I dreamt, a dream I hadn’t had in a long time. One of Syrinx, my old love, if you could call her that. She was in the woods hunting a boar and I was herding sheep just outside the woodlands edge. When I saw her my heart began to pound like never before. Selfish as I was, I pursued her. Day in and day out, relentlessly I followed her. I was so blinded by her beauty I didn’t see the signs. I tried to stop myself, alter that past. That didn’t happen. I was helpless as I watched myself pursue the nymph until she threw herself off a cliff into a river. I never saw her again. Then everything faded into darkness once again.

I opened my eyes to see Savas standing above me. Looking at me in a strange way. I felt light and thin. My head was swimming and tears flowed down my cheeks as the last vestiges of my dream faded into memory. With a huge smile on my face, I called out to him.

“Savas! My friend! It’s good to see you again.” came out in a voice that didn’t belong to me.

It was higher pitched than I remember. Almost feminine. Oh no, the bet. I bolted upright looking down at my body. My skin was a faint violet and I had long black claws. My arms were thin, still strong I could tell. But they were far thinner than before. I couldn’t feel my member in my pants and large ample breast pressed against the shirt that I’d been dressed in. I stood up and tore my shirt off with a roar of defeat. Then I looked down once again, pausing for a moment. Thinking about it, Savas gave me a nice ass body. I mean give me a reflecting pool and I could gaze at myself all day.

“No. This is my punishment for defeat in single combat.” I thought. Trying to get my thoughts back on track.

“Are you sure this is what you wanted Pan? I mean I can simply transfer you to a male body now that you’ve technically fulfilled your bet.” Savas said.

“No my lord unfortunately that wasn't the entirety of the bet so I cannot change back until I’ve fulfilled my vows. That said, would you give me some time to complete my vows? This is a new experience and. Um. Yeah. I’m not sure I’m ready just yet.” Pan said.

Looking at Whisper suspiciously as he unceremoniously laughed with one hand over his mouth. While the other held his stomach in an attempt to maintain his balance. I snuck a glance at Pan and saw that he. Er, I mean she was glaring at him obviously perturbed she lost the bet. I can see why she was so vicious in our duel now though.

With that settled I looked over to the goblin chief and Lady Evalina sitting in a corner of the room. The latter with a look of shock on her face and the former with his ears flopped down.

When I got back to the dungeon, I was greeted by the sight of the lady arguing about something. Gesturing wildly while pointing around in random places. One such place was an island that had a massive hole dug in it full of mud with wooden walls set up like a stage arena. Inside I could see the goblins wrestling inside of it in their underwear. Not understanding what was happening or why she was here. I walked up beside them and clapped my hands loudly, gaining their attention. Lady Evalina jumped in surprise while the goblin chief saw me and bowed.

“What is going on here? Why are you fighting? What is that? And why are you here?” I said in consternation.

They both gave me a sheepish look. Clearly not wanting to be the first to speak. After a long integration I learned that. The chief didn’t really know what a training ground was except for an arena. So, he did the only thing he knew that matched my description. I wasn’t happy about a massive mud pit in my realm, but I understood the miscommunication. As for Lady Evalina. She followed Thorn’s blood trail eventually leading her to my dungeon. To her looked just like a cave entrance. Like the one I said I’d been living in. About to enter she saw the goblin chief going in and out collecting water. After observing him for a while she decided to follow him. Which led her to see the construction of the arena. Realizing that these were not simple goblins, she found a place to hide in the trees and watched some more. After the long labor of the area was done, she heard the chief say my name with reverence. Gambling, she approached the goblin. Which led them to talking about what he was doing and her vehement rejection of what I wanted. She told him that I wanted a place to practice magic. While he said I wanted a place to practice brawling. She came back every day trying to convince him otherwise leading up to me stumbling on one of their arguments.

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With a sigh I told them that they were both wrong and went to the living quarters to prepare Pan’s new body. The one Whisper told me about on our journey back, laughing the entire way. At first, I didn’t believe him, but he hadn’t lied to me so far and it was just too outrageous to believe otherwise.

Lady Evalina was the first to speak once I’d finished.

“You. You can bring people back to life and give them new bodies?” she said then turned to Whisper. “That means that you’re Thorn, doesn’t it?”

Whisper's laughter stopped immediately as he gave her a cold and slightly panicked look. Before she could ask him anything more, I held up a hand in protest.

“His name is Whisper. That’s all you need to know for now. Now if there’s anything else you want to talk about. Now is the time.” I directed.

“How do I become one of these Oni’s?” she asked.

Without missing a beat, Whisper said, “You have to die! Not pass out. Not to get severely injured. No, cut in half, head removed, bleed to death, riddled with arrows, poisoned to death, die. Any other stupid questions?”

She flinched at his cold remark. Obviously picturing what had happened to Thorn. I stepped in before things got heated to a point of no return.

I learned that she’d been curious about Whisper and what had really happened that night. So, she followed the trail made by Thorn and Halvar. She also wanted to see if I could help in training some of the hunters and didn’t know how to get ahold of me. Thinking about her request I asked about the hunters she had lined up.

It was bad. Like really, really bad. She had 5 hunters selected for the job. None of which had ever held a bow or sword. Nor did any of them know anything about magic. It was clear to me that they were going to die if they didn’t get proper training. Just then an idea crossed my mind.

“How about I make a deal with you. I’ll provide hunters and security for your village. In exchange, my hunters will help train your hunters and you must keep this place a secret unless absolutely necessary.” I offered.

She thought about the proposal for a long moment before countering my offer.

“I’ll agree to everything you suggested but I’ll add a condition for my secrecy. You bring back anyone who dies in the village as one of the Oni. This way they’ll get a second chance at life.” she said.

Thinking for a moment I shook my head.

I said, “I’ll only ever bring back people who agree beforehand as Oni. So,”

“Then I’ll get permission from all of them in writing in advance. So, we have a deal then?” she interrupted sticking her hand out in an attempt to shake mine.

With a soft laugh I took her hand in mine. Smiling as we did.

She left the next day, staying the night to think over her plan. She also gave Pan some tips on how to deal with and what to expect from her new body. Pan seemed grateful for the help, absorbing everything she had to say. Going so far as to take notes on some of the more critical things she now needed to worry about.

Once that was settled, I created 5 Oni to serve as the hunters and trainers for the village. A warrior, a rogue, a healer, a mage, and a ranger. Those 5 should cover any basic skills the villagers need while being able to help provide for them in the short term. Now I just needed to make equipment for each of them. Oh well back to the grind, I guess. I need to make equipment for Pan anyways.