Chapter 7
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[Dragons get immortality, and we get to not smell bad? W-what kind of joke is this? Isn't this the opposite of a cheat? Did it not just raise the difficulty? That capricious brat... She gets taunted a bit and we end up with a crappy boon?] Chris suddenly realized something. [Gasp! With such a bad personality... Back then, she did not miss my butt! She aimed and hit her target for payback!]
"L-lord! It's actually not that bad!" said Berg panicky.
"Really?" Chris, still on all fours, turned his head with half-dead eyes toward Berg.
"Most of the other races have good senses, especially when it comes to smell. It is easier for us to hide and plan traps and it also makes hunting a lot easier for us. All we have to worry about are sight and sound."
Chris slowly stood up, wiped himself, and turned his half-dead eyes towards Berg: "Then what would you choose? Immortality or not smelling bad?"
"I mean is it even working right? I can smell your sweaty ass from here!"
"It only works on another race my Lord..." Berg tried to explain.
But Chris continued. "For now it's fine but what about during battles? Would you rather your army had a tough body or smelled good?"
"..." Berg didn't know what to say.
"Nevermind, let's forget our boon. So, what about the divine gift?" Chris sat down as he said this and started playing in the sand with his fingers. He clearly lost all hype for the divine gift.
"Actually... I don't know either, no king has ever used it. We begged our last king to use it in the war against the Kunalls, but he said it was not useful during battle. I... I got the feeling he didn't want to talk about it, perhaps he wanted to keep it a secret for later."
[Keep it a secret? Why would he want to hold it back in that situation? It was all or nothing!] Thought Chris. [He didn't want to talk about it, because it's surely an embarrassingly useless power!]
"Haaa... So how do I use it?"Asked Chris.
"To use it, you need to be a crowned king, for this, we must go back to the old capital for the ceremony." said Berg.
"Very well, this will have to wait." Chris didn't have any expectations anymore anyways. [Nothing good can come from that bratty Goddess. I've got to make sure to remember that.]
After this exchange, he felt exhausted.
Berg noticed his exhaustion and brought him some tea as they sat down to watch the soldiers train for a while.
Chris checked out the clumsily made bowl in his hand. [This must have been made by one of the kids.] He thought with a sad little smile on his face, as he remembered the children's usual work was to create simple craft items.
He then turned his attention to the soldiers. They were part of the defensive force for the village. They would not participate in the battle and would remain at Five Cave Village to protect it. They had some light armor, a sword, and a few even had shields, but Chris could count those with his fingers.
"Oh, they are repeating the same movement over and over?" Said Chris to Berg.
"You noticed Lord! This is the Monkai method, taught to our ancestors by our Goddess! It's a chain of moves that will unlock your limits when practiced enough!" The pride in Berg's eyes was easily noticeable.
But Chris couldn't help worry...Her again... She is everywhere.
[Hmm so that's how it goes... two strikes up, two down, left, right, left, r...]
PFFFFT!
Chris almost choked on his tea and shouted "Monkai method my ass! That's the freaking Konami code!"
"My Lord? Are you alright? What's that code thing?"
"Nevermind, nevermind, I can't let that god get to me everytime!"
[Hm? If I rearrange the letters in Monkai... That would be too weird to be a coincidence right?]
Chris sighed.
******* *******
Titus was in the middle of his hunt. He was on mission to find poisonous beasts.
"We should be getting close, boss. The reports said they should be nesting around this lake." Said a scout to Titus.
Titus checked out the lake. It was not very large. "Alright. Carl take half of our guys and go left, don't stray too far from the lake. I will go the other way. Let's meet on the opposite side even if we find their nests."
"Yes boss!"
Carl was a recent addition to the scouts, but Titus valued his sharp mind so he gave him more responsibilities.
"Alright let's go! Remember the nests should be on the lower branches of the trees! Don't get too close!"
Both group separated and searched carefully. Many beasts came to the lake to drink, most were herbivores, but Titus' group did not relax. Preys attracted predators after all. Luckily, they were properly trained as scouts to remain hidden and silent, and with the help of their boon they were virtually invisible.
[Damn it. Nothing on our side.] Cursed Titus. "Everyone, let's wait for Carl's group and hope they were luckier."
They did not have to wait long before Carl showed up with a smile. "Boss. We found 5 nests on the west side of the lake."
"Great! You always had good luck!" Said Titus. "Lead the way."
They quickly reached the nest.
"Whoa." Titus and his scouts were impressed by their size.
"Big right?" Smiled Carl. "I wonder how many bastards are in there."
"Those are too close from each others. Let's go a little further, we found an isolated nest there. It will be less dangerous." He continued.
The scouts followed him, crouched in the tall grass. Only their nets peaked above.
"Huhu." Laughed Titus under his breath.
"What's so funny boss?" Asked Carl in a low voice.
"It's nothing." Answered Titus with a smile. "I just felt like I was back to my childhood. I used to catch bugs with my net and throw them at the girls to scare them."
"Haha, like father like daughter!" Carl enjoyed Titus' surprised expression. "You don't know? From what I heard Petunia is doing the same to the boys now. My neighbor's came back crying the other day. He said a girl was mean to him."
"That girl..."
"Ah! There boss!"
The scouts looked up and there was the nest. It was a few meters large and was dangling under a large branch.
Large red bugs, at least 20 cm long regularly left and entered the nest.
[Perfect.] Titus had thought long and hard and chose the Red Hornets as his target. Chris's request was to get a fast acting poison that could be easily harvested and last a few hours when applied on weapons. The effect did not need to be deadly, but it had to be crippling even to Kunalls.
Plenty of creatures had more dangerous poison, the spiders in the web covered red trees were a good exemple. But getting their poison in good quantities in such a short time was just too dangerous. The Red Hornest poison would not kill but it's other effects and the fact that it was much less dangerous to harvest made up for it.
"Alright prepare the cages.". Ordered Titus. "Remember: Do not provoke the nest! Aim for those flying around! We have an antidote, but remember their sting hurts like hell!"
"Aye, boss!"
The hunt was easy. All they had to do was follow the ones that left the nest and capture them with the nets whenever they stopped. It took a few hours before Titus was satisfied.
He was about to call off the hunt when he heard a small shout followed by a pained cry. "AH! GYAAA!"
"Damn it! What happened?" Asked Titus.
"Someone got stung boss! He is bleeding pretty bad!" Answered a scout.
"Quick give him the antidote." Said Titus as he ran to the injured. The effects of the poison were displayed magnificently. The wound kept bleeding and the injured could not even tend to himself as the poison had a mild paralysis effect.
"You idiot, what did you do?" Asked Titus.
"S-something surprised me... T-there." He pointed with a trembling hand to a nearby bush. "I let a noise out and the hornet stung me in a flash..."
"Calm down or your blood will flow faster. Don't worry the antidote will neutralize the poison very fast.
Titus reassured him and went to check the source of the trouble.
[Hm? Is that... ?]
Carl showed up behind Titus. "Oh? Poor bastard. Should we be bring him back with us boss?"
***** *****
Later that day. Chris was back in his quarters deep in thoughts while looking at his map.
[Hm. I guess this region, out of all those the scouts recommended, would be the best for our first city.] He was looking at an area south west of Five Cave Village. ['Molten Valley' huh. I'm a little worried since the valley is closer to the Kunall scout camp. But there is a mountain chain between the two places, so it should be fine. It's not on their scouting path either.]
[Let's see. Wood and stone, check. There are forests and plenty of mountains around. Water, check. There is a river north of the area. Food sources, check. The scouts said there is plenty of game to hunt in the area.] Chris made a mental checklist of all their needs. [Hopefully there are ores nearby... ]
[Now all we need to do is decide where to settle in the valley.]
A loud shout startled Chris. "Lord! Quest accomplished!"
Chris grumbled as he left the cave to meet Titus.
"Geez, you scared me. Hm?"
What awaited him in front of the cave was a proud Titus standing next to a female scout leading a donkey.
"What's that?" Asked Chris.
"It's a donkey, my lord. We captured it during the hunt." Answered Titus with a straight face.
[That's what he selected for the poison? There is no way donkeys have poison in this world... Right?] But Chris was suddenly reminded of the half rabbit half pig, Ra-pig.
"Oh, it's one of those weird animal is it? Like half donkey, half snake. A 'Don-ke'?" Chris examined the donkey. "You are letting him roam free so it's not dangerous right? Where do we get the poison from?"
He tugged on the tails, tapped its belly, checked its teeth.
"L-lord... Please wai-" Warned Titus but it was too late.
"GYAAAA!" The donkey headbutted Chris who was getting a little too familiar.
"L-lord! Are you alright?" Panicked Titus.
"W-what's with that Don-ke?" Chris held his forehead a tear in his eyes.
"Sire, it's just a normal donkey we found hurt near our hunting spot, he was stung by hornets and was suffering from the effects of their poison. We have very few horses, so we gave him some antidote and brought him back with us. But... He is a little... quirky." Titus had a weird smile as he watched the donkey go back to the female scout to request a good rubbing. "It seems... He only lets females touch him."
"Oh really. How nice. What a fancy donkey" Said Chris as he picked up a branch. "He only wants free rubs from beautiful ladies, what refined tastes he has. I don't even get that treatment. I'm not jealous at all, but maybe I should educate him a little bit."
"L-lord... It's just an animal."
"An animal? Look at its perverted eyes!" Shouted Chris as he pointed to the donkey's satisfied face. "It's clearly evil!"
Chris tapped the branch on his hand with a menacing smile. "Don't worry. I'll use the blunt side."
...
...
[Of a stick?] Thought everyone witnessing the scene.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
[Dragons get immortality, and we get to not smell bad? W-what kind of joke is this? Isn't this the opposite of a cheat? Did it not just raise the difficulty? That capricious brat... She gets taunted a bit and we end up with a crappy boon?] Chris suddenly realized something. [Gasp! With such a bad personality... Back then, she did not miss my butt! She aimed and hit her target for payback!]
"L-lord! It's actually not that bad!" said Berg panicky.
"Really?" Chris, still on all fours, turned his head with half-dead eyes toward Berg.
"Most of the other races have good senses, especially when it comes to smell. It is easier for us to hide and plan traps and it also makes hunting a lot easier for us. All we have to worry about are sight and sound."
Chris slowly stood up, wiped himself, and turned his half-dead eyes towards Berg: "Then what would you choose? Immortality or not smelling bad?"
"I mean is it even working right? I can smell your sweaty ass from here!"
"It only works on another race my Lord..." Berg tried to explain.
But Chris continued. "For now it's fine but what about during battles? Would you rather your army had a tough body or smelled good?"
"..." Berg didn't know what to say.
"Nevermind, let's forget our boon. So, what about the divine gift?" Chris sat down as he said this and started playing in the sand with his fingers. He clearly lost all hype for the divine gift.
"Actually... I don't know either, no king has ever used it. We begged our last king to use it in the war against the Kunalls, but he said it was not useful during battle. I... I got the feeling he didn't want to talk about it, perhaps he wanted to keep it a secret for later."
[Keep it a secret? Why would he want to hold it back in that situation? It was all or nothing!] Thought Chris. [He didn't want to talk about it, because it's surely an embarrassingly useless power!]
"Haaa... So how do I use it?"Asked Chris.
"To use it, you need to be a crowned king, for this, we must go back to the old capital for the ceremony." said Berg.
"Very well, this will have to wait." Chris didn't have any expectations anymore anyways. [Nothing good can come from that bratty Goddess. I've got to make sure to remember that.]
After this exchange, he felt exhausted.
Berg noticed his exhaustion and brought him some tea as they sat down to watch the soldiers train for a while.
Chris checked out the clumsily made bowl in his hand. [This must have been made by one of the kids.] He thought with a sad little smile on his face, as he remembered the children's usual work was to create simple craft items.
He then turned his attention to the soldiers. They were part of the defensive force for the village. They would not participate in the battle and would remain at Five Cave Village to protect it. They had some light armor, a sword, and a few even had shields, but Chris could count those with his fingers.
"Oh, they are repeating the same movement over and over?" Said Chris to Berg.
"You noticed Lord! This is the Monkai method, taught to our ancestors by our Goddess! It's a chain of moves that will unlock your limits when practiced enough!" The pride in Berg's eyes was easily noticeable.
But Chris couldn't help worry...Her again... She is everywhere.
[Hmm so that's how it goes... two strikes up, two down, left, right, left, r...]
PFFFFT!
Chris almost choked on his tea and shouted "Monkai method my ass! That's the freaking Konami code!"
"My Lord? Are you alright? What's that code thing?"
"Nevermind, nevermind, I can't let that god get to me everytime!"
[Hm? If I rearrange the letters in Monkai... That would be too weird to be a coincidence right?]
Chris sighed.
******* *******
Titus was in the middle of his hunt. He was on mission to find poisonous beasts.
"We should be getting close, boss. The reports said they should be nesting around this lake." Said a scout to Titus.
Titus checked out the lake. It was not very large. "Alright. Carl take half of our guys and go left, don't stray too far from the lake. I will go the other way. Let's meet on the opposite side even if we find their nests."
"Yes boss!"
Carl was a recent addition to the scouts, but Titus valued his sharp mind so he gave him more responsibilities.
"Alright let's go! Remember the nests should be on the lower branches of the trees! Don't get too close!"
Both group separated and searched carefully. Many beasts came to the lake to drink, most were herbivores, but Titus' group did not relax. Preys attracted predators after all. Luckily, they were properly trained as scouts to remain hidden and silent, and with the help of their boon they were virtually invisible.
[Damn it. Nothing on our side.] Cursed Titus. "Everyone, let's wait for Carl's group and hope they were luckier."
They did not have to wait long before Carl showed up with a smile. "Boss. We found 5 nests on the west side of the lake."
"Great! You always had good luck!" Said Titus. "Lead the way."
They quickly reached the nest.
"Whoa." Titus and his scouts were impressed by their size.
"Big right?" Smiled Carl. "I wonder how many bastards are in there."
"Those are too close from each others. Let's go a little further, we found an isolated nest there. It will be less dangerous." He continued.
The scouts followed him, crouched in the tall grass. Only their nets peaked above.
"Huhu." Laughed Titus under his breath.
"What's so funny boss?" Asked Carl in a low voice.
"It's nothing." Answered Titus with a smile. "I just felt like I was back to my childhood. I used to catch bugs with my net and throw them at the girls to scare them."
"Haha, like father like daughter!" Carl enjoyed Titus' surprised expression. "You don't know? From what I heard Petunia is doing the same to the boys now. My neighbor's came back crying the other day. He said a girl was mean to him."
"That girl..."
"Ah! There boss!"
The scouts looked up and there was the nest. It was a few meters large and was dangling under a large branch.
Large red bugs, at least 20 cm long regularly left and entered the nest.
[Perfect.] Titus had thought long and hard and chose the Red Hornets as his target. Chris's request was to get a fast acting poison that could be easily harvested and last a few hours when applied on weapons. The effect did not need to be deadly, but it had to be crippling even to Kunalls.
Plenty of creatures had more dangerous poison, the spiders in the web covered red trees were a good exemple. But getting their poison in good quantities in such a short time was just too dangerous. The Red Hornest poison would not kill but it's other effects and the fact that it was much less dangerous to harvest made up for it.
"Alright prepare the cages.". Ordered Titus. "Remember: Do not provoke the nest! Aim for those flying around! We have an antidote, but remember their sting hurts like hell!"
"Aye, boss!"
The hunt was easy. All they had to do was follow the ones that left the nest and capture them with the nets whenever they stopped. It took a few hours before Titus was satisfied.
He was about to call off the hunt when he heard a small shout followed by a pained cry. "AH! GYAAA!"
"Damn it! What happened?" Asked Titus.
"Someone got stung boss! He is bleeding pretty bad!" Answered a scout.
"Quick give him the antidote." Said Titus as he ran to the injured. The effects of the poison were displayed magnificently. The wound kept bleeding and the injured could not even tend to himself as the poison had a mild paralysis effect.
"You idiot, what did you do?" Asked Titus.
"S-something surprised me... T-there." He pointed with a trembling hand to a nearby bush. "I let a noise out and the hornet stung me in a flash..."
"Calm down or your blood will flow faster. Don't worry the antidote will neutralize the poison very fast.
Titus reassured him and went to check the source of the trouble.
[Hm? Is that... ?]
Carl showed up behind Titus. "Oh? Poor bastard. Should we be bring him back with us boss?"
***** *****
Later that day. Chris was back in his quarters deep in thoughts while looking at his map.
[Hm. I guess this region, out of all those the scouts recommended, would be the best for our first city.] He was looking at an area south west of Five Cave Village. ['Molten Valley' huh. I'm a little worried since the valley is closer to the Kunall scout camp. But there is a mountain chain between the two places, so it should be fine. It's not on their scouting path either.]
[Let's see. Wood and stone, check. There are forests and plenty of mountains around. Water, check. There is a river north of the area. Food sources, check. The scouts said there is plenty of game to hunt in the area.] Chris made a mental checklist of all their needs. [Hopefully there are ores nearby... ]
[Now all we need to do is decide where to settle in the valley.]
A loud shout startled Chris. "Lord! Quest accomplished!"
Chris grumbled as he left the cave to meet Titus.
"Geez, you scared me. Hm?"
What awaited him in front of the cave was a proud Titus standing next to a female scout leading a donkey.
"What's that?" Asked Chris.
"It's a donkey, my lord. We captured it during the hunt." Answered Titus with a straight face.
[That's what he selected for the poison? There is no way donkeys have poison in this world... Right?] But Chris was suddenly reminded of the half rabbit half pig, Ra-pig.
"Oh, it's one of those weird animal is it? Like half donkey, half snake. A 'Don-ke'?" Chris examined the donkey. "You are letting him roam free so it's not dangerous right? Where do we get the poison from?"
He tugged on the tails, tapped its belly, checked its teeth.
"L-lord... Please wai-" Warned Titus but it was too late.
"GYAAAA!" The donkey headbutted Chris who was getting a little too familiar.
"L-lord! Are you alright?" Panicked Titus.
"W-what's with that Don-ke?" Chris held his forehead a tear in his eyes.
"Sire, it's just a normal donkey we found hurt near our hunting spot, he was stung by hornets and was suffering from the effects of their poison. We have very few horses, so we gave him some antidote and brought him back with us. But... He is a little... quirky." Titus had a weird smile as he watched the donkey go back to the female scout to request a good rubbing. "It seems... He only lets females touch him."
"Oh really. How nice. What a fancy donkey" Said Chris as he picked up a branch. "He only wants free rubs from beautiful ladies, what refined tastes he has. I don't even get that treatment. I'm not jealous at all, but maybe I should educate him a little bit."
"L-lord... It's just an animal."
"An animal? Look at its perverted eyes!" Shouted Chris as he pointed to the donkey's satisfied face. "It's clearly evil!"
Chris tapped the branch on his hand with a menacing smile. "Don't worry. I'll use the blunt side."
...
...
[Of a stick?] Thought everyone witnessing the scene.
Dragons get immortality, and we get to not smell bad? W-what kind of joke is this? Isn't this the opposite of a cheat? Did it not just raise the difficulty? That capricious brat... She gets taunted a bit and we end up with a crappy boon? Chris suddenly realized something. Gasp! With such a bad personality... Back then, she did not miss my butt! She aimed and hit her target for payback!"L-lord! It's actually not that bad!" said Berg panicky."Really?" Chris, still on all fours, turned his head with half-dead eyes toward Berg."Most of the other races have good senses, especially when it comes to smell. It is easier for us to hide and plan traps and it also makes hunting a lot easier for us. All we have to worry about are sight and sound."Chris slowly stood up, wiped himself, and turned his half-dead eyes towards Berg: "Then what would you choose? Immortality or not smelling bad?""I mean is it even working right? I can smell your sweaty ass from here!""It only works on another race my Lord..." Berg tried to explain.But Chris continued. "For now it's fine but what about during battles? Would you rather your army had a tough body or smelled good?""..." Berg didn't know what to say."Nevermind, let's forget our boon. So, what about the divine gift?" Chris sat down as he said this and started playing in the sand with his fingers. He clearly lost all hype for the divine gift."Actually... I don't know either, no king has ever used it. We begged our last king to use it in the war against the Kunalls, but he said it was not useful during battle. I... I got the feeling he didn't want to talk about it, perhaps he wanted to keep it a secret for later."Keep it a secret? Why would he want to hold it back in that situation? It was all or nothing! Thought Chris. He didn't want to talk about it, because it's surely an embarrassingly useless power!"Haaa... So how do I use it?"Asked Chris."To use it, you need to be a crowned king, for this, we must go back to the old capital for the ceremony." said Berg."Very well, this will have to wait." Chris didn't have any expectations anymore anyways. Nothing good can come from that bratty Goddess. I've got to make sure to remember that.After this exchange, he felt exhausted.Berg noticed his exhaustion and brought him some tea as they sat down to watch the soldiers train for a while.Chris checked out the clumsily made bowl in his hand. This must have been made by one of the kids. He thought with a sad little smile on his face, as he remembered the children's usual work was to create simple craft items.He then turned his attention to the soldiers. They were part of the defensive force for the village. They would not participate in the battle and would remain at Five Cave Village to protect it. They had some light armor, a sword, and a few even had shields, but Chris could count those with his fingers."Oh, they are repeating the same movement over and over?" Said Chris to Berg."You noticed Lord! This is the Monkai method, taught to our ancestors by our Goddess! It's a chain of moves that will unlock your limits when practiced enough!" The pride in Berg's eyes was easily noticeable.But Chris couldn't help worry...Her again... She is everywhere.Hmm so that's how it goes... two strikes up, two down, left, right, left, r...PFFFFT!Chris almost choked on his tea and shouted "Monkai method my ass! That's the freaking Konami code!""My Lord? Are you alright? What's that code thing?""Nevermind, nevermind, I can't let that god get to me everytime!"Hm? If I rearrange the letters in Monkai... That would be too weird to be a coincidence right?Chris sighed.******* *******Titus was in the middle of his hunt. He was on mission to find poisonous beasts."We should be getting close, boss. The reports said they should be nesting around this lake." Said a scout to Titus.Titus checked out the lake. It was not very large. "Alright. Carl take half of our guys and go left, don't stray too far from the lake. I will go the other way. Let's meet on the opposite side even if we find their nests.""Yes boss!"Carl was a recent addition to the scouts, but Titus valued his sharp mind so he gave him more responsibilities."Alright let's go! Remember the nests should be on the lower branches of the trees! Don't get too close!"Both group separated and searched carefully. Many beasts came to the lake to drink, most were herbivores, but Titus' group did not relax. Preys attracted predators after all. Luckily, they were properly trained as scouts to remain hidden and silent, and with the help of their boon they were virtually invisible.Damn it. Nothing on our side. Cursed Titus. "Everyone, let's wait for Carl's group and hope they were luckier."They did not have to wait long before Carl showed up with a smile. "Boss. We found 5 nests on the west side of the lake.""Great! You always had good luck!" Said Titus. "Lead the way."They quickly reached the nest."Whoa." Titus and his scouts were impressed by their size."Big right?" Smiled Carl. "I wonder how many bastards are in there.""Those are too close from each others. Let's go a little further, we found an isolated nest there. It will be less dangerous." He continued.The scouts followed him, crouched in the tall grass. Only their nets peaked above."Huhu." Laughed Titus under his breath."What's so funny boss?" Asked Carl in a low voice."It's nothing." Answered Titus with a smile. "I just felt like I was back to my childhood. I used to catch bugs with my net and throw them at the girls to scare them.""Haha, like father like daughter!" Carl enjoyed Titus' surprised expression. "You don't know? From what I heard Petunia is doing the same to the boys now. My neighbor's came back crying the other day. He said a girl was mean to him.""That girl...""Ah! There boss!"The scouts looked up and there was the nest. It was a few meters large and was dangling under a large branch.Large red bugs, at least 20 cm long regularly left and entered the nest.Perfect. Titus had thought long and hard and chose the Red Hornets as his target. Chris's request was to get a fast acting poison that could be easily harvested and last a few hours when applied on weapons. The effect did not need to be deadly, but it had to be crippling even to Kunalls.Plenty of creatures had more dangerous poison, the spiders in the web covered red trees were a good exemple. But getting their poison in good quantities in such a short time was just too dangerous. The Red Hornest poison would not kill but it's other effects and the fact that it was much less dangerous to harvest made up for it."Alright prepare the cages.". Ordered Titus. "Remember: Do not provoke the nest! Aim for those flying around! We have an antidote, but remember their sting hurts like hell!""Aye, boss!"The hunt was easy. All they had to do was follow the ones that left the nest and capture them with the nets whenever they stopped. It took a few hours before Titus was satisfied.He was about to call off the hunt when he heard a small shout followed by a pained cry. "AH! GYAAA!""Damn it! What happened?" Asked Titus."Someone got stung boss! He is bleeding pretty bad!" Answered a scout."Quick give him the antidote." Said Titus as he ran to the injured. The effects of the poison were displayed magnificently. The wound kept bleeding and the injured could not even tend to himself as the poison had a mild paralysis effect."You idiot, what did you do?" Asked Titus."S-something surprised me... T-there." He pointed with a trembling hand to a nearby bush. "I let a noise out and the hornet stung me in a flash...""Calm down or your blood will flow faster. Don't worry the antidote will neutralize the poison very fast.Titus reassured him and went to check the source of the trouble.Hm? Is that... ?Carl showed up behind Titus. "Oh? Poor bastard. Should we be bring him back with us boss?"***** *****Later that day. Chris was back in his quarters deep in thoughts while looking at his map.Hm. I guess this region, out of all those the scouts recommended, would be the best for our first city. He was looking at an area south west of Five Cave Village. 'Molten Valley' huh. I'm a little worried since the valley is closer to the Kunall scout camp. But there is a mountain chain between the two places, so it should be fine. It's not on their scouting path either.Let's see. Wood and stone, check. There are forests and plenty of mountains around. Water, check. There is a river north of the area. Food sources, check. The scouts said there is plenty of game to hunt in the area. Chris made a mental checklist of all their needs. Hopefully there are ores nearby... Now all we need to do is decide where to settle in the valley.A loud shout startled Chris. "Lord! Quest accomplished!"Chris grumbled as he left the cave to meet Titus."Geez, you scared me. Hm?"What awaited him in front of the cave was a proud Titus standing next to a female scout leading a donkey."What's that?" Asked Chris."It's a donkey, my lord. We captured it during the hunt." Answered Titus with a straight face.That's what he selected for the poison? There is no way donkeys have poison in this world... Right? But Chris was suddenly reminded of the half rabbit half pig, Ra-pig."Oh, it's one of those weird animal is it? Like half donkey, half snake. A 'Don-ke'?" Chris examined the donkey. "You are letting him roam free so it's not dangerous right? Where do we get the poison from?"He tugged on the tails, tapped its belly, checked its teeth."L-lord... Please wai-" Warned Titus but it was too late."GYAAAA!" The donkey headbutted Chris who was getting a little too familiar."L-lord! Are you alright?" Panicked Titus."W-what's with that Don-ke?" Chris held his forehead a tear in his eyes."Sire, it's just a normal donkey we found hurt near our hunting spot, he was stung by hornets and was suffering from the effects of their poison. We have very few horses, so we gave him some antidote and brought him back with us. But... He is a little... quirky." Titus had a weird smile as he watched the donkey go back to the female scout to request a good rubbing. "It seems... He only lets females touch him.""Oh really. How nice. What a fancy donkey" Said Chris as he picked up a branch. "He only wants free rubs from beautiful ladies, what refined tastes he has. I don't even get that treatment. I'm not jealous at all, but maybe I should educate him a little bit.""L-lord... It's just an animal.""An animal? Look at its perverted eyes!" Shouted Chris as he pointed to the donkey's satisfied face. "It's clearly evil!"Chris tapped the branch on his hand with a menacing smile. "Don't worry. I'll use the blunt side."......Of a stick? Thought everyone witnessing the scene.
