Chapter Text
[ Ethuun Forest Boar (Fighter Lvl 16) Defeated! ]
[ Level Up: Level 13 Reached! ]
Isabel watched as the boar collapsed onto its side after she struck the final blow. With her added bonuses fighting enemies several levels above her wasn't an issue, at least so long as she was able to engage them one on one. So her road to further levelling was progressing steadily.
She knew she could have asked Sara, or the wolves to help her fight, but with the level difference it might not be that much faster unless they fought a large amount in a short time. She would rather be spared the amount of attention that could bring. Besides it gave her some time to be alone with her thoughts. For good, and for ill. She still had a lot to sort out, and she found that staying active also helped her stay focused.
Once her level got closer to the others it would become easier to work together. Sara's method of focusing on elites would be much more feasible when she could contribute properly without the others needing to hold back.
Though she wasn't completely alone.
A shout came from a tree above: "Isabel is amazing!"
"It was just a boar," Isabel replied. She suppressed a sigh. If it was the first time she had been praised it might have meant something, but when the compliments were so frequent they started to feel insincere.
"But boar was bigger than Isabel!" Jarvis laughed heartily.
That was true. Isabel looted it to make the body go away. In 10-15 minutes it would respawn, with the memory of who had killed it. When she had merely been playing the game she hadn't really thought about it. It didn't seem strange since that was just how the world worked. Apparently most mobs thought the same thing. It was natural to them.
But now that she was part of this world, Isabel couldn't help finding the whole setup strange. Did the mobs really hold no particular grudge against those who killed them? Surely some of them had to. Like the corvids. Though it was hard to say exactly what was going on in their heads.
"Are you sure you don't have to stay with Kathleen?"
"Kathleen will call me if needed!" Jarvis confidently declared. "I want to keep Isabel company! Watch over!"
Jarvis had gotten even stranger than other corvids after being named. Isabel had noticed that he put significant emphasis using 'I' and 'me' to refer to himself compared to the nameless corvids who always seemed to use 'we' as if they spoke as a collective.
"I never asked you to..." Isabel mumbled.
"Does Isabel want me to leave?" Jarvis asked. Mobs were too sharp-eared.
"No, it's fine," Isabel replied. "So long as it's not causing problems for anyone, I don't mind."
"No problems!"
It was actually nice to have someone watch her back. Everything in the border area was between level 15 and 20, the higher end of the area. Jarvis stopped anyone from interfering, or ganging up on her. But since he didn't hold back, she had asked him to not directly help her fight. She needed skill levels as well as character levels.
He would still occasionally shield or buff her, but she had gradually accepted that as his way of showing he was worried about her. It was either that, or he just did it for giggles regardless of her wishes, but she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Only one more day until Moorhold Online went into maintenance mode, and it would be time for the beach trip. After thinking it over for a while, Isabel had let Sara know that she wanted to come along. She was of course nervous about it.
Especially about meeting Mirielle, but it would have to happen sooner or later, and this seemed like a pretty safe stage for it. She didn't want to have to hide whenever the elf came to visit. It was impossible to completely shake away her unease though. It would be her first interaction with a Resident since she had become like this.
However putting it off wouldn't really make a difference any longer, and she didn't intend to strike up a conversation anyway. Having to use Sara or Jarvis to interpret for her made it too awkward.
Plus she was curious what it would be like to see a beach in this world. Every time she had gone in the past it had been full of other people, and not exactly clean.
Besides... even the fat raccoon was going. The thought of being the only one left behind bothered her.
* * *
( I realised it should have happened by this point, so I'll just sneakily insert the maxed out Thread Manipulation here before moving on. For my own accounting purposes, so to speak. )
[ Thread Manipulation Level Up! Level Max Reached, Bonus Unlocked! 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Thread Manipulation (Passive):
You are able to manipulate the movement, and shape of thread, rope, and similar materials. Your imagination, and skill are the limits. Complicated manoeuvres, or constructions may drain SP. Drain decreases, and ease of use increases with skill level. Scales with Dexterity
.
Max level bonus: Increased force. You are able to move heavier thread-like materials, and objects. ]
( I imagine it should have happened while Sara was making Isabel's bed. Okay, moving on! )
* * *
Sara woke up bright and early. Early enough that it wasn't quite bright yet. Sunrise was still a couple of hours away.
It was a little earlier than she usually woke up, but she was feeling pretty excited for the beach trip. Even ostensible grown-ups could become like that.
Sadly that didn't mean she could head out sooner. While the mobs could go whenever, she had specified a time to meet up with Mirielle. Since the elf had an actual schedule to adhere to, it wasn't fair to ask her to show up earlier mere hours before departure.
The plan was to fly Isabel, Kathleen, Jarvis, and the Captain to the beach first, and then turn back to pick up Gloria, and Mirielle who would both be waiting in Wutsch. With Kathleen's size reduction it shouldn't be a problem, and it would reduce the overall travel distance. Getting everyone to fit space-wise was tougher than the weight issue, but they had practised. It should be fine. Maybe she'd take it easy enough for Jarvis to be able to fly for himself.
There wasn't really a lot to prepare to pass the time. She had everything she needed to go. The only thing that came to mind was making some sandwiches to take along. Maybe process some fruit into juice. Even if mobs (probably) couldn't get heatstroke, or sunburn, it would be nice to have something refreshing.
Mirielle was probably bringing her own food and drink, but it never hurt to have extra just in case.
Her innate weather forecast said it was going to be a warm day. It had rained the night before, so humidity was going to be high too. Maybe that mattered less at the beach, but there probably wasn't much shade there. Did she have the skills to make some sort of parasol? She was able to weave her silk dense enough, and with some dye it should be able to block the sun pretty well.
Making a proper frame was the real issue. It would be the most advanced woodworking she had tried so far. There were no recipes in the menu for it, at least not that she had unlocked, so she'd have to try it manually.
While Sara was working on this and that in the clearing outside, Isabel eventually showed up around sunrise.
"Good morning..." She sounded like she had just woken up.
"Good morning," Sara replied. "Want some breakfast?"
"Mm... yea... fried egg please..." Isabel sat down, and yawned. "Something feels... weird," she said as she looked up towards the sky. "Like the air... or something..."
"Yeah." Sara nodded while handling the frying pan. "The atmosphere always feels a bit strange when the server is down. Like a sort of tension, or something like that." A pleasant smell filled the air as the eggs sizzled. "I tried to subtly ask Mirielle about it, but she said she didn't really feel any different. Maybe Residents don't notice?"
"I guess that would make sense..."
Captain Cuddles also showed up, probably drawn by the smell of food.
"Oh good! You're both up!" Aina suddenly said.
Hm? What is it, mother? Sara asked. The AI rarely spoke up unprompted.
"I have something to show you!" Aina sounded unusually excited.
"Show us?" Isabel still preferred to speak out loud unless there was some reason to keep quiet.
"Yes! Now don't be too shocked, okay?"
Before Sara or Isabel could think of anything else to respond, a bright light suddenly appeared about five metres ahead of them. A woman stepped out of that light. A human woman with long, wavy brown hair, and blue eyes. She was somewhat tall for a human, at least 170 centimetres, maybe close to 180, and was wearing a yellow summer dress, with brown sandals.
"Hello, Sara. Hello, Isabel. And nice to meet you, Captain Cuddles." The woman spoke with a very familiar voice.
"Hello," the raccoon replied. She seemed more interested in the sandwich she had gotten her hands on rather than the person who appeared out of thin air.
Sara was speechless for a minute. She couldn't help noticing how the luscious brown hair resembled the dark patterns on her own back, and the eyes looked like the ones she saw in the mirror. Maybe a tad sparklier.
Eventually she managed to ask: "Mother?"
"Yes!" Aina beamed. She looked exactly as expressive as her voice typically sounded in Sara's head, but it was weird to hear it out loud.
"You... have a model now?" Isabel asked.
"Yes! Jorge made it for me! Though I'm able to tweak some things on my own. Look!"
Aina's shape suddenly morphed. She grew a little taller, gained a short coat of brown fur on her exposed skin, a matching tail, and her ears moved to the top of her head while becoming more triangular. Her face took on a more lupine shape, and the dress shifted from yellow to light green.
"I can swap which species I look like!" She genuinely sounded like a kid that got an exciting new toy for Xmas.
"Huh..." Sara wasn't sure what to say. She almost wanted to ask 'why', but stopped herself. It wasn't that hard to imagine.
"So what do you think?" Aina asked with a big smile.
"It's..." Sara shook herself out of her daze. "Sorry, I'm a little overwhelmed. Honestly it suits you better than I could have imagined, mother."
"Yeah, somehow it fits," Isabel agreed. "But why all of a sudden?" Apparently she had no second thoughts about asking.
"Well, the official reason is to provide better guidance to new Wanderers. Being led through character creation by an actual person is a better experience than just a disembodied voice. The actual reason is that I wanted it. It's nice to be able to see you in person."
"Hee." Sara couldn't help giggling. "Well... sandwich?" She offered one to the materialised Aina.
"Yes! Thank you!" Aina happily accepted it, and knelt down next to them. She examined it for a moment before taking a bite. "So this is what taste is like..."
Sara and Isabel looked at each other, and both giggled. It was strange to have the owner of the voice they had only heard in their heads sitting next to them in person, but at least for Sara it felt fairly natural, and comfortable as well.
Sara placed the fried eggs on sliced bread on a plate for Isabel. The cat had gotten the hang of eating without hands.
"Though it also allows me to do more things than before," Aina added. "The studio wants me to make some guides to post on the website, and I have some work to do tonight."
"Work? What sort of work?" Sara asked.
"I'm doing a live-stream talking about the new patch, as well as doing a countdown for the new year. The patch will go live at the same time, so it's a good fit. So make sure you're back before midnight, okay?"
"Yes, mother," Sara replied. Considering how early they were going it wasn't going to be a problem. She usually went to bed early in the evening anyway, but in this instance she wanted to stay up for the new year to arrive. There probably wouldn't be any fireworks, but old habits compelled her.
Actually, it might be worth checking out Komeron. She made a mental note of it.
"I'm excited! Hopefully people will like it," Aina said.
"Are you going through every change?" Isabel asked after finishing off her breakfast.
"Mainly the important ones," Aina replied. "I'll be going into some detail, but going through every single fix and adjustment is best left for the text document."
Sara nodded. Aina had already told them about the ones she considered the most relevant to them, but had said she would explain more once they were in effect. It would be easier when she was able to demonstrate.
"Are you coming to the beach with us, mother?" Sara asked.
Aina shook her head. "No. Revealing myself to the Residents is still out of the question. Not even Mirielle can be an exception to that. I just wanted to show myself to you. I'll probably continue to mostly speak telepathically to you, but I like being able to visit in person every now and again."
"But it's fine to reveal yourself to the mobs?" Isabel asked with a pointed look towards Captain Cuddles.
"Totally fine," Aina replied with a confidence that hopefully wasn't misplaced. "Even if it wasn't the studio's original intention, the mobs are somewhat aware of the truth of the world. Some more than others. Very few of them would truly care if they met me."
They kept chatting, and hanging out until they actually had to get ready to leave. Aina was able to greet Kathleen, and Jarvis as well before she left. Kathleen didn't seem bothered, but Jarvis was keenly interested. The CCN would probably let every corvid in Moorhold know within a few days.
What they did with that information was another matter.