Sleep... this time it was extremely soft and very pleasant. I think it had something to do with the fact that I had finally released the stress of waiting for Esdes to be born and was finally able to exhale in a relaxed manner.
I hadn't slept this well for the first time since I'd been here... I also felt like my nose was resting against something very soft and warm. Slightly sticky and nice to smell. Like someone's slightly sweaty breasts. Also, someone was wrapping their arms around me, pulling me close to them. Pretty firmly pressing me down... and also, someone's leg was thrown over me, also pressing me down....
Shit, Esdes!
She turned out to be a lot more amateurish than I'd thought, although come to think of it - the original Esdes was also a pretty daring person.
So... I found myself pressed against her lush breasts and basked in them like Eden in paradise. At the same time, Esdes did not emit any modest breaths and ahhs, as is common in teenage anime. No, she was lying completely calm and relaxed, curving a satisfied grin.
Should I have said that Esdes was just a little bit taller than me, probably because of the heels, which made me feel a little modest against her?
Esdes' hand must have sensed my tension and gently released me from its grip, allowing me to peel away from her magnificent breasts. The girl with long blue hair watched my reaction with gentle calmness and smiled.
Only now did I notice that this girl was completely naked.....
- Happy awakening, Master. How did you sleep?
- 'Good morning, Esdes,' I said, 'why did you... choose to lie on the same bed with me?
- You said I had to be well rested before we started the test battle. But to do that, I had to get a good night's sleep. Since the best way to do that is on a good bed, I carefully considered my options. Unfortunately, so far in your Creator Space, you can either sleep on a cold floor or hard tables and your sleeping mattress. In order to fulfil your will properly I have made the best decision to sleep on your mattress and at the same time to please the master with my body heat,' Esdes said without a shadow of doubt, smiling sweetly.
She's a devil!
You can't blame her! Clinging to her warm skin, I tried to ignore her body odour. Hell, she had a real one.
- Or didn't you like it? - Esdes asked with a shadow of apprehension, scrutinising my reaction with curious eyes.
- No, you... did absolutely fine,' I had to admit, sighing, 'now please get dressed, we'll be going out soon.
- As you wish,' she smiled, not hurrying to get up from the bed and wiggling her hips at my eyes.
- Tell me, how was your training?
- Just as we expected, Master. I was able to develop my skills with training,' Esdes said with sudden seriousness, losing all her cheerfulness.
And I loved the way she switched while working.
- Beautiful.
As my subordinate had said, the skill had developed quite quickly. But the speed of progress wasn't exactly impressive.
Esdes spent about two hours to develop the rapier skill to twenty-five. However, she emphasised that the higher the skill was pumped, the harder it was to develop. And the difference was huge.
My subordinate was even able to derive a kind of formula and make personal calculations, which threw me into shock! What a good girl she is!
All in all, according to Esdes' assumption, she could develop her rapier skills to the level of about a hundred in a year and a half of constant training.
- A year and a half?
- Yes,' Esdes nodded confidently, taking two fingers from the brim of her cap and adjusting it, 'I suppose that skill development can happen in different ways. The path I used is called shadow combat. It can be compared to if I were to fight a level one or even level zero opponent.
Like training with a mannequin in the WWE. The skill was best swayed during combat, though I can't say for sure if that's the case.
Esdes claimed that the skill was better during live combat, such as during our sparring. In addition, she suggested that the degree to which the skill was learnt depended on the strength of the opponent.
- If I used the rapier with an equal opponent, I would probably progress much faster.
- We won't know until we try,' I said thoughtfully. - We don't have a choice. I can't wait a year and a half to throw you into battle in top form. We'll have to start as we are.
Esdes nodded confidently, not at all daunted by the prospect.
And I envied her. She didn't fear for herself the way I feared for her.
I hated to admit it, but I depended on Esdes a lot, and with her loss, my plans could go down the drain.
I had increased my sculpting skill by a hundred in just four months, but it must have been so fast because I was working with living material of legendary level. Esdes is a legendary soul.
Maybe if I was working on creating a homunculus with an epic soul my Sculpture level would be pumped worse now. About 70 instead of 100.
But then again that's just a theory.
However, Esdes already knew my history with her creation, so she could quickly surmise how skill pumping works.
She's... very smart.
- Then it's time to get on with our plan.
I explained it to her briefly and gave her time to think about the details. The plan wasn't that complicated. All we had to do was kill a couple of kobolds, which I considered the weakest and most suitable opponents for Esdes' level.
Of course, as a legendary level homunculus, she should be much stronger than the kobolds of the starting locations, but Esdes was only level one. To pump up her abilities, we could take no chances and start with low-level mobs. That way we'd get some good experience and test her skills without taking unnecessary risks.
- This will be your first time out in the real world. Are you ready?
- More than ready,' she smiled confidently.
And so I opened the portal. We stepped out into the familiar Alvin forest, right by the river, not far from the farmland.
Esdes saw the real world of Warcraft and seemed... not really surprised. Her pensive gaze was directed somewhere in the distance of the woods, and she seemed very, very focused on the task at hand.
- There are only gnolls and brigands nearby. We need to bypass them and get closer to the path, near Goldilocks. There we will find a small cave of kobolds, where they can test your strength and may find a chest with useful items.
- Why don't we just kill them all? - suggested my enthusiastic beauty with the blue waterfall of hair.
- That's a good idea, but I don't want to waste your powers on junk. Plus our time is limited, and unlike you, I can't put myself at risk unnecessarily. We'll infiltrate a cave with a lot of useful resources, take a day or so to get them all, and then sneak out unnoticed.
- That makes sense,' Esdes nodded, 'Are there that many useful resources there?
- Considering it's a starter location, not so much. But it's a good place to start. I'm mostly just concerned with the chests.
Actually, the chest is a game convention. And I didn't know if there should be one in the real world, but... I had no doubt that the kobolds collected candles and were intelligent enough to mine ore and various useful items. Still, they had captured a mine of ore that I could throw in my inventory and resell to the blacksmith.
Esdes and I headed leisurely through the forest. Although she was calm, I was a little worried about her appearance - after all, for a normal person, she looked quite provocative. She had very long blue hair and unusual Germanic clothing.
And then I remembered that there were plenty of strange creatures in Warcraft... including transmodifications that changed players' costumes into clown outfits, and I calmed down a bit.
I guess if Esdes' clothes didn't fit this world at all, the system wouldn't let her into the gacha.
And in general, given the diverse world of Warcraft - people here seemed to be used to any kind of game.
I was just worried that all this modern wildlife was in the later patches of the game, and we were now in the very first one. When the world was very ordinary and 'boring'.
***
We started our adventure early in the morning, when my strength is at its peak and my attentiveness is at its proper level. I even ordered myself an expensive coffee for one and a half silver and drank it in one gulp so I wouldn't screw up and gape at the scene.
My nerves had me on edge, though.
I didn't buy protective armour and weight myself down unnecessarily. After all, we had a whole day to kill kobolds and then search for loot, collect it, study it, and put it in the inventory. I'm afraid my skinny body might not be able to handle that kind of work after four months of continuous sitting.
Yes, I was taking a bit of a risk wandering through the Elwyn Forest in a single shirt, but the risk seemed justified. Firstly, I couldn't splurge on expensive armour that cost a fortune. Secondly, I was relying on Esdes, who had incredible reflexes and Hunter's Sense.
With this incredible ability, Esdes felt like a fish out of water in any wild place. Perhaps that was why she had become so serious as soon as we left the Creator's Space.
She must have seen and noticed much more than I did now, and was preparing to protect me in the event of an attack.
Considering that there were already gnolls, wolves, bears, and brigands in the forest, my assumption was correct.
Not even three hundred metres into the forest, we came across a pack of wolves. Esdes had spotted them much sooner than I had, and while I walked quietly, looking around, she disappeared. When she returned, there were drops of blood dripping from her rapier.
She explained that she'd gotten rid of a pack of wolves before they could get to us.
- You did good,' I praised her, and turned to the map.
The map of the Elvin Forest had cost me five gold pieces. This was the price exclusively at the rate of the System, because in the game convention it was free of charge. However, a player in the WWE had to discover it gradually by travelling around the world. I, on the other hand, was not given such chips.
I could only use real maps, which were sold at cartographers, in the capitals, and major cities.
And let me tell you... the price for one map of the starting location is a complete shock. I spent a whole five gold to unlock just one of Azeroth's hundreds of locations.
On the one hand, the spending is crazy and I'm way down on my savings, but on the other hand I should have understood how things work to get around more efficiently.
Especially in reality, the Elvin Forest turned out to be much larger than in the game. Approximately so by hundreds of kilometres. To walk around the Elvin Forest in the game from start to finish would take, I don't know, about fifteen minutes. In reality, however, you could walk around here for days and get lost without difficulty.
The kobold cave was located between Stonefields Farm and McLure's Vineyards. A few hours' journey from Goldilocks, and half a day from Stormgrad.
From what I knew, the kobolds were entrenched in the highlands, in mines that used to belong to the Alliance. They didn't come out of there much, as if they didn't care about the human race. They mostly guarded their grounds and kept outsiders out.
I thought it was strange, so I decided to ask people about the situation in general. And rumour had it that these creatures had a deal with local outlaws who were bringing in kobolds to collect gold from the mines.
Considering this wasn't the only mine in Alliance territory, it was talk of a major heist. And it also kind of hinted that due to the war against the Horde, our guys didn't have enough resources and strength to stop the dirty machinations and deals between non-humans and bandits.
For me, this situation was a great chance to make some money and gain a little fame.
The journey to the mines took an hour and a half.
Esdes didn't show any fatigue, and when we started to get closer, she raised her hand and stopped me.
- I can feel them. About two hundred metres behind that hill,' she pointed to a large rise among the trees, where a small mountain range looked out.
- Great,' I said excitedly, 'then let's get to the plan.
The first order of business was to approach the kobold guard units stealthily and survey the area for the number and location of enemies.
Esdes moved out and began a silent advance, like a predator lurking in a thicket. Assessing enemy strength, possible difficulties, mopping up plans and more were all her speciality.
(Esdes as a child hunts monsters, kills them, and then freshly slaughters them).
In the past, she is a hunter clan-born assassin, capable of taking down large animals single-handedly. In the future - The Empire's Chief and Undisputed General, to whom entire armies obeyed. Her bloodthirstiness, cold mind, and great strength made her an excellent leader, capable of handling any task.
I was lucky enough to have her first, as my main unit and right hand.
And now... as I watched her bloodthirsty and cold-blooded slaughter of the bald-headed creatures that resembled humanoid rats, I realised it fully.
The kobolds were small creatures with rat-like faces, thin quills, and skinny builds. They had a candle on their heads that gradually burned and melted... still not sure why. They were small and hunched over, and wielded a pick or a shovel, and were weak on their own - but together they could kick a hat.
It didn't take long for Esdes to come up with an efficient and hard-hitting plan of attack, typical of her aggressive style.
She found the most vulnerable spot in the kobold clusters and launched a swift attack. The first three kobolds with their backs to her lost their heads before they realised the cause of their deaths. Their heads flew off their shoulders and collapsed almost simultaneously onto the thick grass.
Not a single resistance, not a single alarm, much less a squeak - it all happened in an instant.
I'd been worried that her first fight might be hard on her, but now I was overwhelmed with incredible excitement and a sense of power.
She was shredding them like ripe cabbages. No chance of survival or even resistance. And that was without even using her crowning ability, Weiss Schneible.
When about one third of the kobolds were finally mopped up, Esdes was spotted.
The small creatures began to screech out of the caves and summon their brethren, gradually turning into a cluster of pickaxe-waving humanoid rats. That's when they screwed up...