Chapter 2: 2: The Village Elders.
When Sara returned to Loki's room, she rhankfully came with a set of clothes for him to wear.
"Can't have you wandering around the village naked," she smirked, "no matter how great a sight it is,"
"Excuse me?" Loki said, pulling the pants up. Too bad they didn't have any spare underwear for him.
She just gave a low giggle, checking him out as he got dressed. She'd been there when they brought him into the village, and he was unlike anything she'd ever seen.
He looked human enough at first glance, but once you got a second look, it was hard to ignore the unnatural glow of his solid emerald green eyes with pupils shaped like three pointed stars set in solid black sclera. It was clear that he belonged to a powerful race from the quality of anima that surrounded him, but of a kind she'd never heard of.
His skin was a deep chocolate color, and he had long swept back ash-grey hair with similar colored stubble along his jawline. His face was quite handsome –no, beautiful was more accurate—, with an androgynous appeal. Although he wasn't very muscular, he was fit, tall and lean with a solid build and strong frame, his body was covered with glowing green markings that didn't seem to be tattoos, and as for his manhood... she found it a challenge not to stare. He looked young, possibly in his late twenties, but with other races it was hard to tell.
When they had tried to appraise him earlier, she was shocked when the attempt had been rejected, all that came out was a list of unknowns. Even though they'd used a rare 8th-grade appraisal item, not even the barest minimum of his information was available and she didn't know what to make of this.
He was a mystery that Sara was quite interested in solving.
"So, what now?" Loki said, now dressed in a simple grey shirt with black pants and workboots.
"The village square," Sara informed him, "we couldn't appraise you, but I'm confident I'll be satisfied once I get a peek at your stats there."
"Aren't stats supposed to be private?" Loki asked
"It's not wise to trust someone when they're so secretive about who they are." She said, brushing her hair out of the way to reveal the scars across her right cheek for emphasis.
"Alright," Loki shrugged, "but you could've just asked me."
"So you would've answered me honestly?" Sara asked, "about what you are?"
"Sure," Loki said, "I'm an open book,"
He had figured that their earlier appraisal on him had failed thanks to one of his passive skills, [Faker], a class skill that not only blocked attempts to view his stats, but could also falsify his information.
She studied him intently for a few moments, then asked, "so, what race are you?"
"I'm a deva," he said, "a fallen deva."
"Okay, and what's your level?"
"Last time I checked... level 1," he replied, slightly embarassed.
Sara chuckled, "see, I knew you'd lie,"
"What?" Loki asked, "lie about what?"
"No way are you at level 1," she accused, "that's for newly awakened users, and you have way too much anima for that."
"I really am level 1," Loki defended, "my race just has a high anima capacity."
Sara looked at him, "are you telling the truth?"
"I am," Loki said, unknown to him, a green aura appeared around him. Sara had just used one of her skills, [Truth Seeker], on him, and as far as she could tell, he wasn't lying... or he didn't believe he was lying, at least.
"Alright, I'll trust you, for now." She sighed
"Thank you," Loki nodded
As he walked out of the small cottage he had been staying in, Loki got a good look at the werebeasts village of Rondel, it was quaint, the kind of place where everyone was more or less like a big extended family. As he passed through the village, he noted the way people were dressed, and how the houses looked. It really was alien yet strangely familiar to him.
As they proceeded towards the village square, two young girls approached them, they looked similar to each other and both resembled Sara, stranger still, Loki felt like he'd met them before.
"Hey mom," one greeted.
They both looked identical; with the same olive complexion, round face and dark brown hair, but one had sea green eyes and was dressed in an off-white sleeveless blouse and blue skirt with sandals, while the other had jade green eyes, and she was dressed in a pale yellow sundress.
"Loki, these are my girls; Tetra and Petra." Sara introduced, "them and their friends were the ones who found you,"
"Well then, I owe you a debt," Loki bowed his head, "who knows what could've happened to me passed out in the middle of the forest."
"I'm glad you're feeling better," the twin woth the jade colored eyes, Tetra, nodded, "and you look better with clothes on,"
"Speak for yourself," her sister woth sea green eyes, Petra, muttered
"Girls, this is Loki," Sara told them, "we were going to the village square to discuss his situation with the chief."
"Can we come?" The sundress twin asked
"Sure, I don't see why not," Sara shrugged
Both girls fell in step on either side of Loki as they pressed on.
"This is quite the lovely village you have here," Loki commented
"If you want, we can show you around," Petra said, her dazzling eyes alight, "we know ever inch of the area."
"I'd like that," Loki said, "If I stick around, I'll take you up on that offer,"
"If you stick around?" Tetra questioned
"That's probably what your cheif is going to discuss when we get there," Loki said
"You can't leave," Petra blurted out, hugging his arm, "I just know that you belong here."
There was something oddly exciting about the situation Loki found himself in. With the mature Sara walking before him and the eye-catching way her swaying hips and wagging tail assentuated her perfect ass, and her perky young daughters at his sides, clinging to him with their firm pert bodies. He felt his pants tighten and gulped, he felt like such a pervert right now, getting a stiffie in this sort of situation. He decided to distract himself by admiring more of the village along their path, doing his best to ignore what felt like erect nipples hidden behind thin fabrics pressing into his arms.
After an excrutiating several minute walk, they arrived at a large meeting hall in the middle of the village. Inside was quite spatious and well lit by glowing crystals. At the far end of the hall was a raised stage, on which sat an alter of some kind.
Below the stage was a table with an elderly man that looked like a minotaur. The village chief, Loki guessed. Around him were three other villagers that wore the same broach that Sara had.
"Thank you for bringing him here, elder Clawthorne," a minotaur said, gesturing to a free seat by the others, which Sara took.
Loki stood before this table, with Petra and Tetra off to the side.
"Welcome, Nex Loki," The minotaur greeted, "I am Hughs, the chief of Rondel village,"
"It's nice to meet you," Loki shook his large hand, "so, I suppose you've heard all about me from Mrs. Clawthorne?"
"She did inform us," An elderly rabbit-woman, said, "we have a number of questions for you,"
"Alright," Loki shrugged,
"The first is; how did you end up inside the vault?"
"I have absolutely no idea," Loki said, "I have no memories prior to being released from that vault"
"And we are sure the vault is genuine?" Hughs asked,
"I have some hunters out there investigating it now." Sara assured.
"Why don't you all accept what is right in front of you?" A lizardman elder said, he looked to be the oldest of them all, "the vaults are relics from the time of the ancients, nothing can enter them until they decide to open. He was the first thing that stepped out of that vault as soon as it's doors parted, thus; he is from the time of the ancients."
That sparked a round of arguments among the elders, with each one either agreeing or disagreeing with that statement.
"If that is true he would have to be thousands of years old," the rabbit-woman elder interjected, "I know you age slower as your level increases, but still... how high would his level have to be for him to be that old?"
"Actually," Sara added, "he claims to be just at level 1."
Thus sparked another round of arguments among the elders
"What else does 'he claims'?" The rabbit-woman demanded,
"He says he is a member of the fallen deva race." Sara says
From the corner of his eye, Loki notices Petra react to that new revelation, as if she recognized it somehow.
"He is obviously lying," another elder snapped, "we have never heard of such a race before, he must be one of those deviant races that are rumored to inhabit the southern continent."
"Then how did he get inside the vault?" The lizardman asked, "particularly a hidden vault none of us locals even knew existed?"
"Uh," Tetra suddenly spoke up, looking unsure, "m-maybe he should step to the terminal?"
The elders murmured and mumbled among themselves as Tetra sat back down and Loki looked confused.
Terminal? What was that?
"A fine idea," Sara decreed, "thank you, daughter, for that suggestion," as she said that, Sara made sure to send a pointed stare right at Petra, who just smiled awkwardly.
"Very well," Hughs relented, "Nex Loki, to ascertain the unequivocal truth, we will have you stand before the terminal."
"Uh, okay?" Loki shrugged.
Sara guided him towards the stage and Infront of the alter, on which rested a tablet made of a dark stone with golden circuits engraved on its surface.
"What am I looking at here?" Loki hissed to Sara,
"That's the village terminal," Sara said, "it allows us to access the world anima system."
"You access the system from that?" Loki was skeptical.
Sara was once again intrigued by his odd response. Terminals are artifacts that allow system users to access the full features of the system. Through them, users can check their statuses, look up information, and perform dozens of other system-related functions. It is beleived by many that terminals were gifts from the administrators, the deities of this world, and because of this, terminals are considered holy relics.
"Terminals were discovered when the first vaults opened, over five hundred years ago." She explained, "they are also one of the few relics that can be successfully reproduce outside of the vaults."
Loki inspected the odd device before him. He wasn't familiar with the design, but the fact that everyone seemed to treat it so specially probably meant they couldn't check their statuses automatically like him, and could only do it through this device.
Following Sara's instruction, Loki placed his hand on a circular pad in the middle of the tablet, marked by circuits, the circuits glowed and projected a large holograpphic screen showing his basic information for all to see;
[STATUS]
Name: Nex Loki
Race: ??? deva (fallen)
Sex: male (?)
Karma: neutral
Condition: wary
Jobs: trickster/??? maker/???
Affiliation: ???
Level: 1
Tier: ???
HP: 100.00%
Anima: 100.00%
Points: 0pnts
"Huh," Loki huffed, it seemed that his [Faker] skill was still in effect, masking parts of his stats. He did like that he could choose what to display his stats publicly, so it doesn't show his list of skills and titles.
"He really is level 1?" Someone exclaimed
"What are all those question marks?" Another elder asked, "I've never seen anything like it,"
"Alright, Loki, thank you for your candidness," Sara said, "now I would like to make use of the terminal too,"
Loki backed away and let her stand before the odd device. When she placed her hand on it a screen popped up, but not a normal status screen, it looked like a search engine.
"What is a fallen deva?" She asked, the words forming on the screen as she spoke.
A second later, the screen changed as the system gave her the result.
[FALLEN DEVA: A variant of the ancient race (deva). Thought extinct after the great silencing. No further information available at this time.]
"Damn," Loki whistled, looking at the screen. He knew that the fallen deva were a subspecies of devas that had lost their divinity and, as such, had their race skills and capabilities downgraded, but they gained a physical body and other sort perks in return.
Turning to the others, he saw them stare at him with awe, one elder even dropped to her knees before him.
"Apologies for the rude treatment, lord Loki," an elder said with a noticable tremble in his voice that made Loki chuckle
"Don't worry about what you just saw on that screen," Loki said, "I don't understand it either."
"B-but..."
"I don't know what happened during this 'great silencing' or whatever," Loki said, "but I'm sure I'll figure it out,"
Hughs and the elders looked uncomfortable, like there was something they weren't sure they should tell him, but before they could say anything, a kobold in light armor barged into the meeting hall.
He rushed to Hughs and saluted.
"R-reporting. A large migration of monsters has been spotted in the distance, closing fast." She said, "on their current course, they will overrun the village by sundown tomorrow."
"What sort of monsters?" Sara demanded
The kobold messenger hesitated a bit, before she replied, "d-dragons, ma'am. A horde of dragons are on their way,"
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