Looking around I nod to myself before continuing to follow the shadow lady and the other kids out of Kyle. Miss Tilly told me it was time for me to go back and be with actual people and that Kyle had a super important job for me! I hafta be a good girl for the other kids and help them get stronger! Glancing at the girl skipping ahead of me I smile, Jenny was scared when I first showed up but after we talked for a buncha time she turned out to be super cool! She can do magic to and promised to help me learn more about mana and junk. The short hairy guy is being nicer to me but I can tell he isn't my friend yet cus he keeps letting his hand touch the scary knife Spooky gave him. My favorite though is the fat kid! He's so nice and he always has snacks plus he can turn all bristly like a piggy!
"Sarah pay attention we asked you a question!" yells the shadow lady as I jump in shock before I look back at her and smile.
"I'm hungry! Can we have sweets for snacks? What? Why's everyone looking at me all weird..." I say as I look around at everyone staring at me with confused looks except the fat kid who's digging in his bag before pulling out a wrapped little pie.
"See! This is why your my favorite Mr Chunky! Sweets! WOO! So what did you want shadow lady?" I ask as I start to eat the little pie and I smile at how yummy it is!
" I asked if you knew what exactly the dungeon did to you or what power you got from it? And stop eating all of our damn rations! The entrance to town is still half a day away and we need to eat after setting up camp!" the shadow lady says to me with a scary voice, she looks kinda angry I guess I should answer her.
"Um Miss Tilly said that whoever I hang out with in the dungeon will get better stuff and get stronger faster. Oh and I have a bunch of quests from it and they gave me a spell to summon the strongest monster in the dungeon if anyone ever bullies me or I get into troubles!" I answer as the shadow lady looks thoughtful.
"What exactly is the strongest monster in the dungeon Sarah? Have you seen what it can do? And did the dungeon or Miss Tilly give you any special items or such other than the spell?" The shadow lady asks as she stares at me with this weird look on her face.
"Well the dungeon monsters are all super strong! There's this nice lady named Emi who says she's a super strong demon but she always tells me she's weak cus of Slax. Miss Tyr is tough too! I saw her beat up a bunch of huge guys wearing lady clothes without even using her spear! Oh and there's the lanyo! But he doesn't live in the dungeon, I think he just wanders around and eats the bad things coming towards your town while looking for cool stuff. If you want me to be honest the lanyo's scary, he's all scaly with fur and a weird boney face and greasy hair and his voice is all ragh." I explain as the shadow lady's face goes slightly pale before she shakes her head and motions for me to follow.
I can hear the shadow lady mumbling swear words under her breath before I check my inventory and see the special necklace is still there that Miss Tyr and Tilly gave me. Seeing it still there I remember them telling me to keep it secret until I'm at least level fifteen! Only then am I allowed to equip it and it'll give me a special class from the dungeon.
"Hold up everyone this looks like a good enough place to camp out. Elrick your on scavenging duty, find us some firewood and dig us a pit. Chunk your on food as always, Jenny why don't you teach Sarah how to set up a perimeter to keep away monsters." Orders the shadow lady before a big tent appears behind her and she walks inside.
"C'mon Sarah follow me and I'll teach ya the spell! So we usually set it up about ten feet away from our tents that way we can bury our garbage and have some bathroom privacy. You just need this special rock from any merchant to set up a barrier keeping monsters out. You just chant protection and set it down, then voila it makes a big circle around the perimeter." Jenny explains as she sets down the rock and chants under her breath before a wispy blue barrier like smoke appears around our campsite.
"Pretty! But what about anything that's already in here?" I ask as I stare at a small bush near the edge of the smoke, my hand hovering over the small knife that Miss Tilly gave me before leaving to meet these people.
"Usually we scout out the area first but if something is trapped in here with us we either have to hunt it or make sure its peaceful because its trapped with us until we deactivate the barrier, why?" Jenny asks and follows my eyes before gasping quickly and pulling her staff off her back.
"It's okay Jenny, I'll summon Flippy and be careful to see what it is. Your my back up!" I say happily as I watch the girl smile in relief and nod before I summon my friend and direct him toward the bush.
As Flippy enters the bushes a small shriek escapes before the fish/satyr walks out while holding a strange but cute animal. It looks almost like a bunny but its two feet tall and a little chubby. It has spots like a leopard all over its back and hind legs with a sharp horn protruding from its forehead. Paying closer attention I notice a huge black scab along its belly along with fresh blood near its front legs and along its back.
"Holy....Sarah thats an almiraj! They're really rare around here and people say they're super tasty plus their fur and horns make great gear! If we bring it back to camp maybe Anissa or Elrick can harvest it the right way!" Jenny says excitedly before she looks over at me and see's me staring daggers at her.
"Its a fluffy bunny and its hurt. Miss Tyr said adventurers could be greedy and she was right. Look at it Jenny, like really look into its eyes. It's harmless to us and hurt, it needs help so I'm gonna help it." I snap at her before walking towards Flippy and holding out my hand towards the bunny.
"It's ok little one, I promise I only want to help ok? Just stay calm and I'll fix you up as best I can." I whisper as gently as I can remembering how my brother would do that to coax scared animals out of hiding in order to capture them for some of the mages back home.
Finally standing in front of the poor bunny, I place my hand on its head gently and smile as it pushes its head forward and squeaks happily. Doing my best to remain calm I mumble one of the new spells I learned while in the dungeon, Heal Beast, and watch as the worst of the wounds on its little body begin to close and heal. After a few seconds my mana runs out and I get knocked on my butt by the bunny hopping into my arms and rubbing itself all over my chest and neck while I laugh before I read a pop up from a new skill.
{Almiraj level 5 has bonded to you. Almiraj is now your familiar. As a spellcaster you may only have one familiar for every five levels. You may not get a new familiar if yours has passed away or breaks its bond so treasure your new companion.}
"So you wanna come with us huh little guy? Well we can't just call you Almiraj all the time so...hmm...how about Lucky! Cus I'm lucky I noticed you and your lucky we found you! Yup your a lucky little bunny! Lets go show everyone!" I say happily as Lucky squirms around me until his fluffy self is hanging odd my shoulder while he happily squeals and squeaks.
Walking back into camp I watch as everyone stares at me weirdly before the shadow lady approaches us and looks over Lucky and me.
"Huh a familiar already and at your age. You'll be a strong magic user that's for sure and luckily that monster is strong enough to protect you until you can summon the uster. Good job Sarah and you to Jenny. Its always better to try to avoid fighting and killing instead of going to that option first. That's a good lesson every adventurer should accept. Now lets eat and get some sleep, tomorrow we'll arrive and start training to get you guys to actual adventurer status." Anissa says with pride in her voice as everyone else nods while Lucky scampers to everyone and demands attention. I can't wait to get strong like Kyle said, cus once I'm strong we'll go find my brother or that warty thing that attacked us!