Claire's legs ached after working out with the birdmen for around an hour, dancing, squatting, doing push-ups...
She was about to just give up and get out of here, but she decided that she had suffered through all this, and there was no point leaving if she had already come this far.
she approached the hawk who seemed to be the leader, who had stayed behind and was currently flexing as he explained some things to a couple other birdmen, energetically.
There was a large duckman and a cockatoo birdman.
"And then you make this pose! Mmm! You gotto allow them to see every muscle you've spent your long hours developing! That's right! Just like that! Mmmmm!!! Perfecto!"
The other two clapped their wings/hands with the hawk's, and interlocked them quickly in a bro-shake before returning to the exit. It was equivalent to when two football players would high five in order to pump themselves up.
"Thank's as always, Erasalis!"
"See you tomorrow! These muscles can't wait!"
Claire then walked over to the hawk, who was now finally alone.
"Ah! Human! I see that you have taken part in one of our sessions... you must be a big fan of us in order to come all this way to take part! What do you say? How about I make you an honorary member of our tribe and allow you to stay here? We're always open to anyone who recognizes our greatness and devotes themselves to the sessions we hold! Passion is the key! It is my dream to spread our practices all over the monster realm- even the lizardmen tribe, but they don't seem to get it... they're too stuck up in their old fashioned warrior ideals... what a shame. I'll have to show them that their honor and old fashioned fighting is nothing more than a fraud by gloriously defeating them with our immaculate figures!"
"Ah... well... actually I came here for another reason-"
"Oh?! And to think you were so good at working out with us during the session... did you come here to learn the music of our tribe!? The female members of the birdmen tribe have spent ages researching and producing high quality and new music with nothing other than their voices! Surely you heard the wonderful sounds they were producing as we were training our bodies! This type of music that we have discovered is something that I'm certain you will find nowhere else, and you can only learn how to sing like that from the birdmen tribe! Well? how about it?! Is it your dream to become a vocalist?"
"No... it's not that either. I just wan-"
"AH! Perhaps you were interested in the advanced architecture and design produced by none other than the birdmen tribe! Yes, yes... our buildings are truly a marvel to behold, and there exist no tribes elsewhere in the world who have both the capabilities and the intelligence to build homes so high up in the trees like we do! Not only does this function as a natural defense mechanism, but our architects love to design with STYLE! The intricate interweaving of the trees within the buildings, and the merging of art, nature and civilization is nothing less than a marvel to behold! Not only this, but the structural capabilities of these buildings are of a peak level of performance, and are the definition of practicality for us who spend our days training our bodies!"
"I didn't come here because I admire you!"
The birdman, who had been going on and on about the wonders of his tribe, opened his beak slightly while holding up a single finger, and then closed it before thinking hard.
"You... you didn't come here because of our impressive culture?"
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"Ah... no, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to offend you! Of course, your culture is impressive! It's amazing! However, that is not the reason why I have come."
Erasalis seemed to be in deep thought. He was stroking his chin before he looked up again at Claire.
"Then... why exactly have you come here. Surely you are not an enemy?"
"I am the one who is known as the Determined. I am the current leader of the slime village, in coordination with the Antiheroes. We have decided to hold a conference among the leaders in the area, and wish to discuss the upcoming war between the birdmen and the lizardmen. Even if you have no intention of making peace with the lizardmen, I implore you to come! (Because if you don't then the antiheroes will probably be disappointed with me...). I can assure you that you will gain at least some knowledge by attending this meeting, and the antiheroes wish to begin meeting with nearby leaders as well."
"The Determined... the antiheroes... where have I heard those names before.... hmm... I can't exactly remember. They seem to ring a bell but...."
There then seemed to be an exclamation point above the head of Erasalis.
"AH! From the legends! Could it be that you are the one who is said to lead those legendary figures, slaughtering all monster tribes who get in your way!? I knew from the skill that you participated in the session with that you were no ordinary person... but could it really be true?"
He seemed to be thinking even harder now.
"Agh! Too much thinking! Anyways, fine. I will attend this session of yours, however I cannot compromise on the upcoming war. After all, the entire purpose of this war is to spread our culture across the land! We cannot compromise on this! We must show all through the might of the birdmen that our newfound ways are the next big thing among monsters, and we will not stop until we have shown all the old fashioned warriors this!"
"I see... anyways, the meeting is two days from today, at the slime village. I trust you know where to go?"
"There will be no problem there! Thank you for coming to our village, and please spread the word about us! If you know any passionate individuals who wish to better themselves, please send them our way!"
"Uh... yeah...sure."
Claire then left, cringing.
What an odd group.
Even so, they did not exactly seem like bad people... just very.... over the top.
Claire was determined to make it back to the slime village that day. She didn't want to have another episode before the end of the day, so she immediately headed outside the building.
The young toucan seemed to be waiting nearby, eating some berries as a snack, when he flew over to Claire.
"Is everything alright, human? You look exhausted..."
"I am. Just... take me to the ground please."
"No problem."
----
Claire soon after left the birdmen village, her head spinning from the events.
'Could I just get a break? Aghhhh... I'm so sick of this world!!!!'
'No... I shouldn't think like that... none of the people I have met over the past few days were really bad people... they were all very odd, but they surely had good intentions, unlike that man... I should do what I can to cease their war, even if it means going through all these annoyances. That's right! I am no longer Claire! I am the Determined now! It is my job apparently to unite the monster races so that they can all live peacefully together, without discrimination or prejudice! I need to shape up if I'm going to live up to that title."
Claire pumped herself up after rolling her cheeks with her palms and decided to work even harder to perform her role.
While it was the antiheroes who had told her to invite the clan leaders to this meeting, and while she had gone through annoyance after annoyance to get that done, she was ready now to ensure that these two very different tribes could come to an agreement.
That was the purpose of this meeting after all, right?
She couldn't think of any other reason why the antiheroes would want to have summoned the nearby leaders who were about to war with each other.
Claire headed back, once more ready to take on this responsibility. She was still somewhat excited to see this new world. Even if it was insane, the people of this world were starting to grow on her, and she was interested to see how things would turn out if she was able to unite them.
She then once more remembered Rithargus, who she had sent back to the village. She hoped he was alright.
'He.. he's probably fine. No worries! No worries at all! He probably is telling everyone about his adventure in the lizardmen village right now as I speak! I'm sure of it! Speaking of which... I wonder if the antiheroes have returned yet... I can't just send them messages whenever I want... I wish things were as convenient as that.'
What have our heroes- or should I say our villains- been up to while Claire had been working so hard? Claire was not the only one who had been preparing, however even before that, the antiheroes were hard at work. We now turn back to the morning 2 days before the meeting, before the antiheroes had arrived at the slime village in tow with their new slaves.