A Vulpine Spanner in the Works
Chapter 5: Local Meet and Greet
I couldn't help but smirk as I watched the pep in Lukrut's walk as we both headed to the restaurant that he had recommended, it helped numb what I'd been feeling earlier. "At this time of day, most people would be tired from a long day of hard work, especially if they fought off a horde of goblins and ogres. What makes you so different?" I mused aloud.
"What can I say, Kashia? A beautiful goddess of a woman has accepted my proposition for a dinner! I would have to be an unfeeling undead to not be excited like I am now." Lukrut replied with sincerity, not that he's completely wrong. You are a goddess. In a way, I could understand his feelings quite perfectly. Back on Earth, I would jump for joy when a girl accepted my invitation to a date. Sadly, I was never able to make a relationship come out of any of those dates.
"Mind telling me about how you even found out about this restaurant? It would be a nice story to pass the time while we walk there." I asked Lukrut with some interest. I was betting on the reason behind this place being due to Lukrut bringing all his dates to the place.
The blond chuckled at my question and spoke, "Well, like Dyne and Ninya, I wasn't born in E-Rantel. I came from a small village called Signpass. Not much of an inspired name since we were based on a crossroad leading to E-Rantel, E-Pespel, and some small villages. We were essentially a rest stop for travelers."
"Trust me, Signpass isn't the worst name I've heard for a town. There have been much worse but go on." I remarked.
"Still, since we got so many travelers coming to and from the town, my cousin, Celica, was inspired to go to E-Rantel to start a living. She had managed to save up enough money to travel there, buy a cheap building, and turned it into a restaurant. When I eventually came to E-Rantel, I rented a room from her for a pretty cheap price until I could get onto my feet with an adventuring career." Lukrut finished.
"Sounds like your cousin has done pretty well for herself. You probably get a discount from there, I'm guessing?"
"Yeah, I do. But I still pay the full price if I can every time. Celica has helped me a lot in my earlier days, so I try to help her out as much as I can. Also helps that some of the girls working at her place are pretty cute," Lukrut quickly added in a panicked tone, "not that they have anything on you."
"Of course, you'd enjoy an establishment that employs attractive women." I remarked with amusement. The blond was a creature of habit, not exactly something that I didn't expect. Even with his endless fascination with the opposite gender, I didn't find it that off-putting.
"Yeah, I am average in that regard. But you aren't, mind telling me more about your life besides what you told us earlier today? Being a noble must have been much different than living like a commoner."
I thought about this for a moment. Making up a backstory for myself on the spot was a little difficult since I had never lived like a noble in my life on Earth. Though, modern amenities would seem like something kings would have. Time to adlib a backstory at the last minute.
"My homeland was a place full of magic and wonder. We had tall towers of metal, stone, and glass that seemed to touch the sky. My mother, Inari, was a queen of our land. She was kind, beautiful, though she did have a prankster streak. She supported the common people by giving them technology, food, and as much help as possible."
"Wow, your mother is much different than our nobles. The only noble that I know of who has helped the common people would be Princess Renner, and even she has issues with trying to do that because the other nobles try and hinder her attempts." Lukrut said, impressed.
"Our only nobles were my mother, my father, and my sisters and I. People like mayors were elected by the commoners, and they would come to my mother with their requests which she would help with if she could. Beyond that, I grew up being taught by my mother on a myriad of subjects, with training in the ways of magic taking a greater importance than everything else." To be honest, part of this backstory that I was making up was coming from a mix of the government from my home on Earth, and random fantasy tropes.
"My family has the trait of birthing very powerful magic users, so learning how to cast spells was a big must. After getting old enough, I gained a wanderlust to travel from home and explore the world, so I made my preparations, said my goodbyes, and left." I finished up the rest of my impromptu backstory quickly as I could since I didn't want any potential backstory to have holes in it that someone would notice.
Lukrut thought on what I said before speaking up, "Did you see interesting sights on your travels?" Now that was much easier to answer on the spot, I've had so much experience during my adventures in YGGDRASIL that I could choose any one of the hundreds of experiences I've had.
"You'll have to be a little more specific, Lukrut. I've seen a lot of strange things during my travels which makes it had to pick one specifically."
"What about something that you could say was the most memorable?" Something memorable, hmm? That is slightly easier to choose as I had a few moments that would forever stick with me during my time in YGGDRASIL.
"During my early of training, before I started traveling, I remember the day that I first used magic. I was completely captivated by the way a simple and weak fireball spell crackled in my palm." And it's true. When I first activated a spell in YGGDRASIL, I had been transfixed on how realistic looking the fire in my hand looked. I'm pretty sure that most players were like this when they first started playing the game.
It was a miracle of technology to be able to make the fantastical aspects of YGGDRASIL feel so realistic to the players. There were stories of YGGDRASIL players dying in real life because they never left the game and their bodies starved. Then again, I can't really blame them with the state that the world is in. Abandoning the shitty aspects of the real world for the amazing world of adventure that was YGGDRASIL was an extremely tempting choice.
What I decided to leave out of my answer to Lukrut was the fact that I had been so transfixed by my first spell that the weak, low-level monster that I'd been fighting managed to kill me. That was extremely embarrassing.
"Using my first spell made me completely throw myself into my magic studies, which is how I ended up so powerful." I enhanced my answer by making a small fireball grow to life in my hand. Lukrut's eyes were drawn to this mystical display, like a moth to the flame, until I crushed my hand into a fist, snuffing the fire out.
Lukrut looked back at my face and grinned. "I remember the first time I saw a mage cast their spells in battle, it was during my earlier guild days when I was pretty green. While the mage himself was unpleasing to they eye, compared to yourself, I stood and watched the mage summon a small troop of animals that completely decimated the monsters we were fighting."
"Why didn't that make you want to learn how to use magic if it was so awesome to you?"
Lukrut's smile slightly faltered as he glanced away, and he rubbed the back of his head. He then answered, "I wanted to learn, and I even asked the mage to train me. The guy looked at me, and immediately answered that I would never have the potential to learn magic as it would take many years for me to even learn a single 1st Tier spell. It was humbling to say the least."
"Oh." I replied with a small sense of shame at the way I had obviously brought up a topic that Lukrut was unhappy about. "Sorry, I didn't mean to talk about something that upsets you." The blond archer looked to me with a grin and a shake of his head.
"It's fine, Kashia. You didn't know, and I've accepted my limits even if I don't like it. And besides, with all the training I've done in archery, I'm able to take down enemies faster than a regular mage can finish getting a spell off. I'm also not hindered by a mana limit, only the number of arrows and weapons I have on me at the time." Lukrut answered in pride.
I couldn't help but smile at the upbeat tone that Lukrut exuded, it was almost enough to make me forget about everything upsetting that happened today. I really hope that I could shrug off what upset me the same way that Lukrut had.
"Enough about me though, mind telling me what your cousin is like? From what you said, it seems like the two of you are quite close to one another."
Lukrut put a hand under his chin in thought before answering, "The first thing I can think of when talking about Celly is kindness. She's like the older sister that I've never had, and when my mom died, she was there to help take care of my siblings and I. Celly raised me well, and she even taught me how to read."
This tidbit of information made me raise my eyebrow in surprise. While I knew that Lukrut had learned to read since it was a requirement to even join the Adventurer's Guild, I didn't expect that he'd learned while still at home. He was very lucky to have a family member that could read and teach him. "You mind answering how Celica learned to read? I was partially under the assumption that most farmers didn't have the tools and teachers to normally read."
"Good question. Actually, in my small village we only had three people that had learned to read. One was the town's Chief, who needed to read in order to communicate with the nobles when they sent their messages. The next was Relia, the innkeeper as well as my aunt, and she learned to read because it was extremely helpful for her job. Celly was taught to read by Relia, her mother."
"Makes sense. Does Re-Estize have multiple places to receive education or is it relegated to specific people and jobs?"
"The only places I know that you could go to learn in the kingdom would be the capital. While I know that there are some places in the different cities that can educate you, I have no idea where they might be located. Villages and towns outside the city have it worse as the only way that you can get an education is if you know someone who can teach you." Lukrut answered.
I was expecting to learn something like this for a while. In a society that was still stuck in the medieval ages, even with magic included, education wouldn't have as large of a focus compared to survival. Farmers and the like wouldn't have the time to be taught how to read since they needed to care for their crops and animals.
That gave me the idea to eventually add some sort of school to the settlement when it was more self-sufficient and had a bigger population. Having an educated populace would always be beneficial to society overall than if they were left without a clue about the world. I instinctually felt that an uneducated populace was wrong.
Leaving my future plans for another time, I said, "You cousin is a wise person to have taught you how to read."
"She really is. And, you might get to meet her soon because we've arrived at her restaurant!" Lukrut said excitedly. The building that we were heading towards had a cozy look to it, from the wooden paneling on the front, to the way that warm light streamed from the windows. The front door had people continually coming and going.
"Seems quite popular. Wonder how we'll get a seat?" I pondered aloud.
"No need to worry about that. While her place gets busy during the night, she tends to save me a table for when I come by with company." I gave the blond a sly look at his answer. He was really playing up the Casanova persona of his tonight. I just hope that his wallet is big enough to handle my appetite.
The moment we stepped into the restaurant; my nose was assaulted by a myriad of smells that almost overwhelmed my senses. The only reason that I was able to alleviate this sensory overload was by focusing on my own scent and breathing through my mouth. Thankfully, Lukrut didn't notice my moment weakness as I recovered before he spoke to me.
"I can see our table, follow me, Kashia." The blond said before he started maneuvering through the crowd with me following after him. While we moved through the crowd, a few of the "braver" patrons tried to grope me. They would quickly regret this as my invisible tails smacked them in retaliation.
"Assholes." I muttered under my breath before joining Lukrut at a booth in the corner with a paper nametag 'Lucky' written on it. Glancing at Lukrut, the blond took notice of me staring at the nametag before grabbing it from the table and pocketing it with reddened cheeks.
"Mind telling me what that was about?" I asked while taking a seat at the booth.
"It's a little bit of an embarrassing nickname that Celly has for me. She started calling me that after a strange childhood experience that we shared." I raised a question eyebrow but remained silent. Everyone was allowed to have their own secrets.
"It's so cute that you still get embarrassed about that, Lucky." A female voice interjected as a pretty woman with dirty blonde hair and green eyes walked over to Lukrut and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "I didn't think that it was that bad."
"Celly, come on, I'm trying to look good in front of Kashia." Lukrut whined, causing Celica and I to chuckle at the blond's discomfort. After both of us calmed down, Celica quickly scanned me with her eyes before she seemed satisfied.
"She's quite the looker, Lucky. You are really living up to your name if you managed to get a date with her." She then held out her hand to me which I shook. Her hand was quite rough; the sign of a person who's done hard work for much of their life. It made me respect her as, in my previous life, the people who worked the hardest were also usually the most honest.
"My name's Celica Volve, who might you be?"
"Kashia Blanc, a traveling adventurer and, as of recently, part of Lukrut's adventuring team." I replied. Celica smirked before looking back at Lukrut.
"I've heard some talk of you from some of the town guards that come in here. Apparently, you did a number on the undead in the graveyards. Lucky, make sure not to get on her bad side, else you're going to have a bad time." With that said, Celica removed her hand from Lukrut's shoulder and asked, "Now, we serve beef, stew, and fish. Drinks are whiskey, ale, water, and wine. What would you like?"
"The usual." Lukrut answered.
"I'm up for beef and ale." I replied. Celica nodded with a smile, and I noticed that she didn't even write our orders down on a notepad. If she was able to memorize our orders, then that meant she was a step ahead of the waiters back home.
"I'll bring your drinks up first. Food should be available in a few minutes." With that, she walked off and left Lukrut and I to ourselves.
The blond archer was the first to speak up, "Ale, huh? That your favorite drink or do you prefer something else?"
"Trust me, I have a very wide palette for alcohol. Personally, I've found my preference to be for tequila, vodka, and rum. But, I'm not one to pass up the odd beer every once in a while. Wines haven't always been to my taste, usually since they seem too soft in taste compared to other alcohols." After saying this, Lukrut maintained a confused expression at everything that I said.
"I've never heard of tequila and vodka before. Are those drinks that hail from your home?"
Resting my chin on my hands, I recalled what I knew about alcohol, which was considerable since drinking was one way to alleviate the shithole that Earth was. "To explain it easily enough, vodka is distilled from plants containing starch or a high sugar content. It usually lacks flavor of normal alcohols, but it's great to mix other drinks with. Tequila is a drink that is distilled only from the blue agave plant," Back home, the blue agave plant was one of the few exports that came from Mexico, as well as one of the species of plants we hadn't eradicated yet, "which gave the drink a unique flavor."
"Sounds good. I wish that you could've brought some of those drinks over so I could try them. Your land must've been very creative if they could make even more types of alcohol than what we have here." Lukrut remarked in interest.
To be honest, I could probably recreate some of the alcohols from my world with my Alchemist class. Potentially, I'd be able to corner the entire drinking industry in the world with my scientific knowledge from my world and the abilities I have from YGGDRASIL. Maybe I could make alcohol an export from the goblin settlement?
"The land I came from was quite advanced, and since a lot of our survival needs were cared for, we were able to focus more on creative and scientific disciplines that less automated civilizations lacked the time for. It's slightly why I'm disappointed with this country's lack of education." I explained. While I had been busy explaining aspects of Earth, Celica had already brought us our drinks.
"Mind explaining what disappoints you about Re-Estize's education? I've rarely heard of adventurers speak about it." Celica interjected in interest.
Picking up my tankard of ale and taking a large gulp from it, I answered, "When a society has education hard to find for its citizens, that causes the society to have slow scientific and technological advances. Back home, our advances came from the focus we had on educating our citizens, with mandatory schooling for children."
"Really? I've never heard of an idea being implemented anywhere in the Re-Estize kingdom, though I'm unsure about the other countries around us, but I'd guess they might be similar to us." Celica said in interest.
"From what I've learned, education isn't widely given in countries with class systems. The nobles would rather have the populace remain uneducated and ignorant than knowledgeable and filled with ideas. It's a method of control." I made this assumption from what I've learned of history. Organizations like the Catholic church tried to quell the sciences in order to remain in power during feudal eras.
Lukrut sipped on his drink before speaking, "I'd be careful of speaking about the nobles very loudly. While Celly and I aren't bothered by it," Lukrut cautiously glanced around us before finishing, "some people are, and they talk."
So, the nobles are very petty and suppress criticisms made against them. That was slightly troubling. It didn't worry me if they tried to attack me, as I could easily obliterate any attackers, but if I did gain their ire, then it would be harder to make connections and those I interact with could be hurt.
"Have you had issues with the pompous twits?" I asked, keeping references to the nobles at a minimum.
Lukrut followed what I was saying with a short chuckle before answering, "Until a few years ago, slavery was legal in the Re-Estize. Doesn't mean that the twits have completely stopped it as there is enough talk and proof to show that it's still a large business." I could feel my grip tighten, and I didn't doubt that if I wasn't wearing gloves, then I'd be able to see my knuckles turning white.
"Slavery is still a practice here? How could people here be so barbaric?" This anger I felt was primal. The act of taking someone's freedom by such a process as slavery pushed upon me instinctually. Those who treat sentient beings as nothing more than objects are the worst kind of scum.
The blond archer seemed to decide on what his next word were, then he answered, "Since it's a lucrative business, quite a few of the twits support it. You'll hear stories of people disappearing from towns and cities. While some of those people may have been killed or went into hiding, about half of those cases will be due to slavers kidnapping a person off the street." Lukrut took a large swig of his ale before continuing.
"Sometimes the twits don't even bother to hide what they're doing. Ninya's sister was one of the many victims who was forced into slavery by a twit that took a liking to her." My eyes widened at his statement. Ninya's sister was enslaved? I could feel the fur of my tails standing on end, and it took some effort to keep a calm expression in front of Lukrut.
This would not stand! I would not let the sister of my student suffer like this! New plan; talk to Ninya and get information about her sister, as well as a possible item of hers. Then, I will scry out her location and free her and any other soul that had also been enslaved. After that, interrogate slavers about whatever slave ring existed, and then kill everyone.
Upon finishing the intricacies of my new plan, I chugged down the rest of my ale, much to the surprised looks of Lukrut and Celica. When I set down my tankard, I kept my voice under control, "How long ago did Ninya's sister get taken?"
"A little under two years. Ninya doesn't talk about it that much, but his whole goal as an adventurer is to one day rescue his sister from the twit that took her."
Two years was a long time to be enslaved under a noble, especially one that 'took a liking' to her. This isn't even considering the possibility that she may have been sold to another group when the noble grew bored of her. "I'll talk to Ninya about this tomorrow when I get back to E-Rantel. I'd rather have him focused on whatever job you guys are doing than to be distracted because of my prying."
"If that's what you want to do, I'll tell Ninya that you want to speak with him at the guild after we're done with our job. Mind telling me what you plan to talk to him about?"
"Just a few queries between him and I. Since he's my student now, it's now my responsibility to make sure that he is doing well." I answered with a half-truth. Certainly, I'd be analyzing Ninya's mental state and how she was doing, but I would also tell her what I planned to do.
Lukrut shrugged and sipped on his drink. At the same time, I noticed that Celica had disappeared into the crowd once more, probably to take care of other patrons besides us. "When did Ninya become your student? This is the first time that I'm hearing about it."
"We talked about it on the way back to E-Rantel. I felt that he had the potential to become a great mage, so I agreed to teach him." I then gave the archer a sly grin before adding, "And, I get to endlessly tease him with no repercussions." Lukrut snorted in amusement.
"Then I wish Ninya good luck. Though, if you want to tease someone, I'm always right here for you, my beautiful sorceress." Rolling my eyes, I leaned over the table and lightly flicked the blond's forehead.
"You lack any kind of shame that would make such an activity entertaining. And besides, all that I need to do to make you braindead is unbutton some of my dress." I retorted.
"Shame." The blond said in an almost mournful tone as he drank his ale. Right on time, Celica came back to our table with our dishes in hand. With a skillful grace, she weaved between the crowds without spilling a single morsel of our food. "And the amazing food has arrived!"
Lukrut was handed a wooden bowl filled with steaming stew that looked quite delectable while I was given a plate with a slab of beef and bread. I wondered if Celica had all the food cooked in large batches or if each meal was made individually? Making the food in a large batch would explain how quickly our food arrived. Then again, I'm also ignoring the possibility of using magic to cook food, so who knows. I've got my food.
Even better, Celica had another tankard of ale prepared for me. "Hope you both enjoy your meals. I'd love to stick around and continue to tease my little cousin, but I've got a lot of hungry visitors to feed. I'll check on you both a bit later." And once more, the blonde flowed back into the crowd.
We quickly started to dig into our food, and I am happy to say that Celica's cooking was delicious. It went like this for a while, Lukrut and I eating and chatting about random subjects. It was pretty average until we started trying to outdrink each other. It got serious enough that other patrons of the restaurant started watching us in interest.
At this point, Lukrut and I had six tankards finished, and both of us were working on our seventh. Even though Lukrut had been downing his ales like a champ, his limit was becoming quite apparent. "You-you gonna surrender yet? You are starting to wobble." The archer asked as he chugged down the rest of his tankard.
"The ale must be hitting you harder than you thought because I'm not the one who's wobbling, that would be you." I retorted after slamming my empty tankard onto the table. Lukrut's face was completely flushed while his body swayed. In comparison, I was only lightly buzzed with a slightly warm face.
This contest was a little unfair for Lukrut as he lacked a lot of advantages I had. For instance, while my body looked like that of a regular sized woman, my nine tails and large ears gave me a lot more body mass compared to Lukrut. And, even though I was trying to suppress my passive ability [Poison Immunity], it still nullified a bit of the alcohol in my body. If I wasn't suppressing my passive, I'd be completely sober.
"Right. You're just-just trying to p-play off what you drank…" Upon saying this, Lukrut's head hit the table with a thump as the sound of snoring filled our ears. I raised my hands in celebration while the onlookers who had been betting on me cheered in victory.
With the entertainment finished, the crowd slowly dispersed to either the exits or other parts of the restaurant. The only person to approach our table was a laughing Celica. "About time that one of Lucky's dates outdrank him. I'd buy you a drink in celebration, but I think that you are probably tired of ale at this point."
Leaning back in my seat, I nodded with her remark. "Yeah, I think that's enough to drink tonight." Looking back at Lukrut's unconscious form, I asked, "Any idea on what to do with Lukrut? I don't know where he lives, so that might hinder my ability to get him home."
Celica waved me off with an appreciative look, "Don't worry, I have a spare bed set aside for guests just in case. It's not the first time Lucky has gotten too drunk to walk home. I'll get Sebastian to carry him to his bed. And, don't worry about paying for the food and drinks, I don't charge Lucky or his friends for services here."
I nodded in thanks before getting up from my booth. "Thanks for the food and service, the beef was delicious." Reaching into the pouch at my waist, I pulled out a vial filled with a red liquid before setting it on the table. It was a simple healing potion that I could easily make more of. "Give this to him in the morning, it'll help him with the headache."
After saying this, I left the restaurant with a full stomach and a new collection of embarrassing moments over Lukrut's head. Happy moments like these made living in this world more bearable and took my mind off of everything I had learned from Loki earlier. I still couldn't help but wonder what being had pulled me into this world, and for what reason they had done so in the first place.
Too many questions with too little answers. And, then there was the warning Loki gave me about batches of players being brought into this world instead of individual players. That made me nervous as I couldn't predict how someone may act upon arriving here. They may act as a benevolent newcomer or, what I was more inclined to assume, a ruthless tyrant.
Call it the pessimist in me, but when someone is given power that cannot be challenged, they usually tend to abuse that power for selfish means. I'm actually slightly worried about becoming a tyrant myself. Keeping my morals would be a test of my willpower which I couldn't fail. You were chosen by Freyja to help those in need. Maybe that's true.
While game mechanics ruled YGGDRASIL, the gods were still aware of things that involved them. If Freyja hadn't given me lectures since I arrived in this new world, then I must be doing something right. At least I could take solace with that knowledge…
Day 4:
As I stood in front of the Great Forest, I couldn't help but feel curious about what secrets hid within the massive maze of trees just waiting to be discovered. Even though this urge to explore tugged at me, I had to push it down because I had a job to do. Time to find this Big One.
Taking a sniff of the air, I noted two things; the stench of the ogres was easy to find despite the myriad of scents coming from the forest's edge, and there weren't any humans nearby to see me in my true form. I couldn't help but smile as I let my disguise disperse to reveal my true form.
Time to greet the locals in my own personal style. Stepping into the threshold of the forest, I slowly started making my way through the woods while also following the scent of ogres that permeated the woods. One problem with walking into a territory that lacked humans encroaching upon it was the difficult terrain that made walking any annoying chore.
I had to step over roots and branches, bypass bushes and other shrubbery, and avoid tripping over myself. This would've been a large hindrance to any other person, but after becoming annoyed enough with the terrain I used my simple spell [Spellblade] to chop apart anything in my way. Doing this made my journey so much easier.
After walking through the forest for a while, the stench of ogre became a lot more intense, making me think that I had arrived at where I needed to be. This is exactly what I believed until I entered a small clearing that was filled with trampled earth, animal bones, and piles of shit and piss.
Damn it, this was going to be more complicated than I originally thought.
From what I'm going to guess, a small group of ogres had taken rest here before moving on. Looking at some of the deep footprints made by the heavy bodies of the ogres, I estimated that this group consisted of four or five ogres. A quick sniff of the air told me that this group was made up of all males.
My eyes traced the path of the tracks which led further into the trees. Now, while I could just continue to follow the scents within the forest, it could also lead me to another ogre shithouse that lacked any of the ogres I was looking for. The best bet is to follow the trail the ogres here had made and see if they could lead me to my target.
After making my decision, I stopped walking and started to jog along the trail to catch up to my prey much faster. From the scents coming from the ogre tracks, they were made about two hours ago. That was going to be a lot of catchup work on my part.
And so, I jogged along the trail for what felt like half an hour until I found myself before a massive cave entrance. This certainly seemed like a place that ogres would rest in, and taking a sniff in the air, I noted that there was a new scent mixed in with the ogres. This was the stench of trolls.
Actually, a troll taking over this section of the forest and ruling ogres wasn't unbelievable. In YGGDRASIL, trolls were seen as a minibosses compared to ogres. They could regenerate unless attacked with acid and fire and had much greater strength than ogres. I've seen players under level 20 get slaughtered by trolls because they couldn't hurt it faster than it healed. I couldn't blame newer players for this as they lacked the knowledge of a troll's weaknesses, though any player over level 30 would easily out-damage their healing.
This would be a very simple task to handle if it came down to violence and considering that the ogres in this world were quite violent, I wouldn't doubt that this Big One was even moreso. It would be up to the Big One and any others with him to fight me or surrender.
I couldn't help but smirk as I strutted into the cave with as much swagger as I could muster. From what I've learned, showing a ridiculous amount of confidence before one's enemies was an excellent demoralizing tactic. It's one thing to see a person calmly walk into battle and be worried, it was a totally different matter if that same person was literally skipping into battle with a shit-eating grin on their face.
It was simple to hear the chatter of the inhabitants in the cave as I got closer along with spotting the bones and trash from previous meals. Some of them were humanoid in shape, alerting me that they were more than willing to devour sapient beings.
After rounding a corner, I came face to face with a large group that was a mix between trolls and ogres. I easily spotted the biggest troll in the cave glaring down at me with yellow eyes that were enhance by the large tusks jutting from his lip and large nose. He was green, like baby vomit, and covered in many layers of muscles that could no doubt allow him to easily pop a normal human's head like a cherry. Held in his right hand was a massive cleaver larger than I was.
"Knock knock. We need to talk." I said while stepping towards the troll with immense confidence.
"Who dares to intrude upon my territory?! You look similar to a human, yet your smell and animal parts of yours say otherwise!" The Big One demanded in rage.
"My name's Kashia." As I said this, I was seven meters away from him while continuing to stride forwards. "From what I've heard, you're known as the Big One, and you've been the reason for many ogres fleeing south."
"You know this, and still you come to before me. You certainly are brave, beast woman. I am Guu, ruler of the East." The troll remarked with a chuckle.
"It's very polite of you to tell me your name. What's the reason?" I asked as I finally stood a meter away from Guu with my head craned upwards to meet his gaze with mine.
Guu hefted his cleaver over his shoulder and barked out a laugh before answering, "I like to let those I kill know the name of their killer. But I respect the bravery that you've shown to even stand before me, so I'll let you tell me what you wished to say before I kill you."
Placing my hands on my hips, I spoke, "I'm here to give you an ultimatum. Surrender to me as your new boss or leave this territory. Your activities here have been causing ogres to flee south and come into conflict with the humans living there. If not stopped, the humans will eventually send an army to deal with it which will create needless death."
After saying this, Guu and all his followers openly laughed at my demands, disbelieving that a small woman like myself could ever threaten them. I let them have their fun because it would be all the sweeter to watch them drop their jaws as they realized how much stronger I am to them.
Eventually, Guu found his voice once more, "Beast woman, that is the most amusing thing I've heard in a long time! I'll make sure to add your head to my belt after I finish removing it from your body." Upon saying this, he swung his sword down upon me with the intention to kill me. I took it as well as a mosquito trying to bite me, and I had two of my tails catch the sword strike before wrapping them around the blade.
I stabbed two of my tails into the ground to anchor myself and smirked at the confused look on Guu's face. "What was that about taking my head? I'm sorry to inform you but I like my pretty little head attached to my neck. Now, let's try this again…" With barely any effort, I ripped the sword away from Guu and let my tails hold the blade aloft for a moment.
Then, I snapped the blade in half and dropped the pieces at Guu's feet. "You will either accept me as your new boss, and I can make it worth your while, leave this territory, or die. I am being very kind to you right now, don't test me." After saying this, I noticed that many of Guu's followers were looking at him for his leadership.
Guu growled in rage before attempting to smash me with his fist. Like the sword, my tails easily maneuvered in front of his fist and blocked the punch. Then another one of my tails whipped him in the face and sent him toppling into the ground. "You beast bitch! You were funny at first, but now I'm angry!" My eyebrow rose up at his enthusiastic name calling.
When he finally stood back up, I slammed a tail at his legs and made him fall once again. "Trust me, Guu, stay down because I'm not letting you stand back up." Even with my warning, the troll continued to try standing. In return, I'd send him back face-first into the dirt.
Even though I could easily kill him right now, I didn't as I was trying to send every troll and ogre in this cave a message. From what I'd learned of the ogres yesterday, they valued strength above all else. The way I seemed to just toy with Guu was letting every being in this cave know that I've got so much strength that I don't even need to treat this fight seriously. This continued on for a few more minutes, and I watched realization dawn in the eyes of every single being in the cave.
"Stop your stupid tricks!" Guu shouted in frustration. "Everyone, attack the beast bitch!" While Guu seemed confident that his followers would obey him, that quickly ebbed away when none of his followers came near us. "You idiots! I said attack her!" Still, none of them moved. "Help me!"
"I'm sorry to inform you, but all of them have finally understood the lesson that you have not." I chided with the tone of a disappointed parent.
"What lesson!? They follow me, I am the strongest!" Guu barked back with rage burning in his yellow eyes.
"No, the lesson that all of them have learned is that I'm the top bitch now. I've barely done anything but toy with you this entire time. You, on the other hand, have been doing everything to put a single scratch on me." I lectured, much to Guu's ever increasing rage.
"Shut up! They obey me!" Even though the troll channeled a lot of his emotion into that statement, even he seemed to start losing all that bluster from earlier. To prove a point to him, I shouted out to everyone in the cave.
"The strongest person is made leader of all of you. Who is right now the strongest?" To punctuate my point, I crushed Guu's head into the ground, creating a small growing crater, much to the pained moans of the troll.
For a few moments, the tolls and ogres in the cave seemed hesitant to answer, but eventually an ogre spoke out, "Kashia is stronger." With that declaration made, if was soon followed by a chorus of agreement from the other being in the cave.
"Who should be your leader?"
This time, they answered much faster, "Kashia!"
Looking back down to my beaten foe, I spoke, "Your followers have made their choice. What will you decide?"
"I will never follow a pink-skinned beast bitch!" He made one last struggle to stand, but I swiftly ended this attempt by stabbing my tail through his brain until it exited the other side. For a few moments, his body froze in place, then I pulled out my tail and watched as his body collapsed lifelessly to the ground, with only a few twitches giving any sign of life to the troll.
Looking up from the corpse at my feet, my eyes panned around the cave before I decided to speak, "I am Kashia Blanc, a kitsune from a foreign land! I give you all a choice; you can accept me as your leader and be provided for or you can leave this place under the agreement that I am the ruler of this territory and that all other intelligent beings are to be left alone and not attacked!"
For a few tense moments, no one moved. Then, a troll approached me and kneeled. This started a cascade of movement as most of the inhabitants bowed to me, while some left the cave untouched. While some with power like mine would've not given them the option to walk away, I couldn't do that. I believed everyone should have a choice to join a group or leave, otherwise it was too similar to slavery.
Still, I couldn't help but smile at the newest additions to the settlement. "Everyone, I will make a portal to a settlement that I'm the leader of. When you step through, you'll be given jobs, food, and housing. While I'm gone, the person in charge is the hobgoblin Muap. Welcome to the settlement." As I said this, I created a portal next to me. Muap and my copy would be able to deal with our newest additions while I continued working.
It took a short amount of time for everyone to enter the portal until I was left as the only remaining inhabitant. Afterwards, I shut down the portal and exited the cave with a sense of accomplishment. The best reward for getting so much done today was a nice trip to the lake!
Casting the spell [Fly], I floated up into the air to get my bearings. It didn't take much for me to spot the blue water of the lake in the distance, and upon doing so I cast [Teleport] to arrive at the edge of it.
With a snap of my fingers, all of the clothing besides my underwear and World Item were stored into my inventory as I took a glance at the large lake before me. To be honest, it was slightly strange to see the waters of this lake look so clean. Back home on Earth, I'd been to Lake Michigan once, and it had been filled with garbage, sewage, and dead wildlife.
It was pretty ironic that we trashed that lake so badly when it was one of the only sources of drinkable water in the world. From what I remember, about a decade ago they passed a law that gave life imprisonment for dumping in any lake. Too bad that law was put in place too late to actually matter.
This would be the first natural body of water that I'll have ever jumped into in my life, and I wasn't going to waste this opportunity. With a running start, I jumped from the shore and began swimming to my content. The water wasn't too cold or warm which made swimming a joy.
One convenient thing about my tails was that due to their length, and how shallow the water was, I could lay back and let my tails act as stilts to keep me afloat. Letting the light of the sun warm me, I wondered if this was what living decades ago was like. If so, then I could get used to little moments like this.
Eventually, I closed my eyes and floated atop the water. My ears could pick up all the sounds the wildlife made around me both on the land and in the water. After a while, I think I began dozing off as my tails aimlessly ferried me across the water.
What pulled me out of my relaxed state was when I heard a voice calling out to me, "Hey! Are you alright?" With a soft sigh, I decided to answer without opening my eyes.
"Yeah, just taking a swim and relaxing." I answered back.
"While I don't want to ruin your relaxation, you're about to break the netting of my fishery." He stated. I opened my eyes and looked around until I spotted a rudimentary fishery made up of poles and nets that I was slowly drifting to.
"Sorry, I probably dozed off." I answered as I let my feet touch the mud floor of the lake. "Nice fishery, you make it?" I asked as I squeezed some water out of my hair before turning to see this person. Well, I didn't expect to meet a lizard person today. Neat…
"Yes, it was a technique I learned from traveling to other places. Though, even though I've seen a lot of strange things during my journeys, I'm not sure I've ever encountered any of your kind before." The lizardman retorted. He was taller than me, with dark brown scales and a light cream color on his underside, intelligent hazel eyes, and a large red brand on his chest. While he was certainly unique, what really caught my attention was the weapon strapped to his side that looked like it was made from a chunk of ice. That weapon seemed to radiate a small amount of mana from it.
Walking out of the water and to the shore, I instinctually shook my tails back and forth to remove some of the water on my fur. I probably looked like a weird dog doing so. "I doubt you would. My kind is a bit rare, and my home is extremely far away." I answered as I walked over to the lizardman.
"Either way, we rarely get travelers in these parts. Any reason that you came here today?" While the lizardman's question seemed quite innocent, I also noticed that his arm was tensed to draw his weapon out.
"When I first arrived in this country and heard that it had a massive lake up north, I had planned to come here eventually. Today was convenient to do so as I had to take care of some business in the forest." I answered before holding out my hand to the lizardman. "I'm Kashia, mind introducing yourself?"
For a moment, the lizardman held back but he eventually returned the handshake, "Zaryusu. It's nice to meet a fellow traveler without having to leave home. How long have you been on the road?"
"A few years now. I just arrived in this country a few days ago and I've been exploring what I could. Though, I did so in a less conspicuous form to fit in with the populace." I answered while demonstrating my shapeshifting to Zaryusu.
He grinned at my display, "That trick would've been very convenient when I traveled near human settlements. A lot of them aren't the friendliest to non-humans. Got chased out of a few towns because they thought I'd eat their babies." I couldn't help but smirk at Zaryusu's remark.
"That ability of mine part of the reason you've never seen any of my kind before now. The kitsune have a proclivity to be shy and are well-versed in the use of illusions so it's hard to spot us. It could be that you've encountered a kitsune before, and just didn't know it." I then added with a smirk, "That'll probably make you a bit paranoid the next time you enter a place with a lot of humans."
"I'll take your word for it the next time I arrive at a human settlement." Zaryusu joked before glancing at his fishery. I followed his gaze and let my eyes follow the schools of fish swim within the confines of the netting.
"Something interesting about your fishery that I don't know about?" I said with growing curiosity. From what Zaryusu said before, the technology of a fishery was quite new to him. An advancement like this made me very interested depending on if his society was more typically based upon the hunter-gatherer mindset.
Zaryusu looked back to me with an intelligent gaze before replying, "Sorry, I'm just getting lost in thought about my plans for the fishery. I've only recently started this project, and the future of my tribe might depend upon if this works or not."
"I'm going to guess that your tribe has problems with a food shortage?" It was the most logical guess if Zaryusu's tribe was depending on the success of this fish farm. While the design of the fishery, which consisted of a series of poles stabbed into the ground and netting running between the poles, was quite rudimentary it still had potential for advancement.
"Not just my tribe, all the lizardmen tribes have been suffering a food shortage." That seemed strange. Considering the size of this lake, there should be more than enough food to catch from the waters. Another variable must be somehow involved in the food shortage that I just wasn't seeing yet.
"Mind telling me more about this food shortage. How did it begin in the first place?"
"That is a bit of a story while standing around out here-" He didn't get the chance to finish as I snapped my fingers and watched a befuddled expression cross Zaryusu's face as a pair of chairs and a table were conjured before his eyes. One of the upsides of having [Chosen of Loki] as a class is that it made my illusions physical where they once were intangible. Helped for conjuring party tricks like this.
"Would you like to take a seat; I have a lot of time to spare for listening." I invited the lizardman as I took a seat in the conjured wooden chair. Hesitantly, Zaryusu took up my offer and tentatively sat in the chair, acting as if it would disappear from under him. At the same time, I conjured a fluffy robe to cover myself.
"I take it that you're a strong magic-user if you can so casually conjure up items from thin air." Zaryusu remarked.
"Very strong. But that isn't important right now, your food shortage is."
A puzzled expression grew on Zaryusu's face at my answer. "You're the first outsider that has ever found interest in the lizardmen tribes' plight. Why does it interest you so much?"
"Your problems are something that I've had personal experience with. Since I have the ability to help, it would be wrong of me to let a group of people die of starvation." I couldn't hide the emotion in my voice as I said this. On Earth, the amount of times that I'd seen people starving on the streets was uncountable. Part of the problem came from how there was less usable land that wasn't polluted with refuse and heavy emissions, livestock being harder to raise due to said pollution, and the difficulty in finding a job that would let you afford to eat.
While places like India, Africa, and China had it the worst due to either a high population, poor GDP, or unusable land, first-world countries still had difficulty in feeding their own. When you had essentially an oligarchy running the country as well as many menial jobs being automated, the prices of goods skyrocketed.
So, hearing that Zaryusu's people were starving hit me a little too close to home, especially after everything that happened yesterday. Leaving my former world behind gave me the perspective to know how I could help this new world, and I'd be damned if I let this world become like my old one.
"Then, I guess I should start at the beginning. About a generation ago, the seven lizardmen tribes migrated to the Great Lake in search of a new home. While this seemed like a fortuitous location, the tribes were proven wrong by the toadmen who also inhabited the lake. A war between our two peoples occurred with the lizardmen ending as the losers. Because of this, we were forced from the better northern territories of the lake and down to the southern end, where food is less abundant for us. This war also caused the disbanding of one of the seven tribes, leaving only six left."
"Why couldn't your people and the toadmen come to some type of agreement? There is probably more than enough food for either group in this lake." Even though I was trying to be optimistic, I could already guess why the two groups came into conflict.
Moments later and my thoughts were proven correct by Zaryusu, "The toadmen saw us as invaders in their home. Beyond that, compared to the toadmen, people are less technologically advanced and are seen as barbarians to the toadmen. There's was too much of a cultural divide between our peoples to find a middle ground in such a short time. Conflict was inevitable, and afterwards our tribes warred with one another due to there being less food in the southern end of the lake. After that conflict, only five tribes remain today."
"I see now. I have a question; what can the lizardman normally eat? Are you limited to just fish or do you have a wider appetite?"
"We're typically omnivorous, though the territory of the lake makes it difficult to farm as we lack the skills to raise crops and the wetland only allows for certain edible vegetation to grow which isn't native to this lake. We mainly subside on fish due to it being the most readily available food source." Resting my chin in my hand, I deliberated on a decision that could benefit both Zaryusu's people and myself.
"Here's an idea of mine that could work to help both your people and mine. Right now, I've been working on building up a settlement that could act as a bastion for equality among all races. It's still a work in progress but we've got a decent size consisting of goblins, hobgoblins, ogres, and trolls. During this, I've been teaching the inhabitants different skills, with one of those skills being farming."
Zaryusu shared a look of interest at what I'd said which told me that he wasn't averse to a proposal of mine, "I have been working on expanding the settlement, and due to my abilities, I'm able to easily alter large sections of land for whatever purpose I have. From this, I could easily create terrain similar to your lake's which could be converted into multiple fisheries that your people could maintain. It would add another food source that could feed both of our groups, more diversity to the settlement, which at this point should be considered a small town, and allow for both of our peoples to share knowledge with one another."
"While your idea seems good in theory, my tribe would take a lot of convincing to even consider looking into some of your proposal, and that's not even accounting for them leaving their homes for a location that is completely unknown. Even though you are giving a very generous offer, I've only just met you and have no proof to any of your claims." Zaryusu respectfully replied.
I nodded in understanding as I already foresaw a bit of reluctance in this idea. Zaryusu needed something more substantial than just simple promises. This is what gave me an idea on how to show Zaryusu my claims to be more than cheap promises. "Then let me show you, if you'll put a little bit of trust in me." I said with an optimistic tone.
"They say the first step in a good relationship is to show trust, and it is my duty to my tribe to bring back things that could aid them. I'm willing to see what you may offer to my people, but I warn you that if this is a trick, I will not hesitate to do what it takes to protect my tribe." He ended with a pat to the ice weapon at his side.
"I promise you that no harm will befall you or your people from what I plan to show you, and I don't break my promises. Now, let's start this off with my first magic spell!" I said excitedly, like a magician performing a magic show, as I dismissed the robe I was wearing and reequipped my normal outfit. "[Charm Species]!" I announced as I cast the spell, making sure to avoid the fish in the fishery. Instead, my targets were the fish within a hundred-yard radius of me.
"Come to me, please!" I shouted across the water and watched the water of the lake quickly begin rippling as fish rushed to swim over to me. It's one thing to see an NPC creature that's programmed to follow a request and another thing entirely to see real creatures do the same. Damn do I love magic.
Eventually, a large mass of fish consisting of a myriad of species just swim about near the lake shore. "Could all of you wait right here for a minute or two. I'll be right back." With that said, I turned to Zaryusu, "Now, for my next trick, I'll transport us from one place to another. [Greater Teleportation]!" In that instant, both Zaryusu and I disappeared from the Great Lake and appeared atop one of the walls overlooking and protecting the settlement.
Zaryusu seemed momentarily dazed from being transported from one location to another, but when he steadied himself, he looked in awe at the settlement before him. Due to my duplicate helping out in the settlement's expansion, there was now a large amount of buildings dotting the landscape.
Located on either side of the front gate were two large towers that were made using the [Create Fortress] spell. From the number of ogres and or trolls entering or exiting the structures, I had to guess that they were guard towers. But while the towers were about thirty or so meters high, they didn't compare to the circular building in the center of the, let's call it a town at this point, that was about sixty meters high and had a forty-meter circumference. Was that a town hall?
At the left corner of the wall by the gate was a large farm that had been dug out by the combined efforts of the ogres and goblins. Further north of the farm and front gate were many buildings of different sizes that had replaced the simple earthen huts from yesterday. Even now, I could see my copy creating more houses for the influx of new citizens.
On the right side of the front gate was a rudimentary lumber mill that had a couple of ogres and trolls hacking and sawing through tree trucks to make wooden planks and pillars. By the pond, I saw a building that had smoke billowing from a chimney as a few goblins were hard at work cooking some type of stew for citizens to eat.
The shack my clone had made by the pond had also been renovated to look like a cozy cabin. The space past the shack already had goblins and ogres installing fencing for a potential animal pen. My copy works fast, I'll give her that. We started from sticks and blankets and now have moved up to buildings that match the craftsmanship of those in E-Rantel.
Still, while the updated architecture was a pleasure to look at, it wasn't part of my task at hand. Turning to an empty section of forest outside the wall we were on, I made a quick layout plan for what I planned to do. "Zaryusu, if you think the village is amazing, you'll be floored when you see my next magic trick." Saying this caused the lizardman to take his eyes off the village and look at me.
Then, I said, "[Creation]!" And watched magic circles form up around me as the spell charged up. When the spell was finally finished charging, I unleashed my will upon the very land itself and watched as trees in a five-acre radius were pushed off to the side and merged into other trees. Next, the treeless section of land cratered until it had varying depths that reached a few hundred feet. At this moment, it looked like a large canyon.
That changed as a moment later, the canyon began to rapidly fill up with water until an entire lake was quickly created before our very eyes. To finish this off, I created a new gate in the wall facing the gate to allow for easier access as well as seven-meter-high walls to surround the lake. When I was finally finished, I turned to Zaryusu and grinned.
"What do you think?" Zaryusu didn't even speak as he looked from me and back to the lake I had just created within two minutes.
He eventually found his voice and spoke, "A-Are you a god?"
"Maybe." I couldn't help but tease him about my divinity, "Now, I wouldn't fully react just yet if I were you. I'm not done yet. [Greater Teleportation]!" Once more, the two of us were teleported back to the Great Lake in front of my adoring schools of fish. Made me really feel like the comic character Aquaman right now.
"[Gate]!" I said as a portal appeared in the water of the lake. "Can all of you fish please enter this gate to a new lake I just made?" The fish followed my request again and I watched as hundreds of fish splashed into the portal which led into my artificially created lake.
Now, I was done. "And, just like that I've created a new body of water with its own ecosystem. How does my offer look now?"
"This is something beyond impossible. Who and or what are you? The spells you cast were things rumored to belong to the realm of gods, and yet you casually display them without any effort." Zaryusu said quickly as his brain tried to comprehend my awesome power.
"I'm just a traveler who is creating herself a new home and trying to make this world a better place. The power I have doesn't matter as much as the intent I have to help other with them is. My offer to you is not forced, and you can decline it or make a new offer if that is what you wish. I'm just here to help." While Zaryusu still seemed a bit perturbed by the revelation of my powers, he also lost some of the tenseness in his stance at my words.
"What you've shown me is something that I need to tell the rest of my tribe about. This offer of yours is too important for only me to decide upon, the chief and elders of my tribe must debate over this subject. If you were to follow my back to my village, you could bring your proposal for them to hear." Zaryusu answered in a serious tone. It seemed like my demonstration worked to nudge his opinion on my offer for him and his tribe.
What I was also interested in, following the consensus of Zaryusu's tribe, was if I could reach out to the four other lizardmen tribes. If I could get them to agree with joining my village, that would greatly enhance the village's growth. The large influx of citizens might also get more beings to notice and wish to join us. Though, I would have to take care about the Re-Estize kingdom as they might not take kindly to a growing power within their borders.
They will never harm those under my protection! I will not allow it! I would fight off all enemies to come to my village. If any wished to harm my people, then they would face the full wrath of a kitsune demigoddess.
"Take me to your people whenever you're ready. But, if this decision were up to you, what would your choice be?" I asked with curiosity.
"Kashia, if you wanted to destroy my people and I, there's no doubt that it would be an effortless process for you. You are giving us the choice on whether to join your or not and providing us land and the possibility to create a sustainable food source is too good of an offer to ignore. I'd accept it immediately because the future you offer to the tribe is more certain that what we have now. I'm also still convinced that you are some kind of god, meaning that we'd literally be receiving divine assistance." Zaryusu answered.
"Fair enough."