-Day 12-

So, it's been two days since Saria was forcefully put to work for me. The two humans Jack and Erin were surprisingly hospitable, even if they had mistrust written all over their faces. Their tropicot orchard was currently run entirely by Jack since his wife was pregnant with their kid. He had it rough, so since Saria had nothing better to do, I told her to help him a bit.

It was hard to convince her, but Jack is a cunning man. When Saria argued with me, he bribed her by letting her have homemade tropicot cake made by his wife. He very quickly figured out that food was the ticket to control. It wasn't long before she fully agreed to help him with her mouth running, awaiting food as a reward. That girl was surprisingly easy to get through to by using her stomach.

They even gave Saria a few clothes. Instead of having to run around in some fancy servants outfit she now had proper farming overalls and everything. Well, proper is a mighty word to describe the gift, but it was still favorable to trampling around in potentially valuable footwear and clothes.

The primary job was to protect the trees from any monster that might approach. Jack explained that lately, the guard patrols that were supposed to keep minor pests away were called off, so he has had his hands full scaring monsters away recently. Saria still poached the trees off their fruit now and then because she couldn't control herself at all, but that was still better than letting every monster around pluck the fruit. One vermin ruling over the area is better than ten individual ones fighting for scraps after all.

Jack called her to take out a few new types of fae monsters that I hadn't seen before. Raccoons and squirrels with the same antlers that a deer would typically have. Seriously, everything in this forest had deer antlers, and I was kind of hoping I would at some point finally get to see this mama deer who was cross-breeding like crazy. In the two days we had been here, about fifteen a day showed up. And only on the second day it hit me that we've seen all kinds of animals with antlers on their heads, but not a single deer. Which was so backwards.

So because there wasn't much to do, a lot of our time was spent talking with the middle-aged pair who typically managed the orchard on their own, and just relaxing if nothing important came up. Even now, Saria dozed off under one of the outer trees in boredom.

(Jack) "Miss Saria! As promised, we've got some cake prepared for you!"

It was Jack calling out to her. Immediately, as if struck by lightning, she skipped towards the home of the two patrons.

(Draven) «Hey, don't you think you're starting to get addicted to that fruit?»

(Saria) "Addicted? Me? Never."

(Draven) «You should ask them to stay for dinner, you know. Maybe they actually might have some actual food prepared. Besides, your diet is just about as unhealthy as it can be.»

(Saria) "Mister shadow, I will let you know that tropicots are very healthy for me."

(Draven) «You're just saying that because you can't stop eating them, can you?»

(Saria) "I can stop eating them whenever I so choose."

(Draven) «...Right.»

When she entered the door into the kitchen, Erin was washing up utensils she most likely used for the cake. I didn't need a Soul Link to confirm that Saria was overly excited to try it.

(Erin) "Ah, miss Saria, please, sit down."

Jack wasn't here. He apparently still had lots of work to do, so it was just us and Erin.

(Saria) "You don't have to tell me twice, miss."

Miss? Looks like Saria was warming up to them as well. That didn't take very long. Already she addressed Erin formally. With a broad and confident grin she sat down and started eating with her hands even though a knife and fork were prepared. I could see Erin's worried, yet amused smile when she watched this savage eat.

(Erin) "May I sit down with you?"

(Saria) "Mhm, shure tshing."

(Draven) «Stop talking with your mouth full, you moron.»

(Saria) "Sho~~~rry."

Erin sat down on the opposite side of the table. As usual, with a hint of curiosity as she eyed Saria eating the cake.

(Erin) "Is it to your liking?"

(Saria) "It's super delicious! Even better than normal tropicots!"

I almost wanted to tell Saria not to eat the entire god damn cake, but there was no stopping this glutton now. She was probably scared of me scolding her again, so she didn't respond with her mouth full and cake smeared all around her face.

(Erin) "Haha, I'm happy to hear that from you. You really are full of energy, it fits your age."

It wasn't usual for her to just casually sit with Saria at a table, as the pregnant lady had kept her distance for the most part. But after a closer look, it was no wonder that Jack had fallen for her. She seemed like a very stereotypically sweet woman who cared for others, and still had a charm despite her age. She had some wrinkles here and there, but her medium length hair was a nice old silver color already, compared to Jack's completely black hair. I had seen them together on a few occasions, and they really looked like a perfect fit.

(Erin) "Jack was being harsh on you, but you have emotions just like humans, don't you?"

(Saria) "Hm? Emoshionsh?"

(Draven) «Hey, watch the food in your mouth already...»

(Erin) "Ah, shoorry!"

She took her sweet time gulping down whatever she had in her mouth.

(Saria) "Emotions? What are those? Do you know, mister shadow?"

(Draven) «I think you should just let Erin tell you, it would be awkward to talk to me with someone else at the table.»

(Saria) "Okay. Miss Erin, what are emotions?"

(Erin) "Huh, this 'mister shadow' person, does he live within you?"

(Saria) "Yup, he is my shadow."

She said with a proud expression, eyes closed and hands folded in front of her.

(Erin) "Ah, I remember Jack mentioning that you have a shadow beast inhabiting yours. But emotions, huh? You know, many books nowadays tell us that the humans traded their magic for emotions, which allowed them to live together and build big cities. You can use magic, right?"

(Saria) "Yes! But... only light magic..."

(Erin) "Oho, really? Light magic is rather rare, you know? I didn't even know unholy races could be born with it."

Erin leaned forwards on the table, resting her head on her hand as she looked at Saria eating and listening at the same time.

(Erin) "It's said that we humans gave up our magic a long time ago. Emotion and compassion are what makes us strong, because we learned how to cooperate and help each other."

(Saria) "You are strong because you can help each other?"

(Erin) "Yes, you helped Jack these last few days, which means we got stronger. Some humans become knights, some alchemists, some associates, others are simple farmers like us. Because all of us can love and rely on each other, we grew strong that way. Or at least so the story goes."

(Saria) "Hm..."

(Erin) "Monsters can band together, but we never heard of them working for the benefit of others, you know? Showing consideration is usually only something a monster would do when facing something stronger, but there is no way me or Jack can win against you and your mister shadow in a fight. So for you, and mister shadow too, to show consideration and a willingness to help us, probably makes you both special."

(Saria) "Ooh, I see. But that's because mister shadow is human too!"

(Draven) «Wait, don't just tell her that!»

(Erin) "He... is?"

(Saria) "I can't tell her?"

(Draven) «Jeez you dumbskull. We agreed that that was a secret right?»

(Saria) "Oh yeah..."

(Draven) «Don't just 'oh yeah' me. But fine, as long as she tells nobody about it, just tell her. You've already spilled the beans anyways...»

(Saria) "Yes, mister shadow is human. Or was, now he is a shadow beast."

(Erin) "Humans can become shadow beasts? That's a new one."

(Saria) "But you can't tell anyone. It's a secret."

(Erin) "Haha, don't worry, I'll keep this a secret between us and mister shadow. An old lady like me likes to keep secrets with the youngins. But if he was human before, then maybe that's the reason why he has emotions. But I still wonder about you, Saria. Demons aren't typically born with them from what I know."

(Saria) "Hmm... I started feeling very weird when mister shadow appeared. It's like, I could start thinking more or something."

Well, it holds up. My Soul Unity skill could maybe transfer them to her. I don't remember it mentioning that anywhere in the skill description though. Oh well, better double-check.

...

{ Symbiote skill: (Soul Unity).

Explanation: Symbiote skill Soul Unity grants the ability to share sensations and vitality with a symbiote soul. }

...

As I remember it. Oh well, it likely had something to do with our link and my prior identity as a human.

But then, doesn't this mean that any monster without a summoned human attached to them has no emotions at all? How would you even live like that? Demons are supposed to be intelligent beings after all, so they only rely on intelligence? That would make for some cunning and ruthless creatures in that case if they cared nothing about the lives they took.

Stolen novel; please report.

(Erin) "You know, I never thought that I would be sitting together with you and talking casually about something like this, but you really resemble a normal human child, you know?"

(Saria) "That's rude! Humans are weaklings! I would never want to be compared to one!"

Hey, hey... That's not how you talk to the person treating you...

(Erin) "Oho, is that so? In that case, I apologize."

She just chuckled at that obvious insult. I'm glad she didn't take Saria seriously when she was acting like this.

(Erin) "By the way, you should eat the rest of the cake before it gets cold. Tropicot cake is always best when fresh out of the oven."

(Saria) "Then! I will do that."

Wham!

(Jack) "Trouble!"

The door slammed open. It was Jack. He panted and looked tense as he called out for both girls in the kitchen.

(Erin) "Goodness, what is it dear?"

(Jack) "There is a fae moa outside! We need to hide, right now!"

(Erin) "A- A moa? How did that get here?"

(Jack) "I have no idea, but if we don't get the cattle inside right now then-"

(Saria) "Mister shadow, let's go. We cannot allow it to eat my food!"

There was a fifth of the cake left which she scooped up and put into her mouth, and I swear, if she passed out now due to getting it stuck in her throat from the massive bite she took, I'd have to knock some sense into her later.

(Jack) "Wha- Are you insane? It's a moa with fae powers!"

Saria was right on the money this time though. It was about time we left this man stunned in what we could do. He was clearly still skeptical on whether we had ulterior motives for helping him. Time to earn some respect.

...

The moment we had left the house, it became apparent what our target was.

(Saria) "That, is a large bird."

(Draven) «You can say that twice.»

(Saria) "Huh? Why should I say it twice?"

(Draven) «I'm not telling you to- Argh, forget it.»

The moa was an ostrich-like bird and we immediately saw it's towering posture at the edge of the orchard, gnawing away at the trees. Just like many other monsters it had massive antlers on it's forehead. Did all animals in this world have those stupid antlers? Still, something of this size would never have cut it in the world I knew. This was a real and true fantasy behemoth right here. This thing would be the heaviest enemy yet by far.

Saria wasn't very tall, so this thing was at least six times her height. A good five meters tall would be a good guess. It actually looked down on the trees it was poaching from. Surely this bird would end up needing a large amount of fruit to feel satisfied.

(Jack) "Saria, are you sure about this?"

Jack was following us as Saria was running to where the bird was. It was in the outskirts of the orchards currently poaching some of the furthest trees.

(Saria) "Of course! This stupid bird isn't allowed to have my food! We can cut it up easy!"

(Jack) "Then please be careful! Fae moas are some of the most dangerous monsters in this forest! It is more than enough if you can scare it away with your shadow!"

(Saria) "We can beat it, old man. Mister shadow, can we try our new attack?"

(Draven) «Heh, don't see why not!»

(Jack) "Just- just make sure you minimize the damage, we can't afford to lose much of the harvest this year!"

(Saria) "Simple enough!"

Take Over was a simple skill. It essentially converted my presence as a shadow into that of a veil to control whatever part of my host I wanted. While Saria wouldn't be able to use her magic or move herself at all while this was in effect, I could choose to only control parts of her body by practicing control of the skill.

Whereas a full Take Over was easy to pull off, concentrating it on specific parts of her was less of a walk in the park. Shadows grow stronger the more light there is, and light shines brighter the darker it is. It is the perfect combo of our abilities to combine them.

(Draven) «"Let's go! Use your left arm to create light!"»

I managed to use Take Over to control all but her left arm, which was still under Saria's control. With it, she could use her own magic, effectively giving her to ability to extend my reach of the veil that enveloped her. Shining a light on her left arm increased the intensity of my shadows on her right, making the shadows thicker and longer. It was a weird discovery at first, but it works. It was this technique that we had longed to try against something slightly tougher than the usual prey of a simple squirrel or beaver.

I rushed at high speed towards the beast. It was unsuspecting and completely ignored us, so it was a good opportunity to take it out in one strong attack. As I got close to it, I gave Saria the go to start using her magic. The sun was starting to set, so without a boost in light to cast shadows with, my shadowy veil that enveloped her would have been weak.

The moment I could feel a light from her hand glowing, feeding me, I felt power rush through me as it had during the times we practiced this. It took me a lot of concentration to keep Take Over from affecting the now illuminating arm on her left side, but this was worth it many times over. I just needed to keep the picture in my head of only having one arm myself.

The bird reacted too late on the attack. I had to get a running jump up towards it, pushing out a lot of power with my feet, but still not overdoing it too much to prevent overjumping the thing. With claws of pure shadow, I managed to get a good cut at it's neck as the claws I used extended by at least two meters. Except...

(Draven) «"Argh! Shit! What is this thing?!"»

It felt like hitting metal. I could feel the impact, but for some reason it didn't properly cut through it's long neck this time like my attacks did with those smaller fae, like the beavers and rats. The monster still felt the attack due to the blunt power I put into the swing as it let out a grunt, partially in pain. I had so or so planned out how to land once I got down from a jump this high, but the hardiness of this bird sent me spinning mid-air once my claws clashed with it's neck, unable to cut through. I only barely landed safely with a roll on the ground. Was it not for my previous experience of brawling with people I didn't think I would land even slightly as peacefully.

(Jack) "Saria, these moas have barriers!"

Barriers...? Shit, what does that mean? That's probably like a shield of sorts. Magic? But shields can be broken, and the moa sure felt the brunt of the attack we caused. I just hoped it wasn't completely immune to cutting attacks since I would destroy Saria's hands if I went full force on blunt attacks with punches. I retreated back slightly in anticipation of a counter-attack from it. And that counter-attack came in the form of it's massive talons stomping down on the earth in front of me. I dodged it without issues and the impact created a minor shockwave that was so-so to withstand.

(Draven) «"We can beat it, don't worry. Keep at it with the same strategy."»

The bird had our attention now, so it would be more difficult to attack it, but it wasn't very quick. The problem was the height difference. Dealing damage to the legs wouldn't be as effective as damage on the body or neck, unless we could cut the legs off clean. And every second fighting against a thing that could kill us in one hit was a dangerous flirt, so I would need to risk getting a quick kill in myself.

Running jumps that allowed us to attack while moving was in my mind the best option. The neck was extremely exposed. So I stuck to the strategy. We managed to hit it three more times like this. Each attack felt as if it had more effect, the third one even slicing the surface of it's skin. Landing after jumping a good five or six meters at this speed also got easier when I knew that it's neck was hard to cut through. Each attack was fast, where the power boost of Take Over made it possible to run at least three times faster than usual and jump several stories up. The moa had a tough time keeping up with us, and each of the three attacks at the neck caused it to react, so it had to be working.

I got ready for the fifth attack. All of it happened so fast right now. Each time it tried to counter with it's talons once I landed, and I was easy to evade it. Saria kept up well, discharging light at the moments where I needed range and power. The last attempt managed to cut into it's skin, so whatever barriers it was using were clearly starting to be cracked. I got ready for the fifth and hopefully final attack and jumped up to slice it's neck in half.

But I miscalculated what the bird would do. It had attacked with it's legs and talons all this time. This time, however, it's long neck carried it's head and beak straight towards us. And it hit us good. The arm I readied to attack with was straight up penetrated, cut clean off with the massive power that the bird put into it's torpedo-like attack. My right side took a lot of blunt damage at the same time.

Fuck, this pain. I could see part of Saria's right arm flying in the opposite direction after the impact. This was the kind of pain I had rarely experienced as a human on Earth. I felt like screaming, but the beast was still in front of us.

(Draven) «"Fuck, don't think about it. Don't think about it."»

Despite now only having lost an arm, the shadowy veil was still intact as if nothing had happened. It looked horrible to see Saria's right arm missing with blood everywhere, but I still used it to try attacking again. I could still use the shadowy claws as if the arm was still there. It was a rough landing this time, but the stupid bird decided to attack with it's feet again now, not realizing how effective it's last attack was. This gave me momentum to perform the same stunt I had tried before, and sure enough, this barrier it had was no more. I put all the power I could into a swing this time. It lost it's momentum and balance by trying to attack with it's feet again. A long and painful jump towards the neck was still possible for me. Deep cuts ran through it's neck, and vital systems within it must have been hit.

It still stood up for a few seconds, but the massive loss of blood and the wounds I had inflicted started to significantly weaken it very quickly. Until it collapsed, dead.

The adrenaline in me, or Saria's body, was slowly stopping to work. I was so focused on beating the bird that clearly was a league above us that I never considered just running away. The pain slowly returned, and the first thing I thought about was the Shadow Substitute skill.

(Jack) "Oh no!"

The old man Jack was running towards us as I collapsed to my knees from exhaustion and pain. He looked horrified with his hands to his head full of panic.

(Jack) "We need to- The wound on your arm- I'll go get Eri-"

(Draven) «"Shut up! Let me fix this..."»

I had to grit my teeth when talking. With no time to waste I started using the Shadow Substitute skill. The shadow that enveloped Saria because of the Take Over skill began branching into the body itself. Soon enough, it began reconstructing the lost arm. Thank god for this skill of mine and thank god that it still works on her despite what it's description told me. Miraculously, I managed to grow out her arm as if it had never been injured.

Old man Jack had no words to describe what he was looking at. It was a bit difficult to see as a third party since the shadows were only partially transparent to look through, but to see someone straight up regenerate a lost body part probably wasn't a regular thing.

(Jack) "My, how... Wow."

(Draven) «"Hah, damn I'm tired now."»

Just as with the angel that I used the Shadow Substitute skill on, my juice levels were rock-bottom. Physically, it became hard to keep control over the Take Over. Since the moa looked like it had drawn it's final breath, I slowly released Saria from the Take Over.

(Saria) "Hah- Hah- W- Wow... That really hurt..."

Sure enough, she was physically exhausted as well. The only thing I really fixed myself was her right arm, but when I returned to my normal form of a normal shadow, it became apparent that my straining of her body caused damage all around. There was a bit of blood coming out of one of her shoes, and bruises from the arms to the head.

(Draven) «Is that really the first thing you should be saying? You're not going to comment on how I managed to lose your arm?»

(Saria) "Hah- That pain was nothing, hah...."

Yeah sure...

(Jack) "You're just incredible..."

(Saria) "I am, right? Heheheh."

(Draven) «And I'm just... tired.»

(Saria) "Me too..."

She just laid herself down on her back with hands and feet spread far apart. I found it amazing that she had the guts not to comment on the pain that surely ran through her body right now. Maybe she is a tough nut after all.

(Jack) "Hahaha, you miracle child!"

(Saria) "Huh?"

(Jack) "You defeated a moa! I can't believe it!"

He jumped onto her and hugged her by squeezing her completely. This man was happy like never before.

(Saria) "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

(Jack) "Oh, sorry!"

(Saira) "This was nothing, hehe."

(Jack) "Nothing? I considered calling out to associates when purchasing goods in the city tomorrow to have you culled before you could do any harm to me and Erin, but I hadn't even considered your kindness. Demon Saria, I thank you so much for your help. You decided to put your life on the line for something as simple as my income. If the moa had been able to eat off my crops unchecked we wouldn't have made it this year! I am so very deeply in your debt."

(Draven) «Heh, see? Not so bad, huh?»

She was a bit flustered to have someone tell her this. Considering this was a new feeling for her, she had it a bit tough to process that someone else was thanking her from the bottom of their heart. With this, we have finally had an ally, a human one at that.

(Saria) "Ahehe, it was a pleasure."

(Jack) "A fine fae moa like this is sure to fetch a pretty penny. I'll will take it with me and give you whatever it sells for in money. I heard you were looking for some money, after all."

Oh yeah, that was something I asked him for when we first met him. He remembered that, huh? But with this fae being a stupidly dangerous pip-squeek, I'm sure it's a rare thing to be selling... It doesn't seem like something a normal human would have any chance of ever beating without some sort of heavy firearm. Although, when selling it, was he talking about the meat and pelt of it? Ah, who cares. Money is money, and I personally trusted old man Jack not to rip us off. Saria didn't understand anything he was talking about, obviously.

(Jack) "Now come here."

He held out his hand towards Saria. She looked at him for a second or two, but finally took it. He helped her up on his back. Saria didn't seem like she was able to move a muscle right now, so he piggy-backed her back to the house.

(Jack) "How about it? Why don't you stay here while Erin fixes your wounds?"

(Saria) "Hmmm, I am hungry too though. Do you have any tropicots I can have?"

(Jack) "Ahaha, of course. That stomach of yours is bottomless after all."

(Saria) "That's not how you treat a young lady."

(Jack) "Erin prepares dinner later this evening. How about it?"

(Saria) "Hmm, should I, mister shadow?"

(Draven) «Do whatever you want to do. I think I'm going to be out for a day.»

I had exerted myself so much that I actually felt like sleeping for once. I thought I wouldn't need sleep, but I slowly lost my grip on staying awake until the next day. Fortunately for us though, no other monsters of that size decided to try and poach from the orchard for the rest of the day. And fortunately for Saria, she got treated like a queen for the remainder of it.