Chapter 4 - Lilah

The fire was already up and ready by the time Leone came back with 3 grey fox looking creatures. I had used my dark wraiths sword and an odd-looking black stone that I had found next to one of the tress, to create some sparks. I had no idea how to skin and prepare an animal, but luckily leone did.

"Working with night raid and living on the run taught me a lot," she said in a nostalgic voice.

I nodded and let her continue preparing the animals in peace and quiet while I looked up to the sky for the 4th time since the sun had gone down. The sky at night here was completely different from earth and far more beautiful. There were 4 moons in the sky, each was different color and size, and shone brightly, casting light through the treetops and upon the forest floor. Thousands of stars dotted a night sky that was a nexus of different colors, different shades of blue, purple, and green clashed with each other creating a beautiful picture, and I felt as though I could spend hours getting lost in its beauty.

I had spent a lot of time thinking about my situation while I had collected kindling for the fire. I was in a very unusual and weird situation, but that didn't mean that I shouldn't make the most of it. I had always been a curious person and, like most light novel and anime fans, had spent time thinking about what it would be like to get transported to a different world. I had always thought that if I got sent to a different world that it would be because of something like truck-Kun, not a random email questionnaire. I thought back to my family and the convention that they had organized for me.

"You aren't living for anything." My mother's words rang through my mind, and I felt anger and loss clash in my mind, each trying to overpower the other. What right did she or anyone have to tell me how I should live? I knew she was only trying to help, but it was my life, my choice.

"Just leave me alone!" My last words to my mother had been spoken harshly and with anger, words that I might never get to take back. No! I shook my head, I couldn't think like that... I wouldn't think like that. I felt myself deflate as anger and loss were overpowered by sadness and regret.

"You ok?" I turned to see Leone giving me a concerned look. I smiled at her and felt a shred of happiness at her concern for me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Is the food done?"

She didn't look like she believed me, but she let it go and nodded, "Yeah their cooked and ready to eat" She had placed a stick through each of the animals and handed me one. When she offered one to the dark wraith, it just shook its head.

She shrugged and smiled, "More for me."

I took my first bite of the.. fox? I didn't know what it was, but it tasted kind of like chicken, but chewier. It also tasted kind of spicy, which was extremely odd because I was certain that Leone hadn't added any spice to it. It was good, edible, and filling, which was all I needed for now. I turned my thoughts back to leone as I ate.

"Leone do you need to eat or sleep?" I asked. The question had been in the back of my mind ever since I had told leone to go hunt.

She took another bite of her food and I noticed that she had already finished her first. Damn, she had a big appetite I thought, is it because she's hungry or because she just likes to eat? She swallowed and turned to me, "I don't need to eat or sleep but I can." I went to ask her how she knew, but she interrupted me. "Don't ask me how I know that. I just do." The question died on my lips and I went back to eating. I was honestly happy that they'd didn't need to, as it would make things easier when I summoned something that didn't eat normal/human food.

We finished eating quickly after that and I told my Darkwraith to stand watch as I and Leone slept. I had asked Leone if she wanted me to send her to storage, but she said she wanted to stay with me, so me and Leone lied down on the grass cover ground and cuddled with other to stay warm. My head was shoved into her breasts once again and I was starting to think that it was a fetish of hers. I certainly didn't mind, she was very warm, and what 18-year-old anime fan didn't want to have to a hot anime girl cuddle with them. I sighed in contentment and slowly drifted off to sleep.

"Come on Boss, Wake up"

The voice was soft yet excited, and I felt a hand shaking me slightly. My eyes fluttered open and I looked up in confusion. why was there a hot girl waking me up? I used my right hand to rub the sleep out of my eyes and it took a few seconds for my brain to finally catch up with me.

"Leone?" I asked groggily.

She smiled and nodded her head, "You looked like you were enjoying yourself so I let you sleep some more while I went to hunt some breakfast." She grabbed one of my hands and pulled me to my feet. I wobbled a little but managed not to fall down.

"Come on there gonna get cold," she said in an upbeat voice. I wanted to ask her how she was so full of energy in the morning but chalked it up to her former lifestyle. She handed a stick of the same fox creature we'd had yesterday and I guessed they must be indigenous to the area. Breakfast was a silent affair and while I ate I wondered what sort of summon I'd get from my token. I hoped I got something that could fly, that would make things so much easier for me. If it was big enough to ride then I could fly instead of having to walk and if it could talk then I could use it to scout.

After breakfast was finished I stood and prepared to use my token. I lifted my head up," Please give me something good," I prayed. I focused on the token in my mind and used it.

[1 Common Token Used]

[Summoning Entity]

There was a brief flash of white light as I had started to expect.

[Summoning Complete: Gible(Pokemon) Summoned]

"Oh you have got to be joking," I muttered. "You could have at least given me a Garchomp or even Gabite would do."

It wasn't bad, but a pokemon? really? I suppose it could have been worse and I had always wanted a pokemon, and even though he wasn't that strong now eventually my Gible would evolve into a Garchomp. That thought got me wondering if my summons could level up and how that would work. How as I meant to know what moves Gible had? I stored the questions for later and then looked down at my pokemon. Gible was a small, blue, bipedal dragon-like Pokémon. It had no neck but it did have a large mouth that was filled with razor-sharp teeth. The pokemon also had two horns on its head striped blue in the middle and a large dorsal fin. Its underbelly was red and it had a small tail on its back. It looked cute and dangerous at the same time.

"GIBLE!" It shouted then jumped at me. I caught it in my arms and bought it up to my face. Its skin was rough and seemed like it could take a hit.

"Gible, welcome to the team," I smiled, turning him around to face Leone and my Darkwraith, "The blond is Leone, and the scary-looking one is... I Stopped and frowned, "We need to get you a name," I said, looking at my Darkwraith who just nodded in agreement. I handed Gible over to Leone who eagerly took him in her arms and started petting him.

"Look at those teeth!" she exclaimed, holding the Gible close to her chest "You'll grow up to be one hell of a danger beast one day won't ya?" I smiled at both of them before turning my attention back to my Darkwraith.

"Raise one hand if your Male and two if your Female," I said.

My eyes widened slightly as it raised two hands. So it was female. I honestly couldn't tell because of its armor, but I was glad I knew now.

"Do you already have a name?" I asked. I didn't want to give it name if it already had one, even if it wouldn't complain. She looked down and grabbed a stick. She pointed to her head and then the stick. "The stick represents your mind?" It nodded and then snapped the stick in two.

I was confused for a minute before I finally realized what it was trying to tell me. "Oh! you cant remember." I said. It nodded and I gave it a sad smile. It may have been an evil Dakrwraith before, but now it was my Darkwraith, and not knowing your own name must be pretty awful. I spent a few minutes trying to find a name for her before I finally decided on one.

"How about Lilah? I can think of another if you don't like it." The Darkwraith shook her head then nodded. "You like the name?"

She nodded.

"Ok then," I said, moving close to Lilah. I thought of the right words to say to her before I stood as straight as I could and stared directly into her dark eyes, and even though I could only see blackness in them, it felt as though she was watching me intently. "Before you were nothing but a tool to those who made you who you are." My voice was steady and commanding. "But unlike them, I will treat you with respect and will reward your loyalty." She pulled out her blade and fell to one knee, holding the weapon with both palms.

I grasped the handle of the blade with both hands "From now on you are no longer just a simple tool to be used." I pressed the flat of the blade to her right shoulder, "I name you Lilah." I pressed it to her left shoulder, "Darkwraith to Nathan Storm." I don't know how but I felt as though I could see joy in those dark eyes of hers. She stood and took back her blade, holding it almost reverently.

"Well... that was intense." said a cheerful voice.

"Gible!"

My head snapped to the side to see Leone smirking at me and Lilah with Gible in her arms, "I'm happy for Lilah," she said and it sounded as though she meant it, "and I hate to interrupt you two, but I spotted something interesting."

I quirked an eyebrow at her and motioned for her to go on.

"There smoke in the distance," she stated and pointed behind her to a long trail, of smoke that was rising into the sky. Could be other people or the village, I thought, best to check it out.

"Good job Leone. We should probably go and check it out."

She nodded and I turned to Lilah, "Come on Lilah, let's go." She sheathed her sword and walked to my side.

The 3 of us, plus Gible started walking in the direction of the smoke and I noticed the Lilah was very vigilant of our surroundings and kept a close eye on me. Leone had placed Gible down but picked him right back up after he started biting everything we passed. The forest looked fairly normal but there were definitely some unusual aspects to it. I spotted more of the Large flowers and some more oversized insect, though none as large as the wasp that had tried to attack me. The air was warm and I mentally thanked whoever had dressed me, as my clothes felt quite comfortable. I spent most of my time thinking about Lilah as we walked.

I hadn't originally intended to anything ceremonial with her, but I'd felt as though she would appreciate it and I wanted her to know that words weren't just hollow. Luckily for me, it had worked like a charm and though some would call me stupid, I felt as though our connection had deepened, if not physically then definitely metaphorically.

As we got closer and closer to the smoke. I started to hear the sound of shouting and barking. Was there fighting going on? I looked to Leone and Lilah who also looked like they had heard the sound, "We need to pick up the pace. Let's go!" I commanded. leone handed me Gible and we started running towards the sounds.

"If there are people being attacked then I want both of you to help them, OK? They both nodded and we picked up the pace as the sounds got louder and louder. We burst through a group of branches and into a small dirt clearing. My eyes widened as I saw two cat-eared people surrounded by a group of the grey fox-like creatures. There were a dozen of them and the taller cat person was defending a small girl who had back to a tree. The child was shaking and tears were flowing down her cheeks. My anger grew and before I could give the order both Lilah and Leone burst into action.

"Transformation! Lionel!" Shouted Leone in savage warcry.

Her hair lengthened into a mane, she grew two large cat ears and a lion tail grew from her lower back, but the biggest change was her hands which had grown and were now those of a lion. They were covered in golden fur and each finger had a sharp claw at its tip. Her eyes had changed and were those of a predator, of a lion. She charged into the group of foxes and tore them apart one by one. The sound of tearing and ripping flesh was audible, and even though my breakfast felt it wanted to come back up, I didn't look away. I needed to get used to sites like these because I'd be seeing a lot more fighting from now on.

Lilah had also joined the fight and with ruthless speed and efficiency, slaughtered 3 of the foxes in just a few seconds. Her blade moved so quickly that I had trouble keeping up with it. The entire fight lasted less than a minute and to my surprise, I received a system notification afterwards.

[Congratulations! You have Leveled up! You are now Level 2]

[Reward: Summoning Token]

[Reward: Summoning Ability(Defense Force)]

The feeling of wanting to puke slowly went away and was replaced by happiness. I had leveled up, gotten a summoning token, and my first summoning ability. I had no idea what defense force did, but I would find out soon enough. For now, however, I needed to see if the people were ok.

I dismissed the notifications and turned to look at the two cat people who were staring wide-eyed at me and my summons, "You're Welcome."