《Saving Destenia》
Prologue: Saved
Here I am running through the woods right now, full tilt, hurdling roots, ducking under low hanging branches, just barely stepping on rocks hoping I don¡¯t twist my ankle, but none of this bothers me, or is a problem in any way. For some reason I know these woods, have I been here before, sure maybe a couple years ago on a family trip, but that was just visiting, but I know these woods. I had to shake my head and concentrate because my knowing these woods is not the problem. The problem is I¡¯m being chased and I know my life is in danger. I can hear the panting of the dogs in the distance, and I can hear their owners¡¯ voices on the chill of the night air ¡°C¡¯ mere boy! We ain¡¯t gonna hurt ya¡¯ too bad¡±
¡°Yeah, we just like hearing folks like you scream¡¡± Another one chimed in. Disgusting I thought, and kicked it into an even higher gear, ¡®I know these woods¡¯ the thought wouldn¡¯t stop pulsing in my head. The dogs are still hot on my trail, and I know that the people chasing me really want me dead. I know, I do not exactly have a why, or a what, but the words they are saying feel eerily similar. So, I just keep on running, my lungs feel like they are going to burst, I check over my shoulder again and then, WHAM! I thought I ran into a tree, but that¡¯s impossible because ¡®I know these woods¡¯ There was a flash of light, surely, they caught me, but nothing touched me, maybe I died on impact, a scary thought came to my frontal lobe leading me to choke out the statement, ¡°I¡¯m definitely dead.¡±
¡°No, child¡± An angelic soothing voice said to me. I did not know how to respond to this presence, it was warm, yet oppressive, soothing, and yet a gentle fury radiated from the direction the voice came from.
¡°W-Where is this¡± I was absolutely overcome with confusion, and a twinge of fear. My heart was still beating a million miles an hour. ¡°I was just running from those racist assholes¡± I started and I felt the rage well from the direction of the presence, I was still way to scared even to look up, confusion and fear trumped curiosity so I just stared at the marble like floor I was currently on all fours on.
¡°I understand, my child, you shall look upon my visage and understand I mean you no harm.¡± With this I felt myself compelled to look up and there stood a woman, ¡°I am All-Mother, and this is not the first time we have met my child.¡± She looked at me with what I could only describe as true compassion as she continued. ¡°That first time we met¡± she trailed off for a moment as if reminiscing on eons that I could never fathom I could not help but be transfixed by her presence. Before long she started speaking again ¡°So, your current predicament, let us say, is similar. It appears the divisive concept of race has taken too strong of a hold in that world. I understand that you have been separated by lands and language, but to not recognize your own kind as equal and necessary.¡± The sadness in her eyes deepened, those eyes which beamed with the very power of the cosmos held pain. ¡°The last time we met you said to me that humans can learn to be together again, and this country was the way to do it.¡± ¡°So, I let you reincarnate, and they killed you, over, and over, and over, every time you fought, whether with force or peace, you were stripped of your identity, history, your wisdom, and your love.¡± The force behind her words resonated through my very soul, and I immediately understood as she continued ¡°You said to me they can do it and they will. I gleamed the future, and what I find is this your soul reborn here in this false ¡®modern¡¯ age running in the middle of the night from what you call racist? How can they be racist if you are all but human? Tell me boy by my name Gaia the All-Mother, why I should not raise the cancer of humanity and send some of my children to a better place?¡± I understood what she was saying, but a response I didn¡¯t have. ¡°I apologize¡± she said with a slight bow ¡°I let my emotions get the best of me for a moment, there shall be a time when these humans do figure out togetherness under Love. However, I will not allow you to go back.¡±
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¡°Um, excuse me?¡± I was totally taken aback, she just said I can¡¯t go back, ¡°why not though?¡±
¡°Because I refuse to allow you to simply die and reincarnate again with the weight you seem to carry on your soul.¡± Her answer was straight forward, but filled me with more questions. ¡°You have questions, I know, but I wonder if the answers will afford you any relief, really.¡± Her eyes showed great care after uttering those words as if to say to me it okay. ¡°I¡¯m going to send you to a world truly of multiple races, where racism has implications, and my task for you is to bring all the different races of this world under a single banner while there will be prejudices, and many hurdles that you have dealt with before and I believe you have the will to do this and keep a level head. There a threat from outside forces that the people of this world must come together to fight this threat.¡±
¡°Wait I don¡¯t know anything about combat, or fighting, or bringing people together. I feel like you are expecting a lot from me. I¡¯m just a black kid from Boston, what am I supposed to do?¡± I was panicking maybe now more then I was running from those guys trying to lynch me.
¡°It is alright my child,¡± her words had a way of soothing all the panic that was amassing within me. ¡°I will grant you ten blessings, to aid you in the task, three of which I will bestow right now and the rest you shall unlock through due diligence, along with any skill or power you may need for your fight ahead.¡± I had this sudden feeling of warmth that enveloped me and just as soon as a felt it, it had vanished. ¡°I know in this life you have become complacent in the recent years, neglecting your body a bit, so my first blessing is a race promotions and age reduction. To you in the moment this may not seem like much but in the other world this will be very beneficial to you for various reasons.¡± I wanted to ask like what but she continued ¡°Your second blessing is appraise all¡± I cut her off
¡°What in the isekai? Are you going on about, appraisal is a necessary skill for merchantlike work, but how is it supposed to help me in a worldwide battle.¡±
¡°Which brings me to the third blessing, Gaia¡¯s Wisdom, this is a discernment skill like appraise all, with the added effect of storage of accumulated knowledge and conceptualizing new information, also this skill will be crucial for your rapid literacy and communication, it may even be able to help unlock some of the deeper secrets of this world.¡± She smiled inferring that an adventure that I longed for might be possible.
¡°Okay, so, how old am I and what exactly is a race promotion?¡±
¡°Why you are now a high human! You have to ability to evolve even more if you work hard at it, and I turned the clock back on your current age some eighteen years or so.¡±
¡°What!?¡± I gasped, unable to make heads or tails of what any of what Gaia had just said. As I looked to her for answers she smiled, and she just waved to me. ¡®Her smile is so beautiful¡¯ I thought as a portal opened beneath my feet and I faded in to black.
Chapter 1: The Snake and the Skill
My eyes suddenly snapped open, I closed them and opened them again to make sure I was, you know, alive. As my surroundings came into focus, the first thing I noticed was that I was in a forest. Not unlike the woods I was in before I was transported, but not the same woods I was in. I wiggled my fingers a bit, ¡®that¡¯s weird, I think their bigger¡¯ the thought seemed intrusive so I shook it off and wiggled my toes, ¡®those are definitely bigger¡¯ with the realization I shot up from my back to sit up right. ¡°I am definitely taller!¡± I was very confused so my shock made me yell that last part. I mean who wouldn¡¯t be confused and shocked, because honestly, I was not short in my previous life standing at 6¡±4¡¯ but right now I have to be at least double that height. ¡°Holy shit¡± I muttered to myself, I think this might take some getting used too. I slowly gathered myself and made my way to my feet, ¡®wow this is an interesting perspective to say the least¡¯ in my previous life I needed glasses, but now I could focus on objects that seemed to be a couple thousand kilometers away and make out the tiniest details. Like that snake over there, it is flipping enormous. I can tell from where I¡¯m standing that its head probably comes up to my knee, it has slivered yellow eyes, a dark coloration that ebbs of golden black as the sunlight glints off it through the gaps in the trees. Its constricted nostrils are flared as its tongue whips in and out of its partially agape mouth ever couple of seconds. ¡®That thing is headed directly for me.¡¯ I think to myself panic welling in my chest. ¡°Okay, Cirdec, that¡¯s a big ass snake, you¡¯re terrified of snakes, it has slitted pupils that means venomous, that¡¯s if the rules apply here like they do on earth.¡± I must figure something out and fast when I hear a sweet, soothing voice in my head.
Use Appraise all?
¡®Yes!¡¯ I thought. ¡®Why not know exactly what is about to eat me in this random new world I was just sent to.¡¯ My thoughts had me ignoring the sentients in the voice that had asked that question.
Using Appraise all, Gaia¡¯s Blessing is also activated when that statement sounded in my head, a bunch of information on the snake appeared as an image in the forefront of my brain, ¡®this feels oddly like how my memory works¡¯ I couldn¡¯t help but thinking. In my previous life school and the such was easy for me because I had close to a photographic memory so seeing things with information written or on it in anyway, would be saved in my memory almost like a photograph. This information obviously I didn¡¯t know but that is the best way to describe how I received the new information:
Ouroboros (juvenile: unnamed)
LV: 20
Attack: 500
Defense: 700
Stamina: 700
Mana: 950
Intelligence: 650
Strength: 3000
This Snake also known a world snake is said to grow to be 2km long and to move faster than the speed of sound. Its venom is both necrotic and paralytic one bit for most things is certain death. A phenomenal swimmer so they are often found near water. Highly susceptible to freezing and cold attacks, scales act like natural armor against most melee attacks.
¡°Well, that was a lot of information¡± I thought to myself but the voice wasn¡¯t done.
Currently Ouroboros (juvenile: unnamed) is 8km r 4.97 miles from your current position. Would you like to assess your potential path for survival?
I couldn¡¯t help but notice the distance was given in both miles and kilometers, but that was not important right now. I resolved myself ¡®Wow. This must be the All-Mothers blessing at work.¡¯ ¡°Yes please.¡± I spoke to the voice not necessarily sure if I had to vocalize my answer or not, my voice! Its much deeper now, like it could reach the very bowels of the earth in its vibration. The clearly feminine more soothing voice went into its explanation.
Currently you have three options:
Option 1- Run deeper into the woods
Option 2- Climb the nearest tree and wait for ouroboros to pass
Option 3- Tame Ouroboros
¡°Wait I can tame it?¡± I stated out loud. This voice is going to take some getting used to. ¡®I don¡¯t really like snakes,¡¯ I thought to myself, but even I must admit that would be a cool partner. ¡°Hold on she said three blessings and that doesn¡¯t sound like one of them.¡± The words were mumbled as I was scratching my chin in thought.
Answer Gaia¡¯s blessing allows you to tame any non-humanoid mythical creature if it is not named or under the control of another individual.
¡°Oh, would you look at that.¡± I chuckled to myself, thinking ¡®thank you All-Mother¡¯ I do like the specific nature of the skill I don¡¯t think taming and controlling other humanoids is okay, it reminds me of the history of Earth and how my kin, that¡¯s the right word, were treated by others of our same race. ¡°Okay let¡¯s tame that ouroboros, I got to get over my ophidiophobia one way or another.¡± Clearly this is some sort of test, I can tell, I¡¯ve always had an instinct for that kind of thing.
Understood Initiating contract circle please select a name for Ouroboros
¡°What the hells a good name for a snake?¡± I mulled it over, this is more difficult than I thought ¡°Oh I know, maybe like that snake in that one book, Nagishi¡±
Understood Ouroboros has been bestowed the name Nagishi, a telepathic link has been established, initiating soul communication
Suddenly I locked eyes with the snake, it was about one mile away but it had stopped. Then I heard a voice in my head that I knew immediately to be the snakes.
¡°What are you?¡± it asked in a very clear voice, that sounded like plain English to me. Before I could ask the question, it continued ¡°I¡¯ve eaten many man-folk, but you are too big, and you do not smell of giant or elf, so I ask again. What are you?¡± There was a hinge of violence in the way the question was asked, and I was not sure how to answer.
Understood
Cirdec Julian
Age 18
Race High Human
L.V.: 1
Attack: 400
Defense: 110
Stamina: 800
Mana: 8000
Intelligence: 4000
Strength: 800
Gaia¡¯s Blessing
Skills:
Appraise All
Nyktimene
World Beast Tamer
Skills will unlock with more training and base stats will also increase based on knowledge gained through tomes, and when certain set predetermined objectives are met, including but not limited to leveling up.
¡®Well, that¡¯s a lot to digest right now,¡¯ I focused back on the snake and gave it an answer. ¡°I am what is called a high human. I am new to this world and was wondering if you could perhaps be my guide?¡± I don¡¯t know why I went this route it just felt right, and if it fails, I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m snake food.
¡°Your guide? What is this guide you speak of?¡± It asked incredulously. ¡°Do you mean how a parent guides a child?¡± I feared I might have offended it so I did my best to use reason and recourse.
¡°Well, not exactly, more like my partner as I prepare to save the world¡ I was sent here by All-Mother Gaia, and you are the first being I met and your species¡ It¡¯s a myth in my world; I figured a mythological beast probably is highly intelligent.¡± There was a shift in the snakes¡¯ gait at the mention of All-Mother Gaia, a good sign, I think. Yet there was still tension as if a strike could be released at any moment. I had noticed that it had closed the distance quite substantially in our minor exchange. That scared me.
¡°If you say the All-Mother sent you here, then you should be able to name me. Only a divine gift could allow any human, high or otherwise to name me. Also, I am no mere ¡®mythological beast¡¯ I stand here in flesh before you, Ouroboros are akin to true dragons.¡± There was a coldness in her glare that I had to ignore for my own sanity. First giant snakes, and now she¡¯s casually throwing around the concept of True Dragons, which I¡¯m only familiar with because I¡¯ve heard the term in some light novels. This is truly a world of fantasy and magic.
Stolen story; please report.
¡°Glad you said that, Nagishi.¡± I used the name I had already come up with very pointedly so she knew it was hers. ¡°Now we can be friends, my name is Cirdec, Cirdec Julian.¡± As I finished my introduction, the snake its started to glow, and then instantly molted, revealing a woman of about 8 ft in height, her molted skin became clothing, a dress of black and gold sequence scales.
¡°Nagishi¡± The woman said with a smile, ¡°I like it, I shall serve you Sir Cirdec, I am weak now as I am not full grown but through our soul connection, I figured out you would consider us around the same age of 18 years.¡± Wow, I thought that¡¯s crazy until she continued. ¡°Though I myself in human years am closer to 1800.¡± My jaw dropped what the hell is the average life of an Ouroboros, also can they all turn into human form. ¡°Yes, we can, either once we are named or reach adulthood we can take human form, in fact we have to as we are far too big and would wreak havoc across the land.¡± How did she read my mind, is that some kind of snake trick.
Answer. The emotions you were feeling were transferred to her as a question because of the newly created pact this is temporary.
¡°Well, that makes sense, speaking of land what is this world called, and how about this land too if you can tell me?¡±
¡°Ah, you truly are sent by the All-Mother, there are legends of the Gods sending beings here to help the balance, and you must be one of those beings.¡± She paused for a second as if remembering some distant memory, then she continued. ¡°This world is called Destenia, named so by the All-Mother herself, Sir Cirdec, and right now you are in Mooranthia or that¡¯s what it was once called. This forest has grown over the last few centuries since I took my rest. There are human lands to the south I can smell them from here.¡± I know she¡¯s a snake but that still weird. ¡°I was drawn here by the smell of humans, but I am also duty bound, answering the call of the divine.¡± Her stomach grumbled very loudly.
¡°Understood, do you have to eat humans?¡±
¡°No, does it bother you that I have?¡±
¡°No, I¡¯m just glad you didn¡¯t eat me?¡±
Nagishi laughed, and then replied ¡°how could I? You initiated a tamers contract with me from over 5 miles away, and the pull was immediate. I could not resist; you have divine providence clearly. So, I do not hold any ill will towards you for it. This is by All-Mothers command.¡± Her acceptance of this situation is a bit surprising to say the least, I mean, she just accepted everything with no hesitation. Nagishi¡¯s eye¡¯s closed to a dangerous slit, a reminder that she is still a venomous snake. ¡°If you betray your duty to the All-Mother,¡± she continued ¡°I will kill you.¡± Well, that is now a thing I must worry about, my thoughts racing as she continued. ¡°I know I am stronger than you right now and this will not change for a while.¡± Now she¡¯s just stating the obvious ¡®dude you¡¯re like a 1000ft long snake¡¯ I¡¯ve been doing exceptionally well at keeping my thoughts to myself.
Answer. I have closed of the telepathic link between Master and subject Nagishi¡ So, you can keep your thoughts to yourself. That voice again.
¡°Yes, we are under contract, but this contract is special because it comes exclusively from the All-Mother¡¯s blessing. Meaning if you for some reason turn against the All-Mother, who is the being a am beholden to. I can break this contract and kill you, and yes when I say kill, I mean eat.¡± The smile that she gave me sent a cold shiver down my spine and I knew she was serious.
Understood, she is correct if you are in violation of your duties, she as a higher species can break your contract.
Well, there it is even Mene says so, so it must be true. Right whose Mene you might ask, well it turns out that by using Appraise All and Gaia¡¯s blessing at the same time I was granted this wicked cool information skill called Nyktimene, she does a lot for me, but most importantly I think she keeps me honest, especially if I¡¯m about to make a fool of myself. She was that voice I kept hearing apparently; she is the result of all my trust in Gaia I guess you could say.
Answer. I am your fourth blessing. Also, her name is way too hard to pronounce so I decided to just call her Mene.
Nagishi continued talking. ¡°Well, we are much too big to travel without being noticed and the nearest city is a human settlement, I was headed there for a light snack, but I can tell by your demeanor that that will no longer be possible.¡± Her words held an extreme weight, and I was frightened, but I also knew she would not eat anymore humans which left me relieved. ¡°However,¡± she continued ¡°I do need to eat soon, and I¡¯m sure you do too, at the sizes we are now, capturing food shall not be too hard. Although going to the settlement it will bring forth¡ Questions.¡± Her pause was pointed, I noted that it was clearly my turn to speak.
¡°Well, I don¡¯t know what you want me to do about that, you know I only just got here so my information on a whole is just lacking.¡± I said, honestly, not that I felt I could lie to Nagishi if I wanted too.
Correct, due to the soul connection created during taming lying is impossible, however you are not obligated to share every fact with one you are contracted with, and thus in this situation you would not be violating any obligations previously set.
That was thorough ¡®Thank you, Mene!¡¯ Honestly this skill is cool, if only she could work out a solution to our being ¡°too big¡± problem. Not that I mind being, oh wait, ¡®Mene, how tall am I now?¡¯
Answer. In terms of your old world, you are currently 12¡±9.5¡¯, 389.89cm, or 3m and 89.89cm, would you like your weight too?
¡®Wait, why did you say it like that? In terms of your old world? Does that mean there is a whole different measuring system in this world? Well, no, never mind, that makes sense, you said something about a soul connection, what exactly does that mean¡¯
Answer. It means that your soul is directly connected to the Subject Nagishi, due to this connection things like communicating can be done via telepathy, also you can duplicate skills that the subject has although time is required to make the skill your own. In this instance the subject Nagishi has the skill shapeshifter, this allows for the complete physical transformation of the user to match the look of someone the target has seen before. In your case it can be used to change your physical structure so you can match a height that is suitable to the humans Nagishi has in her memories.
¡®That seems a bit on the nose, can we also help Nagishi shrink or will she be an 8ft tall Amazon the whole time?¡¯
Answer. Nagishi will automatically change her shape one you do, as part of the soul connection, she will be compelled to take a form more suited to your Master servant relationship
¡®Okay, thank you, I guess that makes sense.¡¯ As the conversation between Mene and myself was happening in my head, I hadn¡¯t realized that little to no time had passed in the physical world. Here I thought we were having this long back and forth when Nagishi¡¯s voice rang in my ear, responding to my statement about lacking information. ¡°That is quite alright, for now it is safe to stay in the woods, no manner of animal shall attack while I am with you, so let us find some food, and make shelter¡ What exactly do humans eat?¡±
What a question, I thought to myself, I know what I ate in my old world, and without ingredients or knowing the flora or fauna of this world how am I supposed to know. I mean there are humans here in this world, I do not know how they live though, they could be tech savvy, stuck in the dark ages, or even some steam punk reality. With that aside, I have no idea what they eat in this world. So, I responded carefully. ¡°Well, Nagishi, as you know, I am new to this world, so I do not really know what is and is not okay to eat, but since there are humans in this World, I think it is safe to say I can eat, whatever they eat.¡± I lifted my hands and shrugged at her, I could see the gears turning in her head, then she shook her head and muttered something to herself, I could hear her, but that¡¯s neither here nor there. ¡°How about this.¡± I started, ¡°Do you know about how far the human settlement is from here?¡±
¡°Yes, in our current forms, it will take us less than half the day.¡± She replied knowingly, I couldn¡¯t help but think she had been terrorizing that settlement in more than one way.
¡°Okay, I say let¡¯s make our way there, and then I think I can get us in, an inconspicuous way, I don¡¯t feel terribly hungry right now so making a walk that far shouldn¡¯t be so bad¡± I could feel her hunger, I guess that counts as an emotion, since she was headed to that settlement anyways, I figured might as well finish the trip.
¡°Umm, you confuse me master, are you afraid of the woods, because I feel apprehension coming from you?¡± If she wasn¡¯t a literal snake I would have melted at her compassion, but the image of her true form is stuck in my head.
Answer. This, for all intents and purposes is Nagishi¡¯s true form, any other form she takes from now on is a part of her skill shapeshifter.
¡®Wow, Mene, answers even when I¡¯m not really sure I need any.¡¯ I threw the remark at Mene.
Update. You have developed the skill thought acceleration. This skill makes it so decisions can be made in a reasonable time.
¡®See now why is that description so vague?¡¯ These thoughts I have are always audible for Mene which is why she always seems to answer redefining my ability to talk to myself.
Answer. The skill thought acceleration was created out of a necessity to calculate many possibilities that can transpire from any given decision, derived from the innate talent multi attention discernment.
¡°What the hell is multi attention discernment?¡± The words kind of bellowed out of my mouth and Nagishi looked at me quizzically.
¡°Excuse me? What does that have to do with the apprehension I feel from you?¡± She asked rather forcefully, one couldn¡¯t help but appreciate her level of concern.
¡°Um, no, sorry,¡± I was still getting used to this whole thought acceleration thing, it seems to be more of an innate skill, meaning its literally on all the time, I wonder if this means I¡¯m a speedster. Better not get ahead of myself.
Answer. Your thoughts do in fact have the capacity to speed up and virtually make your time stop, however you still move only as fast as you physically can.
¡®Again, with the answers; so timely. Also, I figured as much considering her words were not garbled in slow motion. What I¡¯m trying to figure out should I tell her now or later about my origins and why I still have these feelings.¡¯ Mene seems to know when I am speaking directly to her, and when I¡¯m not. ¡®Still though I don¡¯t know if I can completely trust Nagishi, I¡¯ve watched enough anime and read enough light novels to understand my current predicament. Was on deaths door got summoned by a Goddess and sent to another world. I¡¯m developing skills at a rapid rate, my blessings seem over the top, but I have not gotten into any battles. I know there is magic here, I know there was some magic back home but nothing like shapeshifting giant snakes. All-Mother said this is a world of race, and where I come from race issues are an everyday issue. Even when wars were fought over race, there were still issues, and discrimination, and prejudice, and lies spread, fearmongering, all predicated by isms that were in a word divisive. How am I supposed to help here when I come from all that pain, and right now from what I can tell I am still a black man?¡¯
Answer. In this world skin color is not a definer of race. Race is defined by species and there are multiple hominoid species in this world some you are familiar with from fantasies and media and others you are not.
¡®Thank you, so I¡¯ll tell her when we get to the settlement then yeah?¡¯ this was just reassurance for myself really. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ll explain when we get to that city, what did you call it again?¡±
¡°Mooranthia¡± Nagishi stated, ¡°We shall run to West, to where the forest becomes young again and then we will have eyes upon the settlement, last time I was there it looked too small to even be considered a snack. So, I passed it, I found a Ursudon and ate that instead then took a nap.¡± Her words are so casual that I really keep forgetting she is a giant snake. Listen I haven¡¯t gotten into how she looks yet because, hello, she was a giant snake, I did mention I had ophidiophobia, right. Plus, I¡¯m no linguistics major, but based on what she said I¡¯m guessing an Urusdon is some kind of nightmarish giant bear, probably bigger than me. Answer ¡¯not right now¡ä I cut Mene off before she could give me another needless answer.
¡°Let¡¯s get going Nagishi, we¡¯ll stick to the shadows for now, since I do agree it will be faster to move at this size, we¡¯ll execute my plan for infiltration once we hit the spot before the forest is young.¡± That was a very poetic way she put that, made me wonder how old she truly is, but this I will never ask.
Chapter 1.5: All-Mothers Will
¡°She is sleeping I see¡± Gaia looked upon the world of Destenia from her thrown. It would be more appropriate to say she is staring through the ever-growing expanse and void of the cosmos. Focusing on a singular point, both very distant, and extremely close; there lies a creature coiled in a mound. From Gaia¡¯s perspective this creature is a cute little creation that she had favored for its intelligence and perseverance, a species she created, whose existence is equal to a true dragon. ¡°Young Ouroboros, wake up my dear.¡± Gaia called to the creature not verbally, since it would be impossible for any being on that plane to hear her true voice, but directly to its mind.
¡°All-Mother?!¡± The creature responded, quizzically. Her astral body appears, she takes a humanoid form and its appearance is that of a young girl.
¡°Yes, child.¡± Gaia¡¯s soothing voice radiates calm.
¡°Yu-you need something from me?¡± the Ouroboros¡¯ voice was very shaky. Understandably so, it had been astrally summoned and was now in front of it was one of the Highest of Gods. It had been sleeping for a few hundred years, absorbing all the universal knowledge that is passed to all true star creatures while they slumber. She probably had another hundred years or so of sleep left in her, as a child this was too be expected. Eat, sleep, and grow a very natural cycle for any living being.
¡°Yes, I have a task for you. Well, no,¡± Gaia paused, as if measuring her next words carefully. ¡°it¡¯s more like your destiny is calling.¡± Gaia¡¯s smile was warm as she continued, ¡°I have sent to your world, a human, he is not like the humans of that world, he comes from a world¡¡± Gaia trails off, anger bubbling under the surface of the sheen in her all-seeing eyes. ¡°He is unaware of the existence of the intelligent races of your world, and I have tasked him with unifying that world in order to face something to come.¡± Gaia¡¯s face shifted from soft to firm, causing the young Ouroboros to stiffen. ¡°I cannot tell you the when outside of soon, or the what you must do outside of get strong. I will also tell you this one last thing.¡± Her final pause let the young Ouroboros know this was the last piece of advice she would get. ¡°You need to guide this human, that is my will, heed him and success is guaranteed.¡±
¡°Yes, ma¡¯am!¡± There is no way the young serpent could say no. ¡°How will I know him? Also, one like myself has no identity truly I am but a young Ouroboros, what can I possibly do to help this man folk? I eat them.¡± There was sheepishness in her voice, it did not want to anger the Goddess. Then her eyes met an endearing, tender smile and Gaia answered.
¡°There is nothing to worry about I have just sent him, you need but wake up and follow your instinct for food. I¡¯ll be watching. Your job is to follow my will by guiding him, and protecting him until he is strong enough to protect himself. After that you are welcome to either join him on his journey or go back to sleep.¡± Gaia looked at the girl with a bit of urgency as she continued. ¡°Though your kind, is going to be needed for that future fight¡¡± That last statement had weight, and the young Ouroboros fear was palpable, and she realized her job was not a normal job. Gaia looked upon her then with a soft, caring eyes and then shouted. ¡°WAKE UP!¡±
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The Ouroboros¡¯ eyes shot open. ¡®A dream?¡¯ it pondered the possibilities ¡®no that was no dream, plus I smell something.¡¯ Its tongue flicked the air ¡®that smells like man folk a bit¡¯ it was hungry, its hunger tended to be voracious, the last time it had awoken the races of the world likened it to a natural disaster, some of them had more strength than others and still the decimation it caused, made a serious dent in the world¡¯s overall census and topography.
When it had fallen asleep. Overtime walls and fortresses were built around the area, they had taken pains to track the slumbering beast so they knew exactly where it was. To keep the creature isolated
their resources were pooled and an encompassing wall was built, with four major fortress cities. The forest now more secluded was kept it off limits to normal people and only open to adventurers, and the soldiers of the various surrounding lands. The beast slept, and the thought was it would remain so for a long time. Time being the only thing mortals can run out of rapidly.
In the time that the beast slept the short-lived races and some of the longer-lived races agreed on one thing, keep eyes on the beast of the forest. Still, no one from those days was around now so the proposition was turned into a fools¡¯ errand. The forest had grown much older, and the varying races had long forgotten any friendly relations. They all benefitted from the great structure, they all too credit for its creation and they all pompously shared none. All reason, had been lost as bitterness towards each other grew without a common enemy. ¡®So, they¡¯ve turned the swords and magic upon one another, how crass.¡¯ Great eyes cast over the forest from the creature thought to be sleep.
Unbeknownst to the mortals the creatures sleep was little more than a meditation. A being in the sky looking around the forest in all the directions. This was the ouroboros in its astral form, black scales glinted from the humanoid figure which floated 1000 feet above its body. The spiritual string connecting the two glinted in the sun light, well it was a thread much thinner than spiders and only those with high spiritual sense could even see it. ¡®Oh, look at that, they built fortresses in the cardinal directions and connected them by a high wall.¡¯ It laughed at the last time she moved her tremendous body below. ¡®I am only still juvenile, some of these short-lived species understand nothing.¡¯ It looked down, the well-defined paths her body had carved into the land many centuries ago were still there. Many had been turned into road, but those were very far from its main body; ¡®so they remember, if only a little bit, to stay out of the heart of the forest.¡¯ She turned her astral being to the south, ¡®what is that? I smell¡¯ she began sniffing the air, ¡®that smells like man, but also different, that aura though its almost like a giant, and then this¡¡¯ she immediately dropped to her body and started moving towards the smell.
¡®This mana surge, is it hers? I¡¯m stuck! I can see it, but it is so far away. Am I being tamed!?!?¡¯ the creature was in a panic as it looked at the rather large human, or is it an orc, no to short to be a giant, but its way to big to be a human right? But it smells like human. Wait how am I being tamed there is no way.¡¯ Her thoughts were a mass of confusion, she knew nothing of these many possibilities before her, and in the next moment she was right in front of the thing she couldn¡¯t identify and she could only utter one thing. ¡°What are you?¡±
Chapter 2: Creating A Legend
We were moving through the forest at a decent speed, but these trees, I never made it to the redwood forest, but I imagine this is what it feels like. Nagishi said we had to head towards where the forest becomes young and I¡¯m starting to wonder when we will make it to that point.
¡°Master!¡± Nagishi called for me interrupting my admiration of the tree¡¯s. ¡°We are being followed, it smells like a pack of Fenrir, I believe the humans call them greater dire wolves.¡±
¡°Wait! We¡¯re being chased by wolves?¡± I screamed, a little panicked. ¡®Mene, what should we do?¡¯
¡°Yes, there are four of them, this is not a fight we can win.¡±
Answer. There you are Mene, ¡®give me some good news¡¯
Using appraise all and world beast tamer you may be able to subjugate a single Fenrir to even odds in a fight however chance of success 35%
¡®Well, that is better than zero let¡¯s give it a shot¡¯ I resolved myself for a fight, though, I do not have a weapon now. Something still stirred and combat became my primary operation. ¡°Nagishi, we have to fight.¡± I yelled, ¡°I have a plan, in the works¡±
¡°Are you going to try and tame the Fenrir?¡± Her question was incredulous, how the hell did she figure that out. ¡°Are you going to tame all of them?¡±
¡°I doubt I can.¡± I was going off the information Mene had given me, ¡°there¡¯s a chance I can tame one of them, and that¡¯s only a chance.¡±
Nagishi took a long pause, and then responded ¡°yes, it seems fighting is our only option. If you can gain control of one of them then we can win.¡±
¡°Human¡± I gruff voice reverberated around the trees
¡°Yes, I smell it.¡± Another softer voice resounded
¡°Smells good!¡± a somewhat younger voice trails off.
¡°It has been three centuries, why would one venture this far past the wall?¡± His question piqued my interest and then he continued. ¡°Ah, and there¡¯s another, that snake child, why is it awake?¡± The last voice was more powerful than the others, it projected the quality of leadership. ¡°It matters not, children spread and surround them.¡± The command was forceful and in the next instant the four Fenrir dispersed.
¡°Umm, they just surrounded us.¡± I know I am stating the obvious, but verbalizing makes me feel better.
¡°I know,¡± Nagishi responded cooly ¡°I know that one there with the scar on its eye. It got that from the Ursudon I ate 300 years ago its mana still leaks from it.¡± I¡¯m not sure what¡¯s more impressive, the fact that she ate something that managed to scar this Fenrir, or that she can recognize individual mana after 300 years. ¡°Fenrir,¡± she called to the lead on her voice trembled with rage ¡°I know you do I not? Are you willing to die this day? You, and your kin?¡± Her words were so sharp that even I shuddered, and the Fenrir answered.
¡°Ouroboros child, do not flatter yourself, in your state how can you beat me, you are tiny.¡± He was right. Even though I was standing at almost 13 feet and Nagishi at almost 9 we were small compared to the Fenrir in front of us. He was 5 meters from paw to shoulder and his head was being held low but I could tell it was much taller. He has a long body, not nearly as long as Nagishi¡¯s snake form, but still long and slender. He is built like a saluki, built for running. He was baring his substantial fangs, and radiating a menacing aura, all his long black fur standing on end, he means business. Yet, even with all this there is a hint of regality to this Fenrir, and maybe that is just comes with being a mythological creature. He still seemed no to be in a rush to make a move seemingly calculating his next move.
¡°Size has no bearing on who is stronger between you and I.¡± This statement from Nagishi made me look at her confused. I wonder what makes her so confident.
Understood!
Nagishi
Age: 1800
Race: Queen Ouroboros
LV: 200/1000
Attack: 50,000
Defense: 7000
Speed: 17500
Stamina: 7000
Mana: 9500
Intelligence: 6500
Strength: 30000
Gaia¡¯s Blessing- Walk with a hero
Skills:
Shapeshifter- Can freely manipulate the shape, size, and features of one¡¯s body down to it genetic structure.
Rulers Authority- members of the same species must obey commands, grants blood of the progenitor, creatures of a lower rank have an increased chance of instantly falling under innate skill serpents¡¯ gaze.
Currently, this is all you can gleam through appraise all. Subject Nagishi has raised restrictions through soul connection.
I¡¯m no fool, this proves she still does not fully trust me. Which is totally understandable, but holy crap she is strong. And it looks like that serpents¡¯ gaze thing has frozen the Fenrir, except for the one right in front of us. He too is very strong it seems. ¡®Appraise¡¯ I thought before Mene could just do it herself.
Elder Fenrir (unnamed)
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LV: 100/100
Attack: 20,000
Defense: 8,000
Speed: 20,000
Stamina: 10,000
Mana: 2,500
Intelligence: 6250
Strength: 21000
Minor Blessing- Tricksters touch, a certain god favors this monster this blessing is not fully understood.
Skills:
Pack Leader- All followers gain a 10% boost to stats when around the pack leader
Stand Firm- Blocks status effects
Wind walker- allows user to use the wind for a speed boost when running, also allows the user to run on the wind.
There were a few more skills but the Fenrir must have given a command to its compatriots because he and two others jumped in to attack. The two younger Fenrir died in the blink of an eye, I¡¯m not entirely sure but I¡¯m pretty sure Nagishi did something. I looked carefully at the two bodies at Nagishi slapped the older Fenrir away. ¡°When did you bite them?¡± I asked there where a set of two puncture wounds on the napes of the younger Fenrir.
¡°Oh, that?¡± Nagishi responded wryly ¡°I am hungry so I simply killed them quickly for a snack later. What about you I see you have controlled that pup.¡± Her eyes glanced over her shoulder at the one Fenrir that didn¡¯t move.
¡°Well yeah, she is much weaker than you so it was kind of easy.¡± In a sense this was the truth, this Fenrir was much weaker the Nagishi when she was just an Ouroboros. However, due to its minor blessing, and the influence of the pack leader it felt like it took some time for me to fully tame it. Thought acceleration made it take about a second, which turned out to be right before the Elder Fenrir gave the command for them to attack, I gave the command for her to sit. The odds just turned from four on two to three on one, and the Elder Fenrir was noticeably shaken.
¡°I will not lose so easily.¡± The rage welling in the Elder Fenrir¡¯s very being. It lets out a behemoth howl that shakes everything arounds us. The young Fenrir whines, as it cannot bear the pressure being emitted by its elder. Even I am taken aback a bit, the magnitude of this power is truly unfathomable. Nagishi on the other hand just rolls her eyes, and then without warning she leaped at the Elder Fenrir.
*Wham*
The Elder Fenrir was seemingly decapitated, wait that not right, its head is still connected to its body and there was no blood. Nagishi looked at me with a cool smile, and then responded. ¡°I simply separated his skull from his vertebrate, he didn¡¯t get the message when I slapped him away. Death was his punishment for his arrogance.¡±
¡®Whose being arrogant.¡¯ I thought to myself, and why was that so easy for her to do. her attack is much higher I know but still.
Answer.
Knowledge gained through study and seems to have a positive effect of implemented tactics and techniques.
Mene loves to answer my personal inquiries, this on however makes sense. ¡°Okay so practice makes perfect, and if the practice is perfect, then the results will be too.¡± I muttered out loud, and Nagishi looked at me with a tilted head. ¡°So, you¡¯re going to eat those, like all three of them?¡± I asked her knowing the answer.
¡°If my master permits me.¡± Her response immediate, and pleading. Then I heard the grumbling of a stomach coming from behind me. I had forgotten about the Fenrir I had tamed.
¡°Right, you need a name.¡± I looked at the Fenrir, like the Elder Fenrir it had a long slender body like a saluki, man these things really are built for running. She was a bit smaller probably 3.5 meter from paw to shoulder, still bigger than both myself and Nagishi. Her fur was long with brown roots and silver patches strewn here and there. ¡°Your name will be Renfir.¡± A golden light enveloped the young Fenrir as it began to transform. What emerged from the light was a young-looking girl standing around 2 meters in height, with brown hair with silver streaks, her fur had become a silver dress cover reddish-brown skin, and she had a long slender tail the same color as the hair on her head. All I could think in the moment was why does this keep happening? First Nagishi, and now Renfir. I probably need to stop naming these things as I meet them.
Understood. Title unlocked, Hero for all.
¡®That¡¯s gotta be another blessing, okay I guess there is no running away from saving this world. Wait, why did you say understood?¡¯ my though was directed incredulously at Mene, thoughts of main characters in light novels with snarky partners entered my mind. Whatever she keeps me informed, (I know it¡¯s a disembodied formless voice, but she told me she¡¯s a her, and who am I to argue.) I decide to check my own stats before Renfir¡¯s because Nagishi is technically in my party so maybe there is some kind of party experience effect.
Understood.
Cirdec Julian
Age 18
Race High Human
L.V.: 150/50
Attack: 7000
Defense: 1100
Stamina: 8000
Mana: 15000
Intelligence: 85 00
Strength: 8500
Gaia¡¯s Blessings
Hero of All
One True King
Skills:
Appraise All
Nyktimene
World Beast Tamer
There is an evolution available as Life Value has exceeded current vessel. Commence with evolution?
¡°Wait, no!¡± I yelled, Renfir jumped a bit, I think she is still trying to grasp what exactly is going on. The corpses of her kin are being expertly butchered in front of her. Nagishi turned to me stopping her butchering.
¡°Is something wrong my master?¡± She asked there was a bit more cheer in her voice. I feel she is extremely food motivated this one.
¡°No, no, keep doing what your doing, by the way is that safe for me to eat as well?¡± I saw Renfir shift uncomfortably, so I turned to her. ¡°Ah, you have nothing to worry about Renfir, you do not have to eat the meat of your kin if you do not want to, but I have to point out you were willing to eat us and you were spared.¡± When I said this Renfir nodded.
¡°Yes, master these are the rules of the forest, the strong can eat the weak.¡± Renfir¡¯s voice was light, there was no fear, but sheer matter-of-fact-ness that took me by surprise. ¡°My father and brothers did not recognize your strength, or the strength of your guide there.¡± She nodded at Nagishi a sense of respect shown in her eyes. ¡°I have changed, and I am less sure of what I am, I am still Fenrir, but also not Fenrir, master what am I?¡±
This I couldn¡¯t help but feel was a good question. What exactly is she?
Understood
Renfir
Age: 900
Race: Fenrir Saint
LV: 100/1000
Attack: 20,000
Defense: 9,000
Speed: 19,000
Stamina: 10,000
Mana: 3000
Intelligence: 7000
Strength: 15000
Gaia¡¯s blessing- Walk with a hero
Tricksters Daughter
Skills:
Pack Matriarch- Members of pack receive divine protection, only when recognized they are recognized.
Light movement I- when activated movement is increased to near light speed for a period of 10 seconds
Skill Share I- can share certain innate, and all learned skills with recognized members of the pack for a duration of 20 seconds; cost 100 mana to activate.
¡°Well, Renfir, your race has changed, it seems to be an evolution.¡± I start explaining ¡°It looks like you evolved into a---¡±
¡°Fenrir Saint!¡± She cut me off with excitement in her voice ¡°that is but a legend amongst Fenrir, the last Saint walked with our father the hero Loki when he saved the world in ancient times.¡± Her statement reverberated through me. I know the name Loki, the trickster god from Norse Mythos, why is that name here. I really feel like this isn¡¯t a coincidence, that Elder Fenrir had a minor blessing called something like Tricksters touch, didn¡¯t it?
Understood. Yes!
¡®Wait that¡¯s it?¡¯ I screwed my face up in frustration, Mene¡¯s consistency is really frustrating in these matters. ¡®Are you whistling right now?¡¯
Understood. I am a skill I do not have lips, nor the ability to purse said lips, and I do not breath to be able to force air through said pursed lips.
¡®Oye!¡¯ I had to shake my head. *By the way, she was most definitely whistling, and in an I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about kind of way. * I turn my attention to the people with me, and ask ¡°Ok, so which way to the human settlement?¡± Both of my companions, Nagishi the Queen Ouroboros and Renfir the Fenrir Saint point in the same direction stating simultaneously.
¡°South!¡±
Chapter 3: Evolution and The Human City Part 1
As we were walking South, Nagishi leading the way, myself behind her and Renfir following closely behind me cautiously eyeing Nagishi as we proceeded, breaking the awkwardness, I raised attention to something that was bothering me. ¡°So, are you guys going to explain to me how you both knew which direction we should go in?¡± I posed this question more towards Renfir, and I could tell Nagishi understood.
¡°We Fenrir have battled the humans for eons, though they do not remember the older days. We learned to only attack humans in groups because they have always overwhelmed us with numbers if we are on our own.¡±
¡°That makes sense¡± I said to her, ¡°just a question though, about how many humans did you all think where here?¡± I asked Renfir squinting a bit, a feeling of dread coming over me, there were four of them.
¡°Well, the Elder said ¡®the snake is a problem, we need to be sure it wipes out the humans before we attack¡¯¡± She imitated her elders voice, I laughed looking at Nagishi.
¡°Yeah, she can be scary. Continue, please¡±
Her ears twitched as she continued; ¡°He said he felt the presence of almost 10,000 humans, our senses are limited like that,¡± she paused for a second ¡°or were limited.¡± She smiled a bit it was cute then she continued. ¡°So, four of us the elder surmised should be enough either way, if the snake wiped you all out, we could team up on her or if you lot managed to win, you would have been easy pickings.¡± She stared off into the distance after the last statement, leaving me to ponder on the 10,000 human¡¯s thing.
¡°So, you caught up with us, saw we were traveling together and changed tactics?¡± I asked probing for more details.
¡°Precisely, and then that uncomfortable feeling.¡±
¡°It does feel strange, doesn¡¯t it.¡± Nagishi interjected, shooting me a glare. I don¡¯t know what the hostility is about I don¡¯t remember doing anything to her.
Understood.
They are referring to the probing of their souls by the skill World Beast Tamer, as they are both formally World Beast. Incidentally you are only able to tame one of each species of world beast.
¡®Yeah, I¡¯m not gonna do that, these are intelligent beings after all, and it feels kind of like subjugation so let¡¯s avoid any more of that¡¯ a flash of a brief history runs through my head and I shake it off. ¡°Sorry about that. If you would like to leave and go to your people, I can cancel the contract especially since I kind of forced it on you.¡±
¡°No!¡± Renfir stated emphatically. ¡°After all, I have evolved, and I am grateful to you for that, and we Fenrir to enjoy long journeys with lots of running.¡± Her smile was quiet heartwarming. ¡°Plus,¡± she added ¡°there is this pull of destiny on my soul.¡± She stopped walking in that moment, then looked at both Nagishi and I. ¡°Sister Snake, brother human I think we should rest for the night, it is another two days until we will reach the human city.¡±
¡°Wait,¡± I looked at Nagishi, ¡°didn¡¯t you say like a day and a half?¡±
¡°Well, I just woke up and I don¡¯t need to sleep.¡± Nagishi returned indignant.
¡°Yes, that¡¯s fine for you, but I do need to sleep.¡± The look I received from her was absolute and terrifying, like I know you can¡¯t attack me or anything, but that look could absolutely kill. I turned to Renfir with a gentle smile ¡°You can call me Cirdec, and this is Nag- ¡°
¡°Lady Nagishi¡± Nagishi quick to interrupt and claim an honorific. Well, I guess that makes sense she is a Queen Ouroboros, I wonder if there is only one or if there are others who can claim the title.
¡°Yes, Lady Nagishi and Sir Cirdec.¡± She responded, I was about to correct her then thought against it. ¡°We should camp here, the day jewels on the trees are going out, once that happens the spirits of the trees come out, the living should not move when they move.¡± Her tone was deathly serious. I glanced at Nagishi looking for some kind of confirmation or denial, and I did notice tension in her shoulders.
¡°Indeed.¡± Nagishi responded looking up, I followed her gaze, and noticed gem like stones embedded in the trees and the sheer darkness behind them. ¡°The forest has grown much since I fell asleep.¡±
¡°How are we supposed to camp? I¡¯ve literally never done that in my life.¡± They both looked at me and broke into hearty laughter. ¡°Why are you laughing at me, in my world there is a long history of people that look like me being hunted in the woods.¡± I continue expecting some kind of empathy.
¡°Humans hunt humans in your world?¡± The question came from Renfir, she was puzzled by my assertion.
¡°Yes, the concept of race is held differently in my old world.¡± I started to explain, Nagishi was examining one of the giant trees. ¡°In my world someone decided that the different groups of humanity spread across the world are all different races. The race I was apart of dealt with a lot of racism during my time.¡±
Renfir perked up knowingly; ¡°oh, like how, the elves call the orcs big faced bastards and the orcs call them dainty long eared leaf-eaters.¡± She spits at the end, which I immediately recognize as a sign of disrespect for the orcs.
¡°I guess in the literal sense, yes, that is exactly what racism is, in my world it had become engrained in world culture unfortunately.¡± I had a pang in my heart with the memories of seeing many different ethnic groups, not just my own, being discriminated against by various other groups. ¡°In the world I came from skin complexion was a big determining factor to how you were viewed by others in the world. Basically, the darker your skin was the more stereotypes might have been forced upon you.¡± I motioned to myself specifically and continued. ¡°In my country there was even more discrimination. We fought it tooth and nail, after having our land stolen, people enslaved, had our identities stripped, and reduced to a color by the government. Then after we fought for freedom against oppression and suppression, moving the very laws of government, groups of immigrants came over to my country perpetuated the same baseless discrimination based on a false sense of race. For some reason black Americans, that¡¯s what I was, creators of our own culture after having our cultures stolen were looked at like the village idiots.¡± I shook my head remembering the struggles of speaking and getting spoken over, where my opinion was easily suppressed by hatemongers. Man, I¡¯m glad I¡¯m not there anymore.
¡°Humans are so stupid, Fenrir are Fenrir no mater what color they are we are all majestic, intelligent, highly resourceful creatures.¡± Renfir boasted, and she wasn¡¯t wrong, then she continued ¡°The Elder said a long time ago the human tribes were spread out across the land, but some creatures made it so they had to run and gather together, then became stronger in their numbers.¡± She looked right at Nagishi when she referenced some creatures. Nagishi shrugged and punched a hole in a tree.
¡°We shall take rest here.¡± She stated plainly as if she didn¡¯t punch a perfect cave into a giant tree. I¡¯ll be smart to remember that she is a powerful world beast. ¡°Is that okay?¡± There was a slight tilt in her head as she asked the question, which was clearly directed at me.
¡°Umm,¡± I stammered a bit still a bit in awe. ¡°Yes, this should be fine.¡± How could I argue the tree was more than large enough to fit the three of us and then some. ¡°How did you know this tree had a hollow?¡± I asked examining the area that Nagishi just made for us.
¡°That was a simple matter many of these trees are Hollow Trees anyways, I¡¯m sure that dog could have found one too.¡± She glared at Renfir, clearly this is going to be a back-and-forth thing that I hope they figure out. Renfir looked back at her incredulously, as if to confirm Nagishi¡¯s assertion.
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¡°I will gather materials for a fire.¡± Renfir responds in a defeated tone. I kind of feel bad for her, but why would a wolf know what different kinds of trees are especially these giant things. As Renfir walks away to go gather materials to build a fire I turn to Nagishi about to scold her for bullying Renfir when.
Evolution initiating. Wai-
*
Nagishi, standing by the hollow she just made for their shelter. Watched as the pup Renfir walked deeper into the woods, she resolved that she didn¡¯t hate her, in fact she found her quite cute and maybe she could teach her a thing or two. As they both come from the class of world beast, and as her senior maybe it was her job. The thoughts that flooded Nagishi were not normal for her, and as she shook her head to clear the intrusive thoughts; she noticed as Cirdec collapsed. ¡°Cirdec!¡± she shouted not understanding why he was in such a state. She ran over to his collapsed body and tried to shake him awake, but no matter how hard she tried he would not budge. ¡°All-Mother what should I do?¡± She prayed, and then thought. ¡°He is breathing¡± she noted as she watched his chest rise and fall. ¡°Okay, I will bring him to the hollow and wait for the pup to return.¡± With that resolution, Nagishi hoisted Cirdec over her shoulder as if he where but a pillow, and carried him into the hollow and laid him down.
Meanwhile, Renfir is gathering twigs and dry leaves and various stones to build a fire. This is something that she knew how to do, even though Fenrir are wolves they are adept at using tools, and they prefer cooked meat so building fires is common practice. After she gathers a satisfying amount of the materials she needs, Renfir returns to the place where Cirdec and Nagishi were. ¡°Sir Cirdec, Lady Nagishi?¡± She called not seeing either of them, which she found to be strange because she was not gone very long.
¡°We are in here,¡± Nagishi called out from the hollow to Renfir. ¡°Build the fire, our Master has fallen into a slumber and I do not know when he will awaken.¡± There was a twinge of panic in Nagishi¡¯s voice, so Renfir did as she was told, viewing the directive the same as if it were given from Cirdec himself. After she had the fire going, Renfir went inside the hollow, looked at Cirdec sleeping on one side and then asked.
¡°What do you think is going on Lady Nagishi?¡±
¡°I am not sure; however, I think he will awaken soon, I feel life energy and mana converging.¡± Nagishi responded, she had already concluded that this may be an evolution. ¡°Human evolution is¡ Rare.¡± Nagishi who had been around for nearly two millennia had never heard of such a thing, though she pondered Giants and Humans have many similarities, and this human she was in service to said he was a High-human. ¡°Well,¡± she had come to a decision ¡°if he does not wake by morning we will continue on our journey to the human settlement.¡± Renfir looked at her puzzled. ¡°Yes, you can still take wolf form, no?¡± The question made Renfir¡¯s ears perk up.
¡°Yes, I can.¡± The amusement gleamed in Renfir¡¯s eyes; she had a feeling she knew what was coming next.
¡°Good, you can carry us the remainder of the way feel free to run as fast as you can. I¡¯ll make sure the Master does not fall off.¡± The thought of running as fast as she could made Renfir wag her tail uncontrollably.
¡°Umm, Lady Nagishi.¡± Renfir started in a very timid voice, ¡°are we going to be able to eat anything?¡± This made Nagishi smile, not a tender smile, but a cold, snake like smile.
¡°Well, I have some wolf left over.¡± Nagishi pulled a large pile of meat out of an extra dimensional storage space. Renfir, to Nagishi¡¯s surprise, was drooling and wagging her tail even more violently now.
¡°You don¡¯t mind sharing?¡± She asked, her eyes sparkling like gems. Nagishi confused, wondering if the girl didn¡¯t realize she was about to eat her own kin when Renfir spoke up. ¡°When Fenrir fight for hierarchy, the loser often dies, and we eat them and receive a piece of their power.¡±
Nagishi was taken aback, but understood and respected the custom so she allowed Renfir to have some of her spoils of war. ¡°Make enough so the master can have some when he awakens.¡± Nagishi, felt that because her duty was given by the All-Mother, she must make sure the human is well taken care of. The rest of the night passed without much incident, Nagishi stayed awake ever vigilant, as Renfir and Cirdec slept.
The next morning Cirdec, still hasn¡¯t woken up. So, Nagishi decides to follow through on the plan from the night before. ¡°Renfir,¡± Nagishi using the Fenrir¡¯s name for the first time ¡°can you run us to the point where we are a half day¡¯s walk from the human city.¡±
¡°Yes!¡± Renfir responds emphatically, like it is her one and only life mission. In the next moment she transforms to her Fenrir, this time she is Even larger than the Elder Fenrir was her fur had turned into an Auburn red color with a single silver lightning shaped streak that stretched from her tail all the way to the crown of her head, before splitting into two bolts wrapping around her ears and falling like side burns down her face. She had a smug look on her face as she proudly showed off her new look.
¡°Are you looking for compliments?¡± Nagishi asked, completely unimpressed. ¡°Here, and wait a second, I will need to transform too, but I must control my size because you are much too small.¡± Nagishi placed Cirdec on Renfir¡¯s back and then she herself transformed, slowly emerging and wrapping herself around Renfir and Cirdec, strong enough so he doesn¡¯t fall and gentle enough so she doesn¡¯t hurt him. ¡°Off you go.¡± The next moment Renfir takes off with a sonic boom, the path laid out in front of her predetermined by sheer instinct, as the adept bobbing and weaving through intricate tree roots finally impresses Nagishi. ¡°You run well Pup I doubt there are any who could match you in a foot race.¡± The compliment made Renfir gush, and her speed increased, until they finally burst out of the ancient wood and she stopped. At cliffs edge the pair looked down upon a lush green forest, where the trees where much younger, yet still thriving below them. Nagishi could see the wall she remembered viewing during her astral inspection. Before Renfir spoke up Nagishi noticed a road from the wall leading to a village in a clearing.
¡°Lady Nagishi, do you smell that?¡± Renfir asked. ¡°It smells good.¡± Her tail was wagging
¡°Yes, it seems as though we have come upon a human settlement.¡± Nagishi answered immediately, but she hesitated. ¡°We cannot go in there like this, or even our other forms. Let¡¯s wait until the master wakes up. I think that it will be soon.¡± Since Nagishi was wrapped around Cirdec on Renfir she had a much better understanding of what was happening and concluded he would wake from his evolution soon.
¡°I agree, but lady Nagishi,¡± There was a level of concern in Renfir¡¯s voice as she continued. ¡°The humans had not pushed this far into the woods the last time I was here.¡±
¡°Well how long ago was that?¡± Nagishi asked curiously.
¡°I was but a pup of only 20 years old we used to hunt in those woods, many mountain boars.¡± She said sniffing the air excitedly
¡°That one¡¯s children I assume.¡± Nagishi muttered, remembering a mountain boar she fought in her youth barely escaping with her life. ¡°You must have used team tactics to take down those things?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Renfir excitedly responded ¡°those hunts were the most fun.¡± Lost in nostalgia Renfir started to sit. ¡°Lady Nagishi?¡± Renfir continued ¡°are you going to make another hollow to sleep in?¡± Nagishi uncoiled herself from around Renfir, taking care not to let Cirdec fall, all while transitioning into her humanoid form. Only after placing Cirdec gently on the ground, she responds.
¡°Yes, one moment, since it is night now, I think that is the best idea.¡± Nagishi added, ¡°no fires, unfortunately we do not want to draw attention to ourselves.¡± This made Renfir pout, she rather enjoyed building fires, and cooking meat over them. Nagishi looked over the trees in the vicinity, then started walking towards one near the edge of forest,
*Wham
The sound echoed through the valley, and many of the villagers looked up wondering where in the world the sound came from. ¡°Bring the master in here.¡± Nagishi called out motioning to Renfir to pick up Cirdec and place him in the newly created hollow.
¡°Lady Nagishi, wasn¡¯t that loud?¡± Renfir was perplexed at the fact that she couldn¡¯t have a fire after Nagishi¡¯s performance.
¡°Yeah, but a single sound is less conspicuous than a fire burning all night.¡± Nagishi retorted with a hint of arrogance, convinced her that her logic is indisputable. The pair ate the rest of the wolf Nagishi had stored away, there was not much conversation, yet the area of the hollowed tree was teeming with anticipation. Nagishi was the first to notice, ¡°ah, its finally happening.¡±
A red and gold energy started to envelop Cirdec. The energy that was welling, started to become oppressive, not negative, but palpable enough that the two witnesses were compelled to stillness. The energy then entered Cirdec, making his whole being glow white, which made both Nagishi and Renfir cover their eyes unable to make out exactly what was happening, and then it stopped. There was a rumbling that seemed to come from the very earth, and then silence¡ The next moment every animal big and small, inferior and superior, let out their own unique howls simultaneously; including Nagishi and Renfir. Then silence fell again, Renfir and Nagishi looked at each other, both mystified, then looked towards Cirdec who finally stirred.
*
Well, that was crazy. I mean I was about to scold Nagishi and then everything went black. I can feel them move me. I can smell them cooking meat. That smelled so good. Evolution in progress
¡®Oh, Mene, what¡¯s up?¡¯
Evolution in progress
¡®Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Right so what do I do?¡¯
Evolution option are as follows, High-Human Saint, High-Human War Monger, special evolution available due to Life Value exceeding parameters. High-Human High-Demigod
¡®Will you tell me the pros and cons of each one?¡¯
Negative
¡®Why not?¡¯
This is outside of my function
¡®Are you shitting me?¡¯
¡Please choose evolution?
¡®Are you ignoring me?¡¯
¡Please choose evolution.
¡®Fine, High-Human High-Demigod¡¯
Understood, commencing evolution
Shortly after I heard that I opened my eyes to see Nagishi and Renfir staring at me, and you know its kind of awkward. ¡°Umm, good morning!?¡±