Gratitude

 How was I supposed to use the "looking for" chats anyway? As soon I wondered this, a wind-up bird landed on a ledge in front of me.

"What is it that you seek, dear adventurer?" it asked me. It twitched as it spoke, and looked as if it were made of miscellaneous gears and wood chips that were painted black to look like feathers. Clearly, this creature was the result of someone's Kraft work. 

"I'm... looking for an animator, to bring my doll to life," I answered.

The wind-up black bird stopped twitching and went completely still. Then, its winding key began to wind itself up, slowly cocking the birds head back until it looked as if it were about to snap off.

Then it released.

The bird sprang upward with it's wooden beak opened wide: "LOOKING FOR ANIMATOR TO PREFORM BINDING RITUAL ON EMPTY VESSAL," it announced in an ear-splitting screech.

I was squatting with my head between my knees and my hands over my ears, wondering if I would ever be able to hear again, when I saw someone approaching me.

It was a Dryad.

Every girl has, at times, wished she were a boy—usually in line for the bathroom. However, seeing this voluptuous, naked woman strut straight up to me, was not one of those times. This was in fact one of those rare occasions where I couldn't be more glad to be a girl.

If I were a boy, or even if I looked at women in that way, I would likely be too giddy to even talk to her and end up running away. Or, if I were able to stand my ground, she could easily use her seductive charm to take advantage of me.

As things were, however, I held firm. I met her dreamy gaze with my own cool and unwavering. This, despite the fact that I needed to crane my head back as she came closer, and despite the double eclipse jiggling upon her chest that fully enveloped my body in the vast shadows they cast. 

Those luscious breasts were covered only by her hair, which itself was covered in leaves. There was also a single lonely (some might say lucky) leaf covering her you-know-what. Other than that she was completely naked. Also, she was green.

"Hi, you need a Binding Ritual? I can help you with that," she said with a genuinely sweet smile. 

That was a relief. I wasn't sure why, but I was kind of expecting her to give me some attitude. I was probably already too traumatized from high school.

"Can you really?" I answered. This was turning out to be easier than I thought.

"Of course," she said, then added "for a price," with a giggle.

I sighed.

Even though wasn't going to be as simple as I first thought, this woman had a very easy going vibe about her. I felt like I could relax around her.

I wasn't going to, but I felt like I could.

"What do you want in exchange?" I asked.

"Well, as you know I'm a Paintress, and I want to make some specific paint supplies, but umm..."

Now she was blushing. Seeing a green girl blush reminded me of a tomato ripening.

Why was she so embarrassed? 

"But...?" I prodded.

"But you can only get them from Inkweb Spiders..." As soon as she said the last word, she went from reddish green to pale green while her whole body trembled. She must have been some kind of arachnophobe.

"I see... and you aren't strong enough to kill them yourself?" I let a little bit of sarcasm slide into my voice. If she was truly afraid of spiders, maybe I could use that to my advantage to get a better deal. "What class are you by the way?"

As I asked this, her character stats appeared in the space around her.

Leillei, lvl 5

Faction: Fae Alliance

Race: Dryad

Class: Elementalist (Fire)

"What?! You're level 5 and you're a fire spec'd elementalist? Yet you're afraid of lvl 1 spiders?!"

"They're soooo creepy....." She was trembling as she pointed with her staff toward a cave to the west. 

I turned and squinted my eyes. Sure enough, it was crawling with with Inkweb Spiders. They basically looked like normal dog-sized spiders, except black and glossy. Like ink.

"Please go kill them for me..." She knelt down before me so that we were eye level. She tenderly grabbed me by the shoulders and gave me puppy dog eyes. Again, this would be the part where a male hero would set off and do her bidding without further question.

"Which materials do you even need from them?" I said, unfazed. Hopefully my tone made it clear that, depending on what they were, I was likely to demand a better reward.

She pushed her fingers together, kind of reminding me of Kosuke.

Ugh. Why am I thinking of him now...?

"Well... I need 3 pieces of Ink Web, 1 vial of Inky Spider Goo, and 5 Intact Spider Legs..."

Hmmm. Ink Web and and Intact Spider Legs were pretty common drops, if memory serves, but I don't remember ever seeing Inky Spider Goo. For all I knew, it had less than a 1% drop rate and I'd be out farming spiders in their creepy little cave until sunrise. "All that, just to animate a doll made out of old socks?"

"Well... I'd be providing my own materials to paint the Circle of Binding, and it uses quite a bit of mana and I can only do it once a day..."

She looked very timid. Now that I thought about it, she wasn't really seductive at all, and I wasn't just saying that because I didn't see her in that way. If anything, I just felt bad for her. Was that her strategy here, to seduce me with pity?

"But I promise to do the ritual free of charge... you don't have to tip me... and any rare items you find in that cave are yours to keep..." she added, looking at me hopefully.

It wasn't only seduction she failed at. What kind of negotiation was this? Keep the drops? Of course I'm going to keep the drops—I'm the only one going in the cave! And free of charge? It could hardly be seen as free of charge considering all the labor that was going into this endeavor.

Still, it wasn't like I had a choice. I had nothing to trade and only 5 copper to my name. Besides, this was a great opportunity to test out my spells and abilities. I'd done it before with my keyboard, of course, but now I needed to get used to physically casting them. 

After I figured out how to do that in the first place.

"Alright, it's a deal," I said, "but I'm not sure how long it's going to take."

Her face lit up. "Oh that's no problem—here," she opened her Grimoire then took my hand and placed my palm to an empty page. As I lifted my hand, I saw that my portrait and info had appeared on the page.

Hearing a sound that was similar to a wind chime, I looked at my own Grimoire. One of its tab was glowing. The Acquaintance tab.

I flipped to that section and, sure enough, Leilei's portrait and character information were there. It was the only entry so far.

My first friend huh? Well maybe not quite yet. From what I remember, you had to form a party and complete several quests or dungeons with an acquaintance until you raise your relationship to the level of friend. 

Not that I'd ever done it, nor that I had any intention of ever doing it.

I must have had a funny expression on my face because I looked up to see Leilei giggling at me.

I grunted and snapped my Grimoire shut.

Time to kill some monsters already.