Achieved Novice Gluttonous Naturalist [Grade 1]

+1 Sturdiness

+1 Fortitude

+1 Endurance

1 Stat Points Remaining

There was a problem when I shut the negating membrane and tried to practice Terra’s technique. I discovered something I had partially overlooked—my rather deep-rooted fear of near-total darkness I acquired during my time in the Tenebrous Place. Needless to say, it was not the most pleasant of experiences. In the end, I did not even have the mind to make a second attempt.

Since that failure, a night and day passed, which I spent endeavoring to advance my stat points. At one point, some noble’s guards almost discovered me, but I once more managed to escape without too much trouble.

Eventually, I settled on training my Sturdiness in hopes the pain would persuade me to do the technique instead. The advancement in my Sturdiness was a splendid, if not painful, addition to my stat points.

My shoulders slump as I gaze toward the sun that will soon set. ‘Informing Terra of what happened will be embarrassing… Nay! I shan’t tell her. I will conquer my fear or find a way to cope. Perhaps I may simply make an effort with low light instead of total darkness.’

Lowering my gaze toward the reflective surface of the lake, I touch the negating membrane. It is a touch more firm than my skin. ‘I wish to practice making expressions. Using the membrane takes a tad more mindfulness than normal eyelids. The edge of The Lake should be too shallow for the monster fish, and the dinosaur leaves a trail of bubbles and muck whenever it moves about.’

I pick up a small stone and walk to the edge of The Lake. Tossing the stone into The Lake, the ice around the shore shatters. I wait a moment to ensure that nothing overheard the shattering before falling to my stomach and gliding to the water’s edge. When I peer down into the lake, my bright violet eyes stare back. I begin to make an effort to control the negating membrane.

Some time passes, and I am having a challenging time controlling my new eyelids with precision. The problem is they seem to have a predisposition toward either shutting fully or remaining totally open. I also have to wait for moments when the sun is not hidden behind clouds, which hinders my progress. But with persistence, I manage to shut my left membrane half-way and my right entirely. The glow of my right eye dims significantly. At the same time, it seems harder to see as clearly as before. I suspect it is because I have grown accustomed to seeing everything in a hue of violet.

I force my right membrane partially open and move closer to the water. The parts covered with the membrane are a lighter purple and actually look quite charming. ‘Well, that is not too awful if I am, to be honest. As long as one ignores that I do not have pupils… or an eyeball.’

Continuing to practice with my new eyelids, I realize that my range of expressions is limited due to the difficulty of natural movements. ‘At least, this is a step forward. Now, I can make half-closed or angry eyes at Terra to let her know when I am not amused. I suppose I can also do a sad expression, but not much more than that. Oh! I can also make suspicious eyes... Aye, it’s all coming together, Constance.’

For the next couple of hours, until the sun sinks over the horizon, I practice winking, lowering, raising, and other such things with my eyelids.

I cross my arms and wink at myself. ‘I do not care what anyone says; I believe I look endearing…’ Leaning closer to the water, I swap between winking with my left and then my right eye. ‘Well, I suppose it is about time for me return to the hedges to hide like a hag who eats children.’

Behind me, I hear Terra’s voice, “Seems you’ve found yourself in quite the predicament.”

Flinching, I spin around onto my back. There in the thicket of trees, I see the gentlewoman’s exquisite figure, removing a leaf from her silver hair. She carries a black bag, wearing her usual veil and gown, covering as much exposed skin as possible. Surrounded by the trees and shrubbery, she looks quite out of place.

I stand and put some distance between myself and The Lake; that way, I do not have to be so cautious about being attacked.

Terra’s gaze initially drifts across the Terrace in the distance before settling upon me. She smiles as the cold breeze blows her long hair. “Were you checking yourself out?” I do not understand what she means by that, but she laughs and walks closer. I can see the violet spheres of my eyes reflected in her own curious green eyes. “You seemed to be winking at yourself from what I could make out. Did you always have eyelids?”

While shaking my head, I reply, “Nay, I thought I would try something new!”

“Your idea of trying something new is having eyelids?” Terra responds with a small smirk and a raised brow. “Is this what you did instead of working on your Mana leakage problem?”

Using my new adaptation, I make my angry eyes and glare at her. “Terra, let’s skip the prattle,” I reply while taking a few steps back.

‘Prithee, do not continue this line of questioning!’

“I’m sorry, Constance!” she apologizes. “ I was just teasing you! I think your eyelids, and, ah, your lashes and brows as well are all beautiful. Not to mention, seeing you wink at yourself over and over again was adorable.”

“Aye, I… I appreciate the kind words.” Looking away, I stare at the ground beneath me, rubbing my foot in the dirt. “Uhm, how long was I being spied upon?”

“Not long,” she answers. “And don’t act so shy; it makes me feel like I said something weird…”

I shake my head stiffly, causing my hazy hair to sway lightly. “Nay. Not shy, simply embarrassed, but I shall cherish the compliment.” The mood remains stiff for a moment until I look back up. “And about the signs.”

“Oh, yeah, of course!” She reaches into the bag, pulling out a thin white sheet. Unfolding the white paper, what is revealed is something that leaves me tilting my head. The paper reads, “BaWear FiSHe MoonSteRs,” then hastily depicted circles with fins and fangs are scrawled at the bottom of the white paper.

Presenting my best questioning gaze, I peer at the white paper for such a long time that Terra pulls it away of her own accord. Slowly I lift my head, meeting Terra’s gaze. While doing my best to ensure my eyelids still amply convey my thoughts, I say, “Terra, perhaps things are different nowadays, but these seem to be... poorly crafted.”

“Oh, is it because there is only one?” Holding up her finger, she removes more white papers from her bag. “No need to fret, I have twenty more!” she declares with a laugh and a grin.

“...”

Her shoulders weaken, and she opens her green eyes wide, making her appear pitifully downcast. “Don’t go quiet on me again.” She holds up one of the pictures that, frankly, looks as if someone spilled paint onto a white surface. “The children worked hard on these. They’d be sad if you didn’t like them,” she says, pouting.

“Children?” My own eyelids shoot up. “Thee art a mother!?”

“What, no! Absolutely not!” Terra’s face burns red, like an apple, as she shakes her head. “I help set the itinerary for students at a... school.”

“Art thee a teacher, then?”

“It is… complicated.” Her eyes dim, and she goes quiet. Staring at the drawings, a soft smile surfaces, and she laughs. “I had the children make these for fun. I also had a few genuine signs made, but more importantly, I posted some things online with a burner account.”

‘Seems I should not inquire about the “school” further for the moment… but did she say burn-her?’

“What does thee mean, burn-her? Who was burned?”

“No, no, sorry, I forget you wouldn’t understand. I alerted some people in a different method. Anyway, I only made a few regular signs as I figured if we posted a lot of them, they’d take them down, but if we only post a few, they might ignore them for a while.” She holds up the children’s drawings and starts showing me their designs. “We don’t actually have to use these; I was just joking and thought you might find some enjoyment in them.”

“Oh, well, they are lovely signs. Will the children be upset we did not use their signs?”

“I’ll just tell them we used them, and I’ll hang onto them myself.” With a smile, she shrugs as she places the signs back into her pack. “They had fun making them, and as I said, I just thought you might find them amusing.”

“It was very nice.” Remembering the noble’s guard and the incident with the dinosaur, I fidget and look out over The Lake. “...About the signs.”

“Like I said when I arrived, you’ve found yourself in quite the predicament, and I would wager you don’t think they are necessary anymore.”

“...Nay. I do not believe they are.”

She sighs, pausing for a moment before stating, “You can’t stay here.”

“I cannot leave either,” I respond.

“They’ll find you. It’s only a matter of time; I’m sure of that.”

“How? They have already tried to locate me several times and have failed.”

“That’s only because they haven’t tried to look for you correctly yet, but…” She looks toward the lake and Terrace. “But because of where you are and what happened, they’ll find you.”

“What happened!? Naught has occurred here, I can assure thee!”

“Constance, I already heard about the turtle or whatever it is as well as the fish.”

‘What!? How!? Nay, just deny it.’

Tilting my head, I reply, “Turtle? I am afraid I do not understand what is being spoken of… What is a turtle anyway?”

Her lips purse. “Listen… very few people would know about it like I do, but more importantly, they’re already searching for someone, like me, who can find you. I am certain they’ll find someone soon. The Consortium is not someone who you want to be involved with. They have a near limitless amount of wealth and influence; the only reason they haven’t found you yet is because of the Beta.”

‘She said Beta!’

“But, as I said, Constance, you cannot stay here.”

“I cannot leave. I simply cannot.”

She frowns, but it fades with a steamy huff. “Let’s take a ride. I can’t leave my car parked here with the police around, but we need to talk.”

“Police? Car?”

“The people in the uniforms and the big metal things that drive on the road.”

“Ah! The noble’s guard and rides.”

“...Yes?” she giggles, catching me slightly off guard.

Motioning for me to walk next to her, together we move through the thicket. She leads me to a dirt path and then to a stone path.

“This is called The Ramble,” she says, pointing at a bright green sign. “And we shouldn’t talk until we get to my car so we can focus on listening for any police that might be moving around.”

I nod, and quietly we move further from my hiding place until we eventually come up to a black ride with an ornate gold ornament attached to its front. It appears to be a much more lavish ride than many of the ones I have seen thus far; however...

“Did something strike thy ride?” I ask, gazing at a rather large dent.

She just smiles.

I lower myself and poke at the black, doughy wheel. “How often has thee operated this machine?”

Terra chuckles lightly, scratching the back of her neck. “...Hop in.”

I peer at Terra, the dent in the ride, the doughy wheels, and then back at Terra. When our eyes meet, she looks away.

My intuition is screaming at me that something odd is occurring. Making my newly acquired suspicious look, I say, “...I think I would rather not enter.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“Thee art acting a bit peculiar, and it is making me nervous.”

“We aren’t going to drive anywhere with too many other cars. Plus, I have a GPS.”

“Aye...? GPS?”

“Yes, the GPS will help us navigate if we need it.” She extends her thumb with a smile. “So now that you know I’m prepared, don’t be worried.”

“Huh?” I mimic her, extending my own thumb awkwardly. “What does this hand sign mean?”

“Good to see you’re on board with this. I’m a… a decent driver.” she stutters, noticing me staring in perplexion at the carriage door, “Oh, I guess I should probably help you.”

Terra follows me to one side of the ride and opens the door for me. She calls this the ‘passenger side’ or ‘shotgun’ while the side with the thing she called the ‘wheel’ is the ‘driver side.’

“Shotgun? Does that mean I use a weapon to defend us from this world’s endless perils?”

“It isn’t quite that bad... yet,” she says. “Now let’s go before it gets any later.”

‘...This world has nearly caused me to perish more in my short time here than… actually, my life has always been similar to this.’

With reluctance, I take my seat and explore the interior. Everything in here is beyond confusing, and I cannot figure out what any of it does. Meantime, Terra walks around the ride, removing something from her bag, and sits next to me. Looking over, I can see she has some kind of mask over her nose and mouth.

“A top of the line gas mask I bought as a precaution,” she says, sliding the smallest key I have ever seen into an area near the ‘wheel.’

‘Gas mask…? Wait, what does this thing do.’

“What’s this circular thing, Terra?” I touch the circular thing.

I flinch when a thunderous voice screams, “Ohhh, yeah, this is DJ Drizzle bringing you an oldie, but a goodie. Let’s get right to it, haha!” The man’s voice disappears and is replaced by a sound that assaults my very being. “Booty, booty, booty, booty, rockin’ everywh—.”

Terra hurriedly pushes the circular object again. “That’s the radio, please, don’t touch anything else without asking first.”

“What’s ‘the radio?’ Is it some sort of weapon?”

“No, it isn’t a weapon.” She shakes her head with a laugh. “It makes music; I guess that would be the best way to explain it to you.”

Looking at Terra, I tilt my head. “Music? That seemed more akin to yelling…”

“Music from your time is very different from music nowadays,” she says with a shrug.

Terra turns the key near, and the ride rumbles and roars. My hands fidget. “Is this really safe? It is not going to buck up and down vigorously?”

She tilts her head. “It won’t buck up and down, and yes, it is safe. Some people have accidents, but people use these every day.” She pulls some kind of lever, and the ride begins to move backward. My head looks back and forth as the death device moves in reverse. Again she pulls the lever, and then we move forward.

‘If I had a heart, it would likely stop from the sheer quantity of terror.’

However, to my great relief, the ride seems to be moving slower than I expected; the pace is similar to a donkey pulling a wagon. “This is not so bad… What’s that blinking light?” I ask.

“Blinking light?... Oh, that is just my blinker; I’ll switch that off.”

Terra pulls another lever, and the blinking light stops. I do not attempt to speak to Terra as she seems focused on the road ahead. Yet another circular object catches my attention. My curiosity gets the best of me. I glance at Terra and then slowly move my finger toward the circle.

The circle clicks and a breeze blows from a small grate in front of Terra, sending her silvery hair backward. Her veil lifts slightly, and a gray color that was not there before catches my attention. I gaze at it, finding it seems to be something silky pressed tightly against her neck.

‘What is that?’

Terra’s eyes go wide as she removes one hand from the wheel. She pushes the circle and yanks her veil back down. She avoids looking at me, but I can see her expression is frozen. “Did… did you see anything?” she asks in a small voice.

Seeing, for the first time, this usually confident gentlewoman insecure, I fidget while answering, “Nay. W-was there something I should have seen?” Unable to meet her gaze, I stare out the carriage window. “I apologize for pressing another circle… I was curious.”

“Yeah… Don’t worry about it,” she murmurs. “Just don’t mess with the buttons, please.”