Zelrius drew back ever more slightly, not expecting a fight quite like this to break out. The team had gone through and cut down quite a few goblins, yet there seemed to be more and more as the fight continued. He wondered for a moment exactly how big raiding parties for the little buggers were supposed to be. They terrorize the country side and are still around afterall, and without any concrete research before hand, Zelrius had began to worry that maybe they'd have bit off more than they could chew. His sword ready, Zelrius moved in and out in accordance with his team, slashing where he could and then quickly hopping back from the bush for safety. For the moment, the man only kept one blade readied and poised, the other sitting on his left hip still neatly clicked into its sheath. He had found he was more skilled with the use of a single blade in his left hand, rather than two in either hand. And while the man would certainly like to have trained his dual wielding skill, it became increasingly clear that maybe now was not the time. He took a moment to assess while Mizuki zipped around the field to rab attention, just as the Felis said she would. Their weapons were menial at best, and so far the Goblins had proved little threat. However, with a quick opening of his menu with his free hand, Zelrius noted that all his meters saving health were beginning to be drained very quickly. He let out a breath, closing that menu in an effort to forget about the seemingly worsening situation, and instead, focusing on the goal Kaede and Mizuki had in mind. Taking advantage of the now created distraction, Zelrius would leap to and from positions, though he was clumsy and still couldn't move just right in this game. Nonetheless, once movement itself was no longer a problem, he had found the swinging of his weapon to be something he was atleast good enough at to make it happen. By "it" of course meaning the death of as many Goblins as possible. Kaede had gotten rid of the Phantasm following around, or perhaps it went away on its own. Either way, it was gone now, and the man didn't think that was all that well of an omen. He was glad to have been proven wrong, as the cloak of hers had expanded, and seemingly left all of their enemies in a small daze. As soon as he realized what had happened, Zelrius wasted no time and surged forth, slowly steeling himself to drive his blade through a goblin or two, before once again retreating backward. And then disaster seemed to strike. Kaede fell over, completely drained of her energy and now immobile. He grit his teeth, though the situation wasn't as dire as it was. Or maybe it was never that dire, and Zelrius had just far overestimated the goblin raiding parties since the fighting began. Still, they were down a member and he had no idea how much longer Mizuki had in her own energy bar. Now, he knew that they both would still have quite a bit of time more than Kaede; she had been far more expendable with her energy, along with the fact that it appeared it was draining ever since they had set out on this journey, between the heavy drinking and the voices. Yet he still didn't want to drain it all from the whole trio, and the man was self-conscious; he also didn't know if they had other plans for the day, and didn't want to take up all their time. Still, none of that information helped the situation at the moment. He scanned once more, his expression relaxing as only one or two of the little troublemakers remained, the rest having been cut down by the trio, or retreating as soon as they came back to their senses. He was relieved to say the least, his attention shifting from Mizuki and the last few. He didn't know what her direct combat skill was, he was confident it had to be better than his own. Still, the man figured that he could probably handle the last few, and moved up beside the Felis, giving a few words. "Head over to Kaede. Prepare to head back, we're going to finish these ones and retreat to the Tavern for the day. I'd have you finish them and me carry her, but uh, I am not sure she'd enjoy some stranger doing so, so its best if you do it..." His voice trailed off, and then he stood in silence for a moment, not really looking at either of his compatriots, but instead trying to focus on the goblins, and hiding his slight insecurity. After a moment, he just nodded and moved forward, dancing with the Goblins for a bit, and only managing to disarm one. It was clear that the humans were far stronger than the Goblins, and these ones didn't have much morale left in em. All he had to do was whack his sword against its makeshift weapon, and the small tool went flying from its hand. In which it promptly raised its arms high in the air, turned around and ran off making all kinds of weird noises. The other dropping its weapon and doing the same. The man raised an eyebrow at this, he had known Goblins were odd creatures, but that was just downright weird by his standards. Still, that meant the fighting was done. For now. Though he was disappointed; most of this particular raiding party seemed to have ran away, rather than be slain. That meant they'd be back. Keeping that on the stress of his mind, he sheathed his sabre back into the scabbard attached to his right hip, and spun around to meet back up with his companions. "Mission accomplished.. I guess? For now, anyway."
While Mizuki had successfully managed to grab the attention of the goblins it wasn't going to last forever, especially since she now carefully had to keep backing off to prevent them encircling them. It seemed that with her behaviour she had managed to convince them that she was more some kind of dangerous beast than a human, and they were actually being surprisingly intelligent with how they were approaching the issue of tackling her. If they had stayed all bunched up it would be too easy for Mizuki to manoeuvre and it'd be difficult for them to get a clear hit, while all Mizuki would have to do was stick out her fist and there'd be goblin there. By spreading out they were making it harder for her to escape or reposition, and if she struck one she'd be exposing herself to others. She just hoped that Kaede and Zelrius would take the opportunity of striking the goblins from behind quickly... The two did end up taking the opportunity, but not in the way that Mizuki had imagined when she set up the plan and explained her part of it in one sentence. Zelrius was lashing out at the goblins, playing it careful by moving back and forth so it'd be harder for them to launch a counterattack. The goblins meanwhile were in a panic, as they were suddenly reminded that the growling Felis wasn't the only threat here. They began to turn around to face Zelrius even as others kept their weapons trained on Mizuki, the goblins losing their cohesiveness as they didn't know which threat to deal with. To keep them from making up their mind Mizuki began the attack as well, attacking the goblins which weren't turned towards Zelrius yet and punching the back of their heads, sending them tumbling with their weapons falling to the ground. Then Kaede did something strange... Mizuki blinked as suddenly the goblins, which before that point had been trying to hit her and Zelrius while panicking and bickering amongst one another in their strange little language, seemed to have all the energy sucked out of them, leaving them staring into nothing even as she and Zelrius struck down another couple of them. It seemed Kaede had decided to disable the goblins rather than join Mizuki and Zelrius in the fighting, and Mizuki couldn't blame that judgement call considering that it meant that the goblins that remained were suddenly helpless to defend themselves. She did a feel guilty for hitting an enemy which was in no state to fight back, but she didn't really have the choice to be picky here. The goblins were the ones who began this fight, and with these numbers they clearly had been planning to assault the three of them. No time to waste Kaede's attempt at helping out just because it wasn't the most honourable thing to do. Standing up Mizuki brought her fists down on the goblins, delivering heavy punches that left the little green buggers twitching on the ground. She wasn't killing them outright, but they'd certainly not get up for a while after this. Truth be told Mizuki had the feeling that either she simply wasn't very good at using the Body Combat mastery, or it wasn't a very good mastery for delivering killing blows. The only times that she had managed to actually kill something with it was with a lot of effort, while Zelrius could cut the goblins down as easy as the harvest and she was pretty sure those carrying around clubs and warhammers would easily break bones and burst organs. She'd have to figure out what she was doing wrong, or if she really happened to have chosen the least lethal of the combat masteries. Of course she wasn't exactly aiming to be a mass murderer, but she wanted to know what her combat skills were capable of. Unfortunately Kaede couldn't hold up the illusion that kept the goblins dazed up for very long, Mizuki shooting the woman a worried look when she collapsed. It didn't look like Kaede was in any real danger, but it meant that Mizuki and Zelrius would have to finish the rest of the fight on their own. Fortunately it looked like the goblins, realizing that a good portion of them had been killed or incapacitated while they had been caught in Kaede's magic, weren't so eager to fight any more, a good portion of them fleeing. The few that remained didn't seem to be too enthusiastic about continuing the fight either, either sticking around because they didn't want to admit defeat or because they were angry at seeing their fallen friends. With Zelrius's near command for her to retreat Mizuki frowned, but nodded as Zelrius shouldn't need her help with the remaining goblins. She circled around the remnants and headed towards Kaede, checking the girl's pulse and everything else to ensure that she was just tired and not in actual danger before giving a small sigh of relief. Fortunately since the fight hadn't been very long, just intense, the only thing she really needed to do was pick Kaede up while she watched Zelrius get rid of the last goblins. Rather than cutting them down he instead just disarmed them, after which the goblins apparently decided that there were limits to their stubbornness and ran away, leaving the three adventurers alone. Mizuki was a bit surprised when Zelrius pointed out that he thought Kaede would appreciate Mizuki carrying her more than a strange, especially since after that he had looked a bit awkward. She had tried to be cordial with the man, not wanting him to feel isolated from the other two adventurers while they were out dealing with the goblins, but it seemed like she hadn't done a good job of that... She had been sidetracked by Phanta and her embarrassing questions, which also had left Mizuki less inclined to hold a conversation. She nodded at the man when he stated that it seemed like they had done their job for the day. There was no guarantee that this was the only group of goblins causing trouble, and since they weren't all dead they could return and cause more trouble later on, but at the very least their numbers were reduced and they had been cowed, so they would be less aggressive for a while. Long enough at least that the Dark Harvest Festival should be able to conclude without any more incidents. "For now, yes. If there are any other goblins to deal with I think it's better to postpone that until another day. Let's go back for now." Carrying the tired Kaede Mizuki stood up and began to walk back towards the village, motioning for Zelrius to follow with her tail while she looked down at Kaede. "Are you all right? I know you must be tired, but there's nothing else wrong, right?" She didn't know what magic could do to you if you overexerted yourself, so she would feel better when Kaede confirmed that it was only exhaustion.
_____Kaedé would not be replying any time soon as the girl was out cold. Her body limp in the girl’s arms as she snored a bit but otherwise did not do much on the surface of things. Inside her own mind Kaedé was dealing with a bit of a situation as she scratched the back of her head overlooking a large round table with doorways behind each seat. She herself could not move from her own seat and it seemed the only other person in the area was Phanta who happily sat chewing on some odd fruit Kaedé had never seen. ”I tried to warn you that casting the spell would blast back on you. The other’s aren't going to be as kind anymore Kaedé… Unless you start getting better at reaching out to us also it will drive you to insanity.” _____Kaedé wanted to listen to Phanta but as soon as she tried to ask if the spirit had any more information the room began to grow louder, every door around the table began to shake as voices hit Kaedé from countless directions and none made any real sense. Phanta did not seem eager to help this time around as the spirit kept chewing her fruit and wore a sound proof headphone set that just seemed to arrive from nowhere. @Zelrius | @Ueno Mizuki
Zelrius kind of zoned out for a moment following his own words. He didn't know what to do exactly, and now his insecurities mounted; wondering if what they had did was good enough, and if his own contribution was worthwhile. The other two were excellent fighters, that much was clear to him. And while he was certainly improving, he still wasn't that confident in his abilities for fighting. This was becoming a mounting issue as he spent more time in Terrasphere. Everyone seemed better at everything than him, and while for some that was just a fact of life, the golden haired man was never one to be outdone. Though he knew he was falling behind; lack of motivation and a concrete support base left him without many of the tools for success he had in many other online games. He was a competitive person by nature, never one to be out done so obviously. He steeled himself for a moment, pulled out of his quick zone out by Mizuki's response to his own words. He grimaced, silently scolding himself in his mind for not finishing the job here and now. But she was right, with another opening of his menu, Zelrius scoffed at the emptying meters. He closed his hastily, his movements a slight bit angered; mostly at himself, with Kaede being the scapegoat in his mind. With a clenched jaw he watched as Mizuki lifted Kaede up and began to carry her, the motion with her tail made at him not exactly with distinguishable meaning. Her words peaked through his thoughts again, though he quickly realized that she was talking to the sleeping woman, and not himself. That was fine, he decided, returning back to his thoughts and trying to understand what he needed to succeed in Terrasphere. His thoughts drifted to that of the Higher class; He envied them, specifically the player nobles of Astorea. They were relevant, and had power. And most importantly; they had money. Oh how the man desired that. In any and every world he dreamed of having wealth. He knew that it was the catalyst for all motivations. No one could complete any goal without having to at the very least, pay for the methods of achieving that goal. The man wanted money, but was always limited by his inner compassion. He couldn't bring himself to do what it took to get wealth in that way. It needed to be honorable, a habit he always wanted to break; having seen plenty of movies with gangster Kingpins, envying what they had. But yet, those kingpins always ended up dying in the end, and Zelrius, like many of those same people probably did, thought he could always do better. Yet, he couldn't be like them; the values and culture he was taught growing up, limited him, and the man had a bit of a soft heart. He was sensitive in many aspects of the word; thick-skinned about petty things, but too willing to see other people's point of view. And he knew that in a world of Medieval Fantasy, such as Terrasphere, those who could let go of said morality would be the ones with the most money. Such as it happened all over the world before the modern era. And to a large extent, even modern corporations exploited those less fortunate to gain their profits. But as of now, Zelrius wasn't trying to turn his back on his morale compass, or his fellow players. As of now, he quite liked Kaede and Mizuki, despite his own personal contempt with some aspects out of the pair. They were cordial people, and had been nothing but polite to him this whole time, even more surprising considering how intoxicated the former was earlier. So, he came up with a plan, walking back, following the pair closely. He'd need to talk to one of those higher ups. An imaginary light bulb dinged in his head as he had heard rumors of the Princess D'Vangelline. She had gone off to Astorea, according to those locals in Stokbon. After today, the ma decided that was where he was headed next; back to that shining capital city to get more information, and maybe get an audience with this girl. It was a long shot, but that was his motto "Go Big, or Go home." A motto he fully intended to follow through on. There were other plans now mounting, his mind brainstorming a million ways to accomplish a million goals. He would be back one day to deal with these Goblins, and maybe even, come up with a plan to absolutely eliminate all of them. He looked up, his eyes fixating on his compatriots, wondering if they'd tag along should he need help with the green bastards again, though he found it largely unlikely, considering today's events. His grimace was still nailed to his expression, though seeped away as he idly watched Mizuki's tail with each step they took. It was odd, his curiosity now piqued; a million questions now rushing through his head as well as the deep desire to touch it. He piped up from behind her, his questions being unable to be contained. "So, what's it like being a Felis? Do you still have that "phantom limb" feeling on the sides of your head where your real ears are? What do the Animal ears feel like from a control stand point? How do you control those limbs? Are they soft-" He stopped there, slowing down, realizing that his constant questioning was almost childlike, and now his insecurity mounted again, trying not to be awkward by asking a million questions that, to him, she probably had zero interest in answering. He clenched his fist to fight the impulse. to reach out and grab her tail.
It seemed like Kaede was completely out of energy for now, which meant that it was a definite ending to any activities for the rest of the day. She looked like she was just sleeping, which at least was a relief, but Mizuki was still worried about how the girl's death and resurrection seemed to have left her with some new issues to overcome. This magic she had gained, which was about contacting extraplanar entities, seemed to be as much a curse as a blessing, at least as long as it took for Kaede to get used to it and until she learned how to block out the voices when she didn't want to listen to them. There wasn't really anything Mizuki could do to help with that other than try to help with all the minor things, and be present in case Kaede did think of something Mizuki could do to help. She herself was a bit puzzled at how persistent she was at helping Kaede, but as she thought about it she realized that there may be more than one motivation: aside from everything else there was the fact that she hadn't even realized that Kaede had died, which not only made her feel a bit stupid but also inattentive. It had been clear that something had happened to Kaede before this expedition had even begun, and yet Mizuki hadn't thought of why beyond just worrying. With that kind of guilt in mind (even if she knew that it wasn't exactly her responsibility after Kaede, she did think of herself as a friend and she believed that friends should be able to figure those kind of things out and help) it wasn't a surprise that she now felt that she had to make it up to Kaede. Of course there was also the fact that she just found Kaede pleasant company, and since this was a world where Mizuki had little to no responsibilities there was simply nothing stopping her from spending time with the woman as long as their objectives didn't differ too much. For now, however, she'd just bring Kaede back to the village so she could get some well needed rest. She, like Zelrius and Mizuki herself, had done a good job in helping get rid of the goblins, incapacitating them with her magic so the other two could take the goblins out with ease, so it was the least Mizuki could do to repay that effort with carrying her. As she walked Mizuki glanced over at Zelrius, who seemed to be troubled by something. Now that she had renewed her attempts at being more attentive Mizuki actually tried to figure out what might be the issue. Was he annoyed that some of the goblins had escaped? It had been his idea to hunt them down to begin with, so it could be that he had hoped for a more complete job done than what actually was the case, as quite a few goblins had decided to flee rather than risk their lives when they were trapped in Kaede's illusion and afterwards realized that their companions had been struck down with them being completely unable to do anything about it. It wouldn't be too surprising if that was what was on Zelrius's mind, especially since Mizuki had trouble imagining what else might be occupying his thoughts. There were things she didn't know about the man, of course, many things since she only knew him for as long as it had taken to come out here and hunt the goblins. Maybe he had just been reminded of something and it was completely unrelated to today. She didn't know, and despite her efforts it was rather difficult to guess. When the man suddenly began to ask her various questions about being a Felis Mizuki blinked, caught off guard as she had thought that the man would prefer silence on the way back to the village, given the way he seemed to be lost in thought while walking. Since she was carrying Kaede she couldn't really move her arms, so she just shrugged as she tried to think of some good answers. "Well, it's actually not that much different from a human form in some ways, although I have to admit that in others it took some getting used to." She twitched her ears when they were mentioned, the Felis shaking her head as she tried to keep the road in front of her in sight even as she looked at Zelrius to not seem impolite "The ears actually were pretty easy to get used to. They may be in a different place now, but it feels more like my ears changed than that I got a completely new pair. Although I admit it took some more effort to actually gain control over the increased flexibility." She swivelled both ears towards Zelrius to show what she was talking about. "Well, I don't know if you've ever tried but some people back on Earth can already move their ears. I think most can move them at least a tiny bit, with some of them having more control. It's a bit similar to that, but with a lot more variation. Most of the difficulties came from figuring out the new muscles and how to use each of them to move the ears. Now that I have decent control over them... It's one of those things which seems to be easier the less you think about it, once you've got the hang of it. Like when you have to repeat a complex pattern several times and you find that it's easier to go by feel than to try and consciously remember each individual step." "The tail, I must say, is a bit more difficult. Unlike the ears I had nothing to compare the tail to: even if I thought of it as a third leg or arm it was still an entire new limb, and beyond that it moves in a completely different manner, not with one or two joints but with the entire length being capable of bending. Add in the fact that it has a strong effect on your balance and it took a lot more time than the ears to fully get used to it. I think that even now I'm not completely used to it yet: every time I log in there's a moment where it's completely foreign to met, although that moment is getting shorter and shorter, so I imagine if I just keep practising I'll barely notice it n the end. As for how you control the ears and tail... As I said, the ears just felt like my own ears but changed, so that wasn't too bad. As for the tail, I think the system make sure you get all the right sensations, so as long as you're aware that you've got a tail you're able to feel and control it, and the more you practise the more natural it feels." She knew that it wasn't exactly the most informative, but she couldn't think of much else to say. "As for whether they're soft... They do have fur, so yes." "By the way, good job with the goblins. I know that we didn't get all of them but I'm grateful you were there with us. With Kaede using her magic to hold them still I wouldn't have been able to take them all down on my own, and I'd probably have been in trouble after they woke up. Mizuki nodded towards Zelrius's swords. "The Body Combat mastery is a very interesting experience, but I think that for someone like me who's still fairly new in the game it's not as good for actually taking down enemies as a more straightforward weapon like a sword."
He listened intently as she answered all his questions, a smile forming on his face in content for his curiosities being satisfied. He thought on her words regarding the limbs; it was interesting, how the game handled it. She explained it as not having the Phantom Limb feeling, but more that it had just changed. Though now he wondered if it was reversed; if Mizuki ever felt the tail in the real world, but had no control given its absence in such. It was a question that burned in his mind, but he'd keep it in his back pocket for now, continuing to listen ad ponder on her words. She made it clear that it took getting used to, making Zelrius more than glad that he didn't pick Felis as his race; Not having been exactly in the right mood to be dealing with something that would've have more than likely been very interesting for him. That, and Zelrius was always of the mindset that females pulled off the Animal-Person look better. He couldn't exactly justify this reasoning; just how it was. Though, there was one exception to that rule; that Astorean Noble he had met a few days earlier, though couldn't recall the name of. Just an absolute mountain of a Man, though with ears and a tail of his own. She had finally cleared up all his questions with the ending words, confirming that they were infact, soft, though that question was more just an additive to his verbal spillage of questions. He continued to fight the urge to ask to touch, as he was sure it would be both awkward, and plenty of people probably asked all the time, so the man lost interest, in light of trying not to be too much like others. That was an odd mindset of his; the mindset he deemed the "Hipster" thinking. Never wanting to do what everyone else is, always on the trodd to be different, but not so much so that it was annoying. He hated that he factored that into all decision making, but also couldn't help it; finding no fun in doing what everyone knew was familiar and having the same experiences and understandings as everyone else. He wondered how many had tried to kill the goblins. They were a nuisance, and easy pickings, or so it seemed, from Zelrius's point of view. Though this was less about not wanting to do it because others had, and now he wanted to know who was interested in fighting more, and trying to see just how many were willing to be enlisted to maybe handling them once and for all. But there was also the added factor that maybe they dont behave in demographics like that; instead just spawning and killing and then moving on. It was definitely worth finding out to him, and it was something he'd have to look into for sure. Mizuki and Kaede had helped, but the golden haired man wasn't sure how much they were willing to do so again, and he was afraid to ask; worried that they'd get the wrong idea and think he was just trying to buddy up with em. He grew a bit red as she commented on the fight with the goblins, not exactly sure about his own contribution to the fight, but not saying anything to deflect her words. Though that quickly changed as she mentioned her thanks. "No, I owe you my gratitude. I wouldn't have been able to do much alone, which is why I was at that Inn. I wasn't exactly thrilled to have brought you two along to begin with, but that has changed now. I am very glad to have had both yours and Kaede's help. Even despite her mental state throughout, she helped quite a bit, and your own fighting ability was a great percentage of the actual damage. I played safe, jumped in and out and tried to defend Kaede for a bit there. You two are amazing, thank you." Giving a nod he drew his sword at her mentioning. He had only used one of the weapons attached to either side of his hips for this fight; finding he was better at the single use. That was something the man intended to work on in the near future, and hopefully get a slightly better mastery at Sword-Dancing. "Well, even despite that, you did well with that Mastery, and Kaede's magic seems incredible. This game appears to have a knack for fantastical things." It was true; Terrasphere seemed to have this habit of everything being well-made and out of this world. Or well, out of the normal world, and completely in place in its own. It allowed for things to be done that couldn't by normal standards; the very reason Zelrius spent as much as he did within the game. With a glance at his timer, the man knew he was running out of time for the day. The golden haired man still had plans for the day, and didn't want to spend it all doing this, despite enjoying the pair's company. The village was just ahead, and they could make it with relative ease. He picked up pace and moved slightly ahead of Mizuki to stop her in her path, now facing her. If she wasn't carrying someone, he'd have reached a hand out in an effort to shake her hand. "I am afraid that this is where we part. I'd offer to help you carry her the rest of the way, but as said before, I don't know how welcomed that'd be by either of you. That aside, I am very grateful you two came along, you were pleasant company, and good fighters once on the field," He stopped, opening his menu and transferring twenty gold to each of them, not really sure how much was customary for a proper thank you. "I owe you two one, and if either of you need anything, dont be afraid to try to get a hold of me." He waited and listened for her response, giving a nod afterwards and then heading off. (Zelrius will listen to goodbyes and then exit the thread.) @Ueno Mizuki @Kaede Hoshi
Mizuki wasn't completely sure about the last question Zelrius had asked, but she didn't want to appear cold so she had answered it nonetheless. She was guessing that he just was really curious and since she was the one who wanted to get along better with people and more frequently as well she shouldn't go and call him out on it. Although she hoped that he wouldn't go so far as to actually touch it without her permission. Unlike Kaede, who ended up having to spend everything she had because of circumstances getting in the way, Mizuki actually hadn't lost a lot of energy on this mission, since the energy bar was meant to represent an entire day of hard work, while this little excursion for the goblins had at most lasted an hour, maybe two if she was terrible at keeping track of time. However that didn't mean she was up for letting someone play with her tail right now, because she'd rather just get Kaede back to the inn and back to their room so the girl could at least rest in a comfortable place. Mizuki was doing a good job of keeping her cheeks from reddening, as she had to admit that now that the worry was subsiding she didn't entirely dislike carrying Kaede. You'd have to get her drunk before she'd admit it out loud though, at least to anyone but Kaede herself. When Zelrius spoke again Mizuki realized that they'd just keep going in circles if the two of them kept deflecting the gratitude back to the other, so instead she just waited for him to finish talking before nodding. "All three of us did our part. You were playing it safe but you did still contribute a great deal, and Kaede did a great job keeping them from moving while you and I both took care of them. Not to mention how Kaede took care of the archers... it's a good thing most of those arrows missed, but I'll still feel better once she's back at the village where she can rest and heal from the wounds." She looked down at Kaede. "Truth be told I was worried as well. I was hoping that going out and doing something would help, but I wasn't aware that it was worse than just having drank too much. I'm glad that we managed to get through without anything actually going wrong." Mizuki inclined her head. "I do believe that I could have done a better job if I put more training into this mastery. However I must agree that Kaede's magic was quite something. And as a game about a world of fantasy it is quite good at amazing us from Earth." Mizuki certainly knew what it was like to be impressed by this world. She herself had gone through a short period where she had to stop thinking that in the end everything should still follow the rules of Earth. This world was very impressive in how it was internally consistent, as long as you accepted that while it was consistent with itself it wouldn't be consistent with what you knew of Earth. Seeing the village up ahead Mizuki wanted to speed up, but instead Zelrius moved in front of her, the Felis coming to a halt and watching him with a curious gaze. She wondered what he wanted from her, although by this point she trusted him enough that she didn't consider that he might be planning something nefarious. Once he explained that they'd have to go their separate ways Mizuki nodded, somewhat surprised that he wasn't returning to the village himself but otherwise accepting it without question. "She's not that heavy so I think we'll be fine, but I thank you for the gesture. I'm also grateful for you letting us accompany you, even if in the end it was a job which did indeed require all three of us to complete it." She didn't directly reply to his comment on how welcome his help with carrying Kaede would be, because she didn't think she'd be able to lie successfully. Instead she just bowed slightly, making sure not to move Kaede too much. "The money is unnecessary, but thank you nonetheless. I'll keep your offer in mind, and I hope you'll have a pleasant day." She couldn't really wave since her hands were occupied, so instead she gave him a smile before watching him walk away. Once they had parted Mizuki walked back into the village and then towards the inn, passing through the drinking room without hesitation as she headed for upstairs, where the rooms were. Entering their combined room Mizuki placed Kaede on her bed, then sat down next to her and watched her for about a minute or so, confirming for herself that Kaede was indeed just sleeping. She wasn't quite so bold as to remove Kaede's clothes so she'd sleep more comfortably, so she instead sat down on her own bed and tried to pass the time checking her equipment and reading a book about some stories from Terrasphere. She hadn't spent a lot of her time in the game reading, even though there seemed to be quite some interesting books, because up until now there had been a lot of things to do that she couldn't do on Earth, whereas the only difference between reading here and on Earth would be the contents, unless she happened to come across a magic book. Mizuki didn't know how long it would take for Kaede to recover from exhausting all her energy, but she'd try to wait at least a couple of hours before deciding that Kaede was going for the full eight hours, in which case she might as well just lock the room so Kaede wouldn't be bothered by anyone else and log out. Regardless of whether Kaede woke up that day or if she stayed asleep Mizuki would wait with more questions until the next day, since she didn't want to push Kaede too much if she had used so much energy that she fell into such a deep slumber to recover from it. <<END THREAD>>
