From Player To Npc

Ameanum was up in the morning as he got some sleep, but this time it didn't seem to make a TRANCE ROOM or be at the weird misty room. It was like usually sleeping, which was strange for in-game.

As he spent more time in this body, he started seeing some minor differences between a few things felt before and how some felt now.

The game was like a second reality, but there was always the feeling of some things not feeling real.

But now, Ameanum was getting this feeling fewer times than before. 

He didn't pay it a lot in mind as it didn't seem to harm him but instead helped him a bit in a few things.

Heading downstairs on the inns ground floor as his room was on the first floor, he noticed Soryn and March at a table having breakfast.

Soryn was used to wake up early as part of his everyday routine, and Marcy, as a Player, didn't need much sleep. 

Ameanum ordered some breakfast for himself also as he joined their table.

There was silence at the table as none of them seem to have any subject to discuss.

Marcy, from the three of them, seemed to be the most annoyed of nobody talking.

"You mentioned something yesterday, and I was wondering about it but forgot to ask you." [Ameanum]

"Hmm? What did I say?"[Marcy]

The waitress brought Ameanum's breakfast at this point, and he continued talking after she left the table.

"Something about a boyfriend?"[Ameanum]

Marcy wasn't ready for this kind of question. She didn't have a boyfriend, but she thought it was a good excuse not to talk with annoying people who just wanted to ask her out.

"Eeeh...what about him?" [Marcy]

Ameanum kept his usual serious face, which wasn't helping Marcy calm down as she couldn't read him.

"Well, I just want to make sure he isn't someone who can mess with our plan. Like he isn't part of them or something like that, huh?"[Ameanum]

He had read stories like that, and he wanted to be prepared if they faced a future obstacle like that.

Marcy shook her head to deny it. She seemed to have blushed a little, but Ameanum didn't saw signs of noticing.

"Good. We should prepare for the trip. We aren't completely certain where our friend will get us, so we should be prepared. I have already taken what I need, did you, Marcy?"[Ameanum]

She nodded as she already took care of that in the time he spent resting.

Soryn was also ready, and this time he was wearing the green outfit he had bought yesterday as it would be easier to fight in it if they got in trouble.

So they headed toward the Bamboo field and towards Pan's place.

Marcy told them to be careful as there was some unknown beast yesterday, and its identity was still unknown, but Ameanum assured her they didn't have to be afraid of the beast. But they were on guard either way as the fields weren't completely safe.

But with Ameanum's PERCEPTION, they were able to get to Pan's hut without any problem.

Ameanum told them to stay behind as he charged at the door.

No bamboos were thrown towards him this time, and when he opened the door's hut, he saw an asleep Pan and a tea pan on fire brewing some of her tea.

He woke her up and took the pan from the fire as the tea seemed to be ready.

"Hey, are you alright?"[Ameanum]

Pan looked at him and slightly nodded. She noticed that he had put out the pan from the fire, and it would be ruined if it stayed any more, so she threw him a thumbs up.

"You ready to make the trip?"[Ameanum]

She nodded once again, stood up, and looked around for something as Shingi called the others.

Pan found what she was looking for, which was the staff of hers. It was made of some black wood and had a thin white line going vertically, splitting it at two. The staff wasn't a straight one, so it was impressive how the line was appearing at the completely center of it all the way.

It seemed to have tiny branches extended upward to make a bowl-like shape at the top of the staff.

She pulled some ground in there and then put a seed she had in one of her pouches in it.

She whispered some words as a flower grew, with each petal have a different color, one for each element.

She extended her hand with which she wasn't holding the staff, and all of them held it.

At that moment, they felt something pulling them, and they were pulled toward the flower as their body seemed to be turned into particles.

They seemed to go through a strange tunnel of different colors as they saw some light on the other side.

Their particles came out of a similar flower like the one Pan grew on her staff and started reconstructing their bodies.

When this finished, everyone took some time sitting down as their stomach didn't seem to handle the way of transportation.

Marcy, who was the one with the least END of them all, almost threw up but was able to keep it in the end.

They seemed to be in the middle of a forest, but Ameanum didn't recognize it. The trees seemed similar to the ones in the woods outside Carda, but this didn't mean it was the same one.

"Do you have any idea where we are, Pan?"[Ameanum]

She was having some of her tea while waiting for them to get better as she was used to this was of moving around. 

She looked left and right a few times and then shrugged towards Ameanum and went to continue her tea.

He wasn't expecting much of that question, but he had to try.

"Soryn, you are probably the most agile of us all. Why don't you climb one of the trees to see if you can see anything from up there? Maybe a sign for a nearby town."[Ameanum]

Soryn nodded as he jumped from the trunk of one tree to the trunk of another, using them as a way to continue getting higher to reach the top of one of the taller ones nearby.

"Do you see anything from up there?"[Ameanum]

He barely could see Soryn through the branches.

"There seems to be some settlement not far from us. But it doesn't look like the place you told me. It looks like a small village."[Soryn]

"Anything else?"[Ameanum]

Soryn was quiet for a bit as he looked around but didn't seem to notice anything else noteworthy.

He got back with them shortly after a few minutes after climbing up.

"This seems to be the only sign of civilization. But I doubt they would have a Teleportation Circle."[Soryn]

Ameanum went deep in thought on what they should do.

"Without visiting the village, we can't progress. Even if it can't help us find a way to get at Carda quickly, we at least can possibly learn where exactly we are. This is just as important. Let's move." [Ameanum]

Everyone except Pan seemed ready to move.

She had created a seat for herself with wood made out of her mana.

After some persuasion, she agreed to follow them.

The village was like an hour away, and the woods seemed to have mostly beasts and almost no monsters. 

Few monsters that existed avoided them since Pan had a repellent on her like the ones used around her hut, so weak monsters like that didn't want to be near her.

They get out of the woods within 40 minutes and could see the small village in the distance.

It really was a small one, just less than a dozen of buildings and no walls surrounding it.

Ameanum didn't recognize it, but it seemed not to be a relatively old one.

One person was dressed as a guard but was currently asleep with his helmet down to block the sun.

They passed him and started looking for someone to speak with.

Looking around, they didn't notice a lot of people.

There seemed to be only a few children playing around and an older woman who seemed to watch over them but seemed to be too weak to stand up from her wooden chair without help.

They got at the older woman, who didn't seem to have noticed them yet as she was half asleep.

"Excuse me, madam? Can we ask you some questions?"[Marcy]

The older woman opened her eyes and turned towards them. 

After taking a look at each of them, she raised her head to let them see a scar going through her neck.

It seemed old and had closed a bit, but they could tell that it had caused her not to be able to speak anymore.

A young girl seemed to have noticed them and went next to the older woman. The woman put one of her hands over the girl, and her eyes lost their light like she wasn't living anymore.

"What is your business here?"[Young Girl]

The voice of the child seemed to be almost like containing no life in it.

Ameanum recognized it as mind-controlling magic, which for some it was an evil kind of magic, but it depended on how one used it as every type of magic.

It was clear that this woman was using this magic to communicate, but she wasn't the one casting it. She was wearing a leather glove, and on it, it seemed like one had sewed a complicated enchantment that most likely was producing this effect.

"We were just wondering where we are. We are passing by and looking for the nearest town, and we came across this little settlement of yours."[Ameanum]

"You are not welcome here. You should leave."[Young Girl]

This time Marcy was ready to say something, but Ameanum motioned her to stay quiet.

He gave her a slight bow to show respect and turned to leave.

Marcy was surprised but followed and wanted to ask something, but Ameanum told her to stay silent for now. 

Soryn followed without asking anything and pretty much dragged Pan with them.

After they were some distance from the village, Ameanum stopped moving and turned towards the rest.

"So, where do you guys think we should go next?"[Ameanum]

"What do you talking about? Aren't we going to investigate this? This woman literally manipulated the girl to speak. This isn't a normal village."[Marcy]

Ameanum starred at her and then shook his head left and right as to show his disappointment.

"What she used was because of an Enchantment at her glove. Do you know how difficult it is to create something like that? Only a Master ENCHANTER can do that. And even if you make one, it won't last forever, and they will have to recreate it. Meaning that they are close by. We don't have the time to mess with one like that."[Ameanum]

He would usually investigate this kind of situation as it would probably lead to a Quest, but he was on the clock.

He sighed as he turned towards Pan.

"Can you turn and ask around for directions?"[Ameanum]

Pan was starring at him as she was expecting something to happen.

"I am going to make some special cookies with the tea in the place we are heading. With chocolate."[Ameanum]

Pan once more seemed to droll and got lost in thought, but Ameanum snapped her out of it.

She nodded to agree and made a sign for everyone to stay back.

Her hair started growing, and most becoming white, but some stayed black as her whole body became hairy and bigger.

She was now a large panda that didn't fit with the surrounding forest.

She could transform into any beast she wanted, but she had chosen to transform into a panda only. That's why she kept painting the black circles in her eyes.

Now she could try to speak with the rest of the animals in case they knew something useful.