Chapter 168: Arrivin’

Chapter 168: Arrivin’

Erani and I walked down a road after exiting the city of Salvation. We were currently on our way to meet up with Ainash and head off to do the Goblin extermination job. So, with the sun moving to soon crest in the morning sky, we traveled. We were planning to meet Ainash in the middle, so it wouldn’t take more than an hour, maybe half to get to her. In the meantime, we simply watched the sights on the sides of the road neighboring the quaint town.

Farmland and peaceful hills passed us by.

“Nice change of scenery from the mountains,” I laughed as we walked.

“That’s for sure,” Erani sighed. “Still trying to get used to the lifestyle, to be honest.”

As we talked, another pair of people—also adventurers, judging by their leather armor and weapons on their sides—walked past us. I could see one of them—a woman with flowing blonde hair—lean away from us as they walked, while the other—a man with large, bushy eyebrows—walked with his eyes seemingly glued onto us.

I just shrugged at their attitude. I supposed we’d naturally draw some attention, with the combination of our strange appearances and the simple fact that we were new in town.

“Hey,” the woman whispered once they were behind us, “isn’t that those two people?”

My ears perked up at that. Had they heard of us? Had news gotten out about fugitives escaping the kingdom, and now people were searching? I mentally cursed as I prepared myself for a fight.

“Yeah,” the man whispered back to her. “It’s that evil armor guy, right? And the half-woman?”

That made me stop in my tracks. What in the hells were they talking about? Erani stopped too once she realized I was standing back, and she looked at me curiously. I guessed she hadn’t been listening to their conversation. But now my curiosity was piqued, and I wanted to hear what they had to say.

“I think evil armor was the one to attack Tyrus, right?” the woman said. I could basically feel their stares in our backs. “Wow, I didn’t think their descriptions would be so...literal.”

I turned around. “Hey, so are you two talking about us? Or...”

Their faces went red with embarrassment when they realized I’d heard what they were saying. Erani turned and looked at them, too, staying silent.

“Uh...” the woman shrugged. “Yeah, I guess we’ve heard of you, or something.”

“What was that you said about me attacking Tyrus?”

“I just...heard something about it.” She averted her eyes from me.

I nodded “Mhm. That was the drunk guy at the bar, right? The one who I saved from getting the shit beat out of after he collapsed on me? Yeah, no. I didn’t attack him. I’d appreciate it if you cleared that up with whoever said that about me.”

“Uh, mhm.”

Erani leaned in to whisper to me, cupping her hand around my ear. “C’mon, let’s just go.”

“One second,” I said. I could tell she was hiding her voice from them because Distortion Strike messed with it, and she probably didn’t want to freak the people out. I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, but I was genuinely curious about one more thing, and turned to the pair of people again. “Also, what’s up with the names?”

“Hm?” the woman said. She almost seemed afraid of me, which I really wished hadn’t been the case. I’d have hoped that my clearing up the fact that I hadn’t attacked that dumbass in the guild lobby would help assuage her fears, but clearly it hadn’t worked too well.

“The nicknames you gave us.” I waved my hand impatiently, trying to jog her memory. “What was it? ‘Evil armor’ and ‘the half woman?’ What is that? We sound like characters from a children’s bard tale.”

“Oh, um...I didn’t make them up, or anything, so I’m not sure.” The woman shrugged in an over-exaggerated gesture.

“I mean, can’t you tell?” the man said. “You’ve got some weird appearances, and you do some flamin’ weird stuff. People are gonna talk. Don’t get all mad because of that.”

“I’m not mad,” I said. “I mean, I guess I can get my name. ‘Evil armor’ seems kind of extreme, but I guess the spikes make it look sort of bad—”

“Uh, also the part where it kills people?” The guy shook his head like I was the dumb one here. “Isn’t it, like, stuck on you and draining your life force, or something? Sounds pretty evil to me. It almost killed Tyrus!”

“For the last time, I did not—” I stopped myself and sighed. “Besides, it doesn’t hurt me. Sure, I guess it’s stuck on, but it only hurts you when you try to take it off or hurt me. So just don’t do that, and we’re good. Call it, like, I dunno...the self-defending armor, or something. ‘Evil’ is an overstatement.”

“That’s not gonna stick.”

“Anyway, the fuck do you mean when you say ‘half-woman?’” I demanded. “At least you were just insulting my armor. That’s just fucking rude.”

“Why don’t you just leave us alone?” The woman said.

“You were the one to talk about us,” I said. “I’m just asking you to clarify. Maybe don’t gossip if you want to be left alone.”

She sighed. “Her name is pretty clear to me. She looks like she’s barely a person. So, y’know. Half.”

“Also,” the main said, “she’s kinda, y’know...missing a part of her.”

“Okay, yeah, shut the fuck up.” I stepped forward and pointed off. “Leave. Go away.”

“Okay, fine,” the man held up his hands in mock-surrender as the two of them turned to hurriedly walk off. “Just pointing out the obvious.”The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

Once they were gone, I sighed and placed my head in my hands. “Good gods.”

“We should keep moving,” Erani said simply.

“Sure.”

We turned and kept walking.

“Well,” I said with a shrug, “let’s head in.”

We walked forward, under the canopy of leaves, where the high sun barely gave light to the overgrown path.

“Damn,” I muttered, looking around, “not surprised people get ambushed all the time in here. The thick foliage doesn’t even let me see ten paces out.”

“Yeah, not exactly excited to fight in here.”

“Index,” I said, “keep an eye out for us, will you? Make sure we aren’t walking into any traps, or whatever.”

“On it!”

“And Ainash, you can feel the emotions of nearby beings, right? Think you can tell us if you feel any Goblins?”

“How can I tell difference between Goblin and not Goblin?”

“Well, I’m not totally sure. But apparently they’re pretty smart. Smarter than a normal monster, at least. So maybe they’ll feel more Human in their thoughts?”

“Will be looking for any almost Humans!”

“Great, thanks.”

We continued marching through, with Ainash doing her best job to bushwhack ahead with her whip, swinging it in small arcs to cut away branches and leaves that’d grown over the path so we could at least walk without tripping. Erani needed the most help moving along, since at least I could use both arms to push the plants away. She had half that. I really hoped we could find a way to get her at least somewhat back to a healed state. Or find a workaround, or something.

Threshold reached.

Your Bond with Level 32 Draconiad has deepened.

Due to your Bond being deepened, it has undergone the following changes:

Stat Increase: From 10 to 12

XP Gain: From 5% to 6%

Heat Resistance: From 26.6% to 31%

Threshold reached.

Your Bond with Level 32 Draconiad has deepened.

Due to your Bond being deepened, it has undergone the following changes:

Stat Increase: From 12 to 14

XP Gain: From 6% to 7%

Heat Resistance: From 31% to 35.2%

“Woah, what in the hells?” I said aloud.

“Father, you are stronger now!” Ainash looked back and smiled at me.

“What is it?” Erani asked.

“The Bond just Ranked up. Twice. Totally randomly, it feels like. I wasn’t even thinking about Ainash.”

She frowned. “That’s weird. Well, it’s good, obviously, but weird. I wonder what happened. Ainash, do you have any idea?”

“Oh, uh, I might.”

“What is it?”

“Father, you and mother like each other a lot.”

“Well, uh, sure,” I said, feeling my face involuntarily grow red at the frank statement. It was honestly embarrassing to blush at something so plain, but that only made me blush more, making a sort of stupid vicious cycle. I shook my head, and continued, “But I’m not sure what that has to do with the Bond. I thought it didn’t care about other people.”

“Well, but I notice that you and mother like each other. And I felt sad that I like mother but still think you are weird. It is unfair, since mother thinks you are very nice! And when I think that, you get stronger!”

“Oh. Oh, I get it.” I suddenly realized what she meant. “So I guess in this case, the Bond was held back less by how I felt about you, and more by how you felt about me? Because you thought I was...weird, I guess?”

Erani laughed. “I didn’t realize my endorsement mattered that much.”

“Oh, wait,” I said, “if the Bond Ranked up, that’s actually a really good thing.”

“Well, of course it is,” Erani responded with a frown.

“No, like, specifically right now, it’s better than it usually is. Remember our fight with Xhag’duul? We can exploit this to effectively cover twice as much ground as possible. Clearing out a whole forest of Goblins...We could easily get this whole job done before nightfall.”

“Well then, let’s hear it. What’s your plan?”