I set my emptied glass down and flopped down on the couch, and groaned as I couldn't get the embarrassment out of my head.

"A horrible headache, itchy all over, my balance is kaput, I'm feeling really horny for some reason, my eyesight is incredibly blurry for some reason, an emergency dash to the restroom, the udon was horribly bland..

..And worst of all, after tossing aside my dignity and pride for pleasure I fell asleep before it was my turn to get fucked by Raynolia."

I resisted the urge to repeatedly bash my head into the old leather couch, and sat up as my phone began to ring.

"Who could be calling me so damn early in the morning.. Oh, it's Danelle. And was the ringtone always this obnoxiously loud?

As I accepted the call and the video feed connected, I swept aside my messy hair as I greeted my housemate.

"Yo, Dana. So I guess you've arrived safely in flipland? Or have aliens invaded?"

I grinned, and felt the strange sensation of instinctively trying to move my non-existent fox ears and tails, as the brunette broke out into laughter.

"So Arata, when did you get those cosmetic mods? That choco tanned skin fits you pretty well, though it looks like the eye color mod is still in the transition phase."

An ominous chill ran up my spine, and I blinked a few times, hoping that I had somehow misheard Danelle.

"Dana, could you say that again?"

"I said, that choco tan fits you. Though the eye color is kinda weird since it's still in the changing phase."

My jaw nearly dropped as I tried to stay calm, as the strange condition of my body suddenly began to make sense.

'What the fuck! Dana wouldn't pull a prank like this, and I haven't gone drinking or been to any parties, so there's no way somebody could've genemodded me without me knowing!'

"You're looking good, don't worry about it. The style change really suits you.. And is it just me, or have your breasts grown a little?"

I looked down, but couldn't really see any difference in the small size of my bust. I shrugged and replied to my housemate as I continued combing the fingers of my free hand through my hair.

"Doubt it. Though it wouldn't be a unwelcome change, I've kinda been considering getting modded for that anyway."

"Well, regardless of whether or not you have increased or will increase their size in the future..

Arata, you might want to get dressed. I mean, I almost put you on the TV for the call. And I'm kinda in public at the family house, so basically everybody would've seen you nude.

They'll still see you if any of em look over my shoulder, though. Heh."

I nearly fell off my couch in the scramble to get up, and made a mad dash towards my room to fix my sudden lack of clothing.

"Dammit, why didn't you tell me that earlier, Dana!"

"Because it's a lot more fun for me to be watching you panicking like this, Arata."

While throwing on my most convenient clothes, I gave my housemate a glare, and rolled my eyes at her as I pulled up my compression shorts and adjusted my sportsbra.

"Well screw you too, Dana. You left me none of the snack bars besides the goddamned Danaka Yoruk flavored bars."

"I do admit that I went way too far with that prank, it was a bit cruel and unusual. Well, sorry about that one. Remind me to make you some pretzels when I get back as an apology.

But hey, at least you're dressed now so you don't have to worry about any of my relatives peeping over my shoulder to get a look at you."

I stared at my headache provoking housemate and sighed, dropping down onto my bed as I began to calm down from the duo of sudden scares.

"My brother does look kinda disappointed that I didn't put you on the TV screen though."

My face twitched as I remained silent, while my throbbing headache began to feel like it was starting to get even worse while listening to her speak.

'Fucking hell, I really hope whatever is causing this passes fast. And it's upsetting that there's nothing the doctors can do about it until after the genemod has fully settled in.'

"Uhuh, Dana. So anyway, how was the flight to flipland? Was the first class plane food any better than the economy class?"

"Nope, Arata, they're both pretty awful. But thanks for the first class ticket though, it was way better than sitting in one of those horrendously cramped seats."

I stretched out my legs and slightly smiled, turning onto my side while giving my brunette housemate a reply.

"Well.. If there's anything I've got plenty of, it's money, whatever it's worth. No reason not to help out a friend when I can."

"So, Arata, mind if I put you, my beautiful girlfriend, on the TV and introduce you to my family?"

My face twitched again as Danelle began to chuckle. With a sigh, I ran my fingers through my hair while replying to her with mild exasperation.

"I'm half dressed, lying in bed, and currently dealing with the downside of genemods. So please go easy on the teasing, Dana."

"Alright, I'll call it quits.. For now, anyway. I hope you'll be feeling better soon. Also, Arata, your parents will be getting back in like, a month, right?"

I nodded at my housemate, sat up, climbed out of my bed, and walked back into my living room as I began to feel thirsty.

"Yeah, they're arriving at the spaceport in three weeks. It'll be the first time I'll be able to directly talk with them since they went to the bravo colony on mars five years ago.

Bit of a bummer that the connections are too slow and unstable for a phone call, but there's not much you can do when somebody's literally on another planet."

"Well Arata, it's a bit late to be eating here right now, so I'll be letting you go and grabbing a meal. Ninite, hope I wasn't calling too terribly early in the morning.

I'll talk to you again a bit later, try and get some more sleep and some good food, it'll make the recovery from the genemodding a lot quicker. Bye."

As I waved in response to my housemate, she smiled and ended the call. A tall glass and a half of water later, I climbed back into my bed.

"Well, that's that. Guess I'll need to go shopping today, or at least order delivery.. Yeah, I'll do that. For now, back to sleeping.."

I set my phone down, stretched my arms before pulling my blanket up, and closed my eyes as I went back to sleep underneath the cozy covers.

With the chirping of birds returning me to the waking world, I sat up, yawning as I rubbed my eyes and brushed a few messy locks of hair back with my fingers.

'Yeah, I definitely got genemodded somehow. a total skin color change. Certainly doesn't look bad, but.. Oh, wait a sec. I'm seeing normally again. And my headache is a lot better."

I climbed out of bed, brushed back the remainder of my messy hair, and stared in amazement at my reflection in the massive mirror on my wall.

"..No damn wonder something weird was going on with my eyes, my iris have turned yellow. And Danelle was right, dark skin really does suit me pretty well. Could use a different hair color for contrast though.

Still.. It's pretty alarming that I somehow got modded without my knowledge. And I don't remember there being a legal mod for yellow eyes.."

My gaze slowly ran down my reflected body as I quietly murmured to myself, and stopped right below my navel as something conspicuous caught my eye.

"What the hell? I never had a damn tattoo there. A mod is one thing, since there's been several places that could've happened.

But there's no damn way I could've gotten a tattoo without knowing about it. And why the hell does it look like a lewd crest straight out of a hentai.."

As I spoke it out loud, something clicked in my mind, and a possibility that seemed ludicrous made its way into my train of thought.

"Lewd crest, mark of the lewd, mark of desire? No way, there's no way that could be possible.. ..Right? Well.. There's only one way to find out.

And that means I'll need to see the elves again. I really don't know what it was that got into me yesterday, that he managed to seduce me so easily.."

I tore my gaze away from my reflection, walked into my kitchen and opened my fridge while continuing to mutter to myself.

"Not like it's a problem. Even if he does seduce me again, getting laid in the VR without any of the dangers of the real world sounds pretty damn great. Although..

Oh, Dana didn't eat her burrito. Well that makes things convenient. Eat an easy and tasty breakfast and then go get the answer I'm looking for."

I unwrapped my meal, disposed of the foil it was wrapped in, and carried my burrito to my couch, where I sat and stared at the VR machine as I took a bite.

'It feels pretty ridiculous to think that I'm somehow turning into my avatar. But outside of that, there's been almost no opportunities where someone could've modded me without knowing it.

At most three times, maybe, realistically probably no more than two chances. But zero chances for someone to give me a tattoo without knowing it, so turning into my avatar is actually possible.. Maybe.'

As I savored the rich, creamy, flavors of the guacamole, sour cream, beans, and soft, succulent, vegetables, my mind began to wander.

'Could the modifications be why Raynolia was able to seduce me so easily? Maybe that weird seawine thingy or whatever it's called is an aphrodisiac? Or am I really just that easy..

..I can really understand why Dana likes these vegetarian burritos so much. They're just as good as the meaty ones, but a bit more creamy.'

With feelings of bliss, I began licking my fingers as I finished eating the creamy and savory burrito, got up and washed my hands, and walked back to the VR machine, bracing myself to test my conjecture.

"Getting back into this is probably a really bad idea, especially considering the possibility that it's what modded me..

Well, here goes a really bad idea! It's time for the moment of truth, I guess."

I climbed inside and pulled the lid shut, closing my eyes as the machine came to life with a quiet hum. A feeling of drowsiness came over me, and I found myself quickly falling asleep once again.

"Good morning sleepyhead, how're you feeling after getting some sleep, Arata?"

My ears and tails twitched as I woke, and it took a moment for my situation to mentally process as I stretched my various limbs.

"Uhhm, good morning, Raynolia? It's a bit too.. Early, to be fondling my rear again, don't you think?"

"Well, Arata, I was just checking something while waiting for you to wake up. Though I do admit I did get a little bit carried away while checking."

I raised an eyebrow and sat up, the movement accompanied by an odd series of soft chiming noises, as he retracted his hand, turning my head to give Raynolia a somewhat amused look in response to his statement.

"Checking what, Raynolia? The feel of my ass?"

"Well, I didn't check the feel of your rear again. Me and Luci got a bit curious as to what a blanket of fluff tails would feel like, and we got a bit carried away.

I did confirm what I wanted to know though, and no, Arata, it wasn't actually something to do with this cute rump of yours."

He chuckled as I looked down, finding to my surprise, that I was wearing strange, revealing, clothes and was well decorated with accessories that appeared to be made of gold.

'Well, this doesn't seem half bad. It's not in any way close to modest, but it's better than running around naked.'

As I ran my fingers across the strange headdress, tracing its design out of curiosity, I stared at the golden anklets on my legs

"So, Arata, what do you think? I'd like to hear the thoughts of an outsider like you, so feel free to say whatever you'd like."

"These anklets are gorgeous, and these gloves.. Are they gloves? They're really comfortable. Though, were you the one who dressed me?"

Raynolia suddenly burst out laughing, and I was left completely unable make heads or tails of whatever it was about the situation he found to be hilarious.

I began tapping my foot impatiently, causing little chimes from my anklets, while waiting for the elf to recover from the sudden fit of hysterics that had suddenly overcome him.

"So I guess it's your first time coming here as an outsider, huh? Arata, you silly vixen, you're dressed because of your card, not because we had clothes that'd fit you.

Well, that was a good laugh. I still want to hear your thoughts though. Outsiders are a rarity around these parts, though as some of them like call themselves, players."

"Eh?"

I blinked a few times, twitched my ears and turned them towards him, almost certain that I had misheard what the elf had just spoken.

"Sorry, but can you repeat that? I think I didn't hear what you said quite right."

He reached out and gently patted the top of my head as he slowly repeated himself, with a gentle and almost pampering tone of voice.

"I want to hear your thoughts as an outsider firsthand, even though some of you call yourselves players for some strange reason."

"Oh. I see.. By the way, Raynolia, do you elves happen to have an available mirror that I can use?"

I looked around the room while speaking, then closely at the bed, feeling an odd familiarity with the appearance of the wood that both the house and bed frame were built from.

'Now that I think about it, both this bed and this house look like they were made out of rosewood.. Which is totally possible, I guess, since this isn't the real world.'

"Sure we do, I'll take you to our mirror then, and you can borrow Luci's comb for your hair too if you'd like. Anyway, right this way."

As Raynolia spoke he extended his hand, and with a smile, I grabbed hold of his offered hand, allowing him to pull me up onto my feet.

'Well, despite being a total pervert, he's behaving surprisingly like a gentleman. Which is pretty nice, beats having him using his hands to be taking liberties with my ass.. I think.'

With a bit of curiosity, I walked together with my elven guide, letting go of his hand as he brought me two doors down the hall away from the room I had been in.

"Okay, Arata, the mirror's right in here. Feel free to take your time, there's no rush. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, Luci's making some delicious bread and creme brulee, or in a term you might be more familiar with, pudding."

My ears immediately perked up to their zenith while listening to Raynolia speak, with my tails rapidly starting to wag while he opened the room's door.

"Arata, even though Luci is that amazing, there's no need to get quite that excited over creme brulee. Luci's comb is in the drawer on the top left of the counter if you'd like to use it."

I gave the elf a sheepish and slightly embarrassed grin as I stepped into the room, and he continued speaking while turning away from me.

"Again, feel free to take your time. The pudding isn't going anywhere any time soon, and the bread will take a little longer before it's ready. I'll come back to let you know when the food is done."

With a nod towards the elf as he began to walk away, I took a deep breath and readied myself, stepping over to the mirror.

'It's a surprisingly ordinary looking bathroom, though there's no shower. But with such a huge outdoor hotspring, bath, whatever it is, that's not surprising I guess. And this mirror is pretty damn big.'

As I stepped in front of the mirror, I found myself staring into the startlingly familiar reflection. Golden iris, richly tan skin, and a strange headdress seemingly made of gold and inlaid with a strange black gem with an oddly familiar green pattern in it.

'No way.. It can't be possible, right? Same color iris and skin.. Oh, right. The mark.. Is it really?'

With a quickening heartbeat and a mix of both nervousness and curiosity, I lowered my eyes towards the reflection of my navel, and found myself momentarily stunned.

'..It's the same. Somebody please fuck me or something, and tell me this is a dream. My mark is the exact damn same thing as that lewd tattoo, though this one's color is richer.

So I'm really becoming.. Myself I guess? It's my avatar after all. This seems really surreal but.. I don't think this is a dream at all.'

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I gently traced the pattern with my finger, while trying to calm my racing heart by controlling my breathing. A moment later, I gave myself a firm slap on the rump to test.

"Yep. That certainly doesn't feel like I'm dreaming, feels like a slap on the ass while being very much awake."

While muttering, I retracted my hand with the confirmation of the reality that faced me.

'Oddly enough.. I'm surprisingly unsurprised. And excited. And curious. And scared. And calm. And horny. And whatever is happening to my body is definitely messing with my head.'

I took a deep breath to calm myself, as I tried to make to sense out of the jumbled mess that was my feelings.

'Now that I've been thinking, didn't Raynolia mention something about it being my mating season or something like that yesterday?

If I haven't gone bug house nuts with delusions, and really am turning into my game avatar in the real world.. It being foxgirl mating season would actually make a lot of sense.

Especially given that I was so eager and happy to present myself to Raynolia yesterday. Even I'm not that easy. Or at least, I wasn't, before this.. Mating season.'

With a sigh of resignation, I ended the train of thought before it became lewd, and instead fully turned my attention to my appearance.

'Huh. Now that I give it a proper look, this outfit looks pretty egyptian. It totally resembles the egyptian courtesan's outfit from.. Whatever that movie is called.

Especially these gloves, they're almost identical to her outfit. But the clothes and accessories do fit me nicely. Maybe too nicely, since they make me look like an egyptian foxgirl courtesan..'

My train of thought was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming down the hall, and I peeked out of the room to see which of the elves it was.

A moment later, as my eyes met his, Raynolia began speaking while gesturing for me to come to him.

"The bread's fresh and warm, so come and join us for breakfast. Don't worry about your messy hair. It's really not any big deal, Arata."

"I guess.. Alright then, breakfast it is. By the way, Raynolia, could you tell me more about what you said I was, earlier? Like, something about me being an.. Outsider, I think it was?"

I stepped out, with jingling anklets and swaying tails, to join the elf as I spoke, turning my ears towards him as I did.

"Oh. Well, I was asking what your feelings about this world are, since you're an outsider. Do you find it pretty? Foreign? Interesting?

I'd also like to hear about what the outside world is like where you're from, but that can wait till we're at the dinner table, since Luci would like to hear about that too."

With a shrug of both my shoulders and tails, I replied to the elf as he offered me a hand, which I grasped.

"All three, definitely. Also, the wood you seem to use for everything here.. In the.. Outside world, is really rare."

"Eh, really? Rosalia trees are everywhere here. Well, whatever. Doesn't make me any less interested in the outside, or this pretty little vixen."

With a chuckle at the elf's casual flirting, I happily began walking down the hall alongside Raynolia with swishing and swaying tails.

"Raynolia, I'm still wondering how fondling, squeezing, and whatever else you were doing with my ass before I woke up let you identify me as an outsider."

As he replied, we turned the corner into the kitchen, where the the beautiful sight of Lucious stacking bread into a large pile on a platter greeted me.

"Well, it was pretty obvious. An outsider's body doesn't react if they're not present, since they're in their body in the outside world.

You didn't wake up, neither your tails or ears responded, your expression didn't change. So yeah."

I nodded at the elf and let go of his hand as I walked over to the table, and sat my rear down on the nearest stool, tails wagging as I breathed in the delightful aroma of freshly baked bread.

Lucious looked up at us, smiled, and began speaking as she finished stacking up the mound of bread on the square platter.

"Well now, somebody's looking quite excited this morning. Fresh croissants to go with sweet and cool creme brulee, how's that sound to our cute sleepyheaded vixen?"

My reply to Lucious, was a huge smile, a flick of my ears towards her, and a happy nod as my tail wagging increased in tempo.

Lucious gave me a teasing grin, winked at the elf behind me, turned away, and walked over to the cabinets, and I peered back over my shoulder at Raynolia as I heard him begin to speak.

"So, Arata. A few important things to say before we eat. Firstly, me and Luci will be teaching you some of the basic knowledge you'll need in this world, since you're an outsider."

I followed Raynolia with my eyes and ears as he joined Lucious, transferring three bowls from the counter while she got table.

"We'd like to hear about what the outside is like where you come from, there's been a lot of stories of what the different regions of the outside are like, but hearing directly from an outsider is always best."

'So I guess this is my tutorial, huh? The elves teach me in exchange for me talking about the real world, bit odd, but it kinda makes sense I guess. ..And Raynolia's got quite the nice ass on him.'

Raynolia turned around, and sat as he set the third bowl down onto the table in front of me, and I found myself nearly drooling while my tails rapidly wagged in excitement as I breathed in its sweetly fragrant aroma.

"You don't need to be that eager for it, Arata, though that expression you're making is pretty adorable. Makes me want to pet you."

Lucious commented with an amused grin, while setting down the tableware. My ears twitched as I gave her a sheepish smile in return, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"Well, everything's ready, so come and eat. We're not waiting for anything special."

A moment later, as she sat down next to him, Raynolia wrapped his arm around her back, while moving the platter of stacked bread to the center of the table with his other.

'The elves look really cute together like that.. Much more like a normal couple than, well, a pair of overly.. Friendly elves.

Lucious's dark skin is a pretty nice contrast to Raynolia's fair skin when they're close together like that, they're a really cute couple.. Even though they're perverts.'

"So, Arata, what's the outside world like where you're from? Hot? Cold? Rainy? Dry? Also, here you go."

As Raynolia spoke, he began transferring three of the croissants from the pile to each plate, while also drawing Lucious snugly up against himself.

"It's usually pretty cold, sometimes rainy. It does snow pretty heavily during the winters. I do have a nice apple orchard though, and I'm also growing some cantaloupe.."

While replying to the elf, I tore off a piece of the warm croissants, barely able to contain my desire to dig into the enticingly aromatic foods on the table before me.

Lucious began speaking with an audibly curious tone of voice, and I blinked in surprise as I saw her long and pointed ears waggle up and down.

"Apples? I've heard of them before, a crisp and sweet red fruit that can be made amazing pie when you put them with some kind of seed called pecans. Also, what's a cantaloupe? It's a strange sounding name."

"Well, there's a lot of different types of apples, and they vary in color and sweetness. My orchard's apples are a sweet and juicy kind, and they do make some pretty great pie."

I paused for a moment as I plopped the piece of croissant into my mouth, was surprised by the taste, and reached for the spoon as I savored the fresh and warm bread.

'It's a lot tastier than the croissants I'm familiar with. The texture is totally different too. Not as buttery, while it's also way richer.. And a good bit more dense. Is this how croissants are supposed to taste?'

My ears perked up as my curiosity was piqued by the pleasant differences from the food I was familiar with, and while I resumed speaking, I tore off another piece.

"Cantaloupe are sweet melons with a thin rind that looks kinda like a net, orange or white flesh, and they're usually around the size of well.."

I looked down, shrugged, and looked back up at the elves with a somewhat bashful smile on my face as I continued telling the elves about the fruit.

"..Probably around the same size. Kinda hard to tell which is bigger, but anyway, the size doesn't really matter that much. Cantaloupe are sweet, soft, and juicy."

Lucious chuckled as Raynolia gave a thoughtful expression, and my ears twitched as I had a hard time keeping a straight face as I heard Lucious speak.

"So they're pretty large melons then. Also, Arata, there's really no need to be shy around us, and don't worry about embarrassing yourself. Especially after what we did last night.

Oh, and that reminds me.."

I stuffed the piece of croissant into my mouth, while grabbing a spoonful of the creme brulee, trying to distract myself from thinking about it while the elf continued.

"Something we can't forget to mention, since you're an outsider and our guest, and it'd be pretty bad if you weren't aware of it..

Our races are pretty hostile with orcs and their kin, so don't expect to be treated well by them unless they're outcasts or outsiders. As for why, well.."

She trailed off as I took the bite of creme brulee, and my ears relaxed as I tasted it, while Raynolia finished her sentence for her.

"You could say that they find both of our kinds offensive."

I nodded, though only half paying attention to the elves, as I savored the blissfully sweet and creamy custard, my tails curling around the stool in happiness as I listened to him speak.

"They dislike werebeasts for their mating seasons, especially the fox tribes, wolf tribes, and lion tribes, and loathe elves for being accepting of things they'd call impur.. Oh, thanks Luci."

Lucious gave me a smile of immense satisfaction while she watched my reaction to the food, held up a piece of croissant topped with the sweet cream, and plopped it into Raynolia's mouth.

'This creme brulee, I think it's creme brulee, pretty sure it's not creamed bruce lee, it's soo good. The layer of caramel on top reminds me of the sweet potato pies mom would make.'

With a mouth stuffed full of blissfully sweet cream and warm croissant, I felt as if I were melting into my seat in happiness.

I blinked as Lucious reached into her cleavage, pulled out a green gem that was hidden by her dark skin, and placed it on the table.

"Oh, you already brought a piece of one of the crystals for the explanation, thanks for that, Luci."

I stared at the crystal on the table in mild fascination as Raynolia began to speak, my ears perking up as it piqued my interest.

"This little gem, Arata, is what's known as krion. We'll talk about it in a few minutes, since it's a bit of a complex topic."

Lucious picked the crystal up and held it out to me, and I gingerly took it from her hand with growing curiosity as Raynolia continued speaking.

"And it's also another area where elves and werebeast tribes like your own, differ from the majority of the other races."

He paused as Lucious fed him another piece of cream topped croissant, and she plopped one into her mouth with a smile, while reaching up to stroke Raynolia's long ear.

"Uhh, so. What else would you elves like to hear about.. The outside world? ..Feels awkward calling it anything other than earth. Oh, now that I think about it, if earth is the outside world, then this is the inside world?"

Lucious nodded as Raynolia replied, while he also reached around her back, casually sliding his hand into her shirt from the side.

"Besides apples and those cantaloupe melons, what other interesting fruits and foods do you have in the outside world, or as you called it, earth?

I raised my eyebrows while she broke out into a sudden smile, her ears waggling up and down as he nonchalantly began fondling her breast.

"Interesting fruits, huh.. There's one in particular I love, it's a spikey fruit called durian, which is really creamy and sweet when you've removed it from the husk.

Kinda like this creme brulee, though it tastes completely different. Sadly, it doesn't grow where I live so I can't get it fresh. But there's also cherries, blackberries, and they're nice too."

Raynolia blinked and his eyebrows raised in visible surprise, his hand stopping as Lucious swallowed, and began speaking as she slightly tilted her head to the side.

"We've got all three of those, actually. Well, the durian not here, it's usually from the nine foxes mountain range where your foxy kin come from. Cherries and blackberries are everywhere here in the elven lands though."

My ears perked up again with excitement and delight as my tails resumed wagging, and I resumed speaking while the elves continued eating.

"Really? That's great! And as for foods, well, there's curry, tacos, burritos, marinated tofu.. There's way too much. Anyway, food aside, what's this gem thing? You said it's called cryin or something like that?"

Lucious shook her head and set down the remaining half of her croissant on her plate, before beginning speaking a few moments later.

"Krion, Arata, it's called krion. And now that you've mentioned them.. Raynolia, could you go and grab some dried blackberries for us? Anyways, I might as well start explaining what krion is."

"Ouais, can do that, Luci. After the meal I'll take Arata out to the garden, and teach her a few thing about how to use krion."

She took a bite of her creme brulee, and Lucious continued speaking as Raynolia let go of her breast and got up from his seat.

"Krion, is the key to magic. If magic was a fire, krion would be its kindling. Anyway, there's several ways to use it, but without runes, krion won't do anything.

Runes, such as the ones inscribed on your headdress. Or the two on your rear that compose your arcana mark, that have been visible since yesterday. Which, by the way, are only visible when you're feeling at least partially aroused."

I reflexively reached back towards my rump for a moment, and then retracted my hand awkwardly and gave the elven girl a sheepish smile with slightly downturned ears as I spoke.

"Oh.. So uhm, how do these runes work? Also, I've been wondering.. How can I repay you elves for the food, and for letting me stay over in your house?"

"Naturally, since you're a vixen and outsider that has neither money nor krion, you'll be doing any repayments with your body of course."

My heartbeat and wagging tails both sped up as I heard her reply, and I twiddled my fingers as I tried not to let it show on my face while the memories of the previous evening came back to me in full.

"Ohh.. Uhm.. Alright. Soo.. When will I be repaying the two of you elves for your generosity?"

"Any time is fine, Arata whenever you feel ready for it, no rush. I didn't mean it in that way, as I was just teasing. He certainly wouldn't mind you repaying him that way though."

Raynolia returned to his seat while Lucious spoke, placed a simple, unadorned, square tin on the table, and I gave him an embarrassed smile.

"By the way, Arata, just asking out of curiosity.. Are you by any chance, entering into your mating season? If you are, Raynolia here will help take care of all your desires."

I cocked my head to the side in confusion as Raynolia seemed to almost choke when she said it, and Lucious began to mischievously giggle while patting him on the back.

After a moment of silence, the teary-eyed elf spoke up and said something, in their language that sounded like french, that I couldn't understand. A moment later, he continued in english.

"Spare me some mercy, Luci, don't threaten me with a great time. Even a young elf like me can only handle so much, don't scare me like that."

I stuffed my mouth full of croissant while I tried to make sense of the odd situation, and Lucious turned her head towards me, continuing speaking with a grin as she resumed eating.

"Raynolia's a sturdy elf with plenty of stamina, so he'd be fine even if you had him accompany you until he dropped out of exhau-"

My ears shot up in surprise as Raynolia suddenly interrupted her mid sentence by stuffing a croissant into her open mouth.

"Enough of that teasing, Luci. We both know that there's not an elf that can match a vixen in heat's stamina in bed, so don't give our guest the wrong idea, alright?"

I watched in mild fascination as the large croissant rapidly disappeared into her mouth, while Raynolia patted her head.

'They really are adorable when they're like that.. Weird, but adorable. But I really should ask the elves about the mating season stuff. If I am actually becoming my avatar.. I should at least know what I'm in for.'

With a deep breath, I spoke up, preparing myself for an odd reaction from the elves as I asked the question.

"Uhm, I'm not sure how I should say this, but.. I've yet to experience a mating season, so I'd like it if you could tell me what it's like.."

Raynolia raised his ears and an eyebrow in surprise, while Lucious cocked her head to the side and replied, her ears also raised in seeming surprise.

"Arata.. That's actually really surprising. Especially since you're a werebeast, and you've got the mark of desire, and the clothes manifested from your card are those of a courtesan's.. I'm guessing you're a virgin as well?

Not that there's anything wrong with any of that, it's a honor that you were willing to share your first with us. Though, I didn't expect you to be so young. Or are you just a late bloomer?"

I shrugged and relaxed, my tails curling around my seat, while feeling somewhat silly for having been nervous about asking the elves my question.

"Well, I'm not exactly young, so, I think the latter? Regardless of that. Mating seasons and runes, it was runes, right? And if I remember correctly, this magical gem is called krion?

Anyway, those three things are what I'd like to hear about, if you don't mind explaining them to me, that is."

With my ears facing the elves, I resumed savoring the delicious treat on the table while Lucious continued speaking.

"Sorry to say, but elves don't have mating seasons, so we can't really tell you what they're like. What I do remember, though, is that the seasons of you vixens last a week, and your foxy kin usually spend half the day each day making love."

My eating paused as I found myself imagining it, my tails that were curled around my seat straightened, and they began to wag as my ears perked up once more.

"Anyway, as for runes, like I said earlier, the mark of your arcana on your rear is composed of runes. In specific, the runes Gyfu, and Jeraz. Bountiful harvest, the meaning of the combination of runes.

It also happens to be a very useful magic, Raynolia, give her a demonstration of how to use it after the meal, alright?"

Raynolia nodded and replied, after setting down his spoon and finishing his croissant, while reaching over to pick up the green crystal that was lying on the table.

"Will do, Luci. I'll also bring Arata along to tour the village when I head over to Erik's. He said he's got something he'd like me to help with, so I might as well bring her along. But for now, let's just finish our meal."

I looked down at the mostly depleted bowl of the creamy treat the elves had provided me, shrugged, and stretched both my arms and tail in contentment.

'Well, I hadn't realized I had already eaten this much of it.. Not that it's much of a surprise, since it's pretty damn delicious.

I guess I'll just polish off this little bit and wait for the elves to finish up their food then? This magic demonstration is almost definitely going to be really fun and exciting too.'

As I finished my meal a few moments later, I stretched out my arms and tails, before looking down at my bust as I listened to Raynolia speak.

"For how much skin those clothes of yours show, the upper half stays on surprisingly easily, and it does a remarkably good job at keeping your bust covered.

Honestly, when I saw you stretching like that, I thought that you were going to escape from your top."

I scratched my head and gave a helpless shrug in reply, unsure of how to respond the elf's statement.

"Well, it really does look like that could happen pretty easily.. Anyways, thank you so much for the food. It was absolutely wonderful."

With a contented smile, I began to lean back, and I barely stopped myself from falling off backwards in time as I remembered that my seat had no back.

"Careful there, Arata. The house is made of melded ironwood, so it'll hurt pretty bad if you fall off your seat like that."

My ears flattened back against my head in embarrassment, and I gave Lucious a sheepish nod and an awkward smile.

"I'm going to be having a bit more to eat, so I'll clean up. Give her the demonstration, don't forget to pick up the books.

And don't have too much fun without me."

I perked up again, got up from my seat, tails wagging with the sudden surge of excitement, as I heard the elves speak.

"Ouais. Now then, Arata, as for showing you how to use the runes, we'll need to head outside."

Raynolia got up from his seat, leaned over, and gave the dark skinned elf a kiss on her forehead, before walking over while gesturing.

"Thank you for the meal, Luci. Now, ladies first, Arata, the garden's behind the house."

I nodded, and stepped out into the hallway, with Raynolia following a short distance behind me as I listened to him.

"There's three ways to activate runes, but the main requirement for using any magic, is krion. You can fit krion into runes that have been carved into something.

Or you can insert krion into something with runes carved on it, though that only works with some metals.

The easiest way is to just eat the krion, and activate the runes by tracing your finger over them. Don't try it with body paint and any combination of runes though, you'll seriously regret it if you do."

I opened the door and stepped out onto the wooden porch, taking a deep breath of the cool fresh air as I stepped down, and began walking with swaying hips and the soft chiming of my accessories.

'Feels a little chilly with how little these cover, but it's better than nothing.. And the grass is quite comfy to walk barefoot, though it is a bit dewy..'

My steps paused as I looked to my left, and I gazed out for a few moments before Raynolia placed his hand on my shoulder.

"The vineyards are looking quite pretty, aren't they? Unfortunately, it'll be a few months until the Fer Sanguina harvest season, so you won't be able to have any of the fresh grapes."

With a shrug, I resumed my pace, and as I turned around the corner of the large elven dwelling, an astonishing sight greeted me.

A myriad of colors and shapes completely unlike any I had ever seen before, a bizarre, beautiful, and utterly breathtaking garden with an appearance like it came out of a wild imagination.

"Raynolia, this.. I'm.. I'm speechless. It's amazing! Totally different from the forest, where everything seemed to be the same.."

I walked up to one of the trees, reached out and slowly stroked the marble white bark as I looked up at the silver foliage that had small protruding pockets of golden flowers.

A moment later, I turned my attention to the azure vines with sapphire leaves that coiled around the white tree, and then to the shrubbery with leaves that gleamed like amber.

"Yep, Arata, it is pretty amazing. These beautiful vines are known as the Sky of Sharon, while this gorgeous Sunlily tree is rarely seen outside of the nine foxes mountain range that houses your foxy kin. And these pretty shrubs are called Roseamber."

I turned around to face the elf with wagging tails, perked up ears, a happy and excited smile, and found him with a proud and charmingly satisfied grin.

"Luci and I put a lot of effort into our garden, so I'm glad you appreciate it. Anyway, I'll properly introduce you to the rest of the plants after I've shown you how to use the runes. Over there, at the table under the shade of those two trees."

After following his outstretched arm and hand to the destination he was pointing to with my eyes, I saluted the elf, and began walking to the table.

The next moment, I turned around to face him, and watched in mild curiosity as he snapped the green crystal he was carrying in two, before holding one of them out to me

"Here, put this piece of krion in your mouth and chew it thoroughly. It's a little bit crunchy, but it's not hard."

I did as ordered, and as I began chewing the gem, I found that it tasted surprisingly zesty while being crunchy like heavily toasted bread.

'Well then. I've read plenty of stories, seen a lot of moves and shows, but I don't think I've ever heard of magic tasting like lemon zest before.'

"Okay Arata, turn so you're facing the table. Shift your tails to either side. Now bend over, rest your breasts on it, and lift your rear up as high as you can for me."

"What?"

"I mean, you don't have to present me with your rump, but it makes it easier for the both of us to have you bend over and raise up your rear."

With an eyebrow raised to its limit, I gave the elf a funny look, but did as told, and bent forward over the table, while replying to the elf.

"Raynolia, does this actually require me to bend over the table and present you with my ass like I'm presenting myself to be mated?"

"No, like I said, it doesn't. But it does actually make it easier for the both of us, since the runes of your arcana mark are on your rump."

I stared over my shoulder at the elf, ears and tails twitching as a cold breeze caressed my ample bare skin, unconvinced.

"You can't use another person's arcana mark, and neither my or Luci's tools would fit you. If you'd prefer, we could just not do it.."

With a sigh of annoyance, my ears flattened back as I found myself mired in conflicted feelings over the matter.

'On one hand, I'd be practically presenting myself so he can do whatever he wants to me, but on the other, despite what he did the other day, he has treated me well..

..And I probably wouldn't even mind him taking advantage of the situation, given how upset I got over falling asleep before he bedded me.'

I took a deep breath, shook my head to try and clear the distracting thoughts and calm myself down, before quietly speaking.

"Before I say yes or no, could you at least tell me what you were planning on doing to me while I was in this position?"

"Well, since you need to be aroused for your arcana mark to be seen, and although the runes have been somewhat visible since last night, it's not enough to use..

Or to put it simply, something to arouse you. Like playing with your rear, which I know you like. Or is there something in particular you'd prefer for me to do?"

A blush crept into my face as a thought immediately came to mind, and I looked away from the elf, whispering my reply while my tails began fidgeting with a mix of nervousness and anticipation.

"Well, uhh.. I guess that'd be okay.. And, uhm, having someone running their fingers between my tails and stroking their base.. ..Just be gentle, alright?"