Still feeling a little bubbly she smiled after her master and went to her own bedroom to sleep. Alone, damn it. She walked into the bedroom and started to get undressed for bed. She only had a top, pants and trainers on, so it didn't take long. She caught her reflection in the mirror and grimaced at what she saw.
She was a frizzy red haired skeleton with skin. Her bones prominent on her arms, legs and shoulders. Ribs sticking out, the bump from dinner made her stomach look starvation bloated and the bones in her face so sharp they looked like they could cut glass. The small layer of muscle she retained on her ass was all that gave it shape. The condition of her breasts was what made her cry. They had never been large, no, honestly, she had just enough for it to show...a little. They hadn't been triangles they had a nice rounded shape which matched nicely with her perky nipples. Now that was gone and what remained of them had shriveled from excess skin, like a old lady's. At least her nipples were still nicely perky and pink, not blue and hard. She stopped looking at herself and crawled into the lonely bed.
She was glad her new master hadn't see her body's state. She wouldn't have wanted to tame her, not in this condition. She ignored the little voice that said he was much harder to look at then her. She recalled the right side of his face. She had realized immediately if he could have fixed it, he would have. That got her wondering what could cause those kinds of injuries, why they could not be healed by magic and how much it must have hurt. His right leg also made her wonder. He walked with a smooth graceful gait, but when she had been behind him she had felt him tense whenever he put his weight on it. The way he treated her was as odd as everything else about him. He didn't treat her as his equal, but he did treat her as a person. He had also made clear that he valued her and was possessive of her. No one, aside from her D-Girl mother, had ever treated her like she was valuable.
When she had awakened at 14, not the youngest on record but close. The overwhelming majority of D-Girls awaken at 17 to 18 when their bodies reach peak condition. One unlucky girl awakened at 12 and was disposed of shortly after, no one had wanted to tame her. Cynthia was tall so she hadn't looked like a child even with her small breasts. After awakening she went to the tamer center and turned herself in, to deny her father the chance to sell her. Her life would have been much shorter and even grimmer if he had. Of course that meant she had never gotten to see her mother since then.
The center hadn't let her finish school so she only had a middle school education, but they had taught her at least the basics of combat. Like all D-girls she had a instinct for battle. She had quickly learned what little they taught her. Her low stats meant she could never compete with the other girls so she only received basic unarmed and some swordsmanship. The dangers of this world meant a high turnover of D-Girls. Girls had come and gone from the center, while she had been stuck in her cell waiting for three years. Mostly, alone except for her once a month taming with almost no conversation. Until, she was listed for disposal.
She tried to stop it but she couldn't help it. Sobs escaped her throat and hot tears ran down her face. She had almost died today and the only record of her life would have been a single line in the disposal facility's computer.
Carrot tried to cry quietly, choking back as much as she could. She felt rather than saw a short figure with a limping gait come into her room. She clutched the blanket and pulled it over her head trying to hide like a child. She didn't want him to see her tears, but mostly she was afraid.
'What if he doesn't want me now? A crying useless, titless mess. What if he gives me back? I'll be back in that cell waiting to die.', she thought frantically about to work herself into a panic.
She felt the bed move and she tensed not knowing what he was going to do. A warm feeling started at the hand that was clutching the blanket and slowly spread to her whole body. She relaxed her grip on the blanket a little. When she did so he slid his hand under hers and forcefully laced his fingers with hers. The warm feeling got stronger and a safe feeling came with it. Carrot sighed and pressed herself against her master who was sitting beside her. She was asleep in under a minute.
It hadn't been the sound of her crying that woke him. His father had taught him to respond to physical intrusions and he had used that to train himself to respond to magical ones. It was a very weak magic intrusion that had awoken him. He had to put himself into semi-trance to see it, a weakness for any magus. Most magus could switch between magical and normal sight at will. Ulen had only recently learned the skill so he still needed the trance. The sight had shown him a very thin tendril of power coming from Carrot and seeking him out. Surprised and annoyed at being woken, Ulen headed to her room in his natural sleeping suit. He heard her crying when he got close. He really didn't want to deal with this, even though he sympathized. To his credit he only hesitated for a moment.
Ulen listened to Carrot breath for awhile, until he was sure she was deeply asleep. He then conjured a hand formed from wind and water magic that would feel like a real hand and swapped it for his hand. He imbued it to keep casting Electric Touch. The combined spells would last about ten minutes. He slowly got up and looked at the sleeping D-Girl. Where was the strength he had admired earlier? He was really irritated with Carrot for waking him! Damn it, he had thought she had bounced back too quickly.
Still, he was quite pleased with the misty hand spell he had just come up with. It was the first time he had formed a corporeal object out of two elements and imbued it to cast a low power spell. This should have quite a few uses. Sometimes aggravation is the step mother of invention.
Trancing himself again he studied the flow of magic in Carrot. It was a bit blurry thanks to the blanket, but his innate sensitivity helped see through it. What he saw surprised him. Her overall magic was higher than her stats suggested not by a staggering amount but higher. At least four points higher in both M-Attack and M-Defense. It was the flow around her black right eye that really caught his attention, it was thicker than anywhere else on her body and was the source of that questing tendril.
'Might have something to do with her Danger Sense. Or possibly a latent or triggered unique ability?', he thought excitedly. She really might turn out to be worth a lot more than anyone would have guessed. Watching her sleep reminded him of his own need to sleep.
'Well we will find out sooner or later.', he thought no longer irritated with his peacefully sleeping rabbit.
"Good night, Carrot.", he whispered quietly before going back to his bed. The slightly thicker tendril followed him.
Ulen yawned, flexed his back and rolled his neck in half circles. Fully awake he opened his eye to see a fully dressed Carrot in his room. She was looking at the right side of his body. Creepy rabbit. Well she'll see it sooner or later, let her look.
"Good morning, Carrot.", he greeted her with a smile. Suppressing the desire to hide his scars.
"Good morning, master.", she replied. She was obviously curious.
Ulen got out of bed not trying to cover his nudity. He walked to his clothes his limp noticeable and let her see the full extent of his injuries. He got dressed slowly taking care with the straps on his right leg. They chafed when not set properly. Carrot watched the whole show, silently.
"If you want to know. I'll tell you. Over breakfast.", Ulen stated. Looking Carrot in the eyes. He was hungry.
She nodded and brightened at the word breakfast and said,"Alright, master."
The pair exited the suite and headed to the cafeteria. The two staff members they saw on the way gave them big warm smiles. Carrot waved and smiled back, Ulen tried to maintain his dignity. His slight blush ruined his effort.
'Really what got into me yesterday? Still, it was fun.', he thought to himself. It had been nice holding hands with her.
They got to the cafeteria, to be greeted with more big smiles. Ulen went to the dispenser and ordered a continental breakfast with coffee for himself. Carrot got the same no coffee plus extra bacon, pancakes, waffles, cereal, oatmeal, fruit salad and a liter of milk.
'I'm surprised they didn't get rid of her sooner. I may need to find work earlier than I planned.', Ulen thought to himself as he studied the mountain of food Carrot had piled on her tray. He shrugged and sat at the same table as yesterday and started eating.
"So, master, what happened?", Carrot started eating as soon as the question left her mouth. He could talk she could eat.
Ulen almost choked on his first bite of sausage at the abruptness of her question. When did she get this assertive? He wondered as he took a hasty sip of his coffee. He should probably call his father's alpha he might need some advice on how to handle Carrot. He would just have to put up with her teasing. He deliberately continued eating.
She shrugged and let him eat. Ulen finished eating before Carrot he waited for her to finish, sipping his coffee. She noticed he was done and gave him a look asking him to start talking. She didn't stop eating. He was definitely getting advice. But he indulged her.
"I won't go too far into the details. Basically, I'm under a curse that injures me when healing magic is used on me.", he simply said. Details none. Carrots eyes widened that was a pretty serious curse. She kept looking at him, while eating. This glutinous rabbit.
"No, it can't be lifted. It is a very powerful Forbidden curse, that no one has seen before. The people who studied it couldn't find a way to remove it without killing me.", he replied to her look. She gave him a sympathetic look, but kept eating. She seemed to think a bit then gave him a puzzled look. Her fork continued moving.
"Why would I become a tamer with the danger? If I want to get the resources to remove it being a tamer is the only way to do that.", he answered her unspoken question. He lied a little he had a plan that required he become a tamer with a powerful, full harem of six. That was still far off in the distance. His fall back plan was studying Forbidden magic himself. It was called "Forbidden" for a reason, it was illegal to study it without government permission. If he went that route it would take decades to get into a position to get the proper permissions and even then there was no guarantee that they would let him study his own curse. As a traveling tamer he might find someone to teach him Forbidden magic or enough knowledge about it to teach himself. Plus as a tamer it would be easier to hide that he knew it.
Carrot nodded satisfied with his answer. She then looked at the right side of his face and down at his right leg. She hadn't seen any burns on the leg to account for the limp. She had finished everything else and started on her stack of waffles.
'The next time this vacuum cleaner hides behind me I'm shocking her unconscious.', Ulen promised himself, but answered her.
"I got burned by a Infernomander when I was younger. The leg was the result of the first attempt to heal me.", he answered. Carrot's eyes practically popped out when he mentioned an Infernomander. How had he survived any attack from a third tier? She gave him a look of respect, he was tough. She chugged her milk, leaned back and gave a very satisfied smirk. Seriously what happened to the girl I met yesterday?! Never trust a first impression, especially in unusual circumstances.
He was intrigued by the gap between the two facets of her personality she had shown him. Though the current feistier version suited him better. He needed her to fight and kill for him, so a meek girl that needed to be coddled would only be a burden. Seeing that she had finished her waffles. It was time to get to work.
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She rose as he did, no gas this time, and followed him out of the cafeteria, only a pace behind and to the right of him. He noted her new position. Better.
They headed to the outfitters to get her socks and underwear. He left her there to make her choices. He headed to the receptionist on duty, not Leila, another Generica with pink hair. Exchanging a few pleasantries, but not asking for her name. He registered Carrot for the classes he wanted her to take and paid for them. Heading back to the outfitters he picked up Carrot paying for her selections.
They headed back to the suite talking about the classes he had registered her for. She was surprised at the class for basic Air magic, but not at the firearms class, the Unarmed Combat class, the thrown weapons class or the swordsmanship class. She actually seemed intrigued at the stealth and infiltration class. Her combination of agility and stealth made her natural choice for an advanced scout. With better skills and stats she might make a good saboteur and assassin, especially with Air magic. Her lower strength and vitality did not suit a front line fighter.
When they got back to the suite, Ulen presented Carrot with the weapons he had gotten for her. She was pleased with the 9mm and its suppressor. She took a few practice swings with the short sword and commented favourably on its balance and feel. She practically drooled over the paired 12" combat knives with their 7" blades. Ulen interrupted her rather vicious practice stabs with the knives. He suggested they organize and store their things until it was time for her first class. And that she should put her new socks and underwear on.
She blushed at the reminder that she was comando. She quickly rectified the situation and they got to work. The time passed swiftly while they organized Ulen's equipment and chatted about their personal interests. He realized, he had forgotten to get her some throwing knives, so he let her take his until he got her some. His pad beeped reminding him that it was time for her first class. He had decided to sit in all her first classes.
They hurried to the training area of the tamer center. Carrot's first class was Unarmed Combat taught by a rather beefy Buffalax. She had been Carrot's instructor before and was not pleased to see her again. Ulen took exception to her attitude and suggested if she didn't want the money he could get Carrot another trainer. She cast a dismissive look at the diminutive tamer and took a menacing step toward him. Ulen looked her in the eyes and prepared a full power Electric touch. He needn't have bothered, Carrot stepped up to the bulky Buffalax and used her one inch height advantage to stare her down. All three knew the powerfully built instructor could easily have snapped the skinny Carrot in half and then easily dealt with Ulen. The instructor gave Carrot a nod and a toothy grin, sending her to run laps to warm up.
After Carrot started running, the Buffalax glanced down at Ulen's hand then back into his eye, she tapped her leg once taking a step back and winked at him. He blushed and hurried to a bench to observe the lesson, the Buffalax's basso chuckle following him.
The lesson started, she taught Carrot moves Ulen had already learned but couldn't perform with his body, without using magic to support him. He was pleased with the quality of her instruction of Carrot. He decided to train his magical sight, while observing the lesson.
He tranced himself shifting his sight to see the magic flows. He noted how the instructor moved her magic through her body before she performed her moves, it was very similar to what Ulen had been taught. He didn't learn anything new from the instructor. He did envy the smoothness of her transitions from block to attack, he would need years of practice to match her fluidity.
Carrot, however nearly shocked him out of the trance. It took him awhile to notice the oddity about her. The power flow around her right eye reacted the moment the instructor's magic formed indicating an attack. She was dodging before the attack began! It only looked like she was reacting after due to the difference in speed. Against a stronger girl who was only half again as fast as her that predictive ability would let her hold her own. Her barely above human stats meant that most girls were two to three times faster than her and could easily wear her down, while she barely dodged their attacks despite her predictive ability.
It was probably an unconscious ability given the speed of her reaction. Ulen could see the flow of magic as well but he would take longer to recognize an attack. He wouldn't be able to dodge like she did. Since it had been mislabelled as Danger Sense it probably had a 360 degree area around Carrot. Depending on the size of the area it covered and whether or not it reacted to attacks/attackers with no magic in them was something he needed to find out. Even if her range was limited and all she could detect where magic attacks or attackers who used magic. She was easily worth three times what he paid for her, even if only as a warning system. If she could bring it under conscious control, use it to detect attacks against others or increase its range she would be a valuable member of any team. She really was his lucky rabbit.
He would wait to tell her what he had discovered, until he had thought of a way to test her ability. He spent the rest of the lesson watching her eye react to the instructor's training. The lesson ended and Ulen walked over and thanked the instructor along with Carrot. The Buffallax seemed pleased that a tamer would thank a hired D-Girl and gave Ulen a warm smile. The pair didn't hang around. Carrot wanted to take a shower and change before her next lesson.
When they got back to the suite Carrot got in the shower. Ulen made a quick call to his father's Alpha. The sadistic fox took great delight in teasing him about not being able to handle one girl when she knew he needed a full six. She did give him the advice he asked for.
Her exact words were,"If you can't handle one little rabbit what are you gonna do with five more randy bitches? Well its fine to spoil her and let her get attached before she suckles your cock. But, be damn sure she listens to your orders no matter what. If you say, Drop It!, she should have your pants down and her twat wet in five seconds!"
After, deciphering her vulgar advice. Ulen thanked her and got his own handgun to bring to Carrot's next lesson. It was a gift from his adoptive father and heavily customized to let him shoot accurately despite his lack of depth perception. Other than that it was a chrome colored standard 9 mm with a black grip. He should probably get a suppressor for it. Carrot came out of her room to find Ulen waiting for her. She grabbed her gun and carried it in its belt to her next class.
Ulen joined in on the firearms class which was taught by a tiny cute Spritette with a fondness for ancient ball and powder muskets with their loud boom and clouds of foul smelling smoke. The lesson was fun for both of them though they reeked of sulfur afterwards. Thanking the tiny Spritette the pair went to Carrot's next class throwing weapons. She too was pleased to be thanked by a tamer.
The instructor for throwing weapons was a elegant Onyx an uncommon type of cat girl who promptly ordered them to leave and not come back till they had bathed and changed. They did and the lesson proceeded smoothly with Ulen joining in again. The instructor complimented him on his accuracy especially with the disadvantage of only having one eye. Carrot got competitive and lost to his experience. Both thanked the instructor who purred at Ulen. They left for the next class swordsmanship. Carrot was displeased by something.
They took a break to get lunch. Then hurried to the next class after getting Carrot's sword and putting away the guns and knives.
The swordsmanship instructor was a gorgeous tier second elf-type Bladedancer. Ulen didn't join this time just enjoyed the view. Carrot had a rough time of it. The instructor cursed the poor rabbit every time she dropped her guard in language as vulgar as his father's Alpha's. Ulen considered recording some of the instructor's more colorful moments to send to her maybe there were some phrases she might want to borrow. Ulen didn't know if Carrot was red from frustration or embarrassment because of the colorful abuse. They didn't thank her because she was also the instructor for the next class. Carrot's ears dropped so low they looked like hair accessories.
The three moved to the outdoor area that was designated for this class. The stealth and infiltration class went better for Carrot the instructor was impressed with her for having the stealth ability as a level one Bunny Girl. She also had an uncanny ability to mimic natural noise while she moved. She managed to get within 20 feet of the instructor before she was noticed due to the fact that she didn't know how to completely mask her presence. Carrot did sneak up on Ulen and cover his eye, nearly scaring him out of his skin, while he was busy paying attention to (checking out) the elvish instructor and taking notes on her lecture for Carrot. They thanked the Bladedancer who smiled very warmly at Ulen. Carrot hurried him back to the center's cafeteria for dinner. Naturally because she was hungry after the long lesson on stealth. She denied any other reason, Ulen hadn't asked her.
After dinner they headed to Carrot's last class for the day, Air magic.
The class was held in the tamer center's small outdoor garden. The instructor was a lovely Blue Vortexia a rare elemental type D-Girl. Ulen was curious to see how she would instruct Carrot. Her method surprised him, she used a little known incredibly complex spell from the Lightning school to implant the basic knowledge of Air magic directly into Carrot's memories. That didn't mean she could use it, but now she wouldn't have to spend a lot of time memorizing from books. The Vortexia told us to come back tomorrow after Carrot's mind had the chance to fully assimilate the knowledge she had just gotten. She would then show Carrot how to use that knowledge to cast Air magic. The process would feel like remembering something you had forgotten and would take about a month to complete. After that was just practice and developing Carrot's power. Carrot fervently thanked the azure wind D-Girl, no studying! Ulen asked if she would be willing to teach him that spell. She smiled at his polite request and ernst thanks, but told him she needed permission from the government to teach the spell as it was a controlled spell. Ulen wanted to avoid the scrutiny of the government so he let it drop.
Two weeks passed with Carrot taking classes and Ulen sometimes accompanying her. Though she insisted that his presence bothered her at the throwing weapon and stealth classes. So he humored her, he practiced switching in and out of magical sight and tried coming up with new combinations of spells most had interesting but useless results. He also practiced spells he already knew and tried out new ways to use them with mixed results. A couple did seem useful though so he added them to his repertoire. He spent as much time with Carrot as he could outside of sleeping. He was very careful not to enter her bedroom though he wanted her affection as high as possible before he tamed her.
It was time. Ulen knew that Carrot was getting close to needing a taming the signs were there. She kept getting closer to him and touching him accidently. He headed to the nearby nature preserve and made preparations for both the ritual and the taming. He set a barrier around the ritual site strong enough to repel any humans, creatures and wild D-Girls in the preserve.
The taming and hopefully, the bonding would take place tomorrow.
Author's Note: Ok this was a monster chapter. Hope you enjoyed it!