Rupegia Ch. 05: A Companion's Promise

"Understood," she nods energetically. Even her nods have their own charm.

Fuck, I'm way too crazy about her right now.

I clear my head of these silly thoughts so I can focus on continuing the questioning. "Now, how did you learn [Item Box]?"

She hesitates for a moment, then she responds unsurely, "I copied the Chieftess' mana manipulation until I was able to cast the spell." My questions may be confusing her, but she's not comfortable enough in asking what the fuck is wrong with me, yet.

"Hm… let's start at the beginning. How is magic learned, in general?"

She nods slowly, and her voice becomes even more hesitant. "It's common to start learning spells while one's still a child. In my case, I hugged the Chieftess while she practiced magic until I learned [Sense Mana], then I copied the feeling I had when hugging her until I learned [Mana Control]. After that, I trained to increase my mana pool until I had enough mana to use [Item Box], then, finally, I copied her mana manipulation until I was able to cast it. It went the same way for [Conjure Bland Meal] and [Spirit Light]. It's essential for a hunter to have those spells, so I trained more intensively than a normal child to learn them."

Then I'll do the same thing with her until I learn those skills and spells. Possibly at night, before I abuse her body.

I rub my chin in thought. "I see… Now, what is [Muscle Explosion]?"

Her voice now becomes completely robotic. "It's a skill that lets me do a really strong or really fast movement for a split second. It's useful in avoiding a fatal strike that you can't avoid entirely."

Oh? So that's how the Orc Headhunter might have been able to dodge the [Ice Lance] from Rania.

"How did you get [Pain Resistance]?"

"That's…" -She looks down worriedly and her ears go flat- "Please understand that I'm the one who insisted on it." If she wasn't talking in such a serious tone, I'd be squealing at her cuteness.

I frown in confusion. "What…? What does it mean?"

"I asked for the Chieftess to torture me."

Wow.

I let my eyebrows shoot up and stare at her very worriedly. "Uh… and why would you do that?"

She straightens her posture, and her ears perk up, then she puts her hands on her lap in a lady-like way, and proudly declares with a practiced tone, "I'm supposed to be a tool. I'm to be used in combat or as a sex slave as you see fit, so I can't afford to fail because of pain. It would bring great shame to my clan if the soldiers they train can't reach the utmost of their potential due to such a simple weakness. The Chieftess was too soft, she didn't want to do it, but I insisted until she gave in, so please, don't think she's a bad person. It's just my duty to be strong."

That's excessive. She really takes her duty seriously, but I'm starting to feel bad about her. That Chieftess also sounds like a mother, but I don't think I should ask her about that right now.

I straighten my posture, too, and assume a more serious tone. "Well, again, I must say I'm sorry because I don't plan on putting you in any sort of situation that will require you to have that skill."

She stays still for a few seconds, then lowers her head, bites her lip, and clenches her fist. After a few seconds of emotions building up, she leans forward and rests her head against my shoulder.

The composure from before is completely gone as she softly whispers, "Thank you, for being so kind. I… am glad you bought me. I know it's my duty to be a tool, but I'm still glad you're my master."

Even if she's brainwashed into wanting to fulfill her "duty," it doesn't change the fact that she'll feel better if she's treated like a human… werefox, I mean.

I hug her and pat her head, then we stay like this for a while. This position is a little uncomfortable, so I turn her around and adjust myself so I can hug her from behind.

My cheek rubs on hers, and I can clearly smell the perfume I bought for her. She slowly recovers from her emotional state, and I feel her cheeks burn against mine.

After a while longer, her embarrassment subsides, so I continue, "What is [Fox Transformation]?"

She turns her head to the side and sends me a subtle confused glance. Then she speaks and her breath tickles my neck, "It's the racial skill of all wereanimals. My type is fox, so I can turn into a large one, and I'm really proud of its size" -she smiles excitedly- "and since you're small, you can even ride on me."

Argh, emotional damage. I'm conscious of being small and thin, but still, that's cool as fuck.

"That's amazing, I really want to see that," I approve and give her a warm look.

She smiles back, then faces forward and returns to our previous hugging position.

"Master… do you allow me to ask one question?" She asks tentatively.

I pat her head. "Yes, you may. You can ask anything you want, actually."

I'll likely lie because I still don't want to explain everything to her. I also don't feel like talking about home because explaining my background might be really hard and not that important in the end. Creating a rather believable lie might even be useful in the future if I have to explain myself to others, so I can determine its believability by her reactions.

She frowns slightly and her ears twitch cutely as she asks, "The questions you ask me are…odd. Forgive me for saying this, but why haven't you learned these things? Even a commoner's child would've learned from their parents a simple spell like [Clean]."

I gently caress her head and calmly lie through my teeth, "Think of it like this: I'm a foreigner from a really, really far land. The common sense here is just way too different from the one in my homeland, so I've been trying to get the general sense for how things are done here to not stand out."

Her ears perk up as it dawns on her. "Oh! I understand, Master, but how far is it that you never met another wereanimal?"

I look away and think for a moment. "I'm… well, it's difficult to give you a sense of distance since even I don't know because I teleported here. My origin is another secret, so let's just say that I come from somewhere far and poor when asked. Also, it's okay to say I never told you its name."

Her tail stops swaying as she mutters, "I see…" And I feel a hint of disappointment in her voice.

Can't let the awkward atmosphere settle, so quickly I move on. "Next topic. Do you pray?"

Her tail starts swaying again, and she answers earnestly, "Yes, I do. I pray to the God of War for glory in battle and the God of Endurance to allow me to fulfill my duty." -I'm not really surprised with her choice of gods- "Do the people of your homeland not know about the Humanoid Gods, Master?"

"Correct. Which is why I think I should start praying to them, but how should I do it?"

She tilts her head cutely and I pat her harder. "Hm… just ask for help? The gods may have lost their mortality and bonds with the land, but they still have their own personalities, their likes, and their dislikes. The God of War and the God of Endurance were simple men during their lives, so I just ask them for glory in battle and the power to keep standing after."

I scratch my head as I think. "Do you like, hold your hands to pray or do some sort of ceremony, like, get on your knees? Do you give them offerings or something like that?"

"There's no need. Praying is the way you tell them how you wish to be helped, and they're gods who focus on results, so they'll help you when you need and become happy when you succeed."

How practical. I like these gods.

I pat her head absentmindedly. "Hm… I'm thinking about praying for the God of the Sun, the Goddess of Growth, and the Goddess of Knowledge. What do you think?"

She sends me a curious glance. "God of the Sun? I don't know why people would pray for him unless you're royalty."

I smile wryly. "Yeah, well, I have my reasons."

"Okay…" She mumbles, still a bit awkward with my ignorance. "Then the Goddess of Growth is a good one to pray to if you're training hard. She's also known to help the Goddess of Fertility and the Goddess of Plants."

I guess the interpretation of "growth" is quite liberal, then.

"But why the Goddess of Knowledge? Wouldn't the God of War be better for an adventurer?" She continues probing. Her curiosity has led her to forget her slave training, which pleases me greatly.

"I'm actually more of a mage, so I want to improve my magic, and I also think knowledge should be helpful in understanding this place since I'm a foreigner." I smile wryly.

Her ears twitch again and I almost squeal. "Oh! You're a mage who can use the sword? Ah, yes, youdiduse [Regeneration] on me last night. But that's amazing, Master!" She looks at me wide-eyed.That's enough praise, please. "Then I think the Goddess of Knowledge is a good choice. If we please the God of War enough, then he could bless you even if you don't pray to him."

What a nice guy.

"Then how should I pray for them?"

I pat her head more intensely, and she closes her eyes for a moment to enjoy it before answering, "I don't know much about the God of the Sun, but maybe you should ask for a hard day's work? For the Goddess of Growth, you have to wish to improve with all your willpower; that's how the priest taught me. The Goddess of Knowledge is very fickle, so you should ask a scholar about it. From what I understood, you need to wish to seek knowledge without 'cloudy eyes' and to always write a book about what you know."

"Cloudy eyes"? Is that bias? I guess I should talk to Ciel about it.

I give her a little squeeze in appreciation. "That's all I had to ask. Do you have any questions about me?"

She grabs my hand on her belly and also gives it an appreciative squeeze. "Not right now, Master."

"Then let's form a fellowship."

A fellowship of the rin-... nah. Anyway, it's like a game "party." It allows us to share experience and to always know the position of each other. The dungeoneering advice book said it's the first thing a group of people working together should do. Also, I feel like I don't want to ever break this fellowship with her.

We interlace the fingers of our right hand with each other and recite the phrase in unison, "We swear to share our war and our soul and to always keep each other's company."

On my menu screen, under "Companions," the entry "Alissa" appears. If I concentrate and think about her, I should be able to sense the direction and her distance from me. But since she's too close right now it doesn't work properly.

I release her hand and crawl close to her. I caress her cheek as I say to her, "Let's go to the hunters' guild after lunch. Right now, I want to savor you." I suddenly hug her tightly and throw us onto the bed.

"YAH!" She screams in surprise at the sudden attack.

I kiss her deeply as my hand explores her body, then her tongue starts to respond.

I've always considered myself the "clingy" type, and it was so bad that I'd hold myself back because I always wanted to touch and hug Lily whenever possible. I feel like Alissa won't say no to me, even if she doesn't want to cuddle, so I'll have to learn her limits with skinship, too, even though I don't want to.

Shit, thinking about Lily makes me feel guilty, but I told myself I'd enjoy this world, dammit. I'll do whatever I want!

The kissing escalates, and soon we're naked again.

I lick her nipples, suck on them, pinch them lightly, worship them. This time, I take my time caressing her body until I make her wet without even touching her down there.

I stop and stare at her with a grin. Her thighs rub against each other and she pants softly, getting out of breath already.

"You want it?" I whisper in a husky tone.

She doesn't answer, but she licks her lips.

"Tell me what you want," I press her further.

She looks at me with a mix of a pout and a shy look on her face. Her delicate whisper makes my cock twitch as she pleads, "P-please put it in, Master."

If a phrase could be considered art, that would be it.

This time she's more relaxed, so she's not so tight, and she doesn't make a pained face when I slide in.

She keeps her eyes open, locked with mine, and we enter a trance as our bodies move on their own, fueled by the mad desire to fuck.

I don't try to hold it in, and soon, I splurge all over her taut belly.

I'll slowly increase the time I last to match her own sexual stamina. Doing too much and too hard might hurt her for now, so I have to ease her into the world of sex.

After a quick wash, I hug her, and we doze off.

-

I wake up feeling hungry. By the position of the sun, it's not even noon yet. I slowly detach myself from Alissa's body and get up, then she also gets up immediately after. She must've been sleeping lightly.

This time, I have her teach me how to brush her hair and tail. I'm a little bit afraid of damaging her fur or hurting her, so I let her finish the job after learning the basics.

We get up, and she cringes again at the new set of love marks she left on my back.

We go downstairs, and I see something that melts my heart.

"What is that… animal?" I point to the cute little creature.

I see a forty centimeters tall cute little squirrel with a cute little apron and a cute miniature broom. It sweeps the floor of the inn while humming in a cute little voice and smiling cutely. It has a slightly oversized cute hand with rather long fingers that let it grip things easily.

Alissa hums mirthfully and assumes a teaching tone as she educates me, "That's a nature spirit. They're souls of people who didn't want to leave the land, so they fused with the souls of nature and materialized like this. If you give it something it likes, it might help you. Also, it's a good omen to see an inn being able to make one happy…" -She squeezes my hand and lowers her voice- "But, Master, they're everywhere, how come you never saw one?"

I scramble to search for another lie. "Erm… perhaps the souls in my homeland never linger long. I guess our priests are just good." I shrug.

She gives a look of wonder. "I see, so it must be a place full of good Spirit mages, then."

I grin and whisper, "Can I pet it?"

Her expression becomes a bit pitying. "It'll just dematerialize if you try. You have to win its trust first."

Awn… let's just move on and have lunch.

-

Every so often, we find a minstrel on the streets, singing about something random. This seems to be a profitable job since most of them have quite a bit of coin in their tipping hats. Though, for me, they sound kinda bad. The instant translation inside my brain prevents me from enjoying the poetry, and the instruments they use, mostly lutes or harps, are rather crude.

"Curious about the minstrels, Master?" Alissa asks, failing to hold back a slightly smug smile.

I smile wryly. "Uh, yes. Seems profitable to sing on the streets."

"Only because it's the month of Song. Because of the Festivals of Seasons, the temple encourages us to tip the singers."

"Huh, curious…"

Alissa smiles at my innocence.

Money is short, so we buy a cheap meal with some Rabid Rabbit meat, then we go to the hunters' guild.

I'll register Alissa because that gives the guild a paper trail that she's with me. This also marks that she's reliable so she can do business in my stead in the future.

The attendant raises an eyebrow when she looks at Alissa's ID card.

It's the sexual skills, right?

I also register the fellowship. It's just a courtesy, but the guild likes it because they can better organize the hunters in times of crisis.

For some reason, you have to name your fellowship. I think about naming it "Fellowship of the Ring," but I worry about copyright laws in this game, erm, world, so I try to think of something more appropriate.

Alissa tilts her head in confusion and questions, "Master… why are you looking so serious? It's just a name isn't it?"

No, little one, this is my banner, my heraldry, my legacy, my legend. I can't screw up and end up like I did with my new name where I feel uncomfortable when people call me Wolf Ryder. I need a strong name that instills pride when it's uttered.

"You wouldn't understand," I wryly answer.

Alissa gives me a troubled look while the female attendant shrugs. She has seen this scene more than once.

Honestly, nothing feels appropriate, but it's not like people are going to laugh at this name, so I'll just pick a reference to something I like. I kind of like astronomy even though it's not my area, so I pick something in reference to that.

"Helios," I write down the name. Maybe the God of the Sun will get the reference.

The attendant takes the papers away, and under "Affiliations" on our status screen, the entry "Helios (fellowship)" appears.

With that, we move towards the training grounds.

-

I give her hand a gentle squeeze and state, "I want to see you train the sword and the bow a bit to get a feel for your strength. I also want to spend the afternoon here so that I can train my magic."

Her ears point up and her tail sways faster as she gives me a slightly proud smile. "Understood, Master. I'm sure you won't be disappointed with my skills."

We enter the grounds, and Toga's gaze immediately finds me.

Nope, not today. I'll be training magic on my corner veeery far away from you.

But first, I watch Alissa spar with an instructor, and thankfully, it isn't Toga. It's a much gentler man, but he's no less skilled.

Alissa flows with the sword, making dodging and parrying seem effortless, then she smoothly weaves in attacks with blinding speed. She's truly fast, though the instructor is still faster.

I'm actually curious why she's so good at dodging and parrying since her level in those skills are lower than mine. Perhaps it's the "Speed" and "Dexterity" that combine with the skill and work as some sort of multiplier, so she doesn't need a high skill to be effective.

A few men stare at Alissa intensely.

Shoo, go away, that one is mine. There are other women here that are also training, so go bother them.

After a few minutes, I go to my corner and continue watching from afar. I ask the Goddess of Growth to help me increase my MP so I can always have mana to heal and support Alissa, then I start my [Fireball] routine.

-

After an hour, Alissa switches to the bow and she quickly starts drawing a crowd with her archery skills. Her speed is comparable to the instructors, but her accuracy is unmatched. She's my own female Legolas.

She looks ferocious as she fires arrow after arrow, her eyes staring towards her target like a hawk does to its prey. It's a complete reverse of how she is in bed, kind of the inverse of me.

Alissa keeps taking my concentration away with her beauty and magnificence, so my training routine is sloppier than before. But it's okay since I enjoy watching her very much.

When dusk starts to come, we go back to the inn and reserve another bath. I'm way too tired for anything, so we just cuddle and kiss in the hot water.

After dinner, I ask her to use her mouth, and she happily gobbles it up, eager to show her skills.

She gives me a constant and smooth pleasure, and I close my eyes to enjoy it to the fullest. This time, she understands my warning and doesn't choke.

Then we sleep together while hugging each other again.

-

I dream of Alissa shooting goblins while I laugh and drink tea.

-

I wake up quite well-rested and get a deep kiss from her as a greeting. I think this should be a morning routine.