"HOLD THEM BACK! DO NOT LET A SINGLE ONE OF THEM THROUGH! THE WHOLE CITY WILL BE EATEN WHOLE IF THEY MANAGE TO FEED AND EVOLVE! THE LION ETERNAL IS COMING, HOLD THEM OFF UNTIL THEN!" Yelled a slender man wearing full-plate armour. In his hands was a heavy shield enchanted with the power of light, a necessity to hold back hordes of ever-evolving, ever-hungry, and ever-pouring monsters of the abyss that were pouring out from a black rift that appeared near the city of Dalvina.

All the guards of Dalvina were stationed around the rift, making sure that not a single monster escapes into the forest and evolves into a monster as powerful as the Shul'Ka they all feared. They were all equipped with weapons and shields enchanted with light magic, the element abyssal monsters were most vulnerable to.

"Tedrick! Help me!" A voice came from the black rift, the slender man, whose blonde hair was matted with sweat, and eyes colored with a calming gradient of whites and blues–a mark on his cheek says he's a divorakk, and the black tiger stripes that adorned his fair skin along with his white tiger's tail would prove that he was not a dianian–the man's eyes widened and rage filled his being.

"HOW DARE YOU! YOU MONSTERS! MIMICKING MY DEAD FATHER! I WILL NOT FALL FOR YOUR TRICKS LIKE HE DID!" The man's eyes glazed over, tears threatening to fall as he remembered the day he watched his father get dismembered and devoured by a creature of the abyss posing as his mother who had died of a sickness just a few days prior. The smell of the sea in the area somehow amplified and gave every single person that fought back the abyssal creatures, terrible flashbacks of their most horrible memories, as the rift speaks their names, tempting them to get closer and be devoured, to be part of the ever-growing army of monsters that lay sleeping, deep in the Black Sea.

The abyss did not like to play fair, very much like their progenitor, Lilianna Diancia. Shul'Ka's monsters, specifically, liked to lure their victims with promises or memories, before devouring them whole, soul and all.

The people of Dalvina had no clue, why exactly, Shul'Ka had chosen their city to attack. They could only nervously go on with their lives, putting all trust and faith in the guards so that they would not be the next city wiped off the map because of Shul'Ka's terrible appetite for destruction.

They knew it was Shul'Ka attacking, simply because from what they know, Shul'Ka was the only one that could open black rifts like the one that just appeared. The monsters too, were a dead giveaway. The whole reason why they found the black rift so easily was because they had seen one of the monsters, posing as a mouse the size of a deer, eating whole trees in one bite, tearing its flesh and fur with arms that sprouted from its back, and unhinging its jaws, just to do so.

If there was one word to describe Shul'Ka, and its monsters, the people would all agree on the word 'hungry'.

Shul'Ka itself had legends and myths floating about that it had eaten a whole island during its rampage 150 years ago, after its master, Lilianna Diancia, had been defeated by the brave heroes of Jija. Or that it was able to eat a god's fragment and gain its power.

Either way, Shul'Ka was the most likely culprit behind this attack on the city. Shul'Ka was regarded as the most powerful of Lilianna's subordinates, able to go toe-to-toe with local deities, so they all had a lingering sense of doom floating about them.

There were only ten people in the Western Isles that are officially recognized to be able to deal with Shul'Ka, after all, and the most suitable for the job of sealing away the black rift, the Alchemical Snow Kitty, or the Alchemical Eternal for short, was not even in the Western Isles.

Thankfully, the people of Dalvina found hope, the Lion Eternal, was coming. The Lion Eternal had apparently sensed the overwhelming magic cast with deadly malice, a whole city over. So they had sent one of their fastest familiars over to the city to inform them that they will be aiding them.

The people of Dalvina were extremely lucky, one of the ten people capable of fighting Shul'Ka was only a city over, and they were rushing straight to Dalvina.

So, all of the panic and edge from the morning were somehow quelled, and only a slight tense air was left.

Naturally, Clailip, who woke up way later than he actually thought, had no idea of this.

"Now that I put more thought into it, I'm probably just overreacting. I mean, a war? I think I'm just being paranoid. Right, Horsey?" Horsey nodded his head that was way longer than my body. "Maybe it really is National Guard Day… I should get a calendar the next time I'm in a city."

"Oh wait. I don't have money. I should hunt monsters then, maybe I can sell them for some coins, that's how it always is in novels that I've read." I hummed as I rode Horsey through the forest. "Maybe I can send the acorn soldiers to do what they were made to do…" I knocked on the side of Horsey three times, and two pairs of holes on both sides of his flank appeared where acorn soldiers peeked their heads out.

"Can you guys hunt for me? I mean… only hunt the monsters you can handle of course!" The soldiers that peeked their heads out all saluted and jumped out of the walking Horsey. Then they just came pouring out. I have no idea how many soldiers I had. But I think I do have around 50 of them.

I haven't really used them to fight up to this point. So I don't really know what kind of monsters they'll bring to me. I just hope they come back safely.

I mean, they're soldiers, so they should be able to come back safely. My Magical Companions and Toymaker did a whole lot more than give me magic companions and stuff, it also gives the toys and stuff I create the necessary skill set to achieve what goal I had for them in mind while making them. This is most likely the reason why I can’t just make premade toys come to life.

Also, of course there are limits. I can't just make a toy to kill god.

I think.

"Maybe I should try that out. It'd be funny I think." Somehow, the whole idea of using a toy to commit deicide was a bit of a funny idea for me. I never had the best sense of humour so I assume this is only really funny for me.

Before I could start up another thought, I felt something poking at my feet. With curious eyes I decided to watch and see what exactly was there.

"What."

Hey isn't that acorn soldier way bigger than normal!?

Walking beside horsey, poking at my feet with stick-like arms, was an acorn soldier. It looked at me, seemingly proud of itself, as if it was happy that it had finished the first ever soldierly task that I've given it.

But why is it so big!?

I think I'm almost a metre tall, around 92 centimetres maybe… but this guy was almost half my size! The biggest of my acorn soldiers were only as big as my palm…

"Uh, why are you so big? Also where are the others? Why are you back so fast? It's only been a minute since I sent you off, was it even a minute…?" I questioned my incredibly wonky sense of time as much as I questioned the appearance of this giant acorn soldier.

It beat its body, to the rhythm of the falling leaves. It was honestly very calming, and beautiful. It sounded like a drum on a cool spring day being beat by a lonesome bard on a journey towards a city.

"You combined into just one giant soldier to make things easier? Did you really have a skill like that? I don't know how to view other things' status boards so I wouldn't really know…" I watched as it beat its body again, this time, to the tune of humming rocks… wait do rocks even hum? Well, that's the only way I can really describe it. It's just a really deep bassy beat that I would imagine what rocks would sound like if they could sing or hum.

It seems that my interpretation was right, it also added that it caught a monster that looked like a mix of a deer and a dog, it was around the Soldier's size. It was lingering around the area, that was why they came back so fast.

"Well, can you disassemble now? I don't think you'd fit inside Horsey if you're this big." I explained, though I can't really understand how they merged together, it's a really useful skill so I won't que-

Why is it trembling and fidgeting?

Oh no.

"You…" My voice was low, and deep.

Well as deep as a four-years-old divorakk's voice can go. My voice was the softest of all the children in the village too so I imagine my 'You…' wasn't all that intimidating.

But somehow the soldier was trembling even harder, and fidgeting even faster. I could see how nervous it was, with how it trembled as it beat its body, conveying how apologetic it was with its inability to…disassemble.

Pochi, who I held so close to me. Became a living stress ball.

Travel speed would get so much lower now. We'll have to match the speed of the giant acorn soldier.

'What if I just leave it here.' I thought, but I quickly mentally slapped myself for thinking of abandoning a friend.

But the idea IS very attractive though.

But no, I will not leave a friend behind.

"We'll be moving so slow now…" I grumbled, I always just kept the acorn soldiers inside Horsey for easy transport as they weren't the fastest bunch. They were also kind of clumsy, tripping over most things with their twig legs.

Ah, this is such a massive bother…

And before I could even take another breath, a man's voice filled the forest, screaming about holding something back.

"God… It's just one problem after another!"

"I just hope it's nothing too big…Acorn Soldier! Uh, since you're a singular soldier now I'll name you. I'll call you Acorn!" I was about to finish talking when Acorn gave me a look. "Don't look at me like that! Acorn is a good name. Anyway, carry the deer-dog thing and let's scram. I really don't like the sound of that yell."

Surprisingly, the Acorn, the Acorn Soldier, moved way faster. It looked to be a bit faster than Horsey's slowest running speed. It didn't seem all that clumsy anymore too despite its limbs being made of literal sticks. Emphasis on the plural form 'cause the limbs were now made of intertwining sticks instead of a singular twig pre-combination.

"Ooh, our travel time may not go up as much as I first thought…still would be way slower though…maybe I should give Horsey more backs to ride on so Acorn could ride on him as we—Horsey stop shaking." I gently pet the shaking Horsey under me, I could feel its fear. I'm not really sure what exactly it was afraid of, though.

"Anyway, let us all go! I hope we don't run into anyone weird, or get transported anywhere else by a monstrous being capable of eating whole countries."

And so we rode on! Into the…direction we were facing!

I honestly have no shitling of a clue where we're going, anywhere but here is good though. I mean except for places where Shul'Ka frequents anyway. I don't know why it gave me a blessing, and I don't want to find out.

Unfortunately it seems that I really should pay more attention to where I was going because in front of me was a black rift. As if it was a tear in the fabric of space.

Of course it wasn't actually in front of me, I was hidden in the nearby bushes as a spectator. There were a bunch of guards surrounding it. The rift was pretty large, so naturally there were a lot of guards here too.

Was this where all the guards in the city went?

I mean rightfully so, the rift was vomiting out monsters as if it was a drunk girl who had ten too many shots. It also seemed to puke up monsters faster, and faster. The guards seemed very bothered.

The monsters themselves didn't really look strong, just small, remora-like fishies that had four legs and a mouth as big as their faces. But the sheer amount of them was making the guards struggle, it seems.

"Magical Array, Roar of Light!" A feminine voice came booming from above, before a blinding flash of light came down as if it was the second coming of that one guy from that holy book I forgot the name of.

Fortunately, I am very skilled in not blinking even when my eyes feel like they're being coated in hellfire. Something that's led me to become legally blind in my past life. I had to wear really thick glasses.

When the light faded out into tiny little diamond-shaped sparkles, a woman was revealed.

Long, shiny locks that curiously refracted the light that hit it, causing rainbows to be seen on some of the trees and even on Acorn's face. Lean, and muscular arms that looked very strong. A femme-fatale like form and poise that radiated what some would call 'Bad Bitch' energy. And man, those eyes. Fiery red eyes that resembled a forge's voracious fire that gobbled up whatever flammable material that happened to come near it. And a mark… A MARK! A DIVORAKK! OH MY GOD!

I can ask her for help right? Maybe she can take me back home…from the looks of it she seems to be a hero of sorts!

Ah! I may be saved! Mama, Papa, I'm coming home!