“Sceh-wy,” Puella's eyes widened as both she and Lupa watched the massacre of the Slavers unveil before their very eyes. The former decided to duck down and place her small hands over her ears as the screams of the dying filled the air around them. Whilst the latter of the pair watched with her hands clenched; a satisfied grimace upon her features.

For she, and those like herself, had earned the “Quest For Freedom” quest, but few have ever acted upon it. Of which there were many outcomes, but the most predominant of them all was to take one's own life. However, she could not, and for two years- of torture, no less- she waited for her chance to slip away and take the hard route of physical escape.

Though, of course, all other slaves had this, and many more took the third option to rat out those who were trying to escape. This was how she was able to be tracked, because someone Lupa thought she could trust was a Mole and a Snitch. Which meant that as soon as she told them she was going to escape, they had rushed off to tell on her.

What is more, she couldn't allow her best friend, Puella to stay behind. No doubt they would punish her more severely for her friend's escape, leaving the dark haired girl far more frail and damaged afterwards. Therefore, she took her along, and the quest had updated.

“Quest For Freedom!” has been updated!

You and Puella must survive the night without getting caught!

Option 1: Avoid capture in the nearby forest

Option 2: Escape into the northern woods

Rewards: Unknown

However, the pair had found themselves in the company of a traveling Elf who talked to himself and had a strange, white bat that squeaked. Whereupon he took them aside, warmed their bodies by a fire, gave them food, tea, and promised clothing when they woke up. It was a strange occurrence to their young minds, and Lupa believed he would ask some sort of payment. Therefore, she was going to offer her body as a “service”, but was shocked when he adamantly denied such advances before allowing them to use one of his spare robes as a blanket.

Reluctantly, the pair fell asleep, but it was for only a short time as the howling of the Slavers' dogs echoed through the night. Such a sound caused Puella to sob against her chest as she tried to comfort the girl whilst keeping up a visage of bravery, but even that was failing.

It was here that the Elf got up and told them, “Don't worry. Everything will be alright,” in the most soothing voice she had ever heard. For once in her short life, she actually believed an adult, as he walked out with a strange staff in hand. This was then planted into the middle of the ground as though it were some sort of declaration, and conjured up a curved blade which he held in his right hand, waiting for an enemy to strike.

Just as three dogs, each the size of a small lion, appeared from the thicket, he called out, “!” Whereupon the scimitar was released and soared through the air in order to do battle with the animals. Within a few moments, the dogs were slain, and Lupa gasped from a small bush where the two girls hid themselves in order to watch.

Puella, on the other hand, never like the dogs due to them always biting and clawing at her person, but she had the kind of soul which always cried when an animal was in trouble or dying. So seeing these three beasts fall immediately caused something within her to twinge at it. Still, though they were a terror to behold, she would miss them. Whereas the other would not, as evident of her bitten and missing ear.

Soon afterwards, the pair watched as the Elf giggled and laughed at the carnage of the dead animals before him, and ordered the dancing scimitar to remove the dogs' heads. Upon doing so, the light of the staff vanished, and the Slavers appeared in a fury with swords and whips at the ready and torches held above their head.

This led to the crazed Elf to toss the heads at the nearest one, Gregor, who was the girls' “owner”, and would no doubt harm them in more ways than they could ever imagine. However, he made the mistake of charging at their “saviour” with only a torch to guide his steps. For just as he had reached only a dozen paces away, the scimitar flashed out of the darkness, and cut open Gregor's stomach. When he fell to his knees in order to pull everything back in, but doing so led to his death as the blade flew across his neck, separating the head and body forevermore.

It was here that Lupa copied Puella's actions to duck down and cover her ears. For she felt sick at the wanton execution of their former “owner”, and she did not wish to watch anything else except the dirt hidden near her feet.

However, there was something else which caught her attention. A soft ping of her quest rang throughout her mind, and upon opening up the Quest Log and selecting her only Quest, her mouth dropped in confusion.

“Quest For Freedom!” has been updated!

You and Puella must survive the night without getting caught!

Option 1: Avoid capture in the nearby forest

Option 2: Escape into the northern woods

Option 3: B̩̖͖͉͉̀̐̈̋̓e͎̠̦ͤ͛͂ͬ̇͌͝c̨̙͙͓̜̭̙͕͇̈́̓̒̑͒̒̕ǒ̴̲̓͑̊̀m̽̅ͣ͑̒ͧ҉̤̫̜͔̠̖ę̡̙̳̝͎̫̪͓̱̺̊̅͑ͪ̂ ͑ͭ̅͐̓̌͏̖̰̥̖̺̥͉̹̝K̢͉̱̪̰̺͇͌͋̓ͭͩͫ̂ͤa̴̻̞͙̽̐ͯ͛̐͗͗ṟ̡̘͉̥̇͊ͨ̑͗̀ą͚͓̲̪ͭͣ͛̄̌̿̎s̷̱̼͙̣̈́͆̔̔ͤ̀͟t̵̖͇̮͍ͦ̌̇̑̽ͪ̑a̪̥̱͖͓ͧͨ̽̈̋̍͟k̵̆̀ͥ͆̋ͨ̋͆҉̹̖̥͙͉̰'͓̪̙̖͎͓̝̙̎̿ͨͩ͘͜͡s̮̫̫̲͔̝͕͈̉̀̆̉̂ ̵̡̗̬͐̈́͛ͯͤͬ͞c̩̜ͨ͘ō͍̙̣͎͔̃̾̆̐͑̕m̷͚̪̤̝̰̣̞̝̀ͪ̒p̪̩̙͖̹͙̠͇͒̀͆̓̇̔ͤ̕͜a̳̳͙̹̖̥͓ͦ̈͒ͯ̀n̵̙͙̰̖̰̤̰̔͑́i͐̄͋̔ͦ̊̓҉̪o̵̳͍̹̪͈͈̮͚̿ͤͥͬ̽ͥ̋̋͋n̶̶̢̹̬͓̦̗̜̪͎͌͊ͤ͂s͂̿ͥͮ̒ͧͤ͏͚͙̠̪

Rewards: Fͪ̔́ͦ͏̠͉͘͝r̯̗̓͊ͥ͜͟e̡̬͉ͣ̑̅̇̇͞e̩̜͚̜̱ͦͮͦͫ̾ͣ͐͊͢͢d̂ͬͮͮ͋̋̑͏̡̡̙̫̲̞̠̤̜oͤ͑̔͐͡͏̣̫̝̠̳̗m̰͈͖̘͚͔̍ͥͦͦ̚ͅ

*****

Karastak

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

{Race: Foxman (Demon Lord)}

{Age: 25}

{Level: 6} {STR: 30; DEX: 30; CON: 77; INT:34; WIS: 40; CHA: 120}

{Health: 254/254} {Mana: 440/440}

{Class: Illusionist} {Subclass: N/A}

{Skills: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; }

{Passive Skills: ; ; ; }

{Titles: Soul Bound; Tamer of the Unknown; Indomitable Will}

{Titles Equipped: Indomitable Will}

Karastak grinned at his Status Menu, happy that he didn't have to waste his time grinding a million Experience Points just to level up. Instead, he forced Command to change the scale into something he could somewhat remember during his last life. One which involved dungeons, Dragons, and a whole lot of fun where people can be who they want to be, and play as they wish.

Sighing with glee, he also gained a few new spells, but had to expunge a Title and Passive due to something which will lead to too much attention. Of which was the Title “The Charming Gentleman” which led to females flocking to his side, and the Passive that increased his beauty by 1% for every person who noticed him. With a cap of 50%, he was sure to become the centre of attention wherever he went, and did not wish for this at all.

He was quite sure this was added by Command to get back at him for the torture he sent it through, but without much in the way of evidence, he couldn't be 100% sure.

In any case, the spells granted were , , , and . The first was to allow him up to three animated weapons floating about himself, or one skilled, for 50 mana. Whilst the second, at a cost of 10 mana, caused a mental shock that could last up to a minute, but after the last battle he found that it'll only fully work if he were a part of the System they were in. Else it lasted only half its duration when applied.

The same went for the third spell, , for 20 mana it caused someone on the ground to sink up to their ankles in whatever area they were. To counter the duration problem for this one, he made its stipulation be “as soon as they can free their feet, will the spell dissipate”. It was “acceptable” by Command, but it didn't have a choice in the decision.

Whereas the last one, , was something to behold. For it could be kept open indefinitely, or until the caster's mana was reduced to nil. However, it cost 200 to cast, and for every person to step through, no matter their size, it cost an additional 100 mana. This also included himself, but the strangest part to his mind was the description. Essentially, he could go wherever he wished, as long as he could see or visualise it, and it must be on the same plane of existence he was on.

“Meaning yet another cheat spell to exploit,” Karastak sighed as he watched the children step out from around the tree wearing the clothing he gave them earlier, and gave them a small smile upon his canine features. No. He didn't change his form, seeing how the pair had already seen him as a grey furred Foxman. Though, he did catch the dark haired girl twitch as she stared up at his ears, and before the tails, as though she wanted to touch them.

“Have you decided upon a colour for your clothing?” The pair jumped, not expecting him to say anything of the sort, and just stared at him as he walked forward in order to tap the air before them.

To his own eyes, he could see the colour wheel for the wolf-girl, and gave it a slow spin. Within moments the colour of her garments changed from their nondescript white to varying shades of red, orange, yellow, then to greens, blues, purples, and back to red. “Well?”

The older of the two stared at her clothing, mouth agape as the younger muttered out a, “Can you make mine pink?” as she tapped her forefingers together. To which he gave a nod and tapped the air before herself, and after turning the dial towards a bright red, lightened the tone of it to a rose coloured variation. This led her to shout many thank yous as she hugged his leg before twirling around as though the tunic was a billowing dress.

“And for you?” his gaze turned back to the wolf-eared girl.

“...blue...” She waited for his nod, and watched as the colours of her own clothing became the same as the sky when the sun was present. To which she muttered a, “Thank you,” before trotting over to her friend, but froze up with ears perked when a loud squeak was heard from above.

Peering up, the pair saw the white bat from before, and heard the Foxman sigh out a, “Yes, Little Mother. You can have the bodies.”

“Squeak!” she cried out, and zoomed off towards the road where they could hear small amounts of crunching, causing their eyes to grow wide.

“Ahem,” Karastak coughed, grabbing their attention, “I believe it's high time you two tell me your names. I am Karas, or Kar, if you would prefer.” He gave a short bow and pointed his full paw at them to indicate that it was their turn to introduce themselves.

“Oh, um...” began the dark haired girl, quite surprised, “I-I'm Pu-Puella... Sir.”

“I am not a 'Sir',” he interjected, “Just Karas or Kar will do.”

She nodded and the pair of them turned towards the last of the group, awaiting her words as she gave them a frown. “Lupa,” she huffed.

“Hmm,” Karas hummed, the pointed first towards Puella, then Lupa stating, “Your name means 'girl', and yours is 'lost'. 'Lost Girl', huh?” He scratched his chin thoughtfully, and noted the dark haired one fidgeted in place. “Did you need to relieve yourself? There's a tree if you do.”

“No,” she shook her head, staring up at his ears and neck with longing.

Sighing once more, he sat down upon the ground, the fire slowly dying as he tossed a nearby stick into the flames. After which his ears twitched as the girl slowly made her way to his side, where she continued to fidget and stare. “You can touch them if you wish. I won't mind.”

“Yay!” she exclaimed happily, and proceeded to pet, scratch, and rub his head, neck fur, and ears as carefully as a small child could. He, on the other hand, leaned into the care of the child's hands. Whilst the tails beneath his robes had begun a rhythmic beat, which picked up their pace as Lupa joined in on the fun.