"So... I can see Aoi's 'Soul Info' with my [Sense Soul]," I say.
While everyone else looks impressed, Ciel's face just looks blank. "Wolfy, give me [Sense Soul]," she asks softly.
I obey and she spends a long time staring at Aoi. So long, that even Aoi gets uncomfortable.
"What the fuck," she finally says. "I had some idea that this was happening, but still... The skill system is the blessing from the God of Creation, so how did this happen?"
"She converted...?" Roxanne asks tentatively.
"She isn't listed in my 'Followers,'" I say.
"Then she better start praying," Alissa says.
"I will, be good, Gods!" Aoi says.
"Okay, so, in the battle against the Monster King, wouldn't such a thing tip the balance in our favor?" I ask.
"Yes, that's great!" Ciel exclaims, "With a way of turning monsters in our favor we can control them the way the Monster King does! Imagine if we converted a Leader-type!"
"But if we break the balance, won't the God of Destruction come back to try and take control?"
We all go silent, the implication is too heavy.
Ciel starts to say what we don't want to hear, "If you are here, sent by a 'God,' and Aoi is part of your Thread of Fate, then... a war of the Gods could be coming."
"We all knew
something
would happen," Lina says.
"Yeah, but it was very vague, and now that things are getting more real, the fear is starting to rise," I say.
"Together!" Aoi exclaims.
"Gih."
Heh, fine.
"Alright, enough pep-talk. There's no more room for hesitation and complaints, we can only look forward and fight-on," I say.
"Gih, gah gih!" Gify puffs his chest and nods with determination.
Alissa grabs our hands, and claws, and pulls us all together, "United, day and night," she starts and looks around, urging us to continue.
"In pain and pleasure," Hana adds.
"Success or failure," Roxanne continues.
"Life or death," Ciel goes on with a wide smile.
"Wherever we may be," Lina shyly contributes.
"We will, never aban-don, each other!" Aoi chirps.
I chuckle. "All for one, one for all," I complete.
We squeeze each others' hands and return to normal.
"That was incredibly corny," Ciel says and we chuckle lightly.
"Those are our vows to each other," Alissa says.
"Right, whenever we have to act on our own, remember our vows," I say.
Lina, Hana, and Aoi nod with determination while the others smile softly.
The little golems watch us with curiosity.
"Vows are, rules?" Ted asks.
"Somewhat. They are personal rules that we follow, but not literally. We follow the 'spirit' of the vow, the essence of it," Ciel answers.
"What is a, 'spirit' of, a vow?" Suzy asks.
"If I ask you to make my life 'better' and I get sad one day when someone dies, do you think that you failed the task I gave you?" I ask.
"Sadness is, part of, life," Ted says.
"Exactly. You need to understand the nuances and assumptions that come from a phrase like 'I want to live a happy life,' instead of taking it literally."
"How do we, learn that?" Suzy asks.
"It is called 'common sense,' it's something children learn by observing their parents all their lives," Ciel says.
"And some don't even fully learn it," Lina says and sends a quick glance to Roxanne.
Roxanne blinks blankly for a few moments, then it dawns on her. "Oi-!" She starts.
"We will teach you whenever we can," I interrupt. "You can always ask us questions when you feel confused about something."
The two golems nod in sync.
Then we do a little "bonding" before going to sleep. The golems were watching so intently that we decided to store them in Ciel's [
Item Box
].
Today is the 10th.
Hana wakes me up and recruits Aoi's help. Hana is learning how to do it in a gentler way so that I don't feel like I'm in the jaws of a monster when I wake up. That and Aoi's stimulating kiss are as good as coffee to help me wake up quickly.
But I really do miss coffee.
My [Summoning Magic] increased by 4 (now 18+22) and my [Blessing Magic] by 1 (now 8+22).
We calmly eat our breakfast with tea. We only leave our tent when everyone else is finishing gathering their belongings.
"Morning!" Klein comes to us and gives us a chipper greeting.
I see that neither Anton nor Laertes are nearby.
"Morning," I say and take her hand, then I kiss it the elven way while pushing my soul slightly out of my lips.
Klein breathes in and smiles shyly, "How high is your 'Charisma,' Wolf?" She asks.
"Not particularly high, you must have a crush on me or something," and I give her a wide smile.
She eyes us all warily, "You are all wolves trying to eat me up, aren't-chyall?"
Ciel and Lina look a little embarrassed; Aoi doesn't think she's being referred to so she just ignores it; and the rest simply nod and smile.
"Gih."
Klein smiles at his compliment.
"You are just really cute," Alissa says in a sultry tone.
"Predators," Klein laughs and walks away.
Nito hands us our horses and as we mount, Osaria comes to give us a greeting and talk to Roxanne. She stands a little closer than what Roxanne is comfortable with. The curvy milf wears an eye-catching white bikini and I catch Ciel staring at her ass with mixed feelings.
When we are all mounted and walking again, Hana approaches Roxanne, "When are you going to reject her?" Hana asks.
"Uh... well..." Roxanne's posture shrinks, she looks conflicted and guilty.
Hana pouts and looks at Roxanne with a little disappointment, "You are too indecisive; it was the same thing with Wolfy," she says and turns away.
Roxanne doesn't answer but her horns go soft in dejection.
Lina approaches Roxanne and pats her head like a mother would to console her child. "There, there," she tries to appease Roxanne.
Roxanne's horns regain their stiffness and she warily eyes Lina. "I feel like you're mocking me," Roxanne says.
Lina gives her an impish smile and smacks the rump of her horse, then she quickly canters away from Roxanne. For a moment, Roxanne's tail threateningly points at Lina.
Ciel makes sure the carriage is out of earshot and asks, "Why don't you reject her?"
"Well... I really do find her hot, it's just that the idea of having sex with her makes me feel 'dirty,'" Roxanne answers.
"Then reject her."
"But I find her
really
hot," she smiles wryly.
Ciel rolls her eyes, "Slut."
"We all played with Klein, we are all beyond saving," she smirks at Ciel.
"You always speak like we are doing something bad," Alissa interjects, a little miffed. "It's like you secretly dislike what we are doing but don't really want to speak out."
Roxanne's mouth hangs open, speechless, and Ciel looks away, feeling awkward.
"I enjoy the verbal abuse, I thought that's what she was doing," Hana says, frowning in confusion.
"Maybe a little of both?" Alissa shrugs.
"Embrace degeneracy," I say.
"I thought we already did?" Lina questions shyly and Hana shrugs.
"Gih."
"Even you?" Ciel looks at Gify questioningly.
We laugh softly and the conversation dies down, then Aoi perks up her head and innocently asks, "Am I a, degenerate?"
"I don't think so," I say and rub the thick skin beneath her scales. "Did you enjoy when Alissa's finger entered you?"
I feel her shrug through the [
Bind
], "Yes."
"If Aoi has, sex with, other women, she could be, considered, hedonistic," Suzy says.
"That would just be a sexual preference," Roxanne says.
"Not for a, monster," Ted says.
"Right, I believe the monsters were created for a single purpose. It wouldn't make sense for them to be homosexual since they can't have children that way," I say and Ted nods.
When it's something technical they seem to do OK in understanding my knowledge.
"But Aoi is intelligent, she can choose to have sex just for pleasure," Hana says.
"Hm..." Aoi murmurs and I feel our connection "wiggle" as she thinks deeply.
"Is there a difference between what you feel about Wolf and any of us?" Ciel asks.
"I want Wolfy, inside me, and I really like, the others," she answers.
"Well, we are almost there," Hana says and shrugs.
I lift an eyebrow at Hana. "Do you want to have sex with her?" I ask.
"Ei, 'Dragon Fucker' is an awesome title," and she gives me a fearsome smile.
I chuckle and shake my head.
Now that the caravan is moving properly, I go towards the commoners and give them [
Swift Foot
] again. They show us lots of appreciation and even Rande seems pleased.
For us, I cast [
Wind Armor
], [
Sharp Blades
], [
Swift Foot
], [
Rainbow Shield
], [
Rainbow Crystal
], and [
Warrior's Respite
].
I use [Redirect Mana] to recharge my MP and notice that the mana coming from the High Forest feels very "odd." It is quite "pure," but it also has an uncomfortable aftertaste.
With a fast march, we quickly approach the gigantic trees of the High Forest. The road splits, and one way turns east, towards the forest, while the other continues north, towards Glorampina. The traffic suddenly drops to zero; nobody is entering or leaving the forest.
Klein and Laertes climb on top of the carriage; up there they unfold thick, wooden chest-high walls that they will use as protection. Then, they pull out some comfy mattresses and lay down, though they still look very alert.
Anton walks along beside the carriage with his poleaxe in hand and awkwardly glances towards Aoi. He's wearing a light blue dragon scale armor that looks very similar to Aoi's scales.
"You look like you want to say something," I guide my horse closer to Anton and speak.
"Is she... okay with my armor?" He asks with a deeper frown than normal.
"My armor is also made of dragon scales, she doesn't care," I say.
"Good, good. Well, I don't think I could stomach seeing someone wear wereape skin as armor."
"Monsters are too different from us, many simply wouldn't even care."
The lights slowly dim as we enter the forest; only faint streaks of light get past the thick canopy of trees. Everyone casts [
Spirit Lights
] and the road becomes as clear as day due to the number of light sources. The air becomes more damp, causing Lina to show a little displeasure. The tang of moss grows strong, and once in a while I smell a faint citrus or flowery scent.
The grass becomes very thin, narrow, and delicate, almost hair-like. The earth turns soft and almost mushy, a few heavy steps on it are enough to dirty your feet with mud. A few elven children decide to drop down to the road and step out onto the grass. I notice that they don't get dirty, and some of them barely leave a mark on the grass thanks to the softness of their steps.
My Hollys spread out and we quickly find monsters lurking about. Walking dead animals and monsters reanimated by Corpse Stealers are the most common find. The small slime-like monster behaves more like a hive-mind: it's always either searching for more corpses, or attacking any nearby threats.
Not a very dangerous monster, except when they manage to gather into a large group, and there's one such group nearby.
"We have to deal with them," I say.
"Me, Lina, and Ciel will stay on the ground, you all stay on the horses in case we need to run," Hana says and we nod.
"I can, breathe fire!" Aoi chirps.
"Stay on Lina's shoulders," I say.
"Yay!" She glides towards Lina and crawls up onto her shoulder.
"You'd better not eat anything rotting or the Corpse Stealer itself, they will give you a tummy-ache," Lina says and strokes the scales under Aoi's chin.
"O-kaay!"
We warn Rande of the danger nearby.
"If you can't deal with them, aren't you going to attract them to us?" He asks while frowning.
"The 'feelers' are too close, it's a gamble whether they find us or not," I say.
He nods bitterly, "I'll trust you, we will set up near that tree and raise a few [
Earth Wall
]s."
We gallop north through the forest for a few minutes before we find the horde. Through Holly, I know that there's a hill nearby that we can use to our advantage. I dismiss all but one Holly and summon two earth, two nature, and two fire elementals. The earth elementals will create walls to funnel the Corpses into a narrow area between two huge trees. The nature elementals will slow down the monsters with their vines. The fire elementals are obvious, fire does more damage to slow-moving enemies than any other element.
Hana, Ciel, Lina, and Aoi will stay in the front, at the entrance of the funnel that the two earth elementals are creating. Behind them, the nature elementals will spread their vines, and behind the
vine-yard
are the rest of us with the horses and the two fire elementals. Through [
Animal Tongue
], I can keep the horses calm and make them follow me.
The "feeler" Corpse Stealers find us, and immediately the horde changes direction towards us. The "feelers" are Corpse Stealers that have faster and younger corpses, they stay in the outskirts of the horde and warn them of any incoming threat.
After a minute, we hear the growling from multiple types of monsters and animals. The Corpse Stealers move slowly to conserve their energy, but when a target is found, they burst forth with plenty of speed at the expense of the possessed corpse's integrity.
Once a critical mass of Corpses notice us, they all break into a sprint at the same time. Before we can even see them, we can hear the mixture of footsteps rushing towards us.
Alissa starts firing arrows, aiming for the chest, where the Corpse Stealer hides.
"We need flaming arrows," I say.
"Too late for that," Alissa answers and fires another.
"[
Lava Jet
]!" Roxanne casts the level 30 [Fire Magic] spell. Out of the tip of her staff, red-hot lava shoots off like a jet of water. It flies over the heads of the girls and creates streak after streak of blisteringly bright walking hazards.
The first line of Corpses walk over the lava without any concern, not even making a cry of pain when their feet melt and pieces of skin and flesh are left behind. They eventually start to tumble and get stuck in the lava as more parts of their bodies melt away and fall off.
Easy targets for the elementals to burn.
Two more [
Lava Jets
], and the entire side of the hill is lit up by Roxanne's spell. I even start to feel the heat coming off the molten rock.
The first few monsters crash against the girls and are easily dispatched.
The monsters that fell onto the lava form a bridge for the ones behind them, so the next wave has less of a problem moving past the lava hazards.
"[
Firestorm
]!"
Roxanne launches the spell in the middle of the new front line and the monsters behind it crash into each other, trying to stop. A pile of monsters forms as they desperately crawl away to escape the fire at any cost, a prime target for us.
"[
Firestorm
]!"
The new pile bursts into flame and only charred corpses are left after the spell ends. The smell of burnt meat fills our noses and makes me feel hungry, but also a little disgusted.
More monsters reach the girls.
"
Become stronger! Become faster!
" I command in [Godly Language].
They easily butcher the monsters while slowly walking backward.
I create a vine javelin with [
Vine Weapon
] and give myself 4 points in [
Throw
]. Whenever a particularly large monster appears, I throw a javelin at them. When I manage to hit their core they don't die, but they do become much slower.
Hana's and Lina's [
Double Strike
] are enough to kill most monsters in one attack. Lina crushes their chests with the first strike and the second comes to finish off the monster, while Hana can nearly bisect the monsters with her two strikes.
Ciel plays conservatively with her mana to save some for healing injuries.
Hana breathes out fire in a wide area and holds the monsters in place for a moment.
"[
Firestorm
]!"
And then they burn to death.
"You are now level 24."
Our carnage is silent, giving it an eerie feeling. This is because the monsters don't scream, they only use growls in a few specific situations.
The monsters start to get entangled in the vines, making them easier targets for the girls. Some even try to crash against the earth elementals, with little result; or they crawl up them, allowing the elementals to skewer the monsters with fast-growing spikes.
"Retreat!" I yell. Ciel, Lina, and Aoi break off from the line and return to the horses. Hana summons her wings and uses [
Wind Shield
] to hold the monsters off.
"Hana!" I call her once we are all mounted again, and with a last cleave, she flies towards us and lands on her horse. The animal neighs in protest. "I'm sorry, but you are strong enough to deal with it, right?" I talk to it with [
Animal Tongue
].
The horse scoffs and we all gallop north to try to lose the horde. The elementals will commit suicide when they get overwhelmed, and I think the fire ones will make quite a nice explosion.
We follow along the contour of the hill and then gallop back to the caravan. Rande had raised a wall and created a funnel very similar to ours. He and Anton wait at the front with most of the average soldiers.
Anton's poleaxe is dirtied with green slime. Pieces of the body of a Giant Centipede are being dragged away by the elven commoners.
"How was it? How many are still alive?" Rande asks once we stop our horses in front of him.
"Around fifty can still move," I say as I dismount. Nito guides the horses away towards the back.
"That's not a lot," Anton says, his permanent frown temporarily on hold.
"We are pretty good at butchering large numbers of small monsters," Hana says with a fearsome smile.
"I wouldn't call Corpse Stealers 'small,' but ok."
We reform the line with Hana in the middle, Rande and Anton flanking her, and the rest of us spread around the other men. While we wait, the girls and I use [Redirect Mana] to recharge. Aoi seems to be trying to copy us.
"
Are you managing to redirect mana?
" I ask Aoi through our connection.
"
I think so, I only know
something
is happening, hehe!
"
"
Be careful, you don't have the System to protect you from hurting yourself
."
"
Not
yet," and she mimics the sound of a kiss being blown.
I give her a playful tug on our connection and return to recharging my mana.
After I'm done, I summon the same elementals as last time, but this time I keep the nature elementals in front of us to slow the charge.
A few minutes later, the Corpses start trickling in, too spread out for area spells. But they are much less threatening now that there isn't a mob of them marching towards us.
Alissa, Hana, and Laertes manage to shoot at least one arrow at each of the Corpses before they can even reach our front line. Then the vines slow them down further, and now even the most inexperienced of the mages can manage to hit their marks.
I cut down the arm of a dead Gatun and a soldier pierces it in the chest. The monster retreats to try to save itself and I cast a [
Wind Blade
] directly at it. The spell opens its chest and I see a black goo twitch within it.
Another spear hits it right in the black goo and the dead Gatun goes limp. The black goo pools under its body and a rancid smell escapes from it.
Soon, the battle ends without another monster attacking me again.
Ciel goes to treat the few bruises and cuts among the average soldiers while I walk towards Rande. I see a man discreetly cut his own palm and then show it to Ciel so she can heal him.
"We will return to the site of the first battle and collect our Proofs of Extermination," I say.
"Sure, the Lord of Ostodos will reward you well for dealing with a horde. How many were there, anyway? I didn't imagine so few were coming after us," he creases his eyebrows in doubt.
"No idea, our area spells are
really
powerful," I say and smile smugly.
[
Rainbow Crystal
] is helping us a
lot
.
I gather the girls and we gallop back to the first site.
"So... you want us to gather the Proofs?" Roxanne asks, her tail completely stiff in wariness.
I summon 9 average goblins. Their small and dexterous hands are perfect for this task.
"Nah, I just used it as an excuse. Let's just wait and watch," I say.
The goblins work tirelessly and even the two little golems try to help with [
Telekinesis
]. The Corpse Stealers have small bones they use to help sustain their possessed corpse, so they are used as the Proof. You
can
use the black, rancid goo as Proof, but who in their right mind would?
We sit down on a root as thick as a car and watch the goblins work. We spread out a large, thick blanket that's perfect for our picnic.
"Aside from the view of the ground, this is a really beautiful place," Ciel comments.
The most common color is obviously green, then dark brown from the bark of the trees, then gold and silver from the moss and other plants growing on the bark of those trees. The trees in the High Forest absorb all the nutrients from the ground, so most plants that thrive here are parasitic and grow on the bark of the gigantic trees or they try to rise above the canopies for some delicious sunlight.
I practice my [
Grow
] and try to flatten the root we're on. Without [Conjuring Magic] to replenish the nutrients, the bark will become weakened if I overdo it.
If an elf saw what I
'
m doing they would give me a slap in the face.
Alissa pulls out a tray with steaming hot tea while Ciel guides the smell of burnt meat away from us. Aoi looks a little dejected at all the burnt meat that she won't be able to eat.
The goblins bring the bones and line them up on the ground, then Ciel and I repeatedly cast [
Clean
] on them to remove the smell. The bones are black and porous, they can even bend a considerable amount. They're shaped into vertical rib cages that protects the Corpse Stealer better from slashing attacks.
The goblins tie the bones together with strings so that the parts from two different Corpse Stealers won't mix, then they all tie the bones together so I can store them in my "Item Box." If we didn't do that, then the monster appraiser would have to summon the spirit of every single bone to discern one from another. Lords don't like to be scammed when paying for the monster bounties, and the ones in the High Forest are even more stingy.
We return to the caravan and Alissa smiles smugly. "The commoners are happy to see us back, the elven ones sound a little relieved, too," she says.
I search for the elven elder and our eyes meet, he gives me a respectful nod and I return it.
No matter the place, they still respect power.
Soon after I spread my Hollys, we have to leave again as an Uspidor is approaching. A blobby monster that has 12 tentacles it uses to walk, with one extra protruding upwards that it uses as a mouth and as a way to spit acid. They are normally slightly bigger than a giraffe.
"Hana, use the axe," I say and pull it out for her.
"Well... prepare the bath for me, then," she says with a wry smile.
"Ohoh? You didn't seem to care about a little blood during your butchering of that Dragonoid some time ago," Roxanne says.
"You guys are a bad influence on me, staying clean just feels too good," she shrugs.
"'Bad influence,'" Roxanne turns away and snorts.
"Wolfy, give me [Mounted Archery]," Alissa asks.
"Oh, right, good idea," I say and put her six points into the skill.
We approach the location of the monster and look up. High above, too far for our [
Spirit Lights
] to reach, we can see the figure of something large moving between the trees when it passes near a hole in the thick canopy.
Alissa draws her warbow to its maximum pull and I feel a hint of mana come from the enchantment, then she releases the arrow and we hear a faint screech. Through Holly, I can see that Alissa hit her mark perfectly.
The monster stops moving and turns to intently observe us. It has six eyes spread around the blob of meat that is its main body and three of these eyes are locked onto us.
"Start moving, it's going to spit acid," I order and they obey. "
Become Faster!
" I yell in [Godly Language] and even the horses gain speed.
We spread out and the monster struggles to choose a target.
"I'll make meat rolls out of your tentacles!" Hana taunts and the Uspidor targets her.
She's just stating facts, though; Uspidor tentacles are a delicacy.
A liquid splashes near Hana and we hear the traditional sizzling of something melting away. We hide behind the trees while Hana plays around with the monster.
Through another Holly, I can see that there's a group of five Feral Goblins approaching the caravan. Like a Gatun, these goblins have large, curved claws that they use to climb trees.
"Ciel, Lina! Go back to the caravan! There are five Feral Goblins coming from the south!" I yell.
While still under the effect of my [Godly Language], their horses gallop away at incredible speeds and soon they disappear behind the trees.
Another minute passes with Alissa firing a few perfect arrows at the Uspidor. Then she finally hits an eye at a record distance for her and the monster becomes enraged.
"KIIIEEEH!" It shrieks as it drops to the ground. It crashes like a water balloon and its whole body shakes with the waves its internal fluids created from the impact. Its color is green and black as if it were wearing camouflage paint, and its skin is smooth and slippery.
Hana jumps off of her horse and summons her wings. She darts towards the Uspidor and dodges between the tentacles while leaving a long gash on its body. Blood gushes out like a fountain as the enchantment takes effect and the monster becomes even more enraged.
With [
Animal Tongue
], I call back the horse and keep it safe behind a tree.
As the monster's focus changes to Hana, its "back" (the monster doesn't really have a front or back to it) is turned to us and its tentacles grow dull in their movements. Alissa takes the opportunity and fires an arrow. It passes through the tentacles unimpeded and buries itself in another eye.
I summon a Kite Dragon and yell, "
Become faster!
" in [Godly Language].
"UROOO!" The flat dragon responds and bolts in a zigzag pattern towards the monster.
"[
Water Blade
]!" Roxanne releases a particularly long blade from the tip of her staff.
Suddenly surrounded on four sides, the monster struggles to decide on a course of action. It abruptly drops to the ground and surrounds itself with its thick tentacles.
Alissa's bodkin arrow buries itself deep into a tentacle; Roxanne's spell nearly severs another; the Kite Dragon cuts down a tentacle with its sharp side-flippers; and Hana buries her axe into the monster. I cast a [
Lightning Bolt
] on the Uspidor to make sure that Hana can safely pull out her axe.
The axe is pulled free and a thick gush of red blood erupts out of the wound, painting a large patch of moss red. Hana strikes again and uses her wings to fly away before it can counter-attack. The new wound is a shallow cut but it's still enough to create another temporary fountain of blood for a few seconds.
Roxanne fires several [
Water Blades
] in quick succession and the monster's mouth turns towards her.
"[
Water Wall
]!" She casts just as a squirt of acid flies out. It hits the magic water and gets diluted without affecting anything. Her horse barely flinches from all the magic flying around it, its training is perfect.
Hana appears from "behind" and severs the mouth of the monster with a perfect chop of her axe.
"KIIIIIIIIIIII!" Its screech makes my ears hurt. So much blood flows out of the wound that the monster visibly deflates and starts to wobble around due to the blood loss. The Kite Dragon strikes again and opens another large wound, it was so deep that its guts start to spill out.
We just wait for it to bleed out while hiding in safety behind the trees. I try to avoid looking at it because just the sight of it was making me feel sick.
Meanwhile, Ciel and Lina make short work of the goblins. A [
Windstorm
] is enough to even the numbers and then the girls finish them easily from horseback due to the length of their weapons.
Alissa guides her horse towards me. "It's dead," she says, once she's close enough.
"Right, now we just need to collect the disgusting corpse," I say and Alissa smiles wryly.
"
Let me eat a tentacle!
" Aoi says inside my mind.
"
Okay. Just one, though
."
Then we leave Hana standing naked in the open while we give her clothes a quick [
Clean
].
We gallop back and wait for the caravan a good distance ahead so that both we and the horses can rest for a bit.
"It's barely midday and we've already killed quite a lot," Alissa says.
"Yeah, the Lord isn't doing a proper culling," Hana says.
"Through the Hollys, I can see that there's even more, it's just that our anti-monster crystals are enough for most of them," I say.
As we wait, I notice that there are a few glowing plants appearing on the trunks of the trees. There's also a firefly-like large insect that seems to be flying between them. These plants are symbiotic with the trees and other plants. They give off light that's absorbed just like how plants would normally absorb sunlight, then they all help break down the bark of the tree and also serve as a home for other insects. They are somewhat like corals.
The caravan reaches us and we stop for lunch. Krista cooks a thick Giant Centipede soup. It has a faint minty flavor with a bit of a of chicken-like aftertaste.
Why am I suddenly thinking of Ciel's feet?
"You collected all the bones from the Corpse Stealers?" Anton asks us.
"I used [Summoning Magic] for that," I answer.
"Diamond dragon scales, that is too handy," he snorts and resumes eating.
"I could teach you a spell, if you wish," I say and smile innocently.
He stops eating and analyzes me with his eyes. "You are not getting yourself any favors," he answers flatly.
Klein groans softly and keeps her eyes on her food.
A soft voice caresses my ears, "How many Corpse Stealers did you kill?" Osaria asks.
"One hundred and thirty-seven."
The table turns to us in surprise and we show a mix of proud and embarrassed smiles. I select one set of the bones in my "Item Box" and touch the ground with my finger. With a *poof*, the large pile of black bones all tied together appears.
A long sigh escapes Laertes while the others go quiet.
"Did you even
need
our help?" Rande asks.
"Couldn't finish them all in one go," Hana says and gives Rande a fearsome smile.
"Are you paying them a fortune or something?" Krista asks Rande, incredulous.
Rande laughs oddly with a stupid smile on his face, "You didn't even see them stop a Grim Giant in its tracks basically by themselves."
Anton grunts a chuckle. "Well, I thought you were exaggerating a little," he says.
Klein pouts and playfully punches the log that is Anton's right arm, though, it might have hurt her more than him.
"To be honest, our strength is a little difficult to gauge. [Summoning Magic] is
that
useful," Alissa says.
Osaria smiles seductively at me and I get a little uncomfortable. She is too "stimulating."
We continue our trip and our peace lasts a short while before another Giant Centipede approaches. We only send Hana and Roxanne, and they [
Explode
] the head of the monster. Like last time, she stores it in her [
Item Box
] and we will transfer it later.
A small group of eight Woody Skritters approaches us and get used as target practice by Klein and Laertes. They have so little value that it's not even worth it to collect the Proofs of Extermination for them. However, we do burn their bodies so that there are no remains for Corpse Stealers to possess.
As we near Ostodos, the number of glowing plants explodes and the night nearly turns into day amidst their brightness. The bark disappears beneath the carnival of colors. Then the multi-colored lights all turn purple when the sun sets.
We then see the first patrol, a group of golden elves riding Gatuns, the long-armed panther-like feline. They wear cloaks with wooden armor underneath, they're yellow and glossy. Most of them wield bows while the rest use spears and one or two look like mages. They look at us with weary eyes and only give a curt nod to the other elves before moving on.
They climb a tree and disappear. I notice that the Gatuns leave marks in the bark and plants that appear to heal completely after only a few seconds.
The patrol gives the commoners new vigor and they walk faster. After a half-hour, we finally reach the huge ramp that is the entrance to Ostodos. It turns into a spiral around a pillar-like tree and disappears inside a huge ceiling made of bark. This is the underside of Ostodos, a shield to protect them from monsters, their equivalent of a "wall."
Thick bark covers the underside of most of the town. Only a few spots are open and that's where the monsters can invade through if they have no means of breaking the bark.
Below the city is a small lake where rainwater gathers and slowly trickles away into a river. That river eventually joins others and grows larger until it leaves the northwestern corner of the High Forest, pouring out into the sea.
Around the lake are the farms, though only a few are actually on the ground level. A single tree in the middle of the lake brings water upwards and it is then distributed among multiple levels of farms.
"Wow," Ciel lets out in wonder.
"I see a few camouflaged elves in wait behind windows," Alissa says.
"Really? I didn't notice anything," Hana says.
"They
are
known for being good at hiding," Lina says.
After a long and tiring climb for the commoners, we finally pass through the ceiling. We go through a long killing-corridor filled with murder holes before we finally reach the gate.
The guards wait for us anxiously. When we finally reach them, they crowd around us and hurriedly talk to the elven commoners. They also look a little weary, though their equipment is still in top shape.
I put on 10 points into [Ingua Language].
"You brought magic tools?"
"How did you survive?!"
"I told you not to try to come!"
"A HORDE?!"
Rande approach us. "We will leave after tomorrow, same time," he says and immediately leaves.
As we dismount and approach a guard for customs, we start to get glances from the commoners and other guards. Klein escapes her parents and joins us so we wait for her inspection before we finally cross the large wooden gate together and enter the city proper.
The whole city is divided into two levels. The lower level is where the commoners live and where the military buildings are located; they receive weak sunlight and supplement it with crystal lamps, so it has a rather gloomy atmosphere. The upper level is above the canopy and receives sunlight, so we would rather go there.
The streets are composed of grey wood. They look almost Earth-like with two lanes for the wagons like an Earth road and two other lanes for pedestrians on the sides. Where the traffic line should be is actually an empty spot where you can see the lower bark "shield wall." In that empty spot, there's an enchantment that prevents people from falling and it pushes you back onto the road. It's quite popular with children, though it's too late right now for them to be out playing.
Moonlight shines down through the same holes in the middle of the street on the level above us and we see people sitting along the border of the hole. They dangle their feet above us and drink while talking happily.
The buildings are simple in their shape, huddled together, and are all boxes made of differently colored wood. The amount of decorations on them, like glowing plants and statues
grown
out of the buildings, is the way they display their wealth.
This floor does not have a very inviting atmosphere. The streets are nearly empty and inns desperately announce their vacancies.
"Do you know of a good inn on the upper floor?" I ask Klein.
She smiles innocently and nods, "Follow me, then!"