{Author's Note}
Hey everybody! Got this chapter out just a week after the last one! And, I might be able to finish another one tomorrow! So, look forward to that. If I don't, then sorry for letting you down.
Anyway, this is more of a transitional chapter, as well as a developmental one. It has some interesting quotes to it, and then end has the shortest fight scene I've ever written.
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OWTS!
***
{The Next Day – San Ilia}
As much as Kevin would've preferred to head directly to the Safina region from the haunted mansion, he ended up dragging an unconscious Alice back to the city of religious morons, San Ilia. There were multiple reasons to do so, including the fact that it was only half a day's walk away, and that they would need to resupply before heading off into the desert. A day or two in that den of morons was worth not dying of dehydration in the desert.
Probably.
Unfortunately, Alice didn't wake up for the entire trip, despite the Eevee having literally dragged her by her tail the whole way. Her remaining unconscious meant that she wasn't able to disguise herself, leading to the predicament of Kevin sneaking her into the city in the middle of the night, and then through the window of the room he booked at an inn. For this alone, he believed that she deserved all of the bumps, bruises, and scrapes she'd received along the way. Sure, she'd more likely than not just heal from them the moment she was conscious enough to notice them, but for now, he felt vindicated for the annoyance.
The only interesting thing on the way back was the weird woman waiting outside the mansion when they left.
{Flashback – Yesterday}
It was just as Kevin, Sylph, and the unconscious lamia the former was dragging along, reached the edge of the mansion's property that they spotted her. Faded red hair, emotionless crimson eyes, and pale skin made her stand out among the overgrowth. She wore a white lab coat over a gray sweater and black skirt, with her legs being covered by a pair of tights and simple shoes. Altogether, she gave off the vibe of a scientist, only missing the glasses to round out the outfit.
Since she was staring directly at Kevin, the teen stopped moving and stared right back. A quick check with his senses indicated that she wasn't human, her body radiating a mixture of Ghost and Psychic Type Energy. Her presence screamed 'early-story appearance of an end-game enemy,' so the teenager did the only logical thing he could think of.
"Nope," he shook his head as he turned to walk away. "I've dealt with enough stupidity for one day."
"So…Chrome is –" the woman began…
…before being interrupted by Kevin. "I said NO! Save your creepy monologuing for when I'm no longer here. I don't care about you, your purpose here, or your creepy scientist aesthetic, so shut up and let me leave in peace."
Apparently, the aura he was radiating was enough to deter her from pushing any further. Instead, she opted to continue standing and staring at him. He felt her eyes on his back all the way up to the point where he left the small forest the mansion was built in.
"I wonder what she was doing there?" Sylph wondered out loud, idly swinging her legs from her host's shoulder.
"Don't know, don't care," he replied, putting the encounter completely out of his mind.
{End Flashback}
After falling asleep that night, he'd met Ilias in the Dream Room, and she shed some light on the identity of the strangely dressed woman.
{Last Night – the Dream Room}
"Hm…that sounds like Promestein," the self-proclaimed goddess mused. She had been busy with other matters for the duration of the Eevee's exploration of the haunted mansion, so she hadn't witnessed the encounter between the two. However, from Kevin's description, she was certain it was her.
Kevin tilted his head to the side in contemplation. "Judging from the name alone, I'm glad I didn't stay and play along with whatever mysterious game she had going on."
"Why? Do you recognize her name?"
"Well, it's more along the lines that her name sounds like a mash-up between 'Prometheus' and 'Dr. Frankenstein,'" the teen explained as he tossed a ball back and forth with Sylph, the short Spirit being easy to entertain. "The former was a mythological god-like man who stole fire from the other gods, and was punished by being chained to a rock and having a vulture peck out his liver every day for all eternity; while the latter was a fictional crazed scientist who was famous for creating a living being out of dead body parts."
Ilias stared speechlessly at him as her mind ground to a halt. She'd learned a bit about Kevin and the land he'd come from over the course of the visits she'd been making, but the correlation between the two fictional men he'd just described and the backstory of Promestein herself was a little too on the nose to be a coincidence. However, she wasn't about to reveal that to the boy.
Ever since she'd started regularly visiting, she avoided topics that might reveal some of the terrible things she'd done in the past. How would he react to finding out that she'd condemned one of her angels to a prison cell for hundreds of years, all for the crime of not blindly following her like an idiot and helping humans survive by giving them fire? There really wasn't a concrete answer she could come up with, considering how unpredictable he was.
So, she settled for shrugging, ignoring the pit in her stomach, and once again immersing herself in the calming atmosphere of the Dream Room. Those heavy thoughts were for her less-sane self to think about, not her current well-adjusted self.
{End Flashback}
Kevin was well aware that Ilias knew something about Promestein, but honestly didn't care. The probability that they'd meet again in the future was pretty high, considering the woman's unique appearance and name. The narrative the world was running on was certain to make it happen.
On another note, the state San Ilia was in when he explored it the next day was interesting, to say the least. How could it not be, when there were hundreds of ghosts milling about the place and phasing through the walls, giving the more skittish residents panic attacks in the process. From what Kevin the teenager gathered, while half of the ghosts he'd indirectly freed from the mansion had passed on to the afterlife, the rest had taken it upon themselves to start haunting the nearby city.
The Eevee completely approved of this.
Additionally, a colony of fairies had also decided to migrate from the Forest of Spirits and make their home in the capital city. Without Sylph to regularly play with them, and with the Elves being a very serious race that didn't react well to their pranks, a city full of humans was the perfect place to migrate to. The fact that the military was completely useless just made it easier for the fairies to settle in.
Both the fairies and the ghosts also quickly learned not to bother him while he was shopping for supplies with Sylph. The former were scared away when one of their number tried to pull his pants down, and was subsequently grabbed with lightning reflexes, thrown on the ground, and stomped on until she was sealed into the form of a limp butterfly. The latter group were sufficiently convinced after an adult male ghost popped out of a table to frighten them, leading to Kevin coating his hand in Ghost Type Energy, grabbing the soul by the throat, and choking him into unconsciousness.
The Spirit of the Wind on his shoulder merely giggled at the events, not even feeling pity for the fairies she used to play with. Being exposed to her host's memories had disillusioned her to the idea of r*pe, to the point where she couldn't bring herself to defend the tiny winged monster who most likely wanted to 'play' with the teen's penis as a 'prank.' All she could feel was schadenfreude at the fairy's misfortune, and relief that the others took the hint.
She remembered a few days ago, in the dream room, asking Kevin why he caused so much pain and mental scarring to the monsters he dealt with.
"While reading one day," he had replied, leaning back and staring at the ceiling. "I came across a rehash of an often-repeated phrase that stuck in my head. It goes: 'If you cause your enemies pain, they will leave you alone for a day. If you teach your enemies to fear pain, they will leave you alone for the rest of your life.' I've yet to see this proven wrong."
The scene of both the fairies and the ghosts keeping away from him were further evidence that the words of wisdom held true. After those two incidents, they were free to spend the king's money on whatever they needed for the trip without worrying about anyone stopping them. Even Amira failed to show up, although Kevin attributed that to her moving on to the next kingdom to once again give him information when he arrived and inch him closer to trying to kill her, universal rules be damned.
"I wonder how Alice is going to react when she finally wakes up," Sylph wondered out loud as they browsed through the General Supplies shop.
Kevin lightly chuckled. "I'd bet on her either passing out again, or her letting loose a terrified scream and tearing through anything in her way of escaping the city."
The small Spirit also giggled at that. "It's still so funny how she says she isn't afraid of ghosts."
"That's just how people are," the Eevee shrugged, picking up an umbrella that would be perfect for blocking out the sun. "It's why 'irrational fears' are called 'Irrational fears.'"
"Is that why all of your memories of spiders end with you throwing things at them until they either die or run away?"
"Exactly," he nodded. Unlike a certain lamia, he wasn't ashamed of his phobias. He was willing to accept that they existed and move forward, instead of denying everything in an effort to appear strong.
Sylph nodded with a smile. "I think I get it now."
Just like he and Alice did before heading to the Forest of Spirits, the boy concluded his shopping spree by loading up on tons of food. They hadn't even depleted half of the food in his Backpack of Holding, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Also, as he'd planned in advance, he'd stocked up on gallons of fresh water. After all, the lake's worth of water currently residing in his bag was all seawater, and was more useful as a method of attack rather than saving someone from dying of thirst.
By the time they had returned to the inn, they'd cleared out seven different food stalls and restaurants of their supplies, and put the king in a sufficient amount of debt. It was a good thing that the majority of the guards were focused on making sure the chaos caused by the capital's new 'residents' was kept to a minimum; otherwise, they'd have sunk into despair at the sheer disregard the teen had for the king's castle's treasury. At the very least, the shopkeepers were pleased with the good business they were receiving.
Kevin made his way to the door to their room and, upon opening it, was treated to the sight of Alice cowering under a blanket in a corner of the room. It should also be noted that this corner was as far away from the window as she could get without leaving. The Eevee was able to quickly come to the conclusion that she'd woken up, looked out the window, and immediately retreated to the corner in fear.
"Hey, Alice," he called out to her, causing her shivering to stop. "I guess you've seen the newest residents of San Ilia?"
Her head peaked out from beneath the fabric. Her face was expressionless as she looked the boy dead in the eye and spoke. "We are leaving."
He raised an eyebrow. "Really? I thought we might stay for a few more days."
"Yeah!" Sylph chimed in with her agreement. "The fairies are fun, and the ghosts aren't that –"
In an instant, the Monster Lord was looming over them, her eyes glowing ominously as she grabbed Kevin by the shoulders. "We. Are. Leaving," she ground out. "NOW."
Kevin wasn't impressed by her attempt at intimidation. "Okay, first of all: back the fuck up," he said, using the 25% psychic power available in his base for to mentally grab the lamia and move her a few feet away. "Second: you don't decide where or when we go or when. I do. You're just my annoying companion who follows me because her subjects are completely fucking stupid and you're worried that I might kill them for it."
That brought the woman down from her high-fear state. "Fine," she growled, forcing her voice to sound as calm as possible. "Can we…PLEASE…leave this city already?"
Pleased with her rewording of her command into a request, Kevin nodded. "Sure. I just finished storing a ton of food and water for the trip to Safina, and a few things to keep the heat away, so the only reasons to stay would be to let Sylph have her fun and to torture you."
Holding herself back from strangling the boy, Alice settled for slapping the back of his head. For some reason that she couldn't comprehend, while the Eevee hated being touched by anyone for almost any length of time, he had no reaction to her punching, slapping, or kicking (when she was in her human form) him in retaliation for his words and actions. She'd tried asking him why his reactions weren't as visceral on these occasions, to which he answered that it was fine when he deserved it.
The journey to the edge of the city was quick, although it could've been faster if the disguised lamia wasn't closing her eyes and relying on her other senses to follow behind her companions so she wouldn't have to see the ghosts. They didn't register to her magical senses, so it gave her some comfort to navigate using just them and her sense of hearing. It was only when the castle was no longer visible in the distance that she finally allowed herself to open her eyes again.
Kevin took the opportunity to bring out the map he'd procured of the Safina region and the one for the Natalia region. He then used his telekinesis to hold them up in a way that made all paths and borders perfectly flow into each other. "So, we know that the next Spirit, Gnome, is in Safina. The only question is, WHERE in Safina is she?"
Alice shrugged. "No idea. Unlike Sylph, Undine, and Salamander, Gnome's location isn't a well-known area. It's not very surprising when you consider the massive desert that Safina is known for."
The boy then turned to his shoulder to address Sylph. "Do you have any idea?"
She shook her head. "Nope! Gnomy changes where she stays every time she's found. The way our previous hosts have found her is usually by listening for rumors of clay dolls moving around in some area of the desert."
"Then we'll have to head for somewhere with a lot of people," the Eevee nodded. "You got anything in that old travel guide, Alice?"
The Monster Lord proceeded to take the five hundred year old book from her breast-pocket dimension and flip through it. After a few seconds, her eyes lit up. "It says here that the capital of the Safina region is called Sabasa. It's settled on an oasis and is famous for their signature Sabasa Fish."
"…I'm gonna guess that that's some kind of food?"
Alice nodded. "It's an amazing dish served with hot-hot vegetables and flavored with piriri spices."
"It looks like we have our destination, then," the boy said. A quick look at the maps indicated that they would be following the same road that they were on directly to the desert, so he folded both of them up and stored them away. "Let's get going."
{Ten Days Later – Near the Edge of the Natalia Region}
Not much happened in the week and a half leading up to the trio's current slog through a humid rainforest. Not a single monster attacked in that time, so it was mostly peaceful. Mostly, because there was random wildlife every once in a while, whose instincts weren't strong enough to convince them that attacking three sources of unparalleled magical energy was a bad idea.
That just meant there was more snacks for Alice to munch on between meals.
Sylph was just as energetic about everything, never staying still for more than half an hour. As time went on, she was finding it increasingly easier to get positive reactions out of her host. Normally, it was only a light smile or a slight chuckle, but it was progress from his usual emotionless mask. She was certain that she could get a full laugh out of him some day.
The little Spirit was also ecstatic about the regular visits from Ilias in the Dream room. Out of all of her five original 'sisters,' the Spirit of Light always seemed to be not only the loneliest, but also the hardest to interact with. By the time Sylph and the other three well-known Spirits had become sentient enough to notice each other, Ilias had already gone insane and the original Alipheese hadn't exactly been of much help in the matter. Seeing the 'mad goddess' so calm and free warmed the Wind Spirit's heart.
It was as the group was getting close to the edge of the rainforest that Alice couldn't take it anymore. "It's so hoooooooot," she complained, her human half practically drenched with sweat.
"It's not that bad," the boy shrugged. "Besides, I have a fur-lined jacket and pants on while you're barely dressed at all. I'd say I have more reason to complain than you do.
The lamia's expression suddenly shifted to one of suspicion. "Wait a second…why aren't YOU suffering as much as I am?"
Before the Eevee could respond, Sylph replied for him. "Oh, that's easy! Kevin's body is radiating Ice Type Energy to keep the heat away," she said cheerfully as she basked in the aforementioned energy.
Alice froze at that moment, a dangerous glint appearing in her eyes. "He's…WHAT!?"
"I'm using my magic to keep from overheating," he stated plainly. "Are you telling me that you don't have any magic that can adjust the temperature around you?"
Her silence and sudden shift to a neutral expression were all that he needed to conclude that while she did have the power to do so, she hadn't thought of it for some reason. While he could point out how she snapped at him due to her own idiocy, he decided to attribute the moment of stupidity to her brain overheating. The environment was perfect for such a thing to happen, after all.
Their banter was interrupted when the sound of a large figure barreling toward them sounded through the forest. Kevin was about to turn around to see what it was when Alice pulled her next disappearing act. This time, she pulled another Naruto move by bursting into smoke, only for a log to be revealed once the smoke dispersed. This was all the proof the boy needed to know that whatever was coming was a monster girl.
Upon turning to see it, a violent shiver made its way down his spine. Like most monster girls, this one had the body of a woman from the waist up. She had two arms, normal breasts, and shoulder-length black hair. What made the upper body different from that of a normal human was the long fuzzy ears sticking out from the sides of her head, and the four additional red spheres above her crimson eyes.
It was the other half of her body that made the Eevee react so poorly. An enormous tarantula, complete with eight hairy legs, a large mouth, and a large abdomen behind the upper torso. The only things that differed from the typical spider anatomy, other than the head being replaced by a human torso, were the six breasts that hung from the bottom of its body. The ridiculousness of the three rows of mammaries was, fortunately, off-putting enough to reduce Kevin's reaction to a mere shiver.
[Tarantula Girl]
[Type: Bug]
"Hehe," the Tarantula Girl chuckled upon spotting him. "A delicious looking…human?" Now that she got a closer look, this 'human' had fox ears and a tail. It didn't matter either way, though, considering that he was a male. "I'll wrap you up in my silk and make you my prey."
It was as she said this that Kevin's ears stuck straight up, all of his fur stood on end, and his fight-or-flight instincts kicked in in their entirety. From her spot in his soul, Sylph felt her Host's mind go from 'mildly uncomfortable with what he was seeing,' to 'kill it kill it kill it!' the second the monster suggested wrapping him up and eating him. It had evoked horrifying memories of encounters with large spiders eating the bugs and small animals they caught, and triggered the self-preservation instincts to their fullest extent.
As a result, before the Tarantula girl could speak any further, the Eevee leaped toward her, his 'fight' instinct having won against 'flight.' What made the leap more odd in the monster's eyes was the fact that, in the process of doing so, the boy also removed his backpack and swung it with all of his strength. Thinking that she could just shrug off the hit, she allowed the 'helpless' male to get whatever hopes of fighting back he harbored out of his system before giving in.
Unfortunately for her, the backpack still had the [Bag of Infinite Weight] enchantment, making it as heavy as all of the items it contained put together to anyone other than Kevin. At that moment, it had the weight of over a ton of food, several tons of seawater, and numerous other odds and ends he had picked up back in San Ilia. To say that it was heavy would be a gross understatement.
A fact which the giant spider girl would quickly learn as it came into contact with her lower body. In a turn of events she couldn't possibly have foreseen, she was sent flying as the point of impact was struck with the force of a freight train. Her exoskeleton shattered nearly instantly, as did the majority of the bones in her upper body as she crashed through multiple trees. It was only after she had lost momentum and collapsed to the forest floor that the sealing effects of the Eevee's powers took effect, resulting in her body being reduced to a passed-out tarantula the size of a human's palm.
Her assaulter was left hyperventilating and trying to get his body back under control. It helped that he could no longer see the source of his fear, but his racing heart rate couldn't be calmed down that quickly. It took another ten minutes of deep breathing for him to finally calm down enough to think straight.
It was also around that point that Alice teleported back in with her imitation Substitution Jutsu. She hadn't wanted to appear when the teen was still jumpy and likely to make her the next victim of his backpack. He'd told her of its effects when it came to its weight, and while she was certain she could block it if she really wanted to, the question was why would she risk him lashing out at her in the first place?
"You good now?" she asked, still keeping six feet of distance between them.
Taking one final deep breath, he finally relaxed his muscles. "…no, but I'm getting there."
Sylph appeared in front of him and started patting his head. "There, there. It's all okay. She's gone, and won't be coming back any time soon.," she said soothingly.
Despite how much he wanted to deny it, her ministrations were helping him regain his cool even faster.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Alice interjected one again.
Kevin shrugged. "I'm terrified of spiders."
"Yeah," the little Spirit nodded, now sitting on the boy's head to have a better position to sooth him. "His first reaction is always to lash out violently."
"And I own it, unlike a certain Monster Lord and her denial of her fear of ghosts," the boy stated. "Anyway, let's get going before another one comes along."
Never in her life had the lamia been more thankful to NOT be a specific breed of monster.
***
{Author's Note}
So...like I said, not much really said, but it is a transitional chapter.
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LINK TO THE DISCORD (Just take the spaces out): https:/ /disc ord.gg/3 CBazz8 C4H
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See you later!