"Are you mental?!" Elly shouted at Mor.

"What?!" Mor asked. "It's harmless!"

Elly had woken early and, just as Mor earlier, decided to take over the watch, stumbling over Mor and his "pet." However, instead of a small cute fox creature, what Elly saw shook her, which led to this shouting match. One which awoke Jorgen and Titania, who almost shat themselves in fear.

"Mor, get away from that monstrosity," Jorgen growled as the Soul-kin interposed himself between it and his team.

"What do you have against it? It's small and cute!" He defended the little beasty.

The three Ice-kin looked at the three-meter monstrosity, one none of them knew. It looked like some black gorilla with bone-armored fists big enough to crush each of them easily. Not that the three had any comparison, as they, of course, didn't know of gorillas or something similar.

"Small?!" Elly asked incredulously.

"Are you stupid?" Titania asked.

The monstrosity growled menacingly, and Jorgen gripped his sword tighter. As it slowly dawned on Mor.

"Wait, what do you see?" He asked.

"How can you even ask this?" Titania wanted to know.

"Well." Mor started, then bent down and picked up something. It looked like a very fluffy mini-snake thing.

°It's still invisible,° the human said, and Mor looked down at what his hands were quite plainly feeling.

"It's invisible." He repeated.

"And what's that there?" Jorgen asked, pointing at the growling monstrosity, making Mor turn around with a questioning look. The Soul-kin then looked at the invisible thing in his hands and let out a sigh.

"It's an illusion. This little guy uses them as a sort of self-defense. It's just scared," Mor guessed.

"It's scared?" Elly asked. "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

"Yes." Mor lied.

"I don't think so." Elly sighed. "You're undermining the purpose of us hunters and the kin as a whole. We fight the monstrosities, or they eat us. What do you think will happen if you diverge from this path? So we're killing it right now." She growled.

"No!" Mor protested. "I don't know what will happen, just as I didn't know when I started working on my body or taught the two of you how to use your magic for something other than enhancing your weapons. All of that is not something a kin does. I should have lorded over you with my magic instead of training you."

"That's something different." Jorgen came to Elly's help. "Kin helping kin is acceptable, but that thing is a monstrosity. You know the same thing that almost ate you, if not for my father."

"And I say it's different." Mor stood his ground, the human having his back.

"Mor," Elly said, changing her tactic. "If you bring it into the village, then you will die with it."

"I know, that's why I won't bring it with me. I just want to heal it and then let it go." Mor said, putting a momentary stop to the discussion.

"Why?" Elly asked.

"Because it needs help," Mor said. "But because we're not safe within a village, I can't use my full power without endangering us. Meaning I need to go slow, taking much longer." Mor explained using his chance.

Elly got thoughtful about that, thinking about it, at least until Jorgen called her out.

"You can't consider giving in?! " he questioned. "If it is hurt, that's good. It's still a monstrosity, and we need to get rid of it."

"Jorgen is right," Titania added.

"Great," Mor said. "Then let's return and be over with it. Go fight your howler on your own time. I don't need that first hunt thing. You killed that shelled thing, meaning we're finished."

"But you promised!" Jorgen protested.

"Yes!" Titania chimed in. "You promised we would get something stronger to prove our worth. Do you want to sully your honor?"

°They don't get it.° The human sighed.

"Well, if we're on the topic of things, kin do. Then remember I'm a Soul-kin. Ice-kin honor means nothing to us. The only reason I keep my promise is because I'm different." Mor stated with a hard look.

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"But it's a monstrosity," Jorgen said quietly.

"I know. Still, think about it, they are changing. We see increasingly mutated monstrosities, so why can't there be one that is not aggressive?" Mor asked.

"It's a monstrosity," Jorgen said.

"And you are an idiot." Mor sighed. "Can't you think for yourself? Where's the warrior who accepted a Soul-kin into a hunt where pure magic is a bigger detriment than weapon skill?"

"But you can fight," Jorgen said.

"Because I'm strange!" Mor shouted, making the monstrosity in his arms flinch, and the illusion to which everyone no longer paid attention howled in fury. It was scary at first, but as it didn't attack and had been unveiled as an illusion, that dangerous feeling had passed.

"Boys, calm down," Elly said, then sighed deeply. "You won't change your mind, Mor?"

"No." Mor answered.

"And you two want to hunt something stronger than a little illusion thing or that shelled monstrosity?" She asked, and the two others nodded.

"Then we have no choice but to let Mor have his will. He's right and doesn't need to keep helping us. A Soul-kin will not gain anything from completing our first hunt, but if we show up separately, our group will be disqualified. Showing up when one of your team is dead is one thing, but if a single one gives up, that's it." She explained, at which Jorgen and Titania groaned, remembering that rumor. However, no one had denied it, being the case, so they had no choice but to believe it.

"We should have asked the chief if that rumor is true," Jorgen mumbled, cursing his forgetfulness.

"However! We will only accept so much. As soon as you heal that thing, it is gone," Elly said to Mor, who nodded.

°We can just sneak it with us as soon as it is healed and can be completely invisible again, ° The human said.

°We won't. It is still a monstrosity, after all.° Mor said.

°But it's small and cute and only needs a bit of blood. Also, it has no ability to kill someone.° The human said.

°How do you know that? Zaletha was very much capable of almost killing me with illusion magic. Who says this little one can't do likewise?° Mor asked.

°I know because it's cute.° The human stated, full of conviction.

°So was Zaletha.° Mor said, reminiscing on the few hours of bliss before it turned to shit.

°No, she was more beautiful evil witch.° The human said.

°Witch being a female magic caster?° Mor asked, having had this specific word come up in one of their many discussions.

°Indeed.° The human said.

"Do what you want then," Jorgen said unhappily. "I'm going back to sleep, but if that thing comes anywhere near to me, I'll kill it."

"Same," Titania stated before retiring back to sleep.

"I'm still mad at you," Elly said coldly. "You made a decision that might be harmful to us all and leveraged our need for your participation to get what you want. I won't forget that."

"I know. I apologize for deciding it on my own but not for the decision itself." Mor said.

"If you weren't my adoptive brother, I wouldn't have even considered giving in. Be glad that we Ice-kin take such things seriously. At least you have thought it through with your magic usage and not bringing it into the city." Elly said with a defeated sigh.

"That's why you're the big sister, mature through and through," Mor said with a smile. The illusion fox returned to visibility, giving Elly a first real look at it.

"You say that only when you want to get back into my good graces." She said, with a flat look. "However, you're right at one point. For a monstrosity, it looks cute."

°The trap is sprung. Girls can't resist cute things!° The human said with a giggle. °Phase one of plan "keeping the little illusion critter" complete.°

°There is no such plan.° Mor protested.

"Get back to sleep, and watch your little thing. It is your responsibility now." Elly said, sending Mor off to his sleeping space, which he moved to put a bit more distance between himself and the other sleepers. Not because he believed the small thing might attack someone but because he wanted to give the Ice-kin some more peace of mind.

He nestled into his blanket, which the fox used as a hole to crawl into, and nestled on Mor, giving an additional source of warmth and comfort, which made the Soul-kin drift quickly into restful sleep.

°I'll allow it just for now. Don't squander it, little one.° The human said quietly, as the little fox emitted a calming illusion, aiding everyone in the camp with nice dreams and giving the resting kin good dreams.

For Jorgen, it meant his dream switched randomly between being a great hunter protecting his family against impossible odds, having some fun times with Elly, and other wholesome dreams. With the human dampening the influence of the illusion even while allowing it, Mor only got the feeling of everything working out. Titania got similar dreams to Jorgen, but with her love interest instead of Elly as the target of the more erotic dreamspaces. When Elly went to sleep, waking Jorgen for the last watch, she also fell into the influence of the illusions. However, she had only one single dream, not wavering and unchanging, a dream of her firstborn. Something she hoped would be a reality sooner rather than later.

The strain on their group dynamic was lessened but still apparent when they ate breakfast together. However, with this unusually good night's sleep, the stress of the weeks before was gone. The fox monstrosity lay curled in Mor's lap, eyeing the others with unwavering attention, ready to flee or cast illusions in an instant.

"I know you won't change your mind." Jorgen started. "But I have to say one thing. The fight we had yesterday was very freeing. It let me get rid of a lot of stress and some very nice dreams to boot."

Titania and Elly agreed without further mentioning or rehashing the discussion. The human simply held their peace and quiet, not offering the truth for now. With a full belly and a good night's sleep, it was time to get back to their task. They took their formation with one little difference. Mor's distance to the rest was slightly bigger than before, giving Jorgen in the middle a feeling of having more time to react when the little monstrosity Mor was carrying and slowly fueling with low-power healing magic went on the attack.