Ank
“Ank, Hunah, do you remember where I found the two of you?”, the older woman asked.
As our summoned mounts marched a little ahead of hers, my twin sister and I taking in all the natural beauty surrounding us; we were going steadily upwards, and the water took the exact opposite direction as we did, constantly falling multiple small and big waterfalls. The greenery grew strong and vividly at the sides of the dirt road, feeding of all the pure water.
“The capital of the Emerald [Goddess]”, I said. “Keepen”, I thought that was the name of the city.
“Hm? Wait a minute, shouldn’t Keepen be the closest city to your home, then?”, Hunah pointed out… Making a lot of sense, actually.
“That’s right, but I was visiting the city to buy some herbs to make black drink: Keepen is famous for its wide and powerful trade net, after all. It’s how a relatively weak deity can keep control over her territory, with lots of money”, Taffy continued.
“And even more sacrifices”, I added, frowning.
“Yes, she buys many slaves for sacrifices, gaining power, and sharing it with her underlings. That’s why I want to warn you two about: we’re leaving the no-Gods’ land of the Beginners’ City, and entering the Emerald [Goddess] territory.”
The animals I summoned to carry us around stopped, bellowing, getting more agitated, feeling the rage boiling within their summoner. Just by my side, I heard Hunah letting out a slow and shaking breath, and heard her leather gloves tightening as she curled her hands into fists, just as angry.
“And you two need to control your ire, at least for now: she is way stronger than the two of you now, if you end up provoking her, your death will be certain”, yes, we were stronger than most people, but still far from strong enough to kill the strongest [Gods], the books we bought, like the necromancy book I then carried, made clear that there was still much room for improvement.
I sighed, and after a minute more, my summoned mounts resumed our travel, as I calmed down. Not long after, we all went around the slithering path mountain up, and I felt it: aura. And a familiar type.
“[Zemi]”, I whispered, exchanging a glance with Hunah, who nodded in agreement.
A large two store high circular wooden mansion came into vision just a little ahead, protected by a palisade of logs, and I could see it was still inhabited, the family under the control of the little [God] living there: as a few men kept guard on top of the palisade, a particularly well-dressed man talked with a caravan of some sort.
Approaching a little more, I noticed not every member of the caravan looked alright, but I couldn’t point exactly what was wrong with them; they stood in line, mouth shut, shoulders slumped down, opaque, defeated eyes…
As the well-dressed man handed a few axes to the merchant, my sister and I were passing beside right them.
“…What are you looking at?”, the merchant asked.
And we looked away. Surely, Taffy’s advice came at the right moment.
“F****** adventurers… Godless bastards”, the well-dressed man cursed from our back, as we proceeded.
“Do you think the [Goddess] would notice if we killed a couple of randoms by the roadside?”, Hunah asked, as we got far away enough from those men.
“Oh, my!”, the older woman laughed; just like our previous [Party], she must have been aware that we weren’t particularly interested in unnecessary trouble, like global domination, or killing everyone that mildly offended us. “The buyer must be the head of the [Zemi] clan, and every minor [God] around here works for her, and is empowered by her, even if just a little. If you kill him, you’d have to kill the [Zemi] too, and then she would know, and maybe take it as an invasion, when [Gods] are very protective of their territories.”
“Oh, no~” I said. “We’ll have to let all the killing of rude merchants and clan heads for after killing the Emerald [Goddess]?”, I pretended to be outraged, as I took a glimpse of the [Level] of the asshole from before; so confidant in himself, he left it public displayed: 23.
Our status then? As we traveled to raise our rank to 80th, after telling the 10th Guild Master about Incute?
[Name: Ank
Race: Half (Messenger + Filled Teeth)
General:
Level: 200
Class: Respectable Summoner
HP: 1990/1990
MP: 4975/4975
SP: 1005/1005
Attributes:
Strength: 201
Resistance: 398
Magic: 995
Perception: 398]
[Name: Hunah
Race: Half (Messenger + Filled Teeth)
General:
Level: 200
Class: Gang of One Woman
HP: 3005/ 3005
MP: 1505/ 1505
SP: 4975/4975
Attributes:
Strength: 995
Resistance: 398
Magic: 201
Perception: 398]
I had summons of [Level: 100] in every branch, and though I haven’t learned any new necromancy spell, I’ve been learning lots of new uses to the ones I already possessed, and got my [Dissection], finally, to 100% of success. Plus, very soon, I’d unlock: [Make General]; maybe, with [Magic] potions, and if I summoned just a few things, I’d be able to make it useful, even more if I got my hands on some items that boosted my [MP]. On the other hand, Hunah was dealing 75% more damage with every weapon, and started to catch up with her armor proficiency, raising her light, medium, and heavy armor’s defense to 20% more than usual.
We all laughed, and played and talked even more. The rest of the climbing went smoothly.
