and bend like a snake. Sound was a bit more difficult. She could make loud sounds, high pitched sounds, and low-pitched ones but her precise control was still lacking, and she could not even come close to imitating voices with it like Iris demonstrated. Even worse, it was annoying to practice, since it sounded so awful. Lightning was something she hadn¡¯t delved very far into. The most she ever did was generate a few sparks between her fingers. Any more than that, and she started to get uncomfortable. Light magic was tricky. Sophie couldn¡¯t quite wrap her head around it. She could brighten her hands just a little bit, but that was as far as she had made it, and Iris hadn¡¯t had time to teach her more on that. [ {Mana Manipulation} has leveled up! lvl 31 -> 32 ] Sophie smiled when she saw the System message, then switched her attention over to the final advanced element, and the one that she had an even weaker understanding of than Light. Unfortunately, it was also the element that she would need most to get off the island. She didn¡¯t quite understand most of what Iris¡¯ plan was, but she knew it involved spatial magic, or at least breaking spatial magic, since that¡¯s what was keeping them trapped on the island. She held out her hands, and tried doing as Iris taught her, creating a portal from one palm to another. Sophie thought that sounded like a huge first step for an initial foray into spatial magic, but even sane Iris had said it would be fine, so she kept trying. She hadn¡¯t had any luck. She could feel the mana moving around her hands, but nothing ever happened. She had even gone out into the water to the edge of the island¡¯s range a couple more times, trying to get a feel for spatial magic in action, and that hardly helped either. She tried for a full half hour to get the portal working while Iris floated lazily above, unusually silent, until her concentration was interrupted by a sudden grumbling in her stomach. She glanced up at the dragon, who seemed to be paying no attention to her at all before starting her march toward the center of the island. The island had exactly one source of food, and that source was a pond in the center that regularly spawned trout. It was a small pond, and didn¡¯t spawn many fish, which is the reason that Iris was always in her human form. There was enough for two humans, but not even close to enough for a dragon. By this point, Sophie was adept at catching the fish in a sphere of water, and transferring them to the land, so she did just that, cooked it over a well-used fire pit, and ate as she watched the sun set over the hill she had arrived on top of. After her meal, she continued to practice {Mana Circulation} until her body ached and her mind was too tired to go on, then stumbled over to the makeshift bed of grass and leaves she had created for herself, and fell asleep almost immediately. In her dreams, she found herself back at the cabin. It was not the first time she had been there in her sleep, but she still never got used to it. She was crouching in the hallway with her brother and Bianca, panicking, and begging her brother not to leave their parents behind. They placed Snowberry in her arms, and Nick ripped the scroll, and suddenly, Sophie was alone.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Usually, that was the point in her dream where she woke up. This time, however, she remained asleep. The world around her was dark, but her mind was lucid, and she found herself plagued by a set of worries that had been a constant since the incident. What had happened to her parents? Where were Nick and Bianca? Where was Snowberry? Why did the scroll only teleport her? Was everyone else alright? She spiraled into despair for some time before suddenly the darkness shifted, and she was somewhere unfamiliar. It was dark too, but she could just barely make out some shapes nearby. In front of her seemed to be an enormous tree trunk, extending so far down she couldn¡¯t see the bottom, and above her was a leafy canopy so dense she couldn¡¯t see the sky. There was a faint light emanating from behind her, but when she turned around, all she saw was a flash of red before she was suddenly awake again. It was the middle of the night, and the moon was full. Both of them, actually. Iris was standing right beside Sophie¡¯s bed, staring off into the distance. A moment later, she turned down to Sophie, her yellow eyes almost glowing. ¡°Disciple,¡± she said. ¡°Y-yes, Master?¡± ¡°Do you know anyone who is skilled with Aether?¡± ¡°Aether?¡± asked Sophie, not sure if she heard correctly. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Aether. Essence. The mana behind the mana.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so?¡± said Sophie, racking her brains, trying to think of anyone like that. ¡°Maybe my mom?¡± ¡°Did your mother have red eyes?¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°Did you know anyone with red eyes?¡± Immediately, Snowberry came to mind. But that couldn¡¯t have been it. Snowberry was just a rabbit. ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± she said. ¡°Interesting,¡± said Iris. ¡°Well, someone with red eyes and a lot of Aether was looking for you.¡±

***

¡°Alice. Stay.¡± Walter stared down his tiny companion who clearly had no idea what he was saying. It had been almost a week since she had been forced upon him, and while she was no longer afraid of him, she also had no understanding of language. The bastard Freddy told Walter to train her to recognize his commands, but he didn¡¯t tell Walter how to do that. Walter tried walking a few steps outside of his cave, and Alice hopped behind him. He immediately turned and growled at her, which made her stop, but as soon as the growl ended, she inched closer again. ¡°Stop!¡± he said. ¡°Go back! Stay!¡± Alice tilted her head in confusion. Walter growled, then huffed and turned away. If she wanted to follow him so badly, so be it. What did he care? So what if she died? He didn¡¯t want to be punished, but it might be better than having to deal with such a stupid ¡°friend¡±. Besides, she had followed him out the previous hunts and been fine. Mostly. He stalked into the forest in search of prey, but kept finding his mind preoccupied with the rabbit behind him. She was sticking close, only a few feet from his back legs, nibbling on grass whenever he paused to sniff the air. In the way, thought Walter. Hunting would be much more difficult with her around. She was easily the weakest thing in the forest at the moment. She wouldn¡¯t even be able to kill a slime. And she smelled good. If Walter left her behind to go hunt prey, she might get eaten while he wasn¡¯t looking. However, he needed to hunt. He could last a while without food, but he didn¡¯t like to. He preferred to have a full stomach. A full stomach made everything better. He would have more energy to deal with his new ¡°friend¡± if he had more food in his stomach. He had gotten a couple birds that had swooped in for the rabbit, but they barely had any meat and they were covered in feathers. Gross. What he wanted was a deer. However, to get a deer, he had to chase it, and to chase it would mean leaving Alice alone. It might be fine. It also might get Alice killed. It wasn¡¯t worth the risk. He walked a few steps further into the forest, and decided that going hunting normally wasn¡¯t going to work. He needed a new plan. Maybe he could find a snake. Snakes didn¡¯t taste that good either, but at least they were better than birds. They were also much easier to catch than the deer, since the snakes couldn¡¯t teleport. He was about to start sniffing around to try to find one when he noticed Alice¡¯s ears suddenly perk up behind him. A few seconds later, he heard the sound as well. It was the sound of something walking through the forest. Something metal. A human. Walter sneered as he turned to face the sound, then stopped. He couldn¡¯t kill humans. Freddy would punish him. But even so, the human was trespassing on his land. That meant it would be okay, right? More importantly, he had Alice with him. He could just kill the human and tell Freddy he was doing it to protect Alice. As the footsteps got closer, Alice hopped around and cowered behind his leg. A moment later, they stopped, having apparently noticed Walter. It wasn¡¯t that surprising. Walter wasn¡¯t exactly trying to be stealthy. After another minute of silence, Walter decided to make the first move. He took a huge leap forward, knocking over a tree along the way, and a moment later, he was standing in front of the human. Except it wasn¡¯t a human. It was too short and too wide. It was covered in metal, and had two axes in its hands. A dwarf! Walter recalled excitedly. He had never eaten a dwarf before. He snarled and took a step forward, anticipating an enjoyable meal, but something stopped him. Something nagged him in the back of his mind, and after a few seconds, he realized what it was. ¡°If you kill even one of the dwarves, I¡¯m going to rip your teeth out,¡± said Freddy¡¯s voice in his mind. No! Said Freddy. It was just his luck. The one easy prey he might have found was the one type that he could not, under any circumstances, kill. The dwarf had braced itself when Walter stepped forward, but now that Walter was stopped, it stood in place too. For almost a full minute, neither made a move. Then, reluctantly, Walter huffed and took a step back. ¡°Go away,¡± he said. The dwarf started backing away cautiously, never taking his eyes off Walter until he was more than a hundred feet away, then turned to run. Walter wistfully watched him leave, then turned back around, ready to get back on the hunt. His mood was ruined, but he was back in good spirits when he caught a whiff of what he was looking for. A snake. A moment later, he had spotted his prey, slithering away through the underbrush after having caught Walter¡¯s scent in the air. Not on his watch. Walter took a single leap forward, knocking over yet another tree, and landed exactly where he meant to, with the snake''s tail under his paw. The snake writhed in pain, bending back to bite Walter¡¯s leg, but its teeth could not penetrate his hide. A moment later, Alice caught up to him. She hid behind his leg for a moment, but when he took another step forward to step on the front of the snake as well, pinning it in place so it couldn¡¯t move, she nervously hopped forward. She sniffed the twitching tail of the snake, then hopped around to its body. She sniffed once more, but suddenly hopped back when the snake¡¯s body bent slightly, hitting her in the nose. She stared at it for a second, then took a flying leap at it, kicking it with her back feet as she landed. She repeated this a few more times while Walter watched in amusement. After a little while though, he grew bored, and put a bit more weight on his frontmost paw, breaking the snakes neck and killing it. Despite their mediocre taste, Walter actually did find snakes fairly satisfying to eat. With no pesky limbs getting in the way, and with bones weak enough to crunch easily, he could just eat them whole, and it only took a few bites. It was a bit too small to fully fill him up, but it made for a good start. He repeated his snake hunting process twice more, both times letting Alice try to attack it. He had no ulterior motives for doing this. He just thought it was funny. They had gone out in the middle of the afternoon, and when they returned the sun had fully set. Ordinarily, Walter would have gone on a patrol around the forest at this time but with Alice in tow, he had to go frustratingly slowly, making it not fun. He would go again eventually, since it was his territory, and he had to patrol it to make sure nothing unsavory moved in, but for now, he was taking a break. He laid down in his shallow cave to relax for a bit, and maybe nap off the meal, but a strange scraping sound disturbed him. He turned toward the back of the cave, where Alice had dug herself a small hole, and found that she was digging more, kicking up loose dirt into his cave. ¡°Alice,¡± he said. The rabbit stopped. ¡°What doing?¡± She stared blankly for a second before going right back to digging. Walter knew better than to keep asking her what she was doing, since she never understood what she said, and she couldn¡¯t speak anyway. Instead, he turned slightly and lay facing the other way so he could watch her progress. After about five minutes, a small ring of dirt had accumulated around the hole, and when Walter raised his head to peer into it, he could see that Alice had made it about twice as wide. She dug a bit more, then paused for a few seconds before turning to Walter. She stared at him, then jumped into her hole. Then she crept out, looked at him again, then jumped back in. Then, one final time, she peeked at him before going back in the hole for good. She stopped moving for a few seconds, and there was no sound. Suddenly, there was an odd squelching noise, making Freddy cock his head in confusion. He lifted himself up and peered into the hole to see that Alice had vanished. All that was left in her place was a translucent orange cocoon. 74 - The Jungle At first, when the teleportation circle didn¡¯t activate on time, Robert tried to say that it was probably just a complication on the other end, and that they would arrive shortly. After half an hour passed, he summoned a servant to fetch him a piece of paper. He scribbled a few things on it, and when he was finished, the paper burnt to ashes. After another half hour, there was a burst of flame in front of him, and a new scroll appeared, dropping into his hands. He frantically opened it, and when he read what it said, his face fell. ¡°The ship arrived,¡± he said, his voice unnaturally calm. ¡°But it was empty.¡± ¡°Empty?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°Empty,¡± repeated Robert. ¡°Are they sure it was the right ship?¡± ¡°They checked everywhere. They found the room where Bianca had been sleeping. Her journal was still there. She was not.¡± ¡°What happened to them?¡± asked Maia. ¡°They don¡¯t know,¡± said Robert. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I need to go inside for a moment.¡± Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked inside, leaving Maia, Penelope, and Elise alone with a few maids. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not good,¡± said Maia after a few seconds. ¡°Is this a joke to you?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°Woah, hey. I was just commenting on the situation. Not making a joke.¡± Penelope glared at the rogue, but didn¡¯t respond. They stood in silence for a few more minutes before Maia spoke again. ¡°At least they didn¡¯t find a body.¡± Penelope grunted in acknowledgement, and the silence returned. After another half hour, Robert returned. After another hour, the teleportation circle finally activated. Maia and Penelope both perked up at the sight, but Elise noticed Robert¡¯s somber expression, and before the activation had even finished, her hopes fell. When the flash of light faded, standing in the circle was a pair of armored [Personal Bodyguard]s and an elderly bespectacled [Butler]. ¡°Report,¡± said Robert. ¡°The ship was empty,¡± said the butler. ¡°Not only were the people missing, but everything of value had been taken away. There was no cargo, no passengers, and no luggage. The only things left behind were items such as the young Miss¡¯s journal that had sentimental value, and the bodies of the ship¡¯s guards.¡± ¡°Do they know what happened?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said the butler. ¡°Fortunately or unfortunately, they left a message behind for us. The bodies of the guards were dismembered and arranged to spell the word ¡®Blood¡¯ on the deck.¡± ¡°...I see,¡± said Robert. ¡°I have already used the emergency signal to contact your father. He should be arriving by the evening. In the meantime, I see that we have guests.¡± ¡°Yes, these are Maia and Penelope, and the rabbit is Snowberry. They are friends of Bianca¡¯s.¡± ¡°I welcome you to the Lappin estate,¡± said the butler bowing. ¡°I trust that they already have rooms?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Robert. ¡°They¡¯ve been here for two days.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be leaving now,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Pardon?¡± said the butler. ¡°We have somewhere we need to be,¡± she continued. ¡°Thank you for the hospitality, but I¡¯m afraid we need to leave now.¡± ¡°If you wait, I¡¯m sure my father would be glad to speak with you,¡± said Robert. ¡°And I believe that now, you will be able to have the Lappin family¡¯s full support in your endeavors.¡± Elise could tell Maia was wavering, but Penelope remained firm. ¡°We¡¯re leaving,¡± she said. ¡°We can send someone else to coordinate with you,¡± said Maia. ¡°We really don¡¯t have the knowledge or authority to do it ourselves.¡± Robert hesitated for a moment, then sighed. ¡°I understand. Then in that case, I wish you the best of luck. Malcolm?¡± ¡°Yes, sir,¡± said the butler before turning back to Maia and Penelope. ¡°Do you need any assistance packing your belongings?¡± ¡°We¡¯re fine,¡± said Penelope. ¡°I shall await you at the front entrance to escort you out of the estate.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Maia seemed reluctant, but she followed Penelope inside, where they quickly packed what few belongings they had before entering a carriage with the butler. The carriage took them back into the city proper, and the butler even offered to escort them, all the way to the other side so they could get to the Jungle sooner, but before Penelope could say anything, Maia declined. ¡°I need to let them know about the Lappins¡¯ support,¡± she explained after the butler had left. Maia guided them through the city, seemingly randomly, until they came to an open-air market filled with people and food. She paused for a moment at the edge before leading them inside toward a stand selling meat skewers. As they walked, Elise noticed that she was getting quite a few stares, especially from small children who wanted to pet her. She somewhat enjoyed the attention, but she also appreciated how Penelope made sure to keep her out of reach of the more ambitious children. The line in front of the skewer stand had at least 50 people in it, but it moved quickly, and didn¡¯t take more than 5 minutes to reach the front. The man running the stand was middle-aged and portly, with a bushy beard and a permanent scowl on his face. [ Chef, lvl 17 ] ¡°What¡¯ll it be?¡± he said. ¡°Two meat skewers for me,¡± said Maia. ¡°Penelope?¡± Penelope, who had been scowling and brooding since Bianca failed to arrive, looked up in surprise at being addressed. ¡°What? Oh. Uhhhh, I¡¯ll also take two meat skewers.¡± ¡°One silver,¡± said the man. ¡°Can we get them on the rarer side?¡± asked Maia, handing him the coin. ¡°Four rare skewers, coming right up,¡± said the man, turning to grab them off the fiery rack behind him. Once they had their skewers in hand, they walked back out of the market to a quieter street, with Maia inhaling her meat skewer while Penelope looked confused. ¡°We can head to the Jungle now,¡± said Maia, tossing an empty wooden stick into a nearby garbage bin. ¡°Was the food stall owner the one you needed to contact?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°Huh? Oh, no. I was just hungry. We never ate lunch because we were planning to eat with your friend, remember?¡± ¡°Oh,¡± said Penelope. After that, Penelope seemed to realize that she was, in fact, hungry, and started eating her own skewers with more gusto. Elise was stuck watching her and Maia enjoying themselves. She wasn¡¯t actually hungry, as her changeling body didn¡¯t seem to need much food, but she still felt left out. Despite the news about Bianca earlier though, the closer Elise got to the Jungle, the more she felt her spirits lifting. Pretending to be a rabbit when she was actually a rabbit hadn¡¯t been fun, but pretending to be an ordinary rabbit when she could fly, talk, use magic, and transform was even worse. It was suffocating, and she was glad that Penelope had insisted on leaving immediately instead of sticking around and making Elise be stuck in yet another important conversation she couldn¡¯t take part in. Penelope¡¯s mood seemed to lighten as she ate, but by the time they made it to the Jungle an hour later, it had turned foul again. They had to flash their ID¡¯s to leave the city in that direction, but aside from a few questioning glances at Elise, there were no troubles getting out. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. It was early afternoon, so there were quite a few people on their way into the city from the Jungle. Elise found these people fascinating. Most of them seemed to be hunters, carrying butchered carcasses out on backpacks and wagons behind them. She nearly got {Inspect} to the level cap just checking what their classes were. There were at least a dozen different variations of ¡°warrior¡±, the same of various healer classes, and at least twice that of different ¡°mage¡± classes. The equipment they wore was just as varied as their clothes, ranging from the same casual clothes that Maia had bought when she entered the town, to heavy camouflage, to full plate armor like Penelope¡¯s. The monster corpses that they carried were, for the most part, the same three species, and they were species that Elise and Penelope had briefly studied at night while staying with the Lappins. All three were about as creatively named as the Omnivorous Cyclops Cows, so Elise had no trouble telling which was which. There were monkeys that were nearly the size of gorillas that had fangs almost as long as Elise¡¯s ears called Giant Fanged Macaques, frogs the size of cows with black-spotted green skin and venomous saliva called Colossal Jungle Frogs, and tall parrots with spear-like beaks called Spear-Beaked Parrots. Elise was almost disappointed at how uninspired the names were, but then again, that was probably what made {Inspect} such a rare and powerful skill. It more or less told her exactly what she was dealing with. Once past the treeline, there was a network of diverging paths deeper in that reminded Elise a bit of a river delta. Some of the paths seemed to go directly to either side, staying near the edge of the Jungle, while the main central one went almost straight in. It never even curved, allowing Elise to see far enough that the path got dark as the tree cover got too dense to allow light in. Elise wondered for a moment how much work it had taken clearing trees to get such a straight path before until she realized that nature magic had probably made the process simple. The three of them walked down the central path for quite a ways. In the beginning, they often found themselves stepping aside to let other adventurers pass with their spoils, but that number sharply dropped when they passed a large sign that said ¡°Bronze hunters turn back¡±. It dropped yet again after passing a sign that read ¡°Silver hunters beware¡±. Elise was getting a little worried at this point, not sure exactly where their group¡¯s skills lay, but not long after this sign, they turned off the main path onto a side path. Before they got far, Maia drew a knife to draw large X¡¯s on two of the nearby trees, then wrote in the date before they continued on. Elise noticed that the nearby trees had many such marks, though much older, and all the other dates were crossed out. They marched onward until the path was little more than a vague guideline, and then kept going, forging their own path through the thick brush as they got further and further away from the sounds of any other humans. When even Elise could no longer hear anyone else nearby, they finally slowed down, and came to a stop in a small open space between four trees. ¡°This should make a good spot to camp for the night,¡± said Penelope. ¡°We¡¯ll have to sleep in shifts, but I believe this area should be manageable for a lone person on watch. I came here to train once, though I was on the north side. The frogs don¡¯t spawn till a bit further in, and the birds and apes are both manageable for any of us. They typically don¡¯t wander too close to the human paths either, so we might not have to worry about them at all.¡± ¡°Sounds good to me,¡± said Maia. ¡°We should probably set up some of those seed trap thingies you were messing with around the edges though.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± agreed Elise. She leapt out of Penelope¡¯s arms and shifted to her human form, stretching the stiffness from her limbs. While she stretched, Maia went around behind a tree to change her clothes, and Penelope started checking the straps of her armor. When Maia returned, she was dressed in all black again, and had even re-dyed her hair. It was not really much cooler in the Jungle than it had been in the city, and she was still sweating, but the sunlight was minimal, at least, which Elise assumed helped with the colors a bit. Once the three of them confirmed that they were ready, they hid their things under some fallen leaves and between some tree roots before Maia marked the trees again and they set out hunting. Elise stayed in her human form as they hiked, though after a short while, she got tired of climbing over roots and fallen trees and activated her wings so she could fly above them again. She was wary of the parrots, but Penelope assured her that they were weak and slow, and that based on the {Magic Missile} practice that she had witnessed, she believed Elise could take them out without issue. That theory was put to the test about fifteen minutes into their hunt when Elise heard a cawing sound and looked up to see one of them diving toward her. ¡°Shoot it!¡± shouted Penelope. Elise didn¡¯t need to be told twice. She fired a volley of {Magic Missile} at it, and mentally prepared to use {Dart} when it got a bit closer. It managed to curve its path and avoid the first two of the missiles, but the third clipped its wing, making it falter, and the rest hit the slowed target straight on, turning it into a mass of bloody feathers as it fell to the ground. [ You have slain Spear-Beaked Parrot, lvl 6 ] She didn¡¯t get a level in her race, or her skill, which made sense, given how weak it had been, but it did give Elise a strong boost to her confidence. This was the first time she had ever hunted without relying solely on stealth and deception, so she had worried she would be useless in an actual fight. ¡°They travel in flocks,¡± warned Penelope. The warning was confirmed when Elise heard the cawing of a dozen or so more of them approaching from nearby. While one wasn¡¯t an issue, she didn¡¯t want to test her luck against so many, so she quickly descended back to the ground beside Penelope before they arrived. In the meantime, Maia had already vanished from sight, supposedly lurking somewhere nearby, waiting to strike. The birds immediately noticed their fallen comrade and screeched before diving toward Penelope and Elise. Elise immediately fired three successive volleys of {Magic Missile}, taking out five on her own, then ducked behind Penelope as the armored woman swung a mana infused sword outward. Four of the remaining birds successfully averted their flight paths before they reached her, but the other two were not so lucky, falling to the ground in bloody pieces. Elise felt a surge of mana to her right, and suddenly, two of the birds who had dodged also fell to the ground, dead, as Maia reappeared with a long knife in either hand. The remaining two parrots decided to cut their losses, and continued their curve all the way around until they were flying the other direction. Elise tried to finish them off with another spell, but they were too fast, and the missiles fizzled out before reaching their targets. [ You have slain a Spear-Beaked Parrot, lvl 4 ] [ You have slain a Spear-Beaked Parrot, lvl 7 ] ¡­ [ You have participated in slaying a Spear-Beaked Parrot, lvl 6 ] [ {Magic Missile} has leveled up! lvl 41 -> 42 ] Once again, Elise got no levels, but her confidence got another boost, as did her confidence in the abilities of the other two. They worked well as a team. If Elise had been on her own, she probably would have been fine, but it would have been more stressful, as she would have had to use {Dart} to avoid their attacks while she fought them off. It had not been a fight that favored either Penelope or Maia, as they were melee fighters against aerial enemies, but they had done their fair share, and had done it easily. They traveled a bit further into the forest, fending off another small flock of the parrots before encountering their first monsters of another species. The moment they saw the monkeys, Penelope, marched forward, her sword raised, straight into the enemies. ¡°Let me have them,¡± she said. There were about five of the monkeys in the group they encountered, and they howled and screeched when they saw Penelope, then ran to meet her in battle. The first monkey to reach her was nearly cut in half by her first swing. The second lost its head. The third managed to reach her with its claws, but they scraped uselessly against her armor, and she swiftly turned to stab it in the stomach. The final two jumped on her from either side, but Penelope poured mana into her body and armor, rendering their attacks useless. With a powerful twist, she threw one of the monkeys off and a dozen feet away while stabbing the other. Unlike the birds, the monkey did not seem to realize or acknowledge the danger, despite seeing four of its kind dispatched so easily. It screeched again and pounced. Penelope left her sword still inside of the other and met the final one barehanded. She caught it midair, holding the man-sized monkey above her head before slamming it on the ground. She then proceeded to beat it to death with gauntleted fists. Its screeches of anger turned into screams of pain, then quieted until all that was left was the sound of Penelope¡¯s heavy breathing. She stood up, took a look at her handiwork, then retrieved her sword before returning to Elise and Maia. As she walked toward them, Elise sensed a faint mana emanating from her, and with every step she took, the blood and grime seemed to vanish from both her armor and sword, leaving them spotless by the time she arrived. ¡°Feeling better?¡± asked Maia. ¡°A little,¡± said Penelope. Her dark mood hadn¡¯t lessened since fighting the monkeys, but Elise could see that some of the fire in her eyes was gone, and now she looked much more tired than before. ¡°What do we do with the bodies?¡± asked Elise. ¡°Leave them,¡± said Penelope. ¡°They¡¯re not worth that much, and we can¡¯t carry them all. They¡¯ll be picked clean in a couple days anyway. We¡¯ll grab a couple birds for dinner tonight.¡± They continued the hunt for another half hour, taking out one more small troop of monkeys and a flock of parrots before they were all running too low on mana to continue, and decided to head back. They spent the rest of the afternoon recovering, then practicing their skills like they had at the Lappin estate until night fell, and it was time for bed. As promised, Elise made a small perimeter around the campsite where she planted her {Vicious Bloom}s. Fortunately, when planted, the skill didn¡¯t take any mana to maintain, so she was able to fully surround them without issue. They spent the next four days much the same way, alternating between hunting and practicing skills. They didn¡¯t talk much, but when they did, Maia was doing most of it. She was actually a gifted storyteller, and by the end of the five days, Elise had come to look forward to the nightly talks where she¡¯d share anecdotes from shenanigans she had gotten herself involved with while working with Otto. Elise earned only a single level during this time, which she found a bit disappointing. It was better than nothing, but it felt slow. Then again, for the first time, she was fighting against monsters who were just straight-up weaker than her, and she was fighting in a team, so reduced experience made sense. She half-wanted to go deeper into the jungle to find the monsters¡¯ Greater variants for tougher fights and more experience, but she knew they couldn¡¯t afford any real risks until they met up with Hans. On the fifth day, they did not go hunting, instead staying at their campsite, practicing their less destructive skills as they waited for Hans to arrive. He made his appearance at noon, descending from above. Just as Otto described, he was unmistakable. Elise had seen a few Ainar around the city, but none with wings as pitch black as his. ¡°Maia,¡± he called. ¡°We finally get to talk face to face!¡± ¡°Hans!¡± said Maia, standing up from her meditation. The man between the wings was no less striking, though not for the same reason. He had a handsome face, but most of it was covered in scars. He still had both of his eyes, which Elise considered a miracle, considered how many times he seemed to have been slashed across the face. She stared at him with mild curiosity for a few seconds before she remembered to use {Inspect}. When she did, she couldn¡¯t hide the widening of her eyes. [ Sidhe Duelist, lvl ??? ] 75 - The Plan Thankfully, Elise was already sitting still meditating when he arrived, so he didn¡¯t seem to notice how she froze when she read his species. He also didn¡¯t seem to notice that she had used {Inspect}, which was good. Thus far, only Freddy had been able to do that, but as she got stronger, anyone with ??? in their tag, especially a non-human, was risky. While he explained pleasantries with Maia and introduced himself to Penelope, Elise¡¯s mind raced. Sidhe was the same species that Emilia had been. That didn¡¯t necessarily mean that he was like her, but it definitely did make him non-human. Did Maia know that? Did Otto know that? Was there any way for her to find out without putting herself or them in danger? That also had implications on what the organization backing him could be. It was possible that he had snuck into a normal organization, pretending to be an Ainar, but she had a feeling that wasn¡¯t it. She didn¡¯t know the world very well yet, but she did know of one secretive organization that protected non-humans that was probably powerful enough to make the Blood Syndicate hesitant to mess with them. ¡°And you must be Elise,¡± said Hans, turning to her with a smile. Elise broke off her train of thought, and looked up at the man. She hadn¡¯t wanted to get involved with Ostra again at all, let alone this quickly, but it seemed she didn¡¯t have much of a choice. At the very least, they didn¡¯t seem to be after her for any bad reasons at the moment, so there was no point in trying to avoid them further. She shifted to her human form to find that Hans was actually not much taller than she was. She hadn¡¯t noticed while looking up from the ground, but he was quite short, only coming up to Maia¡¯s eyes, and Penelope¡¯s chin. ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± she said, holding out her hand. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you as well,¡± he said, clasping her hand. ¡°And no need to worry about word getting out. I have no intention of blowing your cover.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± she replied. ¡°Now,¡± he said, taking a step back so that all three were in front of him. ¡°I suppose you all want me to explain the plan.¡± ¡°Yes, that would be appreciated,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Not a problem,¡± he said. ¡°I still can¡¯t tell you much about the organization behind the operation, unless you want to sign a contract, which I would not recommend, as it would be very restrictive. However, I can tell you all about the operation we will be a part of, what our role will be, and how we need to accomplish it. ¡°Before I get into that though, there is one more squad member who will be joining us shortly, and before I introduce him, there are a few things I need to say, and you may find them shocking. Especially, you Maia, and for that I apologize, but it needs to be said. I¡­ am a fey.¡± ¡°A-a fey?¡± asked Maia. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± he said. ¡°Oh.¡± Maia didn¡¯t seem to know how to respond, so Hans continued. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for keeping it from you for so long, but I hope you understand why I needed to do it. My kind aren¡¯t exactly welcomed in human spaces, so if I wanted a chance at a normal life, I had to pretend to be human.¡± ¡°Y-yeah, I get it,¡± said Maia. ¡°I just- Did Otto know?¡± ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know,¡± said Hans. ¡°It¡¯s impossible to tell what that man does or doesn¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess,¡± said Maia. ¡°Still¡­ Huh. Well, alright then. Why did you need to tell us that though? Is the last member of our squad also not human?¡± ¡°Correct,¡± said Hans. ¡°And much more obviously so than me. He should be here by the end of the day, and when he gets here, you¡¯ll see what I mean. I just wanted to preface his arrival with the reveal of my own nature so you would be less suspicious of him. He is a wonderful person, and very trustworthy as well, but his appearance is a bit¡­ well, you¡¯ll see. ¡°Anyway, back to the topic at hand, this operation will be fairly large in scale. We are one of about ten squads working in concert to take down the entire Blood Syndicate¡¯s headquarters. We are under no illusion that we can take out the whole organization, but unlike their leadership, their headquarters is immobile, and eliminating it will deal a large blow to their power. ¡°We will not be doing much direct combat, if possible. Our squad¡¯s job is extraction of high-value targets. This includes your friend the knight, and Maia¡¯s sister.¡± At that, Elise narrowed her eyes. That sounded suspicious. She could maybe understand Nick being a high-value target, since he was a Jelorian knight, but what about Maia¡¯s sister? According to Maia, she had been taken by the Blood Syndicate right when her System had awoken, and her only strong attachments were to Otto and Maia. Was Otto powerful enough that Maia¡¯s sister could be labeled as ¡°high-value¡±? It sounded suspicious, but she didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°However, while extraction is our goal, conflict is likely unavoidable.¡± As he said this, Hans¡¯ demeanor suddenly shifted from friendly to stern. ¡°You three were included on my squad because you were deemed competent enough to be of use, but I was not the one who made that decision, and I will not be taking solely your reputations and the word from the higher-ups as absolute fact. The mission takes place one month from now, and during that time, I will be testing and training you. If I don¡¯t think you¡¯re ready, I will leave you behind.¡± While Elise felt a bit excited about getting even more training, her suspicion only grew the more he talked. Why were they even being included at all? Ostra¨C assuming it was indeed Ostra¨C seemed to have a solid plan already in place. Penelope and Maia were competent, but as far as she could tell, neither of them were strong or specialized enough to make them must-have additions to the operation. On top of that, with two humans working so closely in concert with the non-humans, they were bound to notice something. She would be shocked if Maia and Penelope hadn¡¯t already surmised that the organization behind Hans was one run by and for non-humans. And the more they worked together, the more they would gleam. Neither of them had been contracted to secrecy, and neither were particularly trustworthy. Penelope was a knight, but she had already openly flouted the law to deliver justice, and Maia was connected to a man who proclaimed himself to be one of the best information-gatherers in the continent. Then again, there was a very strong chance Otto already knew. In fact, there was almost no chance he didn¡¯t know. He had known that Hans and Ostra were planning the assault on the Blood Syndicate. Or had he? If he didn¡¯t, why would he have sent them to Hans? Either way, it was strange. Including Penelope and Maia in the operation wasn¡¯t worth whatever the risk of them leaking information was. That meant one of three things. First, they trusted Maia and Penelope not to talk. Elise didn¡¯t think that option likely at all. Second, they planned on killing both of them at the end, to make sure that nothing was noticed. Elise thought that was more likely than the first option, but not by much. It didn¡¯t make much sense either. That left the third option: Ostra wanted to make themselves known. Or they at least wanted rumors spreading. She kept her face still, but internally, she was scowling. She had gone straight from the center of one major historical event right into another. She hoped it had nothing to do with her, but she didn¡¯t like the timing. Ostra had been in hiding for centuries, and they had decided that now was the time to reveal themselves? That alongside the odd circumstances of Elise¡¯s own uncontracted knowledge, and what she had learned of the Rune of Fate with the dwarves made it seem like it wasn¡¯t as coincidental as she would have liked. Still, at least this time, she wasn¡¯t playing a pivotal role. Yet. Hopefully she wouldn¡¯t in the future either. Regardless, she still had to save Nick, and now Bianca too, and then find Sophie. She couldn¡¯t shrink away, just because she might find herself embroiled in something else above her paygrade. Why not? She was about to argue back with herself when she realized that her subconscious had actually brought up a good point. Why did she need to be involved at this point. Now that she knew there would be an all-out assault and massive rescue operation, why did she need to be personally involved? Nick and Bianca would most likely be saved, regardless of whether she personally went or not. Wouldn¡¯t it be a more productive use of her time to go look for Sophie then? On the other hand, what if she didn¡¯t go, and something happened to Nick and Bianca? Would that be her fault? Even worse, what if she did go, and she made a mistake that got them killed? She wasn¡¯t qualified for this. She had never done anything like it. Would her skills even be helpful? This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Stop, she told herself. Nothing has even happened yet. Stop panicking. She took a deep breath to calm herself, then realized that Hans had continued talking while she was lost in thought, and that now he had even pulled out a map. ¡°-are kept here,¡± he said, pointing to a spot on the map. ¡°The guards there are strong, but most of them will be gone, dealing with the assault force. I doubt they will leave the prison completely unguarded, but it will be few enough that we should be able to handle them without issue. It will become much easier as well once we clear the first cells, as these are the fighters, which will give us more manpower.¡± Elise stared intently at the map, trying to figure out what she had missed. Clearly, he was talking about their plan, but where had the map come from. She chided herself for getting so lost in her own thoughts that she missed something so critical. She focused harder as he continued talking, trying to fill in the gaps that she had missed. He went on to cover two more locations on the map, one being the guards¡¯ dorms, and the other being the location of the Blood Syndicates¡¯ leadership. He made it very clear that they were to avoid both areas if possible. It was mostly a contingency for if things went south and had to retreat, since ideally, they wouldn¡¯t be getting anywhere near those two places, but just in case, they were to run in literally any other direction. That still left most of the map unexplained to Elise though. It seemed that the complex was located in the center of the Jungle in a roughly circular area surrounded by trees on all sides. One side of the area was taken up by a smaller circle, though based on the sizes of the buildings nearby, it was still huge. Judging by the size and the shape, and what Hans had said about Nick likely being a pit fighter, she could only assume that was the arena where the fights took place. The rest of the map was an assortment of buildings, that almost seemed like an entire city, complete with streets, open squares, and even what looked like a wealthy neighborhood with its greater spacing between buildings and longer pathways leading up to them. The prisons where their targets were located were in the center of it. Fortunately, Hans did cover the route they would take in and out again, so Elise could see it, but that didn¡¯t alleviate her concerns at all. As far as she could tell, they were just going to be marching straight into the camp and bursting into the prisons. That didn¡¯t seem like a very good way to accomplish a combat-free extraction. There must have been some other detail she missed. ¡°And, that¡¯s the plan,¡± Hans finished, rolling up the map. ¡°Do you have any immediate questions?¡± Elise had many, but didn¡¯t want to ask him to go over the plans from the start because she wasn¡¯t paying attention, while Penelope and Maia were still there, so she held her tongue. Neither of the other two had anything to ask either, so he put the map back into a bag on his hip and clapped his hands together. ¡°Well then. I supposed it¡¯s almost time to start training. We¡¯ll start in earnest once the last member of our squad arrives, but before then, I¡¯d still like to see a brief demonstration of your skills. I also have something I need to discuss briefly with Elise, so would you two mind getting ready, and maybe warming up a bit while we talk? We can get started once I get back.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Sounds good,¡± said Maia. ¡°What do you need to talk to me about?¡± ¡°Nothing too important,¡± he said. ¡°Fey things. Let¡¯s step away a bit though.¡± This sounds important, thought Elise, but she didn¡¯t say anything, merely nodding and allowing him to lead her away. Once they were about a hundred feet away, out of earshot of the other two, he stopped and turned to her. ¡°So, do you have a special mission?¡± he asked. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t told about another Ostra member being added to my squad. Do you have another mission that I should be aware of? It¡¯s fine if you can¡¯t tell me what it is. I just want to know if you have other goals.¡± I¡¯m not an Ostra member though, she thought. She knew better than to say that out loud though. It was one thing for Mindy to now know she wasn¡¯t part of Ostra, since she seemed to be just an ordinary member, but if Hans was trusted enough to lead a squad on such an important mission, he should have known better. That meant that most likely, Freddy had not told anyone that she decided not to join. In fact, he might have even told them the opposite, based on their reactions. She had no idea what his goals behind this were, but whatever they were, telling Hans the truth probably wasn¡¯t a good idea. ¡°I¡¯m just here to save Nick,¡± she said. ¡°I have no other missions.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re signed to a contract of secrecy, then just any kind of signal-¡± ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± she said, cutting him off. ¡°I am not bound by any secrecy contracts regarding this mission, and I have no other goals. I just want to save Nick.¡± He didn¡¯t look like he quite believed her, but he nodded. ¡°Then I look forward to working with you.¡± ¡°You as well.¡± ¡°While we¡¯re out here though, are there any more¡­ fey-like abilities you¡¯d like to disclose privately?¡± ¡°Nothing I can¡¯t show them,¡± Elise said. ¡°Alright. Then let¡¯s head back. No point in wasting any more time out here.¡± When they returned, Penelope and Maia were both doing stretches to warm up. Hans gave them a couple more minutes before turning to each of them one by one and asking for a brief summary of their abilities, and occasionally demonstrations. During this time, Elise learned that on top of her normal combat abilities, Penelope also possessed a few passive skills, both mental and physical, that were focused on resilience. Maia¡¯s skills all revolved around stealth and speed. She was not especially strong, nor was her magic anything special, but the ease with which she could disappear, and the swiftness of her attacks was impressive. Elise had vaguely noticed before when they practiced at the Lappin estate, but when Hans asked her to demonstrate some of her shadow attacks, the speed was on full display. She had one attack that sent a blade of shadowy mana out from her own knives, and while it wasn¡¯t as strong as Penelope¡¯s own mana blades, it was so fast that it almost didn¡¯t matter. Elise¡¯s {Mana Sense} had surpassed level 50, and she could still barely detect it. After them, it was Hans¡¯ turn to demonstrate his own abilities. After her experience with Emilia, Elise had been expecting more on the subtle manipulation side, or perhaps more overt mind control. Even with ¡°Duelist¡± in his species name, she was still expecting something more like her own skills, focused on affecting his opponent¡¯s mental state. While he did have a few skills like that, his main attribute was speed. Compared to him, Maia seemed positively slow. He had a skill called {Swift Step} that was less of a step, and more of a teleport. All Elise saw was a blur, and suddenly, he was thirty feet away. It was like her own {Dart} skill on steroids. He fought with two short swords, using {Swift Step} and a few other movement skills to attack before his opponents had time to react. He admitted that his other stats weren¡¯t very high, and that he wouldn¡¯t be able to take much damage without being put out of commission, but that was only if he got hit, which he rarely did. Most of his scars had actually come from moving too quickly and running into things, rather than from battles. Elise demonstrated her own {Magic Missile} and {Vicious Bloom}, but since she couldn¡¯t really demonstrate how she hunted using {Suggest} without a good target, she was left feeling like her own performance was lackluster. None of the others said anything, but she knew that with that demonstration, she had more or less proved beyond a doubt that she had half the combat power of Maia or Penelope, if even that. After the demonstrations, they went back to their more static training methods while they waited for the final member of the squad. Elise wanted to ask who it was, but she got the impression that, despite claiming that he didn¡¯t want them to be too surprised when they saw the fifth squad member, he actually did want them to be surprised. He had been vague about their appearance to the point where Elise was almost certain it was intentional, so she decided that she would just let herself be surprised, rather than worrying about it. After all, she had other things to worry about. With the absence of Hans talking to distract her, her mind returned to her early thoughts about her own position on the mission. The demonstrations had made it painfully clear that she was out-of-place, and probably underleveled for what they would be doing, and while she could understand how {Suggest} or even {Charm} would be useful for such a mission, Hans had {Suggest} as well, so she wasn¡¯t really needed. In that case, why was she there? Why not trust the others with the mission and leave to look for Sophie instead? Do I have a choice? she wondered. While she didn¡¯t think she could help much with the Blood Syndicate operation, she couldn¡¯t really do anything else while looking for Sophie either. Even Otto couldn¡¯t find her. What was she going to do? Especially since she now realized that she had no good way to get around. With her Charisma, she drew attention no matter what form she was in. Otto had sniffed her out almost immediately, and there would be others like him. How long before she ran afoul of one who would be happier to attack or capture her than to help her? What she needed was a better transformation skill, letting her take on less conspicuous forms, but she couldn¡¯t do that without leveling up. In that case, there was no better place she could be than where she was. Even if she wasn¡¯t on the mission, the Jungle was already the place she had wanted to go after leaving the caves. She would be able to level up freely here. If she left the mission, or got kicked off the mission, she could just fly a bit further away and start hunting solo. In that case, while she might be useful on the mission, there was no point in leaving either. She might as well just stay and receive whatever training Hans wanted to give her. In all likelihood, he would just kick her off the mission due to lack of ability, in which case she would just keep hunting on her own and wait nearby for the mission to be complete. With that, her internal doubts were at least partially laid to rest, and she was able to put her full focus into her training once more. Her meditation was progressing smoothly. Not quite smoothly enough for the progress to reach ? on her Skill Quest, but she estimated that she might able to get it within the week. Her lower core had become much more responsive, and she could already feel its effects. The mana flowing through her body seemed to strengthen and refine it, even after the circulation stopped, and she could move about more easily than ever. She absorbed herself in her meditation for about an hour before she heard the sound of footsteps approaching in the distance. She opened her eyes as they grew closer, and soon, the others noticed as well. ¡°He¡¯s here,¡± said Hans. ¡°Do not be frightened.¡± As the footsteps grew closer, Elise noticed that whoever it was was definitely not bipedal. They also weren¡¯t hooved. Whatever it was had paws. She ran through the mental list of non-humans she had met at Ostra, but before she could even guess who it was, they came into view around a tree. ¡°...Jag?!¡± 76 - Training Suggestion ¡°Elise?¡± called Jag. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize you were on this mission as well.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t either,¡± Elise replied. The other monster still looked exactly like she remembered him, though he looked much less out of place here in the greenery than he had at the Ostra meeting. His black fur seemed to shimmer, and sometimes blend in to the dark brown wood behind him, and his extra front two paws actually saw use as he used them to balance while climbing over larger roots, or to push low-hanging branches aside. Next to her, Elise sensed Penelope and Maia tense up, and she could see both of them fixing their eyes on Jag with caution, but neither moved. Jag slowly made his way forward until he was standing right in the clearing with them, then bared his teeth in what Elise recognized as a smile. ¡°We missed you the other night,¡± he said with a wink. Elise recognized that he was trying to secretly refer to the Ostra meeting, and wanted to facepalm at how badly he had disguised his meaning. ¡°I was busy,¡± she said. ¡°Oh, not to worry,¡± he said. ¡°There¡¯s always the next one. I¡¯m glad you ended up deciding to join us though.¡± ¡°Haha, yeah.¡± That confirmed it. Freddy had lied to Ostra, saying that she had joined. Why he had done it, she couldn¡¯t be sure, but she could at least tell one thing for certain: he wanted her to be a member. Did that mean that she didn¡¯t actually need to sign the contract? If he had told others that she had joined, and everyone believed that she was a member, did it matter that she hadn¡¯t actually signed? She could enjoy all the organization¡¯s benefits without its downsides. Not that she wanted to get too close with them, but this was starting to seem like Freddy was more or less telling her she could join contract-free. In that case, her plans for the future might have to change. Otto might have been competent, but she doubted his information network would be quite as advanced as Ostra¡¯s. It was a multinational organization whose leadership included at least one 9th tier monster, and probably more, and it no doubt had more powerful people than whatever Otto¡¯s network included. She might be able to get better information on where Sophie was if she went through them. She would have to think about that later though, as Jag was introducing himself to the others. ¡°Hello, my name is Jag, and I am a Greater Firebreath Jagaur,¡± he said, nodding toward Penelope and Maia. ¡°Although my appearance may be alarming, I assure you that I have no interest in eating humanoids. I vastly prefer birds and rodents. Non-sentient ones, of course.¡± He smiled again while Penelope and Maia looked uncomfortable. ¡°I see you already know Elise,¡± said Hans. ¡°The knight is Penelope, and the rogue is Maia.¡± ¡°A pleasure to meet the both of you,¡± said Jag, bowing. ¡°I look forward to our partnership.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you as well,¡± said Maia, looking unsure of what to think. ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± grunted Penelope. ¡°Now, if we¡¯re going to be working together, I assume you¡¯d like to know my skills,¡± continued Jag. ¡°I don¡¯t have anything particularly flashy. I¡¯m what you might call a physical all-rounder. I don¡¯t have a particular specialty, but you won¡¯t find many that can match my physical stats or melee combat skills. I have a bit of stealth, and a few ranged fire options, but my mana pool is frankly pitiful, so I only use them sparingly.¡± He smiled again, and this time, Maia at least seemed to realize it was a smile, and not a threat or anything like that, so she returned the smile and explained her own skills. Penelope did hers next, then Elise, and then Hans started speaking again. ¡°While so far, they all appear to be competent, I¡¯m afraid their skills aren¡¯t quite up to the level we need. As they are now, they will slow us down.¡± ¡°Oh no,¡± said Jag. ¡°We can move a bit slower, can¡¯t we?¡± ¡°We can, but we also have a month before the mission, and until then, we will be training them rigorously.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a good idea too,¡± said Jag. ¡°How can I help?¡± ¡°I was hoping you¡¯d be able to take Penelope and Maia deeper into the Jungle to hunt,¡± said Hans. ¡°And perhaps spar with them occasionally to check their progress.¡± ¡°I can do that,¡± said Jag, nodding. ¡°But what about Elise?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll need to take her out on my own,¡± said Hans. ¡°I haven¡¯t been able to see the full extent of her skills, and I suspect that there are a few ways that I can help her grow beyond what she would get on her own.¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s a shame,¡± said Jag. ¡°I was hoping I¡¯d get to see her in action. Have you met Walter yet?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard about him,¡± said Hans. ¡°Well, apparently Elise here nearly killed him once.¡± ¡°Did she now?¡± asked Hans, raising an eyebrow and clearly not fully believing Jag''s words. ¡°Yes, apparently they had a bit of a scuffle before we were aware of them, and Elise came out on top.¡± Elise almost audibly scoffed. ¡°A bit of a scuffle¡± was a mild way of putting it. She wanted to correct him with what actually happened, but thought better of it. If she revealed that Jag was friendly with Walter, and that Walter was the one who had killed the Grays, Penelope would probably want to leave the group. She might even outright attack him. Elise couldn¡¯t risk that. ¡°Interesting,¡± said Hans, looking down at her. ¡°How did you manage that?¡± ¡°I tricked him into jumping off a cliff,¡± she replied curtly. ¡°I see,¡± he said. ¡°Using {Suggest}?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then there are definitely things I can teach you. How about we start now?¡± ¡°Fine with me,¡± said Jag. ¡°Penelope? Maia?¡± Penelope didn¡¯t look convinced of his non-aggression, but Maia nodded in affirmation and stepped toward him. After a moment, Penelope followed, but Elise noticed she kept a hand on her sword hilt the entire time. Once they were out of sight, she turned to Hans, who was still staring at her. ¡°Are you ready?¡± he said after a few seconds. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± He led her into the Jungle, though rather than going deeper like Jag had with the others, Hans took her to the side, staying on the same general plane as their camp. After they had been walking for a few minutes, Elise heard the distant squawking of the parrots, and started to slow her pace. ¡°What is it?¡± asked Hans, looking back at her. ¡°Parrots up ahead,¡± she said. ¡°Good. Let¡¯s keep moving. I want you to show me how you fight.¡± ¡°O-okay. Will you help if it¡¯s dangerous?¡± ¡°Can you not handle them on your own?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± From what she could hear, there were at least a dozen of the parrots, and while they weren¡¯t that strong, before, she had Penelope to hide behind and Maia to take care of flankers. Now, she was alone, and though she was with Hans, who was stronger than either of the other two, she was supposed to be demonstrating her skill. If he had to help her, that would reflect poorly on her. ¡°I¡¯ll step in if you¡¯re in danger,¡± he said. ¡°But you shouldn¡¯t need me.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡± They both took to the air and continued forward. As they flew, Elise noticed that, while his wings were feathery instead of insect-like like hers, they still seemed to function the same way. That way being that he wasn¡¯t flapping anywhere near as often as he should have needed to, and that he maintained a steady altitude despite the flaps. Once the parrots were close enough, Elise stopped again, and when Hans looked back at her, she tried to make a motion for him to stay. He seemed to understand, and moved to a tree branch where he crossed his arms and folded his wings before nodding to her to continue. She nodded in response, than started flying upward, thinking about how best to handle the parrots You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. They were weak, and a single {Magic Missile} was enough to take out multiple. The problem was that they were also fast, and came in dozens. She would be able to take out four or five with her first volley, but the rest would charge her, and she doubted she could take a hit from even one without being fatally wounded. Their beaks were half as long as she was. That meant that she would have to use cover, hiding behind trees, and using {Dart} to stay out of their way while preparing other spells. It seemed doable, but it also didn¡¯t quite feel right. If she did that, she wouldn¡¯t really be showing off her true capabilities. However, she didn¡¯t really know how she could work {Suggest} into her plan. Maybe if there were only a couple of them, she could safely experiment, but with as many as there were, she didn¡¯t want to risk her life. She debated internally for a moment longer before deciding to just fight normally. It would have to be enough, and if it wasn¡¯t maybe he would teach her whatever he wanted to with {Suggest}. The fight went more or less as she hoped it would. She tried to sneak up on them at first, hoping to get the jump, but unlike the cows, the birds had excellent eyesight, and she didn¡¯t really have any stealth abilities. As soon as the first one saw her, it screeched and took off, twelve more following close behind it. Elise sighed and started casting. The first volley of {Magic Missile} took out five of them, and Elise quickly ducked behind a tree trunk, which the remaining ones swerved to avoid. They stopped in midair more quickly than she had anticipated, so she only had time to aim half of the next volley before she had to {Dart} out of the way of their next attack. Two more birds fell, and the rest unified in a sparse cloud about thirty feet away. She started another cast of {Magic Missile}, but they quickly scattered, and as if they had made a plan, all dove her from different angles at slightly staggered times. She had to use {Dart} five times in a row to avoid them all, and they gave her no time at all to mount a counteroffensive before they were diving again. Elise didn¡¯t have enough charges in {Dart} to repeat that first maneuver, so she made it behind a tree, with two of her remaining three charges, and prepared another spell while the birds swerved around it. Three more fell to her next {Magic Missile}, and the final two hesitated for a moment before fleeing. Elise tried to chase after them, but they were too fast for her. They were not, however, too fast for Hans. Elise blinked, and suddenly he was hovering in front of her, holding the two remaining parrots by the necks as they struggled to break free from his grip. ¡°Not bad,¡± he said, loudly to be heard over the angry birds. ¡°But I don¡¯t believe you used {Suggest} once there.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± Elise admitted. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure how to.¡± ¡°You used it against the warg, no?¡± ¡°That was different,¡± she said. ¡°It was- it was chasing me. I didn¡¯t stand a chance in a fair fight.¡± ¡°So you can use it when disadvantaged, but not when you have an advantage?¡± ¡°Not exactly,¡± she said. ¡°It was just- That was the only thing I could do at that time.¡± ¡°Hmmm,¡± he said. ¡°How have you hunted up until now? Did you just do as you did now?¡± ¡°No. When I hunted before, I would sneak up and use {Suggest} to lure things into isolated places, then attack.¡± ¡°So you have never practiced {Suggest} for combat?¡± ¡°I-I¡¯ve used it in combat once or twice,¡± she said. ¡°But not really. I mostly use it for ambushes.¡± ¡°I see,¡± he said. ¡°Then I will teach you. How well you learn will determine whether I let you join us on this mission or not.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Good,¡± he said, releasing the birds, allowing them to fly away behind them. ¡°I¡¯ll follow the birds. You follow the sound of my voice.¡± With that, he turned around and dashed away after the birds, leaving Elise alone. She moved to follow, but before long, both he and the birds were out of her sight, leaving her with only his voice and the flapping of their wings to follow them. ¡°{Suggest} is indeed a powerful tool for ambushing,¡± she heard him say. ¡°But I would argue it is even more powerful in direct combat. When you are fighting a life-or-death battle, causing your opponent a split second of hesitation, or misleading them for even a moment can be the difference between victory and death. What I am going to teach you is the method that I used to become the Blood Syndicate¡¯s strongest arena duelist.¡± That sounded interesting, but Elise was curious how it would work. She hadn¡¯t really been able to do much to Yuri when he was fighting Penelope. She had tried to use {Suggest} to distract him, just as Hans described, but it didn¡¯t have any effect. Was that because Yuri was too strong, or had she just been doing it wrong? ¡°The birds are slowing,¡± said Hans. ¡°I believe they are nearing another flock. I will stop and wait for you here.¡± A few seconds later, Elise caught up with him, and as he mentioned, the birds were indeed nearing another flock. This one sounded bigger than the first. At least twice as big. And the arrival of the two fleeing birds seemed to get them riled up. A few seconds later, the first of them came into view, and as soon as they saw Hans and Elise, they changed targets to fly straight toward them. ¡°Hide behind that tree and watch,¡± said Hans, flying up to meet them. Elise used {Dart} to get to safety as quickly as she could, then turned back. Hans was just hovering in midair, his arms crossed like before as the birds got closer and closer. Suddenly, one of the birds veered to the side, crashing into another which crashed into another, sending all three tumbling downward for a few seconds until they could right themselves. Another dove straight down, its beak stabbing straight through one of its unfortunate comrades below. The two birds fell, interrupting the flights of two more. At almost the same time, a third veered to the other side, taking out three more with it. Within the span of a single second, enough birds made drastic changes to their flight paths that by the time they reached Hans, none were pointed at him. He simply hovered in the air, exactly where he had been, and all the parrots either flew around him or fell beneath him. Only the one unfortunate who had been speared by its comrade died, so they all flocked together once more and made another attempt at Hans. Just like before, they all swerved to the sides as if to avoid him, and he remained exactly where he had been, unscathed. This happened once more before Hans evidently decided he had shown enough and it was his turn on the offense. Not three seconds later, every last bird was falling to the ground, all of them having been bisected by blades of mana that he wielded like daggers. While their bodies were still falling, he returned to Elise, standing in front of her with his arms crossed once again. ¡°Do you understand what I just did?¡± he asked. ¡°Maybe?¡± she said. ¡°You used {Suggest} to make them suddenly change course, causing them all to miss and interfere with each other.¡± ¡°Correct,¡± he said. ¡°Do you think you could do the same?¡± Elise glanced down at the piles of blood and feathers below. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°I just- I don¡¯t have enough control.¡± ¡°Could you do it if it was just a single bird?¡± ¡°I- maybe? I¡¯m not sure. I would have to experiment with it.¡± ¡°Wrong,¡± he said. ¡°Your Charisma is high. Very high. You should have no trouble at all with just one. Not even six. I think I know where your lack of confidence stems from though. When you use {Suggest}, do you think in words?¡± ¡°I- I guess so?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good strategy for more subtle uses of the skill, but when you¡¯re in combat, words will be the death of you. They are slow, and their meaning can be misconstrued. When you are using {Suggest} in combat, you do not use words conveying more complex ideas. You use simple, visceral, instinctual feelings. Do you understand?¡± ¡°I- maybe?¡± ¡°Allow me to demonstrate.¡± Without giving her time to respond, he suddenly lunged forward, another mana blade in his hand. Elise used {Dart} to leap backward, and almost started flying away when suddenly she noticed that he hadn¡¯t actually moved. He was still standing exactly where he had been before. It was possible that he had simply moved so fast that she didn¡¯t see properly, but from his words before, she realized that was unlikely. Most likely, he had simply used {Suggest} to put that image in her mind. ¡°Do you understand now?¡± ¡°Maybe?¡± she said. ¡°I have a better idea what you mean, at least.¡± ¡°Try it on me,¡± he said. ¡°That instinctive feeling of fear you just felt. Send it back to me. Make me feel the same.¡± Elise stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out how to make it work. She focused on what she had just experienced, but couldn¡¯t figure out how to combine that feeling with {Suggest}. After a few more seconds of futile planning, she gave up, and decided to just try it. I¡¯m being attacked! She sent. She winced as Hans shook his head, knowing she had done it wrong. ¡°You¡¯re still using words,¡± he said. ¡°You are translating all your feelings to words. Don¡¯t do that. Don¡¯t think. Just feel. Think back to what you just felt, and send the feeling alone, with none of your thoughts attached.¡± Elise paused a moment, trying to think back to the feeling of fear, before trying again. Once more, it came out in words, but before Hans could admonish her, she tried again, slightly adjusting the ¡°message¡±. That didn¡¯t work either, so she tried again. And again. And again. And again. ¡°Stop,¡± said Hans, raising a hand. ¡°You¡¯re getting further and further away. I am going to do it to you again. I want you to use {Suggest} back on me the moment you can. While you still feel the influence of mine, I want you to turn it back on me. Don¡¯t waste time thinking. Ready?¡± Elise nodded, then a split second later, the mirage of Hans attacking her appeared. She was more prepared for it this time, but she still couldn¡¯t stop herself from {Dart}ing backward. The moment she regained control of her mind, she used {Suggest} back at him. She didn¡¯t really have anything particular in mind when she used it, but she was still full of the feeling of fear he had forced on her, and when the skill hit him, he smiled for the first time since he saw Maia. ¡°Good,¡± he said. ¡°Now, again.¡± They repeated the process four more times, and on the third time, it suddenly clicked for Elise. She let him do the fourth, just to make sure, but after that, she stopped him and tried it on her own without his help. ¡°Good!¡± he said. ¡°Again! More!¡± She repeated the process a dozen times. Two dozen. Three dozen. And each time, Hans asked for more. On the final one. Elise had fully grasped the concept. She thought back to the time that the warg had broken through into the cabin. The exact moment when the logs that made up the wall had broken, sending splinters flying inward. She channeled that feeling into the strongest {Suggest} she could muster, and that was even enough to make Hans flinch. ¡°Perfect!¡± he said. ¡°Well done.¡± He held up his arm, showing off goosebumps. ¡°Your Charisma must be high indeed. Even I couldn¡¯t help but feel that one. I believe you¡¯ve mastered fear at least. Now, let¡¯s get into some more practical combat applications. I want you to try to hit me with {Magic Missile}. Use weaker ones to conserve your mana, and as you try to hit me, focus on what you feel when I dodge. When I move left, right, up down, diagonally, forward, backward, and whatever else I do. Once you get a good feel for that, you can start practicing those feelings with {Suggest} as well, and once you master those, you will truly be a formidable opponent. Are you ready?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Elise excitedly. ¡°Then let us begin.¡± 77 - High Charisma [ {Mana Circulation} (Skill Quest): Perform basic circulation through all mana cores. ] [ Progress: 2/3 ] [ Reward: {Mana Circulation} skill ] Elise looked at the quest window as she took a break from her circulation practice. Five days after Hans arrived, she had finally managed to circulate through her lower core well enough to bump the progress bar up one further. Now, two days later, she was realizing that she had chosen the harder of the two options. It made sense, since she had no skills to strengthen her body, and multiple externally cast spells, but she didn¡¯t realize how much of a difference that would make in how easy it was to use her cores. Even after having worked on her lower core for nearly two weeks, her upper core had already been almost as flexible when she first started on it. If not for the fact that practicing more than an hour gave her a raging headache, she was certain that she would have unlocked the skill by now. She was still fairly confident she could get it by the end of the day, but for now, she needed some rest, since her head was pounding. It was early morning in the Jungle, and far in the distance, she could hear the squawking of parrots and even further, the faint screaming of the monkeys. They had only been attacked twice at their camp, and it seemed that those two occasions were enough to teach the monsters of the Jungle not to approach. Jag was still keeping watch, but the rest could meditate in relative peace, knowing that they really weren¡¯t in danger. Hans and Penelope were meditating against trees on either side of Elise, but it seemed that like Elise, Maia had reached her limit on circulation, and was now twirling a long knife between her fingers, her eyes unfocused as she stared off into the distance. After a minute or so, she seemed to feel Elise¡¯s gaze, and looked down at her. ¡°You get it yet?¡± she asked. ¡°Not quite,¡± said Elise. ¡°I think I can get it by tonight though.¡± ¡°Cool, cool,¡± said Maia, leaning back as she tossed the knife in the air and caught it. ¡°Honestly, I kinda hate circulation. I can¡¯t wait until I cap it. Yeah, it¡¯s useful, but it¡¯s-¡± She paused as her eyes flicked to the right. ¡°It¡¯s just so boring. I wish I could-¡± She paused again, eyes flicking to the left this time. ¡°I wish I could just have it running passively so I didn¡¯t have to-¡± Her gaze shot upward and she stabbed the ground in frustration. ¡°Would you stop that?¡± she asked, staring at Elise. ¡°I¡¯m training¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you train on Jag?¡± ¡°Jag is keeping watch,¡± said Hans without opening his eyes. ¡°He can¡¯t be getting distracted.¡± ¡°Jag, wanna switch?¡± said Maia. ¡°I¡¯ll keep watch, you help Elise.¡± ¡°I¡¯d be happy to!¡± he said, turning around and stepping into the clearing. Maia stood up and climbed the tree behind her until she reached a branch thirty feet or so up and sat down and Jag laid down where she had just been sitting. Him sitting looked very strange because he actually had two versions of ¡°sitting.¡± In the first, he sat on his hind legs with his middle legs on the ground like a normal sitting pose, and his front paws dangling awkwardly in the air. In the second, both his back legs and middle legs were bent all the way, and only his front legs were extended. Due to how far his body extended behind him, this gave the impression that he was doing some weird yoga pose. It was in this second sit¨C the more comfortable of the two, according to him¨C that he sat in front of Elise, staring at her with anticipation. ¡°Begin,¡± he said. ¡°I will try to-¡± His entire head jerked to the side before he slowly turned it back to face forward. ¡°-resist,¡± he finished. The next half hour went much the same, with Elise sending false signals with {Suggest} and Jag falling for every single one. One thing that she had learned during her days practicing this way was that Jag¡¯s Charisma was incredibly low. Almost comically so. He basically only had the automatic bonuses gained at each evolution, and nothing more, leaving Elise with a near 700 point lead in the stat. She had a similar¨C though less extreme¨C issue when working with Penelope, which is why she preferred practicing on Maia and Hans instead. Hans¡¯ Charisma was actually higher than hers, though only by a little, while Maia¡¯s was only a couple hundred behind. Unfortunately, Maia had quickly discovered that she didn¡¯t really like being the subject of Elise¡¯s practice. While she had agreed to help out, she was always looking for ways to get out of it like she had just then. It was a little annoying, since at this point, Jag was such an easy target that Elise gained little from it, but she couldn¡¯t really force Maia to stay, so she was stuck with it. System, how does Charisma work? she asked idly while Jag was recovering from her latest feint. ¡°Charisma influences and is influenced by numerous factors, including, but not limited to, physical appearance, social sense, vocal quality, speech skills, and personality. As for what it does, the answer is too long to be explained under my character limit. In short, it is a measure of your ¡®appeal¡¯.¡± It was the same answer she had heard before, and the same answer she always heard when she asked that question, but she knew there was more to it. The System had even confirmed as much long ago when she tried to curse the plesiosaur. However, whenever she tried to ask it¡­ ¡°I¡¯m sorry. You don¡¯t have access to that information.¡± She signed aloud as she did her next feint, making Jag think there was a bird flying at his face, causing him to dodge to the side. ¡°What is it?¡± he asked. ¡°Nothing,¡± she said. ¡°Just the System being annoying.¡± ¡°What is it doing?¡± ¡°Refusing to answer my questions.¡± ¡°What were you asking it?¡± ¡°Just about Charisma,¡± explained Elise. ¡°It just gives me the same ¡®appeal¡¯ answer every time, even though I know that¡¯s not all it does. Obviously it helps with these mental skills too, and for some reason it¡¯s important for fey curses as well, and those all seem completely unrelated, but there has to be something that ties them together, and I can¡¯t figure it out.¡± ¡°Ah, yes, I can imagine that¡¯s frustrating.¡± ¡°It is,¡± she agreed. ¡°I believe that there may be someone who can help you though,¡± he said. ¡°Who?¡± she asked. ¡°An¡­ acquaintance,¡± he said with a wink. ¡°If you join us for the next¡­ party-¡± He winked again. ¡°-I believe she will be there.¡± Elise noticed Hans frowning at Jag¡¯s poor attempt at subtlety, but he didn¡¯t say anything further reinforcing Elise¡¯s belief that Ostra was for some reason trying to be noticed. ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind,¡± she replied. There would be another Ostra meeting soon, shortly before their mission, which Elise knew was no coincidence. She was still hesitant on going, but at this point, she knew the benefits outweighed the risks. In addition to the information she could get about their current mission, she could also try to find something about Sophie. She would just have to trust that whatever Freddy wanted from her, he wasn¡¯t going to try to force it out of her. He had had plenty of chances to do so, and so far, had chosen not to. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. She practiced {Suggest} on Jag for another half hour all the while thinking more on how Charisma would factor into it. The System¡¯s explanation of ¡°appeal¡± was obviously not relevant, or at least if it was, it wasn¡¯t helpful to her. There were a few other pieces to the mystery, but each one seemed to make it harder to decipher. One such piece that had recently made her question everything was Hans¡¯ attempt to explain how Charisma affected {Suggest}. He didn¡¯t really understand why it was important to the skill¡¯s power, but he did know that Charisma affected how often the skill could be used. Or at least, that¡¯s how it was supposed to work. That rule didn¡¯t seem to apply to Elise though. She could use it as many times as she wanted and as often as she wanted without break and without penalty. Hans was confused by that, and Elise didn¡¯t provide him with any answers, but she had guessed the culprit: {Rune of Fate}. So, somehow, the rune was tied in with the mystery of Charisma, which affected appeal, mental skills, and curses. The only conclusion Elise could come to was that there was some other type of energy used for all those things, and both the rune and her Charisma affected that. That made sense to her, but unfortunately, she couldn¡¯t sense it, the System refused to acknowledge its existence, and even after those revelations about the rune, its description hadn''t been updated. At the end of the half hour, when Elise had resigned that she wouldn¡¯t find the answer anytime soon and that she would have to wait at the very least until the Ostra meeting, she got an unexpected System message. [ Thank you for participating in the System v7.0.0 beta test! The test is now complete. Based on user feedback, we have made the following changes Why would anyone want that? Elise wondered before she continued reading [ As a thank you for all the awesome feedback, !@#$%^&*() has decided to grant all beta participants the following rewards: Skill Quest: {Whisper} In 24 hours, System v7.0.0 will become available to all users. Thank you for your participation. ] Elise stared at the message for a few moments in disbelief, then silently cursed the System creators. The Skill Quest was nice, sure, but couldn¡¯t they have just given her the skill on its own instead of making her jump through more hoops? And what was with all the changes? Or more realistically, the lack of changes. That message was a lot of words that basically boiled down to nothing. She sighed, then opened the new Skill Quest to see what the requirements were. [ {Whisper} (Skill Quest): Whisper ] [ Progress: 0/1 ] [ Reward: {Whisper} skill ] What the heck? She thought. ¡°Jag,¡± she whispered. ¡°Yes?¡± he replied, but Elise was no longer paying attention. [ Skill Quest {Whisper} completed! ] [ You have unlocked the skill {Whisper} ] [ {Whisper}: Speak privately to a target within range with whom you have established a connection ] Elise was once again left dumbfounded at the System message. Had she seriously learned a skill¡­ that let her whisper better? What was the point? There had to be a point, right? Or was whatever organization had made the System just messing with her? ¡°Elise?¡± asked Jag. ¡°Oh, sorry,¡± she said. ¡°I had a Skill Quest that wanted me to whisper.¡± ¡°Another Skill Quest?¡± he asked. ¡°And you had to whisper?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Did you complete it?¡± ¡°Yes. I got the {Whisper} skill.¡± At that, Hans¡¯ eyes opened, and he glanced at her with curiosity. ¡°You got {Whisper}?¡± he asked ¡°Yes. Is it good?¡± ¡°It¡¯s useful,¡± he said. ¡°And it will help on the mission.¡± ¡°What does it do?¡± she asked. ¡°The description isn¡¯t very helpful.¡± ¡°It lets you do this.¡± While she heard his voice in her mind, but his mouth didn¡¯t move, and she knew that he hadn¡¯t actually sounds. ¡°Oh!¡± she replied, also activating the skill. ¡°It¡¯s actually useful!¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How did you get a Skill Quest for {Whisper}?¡± asked Penelope, also opening her eyes. ¡°I participated in the beta test for the new version of the System. It should be out in a day,¡± she added after seeing their questioning looks. ¡°I see,¡± said Hans. ¡°I have heard of these betas, but I¡¯ve never gotten into one myself. Major System updates are somewhat rare.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good reward,¡± said Penelope. ¡°There¡¯s no way for me to get that skill on my current track. None that I know of, at least.¡± ¡°I got it at tier 2,¡± called Maia from above. ¡°Now that you have it, field communication will be much easier,¡± said Hans. ¡°We¡¯re a lot less limited in groupings now if we need to split up.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± agreed Elise. ¡°What¡¯s the range on it? And how do I establish a connection?¡± ¡°The maximum range is about half a mile, and you establish a connection by looking someone in the eye as you just did. Just do it to the other three, and you will be able to communicate with all of them, as long as they¡¯re nearby.¡± Elise took a minute to do exactly that, and afterward, Penelope and Hans both evidently decided they had done enough meditation and stood up to prepare to hunt again. Half an hour later, she was back in the Jungle with Hans. Due to her seemingly infinite capacity for using {Suggest}, she had progressed in skill much faster than he thought she would, and she was already actively using it in combat. She was not yet confident enough to do as Hans had and face down an entire flock without attacking, but if she used {Magic Missile} to thin their number first, she could misdirect the rest without trouble. The previous day¡¯s hunting had been so easy that Hans had finally decided to take her further into the woods. ¡°Between {Suggest} and now {Whisper}, you¡¯re already plenty useful enough to keep on the mission,¡± Hans said as they flew inward. ¡°At this point, let¡¯s just see if we can get some power-leveling done. We won¡¯t be able to get you to your next evolution, but a few hundred more stat points can¡¯t hurt.¡± Elise wholeheartedly agreed, and was looking forward to it. The parrots were so weak that in the entire week up until that point, she had only gained a single level. The Giant Fanged Macaques were a tier higher, the frogs were two tiers higher, and there would be some Greater Spear-Beaked Parrots deeper in, so she looked forward to actually being able to increase her strength in addition to her skill. Surprisingly, the first monster they encountered deeper in was neither a parrot, nor a monkey, but one of the frogs. ¡°They are stronger than the others, but they are solitary, which in some ways, makes them weaker. I believe you can handle it.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± said Elise, looking at the beast. It was the size of a hippo, and mostly just looked like a scaled-up poison dart frog with its green and black splotchy pattern. As she observed it, thinking about her plan of attack, she suddenly heard the squawking of parrots. A small flock of ten flew nearby, and upon hearing them, the frog perked up, slowly rotating its body to follow as they flew by. Suddenly, it became a blur, leaping forward and landing on a tree, impacting it so hard leaves fluttered down from the highest branches. The parrots noticed this and veered away from it, but the frog¡¯s tongue shot out more than a hundred feet, hitting two of the birds that had been flying too close together and pulling them into its mouth. Unlike when the birds had encountered her, they didn¡¯t even try to avenge their fallen brethren, and turned tail and fled. The frog didn¡¯t seem interested in chasing further, instead crawling back down the tree until it settled back on the ground, stationary. ¡°Are you sure I can handle that?¡± Elise asked, turning to Hans. ¡°Fairly,¡± he said. ¡°It is strong, but its attacks all move in straight lines, and attacks like that are almost useless against you now, as long as you use {Suggest} properly.¡± ¡°But what if I mess up? What if it resists?¡± ¡°Your Charisma is high. You won¡¯t mess up. Look at it. Does it look like it has enough Charisma to resist your {Suggest}?¡± ¡°...Well, it is kinda cute,¡± she admitted. ¡°Cute?¡± he repeated, looking back and forth between her and the frog. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nevermind,¡± said Elise. ¡°I¡¯ll do it. I can do it.¡± With that, she flew toward the frog, making sure to advance carefully, and always put a tree between her and it. Unfortunately, she was not very good at stealth, and soon, it noticed her, and started turning to face her. She was not yet in range to use {Magic Missile} effectively, but she was just barely close enough to use {Suggest}, so when she got close enough to worry about its tongue, she hid behind a tree and used it to make it think she was flying out. The long pink tongue shot past her tree and then another twenty feet, before reeling back. Elise flinched, and then was grossed out when she saw exactly how slimy it was, but the second it disappeared back behind the tree trunk, she used {Dart} to move forward and get to a closer tree. She repeated this twice more until she was close enough, then used {Magic Missile}. The frog had thankfully not moved, so she didn¡¯t even need to peek from behind the tree to cast, instead just curving the missiles slightly to hit the giant, stationary target. At the same time, she used {Suggest} to make it think she was flying out again, causing its tongue to shoot forward, which had the bonus effect of keeping it in place while {Magic Missile} peppered its side. She wasn¡¯t sure if she hit anything important, but the frog croaked loudly, and with a mighty push, it leapt into the air, landing on a tree right in front of her, and in line of sight, and a moment later, its tongue was flying straight at her face. 78 - Fighting Uncertainty The frog¡¯s side was a bit bloody, but she didn¡¯t have time to take a closer look at its injuries before she had to use a panicked {Dart} to avoid its tongue. Its tongue struck the tree behind where she had just been with enough force to crack the bark and send a few splinters flying out. Meanwhile, Elise used another two charges of {Dart} to get to safety behind another tree. As soon as it retracted its tongue, it leapt again, getting another angle on Elise, and forcing her to dodge again. This time, Elise was prepared for it, and was level-headed enough that when she saw the tongue stick to the tree trunk again, a thought sprung to her head. She let it leap around and shoot its tongue at her again, dodging at the last second. Then, while its tongue was still extended, she cast {Vicious Bloom). The spell would normally not be fast enough to hit the tongue before it retracted, but her rudimentary mana circulation was bearing fruit. The purer mana flowed through her body more easily, allowing her to form and fire the seed, just barely hitting the tongue as it flew away. A {Magic Missile} would have been faster and easier to hit, but the reason she chose {Vicious Bloom} became apparent as soon as the frog closed its mouth. It immediately opened again and gave a croaking scream of pain. Its tongue dangled out of its mouth, useless before the writhing vines entangling it. The vines were dying just as fast as they were growing due to its venom, but it gave Elise plenty of time to get closer and start bombarding with spells. Another {Vicious Bloom} landed on its back followed by a {Magic Missile} aimed at its eyes. That spell never hit, as the frog turned and leapt toward her. She saw its legs tense just in time to use {Dart} to avoid getting hit by the bull-sized frog. When it landed, it turned back to face her, and she recognized the way its mouth inflated as a sign it was about to use its tongue again, so she dodged to the side, and when the tongue came, she hit it with another {Vicious Bloom}. It screamed again, and Elise flew toward it, but at this point, she realized that she had made a bit of a miscalculation. The frog was not suicidal. It realized it was outmatched. Right when she was about to attack it again, it leapt to the side, away from her, and then made to jump again. Elise panicked for a split second, and tossed out a random {Suggest} to try to get it to stay. All she wanted to do was make it think something strong had appeared in front of it, but she accidentally timed it perfectly. Right as it was about to jump again was when her skill hit, and it faltered, falling straight to the ground instead. She was on it in an instant, pelting it with another cast of {Magic Missile}. It tried to leap away again, so she used {Suggest} again, freezing it in fear. She continued her assault until she feared that she would run out of mana before it finally¡­ croaked. [ You have slain Colossal Jungle Frog, lvl 7 ] [ You have leveled up! 5 -> 6 ] [ Strength +3, Agility +3, Dexterity +3, Fortitude +3, Charisma +30, Intelligence +20, Willpower +8, Mana +10, Mana Control +15 ] ¡°Well done,¡± said Hans. ¡°Excellent use of {Suggest} at the end there. A shame your foe was such a coward. The monkeys would be even better practice. They don¡¯t run. Still, very well done.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± said Elise. ¡°But I was kind of panicking a little at the end.¡± ¡°Happens to all of us the first time,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯ll be calmer the next time, and even calmer after that. I could tell you were nervous going in, but I¡¯m sure you see now that you could have gone straight in without bothering to sneak.¡± ¡°I guess,¡± said Elise. She still didn¡¯t quite feel confident enough to do that, but the experience had definitely helped. While {Suggest} had worked well against the birds, she was using different feelings there, and didn¡¯t realize how powerful raw fear would be. When she attacked the frog, she had used a specific sensation based on what she felt in the drow cave when Emilia arrived after saving Naomi. That feeling of dread, knowing that a powerful enemy had just appeared, froze her in her tracks, and it froze the frog as well, much more than she expected it to. ¡°Recovery meditation, then more hunting?¡± asked Hans. ¡°Yes,¡± said Elise. She was nervous, but ready. After months of relying on stealth, a skill she was wholly unsuited for, she was finally developing a proper skillset of her own. One that would let her go toe-to-toe with creatures at her level, instead of having to fight indirectly. She wanted to master it as soon as she could. Once Elise had replenished her mana, it didn¡¯t take long to find a troop of monkeys. They were always screeching at everything, making them even easier to locate than the flocks of parrots. This particular troop had eleven monkeys, a number which Elise thought seemed too high. She could handle that many of the parrots, no problem, but the monkeys were a tier higher, and frankly much scarier. She had learned while hunting with Penelope and Maia that they were actually quite fragile, likely due to low Fortitude, but their movements were much less predictable than the parrots, and they were intelligent enough to throw things, making them threats at range as well. Hans trusted her to handle it though, so she steeled herself and flew toward them. At first, she tried to think of different strategies on how to handle them. If she could get close enough without them noticing, she could take out two or three with {Magic Missile} before they could react. However, she rejected that plan almost immediately. She was trying to learn how to fight normal fights, not ambushes. If she kept starting with an ambush, she¡¯d never figure out how to open a fight normally. Besides, her stealth was actually terrible. The only reason it even kind of worked was that her wings were largely silent, so they could only tell she was coming by sight. She flew straight toward them, not even trying to disguise her intent, and it wasn¡¯t long before one of the monkeys noticed her and screeched a warning to its companions. Simultaneously, they all began climbing their trees to get up closer to her level while also swinging to nearer branches. A shiver ran down her spine as she saw their claws digging into the wood like it was clay, but she shook it off. The nearest monkey was to her right, so she quickly changed her trajectory to meet it. It took her change of direction as a challenge, and with a mighty pull, it launched itself forward, pounding its chest in midair. Right as it was about to grab the next branch, Elise used {Suggest} to freeze it in fear, causing its hand to miss. Its screeches turned from angry to terrified as it plummeted toward the ground. It grabbed another branch on the way down, but only barely slowed its fall, breaking as it picked up speed. Meanwhile, Elise had turned to face the next closest monkey which was doing an excellent imitation of the first, so Elise did the same thing. As she used {Suggest} a second time, she heard a ding and received a new System notification. [ You have slain Giant Fanged Macaque, lvl 9 ] Seriously? she thought. She glanced at the ground to see that the first monkey had indeed died when it hit the ground. It made sense, since they were nearly 200 feet in the air, and the monkeys didn¡¯t have great Fortitude, but she still didn¡¯t realize that killing them would be so simple. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The second fell to its death as well, but the third managed to catch a new branch on the way down, slowing its fall. Then, rather than learning from its mistakes, it launched toward her again, so she just repeated the same trick again and this time, it wasn¡¯t as lucky. For the next two minutes or so, she dashed around the trees, making the monkeys fall as they performed their suicidal attacks until it was down to the final one, at which point she just used {Magic Missile} to finish things more quickly. She didn¡¯t receive a level for this feat, probably in part due to the fact that the monkeys had mostly killed themselves, but it gave her a big boost in confidence. When Hans reappeared, it was with a frown on his face. ¡°Well, I suppose that worked,¡± he said. ¡°Next time, fight them closer to the ground though.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± said Elise sheepishly. The next fight with a monkey troop went roughly the same way, but instead of making them fall to their deaths, she used {Magic Missile} instead. She circled around the edge, waited till they were in midair, used {Suggest}, then shot them with {Magic Missile}. The stress and worries that she was having about her combat abilities vanished. Is it supposed to be this easy? she wondered as she finished off the last of them. She supposed being able to use {Suggest} and other mental abilities with no limit was probably helping her out quite a bit, but even so, that only extended how long she could fight, and didn¡¯t seem to affect her actual ability to do so. It¡¯s probably just because the monkeys are stupid. She got another level from that troop of monkeys, but wasn¡¯t able to get any more that day. The next day, they went a bit deeper and fought some Greater Giant Fanged Macaques and Greater Spear-Beaked Parrots, but even then, the fights were easy. The main differences between the ordinary and Greater variants were raw size and stats, but their habits and attacks were still the same. While they were technically stronger, Elise was more practiced and stronger as well, and the slight speed and strength increases weren¡¯t enough to overcome her. On the third day, she only gained a single level, and none on the fourth. They could have gone in deeper where the monster groups increased in number, and sometimes even variants spawned, but the problem with that was that Elise simply didn¡¯t have enough mana for that. A single fight with a medium-sized monkey troop or parrot flock was enough to almost completely drain her, forcing her to take time to recover. Even with the higher mana density in the Jungle, she still had to stop and meditate for an hour after every fight. Hans didn¡¯t have a problem with any of this, and Elise supposed that even though it had gotten slower, her leveling speed was still plenty fast, but she was starting to get bored. She hadn¡¯t mastered {Suggest} to the level that Hans had, but she felt like she didn¡¯t have much to gain from the monsters of the Jungle. She had tried everything she knew, and some things she didn¡¯t, and her targets were all so weak that they could barely resist. On the fifth day, as she fought her second parrot flock that morning, she found herself distracted, wondering about the future. The distraction wasn¡¯t enough to cause her any issues, but it was enough that even Hans could tell that something was up. ¡°Grinding levels can get boring sometimes, huh,¡± he said. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± replied Elise. ¡°But, you¡¯re still low enough level that it¡¯s effective, so it¡¯s something you need to do,¡± he continued. ¡°I know,¡± sighed Elise. ¡°Is there something else you think you should be doing?¡± Elise considered for a second before speaking. ¡°Well¡­¡± she said slowly. ¡°After I find the Grays, my goal is to live as a human. Obviously, I need to reach my next evolution before I can do that so I can stay in human form indefinitely, but what about after that? Another changeling was telling me that I can take a profession with my next evolution, but¡­ All I¡¯ve done is learn and fight.¡± ¡°Do you enjoy learning and fighting?¡± asked Hans. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°I think you do,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re bored now, but before, you seemed to be enjoying yourself. You were scared, but excited.¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I was just nervous, not excited,¡± said Elise, though she wasn¡¯t quite sure if she believed herself. ¡°But you liked winning in the end?¡± he said. ¡°And you liked confirming the results of your work. You were the one taking initiative to go deeper and fight the Greaters, not me.¡± True¡­ ¡°However, if you don¡¯t want to spend your life fighting, there¡¯s nothing wrong with that. You can live a peaceful life among the humanoids for as long as you wish. There is nothing wrong with that. But you need to keep in mind that you are a fey. Fey do not age. We live until we die or ascend. Even if it isn¡¯t fighting, it¡¯s best to find another goal or else you will stagnate and grow bored.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Elise had considered her lifespan briefly in the past after learning how old Emilia was, but she hadn¡¯t really had much time to think about the implications. She would indeed grow bored if she just lived forever as a human. But she had no idea what she wanted to do. In her previous life, she had been getting a degree in biology, not because she was passionate about biology, but because it would take her to med school, after which she could make enough money to live comfortably. Now though? If she cashed in the rest of her gold from Hallbjorn, she would have enough to live for quite a while. And she was powerful enough that she could make a decent living as a monster hunter after that. But did she really want to do that? Living for eternity as she had the past few days? Absolutely not. She needed a goal. One beyond rescuing the Grays, or getting revenge on the warg. She thought in silence while she recovered her mana, and then more as she fought the next group of monsters, and couldn¡¯t come a conclusion. She couldn¡¯t even decide if she actually enjoyed fighting like Hans thought she did. It certainly wasn¡¯t fun at that moment, as she repeated the same motions for the hundredth time, but she couldn¡¯t deny that she still got a little bit of pleasure when it was done, knowing how easily she had done it. She continued on through the Jungle, going deeper than Elise had been before until soon, they came across a group of monkeys that was different than the others. Like all the ones this deep in, the Greater variant was the most common, but this time, there was one that was different. [ Giant Fanged Macaque Screecher, lvl ??? ] Elise felt her heart rate increase. Her first thought was that she was scared, but remembering her conversation with Hans, she reconsidered. She was definitely a little scared, since it was an unknown, but more than that, she was interested. Maybe even excited. She found herself running through the possibilities of what its abilities would be, and how they would affect her, and how she would counter them, and how its presence would change her tactics, and more. When they noticed her and started swinging through the trees to reach her, she noticed that she was baring her teeth in a rabbit grin. Maybe Hans had a point. *** ¡°Done? Is she done? She¡¯s running out of time. Is she close.¡± ¡°Can you just get out of here?¡± asked Sophie. ¡°I can¡¯t concentrate.¡± Sophie felt a little bad about how rude she was being, but she pushed it aside. She was stressed. Very stressed. She had unlocked her class upgrade four days ago, but her {Mana Circulation} was stuck at level 44. Just one more and she would be able to unlock the class Iris wanted her to, but she was getting worried that she wouldn¡¯t be able to do it. Her head hurt and her body ached from overusing the skill, but she couldn¡¯t stop. If she failed there, she would have to wait until her next class evolution to be able to escape the island. ¡°Did she just give me an order? A request? Shut up, I¡¯m not annoying! You¡¯re annoying!¡± Iris continued muttering to herself, but thankfully, she drifted away, leaving Sophie in silence. Sophie meditated until her head felt like it was splitting, and then meditated even more, and when it felt like she was about to pass out, she finally got it. The last System notification she needed. [ {Mana Circulation} has leveled up! lvl 44 -> 45 ] ¡°I did it!¡± she shouted. She jumped to her feet in excitement, then immediately regretted it. Her whole body hurt, and the sudden movement sent a wave of pain through her head. She stumbled back to the ground, but the smile never left her face. A moment later, Iris appeared, back in her right mind, based on the look on her face. ¡°Good,¡± she said. ¡°Check your class evolution options.¡± Sophie did so, and while most of them were the same as before, there was one new one, as promised. A mythical class with connotations that Sophie had some concerns about. I want to evolve my class, she thought. ¡°Which class would you like to evolve to?¡± asked the System. {Dragon¡¯s Goddaughter}. 79 - The Epiphany The Giant Fanged Macaque Screecher opened with an attack that Elise really should have seen coming. It screeched, and the sound it produced carried mana that burst her eardrums and nearly knocked her out of the air. When she reoriented herself, it was already flying through the air toward her. She used {Dart} 8 times, the maximum before incurring the cooldown, to get away from the attacking monkeys, and then re-evaluated the fight slightly. The Screecher was stronger and faster than the regular monkeys¡­ but that was it. Its screech attack wasn¡¯t weak, but it wasn¡¯t lethal either. The pain in her ears grew with every time it used it, and the mana staggered her for a split second, but it wasn¡¯t enough to significantly affect her fighting ability. Not with how poorly it timed its skill usage. Five minutes later, all of them, including the Screecher, were dead. [ You have slain Greater Giant Fanged Macaque, lvl 7 ] ¡­ [ You have slain Giant Fanged Macaque Screecher, lvl 14 ] [ You have leveled up! 8 -> 9 ] [ Strength +4, Agility +4, Dexterity +4, Fortitude +4, Charisma +35, Intelligence +14, Willpower +20, Mana +15, Mana Control +15 ] Note that these numbers are different from the last level up she had. That''s because, as mentioned in last chapter''s author note, I realized that I kinda screwed up. These are the correct numbers, and eventually, I will go back and fix the old chapters. With the fight over, Elise hovered in the air above their fallen corpses feeling a strong sense of disappointment. Why am I so disappointed? She wondered. They were weak. Weak enough that she was barely in danger. And she had even gotten a level out of it. That should have been a good thing, right? Weak monsters giving free levels was always a good thing. But for some reason, she didn¡¯t like it. Since when was I like this? She had never been aggressive or bloodthirsty or anything like that back on Earth. In fact, it was almost the opposite. She was quiet, and shy, and timid, and she literally couldn¡¯t remember the last time she had even tried to hurt a fly. And yet, here she was now, floating above a pile of corpses feeling disappointed about how easy it had been to make them. Her thoughts were interrupted when a shadow passed over her head and Hans started raining his own {Fairy Dust} on her to help heal her ears. She imitated him, accelerating the process, and after a few minutes, her ears were mostly back to normal. They ached a bit still, but her hearing was fully back. ¡°You¡¯re disappointed,¡± said Hans. ¡°I am,¡± she replied. ¡°Not going to try to deny it?¡± ¡°No. I¡¯m definitely disappointed. I just don¡¯t understand why.¡± ¡°It¡¯s natural to be disappointed when something doesn¡¯t live up to expectations.¡± ¡°But my expectations were to be in danger. Is it natural to be disappointed that you¡¯re not in danger?¡± ¡°It depends on the person. It seems you value the rush more than your own safety.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t used to.¡± ¡°But you do now.¡± ¡°I do.¡± But since when? ¡°Then why not embrace it? It¡¯s a trait that will serve you well no matter what you choose to do. As long as you can keep it under control, of course.¡± ¡°I guess¡­¡± Hans definitely had a point, and what he said made sense, but Elise wasn¡¯t sure how she felt about it. It was definitely something that would help her grow stronger if she didn¡¯t get herself killed, and she needed to get stronger to be able to avenge the Grays. Even so, she found herself asking the same question she had been ever since had time to sit and think: What about after? Just keep going, said a voice in her head. Why stop? If I just make my goal to get stronger and enjoy the process, how am I different from Emilia? Just don¡¯t manipulate cultures into war for the sake of leveling, and you will be different from Emilia. That was too valid a point for her to mentally refute, so she decided to set the internal conflict aside as Hans started talking again. It wasn¡¯t something she needed to worry about just yet. She had to save Nick and Bianca and find Sophie and kill the warg. ¡°Looks like you need a bit of time,¡± said Hans. ¡°Huh? No, I¡¯m ready. I can think about that later.¡± ¡°I mean to finish healing and replenishing mana.¡± ¡°Oh. Yeah. Right.¡± The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Elise meditated for a little while to re-absorb and re-purify her mana while also occasionally using {Fairy Dust} to top off her injuries. After half an hour or so, she was fully recovered, and Hans once again led her deeper into the Jungle. They soon came across a troop of monkeys with another Screecher. This time, Elise tried to use {Suggest} to stop it from using its sonic attack. This did not work, and she was once again forced to take extra time to recover her ears after the battle. Hans used his own {Fairy Dust} again to help her heal, but to Elise¡¯s surprise, he only got a few seconds out before he ran out. It only took her a second to connect that back to her own seemingly limitless ability to use {Suggest}. Her {Fairy Dust} also ran on Charisma, and she had previously been able to bless nearly entire cities with it before running out. She wasn¡¯t even close to running out at that moment either. She checked the description of {Rune of Fate} and once again saw nothing beyond what it had shown before. However, by this time, it was finally off-cooldown. All 3 charges were available. She debated for a few seconds, then decided that she needed to test it. It was too powerful of a skill for her to know so little about it, and it seemed to be tied to the mystery of Charisma. But was it safe to activate it with Hans around? He probably wouldn¡¯t hurt her, but what if he started worshipping her or something? The skill seemed to be tied to Titania, goddess of the fey, and he was a fey. That would also be annoying. And she definitely didn¡¯t want him bringing word back to Ostra about it. Could she really hide it from him though? Would he leave her alone long enough to test it? It can¡¯t hurt to ask. ¡°Hans?¡± she said. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± came his distorted voice through her still-ruptured eardrums. ¡°You stopped meditating a little while ago.¡± ¡°Can I be alone for a bit? I need to test something, but it¡¯s¡­ private.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell you.¡± He pondered for a moment, then shrugged. ¡°Sure. You can take care of yourself now. Do you want to just finish the hunting day on your own? I¡¯ll head a bit deeper to get some practice of my own in.¡± ¡°That would be great!¡± said Elise, trying not to sound too excited. ¡°Do you know the way back?¡± ¡°I can figure it out.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll see you at sunset.¡± She watched him zip away into the Jungle, and not more than two seconds later, he was out of sight. She had no idea if he was actually going, or if he only pretended to leave, and was actually waiting behind a tree to see what she would do, so she got up and flew around a bit. She tried to appear like she was moving aimlessly, but was careful to keep an eye on the direction he had gone. Once she was reasonably certain that he was truly gone, she returned to where she had been meditating and closed her eyes. Then, she opened them again, realizing that if she was going to test, she wanted to have all her options available. She couldn¡¯t use {Suggest} without a target, so if she wanted to be thorough, she would need one. She went back up into the air, then started flying roughly straight back out of the Jungle. She didn¡¯t want to run into another Screecher and have to heal her ears for a third time that day. About ten minutes later, she finally heard the slightly muffled sound of another group of monkeys in the distance. She stopped right where she was, knowing that with her damaged ears, the fact that she could hear them meant they were actually quite close. She found a relatively hidden-looking bundle of tree roots below and sat down and closed her eyes. Titania? Are you there? I¡¯d like to use the Rune of Fate right now please. A familiar warmth flowed through her body, and when she opened her eyes, her wings were bathing the ground below her in soft golden light. Immediately, she used {Fairy Dust} on herself, healing her ears in seconds and bringing the sounds of the monkeys into full focus. They were indeed, quite close. She would be able to reach them in no more than a minute, which was perfect. Before that though, she had some things she needed to test. When not channeling the rune like she was now, it seemed to passively let her use her Charisma-based skills a lot more than she normally would have been able to, while doing nothing for her other skills. The last two times she had activated the skill, she had only used Charisma-based skills, so she had no idea how it affected other skills. She had refrained from using {Magic Missile} back then because she was worried about collateral damage from the super-charged attack, but after learning more about Charisma and the rune, she was starting to think she actually didn¡¯t have much to worry about. She was still cautious when she tested it, aiming the spell at a tree at the very edge of its range, but her hypothesis was proven¡­ inconclusive. It was indeed stronger, but not so much so that it felt truly divine. It definitely didn¡¯t get anywhere near as much of a boost as {Suggest} or {Fairy Dust} did. In fact, she couldn¡¯t even tell if it was truly more powerful. It was more like it was just a bit more efficient, and she was able to channel a bit more mana than usual into it. Almost as though she was using a higher-level version of it¡­ Instinctually, she knew that she was onto something. It still didn¡¯t make total sense. It still didn¡¯t explain why {Suggest} and {Fairy Dust} got so much more powerful. If {Magic Missile} was a higher-level version of itself, then {Suggest} and {Fairy Dust} were evolved versions of the skills. The effects were increased so drastically that they could no longer be called the same skill. {Suggest} became more of a command, and the {Fairy Dust} blessings were at the level of something truly divine. She guessed that this was because those two skills were Charisma-based, while {Magic Missile} was mana-based. That meant that for some reason, ¡°divine power¡± did more for Charisma-based skills than mana-based, but the fact that it did anything for mana-based skills at all sort of ruined her theories. She had been guessing that Charisma-based skills ran on this same ¡°divine power¡±, but if it affected mana skills as well, that couldn¡¯t be the case. Unless¡­ She gasped as an idea sprung to her mind. Mana was an energy that existed in the world, and could be sensed by anyone. Whatever the Charisma skills ran on was not. They functioned on some other unknown, mysterious kind of energy. What else functioned on an unknown, mysterious energy? The System! And the gods were the ones who commissioned the System, so it made sense that it would run on this ¡°divine power.¡± Except if it was also used by Charisma skills, then was it truly ¡°divine power¡±? If everyone could use it, what made it divine? Nothing. That meant that her skill description must have been lying to her. It had done it before when it called itself the {Mark of Fate} rather than {Rune of Fate}. Why couldn¡¯t it be doing it again? She checked the description again, but it still hadn¡¯t changed. What am I missing? She knew she was close to a breakthrough. She was confident that most of what she had guessed was true, and last time she had learned something new like that, it had updated the description. She was missing an important piece. Was it just the true name of the fake divine power? How would she figure it out though? It wasn¡¯t like she could ask the System¡­ Wait! System, what is the true name of divine power? She held her breath as she waited. It was a long shot, but if the System ran off divine power, then perhaps she would be able to get some real answers out of it now that she was overflowing with it. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, you don¡¯t have access to that information.¡± She deflated for a moment, but then shook her head and tried a new approach. I command that you tell me what the true name of divine power is! Elise tried to push the divine power flowing through her into the question. It didn¡¯t work at all, but rather than denying her command, the System started doing something it had never done before. Its voice glitched, and made rapid stuttering sounds for a few seconds that eventually turned into a high-pitched whine before shutting off entirely. Elise waited eagerly for half a minute longer before the voice came back. ¡°I apologize for the delay. The true name of divine power is aether.¡± [ More information about {Rune of Fate} is now available. ] 80 - Aether Quests Elise wasted no time in opening the skill and reading the new description. [ {Rune of Fate}: A rune granted by !@#$%^&* that @#$%^&*. Allows the user to channel divinely-given aether. Current charges: 2/3. Cooldown: 30 days. !@#$%^&* ] She felt proud that she had managed to uncover that part of the mystery, but she was also annoyed that it was only part of it. The new description didn¡¯t even cover that it passively gave her more aether as well. No sooner did she think that did the description shimmer and change again. [ {Rune of Fate}: A rune spawned by the user¡¯s natural traits that indicates their latent ability to channel and control aether. Allows the user to channel divinely-given aether. Current charges: 2/3. Cooldown: 30 days. Grants the following Skill Quests: {Aether Sense}, {Aether Manipulation}, {Aether Absorption}. !@#$%^&* ] Now that¡¯s more like it! Elise did a backflip in midair for joy at having largely solved the mystery. There was still that bit of gibberish at the end, but since she had no idea what it could possibly be, she decided to just accept her victory for now, and worry about it later. After a few seconds, she calmed down enough to take a closer look at the new description, and think about its discrepancies with the previous ones. The very first sentence had changed. And it didn¡¯t just fill in the blanks like she had expected it to. It had completely changed. Was the rune not granted then? Was it just something she had naturally? She felt incredibly lied to. Why did the System make it sound like someone else had given it to her before? Were her own thoughts corrupting the information? That didn¡¯t make a ton of sense, but then again, the System ran on aether, and aether was used for mental skills. Maybe her thoughts had influenced the description. She wasn¡¯t sure on that, but it made enough sense, and she didn¡¯t have any better ideas, so she shrugged and moved on. ¡°Divine power¡± had changed to ¡°divinely-given aether¡±. That made sense. Her extra power was definitely divine, but knowing that it was aether rather than some other nebulous power made sense. Not that aether wasn¡¯t nebulous, but now that she knew what it was called and had at least an idea of what it did, it seemed a lot more approachable. Lastly, there were the Skill Quests. She opened them up excitedly, but the excitement faded slightly when she saw what the requirements to unlock them were. [ {Aether Sense} (Skill Quest): Discover the existence of Aether. Reach Tier 5 in your class or species ] [ Progress: 1/2 ] [ Reward: {Aether Sense} skill ] [ {Aether Manipulation} (Skill Quest): Discover the existence of Aether. Reach Tier 6 in your class or species. Acquire {Aether Sense} skill ] [ Progress: 1/3 ] [ Reward: {Aether Manipulation} skill ] [ {Aether Absorption} (Skill Quest): Discover the existence of Aether. Reach Tier 7 in your class or species. Acquire {Aether Sense} skill. Acquire {Aether Manipulation} skill ] [ Progress: 1/4 ] [ Reward: {Aether Absorption} skill ] It put a bit of a damper on her mood, but she quickly pushed that dissatisfaction aside. Five minutes ago, she didn¡¯t know about aether, nor did she have a way to unlock those skills. Now, she not only had answers, she had a simple, straightforward way to unlock what seemed to be rather versatile skills. All she had to do was level up. She turned her attention back to the sound of the monkeys a few hundred feet away. She estimated she still had about five minutes left of her divine aether, and a few more things she wanted to experiment with. She felt a little conflicted about using the monkeys as test subjects like some kind of mad scientist, but she pushed those concerns aside. She was going to hunt them anyway. What was wrong with testing her skills a little bit along the way?
Bianca wasn¡¯t sure what happened. She went to sleep in a comfortable bed in her cabin on the ship. When she woke up, she was in a comfortable bed in a stone tower. Or at least, it felt like a tower. The suite was circular, and whenever it was mealtime, the food arrived through a hatch in the ground, but the windows were filled with more stone, so she couldn¡¯t see outside, and the only noise was that which she made herself. It was not an entirely uncomfortable place. She had been terrified when she first woke up there, but after more than a week, she was now simply confused. She had no idea where she was or why she was there. She assumed she was kidnapped, but whoever had done it had yet to reveal themselves. They were treating her somewhat well. Her main bedroom was almost the size of her bedroom at home, and there was a sizable bathroom where she could take care of her hygienic needs, as well as a closet full of fine clothes. The food she got was simple, but well-made, and despite her early suspicions, it didn¡¯t seem to be laced with anything. The only real discomfort she had was the way the room was completely devoid of mana. Her own body had been drained as well, so she had no way to replenish. Without it, she had no way to escape, or even find information. Her physical stats were practically nonexistent, so she couldn¡¯t even budge the trapdoor entrance, let alone try to break through the stone. It was only on the 8th day that she finally met another person. As with her own arrival in the room, Bianca had no idea how the other woman got there. One second, she was alone, laying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, and the next, there was another woman standing over her. ¡°Good evening,¡± she said. Bianca scrambled back until she was pressed against the wall. ¡°Who are you?¡± she asked. ¡°Where am I? Why am I here?¡± The other woman was wearing an elegant dress the same deep black as her hair with a lower neckline than Bianca would ever dare to try, and her full red lips were pressed into a smile. Her eyes were as red as her lips, and Bianca couldn¡¯t help but feel like they were peering right into her soul. ¡°I am the Lady,¡± said the other woman. ¡°I apologize for the late introduction. I¡¯m afraid I had to step away to take care of some business. Have my subordinates been treating you well?¡± ¡°I guess?¡± replied Bianca. ¡°Where am I?¡± ¡°You will find out in due time. Now, stand up.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± asked Bianca. ¡°I said stand up,¡± said the Lady, her smile fading. ¡°Do not make me tell you a third time.¡± Bianca wanted to protest, but that last sentence made her blood run cold. Without another word, she crawled to the edge of the bed and stood up. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Spin,¡± said the Lady. Bianca spun. When she was back facing forward, the Lady was smiling again. ¡°You would make a fine addition to my Garden.¡± From the way she said it, Bianca knew it had nothing to do with actual plants. ¡°Unfortunately, that will have to wait. You have a very important role to play soon. You¡¯ll be our princess!¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°All in due time,¡± said the Lady, clearly enjoying Bianca¡¯s confusion. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve had a good look at you, I can see why your fianc¨¦ was so adamant about protecting you. You are quite lovely.¡± ¡°Nick?¡± asked Bianca. ¡°Is he here? Is he safe?¡± ¡°He is near,¡± said the Lady, nodding. ¡°And he is safe so long as he does not do anything foolish. However, you may find him¡­ changed.¡± ¡°Changed? What does that mean?¡± The Lady¡¯s smile widened into a grin, and with her teeth bared, Bianca noticed for the first time how long and thin her upper canines were. ¡°Well, that¡¯s all the time I have for today. ¡®Twas nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you.¡± ¡°Wait!¡± shouted Bianca, but the other woman was already gone.
A week after Nick¡¯s unplanned evolution, he had settled into a consistent routine of nothing. It was a more comfortable nothing than he had been doing in the cell, but it was really more of an upgraded prison than anything else. He hadn¡¯t been booked for any fights, and had only left his house¡¯s property to visit the Lady once. When he got there, he was pleased to find that {Fighter¡¯s Instincts} worked on the Lady now. Unfortunately, that only reinforced the feeling of helplessness. Even with his added stats from his evolution, and even with {Vampire-Bane}, which increased them by another 50% when facing a Vampire, he would die in seconds. He had been a bit worried that she would kill him when she found out what he had become, but she only seemed a bit amused, and not at all bothered. ¡°I thought I planted a flower, but you¡¯ve grown into a cactus,¡± she said. ¡°A cactus can still look nice in a garden though.¡± It was at this time that he had met a third vampire whose name was Lily. It was also at this time that he learned that Rose¡¯s name had not originally been Rose. That was instead a name she had been given when she joined the ¡°Lady¡¯s Garden.¡± Nick was also a part of the Garden, and had been given the name ¡°Hyacinth¡±. It didn¡¯t really fit her cactus analogy, but he didn¡¯t dare tell her that. Of the Garden members, Nick was the only one not under the Lady¡¯s direct control, and was therefore the only one not able to do as he pleased. He was constantly under watch, usually by Rose, and during the day, he was not allowed aboveground. Vampires didn¡¯t do well during the day. Fortunately, Nick still had plenty to do. He had spent the past week exploring his new skills, primarily {Aether Sense}. The description told him almost nothing, and the System refused to tell him more about it, but simply using the skill to observe his surroundings gave him a lot of information. Everything alive had aether. No, it produced aether. Humans, insects, plants, and the burrowing rodents around all generated it from somewhere within their bodies. Over time, it slowly leaked out, and dissipated shortly after leaving their bodies. Vampires, however, did not produce aether. Nick had learned in the past that they were classified as ¡°undead¡±, so he assumed that to be the reason. Even so, they still generally had three times the aether of humans or more. Why? Because they stole it from others. While he tried to ignore it, he couldn¡¯t help but wince when he sensed someone being dragged underground and drained of their aether. He wanted nothing more than to charge in and save them, but there was nothing he could do. He wasn¡¯t even confident he could handle Rose, let alone the other members of the Garden. So, he bided his time. He trained his combat skills when he could, and studied aether when he couldn¡¯t. He was left mostly unbothered, since Rose was his main supervisor and she didn¡¯t talk much. Oddly enough, he hadn¡¯t seen the Lady around lately. He knew where her room was, and according to Rose, she was usually there, but it had been a week and he still had yet to see her. At the moment, he was sitting down and meditating, trying to figure out what else aether did. Beyond indicating whether something was alive, he couldn¡¯t tell. He knew he produced a bit more than most people, and he knew that when he used {Absorb Aether}, he could increase the amount he had, but he didn¡¯t know what it was used for. Occasionally, the other vampires seemed to use it, but whatever it did, he couldn¡¯t tell. ¡°The Lady has returned.¡± Nick opened his eyes and looked up to see Rose standing over him, her expression as blank as ever. ¡°Where?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but she is near. I expect she will be here soon.¡± ¡°I see. Thank you.¡± He waited a moment to see if she had anything else to say, then closed his eyes and returned to his meditation. He wasn¡¯t sure if he could call himself close to Rose, but she was by far his favorite person there. She was quiet and calm, and often did him unsolicited favors. More importantly, unlike the others, she didn¡¯t seem to enjoy her position in the Garden. He was sure that if given the choice, she would run away. Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t have a choice. On top of boosting his stats when facing vampires, {Vampire-bane} also gave him a mental encyclopedia of vampire knowledge. Vampires who could create other vampires were called Progenitors, and vampires created by Progenitors could not rebel against their creators unless they became stronger than their creators, or their connection to their creators was somehow severed, which was nearly impossible without divine interference. ¡°She is coming,¡± said Rose. Nick opened his eyes again, and a few seconds later, he sensed it as well. The Lady¡¯s aether was by far the strongest he had ever sensed, and unlike everyone else, it never seemed to drain. It was perfectly contained in her body, only exiting when she wanted it to exit. She was aboveground, something that Nick knew shouldn¡¯t have been possible, but at this point, he just assumed she was 9th tier and was allowed to break some of the rules. Not more than a minute later, she was descending a staircase on the far side of the underground complex with a wide grin on her face. ¡°Hyacinth!¡± she called. Nick scowled and stood up. ¡°I just had a wonderful conversation with your fianc¨¦e.¡± ¡°Bianca?¡± asked Nick, stepping forward. ¡°Where is she?¡± ¡°Around,¡± said the Lady. ¡°You needn¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t lay a hand on her. Yet.¡± Nick could barely contain his rage. ¡°Anyway, how has your time in the Garden been? I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t be around this past week.¡± ¡°Where. Is. Bianca.¡± ¡°That sounds an awful lot like a demand.¡± Nick sensed her aether tense within her body, and immediately knew that he had to stop. ¡°Apologies, my Lady,¡± he said through gritted teeth. ¡°Could you please tell me where my fianc¨¦e is?¡± ¡°Well, since you asked so nicely, I suppose I can tell you a bit,¡± she said, smiling as her aether relaxed. ¡°In three weeks, the Blood Syndicate will be hosting a very special event. One in which you and your fianc¨¦e will be playing a major role. The ordinary fights can be entertaining, but we¡¯ll be having the top brass attending, so a simple program won¡¯t do at all. Instead, we¡¯ll be putting on a special performance of the age-old Princess and the Dragon, retold in real time. ¡°I wasn¡¯t able to find a real dragon, so we¡¯ll have to make do with a drake, but your fianc¨¦e will make a lovely cursed princess, and I thought you would be perfect for the role of the dashing knight.¡± Nick took a deep breath to keep himself from exploding before he replied. ¡°My Lady,¡± he said, his voice trembling. ¡°Is it possible to not involve Bianca in this?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, the plans are now set in stone,¡± she replied with a false frown. ¡°But don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t make you do this for nothing. It¡¯s no fun without stakes, after all. If you succeed, I will not only let your fianc¨¦e remain with you afterward, I will even offer you a chance to escape. And I mean a true escape. No strings attached.¡± Nick narrowed his eyes. He had no idea what to think of that. He obviously didn¡¯t trust the Lady at all, but at the same time, it would be completely in character for her to do something like that. ¡°And you won¡¯t come after us once we escape?¡± ¡°I would not,¡± she said. ¡°I would offer to make an oath or sign a contract, but I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t do either of those things anymore, so you¡¯ll just have to take my word for it.¡± ¡°...Thank you, my Lady.¡± Nick didn¡¯t understand why she was offering this, but on the off-chance it was real, he wasn¡¯t about to throw it away. If he did manage to escape with Bianca, he could alert the Jelorian knights, and they would be able to come back in full force and wipe out this hideout, and hopefully the Lady with it. ¡°Well, I¡¯m off to the baths,¡± said the Lady, turning away. ¡°Care to join me, Hyacinth?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Suit yourself,¡± she said. ¡°Rose, if you would,-¡± She stopped midsentence and turned her head sharply to the right. Rose did the same, and even Nick could sense what had made them pause. Far in the distance, an enormous amount of aether had suddenly appeared. Nick had no idea where it was, since it was so far away, but he had a gut feeling that whatever its source, it was far more than even the Lady had. ¡°Looks like we¡¯ve got a little priest running around,¡± said the Lady, her lips curling up into a smile. She reached over to Rose and put a hand on her shoulder. A wave of aether flew out, surrounding Rose like skin-tight cloth, completely blocking all of the younger vampire¡¯s aether leakage. ¡°Rose, go investigate. You have two hours.¡± ¡°Yes, My Lady.¡± 81 - Fey Curses It was the first time she had used the divine aether since her most recent evolution, and it seemed that her now four-digit Charisma affected even that. She felt that she had finer control than before, even when just using {Suggest}. With a simple thought, she froze all the monkeys in their tracks, bringing a pleasant silence to her surroundings. She thought for a moment about what exactly she could test before settling on her newest tactic: emotional {Suggest}. Fear! she sent to one of the monkeys. [ You have slain Greater Giant Fanged Macaque, lvl 8 ] Her eyes widened as the monkey¡¯s lifeless corpse fell to the ground. Her ordinary sensation of fear had been amplified by the divine aether to the point that it gave the monkey a heart attack. This is dangerous, she thought. A few seconds later, she did it again. [ You have slain Greater Giant Fanged Macaque, lvl 14 ] Would this work on the warg? Clearly, the divine power was making her skill so powerful that the monkeys simply dropped dead, but she wasn¡¯t sure if that would be universal, or if it was just because the monkeys were weak or something like that. Maybe they just had really low Willpower, and something more powerful would be able to resist it better. Or maybe she really did just have an instant kill ability while using divine aether. Either way, she didn¡¯t have much time left with it, so she set her thoughts aside and moved on to the next skill she needed to test: {Fairy Dust}. She had only tested its healing capabilities before, and that wasn¡¯t even one of the skill¡¯s main functions. System, tell me what exactly it means when it says ¡°blesses¡± and ¡°curses¡± in the description for {Fairy Dust}, she commanded. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but we¡¯ve recently detected a data breach from your local version of the System. Please hang tight while we work to resolve this.¡± ¡°...Oops,¡± she said aloud. She had been so glad to get answers that she never considered the possibility that the System wouldn¡¯t take kindly to being forced to give them. She worried for a few seconds whether she would get in trouble for what she did, but with no way to get answers, she had to stop and refocus on the task at hand. She turned back to the still monkeys and then flew above one of them. First, she tried the default use of reducing stats. [ Greater Giant Fanged Macaque has been afflicted with {Cursed Fairy Dust}! The target¡¯s stats will be reduced by 99.93% for the next thirty seconds ] The monkey¡¯s body went limp as all its stats were reduced to less than 1, and it fell forward. With less than 1 in Fortitude, its body wasn¡¯t even strong enough to even handle a collision with a small branch, and it died before it even hit the ground. This is overpowered. Next, she tried a similar stat debuff, but when she released the dust, she thought about reducing its stats for as long as possible, rather than by as much as possible. [ Greater Giant Fanged Macaque has been afflicted with {Cursed Fairy Dust}! The target¡¯s stats will be reduced by 50% for the next 1056 days ] The monkey seemed to deflate, its muscles seemingly no longer able to flex as hard, and it wobbled slightly on its perch, but didn¡¯t fall. Elise was once again amazed at the sheer scale of the curse. It would be weakened for almost a full three years. Assuming, of course, that the curse didn¡¯t weaken once she no longer had the divine aether. She left that monkey where it was so that she could see what happened to it after {Rune of Fate} wore off and moved on to the next one. Now, it was time for the more interesting things. Clearly, her ability to bless and curse did not work only in temporary stat changes. With the dwarves, she had been able to lengthen their beards. Back on Earth, she had read enough fantasy to know that fey magic was varied, and often nonsensical. Could she steal the monkeys¡¯ names? That seemed more in the realm of {Fey Bargaining}. Maybe with the divine power, she could steal names. Maybe she could even do it without. She had no idea what she would do with something else¡¯s name, but she wanted to test it. Too bad the monkeys weren¡¯t smart enough. Unless¡­ On the next monkey, she dropped more {Fairy Dust}, but this time, with a blessing, and she focused hard on trying to make the blessing about making it more intelligent. [ Greater Giant Fanged Macaque has been afflicted with {Blessed Fairy Dust}! The target¡¯s Intelligence has increased by 50 ] This one left Elise legitimately dumbfounded. She could increase stats?? She could just sprinkle a little dust on something, and give it a permanent stat increase? There was no time limit associated with that one, so it must have been a permanent increase then. And if she could permanently increase others¡¯ stats, did that mean she could permanently increase her own as well? She immediately tried dropping the dust from her wings on herself with a Fortitude buff in mind, but for some reason, the skill refused to cooperate. The dust clung to her wings like they were made of glue, refusing to fall on her. She tried harder, frustrated. She had a gut feeling that whatever was stopping her had nothing to do with the System, but rather with the one whose aether she was using. Titania can I please increase my Fortitude? she thought. There was no response. Can you at least tell me why in a dream later? There was no response to that either, but she still hoped that her request was at least heard. With that, she turned her attention back to the now-smarter monkey. It actually wasn¡¯t much smarter, since Intelligence affected memory and speed of perception more than anything else, but she hoped it would at least be something. She dropped more dust on it, this time thinking of letting it learn how to speak Fey like Emilia had done for her before, but she was met with disappointment. [ Error. The target does not meet the requirements to receive this blessing. ] It must have been because the monkey wasn¡¯t sapient. It might have gotten a higher Intelligence, but it was nowhere near powerful enough to earn that. She frowned as well as she could with her rabbit mouth, then left it to move onto the next one. This time, she tried a physical alteration. She wasn¡¯t entirely sure how that would work, but she had been able to make the dwarves¡¯ beards grow. Why not more with the divine aether? She first tried to simply lengthen its fur, and that worked magnificently. From a relatively ordinary-looking monkey, it turned into what looked like a giant puffball. It¡¯s face was still mostly visible, but its limbs were completely hidden under the thick fur with only its long tail poking out the back. The System message told her that she had successfully applied the ¡°blessing¡± but at that level, it seemed more like a curse. Either way, that had been a success, so she went further with the next one. This time, she thought about making its tail longer. To her surprise, not only did that work, it made the tail more than double in length. It had already been as long as the monkey was tall, but now it hung down a full ten feet below the branch, getting tangled in the leaves of the branch below it. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. She followed that up by cursing it with a short tail, and the tail shrunk back to less than half the size it had been originally. Next, she shortened its fur, and the fur receded back until it looked like someone had given it a buzz cut, and its pale skin was visible in between the follicles. She tried ¡°no hair¡± and ¡°no tail¡± next, and while the ¡°no hair¡± curse did make the hair fall out, the ¡°no tail¡± one simply shortened the tail to a stub, and when she tried to re-apply to get rid of it entirely, nothing happened. I bet I could get rid of it fully with {Fey Bargaining}. She could sense that her time with the divine aether was running short, so she then moved on to the last set of blessing and curse tests, which was more vague and with less obvious results. She cursed one with hunger, and one with blindness, and blessed another with improved vision and a fourth with more robust leg muscles. The second and fourth had visible effects, with the blind monkey¡¯s eyes turning cloudy and the other¡¯s legs getting thicker. The other two, she would have to see once the divine aether wore off, which she could feel would be in just a couple seconds. With the last of it, she tested the opposite of the stat blessing she had done on the earlier one, reducing its Strength by 50. With that, the divine aether left her, and the monkeys which had been frozen by her periodic uses of {Suggest} were freed and, as usual, leapt to attack her. The fight went much the same as all her other fights, with only minor differences caused by her experimentation. The ¡°smarter¡± monkey leapt for her just as it normally would have, and she blocked it with {Suggest} just as she normally would. It reacted a bit more quickly than usual, but still not quickly enough to avoid the {Magic Missile}. The blind monkey located her by smell, apparently, and then made its own leap at her. It was way off, and she didn¡¯t even need to dodge it. It missed every branch on its way down and died when it hit the ground. The weakened monkey tried jumping at her, but didn¡¯t seem to realize how weak it was, and it fell short, also crashing to the ground and dying. The strong-legged monkey was a little bit faster than usual as it leapt at her, but nothing she couldn¡¯t handle. The one with better vision was not noticeably different. The monkey she had cursed with hunger surprised her by leaping for one of its uncursed brethren and taking a bite out of its shoulder. A violent melee ensued where each ended up battered and bloody. Elise didn¡¯t get to them until she had finished dealing with the others, but when she got there, the hungry one was gnawing on the uncursed one¡¯s severed arm. Elise put both out of their misery with a {Magic Missile} to the head. She didn¡¯t gain any levels from the battle, but she did gain the satisfaction of knowledge. In the past fifteen minutes since activating {Rune of Fate}, she felt like she had learned more about her skills than she had in all the time since coming to this world. The description of {Rune of Fate} seemed almost complete, and she understood the limits of her blessings and curses much better. She had learned about the existence of aether, and tied it to her existing knowledge and theories to create what she felt was a solid basic understanding of the mysterious energy. She looked down at the carnage below, her eyes ultimately settling on the bald, nearly tailless monkey. Her satisfaction slowly gave way to horror as she thought further about what she had just done. I¡¯m a monster. Sure, the monkeys were violent monsters that didn¡¯t hesitate to try to kill her on sight, but wasn¡¯t what she had just done worse? She had used her power to force them to remain still as she performed unethical experiments on them. Not unethical, she tried to tell herself. Necessary. I needed to know these things. She hovered in the air almost completely still as she mentally wrestled with herself. It definitely was essential knowledge. She couldn¡¯t keep going around without understanding the full capabilities of her skills. And she would have killed the monkeys anyway. She didn¡¯t really even hurt most of them. Probably. She doubted the hunger curse felt pleasant, but she did need to know if she could actually do that. Besides, was it really that much different than what she would have been doing back on Earth? Her goal was a job in the medical field. If she didn¡¯t end up working in a hospital, she might instead have been developing drugs in a laboratory and testing them on animals. Was that wrong too? No, it was necessary. Using humans as test subjects for questionable things? That was bad. Animals? As long as she wasn¡¯t being unnecessarily cruel, it was good. It might even let her save lives in the future. But it still felt wrong. Why? she asked herself. Why does it feel wrong? She tried for a few minutes to come up with an answer, but drew a blank. She had no idea why it felt wrong. Just a gut feeling. I¡¯m just not used to it, she thought. As long as I don¡¯t get all weird and sadistic about it, I¡¯ll be fine. She wasn¡¯t quite certain of that answer, but it was the best she had. Logically, she couldn¡¯t see a reason why what she had done was wrong. She would need to do more testing in the future as well. She had found out what divinely powerful could allow her to do, but beyond her basic healing, she didn¡¯t have a baseline for how much more powerful it was than what she could normally do. If she wanted to be fully prepared for the rescue mission, she needed to fully understand what she could do, and that meant more experimentation. It was just something she would have to live with. The feeling of wrongness would fade over time. With that thought, she turned back toward the outer areas of the jungle. The Greater Giant Fanged Macaques gave her more experience, but the normal variants would be much more useful for testing, since they were slow enough that she would actually be able to apply {Fairy Dust} without risking her life. She flew out, dodging around a few groups of the stronger monsters until she finally found what she was looking for, then, after taking a deep breath to steel herself, she flew in, wings at the ready. *** Hans was deep in the Jungle, closer to the Blood Syndicate¡¯s headquarters than to the outside. He was well beyond where the others could reach him, but with his speed, getting back before nightfall would still be simple. This far in, the ordinary versions of the regular monsters were gone entirely, leaving only variants and variants of variants. A few days prior, he would have been hesitant to go in so deep, but now, he had no worries. The small rabbit who had seemed so weak proved to be much tougher than he initially thought, and he no longer held any doubts about her ability to survive on her own. It was actually a bit frightening how quickly she had progressed, both in skill, and in mentality. In their first encounter, she had been too nervous to fight a group of weak monsters a tier below herself. By the end of that day, she was diving in without hesitation. By the end of the next day, she was starting to get bored of even the Greater variants. Initially she had struck him as an upjumped house pet, and he wondered how she had even made it to fourth tier, but after a few days with her, he understood. She was not a house pet. She never had been. She had simply told herself she was for so long that she started to believe it. Deep down, she was just as ruthless and ambitious as any other fey. Of course, he couldn¡¯t tell her that, but he had been trying to subtly steer her thought process in that direction. It would be such a waste of talent if she never managed to break out of her shell. It will be dangerous though. She was not at the level where she could be a threat to him¡­ yet. At a full three tiers below, she would have had to be a dragon in disguise for that to be the case. However, after another evolution? Hans wasn¡¯t so sure. Her Charisma was abnormally high, even for a Legendary species, and even more abnormal was her seemingly endless ability to use Charisma-based skills. He doubted she would be stronger than him once she reached the fifth tier, but he would no longer be absolutely confident in his ability to defeat her. Of course, it would never come to that. They were allies, and he didn¡¯t see any reason for that to change. Still, he was glad that she was on his side, and not working for the Blood Syndicate. Even without evolving again, another few weeks of practice and training would turn her into a force to be reckoned with in a group battle. He turned his thoughts away from his new pupil as he heard the sound of monkeys screeching ahead of him. There were over thirty, and while they were all sixth tier, their sheer numbers would at least let him get some good practice in, and keep himself from getting rusty. The battle that ensued was drawn out a bit more than it needed to be, but Hans wanted to make sure he worked all his skills. He flickered his wings on and off and formed small mana platforms to push off of as he weaved through the crowd of angry monkeys, making it through the entire group without a single feather being touched. He repeated this a few times, then coated his hands in incredibly sharp mana and did it again, this time slashing as he went. A dozen unfortunate monkeys lost fingers, hands, and even entire arms to his first onslaught, a dozen more to his second, and by the fourth, none were left uninjured. None of them were even close to fast enough to match his speed, but there were a few Greater Giant Fanged Macaque Blinkers which could teleport short distances to try to cut him off. That kept the battle interesting, forcing Hans to make quick directional changes to avoid crashing into them head-on. He was definitely stronger than they were, but he also definitely had lower Fortitude, so a mistake could be deadly. The monkeys tried their best, but they still never managed to hit him even once, and after a few minutes, when they were all bloody and starting to slow down, Hans decided it was time for his finishing move. He dove into the center of the group, then flew straight up, spinning around rapidly. Cursed feathers flew out in all directions, momentarily freezing the monkeys in their tracks. That moment was all he needed. In less than five seconds, he slit the throats of every single one, and they all fell to the ground, dead. No, not all of them. He didn¡¯t see any remaining monkeys, but he did sense something else watching him. No, someone. He waited a few seconds to see if they would approach, but instead, they retreated. Hans couldn¡¯t allow that. Anyone this deep in the Jungle was either a powerful monster hunter, or a scout for the Blood Syndicate. He placed his bets on the latter. Very few people in the world could successfully escape from Hans, and this person was not one of them. It wasn¡¯t even ten seconds before he caught up to them. It was a blond woman in a simple red dress, and while her Agility was quite high, it was nothing compared to his own. He shot past her and turned around with his arms crossed, trying to look intimidating. The intimidation effect didn¡¯t last long, as it was ruined by his expression of surprise and confusion when he saw who it was. ¡°Maia?¡± 82 - Rose Red ¡°Please let me go,¡± said the woman in red. ¡°No,¡± said Hans. ¡°You¡¯re not Maia. Are you Kaia?¡± ¡°Please let me go.¡± ¡°Not until you answer some questions.¡± ¡°What questions do you need me to answer?¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°My name is Rose.¡± ¡°Why do you look like Maia?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Hans narrowed his eyes suspiciously. She didn¡¯t look like she was lying, but she didn¡¯t look like she was telling the truth either. Her face looked exactly like Maia¡¯s, and he knew Maia was on the mission to find her missing twin. However, there was something off about this ¡°Rose¡± person. She didn¡¯t seem quite human. ¡°What are you?¡± ¡°Please let me go.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to take you back with me,¡± replied Hans. ¡°If you do, I will die.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°If I don¡¯t return soon, I will die. Please let me go.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a fey, yes? Make a deal with me.¡± Hans just stared at her. He wasn¡¯t sure what to do. The only people who would be this deep in the Jungle would be Blood Syndicate members or powerful adventurers, and she seemed much more like the former than the latter. On one hand, if she went back, she would report his presence and the operation would be compromised. On the other hand, he was almost completely certain she was Maia¡¯s lost sister, so he couldn¡¯t risk her death. ¡°Fine,¡± he said. ¡°You will tell me the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, or you will die.¡± ¡°I cannot agree to that,¡± said Rose. ¡°If I say the whole truth, I will die. I can only agree to tell the truth and nothing but the truth.¡± ¡°Then you will tell the truth and nothing but the truth for the duration of this interaction as defined by me.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± Before the icy feeling had gone away, Hans was already speaking again. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°My name is Rose.¡± ¡°I did not ask for your name. I asked who you are.¡± ¡°I am Rose. I cannot say anything more without suffering severe consequences.¡± ¡°Are you with the Blood Syndicate?¡± ¡°That depends on how you define ¡®with.¡¯¡± ¡°Do you work for them?¡± ¡°I do not.¡± ¡°Do they work for you?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Do they work for whoever you serve?¡± ¡°Sometimes.¡± ¡°Are you going to report my presence here when you return?¡± ¡°I am not.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°If you make me explain the full reason, it will no longer be possible for me not to report your presence.¡± Hans sighed. ¡°I see. So to confirm, you don¡¯t work for the Blood Syndicate, and they don¡¯t work for you, but they sometimes work for the one you serve?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And you won¡¯t tell the one you serve that you met me?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t plan on it, but I need you to fulfill one condition for me first.¡± ¡°You said you wouldn¡¯t do it,¡± said Hans. ¡°How did you lie?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t lie,¡± replied Rose. ¡°I don¡¯t plan on it because I plan on convincing you to fulfill my condition so that I don¡¯t have to.¡± ¡°And what would that condition be?¡± ¡°I was sent here to investigate something. If you can help me find out what it was, I will have no reason to disclose your presence here.¡± ¡°What are you investigating?¡± ¡°We sensed a large amount of divine power here not long ago. It¡¯s gone now, but it was enough that my master was intrigued.¡± ¡°Divine power?¡± asked Hans. His first thought was that he had no idea what she was talking about. His second thought was Elise. Perhaps the divine power was the reason that her Charisma was so strange. And perhaps that was why she had asked to hunt on her own. It would make sense. But could he tell Rose about that? ¡°Yes. If I return without answers, I will be questioned further and possibly forced to talk about you. If I return with a satisfactory answer, that will be the end of it.¡± Her face remained blank, but Hans heard her silent words. She didn¡¯t say she needed ¡°the truth.¡± She said she needed a ¡°satisfactory answer.¡± That suited him well enough as he didn¡¯t know the truth. ¡°One of my party members is a powerful priest,¡± he said. ¡°I didn¡¯t know he was powerful enough to draw your master¡¯s attention, but I will talk to him to make sure he doesn¡¯t bother you further.¡± ¡°May I see him? From afar? I have no desire to harm him, but if I can see him, I¡¯ll be able to give a better report. Just a physical description for scouting purposes.¡± ¡°No,¡± said Hans immediately. ¡°Even if you¡¯re not lying, I can¡¯t trust you with that. I will tell you what he looks like though. He is a fit middle-aged man with graying hair. He''s dressed in white robes, and he wields a staff. He mostly uses healing skills, but he also provides some supporting buffs in combat." He couldn''t read Rose''s face, but he was fairly certain she knew that he was blatantly lying. However, she didn''t challenge his words. ¡°That is enough,¡± said Rose, nodding. ¡°Is there anything else you want to know?¡± ¡°Will you really die if I take you back with me?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Hans considered for a few seconds. If she wasn¡¯t Maia¡¯s sister he would take her back anyway. He might have even just killed her on the spot when she refused to answer his questions. He also had to be careful about what kind of questions he asked. He realized that he might have already made a mistake when he mentioned the Blood Syndicate, as no one was supposed to know they were hidden within the Jungle. Then again, he could probably get away with it, since they already knew that he knew. He still couldn¡¯t fish for too much information that would help with the mission. Anything they needed, they already had from their contact within the organization. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°I only have one final question then,¡± said Hans. ¡°I know a girl named Maia. You look exactly like her. She has a long lost twin sister named Kaia. Are you Kaia?¡± ¡°...I am Rose.¡± ¡°Are you also Kaia?¡± ¡°Kaia is dead. You should tell the girl you know to stop looking for her.¡± ¡°Kaia, what happened to you?¡± ¡°I am Rose. I will not answer any more questions about this.¡± ¡°Kaia!¡± The young woman just continued to stare at him, her face still completely devoid of emotion. Hans tried a few more ways to make her talk, but, as she promised, she didn¡¯t respond to any of them. ¡°Are you done?¡± she asked during a moment of silence after his latest silence. ¡°If Kaia is dead, then it doesn¡¯t matter if I just kill you then, does it?¡± ¡°My master will not be happy.¡± ¡°That¡¯s too bad.¡± ¡°You will regret making my master unhappy.¡± Hans never actually planned on hurting her in the first place, but if he had, that sentence still would have made him pause. She was still under the binds of their deal. She couldn¡¯t lie, and she probably had a decent idea of how strong he was, and she was still absolutely confident that he would regret angering her master. ¡°Fine,¡± he said. ¡°After you sign another contract saying you won''t inform your master of me, you can go. But don¡¯t get in the way of my hunting anymore.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± she said bowing. After agreeing to a contract of secrecy, Rose turned to leave. She turned to leave, but hesitated, and for the first time, her face showed a hint of emotion. He wasn¡¯t sure what emotion it was though because it was gone almost instantly, and a moment later she was dashing away between the trees.
Elise hovered in the air above yet another smattering of monkey corpses as she tallied up the results of her experiments. The divine aether was indeed a massive boon. She realized that her method wasn¡¯t entirely scientific, since she was working on a weaker species than she had with the divine power, but the results were still quite conclusive. An ordinary stat debuff curse only did 60% for 30 seconds, even on the weaker species. A longer term debuff was 10% for a week. Growing fur was noticeable, but not really all that effective, and shortening it didn¡¯t get anywhere close to even buzz cut length. Trying to lengthen and shorten the tail was barely noticeable, and trying to grant permanent stat boosts didn¡¯t do anything at all. Titania, can you please explain the stat buff thing later? There was no response again, but Elise hoped that Titania was at least listening. She knew it was maybe presumptuous of her to assume that a goddess would take the time to personally visit and explain something like that to her, but she clearly had some kind of interest in Elise, so it might work. She took one last look at the carnage around her and decided she was done hunting for the day. It was mostly not because of her own moral qualms. That might have been a subconscious part of it, but it was also that she had already left the higher-level zones, it was already mid-afternoon, and she felt like if she used the rest of the day on mana circulation, she might be able to unlock the skill in the morning. It took her a bit to find exactly where their camp was, since she had gone a little out of the way, but fortunately, the hunter¡¯s path went more or less straight into the Jungle, so she could just fly toward it until she hit it and figure out the way from there. When she returned, Penelope was already back, though the rest were nowhere in sight. She was doing mana circulation, but she opened her eyes when she heard Elise touch down. ¡°You¡¯re back early,¡± she said. ¡°So are you,¡± replied Elise. ¡°I¡¯m getting close to my class evolution,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s more important for me to level up my other skills than it is for me to continue hunting right now.¡± ¡°I see,¡± said Elise. Penelope stared for a few seconds longer until Elise realized she was waiting for an explanation in return. ¡°Oh,¡± she said. ¡°I was doing some hunting alone, but I wanted to come back because I think I might be able to unlock {Mana Circulation} tonight or tomorrow.¡± ¡°Congratulations.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± Elise replied. Elise hopped to her usual spot between two branches and closed her eyes and began meditating. She started by practicing with her lower core as she had done before, making sure she didn¡¯t get out of practice while working on her upper core. Once she was warmed up, she added her upper core to the mix. Her upper core was more elastic than her lower core had been, but it still felt clunky. She could get it to pulse a little bit, but never in-sync with the other two. The center would pulse, then the lower, and then a few seconds later, the upper core would finally respond. She had previously tried pulsing it at the same time as her lower core, thinking that it would be simpler to work with two than one, but that actually made it more difficult. Having the influx of purer mana from the central core made working the upper core much easier, so she returned to her first method. Over the past two days since starting this, she had seen steady progress. The delay between the lower core and upper core was only two seconds when she started, and reduced nearly to one second as she practiced on. When she practiced again later that night, or in the morning, it would start longer again, but she was certain that as soon as she got it below a certain threshold, she would be granted the skill. What that threshold was, she had no idea, but she knew she was getting close. An hour after starting, she learned that the threshold was much closer than she had previously thought. She got the delay to around a second, hit a wall where she couldn¡¯t improve for about fifteen minutes, and the second she finally overcame it, the whole process suddenly became easy. The pulsing became smoother, the upper and lower cores pumped in sync, the time between pulses decreased, and she had to concentrate significantly less to make them happen. When she opened her eyes, there was a System message waiting for her. [ {Mana Circulation} (Skill Quest): Perform basic circulation through all mana cores. ] [ Progress: 3/3 ] [ Reward: {Mana Circulation} skill ] [ You have completed the Skill Quest {Mana Circulation}! You have unlocked the skill {Mana Circulation}! ] She immediately closed her eyes and jumped back in with gusto. She heard the familiar ding of level-ups as she managed to get the skill to level 6 before the body aches reached the point that she was forced to stop. Aside from the aches though, she felt great. Her mana was purer than ever, and she could feel it coursing through her body like adrenaline. When she opened her eyes, Penelope was done with her own meditation, and was now slowly moving through stances with her sword. Her mana control was very good, so it was difficult for Elise to fully sense the mana flowing within her body, but from the little bits that leaked out, and the dense concentration at the sword, she could tell that whatever Penelope was doing was more than simple form practice. She watched in fascination for a few minutes before being filled with a sudden urge to take on her human form and mimic her. She resisted for another minute while she thought through it. There was really no point in the mimicry, since she didn¡¯t have whatever skill Penelope was using, but at the same time, it could still be useful in other ways. Penelope said she was nearing her class evolution. Elise wasn¡¯t yet near her next evolution, but Penelope¡¯s words made her think back to her conversation with Mindy. She had no idea what she wanted to do later on, but if she didn¡¯t figure it out by the time she evolved, her options might be limited. She didn¡¯t want to reach the next threshold and only have manipulator and hunter changeling options available. Maybe if she mimicked Penelope enough, or even learned from her, she would get a {Rabbit Changeling Knight} option or something like that. Penelope looked like she was deep in concentration, so Elise moved about with utmost care so as not to disturb her and started looking for a suitable stick. Penelope had an extra sword, but she didn¡¯t want to touch that without permission, and there were plenty of sticks around. Or so she thought. Most of the sticks she found were either too thick or too wet and flexible to be useful. It took her much longer than she thought it would to find a good one, and by the time she returned, Penelope had already finished, and was wiping sweat from her face with a spare towel. When she saw Elise returning with her stick, she cocked her head slightly in confusion. Elise paused, looked down at the stick, then back at Penelope. ¡°I was hoping,¡± she started slowly. ¡°That maybe you¡¯d be willing to teach me how to use a sword?¡± Penelope didn¡¯t respond so Elise continued. ¡°Since I¡¯m a Lesser Changeling, I sort of have to pick a profession for my next evolution, and I thought that it might be nice to be a Changeling Knight?¡± Penelope stared for a moment longer, then shrugged. ¡°Sure. But you can set that down. We¡¯ll use real swords.¡± Elise dropped the stick in her hand as Penelope bent down to grab her spare sword from her bag. A few seconds later, Elise was holding the spare sword and facing down a tree just outside the camp. ¡°You¡¯ve never used a sword, right?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°No,¡± said Elise. ¡°I mean yes. I¡¯ve never used a sword before.¡± ¡°The most important thing for a beginner to learn about the sword is the grip. How you swing is much less important than how you hold it at this stage. If you don¡¯t properly learn right now, you¡¯ll be disadvantaged going forward. ¡°So, I want you to hold the sword out in front of you, angled up.¡± Elise raised the sword. ¡°Good. Now, lower the tip slightly. Not that far. Good. This is a fairly standard angle. Now look at your hand. Your knuckles are turning white. Loosen your grip. Not that loose. That¡¯s too tight again. ¡°The strength of your grip is important. Hold the sword too tight and you¡¯ll be rigid, and it will cut into your maneuverability. Your hand will also get hurt if you try to block a powerful blow. If it¡¯s too loose though, you run the risk of dropping your sword, or worse, hitting yourself with your own sword when you clash with a stronger opponent.¡± It took them a full fifteen minutes before Penelope was satisfied with Elise¡¯s grip, and after that, they moved on to two-handed grip. Another ten minutes were spent on that, Elise was finally able to start swinging. In one particular way. Repeatedly. She needed it though. She had been decently athletic on Earth, but since coming to the new world, she hadn¡¯t trained her body much. Her Strength was absolutely atrocious, and given that the trees in the Jungle seemed to be magically sturdy, her strikes barely left marks. The only silver lining was that her Dexterity was high enough that she was able to be reasonably consistent in the placement of her strikes. The first strike was a diagonal whose path went from high and right to low and left. When Penelope was satisfied that Elise had a reasonable mastery of that one, she wanted Elise to move on to a horizontal left-to-right slash, but Elise¡¯s low Fortitude was making itself known, and her shoulder felt like it was about to fall off. Upon hearing this, Penelope had her learn the grip and form for the same swing, but mirrored using her left hand, and Elise practiced that until that shoulder also felt dead. Around this time, Jag and Maia returned, and a few minutes later, so did Hans. Elise was glad for the interruption, and went to rest in the clearing, using her {Fairy Dust} to help alleviate her soreness. Maia and Penelope started cooking a couple parrots for their dinner while Jag chattered happily, but Elise noticed that Hans looked troubled. He didn¡¯t say a word, but he spent the entire meal frowning, and when everyone finished and started to split up to work on their more static skills, he cleared his throat, drawing everyone¡¯s attention to him. ¡°Maia,¡± he said. ¡°What is it?¡± she asked. ¡°...I believe I just met your sister.¡± 83 - Plan Change Left! Elise sent, swinging her stick at Penelope¡¯s right side. It almost worked. Penelope hesitated for a split second before deftly moving her own stick to intercept Elise¡¯s, then responded with a counter, bruising Elise¡¯s shoulder. Left! Elise sent again. This time, she actually struck at Penelope¡¯s left side, and she tried to time it better. It was a closer miss this time, but still a miss, and she got a welt on the hip for her troubles. A few more such exchanges occurred until one strike to the thigh made Elise fall to one knee. ¡°Your mental skills are good, but you depend on them too much,¡± said Penelope, reaching out a hand. ¡°Your fundamentals get sloppy when you spend too much time on them.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll work on them more then,¡± said Elise, accepting the hand and pulling herself to her feet. ¡°Good,¡± said Penelope, nodding. ¡°Let¡¯s take a break.¡± Elise nodded in return and trudged over to their main camp to grab a drink from the tank Hans had brought shortly after arriving. She dumped a cup on her head, then a second, then drank two more before collapsing against a tree. It had been a week since she started training swordsmanship with Penelope, and it was brutal. Her {Fairy Dust} proved to be both a blessing and a curse. Its healing properties were just potent enough to heal her soreness and minor wounds, but that only meant that she could drill for even longer. Despite only working on it in the late afternoons after hunting the rest of the day, she had already swung the sword thousands of times. Two days before, she had finally convinced Penelope to start sparring with her. Penelope warned her that it might be too early for that, but Elise thought it was necessary. Not only was it a welcome break from the monotony of repetitive swinging, but it also allowed her a chance to practice fighting against humans. In the first spar, Elise actually managed to score a hit on Penelope almost immediately by using her visceral {Suggest} to distract her at the wrong moment. However, after that, Penelope had gotten more serious. Apparently, knights had a powerful mental protection skill that they could activate while fighting. Elise connected the dots back to when Penelope had dueled Yuri, and realized that¡¯s why she was unable to affect him. Even if he was higher level than her, her experience practicing her mental skills on Penelope had proven that knights didn¡¯t have the stats to resist even her verbal {Suggest} normally. According to Penelope, it was exhausting to keep the skill up long-term, but not so much that Elise could wear her out. Her physical stats were far too high, and her swordsmanship was beyond Elise¡¯s comprehension. Even holding back, she could handle Elise easily. During the first few spars after activating that skill, Elise was thoroughly beaten. Her {Suggest} didn¡¯t seem to do anything, meaning she had nothing to rely on but her shoddy beginner¡¯s swordsmanship, which was hardly better than nothing, and her physical stats, which were weak. However, through this, she was able to refine her combat sense. Penelope had already remarked a few times on how quickly her combat sense progressed, but Elise figured it was just due to her hunting experience. Once she got used to it, sparring with Penelope wasn¡¯t much different from hunting one of the giant frogs. A much more powerful version, but still a single enemy that Elise could focus fully on to find an opening. Through their sparring, Elise had also managed to refine {Suggest} even further. She had a minor epiphany at some point while they fought, granting her four full levels in the skill in one fell swoop, and that was just barely enough to put a few cracks in Penelope¡¯s mental defenses. The epiphany she had was something she had already realized for verbal {Suggest}, but hadn¡¯t thought to apply to the visceral variant. If she mixed a bit of truth in with the lie, it became much more believable. A simple sense of danger was good, but that same sense of danger combined with Elise taking a small step forward and raising her stick was almost twice as effective. This method was doubly effective when applied to swordsmanship, since it was so fluid, and any movement could indicate the intent at any kind of attack. Penelope thought that using this during sparring was almost a kind of cheating, but at the same time, it provided her a chance to level the mental defense skill she so rarely got to use, so she allowed it. That didn¡¯t mean she didn¡¯t harp on Elise for letting her basics slip when using them though. After resting for a bit in human form, Elise switched back to her changeling form, used {Fairy Dust} to alleviate her soreness, and then switched to {Mana Circulation}. She had gotten the skill all the way to level 20 in the past week, meaning she could fully cleanse the mana in her body in just over an hour. On top of that, because the circulation process was now handled by the Skill, she could focus on her mana absorption while circulating, meaning that even if she fully emptied her mana stores, she could refill and repurify them in just over an hour and a half. Shortly after she finished meditating, while she was still relaxing and mentally preparing to start swinging the sword again, Jag stalked into the clearing, making very little noise for a creature his size. His face was wet from washing off, but Elise could still see remnants of his hunt clinging to his fur. ¡°Is Maia not back yet?¡± he asked, seeing Elise looking at him. ¡°Nope.¡± It was already the tail end of sunset, and Maia was still nowhere to be seen. Her returns had been getting later and later ever since Hans told her about her sister, and she came back more worn and haggard every time. ¡°I¡¯m getting worried about her,¡± said Jag. ¡°I don¡¯t know what it feels like to have a sibling because I killed all my spawn-mates, but I can see the results of those feelings. She¡¯s in a lot of pain, and I just wish I knew what to say.¡± ¡°Yeah, same¡­¡± Elise had never been close to her adopted siblings, so she didn¡¯t fully understand what Maia was feeling either. She could sort of empathize with it from the way she felt after the warg incident, but losing people she only knew for a couple weeks was very different from losing a twin with whom she had spent her entire life. On top of that, she could hardly imagine what she would do if she found Sophie again and learned that the girl had been brainwashed and was controlled by the threat of death, let alone if she had an actual sister go through the same thing. One thing she did feel after hearing about the whole situation was anger. It wasn¡¯t fair. It wasn¡¯t fair that the Blood Syndicate could strike fear into so many without consequence. It wasn¡¯t fair that they could rip people from their families and change their names and mind control them. It wasn¡¯t fair that Elise had to just sit there waiting for the right time to strike, knowing that people were suffering and dying while she couldn¡¯t do anything to help. Between those feelings, and her increased time spent with Penelope, Elise was starting to come to a decision about what she wanted to do in the future. Even after she helped Ostra deal with the Blood Syndicate, that was only one problem solved. It was a big problem, but even after, there would still be people like Yuri and the Boss making life a living hell for innocent people like Annie and Marco. Elise couldn¡¯t stop all of that, but she could at least be like Penelope, stepping in to help wherever she could. Like a superhero, she thought. She imagined herself in her rabbit form flying around with a cape, saving civilians from danger, and had to stifle a chuckle. She probably wouldn¡¯t work like that, but maybe it would be something similar. Her ability to make contracts was actually perfect for what she wanted to do. She could take criminals and force them to behave without having to resort to extreme violence and killing like Penelope did. Not that she thought Penelope was necessarily wrong for what she did, but if Elise could accomplish the same thing without the killing, wasn¡¯t that better? If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. She didn¡¯t know if she wanted to be a Changeling Knight or something else, but she had a solid idea of what her goals would be, and she would be able to make a decision based on what best suited that goal. ¡°How¡¯s your sword training going?¡± asked Jag, pulling her out of her idle thoughts. ¡°It¡¯s going alright,¡± said Elise. ¡°It¡¯s hard.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve seen you practicing,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to wield a sword. Unfortunately¡­¡± He looked down at his paws. Elise chuckled. ¡°Well, maybe you¡¯ll be able to once you reach your next evolution,¡± she suggested. ¡°Maybe,¡± he said. ¡°It won¡¯t be for a while though. Evolutions don¡¯t come often once you reach my level though.¡± ¡°What level are you, if you don¡¯t mind me asking?¡± ¡°I¡¯m about three quarters of the way through the 7th tier,¡± he said. ¡°Level 31. But I haven¡¯t gained a level in over a year. To be fair, I haven¡¯t been hunting too often, but still, it¡¯s difficult at this level. Not only does it take more experience to level up, but it¡¯s harder to find prey that actually can give that experience without going to places that are incredibly dangerous. Technically, hunting high-level humanoids would be the easiest way for me to level up right now, but obviously I can¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°I see,¡± said Elise. She hadn¡¯t thought much about it before, but what he said made sense. It also made sense why Emilia had spent so long with the dwarves and drow. On top of just being a sadist who enjoyed causing suffering, the constant stream of consistent experience was also probably easier and safer than hunting creatures at her level. Especially considering her skills had been built around manipulating humanoids from the shadows, so her direct combat abilities might not have been enough to hunt things around her level properly. ¡°How does anyone manage to get to 9th tier then?¡± she asked. ¡°Long lives,¡± replied Jag. ¡°Lucky encounters. Unique species. Fortunately, lifespans increase as you get stronger, so even for someone like me who normally wouldn¡¯t live forever like you fey, I still have time. It¡¯s rougher on humanoids, since their lifespans increase far less than ours do with level, but even they can reach a few centuries old, giving them plenty of time to climb to the top. ¡°Even so, it¡¯s out of reach for most people. I doubt I¡¯ll reach it before I die, and even if I do, I definitely won¡¯t make it to godhood.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a shame,¡± said Elise. ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t mind at all,¡± said Jag, baring his fangs in a smile. ¡°I have no aspirations of divinity. I just want to live a normal life. Well, as normal a life as someone like me can live.¡± Elise wasn¡¯t sure how to respond to that, but fortunately she didn¡¯t have to as Hans arrived at that moment. Like Maia, he had been staying out later than usual since the meeting with the lost twin, but unlike Maia, he didn¡¯t seem to be borderline self-destructive about it. In fact, most of the time he was out late, it was explicitly so he could keep an eye on Maia and make sure she didn¡¯t bite off more than she could chew in her efforts to get stronger to save her sister. ¡°Maia is on her way back,¡± he said as he landed gently on the ground. ¡°In the meantime, I¡¯m glad the two of you are together.¡± He glanced at Penelope, who was practicing with her sword about fifty feet away. ¡°You are both prepared for the meeting in three days, yes?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± said Jag while Elise nodded. ¡°You¡¯ve got everything in order and ready for the mission? Or at least you will by the time we leave?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Jag and Elise. ¡°Good. We¡¯ll be heading to the Syndicate¡¯s headquarters the morning after we return. Also, I just received some news that I¡¯ll share once Maia is back. Don¡¯t go anywhere just yet.¡± Elise had been planning on going to practice her swordsmanship again, since her transformation was back off cooldown by then, but she settled for messing around with {Prehensile Vines} instead. About twenty minutes later, Maia finally returned, trudging into the clearing. Her sleeve was torn just below the shoulder, and there was blood running down her arm, and there were dark circles under her eyes. She hadn¡¯t applied the dye to her hair over the past few days, so the blonde roots were starting to show under the black, and overall, she looked like she wasn¡¯t in good shape. Elise flew up and rained {Fairy Dust} on her to heal her wound and alleviate the exhaustion, but Maia simply grunted her thanks and started grabbing water. Once she had sat down, leaning against a tree, Hans called Penelope over. ¡°The mission begins in four days,¡± he started. ¡°In three days, Elise, Jag, and I will be going to a preparatory meeting. We will be gone all day. I want the two of you to rest while we¡¯re gone. Especially you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± said Maia, ignoring his pointed look. ¡°You¡¯re not,¡± he said. ¡°If you want to save your sister, you¡¯ll need to be in your top condition. If you¡¯re not in top condition, I won¡¯t be taking you with us.¡± She glared at him for a few seconds before huffing. ¡°Fine.¡± ¡°What¡¯s more important?¡± asked Hans. ¡°One more day of leveling, or resting to be in your top condition? I¡¯m sure you already know the answer. Don¡¯t be stubborn about it.¡± ¡°I know,¡± said Maia, annoyed. ¡°...Anyway, Penelope, I want you to be with her at all times on that day.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± said Penelope. ¡°Now for the news. There¡¯s been a slight change in the plan. Our role remains the same, but the whole operation has become more dangerous.¡± ¡°Why?¡± asked Penelope. ¡°A while ago, we received word from some of our informants that the executives of the Blood Syndicate have been preparing for an event. The ones in charge have actually known about this for a while, and it is because of this event that our schedule was chosen. However, we¡¯ve finally gotten the plans finalized, and further details on the specifics have been released. ¡°Evidently, this event is even better than we had hoped for. On the night of the operation, the Blood Syndicate will be hosting a massive auction which all of their executives, along with many corrupt aristocrats from around the continent, will be attending. ¡°This is both good and bad for us. It¡¯s good because we now have an opportunity to strike at the entirety of the Syndicate¡¯s leadership, and most of their high-profile associates. It also means that most of them will be quite distracted by the proceedings. It¡¯s bad because with those people come their bodyguards, and that makes things much more dangerous. Unfortunately for us, that also changes our target.¡± He pulled out his map of the Syndicate¡¯s headquarters and started explaining the new plan. Rather than going toward the center of the camp where the prisoners would be held, they would be going in the back entrance of the arena, where all the high-value prisoners would be kept for the duration of the event. This was risky, but they hoped to take advantage of the chaos that would ensue when the other squads performed their frontal attack. With all the enemies and allies in roughly the same place, there would be so much happening that it would be hard to notice the slaves and prisoners exiting out the back, let alone stop them. Ostra would be increasing their manpower that they were sending too, but Hans had not been given any exact numbers on that. The changes were a bit last-minute, which was worrying, but according to Hans, it was still doable, and they had plenty of volunteers to fill the newly required manpower. ¡°We should still have plenty,¡± said Hans. ¡°As long as we move fast and work efficiently, we should be able to make it out with the prisoners without issue.¡± Elise had a bad feeling about that, but without knowing more details, there was nothing she could do about it. Hopefully, they¡¯d learn more at the Ostra meeting in three days. Penelope and Jag asked a few questions about the logistics of their new plan before they wrapped up the strategy meeting and returned to their individual activities. Elise practiced with the sword for a bit by the light of her wings, then meditated and slept. The next three days passed fairly quickly. Elise continued the routine she had settled into, mixing hunting, meditation, and sword training. She gained one more level, bringing her up to twelve, and a few more levels in most of her skills. She wished she could get further, but all her major milestones were still too far out to achieve in the limited time frame, so she settled for shoring up her foundations and making sure she was as prepared as possible. On the day of the Ostra meeting, she woke up early with Jag and Hans and spent some time packing up the camp. Penelope woke up to help, but Elise used {Fairy Dust} to bless Maia with a deep, dreamless sleep, and they left her where she was as they went about their work. When it was time to leave, Hans produced a teleportation scroll from a ring that Elise had noticed earlier was a storage device similar to her necklace. He nodded to Penelope who gave a casual salute in return, then he tore the scroll, and the world turned white. 84 - Dragon. Wolf. Ever since her evolution, Sophie felt¡­ different. And it went far beyond just the usual disorientation of increased stats. She almost felt inhuman. Her new class was Mythic rarity, and it came with skills she didn¡¯t even know existed, some of which altered her senses. For example, {Dragon Eyes} was a skill with a vague description, but since getting it, it felt like she was seeing a whole new world. She could see the mana flowing all around her. She could see the patterns it formed when she cast her spells. She could see the paths it traveled when it circulated through her body. Iris seemed to have a skill that prevented Sophie from seeing any more than just the sheer quantity of her mana, but there was still something else she could see. Iris called it aether. Sophie didn¡¯t know what that meant, nor what it did, and Iris had yet to explain any further, but she did know that all living things produced it. Iris seemed to have a lot of it, at least relative to everything else on the island. Sophie had more than everything else too, but it was nothing compared to Iris. {Dragon Eyes} helped Sophie to improve her casting by leaps and bounds, since she could now see what was going wrong. Just the other day, she had finally succeeded in making the miniature portal that Iris tasked her with, and was now working on making it bigger. However, the skill did come with one downside: the beautiful green eyes she inherited from her mother were gone, replaced by Iris¡¯ yellow, vertical-slitted ones. She could disable the skill and the green would reappear, but after experiencing the world through the eyes of a dragon, going back to the eyes of a half-elf was difficult. She wanted to make a resolution to use her original green eyes whenever possible, but the yellow ones were just so useful that she could never stick to that resolution for long. In addition to the eyes, she also had a new skill called {Dragon Heart}, which replaced her original mana cores with draconic ones. The draconic mana circulation that had been so difficult before came naturally now, and not only was it infinitely more efficient than the System¡¯s version, it also condensed the mana, allowing her to contain much more of it than before. Her Mana stat had gone up a full 500 when she evolved her class, and she could only assume that the {Dragon Heart} had something to do with that. However, while her eyes and cores were now very different, and most definitely contributed to the inhuman feeling, the most unsettling part was her own mind. She still felt like herself, but she also felt more dragon-like. She felt calm and confident, and most of her worries had been forced to the back of her mind. She hardly doubted that they would get off the island. Perhaps that was somewhat due to the fact that she had successfully gotten the class Iris wanted her to, and now they should be able to leave, but even so, Sophie didn¡¯t think she would have been so sure of it before. She still worried about her family, but she had also started to mentally accept what happened. Her parents were most likely dead. She didn¡¯t want them to be, but if they were terrified enough to have even Nick, a trained knight, teleport away, there wasn¡¯t much chance they survived on their own. She had no idea where Nick and Bianca were, but wherever they had been teleported to, Sophie would just have to find them. And Snowberry¡­ Well, if two adults couldn¡¯t survive their attacker, what hope did a rabbit have? Sophie still felt sad and anxious and everything else about all that, of course, but at the same time, she felt like she could control it. She could wallow in her emotions when she wanted to, but when it came time to do something else, she could set them aside like a book she wasn¡¯t interested in reading at the moment. The first few times she did it, she was unsettled by how easy it was, but by this point, she had gotten used to it. After Sophie¡¯s class evolution, Iris¡¯ mental health seemed to have improved dramatically. Sophie wasn¡¯t sure if it was directly due to the class evolution, or if perhaps the fact she had succeeded in reaching it had spurred the dragon to action, taking more control of her mind. Unfortunately, this did not, as Sophie hoped, result in more time for instruction. Rather, it seemed to have the opposite effect, and Iris spent every sane moment flying about the island laying down mana in a massive, complex array. Sophie was on the beach at the moment, watching the sunrise as Iris worked behind her. With {Dragon Eyes}, she could physically see the barrier around the island. It was like a faint purple shell, perfectly containing its interior. All the mana within stayed within, and Sophie could not see any beyond it. If she removed her focus from it though, she could still enjoy the sunrise as usual. She sat in the sand for nearly half an hour, fiddling with her mana to make her seat more comfortable until she sensed Iris approaching behind her. ¡°It¡¯s almost done,¡± said the dragon. ¡°How is your practice coming along?¡± Sophie responded by demonstrating her current level of portal magic as well as her multi-casting ability, creating two portals facing each other vertically with a vacuum in between and dropping some sand into one. The sand fell in and emerged from the other one, then fell back into the first and repeated in an endless cycle, accelerating to the point where Sophie didn¡¯t dare put her hand between. The portals themselves didn¡¯t take much mana to hold open, but each time the grains of sand passed through they drained a bit more, and with how fast they were traveling, it wasn¡¯t long before Sophie closed them to avoid getting too low. The grains of sand smashed into the ground, each creating tiny craters where they landed. ¡°Good,¡± said Iris, nodding. ¡°We will be able to leave within the week.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± said Sophie. ¡°I have the formation almost done. I should finish it tomorrow. Then, I will spend a day or two checking it over, and once I¡¯m done with that, it will be time.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be ready.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll leave you to your practice. Goodbye.¡± The serious expression faded, replaced by the blank, distant one Sophie had first come to know. The now-crazy woman floated away, chattering to herself, and Sophie turned back to face the ocean. She looked at the sun for a few seconds¨C something she could now safely do¨C then sighed and stood up. Time to get to work. *** ¡°Alice. Kill.¡± Alice tried her best, but even after evolving, she was only second tier. She was no match for the fourth tier deer. However, the surprise of an almost-rabbit leaping at it made the deer pause just long enough that Alice could sink her new fangs into its leg before it shook her off and teleported away. That was all Walter needed. A moment later he was bearing down on the deer. It managed to teleport away one more time, but he had been hunting them for so long that he knew all their patterns. As soon as it reappeared, his jaws were almost around its neck. It tried to get away again, but he grabbed it tight in his mouth, and its Strength was nowhere near high enough to break free. He lifted it in the air and brought it back toward Alice, who was quivering in excitement. He let her scratch and bite it a few more times before he finally tightened his grip just a bit further, breaking its neck and ending its life. He tore off a leg and set it aside for Alice before chowing down on the main course. Ever since evolving, Alice had become a much more agreeable companion. She still looked mostly the same, but she was a bit bigger, her snout a bit longer, and her teeth and claws a bit sharper. Most importantly, she now preferred meat to grass. He had still caught her eating grass a few times, but it was rare. When this happened, Walter had a change of heart about her. Before, he had been reluctant to take care of her, and hoped she died so he wouldn¡¯t have to anymore. Now though, he was actually excited about it. She was still weak and a little bit annoying right now, but what if she leveled up a few more times? What if she got strong enough to actually hunt on her own? Then she would be a companion worth having. So, for the past few weeks since her first evolution, he had been taking her out hunting to help her level up. She hadn¡¯t reached her next evolution yet, but Freddy explained this was because Walter was doing all the work, so her contributions were minimal. Still, anything was better than nothing, and she was helping to kill creatures far above her in level, so Freddy still expected another evolution soon. Today was not that day though. After eating their fill, Alice hopped around excitedly, ready for the rest of the night. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Walter walked his usual route for a while with Alice hopping at his heels, occasionally running ahead, or stopping behind to investigate something, but she never left his sight. Occasionally, they came across other groups of deer or direwolves, but they all scattered when they noticed Walter coming. Alice did her best to scare them off too, standing between Walter¡¯s legs and growling at them. Walter felt an odd warmth in his chest whenever he saw her do this. When they had made it about halfway through the patrol, they reached one of the taller hills, and from its peak, they could see the growing dwarven city. Walter scowled. He hated the new city. It just suddenly appeared right in the middle of his territory, and he couldn¡¯t do anything about it. On top of it being expressly forbidden by Freddy, after his first run-in with the dwarves, he had met another, and one that Walter felt he could not defeat. He wanted to get stronger. To find something worth hunting. Unfortunately, he had outgrown everything in the forest long ago, and even the recent sudden change in their power levels wasn¡¯t enough to keep him busy. If he wanted suitable prey, he would need to leave the forest behind. He was actually thinking of doing just that. When he was with Freddy¡¯s group of weirdos, he heard of lots of different places where he could find stronger prey. He didn¡¯t understand the language well enough to know how to get to any of them, but Freddy said there was another meeting coming up, and his Fey was better than ever. It was good enough to ask how to get to those places and mostly understand the directions, at least. The dwarves spotted him standing on the hill, and he noticed a few of them start gathering on the stone wall they had erected. They stared at him, and held their weapons at the ready. Walter bared his fangs at them for a bit, then turned to walk around, continuing his patrol. He and Alice made the rounds twice, stopping near the end of the night to gorge themselves on another deer, then made their way back to the cave as the sky started turning gray. Walter was ready to lay down and sleep, but Freddy was waiting for him. ¡°Walter!¡± he called when he saw the giant wolf approaching. ¡°Freddy,¡± said Walter unenthusiastically. ¡°It seems you and Alice are doing well.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Are you ready for the Ostra meeting today?¡± ¡°What?¡± asked Walter. ¡°Today?¡± ¡°Yes. I told you about it a week ago?¡± Walter vaguely recalled a similar conversation, but he couldn¡¯t remember what ¡°week¡± meant. ¡°Well, it starts in a couple hours,¡± continued Freddy. ¡°I understand that you want to sleep now though. We can go later. However, what do you want to do about Alice?¡± Upon hearing her name, the rabbit perked up and walked over to Freddy, nuzzling against his leg. ¡°Alice stay here,¡± said Walter. ¡°Will she be safe?¡± asked Freddy. ¡°...No.¡± ¡°Remember, you¡¯re not allowed to let her die.¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°So, what do you think we should do?¡± Freddy was smiling. Walter didn¡¯t like that. Freddy only smiled like that after asking a question if he already knew the answer and was just waiting for Walter to say it. ¡°Bring Alice to meeting?¡± asked Walter. ¡°She¡¯s not fully trained though,¡± said Freddy. ¡°And she¡¯s far from sapient. She would be out of place. Do you have any other ideas?¡± A small growl escaped Walter¡¯s throat, and Freddy¡¯s smile immediately vanished. ¡°Walter,¡± he said in a warning tone. Walter slowly let the growl die, and his tail lowered until it was almost between his legs. ¡°Sorry,¡± he grumbled. ¡°I no know answer.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± said Freddy. ¡°It¡¯s alright not to know the answer. I didn¡¯t expect you to have a perfect one. But I¡¯d like you to try to think of some ideas. If we can¡¯t leave her here on her own, and we can¡¯t take her into the meeting, what can we do?¡± Walter racked his brains. ¡°...Hide Alice in hole?¡± he suggested. ¡°An interesting idea,¡± said Freddy. ¡°If she was hidden in a hole, it would be hard for the other predators to find her. But, what if she dug her way out while we were gone?¡± ¡°Hmmm,¡± said Walter. ¡°Other rabbit hide in hole.¡± ¡°Elise is much more intelligent than Alice,¡± said Freddy. ¡°Alice might not understand the situation. Is it worth that risk?¡± ¡°No¡­¡± said Walter. ¡°So, do you have any other ideas?¡± Walter thought for a few seconds more before shaking his head. ¡°Well, what about asking someone else to protect her while we¡¯re gone?¡± ¡°Oh!¡± said Walter. ¡°Wait¡­ Who?¡± ¡°Who indeed,¡± said Freddy, smiling. ¡°Can you think of anyone who might be able to keep her safe?¡± Walter didn¡¯t answer. ¡°Perhaps someone close by,¡± continued Freddy. ¡°A neighbor. Someone you would want to befriend.¡± Walter couldn¡¯t think of anyone that matched that description. He also recognized that Freddy was trying to lead him to some kind of conclusion, but he didn¡¯t want to give the golden-haired man the satisfaction of knowing his plan worked, so he stayed silent. After almost a minute, Freddy finally spoke again. ¡°Let¡¯s go ask the dwarves!¡± ¡°No,¡± said Walter immediately. ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°I no like dwarves.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you like the dwarves?¡± ¡°Dwarves steal Walter territory.¡± ¡°Mmm, I see why that might bother you,¡± said Freddy. ¡°But they don¡¯t have a choice. Why don¡¯t you be a bit charitable. You still have plenty of territory, and if you can befriend the dwarves, you might get a lot more than territory.¡± Walter couldn¡¯t think of what else he could possibly want other than territory. Unless they would let him kill some of them for levels¡­ ¡°So, let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s get this sorted out before you go to sleep so that when it¡¯s time to leave later, we don¡¯t have to worry about it.¡± Walter knew it was pointless to argue, so he sighed and turned around. To head back toward the dwarves. Alice hopped away from Freddy to take her place at Walter¡¯s feet back, and soon, Freddy was walking beside him. The sun was just starting to rise when they arrived at the stone gates, and since they made no attempt to hide their presence, there were already a dozen armored dwarves waiting for them. ¡°Hello,¡± called one of them in Dwarvish, a language Walter did not understand. ¡°What brings you here this morning, sir?¡± ¡°Well, my friend here,¡± said Freddy in Common, gesturing to Walter. ¡°Who happens to be your neighbor, was hoping to form a positive relationship with your people. Walter, why don¡¯t you explain it to them?¡± Walter hesitated for a few seconds. While his Common was about as good as his Fey, it still wasn¡¯t good. He didn¡¯t know how to get his point across. He didn¡¯t know why Freddy was making him do it either, instead of just explaining it himself. ¡°Someone need protect Alice,¡± he said. ¡°Alice?¡± asked the dwarf. ¡°This is Alice,¡± said Walter, nudging the rabbit with his front paw. ¡°So you need someone,¡± said the dwarf in slow, accented Common. ¡°To protect your rabbit?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Walter, happy he got his point across successfully. ¡°For how long?¡± ¡°Just two days,¡± said Freddy, saving Walter from having to deal with numbers. ¡°We will be back shortly, and Alice will go back to Walter. Also, this rabbit is a fairly ordinary animal. No need for any special treatment. You just need to keep her contained and feed her.¡± ¡°I see,¡± said the dwarf. ¡°Is that all?¡± ¡°Walter, do you have anything else to say?¡± asked Freddy? Should I? thought Walter. ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°Then yes, that¡¯s all,¡± said Freddy. ¡°If you do this favor for him, I¡¯m sure Walter would be more than happy to do you a small favor in the future.¡± ¡°That is fine with us,¡± said the dwarf. ¡°Excellent!¡± said Freddy. He bent down to pick Alice up. At first, she didn¡¯t struggle, but as he brought her closer to the dwarves and further from Walter, she started squirming, trying to get out of his hands. The dwarves parted nervously as Freddy approached, allowing him to reach their leader unmolested. The leader reached out to gingerly take the rabbit, at which point she started squealing. Suddenly, Walter didn¡¯t want to leave her behind. Alice was his rabbit, not the dwarves¡¯. What if they did something to her? If she died, he would get punished. Or what if they tried to steal her or evolve her into something weird. However, Freddy was there, and he was the one handing her over. He set his hand on her head, causing her to fall asleep in the dwarf¡¯s arms, and then walked back to Walter. ¡°Thank you for this,¡± said Freddy. ¡°I hope it¡¯s not too much of a bother. By the way, she eats meat. She should be well-fed right now, but in the evenings and mornings, she should be fed as much fresh meat as she can take.¡± ¡°Yes, sir,¡± said the dwarf. ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°Her teeth and claws are a bit sharp, so don¡¯t let your fingers get too close, but she is only tier 2, so she¡¯s not that strong. Other than that, just take care of her and keep her safe, and that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°Yes, sir,¡± said the dwarf again. ¡°Thank you for your time. We¡¯ll be off then.¡± Freddy turned to leave, and after staring at Alice a few seconds longer, Walter followed. Walter had been tired when he left his cave, but when he got back, he only felt restless. Even after Freddy left, he couldn¡¯t stay asleep for long, and woke up at the slightest noise. Even with Freddy letting him sleep in so that Walter would only arrive later in the meeting, when the time came to leave, Walter felt thoroughly exhausted. ¡°Ready?¡± asked Freddy. Walter grumbled something incomprehensible, which Freddy took for affirmation, and then tore a scroll, and the two vanished. 85 - Ostra Again Meant to include this in chapter 83. Below is Elise''s current stat sheet. You may notice that the format is different from before, and that it is no longer a table. This is because I needed to convert it to plain text for the audiobook, so I have decided to just continue using this plain text version, as I believe some readers also use TTS to listen to chapters. [ Name: Elise Burrow ] [ Age: 0 (20) ] [ Race: Lesser Rabbit Changeling ] [ Tier: IV ] [ Level: 12 ] [ Stats ] [ Strength: 163 (+0) ] [ Agility: 340 (+0) ] [ Dexterity: 328 (+0) ] [ Fortitude: 161 (+0) ] [ Charisma: 1350 (+0) ] [ Intelligence: 478 (+0) ] [ Willpower: 814 (+0) ] [ Mana: 648 (+0) ] [ Mana Control: 678 (+0) ] [ Skills ] [ Inspect, lvl 67: Identify the species and level of another creature ] [ Nature Magic Affinity, lvl N/A: As a creature of the forest, you feel a strong connection to nature and natural mana ] [ Leap, lvl 34: Jump with additional force. Can be used again in midair. Cooldown on second jump: 5 seconds ] [ Rune of Fate, lvl N/A: A rune granted by !@#$%^&* that @#$%^&*. Allows the user to channel divine power. Current charges: 0/3. Cooldown: 29 days. !@#$%^&* ] [ Dart, lvl 49: Dash quickly in any horizontal direction. Charges: 8. Cooldown: 7 seconds ] [ Sudden Growth, lvl 16: Cause all nearby plants to grow at many times their normal rate for 3 seconds ] [ Mana Sense, lvl 63: Sense nearby mana ] [ Magic Missile, lvl 59: Create missiles of mana that attack your target. Current missiles: 8 ] [ Suggest, lvl 65: Plant a subtle thought or desire in the target''s mind ] [ Prehensile Vines, lvl 32: Vines grow out of the ground in front of you. You can control them as you would your own limbs. ] [ Charm, lvl 21: Increase a target''s attraction to you ] [ Ensnaring Roots, lvl 25: Summon sturdy roots from the ground that wrap around the target ] [ Fey Wings, lvl N/A: Fold or unfold your wings ] [ Fairy Dust, lvl 31: Release dust from your wing that either blesses or curses (user''s choice) any living creature it comes into contact with ] [ Fey Bargaining, lvl 16: Form a contract with another creature. If either side breaks the contract, they will be cursed ] [ Telekinesis, lvl 28: Use mana to move an object without touching it ] [ Mimic, lvl N/A: Copy the voice of another creature ] [ Lesser Transformation, lvl N/A: Transform into another species that your have interacted with ] [ Tongues, lvl N/A: Speak and understand any language ] [ Vicious Bloom, lvl 24: Create a magical seed. If planted, it will bloom violently when a creature steps within 1 foot of it. If thrown, it will bloom violently on contact ] [ Whisper, lvl N/A: Speak privately to a target within range with whom you have established a connection ] [ Mana Circulation, lvl 26: Circulate mana through your cores, purifying it ] Elise recognized the style of the room they appeared in as the same as the one she had stayed in with Emilia before. It was a small, single room, rather than a suite, but the furniture and decorations were identical. She had been a bit nervous that something would go wrong, or that maybe they had gotten a faulty teleportation scroll, but evidently, Ostra sourced theirs properly. How do they set the location though? she wondered as they exited the room and made their way to the main hall. When she entered the main room, she half-expected to be detained immediately. After all, she was there without having signed the secrecy contract. However, nothing happened. The only reactions her arrival received were a few curious glances. It was as she expected: Freddy and Jerry hadn¡¯t told anyone that she wasn¡¯t supposed to be a member. She had no idea why that was, but it made her stressed. She suspected that Freddy was trying to earn some goodwill from her, but she didn¡¯t like the mystery hanging over her head, so she planned to ask him as soon as she could. Unfortunately, he was not there. It was much earlier in the morning than the last time she had attended a meeting. So early, in fact, that the ballroom was almost empty. There were only two dozen or so other monsters around, and only a few of them were talking, the rest enjoying their breakfast in quiet. When they reached the breakfast buffet, Elise turned into her human form and loaded up a plate with bacon, sausage, eggs, and some fruit, then joined Hans and Jag at an unoccupied table. The three also ate in relative silence, occasionally glancing at the others. Elise casually identified a few of them, confirming that all present were well above her in level, which tracked with what she had been told before arriving. There would be a strategy meeting after breakfast to prepare for the mission, and most of the monsters present were on other squads working on the same mission. There was a palpable tension in the air that only grew as more arrived. Elise finished her meal in human form, and would have liked to stay in that form, but she didn¡¯t like the stares she was getting. The other changelings were all in their base forms, and though no one said anything, she could feel them looking down on her for being in her human form. She was able to ignore them while she ate, because it was worth it to be able to eat the meat, but a few minutes later, she got too uncomfortable, and switched back to her changeling form. While she waited for the meeting to start, Elise found herself once again wondering what happened to all the food she ate when she was in different forms. Her hunger level seemed to remain consistent across all forms, and eating in human form sated her in rabbit form, but she had no idea where all the food went. She was fairly certain she had just eaten enough to burst her little rabbit stomach, but she still only felt pleasantly full. There were about 80 monsters present, and Elise, Jag, and Hans had been done eating for nearly half an hour before something finally happened. The main doors opened for the first time, revealing a tall demon woman that Elise hadn¡¯t seen before. Every head turned as she cleared her throat and brushed her long black hair to the side, shifting nervously on her feet. ¡°The strategy-¡± Her voice cracked and she cleared her throat again. ¡°The strategy meeting will begin in ten minutes. P-please make your way to the conference room when you finish eating.¡± It was impossible to tell if she was blushing, since her skin was already red, but from the way she immediately turned and walked robotically back out of the room made it fairly obvious how she was feeling. A few of the monsters chuckled at the display, then started getting up. Elise, Jag and Hans stood up as well and joined the small crowd heading toward the main entrance. Rather than a relatively small room with a circular table and perhaps a magical presenter screen like Elise had been expecting, the conference room felt more like a lecture hall. There was something like a screen near the front, but it was nothing like the System windows or any other electronic-looking screen Elise had seen. It was a blank white slab of stone, with a series of bins below, each containing a different color sand. Elise could sense mana connecting the slab and the buckets, and she could only assume that the sand would be used to form whatever images needed to be shown. The seats looked comfortable, like nice movie theater seats, but they were all mismatched, and in many places, entirely missing. It made sense though, since they had people like Jerry the elephant who would need a place to sit, and he didn¡¯t really fit in a chair. Elise, Hans, and Jag found a spot about halfway back, and in the middle section. Elise and Hans each claimed a chair, while Jag lay down in an empty space right next to them. As the rest of the room filled up, Elise watched the demon woman, who was sitting on a spinning stool behind a podium in the front, and fidgeting with something in her hands. She was just barely outside of range of Elise¡¯s {Inspect}, so Elise could only make guesses as to what her species was. She was clearly some kind of demon, based on her skin and horns, but beyond that, it was a mystery. She was fully humanoid, like the succubi and incubi, but she had thus far displayed an utter lack of their social skills. She was tall, and seemed well-built like all demons, but she didn¡¯t strike Elise as a fighter either. Elise couldn¡¯t sense her mana, so she could only assume the woman was a magic-focused race of some kind, but beyond that, she had no idea. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Who is she?¡± she whispered to Jag. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s Firona,¡± said Jag. ¡°She¡¯s lovely. A bit shy, but very smart. She¡¯s the chief strategist for this mission.¡± ¡°Ohhh,¡± said Elise. ¡°Do you know what her race is?¡± ¡°Some kind of demon?¡± he said with an odd shrug. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. She hasn¡¯t shared that with me, and I haven¡¯t asked.¡± Elise nodded, and then turned her attention back to the demoness, who was now looking at her. Firona looked away when she noticed Elise paying attention, but whenever she thought she could get away with it, she looked back. It got to the point that Elise was starting to get a bit concerned. ¡°Does she work closely with Freddy?¡± she asked Jag. ¡°Freddy? Why do you ask?¡± ¡°Just curious.¡± ¡°Well, as far as I¡¯m aware, all the Chairs work closely with Freddy. I don¡¯t know if she¡¯s any different though.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Elise had been a bit concerned that perhaps Firona knew something about her situation, and though Jag¡¯s words didn¡¯t fully alleviate her concerns, they did help a bit, and that combined with Firona¡¯s demeanor made Elise think it was probably something more innocent. Her Charisma was over 1300 at that point. It could simply have been that she found Elise cute. Then again, she was a strategist, so it would be strange if her thoughts were that simple. By the end of the allotted ten minutes, nearly everyone from the main hall had moved into the conference room, and the noise level was beginning to rise as they muttered to ecah other. Elise knew maybe ten of the people there by name, recognized about half, and the rest were completely foreign to her. Either that, or they were in different forms than the ones she had met them in at the first meeting. ¡°Um,¡± said Firona, too quietly for most to hear. ¡°It¡¯s time for the strategy meeting to begin. Could you all please quiet down?¡± The noise level dropped noticeably, but many of the people in the back didn¡¯t seem to notice her words. ¡°Oi, shut up!¡± shouted a giant insect from the front row. A few people chuckled, then the entire room went silent. ¡°Thank you,¡± said Firona with a nervous smile. ¡°So, um, this is the final strategy meeting for Operation Blood. It will begin tomorrow, so we¡¯ll just be going over some last-minute changes, then doing a detailed overview of the whole plan. This might be a bit long, so I¡¯m sorry in advance, but this operation is incredibly, incredibly important to the future of Ostra, so we have to make sure everything is in order. ¡°So, to start, I guess you all heard about the changes we made over the past week, right?¡± A few of the people in the audience started muttering, and Firona looked around nervously. ¡°Um, please raise a limb if you didn¡¯t hear about the changes.¡± About a dozen raised hands, claws, paws, and wings, and Firona¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Oh no!¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry about that! So, um, well¡­¡± Firona launched into a halting explanation of the changes to the plan that Hans had already explained the other day. Elise half-tuned it out as she started fidgeting with a small pebble using {Telekinesis}. Apparently Hans noticed her doing this, and nudged her when that part was over and Firona started on the actual briefing. ¡°So, Operation Blood is basically Ostra¡¯s single most important operation to date,¡± said Firona. ¡°I¡¯m sure you already know this, but since Ostra was founded, this is the first time we¡¯ll be acting publicly and revealing ourselves. We¡¯ve been building up our network for a while, and when we found out about the Blood Syndicate, we realized it was a good opportunity. Not only can we save people, but, um, we can also reveal ourselves to not be evil. ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s really, really important that we do this right. We need to succeed, and we need to do it with minimal casualties all around. If we kill too many people, the other nations might try to call us bloodthirsty or out of control. Our goal is to only kill our targets, and get out. D-do you all understand?¡± After some nods and sounds of affirmation, Firona began to explain the plan in detail. Elise paid close attention in the beginning, but soon grew bored, and started thinking more than she listened. It was all important, sure, but with the way it was organized, most of it didn¡¯t actually concern her. The plan was more or less to create chaos throughout the encampment, kill some of the leaders of the Blood Syndicate, and use that as a distraction for Hans¡¯ group and a couple others to sneak in the back and free the prisoners. It was still informative and useful though. It at least answered some of the questions Elise had had about the operation. For example, it explained why Ostra, who had previously been so anal about secrecy, decided it was alright for Jag and Hans to reveal themselves to Penelope and Maia. If Ostra was planning on finally making their existence known to the world, it made sense that they would be fine with that, and perhaps they had even encouraged that. If a Jelorian knight vouched for them, that would give them a lot of credibility. Apparently, there were a fair amount of other humanoids working on the mission too. There were at least two Ostra members per squad, with some being made up entirely of them, but there were also about fifty non-Ostra people on squads, and even more working the back end. ¡°Hans¡¯ squad will be in charge of the extraction of high-value prisoners,¡± said Firona at one point. ¡°You¡¯ll enter after the frontal attack squads begin their mission. The prisoners should be relatively unguarded by then, and your goal will be to get in and out without being seen, and without killing anyone, if possible. We- We¡¯ve confirmed support from Lappin trading, and they should be positioning themselves around the Jungle now. You¡¯ll meet them when you return, and after you¡¯ve extracted the targets, Lappin will ensure that they are taken to safety.¡± ¡°Now, Kent¡¯s squad will be¡­¡± Elise had nearly forgotten about Lappin trading in her time training and leveling up, so she was pleasantly surprised to hear that they would be involved. She had been nervous about escorting prisoners out through the monster-infested Jungle, and wondered why that part of the plan hadn¡¯t been brought up until then, but that explained it. The rest of the meeting went by without incident, but it took nearly four hours, and by the time they left, Elise¡¯s legs were stiff, and she was starting to get hungry again. ¡°Don¡¯t forget we have another final brief after dinner!¡± called Firona as they left. Elise was certain that at least half of them didn¡¯t hear her, but she figured that it would be announced again later if needed, so it wouldn¡¯t be a problem. Back in the ballroom, there were many more Ostra members already waiting and socializing. They paused what they were doing briefly when the huge group entered, but they soon went back to their conversations. Elise hung back at first, but after a few minutes, decided to do some socializing herself. Before, she didn¡¯t want to get too close to anyone in Ostra, but she had been reconsidering. Ostra certainly did some morally questionable things, but Freddy had been open with her about them, and after her experience with the Boss and Yuri, she wasn¡¯t sure she disagreed with the methods as strongly anymore. On top of that, if she would truly be allowed to stay without the secrecy contract, there was no point in ignoring a perfectly good information and support network. If she found out they were doing something she truly couldn¡¯t abide, she could always just leave. So, she went around the room, talking to a few of the people she had met the first time, and making a few new friends. She found Mindy with a group of other changelings, and had a nice, long conversation with them. Apparently, up in the far north of the continent, there was a nation called Corunia that was ruled by changelings. Of course, most of the world didn¡¯t know this, but the royalty for the previous 300 years had actually been one changeling constantly taking new identities, and over time, they had steered the nation¡¯s policies to be favorable toward non-humanoids. They hadn¡¯t gotten quite as far as Ostra wanted yet, but it was slowly and gradually reaching the point of full acceptance. They hoped that Operation Blood would be enough to tip the scales in their favor and get complete non-humanoid and humanoid coexistence there. They invited Elise to visit sometime, and Elise didn¡¯t decline. It did sound interesting, and if she visited before her next evolution, she would probably be able to get some deeper insights about her options. That group of changelings was able to help her a little bit, but none of them were particularly knowledgeable in changeling variants outside of what they considered standard, and just being a ¡°Lesser Rabbit Changeling¡± already made Elise non-standard. After talking to them, she skirted around Jerry, who had taken over a large section in the middle of the floor with a crowd of laughing monsters as he ran what seemed almost like a comedy special. She saw a few other people she recognized, and was debating on which to approach when she heard the front door open and felt a chill down her spine. She turned and felt a strong sense of deja vu as it opened, revealing Freddy, and behind him, the warg. 86 - Unique Constitution As with before, the arrival of Freddy and Walter gathered a crowd. Those who hadn¡¯t met Walter the first time were lining up to meet him now, and all of Freddy¡¯s friends were gathering to talk to him. Freddy said something to the warg that Elise couldn¡¯t make out over the din, then the two started wading through the crowd. The warg moved in almost a straight line toward the food, while Freddy seemed to be headed toward Elise. He never made eye contact with her, but every step seemed to take him just a bit closer. After a minute or so, it became clear beyond a doubt. Elise was alone at the moment, in between groups, and there was no one behind her. She was actually somewhat glad about this though. She needed to talk to him anyway, so she might as well knock it out as soon as possible. Especially since she was fully aware that she was technically violating a lot of Ostra rules. ¡°Ah, Elise!¡± he said as he got closer. ¡°I¡¯m glad you were able to make it this time.¡± His tone of voice made it seem like he hadn¡¯t noticed her before. She had to refrain from rolling her eyes. ¡°Glad to be here,¡± she said. ¡°Actually, I had something I wanted to talk to you about.¡± ¡°Oh, yes, I believe I know what it is,¡± he said. ¡°Why don¡¯t we head to my office?¡± ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± It took a full twenty minutes to get back out of the room, as they got stopped at every turn by people looking to talk to Freddy and introduce themselves to Elise. Elise felt that she didn¡¯t like most of them. They had been ignoring her before, but now, suddenly she was a person of interest now that she was going somewhere with Freddy. Once they had successfully shed the crowd, Freddy led her through a side door, then through a short hallway to a plain-looking door. His office was surprisingly ordinary. She knew she shouldn¡¯t have been surprised, since Freddy¡¯s whole schtick seemed to be presenting himself as ordinary, but she had expected at least something strange about it. Instead, she found herself in an office so plain that it was baffling. There was a large desk, but it was old, and the edges were worn and chipped. The chair behind it was simple, and looked well-used, and whatever patterns had been sewn into the upholstery were almost completely faded. There was a low table and a few other chairs in front of it, but they too looked simple and worn, with no features of note. ¡°Make yourself comfortable,¡± he said with a smile, gesturing toward one of the chairs. Elise thought for a moment, then switched to her human form and picked a chair on the left side. There was no particular reason for the change, but she expected some type of negotiation to happen, and she felt like being so small compared to him would make her more timid. That didn¡¯t actually help much though. She had never been near Freddy while in her human form, but when she transformed, she realized that he was much taller than she initially realized, and she still felt quite small. Her decision was already made though, so she tried not to let her surprise or intimidation show as he sat down across, his smile still as calm and cheerful as ever. ¡°So, I¡¯m sure your wondering about your current status with Ostra, yes?¡± he said. ¡°Yes,¡± she said. She wanted to elaborate on her confusion, but stopped herself, realizing that might be a bad idea. Admitting on her own that she thought she shouldn¡¯t be allowed at the gathering seemed like a bad idea. Even if Freddy was allowing it, it might have been an implicit kind of thing, where as long as she didn¡¯t bring it up, she could stay. ¡°I must say, it¡¯s actually a fascinating topic,¡± he explained animatedly. ¡°You never signed the normal contract, so you never joined the organization. However, do you remember how the contract you did sign was worded?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± She remembered the contract well, but she wasn¡¯t sure what part of it made it ¡°fascinating.¡± ¡°Well, the deal you signed was that I would tell you confidential information about Ostra on the condition that you would either join, or submit to having your memories voluntarily altered afterward.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± agreed Elise, still confused. ¡°However, you did not submit to having your memories altered.¡± ¡°Yes, I did.¡± ¡°Technically, you did not,¡± he countered. ¡°Your memories remain, and it was your own skill that blocked Jerry¡¯s manipulation. By preventing the memory alternation, you specifically did not submit to having your memories altered. ¡°At the same time, the contract did not trigger as broken, meaning that what you did was unintentional. However, that¡¯s where the fascinating part comes in. Because it was unintentional, the contract didn¡¯t break, but because your memories were not altered, it was not fulfilled either. On top of that, the contract was not nullified either. I studied it for a full day after you departed trying to figure out what happened before I found it. ¡°While neither exit clauses were fulfilled, only one had a time associated with it. You did not have your memories wiped before departing, so that branch died, but there was no condition on when you had to join Ostra. This is why the breaching penalty was not triggered. At first, I wasn¡¯t sure how to handle it. Since you hadn¡¯t joined Ostra, and had expressed explicit desire not to join if you had to sign the confidentiality contract, you technically weren¡¯t a part of Ostra, but I also never consider a door closed when the parting is amiable, so in my mind, you were still a ¡®prospect.¡¯ ¡°There were only 2 ways for me to resolve the contract. One was for me to cut you off from Ostra, meaning that you would have breached the contract, and you would incur the penalty we agreed upon. The other was to have you join Ostra. I didn¡¯t think the first was fair, since you clearly resisted subconsciously, and I didn¡¯t want to force that penalty on you like that. At the same time, you were then far away. You weren¡¯t out of reach, but we had already parted ways, and I thought it would be rude to barge back in and try to convince you to join Ostra under threat of contract breach penalty. ¡°Then, it came to me. Not only had we not specified a time limit for when you had to join Ostra, we also had not specified a method. Nowhere in the contract you signed did it say that you had to sign the usual confidentiality contract to fulfill your end. I don¡¯t like leaving contracts hanging like that, so in order to close it out, I wondered what would happen if you joined without that confidentiality contract. I thought for a little while, and then I decided I would let you do just that. Not a second after I made that decision, the contract was fulfilled. ¡°Now, you might find that strange, since usually, contracts need both sides to consent to be fulfilled like that, but there are some quirks in the way Ostra is set up. While we do make new members sign that confidentiality contract to join, signing that contract isn¡¯t what makes them a member of Ostra. Being a member of Ostra simply means being a non-humanoid, and helping other non-humanoids. You already fulfilled both those conditions, so as soon as I decided you didn¡¯t need to sign the contract, you became a member of Ostra. ¡°I apologize for the long-winded response, but I hope you found it as interesting as I did. In all my years, I¡¯ve never had something quite like that happen.¡± Elise was silent for a few seconds when he finished speaking. It sounded like a lot of complex legal nonsense, but the enthusiasm and animation with which Freddy explained it made it seem like it might actually have been genuine. It was too good to be true, but at the same time, it aligned with some of her theories. ¡°So I am a member of Ostra?¡± she asked. ¡°Yes,¡± he replied. ¡°But I¡¯m not bound by the contracts that the rest of the members are?¡± ¡°Also correct,¡± he said. ¡°Is that alright?¡± This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t it be?¡± Elise hesitated for a moment. ¡°Aren¡¯t you concerned that I¡¯ll tell someone about Ostra?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s certainly a risk, but after tomorrow, it will be a much smaller one. As you are aware, we will be more or less announcing our existence to the world, making anything you can say about us significantly less effective. Additionally, you don¡¯t actually know anything too dangerous. While I did tell you about some of our¡­ less than legal practices, I told you nothing specific. You have no actionable information, and what you do have is no better than the conspiracy theories that are sure to arise once our existence is made known. ¡°Finally, I don¡¯t believe you mean us any harm. I understand your qualms with some of the things we do, but you made friends here. You don¡¯t want to see them hunted down. You wouldn¡¯t actively work against us in any way that would make us need to take extreme action. So, while I perhaps could have made you sign the usual contract, I felt that would only strain our relationship, and given your unique constitution, I thought that was a bad idea. You will eventually be able to disregard even my contracts in the future, so there is no point in creating any bad blood. Think of it as a gesture of good will for what will hopefully be a long and pleasant relationship.¡± Elise felt a light chill run up her spine when he said ¡°unique constitution¡±. She could only assume that he was referring to the {Rune of Fate}. She had suspected that he knew, since all the dwarves knew, and he had spoken to them. It was also possible Emilia knew and had told him, since she was spying on the dwarves through the drow Scouts. Perhaps he had known even before that. She didn¡¯t know when he met the warg, but she wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he had found out about her not long after. At the same time though, because he called it a ¡°unique constitution,¡± she presumed that he must have known more about it than she did. The new skill description said that the rune was ¡°spawned by the user¡¯s natural traits,¡± but the System had yet to answer her about what those might be, and she hadn¡¯t had a dream visit from Titania in a while either, so she couldn¡¯t ask. Now though¡­ ¡°What do you mean, ¡®unique constitution¡¯?¡± she asked. ¡°Oh, were you unaware?¡± he responded, looking genuinely surprised. ¡°I am only vaguely aware,¡± she said. ¡°Ah, then just a moment.¡± He snapped his fingers and their surroundings changed. Elise recognized it as the same domain skill he had used when resolving the dwarf and drow conflict, but it was slightly different. It was much smaller, with only two chairs and a small table between, and there was no food on the side this time. The walls were close enough that Elise felt a bit cramped, and being in a tight space with Freddy made her nervous. ¡°Just to make sure there¡¯s no chance of being overheard,¡± he explained. ¡°The gods don¡¯t really like it when this information is shared around too much. It¡¯s why they try so hard to masquerade and misdirect when it comes to information about it. You have the {Mark of Fate} skill, correct?¡± ¡°...I do,¡± said Elise. ¡°That skill name is actually false,¡± he explained. ¡°And whatever description it has is most likely false as well. Or at the very least, it¡¯s misleading. It¡¯s not even a true skill, as far as I¡¯m aware. ¡°Now, I am no expert on this, but I have lived quite a while, and I¡¯ve met a few people with the same skill. That ¡®skill¡¯ is actually a rune.¡± Elise remained silent, hoping her guilt wasn¡¯t obvious. ¡°I know you spent time with the dwarves. Are you are of exactly what runes are and how they work?¡± ¡°The dwarves say that they¡¯re the language of the gods.¡± ¡°Hmmm,¡± said Freddy. ¡°Well, that¡¯s one way to put it, since only the gods fully understand them, but the runes actually existed before the gods. They are naturally occurring structures that exist all throughout nature. Most of the time, they are inert, mixed, and distorted, and it takes a skilled runesmith to make them truly shine. Regardless, they are a natural occurrences, and so is yours. That rune you have was not gifted by any gods.¡± Elise had already known that runes were naturally occurring, based on her lessons with Greta, but the fact that they were from before the gods was news to her. The dwarves always made it sound like the gods had created the runes and gifted them to the mortals, and she never really had any reason to doubt that story. ¡°I still don¡¯t know what causes the rune to appear,¡± Freddy continued. ¡°But it¡¯s very rare, and as far as I could tell, there are no notable commonalities between the holders of the rune that I have known. You are very different from the most recent one, and he was very different from the one before him. The skill calls it the ¡°Rune of Fate,¡± but I¡¯m inclined to believe that¡¯s a false name as well. While it¡¯s true that the holders of the rune often go on to achieve great or terrible things, it¡¯s also true that sometimes, they do nothing with it. The one before you simply lived out a humble life as a farmer, dying of old age without accomplishing anything of note. As far as I¡¯m aware nothing he nor any of his descendants have done is worthy of such a grand word as ¡®Fate¡¯.¡± Elise frowned. ¡°So it has nothing to do with fate?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Freddy. ¡°I don¡¯t even know what ¡®fate¡¯ is. Perhaps it is related to ¡®fate¡¯ as defined by the gods, but they have not seen fit to bestow their definition on us, so we can only guess. ¡°Anyway, I believe we¡¯ve gotten a bit sidetracked. You asked about your unique constitution. While your constitution generated the rune, that is only a side effect. The main effect is aether. Do you know what aether is?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard of it,¡± said Elise evasively. ¡°That¡¯s more than most,¡± he commented. ¡°Aether is a mysterious type of energy. It goes by other names, such as divine power, life energy, mental power, and a few other rarer ones. Generally, any skill that does not use mana or your own body uses aether as its fuel. This includes most mental skills, most contract skills, any skill that provides stat bonuses, powerful healing spells, and most aspects of fey magic. ¡°Your unique constitution causes you to produce and possess more aether than usual. Much more. Enough that when I sensed you at the first meeting you attended, I believed you to be a Chair. I¡¯m sure you can imagine my surprise when I saw that you were, in fact, a third tier rabbit fey.¡± ¡°I see,¡± said Elise. ¡°So I have a lot more aether than most people?¡± ¡°So much more that it¡¯s almost alarming,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°Since your most recent evolution, you are on par with an 8th tier fey. Your skill levels are still too low to make full use of it, but it won¡¯t be long before you become truly dangerous.¡± Elise remained silent. Between her conversations with Hans and her sparring with Penelope, she had already gathered as much. She was able to break past Penelope¡¯s skill that was supposed to provide full immunity to mental attacks, and even Hans, another fey with a knack for aether skills, and one much stronger than her, was no longer immune to her {Suggest} probes. ¡°I won¡¯t lie and say that¡¯s not part of the reason why I want to form a good relationship with you,¡± Freddy continued. ¡°Even now, you¡¯re highly capable, and an excellent ally, let alone what you¡¯ll become in the future. However, I hope you don¡¯t think that my motivations are purely utilitarian, or that I¡¯m only helping you because of your aether capabilities. I think that your past actions have proven that you are a good person, and even if I wasn¡¯t an Executive of Ostra, I¡¯d want to be your friend.¡± Elise didn¡¯t fully believe him, and in the back of her mind, she suspected that she might only be saying those things to get on her good side, but it would be a lie to say it didn¡¯t feel good to hear. She had to hold back a smile as she thought about how to respond. Most of what Freddy told her, she had already guessed, but it was good to have confirmation. The news that it hadn¡¯t been a god or goddess who granted her the {Rune of Fate} was big, and she wasn¡¯t sure how to deal with that yet, so she pushed those thoughts aside. Right now, it was more important that she figure out what to do next. It seemed that Freddy had no intentions of making her sign anything to let her stay, so a lot of her worries were gone. She still had no clue what his overall goals were, or whether they were truly as altruistic as letting humans and monsters co-exist, but she was leaning toward giving him the benefit of the doubt. At the very least, the other Ostra members seemed to trust him, and they were mounting an assault on the continent¡¯s greatest criminal organization. Even if she sometimes did things she disapproved of, they seemed to be an overall force for good. Besides, she wasn¡¯t entirely sure if she would disapprove of their shadier activities as much anymore. ¡°Thank you for all that,¡± said Elise finally. ¡°And for letting me join Ostra without that contract.¡± ¡°Of course!¡± he said with a wide smile. ¡°Now that we have that all cleared up, I hope that you¡¯ll be around more often. Your presence truly does brighten the room.¡± ¡°Th-thank you,¡± she stuttered. ¡°Actually, there was something I wanted to ask for your help with,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯ve met Firona now, yes?¡± ¡°Well, not exactly, met, but I know who she is,¡± said Elise. ¡°Well, she is the strategist not only for the mission, but also for Ostra as a whole. She came up with a plan not long ago, and I thought you would be perfect for a role in that plan. I won¡¯t overload you with the details right now, since you should be preparing for Operation Blood, but I think that you¡¯ll find it interesting. When Operation Blood is over, I¡¯ll explain further.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­¡± said Elise. ¡°You¡¯re free to decline,¡± he said. ¡°But I think you¡¯ll want to accept this role. Enough on that though. I¡¯ve kept you here long enough. We should be heading back. There¡¯s a special guest arriving soon. I don¡¯t want to miss her.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± said Elise, standing up. The domain faded around them, leaving them back in the plain office. Freddy walked to the door and opened it, gesturing for Elise to exit first. After stepping out in the hall, Elise recalled the looks she had been getting while in her human form before, so she shifted back to rabbit form before she and Freddy made their way back to the ballroom. When they returned, a crowd had gathered around the main entrance, and nearly everyone not in the crowd was also looking in that direction. With how many monsters there were between her and the center, she couldn¡¯t see what was causing the commotion. She flew up a bit to try to see over them, but still couldn¡¯t quite make out the source. All she knew was that they looked human. She flew back down to join Freddy as he walked directly toward the center of the group. The other monsters parted to make way for him, ultimately revealing what appeared to be an ordinary human woman. She was beautiful, with pale skin, black hair, and blood-red eyes that reminded Elise of her own. She was wearing a simple black dress with a low neckline, and when she saw Freddy approaching, she gave him a broad smile, revealing a pair of long, thin fangs. ¡°Oh, there you are, Freddy,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s great to finally have you here, Rayna,¡± he replied.