Chapter 14B (timeskip)

As soon as we left the safe zone of the forest shrine I leapt up on a tree. My claws helped me onwards from there, little pixels flaring off the tree trunk as I climbed higher. I surveyed the area as soon I reached the first branch some twelve meters up. It wasn't a great view but still better than below where shrubs and my short stature limited visibility. The general lack of beasts up here was nice too. They mobs on this floor were really just a nuisance to me now but still a hindrance to my search for the jewel.

"Where'd your pet go Sachi?" asked Keita.

"Up there," said the blond boy, pointing me out faster than I was comfortable with. He must have some perceptory talent.

I was still a bit rusty on some words and my altered ears made parsing speech even harder but I knew I didn't like the sound of 'pet'. Just because I looked a little different didn't mean I wasn't human. Hadn't they called me an npc as well? It was a weird thing to say when the bar above my head should have immediately shown I was a human player. Unless… yes, it was probably glitched. It would hardly be the first glitch I'd run into while racing ahead of the other players to content that wasn't fully prepared yet. Annoying that I couldn't check and prove my guess wrong or right though. The bar above my head, whatever it currently looked like, was visible to everyone except me.

I growled as I noticed that another of the group was pointing at me. I wasn't some animal in the zoo to be made spectacle of. I was working hard to end this stupid false existence Kayaba trapped us in, didn't I deserve some respect for that despite my many failings?

I nearly slipped off the branch as another possibility occurred to me. Maybe it wasn't my ears and claws they were staring at. It was a sad fact that even as I found better and better armor with each floor, the coverage of the armor pieces paradoxically decreased even as the armor points increased. It was beyond logic as to why a V-neck belly shirt and shorts would provide more protection than the long-sleeved tunic I'd worn on the first floor. The shorts weren't even leather, just some poofy, frilled nonsense that inexplicably provided 55 armor points. And the top, well, I wasn't at all happy with the way it seemed to amplify my bust. If I didn't know better I'd even think the stupid things were growing.

I took a step back on all fours, allowing the wide branch to hide more of my body. I hadn't really worried about any of this recently and had just done what was necessary since I needed the armor to continue progressing and the only humans I'd met were npcs that weren't truly alive or programmed to point and leer. It was a shame I didn't still have my cloak. It had been both comfortable and concealing before it decided to melt into my body after I defeated Beowolf, the floor 14 boss. I would have picked up another by now if I wasn't vaguely worried that with my luck it would end up giving me a tail.

Two of them were chuckling now over something the blond said. I supposed it was a joke of some sort but I didn't understand the humor. Regardless, I was pretty sure it was about me. I wasn't fond of being laughed at and intended to do something about it. For the first time in months I was going to vocalize my displeasure with words. Then they'd either stop calling me a pet or I'd leave immediately.

"Sssnoff!" I shouted, not at all impressed with how it came out. I already knew there was no way I'd sound like myself, but even if I couldn't sound like a fourteen year old boy was it so much to ask to at least sound like an intelligent teenager? Apparently it was, since all that came out of my mouth was something like the cough of a dog. I didn't have muscle memory to aid me in this virtual space, just an unconscious knack that I'd taken for granted. Small pattern changes could cause wild divergences once processed through the VR helmet.

Before anyone could make fun of my voice the group was interrupted by a giant turkey. It was one of Kayaba's more annoying foibles, putting little jokes like bottles of soy sauce and sunny, heavenly lakes right alongside the hellish dungeons. These stupid overgrown turkeys were everywhere on this floor to feed the inhabitants' ridiculous obsession with Thanksgiving Day. It was like some perversely gravy-dipped groundhog day, npcs repeating the same festival over and over and over again. I couldn't deny that meat tasted better than ever since I got my ears and little fangs but even a part-wolf could still only handle so much turkey. By the end I hadn't been sorry to leave this floor behind me.

My claws scratched at the branch, itching to get to work. It was odd just watching the battle unfold instead of just immediately dispatching mobs myself. Normally there wasn't anyone for them to go after rather than me. I considered jumping down the join them but they seemed to be handling themselves well enough. They were going at it rather slowly though considering their opponent was basically just a giant brick with little attack power. The occasional mega-peck could deal some damage I supposed but it was child's play to dodge it. Well, for me anyways.

Observing as they switched off and worked to keep it surrounded I soon decided that my gut instinct was correct. While they were indeed winning, they weren't doing it very quickly. The girl, Sachi, was apparently supposed to be one of their damage dealers. Unfortunately she was so cautious that she rarely got in a good hit on the giant turkey. On top of that she was so flinchy whenever the turkey turned her way that their forward had to move out of position to cover her. I knew this was only the twelfth floor but she should have been better than this by now, either that or dead. Hopefully she just had a phobia of turkeys and wasn't always this bad.

It had to have been the group that kept her alive, I realized. Not that grouping together seemed to be doing anything good for their experience gain. Did it always take this long for groups to battle? Unless I was feeling out the weaknesses of a new species or hacking away the multiple health bars of a field boss it rarely took me over a minute to dispatch creatures. It was like by grouping together they amplified eachother's flaws. The damage dealer that couldn't attack, the tank that was better specced for solo play than actual heavy tanking, the leader with no tactical knowledge, and the "rogue" type player that hadn't bothered to acquire a ranged weapon to assist properly. But they were still fighting Kayaba in their own way, I supposed. It was a long way to the 100th floor, they could even end up fighting alongside me then. Hopefully along the way they'd pick up some better combat skills though.

They defeated the turkey at last, drumsticks flying out everywhere to land in the group's inventory. It was moderately interesting to watch them fight and then rejoice at their victory. Sort of like the television shows I vaguely remembered watching a lifetime ago. It was time-consuming though, and I had important things to do. Every moment I tarried in searching for the gem was another moment that everyone wasted inside this game, away from the real world.

'Troublesome,' I thought to myself, dredging up the word from half-buried memories. They were troublesome and a waste of my time. It would be best to just get on my way.

"Hanyou-chan, do you want a drumstick?" called Sachi.

My gaze immediately snapped down to they sat around a small campfire they'd started. The scent of cooking turkey wafted up to my sensitive nose. My nose wasn't as powerful as my wolf ears but the slight upgrade it carried was enough that I picked up all of the turkey's delectable scent. I'd grown tired of the meat during my time on this floor but that was quite some time ago. Perhaps it was time for another helping.

I dropped out of the tree, one clawed hand scraping down the trunk to slow me down so that when I landed not even a single point of health would be lost. Ignoring their startled looks I settled into a crouch by the fire, legs tucked against my chest to cover all that I could from their gazes.

"That was a good job alerting us to the turkey," said Sachi. I was unwilling and unable to explain that I'd called out to them for a completely different reason prior to the turkey attack so I simply huffed irritably. She smiled at me anyways.

Maybe the group was troublesome but if it meant that I'd get my first hot meal in weeks then it was worth it. Besides, it was said that solitude could drive a man crazy. A little time around humans might help preserve my sanity. It would be detrimental to my progress after all if I started acting irrationally.

-
Fyi, these lists aren't always up to date, more just a general feel so that I can sort of keep track of things.

Skills:

Sprint lvl 435 (+31% top run speed)

Martial Arts lvl 378

Dagger Mastery lvl 350

Throwing lvl 260

Acrobatics lvl 372

Items:

Blue-steel throwing needles

Random daggers

Leather armor

Fenrir's Cloak

Overall level: 43

Agility: 168

Strength: 43

Health: 47 (530 HP, +1.7/second (+5.5/sec while resting))

***
More chaps up on Lycelia for those who want to read ahead.