Nihilea
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Chapter 51: Popcat
🕑 Added 2024-11-11 03:42:12 +0000 UTCChapter 51: Popcat
[Mask (Cat) upgraded.
Processing. Please wait.]
Nobody ever enjoyed being told to wait, and I was no exception to the rule; I could be patient, certainly, but I didn’t particularly like it. That being said, I was still rather happy to see this particular notification pop up, if only because of what it represented. You see, until now, everything the System did had been resolved near instantly, whether it was identifying another individual, bringing up my status or inventory screens, activating my abilities and so on. It had reached the point where I was seriously considering the question of free will, whether it existed or was merely a useful delusion.. Seeing the System stutter, however briefly, was therefore an encouraging sign, as this suggested that it was not omniscient, and merely very powerful. Not that I could do anything with this information as a measly Level 3, but it was still worth noting for sake of the distant future.
In the meantime, there were more salient matters to consider, namely the attacks on my person. I was still pretty certain they weren’t directed towards me: I’d never left Allensward before this trip, and my only crimes were committed against the townspeople. Even assuming my crimes had been uncovered since my departure, the response should have come from the town guard, or the local garrison, not the local wildlife and poltergeists. Putting that aside, only a very few people knew where I was headed, all of them members of the Dead Hand, and whilst I didn’t trust their members as far as I could throw them, the entire situation seemed far too convoluted for this to be a deniable assassination.
After all, I was a mere Level 2 during my first meeting with Harvey: if he wanted me dead, he had the advantage in both numbers and Levels. In such a situation, he would have been comfortable with either attacking me directly, or simply betraying me to the guards over Damien’s murder. Instead, he covered for me, and offered me generous terms of employment. No, I didn’t think anyone in the caravan was involved, especially since all the losses thus far had in fact been sustained by the caravan. While I had an understandably high opinion of myself, I could recognise that by any objective measure, I wasn’t worth nearly enough to require such a degree of planning to deal with, so with that in mind, what exactly was going on here?
[Upgrade complete!]
A soft ping snapped me out of my thoughts, informing me that the wait was over. It didn’t inform me what I’d actually gotten, nor did the inventory sheet show anything different at first glance.
[Mask withdrawn.]
Once I had the mask in my hands, however, it was an entirely different story.
[Mask of Felis: Grants Language (Cat) when worn.]
“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” I grinned, carefully raising the mask to my face, so as to not dislodge my furry scarf currently wrapped around my neck.
As with the Blackened Bracelet, I didn’t feel any different after putting the mask on, besides the obvious discomfort of having a piece of cloth against my face, which would fade as I grew used to it. The true test, then, required the participation of my companion. Reaching up behind Pumpkin’s head, I began to stroke him behind the ears, slowly at first, before gradually picking up the pace as he began to stir. Being a light sleeper, as was common with cats, Pumpkin was up and about in less than ten seconds, sitting on my chest and staring me in the face.
“Can you understand me?” I asked, starting with the obvious question.
“Of course I do, human.” Pumpkin huffed, his voice sounding simultaneously like a soft meow and a mildly offended baritone. “My Omniglot trait isn’t just for show, you know.”
“Omniglot?” I furrowed my brow. “Have you had that all this time?”
“Since I became a Level 1 Cat,” Pumpkin confirmed, before pausing. “Hold on a moment, since when did you understand me?”
“Since just now,” I replied, my grin only widening as I tapped the side of my mask, Pumpkin’s eye’s following my every movement. “Got an item upgrade to help us work together, one that fits the theme.”
“Interesting,” Pumpkin purred. “This has potential, yes, if only because I can tell you what you should stock for my meals going forward. Hmph, I need to think about this. Return me to my castle, human!”
It wasn’t hard to work out that he meant my Inventory, though why he called it a castle I wasn’t sure. A soft touch and a small exertion of will later, Pumpkin was back in storage, and I was left with a brand new magical item, born out of what had been a few scraps of cloth, not long ago. In retrospect, this was probably the best outcome I could have hoped for, in terms of an upgrade. Pumpkin had been with me since nearly the beginning, and his presence and keen senses had proven very beneficial on many occasions. Now that we had two-way communication, things were only looking up, was my thought as I made myself comfortable in my chair.
Even though I wasn’t that tired, I still wanted to get at least some rest before dawn, as tomorrow promised to be a very long day. This time, with all of my outstanding concerns dealt with, I finally drifted off to sleep.
—
I woke up the way I often did as of late, to a long brown tail smacking me in the forehead. That was another thing to remember; living beings could be put into storage, but they could also force their way out at any point. It made sense, as much as common sense could be applied to magic: if this wasn't the case, there would be no need for prisons, and those still existed.
“Get up,” Pumpkin’s voice ordered. “The others are starting to gather outside, preparing to go find the horses. If we don’t eat now, there’ll be no time for breakfast.”
[Salt Pork withdrawn.
2x Orange withdrawn.]
Missing a meal didn’t appeal to me, so I swiftly doled out a chunk of Salt Pork to split between us, along with an orange for each of us, to keep hydrated. Only once that was all gone, and I’d vanished the crumbs left behind, did we emerge from our carriage to greet the new day.
