The Tentacle Awakens

by J. J. Pavlov

  We traveled for four and a half days in a mostly straight line. The rest of our journey to Kongenssoevn will take around twenty-one days, and I assume it'll be at about the same rate of progress. Thirty-five times that is seven hundred thirty-five days. That's about two years, just to walk this distance at around the same speed as I have traveled at so far.

  And there are another land mass and a vast ocean to cross, so the journey will in no way be going in a straight line. It might not seem too bad at first if it was me alone. I could transform into a vularen on land, to run at speeds far above the one we're traveling at, and then get some fish template to swim through the ocean. Since my stamina has no perceivable limits, I could keep moving without rest.

  But I'm not traveling alone, so I can't do all that.

  It seems like three years are barely enough for such a considerable distance, and it sure as hell isn't enough when I also want to see the world and gather companions to bring home with me.

  "Doesn't this shape look familiar?" Senka's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. She's pointing at a peninsula connected to Ceogath, somewhere near the center of the map. "You, of all people, should... never mind."

  "Huh, what is it?" But she doesn't respond and just shrugs, ending the topic before it even began. I do the same in wonder, then lean back against a tree, returning my thoughts to the distance that lies before me. "But really, it's a long way after all..."

  With a sigh, I look up to the clear night sky. There's no light pollution at all, so I can see an entire sea of stars, as well as the two full moons-

  Wait, why are there two full moons?

  For a moment, I just sit there and look up with my jaw slack and a blank expression on my face. I've been in this world for over two months now, and this is the first time I see this.

  "Two moons?" I snap my neck around to Senka and ask with an almost hysterical hiss.

  "Ah... yeah, no." She makes and looks away with a distant expression. What's with that half-assed response? "Just accept it as it is..."

  If you say it like that, I'm even more interested!

  "Don't leave me hanging, oi!" Oops, I just raised my voice a little. But Senka doesn't say anything else and avoids eye contact. "Don't tell me they're actually eyes of a gigantic monster or something, haha..."

  "All I can say is that tonight is a new moon..."

  "Ahhh, don't just drop that on me right after I come up with such an absurd explanation!"

  "Not my fault your imagination runs off wildly." Senka shrugs and concludes our almost comical exchange on her own.

  I focus on the sky, but there's no way to make sure. There are stars between the two circles of light, so it can't be a giant creature flying in the sky unless it has skin with sparkling stars on it.

  And it's not like I could do anything, even if those really belonged to a living being. I'm just this tiny speck on a planet, while that thing would be a cosmic entity big enough to accidentally destroy said planet by sneezing.

  That night I dreamed of galaxy-sized robots fighting each other with even bigger drills while defying all laws of physics.

  Ten days have passed since we started on this journey, and along the way, we stayed in a few small towns for a night each. They were nowhere near the size of Hovsgaerden but still featured sturdy stone walls. According to the bard, those are remnants of a more warlike era; right now, there are barely any patrols and few guards standing around at the gates.

  We do get many weird looks from townspeople and travelers on the road alike, because of both our party composition and the fact that I'm carrying Senka in my arms - and a little dark elf with a weirdly bulging right side under her coat is clinging to me at all times. Her cursed arm isn't on full display, but there's no way to make its presence disappear completely.

  I would never tell her to hide it for my sake, though. I think it's a status symbol since it distinguishes her as a unique character in a sea of otherwise bland and common designs.

  Since we're in a rush, there's no time for sightseeing, so whenever we enter a town, we only stock up on supplies for the journey ahead. For the most part, we spend our nights out in the open, using the edge of forests as cover from the weather. Luckily, it's holding up, and we haven't had to deal with much rain.

  The days pass in a mostly uneventful manner, compared to all the adventures we went through in Hovsgaerden. Everyone's too exhausted from the daily marches to do more than having rare idle conversations or listening to the bard playing his lute in the evenings before sleep.

  With our brisk pace, Daica has given up on trying to act tough and started letting me carry more and more of her luggage - as expected of someone who has never exercised for her entire life. But this is an excellent opportunity for her to at least put on some muscles. Even though she's slowing us down and we pace ourselves according to her speed, nobody is complaining since we're still progressing within expectations.

  Finally, on the twelfth day, we enter a landscape with hills that grow ever steeper, and the rolling plains are abruptly replaced by dense forests. According to the bard, this is the outer reaches of the Kongensgrad, and the actual mountains will become visible soon.

  "There are two paths which we can take to get across the Kongensgrad." Gram explains after I asked about how we'll be crossing the mountains, as we settle down for lunch break in a small clearing. "The King's Pass is the easiest route, but..."

  "... not the fastest?" I'm curious!

  "Well, yeah..." He's troubled by my enthusiasm and scratches his mustache nervously while unpacking the cooking set he's carrying in his backpack. "We don't have enough time to take the longer but safer route. We're going towards the Himmelenveien right now, which is the other path. But since snowfall season is just around the corner, it could be quite dangerous."

  "Are there no other routes than these two?" I would think that a mountain range that large should have a lot of routes one could use.

  "There are a few other routes, but they're too dangerous for inexperienced people. Only express messengers use those." Rolan joins our conversation while placing firewood in a pile for Luna to light on fire with her magic.

  It sounds like a potentially fun adventure, but I don't want to subject Kamii or Daica to any dangers. Unlike me, they aren't practically impervious to physical damage, and would most likely die from falling off a cliff, or at least end up heavily wounded. Deep in the mountains, that's basically a death sentence.

  There's a very high-ranked spell in the Scripture of Belys that can heal anything short of death, but it requires a very long incantation, as well as a ritual to be held by at least three people. I don't know whether that means all three need to have a light magic affinity or not, but the requirement is still quite steep in either case. Furthermore, I've neither had an opportunity to practice it nor do I want to do so on someone I know. If it failed, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

  "Well, we'll stop in Aekrestad for one day and one night, to stock up on food and buy warmer clothes for the mountain crossing." The leader says while fanning the flames that Luna has conjured. I could help out, you know?

  "I do feel a little cold." Daica mutters weakly. She's wearing the silky dress and strapped sandals which she wore most of the time in Hovsgaerden, clothes wholly inappropriate for hiking. It's a wonder anyone even allowed her to come along in those.

  "Elves don't freeze." Kamii states with her nose raised high and her left arm on her hip. She can't do the same with her right hand, causing her to look like she's striking a pose for a photo instead of being haughty.

  She was fine wearing thin rags that barely covered her body in the cold storage room and walked barefoot through half the city. Also, I'm pretty sure the slave keepers didn't have enough kindness to give her a blanket even during winter. Maybe Daica feeling cold is related to her curse, too?

  "Then let's go shopping for clothes when we get to Aekrestad." I have enough money to do that much for the two cute dark elves under my wings. "You shou
ld come with us, too."

  "H-huh?" Luna is taken by surprise when I suddenly address her. "Ah, umm... yes?"

  "Nice!" I pump my fist. She wasn't listening but still agrees. Giving me a look of bewilderment, she blinks a few times, before turning to Rolan for help.

  "Let's eat." Gram announces that the lunch is ready. He's unexpectedly good at turning simple provisions, consisting of dried meat and whatever vegetables and roots we can find in the vicinity, into pretty palatable meals.

  We quickly dig in.

  Towards noon on the sixteenth day, the dirt road leads us through an area that appears to be used for woodcutting activities. There are felled trees and a vast open space with many stumps remaining in the ground. We're close to a human settlement.

  "Does the ax ring nicely today?" Gram calls out to our surroundings.

  "It does indeed!" A tough-sounding voice emerges from behind a pile of cleaned and stacked tree trunks. Heavy boots crunch the dirt and splinters of wood, as a giant man comes into view. A magnificent beard covers his face and connects seamlessly with his crew cut. He has a physique similar to Gram's, and his tanned upper body is bare despite the cold weather. His chest is full of hair, and so are his forearms.

  I look between the two big men. Guess all lumberjacks have a body like that.

  "Greetings, travelers. What brings you here?" The man asks us in a friendly tone.

  "We'd like to know how far it is to Aekrestad." The big man does the talking since it seems like they see eye to eye. Must be the muscles.

  "It's just a short walk along the riverbank. You'll come upon the meadows of Aekrestad in a bit." The lumberjack points to our right. There's a small river which is most likely used for transporting the logs. That means the town lies downstream from here.

  "We thank you, good man. May the trees fall well." Gram is using lumberjack speech, and it's quite interesting to hear.

  "You're welcome. To you a safe journey." With a nod, the other big man says his goodbyes.

  Ahhh, this exchange was so friendly. Even though we're an armed group that just came out of the forest, he didn't immediately think we were bandits or something. These parts must be really peaceful.

  Walking down the path along the riverbank, we make our way through a forest once again. The bard tells us that this is the Aengerleien, of which the source we'll be able to see when we take the Himmelensveien pass. The water is really clear, and I can see all the way to the bottom, where fish are swimming about happily.

  Soon, the forest is replaced by the meadows the lumberjack told us about. Before the backdrop of a snowcapped mountain range stands a small town surrounded only by a wooden palisade. It seems that this area hasn't seen any wars in a long time, and it looks more like this wall is to protect against wild animals rather than human armies.

  There are no gate guards, and the overall atmosphere in this town seems to be more laid back than the one in Hovsgaerden. With a population of around three thousand, that's to be expected; everybody's much more familiar with each other.

  Apparently, this town doesn't have an adventurer guild. Rolan made sure to check in at the guilds in each city and village we stayed in, even if we didn't take on any requests. But this time, we go straight to the tavern to stash our luggage. As always, Rolan and Luna get their own room, Gram and the bard share one, and I stay with Kamii and Daica.

  We meet back downstairs shortly after to have lunch. During the meal, we discuss how to proceed, and everybody gets a list of things to buy for the journey ahead of us. For some reason, I'm just told to find clothes for my two protégés instead of procuring provisions like everybody else.

  Discriminating against me for being the daughter of a noble, who must be ignorant of market prices and haggling? Well, I don't mind, but I'll still pull Luna along on our clothes shopping trip.

  "Huh? I promised?" She looks incredibly skeptical.

  "Yes... you did." Kamii is the one to reply in my stead - to everybody's surprise. Since she has always been telling the truth, sometimes to the chagrin of those who became disadvantaged of it, nobody stops to doubt her. Well, it really is the truth anyway.

  "Hahaha! Why not? Go with them." Rolan actually supports my one-sided decision. Most likely it's because he must have noticed that we usually don't get along so well and sees it as an opportunity for us to do some bonding.

  Thus, it's decided that I'll be pulling Luna along on our girls-only outing. She doesn't look very pleased about going shopping with me, of all people, and she isn't very hopeful about the selection. I can understand her sentiment because there isn't much to be found in the way of fashion in these small towns.

  Since this is a kingdom, I expect the nobility to have at least some sense of fashion, though. We'll see when we get to the capital.

  We quickly find a tailor, one of only two in the whole town. As expected, he has little variety, but at least the clothes are suitable for the weather ahead of us. While I think cute clothes suit Kamii best, and sexy ones are a must for Daica, this store has neither.

  Well, we do need to select outfits that will keep them safe and warm on the mountain pass, so at least this way I won't get baited into buying something unnecessary. Even though the older sister said that elves don't freeze, I don't want to risk her getting sick while on the road, far from a warm bed and medicine.

  I prefer clothes that are easy to move in and capable of surviving my active lifestyle for a long time. Especially since we're walking a lot and moving through the wilderness, it has to be sturdy as well as cover me adequately. Not that I get cuts from branches or tall grass, since my skin is very malleable, but I have to keep up appearances in front of the humans.

  In the end, I pick a shirt customarily worn by lumberjacks from this area, made of a sturdy cloth from some unknown plant's fibers. I assume it's this world's equivalent to cotton. A pair of leather pants tied with a thick belt and sturdy boots complete the look of a mountaineer.

  Or the look of a girl from the boonies.

  "That really suits you." Senka sneers in the changing room, and I bop her over the head.

  When I emerge in my chosen outfit the tailor glances at me with a frown. Since women in this society only ever wear skirts that reach all the way down to their ankles, it's rare to see one in anything else. The only women who I've seen wear pants were those from the adventurer guild, but those can't be found in this town.

  I get Kamii something like a back-tied corset top that leaves her shoulders and arms exposed. It's the only outfit the tailor had that doesn't require a lot of work for her to be able to wear. Still, I have the tailor cut something like a detached sleeve for her left arm. Warm cloth pants cover her legs now, and I find leather chausses for her thighs, which looks like an overskirt. It offers both protection and warmth.

  "How does it feel?" I pet Kamii after tying up the corset, making sure not to tightening it too much.

  "Strange." She says while looking down at herself. Her figure is quite petite, so there's no need to use a tight corset to make her waist look even slimmer. I only picked this for ease of wearing, especially since it features a fluffy trim, too.

  Actually, that corset may have been intended to stir the beholder's libido, rather than as proper clothing. After all, when I see her wearing it, I feel stimulated. But my intention was for her to wear it under her tabard, to keep her otherwise open sides warm.

  For now, the little dark elf is only wearing the corset, and her bare shoulders are beckoning me. I plant a kiss on them from behind, and she turns around to me with a lovely smile, before nuzzling into my chest.

  "Hurry up! We don't have all day." Once again, Senka rains on my parade. She earns a knuckle to the top of her head, which she takes with silent dignity.

  For Daica, I want to find something that will make her body stand out, even while it keeps her warm. I don't mind splurging on her when I have a feast for my eyes every time I take a look.

  However, no such thing exists in this small town tailor's
store. Then my eyes fall on a pile of pink wool. Is that from one of those colorful sheep? Their fur is really fluffy!

  So, I make the tailor line the insides of a light robe with the wool but have it peek out from the sleeves and the hood. Furthermore, I tell him to shorten the front half of the robe, so that it reaches just below the crotch, while the back still goes down to the ankles. Then, I ask him to use that leftover material to make a short skirt, which goes halfway down the thighs, as well as to cut a pair of tights - which are actually men's clothing in this world - just above the knees. I tighten them with strings since rubber bands don't exist in this world.

  I have Daica wear those in the changing room right away.

  "A-are you sure about this?" She stands before me in only her underwear but is also wearing these new makeshift thigh highs. That's a sight I need to enjoy silently, so I just watch her without replying. She grows increasingly flustered at my wordless admiration, and her face flushes a deep reddish-purple.

  It's just so fun to bully her like this.

  While we wait for the tailor to finish the work on Daica's clothes, I leave her in the changing room alone with Senka and go out to look for Luna. She excused herself from trying on clothes by saying that she doesn't need anything new, and only picked up a heavy scarf for the mountain crossing ahead of us.

  "You don't need anything else?" I ask her for the third time. In a way, I really wanted to see her get undressed and assess her proportions better. I can't tell because of those loose robes she always wears, but it's clear that she has a complex about her boob size. She sometimes glances at that region in both Daica and me, before looking down at herself with a depressed sigh.

  Her elven half must be more dominant in that regard.

  "You just thought something rude about me, did you not?" Turning away slightly while holding the scarf up to cover her chest, Luna looks at me with a sour face. Are my thoughts that easily readable?

  "I only thought it's such a waste that you wouldn't pick a more accentuating outfit." Speaking in the most innocent tone I can muster, I try to poke her sense of fashion. "I think you have a great body, so you would surely look good in a dress."