NNNnngyeh~ Sleeping out like this was not very comfortable. We used to do this all the time, but it just doesn't feel the same any longer. Not since encountering the Wailing Keep Sama's beds. The luxury. The sheer elegance. It's a challenge to go back… To THIS! This is like switching from 4G to 2G mobile networks. It's not fun. It's honestly quite inconvenient. My back hurts, and I feel like I'm not even old enough to have back problems. This is the worst. What's the point in reincarnating and having a new life if your back still hurts? I mean… Come. On! Cetilla seems to be on the same wavelength as me. She looks like an absolute mess. Her hair is all out of order, and her makeup is too. Cetilla usually wears red lipstick, eye-shadow, and even eyeliner. Her hair is normally filled with volume, but right now... It's on a whole other level. I me...OW! She's indecent and pissy at me for not noticing sooner. I just experienced a Wind Punch, first paw. 0/10, would not fight again.
Okay! I'll just look away, and start making clothes while aiming for level 30. Yep. Productive stuff. I must ensure that my MP stays low so that I can continue to go unnoticed by the disaster class Loli currently invading our Kingdom. I was able to create 16 pieces, but I was terribly close to a 17th piece; so I decided to continue staring at the wall until I was capable of it. It ended up taking around 4 minutes. It was the perfect amount of time for Cetilla to get dressed and vacate the innermost part of this tunnel, allowing me to get dressed as well. After I had finished getting dressed, I decided to ask Cetilla for help with carrying the clothes back down to the Harpy Village. Well, those and my bucket of Candy.
Currently, the tunnel that we are in is essentially within the Chasm, almost at the bottom most part of the Chasm… Before it opens up and becomes a massive Cave structure. It's like we're at the bottom part of a massive vertical tunnel featuring several other tiny horizontal tunnels probably leading nowhere within its sides, before a huge drop off. We're at the bottom floor for the empty, excessively wide elevator shaft, but there happens to be a massive basement beneath us which probably expands to be much larger than the overall theoretical building. That's where we're heading.
Due to how ridiculous the drop off is, Cetilla will be riding on my Broom again. That's why I'm asking her. She can be my extra set of hands. Honestly, not many of my Clansmen could even manage this task at all. It would require flying ones, or one small enough to ride with me on my Broom. My flying types are busy right now, seeking a certain Lich. That essentially narrows my choices down to a Tier 1 Scarecrow. Which one? Neither. Cetilla probably has more STR than both the Tier 1 Scarecrows combined. No offense, Cosmo and Wanda. You're great, but I want to get this finished in one trip. Your arm strength just isn't there yet. I was thinking such things before I asked her. She had no problem with doing it regardless, though. I really had no reason to come up with a reason. I didn't even bother explaining the reasoning, as she didn't ask.
Usually, when I ask one of my Clansmen or Companions to do something; I inform them of my reasoning for asking them in particular to do that certain thing. Sometimes, if I neglect to… They actually ask me for my reasoning. Sometimes, I don't actually have anything prepared to tell them as to why they were hand picked for the job. In those situations, I lie through my teeth. As if my very life depended on it. So far, I've been lucky. I haven't been caught without a single reason to speak of for my actions. Aside from that one time when I decided to form a Cat Crew. That one time, I was caught by Cetilla... But she let it slide on account of it resulting in our meeting. I can't allow myself to be caught now, this late into the game. At this point, I think that I should just develop a reason for everything that I do. Every single thing. I can't live on whims any longer. Not with all these critters looking to me to lead them through these trying times. They rely on me. I'm reliable meow.
I was puffing myself up by thinking such things as we flew down to the absolute bottom of the Chasm. I don't know why, but right now… I'm just in the mood to whip out my big, bad... 'Halloween Cat M (Four-Tailed)' transformation and slay some monsters. Like… A lot of monsters. With my bare paws. That's the mood that I'm in right meow. I'm just seriously revved up, for no particular reason. I'm ready to fight. I say that, but I have absolutely nothing to fight. I'm morally responsible for all the creatures in the Lost Kingdom at this point in time. There's no enemy around. I don't even know where I should travel to next. There's Lily. I could probably go try and cleanse myself of this desire to fight by facing her, but am I really ready to face Lily? What if she beats me?! Even after all this time?!
If I recall correctly, if I beat her… She will submit to serve me. That's kind of cool. If she's tough and I manage to beat her, then she'll be an extra companion to help protect my Wailing Keep. Be that as it may, do I really even want Lily around?! I mean... She's freaking crazy! She's worse than Cetilla, by far. Cetilla has a nice side, hidden somewhere deep beneath her exterior. She even fakes being nice to make her appear more approachable. Lily? I'm not so sure. Lily might just be trouble. Through and through. Lily fakes being nice, but I don't know what she's like deep down. The thing about Lily is that she's beyond twisted while also being nice and she's also a total brat. When Cetilla's being twisted, she might sneer, giggle, or unleash a raging tornado while having a total disregard for almost all forms of life. When Lily's being twisted, she might be humming, or she might be leading on some weaker monster into being her plaything, or she might be skipping around as she hums while knowing full well that there's a torture chamber only 20 metres away.
I don't even know if there's a good side to Lily deep down. Do I really need two highly questionable women in my life while I'm at such a young age?! According to our little deal, I should have around 100 years before our little play-date is even scheduled. I really have no reason to speak with her until then. She has no reason to even be here right now, aside from probably to annoy me. Not only is she deranged, but her father is a whole other nightmare to deal with. They're like a package, or something. It might just be something to do with nobles. Ever since I met Cetilla, I was probably fated to meet her family. Granted, Roy and Veronica are absolutely fine. Cetilla's just a wild child or something. Lily, is no different in regards to being a package deal with her family. If I end up entertaining her here right now, and she enjoys it… She could come back, and bring her father. It could become a nightly occurrence where I have a certain Loli commandeering all of my time and absolutely ruining my schedule. See you in a century, sweetie~
That's if I even live that long. I still have no idea how long a Halloween Cat is supposed to live, but I also feel as though that piece of knowledge might end up as being absolutely wasted on me. I'm almost constantly casting Time Magic on myself. Wait a second! Goddin Village Neith Sama said that I was genuinely only like 51 nights old. Does that mean that I'm actually in the clear on this or something?! Does my Time Magic truly have no con?! Is Time Magic perhaps… My forte?! My most efficient form of Magic?! I need to get a second opinion on this. Thankfully, the Harpy Matriarch possesses [Appraisal]. I think. I'm pretty sure that she did, anyways.
My Time Magic... might actually be my prized feature. [Daily Candy] somehow relies on time, but I'm not exactly sure if my Time Magic is truly at play for it. [Flying Broom], [Barrier], and [10 Minute Makeover] are all terribly effective. You know what… I'll even give [Bonus Mana], [War Meow], [Language Comprehension], and [Shapeshift] free passes as well. They're pretty good. They don't really make me feel uncertain in any way, shape or form. The other abilities are wonderful. They're helpful, in their own ways. Be that as it may, I don't fully trust them. There are some things about the other abilities that just don't seem right to me. Even [Shapeshift] and [Language Comprehension] are kind of dodgy in my perspective when it comes to their ability proficiency increases. They don't really seem to improve very much at anything in particular, but I'm hoping that they'll learn something soon.
It doesn't seem right to me… To need several upgrades before attaining even a single new feature. Also, I'm pretty sure that among all of those abilities, only [10 Minute Makeover] and [Daily Candy] are actually relative to me being a Halloween Cat. I think that [War Meow] could have been attained by any Catkin Witch who happened to instigate or participate in several immense conflicts. I believe that [Flying Broom], [Barrier], and [Shapeshift] are all abilities capable of being learned by standard Witches. I know for a fact that standard Witches can learn [Flying Broom] and [Barrier]. [Language Comprehension] and [Bonus Mana] might just be standardized abilities capable of being attained by anyone.
It's not like I'm horribly ineffective at Space Magic or anything. Truly, I'd be fine with saying that Halloween Cats are spectacular at both. Even so, my Space Magic abilities seem to have a lot more holes in them. I don't understand how my Space Magic works whatsoever. It's almost as if someone else is handling Space Magic for me, and I'm paying them to do it at very strange rates. I'm just inputting commands for the conductor. I'm just observing. [Hallowed Gate] and [Wailing Keep] are supposed to be my prime examples of Space Magic. They're like my starter abilities for Space Magic. I also have [This is Halloween], but that's literally world class magic and has a yearly cool-down. I can't just go recklessly casting it simply to experience it myself.
Even though I started off with the Wailing Keep, I didn't actually gain access to it for a while; which is another thing that doesn't make sense with my Space Magic. Why did I unlock an ability right off the bat, if I wasn't to be capable of casting it without first having a great weapon, or attaining level 25? Since the battle of Reygid, I have officially been bestowing the [Wailing Keep] with 500 MP constantly. It now has the MP required for it to begin summoning its own Clansmen to protect itself. Be that as it may, I did not notice any stray Keep Clansmen while I was still there. Wailing Keep Sama is still holding my MP hostage without lifting a finger. The Hallowed Gates... Are just strange. They copy my resistances as if they're a literal portion of my body… Yet they have their own MP bar, and use that MP as HP. It works very similarly to my [Barrier]. I almost believe that the Hallowed Gates are just an enhanced form of the regular Witch ability; the [Barrier], mixed with of course, Space Magic. Obviously. It's like I manifest an exact replica of my [Barrier], as if I were actually casting [Barrier] on myself; but I cast it elsewhere. In that specified location, I alter space, and create a Gate out of a distortion in space. Within that gate, I create a portal connecting the two realms.
It works very similarly to how my Lantern acts as a portal connecting the two realms for my Clansmen, but because I was able to increase the size of the portal and leave it as a constant distortion in space through the gate… I was able to allow literally any being to enter or exit through it freely without the need for my lantern. It's honestly extremely impressive, and it wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for Halloween Cats having the inherent connection to the Halloween realm. Any Halloween Clansmen might have been capable of passing between the two realms, had they also been proficient in Space Magic. Be that as it may, they might not have been able to pinpoint a specified place in Halloween every single time that they chose to enter it. They could have just ended up in the wilderness, or some random Halloween Town. It's strange how my Gates always lead to that particular Town, as well. It's like I was granted a plot of land since birth, it came prepared for me and everything. No one else even lived there before I captured Mr Scarecrow.
I still don't understand where I got the ability to just manifest things, though. I must also have some other traits or something. Manifesting the gates, manifesting the Wailing Keep, manifesting the Daily Candy, manifesting the Clothes, manifesting the Pumpkin Bombs… There are a whole lot of signs pointing to me also having a proficiency for Creation Magic. Honestly, that actually might be my strongest proficiency. It's also my least reliable. Seriously. They're nonsensical abilities that often cause me immense headaches due to how they lack sense, how they increase in proficiency, or how they appear to be holding out on me... But, they're helpful. I'll give them that much. Actually, maybe Creation Magic is something I have a knack for, but it's not something that I'm particularly suitable for. It's like I can try my best, and it might turn out okay... But it's probably going to be a dud. Huh.
I wonder where [Soul Merge] comes into play, though? [Clansmen Capture] is like… My one Tamer ability. I get that much. It's my equivalent to a Tamer ability, though it's wholeheartedly prioritizing Halloween Clansmen in my case. But where does [Soul Merge] come from?! I have proficiency for not only Time, but Space, Dark, and Fire Magic. I also seem to have a lackluster, yet very evident affinity for Creation Magic... But where on earth does the Soul Magic come into play?! I can only assume that it's relative to being a Holiday Clan Leader. It might actually be something that all Holiday Clan Leaders can do. But why didn't Sophia do it?! Is this some kind of flex?! Was she an inherently better person than I, considering that she neglected the atrocious, alluring ability?! If she used Soul Merge, then there would probably be a lower population of Easter Clansmen on the continent. Then again, it's totally been like 500 years. Maybe Halloween Clansmen were just never that popular on this continent? Nyah.
I was thinking such things as we carried the clothes and flew to go and find the Harpy Matriarch. We ended up finding her after only 10 or so minutes. She was sitting with one of her daughters. It's the green feathered one who was chosen to represent them as their next Matriarch by participating in the slaying of the lochness monster. They're sitting near a fire place of their own. Fancy. I'll just take a seat over there, and place the clothes right here…
"Welcome back, Nero and Cetilla. It's great to see you." [Harpy Matriarch] greeted us kindly as we approached and took our seats.
"Thank you~" [Cetilla] replied before stringing off into a conversation with the Harpy Matriarch's daughter.
"Yeah, I enjoy our time spent. Actually, I had something in particular that I hoped to ask you tonight." [Nero] replied with a smile while facing the Harpy Matriarch.
"What is it that you seek to know?" [Harpy Matriarch] replied after sitting up straighter and clearing her throat.
"...It's about my age. I'm almost constantly using Time Magic on myself, yet my age does not seem to change. Do you understand why?" [Nero] confessed his own lack of knowledge to the Harpy.
"Ahh… Well, you actually have two ages being displayed on your status from what I can see." [Harpy Matriarch] explained after focusing on Nero for a few moments. To which, Nero simply stared at her for several moments before finally letting out a sound.
"...Eh?" [Nero]
"Child, you are 53 nights old… Yet, you are also 784 nights old." [Harpy Matriarch] exclaimed while averting eye contact. To which, Nero simply sat still as he thought.
Uhm… What?! 784 nights?! Are you freaking kidding me?! That's over 2 years in the equivalent of two months spent in this realm for me! Just what on earth was Goddin Village Neith Sama thinking when he chose to neglect informing me all the details?! He withheld some pretty precious information, I'll have you know! This is my life that we're talking about here! Apparently, I'm skipping through it at a rate of almost freaking 15! Uhm… Excuse me? Where do I sign off from Time Magic?! I'm living at an astronomical rate. It's probably only going to get worse as I continue to Evolve. I'm literally shortening my life expectancy by Evolving. I'm the worst kind of leader. Everyone around here needs to stop relying on me. I'm practically a flame that will burn out if you try to feed it too much wood. I will consume it all, until there is nothing left... And then, I will die. All of a sudden, I'm an actual apocalypse type monster. There can't be a greater EXP sink than me. I'm a freaking void haphazardly thrown into the Realm by some Hunky Beefcake and I will actually steal all of the realm's EXP before I disappear if there are numerous wars to be held in which my Clansmen participate. I have so many regrets.
I'm not in the right place. At all. I shouldn't be in this existential crisis of a Kingdom. I shouldn't be leading all of these people. This is absolutely wrong. Halloween Cats are clearly not the right race for the job. There is no need for a Holiday Clan Leader. None. Especially not one which relentlessly casts Time Magic on itself. I'm the wasted slot of a Race, that died out due to being impractical to sustain. Don't you guys all see that?! Am I the only one who sees how impossible it is for Halloween Cats to continue to exist?! All of these other races could probably end up being rational members of society if the Lost Kingdom weren't in such dire straits, but Halloween Cats just don't seem to fit into the picture. If a Halloween Cat is used, they can help drastically improve the war potential for a nation if the battles are occurring at night. That's only really necessary in times of war, and even then… It can also drastically reduce the populace for one Clan in particular within the given region. Also, the more experience points that I steal from the Lost Kingdom by helping protect them; the worse off they will be when I inevitably vanish due to becoming too powerful for my life expectancy to even handle.
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The Halloween Clan takes the largest setback from my existence. They lose the capability to procreate while under my care, but if I'm successful in roaming the realms and finding them a partner by the time that I die, then it's not the biggest issue. They're being nice to me now, and letting me lead them… But I'll literally end up being a martyr for their cause. I'll end up giving my whole life away for their future at this rate, and unless I step my game up on my journey across the world… I won't be doing very many favors to those actually under oath to serve me. Please, Hunky Beefcake… Tell me that my lifespan is not the same as your average house Cat! Just... Show me a sign! Any sign, I'll take it! I was thinking such things until I remembered that I was beneath a massive Chasm, several hundred feet below the surface. The gods just might not be able to reach me down here. I'm in HIS territory, meow…
"Okay, this is a shocking discovery… Thank you, for your honesty. Do you happen to know any tales of past Halloween Cats?" [Nero] thanked the Harpy Matriarch after finally regaining his composure before deciding to take a gamble on her knowing any more than Goddin Village Neith Sama.
"Halloween Cats… I'm sorry, child. As far back as our stories go, there are no tales mentioning a single one. Perhaps, Halloween Cats were originally from a much more distant time… Or, a much more distant land? Honestly, I had assumed that you of all people would know more about your kind… I was hoping to learn more about you, myself." [Harpy Matriarch] apologized before suggesting and sighing as she exclaimed.
"Nope, I don't really know much of anything aside from my current abilities." [Nero] confessed casually while raising his arms behind his head and leaning back.
"Hmm… I would try asking the Dragons, the Fae, The Elves, or the Dwarves. They might know something… Those races have been in these lands longer than anyone, and they have the records to prove it." [Harpy Matriarch] exclaimed rationally.
"...Oh? Where did the Harpies come from?" [Nero] asked with interests seemingly piqued.
"We came from a set of islands in the not too distant seas. They were tall, flat mountains... With jungles growing at their peaks. They were said to have been beautiful, and filled with plenty of food. Our people would defend our lands from invaders by gliding off the mountains and descending to destroy their ship flags. Destroying the flags meant that they were stranded, and most of them died simply due to that. We could easily just return back to our peaks and wait it out. If any succeeded in climbing the Mountains, we would actually fight them. Then, one day… Tragedy befell us, and we were forced to flee our lands. Griffins filled the skies, and tried to claim our peaks for their own. We were out matched, and many of us died. Those who remained fled together, and many of our wounded, old, sick, or young had perished as we traveled while desperately seeking new lands to escape. Eventually, our flock came across these lands; and began to live around what are now called the Orc Mountains. The Orcs eventually arrived, and so we moved to the top of the Mountain above the Chasms as a means of avoiding them. We've been in this general location ever since. Honestly, these lands are fine… But they don't appear to be nearly as plentiful as our true home from which we've learned of from stories passed down over the generations." [Harpy Matriarch] described her homeland while looking off into the distance.
"Ah… I see. Thank you for sharing your tale. I'm sorry that your people had went through such difficulties. You have my condolences. You know, soon… I'll be starting the growth of a Farm around the Goblin Village. Well, I'll be providing the Goblins with the tools necessary in order to start a Farm around their Village. There will be plenty of fruit being grown from the Farm, and after we manage to get it stable enough… I would like to offer your people a right to take some of the fruit grown. I'll be starting a Woodcutting business around the Goblin Village, to provide the Village with ample wood as well as space to grow their Farm. I'll also be helping the Goblins to build better homes by making use of that wood, and would like to offer your people that opportunity as well. Eventually… I would like to open a Mining Business in these Chasms. I believe that the main workforce of that Mining Business would be best suited to be consisting mainly of Harpies. You can all fly really well, and have a lower risk of getting injured if mining in a questionable locale. Also, you already live down here. There's no need to worry about safely getting you all down here or anything. We can use the materials gathered from mining in order to build nicer homes for both the Harpies and the Goblins. Using both the wood obtained from around the Goblin Village and the stone obtained from around the Harpy Den, we can build amazing structures to shelter our people. We can also look into providing excessively well crafted weapons for our more well suited of Monster Knights, if we sell off some of the materials gained in order to commission a foreign Blacksmith into crafting for us. What do you think?" [Nero] explained his plan to the Harpy Matriarch before asking her opinion on the matter.
"Well, I think it's heavily beneficial to us. All that we must do is wait for you to provide us with the tools needed to mine, correct?" [Harpy Matriarch] exclaimed with a smile.
"Indeed." [Nero] said as he nodded with a smile.
"Then make sure to get my daughter a nice set of Claws from the materials, and you'll have yourself a deal." [Harpy Matriarch] laughed as she agreed to the proposal.
"I'll do my best!" [Nero] proclaimed as he puffed out his chest.
I say that, but I just learned that I'm practically dying. Okay, fine. I'm not dying. I'm just living at a rate 15 times higher than anyone around me. It's probably more, considering that I just Evolved and increased the proficiency of both my Time Magic starter abilities. Both the abilities causing this current predicament. I only gained those two new increases in proficiency like a week ago. It hasn't been a long enough time for their increases to seriously impact the amount of time that I've already lived. I should wait a while, and check back up on it later to see just how much higher my average amount of time sped up. I should just wait one day, and see how much time really passes. I kind of got my age out of the Harpy Matriarch rather early into the night, so I should just ask her again tomorrow evening. Yosh! This is the best way to roughly ascertain just how quickly I'm currently living.
In the meantime, I suppose that I'll just add a few new pieces of clothes to our pile. Aiming at level 30, I was able to manifest a total of 2 new pieces. Ugh! This takes too long! Now that my haki is probably as low as I'll get it during the night time, I might as well go see if Lily has disappeared yet. I made sure to let the Harpy Matriarch know that I'm leaving these clothes here for now. Oh? It seems that Cetilla is going to join me. She wants to catch another glimpse of the Loli currently throwing off our entire lifestyle. Look. We can probably… Maybe, stop her ourselves, but we'll end up needing to deal with a dangerously powerful Demon noble later on due to it. Sometimes, it's best to just avoid. Quickly, I summoned the Scarecrows, Wendel, and White Beef Lady to inform them that I was hiding from the Loli. They quickly jumped to the conclusion that they should probably just go kill her, but I stopped them. Desperately.
After explaining to them that we're just going to pretend as though I'm off adventuring somewhere with Cetilla, they seemed to understand. Mr Scarecrow may or may not have filled them in on Victor as I was explaining the plan to them… But that's irrelevant. Moving along, my Clansmen returned to do whatever they were previously occupied with while Cetilla and I got on my Broom and began to travel. We're heading to the Goblin Village. We need to check in on Lily from afar. Also, we need to stop at the waterfall to raise a new [Hallowed Gate] in order to once again continue our efforts at feeding the new age, self proclaimed... Monster Knights.
While we flew, Cetilla and I shared a moment. We were talking about how cool it would be to go and meet the Dragons. Not to like… Conquer, but to socialize. She had overheard a little bit of my conversation with the Harpy Matriarch, but she missed the part about me actually being over 2 years old now, instead of 2 months old and so… I informed her. Yeah. Turns out, I'm not actually some kind of revolutionary in terms of Time Magic. I'm just overworking myself to death and I have no feasible way to stop. I also informed her that there were a high chance that the stronger I became... The less time that I would have to spend exploring the realm with her. Yeah. It's really like that. I have an age counting how many days have passed within this world ever since I was first born within it, but I also have an age counting exactly how long I have lived. Knowing this game like world, it's probably reading something like 'Age: 53d/18h/04m/03s/550ms (784d/19h/17m/23s/666ms)' whenever someone casts [Appraisal] on me. Embarrassing. Not only do I have a name in parentheses, but I also probably have an age in parentheses, and a sub class. I'm a male Witch, as well. My eyes change color drastically depending on the time of day, and if I assume my natural form… They begin to emit fire. Let's not forget about the titles exclaiming that I'm from another world, I like to instigate wars, I tamper with time, I absolutely massacre Fish AND Candy, and I'm even a master of disguise. I can't be any more conspicuous. Oh, there's also my ability to [Shapeshift]. [Wailing Keep] and [Hallowed Gate] also both sound somewhat terrifying and not okay. Throw in my ability to merge souls, a pumpkin bomb or two, and maybe even a dash of World Magic for good measure… And all of a sudden, I'm your worst nightmare.
I pray that there's no ability which casually informs my enemies the definitions to my own abilities. Oh god… There probably is. But still, that's like… Drastically better than [Appraisal]. Even if it neglects every other stat, that's still an intense ability. It would still ascertain every single ability that an individual possesses, and it would even give the user the capability to properly identify a weakness for the monster being scanned. I mean, if you know every single ability and what it does for a monster… Then, you can theoretically determine what types of elements or traits that the monster is capable of. For most monsters, that is. My abilities are horribly complex, and moody individuals. Half of them neglect to inform even me of just what they're capable of. There's no way that someone with that kind of an ability would be able to fully ascertain the traits of my abilities without also fully understanding the side effects to my abilities.
Even if someone were to understand that I can collect the Halloween Clansmen or merge their souls together for that matter… They still won't understand that inherently; when I do so… I pause time for my Clansmen. They won't know that I actually bestow temporary, limited immortality to my Clansmen… Nor will they know that my captured Clansmen no longer gain experience and that it's all or most of it is fed to me. They won't know that eating my Candy provides me with MP. They'll just know that I'm capable of regenerating MP faster than usual people, that I'm capable of capturing Clansmen, and maybe that I'm stronger at night if they end up actually thinking more in depth. I have a couple of abilities which mention night in the descriptions. They won't know that I'm exceptionally weaker during the day, either though. Most of that information is stuff that i slowly began to understand by having used my abilities, or it's stuff that was solely related to my race information. Also, have fun reading about the [Wailing Keep]'s ability information while keeping a line of sight on me. It's hectic. You'll be there for a while. It's absolutely cluttered with information pertaining to the overall layout of the Keep itself. Just like the Wailing Keep itself, its ability description is also needlessly large.
I was thinking such things after our conversation about Dragons fizzled out, probably due to me going off into an inner tangent. Cetilla's long past the state of being used to it. She expects it at this point. I'm just a calculating person, okay?! After we had arrived at the waterfall, placed my [Hallowed Gate], called on Fred and Daphne (Tier 2 Scarecrows) to watch over the Gate… We began to make our way to the Wailing Keep. I say that, but we're flying above quite high. That, and the Wailing Keep really isn't very far from here. It only required a few minutes of our time to find out that Lily is still waiting for me. Jeez. Give up already! I'm not going to play with you! This one is busy! If you weren't here right meow, we'd totally be starting our highly anticipated Woodcutting Business! Ugh... The Woodcutting Business is literally 'step one' for my current plan to help the Lost Kingdom. I can't handle these delays. The people deserve better. They deserve no delay, whatsoever. They need more food, stat. They need more food, like 200 years ago. We've GOT to get on this already! Come on!
Uh oh! She's looking around. She might have sensed the potentially powerful Cetilla currently on my Broom, and so I decided to quickly duck out. We're now racing off towards the Lizardmen Tribes, towards the northeast side of the Kingdom. We have one bucket of Candy on us, and so you can be damn sure that I'm using it. I'm eating, I'm eating~ No need to scream at me, Cetilla! I won't have us being caught like this, either! We already committed to our plan of not being caught by her, we slept in a freaking Chasm. Dude. We're not going to give in. We're stronger than that. The plan is, that if Lily noticed us and chased after us… That we would lead her to the Lizardmen Tribes before randomly speeding up and making a loop back around to the Chasms. Once upon a time, a certain Harpy Matriarch made the suggestion that the Orc Invasion may have been due to a conflict between the Lizardmen and the Orcs. This is our revenge for getting us caught up in their affairs. They can deal with Lily, the Loli. It was a foolproof plan, but after around five minutes of flying, Cetilla made the executive decision that we weren't being chased. Perhaps, we didn't give Lily enough time to properly notice us? Oh well, I'm still going to do the loop back around just because. If she's secretly chasing behind us from below, then at least we'll have tried our best. There is a chance that she's chasing us from beneath the cover of the trees, after all. It's not impossible.
We were kind of hungry while we flew, so we decided to stop in at the waterfall to snag a few fresh Fish. We can just steal them before they fall into the Hallowed Gate. Well, I can just steal them. Cetilla's tough, but she seems ineffective at Fishing. No, whipping the water around with wind does not help. Huh. It's not for everyone, I guess. After we had our fill of Fish and returned to the Chasms, we found that I had consumed around half of my emergency bucket. It's the only bucket I currently have on me, as it was the one that I had manifested last night. We decided to spend the remainder of the night with the Harpy Matriarch and her daughters. To our luck, they had once again assembled just like the night before. The Harpies around here seem to be eating some kind of nocturnal fruit. They plant them like potatoes... But they tasted similar to mangoes and were purple in color. I think I might be in love. Are the Harpies actually eating better than us?! They still have the whole food shortage issue around here, but I haven't tasted anything overly juicy like this since arriving to this world. I enjoyed it.
The Harpy Matriarch's daughters had their partners with them again. Apparently, the green feathered one with white eyes who is intended to be the Monster Knight is the eldest daughter. I say that, but they were all born from the same batch of eggs. The second oldest has red feathers and yellow eyes while the youngest has a mix of pink and blue feathers with sapphire eyes. The Harpy Matriarch, herself has a motley of colors. She has a mix of white, yellow, and blue feathers. She also has orange eyes. It's peculiar how the Harpy Matriarch's feather colors are the same as the eye colors to her daughters… Yet, they don't actually match her daughter's feathers. It's like… They were blessed with the eye colors of their mother's feathers, but they have their very own wings to represent themselves.
Their partners? The eldest daughter's partner was blue feathered, and had yellow eyes. The second eldest daughter's partner had yellow feathers and green eyes. The youngest daughter's partner had grey and red feathers, with black eyes. The Harpy's flock consists of a vibrant array of colors. Mixed with the adorning rare gems, minerals, and stones making up this massive cave environment is kind of surreal. Some of the gems tend to glow, which is honestly the prime source of light around here. Even then, we all have generally good eyesight. It's not what you would particularly expect when you think about a cave several hundred feet below the surface, though. Too much color. This place goes far beyond just being a valuable natural resource. If you can actually manage to profit off of all the minerals in these Chasms, or even just a very small portion… You could be swimming in wealth.
We ended up socializing and telling stories regarding the Orc Invasion, the multiple occasions within Reygid, our travels to the Elven City and even the Forest of Witches. Cetilla told a few stories of past adventures that she had gone on with Rei, and the Harpies told us a few stories regarding their occasional battles against problematic monsters in the past. Before our culling, situations like the Python used to happen down here, I suppose. If monsters Evolve too drastically, but take their sweet time with Evolving to the point of being an ally to other races, enabling them to opt out of the ecosystem… They leave little choice. That's the harsh truth of this realm. The worst part about it is that it wouldn't be like this at all if there were more high Tier monsters within the Lost Kingdom. The problem is that the average Tier for monsters in the Lost Kingdom has dropped substantially. When some random outlier manages to ascend above the others, and also constantly hunts them… Bottom line, it just becomes a mess.
As dawn approached, I cancelled my [Hallowed Gate] and cast [Daily Candy]. Before we ventured off to our tunnel, I quickly cast [Disguise] while aiming for level 30 pieces. I was able to manage creating 8 new pieces. I also called on Fred and Daphne to thank them for their hard work, and to ensure that they knew their task was completed. They were the Scarecrows guarding the gate. We collectively decided to ditch our clothes near the fireplace for now. Cetilla and I, that is. We can get them tomorrow, or whenever Lily disappears. Flying back to our little tunnel only took us around 2 minutes. After we had arrived, we placed the two buckets of Candy down, and began to get undressed while looking in opposite directions. I still stealthily hid my stockings into my boots like a champ, and upon reaching a certain point of nudity; I just transformed into my smallest form. It's the 'Halloween Cat XXS (Basic)'. The original model, that I came out of box with. Batteries sold separately, but they will mail you a small daily shipment if you accept the lifetime [Daily Candy] warranty. The warranty only costs a start up fee of 500 ability points, it's honestly a steal at that price. I was thinking such things as I got comfortably snug into my clothes. Good morning!