Maybe becoming something like a healer wouldn't be so bad… One didn't necessarily have to be a Priest to heal, after all...
In aiding the treatment of two humans, they each had granted him 1000 experience which was the most amount of experience he had gotten from anything in one go. The Mara Rabbit was the second most and that was only 200. Imagine how much he'd get from healing a human fully by himself?
He was level 12 now, and able to evolve, but he decided to do that later when he was tucked away and safe. He didn't know how it worked or how long it would take so it was better to be safe than sorry.
Not only that, but due to helping in healing someone, he unlocked the title he had since the beginning and could now see what the title did for him. After asking the Voice a volley of questions, he was able to see what all of his new skills entailed.
[ Tirian's Angel, a title which allows the child of Tirian access to radiant magic. ]
[ Light, a radiant magic skill that allows the caster to form a sphere of pure light. ]
[ Healing Touch, a radiant magic skill that allows the caster to heal injuries upon touch. ]
[ Light Bolt, a radiant magic skill that allows the caster to blast out a bolt of fiery light. ]
Basically, he had just become a holy lizard. Also, the child of Tirian? Was this different from how everything was a child of her? She was the Goddess of Creation, after all. But he was brought into this world by her and given a body from her. Would he be considered her actual kid? Is that what an Angel of Tirian was? It'd be kinda weird to call a Goddess, Mother… Yeah. Weird.
He had so many questions that the voice wouldn't answer. But according to what Tirian had said right before he was thrown into this world, he would be able to talk to her if he went to a shrine. The capital. Those were the words that were cut off, right? He could only hope that he was right in that assumption.
Emre was eagerly waiting in the water as the people in the camp began to disperse to rest. Silvis had completed the treatment of the two bedridden and was heading toward the water's edge when the man who had been shouting orders from before approached them.
"Where did you find the herbs? Is there any more that we could take back with us?" He was questioning Silvis.
"I didn't find the herbs, they were brought to me. I'm not sure if there is more." They responded as they wiped their hands with a damp cloth.
"Who brought them to you?"
He was a very demanding man and straight to the point. With his fancy silver helmet off, Emre could see his very short brown hair and square jaw. His skin was well-tanned and a large scar crossed over the left side of his head, just above his ear.
Silvis, their beautiful slim face and long flowing silver hair was a sharp contrast to the man. Especially when they pushed their hair back to settle behind one of their ears. It was pointed at the tip. An elf? Emre wasn't that surprised. It was a fantasy-type world and Silvis had a very elf-sounding name.
"That little one did." Silvis answered, gesturing toward Emre who was floating peacefully nearby the camp.
He was startled at first and dipped everything other than his eyes under the surface of the water. Silvis wasn't afraid to give credit where it was due, but the sharp cold glare of the large man wasn't entirely welcome.
"A monster?" He scoffed. "What are you on about?" The man didn't seem to believe Silvis as he refused to take his eyes off of Emre.
"That little one brought the herb to me." Silvis responded insistently.
The man stared through narrowed eyes before crossing his arms. "Bring me some more then, monster." He demanded toward Emre.
Who do you think you are? Emre lifted his head from the water, his eyes visibly narrowing toward the man.
"Please?" Silvis spoke up, looking earnestly at Emre. "Just a little bit more? Just in case we need it again."
Even their voices were stark contrasts. Silvis was kind and gentle. This man beside them deserved none of Emre's kindness. But… he had a lot of the herb. Just a few more stalks wouldn't hurt to provide since Silvis was asking so nicely.
At this point, a few of the soldiers were watching this all go down, but Emre simply dove down into the water. He dove deep enough so ripples couldn't be seen on the surface as he beelined for the herbs. Irritated, he ripped another mouthful from his stock and began to swim back. He only surfaced when he was in the same spot he had disappeared.
As his head popped back over the surface with the plants, a few more soldiers were there, waiting in anticipation for his arrival. When he appeared, a few of them began to mutter amongst themselves. Some astonished, others disdainful.
Silvis smiled, but the man beside them had no change of expression. Just that same judgmental stare.
He swam close enough for his toe tips to touch the murk below. He didn't trust anyone so he still stayed a distance away as he released the herbs and pushed them with the water toward where Silvis had crouched down. They picked up the herbs and looked up to the man with a smile.
"See?" They said with a bit of glee.
"More." The man's voice interjected coldly.
"Pardon…?" Silvis's eyes widened in disbelief.
"I want more than just that."
Silvis didn't get a chance to respond before Emre lifted his head as far out of the water as possible. He opened his mouth, his two venomous fangs protruded outward as he released a loud hiss.
'Screw off!' Emre yelled inwardly as he displayed his puny threat. Even though he was tiny, his large fangs weren't something to scoff at.
"I think that is a no…" Silvis said with a small awkward chuckle.
You bet it is. Emre closed his mouth and turned away, swimming further into the water in case someone decided to come running into the swamp. It would be easy to lose anyone who tried to follow.
When he stopped in the deepest part of this section of the swamp, he could only see soldiers watching him in awe or even chuckling at his pitiful display. Curse being small! Just you wait, one day, he'd be a big dragon.
Silvis was in the process of cooling off the big man as they ushered him toward the largest of the tents that had been set up. Good riddance in his opinion. He hadn't even waited to see the man's reaction. It probably wasn't good judging by Silvis's actions.
It's times like these where he finds being a little cute lizard was easier than being a talking human. If he were a human and he did something like talking back to a big military man like that, he would've surely been beat.
Even then, he wished he could speak to others. It would be much easier to talk things out rather than showing.
Tirian! Please give me the ability to speak!
Emre inwardly sighed, knowing that Tirian likely wouldn't be able to do anything.
He was still hungry… and very few soldiers were still watching him now. Yes, get on with your day! He dismissed them mentally before turning and diving under the surface. Time to catch lunch.
It didn't take long for Emre to catch a meal worth the usual amount of 50 exp. He had also moved to a different section of the swamp. It was a massive swamp. He had wandered around most of it during his days here. He had deemed there to be five sections.
Section 1, was where the military camp was located. It was the most northern part of the swamp and consisted of one larger pool of water that split from the main area. Section 2, was east from there and consisted of three smaller pools that branched off the main part of the swamp. He was resting in the western-most pool in Section 2, closest to Section 1. He figured he should name the sections or the pools, but he would stick to this for now.
Finding a safe spot he buried himself in the mud until only his black nose was sticking out. No one would notice him unless they looked extremely hard. Especially since he had the skill Stealth. It could be a passive skill or an active skill. Right now, he was using it actively to hide.
Time to take a look at this status.
[ Name, Emre ] [ Spiny Lizard Hatchling ]
[ Lvl, 12/30 ] [ Exp, 400/650 ]
[ Stats ] [ Stat Points, 6 ]
[ Str, 9 ] [ Dex, 9 ] [ Int, 13 ]
[ Con, 6 ] [ Wis, 9 ]
[ Skills, Swimming [Lvl 6], Climbing [Lvl 2], Venom Bite [Lvl 8], Venom Spit [Lvl 2], Claw [Lvl 4], Ambush [Lvl 6], Perception [Lvl 5], Stealth [Lvl 5], Light [Lvl 1], Healing Touch [Lvl1], Light Bolt [ Lvl1] ]
[ Titles, Other-Worlder, Tirian's Angel, Frog Slayer ]
[ Notice, Able to Evolve, 4 Options ]
It looked quite similar to this last status update. He had new stat points that he could put into his status. The number was odd though. He only leveled up three times but he had gained six stat points. Before, he was only earning one for each level up. He could only assume that once he surpassed a certain number, the amount of gained stat points would go up.
He was even given four options for evolution. He wouldn't look at those until he was ready to evolve. He didn't want to tempt himself and he decided that he would wait until the humans were gone to evolve.
He was well out of the view of the camp and decided it would be best for him to sleep here instead of trying to go back to his den. His den was actually near where the camp had been set up, so there was no way he would be able to sleep there feeling safe tonight.
The rest of the day passed without issue so he managed to get an okay sleep that night.
Waking that morning was a bit jarring. He had gotten used to waking up in his little hovel so waking up mostly hidden by the mud of the swamp was odd. He yawned and stretched out his short limbs before pushing himself out of the mud and into the murky water.
Emre could already hear the sounds of the camp. They weren't being entirely quiet as he could hear shouting and the clanging of metal from here. Swimming along the short channel, he arrived into the larger pool of Section 1.
The soldiers were all mostly awake but it seemed only now a meal was being prepared. They had set up a cooking station with a firepit and a pot hanging over it. They probably ate stew most of all and Emre couldn't help but feel his mouth water at the thought of eating something that wasn't raw meat for once.
His stomach growled and he swam toward the camp without restraint. Of course, he wasn't stupid enough to get close enough to the shoreline to be caught, but he was able to get a nice view of the happenings now that he was already known by the group of people.
Some people had noticed him and pointed him out while they loitered on a log. They were talking too quietly for him to hear what they were saying, but it was pretty obvious from their stares that they were talking about him.
He rolled his eyes and decided to ignore them when he noticed the familiar silver-haired elf, Silvis. They were coming out of one of the larger tents, wiping their hands with a cloth. Emre couldn't help but notice how tired they looked as they took a seat on a stump that sat just outside the tent.
They had probably stayed up most of the night to monitor the two injured people. Judging by the fact that he got experience for it, Emre already knew that the treatment had worked. Silvis wasn't as lucky as him to get to know of these things and he couldn't help but feel a tinge of pity for the healer.
Emre must have been staring too long as the elf looked up from their hands and glanced around. It didn't take long for their blue eyes to meet his golden ones. They tiredly smiled and Emre wished that he could tell them that the humans were going to be okay and that they could rest.
He barely knew Silvis and yet he already felt attached to their good character and hard work. They seemed to care deeply about the wellbeing of others. He let out an inward sigh. He could at least amuse the elf.
Still locking eyes with the elf he began to bob his head, causing small ripples in the water. Silvis watched him, placing their elbow on their knee to rest their chin on their palm. They still had that tired smile on their face as they watched him. After a moment Emre stuck his tongue out.
Silvis's brows raised in amusement and their shoulders shook as they chuckled. Standing up finally, they decided to walk over to the water. Emre swam forward, stopping a mere two meters from them, looking up with a tilt of his head.
They crouched down, getting a fresh coat of mud on the ends of their robe.
"You are very interesting, little one," They started. "You saved two of our people by providing that herb."
Emre nodded to that. Silvis already knew Emre could understand them, but the people around the camp were watching with judging eyes. Who in their right mind would talk with a little swamp lizard-like him?
"We're going to be leaving tomorrow morning since they both woke up this morning. They are still in bad shape, but we can cope, I think." Their brows furrowed as they glanced down toward their hands. "We're heading back to the capital so it will be a long journey."
Emre could only nod once more. The capital, huh? Once he was finally able to transform into a human he would go there for sure. He wanted to talk to Tirian again. He needed answers as to why Tirian decided to give him a second chance and how his fate was supposedly messed with.
Sure, he could go without knowing… But if he had the chance to talk to her again, he would take it.
Besides, there were other things he wanted to know too. Why did she make him a lizard of all things? Why was he given an important title like Tirian's Angel? Why him? While these thoughts wracked his head, he realized that Silvis had been silent the whole time.
"I don't know who or what you are, or how you're even able to understand me," They began, making Emre nervous. "But I'm glad you decided to help us. I fear if we had taken any longer they would have died."
Emre nodded and they continued.
"I noticed you at first because there was a small orb of light above where you were." They paused, letting out a small chuckle. "I sometimes see these orbs around when the Goddess is promising something good. Apparently, no one else can see them." Silvis explained with a smile.
Emre inched a bit closer. An orb of light that only a Priest could see, huh? Tirian must have known that Emre was going to help them before even he knew. At times like this, he wished he could speak. He wouldn't be able to tell Silvis who he really was, but he'd at least be able to converse properly with them.
A clash of metal behind them caught Emre's attention and even caused Silvis to look over their shoulder. Two soldiers had saluted as the same large scarred man from before passed them and headed toward where he and Silvis were.
His attitude irritated Emre and he felt his light-heartedness from his interaction with Silvis slowly disappear as the man came to a stop, looming over them. Emre was only a meter from Silvis and was ready to flee at any moment with tensed muscles.
"Sergeant Treeni." Silvis greeted him lightly, dipping their head but not rising to their feet.
"Priest." He greeted shortly in response. "Talking to the monster again?"
"Yes, I am talking to the savior of two of our people." Silvis responded with a matter-of-fact-like tone before looking back down at Emre with a soft smile.
Oh, you're truly a saint Silvis! Tirian, can they be the Angel instead? They are deserving! Emre willed as he nodded his head to their words.
"I would like to talk to you about our journey back." Sergeant Treeni completely ignored their tone, still standing straight like a wall over them with his hands behind his back.
"Alright." Silvis sighed. "I suppose I will see you later, little one." They gave Emre an apologetic look.
Wait! As Silvis was about to stand up, Emre scrambled forward and grabbed their hand with his tiny blue one. They were shocked but lowered their hand at Emre's pull. Treeni seemed apprehensive at the actions but didn't move from his spot.
Using his other clawed hand, he hovered it above Silvis's open palm and cast the Light skill. A small light began to form and slowly grew larger until it was about the size of a small orange. It glowed with warm radiant light and hovered gently over their palm even as Emre pulled his small hand back.
Silvis stared in shock. Treeni even looked shocked, along with the few surrounding soldiers. With this, Emre let go of their hand and backed up back into the murky water while still focusing on the orb of light.
Did this count as promising something good? Silvis was certainly good to him. In this loneliness recently, Silvis's chatter was of great help. Not just anyone would decide to talk to some random monster. So the fact that Silvis spoke to him just like normal was warming to his heart.
"Little one?" Silvis breathed after him, not knowing what to do with the pure radiant light floating in their hand.
Emre decided that this would be his send-off. He didn't want to stick around after this display after all. Then they might really try to capture him! A monster casting radiant magic!? Unheard of!
As he swam to the center of the pond, he turned around to see Silvis was still crouching there confused as to what to do. He would laugh if he could! Slowly, he willed the orb of light to move. It floated up from Silvis's palm and began to wander toward Emre.
The camp of people watched as the orb returned to the one who created it before Emre reached up and grasped it with his small hands and allowed it to slowly fade away into nothingness between his palms.
The gaping mouths of the humans were truly amusing! Especially that look of shock on that stupid Treeni's face!
He lifted one of his arms into the air and waved it before diving into the water. He wouldn't return here until they were gone tomorrow morning. That was probably best.
Oh, did he enjoy being over the top sometimes!
When he was a human he would be sure to try and find Silvis somewhere. He had to repay the kind elf somehow, after all.