New Fantasy World: Galeia-Chapter 60

"Not at all." she turned to me gave me a big smile. "Let’s go back."

I nodded, and followed her. The inside of the building was lit by the chandeliers, white light coming off. I stared at one and didn’t see a flame. Instead, small spheres stood where candles should.

I changed my clothes to a shirt and skirt, my belted boots on my feet.

Yolin opened the door to the room we were at and we found Lapia and Alyssa sitting on a sofa, leaning on each other and reading books.

They looked up and smiled.

"That was fast." Lapia turned a page.

"Did you leave the Bhin nearby?" I asked the two as I entered the room. "I told the clerk at the inn we had mounts."

"We’ll fetch them later. There are Watchers outside we can ask." Alyssa returned to reading.

I nodded, then walked over to the free sofa and sat down. Yolin joined me and put an arm around my shoulders. I leaned my head on her and relaxed.

"You look really good on those clothes, Natasha." the Oni looked at my breasts, playing with my braid.

"Thank you." I kissed her cheek. "I like your outfit, too."

She smiled.

I heard a set of footsteps approach the door, voices following.

"I said it once, and I will say it again. There is no way the other party is a Halve, Bromi." a high pitched male voice said a good distance behind the door.

"You need to think outside the box, Bonny." a melodious tenor said back. "If it is as you say, we’ll do as previously decided."

I looked at the three women and saw them smiling. Lapia stood up and walked to the door.

There was a knock on the door, and the Elf opened it.

Two men stood there, polite smiles on their faces. The cleric dwarf behind them.

The Satyr was tall. Really tall. Over two meters in height. He wore a tacky, silk long coat with more colors than it strictly needed to have, a pink cotton shirt beneath it with a pronounced v-cut revealed a modestly hairy chest. Tight, gray leather pants stopped at the knees, where his light brown, furry legs ended in cloven hooves.

His face was completely shaved. Pink eyes with goat pupils scanned the room. His skin was light brown, thin lips formed a small smile. White horns like a ram formed at his temples, circling around medium length ears, longer than Alyssa’s, but shorter than Lapia’s. His went to the sides, instead of the back. His hair was an attention-grabber mix of red and blond combed backwards, a few locks escaping reached his red eyebrows.

The man next to him was short, around 160 cm in height. Tall ears covered in brownish fur twitched every few seconds. His face was mostly covered by thin, soft hair. The little skin visible was the same brownish color, and amber feline eyes inspected the woman in front of him. His brownish hair was tied in a side braid, reaching his shoulders.

He was wearing a black, sleeveless leather vest, and leather pants, which continued down to his leather boots. A thin, furry tail lazily swayed behind him. His naked arms were covered in short fur, resting behind his head.

Their smiles disappeared when their eyes met me. The Tigea clicked his tongue and produced a few gold coins, handing them to the Satyr.

"Told you." the taller man chuckled. "Good evening. I am Bromisnar Bahadh."

[Bromisnar, Khlyp Satyr Lvl 167 Minstrel]

"Nice to meet you." the short man said, crossing his arms. "My name is Bonte Slirmy."

[Bonte, Shishi Tigea Lvl 129 Shadow Chaser]

They walked into the room, Lapia stepping aside.

Surprisingly, the Satyr’s hooves did not made a clip-clop sound, but a muted thud instead.

We all stood up, I was a little slower in the action. Bromisnar had my full attention, the man towering over everyone in the room.

He should play basketball! I smiled.

"Alyssa Pruvik." the Luzo nodded.

"Lapia Pofeta." the Elf introduced herself.

"Yolin Makav." the Oni waved at them with a toothy smile.

"Natasha Novak." I offered the Satyr a hand.

He took it with a smile, an unhealthy amount of rings on his fingers. His hand was big.

"Hmm." he looked down at me in the eye. "Eyes like the suns. It’s no longer a metaphor."

I chuckled and let go, we all shared handshakes and I noticed the Tigea’s hands were furry and had short claws at the end of each finger. He didn’t have the pillows normal cats have, which was a little disappointing.

The Dwarf had been standing next to the door, a smile on his face. He entered the room and produced a third sofa and placed it behind the table. He left with a few words of good-bye.

We all sat down and introduced our classes. ƒreewebɳovel.com

"I am a support performer. Bard and Minstrel. My skills revolve around sound, I can buff allies and inflict enemies with serious effects. I play the lute to cast them." Bromisnar said, presenting a big lute.

"Scout. Rogue and Shadow Chaser. I can sneak around, disarm traps, pick locks, and cast a few illusions. I use daggers and a crossbow." Bonte nodded, showing a pair of daggers.

I nodded and thought about the items I had in my storage. I wasn’t going to give them Mythical equipment, since they weren’t my partners. I needed to make a distinction. I wasn’t a charity, nor were my items endless. I also didn’t have equipment for performers. The game had only one, and it was shit. Maybe Unique items and costumes. I had thousands of those.

Whatever, we’ll see tonight, or tomorrow.

"Do you know any music, Natasha?" the Satyr asked me from the sofa in front of me, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

I nodded. "I play the piano, and I can sing."

"Ohh..." he sighed. "The music of a Halve would indeed be beautiful. I would love to hear it some time, if it’s no problem."

"Not at all." I smiled. "Happy to show you."

"I’d like to ask." Bonte raised a hand, looking at me. "How will our formation be in combat? I’m a scout, so I can cover the back, sides, or go with the vanguard."

Alyssa nodded and thought for a few seconds. "You could go with Natasha. Yolin would protect me, Lapia, and Bromisnar in the back. Lapia can burn down whatever comes close."

The Oni nodded. "I can hold a lot of enemies by myself, so you wouldn’t face a single one."

Everybody nodded. Except me.

"Couldn’t I just... carry you all?" I tilted my head. "You know, charge in and slaughter everything."

The men and the Oni looked at me with complicated expressions.

"Have you entered a dungeon before?" asked the Tigea.

I shook my head.

"There are a lot, and I mean a lot of monsters inside. If you charge in as you said, we’d be swarmed." the Oni laughed. "I’d like to see that, but I can’t endanger others."

"Oh... I see." I bit my lips. "How many, on average?"

"A few hundred thousand." the Satyr further extended the crack on my sense of reality. "On each floor."

A thick crack formed on it. I see. That’s why it takes so long, and is so dangerous. If it was that easy, everybody would be powerhouses. I was thinking more of a dungeons and dragons experience.

"Hmm..." Alyssa tapped her chin. "We need to be relatively close to absorb E’er efficiently. If you charge too far, we wouldn’t benefit from it. Maybe you could focus on killing the more dangerous ones, or enter when the fight is leaning against us."

What am I? A deus ex machina?

"Okay. Sounds good." I nodded. "I’ll focus on the stronger ones, and help you if too many gather."

"Let’s talk about range, then." Yolin produced a sheet of paper and a pencil. "My auras have a reach of around six hundred meters. How about yours?"

"One hundred." Bromisnar thought for a few seconds before answering.

"Over three hundred and fifty." Alyssa said.

"Over two fifty." Lapia instantly replied.

"I don’ have any." the scout shook his head.

I checked mine.

Monster Hunter, Lvl 50. [Aura] Face insurmountable odds. Increases status according to the number of enemies you take on for you and your allies by 10%(2 highest stats) per enemy (STR/5)m around you. Enemies must be doing battle with you. Spends E’er in accordance to the duration you intend to use.

Prevention, Lvl 50. [Aura] You are highly aware of the dangers of battle. You become increasingly resistant to slow, arrest, immobility and effects that impede movement. While mounted, this effect is shared with your allies in (STR/5)m around you. Spends E’er in accordance to the duration you intend to use.

So both are a fifth of my strength. 5400 divided by five... uh... divided by ten is 540. Times two is 1080... an entire kilometer, pretty good.

"A little over a kilometer." I answered after counting on my palm for a few seconds.

"That’s a lot." the Oni laughed. "So we shouldn’t be farther than one hundred meters from Bromisnar."

The Satyr nodded. "That would be correct."

"What about warcries?" Alyssa turned to me.

"That would be too dangerous. It attracts enemies in a challenge to the death. It doesn’t specify if they attack only me, so I won’t use it." I shrugged. "The other one paralyzes everything that hears my voice, so I don’t know the range."

They all nodded.

"About attacks." the Oni finished writing and continued. "I can punch, and extend a field around me that deals little damage, but taunts enemies and makes them focus on me."

"Fire." Lapia smiled. "And space."

"I can numb nerves, blind, and force a brain into overproducing serotonin in enemies weaker than me." Alyssa fixed a lock of hair behind her ear.

That’s scary. I looked at the Luzo and she gave me a sweet smile.

"I can cause confusion with my illusions. And I use daggers, as I said before." the Tigea nodded.

"My skills can make enemies deaf, and paralyze them for a short duration." Bromisnar crossed his legs and rested his hands on his knee.

"I kill." I shrugged. "Doubt anything can survive my attacks, anyway."

They all chuckled.

"That would be it." Yolin stored the sheet of paper. "I will keep this, since I’m the tank and need to know your skills in case an enemy approaches you."

"Naturally." the Satyr nodded.

"About loot." the Tigea cleared his throat, supporting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward, resting his chin on his hands.

"You can have my share." I shrugged, leaning back. "I have more money than I can reasonably spend."

"That would leave us five." the man next to him rubbed his chin. "We split it evenly?"

The three women nodded.

"Where are you staying?" Lapia asked them.

"At an inn near the gates of the city." the scout relaxed on his seat. "We’re fairly close to the dungeon, so we can meet early."

"When are we going?" I asked.

"Tomorrow." the Oni smiled at me. "And we should go to a tavern and celebrate tonight."

Affirmative answers were given.

I thought back on the inn. I hadn’t told the clerk we’d be out on the first night. There was no way I could have known either way.

"What about the inn?" I asked anyway. "I didn’t tell them we’d be out."

"It’s normal." Alyssa gave me a smile. "People go out to have drinks when arriving at a new city."

"I see." I nodded.

"Let’s go, then." Yolin stood up. "To Horace’s."

The Satyr nodded with an approving smile. "Good choice."

Follow the locals. I smiled.

We all stood up and left the room.

The two men went ahead, quietly chatting.

I was looking at the Satyr’s legs. His had the ankle joint midway down his shins, like a goat. That made sense in my mind, since most animals have that joint higher in the leg structure. It was a fantastic thing to see, whether logical or not.

A hand nudged me from my left, I turned and found Lapia smiling.

"You’re staring." she whispered.

"Sorry. It’s amazing." I gave her an innocent smile.

"I like it when you stare at my ears, but men are a little more sensitive." she took my hand.

"Do I stare that much?" I tilted my head.

She nodded and gave me a cheeky smirk.

We left the small cathedral and Alyssa approached a Watcher standing nearby. She said something and the man, an Elf, nodded and walked off to the street.

The world was darker now, but still had the pink-orange stain of dusk.

"We’ll meet you there." the Satyr waved at us and got in a carriage waiting in the street.

I watched the vehicle leave, a pair of Tateli, the ostrich-like creatures, pulling it.

"We’ll go get our mounts, we’ll be right back." Yolin walked towards the parking lot.

I followed, we got our animals, and returned to the cathedral. The Oni didn’t use a saddle, I noticed. Neither did she use reins. When she shifted her hips the dog turned, slowed down, or sped up.