Food… food… Ah… the hunger, why has it come to me so quickly…
Everything had been fine, and according to her experiences over the past few days, it should have stayed that way once she untransformed, but no, instead, when she reverted to her true scorpion form, a deep hunger had emerged and demanded Velasteros eat her fill.
Please get full quickly, I do want to go back and read my book soon…
There was satisfaction in eating; each meal brought sparkle to joy, and hunger appreciated each meal as its dominating influence shrank with every bite.
So in a way, the experience was enjoyable. That couldn’t be denied, but once again, it brought the scorpion back to the problem it kept repeatedly facing.
The Why.
Her complete lack of knowledge on so many subjects repeatedly revealed to be a weakness. Emotions such as pity and sadness actually tried to justify it as something unavoidable. Velasteros had only recently gained intelligence and had a minute amount of exposure to wider knowledge.
However, her anger and hatred were furious because she had been dragged into this situation. It was a weakness that she wasn’t fixing yet.
Other emotions tried sharing their opinions, but the awful symphony of noses just made Velasteros try to block it all from her mind.
Keh!
The scorpion's claws crushed another creature, a pig that she had such a delightful time ending the life of. The joys of the human form couldn’t be undersold in Velasteros's opinion. However… Having access to her primary methods of killing–claws and stinger–was such a nice feeling.
The weakness she felt from her inability to fight… the solution was to be in her true form. Weapons and armour that couldn’t compare to what her human form naturally possessed, but at the same time, for Velasteros’s goals, dreams, and nightmares, it wasn’t the path she could primarily follow, ever.
Her nighttime hunting continued for quite a while longer, but soon Velasteros’s fogged-up brain began to clear up. Her head had been working overtime these last few days. Fear and worrying were always running on the treadmills as she didn’t want to expose her true nature to the children.
The scorpion continued hunting at an automatic pace for a little while, trying to stay as far away from the forming headache as possible by minimising thought. She was in a position that not many monsters ended up in. Given a level of intelligence and thought above what was commonly expected, and with a desire to learn and know, it was a combination that truly was only going to bring pain.
Even for other monsters who had similar levels of [Intelligence], the way they thought was fundamentally different. More heavily reliant on instinct and natural functions, the burden of thought was greatly lessened. However, for a scorpion who wished to be separated from such natural internal instincts, she was only bringing more suffering to herself.
Velasteros didn’t know exactly the process that was causing her pain, but she did realise the basic fact. That it was her own fault. If she didn't try to learn and simply relied on the instincts the world and her former master had given her, then such pains wouldn’t exist.
I will be better soon. She told herself with complete confidence. Perhaps it was a delusion crafted from the stories read by Sarah. Characters that had to overcome challenges for the chance at gaining something they desired. Thinking of herself as one of those characters meant that whatever pain she was dealing with was only an obstacle to overcome.
Books had already given her knowledge, words to use, and a method to ease the pain by justifying it.
All shall be well.
Finally, she felt it was time to return, and when she did, the children worriedly ran towards her upon her very late arrival.
““Valmyst..!”” The brother was a little more panicked, but the sound of concern escaped from Nieca’s as well.
“Sorry… I just needed some quiet time…” The stress created by interacting with the children was instantly sparked back into production. “I’ll be going to bed shortly…”
“Okay… but do you want to stay in the same room?” Thomas asked.
“Why, don’t you have your own room?”
Nieca said, “Safer in numbers. Also, I doubt you are too happy about being in a place that the knight had preassigned for us.”
“Point taken…”
Sigh… I can deal with the children for a little while longer…
The scorpion hoped that after this, she could find some time to relax and deal with her own personal tasks. While she would like her own private space, the smart child was right; she didn’t exactly like the idea of being in rooms picked by a person they had just met. Listening to Sarah’s advice, she chose not to trust Niko completely… so ideally, just running away now would be the best solution.
However, for a scorpion whose interactions with human civilization was nothing… leaving immediately made her a little nervous. Worry about messing something simple up that would destroy her human disguise and make others realise she was pretending. So while the two children were a lot, they had helped her pick up a few small details around, and so she decided she could handle being around them for a little longer.
The trio grouped into one room and recited the line, “Good children rest to grow up healthy.” To hopefully push the kids to sleep, but they did bug her for a little longer to read something before ‘bedtime’.
A few more points to [Intelligence] should improve my mental endurance…
The night went by without any unrest.
Beds are comfortable…
Velasteros fully learned about a human joy. The comfort from sitting on it was already brilliant, but sleeping a full night on one was fantastic! Even if she had to share it with some children.
Whether it was due to her nature as a monster scorpion or their recent activities, Velasteros woke up early with the children, who soon followed. What happened next was shockingly fast.
Nieca had everyone stand up, ensured they had everything, and quickly ran down to have the free breakfast that was waiting for them before booking it right towards the exit of town.
“Do you have permission to leave?”
“No force requiring us to remain, traveller's permission.”
“That requires a guardian."
“That we do. But you are also incorrect, it only requires a guardian when there is a person from the town or city from among the group."
Velasteros watched Nieca have a conversation with the guards, and then they were allowed to pass through the checkpoint. This wasn’t the first conversation she watched Nieca have today, and each one went right over the scorpion's head.
I need more points fast…
Despite it already being at the top of her to-do list, she pushed gaining levels up another two places.
Leaving the settlement, Thomas cheered. “Time to go home!”
Velasteros noticed a soft smile rise on Nieca’s face. “Yes brother… time to go home…”
…How do I bring up leaving?
…Splitting the party only happened without death once, that was during Lord Mapick’s Adventure, and that was in a very different setting… I need to read more reference material.
Nieca turned to Velasteros. “Valmyst, can you come home with us? It is not much further away, and I’m sure everyone would be happy to resupply you as a thank you.”
Crap. I don’t have supplies, so that would be good. But that would mean I am spending more time with these children, which is already a drain on my mental state, not to mention I really need to leave, not to mention I really need my alone time, not to mention argh! Is this what Sarah meant by a rock and a hard place!? It sounded like a good place to hide, so I didn’t understand what she meant at the time…
“...Yes, that would be nice.” The scorpion forcefully smiled, closing the chaos in her mind before it gave her another headache.