Once they got within a few minutes of the hut, Roge understood first hand why it was out so far. He had to wrap a shirt around his maw, making sure to dunk it in some water from his waterskin before doing so, to keep some of the smell away. Once they reached the hut, Roge frowned however. It looked like a cabin more than anything and immaculately made at that. It had perfectly straight, clean walls, a shingled roof that looked straight out of a fantasy movie he’d seen, and flowers growing inside flower pots below the windows. The windows even had glass, which Roge was not sure how the witch had gotten ahold of.
They quickly dropped off the items once they reached the hut, the smell worsening the more they’d gotten close. Retreating back into the woods, Hops immediately sat down to start reading a book, Marge flopped over for a quick nap, and Sean started some of his sword poses to train some more. The dragonkin wasn’t sure what to do at first, but soon shrugged his shoulders and grabbed the paired compass again to go and train his [Senses] and [Walking] while exploring that part of the forest.
It didn’t take him very long to get slightly bored of his surroundings, finding no dangerous monsters or interesting plants, the area seeming to be picked clean until it looked just like a natural forest from before. He decided to swing up one of the taller trees, finding his [Nature Walk Skill] worked vertically up the branches, very quickly getting to the top and holding onto the small trunk to keep him steady on a thin branch. He was worried for a moment his weight would unbalance it, but he calmed when it just gently swayed with his added weight. I guess even trees got an upgrade… he mused, taking the moment to look out across the landscape of trees cut off by hills and a few mountains.
His musing was cut off a few minutes later when a figure suddenly appeared in front of him, Roge nearly jumping out of his skin and falling off the tree. He just barely managed to grab onto the trunk for dear life, not keeping his eyes off the figure that literally floated in midair a foot away from him. They were overly muscular, easily beating Sean in size and height, and it was not helping that they only wore a pair of jean shorts and nothing else. Roge’s brain helpfully pointed out that they had no body hair whatsoever to distract him from the fact that the person was blue. A dark, almost sapphire blue, matching their piercing eyes.
“Well aren’t you interesting,” a melodic voice mused, Roge blinking at how they almost sounded like they were singing without even trying at first. He then frowned as he noticed that he could hear a different sounding voice below the first, like those videos he’d watched before of people using voice changers to have multiple voices on top of each other. Focusing on the hidden voice, it was as though something shattered in his mind and he could only hear a deep, but starkly normal voice as the person continued to speak.
“Usually people don’t notice me at all,” the figure mused, rubbing a hand across his beard. “How can you see me young one?”
“I uh… I’m not sure if I should answer that,” Roge blurted out, growing more concerned as he realized what most likely happened. He’d resisted an auditory illusion with the voice, though he wasn’t sure how he could be fooled at all with his [Static Mind Ability], but that would be pondered on later. There was also apparently a visual illusion that he’d not even noticed that hid the figure from view. I guess that’s why people don’t see them… he mused, figuring this was the ‘witch’ that lived in the hut.
Roge gripped the tree tighter as he noticed the person’s expression, one of interest and confusion. “Tell me how you can see me,” he practically growled, Roge flinching at the more serious tone.
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“Uh… no?” he stated hesitantly, the person’s eyes widening even more at that right before a brilliant smile crossed his face.
“You… you can resist me?” Now the person sounded hesitant, unsure if to believe the conversation they were having. “That’s fantastic! It has to be an [Ability] right?” Suddenly the figure was behind the dragonkin, Roge trying not to fall off the tree as he turned to face them. “I’ve met other dragonkin before and they could not resist my [Charm], so it can’t be that.”
“Uh… that’s a little creepy…” Roge mumbled, the figure’s grin widening at that.
“Oh you don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear someone say that. It’s all ‘Say something more’ or ‘Do you know how to sing’ or ‘You’d want to knock boots’.” His smile dimmed at those statements, having sounded like a valley girl during the impersonations. “I’ve had to seclude myself so much after gaining that [Ability], you wouldn’t even know.” He cocked his head to the side at that. “Actually you wouldn’t know, would you.”
Roge looked down at the ground in contemplation, wondering if he could make it with a few steps to get away from this person. He was about to try it when the figure grabbed the dragonkin and quite easily yanked him from the tree, holding him in a bridal carry position. “Oh where are my manors. I’m Carmon, the djinn of this forest. Let’s take you to my home so we can have more of a comfortable chat.”
They both then started gently floating away from the tree and directly towards a clearing in the forest, Roge immediately recognizing the perfect log cabin and confirming his suspicions. “I thought you’d be a witch,” he muttered, cringing as he realized he’d said that out loud.
“Oh don’t be silly. That’s just the moniker the town gives me because I won’t let anyone see me. Wouldn’t do to become so popular. I like my privacy enough that I don’t mind the loneliness.” His tone at the end there contradicted that statement, but Roge decided to let it go as Carmon floated gently to the ground in front of the cabin. “Ah. I see. You’re part of the delivery group this week. How quaint,” the djinn cheerfully stated, waving a hand at the supplies and money at the door. They all floated carefully into the air at that, Roge adding telekinesis to the djinn’s powerset in his head, and flowed neatly through the now open door.
“Can I uh… get down now?” Roge asked awkwardly, getting a little uncomfortable with being carried while on the ground. Carmon frowned at that but very gently let him down, Courage squeaking as he climbed out of Roge’s hood. He’d apparently been jostled deeper than he’d wanted when they’d been grabbed, shaking himself out before giving Carmon a tiny draconic glare.
“Ooo…” the djinn cooed, suddenly appearing at Roge’s shoulder to stare at the [Familiar]. “This one is also not scared of me. Due to your connection I assume.” Carmon snapped his fingers as his face lit up, Roge flinching back as he was reminded of the classic genie trope. “Now, let’s go inside. It always smells awful outside.”
“I hadn’t really noticed,” the dragonkin muttered, having honestly been so caught off guard by Carmon that he didn’t recognize the smell at first. “I uh… I’m going to be allowed to leave though… right? Not like I’m going to get trapped in your house forever right?”
“Of course not! I would never be so rude to a guest.” His grin agreed with that statement, but his eyes were hard as they stared at the dragonkin, Carmon waving him to go ahead first.
Roge entered the cabin reluctantly, finding the awful smell ended at the door to be replaced with what he could only describe as a Christmas candle smell. The inside was a mix of a comfy living room arranged around a fireplace off to the left and what Roge could only describe as a workshop off to the right. Various herbs dried along the right wall with a bubbling cauldron and desk setup that looked exactly like a potion making setup. The left was filled with a few comfy chairs and a giant couch with an end table in front of it. The couch even had the corner look that made it so one person could lie down on it without going sideways, something Roge had not seen since the world had changed. There was even a lit candle sitting on the table, probably being the source of the Christmas-y smell.
“Sit sit, I’ll be with you in a moment. Just need to make the potions they requested,” Carmon cheered, urging Roge to the couch as he waved forward the list of requests the [Guild] had sent. Roge sat down on the comfiest couch he’d ever experienced, even Courage hopping off his shoulders and curling up into a ball on the soft surface. Maybe this won’t be so bad...