1.9 of archers and ”healers”
I was worried that Velariah hadn't been entirely honest with me but I soon saw the first signs of what I believed to be civilization. The forest became less dense. The bushes and roots were replaced by hard dirt and more space was found between the trees. I also noticed that the ground was no longer even. The way I was running went downhill, which allowed me to spot several wooden towers in the distance above the treetops.
'Here is to hoping I don't get turned into a pin cushion by elven arrows.'
One thing that kept me going was the fact that I at least would be able to speak their language. Hopefully Velariah would be alright.
I had slowed down a bit, trying to catch my breath when I felt a sticking sensation in my behind. When I turned around to look, I saw a small arrow in the frontal part of my abdomen, a small trail of blood ran from it, but it didn't seem serious. Another one was embedded right next to the first one while I was looking. Something was trying to turn me into that metaphorical pin cushion and my spider butt seemed like the perfect object to stick pins in.
''I'm with Velariah, stop shooting!'' I cried out loud, making sure that whoever was there could hear me, no matter where they were hiding.
I was answered with another arrow in the cushion and a bolt of ice that hit and shattered my right coconut bra cup. Was this some kind of sick joke? The threads kept the shattered parts together fairly well, but a few fell to the ground forcing me to cover myself while I was holding a spear. Not the best-case scenario.
From behind the trees several goblins appeared, a few held daggers but behind them was another goblin mage similar to the first one, except this guy's orb was blue. That was an important piece of info that made a few things click in my head. Next to him was the one responsible for my injuries. A goblin with a small bow for human terms, yet it turned out to be able to pierce my carapace and cause me to bleed. I felt rage well up inside me, I wanted to lunge at this guy and make him pay for what he and his thugs had done. When more and more goblins with daggers and spears started to appear, I decided against petty revenge and instead tried to make it out alive the only way I would know. By running even more.
Their small bodies would normally be at a disadvantage, I would be quite a bit faster than them as I had experienced with the first goblin I met. However, this time I was at a disadvantage. The weight on my back combined with exhaustion kicking in from running plus the fact that excreting so much silk had left me drained were important factors dragging me down. I still managed to outrun them but they wouldn't give up and I knew that if I stopped, I would likely be swarmed and die a death by a thousand cuts, even if I did manage to kill some in the process.
Choosing life over killing and dying, I kept running until a female voice called out for me to stop and state my business. I looked around but couldn't see anyone nearby. The voices behind were still trailing me and I wouldn't be able to obey this voice, at least not for long or the goblins would catch up. So, I stood still only for a few seconds.
''I am with Velariah, she said she would be joining me soon, there's goblins chasing us.'' I stated, catching my breath before I was about to start running again.''
I only got a few meters of running done before she beckoned me to halt again. I reluctantly obliged with the command before I heard a sharp whistle pierce through the forest. I guessed that was it. I was going to be struck down by elven archers before I even made it to the edge of the forest. Shame, it was actually in sight too.
Arrows whistled as I closed my eyes, preparing myself to once again find my body floating around in that mind numbing black abyss.
After several seconds of more arrows whistling but not feeling any pain, I peeked down with one eye. My decency was still desecrated but I found no arrows in my body. When turned around I saw half a dozen goblins dead a mere ten meters further, it appeared they had been the target of the hail of arrows. Among them was the same archer that had let arrows loose on me. The goblin with the staff was nowhere to be seen.
A figure jumped and landed from a nearby tree. That was the stereotypical elf I knew alright. Leather armor, fair skin, tall body, long pointy ears, blond hair in a ponytail and a bow and arrow in her hands. When she spoke, I realized it was the same person that had talked to me before, or rather, shouted orders.
''Where's Velariah?'' She asked while approaching me with an arrow aimed at my head. That was a bit excessive now, wasn't it?
I pointed in the direction where I came from.
''She told me to go ahead while she would slow down goblins we encountered earlier. She said she would catch up later.'' I replied while instinctively taking a few steps back from the arrow aimed at me. I had dropped my weapons as to not show hostility and had my three functioning hands up in the air.
She facepalmed looking down at the floor and muttered.
''Stupid Lady Velariah.'' she said as she shook her head.
She looked up at me and pretended she never said that.
''If anything happened her, you're done for.'' She said quickly as she whistled three times in quick succession. Several more figures jumped down from trees, both male and female. The elf that talked to me ran off into the direction I had pointed towards and the others followed her.
'Tell me something I don't know.' I replied at her comment in my mind.
She just called her ''Lady Velariah'' did she not? So, she WAS actually some kind of royalty. Oh lord, what did I get myself into? If anything happened to her, I was so, SO dead.
I don't know why but I took a step forward and an arrow landed in the ground next to my ''feet'' that moved. Ok, so staying here it was.
Several minutes later they returned, Velariah was supported by the elf that had shouted at me before. I eyed her over from top to bottom, she didn't seem to have received terrible damage, she looked fine, in fact. Besides the blood on the front of her armor that I knew wasn't hers. That, and apparently, she got herself an arrow in be back of her left leg, it was still there as the two of them approached me. The other elves didn't dare to get close. I wasn't sure whether that was because of me or because of her being a ''Lady''. She didn't act all that ladylike, at least not in my opinion. But hey, when had I ever been right about customs in this world so far?
''Vel, are you alright?'' I asked as I looked at the arrow in her leg, it seemed to have gone in between two armor plates, whoever fired that was either incredibly skilled, or incredibly lucky.
''Her name is Lady Velariah and she-'' the blond elf started angrily before Velariah cut her off.
''I'm fine, also, leave out the Lady part, you know I never liked that Allina. Send the others west, we left a feast for tonight not too far out''
So, she was playing tough. I had to admire her though. I would probably have cried all the way to the ER back on earth. Or, more likely, I would have passed out from the pain before even getting there. How were they even going to get that arrow out in the first place? Don't tell me they would just yoink it out after drugging the unfortunate recipient.
The archer elf relayed the information that was given to her to the other elves that were watching the scene before them. They left, leaving the three of us alone. Although, I doubted we were truly alone.
''My bag...'' she nodded into the direction of the leather pack on her right side, clinging to the other elf that was apparently named Allina.
What was wrong with her? She looked tired and about to pass out. Oh shit, the arrow was poisoned. If I recalled correctly, she still had a quarter vial of anti-venom remaining. I hoped that was going to be enough.
''My Lady, we have to take you to the healers we should have enough medium grade anti-'' She was cut off again by Velariah who once again mentioned her bag.
Whatever poison those goblins used seemed to be quite effective when used on anyone that wasn't me. I was thankful for the resistance that I possessed after I saw the three arrows embedded in the rest of my body behind me. A bit of blood still dripped from where they pierced my back. I hoped getting them out wouldn’t hurt.
''She has anti venom with her, it's in her bag.'' I broke the elf's confusion.
She quickly let Velariah down to the ground and started rummaging through her bag before pulling out the beforementioned vial of slightly glowing, orange liquid. Her eyes went wide as she started stuttering in her next sentence.
''My Lady, h-h-how did you get this?''
Velariah started lifting her arm to take a hold of the vial but it fell down when she had raised it halfway. Damn, that venom was working fast, almost as fast as mine.
''Quit stammering and help her already.'' My patience was wearing thin, could this airhead not see the emergency right before her?
Finally, she did as she was asked and forced the liquid down Velariah's throat. She let out a weak thanks before she collapsed into unconsciousness.
''Will she be alright?'' I asked in fear of both our lives.
''She will be fine, how did she get that?'' She assumed her authoritative stance from earlier and got straight to the point, bypassing even the most basic of introductions.
I curtsied as best I could while still grasping the shattered silk-bound coconut in my only functioning right hand. I managed somewhat of a bow while I spoke.
''That would be courtesy of yours truly, I would give you my name if I knew it but alas, I forgot.''
At least she had been straight to the point about something that didn't have to do with how I looked. No obvious questions like the ones Velariah had asked when I first met het like ''who are you?'' and ''what are you?''.
''What are you, even?''
Dang.
''Honestly? I have no idea. I have told everything I know to Velariah and she swore on her honor as a knight to keep it for herself. I don't think it's something I can share with anyone else, at least not yet.''
One person knowing who I truly was dangerous enough as it was. Even then, I had asked her the keep the info for herself and she had sworn not to tell anyone. I couldn't risk it spreading, after all.
Apparently, that had convinced her because she was nodding in understanding.
''If she swore that, I'm alright with it, but if I find out you're lying I'll have you killed.'' She paused for a moment, ''Like a monster.''
Harsh.
''You will find out soon I am no mere monster.'' I replied with a hint of sarcasm in my voice.
''Oh, do tell.'' She was a cocky one, I'll give her that. Why couldn't the elves in this world be the friendly, welcoming, nature-loving ones I was familiar with. Her attitude left me to believe that there were still a bunch of arrows aimed at me. Better not overplay my hand.
I had a wonderful idea to shut her cocky attitude down and get myself some reputation with their race at the same time. This much I could show, right?
''Do you have one of those anti-venom vials that are not prepared yet?''
''Yeah, but they don't work against the goblin poison, not when the arrow is so deep in your body.''
She looked at the arrow that was still in the passed-out elf.
''Did you or did you not want to know how she got her hands on it before?'' I asked.
''I mean, I don't remember blackroot or alravine growing anywhere close, let alone the necessary starshroom and she didn't have the tools to harvest those.''
I had no idea what any of that meant but it sounded like the materials that were needed to create the higher quality potions.
''Yeah, yeah, whatever, just give me one. I'll show you but hush about it.''
Hah, I had my ways of making people curious and it worked as she reached for a same type of small pack that was around her hip. She handed me a potion while keeping an eye on my pedipalps and warning me to not make any funny movements or I'd be shot. I took the blue vial with care; enough pins had found their way in this cushion as it was. She either didn't notice them, or didn’t care. I was sure it was the second option. Allina took a few steps back as she watched with greedy eyes what I was going to do. Why did I do this again? Oh right, proper clothes were high on my priority list.
I pulled out my fangs and Allina already had an arrow nocked before I could do anything. When she noticed what I was doing the slowly lowered it. I managed to produce a single drop of venom that dripped against the glass before slowly making its way down to the blue liquid. I had made major improvements when it came to controlling the output of the amount of venom. After corking the vial again, I started shaking it. Before long I presented the elf with one magically glowing orange vial of apparent super anti-venom.
I was careful to cover the process so that anyone observing from the nearby trees would not be able to tell what I just did.
I had been right when I thought she would lose that cocky attitude and I simply delighted in her shock when she took the vial back. She couldn't utter a single word, she just sat there, staring at the glowing liquid. I was laughing in my mind. 'Supreme victory'. The image of the supreme victory duck meme made it worse to the degree where I actually had to cover my mouth to prevent me from giggling. The sight of this shocked elf's expression was just too hilarious.
It was a shame that Velariah started stirring. She had broken the blank stare of the other elf that was simply delightful to see. The elven archer kneeled down next to Velariah, the orange potion still in her hand.
''Ugh, my head is spinning.'' Velariah said, ignoring the arrow that was still deeply embedded in the back of her lower left leg. She was sitting upright now with her leg slightly rotated so that the arrow was at the side.
You don't say?
I wondered if I would be allowed into their village. I was curious how these healers of theirs would fix something like this. While I was at it, I might as well have my own arm fixed as well, I made a trade deal for that, after all.
I had been hesitant to enter civilization earlier when I had just met Velariah, but recent events had led me to believe I would be a far too valuable asset for them. I could literally make insanely potent anti-venom potions on the spot. The other elf's gawking at the potion, and the grocery list that she mentioned had confirmed what Velariah told me back in the cave. It seemed she had been incredibly honest with me. I wondered if that also was a knight thing. Velariah had been hesitant and cold early on, likely from shock, but she did open up in the short while I got to know her, even to the point of teasing, which didn’t quite feel knight like.
In part, I felt the same coldness coming from Allina, she recognized my value but still halted me with her hand when I tried to approach Velariah.
''Ah, Allina I see you have met... spider lady? That sounded more like a question than a statement.
Her eyes were on the orange vial that was still in Allina's hand.
''I have, and... I don't know what to say.'' she spoke softly.
''Yeah, I know, she's pretty amazing, no?''
Was that a compliment as character or a compliment for being useful?
''This is miraculous.'' She was STILL staring at the potion.
''Yeah, she even agreed to trade with us, that potion is the result of one of the things included in the deal.''
''As amazing as ever Lady Velariah.''
So, useful it was.
''You should thank her, not me.'' Velariah tilted her head in my direction.
Allina then approached me and extended her left arm, seeing as I was still holding on to my shattered coconut and my other right arm was out of commission.
''Thank you so much miss, you're a real lifesaver.''
Wow, she did a true 180 really quickly, didn't she? I shook her hand as she bowed out of thanks.
''Also, Allina, this stays between us, alright? No talking about what happened just now. We can't have the goblins, or anyone find out we can effectively counter poisons now.''
''Not a problem, Lady Velariah.''
''Stop calling me that.''
Even when she was incapacitated, she still held true to her status as higher-up here.
When I asked if there were any more elves stationed in the nearby trees Allina replied there weren't with an evil smile.
She was a bluffer.
And she beat me with it.
Footsteps were heard from the west and the archer quickly put away the vial in her pack before anyone could see it. When I turned to see who the footsteps belonged to, I saw a group of elves pulling the huge Saibon boar that the white-haired elf and I had dispatched in an epitome of teamwork. And by teamwork, I mean running for the most part, both of us. They were using the strong threads to pull the corpse forward, good thing it the terrain they were moving it in was going downhill and gravity helped a bit in that regard.
Seeing the huge boar still wrapped in silk Allina moved her gave from the boar to me several times before finally moving her eyes back to Velariah with a dumbfounded expression. The other elf simply nodded.
''Yup, just the two of us.'' she grinned before she winced in pain. It seemed she could no longer keep up the façade.
''That's amazing, but we need that leg looked at. Miss spider, could you help me carry he-.'' she interrupted herself when her eyes trailed to my functioning right hand. She probably realized full well what that would mean and finished her sentence. ''Never mind.''
''Velenthor!'' She called out to one of the elves tasked with dragging the boar downhill. ''I need your help over here carrying La... I mean Velariah over to the Treemenders' Oak.''
Didn't take an expert to know that that was their version of a hospital.
''Caidaran.'' She called to the rest of the group. ''I'll be expecting your report later.''
''Yes ma'am.'' a male voice replied.
A tough looking guy with short black hair walked over, this had to be Velenthor. When he got closer, I could see his face was adorned with scars, one ran over his right eye vertically, the guy was lucky he didn't lose that eye. He had the same type of armor that Allina was wearing. Everything was hardened leather and he too, had one of the leather packs at his side, I figured it was standard army equipment.
He eyed me warily for a second before putting muscled arms under Velariah's, while Allina took her by her legs gently.
I would probably get used to the wary glares with time...
I followed the elves at a close distance. Not too close, though, Velenthor seemed highly uncomfortable with me. Several times I waited a bit when I felt like he was too uncomfortable with me. One time I had actually waved at him with one of my pedipalps. I don't think he appreciated the gesture as he had looked at me in fear and almost stumbled with Velariah still in his hands. Oops.
Maybe I wouldn't get used to this.
When the forest ended, I could get a clear view of Dawnleaf at last. I basked in its amazing elven beauty and architecture. Not.
I had high hopes and once more I felt disappointed. The Treemenders’ Oak that was mentioned had me expecting buildings made inside and on top of trees but there was literally one tree in the entire village. Okay, it was a tree that put any other trees to shame in size and width and it seemed to be used as a building, but still.
A gigantic tree was at the center of the village, everything else seemed built around that one important ''building'' in a circle. There was a fair amount of open space between that tree and the closest buildings that were made out of stone. It led me to believe that the center was an important forum.
Besides the larger stone buildings near the tree everything else seemed made out of wood which would make sense because there was a lot of forest nearby which would facilitate for easily accessible building material. There were about a few hundred houses at most, I doubted the population would be larger than a thousand but it was deemed necessary to erect defenses around the village, most likely as a response to the goblins.
A wooden palisade encircled the village with only a few gaps where three cobblestone roads and one dirt road provided access. The dirt road was the one leading to where we were right now and it seemed to be the one most guarded as it had two wooden watchtowers at the ''gate'' and then two more about a hundred meters out of the village, possibly a checkpoint. It had one stone building nearby, I guessed barracks, and a dozen figures walking about. One figure was running towards them from the forest, an elf.
The other roads didn't have this kind of maintenance. They each had one watch tower about a hundred meters out from the village and then no more at the entrance.
Further out from the village was farmland, lots of farmland. The roads crossed fields that were used for crops and cattle.
A small river cut through the settlement diagonally running northwest from my location to the southeast. In the middle of the village, it seemed to simply disappear before it reappeared after it had crossed through the tree if it hadn't changed direction. Once outside the village on the other side it bent to the left, not entering the forest. It would be awkward if it did, considering the forest was high ground and the entire elven settlement and farmland was located in a valley. Instead of flowed further down along the east road off into the distance.
In the valley the terrain was surprisingly flat which made for ideal farming situations. They used small irrigation canals at the outer edges of each field too, how were they having trouble with yields again? If the weather was always sunny like this, I couldn't imagine the size of the watermelons you could cultivate. I found my mind trailing off to fruit again. I didn’t think that would be what they grew here.
From the colors that the fields had I noticed that there was not a wide variety of different crops. In fact, it only seemed like two different things were planted. One was very clearly some type of grain, the other looked like it could be potatoes or onions but that wouldn't be clear until it was uprooted.
Had they not learnt the most basic concept of crop rotation? Wasn't that always one of the very first things that you were able to research in games? I thought one part was supposed to be fallow, or was that something else? I wouldn't call myself an expert in farming by any means but this called for further inspection later down the line. That is, if things went well.
I was still following behind as we neared the checkpoint, fear creeping in bit by bit. Worried about what the stationed soldiers would be like. They wouldn't randomly attack me if Velariah was there, right? I hoped there weren't any trigger-happy adventurers out there who would be greedy for whatever loot I dropped. Technically, that would be two wolves, a unibelea hide with attachments, a shabby spear, axe and a decent looking sword. I had no idea how they had allowed me to keep them, I assumed Velariah had something to do with that.
It was she who spoke when we were a bit out of the ''checkpoint''. She told Allina and Velenthor to put her down on the ground as the checkpoint guards approached. They all wore the same full-plate armor so I was fairly confident trigger-happy adventurers were out of the question. A few had their swords drawn but Allina was the one who gestured them to re-sheath them. How nice of her.
All their eyes were on me, I was thankful Velariah seemed to have weight in her words.
''Leave me here, get a Treemender to me instead.''
Neat, that would mean I didn't have to enter Dawnleaf. Thank you, Vel.
She winched as she was put down but didn't let out a sound. She was acting tough again. I hoped she wasn’t raised to be that way. I would feel sorry for her if she was.
Velenthor ran off to the village. I assumed it was simply because he was the most mobile of the bunch. Running in plate didn't go so well from what I have read.
''Allina please unburden her if you can. Have the goods delivered to my father, I'll talk to him later.'' Velariah pointed to the load on my behind.
She pulled out a knife and walked behind me. I saw her eyes rest on the arrows that were still stuck in me and thought I saw her question how I was still standing. That had to do with the poison resistance ''inherity'' or something, or so I had been told. I still didn’t know what it was but it had sounded interesting. I would check with Velariah later.
I felt the weight that was pushing down on me lessen and then again when the two wolves fell to my sides. Allina had cut the thread connecting them. Did she really have to put her hand on my behind to do this? Cold shivers ran up my spine from where the touched me. Holy shit, those hairs were sensitive. Allina quickly retracted her hand when she felt my shiver. Could I not wax them or shave or anything? this was getting rather ridiculous.
Allina exchanged a few words with Velenthor, I couldn't quite make out what it was. Velenthor ran inside the stone building next to the towers. What was the hurry? He returned with some unarmored folks who he instructed to carry the goods that Allina had cut loose to the general quarters. More weird glances were thrown at me as they walked in a large circle around me. I saw most of them shiver in fear and I thought I even saw a human among the elves. I wasn't sure but the lack of pointy ears led me to believe he was. I hoped that meant they weren't at war, I would hate to have been tossed into one of those worlds.
One of them handed a red sheet of cloth to the blond elf who in turn gave it to me. I was about to ask what I was supposed to do with it when I answered the question myself. Close, I almost looked like an idiot. I wrapped the cloth around myself and thanked her. It was better than nothing. At least I could finally move my right arm, it was getting sore from being stuck in the same position for so long. I hoped they wouldn't get a bull from somewhere.
'What a terrible joke.' I thought.
When the half a dozen ''carriers'' walked off with the dead animals, the other party that was dragging the boar finally started to catch up with us. No longer having the advantage of moving downhill they called a few of the guards to help them drag the monstrosity to the village. I dared say my arrival made quite a first impression. One they would not soon forget I imagined.
I ''sat'' down next to Velariah. A few hostile glances were thrown my way by the guards but I paid them no mind. I was exhausted. I sighed deeply as I felt a wave of relief of not having to run anymore wash over me.
''Now what?'' I asked the elf, stretching my legs which caused some of the armored elves to back off. Perfect, I didn't want them to hear what we were talking about anyway.
''Well...'' She started. ''First, we get one of the healers to fix us both up, then...'' She hung her head dejectedly, that couldn't be a good sign.
''My father will probably want to talk to me.''
Yeah, I figured as much. Just who was this father figure anyway? She had mentioned him before but abstained from proving any information. Now that I had learnt she was called ''Lady Velariah'' and she seemed to have authority over Allina and the others I feared the worst.
Then again, I had saved her from certain death and convinced both her and Allina of my usefulness. The orange vial was absolute proof of that and I could produce it on the fly in private if needed. I guessed I would have to meet someone who could help me out eventually. I might as well get it out of the way sooner than later. My inner procrastinator screamed in rage.
What would he be like?
The thought of being locked up in a dungeon to be ''milked'' for my venom did cross my mind. I did trust Velariah however, she had not told me a single lie so far. She wouldn't let it get that far; I was confident in that.
I had other plans. This adventuring thing did seem very attractive to me, even considering the dangers that came with it. Due to my ''gifts'' I could probably get decent enough armor to survive basic combat situations without a hassle. I wondered if enchanted armor was a thing and how much it would cost if it did exist. Having money would surely making survival a lot easier. I would just take easy requests to start off with, that was if this whole ''trial'' thing was something I could pass.
The part after that would probably be the hardest, I doubted going alone was going to be a good idea. Finding party members would probably be extremely difficult for me considering the resentful expressions I was already seeing around me. And if I did, trusting them would be naïve from my part. I could get stabbed in the back anytime I slept
That would be worries for later, though. Right now, I would be happy to just have my arm back, even if it was a limb that I wouldn't have had in my previous life. This pain was a bitch, after all.
I doubted I would have to wait much longer for that. Velenthor, who had previously left to get the so-called treemender, was quickly advancing towards us again. Seriously, what was with all the running? These elves were seriously hyperactive, I wondered if they drank coffee all day. He was trailed by a figure in green who actually walked at a normal walking pace. From the distance I could see he had a large staff in his hand. 'A classic druid look', I thought.
Velenthor told Velariah that her father had been informed of her return, and that the treemender was on the way. That last, I could see for myself. Her father being informed had me nervous. What exactly had he reported?
''Allina?'' The white-haired elf called.
''Yes, my lady?''
Velariah sighed. It was quite interesting to see Allina having serious issues with not calling her ''lady''. Honestly, it had my smiling from ear to ear in amusement.
She tapped a finger on the leather pack at her side.
''Oh right!" Allina replied and removed the pack from her belt. She wriggled in between my legs and Velariah and quickly transferred the orange potion to the other elf's inventory in the blink of an eye. I was pretty sure that the idea was that nobody saw what exactly she did, and it seemed she was successful in doing so. I was blocking the view fairly well too.
Several people stared as the webbed boar was dragged past them. One of those people was the apparent treemender who was now approaching us.
He appeared to be an older elf. I had no idea how the elf age logic worked here but he looked like a male in his forties. For all I knew that could mean he was hundreds of years old. His age did not show weakness however, it seemed that the staff he had was not used for walking as I had thought earlier. Instead, it appeared that he needed it to cast spells. A green orb filled with swirling glowing liquid sat on top of the staff, held in place by roots that entangled it. It wasn't hard to see the logic that this world followed.
His figure was dressed in multiple layers of green cloth. From this distance I had seen no one in the village in any type of green cloth other than this guy, this made me wonder if it was specifically reserved for these treemenders. Not even the archers at the edge of the forest had worn green which had surprised me. Okay, their brown leather was not the worst camouflage but green would be even better.
A ring with an oversized green gem was fitted on the hand that he used to carry the staff and he pulled back a green hood revealing his face fully. I gasped slightly when I saw that the top of his right ear was cut off cleanly. He wasn't bearded as was common with older figures in fiction. Instead, his shaven chin added to his youthful, yet experienced visage. It was quite an odd sight; one could see his age yet it was hidden. I was at a loss of words on how to explain exactly what was in front of me, was that magic? Picking that as an explanation would be the easy way out, but I saw no other way here.
He planted his staff into the dirt before speaking with an extremely deep voice.
''I was told there was an arrow injury, last time I checked Saibon Boars did not use weapons.''
Heh, this guy must have been the funniest in his class.
''Yeah, no, that was the goblins. One of them got me with a lucky shot when our reinforcements arrived and I ran for cover. The boar we downed before that.'' Velariah replied.
''We?'' He frowned, looking at me.
This guy.
''Yes, she and I.''
''And does she have a name?''
'Hello? I am right here.' I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to offend anyone.
''She does, but she said she forgot.''
''So, a monster. Does your father know you consort with monsters?'' the guy's gaze pierced right through me. I'm not sure if I even wanted that healing anymore. My brain said no, but my arm screamed yes. The effect of the potion had completely run out and the pain was nagging again.
What the hell, dude.
Actually, hold on. Were names important here? Were you classified as a monster if you didn't have a name? I had read one story where I believe monsters were unnamed creatures because they had no soul or something weird like that. I mean, I certainly had a soul. I did, right? Well, there was the red hair, so I might be wrong according to the internet.
''Just get me healed please, and fix her arm up too.'' Velariah sighed audibly.
''I will not heal monsters.'' The treemender stated.
''Master Lorin, she saved my life, you will heal her!'' Velariah was visibly getting angry.
Scary.
''Fine. But under objection'' He said as he went to work on the elf's leg.
I was pretty sure that the guy already hated my guts. What have I done to earn his ire? I'm pretty sure he was just a racist, quite literally.
Sickened by his attitude but interested in how he worked, I watched as he removed the plates around her leg and grasped Velariah's leg with his hand. The orb on top of his staff glowed green and I could almost see a flow of the green liquid flow through the staff, through his hand and body and then into Velariah's leg.
Healing magic seemed to be a thing. That had to be crazy convenient. It also made me wonder how much knowledge these people had about the human (elf?) body and if there were any gaps in that knowledge that couldn't easily be solved with magic. It was something I had thought about earlier. If there was no need for something, alternative knowledge might be extremely rare if existent at all.
The arrow was slowly pushed out and for the first time the warrior actually screamed in pain.
That was certainly not what I had expected from healing magic. The prospect of healing my arm became less and less attractive by the second.
I tried to get a better look, unfortunately I was sitting to the right of Velariah so I couldn't see much, it certainly looked painful from the facial expressions she was making.
Eventually the arrow fell to the ground, completely pulled out of the wound by this man's magic. He continued his work for another minute before his patient moved her leg again and started stretching and bending it. I had to admit, painful as it looked, that was effective.
Maybe I should try to get myself drunk again before proceeding.
I didn't even get the chance to do that because he was already kneeling down before me and asking a question in the most sarcastic tone I have ever heard.
''What seems to be the problem, young lady?'' Honestly, why couldn't I have brought a gun with me. I was awfully trigger happy right now. I thought that, but I knew I really wouldn’t have what it took to kill another person, not like that. It turned out they would have to try to kill me first.
I pulled up the red cloth that covered my human body, revealing my lower right arm.
''A troll completely busted my arm with a huge mace.'' I wanted to add ''the size of your ego'' to that sentence but figured it wouldn't be a smart idea to piss off your doctor.
I swore this guy actually smiled.
''Oh my, we better get it fixed then.'' He glazed the words with honey.
Velariah rolled her eyes next to me. I was glad I was the only one who saw that.
He went to work and I kept a close eye on what he was doing. He took hold of my arm and much of the same that happened to Velariah started happening to me. Swirls of green mist moved from the top of the staff through the staff, through this guy's body into my arm. The sensation of magic was comparable to when I had chugged down the healing potion earlier. I could feel a slight warmth ''search'' my body before it settled in my arm and grew...and grew, and grew even further. The warmth became heat and heat became a raging inferno. My arm felt like it was melting. I screamed out in pain and wanted to hit this guy in the head. Velariah took hold of the two arms on my left side before I could do anything saying it would be fine.
''It might be fine but it hurts like hell!''
The bone shards in my arm grinded against one another and I could hear it. Scrap what I said, this was probably worse than hell. I could feel sensation returning in previously numb parts from the damage, when it did, the pain expanded to those areas as well, making it worse as time went on. I could feel tears running down my face from the pain.
After an eternity he removed his hand from my arm and the pain slowly dissipated. The heat remained and I could feel it start to cool down, albeit very, very slowly.
When he stood back up, he made a slight bow to Velariah, pulled his green hood back over his head and strolled back to the village. Through the pain and flames I could see the once green orb sitting atop his staff was now devoid of color and clear, an empty crystal ball.
Velariah looked at me with an expression that showed pity. She rummaged through her pack for a second before handing me another yellow potion she carried with her.
''You look like you could use this.'' She said softly.
Without even thinking I accepted it and chugged the whole thing down, not that it was much, anyway.
The pain almost instantly receded, which brought me back to earth, or in this case whatever this planet was called. With my mind no longer focusing on the pain, I took a mental note that yellow potions were a strong painkiller.
''Thank you, Vel.''
She smiled. It was one of those "I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed" smiles.
''It's Velariah.''
1.9 of archers and ”healers”
I was worried that Velariah hadn't been entirely honest with me but I soon saw the first signs of what I believed to be civilization. The forest became less dense. The bushes and roots were replaced by hard dirt and more space was found between the trees. I also noticed that the ground was no longer even. The way I was running went downhill, which allowed me to spot several wooden towers in the distance above the treetops.
'Here is to hoping I don't get turned into a pin cushion by elven arrows.'
One thing that kept me going was the fact that I at least would be able to speak their language. Hopefully Velariah would be alright.
I had slowed down a bit, trying to catch my breath when I felt a sticking sensation in my behind. When I turned around to look, I saw a small arrow in the frontal part of my abdomen, a small trail of blood ran from it, but it didn't seem serious. Another one was embedded right next to the first one while I was looking. Something was trying to turn me into that metaphorical pin cushion and my spider butt seemed like the perfect object to stick pins in.
''I'm with Velariah, stop shooting!'' I cried out loud, making sure that whoever was there could hear me, no matter where they were hiding.
I was answered with another arrow in the cushion and a bolt of ice that hit and shattered my right coconut bra cup. Was this some kind of sick joke? The threads kept the shattered parts together fairly well, but a few fell to the ground forcing me to cover myself while I was holding a spear. Not the best-case scenario.
From behind the trees several goblins appeared, a few held daggers but behind them was another goblin mage similar to the first one, except this guy's orb was blue. That was an important piece of info that made a few things click in my head. Next to him was the one responsible for my injuries. A goblin with a small bow for human terms, yet it turned out to be able to pierce my carapace and cause me to bleed. I felt rage well up inside me, I wanted to lunge at this guy and make him pay for what he and his thugs had done. When more and more goblins with daggers and spears started to appear, I decided against petty revenge and instead tried to make it out alive the only way I would know. By running even more.
Their small bodies would normally be at a disadvantage, I would be quite a bit faster than them as I had experienced with the first goblin I met. However, this time I was at a disadvantage. The weight on my back combined with exhaustion kicking in from running plus the fact that excreting so much silk had left me drained were important factors dragging me down. I still managed to outrun them but they wouldn't give up and I knew that if I stopped, I would likely be swarmed and die a death by a thousand cuts, even if I did manage to kill some in the process.
Choosing life over killing and dying, I kept running until a female voice called out for me to stop and state my business. I looked around but couldn't see anyone nearby. The voices behind were still trailing me and I wouldn't be able to obey this voice, at least not for long or the goblins would catch up. So, I stood still only for a few seconds.
''I am with Velariah, she said she would be joining me soon, there's goblins chasing us.'' I stated, catching my breath before I was about to start running again.''
I only got a few meters of running done before she beckoned me to halt again. I reluctantly obliged with the command before I heard a sharp whistle pierce through the forest. I guessed that was it. I was going to be struck down by elven archers before I even made it to the edge of the forest. Shame, it was actually in sight too.
Arrows whistled as I closed my eyes, preparing myself to once again find my body floating around in that mind numbing black abyss.
After several seconds of more arrows whistling but not feeling any pain, I peeked down with one eye. My decency was still desecrated but I found no arrows in my body. When turned around I saw half a dozen goblins dead a mere ten meters further, it appeared they had been the target of the hail of arrows. Among them was the same archer that had let arrows loose on me. The goblin with the staff was nowhere to be seen.
A figure jumped and landed from a nearby tree. That was the stereotypical elf I knew alright. Leather armor, fair skin, tall body, long pointy ears, blond hair in a ponytail and a bow and arrow in her hands. When she spoke, I realized it was the same person that had talked to me before, or rather, shouted orders.
''Where's Velariah?'' She asked while approaching me with an arrow aimed at my head. That was a bit excessive now, wasn't it?
I pointed in the direction where I came from.
''She told me to go ahead while she would slow down goblins we encountered earlier. She said she would catch up later.'' I replied while instinctively taking a few steps back from the arrow aimed at me. I had dropped my weapons as to not show hostility and had my three functioning hands up in the air.
She facepalmed looking down at the floor and muttered.
''Stupid Lady Velariah.'' she said as she shook her head.
She looked up at me and pretended she never said that.
''If anything happened her, you're done for.'' She said quickly as she whistled three times in quick succession. Several more figures jumped down from trees, both male and female. The elf that talked to me ran off into the direction I had pointed towards and the others followed her.
'Tell me something I don't know.' I replied at her comment in my mind.
She just called her ''Lady Velariah'' did she not? So, she WAS actually some kind of royalty. Oh lord, what did I get myself into? If anything happened to her, I was so, SO dead.
I don't know why but I took a step forward and an arrow landed in the ground next to my ''feet'' that moved. Ok, so staying here it was.
Several minutes later they returned, Velariah was supported by the elf that had shouted at me before. I eyed her over from top to bottom, she didn't seem to have received terrible damage, she looked fine, in fact. Besides the blood on the front of her armor that I knew wasn't hers. That, and apparently, she got herself an arrow in be back of her left leg, it was still there as the two of them approached me. The other elves didn't dare to get close. I wasn't sure whether that was because of me or because of her being a ''Lady''. She didn't act all that ladylike, at least not in my opinion. But hey, when had I ever been right about customs in this world so far?
''Vel, are you alright?'' I asked as I looked at the arrow in her leg, it seemed to have gone in between two armor plates, whoever fired that was either incredibly skilled, or incredibly lucky.
''Her name is Lady Velariah and she-'' the blond elf started angrily before Velariah cut her off.
''I'm fine, also, leave out the Lady part, you know I never liked that Allina. Send the others west, we left a feast for tonight not too far out''
So, she was playing tough. I had to admire her though. I would probably have cried all the way to the ER back on earth. Or, more likely, I would have passed out from the pain before even getting there. How were they even going to get that arrow out in the first place? Don't tell me they would just yoink it out after drugging the unfortunate recipient.
The archer elf relayed the information that was given to her to the other elves that were watching the scene before them. They left, leaving the three of us alone. Although, I doubted we were truly alone.
''My bag...'' she nodded into the direction of the leather pack on her right side, clinging to the other elf that was apparently named Allina.
What was wrong with her? She looked tired and about to pass out. Oh shit, the arrow was poisoned. If I recalled correctly, she still had a quarter vial of anti-venom remaining. I hoped that was going to be enough.
''My Lady, we have to take you to the healers we should have enough medium grade anti-'' She was cut off again by Velariah who once again mentioned her bag.
Whatever poison those goblins used seemed to be quite effective when used on anyone that wasn't me. I was thankful for the resistance that I possessed after I saw the three arrows embedded in the rest of my body behind me. A bit of blood still dripped from where they pierced my back. I hoped getting them out wouldn’t hurt.
''She has anti venom with her, it's in her bag.'' I broke the elf's confusion.
She quickly let Velariah down to the ground and started rummaging through her bag before pulling out the beforementioned vial of slightly glowing, orange liquid. Her eyes went wide as she started stuttering in her next sentence.
''My Lady, h-h-how did you get this?''
Velariah started lifting her arm to take a hold of the vial but it fell down when she had raised it halfway. Damn, that venom was working fast, almost as fast as mine.
''Quit stammering and help her already.'' My patience was wearing thin, could this airhead not see the emergency right before her?
Finally, she did as she was asked and forced the liquid down Velariah's throat. She let out a weak thanks before she collapsed into unconsciousness.
''Will she be alright?'' I asked in fear of both our lives.
''She will be fine, how did she get that?'' She assumed her authoritative stance from earlier and got straight to the point, bypassing even the most basic of introductions.
I curtsied as best I could while still grasping the shattered silk-bound coconut in my only functioning right hand. I managed somewhat of a bow while I spoke.
''That would be courtesy of yours truly, I would give you my name if I knew it but alas, I forgot.''
At least she had been straight to the point about something that didn't have to do with how I looked. No obvious questions like the ones Velariah had asked when I first met het like ''who are you?'' and ''what are you?''.
''What are you, even?''
Dang.
''Honestly? I have no idea. I have told everything I know to Velariah and she swore on her honor as a knight to keep it for herself. I don't think it's something I can share with anyone else, at least not yet.''
One person knowing who I truly was dangerous enough as it was. Even then, I had asked her the keep the info for herself and she had sworn not to tell anyone. I couldn't risk it spreading, after all.
Apparently, that had convinced her because she was nodding in understanding.
''If she swore that, I'm alright with it, but if I find out you're lying I'll have you killed.'' She paused for a moment, ''Like a monster.''
Harsh.
''You will find out soon I am no mere monster.'' I replied with a hint of sarcasm in my voice.
''Oh, do tell.'' She was a cocky one, I'll give her that. Why couldn't the elves in this world be the friendly, welcoming, nature-loving ones I was familiar with. Her attitude left me to believe that there were still a bunch of arrows aimed at me. Better not overplay my hand.
I had a wonderful idea to shut her cocky attitude down and get myself some reputation with their race at the same time. This much I could show, right?
''Do you have one of those anti-venom vials that are not prepared yet?''
''Yeah, but they don't work against the goblin poison, not when the arrow is so deep in your body.''
She looked at the arrow that was still in the passed-out elf.
''Did you or did you not want to know how she got her hands on it before?'' I asked.
''I mean, I don't remember blackroot or alravine growing anywhere close, let alone the necessary starshroom and she didn't have the tools to harvest those.''
I had no idea what any of that meant but it sounded like the materials that were needed to create the higher quality potions.
''Yeah, yeah, whatever, just give me one. I'll show you but hush about it.''
Hah, I had my ways of making people curious and it worked as she reached for a same type of small pack that was around her hip. She handed me a potion while keeping an eye on my pedipalps and warning me to not make any funny movements or I'd be shot. I took the blue vial with care; enough pins had found their way in this cushion as it was. She either didn't notice them, or didn’t care. I was sure it was the second option. Allina took a few steps back as she watched with greedy eyes what I was going to do. Why did I do this again? Oh right, proper clothes were high on my priority list.
I pulled out my fangs and Allina already had an arrow nocked before I could do anything. When she noticed what I was doing the slowly lowered it. I managed to produce a single drop of venom that dripped against the glass before slowly making its way down to the blue liquid. I had made major improvements when it came to controlling the output of the amount of venom. After corking the vial again, I started shaking it. Before long I presented the elf with one magically glowing orange vial of apparent super anti-venom.
I was careful to cover the process so that anyone observing from the nearby trees would not be able to tell what I just did.
I had been right when I thought she would lose that cocky attitude and I simply delighted in her shock when she took the vial back. She couldn't utter a single word, she just sat there, staring at the glowing liquid. I was laughing in my mind. 'Supreme victory'. The image of the supreme victory duck meme made it worse to the degree where I actually had to cover my mouth to prevent me from giggling. The sight of this shocked elf's expression was just too hilarious.
It was a shame that Velariah started stirring. She had broken the blank stare of the other elf that was simply delightful to see. The elven archer kneeled down next to Velariah, the orange potion still in her hand.
''Ugh, my head is spinning.'' Velariah said, ignoring the arrow that was still deeply embedded in the back of her lower left leg. She was sitting upright now with her leg slightly rotated so that the arrow was at the side.
You don't say?
I wondered if I would be allowed into their village. I was curious how these healers of theirs would fix something like this. While I was at it, I might as well have my own arm fixed as well, I made a trade deal for that, after all.
I had been hesitant to enter civilization earlier when I had just met Velariah, but recent events had led me to believe I would be a far too valuable asset for them. I could literally make insanely potent anti-venom potions on the spot. The other elf's gawking at the potion, and the grocery list that she mentioned had confirmed what Velariah told me back in the cave. It seemed she had been incredibly honest with me. I wondered if that also was a knight thing. Velariah had been hesitant and cold early on, likely from shock, but she did open up in the short while I got to know her, even to the point of teasing, which didn’t quite feel knight like.
In part, I felt the same coldness coming from Allina, she recognized my value but still halted me with her hand when I tried to approach Velariah.
''Ah, Allina I see you have met... spider lady? That sounded more like a question than a statement.
Her eyes were on the orange vial that was still in Allina's hand.
''I have, and... I don't know what to say.'' she spoke softly.
''Yeah, I know, she's pretty amazing, no?''
Was that a compliment as character or a compliment for being useful?
''This is miraculous.'' She was STILL staring at the potion.
''Yeah, she even agreed to trade with us, that potion is the result of one of the things included in the deal.''
''As amazing as ever Lady Velariah.''
So, useful it was.
''You should thank her, not me.'' Velariah tilted her head in my direction.
Allina then approached me and extended her left arm, seeing as I was still holding on to my shattered coconut and my other right arm was out of commission.
''Thank you so much miss, you're a real lifesaver.''
Wow, she did a true 180 really quickly, didn't she? I shook her hand as she bowed out of thanks.
''Also, Allina, this stays between us, alright? No talking about what happened just now. We can't have the goblins, or anyone find out we can effectively counter poisons now.''
''Not a problem, Lady Velariah.''
''Stop calling me that.''
Even when she was incapacitated, she still held true to her status as higher-up here.
When I asked if there were any more elves stationed in the nearby trees Allina replied there weren't with an evil smile.
She was a bluffer.
And she beat me with it.
Footsteps were heard from the west and the archer quickly put away the vial in her pack before anyone could see it. When I turned to see who the footsteps belonged to, I saw a group of elves pulling the huge Saibon boar that the white-haired elf and I had dispatched in an epitome of teamwork. And by teamwork, I mean running for the most part, both of us. They were using the strong threads to pull the corpse forward, good thing it the terrain they were moving it in was going downhill and gravity helped a bit in that regard.
Seeing the huge boar still wrapped in silk Allina moved her gave from the boar to me several times before finally moving her eyes back to Velariah with a dumbfounded expression. The other elf simply nodded.
''Yup, just the two of us.'' she grinned before she winced in pain. It seemed she could no longer keep up the façade.
''That's amazing, but we need that leg looked at. Miss spider, could you help me carry he-.'' she interrupted herself when her eyes trailed to my functioning right hand. She probably realized full well what that would mean and finished her sentence. ''Never mind.''
''Velenthor!'' She called out to one of the elves tasked with dragging the boar downhill. ''I need your help over here carrying La... I mean Velariah over to the Treemenders' Oak.''
Didn't take an expert to know that that was their version of a hospital.
''Caidaran.'' She called to the rest of the group. ''I'll be expecting your report later.''
''Yes ma'am.'' a male voice replied.
A tough looking guy with short black hair walked over, this had to be Velenthor. When he got closer, I could see his face was adorned with scars, one ran over his right eye vertically, the guy was lucky he didn't lose that eye. He had the same type of armor that Allina was wearing. Everything was hardened leather and he too, had one of the leather packs at his side, I figured it was standard army equipment.
He eyed me warily for a second before putting muscled arms under Velariah's, while Allina took her by her legs gently.
I would probably get used to the wary glares with time...
I followed the elves at a close distance. Not too close, though, Velenthor seemed highly uncomfortable with me. Several times I waited a bit when I felt like he was too uncomfortable with me. One time I had actually waved at him with one of my pedipalps. I don't think he appreciated the gesture as he had looked at me in fear and almost stumbled with Velariah still in his hands. Oops.
Maybe I wouldn't get used to this.
When the forest ended, I could get a clear view of Dawnleaf at last. I basked in its amazing elven beauty and architecture. Not.
I had high hopes and once more I felt disappointed. The Treemenders’ Oak that was mentioned had me expecting buildings made inside and on top of trees but there was literally one tree in the entire village. Okay, it was a tree that put any other trees to shame in size and width and it seemed to be used as a building, but still.
A gigantic tree was at the center of the village, everything else seemed built around that one important ''building'' in a circle. There was a fair amount of open space between that tree and the closest buildings that were made out of stone. It led me to believe that the center was an important forum.
Besides the larger stone buildings near the tree everything else seemed made out of wood which would make sense because there was a lot of forest nearby which would facilitate for easily accessible building material. There were about a few hundred houses at most, I doubted the population would be larger than a thousand but it was deemed necessary to erect defenses around the village, most likely as a response to the goblins.
A wooden palisade encircled the village with only a few gaps where three cobblestone roads and one dirt road provided access. The dirt road was the one leading to where we were right now and it seemed to be the one most guarded as it had two wooden watchtowers at the ''gate'' and then two more about a hundred meters out of the village, possibly a checkpoint. It had one stone building nearby, I guessed barracks, and a dozen figures walking about. One figure was running towards them from the forest, an elf.
The other roads didn't have this kind of maintenance. They each had one watch tower about a hundred meters out from the village and then no more at the entrance.
Further out from the village was farmland, lots of farmland. The roads crossed fields that were used for crops and cattle.
A small river cut through the settlement diagonally running northwest from my location to the southeast. In the middle of the village, it seemed to simply disappear before it reappeared after it had crossed through the tree if it hadn't changed direction. Once outside the village on the other side it bent to the left, not entering the forest. It would be awkward if it did, considering the forest was high ground and the entire elven settlement and farmland was located in a valley. Instead of flowed further down along the east road off into the distance.
In the valley the terrain was surprisingly flat which made for ideal farming situations. They used small irrigation canals at the outer edges of each field too, how were they having trouble with yields again? If the weather was always sunny like this, I couldn't imagine the size of the watermelons you could cultivate. I found my mind trailing off to fruit again. I didn’t think that would be what they grew here.
From the colors that the fields had I noticed that there was not a wide variety of different crops. In fact, it only seemed like two different things were planted. One was very clearly some type of grain, the other looked like it could be potatoes or onions but that wouldn't be clear until it was uprooted.
Had they not learnt the most basic concept of crop rotation? Wasn't that always one of the very first things that you were able to research in games? I thought one part was supposed to be fallow, or was that something else? I wouldn't call myself an expert in farming by any means but this called for further inspection later down the line. That is, if things went well.
I was still following behind as we neared the checkpoint, fear creeping in bit by bit. Worried about what the stationed soldiers would be like. They wouldn't randomly attack me if Velariah was there, right? I hoped there weren't any trigger-happy adventurers out there who would be greedy for whatever loot I dropped. Technically, that would be two wolves, a unibelea hide with attachments, a shabby spear, axe and a decent looking sword. I had no idea how they had allowed me to keep them, I assumed Velariah had something to do with that.
It was she who spoke when we were a bit out of the ''checkpoint''. She told Allina and Velenthor to put her down on the ground as the checkpoint guards approached. They all wore the same full-plate armor so I was fairly confident trigger-happy adventurers were out of the question. A few had their swords drawn but Allina was the one who gestured them to re-sheath them. How nice of her.
All their eyes were on me, I was thankful Velariah seemed to have weight in her words.
''Leave me here, get a Treemender to me instead.''
Neat, that would mean I didn't have to enter Dawnleaf. Thank you, Vel.
She winched as she was put down but didn't let out a sound. She was acting tough again. I hoped she wasn’t raised to be that way. I would feel sorry for her if she was.
Velenthor ran off to the village. I assumed it was simply because he was the most mobile of the bunch. Running in plate didn't go so well from what I have read.
''Allina please unburden her if you can. Have the goods delivered to my father, I'll talk to him later.'' Velariah pointed to the load on my behind.
She pulled out a knife and walked behind me. I saw her eyes rest on the arrows that were still stuck in me and thought I saw her question how I was still standing. That had to do with the poison resistance ''inherity'' or something, or so I had been told. I still didn’t know what it was but it had sounded interesting. I would check with Velariah later.
I felt the weight that was pushing down on me lessen and then again when the two wolves fell to my sides. Allina had cut the thread connecting them. Did she really have to put her hand on my behind to do this? Cold shivers ran up my spine from where the touched me. Holy shit, those hairs were sensitive. Allina quickly retracted her hand when she felt my shiver. Could I not wax them or shave or anything? this was getting rather ridiculous.
Allina exchanged a few words with Velenthor, I couldn't quite make out what it was. Velenthor ran inside the stone building next to the towers. What was the hurry? He returned with some unarmored folks who he instructed to carry the goods that Allina had cut loose to the general quarters. More weird glances were thrown at me as they walked in a large circle around me. I saw most of them shiver in fear and I thought I even saw a human among the elves. I wasn't sure but the lack of pointy ears led me to believe he was. I hoped that meant they weren't at war, I would hate to have been tossed into one of those worlds.
One of them handed a red sheet of cloth to the blond elf who in turn gave it to me. I was about to ask what I was supposed to do with it when I answered the question myself. Close, I almost looked like an idiot. I wrapped the cloth around myself and thanked her. It was better than nothing. At least I could finally move my right arm, it was getting sore from being stuck in the same position for so long. I hoped they wouldn't get a bull from somewhere.
'What a terrible joke.' I thought.
When the half a dozen ''carriers'' walked off with the dead animals, the other party that was dragging the boar finally started to catch up with us. No longer having the advantage of moving downhill they called a few of the guards to help them drag the monstrosity to the village. I dared say my arrival made quite a first impression. One they would not soon forget I imagined.
I ''sat'' down next to Velariah. A few hostile glances were thrown my way by the guards but I paid them no mind. I was exhausted. I sighed deeply as I felt a wave of relief of not having to run anymore wash over me.
''Now what?'' I asked the elf, stretching my legs which caused some of the armored elves to back off. Perfect, I didn't want them to hear what we were talking about anyway.
''Well...'' She started. ''First, we get one of the healers to fix us both up, then...'' She hung her head dejectedly, that couldn't be a good sign.
''My father will probably want to talk to me.''
Yeah, I figured as much. Just who was this father figure anyway? She had mentioned him before but abstained from proving any information. Now that I had learnt she was called ''Lady Velariah'' and she seemed to have authority over Allina and the others I feared the worst.
Then again, I had saved her from certain death and convinced both her and Allina of my usefulness. The orange vial was absolute proof of that and I could produce it on the fly in private if needed. I guessed I would have to meet someone who could help me out eventually. I might as well get it out of the way sooner than later. My inner procrastinator screamed in rage.
What would he be like?
The thought of being locked up in a dungeon to be ''milked'' for my venom did cross my mind. I did trust Velariah however, she had not told me a single lie so far. She wouldn't let it get that far; I was confident in that.
I had other plans. This adventuring thing did seem very attractive to me, even considering the dangers that came with it. Due to my ''gifts'' I could probably get decent enough armor to survive basic combat situations without a hassle. I wondered if enchanted armor was a thing and how much it would cost if it did exist. Having money would surely making survival a lot easier. I would just take easy requests to start off with, that was if this whole ''trial'' thing was something I could pass.
The part after that would probably be the hardest, I doubted going alone was going to be a good idea. Finding party members would probably be extremely difficult for me considering the resentful expressions I was already seeing around me. And if I did, trusting them would be naïve from my part. I could get stabbed in the back anytime I slept
That would be worries for later, though. Right now, I would be happy to just have my arm back, even if it was a limb that I wouldn't have had in my previous life. This pain was a bitch, after all.
I doubted I would have to wait much longer for that. Velenthor, who had previously left to get the so-called treemender, was quickly advancing towards us again. Seriously, what was with all the running? These elves were seriously hyperactive, I wondered if they drank coffee all day. He was trailed by a figure in green who actually walked at a normal walking pace. From the distance I could see he had a large staff in his hand. 'A classic druid look', I thought.
Velenthor told Velariah that her father had been informed of her return, and that the treemender was on the way. That last, I could see for myself. Her father being informed had me nervous. What exactly had he reported?
''Allina?'' The white-haired elf called.
''Yes, my lady?''
Velariah sighed. It was quite interesting to see Allina having serious issues with not calling her ''lady''. Honestly, it had my smiling from ear to ear in amusement.
She tapped a finger on the leather pack at her side.
''Oh right!" Allina replied and removed the pack from her belt. She wriggled in between my legs and Velariah and quickly transferred the orange potion to the other elf's inventory in the blink of an eye. I was pretty sure that the idea was that nobody saw what exactly she did, and it seemed she was successful in doing so. I was blocking the view fairly well too.
Several people stared as the webbed boar was dragged past them. One of those people was the apparent treemender who was now approaching us.
He appeared to be an older elf. I had no idea how the elf age logic worked here but he looked like a male in his forties. For all I knew that could mean he was hundreds of years old. His age did not show weakness however, it seemed that the staff he had was not used for walking as I had thought earlier. Instead, it appeared that he needed it to cast spells. A green orb filled with swirling glowing liquid sat on top of the staff, held in place by roots that entangled it. It wasn't hard to see the logic that this world followed.
His figure was dressed in multiple layers of green cloth. From this distance I had seen no one in the village in any type of green cloth other than this guy, this made me wonder if it was specifically reserved for these treemenders. Not even the archers at the edge of the forest had worn green which had surprised me. Okay, their brown leather was not the worst camouflage but green would be even better.
A ring with an oversized green gem was fitted on the hand that he used to carry the staff and he pulled back a green hood revealing his face fully. I gasped slightly when I saw that the top of his right ear was cut off cleanly. He wasn't bearded as was common with older figures in fiction. Instead, his shaven chin added to his youthful, yet experienced visage. It was quite an odd sight; one could see his age yet it was hidden. I was at a loss of words on how to explain exactly what was in front of me, was that magic? Picking that as an explanation would be the easy way out, but I saw no other way here.
He planted his staff into the dirt before speaking with an extremely deep voice.
''I was told there was an arrow injury, last time I checked Saibon Boars did not use weapons.''
Heh, this guy must have been the funniest in his class.
''Yeah, no, that was the goblins. One of them got me with a lucky shot when our reinforcements arrived and I ran for cover. The boar we downed before that.'' Velariah replied.
''We?'' He frowned, looking at me.
This guy.
''Yes, she and I.''
''And does she have a name?''
'Hello? I am right here.' I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to offend anyone.
''She does, but she said she forgot.''
''So, a monster. Does your father know you consort with monsters?'' the guy's gaze pierced right through me. I'm not sure if I even wanted that healing anymore. My brain said no, but my arm screamed yes. The effect of the potion had completely run out and the pain was nagging again.
What the hell, dude.
Actually, hold on. Were names important here? Were you classified as a monster if you didn't have a name? I had read one story where I believe monsters were unnamed creatures because they had no soul or something weird like that. I mean, I certainly had a soul. I did, right? Well, there was the red hair, so I might be wrong according to the internet.
''Just get me healed please, and fix her arm up too.'' Velariah sighed audibly.
''I will not heal monsters.'' The treemender stated.
''Master Lorin, she saved my life, you will heal her!'' Velariah was visibly getting angry.
Scary.
''Fine. But under objection'' He said as he went to work on the elf's leg.
I was pretty sure that the guy already hated my guts. What have I done to earn his ire? I'm pretty sure he was just a racist, quite literally.
Sickened by his attitude but interested in how he worked, I watched as he removed the plates around her leg and grasped Velariah's leg with his hand. The orb on top of his staff glowed green and I could almost see a flow of the green liquid flow through the staff, through his hand and body and then into Velariah's leg.
Healing magic seemed to be a thing. That had to be crazy convenient. It also made me wonder how much knowledge these people had about the human (elf?) body and if there were any gaps in that knowledge that couldn't easily be solved with magic. It was something I had thought about earlier. If there was no need for something, alternative knowledge might be extremely rare if existent at all.
The arrow was slowly pushed out and for the first time the warrior actually screamed in pain.
That was certainly not what I had expected from healing magic. The prospect of healing my arm became less and less attractive by the second.
I tried to get a better look, unfortunately I was sitting to the right of Velariah so I couldn't see much, it certainly looked painful from the facial expressions she was making.
Eventually the arrow fell to the ground, completely pulled out of the wound by this man's magic. He continued his work for another minute before his patient moved her leg again and started stretching and bending it. I had to admit, painful as it looked, that was effective.
Maybe I should try to get myself drunk again before proceeding.
I didn't even get the chance to do that because he was already kneeling down before me and asking a question in the most sarcastic tone I have ever heard.
''What seems to be the problem, young lady?'' Honestly, why couldn't I have brought a gun with me. I was awfully trigger happy right now. I thought that, but I knew I really wouldn’t have what it took to kill another person, not like that. It turned out they would have to try to kill me first.
I pulled up the red cloth that covered my human body, revealing my lower right arm.
''A troll completely busted my arm with a huge mace.'' I wanted to add ''the size of your ego'' to that sentence but figured it wouldn't be a smart idea to piss off your doctor.
I swore this guy actually smiled.
''Oh my, we better get it fixed then.'' He glazed the words with honey.
Velariah rolled her eyes next to me. I was glad I was the only one who saw that.
He went to work and I kept a close eye on what he was doing. He took hold of my arm and much of the same that happened to Velariah started happening to me. Swirls of green mist moved from the top of the staff through the staff, through this guy's body into my arm. The sensation of magic was comparable to when I had chugged down the healing potion earlier. I could feel a slight warmth ''search'' my body before it settled in my arm and grew...and grew, and grew even further. The warmth became heat and heat became a raging inferno. My arm felt like it was melting. I screamed out in pain and wanted to hit this guy in the head. Velariah took hold of the two arms on my left side before I could do anything saying it would be fine.
''It might be fine but it hurts like hell!''
The bone shards in my arm grinded against one another and I could hear it. Scrap what I said, this was probably worse than hell. I could feel sensation returning in previously numb parts from the damage, when it did, the pain expanded to those areas as well, making it worse as time went on. I could feel tears running down my face from the pain.
After an eternity he removed his hand from my arm and the pain slowly dissipated. The heat remained and I could feel it start to cool down, albeit very, very slowly.
When he stood back up, he made a slight bow to Velariah, pulled his green hood back over his head and strolled back to the village. Through the pain and flames I could see the once green orb sitting atop his staff was now devoid of color and clear, an empty crystal ball.
Velariah looked at me with an expression that showed pity. She rummaged through her pack for a second before handing me another yellow potion she carried with her.
''You look like you could use this.'' She said softly.
Without even thinking I accepted it and chugged the whole thing down, not that it was much, anyway.
The pain almost instantly receded, which brought me back to earth, or in this case whatever this planet was called. With my mind no longer focusing on the pain, I took a mental note that yellow potions were a strong painkiller.
''Thank you, Vel.''
She smiled. It was one of those "I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed" smiles.
''It's Velariah.''
