"Ggrrggghhh!" I gargled as I fought to breathe. It didn't help that I continued to pull away from her suckers, further exhausting my strength and making breathing even more taxing. But I couldn't help it—I was panicking. I wasn't immortal yet, which meant that my mortal body was susceptible to death just like any non demi-god body would be. I needed air, and I needed it now.
My hands were still pinned by her tails, but my fingers were free. I jabbed my fingers into the suckers on her tail that trapped my hand, hoping to make her release me. She flinched and tensed up, then slapped my face again with a, "Stop that!" A flush fell on her face—looked like I found her sensitive spot. But she didn't let go. "Do you seriously think that tickling me would get you out of this shit storm you found yourself in?" she sang, running that one free tentacle down my chest and below my belt. "There's a cyclone in the sea, Lucien, and your ship is sinking in it!"
There was no break in the relentless pressure from her tails, even as I tried to dig my nails into her tails to break free.
A rush of adrenaline surged through me as darkness started to creep into the edges of my vision. My body was fighting to stay conscious, though fate was on my side. The twins came to my aid, Phenrie, the sheep girl with the red hair, summoning vines from her back to snatch Buliba's tentacle tails with. While her sister Hyla, the sheep girl with the blue hair, used her mana to lift the water ball from my head.
Nature and gravity—definitely an interesting duo.
"General, that is enough!" Hyla cried.
"By the order of the Ecuzni Sect, I command you to stand down!" her sister followed.
The water ball around my head dissipated instantly, and I gasped for air, choking and sputtering as oxygen filled my lungs.
Buliba sucked her teeth. "Meddling kids." The general collapsed her tails and released me from her grip. She patted the last tentacle on my cheek with a chuckle before rolling it off of me completely. "Such spoil sports. Can't you see that the adults are playing?"
Buliba dusted her clothes off before tossing a nonchalant glance toward Phenrie and Hyla.
"We are eighteen," Hyla retorted. "Stop treating us like we are children!"
"Oh I'm sorry. Should I refer to the both of you as slaves instead?"
"Providers of the sect!" Phenrie schooled immediately.
"Servants. Pesky, nosy, servants."
Servants?
I just had to check their levels, starting with Phenrie, engaging my [Inspect] to discover just how strong they were for servants:
[Sheep Beastkin, Level: 45]
[Sheep Beastkin, Level: 40]
Damn, they were stronger than the High Priestess, but nowhere close to the level of the general!
"Better servants than a reckless harlot!" Hyla spat back at Buliba.
"You watch your tone with me, imp!" Buliba growled. "I am still your superior!"
Seizing my chance, I sprang up, ready to strike. But the twins took their spot to my sides and Phenrie stretched out her hand in front of me. "There is no need for that," she said. "She won't be attacking you anymore."
"Mana versus brawn, there really is no competition, is there?" I smirked. "Thanks for the save."
Phenrie nodded, and then she turned her gaze to Buliba. "General, I will report this incident to the council, where they will review it and come to a conclusion of what to do with you and your squadron."
"More empty threats," she scoffed. "You keep throwing that in my face like you girls have a choice." She snickered. "Whether you want to believe it or not, you need me. Take away armed forces from an already dying village and what are you left with?"
Phenrie and Hyla exchanged worried glances. I swallowed hard, feeling an uneasiness inside of me as well.
"A doomed village," she spat, her eyes glaring at them. "A village overturned by the Infernal Surge, a village that will fall prey to the dark, and then what? All of your pompous preaching and grand ideals would mean nothing. You'd be left with nothing but ruins and regret."
"We don't need you!" Hyla shouted. "Our prophecy will save us!"
"Who? Him? A scrolless, level five sage wannabe?" She chuckled. "News spreads like wildfire in Grusnabi. Mention of Lucien here being the prophecy already blessing the ears of desperate girls and women. Kai is so sure that he is the one, her followers blindly listening to any nonsense that comes out of her bossy mouth."
Phenrie stepped forward, determination burning in her eyes. "We do not place our trust in faith alone," she declared as she retracted her vines. "We place it in unity, in compassion, and in the spirit of the sect! Our prophecy may be novice, but with our help, he will fill the gaping hole in our defenses. We will not fall to the Infernal Surge, nor any other darkness!"
So, Buliba was right. News did spread around quickly. It wasn't too long ago that these girls thought I was just a special visitor of their sect—now they regarded me as their one and only prophecy….
Buliba folded her arms under her large breasts, her lips curling into a twisted grin. "Is that so? Well then," she said, her voice heavy with condescension, "What confirmation did the holy spirit of the sect give you?"
The twins looked at each other again.
"The both of you aren't kids, right? Which means that you aren't dense. You have minds of your own, independent of the princess. You can't possibly believe all of this bullshit blindly, so what proof do you have that this man here is your chosen one?"
"We have faith in the word of our—"
"Hush with all of that," Buliba said, cutting Hyla off. "That might work for the sect, but the people are going to need proof. And honestly, you should, too. Because right now, he falls under the category of any man trying to waltz in here and take us for fucking fools."
There was a long silence as Buliba tried to turn the twins against me. Hell, I couldn't tell if Buliba had a hate boner for me or what—this hate and love relationship was confusing. But seeing as she was a few seconds from killing me, I'd take it that she was serious about this proof that she wanted.
Luckily for me, I had a quest and a skill that would satisfy both sides of the argument.
So I stood tall and took a step forward and said, "Then, let me give you the proof you need."
She snorted. "And how do you plan on doing that?"
"Bring me to one of your dying crop fields. I'll show you how this wannabe sage intends to bring life back to them."
Buliba arched an eyebrow, her scornful smirk still clinging to her face. "Bringing a field back to life? What a bold statement."
"I have the power to back it up," I said, halfway confidently. I wasn't sure if I was talking out of my ass right now, seeing as I wasn't sure how this [Fertile Charm] worked. I'd never tried it before, and considering how Buliba was looking at me right now, she thought I was full of it.
"And what if you fail?" she cooed.
"Then you can do with me as you please," I said, before wanting to take back what I said. With that smile curling on her lips, I bet I could think of the ideas fluttering through her thoughts right now.
"But if he succeeds," Phenrie interjected before Buliba could say another word, "Then you will abide by our decision without resistance!"
"That means no more attacking our hero!" Hyla retorted. "Do we have your agreement?"
A mirthless laugh echoed from the general as she rolled her eyes. "Oh, this is gonna be gooood," she said, unfolding her arms. "Choose your field; we have plenty of dead ones to spare. We'll see if your prophecy amounts to more than just empty words."
++++
Phenrie did the honor of selecting a crop field for me to restore. My collar was getting pretty damn stiff the closer we got to it. Luckily for me, I wasn't the type to toot my own horn, so I didn't disclose just how much of it I could restore. After all, my [Fertile Charm] was only at level 1. I doubt I could do miracles at such a low point.
The more girls I inducted to my den of wonders, the stronger at restoration I would become. It was something to look forward to, because these village women needed all the help they could get. We passed many starving faces in the part of the village, a reminder of the dire situation they were in. Women with gaunt cheeks and hollow eyes carried babies with the same sunken features, their small bodies wasting away from lack of sustenance. It was a depressing sight, one that served to fuel my determination to complete this quest.
We finally arrived at the chosen field. It was as dead as Buliba had described on our way here. The soil was barren, the crops wilted and brown.
I watched as the smirk on Buliba's face began to stretch even wider as I looked along the horizon. She was so sure of herself, but I didn't give her the satisfaction of letting this huge task scare me. "A demonstration, your highness?" she sassed. "We are waiting for you to restore this land to its rightful glory."
"I never said I could cure this entire field," I reminded her. "My [Fertile Charm] is only at level 1. But I will give you a demonstration."
"[Fertile Charm]?" Hyla repeated. "Is that a skill you're using to bring back our food?"
"So you do have a skill scroll?" Phenrie followed.
"No. [Fertile Charm] and [Heal] are my innate abilities. I don't require skill scrolls for them."
"There is no such thing," Bulida said. "Innate abilities are only gifted to those who are magically enlightened."
"There is such a thing for me."
"Then show us already," she hissed. "Go on, then!"
Over my shoulder, I heard how the twin girls whispered among themselves of the unusual feat of mine. I turned my focus to a patch of dead crops and knelt down, pressing my palm flat against the chalky, dry soil. I closed my eyes and focused on the image of vibrant, healthy crops where there were none.
If my [Fertile Charm] worked anything like my [Heal] ability, then all I had to do was focus on the life I wanted to revive, and the vitality I wanted to infuse into this dying land. I thought about the desired outcome, believed in its potential, and let the magic do the rest. Each exhale I breathed out was a plea to the earth, and each inhale a promise of hope.
From within me, I felt the flicker of energy, that familiar warmth in my chest that had similar qualities to that of my healing ability. It was as if the power I possessed bloomed, unfurling like a flower basking in the rays of dawn. And just like my healing, it was a slow and steady process.
Patience was definitely a virtue. Buliba snorted behind me, and started taunting me too, making it harder for me to focus.
"Is this some kind of joke?" Buliba's sharp voice broke through my concentration. "Your so-called power is taking an awfully long time. Are you buying time for your forces to join your raid?"
I took a deep breath, gritting my teeth, refusing to let her words distract me. Concentrating even harder on the feel of the earth beneath my hand, I felt the power of my skill flowing through my veins more vividly.
The power pulsed stronger as I visualized the withered crops glowing with life force, then suddenly, I felt a spark. The sensation surged from my chest and spread outward like a ripple in a pond, making its way to the palm of my hands. A soft, gentle hum of energy coursed through my fingertips and reverberated beneath the soil, seeping life back into the dead earth.
My eyes flew open as tiny sprouts began to push their way through the barren ground. At first small and pale, they gradually became stronger and greener, stretching toward the sunlight thick and tall. My heart pounded in my chest as I watched more life sprouting up around me, tuning in on Phenrie's shocked gasps and Hyla's cheering me on. Buliba on the other hand, was quiet for a change.
A few moments later, fully matured stalks of what looked like wheat were standing in front of me. The radius was decent for a level 1 ability, about a yard wide. Just like my [Heal] ability, I spent some considerable amount of mana on it, but it didn't go to waste. The cool-down matched that of my [Heal] ability, and just like my mana, it'd take some time to recover.
"Oh my goddess! Look at the harvest!" Hyla tweeted. "And it's not withering away!"
"Quick, Hyla, find a basket!" Phenrie ordered her sister, and Hyla ran toward the nearest wagon to fetch a woven basket.
"Hmph," Buliba grunted, before she summoned a sigil underneath her feet and disappeared in a flashy splash of water.
Guess I finally got that target off my back.
Quest 1 Complete
Reward: access to virtual skill scroll shop
Sweet. I can finally get my hands on some skill scrolls.