Chapter 43  

Fey and the temporary hunting party quickly racked up experience points.

The hunting was so good that they ended up staying in bladefin territory for the entire day, each player gaining three levels.

Only when the sun had truly set did they pack up to leave.One by one, mermaids said their goodbyes and (reluctantly) swam off.

Blade and Requiem received and declined numerous party invitations, all under the gazes of (a coldly wrathful) Sirena and (a bored) Fey.

Finally, the original party of four re-formed.Fey silently relaxed, releasing the small but not insignificant amount of self-control she required to act normal and unremarkable.

It had been a good day for training, but the experience points had come at the cost of her relaxation time; she preferred to just be herself in the game.

Still, she was satisfied with the day’s results: in addition to her three character levels, she had used her normal warrior’s skills extensively, raising Arc Slash to level 5 and Mana Blade to level 6.

The day’s hunting had also yielded a goodly amount of gold and loot in the form of bladefin meat and bladefin fins, which were (improbably) made of high-grade steel.Getting ready to return to town, Fey looked for her pets.

:Looks like they haven’t come back yet.: She sighed and opened her system map to locate her wayward companions.

She brightened considerably when she saw nine dots moving towards her location at high speed, saving her the need to actually go collect her pets.Before long, a small purple glow heralded the arrival of Amethyst (and company).

The Feypets swam at maximum speed in their rush to reunite with their owner, slamming into her in a way that would have been quite painful if not for their diminutive sizes.

As it was, Fey drifted backwards several metres, plastered in pets from neck to ankles.:Hi guys.

Did you miss me?: she asked jokingly.

She rather regretted the joke when the Feypets responded by tightening their respective holds on her; most of them were quite tolerable, but Amethyst had wrapped her bubble-arm into its customary position around Fey’s neck.

(*affectionate strangling*):Amethyst, save that for the monsters, okay?: Fey’s telepathic voice sounded slightly choked due to the mental state associated with obstructed breathing.Amethyst loosened her hold and squeaked questioningly.

(“Am-Am should hug monsters?”):Not hug,: Fey corrected, :strangle.:Sirena swam in and plucked Ebony off of Fey’s left knee.

:Where’s my hello?: she demanded of the bunny-eared-mermaid-shaped gloom.

Ebony reacted by going floppy like a doll.Sirena wrinkled her nose in annoyance.

:She acts just like you,: she complained to Fey.Fey looked up from the process of detaching pets from her body.

:Huh?:Sirena gave the floppy Ebony a small shake to illustrate her point.

:Does this look like a proper reaction to being hugged?:In Fey’s eyes, Ebony’s ‘play dead’ approach to being captured by a predator was a legitimate one.

She chose to disagree on another point.

:What does that have to do with me?::You’re like the most physically unresponsive person ever.:Fey considered the accusation for a moment, decided it had merit, and silently conceded the point, returning to the process of peeling Inkblot off her left shoulder.

It was true that her body language was very often neutral, reflecting her inner confidence and emotional equilibrium.

(The only time she would initiate something like a hug with a friend was in the wintertime, in order to leech their body heat.) She had moods when she felt more playful and expressive, but in general, she had the range of gestures and expression of a moderately realistic robot.Sirena flounced off (with her Feypet captive) while Fey released her pets into the water with a pat of affection.Greetings complete, they began to disgorge loot.

Following Amethyst’s example, the glooms had managed to make pockets out of themselves, carrying items and coins in volumes that equalled their size.The entire party was stunned at the quantity and variety of items.

Shells, fish, plant life, crafting items… “Are those ninja stars?” Blade asked incredulously.:It appears so,: said Fey after examining one; it appeared to be a five-pointed, sharp-edged star made of a mysterious black metal.There was far too much loot to carry in Fey’s unenchanted bag, so she made the glooms pick it back up.

Looking carefully at each shadow-rabbit-turned-aquatic-creature, she saw that they did not appear to expand enough to match the volume of the items they contained.

She shook her head.

Laws of physics are just mild suggestions in this game.

:Any other surprises for me?: Fey asked her pets.

It was meant to be rhetorical, but the pets were still at the stage in development where they took everything literally.Amethyst took the opportunity to debut her new pufferfish poison.

The Poison Sphere she cast was limited to encompass Fey’s head (proving that she poisoned Blade all those times on purpose).

<Fey has been poisoned!>