Chapter 3: First Encounter

Two people stand between me and the hound. I appreciate the protection but, I think I can handle this easier by myself, thanks.

But I'm not gonna say that. I'll just sit tight and watch for now.

From the back, I can see that one of them has long, smooth black hair flowing all the way down to her waist and is holding a sword and shield.

The other one has rough almost spiky green hair half way down her back. H

She is holding a spear and has a ...? Tail?

Hoooo.....! A tail! An actual tail! And a crocodile tale by the looks of it!

Animal people!? There are actually animal people here! Jackpot!

Um Um. If you ask me, no medieval fantasy adventure setting is complete without animal people. It's a staple!

Ok, it might be a cliche at this point, but I still really like it!

While I'm geeking out over animal girls, the two were engaged in combat with the hound.

The black haired girl is catching its attention with her shield, and is constantly deflecting its attacks.

While the croc girl, with her lighter equipment, is running around it. Attacking it in its blind spots.

Well, I say equipment but it covers as much skin as a modest bikini. I can't imagine it offering much protection. But WOW those abs!!

Every time she attacks, she draws the hounds attention, but the girl with black hair always draws it back. Keeping its eyes on her, and only her. Allowing her party member to attack it freely.

And this one is actually dressed to take some damage. With an actually breastplate over her black cloths, and other pieces of armor on her arms and legs.

You can tell these two are experienced in battle. Their teamwork and coordination is top notch, and they haven't even said anything to each other. All I've seen them do so far is give each other a couple of glances here and there.

It didn't take long at all for them to defeated the Black Hound. It looks like it took some effort, even though their levels are higher than the hound.

After dealing the final blow and making sure the hound is really dead, the croc girl slumps down and takes a breath. They both don't look like they're injured, so that's good.

The other girl walks up to me and, "Masa, Asa Malaka?"

Hmm?

*Ping*

'Language skill (Selian)'

'Would you like to learn skill?'

*Ok* 'Learnt Language (Selian)'

'-1 skill point'.

It takes a skill point to learn a language, just like a skill huh. It's fine I still have plenty more.

She waves her hands in front of my eyes to catch my attention, "Are you hurt? Sorry, we let the Hound escape and got you involved. You don't look like you have any wounds on you. Does it hurt anywhere?"

"Hmmm. Ahh!" I was so focused on the new skill I forgot. "No no I'm fine."

It's that easy to learn a language huh? Wonder if it's because of my high Int stat.

"I'm ok. It just pushed me down, that's all." As she extends her hand to help me up, I noticed she was pretty solid under those thick cloths. She is a warrior alright. "I'm ok, thanks for saving me."

"I got the core, we can head back now." When I wasn't looking, the other girl took something out of the hounds chest.

"Got it." And she turns back to me, "Well, at least your not hurt. I'm Alice, and that over there is Gravel. We're adventures from the Guild. Nice to meat you."

"Like wise, my name is Ether." Well, at least that's my player name.

Alice, "What are you doing out here all by yourself? It's dangerous out here you know."

"Ahh I'm just a traveler. I wanted to see new places so I left my village and just started wandering the land." At least it's not a complete lie, I do want to see new places.

Gravel, "A thrill seeker huh. Either you're the bravest person I ever met or the dumbest. Not a lot of people travel alone, not even around here where it's considered relatively safe."

"A bit of both, maybe. Yesterday I lost my travel pack and my quiver while running from a pack of Black Hounds." I've never been good at lying, but please work. Just this once.

Alice, "That's unfortunate. What level are you Ether?"

"Huh?" Looks like they can't see my level. But I can see theirs tho, even their Hp and Mp bars. "Oh. I'm level 6."

Alice, "6 huh. Not bad. I'm level 13 and Gravel over there is level 12. We've completed our commission now so we're going to head back to town. Come with us, I'd like to apologize for putting you in danger like that."

"Oh no no. I'm sure I'd be in a lot more danger if you two hadn't been here. I should be thanking you."

Gravel, "Don't mention it! The hound was our quest anyway."

Alice, "It was terrorizing a nearby farm, so we accepted the commission to hunt it."

"I see. Well, you don't need to apologize to me, but if you're going to town I would like to come with. I don't know these parts very well yet. I just got here."

.....

As we're walking through the forest I got a bit curious...

"So about that core you got from the Hound, what is it?"

Gravel, "You don't know? Seriously?"

"I'm afraid I don't."

Alice, "Cursed monsters like the Black hound we fought earlier, have cores in them. As they are cursed creatures, you can't eat their meat, but you can sell the cores to an alchemist and they can make potions or magic items with it. Some experienced alchemist can even magically enhance your weapons and armor with it. But this one isn't of very good quality so it won't really sell for much."

"I see."

Gravel, "Ha! How did you get up to level 6 not knowing that?"

"Since you can't really eat them I just leave them there, I didn't bother to check the body."

Gravel, "You? Kill cursed monsters? Really? Ba hahaha! Normal monsters sure I can believe! But cursed monsters is a bit much don't you think?"

"Hmmm?" There's a difference? I didn't know. I knew lying was a bad idea. It's never worked out for me before! So why did I try it now!?

Alice, "Cursed monsters like that Alpha Black Hound we defeated earlier have cores in them but they are also a lot stronger than their normal counter parts. Normal monsters don't have cores in them but you can eat them. They don't usually taste very good tho. People have gotten sick or have even died from eating cursed monsters. I don't mean to say they're all inedible, but you shouldn't try it."

" Ohhh, I see. Sorry I don't know a lot about these things. I'll keep it in mind, thanks for telling."

Alice, "No problem. So, how long have you been on the road?"

"On the road, not so much. In the forest, a lot. I've been traveling for quite sometime now." Like 3 days.

Gravel, "In the forest, really? I don't buy it, there's no way a level 6 can survive traveling through the forest alone."

She looks really suspicious of me right now! Even though I was telling the truth! That's just in fair cruel world!

I better come up with something good... "Well, I guess I'm just lucky. I'm also really good at avoiding things and hiding from danger." Sounds a bit wimpy, but sure! Let's go with that! I'm technically not lying, though I haven't used any of those skills yet. I did have a decent level Assassin character back in the game.

Gravel, "Except for yesterday when you lost your stuff to some hounds. Lucky we found you. Or else, who know what could have happened to you. The forest is pretty dangerous you know. Stick to the roads when you decide to travel!"

"Hehe, yeah guess I messed up a little. I'm really glad you guys found me tho. I haven't seen a town in some time."

Alice, "Well, we're glad you're safe now. And speaking of town, we're here. Welcome to Grant."