When I woke up, I had a choice to make. It was important-- one that had the power to destroy my current life. I walked out of my bedroom in shorts and a shirt, not bothering to cover my mismatched arms or legs. 

Kokan’s eyes went wide for a moment, then he nodded. “You chose to trust me, I assume?” 

“Can’t really take this back now, can I?” I sat down beside Irisa. She wore something casual and relaxing, the same as her father. “Let’s hope I don’t regret this.” 

“My wife has given her word. You’ll always be welcome here, and you’ll always have a bed to sleep in.” 

“Thanks, dad,” Irisa said, smiling at her father. 

“You’re welcome, sweetheart. I have not been around a chimera before, so I’m not sure how to say this... I know you needed to fight to obtain some semblance of a conscious mind, so I don’t know how much you know about the world. If you have a question, please ask me. My mind is my greatest weapon.” 

Ichiha stood by the stove as she whisked some eggs and fried some bacon, sharing her daughter's smile. I didn’t pry into the situation more than needed, but she was on cloud nine. Their problems were fixed, so their only task was to be a family. That wasn’t enough, though. I saw it in Irisa’s yellow eyes. She probably felt great embarrassment for stoutly believing in her father’s guilt than innocence, betraying his trust.  For years, he lived with Irisa’s hatred. Likewise, I doubt Irisa spared more than a handful of gentle thoughts during that time.  

She did speak almost fondly of him when we went shopping that one time. Maybe the part that wanted to believe his innocence crawled to the forefront of her mind. Perhaps it was that wayward thought that led to this reunion.   

That didn’t change the fact that Irisa lost years with her father, which sprung from her own misconceptions about how he acted. A touching reunion wasn’t an elixir to fix their relationship. 

I nodded to Kokan and explained the ‘continent’ where I became sentient. His eyes grew wide at the ‘Continental Wars’ and ‘Divine Armaments’ capable of nuclear devastation and controlling hunks of metal with explosives strapped to devices that could fly without anyone at the helm. Even someone as scholarly as Kokan never thought a place so advanced and powerful could exist. The gears in his mind began to spin, and he asked me if I was telling the truth.   

Irisa scolded him for not believing me before apologizing, but Tilde said it was all the truth. She had my back and playfully argued with Kokan while I stood up, even going as far as to draw out the rough shape of a plane on a piece of paper. Breakfast was nearly finished, so I went to fetch the hungover Lionfolk. She was still in bed, hunched under the covers and groaning when I left. Tilde went hard on her this morning, laughing so much that she didn’t think alcohol could bring down the Dark Lord of Tyranny.   

“Good morning,” I said, slowly opening the door and peeking my head through.   

Sekh was finishing putting on her tunic. She seemed a little unsteady, so I walked in, wiped the hair from her eyes, and kissed her. The sweet taste of alcohol remained on her lips.  

“Morning, Master. Umm… Was I any trouble? Last night?” 

“Not at all. You were pretty affectionate, always grabbing and wanting to hold me. It was cute, really cute. You were like, ‘Master, I wuv you!!! Maaaasterrrrr!’ Then after I slipped into bed, you clung to me like a pillow. Oh, you talked in your sleep and referred to me as ‘my liege.’” 

Sekh stared at me, not knowing whether to be horrified or embarrassed. Luckily, she chose the latter and nervously touched the tips of her fingers together. “I… I wuv you, Master…” she whispered, abashedly looking towards the ground as her light gray cheeks turned red. 

“Haha! I wuv you too.”  

After hugging her, she asked me if I preferred ‘Master’ or ‘my liege.’  

“You can just call me Mila, you know,” I said, brushing my hand against her cheek. “’My liege’ makes me sound like I’m royalty, but I’m not. And ‘Master’ reminds me of a slave owner, and you know my feelings about that. I guess it’s your choice. Anyways, how are you feeling?” 

“Much better now. Is that breakfast? I’m not hungry—” 

“You’re eating. Doesn’t matter if you’re hungry or not. It’ll reduce the alcohol absorption rate.” 

“But—” 

“Trust me, Sekh. You’ll feel better faster.” Sekh gave me a nod, then joined the rest of the family at the table.  

Family? I won’t ever be their family. And I can’t stay here forever because I have people to kill. The question is when should we leave? Tomorrow? No, that’s too soon. We don’t have the supplies. Wait, Kokan’s an instructor. He says his mind is his greatest asset, but his weapon skills aren’t anything to scoff at. If I can learn how to fight from him, I’ll feel much better about my odds. Even if I’m primarily a ranged fighter, I can’t exactly use Reina’s gun right out in the open if I can help it. I’ll have to wait for the Barclay’s shop to open up. 

Hold on, that gives me an idea. Since Irisa and her parents hate the Barclays, I can steal from them without feeling bad, not that I ever felt upset in the first place. If I need any crafting supplies like thread or mushrooms and raw materials, their shop is the place to be. I gotta save money, after all. And the Barclays deserve everything rotten that happens to them. 

Still, I need to be self-sustaining by the time we leave Ria. 

I walked back to the kitchen to see a moment that wasn’t even offered to me in my previous life. A mother, a father, and a daughter. Where was the yelling? The shouting? The fighting? The chipped teeth and rotten food? The sight of a young boy being yanked out of his chair by a father and having his wrist broken? 

“My liege?” Sekh turned and spoke up, having made her choice on what to call me. She walked over and grabbed my hand. “Breakfast is done, so let’s make a plate.” I looked past her to see a family with smiles, not frowns. A family wanted me to eat with them. Wanted me to share my story with them. Wanted me to be me and no one else. Wanted me to be happy, not cower and squalor in fear, fright, and disease.  

Can this… 

---

After breakfast, I stared at Kokan, struggling to open my mouth as his daughter poked and prodded at my furred forearm while I practiced my transfigurations. Tilde rubbed her cheeks against its softness. Sekh was nursing her hangover, and Ichiha was getting her a cup of water with sugar and salt to regain the minerals she lost. 

“I need a favor,” I suddenly blurted out. 

“Hm?” He raised an eyebrow and told me to ask away.  

“I need to learn how to fight. I’m more adept at using firearms and attacking from a distance, but I won't always have that luxury. There'll be times in which I need to get in close, but... Can you help me? Train me, I mean?"

“That is something I can certainly do. Before I became an academic, I was a weapon instructor at the guild. What weapon do you want to learn?” I procured my crudely constructed spear from storage and grasped it, and Kokan nodded. “Very well. I haven’t taught anyone in a long time, but if you’ll have me as your instructor, I will teach you what I know. We’ll do it in the backyard when you’re ready. 

I nodded towards my future instructor and returned to my room to get dressed in an outfit I'd come to love. The long skirt? Well, it just felt fluffy for some reason. Honestly, I wanted to acquire [Base Body] to get my limbs the same skin tone as my face and chest—if only to wear other kinds of clothes. I was lucky to have gotten this far without any troublemakers attempting to either yank my sleeves or hike up my skirt, but I might have Sekh and Irisa to thank for that. Them and the fact that High Elves were supposed to be snobbish and haughty while being difficult to approach. Well, Irisa tried to take my gloves off, but I’d already forgiven her.  

When I returned to the kitchen, Irisa held a pair of wooden spears and swords. She wanted to join us not only because she wanted to learn from her father but because she wanted to spend time with him. Those years she spent hating and wishing for his death could not be returned, and that was forever lost to the bowels of the universe.  

Irisa put down the wooden armaments, hugged her father, and he hugged her back, kissing her forehead and rubbing her hair. Sekh came to the backyard with us and sat in the shade.   

“Oh, can I make a request?” I picked up a wooden spear after Irisa sat the training weapons down and swung it around my body. 

“Go for it,” Kokan said, taking off his shirt and exposing his broad upper body. He had muscles for days, and like his daughter, there had to be tremendous power waiting to be brought out.  

I told him about how I survived a knife slitting my throat, being gored by a boar, and how that spider nearly stopped my heart from its venom... Having a dozen goblins stab their disgusting spears into my stomach, slitting me open while watching my guts fall out. Biomass allowed me to regenerate from wounds that should have killed me, and I was going to use it here. In short, I was asking Kokan to not go easy on me because I could heal from the pain. I knew Sekh wouldn’t like it because I’d get hurt, so I asked for her forgiveness. 

“I understand. This is different because I know it’s just training,” Sekh replied. Tilde groaned because pain for me was pain for her, but she quickly said that someone as grand as her could endure it if I showed improvement. 

I’m gonna have to do something nice for her. Maybe a new dress? She only has one. 

“Irisa?” I looked at the oni. She held her own wooden sword and squeezed the grip.  

“I don’t have any combat training other than fighting some weak monsters. I’ve relied on my natural strength that comes from being an oni. I don’t even know how to properly swing a sword. Dad, I want to get stronger too. Please, don’t go easy on me.” 

“If that’s what you want, sweetie, then I’ll do it. Honestly, I’ve been waiting a while for you to ask me this.” 

“I know I should’ve asked this sooner, but I wasn’t the best daughter. I want to make up for that.” Irisa’s voice was strange. Powerful and tense, but unfamiliar. It seemed having her father back changed her. I didn’t know for sure since only about 12 hours had passed. But maybe she was like me. Having Kokan in the picture marked the end of a lonely era and indicated the beginning of something better.  

Suppose we were a lot alike if you thought of it that way.  

---

Training was harsh.  

There, it was simple enough to be summed up in three little words. Kokan was true to his word that he would not go easy on me. His attacks were benign, and his strikes carried training intent, but where was that? 

Oh, that’s right. It was the pain surging through my body. Each wound meant something. 

I’d been knocked on my ass 24 times in 20 minutes. Do the math, and I didn’t even last 60 seconds. Kokan’s massive body towered over me since I was lying face up in the grass. He held out his left hand since his right held a spear made of wood—much like the one I tightly gripped. Soon enough, I was back at it again for round 25. Before starting, I focused on my broken collarbone and fixed it. After sucking air through my teeth and rolling my neck, I nodded to Kokan to signify that I was ready. 

With deft hands, Kokan rolled the spear around his body and carefully approached me, only stopping and taking a dignified stance when he was just a fraction of an inch out of my range. I tried my best to copy his posture, yet he took that single instance in which I wasn’t totally focused on the right to swipe at my legs. Luckily for me, I sensed he was going to do this and hopped back, but he spun the spear a second time and rushed forward with drastic speed. I couldn’t move while airborne, and I was too slow in bringing my spear up to block his downward swipe. 

But my opponent’s aim was true, and at the last second, he altered the target of his attack from my spear’s shaft to my left wrist, shattering it with his impressive accuracy and powerful muscles. Unlike the other strikes, I actually ‘saw’ it in motion before it hit me. The other times, his attacks were too fast for me to conceivably follow—even with [Eyes of the Huntress], so he most likely slowed it down on purpose.  

I guess I’m not used to the eyes, yet. 

I didn’t let the pain stop me, however, and when I landed on the ground and rolled backwards to make some distance, I intended on using [Deadeye] to launch my spear with retrieval web struck to it. 

That didn’t happen. Kokan eliminated the distance before I attached the web and knocked me down with a powerful kick that ruptured my sternum and forced me back about seven feet. I slid along the grass, heaving for oxygen until I finally came to a standstill after bashing my head against the fence.  

“HGGUUUHHHH!!!!” The contents of my lungs evacuated. Blood quickly filled them while I grasped my chest to focus on the pain. Tilde screamed and rolled across Sekh’s outstretched hand, shouting at me to hurry the fuck up and heal.  

“Come on. You can do it. Get up.” Kokan stood over my broken body, his face still pleasant and scholarly as it was before we started. The harsh beating seemed violent, but this was what I wanted. Mainly because this brutal training didn’t contain any malice. It was all for the sake of making me a better fighter. 

When the wounds healed, I hunched over and forcibly vomited at least a liter of crimson. I wiped the blood from my lips and stood up. Kokan grabbed my shoulder and looked into my eyes to see if I was still all there. 

“Should we stop? Your eyes are dilated. Chimerism aside, I’m surprised you can even stand so soon after that last round.” 

I croaked, vomiting blood yet again. “Alright… I think the blood’s out.” My eyesight returned to normal, and so did the sense of my hearing and touch. I stared down and gripped the training blade. “Let’s go. I can get my ass kicked a few more times before I have to refill my biomass.” 

Since I saw that last strike, I told Kokan to not go easy on me. He apologized, nodded, and the extremely short rounds started anew. The primary problem, of course, was that you couldn’t dodge what you couldn’t see.  

At least I couldn’t. 

Even though I couldn’t see his attacks in the previous rounds, Kokan increased his speed by ten percent. His hand was heavier, his aim was sharper, and his accuracy was as precise as Reina with her [Deadeye]. If I were an expert martial artist in my world before coming here, I’d have stood a little bit of a chance.  

But no. 

I knew Rome wasn’t built in a day, but at least Romulus and Remus didn’t get their shit kicked in thirty fucking times. Complaining wouldn’t solve a damn thing, so I didn’t utter a single word of protest. Like a persistent child, I forced myself to stand each time I was knocked to the ground with a different shattered bone, only stopping when my hunger grew too strong to ignore. Tapping out, I hobbled over to Sekh and greedily devoured some snacks Ichiha had prepared for us in between tending to the store. Sekh and I chatted while watching the matches between father and daughter. Tilde had gone inside to rest her extremely sore body. I’d have to apologize to her later because she felt all the pain I did. Honestly, it was selfish of me to have her take this burden, but I was thankful she did. 

Irisa had the initial boost of being in the second stage of evolution, her actual bonuses as an oni, and her experiences forging dense metal into usable items. She managed to see the attacks I couldn’t, dodged under those I couldn’t react to, and jabbed her practice sword to his chest before his strike to her legs knocked her to the ground.  

“Again!” she shouted, standing up and running right for him.   

“Again!!”  

“Again!!!”  

“Again!!!!”  

“Again!!!!!” 

Over and over and over again, Irisa pushed herself off the ground and charged headfirst into the fight. Tiredness slowed her reaction time, causing the length between each attempt to widen and grow. Her arms slowed to a crawl; her breath hastened each time the grass and dirt were flattened by her body. By the end, she was down for the count. A dirt-stained sword rolled out of her open palm, and she made no attempt to grab it. 

“That’s enough,” Kokan said, barely out of breath after hours of sparring. He helped his daughter up, grimacing when she yelped with pain. He offered an apology, but Irisa looked proud and happy at the training welts and wounds that littered her body. 

“Who knew our first new memory would be you giving it to me rough? Thanks, dad.” Irisa walked away, not realizing how her sentence could be taken. Her father choked down a cough. “Ah, I mean—” She turned around, her cheeks redder than crimson.  

“I know what you mean, sweetheart. Come on, let’s take a break.” 

---

After walking inside, Ichiha instructed us to wash for lunch, which was just a simple dish of fish stew with plenty of cabbage and potatoes. When Sekh and I entered the bath, she took the time to carefully wash my whole body, starting from my back. She repeatedly asked if I was hurting when she ran the washcloth over a spot where Kokan had hit me, but I always shook my head because Sekh’s touch was simply angelic. Suddenly, she pressed her chest against my back and rubbed my stomach. I smiled and put my hands over hers. We still had a lot to do, so this cute scene couldn’t turn sexual. 

Not right now, at least. Later? That was a different story. If Sekh was in the mood, I wanted to love her throughout the entire night. But that was then, and this was now. Even as I knew that, I couldn’t help but hold Sekh and tenderly kiss her lips. 

“Mila, where are you going?” Irisa asked after lunch. I ate in my shorts and shirt, but I changed into my ‘adventuring’ clothes, which just meant the outfits I received when I signed that contract. I could only go outside when I had those on.  

“I want to learn how to sew, so I’m going to get some needles and thread. And probably some other things too. If I can find another gun and some ammo, I’ll snatch that too,” I replied. 

“Snatch? You’re going to steal it? But—” Ichiha and Kokan looked at me, but I nodded, which caused their eyes to go wide. 

“From the Barclay’s store. That’s where I got my first gun. You three should hate them, so I don’t see the problem,” 

“But what if you get caught?” Irisa argued. I noticed her parents’ expressions had only slightly softened. I turned my head towards Irisa’s plate and shot a web from my cheek that was difficult to see. It vanished when it made contact, leaving behind just a few breadcrumbs that fell to the table. Her mouth went wide with surprise, but I did the same thing to her cup. Only this time, the string was so ultra-thin my [Eyes of the Huntress] barely perceived it. Thanks to [String Shot] being Lv. 10, I could alter the thickness. It was weak and fragile, but I needed the string to act as a proxy between me and what I wanted to steal. I couldn’t care less if this thin version was unsuitable for battle because it wasn't meant for that. 

“I won’t. It’s easier to steal when you can do what I can. If Tilde wasn’t so sore, she’d distract them for me like she did the first time,” I said, turning to a fairy that was exaggeratingly groaning in pain. “Don’t worry, I’ll find something for you. Do you want a new dress?” I asked. She just threw me a thumbs up, then demanded it better be cute. 

When I asked if they had any problems with me stealing from their enemy, nothing came to their mind. If they had any reservations against it, I wasn’t going to be mad, but I would definitely be a little upset. Luckily, I had nothing to worry about, so I left guilt-free and headed towards the Barclay’s store. 

As always, it was packed to the brim, which worked in my favor. I needed to grab some sewing needles, thread, a few more crimson amita, a gun, some bullets, and probably some soap and cloths for bathing. Thanks to my map and its search feature, I found everything, sans the guns and ammo, and highlighted them with a waypoint so I could snatch them instantly. When it came to apparel, I could search an area for clothes, then use the built-in filters to narrow the search results down. Tilde was about 10 inches tall, so I just had to input that, which led me to a white dress with black swirls to bring attention to the chest. Tilde was lewd and enormously horny, so the fairy would appreciate the attention it’d attract. 

Ten minutes later, Sekh and I were strolling out of the store with everything except the gun and ammo. Part of my success was attributed to Erin and her eternally exhausted violet tail. She and the other four employees were overworked like abused animals, running from floor to floor, nearly tripping down the stairs because it appeared as if they were being judged against some unknown metric. With how big this place was, it needed more than a handful of workers. A quick search for Karen Barclay—Erin's mother—showed her relaxing in a rather large bathtub. She looked like her daughter in every way, except she had violet eyes while her daughter had yellow eyes. 

But the map said she was right in this very building, then I realized this was big enough to hold a home as well. There was a door on each floor with a large lock, so it was presumed that the actual ‘house’ portion of this large building was also six floors. 

I suppose I wanted to kill Karen. Not just for her SP—she didn’t have much, even though she was Lv. 29—but for her money. She probably had a bunch in a safe, which I confirmed upon scanning for one. [Map] was so powerful it showed me what was inside it. Regardless, I couldn’t do anything now, so I left with my ill-gotten gains. 

After returning home, Tilde was so excited to wear her new dress that she stripped right there at the kitchen table in front of the onis without a shred of shame to her name. When asked, Tilde just said a body was a body, and she didn’t see the big deal. In fact, she said she spent a few centuries being a nudist simply because she could, and no one could stop her. 

I took a seat beside Irisa and pulled out my mortar and pestle, then began to make some potions. Kokan began to lecture me about the different kinds and what I could add to increase or decrease their effectiveness. Or even how to add new properties. A skill called [Herbalist] granted you that information, but I could not learn it. I didn’t have any bottles, but Ichiha was happy to sell them at a discount. 

With potions, albeit very weak but also lifesaving, I turned my attention to sewing and spent an hour or so practicing with the red and blue thread I’d gotten. Like with blacksmithing, I was very much an amateur, so I focused on getting more familiar with the motions. I didn’t have any design in mind. By the time I was done, Ichiha was getting dinner started, and I figured there was no time like the present to learn how to cook. I shadowed her as she prepared a simple fish dish using leftovers from when she made the stew. With experienced hands, she gutted and descaled the carp and readied it for the frying pan. 

Before long, it was time to sit down and enjoy the delicious meal. The crispy fish skin was downright delectable, and when combined with a sauce Ichiha learned from her mother, the added flavor was unbelievable.  

“Your primary issue is the inability to perceive my strikes. From your point of view, they must seem instantaneous, but I assure you they are not. You have [Eyes of the Huntress], but it is untrained. Given enough time, even lightning will seem like a snail. It is powerful enough to be a Divine Armament, yet it isn’t. Perhaps you will evolve it into its true form,” Kokan said. 

“Evolution, huh?” I asked, enjoying the fish’s juice filling my mouth when I bit it.  It was so delicious.

“That is correct. You told me you have [Web Bomb] and [String Shot] at level ten, yes?” I nodded, and Kokan continued. “With enough use, your skills can combine and evolve. Those two will develop into [Web Manipulation]. From there, it gives birth to [Silk Manipulation], and then [Thread Manipulation], which allows you to channel your thoughts into thread, controlling it as if it was a part of your body. 

When will they evolve?” I asked. 

“I do not know. All I can say is keep using them.”