When Sara returned to Loki's room, she thankfully came with a set of clothes for him to wear.
"Can't have you wandering around the village naked," she smirked, "no matter how great a sight it is,"
"Excuse me?" Loki said, pulling the pants up.
She just gave a low giggle, checking him out as he got dressed. She'd been there when they brought him into the village, and he was unlike anything she'd ever seen.
He looked human enough at first glance, but once you got a second look, it was hard to ignore the unnatural glow of his solid emerald green eyes set in black sclera. It was clear that he belonged to a powerful race from the quality of anima that surrounded him, but of a kind she'd never heard of.
His skin was a deep chocolate color, and he had long swept back ash-gray hair with stubble along his jawline. He was quite handsome –no, beautiful was more accurate—, with an androgynous appeal. Although he wasn't very muscular, he was fit, tall and lean with a solid build and strong frame, and as for his manhood... she found it a challenge not to stare. He looked young, possibly in his late twenties, but it was hard to tell. She figured he was no stranger to conflict, from the way he quickly took in his new surroundings, then instantly focused on her as a possible threat upon first waking up.
When they had tried to appraise him earlier, she was shocked when the attempt had been rejected, all that came out was a list of unknowns. Even though they'd used a rare 8th-grade appraisal item, not even the barest minimum of his information was available and she didn't know what to make of this.
He was a mystery that Sara was quite interested in solving.
"So, what now?" Loki said, now dressed in a simple tan shirt with black pants and work boots.
"The village square," Sara informed him, "we couldn't appraise you, but I'm confident I'll be satisfied once I get a peek at your stats there."
"Aren't stats supposed to be private?" Loki asked
"I've found that a certain degree of transparency is needed to build trust between people," She said, "especially after I let you stay in my spare room,"
"This is your house?"
Sara nodded, "we're just a small village, we don't have an inn."
"Alright," Loki shrugged, "but you could've just asked me."
"So you would've answered me honestly?" Sara asked, "about what you are?"
"Sure," Loki said, "I'm an open book,"
He had figured that their earlier appraisal on him had failed thanks to his skill, [Faker], a passive skill that not only blocked attempts to view his stats without consent, but could also falsify his information... how did he know that?
She studied him intently for a few moments, then asked, "so, what race are you?"
"I'm something called a titan," he replied, "a fallen titan, to be exact."
He didn't lie, but he didn't need to tell the whole truth so soon.
"Okay, and what's your level?"
"I checked after you left, I'm at level 2," he replied, slightly embarrassed.
Sara chuckled, "see, I knew you'd lie,"
"What?" Loki asked, "lie about what?"
"No way are you a level 2," she accused, "that's for newly awakened users, and you have way too much anima for that."
"I really am level 2," Loki defended, "my race must just have a high anima capacity."
Sara looked at him, "are you telling the truth?"
"I am," Loki said. Unknown to him, a green aura appeared around him.
Sara had just used one of her skills, [Veritas], on him, and as far as she could tell, he wasn't lying... or he didn't believe he was lying, at least.
"Alright. I'll trust you, for now." She sighed
"Thank you," Loki nodded
"C'mon, let's go."
As they walked out of the cottage that was Sara's home, Loki got a good look at the village of Rondel. It was quaint, the kind of place where everyone knew everyone else, like one big, extended family.
As they approached the village square, they met two young girls. They resembled Sara, and looked similar to each other. Stranger still, Loki felt like he'd met them before.
"Hey mom," one greeted.
They both looked identical; with the same olive complexion, round face and dark brown hair, but one had blue eyes and was dressed in an off-white sleeveless blouse and blue skirt with sandals, while the other had green eyes, and she was dressed in a pale yellow sundress.
"Loki, these are my girls; Tetra and Petra." Sara introduced, "them and their friends were the ones who found you,"
"Well then, I owe you a debt," Loki bowed his head, "who knows what could've happened to me, passed out in the middle of a forest."
"I'm glad you're feeling better," the twin with the green eyes, Petra, nodded, "and you look better with clothes on,"
"Speak for yourself," her sister with blue eyes, Tetra, muttered
"Girls, this is Loki," Sara told them,
"Nice to officially meet you," Tetra said, shaking his hand.
"We were going to meet the chief; we need to discuss Loki's situation."
"Well, some of the other elders are already gathered there," Petra said
"So much for the quiet, private meeting I was hoping for." Sara sighed,
"We were on our way home to let you know." Tetra said,
"Were you eavesdropping again?" Sara chided
"Only a little," Tetra admitted
As Sara was talking with the twins, Loki silently observed her.
Sara with her mature figure, and the eye-catching way her swaying hips and wagging tail called attention to her shapely rear when she walked in front of him. She was quite curvy, with wide hips and a generous busy, but she was also very muscular, as he'd noticed when they first met. She was definitely a seasoned warrior, but she also had a softer side to her that was warm and maternal, and he found that very intriguing.
"Fine, we'll discuss this later," Sara growled, "for now, let's get this over with."
They arrived at the large meeting hall in the middle of the village. Inside was quite spacious and well-lit by glowing crystals. At the far end of the hall was a raised stage, on which sat an altar of some kind.
Below the stage was a table with an elderly minotaur in casual clothes, the village chief. Around him were five other villagers that wore the same broach that Sara had.
"Ah, elder Clawthorne," the minotaur man said, warmly, "thank you for bringing him here,"
He then shook Loki's hand, "Welcome, Nex Loki," he greeted, "I am Maes Hutter, the chief of Rondel village,"
"I thought it would just be us here," Sara said pointedly,
"Well, the others wanted to voice their concerns."
"You mean their paranoia?" Sara corrected.
"We have lived on this land for generations, yet never knew a vault existed deep within the forest." One of the other elders chided. "Its sudden and unprompted opening is a serious cause for concern for our people."
"Which is why I was going to discuss investigating the vault before we report it to the authorities." Sara retorted, "my militia could benefit greatly from this experience,"
"A new vault is a great boon to the region," Maes said, "but there are many unknowns that pose great risk to our village," Maes said
"I believe it would be wiser to have actual adventurers conduct the investigation of the new vault," An elderly rabbit-woman advised, "they are more experienced with the dangers of the vaults, and know what to expect."
"Still, it would take about 10 days to send word to Nüjaven, and about another week for any kind of response to make its way back here," Sara countered, "in the meantime, the vault it open to the world, attracting monsters."
"It may be prudent to have the militia conduct an initial survey of the vault interior," Maes mused, stroking his beard, "that way, when the adventurers do get her to properly investigate the vault, we will have useful information for them."
Sara nodded, "The militiabis a little stretched thin right now, with the increase in monster activity, but I'll see what I can do."
The other elders begrudgingly agreed.
"Now, onto other matters," Maes said, turning to Loki, who was standing off to the side, with the twins.
"Yes. We have been informed that you came out of that vault soon after its opening?" The rabbit-woman queried, "we have a number of questions about that,"
"You and me both," Loki shrugged, "I have no memories prior to being released from that vault."
"And we are sure the vault is genuine?" Another elder asked,
The others looked at him,
"We've all heard legends of the vaults," he defended, "they are relics from an ancient civilization from eons ago. Nothing can enter them until they decide to open, yet he was the first thing to step out of that vault as soon as it's doors parted. Do you really believe anyone could survive that long inside such an enclosed space? Should we not also speculate on whether this vault may differ from others in more ways?"
That sparked discussion among the elders, with them either agreeing or disagreeing with that argument.
"If that is true he would have to be hundreds of thousands of years old, at the least" the rabbit-woman elder interjected, "I know users age slower as our level increases, but still... how high would his level have to be for him to be that old?"
"Actually," Sara added, "he claims to be just at level 2."
Thus sparked another round of arguments among the elders.
"Well then, why not have him confirm this claim, and any others?" The rabbit-woman demanded, "let the terminal vindicate him."
The elders murmured and mumbled among themselves as Loki looked confused.
Terminal? What was that?
"Very well," Maes relented, "Nex Loki, to ascertain the unequivocal truth, we ask you to stand before the terminal."
"Uh, okay?" Loki replied.
Sara guided him towards the stage and in front of the alter, on which rested a tablet made of a dark stone with golden circuits engraved on its surface.
"What am I looking at here?" Loki hissed to Sara,
"That's the village terminal," Sara said, "it allows us to access the Anima System."
"You access the system through this?" Loki asked, skeptically.
Sara was once again intrigued by his odd response. Terminals were artifacts that allow system users to access the full features of the system. Through them, users can check their status, search for information, even send messages over cast distances, as well as perform dozens of other system-related functions.
It is believed by many that terminals were gifts from the administrator, the controller of the system and supreme deity of this world, and because of this, terminals are considered sacred relics.
"Terminals were some of the oldest relics to come out of the first vaults, hundreds of thousands of years ago." Sara explained "they are also one of the few relics that can be successfully reproduced outside of the vaults."
Loki inspected the odd device before him. He wasn't familiar with the design, but the fact that everyone seemed to treat it so specially probably meant they couldn't check their statuses automatically like him, and could only do it through this device.
Following Sara's instruction, Loki placed his hand on a circular pad in the middle of the tablet, marked by circuits, the circuits glowed, then Sara did something, and it projected a large holographic screen showing his basic information for all to see;
[STATUS]
Name: Nex Loki
Race: ??? titan (fallen)
Sex: male
Karma: neutral
Condition: wary
Jobs: N/A
Affiliation: N/A
Level: 2
Tier: ???
HP: 100.00%
Anima: 100.00%
Points: 50pnts
"Huh," Loki huffed, it seemed that his [Faker] skill was still in effect, masking parts of his stats.
"He really is level 2?" Someone exclaimed
"What are all those question marks?" Another elder asked, "I've never seen anything like it,"
"Alright, Loki, thank you for your candidness," Sara said, "now I would like to make use of the terminal too."
Loki backed away and let her stand before the odd device. When she placed her hand on it a screen popped up, but not a normal status screen, it looked like some sort of search engine.
"What is a fallen titan?" She asked, the words forming on the screen as she spoke.
A second later, the screen changed as the system gave her the result.
[FALLEN TITAN: Information Restricted! You are not authorised to access this knowledge. No further inquiry will be tolerated.]
"Damn," Loki whistled. It seemed the system did have information on his kind, but it was unwilling to share.
He intrinsically understood that the fallen titans were a subgroup of the titan race that were considered tainted in some way. He wouldn't be surprised if their skills and capabilities were somehow downgraded.
"I don't suppose you could tell us about your odd race?" Maes asked
"Sorry," Loki shook his head, "I don't even know what makes me a fallen of my race,"
"It was worth a shot," Maes sighed, "in any case, we welcome you to our quaint village. Elder Clawthorne has agreed to foster you until you can properly support yourself."
Loki turned to Sara, who just gave him a smirk,
"I think we can adjourn this meeting," Maes declared.
* * *
Elsewhere, beings were conversing.
"Someone just tried to access forbidden knowledge through one of the old terminal devices," one being stated
"And what recourse has the Administrator decided on?" Another being asked
"Strictly observe, for now." the first being said,
"But the Fallen One recently emerged from a vault in the same area as this forbidden inquiry," the other being protested, "he is surely involved. We should act while he is still vulnerable."
"There are more pressing concerns than the Fallen One right now," the first being mused, "and we may yet have some use for him while he is still diminished."