Verina, The Ohrtender

Also, I'm lucky that this Verina person didn't just blow my head into smithereen with that musket.

I definitely need to be more wary around any kind of invisible entity. I sometimes forgot that they had the upper hand and could just end my life in a jiffy.

"You know that I could just shoot your head and be done with it, right?" Verina said with her perfect poker-face.

"I know, I already had an introspective enlightenment about it before you said that," I replied in a casual tone, with a very courageous smile on my face. "You still didn't end up pulling the trigger, however."

"I doubt that I gain anything from killing you." Her voice and expression was so monotonous, that it made her rather expressive with how she enunciated her words. "Because killing this pup over here exists as an option."

Verina shifted her musket from aiming my head to Lupina's forehead.

She even stepped forward and pressed the cold barrel of the musket onto Lupina's skin.

"Hiikh!"

"This wolf got me scammed of all my bloodies." Verina's voice was filled with anger, yet still monotonous. "She even mistook an aphrodisiac mushroom with the beef mushroom, like a blind jackass who will proudly lunge into danger amidst the time of crisis."

"I'm so sorry!" Lupina cried. "I won't do it again!"

"You were suddenly gone like a loose convict the moment an opportunity existed."

"Hiikh! That's because it doesn't allow me to relieve myself!" Lupina pleaded, by making an excuse.

"I already suggested you use the handle of your broadsword." Verina answered by pushing the barrel of her musket further forward. "Such a method should suffice a dumb and beastly dopamine-seeking brain of yours."

"Hiiiiikh!!!"

The exhaust pipes on Verina's head began to exhale hot fumes into the air.

The infodumps that I got certainly educated me of this behavior beforehand, but seeing it right in front of me was still a surreal feeling.

Verina was a Kilnalan, a race consisting of ancient humans with far-more advanced brains than normal humans.

Although regarded as an entirely different race, it was mostly a mutation that happened because of their ancestor's greed to accommodate sorcery into their life, by utilizing their own 'lifeline' as the resources.

This process needed a greater computation for the brain and the spine, which resulted in their current biological state where they can do some psionic and magical stuff in the exchange of heating their own organs.

Those exhaust pipes were meant to filter out the heat from their body, ensuring that they won't go into an overlock and fry themselves.

"Looks like everything is fine and dandy," I casually commented.

After confirming that a conflict was unnecessary, I began to properly welcome these guests with hospitality.

By giving them a wooden table and a pair of wooden chair that I constructed on the spot because I hadn't prepared one in advance.

"This is the first time I've seen a fairy dared to use the nature around them as building blocks," Verina commented, still with the same monotone face and voice. "I hope that I don't sound too judgemental, since I do believe that stereotype doesn't apply to every fairies in Carcosa."

Well, I doubt that I'm a fairy to begin with, so her concern was justifiable.

"I apologize for the harm I caused," I said while putting a wood-woven basket full of fruits and berries that I foraged with the help of having an innate internet. "If there are any lingering discomfort, feel free to protest."

"Well, as a beast person, I'm much more resilient than a normal human," Lupina said with a rather concerning smirk on her face. "Besides, I experienced what heaven felt like, so I should be the one who is thankful."

She seemed to be using her broken hand normally. The last time I checked, her Manipulation was still 75%, so her pain threshold must be really high.

"I can help you bind this muddy dog in case that she does anything funny to you, miss fairy," Verina followed as she threatened her traveling partner with her emotionless staring. "With all that said, allow me to introduce myself."

"No need for any courtesy, lady Verina," I said while giving each of them a wooden mug filled with the freshly heated and traditionally filtered water from the nearby river. "What Lupina experienced shouldn't be downplayed, considering that it might take days for her libido to calm down."

"H-have we met before?" Lupina asked with a startled expression.

"Is there a reason why we shouldn't have met before?"

I winked to further feed the confusion.

"Why didn't I remember any of it??"

"Lupina, you're being gaslighted like an actual toddler, go grow some wisdom, respectfully," Verina said without any remorse.

"Why are all of you bullying me!"

"No need to stress so much. The wind had already told me a fun bit of information about you two." Technically, I didn't lie, the detail screen exists amongst the windy breeze., the wind talked to me. "The less you question it, the better it becomes.

"As for my name, please refer me as Narcissus,"

"I'm still confused, but nice to feel your thighs, Narcissus!" Lupina uttered with excitement, one hand in the air, and face still blushing and sweating from trying hard to control her libido.

"The wind is cruel, they didn't tell me about your name beforehand," Verina said as she curiously gazed deep into my soul with her emotionless stare. "Likewise, it's a pleasure knowing you."

Right at this instance, I could easily determine my interactions on whether it was effective enough by tracking their Social information in real time

Lupina's current opinion of me comfily sat at the value of 65.

Meanwhile, Verina's opinion of me was still hanging on the lower side, at 26 still rising as I entertained her with something that she could spin into a subtle joke.

Yes, this poker-faced kilnalan prefer some find and classy humor to mix into the conversation.

"I assume that the two of you have a plan before dusk?" I asked. "It might take a while to reach the nearest citadel, and I don't see that any of you have the inclination of staying outside when the 'ordeal' arrives."

"As much as I wanted to have a plan in hand, all of them were chased away by Lupina into the wild, lost, and never found again," she chuckled, monotonous like a robot trying to imitate a human.

"I'm sorry, alright!"

"We also don't have a single coin of bloodie," Verina sighed. "Creating a barrier powerful enough to survive throughout the entire night is nigh impossible without at least 10 C-tier coins."

Bloodies, the universal currency used by the inhabitants of Carcosa.

Just like its name, bloodie was simply just the blood of living beings that was preserved and minted into coin-shaped form. 

Depending on the quality tier, ranked from F for the lowest and A for the highest, a single bloodie could be used as a resource and a catalyst for an ohrtender like Verina to perform some psionic spells, or magic.

At this point, one might ask, 'What is an Ohrtender?'

They are what this world calls sorcerer, magic user, psionic master, spellcaster, whatever the word used to refer a person doing some thing-a-magicks like it was their second nature.

The requirement for someone to become a stable ohrtender was to possess at least 200% value on Consciousness.

For comparison, my Consciousness was 85%.

Lupina's was 95%.

As for Verina's—

The value of her Consciousness was 350%.

"Why don't the two of you help me to fortify this area?" I asked, hoping that they would accept it in their current situation.

Afterall, I also wanted to survive my first night in this world.

"Hmm, having a strong, reliable fairy in a group will greatly increase the chance of surviving the Ordeal of the Dusk." Verina said as she was munching on the fruits I offered. "However, a fairy never offers something without wanting sacrifice in return."

"Mmm~ you're quite perceptive."

This lore of the fairies suited me quite nicely. 

I could easily tell people that I wanted something whenever I offered them any kind of help.

"Can I sacrifice Lupina as an option?"

"W-why me!?"

"Just felt like it."

"Don't worry, my demand doesn't include human sacrifice," I playfully gestured with my hand. "It's been a while since I encountered an ohrtender in my journey. Because of that, I want you to share with me your wisdom of ohrtending, in return for my assistance to secure our survival through the Ordeal of the Dusk."

"I see."

Verina put in a deep thought. Not because of the severity of this offer, since sharing the knowledge on how-to ohrtending should be harmless to both parties, but because of why I, a supposed fairy, was even interested in ohrtending in the first place.

"It felt a little bit unbalanced," Verina continued. "I assume that you have more than one demand, miss Narcissus."

It seemed like she didn't believe how too good to be true this deal was.

"At the current moment, I don't feel any necessity to demand anything more than a simple knowledge from others. However, if I happen to have one, I'll be sure to have you notified."

"It's a deal then."

After we shook our hands to seal the deal, the three of us proceeded to work our guts to the bones to fortify this perimeters as much as we could before the time of the sunset.