Chapter 7 – Making Friends

The first thing Reina needed to do was get some money. Fortunately, she still had an enormous amount of dolls she could sell. She just couldn't use them for that job in the Adventurers' Guild. She would need to show her membership, thus revealing the fact that she was the hero. It would do no good to draw the Demon Lord's attention to her.

That brought up the question of how he knew about her in the first place. She was summoned only three days ago. He said something about spies, but how did they contact him so quickly? Was there something like phones in this world? People could teleport, so why not send long-distance messages?

Well, all that meant was she shouldn't stand out. No party and no forging her spirit around people. At least, not until she got farther away…though that did beg the question of where she was.

In any case, Reina entered the town. She could simply sell the dolls to the right merchant. From what she understood, there should be at least one in every town, more in cities.

Reina asked the first person she saw for directions and was pointed the right way. She did receive a strange look, but she didn't stick around long enough for it to become an issue.

After a few minutes of walking, Reina found a woman with an open shop near the center of town. Monster parts were laid out on tables and hung from the overhang.

"Hello." Reina gave a wave as she approached. "Do you buy dead monsters?"

"I do…" The woman looked her up and down. "What are you selling?"

"Dolls." Reina answered. "And maybe some krindars."

The shopkeeper nodded. "Well, I'll buy two full dolls for one soldi. Krindar parts vary, but I'll buy a whole one for 30 soldi."

That was far less than what Reina was hoping for. Celia said the krindar they got could sell for upward to 1 simoleon. Being in a small town had its drawbacks. Still, it was better than nothing.

"Alright, I'll…" Reina immediately saw a problem with her initial plan. She'd have to pull the monster corpses from her weapon's gem, and she hadn't seen anyone with a similar ability. "I'll come back with them."

Now she had to come with a plan for that. Maybe sell a krindar, buy a sack or something, and throw a bunch of the dolls in there.

"Sounds good." The shopkeeper gave her another look. "By the way, are you alright?"

"Hm? Yeah, just had some trouble in the forest." Reina said nervously.

"I see…Well, I'll be open until dusk, sir."

"Thanks, I…" Reina paused at the word. "…I'll be back soon."

She really didn't like being confused with a man, but it'd probably help her for now. The Spirit Forger was a woman, after all. Or a girl, she didn't know what all was said about her.

Reina walked back the way she came, taking a look around her. The buildings in the town were more spaced out than in the capital and the other town she visited. There were still plenty of glass windows, so it wasn't as if they didn't have the means to make it out here. She figured smaller places wouldn't, but there was magic here, so why not?

She stopped in front of a window to what looked to be a blacksmith's shop. The inside wasn't what caught her attention, but her reflection in the glass. Leaves and a few small branches decorated her hair and armor. When she looked lower, she found her pants were in no better shape, with the addition of mud splattered on them. She also remembered that she lost one of her boots in the forest.

"That'll have to be one of the first things I fix." She thought to herself.

Once back in the forest, though not far at all, she gave a quick look around before dropping a krindar from her weapon's gem. It was a bit heavy, but not so much that she couldn't drag it.

"Time to make some money."

From there, she made a few trips back and forth to sell what she could. A quick stop at a store got her a large sack to stuff with dolls, plus a cheap pair of shoes. Within an hour, she sold the second krindar she had, all the regular dolls, and a good portion of the variety of dolls. Some of the other dolls sold for more.

By the end of it, she had 233 soldi to her name.

"Alright." Reina jingled the coin purse she purchased. "I have enough to live for a couple days."

Reina had asked the merchant about inn prices around here. The cheapest was one simoleon. It was about what she expected, based on the last two inns she stayed in. The capital was four simoleon a room, whereas that larger town was two simoleons, both with basic accommodations.

"The next thing—" A loud gurgle emanated from her stomach. "—is to have breakfast."

She found a tavern that served food and ordered a plate at the bar. It was 6 soldi for the cheapest set, which seemed to consist of some meat strips and a small roll. Not the greatest, but she was on a budget.

There weren't many people in the tavern and they mostly talked about the goings-on in town. Even when she walked back and forth during her selling, she didn't hear any talk about the capital, so word most not have reached here yet.

"Excuse me." She waved to the bartender. "Do you know how far this town is from the capital?"

"About a day's travel, sir." He replied while cleaning a mug.

Reina grimaced, partly from the distance and partly from what he called her. "You wouldn't happen to know of any work that can be down in town, do you?"

He gave a light laugh at that. "Living as an adventurer didn't work out, eh?"

Reina couldn't really comment on that.

The man set the mug down on the counter. "Well, Caroline's looking for someone to collect herbs for her. The helper she had twisted his leg running from a doll of all things, so she'll be looking for help."

"That sounds perfect." Reina said. If the area she wanted herbs from had dolls, there was easy XP to gain.

After finishing her meal and getting directions, Reina found the small apothecary shop. A bell chimed as she entered.

"Be with you in just a moment!" A kindly voice called out from the back.

Reina took a look around the shop. Unlike the adventurers' shop in the capital, this place had a wide variety. Filled bottles of various colors and consistencies lined a few shelves, but most shelves had numerous plants and fungi on them. She supposed adventurers were more interested in healing potions than anything else.

"Welcome." An older woman came from the doorway behind the counter. "How can I help you, young man?"

"I'll just have to get used to this." Reina held back a sigh before she spoke. "I heard you were looking for someone to gather herbs for you."

"Oh, yes." The woman, presumably Caroline, gave a nod. "Bart's son hurt his leg the other day and has been stuck in bed."

"What do you need?" Reina asked. "And where can I find it?"

"Let's see…I'll need blue caps for a large order that came in yesterday, as many as you can carry. And I'm low on crimson reeds. I have both on the shelves there."

The woman pointed out the two ingredients. The blue caps were mushrooms that were mostly white, but had a blue ring around the edges. The crimson reeds were actually something she saw as she traveled along the river.

"As for where they are, it's about half an hour's walk when you leave town. There's a stream the reeds grow by, and you'll find the blue caps at the bases of the trees on the way."

"Perfect." Reina was glad to have such a straightforward task. "I'll get started right away."

"Are you sure, dearie?" The woman asked. "You don't look so good."

"Ah, um, just had a rough night." Reina awkwardly answered. She didn't really want to think about it more than she had to.

"Well, if you're sure." Caroline sighed. "I'll be open until dusk, so you'll have plenty of time. When you're done, please get to bed early. You look dreadful, dearie."

"I'll do just that." Reina said. She didn't feel like she was in top shape, but she still wanted to get more money to live off of quickly. And, hey, maybe this woman would be kind enough to show her how to make some potions or something as payment.

Before she could leave, Caroline spoke up once more. "Do be careful. I've heard there's a giant out deep in the forest."

That gave Reina pause. She saw the giant in question. This was a good opportunity to ask about it. "I'm not from around here. Are giants dangerous?"

"They can be." Caroline said. "There's not much we can do about it for the moment. The town guard doesn't want to fight a giant, so a request was sent to the capital."

"That won't be happening…" Reina couldn't say anything.

"Maybe the Spirit Forger will come. I heard the prince summoned her recently." The older woman continued.

"Yeah, maybe…" If she were stronger, she might. Instead of any sort of real response, Reina asked another question. "What should I do if I come across one?"

"If you see one, I've heard backing up slowly is the best way to avoid confrontation."

"Thanks." With that, Reina left the store. At least now she knew what to do if she saw that giant again. Running away full speed might not have been the right choice, but it had worked.

Reina exited town on a different side, but still going into what seemed to be the same connected forest. She didn't know how long she ran before, but it must have been a bit to be so exhausted afterward. But it wasn't as if that giant would stay in the same place, so it hardly mattered.

She did feel a bit guilty not saying anything immediately about the capital getting attacked. There was more than one town within a day or two's travel from the capital, according to her old party. It wasn't like this small town near the forest would be hit next. Someone would bring news of what happened soon enough. Besides, the Demon Lord also came for the prince, according to the brother. He could be satisfied with him for now. It was fine.

…No. There was no excuse. She was afraid, and having a lot of questions asked of her might reveal who she was.

"Later." She dismissed those thoughts for now. Maybe tomorrow she'd feel braver. For now, collecting ingredients was a nice distraction.

It wasn't long before Reina spotted the mushrooms Caroline mentioned, battling the odd doll here and there. She picked a few and thought to feed them to her athame. After the sixth one, she decided to stop. It seemed the related totem she revealed before was all she was going to get and she couldn't pull the mushrooms back out again.

When she thought back, she remembered another totem she revealed. The Leaf Totem. She switched to that one and plucked another blue cap.

Blue cap quality up! Fair increased to good.

"Huh. So that's how it works. If I bring back a bunch of good ones, I'll probably make more money." She realized.

She continued to do so for some time, storing the plucked mushrooms in the large sack she bought. The sun had already passed what felt like noon and continued to move through the sky

Eventually, after picking so many of these strange mushrooms, Reina continued on to where the reeds would be. They were easy enough to spot, since they stood up and looked like fluffy red cat tails. She picked a few and fed them to her totem.

Crimson Reed Rod
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: simple compounding recipes 1

Reina's eyes widened at what her status read. She read something in her status earlier that would make this amazing. There was an auto-craft function that she could use to make whatever she had recipes for. Once she unlocked this…

"I'll be able to sell potions!" Reina nearly squealed with delight. Now she didn't need to ask for lessons, assuming she would have gotten any. The old woman seemed pretty kind, so she might have given them.

Regardless, Reina continued her harvesting. Potential to make her own potions aside, she still needed money. Once she had more…she'd figure something out.

Time seemed flow around her without care. Before long, the sky began to change hue. In a couple hours, it would set.

"I guess it's about time I head back and…" Her thought trailed off as she noticed something up ahead. There was smoke in the sky. It wasn't a massive amount, but it could be a fire that got started somehow.

Even if she couldn't do anything yesterday, she at least wanted to make sure this forest wouldn't get burnt down. Deciding on that, Reina went to investigate.

After about five minutes, she found the source of the smoke. There was a hut in a small clearing near the stream. A covered opening in the roof allowed smoke to exit without letting rain to get in.

Reina was glad it wasn't serious, but something about the building struck her as odd. People could choose to live secluded from others, but this hut seemed a bit too well built. For starters, it was made out of stone, though not cleanly cut. Rather, it was as if the building was roughly cut from a large rock. The roof wasn't tiled or thatched, just more rock.

What's more, it was pretty big. It could easily house a family inside, maybe two if they really wanted to. Outside and around it, there didn't seem to be much. As Reina neared the front, she saw a small pile of chopped wood.

When she got closer, she froze in place. She stood in front of the building, and grim realization dawned on her. There was a single entrance to it, which was covered with the pelt of some monster. That wasn't what gave her pause.

It was the fact that the doorway was well over twice her height.

"Oh crap! This is where the giant lives!" She internally screamed.

On the list of things she didn't want to do, this was near the top of it. Her instincts kicked in, forcing her to slowly back away. She didn't want to make any sound as she—

Snap!

A small branch broke under her foot.

Reina didn't bother waiting to see if anything happened. She turned around and started running. It worked before and it would again. She at least had the composure to not drop her sack of collected mushrooms and reeds.

She ran like her life depended on it. For all she knew, it did. It may have been blind luck that she survived her last encounter with a giant. While she was curious what one was like, she really didn't want to find out like this.

After a minute or so, Reina calmed down enough to slow her pace. Looking over her shoulder, there was no sign of anyone pursuing her.

"I might have overreacted…again." She murmured. There was the chance she'd happen to see the giant and try talking to it, but it was still better to be safe than sorry.

"Hahaha!"

There it was again! The laughter. Reina quickly looked around for the source, but didn't see anyone. In fact, it sounded like it might have come from above her. She quickly searched above, looking through the tree branches for any sign of movement.

She did see something, but it was away and above the trees. Something was coming. No, not quite. Something was forming. Purple clouds began to take shape.

"Oh no…" She remembered what those were. Her fears quickly grew in proportion to the size of the cloud, which seemed to run across the sky. It expanded quicker than Reina thought it would from the last time she saw it. The sun was blocked out as clouds came above her and continued on, but the origin of them became darker.

Then came the sound. The sound of rain.

Water fell from where the first bit of cloud formed and was coming toward her as the clouds continued to darken.

"Crap!" Reina turned around and started running once more.

She ran back the way she just came from. Branches and foliage were pushed aside, giving no concern to anything. The bag of mushrooms and reeds was abandoned the moment she fled. She didn't look over her shoulder, the sound being all she needed to know how close it was.

The words of Celia from before rang out in her head.

"Anyone caught in it, even for a few seconds, isn't likely to survive long."

She had to move fast. No, more than that, she needed to be ready.

"Forge Spirit!" She switched to the Azure Star Amulet as she called out her spirit. If that rain would kill her quickly, she needed to be ready to heal herself. Hopefully, her spirit's Healing Touch could work fast enough.

Reina sent her spirit forward to break apart any branches it could while she was only a few steps behind it. The sound of the rain was getting louder and she was still without shelter.

The hut the giant probably was in came into view. Reina didn't consider her options. There really weren't any. While there were enough large trees, they wouldn't save her from the downpour that threatened her life. She didn't spot a single cave anywhere near her, nor any raised mounds of earth or conveniently shaped rocks. If she was lucky, the giant wouldn't even be there.

"Fifty feet left. I'm going to make it!"

Her breathing became heavier as she felt her legs slow. She hadn't been running that long, but the air just wouldn't come to her as easily. It was as if her strength was leaving her body.

"AHHH!" Reina cried out. The rain had caught up to her. All at once, her body gave out. She fell to the ground in a crash, tumbling to a stop.

"AHHH!" She couldn't describe the pain, both from the unusual feeling and extreme amount of it. The rain itself wasn't burning, but it felt like her body was on fire.

At the same time, she found she couldn't do anything to lessen the pain. Her legs and arms shook violently. It was all she could do to reach her arm forward in a vain attempt to pull herself. Her spirit was longer there, having disappeared.

"Someone…" Even words became difficult in the seconds she was on the ground. How long had it really been? It was worse than anything she'd ever been through, yet it probably wasn't more than 10 seconds.

Her vision quickly began to cloud over. The discolored forest was losing its form.

The last thing Reina saw was a large shadow come over her.

~Forging Legends~

Cold.

Once again, Reina felt a terrible coldness. Her body ached from a pain she couldn't really describe.

How long did she feel this way? She couldn't tell.

However, unlike before, she felt a certain amount of warmth. It didn't completely stave off the cold, but it was much better than her time in the river.

Her hand curled slowly as her mind began to work properly. There was a fire somewhere nearby, the crackling of wood reaching her ears. She could smell the smoke, though it wasn't overwhelming. It was combined with the scent of some cooked meat she wasn't familiar with.

"Hm." She gave a light grunt as she screwed her eyes shut tighter. It felt like she'd slept a long time, longer than she had in a while. Her body felt lazy and stiff.

Reina opened her eyes, letting them adjust to the light.

The room she was in was spacious and a bit barren. The ground was dirt, but the walls looked to be made of rough stone. She spotted two large pots hanging over a fire pit, the source of the room's light. A soft gurgling from them reached her ears, now that she knew they existed.

There was also a doorway, though it was obscured. Not only from the pelt that covered it, but black strands covered part of her eyes.

"My hair…" Her mind slowly realized. "I've been leaving my hair braided since I got here. Probably should get a brush and go through it when I get the chance."

Despite the weakness she felt, Reina moved her hand up to brush the obscuring strands from her face. When she did, she realized something was off. Several things, in fact.

She vividly remembered what happened before she passed out. She got caught in that rain. The rain that…who said it would kill her? Max? No, Celia. It came quickly and soaked her. She should be dead.

Then it was what she was feeling. Or, rather, what she wasn't feeling. Her clothes were missing. She knew that because of the warmth she felt on her whole body, as if something else was giving off heat. It wasn't from whatever blanket was covering her since the heat came from below.

She began to turn her head up. Her eyes looked across the walls of wherever she was until they came close to a face. She recognized it immediately, despite not getting a good look at it before. Deep brown eyes blinked and looked into hers from a head nearly twice the size of her own.

"Crap!" Reina saw where she was. It was the hut of that giant. This was the giant. And she was laying on top of it.

She jumped from her place, earning a small grunt from the body below her. She had to get out. She had to run. It didn't matter is she didn't have her armor, her money, or even her clothes! She had to get away quickly.

The doorway wasn't far. If she could make it there, she'd have a chance to escape from this giant and whatever it planned to do to her. She felt sick, like she was about to throw up.

The doorway…seemed so far now. After taking barely four steps, her body began to slow. When her foot reached the ground to spring forward again, her leg buckled and dropped her to the ground.

Her vision was obscured by her hair, thrown forward from the fall. More than that, she could no longer view the doorway as it began to fade from her sight. She tried to reach out, but she could barely move her arm. Neither it nor her legs did as she wanted. They shook uncontrollably, leaving her helpless on the ground. Every minor movement caused her pain. She wanted to curl in on herself, but she couldn't even do that.

"Freezing! It's like my body is covered in ice!" She anguished.

What happened to her? Was this a spell of some sort, or a poison? What did this giant do to her? What was it planning on doing to her!?

"Hah…" She heard a deep sigh from behind her. "Why are littlings such a problem?"

A heavy thump came from behind her. Then another.

"Don't come any closer!" She tried to call out, but she couldn't find her voice. It was all she could do to stay conscious. "Not like this! I don't want to die like this!"

This was the end. After surviving everything else, her luck finally ran out. She didn't want to die in this world so soon after getting a second chance. Not naked on the ground, shivering to death from whatever was wrong with her body. Not alone.

But she knew she couldn't do anything. There was nothing to do now except let the icy hands of death…

"…Warmth."

She felt heat return to her body. The horrible shaking slowed to tremble.

"More warmth."

It began on her right arm. As quickly as she could, she reached over with her left in an attempt to gain more warmth. From under her hair, she saw the giant kneeling in front of her. It looked like a man, just much larger. Brown hair traveled down his head to his shoulders, a few braids visible on the sides. A pelt was wrapped around his waist, but his chest was bare. His massive hand was wrapped around her arm…and it felt so warm.

"Calm, human." He said in what she thought might have been a reassuring tone. "Body weak. No freeze death. Stay warm."

She gave him a hesitant nod. If this whole thing was his doing…it didn't feel that way. His words made her feel secure, something she really needed right now.

The giant gently pulled her toward him. With his other arm, he slowly scooped her up and pressed her against his firm chest. The effect was immediate. The coldness from before nearly went away, becoming the chill she felt when she woke up. The pain turned numb, letting her breathe more easily.

"T-Thank you…" Reina let out as the giant turned to where he lay before. He stopped right after.

"You speak my tongue?" He asked, surprise in his voice. Reina glanced up to see him looking down at her. She gave a nod in response. "Good. Stay against me to keep from feeling the worst of it, littling."

With careful steps, he sat them nearly where they were before. The pots were closer now, easily within his reach. Keeping her held up against him, he took a bowl from the ground and dipped it in one of the pots, scooping out some of its contents.

"You should be able to keep this down now." He said, holding the bowl close.

Tentatively, Reina reached out and took it. There was a soup of some sort inside, small pieces of meat visible near the surface of it. Steam still came off of it, but less than what she saw from the pot. The bowl must have absorbed some of the heat. It didn't feel that warm in her hands.

Bringing it to her mouth, she blew on the surface a few times before taking a sip. It was a bit hot, but she couldn't tell if it was from the soup itself or her own body being cold. Nevertheless, she tilted to bowl and took a few more sips.

"It's good!" She said before drinking up more of it. The second the soup touched her tongue, she realized just how hungry she was. It felt like she hadn't eaten all day, which may not have been far off. It was dark beyond the flap that covered the hut.

"That means you're recovering properly." The giant told her. "Everything should taste good to you."

Even if that was the case, Reina didn't care. This was the best tasting thing she'd had since the feast…

Right. The feast. The castle. Where the prince and her party were before everything fell apart.

Before the Demon Lord attacked.

Before people started dying all around her.

Before she realized she wasn't actually worth much to anyone here, even the man who had he summoned.

"Why do you cry?" She heard the giant ask.

Reina didn't even realize she was until he said it. She was more surprised he noticed, since her head was turned away from his.

"…I guess everything's finally caught up with me." She said in a quiet voice, letting the tears come out. "Ever since I got here, I thought I was supposed to do great things. I was slowly learning about the world, learning how to use my weapon, preparing to fight the Demon Lord and save the world."

The thought to conceal her identity barely registered to her. It just didn't feel that important. Maybe it would come back to bite her later, but for now, the dam was broken. She just needed someone to talk to.

"Everything's been crazy since last night. The capital was attacked, the prince tried to sell me out, I got chased around by some crazy demon girl, and I nearly died jumping from the castle." She rattled off her experiences. "Then I wake up in the river, wander through the forest, and almost get killed by a group of krindar. Even the rain is trying to kill me!"

That was likely what made her so sick a few minutes ago. She never asked what the rain did exactly, only that it would kill her.

"I just wish…" She couldn't even form the words.

Reina felt like she just came out of denial of her situation and was truly seeing it for the first time. This world was an incredibly dangerous place. There were monsters that roamed the world she needed to fight and get stronger if she wanted to survive. There could be eyes everywhere and she wouldn't even know it, like that shimmer who watched her for the prince and whatever was spying on her for the Demon Lord. She could be attacked at any time and she didn't have anyone to help her now.

A heavy hand pressed against her head, moving to the back before lifting off and starting again from the top.

"W-What are you doing?" Startled, she asked.

"I don't know how to comfort a human woman, only the young of my kind. I hope this helps." He said calmly.

"Hm." Reina didn't respond. She just let this giant melt her worries away.

Even if it was just for this brief moment in time, Reina wanted to feel safe. Really safe. She wanted to feel like the whole world wasn't just waiting to get her. Most of the people didn't, she knew. Most of them were friendly when they heard who she was. The nobles probably wanted her for something more, just like that prince.

But that was a problem for tomorrow. Right now, she was safe.

"You should rest more. I'll take you back to the town in the morning." The giant said.

"Alright. And…thank you. For saving me." She said, huddling closer to him. "What's your name?"

"Vyrdrun." He said.

"Vyrdrun…" She slowly said, feeling out the name. "Thank you, Vyrdrun."

The giant didn't respond, merely patting her on her back before moving the bowls away. He adjusted himself so he was laying back, with Reina still on top of him.

"It's kind of funny." She said sleepily. "You're one of a few people who realized I'm a girl. Too bad I had to be naked for that to happen."

"What do you mean? I could see you were a woman when I saw you this morning. Maybe a bit short." Vyrdrun told her. "Can other humans not tell?"

A smile grew on Reina's face. That confirmed it was him she saw, the one who scared off those krindar. He also called her a woman earlier, meaning she didn't look like a child. And, more importantly, she didn't look like a boy.

"You're a good person." She mumbled before peacefully falling asleep.

Author's Notes:

She may have lowered her standards a bit, but after the prince, her party, and a number of other people thinking she's a child or a boy, or both, she's happy for the change of pace.

I think she's been through enough crap for now. About time I start bringing her back up.