In a strange world as a Doppelganger

Chapter 51 -Whack, Chuck, Badger!

It took Bewella several days to decide what she wanted to choose and during that time I did what I could to help the village. Mostly I hunted, making sure they had plenty of meat to eat and store now that most of the hunters had left to find their own ways to level up.

She comes up to me as I'm in the process of washing my hands after butchering a deer. She has a certain look in her eye, as if everything is new and exciting. She tries to hide her enthusiasm but to no avail as she starts giggling.

"You okay Bewella?"

She looks at me and grins while holding back her excitement. "If I had known it would be this fun I would have chosen ages ago!" I can tell that she's fishing for me to ask.

"What did you pick?"

"Alchemist!" She blurts out loudly and then covers her mouth. "I know how to make poisons and bombs now." She whispers, a bit too loud to really be a whisper.

I can't help but look at her wide eyed. I try to compose myself and bring her away from curious ears and eyes. Bewella explains to me that she has some basic knowledge of alchemy and with that comes innate knowledge of what types of reagents and ingredients cause a desired effect. She explains that it's still very basic and fundamental but she believes it will become more advanced with time and as she tries things out she might make discoveries of new things.

She shows me that by combining certain, seemingly normal, plants she makes a potent adhesive. By chewing certain leaves, mixing in some sap from a tree and using just a handful of seeds that she crushes up it creates a sticky and expanding substance.

"I just know these things somehow. I imagine what I want to make and it's like I just know what I need and how to do it. Though I think if I take my time to really prepare them they have a better result compared to just whipping them up like this", she talks while still working. She also starts filling small pouches with all the various things she finds laying around.

"I'm gonna save some of everything just to have. Maybe drying or preserving them will make something cool happen?"

It's actually really inspiring to see her thought process at work. It makes me wonder if I could do similar with magic, experiment and find new things. So far I've just used the magic that comes to mind but I never considered playing around with it to see what would happen really.

"Can we go hunting?"

Bewella's question pulls me back to the present.

"What?" I ask more surprised than actually needing her to repeat herself.

"Hunting? I want to try these out", She shakes a handful of small parcels she's made out of large leaves. "This one should have a caustic effect, this one should make creatures weaker and this one makes you sick." She points at the various little pouches she's made.

"Okay, how hard do you want to go? Are we doing just a test or should we properly prepare and go find ourselves enough to level you up?" Having backup and the ace of my summoned water creature I feel like we've got a good chance at taking on most of everything near here and if we bring food with us we could very likely go for several days and against harder targets. My mind goes to the insects to the south and how bad I'd want to get my rematch against them.

"Let's go hard", she smiles at me and hangs the little packets on her belt. "I feel like I'm brimming with excitement. I think I can make more things with animal parts as well."

"That will sure come in handy then. I was thinking we'll slowly make our way south. But we're turning around if it gets too risky. Just because we have confidence doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful." I look at her sternly but with a playful smile.

We spend the rest of the day making plans and preparing. We gather provisions and relay our plans to Thi. Thi is busy as can be and looks concerned but doesn't question what we plan to do.

"Get back safe okay." Is all they say.

Now of course I don't plan to just bring Bewella to anything I couldn't beat on my own so I start following the first small-game tracks we stumble across. After following the tracks for a little bit I can tell that she's getting antsy and restless.

"We're coming up on what I think are two badgers. Now they might seem like everyday forest creatures but the have both claws and a nasty bite so stay alert okay?"

Bewella nods and smiles while fiddling with her little leaf-pouches.

"I want you to throw the sticky one first to see if we can at least get one of them caught in it. Makes it easier for us if we can focus on one at a time."

"Makes sense", Bewella nods and tugs off a pouch. "I'm not sure how effective it's going to be till we try it anyway."

I nod back and make a silencing gesture. We're coming from downwind so we should be okay to get fairly close. I spot the two badgers digging around in a small ditch for roots. I point them out and gesture Bewella in front of me. While she's lining up her shot, putting the pouch in a leather sling, I pull my magic forth and get ready to shoot ice at the moment of impact. The idea is to see if we can combine the impeding effects of both her adhesive and my magic.

The wrapped up piece of leaf breaks on impact and the substance quickly expands and the creature starts thrashing around, getting one of its limbs stuck to itself. The other badger immediately looks around as I fire off my spell. I hit but the thrashing movements makes the impact less than ideal so I quickly follow up with a shot of a high-pressure water shot with my other hand. The badger suffers some decent damage but is still kicking. While one of them is trying to frantically get free from the sticky mess that's covering part of its back and an arm, the other one comes rushing towards us and throws itself at Bewella with open jaws. She throws herself to the side. There's definitely fear in her eyes but with steeled resolve she still grabs for another pouch and chucks it at the badger. She overshoots and hits a tree. She curses and goes for another. This time she hits square on and a pungent smell hits my nose. The badger screeches as the foul smell spreads. While it reels I will my claws to grow and step forth. I swipe twice just barely making contact with the frantic beast.

Somehow having broken free the badger that was still in the ditch now comes rushing up as well. I figure I'll have to deal with this quick. I avoid a full barrage from a furious badger and I slap my hands together and create a spout like opening with my fingers. With a quick inhale I unleash a torrent of water with enough speed to split wood. The already injured badger is launched backwards and falls limp down into the ditch.

"Now!" I command.

Bewella gets to her feet, quickly loading the sling and another disgusting plume of odor erupts into the face of the remaining badger. The creature lashes out as it starts hacking and coughing. its eyes are tearing up and it's salivating heavily. In a last flurry it lunges at Bewella, both its claws raking across her arm and torso before it falls dead to the ground.

I grab the gnomblin girl and pull her away from the fumes still coming off the dead badgers body. I look her over, her injuries not as bad as I feared. I charge some magic into a handful of mud and put on her arm. Looking up at her face, she is smiling wider than I've ever seen.

"Can we do it again?"