'Hmm ... Master, you are too loud ... ' (Ember)
Ember rubbed her eyes softly before her expression started changing to one of confusion.
'Eh? Did I have hands? ... ' (Ember)
She then looked at the water mirror and saw herself "again".
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeh?!" (Ember)
Same reaction as me, huh?
"I know that you are surprised, but did you have to shout twice the same thing?" (Mysterious Female Voice)
After Ember finished examining her demihuman-like body, she looked behind her and we both had our mouths wide open (I don't have one though).
"Leaving that aside, let me introduce myself. I am the Wind Pixie, Sylphy! Nice to meet you, wolf girl!" (Sylphy)
Sylphy's body was about 15 cm or half a feet. She had shoulder-length light green hair and eyes of the same color.
She was also wearing a cute knee-length green dress seemingly made with tree leaves and a yellow flower as a hairpin, while her feet were bare.
Behind her back, small wings similar to those of a dragonfly could be seen and she also had pointy ears.
Her skin was white and, even though her size was small, if you looked closely, her apparent age didn't seem to be too different from Ember's.
On the other hand, her eyes were filled with wisdom and a confident smile could be seen on her face.
I appraised her out of reflex.
≪ Sylphy
Race: Fairy
Species: Wind Pixie
Gender: Female
Age: 82
Level: 43 ≫
"It is not good to appraise others without their permission, you know? We of the fairy race are pretty perceptive. I will let it pass this time, but you should be careful next time." (Sylphy)
'She knew?!' (Usagi)
This is the first time someone had reacted like that after I appraised them. Does she also have the Appraisal skill? She is also pretty old ...
"How strange. I could only feel one presence before while I can now sense two inside your body. Care to explain that? I am more curious than angry, really." (Sylphy)
She liked to express her emotions through her face and did it very well. At least I thought so.
'Master, what should we do?' (Ember)
'Tell her to do this ... ' (Usagi)
I conveyed some instructions to Ember before preparing myself.
"He is my Master. He says that he would like to talk to you directly, so please let him enter your body!" (Ember)
"Enter my body? Sounds interesting ... but be aware, should he do anything to make me angry, I will rip him into pieces!" (Sylphy)
Sylphy had a charming smile on her small face. If you ignored her words, you might have felt your heart beat faster ... only if you ignored her words though.
"Master says that he won't." (Ember)
"Then, he can come whenever!" (Sylphy)
I left the security of Ember's body and flew as fast as I could towards Sylphy before she changed her mind.
'Hi. My name is Usagi ... ' (Usagi)
'So you are her master? You are weaker than I thought. Plus, your name is pretty strange. What are you? A rabbit?' (Sylphy)
Sigh. It's time for explanations.
. . .
'I see ... You are a very interesting being.' (Sylphy)
"We have been talking too long enough. It was a fascinating story, but I will now proceed to give you a treasure." (Sylphy)
She said that while looking at Ember, but I think her words were also aimed towards me.
'A treasure?' (Usagi)
"Yes, that's right. You cleared my dungeon after all." (Sylphy)
'Your dungeon?!' (Usagi)
Now it all makes sense. She is the owner of this dungeon, "Sylphy's Playground".
"I am in charge of this dungeon and have been living here for a decade. I was actually an envoy sent by the Oak Leaf Kingdom and served the king of this country for the past generation. The current king though suddenly told me "Go enjoy some vacations. You have worked hard enough" and I was fired from my post." (Sylphy)
A decade ... I have heard that members of the fairy race tend to have long lives, so I don't know if that is a long or short time for her ...
The Oak Leaf Kingdom? Where is that? Being acquainted with the king of this kingdom is also amazing, but ...
'Sylphy, you talk too much ... ' (Usagi)
'Did you say something, huh?' (Sylphy)
'No ... it's nothing ... ' (Usagi)
Her words made me tremble ... I should just quietly listen ...
"Then, he gave me a dungeon core and helped me build the general layout of this dungeon including this pretty room, so I forgave him." (Sylphy)
'Are dungeons made by others and not naturally created?' (Usagi)
Strange. That wasn't written in any of the books Mary read.
"It is complicated. There are still natural dungeons in this world that no one has managed to conquer and others that were conquered long ago. People from different races took the cores of those dungeons and made their own. Those who are in charge of them like me are called Dungeon Masters." (Sylphy)
'Wow ... I didn't know it was like that.' (Usagi)
My head hurts a bit because of hearing so many explanations though.
"I could teach you all about managing a dungeon, but that would take too much time and wouldn't be of much help to you." (Sylphy)
'Then, please don't. I would like to hear more about the Oak Leaf Kingdom though and also receive the treasure you have been mentioning for a while now.' (Usagi)
Ember had a sour expression on her face as if dissatisfied with something. Shit! I forgot that she can't hear my voice anymore. Also, she doesn't have the Lunaria Kingdom Language skill, does she?!
I could return to her, but I wonder if there is a better solution ...
I don't know why these messages were shown until now or why I got the same skill Ember has, but I left that aside and appraised my new skill.
≪Soul Link (Lv. 1). You have the ability to resonate with others. Now you can form a bond between yourself and someone else's soul to share your thoughts no matter the distance.
Number of available links: 1≫
'This should work ... Sylphy, before we continue talking, let me do something first.' (Usagi)
'Sure, take your time.' (Sylphy)
I left Sylphy's body and went inside Ember.
'Hehehe ... Master is back.' (Ember)
'Yeah ... Ember, I am going to use one of my abilities. Please relax your body and mind so it can work properly.' (Usagi)
'Yes! I understand, Master!' (Ember)
She was clearly happy about me coming back ... I don't know how to feel about this.
If I was reborn or transported to this world as a human or simply a being with a body, I wouldn't be able to feel other people's emotions so clearly like this or share their sensations either ...
I felt as if a tiny part of me became part of her soul and the small hole that remained was filled by a part of her own.
'Master! I feel weird! It's like I can sense Master's presence inside me even closer!' (Ember)
'Do you dislike it? If you feel too uncomfortable, I can try to reverse it.' (Usagi)
'No ... I like it better this way ... Ehehehe.' (Ember)
She giggled with a cute smile. Well, if she doesn't hate it, then that's good.
'Ember, did you understand anything of what we just talked about? You can't understand human language, can you?' (Usagi)
'Eh? I don't know about kings or cores, but I heard it all ... ?' (Ember)
Huh? How? She shouldn't be able to ... Wait, that message just now said that I "also" was affected. Does that mean that something changed in Ember?
Status!
≪Ember (Usagi)≫
Race: Beastman (Spirit)
Species: Dark Fire Lycanthrope (Wandering Soul)
Gender: Female (None)
Age: 1 (0)
Level: 15 [1] (71)
Magic Attributes: Fire, Darkness (Fire, Water, Earth)
≪Equipment≫
Magic Gothic Dress (Rare)
≪Inherent skills≫
Sharp Fangs Lv. 5 (Passive), Sharp Claws Lv. 5 (Passive), Darkvision Lv. MAX (Passive), Wolf Form Lv. MAX, Human Form Lv. 5, Werewolf Form Lv. 1, Spirit Eyes Lv. 1 (Passive), Enhanced Senses Lv. 1
[Possession Lv. 5 (Active), Soul Eater Lv. 4 (Active), Soul Guard Lv. 4 (Passive), Assimilation Lv. 2 (Active), Soul Share Lv. 3 (Active), Soul Link Lv. 2 (Active)]
≪Active skills≫
Bite Lv. 6, Consecutive Slashes Lv. 1, Charge Lv. 5, Acceleration Lv. 1, Ambush Lv. 4, Frenzy Lv. 1, Aura Awakening Lv. 3
[Appraisal Lv. 4, Charge Lv. 5, Ambush Lv. 4, Bite Lv. 5, Consecutive Slashes Lv. 1, Acceleration Lv. 1, Frenzy Lv. 1, Aura Awakening Lv. 1]
≪Passive skills≫
Beast Language Lv. 5, Lunaria Kingdom Language Lv. 3, Claw Mastery Lv. 5, Shortsword Mastery Lv. 4, Evade Lv. 5, Escape Lv. 3, Quick Thinking Lv. 3, Danger Sense Lv. 5, Increased Physical Prowess Lv. 3, Weapon Strengthening Lv. 3, Increased Intelligence Lv. 3, Stealth Lv. 5, Climbing Lv. 1, Experience Boost Lv. 3, Etiquette Lv. 1, Chantless Casting Lv. 3, Fast Casting Lv. 3, Mana Flow Control Lv. 3, Magic Consumption Reduction Lv. 3
[Lunaria Kingdom Language Lv. 3, Goblin Language Lv. 6, Kobold Language Lv. 5, Beast Language Lv. 3, Shortsword Mastery Lv. 4, Club Mastery Lv. 2, Leadership Lv. 2, Quick Thinking Lv. 3, Darkvision Lv. 3, Danger Sense Lv. 5, Stealth Lv. 5, Climbing Lv. 3, Evade Lv. 5, Escape Lv. 3, Increased Physical Prowess Lv. 2, Weapon Strengthening Lv. 2, Increased Intelligence Lv. 3, Experience Boost Lv. 3, Etiquette Lv. 1, Chantless Casting Lv. 2, Fast Casting Lv. 2, Mana Flow Control Lv. 2, Magic Consumption Reduction Lv. 2]
≪Magic≫
Dark Fire Magic Lv. 1, Fire Magic Lv. 2, Dark Magic Lv. 2
[Fire Magic Lv. 2, Water Magic Lv. 2, Earth Magic Lv. 2]
'Wow ... You have become even stronger, Ember ... ' (Usagi)
Sparkle! 'Really? Thank you, Master!' (Ember)
Not only one or two things, but tons of them changed ... She now seems able to freely change between human, wolf, and werewolf forms ...
Wait? Human? Not demihuman? That might explain why she doesn't have a tail ...
A lot of our skills became stronger and a few others were added. Wolf Language changed to Beast Language and she has now the Dark Fire attribute that didn't appear before.
Her evolution truly affected both of us ...
"You ok now?" (Sylphy)
Yeah, I should try to investigate these changes one at a time. Doing it right now will only make it easier for me to forget them.
'Ember, can I use your mouth to respond?' (Usagi)
'Yes! Master can use my body however he likes!' (Ember)
'Thank you ... ' (Usagi)
You shouldn't say this kind of thing lightly. I wanted to tell her that, but the words didn't come out. The trust she has in me makes me incapable of doing it.
"I have a bad habit of speaking too much when talking about interesting things, so I know that I just told you that I would give you a treasure, but let's leave that for tomorrow." (Sylphy)
"Huh? Why?" (Ember [Usagi])
Yaaaaawn. "Because it is late. We should just take a bath and go to sleep." (Sylphy)
"A bath?" (Ember [Usagi])
Certainly, it would be good if Ember took one. She is a girl after all.
"What's with that face? You are coming too, you know?" (Sylphy)
"Eh? What did you say? Me too?" (Ember [Usagi])
I only need her to lend me the body of one of her lackeys and I can stand outside though ...
"I can read what you are thinking by your expression, but don't you remember? You killed all the monsters of this dungeon. Haha." (Sylphy)
Sylphy had a mischievous smile on her face. Are you serious?
"Creating new ones is a pain, so just come here already!" (Sylphy)
"Yes, ma'am ... " (Ember [Usagi])
I resigned myself to my fate with "my" wolf ears drooping ...