The King of Worms (Ch. 2)

CHAPTER 2

Ekkel has grown a bit since he has woken up in the middle of the forest, completely restarted to his weakest form. Ekkel is now beginning to climb a tree to look around his surroundings for anything to help him.

Ekkel = Climbing this tree is getting easier, (Ekkel slithers up the tree) this might be the last time I ever climb this tree. (Ekkel gets the the tallest branch, and looks out of the leafs, Ekkel begins to look around) Where is ... anything that can help me? (Ekkel moves his head to the right, towards where he heard the bangs earlier) Doesn’t seem to be causing a commotion anymore, I will take that as a good sign. (Ekkel begins to turn his head around, and then something catches his eye) Oh, that seems to be a wide clearing of trees over there, I wonder if ... (something catches Ekkel’s eye) is that a building?! Ok! Cool! There is some civilization nearby these woods, it seems to be around ... a few good minutes away? Ah, wait ... they will think I am a snake ... I hope it is a Monster civilization! No way I will get that lucky though.

Ekkel then jumps out of the tree, and begins to slither towards the building he saw. Along the way, Ekkel ate any tall grass that was in front of him, without using [Consume]. After 27 minutes, Ekkel was behind a tree that was 40 feet away from the building, which was actually one of many. It appears that Ekkel has came across a village, and there was no sign of any Monsters being the cause of its creation.

Ekkel = This is starting to get me a bit excited! If I have to fight back, I wonder if it will end in my favor or the others? And I wonder how much of it will go in my favor if I do fight back! Ah, but I should also be thinking about situations where I don’t have to fight, and can somehow appear peaceful and harmless despite the fact that in this body, it is capable of killing some Mana-less Arials. So- (the building that originally caught Ekkel’s attention suddenly had its door open, for a young woman, holding a staff, to start running off towards Ekkel’s direction) Ah! She is going to find me! I have to just ... (in a short moment of frustration, Ekkel began to [Consume] his way into a tunnel, after making a tunnel big enough for his body to enter completely, Ekkel turns around and peeks out of the entrance) Ok, I think she is gone now, I guess she was running into the forest? I wonder what caused her to be in such a rush, however ... she appears to be a mage of sorts, and if she ran out of this building, it might be hers, so maybe there are some items that hold some Mana inside! (excitedly, Ekkel slithers our of his tunnel, and turns his body to slither towards the door of the building, and begins to slither to the door, which only takes 10 seconds) Hm, door is closed, but in that rush I don’t think she would be able to lock it, even if the door has locks to be locked. So ... (Ekkel brings his lower half upwards and curls the top of his tail around the door handle, and turns the door knob, after hearing a slight click, Ekkel begins to push the door open) Ok, got lucky there, pulling the door open would have been a bit more difficult, now what do we have- (Ekkel’s train of thought stops as he sees before him, a counter full of herbs and vials and bottles with substances and objects inside, a table with a bowl that seems to be glowing from whatever is inside it, pots and other bowls being hung from chains, and with plants growing inside of them.) Whoa! Was that girl a herbalist or something like that? This is a complete jackpot! Well ... it is if I get what I need quickly, and I hope some of this stuff has a lot of Mana in them, chances are likely that they hold some Mana in them. I should just look for what has enough Mana to give me at least 75 Mana. (Ekkel slithers to the table as it was the closest, and begins to coil up his body together and lifts his upper body with his head to look over the table and into the bowl) Ok, so in this bowl we have- Oh! Crintal Liquid! This is used to preserve items and such, I can easily avoid that preservative property of its as I know how it works, but with this much of Crintal Liquid, I can assume that altogether this is around 1000 Mana! Herbalists sure do collect some very useful stuff! (Ekkel lifts his head higher and closer to the bowl) [Consume]! (The Crintal Liquid instantly goes into Ekkel’s mouth, and Ekkel swallows) Ah! Finally! Some Mana! Haha, today is finally look up to me, now time to-

Woman : What the hell?

Ekkel quickly turns around to see the young woman who left the building earlier, she is wearing a green robe like clothing that only covers as far as her kneecaps, with brown shoulder padding around her shoulder area. Some yellow shoes which appear to be wooden, some white socks that are possibly woolen. She holds a rather big bag on her side. A belt is attached to her, and it seems to hold some small bottles of liquids. Her staff is entirely wooden, expect for the top, which appears purple due to the metal covering the top. Staff show is a simple cylinder pole, nothing much special, minus the metal top. The young woman has light skin, dark blue eyes, a small nose, and pale pink lips, as well as long brown hair.

Ekkel = Ah ... this is very bad ... uh, oh! [Inspect]! (A window pops up in front of Ekkel, giving him details of the woman which he reads fast) Name, Emily Vigun Percaliv. Mana, 5600. Mood, frightened, and very worried. Equipment, robes and staff. Oh, the staff has a skill bound to it? It is [Fireball] level 12 from Flames, costs 3000 Mana to cast.

Ekkel * There is a skill called [Bind] from Assist, this allows you to attach things together. You can also combine two or more spells together, you just need to practice enough to do so. If you use [Bind] with another skill, and cast it onto an item, you have bound that other Skill to that item, and anyone in contact with that time can suddenly cast that Skill with no prior understanding or training at all, but they still need the Mana to cast it. Most skills need Mana for the skill to be cast, but if you train yourself with the skill enough, you can ease down the cost of Mana. Originally, [Fireball] costs 5000 mana to cast.

Ekkel = Emily’s skill themselves happen to be of the Alchemy, Brewing, and Earth branch. All levels below 10. Oh, Guild rankings? Let’s see, Hunting Guild, her rank is Grass H.

Ekkel * Ranks, this is something kind of exclusive to the leveling system that Vacuo made, and the guilds that exist around Juyting. There is the Hunting Guild, Marketing Guild, Potions Guild, Smithing Guild, Research Guild, and even Aristocratic Guild. There is also the Monsters Guild, but it is usually heavily ignored due to its popularity. Hunting Guild, responsible for hunting monsters and sometimes keeping places protected. Marketing Guild, they buy stuff, sell stuff, set up shops, take money from you, basically anything related to money, it is their place of business. Potions Guild, the second least popular Guild due to its small reputation, it is supposed to be a place for potion makers and the such to join, and practice learning more about potion making, kind of secluded to themselves, most potion makers join Hunting Guild to get experience with potion making, and can get materials rather than order them and wait for them to wait, if they get it at all. Smithing Guild, they build stuff, create weapons, invent new stuff, pretty awesome people if you are on their good side, get on their bad side though, and you better be on your toes when you come across them. Research Guild, they research whatever is yet to be understood 100%, they usually spread whatever they discover to everyone for free, sometimes they keep it hidden, the nice people in this Guild are more likely to spill those secrets though. Aristocratic Guild, also known as the Noble Guild, yeah, they are just training others to be better nobles and stuff. Sometimes non-nobles enter, usually under special reasons. Most royalty have at least one member in this Guild. And Monster Guild, the one guild most specifically meant for Sentient Monsters, however they get a bad reputation, just because a Monster has sentience doesn’t mean they can’t rampage in the city, back before the numerous accidents, a Monster getting into this guild would mean, this monster is safe to be around. Nowadays, it is a guild that just means, this is a monster, don’t trust it. Most monsters who have gained sentience and some form of knowledge will try to enter through another guild as a species of some kind. I believe that it was discovered that a Monster secretly joined the Aristocratic Guild under a Royal Family, caused a really big commotion back then. After the Newer Year that gave us the Summoning branch, it was more accepted that the Royals used [Summon Monster] to just use something for the Aristocrat Guild, some accept them, some do not. Now as for the Ranks of these guilds, there are Seven levels that goes to the letter K. The levels are Grass, Cotton, Glass, Metal, Crystal, Tempest, and Ultam. There are about 3 to 8 Hunting Guild Ultam Ranks in each universe. Grass is lowest, and the K is lowest letter. You increase your Rank by showing your work being completed to the Guild Building. When you increase in Level, you get an Evaluation Test, when you increase in Letter, you are simply congratulated.

Ekkel = Oh, and she has a title, Potion Maker of Aun Village. ... Aun? Wait but isn’t th- (Emily raises her staff towards Ekkel) Oh ... um ... she won’t cast [Fireball] in her own house, right? (Emily shouts [Fireball]!) Ack! (Ekkel tries to dodge the Fireball leaping out of the way, but it ends up hitting him in his lower body) OW! That really burns! (Ekkel curls his body together as the flames go out) Ok, she can’t cast another [Fireball] for a while, so- (Emily shouts [Fireball] again) Gah!! (Ekkel quickly cools his lower body, and springs away from the Fireball onto the counter, he feels something rather rounded and smooth beneath him).

Ekkel : CAN YOU STOP CASTING THAT IN YOUR HOUSE?!

Emily : (surprised) ... You ... you can think?!

Ekkel : What? Of course I can think, wh- (notices that Emily seems to be hesitant with each word he thinks) Why is she being so hesitant? (realizes that he heard another voice, realizes that it is his voice, confused he looks down to see ...) Oh! A Pimer Orb! Oh thank Juytings!

Ekkel * A Pimer Orb is a crystal ball that allows anyone’s conscience thought to be said out loud

Ekkel : Listen Emily, dont cast that spell in your house! Especially at me! Please!

Emily : (even more confused) How do you know my name?

Ekkel : I used [Inspect] on you and seen your name.

Emily : (surprised) You can use spells?! And you know a spell from Inspection?

Ekkel : Yeah, listen can you just listen to me please?

Emily : (hesitant) Why should I listen to a Monster?

Ekkel : Because, I can-

Woman outside : Emily! Get out of there! We need your potions pronto!

Emily : (slightly worried) Ah! Dang ... um ... listen I can’t really deal with you right now, so can you please just leave by the time I get back, something bad kind of happened. A Hupnik Bear attacked some of our villagers just inside Aun’s Forest.

Ekkel : Aun’s Forest? But ... isn’t that- (Emily runs to the counter and grabs a small bottle of yellow liquid, Emily turns around and runs out the door as she puts the bottle inside her bag.) Ah wait ... ugh ... wait, did she just say a Hupnik Bear? In Aun’s Forest?

Ekkel * A Bear is a Hunter monster that prefers staying in the open fields full of flowers, rarely do they leave their beds to explore other regions. In my memory, Aun’s Forest should be a Forest surrounded by Mountains, with a desert on one side, swamp on the other side, and a plains dividing each. But no flower beds anywhere that nearby. Hupnik Bears can use Earth magic to shake the ground and trip their enemies, before slamming a great Earth skill of their choosing onto their enemies, while slashing at them with their claws, a very heavy and devastating attack. They are also capable of using status effects from the flowers that they usually stay around. However, since it is a rare occurrence for a Hupnik Bear to go away from its flowers, most do not know that when exploring, they collect enough Mana to use the [Cover] skill to hide them from enemies. When attacking species, they usually use [Cover] to wait for back up, and then follow them back to their village to cause more trouble there. This is only when they get slightly aggravated, and if a Hupnik Bear uses Earth magic for any reason besides protecting its home, then it would get aggravated easily.

Ekkel : Ugh, I cant just let her go alone into that mess, there is no way they know about the Hupnik Bears attitudes. And ... she might reward me for the help! She already knows I can give conscience thoughts. (Jumps off the Pimer Ball, onto the floor)

Ekkel = Ok, time to get a favor! Plus, Emily is the only one who I can at least get close to talking to at the moment, I have some questions about this place right now.

Ekkel quickly leaves Emily’s House and starts to enter the Forest.

End of Chapter Two

Ekkel’s Profile
Height: depends on how he stands
Width: 3 feet
Length: 20 feet
Eating Power: 64
Eating Resistance: Currently Unknown
Mana: 1008
Appearance: Long, Black, Appears
Very Serpent-like
Mood: Slightly annoyed

Emily’s Profile
Height: 5 feet 2 inches
Width: 2 feet
Length: 10 inches
Eating Power: 42
Eating Resistance: 32 +9
Mana: 120/5600 (2000 mpm*)
Appearance: Female, Long brown hair
Green robe, staff.
Mood: Worried, Confused

*(Mana Per Minutes: How much Mana you naturally gain back.)

(Authors Note: Last Chapter, I forgot to say that Ekkel’s Mood was Highly Annoyed, I am sorry.)