11 B-B

"You look so thin! Are you eating properly? I knew I shouldn't have let you go!" I restrained the sigh that threatened to escape me while listening to my mother rant about my health. I suppose I should be thankful she had no idea about my bouts with Jessica nor had she been informed about the issue with the two morons.

"I am fine, Mothe" - "Mama!" - I did sigh then but continued with the correction, "mama. I am eating well." I did, though nowhere near as well as when I was at the farm. If you could call that well. The woman cooked fucking buffet line menus when she cooked and demanded it all be eaten. At the Guild, I was able to lessen the intake I normally ate significantly and had lost some of the fat I'd gained thanks to mothers enthusiastic feeding. Not like I'd actually tell the woman that. Lord knew what she'd do if I said that out loud.

"Oh! Look at who wants to see you!" she exclaimed while reaching out in front of and beneath where the crystal showed. What she pulled into view had me confused. It was a wild looking little girl with golden brown skin and her bright red hair was tied into two pigtails and a vibrant yellow dress

It was the extended little lower fangs and the dark yellow eyes that actually let me know what I was seeing. It was the little Orc infant, Lily. At least I assumed that was her. The fact she looked more like a five-month-old baby as opposed to the one-month-old newborn after a week was what baffled me. Is this what father had meant by it taking a year or two before she could fight?

"Say hi to Crispin Lily!~" My mother cooed at the child who was gripping her hair gently and staring at me with an intensity that no infant should be capable of. Her little yellow eyes widened a moment, looked to mother and then back at the screen. She opened her mouth and I thought she might actually speak, but all that came out was a tiny little growl while her face scrunched up in anger.

"That's right! That's Crispin sweetie. Aren't you so smart!" That made me look at mother in utter horror. How did you take a clearly angry growl to be words?

"Mama, I do not believe she likes me."

"Nonsense, she just doesn't know you yet. That will change though, won't it sweetie?" She forced the fussy thing to face her and pressed her nose to the Orc baby's own nose which made her giggle a bit, a happy sound, before forgetting all about me. "Remember, you have to contact me once a week and tell me all about your life from now on! Oh! I will also see you in a month and three weeks. Don't you forget either!"

"Of course not, mama." I was forced to speak with her for another hour while being glared at by an Orc baby who randomly giggled with mother tickled her before being set free. I handed the crystal to Stewart with a bit of relief. She had managed to drag out nearly every aspect of my daily life over the last week. The power of a mother, perhaps? Regardless it was somewhat frightening.

"You really don't like people, do you, boy?" I tilted my head at Stewart in confusion after his sudden statement while he pocketed the Communication Crystal.

"I'm not sure what you mean, Guild Master." I didn't either. I did not particularly care for people but I didn't feel I was that bad.

"The fact you can say that with a straight face at all is highly disturbing kid. Doesn't matter though, as long as you keep doing well. Now, how about you walk me through what the hell had you nearly kill one of the Mayor's sons?"

I explained the situation and the events leading up to it as precisely as I could. Stewart remained quiet throughout the explanation. The fact he allowed me to explain it before speaking was somewhat of a pleasant relief as well. From my personal experience that was an uncommon trait. My father had been one of those uncommon individuals while mother had mostly suffocated me in an undesired hug.

When I did finish explaining the situation he just made an 'hmm' sound while keeping his silence, thinking about the situation and how to best handle it most likely. Politically it would be best to simply allow them to continue their little acts of aggression without interfering one way or the other. If he went that route I'd be fairly disappointed in the man though.

He surprised me instead by asking a question. "Do you know why I allowed you to even help train those kids? Or why I stuck you with those three entitled idiots?"

"I have no clue. I am a child, regardless of any skill I showed during the test for our weapon aptitude. Making me an Instructor seemed, and seems, somewhat odd as a whole. I can only assume you stuck me with the three brothers because they have absolutely no skill in the use of weapons. That or to open the path and make it easier on the other Instructors who would end up with them because they are the only Nobles I know of in the Guild at the moment."

Stewart nodded his head a bit but corrected a few things. "Right and wrong."

"I gave you that position because you put each of my people on their ass and could have killed them. The fact you used your rather innocent appearance to your advantage was simply intelligent. The three brothers are accurate enough. Throwing them at you would have them focus all that entitled idiocy on you instead of people who could help them. I just didn't expect it to go that far."

Neither had I, honestly. I'd expected some fallback, injuries and the like. I had not expected one to actively try to cause serious harm or kill me. A bit like Sab. I'd have to begin seeing these kids as potential dangers as they were now. A sad fact of this world.

"Regardless, they aren't your problem anymore. Neither of the other two. Claw will be taking them and you'll join Jessica since she's our best C-rank Adventurer on hand at the moment. She'll run you through a few tactics that you seem oblivious to when fighting Magic Users."

I groaned at that. The woman hated me, with good cause, but she hated me. Stewart chuckled at me instead and patted my shoulder a bit. "Shouldn't have hit her in the clit with the wooden pommel that first time, or every time since. For the life of me, I don't know why she keeps forgetting you don't fight fair."

Neither did I. "There is no fair in combat." was what I said instead. He chuckled and agreed with me before sending me on my way.

Finally, time to start figuring out exactly how I was going to pull this off. I'd need to wait an hour or two after full dark to make sure everyone in the Guild was asleep. That didn't account for the guards or their rotations of course but I should be able to figure something out. If nothing else Saga should be able to dash up the wall during a patrol change and bound to the other side. I'd have to see about improving her again beforehand though. I wouldn't if it risked losing her of course. I still needed to check, try to make things easier on her.

She was already in our stall in the stables, cuddling her 'baby.' I wondered if she'd ever really outgrow her puppy stage sometimes. Other times I didn't really care if she did. I scratched her ears and she stopped loving on her little stuffed toy a moment to enjoy the attention. "Wanna go hunting Saga?" I whispered at her.

Her ears shot up and that tail started wagging like there was no tomorrow. I laughed when she started licking my face enthusiastically. Sputtering I pushed her away from me and rubbed just under her chin. "Not now, soon though." She looked at me like I'd just stolen her 'baby' with that one. I just moved in and rubbed her neck. She forgot about the hunting for a bit and it allowed me to pull up her stat page, as well as her available Improvements.

{Lupine

Level - 6

Female

Str - 4

End - 5

Spd - 5

Int - 2

Skill - Lone Hunter

Improvement Success Chance - 68%

Description - A relatively uncommon breed of the canine variety. May be improved extensively.}

She had increased a level in the week I'd been here. I was actually surprised by that, it had taken three years for her to reach level five. Perhaps it had to do with the Goblins she killed? Something with the number of people using magic in the town? I had no real idea if there was a connection or how they truly certified the increments between stats and levels only guesses.

Her success chance had increased though, which was a very nice thing. I rubbed a spot just below her ear that set her leg thumping while I contemplated the issue. I needed to know more about how it all fit together and meshed with this world. Sadly I just didn't have enough in the way of facts at the moment to even begin. I would simply have to continue experimenting.

{Skill - Requirement

Enhanced Tracking - Int 4

Iron Fur - End 6

Rending Bite - Str/Spd 8

Ice - Int 7

Agile Grace - Spd 7

Average Understanding - Int 5

Advanced Understanding - Int 9

???? - ????}

Saga had gained the Ice Improvement as well. Does that mean they all will have it now? Do the base stat requirements change depending on the Creature or its ability to actually grow that ability? The repeated question marks were entirely new as well. I wanted to learn more about that. Did it mean she had something truly unique about her or was it a skill that required the System itself to be a higher level? The more I learned the more question I got.

I went ahead and thought about increasing her Spd by two and the Chance decreased by three percent each point. That wasn't bad, but not something I'd risk with her either. I added Agile Grace just to see how it would go. The chance dropped by another fifteen points. I frowned, cursing at the sudden increase. That took out the idea of improving her at all off the table. That single Goblin Orb only increased it by five percent and it wasn't worth the risk, period.

I bopped her nose with my own and received another lick of gratification before pulling her stat screen down. I grimace about the next one I wanted to check. Mostly because I had to call her out from within me. It always felt weird with the Parasitic Beetle. She dug herself into my body while causing as little pain and damage as she could. Something with her biology that went beyond the stat screen had the wound heal within minutes, as long as she caused it, but it still hurt like a bitch. She tended to nestle in wrapped around my heart where she could drink the best blood before it took in too many toxins from traveling through my body as a whole.

I felt her dislodge from my heart and start wiggling through my body. She moved out and under my diaphragm and ribcage before ripping a small hole at the soft point above my stomach and crawling onto my skin.

Oh fuck me, it hurt like hell! I tried to not groan at the pain. Mostly because she was about the only of the Creatures I created that I could 'understand.' Something to do with the Parasitic and Symbiotic nature of her.

She was bigger than the last time I had called her out. The armor plating decidedly thicker and the hole that was currently gaping in my stomach was also bigger than I remembered. I winced as my skin started to itch when she ran a sort of resin over the edges of the wound to stimulate the healing. If I were smarter I'd find a way to harvest that rather than drink that nasty shit Stewart had forced onto me. Sadly I couldn't actually harvest it. She couldn't survive like this for longer than ten minutes and that gave me precious little time to learn how to do it without hurting her.

She regarded me with tiny little black eyes on either side of a growing sharp horn. The impression she gave through that odd little link was curiosity and fear that it would take to long. I sent a calming thought to her while ignoring Saga's growl. She still refused to use her own Beetle because of the pain it had caused. Likely the instinctive desire to avoid anything like that pain again as well. It made Improving it very difficult. For now, I just pulled up the Matriarch stat page.

{Parasitic Armor Beetle - Matriarch

Level - 4

Female

Str - 0

End - 7

Spd - 1

Int - 2

Trait P - Create Armor, Symbiotic

Trait C - Parasitic, Weak, Bound to Host

Improvement Success Chance - 98%

Description - A Parasitic beetle that must bind itself to a single host. The creature cannot survive without its chosen host. Able to create a bio-organic armor (coverage based on level) to protect the host. Devours Hosts blood frequently. Able to be improved extensively}

She had grown two levels. That made me frown, why had she suddenly increased in levels like that? Something was different and I needed to learn what. Not knowing was potentially very dangerous. For now, I pulled up her Improvement screen to see what she could grant me. I might even improve her because of that massive chance.

{Skills - Requirements

Organic Weapon - End/Str 10

Metal Lining - End 15

Double Layered - End 25

Quick Reaction - Spd 6

Ice - Int 18

Basic Understanding - Int 7

Average Understanding - Int 11

Advanced Understanding - Int 19

Telepathy - Int 6

Empathic Understanding - Int 8}

I was once again disturbed by the sheer difference in choices, the Ice factor aside. Telepathy and Empathic Understanding? Those were new and something I'd almost rather have on Saga or the Swift Horror. It had to be the Symbiotic and Parasitic options during her creation. Ok, let's go ahead and see about upping the Str by three so the total of End and Str is ten. Her Chance went down by a total of two percent per point there.

On a whim, I popped a point into End and saw the Chance didn't go down. What? I put another point and it went down by one point. Wait, wait...Ok, it had to do with the Creatures specialties then? I put another two points into End and it only went down by one point again. So seven stat points for the price of eight percent? I could live with that. Let's try Spd, as a test.

I instantly thought of erasing that change. The Spd increase of one point dropped it by twenty percent. That was a big fat fucking nope. I was confused as well though. I'd Improved Saga, the Swift Horror as well and multiple Horned Rabbits. I have never seen this. The only difference was that the damn thing lived inside of me, literally latched onto my heart. Could that be it? She drank blood like that and because it was from my heart it helped? I didn't enjoy the concept of testing that but I would in the near future.

Int was about the same as Str. One point went down by two percent per point. I upped it by four so I could obtain that Telepathy. You never know when that might be of use. That brought the Chance down to eighty-two percent. Still within range of what I would want. I also put four more into End bringing that total up to fifteen.

Three Str, fifteen End, six Int. Eighty percent left. Time to see how it went with the skills I put into her. I selected Metal Lining first and the Chance went down by three percent. That wasn't too bad at all there. Organic Weapon brought it down three more percent. So that meant they likely went well with her overall abilities and potential. I thought of adding Telepathy and it dropped by five percent, bringing it down to sixty-nine. I clicked my tongue, not liking the odds much. I thought of adding that Goblin Core next, bringing it back up to seventy-four percent.

That was better, but not really in my strike zone for perfect. I took a deep breath and decided it would be worth it. Long term, I had to continue thinking about the long-term with Creatures like this little one. I mentally accepted it and the resulting golden flash blinded me more than normal. Saga whined at the pain, letting out a small growl and pulling away from me while I suddenly had a sharp pain hit me. It felt like someone was jackhammering my brain.

Then I heard a little mental scream of anguish that matched the one I wanted to let loose as well. It was both soundless and at the same time the loudest thing I had ever seemed. It seemed to go on for hours while I grit my teeth and tried to bear the agony of it all. The sudden shifting and tearing of my flesh made that far harder and I could feel the tears fall down my face in endless rivulets while blood went down my stomach from the Beetle forcing her way back into my body.

I finally couldn't take it and started to whimper, the scream building in the back of my throat from the combined assault on my brain and body. I'm not sure how I staved it off, but I did manage to keep it down. When the screaming itself ended in my head and the aches and discomfort from something the size of my fist, or what felt like it, crawling through my innards to latch onto my heart faded I could hear tiny little whimperings that seemed primal and afraid.

'Master hurts us, why? B-B good girl, protect Master.'

'The fuck is this?'

I heard an odd little feminine gasp before a rapid-fire stream of thought, words, and pain as my Parasite wriggled against my heart.

'Master hear B-B? Master hear B-B! Why hurt B-B Master? Thinky thing hurt! Scare B-B! Make B-B hurt Master! B-B made be bad B-B! B-B sorry Master!'

She continued on along those lines and I gathered that 'B-B' was my Parasitic Armor Beetle. She had named herself? I winced as I felt her left wiggle against my heart more and I tried thinking something calming to her. I would rather not test her ability to heal injuries she causes when it was my actual fucking heart.

About the time she calmed down Saga rammed her head into my shoulder while whining, demanding reassurances herself now that her eyes didn't hurt anymore. I scratched her ears and heard 'B-B' mutter in my mind.

'Feral Fur Thing lucky. Feral Fur Thing mean. Treat B-B baby like useless thing.'

I decided I'd have to find a way to block her thoughts sometime. I could dull it somewhat by pretending it was white noise but that only went so far. I regretted that little upgrade a bit. I'd have to find a way to increase either her intelligence or concept of restraint.

I shook my head to clear it and realized I'd fallen on my ass at some point during that ordeal. I still had no idea how long it had been, the pain blinded me to the passing of it. The lamps were still burning in the training area around the living quarters so it couldn't have been long. I'd need to wait a short time longer. It would give me an hour or two to figure out this new shit with 'B-B' and plan out little escape to hunt outside of town.