Chương 2: Chapter 2
(This chapter was uploaded on Tuesday 18/June/2024 10:30 AM, timezone GMT+3)
('1), ('2), ('3), etc. means that there is some explaining for the thing in the chapter's footnotes.
"..." small moment of silence.
"Talking"
[Different Language Dialogue] (What language it is: Accent if necessary)
"He-" Someone was interrupted.
'Inner Dialogue'
{Skills' names, chanting, spell keys and spells' names}
(PoV)
(Flashback, including the text)
Don't shy from commenting on typos and/or inconsistencies. That and/or suggesting a modification to certain things that didn't make sense to you.
I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.
(Line Break)
(Day 1, evening) (3rd person PoV)
Henryk, Fey and Bell made their way to the Hostess shortly. When they arrived, Henryk dreaded meeting a certain woman inside but braved it. He pushed on and entered the pub. Bell, having had a good look at Henryk's uneasy face, had developed some apprehension.
"Welcome~! Dear customer~! Nya!" A black-haired cat-woman greeted them. She then refocused when she noticed Fey. "That's a big eagle nya!" She said in amazement, covering her mouth with a hand... paw?
"Yeah, she indeed is. But the important question is, can we order takeouts here?" Remembering the lunchboxes, highly toxic ones, that Syr made for Bell made him assume they did takeouts.
"Yes! We do!" The waitress said cheerfully. "Will you wait inside while your order is getting prepared nya?" The waitress got out a small notebook to take their order.
"No, I'd rather not get things I didn't order, not today at least" Henryk raised a hand in refusal.
"You have prior knowledge of mama Mia? How unusual nya!" She chuckled a little.
"Well, what do you want, Bell?" Henryk asked Bell. That shifted the cat-woman's attention to him.
'... My inner justice screams to me meow!' The waitress kept her thoughts to herself. Losing a customer because of her would result in lower pay for a while.
"Ummm... Anything, really. I have nothing specific in mind..." Bell said with an index finger under his chin and eyes that looked up.
'Dangerous nya!'
"Then please bring me 2 plates of spaghetti" Henryk said. He wanted to order something for Fey, but that seemed unnecessary, and maybe quite rude. Fey could only eat raw meat and she had her fell from eating the occasional rat during the day.
'I need to find her a cleaner, more reliable source of meat. She could go on eating rats for now but not for long. Knowing Bell's future, we might have enough to pay for that as well by the next few days' Henryk felt bad for not being able to provide Fey with proper prey or clean meat.
"Why did we not enter?" Bell asked Henryk.
"I wouldn't tell you to trust me when we just met today, but I'd be wary of the proprietress. She tends to give new customers more than what they ordered, something others came to see as a 'Rite of Passage' among the regulars. We don't have the budget for that right now" Henryk said. He was standing perfectly upright since the slightest tilt of his body would throw Fey off her talons.
"Two plate's worth of pasta nya!" The cat-woman came later with their meal for the night.
'Maybe it would've been for breakfast as well if we rationed it. But the lack of refrigerators puts a huge hole into that. Sadly, 1 plate of spaghetti wouldn't be enough and 2 would be a bit over what we really need. I mean, I could stuff myself with 1 plate of the stuff, but that would make me feel heavy. I don't like that heavy feeling around my abdomen' Henryk mused. He was regretful for the waste that would have been made if they did not eat all of this today.
Hestia ended up crying tears of joy at the sight of her first proper meal in months. Food she stashed away from feasts hosted by other deities counted only as snacks. She profusely thanked her new children, both of them, for bringing her proper food when they could have rested and started going to the dungeon the next day. She only started eating after making sure they knew how thankful she was.
(Day 2, dawn) (3rd person PoV)
Fey did not like her sleeping arrangement. She usually roosted in a nest up high in the towering trees she grew up with. But, since there were no trees that big around, she settled for sleeping on one of the pews that her father slept on.
Around the time the tell-tales of dawn started to appear, Henryk woke up. He woke up to Fey staring at him intently. ('1)
'Good luck I woke up before her plans came to light... M- No, let's not think about it' Henryk subconsciously rubbed the center of his forehead to check it just in case.
He heard the sliding of stone on stone, signaling the 'secret' door to the basement opening. When he looked, he saw Bell sneaking out quietly, clothes ready for the dungeon.
"Already awake? What-... What do you say about attending our first class today?" Henryk asked. He wanted to ask if Bell was a farmer to wake up this early. But he knew how insensitive that was. Mentioning farming would have reminded Bell of his absentee grandfather, assumed to have died when he truly just went around someplace else.
"You were awake as well?" Bell smiled. He was elated to know that they would get up together, to go to the dungeon together, always. 'I hope this continues!' Bell was enjoying the feeling of going on an adventure with a companion, gaining each other's trust on the way.
"If I didn't wake up on my own, Fey'd wake me up. Never wish it upon even your worst enemy to be woken up by Fey. It hurts" Henryk's hand was brought down from its position on his forehead.
"..." Bell silently gulped at the thought.
Bell, bringing out his protagonist aura, became cheerful again, seemingly forgetting what a painful thing it was to imagine.
"Let's go! Henryk!" Bell said.
"Let's aim for at least a higher number of monsters to hunt. We need to get you some proper weapons, appropriate for your size" Henryk said. He was inspecting his knives. As he did not want to waste their limited resources on lighting, he opted to rudimentary clean the blade of the knife Bell used and then finish cleaning it this morning.
"Can I just adapt for your knife?" Bell said. He was having the face of a hurt rabbit. If focused hard enough, one might just see the long ears dangling from his head.
"That'd take effort and a very long time, time you don't have. A lighter pair of knives might work better as a start. You may wield larger knives, like the kriegsmesser, when you have enough STR, END and DEX" Henryk said as he stood up. Fey needed no order for her to fly over to perch on his shoulders. He ruffled her feathers.
"Okay..." Bell said. He was hoping that time would come by faster. He felt great while swinging around that knife. It felt like he was starting to learn how to wield a weapon that would accompany him on his long journey.
"Why do you seem fixated on wielding a knife, though? Knives have shorter reach. And, seeing how big monsters get, you may need larger weapons, like a sword or a swordspear and the like, mainly things with longer blades or further reach" Henryk asked Bell.
The question had Bell asking himself. He started thinking until an answer came to mind.
"I do not know. I just liked the feeling of swinging a knife" Bell drooped.
'What is he? A hurt rabbit?' "Then we're back for getting knives appropriate for your size. You can move to larger knives once you have what it takes. By then, we may need a supporter. The sheer number of carcasses we'd be carving, the amount of supplies we'd be carrying, and even spare weapons just in case things went wrong" Henryk suggested. He had a supporter in mind, though it was too early for her to be interested in tricking them. They did not show enough capability for her to try and take advantage of them.
(Line Break)
"To start with our lesson, we will go over the structure of the first four floors. Those floors are largely made up of wide hallways and a low number of branching paths, increasing in number as you go down" Eina was writing on a chalkboard. "Also, the monsters there are goblins, kobolds and dungeon lizards. Do you understand up to this point?" She said as she corrected the position of her glasses.
"Yes!" Bell was excitedly taking the lesson in. He earnestly wanted to discover more about the place his adventure would take place. As for Henryk, he simply nodded.
"Then, we should now start talking about weak points and tactics to make use of, what attacks the monsters are known to use more than others, and how to counter them if unarmed" Eina started drawing the monsters on the board with practiced precision, something Henryk was impressed with.
Fey was getting neutralized by Henryk's hands. She was living the bliss of her feathers getting groomed for her by none other than Henryk. That did not mean that Henryk did not have time to take notes, however.
(Line Break)
"So, are we allowed down to the 4th floor today?" Henryk asked.
"I will suggest you limit yourself to the 2nd floor. Maybe, if your proclaimed experience was true, I would think you can go to the 4th floor. Starting from the 5th, monsters like war shadows and frog shooters start appearing. You need a certain level of AGI, at least an H, to follow and react to their movement" Eina said. She frowned at the thought of them venturing deeper than their status could handle and them getting hurt. "Remember that adventurers shouldn't go on adventures" She said her infamous phrase.
"..." Henryk stared at her, not at all amused by what she said. "Well, adventures can wait till much later, when we can handle them" Henryk said as he had Fey perch on his shoulder again then stood up.
"Mr Williams, I would also suggest getting a permit to allow your eagle inside the city. No one approached you yet because the law gives a grace period where you could go and ask the Ganesha familia to be able to keep any companion animals inside the city. That grace period stretches either until the duration of a week passes or until an animal hurt someone" With that knowledge in mind, Henryk prioritized visiting the Ganesha familia.
At Pantheon's entrance, Bell and Henryk parted ways for now.
"I'll come find you if I could. Goodbye for now, Bell" Henryk said. He handed over the same knife Bell was given the previous day.
Bell took an extended look at the knife as Henryk was putting it in his hand.
"I will keep it safe!" Bell said. He thought that Henryk was entrusting him with the knife and that he was supposed to return it.
"Return alive and we can then talk about the knife" Henryk said as he walked away. 'I still have the knife that was less worn out. But hey, the knife I gave him's still new and shiny! It'll last him a month and a half if he didn't start hitting walls with it'
(Line Break)
(Henryk's PoV)
'Is this really the place?'
...
'I mean, it was shown like this in the anime. But isn't there a limit to narcissism? A moral limit? WHO THE FUCK PUTS AN ENTRANCE AT THE CROTCH OF A STATUE!'
I swallowed hard. And with a very disturbed face, marched my way to my social death, openly walking into the entrance.
A couple guards were waiting there at the entrance. I gave them a look of pity. They looked among themselves and collectively returned it to me.
'Even his familia members feel the same way. Why did no one talk him out of it?'
"Good morning" I greeted them. I didn't bring up a 'sir' or a 'lady' because there were both men and women in the mix of 4 guards. They were all wearing similar outfits and masks.
'A familia tradition?'
"Good morning to you as well. Here to register that eagle on your shoulders?" The woman I assume is their leader asked.
"I am, actually. And I may need to speak to your god, if possible. I have a request that might need his direct authorization" I said.
Upon my answer, they started discussing what to do. A moment later, one of them, a young girl, went inside.
"We ask you to wait. Little Ananta went to talk to lord Ganesha about your request to meet him" The leading lady said.
"I'll wait" I said. I went and sat down on a bench somewhere around the building. Fey hopped to stand beside me.
'Now that the suddenness of the 1st day had subsided, and with its disorienting chaos over, I can see that I have no goals yet. What should I aim for, besides the obvious goal of survival?'
"Pie" Fey said as she flew down to my lap. She snuggled closer, asking for some grooming.
'She's a giant for her species but still acts like a curious child, a terrifyingly smart and curious child' I thought while giving Fey what she asked for.
Some waiting later, and the girl called Ananta comes back out.
"Lord Ganesha agreed to his request" Ananta said.
I stood up. Again, like in the morning, Fey didn't need any prompts to fly over to my shoulder. She didn't climb my shirt, as I already trained her not to do so. I didn't want her talons to ruin my shirts.
I was then led through the entrance, with me internally cursing every decision that led to the finished product, that was the design of the building. Some twists and turns later, and we were in front of an office.
Did I mention how there was another statue of himself, inside the statue of himself he used as a home?
The guard knocked on the door.
"Lord Ganesha, the man who requested meeting you is here" He said.
After we heard the god saying that I should enter, the door was opened.
'Flamboyant' I thought that as I lay my eyes at Ganesha, the god of the masses. He had a thick golden necklace, golden arm bands, gold-rimmed boots and gauntlets, and even his mask had a golden rim at the top. But otherwise, he looked to be a handsome man, like most gods are, with ash-gray hair and a very muscular body and tanned skin.
"Good morning! Child! I am Ganesha! And I welcome you to my office!" Ganesha loudly introduced himself. He was sitting behind his table and gesturing for me to sit down on one of the armchairs.
"Good morning, lord Ganesha. It's nice to meet you" I said as I sat down.
"Fey, sit there" I pointed at an armchair opposite to mine. Fey flew over and sat down.
"How magnificent!" He boisterously complimented Fey. He might've also been simply impressed by how obedient she looked.
"I agree. She's the best eagle I raised or helped raise. But that's the point, sir. I want to register her to be legally allowed to fly around inside the city" I said.
"I am Ganesha! And I can help with that!" He said and then stood up. He walked to a bookshelf and went through some papers. Pulling one out, he handed it to me along with a pen.
"Fill in this form! Young man!" He handed me a form that had included swearing to be responsible for compensating all damage caused by my animal companion should they be out of my control. I filled in the form and handed it to him at his desk. I had to verbally say some of the terms, as he would confirm their validity with his godly ability to discern lies from truths.
"Now, for the matter that necessitated your direst authorization. I want you to keep it between us" I said with a grimace.
Looking at my face, Ganesha's smile widened as he gestured with his hand. I assume that some hidden guard was around and that they merely covered their ears and stopped reading our lips, but also kept an eye around us to make sure their god remained safe.
"I am Ganesha! And I will listen to your request first!" He mentioned his name again and then gave me room to say my request.
"I received my falna with a taming skill and came here to ask whether I can keep some monsters inside the dungeon. And I also wanted to know if it's at all possible to bring kobolds outside, disguised as beastified chienthropes. In fact, are there any monsters that could be brought out safely? Like blue papilio, for example? I don't assume they could even attempt to harm someone if they wanted to" I asked.
We had a long discussion afterwards. In it, I learned that Ganesha welcomes the idea of taming monsters and bringing them outside the dungeon, if there was a failsafe. There're wyverns used for transportation as one of his familia's services, for one. Blue Papilio is a species I could bring out without even registering them, as they only had one thing they do, heal others. They're incapable of attacking by themselves as far as the standard blue papilioes are concerned.
If I had a place to keep them outside the dungeon, away from the public, then I could bring them out. Either that or to have them strictly under my continuous supervision. Of course, I'll be responsible for any damage they cause. And if a civilian was hurt physically, the monster responsible is to be sealed within the dungeon for good. I'll be punished; to be supervised myself for a while should something like that happen.
One more thing, my monsters have to be registered individually, aside from blue papilioes for the reason mentioned 2 paragraphs above, whether they're outside or inside the dungeon.
"Say, child! Don't you want to join our familia later?" He boisterously asked.
"Not until a year passed since I received my falna" I said.
(Line Break)
'And this is my second dungeon dive. Now, where'd Bell be?'
I walked around, avoiding other adventurers. I had my other knife out as my bow wasn't of use if a monster snuck up on me.
'Well, that's if I wasn't innovative enough to just whack 'em with the stick'
Sadly, I found no monster that wasn't already engaged in combat with an adventurer. I pushed on until the 2nd floor, where I found Bell. He was fighting a goblin.
"Fey, grab" I noticed a dungeon lizard that wanted to get the drop on him while he was busy.
"PIE!" Fey quickly flew over and brought her talons up. She pierced the lizard's skin and grabbed it away from Bell. Throwing it to the ground in front of me, it was an opportunity I took to stab it.
I looked up to see Bell luck it out and stab the goblin's magic stone, poofing it out of existence.
"Good job, Bell" I said.
"Henryk!" He exclaimed. He was joyful of my arrival. Then, he deflated. "I cannot get a magic stone if it was broken"
"But you still get the increase in parameters" I said, reminding him of the other gain that comes as a result of all this. "Anyway, how many did you get?
As I was talking to him, I was carving the magic stone of the dungeon lizard. The magic stones here are slightly larger than those on the 1st floor, only by an unnoticeable bit.
"Pie!" Fey walked closer while eying the magic stone.
"You want this?" I asked with my hand open.
'My skill did say that I could tame weakened monsters with magic stones. But other beings eating them was not listed down. What consequences would follow if an animal ate one? And what'd it do if said animal wasn't weakened?'
"No" I closed my hand around the magic stone. Knowing Fey, I expected her to lash out since I took something she was interested in eating away from her. And what do you know? She lashed out.
"PIIIEE!" She bit my fingers lightly. It wasn't tight enough to cause an injury but enough to tell me that she wasn't above biting me harder to pry the magic stone out of my hand.
'A truly terrifyingly smart girl you are, Fey' She was taught how to solve puzzles as a way to gain rewards from me. It helped me enhance her intellect.
'But still, I don't know what'd happen once she eats it' "Here" I reopened my palm. Fey picked up the magic stone with her beak with practiced ease.
"Bell, be ready. If something went wrong with Fey, we'd rush out with me carrying her" I warned him of the possibility.
"You can rely on me!" He agreed with a flustered face. He didn't see this situation coming.
Fey ate the magic stone and we waited for her body's reaction, or my skill activation, whichever starts first.
"Pie?" I could somehow feel the question of mild discomfort in her voice.
'Am I hallucinating? I think I heard her voice holding a questioning tone for a moment there... No, before that, what's happening? Why do I feel like she's... getting larger? No, she's growing larger. But her reaction to all of this is mild discomfort and some curiosity, but not pain. It seems that the skill'll will activate regardless, transforming the lifeform into a monster in the process'
I had a passing thought.
'So, what do I do now? Fey was registered as an animal, not a monster... Should I just bring her out as is? I mean, she was given permission by Ganesha himself'
"Ehh?! The discomfort's finally gone~! Fey feels good now~!" Fey tal-
"FEY TALKED!" Bell screamed in total shock.
I can't blame him. I was petrified in my place, for a totally different reason.
'She's a monster now. But only one type of monster could even dream of talking, a xenos. Has she become one?'
"Fey, is that you in there?" I asked her while keeping my familiarity on display.
"Papa!" Fey said before jumping at me.
"Fey! Wai-MMF!" I was pressed down by a 2.5 m tall behemoth of feathers.
(AN: As I somehow failed to write it down, Henryk is 2.03 m, or ~0.97 Ottars tall. Prior to her transformation, Fey was 0.62 Ottars (1.3 m) tall. After the fact, she became 1.20 Ottars (2.52 m) tall. Yes, while Henryk could barely look Ottar in the eye at almost the same level, Fey can look Ottar down)
'That habit of jumping at me so willy-nilly. This's Fey alright!'
"Fey can talk! Papa!" Fey said. She was cutely referring to herself in 3rd person.
'Phew! Aside from growing larger and starting to talk and think like us, nothing seems wrong for now. Let's just accept it as another crazy thing in a crazy fantasy world; just another thing that disorients me' I thought while grooming her feathers. I had enough room to breathe so I just remained as I was, with Fey above me.
"Fey is talking..." Bell said in muted denial. It seems that he may skip into acceptance quickly at this rate.
'She's still within the limit of what I can carry, if the pressure of her sitting on me is anything to go by. But my shoulders are out of the question, now that she became this big'
"Fey, papa needs to stand up and have a look at Fey's back. Can Fey allow papa to do that?" I asked Fey.
"Fey can!" She stood up with her wings spread slightly in giddiness.
'Her speech is slightly drawn out as well. Just why did she become cuter even though she grew this big?'
"What is this? Am I dreaming?" Ah! I forgot this guy for a moment.
Now that he's seen it, I need him to remain silent.
"I didn't tell you as it was supposed to be a secret. I have a skill. Keep it a secret, mister rabbit!" I said with my left index finger in a "keep silent" gesture.
"A mister rabbit's here? Where's mister rabbit? Fey loves mister rabbit's meat!" Fey said with childish glee. She craved eating rabbit.
"Be patient, dear. Mister rabbits reside much lower in the dungeon. We can meet them sometime later" I ruffled her feathers as I smiled in evil grin, watching Bell sweat buckets in Fey's hungry presence. Her drooling didn't help his shattered hopes.
"Fey wants to go now!" Fey remained positive. She was eager to venture to floors we almost know nothing about, just for some rabbit.
"Maybe we should go, then. What about you head home for today, Bell?" I asked. This time, I called him by his real name, not a nickname. Fey's become much smarter. I can feel it. And if her smart weren't already enough, at me calling Bell 'mister rabbit', she would've figured out that Bell was that mystery 'mister rabbit' that she didn't find.
"Y-yeah... I will need some time to-to come to terms w-with it..." He was pale. Fey's genuine and childishly innocent desire to eat rabbits scared him, shaking him at his core. He smoothly made his way out of the dungeon, the dungeon seemingly taking pity on him and not spawning monsters to block his path.
"Then let's see" I pricked my finger at the tip of my knife. As I saw the drop of blood reach the center of Fey's back, I felt like I wanted to move my hand in a certain way. When I came to, Fey had a crest on her back. It had a large tree in it, surrounded by many creatures, animal and monster alike, resting in its shades, except for one resting atop it. 'That one at the top's Fey, no doubt'
I took a moment to observe the silhouettes under the tree.
'Some silhouettes vaguely resemble humans instead of humanoid monsters... That's disturbing' I ignored that fact and moved on to have a look at the shining cyan light coming out of Fey's back. Luckily, there were no adventurers present around us at the moment, as we were deep into a branching path.
(Line Break)
Name: Fey Williams
Familia: Henryk's Familia
Species: Harpy Eagle
Variant: N/A
Level: 1
STR: I0
END: I0
DEX: I0
AGI: I0
MAG: I0
ASP (Allocable/Allocatable Stat Points): 0
Magic:
None.
Skills:
Xenos:
Allows monsters to ascend to a higher plane of existence.
Megálo Anástima (Sizable Stature):
Exponentially drains stamina when gigantifying.
No cost of shrinking.
Deliniens Plumas (Soothing Plumage):
Hastens vitality and mind recovery upon contact.
(Line Break)
(If you could, play Dark Souls III Epilogue starting here. You will understand in a minute)
'The entire thing's written in English, except the skill names, which appear to have been written in both Greek and Latin. There're extra parts, like those species and variant tags. And why do I have a familia? My skill really is an imitation of the gods' blessing?'
I took another look at the status to single out weird details, if I missed any. It was to my surprise, then, that I'd stumble upon the happiest thing for that day, or for a long while to come; Fey had my surname.
"My daughter!" I emotionally hugged her. I just didn't hold back because there was no reason to.
"Papa!" Fey said excitedly, only to then deflate in utter disappointment. "... Fey.... can't hug papa... *sniffle*..." She started crying, going limp while sniffling.
"Don't cry, Fey. Papa will gladly come down and hug you where you could hug him back. Don't cry" I said as I was done with her pseudo falna and pushed the cyan light with its text back into Fey's falna, much like how my lady did in the show.
"Re- *sniff* Really?" She said. She sounded every bit heartbroken that she couldn't return a hug. How childishly innocent.
"Really" I said as I bent down to hug her by the neck. A moment later, she silently covered me in her wings.
"Fey loves papa *sniff*" She said, still crying.
"Papa loves Fey too" I started grooming her feathers. She calms down in most scenarios when I do that.
'I guess it's fair. She's acting like a child because she's one. Fey's species lives up to 40 years if left to age well. And with falna on her back now, she's a child that'll live long into her 100s if she ascended the levels. I must help her go higher, so we can enjoy this father-daughter relationship that both of us want to keep'
At that moment, I formed my first goal. I didn't hope to return home since I already died there. If I return, I risk returning to the past, or on the day I died, and dying again because of the butterfly effect. And if I returned to the time I just killed the bear, I'd be half dead or just be dead. I wouldn't want that.
In contrast, I could use some really convoluted means to make something that might help me see my parents again, however vain that hope seems at first glance.
'Okay. Make that 2 goals'
"Fey, what about going down to the 4th floor and returning for the day?" I said. Until the 5th floor, there'd be no new monster types. War shadows aren't something I wanna fight without proper armor.
'I could shoot them. But what says they wouldn't be actively trying to avoid the arrows? And even if they didn't, they could hurt Fey. She's still at the beginning of lv.1' I debated what to do.
"Fey wants to!"
"Then, can you become smaller? Maybe you can hop onto my shoulders again if you become as small as you were before?" I enticed her. An eagle this big will be a target for unsuspecting adventurers. And news of her existence hasn't really spread to everyone around yet.
She regained her cheerful mood quickly.
'Those... Aren't those tears? Eagles do moisturize their eyes via the use of tears, but they don't cry. Did she gain this new eye function as she became a xenos? Those tears are dangerous'
As I was going through an internal struggle to decide whether to spoil her rotten or not, Fey had already shrunk down and then hopped onto my shoulders.
"Fey became small Fey! Papa! Hehehe!" Fey cheered. She giggled so lightheartedly that it spread to me. Her giggles are infectious.
"Hahaa! It's good that you're happy! Fey!" I ruffled her feathers while laughing.
We made our way through the 3rd and 4th floors. We'd slain about 3 kobolds and 5 goblins before coming out. Out of all of them, all magic stones were fed to Fey. As I wanted to try to update her falna remotely, as it was a function of my 2nd skill, a piece of parchment in the likeness of update papers appeared before my eyes. It seems that Fey doesn't see it, as she didn't comment on it at all.
(Line Break)
Name: Fey Williams
Familia: Henryk's Familia
Species: Harpy Eagle
Variant: N/A
Level: 1
STR: I0
END: I0
DEX: I0
AGI: I0
MAG: I0
ASP: 0 --> 81
Magic:
None.
Skills:
Xenos
Megálo Anástima (Sizable Stature)
Deliniens Plumas (Soothing Plumage)
(Line Break)
'So, the excellia given by magic stones are gathered at that extra parameter?'
I thought about it as I made my way back. Feeling bored and a little tired, Fey dosed off while snuggling into my hair. She became small enough to do that.
'Should I just randomly choose a stat and desire it to increase?' And that was the right choice. I saw it and was impressed as I noticed a point move from ASP and to END. I then put the remaining ASP directly into END. The more durable Fey was, the harder it would be for monsters to injure her. That isn't to mention, her skill consumes stamina to increase her size past a certain point.
(Line Break)
(3rd person PoV)
Henryk hunted a few more goblins for the next 6 hours, coming out with 5 magic stones. A dungeon lizard wanted to ambush him but failed miserably when it croaked before dropping itself at him. He dodged and then lunged at the lizard before it could move, cutting into its exposed underbelly.
"I should always be aware of the ceiling of floors 2-4 and floors 8 and 9" From what Henryk remembered, it was at floors 8 and 9 where monsters from all of the floors above them spawn.
Another kobold was all Henryk killed before coming out of the dungeon proper.
Henryk's collection of magic stones was: 3 goblin magic stones from floor 4, 2 goblin magic stones from floor 3, one dungeon lizard magic stone from floor 3 and one kobold magic stone from floor 2. His walk through the 1st floor was filled with new adventurers camping branching paths like usual.
(Line Break)
"It's now dusk, huh? I should get myself a pocket watch. Losing time like this is unacceptable" Henryk said as he headed to the washing rooms in Babel. There were washing rooms prepared for adventurers who usually come out caked in the blood of monsters. The reeking smell disturbed some civilians and some others got sick because of it.
"Fey, wake up. It's Fey's turn to clean her feathers now" Henryk whispered in Fey's ears softly. That did the trick as Fey stirred from her sleep.
"Papa?" Fey rubbed the sleep away from her eyes with her wings.
"Let's clean your lovely feathers, Fey" Henryk said.
Henryk and Fey had fun in the washroom booth they were using.
Later, when he cashed in with the guild, his total gains were 2620 Valis.
(Line Break)
"What?" Hestia asked no one in particular. When Bell told her that Fey grew larger and started talking, she brushed it off as some joke and called him cute, setting him aflame. When she witnessed Fey being much smaller than before, she could not believe her eyes. It took her a moment before her mind caught up.
"Wait! You used your skill on Fey, didn't you?" She pointed her finger at Henryk accusingly.
"I did, since she wanted to eat a magic stone at any cost" Henryk deadpanned at her accusing finger.
"Fey enjoyed the magic stones! But Fey wanted to eat a mister rabbit! Mister rabbit doesn't appear until what papa called 7th floor! Fey will go hunt a mister rabbit soon!" Fey said as she flew over and sat atop Hestia's head.
Hestia froze.
"Fey talked!" Her reaction was much quieter compared to Bell's.
"Fey did!" Fey repeated after her, reasserting that fact.
"Can we all agree to keep my skills a secret?" Henryk asked.
"Of course we will, Henryk!" Hestia hastily agreed. She did not want him taken away by force. Such a skill, one that could give falna to monsters one tamed, it could cause wars, and not the wargame type of wars.
To the side, Bell shrunk to hide himself away from Fey. It was instinctively done.
'Why was I scared again? I was compared to rabbits repeatedly in the past, but I am not one. Fey did not have the urge to eat me, either. Yes! She wouldn't!' He questioned himself that night, while lying in bed. His main character mindset resulted in him viewing things positively again.
'Why do I feel like I forgot something? More like I forgot someone...! Artemis! By this time, she should be tasked with a quest to investigate the Elsus ruins!' Henryk wanted to shoot up and write an urgent letter addressed to her now. 'And if she and her familia members live due to my interference, I could ask them to repay the favor by assisting us against Evilus later. Heck. Even my lady will be viewing me in a more positive light due to it, making living with them for the coming year much more amicable. But, alas, Fey's clinging to me now, and is sleeping. I should delay this matter until morning' And as such, Henryk decided to prioritize his daughter's comfort over the increasingly uncertain survival of a familia and their goddess.
'I'll have to see if Takemikazuchi's familia could be of help. Their god and their members have the integrity to keep another's secret. But that limits me to having a lv.3 Fey at most, if at all within the time limit I have, before Artemis dies. I might need to have another meeting with Ganesha. I hate to be indebted, more so to people in power. But Ganesha was displayed as a man who cared for others far more than some petty public image' Those were Henryk's last thoughts before succumbing to his sleep.
In the desire to pave the road to his parents' resurrection, he found the desire to make the world a better place for them to live in it. That became his 3rd goal, as he as well lives in this world now.
(End of Chapter)
So, that happened. I was honestly hasty and just wanted my cheerful chick back. I wanted Fey back. Now that I had a look back, her charm was in that she was acting like a child. I will keep her that way for a while, an innocent child.
As for the transformation, Fey just became an eagle monster of her own species. Mutating into a variant would have Henryk tame another harpy eagle monster, then feed its magic stone to Fey. Problem? There are no harpy eagles inside Orario.
While we are on the topic, the transformation does not really need to be painful. It causing discomfort is fine, but pain is another story.
As for Artemis, I just wanted her in the story. She will be involved sooner than last time, for reasons you will see in a 'bit'. And this time, Dubious Hermes is not involved! Yay!
How do you feel about Henryk's gains in the dungeon? Are they too much? I am currently working on a "magic stone to Valis" chart/table, noting down which floor they come from and what base value they had, what increase in the value they are subjected to depending on the floor.
By the way, I legit almost shed a tear while writing that part with a saddened Fey 😂. It may have been due to me listening to the OST I recommended you listen to while reading that part. It was an unexpected scene, even for me. I expanded on it as I saw fit, since it was an opportunity that came naturally rather than me constructing it.
Have a nice time, ladies and gentlemen.
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