They traveled for over half a day, through the bumpy, winding path through the forest. Ven fell asleep early on, and Violet and Luke chatted softly on about their lives outside the game. Nikola remained engrossed in her studies.
She was beginning to recognize common themes and symbols. Certain strings appeared more than once, peppered throughout her code. She could see which sections governed which skills, and where one skill ended and another began.
With that knowledge, she could then discern which formulas governed her damage output.
So these would be the numbers she would change, if she wanted to change how much harm she could inflict upon others. She could inflict maximum harm.
"Uhhhh... Nikola?"
Violet and Luke were both staring at her in unison.
"Yes?"
"You're, umm-- glitching. Kind of a lot? Are you okay?"
Nikola allowed her Red Box to dissipate, and slowly her hands began to reform into a hand shape again, as opposed to what she could only describe as multicolored, square bloodsplatter.
"I am fine." She hadn't noticed the presence of the tiny squares until now, but now that she was aware of them she knew she needed to stop her research. They seemed to crop up more whenever she interacted with her Butcher Class, and oh boy had she been interacting with her Butcher Class. She would have to stop her studying now to avoid arousing suspicion.
Minutes later, the horses outside began to slow from a gallop to a trot. "We have arrived at our destination," the man outside riding the horses shouted.
Ven's scarlet eyes cracked open. "Let us go conquer the land," she said as she grabbed her staff from her side. It glinted in the crimson light from outside the carriage. Nikola almost laughed at her determination; she had awakened from a dead sleep to state her wish to conquer, without even yawning first.
The party packed up their things, and Nikola slipped out of the carriage first, followed by the others. They were in a new section of the woods now, a lighter-coloured meadow with tall, swaying grass. A white picket fence jutted from the ground, marking Sweetstay's entrance.
"What are we going to do if somebody has already taken Sweetstay?" Violet frowned when she scanned the area and found the grass to already be bent in some places. Footprints.
"Well, do we have any interest in sharing the city?" Luke asked her.
"I wouldn't mind sharing. I think we would just have to see if the current owners have reasonable rates, and if not... well, then we can consider if we want the city enough to try to take it."
Ven's eyes drank in the city as they all passed the picket fence. It was a small, quaint village, nowhere near the size of the Copper Citadel. There were twelve houses total, each with a garden larger than the house itself. The abundance of flowers made the area smell sweet, comforting and homey. "I want it enough to take it," she decided, looking upon a cluster of violets. She walked up and plucked one, ruminating in her thoughts before crushing it in a fist, the petals falling limpy from between her fingers.
"Can we at least try to reason with them first? We do have an empty spot in our party. We could find our final member here, if we're really lucky."
"If we were looking to pay somebody for permission to stay within their dwelling, we would have remained at the inn. Violet, time is of the essence. If the entities who own this land presently don't seem willing to relinquish it or give us a very good deal, I am going to remove them from the equation." Nikola made sure her cleaver was ready to be removed from its wrappings at a moment's notice, and that her armour was properly equipped.
The others in the party followed suit, equipping weapons and armour and making sure their weapons were at the ready. Violet looked the least pleased to be doing so. "Okay-- that's fair, but it makes me sad."
"Just think of being able to pick our houses once this place is all ours. We'll have one house each, and you'll be able to decorate the inside of yours with whatever cute shit you want," Luke reassured her with a nudge to her side. The two of them had increased how much physical contact they were sharing, Nikola noticed.
"My own house all to myself? I had never even considered that," Violet marveled, looking excitedly from house-to-house to pick out the best candidate.
She approached one of the houses nestled closer to the center of town. It was overflowing with sunflowers so large it was a miracle they hadn't tipped over yet, and the daisies were in bloom and looking just radiant. She padded softly up the walkway with her mouth wide open in wonder. "I would have to see the inside of this one, but I just love how cartoonishly large these sunflowers are. I think maybe I would prefer this one?"
The door to the house swung open in that moment, a puff of glitter bursting from it as a winged person with aqua-tinged skin emerged from the doorway. Their arms were crossed as they blew their similarly aqua-coloured hair from their eyes. "This one's taken," they barked out, their wings jutting out stiffly behind them, "and so is the rest of Sweetstay. Now get out of here or face the wrath of Glammter."
"What is a Glammter?" Nikola asked, looking around for a flower that could perhaps match the name.
"It's the name of our party," growled a second fairy-person, who leaned out from the now-open entrance to the house.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get us off on the wrong foot." Violet put her hands up in an attempt to diffuse the mounting aggression coming from the fairies. "I really don't want to fight you. Do you think there's a possibility we could share Sweetstay? It doesn't need to be this house in particular, I just like i--"
The blue-tinged fairy person cut in. "We really just need you to leave. We don't need anybody else meddling in our lives right now."
They sounded tense, and lowered their stance such that they were ready to pounce. One of them was wielding a thin sword, and the other a bow, which was perched upon their back. They reached backward to grab it with their lithe fingers.
"Okay, but what if we just only left a few feet that way and stayed in one of the other house--"
"Leave. Now."
Their jaws were held tight, tense. They were both struggling not to look back over their shoulder, their attention split between them and whatever had been going on before they knocked.
One of them was wearing a thin sword still in its sheath, and the other had a bow perched on their back. It was smaller and much cuter than anything Nikola was used to seeing. Their armour did not look as effective as hers, fashioned out of cloth and bits of hardened leather, and she could see the vulnerabilities. A cutout at the dip in their waist, an entire section with only cloth and no lining.
They looked between each other. Just as they were about to speak, a scream rang out from behind them.
Before they had a chance to react, the screamer burst through the two fairies guarding the door. "Heeeeeelp!"
