"Uh, excuse me, I don't suppose you would happen to have any food on you?" I spoke up.
At this point, Valren had been shaken awake. Upon seeing me standing off to the side, he became wide eyed. He staggered to get on his feet, pushing his family behind him.
"Get back, he's dangerous!" Valren commanded while bracing himself for battle once more.
In response to this, Erythro activated our signature Combat Mode.
Valren then began charging toward me. I managed catch a waft of something that smelled like cooked sasuage as he drew closer.
"Food..." Erythro said in a raspy voice.
"You! I know why you're here. You want to finish us Elves off don't you?" Valren accused me.
I buckled over, grasping my stomach as it growled. I was now on my knees. I felt more animalistic as the hunger began consuming me. My stomach was growling now.
What's happening? I don't even remember feeling like this whenever I went days without eating in the past.
"Food...you..." I growled.
This made Valren stop in his tracks. He looked visibly shaken. Ugh! I don't have time for this. I'm just...so...hungry!
In an instant, I leaped on all fours passing Valren at an impossible speed and swiping a pouch off his side.
Ripping the pouch open, my sense of smell was assaulted by the tastiest thing I had ever smelled. I tore into the strange meat that the bag had been hiding.
As I finished consuming the meat, the hunger slowly began subsiding, leaving me in a state of deep and heavy breathing for a moment.
Returning to my sense of self, I turned back to look at the Elves. All of which stared at me in a state of terror.
"Umm. I can-" I tried to talk before Erythro interupted me.
"Run North, no one can ever know about us." Erythro instructed.
He's right, I can't let anyone know. As far as they're concerned, I'm some type of monster they've never seen before, a specimen to be dissected and studied.
I turned away and started running, fast, really fast.
"Slow down, we need to conserve our energy. No one is within a 20km radius" Erythro instructed.
I didn't feel tired, but I knew Erythro was right, so I slowed down to a walking pace.
"Erythro, what happened back there?" I asked in a state of distress.
"Hunger is a self preservation instinct. The hosts was lacking in vital nutrients which triggered such a response." Erythro explained.
"Even so, I never acted like some feral beast whenever I got hungry in the past!" I yelled in frustration.
"I've consumed several creatures in the past, some with very strong survival instincts. Your inherent behaviors may have changed as a result of their genetic components merging with your own." Erythro explained in further detail.
Damn, I can't go around acting like that. Is this going to happen again? What would happen if there's no food around next time? I might hurt innocent people.
"Milo, you are in a state of distress. I am already looking into the issue and it is almost resolved.
Problematic events like that pose
a threat to our identity, would you like to listen to some music to calm down?"
Hearing that calmed me down a little bit.
"No, I shouldn't, we might get ambushed again and I want to be prepared just in case." I stated.
"You needn't worry about preperation. I have various sensors all over our body. Even if you can't hear something, I can, and will send warning signals in the event of an emergency." Erythro informed me.
"I see, so that's how you were able to detect the oncoming attack from the trees." I said confirming the earlier event.
"Precisely." Erythro pledged.
After firm consideration, I decided to listen to some music while walking. I noticed that the amount of trees was becoming less and less as I progressed.
Off in the distance, I could see a huge border guarding a city of sorts. Dozens of guards were guarding the gates as carrages and people went in and out.
"We've arrived." Erythro said.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"This is a city where all races live in relative peace. It borders Loramoira and a Human continent that I do not know the name of. As long as you're not a member of the Demon Army, or a wanted criminal you can get in with relative ease." Erythro stated.
"Umm, Erythro?"
"Yes, Milo?"
"Aren't you a member of Sonahg's army?"
Erythro paused for a long while.
"...We'll be scaling the border walls."
Oh, I see...eh!? The walls were easily over 40 meters tall.
"Wait, you want us to scale those walls." I said while adding extra emphasis on their sheer size using my hands.
"Affirmative, sneak around to the side of the border walls." Erythro stated.
I can't believe this, but I did as Erythro said.
"Okay, now what?"
"Extend your hand outward to the top of the wall." Erythro instructed.
I did so and waited. I felt a continous pressure building in my arm until suddenly a red spindle fiber shot out of my hand, latching onto the wall.
I began ascending up the wall at break neck speeds. After reaching the top, I was flung into the air. The spindle fiber retracted into my arm. For a second, I was airborne. It was beautiful. Looking over the entire city, I could paved stone roads, small but abundent, hundreds of shops, thousands of people, it was breathtaking. The entire city was illuminated by colorful orbs of light despite it being nighttime. In the middle of city was a huge tower. It looked like something out of an RPG.
I landed on all fours on the wall, perched on top of it.
"It would seem that our clothes are irregular." Erythro spoke up.
Looking at the general population, Erythro was right. No one was wearing a hoodie, and they didn't even seem to have any logo designs anywhere. Wait, those people have animals parts on their body. Hold the phone, there's a huge bipedal lizard walking around.
Erythro spoke again.
"I found something more fitting in your wishlist."
My clothes that I had been wearing turned back into their red viscous form and began changing shape. I was now wearing what seemed to be a wool-knitted long sleave shirt, brown cargo shorts, a black scarf, and blacks boots. The scarf was obscuring my mouth and nose like a mask.
"Jump down quickly, no one will see." Erythro said.
"What? No, you have to be joking. There's no walking we would come out unscathed." I said in an apprehensive state.
"Correct, that was a joke." Erythro said.
I didn't think Erythro was capable of jokes.
I felt my hands begin to morph. Looking at them, I could see that they were now large, blood-red claws.
"Using these, you should be able to get down safely."
I'm surprised we haven't been spotted yet. I performed a round off, free falling for while. I then dug my claws into the wall, leaving deap gashes as I trailed downward.
I really hope no one notices.
When I was about 3 meters from the ground, I jumped off with a flip, landing dynamically behind some seemingly abandoned shops.
"That was so cool!" A new voice said.
I put my hands behind my back, Erythro retracted back inside my body.
A little boy with black hair and, bear ears? Anyway, he stood in front of me smiling. He wore dirty tattered clothes. Looking closely, he was missing a few teeth. The boy himself was dirty and had several bruises all over his body.
"Whoa, kid, how long have you been there!?"
"Since you jumped off, so who are you anyway?"
"I-uh-I'm...a hero, yeah a hero!" I said puffing my chest out.
"Whoa, no way, tell me about one of your adventures!"
"I would, but I really have be going." I said while walking past the boy.
"Please, I won't tell anyone you snuck in over the wall." The boy pleaded as he tugged on my shirt.
"Tell him a story. Its our best way out of this." Erythro stated.
(15 minutes later)
"That was awesome mister. So after you defeated the Wyvern and saved the village, what happened next?" The kid asked.
Honestly, I'm just recalling the story of an RPG I played as a kid. But anything seems to go in this world.
"I recieved praise and fortune from the king of the kingdom." I told him.
At hearing this, the kid looked down at his feet solemnly.
"You know mister, sometimes I wish I could be a hero, but I'm not nearly strong enough." The kid said sounding defeated.
"If you train hard enough and devote yourself, you can do anything." I said trying to cheer him up.
"...Hey, your a hero, why don't you train me?" The kid perked up.
Ah shoot, dug my own grave.
"I can't. I really have to go now." I said while getting up from the bench we had been sitting on.
The kid grabbed me by the shirt again. What now?
"Please train me, I promise I'll keep your secret safe." He said looking at me sternly.
"Where are your parents at? You shouldn't be talking to strangers." I spewed out trying to convince this kid to let me go.
"It's okay since you're a hero. My mom's at home. Dad left a long time ago before I was born." The kid confessed.
"Just because I'm a hero doesn't make it okay. You still shouldn't be talking to strangers. I'll tell you what, if you go get your mother's permission, I'll train you." I ruffled the kid's hair.
He released his grip on my shirt.
"You promise?" He asked looking hopeful.
Dang it, he made me promise. Now I'm bound by the universe.
"Yeah, I promise." I said in a serious tone.
The kid stuck out his pinkie. Nooo! Pinkie promises exist here?!
I shook his pinkie with my own. I began walking away.
"Let's meet here tommorow, and what's your name?" The kid said.
"My names Milo, lets meet when the sun rises and shines the brightest" I asked.
"Okay!" The kid said excitedly before running off.
What have I gotten myself into?
Reader's Bonus
Teaser: "System Update"