Walking through the village proper was a unique experience. Most certainly one that she would not have experienced in the real world.
Pinaya led her past the tents. Many of the men and women were ice-fishing outside, each one of them hauling a single fish the size of an entire apartment room out of the ice. One of the women even waved at her as she tugged at her line, using her full range of motion to build up momentum, a fish the size of a bus being pulled out of the icy depths. Valerie's eyes bulged as she watched it happen, dumbfounded by how insane it looked.
Children off to the side were playfighting with their magic, throwing icicles and snowballs that they had conjured at one another. An onlooking elderly man watched them go about playing, a hint of magic leaking out of his fingertips and targetting a few of the spells, purposefully weakening them by siphoning a portion of the Mana used to construct them. The elderly man sent a knowing glance to Valerie, smiling a toothless smile and covering his mouth with a single finger, signalling to her not to tell the children. Valerie nodded back, making a gesture of zipping her mouth, to which the old man returned to his careful watch.
A pair of wolf dogs trotted out of a tent and walked past her, hauling four little babies on a single sled. The babies babbled and took in the sights before setting their eyes upon Valerie, their mouths hanging open from the sight of her hair, their babbling growing ever-intense. A lone woman exited out of the same tent, a pair of toddlers in her arms. The same toddlers that had seen her at the entrance.
"Hello," Valerie directed to the little babies in a high-pitched voice as Pinaya stopped in her tracks to sit and watch, before Valerie turned to the mother and repeated the greeting, albeit in a normal-pitched voice. Pinaya paused to watch.
The mother nodded in response, and upon seeing that her two toddlers wanted to reach and touch Valerie's hair, she brought the children closer but not without nodding once more to ask for consent. Valerie nodded fervently, not one to decline a child's curiosity—and truthfully, she wanted to hold the cute ones herself, their chubby cheeks practically begging to be squeezed with the utmost care.
Seeing Valerie's willingness, the mother gave her one of the toddlers to hold, a young boy with a gentle smile. His red, chubby cheeks begged to be gently squeezed, but Valerie controlled herself. Introducing yourself to a new culture demanded self-control, or else you'd make a fool out of yourself for doing something that you didn't know to be offensive or seen as wrong to do.
The boy reached for her hair, holding onto a couple strands of it in his hands and rifling through them, before ultimately stuffing her hair in his mouth.
Valerie nearly screamed, not out of disgust—not even close to it—but instead out of concern for the baby's safety. She'd never known any babies before, and she hadn't taken a shower and was probably really dirty and smelly and stinky and was probably unknowingly infected with some type of arctic disease that would singlehandedly send this beautiful village spiralling into the abyss—
—The woman's mother tutted at the boy, pulling him off of Valerie immediately and sending a 'sorry' nod back at her, visual signs of distress and a sincere sense of worry in her gesture.
"No! It's okay!" Valerie explained, gesturing along to the best of her ability to try to convey her message. The boy began to cry, covering his face with his mother's shoulder. "He did nothing wrong! It's all my fault for getting all spooked and not stopping him before he could try to eat my hair!" She eased her gestures, slowing down its speed. "Sorry, again, ma'am." She turned to face the young boy who was practically bawling his eyes out and returned to the babying voice she used earlier, "It's okay, little guy! You didn't do anything wrong."
Her attempts at dampening the situation didn't work however, the other toddler—a baby girl with equally red, chubby cheeks—also began to cry. The mother sent her another 'sorry' nod before going back inside, bobbing the two babies in her arms to soothe them, the tent flap closing behind her.
Achievement Unlocked: Make a Baby Cry
Requirement: Make a baby cry.
You sick monster.
100 EXP Gained!
You have levelled up: LVL 2!
10 Attribute Points to Assign in Total!
Pinaya watched as Valerie's heart metaphorically crumbled into a million pieces, her soul leaving her body. She laughed lightheartedly, Valerie turning to look at her with tears welling in her eyes.
"Oh," Panaya said, noticing her eyes. She grabbed onto Valerie's shoulder with one hand, her voice quieter. "Do not worry about the twins. They are much like their father. He is a warrior with a heart of gold," she explained. "Also a crybaby, hah!" Panaya cackled to herself as she continued their trek, signalling for Valerie to follow her. "Come. We must not let Papang wait any longer. He has the furs ready for your clothes."
Valerie followed along as she wiped her tears, Warmy gently nudging itself against her. The saliva that was in her hair evaporated away.
"Thanks, Warms…" Warmy hummed in delight, taking on a pinkish hue to his core before returning to his usual yellow.
After a moment of silently walking through the village, save for the noise of the other villagers going about with their day, Valerie finally made it to the centremost and tallest tent. A warm breeze, smelling like the most aromatic flower that Valerie ever bore witness to—not too dissimilar to those flowers that Mom grew in her garden—escaped through the open tent flap, wafting through the air as smoke or some type of mist. Pinaya raised her hand to halt them as they approached, before going inside of the tent, leaving her alone with Warmy.
Awkwardly, she shuffled on the ice, having nothing else to do but wait around.
Warmy, on the other hand, floated towards one of the sleeping wolf-dogs, withholding its warming sphere of influence so as not to wake them up. With a curious glow in their core, they buzzed around the pet, seeming to be focusing on every part of its body, before a massive shift in Warmy's mana overwhelmed Valerie, her Sense Mana ability going haywire as a blindingly bright rainbow of light shot out of them. Nearby, a couple of villagers gawked at the light show, shouting and hollering at the occurrence.
At this point in time, Valerie had no idea what was happening, instead only hearing the commotion. Ambient mana whizzed by her body, a flurry of cold winds enveloping her body, before it all suddenly stopped with a plop and a thud.
Congratulations! Your Tamed Core and Party Member (Warmy) [Warmth Core] has learned the Spell: True Polymorph {Self}
True Polymorph {Self}, LVL 1
Description: Legends speak of a Calamity that was overcome by a single unnamed mage. From the middle of the approaching army of the collective Kingdoms, someone had casted True Polymorph against Vallion, The Arch-Mage of Laparas, Lich-King of the Jahnu Highland Wastes. The cause of the calamity was turned into a lowly sheep, left unable to cast their wicked spells, their fates were sealed which singlehandedly saved the entirety of the world against his hateful reckoning. Unofficial records and journals of some of the other soldiers within the army speak of the saviour being a fledgling Goblin mage who had stumbled upon an artefact that had casted the True Polymorph spell, but historians are still conflicted on this theory and are yet to come to an agreed upon conclusion.
This particular version of the spell, as opposed to the normal version, can only target its caster.
[FURTHER INFO HIDDEN – LEARN SPELL TO REVEAL INFO]
The onslaught of Mana stilled all around her, Valerie opening her eyes to peek at Warmy.
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Lying beside the sleeping wolf-dog was another wolf-dog sprawled out on the ice, albeit this one had a different colouring to it. Instead of the usual dark greys and whites of the sleeping wolf-dog, this one had tufts of orange and red hair lining its back, Valerie feeling that they somehow radiated heat. The fiery-looking wolf dog scooted slowly with its body flat to the ice, its piercing black eyes staring back at her, a smile on its face as it breathed with its mouth open, its tongue hanging out.
The realisation hit Valerie less than a second later.
"Warmy?!"
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Valerie sat down by the campfire—otherwise known as the Hearth Fire, as Pinaya called it—and idly rubbed at Warmy's now-furry body as a spindly man of short stature sat in the far corner and sewed, sending a few glances at Valerie before readjusting some aspect of their sewing style, likely changing to adapt to Valerie's figure, though she couldn't really say for certain. Mama Lafaye, on the other hand, sat on her alchemy table, concocting another potion of some kind.
The first one Mama Lafaye had her drink was a simple healing potion that topped up her health. The second potion, however, was disgustingly bitter, but it had the effect of her finally understanding and being able to speak the native language of the Ni'wuatak for a brief period of time. Mama Lafaye had apparently been only reciting words in the Common tongue that the Chief had told her to learn—Valerie was not speaking English apparently, despite Common sounding the exact same and having the same rules for grammar—which was a testament to the Chief's nigh-omnipotence to predict that Mama Lafaye's son would've attacked her upon nearing the perimeter wall. Pinaya was still capable of speaking fluent Common, having been taught by her father, the Chief, but was otherwise ordered not to speak any more Common, instead standing outside of the tent and keeping watch.
"You come from desert sands, do you not?" Mama Lafaye asked from where she was sitting, in the midst of adding a sprig of some type of herb to the alchemical potion. "Buried deep beneath the dunes, yes?"
Valerie was taken aback by the question, her eyes going wide. She fidgeted with her hands, uncertain how to respond to a question that broke through the game's story and touched the outside world's reality.
How does she know? Did one of the Otherworlders who passed by this village tell them of the outside world?
She waited for quite a while before finally answering, "Yes, Mamang Lafaye. I lived deep below the desert. We could not leave the underground or else we would've burned alive up above," she admitted. "There are many underground cities, all interconnected. I am going through a long tunnel as we speak, travelling to one of the other cities."
"Hmmm…" Mama Lafaye sat back on her wicker rocking chair. It creaked ominously as she leaned back, rocking back and forth.
A few minutes passed in silence save for the muted voices outside, the scratching noises of the man who was creating Valerie's parka and pants, and the constant roiling and boiling of the alchemical processes.
Mama Lafaye took a long puff from a rolled cigar that was on her table, a dark smoke being released as she breathed out. "Yes, indeed…" She got up from her chair, her eyes still closed as she used her crane to get face-to-face with Valerie before opening her eyes.
They had gone fully white and cloudy, the veins in her eyes a deep, verdant green before she smiled deeply, her dimples showing. "You are the one Sol—and by proxy, Mother Nature—spoke of."
"Sol? Sol, the God-person?" Valerie asked as she leaned back a bit in an attempt to avoid the smell of the smoke that was still on Mama Lafaye's breath.
And Mother Nature? There’s an honest-to-God God named Mother Nature?
"Sol is a Goddess—not something like what you call this 'God-person'. It is disrespectful." Mama Lafaye said, tsking. "Correct your tongue, girl, lest I correct it for you." Valerie opened her mouth to apologise, but Mama Lafaye held a hand out to stop her, lifting Valerie to stand before leading her by the hand to the table. "Save your apologies for later. First, you must drink again, and only then can we continue our conversation." She shoved a potion glass to Valerie's face, its viscous contents sloshing around within the glass, bubbles forming from the bottom before bursting as it neared the top. It smelled like a boiled egg and looked like one too, practically a combination of a white and yellow slurry of unmentionables.
…I really don't want to drink this… Inspect.
Identified: Frog’s Tongue Extract
Description: This unique potion is, surprisingly, not made out of frog tongues. It is named this way because it makes you 'bleh' at its taste, forcing your tongue to hang out of your mouth. Though, in all honesty, most potions should be called Frog’s Tongue, the disgusting things.
[EFFECTS HIDDEN – CONSUME TO LEARN EFFECTS]
“Go on, girl,” Mama Lafaye urged, clapping twice with her hands. “Get to it, we don’t have all day.”
Valerie was hesitant but decided to go for it, forgoing sniffing the potion and just downing it as she closed her nostrils shut with the other hand. The texture was abysmal. It was both soft and thick, with a hint of gloopiness to it, while just being on the verge of being a non-newtonian fluid. The bubbles within were like the carbonation in sodas—if the carbonation process involved some form of fermentation, that is.
Status Effect Applied: Hallucination {Frog’s Tongue Extract}
“Get ready to see God, bitch.” – Anonymous
The tent shifted around in Valerie’s vision, blending in with the other colours visible to her and enhancing, some turning into spirals of reds and greens while some turned into fractal-like patterns of the purest blue, much like what one would see in a kaleidoscope. Her sense of time was slowed as she looked around, her entire body feeling heavy. Valerie reached her hands up to the sky, grasping at the vibrant neon colours that she was transfixed upon, before falling backwards. Someone’s hand caught her, however, the hand that held her gently laying her down on a warm and comfy surface. Her hand movements only disturbed the colours, however, sending ripples on the surface of what she felt like she was touching.
Blinking rapidly, the colours in her vision changed with every blink of her eyes. It felt like a light show at a rave, sudden flashes of colour before quickly changing to some other colour.
“Holy… Macaroni…” Valerie managed to say before her consciousness was suddenly lifted away from her body, ascending to a higher plane of existence.
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Valerie awoke with a sudden jolt, her head now clear and unaffected by the potion brew, as something poked at her side, her eyes opening to a sight that took her breath away.
Up above the ground, she sat upon an ornate marble chair that was placed on a literal cloud that spanned lengths farther than she could see. The sky was a blend of yellow, oranges, and red as the sun set off on the horizon, past the clouds.
Barefooted, she stood up, feeling herself sink a few centimetres deep within the cloud before springing back up, much like a trampoline. Her body was barely affected by gravity, her hopping sending her gracefully floating through the air. She made a few poses as she flew through the air, laughing all the while.
“Excuse me,” a young voice said from behind her. Gently landing back onto the sea of clouds, Valerie turned around and saw a young child that was right behind the chair she had stood up from. Dressed in a simple white ankle-height dress and a flower crown of daisies on her head, they hugged a teddy bear to their chest.
“Hello!” the child said before controlling their teddy bear’s arm and waving it around, speaking in a lower pitch voice. “Mr. Fluffers says hi too!”
She blinked a few times before waving back at the child and the teddy bear, lost for words.
“Come with me!” The child lifted their teddy bear onto their shoulders and held its arms out before hopping away, not even turning back to check that Valerie was following. humming as they jumped.
Turning around briefly, Valerie realised that there was nothing else off on the horizon for her to explore, only clouds, so she turned back around and followed the young child.
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“How much farther?” Valerie asked the child as she hopped from cloud to cloud, zig-zagging this way and that way. The sun had already set roughly three hours ago if she was counting correctly, the moon having replaced it and bringing along with it a canvas of black speckled with stars and galaxies, the colour blooming high above them.
The child landed gently onto their bottom on a cloud, turning around to face her with Mr. Fluffers still on their shoulders. “Almost there!” Picking themself back up, they continued on their way, hopping to and fro the clouds.
Valerie shrugged before following.
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“I’m tired…” The child rubbed their eyes as they sat, crawling on the clouds to turn around and reaching out with their hands raised in Valerie’s direction. “Uppies.”
“Oh,” Valerie said. “Okay, buddy.”
She lifted the child into her arms.
They were light in her arms, practically weightless like the clouds she stood upon.
Congratulations! Test Complete!
Time reversed at the instant she picked up the child, the moon and stars in the sky disappearing away as hours passed by in a matter of seconds before stopping entirely as the sunset from earlier had returned. Ahead of Valerie, a golden gate rose from below the clouds, invisible trumpets and an unseen choir sounding off from all sides as it opened, revealing something past it.
Welcome to the Meeting Grounds of the Gods!
New Area Found!
50 EXP Gained!
Further past and inside the gate was a large wooden table with incredible detail, ornate carvings marking every millimetre of its make. The closest end of the table was empty, a chair reserved for someone. Many entities were sitting down on seats that ran along its length, some of them being malformed and demonic-looking—one notable entity being an engorged larva the size of a whale—while some of the others were paragons of beauty and avatars of perfection.
At the very end of the table, farthest from Valerie, was a feminine figure that eyed Valerie harshly. Their entire body was made from the brown bark of a tree, bright yellow eyes glowing from her sockets. Her hair turned into that of a crown of a tree, its branches reaching high into the sky in winding patterns, soaking up as much light as they can with their leaves. Their posture was as prim and proper as one could get, their very being the epitome of class.
The figure gestured for Valerie to sit down, to which she followed with no hesitation, still holding the sleeping child in her arms. Valerie noticed the tree-entity looking fondly at the sleeping child before settling their eyes back on Valerie and finally speaking.
“Hello, Valerie Martinez.”
Their voice boomed through the air, the gentle breeze disappearing without a trace. A hush fell over the many other attendants at the table, silence prevailing. Smiling warmly at the attendants’ kindness, they turned back to face Valerie.
“I am Mother Nature.”
{Mythical} Achievement Unlocked: The Lifeblood of All
Requirement: Meet the Mother of All, the True Matriarch.
1,000,000 EXP Gained!
You have levelled up: LVL 20!
100 Attribute Points to Assign in Total!
“Oh,” Valerie said, looking absolutely fucking nonplussed.