by Dante King
Was she? Did her new weapon form mean that sweet little Anna got off on creating carnage? I didn’t really care—if fighting made her horny, that meant the two of us would work even better together on and off the field.
“Me too,” I groaned, giving her ass a squeeze. Her transformation hadn’t stopped with some horns and pointy ears—her rear was even rounder and fuller than before, the kind of booty that stopped men in their tracks. I wanted to see what it looked like from behind while I took her. “You think Hazel would mind if we disappeared behind a tree for a few minutes?”
“Hazel would mind,” Hazel said in an irritated tone. “I didn’t burn a Healing Pill on you just so you could have sex while I’m getting my hands dirty, Eric.”
Fair enough, I thought. “Raincheck,” I whispered, giving Anna’s ass another hearty slap.
“Definitely,” she purred against my ear. “As soon as we can get away from Miss Wet Blanket over there.”
“I heard that,” Hazel growled. She was elbow-deep in the monster’s innards, searching for something within the Marsh Croc’s guts. Finally, she let out a noise of triumph, pulling something loose from inside the beast. The item in her hands looked suspiciously small, almost lost in the blood and gore coating her fingers.
“That’s what you were looking for?” I asked, cocking my head over her shoulder. “Fuck, talk about a needle in a haystack.”
Hazel held the tiny treasure to her chest, clutching it gently. It looked almost like the pip in the center of a peach, pitted on one side. Despite the blood, I could make out a wood grain pattern across its surface, like an expensive piece of mahogany. Wood, I thought with a little nod. The creature’s spells were wood-aligned, so it makes sense that whatever this is should take the form of the same element.
“Normally, this Beast Core would be the property of the Hollow Frog Guild,” Hazel said, looking from the fist-sized bead to me. “But had I been forced to fight the Marsh Croc without your help, it would certainly have killed me. I owe you my life, Eric—and because of that, I owe you this Core, as well. Take it.”
I opened my hand. She placed the Beast Core on my palm, leaving a few droplets of blood behind. As soon as the strange treasure touched my skin, it began to glow, thrumming in time with the Black Core inside my body. Both objects pulsed with energy, like batteries just waiting to be used.
“Cool,” I said, wrapping my fingers around the Core.
Hazel wiped the blood from her knife and put it away.
“So what do I do with it?” I asked as I stared at the Core.
Hazel’s eyebrows shot all the way to her hairline. “You don’t know?”
I shook my head. “Not a clue.”
She looked like she didn’t believe me. “You are Early Core Formation,” she said, slowly shaking her head back and forth, “and you don’t know what to do with a Beast Core? I can hardly believe that. For someone to reach that level without absorbing a single Beast Core, they would have to be hundreds of years old!”
“Well, I’m not,” I said with a chuckle. “I’m only a couple weeks past my twenty-second birthday. Barely old enough to drink. Look, Eliezer didn’t explain very much of this to me before he sent me here. I’m kind of new at this whole cultivation thing.”
Hazel’s eyes narrowed. “Ah yes. Eliezer. The Peak Supreme God.”
“Exactly!” I was glad we were finally getting somewhere.
Hazel turned and spit into the overgrowth, an outraged look on her gorgeous face. “Why do you persist in lying to me, Eric?”
I sighed and rolled my eyes. Next to me, Anna did much the same. “I’m not lying to you,” I said, gesturing at the overturned and butchered corpse of the Marsh Croc. “I don’t know how I can possibly make that any more clear to you! Did I look like I understood what I was doing when we fought that thing?”
Her gaze slowly turned to Anna. “You wielded your weapon like a long-practiced master,” the blonde grumbled, giving Anna the stink-eye. “Yet you did not know what I meant by Comprehension of Wood.” She squared her shoulders, crossing her arms beneath her ample breasts. “One more chance. Which Guild or Clan are you from?”
I really couldn’t think of an answer. Anna and I shared a look, and she shrugged.
“Um...the Hyde Clan?”
Hazel threw up her hands. “Forget it!” she snarled, turning away from the beast. Evidently the Beast Core was the only true treasure to be found here—she’d left the rest of the monster to rot. “I’m taking you both to Guildmaster Ji.”
“That’s fine with me,” I countered. “Maybe he’ll believe me when I tell him about Eliezer.”
Hazel clearly did not share my sentiment. “You may lie to me,” she said, stomping off into the treeline, “but you will speak the truth before Guildmaster Ji. Lie to him, and you’ll surely regret it.”
I thought of telling her I wasn’t lying, but I’d said it enough times. If she didn’t believe me now, she likely never would. I just hoped Guildmaster Ji was more amenable than his pupil.
With a shrug, Anna and I followed Hazel into the woods.
Chapter 6
The sun dipped lower in the sky as the three of us made our way through the jungle. Even at midday, only a fraction of the sun’s light managed to penetrate through the thick canopy of trees. With evening approaching, every branch and vine in the path became a potential hazard, the trail ahead so dark Anna and I could barely see to the ends of our fingers.
Hazel called a halt to our march. “We’re going to have to camp here for the night,” she said, sizing up the clearing we’d just entered. “The monsters in this Zone become even stronger after the sun goes down. Or perhaps I should say, the stronger monsters come out to hunt at night.”
That didn’t sound good at all. “We should find shelter,” I said, going up onto my tiptoes.
Hazel shrugged. “We’ve already found it.” I followed her gaze toward a copse of trees, where a shack I hadn’t noticed before lay half-overgrown with weeds. The place didn’t look like much, but at least it was habitable. Should a sudden downpour roll in overnight, it’d keep us dry.
The three of us marched over to the shack, walking carefully to avoid stumbling. With the darkness closing in, any shadow could be a monster in disguise. I almost commanded Anna to transform back into a scythe, in case something ambushed us from the trees. Only Hazel’s seeming lack of concern for our immediate surroundings held me back.
The inside of the shack didn’t look much better than the outside. Still, it was cozy enough. Weeds grew up through the wooden slats in places, and the roof had clearly seen better days, but it was warm enough inside. A threadbare bed lay in one corner of the room, with a curtain allowing the room to be partitioned into two sections. Beyond that, the only furniture were a couple of chairs. A large cast-iron pot sat in the fireplace, a half-collapsed chimney stretching through the roof.
“One minute,” Hazel said as soon as we were inside. She walked through the front door, tracing symbols in the air with her fingers. Runes of light appeared in the air, and again I felt that tickle in the back of my brain like I was beginning to understand the world around me better. Only whatever magic Hazel was in the middle of casting would take a lot longer to understand than a simple wind attack.
As Hazel finished her spell, a protective wall of light shimmered around the shack. It faded away a few moments later, but something told me it was still there—we were just unable to see it.
“That should keep us safe,” Hazel informed us, brushing off her hands. “If any monsters breach the perimeter, the aura I activated will alert us to their presence. The Hollow Frog Guild created this seal over the hut. There are various places like this within the Mana Zone, where you can rest without fear of being caught unawares by monsters. We won’t be caught by surprise in the night.”
“Good,” I said, nodding.
Anna and I settled ourselves on the floor near the fire. My stomach gave a very undignified rumble, and I tried to rememb
er the last time I’d eaten. Cotton candy at the fair, I thought—either that, or a couple of beers with Anna. Either way, I needed some sustenance.
“Don’t worry,” Hazel said, noting the looks on our faces. “I’ll have dinner ready shortly. You two just try and relax—and don’t even think of bolting.” She gestured toward the doorway with her chin. “There are worse things than Marsh Crocs in the Verdant Ruins at this hour.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I said, meaning it. Where the hell would we go? Without Hazel, Anna and I might as well have thrown our hands in the air and picked a random direction to travel.
Anna scooted closer to me as Hazel worked, nibbling her bottom lip. “I’m a little scared,” she whispered, her hand straying to my lap. “Will you hold me, Eric?”
I took her in my arms. Then Anna scooted right into my lap, her ass grinding against the rapidly-growing bulge in my robes. The edge of her skirt rode up my stomach, leaving nothing but a pair of panties between Anna’s pussy and my pants. Warmth rolled off her as she settled on top of my erection, a damp patch spreading through the thin fabric of her underwear. God, she was so close to me. It would be the easiest thing in the world to tug those panties to the side…
Hazel was staring at us.
“You two really can’t keep your hands off each other, can you?” Hazel asked.
I coughed, shifting Anna’s weight to one of my legs. “We kind of just started our relationship,” I said, wrapping my hands around Anna’s waist. “In more ways than one. Young love, right? You know the feeling?”
“Actually, I don’t,” Hazel said, looking at the pair of us like we were annoying cattle she’d been forced to herd back to safety. Could nothing pierce this woman’s icy demeanor?
“You know something?” I asked, meeting her gaze. “I believe that about you, Hazel.”
Hazel snorted. She snapped her fingers, a flame dancing across the tips of her fingers.
Hazel Casts Ember!
I smiled at the notification. It seemed that I was going to have to get used to them. This looked like it was a Fire spell, though, so did that mean Hazel had some Comprehension of Fire? I didn’t know what elements even existed in this world, but the presence of one like Fire seemed a logical conclusion.
Within a few minutes, Hazel had a nice fire going in the fireplace. Warmth even greater than what was between Anna’s thighs filled the shack, providing heat and light in the cold jungle night. Damn, it was surprisingly cold for such a lush, verdant landscape.
“I need to get some water for this,” Hazel said, taking the big pot over the fire off its hook. “There should be a pipe right behind this building. Can you two restrain yourselves from rutting like animals long enough for me to get our dinner ready?”
Anna and I shared a look.
“That’s a rude way of putting it,” my girlfriend protested, her eyes narrowing. “You didn’t seem to mind my presence when I was flipping that Marsh Croc over in my scythe form…”
“That’s because when you’re in your scythe form, you’re actually useful,” Hazel countered. A touch of mirth sparkled in her blue eyes. “Whereas in woman form you’re just a horny little distraction.”
Hazel seemed to have gotten over her surprise at finding out Anna could become a weapon. Her surprise was now replaced with spitefulness.
“Hey,” I snapped, squeezing Anna tighter. “Don’t talk about her like that. We’d both be dead if it wasn’t for Anna.”
Hazel actually looked chastened. “Of course,” she said, looking away. “My apologies. I suppose you two aren’t the only ones who could use a good meal…”
With that, she carried the pot out into the jungle. Anna and I watched her disappear around the corner, grunting slightly with the effort of lifting the heavy implement.
“What does she think she’s going to fix for us in that?” Anna asked, looking around the nearly-empty shack. “There’s no pantry in here.”
I shrugged. “She sounds pretty sure of herself. There must be some kind of plan.”
“Maybe she should go back and cut up some reptile steaks,” Anna purred, sliding back so she was again straddling my boner. “Give us a little alone time, you know?”
I knew. Anna kept on wriggling in my lap, like she was trying to drive me completely crazy. If I didn’t know Hazel would be back in a minute—and if she wasn’t our only way of getting out of here—I’d have tossed Anna onto all fours and taken her right then and there. As it was, I held onto my inner control by my fingertips.
“Bad little weapon girl,” I growled, shifting her back to my leg. “You heard Hazel.”
“Hazel’s a bitch,” Anna whispered. I couldn’t help but notice she dropped her voice, though, just in case she might hear.
“Yeah, well, she’s got to sleep sometime,” I told Anna, letting my hand roam beneath her robes. “I’m sure we’ll pull shifts tonight, because she’ll want someone watching the fire at all times. Then we’ll get that alone time both of us want so bad…”
“You mean it?” Anna looked over her shoulder, a naughty expression on her face. She licked her lips, as if gauging whether she could wait that long. “Well, I guess—”
“You guess what?” Hazel had just reentered the shack, the big cast-iron pot swinging around her knees. She bumped the door open with her butt, kicking up a cloud of dust across the boards as she moved unsteadily into the room.
I sprang to my feet, meaning to help her carry it over to the flames. Except she waved me off. She clearly didn’t need the help. That pot must have weighed a fair bit, but she was carrying it like it was nothing. Was that one of the benefits of magic in this world? Increased strength? If so, that was damned awesome.
“We were just talking about taking shifts tonight,” I replied as she settled the cast-iron pot inside the fireplace. “Someone should be on alert, just in case.”
“I told you, the aura handles that…” Hazel trailed off, a sour look on her face. “Oh. Well, once I’m asleep, I won’t be able to stop you. If you want to waste half the night, that’s on you.”
Within a few minutes, the pot on the fire began to bubble and steam. My stomach rumbled just looking at it, although we didn’t have anything to put inside and cook. Anna had the same look on her face—she kept glancing at Hazel, waiting for her to do something.
Finally, the blonde warrior sighed. “There should be some plates and bowls in that cabinet over there,” she instructed, pointing to an old wooden chest of drawers in the far corner. “Assuming whoever used this cabin last washed up, of course. Go and get them for me.” She said this last part to Anna.
“Sure,” Anna said, rising with a shrug. “But what are we going to eat? Water soup?”
A knowing smile spread across Hazel’s face. “You’ll see.”
As the water rose to a rolling boil, Hazel pulled another pill from her tunic. At first I thought it was the same Healing Pill she’d given me after the fight with the Marsh Croc, but this one was a pale pink color rather than white. She held it in her hand, bouncing it up and down gently on her palm as she watched steam rise from the pot.
“What’s that?” Anna asked. She hadn’t seen Hazel give me the first pill, so she had no idea what they could do. “A vitamin?”
“It’s dinner,” Hazel said, giving us a desultory look. She tossed the pill into the water. It sank beneath the surface with a sizzle, the water in the pot frothing like ocean foam as the transformation began. “Give it a minute or two.”
Anna and I watched with growing amazement as the pill transformed the water into food. I’d been familiar with MRE’s back on Earth—ready-made food that either needed water to cook or simply came pre-packaged—but my general understanding of those was that they pushed the limits of what could be considered ‘edible’. In contrast, whatever Hazel’s pill did inside the pot filled the shack with a delicious odor. My mouth began to water, along with Anna’s.
With a knowing little chuckle, Hazel served us dinner. The simple cast-i
ron pot had become a full buffet: fish and eggs, rice and vegetables, as if the cauldron could never be empty. By the time she was done, the blonde warrior held three plates piled high with some of the most appetizing-looking food I’d ever seen.
“Eat,” she said, handing Anna and I our plates. “Your Mana must be low after that fight with the Croc. Food and rest will help you recharge your energy faster.”
We dug in. Had this been a date back on Earth, Anna and I might have restrained ourselves from totally pigging out. In the aftermath of battle, with both of us bound by blood and sex, we had no such hang-ups. Anna and I gorged ourselves on the incredible food, barely giving ourselves time to chew. I hadn’t realized just how hungry I was until the first bite—it felt like I’d been wandering around the desert for days, starving to death before Hazel found me.
As we chowed down, Hazel dipped the cups Anna brought her into the pot. They came back filled with a rich, dark liquid that turned out to be an aromatic tea. It washed the food down perfectly.
“So,” Hazel said, nibbling at her food with more restraint than Anna or I. “Tell me about this Eliezer. You say he brought you to our world from a place called Urth?”
“Earth,” I corrected, speaking around a mouthful of food. That was kind of rude, so I swallowed before continuing. “Anna and I were on a date. At a carnival: that’s a kind of local fair, full of attractions and rides…”
“I know what a carnival is,” Hazel snapped. Then something in her face changed. “The Peak Supreme God was simply waiting there for you?”
“He pretended to be one of the attractions,” I said, taking another mouthful of rice. How could a simple grain be so light and fluffy? “A fortune-teller. Turns out my fortune was a lot crazier than I could have guessed.”
Hazel watched me eat, her gaze searching my face. After a few moments, she turned to Anna and did the same. “It’s strange,” she said, shifting her legs beneath her. “Your words sound like lies, to be sure. Yet you both have the air of people telling the truth.” She shook her head. “Perhaps Guildmaster Ji will know more…”
