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I had a new mission and that was helping the squirrel-folk!
But what were the squirrel-folk anyways? I had sometimes seen creatures that were like people but had animal features in popular games and movies that I often saw during the commercials on TV.
I remembered that the commercials for this game also featured people with animal ears and tails, and they called them beast-folk, as I saw that in the beginning when I could pick a race.
Hmm… The quest also said they were the descendants of Rata… Rat… Ratatos… Ratatoskr? Who is that? I didn't really know. Is he supposed to be another lore character I didn't know about?
Ah, whenever. Once I finished playing today, I'll take a break until tomorrow and investigate a bit more about this game on the net.
"Guide spirit, what are squirrel-folk?" I asked the helper, as we moved towards the direction the red arrow was indicating me. "Are they beast-folk?"
The guide spirit looked at me with his two large and round eyes. Those eyes seemed to be filled with some sort of disappointment now written all over his face. …Is it okay for an A.I. to look at a person like this?
"You don't even know that? Well… beast-folk are people that are closer to beasts. They're also closer to nature. They come in all shapes and sizes and can be either human-like with just some animal features to completely beast-like but that have several human-like features instead, the squirrel-folk is…" said the guide spirit. "Ah, maybe I shouldn't spoil it for you? We are almost there, look."
The guide indicated to me something, he pointed out at the far left from my side, as a different view greeted our sight. Right at the side of another crystalline river, there was a small village of houses that were atop the tall trees, they were all made out of branches tightly stuck together, and then covered in plants, and mud.
I had never seen such houses aside from those old documentaries of aboriginal tribes in the Amazon Jungles of Brazil… I was quite an enjoyer of world's documentaries. I remembered that the people that lived there made houses like these.
"Oh, a village atop the trees! …Wait, how am I getting up there?" I wondered. "Is there a way?"
"Hmm… Just climb." Said the guide. "There are a few branches here and there, you could make them the support to climb…"
"Ah… This is going to be a bit difficult. It has been years since I climbed a tree…" I sighed. "After I had my daughter, I really lost a lot of my fitness… My husband spoiled me too much with sweets he always brought after work…"
"Whatever you are in real life doesn't matter! This is a game, as long as you keep your satiation meter high, you can do a lot of stuff." Said the guide. "Come on, just give it a try, you can keep trying endlessly…"
"Oh… Okay then… I will trust you."
I looked upwards and saw no single soul in the treetops. Perhaps all the squirrel-folk were inside of their houses sleeping because they were feeling sick?
I moved towards the nearest tree which had several small branches and was weirdly shaped, and I attempted to climb it…
"Hoop! Ahh… T-This is a bit hard… Huh?"
I continued to move upwards, but suddenly I realized I was strange! It felt as if my hands were sticky and got stuck into the tree. What was this? Was I secreting sap? Well, I was some sort of plant person after all, so that was possible!
Ah, this reminded me of spiderman's powers, the guy who climbed such areas like a spider did… My husband loved those movies, they were the last movies I ever saw with my husband and my daughter together, so they hold a special place in my memories.
"How odd, I am climbing easily!" I said. "My hands are sticky…"
"Oh? Ah! I guess Dryads can climb trees easily? Must be another feature of the Spirit of the Forest Skill." Said the guide spirit. "It does say that it aids you at adapting to any terrain in the forest."
"Being a Dryad is not so bad, see?" I asked. "Every Race has its perks!"
"Yeah, yeah, but there are better Races out there…" said the guide spirit. "You could have chosen Dragon Kin to have immediate Fire Breath and Scales for both offense and defense, or Demon to have very powerful Dark Magic!"
"Eeeh? But I got Green Magic, that ought to be nice, right?" I asked. "Ah, we are here…"
I easily climbed a fifteen-meter-tall tree like nobody's business. I really felt like I had regained my youthfulness! I found myself atop the large and thick branches that interconnected the trees. There were large bridges made of wood that were used by the beast-folk here to walk from tree to tree, apparently.
And I also could keep perfect balance as I walked atop the tree branches! If it were my normal body, I would be having a very hard time balancing myself…
"Good job, you're better than I thought. You still had some techniques at climbing that were useful," the guide spirit said.
"Yeah! Now… let's go to that house over there, maybe we can find someone there," I said.
I moved through the branches and ran towards the house. It lacked a door but had red-colored cloth covering the entrance, so I excused myself and moved them aside to enter the very dark place.
"Excuse me… Is there someone here- UWAH!"
"GROAR!"
The first thing I saw as I entered was a mass of… I can only describe it as a mass of darkness.
It had the shape of a rabid… wolf? Or something, and it now glared at me with furious, red-shot eyes!
"W-What the heck is that thing?!" I asked.
"D-Damn it! A Dark Beast!" said the guide. "Quickly, evade its upcoming attack!"
"A-Attack?!"
"GRAAO!"
The wolf made of darkness leaped towards me, but thanks to the guide's help, I preemptively evaded and squatted down into the ground. The wolf jumped straight out of the tent, crashed down into the branch, and then fell down into the 15-meter big fall.
CRASH!
"I-It fell? Oh?"
I suddenly found a creature that was hidden beneath the bed of the house. It looked like an actual and adorable, brown-colored squirrel, it had the size of a child, and he trembled fearfully.
"…!"
"Don't worry, the evil dark beast fell down to his death, so stand up, come out," I said. "I am not evil, I swear."
"W-Who are you?!" asked the tiny squirrel, as it came out of the bed.
"I-I am a Dryad! The Tree of the Beginnings sent me here and- Ah, you're so cute and fluffy!" I said, as I began to pet the big squirrel with my hands. Its fluffy fur was soft and warm, it was very cozy to touch, and I felt the urge to squeeze it with a hug…
"A Dryad?! Really?" he asked, he seemed to have the voice of a young boy.
"Yeah! Anyways, why were you with that thing? Are the other houses having the same problem?" I asked. "That's a bit dangerous, what if they get eaten?!"
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