I didn’t want to wake up.

Everything hurt, I was more exhausted than I’d felt in forever. What had I been doing yesterday…

“Oh... Right.”

I hauled myself out of bed. Apparently they had brought me back to my room after I fell unconscious. It was morning, but which morning I don’t know. I felt like I had slept for days. This was good news though, if they had time to haul me off and bring me home then the war went well. I was pretty heavy and awkward to carry, they couldn’t just have some warrior haul me all the way back to my room when the enemy was knocking at the door.

My bed was a sort of hammock. Having as many legs as I did made using things designed for bipedal people awkward. With the hammock I could sort of straddle it and let my legs dangle. It looked goofy, but it was comfy enough. Normally I didn’t use it much, since I don’t really need to sleep. Having it was nice though.

Landing on my feet was a bit awkward, I had forgotten about my bad leg. It would take a while for it to grow back, so until then I needed my improvised peg leg. I made sure to shapeshift a rounded tip on the spike poking out my leg stump. I really didn’t want to scratch up the floor. Upsetting the staff was a bad idea.

Standing up and stretching hurt, but it was a good pain. I felt much less stiff afterwards, but the nasty sound of popping joints was a little concerning. How did that even work? I had an exoskeleton, not bones. So I shouldn’t be making these noises, should I?

Ah well, time to find out how the war went.

It was late morning, and the workers were moving about. I didn’t even have to ask them if the war went well. Their expressions said it all. It wasn’t relief on their faces or anything like that; they looked proud.

These workers hadn’t participated in the battle, so it wasn’t pride in themselves. They felt proud of their warriors for their achievements. You couldn’t help but feel a bit patriotic when your country fought off a larger army. It was a feeling of triumph that was hard to deny.

Passer told me where the family was and slapped me back as he passed by. A lot of the guys were like that. It was less awkward than high fives, although fist bumps were still okay. The atmosphere got really boisterous when I or one of the other fighters walked by. Some of them seemed a bit jealous as well, since many of the ‘weaker’ fighters were kept back as reinforcements. They would have joined the fight on the third day, but that massive army was routed before then.

The women were less overt, but they were just as happy as the men. There were fewer women interested in becoming warriors among the elves, but those who did weren’t any less dangerous than the men. It wasn’t a matter of talent so much as attitude. They way they were a bit less boisterous when celebrating as well.

Mrs. Robin was an exception though, she had a loud belly laugh and a wide, nearly toothless grin. She was this tiny old elf lady, but she acted rowdier than anyone else in this town. She punched me in the shoulder and gave me a thumbs up before walking off, the deep laugh lines on her wrinkly face showing like canyons.

I was sent to one of the living rooms. I could hear Gryphus talking.

“I’m serious, the beastmaster contract is actually developed from an archmage’s research into translations spells. He failed to make the spell he originally wanted, but his experiments worked very well on beasts.”

“Huh, I never would have guessed. I always figured it tamed the target.”

“There are offshoots that have an aspect like that. I always thought they were too clumsy and heavy handed. They use imprinting and other instincts. At its core though, the beastmaster is about mutual communication. It’s a shortcut to understanding each other’s personality, language, and even body language.”

“Hrmm. That would be convenient if it could be used among the races; learning languages has never been easy.”

“Your pronunciation and grammar is amazing though, I never would have guessed this wasn’t your first language.”

“Thanks, it gets easier after learning your first four or five. I will admit that I’ve always had a talent for tongues though, If I wasn’t so fond of fighting I probably would have become an interpreter.”

Mun-gi’s easy voice echoed from the room as I opened the door. That was a surprise. I hadn’t expected the people here to execute him on the spot, but apparently he wasn’t even locked up.

The door wasn’t latched, so I just pushed it open and walked in. Gryphus, Raphina and Mun-gi looked over. Mun-gi was perfectly healthy despite the damage I’d dealt him, and sat there like he owned the place. They seemed quite relaxed, like they were new friends just getting to know one another.

“Hey! We were just talking about you.”

It was weird seeing Mun-gi smiling in a way that wasn’t all bloodthirsty and manic. There was a small plate of fruit from the orchard of foreign plants on the table. Mun-gi was sampling a few with a nostalgic expression. I crouched down into a sitting position and shifted my exoskeleton to make myself comfortable. Chairs just weren’t that great for a guy with four legs.

“That little kid made a contract with you right? What’s it like from your end? I always thought beastmasters used the contract to domesticate magic beasts.”

They really aren’t making a big deal about having a mercenary who fought against us as a guest aren’t they? Oh well, it isn’t like I’m holding a grudge against him, he’s just too ...likeable for that. I settled in and started explaining.

“I doubt that I’m the best example; I met Astera when I was ea- eradicating her kidnappers. I had a good impression of the people around here before I was contracted so it wasn’t like we were total strangers. Plus I understood the language as a high level magic beast as well, no need for translation.”

Mun-gi nodded. The older guardian beasts, the ones that had been around for centuries, automatically seemed to know the languages of the locals. Particularly powerful mythic, mutant, and spirit beasts also were able to comprehend languages easily. Nobody has a clue why, they just do. I always suspected that Lady Luck was the reason why I knew what people were saying, but I wasn’t sure.

“Anyway, I was contracted while I was unconscious. I woke up with it already in place. It doesn’t feel that different, but once I saw Astera I just kinda ...knew her, you know? It was like I had seen her grow up and knew how she was. She’s a good kid, and I could tell.

If she had been a brat or something like that I wouldn’t have wanted the job. It’s like understanding what someone’s like before deciding to work with them.”

It was awkward, but I slowly explained my perspective. Actually, the beastmaster contract spell wasn’t anywhere near infallible. Sure, for normal animals or dumb magic beasts it was usually more effective, but that was because they were straightforward thinkers. Cooperating with elves or humans for food and comfortable shelter wasn’t a bad deal. They couldn’t get those luxuries any other way, so hanging with someone they understood and going along with their whims was no problem.

The thing was, most people believed that only certain people could become beastmasters. The assumption was that in addition to talent you needed a special connection to nature. That wasn’t really true, you just had to be the kind of person who the contracted beast would like. Thanks to the contract you couldn’t fake it either.

I don’t think I described it well, but Mun-gi nodded anyway. Afterwards I took the opportunity to ask the question that had been bothering me since I got here.

“Okay, I hope this doesn’t sound bad but: why aren’t you locked up?”

Gryphus coughed a bit and gave me a small glare. I shrugged at him as I watched Mun-gi smirk. Raphina gave me a look of parental disapproval.

“It sounded bad, didn’t it?”

“Just a little, but I get what you mean.”

Mun-gi was snickering while Gryphus explained.

“Mister Ma is a well known mercenary. If he was unknown or had killed anyone in the battle things would be different, but with the way it turned out mistreating him would be pointless and damaging to our reputation.”

“Yup, it’s one of the perks of being famous. Legitimate mercenaries are pretty tightly knit. We do risk our lives for money, but that means we tend to stick together and are picky about our jobs.”

It made an odd kind of sense. Armies were hard to develop and support. Being able to hire mercenaries was much cheaper, if a bit less dependable. Not many countries could afford to get on the mercenaries’ collective bad sides.

We mostly made small talk. Mun-gi was the kind of guy who was easy to get along with. Of course, considering his interests the subject gradually turned towards fighting. He looked towards me and took in my injuries.

“By the way: you healed fast during the fight, so why are you still injured?”

“Hmm? Oh, I wasn’t healing. I just used my shapeshifting to clamp the wounds shut. It works great to stop bleeding, but the damage underneath is still there.”

I raised my whole arm and showcased a bit of shapeshifting. My exoskeleton thickened and the raised section separated. I turned the exoskeleton in the center red to simulate a cut. Fake stitches criss crossed over that section, making it appear like an invisible man was sewing a fake wound closed. Mun-gi clapped quietly with a silly little grin, like I was doing card tricks.

“Yup, my actual healing is too slow to be useful in a fight. It’ll take me another week to regrow my leg and claw.”

I wiggled, the missing appendages. Mun-gi paused in the middle of peeling a fruit. His black eyes opened wide and he looked at me sharply.

“I’m sorry, what? It sounded like you said they would regrow…”

“Yup. as long as it’s something simple, like a foot, it will grow back.”

Mun-gi’s grin disappeared and a shocked and jealous expression covered his face.

“...That is incredibly unfair.”

I shrugged, my mouthparts twisted into a grin. He snorted a bit and went back to his affable self. I guess I couldn’t blame the career mercenary for being envious of my regenerative abilities. I wasn’t going to mention where I got them though, I had promised the Empress I would keep her and her royal honey secret. Besides, there was no guarantee it would have the same effect on others as it did on me.

We changed the subject to international politics. Normally I would have been bored out of my mind, but politics from a hired sword’s perspective is surprisingly interesting. Mun-gi had also been all over the world, so his perspective was different from the elves’ and mine.

Time passed quickly and we talked about all sorts of stuff. Suddenly the door slammed open and Brokkr burst through the door, sweating and panting.

“Manto!”

He skidded to a halt in front of me. Brokkr’s strange smell, the scent of sweat and alchemical mixtures, hit me like a truck. Gryphus spat up a mouthful of water and went into a coughing fit. Raphina and I had jumped, but Mun-gi just seemed bemused at the dwarf’s sudden entrance. Raphina sighed and gave the dwarf a glare.

“Brokkr, we have a guest.”

“Huh? Oh sorry, hello, nice to meet you. Now, Manto, the arm you gave me: it’s different from the rest!”

Brokkr vaguely waved at Mun-gi without looking at him and held out a section of my exoskeleton towards me excitedly. For his part, Mun-gi seemed to think the situation was hilarious, while Raphina and Gryphus were appalled.

Brokkr was one of those craftsmen who forgot everything other than their work when they became focused. In his enthusiasm he would forget meals, sleep, social skills, and hygiene. I could tell from the greasy state of his long, dark beard that he had been working nonstop for at least a few days.

“Your arm! The properties of the exoskeleton are different from the sections you normally give me! The chitin integrates with other materials much more efficiently than the other exoskeleton you’ve given me! What did you do!?”

He wasn’t mad. Instead he was jumping about from excitement. It took me a bit to understand what he was saying. His rough voice was always hard to understand, especially since I couldn’t read his lips through that thick beard. I looked over at Gryphus, who shrugged helplessly.

“We gave him the arm you lost earlier, I didn’t think it would be a big deal.”

“It’s so much better! The durability is off the charts and it holds and edge much more easily! Once it’s been alchemically treated it will actually have performance similar to deep silver!”

That was impressive. I knew I had been getting tougher, but deep silver was a magical metal. This was amazingly valuable, even if it took expensive alchemy and temporary amputation. It was too bad I wasn’t naturally that durable. I don’t know what Mun-gi’s kukris are made of, but I would have been a lot less scared if I was tough as magical metal. Even one as ‘weak’ as deep silver was still better than titanium pound for pound.

"I didn’t do anything different, I just lost the arm during the fight. Unless Mun-gi’s blood is somehow magical…”

Mun-gi rolled his eyes at me.

“...apparently not. Yeah, I don’t know why this would be so much better than what I normally give you.”

Mun-gi kept snickering while watching the show. Eventually we managed to calm down Brokkr rushed off to keep experimenting. The way he had acted told I was going to be dealing with him acting like this for a while. Raphina sighed while Gryphus smiled apologetically at our guest.

“Sorry about that, he’s not so bad when he isn’t so focused.”

“No no, it’s fine. It was quite entertaining. Although I think that Manto here is in danger of losing more limbs.”

The three of us looked awkwardly at each other as Mun-gi joked. Unfortunately, I probably wouldn’t get a moments peace until Brokkr got a hold of more of the ‘special’ exoskeleton. We knew from experience that he would visit at any hour of the day. He’d actually woken me up in the middle of the night once. He’d been too focused on his project to care about something 'silly' like the time of the day.

“Brokkr… It isn’t like he doesn’t care about how much popping off an arm would hurt, just so he can make another pair of bracers. He just gets so deeply obsessed with his project that it can’t seem to enter his head that chopping off limbs hurts.”

Gryphus nodded. Brokkr's eccentricities were well known.

“To be fair: I doubt there is anyone better at shaping beast materials than him.”

“Those mailcoats you two were wearing back then, they were Manto’s exoskeleton? And Brokkr made them?”

“Yup, I’ve been sort of forcing sections of my body to molt. He normally works with leather, bone and horn, but recently he’s been focused on using my shed pieces.”

Everyone nodded and Mun-gi started praising the craftsmanship. He also wanted his own set, we could tell. It wouldn’t be cheap, even if the elves were willing to sell some.

We continued to talk about armor and weapons till another person entered. This time it was one of the maids, carrying a large platter of foods. I have to say, a pretty, and clean, elf maid is a lot easier on the senses than Brokkr when he’s forgotten to shower for a couple days. The fact that she is bringing food makes her even more welcome.

The food looked amazing. It made me realize I hadn’t eaten in what felt like forever and a day. I felt like I could eat a horse. I felt like I could eat a herd of horses. I had to be very careful not to just shovel the entire platter down my gullet. Luckily, another maid hauled in a platter specifically for me. It was piled high, since they knew how ravenous I would be. It wasn’t cheap stuff either.

A massive, slightly seared pile of all sorts of meat sat on a bed of misshapen vegetables. I sniffed quickly and stuck a piece of duck in my mouth. I instantly recognized the taste.

“This is Lawrence’s cooking scraps isn’t it?”

“Yup, he thought you’d be hungry after not eating for a couple days. He set aside some for you.”

Mun-gi looked at us oddly.

“Cooking scraps?”

Raphina laughed lightly and waved a hand at the rapidly disappearing platter in front of me.

“Lawrence runs an inn here. His father came here a few decades back, looking to take advantage of the wild game and the other foods of the forest. He and his son are just as obsessed with food as Brokkr is with leather and bone.”

“They never smelled like sweat and an alchemical spill though.”

Raphina smacked her husband when he made his little comment. For his part, Gryphus looked a little abashed. I shoveled the last few peas with a claw shapeshifted into a spoon.

“Lawrence makes some of the best food in the forest, and he’s very particular about the quality. That being said, he hates waste. He makes ‘cooking scraps’ whenever there’s any leftovers. Don’t let the name fool you though, he still puts a lot of effort in.”

A couple more maids brought platters of cooking scraps in. I practically inhaled them while the others picked away at the fancier food. I did end up sharing though, mostly because Mun-gi was curious and Gryphus saw scraps from one of his favorites. It was mostly meat stripped from the bones and veggies that didn’t make the cut. Lawrence was actually pretty good at salvaging everything else.

This was a lot though, especially considering Lawrence was good at soups and stews, which would use up plenty of meat scraps.

“Is there something coming up? Why is there so much?”

“Celebration. Now that you’ve woken up all the injured are better. You are the only one who hasn’t taken your healing potion yet. The party tonight will start tonight.”

Gryphus looked apologetically at Mun-gi. Before he could speak he was cut off by Mun-gi waving his hands unconcernedly.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m not invited. Don’t worry; you may have trouble justifying letting me join in on the festivities, but it’s even worse for me. If people were to find out I celebrated my employer’s loss then my reputation would take a real dive. I’ll head out before the party starts.”

He didn’t waste time either. After finishing his meal, He packed up and left. It was weird, our only connection was trying to kill each other, but I couldn’t help but like the guy. I was sad to see him go.

The celebration was going to be great though, he doesn’t know what he’s missing. Elves really know how to throw a party.