Arrivals, departures and preparations

Normally, when your pet learns something new, his owner is happy. But in this case, Dai couldn't be happy. She remembered what the Space Worm description said. That Space Worm changes depending on where it lives and what it eats. So the green color was correct, after all, the only thing it could eat here was grass. But the name Face Ripper didn't sound so right anymore! So what did the Worm eat? Grass and Teru. Who did it face rip?

That's why Dai was horrified. What if, right here and now, the Space Worm turns into something Teru-like? Right in front of Filn?

No! She definitely couldn't take another heartbreaking drama! And of course, it was for the good of Filn...

"Nooooo!" She let out a scream and ran.

"Huh? What-HEY!" Filn turned to her in confusion, however, just to see her lunge at him, Dai suddenly bumped into him and grabbed him, gathering all her strength, throwing Filn onto her shoulder and running back into the store with him. Dai was glad she was stronger now, and while Filn wasn't a small man, he wasn't a heavyweight either.

"D-Dai! What...." Filn stuttered as she raced away with him.

"You're going to bed! You need to lie down, okay!" She replied while she stormed into the shop.

"Whaaaaattttt?!"

Dai didn't waste any time, opening the door to his room and hurling him inside. "And stay!" She slammed the door.

Dai knew she was a little hasty. But she didn't know how long the transformation of Space Worm would take, and she couldn't afford to waste time making up some excuse as to why Filn had to go. Especially with his unhealthy interest in the creature. This was for the best.

Dai watches the door for a moment, but Filn doesn't seem to try to go out again. She breathed a sigh of relief and made her way out again.

Only to see Filn walking around the shop and glaring at her. Damn... she'd forgotten the other exit.

"Dai! What was that supposed to mean? Are you crazy?!" he asked in a huff.

How could she have picked him up on her shoulder and carried him away like that?!

Dai scratched her head in embarrassment, why was everything going against her?

She sighed. "It's better if you don't see it." She explained.

"Not see what?"

"The worm. It's started to evolve. And I'm afraid not in a direction you'd like." She stood in front of him.

"What do you mean?" asked Filn.

"Worms like him evolve a lot depending on... what they eat." That couldn't be said entirely gently.

Filn froze for a moment before slowly turning his head in the direction where Worm lay. Stigma stood a short distance away, casually munching on grass.

"Uh.... yeah. I don't think... I don't want to see that." Filn agreed, and maybe even wished he didn't know it.

Dai nodded, walking over to him and putting an arm around his shoulders, directing him back to the shop.

"So you'd better stay away from him now. But it won't be that hard. I've got a job for you!" Dai suddenly decided that the best thing she could do for Filn was to keep him busy.

Filn was silent for a moment before he realized what Dai had said.

"A job? What job?"

Dai walked into the shop with him and swept her arms around the space. "I'm going to have to leave for a while soon, and I need someone to run the shop while I'm gone."

Filn turned sharply to her. "You're leaving? Where?"

"To look for more business opportunities. Shelter 22 is a good place to start and business is slowly picking up, but I'm not going to just stay here. I want to connect my store with other Shelters." Dai replied, smiling.

Filn, however, was concerned at the news that she wanted to leave. "And how long will you be gone?"

"Not long. Actually, I can come back anytime, so I'll pop in here and there. But I won't have time to take care of business. So you'll be doing the selling." She pointed a finger at him.

Dai was really thinking about this. With instant access to the shop, she could come back from anywhere. She could easily travel some distance and then return before continuing the next day. Just how useful would this be to her? She could avoid any danger this way. Dai loved safety. But she also loved progress. She had to work on herself so that she wouldn't have to worry about aggressive creatures like Devvil in the future. So she planned to make it all the way, as any traveler should. Without the possibility of just running away from it all. If she faced danger, she would fight. And she would only run when her life was on the line.

Filn didn't feel too good about it. One important person in his life had already disappeared. And now Dai was going too.

"I never sold..."

"You can do this. You've seen me at work many times. Just follow it and the rest will come naturally." Dai patted him on the shoulder.

Filn looked at Dai and when he saw her enthusiastic smile he just sighed. He knew he couldn't stop her from doing anything.

"Good. Then explain how things work." He agreed. Besides, he didn't want to go home. He'd probably already lost his job if he didn't show up. And there was no one at home.....

Dai nodded and began to explain.

*****

Zila Demofang stood in her battle armor in front of a squad of fifty cultivators. It was her squad that she had invested time and resources into. Most of them had reached at least the Middle Realm, they had the best equipment, and half of them had already awakened Life Providence. The twenty-two warriors had received blessings from the strange beings and their combat prowess had increased a lot. Despite the warnings of the Dragons&Fan shop, none of them had obtained the harmful Life Providence. Yet Zila and none of the clan leaders attempted to obtain the Life Providence. They were still conducting tests and wanted to be the first to know how high the possibility of obtaining a negative Life Providence was.

Threatening one's own existence is different from threatening others. So caution was in order.

Zila raised her hand to get the attention of her squad.

"My warriors! Today we go on a mission to suppress the aggressors of Shelter 10. There are currently many hunting parties roaming our territory being attacked by invaders! Our mission is to seek out these invaders and drive them out of our territory. It is required not to use lethal force! And remember that! We must not be the ones to bring the Peacekeepers down on ourselves!"

"YES!" came the clear reply from many voices.

"MOVE!" Sid called out, standing by Zil's side as her second in command.

The troop turned as one man and began to march out of the Shelter gate, which was not open to the public. Due to the need for quick action, the clans had their own means of entry and exit to avoid clashing with civilians in an emergency.

Sid and Zila climbed aboard a specially trained Dark Blue Horse. These beasts were trained to fight, so while they were the same kind you might see anywhere in Shelter, these looked more ferocious and dangerous.

They followed the troop out of the gates of Shelter and a sea of green unfolded before them. When they talked about the wilderness outside Shelter, they really meant the wilderness. There was a short cleared area a few yards from the outer walls, but beyond that was a dense forest that was more reminiscent of a prehistoric forest than the neat forests of modern times.

The troop of cultivators could move fast enough, so the steeds of Zili and Sida began to run.

Sid looked at his mistress. "Life Providence hasn't been tested in actual combat yet. What do we do if there's an accident and someone dies?" He asked.

Zile's eyes flashed coldly. "In that case, no one can escape alive. Faking someone being killed by beasts isn't hard." She looked at him.

"But let's try to avoid it." She added. Sid nodded, not giving it a second thought. After all, this was the world of cultivators. Anyone who takes that path will not avoid fighting and bloodshed.

*****

Devvil, in her bat form, flew in the direction where she knew her target was. Along the way she scanned the ground, the planet she had arrived on, wrinkling her pig nose in disdain.

Everything here was primitive and wild. Intelligent beings were hidden in small fortresses while the wilderness ruled most of the world. She could see wild beasts scouring the forests and searching ruins that were only a few hundred years old. She had seen enough to understand that humanity on this planet had destroyed itself. She felt no pity for them. She would much rather they had destroyed themselves completely. They were just poor worms who would take many thousands of years before they would see the Ascension. If she didn't have rules to follow for wiping out primitive civilizations, she wouldn't have delayed at all and just made sure nothing else came out of this pile of filth.

Now she just needed to do her mission, take care of the one that upset her mistress.

Then she can walk away and forget the whole thing. And just hope she doesn't live to see the moment when humanity joins the Celestial Society.

If only Devvil knew that killing Dai wasn't Empress Fortune's goal. Unfortunately, Devvil misinterpreted the whole thing.

*****

Near the border with the Heart Continent stood a group of a hundred people dressed as wildmen. They set up a small camp while they waited. All the warriors, men and women, were dressed in armor made of furry beasts. Many heads were shaved or wore only a mohawk. Not only their faces but other exposed skin was often covered in tattoos, the appearance of the group was intimidating and one might even think they had only recently crawled out of a cave. A huge man stood nearby, his back covered with the fuzzy fur of some lion-like beast, his head also shaved, and only at the back of his head was a strip of hair tied in a thin braid. His entire smoothly shaved head was covered in tattoos mimicking a spider web with a realistic-looking spider behind his right ear. His face and chin were covered in a fawn-colored beard and his sharp blue eyes watched the forest before him. In one hand, he held a spear made of some sort of clear crystal in which a stream of golden energy slowly swirled.

The man was approached by a slightly less rough-looking woman who had dark red hair flipped to her left side, while her right side was shaved and also tattooed with spider webs.

"Brother Ito, when are they due to arrive?" She asked.

"They're close. Any minute now." He replied in a deep and somewhat gruff voice.

The woman nodded and looked at their group who were either working or resting. "Are you planning on celebrating?"

"It's only appropriate. It's been a long time since we've met our brothers and sisters." He replied.

"Then let's go hunt for a suitable sacrifice." The woman suggested.

"When they arrive. We must give them a proper welcome." Brother Ito refused.

A nearby rustling of undergrowth drew the attention of both.

Another group was approaching them, one that couldn't look more different than the mass of wildmen present.

At the head of the group of about thirty people walked a woman, completely wrapped in a fine blue cloth. All that could be seen were her delicate white hands, mouth, and chin. The blue cloth looked clean and immaculate, short chains with various decorations swung from the ends of the wide sleeves, but made no sound as they moved.

All the figures that followed her were dressed the same, but the color of their robes varied between yellow and orange. They looked like a gathering of mysterious oracles.

The sea-clad woman stopped in front of the rough man and woman, her exposed pink lips curling into a smile.

"Brother Ito." She greeted.

Brother Ito gave a small smile. "Sister Moon." Then he gripped the spear tighter.

"Let's fight!" He shouted, and at his words, his men dropped everything and began to rush in his direction, gathering their weapons along the way, and some who ran out of their tents, their pants as well.

Sister Moon smiled even more and raised her hand, a blue light began to shine on her palm and fingers. At the same moment, her followers also raised their hands.

"Yes, let's fight brother." She replied.

*****

Dai sneezed out of nowhere. She wiped her nose and looked again at Worm, who remained to lie in place, his body transformed into something like a crust. After all, she had panicked earlier for nothing. Worm's metamorphosis seemed to take a while. But even the System couldn't tell how long. She patted the crust with her hand, mentally urging him to take his time and not rush anywhere. It would be better for her to be there when he came out.

Instead, she turned to Stigma, who stood off to the side with the saddle strapped to her back. The crappy System hadn't supplied her with riding gear, of course. This is even though Stigma was marked as a mount!

So half of her remaining precious Star Coin fell on the saddle.

Leonid stood off to the side and watched the whole thing. When he came out of his cultivation, he found this beast standing there. He really wondered where Dai was getting these things because it wasn't a beast he had ever heard of in his life. But he was amused by how Dai had named it. It was a good name.

"Filn said you were going to take a trip. May I know where lass?" He asked as he watched Dai try to figure out how to get into the saddle.

Dai looked back at him as she stuck her foot in the stirrup.

"Shelter 1." She replied.

Leonid blinked, thinking. "Never heard of that one. Where is it? It wouldn't be on our continent, would it?"

Dai began to bounce as she prepared to swing up into the saddle. "Ah... I'm not sure either, but... don't worry about it. I know the way." She replied vaguely before she climbed up and ended up just stepping her other foot in the air and falling over to the other side.

Leonid couldn't suppress his chuckle of amusement. "Can you even make it up there? I don't think you can mount that beast." He taunted her.

Dai snorted and stood up again, frowning at Leonid. "That's why I'm getting ready right? I have to learn to ride, how hard can it be?"

Leonid started roaring with laughter. "From my point of view, a lot!"