"So? Are we good?" Luna looked up from where she was standing, holding the sack in her hands.

"Wait. I'm still checking..." Zayne replied as he climbed out of the upwards tunnel he'd just made. He took a peek outside, checking if there were any imps or hounds. After a few moments, he sighed in relief.

"Clear?" she asked, eager to get some fresh air. The soil stopped smelling like someone's sweaty underwear at some point — meaning they'd left the forest's area — but staying underground for almost a day was just too stifling.

"Yep. It's okay now." He took a deep breath as his foot made contact with the surface world's floor.

Luna flew out of the hole with ease, taking a deep breath as well. She basked in the noon sun's light. "Ah~! Sunshine is great~!"

"Says the vampire?" Zayne smirked as he observed his surroundings.

Even though they were out of the forbidden forest's domain, they were still in a place full of trees — albeit those trees didn't have such exaggerated heights, had ordinary-looking brown wooden tree trunks, and lush green leaves. There were also various kinds of bushes around them, some even having a variety of colored berries.

Luna picked a tasty-looking red berry from one of the bushes and sniffed it before holding it up for Zayne to see. "Hey, is this edible?"

"Uh... I dunno. Lemme check." Zayne tried using his [Author's Eyes] on the berry.

 

 

"Oh, that's a bust," He sighed, already somewhat expecting it. "I guess I won't be able to examine anything that I didn't specifically write down..."

'Shit. There's a lot of that. I'm being punished for being a lazy author...'

"So it's kind of like a limited version of the appraisal skills that protagonists usually have? That sucks." Luna furrowed her brows as she popped the berry into her mouth. She chewed it cautiously for a while before her eyes lit up. "Oh, these are pretty okay."

"Yeah? Guess I'll try some then. I'm kinda hungry actually. I could really use a sandwich right about now..." Zayne complained as he picked up a handful of similar-looking berries and shoved them into his mouth.

He only had time to chew for a brief moment before spitting everything out. After a few dry gags, his eyes narrowed to pointedly glare at Luna — whose mouth was stuffed, making her look like a chipmunk. "Was that a prank? Those tasted awful!"

"Hm?" Luna's head tilted in confusion as she munched on her own mouthful of berries. She finished chewing and gulped down the food before replying, "What're you talking about? I wasn't joking, they're yummy."

She plucked out one berry and pushed it into Zayne's mouth.

Zayne gave her a skeptical look as he chewed slowly. After a few seconds, it was his turn to tilt his head in confusion.

"They're pretty okay...?"

"That's what I said, no?" Luna raised an eyebrow as she turned her attention to the bush Zayne got his berries from. She took one and sniffed at it. "They're different, you moron. These smell like... uhm, rotten cheese, maybe?"

"Dammit. How the hell was I supposed to know..."

Zayne walked over to a tree and placed his palm against it as he imagined a large mug made of wood.

<< Loo Mik Ha >>

The part of the tree's trunk seemed to liquefy as an amount of mana much larger than he'd expected drained out of him. His hand grasped the liquified portion, and pulled; taking a chunk of brown goop with it. The blob then floated in front of him, then started forming the shape of a mug. Once it was done, the mug-shaped goo hardened and started falling to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

Zayne deftly caught it as it fell before grinning in satisfaction. 'It worked!'

Just before his MP regened back to full, he checked it.

 

 

'Holy crap! That took thirty-three percent from me? It's just a mug!' Zayne felt exasperated at the increased cost of crafting-related spells like these.

Though the spell he'd just used was one of the spells discovered in the later portion of the novel, so maybe that was part of it? It was the best crafting-related spell in existence after all.

'Meh. Whatever.' He shrugged. 'I just got here after all.'

In the end, he would just have to increase his mana control. That would reduce the costs in the future.

Zayne sighed as he imagined the mug filling with crystal-clear water. Once he was done forming his mental image, he uttered a word.

<< Lu Vigo >>

"Ah~! How refreshing~!" Zayne cried out in pleasure after drinking half of the water in the mug. He then held it out to Luna. "Here."

"No no no. Hold up." She looked at him excitedly. "I want that spell too. The one that you just used to make tree goop!"

"Don't call it tree goop..." Zayne chuckled as he shook his head in exasperation. He used telekinesis to write out the word on the ground. "It's called the creation spell, by the way."

"Can you make food out of this?" Luna asked as her eyes sparkled.

"No. You can only make something if you have the materials for it... as well as immense knowledge of the process. I just made a mug, which is basically just taking some wood and carving it, so I could do it. It's a pretty simple mug, though."

"Aw... but is there a spell for making food...?"

"Nope. Didn't make one. I wish I did though..." Zayne sighed in regret before jokingly adding, "I do have a spell for making ink, though. How's that?"

"Useless." Luna scoffed. She took the mug and chugged the water down.

Zayne proceeded to eat some more berries. This time, he scrutinized them thoroughly before putting them into his mouth. Even after a few mouthfuls, he still didn't feel particularly full.

"These aren't filling at all..." Luna frowned as she massaged her stomach. Her eyes brightened as she remembered something. "Hey, lemme drink some blood."

"Rejected. What if you get horny? Do you expect us to just do it here? In the wilderness?"

"What are you worried about...?" Luna tilted her head. "It wouldn't be the first time, right?"

"That time didn't count. We were technically camping." Zayne retorted. He turned his attention to the sky. "Let's go up. I want to get a better idea of where we are."

"Huh?" She tilted her head to the other side. "I thought we couldn't fly?"

"I didn't say we had to fly." He pointed at a particularly tall tree. "We just need to get to the top of that."

"Oh... then what about those imps you keep talking about?"

"Nah." He shook his head. "We're far enough away from the blackwood forest. It'll be fine."

Zayne held his arms out, prompting Luna to just get on with it.

"Pffft." She held her laughter in while she princess-carried Zayne, then flew up as high as possible.

A chilling wind blew on their faces as they rose up, especially in Zayne's crotch area.

He still didn't have pants, after all.

 

---

 

It took a bit of effort, but they eventually reached the top of the relatively big tree.

Standing on a solid branch, Zayne surveyed the scenery. Looking behind them, he could still see the towering trees of the blackwood forest in the distance. To their sides were trees. Lots of trees.

To their front, beyond a barren wasteland that spanned seemingly endlessly, Zayne could see a mountain, though it looked like a hill since they were so far away.

Zayne — who'd spent a week making a map for his story's world — knew which mountain that was.

"Great. I know where we are." He smiled before pointing to the front. "Let's head in the direction of that mountain. We should come upon a village at some point."

"Roger," Luna answered as she set off, flying — just a few meters off the ground — as fast as she could.

 

---

 

"Are you sure that's it?" Luna had a face full of doubt as she hid behind a tree on a cliff overlooking the village.

"Don't make that face." Zayne looked down at the nameless hamlet. "It's a given that it'd look like shit. This is a medieval Dark Fantasy."

There were only about twenty or so houses, each small enough that they could probably only house a maximum of five people. The bricks forming the walls of the houses were covered in dark green moss, looking as if they'd started combining with the earth itself. Right next to each house, was a small field that the residents used to grow vegetables for self-consumption.

Two structures stood out in the hamlet, a relatively large house and a three-story wooden building on the outskirts of the village.

Zayne — the author of GMAG — knew that they were the village chief's house and the inn respectively.

"An inn? Here?" Luna asked, bewildered at the idea that an inn would see any business here. There were only uninhabited forests and even the supposedly forbidden forest nearby.

"Merchants pass by from time to time. Plus it sells booze to the villagers and lodgings for the occasional traveler. At least, that's the reason I wrote." Zayne explained as he eyed the horses and wagons parked right outside the inn. "And that's not the only reason why the innkeeper is here. The bitch is a cannibal. This place is the perfect place for her to just abduct lone travelers. Law enforcement is pretty much non-existent here, after all."

"What the hell...?" Luna frowned as she listened.

"Don't worry. She's super weak. Poison is her main weapon, which she uses to spike her customers' food. We're both immune to poison so she's harmless," Zayne assured before nudging his chin toward the village. "Now, go get me some pants."

"Fine." Luna was about to shapeshift into a bat but stopped. Her eyes widened in realization before they narrowed into crescents as she needled her beloved. "This is the perfect time for you to become my consort, right?"

'I won't let you get out of it this time!' she thought.

"Oh, you're right." Without waiting for anything else, Zayne took Luna's arm and bit into it, drawing blood.

"Oh..." Luna gasped in surprise. It did hurt a little, but she didn't mind. Or rather, the memories she inherited from Ilya included those of much more grueling pain, so Zayne's bite was nothing in comparison.

"This tastes just as metallic as normal blood." Zayne mused as he licked up the blood while looking intently into Luna's eyes. He smirked when he saw her ears burn red before giving the wound he made one last kiss. "How many points did I earn for doing that without hesitation?"

"..." Luna's brows furrowed as she tried to suppress the blush rising into her cheeks. "You could've gotten a hundred out of ten points, but you only get nine. Since you ruined the mood by asking."

"Harsh..." Zayne chuckled as he held out a sack. He was starting to feel something surging through his veins but he didn't resist its invasion. "Take it. There's probably money inside the pouches. Grant stole them from a corpse as he escaped."

"Okay..." Luna took the sack and used telekinesis to take out the two pouches, checking how much money was inside them. "Three gold coins, seven silver coins, and thirty-five copper coins. That's... three thousand, plus seven hundred, plus thirty-five... so it's 3735 bits?"

"Yep. Sounds about right." Zayne nodded, glad that he didn't have to explain how much each coin was worth. His eyes were becoming increasingly heavier, but he couldn't pass out before he'd sent Luna off. "It's great that you have a village girl's memories. You'll fit in fine there."

"Mm." Luna tied the pouches to the belt she was wearing but gave the knife back to Zayne. "I don't really need this. Oh, and what's happening with you?"

"You'll need it. Shapeshifting your arms into claws will get you found out." He pushed the knife toward her. "Nothing, I'm just feeling really sleepy. Must be because of the consort thingy."

'I wish I added a bit more detail to that. Like not being sleepy. Or maybe adding a bit about the transformation only taking a few seconds. Fuck.'

"Oh, okay... sleep well? But isn't it too dangerous to sleep out in the open like this?"

"I plan to make a tunnel and stay there till you come back with some pants. And a tunic. My dingdong just swaying with the wind is really uncomfortable..." Zayne gave his crotch a little rub. It was starting to itch, what with it being out in the open all the time.

"You sure like those tunnels of yours." Luna quipped.

"Don't worry, your hole is still my favorite." Zayne's lips curled into a skeevy smirk as he cast a tunneling spell — which he'd used so much, he could now cast them without using the Word of Power. He slipped inside and covered it up with dirt before Luna could make a comeback.

"This bastard..." Luna couldn't help but giggle as her entire body was surrounded by darkness. Soon, the human-shaped shadow turned into a bat-shaped shadow as the darkness dispersed, revealing an actual bat.

'It sure is nice that my clothes and stuff get transformed with me, otherwise, I'd be naked every time I turned back. Like those werewolves in TV shows.'

As she thought of how convenient being a vampire was, Luna set off on her errand.

A quest to get her lover some pants.