<~> CHAPTER 52

"Hey! If you're turning around put me down somewhere!" Aria yelled out. I frowned. She had a point. It would be hard to fight them if I had my hands full with her. Off to the side was a tree that looked less dead than the last one. It shouldn't be too tough to get there before too many of the remaining bison started chasing me.

When I suddenly turned around many of the bison got confused and started bumping into each other. Weakness! I almost had to bite my tongue to keep myself on track but it would be too hard to fight them and keep Aria safe at the same time. This one on the edge of their group was easy enough though.

The claws on my right hand ripped through the neck and shoulder of one of the bison as I ran past. The monster toppled over onto other ones making them all fall over themselves. It had been my feral instincts pushing me to take advantage of the weakness any way I could but it ended up buying me more space between the bison that were still chasing me. That time turned out to be key when I made it to the tree I had been headed to. I stumbled to a stop, nearly tripping over my awkward legs before putting Aria down next to it. Without another word, she quickly scrambled up the tree and I took off again after the bison.

As I ran toward the surviving monsters I could count eight bodies in the charred grass. If Aria's guesstimate of twenty of them had been correct, then roughly six had run off in other directions and six were in the herd still chasing me, five now that I had killed one of them already. I was quickly picking up speed and was already back up to my top speed in a flash. I could probably push myself to go even faster, but any faster than this and I would have trouble turning and stopping myself from stumbling.

I hurtled past one of them and let my claws do the work of slicing through one of the ones on the outward edge of the running herd. I didn't immediately kill it like the previous time but it still stumbled into the others making the group of five stumble around. I slowed myself to a more reasonable jog and approached them from behind this time. More explosions ignited and sent shockwaves through the air off in the distance. They didn't sound like they were localized in one spot so I didn't worry. I believed my friends could handle themselves.

Turning my forward momentum into a leap, I jumped and nearly overshot the monsters. I will need to practice leaping more, it came more naturally to these legs than I had expected. Dumb of me to underestimate them considering they had come from rabbits, but it just wasn't something that occurred to me right away. I may have died if I had landed roughly right in front of them. Instead, I landed just behind them and was able to bounce my momentum right onto one of their backs.

Grabbing the bison's horns I yanked its head to the side and bit deep into its neck before ripping the side of its throat out. The bison stumbled immediately and I had to leap off of the monster to avoid being flipped forward with it. The remaining four in this group slowed to a stop and turned to face me. One of them was leaking blood down its side where I had raked it with my claws, but it didn't act like it was injured at all. They stood still and watched me for a long moment before bellowing and charging at me again as a group.

I dashed away, picking up speed as I circled them. I didn't want to risk myself in a direct test of strength. These things were large enough that even I had to be careful of being trampled by them, even in my wolf form. I continued to play hit and run, whittling away the last of them as fiery explosions killed all of the stragglers.

Running as fast as I could to circle around the beast, I managed to repeat my stunt from earlier and land on the last of the bisons' back. Like before, I jerked its head to the side with its horns and ripped its throat out before jumping off the monster as it tumbled over. I ripped a piece of meat from the chunk of flesh I tore out and swallowed it before tossing away the rest, whetting my appetite.

I glanced around and didn't see any more, off in the distance I saw my group gathering near the tree I had left Aria in. Good, that meant that they were likely not hurt. I crouched down over my spoils and tore into the carcass. I enjoyed the flavor despite the paltry mana inside of it. It had a rich and meaty flavor, it would have been second only to the minotaur if not for the lacking mana. I ate my fill and tore through the chest cavity until I found what I was looking for. THE HEART

My body shook in pleasure as my teeth tore into the large fleshy muscle. A warmth spread through my entire body as the magic flowed through me. My muscles rippled and then suddenly cramped up. It only lasted a moment, unlike the agonizing change to my legs, and as quickly as the pain had come it passed. When I stood back up I felt a bit bulkier, my muscles looked even more toned than before. I stretched and was happy to find that I hadn't lost any range of motion despite looking a bit more jacked. I couldn't help but grin, I was coming to love this strange body of mine more and more.

I turned back toward the group and dashed over to them to see how everyone was doing after the fight. My legs felt stronger than before too, not that it helped me steer any better. On the way I decided to take a running leap to see how far I could go and I actually got butterflies in my stomach from the sudden vertigo. After my slightly awkward landing, I decided to put off any more testing for later.

("Helena!") Luna was waving to me from her place next to my tree and I skidded to a stop nearby. Her eyes lit up as they trailed over my body and the intensity made me blush. I shifted back to my human form and stumbled when I looked over myself. It wasn't just my werewolf form that looked more muscular than it had before. I wasn't so muscular that it looked gross or anything but my muscles were definitely more defined than they had been.

("Is everyone alright?") I asked.

("Yeah... I see you found their heart,") she said as her eyes continued to trail my body. I may have been worried about how quiet she was if it wasn't for her slightly wagging tail.

I walked up closer and pulled her into a hug. "Do you like it?" I said with an amused grin.

She blushed and looked up at me. ("Yeah... you already looked fit before but now...") She bit her lip.

I grinned wider before leaning in and kissing her. She melted into it and pulled me closer, even her long tail had wrapped around my waist. She must really like my new look. I'd... have to investigate myself more the next time I stripped down.

"Okay you two, that is enough," Piper said with a snarky smile. "We are making camp here for today."

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"Still hungry?" Maxwell asked me. He was crouched over one of the bison Luna had blown up earlier. He had already half-skinned the giant thing by the time I had made it back.

I shrugged. "A small amount. I can eat some." He nodded and kept working.

Lingering near me was Aria who was looking at me a bit nervously. I wasn't sure what I had done this time but she looked like she wanted to talk.

"Helena... Thank you for coming back for me... when the .... were chasing us. I .... think you would risk yourself to .... me. So, thank you."

I smiled and patted her on the shoulder. "No problem, Aria. I am glad you are okay."

She smiled at me. "Your eyes still .... me ...." I didn't catch some of the words but I got the idea.

I shrugged. "I cannot change that... I think. I will just have to keep wearing this," I said tapping my blindfold.

We spent the next few hours eating our fill of roasted bison meat and chatting. I did my best to listen in on the conversation, trying to pick up new words while everyone else relaxed after the fight. Maxwell was pretty sure that we were close to the end of the floor already which was good news. There weren't any more problematic floors until we reached floor six, the lost halls that I've been told a little bit about. After that, the last five floors could all be traversed in a day. Since most people stopped at floor five, fewer monsters were roaming around since so many people actively hunted them. Even if we ran across something tricky like an elite, there would be plenty of people who would be dying to take over for us. The monsters were slowly declining in their mana content so milling around for monster hearts would probably not be worth it. I didn't like the idea of my werewolf form being seen that close to the surface either, in case there ended up being a problem.

I squeezed Luna who had been leaning on me while quietly listening in on the conversation. Occasionally she had said something to me through the rings but for the most part, she seemed content to just share my warmth. I tapped her on the shoulder and she looked up at me. I blushed as I worked up some courage. ("Do you want to... take another bath tonight?") I asked her.

Her mouth quirked into a grin and her eyes trailed along my arms. ("And miss a chance to see how much your body has changed?")

My blush intensified as I pictured her looking at me naked. I was probably being a bit too modest right now but it's a hard habit to shake when I kind of grew up as a fat girl. It hadn't been until I was deep into working out for the triathlon that I had finally started feeling comfortable with how I looked. Part of me was still a bit insecure about being seen naked even though I knew I didn't look nearly as bad as I used to.

I cleared my throat. "Can we take another bath? Since we will leave the floor tomorrow?"

Piper and Maxwell both looked at each other and shrugged and then Piper looked across the fire at me. "I do not want another bath yet. Do you think you could hear a monster coming while taking a bath?" Piper was intentionally talking slower for me so I could make out all of her words.

I considered the idea. I don't think I would have any trouble with anything but the bison monsters but even those I could outrun. We'd have to double back for our equipment since we'd be naked but I don't think that'll be a problem.

"I can probably do that. Luna?" I asked turning to her.

She nodded and smiled at me. ("Let's do it! Just the two of us.") The tone she finished with made me shiver. Luna was quickly becoming more confident and was starting to learn how to push my buttons.

Clearing my throat again I nodded to Piper. "The two of us will go. Luna will signal if anything is wrong."

Piper suddenly had a mischievous grin on her face. "Have fun you two!" Her implication made me blush but I mean... that wasn't far from the truth was it? We were both going to be naked in a second...

Luna tugged at my wrist and brought me out of my embarrassing thoughts. ("Come on, let's go while we have the chance.") She glanced at Aria who's eyes were now fixed on Maxwell. ("It also looks like we might be giving someone else some room to advance their relationship as well.")

I suddenly coughed, caught off guard by her words. Not by the implication of Aria getting closer to Maxwell, but by the implication that we were about to advance our relationship. I didn't know what Luna was expecting but I wasn't planning on going that far!

("Will you carry me? The lake is a little far...") she asked.

I looked down at her, she had a smirk on her face. ("Are you jealous that I was carrying Aria earlier?")

("Maybe...") she replied with a sly smile.

I laughed and shifted to my werewolf form. I picked her up and took a close look at her. ("At least you're honest about how you feel. I like that about you.")

It seems my words caught her off guard because she was suddenly blushing and averting her gaze. Her hands trailed across the muscular torso of my werewolf form. I didn't hate this...