"Iris, are you sure your eyes weren't playing tricks on you? Or maybe you were hallucinating due to all the pollen in the air?" Asked a short student with dark bags under his eyes, his voice slightly muffled by the face mask covering his mouth, to a female student, a head taller than him, sporting twin braids, glasses and a cloth face mask, as the two of them walked through the fungal forest. Iris stopped walking, turned around to face Jacob and shot him a glare.
"Oh, sod off, Jacob!" Iris yelled. "I know what I saw!" Jacob raised a questioning brow at her.
"Really?" She nodded. "So what are you telling me is that you saw Sera, the girl who nearly faints at the sight of bugs, riding on top of a monster while commanding it, along with other monsters around it?"
"Well, it sounds ridiculous when you say it like that. But I know what I saw!"
"Well, there is only one way to find out." They spent the next hour searching around the fungal jungle, looking for any signs of Sera while collecting various rare mushrooms along the way. "I'm starting to think Sera isn't even in this Rift."
"Don't you even st-" Iris was interrupted by a scream originating from off in the distance. They looked at each other, nodded and rushed towards the sound. "We're here to save you!" Iris burst into the clearing, dual blades in hand, with Jacob close behind, his staff glowing with Mana. "What the hell is going on here?!" Right before the duo's eyes is Sera, the student they were looking for, sitting on a rock with a large fungal growth draped over her shoulders, surrounded by other fungal monsters with various mushrooms in their hands.
"Huh? I-iris?" Hopping off the rock, Sera patted the cap of the mushroom draped on her shoulder, causing it to emit a low rumbling sound. Upon hearing the sound, the other fungal monsters spread out, making a path for Sera so she could easily reach her two classmates. "Jacob, you're here too! Oh, I haven't seen a single other person since arriving here, so I was starting to think I was the only student in this Rift!" Sera sobbed while grabbing onto Iris's hands.
"Uh, Sera." Iris started, her gaze locked onto the large mass on her friend's shoulders. Jacob's focus was also on the mass; his staff still glowing with Mana, ready to cast the prepared spell at a moment's notice.
"Yeah?" Sera replied with a slight tilt of her head.
"Are you ok?"
"I'm a little flustered, but otherwise ok, especially with you two here. Why, you ask?" Jerking her head to the side, Iris motioned towards Sera's shoulder. "Hmm?" Noticing that Iris wasn't looking directly at her, Sera followed her gaze to the fungal monster resting on her shoulder. "Oh! You're worried about this little guy?"
"Little?" Jacob muttered under his breath before slightly casting a different spell from the one he had previously prepared.
"Yeah," Iris slowly nodded. "What's up with your little friend?" Iris looked back at Jacob, who shook her head at her. 'You sure?' She mouthed at him. Jacob answered her silent question with a nod. 'Are you really sure?' She mouthed again. Jacob rolled his eyes at her question before nodding once more.
"This little guy is Piki," Sera continued, completely missing the silent discussion the other two students were having right in front of her. "I found him half dead, missing his lower body, surrounded by fungal monsters of a different mushroom species." Iris nodded along after confirming once again that her friend isn't being mind-controlled or puppeted by the monster on her shoulder.
It didn't take long after arriving in this Rift for Iris to notice its particular traits. Specifically, the fact that the forest seemed to be divided into territories of different species of mushrooms. Iris was quite shocked when she first witnessed two groups of fungal monsters attacking and killing each other. However, after the initial shock, she quickly learned how to exploit their territorial nature to wipe out large groups of the monsters all at once.
"Taking advantage of the situation, I waited until they clumped together before raining down Fire and Shock potions at the group. After killing them, I went up to harvest their corpses and during which I noticed some movement. Startled, I quickly took out two random potions from my satchel and prepared myself to face my foe. When I wasn't immediately attacked, I figured I must have just been imagining it. However, on closer inspection of my surroundings, I noticed that Piki here," She patted the monster on her shoulder. "Wasn't actually dead. It seems like the other monsters ended up shielding him from my earlier attacks, leaving him without any injuries." She paused for a moment. "Well, injuries from me."
"So what? Did you think you might as well keep the monster as a pet or something after all that?" Jacob spoke up, his voice filled with clear disbelief. Sera let out an embarrassed chuckle.
"Kinda? Well, not actually."
"Sera." Iris softly said with a tone filled with disappointment and disbelief.
"I had a good reason, though!" Sera hurriedly added. She paused when she heard creaking next to her. Realizing that her sudden movements are making it hard for Piki to stay latched onto her, Sera gently took the monster off her shoulder and slowly placed it onto the ground next to her. "You see," She continued after giving Piki a soft pat on their cap. " I was about to kill Piki, but before I could throw my potions, he presented me with this." Rummaging through her satchel, Sera took out a golden mushroom covered in ruby-like spots. "A Gilded King Crown!"
Iris eyed the mushroom, then Sera, then the mushroom again. She reapted this several times before speaking. "So you were bribed? A monster bribed you to spare its life." Sera slightly deflated at Iris's comment.
"W-well, yeah, it sounds bad when worded like that. I prefer to call it a gift for saving his life." Sera let out a fake cough into her arm before storing away the Gilded King Crown mushroom back inside her satchel. "As I w-was saying, at first I was a bit cautious, thinking Piki was trying to lure me into a trap. However, after taking the mushroom from him and realizing he wasn't going to attack me, I slowly backed away before promptly leaving."
"If you left, how come you're still with them?" Asked Jacob, causing Sera to let out an awkward chuckle.
"Hehe, w-well, curiosity got the better of them, so I doubled back to Piki to see what they would do now that they weren't being attacked. Upon getting to the place where Piki was, I found him using his mycelium tendrils to drag himself across the forest floor. Feeling bad about what I was seeing, I walked up to Piki and placed him onto my shoulders."
"Are they really that light? I thought the monster was either helping you carry it in some way or you were buffing yourself with something like a potion to increase your strength. " Iris interjected.
"H-hey! I'm not that weak!" Iris gave her a look that said 'Really?' "W-well, ok, I admit Piki isn't that heavy. He weighs about 30 to 35 kilograms."
"Damn, that big thing is that light?" Jacob quietly muttered out loud behind Iris. "I bet even I can easily carry it."
"Forget about the monster weight for now." Iris interrupted before they could get off track. "So you're telling me you willingly placed a monster on your shoulders and let it hitch a ride?"
"W-well, of course I kept my guard up the whole time!" She hurriedly reassured. "I was ready to kill Piki if he showed any signs of attacking me." Iris squinted at Sera, inspecting her for any signs of falsehood. Sera let out a relieved sigh when Iris nodded at her. "So," Sera continued. "I carried Piki as he guided me back to his community. Upon reaching them, it looked like they were about to charge at me to save him, but were stopped when Piki let out this low rumbling sound, which I think is how he communicates with them."
"Ok, I can somewhat imagine all that playing out as you describe it," Iris commented. "But how did you end up in the situation we saw earlier, with you being surrounded by fungal monsters presenting you with various mushrooms?"
"Well, at first, I left Piki on the ground to be tended by the other monsters while I gathered mushrooms around the area. However, after collecting a few mushrooms, I came back to see Piki's condition worsening while the others desperately tried to heal him by feeding him corpses from other monsters."
"I'm guessing that didn't help them." Sera nodded.
"Concerned and maybe a little bit curious, I walked up to get a closer look at Piki's condition."
"And they let you?" Jacob interrupted. "Because at this point it's clear that the monster you call Piki is this area's Territory Boss." The two girls turned to look at him. "So I'm surprised the other monsters let you get near them without attacking you."
"Piki is a Boss monster?" Sera asked.
"Are you sure, Jacob?" Iris added. "Because if you ask me, that thing," she pointed her thumb at Piki lying on the ground, "Is a bit too pathetic to be a Boss monster." Jacob shook his head.
"A Territory Boss isn't necessarily a Boss monster." He clarified. "In Rifts with clear, distinct areas or territories like the one we can find here, Territory Bosses are the strongest monsters living in an area. They're also usually the monster that expands the territory, or if they can't, house whatever object is required to expand their territory."
"Oh! Like the Rift we entered last month? The one that was split into five areas of differing elements?" Sera asked, and Jacob nodded in agreement.
"Exactly. To be more technical, the correct term to use to refer to those differing areas would be territores. To use that Rift as an example, do you remember the large elemental we encountered? The one that had a crystal heart that was expelling fire Mana that was maintaining the area's high temperature?" The two girls nodded. "Well, that monster would be categorized as a Territory Boss despite not actually being a Boss monster."
"Ah, that makes sense," Sera nodded in understanding.
"No, it doesn't, it's stupid and misleading," Iris spat out. "They should have used a different name besides calling it a boss to avoid any misunderstanding." Jacob gave Iris a 'what can you do' shrug. "Anyways, you were saying, Sera."
"So I walked up to Piki and inspected him. At first, I wasn't sure what was wrong with him, but on closer inspection, I noticed that Piki is made out of Lunar Spiritus Devou."
"Da fuck did she just say?" Jacob whispered to Iris. "Was that some kind of spell?" She rolled her eyes at his question.
"It's a species of mushrooms that doesn't break down organic material but instead sustains itself on Mana." She explained out loud, turning to face Sera once more. "They tend to form symbiotic relationships with Mana-dense plants like Moon petals or Arcane Heart trees. So I'm guessing that has something to do with why it was struggling to heal?" Sera nodded.
"Correct. You see, when I checked on the monster corpses, they were feeding Piki. I noticed that the cores in them were either missing or severely damaged."
"Since your pet monster is made out of Lunar Spiritus Devou, they require Mana instead of biological material to grow." Said Iris, with a clear picture of where Sera was going. "Because the corpses they are being fed either are missing their cores or contain a damaged one, this means that they have very little in terms of Mana. Which results in your pet getting only enough Mana to delay its death and not much else."
"Exactly!" Sera nodded. "So the moment I realized Piki's problem, I took out a Mana potion and poured it all over them. It wasn't long after Piki's wound began to heal visibly and his complexion slowly improved. Since then, we settled into a symbiotic relationship of sorts in which I provide Piki the Mana he needs in exchange for rare mushrooms that I couldn't normally get myself."
"How smart is your pet monster and its guards?" Sera tilted her head, confused about the sudden question
"Hmm," She took a moment to think over Iris's question. "I say Piki is roughly as intelligent as some corvids, while his guards are more like worker ants. They can perform basic tasks, such as spreading their mycelium, attacking invaders or finding mushrooms for me, but not much else. Why, you ask?"
"Mostly for my curiosity. Though I do need to ask, what are you planning to do with them? You know that even if this is a stable Rift, they'll struggle to stay alive outside the Rift."
"I... I'm not sure." Sera slowly admitted. "I didn't really have a plan for them. I guess I'll keep them with me until the test concludes, then I'll consult with the teachers on what I can do." Sera shook her head. "I'll worry about that later. Come on, help me gather the mushrooms Piki's guards have gathered."
"You're fine with splitting your loot?" Asked Jacob.
"Yeah," she nodded. "It's a lot for one person, and if we're going to party up, it's only natural we'll split the loot. Y-you do want to party up with me, d-do you?" Iris elbowed Jocob in the gut, annoyed that he made her friend sad.
"What are you talking about, Sera? We'd love to party up with you!" A bright smile blossomed on Sera's face at Iris's reassurance.
"Great! Then let's get going before Piki's guards damage the mushrooms; they can be a bit clumsy at times."
"Oh, before I forget, I've been meaning to ask you something. How can you withstand this place without wearing a face mask?"
"What do you mean by that?" Iris scrunched up her face.
"This place smells rancid, like a rotten corpse. Jacob and I are wearing enchanted masks to deal with the smell, so how can you run around bare-faced?"
"Oh, is it really that bad? Compared to some of the materials I have to work with, this place doesn't smell all that bad." Jacob and Iris looked at each other, shook their heads, and turned to face Sera once more.
"Never mind, let's focus on getting those mushrooms you mentioned earlier."
"Yeah!"
-Vibrant Jungle- Alex
-Scri?-
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"To be completely honest. I'm not sure if I'm going the right way." Upon waking up in the morning, Alex ate a quick breakfast of poisonous plants and a frog monster he killed. He then prepped what he thought he would need for the day in his backpack and Storage pouches, leaving the rest of his things buried under the Arcane Heart tree before venturing deeper into the jungle to search for Lilial. As Alex walked through the jungle, he would carve arrows along with a symbol into the trees every couple of steps or after a monster encounter. It was after a few hours of walking that Silk had noticed that Alex had passed the same tree for the third time within the same hour.
-Scre?-
"No, none of the guides or books go into much detail about where she can be found. But I'm confident I can piece together where to look using context clues they sprinkled in."
-Scha?-
"For example, ah, here it is." Pushing himself through the foliage, Alex finds himself at a rushing river. "Lilial is a river siren, so we'll eventually find her if we follow a river." He slowly started making his way down the river, following its natural flow. "It was mentioned that all the rivers are connected to a large lake at the center of the jungle. So, at the very least, we'll eventually encounter her if we stay near the lake long enough."
-Sca Sha?-
"Yeah, besides potentially encountering Lilial at the lake, there are also other things to find. So if she doesn't show up today, it wouldn't be a total waste of time."
-Sci-
"Yup," He nodded. "And we can also come back tomorrow if we don't see her today. Do you remember what you need to do if you start hearing enchanting singing?"
-Sha!-
"Good." An hour of walking later, Alex is munching on a monster fish skewered by an Icicle Spear he killed and cooked while downing a Mana potion when he hears it—an enchanting melody of words in another language. It sounded as if calm, flowing water was trying to talk to him. Alex's arms fell limply down to his side, his grip loosening enough to drop the skewered fish in his hand; the Icicle Spear evaporated upon hitting the ground. However, before he could drop the Mana potion in his other hand, a bit of frost covered his fingers, locking his hold on the bottle in place.
Alex's body started to sway back and forth as he slowly made his way towards the source of the melody. He managed to take a few steps when suddenly, his right arm burst into a ball of fire that was quickly snuffed out by the heavy mist around him. "Guh!" Alex groaned out, knocking him out of his daze. Shaking his head to rid his mind of the melody's lingering effect, he looked down at his slowly healing, burnt arm.
-Sch?-
"Yeah, I'm ok, Silk. Good job, it looks like pain is effective enough to free someone from their song's hold." Alex can still hear the sirens' song, but if before it was an overpowering presence blanketing his thoughts, it's now just a whisper at the back of his mind. "Ok, now that I know what to expect, it isn't so bad."
-Scha Shi?-
"Yeah, we still need to head over to the source of the singing. Get ready for a fight. Prepare the standard spells."
-Scra!-
It was then that Alex finally noticed his frosted-over hand, more specifically, the ice that sealed the bottle's opening closed, preventing any from spilling. Chuckling at Silk's clear priorities, Alex quickly weaved a Flame spell using his right hand and immediately activated it, coating his entire right arm with fire before using the flames to free his other hand from the ice. Downing the rest of the potion, Alex put the empty bottle back into his Storage pouch before making his way closer to the origin of the singing. As he made his way closer, Alex continued maintaining the Flame spell over his arm, using the stinging pain to keep his mind sharp and focused.
When Alex was about to reach the rough area where it sounded like the singing was originating from, he stopped walking and waited. Then, after a minute of waiting, the singing suddenly stopped when it became clear he wasn't under the song's power and that he wasn't going to come any closer. After a tense few moments, two wooden stone-tipped arrows burst out of the water and flew towards Alex's chest. Raising his fire-coated arm to his chest, he let the arrows pierce through and lodge in his arm before redirecting Mana into the bones of his left arm, activating the Boost spell carved into them.
Alex funnelled his newly gained strength into his legs and dashed forward. He weaved between the continuous barrage of arrows while blocking any he wasn't fast enough to move out of the way of with his right arm. Upon getting close enough, Alex redirected the Boost spell up his body and into the Flame spell he was still maintaining on his right arm. Feeling the fire rapidly heat up, Alex immediately shoved his arm into the water, causing a large explosion of steam that pushed him a few meters away.
"Silk, please cast mend wound." Alex groaned while cutting the Mana flow to his Flame and Boost spell, allowing the fire coating his arm to get snuffed out. Feeling his sore body slowly heal, Alex looked around and clicked his tongue when he realized he couldn't see anything due to all the steam. "Note to self, learn some wind spells. Maybe Gust or Wind Blade." Pushing his body off the ground, Alex got up on shaky legs and started making his way back to the water. By the time he got back to where he initially was, the steam had mostly cleared up, revealing three steaming sirens floating in the water. Creating and condensing some Mana threads, Alex weaved a net which he used to reel in the sirens to shore. "Hmm, good they're still alive." After giving them a closer inspection, Alex was happy to see that none of them were weak enough to perish from his previous attack. "The mist in this Rift should have enough Mana to allow them to breathe even outside of the water. So I shouldn't have to worry about them suffocating before I can reach the lake."
-Sca Shi?-
"It's not like Lilial would particularly care if any of them were to die, especially during or after a fight," Alex answered while taking out a Health and Chill potion from his Storage pouch. "Lilial knows that most sirens aren't like her. She understands and accepts that they are a decent likelihood of her subjects being killed when they choose to hunt down humans." He poured a bit of each potion over the unconscious sirens before putting them back into his Storage pouch and taking out a Mana potion. He downed the entire potion before putting the empty bottle back into his Storage pouch.
-Sha Sci?-
"I have two reasons for sparing them," Alex replied while taking out a thick rope from his backpack. "My first reason," He continued as he went to work tying the three sirens together with the rope. "Is that hopefully sparing them will earn me some points in Lilial's eyes. My second reason is that these sirens might bring me to Lilial if she isn't at or near the lake, saving me the effort of searching the entire jungle for her."
-Sca- Alex felt Silk nodding.
"There, that should do it." With the sirens firmly secured, Alex took out a knife from one of his Storage pouches and went to work cutting out the arrows still lodged in his body. "Ugh, that's the last one." He groaned while dropping the bloody arrow into the pile with the rest. "You can activate the Mend Wound spell now." Alex let out a sigh of relief when the aching pain over his body slowly disappeared. "I can't wait until I can upgrade my Regeneration Trait so I don't have to remove foreign objects in my body myself to heal properly."
-Sci Sca Shi?-
"Why don't I carve the Restoration spell in my bones if I want faster healing?" Quickly downing a Mana potion, Alex put the empty bottle away before grabbing one end of the rope. "Especially if I want to upgrade my regeneration as soon as possible?"
-Scra-
"You're right that I want to enchant my bones before I upgrade my regeneration, but so far I haven't learned the spells I want to yet." Alex began his journey towards the lake at the center of the jungle while dragging the unconscious sirens behind him.
-Scr?-
"Sadly, none of the spells I want had enchantments that were provided in any of the books or source materials."
-Scha?-
"Yeah, that's what I'm working on. Hopefully, I'll be ready to carve the rest of the enchanments into my bones by then."
-Scr Sca?-
"Why am I not choosing a healing spell like Restoration despite how often I'm using them?"
-Sha-
"Well, that's because I am already planning to apply a healing spell. It's just I haven't learned the correct enchantments yet."
-Sca?-
"It's not that Restoration is bad, trust me, it's a great spell to have fast access to. But it's a simple weave to create on the fly compared to the healing spell I have in mind." A bright green bird covered in spikes swooped down from the trees, its sharp claws aimed at Alex's head. Ducking under the attack, he grabbed the bird's talons, resulting in them piercing his hand before slamming the monster to the ground, crushing its fragile bones before stomping down on its head. It was after an hour of walking when the sirens finally started to show signs of waking up, and at that point, Alex had killed several dozen monsters that tried to attack him.
~W-what? What's happening?~ One of the sirens with green scales muttered in a bubbly language that Alex wasn't used to hearing but had vague memories of learning. They spoke in a melodic tone that Alex had come to expect, based on what he knew about the species of monsters.
~Ugh, why does my head hurt so much?~ Groaned another with blue scales while trying to move her bound arm in an attempt to rub her head.
~Why do I feel so dry and thirsty?~ The third, with duller scales, asked out loud.
~You're bound and being dragged around by a human you tried to attack,~ Alex answered as he continued his trek through the jungle. The foreign language felt weird in his mouth. ~Your head hurts most likely due to the explosion that knocked you out of the water. You're thirsty because, despite the mist being enough to keep you from suffocating, it isn't enough to prevent you from slowly drying out.~ The trio of sirens stared at Alex with their jaws agape.
~Y-you can understand us?~
-Scra?! Scra?-
'What? Of course they can talk.' Alex mentally answered Silk as he continued walking, ignoring the shocked looks the sirens were giving him. 'As for why, I knew how to speak the language.' Alex thought for a moment about how to answer the question. 'Let's just say my older self had a tendency to hyperfocus on things and do weird things for the sake of immersion. Though he never would have considered that he would be using what he learned like this.'
-Scra Sci Sha-
'Why would you think that? There are plenty of intelligent monsters, and you're a great example of one.'
-Srh-
'What does that have to do with anything? With that logic, you're a mindless creature as well. Although in your case, you are unable to talk due to a physical limitation instead of a mental one. Having no vocal cords really limits your ability to talk.'
-Scr Scra. Shr Scra Scrat?-
'What makes Lilial different from the other sirens is her intelligence, which allowed her to learn and cast spells that aren't inherently part of her species. And her ability to completely ignore the urges that come with having a monster core.'
-Scr?-
'Hmm? You're not sure what I'm talking about? Didn't you look through my older self's memories of REALM's lore?'
-Scra...-
'Well, I can't fault you for that. I doubt many people delved that deep into the lore; most would be content with just knowing what's in the main books.' Alex delved deep into his older self's memories. 'You see, creatures with monster cores are not only stronger than ones without, but they have two behaviours that they all seem to share. The first is an inherent aggression towards any creature that lacks a monster core, which typically means humans or any of the other playable races.'
-Scra?-
'Correct, Alice is a good example of this. Alice was a pretty peaceful person when she was a human, but that all changed when she was turned into a vampire and gained a monster core. However, the real Alice should have conquered this inherent instinct by now. The second shared behaviour that monsters tend to have is the instinctual need for strength. This can manifest in many ways, for example, it can drive a monster to want to grow more powerful or maybe have them follow those they deem to be stronger than them.'
-Scri?-
'Well, you're kinda a unique case. You see, your species requires a host to grow, which usually means latching onto another creature that has a low chance of killing you when you're still vulnerable. That typically means latching onto a living creature without a monster core. Because of that, your species inherently lacks a monster's inherent aggressiveness to avoid your young from killing their host too early. As for the second behaviour, I already demonstrated my strength when I originally bonded with you. In the eyes of your species, having enough Mana means I'm strong enough to develop a symbiotic relationship with, instead of a parasitic one.'
-Scri Scri-
'Hmm, yeah, I can see how that can make you uncomfortable. Sorry about that.'
-Scra-
~Is the human ignoring us?~ Alex heard the green-scaled siren ask the other sirens she is tied to, after he finally tuned back into the trio's conversation.
~Are you even sure he spoke to us?~ Said the siren with blue scales.
~Unless we all had the same hallucination, then the human definitely spoke to us in our language.~ Replied the one with duller scales.
~No, I~ Alex paused to clear his throat. He needed a moment to adjust to how odd the bubbly language felt when spoken out loud. ~The human isn't talking to you. You're all experiencing the same vivid hallucination that makes you think a human is speaking to you in your native tongue. The fact that the human isn't singing should be the first hint that this is all in your head.~ The three sirens turned their head to look at him with looks of complete disbelief.
~D-do you think we're stupid or something? You're clearly talking to us!~
~Yeah! We know that you humans don't need to sing as we do, so that logic isn't fooling us!~
~How can you tell us it's all in our heads when we can clearly hear you!~
'Hey, Silk, maybe I should learn some ventriloquism or at least how to throw my voice.'
-Scrik?-
'No, I'm not saying this just because it would have made this situation funnier. Being able to trick an opponent into thinking I'm somewhere else would be a big tactical advantage, especially against foes not expecting it.'
~And the human is ignoring us again.~
~Of course, he, Ahem. Of course, the human is ignoring you. The human probably isn't even able to understand what you are saying.~
~Are you done?~ The green-scaled siren asked, her melodic voice flatter than before with clear tones of impatience in it. Alex stopped and turned to look at the bound sirens.
~Yeah~ He nodded.
~Great!~ exclaimed the blue-scaled siren. ~Now, how about freeing us so we can have a proper discussion?~
~Hmm, how about no. It's quite clear what will happen if I do that.~ Alex eyed the sirens' tense body language that reminded him of a cat ready to pounce on their prey. He turned back and continued his trek through the jungle, dragging the bound monsters behind him. ~And I think the four of us can have our conversation like this.~
~I don't think we can have a good conversation when there is a clear power imbalance between us.~ Countered the siren with duller scales. ~Don't you think it would be better if we all started on the same footing?~
~Not really.~ Alex answered plainly. ~I think I'm perfectly within my rights to keep you three like this because you did attack me first.~
~ENOUGH OF THESE GAMES!~ Screamed the green-scaled siren. ~What is it you want from us, human?~ She spat. ~ Because if you think we'll surrender without a fight, then you are severely mistaken.~
~Well, you did try to fight me and lost. So your last point doesn't really apply to this situation.~ Alex either ignored or didn't notice the heated glare the green-scaled siren shot at him. ~As for what I want from you three, well, that's simple. I want to know where I can find Lilial.~
~What do you want from our queen?~ Asked the dull-scaled siren before pausing. ~How do you know our queen's name? You humans, shouldn't have that kind of information.~
~What I want should be clear. It is quite well known that your queen will trade with humans while holding off attacks from her subjects.~ The sirens nodded, not at all surprised by Alex's answer.
~Make sense, you lowly human would want to trade with our generous queen.~ The dull-scaled siren said with a tine filled with pride. ~ However, you didn't answer how you know our queen's name?~ Alex briefly glanced back before turning his sights back forward.
~Your queen's reputation precedes her, so don't you think people hearing of her beauty and generosity wouldn't want ot know her name?~
~You make a good point, human.~ Said the green-scaled siren as the other two nodded in agreement. ~It is a bit silly of me not to consider that our queen's beauty wouldn't inspire desire in the lowly minds of other species, especially in the heartless ones like you humans.~ Alex absently hummed to her last comment. Heartless is a derogatory term that Alex recalls rarely seeing in some of the novels. More intelligent monsters usually use the term to refer to a creature without a core. Alex always found the term a bit confusing since monsters without actual hearts aren't considered heartless.
'Though I guess it makes more sense if you look at it as a more spiritual thing than a literal one.' Alex mused to himself. 'Most intelligent monsters consider their core not only as a source of their power but also the place where their souls are housed.' Which Alex figured isn't that far off since monster cores, or more specifically, Boss cores, give whoever consumes them one of the monster's Traits. 'And if you think about it, that can be seen as a person gaining a portion of the monster's soul along with the abilities that come with it. Not too dissimilar from some cultures that believe eating someone's heart would bestow them some of the person's skills and abilities when they were alive.'
~Are you always this rude?~ Asked the green-scaled sire, knocking Alex out of his thoughts. ~Or is zoning out in the middle of a conversation something inherent to you humans?~
~So are you three going to tell me where I can find your queen?~ Alex asked after turning his head so he could see the bound monsters, completely ignoring the siren's previous comment. ~Or do I have to look for her myself while dragging you three along the entire time?~ The three sirens looked at each other and started engaging in what looked like a silent conversation between them.
~Around this time of day, you should be able to find our queen resting on the bank of the Azure River.~ The dull-scaled siren thought of something before continuing. ~If you continue walking forward, you will eventually reach a river with reddish water. Walk in the opposite direction of the water's flow. You would then need to continue walking in a straight line and cross two rivers until you see a weirdly clear-looking river. That's the Azure River, and you should be able to hear our queen singing alone nearby.~
~Alone? I figured you'll have guards stationed near your queen.~
~Please.~ The dull-scaled siren scoffed. ~Like she'll need any help dealing with any of you lowly humans, especially against a single one.~
'Huh, I always thought it was weird they never mentioned any guards with Lilial in novels, but I guess the reason was that she never had any.' Alex thought to himself. ~Well, I can't argue with that logic.~ The three sirens looked pleased at his agreement. Knowing where to go now, Alex continued his trek through the jungle. While the three sirens chatted amongst themselves when it was clear that Alex wasn't planning to continue talking to them, nor did he show any signs that he was even listening.
REALMS Printable Premade Character Sheets
Character #12
Raven Nychta
Realm of Origin: ____ --- Current Realm: _______
Player Name: ___________
Party Members:
Current Chapter [ ]
Health:[ ] --- Stamina:[ ] --- Mana:[ ] --- Trait Limit: [ / ]
Traits: Chrome's Left Eye (10), Adin's Right Eye(10[Locked]), Ambidextrous(2), Light-footed(2), Weak Body,
2
Additional Information:
Player Name: ___________ | Age:___ | Height:___ | Weight:___ | Eyes:___ | Skin:___ | Hair:___ |
]
- Displaced(Original Realm is up to the player's choice)
- His Weak body originates from Raven improperly going from one Realm to another.
- His ambidexterity is a result of a past hand injury, which later healed.
- Note: It is recommended to start with Chrome's Left eye; however, players can instead choose to begin with Adin's Right eye if they desire.
3
Known Spells/Techniques: