Abyss Domination - Chapter 95

Chapter 95

Chapter 95 — The Gourmet

Translator: SaltyTank

Editor: Chrof

 The first glimmers of dawn showered the plains . Soran drove the carriage as the trio continued their journey . The road had gotten a lot rougher, and that hindered their travel speed .

 Vivian sat upright with crossed legs in front of the long desk inside the carriage . Gloria was combing the little girl's hair in front of a mirror . As Vivian's brother, Soran was not well-qualified when it came to tending to her daily needs . Vivian had to take care of herself most of the time, and Soran did not have the time nor energy to care even if he wanted to . Gloria's presence filled the void that Soran had been unable to fill—the role of a mother . Gloria always had a gentle smile, and she was now carefully tying a ponytail for Vivian .

 "It's done," Gloria said as she tied the ponytail with a pink ribbon . "Our Vivian looks just like a little princess . "

 The corners of Vivian's lips rose as she smiled gleefully . She looked at the mirror and caressed the pink ribbon .

 "Thank you big sis Gloria, it's very beautiful!"

 Vivian looked into the mirror again before muttering, "Mhm, I don't want to be a princess . A dragon will take me away!"

 Pfff!

 Gloria could not help but inwardly laugh .

 Meanwhile, Soran was still in the driver's seat while chewing on a meat jerky . He had been listening to the conversation going on behind him, and it made him relieved and glad . He turned to look into the carriage, then continued to focus on his duty as a driver . Perhaps because of what had happened the day before, their relationship was much closer now . Gloria was vastly different from other Northern witches he had encountered, and Soran discovered more and more of her good qualities as they interacted . Gloria was an elegant beauty, and her gentle smile and gaze could brighten up one's mood . She really was a nice lady .

 Perhaps her haughty attitude in the beginning had been a disguise . Even Soran himself had acted coldly most of the time to avoid others from reading his emotions . Similarly, Vivian seemed like a clever good girl to most people, but she was in fact somewhat mischievous at times . Even Annalynne, the priestess from Amber City, had not noticed her true nature . It was only in front of Soran and Gloria had Vivian acted in such a manner . Soran actually thought of it as a good thing . He had always been worried that the good girl Vivian would lack the wits to handle sudden situations, but her mischievous nature proved his thoughts wrong . If Vivian really was a Descendant of God, then having a pure mind would be fatal . It would be good for her soul to remain pure, but her mind must be aware of the deceptions and evil of this cruel world .

 There was a herd of wild goats roaming through the plains . Many beasts and animals lived in the wilderness, and a lot of them lived in groups in order to defend themselves . Normally, there would be a few exceptional beings in each horde . For example, the goat herd leader was stronger than the others and had a Monster Level of 3 to 5 . At times, goats might even clash head on with wolves . In fact, it was similar to the social construct of humans in the sense that the strong defended the weak, albeit a lot more simplified .

 The herd leader noticed the carriage and growled . It used its thick horns to urge the other goats towards the centre of the plains . While the herd leader could enjoy the best grass, it also had the responsibility of protecting the herd in times of danger . When defending was not possible, it also had to evacuate the herd using the most effective route .

 The goats were also protected by the druids . If it was just hunting on a small scale, the druids would not intervene . But if it was a large-scale operation to capture and slaughter the wild goats, the druids would stand out and defend them . Of course, the druids would also kill off the goats when their herd grew too large . After all, the druids operated on the principles of equilibrium and balance . To Soran, both paladins and druids were annoying existences .

 Vivian was reading within the carriage . The rate she absorbed knowledge astonished Soran and Gloria; she had already finished one-third of the books Gloria had brought along . Those books were not story books, but brick-like books packed with knowledge passed down by their authors . Even though Vivian was just merely memorising the contents for now, at this rate, she would surely become a knowledgeable spellcaster in the future . Knowledge was more important than spell slots in a sense because spellcasters had to understand the principles of spells before they could cast or counter them .

 The wilderness was a lot more peaceful as compared to before . Many monsters had migrated away from the region, and they would not dare intrude for a considerably long time . However, there were still kobolds and goblins scattered here and there . They were basically weed-like monsters, and the Whiterun guards could not be bothered with annihilating them . No matter how hard they tried, these monsters would still appear again in a year .

 At noon, Soran encountered a traveller . He was of a relatively rare and highly praised species in the South: a halfling . He was only around a metre in height, and his clothes were the size of children . Two shortswords hung on the halfling's waist, but they were more like daggers in human standards . He had somewhat thick body hair on the back of his legs and hands . With a thick rope in hand, the forty-pound halfling was controlling two goblins, kicking them at times to urge them forward .

 After noticing the approaching carriage, he hopped up excitedly and waved while shouting, "Hey! Hey! Can I get a ride?"

 Gloria poked her head out to see what was going on and quickly sat back down . Afterwards, it was Vivian's turn . The little girl chuckled as she whispered into Soran's ears, "Big brother! Look! It really is a halfling! He's really only a bit taller than Vivian!"

 A short, inconspicuous halfling . If he had hid himself in tall grass, it would have been really hard to notice him .

 "You guys got lucky," the halfling said while untying the restraints on the goblins . He kicked the two monsters, and they instantly fled . The halfling then stowed the ropes away and murmured, "How dare you steal my food . I won't let you monsters off the hook next time . "

 Soran slowed down the carriage, and the halfling hopped on with ease . He patted the horses and sat down besides Soran .

 "Hohoh, thanks . I've been walking alone in the wilderness for days now, and I can finally rest . "

 Halflings were better at sneaking than Soran given their innate talents . If they were bare-footed, their footstep sounds were basically non-existent as they had an innate +20 buff to Sneak .

 "Greetings, distinguished Northern witch .

 "Greetings, pretty little girl . "

 The halfling nodded as he greeted the two in the carriage one by one . He then looked at Soran who was besides him and introduced himself, "Greetings, traveller . I am Aladdin, Aladdin 'Tobacco' Derodotus . I'm a rogue and also a gourmet travelling around the world . Glad to meet you all . "

 Soran did not reply, but his mouth twitched upon hearing the halfling's name .

 Contrary to Soran's seemingly uninterested attitude, Vivian was very curious and approached Aladdin . Without asking, she extended her hands and squeezed Aladdin's cheeks . It may seem rude, but Aladdin simply laughed and allowed Vivian to do as she liked .

 "Little girl, is this the first time you met a halfling? Hohoh, that's the way we are, just around your height . "

 Halflings had mild tempers, and their species was a gentle one . They respected the deities, even weak ones who only had governance over small lakes and short streams . As such, they were a species favoured by the gods . They were also people who appreciated good food, and many curious halflings had the ambition of trying out all the tasty dishes in the world before setting out for a global journey . It was easy for them to gain affection from others, and even if they encountered bad people, they could easily escape with their skills as first-rate rogues .

 Moreover, halflings were blessed by Lady Luck, the goddess of good fortune . They had an innate luck buff, and if they received another blessing from a deity, they would get the ability Heroic Luck, which granted a +1 rating to everything . As such, they were best partners and buddies of the legend's protagonists . They would lend their aid to people whom they had acknowledged .

 Due to their short stature, they had little Strength . Most of the time, they relied on their Dexterity in combat . Over half of all halflings had below 10 Strength; the average halfling only had 8 Strength . Having 12 Strength was already considerably high for their species .

 There were not too many halflings in the world, and most of them lived in the Murdoc and Hael regions . Their population numbered around three hundred thousand, and they had not expanded their territory for millennia . Under the protection of Yondalla, an ancient and powerful deity also known as The Halfling Protector, the species had survived for countless years . They were curious beings, but they had no desire for war . If left undisturbed by other species, the halflings were beings who pursued their own interests, such as good cuisine, planting tobacco, and having parties .

 Another thing they were good at was boasting . They liked to sit down, take a deep breath of their tobacco, then start boasting about all sorts of things . That was why Soran knew what Aladdin was up to when he took out his smoking pipe next to Vivian . It was a scene he had seen many, many times before .