Chapter 2: Ch 2- Hunters

Sweeping the blacksmith was oddly calming. It was nice to do something so earthlike, even if being a slave in a new world was a lot to adjust to. But if this blacksmith cat was some kind of rare creator, did that mean I had a rare class too? The way Jasper responded to my claims of having magic, I felt pretty special. When I passed the feline creatures in the streets I noticed a lot of them with spots and stripes, and if what Jasper said was true, that meant they had access to magic here. All in all, it was a crazy day with a lot to unpack. How did I get home? Was this a one-way ticket to a new planet, or could I go back? Outside, the night was already falling. Either days were very short here, or I didn't notice how much time had passed.

Once I was done sweeping the pounds of cat hair up off the floor, I helped Jasper get T-shaped carpeted stands out, apparently where the cats sat during the auction. They also needed to have cat fur removed. I need to create some kind of tool for this, I thought with a grimace. I wanted to pull Jasper aside to ask him more questions, but Romas kept us busy. Once I got the remaining decor arranged, I sat in the corner near the forge and pulled out the dagger I had made. I inspected it. It was a beautiful, bone-white dagger with a plain handle. I had never been trained in combat and had no clue how to use the thing. I had no muscles to speak of and was overweight by around 60 pounds. Plus, my hand-eye coordination was horrible.

A sudden roar made me jump out of my skin. "Slave!! What did you steal??"

"Romas! Nothing! I…I made this!"

"Lies! You cannot create. Humans are non-magical scum. You only find materials for masters to create!"

“Sir…I…”

Ronas had a terrifying look in his eye. "Your punishment for thievery is nighttime ingredient duty. A creator like yourself should know how to use a dagger, right? Now out!"

"But sir, I…"

"Out!"

I looked around, but Jasper just looked at the ground, avoiding my gaze much like the slaves in the fields had. I slowly stood up, and with one last look at the creature, I opened the door and went out into the night. I looked around, barely remembering where to go to even get to the ramp.

I walked to the end of the block, taking a deep breath. My start in this world was not what I hoped for after being chosen for some form of rare magical class. In fact, I had barely been able to use my class, had no idea what I could and couldn't do, and didn't know what materials I could use to make things with. I glanced up, sighing. There were only two moons in the sky, one of them going below the horizon. It was beautiful here, that was certain. I turned and looked back toward the smithy to the sound of music. Ronas had moved to the front of the smithy-pawnshop building and greeted ritzy-looking cats as they entered. He saw me standing there, growled, and made a 'go away' motion with his paw. I turned and walked further into the settlement.

This late at night, very few humans passed me. It was relatively lively in the settlement, however, with the cat creatures apparently matching the tendencies of Earth ones as nocturnal beasts.

"Hi!"

I jumped and turned around. I sure was jumpy here. Maybe it was the two-legged talking lions and tigers.

"So you're the newest slave, huh? What happened to Kepler? Let me guess…dead?"

I nodded my head.

"Father needs to stop killing the slaves. I'm not going to let him waste another one. Where are you going this late? It's dangerous for a human to be out at night."

"Romas told me to go on ingredient duty because he thought I stole this dagger." I took it out and showed her the gleaming white knife I had made. "I don't really know how to use it, though. I'm not a very...skilled fighter. Especially in close combat with a knife."

"Well, I can take you. A plump human like yourself won't make it very far in the jungle. I'm Deehana. People call me Dee. I could use some night ingredients and make sure you don't get killed out there."

Why does everyone keep calling me fat? I appraised the cat. Deehana looked like a furrier version of a tiger, with about 4-5 stripes on her face. She wore leather armor with no sleeves, tight pants with straps for knives and daggers, and an 8-inch long small sword along her back. Truthfully, she looked terrifying.

"Don't you think your father will be upset if you come?" I asked, trying to avoid being followed around in a jungle by a tiger creature with daggers.

"Oh, he will be just fine. I can do what I want with you. You are partly my slave, after all!" A menacing gleam crossed her face.

I recoiled by instinct just as Dee started laughing hysterically, which sounded like a meow mixed with a cough. "Oh, relax, human. Do you want to survive or not? What's your name, anyway?"

"Noah."

"Nice to meet you. You smell different." She sniffed the air, looking at me suspiciously. "Let me see that dagger again."

She took it into her paw and swung it around a few times in what I could only describe as quick, 'stabby' motions. A couple of swings got closer to my face than I was comfortable with. "And you want me to believe that you made this? It's a nice dagger. I don't see anything special about it; it just feels like a dagger. Sure is pretty, though!"

I crossed my arms. "It's not stolen! I made it!"

Dee looked at me for a long time, not saying anything. Finally, she winked at me. "Sure you did. Only one way to find out, I suppose! Come now, keep up fat human!" She jumped off the side of the tower and onto the ground, almost 30 feet away. I sighed. Ramp it is.

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I finally caught up with Dee at the bottom of the ramp, where she sat patiently licking her paw. My legs burned from walking down the long ramp. "Took you long enough, slave."

"I can't really jump off 30-foot cliffs, Dee."

"Nope. That's why humans will always be slaves. Let's go!" With that, she crouched and slithered off ahead.

I followed behind, walking on the path leading out of the settlement. As I walked, the trees passed, framing an eerie walkway. The path was lit with flaming torches, ending about 100 feet from the spot I stumbled out from earlier that day. The huge moon provided most of the light, but it was relatively dark out. There was no wind to speak of and some small clouds dotting the sky.

Going into a jungle with a talking tiger where I was attacked by raven-hawk monsters earlier in the day seemed like a bad idea. But returning to an angry slave owner seemed like a worse option, so I continued walking behind Dee.

Once we got to the jungle opening, I took one last look back and went in, Dee leading the way. The joking vibe had all but vanished, a business-like demeanor showing in her body.

This is going to suck. Even two steps into the jungle, the darkness became suffocating. Five steps in, I tripped on a rock and fell into a bush full of thorns. Looking ahead from the bush, I saw Dee jump effortlessly from branch to branch, zipping around like she was born for this.

"Dee! Wait up. It's really dark here."

She looked back, a scowl on her face. "Slave, I know you humans can't see in the dark, but at least try and avoid the first rock your big, stupid feet stumble upon."

I got up, ripping out a few thorns in the process. She continued. "Also, I might be almost immune to poisons, but you certainly aren't. Please be careful, or I will take you back to father as an ingredient. Some of those bushes and thorns are poisonous."

"You're immune to poison? How?" I asked.

"Everyone in my class is as we grow stronger. It helps us navigate terrain like this and not worry about which plants will kill us."

I looked enviously at her. "Yeah, that seems useful for a jungle cat climbing trees. Or, you know, a defenseless human."

She grinned. "Oh, cheer up. You're with me. What could go wrong? Now stay there. I'm going to test the claims that you can create." And with that, she took off up the tree.

As I waited, I looked around the best I could. A few streaks of light came in from the moons, dancing around on the forest floor. A few flowers opened up when the moon's light hit them, then closed as the light vanished. There was a general sound of insects, but it was pretty quiet. A light rain began to fall, making a soft sound on the leaves above.

I heard some rustling and a cawww as Dee struck at one of those raven-hawk things, killing it and bringing a beak down to me. "Ok, creator. Let's see what you've got," she said as she dropped the bird's beak at my feet.

I picked up the beak. It was red with black streaks and weighed about 2 pounds. I closed my eyes and let the item speak to me, just like the fang did. I felt it pulling into a hook-shaped dagger, so I let it go, using my 'CREATE' skill once again. I looked down at my creation. It was a mixture between a hammer and a spike, about four inches long, wickedly sharp, and gleamed a dark red color.

"Amazing! Let me see that!" I handed it over to her. "Oh wow, a +2 Mini-Faucon! I've always wanted one of these for killing tree bugs. They're also good for climbing smooth trees!" She looked me over again, a gleam in her eyes. "We can't tell anyone about this. You could be super helpful to my father in the smithy. I don't know what the other Feka would do if they found out. The ingredient you would probably drop..." she trailed off, lost in thought. I looked down at my arm; the red mark had gone down to [12/15], and the blue market was again [5/10]. That skill costs 5 mana, then. And I must have lost a little health from the thorns. Now that I thought about it, my right knee hurt a bit, and my arms were bleeding freely from six thorn-sized holes.

We sat there, not saying anything for a few moments, deep in thought. "Where did you say you were from again?" Dee finally asked.

"I didn't," I replied.

She waited, making a 'go on' motion with her paw.

"Ok. I am an engineer-in-training from a planet called Earth." She made a confused face, so I continued. "Basically, the same thing as a blacksmith in your world. We make things to solve problems that other humans are having. I was transported here somehow. Then a voice made me pick..."

She cut me off. "Wait, a voice? Like, the Blessed? Only the chosen get blessed by the voice. Are you marked somehow, like we are?" She looked me over quickly, expecting to see something.

I rolled up the sleeve on my left arm and showed her my tattoos. She gasped, eyes going wide on her feline face. "You are marked! We mustn't tell anyone about this. And that symbol, that's the same one on the door of the smithy!"

"Yeah, I figured that out too. That's my 'CREATE' skill symbol. It's how I make things. I don't know much more about these markings, though. I think they're my health and available mana?"

"Don't worry, slave. I'll keep you alive. We have to be careful out here. In fact, we should probably head back. I don't want to be the reason the first ever blessed human dies."

I turned to start walking back when I heard the bushes rustle in the near distance, followed by a long howl. I turned wide-eyed to Dee.

She looked at me, fear in her eyes. "Uh oh."

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