Chibafu and Elfana return downstairs, finally being prepared to take the quest on (the same one from the day before).

  My first quest…this is gonna be a learning curve, but at least I have Elfana here to help me out.

  Elfana hands the paper with the quest, along with her ID and Chibafu’s. The receptionist is the same as before, but her expression is noticeably absent…along with emotion, or anything really. She’s in a catatonic state after being shown up by a piece of furniture.

  “Is there anything else we need to do before this?” Elfana asks, the receptionist just blankly staring.

  The receptionist falls backward, which Elfana takes as a sign to leave.

  Elfana and Chibafu make their way outside of town, Chibafu taking in the scenery of this new world.

  “This place feels more…alive then where I’m, from”

  “Oh really? What do you mean?”

  Chibafu thinks back to his time on Earth, not really reminiscing but thinking back to how much he didn’t pay attention to his surroundings

  “Where I come from, the people wouldn’t pay any attention to anyone but themselves. They’d focus on their goals, disregarding the people around them, and before you know it, you’re just seen as an object to other people”

  Chibafu stops sliding for a moment, reclining back for a second to imitate a stretch.

  “But yesterday’s history…am I right?”

  Elfana laughs, and they continue walking away from town.

  Some time passes, the sun going from dusk to about mid-day.

  “What about you? What was it like where you grew up?” Chibafu asks, Elfana deciding how to answer.

  “It was really nice, every day filled with a sense of wonder. The people around always seemed to expect nothing from anyone, and always willing to lend a hand…nothing like where we are today”

  “Sounds nice…maybe someday you’ll find your way back”

  Elfana looks down with a saddened look

  “That’s not exactly possible…”

  Crap! It must’ve been burned down, her bearing witness to the murder of countless of her kind.

  “Sorry, hopefully they all can rest in peace knowing you carry the legacy”

  “They’re probably resting peacefully…they don’t usually get up until later anyway”

  “...what?”

  “Yeah, elves tend to sleep pretty late, and I don’t think I'd necessarily be carrying their legacy…”

  “So they’re not dead…?”

  Elfana and Chibafu stop in their tracks, “looking” at each other, a silence overcoming the area

  Elfana laughs at Chibiafu’s thought, to his confusion

  “No! They’re all probably alive and well! What made you think they died?”

  “It’s a pretty typical backstory…I mean why else would you not be there right now!?” Chibafu shouts back, still confused.

  Elfana enters a flashback to when she lived in the village, narrating and setting the scene for Chibafu.

  “I don’t live there anymore because of a mistake I made when I was young. I was 140 at the time, how can you blame me?!?”

  That’s longer than most humans live…seems like she’s trying to frame it a different way

  “Me and some other kids were playing in the town square, when one of the kids tripped me into our people’s sacred relic. Who puts a priceless relic in the middle of town anyway?!”

  She’s got a point there

  Elfana remembers this sacred relic shattering when the kid ‘tripped’ her, when she fell over by herself.

  “I tried telling the truth, and how I was tripped, but nobody believed me! And so, I was banished”

  Sounds like it was her fault. Anyway, might as well try some typical reassurance behaviour

  “Don’t worry, I believe your story! It was all their fault, you’re not to blame at all!”

  Elfana looks at Chibafu, happy that he’s on her side

  “I knew you’d believe m-The truth!”

  A group of low tier fodder, goblins to be specific zero in on their position, one sneaking up behind Chibafu, Elfana readily disposing of it.

  Elfana goes from her usual “lost in her surroundings” look to a serious one, and proceeds to decimate the goblins. One of them decides it’s probably best to leave, turning and trying to run away while Elfana is distracted by another Goblin.

  She notices the goblin trying to flee, and in the heat of the moment throws something at it to kill it; Chibafu.

  She realizes what she’s done, and tries to stop her motion, but it’s too late, he’s already flying toward this goblin.

  In the air, Chibafu sees a smaller hooded figure standing in the woods, obscured by the shadows produced by the trees.

  What an odd spot to be standing…

  In an instant, Chibafu slams into the Goblin, killing it before it had time to react.

  Elfana comes running up to check up on Chibafu, a concerned look on her face

  “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to throw you, I just didn’t want that one to escape! Please forgive me!” Elfana pleads

  The damage sustained to Chibafu dented his arm rest, but before he could tell her, it repaired itself.

  “No worries, just for future reference…don’t throw me without letting me know first”

  Elfana, tears in her eyes, agrees to this condition, and they continue their journey ahead, Elfana slightly covered in Goblin blood, leaving a purple stain on her gloves.

  …

  They finally make it to their destination of the quest, seeing a large Pig-beast looking creature with a massive club.

  Wow, that thing is huge! And we’re supposed to kill that? How are we go-

  Chibafu’s train of thought is cut short when Elfana speed-blitzes the beast, severing the achilles on the left heel. The beast attacks back, swinging the club at her, shattering the earth beneath the club.

  Elfana retreats back to Chibafu, catching her breath after that dodge. She leaps to end the fight swiftly, but while in the air a projectile flies toward her from the forest, hitting her hand, making her drop her sword.

  As the sword leaves her hand, her focus completely drops, and she reverts to her normal self.

  “What are you doing? What just happened” Chibafu communicates to Elfana, as she falls toward the ground.

  “Without a weapon in my hand, I can’t do anything!”

  This is something only I can do.

  After some contemplation, Chibafu leaps into the air, Elfana grabbing him to use as a weapon once more.

  In a blur, the beast is finished, warping up into a void of nothingness, which Chibafu notices, but pays no attention to.

  “Thanks for your help, Chibafu!”

  “Don’t sweat it! Glad I could do something on my first quest”

  They scrounge what they can from the very little that is left of the beast, with the hooded figure still observing from the shadows, then fleeing without being noticed.

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  …

  Elfana and Chibafu make it back into town, with a bag dripping with the beast’s blood, proceeding to place it on the counter, a different receptionist accepting it and handing back their money.

  “Good job on your first quest! Are you 2 in a party together?” the receptionist asks, acknowledging Chiabfu’s existence as more than an item of furniture.

  “Thanks, and not officially…” Elfana replies, then looks at Chibafu, giving him a look that screams ‘let’s party up’ without saying a word.

  Maybe we should form a party, I mean why not…also good on her for knowing I’m not just furniture.

  Before giving an answer, they decide to put a pin in the conversation after Elfana’s stomach rumbles, to her embarrassment.

  Elfana once again thanks the receptionist, grabbing the money and heading up the stairs.

  The receptionist heads into the back, passing a piece of paper with a terribly drawn lawn chair, with text below it reading ‘Not just a piece of furniture’.

  Chibafu and Elfana head up the stairs toward their rooms, the hooded figure back, and still on the prowl.

  Chibafu notices, turning to face her for a moment, before being pulled into Elfana’s room, the hooded figure heading downstairs.

  Some time passes, and Elfana exits the room alone, heading down to the pub, the figure following.

  She sits for a drink or 2, or 3, or 5, then motions for a random girl to sit and drink with her. Seeing no reason to refuse, the girl sits down at the same table as Elfana, but doesn't drink anything.

  “What’s the matter? Not much of a drinker?” Elfana asks the girl

  “Not particularly…In my culture I’m still too young to drink” the girl replies, Elfana recalling something

  “Oh yeah…beast people are only allowed to drink after they reach 24! I totally forgot!” Elfana laughs to herself, taking another sip of alcohol.

  Ambient chatter fills the area, speaking of a beast-person being extremely alluring while heading a party, despite being flat-chested…and the rumors that this person may be a boy, though the description is quite different from the girl in front of Elfana.

  “I just finished a quest, would you like anything? It’s on me!” Elfana, slightly intoxicated and leaning close to the girl.

  The girl refuses, then looks around like she made a mistake sitting with Elfana, then she spots something that makes her mouth water; Chocolate cake.

  Elfana notices this, then calls the waiter over, the girl thinking she’s buying another drink.

  The waiter returns after some time, with a chocolate cake. Elfana slides it over to share with the girl, which she happily eats.

  Elfana grabs a slice of cake, taking a single bite, then looking up at the girl. She’d already eaten the rest of the cake, the chocolate frosting covering her face, Elfana wiping it off while laughing.

  Elfana chugs her drink, then says she has cupcakes in a special spot, enticing the girl to follow, which she happily does.

  Elfana heads upstairs, then into her room the girl fast to follow, priming her claws to catch Elfana off-guard.

  The girl heads into the room, Elfana slamming the door behind her shut.

  The sound starles the girl, her jumping like a cat would to hearing a loud sound.

  The lamp in the corner turns on, revealing Chibafu in the corner.

  Elfana shoves the girl, falling over and landing on Chibafu, now being able to hear him.

  “What’s your business with us? Why are you following us everywhere?!” Chibafu questions, the girl stammering for a moment, thinking of an answer.

  “I’m just here to get a cupcake, I swear!” the girl replies, hiding her hands behind her back as she retracts her claws.

  “Is that right? I have proof that you’re lying! My accomplice was there the entire time, right Elfana?”

  Elfana is face first on the floor after drinking so much, unresponsive.

  Great.

  Chibafu throws the girl off him, her tripping over Elfana, waking her up in the process. They both stumble to their feet (for different reasons), and the girl’s weird-looking turtleneck unfolds to reveal a sort of tattoo.

  Elfana tries to grab her, but trips on her feet, ripping the turtleneck clean off, showing the entirety of the tattoo, Elfana recognizing it in her drunken state.

  “That’s a slaveve cresttttttt” Elfana stumbles on her words, the girl unable to say anything in return.

  The conversation being had is seen through a portal-looking object, and the perpetrator of this attack is revealed to be none other than Lesiere Eve Ilguy, with some hooded dudes next to him.

  “This is for humiliating me at the license tests!” Leisure shouts, the flashback showing him tripping on the steps up back when Chibafu was getting his license.

  “I don’t think they can hear you, sire” one of the hooded guys speaks up, Lesiere giving this man the death stare, to which he backs off.

  “Kill them” Lesiere commands, slamming his hand on a magic circle, causing the girl to try and kill Chibafu and Elfana, but the girl looks reluctant to kill.

  The girl charges forward, but Elfana stops her with a shop to the head, knocking her out cold.

  “Wow, you sober up quick”

  “It’s a perk of being an elf”

  They both remember the night before when Elfana enticed Chibafu to sleep in the same bed as her, and her face goes red.

  “ONLY SOMETIMES THOUGH!” Elfana quickly corrects, thinking she saved it.

  What a weirdly convenient ability. Let’s just deal with the task at hand.

  “How do we deal with this crest?”

  “All you need to do is retrace the pact with another substance, but it has to be different from the one used before”

  “How do we know what they used? What happens if we use the same thing?”

  “The person…um…well…goes poof’

  “Poof?”

  “Poof.”

  I don’t think I wanna know what going ‘poof’ means, but she won’t be out long, so we need to think of something!

  Chibafu gets an idea.

  “Hit me”

  Elfana is shocked by this, taken off her guard completely by his request

  “I didn’t know you were into that kind of stuff…”

  “We’re running out of time! Just hit me really, really hard!”

  Elfana reluctantly hits Chibafu on the arm, and some black liquid spills out. Chibafu covers one of his arms with it, then starts to retrace the tattoo

  I guarantee that this isn’t the medium…since it’s from another world!

  As Chibafu is tracing, the girl wakes up, and her ‘vision’ is once again transmitted to Lesiere.

  “What are you doing to my slave! Stop it! You’re not allowed to do that! My mom bought me that slave for my birthday!!!!” Lesiere begins to sulk, unable to do anything as Elfana has the girl pinned down.

  Chibafu finishes the tracing, cutting off Lesiere’s contact with the girl. The tattoo begins to glow bright red, which indicates the previous medium was blood, then the tattoo lifts itself off the girl and into the girl, reshaping itself into a new form, heading back to the same place after a bit of time.

  The girl sits up, then looks at Chibafu, tears in her eyes. She leaps into his…arms and holds him tight.

  “Thank you! Thank you for setting me free! I’ll do whatever you want! Anything! Thank you, my true saviour!” the girl cries out, Elfana’s jaw slamming against the floor.

  Chibafu is left speechless for a moment, then ‘clears his throat’ (only in sound, he has no throat to clear).

  The girl backs off, and sits on the ground in front of Chibafu.

  “Let’s start with names. My name is Chibafu Isu, what’s yours?”

  “Erina….Erina Porani”

  “Erina…where are you from?”

  “I’m from far up north, but that’s all I know. As you can see, I’m a beast person” pointing to her cat ears on her hair.

  Yeah, that’s like a dead giveaway, well that and the tail. And the claws.

  “From now on, you don’t have to be anyone’s lackey, or their errand boy. You’ll be…you”

  Hearing this, Erina holds even tighter, and cries even harder, refusing to let go.

  …

  Night passes, and in the morning, everyone is in the same place they were the night before, Elfana had fallen asleep standing up.

  They all head down to the front desk, Chibafu touching the receptionist so she can understand him before positioning himself in front of the desk.

  “I’d like to form a party with these 2”

  “Certainly! What should your party be named?” the receptionist asks, Chibafu thinking about this.

  The party name…huh. I’d never thought about it until now…Bizarre Brigade? Light’s reign? What would be a good name…

  “...what about Unfoldable?” Erina asks, Elfana pondering the name.

  “unfoldable…I like it!”

  “Your party is registered under the title of Unfoldable! Congratulations are in order…just one last thing”

  “And what would that be?” Chibafu questions.

  “To be officially recognized as a party, you need to go on a joint quest with at least 1 other registered party”

  Just when I thought we were in the clear…

  “Don’t worry, Chibafu! I’m sure there are plenty of parties looking right now, right?” Elfana reassures, looking over to the receptionist for an answer.

  “It just so happens that a party is actually looking for others to prepare for a dungeon raid, and a top party nonetheless!”

  Without a moment’s hesitation, Chibafu accepts, then the 3 of them head toward the party’s HQ for a meeting before the raid.

  “I wonder what kind of party they’re going to be…”

  “Hopefully one with strong warriors!” Elfana exclaims

  “Hopefully they have something sweet to eat!” Erina shouts out, them all laughing off Erina’s comment, and walking across town.

  They make it to the Party’s HQ, where they finally meet the party which they’re going to be raiding with….Bladed.

  A high-pitched voice greets them at the door as they enter, claiming to be the leader of the party, Phoenix. The other members are introduced by Phoenix.

  “Over here we have Wed, real name Wendell Clotz. He’s pretty normal, just don’t bring up his sister. Trust me.”

  “Next is Vloxx, or Edward V. Loxx. He’s somewhat of a prophet, but kinda takes himself out of fighting to do what he needs to do.”

  “After that we have our main sources of offense, being Marvin Falcon, just call him Falcon. He’s a bit of a weirdo, between us”

  “...and beside him is Blaine…uhhhh…just call him Blizzle. Those 2 guns he’s got are seriously trouble, the only 2 like them in the world.”

  These are some straight stereo introductions, like they’ve got more important places to be…

  Sorry, I don’t feel like drawing it out, plus they’re not exactly the main characters.

  Fair point. So the next chapter is probably going to kill them off, right?

  I haven’t decided yet, I'll tell you when I figure it out.

  Sounds good.