They entered a fairly luxurious lobby, certainly one of the nicest rooms he had ever been in. What amazed him was this was not even the top of the tower, there were better rooms above him. Rooms in this portion of the tower might cost silver every work cycle to rent! This would quickly add up to gold. It was hard for him to imagine throwing away such wealth on just shelter.

A gold standard was something like two hundred and fifty silver standards this far out from the True Human Realm. He had been told, as you approached the core of the human realm, gold decreased in value relative to silver. How much the ratio decreased, he did not know. Greer had told him it was because adventurers who came way tended to buy with silver but take gold back with them. One would think it would be the opposite, that adventurers would want to spend gold here since its relative value was greater, but there was little to spend it on out here. Most of what was produced here were raw materials, no finished products. Nearly everything of note was shipped back to the human realm. Some of the smarter ones would, of course, receive gold for whatever they found, and change it to silver to bring back with them, making a profit, but this could only be done so much. Money changers were only allowed to work through the tower, and had a stiff fee of their own, making it only marginally lucrative.

Greer led him to a large elevated, circular table in the back area of the bar. The rounded, bench seating that went with the table was surrounded by a spelled privacy wall. He didn’t know what to expect from these employers. Greer hadn’t been very specific about them, either because she did not know, or because she thought it would be a better joke on him when they surprised him. It would be like her to do that. Greer seemed uncharacteristically nervous right now though, as they peered into the dimly lit area.

The first thing he noticed was.. a huge muscular woman, taking up a third of the bench space by herself. She was perhaps the most classic example of Classed Warrior he had ever seen. Her armor wasn’t particularly thick, but it covered everything important, minus her head. Some Warriors went for a fortress-style approach, like a knight, where they encased themselves in armor, but others, like this woman, wanted to used their strength for mobility as well as destruction. Her face was like a block granite, boring, nondescript, and perfectly suited to someone with her type of Class. Her hair was a reddish brown, and tied into a ponytail in the back. It had been shaved on the sides giving her a fierce look. Even her eyes were a boring grey color. She wore some sort of gaudy necklace around her neck, it perhaps the most incongruous thing about her, looking nothing like what a Warrior would ware. She had an overly-large sword sitting peeking over her shoulder, set at an angle for easy access. He couldn’t be sure, but she had to be at least two head taller than he was. He hoped this wasn’t the one who requested a handsome guide. Even Ina wouldn’t be able to save him from such a woman. Luckily, her face betrayed no interest in him as he looked at her.

He strode closer to the table, and more of the people at the table became visible. The privacy spell lifted as you got nearer apparently, he had never seen a spell like it. Eventually he could see a slight woman, in leathers. Her features were fairly plain, but she seemed to have a bright smile for him as she took him in. Her hair was dark like his own, cut short to frame her face. She was a head shorter than he was at least. She had wide, dark-eyes that seemed to shine despite the low light. As he took a step closer, he noticed she had a blade she continually played with. She had a slim build, and as he looked her up and down, he started to notice all manner of places where she could, and probably was, storing blades. Was she a Classed Assassin, or a simple Blade Fighter? If it was the former, he should probably try to back out of this deal, if the woman would let him. Assassins were utterly frightening and remorseless killers. They were less welcome than Tamers in most places, so the chances were low. He had never met one before, but Caius had told him about them in a drunken stupor. Unlike the Warrior, whose age he couldn’t discern, the woman with the blades was young, perhaps only a little older than he was. This realization made him relax a little, an Assassin would be older, someone her age would only be an apprentice at most.

Finally, after taking one last step, he found himself at the edge of the table. From here he could get a good look at the last person at the table. He sucked in a little breath, this woman, was.. what he should have been looking at this whole time! Describing her as beautiful wouldn’t be inadequate, she was a sultry queen! Why he should to devote the rest of his life to serving her! His heart beat rapidly and his mouth starting to gape open. Her sultry smile! He never seen a woman so..

Something white flashed across his vision.. and his mind snapped back into place. The woman had used some sort of glamor, or spell. He could see she was attractive, but not so amazing as before. The last time he had seen a white light arc across his vision like that was when a spell he had cast had clashed with another spell. She must have a glamor on her of some kind, or she had cast a spell to influence him. He could see that she had realized what she intended to do hadn’t quite worked, the sultry smile she had on her face had waned a little.

Looking at her with new eyes, he could she loved the color red. Everything she wore was a shade of red. Her hair was perhaps the brightest red he had ever seen on a person’s head. Her lips were were a darker shade of red. Her hair was long, coming down her shoulders to rest on one the largest busts he had ever seen. She seemed to be presenting it to him in all its glory. The dress left little to the imagination. The slit down the front, showing her cleavage actually split most of her dress in half, except where it branched off under her breasts, showing a good portion of the underside of her bust as well. She was nearly as tall as he, he could guess. Her age totally indeterminate. Her eyes a darker shade of grey than the Warrior woman, and far more alluring than the larger woman’s eyes, but oddly also the least attractive feature of the woman in red.

Greer coughed, a bit more loudly than was strictly necessary. As I had taken in the party, the party had also gone quiet to look at me. The moment must have taken longer than was strictly polite for Greer to chime in. He also considered she might be jealous, perhaps she had been nervous about one of these women stealing him away earlier. The idea of a women jealously competing over him was bizarre, but his life was a strange thing now.

“Lady Adventurers, this man is Demneh, your guide! Bring him back in one piece!” Greer had wanted that last part to sound like a joke, but it was clearly semi-serious. The woman in red look from Greer to him, raising an eyebrow slightly. He kept his face as neutral as possible, but Greer was suddenly an open book to this woman. The woman in red’s smile returned to its fullest version from earlier.

At her pronouncement, the small girl with the blades, and the woman in red both gave him a polite clap. The Warrior woman just farted and began to pick her teeth, not really looking at him any more. This behavior had not surprised him at all, Warriors had a certain reputation.  

The woman with blades began to speak quickly.

“Aye, yar ah an’some fella, dun wurry t’all, I w’all protect yea bu’ in e’change I wan’…”

The words tumbled out of her mouth, almost indecipherable to him and totally belaying the dangerous air about her.

The woman in red spoke, cutting her off. “I shall introduce us properly Dice, do not interrupt.” Something about the way she pronounced her Rs had ate away at his willpower.

“This, as you might have surmised, is Dice, she is our scout and our lookout, she does a bit of ranged work as well. She really shines when throwing a blade. She will watch our backs, and help you primarily.” The woman in red’s voice seemed to indicate she would be the leader of the party, which suited him fine.

He did have a question though..

“Apologies, but if I might ask. If she is your scout, why do you need me?” He could guess the answer, but having her state his job clearly would be helpful to him.

She took his interruption in stride, “She knows nothing of the local area, of forests, of trees, of the Wilds, or even much of beasts as they exist out there. The purpose, in-part, of this endeavor is to train her properly to work in more natural environments. She is our newest member!”

“Aye, I dun’ knuh o’bout rees, only o’bout ah-lees an’ ‘averns.” Once again, he couldn’t understand Dice, as she too interjected herself into the conversation.

The lady in red, stopped her with a look.

“Yes, she is quite new, as you can see. Her accent leaves something to be desired. We will work it out of her though, won’t we?” She turned to look at the Warrior woman, who simply grunted and began to pick her nose, still looking away from him.

“The large woman you see there is Wersa. She fights and kills for us, and does not stop, so don’t get in front of her.” Wersa was still struggling with something in her nose, and only grunted in response.

The woman in red’s smile seemed to stretch further a she began to talk about herself.

“I am Karmisina, but you may call me Karmis. I provided spell work from the back, of course.” With this statement, she offered me her hand.  

I was a bit dumbfounded as to what I was suppose to do with it, so I simply bowed over it, trying to convey a sense of subservience. Buttering up to the leader, especially after thwarting her spell inadvertently, was likely a good idea.

She laughed a little, sounding surprisingly like a cackle, at whatever mistake in protocol he had made.

“You’re supposed to bring it to your lips, like this..”

She took my hand and brushed her lips over my knuckles while looking up at me. He felt another spell, this time something weaker, begin to affect his mind. He was more ready for the spell, and it seemed to pass much quicker than the last episode. He still didn’t understand why her spells weren’t working on him. It was another mystery he would find out when he had a chance to figure his Class out. Right now he needed to focus on making money.

“Ah, yu’ all’ays duh hiss.” Dice huffed out, crossing her arms across her chest, turning her face away from Karmis’ attempt at, what he assumed was, spell-based seduction. Why would this woman need spells in the first place? Why on him? He was already her employee. Perhaps this had to do with her Path? Her Class? Did she want simple obedience? Either way she made no mention of her use of spells, and neither did he.

Her displeasure was a little more obvious when this latest attempt didn’t work, but she kept her face still smiling. She moved the conversation forward.

“Greer has told us a little about you, that you are a.. Tamer? Such good looks, wasted on beasts if you ask me. Though, I must say, your Class is a little like mine.” She didn’t explain her last cryptic statement, but she seemed to be implying he should introduce himself better..

“Well, ma’am. I am Demneh, a local guide and hunter. I am a Class Tamer. I only have one beast, she is a many-tailed. A good huntress. She has gotten me out of many a bind.” He didn’t know what to say exactly in this situation, but a Tamer was generally judged by the quality of their beast.

Karmis spoke again, “I see is she a lesser beast? Perhaps a greater beast? I’m sure she is very helpful in your work.” Her voice sounded only mildly interested.

Suddenly he felt a bit like he had forgotten something important. These adventurers would undoubtedly meet Ina, who was now a beastwoman. Beastdung! He hadn’t really thought about this, his cover story was pretty flimsy and Greer, still standing beside him, would be astounded at Ina’s new form.

He simply had to move forward, and hope Greer moderated her response.

“Uh.. about that.. well Ina has advanced, again, recently.”

Greer punched him in the arm.

“She advanced ‘again’? You liar, something did happen out there!” Greer’s voice was a little loud. So much for playing this cool.

Karmis’ face suddenly looked a lot more interested. This was bad. She seemed to be trying to look at both Greer and himself, at the same time. Like she was trying to understand both our reactions simultaneously.

Greer’s face suddenly became a little blank, asking another question.

“She is a calamity beast now? Think of what you could hunt and then sell to me with a beast like that!” Of course, her mind was on gold.

“Not exactly…” He laughed a little awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head with a sweaty hand.

Greer, still excited. “Is she an elder beast now? That would still save you rotations of helping her increase her abilities. No wonder! You look a bit different, her advancement help you out a bit? You sly beast, you.”

“Ah, well. It’s a bit more complicated than that.”

He now had Greer, Karmis, and Dice looking at him intently. Greer was especially confused.

He needed to just spit it out, “She is now a beastwoman, at around the elder beast level.”

Greer’s face was the most surprised, but then quickly got serious.

“What happened” Greer’s question sounding more like a command.

“She ate something, I don’t really know what it was, I didn’t actually see it. It was probably something significant though, or perhaps something especially beneficial to her beast-type. I asked her to show me where she found it, but nothing was there.”

Greer, “Are you sure you didn’t get just a little bit of it?” Her voice slightly accusatory.

“I’m sure, I would have sold it to you, not eaten it. You know that.”

She seemed mollified by this response, but then her eyebrows began to move down and closer together signifying a small storm brewing in her mind. Then just as suddenly, she turned red and spit out another question.   

“Is she pretty? What does a many-tailed beastfolk even look like?” She actually seemed to be pouting. This woman had always been a solid, yet greedy, rock in his life. She had always been something he held on to when things were tough, and yet whatever he had become had reduced her to a pouting jealousy. It turned his stomach in exactly the same way he felt when Caius had told him the reason for Caius’ exile. She wasn’t herself, clearly, but he still needed her, for his parents sake.

He feigned a laugh at her reaction and spoke, “She is mostly claws and fur, rather scary if you ask me.”

Greer still didn’t seem totally convinced, but Karmis, thankfully, decided to chime in.

“Really? A Beastwoman? How interesting. You say she ate something powerful?” She looked around to her compatriots, eyeing them in turn, before settling her eyes back on him.

“We should explore where she found it, perhaps we will find something else nice there?”

“Of course, ma’am” His response was immediate and undisagreeing.

“Oh, you can call me Karmis, you don’t have to call me ma’am. It makes me feel like an old woman. You don’t think me an old woman do you?” she spoke to him intently, and batted her eyes at that last question.

He wondered how old she actually was, but quickly responded.

“No, of course I don’t. Karmis.” He gave the best smile he could as he spoke.

Greer side-eyed him, still suspicious. Wersa hadn’t reacted to any of this, but Dice was holding in a comment he could see.

“Well, Lady Adventurers, Karmis, Dice, Wersa. Greer has told me you want to leave in half a cycle? Could we meet at the Wilds-Deeper doors?”

The doors the led further away into the Wilds, were aptly called Wild-Deeper by the locals, and the doors that led to the trail that pointed towards the True Human Realm, were generally called the Realm-Doors. Technically the settlement was still surrounded by the Wilds on all sides, but people generally tried to orient themselves using the human realm as a locus.

Karmis spoke, “Of course, Demneh. We should rest shouldn’t we ladies?”

Dice hummed in agreement, while Wersa simply grunted.

“Thank you for your time, Lady Adventurers, I look forward to working with you!” He tried to give this farewell a flourish.

The women at the table merely nodded and went back to their drinks. He steered Greer away from the table, back the way they originally came. Only stopping when they were back in hallway that led to the lift. It was, thankfully, still deserted. He pulled her into their original alcove.

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Using a few cantrips they were able to get his measurements, and quickly tailor some clothing to fit him. The tall clerk had given him lots of advice about what would look good on him. He gratefully accepted all of it. The clothing he was left to try on was.. also rather tight, clearly meant to show his figure off. He never considered himself handsome. He had always been a little taller than the rest of the boys from the hamlets, and he was even taller than some of the boys from the settlement despite their better diets. His dark hair was fairly straight, and was usually hacked short, so it hung no lower than his ears. Long hair would get caught on something in the Wilds. His eyes were a dark blue, uncommon he knew, but other than that he always been fairly unremarkable. His face not the wispy, fine-boned thinness of the other boys from the hamlets, nor the stocky square of the boys from the settlement.

    Finally looking at himself in the mirror, wearing a very smart set of new clothes, he realized he was changed, but.. not by much?

    He was a tad taller, more muscular certainly, but his face hadn’t changed much. It was more.. symmetrical? Maybe his cheek bones were a bit higher? His nose a bit more straight?  His eyes were the same, though they seemed to flash brighter occasionally. His hair was getting a little long. He wondered why such small changes had merited people noticing him more.

    He considered what Caius had said, that he had a glamor spell on him of some kind. Such spells were used by Classes that relied on illusions or personal appearance, not Tamers. He wasn’t going to charm a beast with his blue eyes, that was for sure. It had to be something to do with his new Class, but what it meant, was a mystery. Was this an ‘improvement’ made on him by the grimoire or a passive spell that his Path would fuel all the time? Some Classes had passive spells working all the time, like fire resistance for a fire-based offensive spell-castor, or spells that gave more durability and toughness for a front line fighter Class.

Either way, he looked good enough, he thought. Greer would tease him, but she would be silenced by the beastcore he intended to sell her. Selling the ape core to a non-tower middle-man, had probably cost him five silver standards or more, but it was worth it to make an impression on the people was meeting. He hoped Ina liked the clothing he bought her, it had been more expensive than even his clothes. He had used up nearly half of all the silver he had on just clothes. He day-dreamed a little about what Ina would look like in something other than ragged strips of his cloak. Perhaps this would count as a gift? He quickly repressed a sense of shame, but reminded himself that it didn’t matter what other people thought, and they didn’t know anyway.

He paid for the clothes and left the store, mentally preparing himself for potentially meeting his new employers and dealing with Greer. It was possible they had been delayed in reaching the settlement and he would be left waiting, but that would be helpful in a way. He could use the time to consult with the grimoire and maybe.. spend some time with Ina? He didn’t know if she could return his feelings quite the same way a human would, her mind clearly worked differently. His emotions were more like a river, moving constantly, but her emotions were more like a lake with an undercurrent. He didn’t know what this meant exactly in terms of a difference in their mentality, but his conversations with her had definitely been more.. calm, then they should have been. Perhaps, her confidence as a predator let her shrug off things that he or another human would worry about constantly.

He made his way towards the tower, the time of rest was nearly over, and the sounds of the settlement were increasing. The illusionary facades of a many of the most expensive shops began to spring to life. Like the clothing shop he was just in, most of these shops had people buying at all times of the cycle, and so settlement shop clerks worked in shifts to make sure someone was always around to make sales and help customers. There weren’t many people on the streets, but he still turned some heads as he went by. He would needed to get used to being looked at more. There wasn’t much he could do about it.

He entered through his usual side door. Noticing Greer wasn’t at her desk, he sat down to wait in one of the many rickety wooden chairs that littered the place. He thought about what she would say, and what she might be doing. She might very well be sleeping still, or meeting with his new employers.

In the end, he didn’t wait long before she entered from a door in the back of the large office. She sat down with a sigh and began looking around the room. He began to walk towards her, her eyes only resting on him briefly before moving on, and then suddenly coming back to him.

“Dem? You came back at just the right time, the party is here! Wait, you.. you look different?” Her voice was higher than he remembered.

“I am fine, just got a lot of training in while I was gone. I advanced a lot.” He did his best to sound calm.

“I see. You didn’t eat anything rare did you? If you found something good, you shouldn’t have eaten it, you should have sold it to me so that I could ea… I mean so I could resell it of course.” He had never seen her so flustered before. It was nice to be on the offensive with her for once. Her eyes kept avoiding his gaze, she would hardly look at him.

“You definitely ate something good! Look at those clothes too! Now you’ve got your Class, you’re spending your silver on such frivolous items?” She lectured him about money for another short while, before finally realizing there was business to be done.

“Your employers are here! They are upstairs. I will take you up to seem them in a short while, but first you must tell me what happened.” She was starting to sound more like her usual self, someone who valued money before anything else.  

“Nothing, just a lot training and some good hunting. That reminds me, I need to sell a beastcore to you before we go up.”

“Alright, lets see what you’ve got.” She said in a low voice, raising her eyebrow at him and smiling.

He pulled out the beastcore and set it down on her desk confidently.

Her face turned seriously quickly, and she furiously cast a number of cantrips on it he couldn’t identify.

“This is a elder snake-beast core? Its one of the better cores I’ve seen below the calamity level. It is worth…” She consulted a chart on her desk.

“Nearly two gold standards, minus my fee of course, I think.” She didn’t sound completely confident.

“You think?”

“I will get the resident beastcore expert to evaluate it. Something like this may have a special property or use, that would increase its price. The evaluation fee will come out of your portion, of course.” She said all of this with a slight smile.

“A fee, I see. Of course there would be a fee.” His voice held no surprise.

“Can you tell me what beast this came from?”

“A elder viper-wyrm.” He said cautiously.

“Those are nasty aren’t they? How did you kill it?” her voice once again going high again.

“We just played a little trick, and Ina made short work of it.” His voice sounded confident, he thought.

“That is impressive. You are sure you didn’t eat any interesting looking fruit or some important part of the snake beast?” She looked at him suspiciously.

“No, Greer, I did not. Can we meet my employers now?” He tried to keep his voice neutral.

“I’m no longer ma’am am I? Where is the polite the Demneh I once knew. He was a good boy. Fine, we will go up. I hope you’re more respectful to these ladies than you’ve been to me this cycle. They will not take disrespect as kindly as I do, even if you are a bit more handsome.”

She launched into another lecture as they walked toward the spelled lifting platform that would bring them up the tower. He had been on some of the lower tower floors before to meet his amateur adventurer clients in the past, but he thought they would be going much higher up this time.

***

    As they rode the lift up, they were alone. She moved closer to him slightly, grabbing on to his upper bicep.

    “Dem, I.. I think I can get a place for your parents in the settlement after you finish this job.” Her voice was a little off its usual confidence.

    She was starting some sort of negotiation. She knew what he wanted, what most people in the hamlets wanted. Safety. She wouldn’t mention something she he wanted unless she had something she needed him to do or something she wanted.

    “That would be great Greer, ma’am, but what would I need to do for you to negotiate on my behalf?” His voice was a little wary.

    She knew, as he did, that if he went to a landlord in the settlement, they would charge him more. People didn’t want to live next to anyone who had lived in the hamlets. The bias against people living outside the walls was pretty absolute. The people of the settlements worked hard so as to never be sent out into the hamlets. Having a living reminder of what might happen to them, as a neighbor, might be painful to some.

    “Well, you see. I could find them a nice little place, just the right size for two, but you would have to live elsewhere. I.. have decent home, and just so happen to have an extra room I could rent to you, once you get back of course.” Her faced was bit flushed when she said this, her eyes gazing moving up and down his body.

    He choked a little, nearly coughing out loud, when he realized what this was about. His Path or Class or whatever, had done something more serious to him than he had thought if he could melt the heart of the single greatest money-grubber he knew. Though, looking at her face, it wasn’t her heart that drew her to him.

    She wasn’t unattractive, and certainly when he was younger he was flattered she paid attention to him. He actually had little fantasies about her when he hit puberty, but of course had quickly rejected those fantasies, and adopted the professional, haggling mindset she had taught him. A mindset she no longer possessed apparently.

    She noticed him hesitating and decided to continue her pitch. Her hand on his arm slid further down, caressing him lightly.

    “Dem, I had been waiting until you were a bit older and were able to afford it, before I offered. Living in the settlement isn’t cheap, as you know. Now you have the potential to earn enough to take care of yourself and your parents. So what do you think?”

    The lift had ended at the floor she had intended, but she pulled him into an alcove in the deserted hallway right outside the lift. They sat on a small bench, less than a span from each other. They weren’t at the top of the tower, but much further up than he had ever been before.

    He considered her proposal. Did this she mean that she had been grooming him? He felt a little disgusted with himself for considering it. He wouldn’t be the first young person from the hamlets to trade security for their body. He had never thought it would happen to him though.

If she weren’t touching him so casually, he would assumed there was something else she wanted from him, but she had never touched him before, and certainly not like this. Ten cycles ago, he might have taken her up on her offer after only a little consideration for his dignity. His parents came first, and if it meant entertaining an older woman, to keep them safe, he would have done it. Problematically, things had changed. He needed to speak with Ina and figure out what was going on with him before he could live in the settlement, even if only occasionally. Greer clearly expected him to keep working, so he couldn’t just give up his life and become her pet? Her kept man? Her house boy?

    How should he respond? Something about this situation felt like an opportunity beyond just what she was offering. There was an opportunity for his Path here, he felt it. How could be dominate? He decided to lean into the situation, and hope he didn’t come off as too awkward. Greer could really help him, and he had to take this offer seriously, but his Path was pushing him to.. play.. with the situation a bit.  

    He turned towards her, looking her in the eye. Her eyes held a slightly worried, yet calculating look in them. She seemed to be expecting something of a counter-offer. Everything was a negotiation with her, even trying to woo a younger man.

    He positioned his body towards he, allow his arm to brush against her bust. The softness of he had ‘accidentally’ touched almost making him blush. A blush would have given the game away, but he had kept himself in check. He was running on instinct and quick thinking. It was a kind of rush.

“Greer, are you.. What would you like me to do for you in return? Nothing is free in the settlement.” His voice was the best approximation of husky as he could make it. He decided to play coy for little while.

He spoke again quickly, not letting her get a word in, “Perhaps some gardening? Some light chores around your home? Or do you have a beast you need me to tame?” He said all of this as suggestively as possible. That last line had almost made him laugh, but he kept his performance going without letting it show.

“Dem.. I..” Her voice was a bit breathless, her face entirely red.

Was this actually working? Something about toying with her, trying to get her to reveal her desires totally, was advancing his Path. This was unbelievable. Demneh, the most awkward boy from the hamlets, had to woo women to advance. The absurdity of it was astounded.

He waited for her reply, figuring the time waiting would push her over the edge. To his surprise, her response was more powerful than he would have guessed. She kissed him, hard, on the lips, her tongue almost immediately delving into his mouth.

Perhaps his flirting had not been a good idea. This was not what he was expecting. The kissing was good? He supposed she must be a good kisser, though he had no experience to judge go by. Ina didn’t not kiss him, and could not kiss him, in the same way. He was a bit confused. Perhaps this was a sort of counter-attack on her part.

He closed his arms around her shoulders, drawing her closer, pressing her flesh to his. He slowly broke off the kiss, and whispered in her ear in a husky tone.

“Greer, Why don’t we get the business at hand done, and then when I get back we can.. ‘negotiate’ more? In the meantime…” He began to stroke her back, tracing her spine. She shivered in response.

“I hope you can begin to find a place for my parents.”

She spoke, her voice shaky, “I will work on it while you’re gone.”

“Good. Good. Work hard, and I will work hard for you.” The implication clear, as he brushed his lips along the outer edge of her ear lobe. Ina loved it when he had done something similar.

“There is someone coming down the hall in a moment, do you want them to see us like this?” He teased her one last time.

“No, no, we shouldn’t be caught here like this.” Her vision seemed to clear a bit and she got a hold of herself. He slowly unwrapped his arms and drew back, giving her his best smile.

She mumbled to him, “I don’t know what came over me..when did you get so..” Her confusion was obvious, but he couldn’t afford to tell her anything. They had know each other a long time, but he had never met anyone so interested in money as her. His secrets could be worth a huge sum to the right person.

“I will do as you ask, just come back. I will be looking forward to it.” She had started to sound professional again, thankfully.

This had been, perhaps, the best negotiation he had ever had with her. If she could get a place set aside for his parents, getting documentation for his parents as citizens of the settlement would just be a matter of more money and a little paperwork. He could already legally reside in the settlement as a freelancer for the Guild, but he would never do so without his parents. Greer had helped him with the paperwork for being a freelancer, for a fee of course.

“I look forward to it too.” He gave her a peck on the cheek, to seal the deal.

“Shall we go meet them?” He kept his tone light.

“Y-yes. They are resting in a lounge, they will stay her another half cycle to get some sleep before setting out.”

He stood, helping Greer to stand, as her legs were a bit unsteady. He smoothed his ruffled clothes, her hands had been busy while she was kissing him. Her reaction couldn’t be from his amateur kissing skills. What caused this effect? What had he become? Where would it lead?

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As the walls of the settlement once again rose ahead, he used a cantrip to clean himself. It wasn’t quite the same thing as washing with water, but it definitely helped quite a bit. He smelled much less like he had been rolling around with a many-tailed at least. He also considered buy some new clothes. The beast-leather pants and the woven-fiber shirt he wore were both in poor condition do to combination of his run-ins with greater beasts and his ‘battles’ with a particular beastwoman. His rain cloak was in tatters. He definitely needed to update his wardrobe. Appearances mattered, even for a man from the hamlets, and he needed to impress this party he was helping.

    The line at the towering entrance doors wasn’t long. He noticed he had gotten a few odd looks from those waiting. Their lingering gazes were unusual, normally most people would hardly notice him. Perhaps, his clothes were tattered enough to be remarkable. He was thankful he didn’t feel anything particularly alarming about the women in line, or the men for that matter. It looked like his Path was more discerning than simply wanting to dominate everyone.

    “State your business.” Said a different, but equally recognizable guard, as the last time he entered the settlement. He recognized every guard who was given this duty generally, but they seemed to forget him until he showed them his badge.

    “I have come to sell, buy, and seek my business partners.”

    This time was a little different, as the guard looked at him, his eyebrow raising slightly.

    “You.. I think I know you.” Said the guard.

    This was highly unusual, but he pulled out his badge quickly showing it to the confused guard.

    The guard barely looked at it, still looking at him, and finally waved him through the doors. No snickers or comments followed him as he entered the nearly perpetually loud settlement. He didn’t know what was different this time, but he let the oddity leave his mind as the noise of the settlement filled his ears. Thankfully, it wasn’t as loud this time as the last time he had entered the settlement. He just so happened to be entering during a period of rest.

Most work cycles were split into eighths or sixteenths generally. Work took up nearly five eighths of the cycle. Sleep only two, if you were lucky. The rest for meals. Most of the loudest work in the settlement, like smithing, was organized on the same schedule to allow a period of quiet for sleep. This unending schedule was made possible by cantrips and spells that improved stamina, so fines were always being levied against those who tried to work loudly through portion of the cycle for resting. Hawkers would whisper their wares to you as walked by during these resting periods. He always appreciated entering the settlement during a time of rest, but now with his hearing the way it was, it was still loud. He needed to get better at tuning it out.

Without meaning to, he found himself near the church again. He had been away some time, checking on the Priest was only natural. He opened the creaking gate, and climbed the polished granite-tree steps, to enter the vestibule. He took off his boots, leaving them in a side storage alcove set aside for such things.

As he paded forward, he came to the first threshold, and got down on his knees, to prostrate himself before the Effigy of Divine Humanity. It was always a tedious process coming here. He felt nothing special for the place, but still went through the motions to keep up appearances, and because they ceremony had been drilled into him unendingly as a child. If you wanted the knowledge that Caius offered, you had to at least pretend to be a devotee. If you wanted healing, or any other services the church offered, it was the same. Whether you were an adventurer, a settlement leader, or some lowly child from the hamlets, if you wanted something from the church you groveled.

Finally, after making his way past a couple more thresholds that held specific symbolic meaning he couldn’t remember, he arrived at a small side door which belonged to a very rotund man. He didn’t know how old Caius was, but he knew the church pre-dated him by some time because if they had built it with him in mind the doors would be much wider.

He knocked once and entered the small office quickly. The knocking was out of habit, he didn’t really need to. Caius was usually well into his wine-skin at this point in the cycle and wouldn’t care either way.

The Priest was faced away from, sitting in favorite chair. Light streamed through the window. Caius, at least, wouldn’t usually drink in total darkness.

“Old Priest! Do you still live?” He said, his voice booming.

“I can hear you boy, no need to yell.” Caius’s voice was like gravel.

“Oh! I assumed your hearing was starting to go, what with your advanced age and all” He retorted.

“Boy, I ain’t so old, that I can’t discipline you like I used to. hhHRRYKK!” spouted Caius, finishing his sentence with a loud belch.

“Old Priest, you never disciplined me once. You couldn’t catch me.” He laughed.

After exchange their ritual greeting, the Old Priest looked away from his wine-skin and towards his direction. He could see surprise light on Caius’s old face, and then concern begin to knit his brow.

“Boy! What have you done?” His voice was suddenly loud for such a small room.

A feeling of being exposed flashed through him. Did Caius know what he had done with Ina? It was against the doctrine, but out here in the Wild, no one, not even Caius, would bother to punish him. What could Caius know just by looking at him? Could he tell what Path a man walked by sight alone? Did Caius know his Class even when he did not?

“Caius, what are you talking about? I don’t understand.” He tried to make his voice sound firm, so as not to betray his sudden nervousness.

“Boy, you’re different, your.. Path is different. Tell me what you’ve been doing? Wait, something else is different, you.. you…”  Caius’s eyes went wide, and he gasped loudly.

“You found a woman haven’t you boy? Aha, ha!” His face suddenly broke into a grin. Laughing boisterously at his own trickery.

“Uh.. something like that Caius. There have been some changes, and I did meet someone new.” He wasn’t exactly lying. There were changes, and Ina’s form was basically a new person.

“That is good, boy. Your previous Path set you moving away from your human brothers and sisters, towards a life relying only on beasts! Perhaps, now you will settle down and stop stealing my books.” His voice was jovial.

“How.. how did you know?” He asked, wondering what was different about him.

Caius stood up from his chair, and moved his bulk closer. Caius eyed the him, and rubbed the white stubble on his first and second chins thoughtfully.

“You look different boy, hmm. Something like a glamor? There is a spell involved, but I can’t identify it.This sort of cosmetic spell isn’t something I would have need of, I’m already so handsome you see.” He once again laughed at his own joke uproariously.

“You’re trying to look good for the ladies, eh?” Caius spit wine with this last sentence

“Ah, I see Caius. Yes, someone made an improvement, I guess.”

“Perhaps an older woman boy? With money? That is the best kind!” Caius burst out at him, with another chuckle.

“Well, Caius, I was just checking on you. I will be gone for a while after this. I’m going with a party and we’ll be out through a rotation .” Hopefully Caius wouldn’t ask him more questions.

“I see, boy. Be careful. Always look after your own skin first when with an adventurer party. They will be doing the same. Good luck, and may the Divinity be what you need when you need you it.”

“Thank you Caius, hopefully you won’t have died of old age by the time I get back.”

“Not a chance boy. I have a few rotations left in me, at least until the wine runs out anyway. Ha!”

He made his last farewells, and left the church. Thankfully, leaving didn’t require the same ceremony entering did.

***

    The interaction with Caius had been a close thing. Caius probably suspected something more had happened, but he tactfully hadn’t asked. Caius wouldn’t usually ask a question if he thought you were going to lie to him.

    He needed to look at himself in a mirror, and get some new clothes, but first he needed to sell the lesser of his two beastcores. The core from the ape was decent, but still far inferior to the one from the elder viper-wyrm. He would sell the latter to Greer, which would make her happy. The former he would sell in the market as quickly as possible.

***

    He made his way to a shop that sold clothes, his leather bag was bit heavier than before. It jingled with the sound of coin. He had gotten fifty silver for the ape beastcore. It had been better than he had originally thought. He looked forward to what he would get for the vipper-wyrm core.

    The shop he chose was a little higher-end that he usually shopped in, but he knew this one had a nice full length mirror. As he entered, he got more looks from both customers and staff. Some seemed concerned, other lingered oddly. He really needed to see what was different about himself. All this attention was unusual.

    First he found a clerk to help him. The clerk was a tall man with a bushy mustache, wearing a supple leather vest and pants.

    “How can I help you… young man?”

“I need a new pair of pants, two more sturdy shirts like this one, and good rain cloak. I.. uh.. also need some clothes for a woman.”  The last part he almost forgot.

“For a woman? Is she with you? What are her sizes?” The clerk asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No, she isn’t with me, but do you have anything that would be easy to adjust. I can show you how tall she is, and.. uh.. I can show you about how wide her waist and hips are.”

“Hhmm, we do have some adjustable clothes. This would be for wearing around the settlement or for.. adventuring?” He looked me up and down after this last question.  

“Yes, adventuring, something close to the skin, so it doesn’t snag if you can.”

He smiled, “Close to the skin you say? This must be a good friend of yours?”

“Ah, well.. yes. You could say that.”

“We have a leather bustier, meant to be fairly functional, and very adjustable. It usually worn under armor, but it would work for front line fighting classes in the Wilds. It won’t offer much protection, but it is very functional. Does she need undergarments? Boots?”

“No, uh.. she has boots already, but as for undergarments, I don’t really know.”

They wouldn’t have boots for pawed feet, would they?

The man laughed at him. “Don’t worry young man, I won’t ask. We can get her some soft-fiber undergarments, and since you don’t know her measurements, some adjustable leather pants. It will cost a bit more. The pants are designed for adventurers who use physical transformation spells.”

“Ah, could you cut off the bottoms portion around the calves?”

He looked at him suspiciously again, “We can boy, but we won’t discount them. All of this will be costly, too. You’re asking for clothes for adventurers.”

“I have money, no need to worry.” He shook his bag so it jingled.

“Alright, let us get started.” The man replied.

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At some point later, he woke angry at himself. He was happy for the intimate time with Ina of course, and he thrilled because he had felt his Path advance, somewhere along the line of their.. He should probably just be honest with himself. Their love making? There he said it. They had sex. Why was it so hard to talk about it before? Some gate or barrier had come crashing down in mind, and he felt freer, more relieved, but… the things he had done.. They hadn’t been meant to be hurtful, but definitely satisfied whatever requirement he felt needed for his Path of Domination. Ina, hadn’t objected, and had enjoyed herself, he thought? He tried to tell himself that many-tailed mating was probably something similar. Beasts didn’t mate softly, or tenderly. Usually mating between predator beasts involved blood, and more of a fight than Ina and he had

He still felt some guilt. Some of the guilt was perhaps due to his indoctrination from the church, or the insults he had received growing up. His joy and guilt, and sometimes anger, seemed to come in waves as he thought through everything. Occasionally, he spared a thought for the way the bond had acted to magnify and reflect both their feelings, their urges. The bond was amazing, offering so much pleasure it would be potentially addictive. It was no wonder Tamers choose this option despite the taboo of it. He had to be careful.

Eventually, though he decided to leave his ruminations and appreciate the beautiful beastwoman in his arms. While he had been castigating himself, and congratulating himself, in equal measure, she had woken, yawned, and turned to face him. She look him the eye for a moment, and licked the side of his face a few times, like she was grooming him. Her tails danced around them, lightly touch here and there.

“Ina..?” Once again he was deeply curious about what she thought, but couldn’t make much sense of what he got from their bond. Her emotions seemed to work differently than his own.

“Yes, Dem?”

“Are you..alright? Was what we did.. fine? Was it good?” The first question was out of concern, but the last question was for his ego, he had to admit.

“Hhmmm, you are a good mate, Dem.” Her voice was surprisingly husky.

“Ah.. I’m very happy then, Ina.”

How could he ask this next question?

“Uh.. Ina..? Was I too rough? Are you in any pain? Was the way we did it.. fine with you?”

He was dying from the awkward nature of the conversation. While he felt freer to discuss sex, he was still rather bashful about asking whether she was fine with him taking control. He also had cast a healing spell on her earlier, just in case, but he needed to know if she was alright.

“I am in no pain, Dem. You were gentle enough, more gentle than my bloodline memories indicated for a first round of mating.” Her voice had some humor in it as she said this.

“That is great Ina, I’m glad you’re well, but.. ah… your memories? Wait, f-first round of m-mating?” His voice sounded utterly baffled.

She drew him a bit closer.

“Yes, after the first time two many-tailed mate, the female then instigates another mating session. The female tastes a bit of the blood of the male, which pushes her into a frenzy and makes her more fertile.” Her hands moved to my shoulders, and I could feel her begin to lean her weight on me.

“Oh! Uh.. I see Ina. So the first round is.. just to get things started?” He would have to be stupid not to know where this was going..

“Yes, it is mostly for the sake of the male. Male many-taileds are proud. They want their gifts to mean something.” She rolled him onto his back, her hips stretching to straddle him.

She spoke again, “I don’t know how you humans put up with being heat all the time as you are.” He could feel the claw of one her tails scratch him lightly the chest, leaving the faintest trail of blood.

He suddenly felt very worried.

“In heat? All the time?” He asked as she brought the claw to her mouth, tasting the very tip with her tongue.

“I don’t understand it, but your feelings are affecting me constantly. I can feel a kind of heat from you through the bond. This new form of mine.. it also seems to be.. ready at any time. Many-taileds usually go into heat every four or five rotations. It lasts only a few cycles, but between you and this form.. well, I feel it all the time.” Her hands on his shoulders pushed him flat on his back, and she bent over him, rubbing the her face against his.

“Ah, I’m sorry Ina, maybe we can work together to close the bond little bit on your end, so it doesn’t affect you as much.” His mind had grown pretty hazy at this point.

“No, Dem, I think I like it this way.” She purred this into his ear in a low tone, giving another grooming lick up the side of his face.

He cast a stamina spell on himself, and one to toughen his body slightly for good measure. Perhaps he should cast a preemptive healing spell? Maybe he needed to Borrow Strength? He decided to ask her.

“Ina can I cast…”

She stopped him mid-sentence, silencing him with a tail moving in front of his mouth.

She looked him in the eye, and spoke slowly.

“It is my turn now.”

***

    Their journey home took an extra cycle. After Ina had her round, she had claimed there was supposed to be a third round, though he didn’t think she had gotten this from one her memories. The third round had no owner, or winner. It was something of a draw. He had used his stamina spells to the point where it would take a couple cycles before they would have any meaningful effect on him again. Using the same kind of spell on yourself built a buffer of immunity as the spell overlapped in its effects with itself and other similar spells.

    They had burnt an entire cycle on their.. mating ritual. Just saying such a thing, even to just himself, still brought a bit of color to his face. He could probably get an idea of what his Class was now that he had really begun to advance on his Path. He didn’t have the time though, he needed to get back and provision for another long excursion out into the Wilds. He needed to meet the party that was hiring him. Whatever benefits or problems his new Class would bring, he still needed gold to help his parents.

    They hurried as fast as they could. He even let Ina carry him for difficult portions of the journey. He held onto her back as she climbed, but he wouldn’t let her carry him like a sack of root-bulbs. Holding on to her so closely had nearly led to another round of ‘battle’ between them, but he stressed they needed to get home.

    Ina, in her current form, would be an oddity, and anyone who knew him well would be amazed at her change, but he could probably explain it away as a freak occurrence due to her eating a particularly powerful herb or beastcore. She was worth a lot more now, beastfolk slaves went for a premium, and so someone might try to take her from him. He asked her to stay out of sight, high-up in the trees near his home.

He hadn’t brought her into the settlement since she was a kit. At first she was a source of interest for the other children of the hamlets, and even the children of the settlement. Eventually though, as they got a little older they realized he wasn’t going to sell her, and was intending to raise her. There was some jealousy, he was sure. The parents of one of the children, he didn’t know which, had gotten wind of what he was doing and explained what direction it likely meant for him later in life. The insults started then, and so he eventually started leaving her at home. He withdrew from the other children, and instead began focusing on what he wanted to do in the future.

    He avoided stopping home. He would stop to see them before he left with the party, maybe he could leave them some silver. The two beastcores he brought back would pay for clothes for Ina, and the provisions he needed. She also stored away the grimoire for him, high in the trees, wrapped in a bundle of leaves. It would be safe up there, hopefully. No one had any reason to be in the trees above his home but Ina. They weren’t part of the most popular branch-trails people used, nor was his home near any of the main ground-trails.

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He actually slept more soundly than he had in recent memory. He hadn’t gotten all the sleep he had wanted, but he did eventually pass out due to mental exhaustion. He felt more rested than he had a right to be. Ina had hugged him long into the night, but did not do so with crushing force, which he appreciated.

    When they woke, Ina went to hunt some breakfast while he tidied up a bit, and broke out some more camp-rations for himself. She had eye’d him meaningfully before she left, her tails swaying as she walked to where she would jump to the next branch. He had checked the bond wondering what that was about, but he couldn’t immediately identify anything negative. Something was definitely different though. Last night they had used their bond more meaningfully than ever before. He hoped she felt as he did, that they were closer. It was embarrassing to vocalize that to her, for some reason, but he felt it was true. He felt better than he had a cycle ago, even though he hadn’t really solved any of his problems. At least he had Ina, in the end. She wouldn’t desert him.

    Ina returned quickly, a small bird in her mouth, insisting that he cook it. Fire was never a problem for someone with a basic set of cantrips. You didn’t learn the cantrip for sparking a fire until you were old enough to be responsible with it, but most everyone could do it. Fresh pruned branches took too long to start, but some of the thickest leaves could be stripped of their waxy green surface to reveal a catacombed dry interior that could be used as kindling. Dried branches were better for a sustained fire, but the ones small enough to burn were either up high still attached to the tree, or down below buried under leafy detris. Some trees were so tough it took nearly half a cycle for them to really burn well. Once you had them going they would burn for a cycle or more.

    He quickly cooked Ina a meal, making sure to season it with the best he had available. She would alternate between eyeing the roasting bird and eyeing him. Again, it felt like she was telling him something, but he couldn’t understand what it was specifically. With her it was usually related to hunger, so he tried to ignore it.

Eventually, after a satisfying meal, they set off. Hoping, climbing, with Ina always ahead of him.

Not long into the journey he noticed Ina would sometimes wait a little longer for him, looking back at him, before taking her next leap. Sometimes one or two of her tails would brush against his hands and face as she climbed above him. Normally, when they moved together through the Wilds she was more focused, but he quickly began to suspect she was playing a game with him. This filled him with a kind of joy, she must have been happy with the better connection they had made. At least she wasn’t awkward with him. Though, in thinking about it, he doubted it would occur to her to feel awkward.

   These behaviors continued for nearly an eighth of a cycle. She seemed to escalate too, maybe because he was trying to ignore her or because she wanted a specific reaction. He didn’t know. Occasionally, she would just stop in front of him, making him bump into her. Sometimes her tails would catch him before he actually pushed into her, other times he found his face in the mane of the her hair. Once, she reached down and pulled him onto a higher branch, all the way to a standing position right in front of her. She was very close, looking him in the eye. Too close. After an eternity, she turned around, once again brushing up against him, and leapt to the next branch. Eventually every time they stopped, even for a moment, she would crowd next to him, brushing up against him, or letting her tails tickle the back of his neck.

    It taken him a while, but it finally dawned on him she was teasing him! She had to be! Was she flirting with him? How could he know? Did he dare try using the bond? What if it was all a misunderstanding? Frustration tore through him, eating at his resolve in more ways than one. He wanted her, he finally acknowledged fully, but he still was unsure of her feelings. He almost didn’t want to know. If she rejected him, he would have to bottle everything up further. He would still care for her of course, but he would have to look elsewhere.

    When they finally stopped on a wide branch for a moment to rest, they were still three quarters of a cycle from home. The frustration building inside of him, pushing him to look into their bond for something, anything. The lake of her emotions… had waves. He ‘tasted’ these waves, and realized they were intense joy. She was so very happy, so much so it was actually affecting her otherwise steady outlook. She must really enjoying tormenting him. He was almost angry with her now. It was already so hard, knowing he needed her in so many ways now, and yet she was teasing him, making it worse.

    She was looking at him again, eyeing him with that look from before, his mind grew hot. Finally, something broke and he needed to at least talk to her.

    “Ina… you didn’t answer me last night..fully.”

    She turned away from him slightly, looking at him over her shoulder.

    “Do you want me to bring you.. gifts? Of meat? Is there anything else you would like?” There was no guide for what he was doing. He had no way to make such a question sound romantic.

    She paused, and spoke in the most alluring voice he had ever heard.

    “You’ve brought me lots of gifts in the past, Dem. Make sure to cook them though in the future.”

    Did this mean what he thought it meant? He realized he didn’t care anymore, if she still wanted to reject him, she could, but he needed her if she would have him.

    He moved towards her, as he did so, her tails began to sway in different directions, seemingly to beckon him forward, until he was standing over her right shoulder.

    He reaching out to touch her, to hold her, his hands lightly finding her hips.

    Then to his unending surprise she growled at him. He almost let go of her, thinking this was the rejection he feared, but her eyes and her tails told him a different story, drawing him closer.

    “Ina, shall we battle?” His voice was light in her mind, barely above a whisper.

    He pulled her in tight from behind, and did his best to growl back at her, far beyond feeling self-conscious. He could feel her hot breath as she looked at him over her shoulder. Her tails had him glued to her body, holding him tight. He seemed to be losing himself to some new instinct. His vision narrowing to only Ina.

    After a moment holding each other, he got some sudden inspiration, He began to cast several buffs on himself, as buried his face into the mane of her hair. The last spell he cast was Borrow Strength, stealing strength from her might be the only way to win the battle ahead of him.

Finally, finished with his spells, he took his hands from her hips, and wrapped his arms all the way around her, while pushing her forward. Urgency built inside of him, as she growled at him again. She wasn’t resisting as much as he expected. Perhaps their battle was already over?

Apparently she had really liked his gifts.

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They moved very quickly through the trees by their previous standards, but he could tell Ina was going slowly so he could keep up. She had offered to carry him, but he had his dignity to maintain. He told her she would be able to respond to threats easier if she didn’t have him in her arms. She could probably tell he was lying through the bond, but he tried to not think about it. He had gotten a bit stronger, more agile, maybe tougher, but her changes were intense. She was probably something like an elder greater beast now. Going from newly ascended to the peak of greater beast, was huge. It took most beasts an entire human life time to make such a jump.

    He had always loved moving through the trees. It felt safer than running on the ground. They mostly moved from thick branch to branch along the lower rung of branches. They were still dozens of spans off the ground, but these trees were hundreds of spans high. Still, even on the lower-rungs, there was a whole new world of plants growing on top of each other. A completely different set of animals lived up here, than on the ground, or in the tops of the trees. It was easiest to move along this bottom rung of trees, because the branches were oldest and thickest here. They were often wider than he was tall. It took a dozen or so spans from where the branch met the trunk before the branch started to quickly narrow and then grow vertically upward. This offered a sort of triangle-shaped platform one could stand on, jump from, or even camp on. Branches were so close together there were spots he could step from one branch to another. Though in a few spots he had to climb up or down the main trunk to get to the next branch.

    Ina could simply jump from place to place, using her claws to latch on to whatever sort of branch she had arrived at. She was graceful, maybe too graceful. He lagged behind her, and his eyes kept unconsciously looking in her direction. It got so bad, he had landed wrong on a jump he was making and smacked, face-first into the trunk of a tree. She had stopped and been concerned, but he had brushed himself off and kept moving. He had to think of other things. Perhaps it would be better when they got back to the hamlets or to the settlement. Out here they were alone, together… He caught his eyes wandering again. Life had been fine, dangerous, but fine, just five or so cycles ago. Now everything was wrong. He had made some sort of bargain, unwittingly, against his will practically, and now was suffering for it. He didn’t know with whom or what though, the grimoire was cryptic.

Grimoires were always kind of cryptic though, they were full deep ‘insights’ of Class Masters, whom were undoubtedly full of themselves. Honestly, if he were such a master there would be a lot of temptation to mess with his students by making his teachings sound mysterious or mystical. If you had worked hard enough to get to that point, you deserved to have some fun he supposed.

After most of a cycle of travel they were more than half-way home. Eventually though, they needed to stop for a rest. Ina could have probably kept going, but he was exhausted mentally and physically. He was used being buoyed by advancement in his path during hunting and scouting excursions like this one. The constant advancement from working together with Ina had made him feel refreshed and powerful. Now he only felt tired, despite an apparent overall increase in stamina thanks to the grimoire.

Hopefully, everything would be uneventful for a time, while he got a grip on himself. He couldn’t avoid Ina, but he also couldn’t put down the sense of temptation she provided. He wanted to advance desperately, and he also.. Wanted something more. He even thought about going into the woods and relieving himself somewhere. He thought it might calm him down a bit. He had, of course, done it before when he was younger and more hormonal, but now he knew Ina was paying far more attention through they bond than previously, it became too awkward to consider. He felt trapped, Trapped by what he had been taught, his desires, and his conscience.

***

    They camped a final time. The branch he choose was a little higher up, this area was controlled by a fighter-bird. He reviewed what he knew of them. They were flightless, fast, and would kicked their opponents with massive force. Their feet had curved claws three times the length of his hand. If they didn’t destroy you with the force of their kick, they would disembowel you instead. The local tyrant was a greater beast, with a small pack of lesser fighter-birds as subordinates. It was fairly aggressive, could jump fairly high, and would kick the trunks of trees to try to shake prey off low-hanging branches. They weren’t the sort of beast you fought against in a straight fight if you could help it. Ultimately they couldn’t climb or fly, so most people just passed over them.

As he prepared a meal camp-rations he had bought in the settlement, using a cantrip to warm it, his mind once again began to wander to his problems. Perhaps the new work would help him sort some things out. The party could help him advance in some way maybe, or maybe he and Ina could hunt more. He could throw himself into battle and try begin to advance again by dominating battlefields as best he could. It would be risky, Ina couldn’t help him much, but it was better than the alternative. Ina only had her current form a handful of cycles, and he had considered using her for his own ambitions. It was wrong. She was nearly as old as he was, a powerful fighter, and much more knowledgeable than he ever considered, but it was wrong to think of her that way.

It occurred to him suddenly that he had implicitly assumed she would.. help him. She had said as much, but he had never told her what he needed. He was used to just directing her to do what he needed to help both of them that he overlooked an obvious point. Did beastwomen even desire human men? He sort of doubted it. Would she do it for his sake despite that? He didn’t know much about many-tailed mating habits. What little information he had read was mostly related to hunting them. Was there a ritual to perform, or was she supposed to be in heat?

He felt yet another wave of guilt, he was still considering it, even though he knew it was wrong. Even if he threw himself into battle, it would be incredibly risky, even with Ina to save him. Taking on a beast without offensive spells or a melee Class was generally considered suicide. Tamers might help a beast in fight, but they didn’t do the fighting. He didn’t want to die. He had chosen not to die, and that had gotten him into this mess. He felt his resolve weaken. Maybe he could explain it to her, or find someone willing to help him for coin in the settlement?  He didn’t just need to… do it.. he had to do so dominantly. He took this to mean either he had to control what was going on, or he had to seduce someone. Maybe he could just do a really good job? What did that entail? He knew the.. mechanics.. but had no experience. Even if Ina was willing, could he do that to her? Would it be painful? He didn’t want to hurt her.

He let out a frustrated sigh. His food had gone cold.

***

    He prepared the necessary alarm spells. Ina might guard them, or choose to sleep. In her current form, she had chosen to sleep more than normally. He peeked at her, and noticed she was looking at him intently.

    He sent through the bond, “Is everything alright Ina?”

    She was quiet for a moment, but finally spoke “It is nothing.”

    He shrugged his shoulders and began to make a bed of leaves for himself. His leather bag, with a grimoire in it, didn’t make the best pillow, but it was the best he had.

    As he lay his head down, he waited to see if Ina would join him. He didn’t know how he was going to get through another period of sleep with her latched on to him. At least he knew what the uncomfortable feeling was he had had the last time Ina had slept next to him. Temptation, and this would likely be more temptation.

    Just like he had assumed, she came to join him fairly quickly. This time though, she lay awake next to him, looking in the trees. They were less than a half a hand span apart, lying on their backs. Once again he felt drawn to her, wondering if she would do as she had done the previous cycle. He decided he couldn’t take any more of the pressure that was building in side of him, and so he decided to just talk to her for a while. Perhaps explaining more would make him feel less guilty. He also wanted to get know her better. They had been together so long, but there were probably many things he did not know.

    “Ina.. How.. how do you feel about me?” His first question was not very smooth, but it was an important question in a lot of ways.

    “You should already know, Dem.”

    He turned his body to face her, looking at her side-profile he asked, “What do you mean Ina?”

    She looked his way without turning her head, “You can know through the bond, Dem. You know that.”

    Of course he could, it was probably a stupid question from Ina’s perspective. He had never really bothered to restrict much from his end of the bond. He could ‘narrow’ it in a way, and limit what came through the bond to some extent, but he had never done that. She had been a beast, why would hide things from a beast? Especially, a beast he trusted implicitly. He had assumed though, despite his end of the bond being ‘open’ she hadn’t been paying attention, when clearly she had been. For the same reason he hadn’t ‘narrowed’ the bond from his side, he hadn’t explored much of her end of the bond. What if…

    “Ina is your end of our bond always wide open?” He asked her quickly.

    “Wide open? If you mean I allow everything through, yes. You can know what I feel any time, Dem.”

    “I know Ina, but do hold anything back?  Has it a always been that way? This whole time?” He was a bit flabbergasted, to allow him everything, all the time, was too much. He had only done that with her because he didn’t think it mattered, but clearly she assumed that was the way it was supposed to be.

    “No, I hold nothing back, and yes always, all the time. Was that wrong?” She sounded concerned.

    “Ina, can I look, into.. your emotions?” This felt.. intimate. He needed permission first, even if she didn’t understand the point of asking.

    Usually he would only search the bond for agreement, or perhaps to ensure her well being being. He was always looking for something specific, but this time he wanted to just dive into her feelings. Were all beasts so.. open? He supposed, when you ran on instinct, you didn’t have the same filters or sense of privacy as most humans.

    “Yes, Dem, you could have at any time.”

    He quickly opened himself up to the bond, and dove into her emotions. He imagined it like sea, which helped him visualize and understand what he felt around him. Its top most layer was serene, not a ripple. Clearly she was confident, but diving deeper he found huge currents which could be her instincts. He could identify one clearly as her urge to hunt. Another particularly current was her constant predatory hunger. What was he looking for here? Did he want to understand her better, or was he looking for something to give him permission to seek a satisfaction of his urges? Sadness whelmed up in him, what could he do? His sadness only seemed increase by the moment, until he realized he was drifting on a current of Ina’s sadness and confusion. He examined, felt it with his mind, and realized it was a reflection of his own mental state. She was feeling what he felt, and in turn his feelings were being reflected and multiplied. He suddenly wondered what other ‘currents’ were just reflections of his own.

    He began to cast about for new currents of feeling, until he found the one that he felt was a reflection of what he wanted from her. It seemed tinged with confusion, but was connected in some way with a deeper primal current. Beastdung, she must know, at least some emotional level, what he wanted. Her bloodline memories probably offered her some insights into what human men might want from beastwomen.

    He pulled back, shame infusing his face. Some Tamer he was, it had never occurred to him to really explored his bond with Ina in this way. He had thought of it as a tool for better teamwork, for advancing his Path, but for Ina it had clearly been more. She had felt everything had felt, at least to some degree, all the time. He had sensed individual emotions from her at times, but he had been careful not to let him affect his own mental state. He had assumed she was doing the same thing.

    “Ina… I’m really sorry, I had no idea, this whole time. You’ve taken on all my feelings as well as your own.” Tears trailed down his cheeks, he wish he had done better.

    “Dem, I don’t understand entirely, but I liked having your feelings and mine mixed. I felt closer to you that way.”

    She turn to her side to face him, and pulled him into an embrace. This one wasn’t the same as the crushing embrace she had while she slept, but rather soft and comforting. Even now, despite his guilt, she was comforting him. Her arms wrapped around him, and he felt a warm feeling rise up from within. This feeling came from Ina, but matched something he felt as well.

    He laid like that for a while, until he had calmed down, but his face grew heated. She was just so close to him right now. She held him tight against her body. He could feel.. well all of her. His mind, unconsciously drifted back to what was always on his mind. Ruining the peaceful moment, he suddenly felt curious.

    “Ina… can you tell me more about many-tailed?” He hoped his question sounded innocent. He hoped it was innocent.

“What do you want to know, Dem? The bloodline memories aren’t very detailed, and are hazy in some areas.”  She didn’t sound perturbed. He could check through the bond, but wanted to keep asking questions.

Beastdung, he didn’t have a good question ready, he just wanted to know more.   

    “Uh.. Anything is fine Ina. How many tails will you have as a calamity beast?”

“My tails?” Her tails began to move around them slowly, eventually finding their way different positions around him.

“The memories aren’t that specific usually, but I think my next ascension will give me nine total.”

“Oh, do you get two every time?” he asked. What else could he asked about to keep her talking?

“No, to gain more than nine requires a really significant change much later.”

“I see Ina. Uh.. do you remember your parents at all?” He hesitantly asked.

Was this a safe topic? Had he just walked into a beast den? Would she be angry or sad?

“Not really, Dem. I’m thankful you found me though.”

“Are you concerned that you were left by yourself? Are you concerned about where your parents are?”

“Dem, I don’t think many-tailed are really parents in the human sense. I was young to leave the den, but it is often that way with beasts, Dem.”

He felt his gut drop two feet, but he wanted to know more…

“Ina.. How.. do.. many-tailed get together exactly?” He was real Divinity Damned smooth wasn’t he.

Up to this point, after she had hugged him, she had been rubbing the top of his head slowly with the soft fur under her throat, but she stopped for a moment.

“Get together? Do you mean their courting ritual or their mating?” Her voice in his mind was the same it had been for most of his conversations with him. It hadn’t waivered in the slightest.

“Uh.. either Ina, tell me about either.” He felt hot, and flustered just from asking this question.

“Oh, well when a male many-tailed courts a female many-tailed. He brings her offerings of meat, and anything else he can find that looks tasty, to her den. Sometimes he brings soft leaves to make her den comfortable with. Sometime he brings her powerful herbs help fortify her Path and constitution. The best gifts are usually just meat, though.”

She squeezed him tighter.

“If the female accepts the gifts, the male and female will have a mock battle. The female will hold pack her strength usually in proportion how much she liked the gifts. If the male is the victorious, then they mate. If the female bares kits, the male may come back to hunt food for her for a while, but many-tailed aren’t meant to stay long in the den of their mother. They are born nearly at the strength of a lesser beast.”

    Without thinking he spouted the first thing that came to his head.

    “That sounds difficult for the male.”

    She.. laughed. He could sense she thought this funny through the bond.

“Male many-tailed are usually weaker than female many-tailed. They are lucky to mate at all. They are also born less often than females. They may take a different mate every rotation if there are enough females around and the male is able to provide enough gifts.”

He felt one her claws prick him slightly in the backside.

“The females do most of the work. The males only have to hunt a bit and then move on.” She actually sounded a bit stern, though through the bond he could tell she thought all this funny.

“I’m sure you’re right! Ina!” The he felt the claw retract.

Had she always been this playful? He didn’t think he had heard her laugh before this. It was deep, and had a musical quality to it. He wanted to ask more question, but he wasn’t so forward to ask specifics of the mating process.

“Ina.. What do you think of me? W-would you like me to bring you gifts?” He didn’t know what else to ask. So much for a Path driven by his charisma. Would this ruin their bond by making everything awkward?

Thankfully, her voice had started to take on a dreamy quality, and he could tell she was about to fall asleep.

“Dem, you.. You smell so good! You don’t have enough tails or fur, but you smell really good. You never smelled this way before. I don’t know why.” She positioned her face to the crown of his head, and he could feel her do a slow intake of breath through her nose.

“You can bring me.. meat..any…” With that she was asleep, her breathing regular.  

He couldn’t tell if this some major breakthrough, or something else. He smelled good? Really good? He need tails and fur? He could bring her meat? Did he really want to do this? Even if he couldn’t do it in such a way that it helped his Path, would he want to court Ina anyway? The warm feeling in his chest, as she had held him, had been a reflection from her to him and from him to her. It had been made more powerful thanks to the bond. It was fantastic. It felt something like  the contentment he had before his current troubles started, but a hundred times better.

His mind spun in circles, and the only thing he was sure of was he would have trouble sleeping.

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Divinity damned, what beastdung nonsense was this? Domination? Only an idiot would pick such a Path. They would have to constantly ‘Dominate’, to move forward. It would be like picking ‘Winning’ as a Path, you would only advance when you won, but if you couldn’t ‘win’ you would never advance. Problematically, you needed your Path to win at most things against other people. This was a problem with no solution. You couldn’t win until you advanced, and you couldn’t advance until you won. Small ‘wins’, just based on luck might help you out of the hole over time, but you’d be at a disadvantage for rotations or sequences potentially.

    How could he ‘dominate’, who could he ‘dominate’? Ina and he could kill greater beasts, as they had done before, but he had felt no great surge of power when battling the apes, especially since Ina was doing mostly of the work. The spark he had felt was probably from a sense of domination he felt from killing such weak lesser beasts. He had dominated his tiny portion of the battlefield. It wasn’t enough though, and he wasn’t a Classed Warrior, swinging an axe around, challenging all-comers. He couldn’t ‘dominate’ based on arms alone. He was too poor to ‘dominate’ economically, or in any way that could be bought with money. He could probably get Ina to toy with beasts, slaughtering or torturing them only on his command, but the cruelty would twist his Path in some worse direction. His conscience wouldn’t let him cause undue harm to advance his Path, anyway. He would fight those who attacked him, and hunt for food, but he wouldn’t hurt unnecessarily. He was no scholar that he could ‘dominate’ some field of study intellectually. He liked books, but wasn’t a match, in terms of education, for most of the baker’s apprentices in the settlement.

    What were other ways to Dominate? His mind skirted around one particularly embarrassing option, before finally considering it out of desperation. Could he.. Dominate.. that way? He gulped, a bit of color rising to his cheeks. What was he even considering? He was no ‘man of flowers’ as the people of the Wilds called it. He was a virgin for Divinity’s sake. This possibility, at least explained his feelings towards Ina. As one’s intent shapes their Path, the Path shapes the person. He instinctively tried to find a means of dominating, of advancing down his Path. Ina would be a particularly powerful choice because of her personal physical abilities compared to his. Path’s advanced more quickly and more powerfully, with conflict. Surviving a deadly encounter using one’s Path was worth more than simply using one’s Path every cycle. Dominating a powerful being, would also be worth more.

    He needed some sort of out, some sort of loophole here.

    “Is there another Path I can take that will satisfy my Class?”

    No

    Well that was swift and to the point. Normally, one could power one’s Class with most any Path related to the Class. The more compatible they were though, the faster you advanced, the more spells you could use before you were tired and the greater your reservoir of power. The more advanced your Path, the more advanced your Class could be. Some powerful classes drew too deeply to cast certain spells, and so advancing your Path was important.

    It was like a lake. A wide but shallow lake could be dipped into many times, but a deep lake could have much larger amounts taken all at once. A person with a very advanced Path and a weak Class, was a shallow wide lake, only able to take lots of small dips out, but a person with an advanced Path and a powerful Class, would have a deep lake, that could have huge portions taken from it to power amazing spells.

    “Why can’t I use another Path for my Class?”

    Your Class allows but one Path.

You have been made compatible with that Path.

You must follow that path.

All of this sounded ominous. Bizarre and ominous. A Class that required only one Path. He had never heard of such a thing. Clearly the ‘improvements’ that been made to him were to further his compatibility with his Path. How could one be ‘improved’ to dominate? How could one have a Path forced on them at all? Would he suddenly feel the urge to fight every powerful person he saw? Would he want to.. ‘dominate’.. every woman he saw? Even men? This was one hell of a price to pay for living.

Compelling a person to follow a Path they didn’t want was.. actually not all that rare now that he thought about it. Settlement children often didn’t get much say in what their future Class would be, which meant their Paths were limited in scope. Their parents decided based on what they could afford or pass down to them. It was expensive to live in the settlement, to buy land was a huge sum, and so most people rented. Parents worked hard under the constant threat of getting kicked out the settlement and having to move to the hamlets. The settlement did not harbor the homeless. “Space was limited”, was a constant refrain from the governing body of the settlement.

He threw another question at the cryptic book, “How can I advanced my Path, what are the ways in which I can Dominate?”

Your Path is best advanced through strength and violence, intellect and creativity, or charisma and control. The Path of Domination requires truly overwhelming performance to advance.

The first part was actually something he understood pretty well. He was human and had to ‘dominate’ in a human way, which limited him to a few well worn paths. The latter statement was more confusing. Maybe it was just telling him he had to do a really good job at this domination thing for it to matter. The Path itself was overbearing, and thus required overbearing actions to advance. You couldn’t dominate in a small way and expect much. For example, he couldn’t just steal candy from children, or start a fight with an old man, or beat some drunks at cards, and expect to advance.

He shook his head sadly. He was already committing small crimes in his head, this was truly absurd. He couldn’t do this. He had to stop. There wasn’t a solution here. He could get by with his current spells, and just fake being a Tamer for the time being. The Tower had a means of testing one’s Class, and even quantifying the advancement of one’s Path, but those were for adventurers and cost gold to use. He didn’t have to worry about anyone finding out unless they found the grimoire. It still seemed ‘dead’ to him, but he would leave it outside the settlement in any case. His eyes shifted to direction he had come from, needed to get back to Ina and apologize.

***

    When he returned back to their campsite, Ina was finished eating, leaving little left for later, but he supposed her new form required a lot of sustenance. She sat, clearly waiting for him to return, her shoulders a bit slumped.

    He sent through the bond, “Ina. I want to apologize. My thoughts have been disordered lately, but I’ve figured some things about what happened to us.”

    He explained about the grimoire, and a little about his Path, but he found he didn’t have the words to describe the specifics, or that he was currently stuck. She had a stake in his growth, just like he had a stake in her growth. If he couldn’t advance, he would forever be stuck with nothing more than mid-tier Tamer spells and whatever little he could cast from his new Class. Previously, he could have eventually bought a better grimoire for his Tamer class, or found a Beastmaster to apprentice with, but all of that was denied him now. His new Class would override virtually anything he would be able to afford.

    Ina had listened quietly and patiently as he had stumbled through everything he could explain.

    Finally, she spoke. “Dem, I do not understand what is wrong. We beastfolk follow the Paths we are given through our bloodlines. You have been given a Path, and must follow it. I will help you however I can.”

The last part gave him the shivers. She didn’t know what she was saying of course, she didn’t know what it would entail. She didn’t know that she was also his most convenient step forward. Guilt twisted his guts.

“Ina we better get going. I just wanted to say I was sorry.” He had to keep them moving, stopping caused him to ruminate too much.  

“I don’t understand what you’re sorry for, Dem, but moving on is fine.” She replied.

“I am sorry for my thoughts about… you.” His embarrassment was palatable.

She eyed him, “Which thoughts, Dem?”

Beastdung, he needed to change the subject.

“Ina, we need to get going. I want to get home in another couple cycles at least. After that I have some work setup, if you don’t mind helping with it?”

She shifted her weight slightly, blinking at him. Thankfully, she allowed him to change subject.

“Will we hunt more during this work?” Her thoughts clearly bubbling up from her stomach.

“Of course, we’ll find lots of tasty things to eat and we’ll have some help.” He tried to sound convincing.

She was her own person now, he couldn’t command her around, not that he had before really, but still he needed to offer her something for her help. Little was freely given in the Wilds.

“I will help, Dem.”

“Thank you.”

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He did finally fall asleep, but it took him quite a while. Ina had held onto him, just like she had done as kit, though with considerably more strength. When he woke, he found himself in a jumbled pile of furred limbs and tails. When he went to move, she wouldn’t let him go. He sent an ‘loud’ message through their bond, which had woken her. Upon waking she had yawned and sprung up, not even bothering to apologize to him for the sleep she had robbed him of, or apologize for when she had nearly smothered him. He shook his head, and tried to let it all go. He had to focus on what was before them

    He mentally counted the work cycles in his head. Four cycles in travel, four cycles scouting, two cycles dealing with.. whatever had happened to them. Another cycle spent recovering and traveling. That left him… four whole cycles to figure out his Class, his Path, and get ready for an entire rotation in the Wilds. He hoped these women would be strong enough to protect him. He hoped they cared enough to protect him. Even with Ina’s improvements, not to mention his own, a rotation was a terrifying prospect. There were greater beasts who only left their dens during nights, other beasts grew stronger and more vicious during night cycles. The night period of a rotation lasted five cycles worth of time, each of these were called night cycles. Five cycles with no sun. Five cycles of free-for-all fights over territory and resources. Some greater beasts only ate during night cycles and only ate the flesh of other greater beasts, or humans of course.

    His thoughts took a darker turn, and he considered the grimoire in his bag. He had wrapped it in thick leaves, but he doubt they would prevent any sort of aura from leaking out. On the brighter side, after he had used it, it had gone dark. It no longer leaked power, it no longer looked like anything more than a used grimoire. He thought it might be be safe, but he couldn’t be sure. He had no idea what would set the thing off again.

    He had to open it again, of course. He craved the knowledge it might hold. He had thought about it often in the last cycle, as they recovered and moved away from the scene of carnage they left behind. The feeling it had given him, right there at the very end, as he was about to die, was bizarre. He had needed to possess it, to control it, to own it. He loved books, but he had never had an all-consuming desire for one. Just thinking of that feeling, just holding the grimoire in his hands, pulled at this rationality. Even holding it now seemed to bring back a memory of the feeling, whatever it was.

    He tried to tear his mind away from it, its temptation, and instead focused on Ina. She had always been his rock, his stable foundation. She was lazily lounging on her side, warming herself in a rare sunny spot. She was eating some salted rhino meat he had packed away for lunch. She felt his attention and looked back at him over her shoulder, her eyes catching his. He couldn’t understand her expression. Her face was new to him, beautiful in a way. She drew him in a way that he have never experienced before. She was so strong, stronger than him, but she was also his, as he was hers. He could feel his face heat up and his emotions begin to spill over into the bond, his vision seemed to darken and narrow. Ina stood up and began to stalk closer to him, responding in some way to what she felt over the bond.

    “Dem, do you need..” Her voice bottomless in tone, smooth as a placid lake. Her eyes locked on him.

The grimoire slipped out of his hands, and he sprung to his feet, feeling like he had just woken from a dream. Like he had been caught doing something he shouldn’t have.

    He interrupted her, “No, Ina. I just need a moment. I’m sorry Ina, none of this makes sense to me any more.” His tone was sad and apologetic.

    “I am going to go for a walk.” He grabbed the grimoire and walked further away into the shade. She watched as he retreated, not saying anything.

***

   He was horrified. He was disgusted. He had seriously considered.. with a beastwoman.. with Ina.. If he had given in, he would be exactly what people spat at him once they learned what he had wanted to become, what Class he was now. Tamers were known for.. mixing their blood with.. well, with anything they could tame. The Church of the Divine Humanity did not look kindly on blood mixing with beasts or the other races. Humans, beasts, and the other races could breed true potentially, but in practice it was difficult. Half-breeds were rare in the human realm. Tamers were tolerated in the more chaotic outermost human kingdoms, and on the borders of the True Human Realm. They moved through places like the Wilds, on very outskirts of the borderlands, getting work as adventurers, ‘taming’ as they went.

    His Class wasn’t respected. He technically could have chosen a Ranger Class that could eventually bond a single beast, but he didn’t have the talent for the Wilderness Paths required to be a ranger apprentice, or the money for the far more expensive grimoire. He had instead focused his time totally on his teamwork with Ina. On buffing her with spells, on planning tactics with her. She was his best friend, and now.. now something had changed, something beyond Ina’s form, something inside of him. Was he a pervert now? He had always been interested in women. Even particularly effeminate men gave him.. feelings. He remembered the first time he had met someone whose Path had pushed them towards androgyny. He had been confused for a week about what it meant.

He had never had the time for seeking a wife, and most people would reject a Tamer as a marriage partner. What spouse wanted to compete with powerful beast for the attention, and perhaps affections, of the Tamer? Would a Tamer even want a spouse? The bond was as deep a connection as spells could provide. It was deeper than a spelled marriage ceremony conducted before the Altar of Humanity. You could share everything through it if you wanted.

    The rumors about Tamers had colored most of his life as an adolescence. Once it became clear what he wanted for his Class, people had laughed at him behind his back and to his face. The only thing worse than being a Tamer, was being a Tamer and a woman. The rumors about women Tamers were vile and physically impossible. It had made him sick when someone had mentioned what they thought women Tamer’s did with their beastmen to him as a joke. He had swore he wasn’t like that. He swore he would have no interest in beastwomen, that he only needed Ina, but.. now things had changed.

His eyes once again shifted to the grimoire. Hesitantly, he opened it. They were still far from even the furthest hunter’s trails. No Classed people went this way often, so it should still be safe, in the odd case something fantastic happened.

Of course, nothing happened. No fancy glow, or aura peeked out from in between the pages. Its previous words were still on the first page. At least he could review the rare answer he got from the grimoire. He began to formulate new questions to ask, knowing it wouldn’t answer his most important question.

***

    … Moderate Heal Wounds does not stack with Minor Regeneration fully. If you use both spells at the same time Minor Regeneration will only work at 50% of its potential in the area you are directing the Moderate Heal Wounds to heal.

    His current round of questions had only gotten him random technical knowledge about the spells he could currently use. Nothing about the spells he couldn’t use. Not even their names. Nothing about his new Class. He needed, desperately, to figure out his Path. His Path would lead him to his Class he felt. One’s Path always came first. Problematically, he had little to go on. The grimoire had told him virtually nothing.

    Frustration almost overwhelmed him. First there was almost dying, then this new Class and Path he didn’t understand, and now his.. unnatural feelings. He needed to make sense of what was going on, and soon, so he could earn some gold. Gold that get his parents to safety.

He tried to examine everything that happened piece by piece. Why had he almost died? He had underestimated an elder greater beast. Their plan had basically amounted to falling right into trap, on purpose. In the future, Ina and he needed to make sure to never plan to do what their opponent already wanted them to do. They needed to change the game, not play the game. Was his almost dying related to the grimoire? To his Path? He launched into a flurry of new questions.

“Did you intend to save us?”

No answer.

“Is my new Path related to almost dying?”

No answer.

“Is it related to killing beast? Being killed by beasts? Viper-wyrms?”

No answer.

“Was I the intended recipient? Were you meant to come to me?”

No answer.

“Were you suppose to go to someone you could save from dying?”

No answer.

“Am I special in some way?”

No answer.

“Was it because I gave up? Was it because I broke with my previous Path at the end of my life?”

No answer.

Some of these questions were hard for him to even ask. Searching for one’s Path normally meant total honesty with oneself. Brutal honesty at times. This situation was far from normal.

Round and round he went, no questions related to his situation at the moment of receiving the grimoire merited a response. Next he just sat down and practiced some introspection. He examined his almost dying relative to his feelings towards Ina.  Did he have these feelings because they had almost died? Was he secretly afraid of dying having never touched a woman? Was he really that weak? Was it just her new form? Was he attracted to beastwomen in general?

As near as he could tell the answer to all these questions, was no. He almost died a couple of times out in the Wilds, it was a dangerous place. None of this incidents caused him to have strange behavior or think strange thoughts. Dying a virgin was, again, a common thing in the Wilds. Lesser beasts stole children and ate them, people died every night cycle. He had nothing to be ashamed of, and he didn’t believe he had ever really been ashamed of being a Tamer. He didn’t like what other people said to him, but he always knew his motives were pure.. until now anyway. He had seen other beastowmen, from a distance of course, but enough to know he hadn’t been particularly attracted to them. They wore less clothes than Ina wore now in some cases.

Could he ask the grimoire personal questions about himself? Would it know?

“Am I a pervert?”

No answer.

He laughed bitterly. Tears of frustration built in his eyes. His questions were absurd, and humiliating, but he had nothing to go on. Still thinking deeply, he tried a different combination of pieces. He would try finding a connection between his new feelings and whatever the grimoire had done to him and his Path.

“Is my Path, the Path of the Pervert?”

No answer.

“How about Path of the Beastfucker?”

No answer.

“I need a hint here grimoire, anything to help me. I don’t understand.”

No answer.

“Is there a connection between my Path and how I feel?”

“Is there a conn..”

Of course.

He had been firing question at such a rapid fire rate, he almost hadn’t noticed when it actually responded.

He had to confirm.

“There is a connection between my new feelings and my Path.”

No answer.

Perhaps it had no way of knowing what feelings were ‘new’. So he tried again.

“Is there a connection between my Path and my current feelings.”

Yes.

He thought about this response. There was, of course, always a connection between one’s Path and one’s feelings. The feelings drove a person’s intent, and the intent shaped the Path. The actions one took drove one down the Path or not. The grimoire might just be telling him something basic he already knew. He had to ask a better question.

“Which feelings are connected to my Path?”

You have already been given a sample.

“When was I given this sample? What was the sample?”

When you held this grimoire for the first time, and every time after.

This was.. an answer. He felt a lot of things when he held the grimoire, both when he first saw it, and even now. Was it greed? He had desperately wanted to possess the grimoire. Was it despair?

“Is my Path one of Greed?”

No answer.

“Is my Path one of Despair?”

No answer.

How to define the feeling he originally had towards the grimoire? He wanted to possess it. To own it, to deny another’s ownership of it even when it would have made no difference. He had opened, taking in spell templates and insights, just to deny someone else the chance. As he began to consider his feelings and make connections, a pit began to open in his stomach, dread crept into his mind. His new Class was compatible with a Tamer, and therefore his new Path must also be compatible with the Taming of beasts in someway. He could still power his spells with the progress he had made on his previous Path, that would only happen if everything fit together at least loosely. Something like taming, but it evoked sense possession? Of ownership?

“Is my Path one of Ownership?”

No answer.

“Is it a Path of Possession?”

No answer.

“Is it a Path of Wanting More?”

No answer.

There was a key word he was missing. Something that would bring all of this together into a single Path. A word that would forge a singular intent in his mind. He was making progress, but that pit only grew larger as he eliminated possibilities. The dread built in his heart. The answer, whatever it was, was at the core of his current issues. Did this Path apply to his feelings toward ina? Did he want to possess her? Own her? He already did, in a way. The bond went both ways though, she owned him and possessed him in equal measure. There were other kinds of bonds, slave bonds, they went one direction, but they weren’t anything he had any use for. The kind of bond he had with Ina was far more effective, and helped him advance his previous Path. He almost couldn’t ask..

“Is my Path.. the Path of the Slaver?”

No answer.

He signed with no small amount of relief. He abhorred slavery. It was a dark twisted mirror of the mutualism he had developed as his own Path previously.

Did he need a thesaurus? A list of possible Paths? Such books existed, though looking through one to find out something one should know instinctively about one’s own feelings, was silly.

It had to be something like greed, or possessing, or wanting, or owning. Those were the most vivid feelings he had from the grimoire. They would also explain his.. urges.  

A word occurred to him, it felt silly to say, as it was almost too much, too overbearing. Something only an over-confident idiot would choose as a Path, but he asked to get it out of the way.

“Is it the Path of Domination?”

The feeling of dread had peaked with the question about the Path of Slavery. He had started to relax. This question was just perfunctory. What other words did he…

So begins your first step down the Path.

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Of course they didn’t speak in words, nor could he speak with them over a bond, but nevertheless he understood they were trying to communicate. The vine ape grunted and hollered, the rhino snorted and made a whining noise was sometimes high-pitched and at other times incredibly low. He couldn’t help but be confused, nothing was as he expected

    It took him a moment to realize they weren’t talking to him, but rather to Ina.

    “Do you understand them Ina?” His question obvious.

    “I understand some.”

    “What are they saying? Do I even want to know?” He queried.

“I do not know what you want to know, Dem, but they want me to leave the carcass, the beastcore and.. you. I think they want to eat you.” Her voice was humorless.

“Oh, is that what they want?” He tried not to sound too frantic.

“Don’t worry, Dem. We will feast on Rhino and Ape tonight!” Her confidence buoyed him some.

    His thoughts, off-track, went immediately to the fact that vine ape was terrible eating, and the rhino would simultaneously be too tough and too rubbery to be good eating. He laughed at this realization, feeling a sense of confidence seemingly appear out of nowhere.  

    At the same time he laughed, Ina charged in.

***

Vine ape was still quite terrible, but the rhino had a some good tender spots in its rump. It was rather delicious. Ina seemed to enjoy it all the more after I cooked and salted it. She made contented noises, while juices ran down her face as she ate.

He considered what he had seen earlier. The truth was he didn’t understand it at all. He knew, intellectually, beastwomen were strong, but he had never actually seen one fight. He knew they were on par with Classed Warriors and Classed Fighters, but Ina had was something else. His only job had been to keep clear of the lesser vine apes, which mostly threw stones and branches, or occasionally tried to charge at him. He dodged most everything that needed to be dodged. With his spear, he deflected stones and branches when he couldn’t dodge. Even the stones that managed to reach him, didn’t seem to hurt as much as he would have expected. They still hurt some of course, he had plenty of bruises. He actually killed a half-dozen of the little apes on his own, before the rest ran away. They were fairly small, only coming up to little past his knees, so his victory wasn’t anything too amazing, but he definitely would have had more difficulty with so many enemies before the grimoire had changed him. He felt pretty good though, better than he usually felt after a fight.

He hadn’t managed to catch much of Ina’s battle with the rhino and greater vine ape. He would have assumed one of the two would have gone after him, but apparently Ina had all of their attention. She went after the greater ape almost immediately, jumping twenty spans into the air to land on the same large branch it stood on. From there, he only saw a flurry of blows, blood flying everywhere. In end, all the was left of the vine ape was a bloody sack of skin and viscera spread across a dozen trees. Ina seem to have a dislocated arm and a broken hand, but didn’t stop for even a moment before she jumped down to take on the rhino. The rhino had little to do that could help the ape, but it buffed itself with a few spells. It seemed to loom larger after the buffs. Its muscles bulged, and it charged at Ina almost the moment she touched the ground.

At this point he was surrounded by lesser apes and had to charge his way out of an encirclement, dodging as he went, skewering a particularly slow ape. He felt a spark of elation when he had killed that last ape. He was now confident that everything would be fine and that he had control of the situation. He was ready to kill as many of them as it took.

Eventually, the lesser apes started to disperse, after realizing their protector was splatter all over. He looked up to see that Ina had disappeared and the rhino was charging around, bashing into trees randomly, completely enraged. It had pieces of its hide taken out in long strips, was missing an eye, and was covered in scratches. He watched for a moment, before realizing he should at least go up into a tree for safety. By the time he was up the tree and safe, he saw Ina was balanced on top of the rhino’s head, holding a big chunk of its horn in her hands. She jammed the horn-piece into its skull through its one good eye-socket. The rhino was dead, just like that.  

They found yet another beastcore in the greater vine ape, though it wasn’t really inside the ape when they found it, it had been tossed pretty far away actually. The rhino held nothing particular of value, and was too large to harvest much from, but did taste quite good. Ina had already been healed thanks to a combination of spells from both of them. She had set her own arm back in its socket at some point, not even asking him for help. He would have to watch her in the future. She was definitely stronger, but clearly less cautious.

Truly he was shocked at Ina’s ability, but in retrospect, it was probably something similar to the power of a Classed Warrior. The strength, the power, weren’t anything he had seen before personally, but were what he understood a Warrior was capable of generally. Obviously, not every Classed Warrior would likely be so strong, an apprentice for instance would be weaker, but Ina was assuredly powerful. He also came to the realization she had buffed herself with a variety of spells, from his collection, of course, but also some new ones he had never seen before. She actually grew a bit larger, faster, and more agile. Her claws were sharper and longer in this state. That was definitely an ancestral bloodline spell passed down to her from a many-tailed progenitor in the past. The claws of her secondary tails were as long as the span of hand when fully extended with this spell enacted. He shuddered thinking about them.

He was a frightened of her, but didn’t know what to do about it. The Wilds didn’t afford much opportunity to just sit and be afraid. Tamers weren’t supposed to fear their own beasts, anyway. The change to Ina was just sudden, he needed to get used to it.

She was still Ina, just judging by her eating, that was obvious. He tried to send reassurance across their bond, both for himself and her. She looked up for a moment, seemed to smile at him in a toothy sort of way, though it was hard to tell with scraps of meat all over her face, and then she quickly went back to eating. They had eventually moved away from the territory of the viper-wyrm after grabbing a good deal of meat for the both of them. Ina had actually offered to carry him so they could move faster, but he had convinced her she could carry more meat if he moved on his own. Her stomach had saved him from being carried around like sack of root-bulbs. He was thankful.

***

   After their meal, Ina once again kept herself clean, this time only using the cleaning cantrip spell after she had licked most of the scraps away. Would she have a problem with hairballs? He didn’t know. He knew very little of beastfolk and their care. He needed to do more research, but he didn’t want to arouse suspicion in the settlement. Ina going from greater beast to beastwoman in a fairly short amount of time might make some curious

They camped on a particularly wide branch dozens of spans off the ground. He cast a couple different spells that would alarm them both if a beast came within a certain distance. The alarm spells didn’t give them a huge advantage, but at least no beast would simply walk up to them while they slept. They would be awake for any fight that would happen. Generally, only a greater beast would challenge another greater beast, and so they were fairly safe. He had always tried to camp on the edges of territories, where beasts didn’t tread as often.  

    He examined everything that had happened and realized they had been awake almost two whole cycles. They needed rest. Too much had happened. He still had no idea what his Class was, or even what his Path was. He felt some stirring during the fight, like he might have inadvertently advanced down his new Path in some marginal way. His previous Path still allowed him enough power to cast some of his spells, it wasn’t entirely gone, but it wouldn’t move him forward any more.

    He eyed her through heavily lidded eyes, and yawned out a question.

“Ina, are you going to sleep?”

    She generally needed less sleep than he did, and sometimes she would just stay awake to stand watch, but he didn’t think that would happen this time.

    “Yes, Dem. I am very tired.”

    His curiosity overtaking his sleepiness, he felt like asking a couple more questions before falling asleep.

    As he made up a ‘bed’ for himself out of the remnant of his rain cloak and his leather pack he asked, “How do you feel about all of this. Your new form? Whatever happened to us back there?”

    “I am happy that both of us are alive and well. My form is something I would have gained eventually anyway, judging by my memories. Assuming I lived long enough, Dem.”

    “Did you want to be a beastwoman when you were in your previous form?”

    “It hadn’t occurred to me. I just knew it would eventually happen if I grew strong enough.”

    He laid down, resting his head. Her answers were so… matter of fact. He didn’t know what to expect from her.

    He yawned, “I see. I’m glad we are alive too Ina.”

He was incredibly tired, his eyes felt heavier by the second. Just as they were about to close, he felt something warm lay down right next to him. Suddenly, he felt a lot more awake.

His eyes snapped own to look at her. She had scooted right next to him, her face close to his. He could smell her musky scent, and grease from the rhino meat on her breath. Thankfully, her breathing very quickly became quite regular, and he realized she had fallen almost immediately asleep. Ina had never really been a ‘cuddler’, except when she was very young, so he wasn’t sure what made her come over to him. This left him somewhat confused and uncomfortable, she was deadly beastwoman after all. He tried to turn over, away from her, but just as he was repositioning his body, he felt an arm, then a leg, and then a tail, wrap around him, pulling him closer. Ina made smalls sounds in her sleep, as she reeled him in like a netted fish.

    He felt nervous. Something like temptation gnawed at him, but he couldn’t fathom what he was tempted to do in this situation. Ina had him totally locked in. He hoped he would get to sleep eventually.

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Using his dagger, he stripped off pieces of his rain cloak to fashion her something to cover herself with. If not for her sake, than for his own. The clothes wouldn’t be much, but hopefully she would be less.. distracting. The conversation about the clothes had been awkward. Rather than speaking through the bond he tried simply talking to her. After all she was a person now, and he intended to treat her like one. He also had needed to assess her level of understanding of herself and what was going on. Would she be like a child? Would he have to teach her? He had a lot of questions about her, and he didn’t know what kind of answers she would have. Would she be a stranger now? Anxiety turned his stomach suddenly.

    “Ina… is it alright if I call you Ina?” It had occurred to him that he had always thought of her as Ina, it was the name he had given her, but that she might think of herself as someone else entirely.

    She had been pacing around, but stopped to look toward at him. She tried to speak, but her voice came out as something like a growl. It wasn’t really surprising she had yet to master her newly changed vocal cords.

    He heard from her, “Y-eshh”. Her voice was rough.

    He sighed and decided to trying speaking through the bond again.

    Normally he just sent the underlying intent of what he was trying to communicate to her, but this time he sent words.

    “I can call you Ina, yes? How are you feeling?”

    “Yes. I am well, bondmate.” Her voice was deep and more smooth than he would have imagined.

    “Huh. Would you listen to that.” He couldn’t help but vocalize his surprise at her voice.

    “Uh, Ina you’re very well-spoken, do you know why that might be?” This question was a shot in dark. He had no idea what to ask her right away, so he went with what went through his mind first.

Her head cocked slightly to the side and she gave him a quizzical look.

“I’ve been listening to you and other humans speak for many rotations. I also seem to have memories of human speech. I don’t really understand, but these memories stem from an instinctual place. Perhaps a gift from my bloodline, though I can’t be sure.”

    “This is.. convenient.. Hey wait, you’ve been listening to me for rotations?” he gaped a bit her, trying to imagine what she had overheard. If she had been listening for rotations it would be around the time he successfully applied their bond.

    “I’ve heard you speak, but I also listen through the bond. I hear everything you hear.” She said said matter-of-factly.

    “Everything?” He asked again, just to make sure he understood completely.

    “Everything, bondmate.” Her voice was completely assured.

    “Did.. did you understand much of it?” His voice was a bit shaky, he wondered what sort of embarrassing thing she had heard. He cringed to think of some of the things he had said to himself.

    “Not really at the time, but the underlying intent made it easy to remember what certain words meant. I developed a… vocabulary, though I had no real use for it.”

    He supposed greater beasts remembered a lot more than he had ever considered.

“Ok, well.. Uh.. Ina, I need you to wear some clothes. You understand clothes I assume.”

He finally managed to breach the most basic subject he needed to talk to her about.

    She once again looked at him in a confused way.

    “I understand clothes, bondmate, but I do not possess any clothes right now. How can I wear clothes without owning clothes?” Her tone changed. It suggested maybe that he was slightly touched in the head.

“Uh, yea, sorry. I will make you some alright?” He felt a bit stupid. Clearly Ina was more competent that he assumed.

“Wait! Ina, uh.. what is a bondmate?” He interjected with question, suddenly feeling very nervous.

“Why, you are, bondmate.” Her answer was immediate and confident.

He felt a sheen of sweat begin to appear all over his body.

“Ina, what does being a bondmate entail exactly?”

“It means you have a bond with someone.” Again, her answer was immediate.

“Uh.. OK, Ina. I guess I understand.” He needed to change the subject quickly.

“We do not need to mate in the reproductive sense, bondmate.” This statement from her made him choke on his own spit. He didn’t have to teacher her anything it seemed.

He spent most of his life being called a ‘beastfucker’, he didn’t need to open old wounds. He scrambled to change the subject.

“Uh, yea, we need to get out of here Ina, are you OK with moving? I would like to get back home.”

“Of course, bondmate.” She said, sounding utterly calm.

“Could you not call me bondmate? You know my name right?” He needed to get on with this conversation, but every time she called him that, it halted his thoughts

“Of course, Demneh, or would you prefer Dem?” Hearing her voice in his mind saying his name, was nearly as bad as being called ‘bondmate’.

“Dem is fine, Ina. Are you fine with your own name? You never got the chance to choose your name, I suppose.”

He suddenly felt guilty, she never got to choose almost anything when she was a mere beast. She pretty much did what he asked most of the time. Even as a greater beast, she was always agreeable to his plans, only occasionally offering her own input via pictures through their bond.

“You did not choose your own name Dem, it was given to you, as my name was given to me. Why should I not be fine with it?” Her response choked him up a bit. He was glad she didn’t seem to resent him.

“Thank you, Ina. So are you fine with moving out.? Going home?” He quizzed her.

“Yes, Dem. Though, I would like to harvest from the elder viper-wyrm.”

“Harvest what?”

“Meat.”

“Ah…”

Some things never changed. Ina still thinking of food, despite everything.

***

    They got fairly lucky, the elder viper-wyrm, was not only a tasty treat, but it held a number of parts that had value. Ina seemed to be able to use her nose to figure out what was edible and what was venomous. It took her almost no time to butcher the carcass. She had gotten her new ‘clothes’ dirty, but used a cleaning cantrip on herself. He had to say anything to her. It was a relief that she understood so much.

He  lost himself in thought for moment thinking about how useful Ina would, when the danger of the situation they were in, caught up to him. They needed to leave quickly.

“We need to move out soon, there will be other greater beasts coming to investigate. The scent of venom and blood will only keep them away so long before they get curious and challenge the elder beast’s territory.” He said nervously.

“They are already on the way, Dem, but don’t worry. I will protect you.” She said with utter conviction.

“Can we at least start moving home so we don’t have to fight everything that shows up?” He asked, not feeling her confidence.

    “We can Dem, but it will not make much of a difference.” She paused a moment.

    “They are already nearly here.”

    Divinity-damned Wilds, he had been distracted. Too distracted.

    “How many are there Ina? What are they?”

“There are only two, Dem. A  greater rubber-rhino and a greater vine ape. The great vine ape is accompanied by many lesser vine apes.” She said, without batting an eye.

“We need to run Ina, the rhino is too large to fight, and vine apes will surround us. Our only chance is that they fight each other while we run.” his concern evident from his tone.

He pulled their biggest prize from the elder viper-wyrm from his pack. A beastcore, the centered of a beast’s power. A physical manifestation of their bestial Path. They were used as an alchemical base, in spelled items, and in the empowering of spells. Many adventurers would wear a piece of jewelry made of beastcores strung together. It gave them a reserve of power to boost their spells at the cost of burning out the beast cores.

    “Maybe if we leave this here, they will fight over it?” He suggested hoping that it would be enough.

“Dem, it is too late for that. They are here.” Her voice was still solid. Was she overconfident? Were they going to die despite everything that happened?

“I.. I don’t know what to do, Ina.” He admitted, his voice shaky. There wasn’t any time to plan.

“I do, Dem.”

Her claws began to extend slowly as she spoke.

***

    There was a rumbling, the foliage around them shaking, the rubber-rhino was first to arrive. It was huge, twice the size of the hovel he called home, perhaps larger. It rose to a height nearly twice his own. He had always felt rubber-rhinos were a particularly absurd creature, which belied their threat. They got through the dense forests of the wilds by squeezing through them. Their bulk could stretch, squeeze, and bend, allowing them to move between trees that were no wider apart than the span of his arms. As the rhino beast moved it constantly brushed against the trunks of granite-trees. This process served to help build a thick, tough hide on the beast. Not only were they tough, but they were fast despite their bulk. They flowed through a forest more than they ran. They also sported a sharp, bladed horn, sprouting from their snout, which they used to chop through the dense vegetation. Sadly, they were not herbivores. Most greater beasts got their ascensions by eating the flesh other beasts. They ate humans too of course. Ina had been right, there wasn’t much chance of out-running one. Even if they go into the trees, the rhino would chase them and repeatedly ram the tree until they fell out. This one looked particularly old too, not at the peak of greater beast like the viper-wyrm, but close to it.

    The rubber-rhino stopped, ten paces or so, from the carcass of the viper-wyrm. It took a few deep inhales of the air through its nose, probably smelling what had happened in the vicinity more so than seeing it. As it inhaled, small apes began to appear in the trees all around them. There are had to be dozens of lesser vine apes appearing all around them. What was was more eerie was how quiet they were. Normally apes would make quite a bit of noise, communicating challenges to each other with hoots and hollers. These vine apes seemed to be constrained, hardly moving, not daring to make a sound. Then a very large shadow seemed to materialize from the gloom of a tree to the left of the rubber-rhino. This greater ape was old as well, perhaps older than the rhino even. It was about the size of a full grown man, but it rippled with a completely different musculature. Its arms were massive, each nearly as thick as his body. The rest of its Ape reminded him of stump. It was stout, and a dark, almost black, green color, with moss and vegetation growing from its fur. Its eyes black, glassy, and utterly dead.  

    The two greater beasts actually looked at each other for a moment. Something seemed to pass between them. He half-expected them to nod to each other like old acquaintances, but they looked an Ina and him instead.

   Then both greater beasts spoke.

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