Arc 3: Demi-human hero part 4

The next day:

When I woke up, my whole body hurts. What the hell happened last night. Why did Great Sage act like this?

“Morning Daisuke!”- Senri’s light hand can be felt on my head

“Morning, what happened last night?”

“We argued a lot on Great Sage’s plan. We decided to go help the village. Okura took care of any suspicion that the king might have about us. Akari is ok, she is eating”- Looking around, I was in Senri’s room, where did I sleep? Wait, I am still in the bed

“That’s great. Why am I in your room?”

“Well, every time you fainted. I brought you here”

“Thank you”

“No problem”- Senri helped me get up.

“So, what now. Shall we go on with the plan?”-

“Yes, Let’s get Akari and go, if you remember what Great Sage told us is to take care of Akari and kill monsters”- Senri extended her right hand, placing it on my shoulder

“Ok, let me get ready”

“One more thing. Please stick near me at all times”- Senri stepped closer to me, placing her left hand on my left shoulder

“Ok, I will try. I am not used to people touching me too much. It’s awkward”

“Don’t worry, it’s ok Daisuke.”- Senri pulled me closer in a hug

“Why?”

“As a way to say thank you. These last days under Great Sage’s influence sure feel horrible. We should get going Daisuke”

Senri and I left the room, heading with the 4 heroes to the demi-human village, one thing is left for me to do. Take care of that village.

“The village is just up ahead guys”- Okura was taking the lead in the group, he had bought capes for us to wear, Okura didn’t want our identity to be revealed for some odd reason. Doesn’t everyone know them already?

“Why do we have to wear these?”- Senri was pulling her cloak in all weird ways, one second she is pulling it left, another second she is pulling it right, I don’t understand why the cloak seems so big on her

“King Luxor wanted this to be top secret, we just need to put them on, I already briefed him on the details of the mission, he fell for it this time”

“What are we doing here again?”- Noni walked near us, extending his arms putting them on mine and Okura’s heads and bringing us closer to each other

“You and your brother will help them train their military, I will help them with finance and other calculations, Senri and Daisuke will take care of Akari training her to be the next village head. Great Sage made a good plan for this, but we should be careful on our first impression there”- Wait Okura mentioned Akari, where is she?

“Where is Akari, wasn’t she with you, Senri?”

“Yes, she is in the cloak”- Senri pulled her cloak off, Akari was gripping her waist tightly

“That’s why you were adjusting your coat?”

“Yes, she is asleep for now”

“Wouldn’t be more comfortable if you carried her in your arms?”- Okura untangled Akari’s hand from Senri’s waist, putting her in Senri’s arms

“Yes, why didn’t I think of this before”

“Let’s continue then”

I can’t stop thinking about what is about to happen with the village and the king, as things are currently we don’t stand a chance against his army. Making our way to the village outskirts, we were surprised to see that it had no walls, gates, or even fences, the houses were on the outskirts and began to think the more you go into the middle of the village

“Stop right there!”- 2 cat-men armed with spears stopped us at one of the village entrances

“What are you doing here?”

“I am Okura, the leader of the 4 Heroes of Wiefra, we came in aid of the village”

“Yeah, like we would believe you”

“What is she holding there?”- The 2 cat-men approached Senri, I move closer to Senri in response

“I am holding Akari”- Senri held Akari up to them

“She is the owner of the chief’s daughter!”- The cat-men got their spears ready to attack

“What is happening?”- Akari jumped, the screams of the cat-men woke her up. She ran to my side as soon as she had seen the 2 cat-men

“It’s ok, just a misunderstanding”- It’s a risk to turn my back on them, but this might work if I comfort Akari, they might let us off the hook

“They want to attack you”- Akari pointed with her finger towards them, seeing them getting closer to her

“It’s ok.”- I picked her up in my arms, patting her head

“Explain yourselves!”- The 2 cat-men were almost ready to strike

“Wait, why do you want to kill him?”- Akari jumped out of my arms

“You must get away from them!”- One of the man grabbed Akari

“Put me down!”- Akari beat her arms left and right trying to escape their grips

“Put her down!”- Senri was preparing a fire spell. I could resist it, I snatched Akari from him

“Attack them!”

“Nothing less to expect from Wiefra residents.?”

“What do you mean?”- Senri was holding them at spell point

“You know all too well what happens with demi-humans around here, do you?”

“Hurt me? Why would they want to do it?”

“The people from that cursed town are always like that, don’t listen to them, Akari!”

“Not everything is black and white, take some time and listen to us. We don’t have time to lose with things like this”

Okura appeared behind the 2 cat men, while I and Senri were chatting them up Okura sneaked up on them, so we can get an upper hand, they were forced to drop their weapons.

“Does she look hurt to you, what clothes do she wear? Look how healthy and beautiful she looks, are the 2 of you so blinded by rage? We took care of Akari all this time. Daisuke got her out of that cage”

“Why exactly are the 5 of you here?”

“To help the village, we have a plan, call your new leader, I will explain the plan. Don’t try anything funny”- Okura dragged the 2 cat-men with him

“Man, that was intense”- Noni and Sakamoto’s legs were shaking so bad. Wait, these guys are scared by this?

“Are you ok Akari?”- Looking at her, she is holding my shirt with her hands and crying

“That scared Akari a lot.”- Senri got closer to her, she patted Akari, the only thing that I can do is hug her, maybe she will calm down

“It has passed, don’t worry”- Akari was silently crying, she didn’t even move, probably crying herself to sleep

“We should hurry to the town center”- Noni and Sakamoto slowly started walking forward

“Come on Senri, we have a loaded day”

“Right”

The town was smaller, almost reminds me of a European village that I once saw in a photo

The people looked poor, like they barely got by, the village center is just like any town center, the fields were adjacent to the house, so they could be accessed by anyone. It was a pretty neat design for a small village like this, anyway now how should we enforce the magic barrier, but most importantly we need to teach Akari how to do magic, survive and lead a village, well Okura will be with her, since I will go on the search for Emiko, but we shall live and see until then

“So, what should we do about the barrier?”

“Don’t worry, it’s pretty strong, it should resist most blasts, only level 80+ people are able to destroy it, we only need to train Akari”- Senri extended her arms, well she wanted to grab Akari from me, I gave Akari to her

“What if multiple low-level magicians gang up to destroy the barrier?”- That could be a real threat if done, which I don’t doubt king Luxor will do

“No, the magic from which this barrier is made is unbreakable to normal magic users, it’s shadow magic, not available to people until level 80, I am not talking about skills like shadow step and such you and I are the only known exception, but to break the barrier you must feel the barrier first, without the skill Shadow Sense no one will be able to detect it, you need a separate skill from Magic Sense to sense Shadow Magic”- I and Senri stopped in the center of the town, seemingly waiting for something

“Why am I the exception?”

“Because of Great Sage, your skills are a blessing, much more powerful than normal skills. My skills were learned by dumb luck through a scroll”

“Yeah, she is right, once you have a god’s blessing that skill will be called by the rarity of the like Common Blessing, etc. Ohh and about Akari, when you find an appropriate spot for her, I will tell you everything you need to teach her”

“Yeah. Senri, let’s find a spot to train Akari.”

“Right, Daisuke, what does Great Sage actually want with this plan?”

“There is a spot on the outskirts of the town Daisuke, look this plan is to ensure the protection of demi-humans, you don’t want Akari to die right?”

“I want Akari to live”

“That’s more like it”

“I found a spot, it’s on the outskirts”

“So, Daisuke, what do you think about Emiko?”- Senri and I were keeping our heads down, we don’t need our identities to be discovered, until Okura solves the dispute we need to keep a low profile

“Well, I don’t know any more than what Great Sage has told me about her, the rumors of her being a criminal are true, but she is the best choice if we had to choose between her and king Luxor.”

“So, Emiko is really a criminal. Whatever Great Sage is planning better be good”- Senri’s tone was getting weaker

“We should get closer to the spot, better to do less talking and more doing. We need to get this done with fast”

The spot, well Great Sage, the spot was a little, well it was huge, what does Great Sage wants us to do here?

“This is the place, the old house of Akari’s parents. Where there was supposed to be a house here, there isn’t much more left now, but we can turn this place into a nice house, talk to Okura about it. Akari will be able to recognize some surroundings”- Great Sage’s voice echoed in my mind, he sounded different, not in his resonance but in the way he speaks to me about things, he was sweet at first giving me all the info, but I am in this fucked up situation

“Daisuke, remember you got yourself in this situation, you wanted to help, so I am doing my job helping you back, I can hear every thought you have”

“Senri, as I got info from Great Sage, Akari should recognize this”- I held Akari up, all this time she closed her eye trying to sleep, Akari’s behavior is inconsistent

“Because she is traumatized, that’s why she is like this. Think about it Daisuke, if you lived in slavery as much as she did, how would you feel?”

“You are right, Great Sage”

“Akari might recognize this?”- Senri grabbed Akari from me

“Yes, that tree stump on the left, the table in the center, that cloth over the crates it should hold something. I can’t remember that much”- Senri put Akari down, she wondered around the area for some time, grabbing different plants and toys from the crates, well the parts she could reach

“What do you want to do, Akari?”- Ok, so what should we teach her first?

“Teach her how to do magic and cook first”

“Hey, Senri, can you come here for a bit?”

“What are we doing here?”- Akari extended her hand, she gave a Lavender flower

“That’s not Lavender, that is Corley flower. It is used in brewing health potions, 1 portion of the flower can make a 15% healing potion, each portion adds another 10%. If you brew this potion with dandelion and actual Lavender, which has a greenish hue in this world you will get a 90% healing potion, you mustn’t worry, with your Great Healer skill it shouldn’t be a problem”

“Thanks Akari!”- I accepted the flower, it was the least I could do

“Do you like it Daisuke?”- When did Akari learn my name?

“Everyone calls you by your name Daisuke, so it makes sense she learned it this way”

“Yes, it’s very beautiful, I like how it looks”

“My mom and I used to gather them each spring”

“Want to gather plants with us?”- Yes, this might be a refresher for her

“Or it might be a bringer of bad memories, every choice like this with a traumatized person is 50/50, remember, you want her to have a better life right? Think of every choice”- Great Sage is again right here. Why I am this idiotic in my thinking?

“It's human nature to be an idiot, don’t beat yourself up over it too much, just focus on the goal at hand, Akari, just make it right”

“Are you ok Daisuke?”-Akari had her hand placed over mine

“Yes, don’t worry, let’s ask Senri first, where is she?”- Looking around Senri was inspecting the boxes

“What have you found?”- Getting closer to her, different plants were strewed across the ground

“Yes, many potion ingredients, a small wand, and some crafting tools, basics every local around here has, although these seem to have a better quality than local tools, so what shall we do first?”

“I got an idea, let’s teach Akari about plants and potions, I think potion crafting should be easier for her to begin with, then we should teach her magic basics”

“That sounds good, let’s go, since the forest is near”- Senri pointed at the forest, looking at it more, it seemed strange that Akari’s parents will live here

“Akari, come here, we would go into the forest”- Akari rushed at Senri, her face had a smile spread wide

“What would we do?”

“Well, we will learn about plants and how to make potions”

“I already know how to do that”

“Maybe it is good to give your skills a refresh”- Senri grabbed a bag she found in the boxes, most of the stuff she found was organized into smaller piles

“Fine, let’s go”- Akari seems to get lively, she is constantly switching between lively and numb all the time

The forest was peaceful, no monsters spawned not even the fruit monsters, there were plenty of plants to go around, but I don’t recognize most of them

“Great Sage?”

“Well, the green-black plants are called Cordyceps, they are used in making poison, can’t be mixed with Corely flower, the red ones are named Fire Mold, those leaves are used in boosting fire magic or making them a paste, turning them solid, when you heat it up a little it will ignite with a big flame, you can do the same with the leaves, but it will take a lot more rubbing”

“Any more flowers?”

“Yes, golden ones, called Gold Lily, those are very rare and used in pseudo-revival potions, you can’t revive people whose heart or brain had completely stopped, or if their head is chopped off, so it may come in clutch in several situations but nothing more than this, the White Flowers are called Amortasia that boost your magic for a little, you have unlimited magic energy, no need to worry about it. The red flower with round leaves and the heart shape in the middle is called Caragi, used in boosting health, it is a permanent boost to the health status, however, the flower is very rare and only boosts you hp by 25hp until you reach 2000hp, the brown-white flower with square leaves and a circle in the middle called Jester’s Square, used in making a spirit potion, AGhouls and spirit people use it to recover hp or energy you can make the potion if you mix the paste made out of 1 unit of the flower with water, that’s all the plants here, or at least those who are important”

“Thanks Great Sage”

“Don’t mention it kid”

“Daisuke, are you ok?”- Senri’s hand was place on my left shoulder

“Yes, Great Sage was showing me the flowers around here, we should gather them all, if we have a mortar and pastel we can craft useful potions, Great Sage will also help”

“So, are we gathering flowers?”- Akari was standing in front of, hands in the air

“Yes, let’s go”

Senri, me, and Akari gathered the flowers, across the way we have seen a few bugs Great Sage didn’t warn me about

“Bugs?”

“Yes, you only asked about flowers, why tell you about bugs? The context wasn’t clear.”

“Is there something useful out of those bugs?”

“Yes, you see the green one release a small bag or sack that can make a paralyzing potion if mixed with water or injected into someone’s mana, the red insects make a fire powder, the yellow ones can be used to cure lethal poison, the black ones are used to make a lethal potion, the white insects are used to make a sleep potion, all of them mixed with water aside from the fire powder”

“So, are those enough?”- Akari showed me a clump of flowers she gathered

“Yes, but we shall gather more, also bugs can be useful as well”

“Let’s gather more Akari”

“Ok, so these flowers seem to have a quality, right?”

“Yes, if you have a foraging skill the quality will increase”

#Skill Granted: Amateur Forager#

“Great Sage?”

“Yes, it allows you to gather bronze quality plants all the time”

“Why do I get skills so fast, Great Sage?”

“Well, you have me that boost the way you gain skills, if you are blessed by a god then you have an easier time gaining skills”

“This is one of my side effects of the blessing, you gain XP faster, plus you ”

*Skill Evolved: Amateur Forager to Intermediate Forager*- Great Sage’s voice echoed in my mind again, my hands were restlessly gathering plants

“What does plant quality actually does?”

“Ohhh, the non-stared quality it means the standard, the stars add 5,10,15% to the potion or gear you crafted”

*Skill Evolved: Amateur Forager to Expert Forager*- Again?

“Well, you are gathering plants like a madman, so yeah it is logical for you to evolve your skills this fast. You are on autopilot while we talk, of course you can see what you are doing as well, your hands are so fast that you don’t realize how much skill experience you gain, be careful Daisuke”

That should be enough. Now I should watch Akari gather flowers with us, is reacting to her, trying to emulate a family for her. It seems to work, she feels like she has a family again, free from slavery, I am happy she feels this way. Senri always looked at Akari, and didn’t bother to explain the flowers to her. The sun was still high in the sky, we didn’t spend more than 3 hours there, we have 5 more hours until sun down, as we exited the forest Okura was waiting for us

“There you were, ok listen here”

“Do you want a flower?”- Akari got close to Okura, offering him a wild Rose

“Yes, thank you kid”- Okura accepted the flower, extending his hand to pet Akari

“What did you want to talk about brother?”- Senri, with a big pile of flowers in her hand covering her head and vision

“What happened to you?”- Okura was caught by surprise

“We are teaching Akari to craft thing properly, remember, we need to teach her all she needs to survive”- Looking in Okura’s direction he had the 2 guards against before

“What are you going to teach her exactly?”- The 2 cat people stepped in front of Okura

“Well, we will teach her many things, she needs to know how to hold her own. I mean she is the next village chief so why not help her this way”- I walked closer to Senri, making her pile of plants easier to carry by grabbing some from there and putting it in my pile

“Why are you guys doing this?”

“I adopted, well bought Akari a few days ago, she was in a bad condition. I couldn’t leave a kid in conditions like this, even adults have a small chance of survival but kids, it may kill them sooner. A few days ago I found out she was the daughter of the village chief, she told me about her parents, well everything she could remember from her details I could make out this much. I decided to return Akari to her family but finding out the news that they are dead, I took it upon myself to help her. The 4 heroes, aside from Senri tagged along to help the village a little, we got a break from our missions, so it can’t hurt can it?”- Hope this lie would work, it maybe will, maybe not, but it’s worth a shot, it’s a half or quarter truth, but these cat people might have great bullshit detectors

“You said 4 heroes, but after that, you referred to them as we, like you, are included in those 4”

“Yes, I became friends with them, we battle a high leveled monsters. I acted as the bait as they killed it, afterward we had gone exp farming every day with them and after a few weeks I was hired as an aid to them”

“Explains a lot, what is your level?”

“You are around level 25 now, those plants gave you a lot of exp, those gold star plants contributed the most”

“I am level 25”

“Level 25? That seems like a far cry from your skills, those plants on the top are only gold quality, those at the middle are at silver quality and the bottom ones are bronze, no one without the forager or associate skill can gather them”- The cat-people gripped their spears with force

“Calm down you guys, Daisuke has a special ability, he was born with the ability to grow skills and level very fast. But the condition is to do something he enjoys, he enjoyed gathering, and he evolved his skill very fast”- Okura had my back, thank god, didn’t know that they possessed the skill to see the quality of plants

“Well, it’s rare, but that’s the only skill that they have, it’s called Quality estimation”

“That’s an impressive skill for you kid, you might surpass even the heroes if you keep training, you can even help other people around the village with that skill”

“For now, Daisuke and Senri are training Akari to be the next village chief, you 2 agreed with this”- Okura with a straight face turned at the Cat-people, his gaze is sometimes unsettling, and even the guards got scared

“Yes, it’s important to have our village chief ready”

“Can you now leave us to train here, we don’t want interferences”

“Ok, you heard my sister, let’s go”- Okura left with the cat-people guards

“So, what will you teach me now?”- Akari walked close to me clinging to my left side

“Well, potions, Senri where shall we go to train her?”

“Here, it’s good, we have a cauldron, mortar and pestle, a small knife, a table, and some chairs. I bought some wooden bottles from home, we should be able to make all the potions we need”- Senri move the table, chairs, and the tools closer to us

“So, how are we going to light the fire?”- Akari poked the cauldron with her fingers

“I will teach you later, now you should learn about plants and how to make potions, follow me alright, Daisuke will help you “- Senri grabbed a pile of bronze quality plants that she has gathered

“So, what shall we do first?”

“Look at this plant, it is called Corely, it is used in healing potions”- Great Sage, I hope you plan works, what do you exactly want of Akari?

“Auto-pilot”

“What was that, Daisuke?”

“Anyway, let’s get back

Great Sage put me in autopilot mode again

“To answer your question about Akari, if the village lacks a leader it will crumble to the ground, even if you defeat Luxor it will be vulnerable to attack from other nations. Akari just happens to be the next chief. I might sound cold, but I am not like that”

“You sound both cruel and cold the way you spoke in the last days or months”

“Yes, kid, I am not that way. Looks like I care about Akari as well, about everyone, I want everyone to live their best life, some people make it harder for others to live, king Luxor is one of those people. Akari was just a child who was sold into slavery, her parents got killed, she lived in hell for a good part of her life, you wanted to buy Akari as well, I just solidified that impulse, took control of you. Well, Akari was a responsibility I brought onto you by force, I am sorry for this, Daisuke.”

“No problem Great Sage, I also want Akari to live a happy life, all of this is for her, even now. Now, it’s too late to turn back”

“Well, it’s not too late, there is one more choice, if Emiko does not arrive here at the end of the 2 months maybe you should go after her or let the 4 heroes handle it and stay here with Akari”

“Great Sage, that is though, if they go, Emiko might kill them as they are known worldwide as it is, Akari will grow with my support, but the village will go undefended. If I go, Akari won’t have any other parent figure aside from Senri, but the rate of Emiko not killing me is lower.”

“So what do you choose, kid?”

“No time to contemplate on it, I will go after Emiko by myself, the village will be defended, Akari will be safer with them, there is no other choice”

Snapping out of the autopilot the lesson was almost over, I was packing the stuff that with Senri

“What was it?”- She stopped packing the stuff, put her right hand on my right shoulder, her left hand extending to the back of my forehead

“What do you mean?”

“What did you talk with Great Sage?”- Senri leaned her head forward

“Should I tell you now?”

“Yes, Akari is sleeping”

“Where?”

“On the table”

“Well, it was about Emiko, if she doesn’t arrive in 2 months here, then someone needs to go looking for her”

“Look, we will go, all 5 of us”

“That’s a bad idea, Senri. You are known worldwide as the 4 heroes allied with king Luxor, Emiko will try to eliminate all of us.”

“What are you suggesting then?”- She leaned even further, her forehead touching my forehead

“That I will go alone, she won’t know who I am, she won’t be able to know, think about it, the village will be safer will all 4 of you're here, if it ever falls under attack the troops aren’t enough to defeat the threat the whole village will be destroyed, everyone including Akari will die”

“Well, let’s get there first, ok? Let’s focus on what’s in the present”- Senri stood looking at me, I can feel her warm breath, we locked eyes for a few seconds staring at each other, and after a few seconds she leaned back

“Let’s get back home”

That was the whole week, we just trained Akari in making potions, well, I don’t know too much about crafting items but at least we thought her how to craft potions. She got the hang of it pretty fast, even tho she couldn’t do it on the first try she kept trying again and again until she got it right, never giving up. I was always by Senri’s side this whole week, she always tried to get a lot closer to me every time, kinda like flirting

“Well, she is flirting Daisuke, can’t you tell Senri likes you?”

“Don’t be stupid, Great Sage, why would she like me?”

“You are the one who is stupid now, you were by her side for not that long, but she feels understood by you, and it’s normal for most people to attach to someone who understands and cares for them. You took care of Senri, stayed up the entire night for her to recover from the curse. You are a liked by all 4 of them, the reputation you made is very good with them, but there is one person you got to watch out for”

“Who?”

“Petra, if she sees you with Akari, you will break her trust, but if you say the right words, she might even help you with this”

“Yeah, I forgot about Petra, I mean I forgot about her stance on this, she was the one that pushed me to help the demi-humans, I got that motivation from her”

“Well, Daisuke, the next week you will teach Akari Magic, am I right?”

“Yes, Great Sage, thanks for everything, you are working so hard for me, I never told you a sincere thank you until now. If it weren’t for you, it will be a lot harder for me to live in this world.”

“That’s the first time I hear it from anyone. Thanks, kid, I wish I had a body to be here, things would have been done in a second, but there are some limitations for me as of now, I can’t enter the world currently, maybe one day”

“Maybe one day”

Back in the village, the place where her former house was is being rebuilt, Akari seems happy about it.

“So, this place is under renovation for now”- The same 2 cat-people were guarding it

“So, is there a spot safe of monsters we can train Akari in doing magic?”- Behind them, different demi-human races, harpies, fox-people, druids, goblins, ogres and Oni’s

“Yes, there is a plateau where low level fruit monsters spawn all day, she shouldn’t be in danger if you 2 are there”

“Thanks”

The plateau, well, it was flat, not much to say or see, a big flat ground, it was perfect for spell casting

“Now, for a spell to be cast, you need a skill, you can gain it if you perform the spell once, for that you need to focus all of your magic into your main hand, look at me”- Senri raised her right hand up

“What does the main hand mean?”- Akari got both of her hands up looking at them

“The hand you use the most in writing, cooking, opening doors”

“I don’t know which one?”

“Wait for a bit Senri”

“Great Sage?”

“Yes, Akari is ambidextrous like you, she can use both hands”

“I am left-handed, I can’t do anything with my right”

“No, the moment I blessed you, I gave you this ability as well. My combat style involves ambidexterity, so if you activate auto-battle mode, I wouldn’t be able to fight correctly. I know what a pain scissors and can openers are in real life, I had enough of them as a human”

“You were a lefty as a human?”

“Yes and no, but I preferred to use my left more, Akari is also leaning to using her left hand more”

“Ok, found the solution. Akari, cast a spell from both hands, both of them in front!”- I raised both of my hands for Akari to have a model to go after

“Ok, what now, Daisuke?”

“Focus your magic power in both hands, your hands will tingle a little when you succeed”- Time to test if what Great Sage said was right

*Use skill; Water Manipulation: Water Ball*- It worked, all the magic energy flowed through my hands, the Water ball was twice as bigger and damaging, it hit the ground creating rain for a short amount of time

“Try it now, Akari.”

“Here it goes!”- It took a minute for Akari to gather magic energy, she created a big fire bolt, well for her level, it was smaller than my water ball, but it did a lot of damage

“That was impressive, I have never seen magic cast with both hands, it’s like casting 2 spells at once. You have a lot of potential as a mage Akari, now let’s continue with fire spells since your first spell was a fire spell. Now when you cast a spell you will get it as a skill. We need to repeat it until you level it up”

“I will help you 2 out”