Maybe I had underestimated the effect of levels, just a little bit. To me, Luna was just a cute kid, not scary in any way, shape or form. For the people at Apple Gate Farm, Luna was a cute kid, with the aura of a being able to squish most of them with ease, giving an impression almost on par with their strongest fighters. Only, she was also that cute kid, the dichotomy playing happy havoc on their impressions.

It got to the point that Luna was so scared and creeped out by the initial reaction that she started to hide behind me, making me consider the best way to protect my munchkin. To either blur out Luna’s presence by projecting my own aura as much as possible or to physically hide her in the shadows, similar to the way I had done on Mundus. Sure, I had yet to gain the Twilight-Rune, meaning my only option would be to use actual shadows and turn her into a small blob of shadows, but it might be better than the looks she was getting right now.

“Well met, Lady Morgana. Who is your new companion?” one of the female guards asked me, the tone respectful, maybe even a little reverent. Sadly, I had no idea who this guard was, so I could hardly greet her by name as she had done. I might have seen her in the past, but I simply couldn’t place her, nor did her weapons ring a bell. She had a staff in one hand, though she didn’t look like somebody hitting things with a stick, and was clad in a relatively heavy coat, though nothing I would classify as armour. Simple survivor-garb, though my instinct told me that this wasn’t just a weakling, not strong but also not weak, possibly in a level range similar to Luna. This might be why she treated Luna like a child, not like some sort of shape-shifting monster. Or her instincts sucked, which was also a possibility.

“Well met?” I replied, hoping that it was the right response. It was a greeting I hadn’t heard before, at least not in the real world. There had been some jokers in games using something along those lines, but I could hardly recall the context or anything but the simple words.

“This is my daughter, Luna,” I placed a hand on my charge’s shoulder, gently moving her next to me, “I’m afraid I do not recall your name, you will have to make your own introductions,” I added, raising an eyebrow in question.

“It is Jenny, Lady Morgana,” the woman gave a bow, her demeanour confusing me just a little, as was the title I was given. Sure, I had gained the Pale Lady title, but these people couldn’t know that could they? I would have noticed if they had used an Observe-variant strong enough to find out titles, of that I was almost certain. Unless they had somebody with fairly advanced abilities, both in information gathering and concealment. A fairly creepy thought, somebody like that could quite easily find out everything about a person, in far greater detail than anyone sane would be comfortable with.

“I’m afraid I’ve been away from this area for quite some time. Could you tell me the best way to contact Mark, is there some sort of chain of command or messages installed or should I just shout and hope for the best?” I asked, realising that the farm had really changed these last few weeks. A town, indeed, with multiple relatively simple buildings centred around the original farm. Large, almost barn-like buildings, though I was relatively certain by the size of the doors that they were some sort of bunk-houses, providing living space for the hundreds of people now inhabiting this place.

“We have a desk where reports are gathered and compiled, so that information can be distributed to the various groups hunting out there. But if you want, I’m sure Mark will receive you now, it depends on your needs. Can whatever it is wait until morning?” Jenny suggested, the previous deference even stronger now. It was starting to worry me just a little before I realised that I had subconsciously pushed out a little more of my presence than I normally would while trying to shield Luna. Maybe this woman simply used deference and decorum to handle a stressful situation.

“It is not immediately important, though it should be handled in relatively short order. It all depends on the people here, we came across a few packs of enemies around level forty, they fled after we destroyed their primary hub, now we have little idea, or interest, where they might roam and what they might do,” I admitted, noticing how her eyes widened when I mentioned the levels involved.

“A few packs… around level forty?!” Jenny asked, her voice stumbling as she tried to get the words out, “Could they have followed you here?!” she started to frantically look around as if the monsters would jump out any moment.

“As I said, they fled after we destroyed their primary location. On our way back, they haven’t even tried to engage us, the few times I noticed them in the distance, they immediately fled. It’s possible we caused them a bit of mental trauma, conditioning them that challenging us is a swift way to the grave, even if we rarely bother burying them,” I shook off her concern, relatively certain that the Withered wouldn’t try going after us. At least us, the group that had smashed the park and decimated their forces beforehand, now that the guiding force behind them was gone, their behaviour had markedly changed, especially when it came to their combat tactics.

“Would you like to stay? I’m sure Mark would love to hear what you have to say, the entire council would want you to stay,” Jenny quickly suggested, sounding just a little bit desperate. Looking up to the sky, I estimated how long it would take for the sun to come up, comparing that with the time we’d need to reach the nearby brewery, even if we remained cautious and careful.

“I’m afraid that we’ll be returning home. It’s been quite a while since we’ve been there, though I’m sure the dogs will have made sure nothing untoward happened to our place,” I grinned, only for Luna to pipe up.

“Mhm, Mum, the dogs assured me they’ve guarded the den well,” she added, shyly looking around the area and at Jenny.

“And yet, the dogs only kept an eye on the outside, I doubt they tried to unlock the doors to get inside. So, we should head home, especially given that I’ve got to set up a room for you, Luna,” I ruffled her hair, drawing a small squawk of protest.

“If you could write down what you know about those packs, I’m sure Mark will be grateful, we all will be,” Jenny asked, moving towards a desk placed under an overhanging roof, with a single lamp sitting on top of it. There were quite a few papers, pens and pencils, some of which she immediately pushed towards me.

Writing felt a little weird, it had been quite some time since I had actually done so. Mostly, I had used Runes, or given lessons while my pupils had written down what they felt was important. Still, while my handwriting had definitely suffered, I was able to quickly pen a legible summary of the different forms of Withered, even including the size of different packs we had noticed. While I had no idea if the Husks would be able to command the normal Undead, I had a feeling they could, though I had no idea about the possible radius.

Either way, with the information I had given them, the farm should be able to ward off a pack of Withered Hunters, if those even tried to come here. It would be interesting to see how they would develop from here, as a created existence that had lost its original purpose. It made me wonder what would happen if Lia started to create Vampires willy-nilly, before letting them loose upon the world, how would they spread?

Maybe I should talk to Lia about her own instincts. Humans were, at their core, biological machines evolved to multiply and from that biological core-imperative sprung humanity and everything that entailed. Too little fur to withstand harsh climate? Start developing clothing. Bad insulation in the caves, or too few caves to go around? Start building houses. Hands too weak to kill your prey, or to break some shell? Use some rocks, or sticks, and start making tools, all for the survival of the family. Family-units unable to cope with the predators, or maybe unable to bring down prey? Start forming larger communities and give people specialised roles in them, starting civilisation.

All for the continued survival, but what about Vampires or Withered? They didn’t multiply like humans did, though the argument could be made about Vampires. How would that lack of a fundamental, biological imperative change their development?

Sadly, I doubted I’d be able to study them, there just wasn’t enough time.