Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Otherworlder Slang

Sitting quietly in the cave, Jane munches on the monster jerky that the strange and terrifying creature had given her. The beast's eyes stare at her intently for a moment as she nibbles on the meat. Just as Jane tries to come up with something to say, the monster of blood and scales turns and makes a move over to the cave’s hidden entrance. “Where are you going Vee?” She had given the powerful creature a cute nickname. Few would feel comfortable enough to do such a thing in the face of something so terrifying, Jane’s ability to do so just shows she has a few screws loose.

“I am going to fill the lawn with chicken landmines in case the deer slenderman comes back.” Vee’s words fill her head, a complex use of Ether to convey thoughts called [Telepathy].

“Huh?” The dumb sound is all Jane can manage in response, the young elf not understanding a single word coming from the towering monster. The drake shakes her head and chuckles. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll be back in like half an hour. Don’t leave on your own. I have heavily trapped the area.” Leaving those words in the air, Jane’s new housemate heads out.

“O-Okay.” The young elf girl really does not understand most of what Vee says. Though, she did understand that she would be safe here and that her protector would be back. “Must be some Otherworlder slang.” She mutters to herself as the last of Vee’s tail slides through the cave’s illusory wall.

Right now, Jane was warm. This morning was terrible and for the last several hours the rain had soaked into her bones and the chill ached across her whole body. She had fled the moment she heard her so-called parents discussing their plans to sell her off. She didn’t think they were hard up for cash, but the way they spoke made it clear that even if they were, their motivations were based around not just greed, but convenience.

The rain had felt so heavy as she ran through the streets, her tears had mixed with the downpour, but not been out matched. No one noticed as she escaped through the small hole in the outer wall that the neighborhood kids would often sneak out of. Jane had spent all her free time when she was not learning the family business practicing her sword swings with a stick outside the town walls. It was a bit silly, but she really hoped to become an adventurer one day. Jane had seen a group of Rank A adventurers pass through town when she was little, and she had been obsessed ever since.

Lately, her free time had suddenly increased as her parents reduced the number of lessons. She thought that meant she was doing well, that there was not much left to teach her. Jane never guessed that her parents had given up on her and simply decided to turn her into quick cash.

Leatherworking was not the most lucrative job out in the sticks, but they had more than enough from the work they got. Jane clenched her fist until it turned white and blood dripped from her hand as her nails dug into her skin. The sound her father made as he laughed about the foreign noble they had lined up to buy her echoing in her mind.

Silkfall didn’t allow slavery, but their neighbor Lustali did.

A thought Jane would have never come up with before crossed her mind in that moment. Now that she had escaped, the deal her parents made would fall through. Jane knew a little about deals with nobles from her lessons as a child. They spoke as though the deal was already made, which means they had some form of contract written up. That strange man who leered at her the other day visiting her parents must have been some kind of assistant to the noble.

Jane smiled a bit. If the contract had been made, then there must have been collateral if something went wrong. The party in question not being around to be sold surely counts as her parents failing to make up their end of the deal. I bet the noble will be pissed. Here’s hoping they put up something valuable as collateral. Maybe they’ll take my mother instead. A hateful grin finds its way onto Jane’s face as she thinks of several wicked fantasies.

Just as she starts to indulge herself in this hate, Vee returns. Jane is snapped out of her thoughts as the big lizard trots into the cave once again. “All done?” Quickly hiding her damaged hand behind her back, Jane tries to pretend nothing was wrong.

“Yep. I will definitely need to watch my own step leaving this place, but nothing should be able to get near here now.” Jane’s protector speaks rather glibly about dangerous things, a fact that somehow makes the twisted little girl relax around the monster. A small smile, a real one not full of her previous hate climbs her lips. Just as she is about to make a joke, Vee suddenly turns serious. “Now, we need to talk.” The words make Jane jolt a bit, scared that something may be wrong. “Um, okay.”

“I need to figure out how to actually help you,” Vee’s words immediately deny any tension in Jane’s shoulders as she shows genuine care for the girl. “And for that I will need the full story, as well as information about the town you are from.” Vee looks to be waiting for a response before cutting herself short. “Actually, I should probably start with this question: What do you want to do?”

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Jane hadn’t really thought about it considering her world had just shattered today. Any hope of becoming an adventurer was still a few months away. She would have to wait until she turned sixteen before the goddess granted her the magic and skills necessary to qualify. For now, her Ether was useless and there was no way to register as an adventurer. Even if she could, she would not be able to go back to town. If her parents or that noble's attendant found her, they would try to take her. “I-”

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“I want to stay with you.” Those were her words. Honestly, taking care of a child was not in the plans I had set for myself. I wanted to explore The Abyss as soon as possible. But, with Jane around, that might be difficult. She doesn’t even have her magic yet. I can’t take her with me, can I?

Peering down at the small girl, I let out a sigh. “How long until you get your magic?”

“Three months!” Not terrible.

“Can you fight at all?”

“I have practiced swinging a sword quite a lot. I based it on the training I saw the town guard doing, and I got some tips from the town’s top Rank C party!” Top party huh? I know of a party that was supposedly sent to face off against the strongest monster—other than that creepy deer thing—on the mountain.

I narrow my eyes. “Does that party’s leader happen to be a young fox eared girl? She would have an elf, a dwarf, and a fox boy with her as well.” Jane’s eyes light up at my description. “Yep! Her name’s Dahlia. How did you know?”

I partially mumble my next few words. “I met them yesterday, turned their wolf boy into charcoal.”

“Wha-?! You killed him…?” Conflicted, and not wanting to come off accusatory to her savior asks her question lightly.

“Nah, I let them heal him in exchange for a debt and their silence. To be honest, it seemed like even the rest of the party was unhappy with the idiot’s behavior.” And I am telling the truth, they all kind of looked at him disgusted when they left. It was weird not being spared much of a glance after roasting their party member.

“Oh…”

Not wanting to let things dwell on that topic any longer, I move things along the same path I was trying to go through before. “Can you show me some of your sword skills?” If I am going to get anything done while I take care of her, I need to know if she can handle herself.

“Sure! I uh, just need a stick or something…” Completely shifting gears, the girl starts to run towards the entrance excitedly.

“Wait! I told you it is dangerous to leave alone!” My words grind her to a halt as she looks back awkwardly. “Hehe, I uh… Whoops. I forgot.” Scratching the back of her head with a wry grin the girl teeters on her heels with a bit too much energy.

She seems… Rather excitable and impulsive. Is this okay? I let that thought hang in the air before deciding that I am not much better. Self-awareness is key. “I can make you a sword if you wait a moment.”

“You can?”

“Yep, just watch.” A toothy grin splits open my scaled mouth as I blow out a breath of blood from deep within my body. The sword won’t degrade over time if I make it with real blood instead of Ether. I am quite glad my body produces all this excess blood! It is hard to see, but I can just barely tell my throat is like a big ol’ blood storage device. Like a zip-lock bag of strawberry smoothie, but the strawberries are replaced with blood… I don’t know where I was going with that metaphor.

Anyway, the blood floats into the air as I press down on it with my magic, compressing it into the form of a short sword. The huge blob of crimson liquid continues to shrink until it is so dense the blood starts to turn black and glossy. A deep red shimmer runs across the blood blade as it reflects off the Ether in the air.

“Woah…” Jane’s amazed whisper reaches my ears. My chest naturally puffing up at her face of awe. I am pretty amazing. High Rank [Blood Magic] baby! I can make pseudo metal now! It should be about as strong as steel if my intuition is correct. Naturally it would never hold up to magical metals like mithril, but it is fine for now.

Jane grabs the hilt of the sword as I float it over to her. “Geh, it’s a bit heavy.”

“Ah, sorry. I’ll-” I start to speak, but she cuts me off. “No,I can handle it. Just a bit weak right now.” Jane lets out a deprecating laughter as I finally feel the blood dripping from her body.

“You are injured, you should have told me.” She starts to make excuses about all kinds of things, but I just get to healing her as she stutters. “You have [Healing Magic]?!” Not bothering to go into detail on the situation, I get her focused on the sword. “Yep, now show me what you can do.”

She starts to grumble about something, but starts to swing anyway.

While I am no expert in swordplay, I did try a few training programs on my VR headset. Though, they never got me very far. Stuff like that was not designed around fantasy world strength or magic, so I could only get so much out of it. From what I see, her stance is good and her swings are mostly on target. The angle of her blade is a bit off sometimes, but it could be the unfamiliar weapons causing the issues as well.

It is impressive for a girl her age to be so skilled when only working on her swordplay in her off time. I think she might just make something of herself yet. Now, I wonder how I can help her keep up until she gets her skills from the Goddess?