Unfortunately, until another human dies so that I have something to study, I can’t get any more information. So, instead I start working on creating a fake energy signature that will resonate. Creating it ends up being pretty easy, but getting the right frequency takes me quite a while.

  I play around with it for a bit before a hunter shows up, this one is more like a wolf. As it takes its first step, a second hunter appears, this one is another bird type. They both head straight for the decoy, paying no attention to me or to the attacks I launch at them.

  2 Rank 3 Soul Hunters defeated! 6,000 Soul Exp gained!

  Loot: 14,290 Soul Coins, 4 Soul Crystals. 6 Healing Potions!

  The hunters disappear as soon as my attacks land on them and I look around for more. However, no others show up and a minute later I feel something try to take my decoy. It is some kind of power and it grabs at my decoy a few times before it gives up.

  It felt like it was part of this world trying to take the decoy from me, but not forcefully. As soon as it felt me resisting, it gave up and didn’t try to take it again, which is odd. That tells me that there is some kind of will controlling the power and it decided to give up.

  However, I don’t have the time to investigate right now and it may not be safe to do so. This could be some god of this world reclaiming souls and I don’t want to get on its radar. Before anything else can happen, I exit the hallway and when I do I find Lin is already up and moving.

  She pounces on me as soon as she notices me moving and we have a quick round of fun. We then rush to join Asuna and Victoria and have breakfast with them. The puppy wakes up while we are eating and just out of curiosity I offer him some solid food.

  He makes an attempt to eat it, but it seems it is still too soon, so I feed him his usual milk. He has a few teeth that have come in, but there are still a lot more than need to come in. Thinking of him teething, I make him a few chew toys while the others are eating.

  The puppy happily starts playing with them just as soon as he is done drinking his milk. I end up playing with him until the others are ready to go and have to eat in the carriage. Asuna takes over playing with him while I eat my breakfast and cuddle with Lin.

  We cross the border before lunch, but we don’t encounter any beastmen when we cross. The caravan stops for lunch, again without any issues, but we stop again about an hour later. There is a single black lion beastman standing in our path, but I highly doubt he is alone.

  As I climb out of the carriage I signal the guards to stand down and not do anything. I don’t want them to try and protect me and cause a misunderstanding with the beastmen. I walk past the guards and only stop when I am a few feet from the beastman.

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  ??? says “You are trespassing on our lands! Turn around now or you will suffer the consequences of your actions!”

  “My name is Ash and one of your tribe owes me his life. He told me to use his name if I ever needed anything. I want safe passage for my caravan.”

  ??? says “What was the name of this tribe member?!”

  “His name was Grimgar. I don’t know if he made it back alive after I freed him, but I hope that he did.”

  ??? says “He did and his name is known to me. For now, you have safe passage, and I will contact him. If you are lying, you will suffer the most painful death that we can inflict!”

  At his threat, I can’t help but growl at him and when I do he takes several steps back. Ignoring him, I return to the carriage and the caravan gets moving again. I spend the next couple of hours playing with the puppy and cuddling with Lin.

  Then the caravan stops again and when I look out the window I see a large group of beastmen. However, I recognize the beastman leading the group and have a smile on my face as I exit the carriage. This time Lin follows me out and stays at my side as I move to face the beastmen.

  Grimgar says “Ash? Is that you? You don’t look the same, but you smell similar.”

  “Yes, Grimgar, it is me.”

  Grimgar says “This new form suits you, but it isn’t your true form, is it?”

  “No, it’s not, but that has changed as well.”

  Grimgar says “Well, come on. Show me!”

  When I check, Lin has already moved aside to give me room and is smiling at me. I notice the beastman who threatened me behind Grimgar and I lock eyes with him. Then, I drop shapeshift and watch his eyes go wide as he steps back in fear as he sees my true form.

  In fact, all of the beastmen take a step back, or in a couple of cases several steps. The only ones who don’t are Grimgar and the female standing next to him, they don’t move. Grimgar actually laughs when he notices the reactions of the rest of his people.

  After letting him get a good look at me, I shift back to dragonoid form and Lin returns to my side. Once the rest of the beastmen have settled down I introduce Lin as one of my wives.

  Grimgar says “Wives huh? I know of a certain princess who is going to be extremely upset to hear that!”

  Lin says “Are you referring to Princess Seraph? Ash told me about his multiple meetings with her.”

  Grimgar says “Yes, I am. She was desperately chasing Ash! Although, she thought that he was a human adventurer.”

  “Ugh, I had forgotten about her. Hopefully I won’t run into her this time, or if I do she shouldn’t recognize me.”

  Grimgar says “Ah, where are my manners! This is Lenora, my wife. She is the daughter of the previous chief.”

  “A pleasure to meet you, Lenora. Does that mean that you are the current chief?”

  Lenora says “It is my great pleasure to meet you, Ash. Grimgar has told me all about you and everything you did for him. Yes, he is now our chief.”

  Grimgar says “Not that I deserve to be. All I did was pass on what you taught me. I really owe everything to you!”

  Lenora says “Don’t start that again! You are the chief and that isn’t going to change! Deal with it!”

  Lin laughs and says “I feel like I have said something very similar to that!”

  “You have. Well, I am just glad that you made it back to your people. I am also glad to see that you have kept working on your core.”

  Grimgar says “Yes, but I’ve hit a wall that I can’t seem to get past.”