Rupegia 47 Missing Piece

We wake up early and I use Alissa for a quick morning routine. Even though I'm still feeling a little drained, Alissa is so good at it that she makes me c.u.m after only a minute.

Well, yesterday was satisfying, though I do feel a little silly. Responding to a.s.sault with a demolition doesn't feel like it's on the same level, it makes me feel like I threw a tantrum. But if they escalate this further, then innocent people, or almost-innocent people, will get involved. I'm almost certain that blood is going to be spilled, and I see no easy way of ending this that doesn't involve us exposing ourselves and bending over to the n.o.bles that are after us.

Then we calmly eat our breakfast. Everyone seems energetic and content, Hana hums happily, Alissa is br.i.m.m.i.n.g with happiness and Ciel seems absent-minded with a faint smile on her face.

"I'm starting to think you are more depraved than me," Roxanne comments casually.

"What...?" Ciel comes out of her stupor.

"You enjoyed playing with Klein almost as much as Hana did."

In just a few seconds, Ciel flashes through several emotions: anger, realization, shame, acceptance, finishing with laughter.

"So, did she finally accept it?" Alissa asks.

"Seems so..." Hana says with a shrug.

"What about Osaria?" Ciel shoots back with a sharp gaze.

Roxanne breathes in deeply and keeps her eyes on her food. "I don't trust her. I trust Klein, at least I trust Hana, who trusts Klein, but I don't trust Osaria. She reminds me too much of my instructor: aggressive and a little manipulative."

"Your call, Roxanne. If you don't want it, we won't bring her in, there's no problem with that," I say.

"Want to bet that you're going to buckle?" Ciel teases.

Roxanne scoffs and adjusts her gla.s.ses, "I'm perfectly capable of being faithful."

"If you don't reject her outright, she's going to keep seducing you and eventually you will fall to her."

"Don't say 'fall', I'm not going to fall in love with her," Roxanne frowns.

"But you will want her body."

"Do you want her now, too? Is that why you're pushing me towards her?" Roxanne raises her eyebrows questioningly.

"No... you can have your fun with her, I don't mind," she lifts her chin and looks away.

"I saw your lip tremble," Roxanne says with a cheeky smile.

Ciel puckers her lips and her face distorts as she tries to contain a smile.

"HA! Got you!" Roxanne points to Ciel with her index.

"Don't abuse it, my heart is still too tired for another round," Ciel says lowly to us and resumes eating.

It's best that we don't push this much further or else things will get dangerous.

­

Roxanne leveled up to 34 and increased her [Fire Magic] by 2 (now 24). She has 8 SP left.

­

With breakfast done, we return the keys to our room and end our stay.

The imperial soldiers move around nervously while the elven ones remain stoic. The town quickly starts to bustle with conversation as the early workers notice the tenseness and start asking questions.

We reach the north gate by dinghy and see Rande's caravan getting ready.

"Morning, Rande," I approach casually.

"Morning, Ryder," he merely glances back and nods.

"What's going on? The town is too loud for this hour."

"Oh, right," he stops reading the doc.u.ments and gives us his full attention, "Someone demolished the offices of an imperial mercenary company. I think it's one of those companies bought by the n.o.bles. Nothing special, just some small petty fighting."

"Wow, did anybody get hurt?" Hana opens her eyes wide and asks.

Rande glances at her and looks a little uncomfortable but responds, "Well, no. A little odd though, these fights can easily get b.l.o.o.d.y."

"Isn't it good that lives aren't being wasted?" Ciel questions with a frown.

"Well, yes," he awkwardly scratches one of his long ears, "But there's little reason to spare them. When you want to send a message, you need to be brutal. Otherwise, people think you are just bluffing."

I look at the girls and they seem to have mixed feelings.

"Anyway, no point in speculating about these things. Gossip spreads fast and the important details are lost along the way," he shrugs and goes back to reading the doc.u.ments.

We continue towards the front of the caravan and the caravan guards nod to us in recognition. Then we see the commoners in front, most of the previous commoners left and now we only recognize a few. There's a few humans we don't recognize, a considerable number of golden elves, and a few silver ones. The numbers are less than when we left Rabanara, though, so at least Rande is not being as reckless.

Anton, his family, and Rande's are talking with the elven commoners. Anton notices our approach and waves for us to come over.

"There they are, Helios, the main escort. They will deal with the monsters before they even reach us," I hear Anton say as we approach.

The elves turn and their eyes a.n.a.lyze us. I don't see many relieved or confident expressions forming after they make their opinions about us.

"And you are the leader...?" An elder golden elf man questions me as I approach.

I give him my best smile and bow lightly, "Wolf 'Good Luck' Ryder, Scholar, Golemancer, and Summoner."

This gives him pause and he looks at me questioningly.

I roll my eyes and quickly fake chant a light elemental. Ciel looks slightly uncomfortable as everyone stares at an almost naked form of her.

"I see... so Weepers won't be a problem..." The elder elf nods repeatedly, now convinced.

"Wolf Ryder?!" A flippant voice comes from behind us.

A mature Asian woman with fading red hair and a graying, spindly Asian man strut towards us. The woman's gestures are aggressive and she grits her teeth while her eyes try to pierce me. The man is completely stoic and barely seems to notice me as he follows the woman.

The woman's eyes turn to someone else near me, "What did you do to my Dietgard, you sad doll!" She spews.

I follow her eyes and see a pale Lina staring at her wide-eyed. Her whole body freezes into a statue and she even stops breathing.

The mature woman's risque black dress flutters wildly with her movements. Her shapely legs peek out with every loud step as her high heels clack on the bricks. The graying man seems almost like a ghost in contrast to her, with his completely silent steps.

"Madame Helganst..." Lina mumbles.

"What?! I saw your mouth moved but no sound came! How many times did we tell you not to mumble?!" The woman barks.

"M-madame Helganst!" Lina's posture straightens immediately.

"And stop stuttering, say it with confidence!"

Hana and Ciel immediately get in front of Lina, blocking her view of Madame Helganst, and from Hana's shoulder, Aoi bares her fangs. The woman stops very close to both of them and stares at Hana in the eye at the same height. She's tall and her high heels make her look even taller.

Helganst leans her head to the side and peeks on Lina, "Is that what Hilde taught you? To hide behind your bodyguards?"

"She owes you nothing," Hana growls at her.

Helganst rolls her eyes, "Of course, the dragonkin is the one who acts aggressively."

"You need to take a step back," Ciel says with a dangerous tone. She delicately touches the exposed sternum of Helganst with the tip of her hand and pushes her back slowly. Helganst glares at Ciel but takes a step back.

Time to be diplomatic.

"Wolf Ryder, leader of Helios," I introduce myself and bow lightly, I don't think she would accept a handshake. "And you are...?"

Her eyes finally deem me worthy of address. "Helganst Roth," she says curtly to me.

"Friedrich Roth," says the old man softly, making me suddenly remember he existed.

"Roth... Hildegard's Roth family?" I ask.

"Yes... and Dietgard's Roth family," she answers, fuming with anger. The small wrinkles on her face stretch as she scowls.

I force a smile, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

She glares at me, "Do not play with me boy, I don't skirt around pleasantries. I merely came here to have a word with the slave who dared abandon us and reject Dietgard's offer."

"As her master, you have to go through me if you need to speak with her," I calmly state.

Lina turns to me and holds my hand. "It's fine," she says, lowly.

I see no anxiety in her eyes, only calm resolve. I nod to Hana and Ciel and they part slightly. I take a glance back and see that the elves are watching us intently with curiosity, but after my glance, they immediately turn around and go back to their business. Klein and Osaria are also watching intently and both nod in support.

"What do you want to say to me, Madame Helganst?" Lina asks softly.

Helganst's mouth twitches at Lina's meekness but doesn't chastise her, "Why did you reject Dietgard?"

"I don't love him."

"That's it? Dietgard disappeared from Goldcross due to heartbreak, do you realize how much you have hurt him? How are you going to take responsibility for this?!"

Lina's confidence falters for a moment but she manages to shoot back, "Becoming part of your family is also something I would never want. Besides, Dietgard's ego isn't my responsibility!"

Helganst snorts, "Is this how you repay us for saving you? By abandoning us and turning your back to his affection?"

Lina frowns and gains more confidence, "I owe Hilde a lot and I'm sorry for not paying her back, but I don't owe you anything."

"Insolent..." She snarls and forces herself not to scream, "Where do you think the money to buy you, clothe you, teach you, and feed you came from?!" She hisses, "You run away from us in our time of need and join a perverted boy and his harem! I didn't think we raised you to be like that."

"You didn't raise me, Hilde did. And if you are going to disrespect my... my fiance, then I will be leaving," she glares defiantly at the woman who towers heavily over her.

Helganst seems about to burst a vein, her face turns even redder than her hair, "Fiance?! You used your body to seduce the boy like a d.a.m.n whor-..."

*Slap!* Helganst staggers back and is supported by her husband. Ciel's face is distorted in pure anger; one hand is on the sheath of her sword, ready to draw; the other is raised high, resting there after the slap.

Helganst immediately straightens up proudly, the only trace of the slap is the red mark on her cheek.

"You have found companions of your level, Lina: animals." She turns around in a huff and struts away.

"We are wolves who eat snakes like you!" Lina yells back.

We wait in silence until Helganst's red blur disappears completely.

"Gih."

"Yeah, but not literally," I say.

"Well... that was interesting," Roxanne says.

"How did she finds us?" Alissa asks.

"I think it was our fault," Osaria says softly with a slight cringe. "Rande used your exploits to convince the other elves they would be safe with us."

I glance at the elder elf man nearby and he shrugs.

"So you announced to the entire town that we were escorting you?" I ask.

"Yes..." Osaria frowns apologetically.

"Not your fault. We never even imagined that Helganst would be so angry at us," I shrug.

I guess this is also how Katasko found where we were sleeping so easily.

Lina hugs Ciel, who calms down rapidly and even looks a little ashamed.

"Oh, yes, that slap was beautiful. I don't think I could have slapped her any better myself," Roxanne praises Ciel.

"That was certainly one of the most painful slaps I have ever seen. The sound was so crystalline and perfect that I must say it was almost musical," Hana adds.

Ciel sighs deeply and looks to the sky, "You're not helping."

"But... thank you, Ciel, for protecting me," Lina says.

Klein loudly gasps at Lina and uses her tail to hug herself, then she gets a little tense once our gazes cross. Anton and Krista seem sympathetic to us and give an encouraging nod.

Rande appears with Nito, who's bringing our horses, and the caravan starts to move past us.

"Here are your horses, Mr. Ryder," Nito says and hands me the reins of the monstrosity.

With a sigh, I mount my horse the same way as before.

Hana mounts hers and slaps the side, "Come on, Klein, get up," she says.

"She should ride in the carriage. Your horses aren't to be used by just anyone," Anton interrupts with a wide, phony smile.

Klein's tail tickles Anton's nose and he nearly sneezes, then a flash of light comes out of her and she dashes towards Hana, now as a monkey. She quickly climbs up Hana's leg and returns to human form, sitting perfectly in her spot.

I help Alissa up onto my horse and hug her tight, "There's plenty of room on these horses, they are far too big for just one person," I say and give my own phony smile.

Anton sends a sharp gaze to Nito who immediately turns away and stiffly walks to the back of the caravan.

With a short grunt, he enters the carriage where Oura, Krista, and a very tired looking Laertes are waiting.

"Maybe you could give me a ride too, later. Sitting in the carriage all day is a little tiring," Osaria comments with a smile, her sultry voice worms into my ear.

I smile at her suggestively, "Maybe..." I answer and guide the horse forward.

­

The imperial guard who checks our IDs takes a moment longer than normal. His eyes scan through the skill list on all of our tablets. All of them are blocked from sight as any other adventurer would, yet he still wastes time checking them.

Another name for the list.

We exit Goldcross through the north gate. Around us are a few farms with high walls to protect them from the usual monsters since the patrols are scarcer on this side. There's a river that flows from Fort Katakti, far to the west, and then empties into the Loyalist Lake below Ultirei's Tomb.

I slow down my horse towards the commoners and start chanting an area [Swift Foot].

"Oh... much appreciated, young man," says a mature human woman.

I spend a few minutes gathering my mana and finally release the spell on all of the commoners. Nearly all my mana was used, but I have some time to practice my [Redirect Mana].

"Impressive," the elder elven man says with a respectful nod.

The other elves talk among themselves in their native tongue in an excited tone. It does sound like Portuguese to my ears but what they are actually saying sounds like gibberish, so I can barely understand it.

I send a wave to the pleased commoners and head back to the front of the caravan.

­

As we pa.s.s through the farms, the Ultirei's Tomb mountain range becomes more visible. The closer we get the more we see the details: grey jagged rock sprinkled with red from the deeper sedimentary layers, and at the bottom, there's molten rock that had quickly solidified into crude obsidian. The mountain is protected by both the temple and the elves, so it still has all of the small, shining mana crystals that formed due to the high amount of mana everywhere.

To the left and behind the mountain, we see the first trees of the High Forest: gigantic towering trees that make the ones in the Sea of Trees look small. Bundles of thin trees twist around each other, interweaving with each other in a spiral, creating patterns as they reach upwards. Some of them look like springs; others make square, circular, or complex patterns, similar to Celtic knots; some look like greek columns; and a few appear to be abstract art. The elves use the trees as yarn to practice their "tree-knitting."

In front of us, small hills dot the landscape. Between them, small puddles of water hide beneath the tall gra.s.s. To our left is the last stretch of the Rakontagne mountain range, the earth quickly growing rocky as the plants die out. To our right is Antano, small dark green oaks start to appear and increase in size, and more to the front and to the right there's the Loyalist Lake where the river we crossed ends. The Lake has some nasty monsters and plants so the road we are taking avoids getting close to it.

The wide road is raised because the soil here is loose and muddy. Even so, the road has to snake a little and rise and fall along with the hills, so it's much harder to walk along it in comparison to the Sh.o.r.e of Leaves' straight path.

There are three informal "lanes" on the road: we walk on the right, the others come from the left, and the middle is left for faster caravans "overtaking" slower ones. With my [Swift Foot], our caravan becomes part of that faster category.

I let Alissa handle the reins while I calmly seek the ambient mana and pull it towards me with [Redirect Mana]. On our left are the mountains, so the mana coming from that direction is very "earthy" with a few hints of "Aoi," which should be coming from the dragons that live there. On the right, we're pa.s.sing the corner of the wetlands of Antano, so I feel a lot of "plant," "death" and "toxicity." Not the most pleasant mana to receive.

Klein is now wearing padded leather armor, so she isn't as accessible as before, but that doesn't mean she doesn't enjoy being hugged by Hana. She lays her body against Hana's as she watches me with her dreamy eyes, then she turns a little awkward when I look at her.

"What are you doing?" She asks me.

"Refilling my mana with [Redirect Mana]," I say.

"Oooh, what's that?" She leans closer and opens her eyes wide in curiosity.

Alissa maneuvers our horses closer together.

"A skill I created, it allows me to take in the ambient mana to refill my MP."

"Isn't that a huge boon for mages like you?"

"Indeed, it is. We can fight much longer than the average mage because of it."

"So you taught Roxanne that, too?"

"They all know it."

She lifts her eyebrows and twists her neck to look at Hana, who hunches over and makes their faces get dangerously close.

"Yes, we all know it," Hana says softly, her warm breath is felt on Klein's face.

"Feeling a little lonely here," Roxanne comments. Aoi jumps up from Lina's lap and glides over towards Roxanne. "Awn... thank you," she says as she pats Aoi's little belly.

Klein turns to face the front and swallows her saliva.

­

I brush Alissa's hair while we make our way forward. The road is rather busy, so most monsters get killed before they can reach us. When it's nearly midday, Holly finally detects two Kappatti far away from any caravan or hunter. I decide to use them as test subjects.

Kappattos are small turtle/man hybrids that reach a maximum height of 1.50 meters. They have thick, slimy, green skin; turtle sh.e.l.l covering their front and back, which thankfully also covers their genitals; raised green hair that resembles gra.s.s; a beak-like face that is similar to a turtle's; long, frog-like legs that give it impressive speed; and long claws made for shredding and prying open oyster-like animals.

"Roxanne, my summons found two Kappatti, let's go kill them."

She nods to me and slowly wakes up the sprawled little Aoi. I relay my intention to the others and we gallop towards our targets. The monsters are a good distance into the wetland and close to the river, so we try to take a safe path through the drier parts of the hills.

A good 200 meters away from the road, Alissa stops us. A few of the dark green oaks block us from being seen by anyone on the road.

"They are over there and coming this way, slowly," she points to a spot in the distance. My human eyes can't see anything different over there.

"Roxanne, will your sleeping potions work on them?" I ask.

Her gla.s.ses shine when she realizes what I want to do, "Ohohoh, yes! The poison will spread quite quickly if we manage to make them absorb it through their gills."

"They are amphibious, so we will need to force them," Alissa says.

"I'll just knock them out with [Lightning Bolt] and splash the poison on their gills," I say.

Alissa doesn't seem too pleased but still accepts my plan. She hugs me from behind and gives me kisses on my neck while aiming my arm towards the Kappatti.

I see the puddle ripple and I cast the spell. Two green monsters appear, one jumps out of the water, while the other just floats in it.

I fire a second [Lightning Bolt], it hits the dashing Kappatto and the monster faceplants on the ground. Roxanne hands me a flask and I cautiously approach it with my shield raised high. With my feet, I expose the neck of the first Kappatto and dribble some of the liquid poison on its gills.

Both Kappattos stir and turn their heads towards us, their eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with anger. I cast another [Lightning Bolt] at the Kappatto at my feet, then I wait for the second monster to get close enough and cast it again. Now, with both monsters disabled, I pour all the poison onto their gills and wait for it to take effect.

It takes a few minutes and a few more [Lightning Bolts] before they finally succ.u.mb to the poison and fall asleep. I grab some rope and Alissa and I tie them up. Their skin is slippery, so it doesn't work that well. I conjure a nature elemental and make her vines become sticky, allowing her to get a stronger grip on the monsters.

I summon an earth elemental to keep watch and approach one of the monsters.

"Right..." I start and breathe in, "I will test [Bind] on this one. If something happens, kill it."

Alissa nods and draws her sword. She holds the sword close to the monster's neck and waits for me anxiously. Roxanne and Aoi stare intently at me, Aoi seems to be very excited.

I do it the same way as before: I cast the spell, grab the monster's soul, and release it inside mine. But this time, I'm prepared for what's to come.

­

I immediately wish to cut all sense sharing with the monster. I only receive a small glimpse of darkness and my body feels very heavy before it all fades away. I feel the same string inside my mind that connects me to another body, but this string feels more "strained." I carefully try to "approach" it and feel "heat" coming from it.

I open my eyes and smile to the girls. I receive back two beautiful smiles and a fanged one.

"This is the difficult part, I will try to control it," I say, then they nod and I continue.

Being careful will get me in trouble. I have to attack and dominate the monster's mind if I want to control it.

I grab the string and pull it. A tsunami rises and suddenly I feel small.

What is this? A wave for ants?

I laugh in my mind and start my own flood.

Memories of a difficult birth a.s.sault me. Out of hundreds of hatchlings, only a few get to live past a few days. I counter that with what my parents have told me of how I was as a baby.

I was a cry-baby, always crying about something. Even when my parents didn't acknowledge my pain, I still cried, and cried, and cried. Perhaps I just liked to yell, but my parents thought I was a h.e.l.lsp.a.w.n, created to drive them to insanity. It sounds cruel but it was funny as h.e.l.l when my Dad told us this. We were in the living room drinking beer after the first dinner with my girlfriend at the time. People like to look back fondly regarding their first girlfriends but she wasn't that special, not in comparison to Lily...

The next wave is of a childhood fraught with danger and pain. Monsters have to learn quickly how to fend for themselves because nothing, absolutely nothing will help them survive. Their own mother abandons them a few weeks in, most of the time because she was slain by an adventurer, the other times are because she can't feed all the children. But monsters are born with knowledge and they grow blindingly fast, so they don't need a mother to nurture them for long.

I counter that with the memories of my childhood. How I was a bright kid, always being praised for being smart and creative. I was always at the top of the cla.s.s, but I didn't let that get to my head. I knew that many of the kids had difficult lives, so while I swam in the glory, I never felt that I was "better" than the others. Then comes the embarra.s.sing memories that I don't even want to use as ammo in this fight.

After childhood, the monster reaches maturity and starts looking for a mate. It is strong for its kind, and so it has the opportunity to find the perfect one. The search is long and painful, it paid for waiting with scars. It spent most of its energy traveling through the land and avoiding danger, but when the opportunity arises, it pounces and tears its prey apart in pure rage. Then finally it found the perfect mate: so strong that it nearly lost its spot at the top; so fast that the mate almost escaped; so cunning that the mate nearly ambushed it in return. Over a long and tiring wrestle, it finally rose victorious over its mate and it became the apex of its kind.

I fight back with memories of teenage years. The slow descent into bitter realism as the reality of an overachiever crashes into me. Trying to follow the trail of my sister and brother, I aim high and create lofty goals of becoming a famous or important person one day. I work hard, but the energy that my body has seems to decrease the more I work. Resting doesn't replenish me as much as it used to; playing video games become more of a ch.o.r.e than entertainment; reading doesn't stimulate me anymore; the intensity of exercise remains the same but the cost of energy increases; I find fewer and fewer reasons to smile. I retreat into my sh.e.l.l and abandon most of what made me happy just so I can get enough energy to reach my goals. Energy that never comes.

The next attack shows the bonding and love the pair of monsters share. The trust required to put your own life in the hands of your loved one. Their intense pa.s.sion for each other and the results where they leave offspring at every chance they can get.

Is that all?

I counter that with my memories of Lily. After finally deciding to abandon my stupid dreams, I aim for something more ordinary and tangible, then I migrate to Canada and meet Lily. When I'm breaking out of my sh.e.l.l and seeing the sunlight, when I'm discovering my new love for programming and AI, when I'm letting happiness trickle in again, and then I finally meet the sun. That trickle turns into a flood as the first true summer of my life comes. I fall deeply in love with the crazy woman that is Lily.

The monster shows me its incoherent anger at my attack on its mate. Its entire life culminated in this moment, and it failed to protect the most important thing it has.

The effect that has on me is only to make me feel a little pity as I strike back with all I have. I send it the pain of being abandoned on this world; the need to cling to someone else for sanity; the effort in changing my views on life and death; the long journey in gaining the confidence to protect myself and others; the continuous battle against the horrors in this world; the fear of my uncertain future.

The monster's mind collapses and retreats, the tsunami crashes and gets absorbed by my mind. I envelop its mind with my own and force it to bend to my will. I feel the "heat" increase the more I try to control it. The "heat" increases so much that it burns and I feel that there is something wrong.

It hurts me, it is trying to tear me apart. It's not the monster's mind, it's something that's reacting inside it and trying to crawl out. It burns me so much that the monster's mind starts to regain control and expands.

I push the monster's mind out from inside me with all my might, no matter how much it burns. It finally leaves me and the burning stops.

"ARGH!" I yell in pain and grab my chest.

Alissa immediately slashes the throat of the monster and throws it away from me with some difficulty.

"Wolf? What happened?!" Roxanne asks me, a little desperate.

I put my points into [Spirit Magic] to cast [Soul Touch] while I explain, "It took some effort but I managed to overwhelm its mind, but then it started to get 'hotter' when I tried to control it. I don't know how else to explain it besides using 'heat.' It got so hot that it started to hurt and burn me, so I pushed it away and ended the [Bind]."

"Wolf, look," Alissa says and points to the monster with the throat slit. It is convulsing and its eyes are slowly opening. It's regaining control of its body, but the blood is gushing out like a fountain. Then it finally pa.s.ses out because of the blood loss.

I look at Roxanne. "I have no idea how he woke up. He should have been out for at least a half-hour," she says.

"The speed the blood was draining at increased when it started to convulse. That was odd," Alissa says.

"Its... heart was beating faster, then," I say.

We all go silent, trying to understand what happened. Aoi drops down from Roxanne's shoulders and starts to eat the open neck of the monster.

"You managed to overpower its mind but when you tried to control it, the 'heat' started, right?" Alissa asks.

"Correct, it's something that didn't happen with the bird," I say.

"Could it be the G.o.d of Destruction's bloodl.u.s.t interfering?" Roxanne asks.

I shrug. "It's our only guess."

"Try the other one, see what happens," Alissa says.

I cast the [Bind] and bring the monster's soul inside mine. The same "heat" comes out of the string connecting us. I immediately push it out of me.

Aoi [Clean]s her lips, "Try, me!" She exclaims and comes to us.

"Hm... I can cast [Bind] without trying to dominate your mind..." I say.

"If something goes wrong, will I have to kill you, Aoi?" Alissa asks.

Aoi curls her lips and pouts, "I want, to connect, to Wolfy," she says with stubbornness.

"Just the string, I can control that much," I say.

Roxanne hugs Aoi tight and we all tense up. I cast [Bind] and pull Aoi's soul into my heart. Once I release it, she breathes in and then lets a long breath out. Her eyes roll up and she smiles wide.

Inside of me, I feel the string; it's cold, "colder" than normal. When I "approach" it, I feel it wants my "warmth." I feel like I'm seeing a cold scarf that I want to wrap around me. I push it away and return from my meditation.

"She's different," I say.

"Yeah, I can see that," Roxanne comments.

Aoi is now moaning in pleasure. Her claws run along her body in a nearly sensual and humanoid-like way, her body shakes like a woman mid-o.r.g.a.s.m, her tongue licks her long lips like Alissa does after swallowing my c.u.m.

"Uh..." I can only let out a sound as words fail me.

"Aoi... what are you feeling?" Alissa asks while frowning.

"Wolfy! Is inside, me~!" She cries happily.

Even Gify is looking at us wide-eyed. We all shrug to each other and wait a few minutes for Aoi to calm down. Meanwhile, Alissa kills the other Kappatto. I feel a little sad at their deaths knowing their history together, but monsters are monsters and there's no way for us to avoid bloodshed, for now.

I turn on my shared senses with Aoi and receive an instant erection, so I cut it off because it's a bit inappropriate at the moment. Actually, we are alone, so I'm sure the girls wouldn't mind. Anyway... I reactivate our sense sharing and try to discern what Aoi is feeling.

"You have an erection," Alissa says immediately.

"I activated the sense sharing with Aoi. Can you help me out while I try to understand what she's feeling?" I ask innocently.

"Sure..." Both girls smile suggestively, then Alissa gets on her knees and swallows me. Not the most romantic place to get a b.l.o.w.j.o.b, with the two dead monsters nearby and all, but whatever.

Alissa's mouth helps calm me down and also has an effect on Aoi, who is now moaning even louder in pleasure. I hadn't realized before that the sense sharing is two-way with [Bind], but it's too late now; Aoi is going to experience her first b.l.o.w.j.o.b through me.

I try to look deeper into why Aoi is feeling like this. What I sense is that her pleasure is like someone who was stuck in a deep, dark hole and finally feels the warmth of sunlight for the first time. Or a lonely person who just started dating for the first time. It's a feeling of "release," and now, I release inside Alissa's mouth.

"Kwa~~ah!" Aoi's whole body shivers with a claw-curling o.r.g.a.s.m. She collapses on Roxanne's lap and pants with her tongue out; a satisfied smile is plastered on her face. In between her legs, where her slit is, a small amount of white cream is leaking out.

Alissa swallows and goes over to Aoi. She pa.s.ses her fingers along Aoi's slit, penetrating her slightly, and then cleans the cream out of her. Aoi squirms and moans softly when Alissa's fingers enter her briefly.

Then Alissa licks her fingers and smiles. "Well, she really does o.r.g.a.s.m like any other humanoid woman," she says.

Roxanne looks very amused at all of this. "So... what happened?" She asks.

"Something about the [Bind] is making her very happy. It's like she's finally found something that she was missing in her life," I say.

"The complete opposite of the other monsters."

"Yes. The 'string' inside my mind that connects us also feels different. It feels cold, like it wants to be touched."

"Are you going to touch it?" Alissa asks.

"Once Aoi calms down. I don't want to have to overpower her; I want to see if she can willingly give me control."

Aoi's eyes regain some focus and she looks at me, "Okay, you can, have me," she says.

We wait a minute longer before Aoi is truly ready. She stretches herself and flaps her little wings, then she properly sits on Roxanne's lap.

"Okay, I'm going to try to control you. Don't resist, stay calm and let it happen," I say.

"Gih."

"Stop distorting the meaning of my words," I complain while facepalming.

"Gihih."

"Kweh!" Aoi hurries me.

"Alright, alright." I sit down in front of her and pat her head. "Here goes nothing..."

"What does that mean?" Roxanne asks.

"What...?"

"'Here goes nothing'. You've said that once or twice before, what does it mean?"

"To be honest, I have no idea." -I shrug- "It's an idiom that got morphed until it was unrecognizable."

"Kwe~eh!" Aoi hurries me again.

"Sorry... here we go..."

I find the string and grab it. It makes me feel slightly odd, not exactly unpleasant, but it makes me anxious about something. I pull it and the string comes to me without any resistance. The string gets thicker and thicker, then it starts to weave into a cozy blanket that gently nudges her memories into my head: a kiss, a hug, a pat, my own face repeated over and over again.

I collect the blanket and turn it into a bundle that I hold close to me. The more I hug it, the warmer it feels. It's not the unpleasant "heat," but soothing warmth.

"Give me a lick," I tell the blanket inside my mind.

Aoi leans closer to me and licks my hand.

"Get up on my shoulder."

She crawls up my scale shirt and sits on my shoulder. Then, she nuzzles her scaly face against my cheek, almost purring in happiness.

I feel something odd, it's as if my soul is a sand hourgla.s.s. I feel a constant trickle leave me, but the amount of "sand" on my side doesn't decrease. This feeling is what makes me anxious when I touch Aoi's string.

"Wolfy, I love, you," Aoi softly says in my ear.

My heart tightens and I take her off of my shoulder so I can hug her tight. She increases in size a little so she can receive the hug more comfortably. The more I focus on her and the more that I feel like giving her my love, the more sand that trickles out of me.

"Something is happening. Not sure what, or how, or why, but my soul is giving her something," I say.

"Kweh! You are, inside me!" Aoi gushes and nuzzles in my chest. Her happiness leaks into me while I still hold her "blanket."

"Give us [Sense Soul] and we will try to search for what's different," Roxanne says and Alissa nods.

I obey and we wait a few minutes in silence while the girls scan my soul.

"I see nothing happening to your soul, Wolfy," Alissa says.

"I see something being added to Aoi's, but it's veery slow," Roxanne says.

"Gih," Gify agrees with both.

"Doesn't seem to be anything bad, we can wait and see..." I say and shrug.

"Gih," Gify a.s.sures us.

"Can you test [Bind] on me?" Alissa asks with an innocent smile.

I look at Roxanne and she shrugs, "If you don't try to force her mind then it might be doable," she says.

[Bind]ing Alissa to my will is certainly appealing, but I'll have too much power over her. I can't use it to force her to obey me; what I can use it for is to keep her safe and for us to open our minds to each other.

I breathe in deeply and nod, then she sits close to me with her tail wagging furiously.

I release Aoi's soul and cast [Bind] on Alissa. The "soul arm" that grabs her soul and pulls it back to me feels much heavier and more difficult to control. I feel like Alissa's soul is almost "slipping" from my grasp.

Once her soul is inside me, her string appears in my mind just like the others. I don't feel any "heat" or "coldness" coming out of her string and no "trickling" of my soul towards hers.

"That's it?" She asks, with mild disappointment.

"Did you feel anything?" I ask.

"Just a mild discomfort. Now it's like I'm constantly focusing on our fellowship bond, I know exactly where you are."

"I'll pull the string, don't resist."

She nods and her tail resumes. .h.i.tting the ground repeatedly.

I pull the string and the most delicate textile I have ever felt follows it. Alissa's delicate memories of our time together send me into a trance. Love, dedication, loyalty, trust. My first instinct is to wrap myself around all this love coming out of her and fuse them to my own emotions.

Wait... fuse...? NO, STOP!

I desperately push away Alissa's silk and we both groan in pain. Her silk flutters with the wind and spreads out, the shape of a hand forms out of the folds. I run away in fear of hurting her further.

Through the connection, we both feel the anxiety of each other and stop. Our eyes meet and we sigh. Her silk returns to the nothingness and only the string remains.

"I didn't expect that, to be honest..." I say with a wry smile.

Alissa giggles and shakes her head.

Aoi, Gify, and Roxanne lean over, dying of curiosity. "What happened?" Roxanne asks.

"Instead of resisting and hurting each other, our minds tried to fuse together..." I answer and chuckle, "Having a tail is so weird, I can still feel how it's like to have one."

"Gih," he chirps proudly.

"Yes, having a tail is the best," Roxanne agrees.

"Kweh!"

Alissa scooches closer. "Let's do it again, but we have to try to not fuse together," she says.

I grab her cheek and look into her eyes with a soft smile. "Ready?" I ask and she nods. I pull on the string again and the silk comes out. I let it bundle gently on the ground before trying to envelop it, keeping our boundaries in mind.

The feeling that I have while holding her silk is that of wanting to bite it and have it inside me. It's a very annoying feeling and takes some willpower to control it.

"Kiss me," I say to her inside my mind.

She leans over and falls on top of me. Her lips seal mine and her tongue invades my mouth.

"Okay, stop!"

She freezes on top of me with her tongue still inside my mouth. Through the connection, I feel the heat inside her pants and get an erection.

"Go back to normal."

She resumes kissing me and rubs her crotch on my leg. She desperately searches for the fastenings of my pants and tries to undo them.

"Have an o.r.g.a.s.m."

Nothing happens and I feel the disappointment coming out of her.

She finally releases my pants enough for my c.o.c.k to spring free. Then she breaks the kiss and desperately undoes the fastening of her pants.

When she lowers her pants and shows me her p.u.s.s.y I say inside my mind, "Don't f.u.c.k me."

She freezes with her fingers inside herself and cringes. She then starts to rub herself while staring at me with anger.

"Don't m.a.s.t.u.r.b.a.t.e."

She stops and growls in anger. Her eyes look at me dangerously sharp.

"Obey me."

Her legs quiver and through the connection I feel the fire burning her p.u.s.s.y.

"Please, Wolfy..." Alissa pleads between gritted teeth.

"You are free, do what you want."

She aims my c.o.c.k upwards and slams her p.u.s.s.y onto it. I can see through her eyes, and seeing myself getting f.u.c.ked by me is very weird, so I stop the vision sharing.

­

Alissa o.r.g.a.s.ms, and through the connection I feel it too. A ma.s.sive wave of pleasure takes hold of our bodies and makes every one of our muscles seize up for several long seconds. While it lasts, I shoot twice inside Alissa. Then, after it pa.s.ses, she collapses on top of me.

I mess with my points and cast [Refresh] on both of us.

"Thank you, Wolfy..." She says in my ear.

"You are welcome..." My voice comes out faint as I'm still basking our post-o.r.g.a.s.m shock. Once I finally regain my voice I say, "Women have the best o.r.g.a.s.ms, what the h.e.l.l..."

Roxanne laughs so heartily that she lets herself fall onto the gra.s.s. Alissa seems at a loss for words and simply shrugs.

When the laughter dies down, Alissa suddenly jumps in surprise as Roxanne comes over to clean her p.u.s.s.y. While the cleaning happens, I let Alissa's silk go back.

"Roxanne, can I try it with you, now?" I ask after she's done eating.

"Sure."

I cast the spell and bring her soul towards me. My "soul arm" feels like it weighs a ton and my real arm flexes while I desperately try to pull her soul towards mine.

I grunt as I finally manage to get her inside me and release her soul. Once her string appears inside my mind, I start to feel very "tickly." I have to use a lot of willpower to not pull on the strings and fuse myself with them.

"My mind is... getting taxed. I can barely... keep calm with you three... inside me," I say. My face twitches as the tickling inside my mind starts to get unbearable. It reaches the point where I feel like driving a dagger inside my brain just to stop the tickling.

I finally decide to grab Roxanne's string and push it out of my mind.

"Sorry, two is the limit for now," I say.

Roxanne pouts and looks at Alissa with envy. "Awn... that sounded like fun," she says.

"Having a d.i.c.k felt amazing," Alissa confesses and giggles.

"Right... you felt what I felt," I say and sigh, "We can't abuse the connection sharing during s.e.x or we might go numb to pleasure."

Even though there's [Regeneration], we'd better not abuse it.

"Oh, now we have to train mental communication," Alissa says and Aoi nods.

"We can do it on the way. Let's go back, we've played around enough," I say.

­

As we approach the caravan, Ciel eyes us suspiciously. "You spent quite a lot of time out there," she says.

"We had some fun," I say and shrug.

Klein's eyebrows rise and she asks, incredulously, "In the open?"

Alissa nods and happily smiles, her tail wags and hits my belly repeatedly.

"I was ignored, though," Roxanne says with a wry smile.

"Oh, sorry... I'll make it up to you," I say with a slight cringe.

"All of us," Hana says and looks at me suggestively.

Our conversation fades away as we all notice Aoi's happy humming. Her head is turning like it's on a swivel, switching around repeatedly and looking at everything as if it was the first time.

"You look pretty happy, Aoi," Hana comments.

"Kweh! Wolfy, is inside, me!"

Klein chokes on her spit and the other girls look at me questioningly. Alissa, Roxanne, and Gify choke their laughter.

"It's a long story..." I give them a phony smile. "Now... don't say anything else that can be misinterpreted, Aoi," I look at Aoi and give her a sharp gaze. Just to make it more clear, I pull on her blanket inside my mind and give it a few "pokes," making her jump in surprise.

"Sorry," she says and giggles.

"That wasn't literal, right? You guys are just messing around again?" Klein asks.

"Literal... hmm, not sure about that," I say and grin.

Klein uses her tail to ma.s.sage her eyes, "Why are you guys so weird?"

"You are the one who had s.e.x with all of us, so you're a weirdo too," Roxanne says matter-of-factly.

Klein groans softly and looks away.

"Have you talked to your parents yet?" I ask her softly. Alissa helps me out and leads our horse close to Klein's.

She bites her lip when I come closer and looks at me from the corner of her eyes. "No... I didn't have the courage."

"Well, at least you admit that," Hana says and shrugs.

I grab her hand and kiss it, pushing my soul out of my lips just a little bit. She breathes deeply and keeps her eyes glued to me. I feel a shiver run down my spine and see Anton intensely staring at us.

Oops, better not get too close for now.

I increase the speed of my horse discreetly and the girls follow.

"You should do it soon, it's no use to keep waiting," I say.

"We will keep teasing you if you don't say no," Hana adds suggestively in Klein's round monkey ear.

"And you will eventually go crazy if you don't get off," Roxanne finishes.

Klein turns to Ciel and Lina in search of support.

Ciel shrugs. "It's true. If you want it, just do it," she says.

"It feels good, Wolfy is very gentle," Lina says and nods.

Klein gets even more fl.u.s.tered. "T-that's not what I wanted to know," she says.

"Why do you want to remain a virgin?" Ciel asks.

"A lot of husbands prefer a virgin," Klein answers shyly.

"To be honest, I thought that too, but..." Ciel looks at me warmly, "the good ones won't care."

"But...! I could still be losing a chance of finding one," she looks down as she speaks, not very confident in her words.

"If the man cares more for your virginity than your personality, then he only wants you as a prize, not as a woman." Ciel spurs her horse and leads it to the other side of Klein's horse. She grabs Klein's hand and rubs it gently. "You are a good woman, you should let yourself be free to choose."

"I agree," Roxanne says, "I don't regret having s.e.x with other men before I met Wolfy, I only wish I had met him sooner."

Ciel releases Klein's hand with a soft smile.

"Aren't you older than him? Wouldn't he have been a child back then?" Klein asks.

Roxanne snickers evilly, "That would make it even better." Then she sends me an intoxicating gaze and I feel an instinctual need to call her "onee-san."

I have to teach her how to "ara ara," maybe Ciel too.

Klein lifts an eyebrow and looks at Roxanne worriedly, "Wouldn't that be the Sin of ****?"

"I'm not that much older than him," -she looks at Klein in horror, then turns to Ciel- "and if it's love, the G.o.ds would allow an exception, wouldn't they?"

"Well..." Ciel cringes, "you are kind of a s.a.d.i.s.t so I'm not so sure about it."

"How old are you, Wolfy?" Klein asks me and bites her lip, suddenly becoming very embarra.s.sed but she doesn't correct her mistake.

I grin at her and answer, "Sixteen."

"Bulls.h.i.t," she immediately retorts.

"Yeah," Ciel agrees. "But that's what his system says, so..." She shrugs.

Klein spends some moments a.n.a.lyzing me. "Do you want me as a wife, Wolf?" She finally asks.

"I can't answer that, it must be a unanimous decision to accept you," I say.

"And we don't think you would enjoy traveling with us," Hana says.

"I... have to agree with that," Klein says with a sigh.

"But we do like you," I say and look to the girls, who all nod, even Aoi. "And we would like to enjoy our time with you."

"It's not like you are a pure maiden, anymore," Roxanne says and grins evilly.

"I'm still a virgin," Klein pouts and turns away, chin held high.

"Only in body, not in spirit," Alissa says.

"That's what counts."

"Keep lying to yourself," Alissa smiles.

"Klein, we may be pressuring you, but in the end, the only thing that I want is for you to be happy," Hana says.

Klein turns around and they look at each other in the eye. Klein reaches over and tenderly holds Hana's cheek with her hand. Hana's strong hand grabs the back of Klein's head and pushes her closer.

I summon a tall earth elemental that blocks their horse from the view of the carriage following behind us. Our horses are quite far ahead now, but still, better safe than sorry.

Their lips seal and their mouths open. Hana hugs her tight and takes charge of the kiss. Her tongue explores Klein's mouth and I can only imagine the sweet taste of their saliva mixing.

Klein's right leg swings over the horse so she can sit on it sideways and kiss Hana better. Hana stops hugging Klein and her free hand explores the brim of Klein's pants. It snakes below and disappears inside. Soon, Klein is moaning softly.

The caravan coming towards us is still too far away, I just hope that n.o.body there has [Hawk Eyes].

They break the kiss and a bridge of saliva connects them for a moment. Their heavy breaths mingle and Hana's hand moves fast enough to be visible beneath Klein's pants.

Alissa turns into a small fox and runs up my shoulder, then she jumps and lands behind me, back in human form. Her hands easily unfasten my pants and pull out my erect p.e.n.i.s.

Klein's eyes then glue to my c.o.c.k and she licks her lips. Alissa strokes me and even Ciel starts to finger herself. WIth one look from Lina, Ciel fingers her too. Roxanne lonesomely fingers herself.

Klein comes first and Hana licks a small amount of cream off of her fingers. Not long after, Alissa aims me to the gra.s.s and I shoot. Hopefully, no one noticed.

"You made me... wet my panties..." Klein complains as she regains her breath.

I reach over and push my finger inside Klein's p.u.s.s.y. She breathes in and then shivers when I push my soul out of my finger.

I wiggle it for a few seconds then I cast, "[Clean]." Klein shivers and leans toward me, almost as if she wants to kiss me. I pull my finger out and lick it, savoring the small amount of cream that came out with it.

Hana makes Klein sit correctly again and I finally let them leave the protection of the earth elemental. Through Aoi's eyes, I notice Anton's intent gaze is unchanged, but he likely doesn't suspect anything since he could barely see us at this distance.

As our l.u.s.t subsides, we go silent for a while. I send the earth elemental away as if I was sending it to kill a monster, and then I dismiss it when it's far enough. We discreetly slow down our horses so we can get closer to the caravan again.

­

"Ciel, was Wolf your first?" Klein breaks the silence.

"Yes."

She turns around and asks her intently, "Why did you wait?"

Ciel awkwardly looks at her own body. "Nearly every man I met just wanted to suck on my t.i.ts..." She says with a little disgust.

"Uh..." Lina tries to speak as she worriedly looks at Ciel.

"We all want to do it, say it correctly," Hana says.

Ciel smiles to herself, "Right... every man and plenty of women want to suck on them, but most of them want only that."

"The woes of being hot and busty," Roxanne says derisively and rolls her eyes.

"You are the one who complains about Osaria s.e.xually hara.s.sing you," Ciel says with a sharp glare.

"Not as much as you do about your delicious cow t.i.ts."

Aoi looks at her own sleek body and runs a claw through her scales, "Are b.r.e.a.s.t.s, so tasty?" She asks.

"You should suck on some and find out for yourself," Roxanne says, very amused.

Aoi turns to me.

"You should suck on Ciel's," I immediately divert her attention away from my nipples.

"Please, we are getting sidetracked!" Klein complains.

"You should look at Lina, you're both slender and beautiful as is," Alissa says and Lina nods with a shy smile. "Also, Wolfy doesn't care about size. Oh, do you have nipples?"

Aoi lifts the scales on her chest. "No," she says sadly.

"It's fine, we will find other ways for him to play with you," Alissa says a.s.suredly.

"Anywa~y..." Ciel continues, "I waited because I just couldn't find a good man. They only wanted me for my body and that made me lose any interest in them. I just felt so disgusted that I couldn't give myself to anyone and ended up staying single for so long..." She smiles bitterly but it turns soft. "Then Wolfy kind of swept me off my feet and completely corrupted me... I didn't even like other women that much until, uh, until I met Lina," she turns shy and blushes.

"I'm glad he did," Lina says and smiles adorably. Ciel pats her head lovingly with a wry smile.

"Didn't you have s.e.x with me before you did it with Lina?" Alissa questions.

"You are... a different case. I just find you really hot," Ciel's voice goes faint as she gets more uncomfortable.

"Who doesn't love her? Her fox ears and tail are so adorable even I am jealous," I say. Alissa hugs me tight and fills my neck with kisses.

"Her screams are delightful, too," Hana says in a sultry tone.

Klein sighs, ignoring that last comment. "This is harder than I thought. I feel a little scared and anxious... but I also just want to have some fun... with Wolf-," she bites her tongue as she almost says "Wolfy" again.

"What do you want to do with your life? Who do you want to marry?" Alissa asks.

Klein goes quiet and stares forward.

"I want to marry a knight," she says softly and gains some confidence, "so maybe I could fight alongside him or something... but I don't want to keep traveling forever. I want to settle down in one place and have stable friends and neighbors."

"Man or woman?" Hana asks.

"Man. I don't think I even like women in general, it's just you all who make me feel funny," Klein shyly admits.

"Yeah, we have that effect," Roxanne says with a smirk.

"Would you marry a man with more than one wife?" Ciel asks.

"Hm, maybe... but if he had a husband..." She giggles girlishly.

"That's Wolfy's biggest flaw, not enough d.i.c.ks," Roxanne says with an evil smirk.

You just wait until I finish my [Soul Hardening], or when we get our hands on some more Delicious Horrors.

"Don't start, you know how it ends if you tease me that way," I warn Roxanne and she blows me a kiss.

"Aren't you tired of traveling, Hana?" Klein asks.

"Not yet. I'll have a long life with Wolfy, so I don't need to settle down immediately. The only thing I really want right now is to reunite my family," Hana answers, her smile has an unusual amount of kindness and warmth in it.

And there's also our destiny to fulfill.

Klein turns and gazes deeply at Hana, considering her words. They almost kiss again, but our proximity to the carriage behind us makes them hesitant.

­

The time for lunch comes. We stop for our meal and Krista pulls out a mini kitchen out of her [Item Box]. The food was already mostly cooked so we only have to wait a short time for it to finish. While we wait for that, she has already begun preparing dinner.

Just as energetic as her daughter, she moves from pot to pot, prepares some ingredients, then taste tests a meal, all in rapid sequence. She cooks not only our meal but also the one for the soldiers and s.p.a.ce mages, albeit theirs looks simpler.

For us, we had beef wellington with a thick not-wine and beef sauce, green bean pod salad that tastes faintly sweet, not-lentil soup, and some very light beer. It's refreshing to be eating beef regularly again, though it won't last long since there are no cows inside the High Forest.

The elven commoners organize themselves to prepare their own lunch. They include the human commoners with a little reservation. The s.p.a.ce mages cast [Conjure Bland Meal] and distribute the dry cracker-like magical food to anyone who didn't have enough to eat.

A meal in the open gra.s.sland with the impressive view of the snowy peaks on one side and the ma.s.sive trees approaching us on the other. Fresh air, untainted by pollution, city-life, or the marsh nearby. It's these small things that I should focus on to find my happiness.

Laertes still looks like he barely slept and kept to himself the whole meal. Anton tried to cheer him up and strike up a conversation with him, to little effect.

The sun is shining very brightly so most people wrap light head scarves around their faces. No wonder why there are so many tanned elves, Glorampina is even hotter than here. With [Regeneration] we can easily deal with sunburn, and [Breeze] saves our skin by keeping us fresh.

­

We finish our meal and return to the road. Anton convinced Klein to ride inside the carriage while he walks along beside it.

Alissa switched with Roxanne so I can play with her body all day long to make it up to her.

With the free time and privacy, I decide to tell the others of our test with [Bind]. I give [Sense Soul] to them so they can look into mine and Aoi's souls.

"Interesting, I would love for you to [Bind] me next, Wolfy," Hana asks. "I wonder if [Pain Conversion] can be used when you give me mental pain."

I ignore her last sentence and elaborate, "I think I can get used to more [Bind]s with time. Also, it's not that difficult to change whoever is bound to me, so we can always switch whoever is bound for the best utility." Alissa and Aoi look at me sadly and I smile apologetically to Alissa. "I don't think it's a good idea to un-[Bind] Aoi, so you will have to give up your spot occasionally, Alissa."

Alissa pouts then sighs.

I fondle Roxanne's breast and kiss her neck softly.

"I don't see anything actually leaving your soul, Wolfy," Ciel says.

"Same," Lina agrees.

"Aoi's soul is slightly different from last time," Roxanne says and her tail gently wraps around my neck. The caravan crossing us looks at us oddly and I fondle Roxanne harder. She is an exhibitionist, and she gets even more excited while they stare at us.

"Kweh! I am getting f-..." I hold Aoi's tongue through the [Bind].

"You said that on purpose," I say.

Aoi laughs out loud and the pa.s.sersby jump in surprise when they hear her voice.

"You need to test the mind communication," Lina says.

"Yeah, but..." I smile wryly. "Alissa, can you hear me?" I say in her mind.

"Yes," she immediately answers out loud. Through the connection, I feel her heart tighten and her crotch heat up.

I knew it.

"Things are going to be difficult if you get h.o.r.n.y every time I use the [Bind]," I say.

"But Wolfy...! It just feels so good!"

"Is it him controlling you that makes you, uh, excited?" Lina asks. Alissa nods with a perverted smile. "Can you do it in a way that doesn't force her to obey? Like, how senses are shared; maybe you can share your mind with her instead of forcing the communication?"

"Ooh... you just gave me an idea," I say.

The tighter I hold on Alissa's silk, the more we share, so what if I went deep inside her soul? Her mind should be in there somewhere, and if our minds "touch," can we talk?

I keep our boundaries in mind and search inside her. A silent storm of feelings surrounds me. I see fragments of strong memories and I recognize most of them. Deeper in, I find a constant, harmonious humming that slowly changes notes.

"Alissa?" I think inside my mind.

The humming turns into a voice, it echoes through my mind like someone is speaking inside a huge hall, "Wolfy?" Alissa responds.
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Found her brain, I think.

I grab the humming ma.s.s and bring it back with me. Like a swimmer rapidly surfacing, I feel all the memories fly past me, and then I'm suddenly back in the calm, dark silence of my own mind. In my hand, the string now hums softly with Alissa's voice.

"Can you hear me?" I ask.

"Yes! This is amazing! You are speaking inside my mind!"

"How are you speaking to me?"

"I don't really understand how, but it's like there's a small peephole where I can speak through and you can hear."

"Now that's convenient."

"But it doesn't feel good... please toy with my mind later."

"No."

"Hngh...!" She moans softly.

Well, s.h.i.t, now she's getting excited at being ignored too.

"Hey, Wolfy...?"

"Yes?"

"Love you," she says in a cheeky tone.

"Hngh...! I love you, too."

"Did you just moan...?"

"Hm, no...?"

"Love you, love you, love you, love you."

"Ahn! Stop! It's hard to control my emotions in here!"

Alissa laughs out loud and Roxanne feels something hard touch her cute a.s.s.

"You two are having fun..." Ciel comments, a little jealous.

I smile at Ciel and continue. I dive inside Aoi's mind and find her humming, it's more chipper than Alissa's.

"Aoi?"

"KWEH!"

I groan internally and my mind is filled with a giant Aoi. Her jaws open wide and the black maw rapidly approaches me.

"Calm down, you're resisting."

The huge blue dragon clamps her mouth shut and looks at me apologetically, then it slowly shrinks into nothing.

I grab her "brain" and pull it back towards my mind.

"Okay, this is how we talk."

"Yay! I can speak freely here!" She answers inside my mind. This voice of hers is much less childish and slightly sensual. I think that when she fully matures it's going to be on the lower end of a woman's voice, like Hana's or Osaria's.

"Your voice is different in here."

"Hihih. My throat hurts when I try to speak, so it never sounds right, but now you know that this is my real voice!" I can just imagine her puffing her chest in pride. She's currently being petted by Alissa, so she's in a rather undignified position, sprawled all over Alissa's lap.

"Your voice is beautiful, you will certainly sound very mature and dignified when you grow up."

"Uhmm..." She considers my words and tries to understand the meaning of my emphasis.

My fingers snake into Roxanne's pants and her tail tightens a little around my neck in response.

­

I pull out the golems, they spend their time practicing [Telekinesis] and playing dead when other caravans pa.s.s us by. Anton and Rande look at us curiously but say nothing.

As I give Roxanne a breather, we get closer to the carriage so we can see inside. Klein is asleep in the carriage. She and Oura are leaning on each other and drooling slightly, to the amus.e.m.e.nt of everybody.

"Have you been keeping Oura up too late, Rande?" Hana asks with a teasing smile.

He smiles back suggestively but it turns soft, "She just loves to read too much. When she's absorbed with her books, she loses track of time and forgets to sleep."

"Oh, I know how that is," I say and Lina nods along.

"When it's our turn to sleep with Wolf you never lose yourself," Ciel says teasingly.

Lina pouts and stays quiet.

"What are those things?" Rande asks, looking at Ted and Suzy in Hana's lap.

"Golems, my creations. Think of them as simple, artificial life," I say.

"Oh, so that's where your t.i.tle came from. But... is it really 'life'? Do the G.o.ds allow you to create 'children' at will?"

"They are more like copies of humanoids. Think of them as tools rather than living beings," Ciel says.

"If you say so, priestess," Rande shrugs and looks at the golems warily.

"Can they fight?" Anton asks.

"Not yet," I answer. With [Telekinesis], Suzy raises a small rock on the wayside and shoots it a few meters away.

Anton looks at them warily. "Aren't they dangerous?" He asks.

"If you don't know what you're doing. Though, considering that I'm the only living 'Golemancer,' I do know what I'm doing," I smile calmly.

­

I spend my time trying to create a chant for [Bind]. If I can alter it so the girls can only use it for communication, then it would be much safer and possibly less taxing on the mind. If it's difficult to maintain more than two [Bind]s for me, who is used to multi-sense sharing and other inner-mind shenanigans, then how would the girls fare?

Dusk comes and we get very close to the entrance to the High Forest. We leave the road and find a good spot to make camp. A few other caravans stop a good 50 meters away, this seems to be a regular spot for camping as the ground is unusually flat.

With this amount of humanoids in the wild, we had to deal with a few more Kappatti and Marsh Goblins, the sneaky cousins of the poisonous Swamp Goblins. Though, since we are on the left of the road, in the more dry and rocky area, the monsters had to expose themselves before they could reach us, so they were easily dispatched by my elementals.

­

During the bath, I pull Lina to me and start giving her my love.

"You don't want it?" I ask.

"Huh? Yes, I want it, please," she raises her head and plants her lips on mine.

"You seem distracted."

"Oh... I have just been thinking about Madame Helganst."

"You shouldn't bother with her."

"She's a bitter woman, and she's not the kind that needs pitying," Ciel says.

Lina nods and kisses me again. I wrap my arms and legs around her and use her like a doll. The more I hug her, the more her insides heat up.

­

Dinner is more beef wellington, and a not-carrot and not-potato salad with cream and not-chives. Krista takes her job seriously; every meal is perfectly made.

Laertes is so quiet that even Klein tries to cheer him up, but that may have just made things worse.

­

After dinner, I sneak out of the tent and store some boulders inside my [Item Box]. They could be more reliable than barricades, but just a little more awkward to use.

In our tent, Lina finishes the enchanting of her switch-axe and adds [Double Strike] to it. The weapon now has gold and silver lines running all along it. This will give her enemies pause when they realize how dangerous it is.

We all practice our spells a little. I practice my [Soul Manipulation]; Alissa's [Ignorance] is starting to form; Roxanne is learning [Water Spirit]; Hana's [Double Image] is perfect so she's starting to practice [G.o.dly Language] more seriously; Ciel's [Holy Spirit] is almost independent; Lina's [Weaken] is starting to work; Aoi is nearly done learning [Item Box]; and the golems are using [Telekinesis] to move around more easily.

"Gih," Gify calls my attention.

I follow his advice and use [Sense Soul] on Aoi. I see a familiar b.u.mp on the outer layer of her soul.

­

Soul Info

Name: Aoi

­

Oh boy.

­

­

Hall of Fame of Patrons

The patrons who support Rupegia shall have their names sung by the bards for they deserve the glory and honor. Their names are:

Oracle Maximillian Hübner.

Lord Andrew Meyers.

Lord Hope.

Lord Samuel Lim.

Lord Cody Weigel.

Lord Bill.

Lord Novgarod.

n.o.ble Salty Panda.