"You understand animals, but they should have like, souls" I say.
"But I still get them Tero. I can't explain it. Like I can tell you that the lion here thinks he can take us in a flight"
I look up at the lion man for a second, only to be greeted with his snarling teeth.
"You dont need a power to figure that out Jane" I say, trying to deflect my anxiousness into laughter.
"Whatever Tero" Jane responds.
I couldn't tell if she was nervous or not, but I was leaning on her not being.
As time dragged on, it became an awkward wait, and I couldn't help but look into the village as we did.
From what I could see there were all sorts of animal people in there, playing, laughing, and enjoying themselves.
It only took a while longer for an older looking goat man to walk up with the tigers assistance.
He gave us a look, then seemed to wave us into their village.
While I was still contemplating it Jane acted before me and walked ahead.
"We shouldn't just walk in Jane"
"As opposed to what?"
"I don't know? I'm just saying"
It wasn't like we had been in this situation before, you would think a little caution would be in order?
But still, I followed after who I could only assume is the chief of the village.
Walking though the village was nice, the constant sound of musing and chanting filled the air, and the people seemed to have a vibrancy that humans didn't.
Weirdly, I couldn't find a single NPC here.
Currently my assumption is that their introduction into this world was completely different than ours.
After walking for a bit we ended up near a large bonfire, beastmen of all descriptions sat around it, some hugging and very close to each other, others alone or playing music.
The elderly goat man was helped to sit down by a woman who seemed to imitate a bobcat.
Jane sat somewhat close, and I followed.
"So, were both humans right? Do you understand me?" It was a longshot considering I wasn't a hundred percent sure I was speaking English or any language from earth anyways.
It was one of the things that the system made very difficult to verify, because no matter what language you spoke on earth every human was able to communicate perfectly.
Sadly I only saw him tilt his head at me, probably questioning what I was saying.
"Just… say something. Anything. Like, uhh. I am Tero" I say, slowly and pointing at myself.
The man nods and points to himself after.
"Gunther" He says.
"Jane" Jane says, also pointing to me and saying "Ambasiter"
After giving her an odd look she clarifies to me.
"Maybe they can understand me as well"
It did seem to make them nod a bit, but still our conversation didn't progress much.
With that I was at a loss, so I started to look around their village and close my eyes.
Expanding my mana from myself to use a trick called mana sense, something I could only really do now that my mana reserve was so large.
It would allow someone to sense everything within your sphere of influence, but came at a cost.
If someone wanted to attack you with a curse or a hex or something that targeted your mana itself, you would be extremely susceptible.
Not to mention the cognitive overload of understanding everything within an area.
Still, I was using it to analyze part of the village.
I was picking up on a good bit of the everyday conversation.
People saying simple things like "Come here", or "I'll buy that".
It was slow, but with my intelligence as high as it was I was able to make some connections easily.
I could start to understand sentence structure, some nouns, and some verbs.
It wasn't more than what you would learn in the first week of a foreign language class, but it was a start.
After a few minutes of doing that and enjoying the sounds of the village I put my hand out for the man.
I was pretty sure of one word, and it was a good word to start off with.
"Friends"
[Accept Race Quest?]
[All Under Heaven: As a sign of the changing times and diverse world, interact with another race in the world of Tetracil 3/100000. Learn the language of another race in Tetracil 0/10000]
[Reward: Layer capacity increases by 100x, Global chat will include all races, Capital city Expansion and access to the Human Capital City's governance system, upon completion the quest Imperium Sine Fine will be ended for all members of your race]
[Accept Race Quest?]
[Imperium Sine Fine: This world was meant to be ours, everyone else is secondary. Slay a member of another race inhabiting Tetracil 0/1000.]
[Reward: Layer capacity increases by 100x, Global chat will include all races, Capital city Expansion and access to the Human Capital City's governance system, upon completion the quest All Under Heaven will be ended for all members of your race]
What a quest…
And one of them was so much easier it was shocking.
To have ten thousand people learn a new language, or to kill a thousand randoms…
I could see around me as every beastman looked to there systems, including the elder.
The tension was overflowing as every eye was on us.
I could feel Jane tap my back.
"Say something mr diplomat"
"..." The stress was too much for me, and now with so many eyes on me I was sweating.
It was only when the elder got up did I snap back to reality.
All eyes were on us, and I could feel magic starting to be riled, but that was soon halted as the elder started to sing.
A very deep tone echoed from his voice as the sound carried a deep power to it, exiting the mana in the area.
I could feel the wind pick up, the grass around swaying as more of them sang.
For all the stress I was under, it seemed what I said was noted by them as the village started to erupt further in song and dance.
The meshing of sounds southed the soul and carried the weight of my shoulders.
For a moment it felt like being in the fields of peace again, and everything was simple.
I felt as Jane took my hand from behind, pulling it away a little.
It took me a second to look back at her.
"W-what?"
"A girl never invited you to dance before silly?" She says, smiling at me.
I could feel my face flush as my heart rate spiked.
"In the middle of this all? Is that… Is that okay?"
"Stop worrying Tero. This is a party! Let's have some fun!" She says, guiding me into a dance.
Before long it wasn't just us, a large circle around the fire formed, singing and dancing for what felt like hours.
It was a hypnotic feeling, watching her, being in such a place with her.
By the end of the night the sun was long gone, and the fire was burning lower.
Jane slowly brought me aside, to a quiet little corner of the village.
Just sitting there, she laid her head on me, and we slowly laid beside each other while watching the stars above.
"Hey Tero?" She says softly, looking up from my chest and into my eyes.
"Y-yea?" I say, stumbling over my words like a moron.
I could see her smile widen though.
"Are you going to?"
"Going to?"
She gave me a single laugh, pushing forward and pushing her face near mine.
I could feel her breathing; her body on top of mine.
I had no idea what to do as she looked me deep in my eyes for a few long moments before kissing me deeply.
My heart slammed against my chest.
Not even my body knew what to do in this situation.
The only thing I could do was embrace her, feeling along her exposed back softly.
She was so soft, so precious.
Right now there was nothing in the world more that I wanted than her.
"I-" I try to squeak out something, but I can't.
Instead I hug her tighter, and she does the same.
And on the most magical, surreal, and amazing day of my life.
We fell asleep under the stars.
Together.