This wasn't going well.

This wasn't going well at all.

Stupid beginner's luck.

Velariah was beating me through sheer luck at the game I had just explained to her. This elf managed to roll two Yahtzee's in a single roll of the five dice. Not only that, but I had failed to achieve the necessary 63 points in the top half of the game to get the bonus points. In other words, I was as good as dead already. This elf simply had to steal all the luck that I missed.

I hated this world and its people's luck.

Velariah was all too eager to rub it in too. She was enjoying my pain and laughed far too loudly when she rolled yet another Yahtzee.

Damn schadenfreude.

After three rounds of pain and suffering, I had enough and would have flipped the table, if there was any!

Velariah giggled as I took away our game tools and tossed them in a corner.

''That was a fun game, we should do that again sometime!''

''How about... no.'' I replied.

''Awwww, poor Elania, how can I make it up to you?'' Velariah asked with a pout.

''Ugh, it's alright. I just hope you don't run out of luck tomorrow.''

''Heh, maybe you will be the lucky one tomorrow.'' Velariah grinned.

''Yeah, probably not.'' I said as I took my shirt and tag off. ''What rank are troll warlords considered anyway?''

Velariah started taking off her clothes as well while answering.

''I believe they were anywhere from medium-rank gold to high, depending on how many guards they have.''

''What? These things aren't alone?'' I asked in shock

Velariah shook her head. ''They are almost never alone.''

I put my shirt and tag in the sink and sighed as I walked over to the pillows and let myself fall in.

''Just great.'' I let out with my face buried in a pillow.

This was going to be hell. Sure, I was quite a bit more used to this body now than earlier and I had a party of three others, but I still didn't feel great about this. That one troll from before had given me more than enough of a headache. I was not going to underestimate a bigger, badder version of a troll.

These new weapons better be worth the money!

Wait, how much would this quest give anyway?

''Vel, how much was the reward for this quest again?''

She shrugged as she took her shirt off. ''No idea. Seralyn didn't mention anything about it.''

''Just great.'' I sighed again.

I heard Velariah fall into the pillows next to me.

''Aw, it's gonna be fine.'' She tried to assure me.

''Yeah, as long as we don't do stupid things, I guess we'll be fine. We just need to try to take them by surprise, preferably take out a couple before they even know what's going on.'' I spoke.

''Yeah, but that's why we have you, miss trap expert.''

I turned my head and saw her smile at me.

''trap expert, huh?'' I smiled back. ''Sounds like me.''

Velariah huddles closer to me.

''You don't mind hugging, right?''

Was she serious?

I looked at her in confusion.

''Serously? You're asking me if I'm fine with hugging? You barged into my ''bed'' yesterday and hugged me without consent and now you're asking?''

''Aha, I knew you weren't asleep.'' She reacted.

Fuck.

''Uh, oops?'' I let out.

She wormed herself into my arms. ''I knew you didn't mind!'' She happily said as she took me in for a tight hug.

''I forgive you. I hope you had fun staring.''

''Vel!" I exclaimed, feeling my face fill with embarrassment.

''You're too easy to tease Elania.'' She smiled.

I didn’t reply. I was trying to burrow my face in my pillow. My burrowing was interrupted by a tugging sensation to my left. When I looked, I could see Velariah holding my left pedipalp in her hand. She then ran her hand over the chitin. I shuddered at the sensation.

''You actually feel that?'' Velariah asked.

I nodded. ''Yeah, for some reason I can feel everything, even if it looks like chitin shouldn't be able to feel sensations...''

''Do you mind it?'' She followed up politely.

I shook my head. ''It’s okay, thanks for asking though.''

''I'm just curious how this would feel.'' She spoke.

''Can't explain, truly. It's like a leg, but it's not. It also has small claws at the end, it's more of a hand if anything, I guess.'' I shrugged.

Velariah ran her hand over the chitin again.

''So, you have six arms? Damn isn't that a bit much?'' The elf asked.

''I don't know, you tell me.'' I replied. ''took me a while to figure out how moving all the parts worked. Left me exhausted at the end of it too. And then I still had to find water...''

''Sounds like you've been through hell.''

I waited a few seconds before replying.

''I guess it was. Imagine waking up like this someday, in a different world, unable to walk, no food or water nearby. Back then it was hell. Now? I don't mind as much anymore.''

Velariah ran her hand over my pedipalp again and touched the small claws at the end.

''You having fun finding out about spider anatomy?'' I chuckled at Velariah's newfound interest.

''I am, actually.'' She smiled at me. ''This is fun.''

I pulled in a leg and held it against her back.

''You wanna inspect that one as well?'' I asked in a teasing manner.

''If you don’t mind then sure.''

II shook my head. ''I don't. As long as you don’t start tickling me, then be my guest.'' I added.

The elf seemed rather curious about this body of mine and it was interesting to see someone handle it in the way she did. Instead of fear, all I could see in her eyes were curiosity. Though, I guess the fact she liked me may have had something to do with her opinion. I guessed that helped her look at these spider limbs as a part of me instead of a random oversized spider.

It made sense. I was seen as a love interest, not as something trying to kill her.

She glided her hand over the carapace and small hairs. I winced at the touch at first but found myself getting used to it as she continued on.

''You have the worst leg fetish, don't you?'' I said after she seemed not to lose any interest after observing and touching for what felt like minutes.

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''Thanks for helping me discover that.'' She fired back.

I guess that was actually on me.

''Seriously, how do you even walk on eight of these? And then there's all these joints too, seriously, how?'' She asked.

She bent my leg at one of the joints, then at another.

''You have no idea...'' I stated.

''Hard to explain?" She inquired.

''Impossible.'' I confirmed.

''Took me a day to learn, more to learn properly, over a week to not move in retarded ways. Though, if you look at it, it's still incredibly fast.'' I shrugged. ''Beats me how I managed to do it actually.''

''Isn't it obvious.'' She said as she fell back in the pillows next to me. ''You're amazing, Elania.''

''You trying to seduce me now, aren’t you?'' I asked with a wicked smile.

''Maybe.'' She smiled back.

''Heh, let's just stick to hugging now. We should go to sleep anyway.'' I put one hand below the pillow my head was resting on.

''Aw, not even a good night kiss?'' She pouted.

Should I?

I think she noticed the hesitation in my eyes.

''It's fine. I'll wait until you're ready.''

She wormed herself in my arms again and hugged me.

''Thank you, Vel.'' I said as I clapped out the lights. ''Good night.''

''Good night, Elania.''

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day started out as any other. A quick wash and brush, some delicious fresh bread, putting on our armor and soon we found ourselves in the streets of Dawnleaf again. Velariah left her old sword at home and took her new one with her.

First, we were going to check if Coldanus had actually managed to get some work done. Coldanus was probably asleep but he had an assistant running the shop during that time. At least, that’s what Velariah had told me.

She entered the shop and soon walked out with a small bag of clinking metal. I hoped it was money, but it was probably just the arrow heads for our archer. I was kind of looking forward to seeing her hangover. My lips curled in a smile when I thought about the elf that almost managed to violate me the day before.

The most interesting part that Velariah carried while exiting the shop was not something I had seen before. I had to observe it from multiple angles to get a clear look.

At first it looked like a medium-sized round metal shield. But upon closer inspection it became clear that the shield had a handle hidden behind it. This handle extended outside of the shield and ended in a double-blades axe. This seemed to be what Condanus made from Velariah's theoretical weapon: an axe, that could also serve as a shield.

It was quite large for my hands, but I was certain that Draco would be able to handle two of these at once with ease. The shield itself seemed to be reinforced steel, not the kind of shields that the romans used. It actually weighed quite a bit when Velariah handed it to me to observe it better.

''If this works with Draco's inherity, this could be a very interesting find indeed.'' The elf said.

''And if it works, he better pay us for it too. We used our, technically my iron ore as payment and material, after all.'' I spoke.

''Good point. I am sure he would be more than happy to help you out with financial compensation, though. But for now, let's pretend it's a gift.''

''Nice gift that will be. If he likes it, he pays for it.'' I grinned.

The axe-shield shone with the same faint red glow as Velariah's sword. I wondered how the fire blessing interaction would work with a shield instead of a weapon. Would it activate on blocks? I guessed we would find out soon.

That shield better be able to block troll attacks in the first place.

I also noticed it already had a teal and a transparent gem embedded in the handle. I knew what the transparent one did but I didn’t know about the teal one. The white-haired elf told me it increased a shield's integrity, allowing it to block against stronger attacks.

That didn't seem out of place, considering we were up against enemies that used giant maces. Well, at least the one I fought did.

Velariah put away the bag of arrow heads in her pack.

''Let's have some fun with Seralyn.'' She spoke. ''Don’t tell her about these.'' She patted her pack.

''Sure.'' I grinned.

We walked into the guild hall to find Draco and Seralyn already sitting in our usual corner despite having the plan of meeting at noon. A glass of water stood on the table.

Well, I wasn't sure if you could call what Seralyn was doing sitting.

She had her head lain on the table in front of her.

That was a hangover if I've ever seen one.

I could resist teasing her as I walked up to the both of them.

''Doing well there Seralyn.''

''Shut up.'' She snidely remarked.

''You're here early.'' Draco said as Velariah took a seat.

''We've got everything sorted and are ready to leave whenever.'' Velariah stated. ''Seems like little Seralyn here had one drink too many last night.'' Velariah smiled.

''Shut up.'' Seralyn sounded again.

Ah, if only she wasn't so deserving of this, I might have felt pity.

Shame.

''Don't think we're going to wait here all day for you to sober up. Drink some water or something. I want to leave soon.''

''Ugh.'' Seralyn grabbed the glass and gulped down some water before putting it back down together with her head.

How did she even think it was a good idea to drink a day before heading out on a dangerous quest? This elf was beyond me.

''Anways, I'm sure you noticed by now. I got you something you should try out in combat, Draco.''

Velariah handed the axe-shield to the lizardman who looked at it with caution before realizing what it was.

''That's an interesting piece of armor...weapon? Though, I can't use my other axe with this.''

''Yeah.'' Velariah started. ''The idea was to get you two of these, Coldanus only managed to finish one last night. I don't blame him for it, the fact he even managed to finish one is impressive. Try it out, see if you like it.''

''This could be very useful indeed. Avoiding what happened with those lynxes the other day should be high on our priority list. I am sure this will help with protecting Seralyn. Thank you Velariah, I'll make sure to give you compensation for it.''

''You should thank Elania, it was her idea... and ore that made this possible.''

''Thank you, Elania. I'll be sure to put it to good use.''

''No problem Draco. I hope it works out for you.'' I replied.

''Also.'' Velariah unsheathed her sword, the noise of which made Seralyn's ears twitch. ''Check out this sweet sword he made for me the other day.'' She put the sword on the table.

''That looks like a quality blade.'' Draco looked at the sword. ''Impressive craftsmanship and immaculate material, culminated into one object. I hope it serves you well. You have been in need of a better blade for a while now.''

Draco was as polite as ever.

''Just great.'' Seralyn sounded quite sad. ''Everyone is getting fancy new things except for me.'' She said with her head still down.

''Maybe you shouldn't waste all your money getting wasted. Hah, see what I did there?" Velariah said.

I grinned. That was a good one.

''Shaddup!'' Seralyn sounded once more. She took another sip of water and put her face down on the wood of the table again.

Oh, she had it bad. I loved it.

I take back what I thought yesterday. Schadenfreude was a beautiful thing.

''Let's eat something first.'' Velariah suggested. ''And by that, I mean you, Seralyn. Draco, did you bring the same stuff as last time?''

The lizardman patted a bulging bag that sat next to him on the bench.

''Got everything right here.''

''You got anything for a headache?'' Seralyn asked.

''Even if I had, I wouldn't give it to you. Let this be a wise lesson young lady.'' Draco lectured the elf.

''Uuuughhh.'' The elf wailed in agony.

It seems she was in too much pain to remember anything about yesterday. Thankfully Velariah stepped in back then. I wondered how she would react if the knight brought it up.

''You better eat something as well. I don't want you anymore grumpy than you already are when we are traveling.'' Velariah told the hungover elf.

''Yeees, mooom.''

We decided to spend a bit of time at the guild so the elf could sober up at least a bit. She managed to eat at least some and Velariah explained the concept of Yahtzee to Draco in the meantime. We went for a quick round of the game with some stationery borrowed from the Lore keeper. Apparently, Draco carried plenty of dice with him. No idea why honestly.

This was surely one of my brighter ideas. The sound of the dice seemed to piss Seralyn off further. I hoped it would help her rehabilitation. She was only putting herself and us in danger with behavior like that. We couldn't have party members be out of focus when we started a quest.

After some time, and a lot of water for the brunette, I waited as my party members took a toilet break before leaving. I was convinced Seralyn would have to make several more of those on our journey, considering the amounts of liquid she took in.

Draco also filled us in on several details of the quest which was not entirely unwelcome. The reward would be a royal twenty gold. On the other hand, troll warlords were never alone and considered stronger than anything we had faced so far.

I guessed if you looked at it in a risk/reward way, it would just be better to go and gather scorpion stingers and lynxes. Although, we hadn't really counted on the lynxes.

The good news was that these trolls would likely hold at least some corium in them. When I asked Draco how he knew that was true he told me that a passing adventurer had killed a troll in the same area recently and had evolved their inherity after. That's what the Lore keeper told him, anyway.

''Does that mean that if I were to kill other people, I could evolve my inherity as well?'' I asked in fear.

That didn't sit right with me at all. Maybe that was the reason that human mage wanted to slay me earlier?

''No.'' Draco stated clearly. ''Trolls are somewhat of an exception in that regard. They are clearly sentient, but their origins are a bit... iffy so to say. It is said that trolls, like goblins, evolved from a common ancestor that was spawned by a dungeon and went feral. As such, they are able to leech some corium off of creatures they kill, or from nearby dungeon cores.''

That made me think. Could there be a dungeon somewhere in the forest?

''You think that could be why these goblins don't want peace? Because they could just be wiped out when they were not expecting it for the small amounts of corium they would give?'' I asked.

''Possible.'' Draco answered. ''Nobody managed to actually find out, they are very hostile to anyone that is not their own kin.''

When I asked about our quarry's location it seemed the troll warlord was last spotted far out to the east. That meant we would be walking in the direction of the cave where I had first awoken. I didn't know if we had to go past the cave.

''Are you okay?'' Velariah asked me.

''I'm okay, I'm just thinking.''

The troll that I killed earlier on was found in the same area. Was that one part of its warband? I was also hit by a strange question: How would I feel upon seeing the cave again?

Maybe I was getting ahead of myself by thinking about it, but I couldn't shake off the feeling that I'd see my old home again... where I'd met Velariah... where my adventure started.

It hadn't even been two weeks yet.

Why did I feel like all these things were connected? Trolls showing up, possibly leeching from a dungeon. Me waking up in the same area. The feeling was... ominous... weird.

I had resolved I would try to move on from my old life, that didn't mean I wouldn't look into clues if I found any. Maybe certain clues could help me in this new life.

We started our journey from the guild hall. I carried Draco's new weapon...shield? It was fairly heavy but I managed just fine with two arms. It would be a bad idea for him to rely on his new weapon without any training. Even if he had an inherity that increased his proficiency with axes, it would be better to stick to what he knew, for now, at least against trolls. If we ran into any goblins, it could surely be worth trying out.

Seralyn was still suffering but was able to walk.

And walk she did, thanks to Velariah.

If only she hadn’t been such a bully, maybe I would have carried her. Though, I doubt I would do that after what happened last night.

She slowly improved and I hoped she would at least be back to her old self when combat started. As amusing as it was, I would much prefer her to be useful in a fight.

After a quick inspection and making sure we were fully prepared we were on our way.