Rupegia 33 The Tree In Our Yard

It's over. Another crisis, another nightmare, another fight. It's over and now we are safe.

I wake up to a very smug Alissa slowly licking my frenulum. When she sees I'm awake she swallows my member. Her head slowly moves downwards until she reaches the base. Her eyes staring deeply into mine. Her tongue caressing my skin all the way.

She slowly moves back and I s.h.i.+ver in pleasure. She decides to lick my b.a.l.l.s and suck on them. I s.h.i.+ver harder, it's a very sensitive place, it's a mix pleasure and almost pain.

To continue her job Lina swallows my member. She tries to make the same movement but barely swallows two thirds. Yet her tongue still moves skillfully around the head. Lina does not need the skill, she's eager enough she can learn it the hard way, by sucking my d.i.c.k so much she becomes an actual expert on it.

My vision gets dark as Ciel smothers me with her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. With one hand I search for a nipple and guide it to my mouth and with the other I search for her p.u.s.s.y so I can have my revenge.

It seems Ciel likes when others bury their heads on her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Specifically, she likes it when me or Lina do it.

I push Ciel away but continue to play with her nipple. I want to watch Alissa and Lina taking turns. It's so f.u.c.king s.e.xy knowing they are indirectly kissing through my d.i.c.k. I'm still not sure if Alissa is bis.e.xual, I think she's being borderline just to satisfy my fetishes.

"I'm coming," I say.

Alissa sucks harder and suddenly releases my d.i.c.k. She points it to Lina and I plasters her face. Lina frowns and starts to clean herself.

"Clean her, Alissa," I order.

Without skipping a beat she licks the entirety of Lina's face, even sucking on her lips. Lina fidgets but does not resist.

I pull Ciel on top of me and she yelps. Her black hair falls on my face and tickles me, her large nipples rub on my chest. Her bright smile melts my heart.

"I love you, deeply," I say.

She blushes and smiles wider. She gives me a peck on the lips.

"I love you more," she says.

"A compet.i.tion? If my memory is right you do not have [Enhanced s.e.xual Stamina], it wouldn't be wise to compete with a G.o.d of s.e.x like me."

She scoffs.

"G.o.d of s.e.x? Old man now you are being arrogant," she looks at me smugly, her fleshy lips makes her pout so much more cuter.

"Oh yeah? Oh yeah!?"

Now you have done it.

I put on [Ma.s.sage], [Oral Technique], [Hand Technique], [Enhanced Strength], [Enhanced Endurance], [Enhanced Speed], and [Enhanced Genital Control]. The last one is quite the interesting skill, it gives me more control over the muscles of my p.e.n.i.s. With it I can rub on her G-spot if I angle it right.

I grab her and roll over. Alissa and Lina strip so they can more comfortably m.a.s.t.u.r.b.a.t.e to the show.

I start with her ear lobes, they should be a slightly erogenous zone. I suck on them, lick them, and nibble on them, [Ma.s.sage] also works with the mouth.

She chuckles at the tickly feeling but it quickly dies down and she starts to fidget. I ma.s.sage her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and nipples with both my hands. I send her jolts of pleasure as I slowly increase the strength of my grip, mixing rubbing and pinching.

Her fleshy mounds are delicious to grab. I want to defile them again with my s.e.m.e.n. I want to defile all her body with my s.e.m.e.n.

I lower myself. My tongue traces her neck bones. I nibble the nape of her neck and she giggles again. I lick her nipples, I suck on them strongly and she moans. But this isn't the main meal.

I lick her abs and kiss them. I trace my tongue lower and reach her trimmed bush. I play with them and caress it with my hand but I skip her p.u.s.s.y. I lower my head even further, tracing my tongue on her inner thigh.

She s.h.i.+vers and looks at me with disappointment. Soon, my lewd priestess, soon.

I start working on her feet the way she loves so much. I suck her toes and press the sole. I grab warm lotion and spread on her feet, it's a special one from the high elven goods we got yesterday. It smells and tastes like mint.

Ciel moans as I ma.s.sage her feet. Such cute little toes, well trimmed nails, and a softness that rivals her hands. What a cheat being able to use [Heal] to keep your skin soft.

I spread her toes and lick the sensitive skin in the middle. She giggles again but now they are mixed with moans.

I get the feeling that this is enough.

I start to ma.s.sage her further upwards, licking again her inner thigh. I slow down my advance, little by little I inch closer to her slit. She breathes quickly in excitement.

I finally spread her brown lips and they are drenched in her wetness. I push my tongue inside her and she immediately c.u.ms. I take my tongue out and finger her.

"I made you c.u.m just with a single lick," I say.

She doesn't say anything. She turns her head away and see the girls masturbating, then she looks the other way, blus.h.i.+ng.

"Do you want more?" I ask.

She purses her lips and keeps quiet. I slow down my fingers.

"If you don't say anything I'm gonna stop."

"No..." She mutters.

"Tell me what you want."

"Continue," she mutters again.

"Huh? I couldn't hear you."

"C-continue! I want more!" She turns to me with puffed cheeks.

"Is that how you ask something?" I smile s.a.d.i.s.tically, I slow down my fingering even more.

"Please..."

"Louder, please."

"Please continue!"

"Continue what?" My smile grows wilder, I remove my fingers.

She groans.

"f.u.c.k me! Please, f.u.c.k me!"

"As you wish."

I put two fingers in and rub her G-spot.

She instantly c.u.ms again. Her back arches and her b.r.e.a.s.t.s jiggle.

I suck the top of her lips and expose her c.l.i.t. I use my tongue to [Ma.s.sage] it, compounding it with my [Oral Technique]. I use my [Hand Technique] to stimulate every inch of her p.u.s.s.y.

She moans louder and louder.

I don't even know what I'm doing anymore, I'm just pressing b.u.t.tons, I'm just letting the skill take over. I'm a conductor to the symphony of moans coming from her, I simply go with the flow and improvise.

Somehow it works. She grabs the sheets and nearly rips them from the bed. Her head shakes and her voice fades out as she seems to be on a constant o.r.g.a.s.m.

Her mouth hangs open as she drools, her eyes lose focus, her expression goes flat as she seems to be unconscious. Her breath slows so much her chest barely moves.

My hand hurts, my tongue hurts, my neck hurts, everything hurts. I'm not supposed to be able to do this, I'm breaking my own limits.

The sheet is drenched in her own fluids and my drool. I put 3 fingers in, then 4, then 5.

Then I suddenly penetrate her with my d.i.c.k.

Her back arches and keeps like that. I pound on her with all my strength, all my speed. I control my own d.i.c.k to rub on her G-spot.

I feel it coming. I pull it out and c.u.m a huge thick load on her face, mouth, belly, and b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Then I collapse on the bed.

Alissa comes up on Ciel. She licks her face clean, then she sucks on her lips. Slowly Alissa's mouth covers Ciel's and her tongue enters. I see Ciel react, their tongues touch and feel each other for a few seconds as they share my c.u.m.

Alissa breaks the kiss. She starts sucking my c.u.m from Ciel's body, she sucks on her nipples and rubs them just like I did. Ciel moans again.

Alissa lowers her head, she licks the abs, then Ciel's bush.

Alissa repositions herself. Her tongue lowers and she licks Ciel's wet c.u.n.t. She fingers Ciel and scoops out a small amount of c.u.m, then she plays with Ciel's c.l.i.t. Ciel moans and Alissa giggles.

There's still some c.u.m on Alissa's mouth. She goes over to Lina and kisses her. Lina is still masturbating, she doesn't stop and receives Alissa's kiss. Lina sucks on Alissa's tongue and drinks up all the c.u.m. A white trail escapes Lina's mouth, Alissa catches it before it gets wasted on the sheets.

My d.i.c.k is hard again. I f.u.c.king love you Alissa. I. f.u.c.king. Love. You.

I flip the still catatonic Ciel over. I push my finger on her a.s.shole and cast [Clean] on her. Then I push my tongue inside her a.s.shole, I go in circles and then penetrate, circles then penetrate. With a continuous [Regeneration] I push my finger deep, then two, then three. She screams but they die down as the spell takes efffect.
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I reapply lube and push my d.i.c.k on that huge a.s.s. The perfect heart shaped a.s.s. Brown buns for my white hot dog.

Ciel yelps again and regains some of her consciousness. She bites the pillow but does not stop me. I repeatedly cast [Heal] on her so she does not bleed. Alissa reaches over Ciel and fingers her. Ciel moans and yelps with every thrust of my d.i.c.k.

So tight, so hot, so s.e.xy.

"Ciel, you are mine! Your body is mine, your heart is mine. I love everything about you! Remember, you are mine!"

Her breath is so haggard all she can mutter is a weak "yes".

Lina starts playing with Ciel's b.r.e.a.s.t.s, she copies my ma.s.sage style. She scootches besides Ciel and sucks on her earlobes. Ciel's throat is so dry she can only moan hoa.r.s.ely.

I feel it again and I let it come. I fill up Ciel's a.s.shole and it overflows.

Alissa quickly cleans my d.i.c.k and goes for Ciel's a.s.s. She tongues her deeply just like I did. With a single finger she scoops out any remaining c.u.m.

This time Alissa swallows it all.

We spend a few moments catching our breaths.

"So..." I flip Ciel and kiss her, she's almost fully awake again, "Who's the G.o.d of s.e.x?"

"Wha..." Her eyes move about in confusion, "Oh..."

A smile slowly grows on her face. She sighs and closes her eyes.

"You are the cheating G.o.d of s.e.x," she says.

"Good enough for me. A G.o.d of s.e.x is a G.o.d of s.e.x."

I pull Ciel to lay down on my chest.

"Alissa, you turning bis.e.xual now?" I ask.

"Hm..." She tilts her head sideways, "I don't know, I just wanted to make Ciel moan. I don't find women particularly attractive."

Lina fidgets and looks down. Ciel is quiet, she seems to be processing what happened.

"I think that..." Alissa grabs her chin in thought, "I want you to use me. Use me more, use me like the time when you tied me down. Use me to fulfill your fetishes," she licks her lips and talks almost on a growl, "I'm yours forever."

I shudder at her words.

"And I'm yours too. So was our vows," I say.

"But I'm yours... Harder," she chuckles.

"Hah. You want another compet.i.tion?"

"Don't think this one will go the way you want."

My a.n.u.s dislikes this conversation.

I lean back and pull her on a hug with my other arm.

"Well, if you want to fulfill my fetishes then prepare yourself," I lean close to her ear and whisper, "Because you will become everyone's f.u.c.k toy."

Alissa bites her lips sensually and rests her head on my chest. Both girls are facing each other quite closely.

"Just remember that you are only a slave to my fetishes. In everything else you are my companion, my wife, not a slave."

She turns her head to me and smiles. "I know, I know," she says.

Ciel turns around and pulls Lina in a hug, burying her on her chest.

I know Ciel likes Lina a lot. But what kind of "like" is it? Lina is very receptive of attention from anyone, so I'm not sure what she truly feels for the other girls. Though Lina did live with only women for a few years.

The amount of same-s.e.x couples on the streets is much higher here than on Earth, I just wonder how many are actually bis.e.xual.

"If any of you want to experiment more then say so. Just remember to talk to each other," I say.

Ciel turns her head towards Alissa then looks away with a hint of embarra.s.sment. Alissa notices it and simply smiles smugly at her.

Alissa's ears flicker.

"The other two are awake, I'll go prepare breakfast," Alissa says.

She casts [Clean] on her mouth then moves out of the room, still naked. Her cute a.s.s and orange tail swaying sensually.

"It felt nice," Ciel mutters, looking at Alissa's a.s.s as she leaves.

I completely corrupted the priestess. I f.u.c.king love this world.

­

Roxanne gained [Mana Overuse Resistance] with 1 point. Now she's just one point short from [Ice Lance], though she used that spell so many times she knows how to chant it and cast it quite easily. She also increased her "Speed" by 1 (now 9).

Ciel leveled up to 32. She increased her [Wind Magic] by 2 (now 17) and her [Light Magic] by 1 (now 25). She has 5 skill points left.

Alissa leveled up to 30. She increased her [Illusion Magic] by 1 (now 3).

­

Ciel is acting awkward around Alissa, it's so entertaining I want them to keep like this for a while.

"I'm feeling so tired," I recline back on my chair.

"You don't tell me, I had a headache the entire night," Roxanne says.

"I don't want to leave the house this break," I say.

"Oh let's go do something fun then," she claps the tip of her hands in excitement.

"Sure. Anyway, how about you all? Feeling okay?"

"Well I'm fine, my sense of smell is still dampened due to the horrible smell of the husks though", Alissa says, "The fight was nerve-racking but we didn't get hurt so I'm just feeling a little tired."

"I'm pretty good. If it's only husks then I can deal with it," Hana shrugs and then her eyes turn sharp, "But we are done with Vanea now, right?"

"Yeah, we are done," I answer her immediately. I won't make a deal like that again.

"We don't really have to worry about Darean anymore. Whoever his backer is might end up killling Darean himself, he lost a lot of money yesterday," Lina says.

"Good," Hana reclines back on the chair and smiles.

"I just don't want to fight husks again. My clothes are smelling putrid," Roxanne says.

"It will get off, don't worry," Alissa says and grabs her hand, "Well I guess it's expected of you to be more worried about clothes than your life," Alissa slaps her hand lightly and smirks.

"Hey!" Roxanne pulls her hand away and pouts, "Now with instant cast I'm not really afraid of anything besides invisible a.s.sa.s.sins."

"And the undead," I add.

"And the undead," she smiles bitterly, "I guess blowing them into small pieces didn't work."

"Well, I will give you something to be afraid of," Hana says with an evil grin.

"Try me, b.i.t.c.h, I will rub my own tail," she narrows her eyes in defiance.

"That's not what I was thinking about but okay," Hana chuckles.

"You, not thinking about s.e.x? Ciel, [Diagnosis], quick!"

"Oh you want to be f.u.c.ked?" Her eyes narrow, "Okay then."

Hana sweeps the breakfast away, forcing us to pick our plates off the table. She pulls Roxanne out of the chair and drops her on the table, then she lifts Roxanne's dress, pulls down her panties, and starts to eat her out.

I turn my head to Ciel.

"Well I'm doing fine," she says, "I dealt with husks before, it's not a big deal."

"I'm more worried about how you did as a leader," I say.

Hana lifts her head and cleans her lips. "She did fine!" She says then starts using her fingers. "Though I wouldn't recommend her doing it often, she looked very nervous."

Ciel laughs awkwardly.

"I-I never had much experience with leaders.h.i.+p," she lowers her eyes, "But I think I can at least keep everyone alive."

"That's all we need and all I try to do," I say.

I'm not deluding myself in thinking I'm a great leader, I know that at least I'm enough to keep us all safe.

Now I look at Lina.

"I feel okay..." She talks lowly yet high enough to be heard on top of the moans. "I just don't want to remember those things anymore, they make me feel sick."

"Kweh! Ded, dis-gus-tin'!"

She's mostly sad she couldn't eat anything.

"I think we all feel the same way," Alissa says, "Just make sure you keep your energy up so you can still fight alongside Wolfy."

Lina nods with vigor.

"You had to kill some people, didn't you, how you feeling about it?" I ask.

For me most people who died weren't really my fault so I'm using it as an excuse to distance myself from yesterday. I'm simply running away from responsibility.

"I will... I will kill anything that tries to hurt us," her eyes flicker with anger, "I will never stand still and let them hurt us."

I feel like sighing.

"Just, just keep a level head and remember my two rules," I say.

She nods once with resolve.

Gify pops into my shoulder.

"Guuh, geh guh gih!" He says, "Balance is everything, but you all did well".

"Thanks Gify," Alissa smiles.

­

I barely finish my breakfast before it's time for my [G.o.dly Language] lessons again.

"Good morning, Mr. Ryder. I heard you had quite the interesting evening yesterday," he gives me a calm smile.

"Good Morning, Mr. Kyros. It was a nightmare," I sigh and drop my shoulders, "Crazed men and hundreds of husks. Never again, please."

"The entire town is talking about it. A necromancer attack, the rumors say."

"Heh, almost. Good thing Dame Vanea was ready for it, otherwise it would be a ma.s.sacre."

Kyros reclines on his chair and smiles to nowhere in particular.

"Wouldn't be unlike her. Anyway, let's continue our lesson. I will teach you your first words, we have to speed up your training."

I got you a surprise, old man. I put a point in [G.o.dly Language].

I sit on my usual chair and close my eyes, focusing on his demonstration.

I can feel two mana vortexes. One is on his throat and the other is slowly spinning around it. The spinning vortex picks up so much speed my senses blur.

Suddenly the first vortex vibrates.

"Become stronger!" He yells.

I feel a wave shake my bones, sending a chill through my spine. I feel my muscles bulge and slowly return to normal.

Dayum son. If I master this maybe I could play Hulk.

"Become stronger!" He yells again.

This time I notice the wave is directed solely at me.

"Become stronger!"

I feel how Kyros is unaffected by the voice.

The second vortex increases its spinning radius.

"Become stronger!"

The sound wave goes much wider this time.

The second vortex disappears.

"Become stronger!"

Now this time there was barely a wave front. I felt only a small circle of the wave hit my heart and it still affected my entire body.

"You noticed the three different ways I used the voice?" Kyros asks.

"Yes. The first way was a normal sound wave directed towards me, the second way the wave got much wider due to the spinning vortex's radius increasing. Both didn't affect you. The third way it was directly sent to me only without the need for the spinning vortex."

"Correct. We call the spinning vortex the 's.h.i.+eld vortex' and the other vortex the 'voice vortex'."

"Quick question. Does the language that I use influence the effects?"

"No. It's all the same to our spirits."

Interesting. Though it behaves quite oddly. Why would the spirit of someone who never heard Andraste react to a mana wave?

"Can I create a language and use it with [G.o.dly Language]?"

"Create...?" He frowns in puzzlement then shakes his head, "You have to use a language that belongs to the skill system. Using codes won't work."

Aw shucks.

"Now," His tone turns more stern, "Recreate my voice."

I close my eyes and focus. The vortex creation is much easier than before, I could even try to start a s.h.i.+eld vortex but I will leave it for later.

I move the vortex towards my throat and grunt. I feel the shaking of my vocal chords and the vortex following it. There's a slight delay on the vortex, which made it sound like two grunts at the same time. Felt good enough for a proper try.

"Become stronger!"

I feel my muscles bulge for a few seconds. Much shorter than Kyro's voice. After the strength is gone I feel a chill running through my body and heavy nausea.

"Ooh, very good," Kyros says, then he notices my frown, "I was expecting you to puke on your first try. It seems you do have a small talent for it."

"Told you... So," I mutter, keeping my breakfast down.

"You did," I open my eyes and he's caressing his goatee, "Now, try to focus on creating two vortexes, they will s.h.i.+eld you from the feedback of a bad word."

Easier said than done. Even with the skill I need many more points on it to properly control both vortexes. If you take your attention off from one the other dissipates, it hurts my brain.

Hm... I have an idea. The dissipation is not instantaneous, so what if I keep switching my focus from them in quick succession? Just like how a computer processor works.

Bad idea, now I'm nauseous and suffering from strong manradiation sickness.

This is too hard, I wanna cheeeeat. I want to put more points on the skill. Yes Ciel, I'm a filthy, filthy cheater.

­

Back at home I have such a bad headache that even [Heal] is not having much effect. It does not work well when you don't know much about the damage being healed.

I keep [Regeneration] on and it seems to work, although slowly.

"Roxanne, how did you learn to manipulate two spells at once?" I ask.

Her gla.s.ses glint in the shadows and her smile turns smug. So smug I feel like teaching a b.l.o.o.d.y lesson to her a.s.s.

"Think it like this. Can you write two different words with each hand?" She asks.

"I can only write with one hand," I smile cheekily.

"Har har, you get what I meant?" She narrows her eyes in annoyance. Her serious face is so s.e.xy.

"Yes, yes. I can't write it."

"But you can move your arms in different ways, can't you?"

"So it's only a question of finesse?"

"Not really. You have to memorize the movements, it's like a dance. They should come naturally to you. You don't separate your consciousness, you treat both movements as one."

Simple enough, I guess.

"Careful not to mix the spells. They are one movement, but separate," she adds with a wry smile.

Okay, maybe not so simple.

­

[Blessing Magic] cla.s.s is noisy, everyone is talking about the necromancer attack. I heard no rumors about Ziny or Burky so I can a.s.sume the knights are keeping their mouths shut.

"In the middle of the Crafter's Corner!" Lyle exclaims, "What was a necromancer doing there? I would a.s.sume he would prefer the slums to hide himself."

"Why would he need to hide, specifically?" I ask.

"Hm... Perhaps he needed a safe place to experiment?"

"Then the slums would be better for this," Garanae says.

"Then he just wanted a safe place to hide," Lyle says.

"Living on a residential area would be easier then," Hatara says.

Considering how ghastly that man looked I think he would be conspicuous there.

"Then he was protecting something," Lyle says.

"At the Crafter's Corner? Not the Bazaar or the Gambler's Den? Even the Guild's Corner would have something valuable stored."

The Crafter's Corner is basically the industrial area of Rabanara.

"There are warehouses in the Crafter's Corner," Lyle says.

"They just store raw material and some finished products. None of them store something so valuable they need hundreds of husks to guard," Garanae says.

"Then... He was hiding something illegal. Something that needed to be stored on a warehouse but couldn't be shown in plain sight that it is valuable."

It's so amusing seeing them get closer to the truth. Lina would be pleased to hear this conversation, she seems to like mind games.

­

The bath was smelling absolutely pretty. The girls were debuting the high elven products.

There's a liquid that they put on the bath that made it bubble and smell good. There's a shampoo type of liquid that made red bubbles that slowly turned green when the hair was "done". And finally we all turned into living hugging-pillows as our skin softened with a body oil that made me and Roxanne focus our [Sense Mana] on it because how the h.e.l.l is that not magic?

I noticed that Ciel is definitely avoiding looking at Alissa's naked body.

­

"Wolfy," Ciel calls to me.

"Yes, my love?"

She squirms at my sudden attack.

"How about we spend a night at the wet cave in the Wisps of the Proud? The temple already killed the undead so it should be safe."

"Sure. I will open a [Gate] and send Holly first."

­

The cave is empty, not even a dragonoid there like last time. I send Holly over the crack on the cave and there's not a single dragonoid down there. The temple did a complete sweep on the dungeon.

"This cave is a healing place. Just close your eyes and enjoy the sounds," I say.

The constant dripping and trickling of water is a ma.s.sage for the brain. A single [Spirit Light] outside makes pretty reflections on the wet stone floor. I let myself enter a trance while we all watch the lights show.

All the carnage in the world is worth it if I can safeguard moments like these, spending a healing time with the ones I love.

Eventually we move inside the tent but keep the flaps open so we can see the show outside.

Lina and Roxanne are playing Civil War. The more complex chess-like game that we bought. The two don't talk much to each other but over the game they seem to be bonding. Aoi seems interested in the game, her eyes are glued to the pieces and she's rooting for Lina.

I'm more of a Risk or Settlers of Catan player. I like when games give more freedom of play, chess is so limiting compared to VR. Maybe I should introduce Dungeons & Dragons to this world.

I spend my evening with Alissa on my lap. I love brus.h.i.+ng her fluffy orange tail. Gify spends all the time on her bosom, being hugged by her. If he so much as hints he's being lecherous I will force him out of existence, I'm not being NTR'd by my own pet.

Gih.

If you are not a pet then what are you?

...

I knew it.

Ciel and Hana alternated as my breast pillows. Both of them taught wrestling to Ted and Suzy, Ciel is coaching Ted and Hana is coaching Suzy. Hana's style is not working well due to the lack of strength the little golems have, Ciel ends up winning 3-2.

Before bed I have Alissa give me scratch marks on my back. She gets more feisty when there's an audience.

­

Today is the 25th.

I wake up to a hungry Hana, she needs double servings of her meal.

Roxanne starts the cleanup while me and Alissa prepares the breakfast.

Lina and Ciel are sleeping so deeply they don't wake up. Their noses are touching and their hair is tangled on each other. What a sight. Having everyone sleep naked is the best idea I have ever had.

Alissa prefers some hot soup with tea and some grilled meat. The Misty Low Forest is quite chilly during morning so she likes hot things.

Hana and Roxanne were born on hotter tropical climates. They prefer some fruit or fresh sandwich. Roxanne has a thing for spicy food due to the large amount of spices on her continent.

I like some hot coffee with some bread. Sweetened coffee for bread with smoked meat and cheeses. Bitter coffee with milk for chocolate spread on bread. I still didn't get a whiff of coffee outside of the Morning Dew so I subst.i.tute it with tea.

Aoi likes meat, that's it.

Gify eats anything so we generally copy one of the breakfast someone is having and give to him.

Ciel likes jam or b.u.t.ter on her toast accompanied by tea while Lina prefers to eat cold cuts of cheese and smoked meats, though she has an occasional urge to eat mushrooms. Lina had enough of simple toasted bread during her life with Hilde.

I put each of their preferences on platters. Me and Alissa bring it over so the two naked sleeping beauties can have breakfast on the bed.

"Wake up, my love," I say.

Ciel groans and pushes Lina into her chest, suffocating her. If you are being cuddled by Ciel you should always have your back to her, she likes to hug things.

Lina wakes up quickly due to lack of oxygen and pushes her away. Her droopy eyes extra droopy due to sleepiness.

Lina finally notices us standing there with the platters and her eyes widen. She shakes up Ciel to help her wake up faster. Roxanne and Hana come back to bed with their own platters.

We have a s.e.xy, naked breakfast on the bed as we watch the Dripping Cave again.

­

My [Blessing Magic] increased by 1 (now 4+19).

­

We go back home and I spend this morning coaching and Hana on [G.o.dly Language]. I have her practice the same routine as I did. She has much, much more difficulty than me in maintaining the vortex. She also has some problems actually sensing the vortex, her low "Perception" and [Sense Mana] are not helping her here.

Her control is much sloppier so I keep healing her often. Not that she would easily get dizzy due to her "Endurance" but I would rather save her from the discomfort.

­

On [Reduced Mana Cost] cla.s.s I focus on my own method of replacing the reality of magic to obey to my own conversion of mana. I have been getting quite good at meditation and placing myself on a trance. I don't know if it's self-delusion but I can "feel" the way I convert mana change.

Could I be changing my soul with some form of primitive [Alteration Magic]? I don't really know. Deviating from the system could have unknown effects. These things scare me a little.

­

Me and Alissa made a super fluffy pie, it was so delicate it felt like your tongue was being caressed.

"Eat your veggies," Ciel says.

"Kweh..."

"Gify is eating his," I say.

"Gih!" He raises his head proudly before quickly lowering it again to dig on his food.

"He, no, du-ragon."

"I am and I eat my veggies," Hana says.

"Muuuh..." Aoi groans, her nostrils light up.

"Hey! No fire on the table," Alissa chastises.

"So-ry," Aoi hurriedly apologizes with her eyes wide open.

"Control your anger, little one," Hana says, "This is how dragons rise above animals and monsters."

Aoi shyly nods her head in acknowledgment. She always listen to Hana.

Dragons are omnivores, they have molars and incisors at the back of their mouths. They eat anything that could give energy to sustain their high-maintenance bodies.

We are about to finish eating when Gify licks his plate clean and jumps into the middle of the table.

"Gih, geh guh gih-ga go gih."

He wants us to go into the Sea of Trees.

"Weren't we going to relax this half-cycle?" Roxanne asks.

"Gih, gih!"

He really wants us to go somewhere.

"Hmpf" Roxanne pouts.

Alissa leans forward with curiosity.

"But why do we need to go there?" She asks.

"Gih."

"You are being awfully cryptic. I don't like it," I say.

"Gigigih!"

I sigh and ma.s.sage my eyes. He really wants us to go but is being very scarce on details.

"Les, go!" Aoi says.

I pet her sleek head and she lets out smoke from her nostrils in satisfaction. She trusts Gify unconditionally.

"Alright... Does anyone do not want to go with Gify?" I ask.

"I'm never leaving you," Alissa shrugs.

My own foxy stalker.

"I mean, do you want to go?"

"Yes. It will at least be interesting," she smiles.

"Well, this is really suspicious but I won't let you investigate something without me," Ciel says.

Knowing her she's conflicted over the suspiciousness of his request but her curiosity tips her over.

"I wanted to relax too but if it's somewhere dangerous I want you to help keep you all safe," Roxanne says.

"Awn..." Hana pulls Roxanne into a bear hug, "There's no question about me, I will go where danger is."

"Help, breathe!"

Hana smirks and releases Roxanne.

I look at Lina and she shrugs.

"Why ask me? Gify could be taking us somewhere interesting and I won't leave you," she squirms over her own words."

"Just making sure," I smirk at her.

I was going to put a request to add an emellanat lining to all our s.h.i.+elds but it will have to wait for another time. There's also the bent enchanted s.h.i.+eld but due to damage it's not working, it will take some time for Lina to reverse-engineer it.

­

Ciel manages to speak to Alissa normally but during bath she becomes awkward, even Roxanne noticed. I feel like I'll have to push Alissa onto Ciel again so she stops being like this but I think I'll tease her a little more.

On the bed I'm used as a s.e.x doll by the depraved duo. First I'm used as a board for the two to get off while they kiss. Then Hana picks me up and we have a vertical 69. The blood goes to my head and makes me very dizzy. o.r.g.a.s.ming this way was a weird experience.

­

Today is the 26th.

Roxanne casually uses her tail to get me off while Hana keeps her mouth open for the shot. This was turning into a contest of creativity but I think that the creativity is running out.

­

My [Reduced Mana Cost] increased by 1 (now 6+5).

­

We leave quite early, there's still a faint mist around and the guards are just starting their rounds.

Gify takes us to the western gate. Outside we see squads of guards accompanied by priests lining up. They are going to start a purge on the Sea of Trees. If only we were a day later.

I will have Holly and Alissa help us avoid monsters. I don't want us to waste energy on trash mobs when we don't know how deep we are going to go.

Gify tells us to continue west along the road until the road curves northwards. We get off our flying dinghy and enter the Sea of Trees and move south-west.

­

We encounter a b.l.o.o.d.y battle between naked goblins and Mossy Fangpines. The Fangpines have the upper hand and shred the goblins. There was so much blood even I could smell it. We stood clear of that mess.

A few minutes later we regrettably had to avoid a Grey Berserker that came running to join the carnage. We haven't sold the duplicate gnomic magic tools yet but once we do we won't have money problems for a while. There's also the large amount of emellanat that we have so we don't really have to fight that Grey Berserker.

But still, money.

­

Noon comes and we take our lunch break, a hearty meaty soup with garlic bread.

The terrain has slowly begun to get hilly. We are approaching Rakontagne, the western mountain range. It's odd to think that Alissa's homeland is on the other side of those mountains. There's a long way until the mountain range, but still, so close yet so far.

I really want to meet her parents. Not just hers, though, everyone's.

­

We reach a cave and Alissa reports wyverns in there. Specifically, there's a huge Hooknose leading other smaller wyverns. We should report this to the guild when we come back.

­

The sun starts to fall and I see a familiar sight with Holly. A huge and dark tree covered in a large amount of vines. I saw it when we were approaching the goblin village.

We go down a hill and find a secluded nook filled with huge roots around it. The ground is perfectly flat and dry. Quite the snug place for us to make camp.

Through a gap in the crown of the trees I look at the moon and mutter a curse. The brightest moon is the indigo one, the one who represents the aspect of otherwordlyness. Tonight and tomorrow is bound to be weird.

Now that I think about it, Gify is leading us straight to that tree. Ominous.

Nature spirits aren't evil or murderous, so I don't think we are in the danger of death. I just believe that tomorrow will be unpleasant.

­

"Did you hear that?" Roxanne asks.

"Kweh?" Aoi questions with her head tilted.

"I heard nothing," Alissa says, her ears flickering repeatedly.

Roxanne groans and shrinks on the bed, s.h.i.+vering a little.

"C'mere," I pull Roxanne's head to my lap and caress her hair.

Now with the elven products everyone's hair is so silky and soft. The perfume of the shampoo makes it smell so good, even though my hair smells flowery I love it.

Ciel offers Ted to her, she accepts it and hugs it close to her chest. The little golem accepted that he is fated to be hugged and smothered in women's b.r.e.a.s.t.s. It is a shame for men around the world how he does not realize his luck.

Oh wait. I better not change this nature of his, I already said to myself I won't be NTR'd by my pets. Maybe if I put a pink bow on him and say he's a lesbian the girls won't mind.

Since my lap is occupied, Lina pulls Ciel to my side and has Ciel spoon her.

Alissa, Hana, and Aoi are acting casual, they do not feel anything.

I think I feel some form of pressure on my chest, it's a feeling difficult to describe. All I know is that it gives me anxiety.

The forest is unusually noisy. I hear a lot of rustling and scratching. This part of the forest is more lively than the rest.

I hear a seductive female moan followed by a giggle. I look around in surprise but n.o.body is reacting to it. Alissa glances at me, noticing my unease.

"You also having a bad feeling?" She asks.

I nod at her.

She tilts her head in thought and worry.

Aoi repeatedly jumps from Hana's head and glides down to the floor. She's trying to focus mana on her wings, flapping them will do nothing due to lack of aerodynamics.

At the fifth failure she huffs, smoke and embers leave her nose.

"Patience, little one," Hana says.

When Aoi comes to crawl up on Hana again she holds down the little dragon.

"Kweh! Fly, fun!"

"Yes, flying is fun but don't get mad that you can't fly yet."

Aoi tilts her head in confusion.

"Get mad when you have to fight. Use anger only when necessary, getting angry at yourself won't help you fly faster."

Aoi absentmindedly looks up while showing her belly to Hana for petting. I always see Hana wince at the cuteness whenever Aoi does that.

"An, ger..." Aoi mutters while thinking.

After a while Aoi resumes her flying trials, she still didn't have much success.

Gify calmly sleeps on Alissa's lap. He remained in high-spirits during the whole trip yet talked very little, or rather, chirped very little. He only chirped when he needed us to correct course.

Alissa's ears flickers.

"I heard a woman moan," she says.

"That's what I heard too!" Roxanne exclaims.

"Me three," I say.

Wait, that didn't work in Andraste.

"I mean, me too," I correct myself hurriedly.

I hear a thunder in the distance and cold air blows in. I pull out a gnomic heater magic tool, it even has a thermostat.

We all huddle together. Things are getting creepy.

­

Ever since I met with Alissa I never had nightmares anymore. My dreams were simple, sometimes they were painful memories of Earth, sometimes they were random nonsense, sometimes they were happy memories of Rupegia. This time my dream was a completely weird experience.

I feel a storm ravaging the land. An island suffers with huge waves that wash away anything above ground; tornadoes move dust and sand, slowly grinding away the stone; lighting strikes explode any protruding rock; the earth cracks with constant earthquakes; lava pours out of the cracks continuously, it solidifies on the constant rain only to get broken down again.

I feel this is one of many. One of countless islands where the storm ravages and rebuilds the land.

­

Today is the 27th.

Alissa and Lina wake me up. I open my eyes to see Alissa sharing half the bounty with Lina.

I smile at them and once everyone uses [Clean] we share our usual morning kiss. I turn my head to the side and kiss the nose of the sleeping Ciel, who decided to use my arm as a hugging pillow. Her arms are like tentacles. Not saying I dislike it, though, on the contrary.

Alissa gets up and opens the ice box. She picks up a cut of deboned fish. With a poof she pulls out a grilling grid and a heating magic tool. She turns on the tool and seasons the fish with some herbs and salt.

Soon the smell awakes Aoi.

"You want one too?" Alissa asks the little blue dragon.

Her nostrils flare and she gives a smile full of sharp fangs. Dragons don't smile so she's copying us, to slightly frightening results. She nods and Alissa picks another cut of fish.

Gify stops pretending to sleep and the other girls slowly wake up, they all get up and sit at the table. I'm the last one up.

That dream is making me feel weird, I felt like my body wasn't my own anymore. The pressure at my back increased and my heart aches for something.

That was the Everlasting Storm. Outside of the 3 continents there's nothing else out there, there's only the Storm, the remnants of the fight between the G.o.ds. This Eternal destruction that ravages most of the world.

"You feeling okay, Wolfy?" Alissa asks as I sit to eat.

"I had a weird dream. I'm feeling odd."

Ciel uses [Diagnosis] and casts [Purify Body] but nothing happens.

I take a look at Gify but he's ignoring the situation. His face buried in a soup he's slurping.

I let a sigh escape my lips.

"It's just an uneasiness, if I get worse I will tell. Ciel you are second-in-command if anything happens," I say.

"Y-yes. I don't think anything will happen, though," she answers.

No one besides me is experienced in leaders.h.i.+p but she's the one with the most level head here so she's the best for it.

­

We pull out our cloaks and leave in the light drizzle.

Slowly the drizzle turns into rain that turns into a thunderstorm. The light of the sun is almost put out, forcing us to cast our [Spirit Lights]. The forest looks extraordinarily depressive in this low light.

I swear I'm hearing giggles, it's not the wind.

The gnomic personal heating tools work to keep us from freezing, but they are costing too much mana and they don't stop the water from seeping into our bones.

"Just endure it!" Hana yells.

I barely hear Roxanne groan. Lina and I say nothing but our mood is horrible. Alissa and Ciel are a little more used to rough times. Aoi puffs smoke and keeps her own body warm with little effort. Gify is a cheater and he doesn't even get wet.

Gih.

Yeah, spirit body is cheating, you only feel temperature if you want to.

I feel Gify shrug inside my head.

Hana, Ciel, and Alissa are the ones with the most energy so they keep us moving at a steady pace.

­

The storm lightens up and Alissa stops us.

"Four large animals are coming!" She yells over the rain.

Animals? Hardly any exist in the Sea of Trees due to orcs and goblins. Now, four large ones? This ain't good.

I summon 3 water elementals. I can't use [Electric Magic] because I don't have enough control over it to not shock myself. I take my points off of it and put it all on [Earth Magic], now I can use [Dust Storm].

Due to the light rain we see them before we hear them, but I think that even without the rain we would never hear them coming. 4 large black panthers with long, muscular legs and huge paws. Their claws are thicker than my thumb and look extremely sharp. Their mouths show impressive teeth while their yellow eyes and facial expression show unbridled anger. They growl wildly like panthers.

Gatun's, the mounts used by the high elves of the High Forest.

They walk low on the ground. Their long limbs move quickly while their heads move smoothly without bobbing. An eerie sight.

They split and circle us, their gaze never wavering.

"What are they doing here?" Alissa asks, clear surprise on her voice.

"They are not running away, they are ignoring my [Intimidate]. They are trained" Hana says.

"Then they belong to someone. Don't attack unless attacked, they might be protecting something," I say.

They suddenly pounce towards us.

"Uah!" Roxanne yells.

Mana runs through Lina's body and she counters with a s.h.i.+eld bash. Her s.h.i.+eld diverts a paw away and she parries the other paw with her axe. The mouth of the Gatun continues down but it is thrown sideways as an [Explosion] gouges out a small chunk of his ribs.

Hana immediately counters, before the Gatun can dodge her spear shoots forward. The enchantment and her thrust results in an incredibly fast strike, the spear gets lodged on it's throat. The Gatun extends it's long limbs and rakes her s.h.i.+eld. A [Water Blade] splits its snout in two, exposing the bone.

Ciel is not so fast with the counter, her glaive gets stuck on the ribs of the Gatun. Both paws strike her flank, its claws sink on her armor and stop at the fur lining. The Gatun receives a [Torrent] on the face and is pushed back. It pulls Ciel down as it claws are stuck on her armor.

I cast a desperate [Earth Bullet] on the face of the Gatun. Its face tilts upwards due to the spell but it barely loses momentum. One paw strikes my s.h.i.+eld and the other hits my sword arm, one claw sinking into my armor and shallowly breaking my skin. The force of the animal is so strong I feel like I'm getting crushed. An arrow pierces its throat and a [Torrent] pushes it back. The claw on my arm pulls me forward, making me stumble.

The Gatun falls to the ground and swipes at Lina's legs. Its claw pierces her leg armor and breaks her skin.

"RAAH!" Lina yells.

She strikes with her axe and it cuts off the leg of the Gatun, the blade went clean through the bone.

Hana's spear shortens and she spews fire. The fire doesn't go far due to the rain but it's enough to burn the face of the Gatun. The breath and a fireball Aoi threw burns his eyes, blinding it.

The Gatun pulls it's claws in. It opens it's mouth and bites into Ciel's head, its steel jaw muscles bend her helmet. She drops her glaive and grabs the throat of the Gatun. She fires multiple [Air Blades] point-blank on its throat. Blood flies as the Gatun nearly gets decapitated. It spits her in surprise and pain.

I stumble forward and strike its snout with the brim of my s.h.i.+eld. The Gatun opens its mouth in pain and to bite at me, the bad smell of animal breath fills my nose. Another arrow enters its throat and I fire an [Earth Bullet] after it. The arrow pierces through its throat and it chokes. I remove my arm from its claw and slice with my sword, splitting his snout.

The claws on Lina's leg dislodge, leaving a thin trail of blood. Another paw comes down, the claws break the scales and bend the metal of her s.h.i.+eld. With an overhead strike she hacks at the attacking paw, forcing the elbow to point at the wrong way. It's roar of pain is interrupted by it's head exploding like a watermellon.

Hana's Gatun retreats in pain. She strikes again at the neck and tries to keep it in place by using the spear with both hands.

Ciel staggers back and points her finger forward. Aoi spews a fireball, the Gatun jumps upwards and the fireball explodes right under his chin, forcing his head upwards. From Ciel's finger an [Air Hammer] invisibly flies forward and hits its chin, forcing it backwards. A [Torrent] hit its chin again, forcing the head to an impossible position, breaking the neck. The Gatun collapses.

I cast [Dust Storm], a large amount of dust gets lifted off the ground and surrounds the head of the Gatun. He swipes at it, confused. I fire an [Earth Bullet] at its body, making it roll on gra.s.s. Now he's completely disoriented. He stands still for a second and an arrow pierces his eyes. He falls limp.

A thin [Ice Lance] pierces the skull of the Gatun Hana is holding. It collapses immediately.

An arrow pierces the eye of the paralyzed Gatun.

"What the f.u.c.k!" Hana exclaims, "The h.e.l.l are these things doing here!"

Ciel spits blood and heals herself. I instantly heal myself and Lina, our wounds were shallow.

I check on Ciel. We needed Hana to pull her helmet apart so we could heal her. We both use multiple heals on her until she's back in shape. Lina spends some time reshaping her helmet with [Manipulate Metal].

"Gify..." Alissa says, a hint of anger on her voice.

All this time the little griffin was just laying still on my shoulder like he's glued. Normally he dematerializes whenever we fight but now he looks around casually, as if nothing happened.

Don't tell me this is a f.u.c.king test.

I kiss the drenched faced of Ciel and she smiles weakly. Her helmet is now misshapen.

I store the bodies and dismiss the elementals. I feel even more sadness at killing animals than I do at killing monsters. What a shame to kill them because croikey, what a beauty they are.

Then we huddle together under a huge snaking root to give us a small respite from the rain. We briefly warm ourselves with the [Warmth] magic tool.

"Everyone okay?" I ask.

"Yeah..." Roxanne answers faintly.

The others nod. Everyone is taking a look at Gify on my shoulder.

The first-cla.s.s actor does not show a single reaction.

"It's a test," I say.

Alissa nods in agreement. "Whoever protects this forest wants to know who you are," she says.

"I would rather not do this through deadly tests," I say.

"Nature shows no mercy."

"Next animal we attack on sight," Hana says.

It certainly is like how the Gloomy Pervert said. I hope we didn't screw ourselves over due to the moon aspect.

­

We continue our way forward. The rain turns back into drizzle, allowing us to finally warm ourselves again.

The landscape changes slowly. We see patches of brightly colored trees and moss increasingly often. The bushes grow in size, forcing us to trudge through them with some effort. The mushrooms become more numerous and more eye-catching. The huge roots are a constant sight.

"Do not touch any of these," Roxanne warns, "Many of them have poisonous spores and the rest I have no idea what they are like."

"If I don't know the poison [Diagnosis] then [Purify Body] won't work," Ciel says.

This is getting dangerous. No wait, this is already dangerous.

"Form a line behind me," Alissa says, "I will make sure we avoid anything dangerous."

Our traveling speed reduces but we avoid any danger.

I start to see small amounts of suspended dust particles. After a while I realize they are colored and that they are spore clouds.

The mushrooms start to pulse and glow. They come in many weird shapes, they resemble morels, brains, beards, skinny umbrellas, blood clots, or even underwater corals. Thinking of them as alien d.i.c.ks lightens my mood.

­

We find a skeleton of an adventurer sitting down with his back laying on a large root. At his feet there are multiple sinister looking glowing mushrooms.

"Why did no monster eat his body?" I ask.

"Monsters easily identify poisoned meat," Roxanne says.

"The Mossy Fangpines use poison," I say.

"But the Fangpines know the taste of their own poison."

"Some adventurers use an Escape Bomb on themselves so their bodies are not eaten after they die," Ciel says.

"Why?"

"They believe it protects their soul," she shrugs, "I think it only delays reincarnation."

"If you meet something like an undead then this might be a bad idea," Alissa says.

"Or any monster that can manipulate the soul," I add.

"Can we cremate him?" Ciel asks, "It's a shame to leave this corpse like this."

"Wolfy. Can you lift him with [Telekinesis]?" Roxanne asks, "n.o.body should ever be getting anywhere close to a glowing mushroom."

"Stand back," I say.

I focus on every bone that I can see. I have to be really delicate here, can't let a single bone fall.

I start lifting him up. His leather and cloth armor rips even further but fortunately it doesn't fall down.

Something s.h.i.+fts inside him and a leather bound notebook falls off his jacket. It opens into ruined pages and I catch a glimpse of Andraste.

*FUSHH~* A black cloud emerges from the disturbed mushrooms. I drop the bones and run. The skeleton breaks into hundreds of pieces.

We run with an increasing amount of spore clouds emerging from behind us.

We reach an area clear of mushrooms and Ciel stops.

"Leave it to me!" She yells.

We stop and cover our noses. Ciel hurriedly chants. The spore cloud gets closer.

"[Wind Storm]!"

We are a.s.saulted by mildly uncomfortable wind bursts. They sting my cheeks every time they hit my face.

The wind around us calms but our surroundings get enveloped by a rainbow of spores. The tornado intensifies and slowly the spores are sent back to where we came, clearing our surroundings.

"Gihihihih."

The little s.h.i.+t giggles even though he receives glares from all of us, even Aoi.

"Sorry. It wasn't a good idea," Ciel says.

"It's okay," I say.

"I apologize for disturbing his rest but our lives must be preserved," Ciel prays.

Since we are already on a clearing we take this opportunity to have another hearty hot soup for lunch followed by hot tea. Comforting warmth fills our insides as the cold was starting to seep through our bones.

Our soured mood abates for a good half hour of relaxation. But when we pick up our pace again the anxiety comes back.

­

The hills start to increase in height, we are near our target. I feel the pressure in my back increase.

There are barely any trees left. Only a mess of roots, glowing mushrooms, and rainbow patches of moss.

"This is certainly a weird place," Ciel says.

"You never heard of it?" I ask.

"No... This is the weirdest part."

Her mood slowly improves as the mystery thickens. But it's hampered again by Alissa.

"Two large animals are coming. They seem rather humanoid," she says.

f.u.c.k me, again.

The terrain is in our disadvantage, we are on a slope.

"Form a line over here. We can't disperse due to the mushrooms."

The wind rustles again and the drizzle quickly turns back into rain. The cloak protects us from the rain but we have to pull the hood down when fighting. The wetness and the cold is getting on my nerves.

The wind picks up speed and Alissa frowns. This amount of wind is unnatural and will divert her arrows. I can hear the giggles again.

Out of the woods come floating two hulking figures, at least 2 meters tall. The head is made of a conical dark cloud, the neck is represented by constant lighting, the chest is composed of mossy rock, the arms and legs are tornados of dust. Wild storm elementals, magical beings, extremely rare.

Lina's axe switches to a hammer. Hana stores her sword and s.h.i.+eld, she pulls out Lina's old war hammer and her emellanat sword. Me and Ciel take a step back from the line. I switch to my emellanat sword.

"Give me a point into [Earth Magic]!" Alissa yells.

"Me too!" Ciel follows.

I quickly obey.

"[Explosion] will be very ineffective!" Roxanne yells over the rain and wind.

"Use anything blunt!" I yell.

I summon two earth elementals. I don't want to waste mana, I hope this is enough.

Roxanne points her staff and I hear her chanting. Aoi is also concentrating her mana, she's trying to somehow improve her own fire.

The storm elementals float forward. One points his arm forward and a lighting bolt hits Hana's sword. The second raises his arms upwards and a tornado starts to immediately form in the middle of us, it almost topples us over due to the sudden wind. Me and Ciel immediately interrupt it.

Both elementals reach us. Hana fires an [Earth Bullet] into the shoulder of the first storm elemental and follows with a strike. A considerable chunk of stone is pulverized. He swipes with one of his arms and a large gust of wind hits her. She has to summon her wings to not be swept away.

My earth elemental punches the first enemy. The storm elemental simply raises his other arm and the fists of the earth elemental stop in the air.

Lina strikes the second elemental in the chest and I see it float back a few centimeters. I follow with an [Earth Bullet] and rock pulverizes.

The elemental swipes just like the other and Lina is thrown back into me. I grab her and we roll a few meters down the slope, drenching us in mud. Choosing this a part of the slope with no mushrooms behind us was good thinking on my part.

Alissa and Ciel fire pathetic [Earth Bullets] at the second elemental, they only make it sway a little.

Lina quickly gets up and starts to charge.

"RAAAH!" She yells in anger.

Hana strikes at the elemental repeatedly. It returns with more and more gusts of wind. Small cuts appear on her skin and along her armor. She uses the emellanat b.a.s.t.a.r.d sword on the limbs of the elemental, giving her small reprieve from the storm of cuts.

Lina strikes the elemental and buries her hammer on his chest. He swipes her again but she remains in place by griping her hammer.

"KWEH!" Aoi yells, fire dangerously escaping from her mouth and nostrils.

"Lina! Get down!" I yell.

She dislodges her hammer and literally throws herself on the ground.

A fireball flies and explodes in the chest of the second storm elemental. It loses a large chunk of stone and staggers backwards. The earth elemental is blocked no more. It punches at the storm elemental repeatedly, both losing large chunks of stone.

"[Earth Bullet]!"

"[Earth Bullet]!"

"[Wind Hammer]!"

Me, Alissa, and Ciel fire our spells. Alissa used much more mana on this one, it breaks a chunk of stone. Ciel's do little damage but dissipates part of one tornado arm for a few seconds.

"OH!" She squeals, "[Wind Storm]!"

Hana staggers back while the storm elementals shudder. Their arms and legs dissipate and struggle to reform. After a few seconds they finally turn their chests towards the middle of the [Wind Storm] and interrupt it.

"Wow!" I let it escape my lips.

"HANA!" Roxanne yells.

Hana ducks and rolls sideways.

"[Ice Lance]!"

A 50-centimeter thick lance flies out of her staff and gets impaled in the chest of the first storm elemental. It's chest cracks and glows for a few seconds, then it explodes in a shower of sparks and large chunks of rock.

The other elemental turns into a tesla coil as hundreds of sparks leave his body. Lina is unnaffected due to her emellanat s.h.i.+eld.

We take a step back and both earth elementals start pummeling it, barely feeling the electricity. I feel a "path" forming behind me. I dash towards Roxanne. I hold my sword upwards and a lighting strikes it from the skies. My sword gets so hot I drop it to not burn my hands. The sparks subside and the storm elemental holds both earth elementals away with its tornado arms and legs.

"[Wind Storm]!"

"[Earth Bullet]!"

"[Earth Bullet]!"

"[Earth Bullet]!"

"[Earth Bullet]!"

"[Fireball]!"

And another unstable fireball is thrown at it.

The tornado limbs dissipate and the elemental is. .h.i.t by all spells at once. His already battered body is broken down in a shower of sparks and large chunks of rock.

The stormy wind subsides and the rain goes back to a drizzle.

Ciel, Aoi, and Roxanne are panting with pain from overuse. Alissa and Lina have little mana remaining from putting it all on their spells. Hana is okay but she's physically tired.

"Who would have thought... That storm elementals are... Vulnerable to [Wind Magic]," Ciel says between breaths.

"Only instant-cast spells. If you chant they could have a better chance to prepare," I say.

"Perhaps... But [Wind Hammer]... Is still powerful..."

Me and Lina use a potent [Clean] gnomic magic tool and the mud disappears from our clothes and armor.

I turn to Aoi and grab her from Roxanne's shoulders. I hold her on my arms. She's quite warm, or maybe I'm just very cold right now.

"Your fireb.a.l.l.s were very useful," I rub her nose. She closes her eyes in happiness, she's feeling very proud of herself. "But be careful with it, though. They seemed unstable."

She huffs smoke but nods to me. She knows she would disappoint me if she hurt herself.

"Giih."

He doesn't want us to stop.

"Is it over?" I ask.

"Gih."

"Okay, just a five minutes break."

We collect the stones and I store them. They are charged with mana and could even be used as gems for wands and staffs.

­

We move on and the landscape changes again. The mushrooms die out, the trees disappear, all are subst.i.tuted by the roots. The roots are so thick they almost form a wall of mossy wood. We s.h.i.+mmy our way through them and notice that the drizzle disappears.

Suddenly the wall of roots opens up and we reach dry gra.s.s. There's not a single cloud in the sky, our first real sun light in two days.

In the peak of the hill in front of us is the biggest tree I have ever seen. It might be bigger than a castle. Full of branches and leaves, it's a vertical pillar of dark green leaves. Hundreds of vines hang from the branches, visible from the few s.p.a.ces you can see through. The bark is much darker than any tree on the surrounding, it's almost a creepy black.

We stand still for a good minute admiring this ginormous tree.

The thing that stands out the most is the quiet. Barely a wind, barely a ruffle, this place feels special. I don't really feel tense anymore, the pressure on my back finally released.

"Two, uh, people, are coming," Alissa says.

"Not sure?" I ask.

"Yeah, weird souls."

We stand in our battle formation but trying not to look too threatening. The encounter with the Gatuns made be slightly wary.

Behind one of the few roots in the way to the tree comes out two nature elementals. A man and a woman, both naked.

Actually, if Alissa said they are not animals then they must be dryads. When they get close enough I can make up the details of them, too much detail.

The woman has long hair made of heart-shaped yellow leaves that reach her hips. Her face has round lines with very full lips. Her skin is light green and seems rough like moss. Her torpedo b.r.e.a.s.t.s jiggle in an impossible way, they are far too long for them to sustain themselves, they should be sagging heavily. She has an exaggerated hourgla.s.s figure with thickness that makes Ciel blush. Her bush in the middle of the legs is made of four-leafed clovers, I wonder if they signify luck in this world.

The man has short black gra.s.s as hair that curls in a spiral. His face is chiseled and handsome, coupled with his smirk and he looks like an action hero. His skin is the same as the woman's. His body is more defined than a weight-lifter, I feel like starvation survivor near him. The worst is that he has a literal horse d.i.c.k dangling about up to his knees.

We all uncomfortably look away from the two shameless dryads. The footsteps stop for a few seconds and then resume. We glance towards them and thankfully their s.e.xes are being covered by palm leaves growing out of their bodies. The bulge in the man is still ridiculous, though.

"We are sorry for making you feel uncomfortable," says a slightly coa.r.s.e female voice, "We rarely get visitors looking for something else than having some fun."

"You are dryads, I a.s.sume?" I ask.

"Yes...?" The man lifts a handsome eyebrow.

"Gih."

The dryad duo turns their heads to Gify and their eyes slowly open wide as realization sinks in. Their demeanor suddenly takes a change to a much more stiff and formal posture.

"Oh my. Please come forth, you are guests of our Lord," the woman bows lightly and motions us to towards the tree.

"I am Pallido and this is Cama.s.sia. We are the Speakers for our Lord," says the male dryad.

Alissa, Ciel, and Roxanne stiffen up, their mouths hang loose in surprise.

I only heard a pa.s.sing about Speakers. It was only a very distant legend from the High Forest. This is certainly interesting.

"Please follow us," Pallido says.

I see the three girls are surprised but relaxed, I sheathe my sword and follow the dryads. I see that they do not trample the gra.s.s, wherever they set foot the gra.s.s actually grows a centimeter or so.

"So what are Speakers, exactly?" I ask Alissa.

"T-this must be the Lord of the Forest. A legendary being that existed before humans were created. A Speaker is someone who translates the language of the Lord to us, humanoids."

Oh boy. I only heard that there's a theory that the high elves might have gained their knowledge to manipulate the High Forest from trading with a Speaker.

"Are they dangerous?"

"I... Don't think so."

I will reserve my judgment then.

We reach the base of the huge tree and the musky smell of nature becomes stronger. It has a calming effect on me.

At the bottom of the tangled mess of roots we reach a doorway carved on the wood. Inside there's a cozy room with heating magical tools on the walls, multiple colored wool cus.h.i.+ons, a low table with a beautiful porcelain tea set, and multiple twinkling crystals on the ceiling that illuminate the area.

"Please take your boots off. You can spend some time here to warm yourselves," says Cama.s.sia.

The wooden floor is warm to the touch. We take our armor off and huddle around the tea table. Alissa pours tea for us, it tastes like hibiscus. The porcelain is decorated with flowery patterns all over it. There's even a pot with sugar cubes.

The two dryads stand by the doorway to the corridor deeper inside. They remain motionless like two status looking forward.

Ciel sighs and ma.s.sages her eyes.

"Now this is unexpected," she says.

Small vapors come out our bodies as the gnomic personal heather does its work.

"I just... Can't believe it's really the Lord of the Forest," Alissa says lowly, her eyes barely focused on her tea cup.

"Gih!"

I guess that now that we are finally here there's no point more in him hiding it.

"Okay, okay. I believe you." she says to Gify, "I just can't believe that I am going to meet the Lord."

"I'm more surprised I never heard they were so close to Rabanara," Ciel says, "I mean. The temple hears everything the common folk talk about. It's hard to think n.o.body would try to explore this place."

"We did have quite some trouble coming here." I say, "We even found a skeleton."

"Forgive me for interrupting but we do have a lot of secrets that keep other people out," Pallido says, "Very few people know about our existence."

"I wonder why," I say.

"You will know about it when you meet the Lord," he smiles faintly.

Well, whatever.

"What exactly is the Lord of the Forest?" I ask.

"This tree," Ciel says, "Tree of Mana, Lord of the Forest, Symbol of Nature. Those are the names it is known as. A being of legend that has been reincarnating ever since the war between the G.o.ds of Change and Order created this realm."

"They say the Lord of the Land lives inside the Wild Steppes, this is why the empire never invaded the Steppes," Lina says.

"So, there are more than one?" I ask.

"Theoretically. It is said they are the incarnation of the 10 elements," Ciel says, "Though we only know of the Lord of Storms, who lives beyond the sky lands of the chimeras."

"How trustworthy is it? Could it harm us?" I ask.

I do not care whether it can hear us or not. Gify is already kind of a spy for it, anyway.

"Well..." She taps her cheek, pa.s.sing through her memories, "It's a rather neutral figure. It never got involved in the matters of the humanoids unless we threaten it."

"Gih gih."

Harmless. On the contrary, it wants to help us.

We are all in a kind of stupor. How do you react when a being much bigger than you offers their hand?

I dismiss Holly but keep Shad on Roxanne. I'm not 100% comfortable yet.

­

After a few minutes getting warm we stand up with regret. Those cus.h.i.+ons are really comfy.

"Ready to meet our Lord?" Pallido asks.

"Yes, please," I say.

"Follow us, then."

We can all stare in silence as our brows are perpetually lifted in surprise.

The halls are filled with ivies and other leaves even though there is no sunlight here. Flowers scent the air with their sweet perfume. Slugs, snails, and a small hermit-crab-like animal moves about, thankfully they are found exclusively on the ceiling. Small children that look like bulbous roots run around giggling in a very high pitch, they are the non-monster version of mandrakes, the Children of the Forest. Amber fireflies twinkle about, mostly resting near the ceiling crystal lights, those are Manaflies.

There are slow moving human looking people with bark or leaves for skin. Curinds and Cublends, respectivelly. They grunt and nod at us in greeting, the leaf ones make a lot of noise when the move.

We pa.s.s through dozens of rooms. Inside there's simple furniture like beds, cus.h.i.+ons, shelves with leather-bound books, and counters that look like our kitchens with magic-tool stoves.

In many of these places there are a.s.sorted animals not found here. Deer, dogs, wolves, cows, bulls, turtles, sheep, Gatuns, and a few more magical animals. A few snakes lick the air when we pa.s.s.

There are plenty of Ronti, the mount of the Imperial Lancers. They are something like a mix of a mouse and a horse. Their rib cages glow with flashes of lighting.

A few times we see inter species mating. Surprisingly "civilized" instead of the rape-y kind you normally see in nature.

I even saw herbivorous animals eating cooked meat. From my cla.s.ses on [Nature Magic] I knew magic beings of nature could morph how animals behaved but this is on another level.

"Sorry about that," Cama.s.sia says with a slight cringe as we pa.s.s a wolf mating with a Child of the Forest, "I understand humanoids are much more reserved than our kind."

"It's no matter, I understand our differences," I wave at her.

I have a very good hunch that the animals are all sapient.

We finally reach a big circular hall. Leaf baskets are used as elevators, multiple animals, and people can be seen using them. The elevator continues upwards so high we can barely see. Every floor there's a balcony where we see more living beings pa.s.sing through.

The dryads lead us inside a leaf basket.

"Take us to the Lord, please," Pallido says to a vine that looks like a snake head.

The snake/vine nods slowly. The leaf basket turns into cage as vines close down any escape and the basket moves upwards.

Some floors have different layouts but they are all tall with wide corridors. Pack animals carry bags or pull wagons. I caught glimpses and the faint smell of stalls cooking food. This is simply a nature-themed town.

Eventually the floors end and we only see the heartwood of the tree. A little longer and we finally reach the top floor.

A circular room with tall windows let in large amounts of sunlight and a fresh breeze. The floor is covered in flowers and when our naked feet touch them we feel the softness of warm earth. It does not seem to dirty our feet.

A little ways forward there's multiple sofas in a circle surrounding a very large wooden head of a sleeping old woman.

The dryads lead us to the circle of sofas and motion for us to sit.

I stare at the wooden head and see it's moving slowly, the nostrils flare as if she's breathing in slow motion.

A branch that acts as hair for the wooden woman lifts up and snakes through the air towards the Cama.s.sia. It enters her ear and suddenly the butler-like demeanor of the dryad turns into grace as the dryad's entire body seem to constantly move.

Cama.s.sia turns to us, her feet still but her arms undulate slowly.

"Welcome, humanoids. Welcome to my body," she says in slow and gentle tone.

I recover slightly out of my stupor and speak.

"H-h.e.l.lo, uh, Lord of Nature. I am W-Wolf Ryder," I speak.

"Lord of the Forest, Symbol of Nature," she corrects with a giggle, "But call me Gecynd. No need to add Lord, too."

"Pleasure to meet you, Gecynd."

"You too. And you, Alissa, Roxanne, Hana, Ciel, Lina, and Aoi," she gives a light bow to us all.

The girls tense up and return the bow. Aoi is the only one who's composed.

"It seems you know us well," I say.

"Yes. And I could have known a little bit more, but you refused to get close to that tree in your house. A small shame," she smiles faintly.

I blink in surprise.

"What would warrant such surveillance?"

"It is not everyday someone appears out of nothing inside my forest, realm traveler."

Now that is surprising.

"Is there something you know about how I appeared?" I ask expectantly.

"No. This is one of the things that interest me. There was no mana, no spell, no traces. You weren't there and the next moment you were. After that the Threads of Fate slowly changed."

Oh. This dampens my mood. I would rather not get reminded of Earth or even if there's a way back.

"Wait..." Ciel meekly raises her voice, "You said the Threads of Fate changed?"

"Precisely. I can see them just like, well, what do you imperials call it?" Gecynd closes her eyes in thought.

"Oracle?" Ciel says.

Gecynd slowly opens her eyes and smiles again.

"Yes, that is the word. After a long time observing the world I started to see what was 'underneath'," she smiles proudly. "I can see his soul just like your Oracles can. And let us say that his soul is very different from the norm."

Alissa frowns. "His soul is normal to me," she says.

"To you. I can see deeper than that. His soul is..." She slowly turns to me and smirks, "Bizarre. It made me question if you were a human when you came."

"Hey... I'm surely a human, the system says so," I say, a little offended.

"Yes. But all I could see was an aberration without a Thread of Fate suddenly appear in my forest."

I don't like being called "aberration", justified or not.

"Do you know the meanings behind his soul's... 'Diffferences'?" Ciel asks.

"No," she slowly shakes her head with indifference and then continues, "You would need to go to your Oracle for that. What I do know is that his Thread is very... Unusual."

"What are these Threads?" I ask.

"They are the bonds that tie us," Ciel says, "The fate of every commoner is already set. Who they meet, who they fight, who they love, when they die. Very few people can change their Fate, they are the heroes, people who can beat the odds and rise above all others."

"So this confirms he's going to be a hero?" Alissa asks, hopeful.

"It would, if his Thread was usual," Gecynd answers.

Alissa turns her hope into thought. She tilts her head and puckers her lips.

"What do you see of his thread?" Ciel asks.

"It is a... Stormy sea, a constantly morphing plane of endless possibilities. Slowly I see the storm recedes."

"Then he's adapting," Ciel says, her legs crossed and her hand on her chin, deep in thought, "Since we know he's from another realm it's plausible that he wouldn't have a Thread. When he came here his Thread would be uncertain but slowly settle down."

"Yes, I believe it is so," Gecynd says, "Though now that I see him close I can see the sea starting to move on a single direction."

"You are like an Oracle, you have a lot of influence over his Fate," Ciel says.

"Oh," Gecynd slowly claps her hands, "Then it is good that we met, an unstable fate is a dangerous thing. For him and for the world."

"I hardly believe I would be able to change the world," I say.

"Considering your powers, it is certain you could, given time," she answers with amus.e.m.e.nt.

"Don't underestimate yourself, Wolfy," Hana says.

I frown again.

"The monsters you sent to us were a test of my powers?" I ask.

"Yes," she replies immediately.

"Why send your subjects to death when you could have asked for a demonstration?"

"It wouldn't have shown your personality the way the test did," she answers flatly.

"I dislike being put into danger like this. Such tests are unnecessary," I scowl to clearly show her my displease.

"You are an interesting one," she smirks.

"Please forgive Gecynd's bluntness," Pallido interjects with an apologetic frown, "When you live long enough the lives of others lose meaning."

"I do not live forever, I die often. I only recover most of my memories through my roots," Gecynd says.

"You still retain most of your personality in every reincarnation," Pallido smiles wryly.

"Fair enough," she closes her eyes slowly in mild annoyance.

"Didn't Gify tell you all about me?" I ask.

"He told me much, too much, actually," she glares at Gify and he puffs his chest in answer. "I would rather confirm them with my own eyes. Some spirits can sometimes, brag, too much."

"Gih."

"Yes, I know," she rolls her eyes, "But how could I believe he had such incredible powers?"

Gify's beak deforms as he pouts. Gecynd scoffs at him.

So I guess he's not her underling, just someone who respects her a lot.

Gih.

"Why now?" I ask, "Any reason to wait so long?"

"You seemed like a busy person. Only now you had a free half-cycle to come visit," she shrugs, then her expression turns serious, "Would you let me observe your Thread more closely? I feel it is starting to entwine with my own."

"How would you do that?" I ask.

"Let me touch you close to your heart."

"Sure..."

The voluptuous dryad comes dangerously close to my face and puts a hand over my chest.

­

I'm staring at myself, my old self, dressed in a tuxedo. I can also see myself, my current self, dressed in my emerald scale armor and with my fang sword in hand. I know I am the one dressed in armor, yet I can still see myself, looking forward with grief stricken on my face.

My old self is cold. His heart burns in pain. Pain and longing.

­

The hand pulls away and the dryad looks at me with surprise in her eyes. I feel something change within me. I feel weird, like my body was not my own anymore.

"Did you see something?" She asks.

"Yes, I saw myself and my old self from Earth. Like I was looking at the mirror."

"Curious," her constant movements slow as she thinks, "I also saw something, it was merely a wooden door with the word 'Legado' on the frame."

"Legacy" in Portuguese?

"What does this mean?" I ask.

"Who knows? Your Fate is strong, so is mine, we are bound to influence the world and each other."

Oh, that weird feeling is familiar.

"Wait, there also was this dream, when I woke up it felt just like I feel now. I dreamed of the Everlasting Storm."

"Oh? I remember you were sleeping near a bundle of my roots," Gecynd taps her chin slowly, "Perhaps your Fate interacted strongly with your soul just like it did when I touched you. Or it could be one of my memories."

"Why would I see a memory from you?" I ask.

"Perhaps one of my birth places? I have died more times inside the Everlasting Storm than anywhere else. These memories are strong inside me."

"Why would you die there?" Alissa asks.

"I am always reborn some place randomly," she lowers her eyes in sadness, "I do not know how to fully control my reincarnation so I often end up reviving on a place only to quickly die. I have found many of my roots all over the world with painful memories of such deaths."

"Perhaps. But I only saw the storm, I didn't see you anywhere," I say.

Gecynd closes her eyes in thought. Ciel sighs and holds her head.

"Cryptic prophecies. I am back into a hero story," she says.

"Why are you pouting?" Roxanne asks, "You are the one who wanted an adventure the most."

Ciel shrugs and holds back a chuckle.

"I just like to travel," she says, "What annoys me is why couldn't a hero's destiny not be cryptic for once?"

"It's always back to being called a hero," I sigh.

"Well, you have the markings of one," Gecynd says, "One just does not get sent into this world with your abilities simply to do nothing."

"It even extends to us," Alissa says, "Clearly there's something he's meant to do here which needs a team."

"A team composed of people very close to him," Lina shyly raises her voice.

"Didn't you say you can see our status and the name of the screen is named 'Followers'?" Roxanne asks to me.

"Oh?" Gecynd grins at me, "What a suggestive name."

"Alright, alright," I lift my hands in defeat, "I'm sent here for some reason. But what is this reason? I never had any guidance, all I ever got was a message from 'G.o.d' saying 'I'm sorry for this, but there's no way for you to go back'."

"'G.o.d'?" Gecynd questions, "Which G.o.d?"

"That's the thing, it was only 'G.o.d', no more information on it. It could be the 'G.o.d' of my original realm, since most religions there are monotheistic and the G.o.d there is referred that way."

"Monotheistic?" Alissa asks.

"A religion with only one G.o.d, as if only the Overseer existed," I answer.

"Oh, I see."

Gecynd takes a look at all of us with a kind smile.

"Whatever it is the reason you are all together know this," she says, "Your Threads of Fate are all deeply entwined. Do not stray from each other and your life will be what it is meant to be. Your Threads are strong, your future is important."

Hana smirks and shares a look with all of us. "That much is obvious," she says, "We are all bringing something to Wolfy and he's bringing something to us. We are stronger together."

Gecynd smirks for a few seconds and then her expression turns sorrowful.

"There's something I must say to you, dwarf Lina," Lina nearly jumps out of her skin from being addressed directly, "The ancient dragon who killed your previous master was my responsibility. I am sorry for failing on this task."

Gecynd bows apologetically and Lina's mouth opens wide.

"T-that's no-not a problem. I-I understand that-that mistakes h-happen," she hurriedly stutters her words out.

Gecynd straightens and smiles with her eyes.

"You may be far too fl.u.s.tered to understand but I am truly sorry for your loss," she says, "I hope you will truly forgive me one day."

Lina's mouth opens and closes soundlessly for a few seconds. Her embarra.s.sment catches up to her brain and she blushes heavily. She finally closes her mouth and nods to Gecynd.

"You are responsible for the monsters of the forest?" Ciel asks.

"Yes. It is a treaty with Rabanara. I keep the worst of the Sea of Trees away from the Sh.o.r.e of Leaves and they allow me to live in peace and quiet."

"But what about Hiyoku Hara?" Hana asks.

"That place is under the influence of the Monster King," she shakes her head with a frown, "I cannot stop the monsters from appearing along the Rakontagne mountain range."

Lina's Trivia: The dragonkin losing that stretch of land is what spurred the expedition into the Sea of Trees and the creation of the Sh.o.r.e of Leaves. Now Hiyoku Hara is an eternal battlefield for the empire.

Hana sighs in disappointment.

"There is one more thing. I wish to give something to you, Aoi," Gecynd says.

The little dragon tilts her head.

"Kweh?"

"If you would allow me, I wish to bestow upon you a gift that will be very useful as you grow."

Aoi turns to me and I feel she's asking my permission. I truly do not wish to control her too much but I guess I am the one with the most life experience so she's asking me for advice.

"What is this gift?" I ask.

"The ability to change the size of your body," Gecynd answers.

That's interesting. When Aoi grows too large she would be difficult to have around, I guess this is something very thoughtful of Gecynd.

"Why are you gifting us this?" I ask.

"I mean no harm to you. Think of this a gesture of good faith, I wish to have a good relations.h.i.+p with all of you in the future," she answers.

Alissa's eyes nearly pop out of her skull, Ciel chokes on her spit, and even Roxanne looks impressed.

I look at Hana and she shrugs.

"Well, go ahead, then."

A branch enters the ear of Aoi and she closes her eyes in pleasure. I feel a small amount of anxiety coming out of her but it quickly goes away and the branch retreats.

Aoi opens her eyes and I feel mana circulating through her body. Suddenly she doubles in size then immediately halves twice.

"Kweh!"

Aoi jumps in circles in happiness.

"Ohoh! That's wonderful. My shoulders were starting to hurt," Roxanne says, clapping the tip of her hands in happiness.

Aoi doubling in size makes her look slightly comical. The scales of a dragon do not grow proportionally to their size. So when Aoi increases in size she resembles something like a giant baby instead of looking older.

Gecynd seems to almost want to dance in happiness as she looks at the celebration of the little dragon.

"Now then," Gecynd slowly claps her hands, "That was all I wished to talk to you. Do any of have anything you wish to talk about?"

I'm feeling the tiredness of the repeated battles and this conversation. I just want to lay down and rest.

Alissa seems to want to talk about something but she eventually shakes her head.

"Please stay here as long as you like. You are all my guests so the others will receive you warmly."

The branch retreats from Cama.s.sia's ear and she stumbles forward. Pallido holds her and she slowly moves to a sofa.

"I will take you to your guest quarters. The bed of the main room should comfortably fit at least five of you," Pallido says with a grin.

With a little bit of embarra.s.sment we follow him back to the elevator.

"When Gecynd told about having a relations.h.i.+p with us why did you react like that?" I whisper to Alissa.

"Having a relations.h.i.+p with the Lord of the Forest is an amazing thing," Alissa whispers to me, "Even the emperor would wish for such a thing. The neutrality of the Lord is something that vexed many emperors."

Huh. Hopefully word doesn't spread. Now this would be something that would attract a lot of attention.

­

As we go down the elevator I keep replaying the visions in my head.

Me, facing my old self? Why? How?

And then there's that dream. What would call me to a place where only destruction exists.