(New chapter!)
I was surprised at her appearance, but using [Appraisal] immediately alerted me. I just wasn't sure if she was the 'suck the life out of you' type, or the 'guardian of the forest' type of dryad, but she was definitely stronger than the goblins and orcs I've faced so far.
"For such a beautiful woman, of course I can make time. Just give me a moment to dress myself." I smiled and absorbed my sword. While I was talking, I had Saul order me some clothes for me. The carapace bandages already act as a shirt of sorts, and I luckily still had my Captain's Haori that was currently wrapped around hobu-Mi in my stomach.
『Understood. Deducting 100sp』
"My name is Treyni, a Dryad, and manager of the Forest of Jura. May I know your name, sir?" she asked as she watched me curiously.
I removed the scraps of my old garments as I checked over what Saul picked for me. It was cheaper to buy a full shihakusho then the individual pieces, so Saul purchased a Reiatsu based uniform in the form of a ring. When powered with my reiatsu, it takes on a predetermined shape. It also apparently comes with two additional slots aside from its base outfit.
The outfit chosen by Saul was Ichigo's post-dangai bankai shihakusho. Despite being a part of Ichigo's bankai, the system was able to replicate it perfectly. Now, so long as the ring is unaffected, I won't have to worry about my clothes being so destroyed they are unable to repair themselves like the previous set.
I retrieved the ring from storage and placed it on the middle finger of my right hand. After injecting my spiritual power into it, a film of black reishi covered my body before solidifying into a sleek black shihakusho with a red lining on the inner robe. The black kusode (outer robe) was connected in the front near my abdomen rather than overlapped like traditional shihakusho.
Luckily the carapace bandages were quite thin, despite their remarkable durability. According to Saul, they were similar to my new clothes in that they were an expression of my reiatsu. That meant I could probably learn to dispel them, but now wasn't a great time to experiment.
Throughout the whole process, Treyni watched curiously and seemed slightly impressed by both myself and the never before seen device I had used.
She patiently waited for my reply as I wore my new clothes, so I smiled and answered her truthfully. "A pleasure to meet you, lady Treyni. I am Orion Anvindr, a recently evolved Slime Lord, and current guardian of Gobu-Ji's goblin village. Perhaps you could tell me your purpose in coming here?"
Although I was more than willing to speak with this beautiful fairy, I also had other obligations I needed to meet. Treyni smiled at my courteous introduction and nodded towards my straightforward question.
"Of course. I had detected a massive influx of magical and spiritual energy and thought it might have something to do with the missing Storm Dragon. After reaching out to my sources, I pinpointed this as the location of the disturbance."
I nodded in understanding as I looked at all the different trees and plant life surrounding us. "I see, you probably already know then that that was a precursor to my evolution, a baptism of sorts as I understand it."
"A baptism? Are you perhaps not of this world? The only ones I know of who undergo such a thing are otherworldlers though... I've never heard of an otherworlder monster." She still had a look of curiosity rather than hostility.
That was a slip that Veldora had warned me about. This might make things harder from here on out. I withdrew my sword and prepared myself for a fight as both my mana and spiritual power began to broil.
Treyni became serious feeling the power I was emitting, but still slowly raised her hands in a non-threatening gesture. "Please don't misunderstand, Sir Orion. I have no ill intentions. You had just piqued my curiosity. I will not pry further into this issue if you do not wish me to, nor will I share this information with others. I promise you on my title as manager of the forest."
I looked her over, carefully observing her. Her nigh translucent gown was somewhat distracting, but in the end, I wasn't able to notice any signs of deception or ill will from her, so I lowered my weapon and kept it by my side.
"Well, now that you've seen what you wanted, is there anything else I can do to help you?" I asked politely, trying to reduce the tension between us as I retracted the pressure from my energies.
Treyni sighed in relief and lowered her arms. She was no doubt powerful enough to take me without my Soul Eater abilities, but I had more than a few skills that would terrify spiritual entities like Treyni was when she was away from her tree.
"I'm glad you aren't unreasonable, Sir Orion. I have one more question as part of my duties as manager, do you mind?" Seeing me shake my head, she continued. "I was also just informed that you battled a group of thirty or so orcs with your companion. They are part of a force invading this forest and leaving destruction in their wake. I hope you can allow me to question them with you."
I thought about it for a moment deciding to accept her offer pending a condition. It was unlikely that she would be working with the orcs, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
"Promise me that you are not working with the orcs, or against me and my village. Otherwise, you're on your own."
Treyni surprisingly showed a disgusted expression, but still nodded before raising her hand to where a human heart would be. "I swear that I am not working with those vile pigs and that I have no ill intentions toward you or your guardianship."
"Great!" I was satisfied with her oaths and smiled behind my bandages, even if she was unable to see it. I waved my hand and used [Descorrer] to open a pathway towards my stomach and removed hobu-Mi, her belongings, and the ten remaining orcs.
They were all still unconscious, so I decided to use this time to dress hobu-Mi in her clothes though I continued to allow her to wrap up in my haori. No way I was going to let those orc bastards peep on her later.
"You seem to care about her a great deal."
I nodded. "I hurt her in the past, and I want to make it up to her. Hobu-Mi reminds me of a cute younger sister, and it pains me a bit to see her grieving..."
"Do you regret it?"
I thought for a moment before shaking my head in denial. "I did what I needed to, and that came at a cost. Although I willingly paid it, that doesn't lessen the pain I and others feel because of it."
"It's good that you acknowledge that pain but don't get hung up over it. It takes that sort of strength to become an excellent leader. Sometimes you have to make bad choices, but you need to own them and not make excuses for them." she said, sitting beside hobu-Mi and I.
"Have you had to make such decisions?" I asked curiously after hearing her talk about leadership. After all, she was the manager of this forest.
"I have made many painful decisions over my lifetime, some that I regret and others I'd repeat in a heartbeat given the same situations."
After that, we sat in silence for a few minutes before a question reappeared in my mind. "Hey, Treyni, you're a dryad, right?"
"Yes?"
"Well, where I am from, there are two types. The first is a standard guardian of nature, while the latter are life-stealing monsters that use their roots to devour people or use their human forms to suck men dry. I was wondering which you were, or if dryads were completely different here."
Not hearing a reply, I looked over and surprisingly saw Treyni with a shy blush as she lowered her head to the max.
"I-I, no, dryads come in both variants. Some use monsters and humans to boost their prowess, but others like myself try to develop their own parameters until they meet their destined partner.
I examined her translucent dress once again from up close this time. "That sounds...lonely."
Treyni thought about it, then shook her head. "I have my duties as the manager as well as my younger sister to look after. We have a different relationship then you and your 'sister,' though," she said, looking at hobu-Mi. I guess she heard about what I did.
"Sounds tough. If you ever wish to relax, come see me. I'll give you a wonderful massage that will help you to relax." I gently pat her shoulder. "I was told I was really quite good at it."
"Huh? Y-your hand didn't go through me?" Treyni was startled that my hand landed squarely on her shoulder. I guess as a high-level spirit, she was used to being able to choose what she interacts within the material world freely.
"Hmm? I'm sorry. Should I not have touched you?" I asked quite curiously. I already had a strained and complicated relationship with hobu-Mi. It wouldn't be good if I left a poor impression on this beautiful dryad too.
Treyni held her shoulder still shocked for a moment before she returned to her usual curious, happy self. She looked at me and smiled, seeing my hesitation, "It's okay, Sir Orion. No need to fret. I just wasn't expecting you to be able to interact with spirit form, that all."
She then looked at the others still unconscious on the ground then suggested, "I believe these little ones have passed out due to exposure of the energies here, no? If so, they would wake up sooner if we removed them from this environment."
I thought about it for a moment and then agreed with her. I stood and then turned to help the lady off the ground. I held out my hand to her, confusing her, but she still took it, so I gently pulled her up.
Not suspecting such a thing, this buxom lady nearly fell into my embrace, but she quickly stopped herself at an appropriate distance by placing a hand on my chest.
"L-Lets collect the others and head somewhere else, shall we? Perhaps your village?" she asked as she took a step back.
I smiled and used [Devour] on the orcs. The same black funnel as before appeared, sucking them into my palm and depositing them in my stomach. Then, I lifted hobu-Mi into a princess carry and started the trip back with her and Treyni.
Along the way, I asked Treyni a bunch of questions about the forest and her life here. She was surprisingly more than 300 years old, so I dare say she has aged quite well compared to someone like Gobu-Ji, who is only 20 years old.
Treyni was also one of the protectors of the treats in this forest. They were a race that barely moved and lived just like ordinary trees. Opposite of dryads who took the form of females, the treants took the form of men. This is why you rarely heard of dryads attacking men in the forest, apparently. Aside from remaining around the treant to protect them, most dryads and treants coupled together. There were a few like Treyni and her sister on both sides who waited for their special person, but their section of the forest was frequently filled with orgies of tree spirits and occasionally one of their neighbors, the elves.
I looked at Treyni worriedly, "It must be hard on you."
"Not really. You probably don't know this, but as a high-level demi-human monster, I can control myself a fair bit better than the lesser creatures of the forest. I wouldn't go into heat unless I encountered the right person.
Even then, it is unlikely to be some irresistible urge. We demi-humans women, myself, and the girl in your arms included, even have the ability to reject the seed of those we deem not to be worthy of us so long as our partner isn't overwhelmingly more powerful than us."
I paused, they have natural birth control? "Wow. That's quite handy. It could have prevented a lot of tragedies in my world..."
"Oh? Is this not an ability of all demi-humans?" she asked curiously.
I shook my head. "Where I come from, depending on where you are from and what race you are, you were treated very differently. Humans had developed into advanced civilizations with a mixture of magic and technology. They took advantage of weaker races while they were oppressed and used by stronger races.
The elves early on were forced to retreat to the depths of their forest. Because of their beauty, their men and women were frequently captured to become high-class sex slaves. They were often forcefully bred producing mix-breeds with the humans, which were in turn, reviled by their elven brethren and left to suffer the indignities among humans.
Other races we're no better, treating humans as warm meals or cheap sex slaves...
Ah, I'm sorry Treyni, I didn't mean to go off on such dark topics." I smiled wryly.
"No, although sad, it is fascinating to hear about your world, Sir Orion." As always, giving me a cheerful smile as we continued walking and talking.
Along the way, I discovered a small group of giant, chicken-like monsters. [Appraisal] identified them as C-ranked cockatrice. Treyni warned me that the monsters were quite toxic and could breathe fire. Despite that, their eggs we're considered a delicacy, and each was large enough to feed four or five human-sized individuals.
I used this chance to practice with my Zanjutsu with my Asauchi. I used flash step to move in front of one, before again darting behind another. This caused the first cockatrice to roast the other. I quickly avoided the flames and used my blade to cut the throat of the first cockatrice.
Despite supposedly having metal like plumage, my blade easily cut through its neck and reaped its life. I mean that quite literally since after killing it, I could feel my sword absorb all of its soul and vitality as it refined it and passed it on to me, increasing my stats.
It was surprising, so I used a separate thought process to consult Saul about what was going on while I continued honing my skills on the cockatrice.
'Uh, Saul, has my [Celestial Devourer] skill upgraded, or is that the ability of my Zanpakuto?'
『Affirmative. Law seed detected in zanpakuto. Identified as Law of Avarice. Your Zanpakuto appears to have similar abilities to your innate ability [Celestial Devourer]. I advise you to keep experimenting and learn the extents of this ability, Orion. Devouring the souls of others may also help your Zanpakuto to awaken.』
'I see. Are you alright, Saul? You have been a bit quiet lately.'
『Hmph. Don't worry about me, Orion. Focus on your fight and those women...』
Saul sounded a bit aggrieved, but I had no idea why, so I continued battling the fire breathing chicken snakes. The chickatrice threw me for a start seeing the large but adorable monster. It had power over the element of ice and continuously launched ice spears at me. Unlike the cockatrices, though they lacked the toxic flesh their larger kin had.
According to Treyni, chickatrice legs were also quite renowned for those strong enough to deal with them. With that, I went to town, slaughtering the cockatrice and a few chickatrice while absorbing the rest into my stomach to be cultivated for later. If I could domesticate these animals and harvest them, they would occasionally, make for a delicious meal for the others and I.
Treyni held onto hobu-Mi for me and aptly defended themselves from the occasional fireball, coming out wholly unharmed.
Like that, a hobgoblin, a dryad, and a slime lord walked back to the village, causing a considerable commotion.