An elf woman and a vampire girl stood in the empty treasure room. Confusion, pain then anger flowed through Ciel as she computed the situation before her. The air in the room became heavy. She didn’t move a single muscle, but for her eyes, which were manically darting around her 3D map, zooming in and out and inspecting every crevice of every room, scanning through all of the life in these depths. They stopped, and a pulse of pressure burst from her body reverberating in the foundations of the great dungeon.

Emica, had apparently already braced herself for it and did her best to stand there unperturbed. The emptiness of the room before her was unexpected, but Ciel’s reaction wasn’t. That the room, the ornamentation on its walls, were stunning and alien to her was a secondary matter in that moment.

“Whoever took away… did this, was careful to cover his tracks”, Ciel said with a stern expression, still unmoving but for her lips.

“There are traces of movement in this treasure room and throughout the dungeon, but they’re extremely faint. It was not done over time. Everything here, with all its weight, was stolen in one swift go. It was carried without disturbing what little dust rested here and then navigated through passages swarming with high-level monsters.”

My adversary not only had perfect timing, but also skill and strength. Nothing would be better than to find and kill them. No, death would be a mercy…

“Ciel…”, Emica started, but before she could finish: “There’s nothing we can do here right now. I was made a fool of”, said Ciel turning her pale, doll-like face to Emica. She didn’t realise this, but she was crying. The pain of the Trial had been so heavy on her. She was certain she would see her parents again. They were tears of sheer frustration.

“I will create a gate near the surface exit. You still have a quest to complete Emica”, said Ciel.

“That’s not as important as… your parents Ciel. I’m sure–“

“Do you know of anyone who could do something like this?”, Ciel interrupted.

“No…”

“Neither do I. I don’t understand anything, even after all I’ve been through… Nothing. I’m telling you: I can’t even pin down which exit they took. And this is my dungeon”, said Ciel as her cheeks tightened and her eyes narrowed.

“You’re being too hard on yourself again Ceil, like you always are, you need not be so unkind to yourself, it is no way to live”, replied Emica, looking down with a saddened expression.

“Take the gate toward the exit. It leads to a safe room. Wait for me there while I investigate the lower levels. They’re too dangerous for you, even if you’re with me” said Ciel somewhat curtly.

This was a lie. Ciel could certainly protect Emica from virtually any harm, with or without her gate shield.

“… I’ll wait for you Ciel, I won’t let you go.”

“And I won’t leave you Emica, I promise.”

After Emica stepped through the floating gate before her, Ciel undressed, taking off her barbarian-style armour. She did not want to soil it.

———

As the volcanic rock surrounding the opening shattered and lava poured in, the small, delicate frame of a naked girl, who had stood there motionlessly, took the full force of the molten wall with her body. She let it pour onto and over her body without as much as a flinch, disappearing under the flow. It wouldn’t seem possible to anyone watching that the same creature which has just been swallowed by the lava, was now walking on it.

Having easily breached the surface, Ciel walked, pushing at the lava with her legs as if it was sticky mud on the shore of a lake. The power of limit-broken ultimate regeneration skill meant that the skin on the soles of her feet didn’t even register as a gentle exfoliation treatment. She was making her way toward the semi-submerged piles of flesh and bone now aflame in the blazing radiant heat of the inferno.

This is all that remained of the fierce multi-limbed dinosaur-like giants which dominated this level. Defeated in a split second by some invisible force, which destroyed even the dungeon walls themselves, opening them up to lava of the adjacent volcanic levels.

Ciel inspected one of her kills, lifting the massive skull the monster. She then cut into it with the flattened palm of her hand and drank the boiling brains. The taste was better than the few gulps she had accidentally inhaled of the Minotaur Leader’s brains. But whether this was because it was now cooked, or because Minotaur brains tasted foul was a question that would have have to find an answer later. Everything, Ciel included, was engulfed in enormous flames.

All this took only a minute and Ciel continued to the next section. The force of her sudden movement pushed all of the lava temporarily back through the compromised walls in an explosion.

Ciel took out her frustration mercilessly murdering every single monster in the lower levels with a terrifying speed and efficiency, stopping only to sample the flesh of her victims. It did make her feel a little better. It had to do. The slaughter only took about an hour before she went back to get redressed and to meet Emica.

———

“I heard rumbling!”, exclaimed Emica, surprised by Ciel’s sudden appearance in the safe room.

“I ran into some monsters…”, answered Ciel glancing slightly off centre to Emica’s eyes.

“I’m just glad you’re alright Ciel!”, Emica hugged Ciel, her large breasts pushing against the vampire girl’s blushing face.

“It was no problem. It was actually good to stretch out my legs a little. … You can let go of me now…”

"I leave the heading to you, Emica”, Ciel said after recovering from Emica’s affection.

The two walked a short while through a narrow passageway to the surface. The Twin Suns shone brightly well above the horizon.

“Given everything that’s happened, I think it best to abandon my quest and find my party. I don’t know how the Guild Master will feel about this, but he’ll have to deal with it somehow” said Emica, pressing her fingers slightly against her forehead.

“I’m sorry Emica…”

“Don’t apologise Ciel. You’re more important to me than the Adventurer’s Guild or the Guild Master’s carry. They will have to scout the region themselves or call on another group of adventurers. It happens.”

Emica had never abandoned a single quest in her adventuring career. It wasn’t too uncommon for adventurers to realise that the task at hand was too great for them to complete and to return to the Guild empty handed. Obviously no reward would be provided, but what greater reward was there than keeping your own life? For Emica however it was less that the quest itself had presented to great of a difficulty, but that the circumstances had changed significantly. There was no way Emica could ignore the existence of a powerful being like Ciel and simply go on with her life as if nothing had happened. Their destinies were now bound.

“We will need to hide you from the Guild, no, from the world somehow Ciel”, added Emica.

“We?”, Ciel had to prompt Emica. She knew that Emica trusted her party with her life. She shared as much in her stories of her adventures with them.

“Yes. Nina, Sara, Hamilton and Zale can be trusted with your secret. I can’t guarantee their initial reactions won’t be… of shock. They only know vampires as fiends, and Noble Vampires as fantastical threats to the world. But they are good people, they won’t abandon you or betray you. Least of all because of the faith they carry in me” answered Emica. She was being completely honest. If she didn’t trust her party members she would not have made the suggestion in the first place.

“Could it perhaps help if I hid my nature?”, before Emica could respond Ciel had… changed in appearance. Her pointed vampire ears became like that of a human child. Her purple-ruby eyes turned to a pale blue. Her fangs and sharp nails softened. Her skin also changed to match Emica’s lightly tanned skin tone almost exactly.

She mimicked the appearance of a human child using her Shape-shifter ability, the one bestowed to her by her Slime Lover (unnecessary heart icon inclusive) skill.

“That… that’s amazing…” said Emica, taken aback by the transformation.

She knew Ciel was a person that would casually surprise even the most worldly and experienced of adventurers, but this was indeed something else. The only creatures she knew that were capable of using such a skill were mimic-slimes. While rare, these were the topic of much hushed table conversation between adventurers. Especially male adventurers, who would share grisly stories of men who came to be ‘seduced’ by slimes only to be consumed whole, lost to the shapeless forms of the mimic slimes. Never mind slimes were only capable of reproducing the most basic of sounds and their communication abilities certainly did not extend to anything which could be described as ‘seduction’. The underlying context was easy to see through for Emica. The opportunistic adventurer would find some hapless girl in a dungeon and attempt to rape her, only to find the tables turned very quickly. This outcome did not particularly bother Emica.

In the end, it had to be Ciel’s Noble Vampire race which bestowed her the skill. There were no records of normal vampires shape shifting, but who knew what the secretive Noble Vampires could do? Perhaps this ability was the reason why Noble Vampire presence had not been reported in all of Onszeria for over a thousand years.

Emica regained her composure and continued: “But, I think it shouldn’t be necessary. No one expects a vampire to be walking as you are in daylight. And your appearance is not too different from the various races inhabiting Wyn Tower Forest. I had mistaken you for a beast girl when I first met you. In the villages and cities, however, your ability may prove to be convenient as the beast races are often seen as dangerous at best, and monsters at worst…”

“Your stories made that much clear…” sighed Ciel.

She didn’t mind if people saw her as a monster. A village, as kingdom… posed no real immediate threat to her. However it would be inconvenient to spark fear or panic everywhere she went. The eastern kingdom of Sans was quite progressive and tolerating of beast people. However, there was still much discrimination and distrust. A beast person was much stronger than the average human elf or dwarf and could overpower a group of royal street guards easily. Incidents of violence between the beast and “people” races only made the influence of the three neighbouring central kingdoms stronger in Sans. Their position on the dignity or rights of the beast races was much less charitable than that in Sans. The remaining world-power, the tribes which formed the Elven woods to the West and stood as a barrier to the Wyn Tower Forest, were naturally much more accepting and pragmatic in these matters. Whether through their natural alignment toward the land or because the central dogmas were simply impossible to sustain while surrounded by the various beast tribes, the Elves co-exited peacefully with beast people and to some extent the unintelligent monsters of the wilderness. It stood that, of all places, the depths of the Wyn Tower Forest were the place where Ciel could appear in her natural form without arousing suspicion, at least beyond that which the presence of a beast girl would cause in the first place.

“Alright. I’ll change back” announced Ciel.

Ciel’s body shifted back to her vampire form with the slight elastic bounce of her skin.

This sudden change in appearance made Emica realise again how fragile Ciel appeared in her natural state. As she shifted back, Emica had to stop herself from grabbing at Ciel as if to catch her from falling, as if she toon to some sudden illness. At the same time, she was familiar with the power Ciel carried. The dissonance still continued to confuse Emica’s instincts.

After Ciel’s display the pair made their way through the forest, toward a known landmark, a large tree, split in half by lightning. One half was dead, the other half living. This was where Emica’s party were likely to leave signs of their current status.

Ciel didn’t explain why she possessed her shape-shifting skill. Her slime skill was one of the few things that she did not share with Emica in their conversations, along with the grisly details of her Trial. At least for now. They were… unpleasant. In fact, it was the Trial which motivated Ciel to level up her shape-shifter skill.

One evening saw her face reflecting in the bloodied river water, and it was the distorted face of beast gone mad, or a wild demon. She couldn’t make it disappear no matter what she did. So he resorted to shape shifting her features as not to upset Emica. Even now, in every moment, Ciel was using her shape-shifting skill to hide the truth of her expression…

———

It had been three days of non-stop travel. When it was time to sleep, Ciel would open a gate to the meadow room where their outdoor bedroom was located. She did not ‘disconnect’ the space from the outside world as she had during the Trial. Instead, the terrifying Gates of Hell would stand guard, letting through only the passage of time itself. It would have been faster to ‘pause time’ and resume travel at night, but Emica needed sunlight to look for signs left by her party. Her eyes were not able of seeing in the dark as well as a vampire eyes. And Ciel did not know the methods of Emica’s Children as well as the eponymous Emica. To rest at night was simply more efficient.

Obtaining food had been no problem of course. Ciel had carried a recently refreshed vial of Emica’s blood, prepared right before the pair entered the treasure room. Before they left, Emica had also prepared a month’s worth of supplies with a hunt in the Forest Room. The meat and fruit which she gathered was stored in a new room of Ciel’s invention. It was called the “Freezer”, also itself an invention of Ciel’s and slowed the food from spoiling significantly. It was a play on the native Onszerian words “frozen” and “sorrow”. Upon entry it resembled a largely flat, open expanse – a tundra. It had no suns. The only illumination was from the stars and the glowing moss covering the the many scattered stones. It was a strangely beautiful if not an inhospitable world. It was in this world that Ciel had carved out a room in some jutting bedrock and stored the supplied.

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I wish I had been more patient with my experiments and didn’t have to use such a… primal method.

Simple rooms lined with chiselled stone bricks were Ciel’s first attempt at creating time freezers. The time freezing component would be achieved by removing any entranceways to the rooms, effectively separating them from all outside reality. It was a superior method for “freezing” something. In theory, she could put something in such a room, disconnect it on her map and reconnect it when she needed whatever was left in there. She would find it in the exact state the moment she severed the connection. It worked at first with simple objects. Ciel would throw a rock up into the air and close the gate. A day later, when she’d enter the room again, the rock would continue its trajectory from where it was in mid-air the moment she left.

Storing fruit should have worked in the same way, but it didn’t. It was very slight, something Ciel’s sensitive nose could only pick up on, but the tender flesh of the blood berries and the lace-like edges of some lake leaves had aged perhaps a minute during the course of the ‘outside’ day.

The effect was even more pronounced with fresh meat. A handful of Overon meat, from a winged deer-like herbivore about half of Ciel’s height, aged almost ten times as fast as the fruit. What was even more remarkable was that the more meat (or fruit for that matter) was stored in the rooms the more time would pass compared to Ciel’s perspective of time. For any reasonable cellar’s worth of supplies time would actually pass faster in the room than outside! Cutting the supplies into smaller portions and storing them in separate rooms was just impractical.

Obviously Ciel had to try storing a living being in the room – a live captured Overon. She had only left he terrified creature alone for ten seconds. It was flapping about disorientated as she closed the door. When she opened it she found only dried bones and skin huddled the furthest corner from the entry.

I can’t tell yet if this an annoying feature of my Dungeon Creator skill or something amazingly useful… currently it is annoying.

Emica interrupted Ciel’s musings as she suddenly stopped mid-sprint. It couldn’t have been a monster, they had skilfully avoided any unnecessary confrontation by outmanoeuvring the noisy local wildlife thanks to Ciel’s enhanced passive vampire skills. Anything which they didn’t feel like making a detour for, Emica would quickly dispatch with her arrows or Ciel would… slap away into the sky. There was no other way of succinctly describing it. It was not a skill, and was barely something Ciel would call an ‘attack’, but it would leave her target a bloody mass of pulp by the time it crossed the tree-tops, and a shower of blood and guts by the time it landed. Larger targets would be dismembered on impact, with the torso forming the projectile while the limbs, heads and tails were left behind blown apart some distance where they had once been united as a body.

Ciel had much cleaner ways of killing, Many, many different ways in fact. But she didn’t feel like dignifying some “random foolish” creatures with them. At least it was mercifully swift.

Ciel actually enjoyed the spectacle each time, though she made sure to mask any signs of that sentiment. Emica, for her part, understood that this is the way things would proceed with such a powerful companion. Still, it wasn’t something she could just get used to for now. The short fights did upset, and later attract, the birds and various smaller monsters, likely revealing their position. But Ciel thought it worked to their advantage, flushing out potential stalkers.

“What is it?”, whispered Ciel. They were not too far from the split tree now.

“Nina and Sara, they must have passed through here. I recognise these tracks, or should I say, the lack of tracks”, answered Emica pointing at the soil to her left.

I don’t see anything out of place… but… I can smell something.

“They were covering their movement… an escape, a chase. Their pursuers are here”, Emica now pointed to her right.

Now that Emica had pointed it out, there were indeed tracks that Ciel could see. Like an image coming into focus, she begun to see the faint traces of a pursuit. In fact, she couldn’t see anything but the tracks once she knew what to look for. Vines ever so slightly stretched, the bark abraded..

“Those are claw marks!”, Ciel exclaimed somewhat surprised. She had seen her fair share of claw marks. She even made some herself. It had becomes such a typical sight in the Forest that she had begun to filter them out as unimportant, ordinary. It took her a few moments to connect their presence to the tracks.

“Yes, yes they are claw marks. It couldn’t have been long. We need to hurry” said Emica with a stiff expression.

I guess Emica really does care a lot for her party.

The stories of the exploits of Emica’s Children were fast becoming reality, it had dawned on Ciel they were not just characters in an adventure book: Nina the mage and Sara the healer. They were travelling together to make up for their lack of physical defence.

Nina is a… peculiar elf woman from what I gather of Emica’s stories. Doesn’t seem like she is like Emica at all. Apparently she’s only left her wood only a few years ago. Sara on the other hand is a gentle and shy human girl, seventeen years old. She’s only possessed the power of magic for 3 years and she’s known for being reliable and brave in a pinch, especially for her young age. Humans seem to awaken to their ability to use skills later than vampires. I’m pretty excited to meet some new people!

“Wait, how do you know it was Nina and Sara?” Ciel had just realised the tracks didn’t exactly point to the identities of the pursued.

“So you see the stone over there? The moss is facing the southern direction, when it is usually on the north. It was moved. That is the only sign, but it is enough” answered Emica. “I wouldn’t have been certain it if it wasn’t for the other tracks – the tracks of the group chasing them. Before splitting up we agreed on a set of markers to use so we could identify each other. ‘Reversing nature’ was one of theirs. There is no blood, there is still time”, her voice didn’t need to communicate the urgency. The situation was still unfolding just out of sight somewhere, and they had to hurry.

“Wait Emica,” Ciel punctuated as Emica leaned forward, about to run. “Can you hide behind that tree?”

“Ciel, what are you going to do?” Emica was puzzled.

“The tracks lead west. Maybe I can spot something. But you need to find shelter, just for a moment” said Ciel, looking at the ground beneath her.

Emica did not protest and relocated behind a sturdy looking trunk nearby. She would see what Ciel had in mind very soon.

“Ok, this will take just a few seconds” said Ciel as she crouched on one leg, stretching the other to her side. Then she jumped. The force pushed a plume of air and dust into the surroundings throwing debris around her and shaking the branches of every tree an earshot away.

Ciel flew upward like a cannonball. Everything beneath her feet got smaller and smaller, until she should see far beyond the ground-level horizon. The sky was clear, the Wyn Tower Forest was immense, endless. But this was no time for sight-seeing. She focused her sight…

Ciel landed on both her feet, causing another, much smaller, shockwave.

“There’s smoke coming from north-west, about an hour’s travel from here”, Ciel announced, while the dust was still settling.

“Then… then that’s where we shall head”, answered Emica, still gathering herself from Ciel’s impossible acrobatic display. There was no guarantee the elf mage and human healer girl would be found there, but it was the best lead they had to go on.

Ciel and Emica sprinted. They sprinted through the air by jumping from tree top to tree top. They did not encounter any belligerent monsters as they approached the source of the smoke. The Twin Suns would set soon.

This has to be them. The smell. I sense a familiar scent… it’s similar to Emica’s, but different!

They had slowed down their pursuit. The clawed tracks were now everywhere, following to and from all directions. Ciel and Emica climbed a tree after they carefully approached what looked a clearing in the forest. It wasn’t a natural clearing…

Are those… catgirls?!

“One of the feline tribes, this must be their village, and that’s the source of the smoke you saw”, whispered Emica, pointing at the bonfire some distance away from a cluster of huts.

I wasn’t expecting them to look like that! They really look like catgirls…

The members of the feline tribe were of various ages, but young, the eldest members looking to be in their teens.

“They appear to be of the black cat race”, Emica added, noticing the glimmer of fascination in Ciel’s wide-open eyes.

The black cats looked, for the most part human, except for the slender tails, fluffy ears, fangs, vertical pupils and sharp, clawed toes and fingers.

… They totally ARE catgirls!! They’re all too cute to kill! I want to touch their ears… Wait.

“Where are the males?”, asked Ciel. It stood to reason there would be some fierce cat-men amongst them, probably of more beastly appearance, like bi-pedal lions, but there were none to be seen or heard.

“There’s some standing guard next to the big leaf hut”, answered Emica.

“I don’t see any”, were Ciel’s senses failing her or was Emica making one of her very rare jokes?

Hold on.

Something stood out to Ciel’s eyes.

While the younglings wore simple clothes that one would expect to be made from low-level monsters, the older black cats were wearing armour, each with some individual variation, almost exclusively dyed in black or dark-green. Most were wearing socks of various lengths, with open toes and heels. Some also dressed up their arms in long sleeves which covered one or two fingers. All wore tight-fitting leotards with exposed shoulders and cleavage, constructed out of the same stretchy, thin material. Whatever monster it came from its skin must have had very fine scales. The eldest wore masks over their mouths. Each was armed with short blades strapped to their thighs with thin but strong-looking black bands. They looked like a tribe of assassins.

What stood out to Ciel however wasn’t the exhibitionistic style of armour. It was that there were male members among the tribe.

...

“They have breasts” stated Ciel.

“Yes they do” responded Emica.

“I see.”

“You like breasts, don’t you Ciel?”

“I… I… that’s not what I meant!”

Flat will always be justice!

“Why do the guys have breasts Emica?! Why do they look…”

… so… cute.

“I’m sorry, I guess I never told you about this Ciel. The black cat race is known for their males and females looking… alike”, explained Emica. She was used to satiating Ciel’s curiosity about the world.

“They are a race known for surviving, and thriving in dangerous places, where no other cat tribes would venture. They rely on speed and stealth for hunting high-rank monsters in groups. That said, they are not to be underestimated as individuals either”, Emica continued. “Most lose their lives hunting or defending before reaching the age of twenty. Their numbers are always low and it falls onto both their sexes to feed their young.”

I think I understand… because of their adverse environment and limited number of young they evolved… so that everyone can not just hunt, but also become a caregiver when needed…

Emica grasped Ciel’s shoulder. Something was happening.

“It’s them!”, Emica piped up.

It was an unusual sight. Out of the largest hut came out two black cats, carrying with them two women bound back to back to a long wooden pike. Their direction? The fire. Ciel’s hunch to follow the smoke was right, they got here just in time.

“They’re going to roast them alive…?” said Ciel under her breath, tilting her head.

Nina and Sara were clearly still breathing and struggling. Sara was the human dressed in a white cloak with blue trim and shorts. Nina was the elf with glasses, jacket, tie and pleated skirt. Their mouths were gagged.

I better do something…

Emica was about to say something but Ciel stood up from her crouched stance and dropped to the ground, power-walking a bee-line to the centre of the village. Nonplussed, and really having no other choice, Emica followed Ciel’s lead. A group of black cats were setting up the mount for the roast and were about to strip the clothing of their soon-to-be meal.

“Hey! These two are are my prey!”, exclaimed Ciel, surprising everyone.

The black cat tribe momentarily froze, their ears perked up and their tails stiff. They turned their heads toward the sight of an approaching girl and her busty companion. Ciel was stomping toward them with the confidence of a king but the stature of a withering ghost pine. Ciel’s fragile appearance didn’t really make any sense to the surprised catgirls, but at least her manner of dress did.

Both the short and tall one were dressed in matching dire wolf armour. With that, and the longer pointed ears it stood to reason that they were one of the other beast tribes hunting deep in the Forest. No elves ventured this far, unless they were adventurers, and adventurers always carried guild tags.

Emica’s guild tag, for better or worse, was missing.

It didn’t take long for the black cats to recover their composure and grasp at their weapons. They swiftly surrounded Ciel and Emica.

Like water flowing into a doughnut-shaped basin, with no clear sign of leadership or direction but still somehow co-ordinated, the black cats surrounded Ciel and Emica. Weapons in hand, fangs bared, 30 or so pairs of cat’s eyes glared at Emica, causing her to shudder. Ciel was being ignored… apparently she wasn’t perceived that much of a threat.

This feeling… I know it’s convenient to be underestimated sometimes, but still, at least look at me!!

The black cat younglings were quickly carried away somewhere. Tearful and still wrestling with the rope, Nina and Sara recognised their leader – Emica! A glimmer of hope in their despair!

“Thuh hugh uh muhunuhanin!!”, called out Nina, her gag muffling her cries.

“What did they say?”, asked Ciel, hoping she’d get some attention from someone.

“I have no idea”, answered Emica. She was busy fighting every ounce of her survival instinct, to ready her bow, to fight, or to flee.

This is annoying…

Ciel parted her lips, bearing her tiny fangs. Her posture lowered and flared her clawed fingers. She breathed in and let out a frustrated shout. It was a little girl’s voice, but much louder than her small frame would suggest possible. It was tinted with a wild beast’s roar.

The black cat tribe froze their approach. Nina and Sara paused their struggling. Emica looked even more perturbed than she has been moments ago.

Everyone had Ciel’s attention.

“Do you have a leader?!!”, Ciel called out.

“I am the elder here…”, a feminine, slightly-raspy, voice resounded from behind a group of three masked black cats. They parted, letting through a cat girl, no – boy. He slowly walked to a space between his guard and Ciel. He looked to be about sixteen, had tanned skin and black hair trimmed to the bottom of his neck, long bangs, crystal clear yellow eyes, matching ears and tail. He moved carefully but with fearless confidence, each step carrying the elegance of a life-time dancer. Unlike many of the elder members of the tribe he did not bear any scars on his skin, at least none visible. His skin-tight armour looked darker than that of any other tribe member, one sock thigh-high and the other knee-high, both gloves wrist-long. In both hands, jade daggers held in reverse-grip. His body-armour looked like a strappy swimsuit with a halter neck and v-crop bottom. A slit in the chest section revealed his C-cup breasts. The tight fit really showed off his well-defined abs. A narrow waist, ever-so slightly broad shoulders and full hips…

… the figure of a goddess. But yet… he’s a guy.

“… and what makes you think we will give up our prize, our meal to another tribe?”, he continued, with a sly, gorgeous grin.

Another tribe? Oh! Our dire wolf armour! I guess we do look pretty… rustic. I better use this to my advantage…

“These fiends have struck out village during the night and tried to take our younglings. They escaped, but not before killing some of our youngest to slow our pursuit. We have tracked them here, to your village. Your hunger will have to wait! It is a matter of justice for our tribe, and for me – vengeance! We will not return without them!”, Ciel proclaimed with full bravado, slipping some anger into her tone for effect.

Emica hearing Nina and Sara, her trusted adventuring companions and her friends, described as slavers did not sit well in her heart, but she held herself mute. Emica had to act the part too, otherwise Ciel’s improvised act of deception would be quickly seen through.

Ciel’s speech seemed to hit a nerve in the black cats, who were throwing short glances amongst each other. These turned to subdued whispers and soon a great number of ice-cold glares pointed themselves onto Nina and Sara, who were still hopelessly bound to the pike, eyes wide-open, their faces turning an unnatural shade of pale.

The leader black cat spoke up once more.

“If you believe yourself to be more worthy of our catch, then you will have to prove yourself, as is the way of these lowlands!”

“Before we accept, how do you propose we do this?”, Ciel replied. They were finally getting somewhere.

The leader’s furry ears perked up and his bright yellow eyes fixed on Ciel's sharp nails.

“With a one-on-one battle between each side’s strongest warriors of course!”, the black cat leader grinned.

“Then I, Ciel, of the Wolf Hunter tribe, accept your challenge!!’, Ciel’s response did not miss a beat.

Is that the best I could do… Wolf Hunter? Dire wolf armour… wolf hunters… I’m cringing. Couldn’t I have come up with something cooler?!

“You’ll be the one to fight, young one? Not your companion?”, even though he asked, the black cat leader did not appear surprised. He quickly judged that Ciel was the stronger of the two, even given her frail appearance. No one weak could carry and unleash such a ferocious roar…

“Yes, I will be the one to fight. Is that a problem?”, asked Ciel, not looking particularly indignant.

“Not at all, but don’t expect that your opponent will hold back against you, Ciel of the Wolf Hunter tribe”, answered the black cat leader.

“And who will be my opponent?”

The black cat leader answered once more: “Your opponent stands before you. I am Ashka of the Night Mist tribe and our battle begins now!!”

Ashka flashed out of sight, leaving behind an-after image made of red mist, and in an instant appeared directly behind Ciel, balancing on one foot, arms crossed before his face, the jade daggers cutting the air toward Ciel’s nape with unforgiving speed.

———

End of Chapter 6