StarChaser: Another (18+)

---

 

Ingrid shuddered and squealed, her voice muffled around Kvari’s priapus as the wolf-girl’s textured tongue lapped at the inside of her pussy. It wasn’t as rough as Zefir’s but it was definitely more pleasurable than a human tongue. Once again she felt ashamed that she had cum twice in her mouth while Kvaris only had one.

Kvaris’ Priapus spell generated a real penis on her body and it felt hot and throbbing just like the real thing. Even the cum that flowed in her mouth tasted just like real semen. Zefir explained to her that that semen comes from Kvaris’ own body, converted from her analog fluids. Ingrid hungrily sucked, pumping her head up and down to pay her respects to this wonderful penis, to this wonderful girl eating her out. Finally her efforts were rewarded and another hot burst of sticky, salty semen shot past her tightly pursed lips. She swallowed pulse after pulse of Kvaris’ emissions, feeling relieved she had paid her back. The taste wasn’t exactly pleasant but at a deep biological level she wanted it. Like Zefir last night, her body was reacting to being exposed to DNA from “and ideal mate”, the beautiful body and face, the vitality, all reflected in this hot sticky semen. Her body was craving more of Kvaris.

“Well?” Zefir said. “I told you she can’t take our tongues, she needs to be punished.”

“Agreed” Kvaris said, giving Ingrid’s pussy one last loving french kiss. Ingrid squirmed in pleasure as the wolf-girl sucked out the last of her sweet girl-juice before continuing. “You’ve been indulging yourself too much.”

“S-sorry…” Ingrid panted. Kvaris pushed her butt, indicating that she get off of her and Ingrid obeyed. Zefir, Kinu, and Kvaris huddled together, their tails tagging as they convened. The wolf girls’ priapuses had been dispelled.

“I’ll take her pussy.” Zefir said.

“I’ll fuck her ass then.” Kinu said as she took out a small pouch.

“You always love doing girls in the ass.” Kvaris grinned. “That’s fine, I’m owed another cock-suck  from her.”

“Here” Kinu said. She took out some thin rings, it reminded him of Ingrid’s Leash Ring

“What’s that fo-ohh!” Zefir said in surprise as the wolf girl gripped his pulsating erection and stroked  him to make sure he was really hard. Kvaris took his hand  and placed it on her breasts to ensure he was. In a short moment, she placed the ring over the head of the penis, it expanded and she pushed it down to the base. The ring expanded just enough to make the slightest indent on his shaft, the magic from the ring alone was what anchored it in place. 

“Taming Rings.” Kvaris said.

“You know how these work?” Kinu asked.

“Sort of?” the catboy said hesitantly. He focused  his mana into the ring at the base of his penis and sure enough, some  glowing pearls materialized encircling his shaft. There were four sets of them and he could feel them lightly pressed  against his skin as they slowly orbited around.

“Nice… we’re going to drill her with this.” Zefir said.

“Exactly.” Kinu said, she placed the ring on her hips were her priapus would appear and then she too was “equipped”

“Leash” Kvaris held out her arm and the lead materialized. She gently pulled Ingrid closer as Zefir laid back on the bed, his erection pointing up like a rod of judgement. Clumsily, Ingrid scooted over straddling the catboy while Kinu reached behind and spread the human girl’s pussy lips.

“Nnnnhhh..” Ingrid groaned as she was impaled onto his throbbing shaft. She felt the rotating pearls gently massaging and tickling the insides of her vagina and she shuddered again. “Ahhhh… th-this feels too good…”

Working together, Kinu pushed Ingrid’s shoulders while Kvaris pulled her leash so the girl would be on her elbows and knees. Ingrid had gotten the message, she was going to be fucked by all three of them at once and she positioned herself accordingly. 

Kinu then spread Ingrid’s butt cheeks wide and steadily pushed herself inside. Zefir held her shoulders to stop her from moving away from Kinu’s cock. Meanwhile Kvaris held Ingrid’s chin up with her fingers and pressed the tip of her own priapus to her lips. The girl obeyed and opened her mouth, sucking as hard as she could as Kvaris pushed herself all the way in, she groaned as Kinu’s cock slowly and gently claimed every inch of her ass. She breathed through her nose and took deep breaths, each pulse from her and Kinu pushed forward again, adamantly claiming what was hers.

The three adjusted themselves so their shafts were all fully embedded inside Ingrid. She squirmed a bit in discomfort but at the same time from anticipation, waiting for her masters to begin moving and making her feel good.

“Leash,” Kinu said, summoning the braided lead in her hands. She tugged on Ingrid’s arms and the girl complied, putting her hands behind her back. Kinu tied her hands together, then gripped Ingrid above the elbows, Kvaris grasped under her shoulders, lifting Ingrid up and letting Zefir cup her breasts.

“Bottoms up!” Kvaris said, and the three drank their elixirs, invigorating them.

Ingrid groaned, she knew what those elixirs would do. The three let out a pleased sigh and they began pumping as one. Her body shook and she let out a muffled cry of pleasure and surprise as the penis rings activated, conjuring the pearls that began rotating in opposite circles, she felt like her ass and pussy were being vigoriously drilled as the catboy and wolf-girl roughly  thrust their penises into her. The pleasure and discomfort was making her head swim as she hungrily sucked away at Kvari’s priapus, determined to make her feel good.

“She really loves to please.” Kvaris said as she pumped away at Ingrid’s mouth, creating wet sucking and plopping noises as she eagerly slurped the arrogant burst of sticky wolf-girl semen. “I’’d love to wake up with her mouth on me…”

“We should do that…” Zefir said. “One last suck before we hit the road.” The three of them quietly chuckled at the idea.

“Th-this is an ass worth fighting for” Kinu said as she roughly pounded Ingrid’s butt hole. She was sure that most of the muffled cries of pleasure coming from her was because of the sensation in her butt. The other two went “Mhmm…!” in assent. Kinu kept her treatment rough, determined to make Ingrid’s butt cheeks jiggle hard with each thrust and tame her body.

Zefir was purring, his penis was being attended to well but Ingrid’s pussy thanks to the roughly rotating pearls that whippped them to double its efforts. His hands having the time of their life as he squeezed, mashed, and groped Ingrid’s breasts which had been teasing him all day with their non-stop bouncing and jiggling. Meanwhile as  he stared up he saw a wonderful sight of Ingrid’s sucking a penis up close and personal and hearing her moans of her pleasure, her dutiful sucking and slurping as she was fed more and more semen, and the view of Kvari’s pussy in full bloom from underneath. 

The elixir let them keep going for an hour as their heads swam in the throes of pleasure, cumming and cumming inside Ingrid’s body.

Kinu dispelled the leash and Zefir slid off of her. Ingrid lay back on the bed, but  Kvaris  pulled her by the hips towards her, plunging inside without any regard. She too had placed an enchanted ring around her cock and the rolling pearls made her cry out. Kinu on the other hand dispelled her priapus then generated a new one, this was shorter, but fatter, and she pressed herself into Ingrid’s mouth. The sisters pumped in unison without a care.

Zefir watched, stroking his cock idly as the three girls drove themselves to another round of orgasms. Kvaris dispelled her priapus and crawled over to the catboy, her tail wagging.

“M-me?” Zefir asked before Kvaris mounted him. She obviously settled her girl-loving side’s libido and now wanted her share of pleasure as a girl  herself. Like Ingrid, a sense of duty was instilled in him and he rolled both of them so he was on top, furiously pumping his hips up and down her needy pussy. Their tongues and lips met as they climaxed together, but their afterglow didn’t last long, Kinu wanted her share too and nudged her sister away. Kvaris found herself being cuddled up by Ingrid. It felt so strange that just a moment ago she was such a submissive little slut yet now she felt like an older sibling fussing over her.

“Sorry if I was a little rough…” Kvaris said quietly. Ingrid snickered.

“My pussy eats pathetic cocks like you three for breakfast.”

“Ohh… well, how’s…this!” Ingrid squealed in delight as Kvaris put her into a mating press.

 

__

 

Early the next morning…

“Now, boy and girls, let’s not act awkward here after last night.” Ingrid said, she sat across the three in the kitchen table as they enjoyed their first coffee of the day. The four of them were in fluffy bathrobes after a leisurely bath and shower after they got up from the best sleep they’ve probably had in years. Ingrid herself looked like she was glowing and so radiant, as if all that sex had rejuvenated her ten times over.

“We’re not.” Zefir said, still bleary eyed. He put an arm around the wolf girls who affectionately leaned on his shoulder and nuzzled him. 

“D’awww!!” Ingrid said, the sight of the three kemonomimis acting so cuddly with each other soothed her soul. Cats and dogs living together, she thought.

Teaching the wolf-girls how to use the appliances in the house weren’t too difficult. It didn’t take much deduction to recognize the signficance of a refrigerator’s ability to keep things cold, or operate a stove or by simply turning knobs, and their bath had already taught them how faucets work. Kinu insisted on making the omelets as she had smelled from the spice rack some ingredients that she used for her usual fare with Kvaris. It was well spiced and was dotted with bits of strong onion, her sense of smell allowing her to know just when to take it off the heat. Ingrid got to work on the bacon and sausage, Kvaris was busy cleaning up their armor while Zefir had laid everyone’s clothes on the living room sofa. 

“Don’t mind if I do!” Cecil said, picking up a sausage with a tendril and bringing it into his body, turning opaque as he did so.

“Where have you been?” Ingrid asked. 

“As soon as you love birds got to humping I wanted to see how far I could get, I had no trouble reaching New Gorpisal and went drinking with George and friends again! What about you  Ingrid, did you feel anything  while I was out?”

Ingrid shook her head. “No, I just assumed you were nearby but I didn’t feel drained or anything… I mean.. I had quite a handful last night.”

“A mouthful” Kinu said, closing her eyes and smiling at the memory.

“Hmmm…” Cecil thought for a bit. “Sex isn’t exactly a leisurely jog, so if the four of you were banging like rabbits, then I guess there’s no need to worry about maintaining my portal after all.”

“What about you, Cecil? How’d you get here? Did you just Recall to teleport?” Ingrid asked. He never did answer her yesterday.

“I just flew in.” Cecil said. I homed in on you. Strangest thing actually, I could SEE Autumnhollow, but it looked a little smoky and distorted from a distance.”

“Interesting…” Zefir remarked “I guess it’s because you’re still connected to Ingrid in some way. Kvaris couldn’t get in much less see this place last night when she wandered off.”

Kvaris nodded “Their scents completely vanished. I didn’t even know I was being turned around. Not that I want to risk it, but if there’s a Red Moon there’s a chance we could sit one out right here. Waste of money though…”

Cecil then headed most of the conversation as they took their breakfast. It was mostly second- to third-hand funny anecdotes from the orc. He had also met with Millarna, the guild’s top wizard at the tavern and she had mentioned about the Red Moon coming in possibly as early as tomorrow.

“We should hurry up then and get Tunk and his crew out.” Ingrid said “The journey back probably is just an hour or two’s walk, add a few more if they’re carrying heavy equipment.”

Zefir won their little Rock-Paper-Scissors bet and got the honor of wrapping on Ingrid’s Solenrala. For this one he used some brand new hot pink scarves bought from the market.

“I’m surprised you know how to tie one.” Ingrid said as Zefir lovingly wrapped the bold pink triangle that framed her breasts. But she had a few guesses, that shibari-styled rope harness was pretty ubiquitous for its artistic form on Earth. 

“I didn’t but when I saw you take it off I pretty much grasped the concept pretty well… oh oh, don’t… let me do that.” Zefir said when Ingrid tried to reach down and open up her crotch straps. He pulled the two scarves snugly between her butt cheeks, cupping a feel of both as he did so. “I can’t get enough of your nice butt, Ingrid.”

Ingrid giggled, enjoying the touch of his hand. He quickly resumed his work while Kvaris started attaching the channeling stone clips onto the knots in front of her. She felt a tugging on her back as Zefir tightened the scarves. Walking in front of her, Ingrid parted her legs to allow Zefir and the wolf-girls a good view as they crouched in front of her. The two girls each hooked a finger under the twin scarf-straps and slid down so they got closer to her labia, then they pulled the fabric down and to the side, before letting it rest firmly at the side, framing her ladyhood before their eyes.

“Turn around and bend over.” Zefir said. Ingrid obeyed, the girls held open the straps, revealing her butt hole and Zefir firmly pushed in the Maiden’s Syllabus. 

“Mhhhmm…Aaaah!!” Ingrid mindfully did not mute her voice and let her voice out as the three preferred. She moaned for  their pleasure as the catboy slowly inserted the girthy plug into her butt, untl only the decorative head was in view.

“Ladies first!” Zefir said. Kvaris poked her sister in the forehead, indicating she go first.

Kvaris and and Zefir stood to the side and let Kinu have her first morning fuck with Ingrid, she  pulled her cheeky bottoms to the side and conjured her priapus, and without any gentleness, thrust herself home in one motion. 

“H-here’s your reward for your Good Morning cock-suck, Ingrid! It was great!”

“Mmmmhhh!! Th-thank you Master!” Ingrid said. 

Cecil looked on with mild disinterest and continued to eat his lion’s share of breakfast.

“Say  Zefir, when we return to town, I have an idea for improving my weapon. Assuming we get paid enough.” he said.

“What do you have in mind?” Zefir asked, turning to him.

“Balls.” Both of them chuckled. Ingrid shuddered and cried out as Kinu’s girthy cock scraped against her G-spot.

“Balls make the world  go round.” Zefir said in agreement.

“Metal balls for your slingshots?” Kvaris asked. Cecil only had some pebbles he picked up randomly off the ground. “We could have the blacksmiths commissioned to make some, shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Yup, Metal ba-” Cecil was interrupted when Ingrid squealed as Kinu moved her hips in wild-figure eights “metal balls, it’ll hit fit for more damage.”

Kvaris and Zefir nodded in agreement. “Dain’s it is then” Zefir said, he was about to say more when Ingrid interrupted them. Kinu was really laying  it onto Ingrid, she had been covered up for too long in that stupid bathrobe and seeing her body wrapped up in only a Solenrala as she was supposed to be, had stirred her desires strongly that morning.

Both of them came at the same time. Ingrid screamed in pleasure as she felt Kinu bless the insides of her pussy with that beloved wolf-girl semen. She kept her pose as Kinu walked in front of her, her priapus  glazed with their love juices. 

“Suck.” Kinu said and the girl obeyed, paying respects to the cock that gave her her first orgasm of the day. Kvaris then took her turn, summoning her priapus and gently running the tip up and down her oozing labia before pushing herself inside. 

As the two girls happily plunged  their cocks in and out of Ingrid’s body in unision. Cecil and Zefir headed over to the Crafting Room and tried to see if they could turn some spare scrap metal into the ammunition he needed. He had an old sword he kept as a spare but even after he laid it on the crafting table, it didn’t work.

“Well that’s weird.” Cecil said. Zefir was clearly trying but it didn’t seem to be working. He tried pouring in more power but Cecil put a tendril  on his shoulder and shook his head, indicating he stop.

“Maybe…” he said, panting a bit, “It might have had something to do with my  wanting a comfortable peaceful life. Maybe it won’t let me make weapons.”

“That’s fine. We’ll make do for now and besides… Ingrid’s our best fighter, nobody can mess with her… now go make her happy.” Cecil said, playfully pushing him back to the dining room. Kvaris was already done and was enjoying a clean-up blowjob from Ingrid. Zefir smiled as he saw Kvaris’ cute face, with her half-lidded eyes and her tongue slightly lolling like a dog. When he first saw this expression the wolf-girls made last night he found it a little comical. 

A little, simply at the concept of them with their tongues out like dogs but it wasn’t like the way he saw people do it in his pre-Isekai life where it looked exaggerated, their expressions looked more… “natural” and actually adorable, juxtapositioned with the trappings of lust and pleasure written all over her face.

Zefir walked up behind Ingrid and without little preparation, just took out his cock and pushed himself inside her. He scrunched up his face and groaned in pleasure as felt Ingrid’s wonderful pussy suck him up, hungrily demanding a tithe of his seed and he performed his obligations with due eagerness. His shaft kissing every inch of her inner temple as he gyrated his hips in various directions, as he aimed to make her cum twice before he had his.

Kvaris was satisfied and was giving Ingrid cheekrubs, causing her to adorably moan and make whining noises. After his second orgasm, Zefir then walked over for his clean-up blowjob. Kinu then inserted the Seal of Devotion phallus into Ingrid, causing the girl’s body to shudder as she felt the soft braided leather-like object go inside her.  The wolf-girls’ tails were wagging as they looked longingly at Ingrid’s stuffed holes and squeezed her butt.  

As Ingrid cleaned Zefir’s love-stained penis with her mouth, he helped himself to two ejaculations. Ingrid’s eyes were once again glazed over with pleasure, feeling honored that she had intoxicated him so much that he needed that much sucking to empty his balls.

 

___

 

Cecil was the last to leave the house and then Zefir held up a clenched fist, causing the house to break down into particles of light. A pleasant breeze blew through the trees as The Whales made a bee-line towards the rocky hills; the site where Tunk and his crew was last seen working.

“It’s kinda ironic we’re taking this mission to learn the lay of the land here in New Gorpisal but we’re taking a path that isn’t in the maps.” Cecil remarked.

“We’ll be fine, that wizard tower is our landmark on where to go.” Kvaris said, pointing at the thin-looking towers looming over the trees.

“What is in a wizard tower?” Ingrid asked. She had seen them before on their way from Ontala village to New Gorpisal but never knew their significance, they looked too narrow to have any stairs set on them, much less furnishings a wizard would probably need not just to live in but also conduct experiments.

“Those towers help the Returned travel past the limits of their necropolis.” Zefir said. “Basically extension towers for the undead, think of the necropolis as the server where their souls are stored. They can’t stray far from them.”

“That’s news to me.” Ingrid said “Sounds like they got a nice duct tape solution to life after death,  but how come the only ones I’ve seen so far are the Night Men?”

“A mind can’t really handle existing past death without an actual living breathing body.” Kvaris replied. “It affects one’s mind and is expensive to maintain so even if one could afford to pay for it, they still need to be examined every now and then to assure they’re still sane.”

“Some keep their phylacteries on their person.” Kinu continued. “That allows them to move about freely, it has its own set of limitations, but the biggest was the chance of being trapped and alone with no one to help. There’s been many stories of Returned Men that have been stranded in cave ins or landslides, their minds slowly eroding long before their shell had. There’s probably a quest or two to deal with such Returned and set their souls free.”

“Phylacteries?” Ingrid asked. “Is it something like those channeling stones you’ve mentioned?”

“Something like that, yes.” Kvaris answered. “Some of the returned to prefer to keep their phylacteries without any protection, figuring that once their shells have been breached they’ve reached a state where they should cross over… die a second time that is… while others prefer to keep their phylacteries with their own set of protections.”

“By shells you mean armor?” Cecil asked. He had noticed all of the Night Men were like armored knights. 

“Not necessarily,” Zefir replied. “The phylactery holds the soul, it’s then bonded to a body. In the old days they used their client’s own skeleton, but bones outside of a living body have its share of disadvantages. Nowadays they use ones like puppets which are heftier and closer to their old living body’s shape and size, but skeletons do have the advantage of having a good amount of compatibility since it’s been simmering in their own mana for years…”

As they spoke, they had cleared out of the forest and the ground gently sloped into a rocky shallow valley. It reminded Ingrid and Cecil of rugged Icelandic glaciers with the abundance of rocky, mossy formations like little hills. Flowing all around the rocky ground were small but rapid brooks.

“The discovery of mines here have caused  the goblins to dam up the Ontala river and redirect to another outlet leading out to sea. This water’s mostly surplus coming from that river.” Zefir explained. At the mention of a river, Ingrid looked up to check the sky. The weather was bright and sunny, with puffy cumulus clouds towering over the skies. As pleasant as the weather looked, she imagined that a strong downpour followed by a flooding of the river would make this place dangerous to cross.

“I’m guessing the goblins are working at a lower level than this…” Ingrid remarked. Zefir nodded.

“Could be that’s why this river got dammed up. It was called the ‘spotted river’ due to all these islands.” he said. 

The Whales nimbly hopped between the network of little brooks that slowly and steadily cut deeper and deeper furrows into the gravelly, mossy, ground. Their map had shown a bridge they could’ve taken but everyone was athletic enough to simply hop across the shallow valley that was once a raging waterway. Ingrid’s Aegis aura in particular, gave her all the friction she needed to cross the ground with no problem and she simply strode along while everyone hopped and skipped.

“There it is, there is probably where Tunk and his crew are.” Kvaris said. Her tail was wagging as she saw a wide tunnel cut into the opposite bank. It sloped upwards as the ground above turned hilly.  If the river flooded then Tunk and his crew would have probably needed to dive down like beavers in order to exit the cave. 

“You know, if this tunnel flooded, they wouldn’t need to worry if they got caught in a Red Moon.” Ingrid remarked, but Kinu shook her head. 

“There’s no telling if there’s any Rifts underground, it can happen.”

“Rifts?” Cecil asked. He was planning to move to the sunlit balcony of his room but the tunnel was properly lit by fairy lights embedded in the ceiling. 

“There’s permanent rifts found in Demon Cities… they’re not what  you think by the way...” Zefir said “And then during Red Moons, there’s a chance of temporary rifts popping up. So leaving the goblins here isn’t an option. Anyway, these Rifts connect to different worlds and bring in monsters. We don’t know why every single monster that comes out is hostile, but  they are. From what I’ve heard,  it’s probably due to the Rift’s energies causing them to act like that, and there’s some that are just simply dicks.”

“Portals to other worlds you say?” Ingrid said, there was some hope in her voice but Zefir looked at her and shook his head.

“I don’t think these Rifts can be a ticket home. Ingrid.” Zefir said. “From what I hear from some adventurers back in Ontala, they’ve never heard of anything friendly coming out of those rifts. A few that I’ve heard relate to someone trying to step through only to get a lethal dose of mana burn.”

“So much for an easy way out.” Cecil sighed. Focusing back on the job at hand, Cecil noted the workmanship of the tunnels around them. They looked sturdy and the inside of the tunnel was reasonably clean, not enough for encourage one to roll around in but it definitely not muddy or overly dusty. 

“Well, well, just what I thought.” Kinu said, peering over a few hand-carts neatly lined up against a wall. She held up one of the hammers and picks and noticed they look quite worn and the pick in particular looked like it had been hastily re-sharpened so many times it’s beak was noticeably shorter. “They really worked their tools to the bone. These are due for a repair, that’s for sure.”

After another fifteen minutes, Kvaris was able to find the goblins passed on an alcoholic stupor. Their gear had already been packed away and it looked like they just planned to spend last night finishing up their wine before returning home. This wouldn’t have affected the Whales’ reward since their objective, strictly speaking, is to ensure they were alright. A section of solid rock ahead of them had been systematically cut away, leaving an artistic-looking pattern across the rock.

Within an hour The Whales were escorting Tunk and his crew of goblins back to town. They couldn’t pass through the same way they came as the goblins had hand-carts they needed to pull along. Instead, they walked along the banks until they found the incline that led them back to the road and over the bridge. 

Predictably, Ingrid was their topic of conversation and about her, Cecil, and Zefir once hailing from a distant country called Earth. As the concept of electricity and other technologies would’ve been too complicated and outlandish, the three earthlings tried to keep their descriptions of Earth as non-descript as possible. Eventually the conversation drifted off to more inane things, such as Tunk explaining that he and his crew had been surveying the area beneath the riverbanks for possible gems to dig up. 

“And quite a few soulstones, take some.” Tunk tossed a small bag at Zefir. “Your pet succubus could definitely benefit if you convert these to channeling stones, judging from the stuff you clipped onto her Solenrala… must be a really strong girl to get a Drow’s attention, that’s for sure.”

“Thanks,old man!” the catboy said, hefting the bag, it probably weighed like half a pound. He saw Ingrid looking at the bag and he said “Don’t get your hopes up yet Ingrid, we gotta take these to the Atelier and refine them.”

“Oh, just tell them to put it on my tab, care of Tunk Heathrock!” Tunk said, making a dismissive wave. “I’ll be damned to let you kids make yourselves broke from trying to outfit your human.”

“We’re not pups!” Kinu pouted. “I’m already a hundred and two!” A few goblins stifled their chuckles as Kvaris made a witty quip and the two girls denigrated into literal angry barking and snarling at each other. 

“Whoa!” Ingrid and Cecil chorused. Ingrid and Cecil huddled together with Zefir and began whispering to each other. 

 “They’re actually barking like doggos!” Ingrid said, suppressing a giggle.

“I know!” Zefir said “but the funny part is that they’re actually communicating!” 

“They’re so adorable!” Cecil added “And they’re wagging their tails too!”

 

___

While the two girls are barking, the biggest bear that Ingrid and Cecil have ever seen burst into view from the forest. It was easily twenty feet tall and resembled a grizzly, but with a stockier body and it’s fur was a more vibrant shade of red with mottlings of brown and black. It was barrelling towards the group, crashing through the trees the same way when Ingrid encountered that Tusk Boar.

As Ingrid flared her aura to warn the bear, Kinu and Kvaris, still angrily barking at each other, drew their kriegsmesser swords and rushed the bear. Ingrid and Cecil stared wide eyed at the irony of the two girls bickering while working together to take down the bear. They were definitely holding their own and despite their arguing it seemed to have motivated them to fight harder as if to show each other up. 

As Ingrid watched she was sure the bear was experiencing that nightmarish situation some humans imagine if an angry rat went doom-slayer and rushed them. The garms moved fast, like a stroke of black ink and gold glitter they moved, joined with splotches of red as they drew blood from the bear’s forepaws as it tried to swipe at them and then at its soft underbelly. With a loud roar, the bear reared up on its hind legs but it was too late as it was already disemboweled. It was then that the garm girls hopped up its body, cutting along as they did before finally severing the spinal cord from the brain.

The goblins barely had time to react and by the time they saw the garms run under the bear’s body saw the flashing steel they knew the bear was done for. Tunk then called for his crew.

“Go get some ropes! We’re dragging this one back to town!” The goblin said and  his crew murmured in response. 

Tunk and his crew help turn the bear to its side, allowing kvaris to cut open the body and take out the pluck.

“What are they doing?” Ingrid asked “We’re too far from town to be making bear burgers” she said to Zefir.

“They’re taking out the pluck and leaving it for scavengers. It also makes the bear lighter. Of course, there’s probably some organs that have some value. This one’s too big to go into my table box, by the way.”

Ingrid patted his shoulder “Don’t worry about it.” She turned to the rest of the group. “I’ll take out the pluck.” she said, heading towards the group. Her Aegis Aura made the bear’s slippery viscera no problem as it generated friction where she needed it. “So which ones are we dumping out?”

Ingrid dragged the bear alone, with her strength it might as well have been a cardboard cutout. Her Aegis aura kept her clean despite the messy work of dealing with blood and guts. What organs they kept, they put into a big sackcloth (courtesy of Zefir’s Table Box) and they continued their way back home.

“It’s going to be real awkward if we get attacked again.” Cecil sighed. 

“I doubt it.” Kvaris said. “Anything that doesn’t see us is going to smell the carcass of red bear, and they’re high on the food chain. Anything that can tangle with a red bear is going to think twice because we just killed one.”

“Red bears huh?” Cecil said. “Why’d it attack us out of nowhere?”

“That’s our bad.” Kinu said “I guess our arguing made it think it was being actively hunted so it went on the offensive and tried to take us out.”

“That’s pretty different from where we’re from,” Ingrid remarked. “Normally you’d talk loudly so you’d let bears know you’re coming. At least that’s that’s how it worked for us, most bear attacks happen because they get startled.”

“Then again, the bears here can get that big and considerably smarter, it just got proactive.” Zefir remarked. 

“It’s being smarter just got itself killed.” Cecil said. 

Approaching the gate Ingrid saw George yawn, reminding her of a hippopotamus. 

“No entry fee for your adventurers” George called, seeing that Ingrid and Cecil were probably not aware of how things work. “And great job on taking out that bear.”

“It’s these girls that did the job!” Ingrid called back.

“Huh…” George said. As the party drew closer he noticed the garms’ shields. “You two wouldn't happen to be Amaduscia Enthana’s kids would you?”

At the mention of their father, the girls’ ears perked up and they wagged their tails. “Why yes! You knew him?”

The girls stopped to converse with George as the rest of the party headed back into town, George waved them through.

“Your old man once came here about a few years ago. Mentioned that two of his daughters were starting to feel their oats, told me to watch out for a pair of girls bearing the mark of his two ancestral homes.” The orc said, nodding his head at their shields.

“Oh…” Kvaris said in recognition. She held up her shield a bit, it was a metal round shield covered with in leather like her brigandine. Apart from the rivets that dotted the shield it bore engravings of metal, depicting a tower standing against a blazing sun. “Forgetower, his mother’s house.”

“Hearthspire.” Kinu said as she held up her shield, which depicted a different tower standing against a crescent moon. “Grandfather’s house.”

The orc smiled and nodded fondly. “Don’t tell your old man I said this, but he really spoke fondly of you two…”

Meanwhile, the goblins parted ways with Ingrid, with Tunk heading to the guild hall to vouch for their completion. 

“Where are we going?” Ingrid asked as Zefir summoned the leash and started tugging her to another direciotn. She was still dragging the red bear along, With her other hand she had slung the big bag containing the bear’s useful organs.

“To the dismantling house.” Zefir said. “It’s a shop where they do the butchering and processing into-”

“B-but I’m too useful to become glue!” Ingrid joked. Cecil laughed.

“N-no! Not that way, Ingrid!” Zefir said, flustered. “The bear! We’re taking the bear to the dismantling house and they’ll turn it into money for us!”

---