Monstrous Lovers Ch. 02

Spoiler Tags: transformation, monster girl, litrpg, virtual reality, adventure, manticore, catgirl, mermaid, futanari, holstaur

Now we're getting somewhere.

Despite my intrigue over what appeared to be a core questline, I was still staring down an extremely cautious, potentially dangerous, holstaur woman who outmuscled me at least four to one and had me in the palm of her hand, literally.

And knew I'd been rummaging around her head...

Gulp.

Note to self: Walk very carefully when dealing with her.

My feet dropped firmly onto the floor and I sucked in glorious oxygen. Roslyte had decided I'd had enough laid me to the ground, and released her hand from around my neck.

She gave me a speculative look, her tail flashing through the air behind her matronly thighs. "I'm gonna go get my things packed. Be ready to leave in the morning." She started to leave but then turned back towards me. "And if you tell anyone who I am there will be hell to pay."

I waved my hands in front of my chest as if to say, "Why, I would never even consider doing such a thing madam."

Shoot. There goes my way back in with Gwen. The only one who might have a chance against the literal demigoddess who'd taken an interest in me.

Retiring for the night, I flopped into bed, the six hours of sleep passing in a very literal blink of an eye. Sunlight peeked through the curtains of my room and I donned my clothing and descended from my room back to the common area, where I promptly spotted Gwen.

The red furred woman with silver armor was now sitting in the common area, a sack of some sort of food resting by her table as she scowled, ripping off pieces of what looked to be cinnamon roll and popping it into her mouth and staring at me. Approaching the table carefully, I gave her a nervous little wave. She glared at me, pausing with a half-eaten piece of food in her mouth. She swallowed, squinting at me suspiciously as I stood there awkwardly.

"What do you want?" she asked sharply, tearing off the last piece of her current cinnamon roll and shoving it into her mouth before reaching into the sack for another.

"It seems we can't quite find our footing together," I said ruefully.

Quirking her eyebrow, she stopped munching on her tasty smelling pastry.

"What I mean by that," I continued hastily. "Is that I feel the need to apologize profusely for the way I left you hanging yesterday. I kinda got... caught up in something," I said, rubbing my neck awkwardly."

She smiled, laughter skipping across her face as she smiled. "I heard about your encounter with the town champion. A bit too much of a stallion was she?" she teased, taking a giant bite of cinnamon roll, fangs clacking as she ate, smugly grinning the entire time.

"I gave as good as I got... And I just realized you're talking about the fight and not what happened after. Am I as charismatic as I feel right now? Because..." I let my breath out in a whoosh. "Man I seem to be channeling Bogart like a champion," I finished sarcastically. Taking a seat, I weathered Gwen's cackling laughter. She slapped her thigh in amusement, her ears perking up from where they'd been plastered to her head.

"Here take a cinnamon roll," she said, tossing it to me. "It might stop you from saying dumb things."

"There's little chance of that," I snorted. "I manage to say dumb things through all sorts of situations. Regardless of what's in my mouth..." I let that statement sink into the atmosphere.

Really soak in.

Stew for a moment.

We both looked at each other and said nothing but our eyes told me we both knew.

I took a bite of the cinnamon roll and smiled at Gwen, my cheeks puffing out, stuffed with pastries.

And Eve laughed. She laughed and laughed, the sound reverberating through my internal ears, interrupting any other thought I might have.

"Right. I literally don't know what to say to you after that," Gwen said after an appropriate period of time had passed.

"I would appreciate it if we never spoke of that again."

"Oh no. I'll definitely be bringing that up later. But I need some time to process my thoughts. What I'd like to talk about is the busty holstaur who's currently standing at the entrance to the inn and watching you awfully close."

"Oh. She's a new acquaintance whose asked me to do her a favor and wants to travel with us... I mean me," I said, unsure if she still wanted to travel with me after everything that had happened.

"Wipe that expression off your face Chance, you are amusing and I still have a feeling that you'll help me find the person I'm searching for. You can't get rid of me just by missing a lunch date. You'll have have to try much harder," she said, stroking her long braid of hair in her paws.

"Speaking of helping-"

"You might want to consider the consequences of telling the lovely young Gwen the identity of a certain milk poisoning demigoddess. Consequences like having a hoof shoved so far up your ass you won't be able to walk or sit straight for a week... Actually, never mind, continue as you were." Eve said jokingly, reminding me of Roslyte's threat just in time.

"Roslyte, the holstaur you mentioned, asked me for my help with something after I've completed my current quest."

"Quest? When did you get one of those?" Gwen asked, dropping her braid, eyes flashing with excitement.

"Right, I haven't mentioned that. I'm supposed to go to the cemetery and deal with whatever is making trouble there."

"Sounds good. Alright," she said, popping up off her chair and tossing the final bit of pastry into her mouth, crumpling up the sack, and tossing it into a trashcan in one smooth motion. "Let's do this," she said, heading for the exit and the toe tapping Roslyte.

I followed after, an uncomfortable feeling sitting in my gut at the silent deception, meeting up with them after an exchange of simple introductions. Gwen took the lead, evidently familiar with the location of the cemetery while Roslyte trailed behind a short way, examining Gwen's butt, giving me a wink and licking her lips provocatively. Her tongue draped out as long as I remembered in the vision and teased me by tickling the swell between her breasts for a moment before retreating. Arousal flushed through my body and my cheeks heated up as we continued to walk a steady pace.

We were walking side by side in a comfortable silence when Gwen suddenly stopped in the middle of the road, sniffing around for a minute, before continuing walking.

"Are you okay? What was that about?" I asked, curious about her strange behavior.

"I'm fine. It was just..." she trailed off looking at me as a sly smile crossed her face. "I just smelt something on the wind but it was nothing for me to be concerned about."

Warning claxions were blaring in my brain.

Battle stations! Man the battle stations!

Every time I'd seen that look on someone's face it promised no good to me.

"Like that time your friend let you try his dad's ghost pepper hot sauce."

Everything tasted like cardboard for a week and a half. I still don't think that jolly ranchers taste the same after that day.

"That's just growing up."

Sour green apple is still the best.

"I don't know how we sense the same taste buds but you can still manage be so wrong. It is a scientific fact that watermelon jolly ranchers are the best."

Whatever, I thought at Eve with a grin, just be on the lookout for anything suspicious, I don't want to be made the fool.

"Too late," Eve shot back. "And too easy."

I chuckled along with her as I kept my eyes peeled on the sides of the road.

Five minutes down the road, it was my ears, and not my eyes that saved from being made the fool, when a creature pounced from the grass line with a feline yowl. Calico fur graced the creatures tufted ears that popped from its head, pinned back in concentration as it sailed through the air and tackling me to the ground. With my senses on high alert, I had just enough time to spin into the maneuver so that I landed atop the smallish cat girl. She looked a little like Gwen's cousin or something with fur tufted arms, legs, and the catlike tail that writhed behind her; they differed in the intelligence and compassion that sparked in Gwen's eyes, my new attacker only having animalistic rage and naked blood lust. It was sort of off putting considering she was otherwise quite cute.

Fine. That's how homie wants to play it that's how homie gonna get it.

"Snnnk," Eve snorted. I couldn't help the grin that crossed my face as I threw the catgirl away.

Gangster isn't really a good look on me, is it?

"No it is not," Eve confirmed, holding back laughter.

Jinko - Class: Lesser Wildling - Status: Hostile

Lesser? I might just have a chance her after all. Welcome to the gun show, Brotherrrrr.

Reaching out a hand, I gave her the universal sign of "bring it."

She bared her teeth in response.

"Easy there Mr. Hogan. Of all the fights in this world, how many have you actually won?"

Hmmmm. You may have a point, my record in this world is less than stellar. I tempered my overconfidence along with the desire to rub my face in her fluffy fur after having touched it. My adversary's tail waving around behind her telegraphed her intentions and I managed to sidestep her pounce, her outstretched paw-like hands sailing safely past my body. As she was flying by I managed to focus and grab an appendage; a very convenient, naturally occuring, handle made the task somewhat easier than it would otherwise be.

What's the saying about catching a tiger by the tail?

"I don't know. But this one probably goes something something something, you get your face ripped off," Eve semi joked as the catgirl went berserk. The fur on her neck stood up and she yowled, spring up maybe five feet into the air as she did, yanking her tail out of my grasp.

Uh oh. She brought her claws into the fight taking a swipe at my face, I caught the swipe on my forearm, her sharp instruments of maiming cutting little furrows into my skin.

Ouch. I mean, it's not deep or threatening. But still... Ouch.

I retreated under her relentless advance, avoiding the slashes I could and blocking what I couldn't. She was fast but nothing I couldn't handle.

Frustrated, I threw a halfhearted cross at her head, still not quite sure about attacking a girl but understanding that it was something I'd have to get used to while playing this game. My fist contacted the satin fur of her head between her ears. She stopped, ears flattening against her skull. A plaintive mewl made me feel super guilty as she gave me big pouty tear filled eyes before disappearing in a poof of smoke.

"Uh, what just happened?" I asked no one in particular, a corporeal seed rolling to a stop on the ground.

"You won," Gwen said, half hiding a smile behind her hand. "I've never seen someone struggle so much with a lesser jinko before." Her smile bloomed into a full bodied laugh.

"I didn't know she'd fold to a single hit," I grumbled at her teasing. "Besides isn't it your knightly duty to protect citizens from roaming monster attacks."

"Yes I protect them from monsters. Not pests that fall apart under a swift breeze." She chuckled. "Or a poorly thrown punch."

"Fine. Just let the mean catwoman eviscerate your traveling companion, then you'll have no one else but yourself to taunt. The universe might collapse under the weight of your ego not being able to deal with that situation."

Without looking, she gave me a playful shove. Unfortunately, she pushed me right as I'd turned and began to bend over to pick up my loot. This means her innocent shove actually sent me sprawling into the dirt.

"Sorry. Sorry. I didn't mean to make you fall," she said contritely, offering her hand to pull me up. Like every middle school child who'd just been pushed into a pool, I took her hand and drug her down with me. At least, that was the intent. Instead of falling she planted her hand in the dirt and did a cartwheel tumble, landing gracefully on her feet, armor and all.

"Children," Roslyte muttered, but she nursed a smile that took the sting out of her words.

"That was pretty awesome," I said, genuinely impressed by her gymnastic dexterity. After I'd dusted myself off and reclaimed my footing, I immediately cracked the corporeal orb and pushed the resulting point straight into dexterity.

Hopefully now I won't go sprawling like a professional soccer player anytime I get touched.

My dexterity still displayed unknown even after I sunk the point into it.

"I am pretty awesome. I also, didn't mean to knock you down, I didn't see you bending over."

"Don't worry about it. I get that it was an accident," I said, waving off her concern.

"I'm still sorry. But as far as roaming monster's go, the Knight's of the White Lotus aren't supposed to interfere with conflicts dealing with troublesome monsters unless they are at least a standard citizen level. If we fought every wildling, the citizens could grow lazy and dependant as well as depriving people who seek to improve themselves by hunting worthy prey. Plus, it looked like you had it under control for the most part, jinko aren't all that dangerous unless the get the jump on you. They're primarily stealth based predators so if that first attack misses they almost never deal serious harm."

"I guess that makes sense. But would you have saved me if I'd been in any serious trouble."

"I wouldn't be obligated to... but I probably would because you're fairly amusing," she teased, batting at me with her oversized fluffy red paws.

"Good to know I rank so highly on your I-guess-I'll-save-them-if-I-have-to list," I said sarcastically.

It feels good to play around with someone like this, someone who wasn't in my head twenty four seven and had a tendency to be fairly harsh and sarcastic... someone who doesn't rub it into my face everytime I make a wrong turn on a ship and end up on a separate continent.

"Hey! Your talking about me."

No shit Sherlock.

"Cmon, that maneuver in the Pirates of Seaworn Cove was hilarious, I think those aborigines of the eastern continent were more surprised to see you than them." She snorted. "Still didn't stop them from turning you into a human pincushion slash poison receptacle though."

It wasn't... I didn't... Ugh. You win this round you undersized circuit board.

A new notice was waiting for me and I pulled it up into the center of my focus.

Congratulations!

You've won your first contest. You've been awarded a bonus ability for the defeat of this unique species.

Light on Your Feet - The grace of a cat is yours, you always seem to find a way to land on your feet when falling from great heights. Also, you take half as much fall damage as usual, suck it square cubed! Primary Stats - Dexterity

Free spoils were always a good thing in my book, but this seemed of limited usefulness.

"I don't know Boss, you have ended up-"

Shut it! I don't want to hear it, I grumbled at her internally as Gwen, Roslyte and I set off down the road. We chatted sporadically as we walked and I used Gwen as a threat detector, as she always tensed and focused whenever a jinko was about to strike. And that was how I spent my day, marching, talking, and fighting, defeating three more jinko and netting myself one additional corporeal seed which I also put towards dexterity. It's interesting because they are the first enemy that look to actually kill me rather than just make me submit.

As the day went on I wasn't tired, yay video game, but I was bored. The interminable hiking made slightly more bearable by the sparse moments of pulse raising action as well as the limited conversations with my two companions. They slowly opening up to me as we continued to walk and talk. I asked Gwen about the possibility of taking a break, not anticipation a welcome reception.

She is a knight after all. A paragon of stout and endless endurance. Ready to stand guard a thousand years and all the ridiculous things people do when its associated with duty. Why I bet she'll scoff-

"Sure, a break sounds great. Why don't you go fetch some water from the lake and I'll get a snack started." she replied, cutting off my internal monologue before it could pick up too much steam. "Roslyte why don't you-"

"I'm sorry," she said overly sweetly, a harsh and nervous edge under her tone. "There's someone in this area I haven't had a chance to visit in far too long." She began her casual saunter that inexplicably ate up the distance, heading for a copse of trees. "If I'm not back in time, leave without me," she called back over her shoulder.

"Cool. Ummm... What lake?" I asked, not seeing anything resembling a lake around us. Just trees on the one side, and rolling fields of what looked to be corn on the other. We'd pulled off the road onto a convenient natural glade, giving us fair warning if any of the jinko got frisky and decided to try something.

"Right. I forgot about your stunted sense of smell."

Is that how she knows when enemies are around? She smells them? I'd been thinking it was some sort of spell. Detect danger or some other sort of nonsense.

"You forget how nooby you are Boss. We need to get you into a Rocky montage so we can make it so the cute little kittens can't take a bite of your scrawny little ass," Eve provided.

"The lake is about forty meters in that direction," she said, pointing into the trees. "Although legends say there's a dangerous serpent that splashes around the murky depths of the lake. They say it takes trophies of those who dare visit the shores it calls it's home. I wonder if it likes scalps or ears? Have fun," she said, smirking at the horrified look in my face. I gaped at her for a second before I responded.

"Your fucking with me? Unbelievable, first my companion lets me be a chew toy for a catgirl and now she's making up stories to scare me." I said, shaking my head as I took the water skin from her and walked away. "I should get a nicer companion, someone who's friendlier and doesn't give me as much shit. Maybe a dragon? Or a cannibalistic sea witch?" I said sarcastically, loud enough for her to hear me as I broke the tree line.

The water of the lake was beautiful, white sand dotting the shores and crystal clear water until about ten feet deep where it faded into murky darkness. Gwen's story bounced around my head as I kneeled at the shore. Shivering once, I dipping the waterskin into the water to let it fill up about halfway. Taking a swig, the cool mountain runoff chilled and delighted my taste buds. I drank my fill, sighing after I was done, delighting in the wonderful refreshing natural scenery.

I don't really get views like this going convention to convection do I Eve?

"A little change of pace is always good. Refreshing for the soul."

Bending down, to fill the canteen full I was greeted by a strange sight.

Large oval eyes with brilliant green irises blinked at me from under the water. Stunned, I blinked back. Surrounding those eyes was a small elfin face, feminine, with shiny copper hair that spilled out into a half circle behind her head. Her ears were a series of tapered fins that overlapped as they gently stroked through the water.

Greater Merfolk Escaline - Class: Standard Citizen - Status: Hopeful