A man's corpse laid disfigured upon the ground. Blood leaked out of his mouth and nostrils as his bones sticked out in places they shouldn't stick, limbs bending in ways they shouldn't bend. His armor has been stripped away, but discarded on the floor like trash long with the metal fragments of what his mace used to be.
He had been already physically broken long ago, the only sounds that emitted from the caverns were incomprehensible gibberish that came from the other side of the room. The man that used to be called Alex was spouting out utterings that seemed to be even below primal standards. The reason in question was the Kitsune Queen that stretched her arms and tails midway through her experiments.
"Ahhhh~ That felt great!"
Shion couldn't have expressed her relief any other way. These past few days of overwhelming stress and extraordinary experiences has really did a number on her mind. A place where she could exercise her frustrations on the world was just what she needed. It was also a good way to experiment the different types of spells that she knew and didn't knew. Most of the caverns were desecrated at this point. What she did earlier was to spout out random names of spells until one worked. Sure it depleted her mana reserves, but it was for the sake of gathering information.
As for the humans... Shion never intended to kill them at first. It was when she attempted to defend herself with a simple tier 2 spell called [Mindblast]. The spell was able to deal moderate instantaneous damage with a small chance to inflict the 'Panick" status alignment, allowing them to be vulnerable to even more attacks. Instantaneous attacks were useful in a way that players couldn't dodge them how they normally would, making it extremely useful unless one had a special skill to counter it. However it seemed that a spell like that ended up being too much for the human.
The kitsune was at first surprised, but she determined it was only natural for an area with a low level cap such as this. For someone with such weak will, a mind-effecting spell would prove to be highly effective. Usually a spell like this was intended to either stop enemy incantations and attacks, or follow it up with another spell upon hitting the rare chance of inflicting the Panick status alignment.
Shion's favorite combo to follow it up with was [Mind Break]. This particular spell destroys the willpower of the target and makes them unable to resist mind-affecting spells, leaving for even more devastating combos for the kitsune to abuse.
However such a thing wasn't at all needed.
The human, she thought she heard his name was 'Alex', collapsed on the ground completely brain dead. The spell surprisingly didn't straight up kill him though. However, she assumed that these humans here weren't anything special and moved her attention to the 2nd human that laid crippled on the ground.
Their power wasn't even comparable to a level 10.
Shion mentally sneered as she recalled that this 'Mark' guy charged in with a stick that he called a weapon. It was pitiful really. Shion had used [Break Item] as another conduct for experimentation. As she hoped, it worked as expected and crumbled the weapon into a small pile of iron-like sand.
This has been truly a productive day.
Not only that she was able to determine what spells she could remember, but she also confirmed that the residents of this world was able to speak the same language. This was another huge relief to Shion to further abandon her stress she had previously accumulated. If this world spoke in a completely different language than her, then it would surely become an inconvenience for the kitsune.
It was then she also recalled the human expressing a face of pure horror upon losing his only method of self-defense. It was an interesting face. A face that brought a smile on Shion's face, she couldn't explain why. Eventually she realized she wanted to see even more expressions out of this man. All sense of apathy and familiarity with her former race was lost. Her mild interest slowly transformed into morbid curiosity. All that mattered then was that she wanted to see that man squirm and shrivel in ways not thought possible. She enjoyed it. The face of that human twisted in ways she wanted to see. The man's expression as he writhed with mixed agony and pleasure brought an unexpected joy within Shion.
It was like something from within her had shifted dramatically to seek out more expressions such as this. The Shion she knew inside would say that this was cruel, but she couldn't care. She literally couldn't care any less. This was because of a racial skill called [Yako's Desire].
There were usually two types of Kitsunes. The Zenko Kitsunes, who were known for their shapeshifting capacity and tended shift their alignment in a good direction; and the Yako Kitsunes, who were known for their illusion and charming capacity and aligning with a chaotic desire for power, but was not truly evil.
[Yako's Desire] was such a skill that belonged to the Yako Kitsunes. Upon realizing a sudden desire, the chances of success for that desire increased dramatically. Powerful Yako Kitsunes were known to bend reality at a whim, so much so that the world itself would be tricked due to powerful illusion magic, making it a reality. [Yako's Desire] was a special racial skill that was only accessible to those with 10 Racial Levels in the Yako race. However a Kitsune can only level one of either Zenko or Yako Kitsune to level 10. Shion acquired this skill because she believed that it would boost item drop rates, which it did, along with many other things. Essentially, it was an enormous boost in luck, nothing else.
But now it was being used an entirely different manner. A switch was flipped. She craved for more. Devilish inhuman desires swelled up from within. This caused her to do something horrible. This act of cruelty continued for a long while, until the man eventually stopped moving. Shion immediately snapped out of it afterwards, but with little to no regret for what she had done. She struggled to find a reason to how she acted such a way, and even unsettled that she felt no sympathy or regret for her actions. This led to a mild concern within her mind.
Why, did I do that? And, why don't I feel bad about it? No, it even felt.. good. I felt, pleasure. I enjoyed it.
Her concerns slowly led to a number of speculations with her current mental state. Most of which were quickly discarded and improved upon until she eventually reached a hypothesis.
Was... I truly human anymore? Had this new body of mine also changed the way I thought about humans, now that I'm a demi-human? Strange. I feel nothing for these people. Is it because they are so weak compared to me. Why was that?
Morality was not a thing to take in to account when playing a game such as Yaggdrasil. All the NPCs were expressionless, fake, and easily to distinguish from reality. The only people that you do have to care about are other players. Yet this wasn't Yaggdrasil. Shion was entirely apathetic towards these humans, despite it being another world. She questioned whether or not the delusions of reality and in-game are currently conflicting within her, causing her to do such horrid things so easily.
It was like killing an insect.
The kitsune was left with questions she couldn't quite answer. Eventually, Shion also recognized that having an existential crisis over it wasn't exactly the best next course of action to take. Instead, she choosen to disregard it temporarily and turned to face the brain dead adventurer right beside her.
The undead were immune to any mind-altering spells, so having a live subject was a perfect chance to use such magic to see whether or not it worked the way she intended. Shion sat down and organized her inner thoughts as she waited. After a couple hours of resting, a good portion of her mana replenished itself.
In Yggdrasil, it was common knowledge that all magic casters had to wait for their mana to regenerate naturally. There was no such spells or items to suddenly boost the capacity for spells you can bombard your enemies with. The game devs decided that adding such systems to replenish your mana instantly would break the game as they preferred having players strategize with the limited amount of spells they could use.
Once recovering, the kitsune queen headed back to the pained stirring human that laid on the ground, slowly recovering. The effects of [Mindblast] wasn't indefinite. Most players even had countermeasures to such things, as interrupting their spells and spamming a barrage of stun-locking attacks was basically cheating. This 'Alex' guy however, recovered sooner than she thought, but it didn't matter much. Shion had a test subject to experiment with.
After a couple more hours, Shion had already compiled a list of spells she could use by writing in a memo-pad she pulled from her inventory. The vegetable that used to be known as 'Alex' was now essentially a sack of meat that only knew how to inhale and exhale. The kitsune learned a lot after practicing her mind-altering spells on the unfortunate human vegetable.
The first thing that she had learned, was that it drained a lot of mana from her reserves. So much so that she wasn't able to experiment for long.
Second, is that using [Control Amnesia] allows her to poke in one's memories. However upon using this on the human, she messed up midway through her experiment. Unfortunately, the adventurer's mind jumbled up into something completely unusable.
It was like trying to look through a computer's lines of code and editing it without any memory backup to recover from. All forms of memory manipulation cannot be undone. It was a tricky feeling to get used to, but Shion determined if she had more test dummies to work with, then mastering it could be accomplished with enough practice. Sadly that wasn't the case as the other human was dead. Shion then tried to look at the bright side of things and recognized that the spell could potentially be used simply as a way to make a human into a vegetable. Both utilities are equality useful to the Kitsune.
Regretting that she wasn't able to learn anything more, Shion started to move her attention elsewhere. It was then her eyes led to a satchel lying on the ground, right next to a girl she definitely haven't noticed before. Quickly losing her interest with her previous experiment, she chose to finish the job and casted a lethal dose of [Mindbreak] on the human potato, killing the soon to be forgotten male adventure. The kitsune queen then drew closer to the seemingly unconscious girl and casted [Appraisal Magic Item] on the satchel beside her. Soon, a wave of unprecedented information impeded into her mind, causing Shion to be taken aback in surprise.
"M-Mana Potions!?"
This was a development that far exceeded her expectations. For such a thing to exist in this world meant another two things for Shion.
"This means... there are items even I don't know of that exist in this world."
Her collector's blood boiled. Back in Yggdrasil, trading and mass marketing rare items was her expertise. Naturally her first instinct was to discover these never seen before items and hoard them all as her own to amass a sizable profit. Then the Kitsune Queen quickly dismissed the thought away soon after and took a step back to re-evaluate the situation.
"This isn't good... there also might be players like me in this world.. and if they also know the existence of these potions, or even have them on their person, I would be at a major disadvantage.." she muttered to herself. Death was something she wasn't sure of in this world. Usually it was like a negative status effect back in Yggdrasil, where you could cure it with a revival item or simply respawn somewhere after a period of time being immobile. However death in this world might be a different thing all together, and Shion wasn't exactly suicidal enough to test it out herself.
Shion therefore quickly prioritized getting her hands on these mana potions, lest she learned about death the hard way. Having these in battle would be a gamebreaking advantage over others. Having the increased capacity to spam more spells than your opponent is essentially broken beyond belief. Unfortunately these said potions now in her possession were of the lesser category, only of being able to replenish a small fraction of her mana.
The first thing that she considered it giving them to Go-san, that mad alchemist kitsune. Shion was confident she would be able to make these potions more potent, however what she lacked was the knowledge on how to make more of these foreign potions. Usually potions were made through the use of Yggdrasil coins, an all-use currency that could be used to synthesize potions, along with a plethora of other uses. However these "Mana" potions never existed in Yggdrasil, and without the console, she would have a hard time actually producing these mana-refilling vials. The kitsune would have quickly regretted that fact if it weren't for the girl that laid on the ground, unconsciously groaning in her filth.
Eh? Where did she come from? Was she left there by those guys? Well.. in any case, I could use her.. Should I use [Control Amnesia] again?
Again, the spell itself took a significant amount of her precious mana, and the lesser mana potions she had were basically useless as of now. The spell itself also came with a risk of basically killing the girl if she messed up, which was what the kitsune didn't want to do a second time. She exhaled a deep sigh as she decided to extract information the old fashioned way.
"Hahh... it can't be helped. [Cleanse]!"
A small white light surrounded the girl as she continued to rest on the ground unmoving. After a few seconds the aura faded, leaving no change.
"...Eh? Did I run out of mana? No, it definitely worked. Unless... that the spell cured negative status effects. Tsk.. Let's try..uhm.. how about [Clean]!"
This time the girl was quickly scrubbed off of any sort of dirt and grime that stuck to her, fully cleaning her clothes and equipment. Shion nodded satisfied as she picked up the girl wrapped in her multiple soft luscious tails. She then grabbed the ever so important satchel and tossed it into her pocket space. "Guess it's about time to leave." She told herself, not expecting any answer. The mines were quickly navigated and Shion made sure the undead wouldn't come back anytime soon. Leaving, all the remained of the caves was a flaming earthly pile of rubble. The only sounds that were uttered was the soft murmurs of a certain magic caster shifting awake.
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I stirred listlessly on the ground. My mind was slowly brought forth into reality as I shifted to feel my arms and legs. My eyelids parted, but only to notice I was facing upwards with a shadow looming overhead of me. Small foreign rays of light illuminated the room ever so slightly as I tried to adjust my eyes to see clearly within the dimly lit darkness.
The roof of the ceiling to give some sort of visibility, or rather lack of a ceiling. I could definitely tell this was a building. Taking a glance around me, it looked to be the inside of the abandoned church I passed by on our trip to that cave. My eyes were eventually stolen away from me as I saw her. What I clearly above me was a warm smile. A smile that was plastered on a face with a pair of golden eyes. Her cheeks were comparable to a beautiful small doll. A girl leaned above me as I laid upon the ground with my head on her lap, my mouth agape.
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She was cute. No, cute wasn't even a word to begin to describe it. It was a girl with skin as light as the sunlit meadows. She hosted a seemingly small figure that wore an equally small outfit I could barely distinguish it to be of southern origin. It was a formal dress overall, but she also wore an apron in front of it. A red belt-like ribbon was tied along her tiny waist wrapped around the apron as if it was to fasten it tight. A small red lotus-pin was attached to her short-golden hair that reached to her upper neck, fluffing outwards to emphasize her inner cuteness. Everything else about her all screamed 'maid'.
Her smile pulled the strings of adoration along with many other emotions as she radiated in a petite beauty. It was enough to send my heart pounding, a member of the opposite sex. However, it was when I also noticed other intriguing features about her. Even though imperfect teeth were usually looked down upon, her snaggletooth could only enhance her cuteness even further than I would think possible. One thing that stood out the most overall, was the tufts on her hair... Small dark streaks aligned at the tips of them, with even smaller white tufts peaked out at the front. The girl tilted her head in confusion as the said tufts in her hair also suddenly shifted in direction. It flickered as I examined them thoroughly.
No wait, those aren't tufts... are those.. ears?!
This sight even further astounded me as one of her tails writhed about behind her, and soon the rest of her tails shifted within in my view. This was a beastman, but she looked and sounded nothing like any of the descriptions I've read. This beautiful girl looked too human to be a beastman. However her ears and tails only proved that to be the case.
"Ara? You're finally awake! Mistress will be happy now that you've fully recovered."
Her tails seemed to shift about, no that wasn't it. Her tails seemed to be moving in a graceful slithering-like motion in the air, showing unheeded excitement. It was like how a dog would wag their tail, only that this was far more elegant than a simple swing back and forth. I quickly stopped my eyes from being distracted and forced myself to bring the conversation to the point.
"Excuse me, but who are you and where am I?" I managed to mutter the typical question out of my throat. It was a bold move to demand answers with a beastman, but even I could see this wasn't any ordinary beastman.
She peered down at me while I still rested my head against her lap and smiled. "You may call me Yon-san, and I am Mistress's maid. You've been brought here by Mistress after she found you unconscious in that cave."
Naturally, speaking directly to me in such a polite tone befuddled me. Her voice sounded way too kind to have any malicious intentions like I expected a beastman would have. It was a voice that lacked any trace of haughtiness that nobles had, or an aura of superiority and danger that any criminal or enemy would have. It was instead, a cute voice that she could easily adore and admire. It was a voice of a little girl, as simple as that.
My general image of all beastmen suddenly shattered. Previously I had been told that these monsters had many bestial properties like fur, claws, snouts, and other appendages. Some demi-human cultures also revolved around cannibalism and using the remains of their enemies as trophies. Proof of strength were made in the form of human-ear necklaces and thrones made out of bones.
"Im..possible.." My mind tried to deny what was standing there. I was a scholar during my early life within the Draconic Kingdom, but none of the books revealed anything about beastmen with multiple tails, or any beastmen as beautiful as this one. Such an existence could only leave me with this newfound reality that presented itself with. It was also then I recalled the words that this unfathomable being of a beastman told me.
"Wait, cave?" Recent horrifying experiences invaded my mind as I recalled the traumatic events that had unfolded. The feeling of having that bitter liquid forced down my throat. The pain of the beaker lid being drove deep into my esophagus, forcefully drowning the solution into my overflowing stomach until I coughed back up that bile over and over again. It was the short definition of hell on earth.
A face flashed within the edges of my mind. It was that guy who hired me on a whim. Spouting out decorated words of how great I was. How they would love to have me in their party, giving me a false sense of belonging. Both my fists clasped profoundly as I indulged in my sudden bitter rage.
Alex... Marcus...
I recalled the horrible blurish memory. While Alex was drowning me, Marcus just stood there as he did nothing. He didn't even try to help as his friend brought me to unconsciousness. Both of them left me there on the dirt to die. I tasted the sour bitterness of it all, for allowing myself to be a victim of such a horrible thing. I wanted to vomit my innards all over again, but most importantly..
I wanted to kill them.
After some time mentally swearing of my recent predicament, I soon realized that having a recollection of past traumatic experiences, and lamenting the people that brought me near death was probably not the most important of things to do when using a fox girl as lap pillow.
This beastman, no, Yon-san is looking at me with a confused expression. That's bad. I probably made an unsightly face infront of her. Ah I have to apologize now.
I attempted to pull myself out of my traumatic episode by scratching my head apologetically. "Um.. sorry about that, but may I ask a few questions related to my.. recent rescuing?"
Yon-san nodded to me as she smiled once more, then proceeded to explain. "Mistress told me to answer any of your questions to best of my ability, and don't worry, you're safe here. I managed to heal all your wounds and most importantly the stomach acid that scorched your throat. It should be good as new now!"
"W-wait." I lifted myself off of her lap and instinctively reached for my throat and confirmed that there were no obnormalies. Infact, my throat felt clearer than I felt ever before in my entire life.
But most importantly..
I grabbed the foxgirl's hands and clasped my fingers around hers, unable to hide my joyus frantic discovery. "You can use Tier Magic!?"
My thirst for knowledge was ever so avid. The fact that this beastman knows how to use the magic I've been searching for changes everything. "Please tell me everything!" I could barely hold in my expression of insatiable desire for it. All common sense was thrown out the window and burned into an irreversable pile of metaphorical ash.
The development here I could tell wasn't what the beastma- Yon-san was expecting. She could only stare at me wide-eyed with my sudden declaration for knowledge. The foxgirl had to go into deep thought before replying, as if she was totally unprepared for the event that unfolded.
"Um.. What I meant to say is that I would answer any questions related to your.. 'recent rescuing', as you've put it. I don't think I can answer your other question, at least not for right now. I don't think Mistress would allow it." She calmly addressed to me.
I couldn't hide my disappointment. However I had to admit the girl was right in that aspect. This wasn't the time or place to be asking for the forbidden fruits of knowledge when more relative problems were at work. "A-Ah.. I'm really sorry! Ahum.. I am Lucia Cromwell of the Draconic High Nobels, well.. former High Nobel." She dejectedly admitted.
I started to regain my composure, sitting up straight with my knees to the ground just like she did in front of me. This was me attempting to salvage what dignity I had left to gain her favor. "So um.. Yon-san right?" I called out the name in question. I regained a bit of my confidence as she nodded in confirmation. "Uh, right. So where exactly.. is your Mistress'?"
"Right behind you."
I panicked and let out a small cry in surprise before falling out of my spot and landing into Yon-san's chest, or rather, lack of a chest face-first. Pushing myself away from the foxgirl and quickly rotated my view to gaze upon another foxgirl, wearing yet another set of foreign attire I don't recognize. Her beauty was comparable, no, perhaps even superior to Yon-san, and that simply went without saying as there were no other words in the human language to describe such glorious perfection.
Naturally, the initial shock of meeting Yon-san had me a bit more prepared for such a sudden encounter. What stood up leaning towards me now was a simple fox-like beastman wearing a smug-like expression on her face. She clearly expressed an aura of mischievousness I recognized upon first glance. This foxgirl also had 9 tails apart from Yon-san's 6, yet another foriegn concept I wasn't familiar of with beastmen. She continued her smile smugly as she started to burst in laughter. I would have been a little ticked off if this were occurring under normal circumstances, yet these events were far from normal. I retained my composure soon after and interrupted her laughter. "Are you really Yon-san's mistress?" I outright questioned her authority, albeit with minor skepticism involved. "Actually, just who are you?" I declared.
She then fixated her gaze upon me with her narrowed eyes, and sudden chills surrounded the skin around me. She unfurled her tails as she swished them back and forth, as if deciding carefully what to say next. "It's been a while since I gave my name to someone. There was a time when I used to be well known throughout the world. A time where every mortal carved my very name into their very minds, however that was a long time ago. For now, you may call me as simply 'Hitomu-san'" she smiled. However, that wasn't the same warm smile that Yon-san had. This was a smile of someone seeing a tasty dish presented to them. It was a smile of a predator that was eager to indulge in their cornered prey. Cold shivers were sent throughout my spine as she locked her eyes with mine, licking her own luscious lips. I wasn't sure if that was meant to be done seductively, or threateningly. Both possibilities only proved to further instil a fear of her within me.
I instinctively drew myself closer to the closest thing that I could tug onto for comfort, which led to the pitiful sight of me hiding behind the Yon-san as I gripped her shoulder in justifiable foreboding. Hitomu laughed pleasingly as I continued to stare at her in obvious discomfort. All senses of self-preservation screamed at me, gripping my mind in a state of confusion and inner turmoil due to the potential risk to both my life and/or chastity. "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you Lucia Cromwell of the Draconic High Nobels." She stifled a grin by placing her hands on her mouth. "Or should I call you Lucia-san? Formalities are a pain after all. Regardless, how should I put this.. I simply wish you no harm." She calmly addressed to me. "In fact, I would like to return something of yours" she grinned.
Skepticism was the only thing I could show upon seeing this. I couldn't explain why I was so unsettled by this beastman. Yon-san wasn't as nearly as terrifying as I imagined a beastman would be, but this woman was on a whole different level of terror I couldn't possibly prepare for. "S-something of mine?" My voice shook audibly for her to hear. Thankfully, her smile softened a bit before shifting to reach into her white jacket. The gesture to reach into her clothes rose my concerns, but beyond my expectations, she was able to pull a large item out of her clothes. Before I could be confounded by the physically impossible movement, I glanced at the item in question and I quickly abandoned all my previous concerns.
It was a crystalized blue frozen branch that inhibited a small chilly fog out of it's material. This material was able to absorb a large amount of heat from the atmosphere, allowing it's chilly atmosphere to surface around it. It was a magical item that I knew very well. She handed me the staff into the hands of it's rightful owner. The handle of my staff fit comfortably within my palms. It was handcrafted by my own hard found rare materials. This staff represented the very peak of my magical knowledge. It was the [Frost Spewer].
This staff acted as a catalyst for my magic, allowing me to utilize spells up to the 2nd tier. It was a realm of magic that only those with talent, numbering 1 in 5,000 to 1 in 10,000, can use. I wasn't fortunate enough to be born with magical talent, but with this staff, I was able to surpass many's expectations despite that. It could even be said that this crystalline staff was my life's work, and this beastman was in fact returning this to me. Relief, confusion, and confidence stirred within me. Staff in hands, I gave Hitomu a look that consisted of all these conflicting feelings.
What was her angle?
That staff was the most valuable thing in my possession, probably even more valuable than myself. The fact that the fox woman returned it to me left me to be skeptical of her motivations. Beneath that smug smile, I wasn't able to determine just what she was aiming for. "Just.. what is is that you want from me?" I outright asked the fox woman.
Hitomu simply continued to look at me with that damn smile, but the she started to cast her voice in a teasing tone. "Ara? So that's first thing that you say when someone saves you from near death and returns your belongings? My, your people surely lack proper manners don't they?"
Her tails swished back and forth as she spoke as if she was offended, but her smile quite said the opposite. The way she said it really rubbed me the wrong way, especially hearing this coming out of a beastman. It was mutually understood that beastmen are probably the most uncivilized race out there, but the fact that she expressed such a refined human emotion of teasing and wore a better set of clothing than myself, it made me feel personality attacked from a human perspective.
I managed to fake a cough and attempted to apologize to her, only for her to raise her hand to stop me. "Relax, it was a simple jest. I'm more than glad to get to the proper point, but I'm more concerned about your well being. After all, you did vomit all your insides. Aren't you at least a little hungry?" Hitomu started to act concerned. I truly wasn't sure if that was out of campassion or hidden motive, and that kinda reeked me. However it was also when I realized that she was right, I was starving. Excruciatingly so. I gripped my lower stomach in a pang of tormenting painful hunger. My mind didn't realize it because I was so absorbed in my current situation, but my stomach was probably eating itself apart.
Hitomu noticed my inner agony and clapped her hands twice in the air. "Yon-san. Provide Lucia-san the most cheape- I mean.. the most proper of meals." she ordered, heavingly emphasizing the word 'proper'. However I was in too much pain to hardly notice what was going on around me. Not a second later, the fox maid presented a tray with a silver platter in front of me. She lifted the plate to reveal a heavenly-looking brown soup with an uplifting steam to steal my sense of smell. I immediately indulged into it without thinking and gulped down it's contents.
"My.. that's.. quite something." I could faintly hear Hitomu a few feet away from me, but I hardly cared. Soon enough the bowl was emptied and all that was left was a messy platter and some soup contents leftover on my mouth and cheek. Yon-san moved forth and wiped my mouth with a napkin by hand, having me fully realize how much of an embarrassment I've been. To allow a cute girl to wipe away my face like a mother does to their unkempt children, it brought me a great amount of shame as I blushed furiously in self-dissapointment. More than that, the dish was delicious. It's as delicious as the food I've been served back in my royal life. The richness of the meat in the soup and the nutrients flowing back into my body, it was just what I needed to halt the agonizing pain in my body. "S-sorry.. um.. what did I just ate?" I asked to derail their opinions of me.
Yon-san's face brightened up upon hearing those words, and she started to recite the said dish. "What you ate was a simple mudcrab soup. I've made sure to limit it's volume so it could be easier on your stomach. You should be feeling better now that your belly is full." Her smile gleamed in satisfaction. That smile itself erased all my concerns away, leaving me with a sense of peace and fulfillness, contrasting to the unnervingly carnal smile Hitomu-san had.
"T-thank you." I felt myself being flustered by her presence. However the other fox girl stepped forth and greeted me with a more casual smile than normal, much to my relief.
"Well.. now that has been done with, let's get back onto the main topic. You have something I want, and you want something I have." She addressed to me, in a suddenly more mature and formal tone than I was initially introduced with. It jarred me somewhat to suddenly be put in a serious mood, but I complied and stood up straight to meet with her hardened gaze.
"You.. want something from me?" I asked mostly to myself. My mind started to churn to provide any sort of answer she was talking about. Everything I owned was lost in that cave. By looking into her eyes, I could see the same kind of lust I faced earlier. A tantalizing desire of something. Something 'I' had.
I gripped both sides of my shoulders as I turned slightly and clasped both my legs together "Could it be.. that you desire.. my body?"
Her next expression was what I haven't yet seen before. It was the face of solid confusion and dumbfoundedment, just for a split second, before returning to her same smug-like expression. "Pfftthahaha!... If I wanted to eat you, I would have done so already." She answered me easily. I wasn't sure whether to be relieved that she never intended to kill me, or to be relieved that my chastity wasn't at sake. She did put a large emphasis on the word 'eat', leaving me to be further confused by the situation by the moment. I quickly discarded that train of thought as I didn't really want to know which route she intended on me being eaten or being 'eaten'.
"Anyways.. pfft.." She stifled a final small laughter before returning to normal. "I'm afraid that's not what I want. What I want is these." She then reached into her clothes once again to pull out a familiar satchel of potions before tossing it towards me.
"My.. potions?"
"Precisely. For you see, these vials here are very valuable." She lifted a single mana potion out of the bag, carefully examining it on her own. "...Especially to someone of my expertise. I want to know where you got them and how to acquire more of them." She led on before bringing her gaze back to me. "Now.. I also happen to know what you also desire. You desire to know the fundamentals of Tier Magic, is that correct?" She hit the bulls eye.
"You know Tier Magic!" I exclaimed.
"Asking is free, but answers cost money." She refused my question. "However.. not everything can be paid with money. Some valuables don't have a price to them, priceless if you will." She tossed the potion back to me as she continued onwards. "Now what happens when two people have something eachother wants?"
I steeled myself as I realized what she was proposing. "You want me to trade mana potions in exchange for the study of magical arts." I concluded.
"Yes, precisely. Now what do you say Lucia-san?" She extended her hand forward, expecting me to accept it and the deal she presented.
And I did so without hesitation.