Elania had retreated from the roof and into the building to gather her things. She had no idea what was going to happen, but she wanted to be prepared. Being on the run was exhausting, and even more so when circumstances and monsters conspired to kill her. 

For all she knew the newcomers would try to kill her as soon as they saw her, like the paladin. Somehow she thought that was a bit unlikely, the Mushroohums had gone through the trouble of keeping her alive, so it seemed like it would be counterproductive to let her stay if the new arrivals were going to start a fight with her in the middle of their village.

The new information from [Identify] was interesting, though. She had taken the chance to use it on them before turning away.

 

[Novice Monk - Human - Lvl 43]

[Novice Monk - Human - Lvl 39]

[Novice Monk - Human - Lvl 41]

[Novice Monk - Human - Lvl 37]

[Holy Monk - Human - Lvl 87]

[Martial Monk - Human - Lvl 95]

[Ranger - Human - Lvl 276]

 

Gathering up several of the Mushroohum spears she had worked on, she slid them into the loops on her javelin harness and fetched an extra spear. They were much better than the ones she had made herself. In all probability, the village had someone who spent their time leveling their crafting skill on them.

She did her best to sort her outfit she had improvised. It was barely acceptable in her mind, but it was better than having another encounter without any clothes at all. 

She looked over to the Mana Shard and scooped it up, going to put it in the new backpack they had given her. It had been a pleasant surprise, and its craftsmanship gave it away as one of the items the Mushroohums imported. It certainly had plenty of pockets along with metal clasps to keep them closed. 

She turned her attention back to the Mana Shard, and [Identify] gave her some further information on it as well.

 

[Mana Shard (Condensed) 701/1456]

 

She frowned because, according to that, it meant it had already used half of its stored Power. She didn't want to waste the Mana Shard’s power, but that meant figuring out a way to absorb monsters' essence without the side effects… or a way to charge the Mana Shard? 

There wasn't anyone present in the storeroom, and once she was ready, Elania decided to wait. So far, the Mushroohums had been friendly, and she was going to have to put her trust in them, so she found a chair in a corner and sat down.

It was a while later when a knock came at the door, and then Skinner entered. Seeing him again reminded her of just how big he was compared to the other Mushroohums. There was a discolored scar on his head from the wound he’d received when they had fought the Darkwalker and it almost sent her down a theory-crafting trip about Mushroohum biology.

"Glua-glaa." He made a beckoning gesture as if he wanted her to follow him which put her out of her woolgathering. 

"Right. I guess it’s time to meet the guests."

She had always been anxious when she had to present something in front of the class in school. Elania wasn’t exactly one of the social butterflies in her peer group, but she was fine with her small circle of friends. 

Meeting other humans that might or might not want to kill her turned out to be just as anxiety-inducing as the class presentations she despised.

'Kidnapped to a strange world and given superpowers, and they couldn't bother to cure nerves. The fucking gall.'

Mercifully, it wasn't far to their destination. The red-clothed Mushroohum was sitting atop a ramshackle looking wooden throne. She wanted to quip about petty tyrants, but it was the man standing at the front of the party of humans that caught her attention.

There was a murmur of 'Glua-Glaa,' upon her arrival but the humans remained silent. The man at the front was holding out some type of a glowing golden ball. The Mushroohum chief had a similar item in his hand, but his was silver and considerably less bright.

Was it magic or an item? Elania honestly couldn't tell because of the magical hue around the orbs. She tried to use Identify. 

 

[???????]

 

It spit out a useless array of question marks, although that at least told her it was an item. What did quickly become apparent was that it was allowing some form of communication between them. The ranger talked, but no voice seemed to carry through the air, but the Mushroohum’s responded as if they understood exactly what he was saying. A fit of petty jealousy blossomed in her.

'I really needed one of those. I wonder how common magic items here are if they show it off so blatantly? Or is that just some type of show of strength?'

As she settled into place beside Skinner, the monks noticed her. They reacted like they had been prodded with a hot poker. One looked terrified, and the man beside him actually had to grab his arm to hold him still. Another pointed at her, and a quiet whispering made her ears burn.

Elania couldn't make out what they were saying, which was exceedingly annoying. At least they hadn’t suddenly attacked her, although one of the monks glared at her hatefully as if he were ready to try and kill her at a moment's notice.  She was glad that Skinner was standing just in front of her. Even if she couldn't speak to them, the Mushroohums felt a lot safer than the one who was staring daggers at her.

The monks had brought packs of metal tools, like the ones she'd seen in the storage shed. Some type of trade was taking place, and judging by the looks of it, there was an argument over price. The more baskets that were brought into the hall, the angrier the chief Mushroohum became. 

Elania's gaze fell back to the man with the orb, who looked like he had little in common with the others. He was plastered with belts and pouches and what she assumed were sheaths for knives, whereas they had poofy oriental looking outfits that were in a completely different style.  

The Ranger had two swords hung on his belt, and a bow strung across his chest and a quiver was peeking out from behind a shoulder. It was almost humorous because he looked like a video game character that fit the armed to the teeth trope. This wasn't a video game though, and the fact that he probably knew how to use them all was a bit worrying.

He was older than the others as well, maybe in his thirties or early forties. The monks looked like they were much closer to her in age, if not a bit younger.

The ranger must have noticed her staring as he glanced at her and offered her a smile before turning back to the negotiations. Somehow, that didn’t reassure her much. 

More and more baskets arrived until finally, the angry Chief Mushroohum stood up and shouted, "Glua-Glaa!" Then pointed directly at her. Everyone's attention was directed at her, and she shifted uncomfortably.

What, were they going to argue about her?? 

The ranger relayed something to the monks, and the one that had glared at her started yelling at him. When the ranger conveyed whatever was said to the Chief a gesture from the Mushroohum suddenly had baskets disappearing.

That elicited a panic from the two monks that seemed to be in charge as they seemed to change their tune, and yelled for the baskets to return.

After another exchange of ‘orb talk’ the baskets returned and some type of settlement seemed to be reached. Elania noticed that Skinner was now highly agitated. He stepped forward and suddenly shouted out a loud ‘Glaa!’ that set the other Mushroohums to silence.

The musty smell she had learned to associate with the Mushroohums filled the room, and she suddenly realized what it meant. ‘Do they communicate via smell or something?’ 

Skinner and the Mushroohum Chief seemed to lock their attention on each other, but whatever struggle going on between them was silent. Eventually, the others began to speak up and the smell intensified. Whatever argument there had been, the Chief seemed to have lost when he picked up the orb and started to hammer at the arm of his throne with a fist.

Whatever had been discussed was relayed to the two monks in charge, and the one that disliked her shouted. “Like hell we will!”

Elania had even been able to hear it clearly, despite the murmuring Mushroohums.

Another furious exchange occurred and the Chief became livid. Another basket came forward to be added to the village’s offering. The ranger relayed that to the monks, and the two were divided on the response before the older man seemed to break the tie. With the argument decided the losing monk settled into an angry glare at her. He didn't seem happy that he had lost.

Skinner's hand settled on her shoulder lightly and urged her to step forward. She let out a breath that she hadn't known she had been holding and followed his lead. Looking over the monk party again, they seemed to all draw inward and avoided meeting her gaze.

Except for the leader. He smiled at her again and started to talk.

"They tell us you killed the Demon Darkwalker... and you have a bit of a communication problem with the locals."

After an awkward pause, Elania found herself struggling with what to say.

"I guess it intruded into your territory...?"

Her territory? Demons had territories? Maybe the area had been the Darkwalker Demon’s territory, and when it had sensed her, it had come up to investigate. She had her Aura on for a while without knowing what it did, plus the whole moss-fire escapade… she hadn’t really been subtle with her exploration and escape from the cultists. 

When she didn't answer and only looked more confused, the hint of a frown appeared on the Ranger’s face.

"You do speak common, don't you?"

"Yes, I do."

‘Seems like English to me, but maybe that’s what Universal Speech does, but why doesn’t it work for the Mushroohums? Because they use smell or something?’

For a moment, he was taken aback by her curt answer, but the next tidbit was something she had been worried about. Other than skinner, she hadn’t failed to notice the local inhabitants' wary looks, even if few were outright hostile like the chief.

"They want us to take you away. The chieftain doesn't want you remaining in the village regardless of however much you aided them. Naturally, we would take care of you if you refused to leave."

The implied threat and statement that they could take ‘care’ of her was worrisome. Elania wasn't entirely surprised about the threat or the Chief’s reaction. Skinner wasn't the one really in charge, and he had likely taken a considerable risk when he saved her from the spears. She owed him a fair bit for that. Causing any trouble would not be the best way to repay him.

“That’s not all. Your friend managed to convince most of the others that simply throwing you out wasn’t right after you fought for them. He basically coerced the chief into forcing us to accept payment for escorting you to Neftasu.”

“What’s Neftasu?”

“The largest city you’ll find in the region.”

She had so many questions to ask. 

“You’re a new one aren’t you?” He glanced at her as he asked, and Elania felt a little apprehensive.

“A new what?”

“Demon.”

Right. She wasn’t sure how much information she wanted to give away to him. Something about his vibe screamed at her to be careful, but lying about her experience wasn’t going to help and she didn’t know enough to make it convincing anyway.

“Yeah.”

“I’m surprised you were able to gain a new form so quickly.”

She frowned, although the story of her fight with the Demon Darkwalker was probably the first thing the Mushroohum’s had told him. She wasn’t sure why her turning into a Darkwalker was the first thing he brought up though.

“I’ll go with you. I don’t want to overstay my welcome here, and a city sounds like a good place to go. I do have some questions I’d like to ask you.”

The ranger looked at her for a long moment, as if he was measuring her, before nodding. “Yes I imagine you do. The village is hosting us until tomorrow, they’ll want you to stay with us until we leave.”

She nodded in acceptance, yet couldn't help but give an accusing glare at the red-robed Mushroohum Chieftain. He was an asshole, and she was now sure that this trait extended to some Mushroohums just like humans. As she stared at him he shrank in his throne before looking away from her. 

“Glaa.”

She turned away and looked at Skinner who was still at her side. She owed him a lot, and while she wasn’t sure how traveling with the monks was going to go, she felt very thankful that he had put himself forward to negotiate for her. Being cast back out into the wilds alone would have felt like a step backward.

Suddenly she stepped forward impulsively and hugged the big Mushroohum. He didn’t really react, but he didn’t push her away either. They’d never been able to talk, but somehow they had managed to communicate at least a little.

“Thank you, Skinner.”

“Glaa.”

The monks had already left with their baskets, and the Ranger was waiting impatiently at the entrance. She turned and followed.

---