章節 3: Ill Tidings
Saga lay on the ground panting with her prize between her paws and directly in front of me. I could feel the eye twitch already starting to happen as well. She had indeed brought back a child, though it wasn't a Human child. In all honesty, I had no idea what the fuck it was. It looked like an odd cross between Human and elf with distinctly sharp and animalistic features. The child, more an infant, was currently wiggling while staying as silent as it could while beneath the massive predator that had taken it from wherever its family had been. Out of habit, I looked at the child with the Progenitor System, though it had absolutely no effect on this world's non-creature races. My eye started twitching fully once I realized a screen had come into being.
Leonic Orc
Level - 0
Female
Str - 0
End - 1
Spd - 0
Int - 1
Description - An incredibly rare subspecies of Orc. More akin to Beastial-Elves in appearance they are among the greatest warriors of their kind. May be Improved Perfectly.
Taking the fact I obtained a new term for the Improvement shit it turns out the child is actually a fucking Creature. I eyed Saga at that point, she just continued panting while giving me a big puppy smile. I felt like strangling her. She brought an infant creature from one of the few species that had a form of society to the farm. What the fuck were we supposed to do when her parents came looking? For that matter, why was there an Orc infant here to begin with!? They were in no way, shape or form native to this region of the Kingdom. Goblins were the more native species in that regard.
I reached down toward the infant and heard it let out a tiny growl when she saw my hand get closer. Probably not the smartest move in the world. The second that tiny growl came out Saga barked and snapped her teeth shut a few centimeters from the infant's body. "No," I said a second after and Saga calmed down but continued to bare her teeth.
I sighed, this was so not what I needed right now. I picked up the deathly still and silent infant and held her in front of me, moving the dirty swaddled cloth aside. The slobber aside the cloth was already foul and the infant was dangerously thin from what I could tell. She still had some baby pudge but you could see the tell-tale signs of her ribs beginning to poke out and the hollowing of her cheeks. She'd not eaten in at least a day or two.
Maybe I got lucky and her people were killed. It'd save a lot of trouble later on. She had golden-brown skin, a tuft of red hair and extended lower canine that looked like budding tusks. Her facial features were sharp, but nothing like what I might expect an Orc to look like. She looked more like one of the romanticized versions from online games like World of Warcraft. Could I use her to replace me with my mother? That might be interesting.
I pulled the silent infant into my arms. The sight of a ten-year-old carrying an infant too big to be properly held was probably funny looking. At least it was strange enough that one of the hands noticed and ran off toward the house where my mother should be at this time.
A moment later and out came the curvaceously blond bombshell that was my mother in all of her frantic glory. Her eyes were wild, frightened, and a tiny bit disturbing when she got close enough for me to actually see them. I was going to make that farmhand shovel shit for a week for what I was about to do. An irrational placement of blame but no one ever said I had to be rational about my anger when forced to do something I hate.
I took a deep breath and then smiled at my frantic mother while holding out the baby Orc. "Look mama! Saga brought me a new Creature. Can we keep her?" I made sure that my voice was as childish and warm as I could make it. Thankfully the fact I had not gone through puberty yet made that far easier than I was comfortable with.
She slowed, freezing like a deer in headlights when she saw my smile and heard how I was speaking to her. A single hand rose to her mouth and I saw tears start to form. Oh shit...She launched herself at me, dodging the infant and carefully wrapping me in her arms while giggling in a strange manner. "My little man! Oh, you made mommy so happy! You finally called me mama!"
She continued to mutter about all the other things I might do, like willingly hug her and walk with her and take care of animals with her. It was starting to disturb me, the woman was overly affectionate. She did stop her inane prattling when I told her exactly what the hell I had. "I think it's an abandoned Creature. Do you know what it is mama?"
I had to make it seem like I was lost to a degree. Primarily because I knew damn well none of the books in the farms' study had anything like this Orc in them. Apparently, it was rare enough that the common bestiaries sold to the public didn't have them in it. She took the baby Orc from me, she started growling again and it set my mother off on another tangent about how she acted like me. The frightening implications aside it at least meant my mother was likely to keep the thing.
"It isn't any sort of Elf I know of or a mixed blood. The tusks are common in Orcs, but I've never heard of one like this. The poor thing, so thin already! Of course, we'll keep her. Let me go tell your papa about our new family member!"
Right, ignore the instant jump there. She might be a good meat shield when she grew up, but she wasn't actually family. I actually was beginning to worry about the woman that had birthed me. What sort of adult acted that way around a potentially dangerous creature. Shaking my head I resigned myself to the rest of the night being a 'good boy' to appease my mother. My father, bless him, was far more rational about the potential threat to our lives in the form of a baby Orc and sent a few farm hands into the forests. I told Saga to lead them to where she found the baby and ignored the odd look my father gave me. "Say aahhh!~" I opened my mouth and forced a smile while my mother shoved the Frackle stew into my mouth while practically singing. I also chose to ignore the fact an infant had managed to both glare and pout at the fact the spoon went to me and not her.
A few hours later I was laid out on the floor, defeated by my mothers' enthusiasm at having a son that actually smiled and spoke with her. Beside me lay the little Orc, her belly as large as her body after being force-fed the stew alongside me. Mother had decided she needed a name and it would be Lily. Looking at the little beast I knew it was the wrong name. I had tried to mention it at the time and had my jaw gripped with enough force I was worried she'd dislocate it. Apparently, my mother had some force in her because she had actually forced me to nod when asking "It's a good name for such a cute little girl, right?~" I didn't fight the motion much. Some battles could not be won.
I was also cursing my personal loss to fucking stew when my father walked in, boots muddy and tinted with bits of red. That stopped me from whining about the stomach pains and pay attention. That brownish dark red was blood.
He took off the boots and moved toward me. "Your Lupine found something bad, boy." I sat up slowly. I had no doubt she had now. My mother went to him, placing a small hand on his arm. "Was anyone you brought hurt?"
He shook his head and sat down at the table while looking at the Orc beside me. "No, Katherine, but it was a slaughter. The boys Lupine stumbled upon a defeated tribe of Orcs. I think they were pushed from the Western Wastes by a rival tribe. Whatever it was that brought them here ended up with the majority of them slaughtered by the Goblin Tribes that live in those woods."
"James, what else?" My mother apparently knew father better than I did because I took it for the end. He sighed before leaning forward and running a hand down his face slowly. "The Goblin tribes are in a frenzy after that slaughter. You could hear the drums and mating calls throughout the wood. I think they are going to use the corpses that were pulled away from the battle to increase their numbers again."
That was new, they could use the food from their kills to increase their numbers that dramatically? "A Tide?" came my mothers' worried voice and my father only nodded. "We have to head into town tonight and warn them. A Tide would wipe out the town if they aren't warned in time."
He looked at me a moment after that. "Seems the boy will be seeing work with the Adventurer Guild sooner than I'd like with this news. I imagine they'll send the younger ones like him out often to help cull the numbers that will be sprouting up over the next couple of months."
My mother gasped and whispered a soft "no." I rolled my eyes at that. Personally, I was looking forward to fighting something that could kill me. I felt stunted here, I missed actual combat. While awful for most people this 'Ride' was more of a blessing for someone like me.
"Get your gear ready, boy. Leave the Orc with your mother, she'll grow quickly because of what she is, but it will still take a year or two before she's worth anything to you." I tilted my head to the side at that and ignored my mothers' silent tears.
"Why would I take the Orc?" That earned me a look from my father again before he shrugged.
"She's different from most and I imagine will grow into a strong fighter. If you really do intend to be an Adventurer classified as a Beast User then she might be useful in the future."
"No!" my mother shouted, swooping up the sleeping infant and causing her to wake with a startled cry before she went silent and wrapped a tiny hand in a few of my mothers' loose locks of hair. Didn't take long for the kid to attach herself to the provider of food. "Lily will not be going into battle like Crispin! I don't even want him going with the threat of a Tide! I am utterly against this!"
Here we go again. "Moth" - "Mama!" - "Mama, it is what I want. I will not be harmed."
"You don't know that! You're a child, my child!" Father moved a hand to her shoulder, she was starting to get hysterical. She dodged his touch and started screaming at him then.
"How can you be fine with sending your son to the Guild with a Tide coming! He'll die!" she dodged another gentle attempt to touch her. "Don't you touch me, James! He is not going, that's final!" She even stomped her foot down.
This was starting to piss me off. I began contemplating simply leaving and dealing with the consequences of living alone as a child. I wouldn't be stopped from doing what I wished, however. "Katherine, enough. You know as well as I do the boy is different. He makes no friends, is silent, always watching everything around him. The fact the Lupine we raise practically worship him as an Alpha of their kind is enough to tell you he's different. You constantly babying him is your right as a mother, but if you keep this up do you really think he won't just leave?"
I shouldn't be surprised by the man's insights by now but I'd be damned if I wasn't surprised. How the fuck did he read me that well? Mother broke down then, allowing father to hold her and burying her face into his chest and letting loose large, wracking sobs. The Orc, Lily, quietly observed everything. It would be creepy on a normal child, but I imagined Creature infants followed instincts more and those that didn't learn to stay silent died early on.
My father threw me a look, shifting his head slightly toward mother. I clenched my teeth and glared at him. He glared right back and motioned again. I got up, clenching my fist and moved over to hug the woman. Her free arms snaked around me and squeezed me hard enough I felt a rib groan in protest. Jesus Christ! This is why I didn't want to fucking hug her.
A bit more of this torture and mother quietly went into her room with Lily while my father stayed in the main room with me. Once he heard the door shut he turned toward me and placed one massive hand on my shoulder, giving it a light squeeze before shoving me toward my room. "Get ready to go, boy. We have to head into town and warn them now, while the Goblins are still busy breeding."
"It's dark" was all I said in response. He grunted in acknowledgment. The fact traveling at night was dangerous and yet he still planned to do it showed how dangerous he felt this was. It only made me excited.
I went to my room to pack a few things. A spare set of clothing, a notebook filled with my observations and tests regarding the System and Creatures in general and Saga's favorite toy. A stuffed lamb she slept with and treated like her baby. The fact it took me all of three minutes to gather what I was going to take amused me. I really hadn't filled this room with much of anything that I was attached to. I pulled up the Progenitor screen since it would take father a bit to get the wagon ready. I had a Creation chance still and I had no idea when I would get the chance to use it again. Beyond that, I also still had a quest to finish, one that was proving difficult.
{Learning the Ropes - 9
Successfully Create Three Creatures
Reward - Elemental Trait - Ice
Failure - None}
{Progenitor System
Level - 3
Create +
Combine +
Improve +
Creatures Created - 2
Creatures Killed - 86
Creatures Combined - 3
Creatures Improved - 17
Monthly allotment of creations available - 1
Monthly allotment of Combinations available - 0
Monthly allotment of improvements available - 1}
A quick look at the System again and I mentally chose 'Create' which brought up a new screen that allowed me to select Creatures my current level allowed me to synthesize. It was pretty much nothing but insects right now. Amphibian like creatures had been added at level three of course, but I didn't really feel like making a frog. That left me with Insect again. I had a beetle, and a spider so what should I make next? I'd prefer something that might actually be of use to me in combat but there really wasn't a whole lot I could do with that unless I made another thing like the beetle. Seems whatever I made would need to be something to toss aside upon completion or make it useless yet useful to me later on.
I selected a Centipede-like Creature in the end and an image of it showed up on the screen. It depicted the size and projected stats at the moment. All of them were zero because I hadn't added to them at all.
It got tricky there because the stats played a factor in success as well from what I've seen. They could not exceed a level one Creatures base stats, which tended to be totaled out between four and six. The Pro's I selected, basically inborn traits or abilities, could not exceed what an insect might reasonably have without a fair chunk of Cons to balance it either. For now, I went ahead and just put one point into every stat and watched the Centipede change.
One point in Str made the legs gleam momentarily before hardening and gaining an edge. One point in End thickened the carapace, Spd seemed to add ligaments and joints to the legs beneath the carapace for its movement and Int obviously increased its thought process.
From there I opened up the Pro section of the traits I could give it. They were graded by the System so I had some idea of how to balance them as well.
{Gold Creation - B
Superior Strength - B
Create Armor - B
Symbiotic - C
Durable - C
Speedy - E}
I only had the four traits and they seemed to be scaled in the range of A - E with A being the best and E being the worst. They all had their uses of course.
{Gold Creation - B
Allows the Creature to produce gold.
Superior Strength - B
Increases the Str of a creature by eight
Create Armor - B
Allows the Creature to create addition armor.
Symbiotic - C
The Creature forms a symbiotic relationship with another entity
Durable - C
Increases the End of a Creature by five
Speedy - E
Increases the Spd of a Creature by two}
Aside from the Gold Creation, Symbiotic and Create Armor the others allowed the base stats of the Creature to exceed the restriction. This also seemed to lessen the success chance as well though.
I chose Superior Strength and watched as the Centipede increased in size by a third, its legs turning into miniature blades that seemed perfect for stabbing. Sadly that left me with requiring multiple Cons that would make it all but useless. I had honestly gotten lucky with the Spider and I wanted to actually try to make this thing useful so I removed the Pro and watched the Creature shrink again.
Blowing air into one cheek and then forcing the pocket back and forth in my mouth in contemplation I chose Speedy and watched the Creature lose some of its Carapace mass and the legs seemed to combat closer to the body. I suppose making a creepy little scout would be useful. That left me with the Cons, of course.
{Parasitic - C
Can only survive by attaching itself to a Host.
Weak - A
Decreases Str by ten
Bound to Host - B
Can never leave the Host. Automatically adds Parasitic.
Limited - B
Limits how often the Creature may benefit from a Pro greatly
Feeble - C
Lowers Str and End by three.
Blind - E
Creature is Blind
Single Birth - E
The creature may only produce one Offspring a month.}
The fact I chose a C graded Pro meant I should be able to get by with little in the way of crippling the creature. In theory at least. In practice, I had been proven wrong multiple times. So I chose to add two Cons, Limited and Single Birth. Combined I imagined they might equal an A grade Con and more than even out the C grade Pro
After choosing them the Creature didn't change, I had chosen biology Cons after all, and I chose to complete the Creature. A quick flash of light that forced me to shut my eyes. I wouldn't know if it succeeded until I opened them and either saw a pile of dust, showing that something like it already existed or the chance had gone to shit or a living infant version that would grow to adulthood in about a week.
Slowly opening my eyes I saw the Centipede, alive and well, crawling on my bed. The creature was tan in color and roughly the size of my pinky as an infant. Thankfully the System seemed to birth them with an inherent need and desire to obey me. It's the only reason I picked up the potentially dangerous thing, no idea if it was poisonous yet. I'd have to learn that the hard way.
{Swift Horror - Matriarch
Level - 1
Female
Str - 1
End - 1
Spd - 3
Int - 1
Trait P - Speedy
Trait C - Limited, Single Birth
Description - Common insect found worldwide. Bred with an increased speed these Creatures are both swift and silent. A stalking predator. May be Improved immensely.
{Learning the Ropes - 9 completed.
Reward - Trait - Ice.
Ice - A
Able to freely control and create the element of ice.}
The trait, while amazing, was utterly useless to me. I had no Cons strong enough to balance that out, in my mind at least. The successful creation of the Creature was more worthwhile to me. I had myself a loyal and silent scout. How exactly I'd train it to communicate what it found was beyond me right now, but that was a problem for another day. I placed the little thing in a pocket on my pants and left the room.
My mother was outside again, minus the little Orc. She looked worried, terrified really, and like she was about to cry again. It reminded me of my actual mother, the one who had raised me into the man I was before dying for a brief moment. Alas, she wasn't her. "Crispin...you'll be safe, right? You'll write and visit when you can?"
Well, it was better than her trying to trap me in the house. I scratched the back of my head and thought about it. I enjoyed this farm and had some emotional connection to the Creatures. More than my family at least, though there might have been a small bit there as well. It wouldn't hurt me to agree either. Besides, if I survived my plan to try and kill myself fighting things the best of my abilities I would inherit this farm. Fuck it. "I will, mama."
I didn't hug her but I did wave goodbye as I left the house. Father had the wagon ready and was loading a reluctant Saga into the back. She would be going with me as my Creature after all. "Saga, load up."
She hopped in after realizing I'd spoking one of several phrases I had trained her in. Obviously, it just told her to get in the fucking wagon but she only really listened to me. Which was the point. Father grunted at the sudden loss of resistance and had to catch himself on the edge of the wagon to stay upright. "Did you say goodbye to your mother, boy?" he asked while latching the rear of the wagon shut. I nodded and then got on myself. I was hoping something would happen on the route to town, it would let me finally vent years of frustration on something living that was trying to kill me.
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