Leaving Amilya behind to think, Niphru and Dawn headed back outside. As they left the house, a woman stopped them, turning towards Niphru with a momentary glare that softened into a smile. Niphru recognized her as one of those in the mob that had previously attacked him in Monti’s home.
As he backed up, the woman spoke to him, “Niphru, I’m Billy’s mother, I had to come thank you. My son was sneaking out into the forest to a pond he found, and he just told me about it. Apparently you reported a monster fox living there and Morris killed it and ran into Billy there scared out of his wits. Thank you for saving him by telling Morris! I already lost one child to a fox years ago, and I am sorry for thinking you were like them before!”
The woman then bowed to Niphru and turned to face Dawn, exclaiming, “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you back then, you were completely right and I thank you for bringing him even though some of us were against it.”
Niphru simply stood there in shock for a moment as the woman blubbered at them. This was someone he thought was an enemy but suddenly they were not anymore, and he could understand their reasoning.
“We are glad to hear that your son was saved, and that you changed your mind about Niphru,” Dawn said, nodding to the woman before continuing, “do you think the others that were with you have changed their minds?”
“A few have, but most are still against Niphru’s presence, though after the berating we got from Amilya and Morris, I don’t believe any will do anything in the open. A few might try to do something sneaky, but I’m not sure. Norman is the most likely I think, he keeps muttering about ‘damn beasts’ every time I am near him,” the woman replied.
Niphru finally got over his shock, stepping closer to the woman before speaking, “I’m glad I was able to help even if only indirectly. Thank you for the warning that people might try to harm me, it means a lot given how we first met.”
“Thank you again, I’m sorry for acting poorly towards you. And it took ages to get Billy to tell me what happened that day, so I kept thinking poorly until recently. Oh dear, I’ve stayed too long, I need to get back to work. Thank you again!” the woman exclaimed before rushing off in a hurry towards the northern gate.
Dawn smiled at Niphru, stating, “You see, even people who hated you at first can come to like you if you prove yourself good to them. Sooner or later people will realize you are not a beast!”
Niphru nodded at her, considering her words. He would of course keep an eye out for twisted animals in the forest near the village and report any he found. Speaking of which, he saw Diara approaching from the eastern gate carrying one of the mutated deer he had seen before. Nudging Dawn with his nose, they both got out of her way as she headed towards a building with a grated area beneath its own roof, dropping off the body before entering the building.
“Oooh!” Dawn exclaimed, “The deer are always tasty when they get brought in, I hope we can get some tonight. Oh, I shouldn’t forget it is nearly time for me to get to school, I was so distracted helping you meet mom, and then Billy’s mom showed up... I’ll meet you again tomorrow!”
Dawn then walked off at high speed while waving back to Niphru. He watched her go before heading to the east gate, leaving towards his den to get some rest. Along the way, another hawk tried to attack him, but was easily foiled by an illusion, causing it to screech in confusion when it passed through the fox it had attacked. After a moment it simply flew away, looking for prey it could actually catch.
He considered his den again as he arrived, once again pondering if he should move closer to the village, especially as he was welcome now. Deciding to wait and see what Amilya decided first, he headed inside, curling up to rest. As he waited for sleep, he thought about his goal of helping others. His foxfire could heal, but it wasn’t as fast or effective as Monti’s magic was, nor could he simply stop pain. He could probably help fight monsters with it, and he knew he could help stop fires from burning if that was a problem. He wasn’t sure what else, if anything, he could do though. Perhaps if he could make more flames he could use them for more things.
Upon waking up from his rest, he headed out into the forest, intent on practicing with his foxfire more. Finding a reasonably clear area, he practiced darting his flame about as quickly as possible, flicking it between illusion and flame, and switching it between burning and not as quickly as he could. Faster and faster he went until the flame became more of a blue blur than a ball, leaving afterimages in the gloom.
Satisfied for the moment, he had the flame float back behind himself as he began searching the forest, once again hunting for any mutated creatures. Sweeping his mana ahead of himself, he eventually spotted a large snake hanging in a tree above a path through the forest, oversized fangs dripping venom across the poorly lit path. With a moment of thought, he swept his foxfire into the snake’s head willing it to burn.
The snake thrashed about, falling from the tree as its head was engulfed in flame. Landing roughly on the ground, it sprayed its venom everywhere it could, blinded as its eyes burst from the heat, moving slower and slower as it roasted alive. Niphru observed as the venom first discolored, then melted through the plants it had hit. Perhaps it also had some degree of acid? He was not well-versed in such things, knowing only what Dawn had picked up in a few years of school.
Eventually the snake stopped moving, and Niphru willed his foxfire to extinguish the smoldering corpse. Once it cooled down a bit, he moved forward, grabbing the snake behind its head and dragging it back towards the village. He would prove tonight that he could hunt at least some monsters on his own.
As he arrived at the village, the guards looked at him in shock before opening the gate, pointing him towards the same building he had seen Diara go to earlier in the day. As he approached, he saw a line of people waiting as a man cut into the deer that had been brought by earlier in the day, fog rolling around the base of it. As the man handed a slab of meat to the next person in line, he saw Niphru standing there holding the snake and waved him forward.
“I’m not sure how much I can recover that will be usable from that size of a snake, but put it here and I’ll get it when I can. I would pay you but it is rather clear you can’t use money right now. I’ll let Amilya know, though, she can probably find a way to work things out,” the man exclaimed before waving his arm at the line and continuing, “if you’ll excuse me, I still have quite a bit of work to get done.”