Chapter 3: Onwards, To The Shrine We Go!

Under the cool shade of a tree, a girl and her dog were taking a relaxing break. The girl, a very beautiful blonde girl who seemed to be on her late teens, was casually patting her dog on the head. If you were actually to look closer, you would notice that the dog isn’t even a dog. It was wolf, one with very strong body and had very soft looking fur.

“Master, are you comfortable”

Speaking to the wolf, the girl had a very soothing voice. The wolf nodded, as if it knew the words that the girl spoke. Of course, she looked happy as a smile could be seen on her lovely face. Now, you must be wondering why I’m talking in the third person perspective. Actually, I have no idea. I just started doing it since I was feeling so relaxed. Anyway, is this how dogs feel when they lay their heads near someone’s legs? Man, they sure have been living the life. Not only that, Iridia was constantly patting me on the head. I would be lying if I said, this wasn’t comfortable.

Speaking of which, info chan was kind of annoying to say. In the end, I ended up calling her Iridia. Why Iridia? It’s because, it was my mother’s name. I could already hear you saying, ‘Wouldn’t that remind you of your past?’ Well, it does. But you know, it somehow matches her well. You can say, she has the feeling that my mom also had. I can’t really describe it, but it just seems right. The truth? Um… well… I couldn’t think of a better name…

Anyway, moving on. The contract wasn’t what I expected it to be. I thought it was going to be a complicated series of spells and procedures that would involve a ritual where I would need to sacrifice a bit of my blood to activate it. But, it actually wasn’t. All I had to do was place my hand on her chest. Specifically, the center of her chest. There, a tattoo had been inscribed into her skin. What’s more, the same tattoo appeared on my arm. Then, something amazing happened. The huge tree lit up. Yeah, it lit up. Not only that, its color had completely changed into pink. It’s just like those cherry blossom trees that I’ve always seen in TV.

Speaking of which, what did that mean Iridia?

“Hmm… what do you mean master?”

The tree, why did it turn completely pink?

“Ahh… the tree. I’m sorry master, but even I do not know the reason for its transformation”

I gave a wry smile. For an Ai, she sure was clueless. Even when she has access to the spirit library. Actually, it’s not even a library. It’s just a list of skills and magic that a person can learn in this library. Also, it does explain the various races of spirits that calls this forest its home. I, for one, am considered a Deus Alpha. Although that sounds like I’m a god, I’m actually not. The Deus Alpha are a race of wolves that are considered to be the guardians of the forest. They have many unique abilities that are solely seen from them and are the most powerful spirits in existence. Of course, they can also be killed, but they can only be killed by a god slayer weapon. In other words, a weapon that is mixed with silver. Yeah, I know. Lame.

But still, that really isn’t enough to explain what I am. Well, I guess it’s better to just learn things as we go right?

“Yes, that is a very wonderful idea master”

I again smiled wryly. This girl really is an Ai. But, I have to say. She can probably grow to become more human like. I mean, just a few hours of talking and she’s almost reached the stage of having a normal conversation without sounding robotic… I think.

Still, now that I’m actually here, I’m really curious on what kind of world this is.

“Will we be traveling master?”

Yes, we will. But first, I have to find that shrine.

Apparently, there’s a shrine outside of this forest. It is an ancient shrine that was built to worship the great goddess Arian. What’s important about this shrine is the fact that it will allow a spirit to manifest a human form. In other words, I would gain the ability to transform into a human person. As much as I enjoyed my past few days as a wolf, I really do miss being human. The only problem though is the fact that this shrine is located near the dwarven city of Glagur. How do I know this? Well… let’s just say that the map skill is op.

Well, we’ve rested plenty. Shall we begin our trip?

“Hai”

I quickly stood up from my spot. Iridia also stood up.

Climb on my back

She gave me an alarmed look.

“But master. I’m only a lowly servant. It’s not good if…”

I placed a paw on her head. Did I forget to mention that I was almost as big as a horse? No? Well, now you know. Anyway…

It’ll be faster for us if you rode on my back. At least then, I won’t have to worry about you lagging behind.

She closed her eyes for a moment and took a brief breath. With a red face, she nodded as I lowered my back to her. She then quickly got on and leaned on my body. I’m not going to lie, I felt a wonderful pair of mounds on my back. Right now though, that’s really not important. Shaking my head and breaking the spell of those mountains, I quickly dashed towards the bridge. I could feel Iridia tighten her grip, but I didn’t mind. Actually, I was moving pretty fast. I must have gotten strong when I took her contract. I mean, it only took a couple of minutes before we finally reached the end of the forest.

I slowed down, ready to walk on the bridge. Then I noticed something. Below the bridge, a small clearing was made. There, a military camp could be seen. I used my vision to fully see what camp it was. It was the French knights. They’ve made a small fortification that blocked the bridge. For some reason, I felt a bit irritated.

“Master”

Yes, I could see them. Hmm… are there any dwarves in the mix?

“Give me a sec to analyze them master”

She placed her hands and made a box motion in front of her.

[Mirror]

An image formed in front of us.

[Identify]

Suddenly, names began showing up. Not only that, other information began showing too. Race, gender, age and factions. These all began each individual soldiers that were in the camp. I began looking through them and finally concluded that the dwarves weren’t present. But it seems these guys focus are not the dwarves. Instead, they were focused towards the island. How do I know this? It’s because the barricades were facing towards me. As for their rear, it’s like they have nothing to fear. In other words, their primary target was the forest.

For some strange reason, I don’t really like the fact that their facing the forest

“I too do not like it master. It seems as if they have bad intentions for the forest”

What should we do? We can always just go around them… but…

Something deep inside me was rumbling. What is this feeling? It’s like my blood is boiling.

“Aren’t you just excited master?”

Excited? For what?

Iridia smiled.

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“Aren’t you excited for a fight? I could feel master’s feelings. If it was fear, I would have known. But instead, I could see that you’re getting really excited the more you stare at those men down there”

I couldn’t refute what she was saying. For some strange reason, I really want to go down there and just go wild. Being a person with a peaceful background though, the thought of killing someone scares me. But, it’s not like I’m going to kill anyone right? I just want to give them a little lesson from before. Not only that, I really don’t like those fortifications. That’s why, they need to go down.

Iridia, how good are you with fighting?

“Give me a second master”

Her eyes began to flash. Before I knew it, they’ve changed from blue to a scarlet red. With a smile she then held out her hand and a spear made out of pure energy formed. I was surprised… and excited. Ah, I’ve used the same words for a while now. My blood is really pumping.

Do you think you can hit them without killing?

“Do not worry master. This spear only takes away their mana and stamina. Their life will be spared getting hit with this. If you want, you can also coat your teeth and claws with this”

Really? How?

“Remember master, you only need to think about it”

Oh, yeah. I quickly imagined my teeth and claws armed in spiritual energy. I even imagined a whip like weapon on my tail. Sure enough, it was successful. With this, I can go wild.

We will stay together. Whatever you do, you must not get off me

“I’ve already completed the saddle. With this, I won’t be taken of that easily master”

Confused, I turned my head around. She was actually riding an energy saddle. Just how powerful is this light magic. Not only that, she was also wearing light green armor. She had an imposing look of a battle maiden with a shield and a spear.

Well, guess I don’t really have anything to worry about.

With that, I quickly leapt on the bridge and howled into the sky. I quickly saw frantic men scrambling around. There were also two guards near the pillars. I couldn’t see their faces, but they seemed kind of afraid. How can I tell? Well, both the spears that were lowered to me were shaking slightly.

With a powerful jump, I flew across the two men, right above the palisade and into their camp. Aside from the two knights, everyone else scrambled for their weapons. They didn’t even have any armor on and only carried a sword or spear and their shield. I quickly went to work. Aiming at the closest man, I quickly dodged his jab and bit into his side. He screamed as he let go of his spear. I then tossed him into two other men before slashing at another.

While I continued my rampage, Iridia was professionally warding off any soldier that came behind me. One man tried to strike at her but she leaned her entire body to the side while she jabbed him with her spear. As she sat back on the saddle, she caught two swords aimed at her with her shield. She then twisted her arm, reflecting the swords while also slashing her spear to the side completely knocking the two knights to the ground.

“SHIT! ARCHERS, OPEN FIRE”

As I continued to slash at the knights, I heard soft whistling in the air. I began spinning the whip above us and soon, the arrows were easily batted aside.

“No way!”

“Just what are they?”

Every knight had their jaws wide open. I didn’t let the opportunity slip. Punishing them, I crippled another four knights and threw them at the palisade. It wasn’t enough to destroy them though, but I managed to find something that can.

Hold on

As I sent this thought message to Iridia, I quickly jumped at the torches. I then took them on my mouth and threw them at the palisade.

“Did that thing just do that?”

“No way, how did it know to do that?”

You can really sense that their morale was beginning to shatter.

Hey Iridia, now’s the best time to warn them. Tell them never to approach the forest again

With a nod, she spun her spear in front of us. That did two things. One, it blocked the incoming arrows that I didn’t notice. Two, it fanned the flames behind us and gave us a menacing appearance.

“LEAVE THIS PLACE NOW. IF YOU DON’T, YOU WILL FEEL THE WRATH OF THE GUARDIANS”

I can only imagine the fear that was in the men’s eyes. You could see that they were wary… actually, not wary. They were complete scared of us.

“R…RETREAT”

When the captain finally ordered it, every man took their injured companions and began running from us. If you look at it, everyone was still alive and kicking. They just look tired and bruised. With a small bark, I finally expelled that last bit of my excitement.

Well… that was really fun, wouldn’t you agree

“Hai, it was really fun. I have to say though master, you can be pretty scary if you want”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

Yeah, I guess I can. But you know, it was worth it. I finally had the chance to try out something I would never have done before. Plus, now. I feel like I have the strength to do anything. So I might as well use this new strength that was given to me. Who knows, maybe in the future, a lot more fun things can happen right.

She took of her helmet, exposing her charming smile.

“Hai”

With that, we started fanning out the flames. Searching the place, I was actually surprised that there weren’t any supplies left behind. They must have rushed taking those with them. If they did, I was kind of impressed. They sure know how to act during an attack. After razing the entire camp completely, Iridia and I continued our journey towards the Shrine of Arian.

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Author Notes:

As promised, here is chapter 3. Now, you guys are probably curious about the Spirit library. I'll clarify it. Basically, it really is just a spirit databank that includes information about spells, skills and spirits. It also has a hidden function that has no major advantage to our M.C. That is, the instant messaging with the goddess. The only thing is, Arian can only message him. The only way our M.C can message her is through prayers... in a shrine... devoted to Arian.

Also, the knights really looked weak in this fight. Actually, there's an explanation for this. This is only a scouting party. I haven't explained the layout of the overall armies yet, but I'll explain the scouting party composition. They are a light infantry that mainly centers around engineers. That means, their sole job is to make forward fortification to support their respective armies. Since mages and cavalry are placed into their own separate roles, they are not included in this unit. In other words, the only offensive power that this group really has is their ability to lock down a position with shield infantry while archers pick off the locked enemy. Once their fortifications are breached... well, you can then consider them as cannon fodders. Yeah, it's harsh being in these types of unit.

Well, I hope you liked the information. Also, I will be continuing to work on the next chapter so stay tuned. :D