Hours ter, having carefully extricated himself from his very pleasant sleeping arrangement, Temate sat alone on the rge branch leading to Laurel's abode. His legs slowly kicked as in the single small beam of moonlight which managed to slide through the canopy he held up his hand. White bone gleamed with cruel memory in the moonlight as he flexed the fingers, making them curl and uncurl.

  Flex was an inappropriate word, as he had no muscle to flex anymore. Not on this arm. That and flexing would imply a slow build, a ripple of body. His motion was mechanical now, no more difficult to control really, but unsettling. Curl a finger, and it made a perfect, smooth curling motion. With an eerie combination of rigidity and fluidity.

  Like watching a stop motion, except if you could somehow see all the frames in between, but didn't really register them. The same effect extended across his whole arm, not just one finger, but the arm worked. He watched the bone move, listening to the soft ctter as his digits rubbed against each other.

  Saw the ctter of a smiling, rotten face.

  Felt the burn of Power rending him asunder from within.

  His mind fogged over as he fell into the sea of Power again. White hot Power pouring from every edifice of the creatures interior. That rotten Marcher. That Lich. Yet it was Power, overflowing and filling him. The image of it burned into Temate's mind, just as it burned within his soul.

  Force2reckon

  Power.

  Temate closed his eyes imagining that heat, the flood of white hot Power filling his being as he so desperately wanted it to. But controlling it, directing it to pces he could not yet see. Parts of him buried. Then he wouldn't have to lose like that again. He hated losing. Hated having his life in another's hands. Hated-

  "Can't sleep sirrah?" The lethargic chirp of Laurels voice pried Temate's eyes open. The Squarel knight sat nguidly on a branch just above him. With a flick of his tail, Laurel dropped down next to Temate and y back down.

  "I- " Temate thought for a moment, watching the goblins resting below around their small campfire. More bodies to protect, yet today he couldn't even protect himself, how was he-

  "A person's first near death experience can be quite harrowing." Laurel muttered as he rested his chin in the crook of his front paw. His tail did not twitch with the erratic gestures it had during the day.

  "It wasn't my first NDE." Temate corrected the Squarel, who gave him a single dubious look. Temate smiled and shook his head.

  "My A- My Father gave me my first. And many others after that. Till I was strong enough to fight back." Temate never forgot that, even now. The first time he'd been beaten to within an inch of his life. Not truly a near death experience, in that he probably wouldn't have died, but at 6? From your father? Might as well have been.

  "Is that worse than a stranger or rival?" Laurel asked. Temate blinked as he looked over at the knight.

  "It's. Family? The one person I should be able to trust to protect me?" Temate tried expining. Laurel just shrugged with x energy.

  "I have no family." Laurel said it so bluntly, so matter of fact, that Temate couldn't help but feel bad. He reached out and put his hand on the knights head.

  "I'm sure you have some, Tharoah and Thares are like sisters right?" Temate asked, giving the Squarel a soft pat. Laurel smiled at him and nodded.

  "Oh sure, there are other Squarel it's just they all left, long before I came to be." Laurel said.

  "Well what about the Grand Ceil?" Temate asked.

  "What about It?" Laurel replied.

  Temate raised an eyebrow at Laurel. "They're kind of like your parent, since they made you and all."

  Laurel sighed. "No, that's the Laegor. And the Lacert. And the Ariet."

  Temate frowned, making a note of those new names but deciding now was not the time for those questions. He watched as one of the goblins came back from the dark, shook another awake, and the two exchanged pces. The now awake goblin heading off to keep watch.

  "I thought the Grand Ceil made all the Awakened?" Temate asked cautiously.

  Laurel twitched his nose slightly as he shifted to get more comfortable.

  "Yes. That was the case, but when an Awakened is found to be... not valuable It won't make anymore. Yet our nature is still stored within It, so sometimes a normal creature can just become an Awakened if they live in It's woods long enough." Laurel twitched and looked up to Temate.

  "The Grand Ceil hasn't 'made' a Squarel for nearly a century, I was... Lucky." Laurel finished.

  Temate winced. So Laurel was an accident, potentially an 'unwanted child'. Based on the way the Grand Ceil was so alien he doubted it cared much for the man.

  "So. Why stay yourself?" Temate asked.

  "Honor! Valor!" Laurel said, standing slightly to sm his fist to his chest. "They say we Squarel cannot be loyal, that we cannot be what is needed. I say we are needed." He slumped back down. "So I stay, and I fight for my home... Whether I was meant to be here or not."

  This was... Not Temate's strong suit, and not what he needed right now. But it was what he had, and he wasn't gonna look away from someone baring their soul. He just didn't really know what to say. He continued petting Laurel's head with his normal hand as he watched the goblins.

  Also something he didn't need, yet what he had. Toni was right, they didn't deserve to just die, not if they were surrendering like they had. Yet also being chief? Of a tribe? Sure in fantastical imaginations where all he had to do was fuck the hot ones. Or if this were an isekai anime where the MC could do no wrong.

  He looked down at his bony hand and clenched his fist. Clearly he wasn't that. But he wanted to be, at least powerful enough to enforce his will. That at least was something he respected his Ali'i for. Of all the terrible things he'd put Temate through growing up, to turn him into who he was.

  The man was brilliant, and powerful. He used people as efficiently and effectively as a master artisan used their tools. Discarded them just as easily too though, that Temate didn't like. Temate looked at the goblins. Looked at his hand. Then looked at Laurel.

  "I'm proud to know you Laurel." That was all he said, and Laurel's smile told him it was at least partially helpful. "You said you don't need sleep, why so tired?" Temate changed the topic eliciting a chortle form the Squarel.

  "I do not, but as night falls, or when I use the majority of my reserves, I enter this state. I'm still awake, my senses are all fully operational, but my body is... Rexed." Laurel expined, using his hand to motion towards the rest of his body as he y curled up on the branch.

  "So you recover your energy through a kinda half-sleep?" Temate asked and Laurels only reply was to shrug. That was fair, they'd talked for awhile and Laurel did look tired. So Temate stopped asking questions and just ran his hand gently along Laurel's spine. It was surprisingly soft, for someone living in the wilderness.

  Did they have conditioner out here? Maybe Laurel had made some himself? Temate suddenly realized that he hadn't had a proper shower in ages. Bath's sure, they had those in Bearbhaile. A shower?

  Temate ran his bone hand through his hair and shivered at the sensation. Cold. Tingling. Also, obviously he couldn't tell how rough his own hair was with a hand that didn't have nerves. He sighed loudly as he made a mental note of everything he needed to do.

  Chief among them, get stronger. He made a promise to Toni, and now he was responsible for these goblins. Realistically there were probably more goblins too, after all these all looked like warriors. He wondered if where the tribe itself was settled if the warriors were here.

  They'd figure that out tomorrow, for now number 1 goal: get stronger. Which seemed to basically mean killing. Anything he had an excuse to do so. Kill it and take it's Power. The troll had given him a good amount, so stronger was better. Obviously.

  God, he hated XP levelling.

  So getting more Power was key, keep looking for means and opportunity to acquire that. As for active tasks? Talk to the goblins in the morning about their tribe, maybe they can just go back to them and he can meet up with them ter? He'd have to figure that out really, but it was now at the top of his list after 'protect team'. Since they were kind of part of his team now?

  It was hard to say, who knew what the reaction of the Grand Ceil or the Bears would be. He would protect them though, he'd sworn himself to that. Then there were those two, the Grand Ceil and the Bears.

  They didn't really have to go see the Grand Ceil. They learned what they came here to learn, the Rot was growing out of control, and it was doing so from an external influence. A Lich. That's what Voel had called it. Someone who died under specific circumstances, or with a specific amount or type of [Power]s, which allowed them intelligence as a Marcher.

  More importantly, with access to their [Power]s, and often the [Power]s of others in the same Horde. It was all rather ambiguous after that. What a Horde was, how Marcher's even came to be, all manner of things. Voel didn't seem to be able to, or was unwilling to, expin much beyond the Lich.

  So returning to the Grand Ceil wasn't a necessity, but he did feel it was appropriate. Gotta complete the quest and all that, plus he felt like the Grand Ceil might be able to expin more. Particurly why It sent them out there in the first pce if It knew what they would find.

  If It knew they would nearly die.

  Maybe it had expected them to, and that was something Temate wanted to know. Of course if their death was important for some reason then going back was dangerous on it's own. He doubted that though, the Grand Ceil seemed more than capable of just killing them.

  So go back there, try and get more info from the Grand Ceil. Then head back to the Bears, tell them what's going on. After that...

  Temate looked back towards the entrance of the abode.

  "What do you think of Voel and Kea?" Temate asked Laurel quietly, the Squarel looked up to him and chittered thoughtfully.

  "I think they are trustworthy, I would not allow them to rest in my abode if I did not. They are no threat at the very least." Laurel answered after a bit of thought..

  "Hmm." Temate added helpfully. He didn't really know how he felt about them. Sure they were both attractive as hell, to his obstinately horny ass, but that wasn't exactly a reason to trust someone. Hell most of the time it was less of a reason to trust someone. If they knew they were hot, they tended to abuse that.

  Kea seemed sweet, if a bit out of her depth. She probably just wasn't used to these situations. Toni had been freaking out after their first fight with the Hedgeling, for a number of reasons, and she clearly was used to... fighting. Older brother's and the asshole that Temate probably wouldn't have tracked down and made disappear if they were still in their old room.

  Only because it'd been years and the guy might have grown up by now. Might have.

  A crunch drew his attention down to his bone hand where his balled fingers were crackling against each other. He blinked and opened them up to see a small fracture in one, it didn't even hurt. With a bit of [Bone Salt] focus, he repaired the split. Handy. Heh, he wiggled his hand in his own face as if to emphasize the joke to himself.

  So tomorrow. Goblins, Grand Ceil, Bears. Obviously not all in one day, but Temate was beginning to feel a bit... overwhelmed. Like he'd picked up too many side quests in a game and was trying to get them all done. Thankfully, he had help to remember what he needed to do, otherwise he almost certainly would have forgotten something.

  Temate sighed as he thought over the other big event of today, after being absolutely trashed by a god damn Lich. Another crack and quick [Bone Salt] to repair his tightly clenched fist at that thought. The other big event of today was what Toni had just told him.

  It expined a lot, to him at least. Why she was constantly worried about sharing anything about herself, why she was so overly protective of him and Surrender. Why she was so analytical. It was... Painful to learn, and definitely made him want to protect and shelter her more.

  Yet she'd made her feelings about that clear and he had no intention of stepping on them, so he needed to help her get stronger too. Which meant encouraging her to kill as well, which was not really a part of her mindset. Maybe there was another way to get Power?

  How had he gotten Power when he was passed out in Bearbhaile? He hadn't killed any of the Darklings, and he became overfilled while he was asleep. At least that's what he'd determined after thinking it over again and again. Sleeping? No, he'd tested that, it wasn't hard to just fade into Empowerment in the mornings.

  He still couldn't think what it might be.

  "So, why are you not sleeping?" Laurel spoke after a long while, shaking Temate's thoughts back to the present.

  "Hmm? Oh I just... I'm not tired, don't know why." Temate muttered.

  "Things on your mind." Laurel said more than he asked.

  "Mmm. Lot of things, too many things to deal with, and the more I think about it the more I realize there's other issues." Temate expined.

  Laurel ughed softly. "You should see Thares."

  Temate blinked and looked over to Laurel. "How did you know we'd met her?" He asked.

  "I didn't" Laurel answered lethargically, "She's just nearby and is good at helping people rex and work through problems." Laurel smiled up at Temate who hummed thoughtfully.

  "We did say we'd come visit her on her way back, I'd almost forgotten that." Temate looked over and asked Laurel. "How far is she from here?"

  "Dangerously close." Laurel answered. "I would like to see her anyway to make sure she's aware of the danger, whatever's happening with the Rot here isn't normal." Laurel frowned and muttered something Temate didn't hear.

  "What was that?" He asked.

  "The Grand Ceil should have known that. I don't know why It only sent us if It knew what was happening here." Laurel replied. Temate had wondered that same thing and decided to ask his suspicion.

  "Would It try and kill us like that?" Temate tentatively questioned.

  Laurel shot up. "Never! Sirrah the Grand Ceil is a benign entity of life It would never put death upon anyone! It is the reason the Warden's exist!" Laurel practically shouted. Temate saw the goblins below reacting with drawn weapons and a quick formation, before they realized it was Temate and Laurel not a threat.

  "Sorry Laurel." Temate held up his hands pcatingly. "The test we underwent felt life threatening, so I believed It would kill us if It felt the need."

  Laurel harrumphed then slumped onto the branch. "Aye, I suppose if you were a threat It would kill you, but It would do so directly, or through Warden's. It wouldn't feed you to the Rot."

  Temate smiled slightly. "Hey, at least I know it doesn't want us dead, maybe I can get it to reward us for putting us in danger." Temate started ughing but stopped when Laurel replied.

  "The Grand Ceil would certainly be willing, I imagine. At the very least if you've brought back information The Grand Ceil doesn't know about It would reward you just for that."

  Temate thought about that and suddenly felt much better about revisiting The Grand Ceil. That and he was now looking forward to meeting Thares again now, having completely forgotten about her. Plus if Laurel thought she could help... Well Temate could use it, he'd talk to Toni and Surrender about it tomorrow.

  In the distance a soft rumble shook the air. A storm was coming, and Temate realized it had yet to rain here, which was strange for an evergreen forest. Even at the end of the year these huge tree's must swallow water like... well like a massive forest would. The idea of his first rain in another world made Temate smile softly.

  After a few moer minutes he sighed loudly and stood up. "Well, I'm still not tired but I should try to sleep. Thanks for the talk Laurel." Temate said. Laurel simply nodded and watched him enter the abode. Temate slipped himself back into the sheets and a soft kiss was pressed to his cheek.

  "Feel better?" Toni whispered to him and Temate ughed softly.

  "Course you're awake." He said and received a soft punch in the shoulder.

  "Wanna talk about it?" She asked.

  "In the morning, we should sleep." He muttered and gave her a kiss back. Toni nodded and wrapped her arms around him.

  "Good, I don't need you hiding stuff from me, I can handle it." She muttered sleepily and Temate simply smiled and hummed his agreement.