Ch. 12 – Journey to Ancona

Beatrice looked across the carriage, attempting to prevent a dour look from crossing her face. When they had first gotten in the carriage to leave for Ancona, Bluey had immediately grabbed the seat next to Damien, sitting right next to him, her breasts (inadvertently) squishing into his arm.

She had had no choice but to sit across from them. Even if she had wanted to try to sit on the other side, the carriage wasn't large enough (she had rented the smallest and cheapest one available in an effort to save money).

Damien hadn't seemed too bothered, however Bluey kept alternating between watching out the window and poking Damien to look out as well every time anything even semi-interesting was outside.

No, no, I shouldn't be jealous! I even told him it was okay! Truthfully, she did like Bluey...for the most part. She was just a bit jealous of her physical makeup. I don't just get a customization screen to choose how I look! I have to work with what I got!

As she was thinking this, she quickly shook her head. No, I just told myself I shouldn't be jealous! He already called me his girlfriend, and that night together... she blushed a bit just thinking about it. I should thank the goddess I found him! she decided, and clasped her hands together in prayer.

Damien was watching Beatrice, who seemed to be doing some serious internal thinking. After a bit of going back and forth, she had clasped her hands together, and started praying. Taken aback, he asked, “Are you okay Betty?”

Betty kept her eyes closed, but nodded, still praying. “I'm just thanking the goddess for-...” she started, before blushing and trailing off.

Damien blinked a few times. The goddess...wait, the goddess!? As in, the Goddess? “So you can talk to her whenever?”

Betty nodded. “Of course. My Cleric magic is derived from her.”

“What...what does she say back?”

Betty giggled, “She doesn't say anything back. I was just...thanking her, for something” she explained, poking his knee to make it obvious.

Damien blushed, understanding what she meant. Not that he wasn't happy about that, but he was still a bit concerned about the earlier part. Goddess? Is this your doing? Did you set me up with one of your followers on purpose?

There was no response in his head. Maybe she's busy...or maybe she's ignoring me.

After a few more hours of travel, they stopped at a stream to allow the horses to eat and drink, so they also took the opportunity eat some lunch.

“Are we going to eat some of the meat jerky?” Betty asked as they jumped out.

Damien nodded. “Yeah, I'll grab some from-”

“Master, there's rabbits that way!” Bluey said, pointing in a specific direction. “Let's cook them up!”

Damien turned to Betty, “You fine with rabbit?”

Betty giggled, “Of course.”

Betty started gathering sticks, and Damien followed after Bluey as she ran into a group of the murder-rabbits. It took only a moment, and she quickly dispatched them all and piled them up in her arms. “Let's get cooking!”

Damien took the rabbits from her as she ran back towards the carriage. I'm glad to see she's as energetic as ever. She could probably just run all the way to Ancona if I gave her enough food. Getting curious, he pulled up his status screen to take a look at the map. However, as he did, he noticed the notification for leveling up appeared. Really!? After all the goblins and gnolls, I finally get it after a few rabbits? I can't believe I spent the last few days that close to leveling up. I wish there was a way to tell. Actually... he shifted the rabbits so he could click on the level display itself, something he hadn't tried before. Sure enough, as he did, a bar appeared, right now looking completely full, since he had a pending level up.

Damien sighed. I know it's my own fault for not thinking of it, but... Oh well, at least I know in the future. There's not numbers, but at least I'll be able to know when we're about to level and plan accordingly.

He was about back at the carriage, where he could see Bluey had already started the fire. I'll do the level up in the carriage once we leave.

They cooked and ate the rabbits, even offering some to their pompous driver. After they had finished, they got back in the carriage and continued on.

As they started rolling, Damien said, “Oh yeah, I finally got level 5.”

“Awesome!” Bluey said, giving a thumps up.

“That's great!” Betty said with a smile (she was now sitting next to him, having followed closely behind him inside).

Damien pulled up his status and clicked to level:

Damien leveled up

Summoner – Level 5

STR – 23

VIT – 27

MAG – 61

DEX – 26

Stat Share

Heal (summon)

Summon Boost

Summon XP Trade Boost

Well, normal stat increase, but...no new ability!? Not even just a stat boost option? Did I take all of them already? No, that's doesn't seem right.

Betty seemed concerned by the look on his face. “What's wrong? Not happy with your options?”

Damien shook his head, “I have no options. That's the first time a new ability wasn't available. Did I do something wrong?”

Betty shook her head. “Options can change based on your previous choices, but that seems odd...I don't know the intricacies of Summoner abilities, though.”

Bluey wasn't really sure what to say, just looking between them.

Damien just sighed. “Ah well...” and clicked out. However, he noticed there was still a notification available. What? But I just leveled... Clicking on it:

New Summon Available

New...new summon! I get another one! Oh, I guess I sorta knew I'd get another one eventually. “I did get a new summon, though.”

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“Oh, that's probably why,” Betty nodded.

Bluey got extremely excited. “Really!? I'm gonna be a big sister!?”

Damien chuckled. “I guess that's one way of looking at it.” He clicked through, and was presented with a list of options similar to when he had chosen Bluey. These are different choices, and all of them have some sort of element attached. Lightning-shark? That sounds cool, but only if I lived on the water. I guess Bluey already has that covered, too. Ice-eagle? That sounds cool too, especially having a flying summon. Should I ask the others for input? We are a party, after all.

He went to ask the others, and saw Bluey, who was eagerly awaiting. He then had a realization. This summon will become a cute girl at level 10, too, right!? I mean, if I let it choose, maybe it won't...but maybe it will. No, I- He stopped his internal struggle, as he realized he'd be lying to himself if he wasn't interested in the results. I'll just give it the opportunity. If they don't want an intimate relationship, that's fine too. I'll have my hands full with these two anyway.

He started scrolling through again, this time imagining each creature turned into a girl. Eventually, he found one that peaked his interest over the others. Fire-fox? Having a fire creature would be nice, and... he looked over at Betty, imagining a girl with her proportions having a fox tail and ears. That....that would be really cute.

Seeing him looking at her, Betty smiled, “Did you choose one?”

Damien nodded, selecting the fire-fox option. Similar to when he summoned Bluey, a customization screen appeared. On it was a fox, or at least similar to what he would think of as a fox, but with a bit more coloration around the feet and ears. As with when he summoned Bluey, there was a color slide he could use to change it's color (besides the white and black coloration). After moving it around a bit, he settled on a red-orange color he thought looked good.

Unlike with Bluey, underneath the slider was a 'Sex' option. It was currently set to 'Female'. I guess I can at least see what the 'Male' option looks like. He went to change it and...it swapped right back. He tried again, and the option slid back right away. Is my status screen glitched!? He tried sliding it a couple more times, and the same process repeated, with it sliding back before the image changed at all. What is going on here!? He tried once more, and now the option wasn't even sliding, the 'Male' option was just grayed out. Whatever, the girl option is cute anyway.

He then only had to name the summon. While he was looking at the colors, a name had popped into his head. 'Aurora'. He didn't remember if the aurora from his world was actually that same color, but he though it was a cute name regardless.

Finishing up, the screen disappeared, and a bright light shone in front of him. After a few moments, the fox from his screen appeared, dropping into his lap.

“Piyu!” it sounded, spinning to look at all of it's surroundings.

Betty seemed surprised. “That's so cute!”

Bluey immediately picked up Aurora, holding it up in front of her. “Hi! I'm your big sister, Bluey!”

Aurora didn't seem to enjoy this, squirming away from Bluey and back onto Damien's lap.

“What's wrong?” Bluey asked, looking at her sadly.

“Piyuuuu...” Aurora cried, trying to hide behind Damien. Damien tried to pet her gently, which Aurora seemed to enjoy, calmly getting into his lap, but with a weary eye on Bluey.

“You can't just grab her like that, at least not right away...” Damien said, trying to explain the issue to her.

Bluey seemed downcast. “I'm sorry....”

Betty carefully reached over and scratched Aurora behind the ears. Aurora leaned her face into Betty's hand, causing her to giggle. “She's really precious.”

Bluey tried to reach over and pet her too, but Aurora bit her hand, causing Bluey to cry comically, holding her hand.

“Just give her some time,” Damien tried to reassure her.

They continued on for the rest of the day, until eventually stopping for the night by the side of the road when it became too dark to continue.

While the carriage driver was keeping to himself, the riders set up a fire and camp, this time eating some of the meat they had brought from the meat-man.

“Mmmmhhh, this is really good,” Bluey said, grabbing another handful of meat and chowing down.

Aurora ran over and grabbed a slice from her hand, before laying down and eating it.

“Hey!” Bluey said, a bit upset, before realizing she had a chance to pet her.

Aurora seemed too preoccupied with her food, and didn't stop Bluey from gently stroking her back.

Betty giggled and Damien chuckled at the enchanted face Bluey was making as she pet Aurora's fur. Aurora was about to walk away after finishing, but Bluey bribed her with another slice so she could keep petting her fur.

After they finished their dinner, Aurora curled up in Bluey's lap.

“See, she likes you now,” Damien said as he laid out the bedrolls.

As he did, Betty grabbed his shirt. “Um...can I sleep next to you?”

Damien was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion at the cuteness of Betty looking up at him. “Of-of course! But, uh...why are you asking? Or I mean, you don't need to ask.”

Betty blushed a bit further. “I didn't know if you wanted to sleep next to Bluey instead.”

Damien looked over at Bluey, who was still entranced with Aurora in her lap. “I think she's busy right now.”

Damien got in the bedroll, and Betty, instead of getting into the bedroll next to him, took off her glasses and got into his as well. Due to Betty's frame, they were both able to fit, if a bit snugly.

Damien thought Betty might be trying to get romantic with him, but instead, she just wrapped her arms around him, closing her eyes with a satisfied smile on her face. He felt a bit bad for thinking she had been up to something, assuming she just wanted to be close to him, and wrapped his arms around her as well.

In the morning, he was woken up by the sound of Bluey shouting something, along with the recognizable 'Piyu' of Aurora. Opening his eyes, he saw the face of Betty across from him, still sleeping.

Damien decided to tease her, blowing the hair out of her face. Betty scrunched her face then opened her eyes.

Seeing Damien, she took a second to react, then started blushing. “Wha-what!?”

Damien smiled, giving her a kiss. “Just waking you up.”

Betty blushed further, before hugging him and kissing him back.

“Are you two mating over there?” Bluey said, stopping her running and looking over.

Damien shook his head, and started to get out of the bedroll. “No, just a good morning kiss.”

“Oh, oh, I want one too!” she said, running over.

Damien acquiesced, giving her a kiss as well.

Aurora let out a 'piyu!'.

“What, do you want a kiss too? I guess that's fine,” Damien chuckled. As he picked her up, Aurora licked his face before he could, causing the others to laugh.

They cleaned up camp as the driver emerged from his wagon. “Good, good, let's be on our way.”

After getting back into the carriage, they started heading out. Aurora again sat in Damien's lap, although now anyone was able to pet her without fear of biting.

The morning wore on uneventfully, until they again stopped at midday for lunch.

“Master, there's some slimes over there!” Bluey said.

“Hold on,” Damien said, grabbing her shoulder. “Let's let Aurora try out her skills.”

Bluey got excited. “Oh, right! I'll just back her up!”

Damien chuckled. “Alright Aurora, you wanna get them?”

“Piyu!” Aurora cried, running after Bluey.

A short ways away, and a group of slimes were milling about in the grass.

“Alright, try using your 'Fire Breath' skill,” he said to Aurora. It's really cool she already has a skill at lv. 1.

Aurora let out a high-pitched 'piyu' again, and a stream over fire poured out of her mouth, roasting one of the slimes.

Damien was a bit stunned. That looks...really powerful for level 1. He pulled up her stats:

Fire-Fox – Level 1

STR – 18

VIT – 21

MAG – 48

DEX – 26

No wonder! She must have a decent MAG to start with, and Stat Share is giving her a bunch more. Even my low level summons will be decently strong off the bat!

“Try attacking them physically next.”

“Piyu?” Aurora asked questioningly.

“I just wanna see what you can do, in case you were to run out of MP,” Damien explained.

Aurora seemed to understand, running over and tackling a slime, before biting another.

Damien nodded approvingly. Aurora seems to understand what I'm saying, just like Bluey.

Bluey went around stacking up the slimes (a much easier task in human form) and brought them over to Damien. “It's been a while since we ate slimes.”

Damien nodded, grabbing one and chomping on it.

“Wuuuh!” he heard behind him.

Turning around, Betty was there, giving a grossed-out look on her face. “You're eating the slimes!?”

Bluey grabbed one and took a bite.

Betty was even more incredulous. “You're eating the slimes!? You are a slime!”

Bluey seemed confused. “But I'm human now...”

Damien took another bite and looked over, “To be fair, you did eat them when you were a slime, too...”

“Oh yeah...” Bluey said, taking another bite. “I don't know, I don't feel any kindred with these slimes.”

Damien tried to reassure her. “They're not bad, honestly. Just give it a try.”

Betty seemed unsure, but seeing them eat it, started to question herself. “Alright...I'll give it a try...”

Damien tore off a chunk and handed it to her.

Betty nibbled a bit on it. “Hmm...it's okay. I wouldn't want to eat it all the time, though.”

“For me, it tastes nostalgic. When I first got here, this was all I ate.”

“When you first got here...” Betty repeated, before putting the rest of the slime in her mouth. “Where are you originally from?”

Damien got nervous. I...I want to tell her the truth, but...I feel like this is a bad time. Actually, mostly a bad place. Maybe once we're in Ancona. “Err...it's kind of a long story. Can we talk about it once we're at the city?”

Betty raised in eyebrow in curiosity, but nodded. “Of course, that's fine. I didn't mean to press you or anything,” she added quickly.

Damien shook his head. “No, it's fine, but...it is a long story.”

Betty nodded. They both looked over, and Bluey was playing frisbee with Aurora, using a flattened slime.

“I'm glad those two are getting along,” Damien said.

Betty giggled, grabbing his hand in hers, “Me too.”

Damien blushed a bit at the hand holding, before being confused at his blushing. Why am I embarrassed, we've done more than hand holding...

They soon got back in the carriage and continued on. After only a couple more hours, the city came in sight ahead of them.

“That's huge!” Bluey said, sticking her head out the window.

Betty nodded. “Ancona is the capital of Brescia. And I think the largest city, or at least the largest one I've been to.”

“You've been here before?”

“I traveled through here a few times on requests,” she murmured, looking away.

Ah, she must not want to remember. “We'll have to make some good memories ourselves then.”

Betty seem surprised he had guessed what she was thinking, before smiling and leaning into him. “We shall.”