Mash found himself beneath a gateway, identical to the one he used to enter the town. The only difference being that it was on the east side. His attention was diverted from the gate itself, instead drawn to the knights beneath the archway. Davin was there, along with a small group of knights comparable in size to the group that followed Ellis. Unlike before, there was a tension in the air as they approached. He could see some of the glances passed between Ellis and Davin and knew that he didn’t want to find himself in the middle of them. Hoping that he would be able to leave freely, he walked to the gate with the others. He was stopped by Davin, who called out to them as they tried to pass.
“I see that your leaving, was the dungeon not what you expected?”
Wanting to stay silent, Mash shook his head in the negative, but Jill still chose to respond.
“Yeah… it didn’t go well, and we want to try our luck elsewhere.”
He was finding out that Jill was a rather capable liar, using half-truths to avoid lying directly. It was said that the fey would trick people with similar forms of deception. Was she always able to lie like this, or did she become more inclined to it after getting her new class? Ever since he found out that classes influenced the mind, he began to wonder what other changes might occur from a new class. He would ask Jill about it later, in fact, it was a discussion he wanted to have with everyone. Currently though, he focused on Davin and Ellis.
“We could use your help. Each bandit you kill would get you a decent chunk of gold. So, how about it?”
Davin’s question didn’t sound serious, rather it seemed like he was probing for information. Whether Mash was falling for a trick or not, he gave him a genuine response. The truth would work well in this situation.
“We aren’t suited for killing other people, learned that the hard way.”
There was not joke in his voice, his words as dry as they sounded. Davin got the point, his mouth forming into a thin line. Mash didn’t care about being polite anymore, the only thing he wanted to do now was leave. He might not have understood the intricacies of the tension between Ellis and Dave, but he knew that Davin wanted them to remain. He didn’t care why; it wasn’t even an option anymore. With the contract signed, they just needed to leave and get out of the city’s business.
“Fine, but you won’t be able to return soon.”
He made it sound like a threat, like some big loss, but Mash didn’t really want to come back. Davin probably believed that being unable to return would bother Ellis. There wasn’t much left for conversation, and their group left eagerly. He could feel the eyes tracing them as he left. Davin and Ellis were not the only ones watching them, he could feel the gazes of all the knights while they made their way into the clearing. Once far enough out, Mash wasted no time forming his wings and grabbing his friends. Luke could fly now, but he would struggle with the mana consumption. They needed to stop soon and discuss where they wanted to go, and the nearest available town would still be a few hours of flying.
He took off into the sky, not bothering to say a word. Going higher and faster than he did before. He was a higher level now and had made improvements to his physical stats. Now he was able to fly much more quickly, and his friends were screaming as they took off. They weren’t screaming out of fear, for their freedom. He didn’t know when it had happened exactly, but that city had quickly become more of a cell than the dungeon he was in. he found himself smiling as he met the sky.
The sun was descending, and the clouds were tinted slightly orange by the changing light. The forest that they flew over before stretched beneath them. They would soon reach the borders of the forest, but for now they were given the image of an ocean of leaves swaying in the wind. The golden light of the sun, making the leaves look as if they were changing colors. They just watched the sight in silence, awed until they made it to the edge.
The forest gave way to a grassy plain, the grass having grown thick without the trees stealing their light. As they flew, he made sure to keep the ground within his sight to discern where they were headed. Knowing that the next city would be along the road, he made sure to always keep it within his sight. Looking over the new terrain, he was a little surprised to see peaceful creatures. With the forest having been filled with monsters, he somewhat expected the surrounding territory to have its own set of monsters. He recognized the animals though, having seen them on occasion back home. They were called Gith, identified by a singular long tusk jutting from the side of their mouths. Each creature was long and had six pairs of stubby legs. They were covered in a reddish-brown fur; each creature was nearly as long as Priscilla was at full size.
Most considered the creatures to be cute, with large open eyes that glittered under the remaining sunlight. A short snout, that was rounded near the end made them look relatively harmless. They were often brought for celebrations, their docile nature making them perfect for riding. Nobles would pay a fortune for one, but everyone knew not to hunt them near adults. Despite their look and nature, each adult was as strong as high leveled warrior. He looked and saw that many more of the creatures traversing the plains, it seemed like the herd was moving southwards. He might’ve followed them if he were on his own, or if the group wasn’t desperate for good rest.
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That was the only decision that they were able to agree on. None of them were in the mood to enter another dungeon immediately and decided to take one or two weeks of rest. Mash thought it was too much time, but his friends wouldn’t even entertain an argument. He guessed that it was a good idea and would ask them if they wanted to go to the capital. If he was going to rest for a while, he wanted to visit his siblings. Both lived in the capital, and he had plenty of interesting stories for them to hear. It was a little bit sooner than he expected, and he realized just how much time had really passed.
It had only been around a month since he left his hometown, and so much happened in that short period of time. From clearing two dungeons, to encountering godly beings, he received information that was likely forbidden. That was not even mentioning the drastic changes to his body and soul. Would they even recognize him? Could they? He was so different now that he didn’t even know if it would be possible. The thought made him a little anxious, and the edges of his lips drew downwards. He was becoming a monster, and he was slowly coming to terms with that reality, even finding himself embracing it.
Maybe he would get an illusion item at the next city though, just to be safe. Thinking about it he asked Priscilla about why he seemed so averse to picking up the item. Even now, just thinking about using an illusion item was making his skin crawl, it was as if he was reacting to something dangerous.
“It is harmful, your unusual nature with attuned items would make the item limit your physical abilities.”s
Priscilla sounded a little like she was chastising a child. He imagined what his own thoughts must seem like to her. In her eyes, he was a young monster who was strangely trying to hide his own skin. Not once having considered that attuning to items could be harmful to him, he considered the two items he was already attuned to. Were either of them harmful? And what did it mean that attuning to an illusion item would make him weaker? He also guessed that it was his inhumanity skill that warned him of the dangers of attuning to one of those items. The skill was useful in a lot of ways, and it seemed it would warn him about doing anything to harm himself.
What else did the skill do? It was a vague at best, and it seemed to accomplish a diverse set of tasks. He couldn’t really narrow down how it worked but figured that Priscilla might be able to. Just thinking about her seemed to give her the greenlight to enlighten him, making it seem like she was waiting for him to ask her. Realizing that was the case, he remembered that he could just as easily peer into her mind. This time she didn’t speak her response, instead reacting to the fact that he was looking into her mind. She thought of the information as he looked, letting him learn what he needed to more quickly.
All monsters, perhaps all non-human creatures had some method of detecting danger. Some way to avoid things that would otherwise hamper them. In the process of becoming more monster like, Mash was growing this ability with his inhumanity skill. The skill was essentially developing his inhuman senses and creating those which he did not normally possess. A few that he was still lacking was the sense of hunter, he should be able to tell what creatures were far beneath him, and which to avoid. His previous methods using mana territory ended up being wrong, and he was glad to know that he would eventually get another way to gauge someone’s strength.
He had been so distracted with his own thoughts, that he was surprised to see the town pop up into sight. It was close enough now, that he should have been able to spot it earlier. It was not as large or fancy as the other cities he was at, but it did have a series of stone walls. The walls weren’t as high as he was used to and were made of interlocking stones. At first, he thought it was likely to topple over, but he could make out people walking on top of it, certain that it would hold them aloft. Not wanting to scare the town by landing before their walls, he went out to a nearby patch of trees. It wasn’t a forest, but it would cover him as he landed and deposited his wings. Upon landing he felt the waves of unconsciousness hit him, and almost resisted them but still fell to the ground.
He was woken up shortly after getting a boost to his energy recovery from Luke’s healing. They were ready to go, the sun was now gone from the sky, and night was settling into its place. They headed towards the town, glad to have a secure place to rest for the night. They approached the front of the town, the doors were closed now, but there were guards standing on the outside to let people in. He thought about making himself a simple mask, as it would hide most of his unusual features, he decided against it, thinking that it would only make him seem more suspicious. He wasn’t the one to approach the guards, Red was still the best among their group to speak to strangers.
“Hello, what brings you lot to our town. Not many young people come this way.”
The guard was old, and rounder than Mash would expect from a long-time fighter. He didn’t wear a full set of armor, instead just having a single metal plate strapped to his chest. Leaning against a spear he had stuck into the ground; he was standing casually. He was smiling at them, seeming as amiable as possible, and he had the look of a friendly grandfather. The kind of person who everyone liked. He didn’t look to be in the best shape for a guard. However, his non-reaction to their unusual appearances spoke to his experience. The other guard with him, was moving nervously, but seemed to be calming down from the other one’s casualness. Well, that was good, it seemed like there wouldn’t be any fights.
“We are adventurers, just looking for a place to sleep for the night.”
Red spoke casually, although none of them were familiar with talking to guards. She held out her adventurer badge, and everyone else made theirs visible as well. They usually let her speak because she looked the most human and had an air of nobility. She never revealed that she was a noble, but most commoners seemed to be able to tell easily enough. The guards were no different, and Mash saw the younger one standing a little straighter once she spoke.
“Of course, adventurers are always welcome. I do recommend staying at the Everlasting Sun, it should suit all of your tastes. Welcome to Forest’s Edge.”
The older man sounded confident in his recommendation, pushing open the gate behind him as he spoke. The gates were a lot smaller than Krall but opening them so casually was still a demonstration of strength. Mash only paid a little attention to the feat; his attention being drawn to the city before him. He stepped back reflexively, alarmed by what he saw before him. The town was not what he expected.