Tuesday morning saw my whole body aching and feeling rather creaky when I got out of bed. The workout with Cerebaton the previous night, combined with a full day of work, had done a number on me even with my improved endurance. Thankfully, Cerebaton had given me some stretches and exercises to do in the morning to help loosen up. The memory of Kassandra’s tight hug helped to remind me why I was doing this and motivate me to keep with it.

During the work day I checked the mastery bar for my Shape-Shifting ability regularly. With the practice from the previous two days, both at home and when I could sneak it at work, the bar was edging upwards steadily. It was now in the mid four hundreds. Dutcher was acting like an ass again, constantly coming over to ‘check’ on me and remind me that ‘if I was going to go on break, I needed to be sure to let him know’. I bit down the urge to remind him that he didn’t, in fact, need to know I was on break, since I didn’t have to ask him for the right to take a break. I crammed the irritation into a hole and papered over it with the memory of going shopping with Rieka and Kassandra the previous Saturday.

Wednesday was a repeat of Monday for the most part. Work annoyed me, but I continued to make steady progress on the front of my Shape-Shifting. I’d made sure to go through the ‘one to six’ drill, as Cerebaton had called it, the night before and he continued working with me on the drill while we discussed options on further stat increases.

“Better to not burn up the points yet. Your Shape-Shifting is moving along at a good clip and you never know what your contractors will need. Better to remain adaptable for now, especially with you learning a new skill. If you go through another massive stat bump like you did before, then it will sabotage what you are learning now.” Cerebaton coached me while continuing the drills. I did my best to focus on the swings he was describing. The big man had taken the task of being my target, so I was getting the feedback of actually striking something rather than just swinging through the air.

“Fair point. I hope to have the initial mastery done for the minor rank of Shape-Shifting by the weekend. I’m hoping it increases the mass I can shift, since five pounds isn’t much to work with.” I panted, the clack of wood on wood echoing through the darkened park. I wondered idly why we hadn’t had someone come to investigate the noise yet. The park didn’t have the reputation of being a nice place in general, but teen’s still used the soccer fields and hung out here. Not once had they come to investigate the two grown men whaling on each other with sticks. Maybe they are smarter than I am about something like that.

“Enjoy the speed at which you are moving right now. It will slow down as you increase in ranks. The System has its own way of measuring how well you utilize an ability and it will not let you progress to the next stage until you fully understand the one you are at.” Cerebaton then stepped back to let his own weapon fall to one side. The Drago look-alike was only sweating lightly, but I was glad for the reprieve and let my tired arms fall to my sides.

“I just wish I could shift away the ache in my muscles.” I sighed, using my sweat-soaked shirt to scrub at my dripping face.

“It is possible, at higher levels. The pain is a combination of lactic acid and muscle tears. Given time, you will be able to use the ability to heal or close injuries. Be aware though that your body is still going to be injured and you will still need to take time to heal. We aren’t natural shifters with undetermined biomass that can be drafted to work in different fashions. You and I both have organs necessary to survive and they will still experience trauma if you are say…run through with a sword. You can just keep yourself from bleeding to death a bit easier. If I were to cut open your arm and you sealed it by changing the skin to a shell that covered it, the flesh beneath would still need time to heal.” Cerebaton cautioned, pulling a gleaming watch that looked a lot like a Rolex out of a pocket. “Enough resting. I need to go over your exercises for the weekend. We meet again on the second day of your workweek, your Tuesday I believe it is called.”

“Got it, boss.” I sighed, hefting my practice sword into place and preparing for the instruction to come.

<><><>

Cerebaton’s list of exercises to supplement the sword drills I was already doing put me further into the mindset of Rocky, given the amount of sit ups, crunches, leg lifts, and other types of abdominal workouts he wanted. We’d actually discussed it and come up with a few ideas of ways I could work in extra movements at work to further exercise muscle groups that would add power to my swings. He’d also urged me to start running again when I could, in order to build up my wind.

I’d cruised through work on Thursday in a bit of an exhausted fog. After finishing the weapon exercises with Cerebaton, I’d jogged back to my apartment and immediately put the workout to use. I regretted that the next day, waking up with sore and trembling arms, as well as an abdomen that insisted I was an idiot of epic proportions for the work I’d demanded of it. Work wouldn’t wait though, so I dosed up on what my army friends fondly called ‘Vitamin M’ and headed in to my dreaded Day Job.

Being exhausted was probably the only reason I didn’t take a swing at Dutcher for the snide comments he made about being unprofessional in my dress. The fact I was in blue-jeans and a t-shirt, same as I always wore, was enough that Dutcher decided to take exception to it today. It didn’t matter that none of the others on the dock had ‘professional wear’ on, or that the company didn’t require it, he just decided to poke at me about it, constantly.

Being as tired as I was, my patience was thin but my ability to care was even thinner. I just focused on work and got through the day. Apparently, that was the best choice. Refusing to rise to his bait had Dutcher escalating the verbal harassment as far as he could go, until the supervisor for the pickers ripped him a new one. I didn’t get to hear it, but Geoff filled me in on it when he brought the next load of trolley’s around for me to offload into the trailer.

“You should have seen it. That fat idiot was sweating bullets when my supe’ threatened to bring HR in here because he was harassing you so much.” Geoff laughed. The mutton-chopped man pronounced ‘supe’ as ‘soop’ and I found that insanely amusing for whatever reason.

“Happens. Dutcher just gets a bug up his ass sometimes. I just ignore it. Arguing back just gives him a reason to whine to management about one of his loaders not being a ‘team player’. And they listen to him for some reason. Thanks for the heads up, Geoff.”

“Any time, Liam. You have that issue of being one of the bigger guys on the line, so of course the little dude with something to prove has to bug you to ‘assert dominance.’ No one remembers that big dogs don’t need to bark after all.” Geoff agreed with a laugh, tipping his battered Bass Pro hat at me before directing his little train of empty trolley’s off to load them up for someone else.

“Big dogs don’t need to bark.” I muttered to myself, kneading my sore abdomen in thought. The mention of dogs had reminded me of Rieka and how the soft-spoken woman was shy and reserved most of the time, but assertive when the need came around. “I guess little snakes like to hiss though.” I smirked to myself at the thought of Kassandra pouting up at me, her eyes twinkling with hidden amusement but having to feign indignation anyway.

Sighing, I got back to work. Focusing on the work and my practice would help anyway. Though I did stop to check the mastery bar on Shape-Shifting. Just as Cerebaton had warned me, it had ground to a crawl now a little past eight hundred of the thousand. I could modify the skin on my forearm into thick crocodile hide in less than a second now with half a thought. Claws popped readily from my fingertips as well, while I worked, I let my mind wander of what might be needed to prove ‘mastery’ over the ability to the System so that it would fill the rest of the bar in.

<><><>

Kassandra Silverscale has sent a non-urgent request for your presence regarding future work with her and your other companion.

Transit? View Summoning?

The message popped into my vision while I was in the shower and I quickly shut the water off. Grabbing the towel from the rack by the door, I quickly dried off while focusing on the ‘View Summoning?’ option.

A small window popped up while I tried to balance on one leg to dry off the other and it showed Kassandra curled up by a roaring fireplace in a cozy looking room with wood flooring. Given that there was a square, four-poster bed with privacy curtains against one wall, as well as several tables and a large, round couch spread around the room and stacks upon stacks of books on every surface, I guessed that it had to be her bedroom. The still image showed Rieka sitting in one of the nearby chairs with a bundle of what looked like paper in her hand as well.

“Crud.” I muttered while stumbling towards the bedroom to dress quickly. Tossing on a pair of jeans and a shirt without bothering to put on underwear, socks or shoes, I gave my hair one last quick scrub before hitting the ‘Transit?’ option mentally.

A tugging sensation around my chest and the feeling of rushing wind in hair that didn’t move surrounded me before I felt hardwood under my bare feet.

“Liam!” The cheering cry of the dwarf lamia I knew was the only warning I got, but thankfully she was in front of me rather than out of sight and I was able to brace when she threw herself at me in a hug.

Kassandra’s small torso slammed into my chest and was followed by her long body. The impact was enough that it knocked me back a few steps but didn’t knock me over this time. Kassandra’s arms wrapped around my chest and she rubbed her face there while giggling as I hugged her back.

“Hello Kass. Good evening to you as well, Rieka.” I laughed as well, helping to support the very clingy dwarf lamia while she wrapped her long body around me.

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The last time she’d done this, she’d knocked me over and I struggled to support her weight. With the improved strength and agility though, I was able to support her while she hung on me, though it wasn’t easy.

“Good evening to you as well, Liam.” Rieka replied with a gentle smile, her fluffy ears perking up like two platinum-blonde peaks that had been brushed with just a bit of ink. I could hear the quiet swish of her tail in the chair behind her as well.

“We missed you, Liam!” Kassandra pouted up at me, her bottom lip protruding comically. She wasn’t wearing her spectacles at the moment, so her slitted, brown eyes were unobstructed as she examined me. Her button nose wiggled slightly and she leaned in to sniff at my chest for a moment. “You smell different, Liam.”

“Kass! That’s not very polite to point out.” Rieka protested, going red at her friend’s blunt statement.

“I didn’t say it was a bad smell! Just different.” Kassandra protested, her snake-body having finally finished coiling around me and squeezed gently around my hips as she wriggled higher like a snake climbing a tree. Though I was reminded for some reason of the little video of the tiny hognose snake wrapped around a person's finger and just slithering in a circle.

“I just got out of the shower. You are probably smelling my body-wash is all.” I reassured both her and Rieka that I wasn’t offended. “So, what’s up? The summoning notice said that you two wanted to discuss future work?”

“Boo.” Kassandra grumbled. “I don’t want to talk about work, Liam is warm and comfy.”

“Ahh, but if we talk about work first? Then the business is out of the way and we can relax without worry.” Rieka said quickly, apparently used to riding herd on her friend’s impulses. Kassandra took a moment to consider this before nodding.

“Fine, but I don’t wanna let go.” She pouted up at me again and I could only laugh and shrug.

“She didn’t say you had to. Hold on, Kass.” She grinned and then clung tighter to me, her coils squeezing just strong enough that it was a little hard to breath, but I was able to carefully crab-walk over to the rounded sofa and settle onto the edge since she’d made it around my upper thighs and hips. Once I was seated, Kassandra proceeded to adjust her wrap so that her torso was behind me and her arms draped over my shoulders. This had the added effect of pressing her generous bust against the back of my head. She wasn’t wearing one of her regular underbust corsets this time, just a loose shirt in a soft burgundy color and a short skirt for modesty. Rieka was dressed similarly, in just a shirt and some loose pants rather than skirts. I had a feeling that these were likely akin to pajamas for them, but brushed the thought off. There was no way two young noblewomen would be just wearing PJ’s and summon someone, let alone me, to a bedroom.

Though that bed is big enough for all three of us with room to spare. I suppose it makes sense with Kass’ size.

I shook my head to dislodge the thought and tried to focus on Rieka. Meanwhile, Kassandra’s coils around my waist began to squeeze and relax rhythmically, never too tight but like a slowly repeating hug that again reminded me of that little hognose snake from the video.

“As Kassandra said earlier, we did miss having you around, Liam. I do wish that there was some way to allow you to spend more time here without having to continually channel mana into the spell. It’s more efficient if we ‘pre-charge’ it for a set time, but then you just get sent back when the mana runs out too.” Rieka shrugged, her ears wilting slightly as she explained.

“It’s fine, Rieka. I missed you two as well.” This statement got an excited yip from Kassandra right in my left ear and Rieka smiled, but they let me continue. “And I think I get it. It’s cheaper to fill the meter up at once rather than just adding a quarter when it runs low.” The blank looks both girls gave me was enough to tell me that the parking-meter analogy was a miss. “Nevermind, I get what you were saying though.”

“You’ll have to fill us in on that later, I’m curious what you meant.” Rieka’s ears popped back up again and I nodded.

Not sure where to put my hands with a lamia wrapped around my waist and pressed against my back, I let my hand settle on the coil in my lap lightly. Kassandra’s sudden intake of breath made me freeze, but she squeezed me gently with both her arms over my shoulders and her coils to let me know it was fine.

“Sure, so did you do that tonight? Pre-charge it?”

“Yea, we have you for two bells of time before the mana runs out and it’ll return you automatically. We can send you back early if you need, though.” Rieka squinted across the intervening distance, her fluffy tail stilling behind her as she looked me over. “Are you okay, Liam? You look exhausted…”

Her statement got Kassandra to wiggle around and under one of my arms to look up at me as well, her gaze intent as she examined my face. Hoping to head off any concerns from the two of them, I spoke up immediately while shifting the arm that she was tucked under across Kassandra’s shoulders and stroking her hair lightly.

“Just tired from the week and new training. I’ve been doing a lot of practicing with my Shape-Shifting ability as well as sword practice. It’s just taking a bit to adjust to the new normal is all.” I did my best to be serious and earnest while all I could smell was the cinnamon and somewhat musky smell I had come to recognize as Kassandra’s natural scent.

“You need to rest, Liam. Practice makes permanent after all. You need to have the energy to do it right, not just do it.” Rieka scolded gently, with Kassandra nodding along quickly but not retreating either, content now to lounge across my lap for a bit.

“I know, Rieka. I also know that, if the cost of keeping you two safe is a few nights short of sleep and some muscle soreness? I’ll happily pay that price.”

My statement got a soft smile from both girls and a tighter squeeze from Kassandra, who slipped back behind me finally to resume her spot draped over my shoulders. The slow kneading of my midsection actually got a quiet ‘pop’ from my spine, which drew a groan out of me in response and a giggle from Kassandra.

“Okay, just make sure you don’t push yourself too hard. If you are doing this to be able to protect us, it defeats that purpose if you are too tired to do it.” Rieka admonished a bit longer before smiling. “Anyway, to why we summoned you.” Rieka brandished the stack of ivory parchment in her hand that she’d been holding in the still when I’d used ‘View Summon’.

“We have more missions to do!” Kassandra’s voice was excited, but also quiet enough to not deafen me. Something I appreciated, given she had her chin on my shoulder. I’d expected to be hot with her clinging this close to me, especially with the fire going in the fireplace, but her scales were cool to the touch and it felt like she was acting more like a heat-sink. Must be related to her cold-blooded nature, I guess?

“I assumed. What’s the plan then?” I didn’t react as my vision flashed and a message scrolled into my view.

Assist your contracted companions, Kassandra Silverscale and Rieka Coldeye, with planning their weekly missions.

Reward - 20 SP

My easy assent and question brought a bright smile to Rieka and her fluffy tail began to bounce behind her, the quiet ‘shush-shush’ of her fur against the chair a counterpoint to the crackle of the fire.

“Nothing as big as the last one we went on. Mostly harvest and collection this time. We need to hunt down a few animals causing problems near town, harvest a few more for ingredients, as well as locate materials for some vendors and craftsfolk in town.” Rieka flipped through the sheets of paper and I could see that they had some pictures of animals or plants on them. “The biggest one is going to be hunting down a nest of flame serpents. A hunter spotted them while he was checking his traps and reported it to the Academy, as the serpents have a high mana concentration and need to be disposed of properly. No one wants a forest fire breaking out if the nest gets too big.”

“Flame serpents?” I leaned forward to look at the sheet that Rieka held up. A drawing of a snake that had a rounded head was placed next to a sketch of an elf and a wolf-kin to give an example of scale. The creature was about half the length of Kassandra and about as thick as my bicep. I squinted at the script and the scribbles rearranged themselves in my mind as the translation power the System used went to work. “Huh…fire breath? That could be an issue.”

“Yeah, depending on their size. Larger nests mean older serpents. Older serpents have longer and hotter fire-breath abilities and are larger. It’s why they pushed it to the Academy immediately. Kassandra’s ice magic will actually come in quite handy for this, since its ice will hold up long enough to damage them and the chill will hurt them even more given their nature.” Rieka explained. “We just need to divy up the tasks to which days it’ll be. Also, we needed to check which day you were going to be available to help us, Liam.” Rieka set the stack of parchment on the small table next to her and picked up a delicate porcelain cup full of some dark liquid that steamed slightly. I guessed it was tea from the color and cup style, but wasn’t sure.

“We know that you have a job and a life to handle back home, so we don’t wanna impose on you too much.” Kassandra’s words tickled my ear and sent a shiver through my body. A shiver that she reacted to by squeezing me tightly for a moment then relaxing.

“I’m free both days. You girls call me whenever you need me and I will show up.” I asserted immediately, patting the top coil of Kassandra’s tail that sat in my lap. “Nothing I’m doing back home is worth either of you taking a risk just to avoid inconveniencing me.” Kassandra’s happy squeal was just shy of deafening, given she was still on my shoulder, but worth it in my mind. The hug that came afterwards made my back pop again and that felt just grand, but not as nice as the feeling of her breasts pressing into my back.

“Okay, we’ll summon you back in two days to head out on the first batch. I really think that we should dedicate a day just to the flame serpents. We might have to go hunting to ensure that we got the entire nest and that could take time.” Rieka suggested, the smile splitting her face brilliant.

“Works for me. I trust you two to call the shots. I’m just here to give you the best chance you can after all.” This statement got another happy coo and snuggle from Kassandra.

Assist your contracted companions, Kassandra Silverscale and Rieka Coldeye with exterminating the Flame Serpent nest.

Reward - 300 SP

The second message popping into my vision surprised me. I hadn’t ever gotten a new assignment while still working on another one.

I wonder if it’s because this one is a planning mission? I thought to myself, stroking Kassandra’s scales gently with both hands. Maybe. So much about this System is still so new. It’s not even considering the fact that I’ll have to be summoned back on that day. Or is it just counting on that? I really wish this System thing had a guidebook. I sighed in exasperation, which got another squeeze from Kassandra and diverted my thoughts onto a happier track.

The fact that the dwarf lamia was so affectionate and cuddly with me was starting to hammer a few points home. Two of which were digging into my back while surrounded by soft pressure. It was obvious from her flirting that there was interest there, but I hadn’t had a chance to do anything about it thus far. I’m not going to be an idiot or anything. But it does cost them literal money to bring me here. I reminded myself firmly. You need to focus on getting the work done quickly and efficiently, when that is done you can flirt with the cute snake-girl. And maybe the wolf-kin girl too. Who knows how they do things here, I need to get more information and not pass judgment or have expectations either…

I glanced at Rieka to see a bright smile on her face, the rapidly wiggling tail behind her, and her perked ears. She caught me watching and blushed slightly, biting her lip.

“So first the flame serpents, then any others we can do on the same day depending on time left. Then finish off anything else the next day? I’m free all day for the whole weekend, so just let me know when to expect the summon.” I suggested, hoping to divert her back to the subject at hand so as not to embarrass her more. Rieka may be assertive when she needs to be, but her shy side keeps coming out in such cute ways.

“Yes, that sounds good. What do you think, Kass?”

“Liam’s idea works for meeee.” Kassandra sang, squeezing me again with her coils. The dwarf lamia was clearly content with the plan as long as she continued to get her cuddles, which was fine by me.

Assist your contracted companions, Kassandra Silverscale and Rieka Coldeye with planning their weekly missions.

Reward - 20 SP

COMPLETED