The Drop Bear

TURNS OUT I LIED.

A few days ago, I had resolved never to plunder a person’s memories. Yet here I am with the battered body of a grown man, his eyes rolled backward, and frothing from the mouth.

I know it’s one hell of an incriminating scene, but let me explain.

You see, I’ve been in isolation ever since I arrived to this world. I spent months locked away in the temple, and I’ve been out here in the forest with only monsters for company for upwards of a week. So, I’ve developed a habit to observe the settlements I’ve found, using scrying magic.

I wasn’t creeping on anyone, mind you. It’s just that I wanted to see people, man. As it turns out, humans are social by nature, and even a hermit like me needs to have some kind of contact with others.

But here, I don’t even have the comments section to troll and get into arguments!

It’s maddening.

The scrying orb quickly became my best friend, and I’ve been using it regularly to keep tabs on the locals. I even grew attached to a few of them, and I’ve been playing a game of “Where’s Walnut” to spot them at different times in the city.

Among them, there was this trio of girls who really caught my eye. They were a silver-haired beauty, an elegant elf, and a cute catgirl. Adventurers, by the looks of it.

I first saw them getting hit on by some pretty boy in golden armor. Not gonna lie, I was jealous of him. There he was, flirting away with three beauties, while I was here in the forest screaming “it should’ve been me!” alone and lonely.

Anyway, over the next few days, spying on them became my guilty pleasure. Whenever I got tired of fiddling with monsters’ heads, I would hop into the scrying orb and go to town, looking for the girls.

I couldn’t understand a word they were saying, but something seemed amiss.

The silver-haired girl looked especially sullen. She would often slip away from the group, and pray for over an hour in isolation. As for the other two, they appeared to be engaged in preparations for an expedition of sorts. The elf kept poring over old tomes in the city’s library, with a grim look on her face, and the catgirl regularly visited the market to purchase potions and other supplies.

I’m no expert in these things, but the whole ordeal smelled to me like trouble.

Then, to my surprise, one day I found the girls traveling outside the city, headed straight to the forest where I’m staying. It came as a shock, considering how dangerous this place is. Would the three of them really be alright here?

I mean, sure, I’ve survived the forest by myself despite the monster infestation… but I’ve got the power of a dragon in me. My body is sturdy, my magic is strong, and I can even regenerate quickly if I do get injured. But these girls, wouldn't they get overwhelmed if enough creatures gang up on them?

Their unexpected visit put me in a tight spot. I still hadn’t learned how to talk the language, and I couldn’t exactly walk up and offer help… not while I was still naked. What if they freaked out and attacked me?

So, I kept my distance, and observed them through the scrying orb as they ventured into the forest. The idea was that, if things got dicey, I would step in while concealed as an animal, and piss right off afterwards.

It didn’t take long for them to be attacked by monsters, but the girls turned out to be impressively strong. The silver-haired chick was a spellblade, fighting with magic and sword like a paladin. The elf was a sorceress, and the catgirl was an arcane ranger, shooting magic arrows that packed one hell of a punch.

Individually, they were tough as nails, but their teamwork was also top-notch. They covered for each other’s openings, and attacked in tandem to break through the monsters’ defenses like it was a breeze.

I was so engrossed by the way they fought that I got tunnel-visioned on them… and I failed to notice how the girls were encircled by a large group of hostiles.

They were ambushed by a squad of ten men, who pummeled them with magic from all directions. The elf managed to erect a barrier, but it was taking such a beatdown that it had no chance in hell to last for long.

My blood boiled as I witnessed the assault.

I’d spent days watching these girls, peeking into their everyday lives like a kid who couldn’t play outside with his friends. I saw for myself how worried they were about visiting the forest, how many preparations they made to be safe out here, how much they prayed for some god to protect them…

And now, the girls were about to be killed in front of me, by a group of morons who came at them with no warning or good reason.

So, I killed the men instead.

They didn’t notice me in my raven form, hidden high up in a tree. Taking them out was simple; with one chain lightning spell, the fight was already over. The only survivor of my attack was a single man directly below me, so I switched forms and descended upon him like an Australian drop bear.

His bones snapped. 

Then the girls and I made eye contact.

The catgirl had her bow trained on me, so I knew I didn’t have long to explain myself. I was about to open a telepathic channel with the silver-haired girl, to at least convey to her that I came in peace… but the catgirl didn’t give me the chance.

She shot me out of nowhere, and blew my freaking arm off.

Arrows are fast. Who would've thunk? 

I didn’t have time to raise a barrier.

Fortunately, it wasn’t an instant kill, so I managed to make a run for it. In my panic, I grabbed onto the bastard I crushed and dragged him away.

My first contact with the girls was a disaster, but if I learned how to talk properly, maybe I’d be able to smooth things out in the future. And this bastard who attacked them, well… he was still barely alive, so I would turn him into my teacher.

As for the girls, they came chasing after me, so I had to use a teleportation spell to shake them off. They were yelling something, but I couldn’t understand shit.

Anyway, I made my escape, and patched myself up. Regenerating my lost arm with polymorph magic wasn’t a big deal, thankfully. If the catgirl had gotten my head or my heart, I would’ve died.

Afterwards, I took my sweet time extracting the memories of this black-armored fool. It was frustratingly difficult. His mind was warded by magic, and I couldn’t crack the spell open.

Fortunately, the mental wards appeared to protect only specific information about the man’s life and experiences, but not his ability of speech. After all, who the hell would be interested in extracting the guy’s linguistics?

In the end, I managed to learn the language from him, just as I hoped. I couldn’t learn anything about the world at large, but getting even this much was plenty. Chances are I’ll talk with a heavy accent, and struggle with the words at first… but if theory holds true, I should be able to communicate.

And would you believe this? It seems I’ll get a chance to practice soon. The girls are close by, still looking for me, and I’m quite eager for a chat.

I just hope they don’t shoot first and ask later this time.