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Chapter 162: Stygian. [Release Version]
🕑 Added 2021-04-04 03:47:04 +0000 UTC“How are your arms doing? Can you move them? Rotate your shoulders? Stretch? They were pretty messed up, to the point I had to cut into your left arm and realign your bones for them to properly heal. Well, [Major Heal] could have probably done it regardless, but I wanted to be sure, so sorry for cutting into you, Mister Raian.” After watching over Saori’s “sleeping” spot with Cernust over the night, I returned to our camp since Tasianna informed me that the grizzled, mercenary Raian had woken up.
Listening to me, Raian slowly began doing a rudimentary warm-up practice to test out how healthy his arms were. Despite losing one of his eyes, he hadn’t complained much about it. “They are good to go. Thank you, M’lady Priestess. Don’t worry about the cutting part. If it helped me get better, then I have no right to complain, especially when I got myself into that mess in the first place.”
“Well, that’s good to hear but… aren’t you fazed at all about your eye? I mean, you lost it…” I tilted my head in wonderment. Looking worried that he was currently experiencing something I couldn’t imagine.
“Ah, yeah, that’s right.” Raian touched the impromptu bandage we wrapped around his eye like an eyepatch. He sighed before continuing, “Funny thing is, I nearly lost my eyes once before on a job. Becoming completely blind would be the end for me, but with at least one eye, I can still fight thanks to my skills. [Prediction] and [Danger Perception] allow me to anticipate attacks and I’ve managed to train myself to fight using one eye in case this ever happened. If my eye got plucked out and can’t be restored anymore, then complaining about it to you would be pathetic. I’d rather get used to my circumstance.”
Wow… as expected of an adult. Mature and sensible. Respect.
“Raian has been working as a mercenary for years before we started,” Wulf explained. “He only made it to C-rank but he’s got enough experience behind his belt to teach newcomers like us a thing or two. Even taught Roosterhead over there how to wield a sword properly.”
Oh jeez, now he is using that nickname too? Too bad, Roosterhead.
“All that experience didn’t matter in the end. Still nearly caused the whole party to wipe, haaaaaaaa…” It was a deep sigh, filled with regrets and guilt. I wanted to say something, but it felt awkward for a teenager like me to say something uplifting to an adult like him. I didn’t want to patronize him, especially if he were to think I was some snot-nosed kid who didn’t know what she was saying.
Still… wasn’t it the role of a doctor to also help a patient mentally? When I was a kid, my family doctor would calm me down before an injection… Ok, maybe that wasn’t a very apt comparison.
“But you are alive. You all are alive,” I started, attempting to bring his spirit back with [Benevolent Aura]. “You didn’t lose anybody. Sure, you made a mistake, but it all worked out in the end, right?”
… OMG, it might have just been better if I had said nothing at all. Silence is golden, ahhhhhhhhh!
“Ahahahahaha!” Suddenly, Raian just burst out in laughter. With how awkward and cringy everything I said was, I can’t even feel upset that he did! “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to force you to make me feel better, M’lady Priestess. Don’t worry about me. Shit happens. You’re right that I should be happy that everybody made it out alive — thank the goddess — but that doesn’t mean I can’t reflect back on this mistake of mine.”
“Mister Raian, please, if anybody has themselves to blame, then it was me. Mine was the deciding vote. You did what you could in a situation where we were simply outmatched and outnumbered,” Lucia chimed in as she brought Raian a wet towel.
“She’s right, mate. You and Diena were the only ones who said no to the plan, while I was stupid enough to think wandering into a goblin cave was a good idea. Arck, I really thought the worst that could happen was a hobgoblin champ or shaman,” Wulf added.
Saori’s evolution began at some point during the afternoon before the sky completely turned orange, while the current time should be a bit before lunchtime. With no access to a clock, knowing the exact time was hard. Anyway, as an evolution always takes a whole 24 hour day to finish, I didn’t have anything else to do other than to listen to this adventurer party.
Still, despite how melancholic it could be sometimes with Raian or Verdiena assessing the situation, it could have been far worse. They weren’t pondering in silence and were already discussing their next moves. I guess this is what you could call the mark of adults, or, at least, the mark of veteran adventurers who know how to bounce back from a relatively small setback.
“Thankfully, we didn’t lose Lucia’s catalyst, otherwise that would have drastically lowered our magical influence. Leif also still has his equipment; we only need to repair it. The problem is that the three of us have no armor or weapons.” Although I thought that they would have needed more time to digest their situation, especially after coming out of the predicament by the skin of their teeth, Raian was already speaking with his other four party members about equipment and money.
“True, we didn’t lose life or limb thanks to ‘Aurora,’ Cernust and Sir Antonio, but without any weapons or armor, we’ll have to do some low-rank Quests to amass the funds for replacements. Thankfully, Lucia’s merchant account has our party’s funds saved up, so we don’t have to start from absolutely nothing, even though it probably won’t be enough. You’ll probably have to deal with a normal longsword, Raian,” Wulf assessed their situation.
Oh yeah, Saori mentioned her merchant’s guild membership also included a bank-like system.
With Saori’s and my [Storage Magic], we aren’t in any need to store our money in a bank, as we can carry it around without any risks. I heard the bank functioned through our IDs and that the merchant’s guild is international to the point that we could deposit and withdraw our money in any associated guild building. Saori also mentioned that, unlike modern banks that give you interest for storing money, Peolynca’s banks were more like the ones in medieval Europe, where you basically had to pay money for them to store it. At least with the guild, that charge was covered by the membership fee.
However, there was no need for them to actually go to town and buy the stuff, right? “There should be no problem with that. Please, just take some of the weapons we salvaged from the field,” Tasianna interjected with raised brows.
“O-Oh, we wouldn’t dare! Lady Hestia and your party defeated those monsters, so we have no right to take your spoils. Right, everybody?” Lucia replied sheepishly.
“It wouldn’t be right, yes. We were rescued, and we shouldn’t take something a priestess has earned, herself,” Verdiena nodded in confirmation. They were being too modest, no?
“Oh, I don’t think my Lady minds it too much. Isn’t that correct, Lady Hestia?”
“Yeah,” I then took out the loot we salvaged from the battlefield. “We’ll have plenty to sell anyway, so just pick something and go with it.”
While Lucia was admiring my [Storage Magic] — as a “void-touched,” I was a rare magician to her — Raian looked at the weapons displayed in front of him. “M’lady Priestess, this might be rude to hear, but even as a priestess, I can’t help but be suspicious of people who give out free stuff. All the [Major Heal]s you used were ‘free’ and now you are giving us what we needed for ‘free.’ If I hadn’t heard you selling your healing for only 500 Davi at your eatery, I would be very suspicious right now.”
“Mister Raian!” Lucia cried out, but I waved my hand to calm her down.
“A [Major Heal] costs 2500 Davi each, and I used up quite a few to make absolutely sure you’d keep full use of your arm, Mister Raian. I don’t want your money, as I am not a career magician or priestess. If I could, I wouldn’t even ask for a price during my normal work hours, but I know it isn’t proper to do so. Besides, could your party afford all the [Major Heal]s I cast to help your arms recover?” I tilted my head as I questioned him, causing him to sigh and shake his head.
“Point taken. I would be even more of a burden for the kids if I had to use party funds for that. Still-”
But before Raian could end his sentence, Wulf leaned forward and blocked Raian from my sight. “Beggars can’t be choosers. There is no need for your pride here, Raian, nor any religious whatever, Diena, Lucia. You know, I trust Lady Hestia. Let’s just take the gear and kick Roosterhead’s ass for the problems he caused her last time.”
“Hmph, and here I thought you weren’t a big fan of the church,” Verdiena mumbled as she picked up a bow we got from an echikobold archer. “This is good wood. Whoever made this is a good bowyer.”
As the four adventurers were looking through the weapons, I began eating Tasianna’s cooking. She learned from the best and the quality showed. After I was done eating, I told them I was going out to “scout” again, denying anybody from joining me while placing Tasianna as a guard.
In truth, I actually returned to Cernust, who was guarding Saori in a fort of trees and roots. I handed him a bowl of Tasianna’s breakfast stew and we continued my Draconic tongue practice after he was full. Learning the language was weird, honestly. At least compared to Common tongue, I mean.
The main way to communicate as a dragon was not through words but through roars and growls. As dragonewts, we were perfectly able to practice in this form without returning to our original forms, thankfully. Cernust didn’t have [Telepathy], so being able to understand his instructions was important, as I was having a lot of trouble understanding the differences between the various roars and growls.
“No, no, it’s not ‘Krauhhh’ it’s ‘Krauuhh’ if you want to say ‘I am hungry,’” Cernust growled.
“…You have to intone your voice again? Jeez, ‘krauuhh’ hrarrrghhhh kryyuuuu?” I spat out as I was getting frustrated by how annoying it was to learn how to speak with other dragons.
“‘Why is ‘I am hungry’ also so hard to remember?’ Hey, awesome, that’s a proper sentence! See? As I said, us dragons have an internal library in our heads to identify our vocal sounds. It might seem daunting at first, but we were made to learn how to understand others to survive. The last thing a whelp wants is to accidentally wander into an elder scale’s territory and not understand them.”
I was able to learn all of this so fast thanks to [Idol] giving me a near-pitch-perfect hearing. The skill is supposed to help me write songs better, but I can’t believe I would be using it for this.
As we continued, time flew by, rushing through lunchtime and right into late afternoon. After a few more rounds of growling and roaring, my sense suddenly picked up movements inside the tree fort. Cernust controlled the trees to free our way, and there she was.
A mighty wolf.
***********************************************************
<Skill requirement fulfilled. [Primal Sense], [Heat Vision Lv. 3], [Danger Perception Lv. 10], [Night Vision Lv. 8] merged into skill [True Wolven Instincts]>
<Skill requirement fulfilled. [Terror Aura Lv. 5], [Bloodlust Lv. 4], [Lifetaker Lv. 4] merged into skill [True Wolven Bloodlust]>
<Skill requirement fulfilled. [Silence Lv. 1], [Tracking Lv 6], [Odorless Lv. 1], [Evasion Lv. 10], [Acrobatic Lv. 10], [Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 7], [Enhanced Agility Growth Lv. 6], [Enhanced Agility Enforcement Lv. 5] merged into skill [Night’s Caress Lv. 1]>
<Skill requirement fulfilled. [Unarmed Technique Lv. 9], [Unarmed Mastery Lv. 5], [Lupine Claws Lv. 3], [Lupine Fangs Lv. 3], [Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 6], [Enhanced Strength Enforcement Lv. 5], [Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 6], [Enhanced Stamina Capacity Lv. 5] merged into unique skill [Stygian Blades Lv. 1]>
<Skill requirement fulfilled. [Tenebrous Magic Lv. 2], [Enhanced Mana Growth Lv. 4], [Enhanced Mana Capacity Lv. 3], [Enhanced Intelligence Growth Lv. 4], [Enhanced Intelligence Enforcement Lv. 3] merged into unique skill [Stygian Voltage Lv. 1]>
<Magic Lost: [Umbral Pendulum] [Abyssal Bomb]>
<Abilities gained: [Stygian Lightning]>
<Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Shadow Armament Lv. 8] [Multi-Cast Lv. 2] [Continuous Cast Lv. 2] [Sundering Enhancement Lv. 9] [Piercing Enhancement Lv. 8] [Crushing Enhancement Lv. 6] [Concentration Lv. 8] [Air Walk Lv. 4] [Physical Super-Resistance Lv. 5] [Dark Resistance Lv. 10] [Health Recovery Lv. 8] [Mana Recovery Lv. 6] [Stamina Recovery Lv. 8] [Enhanced Health Growth Lv. 7] [Enhanced Health Capacity Lv. 5] [Enhanced Vitality Capacity Lv. 6] [Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 6] [Elemental Mana Weave Lv. 7] [Dismantle Lv. 9] [Humanize Lv. 9] gained>
<Skill requirement fulfilled. [Dark Resistance Lv. 10] evolved into skill [Tenebrous Resistance Lv. 1]>
<By the divine System, individual [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa] is granted the title: [Watched by Edna]>
<Individual [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa] has reached Rank B through evolution. Congratulations, you have reached the maximum Rank achievable for a [Young] monster. Bonus: 300 in all stats, 3000 Skill Points>
<Due to becoming Rank B, individual [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa] will receive reduced experience gain until maturation requirement is achieved. Evolution is blocked until maturation requirement is fulfilled. Maturation requirement: Age: 3 Years, [Shadow Armament Lv. 10], [Stygian Voltage Lv. 10], [Monster Tamer Lv. 10], [Monster Synergy Lv. 10]>
Darkness. It was pitch-black. Not while I was sleeping, but when I woke up, there was just no light at all.
But, somehow, I was still able to identify that I was inside a wooden orb made by intertwined trees and roots. Cernust, a woodland drake, was the only one I knew who could create something like this, so I assumed he helped out with protecting me while I was evolving.
[““Alpha””] were the first voices I heard after waking up.
I still felt a bit stiff from sleeping, but as I took in breaths, it felt as if power was coursing through my body like a stream of lightning. As I looked down, I saw both Song and Sarasa bowing to me. Uno and Quatre were missing, but since both of them were recovering from their injuries, that was to be expected. Still, knowing they weren’t here made my chest tighten a bit… and then a weird sound appeared.
Streaks of black lines zigzagged around my body, creating lightning-like sounds as they echoed slightly in this wooden dome. My eyes widened as this happened and I couldn’t help but clumsily stomp my feet on the ground in a panic, tripping myself as my legs suddenly felt far heavier than I was used to.
[““Alpha?!””] Both of my garms cried out, but I stopped them with a quick answer.
[“No! Everything is alright. I have not become accustomed to my new body yet.”] I recovered from my fall and stood back up, now inspecting some of my new features. As I did so, the trees and roots around me suddenly moved.
As light filled the dome, pushing the darkness away, a cheery voice penetrated through the silence and brought me back to reality. “W-Wow… Saori, you look so fucking cool!”
Hestia!
The crimson-haired dragonewt girl was jumping up and up in a cheery mood, smiling brightly as she inspected my body. With the light revealing my true form, I finally could see what Hestia’s blood gave me.
The black-furred body I was so used to was still there, but now I had a few patches of white fur around my shoulders, flowing down my back and front legs. The reason why my legs felt so heavy was from a change I anticipated from the description of my new race, and that was the inclusion of scales as armor around my front and back feet.
Similar to gauntlets, black carapaces were gathered around my legs as long sickle-like claws replaced my previous set; they were similar to Hestia’s, although they seemed thicker than hers, probably so I could still dig. As I practiced using them, I could fully feel the weight behind each step, making me believe I didn’t have to rely on bites anymore and could finally use my legs in a real fight.
My tail also got a bit thicker, but not enough to be compared to Hestia’s. Black scales covered the skin there, with fur growing out of the gaps in between the scales, thick enough that it didn’t look any different from before unless you parted the fur and looked closely.
Compared to all these changes, my face was relatively normal except for red “eyeliners” having been added around my eyes. However, what I think the biggest change in my appearance was? It was also the biggest prize of this evolution.
“Woah, Saori, your new form looks completely different from your old form. Kinda intimidating, even for monster standards,” Cernust commented, looking a bit concerned.
“Woah! What the hell is that?! Black lightning?! Oh! The red marks around your eyes are flaring up, Saori, and now the mist is back!” Hestia’s excitement over seeing my evolution made her speech a bit hectic.
However, I guess it was an accurate representation of what I was feeling.
A-Amazing!
Black lightning channeled around my right gauntlet-like front leg, gathering in one spot until my hair began to stand up from the electricity. I told Hestia, Cernust, and my garms to stand back for a moment as I raised my leg and slammed it on the ground. A loud thud rumbled out as the sensation of ramming my foot into the ground was transmitted to my brain by neurons, but in the next second, my ears and eyes were stimulated as a black lightning blast erupted from my toes.
<[Shadow Armament (Full Body)] inflicted on [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa]>
My shadows clad my entire form, enveloping my new scales and white fur. Now looking over my body, I felt that I had become a bit bulkier than before, although I still looked lean enough to slip around shadows and attacks. It was the growth that I wanted to see my cadejo-I mean, fenrir body to experience.
Profile.
__________________________________________________________________
Name: Saori Segawa Level: 0 Race: Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir
Age: 7 Months Job: Mage Level: 5/5
Status: Health: 10325/10325 (+2573) Mana: 7895/7895 (+4819)
Strength: 6230 (+1920) Intelligence: 2731 (+1091)
Vitality: 4420 (+1244) Wisdom: 4320 (+1208)
Agility: 8262 (+1588) Stamina: 7420/7420 (+2402)
Effects: None
Skill Points: 9850 (+8400)
Unique Skill: [Shadow Armament Lv. 8] (+1) [Shadow Pack Lv. 2] (+1)
[Stygian Blades Lv. 1] (New) [Stygian Voltage Lv. 1] (New)
Skill: Magic skills and related:
[Mana Efficiency Lv. 10] (+2) [Arcane Mind Lv. 10] (+1)
[Mana Control Lv. 10] [Dark Magic Lv. 10] [Dark Amp]
[Dark Magic Efficiency] [Space-Time Magic Lv. 3]
[Space-Time Efficiency] [Chant Revocation Lv. 10]
[Mental Stability Lv. 7] (+1) [Mental Warfare Lv. 7] (+1)
[Silent Casting Lv. 10] [Fluid Cast Lv. 2]
[Multi-Cast Lv. 2] (+1) [Continuous Cast Lv. 2] (+1)
[Delayed Cast Lv. 1]
Physical skills and related:
[Dagger Technique Lv. 5] (+2) [Dagger Mastery Lv. 4] (New)
[Sundering Enhancement Lv. 9] (+1)
[Piercing Enhancement Lv. 8] (+1) [Crushing Enhancement Lv. 6] (+2)
Senses and movement skills:
[True Wolven Instincts] (New) [Night’s Caress Lv. 1] (New)
[Foresight Lv. 2] [Concentration Lv. 8] (+1)
[Detection Sensor Lv. 2] [Air Walk Lv. 4] (+1)
Resistances:
[Physical Super-Resistance Lv. 5] (+1) [Absolute Pain Tolerance]
[Abnormal Status Nullification] [Terror Resistance Lv. 1] (New)
[Fear Resistance Lv. 3] (+2)
[Arcane Corruption Resistance Lv. 10] [Ice Resistance Lv. 4] (+1)
[Lightning Resistance Lv. 2] [Holy Resistance Lv. 8] (+2)
[Inferno Resistance Lv. 1] (New)
[Earth Resistance Lv. 7] [Water Resistance Lv. 6] (+1)
[Wind Resistance Lv. 6] [Tenebrous Resistance Lv. 1] (New)
Stat growths and related:
[Health Recovery Lv. 8] (+2)
[Mana Recovery Lv. 2] (+2) [Stamina Recovery Lv. 8] (+2)
[Enhanced Health Growth Lv. 7] (+2)
[Enhanced Health Capacity Lv. 5] (+1)
[Enhanced Vitality Growth Lv. 6] (+1)
[Enhanced Vitality Enforcement Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 6] (+1)
[Enhanced Wisdom Enforcement Lv. 4]
Others:
[Dancing Lv. 2] [Mathematician Lv. 3] [Merchant Lv. 1]
[Accounting Lv. 1] [Monster Tamer Lv. 1] [Monster Synergist Lv. 1] (New)
[Identify Blocker Lv. 10] [Identify Lv. 10] [Battle Mind Lv. 6]
[True Wolven Bloodlust] (New) [Mana Weave Lv. 10]
[Sewing Lv. 10] [Elemental Mana Weave Lv. 7] (+1)
[Royal Etiquette Lv. 4] [Cooking Lv. 10] [Dismantle Lv. 9] (+1)
[Humanize Lv. 9] (+1) [Telepathy]
Ability List: Stygian abilities:
[Stygian Lightning]
Unarmed abilities:
[Just Blink] [Shadow Descent]
Dagger abilities:
[Shadow Pierce]
Magic List: Custom Spells:
[Create Water] [Smoky Haze]
Dark Spells:
[Dark Bolt] [Dark Tendrils] [Shadow Dash] [Dark Slash] [Shadow Clones]
[Shadow Snake] [Enfeebling Winds] [Claws of Darkness]
Space-Time Spells:
[Haste] [Storage Magic]
Title: [Belzac’s Successor] [Otherworldly Reincarnator] [Hestia’s Retainer]
[Pack Leader] [Watched by Edna]
____________________________________________________________________________
Argh, what a shame! [Tenebrous Magic] was used up!
<Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir: An immature fenrir who evolved while digesting the blood of a descendant of the Dragon God Kargryxmor, causing its body to mutate after the blood was consumed. Scales grow around the fenrir’s body, increasing not only its defense but also its magical capabilities, benefitting the fenrir’s main ability: Stygian thunderbolts. Created using their innate high affinity to dark elements and stored inside their fur as static electricity, this fenrir is a force of nature only weakened by its immature age. Rank B>
The thought of black thunderbolts coming from my hands sounded amazing, especially after what Hestia could do with hers. Unfortunately, I did not expect to lose [Tenebrous Magic] because of that, although, it was better than losing [Dark Magic] and all its associated skills. I’ve been using [Dark Tendrils], [Shadow Dash], [Shadow Clone], and [Shadow Snake] often enough to the point they became a core part of my fighting style. They kept me safe and nimble.
On the other hand, [Tenebrous Magic] only offered me offensive spells currently, which I have to admit was something I missed. Still, if I could harness the power of my new evolution’s abilities and replace the old Tenebrous powers with my own custom spells, then I was sure I could become stronger than before. I guess it was similar to how Hestia had to deal with losing all her fire spells.
After all, reading the descriptions of these new skills made me just too happy to feel saddened by my loss.
<True Wolven Instincts: A fenrir’s keen senses turned into a skill. Multiple skills were combined to provide the fenrir with skills to adapt to any situation, increasing their awareness of their surroundings. The skills combined are: [Primal Senses], [Heat Vision Lv. 10], [Danger Perception Lv. 10], [Night Vision Lv. 10]>
<True Wolven Bloodlust: A fenrir’s bloodlust represented by a skill, warning any who dares face it of its endless hunger for prey and savage cunning. The power of this aura will increase further the more the fenrir slays in a short time, increasing Mana Recovery as well as every stat. The skills combined are: [Tyrant’s Aura Lv. 10], [Bloodlust Lv. 10], [Lifetaker Lv. 10]>
<Night’s Caress: An assassin’s most trusted skill, fully realizing their infiltration abilities under the cloak of night. When the sun is gone and darkness has clouded the sky, all stealth and maneuvering skills have their efficiency increased. The skills combined are: [Silence Lv. 10], [Odorless Lv. 10], [Tracking Lv. 10], [Evasion Lv. 10], [Acrobatic Lv. 10], [Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 10], [Speed of Sound Lv. 10]>
<Stygian Blades: The Stygian-Scaled Fenrir’s ability to increase the damage of all dark or tenebrous elemental attacks, benefitting sundering and piercing type damage the most. Health damage caused by shadow-based attacks will be transferred to the fenrir at 25% efficiency. The skills combined are: [True Unarmed Technique Lv. 1], [True Unarmed Mastery Lv. 1], [Herculean Strength Lv. 1], [Unyielding Endurance Lv. 1]. Skill level will increase with main skill>
<Stygian Voltage: The Stygian-Scaled Fenrir’s ability where dark elemental mana is stored inside their white fur and turned into static electricity. All lightning-based attacks are attuned to the tenebrous element instead of the lightning element. The fenrir themself is completely immune to their own lightning. Mana can be consumed to create more electricity, further increasing the voltage of attacks. The skills combined are: [Arcane Conduit Lv. 1], [Sorcerer’s Power Lv. 1]. Skill level will increase with main skill>
“Jeez, your stats in general have shot up like crazy. You outmatch me in Strength by so much now!” Hestia complained after I sent her my profile information, including the description of my race and new skills.
[“Sure, but who has over 38000 Mana and near 8000 Intelligence? I have higher stats in one category and so do you. We shouldn’t be comparing each other when our roles and primary fighting styles are different,”] I argued, knowing that even with my increase in Mana and Intelligence, I wouldn’t be able to keep up with Hestia in spell casting. Hestia was formidable in her own right, and I wanted to make sure she understood that no matter what.
Hestia shrugged but then nodded in the end. “Well, I guess. Anyway, I am interested in seeing more of your new lightning ability, but how about we go back for now? That Wulf has been asking where you were the whole time. ‘Where is Sister? Where is Sister?’ he kept saying.”
[“Wha-?! I already told him I wasn’t his sister, that it was impossible! Is that wolfkin stupid in the head?”] I shook my head at the headache. I hoped from the depths of my heart that he wasn’t another Gael.
“Ahh, about that. I asked him about it since I was curious, and he explained he understood you weren’t siblings and that it was a friendly way to speak with other wolfkins, you know. You are a wolfkin in your humanoid form,” Hestia explained before using [Telepathy]. [“Think of it like people calling each other ‘bro,’ or delinquent groups calling their male leaders ‘aniki’ and female leaders ‘anego.’ It is out of respect as Wulf sees you as a stronger wolfkin. Honestly, it fits wolves, right? ‘Betas’ being subservient to ‘Alphas,’ like with you and your garms.”]
An apt analogy there, Hestia.
As I was nodding to her statement, Hestia suddenly frowned. [“So…Uhhh, what is that [Watched by Edna] title?”]
…
<Watched by Edna: A title given by the Goddess of Monsters and Fertility, Edna. This title has no special effect outside of informing the owner they are watched by the Goddess>
…
Hestia and I were both speechless, unable to understand why a subordinate goddess was watching me, and a Marsven pantheon goddess at that. Didn’t we just murder a whole battalion full of their followers?
[“Well, I do remember that Edna was a tamer when she was a mortal. The best tamer in the world, I believe. The one who managed to tame the most powerful and tyrannical monsters you could think of, if that lore book could be believed,”] Hestia pointed out, referencing that one book she found in from the elven ranger's shed in the Belzac Forest which described the creation of the dark elves. [“You are a Belzac descendant, which means you’re a monster wolf. It makes sense since she’s the goddess of monsters. Or, you impressed her with your newfound tamer skills… maybe, that’s less believable. Or, she’s interested in the fact you’re mutated monster type like me.”]
[“So why have you not gotten that title yet?”]
[“It was just a guess, Saori. Hmm, maybe it’s because I’m already associated with Aurena and Kargryxmor? Dragons are specifically ruled over by the Dragon God, so maybe she’s less interested in me? And Belzac was one of Marzven’s followers, so maybe she sees you as more fair game?”]
It was all speculation at the end of the day. I had no idea why she was keeping an eye on me, but that could wait for another time. If we couldn’t figure it out now, we’d look into it later when we had a chance.
Humanize.
<[Humanized (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa]>
Thank goodness, I am still a wolfkin.
Drinking Hestia’s blood was just a spur of the moment decision, as I remembered Hestia mentioning something about two light novels she’d read, one about a slime and the other about a spider. I have no idea what they were about, but I did remember how those two would eat monsters to gain skills and abilities.
That brought me to an epiphany. What did those echikobold druids do during the fight? Drink the blood of monsters to gain strength and morph their bodies to fight us. While I knew I wasn’t a druid, the possibility of drinking blood and having it transform my body was a sensible idea on Peolynca. I would be called mad if this were Earth, but we weren’t on Earth anymore.
Since my evolution choices were sparse and lackluster, I just wanted to try it out, and to my surprise, it worked. It does make me question what secret lay in Hestia’s blood, but we could figure it out another day. Going back to my evolution, when I saw the new evolution choice, I was extremely excited about the lightning part, but I was a bit reluctant to turn into a dragonewt. I got so used to my new body that the possibility of having my race change another time made me a bit apprehensive.
In a way, I am admitting that I’ve accepted my fenrir background with this insecurity but… Okay, there was no but. I didn’t want to disappoint my garms nor did I want to deal with any dragonewt related stuff when I still had to find my students and support Aurora.
After we returned to the camp, I made everybody dinner with Tasianna’s help and went to sleep. In that time, I also tried to ignore Wulf’s constant “sister” remarks despite knowing what he actually meant with it. He honestly acted like a puppy when he talked to me, making me question how he was in a relationship with Verdiena.
I also heard Lucia and Tasianna already drained the excess mana from the battle grounds, although we couldn’t enter the cave. This forest was already inhabited by monsters, but considering how much mana Hestia and the shamans used during their battle, I don’t think having too powerful monster spawnings in this relatively low ranked area would be the smartest idea. Lucia kept the macula plants she’d harvested with her seeds while we kept ours, meaning we had a mana water refill.
In the morning of the next day, the kid Hestia kept calling “Roosterhead,” whose actual name was Leif, woke up confused about what happened. When his companions explained everything to him, he was shocked to learn that our party rescued them, especially Hestia. He quickly apologized to Hestia for their previous fight… after Wulf and Lucia both figuratively and literally kicked his butt.
Now with everybody able to move, we began to make our way back to Firwood. As the adventurers were still quite weakened from their experience, we didn’t want to simply leave them like this in case another grimgarian battalion was around. It wouldn’t be a surprise if another scouting group or something came to investigate what happened to the previous group, after all.
We had to spend a night on the roads as a result, but we finally made it back to Firwood the next day. We said goodbye to the adventurers and then went with Cernust to meet up with Severa and Antonio. Cernust stayed behind with them while we said our goodbyes the moment we received our Quest confirmation notice, heading over to the mercenary guild to hand it in right away. And with that, not only did we make some good money, but we also finished another Quest.
Now, most adventurers probably would have relaxed and hung around in an inn for a while but… we had other plans. We had to depart towards Griffonpeak as soon as possible, not just because of Hestia’s duty as a champion of Aurena, but so that I could look for my students. Gael and Marianne couldn’t tell me whether they had left the capital, as the church was being rather secretive about them, but that wouldn’t stop me from looking deeper into it. I’d evolved and become stronger for a reason, and with this power, I wouldn’t stop until I made sure they were healthy and fine.
That was my last responsibility as their teacher.
A few things happened since we needed to say goodbye to everybody in Firwood, but thankfully, nothing serious enough to delay our departure again. Although, there was one surprise — something we hadn’t expected to happen this early.
“Lady Hestia! Miss Saori! Miss Tasianna! Ellaine Fiero Helvas, ready to join!”
Ellaine hadn’t gone with her mother and brother to Griffonpeak.
