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Chapter 59: A goodbye to dear friends and a message from above. [First Draft]
🕑 Added 2020-04-16 23:31:59 +0000 UTCFinish reading this chapter then a new one will appear if you truly pray for it. ;)
This of course doesn't apply anymore. :P
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[“Wait, she did what now?!”] I asked unbelievingly.
[“She destroyed the clinic tent, nearly killed some of the injured and Apsala, and if I had not stopped everybody the whole camp would have been turned into a bloodbath,”] Saori explained exasperatedly.
Oof, so not only did she watch and help us have to deal with that A rank monster, but she also had to stop the virigress mother from killing literally everybody in the camp and vice versa. Goodness, we might have been in a life-or-death situation but Saori had to babysit everybody in the camp.
Then again, isn’t teaching a whole class and bringing them to trips sorta babysitting? She should’ve been used to it.
Removing ourselves from the entrance and the celebrating lizardmen, our now reunited party was walking together to where the virigress family was, [“Well, how did you solve everything, Saori?”]
[“I did not. There was too much hostility between the two groups,”] Saori said. [“You remember anybody that was poisoned and had a huge claw mark when you were in the clinic tent? He and his friends were not happy to see the mother.”]
I nodded, still remembering the face of the first lizardman that I healed. I didn’t catch his name, but he sure was grateful that I helped him.
[“Well, that’s good, right? Wasn’t he our first patient, lady Hestia? I am sure we can work something out,”] Tasianna joined in the conversation.
Saori simply said “maybe”, telling us that she mentioned my name to them but that they were so consumed by the moment that they wouldn’t stop. Neither the virigress mother nor the lizardmen were willing to drop the bad blood between each other.
To stop the conflict, Saori had to unleash her [Terror Aura] to intimidate everybody to calm down, something that I know can be pretty frightening. It stopped the fighting for now, but that didn’t change anything about the tension between the two groups, so they have been glaring each other from a safe distance.
The virigress mother hasn’t fully recovered yet but her [Exhaustion (Moderate)] and [Sleep Deprivation (Minor)] was thankfully gone. Saori also was boasting that her relationship with the virigress family has improved since I was away, explaining that through some questioning she learned that it was 'cause of the way Saori smelled. The bloodthirsty smell of the cadejo was too suffocating.
After walking for a bit, we made it to where the felines were, a small spot in the rainforest a bit further away from the camp. Letting ourselves be known by calling out for them, the mother dropped down from the top of a tree branch and quickly approached Rajah, before licking and grooming him like crazy.
“Reowww!” she called out.
“Mreow?!” Rajah cried out in confusion.
Oh, this is a wholesome sight. How precious.
Enjoying the cute sight of a mother worriedly embracing her son after he left for a long time, our party left them to catch up. The two other virigress cubs also climbed down from the tree and the four-headed family has finally reunited.
[“So, what is our plan now?”] I asked in the round.
Now having finished doing what we could for the lizardmen, our group has fulfilled most of our goals. We didn’t have any obligations anymore to stay with the lizardmen, so it might be time to continue our journey up north. There was also the case of the virigress family that we needed to discuss, considering that Rajah has been reunited with his family and technically doesn’t need us anymore.
As much as it pains me to say this, we can’t keep Rajah with us if he wishes to stay with his mother and siblings.
[“Our plan is still to go north, correct? However, I do not know if we can make it before the snow,”] Tasianna said.
[“If we were to hurry then I believe we can make it. I have been thinking but if Hestia and I share running duty then we can probably make it,”] Saori suggested while putting a finger on her chin.
[“Oh, you mean either of us can carry the others while traveling through the forest in our monster form?”] having given it a thought, I was able to understand what she meant. [“That certainly would be efficient. We can manage our Stamina efficiently and I believe our [Terrain Maneuvering] can help us travel even faster.”]
Tasianna might have suggested that we needed more than two months to reach the elven country, but we have honestly made fantastic progress, due to how hard it is to get either Saori or me to be tired. It took us less than two weeks to reach the swamp and we spent about a week with the lizardmen. We could definitely make it to the border in one week if we rushed it.
However,…
[“If we rush it then our time in the Belzac forest would be lessened. Wasn’t its Lady Hestia’s wish to stay here a bit longer?”] Tasianna asked quizzically.
That was the reason but I also planned to use this time to train. I wanted to get a bit more confident with my singing and dancing, however, I've nearly wasted a whole week without any sorta practice. Since we met the lizardmen, I haven't been able to do my daily routine at all. The atmosphere for it wasn't right.
And then there was the whole rescue mission and treating Caszcur’s arm. I just didn’t have any free time to practice. I’ve wasted too much time.
[“Y-Yeah, that’s true. Uhh, I still kinda want to see the swamp but…”] however, no matter how much I wanted to do it, I can’t endanger my friends. [“I think we should leave the swamp as soon as possible. That…thing. That giant snake was only one part of an even larger monster and I was not able to sufficiently hurt it.”]
[Spiral Hellfire] was the only spell of mine that manages to hurt the snake and it only broke off some scales and singed a bit of its flesh. My [Spark Claws] crushed its eye but as a consequence, my entire arm was crushed from the impact, the reward of being to wound it but losing the functionality of an entire arm is not worth it.
Neither magic nor my [Spark Fire Dragon] abilities worked. I also didn’t have any information on it besides the [Identify] description and my fight with it. How many snake heads does it have? I even forgot to see its status board in my panic. It’s too dangerous.
[“I can’t beat it; no, even with all three of us fighting it, we can’t beat it. Quality beats quantity in this case,”] I admitted.
[“Did you not mention that its description said that it had multiple heads? If that is so, then could it be similar to the Lernean Hydra or maybe Yamato-no-Orochi?”] Saori said, surprising me. Prompted by my question, "How do you know that sort of fantasy RPG info?", Saori explained in an annoyed tone, [“Hestia, those are mythological creatures. Myths and legends are an important part of a culture’s identity, which is also history.”]
Before she could retell “The Twelve Labors of Heracles” and “Nihon Shoji” in her excitement and derail our entire discussion, the virigress suddenly came over to us, meowing as if they wanted to say something.
[“Oh, hey you four, what’s up?”] I asked them as they approached.
“Mreow,” the mother said before licking my shin once and then staring into my eye.
Without verbally communicating with each, it was always necessary for me to interpret their actions. Maybe it's 'cause I'm used to it or maybe it's easier this time but I was quickly able to understand that she was thanking me.
["Oh, it's alright, don't you worry about it. Rajah is your cub and helping his siblings was natural. He's a companion of ours, after all,"] my smile twitched at the word companion, knowing that we might be separated soon.
I wanted to say something to the purring mother, who was snuggling her head on my legs, causing her cubs to do that too, in appreciation of my help, however, it was hard to do so.
Steeling my will, I scratched her chin to draw her attention to me, [“I-We, our party here, wishes to ask you and your family something.”]
I explained to her about our travels and our wish to go to the elven country, to civilization. I also talked about the fact that I’ve adopted Rajah as a pet when he was separated from her and my wish to keep him and continue our travels with him.
I knew it was selfish to ask, especially after they just reunited with each other, but I had to ask. I couldn’t run away from the problem for too long, anyways.
The mother thought on it for a while, looking at Rajah and her other cubs for a bit, until she began pushing Rajah towards us. Was she telling me that it was ok?
Rajah kept meowing, asking his mother what she was thinking when she pushed her, but she just continued staring at him. As Rajah was defiant about it, she grabbed her two other cubs by the scruff and started walking away from us.
Rajah kept meowing and ran towards her, unable to part ways with them but was quickly rejected by his mother with a quick tail swipe. The crying virigress’ cries became more frequent and more depressing. He truly wasn’t ready to part with her…
[“Wait!”] I called out after grabbing Rajah and dashing towards her. [“…It’s fine. It’s fine. I-I-I can’t…it’s fine. Please, don’t leave him. It’s fine.”]
The mother looked at me as if she couldn’t understand what I was talking about. At one moment I wanted Rajah to join me and, in the next, I was begging her to take him back? Crazy. She must have respected my wish and was willing to give me her cub after all that I have done for her.
Her attitude must have looked cold to Rajah, but her aloofness couldn't hide the sadness in her eyes of having to part with her son. Now staring into her eyes, I could see that they were incredibly watery as she looked at me, unbelieving.
[“He…doesn’t want to part with you. He doesn’t want to part with you. Please, don’t accept my selfish, egotistical, self-centered, inconsiderate, thoughtless, greedy request,”] I chastised myself, unable to accept Rajah if it’s like this. [“Please, don’t abandon him.”]
I put Rajah down on the ground, who licked my hand in gratitude. The mother placed the carried cubs on the ground and thought about it for a second, before looking at me as if she wanted to confirm my decision, one last time. I nodded, which prompted her to affectionately lick Rajah that justified her for having the title [Protective Mother].
I embraced Rajah and his family one last time before saying my farewells to them. Once I was finished, I stood up and walked away hastily. I said all I wanted; I couldn’t stand it anymore.
I heard Tasianna and Saori say their farewell too, then loud meowing, and then the slow steps of the virigresses. I didn’t turn around. I didn’t want to see them off.
Gods, how is saying farewell this hard…? Why does my chest hurt so much? We’ve only known each for a week, so why am I so sentimental about it? Why is this so painful…
While I suffered from this pain, a hand began rubbing my back, [“You did the right thing, Hestia. You were a good girl. You did amazingly,”] Saori said warmly, a smile so soft like a mother’s greeted me.
[“They looked happy when we saw them off. Their thankful cries; you must have heard them, Lady Hestia. Please, don’t berate yourself any further. Only a truly selfish person wouldn’t have done that,”] Tasianna comforted me, caressing my head with her tiny hands.
[“Come on, Hestia. Let is all out, you can cry now…OOF,”] I interrupted Saori by hugging her heartfully.
[“I can’t do it now,”] I said with a wry smile, digging my face into Saori’s chest to hide my wet eyes. [“I haven’t cried for so many years. I probably could cry a river full at this point. I can’t let Rajah feel bad about his decision nor do I want to break my…promise.”]
Gripping Saori even harder, it took me a very long time until my sadness disappeared. If I had cried, would I have felt better sooner? Who knows.
Goddess, please keep them safe. Please, keep them safe, Aurena.
Afterward, we returned to the camp and were welcomed with open arms by the lizardmen. They were wondering where we went as they haven’t gotten the chance to thank Tasianna and me for all our help. Thanking me individually and how they were once again indebted to me.
Wanting to celebrate the successful rescue mission the lizardman planned to have a feast in our name. Apparently, they were so optimistic about our success chance that they've gathered varies fish, meat, and fruits beforehand to turn it into something to be remembered.
Wanting to help, Saori and Tasianna participated in the cooking, while I…well, I told them that I needed some rest. Casczur, Apsala, and Aksmias were clearly bewildered and worried about me but Saori stopped them, presumably, explaining to them what happened.
I went into the forest and just waited there until the food was ready. My mind wandered between my farewells to Rajah, the time I spent with him, and the family’s safety. I also wondered about the pain I felt when I said farewell.
It still hurts so much…will I have the chance to meet Rajah ever again? Shouldn’t I have been more assertive about and asked the whole family to join us in our travels?
“Sigh, regretting about it…how pitiful of me…huh?”
<[Young Virigress, Rajah] has become your follower>
<One [Virigress *] and two [Young Virigress *] have become your followers>
<Total follower counts updated. Total follower of [Young Spark Inferno Dragon, Hestia Atsuko]: 6>
<Follower amount requirement fulfilled. [The Light] proficiency requirement fulfilled>
<[Faithful Function] unlocked. You may now access and see your total followers and retainers. You may also see what amount you need for the next tier of rewards. Call [The Light] to open the menu>
<[The Light] has gained [System Neutrality]. This title has turned immune to the effects and functions of the System and cannot be altered by anyone besides the administrators and individual [Young Spark Inferno Dragon, Hestia Atsuko]>
<Congratulations [The Light], you have unlocked the title’s true function. Further growth will be rewarded for fulfilling the follower tiers>
<Your followers [Young Virigress, Rajah], one [Virigress *], and two [Young Virigress *] have received the title [Aurena’s Blessed]>
<Aurena’s Blessed: A divine protection granted by the Goddess of Light, Aurena. While this title is active the owner will receive improve experience gain and skill proficiency gain. They will also gain [Death Protection] that will protect them from death once their Health drops to zero. Instantly regenerates Health, Mana, and Stamina. May only be activated once per day>
…
“Pff…ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!” I couldn’t control myself; the laughter wouldn’t stop.
After what felt like five minutes of non-stop laughing, the lack of air finally exhausted my lungs enough that I was forcibly stopped. Once I recovered my heavy breathing something else stormed into my brain but this time, it actually hurt me. The intense pain felt like a sharp spike drilled into my head.
<I bid you a friendly, albeit late, welcome to the world of Peolynca, Hestia. My name is Aurena, the Goddess of Light, and one of the six primary administrators of this world.
This message is for sure too late for an introduction but many complications made it impossible for me to speak with you. One of them is that my connection with you has somehow been severed.
The title that I gave you, [The Light], used to allow me to see through your eyes, but worry not, it didn’t give me any power to look into your mind. That ability of mine is now gone and my original plan to guide you has been delayed.
However, for some reason, I was briefly able to hear the sincere prayer that enabled me to both grant your wish and also send you this message. Its intention is to ask you to hastily make to one of my alters and pray there, a close one is up north, in one of the many churches of the high elves.
This information is not privy to mortals, but we gods are only able to see through the eyes of our followers and gather the information that way. However, as you were recently born, my connection with you is rather weak; your title is the reason why I could even send you this message.
Once you pray to an altar or shrine of one of us gods, we will be able to speak to you and form a connection with you. And that leads me back to my request.
You must have many questions about why you are here and what my intentions are. I can understand that, especially as it seems like your memories are intact despite the reincarnation. I will be forthright with you, yes, we gods are at fault. More specifically, Kargryxmor, myself, and another god that I am not allowed to tell you about.
You must be furious but that is understandable, please let your anger out if you must. If you must say those words to me, then come and pray to me. I must tell you much that I cannot with this message. Your mind would collapse if I sent everything.
If you have questions for why you are here then come to me, post-haste. I will answer everything that I am allowed to answer. We cannot speak until you do so, as our connection will finally be completely broken with this.
Until we meet, develop your [The Light]. There is a reason why I have chosen you, and you know exactly why. Your memories might be in shambles, but your heart yearns for it, correct? Let it out, my little shining light.
Once again, I apologized for everything. I also apologized for copying your current memories and watching them. Mortals in your former world call this a privacy breach, correct?
I will wait for you until our next meeting. We gods can wait but the world cannot.>
…He he he he…verdammt nochmal…I really fucked it up, huh? So praying was the trigger…that sly fox.
Granting Rajah and his family her protection and sending me this message at about the same time is no coincidence. I asked her for a favor, and she fulfilled it. Great, I now have a debt to her and also a reason to get into contact with whatever she is planning me to do. Absolutely awesome…
…well, she isn’t forcing me to do it now. Urgh, gotta look at the bright side, I guess. This was gonna happen sooner or later.
Well, it fits with my goal to go to the elven kingdom so I might as well plan a detour to the church.
“Thank you very much for helping me, Goddess Aurena…and fuck you for looking through my mind! Privacy breach, indeed! Just ‘cause you’re a goddess doesn’t mean you can do this me, you bitch!” as she allowed me to do it, I screamed my frustration for the gods out.
How they practically abandoned me until now. How they just had to put me in the Belzac forest of all places. How they just had to alter my memories. How they just had to include me in their plans
“…however,” finally satisfied and freeing myself of that burden, I bent my body to 90 degrees, showing a bow to the sky. “Thank you for reincarnating me. I don’t know if I actually deserve a second chance but thank you so very much. I don’t know why you want me to gather all those followers but I will do my job as an Idol and gather as many fans as possible!”
<[Faithful Function] has been renamed into [Fans Overview] due to the owner’s wish>
Enough running away!
I’ve made up my mind. If I want to become an Idol, if I actually want my dream to come true then I can’t slither around my tail anymore! Who cares if the first time is the perfect performance, huh? Not every K-Pop star made it big from their first single. It all depended on how much work they are willing to put into it and if they even have the confidence to continue!
I can do it!
My heart was racing as I firmly announced my renewed determination to fulfill my past and current life's ambition. My mind ran through the many things that I needed for my first performance. What sorta song should I sing, should I use dance choreography that I already know or should I try to make one myself, and, of course, my outfit. I need to throw some ideas at Saori when I get the chance.
Once, I was back in the camp, the lizardmen had already finished most of the preparations, which was mostly the food and drinks. It seems Saori used quite a lot of our own spices so we could celebrate properly, while Tasianna helped prepare massive amounts of tea and juices.
It would seem like giving them all our cooking equipment and supplies was the correct choice as I was impressed by what they managed to make.
“Ahhh, I wish there was some sake…” Saori mumbled though the loud cheers of lizardmen.
…I didn’t hear that. I didn’t hear my aloof friend say that she wanted alcohol. Nope, didn’t hear that at all. Wow, this fragassa juice is amazing, mhmm.
The lizardmen were delighted to see me regain my positive attitude as they found the depressive me quite worrisome. How rude of them to say that directly to my face!
Not letting it annoy me for long, the whole camp began merrily joking, feasting, and partying. Still driven by my determination, I let my voice out and sang through the night as loud as I could. The lizardmen and Tasianna were unable to understand the lyrics but they at least complimented my voice and the music that I made on my wind violin.
It wasn’t true idol work but hearing them say those things really made me happy. I promised to myself that I would polish up my dance skills and my [Aerokinesis] skills so that I can give them all the idol concert of their lifetime.
As the night continues and midnight came, all of us slowly fell asleep like sloths as we had enough of all the partying.
Once morning came, our party approached Caszcur, Apsala, and Aksmias as it was time for us to tell them about our plans.
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In another place, deep inside a cave, there was a throne room where a giant ogre sat on his throne with two armored ogres flanking him. In front of this ogre king, a single green goblin was groveling before the mighty beast.
“That is what truly happened? I have your word, green midget?” the ogre king said in an imposing voice.
“Y-yes, great one. A-A big-big-big dragon attacked us and our leader, the ogre g-general, fought strongly but was r-roasted by their fire breath,” the stuttering and shivering voice of the green demi-human made it hard for everyone to hear, especially with how feeble is sounded, but the ogre king was used to this from the goblin shamans.
“How did they look?” he asked.
“L-Large wings, two feet, long tail, monster head. So strong, great one. It attacked us when we just arrived where we should meet the ugly ones. There was a landslide and a single corpse of an ugly one there. The-The cave was even destroyed!” the goblin further explained, retelling the aftermath of Hestia’s and Saori’s fight against the trolls outside the cave. “Ogre general commanded us to fight-kill, but they-they all died-died! The shamans all died-murdered. They are not looked upon by our Night Father!”
Tears stream down his face as he remembered the sight, the smell, and the sound of the burning dying, knowing that the Goddess of Death’s cold hands left a mark on his throat, “We are all the remaining-left. Dragons stopped before killing us all to fly away. So fast like they had to go someplace. However, they not stop soon enough…wagons are all gone-broken.”
The ogre king contemplated the words of the goblin, eventually coming to a decision. Crushing his throne’s arms with his hands, he shouted, “Kargryxmor! You dare interfere in our conquest?!”
How could it be a coincidence that they were there at the perfect time, thought the ogre king. Wyverns might not be as strong as true dragons but they were still dragonkin, subjects of the god of all dragonkins on Peolynca.
Kargryxmor sent his minions and destroyed the trolls and stopped their plans, eliminating a whole battalion of his warriors and also the supplies that they were transporting. Weapons, armor, and rations were in it, but most importantly was the “extra” that they planned to give the troll shaman.
That demonkin will further chastise me for this…
The plan was already delayed due to the late arrival of the trolls but now it was further hampered by the collapse of the cave and the presumable deaths of the trolls. It was likely that due to this interference and the coming winter that their attack on the humans wouldn’t happen this year.
“Goblin…stand up,” the towering demi-human said.
“Y-Yes, oh, great one!”
“Get out of here and get new weapons…,” he waited for the small goblin to run out of the throne room before bellowing from the top of his voice. “GET YOUR WEAPONS, MEN! WE ARE GOING WYVERN HUNTING! FOR THE GODDESS OF VENGEANCE AND GRUDGES, KRONNAZ, WE WILL AVENGE OUR FALLEN WARRIOR!”
With the cheering of the ogres resounding from every single corner of this cave and the clattering metal that came from outside the cave, the army of demi-humans was readying themselves for battle.
