Micky arrived back at base camp with an anxious Furry Furie pacing behind him. During the trip over Squishy had decided that she thoroughly did not like her new teammate. She would regularly start fights and viciously attack the Furry Furie. Or well she would bounce off the furie and the furie would completely ignore her to the point of not even noticing. This would of course, infuriate Squishy to no end! Which of course meant that she would attack the furie more.
Micky, being the piece maker, or the fly swatter depending on your outlook, was not amused. He had been keeping those two separated since the goblin extermination and had also figured out why the furie had been so anxious. The furie’s family had been exterminated by the goblins. They had found the bodies and pelts of at least two adult furies and three younger ones. The pelts and bodies were in terrible shape, apparently they had fought with a similarly ranked monster and won, only to be ganged up on by the goblins. Of course even with no stamina they had taken down who knows how many goblins as the pelts had so many scratches in them they had been basically useless. This was in addition to the bodies.
And of course the rest of the raid made Micky pay through the nose for those bodies and pelts. This did not include his own party however. Because Micky having both the only cleaner willing to dig through all the goblins trash piles and also having a very intimate knowledge of goblin culture, and more importantly hiding technique, made them quite the haul in spite of everything. Even Micky got back a share since it was worth more than his living furie by a small bit. And of course they only shared the smallest of it with the rest of the raid, just enough to not let them in on the fact they were hiding at least two enchanted rings each as well as several other enchanted equipment.
They also didn’t have any trouble with beasts or monsters on the way over because of their new companion. However, Micky was not amused. Having two women fighting over him was not as fun as it sounded in the scrolls he reads. It was also not quite as funny as it was when he was the reader. They weren’t even that great to look at. Squishy was a living cleaner and the furie, in spite of their divine namesake, was not that pretty to look at. And Micky had to deal with them the entire trip. The instructor having told Micky in not so simple words that if he couldn’t control the monster or find a token for it then it would be put down. The token wasn’t a problem he always had spares. But he had to deal with the two bickering and the archer was getting on Micky’s nerves by trying and failing to get on the furie’s nerves.
Oh and now Prin was walking over to him. Micky new this was going to be a headache… The furie realising through the [Bond] that this was the female that she would have to defeat to become Micky’s head female and leader of the pack she charged. People started for their weapons and Micky yelled “Stop!”, whether that was to the adventurers or the monster it didn’t matter. Both stopped and looked at him. The furie looking at Micky accusingly for stopping her epic battle with the weak female.
Micky’s eyebrow twitched as Prin’s eyebrow looked inquisitively over towards him. Micky’s eyebrow sagged in exasperation as he explained to her “So I apparently got you a challenge, yay?” Prin’s eyebrows raised in shock before setting themselves into determined excitement while looking for the challenge.
Micky pointed over at the furie and said “So I need you to fight and defeat her in a duel for my honor.”
“And his chastity!” Said a rando from his group. Micky wasn’t amused, but there wasn’t anything he could do to stop them besides glare. And who would cower from the glare of a [Pink Mage]?
Another explained “So this guy goes up all hot stuff saying he is ganna [Tame] that bitch. But she be like, naw you my [Bitch] now! And tries to run away with him. We get er’ surrounded and he tries to calm er’ down and all but in order to finish taming er’ you gotta battle it out to see who gets the right to mate with em’ now, ha!” Micky did not like this person. He hadn’t talked to them despite being in the group, but he just now decided that he always hated them and will hate them throughout time. He looked over towards the now giggling Prin.
Now Prin was holding her sides and laughing her ass off. “Oh damsel, oh damsel, will you allow me to fight in your honor for your chastity?” She giggled out between bellyful laughs that were preventing her from even talking.
Micky scowled before agreeing “Sure, but you better be careful the fights already started!” Said Micky as he announced the go ahead for the duel to his newest tamed monster. The furie unleashed charged at Prin again.
Prin’s face paled a little before she immediately got up and ready for the incoming beasty. Prin was fast and furious, fending off the monster’s claws. People at the camp came running with weapons drawn but they quickly put them away when they were told what was happening. They laughed and cheered and bets were taken as the fight went on. Unfortunately Micky was kept out of the betting as he had a clear advantage over influencing the fight. But he was able to make a discrete bet on Prin, with an absolute vow of silence on a cumulative beating from the entire camp, that she would win. This wasn’t to say that the furie’s odds weren’t better or the payout, but Micky new what was what. And like he predicted Prin won with a flourish. The furie now calling her big sister in her head from now on. This finalized the [Bond] between Micky and the Furry Furie.
Of course there was also a problem, as during the fight the taming token around her neck was broken. Micky had spares but the furie was still sad that this one had been broken as it was the first gift from Micky to her.
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And so Micky went over to the blacksmiths workstation to see if he couldn’t at least reshape the broken pieces into something he could give back to his furie. His furie currently sitting with Prin as she started to instruct it in various things with the taming token. Micky figured he may need to get a better token for that one so that it would be able to obey commands from others. It wasn’t as well behaved, or small, as Squishy was. Micky thought that while giving Squishy a few rubs.
Eventually Prin came over minus a certain furie. The furie in question was entertaining duels, while being watched by an instructor, from other classmates. These duels were very strict and the instructor themselves had taken responsibility for them.
“So when do I get to take you chastity as my reward?” Prin asked innocently. Micky missed his swing.
“What, what?” Micky asked offbeat.
“That’s what we were fighting over right? Who gets to take you?” Prin smiled predatorily at him. Micky felt like he had just been caught inside the bath. He had to admit he didn’t hate it, but this was not, well anything he was prepared for…
Prin moved in closer and Micky closed his eyes tight, unprepared for what came next. Prin stalked him like a predator and then she kissed him on the forehead. Then she pinched his cheeks while he opened his eyes and laughed at him. When she left him he was beating on the reforged token furiously!
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Micky was called into the tent of the instructor that was leading his group previously. He had some idea what it was but he wasn’t sure what.
Inside the tent he found the archer that had tried to attack him repeatedly recently.
“So Micky, it’s good to see you again. We have a little bit of a small problem. Archer here would like to apologize for his recent behavior and we would like it if you didn’t file for a reprimand on his recent report. Archer here is in the twelfth spot, unofficially of course we don’t have an actual list of students of course, haha, and it wouldn’t look good if he had a black spot on his record right before the competition for raid leads.” Said the instructor.
Micky having fully realized what it was smirked. Archer looked furious and was about to start yelling at the instructor. Micky said “Nah, I think I will stick with the reprimand.” Both looked at Micky like he was some fantasy creature they hadn’t believe existed till he entered their tent.
The instructor said “Micky, you have to understand that a man of your station should find friends where and when he can. Look, I’ll be honest, you putting that in your report looks bad on me as well. I don’t want that on my record either, and Archer is going to go on to achieve great things. It would be in your best interest if everybody walked away happy. Now why don’t we start, Archer apologize.”
Archer… the archer, apologized like he was going to eat Micky “I’m, sorry...” he spat the words like arrows at Micky. The look in his eyes made it clear that he was going to return the favor with a lot of favors in the future.
Micky was practically laughing at them in his head. He could Mildly understand what was going on… but they didn’t have the slightest clue. He understood the power was getting to him a bit but really? Why the hell would he bow down to intimidation from a puppy? If anything what was happening was too cute to even be called adorable!
“Nah, I’m good. Go ahead and put the reprimand in your report. Thanks for the tea and cookies though” Micky picked up the tea that was on the desk and downed it with a few crumpets before he left. The instructor didn’t bother to correct him and just scowled as he left.
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The raids continued. Micky frowned out that Archer was indeed nominated as a raid leader for the final push into the goblin stronghold. This did not mean that he was the first nominee. He was literally the last nominee. But those ahead of him were receiving questionable injuries when they teamed up with him in raids. Micky didn’t think he was aware that Micky was guaranteed a raid leader spot though, he was pretty sure that Archer was just a jackass. Because he was also the one with the highest loot when he returned from his raids and usually ‘convinced’ his party members to give him a better share on top of that.
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Micky prepared for the raid on the goblin stronghold. The head instructors were going to assualt the ‘keep’ while the others would watch over the raids lead by the students. Micky went over the strategy with his troops repeatedly. He had decided to go with a one two one formation in the front with a rear shield in case of emergencies. That mean that on either of his flanks were one melee fighter with two tanks of a sort and then a melee fighter on the other flank. Then a melee fighter would be on the flank of another pair of tanks and so on. This was partly because he was lacking shield tanks and couldn’t actually form a shield wall if he tried. Even in his pairs of tanks only one of them would be a shield tank and the other would be another type of tank. Similarly, some of his ‘fighters’ were also melee tanks. Instead, he would have his magic users cast shields on the tanks.
The rear shield, or rearguard, was just in case there was an assault from behind from either a hunting group of goblins or opportunistic monsters. Ready for his assault on the goblins main base in the area Micky looked over the other groups that had taken the time to plan and noted that Archer was not one of them.
The assault went off without a problem. Goblins weren’t exactly known for their strategy. Of course, it was also apparent that Archer was also not one for strategy Micky noted. He just had all his melee fighters up front and the backline fighters in the rear. He also didn’t bother to command and just ordered a charge. Some of the goblins even escaped from his side and he berated the adventurers that had allowed that to happen. Of course, he could have easily picked them off being an archer type but he preferred to attack more prime targets for the EXP.
Micky’s group also had no problems and the rear shield turned out to be unnecessary. Micky allowed them to rotate in to get some party EXP but kept them in the rear guard just in case. There was only one group that was attacked in the rear and luckily also had a rear guard. They fended off the opportunistic goblin tribe with ease though it did affect their forward push to slay the goblins attacking the rear. When this was known the ones that posted a rearguard like Micky patted themselves on the back while the others that had half a brain thought about the implications.
The battle was finished successfully and Micky even gained a few [Skills] for his trouble.
Basic: Command Raid: Those in training to lead may gain this for learning the basics of commanding a raid group to assault another force. To lose the Basic title you must complete the command training.
Also
Basic: Strategy: Those in training in strategy and formation may gain this for learning the basics of strategic formations and tactics. To lose the Basic title you must complete the strategy training.
Basic is another tier for skills like lesser and least, but for those that are receiving training.
From the looks of smiles on some people's faces Micky could see who did and who did not receive at least one of the new skills. He also noted, not that there was a doubt, that Archer did not show any signs of learning the skills.