"So why do they not know you are a member of the Rondo Family?" Rirki asked me
We were walking in the forest heading to where the Druid was supposed to live.
Erik and Terra were also with us. Me and Rirki were in the Front wielding spears, Terra was in the middle with her staff and Erik was in the back with his Bow drawn.
All of us were ready in case a monster attacked thanks to the smell of blood not far behind us.
"I am the same as mom I don't want people to know that relation yet. Although I am going to be living with them now so I can't hide it for long... there is also the princess..." I said
"What about her?" Rirki asked
"I think she has a crush on me and the only thing keeping her from marrying me is the fact that she thinks I am a commoner," I said in a hushed tone so quiet that Terra and Erik, who both had elven blood, couldn't hear me.
"What makes you think that? Plus why are you against it, it's not every day that a princess takes an interest in a boy." Rirki asked and joked with a smile while also mimicking my tone of secrecy.
I jabbed him in the leg with my elbow and said "You know I like guys not girls. Besides It could just be curiosity but she snuck into the tent when I was sleeping in and watched me sleep and/or rummaged through my things, not sure yet."
"How do you know that?!" Rirki said forgetting to keep it quiet
"Shh!"
*Sigh* "She said she liked my dagger, the one dad made for me," I said and pulled it out showing Rirki "She said she wanted to see if the spear was the same. I never told anyone I had the dagger on me and the spear was wrapped up. At no point could she have known its design, or that it was cool looking, without sneaking around first."
"Ok that is a bit weird... are you sure it isn't just curiosity? She seems like a naive girl who doesn't realize what she does is wrong."
"No you're right about that but she has also been staring at me weirdly whenever she gets the chance and she thinks I don't notice," I said
"The problem is that because of their innocent personality, I can't tell if she doesn't realize it is weird or if it is feelings for me and she doesn't realize." I said
*Sigh* "It's annoying but so long as she doesn't learn I am a noble it should be fine. She leaves tomorrow for her things so it shouldn't be that hard." I finished
"You may regret those words. Karma is a bi-"
"What are you talking about?" Terra asked curiously.
"I was just explaining how I am now a Spirit Summoner," I said covering up our previous conversation.
Rirki was surprised by that and asked "Your a Summoner?!"
"Yep. Only found out a few days ago and even have a contract with a spirit."
"What kind of methods do you use to control them?" Rirki asked cautiously
"I am a Spirit 'Summoner'. I only summon them when they are willing."
"Forcing them to do my bidding would just make me a slave owner and I don't like that. They are living, thinking beings. I will never force them into servitude." I said, reassuring Rirki that I would never use my power to harm spirits.
Lizardmen believe themselves to be the descendants of Dragons. But for some reason, through that connection, Spirits are also attracted to some lizardmen.
Rirki is one of the few who commune with spirits but isn't a summoner so it wasn't a surprise when he was worried about me becoming a Spirit Slaver/Master. (same thing, different name)
"It's good to know. Now if you don't mind could you sho-." Rirki started to say.
Suddenly he noticed vines growing quickly and surrounding us.
He held up his hand, telling us to stop. "She is nearby," he warned
We all nodded and stopped walking and just kept an eye on our surroundings.
"Spring! It is me Rirki! These are some friends who came here looking for any survivors of the orc attack on the nearby village. They mean no harm and only want to find them and guide them to safer places away from your Grove."
...
...
...
...
Nothing happened
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...
...
Until...
"hahaha! You are so serious Rirki. It's adorable." a woman's voice came from behind us.
We turned in that direction and I could a being wrapped in vines and leaves on her chest and waist, had some deer antlers tied to her waist. She had Brown eyes, and light brown fur and was holding a staff that looked like, and probably was, grown by her magic.
Standing before us was a Female Deer Beast-Woman Druid. [1]
I didn't allow her young voice to deceive me. Nature magic is derived from life magic, meaning she can make herself sound young, even when she is in her 80s.
I was surprised. It wasn't my first time seeing a Beast-Folk but it was rare to see a Deer-Folk this far West.
"Hello Spring. I thought I told you not to talk to me as if you were my aunt. I met you 2 weeks ago when I saved you from that Inferno Bear."
She smiled and tilted her head "No promises. Who are they?"
*sigh* "This is Jack, Terra and Erik. Jack is from the village and Erik and Terra are his uncle and cousin."
I turned to him slightly angry.
"Don't get mad at me. Knowing her, she was probably listening to our entire conversation. Besides she can tell by looking at you that you are related. She can use high-level Nature magic so it isn't hard for her." he said
"I love the flattery Rirki but you don't get brownie points." she teased
"What are brownie points?" Rirki asked confused as he never heard the term before.
Spring turned to him with a disappointed expression, shook her head and addressed the rest of us.
"You are searching for the residents of the village who managed to escape, correct?"
"Yes, we are," Erik said stepping forward.
"Hm. Give me some time, and I will guide them to you. No offence but I don't trust nobles" she said and turned away.
"It's not a problem Spring. Many human nobles are greedy and care only about making money and not the damage their actions cause. Whether it is on people, animals, spirits or the land." Erik said
Spring stopped and turned to Erik and asked "And you do not bunch yourself with them?"
"My wife is the head of our house and I fear her wrath more than any amount of greed could ever rule my mind."
"A female head of the house? Are you related to Alex Rondo by chance?"
"You know my mom?" I asked
"Oh, you're her son?"
I nodded
"That's good to hear. I met her when she was young and just started being an adventurer, she came to investigate strange things happening in this forest, in other words, me. She told me about how her sister took over her noble house after she left."
"She was so spirited and talkative back then. How is she doing?"
I lower my head happy about meeting one of Mom's friends but sad about breaking the news.
Erik gave a weak smile *cough* "Alex is my...now late, sister-in-law"
"Oh apologise. ...was it the attack?"
Erik nodded
"I see. Well young Jack if you ever need someone to talk to or hear stories about your mother when she just started adventuring come here we can talk. I will send a guide if needed."
I nodded and waved my hand as she disappeared deeper into the forest. We stayed there for about 30 minutes when we saw people start to walk out of the forest towards us.
We were all relieved around 200 people came out and we started to guide them back after I took down everyone's names.
As we walked back to the village I asked a few people what they remembered about the Grove but they couldn't remember a thing. All they could remember was a thick fog.
They did seem worried but I reassured them it was a harmless type of magic to protect secrets.
I didn't lie as I did remember both Mom and Brakos teaching me about it and some of my memories from my past life were the same. I allowed Brakos to do it to prevent me from saying something that I wasn't supposed to or mentioning a supernatural creature that doesn't exist yet.
When we returned to the village and the camp we saw that our group arrived first.
The new batch of survivors was greeted kindly by the previous group and they helped everyone get cleaned up and fed.
As we waited for the other groups to return we all talked about what will happen now and Erik said he would explain the plan for moving forward tomorrow morning and to just take this day to rest.
After a while, I could see the other 2 groups returning as well and both had survivors with t.hem
[1] the Beast Folk and Beast-Men are 2 similar races in Primus.
The Beast-Folk are those who are Bipedal animals (Full Furry), while Beast-Men are those that look like other races but with animal features like a dog's tail or cat ears. (human with cat ears and tail, Dwarf with deer antlers, Elf with monkey tail and feet, etc. It is extremely rare for the non-beast race to be anything other than Human, Dwarf or Elf)
The Beast-Men are created when a Beast-Folk has a child with another Non-Beast-Folk.
Different species of beast folk having a child will randomize the child species between what the parents were (more likely to be the same species as the same gendered parent).
The species they can be varies but most are mammals. The most common are as follows: Dogs, Wolves, Foxes, Cats, Lions, Tigers, Monkeys, Deer, Otters, Ox, Horses and many more variations of these species.
(Lizardmen are not considered Beast-Folk)