I sat cross-legged on the ground, sketchbook on my lap and pencil in my hand. My leather garnts covered my body since the armor wasn't exactly comfortable to draw or write in.
It had been exactly 36 hours and five minutes since Pyotr left.
The dragon hadn't returned yet. Maybe the hunt was proving challenging.
I busied myself with updating my journal, writing music, and drawing to calm the anger and frustration.
Bach, Satie, and Debussy filled a brand new sketchbook. Around 500 pages now housed 131 pieces of music, with a bit of Rachmaninoff's more complex pieces sprinkled here and there.
My wish 'to never forget' seed to fully work with art, even beyond perfect mory recall. It'd be great if I could rember the sciences and such, though. Try as I might, I could not completely recall how to build a computer processor despite watching a docuntary about it less than a month before dying. The docuntary about the particle accelerator built in 2032 escaped as well.
Maybe in ti. Ten thousand years lay ahead of still.
I drew Irtorodon, the zombies, the Rotten Monstrosity, the Gods, my companions, my girls, and eventually started drawing our nightly activities, going as far as drawing a fully colored comic about a particularly long and active night.
It was when I was finishing the details of Pokora's face after I blew a load all over her snow-white skin, that sothing broke my focus.
Sothing was approaching from the west incredibly fast.
I stored my things, stood up, and walked out of the cave.
The snow had piled up a bit, covering the environnt with a blanket of snow. Perpetua and Eternia hid behind fat clouds, but bathed the world in their light without fail.
On the horizon, however, was a bright, night blue silver dot so hundreds of kiloters away.
A shooting star? I wondered. Nah... a cot or teor?
The dot got closer and closer, moving through the sky. It left a thin, short-lived trail.
It's below the clouds so it's not from outer space, I reasoned, staring at the odd thing.
Appraisal showed nothing even after telling E'er to show , so whatever it was wasn't alive.
Still, it approached.
I crossed my arms across my chest, trying to figure out what it was while looking up. A spell, maybe?
Then, suddenly, when it was a few kiloters away, it started going down.
Towards .
And yet, there was no danger. My instincts didn't react, nor did Galeia manifest a vision or whatever the nature of what happened in the Obelisk was.
As the thing got closer I could see what it was.
It was an arrow.
The projectile landed in front of with a sharp and loud thwack, piercing the snow and burying itself halfway into the ground. It was two ters long and thick as my arm.
Huh, I humd.
It thrumd, sending a pulse of thick E'er outwards with the function of appraisal and pushing back terrain. The snow around it moved out and the ground three ters around it flattened.
Then, the arrow grew brighter and shimred with the function of shift, and a person stood there the next instant.
Deep blue and silver. A long, hooded cloak draped over her shoulders, adorned with intricate silver embroidery. Beneath the cloak, a high collar tunic hugged her form, cinched at the waist with a reinforced corset etched with elegant designs. Form fitting tights protected her legs and were tucked into knee-high boots.
Sharp, silver hair cascaded down to her ample chest. She had silver skin with an almost tallic sheen, eyes like molten silver with a horizontal line across the pupil, and a massive, ear to ear smile that showed golden teeth.
A beauty that transcended mortal potential. Almost an equal to mine.
[Nilenna Atarka – adow Halve, Lvl 720 Heaven Piercing Eternal Night – 718 Galeian Sentinel – 715 Wildheart Warden – 712 Wayfinder]
My eyebrows went up a bit and my lips parted slightly. Damn...
Nilenna lunged at , arms spread out. “LITTLE SISTER!!!” she cheered mid-flight with a giggle and emitting pure joy through her glow. Her voice was high pitched and exceedingly energetic.
Our bodies clashed with a sound similar to two boulders hitting.
“We finally et!” she cheered, tightly wrapping her arms around and nuzzling her face on my neck. “You're so tall! And strong!” she leaned her head back and gave a look. “And beautiful! Wow! Hi!”
“Hi,” I greeted back, a bit surprised by her energy, but more surprised she was here in the flesh... or E'er.
The silver Halve smiled a cheeky, mischievous smile. “Surprised, huh? You didn't think I'd co so soon, huh?” she asked, squeezing and pressing herself on . “Or did the thought of coming not even cross your mind?” she laughed, leaning her head back. “My beautiful little sister needed help, so of course I ca right away! Hey! Hug your older sister back!!”
I blinked and hugged her shoulders. “I thought you'd just write back...” I explained, still reeling a bit.
Nilenna smiled and her eyes squinted a bit. “You have a beautiful voice, little sister. I like it a lot! Why are you so quiet, though!? Are you the serious, no-nonsense type? Your letters gave the impression you're not like that! Is eting that much of a shock?! Have I shocked you into silence, little sister? That's hilarious!”
I tried gathering my thoughts for a second or two.
“Haaa....” she sighed, lting into my arms. “The body of a Halve Warrior truly feels indestructible.” She moved her hands to my arms and felt the muscles under the leather, prodding them with her fingers and squeezing around. She then sniffed the air, plunged her face on my neck again, and took a very long and very strong whiff. “You sll a bit of male...” she breathed out, then took several more sniffs. “But female as well. So delicious. So much energy. So fertile! Are you a fulse? Did mom create a fulse Halve? Wow! That's aweso! Is one of your Bonded Partners ovulating? Are you preparing for her?”
“That's a lot of questions,” I pointed out with a complicated chuckle. “Can I have a bit of space, first?”
Nilenna let go and took half a step back, not really getting out of my personal space. “Well?” she urged, her big smile not changing in the slightest.
I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. “Thanks for coming, by the way,” I told her. “And yeah, I'm a hermaphrodite,” I explained, then took a pause. “Did you just call Galeia 'mom'?”
“Yep!” she proudly replied. “She's our mom! Or dad if you want! You wrote in your letter that you t, so yeah!” she nodded several tis, then humd and brought her hands together in tiny claps. “So! What's your exact age? I want to know if I you're my little sister or not! Desseyr won't answer that, you know? He's such a cheeky boy! He always goes 'the neverending influx of premises is such that the greater sum of the origins might not influence the twilight, even if eternal' or sothing like that! He's hilarious! You have to et him!”
I humd and nodded, not sure how to reply. Or, more precisely, which question to answer first.
“By the way,” Nilenna started, not even giving a mont to reply. She looked towards the cave behind and sniffing the air. “Where is the dragon? He's a hatchling, though! I bet he's around level one thousand four hundred! So cute!” She returned her focus to , looking deep into my eyes. “Would you like to ta it? I can help! Your Lancer Class will definitely benefit from bonding with a dragon! The Ratnak is cute, don't get wrong! But you should have more options, you know? Unless you don't want to, which is okay too! I just thought you'd want to, since you have a Ratnak and,” she sniffed again, “chose a Luzo as partner! Do you have a thing for scales?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and let out a defeated laugh.
She was too much.
“The dragon is out hunting,” I replied, gesturing at the mountain chain. “I'm not interested in taming him. I'm one hundred and twenty days old, and you?”
Nilenna bead, her smile, skin, and hair glowing up with unadulterated mirth. “Oh! So you are my little sister!” she cheered, making a cute celebratory pose. “I'm two thousand and eleven years old! Big sis Yulianna always says I don't act my age, but she can go get fucked in the ass with a whole mountain! Before you ask, Miraztor is five thousand three hundred and one years old, but he lost a bet to so he has to treat as his senior for five hundred years! Haha!”
My eyebrows went up a bit. “You don't say,” I chuckled.
The Halve nodded, a smug smile on her face. “He's so obsessed with seniors and juniors! Don't get started on how he's always preaching about so 'profound way' or sothing like that! True, so of it is pretty wise, but he goes on, and on, and on, and on about it until I feel like my ears are bleeding!”
“Yeah... I can imagine,” I laughed.
She gave the biggest nods soone with a neck is able to give. “But! Whenever he and Desseyr talk I can't help but laugh my guts out! The two complint each other so well! It's hilarious!”
“Can't wait to see that,” I agreed, imagining one spouting nonsense and the other preaching nonsense.
Nilenna stayed quiet for a whole three seconds, then her eyebrows joined a bit, her glow conveying concern. “Why do you say so little?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Just the way I am, I guess,” I replied with a smile at the point-blank blunt question.
She nodded a few tis. “And that's perfectly fine! I like talking a lot, you know? There's so much to say even though we live so long! Like, I was just in Makah a while ago, but I'm now on Leks! Aweso, right? I have a skill that lets shift to my arrows! I had to shoot two tis, you know? As soon as Pyotr delivered your letter I decided to co help you myself! Well, not by myself, but, you know? Ah! You've taken care of Pyotr! Isn't he a sweetheart? He's the cutest thing ever, isn't he? I really like his laugh!”
I nodded. “He's a very smart boy,” I agreed. “You've raised him well.”
Nilenna's perpetual smile turned proud. “Aww! Thanks, little sister! I made the right choice of giving him to you! He told you don't spoil him with bones! That's good, you know? They can get too picky and eventually refuse to talk to you unless you give them bones! So cheeky! So spoiled! So silly!”
“Huh,” I uttered, a bit surprised with that. “Good thing I only give him bones when he delivers letters...”
Once again, she energetically nodded a few tis. “Yes! You should be a responsible owner, you know? They can be very mischievous even if they can't lie! Speaking of lying!” she searched sothing in her tunic, under the cloak. “As promised! You did a good job in Lumin Kingdom, so here! Your oddly conveniently tid reward!” she announced, retrieving a sack of tools and showing it to .
“Mh?” I humd, confused.
Nilenna shook the bag, emptying the bag on the ground.
A disconcerting amount of tools fell down, clattering around us. It was an assortnt of around three hundred different tools of all kinds. So were familiar like pencils, rulers, hamrs, and such, while others were brand new, with unknown purposes.
“Behold!” she announced with a big smile and gesturing at the ss around us. “Tylke, the God of the Path of the Craftman!”
My eyebrows shot up and I looked at the tools again.
They moved on their own, gathering in a single point, where they slowly took shape. It was almost as if they waited for an introduction to engage in a fusion sequence for a kids' show.
[Tylke, God of the path of the Craftman – Maker of the Code – Second of the Ingenious – First of the Diligent – Fourth of the Loving – Bringer of Innovation – Sixth of the Gods – Master of Tools – The Visionary – Father of Invention – Son of the Architect – Progenitor of Artifice – Terror of the Imperfect – Builder of all that Builds – He Who Guides the Forge – Icon of Creation – Guide of Protectors – The Tireless Worker – The Patient – Begetter of Masterpieces – He Who Finds Beauty in Purpose – The Ever-resourceful – True Immortal – Divine, Lvl 500]
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