"CAWW! CAWW! CAWW!" [Con] squawked.
"...NYYUUGH!" [Nero] yawned before continuing.
"[Daily Candy]! [Hallowed Gate]! Thank you, Con." [Nero] said groggily as he began to get up out from the bed. To which, the Crow vanished into the nearby Lantern.
Okay~ Returning to my largest form… I began to get dressed. I miss my friends. Cetilla and Goblin Funk are my two favorites, I'm calling it. Budget Dragon is a close third, followed by none other than Goddin Village Neith Sama. I can't help it. I like my first friends more than my new ones. I guess, maybe I just haven't given myself enough time to get used to the new faces… Well, I have Candy to order, and residents to meet. Yosh. Things must be done! Sadly, I feel tired. Sleepy. I could probably go right back to bed… But I'm already halfway dressed… Nyah~ I'd better stay awake. What else can I do today? Oh! I can go and make my orders in Reygid. I want bathtubs, towels, and a Pistol. Grabbing my small bag of Coins, and the two far larger bags… Hoisting myself atop my Broom, I set off. I'm going to the Kitchen.
Slamming open that fridge, I snagged myself a common Fish and was about to eat it raw… Until I closed the fridge door and was spooked by a particular Catkin Chef. It's Cindy. The current ringleader to the children's table. She seemed quite certain that she could prepare my meal for me by herself, so I'm meow watching her prepare a single common Fish for yours truly. She's standing on a purple stool that I had no idea about, so that she can reach the top of the stove. She's a cute kid. As she cooked the meal, she was telling me all about her new friends that suddenly appeared out of thin air one night. Is that how it happened? Well, I ended up learning quite a bit of information out of her… So I'll let her have it. Aside from the Raccoonkin girl and Hawkman boy that I already knew… There's a Human boy and girl, a Snow Elf boy, a Unicornkin boy, another Catkin girl and boy, an Eaglekin girl, the two Snow Leopardkin twin boys, the Ravenkin girl, her younger brother, a Snow Owlkin boy and girl who are siblings, a Werewolf boy, and a Mantiskin girl. Sadly, the Ravenkin, the Snow Owlkin, and the Mantiskin all sleep during the day… So Cindy hasn't had much of a chance to see them. According to her, since the new children have arrived… She's been awake during the day and not the night. But, she's still going to be awake for the nightly meet and feast. It's a thing. After she finished making me my meal, I thanked her before leading her back outside to rejoin the other children. Doing so, I caught a glance of relief from Mary who probably had no idea where Cindy had run off to. Cindy made sure that I tasted the meal and gave her my approval before joining the other children. It was good, and so I gave her a thumbs up. She squealed and ran away. Cute.
Well, I'll handle meeting the others after. For meow, I want more Candy. Flying to Reygid was simple. I'm getting used to this whole thing. I was able to see some of the residents off keeping tabs on the monsters, though. That was nice. Getting a clear view of Reygid, it would appear that the rubble from the Castle has at least been swept up… And repairs seem to be starting up… I can see some Beastkin working down there to put up wooden planks, probably to outline the base of the structure. Good luck with that~ You know, strangely enough… I seem to have gotten away with the destruction of Reygid's Castle, and the abduction of Vanheim's Prince… Finally… It appears as though I've FINALLY caught a genuine streak of luck. Thank you, Hunky Beefcake. I appreciate it, immensely. Just know, that I hate you slightly less than before. Yep. My favorability ranking for the Hunky Beefcake has risen 2 whole levels on, bringing it up to a whopping 4 out of 10. Not too shabby. It was previously only at 1 out of 10, before I met the Allwessistant Dott… Which brought it back up to 2. I wonder how long the funnel theory of energy has been going around Halloween. Like… How long has there been an issue? You know? These are the things that I should be asking the Allwessistant Dott.
Descending to the Candy Store, I barged right in and was absolutely dismayed to find… That I'm not the only customer. I swear, this is the first time that I've ever encountered anyone else seeking Candy. It's a Snow Elf, I think… It's hard to tell, but the girl just skipped on out of here with a few sticks of Candy cane. Fun. Looking at the Koalakin, he's appearing somewhat nervous. He's probably afraid that I'm about to drop another huge order on him out of the blue. If so, he'd be absolutely correct. Make way, Candy Mongerer coming through.
"Hey~" [Nero] called out to the Candy Man with a smile.
"...Welcome." [Koalakin Candy Man] greeted the Catkin with eyes wide and a tilted head.
"So, I would like to make a new order for all of my favorite types of Candy once more. I understand that you'll definitely not be capable of providing the entire order immediately, but you can continue sending the goods to Clive's Clothing Store as you slowly regain produce." [Nero] explained to the Koalakin.
"...You're Nero?" [Koalakin Candy Man] begged the question, still confused. To which, the Catkin nodded.
"Ahhhh~ Alright, how large is the next order?" [Koalakin Candy Man] sighed before asking with an enthusiastic attitude.
"I seek 10 Gold Coins worth of Candy next time. I made sure to bring your extra bag back with me, and any Candy that you can sell me at the moment… You can place in the one that still has Candy~" [Nero] declared with a grin as he passed the two bags to the Koalakin.
"Understood." [Koalakin Candy Man] exclaimed as he grabbed the two bags and started to count out Candy into one of the bags.
And so, I placed 10 Gold Coins from my small little coin pouch onto the table before taking a seat on a bench within the store. This is nice. The whole store carries a minty smell, and the only sound to be heard within the store at all is from an old grandfather clock. Woah. I never noticed before, but the Koalakin Candy Man owns a clock. It appears normal, to me. It's genuinely… A grandfather clock. Consisting of wood, glass, likely paper, and some kinds of metals, I can even see gears on the interior. Interesting. According to this clock, it is currently 4 minutes passed 8 in the morning. It might even be accurate… If so, I believe that day and night for my abilities changes at 7 in the morning and 7 in the evening.
After the Koalakin had finished with counting my Candy, I thanked him before bidding him farewell. Then, I made my way to that barren Weapon Store led by Rodgin; the pesky Armadillkin. I received some strange looks as I traveled, and one child was even yelling something about the Witch of Night being outside during the day. Oi! Children seem to believe that I'm averse to daylight and that they should be averse to my mayhem during the day! I can be awake whenever I want, believe it or not… But the child wasn't too far off from the truth about the second part. I can probably still cause mayhem by my lonesome during the day… But I'd definitely need the help of the Monster Knights or Cat Crew to cause any event worth noting. Either that, or I'd need to call on Halloween. That's my biggest trump card, though. Reygid isn't worth it. No offense, thousands of Beastkin.
Opening the doors to the Weapon Store, I was met with varied reactions. A particular Mousekin named Lorna was happy to see me, but Rodgin wasn't having any of it. He spat something about there still being no Lanterns here, but I'm not here for that, sir. After explaining myself to Lorna and ignoring the Armadillkin, I was able to find that Pistols are also not something worth supplying to this Weapon Store. What a pain! Do I really need to commission a Blacksmith if I hope to acquire a Pistol?! It seems that I'm going to Vigi's Forge… Leaving Lorna behind, I dejectedly made my way to the Forge. Walking in, I was greeted by the Komotokin Dragon and led straight to Vigi… Who was apparently resting. Oops. Well, he's awake meow.
"Hey~ It's Nero, I have a new commission for you? Sorry to wake you." [Nero] introduced himself to the Minotaur who apparently lives in his Forge.
"...What are you looking for?" [Vigi] grunted while rubbing one of his horns and slowly getting out of bed.
"A Pistol." [Nero] shot back bluntly.
"...We don't make those." [Vigi] groaned before beginning to go back to sleep.
"U-Uh… Do you know who might?" [Nero] stammered before begging the question.
"...Try Lilith." [Vigi] grumbled before pulling his blankets back up and rolling over to the other side.
...Lilith? Oh! She was another one of the people leading Forges in Reygid! I just need to return to Lorna, and have her guide me to Lilith~ Leaving Vigi's, I hastily returned to the Weapon Store… Only to be denied by Rodgin. He doesn't want to give Lorna any spare time to lend helping me find Lilith. What a jerk~ I hate him. Hahhhh… Maybe… Rudou? Rudou would probably know where Lilith's Forge is located. The Ru Trading Company is near the Candy Store, so it's actually not too far from here. Okay! Moving along, I entered the Ru Trading Company… And was greeted by one of his employees. It was a Turtlekin that spoke slowly, giving me a chance to look around. Everyone appears to be busy, with packing and unloading supplies. It would appear that the Trading Company doesn't really sell anything, but they're wholly focused in providing businesses with their much needed supplies instead. Fun. I'm meow being led through the Trading Company to Rudou, as a special guest.
I ended up being led to the fourth floor, where I found that Rudou was also sleeping. After realizing that it was me, he seemed baffled that I appeared during the day. I'm getting a lot of that, today. Actually, it turns out that he was just baffled to see that I aged so much. Guys~ This is old news, get over it already! Haven't you heard?! This Cat got a whole lot hotter, I'll have you know. It's been the talk of the Town, you see… If you haven't heard, then you're probably living under a rock and the list of prominent Catkin that you devised is suddenly appearing less and less reliable by the moment. Well, I explained that this would be my look for a little while; and we're back on track. According to Rudou, Lilith may genuinely be fine at crafting Pistols… But he seems to believe that he'll be able to find me a better Pistol for a lower price overseas. There isn't a huge market for them here, so they tend to be priced ridiculously… And they're generally not very well made. That's how it is, so I guess that I'm going to be paying a decent price for that Swashbuckler to finally feel capable on the fields of battle… I decided to accept the deal, and would even pay 2 Gold Coins as a tip; but it was on one condition. I wanted to know how Rudou was managing to trade overseas, given how sea travel seemed to have been cut off entirely. His response? It was a secret… And so, I decided to only pay 3 Gold Coins. He'll still take his cut off the top, no doubt… But I was genuinely willing to tip him a tax of 66% the original purchase price… So, I think I was being generous. I'm not about to push higher just to get the details. Jon's weaponry simply does not matter to me. Not to that extent, anyways. Rudou claimed that the order should be ready in roughly 10 days, and I humbly requested that the order be sent to Clive's Clothing Store to wait for me. It's all set up, meow. It's happening. The Swashbuckler shall be armed! Rudou invited me to come back in the night and go drinking with him, but I kindly declined. I just drank last night, no thank you.
Stolen novel; please report.
Leaving Reygid, I returned to the Wailing Keep at a slow pace… And took my seat at the fireplace. Feeling absolutely ready to begin interrogating each of the new residents about their backstories, I was brutally interrupted by a particular elderly Dragonkin woman and a Lizardman. They wanted to return home, to the Dragon Mountains. Ugh~ Fine! Let's go… Assuming my largest form, the Halloween Cat L (Five-Tailed)... I bent over and allowed the two creatures to hoist themselves on top of me. I warned them to hold on tight, and they gave me mocking responses; but we're off. Start your timers~ They'll eat those words, I swear it. I'm running as fast as I possibly can. Eastward! We ran past the Caterpillar Colony after a measly twenty seconds. After forty seconds, we had reached the border of the Dragon Mountains. By sixty seconds, we were running past the foot of the Holy Peak. By eighty seconds, we were climbing the very same Mountain that held the Valley favored by Red Dragons. By one hundred seconds, I was bent over to allow the two creatures to fall off my back… And immediately begin to projectile vomit all over the place. Well, the Lizardman did… But the Dragonkin woman only knelt over and began to profusely dry heave. We're here~
The other Dragons are all staring at us strangely, and it was at that moment; I remembered. The last time I arrived, I was in my Human form. I'm a Cat meow. Thankfully, my old friend… The Komotokin Dragon recognized me in an instant. Actually, Draconicolia-Chrilipsilys and her grandfather seemed to recognize me rather quickly as well. Those Snake Dragons might possess [Appraisal] or something. Regardless, I asked them for directions to the Yellow Dragon Cavern on account of the Lizardman now being beside itself. Apparently if I head south, and then go into the freaking Chaos Chasms before heading east… I should find the Yellow Dragon Cavern. Ohoh! Hunky Beefcake… That was absolutely, wholeheartedly… Smooth. Nice play. Now, where is it… Truly? Damn. It's still in the Chaos Chasms. Welp… I'm going to die. Wish me luck, Dragons~ Oh? Draconicolia-Chrilipsilys' grand father wished me luck. He can read minds... Terrifying. Thankfully, Draconicolia-Chrilipsilys herself seems to not have picked up on that ability. Returning to my largest form, I picked up the now hysterically screaming Lizardman with the help of my fangs…Who was desperately trying to break free of my grip, before I leapt off the Mountain.
After recklessly making that jump, I learned to regret it not even an instant later. The Lizardman… He's currently wailing, and pissing. I just… It's… He's peeing into my freaking mouth! WHAT?! WHAT?! Where do we go from here?! I'm falling quickly, and his urine is reaching up to the top of my mouth due to gravity. I can literally see drops of it leaking from the edges of my mouth, nearly touching my eyes as we descend… The urine appears to be dripping upwards… But if I were to bend my face forward, I would definitely have the piss drip onto my eyes. I don't know what to do! I need to bend forward if I hope to properly land the jump! As soon as I reach that ground, one way or another… That piss is going to drop onto my tongue. I've gotten away with very few genuine tastes up to this point, out of sheer luck. It's going to get much worse if I land this… I have no choice. I need to spit him out. If I get rid of him, the piss will hopefully all just seep out of my open mouth before I have the displeasure of fully tasting it just moments before my death. Conrad! Freaking save this guy after I spit him out!
"PuwAH~" [Nero] exclaimed as he ejected the pissing Lizardman from within his mouth, out into the open sky.
To get rid of him… I needed to slam my tongue into his body… I think my tongue might have touched his face… I'm mortified. The piss, as expected… It's slowly dripping out of my mouth… But it's not fast enough! I can see Conrad flying around with the Lizardman while only carrying him with one arm… Looking down with the corner of my eyes… I'm literally going to land any second meow… Tilting my head down while lifting my back legs slightly up… I gave in. I hath now tasted true defeat… On impact with the ground, the puddle in my mouth sloshed immensely, and I could feel it explode from both sides… Seeping out of the edges of my mouth, I looked down and finally let it all pour out… Slowly, but surely… It vacated my mouth… But I don't feel okay. I need to go home. This Lizardman… He can die out here for all I care. I'm leaving. The Chaos Mountains? After that disaster?! Are you kidding?! Nope! Taking on my Human form, I can still taste it… I'm flying as quickly as I can to the Delhn Lake. Bye, Lizardman.
I ended up sloshing my mouth and body around in the Delhn Lake while fully clothed for around half an hour. Almost the entire time, I was mindlessly staring at the lochness monster who was currently being barraged by Milton and Rei. It's strange, but Milton and Rei have both not stopped attacking the lochness monster ever since being resurrected. They've literally just… Been here. I mean… Are Banshees and Phantasms truly that hungry? They can just keep on eating, forever?! They're both like Tier 1 or Tier 2, at the very most… Considering that they still have not attained a single kill… So I doubt that they'll slay the lochness monster during the day, either way… But it's slightly worrying. I should ask Cloaked Monk to check up on the lochness monster each day to ensure that it isn't at some stupidly low amount of HP right before we leave Rei and Milton to continue their gluttonous feeding habits. On second thought, I don't really like Cloaked Monk that much. I'm team Goblin Funk. I just don't get along very well with Cloaked Monk, and I've also witnessed him nude in the heat of battle… So I'd honestly just prefer to not bother as much as possible with that whole situation. I'll ask Goddin Village Neith Sama to take it up with him for me. I wonder if the Lizardman survived and found his way to the Yellow Dragon Caverns… I apologize, but even the descendants of Hael have their limits… Okay? Piss in my mouth, and we're off. Done. Returning to the fireplace and taking my seat…
"Welcome back, Nero. I trust that you found those two to their homes safely?" [Vana] greeted the Cat with a smile. To which, she received a nervous look for a split moment before...
"Thank you, Vana. I trust that you have saw to Chiffona-Cya-Macaroon's recovery?" [Nero] shot back with a smile. To which, he received a nervous look for a split moment before…
"The Harpy Matriarch seems to be strong. She's a fighter, I believe that with a little time away from the recovery magic… Her immune systems will kick in and save her! What about the two from before?" [Vana] exclaimed with a smile. To which, she received a nervous look for a split moment before…
"The Dragons are where they belong, in the Dragon Mountains! Now, if you'll excuse me… I simply must go and visit with Chiffona-Cya-Macaroon." [Nero] shot back, while adjusting his aviators before speeding off on his Broom.
Whew. That was too close. She almost caught me there, but I think I caught her; as well. If the Harpy Matriarch isn't receiving Healing Magic any longer, then is it not time for us to turn her into a Vampire? Luna, what's the sitch?! Why didn't you tell me that the Flutterfairies had failed?! She didn't appear, likely due to it still being day… Or because she was too pure to bring it up to me… Or because I'm currently flying at immense speeds. It's tough. Sometimes, I just want to fly, rather than run… Even if it seems to cost a whole lot more of me in order to do it this way… I enjoy flying. And that, was my confession this week for the Time Magic Addiction Anonymous group that I've been frequenting lately. It's a pretty close knit group, just a few Halloween Cats and Pixies; hanging out on tuesdays… You know, over a dozen bottles of Goblin Hooch and 4 Gold Fish… Last time, one of the Pixies brought in some gravy; and we dipped our Goldfish in it… Just for fun. It was okay.
Descending to the Harpies… I quickly found Chiffona-Cya-Macaroon. She's literally laying down in the same place. She's been bedridden this whole time, but she's totally laying on a freaking cold slab of stone. This is stupid. I need to bring her to a bed, or something. Picking her up, I began to carry her as I walked toward the edge of the Village. The nearby Harpies seemed shocked to see me taking such action, but this is happening. Oh? Chartreuse, Fusciazure, and Pewter-Merlot are all here. Well, I suppose I might as well run this by them. Chartreuse is the eldest daughter, Fusciazure is the youngest, and Pewter-Merlot is her spouse.
"What's going on?" [Fusciazure] asked, joining in the nearby shocked Harpies.
"I'm taking Chiffona-Cya-Macaroon to the Wailing Keep." [Nero] replied frankly as he continued walking and gestured for them to follow him.
"But why?" [Chartreuse] begged the question with an aggravated expression as she followed along beside the Cat.
"She doesn't seem to be getting any better. She needs a proper place to rest, or to become a member of the Undead if she hopes to ever fly again." [Nero] declared brazenly as he continued to carry the Harpy Matriarch.
"Fusciazure explained it to me… But can you go further into the details for me?" [Chartreuse] asked the Witch of War.
"If she were to become a member of the Undead right now… She would have several different choices. My personal recommendation is that she become a Vampire. We can turn her into a Banshee, a Banshee and a Skeleton, a Zombie… Or my personal least favorite, a Flesh Golem. Do you want an explanation on all of them, or just one?" [Nero] explained briefly.
"...How are Vampires?" [Chartreuse] questioned.
"They're an interesting choice. If you go that route, it seems that Chiffona-Cya-Macaroon will be capable of keeping her current level, class, and race… Some of her abilities may become warped slightly, but they generally still do the same thing. She'll become immortal. In addition to that, she gains a plethora of debuffs. She won't be able to be under sunlight… She'll require Blood if she does not become my Clanswoman… She'll become highly susceptible to Fire, which is strange for a Halloween Clansmen… She won't require proper Food any longer, even without becoming one of my Clansmen. She'll only need Blood, and it might even be manageable. If all of the Harpies promised to donate small portions of their Blood to the Harpy Matriarch each night, she would likely survive absolutely fine. The entire process only requires around twenty minutes of time, and then she'll be back up and flying within these Chasms. It's technically a Curse, but it may be unbreakable. I'm not sure." [Nero] explained thoughtfully before he stopped walking and turned to face Chartreuse.
"You believe that Vampires are the best solution?" [Chartreuse] asked with a determined face.
"Indeed." [Nero] shot back coldly as he looked at the Harpy in his arms.
"Then do it." [Chartreuse] declared solemnly.
"..." [Fusciazure] began to hide behind Pewter-Merlot.
Luna, it's time. Come here and turn the Harpy Matriach into a Vampire. Moments later, she appeared from a gust of purple flames emit from my Lantern. Slicing her own wrist, she bent down… Bit into Chiffona-Cya-Macaroon's frail neck for a split moment before beginning to allow her own Blood to drip into the Harpy's wound. Once again, she had glowing red Blood. It's strange how I genuinely can't seem to decipher what team some of my Clansmen play for. I'm just more Kind than I am Wrathful, or something… I think. I don't believe that I'm genuinely a descendant of Allwe, nor do I believe the same for Luna. We weren't born as Halloween Clansmen. We became Halloween Clansmen. We're faking it. Is it… That Hael possesses us to do kind things or something if (s)he chooses that we are more kind than wrathful? That might be more correct.
Well, we watched as the Harpy Matriarch had a mini seizure… Die… And then return twenty minutes later. The Harpies all mourned for a solid 2 minutes before we explained that it was actually natural. They had thought that the spell failed or something. Nope. We're still on. By the time that the Harpy Matriarch got back up, they had a happy reunion… Except I totally needed to jump in front of the Harpy Matriarch and let her drink my Blood. I'm kind of dizzy now, and I totally needed to punch her face off of me before I died… But she's still alive. She lived, guys. It's fine. While constricting the rabid Harpy Matriarch, I explained to the others that meow was the time to begin donating their Blood. I explained that it's fine to get bitten, so long as her Blood did not reach their veins… And so long as they could freaking survive the encounter. It's like that. After feeding her a decently sized donation from 2 other individuals, she finally calmed down. She's regained her sanity. They thanked me, and I'm meow on my way.
Losing all of that Blood really took it out of me. I think I'm going to sleep as soon as I get back. Casting a new [Hallowed Gate], I stepped on into my Halloween Town before making my way into the Wailing Keep and closing it behind me. Returning to the Treasure Room, I got undressed, returned to my smallest form… Hopped into bed, and nuzzled myself deep within the blankets. Oh… I forgot to order tubs… But I handled the damned Pistol first?! Good afternoon...