“You’re thinking about skinning the Blazing Firag here and eating the meat, aren’t you?” Cellestra asked in all seriousness.

“That’s one idea I had, yes, but I think I’d prefer turning it in like this, the animal intact.”

“Maybe you’ll get some more money, just like before. Magical stag… what was it even called?”

“A Blazing Firag,” I said, recalling the message from earlier. Even though I hadn’t paid much attention to it, the name had somehow stuck. “That makes me wonder, do you think people in this world have given different names to some animals than Elysa?”

“What makes you think that? Don’t you think Elysa gave them the names that the people gave to those animals? That makes much more sense to me.”

“Hmmm,” I hummed. “That sounds very plausible. I mean, imagine if I suddenly used different names than them. Would people suspect something?”

Cellestra chuckled. “That does seem a bit far-fetched, but who knows?”

“Anyway,” I continued. “Look at this creature. Its hide looks like it's on fire.” I lowered myself to it and touched it, feeling an unnatural heat radiating off of it, even after the beast’s death. “And it’s warm too. Damn, I can see what Felmar meant.”

Cellestra knelt next to the creature, removed a glove, and ran her hand across the animal’s fur.

“You’re right. It’s so warm, soft too. Think it will stay that way?”

“It’s not magical fur for nothing, right?”

“True,” She remarked. “I feel like some of this stuff wouldn’t be bad to have for ourselves.”

“I think it would make for a very comfortable bed. As soft as my silk is, it doesn’t quite have the same texture.”

“There’s always your hair,” Cellestra said, looking at my back. “Though, I fear you took a bit of damage there.”

“Yeah,” I said, heaving a deep sigh. “I’m completely fine, but I fear for my parents’ and Elira’s reaction. I do hope it grows back quickly.”

“As do I.”

I smiled as I then placed it on my gigantic abdomen and fastened it so it wouldn’t slide off, leaving a trail of blood behind from its wound. Allowing it to bleed out wouldn’t be much of an issue.

“Let’s go and get our money. Do you have anything you want to do after?”

“Hmmm,” Cellestra thought aloud as she stepped onto my back again. “I think we should prioritize building our home, no?”

“Still a few trees left,” I said with a nod. “Four to be precise. Let’s get another two cut down and then see what my parents are up to, shall we?”

“Sounds good. Hopefully, the wood has dried enough for me to carve.”

“I’m looking forward to that sign. It sounds… cute.”

“I know, right?” Cellestra said excitedly.

I was smiling all the way to the dungeon exit at her words, not even stopping when we ran into another party of fairly new adventurers who were carefully traversing the lioness area. Their eyes were locked onto me and my cargo, and Cellestra had to tell them to focus, which they promptly did after realizing their error.

“Nice one,” I said, grinning.

“Can’t have them get killed staring at you now, can we?” Cellestra remarked.

I watched them as I continued to the portal, making sure to keep a few eyes out for possible danger as it could be lurking anywhere in this grass. Watching them work together and cover one another made something swell up deep inside of me. Something which I hadn’t felt in a long time.

With me having this form and with Cellestra on my back, where she was mostly safe from harm, there was no need for it, but I, for some reason, missed something from my old life. On one hand, I didn’t miss relying on others, but I had gotten used to working together and somehow I yearned for that again.

I was never social, and I’d never made friends partly because I didn’t want them to miss me, but Cellestra had opened my heart wider than I could have ever thought possible. Even though there was the constant possibility of losing her, all that I had with her was a more than wonderful experience.

What would it be like to be in a party?

I had Cellestra, and we were a great team. There was no doubt about that, but I wondered if it would be enough to overcome more difficult challenges. One of the problems we were facing was that there was only one target for enemies to focus on. We couldn’t split attention when facing multiple hostiles nor could we ‘backstab’ properly.

Thanks to my speed, we were able to flank certain creatures, but I imagined the possibility wouldn’t always be there, especially against tougher, faster opponents.

I looked at my weapon and absent-mindedly cleaned it with slightly pressurized water, making sure to wash the blood off before it became impossible to do so. It made me wonder just how strong it would be to have others, with their own specialized attacks and weapons, particularly with my imbuement on them.

“What are you thinking about?” Cellestra asked softly, right before we reached the gateway to the surface.

“You noticed, huh?” I let it and saw her nod in response.

“I was just thinking… Cellestra, do you think we should try to form a party?”

She looked down into my eyes, allowing me to peek through her helmet which revealed an expression that seemed a bit lost.

“I don’t know,” She replied with a whisper as I came to a halt. “I’m… not so good with people.”

“I think you’re doing a wonderful job at that,” I replied. “You’re much better at it than you think.”

“I think I have you to thank for that,” She said, a small smile forming. “If you think it would be a good idea to delve into the dungeon with more people, then let’s look into it.”

“But do you want to? I mean, I enjoy our time together like this, very much so. I… I suppose I’m not even sure myself. I was just floating the idea.”

“Seems you’re even more conflicted than me,” She said softly, patting the partially burned hairs on my back.

“I am,” I admitted. “I don’t want the experience with you here to be diminished. Now, I don’t have to take into account what others might think, and I know I’m going to miss that part. It’s just… I fear if we want to advance, it may become necessary. Maybe not now, maybe not for a good while, but I think we may have to at some point.”

“I’ll trust your judgment. You’re the experienced fighter here.”

“I’m sorry,” I said softly. I felt slightly guilty because some of the reasoning behind it was based on my own feelings. I also felt that I should be honest about it to her so I decided to mention that part as well. “It’s something that has been on my mind for longer and seeing that party just now… it made me think of, you know, before. Back then, I hardly knew the people that fought with me, but fighting for a common cause, the coordination that came with it, working together… I kind of miss it.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Cellestra said. “I don’t have much experience with that, if any at all since I’ve only been with you in actual combat and you’re not exactly the average fighter.”

I chuckled at her words, and I saw her smile before she continued.

“But I do love you, and the way you talk about this, it sounds important to you.”

I nodded and let out a sigh before pausing for a few seconds.

“Maybe we can make some more friends too,” I said, my mood lifted once Cellestra’s last words had truly hit home, especially the part where she said she loved me.

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” She replied. “I hope there are others that are as easy to talk to as you.”

“I never thought of myself as easy to talk to, but I guess it helps that we’d known each other for a while before I could even speak.” The smile on my face grew wider as I thought back about our first days. “Don’t think you’ve met many people in the same way you met me. Goddess, I was so lucky that I landed right there.”

“And I was lucky to even spot you next to that bird. Honestly, how did you manage to kill it?”

“I just kept stabbing and biting it with everything I had. I think I eventually managed to create enough wounds where its blood loss was too much to keep flying. It was quite the painful fight.”

I chuckled one last time before asking the next question.

“So, if we want to form a party, I reckon we need to go to the guild?”

“Do you think I know anything about this? Because I don’t,” Cellestra said with a grin. “But that does sound like a good place to start.”

“In that case,” I said. “Let’s stop by there tomorrow then, shall we?”

“Sounds good to me.”