[Alisha’s PoV]
Argh, my head hurts. I will never get used to this hangover feeling, it hurts to think. Not opening my eyes for the moment trying to let this headache go down, I try to remember what happened. I know I killed a human and injured Gerald, but it’s fuzzy and I don’t remember many of the details. Slowly opening my eyes knowing this feeling won’t just go away, I sit up slowly, groaning and before I register where I am a pair of hands gently grab my head and turn it slowly. Not so fast, I’m feeling woozy! I finally see the owner of the hands, Sally, sitting directly in front of me. She’s been crying, her normally silver eyes are red and puffy, and she looked a mix of emotions. I've never seen her express many emotions before but now she looked complicated.
“It’s you right, Alisha? It’s really you…how are you alive?” Pulling on my cheeks with both hands, Sally stares deeply at me. Smiling to her, I nod and simply say “It’s me Sally, I’m back.” Seeing tears fall from her eyes, she pinches my cheeks again before pulling me into a hug. Gripping so tightly I can barely breath, I hesitate for a moment but leave her be. Returning the hug, I too start tearing up, remembering my time stuck in that Labyrinth after leaving Teacher Lee’s place. I’d spent over two weeks lost in there, and until Alice hatched I was alone. All I wanted was to see Sally and Gray again, and now I was finally back, it wasn’t a dream. Looking up, I see Gray sitting nearby, Alice perched on his head, watching us nervously. Without a word, I pat the ground next to Sally, inviting him to come over. Seeing him clearly hesitate for a moment, he slowly walks over, sits down when I grab him and pull him in. Feeling a bit of resistance when he tried to pull away, then seemingly letting it happen, I hugged them both. Alice hopped from Gray’s head to mine and sat down without a noise.
After a bit of time, Sally pulled away and I let Gray go, who had a slight blush from embarrassment and red eyes from crying as well. Before I could react, Sally’s head suddenly drooped down, and she fell asleep.. Not sure what to do, I look at Gray who gives me a small smile and whispers “S-she hasn’t been sleeping too w-well.” Nodding, I knew deep down it was because of me, Sally had seen me fall. Moving over quietly, I move Sally down and rest her head on my lap. Gently I start stroking her head.
“How long was I asleep for Gray?” Without turning my eyes from Sally, I whisper to Gray again. I passed out because I was too drunk and had exhausted my mana. The punch I delivered to the human, piercing his chest was poorly done and I blew nearly my entire mana pool for it. The last blow I gave Gerald nearly forced me to pass out on the spot, I’m so glad I didn’t. I need to learn how to completely control my mana, I’m too hasty.
“It’s night now, a few hours away from daytime again. Y-you came back last d-daytime, yesterday.” Nodding, I reach for my sack but find it missing. Panicking slightly, Gray gets up and brings it over. “You left it behind the boulder you appeared on. I got y-your gauntlets too.” Smiling, I notice he’s been stuttering a lot less recently, seeming more confident then before I fell.
“A-alisha, what happened?” Smiling, I look at Gray.
“Let's wait for Sally, it’s a long story. I’m glad you two are safe, I was so worried.”
“I-I’m glad you’re b-back.” With his head down a bit, Gray squeezes that line out. With a soft kraa, Alice jumps back onto Gray’s head and sets in. Smiling at her behaviour around Gray, I ask him what happened after I fell. After telling me that he managed to surprise the Tarantula and stunned it with an attack, I don’t hide my surprise that such an attack dazed the Tarantula, but I was glad it did since it allowed them to escape. I don’t think we can deal with the Tarantula yet, the Frost Giant I got lucky with because of Alice and it having such a weakspot. Reaching over, I stroke the top of Alice’s head while bringing my System up.
[You killed Julian, gained 2,000xp]
[Emergency Unique Quest: Kill Xoszus:
Rewards Claimed!
10,000xp
Gained 1,000xp Class Experience
Lesser Blessed Orb of Salus
Tome of Basic Knowledge
Set of Elven Armour of the Gale
100x Gems of Shining]
[A Hidden Condition has been met.]
[You have leveled to 14]
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Alisha
Demonic Fox and Human Hybrid
Level 14
Health: 520
Mana: 800
Experience: 7,300/25,000
Class: Demonic Dancing Fox Fighter
Class Level: 1
Experience: 1,000/50,000
Skills: Demonic Fox Awakening (Incomplete, 3.53% Awakened), Lashing Fire Kick, Drunken Brawler
Spells: Wind Magic
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Seeing a pile of rewards appear next to me, and quite a bit at that, I checked through the items to see what was given to me while Gray watched with some curiosity.
[Lesser Blessed Orb of Salus.
An Orb blessed by the Goddess, Salus. Once set down it can no longer be picked up. To activate this Orb, a request must be done via the System. Weaker monsters will no longer approach or appear within 200 metres of the orb. Does not affect monsters currently within this range. Breaks if removed.]
Raising an eyebrow, I considered the uses of this. The item doesn’t tell me what it considered “weaker monsters”, but with this item there was a chance we could set up a safe haven. I don’t know how big 200m around it really is, but that would give us some breathing room. It was a small orb, giving off no light and fit into the palm of my hand. Setting it down, I reach for the blank book next.
[Tome of Basic Knowledge.
Transform into a book that provides basic knowledge on a topic of your choosing. Can not provide knowledge on the System or topics the user has yet to comprehend. Has one use.]
Looking at the description for this item, I was a bit confused. So I just had to choose a topic and I’ll get knowledge on it, but what was considered “basic” information? Thinking of topics I could get basic knowledge of, I realise I am not sure on a topic. I know the basics for everything I care about, and I can just teach Sally and Gray the basics of those things easily. Taking a look at Alice, I thought maybe I could ask for knowledge on how to raise her. There would be things I could learn on how to better care for her.
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Picking up the big pouch of gems first, I open it and see they’re the same type of gems from the Labyrinth that was lighting the passageways. Nodding happily, we can get some light in here, or rather the next location we move to. The last thing is the set of Elven Armour of the Gale.
Each piece had a similar description, came in a pair, with four pieces altogether. Each piece was light green and was big enough to cover my forearm, shins, thighs and body. On the armour were strange inscriptions, depicting artwork that I don’t understand, but found beautiful. It was incredibly light, and felt solid. Pinching down hard, I left no mark, nodding with interest, I checked the System.
[Elven Armour of the Gale.
Light armour typically worn by Elves, wearing it increases the power of wind magic by 10% and offers protection against wind magic, reducing damage by 10%. Very light.
Increases Agility by 100 when worn as a set.]
‘Increases Agility by 100? What does that mean?’ Tilting my head, I consider putting the armour on to see what it does, but leave it for the time being since Sally was sleeping in my lap and I was unwilling to disturb her. Remembering Teacher Lee’s words, I don’t reject what the System has given me right away. If this is what I’ve earned then I’ll take it. Begrudgingly.
Looking at the message from the System that didn’t give me anything but was strange was the one about a hidden condition being met. For what? It came up after the rewards so it wasn’t something for the rewards or apart of them, I had no other quests either. Deciding it was best to leave it as I’ll likely know later, I stop worrying about it and start stroking Sally’s hair.
***
After some hours, and a lot of meat for Alice, Gray and I, Sally woke up. Sitting up from my lap slowly, she glances around before hurriedly looking back at me. Seeing a smile come up on her face, I smile back at her. Soon, she asks me the same question that Gray did.
“Alisha, what happened? I saw you fall, and you’ve been gone for two weeks, yet you’ve changed so much.” Moving to sit so close to me that our knees were touching, Sally moved in. Gray also sat next to us, a bit of distance between us, with Alice still sitting on his head. Holding my hands out to Alice, she jumps into my hands, looks at Sally and bounces up onto Sally’s head and sits. Tilting my head at Alice, wondering what she was doing, she let off a “Kraa!” and tilted her head at me. After staring at each other for a little bit, I finally talk.
“Before I start, this is Alice. She hatched from the egg that Cerberus gave me.” “Kraa!”
“Alice? So you named her after Alice…Nice to meet you” Saying this, Sally lightly patted Alice’s head. Closing her eyes in response, Alice wiggled a bit and settled in.
“So, about what happened, when I started to fall…”
As time passed, I talked about my journey and meeting Teacher Lee. Most of my time talking was about Teacher Lee’s teachings and learning my fighting style. Sally and Gray both looked extremely excited and interested about me meeting Teacher Lee and remembering the treats that Teacher Lee had put in my sack, I made a mental note to get them out later. After finishing my story where I had approached and heard the humans, both were full of questions. I answered a lot of questions they had about things like what alcohol was, or what magic is, a lot of questions on the same things I had back then.
“So those items next to you were from that quest? Maybe we could hide in that Labyrinth from the humans.” Feeling a cold shiver down my spine at that last remark, I answered the first one while pretending Sally never mentioned hiding in that awful place. Nodding, Sally and Gray went quiet for a bit. Gray had already told me they had a rather uneventful time themselves. After talking for some time about little things, Gray spoke up first.
“I-it’s daytime, we should head out.”
Tilting my head, I look at Gray and he explains. “W-we only hunted enough food for a d-day each time we went out, we’ll need to hunt m-more.”
Nodding in understanding, we stood up and got prepared. Picking up one of the wolf fur sacks they had made, I put on the set of elven armour, and as I put on the last piece I felt a rush of coolness go through my body. Was this the effect it mentioned? Thinking to try it out, once we found some monsters, we looked at each other, nodded and moved out of the cave.
Getting out, it’s been over an hour of daytime already. Choosing a direction to go, it seems Sally and Gray knew where the dangerous monsters were and where the good ones to hunt laid. Seeing them talk cheerfully, I felt thankful that I returned…which turned into gratitude in the next second. I picked up a scent, approaching us, it was human, a singular human was approaching us quickly. Snapping my head towards the location and getting into my relaxed stance while also quickly grabbing a vial on my waistbands, Sally reacts nearly instantly while Gray is a little slower but also prepares. Thinking quickly, I whisper “It’s a human, only one. Sally, go hide to the right, behind those boulders there, Gray go left, hide behind those trees. Alice, get into the sky, back me up okay? When I give the signal, help me.”
Both nodding, they run to the sides and hide away. I couldn’t see them from here, but I could still pick up their smell. Looking at the direction of where the smell was approaching from, I slowly accumulated wind around me, keeping it to the very minimum. Soon, a human female appears before me, with bright red hair and deep red eyes. Holding a sword fresh with blood, she looks right at me in surprise. Checking her information causes my stomach to drop.
[Level 18 Human, Elizabeth]
Level 18…Gulping my nerves down, I kick my wind magic up, and prepare for a difficult fight.
[Elizabeth’s PoV]
Climbing through the rocky terrain, I look around and see traces that were impossible for a monster to create. No wonder those children were found, drag marks of monsters, ashes by the river from a fire, and even more obvious were the footprints around the place. There were even unnatural looking holes with blood stains within, like something has smashed down on monsters. Thinking of the description from the messenger earlier, those holes should be from Gray and his hammer. Walking towards the location that these traces move towards, I move past some big boulders and arrive in a small clearing. Right in front of me is a young girl, about sixteen by the looks of things, wearing light green armour, a black shirt and red skirt. With black hair, a pair of fox ears on her head and piercing blue eyes, she stares me down as a wind starts blowing around her. It was Alisha, Number 32.
[Level 14 Demonic Fox, Demonic Dancing Fox Fighter, Alisha]
A bit shocked at such a long tag from the System, I’m delayed in speaking and missed my chance to set the tone of why I was here. I watch as she moves swiftly, faster than I thought she could move, she approaches me directly, right from the front. Quickly, I drop my sword and raise my hands, palms facing forward, to head level. About to speak, I’m forced to dodge an attack that comes straight for my face. Decisive, strong and precise, I can immediately tell how she was able to take out someone from the hunting squad, she was trained unlike the majority of humans who explore the outside. Quickly moving faster than Alisha, I side step to the left and gently push her palm away, feeling some cuts from the sharp wind on my palm. I continue my side step and raise my hands once again. As I go to speak, I’m once again interrupted, this time from a cry of a bird.
“Kraaa!” Swooping down from above, a raven rushes towards me beak first. Not wanting to harm the raven, I roll on the ground backwards, hoping that I don’t break anything in my bags. In one fluid movement, I roll back onto my feet and with a bit of impatience I yell “Wait wait wait.”
Seeing Alisha, who was approaching from my right, she had a look of hesitation and confusion for a moment before stopping. Not letting her guard down, she looked at me like she was waiting. The raven swoops down again and this time lands on her head. Taking this chance, I quickly speak.
“I’m not here to hurt you or hunt you. I came here to offer you my help.”
Tiling her head, Alisha frowns, staring at my face before speaking up. “You’re a handler, I don’t believe you.” Without any further warning, she once approaches me and spins on her foot, sending a kick towards me…the leg she sends flying at me is on fire?! Dodging by leaning back quickly, I straighten up and move back quickly, in time to see Alisha open a vial. I recognised the smell almost right away. Why was Alisha about to drink alcohol of all things…actually where on earth did she get alcohol?
Thinking quickly, I sit down. With my hands still up, I plop myself down on the ground and wait. Halting herself from drinking from the vial, Alisha looked at me while tilting her head, a clear confused expression on her face. The wind around her slowed down, to a point where I wondered if it was still there. Not moving, I say to her clearly “I just want to talk okay? I’m not here to hurt you or hunt you.”
Looking at me deeply, her eyes for a brief moment flicker to somewhere behind me before quickly refocusing on me. I see, I was being lured into an ambush. Was Gray or Sally behind me? Stopping myself from turning my head to check, I keep waiting to see what Alisha says with a serious expression on my face. Slowly, Alisha re-corks the vial, puts it in the waistband of her skirt and completely stops the wind before saying to me “Move and I won’t hesitate to continue” before crouching down, ready to bounce up.
Slowly, I lower my hands in an obvious way and place them on my knee. I hear two sets of footsteps behind me, from the left and right, knowing that if I was to show any sign of attacking I would be set on by who is likely to be Sally and Gray. Pretending not to notice, I continue staring at Alisha, waiting for her to speak.