I felt myself being moved at one point but I couldn’t bring myself to pay attention to anything but the feeling of Carmil’s slowly lessening pain inside me. Time passed and pain slowly receded. Just as I started to let myself shift some attention to the world around me I felt a hand on my forehead and a jab in my arm a almost immediately far better.

  I took a breath and looked around and for a mome panic surge in me as I saw the inside of an armored vehicle. As I started to sit up, a hand pushed me back down onto what I was realizing added stretcher.

  A man with a furry strap beard, a deeply tanned face, and a red butterfly emblem on his uniform smiled at me. “No, stay dowhe infusion do it’s work.” he said with a cheerful tone and an odd at I couldn’t pce. It took me a moment to realize he eaking in tagakra, apparently my lessons, though more infrequely, had been w.

  I let out a heavy breath and responded in the same nguage. “Sorry, st time I woke up in something like this I had a really, really bad time of it.” I muttered while rubbing my face tiredly.

  He chuckled “Well you didn’t have your new buddy Oscar here to look after you then and you do now. So rex and enjoy your free ride back to the city.”

  I snorted “Free huh? Last time they charged me an arm and a leg, I got it half off though.”

  He let out a bleating ugh which drew my attention fully to him and I noticed it wasn’t just his beard that was fuzzy, it was his everything aside for the bare skin of his face. His neck was simirly fuzzy, his nose was a short, round bck button with vertical slits for nostrils, and his ears were long, round, and poked out under small horns that were curling back like a ram’s. He spped his knee “My sister’s gonna like you I think.”

  “Sister?” I said, trying not to stare, but he was holy cute. Like a goat at a petting zoo cute.

  He smirked “I take it you’ve never seen a faun, eh?” he wiggled his ears “Not alone in that, we’re native to the northern ti, very few outside of the Empire.” he chuckled again “As for my sister, she’s going to want to see those runes of yours. reat great great great great great grandfather helped devele bands and she’s in the family business, mostly academically that is. I learned enough to know more or less what I’m looking at but not enough to uand it. She’ll flip when she hears.”

  “I, uh… she’ll have to visit me in the Encve District.” I said, some worry about being poked and prodded bubbling up. I figured that the crowds of naked people might serve as a deterrent for most. Those it didn’t work on would either be very dedicated or, ya know, fun.

  He raised a brow “Path folk? Seem awfully well clothed for that.”

  “Leveling, not gonna go o fight monsters. We’re with Dekarru’s tribe so she should be told about all this.”

  He paused at the name, clearly reizing it. But he recovered immediately and nodded “I think your orc friend was telling the captain what happened and where you’re from, so o worry. As for my dear sister Tulip visiting you there? Oh I look forward to seeing the pani her face when she hears that.” He gave a small, vaguely cruel ugh.

  I took a breath and looked at his uniform, notig his name on it. “Merryberry?”

  He ughed “Sounds far more majesti breetabra, but only fauns get the bleating right.” he winked.

  I snorted and ughed uproariously for several moments as my brain just repeated OnlyFauns over and over and for some reason I found it the fuhing in the world without knowing why.

  [Hhhnnnnn… Beloved, I feel terrible. Did we win?]

  I took a breath to calm myself and the fusion on Oscar’s face both from my ughing and the sudden appearance of Carmil’s words in the air was almost enough to make me ugh again. “Yeah, we won love. Going home, just rest more for now.”

  After a minute or so Oscar finally made a sound “Huh. Tulip is definitely going to lose her mind over this.”

  An hour ter I was being carried out of the vehicle and directly to our yurt. A surprise that sted only long enough to see Dekarru hop off of the top of the troop transport I had been in and smile at me. “Met you all halfway back, the city elementals felt the angels arrive and I had some of them rush me out to help. I was a bit te though, seems like you handle yourself detly enough.”

  I nodded and grunted in minor annoyance. “o be stronger.” I said as I was set down and then it was just me and my Shaman ient.

  “You’re strong enough the captain was pining about it.” she ughed “He wao get there soon enough to help and cim some of the metal for the army. But those kills belong to you four.”

  I took a breath and thought for a moment “I say let them have the armor and we keep the ons. They deal with the bodies themselves easier than us, and maybe that will also score us some points with the military.”

  She smiled and reached down to stroke my cheek. “That is a wonderful idea, Stareyes. I will ask the others of your hunting party but I think they will agree. Then I go make that captain smile.”

  “Dekarru, is Carmil okay?”

  She smiled and nodded “She recovers faster in her native blood form. But that was foolish of you, even with Pain Tolerahat had to be torment.”

  “If you wao share my pain with you all, it has to be both ways.” I reached out and squeezed the seer’s hand.

  She leaned down and kissed me softly for a brief moment. “Rest, check your Status, you had to have leveled from that. Weren is cooking and I have to go have some talks with people. Including that guest you seem to have invited.” I looked at her questioningly “Not now Stareyes. Rest. You still have a punishment tomorrow, remember?”

  I huffed and id back as she left the yurt then looked at the notifications the System had waiting for me.

  [Celestial Purifier lvl 63 defeated]

  [Additional Experience awarded for defeating an enemy more than twice your level]

  [Celestial Retributor Ar lvl 94 defeated]

  [Additional Experience awarded for defeating an enemy more than twice your level]

  [Experiehreshold reached, you are now level 29]

  “Well damn. I think I’m getting too used to this kind of thing.” I chuckled and rubbed my face. Eight levels, fuck. I was already just about to my Adva already.

  I took a breath and actually thought about my spends for once. Rag Heart really pulled some weight and my Coordination was suddenly my highest Attribute, and sidering how much I relied on accuracy I felt a o push that with some more points from leveling. Strength I wanted a bit more in so that got some attention. Endurand Willpower also received some love. Focus I let grow purely on passives for this round. And stly I gave the most attention by far this time to Force.

  You might wonder why, but I had more spells now and at least a couple of them I wao have some power behind. Draw Dream could be resisted and Kintsugi gave a boost to the target. As I uood it, Force should determihe power of that boost. What would be the point of such a good Spell if it wasn’t strong enough to actually work sistently? Not to mention, I got the suspi that Auras also had their strength based on Ford Shoulder to Cry On just seemed… useful. Yes I was thinking about a certaihat was having gender based worries, how astute of you.

  I looked at my Attributes after my spends and nodded happily.

  [Strength: 30]

  [Coordination: 70]

  [Endurance: 40]

  [Focus: 61]

  [Willpower: 40]

  [Force: 40]

  Okay yes I was still going for round numbers, but not blindly this time. Ahe 61 in Focus bothered me. Shut up.

  I looked down at my skills because something seemed different.

  [Pain Tolerance: A]

  Yeah, that tracks. But also

  [Sniper’s Eye: A]

  [Heartbreaker: B]

  [Find the Pulse: B]

  [Untouchable Heart: C]

  [Heavy Heart Piercer: C]

  [As a Statue: C]

  [Soothe: C]

  That was a lot of Skill increases. I was gd for every single one.

  But what really shocked me was my Mana. [425/610] That was a huge increase in my avaible amount since just this m. I was only around two forty or so. I didn’t want to bother her, but I o ask sihe answer might be immediately important “Carmil, did something happen with Soul tai? My Mana jumped massively just today.”

  “Hmm?” A sleepy voice responded from inside me “No, that was the angel’s. Drained her, was too mue so I gave it to you. Very sore, please let me rest, love?”

  “Uh... yeah, you rest. Sorry to wake you.” I muttered quietly. That was certainly a thing to learn though.

  Half an hour ter the tribe all filed into the yurt with trays of food. Dekarru woke Carmil and made her e out for healing, she and Jaina tended her mortal form and helped her up to join us for food. She was still unfortable and sore and tired the whole time, what she had done had taxed her by overfilling her Mana pool. She would be down and out for a day or two as a result.

  Once she was curled up with Luvetra, I stepped out to speak with Dekarru about what had happened. We sat by the ke and watched the stars twinkle and dan the water’s surface. “So, expin please” I took a sip of the bottle of berry liquor the shaman had brought with us.

  She took the bottle and downed some herself. “She’s a blood elemental. They feed on people and animals through their blood. They have means of incapacitating things that fight bad she used a couple of them from what I tell. She both set off her paiors all over and drained her of her Mana. It was… far more effective than it should have been to be ho. Though a celestial’s blood is not safe to feed on. She threw herself io save you, knowing it might kill her. If she hadn’t gotten that crazy Adva from yoddess, it would have.”

  “She’s gonna be okay, right?”

  She smiled “pletely, upside of that mortal body form is it be magically healed like a normal mortal’s. As for the Mana overflow, that’s not unheard of and just needs her to rest a while to get over. She’ll just be tired for a bit is all.”

  I took a sip “We give the military the armor?”

  She old the captain and said it was your idea. She wants to thank you personally. The material from that is going to be used for something like thirty elite unit armor suits. She insists it will save lives.”

  I shrugged “Diplomacy is important. A bunch of kids were shitting on me for being oh at the War District. Maybe this will make that kind of thing less acceptable.”

  She chuckled “I bet fug that captain will help too.”

  I she one I never saw so ’t even make a shallow judgment on her appearance for?”

  The shaman ughed “She’s a mature woman with some meat on her bones. Also quite fortable here in the district. Bet she’ll show up naked and you ogle her.”

  I turo look at her chest “I have plenty to ogle here already.”

  She grinned “Save that for tomorrow, Stareyes.”

  “I k! This punishment is just a surprise sex thing!”

  Her grin turned wicked. “It’s both dear. And I am pletely serious about you not having to do this. We love you and uand why you get stupid sometimes. We know you’re w on it. This isn’t some ‘do this or we never fully five you’ thing. Mostly we’ll just be… letting off some frustration onto you.”

  I raised my brow “In a sex way oooor…?”

  She tilted her head "Oh sexy for us at least. You might find it... taxing." she gri me and licked her lips. "We're going to put that stamina of yours to the test Stareyes. Get some rest, you'll ."

  I went to bed worried that night.