[color=ed1c24][center][h2]Akeno[/h2][/center][/color]

It was a good thing that the Orcs at the entrance to the camp didn’t press her about how the cat snake had gotten as burnt as it had, because she had no intention of answering that question and had a feeling that wouldn’t go over too well. She wondered if they just hadn’t expected any of the runts to eat anything while they were out hunting, for them to just obediently do as told and bring back the first creature they managed to kill as soon as they killed it. That seemed pretty naïve, but maybe young Orcs were actually that keen to follow commands when they weren’t hijacked by the souls of humans from another world.

Or maybe not all Orcs could absorb the skills of the things they ate? Her memories of the conversation she had with the goddess before being reborn was starting to get a little fuzzy, like it had happened months ago instead of… days? Weeks? Maybe it had been months. There was a period there where she still hadn’t quite become herself again, where she really was just a regular Orc baby before remembering who she was. Whatever the case, she remembered the goddess saying that they would be given some blessings but could only remember the part where they could understand all languages and something about having a closer connection to the ‘system’. Nothing about copying skills from what they ate. So was that a regular Orc thing? Or something only they had?

Until she figured that out Akeno would opt just not to say anything, a decision that was reinforced when the head warrior gave her a suspicious look on seeing the burnt offering. He didn’t say anything despite the look though, which either meant he didn’t care or that he was shrewder than the gate guard and that she would need to be careful around him from now on. At least for now she was done with the hunting quest and was back in the camp, though now she had to figure out what to do next.

Another quest had appeared to give her some direction for that at least, though she wasn’t sure how happy she was that video games pop-ups were now dictating her life choices. Be at the training circle tomorrow, find more food, find shelter or take an optional quest; the first was easy enough and was something she’d probably do even after meeting the other requirements, acquiring food and shelter was also something she would need to do regardless and the optional quests, which she interpreted as just doing odd jobs for people around camp, might help her get those things.

There was also another level up, which Akeno wasted very little time thinking about before choosing to take more HP. More magic would be useful, especially since it seemed like she couldn’t use too many fireballs before running out, and the extra skill slot was tempting since she didn’t even think to consider that those might have been limited in the first place. HP was HP though; Akeno liked being alive and more health would make it more likely that she continued to do that. Simple choice.

With nothing better to do for now Akeno began walking around the camp, trying to get the lay of the land now that she was free of the brood pit so that she would know where things were in the future. Along the way she kept an eye out for anyone who looked like they had some kind of trade or purpose in the village; blacksmiths, tailors, cooks, doctors. For one thing it would be useful to know where she could find the important people in the camp, but those Orcs were also the ones most likely to be able to give her jobs or things to do. In particular she wanted to keep her eye out for anything that looked like a kitchen, canteen or just general dining area; while she wasn’t great at it her limited cooking skills were about the only thing she had to offer in terms of service right now.

Unless these Orcs were interested in letting a runt open a karate dojo in their camp anyway.

[@Zeroth]