“You’re thinking about skinning the Blazing Firag here and eating the at, aren’t you?” Cellestra asked in all seriousness.
“That’s one idea I had, yes, but I think I’d prefer turning it in like this, the animal intact.”
“Maybe you’ll get so more money, just like before. Magical stag… what was it even called?”
“A Blazing Firag,” I said, recalling the ssage from earlier. Even though I hadn’t paid much attention to it, the na had sohow stuck. “That makes
wonder, do you think people in this world have given different nas to so animals than Elysa?”
“What makes you think that? Don’t you think Elysa gave them the nas that the people gave to those animals? That makes much more sense to .”
“Hmmm,” I humd. “That sounds very plausible. I an, imagine if I suddenly used different nas than them. Would people suspect sothing?”
Cellestra chuckled. “That does seem a bit far-fetched, but who knows?”
“Anyway,” I continued. “Look at this creature. Its hide looks like it's on fire.” I lowered myself to it and touched it, feeling an unnatural heat radiating off of it, even after the beast’s death. “And it’s warm too. Damn, I can see what Felmar ant.”
Cellestra knelt next to the creature, removed a glove, and ran her hand across the animal’s fur.
“You’re right. It’s so warm, soft too. Think it will stay that way?”
“It’s not magical fur for nothing, right?”
“True,” She remarked. “I feel like so of this stuff wouldn’t be bad to have for ourselves.”
“I think it would make for a very comfortable bed. As soft as my silk is, it doesn’t quite have the sa texture.”
“There’s always your hair,” Cellestra said, looking at my back. “Though, I fear you took a bit of damage there.”
“Yeah,” I said, heaving a deep sigh. “I’m completely fine, but I fear for my parents’ and Elira’s reaction. I do hope it grows back quickly.”
“As do I.”
I smiled as I then placed it on my gigantic abdon and fastened it so it wouldn’t slide off, leaving a trail of blood behind from its wound. Allowing it to bleed out wouldn’t be much of an issue.
“Let’s go and get our money. Do you have anything you want to do after?”
“Hmmm,” Cellestra thought aloud as she stepped onto my back again. “I think we should prioritize building our ho, no?”
“Still a few trees left,” I said with a nod. “Four to be precise. Let’s get another two cut down and then see what my parents are up to, shall we?”
“Sounds good. Hopefully, the wood has dried enough for
to carve.”
“I’m looking forward to that sign. It sounds… cute.”
“I know, right?” Cellestra said excitedly.
I was smiling all the way to the dungeon exit at her words, not even stopping when we ran into another party of fairly new adventurers who were carefully traversing the lioness area. Their eyes were locked onto
and my cargo, and Cellestra had to tell them to focus, which they promptly did after realizing their error.
“Nice one,” I said, grinning.
“Can’t have them get killed staring at you now, can we?” Cellestra remarked.
I watched them as I continued to the portal, making sure to keep a few eyes out for possible danger as it could be lurking anywhere in this grass. Watching them work together and cover one another made sothing swell up deep inside of . Sothing which I hadn’t felt in a long ti.
With
having this form and with Cellestra on my back, where she was mostly safe from harm, there was no need for it, but I, for so reason, missed sothing from my old life. On one hand, I didn’t miss relying on others, but I had gotten used to working together and sohow I yearned for that again.
I was never social, and I’d never made friends partly because I didn’t want them to miss , but Cellestra had opened my heart wider than I could have ever thought possible. Even though there was the constant possibility of losing her, all that I had with her was a more than wonderful experience.
What would it be like to be in a party?
I had Cellestra, and we were a great team. There was no doubt about that, but I wondered if it would be enough to overco more difficult challenges. One of the problems we were facing was that there was only one target for enemies to focus on. We couldn’t split attention when facing multiple hostiles nor could we ‘backstab’ properly.
Thanks to my speed, we were able to flank certain creatures, but I imagined the possibility wouldn’t always be there, especially against tougher, faster opponents.
I looked at my weapon and absent-mindedly cleaned it with slightly pressurized water, making sure to wash the blood off before it beca impossible to do so. It made
wonder just how strong it would be to have others, with their own specialized attacks and weapons, particularly with my imbuent on them.
“What are you thinking about?” Cellestra asked softly, right before we reached the gateway to the surface.
“You noticed, huh?” I let it and saw her nod in response.
“I was just thinking… Cellestra, do you think we should try to form a party?”
She looked down into my eyes, allowing
to peek through her helt which revealed an expression that seed a bit lost.
“I don’t know,” She replied with a whisper as I ca to a halt. “I’m… not so good with people.”
“I think you’re doing a wonderful job at that,” I replied. “You’re much better at it than you think.”
“I think I have you to thank for that,” She said, a small smile forming. “If you think it would be a good idea to delve into the dungeon with more people, then let’s look into it.”
“But do you want to? I an, I enjoy our ti together like this, very much so. I… I suppose I’m not even sure myself. I was just floating the idea.”
“Seems you’re even more conflicted than ,” She said softly, patting the partially burned hairs on my back.
“I am,” I admitted. “I don’t want the experience with you here to be diminished. Now, I don’t have to take into account what others might think, and I know I’m going to miss that part. It’s just… I fear if we want to advance, it may beco necessary. Maybe not now, maybe not for a good while, but I think we may have to at so point.”
“I’ll trust your judgnt. You’re the experienced fighter here.”
“I’m sorry,” I said softly. I felt slightly guilty because so of the reasoning behind it was based on my own feelings. I also felt that I should be honest about it to her so I decided to ntion that part as well. “It’s sothing that has been on my mind for longer and seeing that party just now… it made
think of, you know, before. Back then, I hardly knew the people that fought with , but fighting for a common cause, the coordination that ca with it, working together… I kind of miss it.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Cellestra said. “I don’t have much experience with that, if any at all since I’ve only been with you in actual combat and you’re not exactly the average fighter.”
I chuckled at her words, and I saw her smile before she continued.
“But I do love you, and the way you talk about this, it sounds important to you.”
I nodded and let out a sigh before pausing for a few seconds.
“Maybe we can make so more friends too,” I said, my mood lifted once Cellestra’s last words had truly hit ho, especially the part where she said she loved .
“That doesn’t sound too bad,” She replied. “I hope there are others that are as easy to talk to as you.”
“I never thought of myself as easy to talk to, but I guess it helps that we’d known each other for a while before I could even speak.” The smile on my face grew wider as I thought back about our first days. “Don’t think you’ve t many people in the sa way you t . Goddess, I was so lucky that I landed right there.”
“And I was lucky to even spot you next to that bird. Honestly, how did you manage to kill it?”
“I just kept stabbing and biting it with everything I had. I think I eventually managed to create enough wounds where its blood loss was too much to keep flying. It was quite the painful fight.”
I chuckled one last ti before asking the next question.
“So, if we want to form a party, I reckon we need to go to the guild?”
“Do you think I know anything about this? Because I don’t,” Cellestra said with a grin. “But that does sound like a good place to start.”
“In that case,” I said. “Let’s stop by there tomorrow then, shall we?”
“Sounds good to .”
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