Alpha Realm (OP.MC.|Harem|NSFW)

Name: Aizel Kadashi | Age: 19 | Level: 15

Title: Goblinoid Nemesis

SE: 0 | HP: 261

Race: Crimson Were-Dragon

「 Morning, of his 15th day on Geas. 」

Aizel oversaw the large valley from his shelter in the middle of a cliff. This place had been his home for the past two weeks; he had hunted, killed, and almost died a couple of times, but he loved every second of it. From being almost a prisoner of his aging body to flying with his own power, the sense of freedom was unlike anything he ever felt on Earth.

All he had was his brown T-shirt, black jeans ripped at the bottom and with some small holes, boxers with more tears than fabric, his primitive sandals V3.0—that he was quite proud of—and a fanny bag made from the Shaman Orc's robe.

He stuffed his bag with slices of smoked deer in case it took him too long to find the town. He secured his stash of mana "crystals" by burying them under his shelter. Finally, he removed as much of his scent, or the deer he had been gutting, by burning part of the grass and spreading ashes. If he could not smell it, it was unlikely others could, but there was always the chance that he had gotten used to his own smell or the ones from his shelter; the forest had stopped smelling obnoxiously strong after a few days, so that was always a possibility.

Stuffing his pockets with some goblin mana crystals and also the tiny ones from deer and rabbits. Took one last look at his shelter and jumped off the cliff.

His new skills were already proving their usefulness, mana barrier, or as his was called now, just (Barrier), aid him to reduce his drag by covering himself with it in some places like a wetsuit, it also stopped his clothes and skin to flap around which was the main reason he usually only wore boxers, keeping them from being destroyed or dirty from his strenuous activities was an additional justification for his exhibitionism, not that he felt naked with his scales.

(Pain Resistance) was self-explanatory; he would have killed for that skill back on Earth. It did not make the pain go away; he could just ignore it better. That was a good thing in his opinion; pain is how you tell something is wrong with your body, so it could be potentially deadly to not feel pain at all.

He wondered how it would affect his soul, aching from abusing the skill re-acquiring—if it even did—since that was not physical pain, or even fully mental. Since this was a passive skill and literally tore open his muscles to acquire it, he did not think he was going to be deleting it for SE any time soon.

(Telekinesis) was an interesting one. It could be extremely weak and delicate at low HP use, almost not draining anything at all, or it could drain it fast, capital F, if he pushed it. If he jumped with its aid, he could jump higher, much higher. If he could not fly and just jumped with it, he could get seriously hurt.

A wing-challenged mage could probably fly around with (Telekinesis) for some minutes, but that would probably use up all of their daily mana in a single short flight, assuming they had similar amounts of MP as he did, which after using the exploit would probably mean that they needed to be much higher level than him to do so. Probably Shaman Orc level—whatever that was—or even higher.

He probably could not even travel a couple of clicks just with it alone. Though, for takeoff and landing, it was a great addition, it was also great for quick acceleration and hovering; he could hover by just using (Infuse) and the lift from his wings already, but it was tiring and inefficient.

However, now he could reduce his weight and be more efficient with his normal hovering. And start flying at max speed in an instant without much effort, with the aid of (Condensate) to cool himself off; there were even moments that small vapor clouds formed over his wings when doing tight maneuvers, if the conditions were just right.

Sufficed to say, he was way faster, not sound barrier-breaking levels of fast, yet. But he could probably travel really fast if he really pushed and drained his HP with his wings at their smallest, but he mostly glided at a much slower speed to save HP.

Going across the mountain range was way easier than he thought; the air created currents in some places that went up the mountains. He just needed to find a good current and then ride it with a little help from his skills.

The Were-Doggo group was already crossing the range in the place he thought, but he was not patient enough to wait for them snails, so he just went ahead and started to travel south.

The geography was similar: large forests with small hills and flat sections thrown in between. Interestingly, there was much more wildlife on this side; he could see large herds of deer and giant deer and other large mammals. There were also predators like wolves and leopards roaming around.

He almost choked when he saw a large Dire-Wolf the size of a bear devouring a giant deer; it was as if someone took all the animals from Earth, extinct or not, to populate the southern hills.

Interestingly enough, their monster population dropped like a brick; he could still find small camps with two or three goblins, but they were few and far between. On the northern side, they were found every click or so, only growing sparser once he got closer he got to the mountains. And they just skyrocketed the further north he went. In the south, he only found a couple of small camps with more distance between them.

After flying for about an hour and not finding sight of the town, he decided to return to his shelter on the northern side of the mountain range.

'Maybe at and after dusk, their heat signature should be higher and the environment colder.'

— — —

At dusk, the group of humans he stalked from time to time had already made camp at the foot of the hill they used to bypass the range; they probably made haste once they got to the top. They were, understandably, visibly more relaxed and even had more fires going.

They were still moving at a snail's pace compared to him, so he decided to go and find the town once and for all. He also brought all of his mana crystals with him this time and his three daggers, as he was not planning on coming back to this specific shelter. Seeing how far the town was, it really looked closer on the Nerd's map, or he was misremembering it. The swords on the Shaman Orc camp were so chipped and rusted that he did not bother looting them.

After about fifty to sixty clicks. Around the same distance, the Orc camp was north of his shelter on the mountains. He found a small camp with four tents, clearly man-made, too nice and clean to be of monster making. Had he found them earlier, he would have gone down to introduce himself and ask for directions, but they were already inside their tents, and only two were standing watch outside; he was high enough not to be seen or be mistaken for a bird, and the sun had already set.

'A buff tall dude with wings just jumps in the night? They would probably find that suspicious; I know I would.'

He continued south; the presence of these people was at least a sign that he had not deviated from the path Deez Nerd had planned for him. It was, after all, a precise and well-crafted set of instructions that read: South.

— — —

It took him past midnight to find the tow, but he had found it at last.

About triple the distance he traveled earlier; if he had gone by foot, it would have taken him ages, that is, if he had not gone lost on the way.

Just as he had seen it in hovering over Deez Nerd's table, a town around three clicks wide, with stone walls still being built; they were slowly advancing their construction, as they were a few new walls than he saw on Deez Nerd's hologram-like thing. And they were being finished quite fast.

'Now that I think about it, it seemed more real than a simple hologram.'

Hidden by the cover of night, he circled the town at high altitude—the nights were still short, so he would not have to wait long for daylight—he would first fly around and see how things were in this town; it's not like it was his mission to come here, more like a suggestion.

The outskirts of the town were being prepared for farming; the fields extended outside the walls on all sides. There were some corn-like plants already being harvested, and a similar one, but that was red with grape-like things instead of the normal kernel. But it did not look like that amount of land could feed the whole town.

Wealth seemed to grow inwards; the houses outside the wall, some were built here and there, made of roughly cut wood and had basic construction methods, using thatch, mud, and other readily available materials from the forest. But even those were a hundred times better built than the hobgoblin and orc huts.

But most houses were built inside the walls, leaving a space for the wall under construction. Further in, the construction methods became better, using thicker logs and some wood planks. Then stone was used at the base or to cover the first floors.

At the center of town, the mud roads gave way to cobbled ones, slowly spreading out. And the buildings were built out of stone, others with clay bricks, and the roofs started to be made out of wood.

There was no castle or large rock construction, but there were some materials left behind the town center and enough space to build one; it looked like there was even the rough outline for a future keep.

Lit torches carried by some man and woman were the only lights moving around, all of them normal humans. They carried heavy maces and even some morning stars; after fighting the goblins, he did not blame them for choosing blunt damage over swords. They had leather armor that looked like the same kind the stronger monsters used, but this time they actually fit the wearer.

'I guess that answered that. Kind of ballsy to build a town so close to that massive Goblinoid ecosystem. I guess the mountain range protects them from the worst of it…'

There was a clear row that extended from a block away from the fancy side of town that glowed in the darkness of night; in the visual spectrum, in his heat vision, and even in his mana sense, it was an obvious red light zone, with males coming in and out of the many establishments.

Among the torchlight, there were even some colored glowing crystals, not only red, but with different colors. He could not see what they meant; maybe it was a race thing? Price? Fetish? There were patches that looked like a unicorn took a shit, or if it was decorated by an RGB enthusiast. Most of the ladies of the night were human, with some were-dog-looking ones going around.

It followed the same trend going around: the closer to the town center, the fancier everything became. From the cheapest whore dressed in rags to ones wearing fancy outfits of every kind, from simple bikinis, translucent dancer-like outfits with gems, and high-class velvet.

'At least they all look healthy; The oldest profession is already thriving. There's no fucking way I'm dying a virgin a second time…'

He almost dove immediately. But for once, his self-preservation prevailed. At least he needed to know if purify could prevent him from catching something; he assumed it could.

'But better safe than sorry. The last thing I need is to catch magical syphilis just as I reached civilization.'

Aizel stopped his scouting of that zone before temptation won.

On the south side, outside the walled town, there were farms with livestock; large woolly bovines the size of drag horses with small horns on their heads were giving a massive heat signature from within a stone stable-like enclosure. There were three farms like this, separated by large pastures of cleared forest.

The farms were even better guarded than the actual town. Wooden watch towers with stone bases were manned by one or two watchmen each; they carried bows, so Aizel was feeling good about his future hunts.

There was not that much more to see at night, so he found a good place to rest on a nearby hill and got some sleep, feeling hopeful after finally finding civilization.

— — —

It was the morning of Aizel's 16th day on Geas

As he flew, he noticed that the traffic coming from the south was much larger than the north, with the latter having none but a few returning hunter-looking people, so he landed farther than they could spot him, and where the people guarding the entrance could look at him coming. He had not seen anyone else flying about, so he dematerialized his wings and just started making his way to the north wall, which was fully built.

The road was made of damp dirt; as the town was built on one of the few places that was actually flat, there were some wet puddles and muddy patches. Unfortunately for his primitive sandals and feet, the closer he got to town, the muddier the road became.

A male and a female were guarding the entrance, and they noticed him as he got closer, but gave no alarm and just waited for him to reach them.

'I must look pretty fucking weird. A tall guy with fine but beaten-up clothes and sandals made out of vines, with two scales on his forehead and wrists and a silk fanny bag tied with old ropes… At least I don't smell bad or look too dirty thanks to (Purify)'

"Halt!" A female called to him, and he stopped.

She got closer, and he could see that she was a really good-looking girl, like stupidly so, maybe in her mid-twenties, with tanned olive skin that looked like honey that begged him to lick it.

'Focus. Horny dragon…'

Had long blood-red hair tied in a ponytail and a deep scar going across her face from the left side of her forehead to the base of the right side of her chin, which in no way made her less attractive.

'I said focus!'

She wore a simple green shirt and leather pants, both made with thick and rough fabrics with the texture of canvas and some leather reinforcement. Leather armor with some riveted metal covered her shoulders, forearms, and shins.

What finally got Aizel out of his horny stun was her boots, they were probably the fanciest piece of clothing she wore, and he really needed proper footwear.

"Who are you? I've never seen you before. What is your business here?" The pretty guard woman asked as she came closer to him; she was keeping her hand on a large dagger in a leather sheath on her belt. Not unlike the ones he looted from the goblins.

'The dagger, not the sheath, fucking animals did not have one of those… At least her accent is nice. It is exactly as I expected it to be in my mind after the language scroll mind-rape.'

"Hi, my name is Aizel. I'm just looking for a nice pair of boots to buy."

"Why do you come from the North side? Are you a hunter?"

"Kind of?…"

"Oh! You don't look like one; then just show me your hunter ID tags."

"I… Don't have hunter ID tags."

"Then you are not a hunter. Why did you come from the north?"

"Is there a problem? I can… walk around and enter through the south. Right?"

'What I meant was, fly. I'm not walking 10 stadiums worth of mud.'

"There is no problem, yet. Is just weird. Only hunters venture north," She asked, crossed her arms, and got closer to him, trying to look intimidating. It was a little fun for Aizel since she was a head shorter than him.

She was tall. Seeing the people inside the town, their height seemed to be the same distribution as on Earth. But he had eyeballed making his new 'self' a little more than 2 m. So she was taller than the average woman, even in that town, but still had to look up at him

As he looked around, he confirmed that this was not a town filled with runway models, because every other woman looked average.

'The fuck is this sexy guard girl? Is this your doing, Nerd?'

"Sorry, I kind of got lost?" Aizel asked with a raised eyebrow. He had really not planned an excuse because of his excitement.

"Your eyes…" She said, almost whispered. "And scales. What is your kin? Lizard." She asked.

He felt kind of offended at being called a lizard, but her tone was not implying anything wrong. It was like an affirmation, like asking: Where are you from? Human. Still, he did not know how good or bad his kind was perceived, like, were Dragon-kin legendary beings? Rapist? Was he already being racist? Was she? Aizel decided to just say it. She was not being hostile and was just doing her job; worst case, he would just fly away. Is not like these savages had a ballista or even a fucking crossbow in sight. He could probably rip this hottie to shreds before she knew what happened.

"Dragon. Ma'am"

"Don't. Call me ma'am... Just miss or lass. No, wait, call me Huntress. I'm on guard duty." She waved her hand dismissively and seemed to relax a little. "Dragon… You are pretty far north. Like, on the opposite side of the continent from your kind. What are you doing here?"

"Heh, an idiot teleported me." Since she was not immediately aggressive or showed any kind of hostility, he decided to be truthful.

"Teleport? Huh. Are you a noble?"

"No? Not really."

"And, you said you wanted to buy boots?" She asked and squinted pensively, looking him up and down, placing his hand on her chin while resting one arm over the other.

"Among other necessities. As you can see, I was teleported with just this." Aizel looked down at himself. "I am in dire need of footwear, a tailor, a map. And some food that at least has salt in it."

"Okay, but you can't carry those inside without some kind of permit or license. Only certain professions are allowed to; all of them give proper IDs." She pointed at the daggers tied to his jeans. "Do you at least have any money? You won't be given anything for free in here."

"Hmm. Is there somewhere I can sell mana crystals in there?"

"Sell cry— What? Is there different down south? You can just pay with them here!"

'Huh, nice. I would probably have triple the amount that I have right now if I knew to start collecting them from the very beginning, or didn't start playing with them… Called it. I already regret blowing shit up for funsis. I just hope they are valuable; I would guess so, seeing how a single goblin fucked up that guy back then.'

"Some places don't like them because they had accidents with them." He lied, trying to fish information indirectly on their explosive nature.

"No? Don't worry, there are not many nerds in here yet…" She said with a saddened tone.

'Nerds? What? I hadn't thought about it. Geas language is so ingrained in my mind after getting scroll raped, but that word was in English! And its concept in Geas gave me the feeling that I knew it already.'

"Nerds?" Aizel asked.

"You know… Artificers, Crystal Smiths, Rune engravers, Scholars…" She waved her hand with annoyance. "Crazy people and bookworms that craft with them. Only the people in the Sun Temple even sell arcane stuff right now"

"Vanessa, is there a problem here?" Another guard came walking from the gate. He was shorter than Vanessa, and dressed similarly to her, but carried a shield on his back and a simple hat-like helmet with leather straps.

'Even her fucking name is hot…'

The new guard furrowed his brows at Aizel as he got closer and placed his hand on his mace.

"Hm? No." Vanessa responded dismissively and glanced annoyingly at the guard with a side eye.

'Damn.'

"You can't carry those in without ID," The male guard said to Aizel and waved his finger at his daggers.

"Sure, do I get them back?" He took them by the blade and offered them to the male guard, who grabbed them while looking angrily at Aizel.

Vanessa bit her lip and looked towards Aizel. "Let's get you a proper ID first, come!" She pointed with her head and started walking towards the gate with her hands on her back and a skip in her steps.

Aizel followed her and left the male guard. There was no visible insignia or anything on them to depict rank; both of them had just bronze dog tags the size of credit cards, so he assumed that Vanessa and the male both had the same authority.

"What are you doing, Vanessa? You are on gate duty…" The male guard asked, still glaring at Aizel.

'The fuck's this guy's problem with me?' Aizel thought.

"I'm doing my duty, Marlo. Guiding a civilian in need; besides, I covered for your drunken ass yesterday. It's payback time!" Vanessa said without turning.

Aizel followed Vanessa as they entered town. The road was muddy and hard to walk on with his shitty vine sandals V3.0. He was about to ask her about acquiring footwear first when she turned.

"Welcome to Redvelia! A rising town on the outskirts of the Horen Duchy!" She said the last part sarcastically as she raised her arms to show him the town

"Heh, what's wrong?" He asked

"Besides the smell, lack of sewers, hunters, or good food? Except goblin meat; we get that fancy stuff from time to time," She said and turned forward as they walked.

'I never did get to try that… It did not escape my mind; I was just a bit weirded up, like eating chimp?'

The place indeed smelled foul. The wind was blowing on his back, so he had been focusing on the smell of the forest and ignoring the smell of the town; he had gotten quite good at ignoring his nose as of late. But now that she mentioned it, he could not help but bring his sense of smell back into his awareness, like when someone mentions a background noise that annoys them, only for you to get annoyed in turn.

So he focused on other smells, like hers; she smelled nice. There was a cocktail of new smells coming from her. After smelling goblins for so long, it felt refreshing, if a little creepy to be doing so.

'I feel as if I had my nose stuck to her back and were inhaling deeply… beats the smell of horse shit. But I'm still weirded out by it; the nicer it is, the weirder I feel.'

"I don't mean any offense. But if it's so bad, why do you work here?" He tried to distract himself from the new experience.

"Oh! That's easy, money! A young huntress like me can retire after a few winters of hunting monsters so far north."

"What does it take to become a hunter up here? Down south, almost everyone hunts in one way or another." He asked. Aizel supposed that Dragon-kin lived south based on what she told him before, so he sprinkled a bit of lies with his question to try and not look too suspicious about asking obvious things.

She slowed down and started walking at his side, probably realizing that he could not walk well in mud with his awful sandals.

"Hmm. Well, it's the most profitable and prestigious profession in here, besides the ones from the nobility, but it's also the most dangerous. It's pretty simple. You go to the hunter's guild, get a license, and you get access to maps, bounties, and nice equipment if you are a good hunter! As long as you pass the inspection…" She looked at him up and down with a sassy smile.

"Inspection?"

"Yes, the creepy priestess asks you some questions. The hunter's ID is the most powerful, as it opens many doors, so it is also the hardest to get and keep."

"What kind of doors?" If she was going to keep giving him information, he was going to keep asking.

'Hot exposition redhead for the win.'

"Hmm… Like, depending on your rank, you can have an easier time through customs. Easier time haggling for equipment, even from the nerds. Inns and hostels are cheaper. Pretty much everyone values hunters up here…" She replied with one arm over her waist and a finger scratching her chin, while looking at the sky.

"A~And the libraries!… You do know how to read, right?" She asked after a brief pause, looking at him with questioning side eyes and a smirk.

"Yeah?, We are not savages…" He answered, implying his Dragon-kin lineage.

"That's not what I've heard…" She said and squinted at him.

"What, have you heard?"

She immediately turned red and avoided his gaze, looking at the road ahead and hastening her step. He could probably push for an answer, but even if she was friendly with him, he did not want to risk it.

"So… Vanessa, right? Where exactly are you taking me?" He asked before the silence became awkward, and besides, now that he was not focusing on their conversation, her smell was starting to become more intrusive.

'Maybe it's the walk? I can smell her fucking sweat… Is not unpleasant, and at least it helps me ignore the ever-increasing stink of horseshit, but it feels wrong, like staring at someone without them seeing you. But what can I do? Say: By the way, I can smell your sweat; it's kind of salty and nice? Just so you know…'

"Ah, you said you were a hunter, so I thought you wanted to register. That will also allow you to carry your daggers around."

"Yes, that would be great, but is there a place where I can buy some boots?"

"Boots? Oh, I thought you wanted to order a pair from the shoemaker. But he will give you a better price with a Hunter ID."

"Order?, oh right… No standardized stuff," He thought out loud.

"Standard? I know the word… Like bread?"

"Kind of, yeah. In my… hometown, there was a store that sold a lot of… ready-made stuff that fit most people. They made, like, the same pair of shoes in a few different sizes that fit most people."

"Pfff, Hahaha!" She started laughing so hard some people even stopped to stare at her. "And you are not a noble, you said?" She asked as she cleared some tears.

'It's not that funny, woman. Was that such an alien concept?'

"I'm not a noble…"

"Yeah. Right. You speak without an accent, use fancy words like: Standard~eyez, whatever. And wear fancy clothes. Dirt can't hide quality, rich boy." She said and winked at him.

~Sigh

"Sorry, sorry… It's not my place to judge you. That's the creepy priestess job."

"You mentioned that before, care to explain?" Aizel asked with a hint of annoyance in his tone.

"What's there to explain? She can see your stats and tell if you are lying."

"What!?" Aizel asked and stopped walking.

"Don't worry, she will take a (Vow) beforehand; she can only reveal your information if you are a criminal or something… You are not a criminal, right?" She also stopped and turned, then asked with narrowed eyes.

"Not unless killing goblins is a crime?"

"Hmm. Good. So, you have killed goblins? Is that how you got the faint scar on your face and your split ear?"

'Fuck, I forgot to finish healing that.'

"Kind of? They were thrown at me, and there also was an explosion." If there were people capable of telling if he was lying, he would have to be careful with what he said. Though he did not think Vanessa was one of them.

'Can't be too careful'

"Hmm. Be sure to rank up fast then… S-so we can go on an expedition together." She said while biting her lower lip and giving a suggestive look. Then she turned and continued walking in front of Aizel.

'Ow fuck!… I forgot how I looked. I was in my old-man mind for a moment. It seemed like a good Idea at the time to make my new body really hot; now I'm not so sure. I guess this is how handsome men feel, like? I could probably seduce her right now… Half the fucking job is done!… But I just got here. Am I really going to lay with the first hot female I see?. No, hobgoblins don't count, ew… just no. Moving on, I need a stable income and to know more about this society before jumping blind'

"There's the shoemaker. Let's ask for secondhand boots," Vanessa called after a small awkward silence while Aizel's mind fried itself.

"Hey, shoemaker! I brought business," Vanessa called as they entered a wooden store. It was on the nicer part of town, barely a block before the incomplete cobbled road began.

They entered and cleaned themselves with a dirty rag by the door.

"Vanessa. Come in, come in?" A short human man with a full beard and a slight hunch came from deeper inside the store; he was maybe in his late forties.

"Uh, Who's da lad?" The man asked and raised his eyebrows twice as he looked between Aizel and Vanessa.

"He's new in town; I'm helping him get his literal boots in," Vanessa said and motioned towards Aizel's sandals

"Do you have second-hand boots that might fit?" Aizel asked while playing with his vine boots filled with mud.

"Uhu, ‘ance lad… Let's see. I fave two pairs 'at might just do"

The man went back inside and closed an inner door behind him.

"Fancy?… Is he going to overcharge?" Aizel asked Vanessa

"Well, yeah? That's why you need your hunter's license." She said and pointed at her neck, to the pair of card-sized bronze metal with some information on them.

Vanessa | Bronze-rank Huntress, (D-)

"You really aren't from around here…"

"Before he comes back, how much should I expect to spend? Just to have an Idea."

"Used boots. Used boots, used boots… …" She started murmuring while thinking. "I paid 300 silver for these new ones, but that was after haggling, as a huntress. Anywhere from 70 to 100 silver for a second-hand pair?"

"And with crystals, that is…" Aizel added.

"Three medium… … … Fifteen small ones?" She asked and squeezed her eyes, almost unsure of that amount.

Aizel dug inside his orc robe fanny bag and pulled a goblin crystal.

"What size do your people consider this one?"

"That's a small one… Like 50 silver."

Aizel stored it again and pulled a hobgoblin one.

"So three of these?" He asked Vanessa

"What in the Sun's! Yes! Three of those… I just remember I did not check that weird bag of yours when you entered town…"

"Why didn't you?"

"I… Got distracted." She replied and looked away, her ears reddening.

Aizel was about to offer her his bag for her to check, just so she could say that she did. He did not want her getting reprimanded; she had been useful so far. But then the vendor came back.

"Sorry, lad. Only got da one pair ya size. Here, try 'em on"

Aizel stored his crystal before the man could see it and get any Ideas. The pair of boots were in really nice condition; they had a nice sole that almost looked modern. They were made of tough leather and fastened with straps to hand-forged metal buckles. It was clearly crafted with care. As he put them on, he felt heaven on Geas. Their insides were lined with some squishy material that almost felt like memory foam but had a nice firmness to them. Perfect for someone working with them all day.

"Hmm." Aizel walked around and took them out. "How much?" He asked the vendor.

"Hm, for ya, 200 silv, and that's coz ya came in with Miss Vanessa and sh—"

"Ha! A hundred silver, he says… bud, no offense, but they are beaten on the sides and front"

"Well, ye. They're used ones, fool! What cha expect!"

"And the prong is loose and not fitting the buckle on this strap. Tsk. 50 Silver"

"Fifty! Vanessa, take dis one back where ya found him; you can do betta! 150 Silva!"

"We are not like that… 65 Silver, just because you seem to care for her, and she's been helpful"

"125. Of course, we care; this' a new town, we watch out for ech otha"

"Tell you what." Aizel pulled two goblin crystals between his index, middle, and little finger. Then wiggle them a little. "Two of these, and come back later today."

"Hmmm," The man growled and stared at the marbles. "But ya otta come back later, lad."

"Sure, and maybe I can order some stuff if I don't find them in town." Aizel offered the mana crystals, and the man took them.

Aizel did not waste time and put them on; the man was staring at them by the light of a candle.

"Dis, some high quality. Gobo?" The man asked

"Yeah. And this is a nice pair of boots you sell"

"Craft." The man corrected him. "Shoemaker Hosthrot at ya service"

"Aizel Kadashi, pleasure doing business with you." Aizel extended his hand. But the man just stared at his eyes and clasped his hands together.

"Young Lord! Sorry for ma manner, I did not know!"

"Young—What? No, I'm not a noble - fuck - Vanessa! Your people don't use last names? Fucking Isekai cliché-ridden… It's not… It's a… clan name, not a noble one. Calm down."

Vanessa did not respond and was just staring at him while biting her lower lip.

'You're going to draw blood, woman!' Aizel thought.

"Oh, heh, ya scare the Sun out'f me," The shoemaker said.

"Well, I'll come by later," Aizel said and came out of the store, not waiting for Vanessa to get out of whatever she was having.

She followed right after him and began speaking as he was testing his new boots, finally being able to walk properly in the mud.

"So. What looks like a noble, crafts like a master, haggles like a merchant, and has red scales?" Vanessa asked playfully as she walked towards him with a sway in her step.

"A hungry man that is in dire need of something with salt?"

"A Crimson Dragon!" She said dramatically.

"… Crafts?… Oh, the sandals?" Aizel asked.

"Yes, the sandals!"

"Fuck those things!"

"~Youcanfuckmeanytimeyouwant" She whispered-muttered between her teeth while looking down. Unfortunately for her, Aizel could hear a goblin taking a shit from a stadium away.

'As tempting as that is—I really need something salty, and more stuff like a proper bag, and an ID. I guess I could lick her sweat for the salt part; her smell has been driving me insane… Focus, Aizel!'

"So. Is the hunter registration going to take long? I was not joking about the salt part. I haven't eaten anything but burnt deer the past two weeks," Aizel asked, to distract himself from the image of him literally stretching her silly with his new dick. And knot. 'FUCK!'

He pulled a piece of smoked deer from his orc robe fanny bag and took a bite just to land his argument. Then he offered some to her. Knowing it was probably more burnt than cooked.

"Want some?"

"Sure…" She asked with a smile and took a bite from the place where he had taken one.

"Pfff. Ugh, Ew!" She spat the piece after giving it a single chew.

"Hahaha."

'I guess she's not a swallower… heh, I don't blame her; that shit's nasty.'

"I guess nobody is perfect." She muttered audibly.

"Hey! I dare you to survive two weeks in the woods, without camping equipment, or tools, or salt!"

"Fine! There, we are close to the hunter's guild; there is a market in the way," She pointed towards the center of town.

Soon after, on the cobbled road, there were some stalls that sold all manner of things and foods. He was about to buy some meat skewers, but then he spotted a perfectly square pink rock.

"Is that fucking salt!?"

"Yas, lad! Come, come, 160 s'lv" A male vendor said.

"~How much is that in crystals?" He whispered to Vanessa's ear

She shivered and looked at him with squinted eyes. After a moment, she answered him.

"Small ones," She said with three fingers raised.

Aizel was taking a mental note of the conversion values and purchase power of silver and crystals.

He pulled two 'small crystals' that came from goblins. The vendor squinted and looked at him, then he glanced at Vanessa's chest.

'So, those dog-tags Do carry some weight… Or he was starting elsewhere.'

"Sure, lad. Here." The vendor said without haggling, accepting his lower offer.

Aizel grabbed the salt cube as if it was his most precious possession.

"You really spent a while out there, huh?" Vanessa asked as they resumed walking.

"What? You thought I was lying?" Aizel asked.

He absentmindedly materialized a claw with a small red flame and began to scrape some of the cube over some of his smoked deer. Then he basked in the bliss that was the taste of meat with salt. Almost not noticing that Vanessa stopped walking and was staring at him. Again.

"What?" He asked with a mouthful of deer.

"I-I thought you said you were dragon-kin!"

"Well, yeah?" He said, and he wiggled his claw.

"T-That's… You!—You don't just have dragon blood! You are fucking were-kin!?"

"Isn't that like, the same thing? Dragon-Born, Dragon-Man, Were-Dragon." He said and pointed at himself after the last part. "I thought all the Dragon races were under the Dragon-kin banner?"

"W-Well, yeah, I guess? Still… How much dragon blood do you have!?"

"Can you please chill a little? If you speak any louder, people are going to begin staring… More. And… I do not know? How am I supposed to answer that?"

"Sorry… C-Can you turn into a dragon?"

"No, that's a Dragon-Man," Aizel confidently answered, making full use of his vast knowledge of human races… 'I think it was Dragon-Man… Man-Dragon?'

"Huh. I…"

"Look, I can show you later… if you want… I kind of want that ID now that I've seen how much people value it, and also a proper backpack."

He did not fully know if that was actually a good Idea; the words left his mouth before his mind could think about what he was saying. But he could always just materialize a little after thinking about it some more.

"Sure… Sorry. Anyway, there's the guild."