Finding a suitable clear area to spend the night after an uneventful trek across the grass-covered landscape, Sam and her companions wasted no time clearing a large area and getting a fire going. Sam made sure to use her endless canteen to wet their surroundings; the last thing she wanted was to set the Beastlands on fire. It turned out that when she tried using some of the brown grass as a fire starter, it didn't light. After getting the fire going with her usual method, she found it took exposure to direct flame to get the grass to ignite. However, it went out after being removed from the fire.
With her grassland fire worries alleviated Sam proceeded to stock the fire until it was perfect for cooking a large meal. She had promised a fancy dinner to her companions and intended on delivering.
Unfortunately, Sam had to use some of her wards to activate a safe zone, but she figured it was worth it with an e-grade wandering around. That and she had no idea what other dangers lurked in the tall grass. Placing her wards, Sam made a mental note to fabricate modular defensive walls either from scavenged stone or her own arcane mana for storage and quick assembly. She hoped it would be enough for the System to recognize as a safe zone and figured she would have to experiment until she got it right. “This will have to do for now, though,” She thought, placing the final ward and receiving the safe zone notification.
Sam started pulling out various cooking items and setting them up around the fire. A spit for the meat with a stew pot hanging from it to catch the drippings was the first thing she set up. That was usually all she did, but tonight, she also got out her sauté pan and the large flat stone she used as a cooktop, placing them over one edge of the raised fire pit to heat while she set out her ingredients.
Lupie nearly knocked Sam into the fire, violently wagging her tail because she was so excited about the upcoming meal. “Hey," Sam coughed, picking herself up from where the giant tail laid her flat on the compacted grass.
Lupie transitioned into her humanoid form and ran up to Sam to help her get seated again, saying, "I am so sorry, Mistress!”
“Is it too much to ask that you just call me Sam?” Sam asked her friend, smiling, "I will admit the way you say Mistress has a certain…ring to it that I really like. But I don’t want you to think of yourself as anything other than my equal. Both you and Nul are my friends and are not beholden to me in any way."
"I know," Lupie said, squatting next to Sam and leaning close to whisper in her ear, "but I like the color you turn when I call you Mistress… my Mistress.”
Sam blushed at how Lupie said the word ‘Mistress'; the sensation of the Bloodmorph's hot breath and how Lupie was pressing against her made Sam realize her friend had been throwing out signals for a while. Turning to stare into Lupie's expressive amber eyes, Sam tried to de-escalate the situation and said, "You're just doing this so I cook for you more often, aren't you?"
Lupie feigned a shocked expression, “I would never use my charms to coerce you into feeding me, Mistress," there was a long pause, and she arched her eyebrows, adding hopefully, “unless it would work…”
Sam barked a laugh. Playfully shoving Lupie away she said, "Let me get dinner started. We can play later, you little minx.”
Giggling, Lupie rolled away, allowing Sam to continue preparing to cook unharried. Snatching up Nul from where the slime was dozing by the fire minding its own business, Lupie started dancing around the safe zone, holding Nul out at arm’s length as she laughed and giggled, singing, "We are getting fancy food, we are getting fancy food," over and over.
Nul must have gotten into it because soon, the two dancing clowns were leaping through portals and teleporting around the clearing as Lupie continued to dance and sing without a care.
Sam couldn't bring herself to be annoyed at their antics. They were happy, and that was all that mattered to her. And it also kept them from nosing her and begging for scraps as she cooked.
***
Sam outdid herself in her own opinion, and if the sounds of pleasure and carnage coming from Lupie and Nul were any indication, they agreed with her self-appraisal.
She watched as her friends consumed plate after plate of sautéed herbs with wild onions and garlic, baked tubers stuffed with herbs and cheese, fresh fire-baked scones topped with melted cheese, and herb-wrapped raptor and spine beast steaks. They washed it all down with goblets of beer and wine. Sam even brought out some of the few remaining cookies from her inventory.
Several hours and many helpings later, the bottomless holes Lupie and Nul possessed in place of stomachs were full. “Or whatever Nul’s equivalent of a stomach is,” Sam thought, looking at the now snoozing slime, “I swear the little thing ate fifty times its body weight per hour…where did it go?” She could only shake her head in amused disbelief. The little slime hadn't even changed size, no matter how much it ate. Even her stomach got a little distended occasionally if she ate too fast.
Between the dozens of servings she had cooked, Sam had kept part of her mind busy and made a small but thick quilt out of her arcane mana using her mana threads. This time, unlike the cloaks she made for her and Lupie, she had woven in strands of filtered void. Sam wasn't sure the two would mesh. Thankfully, so long as she wasn't actively trying to inject opposing magic into the constructs, they didn't react to each other when woven together. After the meal, Sam wrapped Nul up in the quilt, and the slime was asleep almost immediately, making cozy sounds. "All that's missing is a sleep bubble coming in and out of its’ face, and it would look just like something from a video game or anime," Sam thought as she stared affectionately at the slumbering teardrop of doom.
After cleaning up, which was a chore now that Nara and Parish weren’t around with their ‘Clean’ spell, Sam stored the cooking utensils and pulled a giant log from her inventory to recline against dropping it close enough so she could enjoy the gentle heat from the fire.
As Sam gazed absently into the fire, Lupie crept up and stood awkwardly, staring down at Sam. The monster girl was obviously conflicted about something. Sam smiled reassuringly at her and patted the ground next to where she was reclining.
Instead of sitting next to Sam, though, Lupie sat in her lap and snuggled in, wiggling her butt until Sam spread her legs to give her a spot to sit. Leaning back against Sam's chest, Lupie laid her cheek against Sam's and said, "I love you, Mistr…uh…Sam. You are a good person and friend.” She grabbed Sam’s hands and pulled her Mistress's arms around her waist with a contented sigh.
The Bloodmorph's actions and her statement caught Sam entirely off guard. She squeezed her arms around Lupie as she thought of a response, but before she could say anything, the light snores of a contented monster girl reached her ears even as they vibrated through her arms.
***
"Are you just going to sit there all night?" Sam asked the shadowy figure of Banta sitting just outside the safe zone range. She had no idea how the Bovalin woman had found them in a safe zone but assumed it was probably her high-level coupled with the low-level safe zone.
After a brief hesitation, Banta got up and walked into the illumination of the fire. Sam noted she expertly navigated around the scattered wards as she did so. “So much for my feeling of security,” She thought wryly, watching the e-grade approach.
Banta sat cross-legged on the grass opposite the fire from Sam. She didn't speak, only staring at Sam like a curious insect needing further study.
A tingle ran down Sam's spine at the powerful woman's expression, but she suppressed her worry and put on a fake smile and asked, "Are you hungry? We have some leftovers…um, is meat okay, or are you vegetarian?" Sam's frustration and anger with Banta were long past, so she felt like extending a little goodwill. Her fantastic night with her companions put her in a wonderful mood.
"I prefer vegetation," Banta said, adding, "but sustenance is not why I am here," Her eyes fixed on Sam.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
“So, are you here to kill us then?” Sam asked with a serious expression.
"No, why would you think that? Do not feel threatened by me, little Pathfinder." Banta said, still staring at Sam.
Somehow, her words soothed Sam's worries. She felt she could trust this woman. Her eyes spoke of innocence, comfort, emotional pain, and camaraderie.
Banta continued, "I'm here to thank you for…avenging my brother and saving me. Also, thank you for your generosity in returning his body to me. I’m sorry for my attitude earlier.” She shifted a little, clearly not used to apologizing.
Sam also felt the need to apologize and said, "I'm sorry too, and you're welcome for everything else." Using a mana thread, she summoned a clean fireclay bowl and filled it with some leftover sautéed vegetables. She hovered the bowl in front of Banta, who took the offered bowl gingerly from the air. As soon as Banta accepted the food, Sam made two arcane chopsticks appear and stuck them in the bowl.
Grasping the rich violet chopsticks, Banta examined them curiously. Looking from the chopsticks to Sam and Lupie's cloaks, then Nul's blanket, she said, "You possess arcane and void magic." It wasn't a question.
"Yeah, all three of us have a void affinity, and one of us has a blood affinity, just like the dead Succubus," Sam said. She didn't know what it was about Banta, but she made Sam want to spill her guts to the calm woman.
Banta winced when Sam mentioned Cypress, but her gentle smile returned quickly. Sam figured it brought up some painful memories and kicked herself for mentioning it.
Sam was about to apologize when the rumbling of Banta’s stomach echoed across the campsite. Sam giggled and said, "Eat Banta. There will be time for talk later." She settled back against the log, squeezing Lupie closer. When she did so, she felt a tail wiggling between her legs. Apparently, the monster girl didn't need to be awake to feel happy.
Besides a surprised "Oh!" When she took her first bite, Banta ate silently, making short work of the small meal.
Sam couldn't tear her eyes from the Bovalin woman; she felt no hostility as she had before when she had first released the warrior. Sam passed the time brushing Lupie's flowing crimson hair as Banta ate. Her friend turned to her side, giving Sam access to her beautiful locks. She made the arcane hairbrush on a whim several days ago, and it was awesome! Being able to make pretty much anything she wanted out of pure nothing was nice, Sam had to admit.
After Banta sat her bowl down with a quiet thanks. Sam said, "She wasn't weakened," at the woman's raised eyebrows, Sam elaborated, "Cypress, the Succubus, she wasn't weakened."
Banta scoffed, saying, "Then where is your other party member? The e-grade I can't detect must be around here somewhere. Because there is no way I will believe you three defeated Cypress Delamentia, aptly named the Kiss of Death. It simply isn’t possible.”
Sam summoned Cypress's tail from her inventory. She wasn't sure why she had kept it, but why not since she had virtually infinite storage space? She tossed the whip-like severed appendage to Banta, who snatched it from the air. "Look at the base of the tail; it's where I cut it off."
Banta did as instructed and examined the cut closely. She tossed the tail over with a grunt. Sam intercepted it with a thread and made it disappear.
Banta said, "Okay, I'm curious now. How did you cut through the tail? Do you have some mystic blade that can cut through anything?"
Forming a void sword in her hand and six more with her mana tendrils, Sam hovered them around the cleared area for the Bovalin to see. The crackling of the volatile magic woke Lupie. When she saw no danger, she only pulled the hood of her cloak over her head and snuggled deeper into Sam's neck, mumbling, "So I guess she found us then.” Sam could feel the vibrations of her light snore moments later.
As Banta's eyes narrowed at the void constructs, the cacophony of noise permeated the area as the magic fought against reality itself. Dismissing the constructs, Sam said, "My companions and I are much more than we seem."
"Indeed, you are young Pathfinder." Although not necessarily impressed, Banta looked slightly warier of Sam. Then she asked, "Why would you show me this?"
“I don’t know,” Sam admitted honestly, “I just want to trust you, I guess. And I want you to know how cool I am,” She added with a sheepish smile. “Why did I show her? Ugh, so embarrassing.” Pushing past her irrational embarrassment, she said, "My friends and I haven't had the best experiences with e-grade beings lately. I guess I wanted you to understand that we aren't pushovers. When fighting e-grades…well, let's say Cypress wasn't the first we've had to put down in the past weeks."
Banta cocked her head to the side and asked, “Are you trying to intimidate me then?”
Sam shrugged, "No…I don't know. Maybe… I just wanted you to know what you would be getting yourself into if you wanted to take us on."
Banta chuckled and smiled thinly, saying, "You are young and inexperienced. All you had to do to prove yourself was display the System notification showing you banished Cypress."
Sam cringed on the inside, “Way to totally call out the fact you’re a noob, dumb ass!” She thought, kicking herself mentally. Still, she put on a brave face, and finding the banishment notification, she willed it to appear for Banta to see.
Sam was surprised when an enormous display appeared, hovering over the fire between them. She was even more surprised by the three flaming red skulls floating above the display. “Well, that’s new,” She thought as Banta stood to stare at the displayed information.
A look of surprised disbelief etched on Banta's face, and she asked, "How did you banish her for a thousand cycles? Did you vaporize her?"
“Yes,” Sam said and dismissed the display.
Banta gave her a look of begrudging respect, and with a nod, she said, "You have done this planet a great service." Seeing Sam preen a little at the praise, she sat back down. She continued, "Now, since I seem to be in your debt, I will answer any questions you have about me, but first, would you mind filling me in on the current events of this planet? As you have surmised, I was trapped in that runic spell for many cycles. If you could fill me in on the current sociopolitical climate of the planet, I will happily tell you my tale."
As excited as she was to be helpful to the trustworthy woman, Sam had to admit, "I just arrived myself. So, I'm afraid I am not the best person to ask about current affairs."
Banta shrugged, “Do you know if there is still a coven of daemons in the mountains of Drakenth? Has the blight menace been eradicated? Has the main force of the holy church arrived yet? Do you know of any tales regarding a woman named Cara? She is a particularly dangerous person, and I hope she has been apprehended for her heinous crimes.
“So, there are things I know that will help Banta!” Sam excitedly thought, feeling almost lightheaded. She was so happy to help.
She explained how the church was evil now and how one of her friends was a blight, and he wasn't bad at all. She went on to explain how the Church of the Light exploited a power-hungry king and was the cause of the bights being brought into this world.
Banta patiently listened as Sam rambled; she only nodded encouragingly throughout the story.
Sam felt a strange compulsion to tell Banta everything she had experienced since arriving at Hallista. She was halfway through the story of when she had been frozen solid by an ice mage when a voice in her head screamed, “Stop!” Surprised, Sam stopped mid-sentence. The voice hadn't been the one of anger and rage that usually cried out in stressful situations, but instead was her voice of reason…
Unsure why the voice had yelled at her, Sam was about to proceed with her story, but her status screen popped up in her vision without her bidding, and the voice yelled at her to check her resistances. At first, she was confused about how her interface had opened without her bidding. Then Sam remembered she now habitually bifurcated her brain every night so she could keep meditation active while performing other tasks. It was nearly impossible to separate her mind into two parts initially, but over time, it had become second nature to her to the point she did it without thinking. It must have been that part of her mind that stopped her and opened her interface. Noticing meditation was no longer active confirmed it for her.
Looking at her resistances showed nothing out of the ordinary. Sam was about to close her status screen when her mental resistance ticked up from nine to ten. “Wait! Wasn’t it a seven the last time I checked? I’m under a mental attack!” With that thought the giddy lightheaded feeling clouding her mind dissipated and Sam’s usual focus retuned. It was like going from stumbling drunk to dead sober in an instant. She felt her blood run cold when she thought of all the information the Bovalin woman had already garnered from her.
"Banta," Sam voiced quietly with clear menace, "I thought you honorable. You know, since you gave that oath not to harm us; swearing it against your ancestors and all,” She cocked her head to the side narrowing her eyes, “Are mental attacks not considered harmful?"
Banta smirked, "The oath only works if I have ancestors in this region of space, you foolish child. And who said it was an attack? Do you consider a masseuse to be attacking you when they are digging deep into your muscles to relieve your tension? I was only helping you relax and feel comfortable around me." She chuckled.
A message popped up in Sam's vision as soon as Banta finished speaking.
Banta Carlis has broken her ancestral oath! She has received a 90% penalty to all attributes for three times the duration of the oath. This penalty will remain active so long as she is within 500 kilometers of one of the individuals given the oath. Additional lore provided by the title ‘Grade Breaker’: A being a grade above your own has broken an ancestral oath made to you. Ancestral oaths are only valid if the one making the oath has lived in that region of space for a minimum of ten consecutive generations. Additional effect provided by the title ‘Grade Breaker’: You will now know if an ancestral oath is binding when it is created. This is a permanent passive skill that will be attached to your title, ‘Grade Breaker.’
“Seriously! It’s just one thing after another with this freaking planet!” Sam screamed internally after reading the message. She watched through the translucent screen in her vision as Banta grabbed her head in agony and fell onto her back. Sam couldn't believe the woman had used a mental attack on her after swearing an oath, but that wasn't as important as the freaking ninety percent reduction in her stats! Sam was amazed at the risk the powerful woman took, and for what? Some basic information? “What the hell was she thinking? What could be so important she would risk so much?” Sam thought.