"Shiiinnnn! I want some ice cream!" I looked at my shoulder where Lily was sitting with a bright face in anticipation.
"I already said you can't before we came down the mountain." Explaining an item box would be a pain in front of other people so we already discussed this before hand.
Lily pouted and started hanging off my head, "but it's hoooooottt, I want some!" Laughter can be heard in the background as the men looked at the scene, it may be because of her personality or look but they got used to her quickly despite the fact that she was a fairy.
"What's this ice cream you're talking about?" Gwyn came over with her sword in one hand and a rag in the other, was she polishing her sword?
"It's sweet and cold and very delicious." Lily's face lit up as she talked about it, hey wait don't drool on my face!
"Won't it melt then?" There was a smile on Gwyn's lips as I wiped off the drool, well pretended to. As weird as it sounds saliva from fairies are a great crafting component so I'm storing it in my inventory as I wipe it away.
"It's okay because Shin has a magical storage space!" Lily stuck out her chest in pride with a boasting look on her face as she just gave out my secret.
"Spacial magic?" Gwyn was looking at me with wide eyes, actually everyone had stopped working and was now staring at me.
Sigh... "It's a magic item I found while adventuring" I reached into my pant's pocket and pulled out a silver square that had the letter 'I' imprinted on it. Of course it was a fake that Fafnoth suggested I make in case someone found out, but to have to use it this early.
"Oh, indeed I can sense a large amount of magical power in that." So Gwyn can sense magic? Although it was actually just an enchantment to make the thing really really hard to damage.
"Ca-Can I see that for a minute?" Tarbalt had come over and was almost drooling at the sight of the item.
"He's aiming to become an enchanter so he's interested in magical objects." Fergul came up with a big grin on his face explaining Tarbalt's strange behavior.
"Sure, but you can't actually use it. It's bound to me so unless I die no one else can use i- Owowow. Lily!!!" Lily had started hitting me with wind balls, not that it does much damage but it does feel like little punches.
"I want my ice cream!!!!" As she was screaming she made a big wind ball more than double her size and sent it flying my way.
"Barrier!" A red wall formed in front of me as I was about to cancel the magic out and blocked the path of Lily's attack. It made a groaning sound as cracks formed all across it's transparent surface but managed to hold as the wind dispelled itself. "You have it tough don't you?" Tarbalt walked up to me and handed back the magic item while smiling, "As expected of a fairy though, such strong magic."
"Thanks," As I put the item back into my pocket Lily floated over with an apologetic look on her face.
"Sorry..." She was hovering lifelessly while looking dejected, small tears in her eyes. Tears... tears are unfair.
"Just forgive her and give some to her already," Gwyn said that while slapping me on the back and chuckling.
"Just be careful next time," I pat Lily's head as I take out a small glass bowl from my inventory, in it were three scoops of pink ice cream. Lily's face immediately brightened up and her body regained life as I gave her the bowl and a small silver spoon.
"Mmmmmm," Lily had her eyes closed as she ate the ice cream satisfaction visible on her face. As I was thinking that Lily looked like a puppy I heard multiple gulps behind me, looking back every member of the group had stopped what they were doing and looking at Lily.
"Do you guys want some?" I had a lot more ice cream and in a lot more flavors so it wasn't much of a problem, especially since they know about my ability now.
"N-No we can't," Gwyn surprisingly was the one who rejected despite being the one that looked like she wanted to eat the most. "We live off the land, it's our rule."
"We aren't going to bind you to our rules but it's in preparation for when we run out of supplies or are in enemy territory." Fergul lifted up a bow, "We hunt for our food unless we're in a town."
"Alright lets go and get ourselves a feast tonight!" Looking back longingly at Lily Gwyn set off with twenty of the soldiers including Tarbalt and Fergul to hunt in the nearby forest.
"Mind if I join in?" I've mostly only been in and around the mountains so it'll be nice to get some new crafting materials.
Gwyn paused for a second, "Are you sure? It could be dangerous."
"No problem! Shin is the strongest!" Lily looked up from licking the bowl and raised her fist in the air to emphasize her statement, "More!" She held out the bowl towards me.
"I guess if Miss Lily says so it'll be fine then," The group was laughing at Lily's antics.
Miss Lily? Oh right Lily did say she was the fairy leader's daughter. "Thanks, also Lily no more ice cream and watch the camp properly."
"Ok..." dejectedly Lily floated over to one of the trees in the camp and sat there.
"Alright lets go before it get's dark." With that we departed into the forest.
----------------------------------------
"Tracks, probably a bear." Bartley a muscular and heavily built man was surprisingly the archer and hunter of the group was currently kneeling down by deep imprints in the earth.
"Rock Bear? We're pretty far away from the Stone Claw Mountains, did they roam this far out?" Gwyn asked with a concerned look on her face.
"No, doesn't seem like it. Foot prints are too deep for a Rock Bear." Bartley stood up, "We may need to call the others back I think it's a Steel Bear or... maybe a Platinum one."
"What!?!? Don't those only exist deep in caves?" Gwyn was grinding her teeth, "We need to take care of it then." So they are rare? They were pretty common back at the mountains... "Shin you should go back, can you send the rest of the men here? Fergul can you take them to the capital?"
"I'll be fine," everyone stopped moving as I said that.
"It's a Platinum Bear you know, not just a regular bear. Adventurer or not it's not something you fight against normally. Plus we need to get Lily back to the capital as soon as possible and unharmed and she doesn't seem like she will go without you."
"I'll be fine." This time to put Gwyn's worries aside I used a bit of Intimidation Aura.
Gwyn blinked a couple times while looking at me, Tarbalt, Fergul, Bartley and two others noticed the slight change to the atmosphere around me as well. "Alright then, let's get moving."
----------------------------------------
"The way it was moving it's probably injured," Currently the we were crouched in the bushes near the entrance of a small cave, around the mouth of the cave were a bunch of shredded body parts that Bartley had confirmed to be the remains of goblins.
"What could injure a Platinum Bear in this area, is there a stronger monster around?" Gwyn was gripping the hilt of her sword hard. I think I know where the bear came from... From the way the tracks it's right foreleg was injured and it was moving in a bit of a staggering fashion. Two days ago Vilana was meditating when a Platinum Bear stumbled upon her, in annoyance she just kicked it away into the distance; it would seemed that it survived the fall.
"Anyways we need to wait for the rest of the men before we do anything." Bartley swiftly climbed up the nearest tree while saying that, looking at his body I don't understand how he can be so nimble.
"Check your equipment and be careful we don't want to alert the bear to our presence." Gwyn turned to me, "By the way how do you fight?"
"I'm a martial artist, I fight with my body," although in reality I'm closer to a necromancer. It doesn't seem like we'll have time to wait for reinforcements however because Sense Presence is showing that the bear is heading this way.
"Shit, it's coming." Bartley drew his bow and aimed at the mouth of the cave while everyone tensed up, briefly looking around I can tell that our group balance was terrible. Out of the twenty people here fifteen were melee fighters, one mage, one healer, and three ranged fighters.
Lumbering into view with steps that were gradually getting louder due to it's weight the Platinum Bear stepped into view. It definitely survived but it looked like a mess, with one eye crushed by it's metallic skin bending in on it and the right foreleg bent at a weird angle. Not to mention all the dents in the bear's body most likely caused when it collided with the ground.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
"What in the world happened to it?" Vilana happened to it, all things considered it was relatively lucky; most things Vilana hits instantly explodes or breaks. Looking our way it glared for a bit and silence reigned for a short period of time, then it rose up on it's hind legs and let out a loud bellow.
Gwyn grinned, I have a feeling she and Vilana are somewhat similar, "Let's answer his challenge!!!" Yelling battle cries the group rushed in, following behind her I ended up directly facing the bear. Well I said we rushed in but this is a veteran unit isn't it? Rather than run head long into battle after closing the distance they quickly surrounded the bear while staying out of range of his attacks.
Again we plunged into silence, a normal wild beast would run or charge in response but the Platinum Bear sat there cautious and ready. It may be because of its wounds or the fact that it was higher tier monster but he did not want to attack first neither did Gwyn and her men. Considering how normally a Stone Bear was more than a match for a group of soldiers, a Platinum Bear that was two ranks above was no easy opponent... Except I could actually take them out without trying much.
Just beat it down and move on already.
And here comes Karen. Well it is true that nothings going to change with how things are going right now, hmm should I just take care of it? But I didn't say anything when they were going to call for reinforcements... Well for now let's get the bear moving and see how strong the princess is. Provoke, Insult, Enrage
As I activated the skills the Platinum Bear gave a roar and charged me, his eyes red and mad, immediately Bartley released an arrow aimed at its eye but it bounced off the eyelid. Following up Tarbalt cast Barrier and Fergal swung his sword down at the flank of the bear, both of which were inconsequentially nullified. The bear plowed right through the barrier and Fergal's sword simply broke, not just their's either but all the soldiers that were behind the bear as a result of it rushing forward had attacked and their weapons were destroyed by its tough hide.
"Haaaaaaaaaah!" Giving a shout Gwyn swung her great sword sideways and slammed it into the bear's face as he passed her, slightly knocking it off balance and delivering a small cut; although her sword cracked as a result. "Shin!"
As expected of layered high level skills, it didn't even care about the attacks on it and is heading right for me. Turtle Stance With Turtle Stance active I blocked the bear's left paw as it came down at me and shrugged it off to the side. Bear Stance Using the movement speed boost I slide in under the bear, with a firm lower stance and twisting my body as I strike my fist delivers a solid impact to the bear's chest. The sound of creaking could be heard as the metal gave way and imploded, the area on the other side of the impact exploded outward and a shower of metallic red blood and organs appeared.
As the bear collapsed on the ground undeniably dead it was silent all around, I guess the sight was too shocking? "Ho-How did you do that?!?" The first to react was Gwyn who ran and held me by the shoulders.
"Well I've been training for quite a while in a hellish environment..." I look away as I said that, I definitely should not tell her that I currently have Restraint on and was therefore only at a quarter strength. I guess I left a sufficient impression on them though and I was able to confirm that Gwyn was not a chosen.
"That's amazing, what kind of training did you do?"
I turned to look at Gwyn, "I'm not going to tell you because you would die... literally." After I said that in all seriousness Gwyn stood there frozen, if one looked closer you would see sweat that was not from the battle just now.
"Well leaving that aside, we might as well take it with us for the meal tonight." Fergul came up and broke the tension.
"Mind carrying it Shin? Don't know how we're going to cut it up but," Tarbalt looked over and shrugged, "it's a bit too heavy for us."
"Sure." Walking over I lifted the bear up on my shoulder and started walking back to camp.
"You okay Gwyn?" As I was leaving I heard Tarbalt whispering to Gwyn with concern in his voice.
"Ye-yeah just a little shocked, let's get back to camp and have a feast!" Hmm seems like she'll be fine, I accidentally used Intimidate and a bit of murderous intent... no one should go through that training, well most people would die not even several hours in.
----------------------------------------
All the way back to camp there weren't much talking, the soldiers did whisper among themselves every once in a while mostly in admiration at my strength with some fear mixed in. Gwyn herself just kept walking along silently, seems she was deep in thought. What greeted us after the silent walk however was a shock even to me to say the least.
We had already anticipated that Lily would draw a lot of undesirable attention before we left the mountain but I figured that with the princess's soldiers around they wouldn't show up as much. Didn't seem like it did much as several of the soldiers were injured while a whole bunch of thugs were laying on the ground unconscious; from the amount of holes in the ground though I would say that while alive the men have a lot of broken bones.
"You're back!!!" Slamming into me at full speed Lily linked her arms around my neck and swung around several times with the momentum. As she stopped spinning she looked down at the ground where I had dropped the Platinum Bear, "Oh are you cooking tonight?" Her eyes were shining so much it seemed to emit beams.
"Well..." Scratching my head I looked around, Tarbalt gave me a shrug as our eyes met then went back to talking to the soldiers about what happened, "Sure I guess."
"Yay!!!" Throwing her arms up into the air several times Lily flew around in a happy mood, it seemed her mood was infectious since most of the soldiers had smiles on their faces after quickly getting over the shock of the things that had happened; even the princess had a small smile on her lips as she went to sit by one of the campfires.
I also seemed to have been affected since I found myself smiling at Lily even as I pulled out a small knife and started to skin the bear, of course there had been enchantments cast on the knife to ensure durability and sharpness.
----------------------------------------
"Damn, those useless pieces of trash couldn't even capture a single fairy." Standing a relatively long distance away was a short man who was looking though a magically enchanted telescope that allowed vision at night.
"Master, i-it's really cold out right now maybe we should make a camp." Standing beside him was small girl in a maid outfit.
"Are you stupid? Then they'll see us, and it's that battle maniac of a princess's group too. You can just keep me warm..."
"Ye-yes master." The girl bowed, as she lifted her head her body started changing shape, sprouting fur she grew several meters bigger.
"Tch, just you wait. I'll have those Princess's dancing for me soon." The man put the telescope in his pocket and spread a sleeping bag on top of the girl who had laid down on the floor. Closing her arms the girl covered him completely with a thin membrane from wings that had grown from her arms. "Stay watch you hear!? Don't disturb my sleep!"
"Ye-yes ma-master." As she said that another pair of arms grew from below her main ones, her eyes changed growing similar to a cats while her ears elongated to that of a bats. Attentively she remained alert of her surroundings, sending out clicks that weren't audible to most living things every once in a while just in case something invisible was in the area; her new pair of arms which were tipped in large claws that had a green sheen to them at the ready.
----------------------------------------
That night while most were asleep the large number of bears that had wandered down the mountains went back up in a rush, Rock, Steel and Platinum Bears alike ran for their lives alongside smaller animals as a demonic being herded them into the various caves that spotted the mountains.
----------------------------------------
*Note: Yeah... can't really think of anything to say here... Oh, fairy queen next chapter! (Probably)