"Uh, I don't know if Keldin is a good pseudonym," Chila quietly states while Kindle wears her armor and relaxes in the back of a carriage alone with crates full of unknown objects that the caravan they're traveling with owns.
Kindle is more focused on the blessing that is daylight, no longer traveling dungeon halls and able to admire the wheat fields of Avento. "I think it works well enough. It's an amagram, sure, and it's not a real name, sure, but I'm sure I can just be labeled a foreigner."
They pat their pouch rhythmically to the beat of the bardic song they heard earlier in the Serda Dungeon Guild Office, a nice tune they enjoyed hearing while turning in a decent pile of weapons scavenged from the Undead in the dungeon, getting a decent amount of CIL from it. "Besides, they'll know me by how the Hero last saw me, masked and cloaked, not in a menacing set of armor."
Chila sighs, though Kindle's well aware that it's an entirely deliberate sound made by "Vocal Mimicry." Despite her concern, she too is enamored by the outside world. "I'm almost glad I have no memories of my past life, I-I really like this view."
A bit of quiet as they both watch the farmers work the fields, and the horses of the caravan guards trotting behind and ahead. "Kindle, I forgot to ask, what's Servache like?"
Kindle shrugs, straightening a bit when they do. "Your guess would be as good as my own. They're a small kingdom of Vampires, though they've behaved well enough to be a part of the Grand Star Council, which I guess is the treaty of the continent's nations that worship the Goddess of Light, or something."
Chila jitter around Kindle at the movement, as if not expecting it. "O-oh, so they might also want you—I mean, us dead? And we're still heading there?"
Kindle nods, unconcerned. "They're currently on bad terms with the other nations apparently, overheard it from one of the other Divers while we were in the office." They glance their focus further down the road, where the other carriages roll forwaes ahead. "It seems they're being lumped in as siding with the Calamity, and we might as well use the trouble they get to head to the Rageda Cliffs, since there are stronger monsters there."
Chila hums in acknowledgement, but still shivers slightly. "As long as you know what you're doing. I would... not like to die."
The lands of Servache aren't all that different from Avento or Elion, though the town of Cenadan looks far different than the other towns and cities Kindle has been to. The infrastructure is designed entirely different, no small structures or anything that would expect renovation often. The houses and shops are made of stone and metal, with the interior design of the shops seemingly made to be replaced easily. The streets are no different, finely set, heavy stone bricks that look as if it'd take excessive force to break, and the path of the streets seems to be made for efficiency throughout, marking it a town built with permanence in mind.
Much of the townsfolk wear fine clothing of deep colors that compliment their pale skin, and much of the actual product offered in the stalls and stores looks to be for wealthier folk. Chila, still being worn by Kindle, remains quiet, though the way her armor shakes subtly does not hide her interest. Kindle basks in the ambience of the town as they walk, many of the citizens looking oddly at the heavily armored fellow in their midst and avoiding them.
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"It makes sense," Kindle notes, looking at a stall offering some apples that are larger than others they've seen. "Vampires don't die unless they starve, and there isn't a massive amount of them, so they'd obviously have more personal wealth and have more time to perfect their jobs and such."
They keep walking, observing the few children that bite into their own apples from the stall, the fruit far juicer than expected. "Though, I do have to wonder, do younger Vampires age, and if so, do older Vampires do so as well?" The kids blink in shock when they see the large, menacing armor pass by, though Kindle pays no mind.
Chila whispers quietly, only loud enough for Kindle to hear. "Y-you're wondering about their biology when so many of them are staring? I thought we would be able to keep out of trouble..."
Kindle slumps their shoulders a bit as they continue their stroll, even the guards tensing up. "Admittedly, with how the people in Serda didn't seem bothered by us in this state, I assumed it would be similar here. I guess I was... mistaken."
The two head into an inn to not stay publicly roaming for long, with the innkeeper's eyes widening as they watch a stranger in honestly threatening armor approach, only for them to glance at the sign and plant some CIL onto the counter. The inn is fancy, comfortable with pretty carpet and decor, only making their figure stand out even more. "A room for a night, please."
The innkeeper's focus dances between Chila and the CIL, their face to pale to pale further, before they take the CIL and put a beautiful golden key on the counter and meekly say "r-room 203, s-sir."
When the enter their room, larger and more comfortable than expected, Chila immediately dismantled her form around Kindle to reform herself separately. "Now what? We're just going to hide here for a night then leave?"
Kindle sits on a chair nearby, the cushions submitting only a little under the weight of their dense bones. "Well, I think we're better off not being so close to civilization, if even Vampires will be wary of us based on the appearance of your armor." They sink a bit further, dissapointedly. "I quite like civilization, it's interesting. But I also like being alive, so I doubt we have much of a choice."
Chila sits on the bed carefully, and while the frame does creak abd matress folds up a tad, it doesn't break, much to her relief. "Are we still going to go to the Rageda Cliffs?"
Kindle nods. "It's not a populated area, so we'll have few encounters, and they likely won't have as much wariness about our—" they stop, their skull flicking over to face the window.
Before Chila can query, Kindle jumps up from the chair, slamming the window open and creating a pale-blue spell circle aiming at seemingly nothing. Before they can even cast Ice Lance, the spell circle breaks, leaving Kindle slightly confused, though they remain near the window and slowly turn their head like they're following something, before they finally close the window and curtains.
Chila remains quiet for a moment, then has a bit of a panic. "W-what was that!? Don't scare me like that for no reason!"
Kindle grabs their travel pack, tossing to the confused Living Armor as they speak. "Someone was watching us, they were invisible. We should go."
Chila stands, still confused, but wrapping around kindle with the travel pack on their back. "Stalking us? W-we've only been in town for an hour at most! How'd you even see them if they wers invisible?"
Kindle opens the door, heading down the stairs of the inn. "My ///World Eye/// Trait sees through invisibilty, so I saw them through the window. Either way, now we might as we assume people will know your armor, so we should get out of town as soon as possible." They plant the room key on the counter, the innkeeper tensed up until Kindle and Chila are out the door.
It's only minutes later that they're completely out of Cenadan, heading towards the mountains.
NAME: CHILA
SPECIES: INCOMPLETE MANAS ARMOR
SEX: N/A (FEMALE)
XP: 125000/690300
AP: 0
HP: 1280/1280
MP: 1000/1000
SP: 1340/1340
CON: 128
AGI: 128
DEX: 128
PER: 100
INT: 100
BRAWLER KNIGHT (B)
JUGGERNAUGHT (C)
EXPERT ARCANIST (A)
BASIC BARRIER MAGE (D)
///BIOLOGICAL IMMORTALITY///
///DISCONNECTED BODY///
///MANA ABSORPTION (D)///
///SOUL ABSORPTION (E)///
///PHYSICAL RESISTANCE (B)///
///MAGICAL RESISTANCE (C)///
///ELEMENTAL RESISTANCE (B)///
///NECROTIC RESISTANCE (A)///
///LIGHT RESISTANCE (D)///
///MANA SENSE (D)///
(+3 MORE)
