Hey everybody! It's me Anima! sorry about the long delay, but writers block is hard to get through when you got a lot in life going on. I'm still writing though!, but my pace just isn't very constant sadly. I do apologize about that... Anyway, on to the reader reviews!
Karhaot: One would think that going into dragon infested lands would actually warrent a lot more guards, but we shall see how well this goes for them!
Observer: We shall see how that goes! I have some interesting things planned after all for Amanomiya!
Notstudying: Expect more lesbian action in the near future my good sir, there will probably be more of it!
IN any event, enjoy the new chapter!
Chapter 17
"Lemme see… I spy with my little eye… something made of water."
Andrew twirled his finger once in the air as he smiled smugly at Serena.
The swordwoman looked at him with a slightly surprised expression on her face.
"Wait, what? Made of water? What the heck is made of water? Water is water."
Despite the protest though, Andrew could only continue to smile at her.
"Think about it for a bit and I'm sure you'll figure it out."
Serena could only look at him for a moment before she opted to try to identify this thing made of water, a slightly annoyed expression on her face as she did. This left Andrew to turn his attention back to the long march they were on and to the great range of the outdoors around him. Though the flat plains and the cloudy blue sky could only hold his attention for so long seeing as he had gazed on it for more then four hours already. In that time, nothing much had come to happen, the development of nothing happening actually being slightly surprising for Andrew. Though he probably was thinking a little too much in regards to game logic and the like. He rather liked the lack of something happening on a dangerous front, though he could tell his little game with the rest of his party had started to catch the attention of some of the other members of the caravan. Unlike his party, the demon slayers had opted to stay silent and vigilant, though Sazanaka had been prone to turning back and looking at his group. Koyoi only opted to give an occasional glance back towards his group, but no more then for a second to see if everything was alright before she would resume her vigil. However, the group of three up front seemed to have its own concerns and were too busy talking amongst each other to pay much attention to the group in the back, though Andrew did notice the brown haired one would look back at them to check and see if everyone was still doing alright.
Outside of that though, they hadn't interacted with anyone outside of their group. Andrew was alright with that seeing as the current job was to keep an eye out for any danger or would-be problems.
"What the crap is made out of water? All I see is grass, sky, and the occasional tree."
The sound of one frustrated Serena brought his attention back to his current group, Andrew smiling as he looked to the red headed twin tail.
"Giving up already? I had you pegged for lasting longer."
"Well I would keep trying, but I can't play a game where you just make up things and notions now can I."
Still grinning, Andrew was about to speak up when Labareda beat him to the punch.
"Slimes. The answer is a slime. I'm amazed you were able to see one though, they normally stay in wet crevices in the ground or some such."
Andrew looked to his familiar with some interest, not having known that. However, he could only grin smugly at Lab.
"An interesting idea. And one I'll have to keep in mind for future games. But wrong."
Not being called out for being wrong often in her life, Lab genuinely looked surprised when Andrew said that.
"What?"
Unoma, who had only listened this whole time, let out a low sigh a moment later.
"Clouds you two. He's talking about clouds. Those are made of water."
Andrew let out a low defeated sigh while Labareda could only 'ah' in recognition. However, Serena looked somewhat flabbergasted.
"Clouds are made of water? How? Water is… well, water."
Not sure how advanced the Ylisse education system was back in Serena's home, Andrew could only smile at the red head.
"That's a long, complicated explanation that would require me to delve into concepts you probably couldn't even wrap your head around right now."
Serena looked to Andrew with an expression clear set on annoyed.
"Are you calling me stupid."
However, Unoma lowered herself to the ground and embraced Serena around the neck, catching the young woman off guard.
"Not stupid. Simply unlearned. Not everyone has a need for that kind of information after all. Plus, the study of cloud elementals is a rather simple one to begin with and not one really required for everyday living."
Serena, despite having been embraced from behind, had paid attention to the woman. After that explanation though, she could only nod her head while muttering 'alright then…'.
Andrew however, was more surprised about what Unoma had said. Compared to what he knew, Unoma saying something about elementals had thrown him for a loop, thus causing him to mentally retract what he had said to Serena earlier. Though the truth of it still stood, he couldn't necessarily call her out on it since he himself was now also unaware of the clouds. Letting a smile come across his face again, Andrew spoke up again.
"Alright, given that the last one was kinda unfair, let's go with an easier target shall we? I spy with my little eye… something that is red."
Granted that in of itself was hardly a challenge, but he wanted to be nice. This little game didn't continue on for much longer however as eventually Andrew had begun to run out of things that he could spy. He tried to get others of his party to play, but Labareda wasn't interested and Unoma didn't care to try. Serena tried to give it a go, but she was very limited in the creativity department, and anything she tried to list off had already been pointed out by Andrew. This eventually left the group to fall into silence a bit later. Not something they were unfamiliar with to be sure, but still somewhat boring. It didn't last very long though as Andrew felt he had to check on the youngest of the party.
"I think I'll go and check up in Aruma. I'll be right back."
Nobody stopping him, Andrew trotted his way up to the cart unimpeded while he quickly passed the shrine maiden to talk with Kuroi. He quickly told her what he was going to do by checking on Aruma, though she didn't look happy that he would be in her cart without supervision. However, it was more of a control thing, and she told him to go ahead, though she warned that she would be counting her stock when they stopped later. A thinly veiled threat of 'you better not steal anything.'
Andrew only nodded before he hopped up on the seat next to Kuroi and made his way into the cart to check on Aruma. Thankfully the girl was still fast asleep and didn't seem to be waking up anytime soon, so he made his way back out the way he came. After receiving a look from the black haired Danuki, Andrew hopped off the cart and was about to make his way back to his group. However, just as he was about to, the sound of a semi-Familiar voice stopped him.
"Hold a moment if you would."
Turning to look, Andrew saw that Sazanaka had called out to him, the woman waving him over to her. Curious, Andrew decided to accept her invitation and walked over to her before he got into a steady rhythm again.
"Hello there… Sazanaka-san was it? How can I help you?"
Andrew found his attention drawn to her hand as it went up to the side of her head, the delicate fingers moving aside a lock of her silver hair. Now that he got a good look at her, he had to admit that he liked the more traditional style she had going on with her, while at the same time, still keeping it somewhat more modern looking with the way she left some of her hair to frame her face. The bun at the back with a ponytail coming out of it was interesting to see with a tsubaki flower in it. Though he found it odd that all she seemed to be wearing was a black and gold kimono. He wasn't going to question it though, as he didn't have the option to when she started to speak.
"I am fine, and please, you do not need to try to emulate the customs of Zipangu. Myself and Lady Amanomiya are well aware of the fact that many from the west are not versed in our culture. Not to say I do not find it refreshing to see."
Her smile was warm when she said that, and Andrew couldn't help but smile back at her.
"As you wish then."
"Of course, though that is not why I have called you over."
Andrew would have figured as much without her saying, but he simply nodded in answer, which she took as a prompt to continue.
"The reason I wanted your attention was because I wished to ask you a few things. The first being that of the little one in the carriage. I saw her earlier when I put my supplies in Kuroi's cart. She then informed me that the girl was with your group and that she was ill. Do you happen to know what ails her?"
"Mana deprivation. She has a large amount of mana, but she can't recover it quickly. One of the issues though is that it's a special kind of mana, so she can only really recharge at certain holy places."
Sazanaka nodded her head in an understanding manner.
"She is a holy child then… I understand. I take it that is why you wish to head to Dragonia?"
"Pretty much. Mount Corona was the place we decided on after some deliberation. Though I'm curious, what brings yourself and your friend to Dragonia?"
Sazanaka looked over at the cart, no doubt obviously drawing her gaze to her companion on the other side.
"Myself and Lady Koyoi are bound for Dragonia on account of the recent mishaps we have heard about. Many monsters have started to pop up there recently and we figure it would be a good place for us to ply our monster hunting trade."
"Makes sense." Andrew said as he looked to where Sazanaka had directed her gaze. However, he failed to notice the look of curiosity on her face when she looked back at him, though she caught his attention by posing him a question.
"Anyway, that was just one of my questions. Though… I do ask you forgive me if my next question might offend you."
Andrew curiously looked at the silver haired easterner, not sure what she might say that he would even remotely find offensive.
"Are you perhaps one of the Montre Noire? Lady Kuroi told us as such when we arrived, though milady and I had mistaken you for a monster the first time we saw you."
Andrew nodded at her.
"Ex member actually. Though that's all I'm capable of telling you about it. I'm under an oath after all."
If she was annoyed by that answer, she didn't indicate as such.
"I see… I understand then. If you can not answer anymore about that, would you mind terribly if I asked about your companions? I have not had many chances to lay my eyes on a Baphomet outside of the great shrine in my hometown. She was the shrine maiden there and held great power as a Miko."
"Sure, I don't mind talking about them for a moment, though if you really want to get to know them, then it might be easier if you talked to them in person."
Sazanaka only smiled at him.
"True, but it wouldn't hurt to hear what I could before hand, would it not?"
Andrew couldn't fault her logic on that statement, and for the next little bit, he and Sazanaka talked about a good deal starting off with there own companions. After that though and it devolved into small talk about random things. Andrew couldn't provide a lot of conversation on certain topics, but he did enjoy his chat with the silver haired easterner. Eventually though, Andrew had to bring the conversation to a close as he was sure that his own companions weren't willing to wait around forever for him. Sazanaka only smiled at him and bid him farewell until they could converse again. After that, Andrew made his way back with his group, Serena looking slightly peeved at him having taken so long while Unoma and Labareda only looked smug about something.
Andrew opted to apologize to the group for taking so long, though His two familiars didn't seem to mind it at all while Serena only let out a huff of slight annoyance.
"Well, even if you opted to take a while, how was Aruma?"
"She's doing about the same as she was earlier, though one of us should probably keep an ear out for when she wakes up."
Unoma nodded.
"Agreed. I'll volunteer to do as such. Leaving the rest of you with the guard duty… or in Dear Masters case, ready to get into another woman's pants… or kimono based on current observations."
Unoma had her smug grin on her face, leaving Andrew to only look at her in an annoyed manner.
"Ya know, my only goal isn't to get into the pants of every woman I meet. We'd still be back in town if that was the case. And, I never ended up trying to have sex with Sarya or Morgana now did I."
Labareda tapped her chin thoughtfully for a moment before she responded.
"True enough I suppose. However, we are a little pressed for time after all. Maybe once we get Aruma in better shape that goal will change."
Andrew looked at her for a moment before he merely shrugged his shoulders, though he couldn't hide the small smirk on his face from the thought. The conversation came to an end and the group went back to watching out for danger. Thankfully, much of the rest of the day had been very uneventful with about the most dangerous thing being a stray slime that had worked it's way onto the road. Thankfully that had worked itself out when the slime ran away, though Andrew had to admit that it had been a little exciting to see a real slime for the first time if only for the brief few seconds he was able to put his eyes on it. It wasn't until Kuroi had called everyone to a halt and to get ready for camp that the long march finally came to an end. Thankfully, Andrew had done enough real marching in the previous world to be quite fine after the last few hours, and he was happy to say that Serena was also doing quite well for herself. Unoma hadn't even bothered to walk and Andrew was sure Labareda didn't have a limit on her stamina, so all in all, it was a good first day of travel. Though they had decided to stop marching for the day, they still had the task of finding a good spot to camp for the night while also getting a fire set up and tents put down.
Thankfully, Juliette had found a good spot large enough for everyone along with the cart and the massive boar that went with it, so there was plenty of space for everyone to get comfy. Andrew had found himself tasked with going out into the fields to find some logs or large objects to burn for a fire, leaving Serena and Unoma to get there tent set up while Lab said she would do what she could for the fire. However, Lab wasn't very keen on him going out into the field to find burning material by himself, and made her point known.
"I know you've been doing well enough for yourself as of late Master, but I still don't trust you to go out on your own without causing some kind of trouble for yourself."
"Oh come on now Lab. It's just going out to find some wood or something similar. There isn't any reason for you to worry about me. Plus, we need to get this fire started so we can get food cooking. I don't want Aruma to wake up and not have a good dinner ready for her when she does after all."
Labareda only looked on at him for a moment, running any number of scenarios through her head at what could potentially happen. However, she quickly realized that, this was a large open area with very sparse amounts of places to hide save for the tall grass. Plus, she didn't detect anything too powerful nearby that her master couldn't handle with his raw strength alone. Letting a small sigh escape her lips, Labareda simply waved her paw at him.
"Very well. You are my master after all, I couldn't stop you even if I wanted to. Just be careful as always."
"I will, trust me when I say that I'm the epitome of safety."
Lab only looked at him with a blank stare, the Red head not pointing out the problems he had gotten into when by himself. Leaving it at that, Andrew turned around and began making his way toward what looked to be the closest cluster of trees. Before he could even walk out of the camp perimeter though, the sound of a none to familiar voice rang out behind him.
"Oi, big fella."
Seeing as he was the only person in the group that could be subjugated to being called a 'fella' Andrew turned at the call to see that the blonde woman named Michele had walked over to him. Curious, Andrew answered her.
"Yes? Can I help you?"
"I'm sure you could, but I'm actually curious about something. Are you about to go and look for firewood?"
"That would be correct."
The girl smiled broadly at him.
"Awesome! Mind if I tag along with you? Excela is nagging me to go and do something useful and I figured I would assist in that little venture! Plus, I'm kinda curious about you myself."
Andrew simply nodded at her, not finding any immediate reason to deny her coming along.
"Sure, I don't mind the extra company. My familiar would probably feel better knowing I had someone so powerful looking keeping an eye out. I also enjoy the thought of hanging out alone with someone so attractive."
Michelle looked at him with a smile on her face.
"Ha, I like you already. But let's save any flirting for later. For now we should get to finding things to burn for dinner."
Andrew nodded his head in agreement before he and Michelle made their way out into the field. The both of them made quick work of the walk, only taking a few minutes to make it to their destination. When they made it to the first sprig, Michelle was the first one to speak up as she looked around on the ground.
"I don't expect we'll find any large logs or the like around here. Maybe some dried kindling and some decently sized branches, but not any good burning logs."
Looking at the ground around them, Andrew found himself agreeing with the blonde haired drill-tail. He then turned his attention to the tree in front of him and gave it a once over. He then tuned his attention to Michelle before pointing to the tree.
"Hey, maybe we can cut this down and try to start a fire with it? Or something along those lines?"
Michelle looked at where he was pointing before she also gave her own personal evaluation, the heavily armored woman thinking about it for a moment before she simply nodded.
"We could try, but we would need to check and see if the tree wasn't a young Dryad first. Made that mistake once and once was all I needed to learn to never do it again."
"Experience is the best teacher as they say… so what should we do? I've not dealt with that kind of thing before myself, so I wouldn't know how to check."
Michelle put her hands on the metallic red skirt of hers with her chest puffed out in a smug confidence.
"Easy, leave it to me."
Andrew watched the woman walk up to the tree and quickly pull out a small knife from somewhere. She then proceeded to cut into the bark of the tree. Deep enough that some sap began to leak out from the spot but not enough for it not to recover from.
Michelle looked at the spot for a moment or two, as if she was waiting for something to happen. But whatever it was she was waiting for, didn't seem to happen, causing the blonde-haired drill tail to look back at Andrew.
"Looks like it isn't a sentient tree of any kind, but let me make a few more checks for a few other things before we go cutting it down."
Andrew only nodded at her before he let her get to work, the young man not certain what else she might need to check. However, she was the experienced one in this matter, not him. So he left it up to her judgment. This left him with a bit of time to kill, and Andrew opted to use it by examining Michelle herself. He opted to start with her face and looks, the first thing he noted being that if he was to guess her age, it would be in her late teens, early twenties at the latest. Her face was very well kept with no hints of make-up to be found. She was very pretty with a bright set of red eyes on her. Andrew had come to understand that he couldn't apply the common eye colors from his previous world here in this one seeing as most people had some outlandish colors to them. It actually made him feel rather muted with his own appearance, but he didn't think too hard on it. He found her long and bright blonde hair to be even more amazing, but more out of the sense of her being able to get them into a pair of ridiculous spiral twin tails. He found it charming though, and rather exotic. Interestingly enough, she had a pair of bright orange flowers in the intersection of her twin tails and hair, making him think they where what was keeping them in their current state.
Moving his eyes down, Andrew looked at the rest of the woman's body, her upper chest and lower body covered by a heavy but brightly covered armor. Though Andrew couldn't help but notice that the upper part had a large outward bust for her breasts. The lower part of her body wasn't covered by the traditional greaves, but by a metallic skirt of sorts which only went to her knees. Then some shin guards and metal boots. All of it a bright red color trimmed with gold. It certainly stood out, and Andrew could only guess at how expensive it actually was. Andrew recalled that Lab had said that Kuroi had hired both some monster hunters and a hero party, and since Koyoi and sazanaka had been labeled as the monster hunters, this meant the other group had to be the hero party. So she probably got a lot of money from her adventuring. However, despite the expensive look of her Armor, Andrew couldn't help but notice that she didn't seem to have weapons on her. He could only think that maybe she was a mage or had them hidden away, but he didn't get the chance to ask right away seeing as she turned around and caught his attention.
"Welp, as far as I can tell, nothing magical, sentient or otherwise about this tree. So we can go ahead and cut it down for some wood. You wanna cut it down for me while I check out some of the other trees around here?"
"Sure, I can do that for you." Andrew said with a grin on his face.
"Great! You probably need an axe or something to cut it down with though. Let me give you one of mine."
Andrew had been confused by that statement seeing as he had observed no weapon on her person previously, but a moment later, she held up her hand and a flash of fire erupted from a previously unseen jewel in her gauntlet, causing an axe made of what looked to be metal and sharp ruby to show up in her hand. Andrew had jumped momentarily from the fire, but the surprise melted away into awe at the thing in her hand and what she had done to summon it.
"That's impressive. Do you have some kind of dimensional storage in those gauntlets of yours?"
Michelle shook her head.
"Nah, this is one of the Red Reaper twin's abilities. They change into these gems when not in use, so I figured I could store them in my armor for easier access in case someone tried to get the drop on me."
Andrew nodded while also noting the name of her weapon.
"Awesome, though truth be told, I don't really need it."
Andrew held out his arm, and without any kind of fanfare, his own weapon of choice magically appeared in his clasped hand. Michelle was somewhat surprised herself when she saw it, causing Andrew to slightly puff up with pride.
"I happen to have my own sharp implement. Plus, mines bigger."
Michelle looked at the massive weapon in Andrews hand before she looked back at her own weapon before giving him a large grin.
"So it is! Not bad, not bad at all… though they say guys with big weapons be trying to compensate for having less than stellar bedroom equipment."
Andrew felt a sucker punch when it was thrown at him, but he could only smile somewhat smugly at Michelle as he lowered his weapon.
"Maybe, maybe not. But the only way to know that is if your willing to check that out. Wanna take a peek?"
"Sure thing. Lets see it."
Of all the answers he had been expecting, that one was maybe 5th on his list. Meaning he hadn't been expecting it.
"Wait, really?"
Michelle only gave him a puzzled expression.
"Of course. Truth be told, I've been kinda interested in you since I saw you. You have like… 3-4 women tagging after you, two of which are mamono. You've obviously got skills or size going for ya with that many women around."
Andrew felt those words run through his mind, and once again he was reminded of the world he was in and the values in regards to sex that it seemed to uphold. Letting it process for a moment longer, Andrew opted to go ahead and just show her.
"Alright, but don't be too surprised when you see it."
"That remains to be seen."
Not wasting anymore time, Andrew undid the sash that kept his pants up and let them fall to the ground in a heap. He hadn't opted to wear his boxers, seeing as he still needed to wash them, so the moment those pants came down, his second son was in full view of the world for all to see it. Andrew found himself looking down and seeing that Unoma must have increased the size again. He had Taken to measuring his dick every day at this point, having to use his own leg as a measuring tool for it seeing as he hadn't found any kind of ruler for proper measurement. He was never sure when Unoma would busy herself with his body alteration, though if he was to be completely honest, he didn't mind an increased size at all. Though he did wonder where she was going to stop or if she even had a limit to how big she wanted it.
Michelle for her part, let out a low and sultry hum as she eyed Andrews large cock, the girl bringing her attention up to his eyes when she got done admiring his family equipment.
"Well well… looks like you got a nice one after all. Not too big, not too small… just perfect for my taste."
Andrew felt somewhat proud of the fact that this woman complimented him on his lower body, but he was more focusing on the fact that she said he was just right. Indicating that she had seen larger, and that got him thinking about penis size average. However, he put it out of his mind for the moment as he spoke up.
"Glad to hear…. But we should be getting back to getting the wood for the fire. We can flirt and fuck all we want later."
Michelle took one last look below Andrews belt before he had pulled his pants back up, the woman letting a small look of annoyance come over her features for a moment before it fell away.
"Good point. Anyway, since you got that nice big thick axe of yours, why don't you show me how you handle your wood?"
Andrew felt that Michelle's phrasing was deliberate, but he only tied the sash around his waist to keep his pants from falling down.
"Alright then. Might want to stand a bit away from the tree. I've never actually tried to cut anything with this axe before, so this'll be a first for me."
Doing as was asked of her, the blonde walked away from the tree in question before she turned around and looked to Andrew, some anticipation on her face as she waited patiently. Andrew, bringing his full attention to the task at hand, looked at the tree in question for a solid few moments before he simply let out a low sigh and hefted the axe with one hand. Without so much as a stance, Andrew swung with his arm alone and was rewarded with a surprising result. The axe ripped right through the tree in question, though to him it only felt as if he was going through a bush of hay with a scythe. He did meet some resistance, but it wasn't enough to cause issues for him in any way. The tree itself, caught up in the force of the blow, was sent falling to the side the swing came from. For a moment, Andrew didn't do anything, his mind still going over at how easily he had just felled a tree in a single swing. Granted it wasn't a thick tree and only was about ten or so feet tall, but he still felt a sense of accomplishment at being able to do what he did. That is until he heard Michelle start talking.
"That was pretty powerful, but that blow? Really sloppy. Even for something simple like cutting trees. No stance, no movement in the hips or legs. Just a shoulder swing. Granted, you have a lot of strength, so that's something for you, but anybody as strong as an ogre could have done the same thing."
Andrew turned to look at Michelle, the woman having put a hand to her chin as she was talking, the woman's previous flirtatious manner now replaced with a look of speculation. Having felt his pride deflate, Andrew looked to her with some minor annoyance in his face.
"We wanted a tree down, and now it's down. I don't think the method to getting it that way really matters."
"True, it probably shouldn't, but as a warrior, I find it interesting that someone who has a Baphomet for a familiar would use such a brutish method. True, you don't need to use any particular techniques to drop trees. But even in ones movement, there should be signs of experience, you look like you just picked the thing up yesterday."
"Probably cause, outside of a few sparing matches with a friend of mine, I haven't swung this thing all that much."
Nobody said anything for a few moments, the silence being filled with the echo of a fallen tree and animals making noise. However, Michelle spoke up a bit later.
"I see… well, I guess while on this little adventure of ours, I'll try to do what I can to show you how to swing an axe properly!"
Not expecting that answer, Andrew could only blink at her a few times in surprise.
"Train me?"
"Yeah! Why not, it's not like we have much else to do while traveling."
Andrew couldn't fault the logic in her statement, and he had to admit that he wanted to try to learn how to actually fight seeing as it would become necessary down the line.
Shrugging his shoulders, Andrew simply agreed.
"True enough. We can do that after we get back though. Training can happen while we wait for dinner. But we need wood for a fire for that to happen."
With that said, the both of them went about finding more trees and wood for the fire, Michelle doing what she could to help identify if a tree was good to cut while Andrew would do said cutting. And each time he did, Michelle would give him pointers on how to swing. By the time they had collected enough firewood, Andrew could say he was somewhat maybe getting the hang of what the drill-tail was trying to teach him. Having gotten what they needed, the both of them made there way back to camp, upon which they saw a fully established camping site for the night. Everyone had tents pitched, the giant boar was grazing on grass, and everyone looked as if they had just gotten done. Michelle, in what Andrew supposed was typical of her, called out to her group.
"Hey! We got the firewood!"
Everyone turned to look at the group that had come back, some amounts of relief on many faces. As soon as they made it to the center of camp, Michelle dropped her logs unceremoniously on the ground in a heap while Andrew put his down in a neat pile. However, Lab had come over and picked up one of the logs and began inspecting it. She furrowed her brow a moment later before she turned to Andrew.
"Master, did you just cut these down? They happen to be very moist on the inside. The amount of smoke that would come out of these would be no laughing matter. If there are any creatures or unsavory sorts nearby, they might be tempted to investigate."
Andrew looked at the log in her paw before he responded with a small huff.
"True enough, I figured that would be the case, but having some firewood would be better then having none at all. Besides, I'm not really worried about something showing up. Especially with the group we have."
Andrew indicated to Those around him as he spoke to Lab, the Baphomet simply nodding her head.
"True enough… actually, if you don't mind Master, I'll see if I can dry them out quickly for use. It might be a few minutes before then though."
"Perfectly fine to me. The sun won't be setting for a period of time anyway."
With that having been said, Labareda nodded in agreement before she sat down next to the pile of logs and held her paws up over them. A moment later and Andrew saw heatwaves coming from her, and the vicinity close to Lab got unnaturally hot, forcing him to move away from her. Everyone could see that this would take a bit, so most everyone went to doing other mundane tasks, leaving Andrew to get a good look around the campsite. He could see Kuroi by her cart, a ledger in hand and the Danuki writing something in it, clearly absorbed in the task. Michelle had gone to her own group, the three of them discussing things relating to what to get ready for dinner. Sazanaka and Koyoi were seated on a log next to each other, the black haired miko writing on a new talisman while the silver haired woman was, much to Andrews surprise, using a whetstone on a rather large and ornate axe she had in hand. Turning his attention to his own group, Andrew could see that Unoma was already in the tent laying down on the boar skin rug, Aruma next to her as the girl clung to the older woman like a child would her parent. Andrew couldn't see Serena however, though he quickly found her off a little way, the swords woman practicing her sword techniques. Having gotten a feel for where everyone was at, Andrew opted to bring his attention back to Lab. It had been a bit since he had had a one on one with his first familiar, so he opted to make his way back to her. Though the heat she was emitting was rather unbearable. Not feeling shy about it, Andrew removed his shirt to allow his skin to breath a bit against the heat. Labareda, being able to keenly identify the removal of clothing, turned her attention to see her master getting as close as he could before stopping. She could only smile at him with a coy grin on her face.
"Oh? Coming over to entice me Master? If that is your aim, I dare say it's working quite well."
"Merely an added benefit of trying to stay cool from your heat. Honestly, if I wasn't afraid of being burned alive, I might have come over and fondled you a little bit. It's been much to long since I last did."
Lab, the coyness coming out of her expression, was left with a smile on her face.
"Feel free. Truth be told, on account of our contract, I couldn't burn you unless you expressly ordered me to."
"Really?"
Without any kind of hesitation, Andrew walked over, and out of sheer curiosity, reached out and grabbed his familiar by the shoulder. He was legitimately surprised to feel that her skin felt warm to the touch, but not unbearably hot like the air around her. Actually, even that had diminished when he had come into contact with her, the heat feeling more like a warm blanket then anything.
"Huh… fascinating."
Lab smugly hummed to herself.
"Also, since your touching me, I could generate my heat to burn the entire area around us, and all you would feel is a comfortable heat on your flesh. With us in contact, you could even walk through an inferno without so much as a tan."
"I'll keep that in mind for if we ever have to walk through a burning forest. In the meantime though…"
Without so much as a word, Andrew sat down behind Labareda and picked her up, placing the familiar on his lap. The demon was curious about what he was doing, but didn't say anything when she felt her tiny rear find a place on Andrews thighs. Andrew then wrapped his arms around Lab, where he then put his chin on top of her head and between her horns. Labareda could only smile at this, though she still continued her task of drying the logs.
"Getting comfy are we?"
"If I wanted to get really comfy, I wouldn't be sitting and rather using you as a full body pillow."
Labareda found herself with a smug grin on her face as she leaned back into her master's chest.
"Would that also happen to involve you doing things to me while we lay together?"
"That would be very high on my list of things I would be doing, yes."
Labareda only chuckled, Andrew doing the same as he embraced her tighter. For a few minutes, the both of them simply sat there like that, there eyes on the logs as a thick steam rose from them, the sounds of hissing and popping wood indicating the rapid escape of moisture. It didn't take long for one of them to speak though, Andrew shifting a little to make himself a little more comfortable… and maybe to push her closer to his body.
"So… Labareda… it's been… what? About a month? Maybe more? Yeah, about that long since we both met each other…"
"You wouldn't be wrong on that account Master."
Andrew nodded in agreement, Labareda getting an impromptu headpat out of Andrews chin rubbing.
"Mm-hm… and in all this time, I've not once asked a thing about you nor tried to… this in turn brings me to think that, despite your devotion… I really don't know much of anything about you… all I know is that you're a very powerful demonic entity of some sort… one that seems to specialize in fire and heat if I've been observing properly. You're very old, but that doesn't tell me much of anything…and that you seem to have been the familiar and lover of Unoma many years back."
"Really? That's all you know of me?"
Andrew chuckled a little under his breath.
"Those are just the facts presented to me so far. But I do know you have terrible table manners when you eat. You seem very prideful to those you don't recognize, you're a coy and sly familiar, but you can be soft and spoiled when it comes to me, though I don't know if you act that way with all your contractors or if that's just something exclusive to our current bond. You also seem to be… no, never mind that last part."
Labareda lifted her chin to look up at Andrew, a curious look on her face as she did.
"Oh come now, you can't just be about to say something and then back out. It makes me curious."
Andrew looked down at her, for a moment a rather neutral expression on his face. He then turned to look at the steaming pile of logs before he spoke.
"Well… if you want me to continue… I feel like you have a secret you seem to want to say but don't on account of something… I don't know if that's true though or me just seeing something that isn't there."
Lab continued to look up at Andrew, a blank expression of her own on her face. However, it gave way to a small smile, the familiar leaning up and kissing Andrew on the chin, causing him to look down curiously only to get a second kiss on his lips.
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't… surely someone like you must have realized that a being as old as I am has to have a secret or two hidden behind her charms. However… I don't feel up to discussing them unless it necessary… but if you so commanded… I would divulge them."
Andrew simply looked down at her for a moment longer before he gave her a kiss of his own.
"No. If you don't think it's worth sharing right now, then I won't bother trying to pry it out of you. Though if you ever felt the need to share it, I would be more then willing to listen to you."
Lab simply smiled as she cuddled closer into Andrews chest, the demonic familiar getting comfy as she did.
"When the situation does call for it, I'll be sure to let you know Master… until then, thank you for being respectful of my wishes."
"Not a problem… by the by… those logs stopped steaming a second ago. I think they're done."
Lab focused on what Andrew said and could see that he was right.
"So they are. I do believe we can get a fire going now."
Andrew nodded once before he bent his head down and kissed Lab on the top of the head.
"True enough. Pity though, I was getting comfy sitting with you."
Leaving it at that, the both of them simply got up and got the logs ready for the fire pit. Thankfully making a fire and getting dinner ready was a very simple task. Everyone ate in there own groups, and after that, they had to get the sleeping arrangement set up seeing as they needed to keep a night watch. Thankfully with so many people, it was easy for them to come up with one, Andrew claimed the first shift saying that all he had done was walk today and had plenty of energy to spare. However, Serena had opted to stay up with him as she didn't want him to be the only set of eyes keeping everyone safe. After everyone agreed to that, most of the groups went off and did there own things for a period of time, though it wasn't long before everyone began getting set for the night when the sun had finally dipped out of sight. After making sure Aruma was taken care of for the night, Andrew left her with Lab and Unoma in the tent for them to get some rest. Andrew then made his way to the fire, where he then sat down across from Serena, who was busy inspecting and maintaining her Cursed sword.
"Not sure what all you can do to maintain a magic sword."
Andrew said with a hint of amusement. As far as he was aware, any kind of magic sword wouldn't need the usual maintenance that a normal one would. However, Serena only looked at him for a moment before she went back to inspecting.
"Doesn't matter if it doesn't need it or not, any good swordsman should take care of their blade. Plus, it just feels natural to me."
Andrew nodded his head as he leaned back a bit to look around, though he didn't see anything worth mentioning. A moment or two went by after that, and Andrew felt that he had to pose a question.
"Might have something to do with your experiences. That reminds me, have you managed to recover anymore of your memories?"
Serena shook her head as she flipped the blade over to inspect the other side.
"Sadly not… I haven't seen or heard anything that might trigger anymore memories."
Andrew looked at her for a moment before he brought his hand up to his chin and scratched.
"Might be that you haven't found the right triggers yet. I can try to recount some other things for you if you want me to. Maybe doing so will help?"
"Maybe, maybe not. You can try, but I think we should put my memories on hold for a short period. At least until we get Aruma taken care of. I wanna stay focused on taking care of her first."
"Makes sense." Was all Andrew said after that. For the next little while, nothing was said between the two of them, Andrew simply thinking on other things while Serena finished up her sword maintenance. When she got done with that, she sheathed her blade and turned her attention to Andrew for a moment, the man looking at the fire deep in thought. Curious, she opted to speak up.
"So, thinking about anything in particular?"
Turning his head to look at her, Andrew thought about it for a moment before he spoke up.
"A few things. This and that mostly. Nothing very defined right now, but mostly things like 'what our next goal when we get done with this', and 'what's most important to think and do right now.' Stuff like that really."
Serena nodded in understanding, impressed at how far ahead Andrew was trying to think.
"I see… makes sense."
Andrew nodded in turn before he leaned over and put his chin on his hand.
"Outside of those things though, the thing I've been thinking about for the past few minutes is that you seem to be in a better mood since yesterday. You've been kinda down since I told you about what was happening. Though you seemed to bounce back really quickly. Did anything happen that might have helped with that?"
At the mention of that Serena's thoughts immediately went to Unoma and Labareda, while Sergio popped into her mind a moment later. Her face went red at the memory and she turned away.
"Um… well.. a few things… mostly Labareda and Unoma telling me about how they knew about what had been happening to me and that they were sorry about not telling me about it before. And… well… maybe one… another thing."
Curious on account of her saying that last bit and leaving it vague on top of how she was suddenly acting, Andrew tried to pry a little more.
"One other thing?"
Serena was still red in the face at the memory of Sergio, the mans hands in her body leaving her embarrassed and somewhat ashamed of herself. On the other hand, she felt that she didn't want to try to hide anything from Andrew, especially since he seemed to trust her.
"Um… well… it Ah… might involve… another man…"
She then went on to explain about how she had partially left that day so she could help out, but also so she could see if she was really herself. She then told Andrew about her encounter with the long dark haired man and how she had attempted to woo him and how willing he had been to go along with her. While she explained all of this, she felt highly nervous at the fact that Andrews face didn't seem to change. She knew that she wasn't in a relationship with Andrew or anything, but she still felt highly guilty and somewhat ashamed when she explained that she had let Sergio touch her. Though she was very pointed in saying that they had never actually had sex. After she told Andrew about what Sergio had said to her, she finally finished up and looked on at Andrew. He didn't say anything for a moment, but his expression was one of thought. It fell away to a smile a moment later.
"I'm glad to see you were able to get your feelings sorted out. Pity we left, I would have loved to have met this guy. He sounds like a good person, kinda like Jonathan."
Seeing the smile on Andrews face, Serena felt somewhat confused about Andrews choice of expression.
"Um… is that it?"
Looking at her, Andrew cocked his eyebrow up curiously.
"Is what it?"
"That's how you react? I… well, I did just admit to almost having sex with another man. Are you… angry with me?"
Serena was confused that Andrew looked confused.
"Why would I be?"
"Well… we are traveling in a group after all… and… I kinda figured… you know."
Andrew still looked confused.
"You know? Not really. Who you have sex with isn't really my concern. Sure we travel in a group, but it's not like we set limits or anything. You sleep with who you want to sleep with."
"But… wait… are you not… wouldn't you be upset about this?"
Andrew, simply looking on at her with a continued expression of confusion, Simply shook his head.
"No, I wouldn't have a reason to be. The only real reason I would get angry is if he was a piece of shit and treated you like shit. And from the way you explained things, he seemed like a really nice guy. The only other reason I would get angry is if we where lovers or something, and we aren't."
He had said it in a matter of fact statement, not in any way derogatory or negative. But Serena still felt a sharp and uncomfortable feeling in her chest when he said that. She should have figured as such, but she still felt kinda pained at how he had been treating the situation. However, Andrew was internally feeling somewhat conflicted. He stood by what he had said to Serena, but he still felt maybe a dash irritated by the fact. However, Andrew was happy that Serena had managed to come to understand herself better. With that said, neither one of them said anything for a few minutes, Serena grabbing at one of the dried logs and throwing it in to keep the flames going. Andrew found himself thinking about his magic and opted to do some image training again in regards to his magic while Serena simply found her mind wandering to other things. Though it always came back to what he had just said about there relationship. It made her feel rather uncomfortable, but at the same time, she knew she hadn't been making any kind of signs of like toward him. Though she had to admit that she had really only just discovered her like of him, and that made it a little hard for her to act out on it. Especially since she didn't have any memories to fall back on in regards to romance. Deciding that it had been quiet for much too long, Serena spoke up.
"So… Andrew. I have a question."
Finding himself being brought out of his training, though he hadn't really started, Andrew looked to the red head curiously.
"About what?"
"About the general progress. We seem to get out of Gwent rather quickly didn't we? You didn't seem to be in a very large hurry when we where on the boat, but the moment we hit shore you were looking to get out of here as fast as we could. Was that just good timing or are we in a hurry? I know that Aruma can't stay the way she is, but I figured we could have spent maybe a few more days in Gwent getting ourselves in order."
Andrew looked at her before he nodded.
"Very true… I guess it does seem like we're rushing. However, there is a reason for it. That's because we have, at most, a week before Jonathan reports to his superiors about what happened in the shadow labyrinth. The fact we could leave so early is actually a blessing for us."
Serena looked to Andrew in some surprise.
"Report?"
Seeing that she was confused, Andrew opted to tell Serena about what Jonathan had told him. About how he was going to report what had happened and that he didn't have any intentions of lying to his superiors about it. After he got done explaining everything, Andrew let out a low sigh as he leaned back to look at the sky.
"So yeah. I know it seemed like we rushed, but I figured it would be better to get a head start on everything before we started to be hunted… or me in this case. I'm sure you guys would be fine for the most part."
Serena nodded at him in some understanding, but her expression was troubled.
"Yeah, we probably will be ahead for a short period of time… but at the same time these guys are probably gonna try to hunt you down with everything they've got."
Andrew let out another low sigh.
"Very true, and the fact that I can't seem to get my energy under control doesn't help matters much either. That's why I need to try to learn to suppress myself within the next few days. Cause honestly, the excuse we've been using won't hold against someone who knows why they're looking for."
"True enough… pity I don't know anything about magic… I'd help you otherwise."
Andrew smiled at her words as he leaned back, his ability to channel his inner energy no better than the last time he tried it.
"Appreciated, but you're not one for magic as far as I know. Leave that to Unoma and Labareda. However, when we get the chance, maybe you can assist me with combat practice?"
For a moment, Serena looked at Andrew with some confusion on her face. A confusion that quickly gave way to worry.
"Uh, you recall last time we tried that? You almost cut me in half. I'm hardly able to keep up with you."
"That was then Serena. Remember your also undergoing some changes as well. You'll probably be even stronger in the near future. Even more then you are now. Thinking about it, you've probably already changed somewhat. Wanna see if that's the case?"
Serena looked to Andrew for a moment before she looked down at her hands, the idea an interesting one. She didn't think much longer on it before she agreed.
"Sure… why not. So long as we be careful."
Andrew nodded at her before he stood up.
"Sure thing. Let's go a little this way so as not to cause issues for everyone else."
Agreeing with him, Serena stood up and walked behind the male. The got a small distance out, still in the light of the fire, but far enough away that they wouldn't cause major issues for anybody sleeping. The both of them got a small distance away from each other before they turned to face one another. Serena nodded her head at him to indicate that he had her attention before Andrew spoke up.
"Alright then… since this is mostly a test to see how much stronger you've gotten in terms of your body; we won't do any kind of weapon practice. We'll just throw punches at each other… though since we aren't sure where you stand, I won't be throwing any punches at full strength. Though I'll be honest, I'm not sure how well I can regulate my strength."
Serena rolled her neck a few times as she stretched out her arms.
"That's fine. As long as you don't swing at me with the intent to kill, I should be good. Since you're not good with pain, I'll try not to beat your ass too hard."
A small but smug smile gracing her lips, Serena was a little content to see Andrew look a small bit annoyed.
"Ha ha. I lived in a peaceful world, getting hurt was a pretty rare thing… but enough about that, you ready?"
"Sure enough."
Andrew nodded before he rolled his shoulders.
"Alright. When I say go, we start. Got it?"
Serena only nodded her head.
"Alright then… ready… and… go!"
Quick as a bolt, Serena dashed forward with practiced ease, the woman's fight system already kicking in for a brawl. Andrew, expecting that she would be the first to move, was very surprised when she did though. The last time they had squared off, she wasn't near as fast as she was right now. He wasn't sure if it was because she wasn't using a sword or what, but he had some trouble reacting to her, and was punched right in the solar plexus. He felt his lungs stop working for a moment, and just about doubled over in pain, but he realized he had a chance and took a swing at her. Problem was, he threw that fist with too much force and only realized it much to late. However, Serena was able to somewhat react to the blow, but it was still fast enough for her not to dodge it completely, and thus was greeted with Andrews fist directly into her shoulder. It threw her off and actually sent her tumbling to the ground. It hurt, a lot in fact, but it wasn't so bad that it broke anything. She quickly jumped back to her feet ready to take another swing at Andrew, but he was doubled over, trying to not vomit everything he had just eaten not but an hour ago.
Seeing him in this state, Serena dropped out of a combat stance and stood straight, the red head rolling her throbbing shoulder.
"Sorry about that… kinda just went with what felt natural. However, you did get a good hit in. Was that at full strength? It hurt like hell. But I guess I should wait for you to recover before peppering you with more questions."
Though Andrew didn't say anything, he was grateful for Serena's understanding and patience. Thankfully, it didn't take long for him to recover, and before he knew it, they where back at it again. This time, Andrew being much more wary of hits like those before. Thankfully, with a more raised awareness, Andrew was able to put up more of a fight, though the fact he was trying to control his strength was limiting him as well. Thankfully, they had agreed after about 20 or so minutes of combat that they should call it a night as Serena wanted to be fresh and ready to act in the event of anything happening. But not before she wanted to get one more sparring session in, something about how she had an uneven number of wins and that it annoyed her. Thankfully, the original intent behind the training had been able to show them that Serena had in fact been getting stronger, the girl keeping pace with Andrews speed and power, though it had been limited somewhat. Andrew let out a low sigh as he got himself ready, taking a stance he thought felt right to him as an unarmed individual.
Serena was also ready, and with an unspoken signal, the two of them started. Just as all the previous times, Serena dived right in, the woman taking advantage of Andrews passiveness. However, Andrew had come to expect that at this point and was more then willing to meet first punch. Thankfully she had started out with a right hook, something she had been doing the whole time, and lunged forward to evade the blow. Serena hadn't been expecting that, but was quick to change her strategy by sidestepping and backing off to get a little distance. Andrew was still unrefined, and even of she was doing better at keeping up, Serena was still slower and weaker than the male. Andrew tried going in after her, but was surprised when she made a snap decision to bring her leg up and down like an axe kick. What she was not expecting though was for Andrew to react immediately, the man diving in the moment her leg came up and tackling her to the ground. For a moment, Serena was slightly confused about what had just happened, but the weight on her body told her more then enough about what had happened. A moment later and Andrew pushed himself up to look down at the woman under him.
"That looks like my win."
Serena couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed about his smirk, but that quickly became secondary when she noticed how close he had gotten to her and that he was pretty much right on top of her. The proximity he was to her right now left her feeling embarrassed somewhat, and the blush that ignited on her face pretty much gave away what she was thinking at that moment. Andrew noticed the blush and for a moment, was unsure of why. Though it quickly hit him when he thought about how they where currently.
"What's the matter Serena? Feeling hot and bothered?"
"J-just shut up and get off me you moron…"
Despite the words used, her tone was rather meek, causing Andrew to smirk more widely. Instead, he leaned down closer to her instead, the girl getting more flustered.
"I don't think I will. In this position, your kinda at my mercy. Now that I'm here and have you like this, what should I do I wonder…"
Serena tried to get up, but a moment later and she felt Andrew press himself down on her. Granted she was strong, but Andrew had her pinned in a way that made it hard for her to get any leverage in his larger frame. Feeling even more embarrassed about what was going on, Serena started to struggle a little more.
"Come on, get off me, what are you doing here?"
"Cuddle time."
The next moment, she felt Andrew wrap his arms around her and roll over to the side, the girl wrapped up in his arms and thus having no control of what was happening. She felt the warmth of his body on hers, but she wasn't sure of what to do in this scenario, and it got even weirder when Andrew buried his face in her hair and nuzzle there.
"Wha- what are you doing?!"
However, Andrew didn't say anything, simply keeping Serena close. He wasn't crushing her, but he wasn't letting go, and it really was just confusing the girl, though she was willing to admit that she was enjoying the physical contact. This was all that they did for the next few minutes, though it came to an end when Andrew spoke up and loosened his grip.
"I'll be honest actually. I may have fibbed a little earlier when I said I wasn't annoyed."
"Huh?" Was all the red head said. She pulled away for a moment only to see that Andrew had a small blush of his own on his face.
"About What you had talked about earlier. I may have felt annoyed at it. Don't confuse that for some ego on my part though. I'm happy you came to understand your feelings a little more and that you got a good handle on what your going through… but at the same time, I feel maybe kinda annoyed at the fact that you didn't perhaps come to me to help you out. But at the same time, I have a slightly sneaking suspicion that I'm part of the reason in the first place. If I'm wrong, please correct me since I don't want to sound like some egotistical asshole."
It took the red head a moment to process what he had said, but she came to a quick understanding when she played his words over in her mind. Now she was even more red, and she pushed on his chest in some small desperation to get away from him and what she was afraid he had figured out.
"I…I have no idea what your talking about! And even if I did know, I wouldn't readily admit it anyway!"
Andrew chuckled to himself to hear such a tsundere response, but he didn't push the matter.
"I see… well… just to set the record straight… in our group, I like everybody. Take that 'like' as you will."
Serena didn't need to think about that at all, the implications in his words clear enough for her to get it. Where she had been upset, she now felt… relived. Happy, and also very stunned.
"… I see…"
Was all she really said, though she had stopped trying to push him away at the moment, her mind kinda running in circles at the moment with this new information. They stayed that way for a few more minutes, Andrew letting Serena think things over while he simply waited patiently. However, the sound of the fire making a particularly loud crackle forced him to remember that they where currently on watch.
"Well… as fun as cuddle time is, I think we should get back to keeping an eye out… plus, the fire is starting to get low."
Without another word, Andrew let go of Serena
Without another word, Andrew let go of Serena and helped her to her feet before they both made their way back to the campfire. However, throughout the rest of the shift, Andrew noted on how timid Serena seemed to be along with the stares she would give him on occasion. This continued on even when the next group woke up to relive them from guard duty even until they both went to bed in the tent. Needless to say, it was easy to see that things in the near future where sure to get interesting for everyone involved…
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I plan on trying to get the next chapter out as soon as I can, but we'll see if life allows for it.