On the dawn of the morrow, the night after a heated exchange of deep passion between Erin, Lyra, and Iris, the three found themselves on their knees while being given an earful by Nivia, who came barging into their rooms. The three were still entangled in each others’ embrace in all bare when the Elf had intruded upon them. The heavy bags under Nivia’s eyes said a lot of her circumstances. Furthermore, she was forced to exhaust all of her Mana on a spell to have Celia remain sleeping through the whole tremor.

Needless to say, Erin and Lyra had nothing but shame and regret written on their face. The two were quick to apologize for their actions. Erin pleaded for a chance to express her regret and even went as far as to swore herself into never taking another sip of liquor unless the circumstances dictated otherwise.

As for the Umbrum, Iris had a face of absolute satisfaction. She even gave compliments of a high degree to the two for giving her a night she could never forget. Iris then offered a great sum of gold to the inn’s guests as compensation for any inconvenience that she might have caused. Iris’ gold was able to quell the dissatisfaction for most of the inn’s guests but Nivia was the only one who refused.

She said nothing of her reasons but it was evident her reasons were due to her dignity as a Fae.

Nivia’s scolding would have gone on longer had it not been for the schedule she needed to uphold. There was still much to discuss with the other merchants in regards to the matter of her people’s livelihood. As soon as she finished giving the three a piece of her mind, she rushed off, leaving Celia in their care.

Iris also took her leave shortly after Nivia’s departure but not before inviting Erin and Lyra to a luncheon. Erin did not bother to hide her displeasure.

After Iris had left, Lyra slumped face first back onto her bed and let out a sigh, belching her indignance from Nivia’s admonition. “I can’t believe all of that happened...” Lyra muttered into the sheets. “Should I stop drinking too?”

Erin muttered a regretful groan as a response.

“And Nivia… Her virtue is suffocating her. She should just lose it.”

“She’s not to blame, Lyra. We were in the wrong here. We should have been more prudent,” Erin said as she groomed Celia’s dark brownish hair. Celia was sitting on Erin’s laps with her legs swinging carefreely in delight. She loved the feeling of having her hair groom and at the same time, she could play with Erin’s fluffy tails while she was being groomed.

Lyra was trying her best not to get jealous of Celia’s position but ultimately failing. She quickly steered her mind to a discussion to avoid having her jealousy showing. “Erin, about last night, we—”

“—shall not talk about it until the end of time. To fornicate with an enemy, a stigma that can never be washed off.”

“At least she’s good in bed,” Lyra remarked tacitly and softly.

“Then why don’t you go warm her bed tonight,” said Erin, as if it was the most natural response. It was only after she let loose those words that she came to regret it.

Lyra let out a muffled titter. “Oh my, is that jealousy I’m sensing.”

“It’s your own imagination that you’re sensing,” Erin retorted with a pout that she had never thought she would ever put on her face. She tried to hide it but her flailing tails betrayed her efforts. Celia was getting more excited at the energetic tails.

Lyra turned and laid on her back. She chuckled as she gazed at the ceiling. “Which reminds me, never thought that you were so weak to alcohol. I’m surprised.”

“Looks like we have a mutual sentiment.”

“You weren’t this weak before?” Lyra asked. By “before”, of course Lyra meant Erin’s past life.

“Not even Dwarrow’s spirits could shake my vision.”

Hearing that, Lyra’s interest was piqued. She had dozens of questions she wanted to ask Erin but she kept silent out of consideration, but as she came to know more and more about her beloved, it was becoming harder to hold on to that consideration.

“Eek~!” Erin gave a sudden sharp squeal.

Lyra snapped her glance to Erin in an instant.

The culprit was Celia, who squeezed down too hard on Erin’s tail. Realizing what she had done, Celia let go and cast her gaze down. “S-sorry...” Celia muttered.

Erin was slightly upset but at the sight of an apologetic little girl, Erin’s heart gave in and forgave Celia before tears could threaten to leak from the little girl’s eyes. She stroked Celia’s hair until the little girl was convinced Erin was no longer angry at her.

As for Lyra, she couldn’t be more thankful to Celia for inciting such a reaction from Erin. Lyra’s hand crawled slowly to the root of Erin’s tails but one of the tails whipped down on Lyra’s hand. Lyra quickly retracted her hand and turned her eyes away before Erin’s glare could meet her eyes.

Lyra forced a cough to change the subject. “So, shall we go for a stroll after breakfast?”

Erin contemplated Lyra’s suggestion in murmurs. There were still a few eateries she wanted to visit but right now, she didn’t feel particularly hungry. In fact, she didn’t feel hungry in the morning these past few days. She had thought it was just her discipline as Argon Raze transcribed over to her new body. Such was not the case, as she had recently learned.

It was the perk of being a Fae, or at least that was what Nivia told her when she asked. Faerie-kin were essentially half human, half Spirit, and Spirits didn’t require sustenance in the usual manner much like humans, demi-humans, and pretty much every living creature. The Spirit side of a Fae halved the requirement for sustenance, that was how it was explained among the Fae. So to say, Fae only needed to have one course of meal at minimum for each day at. Which was why Erin didn’t feel particularly hungry now. Still, there were times when she experienced phantom hunger, a trick of the mind, dwelling in the past when she was a human.

In the end, Erin nodded to Lyra. She had nothing planned for the moment and Nivia was occupied for half of the day. So her magic lesson would be starting after lunch. She had ample free time until noon. Even though the departure of the merchant caravan was tomorrow and she was to escort them as a guard, not much preparations needed to be made. They were caravans of merchants, if she needed something, she figured she could just purchase it on the spot from one of the many merchants present. Though the escort quest had yet to be made official, it might as well be considered as such since they had already asked the Guild to mediate. Having second thoughts now was as futile as crying over spilled milk.

She was departing on the morrow, she was reminded by her own thoughts. This was her last day in this town. She hadn’t been here long but she knew she would be missing it. As much as she had grown fond of this town, she didn’t have any desire to stay. She was yearning for a taste of adventure and opportunity came knocking, albeit with some drawbacks with one of those being their employer. She hadn’t known Iris for long but the moments spent in her company gave her an adequate frame of her character. Iris was dangerous and not someone she wanted as an enemy, but if Iris was at least an acquaintance, there was much to be gained.

“And just what is her relationship with Aedan?” Erin mused to herself. Normally, she wasn’t one to meddle in others’ love affairs but somehow, she just couldn’t help but make an exception to that rule of hers for Aedan’s case. When she didn’t arrive at an answer by rattling her thoughts within her own mind, she decided to cast her curiosity aside. At this point, she would just be banging her head on a wall if she kept dwelling on it. However, it was only a matter of time before it came crawling back.

Just as Erin finished grooming Celia and was about to stand up, she was assaulted by a fatigue. Erin instantly recognized the feeling as a vestige of her drunken state, something she hadn’t experienced in forever. Her honed physique as Argon Raze had made her impervious to a lot of minor sickness and diseases with drunken vestige being one of them.

To Erin’s indignance and surprise, Lyra was fine. She had a mild headache but it was something she could just walk it off, unlike Erin’s case.

“Erin, are you alright?” Lyra asked when she saw Erin wobbling around on her feet.

Erin shook her head as she sat back down on the bed, her hand clutching her head. “My head hurts...” she said with a groan.

Celia gasped with a face filled with horror. “I-I’m sorry...” she muttered in a shuddering tone.

Lyra chuckled at Celia’s misconception, stroking her head. “You didn’t do this, Celia. It’s Erin’s own fault, isn’t it?”

“Ugh… you two go on ahead. I think I have to pass.” Currently, her best possible option to cure her drunken vestige was to sleep over it and since she had time until noon, she took this option.

“Well, I’ll get you something on the way back,” Lyra said.

Erin waved her hand. “You don’t need to.”

“Is Ellie going to be fine?” Celia asked, her voice tinged with worry.

Struck with her upturned gaze, Lyra could only stroke her hair harder as she assured Celia of Erin’s condition. “Of course she’ll be fine. Erin’s really strong.”

Celia canted her head, musing the word, “strong…?”

“Even the grim reaper couldn’t claim her.”

Celia sighed in awe, casting her gleaming gaze at Erin.

“Stop filling her head with these fantasies,” Erin retorted, troubled by the excessive praise Lyra was piling upon her.

Lyra tittered before faring Erin well, taking Celia by her hand as they walked out of the room. Left with only her own mind as her company, Erin closed her eyes and her stat screen made its appearance.

Erinthea - Faerie-kin: Three-Tailed Fox-kin

Level: 12 | Status: Severe Fatigue (Drunken Vestige)

Might: 20 | Arcane: 18 | Finesse: 19

Magic Arts
Spirit Magic Lv. 8 | Arcane Edge Lv. 3 | Arcane Armor Lv. 5 | Lightning Magic Lv. 1

Combat Arts
Sword Art Lv. 7 | Fleet Foot Lv. 5 | Brawler Lv. 4

Innate Skills
Appraisal Lv. Ex | Night Vision Lv. Ex | Sixth Sense Lv. Ex | Toxin Resistance Lv. 1 | Lust Deviant Lv. Ex

Unique Talent
Mystic Blade Lv. Ex | Revenant Lv. Ex

Level Progression: 80%

Remaining Skill Points: 2

Remaining Ability Points: 2

Although her world would spin whenever she opened her eyes, the stat screen remained rooted in her proverbial sight. After all, she wasn’t looking at it with her physical eyes. This screen was nothing more than a projection of her mind.

She let out a dry and meek laugh. This sight had always sort of been a reality check for her. It reminded her that she was truly in a world different from hers. Looking at the numbers, it showed how much she had interacted with this world and how far she had come. Her mood dampened when she saw how serious the vestige was affecting her. Her new body was certainly not fit for drinking.

“Nevermind that… just focus on allocating the points. Let the headache sort itself out.”

Recalling her fight with the Wight, increasing her Might would have certainly helped a lot in such a fight but ultimately, she didn’t win with brute strength. She had won with the use of her swiftness, quick-thinking, and precision. It was also thanks to Arcane Armor that she could last long at all in the fight. And in her recent lessons with Nivia, she had even learned of her affinity with Lightning Magic. She had seen her share of lightning-based attacks in her past life and Lightning Magic was definitely something she wanted in her arsenal. With those in mind, she allocated all of her ability points into Arcane.

[Arcane: 18 increased to 20]

She then increased Arcane Armor level by one, using up two of her skill points.

[Arcane Armor: Lv 5 increased to Lv 6]

To her disappointment, the increment didn’t give her any new spell but it did reduce the Mana consumption for Arcane Armor and also increased the attacks it could take before expiring.

Erin had wanted to use her skill points for Lightning Magic but safety first. Knowing that she could no longer die in the truest sense, it only made her all the more terrified at dying. In the place of death’s hand, there was the hand of her Innate Skill, Lust Deviant, should her experience fail to meet the appropriate amount. The Goddess, Nyx had really given her an effective reminder. Too effective, in fact.

“Damn it, I didn’t get the chance to ask about Lust Deviant.” Erin clicked her tongue.

As she laid wearily on the bed, she began to think of ways she could speak with the Goddess, Nyx again. One of her attempts was praying with her eyes closed, but to no avail. She tried asking Lyra and Nivia about Nyx but neither of them had ever heard of this name. Nivia explained there were at least hundreds of faiths out there, it was impossible to know every single one of them unless one was extremely dedicated to learn about them.

“If only I could find something like a shrine or—” Erin stopped her trail of thoughts there and switched rails. “If I can’t find one, why don’t I just make one myself? Maybe that’s why thoughts didn’t reach Nyx, I didn’t make the necessary preparations.”

It was a common template in tales that every conveyance with the divines required a ritual. She just needed to make a ritual, hopefully one that was simple and devoid of any harmful risks. As she stood up to pursue that idea, her vision immediately toppled and she fell back onto the bed.

“Ugh...” she groaned. She was still at the mercy of her drunken vestige. “Maybe later...”

 

Erinthea - Faerie-kin: Three-Tailed Fox-kin

Level: 12 | Status: Severe Fatigue

Might: 20 | Arcane: 20 | Finesse: 19

Magic Arts
Spirit Magic Lv. 8 | Arcane Edge Lv. 3 | Arcane Armor Lv. 6 | Lightning Magic Lv. 1

Combat Arts
Sword Art Lv. 7 | Fleet Foot Lv. 5 | Brawler Lv. 4

Innate Skills
Appraisal Lv. Ex | Night Vision Lv. Ex | Sixth Sense Lv. Ex | Toxin Resistance Lv. 1 | Lust Deviant Lv. Ex

Unique Talent
Mystic Blade Lv. Ex | Revenant Lv. Ex

 

Level Progression: 80%

Remaining Skill Points: 0

Remaining Ability Points: 0