Training with a sword I notice how fast my Muscles move. This new Ava is a precision machine. If that is the evolution of Humans, they have a great way to the pinnacle of brawn and precision.
I just notice the Sword might not be the natural best weapon for such a Body type. The whole swinging is fast and precise just because the Body is tuned with Mana, but seems more to like close quarter combat would be the better choice.
Grappling or maybe some Batons? Well whatever, I go with the normal kind of weapon Mercenaries use for now, and that is a sword. I would hate to let Alpha put on dust.
…
“Are you sure Lord?”
“Of course. When Petal comes next time you can go on a vacation and visit Root City. I mean you worked so hard, it would be bad to hold you back from where you came from.”
Snow looks a bit sad, as she knows what I really wanted to tell Leafy. She knows, but it is not time yet. Falling Leaf was never truly a Member of our Domain. She rather stays distant and often ostracizes herself from others. Working to cook animals is also not her favorite but does it only to be helpful.
Someday she will leave us for good, and as our relationship with the Roots seem to have become stable, it would be good for her to be more… with her true family…
Even I find it sad, but I can not do anything about it. She is a Root and I should not stay in her way, if I really like her.
“Do not worry, the whole work here is slowly taken care of by our Villagers. With that you should have a nice rest in two weeks. We ourselves will go outside for a while, so you can rest too.”
“And the transport?”
“The Mana dew will be ready, and for the transport of the produce we will be back. I just want to travel the Grasslands a while to search for some Ruins. The faster I can go back to where I came from, the faster you are free from my shackles.”
“I do not feel… I understand and hope you good luck. Please be assured I will not tell any secrets of you. I just want to… see my Family again. I hope Grandmother is appeased, I somehow fear she is still angry with me.”
“If there is still tension, I will go knocking again. This time maybe a bit gentler just to make amends with your Family tree, okay?”
“Thank you Lord. I will keep your grace in my heart.”
That was this and now for the travel.
…
Snow has been fully kitted out. Purple leather armor with black straps. A new Parasol made from spider silk. I did not even know they had such silk in stock, but Snow brought last time some samples back for me to use. Costly but durable. Arrows should bounce right off.
A bit of Mithril was woven into the iron holding the fabric. Enough for them to not break easily. Same with the hidden surprise inside the handle. Yep, I made a rapier inside of it. She does not like it as much, as she likes the massive iron claws I made her at first better, but still takes it with her as a sidearm.
Right now we are coming out of the Forest on the west side. The first time I am here and the grasslands are visible far and wide. The travel had an encounter with a Rockbear, but he just ran as he saw us. We still do not know if he ran because of Snow or me. Maybe both?
Walking the rather dry patch of Sand between the Forest and Grasslands I realize how strange this border is. Must be some kind of Magic or maybe the Forest is stopped by the Root to not grow further. I have no Idea, but still it is strange to have around a hundred meter of nothing before the grass stands tall as Snow.
…
“Found it!”
“Ah, that is a cricket. Nice to see one of those here too.”
“It makes such a funny sound! Can I keep it?”
“Sure Snow, just be careful not to accidentally kill it. Maybe it can become a Monster?”
“Only if it keeps chirping like that. In the cage you go, little sound bug.”
The second day being in the Grasslands. They are huge! It is like an ocean of grass on hills and valleys. Sometimes there is a patch of barren rock, but otherwise the grass stands tall. Different kind of seeds are already in my pouch.
The barren wastes of the Crater might need a bit more life. With the Monsters the conversion starts to become easier, but still is not enough to keep all my Domain empty of Miasma. Well I have now nearly grown my Domain to three quarter of the diameter of the Crater, so it is logical to have not been able to keep it clean.
I have somehow the feeling it is not only my ineptitude to keep it level, it seems to me like the miasmic flow into the Crater is rising. Maybe I just imagine it as my Domain is now so big, but it makes me a little uneasy.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
…
“Seeing anything?”
“Nah. Just grass and some more grass.”
Right now Snow is standing on my shoulders. All around us is so much grass I thought maybe the higher vantage point might show some more around us.
“I start walking again.”
“’kay!”
While walking she balances on my shoulders with her tail as counterweight. As we are both enhanced, it is not really troubling to walk like that. Without my ability to feel the crystal sphere in my Domain, I would too be totally lost. Losing Ava in an ocean of grass. Somehow scary.
“Ah over there! Some smoke is visible.”
“Finally, I knew they had to cook someday. Which direction?”
“A bit to the right. A bit more… Perfect, now only forward. Coming down, catch me!”
And with a hop she lets herself fall. She could just land on her feet but wants to be caught. Well whatever, she is rather light and I have no problem with it.
…
Right now we are surrounded by cats. Catkin to be precise. Their spears and bows are drawn and no one seems to want to talk. We just stand there and appreciate the scenery.
Those cats all have different stripes or spots. Tiger, leopard, cheetah… there might not be a distinction of different feline clans. Their clothing is made from leather and flax, not badly made either, they are way more elegant and precise as I would have thought.
Boots are not in their repertoire, as they might need the stealth. Gloves are missing too, but otherwise they look rather stylish with some feathers here and there as decoration, maybe some kind of markings for rank.
Snow was at first really interested in their looks and looked at each one a long time separately until she got bored. Now she yawns, as I am bored too. When do they want to speak?
“Look what we got here. We caught a little mous…” “RAT!”
Snow, do not be that angry. It might just be a phrase. The apparently superior who came out of the grass right now is a bit shocked being interrupted like that.
“Well… RATkin, you are in the wrong part of the Steppe, and why are you wearing foreigners clothings? Are you a Slave of that blankskin there?”
Blankskin… What a poor slur… Are Elves not even more ‘blank’? They are your friends, are they not?
“Nah, I am his family. We just came to ask for direction.”
“Foreigners are not welcome here, we would have killed you right away, if we did not see you with him. We can give you directions to the afterlife, if you are not careful.”
“No, we need other directions. Do you know about some ruins of the old Kingdom, which were here a few thousand Years ago?”
Snow is unperturbed. I still had no chance to talk, as I was not asked, and to be fair, Snow can also talk about what we want, so that is that.
“Little bitch!”
An arrow was fired, obviously just to scare Snow, as it would just fly over her side, but she caught the arrow with two fingers.
“Still RAT, no mouse and no dog. Do you not even be able to see the difference?”
Breaking the arrow with her two fingers she made the whole group… were a group of cats not called clowder? Chowder? Clutter? … ah whatever! The catkin are all tense now. They thought themselves in a superior position and now suddenly they puff up their fur.
“Who are you?”
“Snow, and this is Ava. We are just passing by.”
“Snow… Strange Name, you are not from the Steppe, are you or were you a slave?”
“No, I was always free. Ava found me, when I was injured and healed me back then, since then we are Family.”
Hugging my Arm, she is rather relaxed. Well it is a bit bad for us to hold hands while surrounded, but both of us should be able to escape. Worst comes to worse, Snow can pull Twin out of the shadow and pull Ava in. This would give her time to escape while I wreak havoc with Twin as sacrifice.
“Lower the arms. Snow, we normally do not tolerate Foreigners in our midst, so consider yourself lucky. My name is ‘the one with the cloud in its fur’ but Cloud is enough for now.”
Jeez! And I thought Root Names were complicated. What about Names including whole poetry?
…
“Wise Leader, these are Outsiders, who want to know about Ruins around our Steppe. Snow is strong, but no Member of the Steppe, so I did not know how to further approach. Please guide me.”
Sitting in front of a rather old looking Tiger, with white fur. It seems not originally white, so they have that in common with humans, as their color fades over time. Albeit old he looks strong, must be the genes or maybe the Steppe does not allow weakness.
Strange, as I did not even see one strong animal in the whole area around us. There were signs, but every time we saw something, it just evaded us.
“You have done well, little Cloud. I feel their strength just being near them. We welcome you to our humble tent, travelers. What might you seek in those old and forgotten ruins?”
“Thank you wise Leader of this mighty Clan. I am Ava and search for a way home. My home is far away and might only be found with teleportation Magic, so I am searching for clues of strong enough Magic to bring me back.”
“An arrow shot by a strong bow will not hit, while the target is not known, traveler. You might find the Bow, but remember the further the target the more precise the shot you need.”
Well… wise words. I need to be extremely precise. If I just open a portal in the dark I might miss.
“I will remember this. I might only have one shot, so I will always keep your wisdom in my mind.”
Nodding he got silent for a while.
“Do you know, why our land is still unchallenged by humans as of now?”
“No, I do not.”
I do not even know what is going on in the Grasslands they call the Steppe. So I can say with certainty I do not know anything.
“It is a long kept secret we…” “Leader!” With a hand he silences Cloud.
“A long kept secret. We have Shamans who can talk to the World. The World mostly slumbers but can tell us the past, present… and sometimes the future.”
So they have Future sight. Neat! But why… Wait, were they aware of me?