"Welcome back, Sir!" Shion called out to me after I returned.
"I have great news!" I exclaimed, "In my world, there may still be living beings. There is even one incredible bonus: once there, they stop perceiving me as a disgrace! It's not clear yet if there are any other bonuses or not, but I think we'll figure it out over time!"
"Master, since we've prepared everything, it's time to move out!"
With that, we set off north, following the indicated route on the map! While we were walking, I decided that I should still name my inner world! Otherwise, it's somewhat inconvenient to call it internal or something else. Honestly, I'm really bad with the names. Therefore, let it be "Iridan", in the last world, I kind of heard it in some game, but I don't remember which one.
Half a day later, we were still walking through the same forest, the scenery of which did not change in principle, and it was already beginning to be bothersome! We hadn't met anyone other than various spirit beasts of different ages. I fought some of them, which allowed me to hone my abilities even better. Shion fought with others, but it ended too quickly because of the too great difference in strength!
And now four more days had passed when we were able to notice the first signs of strangers. In some places, we noticed makeshift barbecues left over from the campfire, and logs lying around them. This made us very happy, as we would finally be able to find out at what time period we had appeared. Personally, I think it's better to be in Tang San's period, it's safer than at a time when Tang San considers Douluo his court!
"Shion, I'm going to try to hide your horn now so that we attract less attention! If we meet people or get into the city, tell everyone that I'm your mount!!"
"Sir, but how can I. I'm your secretary and assistant, I can't do that. Rather, I should be carrying you!" she exclaimed in denial!
"Don't argue, it's safer this way! And also try to create illusory soul rings from inner energy. I think that because of the laws of this world, you should be able to do it pretty easily, " I replied to her exclamation in a tone that brooked no objections!
"Good!" she replied softly, sitting down in a meditation position!
At this time, I began to concentrate my illusory power to direct it at Shion's horn it from the outside world. In principle, the horn does not interfere much, as there are defective souls or their mutations, which can lead to the formation of soul masters, such as tails, horns, ears, or something else.
By directing my energy at her horn and imagining what I wanted to achieve, namely the disappearance of the horn, I saw how very slowly the horn seemed to be wrapped in an invisible film that distorted perception. After a few seconds, this film wrapped her horn completely and began to absorb the external force to anchor and maintain itself, which allowed me to stop feeding my energy.
Just when I finished, Shion slowly opened her eyes, causing the faint outlines of nine rings to appear under her feet. These rings slowly began to acquire an increasingly saturated hue and materiality. They had the most optimal configuration: two yellow, two purple, four black and one red
"Young master, everything is ready, we can move on!"
"Okay, let's go find a human settlement!"
With that, we moved on. A few hours later, we came to a more open area on a hill. The view was of a small village. It was quite small, probably about forty houses. This made me excited, as I would finally be able to get more information about the world around me!
Approaching the village, we were stopped, apparently by a local guard:
"Stop, identify yourself!" he said sternly, pointing the spear directly at me, but there was fear in his eyes!
"How dare you..." In anger, Shion began to unleash her murderous intent, which made the man turn white and his knees begin to tremble! But I gently brushed her with my tail and shook my head, stopping her!
"I... I'm a wanderer, traveling through the content in search of new experiences," she answered him, more calmly. "And this is mine... my tamed beast," she pointed at me.
By this point, quite a lot of people, if not all the villagers, had gathered near the entrance to the village. Adults and young people looked at us with fear, and children, on the contrary, with great curiosity. Some children even pointed at me with their fingers while their parents tried to stop them, and whispered among themselves:
"Look how huge and fluffy..."
"Oh, he has such cool tails"
"He's probably very soft"
"I want to stroke!"
Oh, children, the most naive creatures! There were even some brave souls who knew no fear and dared to stare at Shion with excitement, especially at her huge bust. Well, let's wish them a painless death if this doesn't stop!
"Okay, come in, but I really ask you not to disturb our residents," the guard answered Shion, barely stepping aside!
When I entered the village, I approached Shion, and very quietly so that no one could hear, but from the outside, it seemed as if she was adjusting something on my neck, I told her:
"Shion, find the headman here and try gather as much information as possible!"
With these words, I pulled away and carefully lay down in the wasteland where my carcass fit! I was watched Shion walk towards a group of people standing near the well when I heard a rustle behind me out of the corner of my ear. Turning my head, I saw a group of children standing a little distance from me, but watching me with incredible interest!
One very brave boy decided to attempt a feat, and with his head held high and his chest stuck out, but with trembling knees, he slowly moved towards me! The other children stood aside, watching the scene with admiration and fear. Coming right up to me and looking into my eyes, he stretched out his hand, which trembled violently with fear and excitement, to touch me.
Well, since I wasn't a monster or a beast - well, there was really no way to look at it - I lowered my head and touched my nose to his palm, which made him flinch. But just a moment later, he became indescribably delighted and began actively stroking my muzzle, even trying to touch my fangs!
When the other children saw that there was no danger, they ran as fast as they could to different parts of my body. They started to stroking me and bury their faces in my fur, and some particularly brave ones even tried to climb onto my back. However, they had to catch them with their tails, as they fell, but this led them to even greater delight, as they experienced the sensation of flying!
"Okay, I'll play with them for a bit," I laughed to myself, starting to play with the children!
The rest of the locals were horrified and shocked at first, but when they saw that everything was fine, they calmed down. At that time, Shion had just found the headman, after which they went into a hut, where Shion began to ask him about various things.
It's so good that I have wonderful hearing and can hear what they're talking about from here!
"Tell me, please, who is your headman here? I would like to ask him a couple of questions," Shion asked as she approached the group of people
"Beauty, I'm the headman! My name is Jack! Let's go talk in my hut, I will try to answer all your questions!" an old man's voice came from somewhere to her side!
"Thank you, Elder Jack!" Shion said, following him to an old small hut.