Rupegia 5 A Companion's Promise

"Now, cut your hand with this knife and fill this with your blood," Ghulam says. He gives me an adorned dagger and small bowl. "If you can't do it it's no problem, Sebastian will do it for you and immediately heal you."

I cut my hand.

f.u.c.k! IT HURTS! But I manage to retain my dignity and didn't cry out.

I fill the small bowl with my blood and then Sebastian immediately heals my hand. Is this a thing that all butlers must be called Sebastian or something similar?

The old man Sebastian then gives the bowl to Alissa. She immediately puts the bowl on her lips and drinks my blood. Meanwhile Ghulam is chanting something.

"[Contract of Servitude]," he calmly says and touches Alissa's head, "Now, point the place where you want the symbol of slavery to appear. It will be a small circle with your name on it. If you don't want your name to show you can tell me and I will hide it."

"It's okay to show my name. Put it on her left wrist."

She's right handed so it shouldn't show too much.

Ghulam grabs her wrist.

"[Mark of the Master]," he says and a small light appears from the middle of his fingers.

A small black circle appears on her wrist. In small letters I can see it written "Wolf Ryder" in Andraste. Around the black circle there's a few letters from an alphabet I don't recognize.

"Now, do you want any additional spell? For you it's for free."

"Only the speech limitation."

He touches her throat and starts chanting again.

"[Tongue of Obedience]," he says. A small light appears from the tip of his finger and enters Alissa's throat.

"There, now anything you consider a secret she won't be able to tell others about. Anything else?"

"No. Thank you."

"Then it's done. I really appreciate doing business with you. Please come back again, the letter only allowed for the discount one time but I will gladly do business with you again," Ghulam says, his charming smile now seems like the devil's.

"I will certainly come back," I say.

I think I crossed the point of no return, there's no need to hide my intentions.

"Here's the gift we give to anyone who buys one of our women," he hands me a ring he fished out of his pocket" It's a Ring of Fertility. Put some magic into it and the man or woman that wears it will not be able to impregnate or get pregnant.

I get s.h.i.+vers down my spine.

Ghulam picks the doc.u.ments I signed and the gold. The man he called to appraise the gold already left. Then he leaves me alone with Alissa.

"Master, may I change to my other clothes now?" Alissa says. Those are the first words she said to me. Her voice is on the perfect pitch, not too high, not too low. She looks at me with a neutral expression.

"Y"yes, please do."

She immediately pulls up her one piece, she was not wearing anything below.

GAH! Too much stimulation. Even though I wanna see I'm not in the right state of mind to stare at her.

She changes into the normal clothes Ghulam gave to her. A white slightly loose s.h.i.+rt, black pants and some cute looking black shoes. I could only stare at her feet and G.o.d, even those are cute.

"I am ready now," she says.

"T-then let's go."

­

We silently walk towards the inn. She walks slightly behind me, but still close. She still keeps her neutral expression. At least she doesn't look sad.

I don't know what to say, am I supposed to make conversation? I guess not since I'm her master now I don't need to be her friend, but it will be lonely if I'm not friendly. I guess there's no need to rush or force anything, we will get used to each other.

We get to the inn and I talk to the innkeeper.

"I would like to change rooms, I need one for two people now."

"Single bed or double bed?" He asks. He glances at Alissa and doesn't manage to contain a smile.

Please stop, I'm already embarra.s.sed enough.

"Double," I barely manage to say it.

"Then here's the key. Second room, second floor. Take out all your things from the safe and return the key to me please."

"I don't have anything on it, here's the key."

We exchange keys.

I walk towards my new room. It's going to be noon soon and I'm starting to feel hungry but I want to talk to Alissa in private first.

We enter the room and I immediately fall face first on the bed, my nerves are killing me.

What did I just do? I bought someone. Hahah, point of no return.

I look at her and she's just standing there looking at me. So I guess she's not gonna do anything unless ordered.

"You will be living with me here now, we will be sharing the same bed. You can come and sit, lay down if you want. I don't want you to keep tiring yourself by standing."

"Yes, thank you master," she says, I notice her tail is standing still.

"Then come and sit beside me."

"Y"yes."

What was that? She was calm and collected, her expression is neutral so far but that voice just now wasn't congruent to her expression. Is she a master of poker face?

She comes and sits beside me. This time she doesn't stare at me and now observes the room.

I grab her hand, she twitches a little and looks at me. I knew it, she's also tense and scared. She looks so cute I feel like teasing her. Oh G.o.d, my shyness already went away, the s.a.d.i.s.t is coming out.

"Well then, what have you heard about me?" I ask. I merely enjoy the softness and warmth of her hand.

"The head says you are a powerful and upcoming adventurer and that you need a companion for fighting. I'm sorry, he couldn't specify anymore than this though."

Powerful? Nour please, that's too much.

"There's… No need to be sorry. Well then, first thing is is that I have a lot of secrets. That's why I bought a Blood Slave, I need a companion that can keep a secret."

"Then there's no need to worry about it, master. Please use the [Tongue of Obedience] as you wish, your secrets will be safe even during torture."

"No, no, no, no" "I cringe slightly" "There's no need to go that far. My secrets are just things that will attract attention and I don't want attention, at least for now.

Those were dangerous words Alissa, n.o.body is going to get hurt because of me.

"I see… I think I understand," she looks away and puts a finger on her chin, cute. "Master is powerful so other people might get in the way and try to use you. So you want to hide this power, is that right master?"

"That's right, it's like that," I smile at her cute expression, "Now, today and tomorrow we are not leaving town. Today I want to buy your equipment and tomorrow I want you to train at the hunters guild to get used to it. If I'm lazy we will rest a third day and then on the fourth we will work again."

"I'm alright with whatever you wish, master," she smiles back. Oh G.o.d that's even cuter, please stop.

"Then there's something I'm dying to do… Can I touch your ears and tail?"

"Y"you don't have to ask… But please be gentle, they are sensitive," she blushes and lowers her head for me.

Her ears are on the top of her head, she doesn't have human ears. It looks weird if you pull back the hair so I guess a hairstyle shorter than hers is not a thing for wereanimals. I rub her ears and I get filled with bliss, they are made of a very soft cartilage. Along with its furry parts they make for something very comfy to touch.

Her hair makes even me envious, it's so soft to the touch and glossy. It flows perfectly when she tilts her head just slightly.

The fox tail is a muscle that has hair even more fluffier than her head. I wanna squeeze it! Animal ears, animal tail, kemonomimi! This is really a j.a.panese game.

"A"ah… Master, gentler please."

"Sorry, does it hurt?"

"No, it's just sensitive. It tickles a lot," she says while squirming.

Thank G.o.d it's not an erogenous zone… Wait… Some people also do erotic things with places like the armpits or earlobes. Just because it's not immediately erotic doesn't mean it can't become erotic.

"I will get you a very good brush, we need to keep this tail and your hair as beautiful as possible."

"Thank you master, I will take good care of it."

I hug her from behind and pat her head. She freezes for a few seconds and then relaxes.

"I would also like to take care of it, it feels good to touch," I whisper in her ear.

I used to brush Lily's hair once in a while, I liked to help keep her pretty for me.

I keep patting her head and ears for some time. I need to do this to calm her nerves. It also feels really good to hug a girl like this, she has a very faint scent of a fruity perfume. I have to buy her more perfume.

After some long minutes I stop and release her, she almost falls down. She must have gotten sleepy.

"Nah?" She lets out a small sound in surprise. Stop with the cuteness.

"Let's go out and eat lunch," I say.

­

I find a nearby restaurant and ask a table for two. When I sit she remains standing by my side.

"Please sit, we will eat meals together from now on."

This is standard slave behavior that I need to nip in the bud.

"Is it alright master? I'm a slave I don't need to be treated equally."

"Well, I want a companion that I can trust not just a slave so I will treat you equally."

"… Thank you master, you are very kind." And so she sits, her tail sways a little.

Being called "master" is making me feel uncomfortable. But also it tickles a part of me that I didn't acknowledge before, is it alright to let it come out of the dark? Bah, screw it, I said I will abandon things that were holding me back.

I don't want to deal with her choosing a simple meal because she's a slave so I order the same for both of us. When the meal comes she hesitates.

"You also don't have to wait for me to start eating."

And so we dig in.

­

"First lets buy you a pillow, some proper blankets, spare change of clothes, hair brush, toothbrush, and spare shoes. We will go to the first"hand store, I don't wanna see you use hand"me"downs."

We talk as we walk.

"Is it really alright to treat me like this, master? I'm a slave, I'm trained to have strong endurance… Treating me softly might… negate this training."

I couldn't resist and entwined my arm with hers, I'm starving for skins.h.i.+p.

"Yes. I'm sorry if your training ends up wasted or dulled but we will lead similar lifestyles for now so I don't need you to retain your endurance… Think like this. Giving you hards.h.i.+ps makes you tire more easily, which means you might die more easily in battle. If you die I will be wasting the money, the huge favor I used to buy you, my feelings will be hurt by losing you, and my time will be wasted since I will lose a strong companion.

"So this is why we need to keep you happy and well rested. You need to always be at your best performance so you don't die or disappoint me. I will give you two rules, the first one is 'don't die', I don't want you sacrificing yourself for me; the second one is 'let's never get into a situation where someone needs to die', you won't have to think of sacrificing yourself for me if we don't even get in a situation that needs it. Now, do you understand your value to me?"

She turns her face away and takes some time to talk.

"Yes, master… Thank you, master."

Did that make you emotional? I don't really feel good about this or think that I'm a good person because I still bought you, and I'm going to abuse you tonight. Might be even earlier if you don't stop acting cute.

After getting the essentials I decided to buy her a simple but cute white frilly dress. I would like to buy her more but money is short and I need to buy her equipment.

I thank the G.o.d of Luck because I found a cheap perfume that I can give to her. Later I will definitely get her an expensive one like mine. d.a.m.n, I feel like I wanna dress her up like a doll.

This time I grit my teeth and don't buy a high"quality sleeping bag but we buy a double one. We decide that she will use a bow and an iron short sword. I get her Young Ogre leather armor, it's a red"brown color, better than hobgoblin; it's also very flexible which is good for an archer. We also buy a good composite bow, it's compact and deadly, on this we can't hold back because it's important that she deals damage.

Warbows are a bit difficult for her, sure the penetration is unparalleled but she has problems fully drawing the bow. She's a hunter, which means she needs to draw fast and be accurate. She's not like standard army archers that fight on very long distances and just have to cover an area with arrows.

I sold my old equipment but it was pretty s.h.i.+tty, not much money. I did buy an upgrade to my s.h.i.+eld, it's a heater metal s.h.i.+eld, still iron and black but bigger than before. It was also higher quality iron than the previous one. My previous s.h.i.+eld had three dents and a nasty scratch that made the smith curious, that was from the attack of the Orc Headhunter.

Alissa's [Item Box] is not too big so she only keeps her arrows there and some small personal items, like the toothbrush and hairbrush.

Now that we got what we need we go back to the inn. I'll reserve one room for us to take a bath, together.

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We enter the room and I lock the door behind me. The reserved bath is a small room with a small wooden bathtub for a maximum of 3 people.

"I will wash you, master," she says, her tail is stiff.

She quickly takes her clothes off and comes to me. I just stand still and stare at her, no man should ever look away when a woman undresses.

Her nakedness is instantly arousing. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s are small, I don't know the size, is it C? I just know it's perky and cute and will fit nicely in my hand. Her bush is well kept and I can see it's actually orange. As she notices my stare her steps become awkward.

She grabs my s.h.i.+rt and pulls it up. Then she unfastens both my belts and pulls down my pants. She hesitates for a moment then leaves my sword on the ground and undoes my shoes.

"You don't really have to do it like this, I can undress myself."

"I want to do it, master."

Oh boy, don't say things like that. I'm already excited.

Then she pulls down my underwear. She's crouching, it's right in front of her face in full glory. She stares for a second then gets up.

She leads me near the water and grabs a bucket of water. She makes me sit on a stool and starts to wash my body with the soap and sponge we got today.

Her hands are delicate and she moves with certainty. She certainly knows how to wash me. She washes my face with such delicacy it's almost like she's just patting my face but I can still feel it's effective. This is heavenly.

Then she washes my front. There's no way around it, she has to come in front of me. Then she touches my d.i.c.k.

"E"excuse me, p"please tell me if it hurts."

She pulls back the skin and pa.s.ses the sponge on it with even more delicacy than my face. It is so stimulating I have to control myself. Then it finishes and now she's done was.h.i.+ng me.

"Now it's my turn."

"Y"you don't have to bother," she says, still crouched.

"It's not a bother, I will enjoy it." I smile mischievously.

She resigns and we switch places.

"Sorry if I'm rougher than you, I'm not trained in was.h.i.+ng others," I say.

"No need to apologize for it, master. You are allowed to enjoy yourself."

Ohoh! Then don't mind if I do!

Her skin is soft and there's absolutely no hair on her arms and legs, my hand just glides on her perfect skin. I can feel the hints of her muscles on her athletic body, a mix of toughness and softness.

Seriously what is going on in this world, her skin is so perfect it makes me worried. Where are her veins? Does she even have veins? It's like she's artificial, it's unsettling me.

"Something wrong, master?"

"Nothing… it's just that your skin is way too perfect."

"Don't exaggerate like this, master…" She says, a little sad. Her tail twitches.

"I'm not exaggerating but whatever…."

As I slowly caress her skin, I leave her tail and ears alone. I don't know how to wash them, I'm sorry Alissa. But I take special care of her hands and feet, they are so small and cute.

Then I start working on the best that I left for last. He b.r.e.a.s.t.s are soft and bouncy. Lily had small b.r.e.a.s.t.s so I don't know what bigger b.r.e.a.s.t.s are supposed to feel like. I guess this is like jelly? I can't describe perfectly but I sure can enjoy them. Anyway, flat is justice.

I work on her nipples. They are pointy, she's aroused. She starts to breathe heavier, good. I don't pinch them, I just pa.s.s my fingers by them.

I hug her closer from behind. She feels so warm, I missed this feeling. I want her to hug me, to make me feel safe. But that will come later, for now I need to show her my love.

So my hand glides downwards. Her neat little bush feels good on my hand, the hair is a little thicker here. I don't want to waste more time so I pa.s.s my hand over her entrance. Her breath becomes even heavier. I take my time slowly pa.s.sing my hand over there until it starts to feel warmer, then I penetrate with my finger. She flinches backwards and I pinch her nipple at the same time.

She moans, cute little moans. I don't want to ever forget this sound, it's a holy sound that men hear when the gates of heaven open.

I start moving my hand and she starts twitching a little. One of her hands grabs my hand on her breast and squeezes it. The other hand grabs the side of my head while I breathe down her neck.

I move my hand slowly and steadily. I increase the speed little by little. The typical sounds and smells of s.e.x come out. She closes her eyes and lets out her voice. It's high pitched and beautiful.

I bite her neck, I lick it, I kiss it. I keep going for a few minutes until she arches her back and her body tenses. Then she relaxes and nearly collapses in my arms.

"What… Was… That…?" She asks, out of breath.

"You don't know? That's a... Climax."

"Oh… That was much… Stronger than I imagined."

"There's still more, but I will let you rest until later."

"T-thank you… Master… But, I haven't done anything for you."

"Then use your mouth. You know how?"

"Yes… I was taught that."

I wonder how.

I release her from my hug and she leaves the stool. I sit down and she gets on her knees. She stares at it again and blushes, then resolves herself and grabs it. Slowly she puts it into her mouth.

It's warm and soft, she has a wide jaw opening and I don't feel any teeth. To be honest the feeling isn't special, it's the view. A cute woman who has your d.i.c.k in her mouth is one of the most erotic sights you could imagine. You shouldn't watch too much p.o.r.n, it will rot your brain and make you fantasize too much about s.e.x only to be disappointed at reality.

She slowly moves her head. I can feel her tongue moving around, now that feels good.

"Rougher," I say.

And she moves her tongue with more vigor, what a good girl. She keeps moving her hand with her head, which just adds to the eroticism. The pleasure, her face, the tensions of these days fading away, my fears and guilts, my dark desires, my desire for comfort and skins.h.i.+p, all these things contribute to me just wanting to let it out. I don't last long, barely two minutes. This is the fastest I have ever came.

"I'm coming," I warn her.

She doesn't pay attention and chokes on it. She only partially swallows, the rest is wasted on the floor.

"Sorry, master."

I laugh.

"There's no problem, you were perfect."

Oh s.h.i.+t, I still haven't kissed her yet. What kind of gentleman am I if I got the order of things wrong? There's no way I'm kissing her like this.

"Sorry, can you brush your teeth? I wanna kiss you but I don't want to do it like this."

She widens her eyes for a second then brings out her toothbrush with a "poof" and starts was.h.i.+ng. The white trickle from the corner of her mouth is just so erotic. Then she murmurs something and casts [Clean] on her mouth.

After she washes her teeth we finally get into the bath together. I hug her close and she relaxes her body on me. I finally kiss her.

She doesn't move her tongue much so I do that job. I explore her mouth and cautiously avoid her sharper than normal canines. I'm really glad she's trained, those 4 things could leave a nasty cut and give me a new trauma that I don't need. We just spend a long time like this, kissing inside a hot bath is truly therapeutic.

I break the kiss, she hugs me and leans her head on my neck. It feels so good it warms my heart, this is honestly the thing I needed the most. I almost cried, I just wanted to fall asleep like this.

I'm not alone anymore.

­

My eyes start closing when I hear a knock on the door. Our time is up, we have to leave.

While feeling like I'm lifting a ton of concrete I break our hug. I see she fell asleep. Oh f.u.c.king h.e.l.l how are you so cute?

"S"sorry, I fell asleep."

Is she blus.h.i.+ng or is it the hot bath?

"No need to apologize for that."

We quietly dress ourselves and go have dinner. She hugs my arm while we walk and sits close to me. I missed things like this.

Then Selina comes. She looks at me and at Alissa, I instinctively freeze. I could clearly see her mouth move into an "ohoho~". She smiles and goes back to work.

What was that? I don't have the mind to think about it right now, I don't even know what I want my relations.h.i.+p with Selina to be.

We eat our meal in silence.

At the bed, it's time for round two.

I lay down on the bed first, then she comes and kisses me. We spend a good amount of time just kissing and me just exploring her body until I finally reach between her legs and start moving the same way as before. She stops the kiss and motions to take my clothes off. I help her and in a flash we are both naked again.

I grab her and switch positions. I'm the one in charge for our first time, sorry. I feel her and she's wet.

I grab my Ring of Fertility and turn it on, I like the name. I also put a towel below her, you never know.

"I'm putting it in, okay?"

"Okay…" She says shyly. She's blus.h.i.+ng a lot, her tail is swaying.

I like how she's straightforward and not hesitating. I guess this is the result of training, makes things much easier.

"If it hurts tell me please. We will do it slowly."

She nods. I push forward and I slide in, tight. Some resistance but a quick push and it's gone. She makes a pained face and I stop. I apply [Regeneration] on her.

"W"what? Magic?" She makes a surprised face.

"Yes, I don't like seeing you feeling pain."

"Thank you. It's alright now."

"Tell me if it hurts again I can apply [Regeneration] for a long time."

"Regen... T-that's okay," she nods and smiles.

I start moving again. I don't try to hold it in to last longer, it's her first time, I'm tired, and I just want to enjoy myself. Her moans are now voiceless, she writhes a lot more and her nails dig on my skin. I cast [Regeneration] again on her just to be sure.

I want to burn in my memory her cute moaning face, I want a painting of it.

She closes her eyes and bites her lip. Then she turns her head away and opens her mouth. Her pretty little lips are so captivating and red.

She opens her eyes, those two pretty orange circles stare deeply into me. She grabs my head and we kiss deeply again.

You are my precious treasure.

I don't last long and I finish inside her. I spend a long minute staring into her eyes while we breathe in each other's faces. Then we kiss one more time.

­

She cleans herself with some water she conjured. The trickle of water is substantial, almost like a faucet. I guess this is what Ghulam meant when they said she's trained in lifestyle magic.

The towel had to be washed, a small drop of blood stained it.

We hug and sleep together naked.

­

This time I didn't have a nightmare. I dreamed I was still on the bath, hugging her.

­

"The breakfast is ready," says Selina.

I open my eyes and see her face. Her ears twitch and her pretty orange eyes look at me. She smiles, cuteness first thing in the morning.

"Good morning, master," I see her tail swaying from behind her.

"Good morning... Were you awake for long? You don't have to keep hugging me if you were uncomfortable."

"I wasn't uncomfortable. I have never slept like this before, I enjoyed it a lot."
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"We will always sleep like this from now on. I don't want to sleep alone ever again."

She smiles again and nuzzles her face on my chest. I want to close my eyes again and go to sleep like this but hunger wins.

We get up and get dressed. This night was amazing. My back didn't hurt, I didn't wake up and turn around on my sleep, I slept like a baby. The best medicine for sleep is Alissa.

When I turn around she gasps.

"Master, I'm sorry about this."

"What's that?" I ask, confused.

"Your back is scratched," she says and looks down and her posture shrinks.

I laugh. At least the order against harming me isn't so sensitive.

"That's the proof a man did his job, don't worry about it."

­

We go downstairs and eat breakfast. Did they put extra spice? The soup tastes better today. I just wanna stare at Alissa eating, though.

"If you are hungry it's okay to ask for more. If you get malnourished your performance will fall."

"Understood, master," she says with a nod. Good girl.

"Also, are you okay? Thinking of last night, are you feeling hurt or uncomfortable somewhere?"

"I'm fine, your spells yesterday took all my pain. Thank you, master." And she nods again.

After breakfast we go back to the room. I'm starting to feel like doing it again but I need to take it easy with her, she was still a virgin just yesterday. We also have to talk about something.

We sit on the bed facing each other.

"Now then. Can you open your own status window?"

"Yes, master."

"Then tell me every"…" I stop mid sentence.

Ho"ho"ho, Christmas came early. I opened my own window and saw something interesting. There's a new b.u.t.ton on the left column of the menu, it's "Followers".

I click it.

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Info

Name: Alissa Age: 16 Race: Fox-Type Wereanimal

HP: 100 MP: 125 Magic Power: 24

Level: 24 Experience: 245/6500

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Stats

Strength: 11 Endurance: 18 Dexterity: 22

Speed: 20 Intelligence: 11 Wisdom: 12

Willpower: 16 Charisma: 10 Piety: 15

Perception: 17 Sanity: 15

­

Other

Status Effects: NONE t.i.tles: NONE

Affiliations: Blood Slave (Owner: Wolf Ryder)

Companions: NONE

Crimes: NONE

­

d.a.m.n, those are some high stats, I'm jealous. On my status menu under "Affiliations" there's the entry "Alissa (Blood Slave)". Then I have the option to look at her skills and magic.

­

Alissa Skill Report

Physical

Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level

Sword Use: 9 Bow Use: 20 Parry: 4

Dodge: 2 Sense Presence: 5 Hide Presence: 3

Enhanced Olfact: 5 Enhanced Hearing: 3 Pain Resistance: 2

Hawk Eyes: 1 Muscle Explosion: 1 Quiet Steps: 3

Quiet Action: 2 Tracking: 2

­

Magical

Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level

Sense Mana: 1 Mana Control: 1 Fire Magic: 1

Light Magic: 1 s.p.a.ce Magic: 1 Conjuring Magic: 1

­

Miscellaneous

Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level

Housework: 3 Cooking: 2 Cleaning: 2

Was.h.i.+ng: 5 Riding: 2 Oral Technique: 4

Hand Technique: 2 Fox Transformation (innate): 4

­

Holy s.h.i.+t girl, you are strong. What the h.e.l.l is [Muscle Explosion]? [Tracking] is a skill that goes up to 5, so I guess it's not a bad thing she's at 2. Miscellaneous skills like [Cooking], [Cleaning] and [Housework] go up to 10, so she's not inexperienced on it. Now I know why you she's so good at was.h.i.+ng. Also Oral and [Hand Technique] are clearly s.e.xual. And what's that (innate) skill? I never saw it on my skill list. Finally, I'm really worried about how you got that [Pain Resistance].

Her magic is:

­

Spells:

Clean Spirit Light (Weak) Conjure Water Conjure Bland Meal (weak) Fireball

Telekinesis Item Box (weak)

­

She has 4 skill points una.s.signed. I can't remove points but I can add points to any skill I want, except the (innate) one. I immediately add a point to [Bow Use], that point I can remove. So it's like me, she learned those skills through training so you can't remove them. But why does she have way less skill points?

"Master, what is it?" She asks and tilts her head, heart damage.

"Hmm… Is it possible for someone to see someone else's status screen?"

"You mean like the Inspection Crystal?"

"More like seeing someone else's screen like you see your own."

"Hm… Never heard of it. Only the Crystal should be able to look into someone's soul."

"Well. Here's a secret you have to keep. I can see your status screen like it's my own."

"Wha"wha"what!?" She looks at me with an incredulous expression.

"That's how it is. To prove it, let me tell you something personal, you have 4 points in [Oral Technique]," I say with a smile.

Her eyes widen and she blushes.

"Tell me, how did you learn that skill," I say.

"I"I didn't!" She flails her arms about, her voice cracks and she seems about to cry, her tail is straight and upright. "I mean, it wasn't real... I swear! I"It's wood...! Please!"

"Calm down! That's not what I meant!" I grab her shoulder and look straight into her eyes.

"Y"yes… That's right… I'm sorry, I lost my temper, master. I"I deserve punishment for this," she calms down and bows.

"You don't deserve punishment," I say immediately.

I grab her shoulder and pull her straight.

"... Thank you, master," She says while still keeping her head down.

"Now, you said wood?"

She raises her head and looks at me nervously.

"Y"yes…" Her eyes s.h.i.+ft about, "The Chieftress would bring it and teach me the techniques. I had to imitate her on the other one she had. It was so embarra.s.sing…"

I wonder how would she feel if she had to show her skills during customs. Well anyways, I gotta thank the "Chieftress" for her thoughtfulness.

"But master, how are you doing it? I never heard of such a skill."

"It's only with you possibly because you are my slave. But it's like I said, it's a secret so don't tell anyone. I can't really tell you how I do it."

"Understood," she nods. Even her nods have its own charm.

f.u.c.k, I'm way too crazy about her right now.

Maybe telling her the truth on this one was unnecessary. But she's my slave now and she's gonna be for life. At least this one is a secret I don't really need to keep.

"Now, how did you learn [Item Box]?"

"Just like every other child. I hugged the Chieftress while she practiced magic until I learned [Sense Mana]. Then I copied the feeling I had when hugging her until I learned [Mana Control]. Then when I had enough mana I hugged her when she used [Item Box] and copied her mana manipulation until I was able to cast it. Same way I learned [Conjure Bland Meal] and [Spirit Light], it's essential for a hunter to have those spells too."

Then I will do the same thing with her until I learn those skills and spells. Possibly at night before I abuse her body.

"I see… Now what is [Muscle Explosion]?"

"It's a skill that lets me do a really strong or really fast movement for a split second. It's useful in avoiding a fatal strike that you can't avoid entirely."

Oh? So that's how the Orc Headhunter might have been able to dodge the [Ice Lance] from Rania.

"How did you get [Pain Resistance]?"

"That's… Please understand I'm the one who insisted on it."

"What? What does it mean?"

"I asked for the Chieftress to torture me."

Wow.

"Uh… Why would you do that?"

"I'm supposed to be a tool. I'm to be used in combat or as a s.e.x slave as you see fit, I can't afford to fail because of pain. It would bring great shame to my clan if the soldiers they train can't stand the pain. Chieftress was too soft, she didn't want to do it but I insisted until she gave in. Please don't think she's a bad person, it's just my duty to be strong."

That's excessive. I'm starting to feel bad about her, she really takes her duty seriously. That chieftress also sounds like a mother but I don't think I should ask her that right now.

"Well. I'm sorry again but I don't plan on putting you in any sort of situation that will require you to have that skill."

She stays still for a few seconds. Then she bites her lip, clenches her fist, and puts her head on my shoulder.

"Thank you, for being so kind. I… Am glad you bought me. I know it's my duty to be a tool but I'm still glad it's you who bought me," she says.

Even if she's brainwashed into being treated as a tool it doesn't change that she will feel better if she isn't treated like that.

I hug her and pat her head. We keep like this for a while, then I turn her around and hug her from behind. My cheek rubs on hers and I can clearly smell her perfume I bought.

"What is [Fox Transformation]?" I continue.

"You don't know?" She turns and looks at me confused. Hear breath tickles my neck. "It's the racial skill of all wereanimals. My type is fox so I can turn into a large fox. I'm really proud of it, since you are small you can even ride on me."

Argh, emotional damage. I'm conscious of being small and thin. But still, that's cool as f.u.c.k, I'm excited.

"That's amazing, I really wanna see that."

She smiles when I say that and then she goes back into the previous hugging position.

I still don't want to explain everything to her, I don't feel like talking about home. Explaining my background might be really hard and not that important in the end. Creating a rather believable lie would also work in the future if I have to explain myself to others, I can determine the believability by her reactions.

"Let's say it like this. I'm a foreigner from a really, really far away. The common sense here is way too different from the one on my homeland. So let's a.s.sume I'm ignorant about everything and just explain it all from the beginning, okay?"

"Oh! So that's why you don't know those things. Now I understand, master. But how far is it that you never met another wereanimal?"

"Just… It's difficult to give you a sense of distance since even I don't know. I teleported here. Well my origin is another secret. Just say that I come from a far away land when asked. It's okay to say I never told you the name."

"I see…" I feel a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"Next topic. Do you pray?"

"Yes I do. I pray to the G.o.d of War for glory in battle and the G.o.d of Endurance to allow me to fulfill my duty." I'm not really surprised with this answer. "Do the people of your homeland not know about the Humanoid G.o.ds, master?"

"Correct. Which is why I think I should pray to the G.o.ds. But how should I do it?"

"Hm… Just ask for help? The G.o.ds may have lost their mortality and bonds with the land but they still have their own personalities, their likes, and their dislikes. The G.o.d of War and the G.o.d of Endurance were simple men during their lives so I just ask for glory in battle and the power to keep standing after."

"Do you like, hold your hands to pray or do some sort of ceremony, like get on your knees? Do you give them offerings or something like that?"

"There's no need. They are G.o.ds who like results so they will help you when you need and be happy when you succeed. Praying is the way you tell them how you wish to be helped."

How practical, I like these G.o.ds.

"Hm… I'm thinking about praying for the G.o.d of the Sun, the G.o.ddess of Growth and the G.o.ddess of Knowledge. What do you think?"

"G.o.d of the Sun? I don't know why people would pray for him unless you are royalty."

"Yeah well, I have my reasons."

"Okay… Then the G.o.ddess of Growth is a good one to pray to if you are training hard. She's also known to help the G.o.ddess of Fertility and the G.o.ddess of Plants."

I guess the interpretation of "growth" is really liberal then.

"But why the G.o.ddess of Knowledge? Wouldn't the G.o.d of War be better for an adventurer?" She asks.

"I'm actually more of a mage so I want to improve my magic. And I also think knowledge should be helpful in understanding this place since I'm a foreigner."

"Oh! You are a mage who can use the sword? Oh yes, you did use [Regeneration] on me last night. That's amazing, master!" She looks at me with wide eyes. That's enough praise, please. "Then I think the G.o.ddess of Knowledge is a good choice. If we please the G.o.d of War enough then he could bless you even if you don't pray to him."

What a nice guy.

"Then how should I pray for them?"

"I don't know about the G.o.d of the Sun, maybe you should ask for a hard day's work? For the G.o.ddess of Growth you have to wish to improve with all your willpower, that's how the priest taught me. The G.o.ddess of Knowledge is very fickle, you should ask a scholar about it. But from what I understood you need to wish to understand without 'cloudy eyes' and to always write a book about what you know."

"Cloudy eyes"? Is that bias? I guess I should talk to Ciel about it.

"That's all I had to ask. Do you have any questions about me?"

"Not right now, master."

"Then let's form a fellows.h.i.+p."

A fellows.h.i.+p of the rin-... Nah. Anyway, it's like a game "party". It allows us to share experience and always know the position of each other. The dungeoneering advice book said it's the first thing a group of people working together should do. I feel like I don't want to ever break a fellows.h.i.+p with her.

We interlace each other's right hand and say the words at the same time.

"We swear to share our war and our soul and to always keep each other's company."

On my menu screen under "Companions" now there's the entry "Alissa". If I concentrate and think about her I should be able to sense the direction and have some idea of distance. But since she's too close right now it doesn't work properly.

"Let's go to the hunters guild after lunch. Right now I want to savor you." I hug her tightly and throw us into the bed.

"YAH!?" She screams at the sudden move.

I keep hugging her and start to kiss her.

I consider myself "clingy", I would touch and hug Lily whenever possible. s.h.i.+t, thinking about Lily makes me feel guilty. But I told myself I will enjoy this world, dammit, I will do whatever I want!

The kissing escalates and soon we are naked again and I'm licking her nipples. This time I take my time and I make her wet without even touching her down there. I stop and stare at her, she's squirming and out of breath already.

"You want it?" I ask.

"..."

"Tell me what you want."

"... P-please put it in, master."

If a phrase could be considered art, that one would be it.

This time it's not so tight and she doesn't make a pained face. She manages to keep her eyes open and we enter a trance where our bodies move while staring into each other. I don't try to hold myself and soon finish all over her belly. I will slowly increase the time I last to match her, doing too much too hard might hurt her for now.

After a quick wash I hug her and doze off.

­

I wake up feeling hungry. By the sun, it's not noon yet. I get up and Alissa also gets up immediately after, she must have been sleeping lightly.

This time I have her teach me how to brush her hair and tail. I'm a little bit afraid of hurting her tail so she has to finish the job. We get up and she cringes again at the new set of love marks she left on my back.

We go downstairs and I see something that melts my heart.

"What is that… Animal?" I point to the cute little creature.

It's a 40 centimeters tall cute little squirrel. It has a cute little ap.r.o.n and a cute miniature broom. It's sweeping the floor of the inn while humming in a cute little voice and smiling. It has a slightly oversized hand with fingers long enough to compare to a child.

"That's a nature spirit. They are souls of people who didn't want to leave the land so they fused with the souls of nature and materialize like this. If you give it something it likes it will help you. It's a good omen to see an inn being able to make one happy. But master, they are everywhere, how come you never saw one?"

"Erm… Perhaps the souls in my homeland never linger long, our priests are good," I lie.

"I see, so it must be a place full of good spiritualists then," Alissa looks at me with wonder.

"Can I pet it?"

"It will just dematerialize if you try, you have to win its trust first."

Awn… Let's just move on and have lunch.

­

Every so often we find a minstrel about singing about something random. This seems to be a profitable job since most of them have quite a bit of coin in their tipping buckets. Though for me they sound kinda bad. The instant translation inside my brain prevents me from enjoying the poetry and the instruments they use, mostly lutes or harps, are rather crude.

"Curious about the minstrels, master?"

"Uh, yes. Seems profitable to sing on the streets."

"Only because it's the month of Song. Because of the Festivals of Seasons the temple encourages us to tip the singers."

"Huh, curious…"

Alissa smiles at my innocence.

Money is short so it's a cheap meal with some cheap Rabid Rabbit meat. Then we reach the hunters guild.

I will register Alissa because that gives the guild a paper trail that she's with me. This also marks that she's reliable so she can do business in my stead in the future.

The attendant raises an eyebrow when she looks at Alissa's new card. It's the s.e.xual skills, right?

I also register the fellows.h.i.+p. It's just a courtesy but the guild likes it because they can better organize the hunters in times of crisis. For some reason you have to name your fellows.h.i.+p. I think about naming it "Fellows.h.i.+p of the Ring" but I worry about copyright laws in this game, erm, world, so I try to think of something more appropriate.

"Master… Why are you looking so serious? It's just a name isn't it?"

No, little one, this is my banner, my heraldry, my legacy, my legend. I can't screw up and end up like I did with my new name where I feel uncomfortable when people call me Wolf Ryder. I need something strong that I will feel proud about.

"You wouldn't understand," I answer.

Alissa gives me troubled look while the female attendant shrugs, she has seen this scene more than once.

Honestly nothing feels appropriate, but it's not like I'm going to find someone who's going to laugh at my choices so I will just pick a reference to something I like. I kinda like astronomy even though it's not my area so I will pick something in reference to that.

"Helios" I write down the name. Maybe the G.o.d of the Sun will get the reference. Under mine and Alissa's "Affiliations" entry on the status screen there's now "Helios (fellows.h.i.+p)".

With that, we move towards the training grounds.

"Do you need me to accompany you for a bit? I want you to first train the sword and then the bow. We will spend the whole afternoon here and I will be training magic in the furthest corner."

"It's not necessary, I will talk to the instructor and train by myself."

We enter and Toga's gaze finds me. Nope, not today, I will be training magic on my corner veeery far away.

But first I watch Alissa spar with an instructor. Thankfully it isn't Toga, it's a much gentler man but he's not less skilled.

Alissa flows with the sword, she's truly fast. I'm actually curious why she's so good at dodging and parrying, her skill points are less than mine. Perhaps it's the "Speed" and "Dexterity", maybe the stat and the skill combine so she doesn't need a high skill to be effective.

A few men are staring at Alissa. Shoo, go away, that one is mine. There are other women here that are also training so go bother them.

After a few minutes I go to my corner. I ask the G.o.ddess of Growth to help me increase my MP so I can always have mana to heal and support Alissa. Then I start my [Fireball] routine.

­

After a few hours I look at Alissa and see her drawing a crowd with her archery skills. She's way too accurate and fast, she's my own female Legolas. She looks ferocious, complete reverse of her in bed.

Alissa keeps taking my concentration away so my training routine is weaker than before but it's okay.

When dusk starts to come we go back to the inn and reserve another bath. I'm way too tired for anything so we just cuddle and kiss.

After dinner I tell her to use her mouth. She's certainly skilled, it feels really good. It's constant and smooth pleasure. I close my eyes and enjoy to the fullest. This time she understands my warning and doesn't choke.

Then we sleep together while hugging again.

­

I dream of Alissa shooting goblins while I laugh and drink tea.

­

I wake up like usual and get a deep kiss from her. I think this should be a morning routine.

My MP increased by 40 (now 255). That's kinda high since I didn't train so well yesterday, could it be the result of prayer?

Then I decide to look at the extermination requests at the hunters guild. With Alissa's tracking we can take on some of those juicy kills.

We walk with our arms entwined again. She's a few centimeters taller than me so it's a bit awkward at first until we get used to each other's rhythm.

We are looking at the requests when I hear footsteps approach.

"h.e.l.lo! Are you Wolf Ryder? I am Targua from Honest s.h.i.+eld."

"Uh… Hi, h.e.l.lo, yes, I'm Ryder," I answer.

In front of me is a short and wide man in full chain mail. He has black hair and droopy eyes that makes him look like he's always thinking.

"Oi! don't listen to him, join my fellows.h.i.+p instead!" A blonde and lanky man comes running and interjects. His face looks mischievous, he sports a considerable nose, and he has a bow slung over his body.

"What?" I ask, dumbfounded.

Stop, rewind and start from the beginning this time.

"Bug off, mate. I didn't even ask yet and you jump in the middle," says Targua while facepalming.

"I'm Simon, from Swift Wind. Pleasure to meetcha, yeah? How about you join my fellows.h.i.+p?" Quickly says the lanky man, while pus.h.i.+ng for a handshake.

Where did you two crawl from?

"Uh… Sorry, but yeah, how about you join my fellows.h.i.+p instead?" Says Targua with a strained smile.

"Why are you guys asking me to join?" I ask sincerely.

"No s.h.i.+t we're looking for you, mate. A magic swordsman who can kill and carry the Grey Berserker and the Orc Headhunter is no joke. And then yesterday the training grounds were raving about his new companion who's crazy pretty and a good la.s.s with the bow," says Simon.

His speech is really weird. Is this the effect of the [Andraste Language] skill trying to translate casual slang?

I look at Targua and he shrugs. The thing that annoys me is how they want me to join, their fellows.h.i.+p. No thanks.

"Sorry but I would prefer to keep walking my own path for now."

"Ehh. Really? That's a shame, mate. We could make a killing with you and the girl," Simon says.

I feel Alissa's grip tighten.

"Is that so? There's no room for negotiations? We could always search for a good deal in the fellows.h.i.+p," says Targua while taking a step closer.

I kinda like your att.i.tude but back off, you are too close to Alissa.

"No, sorry. It's not a question about money, it's personal."

Simon shrugs and makes a sour face.

"Well I tried." And he walks away.

"Sorry to bother you then. Be well Mr. Ryder," Targua nods and leaves.

"I fully agree with your decision, master," Alissa says while sending a mean gaze to the two who are leaving. "Those men would exploit you, it's always like this when getting scouted by veterans. Fellows.h.i.+ps are bonds made of trust, those which are made of money are weak"

How romantic.

We turn back and continue searching for a request.

There's a good one. It's about an Oodogloo who has been found nearby yesterday, threat level 3. It's a large, transparent slime with a human skeleton inside. Because it can walk it's faster than normal crawling slimes that move like caterpillars or worms. It should have a distinctive ammonia smell so it's easy to track with Alissa's nose. It's a very annoying enemy to catch because it runs away from everything and preys on livestock. It was last found half a day away northwest from here, past Royd's Kerfuffle.

"I can take you there on my fox form. We will need to rest for about an hour after that but it will be okay."

"Wanna go there right now?"

"Yes! I wanna test my bow. The Oodogloo is good target practice because it's nimble."

Her tail is swaying.

"Then let's go."

I wanna go not because I'm excited to fight but because I want a reason to ride Alissa. We already have all the requirements for sleeping outside plus I got a small tent.

We pa.s.s the gate with ease since we are both adventurers. A few meters away from the crowd trying to enter town Alissa turns to me.

"I'm skilled enough to absorb my clothes after transforming but you will have to hold my weapons, master," she says excitedly.

I grab them and she turns around. Here comes the trademark of magic in this world, she starts to s.h.i.+ne lightly. Her skin turns black and her armor disappears inside her body. Then her fur starts to grow everywhere and her limbs distort. In 5 seconds she turns into a 1 meter tall orange fox.

Her big orange eyes look at me. Then she opens her mouth and a strange sound comes out.

"Master, get on me, please," her mouth doesn't move but she still speaks. It's a little bit frightening.

"Uhh… shouldn't we get a saddle?"

"There's no need, just grab my fur. This form is made of mana so I don't feel pain."

"If you say so."

So I get on her. She's incredibly soft and warm. I can see how a big part of her body is pure fluffy fur so her body isn't that muscular. I nuzzle up to her neck and grab her fur.

"Then I will be off. I will increase speed slowly so tell me if it shakes too much," she says.

"Okay, let's go."

Then she starts running. It's an odd feeling, I have never ridden a horse so I don't know how to deal with this. It's a rhythmic swaying that needs time to get used to.

She's fast. It's really advantageous for us to move this way so I will just deal with the discomfort until I'm used to it.

During the trip I keep thinking about what to do with her skill points, 6 points is kind of a lot. It's going to be hard to explain. I can just use the "it's a secret" excuse but this is kinda of a big and weird one because it kinda violates the laws of the skill system. She could even think I'm a demi-G.o.d or something.

I think I will lie to her for now, I will look into the thing she wants to improve the most and slowly put those points there. It's just the less messy way, I believe. In the end I could even just do whatever and shrug if she notices something wrong, not like she's going to a.s.sume I'm the one doing it. So I secretly put 1 point into [Enhanced Stamina].

It took us less than half the normal time to get here, there's still some time until noon. Once we reach the described area she slows down and stops near a tree. I drop down and she reverses the transformation. Graciously she gets up from being on her fours and looks at me. Her posture seems a little droopy, she's tired.

I sit down on the tree roots and put the old sleeping bag near me. I give her her weapons. She ties the sword and quiver to her waist and keeps her bow on her chest.

"Lay down here, please."

"Thank you, master."

She's so polite. She's always thanking me but it does make me a bit uncomfortable though.

"But this is odd, I'm not as tired as I thought I would be," she lays down and talks.

So she noticed. I immediately pat her head and she closes her eyes, her tail twitches below her.

"Is that so? didn't you miscalculate the distance? Or perhaps just by sleeping with me you got stronger?" I say and grin.

She opens her eyes and stares at me.

"That was a joke, my body is no miracle drug."

"Y-yes. That's not what I was thinking though."

"Then what were you thinking?"

"It's what you said about being happy increases performance. Could be the truth."

So she's actually happy now? I'm glad.

"Well I wasn't lying."

"No! I'm sorry! That wasn't what I meant, I meant that I noticed it for the first time."

"It's okay, I understand." And I pat her head faster.

She calms down and closes her eyes again.

­

After a good half-hour she gets up.

"Oh? I got a new skill, [Enhanced Stamina]."

"That's great. It means you can stay longer on your fox form right?"

"Yes, precisely," she says with a puzzled face.

"Something wrong?"

"It's just that it was too easy. Like 'Endurance' these sort of skills are hard to come by."

"Maybe you put more effort than you thought. I think you are a serious and hard worker."

She shrinks her posture. She's feeling shy, her tail wags a bit.

"Perhaps…" And her voice trails off while she looks into the distance.

Now that she has a better [Sense Presence] than me, I decide to remove it along with [Mental Resistance] since there's no need for it here. I level [Blessing Magic] to 10 so I can use [Swift Foot] that gives us a boost in speed. I level [Electric Magic] to 5 and [Mana Control] to 1 so I can use [Lightning Bolt] more effectively to stun the Oodogloo that's likely to run away.

My skills look like this:

­

Wolf Ryder Skill Report

Physical

Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level

Sword Use: 6+2 Dodge: 2+4 Parry: 1+4

Block: 2+4 s.h.i.+eld Bash 0+1

­

Magical

Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level

Mana Efficiency: 4+0 Mana Recovery: 3+0 Reduced Mana Cost 3+0

Mana Control: 1+0 Electric Magic: 5+0 Nature Magic: 5+0

Blessing Magic: 10+0

­

Miscellaneous

Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level

Andraste Language 10+0 Dismantling: 0+1

OBS: Level means (free point)+(trained point)

­

Now I need to explain my skills to Alissa, time to lie.

"Alissa, strategy meeting. Time to tell you another secret," I tell her and she sits down again obediently.

"My power is that I can basically use all kinds of magic. But it takes time to switch between magic types and I'm not very proficient in them."

"Wow, that's amazing, master. So you are actually a genius magician."

Not true but it's convenient you think like this so I will keep it like this.

"Well, err… Perhaps it is so. I just know it is something I'm capable of. But like I said I'm not very proficient in magic, I'm a jack-of-all-trades, master of none."

"'Jack-of-all-trades'?" She tilts her head, her confused face is adorable.

"An expression from my homeland, it means 'a person who can do anything', but I'm not particularly good at any of them."

"I see."

"Then for this hunt I'm going to use [Blessing Magic] and [Electric Magic]. I will give us [Swift Foot] and when we meet the monster I will use [Lightning Bolt] to try to stun it. You just turn him into a pincus.h.i.+on."

"Pin… Cus.h.i.+on. Ah, with the arrows. Another reference, I think," she says and smiles.

The pincus.h.i.+on isn't a thing yet?

"Then I understand, let's start looking for the monster," she says and gets up.

This strategy basically means that Alissa does everything while I do nothing until the battle. But there's no way around it, that's how trackers work.

Still, we are going to search the Sea of Trees during the day so we are probably going to meet enemies on the way. That's when I will protect Alissa from getting into melee, if she doesn't kill everything with one arrow…

I cast [Swift Foot] on both of us and 2/3rds of my mana go away.

­

The landscape was the same since when we left the town. Long plantations on one side of the road and a small wall and the Sea of Trees on the other. The spot we are in is less well preserved but it's still a well-maintained road.

The spot we stopped at was in front of the farm that was attacked, Woodwick Ranch. We will search the Sea of Trees during the day while the monster sleeps and enter the farm to protect the livestock during the night. The monster is not really smart, just cowardly. He's the annoying kind that preys on large animals so he might randomly attack another farm again.

I think I will put 10 points into [Summoning Magic] so I can summon a dog and protect at least another farm. [Summoning Magic] gives me a light ball that I can pick and throw to summon the being wherever it falls. Kinda feels like I'm summoning a pocket monster. If I put a little more "effort" in summoning when I press the "cast" b.u.t.ton inside my mind I can instantly call a summon in a small radius around me.

Then we start moving towards the Sea of Trees. I bought a small compa.s.s, which will help navigation but we are basically going to wander around until Alissa catches his trail. If a farm gets attacked this night then it will be easier to follow his trail but the reward will drop a bit if he kills anything so we are wandering around for today.

The familiar scenery appears before me. Huge trees, damp and almost dark atmosphere, plenty of unfamiliar fruits, gigantic entwining roots, large amount of hanging vines, and random patches of uncommonly colored trees. I'm surprised there's not more insects here considering how warm and damp this place is. Thank G.o.d for the j.a.panese designers who must hate insects.

I lead the way with the compa.s.s. We are going directly west, deep into the forest. Then after half an hour Alissa stops me.

"Something is coming, two small enemies," she whispers to me.

We hide and wait for them to get into visual range. It's two lightly armored goblins. Leather jackets, loincloths, a stone spear and a crude wooden s.h.i.+eld.

"Fire at will. I will block the second one if he reaches us."

"Understood."

Then she gets up and fires two quick arrows.

Both goblins die with an arrow between their eyes.

"Welp," I shrug.

I go and collect their ears.

"Likely scouts. There could be a small group camping nearby," says Alissa.

"Let's not get close to their camp."

"Understood," she says. Her atmosphere is much more serious now, I guess this is because she is fulfilling her duty.

We move again and not even 10 minutes pa.s.s and this time 3 enemies are coming, fast. They did not detect us but our paths are going to cross, it's too close to just avoid. I decide to ambush them, I will get the one on the right and Alissa will try to quickly kill the two on the left.

Once they get close enough we jump out of hiding. It's 3 Mossy Fangpines.

I immediately cast [Lightning Bolt] on one and another receives an arrow on its head. The second arrow flies perfectly but the Fangpine is way too agile and it misses. The last one charges us.

The one who got hit by magic is stunned, an arrow flies and he dies. I prepare myself to receive the charging one. With my sword high I wait until the last moment to swing down with all my might. The Fangpine is stupid and jumps into my sword, his head is split into two. His b.l.o.o.d.y body crashes on the border of my s.h.i.+eld and plops down on the floor already dead.

"A clean hit. It's the first time I saw you fight," she says while I collect the bodies.

"Yeah well, I got some experience dealing with enemies who charge like this."

"Most people prefer to receive the charge first then counterattack."

"It hurts too much to do that, my endurance is not high enough."

"I see..." And she looks away.

Don't pity me, I'm working on it.

The Fangpines are valuable but their price varies depending on the current price of the meat and the alchemists stocks. So far I haven't seen their meat being sold, maybe the stocks are low.

"They must have sensed the goblins deaths," she says.

"Then let's change our direction a bit. Let's move a little north."

­

There are no encounters for another hour so we decide to have lunch early. I spread a large cloth on the ground and we sit down. Bean Paste and Rabid Rabbit meat sandwich on a not-baguette. Unfortunately the crust is not as crunchy as I like, but at least it doesn't make a big mess. I forgot to buy fruit for juice or to even bring tea, kinda boring this way.

"Next time we should buy tea," I mutter.

"Oh? You like tea? You didn't tell me."

"I forgot…"

My mind was too busy with abusing Alissa.

I cast [Wind Armor] on both of us and [Sharp Blades] on myself. After the next break I will cast [Sharp Blades] on her. It's kinda annoying having to cast my [Blessing Magic] multiple times but I don't have enough mana to do it in one go. I also don't want to show too much of my magic yet to her until I have prepared the last lie.

We get up and move southwest this time, not much sense in going north too far. The Oodogloo nests deep in the forest during the day but he's not smart enough to move diagonally to purposely avoid those chasing him.

We keep walking for another half hour until Alissa detects another enemy.

"This one is large. I don't think it's a Grey Berserker, but I don't know what it is."

"Then let's observe."

This time Alissa leads 10 meters in front because I don't have [Quiet Steps]. She sights the enemy, it's behind a huge root, then comes back to me to report.

"It's a Young Ogre."

Oh, they are a common sight after the culling it seems, the new monster is moving into the empty territory. Must be why their leather was cheap. He's threat level 4, we should be able to deal with him if we follow proper tactics.

I store my s.h.i.+eld inside "Items", no need for it on this fight.

"Standard formation then. First arrow aim for the eye," I say.

We agreed that the standard is she will fire the first arrow and I will cast [Lightning Bolt] repeatedly until it reaches melee. Then I will keep it busy while she tries to hit the vitals.

We get in position. She will circle around until she can see the ogre then she will lure it to me.

"UGOOOOH!" The ogre's scream makes the trees tremble. If this is a young one then the adult will cause an earthquake.

He rushes from behind the root with an arrow sticking out of its right eye. The ogre is a 2 meter tall humanoid with ridiculously thick arms, legs, and a six pack that makes bodybuilders jealous. His skin is red-brown and thick, he is bald and his face is round, flat, and deformed. It's like he's a cartoon character that hit a wall. He's especially resistant against blunt force but his vulnerability is slas.h.i.+ng and bleeding to death. His body is too thick so he's not fast or dexterous. For me the best strategy is to avoid him and counterattack by slas.h.i.+ng whenever an opening appears.

Alissa gets in position a dozen meters behind me and carefully aims her arrows. Even for proto-Legolas she can't hit the eyes of a moving target so she's aiming for the neck. The other vulnerable spot would be the groin but I'm on the way, so the neck it is.

I tried to ignore it but it's impossible, he's way too tall. The worst thing about these monsters is when they are naked. A long dangling disgusting thing is coming charging towards me. f.u.c.k this world.

With [Mana Control] I can put a little more or less mana into the spell and control the discharge for a second or two. So when he appears I discharge the stronger version of my spell. It's subtle but I noticed the bolt is stronger. The ogre decreased his speed a little. I cast it again and he reduces even more. Now his speed is more manageable.

Because of the spells he ignores Alissa and changes target to me. He tries to kick but I jump sideways and slash his leg. Blood pours and he growls.

Then he tries to do a sweep with his arm. I duck and an arrow appears in his neck. Another kick with the other leg, another dodge and slash.

He tries to smash downwards with both hands held together. This time I dodge further away and get out of counterattack range. Once he hits the ground a second arrow appears next to the first.

I dash towards his blind eye and he loses sight of me for a second. That's enough time to charge forward and slash his flank. Then I get some distance and he turns towards me. I realize this is not a good position for Alissa, shooting the back of his neck or head is not efficient, his skull is too thick for arrows.

He tries to do an arm sweep again. Since I'm further this time I manage to dodge easier and counter sweep with my sword. My sword arm hurts and it might be too much stress on the sword but I cut a huge gash on his left forearm. He growls even harder. Now things might amp up in difficulty, like the Grey Berserker he gets faster the angrier he gets.

I keep circling him to give Alissa a good angle again. He stands still while turning and a third arrow appears on his neck. Plenty of blood is trickling from there.

I cast bolt again and he twitches. Enough of an opening for a fourth arrow.

"UGOO-BLEH!" He tries to shout while punching but he coughs.

His punch slows and he gets another deep cut on his other arm. This one the blood pours fast, perhaps I cut a large vein or something? I need lessons in anatomy.

He protects his neck with his right arm. It's kinda late now you dumba.s.s.

Alissa can't act but now his actions are more limited. He sweeps his arm with the back of his hand and it creates a huge opening. I jump forward and cut near his armpit, more blood comes out. He kicks me but the angle is awkward for him, I twist my body and deflect the impact with my sword. I jump backwards to avoid breaking by posture.

He's cautious now and stops attacking. I cut his leg once and start to circle him. He seems to be becoming dizzy, I must have cut something important so I'll just wait for now.

After a minute or so his skin is now mostly blood red, his arm is slow and he can't aim his kick correctly. His body starts to sway, he looks out of breath. Then he falls on his a.s.s. Even near death his eyes spell anger instead of fear.

Then another arrow appears on his last eye.

"Ugooo~!" He lets out a weak scream.

I jump and slash his neck. A large amount of blood flows and he falls on his back. We wait another minute.

"He's dead," Alissa says.

That was f.u.c.king brutal. As the adrenaline runs out I start to get very anguished at this sight. I clean my blade and quickly put his body on my "Items". Then I look away from the large pool of blood.

"Quickly, let's move," I say and we jog away from here.

­

"Master, I think this distance is fine. Can I speak to you?" Alissa talks on a serious tone.

"Y-yes, what is it?"

"Are you okay? Your expression changed, your face is much darker now."

I look away from her and keep silent.

"Are you tired? let's rest."

"It's… Not it…"

"Then what is it?"

"I just..." I sigh. "I feel bad about the ogre."

"What?"

"He looks too human. I don't want to make him suffer."

"But he's a monster."

"Still…" I sigh again.

I didn't want to say it like this but I have to now.

"My homeland was too peaceful, I didn't have to fight there. I'm not used to seeing so much blood, to hear the death cries of things… Of living beings that look so human. It makes me feel sick and guilty," I confess.

She stays silent, she seems to be in deep thought.

"That is okay, master. People like you are necessary in this world. Forgive me but I will selfishly ask for you to continue like this. Even if it makes you suffer because I think that it will be best for this world if someone like you exists. I will support you, I will help you and heal you, I will give you my all just so you can continue being like this," she says, then she comes and hugs me from behind.

That was unexpected. I don't know how to answer so I just keep still.

Isn't this naive? How long have you known me? It's just a few days, no matter how close we are or if we had s.e.x or not, it's just not enough for you to say things like that. But still… I want to believe in this. I tried to throw away what held me back but some things are harder than the others. I wanted someone to love so I changed, I don't want to change and throw away this part of my humanity. I want to believe in her.

I turn and hug her back. I must not cry.

­

After a few minutes I start to feel better and break the hug. She lets me go with kind eyes and an adorable smile.

"Let's go back. We will take another less direct route so we will take more time," I say.

"Understood. Please rely on me more, master," she says and clenches her fist on her chest.

I nod and smile.

­

[Swift Foot] is a really nice spell. It lets us walk effortlessly so our speed is almost a constant jog. Even in this forest full of roots and bushes we travel through it without any problems.

We were moving southeast this time and Alissa gets another hit.

"Four enemies. Likely goblins."

"Hmm… They are increasing in number."

"Perhaps there's a nest nearby?"

"Let's observe them."

We get closer so we reach visual range. They are 4 fully armored goblins. Two use sword and s.h.i.+eld and two use spears.

"They look awfully intelligent."

They move more aware of their surroundings but since we are hidden in the bushes they can't detect us. They are moving on an extremely slow pace. Are they searching for something?

"You think you can kill two if we ambush?" I ask.

"Unlikely, they are alert for something. One is guaranteed, the other I'm not sure."

"We will sync our attacks. You kill the one on the right and I use the bolt on the s.h.i.+eld user on his left. It might stun him for long enough for you to fire another arrow."

"I will use [Muscle Explosion], I can't use it repeatedly though."

"It's alright. I'll be bait, once the first strike goes you sneak backwards and circle around until you have a shot. When I remove my hand from your shoulder we attack."

"Understood."

I charge the spell. Then I get up and take my hand off Alissa's shoulder the moment I let my spell loose.

The forest fills with the roar of the lightning. The goblin with a s.h.i.+eld can't even react, he gets. .h.i.t by lightning and his body locks in place for a moment. Then the first goblin falls with an arrow on his temple, he didn't even have time to notice his buddy got hit.

When the s.h.i.+eld goblin raises his s.h.i.+eld to defend himself the tip of his s.h.i.+eld touches the shaft of the arrow stuck on his face. It's too late, he's already dead.

Then the goblins turn towards us. The last spear user hides behind the last s.h.i.+eld user. His s.h.i.+eld is teardrop shaped, a kite s.h.i.+eld, it's longer than mine.

I get in the open and wait for the goblins to come. Alissa is sneaking behind me, she's moving away and soon she will move to the side.

As they are not charging forward I have time to cast [Lightning Bolt] again. The s.h.i.+eld user twitches and groans. He stops but his s.h.i.+eld doesn't move, it likely reduced the damage to his body.

Then the spear goblin falls with an arrow on his forehead. The s.h.i.+eld goblin notices and turns. That's enough distraction, I charge forward.

I slash towards him but his s.h.i.+eld is large and it's easy to defend. I keep striking so he can't counterattack, he's suppressed.

Then I kick him and he staggers backwards. His eyes lock into mine and an arrow appears on his temple. He goes limp and falls down.

They may be armored but their equipment is s.h.i.+tty, old, and tattered. The s.h.i.+elds must have been pillaged from some adventurers and look relatively new, they might be worth something. I grab the weapons and s.h.i.+elds, then I cut the ears from the goblins and move towards Alissa.

"We honestly make a good team," I say.

"I would prefer if you weren't used as bait. We need another companion to act as the front line, master." Alissa frowns slightly.

"Yeah, well…" I shrug.

She's not wrong. I don't really have the stats to be front line, it's just that I don't have the money. I used it all on her and her equipment. I don't regret it though.

­

We keep moving forward and meet 2 other duos of goblins. The first one wasn't alert so Alissa killed them both, the second one was and took more work. By that I mean I shot lightning and he froze long enough for Alissa to kill him. If you don't have a s.h.i.+eld you are f.u.c.ked against Alissa.

Then we met a group of 4 Mossy Fangpines. The anti"odor powder is working, they aren't coming directly towards us. But are they searching for our trail of blood?

It seems there might really be a goblin nest nearby. Which is why we met so many goblins and now it's attracting the Fangpines.

I'm debating whether to fight them when Alissa gets another hit. Two meters tall, likely another Young Ogre.

"Now we wait. They aren't going to get too close to us, right?"

"Yes. No need to endanger ourselves, we can wait here," Alissa says and nods.

Then something interesting happens, the Fangpines attack the ogre.

We move a bit closer so we can see. Among the trees there is a red-brown ogre swinging his arm around while fast and small monsters jump all around him.

"Wow, can they really kill him?" I ask.

"If they avoid getting crushed they can poison him and he will slowly die."

"Hm…" Feels dirty but I have an idea. "Let's third party this fight."

"Third party?"

"Er. Let's wait until the ogre is near dead, then we jump in and kill the Fangpines."

"Oh, I see. Yes, sounds interesting," Alissa seems content.

"I want the experience more than anything so we can't let that ogre die by the hand of the Fangpines."

"I see. Once he starts to move slower we should get closer and prepare for the ambush. I will warn you once his movement pattern changes."

"Alright," I agree and nod. Alissa has the better eyesight so she will be able to see this detail.

The fight takes a while. The ogre gets bitten multiple times, he just can't catch the Fangpines, they are smart enough to let go before they are crushed. I see the ogre grew hair in multiple parts of his body, especially his legs. It's stiff, slightly green hair.

It's a bit entertaining if you are into blood sports. The Fangpines get plenty of close calls. Then the ogre stops trying to punch and kick them and tries to grab or crush their heads when they try to bite. He's surrounded and the Fangpines keep attacking from his blind spots.

"The Fangpines are salivating, I think they are starving," says Alissa.

Makes sense. The culling removed food sources and the ogres are the ones who are moving in.

"Oh!" She lets a sound in surprise.

The ogre predicted an attack and managed to squash the head of a Fangpine when he came to bite.

"The corpse is still valuable so good thing it was only the head," I say.

It takes around 10 minutes but the ogre's movements start to slow down.

"It's time," Alissa says.

We sneak forward and I manage to catch a better view of the battle. I can finally see the Fangpines and they are all out of breath and salivating. Just how much saliva can you produce?

"You take the one on the right and I will zap the one on the left. Same thing, hand on shoulder," I say.

Then the ogre falls on one knee. I charge my spell, get up, and release my hand from Alissa's shoulder.

Immediately one Fangpine dies with an arrow on its eye. The second has smoke coming out of his body and he's twitching about. The third turns around and charges towards me without hesitation. Really vicious these pieces of s.h.i.+t.

This time I and s.h.i.+eld bash him when he comes. f.u.c.king hurts to counter a charge with a bash, but it's super effective. The Fangpine loses one of his fangs and falls belly up a few meters ahead. While he tries to get up an arrow appears on his flank.

He screams like wounded dog and writhes. I move forward and finish him. The zapped Fangpine already has an arrow in his head.

The ogre is on his knees, his eyes can barely maintain focus.

"Ugoo~..." He lets out a faint moan.

I dash and slash his neck. The wound is deep, he didn't even resist. He falls backwards and in another minute he's dead.

"You are now level 11."

I collect the ogre and Fangpines.

"I leveled up," I say.

"That's good. Our plan was perfect."

"Indeed," I smile trying to remove the image of the dying ogre from my mind.

"Let's move. I gotta think about something so I will just follow you."

"Understood, master."

My skills are like this now:

­

Wolf Ryder Skill Report

Physical

Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level

Sword Use: 6+2 Dodge: 2+4 Parry: 1+4

Block: 2+4 s.h.i.+eld Bash 0+1

­

Magical

Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level

Mana Efficiency: 4+0 Mana Recovery: 3+0 Reduced Mana Cost 3+0

Mana Control: 4+0 Electric Magic: 5+0 Nature Magic: 5+0

Blessing Magic: 10+0

­

Miscellaneous

Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level

Andraste Language 10+0 Dismantling: 0+1

OBS: Level means (free point)+(trained point)

­

The next level I'm increasing my melee skills, possibly blocking and sword.

We are past halfway back so I start moving north-east. We are likely to exit the forest near our point of entry.

The trees slowly thin out and no more encounters are found. We exit the forest.

"We are a little south of our destination, right?" Asks Alissa.

"Yeah, let's just go north along the road."

"Wanna ride me again?" Asks Alissa with an innocent smile.

"No man will ever say no to that," I say and smirk mischievously.

"What…? Ah, m-master!"

"You set yourself up, don't blame me for easy pickings."

Alissa groans a bit and pouts.

"Let's go," she says and transforms into the fox.

­

We ended up just two farms down from the target. The farms are surprisingly orderly, there's always a sign telling the name of the farm and a road leading to the manor.

We enter the Woodwick Ranch road.

It's a dirt road, so Alissa kicks up some dust while running. The large golden plantations of something similar to wheat pa.s.s by our sides in a blur.

After a few minutes we reach the manor. The plantation open up and you can see a beautiful blue and purple 3 storey house. It's a timber framed house with purple beams and blue stone. It's rather odd looking, the stones and the logs are not painted, perhaps they are found in the valley.

A large empty gra.s.sland surrounds the house. A not-apple tree with a swing and a clotheslines are the two things visible from the front. Behind the house far away there's an enclosure where the livestock graze. Surrounding all sides of this open field are the golden plantations.

We get near the porch and a pale old man in simple clothes is dozing off. He seems to notice us after we get close enough for him to hear our footsteps. He jumps at the sight of a large fox being ridden by a young boy approach him at frightening speed.

"Oooh! Oh…? OH!" The man lets out multiple sounds. "You be the hired hunters!?" He gets up from his cus.h.i.+oned chair and yells.

Why yell? We are coming, wait for us to get near.

Alissa slows down near the porch and I dismount.

"Yes, we are the Helios fellows.h.i.+p," I say.

The guild has ways of contacting people when someone accepts a request. Magic stones for instant communication, spirit messaging, telepathy, depends on the price you pay. This one was a homing carrier"pigeon. We could have reached this place faster than the pigeon if we came directly without searching the forest.

Alissa transforms back and I give her her weapons.

"Ohohoh. How nice, a wereanimal, impressive… Erm, anyway, you are here to spend the night, right?"

"Yeah, we roamed the Sea of Trees but didn't find the Oodogloo," I answer.

"That would be some d.a.m.n luck if you found him like that. But did you find anything interesting?"

"Two Young Ogres and a bunch of goblins. There might be a nest, we found a squad of 4 that were well armed and intelligent."

"AH! The little s.h.i.+ts made another nest. You are going to report this to the guild right?"

"Yeah, but only tomorrow."

"Eh, that's fine. We can find a pa.s.sing traveler to send word or something." The man goes inside the house. "OI, BELTA! THE WHACKERS ARE HERE!" His scream penetrates the entire house.

"I HEAR YE!" A female voice answers.

"Whackers?" I whisper to Alissa.

"Slang. Because farmers always have to hire hunters to kill pests that come back all the time they just call it 'whacking' monsters instead of 'exterminating' them," she shrugs.

A chubby, round faced, and well-tanned woman appears. A girl which is a mini version of the woman and a pale faced boy coyly hide behind the stairs.

"Ah, welcome. You must be the Helios duo, am I right?" The woman says with a smile.

"Yes that's us," I answer.

"Enter please, I will make you some tea until my husband comes. He's at the nearby farms sending word you came."

The Oodogloo might attack another random farm again so the man must be warning the other farms to come here if the monster appears tonight. They will likely stand guard all night waiting for it.

A simple nice tea and some simple nice cookies were laid out for us. Alissa shows more cla.s.s than I do, I just feel like a smelly filthy adventurer. But the tea and cookies keep from souring my mood.

We were telling the woman our small survey of the forest when a small and wide pale man came inside. He seems to be a man of excess. Excess black hair on his head, excess hair on his chin, excess fat on his belly and excess muscles on his arms. He has a shortsword at his waist, enough to keep the usual naked goblin away but not much else.

He didn't want to make small talk so we immediately discussed the simple plan for the night. We would stand guard near the livestock and sleep in turns. The other farms have a bell alarm system, when the monster is sighted they will sound the alarm. The monster will run from the alarm but since we have a tracker we can follow his trail. Secretly I told Alissa that I will switch [Blessing Magic] for [Summoning Magic] and have a dog patrol the further farms.

Then we continued our tale of the expedition and dusk came. The woman lent her bath to us. She gave us a tasty but simple dinner with plenty of bread and with our bellies full we left to stand guard.

­

I look up into the night sky and get stunned at the sight. There's a giant moon where a storm of color rages on its surface. The light is faint but I can see the colors moving and changing as if it were waves crossing and disrupting each other. Orbiting it with speed there are 7 smaller moons, one each color of the rainbow. They seem to make a full turn every minute.

"Hm? What is it master?" Asks Alissa.

We were in the middle of the way to our guard spot when I looked up into the night sky of this world for the first time.

Just what the f.u.c.k is this. Why a rainbow? Why is the night so different from the day? I slept two days under the night sky and didn't notice this? Oh yeah it was cloudy.

"I'm just wondering why is the sun so simple and the moons so colorful," I lie.

"Hahahah, what kind of thoughts are you having? The sun is the same as the moons but he gives us light instead of life.

"Wait what. Remember, I'm very ignorant about things," I look at her surprised.

"Oh, I'm sorry, master. Well, scholars have found that the sun looks the same as the moons. The G.o.d of the Sun gives us light to work during the day but with that we can't see him properly. The G.o.ddess of the Moon gives us a blessing that replenishes our life. Our mana and health recovery increases during the night. This is why we sleep at night, it's so our recovery is even greater."

"But why is the moon a rainbow storm with these 7 moons?"

"That is the avatar of the G.o.d on our realm. We don't know exactly why it looks like this, it's said that we can't really understand something that is above us. I think I heard that the smaller moons and colors are said to represent 'aspects' of the G.o.d. What 'aspects' are I don't know, you should ask a priest."

I'll need some time to process this. I motion for us to keep moving.

The livestock grazing area is a large rectangle. We chose the farthest spot from their sleeping area to set up camp so Alissa didn't have to smell them.

I summon a german shepherd. With that my max MP reduced by 1/4th and half of my MP was taken. This is quite an improvement in comparison to the bird I summoned for the first time.

I keep the dog's hearing sense and send it on patrol. I told him to find the smell of the monster, which is ammonia. If he does then he should bark for a while and come back to me.

I take the first watch and put down an hourgla.s.s. It will last 3 hours and once it's done I will switch with Alissa. It's kinda sad to see her sleep alone, then when we switch it will be me sleeping alone.

My watch goes without problem, I keep practicing my [Mana Control] while staring at the moons. Then I wake up Alissa and switch with her. This tent is cold, not physically but it makes my heart cold. I wanna hug Alissa.

­

I wake up to the sound of barking. Through my dog's eyes, I can see the dog barking to some black humanoid shape.

"Alissa! The dog!"

She was sitting in front of the opening of the tent maintaining my sword. She immediately stores in her [Item Box] the oil she was pa.s.sing on it. She hands the weapons to me and turns into a fox.

I sheath my sword, strap on my s.h.i.+eld, store the tent and sleeping bag on my "Items", grab her equipment, and mount her.

"To the Jolly Ranch!" I order and she darts forward.

Good thing she can see in the dark during fox form because I can't see s.h.i.+t even with the faint moonlight.

The dog has stopped barking and I can hear the bells on his side. I cut the hearing sense and I turn on smell, I can definitely smell the ammonia. The sight is black and white and poor but I can still make out the weird, black human shape frozen in fear. Suddenly the shape runs away into the plantation.

It takes us 5 minutes but we reach the farm. The bells all around the neighboring farms are in full blast.

I point Alissa to where the dog is and she darts forward.

"I got his scent!" She says.

I dismiss the dog and I see in the edge of my sight a cloud of smoke appear where the dog was supposed to be.

While holding Alissa I switch [Summoning Magic] to [Blessing Magic] and cast [Swift Foot] on her. She speeds up.

Our agreement was to chase him until an opening and not fight in the middle of the plantation since visibility is poor. With all this speed she can certainly pounce on the monster while he's in the field but I have no idea how the fight will progress after it in the middle of all these tall plants.

After a few minutes of painfully running in the middle of the plantation we enter an opening. It's the gra.s.s field of a farm. We can see another manor to the side and a dark humanoid figure awkwardly running away.

I cast [Lightning Bolt] and hit it directly. The figure falls. Alissa slows down and keeps her distance.

Not yet. The figure gets up and starts to run away. I cast [Lightning Bolt] again, now with full power of [Mana Control] 3. The figure stops and he starts to melt.

"Now!" I say.

Alissa stops. I put her equipment on the ground. She casts [Spirit Light] in a second and grabs her things. I unsheathe my sword and move towards the enemy and cast my own [Spirit Light]. I had removed [Mana Recovery] and put [Light Magic] so we could fight during the night.

A large ball of light-blue light appears above my head and lights the whole field. I hear commotion near the manor but ignore it. They won't help us because they could get in the way, they just leave it to the "pros". The farm hands can deal with the occasional naked goblin that appears but this monster is way above their level.

I cast [Lightning Bolt] and a second later the now unidentified black ma.s.s comes in our direction.

"OOOOO...Duh… GLOOOOO!" It lets out a long scream.

This is why this name is like this. This ridiculous slime who wishes to be human tries to imitate our vocal cords but can only let out this sound. It runs away whenever it sees an enemy but can be enraged if attacked, then it loses its human form and attacks with the bones inside of it.

The slime reaches our lights and we can see its transparent gooey ma.s.s slide forward at a frightening speed. Floating inside of it is a large amount of human bones. As I see the first bone an arrow enters the slime with a watery "thunk" sound.

I managed to cast another full power [Lightning Bolt] before it reaches melee. It convulses wildly and stops for a second. Another two arrows enter it, the slime is losing liquid like a leaky water balloon.

One large tentacle protrudes from its body at bullet speeds and I block it with my s.h.i.+eld, it's tough like a hammer. My s.h.i.+eld resonates and my arm hurts badly.

I can't counterattack, it's too fast. I dodge smaller and slower tentacles while a third and fourth arrow create more places for it to leak. Then I see a thick tentacle is formed, I grit my teeth and charge [Lightning Bolt].

In the next moment the tentacle flies towards me and I let out my bolt. The s.h.i.+eld resonates again and the pain explodes on my arm. Without even looking I lower my s.h.i.+eld and swing my sword.

A large tentacle was wriggling in front of me. My sword splits it into two, a large amount of liquid and human bones drop from the tentacle and fall down on the floor. It was using the ma.s.s of bones as a blunt weapon while the small, pointy ones are used as piercing weapons. Fortunately the small tentacles aren't as powerful or as fast as the large one.

The slime tries to run. It's leaking from everywhere and Alissa keeps free firing, increasing the amount of holes. I cast a short [Lightning Bolt] then I take the opportunity that it got stunned for a moment and slash at its whole body.

The wound was even bigger than the last slash. The whole body wriggles desperately and a huge amount of little tentacles appear on the surface of the slime. I throw my whole body backwards and the tentacles fill the area I was at.

I keep increasing my distance. The slime tries to chase me but it lost too much water, its surface is wrinkly and its speed is reduced.

For the next half minute it tries a desperate last effort to hurt me but it had trouble moving with the amount of arrows poking around its entire body. Then finally the tentacles stop appearing and the slime stops moving.

The surroundings are completely silent, the bells had already stopped ringing. I see 7 heads coming out of the windows of the manor.

"f.u.c.k yeah! It's dead!" I scream and throw my arms up.

Alissa laughs and I could hear cheering from the manor.

­

We collect the bones and remaining slime skin. Then we give a short greeting to the family inside the manor. The man of the house gave me a bottle of wine. I don't drink but Alissa whispered for me to accept it so I tried to do it graciously.

Then we left and returned to the manor of our contractor. Belta was ecstatic, her husband gave me a painful pat on the back and laughed with a booming voice. Alissa squirmed after seeing my pain.

They let us stay the night in the guest room. We couldn't stand sleeping in separate beds so we managed to sleep in a single one. It was hot and a little uncomfortable but we managed to fit in.

"Honestly, I don't see any problem with our teamwork. We are really good with each other," I say.

"Aside from you being in the front. I can see your pained face every time you get hit, no proper s.h.i.+eld bearer suffers so much."

"Well… I already decided I will train my s.h.i.+eld more next. With this reward we can spend a good time training. After I get another level I think it will help a lot."

Alissa pouts.

"Still, I don't think I will ever be comfortable with you in the front line. Your talent is magic, you shouldn't need to spend so much time training melee," she traces her finger on my chest.

"Your concern makes me happy. But my real advantage is versatility, we just have to hold on and be careful a while longer," I say and kiss her nose.

"… A while longer," she repeats, then she kisses my lips lightly.

After some kissing she breaks the kiss and turns her face away.

"What is it?"

"Hm…" She pouts again, her tail is swaying.

She stays silent for a few seconds. Then she moves downwards below the covers. I feel my pants going down and something warm and wet covers my d.i.c.k.

She is really good at this, I don't last long again.

­

Intermission 1

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Now I'm sure master is someone special. A kind and shy man but a completely different person in bed, a talent for both magic and the sword, the knowledge and curiosity of a child but the wisdom of someone much older, calm and dependable, the capability for compa.s.sion with monsters but the resolve to keep fighting. Those are not things you find among the common man, those are things that must be protected.

Master is alone, that much I'm sure. He keeps a calm demeanor but I see he's anxious about something. He's always wanting to do something, something to increase his strength, to increase his level, to increase power. Even though he says he wants to relax he doesn't stop.

I'm truly happy he depends on me in battle and in bed. Even though I know he's letting out his l.u.s.t on me I'm happy I'm able to help on this.

I thought my endurance training would be wasted living such a lavish lifestyle but now I know it's merely going to be used in a different way than what I imagined. I need the endurance and strength to support the well-being of master. His mind is fragile and precious, his will is so strong he's bound to hurt himself, and his code of honor will soon have him face the wicked that will likely leave a wound on his soul. All I wish for is the ability to support master.