Running through the wetland, I came to realize how smart it was from Saori to tailor these mana socks for us two. These socks are helping me a lot as traversing the marsh’s cold and muddy water wouldn’t have been pleasant, otherwise.

They were, like most of her creations, blue and they went up to my thighs as that is where my scales stop appearing when I'm in my dragonewt form.

While having mud sticking on my skin could be rinsed off easily, that could not be said for my scales, where anything stuck in between them is as annoying as having dirt stuck under your fingernails.

The claws on my feet were protruding out of the socks but I can't help it when they are long enough to pierce through somebody’s chest and reach their heart. At least they aren't permanently damaged compared to a normal cotton-made sock.

Saori was kind enough to make a sock for my tail, too. While the scale ridges and spikes made it hard to put it on, once it was, it was comfortable and kept the cold wind away from my tail.

Shoes or boots might have been better but Saori wasn’t a shoemaker, and we never needed shoes when our feet soles were literally protected by scales and fur respectively. Socks are good enough

As we were pursuing Rajah, I also decided against using [Air Walk] as it would tire me out easily in this foreign place. If we were to fight something now, I wanted to be in tip-top shape and my senses were telling me that a fight was coming up.

After a couple of minutes of trekking through the bog, Rajah stopped advancing and immediately went into prone mode. Due to his height, his verdant green fur was already smeared with muck and soaked in swamp water, as he was now neck-deep in the water.

[“Good decision, Rajah,”] Saori scratched Rajah’s neck to praise him.

Noticing Saori’s focused glare, I directed my attention away from the nearly submerged Rajah and inspected the scene before me.

Using my [Detection Sensor], I found out that we were completely surrounded by multiple dots that indicated enemies in the vicinity.

Creeeepppy…

Shaking off the shivering from imagining all the possible ambushes in the area, I stared at the small patch of earth surrounded by swamp water where three weird beasts were circling something fully covered in mud, grim, and blood.

The three quadrupeds patiently waited for the dying monster to weaken as swamp water slowly entered its body through the many wounds on the creature’s body.

Identify.

Ottha A beasts covered from head to tail in brown fur that it uses to camouflage in a swamp’s muddy bottom, where they can hide in seconds due to their well-adapted flat claws. These monsters travel through areas in large groups of over five otthas, all hidden in the gunky bottom of swamps, lakes, and marshes. Any unsuspecting prey that is attracted by its long whiskers, while it's hiding underground, will be quickly devoured by the family of otthas. Rank E

These monsters looked like otters, the only differences were that they were about the size of a juvenile wolf, had extremely long whiskers, and a tail ending in a flat fin.

Honestly, I found otter already adorable with their small beady eyes and cute noses. If you could overlook the numerous teeth in their mouth, then the whiskers just made otthas cuter than otters. Am I about to kill these cute beings?!

I mean, I personally don’t wanna, but there is a very good reason that I should. And that reason is the giant cat growling and hissing in the middle of this ottha encirclement…who for some reason was pierced by a spear!

Giant Cat Status Board Profile: Name: * Level: 19 Race: Virigress Age: 5 Years Status: Health: 90/619 Mana: 89/145 Strength: 291 Intelligence: 139 Vitality: 201 Wisdom: 174 Agility: 324 Stamina: 0/412 Effects:

[Bleeding (Moderate)] [Diseased (Bacteria Infection) (Minor)]

[Exhausted (Moderate)] [Starvation (Minor)] [Sleep Deprivation (Minor)]

[Fear (Moderate)] [Stressed (Moderate)] [Terror (Minor)] [Rage (Moderate)]

Skill: Magic skills and related

[Mana Control Lv. 3]

[Mana Efficiency Lv. 1]

Physical skills and related

[Enhanced Claws Lv. 5]

[Enhanced Fangs Lv. 4]

[Toxic Claws Lv. 6]

[Mana Strike Lv. 1]

[Sundering Enhancement Lv. 1]

[Piercing Enhancement Lv. 1]

Senses and movement skills

[Stealth Lv. 6]

[Enhanced Auditory Sense Lv. 4]

[Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 3]

[Accuracy Correction Lv. 2]

[Prediction Lv. 3]

[Danger Perception Lv. 4]

[Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 5]

[Tracking Lv. 3]

[Night Vision Lv. 8]

[Presence Killer Lv. 3]

[Evasion Lv. 3]

[Acrobatic Lv. 3]

[Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 2]

Resistances

[Physical Resistance Lv. 4]

[Pain Resistance Lv. 3]

[Bleed Resistance Lv. 2]

[Poison Resistance Lv. 6]

[Paralyze Resistance Lv. 1]

[Torpor Resistance Lv. 1]

[Wind Resistance Lv. 2]

[Water Resistance Lv. 1]

Stat growths and related

[Health Recovery Lv. 1]

[Stamina Recovery Lv. 3]

[Enhanced Health Growth Lv. 2]

[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 2]

[Enhanced Strength Enforcement Lv. 1]

[Enhanced Vitality Growth Lv. 1]

[Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 1]

[Enhanced Agility Growth Lv. 2]

[Enhanced Agility Enforcement Lv. 1]

[Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 2]

[Enhanced Stamina Capacity Lv. 1]

Other

[Kin Controller Lv. 1]

[Pregnancy Lv. 1]

[Starvation Lv. 5]

Titles:

[Protective Mother]

Holy shit, how many status ailments does she have, huh?! What the fuck!

That was the most status ailments that I have seen in the “Effects” column, like ever. The last time I’ve seen a long list like this was when I met the garm matriarch after I beat her partner. Even then, it wasn’t this long.

Although, if I were to fully buff myself with all my status buffing skills, all of the buffs would be displayed in "Effects", effectively making it longer than the virigress mother, however, who wants to see that long list. It makes my head dizzy just by seeing it myself.

Still, I would like to consider it a coincidence but that would be a silly thing to do. It had [Pregnancy], it had [Kin Controller], Rajah led us here, and as Rajah was separated by his family during the stampede that happened a few days ago, it is quite likely that she’s his mother.

It could be an entirely different virigress but we can think about that scenario after we rescue her.

[“Saori, we’re going in!”] I commanded Saori.

[“Go kibo no yo ni, Hestia Oujo-sama,”] Saori quickly said. (As you wish, Princess Hestia,)

Thankfully, Saori immediately agreed to my rescue attempt. I was scared that we would have the same argument that we had during Tasianna’s rescue but luckily nothing like that happened today. Maybe the situation is different and she’s more confident in our party’s strength?

Yup, that has to be it!

Anyways, like a flash, both of us jumped over to the virigress mother’s location, putting ourselves in between her and the otthas.

“““Squeeeeeek?!””” the otthas squeked in surprise.

“Greowh?!” likewise, our sudden appearance caught the virigress off-guard too.

To make sure that she knew we were on her side, and to stop any misunderstandings, I decided to talk with her using [“Don’t worry, miss, we’re here to help you! This will hurt but bear with me…there! Cure, Purify, Major Heal, Major Heal!”]

Pulling the spear out of her body, I immediately started multi-casting all those holy spells. I quickly healed her from all the damage that she took and also freed her from all the nasty infections inside her body.

Still, even with my healing, it would be impossible for this monster to move nor defend herself in the current situation. She was starving, physically exhausted, mentally drained, and she was only a Rank E monster against three Rank Es. She still needed us to kill her hunters.

When I was finished, I directed my eyes back forward and spoke, [“Saori, [Identify] informed me that these otthas hunt in large groups. Are these three the only one or are there more?"]

[“Maybe it would have been more prudent to ask me this before we rushed in, but whatever,”] she complained. ["Besides these three, five are hiding in the mud. The cold water is making [Heat Vision] hard to use but I can confirm their existence.”]

Five more rank E monsters would be nothing against us, even with [Humanized (Moderate)] nerfing our stats.

Sorry, you guys are cute but if you won’t leave her alone, then it breaks my heart, but we have to kill you, I said internally as I stared one of them down.

“Squeeeeeeeeeeeeek!” with that war cry, the otthas turned around and…and…are they running away?!

[“…They ran away,”] Saori said with a slack jaw.

Scratching my head, it took me a bit to reboot from this anti-climactic ending, [“…I guess they somehow understood the power difference despite us being in our humanized forms?”]

[“It also could be because I activated [Bloodlust] and [Terror Aura] simultaneously,”] Saori confessed. [“I apologize, it was my fault. It worked for the toads so I was sure that it would be useful here.”]

Saori’s main fighting style was focused around killing monsters using her dark spells to outwit and deceive opponents, while mainly relying on stealth and surprise attacks to kill. Normally, I would be the one standing here alone while Saori would skulk somewhere out of sight, waiting for an opportunity.

It wasn't often that Saori would try to fight somebody head-on so she might have overestimated how courageous, or desperate, these otthas would be. Having been on the receiving end of her [Bloodlust] aura, I can tell that it’s no joke when you receive the full brunt of it.

[“Well, it certainly helped to scare them away,”] I laughed it off.

They were only rank Es anyways, so the amount of experience they would give would be pitiful, especially when our party was fairly sharing it among us. Trying to hunt those eight creatures down would be a less efficient usage of our time.

There is the option of shooting them, but they were too lovable for that. Would you shoot a kitten, you heartless humans?

[" 'The best victories are those without any fighting' a quote from Sun Tzu that fits this moment perfectly,"] Saori crossed her arms and nodded her head with close eyes. [“We avoided getting ourselves wetter and we can now take care of the virigress.”]

While I nodded with her, I soon realized something about the quote, [“Wait, I heard about that Sun Tzu dude on an internet forum before. Wasn’t he a famous Chinese warmonger or something? Why do you know a quote from him?”]

["Strategist, but I guess he was a war-advocate…anyways, to your question; I was reading about Confucius when I happen to stumble on a mention about Sun Tzu,"] Saori explained. [“I am not a big fan of his book nor his philosophy but a few of his quotes are memorable.”]

[“Who the hell is Confucius?”] I asked with one raised eyebrow.

[“…Incredible…,”] Saori knitted her brows in exasperation. [“You lecture me about not knowing about musicians, but you do not even know the name of one of the most famous philosophers in Asia? A person that has influenced a whole country. You did mention that you attended a school with a good curriculum, right?”]

[“Hey, don’t bad mouth Beethoven,”] I rebuked back. [“He may not have influenced history as much as this Confucius guy, but the evolution of music has benefitted from his legacy. The tragedy and success life of Beethoven is even worthy of Shakespeare, in my opinion. The horrors of becoming deaf is a musician’s worst nightmare.”]

Due to Saori’s lacking musical education, especially when it concerns its history, I’ve decided on my own that I must elucidate her about the legacy of so many wonderful musicians. So, I talked grandiosely and told her everything about Ludwig van Beethoven, a personal favorite of mine.

An Idol, like any other musician, benefited quite a lot when it comes to musical history when you compose your own songs. Usually, a lyricist would do it but an Idol who could do it herself is more valuable.

Staring at Saori’s eye, none of us wanting to break free, I noticed a small glint in her eyes as she started to smirk. My instincts were telling me that she’s having some weird ideas again…and for some reason, I had a good idea of what it could be…

Will I have to learn the whole history curriculum as I travel with Saori? Isn’t knowing about the old Greeks enough?

[“Rajah, wait! Lady Hestia! Miss Saori!”] suddenly, a voice interrupted our staring competition.

Turning around I saw Rajah jumping through the muddy water wanting to reach us, specifically the virigress next to us. He was struggling to move through the swamp’s vegetation due to his height and he was just tiring himself out from his rash movement, becoming more sluggish as he continued.

Shaking my head, I air walked over, picked him up, asked Tasianna to clean him with water magic, and then bought him closer to the virigress female.

“Mreowh!” Rajah cried once we landed next to her.

“Greowh…” she cried, prompting me to release Rajah.

As the small cub came closer to his supposed mother, both began smelling each other, trying to remember the other’s scent. After a couple sniffs, the virigress mother started licking Rajah as she began grooming and drying his wet fur. Both big cats were purring so loudly that all of us were able to hear it from a distance.

[“Ahh, this is heartwarming,”] I said as I placed my hands on my chest.

[“I said that we should not look for his parents, but it seems like fate brought us together,”] Saori said with a soft smile.

[“This must be a blessing from the gods due to your kind heart, Lady Hestia. Oh, fair Zephira and righteous Plesia, I thank you for your help today,”] Tasianna clapped her hands together and began praying.

I looked weirdly at her passionate faith, not understanding why gods would waste their time on something like this, [“I’m pretty sure gods wouldn’t have the time to help us find a lost cub’s near-dead mother.”]

Tasianna twitched, finally noticing her overeager behavior, [“T-That does make sense. Goddess Plesia and Zephira must be busy managing their followers and the races that worship them.”]

[“Come now, you two,”] Saori interjected with a wagging tail. [“As much as I want to enjoy this sight, I personally believe that it would smart to bring her to a safer spot. Looking through her status board, I think she needs to rest.”]

She was right, I healed and kept any infections at bay, but she wasn't healthy yet. She was mentally and physically at her limit, purely staying awake due to her love for Rajah. The parent and child pair have been away from each other for too long.

We have to find a safe spot for now. As we were in the swamp area of the Belzac forest, it might be better for us to sleep in the trees tonight. The ground was too dirty and muddy to sleep on.

Let’s see if I can make a treehouse today.

…

…What is this rumbling?

Looking down, my eyes caught some pebbles on the ground violently shaking and jumping up and down. My legs were affected by this weird trembling, vibrating around as I steadied my stance. Looking at the waves in the water, I was sure that something was about to happen.

[“Hestia, look over there!”] Saori turned my body around and directed my attention with her outstretched arm.

“Grrrrrrr!” the virigress mother’s agitation was shown in how she stopped grooming Rajah and snarling at the cause for the rumbling.

What the-!

The swamp wasn’t as densely packed with trees as the main forest area, so it was easy to see that something was about to erupt from the waters. The moment I thought that, a huge monster jumped out of the water like a shark, mouth open, sending a stream of muddy water into the air with everything else in that area.

“No, the otthas!” I screamed.

Besides some broken branches and root, a few fish and the two otthas were caught in between the giant creature’s crocodile jaw. With a loud snap that shook the trees around it, the otthas disappeared from sight.

Stopped by gravity, the crocodile-like beast’s trip to the sky stopped and it descended down to the ground, causing a large geyser of water to explode upwards.

"No, not the otthas!" holding my head with my hands, I mourned the unfortunate passing of those cute creatures.

We may not have known each other for long nor did we really bond but my heart ached for their deaths. It was a heartless world when cute beings could just vanish like that.

However, my mind literally got over that fact a second later as my attention was occupied with processing what I just witnessed. That monster was massive, titan-class. That monster was so large that it would make even those trolls look like dwarves.

My instincts instantly told me that I would have zero chance to defeat that monster at my current level, even with the help of Saori and Tasianna. If the garm matriarch was a boss monster, then this thing was the end boss of a raid, the ruler of the dungeon. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the apex predator of the Belzac forest.

[“W-Wow, I-I…let’s just leave that thing alone, agreed?”] I said, stumbling on my own words.

[“…Yes, I have no plans to catch that creature’s attention. I am not dying today…,”] Saori said with a pale face.

[“Goddess…how can anything get that large?”] Tasianna muttered, frozen stiff with fear.

Deciding that this monster was unbeatable for us, our party unanimously agreed to get out of the area as soon as possible, so we wouldn’t risk being detected. As Rajah’s mother also needed proper rest, our priority to find a quiet, safe place was placed at the top.

As Saori was about to grab the virigress mother, to carry her to a safe spot, the feline pushed her hands away roughly.

[“Wait, why does every cat monster hate me?”] Saori said, surprised. [“First Rajah, and now his mother?”]

The giant cat stumbled up to her feet, drawing up all her remaining energy. She then grabbed Rajah by his scruff and tried to wander off with him. While she was limping away, I could hear Rajah meowing at us.

What does this mean? Are they trying to leave? Are they leaving without us? Is Rajah trying to say goodbye? What! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! No, no, no, no, Rajah, no!

Wait, what is this supposed to mean?!

[“Wait, wait, please wait!”] like something was possessing me, my legs immediately began moving to stop them, as I stretched my hand out to stop them. [“Y-You can’t leave yet, please! You’re still injured, you can’t leave until you’re healed.”]

As I touched the back of the virigress, it seemed like all her strength disappeared and she slumped to the ground, huffing loudly. Rajah was released from her mouth and he immediately went to his mother’s side to check up on her, meowing loudly.

[“Oh no! I’m sorry! I-I didn’t mean to do that,”] I apologized quickly. [“No, no! I didn’t want to hurt you, I promise. I didn’t want you to leave this soon with Rajah. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so selfish!”]

As I continued panicking, somebody grabbed my shoulders and shook them, [“Hestia, calm down. You’re casting healing spells when she doesn’t need it.”]

I turned around to see Saori’s worried face. I turned around to see that I unconsciously began materializing white magic circles, all ready to cast [Major Heal] on the no longer wounded virigress mother.

[“Calm down and look at her head. She’s shaking it,”] Saori pointed out.

She was right. Rajah's mother was shaking her head slowly as she looked me in the eyes as if she was trying to tell me something.

[“Are you telling me that I wasn’t at fault,”] I asked, which she nodded to.

[“Why were you leaving? I-I haven’t known Rajah…your cub for that long but I don’t want you to leave just like that,”] she shook her head to my plea. [“…You weren’t leaving us?”]

She nodded her head, confirming my question, [“Then, where were you going?”]

She turned her head upwards and looked in a direction, then turned to Rajah who was still meowing and rubbing his head on his mother's body.

I was thinking “Rajah? What about Rajah?” as I tried to interpret the gestures that she was showing me. If she had [Telepathy] then I didn’t have to try to identify everything like a damn detective. This would be so much faster if she could speak.

But she couldn't. She couldn't tell me it in words but the earnest glow in her eyes told me that I had to understand it. So, I sent my parallel minds and my own into hyperdrive and used [Thought Acceleration] to go through everything that happened just now. Did I forget about something?

When we met her, she was surrounded my otthas and was at the brink of death. She was covered in mud and her own blood as she tried to fend off her imminent death as best as she could, despite her the terror and fear.

But she also had [Rage (Moderate)] in her status screen, so was she mad at the otthas for trying to kill her? She was scared, terrified, and angry at the same time? It could happen but…no, next thought. Don’t waste time.

We jumped in and interfered with the otthas’ attempt to kill her. I healed and disinfected her, but she was still too tired to move. She initially was cautious about us but truly warmed up when she saw me bring Rajah over to her.

Wait…I’m missing something here. Her body was covered in wounds. They had some slashes but most of them were holes…like a bullet. Wait...

“The spear…” I said.

[“What is it, Hestia?”] Saori asked.

[“Someone, bring me the spear over there!”] I shouted as I pointed at the spear lodged on the muddy ground.

Saori dashed over and threw it at me. Firmly catching it, I said “thanks” and then spoke to the virigress, [“How did you get hurt by this spear?”]

Once again, she bent her head around and pointed it in the direction that she was about to head to before collapsing.

Normally, you would want to avoid the path where your aggressors are, but she was firmly determined to walk over there even in her current state. That’s when it dawned on me that she had the [Protective Mother] title.

Tigers and cats can have multiple offspring!

The knowledge that I learned from watching all those animal shows finally came to be useful again. How could I forget that cats can have more than one offspring!

[“Where are the rest of your babies?”] I could feel the inner fire inside me blazing up, finally boiling my blood and sweat. [“Tell me. Tell me everything.”]