Chapter 25 – Passion Validated

"So, what are you going to name it, Boss?" Maria asked, looking at the dragon in Reina's arms.

"I don't know." With Maria's joke out of the way, Reina really wanted to think up a name. "Should I base it off of something from folklore, or closer to something from a game?"

"Actually, is it a boy or a girl?" Maria looked over the dragon, her eyes trailing up until they met Reina's.

At once, both of them looked away.

"I-I'll check." Reina stuttered out. She had a feeling these types of interactions would happen for a bit.

Despite its grip on her, Reina was able to pull the baby dragon back and give it a look. It felt a bit weird, sure, but it was important to know. However, what she saw didn't help that much.

Where she assumed she'd find one set or the other was a small flap.

"Um…a girl?" Reina guessed.

"Here." Vyrdrun reached over and held the dragon by the back of its neck. Reina couldn't quite call it the 'scruff' of its neck, since there wasn't any fur, but the scaly skin acted in about the same way.

"Gau?" The dragon let out a noise of confusion. It tilted its head a bit at Vyrdrun, but didn't react beyond that.

Vyrdrun brought forward his other hand, sliding it over the dragon's belly. His thumb went lower, and then…

"!?" Reina immediately turned away, her face heating up rapidly.

"It is male." Vyrdrun stated, setting the baby dragon on the bed again. He wasted no time hobbling back over to Reina for attention.

"I mean, it's not like we could have asked him what he was, but still!"

"Well, that was…something." Maria looked to be in a similar position to her.

No one wants to get an up close and personal view of dragon anatomy, especially after what Reina and Maria just did.

"So, um, let me see. Fafnir, Bahamut, Tiamat…" In any case, she still needed a name for him. The ones that came to mind were from works of fiction, mostly her old game. Her gaming group didn't do much with dragons unless it was a premade adventure, so there wasn't too much to draw from there.

"Hmmm. Dragons like hording wealth and are prideful, so maybe a name that matches? But, I don't want to say a mouthful every time I call to him. Something that can be shortened?"

Reina hummed in thought.

"I could go for something simple to start with. He's a black dragon. Dragons are kind of like royalty among monsters, at least in fiction. King, prince, lord…oh!"

There was a name that came to mind.

"Kuromo." Reina said, looking the dragon in the eyes. "You're name is Kuromo."

"Gau!" The dragon seemed to like the name, so that settled that.

"Hm." Maria tapped her chin. "I like it!"

Reina was rather pleased to hear that. Admittedly, the name was kind of lazy. She took the color of his scales, black, or kuro, and combined it with lord, omo.

Kuromo. Black Lord.

"Well, it's better than the alternative. I almost named him Maximillian. Don't want him challenging people to a card game to steal their souls or anything."

With his name out of the way, Reina absorbed the broken egg from the bed.

Monster Egg Totem
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: cooking 2

Monster User Totem II
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: monster status adjustment (small)

Just from that, she got two weapon forms. Cooking 2 filled in the space between the other two cooking skills she got, being 1 and 3. It didn't seem like there was anything wrong with getting them out of order, just the bonus amount they provided.

As for the Monster User Totem II, she got the first one from the extra salve used to draw the seal on the egg in the first place. That one gave a maturation bonus, so the dragon would mature more quickly. According to the monster tamer, monsters would grow as they leveled up. They could grow with age, but leveling was much faster.

There was a non-insignificant part of Reina that was excited to ride on the back of a dragon.

The group got dressed in their clothes and armor for the day and went down for breakfast. The second the smell of food reached Reina's nose, she realized how hungry she was. Having this spirit contract would take some getting used to.

Food was purchased and they sat down to eat. Vyrdrun sat on the ground on the opposite side as the rest. Porridge was the meal of choice this morning, though Reina and Maria had a much larger amount. There was a bowl for Kuromo as well, since dragons were omnivore and could eat just about anything.

Kuromo sat on Reina's lap, giving his tiny wings an excited flap. Smiling, Reina moved a bowl closer to him. However, Vyrdrun reached over the table and placed his hand in front of the bowl, stopping her.

"You eat first." He said.

"Huh?" Reina looked over at him.

"Feed yourself before feeding monsters under you. It will show you are the pack leader. You are in charge, you get the largest meals, and you get first pick of the spoils." Vyrdrun kept his eyes on Reina as he spoke.

Reina simply continued looking at him.

"What?" He asked, unmoving.

"I just…didn't realize you knew so much about monsters." Reina said as she took a bite of her own food.

Nodding, Vyrdrun pulled his hand back. "A druid from my tribe taught me some when I expressed interest. We do not have the right magic to compel monsters as thoroughly as humans do, so we rely on other means."

Reina had asked the monster tamer a bit about that. Enchanted collars were used for grown monsters, similar to enslaved people. They required a key to be removed, though she was sure Vyrdrun could disable the magic in them. The salve could be used on monster eggs, but not already born monsters. It was something about imprinting the magic into an unborn body.

It wasn't perfect, since the seal could get removed, but it was more difficult than breaking a collar, and much more reliable. Both could be used to issue commands and provide information, like what Reina saw in her status when Kuromo hatched.

"A rancher would probably say something similar." Maria chimed in. "Unless it's being trained for combat or a specific task, most monsters won't have a seal placed on their egg. It can be pretty expensive."

When she thought of the 200 simoleons she spent on Kuromo's seal, Reina had to agree.

"Did she raise monsters to fight?" Reina asked, taking another bite.

Vyrdrun shook his head. "Hunting and tracking. Most monsters we could pen and tame would be too weak to fight, and stronger ones would eat far too much food for our village to sustain."

That was indeed a problem for small villages that didn't seem to do a lot of farming. The village of the Stony Hills tribe in Gathana didn't have the flat land needed for large-scale farming, though there were gardens for herbs and smaller crops.

"Do you have any tips for raising a dragon?" Reina asked. She knew it was a longshot, since she hadn't seen any other dragons around.

"Mostly what I said before." Vyrdrun said. "Take care not to spoil him with treats and gifts or he might come to expect them. Dragons are strong, so you must show you are stronger. Commands must be followed, and punishments given for disobedience."

It sounded pretty similar to raising a pet, or even…

"Gau!" Kuromo shifted in Reina's lap, reaching his claw toward her face. "Gau!"

"What is it?" Reina asked, petting his head. He nuzzled into her hand, giving off a growly purr.

"Physical affection is fine as well." Vyrdrun added. "He is yours, and to a lesser extent you are his. He may be overly protective of you."

"Oh my~!" Maria slid her hand over Reina's shoulder. "I think he might be a mama's boy—"

Once again, a particular conversation about raising a child came to mind. Reina squeezed the baby dragon to her chest, trying to force the thought from her mind. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Maria turned in the opposite direction.

"Ow!" The warmth on Reina's shoulder disappeared. Maria held one hand in the other, a bleeding wound on the back of it.

"Hey!" Immediately knowing the culprit, Reina held Kuromo up from her lap and stared him in the eyes. "Don't bite Maria!"

"Gau…" The dragon dipped its head down in a pout.

"Good. He knows what he did was wrong. Or, he doesn't like that I'm mad at him." As embarrassing as the thought was, Reina was something like a mom to him. Dragons are more intelligent than other monsters, according to the monster tamer.

"Are you okay?" Content with her scolding, Reina turned to Maria.

"It's not that deep." Maria said, looking over her wound. Her eyes turned to Reina with a mischievous twinkle in them. "But if you want, you could kiss it to make it…"

She couldn't even finish her sentence. Her face turned red so fast it was like their roles in this situation were reversed.

Maria shielded her face with her other hand as she turned to the side. "I'll just heal it…" She whispered.

Reina could already tell it was going to be a long day of feeling conscious of one another.

~Forging Legends~

Strictly speaking, there was nothing more they needed to do before returning to the capital. The prospect of hunting monsters did, however, sound appealing. First off, it would give them more XP, possibly raising their levels before the Wave. It would also allow Reina to reveal a few more weapon forms, depending on what they found. Secondly—though, really, same as the first—it would give levels to Kuromo.

Reina didn't want to bring the baby dragon to the Wave while he was level 1. Truthfully, she didn't want to bring him even with however many levels he gained today. The last Wave wasn't particularly dangerous for them, not even the boss, but it wasn't a place to bring a low level person or monster. On the flip side, the three of them gained so many levels during the Wave, it would be too beneficial not to bring Kuromo.

Thus, level grinding was needed. They traveled off-road in the cart toward an area known to have monsters. The smaller chapter of the Adventurers Guild in town gave them the information.

And, of course, Reina needed to not pretend this morning didn't happen. She held herself together well enough during breakfast, but that clearly wasn't going to last. A baby dragon sitting in her lap was a good way to avoid further acts of that nature, but it was a temporary solution.

So, in the name of clearing the air, Reina decided to speak with Maria.

"Hey, so, does having a contract with the Fire Spirit affect your mind?" Reina asked.

"A little." Maria nodded. "More like, it nudges you toward what your passions are. The stronger you feel about something, the greater the push."

"Like, for example, the beautiful woman sitting next to me." Reina thought, shifting in her seat.

Thinking about it, while the desire to touch her was increased after making the contract, it wasn't overwhelming. Reina couldn't say the same about her subconscious, which took it upon itself to fondle the woman's breasts while one or both of them were asleep.

"You thinking about something naughty, Boss~?" Maria leaned close to her. It didn't last long enough for Reina to react, since Maria immediately straightened back up with her eyes forward.

What happened this morning was clearly at the front of her mind as well.

"Spell outlines." Reina swiftly changed the topic while she petted Kuromo in her lap. "How does using them work? I remember you explained it a few weeks ago also, but I don't remember too much about it from then."

"Hmmm." Maria tapped her chin, her face starting to cool off. "Well, the easiest way I can explain it is like baking. Having a contract is like having a recipe and all the ingredients, whereas only having the outline is just the recipe. You might be able to find the right ingredients, or ones that are close enough, and make something similar. With the Fire Spirit, it's like having a whole list of ingredients and how they would act. I guess that's not entirely accurate, but that's about as close as I can explain it with this analogy."

"No, that helps." Reina said. It gave her a few ideas, adding to what she learned yesterday. "So just because I got the Fire Attribute doesn't necessarily mean the spells I make will create a fire, right?"

"Exactly. They can even have the opposite effect, like Fire Resistance." Maria said, bringing up a spell she used during the last Wave.

"So the limit of what kind of unique spells you can make with outlines is pretty big. I see." Reina held her chin in thought.

"Ah ha, well, yes…" Maria looked off to the side.

"What is it?" Reina asked.

"Well…I was thinking I'd give you a demonstration of one of my unique spells. It was something Iru had me do to show my progress, but…" Maria trailed off.

"Is it dangerous or something?" Reina asked.

"Well, no, but…I'll just show you."

Maria closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Vyrdrun looked over at her, possibly sensing the buildup of magic. It didn't take a long time, about 10 seconds, so it would be difficult to use in the heat of battle.

With her hand extended, Maria opened her eyes and shouted. "Column of Fire!"

Reina looked ahead to observe the awesome display of magic. All her spells had been really quick to cast, so this one must have been even more powerful. Only, there was nothing to see.

"What did you do?" Reina asked, turning back to Maria.

The wizard pulled her hat down over her eyes and pointed slightly forward. Reina tried to find what it was she was pointing at, but nothing really stuck out. There were trees not too far away, but that was about…

"Did you…turn the leaves of that tree red?" Reina asked incredulously.

"Yeah…" Maria nodded.

Reina stared at the tree as they passed it by, the color slowly returning to green. "That's…neat."

"It's a big deal!" Maria defended herself, though the look on her face said otherwise. "It's easy to do something like that with Prestidigitation, but I did that only with the outline from the Fire Spirit! Even Archmage Mirdon started using that in his duels!"

"Okay, okay." Reina held up her hand, doing her best not to laugh. She supposed changing the color of something with fire wasn't exactly easy, unless it was burned black. "Wait, duels?"

Maria pursed her lips, as if trying to take back her words. "Okay, so, he's a friend of Iru—"

"Ah." Reina already had all the information she needed, but Maria continued.

"And sometimes they have duels with these incredibly dumb spells they made with different outlines. Like, really dumb spells. Avalanche of Inconvenience, Nose Wind of the North, River of Blood, and so on."

"That last one doesn't sound dumb." Reina pointed out.

In response, Maria sighed and started to focus again.

"River of Blood!" She finished her spell and pointed to the ground ahead of them, shooting a bullet of light at it. In an instant, a green stem sprouted from the ground. Large petals encircled the top of it with the center completely forming soon after. In the center…was the face of a cow.

"Moo…"

Reina blink.

"What?" She turned to the wizard.

"Are you confused?" Maria asked, a dead look in her eyes.

"Yes?" Reina slowly nodded.

"Then you lost the duel."

The cart continued to roll along, the mooing flower being crushed underneath the hooves of the nipeigh pulling it.

Maria slumped in her seat. "Archmage Mirdon is an excessively powerful wizard, yet he spends his free time making these ridiculous spells. If he didn't make Power Beam and Serpentis Limbus, I doubt anyone would take him seriously."

The stock value of archmages was plummeting in Reina's mind. Two out of the three she knew of did these weird things, while the third one was the Demon Lord. That's what Alister said, anyway, and Derdir seemed powerful enough to qualify. Power Beam seemed like a pretty self-explanatory spell. For the second one…Reina didn't know if it was her weapon's translation feature or not, but it sounded like…

"What does the second spell do?" Reina opted to ask.

"It turns the target's arms into snakes, which proceed to bite, poison, and eventually swallow whole the target." Maria shivered as she explained. "I heard he's used that in executions for Keston."

Reina felt her skin crawl at that. "How does that even work?"

"I mean, their arms would be made of snakes, Boss." Maria answered without a hint of sarcasm.

"I mean…alright." Reina decided it wouldn't be worth pursuing this line of questioning. She also decided not to bother meeting any more archmages. If nothing else, this conversation helped to make things just a little less awkward between the two of them.

~Forging Legends~

The rest of the day was spent hunting monsters. A lot of monsters. Aside from their time in the forest with giant insects, Reina hadn't fought so many monsters one after another.

Krindar seemed to live in a wide area, since they were here as well as all the way back in Lespax. Keston also had a variation that was weaker and slower, but spat out poison. There were also more forest dolls and a new giant doll, though it was only slightly taller than Maria.

Poison Krindar Athame
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: poison resistance (medium)

Giant Doll Totem
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: strength 5

If the insect forest had giant spiders and centipedes and such, then this area had giant animals. There were only two they came across: dire wolves and dire boars. They were a bit bigger than the nipeigh and looked like oversized versions of their animal counterparts with a few scales or extra fangs, or larger fangs and claws. Really, they were monsters straight from her tabletop games with her old group. They weren't particularly strong and the weapon forms revealed from both the whole body and dissected parts only increased stats, but the amount was higher than from the insects.

One other monster of note was an owlbear. Literally, an owlbear, another creature straight out of the monster book of her game. It stood on its hind legs like a bear, its arms covered in feathers and ending in sharp claws, and its face had a vicious beak on it. Pictures in a book didn't do it justice. The thing looked scary.

Of course, that didn't mean it actually was.

With her flaming zombie spirit, Reina had the monster backing up during the whole short fight. Any attacks that landed on her spirit did little damage and caused burns on the owlbear. The forged spirit's own attacks left severe burns on its flesh as flaming fists broke bones.

By the end of it, Reina didn't feel like it was much of a fight, but Vyrdrun's comment was a real eye opener.

"I've heard of these creatures. A level 20 Gromnar would have some difficulty fighting one alone."

Gromnar stats were higher than humans. Reina didn't know the exact numbers and growth, but from what she heard a Gromnar of that level could fight evenly with a human at level 40, assuming the human had level-appropriate equipment. And yet, she just beat one like it wasn't a big deal. Vyrdrun and Maria didn't even need to participate.

It did make a certain amount of sense. Reina's level grew to 37, same as Maria. Vyrdrun was at 38 and Kuromo jumped up to 14.

As Kuromo leveled up, his appetite grew. That, too, presented a problem. While it was fine to let him eat the monsters he killed—after absorbing them for the tokens and spitting them back out—he was still hungry for more. It was rather impressive, really. However, she couldn't just give him the dead monsters. She needed to…show she was pack leader, as Vyrdrun put it.

Luckily, there was a workaround. Taking the time to drain the bodies of blood and cook them would have severely slowed them down. Taking a quick bite and then allowing Kuromo to eat was perfectly fine. Since Reina couldn't very well eat raw meat, Vyrdrun took on the task.

Fun fact about Gromnar: they can eat raw meat. Cooking it makes the nutrients easier to absorb for them, removes potential parasites and harmful bacteria, and just makes it taste better. Though, since Gromnar can apparently eat raw meat, Reina had to wonder how sophisticated Vyrdrun's palate actually was.

Nevertheless, Vyrdrun was able to act in Reina's stead. She had to wonder how much of it was necessary, but time would tell.

"Wow. That's a lot of blood." Maria observed. They were in agreement on that, which was why both of them stayed clear whenever Kuromo tore into a corpse.

Reina was able to get a few forms from the monster, but only the one from the entire creature gave her something other than stats.

Owlbear Drum
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: Forge "Claws"
Equip Effect: Aura of Greatness

The Forge ability was straightforward. It gave her spirit a set of claws in place of hands that could tear into enemies. It was almost like giving her forged spirit a weapon, since it did more damage. What's more, it could be used with Flaming Fists for a nasty combo.

The effect was also really good. It increased the attack stat of everyone in her party with no cost. It was a by a decent amount, too. The downside was that the range was about 10 feet, though it did emanate from both her and the forged spirit. Being in range of both gave the full bonus while being near only her or the spirit granted half. Plus, the attack stat on the weapon wasn't too good, so that reduced her spirit's attack much further than the aura's bonus increased it. Using this weapon would depend on the situation.

In between fights, Reina tried speaking with Maria here and there. Mostly, it was asking about things from her past.

"How long did you study under Iru?" She'd asked.

"For a bit." Maria had answered.

When she probed her for more information, she got basically the same result.

"Is this connected to what you can't tell me yet?" Reina ventured a guess, receiving a slight nod in response. "Okay."

Most of their talks were like that before being cut short. Reina wasn't giving up, she just couldn't look at Maria for long periods yet. Every time she did, the memory of this morning flashed in her mind.

~Forging Legends~

That sequence continued on as they drew closer to the capital, and as the sun continued to lower. By the time night was nearly upon them, they passed through the gatehouse into the city. Taverns near the gate were filled with rowdy workers and adventurers after a long day's work.

By the end of it, Reina and Maria were at level 38, Vyrdrun at 39, and Kuromo at 17. Their equipment was already in order, Vyrdrun getting new weapon from the owlbear. This time it was a war hammer, one suited to Vyrdrun's size. The shaft was long enough that he would be able to strike smaller opponents easily enough and he knew enough about bludgeoning weapons to make good use of it. He still had the fire spear from the last Wave boss, but this was a good backup weapon.

All that was left was to reach the church and rest of the night.

"Excuse me!" A voice called out. "Excuse me, Madam. Are you the Spirit Forger?"

A man in simple clothes approached the cart with his hand raised.

"I am." Reina pulled on the reins, bringing the nipeigh to a stop.

The man smiled as he bowed. "I'm glad I was able to find you. My master wishes to discuss the Waves with you, but it is already late. If it's permissible, can he speak with you tomorrow before the Wave?"

Reina hummed as she looked down at the man. There would be plenty of time before the Wave, since it would start a little before noon. That wasn't the problem. Even if it was, the churches were providing soldiers for the Wave. There wasn't even a call for adventurers to come along, though it wasn't like they weren't allowed to participate. Bishop Valais just said there was no need with all the templars. Given what the monsters were like in Lespax's Wave, Reina couldn't disagree. It wasn't as if any adventurers had volunteered to be transported back then.

No, the problem was what she spotted around the man's neck.

"Who is your master?" Reina asked evenly.

"Ah, forgive me." The man quickly bowed again. "My master is Esquire Grimwald of Hascain."

"Please don't bow." Reina repressed a sigh.

There was a bit of a moral issue with his request. On the one hand, Hascain had a Dragon Hourglass, so this Grimwald likely wanted to talk about going to his country and registering to it. That was perfectly acceptable, but the fact that the man who wanted to speak with her about it owned slaves wasn't.

The collar around his neck was a dead giveaway. If this was who they wanted to have talk with her, she didn't have high hopes for that country. Then again, she didn't really expect anything good from Keston and their experience here so far has been well enough.

"We'll be at the Cathedral of Unity before the Wave. I'll meet your…master then." Reina tried to reign in her displeasure at the situation. Ultimately, she wasn't going to refuse helping the people there. She knew slavery existed basically everywhere here, she just wasn't used to seeing it so close.

Besides, if she did refuse, Grimwald might very well take his anger out on his slave. She had no idea what he was like, though she did see this man had no visible bruises. It wasn't as if he was dressed in rags, either.

"Thank you, Madam!" The man started to bow, but seemed to think better of it. "I will relay this to my master. Farewell."

He ran down the street, leaving the four of them to continue on.

She didn't know what would come of that, but that was a problem for Tomorrow Reina.

~Forging Legends~

At long last, after a day of traveling, monster hunting, and scarce conversation, they returned to their room at the Violet Storm Church.

Now, the only thing left to do for the day…was to figure out how to sleep in the same bed again.

"Hey, Maria…" Reina began, holding Kuromo close to her chest. She started speaking without thinking, realizing she didn't know what to say next.

"What is it, Boss?" Maria looked over at her.

"Um…" She knew this was coming but couldn't think of how to approach it. The fact that she had an audience in the form of Vyrdrun didn't help any.

"About this morning…" Reina tried to get herself to speak. It wasn't going to be easy, but this was something that needed to be done.

"I will be back." Before she could formulate her absent thoughts, Vyrdrun spoke.

"Huh?" Reina looked at him as he approached her.

"Gau?" Kuromo gave a startled cry as Vyrdrun plucked him from Reina's arms by the back of his neck.

"I need to water the dragon." Vyrdrun stated simply.

"You…what?" Reina turned as Vyrdrun walked up to the door.

"Dragons need to be watered. I will do so and return after a while." As he opened the door, he looked Reina in the eye. Slowly, his left eyelid closed and opened again.

"Was that a wink?" The action was so strange, Reina could barely process it.

"W-Wait, Vyrdrun!" She did, however, see he was already out of the room. "Don't leave me alone with her! I'm going to attack her!"

Despite willing her thoughts at him strongly, the door closed with a heavy thud. His heavy footsteps echoed softly as he went down the hall, leaving the two women alone.

She wasn't going to jump Maria right away. She did have some self-control, though this morning brought that into question. If Vyrdrun and Kuromo weren't around all day, she wondered how long it would have lasted. And now she was about to find out.

"He's really quite considerate~." Maria voiced her own thoughts.

"At the worst possible time!" Reina wanted to counter.

In truth, she was glad she had the opportunity to clear the air with Maria alone. She just didn't think it would happen this quickly with no obstacles.

"Boss…" The shift in tone from the woman behind her made Reina sweat. "We need to talk."

Reina did her best to hide her trembling. Was this it? Was doing what she did this morning too much? After telling Maria she'd wait, she went ahead and did…that to her?

Slowly, Reina turned around. Her beautiful wizard stood there, hat pulled down to cover her face. Reina could still make out a few things from her vantage point, namely Maria biting her lower lip.

She really didn't know what to say now.

"Boss…" Maria began, and Reina braced herself. "I'm sorry."

This was it. Their short-lived relationship was at an end. Reina gripped her armored skirt, waiting for Maria to continue.

"I went too far yesterday."

The words from Maria shocked Reina. Too far? If anything, Reina was the one who overstepped this morning.

"I might have flirted a bit too much with you, especially with you contracting with the Fire Spirit. I know it can make people a bit more…aggressive in certain ways, depending on what they're passionate about."

Maria let out a sigh before continuing. "I admit that I used that. I thought that maybe if we went a little further, I'd have the courage to tell you more. I actually thought about being more aggressive after you told me to sleep with you the other day."

She let go of her hat to look straight at Reina, a frown on her face. "Sorry. I know I get a little carried away at times with messing with you, but…I'm actually having trouble slowing down. I really want to do these things with you, but then I think about what I'm not telling you. I know you want to get to know me better first, and it's not fair for me to keep stuff from you while wanting to be close to you, and—"

Whatever she was going to say next died on her lips.

Reina quickly closed the distance and silenced Maria's lips with her own. Her arms were wrapped tightly around the woman's lower back. With her eyes closed, Reina couldn't see Maria's expression, but the woman quickly returned the gesture, followed by her arms wrapping themselves around Reina's shoulders.

"I'm an idiot." Reina realized. It felt even more apparent with their bodies, and lips, locked together.

Yes, Reina wanted to know more about Maria, but that shouldn't be a limit on what they can do. They already started this part of their relationship backwards. Trying to rearrange it that much just because Reina thought that was how things were supposed to progress wasn't necessarily the right way.

Maria seemed to agree with that. In fact, her approach seemed to be the opposite of Reina's. While Reina restrained herself to not pressure Maria before she was ready, Maria actively put them in these situations to try and force herself to open up.

Such a silly misunderstanding. It was probably because neither one of them had been in a relationship before, and therefore didn't know what to do. They could chose to do this however they wanted. They were both adults. Well, one was, but the other was close enough.

Reina pulled her mouth away from Maria, causing the older woman to breathe out heavily. She didn't take a step back, nor remove her arms from behind Maria.

"You're a flirt." Reina said, smiling up at the woman in question. "You love to tease me and make provocative suggestions. You're smart and fun and beautiful. You've traveled around the world, learned a lot about it and magic, and know multiple language as well. Oh, and you get adorably meek when I make the first move."

Before Maria could respond—outside of a deepening blush—Reina gave her another quick kiss. "I already know so much about you. Don't feel like you have to tell me more just yet. It can wait until later. Sorry I got hung up on that."

Knowing about Maria's past would be nice, but it wasn't necessary at the moment.

"Wow. I may get good grades, but I'm kind of dumb." Reina had only ever been on the one date, and she liked Maria enough to ask, even in that burned-out state. "Maybe Crazy Reina is smarter than me. Same with Sleep Deprived Reina, since she hired Maria in the first place."

"You sure, Boss?" The look on Maria's face said she already knew the answer, or at least really wanted one specific answer.

Reina gave it to her, pressing their lips together again. Her hand slid up to the back of Maria's head, sifting through her hair. That long, soft hair.

Maria stiffened slightly, but soon returned the gesture. With Reina's hair in its usual braid, she didn't have as much to work with. Her bare shoulders were as good a place as any. Reina didn't really care where Maria put her hands, as long as she was touching her.

Feeling a bit adventurous, Reina tried something she'd heard her classmates were doing. It was simple enough. All she had to do was open her mouth just a little more, and…

"Mph!" The reaction from Maria told her she did it right. Her tongue briefly circled around Maria's lips before dipping into her mouth. Maria matched her pace with only the briefest hesitation.

"Oh god, how is this so good?" If that kiss from the date was wonderful, this was indescribable.

How long were they like that? Reina hadn't the foggiest idea. All she knew was it was long enough that they found themselves on the bed. Maria straddled Reina, her legs on either side of Reina's hips. One was completely unhidden by her dress and was being caressed by Reina's hand.

"Boss…" Maria breathed out, pulling herself back. She looked down at Reina, whose back was against the bed.

"I hope that answered your question." Reina smiled up at her.

Maria's hand slid across Reina's face. "It did."

The two continued to look at one another, neither moving to continue.

"Done already?" Reina smirked.

"Haha…" Maria gave a nervous laugh. "I'm not really sure where to go from here."

"Well, you could always kiss me again~."

Maria blushed further. "What about after?"

"Bed, I guess." Reina moved her hand up and down Maria's leg, earning a shiver. "Though I'm a little afraid we'll end up the same way as this morning. I…suppose I could handle going to sleep with my hands tied."

It wasn't as if she needed her hands to fight if anything happened during the night.

"O-Oh, Boss!" Maria leaned back, fanning her very heated face. "I didn't realize you were interested in such things~!"

"Hm?" She hadn't meant it like that, and Maria certainly knew it, but a thought occurred to her.

Reina reached up and grabbed Maria's arms. Thanks to her strength, it was easy enough to flip her over. In one swift motion, Reina switched positions with Maria.

She looked down at her, violet hair splayed on the bed. It very much reminded Reina of this morning. Except, her hands remained on Maria's arms, kept above her head against the bed.

Reina had to admit, she wasn't expecting this. All of this was out of her expectations, but that's not what she meant. The timid look on the woman beneath her looked so…intoxicating.

She never experienced something like this before. Having someone under her control like this, the excitement that she could do whatever she wanted and Maria would let her…well, she didn't know that, but it felt true in this moment.

"Maybe…we should stop for tonight." Reina found herself saying. She wanted to continue, of course, but she was a bit worried where that train of thought was taking her.

"Y-Yeah…" Maria nodded, moving her arms to her chest once they were released.

Reina moved to the side, letting Maria sit up. "Did I go too far…again?"

"N-No, no!" Shaking her head vigorously, Maria leaned toward Reina. "I just wasn't expecting it to…"

Her voice dropped down low. Reina wasn't sure, but the last words sounded like "feel so right."

Reina's concerns about pushing Maria too far were a thing of the past. Now, the new concern of pushing Maria too far occupied her mind. The difference? How far Reina wanted to push.

Fortunately, she was sure she could find a deterrent to doing anything even remotely what she was thinking of. That deterrent's name was Vyrdrun. Speaking of…

"We should probably go get Vyrdrun." Reina said. He and Kuromo had been out of the room for a while now, probably.

"Ahem." The voice from the door made Reina want to curl up and hide.

When she slowly looked over, she saw the heavy door was cracked slightly. Reina could barely see a bit of his armor through the crack. From his position, he looked to be sitting almost against the door. She supposed she should be thankful he wasn't just standing there and watching, but this wasn't much better.

"How long have you been there?!" Reina shouted.

The Gromnar stood and pushed open the door, Kuromo resting in his other arm. "A little before you two got on the bed. You didn't hear me knock or come in, so I waited outside for you to finish."

"Vyrdrun, you're the best!" Mortification aside, Reina was glad they weren't interrupted. Technically they were, but they didn't stop. It was somewhat worrying. It was also worrying that she had no idea how long she and Maria spent kissing.

Actually, Reina had other things to worry about, like the fact that she apparently had such a dominant trait she never knew about. Not stopping their physical closeness was one thing, but jumping to something like that…Maybe being called 'boss' so much was doing something to her. She should tell Maria to stop…except she found she liked hearing that when they were kissing…

Clearing her throat, Reina decided to file that away for now, too. "Thank you for, uh, letting us work things out."

"I assumed you would want to speak privately at some point. I can understand some human interactions." That was debatable, but Reina wasn't about to voice that. "I also received some advice from a few old humans in the sauna. They suggested I give you two time to yourselves every so often."

"Is that where you learned to wink?" Maria asked from her spot on the bed.

Vyrdrun nodded. "They said to make an excuse and wink, which would show I understand the situation."

Going to that town was clearly the best decision Reina made so far. The spirit contracts, getting closer to Maria, and Vyrdrun learning a bit more about humans. It was a good trip.

"By the way," Vyrdrun set Kuromo on the bed, letting him bound over to Reina, "the dragon was quite well behaved. A treat would be good."

"Gau!" Kuromo agreed wholeheartedly with that suggestion, placing his claws on Reina's chest and looking at her with wide eyes.

"Such a good boy." Reina smiled, retrieving her weapon from her hip and pulling one of the uneaten krindar corpses, letting it fall to the ground.

"Gau!" Kuromo leapt down and dug in immediately. It would almost be cute, if not for the amount of blood he was getting around his mouth.

Vyrdrun moved to his mat, sitting down. "By the way, I've had time to think. Your reaction this morning to being reminded of my presence was…excessive. If you were doing something other than grabbing Maria's chest, I might understand—"

"You ruined it!" Reina fell back onto the bed, clutching her head.

Vyrdrun simply tilted his head to the side as Maria laughed.

"Well, you were grabbing at me like a possessed man~." Maria decided to jump in.

"Stop!" Reina lay on her side, trying to make herself smaller.

Embarrassment aside, it was good to clear the air with Maria. With the Wave tomorrow, Reina had one less thing to worry about.

Author's Notes:

Next chapter is the Wave. Oh, and I guess Reina and Maria were making out or something. Wonder who put that in here~.