24- Parchment things up

The confusing information in the magical warnings in front of Mimiru had startled her at first, the last one had even scared her to some degree. It seemed aimed at her too intentionally. Before, all the magic information announcements had been rather reactive, announcing something after she had accomplished a task, almost like a reward for her effort. But this one in particular was different,  almost as if it was poking straight into a sore spot in her mind and soul, playing with some of her deepest inner insecurities and fears.

Yet. After the initial scare, she felt quite calm and relaxed, the whole experience now somehow soothing, she felt relieved with a huge weight off her mind, as if she had been freed of her inner doubts. She felt so elated and cheerful that she immediately made a blunder without thinking about it.

Coming back to herself, she looked at the cup of juice the kobolds had brought her, she tried it and found it to her liking, it was slightly fermented, a very nice fruity taste to it with some slight bitterness that somehow helped to enhance the flavor of berries you could find in the forest. She took it without reserves, emptying the contents of the clay cup in one single go.

“Gahaha!! This is a great party!!” She exclaimed with a thunderous voice that startled everyone and made them look at her almost alarmed due to her sudden change of attitude as well as the magnitude of the volume of her voice.

“Oi Mimiru, what is that? Are you the old man now?!”

“Everyone! Revel tonight!! Celebrate to your heart’s content and may the realm bless your celebration!!” She continued without paying attention to her companion, raising her cup with a huge grin on her face and one hand on her hip, all gestures and mannerisms she had unwillingly absorbed from their mentor.

The celebration seemed much brighter to her now, actually the whole cave seemed a rather brither now that she was paying more atention, maybe it felt that way now that everyone seemed to be looking in her direction. Or so she thought.

Your prayer has been heard

"Blessed feast" miracle granted.

“Bwah?!!!”

Completely surprised and then somehow spurred by her words, the kobolds doubled their efforts at making this as remarkable of a celebration as possible, singing and dancing with more renewed energy. They also started bringing even more food and drinks, in unlikely quantities and in an outrageous pace, bringing to question how they had managed to prepare so much food beforehand. Specially if they had been leading a nomad lifestyle until this point.

All and several other questions where a thing of little concern for Mimiru as she suddenly felt completely drained of energy. She still felt in high spirits, but all her energy seemed to have left her in an instant. She looked at herself, trying to move her arms and legs, the act of lifting her arm felt like it was a taxing endeavor. Suddenly her whole body ached making a clear reminder that she had spent the entirety of the day either exploring the forest while fighting the critters within it, or being anxious and in high alert about the prescence of the kobolds, jumping about every single sudden move they made.

But all that seemed behind them at this particular moment. Mimiru looked around, and upon finding her target, she started walking towards it. She stumbled on her very first step, which lead her to believe that she was, without a doubt, on the right course of actions. Which ultimately led her to fumbling her way on top of Feugan’s back and immediately falling asleep.

“Mimiru! Are you ok?!!”

“{I think she fell asleep? Must be really tired?}”

“Feugan! Is she Okay?!!”

“{Oh… right you cannot understand me…}”

“I cannot understand you, Feugan!!”

“I know… Can someone please tell him that she is okay?”

***

“So. While its possible to infuse a weapon with both divinity and mana, the balance is very hard to keep. Making it a very dangerous tool of destruction in a plethora of ways, most of them the most undesirable, there have been records of swords exploding, longbows catching fire and even maces turning into turkey legs, therefore making it highly unadvised to perform unless adequate amounts of training
It is also important to notice that not all materials conduct mana or divinity the same way, it has been noticed that ‘pure metals’ such as silver or gold can be charged with divinity much more easily, yet branches from trees from sacred grounds have shown an even more splendid flow of divinity.
Mana on the other hand, shows a more marked flow on minerals as well as crafted pieces of equipment. With the few exceptions of very specifical plants, mana flow seems to be a matter of control and design”

The big rugged Guildmaster continued explaining, only the sounds of chalk against a chalkboard interrupting him as he would stop every now and then just to making a drawing pertaining his explanations or a side note to make emphasis on the last point he explained.

“Now! The body can absorb the energies of the land, such as when breathing, or eating. It can also gain energy from defeated enemies, some claim part of their life force is absorbed into our bodies. And as outlandish of an explanation as it sounds, this is yet the most widely accepted theory about this. Due to how adventurers show a remarkable progression in terms of body, soul and mana strength.
While all the enlightened races benefit greatly from the 3 forces, the benefits exhibit in different ways as each race as an apparent aptitude for them, with its exceptions. The beastkin usually boast greater physical traits and show a greater aptitude to convert their life energy into physical manifestations within the body, also known as skills. Allowing them to use far more skills, than your average human, in a single day without feeling tired or risking their lives due to overuse. Of course there are certain races that have shown a greater prowess to mana manipulation such as the Phauxnixes and the Lamia.”

At this point the guildmaster moved to a different part of the chalkboard, one part filled with what seemed like odd figures with lines, circles, letters, shapes and triangles converging into a single weird artsy overdramatic painting.

“But what is mana? Mana is widely accepted as one of the fundamental elements that constitute the world. While there are varied discussions on how everything might be made from elements, such as water, earth, wind and fire. All scholars agree that regardless of this, everything is formed or contains some degree of mana in it. With ambient mana coming in troves from the wind and rivers it was hardly anything disputable really. Heck, a really skillfull mage with big enough familiarity with earth magic, could draw mana not only from the soil but even from rocks.

From that point on, a mage has to manipulate the mana in a minutely manner to use it in a spell”

“Master! Why are we studying this?! I already know all of this!”

“Oh? You know all of this, you say? And yet you had to be carried to the guild this morning, because you overused your newfound access to divinity! Completely drained from energy and requiring assistance to be brought back while in the middle of a job, within the forest dungeon!! Needing a healer just to make sure you were fine without lasting aftereffects!”

“I-it wasn’t on purpose…” came a soft mumbled response.

“So you DO know why it happened then?!”

“I-I think I do have an idea of why…”.

“If you are not sure completely why, then, Ill make it clear to you! Without proper knowledge or practice of your newfound access to divinity, you went ahead and blessed a celebration, in the name of your Patron deity!!” The weary looking guildmaster answered in an agriavated tone. His voice raising with each word further explaining the situation.

“But I didn’t bless on any god’s name!”

The old man stared at her, obviously angry at his disciple for trying to make an excuse when the results were, after all, quite obvious to him. Yet he regained his composure and continued with his explanations.

“Miracles can only be granted by one of the thirteen patron deities or one of their vassals gods. Failure to do so will yield no results, no miracles and in some cases, you will befall upon a lesser curse by misuse of a prayer and divinity”

“C-curse?! Misuse of a prayer?!”

“Of course, kiddo! You thought you could just make a prayer to the air and expect the thirteen to just pick up your slack and figure out who is supposed to answer a random plight?! There are rules to follow, the same applies for us enlightened beings, if a person starts yelling asking for help in the middle of a street, he or she is more likely to attract the city guards than to receive help, best case they will be guided to adventurers or mercenaries, worst case he will pass the night at a jailhouse for disturbing the peace”

“T-that makes sense…”

“Mmmph! You say that as if you were surprised I would give you less than useful information”

“Well I mean, sometimes…”

“Pick. Your. Words. Carefully. I’m still very angry at you for such a folly, kiddo” The Weathered Guildmaster stood in front of her, his already imposing figure seemed to loom even taller than usual, he had placed his finger on the table in front of Mimiru, a gesture to make a point as he was speaking. His anger more evident than ever, not only from the weight his words carried. The way the thick index finger left an indentation on the sturdy wooden table, was proof that he was barely restraining his own frustration over the incidents that had taken place during the last job Mimiru undertook.

He stared at her intently until he finally stood back, taking a deep breath to calm himself he turned around and walked to the other side of the “lessons room”. A room that could hold at least a dozen individuals sitting on the small tables and chairs along the room, an arrangement that reminded Mimiru of the classrooms she had seen inside some of the temples that often took in disciples for training or willingly accepted people for some sort of education.

A special room in the guild, known for being the place where the Guildmaster gave his more -educative- lessons to the less willing to learn members of the adventurer’s guild.

The adventuring trade was well known for valuing strength. Which leads to an easy misconception, “as long as you have enough strength you can do whatever you want” as an adventurer. This sort of misunderstandings leads to the need for a leading figure within the guild. The guildmaster. One of the foremost roles of an adventurer’s guildmaster is to nurture and groom candidates into proper members of the guild. Sometimes nurturing them with lessons and guidance in both manners and rules to follow. And other times grooming them the same way a drill sergeant would to the new members of an army.

As such, the existence of the “lessons room” was well known among the members, either from stories passed along or from making mistakes which lead them to dreadful valuable lessons as adventurers.

As one that had heard the tales, Mimiru wasn’t thrilled of being inside the room while reviewing her performance on the last job she had taken.

“P-Permission to speak, Sir!” She stood straight on her seat, raising her hand. Although she stammered a little, it couldn’t be helped, showing no hint of nervousness nor guilt would just show she believe she had done nothing wrong.

“mmph. Go ahead”

“Even if… er… No, let me rephrase that. I performed a high level of miracle, right?”

“Yes, you did. Divine blessed feast, an advanced miracle that normally only high priests of a church would be able to perform. Rather than asking for the food to be blessed, which results in food consecrated and enhanced by the gods, the whole feast was accepted as a religious celebration which resulted in big amounts of blessed food and wine, until everyone is sated and some even healed of their ailments.”

“B-but why was I able to perform an advanced miracle if I had just obtained divinity?”

“First. You didn’t ‘just obtain’ it. No living being is born without a connection to the gods, even the smallest of insects that live in this world have such a connection. Simply put, the enlightened races are much more likely to receive blessings and miracles due to our capability to perform prayers and offerings.”

“Mimiru!”

“Y-Yes?!”

The guildmaster seemed to have thought of something and with his back to the blackboard in the room, a blackboard that was full of notes regarding a variety of subjects they had reviewed regarding mana, divinity and even skills. The notes to her last assignment were present as well,just like some numbers and random notes, he pointed to it with no apparent intention than to indicate it was ‘teaching time’.

“Question! How does one ‘accrue’ Divinity?!”

“Gah! You- I mean! One- er… A person- A person has to make an offering to the gods, if the offering is to their liking he will be blessed, regardless of the form of the blessing, the blessings leave a small amount of divinity as a remnant on the person in the form of divinity” she was a little bit startled and then after swiftly pulling her notes from her bag, she recited the results of her own investigation on the subject.

“Good! Right on the mark, the more honest and well taken your prayers and offerings become, the more Divinity one will acquire. Second Question!”

“Yes!”

“Where is this divinity stored?”

“I-in the soul?” She answered after quickly peering into her notes.

“Correct! And how do we know this?”

“Because spirits don’t have a body yet they can perform certain miracles as well as magic, which leads to believe they possess both divinity and mana while being only a spiritual being”

“Good! Now, the reason why you were granted such a high level of miracle, simply put, you had enough divinity stored and you performed a prayer that reached the gods. As to why that made you exhausted, just like with muscles, you used too much energy too fast without being used to it.”

“That sounds too simple of an answer”

“Oh! It is!! That is the overly simplistic answer that borders on the ‘Just enough’ so we can understand a little bit of how our world works regarding the subject!”

“…what?”

“You will need to experiment and research a lot more, on your own, so you understand kiddo.”

“Oh… figures…”

“Ok. As I have told you before the best way to come to a better understanding of something is by teaching to others. So today you shall review all the lesson along with Feugan here.”

It was then that the guildmaster brought to attention the fact that the Dragon had been the entire time sitting on a corner in the room. Listening to the lengthy lecture without uttering a word in order to not interrupt the lesson, not that the guildmaster would have been able to understand any of his questions. Nor had he any way to read the expressions of a dragon to make sure if an explanation was fully understood.

“Imma leave all the notes I made on the board, so feel free to use ‘em as a guide on what we saw today and what I’ll test you guys tomorrow, to make sure you learned something useful!”

The hidden threat in the old man’s words didn’t escape Mimiru “Either both of show you learned today’s lesson properly or I’ll find other ways to educate you”.

“That’s going to be an issue, Master!”

“It’s not supposed to be easy, kiddo. But that’s why all the lesson is here in the board-”

“I don’t know how to read, Master”

“har har! Don’t even try and make such weak excuse. My penning aint hard to read at all! And! I know you constantly go around taking notes. You didn’t even bother to hide your bundle of notes from the table!”

The master answered her with his tone of voice a little higher than he intended to, he stared straight at his protegee seizing her answer. He was fully expecting her to crack a smile anytime and say “Syke!” or something like that. Surely, Bannon taught her that weird prank style which the young man had acquired from his father. The old guildmaster just never fully understood how that was supposed to be funny, but Bannon’s father had always been a weird one. Mimiru had been on a long job with Bannon, for a couple of days, which made the rugged old man think that perhaps she had learned it during the whole trip.

He stared intently at her. Fully expectant on the development of the weird foreign joke. Upon realizing she didn’t seem to be doing it anytime sooner and annoyed at the prospect of having to deal with yet another person with an odd sense of humor. He steadied himself to correct the undesired bad behavior out of his most exemplary protegee, leaning foward forward and putting his finger on the table, pointing to her parchment sheets, ready to read her the riot act.

It was then that he got distracted, his eyes stopped on Mimiru’s “notes”

“…!! What in…”

The Guildmaster went ahead, grabbing the notes in front of Mimiru, swiftly checking them with less than a quick glance at each one of them.

“There is not even a single word here!”

“Well, no... I don’t know how to write after all”

“But- But… you are always taking notes!!” He reiterated while pointing at the cheap magical ink utensils she had been using less than a few moments ago.

Disbelief and astonishment clearly painted on his face. He looked at her a with confusion in his eyes, a look soon replaced by understanding.

Until not too long ago Mimiru was training to be a Beast tamer, nothing more than a high-class stable worker in the opinion of the upper economical echelons, and some time before that she had been just a little village girl tending the fields everyday along with her family. Learning to read and write was almost essential for anyone in charge of even the most basic bureaucratic office. It is easy to forget that not everyone has to suffer reading endless piles of paperwork on a daily basis.

The parchment sheets were full of notes, indeed. Notes in the manner of squiggles, doodles, shapes, dots and slashes. Draws of plants and leaves filled a few pages too, followed by circles with the simple common counting system, most likely “notes” of her finances and gathering results. The kid had never learned to write, It was somewhat doubtful she knew how to make simple calculations either, but she knew the value of keeping track of relevant information. The old master would know, he had personally beaten such sense into her with dozens of “research investigations”, all part of his various lessons and exercises on how to be a proper member of the adventurer’s guild. Dozens of lessons and even more researches he had demanded of her. Countless interviews, trips to the apothecary, merchants and a plethora of places, all in which she had somehow managed to bring acceptable information back, with nothing but doodles and good memory.

Goodness sake, how come I never noticed before?

“Do…” The guildmaster stammered, looking as much pensive as troubled. His rugged fingers ran through his grey hair. Worrying Mimiru to certain degree, he seemed so ever sure and full of confidence in everything he did. This man who represented a branch of the adventurer’s guild, his presence an actual boon of security to the city, a man who seemed as large as the world to some. To see him uncertain, was something she had never seen before.

“Do you want to learn how to?...”

“Eh?!! W-Whats this about master?! There is no way I can now! I’m even busier nowdays than when I first joined the guild! Not only with the missions to help Feugan, but I think I’m making real progress with all this Beastmaster deal you know? I don’t think we have the time for that. It takes lil kids about a year to learn it and even longer for adults right? I would also have to pay a premium for private lessons since the priests of knowledge only do it for -free- to kids right?”

He remained quiet, looking at her, she seemed to be content with just continuing with how things were, it was not a -life or dead- situation. After all, it was more common in the city to have a bigger part of the population knowing how to write and read, a bigger part only when compared to small villages and fringe cities, that is. Most people could continue with their lives without even knowing how to speak properly. This bit of knowledge never failed to infuriate the otherwise aloof guildmaster which also happened to be a ranked priest of the goddess of knowledge church.

He was already grumbling internally, a quick thought annoying thought came to his mind, about all the other priests of the church of knowledge and all their sanctimonious excuses about good education requiring adequate tithes. The dogma of the church could be misconstrued in such ways after all. It was almost a forceful show of charity to provide “free” lessons to children, all the while offering a much more advanced degree of education to those offering heavy pouches of golden coins. While still ruminating such ideas, he was brought back to reality by one single detail. Those were not generally known pieces of knowledge. One would have to ask the right questions, to the right people, about the very particular subject of private lessons to adults. All of that questioning around and prodding the right people, about a subject they were rather close lipped about. All that in order to even begin discerning the level of understanding Mimiru had on the subject.

Heh. She must have done a very thorough investigation on the subject.

“Oi! I didn’t ask you if you had the time or money! I asked you, if you wanted to learn!” Much to Mimiru’s surprise and annoyance, the old man was back to his own boisterous level of loudness.

“I-I am too old to take on the cla-”

“Yes or no!, I didn’t ask for ‘maybe’s! Or which excuses you put in for this. Is it this a particular knowledge you have searched for?!”

The Guildmaster’s voice had not only elevated, somehow his voice was louder yet lacking any sign of anger, as he asked the question his words seemed to reverberate within the room. Somehow his muscular frame seemed bigger than normal. Mimiru was fully focused on him, but it was hard to even pretend the room wasn’t turning brighter somehow.

As he stood somehow taller than he had ever before, his eyes felt like they were looking deep into her, just as how he seemed to be the only figure whose undivided attention should be paid to.

“Y-yes! I would like to learn!”

“Good, your answer is honest, firm and without fault.”

It was at this moment that Mimiru noticed the increase in the light of the room didn’t come from the windows, upon closer inspection which had to be done with sqinting eyes, she realized the source of the light was her master, whose figure seemed to be enveloped by light. It was then that she realized he was praying. Or at least it seemed like that, eyes closed, hands up front of himself.

He then moved one hand, putting his index finger on his temple, lips moving into another silent prayer before moving the same finger aside. Mimiru could see a trickly of silver flowing from the master’s temple towards his finger, entranced by the sight she didn’t realize the same finger was drawing closer to her.

With the his index finger now on her forehead, his eyes closed, he kept moving his mouth as if chanting something, with a bright flash of light, the room turned back to his natural colors, making Mimiru realize she was now enveloped in a soft golden light too.

A miracle has been bestowed upon you!

Miracle of Knowledge, “Shared knowledge: Letters”

Do you accept the miracle?

Yes / No

This surprised and dazzled her, in that moment she was not propeprly able to even question what was happening. Yet she was not confused enough to know it wouldn’t be prudent to reject a miracle. She moved her hand and poked the word “yes” on the magical visage, just as she also sharply voiced her answer.

“Yes!”

“Good. Now you just sit there, Ill ask Kara to bring you something sweet for ya along with some aspir from the apothecary. Ill test you guys tomorrow after lunch instead of daybreak”

The guildmaster was now telling this and looking at Feugan, knowing fully well Mimiru had her head busy at the moment. Once the dragon nodded in knowledgement, the weary old man nodded back and without another word walked to the door and left the room.

All the while, Mimiru remained still on her seat. Countless memories of writing lessons unfolding in front of her eyes. Writing practices and exercises in penmanship being recalled as if her own. Lessons on writing the names for animals, plants and a myriad of objects, and repetitions, endless repetitions that made Mimiru wonder if the wristache was the memory’s or her own. Her right hand twitching everynow and then, slight movements of her hand and wrist as more memories unfolded.

Feugan, looked at the now closed door, then he took a look a the now entranced Mimiru, then heaving a sigh, curled his tail around himself and began shuffling trying to find a comfortable position to wait for the snacks to arrive.

23- Holy celebration.

Somehow all the events that had taken place during the day had lead them to this very weird moment.

Mimiru found herself sitting on top of a small straw filled cushion, at the right side of Feugan while Bannon was on the left, both staring ahead at a campfire, with dozens of kobolds dancing around the disturbingly big ceremonial bonfire.

Immediately after the news of the burial ground consecration (and one very excitable dwarf passing out) had been known, the kobolds in the village started going back and forth like bees in a hive, full with purpose. Mimiru couldn’t help but to feel the excitement and relief on the air, it was almost palpable to her, possibly due to how her senses now included some sort of beastmaster-enhanced perception for the feelings of living beings. Or at least this was the only reason she could think of this change.

The handsome elven researcher Auric, told them that the kobolds had been in some sort of pilgrimage looking for a new settling based on a vision the kobold shaman had. Apparently the Kobolds had been wandering as a nomadic tribe for quite some time. In the very own kobold words (or at least from what the researcher team had managed to translate) the kobold tribe had been traveling and looking for their new home for 5 old moons and 3 new moons. This felt very cryptic to her, but the moment Auric had told her this and she looked at him with obvious confusion on her eyes, the elven researcher just shrugged and shook his head, showing how he shared her confusion regarding such an explanation of time. Of course this manner of astronomical approach made no sense to them. They knew of the term “new moon”, which was a widely spread measure of time. Even if it required more detail on which one of their 2 moons they were talking about. But it was a moot point for the moment, with all the researchers fully focused on a different subject. The researchers were engrossed with taking notes and sketches of the live and breathing kobolds, documenting all changes they were observing within the last few weeks.

And speaking of the researchers…

The 3 of them had been relentlessly taking notes for quite a while now, almost since the kobolds started their preparations for their celebration (after they managed to wake up their fallen comrade). With two of them taking notes while each one of them was assisted by a magic scribe spell. Light Notetaker. A fancy spell that you would see among magically inclined administrative workers. After a short incantation and using a few cheap catalysts, a pen made of light would start taking notes for you on a sheet of parchment (or that fancier papier preferred so much by merchants and the banking guild). A rather simple spell to take notes while the caster was occupied doing some other chore, as long as the tasks the caster was undertaking didn’t break his/her concentration, the spell could continuously take notes for them.

Mimiru briefly remembered the details of such spell, as she recalled from her own research on it. She initially thought it could be a handful tool to have available. Being able to take notes while examining animals and beasts. It seemed like the ideal tool for someone like her which original aim was to work in the stables of some noble, taking care of their animals and monsters. It seemed like something all too convenient (unlike the price tag on the scroll to learn the spell). All the while, she observed the research team taking body measurements and notes on the kobolds. Cheese coins were being handed freely to kobolds. They were being handed to any kobold willing to exchange some of their time and an intrusion to their personal space in exchange of the cheesy treats. The frantic exchange taking place was quite reasonable after all. For the kobold tribe as a whole had undergone physical changes within minutes of the hallowing of their burial grounds.

Mimiru just didn’t had the eye for physiological details the researchers seemed to have on them. So she was just forced to believe them as they were currently almost oozing with a zealous dedication to their research. She could hear some of the details as they continued giving notes to the dancing pens of light, notes on the shape and coloration of the scales, as they had apparently changed. Notes on the slight coloration of the little horns the kobolds showed on their heads, she even heard a comment on how one of the younger kids would probably develop horns on a different angle. From their excited expressions and continuous notes, she could see that there were many more things going on. In what seemed almost a choreographed odd dance performed by the 3 researchers. First, they would lure invite a kobold closer to them by offering a cheesy treat. Each volunteer, the next one of the line of willing subjects that had promptly formed, would be taken its measurements, size, limbs and tail’s lengths, then they would check the kobolds’ eyes, the scales, offer a cheese coin and invite the next one in the eager line of little mulberry colored beastkin lizards.

Weren’t they a little more cherry-colored like?... Must be the poor light inside of the cavern.

As the kobolds started their celebration, they dragged the 3 of them deeper into their encampment, it was then that they realized only the entrance had the looks of a burrow, deeper into the cavern, the place expanded greatly, one would be able to fit a building the size of the adventurers guild within this cavern with ease, quite possibly a few of them actually. It was now obvious to Mimiru that what she considered their main encampment was only a temporal settlement and this cavern was their desired place to occupy.

In the middle of this cavern they prepared a bonfire, possibly the next key place for their celebration. After some time, the kobolds had been going at it, reveling in the celebration for the newfound home, feasting and dancing without reserves.

They had been quick on preparing a small celebration, one that had seemed to extended for some time now. It was definitly hard to guess the pass of time within a cavern. A small celebration from which now they found themselves in a position of honor somehow. With the apparent arrival of their prophesized -Dragon Lord- to bless their final abode, Bannon and Mimiru were now somehow playing the roles of retainers (while conversing with the kobold shaman, she had managed to at least upgrade their standing from servants to retainers, conserving some modicum of dignity)

It was then that another log from the campfire cracked, in an overly loud manner, startling Mimiru. Again. This had been going for a while, she couldn’t help herself, those logs were making loud cracking noises. And sometimes with each crackle, she swore she could see small lightning arcs going out of the fire too. Which must be just her tired eyes and some sparks flying off from the same logs. The ceremonial fire, already way too big for the size of the campfire, seemed to burn with a will of its own, its flames reaching all the way to the roof of the cavern, licking on it everynow and then. Up there on the roof, the light seemed to be playing tricks as the shadows cast by the stalactites on the ceiling and walls seemed to dance almost at the same weird rythm the kobolds around the bonfire.

The Kobolds seemed unaffected by such shadows or sounds and continued dancing around the fire. If one was inclined on describing it as a dance at all. They movements involved a lot of waving their arms up and then towards the fire, thumping their tails on the ground and then some yapping. She found it weird that she could not understand those cries, which then again made her think it was just that, excited cries. Not so much of a song or even a chant at all but rather just some excited expression of joy.

Out of the corner of her eye she notices the Kobold shaman is standing beside her, staring (Maybe?) like her at the dancing and celebration talking place.

“We have been wandering for a long time now. Not all our brothers made it. But they accompany us in spirit even today. We are greatly indebted to you, human child. For now we can focus settle down, lay strong roots and grow strong”

“P-please just call me Mimiru. Besides, don’t you mean you are grateful to all of us? And even more so to Feugan? Since he was fundamental for hallowing your cementery?”

“Heh! One could see it that way”

He has a whole lot of these puns, doesn’t he?...

“It was shown to me, in my visions. There would be a Dragon of nobility in this land. We respect, and revere Dragons, but we make no mistake, we know they can be fickle and temperamental. It might be unforeseeable to the children dancing here tonight. But I know he is here tonight, thanks to you”

“How do you kno-”

“I saw it in a vision” hastily replied the Shaman, not letting Mimiru fully finish her question.

Of course…

“Now for more important matters. Lord feugan has told us you leave in the morrow back to your human settlement. Alas I see no better time than the present to proceed with the blessings”

She wondered if there was something else the shaman might be trying to avoid discussing. Right after giving his puzzling explanation he stood in front of Mimiru, and then for all intents and purposes, Mimiru swore he was looking all over her before holding her hands, each one on one of his own.

“I had problems looking at you when I first laid eyes on the 3 of you. Never seen so much light on living beings before” The kobold shaman continued his explanation while pressing Mimiru’s hands poking here and there with his clawed fingers, the onslaught of weird sight oriented jokes keeping her slightly distracted as he continued his prodding.

“It seemed weird to me. After consecrating our cementery and receiving the blessings of our gods old and new, I was shown a new vision. I couldn’t fathom a greater visage, granted the opportunity to assist in the protection of this realm!”

“Now. Make a small prayer to your gods and don’t mind the pinch”

“Wait. What do you mean-”

“Shhh! everything else can wait. For now, focus on an honest prayer and try to not pass out. The gods are understanding, but they appreciate the effort nonetheless”.

With his cryptic words said, he pressed clawed thumbs on both of Mimiru’s palms even before she could even decide if she wanted part on this or not, Puncturing her palms on 2 different points, somehow not drawing blood while doing it, the pinch in itself was nothing great but she immediately felt as if the shaman had injected something inside of her. “Did kobolds come with venom claws?!”

Before the brief thought could be further evaluated or properly made her go into full panic, she felt a gentle warmth surrounding her. Where the cold damp air of the cavern was felt before, now she felt enveloped by a soft and warm feeling all around her, it was not an unknown feeling to her, it actually brought forth warm and jubilant memories of her youth. A warmth that was present in all the joyous celebrations in her small village, the merry spring festival dances, the gentle warm winds on summer nights, the mirth of the harvest festivals, eating with family and friends under the cold winter starry nights.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of it, she then recalled the words of the kobold shaman, and so she closed her eyes and focused on earnestly repeating a simple prayer, one that her mother had once taught to her in order to show gratefulness to the nature and the spirits of the land. She did it so without paying attention to a towering draconic figure, seemingly made out of light, in front of her, or the visage of the kobolds, performing their hectic dance in company of whimsical dancing spirits. The towering Dragonic figure laid its eyes on her, watching her intently as she continued her prayer, and then, after deeming her resolution good enough, it gave a silent nod of approval and then turned towards Feugan. Determined to complete the mission it was entrusted and honored with. He needed to bestow the blessings while the gods saw him fit to be the vessel for such a task. He would see to it.

Your interactions with other living beings has broadened your horizons. You have been successfully consecrated by a priest of the land. You have acquired the ability to perceive and manipulate Divinity.

Your favorable readiness to embrace your faith ha- 6r0*7 y0* 0!^!n3 6L35%in9%---

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Hearken oh child of man. Learn and survive. Persevere, Thrive. Do not falter while looking for thine happiness. Share thine blessings. You are loved.