Day ~19~

After spending all night in a tree awake Rea was happy to see the sun rise. Her first order of business today, after sitting in a tree all night and having wind tickle a certain crack relentlessly was...

~Name your creation.

Rea has obtained [Protection-Leggings] Not Too Short, Short Shorts.

Massaging her raw feet Rea went on to hunt down a few bastar.. I mean squirrels, and chop up some decently sized wood into slender blocks. Through the use of squirrel, demon spider thread, and wood, she had managed to make some relatively decent sandals.

~Name your creation.

Rea has obtained [Protection-Feet] Fluffy Sandals.

With that done she proceeded to find a nice pile of prickly pine needles and pass the heck out.

A few hours later....

Waking up to find the sun still rising across a clear horizon Rea was pretty happy to find that she hadn't slept more than four to five hours. Shaking of her drowsiness Rea decided that today she'd head further north. With plenty to hunt in the forest her main issue she was facing is dehydration, and finding suitable shelter for the time being. Rea had given up on making a mad dash out of the woods towards god knows what. She had chosen north only because the lizardmen cave is due south. Steeling herself for what may be her final day in this world Rea silently offered Airi and her daughter a prayer before heading off.

Ability [Blessing: Fresh Water Divination] learned.

Suddenly being able to sense the direction of nearby water sources, Rea let out a sigh of relief, and once more thanked Airi. Certain untoward thoughts of the goddess started to enter Rea's mind so she quickly got a move on, "Now is really not the time...."

Knowing that she could easily locate water Rea went about finding a source of temporary shelter... Putting a little more thought into that she decided to start by searching near one of the northward water supplies. With the assumption that a larger supply of water is more likely to have monsters nearby, or frequent visitors, she directed her journey to the smallest one in range. As she got within a few minutes walk from the water source her [Awareness] picked up on something, quickly turning her gaze westward Rea could see a level 34 [Gray wolf]. It wasn't after her but it was stalking towards the water source, stalking likely means that it caught something's scent, something that smells like prey. Rea quietly began to stalk the stalker, and now she could fully appreciate one of the beasts that had nearly taken her life. Quickly, quietly moving through overgrowth and pine with raised haunches and matted grey fur. Powerful hind limbs capable of sudden acceleration. A small stubby tail, little more than decoration. Rea stopped her inquisitive mind there as she had no desire to remember the likely specifications of its maw.

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Nathaniel Ainsworth, a praiseworthy and skilled middle-aged hunter, had spent the better part of three days trekking westward into the heart of a dangerous wildwood, the Luhwan Wildwoods. Through a series of unfortunate events he had found himself deprived of water for nearly three days. (Good job Airi) So when Nathaniel happened upon fresh water trickling down a cliff side, and depositing into a small natural spring, he jumped for joy. After drinking copious amounts and replenishing himself, he proceeded to strip bare and wade into the springs. As though sensing his unfortunate, spur of the moment decision to disarm, a wolf had begun to approach. With his abilities he easily noticed the threat from a good distance and leapt out from the spring to grasp his bow. Just as he began to nock an arrow, to his absolute shock. *Thwack* The wolf was impaled by a flying spear before he could loose the arrow at his attacker.

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Rea had quietly followed the wolf, and almost as soon as her psychometry had allowed her to identify the prey as human, the wolf began a full sprint. Desperately giving chase Rea emerged from the surrounding brush and launched a [Swift Javelin] with incredible focus. She could only sigh with relief as the spear hit hard. Taking notice of the naked, bow-wielding man who was now looking at her as well, Rea grinned slightly. The wolf, not quite dead, began to arise. In order to warn the gaping man she made a rather exaggerated gesture at it. Less than half a second later the man loosed a single well-aimed arrow, finishing the wolf off. Rea then approached the man looking him in the eye, when it became apparent that he was at a loss for words, she slowly lowered her gaze. Letting out a slight chuckle Rea finally broke the silence with a single world shattering phrase, "Cold water?"

The man fell on all fours, protected by a scantily clad beautiful young woman, who then went on to ogle, giggle at, and insult his manhood... "I'm Nathaniel Ainsworth stranger, you have my thanks..."

At that point Rea, drawing on the knowledge of her previous life, decided to never reveal to people her ability to know their names, levels, and sometimes abilities. Rea still hadn't gotten farther than a minor understanding of the human language so all she could make out were his name, thanks, and a hilariously placed unique birthmark. If the conversation got any more complicated she was gonna have trouble. Observing this level 86 elite hunter, Rea decided to take a gamble on what could be her ticket out of here, "Teach me language, speak many words, Nathaniel. Please."

At that moment Nataniel realized that he was speaking with a woman that had somehow been raised in the wilds with little knowledge of the human language. Feeling it was his duty as a proper adult to take care of this stranger in need he stood back up and proudly announced. "Of course I'll teach you." To his dismay the woman lowered her gaze again... and snickered.

Rea took a moment to observe Nathaniel as he put all of his gear back on, middle-aged, looking about late 30's. Almost, if not taller than six feet. Dirty Blonde hair that was almost brown, and hazel colored eyes with no slant. Well toned muscle, not a bodybuilder or a soldier but still well built. A few sizable scars from claw and blade. Visible equipment includes a few field packs, one backpack, one roughly assembled bow, two small daggers, and a medium sized blade, likely as a tool. The daggers rest on his flanks as the larger sheathed blade was placed on his lower back. Light armor, mostly leather, psychometry identifies it as some sort of red mountain lord's fur, and some sort of steely metallic thread made of silver. Rea was very pleased, someone who'd help her survive, teach her the human language and, judging from his earlier reactions, be fun to toy with.

Rea took a moment to introduce herself by pointing a finger at her chest and saying her name, Nathaniel easily understood. Remembering her original objective Rea spoke up again, "Shelter?"

Nathaniel quickly took stock of their surroundings. The cliff where fresh water trickles down from is completely made of stone, four meters high at least. For a good distance from the bottom of the cliff reaching outward the ground is relatively flat and soft, aside from the natural spring. Surrounding them for a few miles in every direction, except over the cliff, there's land with plenty of brush for predators to hide in. The scent of pine lingers as wind was blown inwards to the cliffs face, and sound easily dies out before it reaches the surrounding brush. "This place will do fine for shelter, give me an hour and I'll have us a decent place to rest. It won't be raining anytime soon so we can forgo overhead shelter."

Rea barely understood any of what he said but nodded in understanding anyways, as Nathaniel got to work she took to skinning and dissecting the wolf. Gathering some of the stones that were laying around, presumably fallen from the cliff face, Rea made a circle on the sandy ground. By the time Nathaniel returned, carrying all sorts of foliage, Rea had already begun to roast the wolf over an open fire. Nathaniel seemed honestly thankful, as he hadn't expected her to do anything.

"What are you doing out here all alone?" he asked her as they both dug in.

"Language first." she replied.

Nathaniel hung his head low, "About that, I'm not really a teacher, I don't know if I can.."

Realizing that he was having second thoughts about teaching her Rea cut in, "Stories, tell stories."

"Oh, I know a few goods ones... I'm actually not sure if they're very appropriate for a young lady..." Nathaniel looked at Rea as she cocked her head sideways, "Well it's not like you'll understand what I'm saying anyways... ok here we go, the misadventures of a bored succubus."

Nathaniel missed it but as soon as she heard that Rea absolutely, positively beamed with joy...

Perhaps it's because Rea was familiar with the subject matter, but by nightfall she had already risen to [Moderate Human Language] and by the time he'd finished recounting tales about our favorite succubus Rea had learned [Human Language].

Nathaniel had noticed the strange grin plastered across Rea's face as he finished up the story, "What?"

"I can't believe you got it so accurately from the top of your head, you must've loved the book," her grin became almost malicious as she pulled [Book] "Misadventures Vol.1 "The Misadventures of a bored Succubus" out of her pack.

Nathaniel gaped at Rea, the woman was now speaking without a problem... worse of all she'd understood exactly what he'd told her. "...," he was too shocked to say anymore at this point.

"Seriously telling that to a young woman..." Rea averted her gaze, feigning innocence.

"It's not what you think, really I swear." Nathaniel was about to have a panic attack at this point.

Rea feeling a bit guilty replied, "What is it then?"

"My sister writes the "Misadventures" books, she makes me read it for her, she needs feedback..." he absently rubbed his head while kicking a boot back and forth between his feet.

Rea realized at that moment that there had been far too many coincidences and decided to chalk it up to Airi helping her get out of the wild alive. Besides, Rea definitely wanted to meet his sister in the future. "I'm a huge fan Nathan, don't worry about it and get some sleep. We've a lot to discuss tomorrow... thank you for helping me."

"...goodnight Rea." Ignoring the liberties she'd taken with his name Nathan took her advice and plopped down on the gathered foliage. Rea, had gotten used to sleeping next to someone since she came to this world, and the last few nights had been seriously rough on her. Without even asking she proceeded to plop down and curl up right under Nathan's arm. "Wha!? uh Rea?" After outright ignoring Nathan's following pleas she drifted off to sleep.

Day ~20~

The first thing Rea noticed when she woke up is that, yes, that water had been cold. After rudely waking up and embarrassing Nathan, the two set about their second day together. While gulping down some broth that Nathan had made and splitting the rest of wolfy, Rea calmly thought about what she was getting ready to do.

"Nathan, what do you think of me?"

Blindsided by the question Nathan stuttered a bit at first, "Y-you're a wild child in need of aid, a smart woman..."

"I can pretty much guess what you mean by wild child, but it's a little more extreme than that," she explained.

Nathan cocked his head sideways, "How so?"

Rea decided to shift gears for a moment, "I have goals Nathan, three goals, I'll tell you about my circumstances after you hear my goals."

"Why?" Nathan was getting a bit confused with her roundabout way of steering the conversation.

Rea chose to speak honestly, "Because I fear that if you hear my circumstances before my intentions, you'll kill or enslave me."

That ticked Nathan off more than a little, "I'm no slaver!"

Rea smiled half heartedly, "But you are a hunter."

"What does that have to do with it?" he pleaded, obviously still confused.

"Everything... my goals are simple, have a ton of fun, help many people, and become a hero that lives more than a hundred years."

Nathan's jaw dropped, "You know it isn't simple to become a hero, let alone one with a longevity trait?"

Rea gave him a slight glare, "I figured it wouldn't be easy if that's what you mean."

"I understand your goals, and they certainly aren't bad, admirable even. Now on with the circumstances."

"I wasn't born human, I am not human," Rea dropped a bomb without hesitation and grinned as Nathan's jaw hit the floor, "I was born a lizardling," Rea had begun to take off her shirt and turn as Nathan blushed profusely, "I'm going out on a limb here to trust you." Nathan carefully inspected her scales, then ran his fingers along them and down the small of her back. When Rea let out an improper noise, on purpose, he quickly came to his senses. "How old are you Nathan?"

Nathan, still shaken from the revelation, answered, "Thirty-seven."

"I'm actually two years older than you," as he gave her a skeptical look Rea added on, "monster stuff, you wouldn't understand."

"Why are you telling me this?" Nathan was honestly intrigued by her at this point.

While removing her left sleeve Rea replied, "I need an ally, this world isn't an easy one to survive in." Nathan nodded in understanding as he saw the form her mangled arm had been reduced to. "My very life, for what I am, will always be in danger. I'm taking a chance on you because I have a feeling you were led here to meet me... by a friend we have in common. Because you blush like a child when I stare you down," once again Nathan blushed while remembering their first encounter, "and because you're the first human I've met."

The blunt honesty of her last line floored Nathan, "Making me feel all special then saying I'm a convenient opportunity isn't very nice... what are you doing?"

He was curious about what she was up to but the sight of a topless, beautiful young woman was seriously distracting him. Nathan was now staring at her from behind as she poured a few handfuls of stones into the cold spring, "I'm relaxing, I've had a rough few days and you can be my lookout. Please don't let anything eat me."

Understanding exactly what she did as smoke began to rise Nathan took up a seat between the spring and the brush, "If you're older than me why do you look like that?"

Lying through her teeth Rea answered, "Because of the way monsters rank up, don't get me wrong this is the body of a real woman, and now likely very human... aside from some key features. I'm almost positive I'll age as any other human would now."

"Ahhh, I think I get it... what did you mean by "for what I am?""

Rea wasn't sure if she should answer truthfully... but considering what she was about to ask him to do for her, yeah she should probably tell him. "Do you know what an ophidian is?"

"Of course I do, I've caught a few before..." Rea gave him a slight glare as he turned to face her, "... really?"

"I'm an ophidian variant," Rea watched his reaction very closely and rose slightly from the water as she revealed the truth to him, ready to spit venom at the slightest sign of hostility or greed. When he took a rather obvious glance at her assets, blushed profusely, and turned back around, Rea laughed helplessly.

As she slid back down he apologized to her, "Sorry... I didn't mean to look."

"My modesty has long since been compromised, you won't see me naked in public... especially with these scales, but I really don't mind being seen," she explained boldly.

"... I'm not sure how it is for lizards but human women are very modest creatures Rea."

I was talking about back when I was still a human woman... oh well. "As long as you don't find my body too attractive I think we'll be fine Nathan, care to join me?"

Ability [Charm] learned.

*Cough Cough* "That's quite alright Rea, I'll get in later."

Rea smiled at the innocent hunter's back, "There's a lot I'd like to know about this world, but for now I'd settle with knowing where I am, where we're going, and how I need to go about becoming a [Hero]."

"Oh right, that's not too hard to explain. We're in the Luhwan Wildwoods near the human city of Vestlei, about three days away," he began to explain.

"Ah, is that why the books I found were written in Vestlei-variant text?"

"I suppose so..."

"It's thanks to those books I became so human by the way, thank your sister for me. I wouldn't have been nearly as motivated to learn the language if there wasn't a book named succubus misadventures in the mix."

Nathan chuckled ruefully, "I'll be sure she gets the message, you may even meet her yourself if you decide to go towards Vestlei. What was the second question?"

"Where we're going."

"Right, where we're..." Nathan gave Rea a slightly troubled look, "I suppose you're coming with me then?"

"I've already sunk my fangs into you, just try to leave me here. I'll find my way to Vestlei, then run along the streets telling everybody that Nathaniel Ainsworth has a freckle on the tip of his..."

"WOAH, WOAH, WOAH!!!" he shouted interrupting Rea, "I get the point, please spare me, please..." Nathan's head nearly exploded from the thought of what would happen to him if such a young beautiful woman, just old enough to make it believable, ran around his hometown saying that... Then he nearly fell over after realizing just how good of a look she must have gotten.

Ability [Coercion] learned.

*cough cough* "Third question was... right, becoming a hero is generally the same process with different tasks... you wanted one with a long lifespan so odds are you'll just have to research it yourself. Some of the easier ones are just acquired through experience. Any hero class attained purely through leveling won't increase your lifespan though. Ones that do that are achieved through not only ranking up, but also completing some sort of, usually insane, task."

Rea raised an eyebrow and inquired, "Insane task?"

"Like slaying a god blessed ogre lord alone or devouring his... [Matchless Vigor]."

Rea chuckled ruefully, "I've certainly devoured plenty of those in my time, but not for that reason."

*COUGH COUGH* The poor man still hadn't gotten used to her verbal harassment yet...

"Something wrong Nathan?"

"..." Without waiting for him to turn back around Rea decided it was about time to get out of the hot spring... resulting in another blushing and ducking fit by Nathan... incidentally she managed to rank up [Charm], all in a good day's work.

Ignoring her antics as best he could Nathan spoke up as she was getting dressed, "To be honest, leveling up would be faster if you just hunt and fight all day... but that's really dangerous early on, I'd rather you not get killed taking a short cut."

Rea held up her still uncovered left forearm, "Believe me, I agree."

"Good, there's a better way for humans to increase our levels without actually fighting dangerous opponents, it's through training. It can be a bit slower because you only get a little experience through sparring and most of it tends to come from learning abilities that correspond with your job. If you'd like I can probably get you into the academia."

Rea perked up as soon as she heard that, learning abilities quickly was child's play for her because of [Divine Blessing: Ability Guidance]. "Academia?"

"Exactly what it sounds like, a school that kids attend after graduation from ages eighteen and up, you definitely look the right age to be attending. The goal is to learn all about jobs and decide a path you want to take. You also train in battle through sparring and tourneys. Most people like to get a job, get a few abilities, then head straight on out into the world. I recommend you stay a while longer, get a bit stronger. Most adventurer deaths are because they don't train properly before leaving the safety of a city. Academia won't kick you out as long as you're a citizen of Vestlei and you can pay the tuition."

Rea frowned, "Are you married Nathan?"

Nathan cocked his head, "No, not yet... by choice I assure you."

Rea looked at him skeptically, "Sure... what's the legal marrying age in Vestlei?"

Nathan blushed as soon as he realized where she was going with this, "No, no, no, no, no, I'll adopt you, it'll be fine if you're my daughter!"

"Oh, I guess that works to... my last father wanted to eat me by the way, please try to do a little better than that." Rea walked off towards the brush to find some lunch and left Nathan gaping at that last statement. Rea Ainsworth, eh, it could be worse....

Later that day, after picking up her fire spirit stones, they were off and on their merry way to Vestlei.

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