He had caught eight more salmon and a pair of pike before he called it. He had the fish in a make-shift carrier as he returned to camp. There he found Lillia and Sera sobbing as they were instructed in the proper way to skin a rabbit by a merciless kaori. Tyler loved the sight of the blonde beauty laying the law down to a pair of spoiled princess brats. He then looked to see Wulf had taken out some meat and was frying it on a rock next to a crackling fire while Malico was looking over her Licenses. Tyler went to a small rock and set his catch down as Kaori looked over.
"Whatchya get?"
HE smiled.
"Eight 3 to 4 foot salmon, two 5 foot pike."
Kaori smiled.
"We got the means for me to make Grilled Salmon! I love Salmon!"
Tyler smiled at her enthusiasm.
"We need a grate to grill."
She groaned.
"Shiiit, yer right, I forgot!"
Tyler sighed as well.
"We'll either buy one in town or I can have one made for us."
Kaori pouted.
"I got excited! Dammit!"
Tyler smiled, as he looked at the fire.
"I'm sorry, we'll get one."
Wulf spoke up then.
"If you like, I have a small one I use for my tea. It'll only hold like one piece at a time, but it works."
Kaori hugged him as the two girls finally finished skinning their rabbit.
"Thanks Wulf! You rock!"
Tyler chuckled as he flayed the fish right in front of the two princesses. The girls were looking green around the gills as he used his hands to separate the meat and bone. Once the fish were flayed and set to cooking, Tyler pulled out his map. He set it under a rock as he looked to Malico.
"Hey, those idiots have a map?"
The sexy catgirl smiled and tossed it to him.
"Here! It doesn't need a chant."
"Love you kittycat!"
She blushed as Kaori chuckled at her embarrassment. Tyler placed the new map over his own and it got absorbed. HE watched as a new are, Raylik, was filled in completely, as well as more of Term. Plus a few more towns, roads, and cities. He then looked at Ralik in relation and sighed.
"We made less then HALF our projected progress today."
Kaori came and sat beside him.
"The royal brats screwed us."
"Yer saying we got royally screwed?"
She snorted and smacked his back affectionately.
"I'm starting to like the new you, Tyler. You got jokes now that are actually FUNNY."
Tyler hugged his blonde friend.
"Well, I already LOVE you, Kaori."
She smiled as she hugged him back,
"I love you too."
he rubbed her back before they looked back at the map.
"So, we're just BARELY past the halfway mark to Raylik. Plus now we have a pair of hundred and ten pound pieces of deadweight we need to carry as well."
The planning Duo looked to see Lillia and Sera learning how to properly spit roast a rabbit.
"They're pampered pets alright."
"Least bandit baiting will be easier with those two dingdongs."
Kaori smiled nastily.
"Indeed it will be. I kinda wanna just cut me loose though."
He patted the hateful blonde on her back, as he was well aware their types of girls were the kind she hated above all others: The pampered rich girl that never had to lift a finger or do a hard day's work. He hated them as well. Only not as fiercely. Tyler then smiled as he tapped her on her shoulder.
"Yeah, Whats-urph!"
As she'd looked at him, he leaned in and kissed her, right in full view of everyone. Kaori's eyes went wide at this surprise, but got RIGHT into it. And she sighed when it ended.
"Better?"
She smiled.
"Much."
He hugged her again before closing the map.
"I'll get a look at my skillpoints, you go make em cry some more."
He kissed her and she went to do just that.
"Alright ladies, time for a water run!"
Tyler smiled as he opened his HUD to find a further 60 points waiting for him. He looked them over, wondering just where to take his build next.
"Hey, have you altered you alternate skills yet?"
He looked up to see Wulf take a seat beside him. Tyler tilted his head.
"Alternate skills?"
His clear confusion caught Wulf off guard.
"Umm, you DO know you have MORE skills then those, right?"
"I do now?"
Wulf looked at him, and burst out laughing.
"You have been doing everything up till just now, unaware of your alternate skills? Like lockpicking, Smithing, crafting, or even fletching?"
Tyler tilted his head.
"Well yeah. Can't look for something I can already do. Only thing I CAN'T do from what you just said is smithing."
Wulf looked at him.
"Okay. See that button here?"
He pointed to a icon that looked like an arrow.
"Press it."
Tyler did and found a list of acquired skills and abilities he had no idea he had.
"Wow. Okay. That's new. Let's see."
There were skills for woodcutting, fishing, sewing, intelligence, perception, lockpicking, all the way down to mining. Tyler then noticed that the majority of his slots were empty. Wulf shook his head.
"To think you're as strong as you are WITHOUT sword or bow skills. You've been using enhancements only right?"
Tyler was looking at his rather high perception skill: 556.
"Yeah. I knew sword and bow skills were out there, but we were kinda in a hurry."
Wulf sighed.
"You are going to be terrifyingly powerful now. Okay. What kind of Warrior were you going for?"
Tyler sighed as he saw his hunting skill was at a mere 150.
"The kind that draws first and rests last. Here, lemme show you."
Wulf was taken aback by his stats.
"Wait, you have 200 strength? 225 stamina? 155 physical defense?"
Tyler tilted his head.
"yep. What's the average?"
"A smith the size of that prick we killed at that camp maxes out at 150. Giants at 175. You're easily the strongest man alive. I wonder if that's just because of the Warrior thing? Hey, go back to extra skills."
Tyler did, and Wulf had him look at the level max limit. It was empty.
"Empty? That means you can keep upgrading to infinity."
He was awe struck as he pressed the thing. It said limit removal, due to a Warrior's Growth. He shook his head.
"That's why. Makes sense. Okay, the alternate skills have to do with you as a person in our world. Do you want to be a merchant? A smith? A hunter? Or some mix of the three? This is where you upgrade the skills around those trades. My advice would to put it into your bartering skill or here in survival. Bartering lets you see if a deal is good or not that much easier. What's your perception?"
Tyler scrolled up.
"Perception is…556."
"What?"
Wulf sat back on limp legs at the extreme number. His mouth dropped.
"You're telling me this is the first time you've seen the extra skill interface?"
"Yeah. We've been getting by on our past world knowledge and experiences plus Malico's knowledge of this world."
"Your perception is THAT extreme?"
Tyler was confused.
"Yeah. What's the average?"
"50. For elves."
Tyler just looked at him.
"Okay, let me ask it a different way. What does Perception affect in day to day life?"
He looked down, as if afraid to look him in the eye.
"Perception is used to defend against mental tricks like illusion magic, and is directly correlated to understanding people. For example, a lawyer in our world needs to max out their perception in order to pick out a lie or truth on the fly. To max it out, you have to have spent hours studying to both enhance your own mind and to understand another. I myself have it maxed out as I am ambassador to the human kingdom, and it took me ten years of near constant study, religious prayer, and in the field study to both strengthen my mental fortitude to enemy tricks, and see through them as well. Look for the skill of mental fortitude please."
Tyler looked for it.
"Mental fortitude….got it....HOLY."
Wulf looked over at it.
"1032?!"
The elven ranger looked at Tyler.
"The only way to increase it to THAT magnitude is through years of nonstop mental torture. Now that I think of it, I'm not all that surprised by your mental strength, given the scars on your body."
Tyler smiled.
"Least I got two skills I don't need to do anything to. Okay. I think the only thing on this list I really need to work on is my hunting. Everything else not so much."
Malico chimed in then.
"I'd throw some points in your mana pool and magic. I don't think you've upgraded those yet."
"Good call, kittycat!"
The brown haired man then looked at the elf.
"You said sword and bow skills."
Wulf shook his head.
"I did. Those you need to buy in a shop for fighters."
"They need a license too?"
"No. they need a Certificate."
Tyler tiled his head.
"Certificate?"
"Yep. Weapon skills, unlike magic spells, require a Certificate to use. Unlike a license, you don't need to carry them to use them. In fact, no fighter does. As once bought, a skill shows up in your HUD under the skills tab. There you can upgrade them as you use them. Once a Certificate is bought and placed in the HUD, the certificate destroys itself to be remade for resale. If you buy the same Certificate twice, whichever is the stronger one replaces the original."
Tyler rubbed his eyes.
"I take it you can't loot them off the dead?"
"Not weapon skills, as they're more personal then a spell's license."
"Hey, Malico, you have any skills?"
She smiled.
"I do. When I throw a dagger, I can't miss if my target's within three meters, even if they're directly behind me. That one's called Cat's Claw. I have another called Fury Dance. It doubles my speed for ten seconds, and has a cooldown of ten minutes. I don't have any others."
Tyler looked at Wulf, he grinned.
"I have Animal Friend, which is a passive skill that allows for better horse riding, Eagle Eye, which uses my perception to help me aim my bow, Power Shaft-"
"Giggity."
"Prick. Power Shaft-"
"Giggity."
"Cut the shit. Power shaft."
"Goo."
Wulf just slapped him then.
"Shut up asshole. POWER SHAFT. There I said it! That doubles the power of my shot at range."
Tyler snorted, as Wulf just groaned.
"Lady Kaori taught me an appropriate phrase for just this situation: Get yo damn mind outta the gutter! YA dirty minded jackass."
"I friggin love her. Okay, anything else?"
Wulf sighed, just accepting it.
"My last skill is Longsight. I can once again use my Perception to see far off targets both closer and clearer."
Tyler smiled.
"With my perception, those skills would be simply TERRFYING."
Wulf was in full agreement.
"They will. You can get them in an archery shop. Plus one handed sword skills like Rapid Lunge and Power Slash."
Tyler added the sixty points to his magic and mana, bringing their totals up for Magic: 160 and Mana: 280. He closed the HUD and looked around the camp, seeing what else needed to be done.
"Okay, we have plenty of firewood, food and Kaori has the two damsels on a water run, long as she hasn't drowned them that is, the horses are fed and the tent pitched."
He then looked over their supplies.
"Food's good. Coin? We don't need any help there. Weapons?"
He did a quiver check, and saw they were still full. Malico was resting by the fire naked as was her way, Wulf had gone to look over his own equipment, and kaori and the princesses had yet to return. He sighed.
"I'll go make sure Kaori hasn't killed them yet."
They chuckled as he lifted his weapons and set off for the stream. He heard them before he saw them.
"Ahh come ON! Is THAT you BEST with a rod?"
"Hey, not fair! We've never had to do this before!"
"Yeah! At least let us TRY!"
Tyler came around a tree to see kaori had brought out rod and line to teach the girls to fish. From the looks of it, the two princesses were hating it. Tyler sighed as he now felt kinda bad for the two girls now thrown to the wolves. He deliberately broke a twig as he approached to alert the girls. Lillia and Sera were ankle deep in the stream flailing with the rod as kaori was on the verge of killing them. The princesses' dresses had been torn off at the knees to allow for more active activities. Whereas kaori was just bare footin it. He walked up and hugged the frustrated blonde and kiss her cheek.
"That bad eh?"
Kaori relaxed right away.
"They're HOPELESS!"
Tyler patted her back.
"Lemme try."
He walked over.
"Lillia, Sera, out of the stream. Your scaring the fish with all that noise."
HE was speaking kindly, and the girls hurriedly got out of the water. He then fixed their rods and lines.
"Okay, Lillia. I'll start with you. C'mere."
She gulped, but stepped forward to stand by the scary boy. He stood behind her and placed the rod in her hands.
"Here, I'll show like kaori taught me a few years back."
The Blonde in question smiled as he laid all credit for her fictional help at her feet. Lillia was shaking at the fact the same man that had killed her knights was holding her like he was. He sighed, and she could feel his breath on her neck.
"Okay, look, you'll just go hungry if you keep going like this. Now, I have not harmed you or your sister. So, relax and stop shaking. That's the first step."
His words were true, and Lillia forced herself to relax. She let out a deep breath and her shaking stopped.
"Good. Now, Hold the rod with this hand here, this one here."
Once her grip was set, he moved to the next thing.
"Okay, now use your waist to rotate, good, keep your arms nice and slack like that while holding the rod."
She did the motions as he guided her body in the proper manner.
"Now, rotate back with a little more force, and whip the rod out, just like that."
HE line whizzed to the center of the stream with a light plop. She sighed with relief.
"Oh thank the gods it worked!"
Tyler chuckled as he still stood behind her.
"THAT is the single easiest part of fishing my dear. Now comes the hard part. Keep a firm grip on that rod, and when you feel it dip,"
The tip of the rod dipped them.
"Yank straight back like this!"
HE pulled on her hands, and she felt the thing jump as the hook was set. The royal princess was then instructed under Tyler's guiding words how to land a fish. Her catch? A 4 foot salmon. The princess was wrapped in a proud smile as she saw the fruits of her efforts.
"I got one! I actually caught a fish!"
Tyler patted her back.
"Now just rinse and repeat."
He taught her how to set bait to hook, and Sera the same. Afterwards, the two girls were having a grand time as they pulled more fish out. Together the sisters landed three more salmon, a 5 foot pike, and a 6 pound trout. Tyler walked hand in hand with Kaori as they escorted the now beaming princesses back to camp.
"How'd you find the patience for that?"
He hugged the blonde.
"Remember how I used to have to walk you through the same problem like what? Ten times in a row before it clicked? I had to look at them as little kids that had never seen a fishing pole before."
Kaori snuggled into his one armed hug.
"I forgot how great of a teacher you can be. Though, I still feel like you just called me stupid, not sure why."
"You are many things, kaori, stupid is NOT one of them. Math sucks period."
She smiled happily as they returned to camp. Tyler went over to the cleaning rock.
"Lillia, Sera, I'll teach you the proper way to clean your catch now."
The girls gulped, but came to sit across from him. He then spent the next few minutes teaching them how to flay a fish the right way and how to wield a knife. Sera had the hardest time getting past the gore, but once she got over it, she was pretty decent with a flay knife, whereas Lillia got over it first, but was still scared of the knife. They learned though, and after a half hour had their catches sizzling next to the group's. Then Tyler had them wash their blood-stained hands in the stream before the food was ready. The two girls learning firsthand that food you'd both caught and prepped yourself tastes far better then if you have someone else make it. Lillia and Sera then hugged Tyler gratefully.
"Thanks for teaching us, and for the food."
"Yeah! It was fun fishing!"
HE smiled as he patted their backs.
"See what you're capable of with the right push?"
Sera yawned then, even though there was still light out, her adventure having drained her energy. Tyler sighed.
"Go find a spot in the tent Sera. We're gonna be up a while longer."
She blinked her blue eyes tiredly.
"Hmm-hmm."
Kaori helped the exhausted girl into the tent before rejoining the group around the fire. Lillia then had a question.
"What is your plan for the black spells?"
Tyler sighed.
"Sorry toots, you're not a member of my party, so I can't tell you. Or are you really vital to our travel like Wulf is."
"Thank you?"
Kaori chuckled.
"He complemented you that time."
Wulf got it then. Lillia sighed.
"I understand."
She hunched her knees up to her chest as she stared into the fire. Tyler patted her back.
"We'll get you two to Raylik. That much is certain."
She sniffed as a single tear ran down her face.
"Sooner or later I'll have to return to the capital. And the pope's chambers."
Malico and Wulf looked at each other, as Kaori sighed.
"Whatever you were thinking, make it darker and you understand."
Wulf sighed.
"I see now. The pope is the true king of Vernillion."
Tyler looked at him.
"And he's setting his pieces up for a power play. I'd wager he plans to overthrow the king, set himself up as high king, and start a holy war."
Lillia pressed her face into her knees as she sobbed, while Kaori hugged her. Wulf looked into the fire thoughtfully.
"I can see how you got that. The pieces all fit."
Tyler laid on his back to look at the sky.
"I also have a feeling that bastard rigged the Warrior Summoning so this crop was next to useless so he could both keep any potential thorns from arising, or powerful allies that share his ideals. The waves are a secondary concern. Malico, what is that bastard's main explanation for how the waves started?"
The busty catgirl sighed.
"That they started to punish The Peoples for their lack of faith."
"There it is. Sounds like he wants to start a crusade."
With the exception of kaori, they were unfamiliar with the term.
"What's a crusade?"
"The way you used it makes it seem different then an adventure."
"Sounds noble though."
Tyler placed another log on the fire.
"A religious Crusade is, at least in our old world, an attempt to spread the church's power through force. In our world, entire cultures were wiped out from them. One crusade resulted in the deaths of hundreds of millions in a mere hundred years."
Wulf, Malico, and Lillia looked at him as he poked the fire with a poke made from a Lisk bone.
"The term in our world is 'March'. A 'Holy march'. There hasn't been a true march in nearly three hundred years."
Tyler looked at Wulf.
"Well, that pope is readying Vernillion to start one."
The elven ranger sighed.
"We need to warn her Elegance."
Tyler said nothing as Lillia looked to him.
"What are you going to do?"
Tyler sighed.
"Beyond warning the elves? Nothing. I told you, me number one priority is keeping kaori and Malico alive. And Getting Wulf to his queen in one piece."
The elf and the princess looked at him in shock.
"You're telling me, you have no intention of stopping him?"
"You won't help us?"
Malico and Kaori stayed silent as Tyler handled this one, as he was the best suited this kind of talk.
"I don't owe this world a damned thing. Neither does Kaori nor Malico. I want no part in bailing out your father, and to be perfectly honest, they could rot from all I care."
Wulf was openly glaring at him as Lillia started crying.
"How can you turn your back on her plight like that?"
Tyler looked at him.
"I will have NO hand in aiding a kingdom that would allow such a vile man like Valdic to come to power, NOR will I lift a finger to aid a king that would allow such machinations to steal his very kingdom out from under him to go unanswered. The pope raped his daughter, and he has no fucking clue? That's no king, just a doll on some strings."
"AND JUST WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW OF MY FATHER? YOU JUST ROAM THE WILDS DOING WHATEVER YOU WANT WHILE HE HAS TO LEAD A COUNTRY!"
Lillia was screaming at him through her tears at the boy that was her last hope of salvation. Tyler snorted.
"Lady. A good king knows NOT to trust the church. Period. A GOOD FATHER Knows to PROTECT his daughters, and can tell when they need him the most. As for leading a country? How does he lead it period?"
She looked at him.
"He has to listen to diplomats all desperate to get into his good graces bicker and fight over his words like rabid dogs. He has to keep the nobles appeased or he'll lose the crown."
"Toots ya just proved my point. If he has to bend the knee to ANYONE other then his wife or his daughters, then he's no true ruler. A true ruler wields the respect and fear of his subjects with absolute authority. Here, let me tell you a saying of one of our world's wisest men that they teach kids of in school."
The two looked at him as he continued.
"It is better to be feared then loved, if one cannot be both."
Kaori smiled.
"Paul Machiavelli."
"Yep."
Wulf sighed deeply.
"There's a dark wisdom there, I have to admit."
Lillia looked at her new betrayal.
"My father can't rule the kingdom without the nobles support!"
"Miss, the point he is trying to make, is your father is a blind ruler. Let me ask you something."
She was still streaming tears.
"What?"
"Put Tyler on the throne, would the kingdom look like?"
Lillia looked at Tyler as he sharpened the flay knife.
"if HE was on the throne, the nobles would either be dead or not speak period, any naysayers would be afraid to speak, and the kingdom would be ruled with an iron fist."
Wulf smiled an unpleasant smile.
"But would it be safe?"
Lillia shuddered.
"It would both be safe from enemies within the borders, and without them as well."
"THAT's his point. As it is now, the king does more appeasing the idiots at the top then caring for those at the bottom. Tyler is heartlessly cruel, terrifyingly merciless, and is just plain scary."
"Thank you for the complement."
"jackass. That said, he is both extremely kind, brave to the point of idiocy-"
"Bro, it's terrifying how often those two go hand in hand."
"Will you shut up? And he doesn't hesitate to throw himself in harms way to protect the ones he cares about. Plus, and I HATE to admit this, but he is also fair. To all. He placed the same expectations on you as he did me. And enforced them. In his world, NO ONE get's special treatment with the single exception of Kaori. Everyone else is on a level playing field, is you try and get too big for yourself, he'll cut you down to size. If you start to get smaller, he'll help you back up. Like how he taught you to fish after you utterly failed to be of any help."
Tyler smirked as the elf finished his speech.
"I was expecting you to cop to being jealous of something, but I guess not. Right, kaori? Malico?"
The two ladies picked right up on his sideways jab, and so did a fuming Wulf. The girls giggled into their hands as the ladyless Wulf both wanted to kill Tyler, and felt tremendous respect for both his lovers, and his verbal trickery. I may hate that shit, but DAMN it if he's not right! Lillia was wiping her tears,
"So, you're refusing to help my father, because he refuses to help himself? Is that your point?"
"In not as many words."
She sniffed as she regained her composure.
"Okay. You've never met the man personally. You'll have to meet him after the first wave to both receive payment, and the time for the next one."
Tyler sighed.
"Yeah, about the waves."
The princess looked at him.
"What about them?"
HE pulled an apple from a pouch and munched as he talked.
"How's it work, exactly? Like do we get teleported to the battlefield? Do we need to meet at the field?"
Lillia was shocked, until she remembered.
"That's right. You missed the explanation given to the other Warriors. Okay. The first wave is in two weeks past two months. Two weeks prior to the start, you'll a get a notice on your HUD to return to the capital. The capital is the staging ground for the Warriors, and you'll wait there until the wave starts. Once it does, you'll be teleported to the field where it'll be strongest. Once the battle is over, you will then be teleported back to the capital."
"Who oversees the teleporting?"
She looked at him.
"The world itself does."
"It can't be tampered with?"
"No. A teleport spell is absolute in it's casting. The Warrior Teleport is immune to all forms of tampering."
"I see a major risk to kaori is we set foot in the capital. Do we HAVE to return to the capital for the teleport to work?"
Lillia nodded.
"You do. If you don't return, then it won't work. If a Warrior refuses to fight the waves, they die."
Tyler sighed deeply.
"Kaori, we'll need to play that EXTREMELY carefully. A teleport is easy to fake. Okay?"
The blonde nodded.
"Until the teleport takes place, lets hold hands or more."
"Good call. We can probably use that same inn again."
She was in agreement.
"They didn't find us before, no reason to think they would this time."
Tyler smiled,
"We'll worry about that when it gets closer. For now though, we need to make a choice here."
They all looked at him. Wulf was the one that asked the question.
"What choice?"
He sighed.
"What do we tell Seline? Lillia and Sera's transports were a mere trap. They were sent to die. I'm willing to bet gold that Seline has NO idea they were eve coming, plus with what we learned here, we need to come to an understanding. Plus how will we explain how her royal transport, along with a full complement of knights, were lost?"
The experienced ambassador sighed deeply.
"I See your concern. We risk open hostilities with the capital over this. Plus our mere arrival at Raylik puts Seline between a rock and a hard place."
Lillia sighed now as well.
"We need to consider this."
Tyler crossed his arms.
"We HAVE to resupply and unload. We need things we can't make in the field."
He then looked to Wulf.
"You've met the Lady. Tell me about her."
Wulf smiled.
"Seline is a just woman. She's of the Fox people. She's kind, fierce, and is not afraid to step to another's defense."
Tyler rubbed his eyes.
"How loyal to the crown is she?"
The question caught them both off guard.
"She's a friend to the king."
"Plus, she's like our aunt."
Tyler groaned.
"Great. We're headed into the city of a loyalist. With the king's daughters dirty from the trail with a tale of betrayal, blood, and lies. Yeah, we're screwed."
Wulf snorted.
"Seline is many things, but a blind follower is NOT one of them. Her and Her Elegance have been friends for two hundred years. Lovers at times as well."
"Gonna have fun with THAT tidbit, but to be honest, Wulf? I'm not sure I can trust your queen either. As I have not met these ladies myself, I can ask the questions: Are they playing both sides? Would they try to lead us on with pretty words only to hang us from them? Are they as true as they seem or just good actors?"
Wulf hung his head as he sighed.
"I see your point. It is hard to trust someone you've never met before."
Tyler smiled.
"I trust you, Wulf, but I cannot afford to take risks here. Not when we face fates worse than death itself."
The Elven ranger smiled.
"I appreciate the sentiment. And understand."
Tyler stared into the fire as he considered their options.
"We can't take the princesses with us to Wulf's homeland. That would smell of a kidnapping. But, if we take them to Raylik, it runs the risk of ALL of us getting killed. And we for damn sure can't take them with us elsewhere. Our travels are just beyond what a pair of raised in a castle princesses can survive."
Lillia hung her head.
"I agree. We'd only get in your way. Or get us all killed."
Tyler sighed.
"So. We're all but forced to go to Raylik. As for Seline? We'll tell her your transport was hit by a nasty bandit raid. We're actually going to claim a bounty anyway. So, that lends weight to us merely stumbling upon your caravan. Your knights were caught completely off guard by the surprise attack and killed. We had to dump the wagon as we needed to hurry. And such a large thing was too tempting a target for bandits."
The heads all nodded.
"That makes both a very believable story, and fills all the blanks nicely."
"Plus we can explain the night on the trail as a means of safety."
Tyler smiled.
"We have our story. Now, about our bandit baiting."
Lillia looked at him.
"Bandit baiting?"
Tyler chuckled.
"Our plan was to bait bandits as we traveled to Raylik. As a bit of fun, means for some coin and items, and to spread our rep. Plus since I myself can eat a group of fifteen idiots alone as a means of exercise, we can test out new spells and tricks on a weaker enemy."
Lillia smiled.
"All the while doing the realm a favor."
Tyler smiled again.
"Now that we have two CLEARLY non-fighters on our horses, we'll most likely get jumped again. So, some mid-trip entertainment."
Here, Lillia became nervous.
"Are you sure it'll be that easy?"
"Certain. We killed a Lisk three days ago, plus with ME in the mix, it'll be fun."
Kaori laughed.
"HE's got a point. He's immune to all paralytics, and only we are aware of that. So, he can play possum if he gets hit."
The group chuckled as Lillia looked at him.
"How are you immune to those?"
Tyler smiled.
"A special ability in case of emergency. All I can tell you. That, and it's name."
She gulped.
"What is it called?"
HE smiled darkly as the fire reflected itself in his eyes.
"Demon's Wrath."
The poor girl shuddered at the evil image he made. The group laughed at her fearful face as Malico yawned. Tyler chuckled.
"That's the bell ladies."
"Prick."
Tyler smiled as they all entered the tent, and found Sera sleeping in a corner. Tyler chuckled.
"You get all that Sera?"
She squeaked in surprise. Then she lifted her head up to look at him with the fur blanket up to her face in fear.
"H-how'd y-you know?"
Even Lillia was shocked.
"Yes, how did you know she was faking? I couldn't even tell!"
Tyler chuckled as he removed his shirt and mail vest. The magic lantern illuminated his scars and got a gasp of shock from the two girls. Now they had two questions.
"What happened to you?"
"What she said?"
Tyler laid between Kaori and Malico, and the ladies rested their heads on his chest.
"My family didn't like me much."
Sera got up and went over to hug him on the ground, as Lillia shook her head.
"That explains so much."
Tyler patted the kind younger sister on her head.
"You give good hugs Sera. As for the other thing? Your breathing was a little TOO light for proper sleep."
She giggled at his pat.
"That felt nice! Kinda like you were my big brother!"
That made Malico and Kaori chuckle as they rested on his chest. Tyler patted her again.
"Go get some rest Sera. We got a hard day's ride tomorrow."
"Kay!"
She skipped over to lay beside her sister with Wulf still alone by the flap. Tyler smiled as he rested back and started relaxing.
"Good night Ladies. And Wulf."
"I know where you sleep, you infuriating prick."
"Noted."
the girls all chuckled as they dozed off into deep slumber.