I decide to move to a tree overlooking the village while I think. It's a nice view, sue me.
So! My goal is to find someone to bond with. First, I'll set a standard for the type of person I'll be looking for.
First of all, they can't be the heroic type. I'm selfish, so I really don't want them risking their life for randos and possibly dying doing so. Types like this also tend to make a lot of friends, which leaves less time for me. So no hero complexes, please and thank you.
They should be competent, able to protect themself. I don't want to be constantly worried and protecting them the whole time.
Smarts would be appreciated too, though they don't need to be a super genius or anything. They just need to know when to pick their battles and such, possess a certain amount of common sense. Though, dumbasses can be entertaining at times.
Ah, someone willing to explore and try new things. As a consequence, someone with little to no pre-existing connections that would cause them homesickness.
Someone not afraid to harm or kill others, of course. Wouldn't want them hesitating to put their life above someone else's, that could get them killed. Kind of circles around to the heroic argument, but also slightly different. You can have no issue killing someone if necessary but also go out of your way to help randos.
Hmm, what else? Someone with a sense of humor? Bonding with someone constantly serious would be like bonding with a brick wall.
It goes without saying, but they should be willing. An unwilling person would be fighting me every step of the way, no point in that. It'd just be annoying.
Wait...
Eurgh, the way I'm going about this makes it seem like I'm looking for a romantic partner or something. Hell no. Just... no.
Eh, I won't take anything back though. This is a permanent thing- at least until I decide to leave this world. I can have as many standards as I want.
...I'm making it worse.
Ignore it! There are no connections if I don't acknowledge them. Switching gears.
So. How do I go about finding such a person? I could go village to village on my search, but that wouldn't allow me to personally get to know the candidates. There's a limit on what can be gained from watching.
So, I guess... I could approach a village? But they may freak out.
...
This village seems to know how to deal with beasts peacefully... This sounds like a bad idea, but again, zero consequences. I can just abandon this world at any point if anything goes wrong, not to mention the powerful monster body I'm in right now. So.
Yay, no consequences!
《QUEST CREATED!》
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|Finding a Way|
(Special Quest)
Find a way to meet potential candidates for bonding.
Rewards: 25 Tokens, ???
Failure Penalty: N/A
--------------
《DO YOU ACCEPT?》
Phew, fuck for a second there I thought I was about to get a quest with another mystery penalty just to contradict me. Or, like, a penalty of death. Which is about to happen anyway with all the heart attacks this system is giving me.
But no, I get a mystery prize instead! The reward is a very low amount of tokens, but a Special Quest means the mystery prize is probably a skill! Hell yes, I accept!
《QUEST 'FINDING A WAY' ACCEPTED.》
Let's get on with it then!
I decide to slither in plain sight, near the road where I'll be spotted quickly. There are various beasts - mostly wolf-types, interestingly enough - patrolling the plains around the village but they didn't worry me any. I could just stand here and they wouldn't be able to harm me at all.
I slowly slither out of the bushes, body upright with no attempt to hide. Immediately, the guarded beasts notice me and freeze - unlike the oblivious humans going about their day. The beasts watch me with apprehension and fear, before they howl.
I assume this is their alarm, as the humans finally notice me when the howl echoes through the clearing. I'm sure I can be immediately recognized as a monster due to my mismatched features, even if they don't recognize my species.
The roads and village become full of panic as humans scatter - even those who aren't close enough to see me, judging by the screaming coming from within the village. It's interesting to watch people decide whether to run to the village or away from the village. Some are brave enough to run by me to get to the village, others simply get as far away from me as possible.
As I gained the attention I wanted, I settle into a curled up position to showcase my peacefulness, body relaxed and patient. I watch as more beasts appear, gathering around the nearby wolves and tensing. I'm surprised they're brave enough to face me, really. Possibly a side effect of human training?
Finally, a human appears. As they walk closer, I note their feminine features and assume they're female. Her long hair catches my eye due to it's wild nature and ginger color that seems to glow red in the sunlight - very pretty. A staff covered in runes catches my eye next - though, that really should've been what I noted first - and she holds it with confidence. I wonder if it doubles as a weapon, and what spells it can use. The runes could be a bluff, though, considering I can't read runes.
She pauses at the gathering of the beasts and studies me for a moment. I consider waving, but decide that showing too much intelligence may be a bad idea. I can understand English, that's fine, but understanding human social behaviors seems a bit much. That would be odd even for an intelligent creature. Still, I try my best to seem calm and non-aggressive.
She seems satisfied with what she sees, as she makes a hand motion that immediately calms the surrounding beasts. She then makes her way towards me, her own body language remaining relaxed and calm.
"Hello. Can you understand me?" She says as she stops a few feet in front of me. Her voice is calm and curious, no sign of hostility.
I nod, leaning down slightly to be eye level with her. It seems that I'm quite a bit taller than a human when I sit up straight.
She seems surprised as she speaks, "Good. That makes communicating much easier. I don't know if you understand what this is," She taps her staff, "So I'll explain it. This lets me use magic, mostly creature-related spells. Would you allow me to use a spell to connect our minds so we may communicate easier?"
Huh. With this amount of confidence and forethought, she must have done this before. Or at least thought it a possibility. How lucky for me. Well, unless she's trying to pull something, but might as well play along.
I pretend to think a moment, considering my thoughts go by too quickly to give any outward signs. I eye her and her staff 'thoughtfully' before nodding sharply.
She smiles at me, "I will need to touch you with it, if you don't mind." She inches a little closer, and slowly brings the staff to my head - broadcasting her actions and giving me plenty of time to move. I allow her to touch my head, the wood of the staff cool against my forehead.
"Connect our minds," She slowly moves her staff from me to her own forehead as she speaks, "Allow communication without barriers and allow privacy even as we connect." She chants. As I watch her closely, I notice certain words cause parts of the staff to light up. At 'Connect' a symbol at the top of the staff lights up, which I realize is the rune that she touched herself and me with. When she said 'Communication without barriers' a line connected to the first rune slowly lit up along with a second rune. The same thing happened with 'Allow privacy'. Interesting.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
'Can you hear me?'
Fro a brief moment as the woman's voice echoes through my mind, I'm reminded of Kurotto. But, it's different. She's not monotone, and I can feel her emotions. She feels curious and excited.
I attempt to direct my thoughts at her, 'Yes.'
She settles into a more comfortable position, leaning on her staff. 'Oh good, you figured it out quickly. Any thoughts you direct toward me I will hear, anything else is private to you. Usually I would only communicate with emotions and memories, but you've learned English! That makes this a lot easier. What brings you here?' As she speaks, I can feel various emotions radiating from her. Sincerity, curiosity, excitement, interest, impressed. All of them feel positive with no malice.
'I want to bond with someone. I've been watching your village and I find the concept - and humans themselves - fascinating. However, I cannot speak English and watching from afar would only take me so far. I want help finding someone.' I briefly wonder what emotions she feels from me, if any. Definitely interest, possibly excitement.
I sense awe and understanding from her before she speaks. Or thinks. Telepathizes? 'I see. Well, I would be happy to help you! My name is Titania, I'm the head Beast Tamer of this village. I'll warn you now that it's rare to see creatures as strong as you here, so you're likely to attract a lot of attention. I'll ask you not kill anyone who decides to get cocky, I can handle them for you, however I understand acting in self defense. There will be no mistreatment of any creatures here under my watch.' I feel intense determination and a sense of protection from her, it's honestly impressive. She must love creatures.
'Good to know. I will refrain from killing anyone, my scales are strong enough that I'm sure no human could harm me anyway.' I tell her with confidence.
She nods, 'I wouldn't doubt it. Now, please tap my staff from now on if you need to tell me something. I will end the spell now.'
When I nod in return she speaks out loud, "Cancel." And the staff stops glowing.
She once again smiles at me, "Now, let's introduce you. Hopefully they won't panic too much since I'm with you." She then turns and walks towards the village, making a gesture at the still gathered beasts as she does so. They glance at me before returning to their patrols.
I uncoil myself and follow along, excited to see the reactions of the people in town. Titania is nice, and her hair is cute, but she leaves much to be desired for entertaining reactions.
Entering the village, I notice the streets are empty. But the windows aren't; any time I look at a window, blinds are immediately pulled over them. Seems about right, the villagers are curious but afraid.
We make our way to the center of the village, where a medium sized bell sits. She turns to me, "This may be a bit loud, and I don't know how sensitive your ears are. Will you be okay?" She asks in consideration.
I nod, as I don't have good hearing without my magic. She grins before putting on a pair of earmuffs and muttering, "I love doing this."
With a loud clang, she suddenly hits the bell with a fancy looking stick. The bell sways and tolls, ringing and echoing through the village.
As the bell continues to toll. I notice a few people peeking out of their windows. When I turn back, Titanis has grabbed a cone-shaped thing with runes engraved on it.
"On, magnify five." She mutters to it, a couple runes lighting up as she does so. As the bell stills, she speaks through the cone; her voice louder. "YOU CAN ALL COME OUT NOW!" She then pauses and looks at me, moving the cone - hold on is that a megaphone? - away from her mouth. "She?" She inquires.
I pause for a moment, realizing she's asking for my gender. I nod.
"SHE'S FRIENDLY! COME MEET HER!" She continues through the megaphone.
While a few people trickle out of the buildings, I study the cone. Yup, that's a wooden megaphone. But simpler, since it doesn't use mechanics.
She says 'Off', which causes the runes to go dark, before putting the megaphone and earmuffs up on a hook next to the bell. She stands proudly before the gathering crowd, apparently happy with being able to use what's probably the loudest objects in the village.
I notice a good few people still refuse to leave the buildings, but even more seem more excited than afraid. I glance between the more excited ones and Titania- yep, they all have matching accessories. Sort of. They all wear something beast related; teeth necklaces, feathers in their hair, and a few have bone jewelry. How odd.
"Hi, I'm Jacob! It's really nice to meet you! You look really cool!" An excitable young man who looks barely eighteen comes up to me. He's bouncing in place with his hand held out.
I'm not supposed to know what a handshake is, though, so I look to Titania. She looks amused, before walking closer. "A handshake is how we greet someone politely. It's an agreement for peace." She explains, rather dramatically. Handshakes aren't that deep, ma'am.
She holds her hand out to Jacob, who gets what she's doing and shakes her hand. He then immediately turns to me, excitedly, with his hand held out.
Amused, I shake his hand- which is tiny compared to mine. My claws are slightly larger than a human head, after all. I carefully avoid scratching him with my talons, and he seems to notice and appreciate the effort.
He beams up at me as the handshake is done, before more people step forward and start introducing themselves. This boy was one of the braver bunch, apparently.
I used to be horrible with names, they'd leave me as soon as introductions were over. But now, with my memory, every single one of their names are engrained in my mind.
Well, not engrained exactly. I could technically just ignore them. I can't forget them, but I don't have to remember them either. Not to mention the whole memory erasure between worlds thing.
Anyway, Titania seems to assume I'm getting overwhelmed and steps in front of me. "Alright! Calm down you all, give her some space." They immediately listen and back off, a majority of them looking ashamed. Her words hold some weight.
"Now, I've got an announcement to make." She goes to pick the megaphone back up, causing the crowd to immediately protest. She pauses and looks at them in confusion.
"You'll blow out ma damn ear drums! Quit usin' the fackin amplifiyah and talk normally, I ain't that old!" An older man speaks up, waving his fist. I guess the megaphone is called an amplifier here, makes sense.
Titania chuckles sheepishly, "Fine, fine." Before walking back over. The crowd looks relieved. "Alright, listen up then! And spread the word! This Great Beast here is looking for someone to bond with! She is sentient and will be treated as such. If anyone disrespects or attempts to harm her, she is allowed to retaliate! Not only that, but if you survive you will be banned from entering this village ever again! We do not tolerate disrespect toward anyone in the village, including the beasts! Are we clear?" Even without the megaphone, her words echo through the streets with power in her voice.
Curiously, her staff is not lit up. Yet I could swear I can feel magic radiating off her.
"YES MA'AM!" Shouts the ones in the crowd who wear beast accessories. The others simply nod. Considering Titania calling herself the head beast tamer, and these people's respect for her, I assume they're beast tamers.
"Now, if you want to offer yourself as a candidate to bond, I will take your names and set up an appointment where you will meet with her and be allowed to communicate with my spells. Then, you will get to know eachother. If she wants another meeting with you, you will be scheduled again. If not, you will not press. Understood?" She lays out, surprisingly prepared. I wonder if she's done this before? I didn't think Monsters were that common around here. Actually she's calling me 'Great Beast' rather than Monster... Hmm.
The crowd give various forms of confirmation to her speech. Titania takes out a notepad and pen. The pen also has runes on it. They really use runes for everything don't they? Instantly, a line forms in front of her as she takes names. A majority of them she seems to know personally, while others she either needs a reminder or hasn't met before.
I notice a few people from the crowd going back to the buildings, and more people leaving the buildings. A few more join the line.
The name taking takes way longer than I thought it would, and I become bored as the line grows longer rather than shorter.
Decided, I slither closer to Titania, tapping her staff to tell her I want to talk. A few people in the line jump and watch me warily.
Bitch, you can't be scared of me and want to bond. Pick a lane.
She looks at me and thinks for a moment before smiling, "Ah, are you bored? Sorry, this could take a while. You can leave whenever you want, but please try to be back in a couple of hours. I'll stop taking names then so we can set a time for you to come meet people. Sound good?"
She must be good at reading body language or something- she guessed exactly what I was thinking without needing telepathy.
I nod in agreement before slithering to a spot open and free from pedestrians. It wasn't that hard considering most of the people meandering around are in line in front of Titania. Jumping from the ground to fly is a bit more difficult than jumping from a tree, but not impossible. So, I decide to show off.
I coil up my body and plant my arms against the ground, ready to push off. Glancing at the line shows that I've caught their attention without trying. Which is understandable, waiting in a long ass line is boring. I pull my focus to the sky, bending my elbows and flaring my wings in preparation. With a woosh my wings flap downward and launch me into the air, the combined effort of my coiled body, arms, and wings propelling me upward. Once in the air, my tail is dead weight - the feathers don't help when I fly vertically - but the initial push gets me high above the village.
Needing an extra push, I channel magic into my wings and flap- launching me across the sky at an incredibly fast pace.
I wish I could see their reactions. It'd be hilarious! But, the aftermath will have to do.
From my perspective, however, flying that quickly in a straight line is trippy as fuck. My body's past holder had never used magic on her wings- it was unnecessary since going that fast within a forest would end in your face smashed into a tree. And she never really left the cover of the trees.
Speaking of-
I barely manage to dodge in time as I fly by a giant fucking mountain. I only manage due to my faster mental processing speed and this body's agility. I flare my wings out, attempting to stop so I can look at the mountains, but it takes a moment for me to slow down. By the time I managed to stop and analyze my surroundings, the mountain is far in the distance and I'm at the beach.
The beach on the opposite side of the island. The beach that was supposed to be a whole day's flight - without rest, which with my stamina I'd need plenty - away from the beast village. What the fuck.
Okay, so I can be faster than I thought. Good to know. Now I have to spend my free hours finding my way back to the village. Great.
I'll investigate the mountains later, I guess.