The Orc’Lin warrior’s expression was furious. I knew I just had killed five of these monsters, but solely his stare turned my knees into jelly. The others had the same stats as him, but they weren’t fighters. This one however was, and the difference was obvious, just from its gaze.

I wasn’t a fighter either. I wasn’t even used to the weapons in my hands. The only advantage I had was my intelligence. He was clearly superior. Yet, he didn’t attack.

Why didn’t he attack? Did he not see me as a threat anymore, now that there was no-one left to protect?

Should I attack first? Cold sweat ran down my forehead. The warrior just stood there, calmly holding his sword and locking his eyes with mine.

» Please, just do something… attack… move… anything! « I pleaded in my head.

I raised the rapier, readying myself to attack. I was about to plunge forward, when a cold feeling in my stomach stopped me.

» No, calm down! He’s just messing with my mind. I already know he can block my attack without much 
effort. «

The only chance I had, was to trick him into letting his guard down. Attacking first would be a deadly mistake. That was a warrior for you, he knew his passivity would upset me. I nearly jumped headfirst into a trap. Still, how could I trick him? Throwing my dagger? No, I already did that with the hatchet, he wouldn’t fall for that again. What other choices did I have? I cautiously looked around, always keeping an eye on my enemy.

Seeing me hesitate, it dawned on him, that I wasn’t going to conveniently walk right into his trap. So, he propelled itself forward, hacking his sword down at me. Already expecting that, I dodged and gave him broad grin.

The warrior indifferently slashed his blade at me again. This time I let out a soft giggle while dodging. For a moment I shocked myself with that cute noise, that came out of my mouth.

» I’m a girl… I forgot… «

After the next strike I showed him my cheekiest smirk.

Roaaah-keeh

My mocking finally started to take effect. The slashes became more aggressive. Yet, I still only dodged and grinned. The fast and angry strikes became more and more difficult to evade. I was barely able to keep up the mocking smile. I gradually got out of breath. If he didn’t let his guard down soon, I would eventually be too exhausted to dodge.

Suddenly, I tripped. I forgot the bodies, that lied around everywhere. I did catch my balance back, but the Orc’Lin’s blade grazed my arm, leaving a burning, red line on my skin. Fired up, by the sudden hit, his attacks sped up even more. In his raging assault, he left me no time to breathe. Step by step, I was pushed back, completely without control of the movement of our battle. I couldn’t even gather my strength to leap out of its range. I barely avoided the blade, growing more tired with every step.

An evil grin on the warrior’s face wiped the mocking facade off my face. A second later I learned the reason for his smirk. My back touched the bark of a tree. My only way to escape was blocked. Panic started to fill my head, sweeping away every rational thought.

I didn’t want to die in that state. Hell, I didn’t want to die at all. The warrior raised his sword for the final strike.

» No… «

My heart raced, as if trying to make up for all the heartbeats of a lifetime. That was, when I came up with the most stupid idea, I ever thought of. I dropped the rapier, smiled wholeheartedly and threw myself at the warrior, trapping him in a tight embrace. I could smell his foul breath and I could hear him gasp for air, as my dagger sunk into the back of his neck.

The warrior fell in slow motion, his confident expression frozen on his face. I tumbled a few more steps, before my shaking legs gave in and dropped me onto the pharmacist’s body. I fell right through her soul.

I expected it to disappear instantaneously, sucked into my stomach. However, it just shrunk a little, while a feverish dizziness, swept my consciousness away. Pictures and names spiralled through my head. Was I going insane?

The feeling vanished, as fast as it appeared. Just a few bits remained stuck in my head. Names and uses for maybe a dozen of plants. Immediately my exhaustion was replaced by curiosity.

» Did I just tap into the pharmacist’s memories? «

Forcing myself back onto my legs, I eyed the other souls floating around me. A moment of deliberation later, I threw myself into the other souls. One after another, they filled my head with a headspinning stream of pictures and thoughts, too fast to be able to comprehend the information. Only a few scraps of knowledge remained. From the tailor it were a few stitching techniques, from the leatherworker, the method to cleanly skin an animal. Not much, but useful, nevertheless. The warrior’s “present” was innumerable times more valuable.

At first, I was disappointed, thinking that nothing of its knowledge remained, but when I picked up my rapier, a strange feeling entered my mind. The way I held the sword, suddenly felt wrong and I changed my grip until it disappeared, or rather it wandered to my legs, urging me to correct my stance. An instinct, that taught me how to wield a sword. Definitely an invaluable “present”.

I relieved the pharmacist of her sheath and belt. I would have liked her clothes too, but they were soaked in blood. So, I settled for the rapier, and the two daggers plus sheaths. I also tried taking the sword, but it was too heavy for me to swing around, and the rapier had already served me well. I waited for the shrunken souls to turn into magic stones. I of course tried eating one of the souls before I let them settle, but it was impossible. That meant I could either tap into a soul’s memories or eat it, not both. After collecting the thumb-sized stone, I returned to the Orc’Lins’ house. They wouldn’t need it anymore after all.

I just hoped, I wouldn’t encounter another monster. Five of these guys were definitely enough for a day. I was lucky. The house was empty, and I didn’t even stumble across a goblin on my way here.

The blacksmith’s soul had already condensed into a magic stone, so I couldn’t borrow his memories anymore, but the stone itself was much larger compared to those, I collected from the others.

» Seems like stealing memories consumes half of the soul, huh… «

Well, there was no point in crying over spilled milk, so I just took the nearly fist sized stone with me into the house.

Inside, I let my eyes wander around. Except for the ceiling, the ground floor was built from stone. There were four desks and several display stands around. The Orc’lins were using this floor as a workshop then. It was easy to spot which one belonged to which monster. Their work materials were still spread on their respective desks. I inspected the tailor’s workspace a little closer. He had been working on new clothes for the pharmacist.

That meant there might even be more spare clothes somewhere on the first floor. Excited from the thought of not having to run around in underwear anymore, I climbed up the ladder. This floor was entirely made of wood and had a much warmer feel to it then the cold stone walls in the workshop below. These were definitely living quarters. Opening door after door I searched for the pharmacist’s room. I needed women’s clothing after all.

When I opened the last door, a strong aromatic smell hit my nose. Bundles of dried herbs hung down from the ceiling, spreading their pleasant. The scent was a little strong, but I liked it. That was definitely the right room. Opening the wardrobe, I found several sets of clothes.

» Finally! «

Immediately I picked a set of under wear, made from smooth nearly white cloth and started changing. This cloth really was a lot smoother than the rags I had been wearing. When I removed the bra, the goblin’s magic stone fell down, rolling around the floor. I bent down, to pick it up, when I saw something move in the corner of my eyes.

I jumped at the sight of a beautiful naked girl right beside me. She had long crimson hair, falling down to her hips, a tail with the same colour, and cute little cat ears on top of her head. I looked into her emerald green eyes and she stared back. That girl was me, wasn’t she? Being able to make a mirror of this quality… these Orc’Lins were really impressive craftsmen.

I stared at my mirror self, taking in the view of my new appearance. Still, my status clearly stated my age as 16, but my body looked like I was twelve at best. Judging from the image, I was about 1.4m tall, maybe even less. Really the only thing, that didn’t look completely childish were my breasts. They weren’t big or anything, but definitely there. Two small, round hills. They fitted my appearance really well. I stared at myself a little longer. I needed to get familiar with myself after all. It wasn't definitely because I was cute or anything…

» No, I’m not a lolicon! « I really didn’t have such a taste, or rather I’ve never been interested in any of this dirty stuff at all, so why did this view have such a strong effect on me now. I shook my head.

» It’s probably just because I’m not used to see a girl in the mirror. «

I continued dressing myself. The bra was more of a breastband than an actual bra, but as long as it did its job, I didn’t really care about that detail. I found some short leather pants, that reached the top of my knees, and had pockets at the side of my thighs.

As a top I chose a dark brown shirt made from linen. The fact that it was a bit loose around my breasts, was a little blow on my confidence, but I recovered fast. Also, the shirt was cropped, leaving my belly uncovered, but I preferred it that way.

» Did the past few days walking around in underwear turn me into an exhibitionist? «

While rummaging through the clothes I also discovered a cropped, short-sleeved leather jacket, that went perfectly with my shirt. Though that jacket’s only purpose seemed to be fashion. It was cut in a way that it was impossible to close it. At last, i put on the belt i took from the pharmacist, attached the sheaths from the rapier and one of the daggers. The other dagger ended up bound to my leg.

I posed in front of the mirror, judging my now dressed appearance. I gave off a cute, but adventurous feeling. Perfect!

NoisySilence

Hiya, I hope you liked the chapter. :)

It's the first time I used the schedule function. It's quite convenient actually...

Also, while planning the future plot, I thought of adding a little romance to it. Though I really don't know if that's a good idea... I'ver never tried writing something in that direction... We'll see...

Anyways, our MC will be forced to choose her name in the next few chapters, so look forward to it.

Until then, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, and whatever lines a non-socially awkward person would add... :)