I awoke to the snores of Attor beneath me. The sunlight stung my eyes as I sat up. I didn’t even open them and that cursed fiery orb dared to wake me! I heard thumping over Blanche’s little sleeping sighs coming from the stairs below the busted door. Something or someone was shuffling down there. The servants were here, which must mean they were dropping off boxes of food.
I tentatively towards the door, hand over my leather bag with the dagger ready. There were lighter footsteps than the dull servant’s careless ones. I wondered who that truly was. One way to find out!
“Charlotte? Where is that stupid girl?”
A boy’s voice? Human? The voice was young and cocky. Blanche awoke, and crawled into my hair. I took my hat off and opened the door to greet the mysterious stranger. This could get bad if he sees Attor.
A black haired boy, slightly taller than I was awaited me at the tiny hallway. An evil grin covered his face as he saw me approach. I knew it was evil, because I looked like that when I grinned! This was my…!
“Ah, I see that the explosions did not take you out, sister,” he laughed. “But this dump matches the way you look like now! Ha!”
“Brother,” I greeted him with an equal cunning look. The servants scurried around him, eager to leave the place. “What brings you here? Are you well?”
The boy crossed his arms and scoffed.
“Father could not be bothered to see the likes of you, because you dare speak like that!” He scowled. “You are not apart of our Family— Oh. I bring the news, great news keeping your filth at bay here in this meaningless forest.”
For a boy your age, you know some large words for a Status like that! I looked at the magic window above his head.
— Charles II Bohun, level 10
— Class: Human Noble [Rare]
Heir to the Bohun House, younger twin of Elaine Bohun and son of Charles Bohun. The Duchy rules over the Forbidden Woods in the Far West of the Sharra Kingdom.
— All Stats ranked E
You’re too weak for all of this grand speech! I thought. You would make poor food for a Spider Worker.
“The Awakening Ceremony is delayed due to the increased Monsters roaming from that explosion,” he told me, tossing the letter on the ground. Disgust marred his face when he watched me stare blankly at it. “Tch! I forgot Father forgot to teach you how to read. Ugh! Now I will be off. I have Stats to raise, unlike you. I’m sick of looking at your face.”
The feeling’s mutual, I thought, grabbing the paper. And I can read just fine! I was really trying to hide my grin. A delay in this so-called Ceremony means I can power up even longer. The boy was making his way downstairs with the rest of the servants when he paused.
“Perhaps we should play by the stairs again the next time you visit, huh sister?” He chuckled. I almost scoffed. Tsk! So I am not a human princess, I was whatever a Noble was! “Like old times with Prince Devon and Kiara. Maybe that oughta free this tower up from you for good.”
I said nothing, but let him kick a box of food down the stairs and vanish through the blue light of the transporter portal. I stared at the littered food. I guess Attor will have this food, I thought as I scooped it all up off the ground back into the box. Speaking of that dragon, I marched up the stairs to greet the lazy oaf.
“How long are you going to pretend to be asleep?” I kicked his scales, but his defense was vastly higher than when he was a Baby Dragon! Gah! “You evolved! What’s with that?”
His scaly expressions were difficult to judge as a new dragon owner, but I could tell by his unmoving eyes that he was not thinking about that.
“So it seems,” Attor lifted his green head to inspect himself. His neck alone reached my height without even standing. He was much larger than the wardrobe; he was the size of my entire bed!
“That’s all you have to say?” I shrieked. I dumped the box of food on top of him. “Here!”
Despite looking bored with everything, Attor immediately started eating. How is food your only motivator? I guessed he could have the other boxes with me. I dragged the rest up here and together we ate all of the food in the sunlight coming through the giant hole in our roof. I glanced at the culprit that created this mess to begin with. The broom was unharmed by any of the damage it caused, floating neatly above the fallen bookshelves and debris.
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According to that letter, many spider webs and poisonous chunks of the Queen have destroyed parts of the forest further away than I thought, including several hunting grounds. Young Spider Monsters have also started spawning around the affected grounds. Heh, Father must have his hands busy dealing with the former Queen’s children. Perhaps I should send a couple of the bigger guys as a little greeting!
Come to think of it, I was not sure what the average human soldier’s level was. If I were to investigate, it would have to be later when I look into the bandit camp. I picked the broom up, feeling its magical surface fit comfortably in my hands. It idled as I sat upon it. It was no throne, but it will do because I crashed through the original one. So far, the only contacts with these humans have all made terrible first impressions on me. They were all despicable, I growled. Attor looked at me oddly.
“You are quiet,” he remarked. “Your mind no longer races like a Blood Horned
“Aha!” I pointed at him, triumphantly. “How does not being able to tell what I’m thinking feel? Now what will you do?”
“Simple,” Attor snorted after finishing the last of the meat. He vanished into my chest again. “I can hear your mind from here.”
Oh really? I thought. There’s no way you can—
“Who is Blanche?”
“That’s cheating!” I yelled. Blanche crept onto my shoulder and mewed at the Spirit of Attor, which only formed the green apparition of his head. “Attor, this is Blanche the Body Spider. It’s small and terrifying.”
I watched his head float around the spider, eyeing it with suspicion. Are you jealous of it, Attor? I cackled. He simply went back inside my chest with a scoff. I was surprised the spider could see Attor, but with eight eyes I assumed one of them had a Skill that could see spirits. Enough wasting time, I shoved my wand into my leather, threw my hat on and readied my Skill. It’s time to go and find some golem lizards!
—Skill: Broom Travel activated.
I gripped the broom this time in anticipation of its flight and immediately we were blasting off into the sunlit sky. There were a number of things I wanted to test and this was one of them. It took some adjustment guiding the ride with only my hand, but Attor seemed to enjoy the flight.
It must be amazing to cover the sky with your body, huh? I asked him. Though for me, it swallows me whole.
It is one of the things I have not grown out of, Attor mused. Even in this new form, there is not much for me to worry about.
Besides me, right? I asked. When he didn’t respond I assumed that meant he did.
When you die I feel something, he admitted. It’s… an odd feeling. Beyond worry, a desire to see you do things differently instead of hurting yourself.
But I can come back! I protested. Do you feel it when I die? If not, what’s the problem?
You should think about how others, like Blanche, might worry about you when you lose your life.
Well, I did not know what he meant by that, but the first stop was close by. Now, how to slow this thing down and land safely, I tilted my hand on the broom up gently. The magic surging through it receded into my hand as I did, tilting the broom up and slowly changing its speed. Nice! Now I don’t have to crash land on the Goblin’s old village.
Why stop here? Attor asked as I hopped off the broom. It drained very little stamina so I could make it to the Spider’s burrow to show him all our new friends! I see.
Reading my mind is cheating! I have my Dark Stone back! How can you bypass it? I tore off some of the huts’ debris from the ground and found the scrap metal. I needed it for my Transmutation Skill to make a cauldron. If I could ask the Stars for information in this Human realm, it would benefit us greatly. The metal fit into the bag, vanishing into the portal.
— Leather Bag of Minor Holding
2 Tier 2 Metal Scrap
5 Tier 2 Pile of Stardust
1 Basic Wand
I guess Blanche could also fit inside this thing, but losing the bag would also mean losing it. An Epic rarity creature disappearing would be a devastating blow to the options I had. With the Goblin village behind me, I headed towards the burrow’s main entrance. If there was one benefit towards commanding an army of underlings, it would make destroying other armies of underlings easier! The Warriors were large bruisers, assisting in digging the sprawling tunnels. Prey could fall in here and get lost. I found out something unsettling and equally interesting while counting heads with Attor, was that the network of tunnels were being patrolled by Mage Spiders and Druid Antlings. Beneath the Burrows, a sinister race of Ant Monsters existed apparently serving under the Caretakers for protection and food.
This Human Realm had no idea what was going on beneath their fat feet. These mages and druids worked together; they walked religiously in an exact and intricate path to keep a powerful Circle of Protection spell running at all times. It seemed to hold the tunnels together, like the Humans used to protect against the Demon Realm’s fiery rain. I could not communicate with the Antlings, but I figured since their Druids never attacked me. I avoided their dangerous bigger level 30 Antlings, but they ignored me as they assisted the Spider Workers. I was good to borrow a few Warriors, right? Beyond those tunnels was something far sinister, I determined I should explore this place with my friends to see what the source of darkness down there might be. Whatever it was, the Mages and Druids were praying to it.
Come to me, Warriors! I spoke to the ones I could see. As soon as I did, the thunderous roar of thumping fuzzy butts were coming to my location and soon I had an army assembled to hunt the lizards in those mountain caves. I only needed to procure some rare magic stones to enhance my wand’s power, right? I prepared various two Tier 2 Elemental Ball spells along with a powerful Tier 3 Lightning Strike to face them, but with 30 Warriors I was hoping to save some of the Spellpages just in case. That’s right, I cracked my knuckles as the bumpy ride nearly knocked my hat off.
Lizards, we are coming for you!