Chapter 12 Culture Shock

(James POV)

For the next week, I stayed with the Shadows mercenary group. I learned the group's name around the third day and thought it sounded like something a 13-year-old came up with. It made it hard to keep a straight face when the mercenaries shouted it out so proudly every now and then, god my face hurt from the restraint.

It took me three days to learn the name of the mercenaries. Only because I seem to have developed a keen ear for languages since transitioning into this new world. I am pretty confident it had something to do with glimpsing at the boundary of all realities. Who knew dangerous trips across dimensions would come with such benefits!

I decided to keep my accelerated learning curve a secret from the group mainly because, even to me, it would be suspicious if someone picked up an entire language in less than a week.

There were some downsides to keeping the secret, such as constantly needing to pretend to use charades and acting confused. But, on the bright side, I learned new things about the group that I was reasonably sure I wouldn't have been told if I had bothered to ask.

One of which was that the group was a rather ruthless bunch. They weren't the assassination or go-to-war types. Still, their reputation seemed built on their incredible hatred of all monsters.

Which was weird.

How do you build a reputation for hating monsters? I haven't been in the world long, but I am not a fan of things trying to kill and/or eat me, and I'm confident others feel the same.

Whatever the reason, the Shadows were known for viciously wiping out any monster they were pointed toward, and Shara, their leader, was the craziest of the bunch.

From what I could gather as I did menial chores, Shara was why the Shadows were a group. They banded together behind Shara, who had become famous for going after any and all monster quests and returning covered in blood with a manic smile on her face.

I didn't hear much about her background from my eavesdropping, but I had picked up that she was the only survivor of her village after monsters ravaged it.

To sum up, I've learned a lot and, at the same time, very little. I still needed to find out exactly where I was and how to get to civilization, but I also now knew an entirely new language, which was cool.

"Hey! I heard the scouts found the trail. We should be moving out soon."

Raising my head slightly from the pot I was cleaning, I looked towards a group of men entering the food tent.

"Finally! It's been weeks in this godforsaken forest." One of the men responded as they found a seat on one of the benches.

I tuned them out once they started talking about everything they would do when they returned to the city. That was pretty standard "men want woman" stuff. I was more focused on how to join the hunt.

For a week now, I have been hearing about why the Shadows were in this forest, the "Alkanti." I don't know what they looked like, as none of the mercenaries did a good job describing them, but from what I kept hearing, they were undoubtedly intelligent and dangerous.

I've been honestly curious if it was the saber tooth tiger thing I'd run into. If it was, I wanted to see how this group could even handle such a strong creature because if they could, if so, I would need to seriously evaluate my level of strength in this world.

Rose poked her head out of the pocket on my shirt when she noticed I'd gone into my thinking mode. A habit I picked up while we were cooped up in the treehouse in which I literally stop moving to think. Something I've been working on kicking because it's not great when around things trying to kill you.

Pap!

"Ow," I drawled out after waking from my thoughts again. "I know I said to slap me when I get in that mode, but you've gotten stronger since then, and it hurts a lot more now."

Rose maturely blew a raspberry at me before crossing her arms and tilting her head to the side. Her way of asking, "What's up?"

"Seems like we will be headed out soon to hunt the Alkanti. Just trying to figure out how to join in on the fun." I shrugged.

Nodding decisively, Rose went into her own thinking position. Since we got here, she has been fairly bored because of how little she has been able to travel around me. Not that she couldn't, but I asked her to stay hidden as much as possible, considering the number of greedy eyes in the camp.

One of the things I've learned since that first meeting with Shara is that the only reason I've even been accepted into their camp is because of Rose. Apparently, fairies are a big deal even in Parta, the name of this world. Who knew?

On top of being incredibly rare and helpful, they are also incredibly powerful. When I consider the damage Rose can do with her vines seems pretty accurate. And also gave me a great idea!

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"You want to do what?" Shara questioned. She was sitting on a chest, polishing her blade. A rather nasty-looking battleax that I had no doubt in my mind could decapitate goblins probably even easier than my wind blades.

"I want to join the hunt, well, me and Rose here," I said through charades, motioning to Rose, who popped her head out of my pocket again. It involved a lot of pretending to pull a bow which probably just showed how little I knew about hunting.

"No," Shara said without any hesitation, returning her full attention to the axe. In fairness, my mock archery probably didn't instill much confidence.

"What? Why not? I'm sure you know how strong fairies are, and Rose here could certainly help if it came to a battle." I mimed and then motioned to the men rushing around us, preparing their gear. "She could create barriers, heal, even hold the enemy down. Ensuring your men were in a safer position to do what they do best."

I'm starting to regret the not talking rule because it was annoying and embarrassing when I needed to act out every word. I'm glad they haven't seemed to notice I can understand them.

Blitzing to her feet and grabbing my shirt before I could react, Shara glared into my soul, "Listen here you little runt! I don't care if she can do all that or more!" She shouted, halting the men around us as they began to watch the show. "These are my men and my team. I am in charge of ensuring that they survive long enough to get the job done and come home, and part of that is making sure I don't have some cocky tourist ruining their teamwork because he thinks his fairy is the best thing since the sun." She said, poking me backward with each point, causing Rose to begin growling in a way I had never heard.

Shara must have also noticed because she stopped and turned away but not before stopping and turning back to glare at me again, "Stay out of this runt. Just because you've done some chores doesn't make you a part of Shadow. We aren't a fucking charity, and mark me, we will get our payment for taking you in whether or not you agree to it." Then she turned around and left me, her men following as I stood shocked in the middle of the camp.