“This is the most suspicious thing I’ve ever seen, other than Hylla cooking,” I muttered. “Just having her in the kitchen is suspicious in of itself.”
“What are you on about?” Merry inquired as she reached up the tree, standing on my shoulders. “Who’s this Hylla?”
“None of your business, tiny. Now, why the hell did you choose to go on my shoulders?”
“So I can kick you if you look up,” she said.
I frowned. “You're not even worth looking at. So no need to act like I am. Plus, it’s not like you’re wearing a skirt or anything stupid like that- ow.”
Merry kicked me, obviously annoyed. “Put me down! I got the thin- AH!”
I dropped Merry onto the ground and took a step back as she kicked at me. She held what looked like a small crate that was missing a few planks. As she stood up, she sniffed it.
“Definitely sugar,” she mused. “It’s gone now.”
Wow. No one could have ever guessed that the empty box that smells like sugar is missing sugar. Do you need a few more brain cells? Cause I don’t think anyone’s willing to give you some.
“Oh, shut up, you stupid familiar,” Merry snapped. “Is this even proof that something happened? They shipment people could’ve just used this.”
“You underestimate how much sugar is in a box this size,” Henry said, appearing out of nowhere, like he’d been doing all day. “It’s enough to make a wedding cake.”
I frowned. “It really depends on the size of the wedding cake. It could also be used to make a few batches of double sugar cupcakes. Which isn't really to my taste; too much sugar.”
Merry snorted. “No such thing.”
“There definitely is, but I’ll debate this with you later. Bring it down, Mi-”
I looked up and then scrambled away as an entire carriage almost crashed directly on top of Merry. Merry shrieked and grabbed onto Henry’s jacket, nearly choking him as she scrambled back. Amy simply looked at it with a frown, already approaching it.
I took a sniff and immediately regretted it. “God, damn it, that reeks!” I hissed, my jaw clicking. Amy noticed my segmented jaw and stared at me in confusion. I snapped my jaw a few more times and she looked away, shaking her head.
“Boys…”
“Hey, that’s pretty cool!” Henry suddenly said. “You have a segmented jaw? What’d you get it from?”
I shrugged. “Ever heard of a [Partial Draconic Form]?”
“The really rare Skill with no description? Of course. It’s a racial thing. Sometimes, if you have a bit of Draconic blood in you, you can develop a form like that. Dragonborn naturally have them, though. Even if it’s not activated, it has a slight effect on your body. Better smell, strange body structure, sometimes scales. It’s really interesting to study-”
“Can it, Henry,” Amy said. “Investigation.”
I groaned and got closer to the thing. Mia, who’d landed a few moments earlier, outright refused to get any closer. “There’s definitely dead bodies in there, plural,” I explained, the smell starting to make me woozy. “It stinks worse than that one [Corrupted] Beast in the forest, and believe me, I’ve never smelled anything worse in my life.”
I grabbed the door to the carriage and opened it, immediately falling back and nearly throwing up my breakfast at the sheer horrible smell. Mia let out a hiss and fell back even further, whilst Amy and I backed away as quickly as we could, trying to get away from the smell. I refused to look inside the thing and instead looked at Amy.
“Can I burn it? That’s gonna stink up the whole forest if that stays there.”
She nodded and I threw a slip of paper at it, filling it with some Mana. When it hit the carriage, the entire thing burst into flames immediately.
About ten minutes later, we were sitting on the ground discussing what we’d seen.
“That was definitely the work of that Guild,” Henry said, shaking his head. “They do some despicable things, but this is new for them. They stole the sugar and chopped the people up. How’d your Bond even manage to get that here without throwing up?”
Mia said solemnly, cuddling against my chest.
“She didn’t,” I sighed, patting her horn. “How far away did you find it?”
Mia waved her hands around and shrugged.
“Huh. That is pretty close. But why was the carriage all the way out there?”
“Hey! We can’t all read her mind, dimwit!” Merry complained. “Explanations! Now!”
I blinked. “Right. Mia found the transport a few kilometers from the road, with nobody around. It was all broken up like the way she’d brought it here.”
Amy seemed to think. “Why would they drag the thing along that far? What did they need with it?”
I thought for a moment. “Maybe they thought there was something else in the shipment? They probably wouldn’t have known that it was just sugar because that little demon likes sugary foods so much, so they probably saw an unguarded shipment and thought it was ripe for pillaging. But when they found that it was only sugar and other food items, they… yeah.”
“Just for reference purposes, is ‘that little demon’ referring to the Queen?” Henry asked.
I gave him a blank look as I responded, “Who else could it be? I didn’t know Merry existed before this, so it’s not referring to her-”
“HEY!”
“Hm. Fair enough.”
“DON’T AGREE WITH HIM, HEN!” Merry shouted.
Amy shook her head. “Stay on topic. As you were saying, they probably were looking for valuables or whatnot. But there’s a problem. Why would they leave a carriage of rotting bodies behind? They’re known to take hostages, not kill them off.”
Henry seemed to have a sudden thought and he frowned, which wasn’t a look that I was used to on his face. “What if… they weren’t Elven bodies? I mean, the smell felt a bit too rotten for people who’ve died half a month ago or less.”
I felt Mia grow confused.
I stared down at Mia. “I’m not gonna question anything she just said for the moment, but Mia agrees. When I think back about it as well, it was a bit more akin to rotted animal flesh. But why would they put something like that out?”
“To attract something to investigate,” Merry whispered. “Like Miana.”
I was about to curse when Amy suddenly jumped up. “We’re surrounded.”
The rest of us jumped up, both Amy and Henry going in front of Merry, protecting her. I thought of making a show of pulling my sword out of the air, but decided against it, instead opting to-
We’re fucked, Systie cursed. Four of them are Teir 5. Unless we fully unleashed Jason, we’re all outmatched. And unleashing Jason means probably killing you guys as well, which isn’t ideal.
I frowned at the eyeball. “No. We’re not even considering it. We need to think about this-” I then blinked. “Well, fuck us; we’re outnumbered 3 to 1. Unless we want to each take on a Tier 5, we’re effectively done for.
Both the Orb of Snowstorm and [Name Pending] (Damn, I need to name my sword) were safely in my storage, decreasing both me and Mia’s Damage by a decent chunk. I heard Merry hmph before she kicked me in the shin.
“You’re thinking something dumb, like surrendering, aren’t you?”
“I-”
Before I could finish speaking, a flash of metal flew right by me and I caught it right before it plunged itself into Merry’s eye socket. She frowned at the large man who came from the underbrush in front of us.
He was shirtless, clearly strong enough to beat someone like Leah in a fair fight.
Human - Level 120 | Tier 4
I clenched my jaw. If I was given time, I could probably beat him-
He chuckled as he saw my face. “Woah, woah, little boy, no need to get all defensive! I’ll just get to the point: Where’s the Dragon? Maybe if you answer us, we’ll let you go.”
I held back a quip, instead looking at Amy. Merry and Henry were also looking to Amy for instructions. Mia hid under my cloak, slowly charging up [Heavenly Discharge] so as to not draw attention to herself. Amy let out a breath.
“And why should we believe a word you’re saying after that?” She gestured to the still burning cart, which let out a few crackles in response. “There’s no way we’ll trust a word you say.”
I could hear the slight tone of desperation as she spoke and I mentally cursed. This wasn’t gonna work.
“The hell do you even want a Dragon for?” I snapped. “Yeah, they’re big, powerful, and difficult to kill, but not much is gonna happen except you getting your ass whooped.”
The man suddenly laughed. “Ha! No disguising your personality huh? I like you, boy.”
Man, I could be cussing you out right now. Shut the fuck up, you asshole- “So what? What’s the big deal with the big bad Dragon?”
“If you’re really that curious, why don’t you think about it?”
I frowned deeper as Mia patted my side, having fully charged her Discharge. Merry, having picked up on what I was doing, quipped, “Scales? Bones? Horns? What are you trying to make, a Dragon killing weapon?”
“Ding, ding, ding, little girl! We heard there was a new type of Dragon in this area and were hired to hunt it. A Serpent type, more specifically. It raced over here before we could get close enough to attack it! So you obviously know what this is about.”
“Uh huh. We’re only here about the massive amount of sugar that you stole. Then you killed the-”
I grabbed Merry by the head and pushed her back behind Henry. “Too much information, idiot.”
“Well, idiot no. 2, I was just following your lead!”
“Don’t.”
The man snorted. “Ah, ah, ah. So you’re Elves. Good, but somewhere in this story, the Dragon comes in. We might spare you your dignity if you tell us.”
Henry frowned. “I don’t like uncertainties. Say we did tell you, if we knew anything about it. What good does the chance of you doing that do for us?”
He shrugged. “I might keep my hands off that small girl over there. Merry, was-”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence before I punched him in the face, sending him flying across the clearing. As he slid across the ground, other people slowly began creeping out of the forest. I could sense a few Tier 5s, as Systie said there were, but they didn’t approach.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
The man stood up and spit out a tooth. “Geez. No need to get all defensive.”
“Sorry, my hand just slipped,” I said coldly. I could see him shiver slightly, looking at me in momentary fear. Then he smirked.
“What an interesting aura you have there, boy. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were an Elemental. You’d sell for some pretty big money.”
Good thing you don’t know better then.
Mia had hidden herself behind Amy when I’d punched the man, and I sighed, glancing back. Amy looked outright disgusted, while Merry seemed displeased, with Henry holding back outright fury.
I sighed and took a step back, frowning. “I have a few straws to pick, and they’re slowly decreasing in count.”
“Well, I didn’t know she was your girlfriend,” he grumbled. “I’ll just take the other-”
“Do you want me to melt the skin off your face?” Amy growled.
I caught a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye, but refused to acknowledge it. Shrugging, I looked at Amy for a few moments. Mia poked her head out, obviously ready to launch her [Heavenly Discharge].
Amy gave me a strange look and I shrugged. “Welp, since we have nothing for you, we should probably take our leave.”
I felt a presence appear behind me. “And how do you think you’ll manage to do that?”
I looked up, feeling a little bit small as a woman taller than me stood behind me and looked down coldly.
“Uhhh… [Heavenly Discharge]?” I shrugged, falling forward.
“Wha-”
Her voice was cut off as I fell through a portal and closed it behind me, a muffled explosion heard clearly as it cut off. I appeared next to Mia, who was already shifting into her Draconic Form.
Amy had thrown her hands up and was letting out an ominous looking gas while Henry clearly got the situation and was blowing the gas in every direction while Merry scrambled up Mia’s scales, who blew up a wall of Ice around us before letting out a large hiss. I jumped all the onto Mia’s back with a single hop and used [Abyss Tendrils] to pull Merry all the way up, eliciting a shriek as I pulled her behind me.
Henry and Amy followed Merry up and I threw down half a dozen random Runes, a series of explosions rang below us. Less than a second later, the gas also ignited, the force nearly scorching Mia’s under scales.
She then went completely silent, looking downwards suddenly.
“Hey! What’s going on with the Dragon?!” Merry yelped. “Get us out of here!”
I simply stared at the screen in front of me as we slowly fell from the sky.
Your Bond is at Critical Health!
Health : 1543/1494528
***
Treia, bored out of her mind, had somehow ended up in a tavern. When or how, she couldn’t remember. All she knew was that she was there. Due to the way she dressed and the fact that she didn’t hide her spines, no one recognised her. She had ended up drinking what had to have been at least an entire barrel of wine and didn’t feel tipsy in the slightest.
Huh, I could probably drink for years on end without feeling the effect, don’t you think? I could even rival dwarves.
She nearly snorted at the thought. I don’t really care though.
Treia frowned at the obviously drunk woman in front of her as she took Treia’s wine and downed it in a single gulp. She was an Elf, so she had a naturally low resistance to alcohol. Now that Treia thought about it, there were many races that had low to no resistance to alcohol. Espesially Arachne (Though, alcohol to them was coffee) and the sea races other than the old race of Cthulhu’s offspring, who were actually the most alcohol resistant, edging on immunity.
“You know you’re paying for that, right?” Treia said, annoyed.
The woman laughed. “Of course, of course, little girl. How’d you even get in here, as young as you are?”
“I’m seventeen system years old… or nearly 10, for that matter.” she grumbled. “I guess I never told him that I turned 17, with the System’s version of years being more accurate for age.”
“Hmph, so you’re skirting the rules, huh?” the woman accused, banging the glass onto the table again. “Fair enough. What’re you even here for? Shouldn’t you have the love of your life, spending every waking moment with him?”
“You’d think,” Treia grumbled, banging her head on the table. Maybe this alcohol is affecting me a bit. “I wish he’d pay me a little bit more attention.”
Treia knew she was a bit of an attention hog, but she also understood he had to split his attention many different ways, from his two Bonds, to her, to the Queen…
“Sometimes, I don’t get how he does it. He has so many different things to deal with on a daily basis that I couldn’t possibly understand how he lives the way he does. He somehow pays attention to everything at once, not neglecting anything else. And now he’s just somewhere else, probably having the time of his life.”
The drunk woman seemed to nod, but she could have also been falling asleep. “Yeah, yeah. Have you ever thought that he knows that you want attention, but purposefully gives you less because he knows giving you more will only lead you to becoming a worse person. Plus, you never know if the person you love will come back, not remembering what you look like or how he felt for you. Happened to me before. It’s almost heartbreaking.”
“I… don’t see how that could even happen,” Treia muttered, downing more wine and feeling slightly lighter. “I mean, if someone loves you, why would they ever forget.”
“Ever heard of someone who’s Soul nearly shattered due to Integration? If certain conditions are met, someone could completely forget who you are, how you felt, or how you looked. Just wiped from the surface of their very Soul. As if you never existed.” The woman hiccuped. “Or so I was told. Can’t be entirely sure. Anyways, you finished that?”
Treia snorted. “Hell no.”
*One Week Later*
Waking up definitely didn’t feel normal. Nor did the feeling of basically having no Mana. Especially that.
“How the hell are they almost dead? They’d have to be Elementals for them to be dying from the collars. Plus, it’s been a week since they last woke up. Could just be from another time.”
“Just give them different collars, you dolt. We can’t have the merchandise dying on us, y’know. Our buyer said he’d buy the three as a bundle instead of just killing the Dragon. Dunno why he wants the small girl though. She’s really only good for-”
I groaned and sat up, not hearing their last words. I shook my head and looked around, noticing that my cloak was still on.
“By all that’s holy, he’s awake. The other’s also waking up. Must’ve hit some sort of breaking point.”
I heard a groan beside me and I looked over, seeing a Mana Vampire disguised as an Elf… wait. How’d I know that? She looked exactly like an Elf, but…
Amy. That’s her name. She’s… my comrade, if I remember correctly. A Quest… something to do with sugar? How’d we end up with slave traders? No. Thieves.
I slowly remembered the Quest and its details, but I couldn’t remember much else other than a few names. Systie and Mia, my Bonds and Leah, my friend? Julia…
Trying to think further caused a massive headache and I instead focused on Amy, who was sitting up while picking at something around her throat. It looked like a metal band that glowed slightly with Runes for Mana and Cease. There were a few more, so I assumed it stopped the movement of Mana in your body, keeping you from using it for Skills that required Mana. I touched my own throat, noticing that the pain seemed to originate from there.
The two voices in my head sounded concerned for me…
Mia and Systie.
Systie, clearly distressed, explained,
I blinked. Henry… another comrade.
Mia said, somehow mentally sniffing.
Mia was suddenly indignant.
<...Don’t you need Mana to blow them to bits?>
Mia seemed to think.
<...Eyeball, I don’t think Bond can move that well, let alone beat someone to bits. Plus, that’s my job!> Mia answered for me.
I heard the door open and Amy seemed to struggle to stand up, trying to jump at the man coming in, who easily pinned her down and pulled off her collar. She suddenly froze, her eyes glazing over as he snapped another collar on her neck. I didn’t even attempt to resist when he pulled off the collar. I then tensed up as I could suddenly feel my Mana begin to pump in my body, circling around rapidly. He then snapped another collar around my neck and I twitched my Mana suddenly feeling far heavier than it just felt.
You currently have a Mana-Lock Collar on. Due to the nature of your Race, You cannot use Mana for Skills. You also have -50% Speed, Mana Regen, and Health Regen with a -0.5 Damage multiplier and a +0.5 Damage Taken multiplier.
“Looky, looky at the dirty look on his face,” a mildly familiar voice mocked.
Unable to help myself, I looked up and replied, “So cool.”
“What’s that supposed to mean, ‘so cool’?”
I didn’t respond and instead pushed myself over to Amy, who was beginning to sit up again.
“You good?” I asked her.
“Do I look good?” She growled, pushing me away before nearly falling over again, grabbing me for balance.
“Depends on what you mean by good.”
“I’m obviously not in the best health. I’m out of Mana and I have no damned potions. Lemme eat,” she grumbled, leaning over to bite me.
I put up my hand and gestured around us. She blinked and suddenly blushed, looking away, glaring over to the man who I could faintly remember confronting the group.
“And it seems the girl is all embarrassed. What could possibly be-”
“Shut up,” I suddenly snapped, very annoyed.
The man’s entire body shuddered and he fell to one knee, bowing his head. I gave him a bewildered look and he suddenly stood up, giving me the same look. The entire place was quiet as he seemed to be trying to speak.
<...What the fuck was that? You don’t have a Class that can do that yet. And you can’t use Mana. How… oh. Ohhh.>
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked him. “I’m not your king or anything.”
He seemed to grow furious. “The hell did you just do?! Why-”
“Interesting,” another voice said, sounding skeptical. “You unknowingly have a Prince bloodline.”
I looked behind me to see, outside the cage was a woman who had her arms crossed. She wore little in the way of clothes, but it was enough to be respectable. She was pretty tanned though, which made sense if she spent most of her time outside like this. She was definitely taller than me and was clearly not somebody to mess with.
“Well, it means you’ll just sell better. Also means that selling you with the other girl is completely useless.”
Amy seemed to come to her senses at the mention of this. “Where is Merry?! What’d you do to her-?”
The man who I’d commanded snorted. “Let’s just say that she’s enjoyable to play with. Took a bit, but there’s no more resistance.”
“You-!” Amy let out an inhuman screech and smashed into the side of the cage, nearly tipping over the entire thing.
I blinked before grabbing Amy and pulling her from the bars as the man cackled. I’d already processed the words he’s said and had a faint memory of Merry. I was very much as enraged as Amy, but I refused to let it show.
Amy struggled in my grip and wouldn’t stop writhing until I’d thrown her into the side of the cage and pinned her against it.
“Let me kill him-!” She growled.
I resisted the urge to let her go and instead hissed, “Calm the hell down and eat.”
She looked up at me before deflating and biting down on my shoulder. I felt my Mana slowly being drained as she relaxed slowly, but still shook in anger.
“I’ll kill him,” she muttered into my shoulder. “I’ll drain every last drop of Mana from his body before ripping off every one of his limbs and-” She continued on listing the horrific things she’d do as I kept her pressed against me so as to not invite her to throw herself at him again.
I took a breath and racked my brain as to what to do to get out of this situation. Not many things other than somehow contacting someone would do me any good. And I had nobody to contact, so I didn’t know what to do.
However, I was trying to keep the anger burning in me from exploding out, clouding my head even further.