Once Louis and Gen finally managed to convince Fenris to stop patting Lily (read: forcibly pulled him away), the party started its trek through the southern plains. As far as traveling through monster-infested territory went, it was a surprisingly peaceful journey—a fact that did not go unnoticed by the rest of the party.
“Y’know, I kinda noticed this back when Fen fought the vice guildmaster, but…” Louis began, watching a goblin arc through the air.
“Certainly…” Gen saw another roll into its compatriots, scoring Fenris a splendid ‘strike’.
“... He’s pretty strong, huh.” Lily concluded, somewhat exasperated by how little they were contributing.
The three of them had known about Fenris’s fighting ability ever since his ‘demonstration’ at the guild; however, they didn't realize the true extent of his abnormal strength until they witnessed the spectacle in front of them—immediately after confirming that the goblins were enemies, Fenris sprinted ahead and sent them flying with his fists, decimating the group in a matter of seconds.
They felt a bit guilty about not doing anything the first few times, but——
“I can save another second there…” Fenris huffed, his tail swishing behind him.
“You’re treating it like a speedrun?!”
——In any case, the plain’s mobs didn't give that much EXP at the party’s current levels anyways, so the three decided to just let Fenris run wild.
With their expedition through the plains suddenly turned into a relaxing stroll, they filled the time with chatter and lighthearted jokes.
... The trio would chat and joke around even if they did have to fight, but they had more time to do it than usual.
Eventually, a moderately large river came into view, where several people seemed to have set up camp. A cobblestone bridge spanned the waterway, leading to the slightly-drier steppes on the other side.
“Ara, we’ve arrived already?” Gen exclaimed in surprise upon spotting the cobblestone bridge spanning the waterway. “It seems that we’ve made good time.”
Noticing Fenris’s confused head-tilt, Lily helpfully elaborated.
“Players have been treating this bridge as a checkpoint of sorts, since most people aren't actually strong enough to go across to the steppes yet.”
“Most people.” Louis pushed up his glasses.
Lily just gave him a wry smile.
“It took us until noon to get here the last time. I guess fighting takes up more time than we realized.”
“Nah, I think it's just because Fen was going at full speed that entire time.”
Louis was confident that their party could go that fast if they really wanted to. Normally, they tried to pace themselves and conserve their energy—but if pushing themselves a bit really saved this much time, maybe it would be worthwhile trying to imitate Fen’s blistering hunting style.
Let's give it a try, Louis decided, thinking it would be an interesting experiment.
“Speaking of…” Gen said, turning her attention to Fenris. “You were working pretty hard just now, Fen. Do you need a break?”
Despite clearly needing to catch his breath, there was a strange, lively glint in Fenris’s eyes as he replied,
“*haah* I can… *haah*... keep going…”
“No, you’re definitely gonna pass out…” Louis retorted.
“I wanna go.” Fenris’s gaze intensified.
… Nuts, what now?
Louis was getting the same “stuck” feeling as when he tried to get Fenris to stop fighting Reynald. It’d be fine if it were only the regular steppes monsters that they had to deal with, but Louis wasn't confident how well they would fare if they encountered a Goretusk; he didn't want to damper Fen’s fun, but they really needed to be at full strength in case something happened.
Fortunately, Gen intervened.
“Ara, you want to fight more?” She asked Fenris, placing a hand on top of his head. Although his ear twitched a bit at this, Fenris’s tension remained the same.
“Yes.”
“I see, that's good—” Gen started rubbing his head. “You’re doing reaaally good, sweetie~”
“—Ah. Hmm.” Fenris malfunctioned from the simultaneous headpats and praise. It took a few moments for him to reboot, but his eyes returned to their usual, blank state. “... Nn.”
Louis’s jaw went slack in amazement.
“I’m used to dealing with kids,” Gen said cooly with a placid, unreadable smile.
Fenris sulked a bit at her response.
“I’m… not a kid…”
“That's right, you're a big boy~!” she ruffled behind his ears, making him melt a little bit. “And big boys need to rest properly, so that they can do their best, okay~?”
Fenris, flustered in a way that even Amiya had never seen before, let out a quiet whimper.
“... ‘kay.”
Louis and Lily exchanged a look.
… Man, that's some destructive older sister energy.
… She’s completely tamed him.
———
wimbledon
I'm conflicted between either continuing the main story or writing side stories about the characters' home lives... For the latter, I'll probably only do one or two of em at a time.
Also, new cover art!
At the time of posting this, it's a drawing of our Wolfie.
Once Louis and Gen finally managed to convince Fenris to stop patting Lily (read: forcibly pulled him away), the party started its trek through the southern plains. As far as traveling through monster-infested territory went, it was a surprisingly peaceful journey—a fact that did not go unnoticed by the rest of the party.
“Y’know, I kinda noticed this back when Fen fought the vice guildmaster, but…” Louis began, watching a goblin arc through the air.
“Certainly…” Gen saw another roll into its compatriots, scoring Fenris a splendid ‘strike’.
“... He’s pretty strong, huh.” Lily concluded, somewhat exasperated by how little they were contributing.
The three of them had known about Fenris’s fighting ability ever since his ‘demonstration’ at the guild; however, they didn't realize the true extent of his abnormal strength until they witnessed the spectacle in front of them—immediately after confirming that the goblins were enemies, Fenris sprinted ahead and sent them flying with his fists, decimating the group in a matter of seconds.
They felt a bit guilty about not doing anything the first few times, but——
“I can save another second there…” Fenris huffed, his tail swishing behind him.
“You’re treating it like a speedrun?!”
——In any case, the plain’s mobs didn't give that much EXP at the party’s current levels anyways, so the three decided to just let Fenris run wild.
With their expedition through the plains suddenly turned into a relaxing stroll, they filled the time with chatter and lighthearted jokes.
... The trio would chat and joke around even if they did have to fight, but they had more time to do it than usual.
Eventually, a moderately large river came into view, where several people seemed to have set up camp. A cobblestone bridge spanned the waterway, leading to the slightly-drier steppes on the other side.
“Ara, we’ve arrived already?” Gen exclaimed in surprise upon spotting the cobblestone bridge spanning the waterway. “It seems that we’ve made good time.”
Noticing Fenris’s confused head-tilt, Lily helpfully elaborated.
“Players have been treating this bridge as a checkpoint of sorts, since most people aren't actually strong enough to go across to the steppes yet.”
“Most people.” Louis pushed up his glasses.
Lily just gave him a wry smile.
“It took us until noon to get here the last time. I guess fighting takes up more time than we realized.”
“Nah, I think it's just because Fen was going at full speed that entire time.”
Louis was confident that their party could go that fast if they really wanted to. Normally, they tried to pace themselves and conserve their energy—but if pushing themselves a bit really saved this much time, maybe it would be worthwhile trying to imitate Fen’s blistering hunting style.
Let's give it a try, Louis decided, thinking it would be an interesting experiment.
“Speaking of…” Gen said, turning her attention to Fenris. “You were working pretty hard just now, Fen. Do you need a break?”
Despite clearly needing to catch his breath, there was a strange, lively glint in Fenris’s eyes as he replied,
“*haah* I can… *haah*... keep going…”
“No, you’re definitely gonna pass out…” Louis retorted.
“I wanna go.” Fenris’s gaze intensified.
… Nuts, what now?
Louis was getting the same “stuck” feeling as when he tried to get Fenris to stop fighting Reynald. It’d be fine if it were only the regular steppes monsters that they had to deal with, but Louis wasn't confident how well they would fare if they encountered a Goretusk; he didn't want to damper Fen’s fun, but they really needed to be at full strength in case something happened.
Fortunately, Gen intervened.
“Ara, you want to fight more?” She asked Fenris, placing a hand on top of his head. Although his ear twitched a bit at this, Fenris’s tension remained the same.
“Yes.”
“I see, that's good—” Gen started rubbing his head. “You’re doing reaaally good, sweetie~”
“—Ah. Hmm.” Fenris malfunctioned from the simultaneous headpats and praise. It took a few moments for him to reboot, but his eyes returned to their usual, blank state. “... Nn.”
Louis’s jaw went slack in amazement.
“I’m used to dealing with kids,” Gen said cooly with a placid, unreadable smile.
Fenris sulked a bit at her response.
“I’m… not a kid…”
“That's right, you're a big boy~!” she ruffled behind his ears, making him melt a little bit. “And big boys need to rest properly, so that they can do their best, okay~?”
Fenris, flustered in a way that even Amiya had never seen before, let out a quiet whimper.
“... ‘kay.”
Louis and Lily exchanged a look.
… Man, that's some destructive older sister energy.
… She’s completely tamed him.
———
wimbledon
I'm conflicted between either continuing the main story or writing side stories about the characters' home lives... For the latter, I'll probably only do one or two of em at a time.
Also, new cover art!
At the time of posting this, it's a drawing of our Wolfie.
