Chapter 24: Chapter. 24: Humans

I nodded, not bothering to hide it, though I didn’t even have anything to give back to him. “You could call that a trade for saving your life.”

“Right,” he bit his lip. “I heard it from the others, you killed the Everwood Moose in one shot, right?”

“I suppose it was a single shot,” I mused remembering it was basically incapacitated from the first shot. “Though I have no more arrows, so it’s not like I can give them to you back.” With that said I began walking.

“Wait!” He called once more, making me frown.

I turned. “What?”

“We have arrows,” he declared. “Just… let us borrow your strength…”

I paused. “Borrow my strength?”

He seemed to take a deep breath and nod seeing he caught my attention. “For a day now we’ve been constantly attacked by some armored people; devils. Pointy horns⁠— you get the idea,” he gnashed his teeth as it clicked on me. The horned people had been attacking the Humans? “If you can protect us until they stop targeting our little group, then I can offer this…”

He reached towards his back, for some reason I felt that he wasn’t going to try anything; the lines and the wind remained unperturbed as I was standing in the gray zone. Eventually he brought a quiver full of metal arrows in front of me.

“Please keep in mind that I will only hand you this if you can guarantee the demons will stop attacking us.”

I walked closer and stared at the quiver, its body was bronze and littered with feathers as if it was dug out of a bird’s nest.

[Quiver of the Treant ⁠(Rare Item) — A quiver crafted from treant wood, the magical laced material allows it to replenish (Common) arrows at the price of mana.]

I raised my brow, that seemed almost too good to be true. Though, there was something to be said.

“Does anything prevent me from killing you to obtain it?”

He shook his head, seemingly relaxing. “You could’ve killed me as soon as I crossed your path, and you could’ve killed me as soon as I showed you the quiver.” He smiled, though it seemed mocking, it was as if he were mocking the fact that I wouldn’t hurt him, he was so sure of himself. He continued with the same expression, eventually getting on my nerves.. “Hence you won’t be killing me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” he grinned in stupid self confidence. “You’re not⁠ that type of person, believe me.” He did his self-reassured smile once more, making me frown deeper. “Hence⁠—

“Shut up,” I interrupted, my voice hissed. “Any more words and I might just actually kill you, or at the very least, do something to shut you up.”

I stopped myself from hitting the man, all of his words felt demeaning; he didn’t know me or know anything about me. Just because I wasn’t one to instantly snap his neck, did he think I was going to let him walk over me?

“Right…” he nodded, catching himself. “Sorry I forgot you’re… from a different planet altogether,” he pathetically chuckled.

I shook my head in disappointment.

He processed my reaction for a moment. “Sorry if I offended you. The only reason I mentioned that you didn’t kill me is because you didn’t strike me as the bloodthirsty type,” he paused. “Well that’s not really relevant to our deal, right?”

“It is not.”

He let out a small cough. “Does this affect our… agreement?”

I was still interested in the quiver, so I replied with the truth. “No, now hand it over.” After I said that, I extended my hand waiting for him to give it to me.

He seemed to hesitate, biting his lip “Will you run away with it?” I didn’t reply. He deliberated for a second before he placed the quiver on my hand. “We’ll be counting on you.”

I gruffed and left it at that, I had no real intention to develop a relationship with the Humans, everything was going fine alone, and I was planning to keep it that way. The Human took a deep breath, and introduced himself.

“Name’s Matt.”

Right, his name was Matt, I had forgotten about a minute ago. As I put the quiver under my cloak I answered his request, or rather what he had discreetly asked. “Blair.”

He nodded with deep confusion, he seemed to want to say something but abstained himself from it. Probably too scared to say it ⁠— though his eyes didn’t reveal fear ⁠— I didn’t really get it so I left it at that.

He opened his mouth and then closed it before doing so again. “Please, follow me.”

Looks like he had regained his bearings. I gestured to him to move past me to lead the way, which he did with doubt and skepticism. Not long after, I trailed behind him mirroring his pace, as we passed by the charred forest, the fallen trees and the ashes of the Guardian I couldn’t help but ask.

“Why are you here?”

He seemed to pause. “What do you mean, by here? You mean in this world?”

I shook my head, the System thing was self-explanatory. “Here, where a deadly battle took place.”

“Isn’t it the same reason you’re here?” He looked at me strangely. “To loot corpses?”

I tilted my head. “Not really?”

He lifted his brow. “Is that so? Well, a day or two ago there was a battle and I got that quiver out of it, now I make it a point to lurk battle sites after the battle has clearly calmed down.”

It sounded reasonable, except that if the Kame had survived it, it would’ve probably gone back into the cave and simply rested there. In that timeframe, it probably would’ve recovered enough to use its abilities once more, ultimately ending Matt’s life.

“I do not recommend it.” I shook my head. “If any monster survived, it would remain there instead of wandering about, and then, you know.”

His eyes widened as he nodded. “Indeed, there was a snake in the forest that someone fought, a group of survivors approached the tree it seemed to be guarding, or well it’s what I got. When I checked that place they were already dead from the snake. This seemed to happen before we met you,” he chuckled before he sighed. “It’s a lesson to learn from, the snake bit the tree and the next thing I heard was death.”

I nodded, it probably was the Guardian of the Osthus Tree given our position and the last time I saw the Humans.

“Anyway, I know what I am doing, rest assured,” he said. “If you weren’t doing the same as I was; what were you doing?”

“Collecting loot.” I concisely answered him, much to his bafflement.

“Oh, huh…” He went silent walking forward.

“Why are the horned people targeting you?”

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He raised his brow. “It’s a bit complicated, but they keep talking about submitting to the rule of their emperor. Thankfully as many of us reached level 5 and injured one of their people they’ve been a lot less… forceful. You know, the level 5 power-spike.”

“Power-spike?” I asked with curiosity.

“Ah, right… It’s a term to say it’s almost a qualitative change in power? Something that marks a huge difference between the two? Between level 4 and 5 is learning a skill.”

I let him continue speaking. “Anyway, the fact that we gained more power made them warry, though it seems that they are just preparing a better attack? We’ve seen them lurk around but avoid us at all costs. We were in the process of leaving for a different place altogether, but then we heard the battle, and then I ran into you, Blair…” He awkwardly stated my name with tons of doubt, but I said nothing.

“So long as the horned people stop attacking you, our deal will be over, right?”

He thought for a second. “Yes, that is the verbal agreement.”

That worked out for me, I still wanted to go kill the snake after all. And hearing it was still alive ⁠— at least last he checked ⁠— was great. Though it also made me wonder if disputes between monsters would happen. What would happen if the Boreal Kame and the Snake⁠— well that much was obvious, the snake would obliterate it. If its power was anything to go by then a single bite would certainly kill the Kame.

Eventually he began jogging as I followed after him, minutes of my own thoughts and passing through shrubbery turned into hours, though sometimes he would need to stop for breaks in between. It seemed that this Human in particular did not have as much endurance as me. Aside from the attempted conversations I used the chance to experiment with Penumbral Sense, it seemed that if I got too distracted the lines would disappear, and if I focused on them too much they would vanish as well. It was odd, but at least it seemed that red equalled some sort of consequence⁠— if I referenced from what had happened with the Human.

Before I realized, we were about two hours away from the snake ⁠— by my mental estimations ⁠— and had switched to a walking pace. All I got to really track was the fact that we went back south, though there was a high chance I was just plain wrong about where the snake was, I could always ask Glim, or so I felt.

In total about 5 hours and something passed.

[Incubation Period: 4 days 7 hours 34 minutes]

Sometimes the Human ⁠— Matt ⁠— would try to start conversations with me, but would inevitably be disappointed. I didn’t really care to hear about his life on his planet called Earth, or how his society worked. He tried to ask about elves but didn’t get many answers. The only thing he happened to mention that caught my interest were ‘guns’ which according to him such weapons would totally wreck an Everwood Moose. I was doubtful, but kept it in mind as well as their descriptions, which he was more than happy to provide.

‘An L-shaped thingy made out of metal’, and he held a stick up as one would hold a gun. I made sure to commit it to my mind out of curiosity but it remained nothing more than well… curiosity.

Twenty minutes later we reached what he called his camp, the sun was finally beginning to set. I followed right behind him as the humans I was familiar with regarded him. Matt was one, two girls, two male melee fighters and⁠— the leader was missing? They sat around a clearing with what seemed like some backpacks similar to the one I had under my cloak; though their colors were different the material looked visually the same.

Hearing our footsteps they regarded Matt with smiles before they switched to me with confusion, I even saw horror in one of their faces. Matt clapped his hands, calling everyone and gesturing to me.

“I have enlisted someone to help us with our demon problem,” he curly said.

The spearman greeted me with a stiff nod before turning to Matt. “Hey, do you think we could all talk alone?”

“Without her?” Matt pointed at me with confusion.

I sensed the impending argument between all of them as the women’s faces shifted to horror and the warrior’s to skepticism. I simply walked back and leaned on a tree as Matt seemed to get what was going on. It didn’t take long before they walked away in a small group behind some trees, though much to my displeasure, I could hear their faint whispers with my ears. My hearing was good, but I almost wished it wasn’t this time around.

“Matt, why did you bring that elf here?”

“Why not?” Matt asked back in a hushed tone. “You guys said it, she killed an Everwood Moose in a single shot, if anyone can get rid of our demon problem it’s her!”

“She caused Dante to leave us,” a woman protested.

“He left on his damn own,” Matt hissed. “He left us for dead just because his ego was hurt, and now I must make sure you all are alright. If anyone does not want to follow my orders then just leave. If I managed to come back here alive, then doesn’t that mean that she is not a bloodthirsty murderer?”

There was silence before someone asked.

“So what do you propose we do now?”

Matt answered. “Whatever, perhaps you could try to warm up to her, though be careful with your words I accidentally made her mad earlier. Then again I was being a smartass salesperson again. She’s nice enough to let you ramble about your life at least.”

There were some murmurs of agreement that I couldn’t understand.

“So she is trustworthy?”

“I don’t know,” Matt answered. “I’d like to think she is. At least she came all the way here and is not openly hostile, so I think she is trustworthy. Just don’t expect her to fight the demons to the death should she be overwhelmed.”

I found myself nodding in agreement with Matt, he was surprisingly reasonable in spite of our rocky start. The conversation carried as he tried to calm all of his group members ⁠and eventually turned into try to warm up to me somehow. I didn’t really know how to feel about it.

Minutes later they came back to the clearing, where I was still leaning against the tree. Matt nodded at me making sure I met his gaze before going to sit down to rest, he was clearly and visually tired. The warrior and spearman gave me a glance before going on their own way, and finally the two women approached me; one of them had blonde hair and one black much like my own.

“Um, I heard you’re called Blair,” the black haired one spoke, her skin white like an elf’s. “My name is Samantha.”

The blonde one shuffled before speaking. “I am Andrea.”

I nodded in acknowledgement and left it at that, which seemed to surprise them.

“Are you not interested in those of another world?” The one that called herself Andrea asked.

“No,” I shook my head. “Not when there are so many monsters lurking around anyway.”

They nodded before Samantha spoke. “If it’s not too much of an ask can you show us your face? It’s just pure curiosity.”

I looked at her strangely, the hood of my cloak did cover most of my face but seeing their curiosity I complied, finding no issue with the request. I brought my right hand to my face and removed the fabric covering me.

Their eyes widened in unison.

“Y-You’re very pretty,” Andrea said with confusion.

Samantha nodded in agreement before opening her mouth and pausing. “Thank you.”

And just like that, she took her friend and left to speak on their own. Next thing I knew they were gushing about how good I would look if I simply removed all the grime from my face and wore more attractive clothes, alas I had no interest in such things. I decided to climb the tree to get a better vantage point should things go wrong; the action being met with nothing but strange gazes.

During this time I made sure to check the quiver I had received from the human. It was full of arrows with some room to spare, it seemed to fit a bit more than thirty arrows by my estimations. I made sure to note that, before deciding to try the arrow generation function. My mana flowed onto the quiver, small lines of green began to lit up as it absorbed it. A second later with a small green flash an arrow came into existence.

A small frown formed on my face realizing it took about one-tenth of my mana just for that. So I could get about an arrow an hour? At least based on my mana regeneration rate from the last time I checked that was the case. It was a bit disappointing but better than nothing. Stowing away the quiver I looked at my arrow, the one that I had extracted.

Piercing Shot, eh?

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