LTW Book 2 Chapter 63: Mount and Deermen [First Draft]

'I see! So you were trapped in a Dungeon! I thought so. I told that silly Shana as much, but the foolish girl wouldn't believe me, she nodded her head and said 'yes', but you know how kids are, what with you being a teacher in the past yourself-' Gilbert was promptly cut off by Lone.

'You're rambling. Stop it. I don't care,'  Lone said with a frown that spoke volumes of how much he regretted contacting Gilbert immediately. 

His group was currently making their way through the plains they had appeared in. Lone, Sophie, Swind and Breena were walking while Eolande was lazily laying on top of Kyuubi since she was just small enough to snugly sit atop of the furry Fox.

Sophie was exceedingly jealous since she wanted to ride Kyuubi like a mount first, but unfortunately, Eolande was far shorter, and hence, smaller than her, so she had to concede. Although it was honestly rare for Kyuubi to leave the summoning room and she didn't seem to mind Eolande lying on her back, so no one tried to stop the Tylwyth Teg.

'Right, of course. I'm nothing but a disposable font of magical spells to you, aren't I? It's not like I wanted to catch up with you since, oh, you know, it's nearly been a year,' Gilbert replied sarcastically.

'Yeah yeah, stop babbling to me and try to figure out how to get off that island you're on. I can't believe you're still stuck there. Hasn't Grimsley built a boat for you guys yet? Useless Dwarve isn't good for much else other than building,' Lone said in jest.

'Aye, fook ye too,' a very gruff voice replied, startling Lone slightly, making him nearly trip. Sophie cocked her head in confusion as she watched Lone fumble around trying to keep his footing.

'That sneaky old goat. He gave you the comm orb without telling me...anyway, how've ya been, Grim? Building a boat, I hope,' Lone responded after he managed to rebalance himself. It was surprisingly hard to fall over with the balance he naturally had as a Foxkin. Lone figured it worked kind of like how cats always landed on their feet.

'Did yer memory go soggy while ye were in that Dungeon? I'm a fooking blacksmith, naw a boatswain. That's right, ye know how to make boats, aye? Ye sailed from that Goblin island all the way to the western coast,' Grimsley said with a certain hint of interest in his voice.

'Yeah, I did. Your point?' Lone asked while he focused his attention on the small barrier Sophie was maintaining. She had one up at most times and it was gradually getting thicker and thicker while staying just as transparent. Lone thought it was a beautiful skill so he liked observing it from time to time.

'Well then, teach me how to make a fooking boat! You 'ave the knowledge, I 'ave the tools and materials. Let's work this out,' Grimsley replied eagerly.

'Ah, you're right. Put Gilbert back on. I'll just tell him everything I know and he can write it down or something, also, you're accent thinned out quite a bit,' Lone replied. 'Teaching how to make a boat...it's been two years since I've ever actually taught anyone anything, huh? Funny how time passes when you become an arrogant and powerful being that can walk over people far stronger than you,' Lone thought with a tinge of regret. It would seem that he was truly trying to self-reflect.

He then spent the next few hours fully detailing his knowledge of boat crafting to Gilbert while the two shared some banter and caught up in between his explanations.

At some point, Eolande had gotten bored and decided to enter her Glade to smith with Red'Klata and Kal, the Cosmos-Ranked Furnace and Anvil. She had mentioned that she'd set the anchor for her Glade's dimension to being on Lone's glasses since he never took them off. That would let her always come out of her dimension to rejoin the group where they were.

Suddenly, the group were stopped by Lone. 'That ends the conversation for today, Gilbert. I'll contact you again tonight or tomorrow with more info, and you better compile your magical knowledge better. You're a shitty teacher,' Lone happily said mostly in jest.

'Not even a century old, yet you're trying to lecture me...fine, stay safe Lone, you have got to be careful with that seal of yours,' Gilbert grumbled back in response, referring to the seal Clicker had placed on Lone, before he cut the connection.

"Why'd you stop us, master?" Breena asked as she stretched a little. 'We're all fit enough to keep walking for a while longer,' she added in thought.

"You sensed them too, right, Soph? In the forest a few hundred feet ahead of us," Lone said with a calm voice.

Sophie nodded her head before she closed her eyes and drew in the nearby magical energies to focus on her Mana Sensing. "Twenty people. All fairly strong. C-Rankers? They look like humans, but they have long horns, almost like antlers sticking out of their heads," Sophie said, shocking Breena and Swind.

"Here's what we're going to do. From what I can tell, they're observing us to see if we're hostile or not, so slowly raise both of your arms into the air and cancel any skills or spells you're using. Kyuubi, stay right next to me if you want to stay summoned, otherwise, just yip twice and I'll unsummon you," Lone ordered with a stern voice. 'Peaceful option first, Lone. Only wipe them out if they attack us. Self-restraint. Reel in that arrogance, you can do it,' he told himself to boost his confidence with this unfamiliar approach.

The girls nodded and Kyuubi chose to stay summoned and glued herself to Lone with her large, furry body.

The group of four people and one animal slowly walked towards the nearby forest with their arms raised. It didn't take long for them to be right at the entrance to the forest, and suddenly, an arrow whizzed through the air and landed at Lone's feet, stopping his advance. "Negotiation time now?" Lone mumbled as he felt his palms moisten with sweat. He was determined to try his best to be peaceful here and not antagonistic like he usually was.

Lone could hear shouting coming in his direction from the seemingly Deer people. 'I have no idea what language that is. Breena also looks confused, so it's not a uniform Beastman language? Fuck. I hope they speak Milindonian,' Lone thought before he opened his mouth and replied to the shouts with, "I'm sorry! I don't understand you! Do you know Milindonian?!"

The group of Deer people stopped shouting instantly and slowly approached Lone's group. When they were close, they stopped moving, but they all pointed their expertly crafted bows in the direction of Lone's group.

"Foxkin! Why have you come to our lands with that...Lizard person and a Human?!" a tall man who was very lithe in appearance asked both Lone and Breena in perfect Milindonian loudly. The group of four couldn't help but stare and this man's large horns that were protruding from his head and pointing almost straight up into the air. They curved slightly, but not very much. Their most noticeable feature was their length. The horns were at least fifteen centimetres long.

"I'm sorry if we've angered you. I'm wasn't raised in this land, so forgive me and my friends if we've trespassed on your territory or something similar," Lone claimed with as much sincerity as he could muster. Thankfully, the Deerman didn't seem to be angered and was listening attentively to Lone's explanation.

"We are currently following the mana traces in an orb I was personally given by the Elder of the Crimson Foxkin Clan to reach that very Clan." When Lone had said this, the man's eyes opened wide in shock for a moment before he calmed himself and continued to listen.

"As you can see, my companion here is a variation of Crimson Foxkin, so we were hoping to find her family in the Clan since she was kidnapped at a very young age. I recently rescued her and I happened to have had a connection to the Elder of her clan, please allow us passage through your forest, or direct us to another path that might lead us to the Crimson Foxkin Clan more safely. Again, we mean you no harm," Lone finished.

A regretful look flashed across the Deerman's facial features before he raised his hand and said a word in his unfamiliar language once more. Immediately after, the other twenty or so Deerman lowered their bows. 

"Kidnappings are a very serious threat to us Beastkin. I'm sorry for what happened to you, young one," he said to Breena who kept an emotionless expression on her face. He then turned to face Lone. "And I'm very pleased that you managed to rescue this young Foxkin. The Human," he said with a warm look before he gazed at Sophie sternly. "Can she be trusted?" he finished coldly.

"She is my lover and I trust no one more than her. Were she to ask for it, I'd give her my very life," Lone replied without any hesitation. 

This forced a blush to creep up onto Sophie's face as her thoughts were swimming. 'I definitely need to improve! Lone deserves better than me...he's trying so hard to fix his flaws, but what am I doing? I...I'll became an unrivalled Master Mage! I'll become so strong that no one can hurt Lone, or me, or anyone I care about ever again! I swear!' Sophie reignited her earlier self-convictions with an even brighter passion.

The Deerman took a long hard look at Sophie before he slowly nodded his head. "Very well. Follow me, Foxkin. We Beastmen must look after our own, especially now that our alliance is weaker than ever, and the Humans are kidnapping more of our kind every day. If the Human tries anything, though, we will kill her," he said sternly, but with good reason.

"Thank you, she won't do anything, I promise," Lone said as he tried to hide his clenched fists. 'No, Lone! Don't get angry! He has every right to mistrust Humans! I just need to prove to them that Sophie isn't like the others. Peaceful thoughts, peaceful thoughts...don't kill them...reel in the arrogance...' Lone began chanting to cool himself down. It would be a long time before Lone gained perfect control of his emotions, but he was certainly on the right path.