Chapter 327

The group headed for the Demon Capital leaves first, with King Aggramor using a skill to transport the three returning to his kingdom, plus his Guards away as soon as they reach the appraisal area, while Paige leads Cain and the rest to the public transport circle. 

“You’ll love it in Munan. We’re a somewhat isolated city-state in the forest, but the trees are amazing, and so are the people. We’ve even got a few Snake Kin, so Cyrene here won’t be the only one with a long body or have to deal with oblivious people almost stepping on her all the time.” The happy Elf declares. 

“That sounds wonderful. The elves have always been gracious hosts to us.” Misha agrees, but Cyrene looks a bit skeptical about the idea of not simply being carried around by Cain as an accessory. In her opinion, this is the premium travel method, plus it keeps him close in case someone tries to steal him away.

With the auction has ended, the streets are pretty crowded, so they make a quick stop along the way to collect a few trinkets and oddities that are unique to Tortuga, as well as a few more of the small cosmetics bags. The price isn’t low, but it’s not beyond their means, and being able to organize their storage is so much better than the way things were before.

Paige recommends a few new items to them as well, light clothing for the tropical heat and some sunscreens and lotions that the elf insists are far superior to anything else they might find.

Once the crowds going home have started to thin out a little, they make their way through the stone and dark stained wood of Tortuga, winding their way through the shops and houses built along the island cliffs to get to the travel circle.

Munan seems to be everything that Paige had promised. Hot, muggy, and beautiful. The entire city is built in massive trees a hundred or more meters tall, shaped with nature magic to form walkways and bases for their dwellings, while the main streets are mostly suspended vine bridges.

It’s not a single level either, starting twenty meters above the ground, where they would be safe from most ground-based attackers. The lowest level is full of shops and hotels catering to travelers of all sorts, with the uppermost levels disappearing into the canopy.

Not absolutely everything is in the trees, though; the blacksmiths and a few other trades are down at ground level, since they’re dealing with fire or other activities deemed unsuitable for the elevated city. But all in all, it looks like a tropical rainforest paradise.

“Follow me, and I will show you why we needed a highly-skilled Flesh Crafter. It’s a sensitive matter, so please don’t ask me to elaborate publicly, but we will be there soon.” Paige whispers as she leads them up through the trees.

Seeing the city, Cyrene reconsiders her stance on not traveling independently. There are twisting branches between levels that serve as Lamia and Snake Kin staircases, and twining her body between the ropes and boards of the walkways the way others are doing looks like a lot of fun. Cain made her reasonably small, the same size as his Scourge Casters, so she has no problem getting around like some of the most burly Snake Kin might, though the city looks well designed for varying body sizes.

Her size and coloration seem to have attracted attention, though. Bright white with red runes isn’t exactly a typical coloration for the Snake Kin, and some think she might be a form of albino with dyed hair.

The consensus is that she’s adorable, and with the black skirt and bikini top combo she picked to combat the heat, she even matches the local fashion. She attracts a lot of attention with her scales in this city, almost all positive, but a few weirdos do manage to make things awkward for a moment before they’re chased away.

It’s not all a result of her presence though, Paige is incredibly popular, and everyone knows her name. The fact that she’s with them makes them popular by default.

The Elf leads them to the top of the city, up in the canopy of the giant trees, and towards what appears to be a palace made entirely of natural wood, formed from a vast amount of magical manipulation of the forest itself.

“Welcome back, Princess Paige. Your Royal Mother is waiting for your good news. I see you’ve found an Ancient Flesh Crafter. Hopefully, they will be able to do something about the situation.” The guard greets them at the arch that serves as the entry gate. Cain doesn’t see a door, but with a good swing of his sword, the guard could drop the entry rope bridge, so maybe it’s not a necessary accessory.

Paige leads them through the palace, or whatever the elves call this magnificent tree fort of a building complex, towards her mother’s rooms. As they get closer to their destination, fewer and fewer staff are found in the halls, giving the impression that whoever lives there has demanded solitude, but Paige continues as if nothing is out of the ordinary.

“Mother? Are you awake?” She calls when they reach an ornate silver set of doors. The bright color compliments the natural light wood of the hallways, and the carvings of animals keep up the feeling of being at one with nature, despite the manufactured nature of the building.

A small human boy answers the door, confusing Cain. The little ginger boy doesn’t belong here, nor does he match the description of being anyone’s mother, much less mother to an elven Princess. Perhaps some cruel joker named him mother? Paige has taken the boy into a big hug, though, turning his face from welcoming to intensely annoyed.

“Put me down, you little brat. Just because I look like this doesn’t permit you to treat me as a child.” The boy complains. He doesn’t appear to have a system to Cain; at least nothing comes up when Cain scans him.

“Duke Cain of Skyview, meet Queen Dala of Munan. An unknown enemy cursed her, her system was locked away, and she was forced into this body. We’ve tried everything, but the curse resets her body to his no matter what illusion we use. Not even killing and resurrecting her broke the curse.” Paige explains.

Things must have gotten out of hand if they’d risked killing a Queen who was under the effects of an unknown curse. Though, with the reputation that humans hold in the Elven Kingdoms, it’s possible that the Queen can’t do her duties in this form.

“Alright, so Regicide is out as an option. Did you have a system interface before Your Majesty? If so, what were your class and level?” Cain asks.

“I was a level 108 Druid. I never prioritized leveling. Instead, I raised a family and focused on ruling the nation.” Dala explains, the haughty tone sounding petulant from her new body. 

“Alright, that gives me something to work with. Do we have a skill-created image or a good painting of the Queen to work with? That should give me a good base to attempt to recreate her body. Also, have you tried changing her into something other than a Woodland Elf?”

“Not an Elf? That would be unthinkable. No, we haven’t tried other appearances to see if the curse breaks.” Paige exclaims, worried about what Cain has planned.

“Not a problem; I’ll try the basics first and see what happens. If the curse still takes effect, I’ll try something more extreme.”

Cain starts by transforming the Queen back into her old self, but as soon as he finishes, he can see the curse taking effect, pulling her back towards the human form. The change will take a few minutes, so Cain can easily hold her in her image, but she still doesn’t have access to the system.

Druids get a unique skill of [Nature Manipulation] that lets them help plants grow and other essential functions to maintain the forests, so Cain summons a clone of Kone into his Merger and Imprints it onto the Queen. That reactivates her system but sends Cain an error message.

[Skill Already Known]

Queen Dala is now a level 108 Druid again, though, and Cain doesn’t need to do anything to keep her system active. That makes him suspect this is several separate curses working together, and that’s why they couldn’t dispel it before.

“Misha, can you try the Record Keeper’s version of ability dispelling, please?” Cain asks, and Misha quickly uses it on the Queen.

It ends all abilities active on the Queen, including Cains, which turns her back into a human boy again, but she’s still got her system.

“Good, good, we’re halfway there. You should at least be able to use your abilities again. Now, I will try a form that isn’t woodland Elf and see if that will stick.”

They both nod, and Cain goes for the closest thing that immediately comes to mind. A Dark Elf. The form seems to activate entirely too quickly, snapping into place as soon as he starts the change. Hollow laughter echoes in his mind, not quite the same as the times he suspected that the Laughing God was messing with him, closer to the feeling of being in Muzz.

In front of him is a young Dark Elven girl with bright Silver eyes and curly white hair, elaborately braided and hanging to her waist. She’s not more than five years old and not what Cain had in mind.

[Class Invalid: Please Update Skills]

That message confuses Cain, but if it breaks the curse, he’s happy to try. So he goes with the [Abundant Companions] Beast Lord exclusive skill since he’s got Kone merged with him.

[Class Options Updated: Awaiting Input]