A few years later, a new adventure appears.
Wanderlust 2 [Hololive x D&D]
- Thread starter IroiGamiya
- Start date
- Created
- Status
- Ongoing
- Watchers
- 21
- Recent readers
- 0
- Threadmarks
- 79
-
Statistics (69 threadmarks, 190k words)
User Total IroiGamiya 69 Threadmarks Reader mode -
Loading…
Chapter 1
- Location
- Malaysia
Chapter 1
It took a few years for the many cities on the continent to recover from the sudden attack of the black dragon. The collective people were resilient and hardy folk; the cities and towns on the outside recovered quickly as to restore trade and the flow of resources. The capital took a bit longer but, being the place where the dragon fell, the people were eager to help. It was around the same time a nobleman and courtier of the king suggested forming an adventurer's guild to aid the normal folk. Their members would travel far and wide to lend assistance wherever it was needed. This would not only bring praise to the royal family but if they traveled to other lands that were allied to them, would also strengthen their ties and alliances.
The king was impressed and readily agreed to support this beneficial endeavor. Thus, Aruran Daiso established the headquarters of the adventurer's guild in Rivirapolis. He also made an effort to link up with Sireos' School of Might and Magic to provide a place of work once the students leave or graduate from it. All adventurers both of this world and outside of it were welcome, as the noble did proudly proclaim. Quite a number of people accepted. Many more traveled to the capital when word of this new guild spread.
Travel boots crunched softly on the gravel. A young girl in clothes colored orange, blue, and white looked at the rebuilt city in awe. She continued to walk down the street, her ox-horn styled hair bobbing up and down. She paused to look at the piece of paper and started to make her way down another road. After a few more minutes of walking, she caught sight of a large building that was across a bar called Robel. It was two stories high, made of brick and wood. It looked very sturdy and the open double doors were brightly painted and inviting. She crossed the road, eager to go in and sign up. Then…
"KIRA!"
...she heard two shouts coming from inside the building, startling her. A second later, a blue-haired young girl ran out with bagpipes draped across her shoulder, the sound of laughter trailing behind her. Another second, then two guys ran out after her. One had pink hair and had black, segmentation lines over his arms and head. The other had black hair and wore a hooded robe that hung back loosely as he ran. She watched dumbfoundedly as the trio ran down the street.
"Strange," said a soft-spoken voice behind her. Looking around, she saw a beautiful blue-haired elf in fine blue clothes. Floating behind her was a cute white thing in a pot. Was it a mini-bear? A mouse? She couldn't really tell.
"Hello, my name is Nene Momosuzu," she introduced herself, holding out her hand, "Are you here to join the guild too?"
"Lamy Yukihana. Pleased to meet you," she replied politely, "Yes, I am."
Nene grinned, "Oh, that's great. I hope we can be good friends. Let's go sign up!"
Lamy nodded and smiled. They immediately went inside. Several feet from the door was a counter, manned by a cute, red-haired man in a white uniform. He smiled at them as they came up to the counter and greeted, "Welcome to the guild. My name is Miyabi. How may I help you?"
"We would like to sign up, please," spoke up Nene.
"We would like to join up too," spoke up a voice as its owner stepped up to the counter. She looked human save for a set of animal ears as well as shaggy, long whitish-grey hair that framed her head like a lion's mane. Beside her was a smiling girl with fox ears on her head. The lion girl wore dark traveling clothes while the fox girl had bright, colorful traveling clothes.
"Certainly," replied Miyabi with an ever-present smile, pausing to retrieve something from under the counter, "Please prepare five gold each for registration. Then, I shall help you fill out the forms, so please, if you would take turns to tell me your particulars. Once I fill these forms, I shall help you get acquainted with the guild house." He placed several pieces of official-looking papers, an open ink bottle, and a quill.
"...And we're done," declared the guild clerk with satisfaction, "Right, so if you look to your right, there is a bulletin board." He then motioned to his left, drawing everyone's attention. "This is where we put one-time requests for help. You'll get paid depending on the request. The side room to your right is a waiting room where you can relax to do your own stuff. Upstairs, we have several rooms where you can rest for free if you wish to spend the night. If you need food and drink, Robel across the street can accommodate you. The bartender's name is Roberu and let him know you're with the guild to get a discount. We have an agreement with him so if there are any emergencies or urgent quests, I'll head over and announce it myself. Erm, we have a basement… but it's currently not used for anything and Lord Daiso forbade anyone from going downstairs. So, any questions?"
"Any quests we can go on right now?" asked the fox girl, who introduced herself as Polka Omaru during registration.
"Hmm, let me see," muttered Miyabi as he stepped around the counter to scrutinize the board. After a few seconds, he pulled a piece of paper off and handed it to her, "Here. If you go with them, I'm sure this request could be done in no time."
"Ah, thanks!" she exclaimed happily before reading it aloud, "Two hundred silver pieces minimum… help with pest culling in… the… sewer… ew." She wrinkled her nose a little at the thought.
"I suppose that's fine… " murmured the lion girl, who called herself Botan Shishiro, "After all, we should start somewhere..."
"That's the spirit," praised the guild clerk with an encouraging smile, "I'm sure you will go far if you keep your mind to it."
"Right, let's go then," cheered on Nene, "So, who do we see about this?"
After stowing their stuff and getting directions to the sewer cleaners guild, the new party headed there immediately after the half-snow elf asked her snow sprite to guard her belongings. Nene hummed a jaunty tune with Polka whistling along. They were welcomed by the vice-leader of the guild, a rather young man with fiery red hair.
"Right, nice to see new blood willing to help out," he stated as he led them downstairs to the sewers entrance. Before he opened the metal door, he warned, "Right, cover your nose."
The smell wasn't as bad as expected, though their half-animal party mates were gagging a little.
"Right, the smell shouldn't be as bad at this time of year," he informed them before they went in, "Also… try and keep a tally of what you kill down there. Maybe, for example, rat ears or some small body part if you wish to keep count that way. Try to bring at least ten at minimum. Ten silver each for any extra. Oh, and knock as loud as you can if you're done."
"That sounded a little barbaric," murmured Lamy as the door closed behind them.
"It sounded fine," rebutted Botan, "If you're that disturbed, I'll keep count then."
"Fine with me," the half-elf agreed.
The party then made their way down the sewers. True enough, the smell wasn't overwhelmingly strong, but it was disturbing enough that they frequently had a grimace on their faces. Green tinted water flowed through the middle of the tunnels and all they heard were sounds of dripping water. Eventually, they could hear faint chittering and squeals in the background. At first, they couldn't tell where the sounds were coming from but eventually, a loud enough creak drew their attention. What they saw sent shivers up their collective spines.
A sizable group of giant cockroaches was skittering around a mound of fresh waste and trash.
"Erm… we don't have to fight them, right?" whispered Polka, "They don't look like the rats we're looking for."
"But don't these count as pests too?" asked Nene.
"...Disgusting monsters," murmured Lamy in revulsion as she clutched her amulet.
"I think we should try and kill them as fast as we could," decided Botan as she nocked an arrow to her shortbow.
"Will we be able to… what was that?" started the half-snow elf when she heard some loud squeaking behind her. The party glanced around and were surprised to find rats. Giant rats.
"...This looks bad… and I think the giant cockroaches noticed us too," warned the bard as she pulled out her rapier and a dagger.
"Ha… alright, let's put them down," the lion girl sighed while the fennec girl played with a dart on one hand. Thankfully, there was only enough space for two on two fights to stand on the raised areas above the drain.
Nene threw her dagger at the giant roach that tried to attack Botan, causing it to skitter back in surprise. Meanwhile, the rats lunged at the lion and the fennec, biting their legs. The former shook hers off and used her claws to disembowel it. The latter kicked hers into the air and kicked it again into the drain, sending it into the soup of muck with a plop. They repeated those actions with the other two rats while the bard skewered the roach that attacked her. Lamy, who had blessed the others beforehand, healed the fennec monk as she looked a little shaken by the rat bites. She then ran forward and slammed her mace on one roach, breaking through its body and splattering its insides over the floor.
"Lamy, can you boost me in there?" asked Nene suddenly as Botan and Polka killed off another two roaches.
Getting a nod, the bard jumped onto the cleric's shield, who pushed her to the front and into the middle of the pack of giant cockroaches. As she landed, she shouted an arcane word and the sound of a thunderclap roared through the sewer tunnel. The roaches seemed shaken and disorientated, leaving them open to attack. The others wasted no time in attacking, taking down three more of them. The giant insects tried to repay the favor but another arcane word clapped down on them and shook them even further, one of them even falling over dead. Then, she mopped them up with Lamy's help.
"Eugh, ew, ew, ew," sounded Polka as she dug into the dead roaches to retrieve her darts.
"Hn, have to wash later," muttered Botan as she pulled out the arrow used in the fight. She turned to the bard and asked, "Can I borrow your dagger?"
"Sure," replied the bard as she handed the dagger she had thrown to the fighter, who proceeded to cut off the ears of the rats. One each. Lamy frowned but didn't say anything, as she was just following the vice-leader's instructions. The lion girl then went over to the roaches and snapped off a leg from their bodies. By the time she was done, she had four ears and ten spindly legs, which she stuffed in her belt pouch and quiver respectively.
"So…do we go back now? I mean… we got the min and some extra," asked the fennec monk.
"No. I think we can push on and find a few more," rebutted the lion fighter as she returned the dagger.
"But I won't be able to heal anything right now," informed the half-elf worriedly, "If I cast anything more right now, I'll get a headache."
"I'm not sure about this either..." added the bard hesitantly.
"No worries. That was just a big group," assured the fighter confidently, "We just have to keep our eyes out for a more manageable one and we're fine."
"If you're sure..." the former replied hesitantly as everyone followed the lion girl's lead.
Thus, they spent more time down in the sewers. Unfortunately, they didn't stumble into anyone or anything else… although there was one time Polka slipped on a wet patch she didn't notice. She almost fell in. She didn't. Only her foot did. She pretty much shrieked in horror and tried shaking her limb dry, causing everyone to run back and staying quite far away until she stopped.
"There, there, you can wash it up later," comforted Nene, patting the monk on the shoulder while staying away at a respectable distance.
"Hng," sounded off the fennec fox girl with a pout.
"Hey, this is weird," the lion girl said aloud, "I see a light ahead."
True enough, there seemed to be a part of the wall that had crumbled. Going near and peeking around the corner, the girls found a short passage that led to a large-ish room. Polka volunteered to sneak inside to take a peek. Getting everyone's agreement, she snuck in. A few minutes later, she came back and informed worriedly, "I saw two guys inside, all robbed up and suspicious. They had just finished summoning some sort of rotting corpse."
"Evil men!" Lamy declared softly, "We have to stop them."
"Eh, I thought you were seconds away from a headache," chimed in Nene.
"Summoning undead is bad," the cleric retorted as she sent a glare at her, arms akimbo as if she was going to start scolding the bard.
"Yosh, let's rush in and surprise them," the lion girl urged, "We should be able to take them easily if we do this right."
"We better hurry then, just in case try to summon more," added the monk in full agreement.
With the decision made, the party sneaked in as quietly as possible. Unfortunately, Botan kicked some loose debris in the tunnel by accident, causing the robbed figures inside to be warned and by the time the party was in the room, they were forewarned and ready to fight.
"Get them," said one of them as he motioned the zombie to attack.
However, the party was faster. Nene and Polka ran ahead of the rest, the bard stabbing one cultist in the chest. The fox girl jumped and twirled, lashing out with her leg and kicking both men in the head. The first one fell over backward, his skull slamming against the stone floor and cracking apart internally. The second was about to slash her with his sword but was staggered by the blow.
Meanwhile, the other two targeted the zombie. Botan shot at it as she skirted around the fight, hugging the wall, but missed. The arrow flew past and broke against the wall as the zombie lumbered forward and punched the recovering fox monk. She tried to block but it was stronger than expected and the blow left her arms very sore. At the same time, Lamy raised and pointed her finger at the undead.
"The icy floes and frosty chills come, best keep moving or fall to slumber."
Her chant sent a frigid beam of blue light streaking at its chest. Its body frosted over as its movement slowed down.
Taking her chance, the bard stabbed the zombie in the chest. The monk kicked out, the first blow striking the remaining cultist once again in the head with her shin, and the second blow crashed into its arm with her heel. The zombie's arm became bent at an odd angle and its body tilted over to the side, unfortunately shifting it out of the way from the lion girl's arrow. The undead was also trying to attack the fennec fox girl with its broken arm, the limb flailing around uselessly. Such jarring movement sent the limb at an odd angle and blocked the cleric's frost ray. It took the entire attack and it shattered to pieces as it impacted its own head.
The zombie staggered back as Nene stabbed her rapier in its side while Polka punched it in the chest. Her fist went through the fragile body. However, as she pulled her hand out, it groaned out and tried to grab her. She screamed and blindly punched its head off. Its fleshy skull flew off its desiccated body and shattered against the stone wall of the room.
As the party relaxed upon the fall of the zombie, the fighter retrieved the arrow that was still intact and said with a grin, "A good fight."
"I doubt we'd get paid for this," muttered the monk as she looked around the room, "I bet these don't count as pests."
"Can we get back to the sewer cleaners guild, please?" asked the half-snow elf, "Even if it was good that we took them down without much difficulty, I rather we don't push our luck."
"I think I agree with Lamy," added the bard, "Pushing our luck is a bad thing."
"Alright, alright," relented the lion girl, "I admit… I do feel satisfied. We'll go back now."
AN: Hello, readers. Welcome to the sequel. Time for some electric boogaloo with Hololive Gen 5.
Going out into the world to see the wonders it has to offer
Nene Momosuzu
Standard Human
Bard
Leaving behind her noble family to make a name for herself
Lamy Yukihana
Half-snow elf
Life Domain Cleric
One of two from Gekko, the tribal hunter from the grasslands.
Botan Shishiro
Lion Beastfolk
Fighter
Second from Gekko and future ringmaster of her own circus
Polka Omaru
Fennec Fox Beastfolk
Monk
Our new heroes, everyone. So, we aren't going to follow any one particular person. This time, we follow the group as a whole. Do stick around to read of their adventures. Thank you for reading and have a good day, dear readers.
Edit: I seem to have left out some stuff. Only realized it after posting chapter 7 here.
Snow Elf Lineage is technically, just normal high elves that adapted to living in the cold and snowy northern climate. They cultivated their expertise in ice magic from their adaptation. So, as a racial trait, access to Frost Ray, Ice Knife, and Snowball Storm at first, third, and fifth levels.
Lamy herself has Daifuku, a snow fairy, but it doesn't take part in their adventures.
The beastfolk race are inspired from a Kemonomimi homebrew I found. This is a blanket race that encompasses everything half-human, half-animal. This way, there is flexibility as one can choose to be either more animalistic look or more humanoid look. For example, if one is under catfolk, the more animalistic ones could use Tabaxi stats and features while the more humanoid ones use the Kemonomimi homebrew stats and features.
It took a few years for the many cities on the continent to recover from the sudden attack of the black dragon. The collective people were resilient and hardy folk; the cities and towns on the outside recovered quickly as to restore trade and the flow of resources. The capital took a bit longer but, being the place where the dragon fell, the people were eager to help. It was around the same time a nobleman and courtier of the king suggested forming an adventurer's guild to aid the normal folk. Their members would travel far and wide to lend assistance wherever it was needed. This would not only bring praise to the royal family but if they traveled to other lands that were allied to them, would also strengthen their ties and alliances.
The king was impressed and readily agreed to support this beneficial endeavor. Thus, Aruran Daiso established the headquarters of the adventurer's guild in Rivirapolis. He also made an effort to link up with Sireos' School of Might and Magic to provide a place of work once the students leave or graduate from it. All adventurers both of this world and outside of it were welcome, as the noble did proudly proclaim. Quite a number of people accepted. Many more traveled to the capital when word of this new guild spread.
Travel boots crunched softly on the gravel. A young girl in clothes colored orange, blue, and white looked at the rebuilt city in awe. She continued to walk down the street, her ox-horn styled hair bobbing up and down. She paused to look at the piece of paper and started to make her way down another road. After a few more minutes of walking, she caught sight of a large building that was across a bar called Robel. It was two stories high, made of brick and wood. It looked very sturdy and the open double doors were brightly painted and inviting. She crossed the road, eager to go in and sign up. Then…
"KIRA!"
...she heard two shouts coming from inside the building, startling her. A second later, a blue-haired young girl ran out with bagpipes draped across her shoulder, the sound of laughter trailing behind her. Another second, then two guys ran out after her. One had pink hair and had black, segmentation lines over his arms and head. The other had black hair and wore a hooded robe that hung back loosely as he ran. She watched dumbfoundedly as the trio ran down the street.
"Strange," said a soft-spoken voice behind her. Looking around, she saw a beautiful blue-haired elf in fine blue clothes. Floating behind her was a cute white thing in a pot. Was it a mini-bear? A mouse? She couldn't really tell.
"Hello, my name is Nene Momosuzu," she introduced herself, holding out her hand, "Are you here to join the guild too?"
"Lamy Yukihana. Pleased to meet you," she replied politely, "Yes, I am."
Nene grinned, "Oh, that's great. I hope we can be good friends. Let's go sign up!"
Lamy nodded and smiled. They immediately went inside. Several feet from the door was a counter, manned by a cute, red-haired man in a white uniform. He smiled at them as they came up to the counter and greeted, "Welcome to the guild. My name is Miyabi. How may I help you?"
"We would like to sign up, please," spoke up Nene.
"We would like to join up too," spoke up a voice as its owner stepped up to the counter. She looked human save for a set of animal ears as well as shaggy, long whitish-grey hair that framed her head like a lion's mane. Beside her was a smiling girl with fox ears on her head. The lion girl wore dark traveling clothes while the fox girl had bright, colorful traveling clothes.
"Certainly," replied Miyabi with an ever-present smile, pausing to retrieve something from under the counter, "Please prepare five gold each for registration. Then, I shall help you fill out the forms, so please, if you would take turns to tell me your particulars. Once I fill these forms, I shall help you get acquainted with the guild house." He placed several pieces of official-looking papers, an open ink bottle, and a quill.
"...And we're done," declared the guild clerk with satisfaction, "Right, so if you look to your right, there is a bulletin board." He then motioned to his left, drawing everyone's attention. "This is where we put one-time requests for help. You'll get paid depending on the request. The side room to your right is a waiting room where you can relax to do your own stuff. Upstairs, we have several rooms where you can rest for free if you wish to spend the night. If you need food and drink, Robel across the street can accommodate you. The bartender's name is Roberu and let him know you're with the guild to get a discount. We have an agreement with him so if there are any emergencies or urgent quests, I'll head over and announce it myself. Erm, we have a basement… but it's currently not used for anything and Lord Daiso forbade anyone from going downstairs. So, any questions?"
"Any quests we can go on right now?" asked the fox girl, who introduced herself as Polka Omaru during registration.
"Hmm, let me see," muttered Miyabi as he stepped around the counter to scrutinize the board. After a few seconds, he pulled a piece of paper off and handed it to her, "Here. If you go with them, I'm sure this request could be done in no time."
"Ah, thanks!" she exclaimed happily before reading it aloud, "Two hundred silver pieces minimum… help with pest culling in… the… sewer… ew." She wrinkled her nose a little at the thought.
"I suppose that's fine… " murmured the lion girl, who called herself Botan Shishiro, "After all, we should start somewhere..."
"That's the spirit," praised the guild clerk with an encouraging smile, "I'm sure you will go far if you keep your mind to it."
"Right, let's go then," cheered on Nene, "So, who do we see about this?"
After stowing their stuff and getting directions to the sewer cleaners guild, the new party headed there immediately after the half-snow elf asked her snow sprite to guard her belongings. Nene hummed a jaunty tune with Polka whistling along. They were welcomed by the vice-leader of the guild, a rather young man with fiery red hair.
"Right, nice to see new blood willing to help out," he stated as he led them downstairs to the sewers entrance. Before he opened the metal door, he warned, "Right, cover your nose."
The smell wasn't as bad as expected, though their half-animal party mates were gagging a little.
"Right, the smell shouldn't be as bad at this time of year," he informed them before they went in, "Also… try and keep a tally of what you kill down there. Maybe, for example, rat ears or some small body part if you wish to keep count that way. Try to bring at least ten at minimum. Ten silver each for any extra. Oh, and knock as loud as you can if you're done."
"That sounded a little barbaric," murmured Lamy as the door closed behind them.
"It sounded fine," rebutted Botan, "If you're that disturbed, I'll keep count then."
"Fine with me," the half-elf agreed.
The party then made their way down the sewers. True enough, the smell wasn't overwhelmingly strong, but it was disturbing enough that they frequently had a grimace on their faces. Green tinted water flowed through the middle of the tunnels and all they heard were sounds of dripping water. Eventually, they could hear faint chittering and squeals in the background. At first, they couldn't tell where the sounds were coming from but eventually, a loud enough creak drew their attention. What they saw sent shivers up their collective spines.
A sizable group of giant cockroaches was skittering around a mound of fresh waste and trash.
"Erm… we don't have to fight them, right?" whispered Polka, "They don't look like the rats we're looking for."
"But don't these count as pests too?" asked Nene.
"...Disgusting monsters," murmured Lamy in revulsion as she clutched her amulet.
"I think we should try and kill them as fast as we could," decided Botan as she nocked an arrow to her shortbow.
"Will we be able to… what was that?" started the half-snow elf when she heard some loud squeaking behind her. The party glanced around and were surprised to find rats. Giant rats.
"...This looks bad… and I think the giant cockroaches noticed us too," warned the bard as she pulled out her rapier and a dagger.
"Ha… alright, let's put them down," the lion girl sighed while the fennec girl played with a dart on one hand. Thankfully, there was only enough space for two on two fights to stand on the raised areas above the drain.
Nene threw her dagger at the giant roach that tried to attack Botan, causing it to skitter back in surprise. Meanwhile, the rats lunged at the lion and the fennec, biting their legs. The former shook hers off and used her claws to disembowel it. The latter kicked hers into the air and kicked it again into the drain, sending it into the soup of muck with a plop. They repeated those actions with the other two rats while the bard skewered the roach that attacked her. Lamy, who had blessed the others beforehand, healed the fennec monk as she looked a little shaken by the rat bites. She then ran forward and slammed her mace on one roach, breaking through its body and splattering its insides over the floor.
"Lamy, can you boost me in there?" asked Nene suddenly as Botan and Polka killed off another two roaches.
Getting a nod, the bard jumped onto the cleric's shield, who pushed her to the front and into the middle of the pack of giant cockroaches. As she landed, she shouted an arcane word and the sound of a thunderclap roared through the sewer tunnel. The roaches seemed shaken and disorientated, leaving them open to attack. The others wasted no time in attacking, taking down three more of them. The giant insects tried to repay the favor but another arcane word clapped down on them and shook them even further, one of them even falling over dead. Then, she mopped them up with Lamy's help.
"Eugh, ew, ew, ew," sounded Polka as she dug into the dead roaches to retrieve her darts.
"Hn, have to wash later," muttered Botan as she pulled out the arrow used in the fight. She turned to the bard and asked, "Can I borrow your dagger?"
"Sure," replied the bard as she handed the dagger she had thrown to the fighter, who proceeded to cut off the ears of the rats. One each. Lamy frowned but didn't say anything, as she was just following the vice-leader's instructions. The lion girl then went over to the roaches and snapped off a leg from their bodies. By the time she was done, she had four ears and ten spindly legs, which she stuffed in her belt pouch and quiver respectively.
"So…do we go back now? I mean… we got the min and some extra," asked the fennec monk.
"No. I think we can push on and find a few more," rebutted the lion fighter as she returned the dagger.
"But I won't be able to heal anything right now," informed the half-elf worriedly, "If I cast anything more right now, I'll get a headache."
"I'm not sure about this either..." added the bard hesitantly.
"No worries. That was just a big group," assured the fighter confidently, "We just have to keep our eyes out for a more manageable one and we're fine."
"If you're sure..." the former replied hesitantly as everyone followed the lion girl's lead.
Thus, they spent more time down in the sewers. Unfortunately, they didn't stumble into anyone or anything else… although there was one time Polka slipped on a wet patch she didn't notice. She almost fell in. She didn't. Only her foot did. She pretty much shrieked in horror and tried shaking her limb dry, causing everyone to run back and staying quite far away until she stopped.
"There, there, you can wash it up later," comforted Nene, patting the monk on the shoulder while staying away at a respectable distance.
"Hng," sounded off the fennec fox girl with a pout.
"Hey, this is weird," the lion girl said aloud, "I see a light ahead."
True enough, there seemed to be a part of the wall that had crumbled. Going near and peeking around the corner, the girls found a short passage that led to a large-ish room. Polka volunteered to sneak inside to take a peek. Getting everyone's agreement, she snuck in. A few minutes later, she came back and informed worriedly, "I saw two guys inside, all robbed up and suspicious. They had just finished summoning some sort of rotting corpse."
"Evil men!" Lamy declared softly, "We have to stop them."
"Eh, I thought you were seconds away from a headache," chimed in Nene.
"Summoning undead is bad," the cleric retorted as she sent a glare at her, arms akimbo as if she was going to start scolding the bard.
"Yosh, let's rush in and surprise them," the lion girl urged, "We should be able to take them easily if we do this right."
"We better hurry then, just in case try to summon more," added the monk in full agreement.
With the decision made, the party sneaked in as quietly as possible. Unfortunately, Botan kicked some loose debris in the tunnel by accident, causing the robbed figures inside to be warned and by the time the party was in the room, they were forewarned and ready to fight.
"Get them," said one of them as he motioned the zombie to attack.
However, the party was faster. Nene and Polka ran ahead of the rest, the bard stabbing one cultist in the chest. The fox girl jumped and twirled, lashing out with her leg and kicking both men in the head. The first one fell over backward, his skull slamming against the stone floor and cracking apart internally. The second was about to slash her with his sword but was staggered by the blow.
Meanwhile, the other two targeted the zombie. Botan shot at it as she skirted around the fight, hugging the wall, but missed. The arrow flew past and broke against the wall as the zombie lumbered forward and punched the recovering fox monk. She tried to block but it was stronger than expected and the blow left her arms very sore. At the same time, Lamy raised and pointed her finger at the undead.
"The icy floes and frosty chills come, best keep moving or fall to slumber."
Her chant sent a frigid beam of blue light streaking at its chest. Its body frosted over as its movement slowed down.
Taking her chance, the bard stabbed the zombie in the chest. The monk kicked out, the first blow striking the remaining cultist once again in the head with her shin, and the second blow crashed into its arm with her heel. The zombie's arm became bent at an odd angle and its body tilted over to the side, unfortunately shifting it out of the way from the lion girl's arrow. The undead was also trying to attack the fennec fox girl with its broken arm, the limb flailing around uselessly. Such jarring movement sent the limb at an odd angle and blocked the cleric's frost ray. It took the entire attack and it shattered to pieces as it impacted its own head.
The zombie staggered back as Nene stabbed her rapier in its side while Polka punched it in the chest. Her fist went through the fragile body. However, as she pulled her hand out, it groaned out and tried to grab her. She screamed and blindly punched its head off. Its fleshy skull flew off its desiccated body and shattered against the stone wall of the room.
As the party relaxed upon the fall of the zombie, the fighter retrieved the arrow that was still intact and said with a grin, "A good fight."
"I doubt we'd get paid for this," muttered the monk as she looked around the room, "I bet these don't count as pests."
"Can we get back to the sewer cleaners guild, please?" asked the half-snow elf, "Even if it was good that we took them down without much difficulty, I rather we don't push our luck."
"I think I agree with Lamy," added the bard, "Pushing our luck is a bad thing."
"Alright, alright," relented the lion girl, "I admit… I do feel satisfied. We'll go back now."
AN: Hello, readers. Welcome to the sequel. Time for some electric boogaloo with Hololive Gen 5.
Going out into the world to see the wonders it has to offer
Nene Momosuzu
Standard Human
Bard
Leaving behind her noble family to make a name for herself
Lamy Yukihana
Half-snow elf
Life Domain Cleric
One of two from Gekko, the tribal hunter from the grasslands.
Botan Shishiro
Lion Beastfolk
Fighter
Second from Gekko and future ringmaster of her own circus
Polka Omaru
Fennec Fox Beastfolk
Monk
Our new heroes, everyone. So, we aren't going to follow any one particular person. This time, we follow the group as a whole. Do stick around to read of their adventures. Thank you for reading and have a good day, dear readers.
Edit: I seem to have left out some stuff. Only realized it after posting chapter 7 here.
Snow Elf Lineage is technically, just normal high elves that adapted to living in the cold and snowy northern climate. They cultivated their expertise in ice magic from their adaptation. So, as a racial trait, access to Frost Ray, Ice Knife, and Snowball Storm at first, third, and fifth levels.
Lamy herself has Daifuku, a snow fairy, but it doesn't take part in their adventures.
The beastfolk race are inspired from a Kemonomimi homebrew I found. This is a blanket race that encompasses everything half-human, half-animal. This way, there is flexibility as one can choose to be either more animalistic look or more humanoid look. For example, if one is under catfolk, the more animalistic ones could use Tabaxi stats and features while the more humanoid ones use the Kemonomimi homebrew stats and features.
Last edited:
Chapter 2
- Location
- Malaysia
Chapter 2
The party made their way back to the sewer entrance. Thankfully, on the way back, they met up with a group of sewer cleaners that were heading the same way. Nene and Polka listened to them talking about the normal and weird stuff the crew encountered while on duty. Rats. Cockroaches. Spiders. The occasional shady person slinking around. Running away from a sewer shambler. Weird. There were also stories of giant alligators and sludge monsters. Safe to say, the party was weirded out by the strange stories. Still, time passed quickly and they reached the entrance in no time. The door clanged loudly and this time the leader himself opened the door to let everyone in.
"Well, this is a surprise," he said as he eyed the party, "Nice of the guild to send help over. So, pest control… what do you have for me?"
As Botan pulled out the proof, the sewer crew walked past them and went upstairs.
"Ah, well, you can toss those back into the sewer," he informed them after looking at the results, "I'll be getting your pay. Help to close the door, will ya?"
As he went up the stairs, Botan threw the parts into the water and closed the door shut. The party then went up and made their way to his office, where he handed them their reward.
"Right, two hundred silver and another forty for the extra," he declared as the loin girl bounced the bag in her hand, the pieces clinking inside.
"Thank you very much, sir," Nene replied as the party left and made their way back to the guild house.
"Welcome back," greeted Miyabi as they came in, "Did it go well?"
"Yup, we did it… I wanna wash my feet," replied Polka, glancing down at the foot that was dipped in sewer water.
After directing her to the water closet, he continued, "So, the sun is still up. Are you up for another quest?"
"I suppose. Preferably not in the sewers this time," spoke up Lamy.
"Ah, right..." he mused as he shuffled through the stack of papers he had on the counter. Then, he pulled out a piece of paper and said, "Well, here is a simple one. Accompany a herbalist to collect herbs. So, we always receive these kinds of requests. Easy tasks that could be completed quickly, although the pay is less than what you get from the board there. Now, this particular herbalist frequents the forests around the city in the evening looking for herbs, with or without company. From what I know of him, he appreciates the help. Although, looking at your condition, I'd suggest resting for an hour or so before taking this on."
"Ah, I guess I could use a cat nap," muttered Botan with a yawn.
"Alright, we can sit in the side room while we wait for Polka," said Nene with a grin.
"Evenin' ladies. I suppose you're my escort for the day," greeted the herbalist. Miyabi said his name was Kelin. He was an average looking guy sporting a tan robe with a leather bag slung over his shoulder.
"Yeah. Please take care of us," replied the bard politely.
He chuckled and said, "I think I'll be in your capable hands than the other way around. In any case, let's get going. Time's a-wastin' and there are herbs in need of collecting."
That said, he led them out the east gate, where the forest is the closest. They didn't seem to go too far in and they always stopped intermittently for Kelin to check the area for identifiable herbs. So far, he had what looked to be grasses and mushrooms stored in his bag. They had a pretty relaxing time, but the lion girl seemed to be getting antsy.
"Are you alright?" asked Polka as she nudged her party mate.
"Even if I'm fine with this, running around without getting into a fight isn't what I imagined ending my day with," replied Botan as her ears involuntarily twitched.
Suddenly, there was rustling as the herbalist cut out some herbs.
"Bad. Bad. Bad," were chanted as the bushes suddenly sprung to life. Kelin hurriedly retreated behind the party, who immediately drew their weapons. The shrubs then shuffled closer to them.
"What in the world happened?" shouted Polka as she darted forward and smashed the first shrub to splinters.
"I don't know! I've never seen the forest come alive like this before!" replied the herbalist in a shout as the shrubs rushed down the monk, scratching her with their branches and twigs.
"Enough talking, she needs our help," retorted Nene as Lamy chanted and stretched out her hand while she chanted, shooting one shrub with a ray of frost.
As Botan moved in to finish it off, the bard shouted encouragement, "Hang on, Polka! We're right behind you." She started joining in to stab at the awakened shrubs.
"Hurry!" the fennec fox girl shouted back as she weathered the scratching blows to strike back at one of the shrubs.
One by one, the awakened plants fell to frost and claw, to sword and fist. However, a lucky hit struck the monk in the head and she fell on the ground, groaning in pain.
"Polka!" shouted Nene as she moved to stab another shrub. With a melodic tone, she called out a healing note, a word linked to reinvigoration, and a green aura enveloped the downed fox girl. With a roar, she rose to her feet and beat another shrub to splinters. Crisis averted, they quickly finished off the rest of the awakened shrubs.
"Thank the gods you're here," exclaimed a relieved Kelin as he approached the party that was surrounded by broken wood and torn leaves, with burst splinters scattered everywhere.
"Are you alright, Polka?" asked Lamy with concern as the cleric fussed over the monk.
"I'm fine, Lamy," she assured with a grin, "No need to mother me so much."
"Then you shouldn't have run in straight away," scolded Nene with a frown, "If we weren't here to help, you might have died."
"Hn, why did those shrubs suddenly come alive?" asked Botan with a puzzled look, "These kinds of things don't happen naturally."
"I would imagine so," a voice suddenly said.
Leaves flew and swirled at a point in front of all of them. Slowly, a green woman stepped out of the whirling vortex that dissipated as she was fully formed. She was almost naked save for leaves protecting the more important parts.
"A protector of nature," the lion girl murmured reverently. She bowed and asked, "How can we be of service?"
"All is well, nature friend," the dryad replied serenely, "As long as no tree is harmed needlessly, all is well." Glancing around, she continued, "So it seems someone has been playing with the underbrush. I am afraid it is common to find such things happening when one has recently been experimenting with using their powers. If you wish to help, then perhaps you would go to the school in the city to remind them to try not to damage the forest with reckless experimentation."
"Gladly," the fighter accepted.
Nodding, she turned to the herbalist and said, "A kind man, you are. Your care for nature is appreciated." As he blushed and muttered his thanks, she turned to the others and said, "As long as you do no lasting harm, the forest welcomes you. Goodbye." And she dissolved into a whirlwind of leaves that was carried off in the wind.
The first to recover was Nene, who said, "Okay… right, have we collected everything we needed, Kelin."
"Oh, ah, yes, we have," he replied, composing himself, "Yes, well, please. Come with me to my shop and you will be properly compensated."
The grateful herbalist rewarded them with four healing potions. They agreed to take one each and then headed back to the guild house. As usual, Miyabi was there to greet them.
"Welcome back," greeted the guild clerk, "Well, night time is coming, so no more quests until tomorrow. So, I suppose you want to make use of the rooms upstairs?"
"Yes, please," said the party in unison, who then devolved into giggles, except Botan, who smirked.
"Ah, well… please go to Robel if you wish to eat. I recommend the fried chicken. It's pretty good," stated Miyabi with a smile.
After handing the room keys to them as well as telling them which rooms they were having, they decided to check out the bar across the street. Strange enough, it had a welcoming feel to it when they walked through the doors. The place was half full at the time and still had unattended tables. A ginger-haired guy manned the bar, dressed very smartly and chatting with a few drinkers seated there. The general atmosphere was just as noisy as a normal tavern. They sat at an empty table and a waitress came to take their order. They took on Miyabi's suggestion and ordered a serving of fried chicken.
"So, what brought you here to join the guild?" asked Nene when the waitress left, "For me, I wanted to get to know the world better and find my place in it… and hopefully bring joy to the people at the same time."
"I want to run my own traveling circus," Polka stated boldly, thumbing to herself, "I grew up in one and when the ringmaster retired and the circus disbanded, my family settled down near Gekko. I want to bring joy and laughter the same way as well, only with fame and fortune included as well. Any of you want to join?"
"I could give it a try, if only once," offered the bard.
"Yay! My first member," cheered the fennec fox girl.
"Hn… I lived with a nomadic tribe in the grasslands near Gekko," said Botan calmly, "To be honest, I wanted to explore the world and see what's there before going back home and taking up my mantle as a hunter of the tribe."
"A noble purpose," praised Lamy with a serene smile, "As for my reasons, I wished to explore my independence. To see what I can accomplish, be it great or small. And hopefully, do my family proud when I return with tales of my adventures."
It was then the waitress brought their drinks. Nene then lifted her mug of ale and said, "Well, here is to our future adventures. Cheers!" The others echoed her actions and toasted, drinking a mouthful of ale. The lion girl let out a sigh of satisfaction while the half-snow elf hiccuped softly with a blush.
"Kikiriki! Here's your chicken!" said a different person very jovially. It wasn't their waitress in a commonly seen waiting dress.
Instead, it was a girl wearing two hats dressed in a vibrant orange and red dress with a short skirt. She held a plate of hot fried chicken, vegetables, and a dollop of something yellow in one hand and balanced three other places of similar servings on her other. One by one, she placed the plates in front of them. The smell was absolutely mouth-drooling and the party's reaction mirrored that.
"Go on, dig in! Tell me what you think," she encouraged them.
Their hunger aroused, they quickly dug in and soon, exclamations of joy and excitement. This brought a great big smile to the girl with two hats. "And my work here is done," she stated happily as she headed back to the kitchen. The chicken, the vegetables, and the dollop that they discovered was potato, was polished off in no time. Soon, the party was letting out sounds of satisfaction.
"Amazing," muttered Nene.
"If I knew this existed, I'd come here sooner," agreed Botan.
With Lamy offering to pay for dinner, the party headed back to the guild house. After chit-chatting a bit, they headed back to their rooms and turned in for the night.
Morning came and the party was up and ready. Water was really cold but they braved the lower temperatures and took turns to use the bath. They then adjourned to the bar to get a quick breakfast before beginning a new day as adventurers.
Polka walked up to the counter and slammed the wood surface, declaring, "Quest, please!"
Miyabi was taken aback. Then, he sighed and said, "Honestly, too early… alright, go ahead and look on the board."
They hurried over and crowded around it. Since it was still early in the day, there weren't that many other adventurers there. After some hushed discussion, they picked out one request and brought it to the counter.
Miyabi picked it up and examined it. "Hmm, an escort quest? I see. Well, if I'm not mistaken, this person is a weapons trader and is heading north towards the nearest village. If I am correct, it is a half-a-day's trip by foot and faster by cart. I think if you leave now, you'd be back here by night time. As for the trader, she informed me that she will be waiting at the north gate, so do make your way there."
"Sounds good. Let's get to it!" cheered on Nene, echoing what was on the party's minds.
They made their way to the north gate after getting their backpacks in order and met up with the trader. She was in a typical trader's getup of brown-colored traveling clothes with the only addition being a blacksmith's apron with a few tools sticking out of it. She had a box of her wares on her draft horse securely strapped on one side and a small anvil over the other. She shook hands with them after greeting, "Good morning, I'm Jen. I suppose you're my bodyguards?"
"We are!" said Nene with a smile, "We are ready to go at a moment's notice."
"Nice to meet you all," she replied, returning the grin, "Right. Let's get going. These weapons aren't going to sell themselves."
"Yahoo!" exclaimed Polka as they made their way past the northern gate.
The party and the trader took their time to walk, careful not to tire themselves out by moving too fast. They made good progress after a few hours but some rustling in some tall grass that they were going to pass by put them on alert. Botan heard some growling as well.
"Jen, I think something's in there," warned the bard as everyone dropped their packs and moved towards the side of the road.
"Ah, then I'll be waiting here then," replied the trader worriedly tugging on the reins of the horse to halt it.
Suddenly, a lion burst out of the grass and leaped straight at Polka. She was instantly knocked off her feet as a clawed paw struck her chest. It then took a big bite out of her shoulder.
"Get off her!" roared Botan as she tried to claw its head. It suddenly let go of the screaming monk's shoulder and leaped back to avoid her claws. However, that left it open.
Nene practically shouted out the healing note as she stabbed the wild animal in its side. At the same time, Lamy clutched her amulet as she muttered softly shoving her hand at the fox girl. A shimmering aura coated her and then the cleric turned her attention to the beast, her hand going in a grasping motion and pointed at it. The frost that formed over the entire head caused it to roar in agony. It tried to maul Polka again but with the ice over its eyes and the shimmering aura covering the monk, it failed to do anything of note.
The fennec fox girl wasted no time leaping to her feet and sent a roundhouse kick to its frosty nose. The crunch was audible. She kept up the pace and landed a thunderous punch to the exact same place with a furious yell. The force of the blow pretty much shattered the front of its skull and it went down in a heap, blood flowing out its nose.
"Are you alright?" asked the lion girl as the monk bent over with her hands over her knees, her heavy breaths gulping down precious air.
"I…'m fine..." was the ragged reply. As the others gathered around her and showed their concern, her breathing leveled and she then said, "You know… can we bring the body and sell it at the village?"
Everyone blinked. The trader brought her horse over and asked, "So, what's the plan now?"
Polka grinned and said, "Well, it's like this..."
The party made their way back to the sewer entrance. Thankfully, on the way back, they met up with a group of sewer cleaners that were heading the same way. Nene and Polka listened to them talking about the normal and weird stuff the crew encountered while on duty. Rats. Cockroaches. Spiders. The occasional shady person slinking around. Running away from a sewer shambler. Weird. There were also stories of giant alligators and sludge monsters. Safe to say, the party was weirded out by the strange stories. Still, time passed quickly and they reached the entrance in no time. The door clanged loudly and this time the leader himself opened the door to let everyone in.
"Well, this is a surprise," he said as he eyed the party, "Nice of the guild to send help over. So, pest control… what do you have for me?"
As Botan pulled out the proof, the sewer crew walked past them and went upstairs.
"Ah, well, you can toss those back into the sewer," he informed them after looking at the results, "I'll be getting your pay. Help to close the door, will ya?"
As he went up the stairs, Botan threw the parts into the water and closed the door shut. The party then went up and made their way to his office, where he handed them their reward.
"Right, two hundred silver and another forty for the extra," he declared as the loin girl bounced the bag in her hand, the pieces clinking inside.
"Thank you very much, sir," Nene replied as the party left and made their way back to the guild house.
"Welcome back," greeted Miyabi as they came in, "Did it go well?"
"Yup, we did it… I wanna wash my feet," replied Polka, glancing down at the foot that was dipped in sewer water.
After directing her to the water closet, he continued, "So, the sun is still up. Are you up for another quest?"
"I suppose. Preferably not in the sewers this time," spoke up Lamy.
"Ah, right..." he mused as he shuffled through the stack of papers he had on the counter. Then, he pulled out a piece of paper and said, "Well, here is a simple one. Accompany a herbalist to collect herbs. So, we always receive these kinds of requests. Easy tasks that could be completed quickly, although the pay is less than what you get from the board there. Now, this particular herbalist frequents the forests around the city in the evening looking for herbs, with or without company. From what I know of him, he appreciates the help. Although, looking at your condition, I'd suggest resting for an hour or so before taking this on."
"Ah, I guess I could use a cat nap," muttered Botan with a yawn.
"Alright, we can sit in the side room while we wait for Polka," said Nene with a grin.
"Evenin' ladies. I suppose you're my escort for the day," greeted the herbalist. Miyabi said his name was Kelin. He was an average looking guy sporting a tan robe with a leather bag slung over his shoulder.
"Yeah. Please take care of us," replied the bard politely.
He chuckled and said, "I think I'll be in your capable hands than the other way around. In any case, let's get going. Time's a-wastin' and there are herbs in need of collecting."
That said, he led them out the east gate, where the forest is the closest. They didn't seem to go too far in and they always stopped intermittently for Kelin to check the area for identifiable herbs. So far, he had what looked to be grasses and mushrooms stored in his bag. They had a pretty relaxing time, but the lion girl seemed to be getting antsy.
"Are you alright?" asked Polka as she nudged her party mate.
"Even if I'm fine with this, running around without getting into a fight isn't what I imagined ending my day with," replied Botan as her ears involuntarily twitched.
Suddenly, there was rustling as the herbalist cut out some herbs.
"Bad. Bad. Bad," were chanted as the bushes suddenly sprung to life. Kelin hurriedly retreated behind the party, who immediately drew their weapons. The shrubs then shuffled closer to them.
"What in the world happened?" shouted Polka as she darted forward and smashed the first shrub to splinters.
"I don't know! I've never seen the forest come alive like this before!" replied the herbalist in a shout as the shrubs rushed down the monk, scratching her with their branches and twigs.
"Enough talking, she needs our help," retorted Nene as Lamy chanted and stretched out her hand while she chanted, shooting one shrub with a ray of frost.
As Botan moved in to finish it off, the bard shouted encouragement, "Hang on, Polka! We're right behind you." She started joining in to stab at the awakened shrubs.
"Hurry!" the fennec fox girl shouted back as she weathered the scratching blows to strike back at one of the shrubs.
One by one, the awakened plants fell to frost and claw, to sword and fist. However, a lucky hit struck the monk in the head and she fell on the ground, groaning in pain.
"Polka!" shouted Nene as she moved to stab another shrub. With a melodic tone, she called out a healing note, a word linked to reinvigoration, and a green aura enveloped the downed fox girl. With a roar, she rose to her feet and beat another shrub to splinters. Crisis averted, they quickly finished off the rest of the awakened shrubs.
"Thank the gods you're here," exclaimed a relieved Kelin as he approached the party that was surrounded by broken wood and torn leaves, with burst splinters scattered everywhere.
"Are you alright, Polka?" asked Lamy with concern as the cleric fussed over the monk.
"I'm fine, Lamy," she assured with a grin, "No need to mother me so much."
"Then you shouldn't have run in straight away," scolded Nene with a frown, "If we weren't here to help, you might have died."
"Hn, why did those shrubs suddenly come alive?" asked Botan with a puzzled look, "These kinds of things don't happen naturally."
"I would imagine so," a voice suddenly said.
Leaves flew and swirled at a point in front of all of them. Slowly, a green woman stepped out of the whirling vortex that dissipated as she was fully formed. She was almost naked save for leaves protecting the more important parts.
"A protector of nature," the lion girl murmured reverently. She bowed and asked, "How can we be of service?"
"All is well, nature friend," the dryad replied serenely, "As long as no tree is harmed needlessly, all is well." Glancing around, she continued, "So it seems someone has been playing with the underbrush. I am afraid it is common to find such things happening when one has recently been experimenting with using their powers. If you wish to help, then perhaps you would go to the school in the city to remind them to try not to damage the forest with reckless experimentation."
"Gladly," the fighter accepted.
Nodding, she turned to the herbalist and said, "A kind man, you are. Your care for nature is appreciated." As he blushed and muttered his thanks, she turned to the others and said, "As long as you do no lasting harm, the forest welcomes you. Goodbye." And she dissolved into a whirlwind of leaves that was carried off in the wind.
The first to recover was Nene, who said, "Okay… right, have we collected everything we needed, Kelin."
"Oh, ah, yes, we have," he replied, composing himself, "Yes, well, please. Come with me to my shop and you will be properly compensated."
The grateful herbalist rewarded them with four healing potions. They agreed to take one each and then headed back to the guild house. As usual, Miyabi was there to greet them.
"Welcome back," greeted the guild clerk, "Well, night time is coming, so no more quests until tomorrow. So, I suppose you want to make use of the rooms upstairs?"
"Yes, please," said the party in unison, who then devolved into giggles, except Botan, who smirked.
"Ah, well… please go to Robel if you wish to eat. I recommend the fried chicken. It's pretty good," stated Miyabi with a smile.
After handing the room keys to them as well as telling them which rooms they were having, they decided to check out the bar across the street. Strange enough, it had a welcoming feel to it when they walked through the doors. The place was half full at the time and still had unattended tables. A ginger-haired guy manned the bar, dressed very smartly and chatting with a few drinkers seated there. The general atmosphere was just as noisy as a normal tavern. They sat at an empty table and a waitress came to take their order. They took on Miyabi's suggestion and ordered a serving of fried chicken.
"So, what brought you here to join the guild?" asked Nene when the waitress left, "For me, I wanted to get to know the world better and find my place in it… and hopefully bring joy to the people at the same time."
"I want to run my own traveling circus," Polka stated boldly, thumbing to herself, "I grew up in one and when the ringmaster retired and the circus disbanded, my family settled down near Gekko. I want to bring joy and laughter the same way as well, only with fame and fortune included as well. Any of you want to join?"
"I could give it a try, if only once," offered the bard.
"Yay! My first member," cheered the fennec fox girl.
"Hn… I lived with a nomadic tribe in the grasslands near Gekko," said Botan calmly, "To be honest, I wanted to explore the world and see what's there before going back home and taking up my mantle as a hunter of the tribe."
"A noble purpose," praised Lamy with a serene smile, "As for my reasons, I wished to explore my independence. To see what I can accomplish, be it great or small. And hopefully, do my family proud when I return with tales of my adventures."
It was then the waitress brought their drinks. Nene then lifted her mug of ale and said, "Well, here is to our future adventures. Cheers!" The others echoed her actions and toasted, drinking a mouthful of ale. The lion girl let out a sigh of satisfaction while the half-snow elf hiccuped softly with a blush.
"Kikiriki! Here's your chicken!" said a different person very jovially. It wasn't their waitress in a commonly seen waiting dress.
Instead, it was a girl wearing two hats dressed in a vibrant orange and red dress with a short skirt. She held a plate of hot fried chicken, vegetables, and a dollop of something yellow in one hand and balanced three other places of similar servings on her other. One by one, she placed the plates in front of them. The smell was absolutely mouth-drooling and the party's reaction mirrored that.
"Go on, dig in! Tell me what you think," she encouraged them.
Their hunger aroused, they quickly dug in and soon, exclamations of joy and excitement. This brought a great big smile to the girl with two hats. "And my work here is done," she stated happily as she headed back to the kitchen. The chicken, the vegetables, and the dollop that they discovered was potato, was polished off in no time. Soon, the party was letting out sounds of satisfaction.
"Amazing," muttered Nene.
"If I knew this existed, I'd come here sooner," agreed Botan.
With Lamy offering to pay for dinner, the party headed back to the guild house. After chit-chatting a bit, they headed back to their rooms and turned in for the night.
Morning came and the party was up and ready. Water was really cold but they braved the lower temperatures and took turns to use the bath. They then adjourned to the bar to get a quick breakfast before beginning a new day as adventurers.
Polka walked up to the counter and slammed the wood surface, declaring, "Quest, please!"
Miyabi was taken aback. Then, he sighed and said, "Honestly, too early… alright, go ahead and look on the board."
They hurried over and crowded around it. Since it was still early in the day, there weren't that many other adventurers there. After some hushed discussion, they picked out one request and brought it to the counter.
Miyabi picked it up and examined it. "Hmm, an escort quest? I see. Well, if I'm not mistaken, this person is a weapons trader and is heading north towards the nearest village. If I am correct, it is a half-a-day's trip by foot and faster by cart. I think if you leave now, you'd be back here by night time. As for the trader, she informed me that she will be waiting at the north gate, so do make your way there."
"Sounds good. Let's get to it!" cheered on Nene, echoing what was on the party's minds.
They made their way to the north gate after getting their backpacks in order and met up with the trader. She was in a typical trader's getup of brown-colored traveling clothes with the only addition being a blacksmith's apron with a few tools sticking out of it. She had a box of her wares on her draft horse securely strapped on one side and a small anvil over the other. She shook hands with them after greeting, "Good morning, I'm Jen. I suppose you're my bodyguards?"
"We are!" said Nene with a smile, "We are ready to go at a moment's notice."
"Nice to meet you all," she replied, returning the grin, "Right. Let's get going. These weapons aren't going to sell themselves."
"Yahoo!" exclaimed Polka as they made their way past the northern gate.
The party and the trader took their time to walk, careful not to tire themselves out by moving too fast. They made good progress after a few hours but some rustling in some tall grass that they were going to pass by put them on alert. Botan heard some growling as well.
"Jen, I think something's in there," warned the bard as everyone dropped their packs and moved towards the side of the road.
"Ah, then I'll be waiting here then," replied the trader worriedly tugging on the reins of the horse to halt it.
Suddenly, a lion burst out of the grass and leaped straight at Polka. She was instantly knocked off her feet as a clawed paw struck her chest. It then took a big bite out of her shoulder.
"Get off her!" roared Botan as she tried to claw its head. It suddenly let go of the screaming monk's shoulder and leaped back to avoid her claws. However, that left it open.
Nene practically shouted out the healing note as she stabbed the wild animal in its side. At the same time, Lamy clutched her amulet as she muttered softly shoving her hand at the fox girl. A shimmering aura coated her and then the cleric turned her attention to the beast, her hand going in a grasping motion and pointed at it. The frost that formed over the entire head caused it to roar in agony. It tried to maul Polka again but with the ice over its eyes and the shimmering aura covering the monk, it failed to do anything of note.
The fennec fox girl wasted no time leaping to her feet and sent a roundhouse kick to its frosty nose. The crunch was audible. She kept up the pace and landed a thunderous punch to the exact same place with a furious yell. The force of the blow pretty much shattered the front of its skull and it went down in a heap, blood flowing out its nose.
"Are you alright?" asked the lion girl as the monk bent over with her hands over her knees, her heavy breaths gulping down precious air.
"I…'m fine..." was the ragged reply. As the others gathered around her and showed their concern, her breathing leveled and she then said, "You know… can we bring the body and sell it at the village?"
Everyone blinked. The trader brought her horse over and asked, "So, what's the plan now?"
Polka grinned and said, "Well, it's like this..."
Chapter 3
- Location
- Malaysia
Chapter 3
In the end, Botan was asked to carry the body to the village. She picked it up easily and carried over her shoulders. With that settled, the group made their way to the village. They reached it late afternoon.
"Well, this is where we part. Thanks for the help," Jen said thankfully as she handed over a bag, "Here's your reward, eighty gold. Don't spend it all in one place, eh?"
"Thank you very much," the four replied with grins on their faces.
"Alright, let's get this to someone. I'm sure there is a butcher or a leatherworker in the village somewhere," stated Polka as the trader brought the horse over to the general store, "We can sell off the body and make a little extra."
This little titbit piqued Botan's interest. "Hmm, can we keep the head as a trophy?" she asked, her eyes gleaming with curiosity.
"I don't see why not."
"Okay! Let's find someone to do this then!" the lion girl exclaimed as she proceeded to drag the fennec fox girl with her.
"Ah-ha… I guess take this time to rest and look around I suppose," stated Nene sheepishly, with Lamy nodding in sound agreement.
So, both of them relaxed their guard and wandered around the village. Meanwhile, the lion and the fox successfully found not a butcher but a hunter who knows how to butcher various animals, lions included. He was a little surprised to find a lion girl bringing an actual lion to him but he quickly got over it and bought the body from them. After an hour, Botan walked away with the head of a lion. He did inform them that because Polka's punch wrecked the skull, they had to be careful in handling the head so as to not have the bone shards cut through its skin.
"Ready?" asked the bard as everyone met up at the entrance.
"La-lion, la-lion," sang out the lion girl softly as she carefully carried the head.
"Alright… let's get back to the city," declared Nene as they began walking.
Indeed, they were eager to get back, their fighter even more so as she had a grand trophy to display. Well, they would have to find a taxidermist to stuff it, but she would be willing to pay well if it ended up good. The sun had just begun to dip into the horizon when she noticed something odd in the distance. She was about to say something when…
"Hey, what's that?" spoke up Polka as she pointed in the distance. It was a little blurry but they could see something large and wolf-like. With something green or brown on it.
"Hmm, I see it too," muttered Botan. It was then a breath of wind picked up and blew towards them. She was able to get a whiff of something odd and familiar. She blinked and her lion ears twitched in response. "I think… huh, strange… it smells of goblins and worgs."
"Is that bad?" asked Nene with curiosity in her voice.
"Well… if they are raiders, it would be..." the former started but then, the howling started.
"That doesn't sound good," stated Lamy as she dropped her pack. The other two did the same.
"Guh, not good, not good," repeated the fighter as she dropped her pack and carefully placed the lion's head next to it, "Just two… must be a scout party. Not sure if this is a new one or not, but if it finds the village, it will be under threat."
"Okay, let's get ready," muttered the bard as she and the monk got their throwing items ready.
As the cleric chanted and placed blessings upon them, the lion girl nocked an arrow to her shortbow and aimed. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Release. The arrow flew true, lodging into its chest and sent him flying off the worg. The remaining goblin started shouting in an unknown language and the worgs split off, one heading straight to their front while the other circled around them, the goblin on it content to take potshots at the group. A goblin arrow became lodged in the fighter's shoulder but she pulled it out immediately as it was only a piece of sharpened wood fletched with feathers. The moment the first worg came near, dagger and dart flew true but they clanged off the roughshod armor that was strapped to the wolf-like beast.
"Incoming," warned Nene as she ran up to serve as Botan's backup. Frost, dart, and arrow injured the charging beast but it barely slowed it down as it clamped down on her arm with its sharp teeth.
"Get him!" Botan shouted as she raised her bitten arm, exposing its underbelly.
The bard tried to help but somehow, she could barely pierce its leathery hide. Magic worked better as Lamy sent a flash of bright light that tore through its skin easily. The fighter then pushed the dead body away and in one swift move, shot goblin number two in the head. The remaining worg howled and charged down on them. It shrugged off the projectiles that pierced its skin and tried to attack the -half-snow elf. It moved too fast and she got out of the way of its furious bite.
However, this opened it to getting piled on by the entire party. Blood dripping down its side and flanks, it tried to run away, but Nene got to it in the throat before it could. She pulled out her weapon and flicked the blood off.
"Woohoo, another victory!" exclaimed Polka as she did a few cartwheels, "We're on fire!"
"Thank goodness," muttered the lion girl as she drank her potion of healing.
"Well, let's get moving," said Lamy as she went to pick up her pack, "We better warn the guards when we get back. Maybe they could send people over to check up on the village."
They agreed as they mirrored her actions. Soon, the party was making their way back to the city once more. The sun was halfway down when they heard the sound of galloping. A centaur came into view, looking quite harried and tired.
"Help, please!" he pleaded as howls and growls followed after him, "My patrol was attacked and my two friends died. Please, I ask for your aid."
"Let's do this," shouted Botan as she set the lion head down carefully once more.
The party lined themselves in front of the injured centaur as the pack of hyena's arrived and stalked them. They were led by a larger, more brutish hyena that growled at them. They held their ground for a moment… then Polka threw a dart at one of the hyenas. The beasts charged them down, their slavering jaws biting at the first body part they saw. As they crashed against the line, the injured centaur aided them by attacking beyond the reach of the hyenas with its pike. The normal hyenas were taken out easily and they fell under the party's weapons and punches and claws.
The giant hyena took a little more time. Lamy's frost ray coupled with Botan's claws and Nene's rapier whittled it down a little. However, that kept it occupied long enough for the monk to rain blows into its side. Combined with another jab of the centaur's pike, the whittling stacked up and the fighter took the final blow. The large beast collapsed to the earth as the lion girl ripped out its throat and threw the piece of flesh down behind her.
The injured centaur let loose a breath of relief and said gratefully, "Thank you for your aid."
"No worries," replied the bard with a smile, "We were glad to help."
He nodded and continued, "Please, I wish to know the names of my rescuers that I may tell my tribe. Then, perhaps we can repay your help in the future." After getting their names, he bowed and said, "Once again, my thanks. I shall leave you now. I must see to the bodies of my friends."
"That was kind of sad though," muttered the bard as the party went to retrieve their belongings, "They are just hunters doing their job and they lost two people just like that."
"That's life," stated the lion girl as she gingerly picked up the lion head, "Things will happen outside what we expect. You just have to roll with it and adapt."
"All we can do is mitigate the harshness of life," added Lamy, "It's why we do this. To help and ease their burdens."
"Hey, enough being gloomy," chided Polka as she threw her hands up in the air, "We did some good deeds today, so cheer up a little!"
Muted chuckling rippled through the party, lightening the mood as they made their way back to the city. At the gate, they paused to notify the guards about the goblins. After getting assurances of redirected patrol, they went back to the guild house. By that time, night had fallen when they stepped into the building.
"Hello, welcome back," greeted Miyabi with a gentle smile, "You're the last ones back. How was it?"
As the others told the guild clerk what happened, Nene looked around. The counter had several candles to keep the place brightly lit. She could hear strains of musical notes coming from the side room. Thinking back to the barely decorated room, she wondered if Botan would place the lion head there.
"Hmm, this would be difficult," Miyabi stated as he looked over the head, "Most of the shops are closed right now. You will have to get someone to help preserve this until tomorrow."
"Oh? So do you know anyone?" asked Botan with concern.
"Well… tell you what. Try and find Artia in the bar," he suggested after some thought, "She attends the school and she might know someone who could magically preserve this."
Immediately, the lion girl raced out of the building. "...I didn't even tell her Artia's description yet," he whined a little.
Nene sighed and said, "We better go after her."
They hurried out the door and went after the eager fighter. At the bar, they found their lion girl talking to a white-haired, red-eyed girl sitting alone at the table.
"...I guess… I think I can direct you to someone who can," they overheard what they presumed to be Artia.
"Yes, thank you so much!" Botan exclaimed.
"Alright, you're lucky I've just finished my meal and on my way to return to my dorm," she stated as she stood up, "Follow me, then."
"Good evening, Artia. What brings you here?" asked the teacher, who Artia brought the party to. She was in the class looking through student's work when they met up with her. She had pink flowing hair and bright red eyes. She also had an animated skeleton of a dog sitting at her feet. This lent to her having a necromancer's vibe to her, which unnerved the party a little.
"Umm, I'm sorry for disturbing you, Miss Rushia," apologized the wizard, "But, erm, these are… new guild members and they wish to ask for help." She then motioned Botan to make her request.
"Er, yes, umm, can you help me preserve this? At least until tomorrow, so that I can get it stuffed," asked the lion girl as she held up the lion's head.
The teacher sat there in silence, staring at them for a few seconds. It began to feel like she was going to refuse when she said, "I can… but I will require payment."
"If we are able to afford it, we can," the fighter immediately answered.
"Very well," the former stated as she got up from the table.
Moving to an empty space in the class, she took out a piece of chalk from her pocket and knelt down to draw out a magic circle. Artia motioned them to take a seat while they waited. A minute later, the circle and the related signs and runes were drawn.
"Alright, place the head in the circle and you can leave," Rushia stated and explained as she pulled out an arcane rod, "The ritual will take a while to cast, but you can retrieve it tomorrow. The head will be protected from decay and rot for ten days, even after more mundane methods are used to preserve it."
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" exclaimed Botan.
"A hundred gold."
"...eh?"
"A hundred gold, if you would please pay up now?" the teacher stated with a smile as she held out her hand.
After pooling their resources, they successfully paid the teacher, who gave them a smile and deposited the bag on the table. She then bent down to take her spellbook that her familiar retrieved. She then proceeded to shoo them out, wanting to commence the ritual. The last thing they saw before they left was her placing copper pieces over the head's eyes.
"Urgh, all the gold we earned went to her," groaned Polka as they made their way back to the bar for something to eat.
"At least we still have some money with us," comforted Nene, giving the fennec fox girl a weak smile.
"Hmm, maybe we should take a more difficult request tomorrow," mused Botan, "After getting the head to someone who can turn it into a trophy, of course."
"Indeed. Maybe we might be able to get a discount by doing something for whomever is doing it," added Lamy, "Regardless, let's have dinner. We have plenty to figure out tomorrow."
The party was in agreement. As they stepped through the doors, they were greeted with a lot of clapping and cheering. Two bards were busy playing a rousing song and having everyone singing along. It was a funny one that got everyone into it. The two musicians seemed familiar… and then it hit them as they took a seat away from the boisterous crowd.
"Aren't those the two that were chasing after that girl yesterday?" asked their bard as she hummed the tune in play.
"Hmm, wonder what happened to her..." mused the fennec fox girl.
"One, that girl is actually a guy," spoke up a voice behind her, "Two, I'm right behind you."
She jerked and looked around in surprise. That same blue-haired girl… guy… was standing behind her, arms crossed over his chest, twirling a lock of his hair with his finger.
"Er, sorry?" she apologized sheepishly but he waved her off.
"It's fine," he assured her, "Everyone at the guild knows it, so no worries. Also, it's fun trying to trick newbies."
"Hn, we aren't newbies anymore," stated the lion girl, looking a little annoyed.
He grinned and replied, "Maybe… but you haven't gone all that far yet. You're still dealing in small fry. No worries. You'll have time. Then, maybe you can join me in some shenanigans."
With that, he walked off and blended in with the crowd.
"Huh, that's one of our seniors then," Nene muttered but was taken aback when she turned to her friends. All three of them seemed to be fired up by his words. "...I guess we're getting that difficult quest tomorrow then," she presumed with a smile.
"Yes!" said all three. She giggled. Truth be told, she felt the same way. A little.
The party of four vowed to get stronger and show the world what they were made of.
AN: So, when I was writing this chapter last year, the whole Taiwan debacle hadn't happened yet. Hence, not only will HoloCN be included, they will play some part in this here story. First up is Artia.
Artia
Ice Genasi
Order of Scribes Wizard
So, Ice Genasi is a homebrew thing I found. Add one to Con and Wis, ice/cold resistance, and a frost breath that is similar to a dragonborn's breath weapon. While Order of Scribes lets you use your spellbook as your focus as well as modify your spell's damage type. And since she is supposed to be an ice elementalist, whatever damage spells she uses will be changed to cold damage.
And then Kira from Holostars.
Kira Yagami
Human, Variant
Rogue/Bard multiclass
Assassin/College of Glamour
When I first saw him, I was thinking about how androgynous he looked. To weave that fact into his character, I gave him the Charlatan background. He's supposed to be good in PvP(dunno what game though, wasn't mentioned), so I decided on Assassin. Collage of Glamour helps reinforce his Charlatan background. Not to mention he is a pretty good singer.
In the end, Botan was asked to carry the body to the village. She picked it up easily and carried over her shoulders. With that settled, the group made their way to the village. They reached it late afternoon.
"Well, this is where we part. Thanks for the help," Jen said thankfully as she handed over a bag, "Here's your reward, eighty gold. Don't spend it all in one place, eh?"
"Thank you very much," the four replied with grins on their faces.
"Alright, let's get this to someone. I'm sure there is a butcher or a leatherworker in the village somewhere," stated Polka as the trader brought the horse over to the general store, "We can sell off the body and make a little extra."
This little titbit piqued Botan's interest. "Hmm, can we keep the head as a trophy?" she asked, her eyes gleaming with curiosity.
"I don't see why not."
"Okay! Let's find someone to do this then!" the lion girl exclaimed as she proceeded to drag the fennec fox girl with her.
"Ah-ha… I guess take this time to rest and look around I suppose," stated Nene sheepishly, with Lamy nodding in sound agreement.
So, both of them relaxed their guard and wandered around the village. Meanwhile, the lion and the fox successfully found not a butcher but a hunter who knows how to butcher various animals, lions included. He was a little surprised to find a lion girl bringing an actual lion to him but he quickly got over it and bought the body from them. After an hour, Botan walked away with the head of a lion. He did inform them that because Polka's punch wrecked the skull, they had to be careful in handling the head so as to not have the bone shards cut through its skin.
"Ready?" asked the bard as everyone met up at the entrance.
"La-lion, la-lion," sang out the lion girl softly as she carefully carried the head.
"Alright… let's get back to the city," declared Nene as they began walking.
Indeed, they were eager to get back, their fighter even more so as she had a grand trophy to display. Well, they would have to find a taxidermist to stuff it, but she would be willing to pay well if it ended up good. The sun had just begun to dip into the horizon when she noticed something odd in the distance. She was about to say something when…
"Hey, what's that?" spoke up Polka as she pointed in the distance. It was a little blurry but they could see something large and wolf-like. With something green or brown on it.
"Hmm, I see it too," muttered Botan. It was then a breath of wind picked up and blew towards them. She was able to get a whiff of something odd and familiar. She blinked and her lion ears twitched in response. "I think… huh, strange… it smells of goblins and worgs."
"Is that bad?" asked Nene with curiosity in her voice.
"Well… if they are raiders, it would be..." the former started but then, the howling started.
"That doesn't sound good," stated Lamy as she dropped her pack. The other two did the same.
"Guh, not good, not good," repeated the fighter as she dropped her pack and carefully placed the lion's head next to it, "Just two… must be a scout party. Not sure if this is a new one or not, but if it finds the village, it will be under threat."
"Okay, let's get ready," muttered the bard as she and the monk got their throwing items ready.
As the cleric chanted and placed blessings upon them, the lion girl nocked an arrow to her shortbow and aimed. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Release. The arrow flew true, lodging into its chest and sent him flying off the worg. The remaining goblin started shouting in an unknown language and the worgs split off, one heading straight to their front while the other circled around them, the goblin on it content to take potshots at the group. A goblin arrow became lodged in the fighter's shoulder but she pulled it out immediately as it was only a piece of sharpened wood fletched with feathers. The moment the first worg came near, dagger and dart flew true but they clanged off the roughshod armor that was strapped to the wolf-like beast.
"Incoming," warned Nene as she ran up to serve as Botan's backup. Frost, dart, and arrow injured the charging beast but it barely slowed it down as it clamped down on her arm with its sharp teeth.
"Get him!" Botan shouted as she raised her bitten arm, exposing its underbelly.
The bard tried to help but somehow, she could barely pierce its leathery hide. Magic worked better as Lamy sent a flash of bright light that tore through its skin easily. The fighter then pushed the dead body away and in one swift move, shot goblin number two in the head. The remaining worg howled and charged down on them. It shrugged off the projectiles that pierced its skin and tried to attack the -half-snow elf. It moved too fast and she got out of the way of its furious bite.
However, this opened it to getting piled on by the entire party. Blood dripping down its side and flanks, it tried to run away, but Nene got to it in the throat before it could. She pulled out her weapon and flicked the blood off.
"Woohoo, another victory!" exclaimed Polka as she did a few cartwheels, "We're on fire!"
"Thank goodness," muttered the lion girl as she drank her potion of healing.
"Well, let's get moving," said Lamy as she went to pick up her pack, "We better warn the guards when we get back. Maybe they could send people over to check up on the village."
They agreed as they mirrored her actions. Soon, the party was making their way back to the city once more. The sun was halfway down when they heard the sound of galloping. A centaur came into view, looking quite harried and tired.
"Help, please!" he pleaded as howls and growls followed after him, "My patrol was attacked and my two friends died. Please, I ask for your aid."
"Let's do this," shouted Botan as she set the lion head down carefully once more.
The party lined themselves in front of the injured centaur as the pack of hyena's arrived and stalked them. They were led by a larger, more brutish hyena that growled at them. They held their ground for a moment… then Polka threw a dart at one of the hyenas. The beasts charged them down, their slavering jaws biting at the first body part they saw. As they crashed against the line, the injured centaur aided them by attacking beyond the reach of the hyenas with its pike. The normal hyenas were taken out easily and they fell under the party's weapons and punches and claws.
The giant hyena took a little more time. Lamy's frost ray coupled with Botan's claws and Nene's rapier whittled it down a little. However, that kept it occupied long enough for the monk to rain blows into its side. Combined with another jab of the centaur's pike, the whittling stacked up and the fighter took the final blow. The large beast collapsed to the earth as the lion girl ripped out its throat and threw the piece of flesh down behind her.
The injured centaur let loose a breath of relief and said gratefully, "Thank you for your aid."
"No worries," replied the bard with a smile, "We were glad to help."
He nodded and continued, "Please, I wish to know the names of my rescuers that I may tell my tribe. Then, perhaps we can repay your help in the future." After getting their names, he bowed and said, "Once again, my thanks. I shall leave you now. I must see to the bodies of my friends."
"That was kind of sad though," muttered the bard as the party went to retrieve their belongings, "They are just hunters doing their job and they lost two people just like that."
"That's life," stated the lion girl as she gingerly picked up the lion head, "Things will happen outside what we expect. You just have to roll with it and adapt."
"All we can do is mitigate the harshness of life," added Lamy, "It's why we do this. To help and ease their burdens."
"Hey, enough being gloomy," chided Polka as she threw her hands up in the air, "We did some good deeds today, so cheer up a little!"
Muted chuckling rippled through the party, lightening the mood as they made their way back to the city. At the gate, they paused to notify the guards about the goblins. After getting assurances of redirected patrol, they went back to the guild house. By that time, night had fallen when they stepped into the building.
"Hello, welcome back," greeted Miyabi with a gentle smile, "You're the last ones back. How was it?"
As the others told the guild clerk what happened, Nene looked around. The counter had several candles to keep the place brightly lit. She could hear strains of musical notes coming from the side room. Thinking back to the barely decorated room, she wondered if Botan would place the lion head there.
"Hmm, this would be difficult," Miyabi stated as he looked over the head, "Most of the shops are closed right now. You will have to get someone to help preserve this until tomorrow."
"Oh? So do you know anyone?" asked Botan with concern.
"Well… tell you what. Try and find Artia in the bar," he suggested after some thought, "She attends the school and she might know someone who could magically preserve this."
Immediately, the lion girl raced out of the building. "...I didn't even tell her Artia's description yet," he whined a little.
Nene sighed and said, "We better go after her."
They hurried out the door and went after the eager fighter. At the bar, they found their lion girl talking to a white-haired, red-eyed girl sitting alone at the table.
"...I guess… I think I can direct you to someone who can," they overheard what they presumed to be Artia.
"Yes, thank you so much!" Botan exclaimed.
"Alright, you're lucky I've just finished my meal and on my way to return to my dorm," she stated as she stood up, "Follow me, then."
"Good evening, Artia. What brings you here?" asked the teacher, who Artia brought the party to. She was in the class looking through student's work when they met up with her. She had pink flowing hair and bright red eyes. She also had an animated skeleton of a dog sitting at her feet. This lent to her having a necromancer's vibe to her, which unnerved the party a little.
"Umm, I'm sorry for disturbing you, Miss Rushia," apologized the wizard, "But, erm, these are… new guild members and they wish to ask for help." She then motioned Botan to make her request.
"Er, yes, umm, can you help me preserve this? At least until tomorrow, so that I can get it stuffed," asked the lion girl as she held up the lion's head.
The teacher sat there in silence, staring at them for a few seconds. It began to feel like she was going to refuse when she said, "I can… but I will require payment."
"If we are able to afford it, we can," the fighter immediately answered.
"Very well," the former stated as she got up from the table.
Moving to an empty space in the class, she took out a piece of chalk from her pocket and knelt down to draw out a magic circle. Artia motioned them to take a seat while they waited. A minute later, the circle and the related signs and runes were drawn.
"Alright, place the head in the circle and you can leave," Rushia stated and explained as she pulled out an arcane rod, "The ritual will take a while to cast, but you can retrieve it tomorrow. The head will be protected from decay and rot for ten days, even after more mundane methods are used to preserve it."
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" exclaimed Botan.
"A hundred gold."
"...eh?"
"A hundred gold, if you would please pay up now?" the teacher stated with a smile as she held out her hand.
After pooling their resources, they successfully paid the teacher, who gave them a smile and deposited the bag on the table. She then bent down to take her spellbook that her familiar retrieved. She then proceeded to shoo them out, wanting to commence the ritual. The last thing they saw before they left was her placing copper pieces over the head's eyes.
"Urgh, all the gold we earned went to her," groaned Polka as they made their way back to the bar for something to eat.
"At least we still have some money with us," comforted Nene, giving the fennec fox girl a weak smile.
"Hmm, maybe we should take a more difficult request tomorrow," mused Botan, "After getting the head to someone who can turn it into a trophy, of course."
"Indeed. Maybe we might be able to get a discount by doing something for whomever is doing it," added Lamy, "Regardless, let's have dinner. We have plenty to figure out tomorrow."
The party was in agreement. As they stepped through the doors, they were greeted with a lot of clapping and cheering. Two bards were busy playing a rousing song and having everyone singing along. It was a funny one that got everyone into it. The two musicians seemed familiar… and then it hit them as they took a seat away from the boisterous crowd.
"Aren't those the two that were chasing after that girl yesterday?" asked their bard as she hummed the tune in play.
"Hmm, wonder what happened to her..." mused the fennec fox girl.
"One, that girl is actually a guy," spoke up a voice behind her, "Two, I'm right behind you."
She jerked and looked around in surprise. That same blue-haired girl… guy… was standing behind her, arms crossed over his chest, twirling a lock of his hair with his finger.
"Er, sorry?" she apologized sheepishly but he waved her off.
"It's fine," he assured her, "Everyone at the guild knows it, so no worries. Also, it's fun trying to trick newbies."
"Hn, we aren't newbies anymore," stated the lion girl, looking a little annoyed.
He grinned and replied, "Maybe… but you haven't gone all that far yet. You're still dealing in small fry. No worries. You'll have time. Then, maybe you can join me in some shenanigans."
With that, he walked off and blended in with the crowd.
"Huh, that's one of our seniors then," Nene muttered but was taken aback when she turned to her friends. All three of them seemed to be fired up by his words. "...I guess we're getting that difficult quest tomorrow then," she presumed with a smile.
"Yes!" said all three. She giggled. Truth be told, she felt the same way. A little.
The party of four vowed to get stronger and show the world what they were made of.
AN: So, when I was writing this chapter last year, the whole Taiwan debacle hadn't happened yet. Hence, not only will HoloCN be included, they will play some part in this here story. First up is Artia.
Artia
Ice Genasi
Order of Scribes Wizard
So, Ice Genasi is a homebrew thing I found. Add one to Con and Wis, ice/cold resistance, and a frost breath that is similar to a dragonborn's breath weapon. While Order of Scribes lets you use your spellbook as your focus as well as modify your spell's damage type. And since she is supposed to be an ice elementalist, whatever damage spells she uses will be changed to cold damage.
And then Kira from Holostars.
Kira Yagami
Human, Variant
Rogue/Bard multiclass
Assassin/College of Glamour
When I first saw him, I was thinking about how androgynous he looked. To weave that fact into his character, I gave him the Charlatan background. He's supposed to be good in PvP(dunno what game though, wasn't mentioned), so I decided on Assassin. Collage of Glamour helps reinforce his Charlatan background. Not to mention he is a pretty good singer.
Chapter 4
- Location
- Malaysia
Chapter 4
The day began easily enough. The party went to retrieve Botan's lion head at the school. Then, after some enquiries, they were directed to a hunting shop and tannery that was known to do embalming and preservation of animals on the side. In the shop, they were greeted by an assortment of bows and arrows. The lady at the counter greeted them with a smile, "Good morning. How may I help you today?"
"Good morning. I wish to have this become a trophy," replied the lion girl as she placed the head on the counter.
The counter lady looked at her and then at the head. "Oh, the irony," she muttered before addressing her customer, "Well, it seems the early bird caught the worm. Sure we can turn this head into a trophy. Um, give my husband a day or two and it'll be ready and waiting for you to collect."
"That's great," Botan said with a toothy smile, "How much do I need to pay?"
"Three hundred silver pieces," the lady stated.
The lion girl paid up happily and then the party went back to the guild house to look for a new request. When they reached there, there were several people already there. A few were leaving, the girly senior included. He winked at them as they passed each other. They decided to ignore that and headed straight to the board. There were several others there with one recognizable face.
"Hey, Artia," greeted Polka with a grin, "Who are your friends?"
"Hello," returned the frost mage. Motioning to the two beside her, she introduced, "This is Doris from the Deep Sea and Civia from Gekko."
The mermaid triton and half-unicorn waved at the party with smiles, "Hello."
"Oh, we're from Gekko too!" the fennec fox girl exclaimed as she pulled Botan in.
"Ah, nice! From the Dankimba tribe, yes?" asked the half-unicorn.
"Yeah… although, I've never heard of half-unicorns before," stated the lion girl.
"Ah... we aren't normally seen and pretty secretive?" she said a little sheepishly.
"Hn, I guess..." the fighter accepted.
After a few awkward seconds, Nene piped up, "Anyway, we won't take too much of your time. We need to take a quest, after all."
"Ah, yes. We'll be going now," replied the frost mage gratefully as she pulled her two friends away, "Good day!"
"What was that about?" the bard asked as she turned to face the fighter.
"...Nothing… just curious."
She stared at her for a moment longer before deciding to put it aside for now and went back to request hunting. After a while, it was Lamy who pulled something off the board. She took it to Miyabi and the other three followed after her.
He scrutinized it for a moment before saying, "Huh, this will take you far outside the city. Are you sure about this?"
"Yes," they said in unison.
"Alright… so, you'll be going to hub town Solfano to see the mayor for directions to the mystery cave," he informed them, "I suggest taking a cart from the east gate to get there to shorten travel time, though if you want to go on foot, it will take a longer time. I'll leave the decision up to you."
"Yosh, let's go then," said Polka cheerfully.
The party decided to take a cart there. The half-snow elf cleric hired it at the stable, everyone got on and they were on their way. The forest in the morning was peaceful and beautiful. And for a moment, it remained that way. Nene listened intently to the sounds of the forest. Botan kept her eyes on the road, looking a little bored. Polka was attempting to juggle her darts and somewhat failing with all the shaking of the cart. Lamy sat there with her eyes closed and meditating serenely.
Suddenly, two javelins thudded into the driver's seat, prompting a high-pitched shriek from the driver. This jolted everyone out of their peace and put them on alert.
"This is a hold-up!" called out a bandit as a group of four of them stepped out of the forest and onto the path, accompanied by two orcs, "Drop all your money and your valuables over the side of your cart and you can be on your way. Your lives are in your hands."
"Bandits?" muttered the bard under her breath.
"Let's get them," said the fighter eagerly.
"Hey, can you distract them for a moment? I might be able to sneak around and get them," the monk suddenly asked them.
"Eh, wait..." protested the cleric but she had already tumbled out of the cart.
Nene glanced at her in disbelief for a moment, but then turned her attention to the holdup, "Erm mind letting us go instead? We are going on a request run on behalf of the adventurers guild."
"Oy, guild or not, we have to eat," the bandit said as he shrugged, "Besides, we got some good back up here." The orcs just grinned, showing off their teeth and tusks.
"Alright, don't blame us if you lose your lives over nothing here," she tried persuading them further.
"Alright, enough jabbering. Are you gonna give us your gold or not?" he retorted.
"Not in your lifetime!" shouted Botan.
"Your loss then. Alright, let's get our keep," the bandit said as he motioned the others forward, "Kill the driver if he twitches."
From the corner of her eye, Nene spotted Polka sneaking behind the trees. Deciding that a more impressive distraction was needed, she drew out her dagger and threw it at the lead bandit, drawing blood from his cheek.
"Why you-"
"Hai-yaaa!" shouted the monk as she ran and flew forward with a flying kick, the ball of her foot slamming into a bandit's temple.
"Get her!" shouted the other bandit as they trained their crossbows on her. Two of the bolts got lodged in her arms as she tried to protect her face and body.
Meanwhile, Botan shot an arrow into the first bandit's neck, dropping him quickly. This drew the orc's attention; spouting insults in orcish, they threw their javelins at her but the simple sharpened spears sailed over her head. Concerned, Lamy clutched her amulet as she waved her arms while chanting, praying for blessings on her party.
The bard, feeling concerned with the monk's position, called out to the nearest bandit and said with magic laced words, "Hey! I'm the number one adventurer in Rivirapolis!"
The bandit took one look at her and started laughing hysterically, doubling over and falling to the floor while clutching his sides. Nene's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as Polka cartwheeled around the bandit in front of her, placing herself between him and the nearest orc. She kicked the bandit in the throat and punched the orc in the chest at the same time. However, a crossbow bolt slammed into her chest and knocked her over. The shooter was in turn taken down by arrow and frost. The orcs tried to stop them but their javelins missed again. At that moment, the cleric called out the same healing word that Nene knew, much to her surprise, and rejuvenated Polka, who pulled out the arrow as she got to her feet.
The bard got over her confusion, chalking it up to some godly thing, and targeted the orc, "Hey, stupid orc! Weakling like you can't kill anything!"
Her words struck the orc, shocking it a little which turned into a rage. As it started directing orcish insults at her, Polka continued her striking spree, jumping up and driving her elbow into the other orc's head. She then threw a straight punch at the enraged one, who still had the presence of mind to dodge back and avoid it. Yet, that put it in the path of Botan's arrow that got lodged in its thick muscular neck. Its rage abated when it saw its ally and employers either laughing or dead, it then started running away. The monk tried to trip it and sweep its feet under, it was able to keep its balance and ran off.
"Let's finish this!" declared Lamy before directing her ice at the laughing bandit. That shocked him out of his condition.
He tried standing up but then the bard shouted, "Hey! Stay down, loser!"
He collapsed back onto the ground, shocked by her words. All the monk had to do was walk over and land an axe kick on his face. Meanwhile, Botan drew her arrow back and led the shot before releasing it. The fleeing orc never had a chance.
"By the gods, I'm still alive!" exclaimed the driver, who had remained in terrified silence the whole battle.
"I'm glad you still are," replied the bard, feeling a little squeamish after looking at what they did, "Will you still be able to get us to Solfano?"
"With everyone protecting me, I certainly can!" said the driver gratefully while the lion girl jumped off and went over to help the monk search the bodies for loot. After they were done, they continued on their way. The others didn't seem to be affected by the bloody battle but Nene was having uneasiness settle over her. While she understood that they had to do what they had to do… still, she wished that she was able to talk down the bandits.
"Are you under the weather, Nene?" asked Lamy suddenly.
"Ah… erm, I was kinda wondering if we could have talked those bandits out of attacking us earlier," she admitted.
"Well, I applaud your care for the sanctity of life. I care too," the half-snow elf told her, "However, desperation sometimes drives people to do terrible things and force our hands… Still, you should be fine. You regret taking their lives. That doesn't make you a terrible person. It only makes you human. Well, mortal… um, you know what I mean."
"Yeah, I do," she replied, a demure smile forming on her face, "Thank you, Lamy."
The cleric only smiled in response.
The cart reached Solfana without any further obstacles. The party thanked the driver and said their goodbyes. After getting some directions, they headed straight for the mayor's office.
"We have been getting word that there were strange sounds and lights coming from the Dead Forest. It is a large forest of dead trees a bit north and far east from the town. The legend used to be that the Demon of Fear lived there while it was whole but after Subaru, Smiter of Fear, defeated it, it had been uninhabited until now. The fox cleric with her said that the demon won't be returning until many years in the future so it couldn't be it. Please, I implore you to find out what is happening there. I do not want to leave it alone until it is too late and the livelihoods of the farming communities here are threatened."
The mayor's words were taken to heart and they remained in the forefront as they checked into the town inn. With two people per room, they had their dinner and settled down for sleep. Once morning came, they set out for the forest after finishing their preparations. They made it in good time, reaching there with the sun still high in the sky. The forest seemed deserted and the wind was still. It gave the area a creepy atmosphere.
Stepping into the forest, they had a lot of questions on their minds. Why was this forest still here if it was dead? How could it still exist? Is there still anything living here?
The crackle of the dead plant matter crunched under travel boots as they made their way deeper into the forest. Eventually, they came to a cave entrance.
"Huh, is this where all those things are coming from?" asked Polka in confusion, "Do we need to go inside?"
"Looks like it," stated Botan, as she took out a torch from her pack, the monk shrugging and mirroring her actions. Lighting the torches, the party headed inside the cave.
They trekked in the claustrophobic tunnel for what seemed to be several minutes. The tunnel eventually opened up into a cavernous area that had two other exits. The larger one had collapsed while the smaller one was clear. The party went through the only option there one by one. The smaller tunnel led to an even larger cavern. In addition to that, there was a very faint growling that Nene and Lamy caught on to just in time. As the ghouls came out of the shadows, the cleric raised her amulet and shouted, "Return to your graves!"
Two of the ghouls groaned and started shuffling away from them while the remaining one shambled over and tried to attack her. Its arms clashed uselessly against her shield while the others beat it down. They then focused the other two down one by one, taking advantage of their turned state. Only Nene got injured in that scuffle as the ghoul got a lucky claw on her arm.
"That was manageable," quipped Polka as she picked up her torch that she dropped.
"Let's not waste any time. Something strange is happening and we need to find out," stated Botan as she did the same.
"How do you know?" asked the bard.
"A gut feeling."
The party made their way deeper into the cave system. The large cavern narrowed down as it led to another exit at the other side. They walked past a rather large stalactite-stalagmite formation right in front of it. Once again, Lamy and Nene somehow were able to hear faint scratchings as if something was walking on the stone floor.
"We are not alone," muttered the bard as she looked around to find the source of the sound, alerting the other two. Lamy then proceeded to pray for blessings again.
It seemed to trigger their ambushers as a glint of metal flashed by as several projectiles were thrown at them. All of them missed save one, which scratched Polka by the side of her head, prompting a yelp. Botan immediately shot at the first form she saw while Polka and Nene did the same at the figure behind them. Loud chittering accompanied the mantis-like humanoids that bounded out of the dark, the one attacking the fighter got a ray of frost freezing one of its lower arms. Both thri-kreen attacked her and the monk respectively. They were skilled with their double-bladed polearms and they were not left untouched. They retaliated but while Botan failed to find her mark, Polka managed to punch hers in the face.
"Hang in there, Botan. Backup is on the way!" shouted Nene as she moved in to help the monk, her rapier piercing its carapace with ease. Lamy helped, sending her next ray of frost into its body.
More chittering accompanied the swing of their blades as the thri-kreen persisted. The one in front was locked in combat with the fighter while the one from behind was able to down one, stabbing Polka in the shoulder and shoulder checking her off. Botan clawed her way down its chest while it was the bard that helped to protect the monk, stabbing it in the chest while casting her healing note to halt the bleeding.
"Oof, that stung," groaned Polka as she got up, during which Lamy finished it off. The chittering became louder as the remaining thri-kreen tried to strike the fighter down and failed. She tried to move in but her hand was batted away by the flat of its weapon. And the moment the bard and the monk came in to support her, the mantis creature fell under a hail of punches and stabs.
"I hope we fight less," muttered Nene with a frown as she looked over the party. Except for Lamy, everyone else was injured.
"Let's just try and avoid the next one?" suggested Lamy, "Maybe sneak past it?"
"Ah, then… let me scout ahead?" suggested the monk.
"Hng… I guess..." grumbled Botan, but agreeing that maybe the party was a little too banged up.
The monk had a relieved grin on her face as she went on ahead into the next cave. A few minutes later, she came back, her face pale. "Urm… sneaking is good. Yeah… There is this bear...owl… thingy up ahead. I don't think even Botan could handle this one."
"Oh… trophy..." murmured the fighter with a shine in her eyes.
"And how are we going to sneak by it?" asked the half-snow elf.
"Well, it sounds fast asleep. You could hear it snoring," stated the fennec fox girl, glancing over at the more armored party members, "We might… be able to sneak past. Although, your armor is kinda noisy..."
They stood there in silence for a while.
"Hmm… alright, I know what to do," mused the bard, "Take off your armor and carry them."
The day began easily enough. The party went to retrieve Botan's lion head at the school. Then, after some enquiries, they were directed to a hunting shop and tannery that was known to do embalming and preservation of animals on the side. In the shop, they were greeted by an assortment of bows and arrows. The lady at the counter greeted them with a smile, "Good morning. How may I help you today?"
"Good morning. I wish to have this become a trophy," replied the lion girl as she placed the head on the counter.
The counter lady looked at her and then at the head. "Oh, the irony," she muttered before addressing her customer, "Well, it seems the early bird caught the worm. Sure we can turn this head into a trophy. Um, give my husband a day or two and it'll be ready and waiting for you to collect."
"That's great," Botan said with a toothy smile, "How much do I need to pay?"
"Three hundred silver pieces," the lady stated.
The lion girl paid up happily and then the party went back to the guild house to look for a new request. When they reached there, there were several people already there. A few were leaving, the girly senior included. He winked at them as they passed each other. They decided to ignore that and headed straight to the board. There were several others there with one recognizable face.
"Hey, Artia," greeted Polka with a grin, "Who are your friends?"
"Hello," returned the frost mage. Motioning to the two beside her, she introduced, "This is Doris from the Deep Sea and Civia from Gekko."
The mermaid triton and half-unicorn waved at the party with smiles, "Hello."
"Oh, we're from Gekko too!" the fennec fox girl exclaimed as she pulled Botan in.
"Ah, nice! From the Dankimba tribe, yes?" asked the half-unicorn.
"Yeah… although, I've never heard of half-unicorns before," stated the lion girl.
"Ah... we aren't normally seen and pretty secretive?" she said a little sheepishly.
"Hn, I guess..." the fighter accepted.
After a few awkward seconds, Nene piped up, "Anyway, we won't take too much of your time. We need to take a quest, after all."
"Ah, yes. We'll be going now," replied the frost mage gratefully as she pulled her two friends away, "Good day!"
"What was that about?" the bard asked as she turned to face the fighter.
"...Nothing… just curious."
She stared at her for a moment longer before deciding to put it aside for now and went back to request hunting. After a while, it was Lamy who pulled something off the board. She took it to Miyabi and the other three followed after her.
He scrutinized it for a moment before saying, "Huh, this will take you far outside the city. Are you sure about this?"
"Yes," they said in unison.
"Alright… so, you'll be going to hub town Solfano to see the mayor for directions to the mystery cave," he informed them, "I suggest taking a cart from the east gate to get there to shorten travel time, though if you want to go on foot, it will take a longer time. I'll leave the decision up to you."
"Yosh, let's go then," said Polka cheerfully.
The party decided to take a cart there. The half-snow elf cleric hired it at the stable, everyone got on and they were on their way. The forest in the morning was peaceful and beautiful. And for a moment, it remained that way. Nene listened intently to the sounds of the forest. Botan kept her eyes on the road, looking a little bored. Polka was attempting to juggle her darts and somewhat failing with all the shaking of the cart. Lamy sat there with her eyes closed and meditating serenely.
Suddenly, two javelins thudded into the driver's seat, prompting a high-pitched shriek from the driver. This jolted everyone out of their peace and put them on alert.
"This is a hold-up!" called out a bandit as a group of four of them stepped out of the forest and onto the path, accompanied by two orcs, "Drop all your money and your valuables over the side of your cart and you can be on your way. Your lives are in your hands."
"Bandits?" muttered the bard under her breath.
"Let's get them," said the fighter eagerly.
"Hey, can you distract them for a moment? I might be able to sneak around and get them," the monk suddenly asked them.
"Eh, wait..." protested the cleric but she had already tumbled out of the cart.
Nene glanced at her in disbelief for a moment, but then turned her attention to the holdup, "Erm mind letting us go instead? We are going on a request run on behalf of the adventurers guild."
"Oy, guild or not, we have to eat," the bandit said as he shrugged, "Besides, we got some good back up here." The orcs just grinned, showing off their teeth and tusks.
"Alright, don't blame us if you lose your lives over nothing here," she tried persuading them further.
"Alright, enough jabbering. Are you gonna give us your gold or not?" he retorted.
"Not in your lifetime!" shouted Botan.
"Your loss then. Alright, let's get our keep," the bandit said as he motioned the others forward, "Kill the driver if he twitches."
From the corner of her eye, Nene spotted Polka sneaking behind the trees. Deciding that a more impressive distraction was needed, she drew out her dagger and threw it at the lead bandit, drawing blood from his cheek.
"Why you-"
"Hai-yaaa!" shouted the monk as she ran and flew forward with a flying kick, the ball of her foot slamming into a bandit's temple.
"Get her!" shouted the other bandit as they trained their crossbows on her. Two of the bolts got lodged in her arms as she tried to protect her face and body.
Meanwhile, Botan shot an arrow into the first bandit's neck, dropping him quickly. This drew the orc's attention; spouting insults in orcish, they threw their javelins at her but the simple sharpened spears sailed over her head. Concerned, Lamy clutched her amulet as she waved her arms while chanting, praying for blessings on her party.
The bard, feeling concerned with the monk's position, called out to the nearest bandit and said with magic laced words, "Hey! I'm the number one adventurer in Rivirapolis!"
The bandit took one look at her and started laughing hysterically, doubling over and falling to the floor while clutching his sides. Nene's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as Polka cartwheeled around the bandit in front of her, placing herself between him and the nearest orc. She kicked the bandit in the throat and punched the orc in the chest at the same time. However, a crossbow bolt slammed into her chest and knocked her over. The shooter was in turn taken down by arrow and frost. The orcs tried to stop them but their javelins missed again. At that moment, the cleric called out the same healing word that Nene knew, much to her surprise, and rejuvenated Polka, who pulled out the arrow as she got to her feet.
The bard got over her confusion, chalking it up to some godly thing, and targeted the orc, "Hey, stupid orc! Weakling like you can't kill anything!"
Her words struck the orc, shocking it a little which turned into a rage. As it started directing orcish insults at her, Polka continued her striking spree, jumping up and driving her elbow into the other orc's head. She then threw a straight punch at the enraged one, who still had the presence of mind to dodge back and avoid it. Yet, that put it in the path of Botan's arrow that got lodged in its thick muscular neck. Its rage abated when it saw its ally and employers either laughing or dead, it then started running away. The monk tried to trip it and sweep its feet under, it was able to keep its balance and ran off.
"Let's finish this!" declared Lamy before directing her ice at the laughing bandit. That shocked him out of his condition.
He tried standing up but then the bard shouted, "Hey! Stay down, loser!"
He collapsed back onto the ground, shocked by her words. All the monk had to do was walk over and land an axe kick on his face. Meanwhile, Botan drew her arrow back and led the shot before releasing it. The fleeing orc never had a chance.
"By the gods, I'm still alive!" exclaimed the driver, who had remained in terrified silence the whole battle.
"I'm glad you still are," replied the bard, feeling a little squeamish after looking at what they did, "Will you still be able to get us to Solfano?"
"With everyone protecting me, I certainly can!" said the driver gratefully while the lion girl jumped off and went over to help the monk search the bodies for loot. After they were done, they continued on their way. The others didn't seem to be affected by the bloody battle but Nene was having uneasiness settle over her. While she understood that they had to do what they had to do… still, she wished that she was able to talk down the bandits.
"Are you under the weather, Nene?" asked Lamy suddenly.
"Ah… erm, I was kinda wondering if we could have talked those bandits out of attacking us earlier," she admitted.
"Well, I applaud your care for the sanctity of life. I care too," the half-snow elf told her, "However, desperation sometimes drives people to do terrible things and force our hands… Still, you should be fine. You regret taking their lives. That doesn't make you a terrible person. It only makes you human. Well, mortal… um, you know what I mean."
"Yeah, I do," she replied, a demure smile forming on her face, "Thank you, Lamy."
The cleric only smiled in response.
The cart reached Solfana without any further obstacles. The party thanked the driver and said their goodbyes. After getting some directions, they headed straight for the mayor's office.
"We have been getting word that there were strange sounds and lights coming from the Dead Forest. It is a large forest of dead trees a bit north and far east from the town. The legend used to be that the Demon of Fear lived there while it was whole but after Subaru, Smiter of Fear, defeated it, it had been uninhabited until now. The fox cleric with her said that the demon won't be returning until many years in the future so it couldn't be it. Please, I implore you to find out what is happening there. I do not want to leave it alone until it is too late and the livelihoods of the farming communities here are threatened."
The mayor's words were taken to heart and they remained in the forefront as they checked into the town inn. With two people per room, they had their dinner and settled down for sleep. Once morning came, they set out for the forest after finishing their preparations. They made it in good time, reaching there with the sun still high in the sky. The forest seemed deserted and the wind was still. It gave the area a creepy atmosphere.
Stepping into the forest, they had a lot of questions on their minds. Why was this forest still here if it was dead? How could it still exist? Is there still anything living here?
The crackle of the dead plant matter crunched under travel boots as they made their way deeper into the forest. Eventually, they came to a cave entrance.
"Huh, is this where all those things are coming from?" asked Polka in confusion, "Do we need to go inside?"
"Looks like it," stated Botan, as she took out a torch from her pack, the monk shrugging and mirroring her actions. Lighting the torches, the party headed inside the cave.
They trekked in the claustrophobic tunnel for what seemed to be several minutes. The tunnel eventually opened up into a cavernous area that had two other exits. The larger one had collapsed while the smaller one was clear. The party went through the only option there one by one. The smaller tunnel led to an even larger cavern. In addition to that, there was a very faint growling that Nene and Lamy caught on to just in time. As the ghouls came out of the shadows, the cleric raised her amulet and shouted, "Return to your graves!"
Two of the ghouls groaned and started shuffling away from them while the remaining one shambled over and tried to attack her. Its arms clashed uselessly against her shield while the others beat it down. They then focused the other two down one by one, taking advantage of their turned state. Only Nene got injured in that scuffle as the ghoul got a lucky claw on her arm.
"That was manageable," quipped Polka as she picked up her torch that she dropped.
"Let's not waste any time. Something strange is happening and we need to find out," stated Botan as she did the same.
"How do you know?" asked the bard.
"A gut feeling."
The party made their way deeper into the cave system. The large cavern narrowed down as it led to another exit at the other side. They walked past a rather large stalactite-stalagmite formation right in front of it. Once again, Lamy and Nene somehow were able to hear faint scratchings as if something was walking on the stone floor.
"We are not alone," muttered the bard as she looked around to find the source of the sound, alerting the other two. Lamy then proceeded to pray for blessings again.
It seemed to trigger their ambushers as a glint of metal flashed by as several projectiles were thrown at them. All of them missed save one, which scratched Polka by the side of her head, prompting a yelp. Botan immediately shot at the first form she saw while Polka and Nene did the same at the figure behind them. Loud chittering accompanied the mantis-like humanoids that bounded out of the dark, the one attacking the fighter got a ray of frost freezing one of its lower arms. Both thri-kreen attacked her and the monk respectively. They were skilled with their double-bladed polearms and they were not left untouched. They retaliated but while Botan failed to find her mark, Polka managed to punch hers in the face.
"Hang in there, Botan. Backup is on the way!" shouted Nene as she moved in to help the monk, her rapier piercing its carapace with ease. Lamy helped, sending her next ray of frost into its body.
More chittering accompanied the swing of their blades as the thri-kreen persisted. The one in front was locked in combat with the fighter while the one from behind was able to down one, stabbing Polka in the shoulder and shoulder checking her off. Botan clawed her way down its chest while it was the bard that helped to protect the monk, stabbing it in the chest while casting her healing note to halt the bleeding.
"Oof, that stung," groaned Polka as she got up, during which Lamy finished it off. The chittering became louder as the remaining thri-kreen tried to strike the fighter down and failed. She tried to move in but her hand was batted away by the flat of its weapon. And the moment the bard and the monk came in to support her, the mantis creature fell under a hail of punches and stabs.
"I hope we fight less," muttered Nene with a frown as she looked over the party. Except for Lamy, everyone else was injured.
"Let's just try and avoid the next one?" suggested Lamy, "Maybe sneak past it?"
"Ah, then… let me scout ahead?" suggested the monk.
"Hng… I guess..." grumbled Botan, but agreeing that maybe the party was a little too banged up.
The monk had a relieved grin on her face as she went on ahead into the next cave. A few minutes later, she came back, her face pale. "Urm… sneaking is good. Yeah… There is this bear...owl… thingy up ahead. I don't think even Botan could handle this one."
"Oh… trophy..." murmured the fighter with a shine in her eyes.
"And how are we going to sneak by it?" asked the half-snow elf.
"Well, it sounds fast asleep. You could hear it snoring," stated the fennec fox girl, glancing over at the more armored party members, "We might… be able to sneak past. Although, your armor is kinda noisy..."
They stood there in silence for a while.
"Hmm… alright, I know what to do," mused the bard, "Take off your armor and carry them."
Chapter 5
- Location
- Malaysia
Chapter 5
After taking several minutes to doff their armor, they then proceeded to sneak past the owlbear. It was sleeping right next to the exit of the cave, pressed against an indent in the cave wall. Nene and Polka went first with little trouble. Lamy was next. She barely moved five feet before she dropped her gauntlet. Everyone froze when the owlbear snorted and turned around, facing away from the entrance. She, very carefully, bent down and picked up the offending piece of armor, and quickly snuck out of the cave. The moment she got past, she fell to her knees and breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, it was Botan's turn. Thankfully, she made it past without any incident. They continued on their way after the other two helped to re-don their armor. The last cave was an enormous place. In the far-off corner, they could see a bright glow emanating from something. As they got nearer, they could see a hooded figure hunched over a table, occasionally glancing at something on the floor.
The closer they got, the clearer his words. "-the fiends, this is the next level. This spell is so revolutionary. My lord is truly made of knowledge," the figure muttered as he looked between the table and the glowing circle on the floor. The man then started cackling madly as he grabbed something on the table and tossed it into the circle. It seemed to spread over like fine, sparkling dust, He then started chanting in an unintelligible language as he threw his hands in the air, as if reaching to embrace something. Slowly, the glow intensified; burning smoke slowly coalesced and took a humanoid shape.
A black corset with trimmings of multiple purple hues. Short skirt. Long stockings. Black and purple shoes. Milky, white skin. Black, thin tail. Back length banana yellow and strawberry pink hair. Sharp, manicured nails. A pair of long curved horns, one shorter than the other. The succubus curtsied and asked, "Ah, I have been summoned. What is your request?"
"Hmm? Strange. You're awfully polite for a succubus?" he said in confusion, "I would have expected a lot more… seduction involved."
"Ah-ha… I'm new? I need more experience in this so I was told to answer your summons as a test," she said as she rubbed her head sheepishly.
"...how annoying," he muttered, "In that case, go back and get me someone more experienced with-"
It was then Nene knocked a rock out of place and the echoes of its bouncing drew their attention.
"Who goes there?" the summoner shouted as he spun around.
"People trying to find out what's going on in here," stated the bard, dropping all pretense of stealth, "Are you raising something to threaten the towns here? What sort of madness is this?"
The man scowled. "Madness!? This is revolutionary spell experimentation!" he retorted, "I have been given wisdom and insight into the world! New spells of untapped potential!"
"...Are you cuckoo or something?" asked the succubus with a bored look, "Then, again, you tried summoning a fiend. Definitely nuts."
"Alright, the wizard's gone mad," quipped Botan as she readied her bow, "Maybe we can capture him and turn him in?"
"As if I would be captured by ignoramuses like you!" he roared hatefully. Raising up his hands, he threw something out at them and shouted, "Arakan ar toa varkant!"
After a burst of silvery motes of light, a werewolf suddenly appeared in front of them. They gave them a single look before it howled and started to attack them.
"Hmph, fools. But if they can find me, others may try and find my secrets," the summoner mused as Polka leaped into a flying kick aimed at the summoned werewolf.
"Erm, hey, you still haven't told me if you need anything yet," spoke up the succubus as the werewolf remained standing and retaliated with a swipe of its sharp claws.
Polka was immediately downed after they sliced through her throat.
"Time to leave," he continued as he muttered an incantation to himself. A magic circle appeared under him and he disappeared in a flash.
"Grr, stupid wizard," growled out the succubus. Looking over to the fight, she shouted and slammed her fists at the barrier created by the circle, "Hey! Someone get me out of here!"
Meanwhile, Lamy immediately chanted a healing word to stop the bleeding and restore her throat. She then directed a frost ray at the shapechanger, who dodged out of the way.
"You will not win this day!" Nene shouted, directing the magic-laced words at the werewolf. After they got enveloped with a red aura, she ran over to the magic circle and asked, "Urm, you were asking for help?"
"Please can you help me get out?" pleaded the succubus, "That guy just summoned me and left me hanging here. I can't go back without completing his request."
Botan roared as she leaped on the werewolf in an attempt to wrestle it down, saying, "Get back! Let me handle this!" Polka immediately scurried away and only got to her feet once she was out of range.
"I guess I could… but can you swear not to attack us? And can you help us with that werewolf?" the bard asked.
The werewolf snapped at the lion girl in response but she held them back by the throat. Then, she pushed it back as it growled and snarled at her.
"Anything! I swear not to attack you. Just get me out please!" the succubus half yelled, sounding a little desperate.
The cleric quickly sent a frost ray into the werewolf's mouth. They yelped in pain and looked angrier than before.
"Alright, give me a moment," replied the bard as she studied the runes on the circle. She quickly identified the parts where she needed to rub off and got to work.
The fighter then extended her claws and swiped the werewolf's mouth. She then tried to wrestle and lock them in place but they were able to break out of the hold.
"Why can't we do anything to it? It's like, not even injured!" exclaimed Polka as her dart bounced off harmlessly against their fur. They then grabbed Botan by the arms and bit down on her shoulder, prompting her to scream in agony. They then relinquished their hold on the lion girl to avoid another ray of frost.
"And done! Now, please save my friends!" shouted Nene as she repeated her request.
"With pleasure!" stated the succubus loudly as she ran to the werewolf. She motioned them to come to her and said seductively, "Look into my eyes, big boy. I know what you truly desire."
The rabid lycanthrope suddenly stopped and stood still in a daze. "Alright, you can stop hitting it now. This one is under me now," she stated proudly.
"Botan! Are you alright!?" yelled the monk as she ran over to check the lion girl. Pulling out her healing potion and handing it to her, she continued, "Here, drink this."
"Ngh, fine enough," hissed the fighter as she gingerly touched the bite. As she took and downed the potion, she muttered, "...actually, I feel really, really hot all over."
"Huh… that doesn't sound good." muttered the succubus.
"...um, what's your name? I don't mean to be rude, since you helped us and all," asked the bard.
"Aloe Mano. And… I think your friend needs to see a healer. At least someone more skilled than her," she stated as she motioned to Lamy, "No offense."
"It is fine. I know I am limited as of now," accepted the half-snow elf, "But you are right. We have to get her to a healer. However, there is still the matter of the owlbear right outside this part of the cave."
"Ah… actually, I think I have a solution to that problem," stated Aloe as she glanced over to the werewolf.
Sounds of the fight grew lesser and lesser as the party and the succubus made their way to the entrance of the cave. In the open, the evening sun shone down on the Dead Forest.
"This place looks kind of dead," quipped Aloe.
"Not every place looks like this," replied Nene with a giggle, "Wait till we get to town."
"I'll hold you to it," the succubus said cheekily.
They hurried back to the town as fast as they could. The moment they reached the outskirts, she suddenly said, "I think I better hide myself. My elders told me that people won't look too kindly on us walking around in the open." She then slowly disappeared, smoking away from bottom to top. They then entered the town and sought out the town healer or the town herbalist.
"This is totally unexpected," the older woman muttered as she hurried around trying to gather up the ingredients needed for a makeshift cure, "I don't even know if I have enough belladonna for this." She then set the cauldron to boil and started adding different, colorful herbs into it.
"Well… I hope we can cure this," muttered the bard as she looked at Botan worriedly, who now looked a little pale right now.
"Hn… how about me and Nene wait here and you go tell the mayor what happened, Lamy," suggested Polka.
"I suppose we should tell him," nodded the cleric.
As she was doing so, the herbalist pulled a draught out of the cauldron and set it on the table to cool. She did this two more times and then told the others, "This will be quite painful. Belladonna is normally a poison, but ingested in small doses, is potent in countering lycanthropy. I do not have enough so I did my best to enhance the effect with other herbs. I do not know if they would be just as effective. One can only pray to the gods and hope for the best after this."
She then took the first draught, which had cooled enough, and handed it to the lion girl. She stared at it intently for a moment. "Ancestors watch over me," she muttered to herself and took the entire draught in one gulp.
"Now lie down," ordered the herbalist as she ushered her to the bed, "As tough as you are, it will weaken the body significantly. Not to mention you have to endure two more draughts."
"This is fine," she breathed out as she laid down. Turning to the others, she said tiredly with a weak smile, "Hey, you can wait for me at the inn. This could take a while."
"Stay strong," the monk told her as they acceded to her request.
"Heh, la-lion's strong," quipped the fighter as she fell asleep.
"How are you feeling?" asked Polka as the party met up the next morning.
"Ah… okay, I guess? It was quite painful," admitted Botan, "Still, I think it worked. But I guess we'll have to see the next full moon then."
"Anyway, request complete and reward taken. Let's get back to Rivirapolis," stated Nene cheerfully.
"Indeed," agreed Lamy.
Once again, they hired a cart to bring them back. It was a bright sunny day and so far, no bandits or goblins or anything in sight. Along the way, they introduced themselves to the succubus. Other than that, the journey was peaceful. And so, they reached the capital with very little trouble. Making their way back, they were greeted by Miyabi at the counter.
"Welcome back! So, the guild master wants to meet with you," he informed them.
"Eh? Why?" asked the bard, voicing everyone's surprise.
He shrugged and said, "I don't really know. He always meets everyone from time to time. He's waiting in the side room, by the way."
The party glanced at each other and shrugged. Entering the side room, they were met with a grey-haired man in rich, fashionable clothes seated at a table in the corner of the room.
"Hello, there. I am Lord Aruran Daiso. Please, have a seat," he greeted as he motioned to the chairs around the table. Respectfully, the party took their seats. Then, he said something surprising.
"Hmm, you can ask your succubus friend to come out as well," he suddenly said.
"Eh, what succubus friend?" asked the bard nervously.
"Please do not lie to me," the lord said as he steepled his fingers, the atmosphere suddenly turning menacing, "Especially me."
This stunned them. Almost immediately, Aloe stepped out of her etherealness and quickly sat at the table. Shaking like a leaf.
"Ah, wonderful," as he clapped once with a smile, the heavy sense of foreboding suddenly disappearing into thin air, "Right. Let's get down to business. So, you have been part of the guild for a few days now. How do you find it?"
"Erm, welcoming?"
"Good, good," he nodded with a smile at Polka's reply, "I do wish the guild to be a friendly place for adventurers to gather. The bond of comradery would spur on people to do miraculous things to protect and help one another." His smile then faded away and he took on a more serious approach, "Right, on to other things. What happened during the request? Why does your lion friend here feel strange?"
"Erm… well, it was like this," and Nene reported what happened during the quest, with additions and interjections from the others. The guild master sat there silently through all of it.
When they were down, he cleared his throat and said, "Well, this is unexpected. Hmm, first the summoner. It is possible he stumbled on a set of ancient spells that possibly no one should get a hold of. The question would be… who told him? His words mentioned a lord, but that could be anyone. To him, anyone or anything with sufficient power could be a lord."
His eyes then bore down on Botan, "The second concern. We need to make sure that the lycanthropy is either gone or suppressed. As well as the possibility of having the blacksmith craft some silvered restraints as a precaution."
The lion girl crossed her arms in front and muttered while looking away, "I'm sure I am cured."
"I rather have proper confirmation that just the words of a relatively new guild member," he rebutted calmly as he pushed his glasses up, "Fortune favors you as we have contacts with a few people who might be able to help. Some healers and druids."
"Can the druids go into the Feywild?" the fighter suddenly asked, her eyes taking on an eager gleam.
"I believe so?" stated the lord with a raised eyebrow.
"I have heard of the place from the tribe shaman," she muttered reverently, "I would like to go there and experience it myself. And perhaps, maybe learn something new I can bring back."
"I suppose I can arrange that," he replied confidently, leaving little room for doubt.
"Wow, you're going to a cool place," exclaimed her monk friend, "Don't worry, we'll wait for you to come back before we go on more requests."
"It would be good to have a break," admitted Lamy, "Taking time for communion would be nice."
"Ah, I'd like to meet our seniors and maybe learn something from them," said Nene.
"Same!" agreed the monk.
"Very good," declared Lord Daiso, "And now, number three. What do we do with your friend here?"
Aloe gulped when all eyes landed on her. "Erm… can't I stay with them?"
He shrugged as he leaned back into his chair and said, "Perhaps, while your friend here is gone for the time being. However, what would happen when she returns? The housing here is only for guild members only. Not to mention it would draw too much attention if you show up here as you are. While this may attract people, I rather have able bodies willing to work than nobodies seeking your hand for a one-night stand."
"Ah… true," she conceded in embarrassment, "Surely there could be a solution to this?"
A rather telling smile appeared on his face when he said, "Well, there is the city's resident demonologist."
"Oh, sounds good. I can move in with her after," she declared with a smirk.
"Then it is settled. Our meeting can adjourn for now," declared Lord Daiso, "I will introduce Risu to you and you can depart at her discretion. In the meantime, get to know your seniors. In the future, you may very well be working with them."
The new party cheered. Things were looking quite bright for them.
AN: Holo5 is complete.
Aloe Mano
Succubus in training
So, I have no idea how a succubus would have become a PC of equal level. After some finagling around, I ended up with a level 8 College of Glamour Bard with Toughness feat. Also, her stats except her wisdom and dexterity scores are the same as a normal succubus stat block. No telepathic bond. Instead of shapechanger, will rely on Disguise Self and Minor illusion. Lastly, she only has her elemental resistances.
After taking several minutes to doff their armor, they then proceeded to sneak past the owlbear. It was sleeping right next to the exit of the cave, pressed against an indent in the cave wall. Nene and Polka went first with little trouble. Lamy was next. She barely moved five feet before she dropped her gauntlet. Everyone froze when the owlbear snorted and turned around, facing away from the entrance. She, very carefully, bent down and picked up the offending piece of armor, and quickly snuck out of the cave. The moment she got past, she fell to her knees and breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, it was Botan's turn. Thankfully, she made it past without any incident. They continued on their way after the other two helped to re-don their armor. The last cave was an enormous place. In the far-off corner, they could see a bright glow emanating from something. As they got nearer, they could see a hooded figure hunched over a table, occasionally glancing at something on the floor.
The closer they got, the clearer his words. "-the fiends, this is the next level. This spell is so revolutionary. My lord is truly made of knowledge," the figure muttered as he looked between the table and the glowing circle on the floor. The man then started cackling madly as he grabbed something on the table and tossed it into the circle. It seemed to spread over like fine, sparkling dust, He then started chanting in an unintelligible language as he threw his hands in the air, as if reaching to embrace something. Slowly, the glow intensified; burning smoke slowly coalesced and took a humanoid shape.
A black corset with trimmings of multiple purple hues. Short skirt. Long stockings. Black and purple shoes. Milky, white skin. Black, thin tail. Back length banana yellow and strawberry pink hair. Sharp, manicured nails. A pair of long curved horns, one shorter than the other. The succubus curtsied and asked, "Ah, I have been summoned. What is your request?"
"Hmm? Strange. You're awfully polite for a succubus?" he said in confusion, "I would have expected a lot more… seduction involved."
"Ah-ha… I'm new? I need more experience in this so I was told to answer your summons as a test," she said as she rubbed her head sheepishly.
"...how annoying," he muttered, "In that case, go back and get me someone more experienced with-"
It was then Nene knocked a rock out of place and the echoes of its bouncing drew their attention.
"Who goes there?" the summoner shouted as he spun around.
"People trying to find out what's going on in here," stated the bard, dropping all pretense of stealth, "Are you raising something to threaten the towns here? What sort of madness is this?"
The man scowled. "Madness!? This is revolutionary spell experimentation!" he retorted, "I have been given wisdom and insight into the world! New spells of untapped potential!"
"...Are you cuckoo or something?" asked the succubus with a bored look, "Then, again, you tried summoning a fiend. Definitely nuts."
"Alright, the wizard's gone mad," quipped Botan as she readied her bow, "Maybe we can capture him and turn him in?"
"As if I would be captured by ignoramuses like you!" he roared hatefully. Raising up his hands, he threw something out at them and shouted, "Arakan ar toa varkant!"
After a burst of silvery motes of light, a werewolf suddenly appeared in front of them. They gave them a single look before it howled and started to attack them.
"Hmph, fools. But if they can find me, others may try and find my secrets," the summoner mused as Polka leaped into a flying kick aimed at the summoned werewolf.
"Erm, hey, you still haven't told me if you need anything yet," spoke up the succubus as the werewolf remained standing and retaliated with a swipe of its sharp claws.
Polka was immediately downed after they sliced through her throat.
"Time to leave," he continued as he muttered an incantation to himself. A magic circle appeared under him and he disappeared in a flash.
"Grr, stupid wizard," growled out the succubus. Looking over to the fight, she shouted and slammed her fists at the barrier created by the circle, "Hey! Someone get me out of here!"
Meanwhile, Lamy immediately chanted a healing word to stop the bleeding and restore her throat. She then directed a frost ray at the shapechanger, who dodged out of the way.
"You will not win this day!" Nene shouted, directing the magic-laced words at the werewolf. After they got enveloped with a red aura, she ran over to the magic circle and asked, "Urm, you were asking for help?"
"Please can you help me get out?" pleaded the succubus, "That guy just summoned me and left me hanging here. I can't go back without completing his request."
Botan roared as she leaped on the werewolf in an attempt to wrestle it down, saying, "Get back! Let me handle this!" Polka immediately scurried away and only got to her feet once she was out of range.
"I guess I could… but can you swear not to attack us? And can you help us with that werewolf?" the bard asked.
The werewolf snapped at the lion girl in response but she held them back by the throat. Then, she pushed it back as it growled and snarled at her.
"Anything! I swear not to attack you. Just get me out please!" the succubus half yelled, sounding a little desperate.
The cleric quickly sent a frost ray into the werewolf's mouth. They yelped in pain and looked angrier than before.
"Alright, give me a moment," replied the bard as she studied the runes on the circle. She quickly identified the parts where she needed to rub off and got to work.
The fighter then extended her claws and swiped the werewolf's mouth. She then tried to wrestle and lock them in place but they were able to break out of the hold.
"Why can't we do anything to it? It's like, not even injured!" exclaimed Polka as her dart bounced off harmlessly against their fur. They then grabbed Botan by the arms and bit down on her shoulder, prompting her to scream in agony. They then relinquished their hold on the lion girl to avoid another ray of frost.
"And done! Now, please save my friends!" shouted Nene as she repeated her request.
"With pleasure!" stated the succubus loudly as she ran to the werewolf. She motioned them to come to her and said seductively, "Look into my eyes, big boy. I know what you truly desire."
The rabid lycanthrope suddenly stopped and stood still in a daze. "Alright, you can stop hitting it now. This one is under me now," she stated proudly.
"Botan! Are you alright!?" yelled the monk as she ran over to check the lion girl. Pulling out her healing potion and handing it to her, she continued, "Here, drink this."
"Ngh, fine enough," hissed the fighter as she gingerly touched the bite. As she took and downed the potion, she muttered, "...actually, I feel really, really hot all over."
"Huh… that doesn't sound good." muttered the succubus.
"...um, what's your name? I don't mean to be rude, since you helped us and all," asked the bard.
"Aloe Mano. And… I think your friend needs to see a healer. At least someone more skilled than her," she stated as she motioned to Lamy, "No offense."
"It is fine. I know I am limited as of now," accepted the half-snow elf, "But you are right. We have to get her to a healer. However, there is still the matter of the owlbear right outside this part of the cave."
"Ah… actually, I think I have a solution to that problem," stated Aloe as she glanced over to the werewolf.
Sounds of the fight grew lesser and lesser as the party and the succubus made their way to the entrance of the cave. In the open, the evening sun shone down on the Dead Forest.
"This place looks kind of dead," quipped Aloe.
"Not every place looks like this," replied Nene with a giggle, "Wait till we get to town."
"I'll hold you to it," the succubus said cheekily.
They hurried back to the town as fast as they could. The moment they reached the outskirts, she suddenly said, "I think I better hide myself. My elders told me that people won't look too kindly on us walking around in the open." She then slowly disappeared, smoking away from bottom to top. They then entered the town and sought out the town healer or the town herbalist.
"This is totally unexpected," the older woman muttered as she hurried around trying to gather up the ingredients needed for a makeshift cure, "I don't even know if I have enough belladonna for this." She then set the cauldron to boil and started adding different, colorful herbs into it.
"Well… I hope we can cure this," muttered the bard as she looked at Botan worriedly, who now looked a little pale right now.
"Hn… how about me and Nene wait here and you go tell the mayor what happened, Lamy," suggested Polka.
"I suppose we should tell him," nodded the cleric.
As she was doing so, the herbalist pulled a draught out of the cauldron and set it on the table to cool. She did this two more times and then told the others, "This will be quite painful. Belladonna is normally a poison, but ingested in small doses, is potent in countering lycanthropy. I do not have enough so I did my best to enhance the effect with other herbs. I do not know if they would be just as effective. One can only pray to the gods and hope for the best after this."
She then took the first draught, which had cooled enough, and handed it to the lion girl. She stared at it intently for a moment. "Ancestors watch over me," she muttered to herself and took the entire draught in one gulp.
"Now lie down," ordered the herbalist as she ushered her to the bed, "As tough as you are, it will weaken the body significantly. Not to mention you have to endure two more draughts."
"This is fine," she breathed out as she laid down. Turning to the others, she said tiredly with a weak smile, "Hey, you can wait for me at the inn. This could take a while."
"Stay strong," the monk told her as they acceded to her request.
"Heh, la-lion's strong," quipped the fighter as she fell asleep.
"How are you feeling?" asked Polka as the party met up the next morning.
"Ah… okay, I guess? It was quite painful," admitted Botan, "Still, I think it worked. But I guess we'll have to see the next full moon then."
"Anyway, request complete and reward taken. Let's get back to Rivirapolis," stated Nene cheerfully.
"Indeed," agreed Lamy.
Once again, they hired a cart to bring them back. It was a bright sunny day and so far, no bandits or goblins or anything in sight. Along the way, they introduced themselves to the succubus. Other than that, the journey was peaceful. And so, they reached the capital with very little trouble. Making their way back, they were greeted by Miyabi at the counter.
"Welcome back! So, the guild master wants to meet with you," he informed them.
"Eh? Why?" asked the bard, voicing everyone's surprise.
He shrugged and said, "I don't really know. He always meets everyone from time to time. He's waiting in the side room, by the way."
The party glanced at each other and shrugged. Entering the side room, they were met with a grey-haired man in rich, fashionable clothes seated at a table in the corner of the room.
"Hello, there. I am Lord Aruran Daiso. Please, have a seat," he greeted as he motioned to the chairs around the table. Respectfully, the party took their seats. Then, he said something surprising.
"Hmm, you can ask your succubus friend to come out as well," he suddenly said.
"Eh, what succubus friend?" asked the bard nervously.
"Please do not lie to me," the lord said as he steepled his fingers, the atmosphere suddenly turning menacing, "Especially me."
This stunned them. Almost immediately, Aloe stepped out of her etherealness and quickly sat at the table. Shaking like a leaf.
"Ah, wonderful," as he clapped once with a smile, the heavy sense of foreboding suddenly disappearing into thin air, "Right. Let's get down to business. So, you have been part of the guild for a few days now. How do you find it?"
"Erm, welcoming?"
"Good, good," he nodded with a smile at Polka's reply, "I do wish the guild to be a friendly place for adventurers to gather. The bond of comradery would spur on people to do miraculous things to protect and help one another." His smile then faded away and he took on a more serious approach, "Right, on to other things. What happened during the request? Why does your lion friend here feel strange?"
"Erm… well, it was like this," and Nene reported what happened during the quest, with additions and interjections from the others. The guild master sat there silently through all of it.
When they were down, he cleared his throat and said, "Well, this is unexpected. Hmm, first the summoner. It is possible he stumbled on a set of ancient spells that possibly no one should get a hold of. The question would be… who told him? His words mentioned a lord, but that could be anyone. To him, anyone or anything with sufficient power could be a lord."
His eyes then bore down on Botan, "The second concern. We need to make sure that the lycanthropy is either gone or suppressed. As well as the possibility of having the blacksmith craft some silvered restraints as a precaution."
The lion girl crossed her arms in front and muttered while looking away, "I'm sure I am cured."
"I rather have proper confirmation that just the words of a relatively new guild member," he rebutted calmly as he pushed his glasses up, "Fortune favors you as we have contacts with a few people who might be able to help. Some healers and druids."
"Can the druids go into the Feywild?" the fighter suddenly asked, her eyes taking on an eager gleam.
"I believe so?" stated the lord with a raised eyebrow.
"I have heard of the place from the tribe shaman," she muttered reverently, "I would like to go there and experience it myself. And perhaps, maybe learn something new I can bring back."
"I suppose I can arrange that," he replied confidently, leaving little room for doubt.
"Wow, you're going to a cool place," exclaimed her monk friend, "Don't worry, we'll wait for you to come back before we go on more requests."
"It would be good to have a break," admitted Lamy, "Taking time for communion would be nice."
"Ah, I'd like to meet our seniors and maybe learn something from them," said Nene.
"Same!" agreed the monk.
"Very good," declared Lord Daiso, "And now, number three. What do we do with your friend here?"
Aloe gulped when all eyes landed on her. "Erm… can't I stay with them?"
He shrugged as he leaned back into his chair and said, "Perhaps, while your friend here is gone for the time being. However, what would happen when she returns? The housing here is only for guild members only. Not to mention it would draw too much attention if you show up here as you are. While this may attract people, I rather have able bodies willing to work than nobodies seeking your hand for a one-night stand."
"Ah… true," she conceded in embarrassment, "Surely there could be a solution to this?"
A rather telling smile appeared on his face when he said, "Well, there is the city's resident demonologist."
"Oh, sounds good. I can move in with her after," she declared with a smirk.
"Then it is settled. Our meeting can adjourn for now," declared Lord Daiso, "I will introduce Risu to you and you can depart at her discretion. In the meantime, get to know your seniors. In the future, you may very well be working with them."
The new party cheered. Things were looking quite bright for them.
AN: Holo5 is complete.
Aloe Mano
Succubus in training
So, I have no idea how a succubus would have become a PC of equal level. After some finagling around, I ended up with a level 8 College of Glamour Bard with Toughness feat. Also, her stats except her wisdom and dexterity scores are the same as a normal succubus stat block. No telepathic bond. Instead of shapechanger, will rely on Disguise Self and Minor illusion. Lastly, she only has her elemental resistances.
Chapter 6
- Location
- Malaysia
Chapter 6
Things were bright indeed. Risu, a short but very cheeky squirrel girl, almost shook Botan's arm off when they first met. She then pretty much dragged her away to the southern forest to her druidic circle for whatever reason. In Lord Daiso's words, a possible location of a hidden portal to the Feywild.
Lamy spent her time at the healing temple. Taking part in good works was a relaxing thing for her and she especially got along well with the younger acolytes, who saw her as a motherly figure. This brought her closer to the divine and she received more favor, to which she was thankful for. She even took part in a celebration that was held every full moon. It was during that time she got to know of Iofi, master artist and leader of the local artisan's guild.
Nene got to know her bardic seniors. Izuru and Rikka, the lute duo. Doris, mermaid triton and Artia's friend, plays the lyre. And then Moona, flute player and Risu's friend, surprisingly enough. She was taken aback when the duo told her Kira was also a bard, but not a practicing one, who preferred to play the bagpipes to annoy and prank all the other bards in the guild. She was entranced by how much they knew and tried her best to commit everything they told her to memory.
Polka spent her time sparing with the guild master. After revealing that he too was a practitioner of the martial arts, she chased after him to get him to mentor her. At first, he refused and this made her somewhat depressed as mentors such as these were hard to find outside monasteries or temples. That same day, she got drunk and then challenged him, who happened to be at Robel for dinner. It amused him to no end and the next day, he promised to teach her a few things when she got over her hangover.
Aloe spent her time trying to get to know her new friends. While a bit hesitant since she was a fiend, she began to enjoy their company. For once, she had begun to feel a sense of normalcy in her life. The Nine Hells is an ultra-competitive, backstab-happy place. Here, she could just… relax. She liked it. It didn't help with her becoming a better succubus, but she liked it.
Eventually, five days went by like nothing. Botan came back to the guild house on the sixth day. With a frown. She had green tribal markings over her face and her chain mail was decorated with flowers. She headed for the side room and found her party there.
Polka took one look at her, did a spit-take, and said, "Oh my gods, what happened to you?"
"Last day prank by the squirrel," she grumbled as she sat down at the table. As the other party members leaned in to her, she then gave them a weak smile and said, "Well, I'm sort of clear."
"Meaning?" pressed on Lamy.
"Well, the lycanthropy thing isn't doing anything to me," she explained, "I mean, they've never seen Gekko people contract anything like this. Full moon a few days ago? Nothing happened. It's like… it's asleep."
"Oh, oh, maybe your lion blood is sitting on it," quipped the succubus.
She chuckled and said, "Maybe. In any case, I don't have to be chained up or whatever. I'm fine."
"Ha! In that case, let's celebrate with a quest," cheered Nene. The others cheered as well and they walked over to the request board. She picked a random one and brought it over for Miyabi.
"Hmm, are you sure you want to do this?" the clerk asked as he narrowed his eyes. Getting nods all around, he shrugged and said, "Do you know where you hunt giant toads?"
Shaking heads.
"In the swamps."
Cringing faces.
"And it's also crocodile mating season, so there will be a high chance of meeting one," he explained further, "So unless you get lucky and one decides to hop out of the swamp and on the road, I highly doubt you will be able to just find one giant toad. Not to mention you have to hack off their legs."
"Even if you say that… we are still gonna do it," insisted the lion girl, "If it's a challenging one, even better."
A wry smile appeared on his face as he replied, "Very well. Don't say I didn't warn you."
The party found themselves outside a tavern right outside the swamp. Called the Toad's Stool, it was set up to house travelers passing through the swamp.
"Alright, so some giant toads were sighted nearby but they have been known to swim deeper in the swamp. So… anyone having second thoughts?" asked Nene as she came out.
"If we did, we wouldn't be here," said Botan with a confident grin.
"Hng… as long as I don't fall in, I'll be fine," muttered Polka as she looked at the swampy water with dread.
"We might have to wade in. Who knows when we could find a giant toad?" stated Lamy, prompting a groan from the monk.
"Well, I'll be disappearing now. I'll let you know if there's anything ahead," Aloe told them as she popped into the Ethereal Plane.
"Alright, let's go. The bartender told me about a path that could get us near the toads," said the bard as she motioned them to follow, "The sooner we do this… well, Polka doesn't need to wash out so much swamp out of her hair."
"Please don't remind me!" pleaded the monk as the rest followed after.
They followed the path for a while but when it reached late afternoon the path had disappeared and they were now trudging through soggy marsh with lots of water pockets everywhere. They dare not take a chance of stepping in them for fear of being deeper than expected. Everywhere they went, water seemed to seep out of the ground and the level slowly rose until it went past their feet while still being below their knees.
"Where in the world are those giant toads..." grumbled Polka as she glanced around. Everyone was doing the same, trying to keep an eye out for crocodiles.
"I'm sure we will find one soon," assured Nene as she pushed a branch away. Only, she noticed an eye open and blinked at her. A reptilian eye.
"Croc!" she shouted as a large jaw lunged and snapped empty air a hair's breadth away. An arrow whistled over its head while a dart pierced through its thick hide. More crocs lunged out of the water after Botan and Lamy, who dodged, while the one that started this off clamped its jaws on the bard's leg. Two more appeared, coming from another pool of water and were scrambling after the party.
"Get off," she shouted as she kicked its nose, prompting it to let go, and then stabbed the same part with her rapier.
"Woohoo!" she heard Aloe whooping. Glancing to her side, she saw the succubus landing while clawing the croc that was attacking Lamy. She then flew up into the air, hovering above its snapping jaws.
"Good idea!" cheered Polka as the monk suddenly jumped on the croc she was battling, landing with both feet. Jumping off the side, she then punched it in the side of the head. It writhed for a few seconds and then lay still in the swamp water.
The crocs continued to attack, all of them converging on the cleric's position. The half-snow elf was a tough girl; smacking crocs in the nose and the head with her shield, she was able to get them to release their hold and retaliate with her mace. Aloe struck from the air and always danced away from getting bitten. Botan was able to get away from the front and shot arrows on the beasts. Nene just kept up the pace, getting in with Lamy and stabbing the crocs in the side. One by one, the crocs were taken care of.
As the last one died, courtesy of getting brained by the cleric, she said, "Is everyone alright?"
"We're alright… what about you? You got bitten so many times," asked the bard with concern.
"...I just got bitten twice," she deadpanned as she uncorked her healing potion and downed it.
"Hmm, I wish we could bring these crocodiles back to sell off," muttered the fighter.
"Aah, bad enough we have to hunt giant toads," groaned the monk, "Please don't drag crocs back to the city too."
"Hmm, oh well, the toad's legs would be heavy enough," mused the lion girl, dropping the matter entirely.
"Well, I'll be disappearing now. Before you got attacked though, I did notice a few toads to the south. Try searching there," pointed out the succubus before going back to the Ethereal Plane.
They continued on their search for the giant toads in the directed area. Luckily, it didn't take long for them to hear loud croaking. In the distance, they spotted two giant toads on a small island south of their position. Slowly, they got nearer, just outside their jumping range, hidden by the brush.
"So… how do you want to do this?" asked Nene.
"Well, I can use one of my new arrow enchantments," spoke up Botan as she pulled one from her quiver.
"Ooh, sounds cool," whispered Polka in awe.
"Alright. Whenever you're ready," agreed the bard as the rest of the party gave the fighter some space.
The lion girl took a deep breath and nocked the arrow. Quietly muttering some arcane chant, the arrow took on a silvery sheen centered around the head. She released and the arrow flew true and lodged in its head. The sheen exploded and the toads flinched. Their heads swiveled straight for her. Nene took this chance to throw her dagger. As the toads moved and hopped towards them, the dagger sank into the slimy flesh. Polka's dart missed, just as more crocs suddenly burst out of the swamp water.
"I think your arrow attracted more than just toads!" shouted the monk worriedly as Lamy grasped her amulet and called for blessings upon them.
Aloe joined in the fight as well, repeating what she did in the previous battle. "Ugh, this is just ew," she exclaimed as she flew up after sinking her claws in a toad's skin.
"Firing another one," shouted the fighter as she retreated back and shot another silvery arrow. It struck the toad's leg and as the sheen exploded, the area around it indented and warped as the force exploded outwards, slamming into both toads and one of the crocodiles.
Not to be deterred, both toads caught up to them, biting down on Lamy and Polka. The monk managed to wrench her arm free and pummeled the offending beast in the stomach a few times before somersaulting away. Meanwhile, the crocs got distracted, more than half of their number converging over the hovering succubus while the remaining one went after the cleric. The half-snow elf slammed her mace into the battered toad's head and ran to rejoin the party as the large beast fell over backward.
Aloe, unperturbed by the crocodiles, flew over and killed the one that went ahead. Flying back into the air, she warned, "There's three more crocs here. Better kill that toad fast."
"We are!" retorted Botan as she sent a normal shot at the remaining toad, the projectile sinking in its face. The Nene's rapier sank in its stomach next and finally, Polka ended it when her punch went into the same point, killing it as she ripped her fist out. At the same moment, Lamy sent a frost ray at the approaching crocodiles.
"Alright! Let's finish this!" cheered on the succubus as she made hurried swipes which missed as she flew past the crocs.
The fighter let loose another bursting arrow that blasted the reptiles with intense pressure. The bard and monk charged forward, the rapier piercing one in the head and the other getting a foot slammed into it. The fennec fox girl continued, the momentum swinging her body forward as she drove her other foot into the last croc. The cleric finished it off with a ray of frost, the reptile getting frosted over from inside and out.
"Yahoo! We did it!" exclaimed Polka happily.
She then yelped in pain when Lamy smacked her on the head and scolded, "You almost died to a toad, silly fox." Aloe just giggled.
"Here, drink this," said Nene as she offered the last healing potion as the monk muttered her apologies and thanks.
"Hey, when you're done, start helping me figure out how to bring these toad's legs out of the swamp," called out Botan as she began her cursory examination of the bodies.
After a brief discussion, the fighter cut through the meat and exposed the joint between the body and the leg, making use of the bard's dagger. Then, the cleric will freeze the joint until they could shatter it. Afterwards, it was a matter of tying up the legs and picking out a sturdy branch out of the swamp to carry them with. Botan and Nene ended up being chosen to carry their spoils; three legs, as the one that the fighter shot was too damaged by the wound, or so she said.
"I hope we can make it back to the swamp-side tavern before the sun disappears on us," said the bard as they hefted the branch up, "It's already evening."
"I hope so too," admitted the fighter, "I wouldn't want to be caught here at night."
"Stop, there's danger up ahead," warned Aloe as she popped out of etherealness, "There's a group of crocodiles up ahead. A few of them are fighting. I'm guessing mating stuff."
"Huh, so is there a way around?" asked Lamy.
"Luckily, I checked before coming back, so there is," the succubus informed them, "Going around the left side will take us near the edge of the swamp… but we will have to go through a crocodile nesting area. Going around the right will bring us near a moderately webbed area. I couldn't tell how many or what sort of spiders are there, but I would expect the worst as well."
Both didn't seem like very good options. However, the spider route seemed the least harmful, so they went with that. That brought the question of dealing with the spiders. It was decided that they try to toe the precarious line of going between where the spiders could sense them and the crocodiles would be attracted to them. Both were not favorable, but they were a lot more willing to take on giant spiders than a pack of crocodiles. So, to the left path they went. It took awhile and the sun sank lower and lower. It was late evening, a time where some creatures become more active. That included spiders.
It was Nene that thought she heard some rustling from some nearby trees. She shushed the party and motioned to walk quietly. Then, Polka also heard the faint rustling of leaves and whispered out a warning. They slowly dropped their spoils and drew their armaments warily, preparing for a fight.
Another shudder shook a tree. The fighter and the bard reacted first, the burst arrow and the dagger going into different trees. Very loud chittering came out from them as the blast shook some spiders out of them. The battle was only beginning.
AN: In this chapter, three of our friends get their sub-classes
After some chatting time with her senpai, Nene delves into Lore.
Nene Momosuzu
Lore Bard
To be honest, I had no idea what to put her in. Her streams are funny, endearing, and full of funny sketches that she drew herself imo, so she gave me a jack-of-all-trades vibe and knowing many different things. Especially converting everyone into new husbands.
After some time in the Feywild, Botan learns some magic to incorporate in her archery.
Botan Shishiro
Arcane Archer
Bursting arrow = grenade. Poi all the way.
Poka becomes even more of a clown than before
Polka Omaru
Drunken Master Monk
Yeah, Drunken Master monk. I would take inspiration from actor Jackie Chan and his movies. Hilarious, acrobatic-styled martial arts. Not to mention the idea of getting Monk+Entertainer background fits a circus girl like her.
Things were bright indeed. Risu, a short but very cheeky squirrel girl, almost shook Botan's arm off when they first met. She then pretty much dragged her away to the southern forest to her druidic circle for whatever reason. In Lord Daiso's words, a possible location of a hidden portal to the Feywild.
Lamy spent her time at the healing temple. Taking part in good works was a relaxing thing for her and she especially got along well with the younger acolytes, who saw her as a motherly figure. This brought her closer to the divine and she received more favor, to which she was thankful for. She even took part in a celebration that was held every full moon. It was during that time she got to know of Iofi, master artist and leader of the local artisan's guild.
Nene got to know her bardic seniors. Izuru and Rikka, the lute duo. Doris, mermaid triton and Artia's friend, plays the lyre. And then Moona, flute player and Risu's friend, surprisingly enough. She was taken aback when the duo told her Kira was also a bard, but not a practicing one, who preferred to play the bagpipes to annoy and prank all the other bards in the guild. She was entranced by how much they knew and tried her best to commit everything they told her to memory.
Polka spent her time sparing with the guild master. After revealing that he too was a practitioner of the martial arts, she chased after him to get him to mentor her. At first, he refused and this made her somewhat depressed as mentors such as these were hard to find outside monasteries or temples. That same day, she got drunk and then challenged him, who happened to be at Robel for dinner. It amused him to no end and the next day, he promised to teach her a few things when she got over her hangover.
Aloe spent her time trying to get to know her new friends. While a bit hesitant since she was a fiend, she began to enjoy their company. For once, she had begun to feel a sense of normalcy in her life. The Nine Hells is an ultra-competitive, backstab-happy place. Here, she could just… relax. She liked it. It didn't help with her becoming a better succubus, but she liked it.
Eventually, five days went by like nothing. Botan came back to the guild house on the sixth day. With a frown. She had green tribal markings over her face and her chain mail was decorated with flowers. She headed for the side room and found her party there.
Polka took one look at her, did a spit-take, and said, "Oh my gods, what happened to you?"
"Last day prank by the squirrel," she grumbled as she sat down at the table. As the other party members leaned in to her, she then gave them a weak smile and said, "Well, I'm sort of clear."
"Meaning?" pressed on Lamy.
"Well, the lycanthropy thing isn't doing anything to me," she explained, "I mean, they've never seen Gekko people contract anything like this. Full moon a few days ago? Nothing happened. It's like… it's asleep."
"Oh, oh, maybe your lion blood is sitting on it," quipped the succubus.
She chuckled and said, "Maybe. In any case, I don't have to be chained up or whatever. I'm fine."
"Ha! In that case, let's celebrate with a quest," cheered Nene. The others cheered as well and they walked over to the request board. She picked a random one and brought it over for Miyabi.
"Hmm, are you sure you want to do this?" the clerk asked as he narrowed his eyes. Getting nods all around, he shrugged and said, "Do you know where you hunt giant toads?"
Shaking heads.
"In the swamps."
Cringing faces.
"And it's also crocodile mating season, so there will be a high chance of meeting one," he explained further, "So unless you get lucky and one decides to hop out of the swamp and on the road, I highly doubt you will be able to just find one giant toad. Not to mention you have to hack off their legs."
"Even if you say that… we are still gonna do it," insisted the lion girl, "If it's a challenging one, even better."
A wry smile appeared on his face as he replied, "Very well. Don't say I didn't warn you."
The party found themselves outside a tavern right outside the swamp. Called the Toad's Stool, it was set up to house travelers passing through the swamp.
"Alright, so some giant toads were sighted nearby but they have been known to swim deeper in the swamp. So… anyone having second thoughts?" asked Nene as she came out.
"If we did, we wouldn't be here," said Botan with a confident grin.
"Hng… as long as I don't fall in, I'll be fine," muttered Polka as she looked at the swampy water with dread.
"We might have to wade in. Who knows when we could find a giant toad?" stated Lamy, prompting a groan from the monk.
"Well, I'll be disappearing now. I'll let you know if there's anything ahead," Aloe told them as she popped into the Ethereal Plane.
"Alright, let's go. The bartender told me about a path that could get us near the toads," said the bard as she motioned them to follow, "The sooner we do this… well, Polka doesn't need to wash out so much swamp out of her hair."
"Please don't remind me!" pleaded the monk as the rest followed after.
They followed the path for a while but when it reached late afternoon the path had disappeared and they were now trudging through soggy marsh with lots of water pockets everywhere. They dare not take a chance of stepping in them for fear of being deeper than expected. Everywhere they went, water seemed to seep out of the ground and the level slowly rose until it went past their feet while still being below their knees.
"Where in the world are those giant toads..." grumbled Polka as she glanced around. Everyone was doing the same, trying to keep an eye out for crocodiles.
"I'm sure we will find one soon," assured Nene as she pushed a branch away. Only, she noticed an eye open and blinked at her. A reptilian eye.
"Croc!" she shouted as a large jaw lunged and snapped empty air a hair's breadth away. An arrow whistled over its head while a dart pierced through its thick hide. More crocs lunged out of the water after Botan and Lamy, who dodged, while the one that started this off clamped its jaws on the bard's leg. Two more appeared, coming from another pool of water and were scrambling after the party.
"Get off," she shouted as she kicked its nose, prompting it to let go, and then stabbed the same part with her rapier.
"Woohoo!" she heard Aloe whooping. Glancing to her side, she saw the succubus landing while clawing the croc that was attacking Lamy. She then flew up into the air, hovering above its snapping jaws.
"Good idea!" cheered Polka as the monk suddenly jumped on the croc she was battling, landing with both feet. Jumping off the side, she then punched it in the side of the head. It writhed for a few seconds and then lay still in the swamp water.
The crocs continued to attack, all of them converging on the cleric's position. The half-snow elf was a tough girl; smacking crocs in the nose and the head with her shield, she was able to get them to release their hold and retaliate with her mace. Aloe struck from the air and always danced away from getting bitten. Botan was able to get away from the front and shot arrows on the beasts. Nene just kept up the pace, getting in with Lamy and stabbing the crocs in the side. One by one, the crocs were taken care of.
As the last one died, courtesy of getting brained by the cleric, she said, "Is everyone alright?"
"We're alright… what about you? You got bitten so many times," asked the bard with concern.
"...I just got bitten twice," she deadpanned as she uncorked her healing potion and downed it.
"Hmm, I wish we could bring these crocodiles back to sell off," muttered the fighter.
"Aah, bad enough we have to hunt giant toads," groaned the monk, "Please don't drag crocs back to the city too."
"Hmm, oh well, the toad's legs would be heavy enough," mused the lion girl, dropping the matter entirely.
"Well, I'll be disappearing now. Before you got attacked though, I did notice a few toads to the south. Try searching there," pointed out the succubus before going back to the Ethereal Plane.
They continued on their search for the giant toads in the directed area. Luckily, it didn't take long for them to hear loud croaking. In the distance, they spotted two giant toads on a small island south of their position. Slowly, they got nearer, just outside their jumping range, hidden by the brush.
"So… how do you want to do this?" asked Nene.
"Well, I can use one of my new arrow enchantments," spoke up Botan as she pulled one from her quiver.
"Ooh, sounds cool," whispered Polka in awe.
"Alright. Whenever you're ready," agreed the bard as the rest of the party gave the fighter some space.
The lion girl took a deep breath and nocked the arrow. Quietly muttering some arcane chant, the arrow took on a silvery sheen centered around the head. She released and the arrow flew true and lodged in its head. The sheen exploded and the toads flinched. Their heads swiveled straight for her. Nene took this chance to throw her dagger. As the toads moved and hopped towards them, the dagger sank into the slimy flesh. Polka's dart missed, just as more crocs suddenly burst out of the swamp water.
"I think your arrow attracted more than just toads!" shouted the monk worriedly as Lamy grasped her amulet and called for blessings upon them.
Aloe joined in the fight as well, repeating what she did in the previous battle. "Ugh, this is just ew," she exclaimed as she flew up after sinking her claws in a toad's skin.
"Firing another one," shouted the fighter as she retreated back and shot another silvery arrow. It struck the toad's leg and as the sheen exploded, the area around it indented and warped as the force exploded outwards, slamming into both toads and one of the crocodiles.
Not to be deterred, both toads caught up to them, biting down on Lamy and Polka. The monk managed to wrench her arm free and pummeled the offending beast in the stomach a few times before somersaulting away. Meanwhile, the crocs got distracted, more than half of their number converging over the hovering succubus while the remaining one went after the cleric. The half-snow elf slammed her mace into the battered toad's head and ran to rejoin the party as the large beast fell over backward.
Aloe, unperturbed by the crocodiles, flew over and killed the one that went ahead. Flying back into the air, she warned, "There's three more crocs here. Better kill that toad fast."
"We are!" retorted Botan as she sent a normal shot at the remaining toad, the projectile sinking in its face. The Nene's rapier sank in its stomach next and finally, Polka ended it when her punch went into the same point, killing it as she ripped her fist out. At the same moment, Lamy sent a frost ray at the approaching crocodiles.
"Alright! Let's finish this!" cheered on the succubus as she made hurried swipes which missed as she flew past the crocs.
The fighter let loose another bursting arrow that blasted the reptiles with intense pressure. The bard and monk charged forward, the rapier piercing one in the head and the other getting a foot slammed into it. The fennec fox girl continued, the momentum swinging her body forward as she drove her other foot into the last croc. The cleric finished it off with a ray of frost, the reptile getting frosted over from inside and out.
"Yahoo! We did it!" exclaimed Polka happily.
She then yelped in pain when Lamy smacked her on the head and scolded, "You almost died to a toad, silly fox." Aloe just giggled.
"Here, drink this," said Nene as she offered the last healing potion as the monk muttered her apologies and thanks.
"Hey, when you're done, start helping me figure out how to bring these toad's legs out of the swamp," called out Botan as she began her cursory examination of the bodies.
After a brief discussion, the fighter cut through the meat and exposed the joint between the body and the leg, making use of the bard's dagger. Then, the cleric will freeze the joint until they could shatter it. Afterwards, it was a matter of tying up the legs and picking out a sturdy branch out of the swamp to carry them with. Botan and Nene ended up being chosen to carry their spoils; three legs, as the one that the fighter shot was too damaged by the wound, or so she said.
"I hope we can make it back to the swamp-side tavern before the sun disappears on us," said the bard as they hefted the branch up, "It's already evening."
"I hope so too," admitted the fighter, "I wouldn't want to be caught here at night."
"Stop, there's danger up ahead," warned Aloe as she popped out of etherealness, "There's a group of crocodiles up ahead. A few of them are fighting. I'm guessing mating stuff."
"Huh, so is there a way around?" asked Lamy.
"Luckily, I checked before coming back, so there is," the succubus informed them, "Going around the left side will take us near the edge of the swamp… but we will have to go through a crocodile nesting area. Going around the right will bring us near a moderately webbed area. I couldn't tell how many or what sort of spiders are there, but I would expect the worst as well."
Both didn't seem like very good options. However, the spider route seemed the least harmful, so they went with that. That brought the question of dealing with the spiders. It was decided that they try to toe the precarious line of going between where the spiders could sense them and the crocodiles would be attracted to them. Both were not favorable, but they were a lot more willing to take on giant spiders than a pack of crocodiles. So, to the left path they went. It took awhile and the sun sank lower and lower. It was late evening, a time where some creatures become more active. That included spiders.
It was Nene that thought she heard some rustling from some nearby trees. She shushed the party and motioned to walk quietly. Then, Polka also heard the faint rustling of leaves and whispered out a warning. They slowly dropped their spoils and drew their armaments warily, preparing for a fight.
Another shudder shook a tree. The fighter and the bard reacted first, the burst arrow and the dagger going into different trees. Very loud chittering came out from them as the blast shook some spiders out of them. The battle was only beginning.
AN: In this chapter, three of our friends get their sub-classes
After some chatting time with her senpai, Nene delves into Lore.
Nene Momosuzu
Lore Bard
To be honest, I had no idea what to put her in. Her streams are funny, endearing, and full of funny sketches that she drew herself imo, so she gave me a jack-of-all-trades vibe and knowing many different things. Especially converting everyone into new husbands.
After some time in the Feywild, Botan learns some magic to incorporate in her archery.
Botan Shishiro
Arcane Archer
Bursting arrow = grenade. Poi all the way.
Poka becomes even more of a clown than before
Polka Omaru
Drunken Master Monk
Yeah, Drunken Master monk. I would take inspiration from actor Jackie Chan and his movies. Hilarious, acrobatic-styled martial arts. Not to mention the idea of getting Monk+Entertainer background fits a circus girl like her.
Last edited:
Chapter 7
- Location
- Malaysia
Chapter 7
"Make this quick or there might be more!" called out Aloe as she swooped down on one giant wolf spider as Lamy beseeched her goddess for more blessings.
This didn't exactly happen. Instead, the problem was the paralytic poison that the spiders use. And when they came at the party en masse, the ones in front got the brunt of it. Lamy and Nene were the first two to collapse under the spider venom. It didn't help that the giant spiders in the trees started shooting globs of webbing at the surviving members.
"Argh," yelped Polka as her legs got entangled by the webbing.
Feeling that her burst arrow wouldn't do well in this situation, Botan leaped into the fray, clawing and scratching the giant wolf spiders. Aloe continued to swoop down from the air, her dive bombing becoming very effective against them. Two of the giant wolf spiders were taken out, the other two moved on to attack the fighter and the monk. Then, one of the giant spiders in the tree dropped to the ground and started crawling over to them, while the other continued trying to hit the flying succubus with its webbing.
"Gah! Go away!" the monk shouted as she punched the spider biting her into the water. The fighter roared as she tried killing off the last giant wolf spider with the succubus' help. While the other spider dropped down to skitter over, the first one to drop down joined in the fight and attacked her.
Polka squirmed as she tried to get out of the webbing but failed. Meanwhile, Botan finished off the giant wolf spider and tried taking on the giant spider that attacked her, but it sank its fangs into her neck and paralyzed her as well.
"Botan!" shouted the monk as she punched the other giant spider in the face, smashing past the carapace and through the top of its head. As it writhed for a few seconds before collapsing, she renewed her attempts to escape the webbing.
"Watch out, Polka," shouted Aloe as she did another dive by.
The monk listened and twisted out of the way from the giant spider's fangs. Luckily, that twist was the needed leverage for her to rip herself away from the webs and in her renewed fervor, slammed a flurry of blows on its face. They traded blows while Aloe kept up clawing its back and abdomen sections. They went on for several bouts, with very few punches landing as it kept twisting around and splitting its attention between trying to web down the succubus and biting her, Eventually, after a grueling slog, Aloe landed the final blow as she got in between its legs and dug deep enough for her claws to perforate something important. As she flew to the sky, it thrashed around for a moment before flipping on its back and dying.
Polka let out a sigh of relief as she fell on her back, the soft ground minorly cushioning her drop. Meanwhile, the succubus checked on the others and was relieved to find that they were still alive, albeit with shallow breaths.
"Ha... that was too much!" the monk groaned out loud, "I wanna get out of the swamp already! No more crocs! No more spiders! Argh!"
"Quiet down and help me carry them," the succubus hissed at her, "You want to attract more spiders?"
She carried the toad's legs and Nene while the monk carried Lamy and Botan, over their shoulders. This slowed them down quite a bit, as Aloe was not used to this, and the cleric's and fighter's armor were quite heavy. It was now twilight and it was getting very hard to see. They did eventually find the path, thanks to the succubus, but they still had a ways to go before reaching the tavern. It was then they noticed a strange ethereal glow appearing in the middle of the path.
"Oh, for crying out loud, why am I not surprised?" groaned Aloe.
"...Ah. Is it a ghost or something?" asked Polka, a shiver going down her spine.
"Well, I would expect a lot of careless people dying here," the former muttered as they got closer.
The ghost had long, beautiful hair and would have looked quite beautiful when she was alive. Her clothes were ragged and torn, a large chunk of her side missing as if bitten by a crocodile. She noticed the party and floated over. Her solid white orbs in her eye sockets looked them over and pointed to the side of the path. The two conscious party members looked at each other in confusion.
"Urm, are you asking for help?" asked the monk.
The ghost opened her mouth and a very faint, whispery voice came out, Barely anything could be made out except, "...help..."
The two looked at each other again. Aloe shrugged. Polka decided to see what the ghost needed help with and carefully placed Botan and Lamy on the ground before heading in the direction pointed out by the ghost. She then floated over a point in the swamp and looked at the monk. She made a face but still waded out to the ghost. She was a little surprised when her foot bumped into something. Reaching down with both hands, she was a little horrified to feel a skeleton down in the muck. She looked up and noticed the ghost nodding. Continuing to feel around, she felt something metal around the hand bones. Taking it off the finger bone, she pulled it out and under the green strands of plant matter, she could see a silver band gleaming under the ghost's glow.
"Is this yours?" she asked softly, looking at the ghost in the eyes. She got a nod.
"...return...it...Martin..."
She looked down at the ring, sadness and pity welling up in her heart. "Alright. I can help with this," she answered the ghost. In response, she received a smile coupled with a peaceful look before the ghost faded away.
Nodding while successfully holding back her tears, she waded back to the path. To her surprise, she found out that the spider venom had run its course and the party was no longer paralyzed.
"No more swamp missions please," pleaded Lamy, looking quite miserable, "I can still feel them walking over me."
"Okay..." conceded Nene as she grabbed her aching head.
"Grr," growled Botan as she punched the ground, "That was pitiful." She then bowed to them and declared, "I am sorry for my disappointing skills. I swear to become better than this."
"Erm, please get up. There's no need for this," replied Aloe as she pulled the lion girl to her feet, "It's spider venom. You can exactly fight something natural like that."
"Hng, I still wish I could have protected you all better," the fighter admitted.
"Well, you're still alive. We're still alive," said the bard assuringly, "As long as we are still alive, we can always improve and do better. Then, we can show the world what we can really do."
This stunned the fighter for a moment. Then she smiled, "That's true. Thanks, Nene."
"Yeah, that was a good speech," agreed the succubus. The cleric nodded in agreement.
"Yup. Now, let's get out of this swamp! I want a bath!" exclaimed the monk.
As they made their way out of the swamp, Polka informed them about her experience with the ghost. After discussing where to find this Martin character, they arrived at the tavern. The owner somewhat complained about the smell but he told them that there was a woodcutter that sometimes visits the tavern to drink. He lived right next to the east gate of the capital so they couldn't miss it. Thanking him, they made their way back to the city. Thankfully, their torches and the tinderbox didn't get wet, so they made good use of one. With the combined efforts, they made their way back and decided to split up.
Polka and Lamy ended up in front of the woodcutter's door. Knocking several times, a bearded man opened up and drawled, "What'd ya want? Gods… ya stink..."
"Erm, we found this in the swamp earlier..." said Polka as she held out her hand with the silver band.
The man stared at it for a moment before his eyes widened in recognition. "How'd ya find this?" he asked in a hushed tone, carefully picking it up and staring at it intently.
"Er… you might not believe us, but your wife showed us..." she muttered in reply.
The man blinked as he stared at her. The two began to feel uncomfortable when he suddenly hugged them, "Thank you. One day, she went out picking mushrooms as usual and never came back. Now I know. Thank you. Thank you."
The monk didn't know what else to do except return the hug. Soon, he released his hold and said, "Please, wait here." He turned to go inside and they could hear him rummaging for something. After a while, he came back with a small sphere of thick glass and handed it to her, "Here, she may not make use of this anymore. I think… and hope... you can put this to better use than having it collect dust in my home."
"Hmm, what does it do?" asked Lamy, breaking her silence.
"Say 'shine' and then 'float' to make it work," he informed them, then he explained with pride, "My wife used to be a cartographer before she settled down. She helped to map out the entire eastern farmlands, you know? Knew every single nook and cranny." Then, his eyes looked forlorn and he said, "Well, thank you for this. Goodbye." And he closed the door.
The two walked away from the house without a word and headed back to the guild house.
"That was a nice thing you did," stated Lamy, "You helped to give him closure when he could not find any."
"Yeah. I'm glad to have helped," Polka replied with a grin.
Meeting up with the others, they took turns taking their baths before going across the road to have a grand dinner at Robel's. Filled and happy, they turned in for the night, knowing they survived to wake up to another day.
Today, they found themselves at the school. Artia had come to find them and asked them to see her teacher, Rushia. They decided to split up again; Botan and Polka retrieving the stuffed head while the others met with the teacher. Thus, the remaining three found themselves outside her class. The door was then opened and several students in robes filed out of the class. As the last one stepped away, they leaned in to peek through the doorway.
"Ah, you're here. Please enter!"
Now it was their turn to file in.
"Hello again. The lion girl isn't with you today?" the pink-haired wizard asked as she sat down at her table and crossed her legs.
"Ah, she went to get her trophy today with Polka," explained Nene.
"And what of your new friend?" she asked.
Aloe curtsied and said, "My name is Aloe Mano. I only recently joined. Please take care of me."
"I see… well, back to business. I would like to hire your team to retrieve some things," she requested as she picked up a large piece of paper and handed it to them, "The instructions are here as well as a small map of the place."
The bard took it and read through it at a glance. "Hmm, west of the city?" she murmured.
"I used to live there," she added, surprising everyone, "I had to leave many books behind. I want you and your team to retrieve them."
"Ah… I see," mused Nene, "Alright, sure. We'll do it. Although… why didn't you put this through the guild?"
"Hmm, I rather ask for help from people I've met face to face," she admitted as she shrugged, "Perhaps if you give me a good impression, I might consider sending my future requests to the guild."
"And what about Artia?" pressed on the bard.
"She still studies here. Very hardworking girl," she praised, "However, that leaves her very little time to do other things, like go out and experience the world. Perhaps in time, she would, but for now, leave her be. She will do it when she feels she's ready. Perhaps you can coax her out of her shell."
"Alright… do you need the books immediately?" Nene asked.
"Hmm… no, not really. You can do it if you should find the time," she stated, "I do hope it will be done by the end of the year though."
"Okay. Thank you for the request. We will get it done as soon as we are able," promised the bard before leaving the class.
"Well, I certainly hope so," she replied as they left the room. "I certainly hope so," she repeated again as her thoughts went back to a certain iron flask back in her house.
"Wow, it looks amazing," Nene exclaimed as the team met back at the guild house. The lion head looked majestically over its new domain; the side room.
"Hi, hi, isn't it?" asked Botan rhetorically, grinning from ear to ear, "Too bad we didn't get that owlbear head. Oh well, maybe we'd get something else."
"BOTAN!"
A short figure leaped onto the lion girl, causing her to fall flat on the floor. "RISU!" she yelled.
"Hi, hi," giggled the squirrel girl as she leaped off. Turning to address the rest of the party, she introduced herself jovially, "Hello, I am Risu the dream druid. You must be Botan's friends." Suddenly, a hand pulls her by the ear.
"Risu, are you pranking people again?" asked a purple-haired girl with faintly-glowing eyes. She wore a black and white costume dress. If one looks a little more closely, you could see a galaxy of stars in her hair.
"Eeh, no, no, no, Moona. I am not. Let go please!" she pleaded, getting all teary-eyed.
The glamour bard sighed and released her hold, the squirrel girl rubbing her sore ear. "Sorry for that. This over-excitable child is hard to control sometimes."
"...it's fine," groaned the archer as she picked herself up.
"Mmm, let us do a request together," she suggested suddenly, "As compensation."
The party looked at each other for a moment. Then, Nene asked, "What do you have in mind?"
"Ah… alright, seems easy enough," mused Nene.
The request in question was a hunt for a pack of saber-toothed tigers spotted in the forest. They had to travel to a village south of the capital and meet the village leader there. So now, they found themselves walking down the road to Solena, the village that sent out the request. It was a calm, peaceful, late morning. They hired a cart and reached the village with very little trouble. Then, while Nene went to meet with the village head, Lamy spent time chanting and waving her hands over Risu, Moona, and Polka.
"There. Hopefully, the goddess' blessing protects you," she stated as she finished.
"I believe with you and Risu, we will surely survive whatever obstacle gets in our way," the aasimar bard replied confidently.
"I'll be sure not to let you down," the half-snow elf answered with a smile.
"Alright, everyone, let's go!" called out Nene as she approached, "The head said the pack was sighted east from here. The lead hunter of the village was also there and he mentioned that there were four sets of prints."
"Hmm, I think we can take on four," mused Botan, who then smirked, "Ah, another chance for a trophy."
"I think you're the only one who is set on trophies," snarked Polka with a matching smirk.
"They represent our crowning achievements. Of course I'm set on them," defended the lion girl.
"Okay, enough arguing. Let's go hunt some saber-tooths," urged on the lore bard, "...or do you call them saber-teeth?"
"Pretty sure it's saber-tooths," replied the glamour bard as they followed after her, Aloe popping into the Ethereal Plane first.
The moment the party stepped into the forest, Risu took point and led them through the forest.
AN: This chapter, we add two more Holomems to the mix. All the way from HoloID.
Risu Ayunda
Squirrel Beastfolk
Circle of the Dream Druid
A very tricky and cheeky druid who likes cute things.
Moona Hoshinova
Protector Aasimar
College of Glamour Bard
Risu's close friend. At times serious, but hides a kind-hearted side that loves her friends all the same... even if they are very mischievous.
Iofi and ID gen2 aren't exactly prominent in the fic as we are generally following Holo5, but will be mentioned or cameo in some chapters. Iofi is the leader of the Artisan's Guild. Ollie is a zombie... er, you will see later. Anya is in her literal incarnation. Reine will be in Gekko for now.
"Make this quick or there might be more!" called out Aloe as she swooped down on one giant wolf spider as Lamy beseeched her goddess for more blessings.
This didn't exactly happen. Instead, the problem was the paralytic poison that the spiders use. And when they came at the party en masse, the ones in front got the brunt of it. Lamy and Nene were the first two to collapse under the spider venom. It didn't help that the giant spiders in the trees started shooting globs of webbing at the surviving members.
"Argh," yelped Polka as her legs got entangled by the webbing.
Feeling that her burst arrow wouldn't do well in this situation, Botan leaped into the fray, clawing and scratching the giant wolf spiders. Aloe continued to swoop down from the air, her dive bombing becoming very effective against them. Two of the giant wolf spiders were taken out, the other two moved on to attack the fighter and the monk. Then, one of the giant spiders in the tree dropped to the ground and started crawling over to them, while the other continued trying to hit the flying succubus with its webbing.
"Gah! Go away!" the monk shouted as she punched the spider biting her into the water. The fighter roared as she tried killing off the last giant wolf spider with the succubus' help. While the other spider dropped down to skitter over, the first one to drop down joined in the fight and attacked her.
Polka squirmed as she tried to get out of the webbing but failed. Meanwhile, Botan finished off the giant wolf spider and tried taking on the giant spider that attacked her, but it sank its fangs into her neck and paralyzed her as well.
"Botan!" shouted the monk as she punched the other giant spider in the face, smashing past the carapace and through the top of its head. As it writhed for a few seconds before collapsing, she renewed her attempts to escape the webbing.
"Watch out, Polka," shouted Aloe as she did another dive by.
The monk listened and twisted out of the way from the giant spider's fangs. Luckily, that twist was the needed leverage for her to rip herself away from the webs and in her renewed fervor, slammed a flurry of blows on its face. They traded blows while Aloe kept up clawing its back and abdomen sections. They went on for several bouts, with very few punches landing as it kept twisting around and splitting its attention between trying to web down the succubus and biting her, Eventually, after a grueling slog, Aloe landed the final blow as she got in between its legs and dug deep enough for her claws to perforate something important. As she flew to the sky, it thrashed around for a moment before flipping on its back and dying.
Polka let out a sigh of relief as she fell on her back, the soft ground minorly cushioning her drop. Meanwhile, the succubus checked on the others and was relieved to find that they were still alive, albeit with shallow breaths.
"Ha... that was too much!" the monk groaned out loud, "I wanna get out of the swamp already! No more crocs! No more spiders! Argh!"
"Quiet down and help me carry them," the succubus hissed at her, "You want to attract more spiders?"
She carried the toad's legs and Nene while the monk carried Lamy and Botan, over their shoulders. This slowed them down quite a bit, as Aloe was not used to this, and the cleric's and fighter's armor were quite heavy. It was now twilight and it was getting very hard to see. They did eventually find the path, thanks to the succubus, but they still had a ways to go before reaching the tavern. It was then they noticed a strange ethereal glow appearing in the middle of the path.
"Oh, for crying out loud, why am I not surprised?" groaned Aloe.
"...Ah. Is it a ghost or something?" asked Polka, a shiver going down her spine.
"Well, I would expect a lot of careless people dying here," the former muttered as they got closer.
The ghost had long, beautiful hair and would have looked quite beautiful when she was alive. Her clothes were ragged and torn, a large chunk of her side missing as if bitten by a crocodile. She noticed the party and floated over. Her solid white orbs in her eye sockets looked them over and pointed to the side of the path. The two conscious party members looked at each other in confusion.
"Urm, are you asking for help?" asked the monk.
The ghost opened her mouth and a very faint, whispery voice came out, Barely anything could be made out except, "...help..."
The two looked at each other again. Aloe shrugged. Polka decided to see what the ghost needed help with and carefully placed Botan and Lamy on the ground before heading in the direction pointed out by the ghost. She then floated over a point in the swamp and looked at the monk. She made a face but still waded out to the ghost. She was a little surprised when her foot bumped into something. Reaching down with both hands, she was a little horrified to feel a skeleton down in the muck. She looked up and noticed the ghost nodding. Continuing to feel around, she felt something metal around the hand bones. Taking it off the finger bone, she pulled it out and under the green strands of plant matter, she could see a silver band gleaming under the ghost's glow.
"Is this yours?" she asked softly, looking at the ghost in the eyes. She got a nod.
"...return...it...Martin..."
She looked down at the ring, sadness and pity welling up in her heart. "Alright. I can help with this," she answered the ghost. In response, she received a smile coupled with a peaceful look before the ghost faded away.
Nodding while successfully holding back her tears, she waded back to the path. To her surprise, she found out that the spider venom had run its course and the party was no longer paralyzed.
"No more swamp missions please," pleaded Lamy, looking quite miserable, "I can still feel them walking over me."
"Okay..." conceded Nene as she grabbed her aching head.
"Grr," growled Botan as she punched the ground, "That was pitiful." She then bowed to them and declared, "I am sorry for my disappointing skills. I swear to become better than this."
"Erm, please get up. There's no need for this," replied Aloe as she pulled the lion girl to her feet, "It's spider venom. You can exactly fight something natural like that."
"Hng, I still wish I could have protected you all better," the fighter admitted.
"Well, you're still alive. We're still alive," said the bard assuringly, "As long as we are still alive, we can always improve and do better. Then, we can show the world what we can really do."
This stunned the fighter for a moment. Then she smiled, "That's true. Thanks, Nene."
"Yeah, that was a good speech," agreed the succubus. The cleric nodded in agreement.
"Yup. Now, let's get out of this swamp! I want a bath!" exclaimed the monk.
As they made their way out of the swamp, Polka informed them about her experience with the ghost. After discussing where to find this Martin character, they arrived at the tavern. The owner somewhat complained about the smell but he told them that there was a woodcutter that sometimes visits the tavern to drink. He lived right next to the east gate of the capital so they couldn't miss it. Thanking him, they made their way back to the city. Thankfully, their torches and the tinderbox didn't get wet, so they made good use of one. With the combined efforts, they made their way back and decided to split up.
Polka and Lamy ended up in front of the woodcutter's door. Knocking several times, a bearded man opened up and drawled, "What'd ya want? Gods… ya stink..."
"Erm, we found this in the swamp earlier..." said Polka as she held out her hand with the silver band.
The man stared at it for a moment before his eyes widened in recognition. "How'd ya find this?" he asked in a hushed tone, carefully picking it up and staring at it intently.
"Er… you might not believe us, but your wife showed us..." she muttered in reply.
The man blinked as he stared at her. The two began to feel uncomfortable when he suddenly hugged them, "Thank you. One day, she went out picking mushrooms as usual and never came back. Now I know. Thank you. Thank you."
The monk didn't know what else to do except return the hug. Soon, he released his hold and said, "Please, wait here." He turned to go inside and they could hear him rummaging for something. After a while, he came back with a small sphere of thick glass and handed it to her, "Here, she may not make use of this anymore. I think… and hope... you can put this to better use than having it collect dust in my home."
"Hmm, what does it do?" asked Lamy, breaking her silence.
"Say 'shine' and then 'float' to make it work," he informed them, then he explained with pride, "My wife used to be a cartographer before she settled down. She helped to map out the entire eastern farmlands, you know? Knew every single nook and cranny." Then, his eyes looked forlorn and he said, "Well, thank you for this. Goodbye." And he closed the door.
The two walked away from the house without a word and headed back to the guild house.
"That was a nice thing you did," stated Lamy, "You helped to give him closure when he could not find any."
"Yeah. I'm glad to have helped," Polka replied with a grin.
Meeting up with the others, they took turns taking their baths before going across the road to have a grand dinner at Robel's. Filled and happy, they turned in for the night, knowing they survived to wake up to another day.
Today, they found themselves at the school. Artia had come to find them and asked them to see her teacher, Rushia. They decided to split up again; Botan and Polka retrieving the stuffed head while the others met with the teacher. Thus, the remaining three found themselves outside her class. The door was then opened and several students in robes filed out of the class. As the last one stepped away, they leaned in to peek through the doorway.
"Ah, you're here. Please enter!"
Now it was their turn to file in.
"Hello again. The lion girl isn't with you today?" the pink-haired wizard asked as she sat down at her table and crossed her legs.
"Ah, she went to get her trophy today with Polka," explained Nene.
"And what of your new friend?" she asked.
Aloe curtsied and said, "My name is Aloe Mano. I only recently joined. Please take care of me."
"I see… well, back to business. I would like to hire your team to retrieve some things," she requested as she picked up a large piece of paper and handed it to them, "The instructions are here as well as a small map of the place."
The bard took it and read through it at a glance. "Hmm, west of the city?" she murmured.
"I used to live there," she added, surprising everyone, "I had to leave many books behind. I want you and your team to retrieve them."
"Ah… I see," mused Nene, "Alright, sure. We'll do it. Although… why didn't you put this through the guild?"
"Hmm, I rather ask for help from people I've met face to face," she admitted as she shrugged, "Perhaps if you give me a good impression, I might consider sending my future requests to the guild."
"And what about Artia?" pressed on the bard.
"She still studies here. Very hardworking girl," she praised, "However, that leaves her very little time to do other things, like go out and experience the world. Perhaps in time, she would, but for now, leave her be. She will do it when she feels she's ready. Perhaps you can coax her out of her shell."
"Alright… do you need the books immediately?" Nene asked.
"Hmm… no, not really. You can do it if you should find the time," she stated, "I do hope it will be done by the end of the year though."
"Okay. Thank you for the request. We will get it done as soon as we are able," promised the bard before leaving the class.
"Well, I certainly hope so," she replied as they left the room. "I certainly hope so," she repeated again as her thoughts went back to a certain iron flask back in her house.
"Wow, it looks amazing," Nene exclaimed as the team met back at the guild house. The lion head looked majestically over its new domain; the side room.
"Hi, hi, isn't it?" asked Botan rhetorically, grinning from ear to ear, "Too bad we didn't get that owlbear head. Oh well, maybe we'd get something else."
"BOTAN!"
A short figure leaped onto the lion girl, causing her to fall flat on the floor. "RISU!" she yelled.
"Hi, hi," giggled the squirrel girl as she leaped off. Turning to address the rest of the party, she introduced herself jovially, "Hello, I am Risu the dream druid. You must be Botan's friends." Suddenly, a hand pulls her by the ear.
"Risu, are you pranking people again?" asked a purple-haired girl with faintly-glowing eyes. She wore a black and white costume dress. If one looks a little more closely, you could see a galaxy of stars in her hair.
"Eeh, no, no, no, Moona. I am not. Let go please!" she pleaded, getting all teary-eyed.
The glamour bard sighed and released her hold, the squirrel girl rubbing her sore ear. "Sorry for that. This over-excitable child is hard to control sometimes."
"...it's fine," groaned the archer as she picked herself up.
"Mmm, let us do a request together," she suggested suddenly, "As compensation."
The party looked at each other for a moment. Then, Nene asked, "What do you have in mind?"
"Ah… alright, seems easy enough," mused Nene.
The request in question was a hunt for a pack of saber-toothed tigers spotted in the forest. They had to travel to a village south of the capital and meet the village leader there. So now, they found themselves walking down the road to Solena, the village that sent out the request. It was a calm, peaceful, late morning. They hired a cart and reached the village with very little trouble. Then, while Nene went to meet with the village head, Lamy spent time chanting and waving her hands over Risu, Moona, and Polka.
"There. Hopefully, the goddess' blessing protects you," she stated as she finished.
"I believe with you and Risu, we will surely survive whatever obstacle gets in our way," the aasimar bard replied confidently.
"I'll be sure not to let you down," the half-snow elf answered with a smile.
"Alright, everyone, let's go!" called out Nene as she approached, "The head said the pack was sighted east from here. The lead hunter of the village was also there and he mentioned that there were four sets of prints."
"Hmm, I think we can take on four," mused Botan, who then smirked, "Ah, another chance for a trophy."
"I think you're the only one who is set on trophies," snarked Polka with a matching smirk.
"They represent our crowning achievements. Of course I'm set on them," defended the lion girl.
"Okay, enough arguing. Let's go hunt some saber-tooths," urged on the lore bard, "...or do you call them saber-teeth?"
"Pretty sure it's saber-tooths," replied the glamour bard as they followed after her, Aloe popping into the Ethereal Plane first.
The moment the party stepped into the forest, Risu took point and led them through the forest.
AN: This chapter, we add two more Holomems to the mix. All the way from HoloID.
Risu Ayunda
Squirrel Beastfolk
Circle of the Dream Druid
A very tricky and cheeky druid who likes cute things.
Moona Hoshinova
Protector Aasimar
College of Glamour Bard
Risu's close friend. At times serious, but hides a kind-hearted side that loves her friends all the same... even if they are very mischievous.
Iofi and ID gen2 aren't exactly prominent in the fic as we are generally following Holo5, but will be mentioned or cameo in some chapters. Iofi is the leader of the Artisan's Guild. Ollie is a zombie... er, you will see later. Anya is in her literal incarnation. Reine will be in Gekko for now.
Last edited:
Chapter 8
- Location
- Malaysia
Chapter 8
Light filtered through the shady undergrowth, the flickering lighting up the place beautifully. The sounds of birds and insects filled the air intermittently as they passed through.
"You know, I can see why Risu likes staying in the forest," spoke up Moona after a while, "It is quite peaceful. I can only imagine how much more it would be in the circle of hers."
"Hmm, hmm, I can support that," agreed Lamy with a serene smile, "For once, we travel in a pretty place."
"Maybe-" started Polka before shrieking in fright when three constrictors landed on her, the cleric and Botan.
"Don't move!" shouted Botan immediately as the snakes coiled around their respective landing pads.
A large shadow slithered out of the undergrowth and a huge version of the snakes rose up over them, flicking its tongue in and out of its mouth. Everyone became scared and those without snakes around them pulled out their weapons.
"Stop! Stop!" shouted Risu as she raced up to them, placing herself between the giant snake and the party. Looking at the snake, she started hissing at it. It bobbed its head, whether out of surprise or understanding, nobody could tell. It then hissed back. The back and forth went on for a moment before it turned to look at the other snakes and hissed louder. The three snakes uncoiled themselves, slowly slithered off their bodies, and went down their legs, slithering into the underbrush. The giant snake hissed one last time before mirroring the other snakes and slithered away as well.
"Ha... that went well?" muttered Moona once the snakes vanished, "So… what did it say, Risu?"
"Hmm, I asked it to let us pass… then I asked if it saw any tigers..." muttered the dream druid as she tapped her sprig of mistletoe on her cheek, "Or did I ask it the other way around… anyway, it didn't notice any saber-tooths, but it directed me to a cave that might be where they live. It never went inside so it doesn't really know."
"Alright, lead the way," gestured Nene.
The squirrel girl nodded and led the party there. They didn't have to go that far. It was a large entrance, big enough for something large to walk through upright.
"Hey, want me to scout out inside?" asked Polka with a grin, "I can be pretty quiet when needed."
"Well… you are kinda stealthy… I don't see why not," agreed the lore bard.
"Most fortunate to have this kind of help," stated the glamour bard with approval.
"Alright, wish me luck," cheered the monk as she slipped into the shadows. However, after several seconds, she hurriedly came out, looking quite pale. "Umm, no saber-tooths in there," she told them.
"What was inside?" asked Botan curiously.
"Erm… not sure if I should say," she muttered.
"I am sure it would not do any harm saying it," stated Lamy, "Just tell us."
"Okay… I saw two owlbears in-" she started hesitantly.
Botan's eyes immediately lit up and the archer exclaimed, "Let's go!"
"What!? No!" shouted Polka as she tried to hold the lion girl back, "We are here to hunt saber-tooths, not owlbears! If we fight the owlbears now, we might not be strong enough to fight the others. Besides, we can always come back here later. Maybe after we rested."
The archer stared at her for a moment and as the light of battle in her eyes dimmed, she replied reluctantly, "...Fine. But we better get back here after we finish the request. This is a trial that-" She trailed off when she looked over the monk's shoulder. She spotted two gleaming eyes looking out of the cave entrance, illuminated by the sunlight from outside. A large outline could barely be seen. One, very loud screech later, two owlbears ran out of the cave with enraged screeches.
"Nope," murmured Moona as she ducked around a tree. Lamy did the same, but not before casting out a blessing over the others. That did little to help as Nene and Polka got mauled by the owlbears.
"Look this way and fight me!" roared Botan as she waved her arms as she moved back, while Aloe popped out of the Ethereal Plane. When the owlbears ignored her, she shot at them, the arrow grazing the shoulder of one of them. She was still ignored.
"Take this!" Polka shouted as blood streamed down her face as she tried to take on the owlbear that mauled the lore bard, punching it in the stomach area.
"Let the moon grant its aid," called out Risu as she drew a circle in the air with her sprig of mistletoe. The light of the moon then shone on the owlbear that attacked the bard, slowly increasing with intensity.
Moona, aghast at what happened, called out a healing note to Nene, while Lamy prayed aloud, "My goddess, please lend me your aid to protect my friends." A spectral sword of elven-make materialized and swung down on the owlbear, while she sent a ray of frost at its head. As it flinched, the sword missed.
The owlbear in front of the bard screeched loudly as the radiance of the moon burned through its body. Both of them tried to maul Polka, the first one missing and the second one striking as she dodged the first.
"Polka!" shouted the bard as she saw the monk fall by her side. Getting up, she skewered the owlbear in front of her in the stomach. Aloe then swooped down on the other owlbear, clawing the back of its head while Botan shot the first one in the neck.
"The fires of renewal will burn it all away," chanted Risu as she produced a flickering flame in her hand and threw it at the nearest owlbear, scorching its feathery fur.
The glamour bard turned the healing note to the monk while the half-snow elf cleric continued pressuring the first owlbear with spirit weapon and ice. It screeched loudly as the moonbeam continued to scorch it, and it mauled the one that got up to attack it. The other owlbear ignored Nene and tried swiping after the flying succubus.
Aloe blew a raspberry at the second owlbear while she clawed the head of the first as she dive-bombed it and flew out of range. The lion girl shot that one in the neck again while the fennec fox monk jumped to her feet.
"Haiya!" she shouted as she aimed a jumping kick at its head. It leaned back, the kick missing, but she smirked and with a twist, she turned it into a jumping roundhouse. The ball of her foot slammed right in its throat. It gurgled and collapsed backward under its weight. As she landed on her feet, the druid then mystically moved the moonbeam over the remaining owlbear. She then produced another flame in her hand and threw it at the monstrosity.
Moona moved the healing not back to Nene. Lamy turned her ministrations to the other owlbear while it still tried to reach out and swipe the succubus, its feathered fur burning and scorched by flame, moon, and frost.
"Just go down already!" shouted Nene as she got up again. She joined the rest of the party in raining it with attacks. Magic, arrow, and blade made it bloodied and burned. It was still able to swipe Polka one last time before going down to the lore bard's rapier. She then quickly sang out the note of healing, the regenerative aura washing over the monk and closing her more grievous wounds.
"Ha…. I don't want to do that too many times," the fennec fox girl grumbled as the lore bard helped her up.
"...you still looked really cool when you kicked that owlbear," spoke up the druid as she pointed at said monstrosity.
"Eh… I guess?" the monk admitted embarrassedly, unsure on what to say to that.
"Trophy, trophy, trophy," hummed Botan happily as she examined the bodies to see which head was in a better condition.
Suddenly, a screech sounded out, coming from the cave. It was not as loud as the other owlbears, but more like a low warbling. Everyone was on guard and all eyes were drawn to the entrance. Seconds ticked by and a faint scratching was heard. Then, a much smaller version of an owlbear walked out haltingly and then clumsily fell down. The cub then warble-screeched again while looking around.
"OH, MY GODS! SO CUTE!" exclaimed Risu as she suddenly raced forward and pounced. The young cub squirmed as it was hugged from behind, away from its already sharp claws.
"Ah, yes, go ahead and hug the baby that can claw your eyes out," snarked Aloe as everyone else watching giggled at the druid's antics.
"Oh, oh, no," the lore bard muttered after realizing something, "Did we kill its parents?"
"Very likely," the glamour bard stated, somewhat confirming it, "Do remember that they tried killing us."
"I know… but… will it survive out in the wild without its parents?" she asked.
"It can't. That's why-" was the reply but was interjected by the one hugging the cub.
"That's why it's coming with me!" exclaimed Risu, "I will give it all my love and care, and it will stay with me forever!" The owlbear cub just squawked and continued to struggle.
"Well… I guess that's something?" she admitted questioningly.
After some discussion, they decided to rest a little while to help tend to Polka's and Nene's wounds. Moona decided to aid in accelerating their healing as well, lacing a song with healing notes, singing of the return of life after the end of winter. It was admiringly melodic and after she was done, they clapped. Several extra pairs of hands joined the claps and a lot of screeching and hooting. Before they knew it, a troop of apes clambered down from the trees and started jumping and chattering around the glamour bard.
"Er, what is..." she stammered, unable to find the words to describe this.
"Ah! Hold on!" requested Risu as she grasped her sprig of mistletoe, "I used this spell earlier in a hurry. Now that they are acting friendly, we can do this normally." She hurriedly pushed the owlbear cub into Botan's hands, who held it at arm's length.
She then started waving the mistletoe and chanted in a mystical manner as she walked around the troop of apes, lightly touching their heads as she passed them by. The commotion they stirred up before lessened as the apes stood still and looked at her in wonder as each of them was touched with it. Once she was done, she then started making light chattering noises as she communicated with the apes. The noise level then went back to normal and they made a lot of noise. Eventually, the troop clambered back up the trees with the druid waving after them.
"Alright, they can't really tell the difference between saber-tooths and normal tigers, but they did see some cat-like hunters south of here," she informed them.
Amazed by what they saw, the party continued their hunt. Before going, Botan requested that they return to this place to harvest an owlbear head. After they reluctantly agreed, the party proceeded to move southward. It was now evening and the bright orange sun created more shadows as it made its journey down. However, it was only ten minutes into the trek when Botan's ears twitched as she heard something slinking around and disturbing dead leaves.
"Something is stalking us," she announced, causing everyone to stop in their tracks.
"I thought so," muttered Lamy as she grasped her amulet, "Is it the saber-tooths?"
"I can't really tell," the lion girl admitted as everyone formed a circle, all pairs of eyes in every direction, "But I bet that they are hungry and are on the hunt. Let's hope they are desperate enough to-"
"I see one!" called out Nene as she threw her dagger, the weapon ending up embedded in a tree instead of an enemy.
"Too soon!" shouted back Botan while Lamy called for blessings.
Tigers charged at them, targeting the bards and the monk. They were not saber-tooths, but that didn't make their claws hurt any less. Nene and Polka were between two of them, pushed back to back, while the third one knocked Moona off her feet. Thankfully, she rolled to the side and avoided getting bitten. She quickly got to her feet and attacked with her daggers. At the same time, the monk lashed out with a kick to the head. Risu defaulted to throwing fire while Botan used her claws.
"Under pressure, walls closing down on me, surrounding my life, looking down on me," Nene hurriedly started singing, the magic in the words prompting roars of pain from the tigers, as she didn't have time to use her lute. It was a general melee from then on. The cleric and the succubus aided the monk with her tiger. The archer helped with the lore bard's tiger and the druid lit the glamour bard's one on fire. It didn't take long before the monk's tiger died and the other two ran away with grievous injuries.
"Well, those were not the tigers we're looking for," stated Botan with a frown, "I guess we have to continue looking."
"Moona, Moona, can you help me feed Baloo while I heal Nene?" asked Risu as she pointed to the owlbear cub, who was pawing the tiger body and sniffing the wounds, "Just cut off strips for him to gobble."
"...okay..." relented the aasimar bard reluctantly.
"So, what should we do now?" asked Lamy as the druid rubbed her glowing green hands over the lore bard's wounds.
"Maybe retrace our steps?" suggested the archer, "Maybe… well, the dead owlbears might draw them in. I don't think anyone could turn down free meat. Plus, I still want my trophy."
"Good idea, Botan," praised Nene with a smile.
After the druid's owlbear cub had its fill, they retraced their steps back to the cave. The evening had just passed on to twilight at that point and there was thankfully still enough light to see. As they reached the vicinity of the cave, Polka volunteered to scout ahead. With everyone in agreement, she dashed on ahead. A few minutes later, she came back looking excited.
"They're there! The saber-tooths," she announced, "Four of them. They're surrounding one of the owlbears and busy eating."
"Yosh… alright, we do this quietly. We will sneak up on them," planned the archer, "I will start it off with a burst arrow. When they are coming at me, take them out from the side with your attacks. Then, by the time they reach us, they should be weakened enough to finish them off."
Everyone agreed that it was a good plan and they set out. As they neared the area, they took up positions and waited for Botan. Carefully, she nocked the arrow and pulled it back, the projectile taking on a silvery sheen. Upon release, it streaked through the air like a bolt of lightning, striking the first saber-tooth and exploding in a burst of energy. The beasts flinched and after shaking it off, charged straight at the archer. That same saber-tooth took on the burnt of magic and projectiles being thrown at it. At the same time, Nene started singing with lute accompaniment, the magic in the song causing a loud ringing in the saber-tooth's ears.
With a yell, Moona's eyes gained an unearthly glow and a pair of luminous, incorporeal wings sprouted out of her back. The moonbeams and frost rays continued to make their mark.
"Ha!" Polka shouted, taking the chance to dart in and land a flurry of blows on the already battered saber-tooth and somersaulting out of the way of its claws, landing next to the archer, who sent another bursting arrow. Aloe swooped in to do the same.
All that attention it received caused it to run away, but the other three piled onto Botan and Polka, the archer deftly dodging their claws but the monk wasn't so lucky. She only survived thanks to Lamy's timely healing.
It then devolved into the fennec fox and the lion's efforts to draw the saber-tooth's attention while the others wailed on them. Moona joined in the fray, mimicking the succubus' tactics. One by one they died. One tiger tried to fight back; it leaped away and pounced onto Botan, grounding her and biting her arm, drawing grunts from her.
"Argh, get off me!" she roared as she head butted its nose. It roared in annoyance and leaped back.
Unfortunately, this allowed the other saber-tooth tiger to sink its teeth into her shoulder, prompting her to yell out in pain. Once again, she survived thanks to the cleric's intervention, her magic knitting up the most grievous of wounds.
"Quickly, they shouldn't last much longer now!" shouted Moona as she landed, carving out a saber-tooth's flank before flying up again.
And they did. With several close calls, the battle was won.
Light filtered through the shady undergrowth, the flickering lighting up the place beautifully. The sounds of birds and insects filled the air intermittently as they passed through.
"You know, I can see why Risu likes staying in the forest," spoke up Moona after a while, "It is quite peaceful. I can only imagine how much more it would be in the circle of hers."
"Hmm, hmm, I can support that," agreed Lamy with a serene smile, "For once, we travel in a pretty place."
"Maybe-" started Polka before shrieking in fright when three constrictors landed on her, the cleric and Botan.
"Don't move!" shouted Botan immediately as the snakes coiled around their respective landing pads.
A large shadow slithered out of the undergrowth and a huge version of the snakes rose up over them, flicking its tongue in and out of its mouth. Everyone became scared and those without snakes around them pulled out their weapons.
"Stop! Stop!" shouted Risu as she raced up to them, placing herself between the giant snake and the party. Looking at the snake, she started hissing at it. It bobbed its head, whether out of surprise or understanding, nobody could tell. It then hissed back. The back and forth went on for a moment before it turned to look at the other snakes and hissed louder. The three snakes uncoiled themselves, slowly slithered off their bodies, and went down their legs, slithering into the underbrush. The giant snake hissed one last time before mirroring the other snakes and slithered away as well.
"Ha... that went well?" muttered Moona once the snakes vanished, "So… what did it say, Risu?"
"Hmm, I asked it to let us pass… then I asked if it saw any tigers..." muttered the dream druid as she tapped her sprig of mistletoe on her cheek, "Or did I ask it the other way around… anyway, it didn't notice any saber-tooths, but it directed me to a cave that might be where they live. It never went inside so it doesn't really know."
"Alright, lead the way," gestured Nene.
The squirrel girl nodded and led the party there. They didn't have to go that far. It was a large entrance, big enough for something large to walk through upright.
"Hey, want me to scout out inside?" asked Polka with a grin, "I can be pretty quiet when needed."
"Well… you are kinda stealthy… I don't see why not," agreed the lore bard.
"Most fortunate to have this kind of help," stated the glamour bard with approval.
"Alright, wish me luck," cheered the monk as she slipped into the shadows. However, after several seconds, she hurriedly came out, looking quite pale. "Umm, no saber-tooths in there," she told them.
"What was inside?" asked Botan curiously.
"Erm… not sure if I should say," she muttered.
"I am sure it would not do any harm saying it," stated Lamy, "Just tell us."
"Okay… I saw two owlbears in-" she started hesitantly.
Botan's eyes immediately lit up and the archer exclaimed, "Let's go!"
"What!? No!" shouted Polka as she tried to hold the lion girl back, "We are here to hunt saber-tooths, not owlbears! If we fight the owlbears now, we might not be strong enough to fight the others. Besides, we can always come back here later. Maybe after we rested."
The archer stared at her for a moment and as the light of battle in her eyes dimmed, she replied reluctantly, "...Fine. But we better get back here after we finish the request. This is a trial that-" She trailed off when she looked over the monk's shoulder. She spotted two gleaming eyes looking out of the cave entrance, illuminated by the sunlight from outside. A large outline could barely be seen. One, very loud screech later, two owlbears ran out of the cave with enraged screeches.
"Nope," murmured Moona as she ducked around a tree. Lamy did the same, but not before casting out a blessing over the others. That did little to help as Nene and Polka got mauled by the owlbears.
"Look this way and fight me!" roared Botan as she waved her arms as she moved back, while Aloe popped out of the Ethereal Plane. When the owlbears ignored her, she shot at them, the arrow grazing the shoulder of one of them. She was still ignored.
"Take this!" Polka shouted as blood streamed down her face as she tried to take on the owlbear that mauled the lore bard, punching it in the stomach area.
"Let the moon grant its aid," called out Risu as she drew a circle in the air with her sprig of mistletoe. The light of the moon then shone on the owlbear that attacked the bard, slowly increasing with intensity.
Moona, aghast at what happened, called out a healing note to Nene, while Lamy prayed aloud, "My goddess, please lend me your aid to protect my friends." A spectral sword of elven-make materialized and swung down on the owlbear, while she sent a ray of frost at its head. As it flinched, the sword missed.
The owlbear in front of the bard screeched loudly as the radiance of the moon burned through its body. Both of them tried to maul Polka, the first one missing and the second one striking as she dodged the first.
"Polka!" shouted the bard as she saw the monk fall by her side. Getting up, she skewered the owlbear in front of her in the stomach. Aloe then swooped down on the other owlbear, clawing the back of its head while Botan shot the first one in the neck.
"The fires of renewal will burn it all away," chanted Risu as she produced a flickering flame in her hand and threw it at the nearest owlbear, scorching its feathery fur.
The glamour bard turned the healing note to the monk while the half-snow elf cleric continued pressuring the first owlbear with spirit weapon and ice. It screeched loudly as the moonbeam continued to scorch it, and it mauled the one that got up to attack it. The other owlbear ignored Nene and tried swiping after the flying succubus.
Aloe blew a raspberry at the second owlbear while she clawed the head of the first as she dive-bombed it and flew out of range. The lion girl shot that one in the neck again while the fennec fox monk jumped to her feet.
"Haiya!" she shouted as she aimed a jumping kick at its head. It leaned back, the kick missing, but she smirked and with a twist, she turned it into a jumping roundhouse. The ball of her foot slammed right in its throat. It gurgled and collapsed backward under its weight. As she landed on her feet, the druid then mystically moved the moonbeam over the remaining owlbear. She then produced another flame in her hand and threw it at the monstrosity.
Moona moved the healing not back to Nene. Lamy turned her ministrations to the other owlbear while it still tried to reach out and swipe the succubus, its feathered fur burning and scorched by flame, moon, and frost.
"Just go down already!" shouted Nene as she got up again. She joined the rest of the party in raining it with attacks. Magic, arrow, and blade made it bloodied and burned. It was still able to swipe Polka one last time before going down to the lore bard's rapier. She then quickly sang out the note of healing, the regenerative aura washing over the monk and closing her more grievous wounds.
"Ha…. I don't want to do that too many times," the fennec fox girl grumbled as the lore bard helped her up.
"...you still looked really cool when you kicked that owlbear," spoke up the druid as she pointed at said monstrosity.
"Eh… I guess?" the monk admitted embarrassedly, unsure on what to say to that.
"Trophy, trophy, trophy," hummed Botan happily as she examined the bodies to see which head was in a better condition.
Suddenly, a screech sounded out, coming from the cave. It was not as loud as the other owlbears, but more like a low warbling. Everyone was on guard and all eyes were drawn to the entrance. Seconds ticked by and a faint scratching was heard. Then, a much smaller version of an owlbear walked out haltingly and then clumsily fell down. The cub then warble-screeched again while looking around.
"OH, MY GODS! SO CUTE!" exclaimed Risu as she suddenly raced forward and pounced. The young cub squirmed as it was hugged from behind, away from its already sharp claws.
"Ah, yes, go ahead and hug the baby that can claw your eyes out," snarked Aloe as everyone else watching giggled at the druid's antics.
"Oh, oh, no," the lore bard muttered after realizing something, "Did we kill its parents?"
"Very likely," the glamour bard stated, somewhat confirming it, "Do remember that they tried killing us."
"I know… but… will it survive out in the wild without its parents?" she asked.
"It can't. That's why-" was the reply but was interjected by the one hugging the cub.
"That's why it's coming with me!" exclaimed Risu, "I will give it all my love and care, and it will stay with me forever!" The owlbear cub just squawked and continued to struggle.
"Well… I guess that's something?" she admitted questioningly.
After some discussion, they decided to rest a little while to help tend to Polka's and Nene's wounds. Moona decided to aid in accelerating their healing as well, lacing a song with healing notes, singing of the return of life after the end of winter. It was admiringly melodic and after she was done, they clapped. Several extra pairs of hands joined the claps and a lot of screeching and hooting. Before they knew it, a troop of apes clambered down from the trees and started jumping and chattering around the glamour bard.
"Er, what is..." she stammered, unable to find the words to describe this.
"Ah! Hold on!" requested Risu as she grasped her sprig of mistletoe, "I used this spell earlier in a hurry. Now that they are acting friendly, we can do this normally." She hurriedly pushed the owlbear cub into Botan's hands, who held it at arm's length.
She then started waving the mistletoe and chanted in a mystical manner as she walked around the troop of apes, lightly touching their heads as she passed them by. The commotion they stirred up before lessened as the apes stood still and looked at her in wonder as each of them was touched with it. Once she was done, she then started making light chattering noises as she communicated with the apes. The noise level then went back to normal and they made a lot of noise. Eventually, the troop clambered back up the trees with the druid waving after them.
"Alright, they can't really tell the difference between saber-tooths and normal tigers, but they did see some cat-like hunters south of here," she informed them.
Amazed by what they saw, the party continued their hunt. Before going, Botan requested that they return to this place to harvest an owlbear head. After they reluctantly agreed, the party proceeded to move southward. It was now evening and the bright orange sun created more shadows as it made its journey down. However, it was only ten minutes into the trek when Botan's ears twitched as she heard something slinking around and disturbing dead leaves.
"Something is stalking us," she announced, causing everyone to stop in their tracks.
"I thought so," muttered Lamy as she grasped her amulet, "Is it the saber-tooths?"
"I can't really tell," the lion girl admitted as everyone formed a circle, all pairs of eyes in every direction, "But I bet that they are hungry and are on the hunt. Let's hope they are desperate enough to-"
"I see one!" called out Nene as she threw her dagger, the weapon ending up embedded in a tree instead of an enemy.
"Too soon!" shouted back Botan while Lamy called for blessings.
Tigers charged at them, targeting the bards and the monk. They were not saber-tooths, but that didn't make their claws hurt any less. Nene and Polka were between two of them, pushed back to back, while the third one knocked Moona off her feet. Thankfully, she rolled to the side and avoided getting bitten. She quickly got to her feet and attacked with her daggers. At the same time, the monk lashed out with a kick to the head. Risu defaulted to throwing fire while Botan used her claws.
"Under pressure, walls closing down on me, surrounding my life, looking down on me," Nene hurriedly started singing, the magic in the words prompting roars of pain from the tigers, as she didn't have time to use her lute. It was a general melee from then on. The cleric and the succubus aided the monk with her tiger. The archer helped with the lore bard's tiger and the druid lit the glamour bard's one on fire. It didn't take long before the monk's tiger died and the other two ran away with grievous injuries.
"Well, those were not the tigers we're looking for," stated Botan with a frown, "I guess we have to continue looking."
"Moona, Moona, can you help me feed Baloo while I heal Nene?" asked Risu as she pointed to the owlbear cub, who was pawing the tiger body and sniffing the wounds, "Just cut off strips for him to gobble."
"...okay..." relented the aasimar bard reluctantly.
"So, what should we do now?" asked Lamy as the druid rubbed her glowing green hands over the lore bard's wounds.
"Maybe retrace our steps?" suggested the archer, "Maybe… well, the dead owlbears might draw them in. I don't think anyone could turn down free meat. Plus, I still want my trophy."
"Good idea, Botan," praised Nene with a smile.
After the druid's owlbear cub had its fill, they retraced their steps back to the cave. The evening had just passed on to twilight at that point and there was thankfully still enough light to see. As they reached the vicinity of the cave, Polka volunteered to scout ahead. With everyone in agreement, she dashed on ahead. A few minutes later, she came back looking excited.
"They're there! The saber-tooths," she announced, "Four of them. They're surrounding one of the owlbears and busy eating."
"Yosh… alright, we do this quietly. We will sneak up on them," planned the archer, "I will start it off with a burst arrow. When they are coming at me, take them out from the side with your attacks. Then, by the time they reach us, they should be weakened enough to finish them off."
Everyone agreed that it was a good plan and they set out. As they neared the area, they took up positions and waited for Botan. Carefully, she nocked the arrow and pulled it back, the projectile taking on a silvery sheen. Upon release, it streaked through the air like a bolt of lightning, striking the first saber-tooth and exploding in a burst of energy. The beasts flinched and after shaking it off, charged straight at the archer. That same saber-tooth took on the burnt of magic and projectiles being thrown at it. At the same time, Nene started singing with lute accompaniment, the magic in the song causing a loud ringing in the saber-tooth's ears.
With a yell, Moona's eyes gained an unearthly glow and a pair of luminous, incorporeal wings sprouted out of her back. The moonbeams and frost rays continued to make their mark.
"Ha!" Polka shouted, taking the chance to dart in and land a flurry of blows on the already battered saber-tooth and somersaulting out of the way of its claws, landing next to the archer, who sent another bursting arrow. Aloe swooped in to do the same.
All that attention it received caused it to run away, but the other three piled onto Botan and Polka, the archer deftly dodging their claws but the monk wasn't so lucky. She only survived thanks to Lamy's timely healing.
It then devolved into the fennec fox and the lion's efforts to draw the saber-tooth's attention while the others wailed on them. Moona joined in the fray, mimicking the succubus' tactics. One by one they died. One tiger tried to fight back; it leaped away and pounced onto Botan, grounding her and biting her arm, drawing grunts from her.
"Argh, get off me!" she roared as she head butted its nose. It roared in annoyance and leaped back.
Unfortunately, this allowed the other saber-tooth tiger to sink its teeth into her shoulder, prompting her to yell out in pain. Once again, she survived thanks to the cleric's intervention, her magic knitting up the most grievous of wounds.
"Quickly, they shouldn't last much longer now!" shouted Moona as she landed, carving out a saber-tooth's flank before flying up again.
And they did. With several close calls, the battle was won.
Chapter 9
- Location
- Malaysia
Chapter 9
"Well… she sounds… really, really, sad..." stated Polka as she watched Botan shout, groan and moan at the state of the bodies. The heads of the owlbear corpses were not spared by the saber-tooths. Even the least damaged one had gauges and teeth marks all over it.
"Well, we have the saber-tooths tied up," stated Nene as she hefted it up with Moona holding up the other end of the branch, "Let's get back to the village and get our reward."
In the end, Botan decided on carrying the least damaged head and skillfully carved it off, with help of course. And so, the group trekked back to Solena with a few extras in tow. They dropped off the dead bodies at the hunting lodge and received their reward from the village head. Risu refused the gold, saying she lived off the land and didn't really need it. So, the reward was split five ways. Then, as they made their way back to the capital by cart, Risu parted ways with them, stating that she wanted to bring Baloo to the circle and start training him there.
"So what are you going to do now?" asked the aasimar as they departed from the stables. It was already late at night and they were very lucky not to get accosted on the way back.
"Well, we are heading straight for the school to preserve this for tomorrow. I don't think Botan is willing to wait any longer," stated the lore bard as she motioned to the now antsy archer.
The former giggled and said, "In that case, go ahead. I'll let Mister Miyabi know about this."
"Okay, thanks a lot," the latter replied as they parted ways.
Botan became a hundred gold poorer that night.
The next day, a short visit to the tannery revealed the cost of stuffing the head of the owlbear.
"Oh, my gods… that's expensive," muttered Botan as she paled at the price. A full two hundred gold.
"Well, even if the head isn't too damaged, the gnawed and gouged parts have to be restored and that itself will be expensive," stated the lady at the counter, "Plus, it is quite rare to find such a beast like how you described. It will take quite a long time to restore it to a presentable condition."
"I suppose..." she admitted. Turning to the others, she asked, "Umm… eheh… can you guys help?"
"I suppose I can help," stated Lamy with a frown, "But… next time, you should try and raise the proper funds yourself. You are lucky that you will be owing us instead of other unscrupulous people."
After contributing and pooling their resources, they paid for the stuffing services. They left after topping up on ammunition. They then stopped by the leatherworkers store, where Nene traded in her leathers for studded leathers. After that, they headed to the herbalist for more healing potions. They finally stopped by the guild house and met up with Miyabi at the counter.
"Hello!" he greeted with a smile, "Moona submitted the report last night. So, what will it be today?"
"Anything simple today?" asked Nene, "Escorts or something?"
"Well… I guess there are always that," he mused as he pointed to the board, "I think there are a few on the board."
They wandered over and looked over it. Two others were at the board as well. One was a handsome blonde in full plate armor and the other had lightning bolts crackling in dark blue hair wearing yellow and brown robes. They picked one request and moved out, only pausing the wave at the guild clerk. Eventually, Polka picked one out, brought it over to Miyabi, and asked as she waved it at him, "Hey, what's a cockatrice?"
He shrugged and replied, "I'm afraid I don't know. Perhaps you can check it out at the library in the school."
"Aah, okay!" quipped the monk.
"Huh, let's go then," said Nene.
"Ah, welcome," greeted the lady at the counter with a smile, "I am Rosalyn the librarian. How may I help you?" She was clad in blue and white, a large hat of the same colors, and a monocle with black rim.
"Hello. I… want to find out about a cockatrice," replied Nene as the party crowded around the counter… minus Aloe, who went ethereal before entering.
"Ah, the bestiary is down that row, letters A to C," she stated as she pointed down one row of shelves, "Do remember to mind your voices when doing research, alright?"
Giving her their thanks, the bard headed down the directed row all the way to the end, where C was. Taking out a few books, she brought them to the table that her party secured for themselves. Together, they poured over them. A hideous hybrid of lizard, bird, and bat. It is about the size of a goose. Any creature bitten by it will be turned to stone by its venom. They are immune to their own venom. They live in lairs and would swarm invaders that try to take them.
While reading up on these titbits, Botan was the first to get bored of all this. Looking around, among the students busy going over tomes and parchments, she spotted Artia doing the same. Getting up from her seat, she walked over to the studious ice genasi and sat next to her. She was a bit too into her book to notice. Leaning over, the lion girl noted that this was about the existence of ice elementals.
"Hnn," she sounded.
"Eep!" Artia sounded loudly in shock. Every other student then looked at her for a moment, before going back to their reading material.
"What was that about?" she whispered angrily, her face red with embarrassment.
"The party is looking up cockatrices and I got bored," the lion girl explained with a nonchalant shrug.
The wizard grumbled under her breath and went back to reading. The archer rolled her eyes and left the table. Sliding back to the party's table, she muttered, "Are we done? This is getting unbearable."
Polka smirked as she tossed her book on the table, "Well, we can always go to the hunting shop to find out. Or we can ask Miyabi. It must be on the piece of paper."
"You didn't see what was on it?" asked Nene in surprise.
"Nope."
Lamy sighed. "Let us go back then. I think we got enough information here," she stated as she stood up. The party was in agreement and they made their way back to the guild house to speak with Miyabi.
"Hello again. Are you ready to take the quest?" he asked.
"We are! What did the paper say?" asked the bard.
"Alright. This is a request from the chef in Robel. She wants someone to hunt down some cockatrices," explained the guild clerk, "She wishes to experiment to see if she can make an interesting dish from the meat. As to where to hunt them, she heard that there was a lair of them bordering the southern part of the swamp and the forest."
"Hmm, I guess that sounds good," she mused, "I guess we can go now?"
"Well… it's past lunchtime… go get something to eat before going," he advised them.
"Alright! Thanks, Mister Miyabi!"
"Eh? But I'm too young to be called that," he exclaimed in surprise, to much giggling.
The afternoon turned to evening. They took a lot of time to get to the southern area of the swamp and to search for the lair. No odd noises and no clucking anywhere.
"This is tiresome," spoke up Lamy, "Did the chef get it wrong?"
"Well, she heard about the lair from someone. It should be around here somewhere," reasoned Nene, "Maybe it's further in the forest than around here."
"Maybe," muttered Botan as she scanned the area, "They do hunt for frogs and the like, so they would be near the swamp, but not as near."
"Alright, maybe Aloe can fly over ahead and… what was that?" spoke up Polka.
The party caught an ear of groaning coming from the swamp. A shambling corpse suddenly appeared and was heading towards them. It used to be human, but now had long sharp teeth and claws. Its eye sockets were empty, the organs already rotted away in the swamp.
"Ew, it stinks," exclaimed fennec fox girl as a stray gust of wind blew, her nose wrinkling in disgust. The lion girl looked like she wanted to throw up.
"What a sad state," muttered the cleric, "We must put it to rest once more. Take care of its claws. They can paralyze you."
"Not human anymore… got it," murmured Nene as everyone got ready to fight.
"Feed..." it groaned out, "Claw them... down to the ground..."
Suddenly, hands burst out of the ground… only hands… and skittered towards them.
"Ooh, creepy," shivered Aloe as she took to the air.
"Yeah, no," said Botan and shot a bursting arrow at the ghast and getting it in the shin, the resulting blast slamming into several of the crawling claws and decimating them.
"Yeah! Keep your hands to yourself!" shouted the monk as she followed up and threw a dart at the undead, burying it in the shoulder.
"Eee! Get off!" shouted the half-snow elf as she kicked off a hand that grabbed her leg.
"Feed..."
This let the ghast simply walk up to the cleric and swung its claws. They scraped on the shield, not touching her at all, but its stench made her stomach churl. Nevertheless, she steeled herself and then slammed her mace on the claw that grabbed her.
"Urgh!" groaned the bard as two hands crawled over, jumped up, and punched her stomach. She got over it quickly and stabbed one.
Yet another hand tried to grab the archer, but she dodged to the side. This allowed the succubus to grab it as she swooped down and she tore it apart with her claws. Meanwhile, the lion girl retreated back and shot at the ghast again, this time striking it in the eye socket. As it roared in reaction, the monk tumbled forward. Leaning back, she slammed two punches into its chest. One feint followed by one real punch. She then swerved out of the way from its swipe, tumbled forward and tried to kick another claw, which flattened itself to the ground and avoided the foot. She then tumbled back to her original position.
"Huh, very fancy," praised Aloe as the undead hands continued scratching and punching Nene and Lamy. She then swooped down and tore into another hand with her claws.
"Quite," agreed the cleric calmly as she nicked the ghast in the side of the head as it suddenly lurched past her to go after Botan. Much to her surprise, the undead being froze and then started shambling away as fast as its stiff legs could carry it. "What in the world?" she muttered to herself in surprise, missing the claw she attacked while staring at the retreating ghast.
"Huh, I guess we're winning," stated Nene with a grin, impaling another hand to the ground.
"Hn," sounded the archer as she missed her shot. Polka just shrugged as she kicked the last hand into the swamp.
"It must be falling apart!" shouted Aloe as she flew after it. She swiped at it as she landed, her claws leaving deep grooves into the skin on its back, "After it!"
"No need to say it twice!" replied the bard as she and the cleric chased after it. One dagger to the neck and a ray of frost later, it crumpled to the ground.
"Hn, that was weird," muttered Botan as they retrieved their respective projectiles from the re-deceased body, "I think this means we need to go further into the forest."
Twilight came and went. As it was night time, Polka pulled out her driftglobe and with two words, made it shine brightly as well as float over her. This was quite helpful as they searched further southward. Eventually, they came upon a grassless area that had a raised hill with an opening going into the earth. They could hear a lot of squawking from inside and a little behind the hill.
"I guess we found the lair," stated Polka as she turned to the others.
"Ah… and I think they noticed us already," informed Botan as she pointed at the hill. Five cockatrices loomed over the hill. All five of them suddenly made horrid noises, something between a squawk and a shriek, and charged straight at them. The din brought four more out of the cave and enraged them too.
"Ah, here we go again," sighed Aloe as she took to the sky again.
"Hn," the archer sounded as she shot a bursting arrow. It struck its target true and buffeted the other monstrosities, but that little to halt their squawking charge. Polka and Aloe tried to do so as well with darts and dive bombs, but nothing stopped them.
They all converge on the least armored ones, Nene and Polka. They were rained with multiple bites and pecks of their beaks. Lamy tried to bless the bard with a shield spell to protect her but it was useless. One solid bite and she was quickly turned to stone.
"Damn it! Die already!" roared Botan as she let loose another shot, killing one in the throat. The sight of the stone statue made her worry where she shouldn't feel it.
Polka fought back as well, pummeling another down with Aloe's assistance. Then, for whatever reason, the ones attacking the lore bard flew up and swarmed on the succubus, much to her great shock.
"Take this!" shouted Lamy after summoning a knife of ice to her hand. She threw it accurately into one of the monster's bodies, the ice exploding outwards in a nova of frost. It still didn't slow them down.
Botan continued to shoot and Polka continued to fight. The monk dipped and dodged, moving between the twisted creatures, punching and kicking. In the middle of it, Aloe cried out and her petrified form landed on the ground. The archer's heart skipped a beat but thankfully, it didn't break or anything. But, that became a signal to the cockatrices to swarm the monk en-masse.
"By the gods, this is madness!" swore Lamy as she froze one into a block of ice before retreating to Botan's position.
"Madness is right," the archer growled through her gritted teeth as she shot again, Polka succumbing to the poisonous beaks and turning to stone. Her anxiety continued to spike as she realized that there was a chance that they could lose this battle. To her, such a thing was unthinkable, and yet, the possibility was staring at her in the face.
"My goddess, I beseech thine aid!" the half-snow elf chanted as she grasped her amulet with a worried look. A spirit sword materialized as the remaining cockatrices surrounded them. Their armor held their beaks back for a time being, but as the battle wore on it seemed to Botan that their attacks were wearing the cleric down slowly but surely. Her spirits were lifted when she noticed that the ones attacking Lamy had been taken care of, but suddenly, the two remaining cockatrices turned tail and attacked Lamy instead. As if they knew that she was weakened from her fights.
"Get off her, damn monsters!" she roared angrily as she continued shooting at them. They took down one, but the last one got a lucky peck, and Lamy was petrified as well.
The fact that she was the last one here and these damn mutated chickens turned all her party… allies… friends… to stone, weight heavily on her. All her anxiety, all her anger, all her rage. She saw red. With the loudest roar she could muster, she shouted to the heavens. Her eyes gained a bright red glow and black streaks akin to whiskers appeared on her face. She tensed her body and like a spring, launched herself at the last one, tearing it into half with her claws.
With a feral growl, she looked around for more enemies. As she searched and found nothing, her heart calmed. She calmed down. Her eyes and face lost their changes. As she got reacquainted with her surroundings, it began to rain. The first few drops wet her ears. She shook her head and hurried to retrieve her shortbow. Her body was still tense as she checked up on her petrified friends. Despair struck her heart as she never did find out how long this state lasted. What if it lasted forever? With this despairing thought, she slunk into the cave to take shelter, absolutely unsure what to do.
"Well… she sounds… really, really, sad..." stated Polka as she watched Botan shout, groan and moan at the state of the bodies. The heads of the owlbear corpses were not spared by the saber-tooths. Even the least damaged one had gauges and teeth marks all over it.
"Well, we have the saber-tooths tied up," stated Nene as she hefted it up with Moona holding up the other end of the branch, "Let's get back to the village and get our reward."
In the end, Botan decided on carrying the least damaged head and skillfully carved it off, with help of course. And so, the group trekked back to Solena with a few extras in tow. They dropped off the dead bodies at the hunting lodge and received their reward from the village head. Risu refused the gold, saying she lived off the land and didn't really need it. So, the reward was split five ways. Then, as they made their way back to the capital by cart, Risu parted ways with them, stating that she wanted to bring Baloo to the circle and start training him there.
"So what are you going to do now?" asked the aasimar as they departed from the stables. It was already late at night and they were very lucky not to get accosted on the way back.
"Well, we are heading straight for the school to preserve this for tomorrow. I don't think Botan is willing to wait any longer," stated the lore bard as she motioned to the now antsy archer.
The former giggled and said, "In that case, go ahead. I'll let Mister Miyabi know about this."
"Okay, thanks a lot," the latter replied as they parted ways.
Botan became a hundred gold poorer that night.
The next day, a short visit to the tannery revealed the cost of stuffing the head of the owlbear.
"Oh, my gods… that's expensive," muttered Botan as she paled at the price. A full two hundred gold.
"Well, even if the head isn't too damaged, the gnawed and gouged parts have to be restored and that itself will be expensive," stated the lady at the counter, "Plus, it is quite rare to find such a beast like how you described. It will take quite a long time to restore it to a presentable condition."
"I suppose..." she admitted. Turning to the others, she asked, "Umm… eheh… can you guys help?"
"I suppose I can help," stated Lamy with a frown, "But… next time, you should try and raise the proper funds yourself. You are lucky that you will be owing us instead of other unscrupulous people."
After contributing and pooling their resources, they paid for the stuffing services. They left after topping up on ammunition. They then stopped by the leatherworkers store, where Nene traded in her leathers for studded leathers. After that, they headed to the herbalist for more healing potions. They finally stopped by the guild house and met up with Miyabi at the counter.
"Hello!" he greeted with a smile, "Moona submitted the report last night. So, what will it be today?"
"Anything simple today?" asked Nene, "Escorts or something?"
"Well… I guess there are always that," he mused as he pointed to the board, "I think there are a few on the board."
They wandered over and looked over it. Two others were at the board as well. One was a handsome blonde in full plate armor and the other had lightning bolts crackling in dark blue hair wearing yellow and brown robes. They picked one request and moved out, only pausing the wave at the guild clerk. Eventually, Polka picked one out, brought it over to Miyabi, and asked as she waved it at him, "Hey, what's a cockatrice?"
He shrugged and replied, "I'm afraid I don't know. Perhaps you can check it out at the library in the school."
"Aah, okay!" quipped the monk.
"Huh, let's go then," said Nene.
"Ah, welcome," greeted the lady at the counter with a smile, "I am Rosalyn the librarian. How may I help you?" She was clad in blue and white, a large hat of the same colors, and a monocle with black rim.
"Hello. I… want to find out about a cockatrice," replied Nene as the party crowded around the counter… minus Aloe, who went ethereal before entering.
"Ah, the bestiary is down that row, letters A to C," she stated as she pointed down one row of shelves, "Do remember to mind your voices when doing research, alright?"
Giving her their thanks, the bard headed down the directed row all the way to the end, where C was. Taking out a few books, she brought them to the table that her party secured for themselves. Together, they poured over them. A hideous hybrid of lizard, bird, and bat. It is about the size of a goose. Any creature bitten by it will be turned to stone by its venom. They are immune to their own venom. They live in lairs and would swarm invaders that try to take them.
While reading up on these titbits, Botan was the first to get bored of all this. Looking around, among the students busy going over tomes and parchments, she spotted Artia doing the same. Getting up from her seat, she walked over to the studious ice genasi and sat next to her. She was a bit too into her book to notice. Leaning over, the lion girl noted that this was about the existence of ice elementals.
"Hnn," she sounded.
"Eep!" Artia sounded loudly in shock. Every other student then looked at her for a moment, before going back to their reading material.
"What was that about?" she whispered angrily, her face red with embarrassment.
"The party is looking up cockatrices and I got bored," the lion girl explained with a nonchalant shrug.
The wizard grumbled under her breath and went back to reading. The archer rolled her eyes and left the table. Sliding back to the party's table, she muttered, "Are we done? This is getting unbearable."
Polka smirked as she tossed her book on the table, "Well, we can always go to the hunting shop to find out. Or we can ask Miyabi. It must be on the piece of paper."
"You didn't see what was on it?" asked Nene in surprise.
"Nope."
Lamy sighed. "Let us go back then. I think we got enough information here," she stated as she stood up. The party was in agreement and they made their way back to the guild house to speak with Miyabi.
"Hello again. Are you ready to take the quest?" he asked.
"We are! What did the paper say?" asked the bard.
"Alright. This is a request from the chef in Robel. She wants someone to hunt down some cockatrices," explained the guild clerk, "She wishes to experiment to see if she can make an interesting dish from the meat. As to where to hunt them, she heard that there was a lair of them bordering the southern part of the swamp and the forest."
"Hmm, I guess that sounds good," she mused, "I guess we can go now?"
"Well… it's past lunchtime… go get something to eat before going," he advised them.
"Alright! Thanks, Mister Miyabi!"
"Eh? But I'm too young to be called that," he exclaimed in surprise, to much giggling.
The afternoon turned to evening. They took a lot of time to get to the southern area of the swamp and to search for the lair. No odd noises and no clucking anywhere.
"This is tiresome," spoke up Lamy, "Did the chef get it wrong?"
"Well, she heard about the lair from someone. It should be around here somewhere," reasoned Nene, "Maybe it's further in the forest than around here."
"Maybe," muttered Botan as she scanned the area, "They do hunt for frogs and the like, so they would be near the swamp, but not as near."
"Alright, maybe Aloe can fly over ahead and… what was that?" spoke up Polka.
The party caught an ear of groaning coming from the swamp. A shambling corpse suddenly appeared and was heading towards them. It used to be human, but now had long sharp teeth and claws. Its eye sockets were empty, the organs already rotted away in the swamp.
"Ew, it stinks," exclaimed fennec fox girl as a stray gust of wind blew, her nose wrinkling in disgust. The lion girl looked like she wanted to throw up.
"What a sad state," muttered the cleric, "We must put it to rest once more. Take care of its claws. They can paralyze you."
"Not human anymore… got it," murmured Nene as everyone got ready to fight.
"Feed..." it groaned out, "Claw them... down to the ground..."
Suddenly, hands burst out of the ground… only hands… and skittered towards them.
"Ooh, creepy," shivered Aloe as she took to the air.
"Yeah, no," said Botan and shot a bursting arrow at the ghast and getting it in the shin, the resulting blast slamming into several of the crawling claws and decimating them.
"Yeah! Keep your hands to yourself!" shouted the monk as she followed up and threw a dart at the undead, burying it in the shoulder.
"Eee! Get off!" shouted the half-snow elf as she kicked off a hand that grabbed her leg.
"Feed..."
This let the ghast simply walk up to the cleric and swung its claws. They scraped on the shield, not touching her at all, but its stench made her stomach churl. Nevertheless, she steeled herself and then slammed her mace on the claw that grabbed her.
"Urgh!" groaned the bard as two hands crawled over, jumped up, and punched her stomach. She got over it quickly and stabbed one.
Yet another hand tried to grab the archer, but she dodged to the side. This allowed the succubus to grab it as she swooped down and she tore it apart with her claws. Meanwhile, the lion girl retreated back and shot at the ghast again, this time striking it in the eye socket. As it roared in reaction, the monk tumbled forward. Leaning back, she slammed two punches into its chest. One feint followed by one real punch. She then swerved out of the way from its swipe, tumbled forward and tried to kick another claw, which flattened itself to the ground and avoided the foot. She then tumbled back to her original position.
"Huh, very fancy," praised Aloe as the undead hands continued scratching and punching Nene and Lamy. She then swooped down and tore into another hand with her claws.
"Quite," agreed the cleric calmly as she nicked the ghast in the side of the head as it suddenly lurched past her to go after Botan. Much to her surprise, the undead being froze and then started shambling away as fast as its stiff legs could carry it. "What in the world?" she muttered to herself in surprise, missing the claw she attacked while staring at the retreating ghast.
"Huh, I guess we're winning," stated Nene with a grin, impaling another hand to the ground.
"Hn," sounded the archer as she missed her shot. Polka just shrugged as she kicked the last hand into the swamp.
"It must be falling apart!" shouted Aloe as she flew after it. She swiped at it as she landed, her claws leaving deep grooves into the skin on its back, "After it!"
"No need to say it twice!" replied the bard as she and the cleric chased after it. One dagger to the neck and a ray of frost later, it crumpled to the ground.
"Hn, that was weird," muttered Botan as they retrieved their respective projectiles from the re-deceased body, "I think this means we need to go further into the forest."
Twilight came and went. As it was night time, Polka pulled out her driftglobe and with two words, made it shine brightly as well as float over her. This was quite helpful as they searched further southward. Eventually, they came upon a grassless area that had a raised hill with an opening going into the earth. They could hear a lot of squawking from inside and a little behind the hill.
"I guess we found the lair," stated Polka as she turned to the others.
"Ah… and I think they noticed us already," informed Botan as she pointed at the hill. Five cockatrices loomed over the hill. All five of them suddenly made horrid noises, something between a squawk and a shriek, and charged straight at them. The din brought four more out of the cave and enraged them too.
"Ah, here we go again," sighed Aloe as she took to the sky again.
"Hn," the archer sounded as she shot a bursting arrow. It struck its target true and buffeted the other monstrosities, but that little to halt their squawking charge. Polka and Aloe tried to do so as well with darts and dive bombs, but nothing stopped them.
They all converge on the least armored ones, Nene and Polka. They were rained with multiple bites and pecks of their beaks. Lamy tried to bless the bard with a shield spell to protect her but it was useless. One solid bite and she was quickly turned to stone.
"Damn it! Die already!" roared Botan as she let loose another shot, killing one in the throat. The sight of the stone statue made her worry where she shouldn't feel it.
Polka fought back as well, pummeling another down with Aloe's assistance. Then, for whatever reason, the ones attacking the lore bard flew up and swarmed on the succubus, much to her great shock.
"Take this!" shouted Lamy after summoning a knife of ice to her hand. She threw it accurately into one of the monster's bodies, the ice exploding outwards in a nova of frost. It still didn't slow them down.
Botan continued to shoot and Polka continued to fight. The monk dipped and dodged, moving between the twisted creatures, punching and kicking. In the middle of it, Aloe cried out and her petrified form landed on the ground. The archer's heart skipped a beat but thankfully, it didn't break or anything. But, that became a signal to the cockatrices to swarm the monk en-masse.
"By the gods, this is madness!" swore Lamy as she froze one into a block of ice before retreating to Botan's position.
"Madness is right," the archer growled through her gritted teeth as she shot again, Polka succumbing to the poisonous beaks and turning to stone. Her anxiety continued to spike as she realized that there was a chance that they could lose this battle. To her, such a thing was unthinkable, and yet, the possibility was staring at her in the face.
"My goddess, I beseech thine aid!" the half-snow elf chanted as she grasped her amulet with a worried look. A spirit sword materialized as the remaining cockatrices surrounded them. Their armor held their beaks back for a time being, but as the battle wore on it seemed to Botan that their attacks were wearing the cleric down slowly but surely. Her spirits were lifted when she noticed that the ones attacking Lamy had been taken care of, but suddenly, the two remaining cockatrices turned tail and attacked Lamy instead. As if they knew that she was weakened from her fights.
"Get off her, damn monsters!" she roared angrily as she continued shooting at them. They took down one, but the last one got a lucky peck, and Lamy was petrified as well.
The fact that she was the last one here and these damn mutated chickens turned all her party… allies… friends… to stone, weight heavily on her. All her anxiety, all her anger, all her rage. She saw red. With the loudest roar she could muster, she shouted to the heavens. Her eyes gained a bright red glow and black streaks akin to whiskers appeared on her face. She tensed her body and like a spring, launched herself at the last one, tearing it into half with her claws.
With a feral growl, she looked around for more enemies. As she searched and found nothing, her heart calmed. She calmed down. Her eyes and face lost their changes. As she got reacquainted with her surroundings, it began to rain. The first few drops wet her ears. She shook her head and hurried to retrieve her shortbow. Her body was still tense as she checked up on her petrified friends. Despair struck her heart as she never did find out how long this state lasted. What if it lasted forever? With this despairing thought, she slunk into the cave to take shelter, absolutely unsure what to do.
Chapter 10
- Location
- Malaysia
Chapter 10
The sun was shining. The birds were singing. The plants all around were healthy. The animals were active and about. Risu was taking Baloo along to explore the forest. He had run after a few dormice but only caught one. They found a honeybee hive but it was too high for him to grab. She promised to get him some later. Then, he noticed a rabbit and loped after it as well. As it tried to dig up its hole, the dream druid noticed a strange glow coming from the part of the forest near the swamp.
"Come on, Baloo. Let's go exploring there," she said as she coaxed the owlbear cub to follow her. It warbled, looking a little sad that he couldn't get the rabbit, but he listened as he knew he could always hunt another.
The duo made their way over to the strange glow. She came to a dry, grassless clearing that had a raised hill with an opening going into the earth. The glow came from a floating driftglobe. She gasped as she found the petrified figures of Nene's party. Exclaiming in surprise and concern, she ran over to examine them. She also noticed nine cockatrice carcasses strewn about and guessed what had happened here. She sucked in air through her teeth as she imagined the situation that led to this… and she realized that someone was missing.
"Botan!? Are you there?" she called out, wondering where the archer was. She walked past Baloo, who was busy tearing strips off one of the carcasses and gulping it down.
She got near the cave and noticed an unmoving body sleeping in the entrance. She hurried over and knelt down the lion girl. Her mane and clothes were encrusted with dried earth and face marked with tear tracks. The druid shook her gently and she eventually awoke.
"Risu…? RISU!" yelled out the archer and grabbed her by the shoulders, "Lamy! Nene! The others! Where-"
"Shh, calm down," she shushed as she hugged the dirty lion girl and pat her on the back. When she became calm enough, she asked what happened. After a minute of explaining, she took in a deep breath and said, "I will have to get the elders for this. Can you take care of them until I bring them here?" Getting worried nods, she told the lion girl as she got up, "And sit yourself in the sun. you look horrible. And take that globe back. It's too bright!"
She ran out of the cave and shouted as she passed by, "Baloo, let's go! We need to get help!"
The owlbear cub looked from the carcass, which had almost been stripped clean by that time, and loped after her.
"Botan! Thank the gods you're safe!" exclaimed Polka as she jumped over the archer. One by one, the girls were restored from their petrified state by three druid elders from Risu's circle. There was a lot of hugging and saying thanks for saving them from their predicament.
"Well, this is a first," muttered one as he restored the succubus.
"Thank you for helping my friends, Elder Kyshyr," stated the dream druid as she bowed.
"Ah, no thanks is required. The circle exists to help all who require guidance," replied another elder druid with leaves growing in his hair and beard and a pair of short antlers growing from his head. His hand had a firm grasp on his staff that had a glowing green orb wrapped in gnarled, knotted wood.
"Still, wiping out these cockatrices are a bit too extreme," stated the third one, "Thining the flock would probably be the better option."
"Hard to do that when all of them suddenly come after you," muttered Botan with a frown, evidently disagreeing.
"Still-"
"Enough. What's done is done. And I believe the experience is a lesson enough for the young lady here," stated Elder Kyshyr, halting the argument from continuing, "Come, let us return to the circle. I'm sure there are other tasks that need minding."
After seeing Risu, Baloo, and the elders off, they set about gathering the carcasses. Other than the one the owlbear cub feasted on, they got eight overall. Then, with Polka's urging, they searched the cockatrice's lair. Inside, they found nests decorated with silver pieces and small gems. They gathered as much as they could find and then made their way back to the city. By the time they reached Robel's, it was evening.
"Hello. From the guild, right?" greeted the bartender jovially as they approached, "I'm Roberu, owner of Robel's. How can I help?"
"Hello, we are here to talk to the chef. We finished her request," stated Nene during her greeting.
He raised an eyebrow and muttered, "She actually went with it? Hmm." Then, he said aloud, "Well, go on in then. She should be expecting you."
Thanking him, they headed through the door next to the bar and into the kitchen. There, they found the lady with the two hats busy slaughtering and butchering chickens while two other ladies were busy peeling potatoes and cutting vegetables. The lead chef stopped to look at them quizzically while the rest continued on with their jobs.
"Erm, hello? We have cockatrice meat for you?" stated the bard hesitantly.
Amazement flashed on the lady's face before a great big smile appeared, "You answered my request! I'm so glad!" she exclaimed as she ran over to give all of them a big hug, much to their surprise. When she was done, she clapped a few times and asked, "Ooh, where are they?"
Botan then laid out the carcasses on the table. They were tied together by their feet. She got a shine in her eyes as she looked over them. "Amazing! Simply amazing!" she exclaimed. She proceeded to hug them again and thank them profusely. She then proceeded to usher them out of the kitchen, citing the need to be creative.
Roberu chuckled and said to them, "Well, I'm sure she's very happy."
"Who is she anyway?" asked Lamy, her eyes brimming with curiosity, "She is rather excitable for a chef."
"She called herself Kiara when we met all months ago," he explained as he reminisced, "She was quite eager to start and impressed me as well as my regulars with her food. So, I let her continue running the kitchen."
"Well, her food Is really good," admitted Nene.
"Right. And I have your reward right here," he stated as he handed a large bag to them, "Try not to spend it all in one place… or maybe just spend them here tonight, eh?"
They just smiled politely and thanked him before leaving for the guild house. There, they were greeted by Miyabi.
"Welcome back. I take it that the request is done?" he greeted with a welcoming smile. Getting nods from them, he then said, "That's great. So, are you going to take it easy today or are you taking another quest?"
They looked at each other and Nene said, "I'm not sure… maybe take it easy for now. We did get… turned to stone overnight… eh heh..."
"Ah… I'll leave you to it then," he replied uncomfortably and went back to his stack of papers.
"Are you sure about this?" asked Lamy as they went to the side room, "If I must be honest, I do not feel any different."
"Not us. Botan," stated the bard as they took a seat, "How are you feeling?"
The lion girl stared at the table, unable to meet their eyes. "I guess I'm alright..." she muttered. Polka reached over and patted her hand. She smiled wryly.
"I guess not," she admitted with a sigh, "I saw everyone turn to stone and I couldn't do a thing."
"It wasn't your fault," pointed out Aloe, "Those monster chickens were just too many."
She sighed and said, "I could see that… but… I could have done something. I wanted to do something more. And… I felt something surge within me." Then, she told them what happened when Lamy became petrified. The anger and the rage she felt. It didn't sound like anything they have ever heard of before.
'The door to the side room opened and several others took up another table. A large, dark-skinned barbarian with a large horn from the side of his head, a black-haired jackal man, a red-headed girl with white streaks in her hair dressed in dark leathers, and surprisingly, Rosalyn. They chit-chatted while the unknown girl then took out a deck of cards and started dealing.
"So, what do we do? Do we try and find out about Botan's condition?" asked Nene, bringing the party back to the issue at hand.
"But who can we ask?" spoke up the monk, "I… the only one I can even think of asking is Lord Aruran, but..."
"Come to think of it, we hardly see him here anyway," pointed out Lamy, "All we see is Miyabi."
"Probably doing whatever nobles do all those other times," quipped the succubus.
The door to the side room opened again. Risu and Moona immediately headed over to the party. "Halo, halo," greeted the druid excitably, "Botan, Botan, you need to come with us."
"Eh?" sounded the archer, blinking in surprise.
"Ya, ya, the elders want to do a check-up on you," she informed them, "So, please follow."
"She got a request from the elders of her circle," the aasimar bard added, "Seeing who asked her, I have a feeling she has an obligation to do it. It would be better to come along and find out what."
The archer looked at the others in the party with uncertainty.
"Go on," urged the monk, "They are the ones who helped look you over right? So, maybe they can figure out what happened."
"I guess..."
"Don't worry! It'll all be fine!" assured Risu as she pulled Botan out of her seat and out of the room, the lion girl blankly following after her.
"Sorry about that. We'll get her back soon," apologized Moona before following after the young druid.
The rest of the party watched them go. At the other table, the barbarian roared with laughter while Rosalyn shouted in despair. The other two sniggered at her misfortune.
"Hng, you know, enough moping," declared Aloe as she slammed the table, "Let's go to Robel's and find out Kiara made a dish out of those monster chickens."
They came across Roberu sighing in annoyance.
"Hello, ladies," he greeted them, "Unfortunately, the kitchen is closed so if you are here for eats, you'll have to go somewhere else."
"Eh? What happened?" asked Nene.
"Huh, the bird brain made a dish with the cockatrices and sampled it," he informed them, "Then, a few minutes before dinner rush, she gets a stomach ache. Absolutely ridiculous."
A mix of sighs and groans erupted from the party. "So… since this kitchen is closed, any other place you'd recommend for food?"
"Eh… there's Farun's bar a few roads down," he stated with a shrug, "A lot more rowdier than my place, but the food is just as good."
"Alright, thanks a lot, Roberu," replied the bard gratefully. The bartender waved them off as he went on to serve another order.
They made their way to Farun's bar. True to Roberu's word, it was louder than they expected to be, but the food was certainly just as delicious. Unexpectedly, Polka and Lamy got drunk… and so the other two had to carry them. They passed a cat girl and a dog girl on the way out, heading straight for the guild house.
The next morning, the cleric and the monk nursed hangovers while the other two waited for them to recover.
"How has your landlady been treating you, by the way?" asked Nene as the two sat at the table.
"She's… strange..." Aloe muttered as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, "The first few days, Towa was constantly trying to get information out of me about succubi. For being a half-devil, she's very nosy. But, after getting all she could, she just shut herself off from me and left me to my devices. Then, it's been alright, I guess."
"Uh… good for you?" guessed the bard with a shrug, "At least, you're fine now… and getting used to living here."
"So-so," she muttered as she slumped back in her seat, "Could be worse, I guess."
The door then opened and Botan walked through calmly.
"Welcome back!" the bard exclaimed as she rushed over to give a hug.
"Ah, hi, hi, hello Nene," the lion girl replied with a smile. A relieved smile.
"I'm back."
After the two had recovered from their hangovers, the party convened in the side room and awaited Botan's story.
"Ah, where do I start… Remember the werewolf? And my journey to the fey-wild?" askd Botan. Getting nods from everyone, she continued, "Well… after going through the checkup… they found out that the lycanthropy has been altered. Now, it has become a part of me in a different way. I have… a somewhat-controlled transformation. And I need to practice using it to gain better control over it."
She then clapped her hands once and said, "So! Did anyone pick a request yet?"
Nene shook her head, "Not really. We were waiting for you. We could go now if you like."
The party immediately got up and headed straight for the notice board. After a while, the archer picked out a request and brought it over to the counter.
"Oh? Well, what a strange request you picked up," stated the guild clerk as he read the missive, glancing at the party, "You want to… entertain the children at the local orphanage. That's a nice thing to do… but I expected this to be taken by the bard duo, not your party. What brought this on?"
The rest of the party then looked to the archer, who felt a little uncomfortable with their stares but answered anyway, "I thought that… we needed to take it easy for a while, so I thought that this was something we could do together."
A grin then developed on the fennec fox girl's face. "A circus performance!" she exclaimed loudly as she started jumping excitedly.
The lion girl smirked and continued, "I thought you'd like it."
"Very well, I'll put this as taken then," stated Miyabi with an amused smile, "Alright, I'll write down the address and directions. You can talk with the owner of the building and settle on a date and time for the performance."
The very excited monk eagerly waited for the address, which she quickly snatched and ran out of the guild house. The rest of the party looked on in incredulousness. "She'll be back," stated the archer, though not as confident as she sounded, "We better wait in the room for her."
And so they did. Several hours later, the fennec fox girl showed up. Smiling brightly, she sat down and detailed her plans. The children there were young and have yet to become of age, and so still found fascination with nursery rhymes and folk tales. After telling them their roles in this little project of hers, everyone agreed and went to do their tasks. Over the next two days, they got to work.
Botan made up a leather suit made of several skins. Her needlework could have used some improvement, but with Aloe's help, she made something that covered her entire body from the neck down. After she put it on, she looked like a real lion. She also made something for the cleric, for the character she will be playing. It was a full-body suit this time, complete with fake ears. She also had lines to memorize.
As well as getting measurements for the suit, Lamy spent her time going over her lines. The script was written by the bard, who knew of this children's fable since young. Nene, as well as writing out the script, had to figure out the proper accompanying song for the little play. Polka had lines too, as she had elected herself to be the narrator of the story. More memorizing of the story. By the time, the two days were up, they were as ready as they could ever be.
The sun was shining. The birds were singing. The plants all around were healthy. The animals were active and about. Risu was taking Baloo along to explore the forest. He had run after a few dormice but only caught one. They found a honeybee hive but it was too high for him to grab. She promised to get him some later. Then, he noticed a rabbit and loped after it as well. As it tried to dig up its hole, the dream druid noticed a strange glow coming from the part of the forest near the swamp.
"Come on, Baloo. Let's go exploring there," she said as she coaxed the owlbear cub to follow her. It warbled, looking a little sad that he couldn't get the rabbit, but he listened as he knew he could always hunt another.
The duo made their way over to the strange glow. She came to a dry, grassless clearing that had a raised hill with an opening going into the earth. The glow came from a floating driftglobe. She gasped as she found the petrified figures of Nene's party. Exclaiming in surprise and concern, she ran over to examine them. She also noticed nine cockatrice carcasses strewn about and guessed what had happened here. She sucked in air through her teeth as she imagined the situation that led to this… and she realized that someone was missing.
"Botan!? Are you there?" she called out, wondering where the archer was. She walked past Baloo, who was busy tearing strips off one of the carcasses and gulping it down.
She got near the cave and noticed an unmoving body sleeping in the entrance. She hurried over and knelt down the lion girl. Her mane and clothes were encrusted with dried earth and face marked with tear tracks. The druid shook her gently and she eventually awoke.
"Risu…? RISU!" yelled out the archer and grabbed her by the shoulders, "Lamy! Nene! The others! Where-"
"Shh, calm down," she shushed as she hugged the dirty lion girl and pat her on the back. When she became calm enough, she asked what happened. After a minute of explaining, she took in a deep breath and said, "I will have to get the elders for this. Can you take care of them until I bring them here?" Getting worried nods, she told the lion girl as she got up, "And sit yourself in the sun. you look horrible. And take that globe back. It's too bright!"
She ran out of the cave and shouted as she passed by, "Baloo, let's go! We need to get help!"
The owlbear cub looked from the carcass, which had almost been stripped clean by that time, and loped after her.
"Botan! Thank the gods you're safe!" exclaimed Polka as she jumped over the archer. One by one, the girls were restored from their petrified state by three druid elders from Risu's circle. There was a lot of hugging and saying thanks for saving them from their predicament.
"Well, this is a first," muttered one as he restored the succubus.
"Thank you for helping my friends, Elder Kyshyr," stated the dream druid as she bowed.
"Ah, no thanks is required. The circle exists to help all who require guidance," replied another elder druid with leaves growing in his hair and beard and a pair of short antlers growing from his head. His hand had a firm grasp on his staff that had a glowing green orb wrapped in gnarled, knotted wood.
"Still, wiping out these cockatrices are a bit too extreme," stated the third one, "Thining the flock would probably be the better option."
"Hard to do that when all of them suddenly come after you," muttered Botan with a frown, evidently disagreeing.
"Still-"
"Enough. What's done is done. And I believe the experience is a lesson enough for the young lady here," stated Elder Kyshyr, halting the argument from continuing, "Come, let us return to the circle. I'm sure there are other tasks that need minding."
After seeing Risu, Baloo, and the elders off, they set about gathering the carcasses. Other than the one the owlbear cub feasted on, they got eight overall. Then, with Polka's urging, they searched the cockatrice's lair. Inside, they found nests decorated with silver pieces and small gems. They gathered as much as they could find and then made their way back to the city. By the time they reached Robel's, it was evening.
"Hello. From the guild, right?" greeted the bartender jovially as they approached, "I'm Roberu, owner of Robel's. How can I help?"
"Hello, we are here to talk to the chef. We finished her request," stated Nene during her greeting.
He raised an eyebrow and muttered, "She actually went with it? Hmm." Then, he said aloud, "Well, go on in then. She should be expecting you."
Thanking him, they headed through the door next to the bar and into the kitchen. There, they found the lady with the two hats busy slaughtering and butchering chickens while two other ladies were busy peeling potatoes and cutting vegetables. The lead chef stopped to look at them quizzically while the rest continued on with their jobs.
"Erm, hello? We have cockatrice meat for you?" stated the bard hesitantly.
Amazement flashed on the lady's face before a great big smile appeared, "You answered my request! I'm so glad!" she exclaimed as she ran over to give all of them a big hug, much to their surprise. When she was done, she clapped a few times and asked, "Ooh, where are they?"
Botan then laid out the carcasses on the table. They were tied together by their feet. She got a shine in her eyes as she looked over them. "Amazing! Simply amazing!" she exclaimed. She proceeded to hug them again and thank them profusely. She then proceeded to usher them out of the kitchen, citing the need to be creative.
Roberu chuckled and said to them, "Well, I'm sure she's very happy."
"Who is she anyway?" asked Lamy, her eyes brimming with curiosity, "She is rather excitable for a chef."
"She called herself Kiara when we met all months ago," he explained as he reminisced, "She was quite eager to start and impressed me as well as my regulars with her food. So, I let her continue running the kitchen."
"Well, her food Is really good," admitted Nene.
"Right. And I have your reward right here," he stated as he handed a large bag to them, "Try not to spend it all in one place… or maybe just spend them here tonight, eh?"
They just smiled politely and thanked him before leaving for the guild house. There, they were greeted by Miyabi.
"Welcome back. I take it that the request is done?" he greeted with a welcoming smile. Getting nods from them, he then said, "That's great. So, are you going to take it easy today or are you taking another quest?"
They looked at each other and Nene said, "I'm not sure… maybe take it easy for now. We did get… turned to stone overnight… eh heh..."
"Ah… I'll leave you to it then," he replied uncomfortably and went back to his stack of papers.
"Are you sure about this?" asked Lamy as they went to the side room, "If I must be honest, I do not feel any different."
"Not us. Botan," stated the bard as they took a seat, "How are you feeling?"
The lion girl stared at the table, unable to meet their eyes. "I guess I'm alright..." she muttered. Polka reached over and patted her hand. She smiled wryly.
"I guess not," she admitted with a sigh, "I saw everyone turn to stone and I couldn't do a thing."
"It wasn't your fault," pointed out Aloe, "Those monster chickens were just too many."
She sighed and said, "I could see that… but… I could have done something. I wanted to do something more. And… I felt something surge within me." Then, she told them what happened when Lamy became petrified. The anger and the rage she felt. It didn't sound like anything they have ever heard of before.
'The door to the side room opened and several others took up another table. A large, dark-skinned barbarian with a large horn from the side of his head, a black-haired jackal man, a red-headed girl with white streaks in her hair dressed in dark leathers, and surprisingly, Rosalyn. They chit-chatted while the unknown girl then took out a deck of cards and started dealing.
"So, what do we do? Do we try and find out about Botan's condition?" asked Nene, bringing the party back to the issue at hand.
"But who can we ask?" spoke up the monk, "I… the only one I can even think of asking is Lord Aruran, but..."
"Come to think of it, we hardly see him here anyway," pointed out Lamy, "All we see is Miyabi."
"Probably doing whatever nobles do all those other times," quipped the succubus.
The door to the side room opened again. Risu and Moona immediately headed over to the party. "Halo, halo," greeted the druid excitably, "Botan, Botan, you need to come with us."
"Eh?" sounded the archer, blinking in surprise.
"Ya, ya, the elders want to do a check-up on you," she informed them, "So, please follow."
"She got a request from the elders of her circle," the aasimar bard added, "Seeing who asked her, I have a feeling she has an obligation to do it. It would be better to come along and find out what."
The archer looked at the others in the party with uncertainty.
"Go on," urged the monk, "They are the ones who helped look you over right? So, maybe they can figure out what happened."
"I guess..."
"Don't worry! It'll all be fine!" assured Risu as she pulled Botan out of her seat and out of the room, the lion girl blankly following after her.
"Sorry about that. We'll get her back soon," apologized Moona before following after the young druid.
The rest of the party watched them go. At the other table, the barbarian roared with laughter while Rosalyn shouted in despair. The other two sniggered at her misfortune.
"Hng, you know, enough moping," declared Aloe as she slammed the table, "Let's go to Robel's and find out Kiara made a dish out of those monster chickens."
They came across Roberu sighing in annoyance.
"Hello, ladies," he greeted them, "Unfortunately, the kitchen is closed so if you are here for eats, you'll have to go somewhere else."
"Eh? What happened?" asked Nene.
"Huh, the bird brain made a dish with the cockatrices and sampled it," he informed them, "Then, a few minutes before dinner rush, she gets a stomach ache. Absolutely ridiculous."
A mix of sighs and groans erupted from the party. "So… since this kitchen is closed, any other place you'd recommend for food?"
"Eh… there's Farun's bar a few roads down," he stated with a shrug, "A lot more rowdier than my place, but the food is just as good."
"Alright, thanks a lot, Roberu," replied the bard gratefully. The bartender waved them off as he went on to serve another order.
They made their way to Farun's bar. True to Roberu's word, it was louder than they expected to be, but the food was certainly just as delicious. Unexpectedly, Polka and Lamy got drunk… and so the other two had to carry them. They passed a cat girl and a dog girl on the way out, heading straight for the guild house.
The next morning, the cleric and the monk nursed hangovers while the other two waited for them to recover.
"How has your landlady been treating you, by the way?" asked Nene as the two sat at the table.
"She's… strange..." Aloe muttered as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, "The first few days, Towa was constantly trying to get information out of me about succubi. For being a half-devil, she's very nosy. But, after getting all she could, she just shut herself off from me and left me to my devices. Then, it's been alright, I guess."
"Uh… good for you?" guessed the bard with a shrug, "At least, you're fine now… and getting used to living here."
"So-so," she muttered as she slumped back in her seat, "Could be worse, I guess."
The door then opened and Botan walked through calmly.
"Welcome back!" the bard exclaimed as she rushed over to give a hug.
"Ah, hi, hi, hello Nene," the lion girl replied with a smile. A relieved smile.
"I'm back."
After the two had recovered from their hangovers, the party convened in the side room and awaited Botan's story.
"Ah, where do I start… Remember the werewolf? And my journey to the fey-wild?" askd Botan. Getting nods from everyone, she continued, "Well… after going through the checkup… they found out that the lycanthropy has been altered. Now, it has become a part of me in a different way. I have… a somewhat-controlled transformation. And I need to practice using it to gain better control over it."
She then clapped her hands once and said, "So! Did anyone pick a request yet?"
Nene shook her head, "Not really. We were waiting for you. We could go now if you like."
The party immediately got up and headed straight for the notice board. After a while, the archer picked out a request and brought it over to the counter.
"Oh? Well, what a strange request you picked up," stated the guild clerk as he read the missive, glancing at the party, "You want to… entertain the children at the local orphanage. That's a nice thing to do… but I expected this to be taken by the bard duo, not your party. What brought this on?"
The rest of the party then looked to the archer, who felt a little uncomfortable with their stares but answered anyway, "I thought that… we needed to take it easy for a while, so I thought that this was something we could do together."
A grin then developed on the fennec fox girl's face. "A circus performance!" she exclaimed loudly as she started jumping excitedly.
The lion girl smirked and continued, "I thought you'd like it."
"Very well, I'll put this as taken then," stated Miyabi with an amused smile, "Alright, I'll write down the address and directions. You can talk with the owner of the building and settle on a date and time for the performance."
The very excited monk eagerly waited for the address, which she quickly snatched and ran out of the guild house. The rest of the party looked on in incredulousness. "She'll be back," stated the archer, though not as confident as she sounded, "We better wait in the room for her."
And so they did. Several hours later, the fennec fox girl showed up. Smiling brightly, she sat down and detailed her plans. The children there were young and have yet to become of age, and so still found fascination with nursery rhymes and folk tales. After telling them their roles in this little project of hers, everyone agreed and went to do their tasks. Over the next two days, they got to work.
Botan made up a leather suit made of several skins. Her needlework could have used some improvement, but with Aloe's help, she made something that covered her entire body from the neck down. After she put it on, she looked like a real lion. She also made something for the cleric, for the character she will be playing. It was a full-body suit this time, complete with fake ears. She also had lines to memorize.
As well as getting measurements for the suit, Lamy spent her time going over her lines. The script was written by the bard, who knew of this children's fable since young. Nene, as well as writing out the script, had to figure out the proper accompanying song for the little play. Polka had lines too, as she had elected herself to be the narrator of the story. More memorizing of the story. By the time, the two days were up, they were as ready as they could ever be.