Sleeping on a bed after all that time in isolation was great. Losing the emergency activation feature and being forced to stay with the undead for all that time wasn't. I might be paranoid but I think they disabled that exactly to get me. With all my active and most passive abilities locked, I would be captured and enslaved. Then skinned for my leather. I shuddered at the thought. The thought that there were people out there removing the skin of other people to wear was so gruesome that I seriously considered awakening the Death Princess and going on a killing spree.
Nenandil pushed me closer and pinned me. The fairy got seriously strong after I shared the energy of the red dragon core with her. She brushed my hair. It felt nice. Eh?
I checked my notifications. They were not intrusive as they popped up. I never understood why people thought system messages would be distracting during combat or something like that. It was something ingrained in everyone's lives. I didn't even need to read them, a glance was enough. The knowledge was intuitive even for the village idiot after a few weeks of use. When you are unable to notice them because you were unconscious or asleep, you could always pull the message log window.
> You were tithed 61,000 Exp. (base 2 x 30500 multipliers).
>
> Silverstreak Wig gained 61 Exp.
>
> You were tithed 61,000 Exp. (base 2 x 30500 multipliers).
>
> Silverstreak Wig gained 61 Exp.
>
> Silverstreak Wig has reached level 1.
>
> You were tithed 183,000 Exp. (base 6 x 30500 multipliers).
>
> Silverstreak Wig gained 183 Exp.
>
> Silverstreak Wig has reached level 2.
>
> You were tithed 366,000 Exp (base 12 x 30500 multipliers).
>
> Silverstreak Wig has reached level 3.
>
> Silverstreak Wig has obtained the Lifelike Mimicry (rare) Perk: You look and feel like the real thing you are mimicking.
>
> (...)
>
> Silverstreak Wig has reached level 6.
>
> Silverstreak Wig has obtained the True Sensations (very rare) Perk: You transmit sensations to your host as if you were the real thing you are mimicking.
The living thread items I wore gained one-thousandth of my Exp, split among them.
Someone from a race I created is active around me. With the range of my matriarch ability, it should cover most of the city. Speaking of which, I didn't spend the two perks I got for the removal of the Windemere development perks. These gift perks were even better than the human ones because there was no chance of failure. The System adjusted them to my needs. Maybe I should focus on this tithing thing. If I go to a place with lots of people from these three races, like Windemere,
I focused on them and did my purchase.
> Extended Exp Tithing (very rare): Your Exp tithing range is doubled.
>
> Exp Tithing Bonus I (ultra-rare): You gain a 50% bonus on all tithed Exp.
The range increased to 2.8 kilometers with my current status. Hopefully, both perks combined will make my living thread items grow faster. I wasn't expecting the rarity upgrade but honestly, the whole rarity system was broken.
The increased range encompassed another member of the races because I started to get higher tithes.
> You were tithed 1,372,500 Exp (base 30 x 45750 multipliers).
>
> Silverstreak Wig gained 1,373 Exp.
If one percent was thirty Exp, the base Exp... something level fifty-something was killed by someone from the three races I created. Inside the city. Should I investigate? Nope. Not my problem.
I made my silkie self comfortable against the slightly taller Nenandil and went to sleep. For half an hour.
I would be offended if nothing happened. No, not really. From some thugs coming to kidnap the fox-kin girl that was traveling alone to a dragon coming out of the blue to murder everything in here, or even the advent of the fourth Demon Lord, I expected anything to happen.
A fight broke out in the inn's common room, it sounded. I yawned and stretched, then I pulled Nenandil's arm taut against my belly.
A table broke. Glass bottles broke. Someone shouted. A lightning spell went off. More wood breaking, from the pitch, chairs. Whistles. Shouts. Feet marching on the street outside. People being bashed into submission by what I assume was the guard. The building shuddered and part of it crumbled. I felt a slight incline in my room's floor, maybe because the damaged building was struggling to support the multi-ton boulder by my room's door.
I willed the boulder back to storage and the floor sprang back up. Something else crashed. I smelt smoke and heard wood burning.
"I don't think we'll be able to sleep," Nenandil whispered in my ear as she combed my wig with her fingers, making me hum and moan. "Your new hair is almost as gorgeous as your real one."
"That's because this wig is just a baby. Level... seven right now. Let it pick a few more Perks and we'll see." I mused.
People were walking outside, the damaged building creaking dangerously as the weight shifted.
"I think they'll come asking for you soon," Nenandil suggested.
"Normal people would evacuate the premises, right?"
"And demand a refund."
As if it were a theatrical cue, someone knocked on the door. "Miss Fox? Are you in there? We need to evacuate! The building is condemned," the innkeeper shouted.
"Gotta go," I whispered to Nenandil as I removed her arm. She whimpered her annoyance but let go. I shifted into Fox-Lily and donned the wig and tail sleeve. Thinking of what the Silverstreak Wig did, I wove a single strand of thick transparent silk connecting both items so they would count as one. A quick inspection using my [Appraiser] Profession told me they were indeed considered one item.
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
> Fox-Kin Disguise Set
>
> Level 2
I'd gained some Exp during my strolling through town. I instructed the disguise set to pick the same perks as the wig.
I answered the door intentionally naked. The innkeeper yelped and averted his eyes.
"Get dressed and move on. We need to evacuate the inn before it collapses." I tried to close the door but he held it with a hand. "Go on. I'll hold it for you."
I put on my clothes and stored my things. Nenandil came to dive into my soul but I held her.
"Sit on my shoulder. I'm bloody tired of hiding you," I told her. "If people want to give us shit because I have a fairy with me, then I'll make them regret."
She giggled, her sharp voice ringing like chimes. The vocal apparatus of fairies didn't make them deep baritones, that's a given. Their vocal cords were too delicate and short.
I left my room, thinking it was weird and unnatural to walk on two legs. I was a Lamia. It was natural for me to slither, not stomp around.
We walked out of the inn, the fairy on my shoulder. The busy people waiting to watch the inn go down didn't notice her. Some guardsmen with axes were ready to hack the structure to prevent it from collapsing the wrong way.
I lifted a hand, "Wait! I forgot my coin pouch inside!" I shouted and dashed back inside.
That's one thing that I couldn't help. I was a softie, always thinking to help. I remembered when I exposed myself to heal Karina and the harem party. But I decided to do what I wanted, and fuck the world.
Once inside the inn, I ran everywhere sending all objects and quite a bit of debris into storage. The beds, the furniture, All these items were expensive. The kitchen and pantry also were emptied in my storage as I walked over the whole building.
I got outside and grinned with a coin pouch in my hand. "All done."
"Is that a fairy--"
"TIMBER!" Someone shouted, cutting the Innkeeper's question.
They hacked at the inn's support pillars and it came down in an organized way, lifting a dust cloud. The light of the torches lit up the dust, creating a hazy and dreamy landscape of shadows and silhouettes.
> You were tithed 1,692,750 Exp (base 37 x 45750 multipliers).
>
> Fox-Kin Disguise Set gained 1,693 Exp.
>
> Fox-Kin Disguise Set has reached level 3.
>
> Fox-Kin Disguise Set has obtained the Lifelike Mimicry (rare) Perk: You look and feel like the real thing you are mimicking.
Oh. Wait a second. For something to give thirty-seven thousand Exp, it needs to be... thirty-six times a hundred, square root... over level sixty. Sixty-one, actually, because sixty-two was already too much. People level sixty shouldn't be dying like that unless...
I detected {Assassin's Contracts} around me. I sensed some of them in the same place and then one of them disappeared.
> You were tithed 1,464,000 Exp (base 32 x 45750 multipliers).
>
> Fox-Kin Disguise Set gained 1,464 Exp.
Yup. And it was one of mine. This means there's an [Assassin] from one of my children species (I'm going to call the beast-kin, were-folk, and silk-folk my children from now on) farming my contracts. The truth about [Assassins] in this world is that they are lazy Exp whores.
The innkeeper was inconsolable. The kind man was weeping as he looked upon his destroyed building. People were already rummaging through the debris as the dust cloud cleared. They were picking up timbers to use as firewood.
"Hey, shithead, I want my coin back!" An angry patron came to talk to the innkeeper.
He probably had nothing to do with the fight that broke out. I felt guilty for not intervening. Even after all these lives, all these centuries, one quote engraved into my mind by the XXI century's indoctrination.
> “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.”
>
> - John Stuart Mill [1]
"No, that is not going to happen," I took a step forward and stood between them "The ones at a fault are those involved in the fight. Go ask your money from them."
A flash of guilt coursed through his eyes. I didn't fail to notice that. I pressed on, "And you are one of them, aren't you? Everyone that was damaged by the fight should have you reimburse them. Starting with the gentle innkeeper here."
The last priests of Bundeus died. The one at sixty-one was the strongest of them. Somewhere, an [Assassin] was fat with Exp.
"Who are you... A fairy?"
"You better listen," Nenandil said. "Or I'll freeze your cock." I rolled my eyes. Nenandil and her frozen genitals fetish.
I heard one of the guys behind the speaker whisper, "Level seventy-three, milord."
I fired {Appraise} at these shitheads. I was surprised at the extra information.
> [Bodyguard]
>
> Level 55 human male.
> [Sentinel]
>
> Level 51 half-elf male.
> [Aristorcrat]
>
> Level 57 human male.
"So, milord. You are guilty of demolishing this fine establishment," I said projecting my voice over the blurb of looters rummaging the demolished tavern and breaking wood to take home. "What compensation the fair Lord will offer the innkeeper!"
"Why, you!" He raised his hand in anger.
I felt the chill irradiate from over my shoulder and quickly spread around. Nenandil rose in the air, glowing blue. "Dare you to raise that hand against my ward, ruffian? A child nonetheless? I guarantee it will take a century to thaw your corpse."
Something caught my attention at the edge of the ring of people watching the scene unfold. There were two youngsters, a couple that might be related to one another with their matching coppery skin tone. They were talking in silence. To my surprise, they were using {Rabbit Sign Language}. I thought that Skill was dead, lost, and buried underneath a thousand years. But there I stood dumbfounded.
I laughed. Who were them? How did they learn that skill? Should I talk to them? Why not, what could possibly go wrong? I jest. There were dozens of ways shit could fly. Things were going to shit now that Nenandil was out in the open, and I didn't give a fuck. Worst-case scenario, I would commandeer a ship and make them take me to Pekothas.
Hey, I could be the bad guy too.
the sister answered.
The rude nobleman and his bodyguards were busy with the crowd of inn patrons that swarmed him asking for compensation. Some luggage was left in the rooms and it was all in my storage now.
I gesticulated back, curling my hands to make cute rabbit paws,
System-governed languages changed very little over time. Some without many speakers, might not change at all.
The girl, however, did not share my mirth. She approached fast, glaring at me. "Where did you learn that? Answer me!" She was imperious, demanding. I felt a tingle. Would it be a {Royal Order}, maybe?
I smiled and gesticulated back,
Nenandil was looking between us. She asked me telepathically,
I felt a tingle from the glare the princess gave me.
> {Princess} [Arcanist]
>
> Level 71 human female.
> {Prince} [Ambassador]
>
> Level 69 human male.
They didn't react. It seems that {Subtle Appraise} worked and my proficiency went up by two points. That's why these two brats are being so impertinent
With a gesture, the prince summoned a group of five knight-looking guys. The bodyguards surrounded the two young adults and the group went away. Better that way.
"Come with me," I pulled the innkeeper by the hand and dragged the dazed man along. A few streets away I found a fancy tavern and booked a private room. After we sat, I explained to him I secured every object inside his inn. I excluded the luggage of the patrons that left in a hurry. I had no idea what he'd think and I didn't want to burden him with the task of explaining to the angry patrons how he got everything out of the inn.
"A cousin of mine has a warehouse. I think it's empty," the innkeeper said. "if you can put my furniture there, I can restart after getting a loan to rebuild."
"Sure."
We went to meet this cousin of his and I dumped his furniture and utensils in the warehouse. I returned to the tourist district to find somewhere to rest when the royal couple returned, with several guards in tow. The princess pointed at me and chanted a spell, "{Reveal True Shape}!"
> Willpower test failed. Your shapeshifting has been canceled.
I balanced myself on my tail. Fortunately, my clothes and brigandine reshaped themselves so I wasn't naked. My deep blue scales gleamed in the light of the city lanterns.
"A Naga!" One of the guards shouted, scared.
"No. That's a Lamia," the princess said with a dark grin. "We have a monster in our midst, gentlemen!"
The guards charged. On my shoulder, Nenandil was already weaving her magic.