Back to the Mountains

Damien sat in their apartment, Poppy on his head. She had just reached level 7 earlier that day, and taken a new ability called 'Dispel Magic'. True to it's name, she was able to Dispel any magic, having practiced a bit with Bluey and Aurora.

Bluey and Aurora had also made some progress, finally getting to level 15 and level 13, while they had been grinding elementals and parasaurolphus the past five days to help practice more as a team.

Kara had also gotten to level 8, finally achieving Bronze-Rank.

“Master, when are we going to fight something harder? I'm tired of beating up elementals and dinosaurs! They aren't giving me hardly any XP.” she said, punching the air.

Damien shook his head, “We need to get Poppy up more, though...”

Poppy leaned over, her hair draping down as she looked at Damien. “Master, I'll be fine!”

“Yeah, but your level is a bit low...”

“That's fine, I can just fly away!” she added, giving her trademark grin, before flapping her wings and flying over to Aurora's tail, where she curled up next. Aurora didn't seem to mind.

Betty nodded, “Getting the money from a bigger request would be helpful, too. We'll be okay with the ones we've been taking, but something worth more would give us a big buffer.”

Damien sighed, “Alright, it's not like I don't want too.”

Bluey came over and hugged him, squeezing their bodies together. “Come one, let's go Master!” she said, now trying to pull him to the bedroom.

Damien sighed, “Okay, but only once if we're going on a trip tomorrow.”

Bluey pouted a bit, causing Aurora and Betty to giggle.

In the morning, the group met up with Kara at the Guild Hall. After explaining what they wanted to do, Kara was on board.

“Yeah! I could use some extra money. Not that you haven't been generous so far with me...” she blushed.

Betty shook her head. “You're just getting your fair share.” Damien nodded in agreement.

Bluey was looking up and down the request board, trying to find something she wanted to fight. Eventually, she grabbed one and shoved it at Damien. “Let's fight this!”

Damien read the paper. “Four Giants? Giants!?”

Betty looked at the paper. “These are specifically Mountain Giants. They have a lot of hair, and as you would guess, live up in the mountains.”

“That's a lot of money!” Kara said, pointing to the one gold and sixty silver reward.

“I'm surprised they even have that at Bronze-Rank. I thought Giants were usually Iron,” Betty mused.

Bluey flexed her arm. “We can take them no problem!”

Damien patted her head, “I know you're hyped up, but we gotta take this seriously, I don't want anyone getting hurt.”

Bluey calmed down a bit, nodding.

Aurora asked Betty, “Do you think it's okay to take?”

Betty shrugged, “It should be, they wouldn't make a mistake in categorizing...”

After accepting the request, they went and packed for a trip. The Mountain Giants were in the same mountains the Giant Eagles were in. It didn't look like they were at the top ridge like the eagles were, but instead had caves on the slopes, so it would still be a day and a half trek.

After packing and re-meeting at the Guild, they set off north for the mountains.

As they were walking, Betty giggled.

“What's so funny?” Kara asked, as she was walking next to her.

Betty smiled, “Oh, last time we walked past here Damien and I talked about having a farm, and I was just reminded of that.”

Kara blushed, “You're planning on getting a farm together?”

Betty shook her head, “It was just talking. I think we both like living inside the city.”

Bluey nodded, “They have good food there.”

“And so are Liz, Diana, and all our friends,” Aurora added.

Betty giggled, “I don't think Diana or Dora would be too happy if we moved. “Or Carleen for that matter.”

Damien grimaced, That's true, I have a lot of people relying on me in Ancona...

They kept walking for most of the day, having an uneventful time interspersed with random conversation, until stopping at the same inn as their last trip north.

The inn was fairly busy, and they took the last open table that would fit them in the eating area.

“Wow, there's a lot of Adventurers here...” Kara said, looking around. “This is like a mini-Guild Hall.”

Betty nodded, “This is the main road between Ancona and the northern part of them realm, so it sees a lot of travel.”

Bluey looked around, “Hopefully we don't run into him again.”

Aurora sniffed, “I don't smell him anywhere.”

Betty shook her head, “Don't worry about him.”

Kara looked around like she was confused, but was too afraid to ask.

Damien tried to change the topic of conversation. “This meat-roast is pretty good, isn't it?”

Kara seemed more confused, but Bluey and Aurora nodded, causing Betty to giggle.

After they finished, they went to their separate rooms. Betty was getting Damien for the night, and the other three were sleeping in another. Kara was originally going to buy her own, but Bluey and Aurora insisted on having her sleep with them.

Knowing Betty's normal plan, Damien immediately undressed and got into the tub. Betty blushed and laughed, before jumping in and joining him, resting her head on his shoulder as they soaked.

“Are you doing okay?” Damien asked.

Betty blushed, “I should be asking you that. You're the one with more girls than fingers.”

“That's not true...well, yet.”

Betty giggled again. “I'm fine, thanks for worrying about me.”

Damien hugged her with the arm around her. “Really though, you've been a big help with the other girls.”

“Just don't forget about me,” she replied, leaning up towards him for a kiss.

Damien gave her one. Then Betty pulled his head back down for a longer kiss. Then a longer one.

Damien grabbed her and put her on his member, while Betty grabbed his shoulders and pushed herself up and down.

They made out as their bodies slid together, splashing water up and out of the tub. They continued going for a few minutes, their bodies melding into one in the hot tub, until Damien clenched her tightly as he released into her.

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Betty slowly kissed him again as they laid there connected.

Damien chuckled, “We should actually wash now.”

Betty nodded.

After scrubbing each other, they dried off and laid on the bed. While Damien was tired, Betty had other plans.

“Damien, let's go again,” she said, pouting as Damien put his pajamas on.

Damien was surprised, “Really? You usually are good after once.”

Betty blushed, “I'm feeling extra passionate about you today,” she said, giving a fist pump similar to Bluey.

Damien laughed, dropping his pajamas back down, “Come here,” and picked her up onto the bed.

“You don't mind?” Betty confirmed.

“I'm sure we'll be fine tomorrow.”

In the other room, Bluey and Aurora were playing a card game with Kara, who had just taught them how to play Lonely Summoner (a game similar to Old Maid from Damien's world). Poppy was already sleeping, curled up in a pillow.

Much to her dismay, Bluey had somehow managed to lose six games in a row (Kara winning four and Aurora winning two after picking it up quickly).

“One more!” Bluey demanded, shuffling the cards back up.

Kara yawned, “We should probably go to sleep, though, since we're walking all day tomorrow again. And maybe fighting, too.”

Bluey nodded at the mention of fighting, and stopped shuffling. “Why is the game called Lonely Summoner? Master isn't lonely at all. Even Herod isn't lonely, he has his summons...”

Kara shook her head. “It's because Summoners have a bad reputation for being loners who sleep with their summons. Or do they sleep with their summons and that's why their alone? Either way, that makes them lonely.”

Bluey didn't seem to get it. “That doesn't make any sense though.”

Kara blushed, “Well, you do sleep with your Master, don't you?”

Aurora blushed, “But like Bluey said, our Master isn't lonely.”

Kara shrugged, before falling back on the bed. “It's just a saying, it's not like it's always going to be true.”

Aurora and Bluey cuddled up on either side of her, grabbing an arm.

“I'm not your Master!” she replied, but didn't fight them off.

“I like cuddling with someone, though,” Bluey pouted.

Aurora blushed, “I also enjoy sleeping next to someone, even if it isn't Master.”

Damien and Betty woke up exhausted, taking a while to get out of bed.

There was a knock at the door. “Master, Betty, it's dawn,” Aurora said.

Betty sat up quickly, blushing and looking at Damien.

Damien grabbed his head, “I told you we should have stopped after the second time...”

Betty blushed harder, quickly jumping out of bed. “We'll be out in a minute.”

After they finished packing back up, they left, along with a lot of other Adventurer's heading out in the morning.

Damien noticed that a lot of other Adventurer's seemed to be looking at them. Actually, specifically him. And giving him cold looks. What did I do? He looked down at himself, seeing if he had some sort of stain or if his fly was open.

Then, he realized. He was basically boxed in by four women. Technically five, if you counted Poppy sitting on his head.

He sighed, Yes, I know I'm lucky.

Eventually the crowd thinned out as they continued north. Partway through the morning, Betty stopped everyone. “Hold on, I think we need to go off the road now,” she said, pointing to her map.

Damien pulled up his as well, and saw that Giant territory was off to their left, so they left the safety of the road and headed into the woodland below the mountains.

As they were walking, Bluey pointed up. “I see some Giant Eagles. Are we gonna run into them?”

“We shouldn't, unless they swoop down I guess,” Damien responded, looking up as well.

“You fought those?” Kara asked.

“Yeah. They weren't too bad,” Bluey responded.

Betty shook her head, “Don't judge them based on her and Aurora. They're over-leveled for them. They might even be for the Giants.”

Aurora giggled, “Don't worry, I always take fights seriously.”

Bluey nodded and smiled, pounding her fist, “Me too.”

Kara scooted over towards Damien. “Hey...”

Damien raised an eyebrow.

“Aren't you kind of...too strong for a Bronze-Rank? With your summons, you feel like an Iron-Rank, even though you're still two levels away.”

Damien scratched his cheek. “Yeah...” I probably shouldn't mention the Goddess is giving me some help. It didn't start off to bad, but now with Poppy, I'm starting to get slightly OP.

However, Betty answered for him, putting her hands together in a prayer. “He's been blessed by the Goddess.”

Kara giggled, “Maybe so.”

After walking for a couple hours, Aurora stopped them. “I think I smell them. Or at least, I smell something.”

Poppy zipped off, “I'll find them!”

“Wait!” Damien shouted, but Poppy was already gone. He tried Message-ing her: Poppy, come back, it's not safe!

'I'll be fine Master!'

Damien sighed, 'Fine, just fly back as soon as you see something.'

The others kept walking after confirmation from Damien.

After just a minute, Poppy was back, flying into Damien's chest at top speed.

Damien had to peel her off, “What's wrong?”

Poppy looked a bit scared, “They're so...big! I could see them over the trees.”

Everyone got ready, readying weapons or preparing to use magic.

Damien took charge, “Okay, Bluey and Aurora go out front, Kara and I will follow behind you, and Betty and Poppy will stay behind. We don't really know what we're in for yet, so don't rush in needlessly. We'll have Betty buff us first.”

Betty cast her protection magic on everyone and they briefly glowed green.

Everyone nodded and got into formation. As they started inching forward, he noticed Aurora's ears were twitching. Before he could ask, she said, “It's coming towards us.”

They group stopped, and they could hear the crashing of trees.

“Poppy, can you check again?”

Poppy gulped but nodded, flying up quickly. She immediately came back down. “It's almost here,” she whispered.

A few moments after, they could see through the forest a large pair of legs. It seemed like it was slowly walking, but due to the size, it was coming at them quickly.

“Betty, can you Bind it?” Damien quickly asked.

Betty nodded and held up her hand, “Oh Goddess, Bind my enemy!”

The legs seemed to slow down a bit, but was still managing to walk.

“Sorry....it's too big...” she said, trying again.

“Don't use up all your MP,” he turned to Poppy, “Can you try to sleep it?”

Poppy gulped, “I'll...I'll try!”

“Aurora, distract it with Fire Wall's while Poppy is working.”

Aurora nodded and ran off with Speed Boost.

“What about me?” Bluey asked.

“It depends,” he responded. “Let's see what it does.”

The four remaining waited a moment as Fire Walls started appearing ahead of them. The Giant seemed to be weary of the fire, going over it but treading carefully so as to not step in it.

“Master?” Bluey asked again.

Damien shook his head, “Kara, throw some daggers at it's feet.”

Kara nodded, running off and conjuring daggers at the Giant.

This got it to stop, as it reached down to scratch at the daggers.

Aurora came back, huffing heavily. “Master... I did what I could...but I'm low on MP...”

Damien smiled and had her sit down.

Suddenly there was the crashing of branches, and everyone looked over to see the Giant falling over. Poppy flew into Damien again, “I finally got it to sleep! It took all my MP worth of Pixie Dust, but I got it!” she exclaimed hugging Damien.

“That's great but now isn't the time,” Damien said, peeling her off and dropping her into Betty's hands. “Bluey, come on.”

Bluey got all excited, and followed after Damien as they ran towards the Giant. It was now asleep in a lopsided position. They caught up with Kara, who had gotten out of the way when it fell. “So, what are we doing now?”

“Bluey is going to line up a big dropkick on it's head, and you and I will hopefully get rid of the rest of its HP from behind.”

They both nodded at Damien.

Bluey ran up a tree, jumping up high, before landing a solid kick right into the cheek of the Giant. It awoke with a roar, clawing at the ground.

Damien was casting Fire Breath at it while Kara was rapidly throwing daggers. Eventually, she ran out of MP and took her real daggers out, slicing at the back of it's leg.

“Be careful!” Damien shouted, as he was getting low on MP himself.

The Giant started to sit up, and took a swipe at Bluey, but she easily dodged it with a jump. It then took one at Kara.

Damien started running towards her, but Kara was able to backstep out of the way just in time.

The Giant, however, now saw Damien. He activated Speed Boost, but wasn't able to get out of the Giant's armlength in time, and was grabbed.

It suddenly went dark, and smelled like dirt, as he struggled inside the Giant's clenched hand. He was surprised that it didn't seem to be crushing him. Is it actually not that strong? However, after a moment, the hand started to unclench, and he could see he was now above the standing Giant's head. It was large and gnarly, with a huge beard and wild mane of hair around it. It's mouth started to open, and Damien realized he was being lowered into it.

Suddenly there was a flash, directed at the Giant's eyes.

“Master!” he heard Poppy cry, grabbing onto him.

“Poppy, it's not safe!”

“You're not safe!” Poppy shouted back.

The Giant grabbed it's eyes with it's other hand, and Damien was able to kick free, landing on the Giant's nose. He tried to grab on, but slipped and instead was able to grab onto it's beard.

“Master, you're too heavy!” Poppy said, flapping her wings furiously as if she was going to carry him away.

“Go get Bluey or someone to catch me!” Damien said, holding on for dear life. He could see he was above the tree canopy at this point. Poppy flew away, and Damien tried to think of how to get safely down.

The Giant had other plans, though, as it tried to grab him out of it's beard. As the hand got close, he cast Fire Breath, burning the hand and causing the Giant to howl in pain.

He noticed there was some fighting below, and he could see his teammates fighting around the Giant's legs. The Giant was now distracted by them, and Damien had to hold on more as he was flung around as the Giant turned.

Damien then felt Poppy flying into him again. “Master, you can jump now.”

“Okay, stay with Betty until the fights over after this.”

Poppy nodded and flew off.

Damien took a deep breath, then let go of the Giant's beard. He felt as if time slowed as he started to fall, then it rush and caught up as he got closer. As he was about to hit the ground, the felt someone catch him, before falling over.

“Eugh-” he heard grunted from the person who caught him.

Damien turned his head to see Kara underneath him. “Kara!? I thought you were Bluey.”

Kara was rubbing her backside, but smiled, “Haha, you should have realized I didn't have a huge slime chest to bounce off,” she tried to joke, but winced in pain. “She's doing more damage than me, so I volunteered to catch you. I owed you from Estora anyway.”

Damien helped her up, and they went over to Betty, who started healing her right away. He turned around to see Bluey rapidly punching the Giant, and Aurora was darting around, keeping her distance and burning the Giant where she could.

Damien helped Kara sit, then ran back over to help. Since his MP was almost full, he had enough for a FireBall. Aiming carefully, he hit the Giant in the face.

The Giant swatted but was knocked off balance, falling onto it's back. Bluey lined up another dropkick, and this time kicked it's head sideways, seeming to break it's neck in the process. The Giant stopped moving.

Aurora ran over to Damien, “Nice job...Master...” she said, before falling into him.

Damien caught her, patting her back, “Good work.”

Bluey came over, somehow still having energy, hugging both of them. The three of them went back to where the other three were.

“Kara!” Bluey said, kneeling down next to her.

Kara smiled, “I'm fine, Betty already healed me.”

“Thanks again,” Damien said to her.

Kara blushed, “I told you, we're even now. Actually I think you really caught me twice, so I still owe you once...”