Fantasy Instead of Hell, I Ended Up Reborn As Something I Hate

[ScatheAriiasqDrayceon]

Flame snorted, dodging the touch with palpable disdain. Mood ruined and spite returned in full, they dug their claws into the shingles of the roof, tail curling in around their feet. They missed their wings, but didn't really have the time nor energy to waste on novelties. They were almost beginning to regret not seeking out the assassin's guild.

"Well, it seems most of us are reincarnations of someone... well, we remember, so something that tied in with that would probably make us more memorable... callsigns would have to be the opposite, though; my tricks don't work as well if people don't know what's coming. Simple and easy. Lotus, maybe? The symbol of reincarnation." They paused upon hearing the voice that was beginning to grate on their ears, huffing.

A jump to another roof; further away, this time, was apparently what it took to restrain themself from making another scorch mark on the road.

"Prestige can go die in a ditch," they drawled. "Battle is easier when people don't expect you to swing below the belt."

They hopped to another roof, scaling the chimney and perking their ears, their mouth opening to allow them to run the rough scents of the city past their palate. "Where are we even going to find white racoons. In all my years of building roofs in the middle of the night, all I can remember are slate grey pelts."

 

[Noodle Time]

(gonna post another round since I'm kinda bored of video games rn)

Ren shrugged "let's just get some white paint and just paint some normal raccoons white? I mean it'll be easier than hunting down a rare albino version of them right?" they were being half serious, if there was an easy loophole to exploit they wanted to take it, raccoons were lower on the risk scale than slimes and they'd already fought some of those "also who's doing this for prestige? I'm just trying to get enough money so when I return to our village I won't be living in a run down house that hasn't seen any kind of refurbishment in at least two decades" Ren looked around once more "is the guild going to be okay with us letting them climbing on their houses?" Ren pointed at Flame and chuckled "something tells me they aren't exactly used to people just popping up on the roof whenever they please"

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

"White racoons are common here though. They arent some special albino version of normal raccoons. They are actual raccoons with a white and grey pelt." Vaea explained. "But anyways, I am fine with Lotus. I dont really care what we call ourselves, as long as we decide on something."

Vaea raised her fist up in the air and said: "Happy hunting! Let's go!" Vaea made her way to the forest, already finding a raccoon within two minutes. She grabbed it's tail and whipped it again a tree like a wet towel. "Easy peasy." However she soon noticed the dozens of raccoon focus their attention on her, including one very big one. It's appearance was like that of a midlevel boss or had a grizzly bear mated with a raccoon. "It looks like we will get the challenge we came looking for." Vaea said to the others.

 

[Noodle Time]

Ren watched Vaea whip a raccoon against a tree and followed suit, they threw a dagger at one and watched as it impaled their prey and then froze as they saw Raccoonzilla "Okay did they send us here as some kind of joke? Did they come out here and paint a grizzly bear with white paint? Because that is not a raccoon in any sense of the word. It's more like a bear...or a very large boar" they retrieved their dagger from the smaller raccoon and kicked the body to one side, they would skin it later, assuming they survived their encounter with the bearcoon "so what we thinking? Cause I imagine if we turned that thing's pelt in we'd earn a bonus, we go for the eyes and throat? Weapons only I'd say, make sure we keep the pelt intact as best we can and score ourselves some extra money" Ren's eyes lit up at the mention of money

 

[ScatheAriiasqDrayceon]

Flame huffed at the Thief, following along behind Vaea. "If they wanted to keep my off the roofs, then they can tell me that, themselves."

They landed on a branch on the outside of the forest, using their tail to snap a raccoon's (who had falsely assumed that said tail was a snake) spine. At the sudden drop in Vaea's voice, they looked up, pupils dilating to focus in on what looked an awful lot like a bear fucked a raccoon. "Oh. So they are hazing us," they drawled, prepping to pounce on it; see how fast it was.

"Well, I can't use my rope-dart in such a confined space, so I hope you guys got a better plan... or we can lead it to an open area and surround it." There was a brief pause.

"Unless you want me to boil its brain in its skull."

They knew full-well they didn't have the energy for that.

 

[Thanny]

The merry party of three having given their opinions, Giltarn slumped his shoulders in disappointment. No desired cravings for standing above all with their honour intact, it seemed. This meant a lack of rivalry, which was fine by him, but that meant they would potentially dismiss prestige in general. This limited growth for him, at least in his mind, and that was a sorrowful thought to carry if he thought to stay for the long-term with these bloodthirsty maniacs. Ah well. TIME TO KILL!

The dwarf sloughed off his pack and tugged off his crossbow, setting himself up behind the others and with an steady eye focused on the surrounding area. The other three did an excellent job slaying the creatures, and once he was sure of which one to target he dropped to a knee and fired off a steadied bolt at the nearest unoccupied raccoon, aiming for just beneath the throat for ease of skinning. The bolt sailed through the air with an almost silent whistle before burrowing within the neck of the creature, carrying it off with the bolt until the body fell twitching to the ground. It was not dead yet, the raccoon, but it would do so quicker than most other ways. Giltarn smiled, having not had to use magic to score such a hit for this short distance.

And then there was the monstrosity, an amalgamation of raccoon and something else that was considerably sizable. Pulling back the catgut cable for the windlass and setting another bolt, he was ready for a future shot.

Hoping the creature had not noticed him, he skittered behind a bush and readied aim again at the giant creature, waiting for a good chance to fire at it. When he finds an opening, he will use air magic and his ability Lock On to stabilise and move the bolt so that it had increased accuracy. His aim? The throat for this one as well, as the eye was a smaller target. In this short distance, reaction would be poorer for both the archer and the prey, so it may have less of a chance of dodging and a higher chance of striking at least close to the targeted location.

((In short, I fired an crossbow bolt at the midboss' throat with two enhancements, hoping to score a good hit early. It may not finish the beast, but hopefully give it a crippling wound.))

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

The bolt from Giltarn's crossbow merely injured the giant raccoon, yet it still stood. "You have got to be kidding me." Vaea said. She charged at the giant raccoon and slugged it in the face. Despite sending it flying a couple feet/meters, the giant raccoon managed to grab Vaea's arm and throw her into the air. In midair, Vaea couldn't control her trajectory and could first do something only she was back on the ground.

Once landed, Vaea looked at Ren and Flame and said: "I guess you two should throw some daggers at it and throw some flames at it too. Be mindful however not to set the forest ablaze, otherwise we will have another problem on our hands. If we get this thing down, we will have more than enough to be accepted into the adventurer's guild." Vaea then cast a blue magic spell to enhance the capabilities of the others. "This should give you a little boost." Vaea said.

(Once the other two have done their actions, the boss raccoon should be defeated.)

 

[Noodle Time]

Ren looked up at Flame "do not use any kind of fire, I want the money that this pelt will bring us! I imagine the head alone would fetch a great price!" they shouted as they prepared to attack. They felt Vaea's blue magic amp them up and grinned as they leapt into a sprint and barrelled towards their foe, just before they reached Raccoonzilla they leapt again, landing on the creature's back. Ren made a few slashes around the eyes and stuck a dagger in it's throat for good measure before jumping off its back and clearing some distance between themselves and the Raccoon "I just wanna know what the hell this thing ate to get this big, did it just start eating other raccoons?"

 

[ScatheAriiasqDrayceon]

Flame snapped at the Thief, snarling deep in their throat. "Just hold the damn thing still, yeah? I won't damage your oh, so precious pelt!" The energy they absorbed from Vaea's powerup was just enough to push them over the edge.

The forest cooled. Specifically, though, the raccoon cooled, and Flame stilled in concentration, pulling the heat from its heart and wrapping it around themself. They'd thrown all abilities away save the thermokineses and had routed all of the energy they could through it.

They ignored the copper rising in their throat.

The veins of the raccoon started freezing over, just nothing visibly.

Flame's had stilled in concentration, eyes shut and locked to the branch, ignorant of the outside world.

 

[Thanny]

Giltarn looked up from his sights, cursing under his breath in gutteral Dwarven words. This beast managed to squirm out if the way just enough to avoid a death blow, but the others seemed to have followed up with his attack with a joint effort, which was excellent. At their current rate, it was probably best to concentrate on some of the lesser raccoons, to thin them out one-by one with some less weighty bolts. With a wary eye he checked for danger before reeling back his crossbow's cord to reset it to firing position, then took aim and launched a third bolt into a distracted raccoon. He hoped that, with enough time and if they did not scamper off, he could at least slay a good number of them, maybe ten.

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

With the combined effort of the four, the beast stumbled and eventually fell over dead. The group could finally focus their efforts on gathering the raccoons required for the quest and probably gather good reputation or money on the beast they felled. Vaea cheered after the massive raccoon had been finished.

Vaea then charged into the mass of raccoons and killed a bunch of them. She crushed them with her fists. "We have almost finished out quest! With these and that massive thing, we can be accepted into the guild and have plenty of money to get decent gear and a place to stay at least for some weeks." Vaea said, somewhat out of breath.

 

[Noodle Time]

Ren watched as the others started to deal with the raccoons and shrugged, they jumped through the air and landed, slashing at two more raccoons. They then conjured up a small fireball and hit the side of another and stood back up "So is anyone else here good at skinning animals or should I just start with this pelt right now?" they nudged the body with their boot and chuckled "I'm still wondering what the hell they fed this thing to make it so big, like how does a raccoon get this big?"

 

[Thanny]

With the raccoons potentially thinning their ranks and fleeing, Giltarn tried to pick off more on the outskirts of the group -- with his crossbow at first, then with air magic. A shot fired off into a nearby raccoon and ended its life quickly easily enough. When he stood from his firing position, he did not bother to reload and spend time on that. Instead, he concentrated on the air currents between him and them and attempted to pin a gathering of nine raccoons distant from the group to the ground, his aim being to slow them down for the others. It was a nonlethal technique by itself, but with any luck the group can end them with more effectiveness with their melee or magical potential.

Man, he was out of practice. He had not used magic for a while, and the toll of using Downdraft was a slowly growing ache spread throughout his lungs, as if it were using his own breath as well as his mana to fuel the spell.

"I've got nine pinned. If anyone wants to toss something with range, now's your chance!" he spoke, trying to maintain even breathing. Such was difficult.

 

[ScatheAriiasqDrayceon]

Flame dropped down from the tree, huffing. Their nose was bleeding, which they were ignoring for the moment. Instead, they used their tail to snap the neck of a few raccoons, forcing themself to breathe deep and steady their muscles.

They half-turned to face Vaea with a sort of exhausted annoyance. "Loud," they grumbled, magic-induced exhaustion hedging them into a bit of a sensory overload. They very nearly bereded the next raccoon that got near them, bloodied tail twitching in something that could roughly be described as "irritation".

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

"I got eleven. We have more than enough to turn in the quest and get to doing better quests." Vaea said holding up a bunch of dead raccoons by their tails. She noticed Giltarn's call for assistance and called: "I will be right there!"

She went over to the pinned raccoons and made quick work of them. Out of breath, Vaea said: "I guess the rest fleed, so we should be good. How about you all carry the small ones while I carry that huge one?" Vaea put the raccoons she had killed on the ground and went to the dead alpha raccoon to pick it up and carry it back to town. "Damn, this thing weighs as much as a large log. Must have a lot of muscle on it."

 

[Noodle Time]

Ren reached down and went to pick up a body and as they did another raccoon darted forward and bit into their wrist, they growled as they lifted their hand up and smashed the creature into the ground before stabbing it. They kicked the body into the bushes and shook their hand causing a few droplets of blood to shake loose "stupid overgrown rats, trying to gnaw me to death? I'll kill you all" they huffed as they sheathed their knives, by the time they turned around the wound on their wrist was knitted back together, a small pink mark remained however.

Ren watched Vaea pick up Racczilla's body and smirked "well I know who's carrying me when I get tired on our adventures, hell I could even sit on your shoulders and be a spotter for the group" they laughed for a second and then went back to fiddling with their red ribbon.

 

[Thanny]

Once Vaea took care of the gathering of raccoons on which he was applying pressure, Giltarn felt relief as he let go of the air current, his lungs feeling free once more. A few breaths later and he regained the pep in his step, but his bitten comrade caught his attention more so than gathering up the creatures for the quest. A simple bite mark can turn infected before one knew it, or, worse yet, provide rabies, and from what he saw he was the closest thing to a combat medic as the group got.

"You might want to get that patched up as quick as you can," he brought to voice, kneeling down at his pack and retrieving a medicinal poultice within a few seconds of rummaging. "Catch," he said, tossing the moist mass of cornmeal in a wrap at Ren. "That's mostly meant for larger wounds, but there are medicines in it for soothing and a bit of potato wine for disinfecting. Use it up or save it for later, but best to apply it sometime and . . . wait, did you heal already?"

Amazing. I have heard of healing magics and regeneration, but nothing that fast. And then there is that one, the elf with the . . . Strength of a Bear, as he called it. He eyed Vaea with a peculiar glance, watching as the person lifted the bearcoon with insane strength. Heh, what an interesting group. Maybe I'll learn something from them before I move on from this group to add it to my repertoire, if anything is able to be learned.

Toting his bag on his shoulder, he started heading over to the raccoons, gathering eight fluffy striped tails between his fingers. Looking around, it seems that they have done quite the number to this gathering of raccoons. They may need to return to gather more creature corpses for the quest, unless the other two could carry all of the rest.

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

"I will only carry you if you are half dead and cant walk yourself. Otherwise my carrying services are for those who need it." Vaea said to Ren. She watched as Giltarn gathered the other raccoons so the troupe was about to head back to town.

Back in town the townspeople stared at the odd bunch, especially the small feminine elf carrying the monster of a raccoon on her back. "What are you lookin' at?" Vaea said to the townspeople. They then walked to the guild and Vaea laid the giant raccoon on the ground in front of the guild taskmaster. Vaea said to them: "We got eighty raccoons and this beast on the quest. The beast just took us by surprise but we managed to kill it." The taskmaster then said: "Well, this is more than enough for the quest and you slayed a beast, so I guess you start in the D level and not the F level."

"Nice, we don't get the super easy quests now." Vaea said. "Time for some challenge."

 

[Noodle Time]

Ren shrugged "worth a shot" they chuckled. They followed the group back to the town and after dropping the raccoons on the counter immediately began humming "can we eat yet? I'm not sure about you guys but I'm starving, and now we have money I can buy food rather than stealing it!" they realised they announced they used to steal food a little too loud and cleared their throat "yknow...ahem from trash cans!" They shrunk into themselves and tucked themselves into a corner until everyone was ready to go.

 

[Thanny]

Giltarn had to admit that eighty raccoons was quite the feat, and that if the group slaughtered that many, well, even he would be impressed by the quick work of it all. How much of it was truth and lie, he did not know, but he was certain that raccoons did not travel in such packs normally. It must have been a genetic thing for these white raccoons to have a herd mentality rather than a solitary existence.

Poor things, and look where that got them, he thought with a mirthful smile opposite of what one might expect, dropping the eight raccoons gathered on the counter next to the others. They went with the pack to your death, dependent on one mutation and their own feeble strength. Best to share the power, to divvy it up, but also to have one supreme that leads the pack. I aim to be that high.

He looked over to Ren and, caught by surprise by that confession, laughed light-heartedly.

"Aren't you a joker?" he said, clapping Ren on the back with a faux smile and a somewhat hidden, pleading look saying something akin to "please, not so loudly." "But yes, food sounds good. Let us eat after collecting on these beasties. My rations are not cutting it today."

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

The desk person at the guild put a sack of coin on the counter in front of them. Vaea picked it up. "That is pretty decent. I guess we can go out to eat now. Let's see if there is a decent tavern in town. The guild seems to only have drinks." Vaea said as she stashed the coin. "We can split up the coin when we got a table at a tavern." Before they were able to leave, the person at the desk handed them a sheet of parchment. "These are the listings for vacant plots and houses. You might need one as you base of operations." The person said.

Vaea looked at the parchment. Most of the listings they could afford were either just vacant plots that hadnt been built on yet or shacks so run down that without extensive repair, they'd be hazardous to sleep in. "I'd say we get a plot, erect a fence and first build tents or a yurt on it before we can afford to build a house. We can still build a storage shack to store valuables." Vaea said. "We can discuss this over dinner though. I see two taverns nearby. Pick one."

 

[Noodle Time]

Ren looked between the taverns and shrugged "the one named 'Stag's Rest' looks good but it's all down to you guys, I'm used to eating stale bread and overly ripe fruit if I'm being honest" Ren wasn't lying, if they'd had fresh food it was because a job back in their old town had paid well enough for them to eat and those jobs were so few and far between they couldn't remember the meals. They mulled over the thought of a house and shrugged once more "in all honesty I'm used to sleeping in a rundown house so not even that would bother me but since you organised this ragtag bunch of misfits I'd say you get the deciding vote, building a house would take longer than just fixing one up but also sleeping in a rundown house isn't without its unpleasantries, namely the cold and the bugs so again it's all down to whether or not your patient enough to wait for a proper house with proper materials"

 

[Thanny]

"Decisions decisions," voiced Giltarn, bringing a fist below his chin meditatively. "I would rather build anew than live in anything delapidated. I know how to set up tents. Yurts are just a mite bigger in comparison. A storage shed, though, I would leave to others. While a dwarf, I am not familiar with woodcrafting, not even in a previous life. The Stag's Rest sounds like a lovely option, however."

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

"This Stag's Rest place sounds good. I agree. Let's go there." Vaea said. "We can talk more about plans in the tavern I guess."

They went into the tavern and a barmaid asked: "Is this all for you group?" Vaea then answered: "Yes, just us four." The barmaid then assigned them to a table near the wall. The place almost looked like a wine cellar. There was a central fireplace that kept the place warm. The tables and seating were made of wood.

Vaea sat down and the bar maid gave them menus. "Well just get me a wine spritzer. Y'know wine with some soda water." Vaea said to the barmaid. I bet I'd look awesome in her outfit. Vaea thought upon gazing the barmaids outfit which was a dirndl style knee length dress with a lace choker.

"Anyways, I think a yurt would be a decent temporary solution. Plenty of space and you can heat with with an oven or a well maintained small fire. Me and my parents slept in one when we visited relatives before." Vaea said to the others.

 

[Noodle Time]

Ren entered the bar with the group and sighed a breath of relief "food! drink! I've been needing both for quite some time" They followed the group to the table and when the barmaid approached and asked what they'd want they replied with "every food item you sell and the strongest spirit you sell here for me please" Ren leaned back in their chair, putting their feet up on the edge of the table "it's all down to you guys and what you want cause a tent or a rundown shack are good for me" Ren adjusted their hair and skirt once more to make themselves seem more feminine, it was a routine they had fallen to upon entering taverns, drunk patrons usually took to feminine figures more and in that moment of idiocy they would steal their coins and make themselves scarce