Chapter 70: Chapter 70: Wishing and Washing

The retreat back south went as quickly as they could make it, which meant however fast the slowest worker could run.

They weren't able to completely avoid combat, since they had to barrel through one noble deer, and there was a bear that got close enough that Sara had to intercept it. She wasn't sure if she should take the time to defeat it, or just tell the others to run while she stalled it. If they took too long, it would just give more bears time to catch up. They had already proven that even if Sara's side focused all their power on one, a second one could still manage to show up before they were done. It was probably better to buy them time, then try to escape.

"Keep running!" she yelled loud enough that hopefully at least one of the Druids heard it. "I'll hold it off, and follow shortly!" She grunted as the bear tried to knock her down."Stick with them, Kathleen," she said. She couldn't leave them completely without protection. "I'll escape when you're far enough away."

"Yes, boss!" Thankfully Kathleen didn't question her, and just raced off.

"Alright, you big blob, let's dance," Sara growled at the bear. "Gloria, let's do this quick!"

"Yes!"

Sara used an Arcane Blast to stagger the bear backwards, and then Charged right into its throat with a Crush, while Gloria Pounced into its side. Together they managed to knock it over, and pin it down. Sara charged a Savage Blow right to the bear's head before it could push back onto its feet, and cast Root Bind. That should hopefully be enough.

"Okay, let's go. Use Smokescreen, and then we both Vanish."

"Got it!"

With a poof the area was blanketed with smoke, and both wolves disappeared from view before they activated Sprint, and raced off. They would still remain invisible for a few seconds, and didn't care about breaking stealth afterwards.

Everyone had moved fast enough that they were almost clear of bear territory, and the rest of the escape went smoothly. They moved a little further down than they thought was strictly necessary before they finally stopped, just in case of pursuit. Everyone could finally catch their breaths. The poor Residents were definitely feeling the strain of running for over ten minutes. A couple of them fell to their knees, and one right on his butt.

"Is... is that it?" Foreman Kuuln asked.

"Yes," Sara said via Kosign. "We've never seen their tracks go this far south. We'll stay for a while just in case one of them decides it's a good first time for it, but once your break is over, this is where we past ways. Your regular escorts will be able to handle the rest of your journey back." Along the road there shouldn't be more than jaguars, and deer below level 25... maybe 26 and down at most. But the Noble Deer rarely wandered onto the road outside of the area they just ran through, so they were more likely to be no higher than level 24. And for all their sneakiness, the jaguars were no problem to deal with for a group. A few wolves were still going to stick with them, and if they weren't bored yet maybe a couple of ravens would hang around too.

"Understood," Kuuln said, and bowed slightly. "Thank you again for your help, Guardian Beast. I wish you luck with your other responsibilities.

"You're welcome, Foreman," Sara said. "Best of luck to you as well."

The wolfkin lingered again after the Foreman walked over to check on the others. "Did you really beat the bear that quickly?" she whispered.

"No," Sara whispered back. "We just knocked it over, bound it, and used my friend's Smokescreen to get away."

"Oh... I haven't heard of ninja wolves before," Kosign said as she glanced towards Gloria.

"Neither had I, until a week ago." Sara giggled.

"Um... um... hey... about that autograph... do you think...?" Kosign hesitantly said.

Sara stifled a laugh. "I don't mind, but I need something to write on, and something more permanent than chalk to write with. Do you have anything like that?"

"Uh..." Kosign paused for a moment. Maybe checking her inventory. "No..."

Sara wanted to pat her on the back, but wasn't sure how to do it safely. "Well, I'll tell you a little something. I'm going to be taking part in a raid on the bandit camp in Wutsch tomorrow, along with the elves. They might post something either tonight, or tomorrow morning about wanting Adventurers to join. If you manage to sign up, and you bring something for me to sign, I can do it after the raid." She was way too amused by the idea of giving someone her autograph.

"Oh! Okay!" The Druid quickly cheered up, and she had a look of determination.

Sara realised she wasn't actually sure how she wanted to sign it... she hoped she wasn't going to use her old name out of habit, or even use Sara at all. Sticking to some shaky scrawling of 'The Guardian Beast' was probably good enough.

After the road crew, and their escorts headed off, Sara looked towards the north again. "Alright, you two," she said to Gloria, and Kathleen with a sigh. "Let's go see if there's any chance to get one of these bears to speak with us."

"Okay."

"Got it, boss."

* * *

Sara shifted into Bear Form to see if that gave her better odds of being listened to, but the first bear she found still charged right at her with a roar.

"Hey! I just want to talk!" Sara roared back as the bear Charged right into her. A Dire Grizzly was still larger than her own Bear Form, but she had a clear edge in Strength now, and was able to push the stubborn beast back. "Listen to me!"

"We fight!" The bear roared back.

Sara wrestled it to the ground, and smacked it in the head without using any skill. "If you would listen for just a minute... then we can fight afterwards... you stubborn brute!" She was losing patience already.

"Fight... afterwards?" That finally seemed to give the thing pause.

"Yes!" Sara sighed. "If you're willing to hear me out, then we can fight afterwards, if you still want to."

"... okay." The bear relented, and Sara let it go. "Why you want to talk? Why not just fight?" it asked as it sat up.

"Because..." Sara plopped her butt down. "We want to open the road back up to travellers, and we want you bears to leave them alone. Just stay away from the road. I don't care what else you do."

"Why? Bears want to fight. Want to fight strong enemies," it said. "If there are strong enemies on the road, we want to fight them."

Are they some sort of fighting fanatics or something? "What if the people on the road aren't strong? Will you leave them alone then?" Sara asked. Maybe ironically having the Adventurers, herself, and the others around had made the bears more eager.

Wait... could it be that they had been so hell-bent on rushing the survey team not because they were bloodthirsty, but because they had sensed that the Lieutenant was the strongest person present?

"Maybe," it replied.

"Just maybe?"

"Sometimes we get bored," it said with a shrug. "Will fight anything."

Sara wanted to massage her temples. "And what will it take to get you to not do that?" she asked.

The bear blinked. "I don't understand. Can we fight now?" it asked.

Maybe I should just beat this one up, and hope the next one is more reasonable...

Sara got back to her feet. "Alright. Since it seems like you're not really interested in listening, let's try to knock some sense into you," she growled.

"Fight!" The bear seemed very fired up, but then:

"Enough!" A voice like booming thunder came out from among the trees, and an absolutely massive bear stepped into view. Sara had sensed something big, but she had thought it was just another Dire Grizzly. If those were like cars, then this was more like a big van. Or maybe a minibus. "I will hear you out, boss of the wolves," it said. Even when talking more calmly it sounded like rumbling thunder.

[ Gurmel The Brutal (Fighter Lvl 29) HP: 284/284 ]

[ Target Status ]

[ Named Mob: Gurmel The Brutal | Gender: Male ]

[ Genus: Bear ]

[ Class: Fighter ]

[ Level: 29 ]

[ HP: 272/272 +12 | SP: 181/181 +8 | MP: 77/77 +4 ]

[ VIT: 122 +12 | END: 81 +8 ]

[ STR: 140 +14 | DEF: 130 +19 ]

[ AGI: 64 +6 | DEX: 75 +7 ]

[ INT: 56 +5 | WIS: 41 +4 ]

[ LUK: 40 +4 ]

For a moment Sara thought for sure that had to be the other boss, but apparently it was the other Named Mob. He still had boss-like stats, even if they were heavily weighted towards tankiness rather than overall balance.

[ Skill List ]

[ Active: ]

[ Chomp Lvl Max | Rend Lvl Max | Body Slam Lvl Max | Charge Lvl Max | Savage Blow Lvl Max |
Crush Lvl Max | Shred Lvl Max | Pounce Lvl 9 | Sweep Lvl Max | Stomp Lvl Max | Inner Power Lvl 9 |
Hard Body Lvl 9 | Roar Lvl Max | Taunt Lvl Max | Sense Presence Lvl 9 ]

[ Passive: ]

[ Keen Senses | Danger Sense Lvl 9 | Insulation Lvl Max | Solid Coat Lvl Max | Claw Expertise Lvl Max |
Heavy Blows Lvl 9 | Desperation Lvl Max | Pursuit Lvl Max | Firm Grip Lvl Max | Balance Up Lvl Max |
Dig Lvl Max | Vitality Up (Small) Lvl Max | Strength Up (Small) Lvl Max | Defence Up (Small) Lvl Max ]

Those were pretty boss like skills too. He was above Kathleen. Apparently not all Named Mobs were created equal. Even Sara would struggle with this one. And he had one new skill she hadn't seen before.

[ Harden Body (Active): Increases your Defence, and resistances by (20+(1*skill level))%, and makes you immune to critical hits. Duration: (15+(0.5*skill level)) seconds. Cost 10 SP. Refresh: 1 minute. ]

Looked like the defence version to match Inner Power's offence. Though this guy had both.

"So are you the boss of these bears, then?" Sara asked.

"I'm not a proper boss like you," Gurmel said. "But you could say that." The other bear had certainly backed away as soon as he showed up. "I heard most of what you said, but what exactly is it you want, boss of the wolves?"

"I want to open the road for travel," Sara said. "For both Residents, and Wanderers to use. But so long as the bears don't leave it alone, that is practically impossible. What will it take for you to back off?"

"Back off?" Gurmel sounded bemused. "As the little one said, we fight. That's our purpose in life. It is what we enjoy. The stronger the enemy, the better. If anyone strong travels the road, we will be drawn to them. But while the little ones might fight anything even if strong foes are lacking, I do not engage with those who are too weak. I only fight the boss of the deer, or if the nobles come at me in large enough groups. I considered joining in on the fight against you, but I arrived a little too late. You seem to have lost the will now." There was no real disdain in his voice, just a hint of disappointment.

"So there is no way you would be willing to leave the road alone?" Sara pressed. "I'm not saying we need to be friends or anything, just that we come to some sort of understanding."

"Hm... if you could make it interesting for me..." Gurmel openly mused. "But to be honest you barely interest me, boss of the wolves. You might put up an alright fight, but someone on your level is only barely worth it." Okay, now there was a little disdain. "Still, if you're able to defeat me in one on one combat, I am willing to hold further discussions. However I am not in the mood right now."

Sara sighed deeply. These bears were really bad for her patience. "Well, what if I was able to return even stronger in a few days? Would you be in the mood then?" she asked, keeping her upcoming evolution in mind.

"Really?" Gurmel sounded intrigued. "Any other mob I would have said was just posturing, but I have heard things about you since your arrival, boss of the wolves... very well. If you are able to return even stronger, and give me a great duel, fight me with all your might, then I promise I will take your request seriously."

"Three or four days should be all I need," Sara said. She wasn't sure how long the evolution would take this time. Hopefully no longer than two days. It had been slightly more than one last time. Aina had said the next one was likely to be longer, but she hadn't been able to give an exact number.

"I shall look forward to it." The giant bear nodded. "I hope you'll impress me, boss of the wolves. But until then nothing changes." He turned around, and walked away. The other bear had also left. So Sara turned around as well, and walked back to Gloria, and Kathleen. They had agreed to hang back, and only charge in when Sara needed the help.

I hope it wasn't just posturing. If I turn out to not be significantly stronger after evolving... well, I'll have to try anyway. I think there is a way for me to beat him, but in my current state it would be brutal. Like him, she thought with a chuckle. Though he actually seemed quite reasonable considered the name he had gotten. He just had fighting on his brain, and apparently the 'little ones' were even worse. Her respawn timer was so long now that the strategy from back in Eron Hills would be harder to pull off, so she had to be reasonably certain of her odds of victory before going in.

"So you're going to be stronger in a few days, boss?" Kathleen asked casually as Sara caught up with them.

"How is that possible?" Gloria asked.

Sara was tired now, and wanted to go to bed soon, but she had promised to walk Gloria home.

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"Mm... I'll tell you about it as we head towards Wutsch," she said. "It's getting late, and close to my bedtime, but I promised I'd stay with you until you were back in your zone. I intend to keep my word," she added with a smile.

"Oh... right..." Gloria's ears sank.

"I know how you feel," Sara said, and pressed her forehead against Gloria's. "It's been a lot of fun, but I unfortunately need to rest. We should do something together again soon."

"Yeah. Again. Soon." Gloria's tail wagged a little. "And tomorrow we raid."

"Tomorrow we raid," Sara said with a smile. "So come on. That's enough adventure for one day."

They got going at a leisurely run towards the west.

"Adventure..." Gloria hummed. "Does that mean we are also Adventurers?"

Sara blinked, and giggled. "In a sense, I suppose," she said. "It might not work quite the same for us as for them, but we still have fun!"

"Yeah, fun!" Gloria agreed.

"So what are you gonna do to get stronger, boss?" Kathleen was running along with them, probably curious to hear more about it.

"Right." Sara had gotten distracted. "Well, you have probably both noticed that I am stronger now than I was when I first arrived. Maybe I already mentioned this, but Norax gave me the ability to gain levels, just like the Residents, and Wanderers. And along with that came the ability to evolve. I have already done it twice. I started out as just a small grey wolf, actually." It was strange to think about now.

"You used to be like one of those little ones out in the field, boss?" Kathleen didn't sound like didn't believe it, just that she was asking for clarification.

"Yup. Then I evolved into a Limber Wolf, and then the Mystic Wolf that I am now," Sara said. "When I first got here I was only level 23, but now I'm 29. I think tomorrow I will reach level 30, and then I should be able to evolve again. I don't know what I'm going to become, but whatever it is it should be stronger than what I am now. Maybe then I can give that brute the fight that he wants." She chuckled. "But it will take time to grow into my new form. At least a day, but hopefully no more than two. That's why I said three or four days to him."

"Oh... but if you change, will you still be Sara?" Gloria asked.

"Of course," Sara replied. "I might look different afterwards, but I'll still be myself, and I'll still be your friend."

"Mm..." Gloria nodded. "You can already change how you look, so maybe that's just what you're like."

Sara laughed. "Yeah, maybe." If I keep going along the Druid branch, then whatever class I can upgrade into might have even more forms. Actually, Commune With Animals will deactivate if I switch, right? So I kinda need to stick with it. "And I'll still be your boss," she said playfully, and gently nudged Kathleen.

"Yes, boss," was all Kathleen said. She wasn't the emotional type. Though Sara was curious to see how she might grow too. She was still freshly Named, so it was possible her personality would develop further, and faster because of it.

* * *

With Gloria safely delivered back to her own zone, and after a quick goodbye and good night, Sara and Kathleen ran back towards the east part of Nyolund. It wasn't quite as late as Sara had thought it was, she just felt that tired, but it was still an okay time to go lie down. Though there was one thing she wanted to do first after wrestling with so many bears.

"I'm going to have a bath before I head back to the den," she told Kathleen.

"Gotcha, boss," Kathleen replied. "Is it okay if I join you?"

"Of course," Sara said. It was weird to think how they had first met at that spring the day after she had arrived. Over a week ago.

Has it really only been a week? Hm... today's the 7th, or 8th, right? I think it's still just the 7th. And I came here either the... 28th, or 29th November... 27th? Some time around there. Which makes it two weeks since I left Merwyn? Can that really be correct? My memory is so bad sometimes. It feels like so much more than just two weeks worth of events has happened since then. This last week especially.

Sara slid into the water like a seal. Or penguin. Though the lack of a similarly smooth physique caused quite the wave to splash across the spring. As summer was getting into gear everything was gradually warming up. Even the spring water was a couple of degrees warmer than when she had first arrived. Though it was definitely still on the refreshing side of things. It probably never got all that warm, even in the middle of summer. It was too sheltered.

It amazed her that she could tell so accurately just because of having the right skill.

Kathleen jumped in as well, causing another wave. Sara could still remember her reaction from the first time they met, and giggled.

"You look more comfortable with this now," she said.

"Yes," Kathleen replied. "It's still cold, but I got used to it. I feel it less after having been in for a while."

"Yup," Sara agreed. "That tends to be how it goes." She just floated around for a while. There wasn't any serious washing she was able to do, but her body didn't really retain a lot of dirt, or sweat anyway. It was mostly to refresh her mind, and because she liked the feeling. She briefly considered putting a bath in the den, but heading to the spring was just a better idea in virtually all scenarios.

If she could set up a hot tub, that might be something different, but with her current capabilities... she could probably make a reasonable pool with Dig, and Burrow, reinforce it with Life Magic, and also fill it with Life Magic. Or just see if she could shove water into her inventory like she had with the dirt. The problem, the big problem was the heating. She figured she had enough control over Life Magic now to decently heat, or even boil water. But that much water? Could Fireball be controlled in such a respect, or would it just blow everything up? Maybe Fire Breath? She certainly didn't have the ability, or materials, to build a water heater.

While thinking she noticed some splishy splashy noises. She was just floating around listlessly, and Kathleen was sitting still, and looking half-asleep. She gently circled around until she spotted the source.

[ Forest Raccoon (Rogue Lvl 22) HP: 80/80 ]

Just a raccoon. Sitting on the edge of the spring, washing what looked like a rock.

"Hello," Sara said.

"Hello," the raccoon replied. So casual. It... she (based on the status screen) was very much focused on the washing.

"Are you not afraid?" Sara asked.

"Of what?" the raccoon asked back.

"Of me?"

"Should I be?"

"Nah, I'm not gonna do anything," Sara replied. Raccoons were too cute. She was used to the smaller mobs just running from her on sight, but she had kinda just... stopped paying attention to them, so maybe they had given up on running. No, she had been chasing racehogs that morning, so at least some of them still ran. Maybe this was just what raccoons were like. Or maybe it was just this one raccoon who was weird.

The raccoon nodded, and inspected her stone. Sara hadn't even noticed her because she had gotten so used to tuning out the smaller hits on Sense Presence unless she was specifically searching for them. Their blips were just so small.

"What are you washing?" Sara asked.

"Rock," the raccoon replied.

"Do you want something else to wash?" Sara asked next.

"Like what?"

"Uh..." Because she was feeling in a goofy mood, Sara summoned an apple from her inventory to appear on top of her nose, and floated closer to the raccoon. "How about this?"

She picked up the apple, red with yellow spots, and inspected it. Still absolutely no fear, even though Sara was right in front of her. Fascinating.

"You can even eat it after you're done washing," Sara said.

"Eat? What does that mean?" the raccoon asked.

"Hm... you take a bite out of it, chew, and then swallow," Sara explained. There were different methods of eating different things, but no need to go into that. "But wait until after you've washed it, okay?" This was not a world that needed such precautions as far as she knew, but she felt like being silly.

"Okay," the raccoon said, and started washing the apple.

Sara sat down next to her, and watched for a minute, but her gaze soon started to drift elsewhere. This was such a tranquil area, so it was weird to think it was the same forest where they'd had a prolonged battle against half a dozen bears just a few hours prior, before making a frantic escape.

The day had started with her talking to the girls from that strange beasts guild, then she'd had a picnic with Gloria, and then warred against the bears. And then that absolutely giant bear...

So... tomorrow, huh, mother?

"Looks that way, Sara. Are you excited?" Aina asked softly. Sara was getting used to the new voice now, even if the emotional range still gave her the occasional surprise.

Yeah. It feels a bit like I'll be opening a present, not knowing what I'll get. Sara smiled.

"I can only imagine."

Do you know what my choices are going to be?

"Not with 100% certainty, but I have a reasonable idea. We won't know for sure until the system finishes the calculations after you've hit level 30. You want it to be a surprise, right?"

I am curious, but... yeah. I can wait another day. How long do you think the evolution is going to take this time?

"I lack sufficient data to give you a 100% accurate time, but my estimate is somewhere between 32 and 36 hours. It should be roughly equal no matter what you pick so long as it's on the same tier."

A day and a half. That didn't seem so bad. Actually it lined up pretty well with going to bed one night, and then waking up the morning on the day after the next. Taking one day off should be fine. Honestly she should probably do that more often. Even if she had a lot of things she wanted to get done, they didn't actually need to all happen in quick succession. There wasn't that much of a rush. She just wasn't the most patient person.

Next to her the raccoon had given in to its curiosity, and taken a bite out of the apple.

"Sweet... and sour," she said. So she knew what those things were, at least.

"Do you like it?" Sara asked.

The raccoon was already scarfing it down until there was nothing left. "Yes," she replied afterwards.

"I'm glad," Sara said.

Hey, mother? Do you think it would be possible for me enable, and disable my skills myself? I promise I won't try to override any of your choices, it'll just be for things available to me. But if they're not that useful I might as well keep them off of my skill list. At least until I find a use for them.

There was the distinct impression that Aina wanted to sigh. "You keep asking for all sorts of system access, Sara. It might not seem like a big deal to you, but I assure you it isn't an easy thing to set up safely."

So... that's a no?

"I didn't say that. It will require substantial simulation testing, but I should be able to set it up by the time your evolution is complete. I have been considering some alterations to your skill list appearance, but I'll see if they're still relevant after you evolve. If they are, I'll add them together with this."

Thank you, mother. Love you, Sara added with an internal grin.

There was silence for a minute, so Sara thought the conversation was over, until Aina suddenly said: "Love you too, Sara."

Sara just barely stopped herself from jumping. She wasn't sure how to respond, since the tone in Aina's voice had been very affectionate, and... motherly. Compared to Sara's more playful tone it made her feel a little guilty for not saying it more seriously.

It was probably fine to leave it at that for the time being. She'd try to do better in the future.

She noticed a feeling, and glanced sideways. "What are you doing?" she asked the raccoon.

"Washing fur," the raccoon replied. She was indeed doing that. Sara's fur to be specific. "It's soft." It was just the raccoon style of washing, rubbing it between her paws, but it was very cute.

Sara decided to leave her to it. It was kinda nice.

The next day looked like it was going to be a big one.

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