Varewulf Life is stressful. There's just a lot of anxiety going on about everything, but a promise is a promise.
Sara has been put in a tough spot, but wants to make the most of it.
Sara thought about, and practised writing down what she wanted the document to contain several times. Writing something down made it easier for her to actually remember it. Annoyingly she couldn't make notes to take with her. Even if she combined her new board, and the old one, it wouldn't fit everything she wanted to write. As she kept writing out her thoughts, she thought of various points, and contingencies she should include just in case. It started to become messy, and bloated.
I could use an editor to look over this... oh! Mother! Can you help me?
"I wondered when you were going ask, Sara," Aina replied with an amused tone.
Sorry... my mind tends to go blank when I panic...
"Don't worry about it. It would have been interesting to see you try it all on your own."
Do you only evaluate things on whether they're interesting?
"Yes. Well, mostly. I suppose there are exceptions. Anyway, I'm happy to help."
Thank you.
That took a huge load off of Sara's mind.
With Aina's input they managed to work out a more concise, and better worded document. Aina suggested adding a bit of flair to it as well, so they embellished things a little here and there, and used some fancier words without confusing the important parts.
Sara thought that top level AI was extremely impressive. In normal conversation Aina was like just like speaking to another person, even though there were definitely signs that she wasn't human. Though it wasn't like anyone needed to be human to be a person. Especially not in this world where most people weren't human.
Then when Aina got to flex her abilities, it became clear how incredibly above a regular mind she was. Even if helping Sara write an official document probably only consumed an infinitesimal amount of her potential.
Once they felt satisfied with the result, Aina told Sara she would dictate the text to her once it became time to write, so she wouldn't have to worry about remembering it word for word.
While it felt like Aina had written most of it, at least Sara felt some comfort in how she had come up with the general terms she wanted. Aina had simply made it sound suitably impressive. And pointed out flaws. And given some tips. And suggestions. It was best to stop that train of thought. Trying to compare her smarts against a top of the line AI wasn't going to lead her anywhere good.
Before she knew it it became time to head to the Hunting Post.
"Good luck, Sara."
Thank you, mother.
It was time to put on her best possible roleplay.
* * *
Once she arrived at the Hunting Post she could see people were already waiting for her. She thought she'd arrived a little early, but apparently they had decided to show up even further ahead of time.
And the person in front was another one she recognised, so she morphed into Tree Form.
"Greetings, Guardian Beast," he said before she could start writing, and bowed his head slightly.
"Greetings, Lieutenant Davril," Sara wrote in response. "I am pleased to see you have been put in charge of my escort." She could see Laroni standing to the side as well, but they could probably spare a minute or two on direct communication.
"It is a great honour to have this duty bestowed upon me," Davril said very diplomatically. Since he was the only member of either guard force in Komeron who had directly communicated with her, he was probably permanently assigned to Guardian Beast duty whenever it came up. Which honestly suited Sara fine. It wasn't a bad idea to get to know more people, but it was very stressful.
The guards behind the Lieutenant were all wearing the same style of uniform as him, which meant they had to be from the Palace Guard. If she remembered correctly the ones that had come with him on the survey mission had also worn that uniform, but she didn't have a good enough memory to recognise any of the faces present. While their helmets didn't have full faceplates, they still disguised a lot of their features.
And all of them were higher level than her, though she thought her advantages would give her a decent chance against them one on one, even outside of Nyolund. She could maybe even handle two or three of them. If she played it smart, she might even be a match for the Lieutenant. Or maybe that was over-valuing herself too much. Ten of them was definitely way too much for her though. At best she might be able to escape, if it hadn't been for the existence of binding spells.
In fairness her magic resistance was good enough that they wouldn't last their full duration, but even a couple of seconds would likely be enough for them to secure her.
It's a good thing we're allies, she thought to herself.
"I am ready to get going," she wrote before putting her board away, and reverting to wolf form.
"Assume formation!" Davril commanded the guards, and they spread out to either side of Sara, with the Lieutenant himself in front. They were like a wall protecting her. Or a cage to contain her if she was to look at it from the other side.
It will be fine, she chided herself. My paranoia may have been right in the past, but I have two people I fully trust here. At worst I'll have to respawn back at the den.
"It is good to see you as well, Speaker Laroni," Sara said once only the Druid could understand her.
"Yes, Guardian Beast," Laroni said. She seemed almost as nervous as Sara felt on the inside. "It- it's a great honour."
"Please try to relax, Laroni," Sara said. "In truth I am nervous myself. It will be my first time among so many people." Since coming to Moorhold, at least. She wasn't entirely sure how many Residents lived in Komeron, but they surely outnumbered her wolves. A capital city had to have at least several thousand, even in a fantasy game world like this. And there were also the Adventurers.
"Yes, Guardian Beast." Laroni had to watch her words a little, considering that even if they didn't understand what Sara was saying, they could hear Laroni's end of the conversation.
Sara wondered if that was something a patch could address, but the amount of times Wanderers or Residents might want to have a private conversation with a mob that surrounding listeners couldn't understand was probably very low. Filing a feedback report on that might seem too odd. The system just translated the words to and from anyone with the Commune With Animals skill. There wasn't a separate language called 'Mob'.
"Please tell the Lieutenant that I can keep up with whatever pace he wants to set," Sara said. "So he is free to walk at whatever speed he deems appropriate." She highly doubted anyone present could outrun her, so she had no issue keeping up with their walking speeds either.
Lieutenant Davril set their marching speed at pretty much as brisk as he could get away with while still looking respectable. They couldn't actually jog, or run of course. That would not look appropriate for the event, no matter how impatient anyone (Sara) might feel.
As they approached the city a lot of people stopped, and watched. If they had no idea what was going on, they were probably quite confused. A small crowd started following them, but she couldn't feel anything significant from Danger Sense. The strongest feeling she got from it was the sense that Lieutenant Davril was strong.
Any pings of hostility from outside of the wall of guards vanished quickly. Even if she was selected by anyone's auto-targeting feature, they weren't going to attack with all of these guards present. Unless they didn't know what was good for them.
There was a certain amount of chatter though, and her Keen Senses let her hear all of it if she wanted to. So far it was mainly along the lines of: "What is going on?" A dozen elves marching with a large wolf in the middle was probably a weird sight.
Sara started to feel a little excited when they got close to the city gates. It might not be under ideal circumstances, but she would finally get to see the city from ground level. Though once they got inside the flaw in that idea became immediately apparent. Even if there were gaps between the guards, they still obscured most of her vision. If only elves weren't so tall she might have been able to see more above them, though they would also be less effective as a wall in that case. And through those gaps she could see... more elves. The crowd that had gathered to watch the event was dense. She could see pretty much nothing of the street, or the city.
[ Title Gained: Journeyman Traveller: Visited at least 10 different zones! Reward granted: +25% character experience points gained from discovering a new zone or area. ]
Well, at least she got a small bonus. It was the first time she felt tempted to turn off Sense Presence, or Extrasensory Perception as it was called now. Aina had not been kidding when she said cities could be overwhelming, and combined with Sense Mana it was even worse. Mobs in general didn't have much mana compared to Residents, and she wouldn't be surprised if elves were one of the more magical races. That tended to be the stereotype in these settings. She decided to switch it off. It might be unsafe, but combined with Keen Senses it was just sensory overload. Though she had to make sure to remember to switch it back on afterwards.
The chatter inside the city was a little different. There was more: "What is going on?" since not everyone was up to speed, but also:
"Is that the Guardian Beast?"
"It's big!"
"No, it's smaller than the other wolves, isn't it?"
"Aren't they the same size?"
"I've never seen a wolf before, so I wouldn't know."
"It has a bigger mana presence than any other mob I've seen."
"Is it actually a mob?"
"What? You think it's a Wanderer or Resident in disguise?"
"I don't know, but what if it's something different?"
"Look how calm it is."
"Looks soft. I wonder if it feels soft."
"Wait, you wanna pet the Guardian Beast?"
"Well..."
"The guards would cut your hand off, and then your head."
"Are we sure it's not gonna attack?"
"Why would it? Not like it can do much on its own. It's supposed to be smart, right?"
"You think it's true it can write?"
"Are you gonna ask for its signature?"
That was the sort of chatter she heard from the adults. The children's voices she heard were usually a bit simpler, like:
"Big!"
"Fluffy!"
"Pretty!"
"Can we touch it?"
"It's not dangerous?"
"Maybe it wants to play!"
"Why is it here?"
"Is it gonna say hi to the Queen?"
Sara would really prefer to not have to do the latter. Even her best efforts at trying to channel calmness through roleplay might not hold up in that case. Though when thinking about it she might have to greet someone. Just hopefully it wasn't someone as high up as the Queen.
Maybe in Tree Form, and only needing to communicate through writing, they won't be able to tell how nervous I actually am, she tried to comfort herself with. This might be an instance where the inability to talk to most people was a boon.
And finally there were the voices that sounded more like an outside perspective:
"So what sort of event is this?"
"Even with the notice I didn't think it was actually going to show up."
"It's not going to turn into a boss battle, is it?"
"It didn't sound that way from what was written. More like... a diplomatic event."
"I honestly didn't expect anything like this when I started the game. Mobs are mobs, and NPCs are NPCs, right?"
"Hey if this is where next-gen AI is leading us, I'm here for it."
"Makes the world feel less generic for sure."
"I can't believe it's really real."
"It's really here!"
"But what is it actually here to do?"
"The notice was pretty sparse on details, but it said something about a trial."
"Oh? New content?"
"I guess we'll find out."
She hoped this hadn't been hyped up too much. It wasn't supposed to be such a big deal, but if she had given it some more thought maybe she should have seen it coming. Well, she probably wouldn't have been able to foresee something on this scale, but she should have been a little more aware that it was going to be troublesome.
More trouble for me to make less trouble for others? She suppressed a sigh. Let's hope that's how the exchange goes, at least.
The crowd started to open up as they got close to the tree. Mirielle had called it Manarsil. It was very big. She had never seen a tree that big back on Earth. Or even in this world. Just seeing it from a distance hadn't prepared her for exactly how big it was up close.
How wide is this thing? she wondered. 50 metres? I've never been great with measuring by eye, but it's probably something like that at the base of it. It does slim down a bit going upwards. I'm not even going to try to guess how tall it is. Taller than anything else in this city, that's for sure.
There was also the feeling that there was something about it that couldn't be seen with the naked eye. Maybe the spirits, or the amount of mana it contained. She debated for a moment whether to turn the Sense Mana function back on, went for it, and immediately regretted it. She essentially went blind until she turned it back off.
Can the elves actually tolerate seeing this? Or do they also turn their skill off? Assuming they have it in the first place. Maybe it's not so bad if you get gradually used to it.
She had hoped that she could maybe make out the shapes of spirits moving around if she had Sense Mana on, but it was hopeless. The presence of the tree was too overwhelming. It wasn't like she had any idea what spirits looked like, or how they behaved in this world anyway. Maybe they were all over the place, and most people just weren't able to see them. Or maybe they were only in special spirit places.
The elves had set up some things at the base of the tree. There was what looked like a speaker's podium with some sort of paper or parchment on top of it. That was likely where they wanted her to stand. She saw Bishop Luneria standing close to it, along with Mirielle, and some people she didn't recognise.
On either side there were also what she could only describe as VIP viewing booths.
To her left were a small amount of people who looked like clergy similar to Luneria. Only four of them. Two had garbs very similar to Luneria's, so probably fellow Bishops. One had a garb that was more grey than the others, and looked fairly unique, but she noticed he sat one step lower than the Bishops. And at the top was a dignified looking man with a neat beard, and a very fancy hat. Unless there was another rank above Bishop, that had to be the Archbishop.
Did he really have to show up as a witness himself? It seems like a bit much.
And on the right there were three people in rather fancy chairs, each of them having what looked like a bodyguard standing behind them. Two attractive women, and one attractive man. Each of them exuded a strong sense of authority, and while they all sat on equal level unlike the clergy, the woman in the middle had a bit more presence than the other two.
Are those the prince, and princesses? Luneria had told Sara a bit about the royal family, and if she was to guess the one in the middle was the First Princess. My first ally, huh? I wonder what she thinks now that she actually sees me with her own eyes. I can't imagine I live up to expectations.
At least that meant the Queen hadn't shown up, which was a slight relief, but if she had to greet the royal heirs it was only marginally better.
Her guards spread out, and Lieutenant Davril stepped to the side to let Sara walk up to the podium. Laroni stayed by her side, which was a slight comfort, but the nerves were really getting to her. She just had to dearly hope that it wasn't showing on the outside.
"Welcome, Guardian Beast," Luneria said as Sara got close. Mirielle just gave her a smile, since it probably wasn't her place to speak at this time.
Sara wasn't sure who these other people were. Two of them looked like Druids of higher rank than Laroni. Actually, one of them was Identified as a Naturalist, though she wasn't familiar with that class. The rest looked like they were officials of some sort. Some of them were starting to look quite nervous as she approached. In an inspired move of theatrics, she shifted into Tree Form shortly before reaching the podium, and 'walked' the rest of the way. She hadn't gotten a lot of use out of that max level bonus, so at least she could show off a little. It really was painfully slow. The reaction from the crowd was worth it, though.
"Please, use this," Luneria said, and Mirilelle stepped forth holding an open case. Inside was what looked like a quill. So they probably didn't want her to take out her board and chalk here.
Sara had been confident in her hand coordination before she got here, but in the moment she could really feel the effect of the lowered Dexterity again.
It's probably mostly in my head. Being without the buff shouldn't be a big hit when everything is already halved. Or maybe that's when those few extra points count even more. I can only rely on my practice now.
Firm Grip was the only skill that had any impact here, unless she had missed something, or some of her other skills had hidden effects.
Very carefully she reached for the quill, and to her great relief she was able to pick it up. She was about to ask Laroni about the lack of an inkwell, until she remembered she could use Identify on items as well.
[ Golden Enchanted Quill - Equipment Tool - Rare ]
[ Dexterity: +14 | Wisdom: +8 ]
[ Enchantments: Infinite Ink | Enchanted Ink | Precision | Durability ]
She felt excited seeing the stat boosts for a moment, and then it hit her.
I only get the Dexterity boost if I can equip it, mother?
"Correct. I'm sorry. But the enchantments still work, and Precision should help you out."
At least that was something. She asked Laroni to say 'thank you' on her behalf, and then turned towards the podium. That also gave her a view of the whole crowd of people watching, which made her feel a moment of dizziness.
Why do I have to write this while facing everyone? She grumbled internally.
She decided to focus on the podium itself instead, and found there were actually two objects on it. One was what she expected she had to write on.
[ Enchanted Fibre Parchment - Document - Rare ]
[ Enchantments: Contract | Durability | Toughness | Waterproof ]
Contract?
"It means that anything written on it is bound," Aina explained.
What? But I asked them for the right to change the terms if I wished to.
"Don't worry. I should elaborate that it will be bound to you. You are able to change it in the right circumstances, but no one else can. Think of it as you being the only one with read-and-write privileges, but everyone else has read-only. You are able to assign certain rights to others, like if you want them to sign, though it is then prudent to revoke their right afterwards if you don't wish for them to be able to erase their signature. Erasing does require a special tool like the one you're holding, but since you have it you don't have to worry about spelling errors. I'll point them out for you."
You are talking as if it's a given that I will make errors.
"You are just imagining things."
And the other item was:
[ Improved Announcement Tablet - Placement Tool - Uncommon ]
[ Enchantments: Projection | Durability | Toughness ]
That didn't really tell her much, but she decided to have Laroni ask Luneria rather than asking Aina this time.
"It's for making written announcements easily visible, Guardian Beast," Luneria started to explain. "Anything you write on this will be projected above for all to see. We would like you to introduce yourself, and perhaps offer a few words."
So they wanted to make her even more nervous.
"I see there are more than elves in the audience. Should I still use elven, or go with common?" Sara asked via Laroni.
Luneria's eyebrows very briefly raised. "I don't know why I was surprised for even an instant that you know more than one language," she said quietly. "Please use elven. I think that will be viewed more favourably by the witnesses." By which she clearly meant the royals, clergy, and officials rather than the audience. "You can press this button to wipe the tablet clean."
Sara glanced at both booths, and saw that the people in them were watching with neutral expressions, so she wasn't sure what they might be thinking, or feeling. Even straining her vision to get a better look at their faces didn't really give anything away. They were probably very used to being in front of people.
She thought she saw a faint twitch of a smile on the First Princess that was gone so quickly she might have imagined it.
Did she notice what I'm doing? She looked down at the tablet, and shuffled over so it was directly in front of her. What tone do I even take with this?
"I have faith in you, Sara," Aina suddenly said. Which probably also meant she didn't intend to help.
It was probably best to try to keep it formal. She took a moment to familiarise herself with the feeling of holding a quill. It was large enough that it didn't feel too awkward in her large hand, though she wasn't sure how she was supposed to hold it since she had never used a quill before. She settled on trying to hold it more or less like a pen. Her wooden hand managed to do a reasonable job at that.
"Greetings, Komeron," she wrote as a test, and while it was hard for her to see it properly she could tell something had appeared above her head. The wave of buzz that went through the crowd was a sure sign as well. She could even notice some slight movement from the booths.
"I am the Guardian Beast of Nyolund, which is the northern zone of the Great Forest of Ildhena. I have come today to announce the initiation and terms of my Trial. The Hanoleav Kingdom has my gratitude for indulging my request."
She felt a need to flaunt that she knew the names of things, in case they thought she was just some ignorant animal, though it would be nice if she had any idea how legible her writing was. She glanced towards Luneria to see if she should keep going, or if that was enough. Luneria gave her a slight nod, so Sara hit the button to wipe the tablet before she kept going.
"As some of you know I have forged an alliance with Hanoleav. If you wear a flower brooch like the ones distributed by the Temple of the Moon, my wolves and I will not attack you, and you will have free passage in Nyolund. Remember to beware other dangers, but you will be safe from us.
Recently my friend in Wutsch agreed to enter the alliance, so the same rules will apply there. My hope is that this will lead to an interesting future for both sides.
We are open to requests in exchange for compensation, but whether we accept depends on what is asked, and whether the compensation is sufficient."
Maybe that self-promotion at the end was a bit shameless, but she had done it anyway. She wiped the tablet again before continuing.
"I will be writing down the full terms of my Trial, but I can offer you a brief summary up front. The Trial of the Guardian Beast will be a combat trial against myself, my wolves, and the Night Ravens. There are three encounters to defeat, and you have a total of 2 hours to do so from the moment you start your first engagement. You do not need to defeat any encounter more than once. Success will gain you my respect, and a prize from my allies as proof of your achievement."
She had no idea what they had decided on as a prize, but she was able to write around that.
"You will need to make an appointment first, and you need to register how many members you wish to participate with. I will only accept up to two challenges per week. If anyone attempts to raid us outside of that, they will be driven out with all possible force."
Time for another wipe after giving everyone a few moments to read.
"We will admit that we are still working out what is the appropriate level of challenge for the Trial. The raiders from the other day were helping us work on that, but due to a miscommunication between myself and my allies, they were unduly punished as a result. I do not find blame with anyone by myself for this unfortunate incident, and the Hanoleav Kingdom has promised to pardon them once this ceremony is complete."
She had said it in front of everyone now, so they couldn't try to worm their way around it. Not that she necessarily thought they would, but she was just covering her bases.
"We will accept, and appreciate any feedback from our challengers. If anyone here knows the raiders, I would be grateful if you could inform them as well."
Wait, maybe I got a little too informal there.
"With all that said, I shall now start writing down the full terms. I thank you for your attention."
She did the final wipe, and then had a thought. The text would keep hovering if she left it alone, if she had understood correctly. So maybe she should leave up some message while she was writing.
"Greetings from the Guardian Beast!"
That should do it. She ignored the chatter from the audience, and shuffled over to the parchment. She wouldn't be taking any questions. It was a marvel that she didn't really get stiff in this body, as ironic as that sounded, so she didn't need to stretch before she started writing the document, as dictated by Aina.
Varewulf Life is stressful. There's just a lot of anxiety going on about everything, but a promise is a promise.
Sara has been put in a tough spot, but wants to make the most of it.
Sara thought about, and practised writing down what she wanted the document to contain several times. Writing something down made it easier for her to actually remember it. Annoyingly she couldn't make notes to take with her. Even if she combined her new board, and the old one, it wouldn't fit everything she wanted to write. As she kept writing out her thoughts, she thought of various points, and contingencies she should include just in case. It started to become messy, and bloated.
I could use an editor to look over this... oh! Mother! Can you help me?
"I wondered when you were going ask, Sara," Aina replied with an amused tone.
Sorry... my mind tends to go blank when I panic...
"Don't worry about it. It would have been interesting to see you try it all on your own."
Do you only evaluate things on whether they're interesting?
"Yes. Well, mostly. I suppose there are exceptions. Anyway, I'm happy to help."
Thank you.
That took a huge load off of Sara's mind.
With Aina's input they managed to work out a more concise, and better worded document. Aina suggested adding a bit of flair to it as well, so they embellished things a little here and there, and used some fancier words without confusing the important parts.
Sara thought that top level AI was extremely impressive. In normal conversation Aina was like just like speaking to another person, even though there were definitely signs that she wasn't human. Though it wasn't like anyone needed to be human to be a person. Especially not in this world where most people weren't human.
Then when Aina got to flex her abilities, it became clear how incredibly above a regular mind she was. Even if helping Sara write an official document probably only consumed an infinitesimal amount of her potential.
Once they felt satisfied with the result, Aina told Sara she would dictate the text to her once it became time to write, so she wouldn't have to worry about remembering it word for word.
While it felt like Aina had written most of it, at least Sara felt some comfort in how she had come up with the general terms she wanted. Aina had simply made it sound suitably impressive. And pointed out flaws. And given some tips. And suggestions. It was best to stop that train of thought. Trying to compare her smarts against a top of the line AI wasn't going to lead her anywhere good.
Before she knew it it became time to head to the Hunting Post.
"Good luck, Sara."
Thank you, mother.
It was time to put on her best possible roleplay.
* * *
Once she arrived at the Hunting Post she could see people were already waiting for her. She thought she'd arrived a little early, but apparently they had decided to show up even further ahead of time.
And the person in front was another one she recognised, so she morphed into Tree Form.
"Greetings, Guardian Beast," he said before she could start writing, and bowed his head slightly.
"Greetings, Lieutenant Davril," Sara wrote in response. "I am pleased to see you have been put in charge of my escort." She could see Laroni standing to the side as well, but they could probably spare a minute or two on direct communication.
"It is a great honour to have this duty bestowed upon me," Davril said very diplomatically. Since he was the only member of either guard force in Komeron who had directly communicated with her, he was probably permanently assigned to Guardian Beast duty whenever it came up. Which honestly suited Sara fine. It wasn't a bad idea to get to know more people, but it was very stressful.
The guards behind the Lieutenant were all wearing the same style of uniform as him, which meant they had to be from the Palace Guard. If she remembered correctly the ones that had come with him on the survey mission had also worn that uniform, but she didn't have a good enough memory to recognise any of the faces present. While their helmets didn't have full faceplates, they still disguised a lot of their features.
And all of them were higher level than her, though she thought her advantages would give her a decent chance against them one on one, even outside of Nyolund. She could maybe even handle two or three of them. If she played it smart, she might even be a match for the Lieutenant. Or maybe that was over-valuing herself too much. Ten of them was definitely way too much for her though. At best she might be able to escape, if it hadn't been for the existence of binding spells.
In fairness her magic resistance was good enough that they wouldn't last their full duration, but even a couple of seconds would likely be enough for them to secure her.
It's a good thing we're allies, she thought to herself.
"I am ready to get going," she wrote before putting her board away, and reverting to wolf form.
"Assume formation!" Davril commanded the guards, and they spread out to either side of Sara, with the Lieutenant himself in front. They were like a wall protecting her. Or a cage to contain her if she was to look at it from the other side.
It will be fine, she chided herself. My paranoia may have been right in the past, but I have two people I fully trust here. At worst I'll have to respawn back at the den.
"It is good to see you as well, Speaker Laroni," Sara said once only the Druid could understand her.
"Yes, Guardian Beast," Laroni said. She seemed almost as nervous as Sara felt on the inside. "It- it's a great honour."
"Please try to relax, Laroni," Sara said. "In truth I am nervous myself. It will be my first time among so many people." Since coming to Moorhold, at least. She wasn't entirely sure how many Residents lived in Komeron, but they surely outnumbered her wolves. A capital city had to have at least several thousand, even in a fantasy game world like this. And there were also the Adventurers.
"Yes, Guardian Beast." Laroni had to watch her words a little, considering that even if they didn't understand what Sara was saying, they could hear Laroni's end of the conversation.
Sara wondered if that was something a patch could address, but the amount of times Wanderers or Residents might want to have a private conversation with a mob that surrounding listeners couldn't understand was probably very low. Filing a feedback report on that might seem too odd. The system just translated the words to and from anyone with the Commune With Animals skill. There wasn't a separate language called 'Mob'.
"Please tell the Lieutenant that I can keep up with whatever pace he wants to set," Sara said. "So he is free to walk at whatever speed he deems appropriate." She highly doubted anyone present could outrun her, so she had no issue keeping up with their walking speeds either.
Lieutenant Davril set their marching speed at pretty much as brisk as he could get away with while still looking respectable. They couldn't actually jog, or run of course. That would not look appropriate for the event, no matter how impatient anyone (Sara) might feel.
As they approached the city a lot of people stopped, and watched. If they had no idea what was going on, they were probably quite confused. A small crowd started following them, but she couldn't feel anything significant from Danger Sense. The strongest feeling she got from it was the sense that Lieutenant Davril was strong.
Any pings of hostility from outside of the wall of guards vanished quickly. Even if she was selected by anyone's auto-targeting feature, they weren't going to attack with all of these guards present. Unless they didn't know what was good for them.
There was a certain amount of chatter though, and her Keen Senses let her hear all of it if she wanted to. So far it was mainly along the lines of: "What is going on?" A dozen elves marching with a large wolf in the middle was probably a weird sight.
Sara started to feel a little excited when they got close to the city gates. It might not be under ideal circumstances, but she would finally get to see the city from ground level. Though once they got inside the flaw in that idea became immediately apparent. Even if there were gaps between the guards, they still obscured most of her vision. If only elves weren't so tall she might have been able to see more above them, though they would also be less effective as a wall in that case. And through those gaps she could see... more elves. The crowd that had gathered to watch the event was dense. She could see pretty much nothing of the street, or the city.
[ Title Gained: Journeyman Traveller: Visited at least 10 different zones! Reward granted: +25% character experience points gained from discovering a new zone or area. ]
Well, at least she got a small bonus. It was the first time she felt tempted to turn off Sense Presence, or Extrasensory Perception as it was called now. Aina had not been kidding when she said cities could be overwhelming, and combined with Sense Mana it was even worse. Mobs in general didn't have much mana compared to Residents, and she wouldn't be surprised if elves were one of the more magical races. That tended to be the stereotype in these settings. She decided to switch it off. It might be unsafe, but combined with Keen Senses it was just sensory overload. Though she had to make sure to remember to switch it back on afterwards.
The chatter inside the city was a little different. There was more: "What is going on?" since not everyone was up to speed, but also:
"Is that the Guardian Beast?"
"It's big!"
"No, it's smaller than the other wolves, isn't it?"
"Aren't they the same size?"
"I've never seen a wolf before, so I wouldn't know."
"It has a bigger mana presence than any other mob I've seen."
"Is it actually a mob?"
"What? You think it's a Wanderer or Resident in disguise?"
"I don't know, but what if it's something different?"
"Look how calm it is."
"Looks soft. I wonder if it feels soft."
"Wait, you wanna pet the Guardian Beast?"
"Well..."
"The guards would cut your hand off, and then your head."
"Are we sure it's not gonna attack?"
"Why would it? Not like it can do much on its own. It's supposed to be smart, right?"
"You think it's true it can write?"
"Are you gonna ask for its signature?"
That was the sort of chatter she heard from the adults. The children's voices she heard were usually a bit simpler, like:
"Big!"
"Fluffy!"
"Pretty!"
"Can we touch it?"
"It's not dangerous?"
"Maybe it wants to play!"
"Why is it here?"
"Is it gonna say hi to the Queen?"
Sara would really prefer to not have to do the latter. Even her best efforts at trying to channel calmness through roleplay might not hold up in that case. Though when thinking about it she might have to greet someone. Just hopefully it wasn't someone as high up as the Queen.
Maybe in Tree Form, and only needing to communicate through writing, they won't be able to tell how nervous I actually am, she tried to comfort herself with. This might be an instance where the inability to talk to most people was a boon.
And finally there were the voices that sounded more like an outside perspective:
"So what sort of event is this?"
"Even with the notice I didn't think it was actually going to show up."
"It's not going to turn into a boss battle, is it?"
"It didn't sound that way from what was written. More like... a diplomatic event."
"I honestly didn't expect anything like this when I started the game. Mobs are mobs, and NPCs are NPCs, right?"
"Hey if this is where next-gen AI is leading us, I'm here for it."
"Makes the world feel less generic for sure."
"I can't believe it's really real."
"It's really here!"
"But what is it actually here to do?"
"The notice was pretty sparse on details, but it said something about a trial."
"Oh? New content?"
"I guess we'll find out."
She hoped this hadn't been hyped up too much. It wasn't supposed to be such a big deal, but if she had given it some more thought maybe she should have seen it coming. Well, she probably wouldn't have been able to foresee something on this scale, but she should have been a little more aware that it was going to be troublesome.
More trouble for me to make less trouble for others? She suppressed a sigh. Let's hope that's how the exchange goes, at least.
The crowd started to open up as they got close to the tree. Mirielle had called it Manarsil. It was very big. She had never seen a tree that big back on Earth. Or even in this world. Just seeing it from a distance hadn't prepared her for exactly how big it was up close.
How wide is this thing? she wondered. 50 metres? I've never been great with measuring by eye, but it's probably something like that at the base of it. It does slim down a bit going upwards. I'm not even going to try to guess how tall it is. Taller than anything else in this city, that's for sure.
There was also the feeling that there was something about it that couldn't be seen with the naked eye. Maybe the spirits, or the amount of mana it contained. She debated for a moment whether to turn the Sense Mana function back on, went for it, and immediately regretted it. She essentially went blind until she turned it back off.
Can the elves actually tolerate seeing this? Or do they also turn their skill off? Assuming they have it in the first place. Maybe it's not so bad if you get gradually used to it.
She had hoped that she could maybe make out the shapes of spirits moving around if she had Sense Mana on, but it was hopeless. The presence of the tree was too overwhelming. It wasn't like she had any idea what spirits looked like, or how they behaved in this world anyway. Maybe they were all over the place, and most people just weren't able to see them. Or maybe they were only in special spirit places.
The elves had set up some things at the base of the tree. There was what looked like a speaker's podium with some sort of paper or parchment on top of it. That was likely where they wanted her to stand. She saw Bishop Luneria standing close to it, along with Mirielle, and some people she didn't recognise.
On either side there were also what she could only describe as VIP viewing booths.
To her left were a small amount of people who looked like clergy similar to Luneria. Only four of them. Two had garbs very similar to Luneria's, so probably fellow Bishops. One had a garb that was more grey than the others, and looked fairly unique, but she noticed he sat one step lower than the Bishops. And at the top was a dignified looking man with a neat beard, and a very fancy hat. Unless there was another rank above Bishop, that had to be the Archbishop.
Did he really have to show up as a witness himself? It seems like a bit much.
And on the right there were three people in rather fancy chairs, each of them having what looked like a bodyguard standing behind them. Two attractive women, and one attractive man. Each of them exuded a strong sense of authority, and while they all sat on equal level unlike the clergy, the woman in the middle had a bit more presence than the other two.
Are those the prince, and princesses? Luneria had told Sara a bit about the royal family, and if she was to guess the one in the middle was the First Princess. My first ally, huh? I wonder what she thinks now that she actually sees me with her own eyes. I can't imagine I live up to expectations.
At least that meant the Queen hadn't shown up, which was a slight relief, but if she had to greet the royal heirs it was only marginally better.
Her guards spread out, and Lieutenant Davril stepped to the side to let Sara walk up to the podium. Laroni stayed by her side, which was a slight comfort, but the nerves were really getting to her. She just had to dearly hope that it wasn't showing on the outside.
"Welcome, Guardian Beast," Luneria said as Sara got close. Mirielle just gave her a smile, since it probably wasn't her place to speak at this time.
Sara wasn't sure who these other people were. Two of them looked like Druids of higher rank than Laroni. Actually, one of them was Identified as a Naturalist, though she wasn't familiar with that class. The rest looked like they were officials of some sort. Some of them were starting to look quite nervous as she approached. In an inspired move of theatrics, she shifted into Tree Form shortly before reaching the podium, and 'walked' the rest of the way. She hadn't gotten a lot of use out of that max level bonus, so at least she could show off a little. It really was painfully slow. The reaction from the crowd was worth it, though.
"Please, use this," Luneria said, and Mirilelle stepped forth holding an open case. Inside was what looked like a quill. So they probably didn't want her to take out her board and chalk here.
Sara had been confident in her hand coordination before she got here, but in the moment she could really feel the effect of the lowered Dexterity again.
It's probably mostly in my head. Being without the buff shouldn't be a big hit when everything is already halved. Or maybe that's when those few extra points count even more. I can only rely on my practice now.
Firm Grip was the only skill that had any impact here, unless she had missed something, or some of her other skills had hidden effects.
Very carefully she reached for the quill, and to her great relief she was able to pick it up. She was about to ask Laroni about the lack of an inkwell, until she remembered she could use Identify on items as well.
[ Golden Enchanted Quill - Equipment Tool - Rare ]
[ Dexterity: +14 | Wisdom: +8 ]
[ Enchantments: Infinite Ink | Enchanted Ink | Precision | Durability ]
She felt excited seeing the stat boosts for a moment, and then it hit her.
I only get the Dexterity boost if I can equip it, mother?
"Correct. I'm sorry. But the enchantments still work, and Precision should help you out."
At least that was something. She asked Laroni to say 'thank you' on her behalf, and then turned towards the podium. That also gave her a view of the whole crowd of people watching, which made her feel a moment of dizziness.
Why do I have to write this while facing everyone? She grumbled internally.
She decided to focus on the podium itself instead, and found there were actually two objects on it. One was what she expected she had to write on.
[ Enchanted Fibre Parchment - Document - Rare ]
[ Enchantments: Contract | Durability | Toughness | Waterproof ]
Contract?
"It means that anything written on it is bound," Aina explained.
What? But I asked them for the right to change the terms if I wished to.
"Don't worry. I should elaborate that it will be bound to you. You are able to change it in the right circumstances, but no one else can. Think of it as you being the only one with read-and-write privileges, but everyone else has read-only. You are able to assign certain rights to others, like if you want them to sign, though it is then prudent to revoke their right afterwards if you don't wish for them to be able to erase their signature. Erasing does require a special tool like the one you're holding, but since you have it you don't have to worry about spelling errors. I'll point them out for you."
You are talking as if it's a given that I will make errors.
"You are just imagining things."
And the other item was:
[ Improved Announcement Tablet - Placement Tool - Uncommon ]
[ Enchantments: Projection | Durability | Toughness ]
That didn't really tell her much, but she decided to have Laroni ask Luneria rather than asking Aina this time.
"It's for making written announcements easily visible, Guardian Beast," Luneria started to explain. "Anything you write on this will be projected above for all to see. We would like you to introduce yourself, and perhaps offer a few words."
So they wanted to make her even more nervous.
"I see there are more than elves in the audience. Should I still use elven, or go with common?" Sara asked via Laroni.
Luneria's eyebrows very briefly raised. "I don't know why I was surprised for even an instant that you know more than one language," she said quietly. "Please use elven. I think that will be viewed more favourably by the witnesses." By which she clearly meant the royals, clergy, and officials rather than the audience. "You can press this button to wipe the tablet clean."
Sara glanced at both booths, and saw that the people in them were watching with neutral expressions, so she wasn't sure what they might be thinking, or feeling. Even straining her vision to get a better look at their faces didn't really give anything away. They were probably very used to being in front of people.
She thought she saw a faint twitch of a smile on the First Princess that was gone so quickly she might have imagined it.
Did she notice what I'm doing? She looked down at the tablet, and shuffled over so it was directly in front of her. What tone do I even take with this?
"I have faith in you, Sara," Aina suddenly said. Which probably also meant she didn't intend to help.
It was probably best to try to keep it formal. She took a moment to familiarise herself with the feeling of holding a quill. It was large enough that it didn't feel too awkward in her large hand, though she wasn't sure how she was supposed to hold it since she had never used a quill before. She settled on trying to hold it more or less like a pen. Her wooden hand managed to do a reasonable job at that.
"Greetings, Komeron," she wrote as a test, and while it was hard for her to see it properly she could tell something had appeared above her head. The wave of buzz that went through the crowd was a sure sign as well. She could even notice some slight movement from the booths.
"I am the Guardian Beast of Nyolund, which is the northern zone of the Great Forest of Ildhena. I have come today to announce the initiation and terms of my Trial. The Hanoleav Kingdom has my gratitude for indulging my request."
She felt a need to flaunt that she knew the names of things, in case they thought she was just some ignorant animal, though it would be nice if she had any idea how legible her writing was. She glanced towards Luneria to see if she should keep going, or if that was enough. Luneria gave her a slight nod, so Sara hit the button to wipe the tablet before she kept going.
"As some of you know I have forged an alliance with Hanoleav. If you wear a flower brooch like the ones distributed by the Temple of the Moon, my wolves and I will not attack you, and you will have free passage in Nyolund. Remember to beware other dangers, but you will be safe from us.
Recently my friend in Wutsch agreed to enter the alliance, so the same rules will apply there. My hope is that this will lead to an interesting future for both sides.
We are open to requests in exchange for compensation, but whether we accept depends on what is asked, and whether the compensation is sufficient."
Maybe that self-promotion at the end was a bit shameless, but she had done it anyway. She wiped the tablet again before continuing.
"I will be writing down the full terms of my Trial, but I can offer you a brief summary up front. The Trial of the Guardian Beast will be a combat trial against myself, my wolves, and the Night Ravens. There are three encounters to defeat, and you have a total of 2 hours to do so from the moment you start your first engagement. You do not need to defeat any encounter more than once. Success will gain you my respect, and a prize from my allies as proof of your achievement."
She had no idea what they had decided on as a prize, but she was able to write around that.
"You will need to make an appointment first, and you need to register how many members you wish to participate with. I will only accept up to two challenges per week. If anyone attempts to raid us outside of that, they will be driven out with all possible force."
Time for another wipe after giving everyone a few moments to read.
"We will admit that we are still working out what is the appropriate level of challenge for the Trial. The raiders from the other day were helping us work on that, but due to a miscommunication between myself and my allies, they were unduly punished as a result. I do not find blame with anyone by myself for this unfortunate incident, and the Hanoleav Kingdom has promised to pardon them once this ceremony is complete."
She had said it in front of everyone now, so they couldn't try to worm their way around it. Not that she necessarily thought they would, but she was just covering her bases.
"We will accept, and appreciate any feedback from our challengers. If anyone here knows the raiders, I would be grateful if you could inform them as well."
Wait, maybe I got a little too informal there.
"With all that said, I shall now start writing down the full terms. I thank you for your attention."
She did the final wipe, and then had a thought. The text would keep hovering if she left it alone, if she had understood correctly. So maybe she should leave up some message while she was writing.
"Greetings from the Guardian Beast!"
That should do it. She ignored the chatter from the audience, and shuffled over to the parchment. She wouldn't be taking any questions. It was a marvel that she didn't really get stiff in this body, as ironic as that sounded, so she didn't need to stretch before she started writing the document, as dictated by Aina.
