Ken
Celestine sat on the balcony of her castle which allows her to view the city and the people below. She hummed as a goldfinch landed on her hand and allowed the Goddess reincarnated to pet it if the chirping was of indication. Afterwards it flew off into the distance as Celestine's mind went back on the recent events that had transpired.
It had been four days since the Monster Shifter, Jack Andros, had succeeded in defeating and killing the Savage Dracon. A feat not even the strongest armies and heroes of the past failed to accomplish. Even she couldn't overcome it without Larentia's powers which nearly costed her life.
The demise of the Savage Dracon forced many of the monsters to retreat back into Garan out of fear of being targeted next, with only a few tribes staying with their delusional minds believing they can take on the Monster Shifter. Celestine was aware of the possibility that Olga must've also watched the battle from the Black Fortress. But she didn't know if the dark elf queen had ordered her monsters to return or if they'd done out of their own volition.
Either way, this brought joy to the commonfolk who'd been living far away from the kingdoms where help could've taken hours or days to reach. Sure there were several bandit raids here and there but the lack of demons meant the adventurers and knights weren't stretched thin and thus able to deal with them.
But alas, Jack's victory over the Savage Dracon are not without repercussions. The nobles were divided on this. Some were relieved that a major threat to Eostia had been dealt and could breath better. Others are proposing to have their daughters court Jack so that he could bear their household name. The more prideful ones, however, were enraged that a "commoner" had so much power and yet was not under their control, demanding that he'd be arrested and take his powers away.
Furthermore, his constant victories led the people to think that the nobles, whose job it is to eliminate the demons and bandits in Eostia, were incompetent and lazy people who would only lift a finger if money or status was involved. Ironically that was the case for some nobles.
In fact Stawford Village actually had a noble family watching over it. But when the father died due to mysterious circumstances, the son took over and for years he'd been living in the wealth of the peasants who continued to suffer. But now with Jack's victory over the Savage Dracon. He apparently decided that Jack was his property and make the Monster Shifter work for him by force.
Panic took over Celestine as she believe this would cause an uproar within the commoners that would spark a rebellion and immediately send soldiers to intervene. But when they got to the gates, they saw several guards on the ground unconscious and the noble pinned by Jack who was a giant ice wolf (Lunagaron) before they managed to convince him to spare the noble where he was arrested and stripped of his title.
Unfortunately, that whole fiasco sparked rumors, the main one being that the Seven Shield Alliance and their allies saw Jack as a threat and are planning to bring them under their heel. In fact the people believe that since Jack was always risking his life to protect the innocents, Larentia started to favor him rather than Celestine. She was able to placate the nobles and priests that were about to make an example of them, but their actions only reinforced the rumors.
What's more, Jack's battle with the Savage Dracon caught the attention of other kingdoms. Queen Tamanna and Queen Celine were already in route to Eostia when the fight took place. They managed to get a small glimpse of Jack's retreating figure as he headed back to Stawford but it was enough to draw their interest when they arrived on Ken to discuss trades and asked if they can have side to help them with the problems.
Celestine knew they meant well since they too had problems in their own kingdoms but the high elf knew that Jack would have be willing and not ordered around like a dog. Thankfully, one of Claudia's Dawn Templars managed to reach out to him (by that, Jack had to rescue her from an ambush by orcs while she was scouting) and convinced him to join an expedition with them and the Iris Knights to reclaim lost territories from the monster horde, while also attempting to dispel the bad rumors.
'You're a very interesting human indeed, Jack Andros.' Celestine mused.
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Geofu
Irene hummed as inspected her sword and armor, which is still debatable to call it that, with Marie doing the same as they were packing their things for the expedition. They'd managed to get a hold of Jack after one of the Dawn Templars scouting got ambushed by a band of orcs and would've been raped and turned into a breeding sow had Jack not arrived and proceeds to slaughter them all.
At Jack first seems a bit skeptic about working with them, especially since he'd been decimating thousands of monsters solo without aid and that whole incident from before. However they assured him that the nobleman has acted out on his own and Celestine would compensate for the damages.
The Iris Knight had to admit that Jack was capable of eliminating the demons far more faster than even the best of the Iris Knights and Dawn Templars could do in a year and that's not even accounting the ones who're killed or captured to be raped. The "MonTrix" as Jack called his magical artifact was certainly intriguing as Irene saw first-hand how Jack could into creatures that are not seen in the land of Eostia even before Larentia's ascension.
Of course other kingdoms would get wind of the Monster Shifter and would predictably try to woo him into coming to their territory. After all Olga was not the only threat to the continent. But Celestine knew that rejecting them outright could to an all-war that not even their current war with the dark queen could match in terms of catastrophic losses. So Jack's help with their expedition means
"I told you he's not my boyfriend!" She heard her daughter shouted across the room and while she couldn't see Anne, Irene knew she was blushing up a storm. Ever since Jack saved Prim from the imps, Anne was hounded nonstop by her fellow sisters since it was discovered that Anne and Marie had met the Monster Shifter before and that he greeted Anne like they were old acquaintances, leading to countless teasing from the other girls.
"..... don't ask." Marie looked away with pink cheeks as Irene looks at her with a smirk, knowing full well what she was thinking.
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Garan
Back in the Black Fortress, Olga sat on her throne tapping away at the armrest as her mind went back to the time the Monster Shifter, Jack Andros killed the Savage Dracon, something Celestine couldn't even repel without summoning Larentia's powers at the expense of her own magic.
Ever since the death of the Savage Dracon, one of her most powerful monsters to date, many of the monsters scurried back into the badlands of Garan under her orders, fearing that any more attacks would convince Jack to take the fight straight into the Black Fortress. Only a few tribes brave enough, or stupid, to remain, believing they can handle the Monster Shifter when they meet, but they were acceptable losses given monsters repopulate three times faster.
"Ack!" Olga coughed up a bit into her hand and frowned at seeing some blood. Like Celestine her magic was also growing weaker with each day as the war continues, both from upholding the barrier surrounding the Black Fortress and keeping the monsters under control.
For she ordered one of her spies Seraphina Storaro to keep track of Jack Andros' movements but to avoid a confrontation if needed. The last thing she wanted was for Jack to use that same demonic monster that killed the Savage Dracon against Garan.
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Ansur
After slaying a band of orcs and receiving his pay, Vult went to his favorite brothel and banged the finest prostitute it has while supplying his men with more food, armors and weapons needed for them in tip-top shape. He was thinking about upgrading his broadsword from the finest weaponsmith in Ansur. It didn't hurt that he had connections since Maia used to be part of the Black Dogs. Vult had a good day.
Or at least it was supposed to be a good day.
Vult's eyes twitched as he walked past a street market. He would've ignored and be on his way if not for the fact they were selling goods that were inspired by the Monster Shifter, Jack Andros. Children's toys based on the creatures Jack transformed into (The Gaismagorm figurine was really popular given it was the one that gave the Savage Dracon a run for its money). Clothes for the same reason.
Even jewelries with the MonTrix symbol on it that popular amongst women both commoners and noblewomen alike. Vult finds that in poor taste since it's literally just a blue hourglass symbol.
The Black Dogs leader wasn't stupid to know why people are head over heels for Jack. After all, his victory against the Savage Dracon was something even the greatest armies and heroes of the past, let alone a huge band of mercenaries like them. What Vult did hate however, was that this one win under Jack's belt had overshadowed many of his and his mercenaries' countless victories throughout their career in Eostia.
Prior to Jack's arrival, people would gossip about the Black Dogs. How they defeated and slayed many demons and won impossible odds that the Alliance's armies would struggle against. How they would take any women and claim them whether they want to or not. How many of those snobbish priests would sing praises about them.
That all changed with Jack's triumph against the Savage Dracon. People were talking about how the Jack was soloing entire hordes of demons on a daily basis. That he was capable of fending off Garan by himself. Priests preaching that Jack is blessed by Larentia to help them in their war against Olga and Garan. Even the
All because of that damn magic artifact Jack has on his arm which is he uses to play heroes and villains! If it was up to him Vult would've used the MonTrix to get what he wants. Even thinking of how to fuck women while in those forms.
And it wasn't just him. Other mercenary business also hated Jack since his habit of exterminating demons greatly reduce their source of income. Even male adventurers despised him since the Monster Shifter would often have female adventurers crowding him. The same females that would reject their male counterparts were now attempting to court him or join their group during missions.
Of course Vult isn't stupid to take him out immediately, especially since Jack apparently knows that he's being targeted and proceeded to humiliate those that try. One time several mercenaries tried to outside of Feoh only for Jack to change into a giant blue-grey monster that has an elastic tail that he used to whip them and even uses a bright flash on hits head like a flashbang to disorient them, leaving them helplessly flailing around before the guards arrived arrested.
Another time involved an adventurer summoning a golem and fusing with it to attack Jack, only for the Monster Shifter transformed into a fat monster that looked between a mix of a platypus and kappa that somehow knows summon moves who tries to swallow the golem whole (the poor bastard was screaming as he was drowning inside Jack's stomach) before spitting him back out.
If there was one thing that came out of this, it's that Jack had made no attempts to push into Garan whatsoever, more focused on defending settlements and liberating captives than being offensive against Olga.
Which was good as Vult already made plans to take over the Black Fortress. He had already bribed several demons into sneaking into Garan without either side noticing. He was one step closer to achieving his goals and no one, not even Jack Andros, will prevent him from reaching that.