I skitter through random passages, knowing that Woodcock will be able to guide us after he wakes up. That and I want to explore. Heehee. I'm gonna find that Qi!
- ♪ Jel-ly! Jel-ly! ♪ - I sing while bunny hopping down a passage.
I don't have the same hops as the jumping dead, but I'm not in any hurry. I just need to make sure no one can find me and make sure to distract the baddies. Longer it takes for anyone to catch up to me, the more time the hunans have to recover, and the more time Woodcock has to recover! And once he's awake I can get him to show me the way to the pooling Qi!
"Piss off!"
[Pierce Successful]
[Successful Use: 2/100]
[Qi -250]
[Karma -10]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1,837,718/23,879,985]
[Current Qi: 341,535/5,850,300]
[Current Karma: 95,519,943/107,275,977]
[Max Will: 9,597,021]
[Mortal Wallet: 10E,26K,228P,154R,179Da,155De,105k]
[Spirit Wallet: 0Dr,0Ph,0Th,1199Di,126Co,10526St]
Woodcock shouts, sitting up suddenly. I don't even get a yelp out, but one of my forelegs lashes out, stabbing in deep, nearly to the first joint. Holy shit, thank the gods I missed! I sigh, sad and ashamed. And then feel worse when I can't get my leg out. Fack, I am bad at combat...
While I'm moping Woodcock is staring at me, lips twisted, mouth open, one eyebrow cocked and an eye partially closed. I think he's going to sneeze.
"What's your problem?! Useless bug! You had one job!" He shouts, not toning it down even a little. How's he so energetic when he was nearly beaten to death? "And where are we?"
I try to open my mouth to defend myself as I get my silk back, and he doesn't give me a chance to explain.
"I beat dozens of people and you couldn't take out a handful of lazy nobles? Some spirit beast!"
I know I just came to grips with my lack of battle-prowess, but I can still feel myself bristling. And he doesn't let up. I swear him cutting me down is raising his health. It could be the medicines and bandages he's pulling out and using on himself, but it really feels like he's getting stronger by yelling.
The only thing that interrupts his tirade is treating the more severe injuries. From the way he flinches or goes quiet he might actually have a few broken bones. He's bruised, yes, there aren't many cuts, and his head looks kinda lumpy, but he's not concussed from the sound of it. Maybe. At least he doesn't have any bleeding head wounds.
I sneak out a pot of stew and a few loaves of bread, not saying anything as Woodcock helps himself, filling up a bowl he pulls from his bag and tearing a loaf in half. He's oddly polite with the food distribution, placing the half a loaf he's not eating on a clean cloth he pulls from his bag. Pretty sure he didn't have spatial storage when we first met, but he is super casual with the way he claims things that aren't his.
After he eats his fill, my meal accompanied by him insulting me but with updates of what he's accomplished, I get to learn that he managed to move everyone outside. Several cart horses have come out of hiding to help protect the people from hungry dogs, the stronger ones helping drive off the dogs with simple tricks like tossing stones and sticks to distract them.
Woodcock growls, driving a fist into a palm while gritting his teeth. He's not looking at me and I guess he's finished treating his injuries, but he's not going anywhere.
"If only the captain was here," he growls.
[Greater Personal Transfer Successful]
[Successful Use: 31/100]
[Con. Qi -500]
[Qi -500]
[Karma -1000]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1,837,218/23,880,235]
[Current Qi: 341,037/5,850,300]
[Current Karma: 95,520,943/107,275,977]
[Max Will: 9,597,021]
[Mortal Wallet: 10E,26K,228P,154R,179Da,155De,105k]
[Spirit Wallet: 0Dr,0Ph,0Th,1199Di,126Co,10526St]
-*This guy?*- I ask, pulling out the princeling and pointing to him as he stands up, looking around.
Woodcock makes a strangled sound as he stares open mouthed at the slowly waking princeling. The captain, seeing us on the ground, casually just sits cross-legged, Woodcock releasing another weird sound. Did this thief worship the dude whose job is to stop people like him?
-*Are you in love with him?*- I tease Woodcock.
His reaction would be funnier if this wasn't so serious. Bright red, stammering, hands raised defensively, he's not berating me anymore. The captain looks on in quiet amusement, giving us the same look he's been giving to me, just casually, fondly amused.
-*Dude. You're a thief.*-
I swear to all if he says he became a thief because he just wanted any kind of attention from some dude so wrapped up in his work and helping people he didn't notice him, I'm gonna rob 'em both. I will take all their shit, eat it, and if they get more shit I'll eat it, too. They will never be able to keep anything. If I have to deal with their nonsense, they will have to deal with mine.
"He's my brother, you chatty bug!" He screeches, still red.
I freeze when the "brothers" both turn and stare down the hall we're in. I don't know if they're staring the way I came or not, but Prince seems more aware and less creepy human-sized doll-y. I stare blankly at Woodcock as he casually stores away my pot in his storage before following as the two take off. The first prince stops, doubles back, picks me up, then they continue running. I'm getting kinda annoyed, but at least I don't have to spend the energy.
-*If the plan is to let them starve to death we should go to where they're collecting Qi,*- I say oh so casually with no prompting whatsoever as they sprint along.
"Follow me," First Prince commands in one of those attention grabbing baritones that seems to resonate as he leads us on a merry trip through the halls.
Was this place always here just below Golden Rivers? There's like a full ass roadmap of hallways but I don't remember getting stuck in any rooms or dead-ends. There's no stone up top, this place is made of crude bricks, and seems to go on forever. If this place wasn't recently built where'd all the ruins go?
"Maintaining a force of living servants takes a lot of energy, not to mention there are a lot of mid-rank undead and hungry spirits feeding on them, so they've managed to drain quite a bit of the low-lying Qi," Prince Fist exposits.
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Wait, did he say there are things feeding on the pools? As in at them right now? Like we're running towards a fight with well-fed monsters? This is bullshit!
"There were six pools but now the count is down to four." Not helping, jackass! "If we work together we should be able to lure them away, and seal off the pools."
-*Oh? Lure them where?*-
The people are hidden outside, there are hungry spirits inside and we're supposed to go to a feeding ground and lure them where? I just wanted to drain the pool! Wait there's four?
-*How big are these pools?*-
If I drain them into my storage... Will that upgrade my storage? Focus! Fack! How big are the pools and how fast can I drain them? Can I sneak in and drain them? Can we sneak in? Maybe I can ask?
-*I might be able to remove the Qi so that the hungry spirits can't feed on it, but it may take time. Is there a way for us to sneak in and avoid fighting?*- Come on, no whammies, no whammies, no whammies....
"Sneak in...?" Prince Fist says slowly, speed dropping until he's just standing while rubbing his chin. With me still slung under his arm because royalty and fancy pets? "That should be doable..."
-*How are you going to hide yourself? Don't hungry spirits sense the living?*- I've got a cheat skill, so does the princess, but fuck her. But how are these two going to hide themselves?
"Leave it to me," Prince Fist brings a fist to the left-side of his chest, nodding his head with a stern expression.
Not inspiring confidence. What's the plan? What's he going to do? Dude already got got. If he could do anything about it why was he the favorite play thing? Hell, he can't beat me --.
He clowned me. He punked me so hard, didn't he? He was zombified, breaking my thread, using a weird movement technique that I still haven't figured out. She chose him for a reason. Nevermind my arguments, we might be able to do something.
-*I'm trusting you.*-
Not at all. I just know I'm racking up a ton of losses and they've done much better, so what can I say? Prince Fist readjusts me, allowing me to shuffle my wings and get my legs tucked in. Then we're off again.
I should pay attention, but I don't even have to walk, so why bother? There's lots of corners, lots of turns, but the halls appear to be very straight, so I'll be able to make my way out eventually.
Food? The farm's still going. I have a couple of pots of stew, some fish, the skill to make more food, tons of bread. I'm good. I can explore for days. I shouldn't, but I could.
And I still haven't found the hungry dog. He could be running loose or digging up my farm --.
"We're here."
My thoughts are interrupted by Prince Fist's quiet whisper. I focus and see that he's crouch walking with me still tucked under his arm and I never even noticed the change. I have no idea what that says about me. About my ability to be carried around, not about my inability to pay attention.
I attempt to groom, running my forelegs through the luxurious silk growing around my head before I'm yeeted into the distance. I could fly, but I wonder why they're throwing me like a football. Shit, how good is his aim? I look forward and see tiers of ledges leading up to a blank wall, zombified courtiers in various states of disrepair. It looks like the higher up you are the worse off you are and they're feeding on each other which means he threw me at the why am I falling?
I look down and see milk. A small lake of milk. The fuck? I enter it with barely a splash, legs still tucked in in disbelief that I was tossed like a football even as my brain idly processed my surroundings, and now I'm luxuriating in silky spa Qi.
-Oh, I get it.-
This is definitely that primpy godling's Qi. I feel aMaZiNg~! It's like silky lather, a warm towel, a massage, a nap on a rainy day, all I'm missing is the full after a meal --.
- ♪ Oh, no, ♪ - I do a few barrel rolls. - ♪ Whatever shall I do? ♪ -
[Feeding Successful]
[Successful Use: 17/100]
[Qi +1000]
[Karma 10]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1,837,218/23,880,238]
[Current Qi: 342,037/5,850,300]
[Current Karma: 95,520,953/107,275,977]
[Mortal Wallet: 10E,26K,228P,154R,179Da,155De,105k]
[Spirit Wallet: 0Dr,0Ph,0Th,1199Di,126Co,10526St]
I start chugging and absorbing, eyes "closed", looking forward to sipping this silky, fruity health smoothie while hidden in a pool of all things "make me hot", and I get a mouth full of blended creamy spinach, kale, quinoa, turnips and no salt or fruit to cover up the taste of good for you. I gag at all the flavors of not-what-it-looks, or smells, like, so disappointed.
[Feeding Successful]
[Successful Use: 18/100]
[Qi +1000]
[Karma 10]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1,837,218/23,880,240]
[Current Qi: 343,037/5,850,300]
[Current Karma: 95,520,963/107,275,977]
[Mortal Wallet: 10E,26K,228P,154R,179Da,155De,105k]
[Spirit Wallet: 0Dr,0Ph,0Th,1199Di,126Co,10526St]
I stare blankly, forelimbs crossed, absolutely disgusted. I'm sulking, I know I'm sulking, and I'm rage siphoning. It looks like milk, feels amazing, tastes like healthy ass? It fits but why can't it taste like fruit and nuts? It's got a hint of pink, is silky and frothy, and it tastes like it should be gritty, dark green, and smell like malnourished butt cheeks.
-*It's working! Keep going!*-
[Pierce Unsuccessful x3]
[Successful Use: 2/100]
[Qi -250 x3]
[Karma -10 x3]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1,837,218/23,880,233]
[Current Qi: 343,037/5,850,300]
[Current Karma: 95,520,933/107,275,977]
[Max Will: 9,597,021]
[Mortal Wallet: 10E,26K,228P,154R,179Da,155De,105k]
[Spirit Wallet: 0Dr,0Ph,0Th,1199Di,126Co,10526St]
-Fuck off!- I scream thrashing and stabbing at the creamy whiteness around me.
Oh~! Wait. How's the princeling talking to me? Wait... I feel my eyes narrow and start to groom. I find a wooden coin stuck to my side.
I sigh, knowing the adult thing is to leave it on so we can communicate. So when I finish siphoning the condensed Qi into my bank, and I'm lying on my side surrounded by furious undead, it takes me almost long enough to get stabbed in the face by nasty, sharpened, old man claws before I yelp and pop into my bank.
-Ew!- I shudder at the recollection of seeing the gnarled, twisted, dirty root looking, sharp finger skewers being pulled back and the needle-y, snaggle-toothed bastard that owned the toilet hand glaring down at me. -And that's his glow-up? Ew!-
I do a quick wander, looking for the lake of Qi, nodding my head to some dark wolf looking bastard sitting on my porch sipping tea. He politely nods back and I go to compliment him on his fur when I remember that I'm in my void space and I don't know who the fuck this is.
-You look comfy,- I say pointedly, and he dips his furry head while raising the teacup in my direction.
-And you look fluffy.-
Did this bitch just snark back at me? Wait. Fluffy? Like I know I grew some --. I focus on me, really looking instead of just noting my position.
-Oh, my god, I'm a Pomeranian,- I gasp, dumbstruck by how absolutely fluff-tastic I am.
I'm covered in silk. Not just my body and the tops of my legs. I am a fluff-butt! Even my wings are fluffy now. I groom and roll around, enjoying the soft, poofiness, and flump over with a content sigh. I'm a bug made out of silk pompoms and felt wings. I raise my head, feeling like I've had this dream before. No matter.
-You wouldn't happen to know where the new lake is, would you?- I ask what I'm assuming is the freaking hungry dog gaining humanoid avatar status in less time than it takes for me to finish grooming, the leech.
-I smelt something coming in from that way,- he murmurs, casually pointing a clawed pinky finger somewhere behind him and to his left.
-Uh, huh,- I nod. -Got a name?-
-What would you like to call me?- he raises his head, setting the cup on the step beside him.
-*Absolutely not,*- the Emperor interrupts, an eyeball made of wrath and punishment popping into being a few feet in front of me and between me and the hopefully bestest man?