Lyra moved quietly through the thick and dark forest. Bare feet landing softly on grass and mud, as she moved in the direction of the sounds. She was not afraid of the forest anymore, not now when the monsters who made their home here stayed clear of her out of fear. But these voices, what could they be? Were there actually people here? The only way to get any answers, was to check for herself.
With her superior hearing, she had picked up on the sounds from quite far away, probably some 500 meters at least. Now that she was getting closer, she realized she had a problem. She had no idea what these different voices were even saying! She could hear them quite clearly now, a plethora of voices, and make out individual words and sentences. But it was all just a foreign language to her. Frankly, it sounded like gibberish.
By the time she was within the 200 meter range, she could smell the smoke. She slowed down, and eventually came to a halt when she was 100 meters away from the source of the voices. What would she even say? Would they be able to understand her? What did she even want say to begin with? She stood there in the shade cast by the massive boughs, her hands balled up into fists. Why was she so nervous all of a sudden? She had lived here for 9 years just fine without anybody but herself. And her previous life hadn't exactly been a very social one either. So why was she suddenly so keen on making contact?
Her brows furrowed, and she looked down at her feet in the grass. It's not that she was lonely, surely? No, no... she had promised herself, that she would be the agent of her own life. She was just being curious, about the world, and the humans who lived here, that's it. No need to overthink anything. She took a few deep breaths, and pulled the wool cloak a bit tighter around her. Then, she moved. Slow and deliberate footsteps, silent as the coming of night. She saw a light in the forest, just up ahead.
She got down and all fours, and crawled nimbly over the forest-floor the last bit of the way. She peaked out from behind a thick bush, finally spotting the owners of the voices. A few dozen or so humans, clad in metal armors, knights or soldiers by the look of things. They were setting up camp. Some were pitching simple tents, others gathered firewood for the campfires, while the majority seemed to be patrolling the perimeter of their little makeshift camp. One man was shouting orders, and it was his voice she had heard first. A gruff looking man with fiery red hair, middle-aged. He had some sort of armband around his right arm, likely based on his rank. Beside him stood another noteworthy person, clad in different armor than the rest. His armor was golden, his helm the shape of a lion, and his presence was... different. He was not a common soldier, Lyra mused. Even the one barking orders, never once raised his voice towards this golden warrior.
She watched them in total silence, fascinated by their discipline. Then she had an idea. Maybe she could use magic to translate their words for her? She recalled, 9 years ago, the Goddess had said the summoned heroes would instantly learn the languages of all friendly races. Since she refused the title of summoned hero, it stood to reason she would have to learn all languages the old fashioned way, but surely she could be permitted some cheating? If the Goddess could just gift language understanding to the heroes, then it stood to reason that there was some magic she could create that might help her too.
So, she gathered a bit of mana to her, then used her "Magic Creation" skill, trying to create a spell which would, while active, translate any unknown languages for the caster. A few seconds later, and the "Translate" spell was finished. It would cost 100 mana per hour to maintain, but seeing she had over 20,000 mana that wasn't much of an issue for her. So, without further ado, she cast her spell on herself, relishing in the small victory! However, her victory was shortlived, as a woman in robes and wearing a funny hat suddenly emerged from a nearby tent and hurried over towards the one giving orders and the golden warrior.
The woman then pointed in her direction and Lyra felt a chill running down her spine. Had her casting magic suddenly given away her presence and position? A second later, she had her answer, as the one barking orders barked more orders:
"Sentries! Check the bushes over there! Our mage said she felt some magic coming from over there just now!"
It was funny, she still heard the words as just gibberish, but suddenly she could still understand the meaning behind them. And the meaning wasn't good. Of course, she had never really been around people before, so she had not realized casting magic could be sensed by others, but now that she knew, she blamed herself for being so thoughtless. Truly, she ought to have been more careful. Then again, it didn't have to be a bad thing, right? It is not like she had planned to be hidden forever, after all.
Thus, when two soldiers in armor approached her bush, she opted to rise and show herself, holding her hands up in the air. She wasn't sure if this was a universal gesture of surrender in this world, as it had been in her old one, but thought it wouldn't hurt to show her hands. The two sentries in turn seemed shocked as they saw this figure rise, and suddenly the entire camp was in disarray as even more people came running her way, weapons drawn!
"Identify yourself! NOW!" one of the knights shouted, pointing his spear at her. Which is also when Lyra realized there was a flaw in her plan. She still couldn't speak to them. For that, she'd probably have to make another spell. But casting magic now, with all these weapons pointed at her, would likely just make the already extremely nervous knights even more nervous, to the point they might attack. Naturally, she wasn't that scared for her own sake. She knew her stats were extremely high. But that didn't mean she wanted to fight the first humans she'd ever come across either! As she was pondering her conundrum, the other knight jabbed his spear in her direction, shouting another order: "We said, identify yourself! Or we will attack!"
Lyra realized time was running out. She looked around for a second, and noticed both the Golden Warrior and the "Mage-Lady" heading over in this direction. She gulped, then pointed at herself, looking at the knights, as she said: "Lyra"
One of the knights with the spear seemed to relax just a tiny bit. "You're saying your name is Lyra, correct?" he said, to which Lyra nodded frantically. She was thankful she at least was able to understand them, with her spell in effect, but the fact she didn't speak their language was quite a hurdle still. By now, the Golden Warrior, the Mage-Lady and the one who had barked orders had arrived, though they kept a respectable distance, seemingly quite weary of her. The knight with the spear spoke again: "Who do you work for, why are you here?"
Well shit. How was she supposed to answer that?! She furrowed her brows and thought really hard for a few seconds, but in the end, she got nothing. She looked up at the knight again, pointed at her mouth, then made a big X with her fingers, only to say, in English: "I don't speak your language."
The knight looked confused, and glanced back at his superiors: "Any clue what she just said?" he asked, only for all of them to shake their heads. However, the Mage-Lady raised her voice, directing a question towards Lyra: "Do you understand us?"
Lyra frantically nodded her head up and down. The Mage-Lady continued: "But you cannot speak our language?" to which Lyra nodded again.
"Are you sure she isn't just nodding to anything you say?" the Golden Warrior said, humorless, which prompted the Mage-Lady to ask Lyra: "If you actually do understand me, raise your right arm."
At this point, Lyra felt less like a threat and more like an animal at a zoo, but not wanting to escalate anything, she raised her right arm, albeit with a pout on her lips. This seemed to make the dozen or so knights that now surrounded her relax even further.
"Oh, would you look at that." the Golden Warrior said, raising an eyebrow.
"How is it you can understand us, but not speak our language? You are not mute." the Mage-Lady said, her interest piqued.
Lyra considered for a moment, but figured the knights were relaxed enough she could attempt some magic, in order to explain. So, she used her already raised right arm, held out her palm flat, then conjured a bit of raw magic, and pointed at it.
The knights immediately stiffened and looked ready to bounce, but the Mage-Lady seemed somewhat sharp. She raised a hand, halting the knights, and asked: "Are you saying, you are using magic to understand us?"
Lyra nodded again, thankful there was someone sharp present. The Mage-Lady then leaned in to whisper something to the Golden Warrior and the superior of the Knights, which resulted in a few back and forth whispers. However, being an elf with big ears and superior hearing, she was able to pick up on these whispers as well.
"If that's true, then she must be an Archmage, at least. Translation spells are not easy." the Mage-Lady whispered.
"She could also just be lying. Could be a spy sent by the Empress to check up on me, or worse, threaten my life." the Golden Warrior had whispered back.
"You really think she'd send her own people into the Oberon Wilds, Your Highness?" the Mage-Lady responded.
"Well, she did send us..." the Knight-Superior added in hushed tones.
All of this was, of course, nothing Lyra really understand. So, while they were busy whispering, she instead created an "Area: Translate" spell which cost a whopping 3000 mana to use, but which would translate languages for everyone within its radius for 8 hours. Without wasting any time, she used the spell, and everyone felt a pulse of magic suddenly reverberate throughout the camp!
The Knight with the spear immediately sprung to action, jabbing his spear at her with deadly intent, all while shouting: "We are under attack!" However, Lyra was far stronger and faster. She caught the spear with her bare hand, and broke its tip, shattering the metal into pieces, to everyone's shock and horror! But before they could retaliate, she shouted: "I am not your enemy!" and this time, it seems everyone understood her.
The Mage-Lady gasped, her eyes widening, and even the knights and their superior seemed taken aback. "Wait... she just... said something really strange but I understood it..." the Golden Warrior said, and others responded in turn. "Me too." and "Here as well..." rung out from the knights.
Choosing to de-escalate, Lyra sank down to her knees, making herself small, as she said: "I apologize for the spell, but I had to cast an area translate spell, to ensure you can understand me. I truly do not speak your language, forgive me."
"Area Translate? I have never heard of such a spell..." the Mage-Lady said slowly. Then she added: "But it is obvious it exists, since we now also understand you. This is remarkable..."
"Right... now then, who are you, and what are you doing here?" the Knight-Superior asked, sticking strictly to business, as was befitting a man of his station.
"I am Lyra, and I... well, I live here? Not here here, but in this forest." Lyra answered, truthfully. However, this only drew out numerous laughs from the many Knights around, and even a snicker from the Golden Warrior, who retorted: "You, living here, in the Oberon Wilds? Oh please. That's impossible."
His attitude frankly put Lyra off. She had just spoken the truth, no need for him to be rude! But, she didn't want to make enemies, at least not yet, so she tried to keep her cool. She said: "It is true, though."
"And I am telling you, it is impossible. This place is home to some of the most dangerous monsters in all of Atlas. No one can live here." the Golden Warrior retorted. Lyra sighed, somewhat irritated. The Mage-Lady stepped in to try and diffuse the tension, and said:
"Miss, this is the Oberon Wilds. It is one of the most hostile places on this continent. We do not mean to call you a liar, but it just seems very far-fetched, is all..."
Lyra appreciated her candor, at least the Mage-Lady tried to be nice. She responded in kind: "Yes, well, it may seem far-fetched to you but it is the truth. I swear I did not come here with any ulterior motives. I was just curious because I have never seen humans here."
There was a long stretch of silence. The Knights looked at each other. Then, the Golden Warrior spoke up: "You... speak as if you are not human?"
Ah. Lyra had totally forgotten she was still wearing her wool cloak and hood. Slowly, she raised her hands and pulled back her hood, revealing not only her fair visage, but also her long light-blue hair and, naturally, her long and sharp elven ears. As she did, a gasp coursed through the crowd of knights, and even the Mage-Lady and Golden Warrior seemed taken aback. The crowd of knights murmured amongst themselves:
"It's an elf!"
"Look at those ears..."
"Not just an elf, but a female elf too!"
"I've never seen a female elf before..."
Which is when Lyra realized... she may just have done something extremely unwise... once again...