Combat Healer Ch. 23 (Patreon)

December 4, 2022

NOTE: I've been posting early on Sunday (around 7am or 8am EST), but my technical deadline is Sunday evening (EST).

This is a super long chapter! (8,600 words)

Hope you enjoy!  

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<< Chapter 22 | Ch 1 (Book 1) | Ch 15 (Book 2)

- CHAPTER 23: Challenged -

Present Day

A very muscular elf with graying hair and slate eyes focused on the list of roughly twenty candidates who were already beginning the Trial of Resolve, with the determined Lord Vizen among them.

Were these normal circumstances, where the current Ruler had stepped down willingly, then the process might last for months to ensure that all suitable candidates had the chance to show their resolve…

Or a chance to reveal their weakness…

However, these were far from normal circumstances.

There were many among the nobles who already argued the Queen would not be returning to the throne, given her reckless venture into the face of death, and given the messages sent by the ‘Rootkin sisters.’ Which thus meant they should be preparing for the worst.

The Queen would soon perish, if she was not already dead, and the throne was now either already empty, or about to be. Furthermore, news of her blasphemous actions and words had spread among the nobles like the flesh-eating plague of the Scourge, and they all agreed she was no longer fit for the throne. Even those who would have normally defended the Queen’s rights were all swayed to Lord Vizen’s side.

Therefore, the challenge had been issued.

The Trials of the Throne had begun.

However, these were not normal circumstances.

Thus, only those who had already proven their Wisdom and Strength would contend for the throne. And the challenge would only last a week at most, which was more than enough time for a victor to be proclaimed.

And as for the Queen, if she were to return before that time – or perhaps even after a new Ruler had been declared, but prior to that individual recovering – then there was only one option for her to reclaim what was about to be liberated from her grasp.

Now that the nobles had agreed that a challenge was truly necessary, even if she were to return in perfect health, there was only one option remaining for the current Queen.

She must prove again that she still had the resolve to be the Ruler of their elite race.

Anything less would not be tolerated.

Anything less would be weakness.

As were the laws of their immortal kingdom.

As were the laws of their immortal throne.

Only the worthy were allowed to ascend, and all who were shown to be unworthy would be removed without hesitation.

Still, there was no guarantee that Lord Vizen would be proclaimed the victor.

General Vildred knew that truth the moment that one of his men came in to provide him with an updated list, this one already so short.

“Only three remaining,” Vildred commented to himself as the guard stood at attention.

“Sir,” the man responded simply.

“How many reached the end of the preparation?” he then wondered.

“Sir, nineteen of twenty-three candidates endured the cutting and whipping.”

“And then sixteen surrendered the moment the salve was applied,” he assumed.

“Yes, sir.”

It was to be expected.

Few were truly mentally prepared for such suffering.

Few were resolved enough to continue the fight for the throne.

However, there was promise with these last three.

General Vildred could honestly not predict who might last the longest.

And for the first time in a long time, he felt a unique sense of excitement and anticipation. Such feelings he usually only got from dominating young elf women and sending them off to be punished by his young blonde wife. These three men would suffer a great ordeal in the following days, and he was eager to witness it firsthand.

After so many years, he would get to see such suffering again.

Personally, he cared not who ultimately won the throne, even the Queen, if she were to eventually return, with him trusting and believing, with reverence, in their sacred laws of ascension. But either way, he was looking forward to seeing the strength in the eyes of these three men.

And he was also looking forward to the point at which they finally broke.

For, they all eventually broke.

Every last one of them.

Even the most resolved of them all…eventually succumbed to defeat.

And he would be there when it happened.

For, to see another’s weakness after suffering so much, was to see the limits of their strength. And how humbling that weakness was, how invigorating it was to witness, and how great the ensuing strength was, after recovering from their final weakness.

It was worthy of reverence.

Worthy of honor.

Worthy of respect.

But most of all, it was thrilling to witness firsthand.

General Vildred cleared his throat, ready to dismiss the guard. “Let me know at once, when only two remain.”

“Yes, sir!” the man replied, immediately leaving.

A sinister grin spread across Vildred’s face as his eyes flashed silver in the dim light.

For in his entire lifetime, he’d thus far only witnessed one Trial of Resolve.

And he was beyond thrilled, to get to witness it again.

* * *

It took even longer than I was expecting to get through the maze of tunnels in order to reach the spot where Wren trapped the top team in my guild. And it wasn’t because she was trying to delay us. On the contrary, she was growing more and more stressed the longer it took, largely because she didn’t want to disappoint me.

But, according to her, for years now she’d been using the passageways that were extremely high up, the ones we could never reach, and it had been a very long time since she’d traversed through the lower tunnels.

However, we did finally reach them once it was late evening, having spent nearly six hours searching, and thankfully just in time.

We’d already discussed in those hours about whether or not it was a good idea to reveal Wren’s existence, especially when she caused them so much fear, but in the end, we weren’t entirely sure we even could keep it a secret if we wanted to. Largely because we still had several nests to find and burn, and we had to rely on Wren in order to lead us to them.

Perhaps we could try to keep it a secret for a while, after confirming that they would swear a pledge of silence, but eventually they’d probably catch sight of her.

We also kind of didn’t have the luxury of such secrets at this point.

Not when there were still fucking Arakna’cabra roaming around!

Shit, after so many slain, I would have thought that was almost all of them, but we ended up coming across a few more along the way -- all freshly killed by Wren, almost as a side-thought as she kept trying to figure out which way to go next.

But even still, the sometimes-twitching carcasses were a potent reminder that we were still in danger. And death was still a possibility, especially if someone got bitten in the face.

A stab through the brain was probably going to be lethal, even with my Divine Restoration spell.

However, then Wren finally appeared before me at a speed that I would have found startling were it not for the Light Crystal around her neck signaling where she was, only to point to a small crevasse, with the boulder blocking the entrance being much more noticeable this time.

I knew we were probably going to need Wren to actually move the massive rock, but I didn’t want Shevra and the others to blindly attack when they saw the demonic elf who put them there in the first place.

Thus, I first called out to her.

“Shevra! Muneg, Ruhmul! Can you hear me?” I paused. “It’s Allister! Allister Rosengard from Remnant!” I added when there was no response.

That finally caused a muffled voice to speak up. “A-Allister?” Shevra’s husky voice whimpered, her sincere fear obvious. “Allister is that truly you?”

Honestly, I was surprised that she sounded like she knew me, since she’d never given me a second glance, though I knew Turg, Dagru, and Muneg were all fairly decent acquaintances, along with Grif, the Red Oni leader of the eighth strongest team.

Alternatively, Ruhmul was surprisingly quiet when around others, though no one would ever mistake his silence for timidity, since he was possibly one of the largest and strongest Red Oni I’d ever seen in my life. Even his horns were bigger than normal, originally being nearly four inches long, instead of the standard one or two inches. Though one of his horns was partially cut off from a past battle, giving him an even more fierce look.

Bending down toward the crevasse, reaching my hand inside, a little surprised when she grabbed it firmly in her grasp, her grip desperate, I continued in a reassuring tone. “It’s me. Are you injured? I have help. We’re going to try to move this boulder.”

“Please save us,” she whimpered. “There’s a horrid monster stalking these halls. Please hurry. Muneg and Ruhmul are barely alive.”

Unexpectedly, I heard the quietest mischievous, cruelly amused, giggle at that.

“Hehe.”

I immediately gave Wren a glare, since she was crouched beside me, prompting her to slam both hands over her mouth, her slitted red eyes wide, only to give me an extremely apologetic look. Or at least, as apologetic as a girl with red snake eyes and shark teeth could manage.

Hoping Shevra didn’t hear, I quickly continued. “Alright, we’ll get you out of there. Please back away so we can try to move this boulder.”

Her strong trembling hand tensed on mine briefly, before she let go as I asked, prompting me to get out of the way as Wren abruptly leapt right up to the top of the rock and carefully got her feet and claws in position to push against the wall.

Some of the stone cracked as she pushed, but then it started rolling since it was much more circular, with her just scampering along on top of it with ease, actually looking quite adorable, until it smashed into the wall, and she dropped down to hide.

Needless to say, the look of relief on the mature Blue Oni’s face when I rushed into the room, with Mel close behind with her scythe activated, just as a show of force for reassurance, was very intense. The gorgeous mature woman was dressed in a short mage’s robe of black leather that complemented her black hair, her blue tits enormous, her hips similarly very wide, her muscular legs on full display since the leather skirt barely reached the middle of her blue thighs, even while her torso was extremely toned. Overall, she didn’t appear to be significantly harmed, and wasn’t even visibly dirty even though she’d clearly been crawling around on the stone floors, likely because there actually wasn’t much ‘dirt’ or ‘dust’ in a lot of these tunnels.

However, I didn’t focus on her long, seeing that Muneg and Ruhmul were even worse than I assumed.

Fuck, Muneg’s brown olive-hued chest was sunken as if his ribs had been crushed on one side, looking like he was barely breathing, both arms also looking broken. And then Ruhmul was even in worse shape, deep clawed gashes across his thick muscled gut, as well as his chest and arms, with it being obvious that he’d probably lost a lot of blood prior to the wounds clotting.

Both of these men were massive, easily standing a full two heads taller than me, and yet they were both on the verge of death, all from one little demonic elf girl who barely came up to my chin. My own head barely reached their chests, and her head would barely even reach their upper stomach.

Fuck.

I was probably going to need to use Divine Restoration on Ruhmul, since he was far too close to death for Greater Healing to be enough.

However, I could cast the latter much faster, which meant I intended on treating Muneg first.

Holding out my hand toward him, not needing to actually touch him from this distance, I verbalized my spell for Shevra’s sake.

“Greater Healing!”

The effect took hold right away, and the Minotaur-Oni man’s sunken chest cracked loudly as it was restored, both arms also making audible crunches as they reset and properly healed.

However, what happened next was not what I expected.

For, the very last thing that Muneg remembered…

Was being attacked.

My ‘Foresight’ activated.

Instantly, two things happened at almost the exact same time, with Muneg abruptly sitting up with a bone shattering punch as he thrashed out blindly at the unseen threat…my head being in the way.

A hit that was possibly enough to kill me right on the spot, as I sensed his powerful Onslaught skill activate.

Simultaneously a small midnight hand was suddenly swiping downward right in front of my face, Berserk activated, the two impossibly powerful attacks colliding with such force that the impact pressure alone hit me in the head and threw me backward off my feet.

Muneg roared as every single bone in his arm shattered with such force that his entire limb almost ripped off his body as it smashed into the wall at a sickening angle behind him, barely remaining attached, even as Shevra started screaming at the top of her lungs, instantly casting a spell in her panic.

Her most powerful non-defensive spell.

Strong enough to kill us all.

“Raging Inferno!” she shrieked.

‘DISPEL.’

A visible backlash of darkness hit Shevra in the face, causing her to begin falling backward, only for a midnight hand to suddenly be at her throat, yanking her down to the ground with such force that I was sure I was about to watch her head separate from her body right before my eyes.

I barely managed to issue a command in my thoughts before that exact reality came true.

‘Stop!’

Wren froze solid, giving me enough time to scramble over to her and pull her away, wrapping my arms defensively around her, holding her head tightly against my chest, while also trying to process what just happened in literally four or five seconds.

In the meantime, both Mel and Eliza were suddenly at my side, with electricity crackling around her hands defensively.

“Calm down!” Eliza roared. “For your Queen Eliza Ashryn Nylanthria stands before you, and I order you to cease all attacks.”

“Greater Healing! Greater Healing!” I yelled out then, still holding a frozen Wren tightly in my arms, hoping to regain their attention, and also hoping that the disappearance of the pain would help them concentrate, instead of attacking in a blind panic. I then quickly continued, even while Muneg’s arm was still crunching back into place. “I know this creature has caused you great grief, but I’ve tamed her just recently!”

That caused them both to freeze solid in shock, Shevra still lying on the ground where she’d been dragged seconds ago.

“She will no longer harm you!” I continued. “And only did so just now, because Muneg almost accidentally hit me! I swear it! So please calm down!”

Shevra was trembling violently, still panicking, as she finally flipped over and began crawling toward Muneg, practically falling into his chest and twisting around in sincere fear, even as he wrapped one massive olive-tan arm around her, his huge hand grabbing one of her massive blue tits in the process, but not as any kind of sexual gesture, instead creating a literal blockade over her heart with his own thick hand.

His tone was deep as he finally spoke up for the first time.

“A-Allister?” he boomed in shock. “What tale is this? How has it come to be, that you’ve tamed this monster?”

A wave of relief swept over me to see him gather himself so quickly. “I’m an Essence Diviner, a very rare and special Focus. This taming ability is a secret,” I then lied, since I was truly fabricating a falsity. “But what I say is the truth. I can tame one monster at a time, indefinitely. Not even Turg knows. Or his brother, for that matter.”

“Pazeskah,” he hissed in shock, with me knowing it was simply an Oni statement of disbelief.

Technically, a curse word, but not one that anyone would find offensive.

He then continued. “If what you say is true, then you have saved us all.”

“Yes, but I still need to heal Ruhmul. He is near death, and we haven’t much time. I have learned a spell that will create a lot of light and save him, but I need your assurance that you won’t accidentally try to strike me again, lest this creature attack to defend her new master.”

“W-We must have perished,” Shevra exclaimed in disbelief then, her gold eyes wide. “Truly, I must have succumbed to delirium and died.”

Muneg squeezed her huge blue tit firmly, this time for another reason. “I am me, and this is real.” His dark brown eyes then focused on me. “Please, heal my comrade, Tal’Rigeris.”

I hesitated briefly at that, just because I’d heard the Oni word Rigeris only recently, having no idea what it meant, but knowing that it was a part of the ‘title’ that Mel mentioned when I first met her. Though of course I didn’t have time to dwell on it right this second, not even being fully confident if he was calling me that, or if he was referring to his Red Oni friend.

Letting go of Wren, I gave her another command, out loud this time for their sake. “Stay,” I ordered, though silently giving her permission in my thoughts to defend me, if necessary, only to hurry over to the big Red Oni man.

Surprisingly, Eliza stepped in front of Wren, hiding the slightly shorter elf girl with her own body, even as I crouched down and placed my hand on the man’s large red arm.

‘Divine Restoration!’

As I’d become accustomed to, the bright white light glowed intensely as it flowed from my hands and into the man’s muscular body, the severe cuts and wounds closing up right before my eyes, even as the spell continued to glow for a solid minute.

During that time, Shevra exclaimed again that she was certain she’d perished and this wasn’t real, but apparently another tit squeeze from Muneg prompted her to cease such statements of disbelief. I knew because I actually looked over at her, realizing for the first time what it truly looked like when this spell was active.

I could see them. Clear as day, I could see them.

And yet, it was as if the stone walls were completely gone, with it being almost like we were in an entirely white space that was both as tiny as this small cavern depression, while also somehow endless at the same time. Certainly, I could still sense that the walls existed. That the ground beneath my feet existed. And I could still kind of see it too, but it was so blindingly white that it was easy to hallucinate that there was nothing there at all.

Ruhmul actually groaned before the full minute was up, and when I realized he looked to be completely healed, I stopped casting it even though I could technically use it longer. Which also meant I didn’t experience that bizarre hallucination where it felt like someone was grasping my face in their hands.

Thus, the light dimmed and the big Red Oni opened his eyes in alarm just as it disappeared entirely.

I immediately rose to my feet and dashed away, not wanting to accidentally be on the receiving strike again, repeating my silent command for Wren to defend me if he did strike. However, he was definitely much more composed as he slowly registered his surroundings.

Surprisingly, Shevra pulled away from Muneg then and threw herself on Ruhmul in desperation – clearly broken down from her time as a prisoner, believing there was no hope of being saved – since I’d never seen her this uncomposed before. Not when she was practically the strongest Mage in the kingdom, due to her somewhat unique and powerful set of spells.

Fuck, I was sure everyone in the guild would be completely shocked to see her so broken.

I decided to use the opportunity to again establish what was going on.

“Ruhmul, I’m on Turg’s team and have come to help conquer this Dungeon. I was able to tame the creature that attacked all of you, but it’s very important no one attempt retribution on her, lest I lose hold of my control and she kill us all.”

Muneg’s voice was deep, responding in his comrade’s stead. “And how likely is that to happen, my friend?” he asked seriously.

“So long as you leave her alone, it is very unlikely to happen. The only reason she attacked just now was because you almost crushed my skull with your fist. But I would prefer to not test the limitations of my control over her.”

“It was my mistake then,” he said seriously, making a ‘statement of fault,’ which I knew in his culture was the same as releasing the other party for any perceived wrongdoing.

Again, I was so thankful he was being reasonable and was level-headed right now.

But then again, I’d never known him to be one who was easily rattled, even by severe injuries. Certainly, he blindly attacked just now, simply because the last thing he remembered was there being a threat, but even after having his arm almost torn off his body, he was completely calm and collected.

A battled-hardened warrior who didn’t even so much as flinch in the face of death.

That was also why he was the leader of their team.

That being said, even as smart as he was, I wasn’t too surprised that he had not seen the resemblance between Wren and the Queen, since I’d heard many Oni make comments like ‘All elves look the same to me.’

No doubt they knew what certain elves looked like, and could recognize the Queen upon seeing her, but when seeing an unfamiliar elf, the fact that there was a resemblance wasn’t unusual or any reason to take notice.

And sure enough, they did recognize the Queen.

Eliza spoke up then. “As I have said, your Queen stands before you.”

She paused when both men unexpectedly threw their large legs underneath themselves and got on one knee, with Shevra being briefly tossed aside before she followed their example, all three bowing their heads. Of course, they knew who she was, since they’d had audiences with her for special missions like this.

But fuck, the two guys were so large, that they came up to Eliza’s chest, even when knelt.

Eliza then continued. “News of the Arakna’cabra threat has spread from the north, and it appears that a Dungeon entrance there has led to the same one I sent your team on. Obviously, such an occurrence is unheard of, unless you somehow found your way north, instead of east?”

“No, my Queen,” Muneg said in his deep voice. “We found the Dungeon on the coast, just as you described. However, upon entering, we found ourselves unable to leave. Otherwise, we would have retreated to report that the Dungeon was overrun with Flesh Collectors. Were it not for our beloved’s Elemental Infusion spell, we may very well not have survived as long as we did. We fought our way through for about ten days, before being attacked by that unimaginably powerful creature. After that, I do not recall what happened.”

Shevra spoke up. “We were attacked approximately four days ago.”

“Wait,” I said in surprise. “Are you saying you’ve been in this Dungeon for only fourteen days? How long did it take you to reach the Dungeon?”

Muneg focused up at me in surprise, and then shifted his gaze to the Queen uncertainly.

“Please, answer his question,” she said seriously.

He simply nodded. “The Queen gave this special mission to us personally, and we immediately departed with haste, traveling for only eight days.”

Holy shit, that was a trip that would have been four days by horseback, assuming they rested every night and the horses were at least trotting, and yet they did it in eight days on foot? They must have been really moving. And I knew it was on foot, since there were not many mounts who could handle the weight of these two men. Certainly not any that would be useful in getting someplace ‘with haste.’

However, there was one big problem.

That was only twenty-two days!

When the elf guard Kizmel first told me that the top team was rumored to be missing, he had implied that they’d been gone for over a month!

I focused on Eliza in alarm.

She simply nodded. “Yes, I gave them that Quest thirty-six days ago. Removing the eight days they traveled, that means they’ve been in this Dungeon for twenty-eight days, while only experiencing fourteen. Half of that.”

“And it’s been six years for me,” I added in disbelief. “Whereas Wren is only three years older. She would be twenty-one right now, but is instead only eighteen. Perhaps this Dungeon exists at half our time when open, and becomes ‘fifteen out of a hundred,’ or three-twentieths, of our normal time when truly closed.”

Of course, that would imply that six months passed in the world when Eliza and I were trapped for three months in this Dungeon, since it was obviously ‘open’ then, but she might not notice the difference. Especially not when suffering so much grief, never mind the fact that the last floor opened to the Atacama valley, where the desert winds kept it warm enough that it always rained, the area never seeing snow.

“What are you saying?” Shevra asked in disbelief.

Eliza’s tone was firm. “I regret to inform you that it has been thirty-six days since I gave you that Quest. And no, your perception of time is not the problem. Time passes more slowly in this Dungeon, and it seems that what was fourteen days for you, was nearly a full month for everyone else.”

“It’s not possible,” Shevra said in disbelief.

“I fear it is,” Eliza said gently. “Which is why it is very important we conquer this Dungeon and escape its grasp as soon as possible. I am well aware that you have reason to fear this creature that attacked you, but she will now be the one who leads us to the remaining nests, and ultimately leads us to the final room.”

Shevra immediately focused on me urgently. “Please, ask her to stay away from us. She has tormented me greatly these last few days. My partners were near death, and I was convinced I would soon meet the same fate.”

I sighed, focusing on the little demon, who was still standing exactly where I’d asked her to stay. “That won’t be a problem, will it?” I demanded of her, more as a statement than question.

She immediately grinned, showing off her sharp serrated teeth. “Hehe.”

All three Oni tensed.

I gave Wren a look, prompting her to become immediately apologetic.

“Sorry master. Yes, I will do as you wish.”

“Thank you. Now, please lead us to the next nest.”

“Do you have any food?” Shevra blurted out, only to look embarrassed. “Sorry, but we have not eaten in nearly a week now.”

I frowned at that, since there was no way in hell I was about to offer Val up for that task, figuring she would probably be reluctant anyway, but also knowing it would be a problem if they’d gone that long without sustenance. Oni already ate a ton to begin with, burning a lot of energy, and the last thing we needed was for them to drag us down because of sincere hunger.

Wren spoke up again, hesitant. “Umm, master…”

“Yes?” I asked simply, focusing on her again.

“I have some meat, if you want me to get it. I stole it from one of those, umm, Arakna-things.”

“Arakna’cabra. And yes, please go get it.”

She nodded, immediately spinning around and dashing past Mel, disappearing into the darkness in barely a couple of seconds, especially since her Light Crystal was off right now. In the meantime, we all filed back into the main passage, going around for some introductions.

The top team of course was aware of Astaer and Celestine, though they’d never met them, and they were also well acquainted with Sylvia, having visited her to exchange coin for any found items, with the tall blonde being just as cold as I was accustomed to.

Unfortunately, Muneg, the half-Minotaur, and Ruhmul, the Red Oni, both had lingering gazes for both Val and Mel, not necessarily appearing to be planning anything, especially not under these circumstances, but definitely seeming interested, despite the circumstances.

However, thankfully, once Muneg asked Val’s name when she didn’t offer it on her own, she introduced herself as my betrothed, which got me a shocked look, and then an immediate sign of ‘yielding’ from both of them, as if they were giving a nonverbal cue to the stronger man.

Even though I was objectively far weaker than them physically.

But I supposed that saving their lives, coupled with me ‘taming’ an impossibly powerful beast, went a long way to earning that level of respect.

Mel then proceeded to introduce herself as my girlfriend, soon to be betrothed.

And surprisingly, neither of them seemed overly shocked to have a Red Oni female claiming to intend to mate with a human. Under normal circumstances, that would be a huge deal, the fact that she was seeking out a partner that was not also a Red Oni, but it was like it actually made sense to them.

Why they’d both choose me.

Definitely inflated my ego a little.

And then, before long, Wren was returning with what appeared to be a deer leg in her left hand, and then dragging half a deer by the other leg in her right hand. From the looks of it, Wren must have cut the animal in half with her claws in order to prevent the spreading venom of the Arakna’cabra from tainting the meat.

She literally read my mind.

“Yes master,” she agreed. “Arakna’cabra venom not very tasty. Makes foul things come from my rear.”

My eyes widened at that, suddenly focused on the fact that she wasn’t wearing any clothing as far as I could tell, and yet she didn’t exactly look exposed either. Which immediately piqued my curiosity, my insatiable desire to understand things hitting me in full force.

Thus, having Wren set the meat down, I spoke up again.

“Mel could you help Shevra cook this meat? I need to talk to this little monster for a few minutes.”

“Umm, yeah. Of course. I assume it’s just for them?”

“Are you hungry too?” I wondered.

“No, not really, but if there’s any left, I might have a taste.”

Ruhmul spoke up in a deep voice. “We can share,” he said reassuringly.

Great.

I sighed. “You guys work it out yourselves, but keep in mind that they haven’t eaten in a week.”

“Oh of course,” Mel replied, only to focus back at Astaer and Celestine. “Do either of you have a knife I can borrow?”

Celestine pulled out one, but Muneg spoke up this time. “Allow me to dress the carcass, if you would be willing to focus on cooking.”

Lovely. I knew Oni in particular had customs surrounding a lot of things, including meals, with it having some significance when a male made a kill, and then a female cooked it, in particular. Lots of nonverbal communication happened in such situations.

However, I was pretty sure that ‘cycle of thinking’ was disrupted by it being Wren’s kill. And even if that wasn’t the case, I felt confident at this point that Mel wouldn’t be receptive to anything.

Not to mention, we just didn’t have the luxury of worrying about such things right now.

We had to delegate tasks, and honestly if the two Oni men were going to end up eating most of the food, then it made the most sense for them to put in at least some work in preparing it. Especially since having Mel and Shevra literally serve them fully, by doing the field dressing too, wasn’t ideal either.

Sighing, I began walking away from the group, kind of surprised that Eliza or Val didn’t request to come with me, but suspecting they assumed I would have directly invited them if that was what I wanted.

Thankfully, this particular passageway wasn’t nearly as straight as a lot of them, so we only had to walk for a few minutes before we were completely out of sight. Wren had already lit her Light Crystal again with a simple touch toward where it hung on her neck, a motion she did completely in response to my own thoughts.

Which also got me thinking about some of our earlier communication, when I presumably heard her in my head.

“This is fun, master!” Wren unexpectedly said cheerfully when I finally stopped. “Just me and you again! I love it!”

‘Can you hear my thoughts right now?’ I wondered.

She giggled. “Tee-hee! Yep!”

‘Can you respond to me with your own thoughts?’

Her brow furrowed then, her smile vanishing as she concentrated. ‘Like this?’

Holy shit!

It worked.

We could communicate with just our thoughts!

‘Can you hear all my thoughts, or do you have to be paying attention?’

‘I have to pay attention,’ she replied silently with a nod.

‘If you’re not paying attention, and I tried to get your attention, would you notice?’

She nodded, again responding silently. ‘Yes, master. When you think about something you want me to do, or not do, I notice right away.’

Huh.

Okay, that was good to know.

‘I’m going to look you over, and ask you some questions, okay?’ I said silently.

After all, she belonged to me, and I wanted to understand everything about her physical body.

She immediately grinned, her smile way too big for a normal elf, showing off all her shark-like teeth. ‘Okay, master!’ she thought cheerfully.

‘Yeah, let’s start with the mouth actually,’ I thought, reaching out for her face, only to instead slip down to the Light Crystal, wanting to take it off so I could control the light source.

She pouted at that, obediently turning around a little so I could get at the knot in the leather, prompting me to roll my eyes.

“I’ll give it back,” I said reassuringly out loud.

She grinned again, immediately cheerful.

Once I had the Light Crystal off her, shining brightly, I requested she open her mouth so I could take a look inside. Overall, it looked about normal, even her tongue – when it wasn’t stretched out – although her white teeth were definitely unique. The top row was perfectly centered just as a normal person’s might be, but the bottom row was off-centered, one tooth in the middle, so that when she clamped her jaw shut, her rows of teeth fit perfectly together. Or really, it was more like she had three central teeth in the bottom to complement the two top ones.

However, each tooth wasn’t exactly smooth. Certainly they were smooth on the front and back, but the cutting edges had a bunch of little barbs that also fit perfectly together, making it very clear that it was a mouth for slicing off chunks of flesh with ease.

“Stick out your tongue for me,” I then requested, beginning to examine that, deciding to actually touch it a little. Overall, it was pretty thick, and when she flattened it out, it got fairly wide, allowing her to make that fairly large tube when she curled it.

I was still struggling to come to grips with the fact that she’d fed me with it, but honestly couldn’t complain since she was literally the only reason I was alive right now.

Which meant, I truly had a lot to thank her for.

After seeing how much she could control it, she then pulled it back into her mouth as I began to run my fingers through her black hair.

Her slitted crimson eyes rolled back at that, with her beginning to make that low purring noise that sounded more like it was coming from her chest as I felt her scalp and experienced the softness of her hair.

“Does it grow?” I wondered curiously.

“It grows back,” she clarified.

“You’ve had it ripped out before?” I asked seriously, continuing to gently run my fingertips along her scalp.

“Umm,” she tried, seeming to become lost in the pleasantness of my touch briefly. “Umm, there used to be other beasts here, master. One of them spewed burning liquid, and melted the skin on my head really bad. Lost most of my hair, but it healed and grew back to how it is now.”

I nodded, beginning to stroke her ears as I wondered if it was some kind of acid she was referring to.

Wren unexpectedly whimpered at that, causing me to freeze, since that was a reaction more akin to arousal, and that hadn’t been my intention.

“Umm, how are you feeling right now?” I asked hesitantly.

“I dunno,” she whispered in that adorable tone, her eyes still closed.

I decided to move on, taking a few seconds to just study her face itself. Her nose, her lips, the shape of her cheeks, her thin black eyebrows.

Asking her to open her eyes as I held up the Light Crystal, I watched as her slitted pupils dilated and constricted in response to me holding the light in front of them, versus to the side.

However, while doing that, what I really was thinking about was how she looked so much like Eliza, with me beginning to wonder if the reason Wren looked like my female companion was because Eliza had been the closest living creature.

But then, if that were true, was it possible she could have ended up looking like me instead?

And if she did end up looking like me, then would she also have been male?

Wren unexpectedly giggled at that. “Oh master, you’re so funny! My kind are always female!”

My eyes widened in sincere surprise. “How do you know that?”

“I dunno,” she replied in that adorable tone.

“Maybe from your ‘Intuition of the Goddess’ skill?” I suggested.

She gave me a mischievous giggle. “Hehe.”

I rolled my eyes. “So then, do you know why you look like this?”

“It’s what master wanted,” she said simply.

I frowned at that, not having any recollection of deciding on her appearance. But then again, maybe it had been more of a subconscious thing. After all, if I had to decide on a form based on people I knew, then there wasn’t really anyone else I could even think of to pick. At the very least, I wouldn’t have wanted to pick my deceased mother, since that would just be a painful reminder that she was gone. At least in Eliza’s case, they were far enough apart in age at this point that Wren could pass as more of a daughter than twin.

And given that Wren didn’t appear to have any problems finding food, likely eating a lot, I suspected she was never going to have large breasts like Eliza. Which meant the form she’d obtained from the beginning would never change.

Wren giggled at those thoughts, prompting me to move on with my inspection.

But not far.

Examining her shoulders and chest, I realized that the small swells of her breasts did have a slightly more poofy section where there would normally be nipples, exactly like what I would expect to see if she were wearing a tight cotton shirt. However, she truly wasn’t wearing any clothing. The midnight skin was truly just that – her skin.

Placing my hand on her breast, I confirmed that it was as I might expect, feeling just like Astaer’s more modest tits, though a tiny bit more firm while somehow being more squishy too. I then touched the poofy section, pausing when Wren whimpered a second time.

Ears and breasts.

She seemed to especially like having those touched.

Moving on yet again, I felt under her armpits, confirming there was no hair, and then felt down her arms, finding it hard to believe that there was so much power behind limbs that were so small I could wrap my entire hand around.

Seeing that she was composed again, having recovered from me prodding at her breasts, I decided to get the more intimate part over, at least in the sense that I wanted to see her intimate parts.

She was already bending over so I could take a look at her ass, even grabbing her cheeks to spread them for me.

“How often do you piss and shit?” I asked bluntly, taking a look at her midnight asshole.

Oddly enough, while her skin was already almost pitch-black and somewhat glossy under the light, as if she were adorned in a skin-tight leather suit, her puckered asshole was surprisingly even darker, the little wrinkles almost looking wet even though I was sure it wasn’t.

“Umm, almost never?” she said hesitantly.

I was sincerely shocked by that. “But you said you pass foul things if you consume something with Arakna’cabra venom, right?”

“Yes, master. That is true, I promise.”

I realized she thought she was in trouble, as if I was accusing her of lying, trying to ensure my tone was more gentle. “Okay, so how often has that happened?” I wondered.

“I think maybe just three times, master.”

“And have you ever had anything come out other than those three times?”

“Oh! Yes, I have, master.”

“Can you estimate how many times? Or perhaps how often? An estimate is fine.”

“Umm…maybe three or four times a year?”

I simply nodded, agreeing that ‘almost never’ was probably an accurate definition in her perspective, since it sounded like she would go months between times.

“Okay, let’s look at the front now. Perhaps you should sit.”

She immediately did so, spreading her legs as I knelt down and got closer.

Sure enough, it was like there was nothing to see. However, the moment I thought that, she abruptly reached down and placed her fingers on where I’d expect her snatch to be, spreading her midnight skin apart to reveal the gray interior of a completely normal pussy, lips and all.

If anything, the only difference was that the sides of her snatch were much thicker and folded together so tightly that it was almost impossible to see the crack. Combined with the fact that her gray pussy lips were fairly small, she might as well be truly clothed down there, in terms of exposure.

Wren spoke up hesitantly, seeming uncertain. “Umm, is this okay, master?” she wondered. “I can grow claws, but I cannot change the rest of me.”

I focused on her in surprise, seeing how timid she looked. “Oh. Yeah, you are perfectly fine how you are. I was curious is all.”

She nodded. “Umm, do you…umm, want to…” She hesitated, looking nervous now. “Feel me, down there…like before?” she finally asked.

I assumed she was talking about her tits, when saying ‘like before.’

Honestly, I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but I had to deny the offer.

There were a lot of reasons why, including the fact that I barely knew her and had six other women to consider – knowing that Eliza, in particular, might not be thrilled to know I was fucking a creature that looked like her. However, probably the most glaring reason was actually just the fact that she was a complete mystery to me.

And I wasn’t about to put my cock in that mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, or even in that tight gray pussy, when I knew nothing about her, both in terms of personality and in terms of her physical body.

I mean, shit. For all I knew, maybe she liked to bite when she climaxed.

That would be a horrible thing to find out when my cock was in her mouth. Or even if my lips were against hers, since she could undeniably do a lot of damage if she bit me in the face.

And fuck, for all I knew, maybe she had teeth in her snatch too!

Who was to say?

She was technically a monster after all.

At the very least, I’d be sticking my fingers up there before I ever tried my cock, but I had plenty of reasons to avoid doing that too.

Because, at the end of the day, I would need to trust her completely, and that was probably going to take a while, despite the fact that I knew she was the primary reason why I was alive. And even then, there were other reasons that might still hold me back from ever getting intimate with her.

Needless to say, Wren looked really sad now.

“I…I don’t have teeth down there,” she whispered somberly.

I took a deep breath. “Please don’t be sad. I know you’ve sort of known me for a long time now, but I just met you. And you’re mine, and I’m going to keep you forever, okay?”

She cheered up a little at that, giving me sort of a somber smile.

I sighed, beginning to focus on her legs, wrapping both of my hands around her thighs, having her tense to feel how it went from squishy to firm, before moving down to her feet.

She definitely had Eliza’s feet.

However, when I asked her to grow out her claws, I was surprised that her heel became almost like another appendage, growing its own claw too, and being somewhat mobile, almost like a bird. Or even perhaps something like a Gryphon.

My eyes widened as I unexpectedly thought about that new skill she’d gained when I named her.

Oh shit, could I make her second transformation something like that?

Fuck, that would be kind of cool, to have my own Gryphon.

But then again, that might draw too much attention.

Either way, I would probably wait for now.

Because there might actually come a time when I needed her to transform into something specific, and I didn’t want to waste the ability to give her a second form on something that might end up being a headache.

Like, honestly, if I wanted a faster mode of transportation, then it might be better to just have her transform into a horse, since it wouldn’t draw any strange attention unless they got close enough to see her eyes, something that I assumed would remain the same, no matter what form she took.

Plus, there was another very real concern to consider.

If her second transformation was that of a Gryphon, then the actual Gryphon belonging to the elf sisters might want to mate with her!

And that would just be a huge headache.

So yeah, I’d wait.

“Master,” Wren unexpectedly said. “I like how I am. Please don’t change me into something else.”

I focused on her in surprise, not even having considered how she might feel about it.

Fuck, I really needed to do a better job of taking her own opinions into consideration.

Sighing, I responded. “How about this? I’ll only set the second form if you approve it first, okay?”

“Okay!” she said cheerfully, her previous somberness having disappeared now.

“Although, you should be able to change forms at will. So then, maybe will you be okay if I decide on a second form, because it’s important to protect someone? Or save someone?”

“Of course, master!” she said warmly. “Anything for you!”

I couldn’t help but just shake my head in disbelief, feeling like her responses were inconsistent, only to realize that I was just misunderstanding. It wasn’t that she opposed changing forms temporarily, but instead was worried that she’d have to change forms on a more permanent basis.

After all, that was literally what she just said.

‘Please don’t change me into something else.’

I decided to try clarifying, really wanting to ensure our communication was clear. “So you’re alright if I make the second form anything, right? So long as you can stay as you are now most of the time.”

“Yes,” she replied. “I want to be as I am. If I have to turn into something else for a little while, that is okay.” She unexpectedly grinned. “Unless you want to turn me into that cowgirl! I would be okay with that!”

My entire body tensed at that.

Just the idea of two of Val was suddenly overwhelming.

Recalling my recent experience with Astaer and Celestine, the idea of experiencing that with Val and a ‘Val lookalike’ was enough to make my head spin. At least, until Wren unexpectedly giggled in that mischievous tone.

“Hehe. Change your mind about touching me, master?”

The little demon!

She was playing with me now!

Wren pouted. “I just want you to want me.”

I scoffed. “You’re already mine either way.”

She grinned at that, beginning to almost sing. “I belong to master! I belong to master!”

“Shhh,” I shushed her. “Here, let’s get this Light Crystal back on you, and we’ll go back.”

She obediently leaned forward for me to slip it over her head, and then twisted slightly so I could get a knot in the strap to ensure it was snug against her neck. However, when I went to stand up, unexpectedly she tackled me to the ground.

Just like that, her lips were pressed to mine, her tongue was in my mouth, and she was giving me a passionate kiss that I might expect from a normal girl.

For a few seconds, I was tense, concerned she was going to shove her tongue down my throat again. But when she didn’t, I relaxed a little, slowly wrapping my arms around her thin waist to let her get it out of her system.

I then closed my eyes, surprised by how normal this felt.

Like she was just a normal elf girl.

One who I objectively found extremely attractive.

Unfortunately, I snapped out of it when I unexpectedly realized…

That she’d just gained a new skill.

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NEW SKILL: Charming Vixen

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DESCRIPTION

Level: 1/1

Type: Innate Passive

Effect: Become alluring, seductive, and charming toward others.

Race Bonus: Applies to some people, as well as most animals and monsters.

State Bonus: Applies to Bound Host. Gain bonus to Charisma, effective only toward Host.

Limitation: Bound to Transformation 1 (Elf).

Focus Limitation: May have a terrifying effect on enemies.

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Wren pulled away then, looking down at me with an endearing expression.

“Tee-hee,” she giggled in an almost seductive tone, running her tongue along her full gray bottom lip. “I enjoy kissing you, master. And I can tell you enjoy it too.” She gave me a sultry look, gently beginning to caress her fingertips against my jawline. “I know my eyes and teeth sometimes make you nervous, and maybe I am a little scary. But, I think I also make you nervous in other ways, don’t I? Master,” she added firmly.

Oh fuck.

Oh shit, she was turning me on…

And without a doubt…I was in trouble…

I was in big trouble.

FEEDBACK: Mainly used this chapter as an excuse to learn more about Wren's abnormal body (and to answer a few questions some of you have asked -- hopefully, I made it clear that her eyes and teeth will always be the same, no matter what she transforms into).

Obviously, there's some other 'plot' going on too -- back in the capital, as well as with the top team interactions, etc.

Thoughts on this chapter?

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