''Uhm, excuse me!'' A female voice came from behind.
Oh right. I'd completely forgotten about that.
I wanted to turn around, but the elf that called out was already next to us. She turned her attention to Velariah and bowed down slightly.
''You're Lady Velariah right? I'm Seralyn, I applied to your party yesterday. I'd be honored if you would take me in.''
She was supposed to be the cocky kind? I couldn't see it at all.
She seemed like an average elf at first glance. Long, pointy ears, dark brown hair that bordered auburn. Like all other elves besides Velariah it was held up in a ponytail. I think she had brown eyes that matched her hair, but I couldn't see it clearly from here.
I thought average, but like all the other female elves I'd seen she too, was a beauty by earthen standards. That seemed to be a recurring theme in this world. Even I was included in that club, somehow...
'Lucky genetics.' I thought.
Her equipment was nothing special. Supple leather armor pieces that allowed for quick movements through the forest, while protecting from bruises and scrapes from the plants and branches. They would also be able to block goblin arrows well enough, unless they got lucky shots off like the arrow in the elf that I transported to the treemenders before.
Finishing up the archer look, she had a large bow strapped to her back, as well as a quiver which didn't seem to have many arrows left in it.
''Seralyn, was it? Has Allina already confirmed your registration at the guild?'' Velariah inquired.
''Not yet.'' Allina joined in. ''I believe you were planning on going there now?''
Velariah nodded. ''It would seem so.''
''I'll go with you guys then.'' Allina looked at the black spot on the dirt road that Valtheril's attack had left behind.
''I doubt the goblins will make another move today. Not after seeing that.''
I had no issue believing that. I doubted any goblin that observed that kind of power would ever consider attacking once more, but then again, I was no expert on goblin psychology. Their reasons were beyond me.
To be fair, that attack could probably have been seen from miles away. Must be a great intimidation tool to keep folks honest.
''Elania?'' Velariah interrupted my thoughts.
''Huh?''
''You mind if I ride you?''
Say what? What the hell did she mean by that?
''To the village.''
Oh.
Wait, what?
''W-w-what?" I stuttered, causing her to grin.
What was she trying to pull off here? I swear, this evil elf.
''You were planning on pulling a cart, no?''
She had been right in that regard.
I nodded.
''Well, then, see it as practice. Besides, I wouldn't be the first.'' She smiled from ear to ear.
''But that was an emergency...'' I felt myself losing hope of getting out of this situation as all the others, including Draco stared at me expectantly.
Why have you forsaken me Draco?
''Fine...'' I caved to the sheer amount of peer pressure.
I crossed both sets of arms as I lowered my midsection to the ground. Velariah was all too eager to ''mount'' me. She hopped on and I felt the weight was quite a bit more than the male archer from before. Her armor really seemed quite a bit heavier.
I had the feeling that this whole ''practice'' thing was just a lame excuse. I got the notion Velariah did this for other reasons. Maybe she was just lazy. Maybe she just wanted to embarrass me. Probably that last, she seemed to take far too much pleasure in doing that.
''Oh, can I join as well'' Seralyn asked.
Cocky one, isn't she? She had already made a complete 180 degree turn in my mind with that question.
I raised my legs and revealed my fangs, I even clicked them together for good measure. No way I was going to let that happen. I'd scare that cocky attitude right out of her.
''I'll take that as a no.'' She replied, not with the fear that I wanted her to express.
Shame.
'Well, exercise for cart pulling it is', I confirmed in my mind, knowing it was a lie.
We should get Velariah a lance, we could be great shock cavalry.
Wait, that was just weird thinking.
To be fair, Velariah was smart. She already knew what I planned to do with the cart. I was planning to have Draco and her both in it, while I would simply transport them to the mountain. Valtheril had said it would take three days but I had the feeling I could cut down on quite a bit of travel time doing it that way. My speed when sprinting was unparalleled and it seemed I started to tire far slower than before. Yay for experience!
That was not even including the part where we could make a ton more money by being able to transport more goods. I took pride in my planning!
My only issue when thinking about a cart would be the traction. If I were to pull it through a grassy field, would its wheels cause problems? I doubted rubber was a thing here, I knew it came from trees but that's all there was to my knowledge about the substance. Would silk offer a solution here? I'd probably have to check my options later on.
I wondered what Elly had done with all the silk I had ''spilled'' before.
''By the way.'' Allina stepped in front of me, showing off her bow.
Guess I got my answer there. I eyed the bow, more specifically the thread that connected both ends. It was white and braided.
''Thanks for the silk, this stuff makes for amazing bowstrings. They seem to be better than what we had before.''
I wasn't sure whether to feel proud or embarrassed at the fact that they were using whatever came out of my butt to let arrows fly.
''No problem?'' I said confused.
She laughed. ''If you got some time, we'd love some more, we'll even pay you for it.''
Now this was getting somewhere. I knew I could make money pooping. Even if it wasn't quite that.
''Uhhhh, sure.'' I said after deliberating for a while.
I could help them out with that and make some money in the meantime. I'd probably produce it in private, though. No need to have them looking while I was at it.
A sudden tight hug from behind and a head on my shoulder snapped me back to Velariah. She had gripped my belly tightly; it was as if she was waiting for me to take off and sprint into the distance.
''Vel?'' I asked.
''It's Velariah, also, let's go.''
What did she think I was? One of those mechanical bulls at a fair? Oh, if she wanted that, I was eager to oblige.
I tossed the shield I had been carrying all this time to the side. That wouldn't help this ''bull''.
I was going to have some fun with this.
I ran over the grass as quickly as I could. I chose the grass over the dirt road so the elf wouldn't actually hurt herself once I'd thrown her off. I ran, I jumped, I turned, but the elf wouldn't budge. Rather, she seemed to be enjoying this as she cheered me on.
If I had to be quite honest, I was actually having fun as well messing around like this. I started to feel more at ease in this world and around these people. Velariah's pushing may have had a hand in that. I should actually be thankful for it. Not that I was going to tell her that, though.
After several minutes of not being able to get her out of the ''saddle'' I decided to call it quits and return to the others. Apparently, I would need rest so I didn't plan on pushing this too far. I had always been bad at taking advice...
Oh well. I didn't seem to collapse or anything, so I'd be fine, right? Maybe I should stop pushing my luck...
I walked over to the others who looked at me as if they wanted to try this ''attraction'' as well.
I ignored their gazes and started to follow the road to the village.
''That was cool!'' Velariah stated.
I didn't answer as I was already thinking about any preparations we would have to make. If this archer was coming with us too, we'd have to take that into account as well. Initially, I wanted to make use of the interview part of any applications that would come our way, but it seemed this elf had Allina's full endorsement. She was bound to be a valuable asset in combat, but I heard and noticed from that one interaction with her that she was a bold one.
An archer would be great to have when dealing with scorpions though...
Their venom would have little effect on me so for me, it wouldn't be much of an issue.
The thing was that I had no idea how many of them there would be. The fight we had with the hellspiders earlier was far too easy because of a certain affinity of mine, I doubted I'd be lucky enough to incapacitate scorpions in the same way.
No, we would probably have to fight our way through them. Any extra combat support would be welcome.
I reckoned we could try her out on our ''mission'' to the Searing Peak? That seemed to be the easiest way to go about this. In short, it was two birds with one stone. We would be able to see her in action and have an easier time too.
It would also mean I'd probably have to look for a larger cart...
Then again, if I was able to pull a ton of dead weight, though, with the help of Velariah and Draco, I guessed something with wheels should be easy for me on my own.
I was basically the ideal multi-purpose horse. I could be used for races, pulling, combat, I had it all!
Speaking about horses, I'd not seen any yet. I wondered what they looked like. Would they be all white and elegant? Would they have wings?
Who knew?
We entered the village with the five of us. Of course, there were more stares left, right and center thrown my and Velariah's way. Word was going to spread soon of a lady bound to a massive spider. There was no escaping that. I just hoped whatever word spread would be positive so I wouldn't be hunted down by humans like the one before.
I shuddered.
I would have to get more combat experience. Leaving the area of this village could literally mean a death sentence. Valtheril's presence was a unique repellant to anyone who bore me ill will. I doubted anyone would try something funny while he was nearby, especially if they knew what he was capable of.
I was getting hungry from all that thinking.
And possibly from using plenty of energy during the molting process.
I hoped the guild would still have pork chops; I could surely use a bunch of those.
Hmm, bacon.
Bacon and cheese omelets were appealing too.
''You're drooling.'' Velariah said as she looked over my shoulder.
Oops.
I quickly swept away the saliva with one of my hands.
''Do you think Dworag is done with my armor?'' I asked, distracting her from my awkwardness.
''He finished it yesterday already, he has been waiting for you to visit him. He is just dying to know if he succeeded in making it a perfect fit.''
Such a nice guy, that dwarf.
''Let's pay him a visit after we're done here.'' I said as I lowered myself to the floor. We had reached the guild hall and it seemed there were a few people inside and eating.
It was lunch time in Dawnleaf and it seemed quite a few adventurers had come here to get something to eat. It would mean we'd be here for a while as the cook could only prepare dishes so fast. I would almost curse my body for requiring so much to eat, but there were a ton of advantages to it as well, so I let it slide.
We found our usual spot in the far corner as Allina and Seralyn stopped by the Lore keeper to finish some business first. Apparently, they had signed some documents, before the Lore keeper handed the archer a golden tag.
What the hell! That's cheating!
I had to drag a Saibon boar and a Bunbear all the way from the damn forest to this village and all I got was this lousy silver tag! How was this even fair?
Such a cruel world this was...
Cruel indeed. I thought back to the goblins from before and how their lives had simply been snuffed out. Even if it hadn't been the elves that finished them off, there was no doubt in my mind that they were going to do just that. Maybe I had been too naive in thinking that peace could exist between certain races. Maybe peace in my world was taken for granted.
A lot of killing was done back on Earth as well back in history. I just hoped that all that had taught humanity a lesson...
It seemed there were still things I would not agree with here that I would not be able to change.
It seemed there was peace, but only between the humans and elves which were both sentient races. It seemed the lizardman were part of that peace accord as well if Draco's presence was anything to go by. Come to think of it, I never checked what races there were in this world.
I would probably have to talk to Velariah about things like that in private, Draco still had no idea I wasn't from this world. I mean, maybe he did, but the entire concept wasn't known in this world, so I doubted it would be something he would easily believe, if he had drawn that as conclusion.
I'd probably try to have some alone time with Velariah tomorrow. There were a couple other things I wanted to look into. I didn't need anyone else knowing about what I was going to ask and try.
If all went well, we could depart for the Searing Peak the day after that. I wasn't really in a hurry to find this so called ''Ancient One''. If my ''Evolution'' had anything to do with my inherity I would find out eventually. I was still in the process of acquiring enough money for the ritual. Part of that would be passively obtained over time.
Combining the Dragon known as Ember together with being able to collect money from scorpions turned out to be an interesting prospect. I would try to combine multiple things at once as much as I could. Efficiency was key.
Oh, I would have to check if I could borrow a cart.
The waiter took our order before I could think about it more deeply. I was shocked to learn there was no milk or kingberry juice available for the day. When I asked what they had available he has answered that the only thing they had right now was beer and coffee.
Fuck.
Ultimately, I had ordered the weakest beer they had, hoping that my liver could filter out the alcohol before I created a mess in the guild.
'One beer won't affect me much', I desperately hoped.
Velariah giggled at the prospect. She was evil, I knew it.
Draco had no clue what was going on and looked at us in a confused manner. I didn't respond to it.
I was dreading the prospect, but I'd have to drink at least something. I would make up for it later when we got home.
It appeared they still had pork chops on the menu so I ordered a double portion before making my way to the counter where Allina and Seralyn were filling out a different document than before.
''Oh, Elania. Could I borrow you for a second.'' Allina asked as I walked up to them.
''Sure, whatcha need?''
''I'm going to need your signature here as confirmation that what Valtheril did was within the rule of law.''
She pointed to a document that had her and Seralyn's signatures already. There was plenty of space for more and I imagined she would have every witness sign it.
''Sure.'' I took the quill and wrote my name as best I could.
I would never get used to writing with a quill... it was... a mess...
''Nice going, Elania'' Seralyn commented on the messed-up signature.
Shut up.
I didn't say that but I just looked her in the eyes with a look that conveyed what I thought. She didn't seem intimidated at all. This elf was going to be handful of work...
I took a quick glance at her tag and noticed it specified her as a low-ranked gold adventurer. At least she got the lowest tier. That was bound to be worth something. I could live with that; I'd get there soon enough.
They let the ink on the document dry before taking it and settling at our table. They then had Draco and Velariah sign it as well.
I asked the Lore keeper if it would be possible to borrow a cart and if I could look at which were available.
She asked me what I would be using it for.
I told her that we planned on taking it to the Searing Peak to take more resources with us on the way back. The elf behind the counter said it wouldn't be a problem, as long as the guild would get five percent of the transferred goods as fee.
Why couldn't that Coldanus guy be more like the guild? It wasn't so hard to not rip people off.
I eagerly agreed and she told me we could look at what was available after we finished our lunch, she could even reserve the cart for when we needed it, so that it would be available at that time.
We would have to take good care of it while we were out, if we broke it, we would have to pay an entire gold piece to pay for a replacement.
I didn't plan on breaking the cart so I agreed to the terms and conditions before making our way back to the table.
It seemed our drinks were already served.
I moved one of the benches and positioned it next to Velariah before sitting down on it. I was not going to drink that beer until I had something in my belly, I hoped that would also lessen its effects. Alcohol on an empty stomach was definitely not a good idea for me.
Sometime later the waiter returned with the first of our food. I happily dug into the feast while wondering if this discount thing was also going to apply to Allina and Seralyn.
Velariah and Draco had also put their signatures on the document and Draco had delivered it back to the desk before digging into his sausages.
I was happy to find that beer didn't affect me as much as the stronger liquor that I had drunk in the cave. That opened up options.
Draco was explaining our plan to go to the Searing Peak during our lunch and Seralyn seemed all too eager to show off her skills. I secretly hoped scorpions would possess an exoskeleton that would be impenetrable to her arrows, that ought to put a dent in her cockiness.
I was feeling evil.
And I liked it.
I felt my pedipalps twitch before they eagerly grabbed a hold of Velariah.
Uh-oh.
Not again.