Chapter 160 – Creating a lake

Fen and Sophia barely survived after their combined magic power went out of control while turning the area around them into a barren wasteland, not to mention it having created an unimaginable gigantic crater. After their partners, Aura and Maya, found out about their near-death experience, things got pretty emotional as they naturally were glad that they hadn't lost them.

Once everyone calmed down to some degree, the group decided to fix up the area. As returning it to its previous looks would be way too much work, they decided to turn the crater into a lake instead because that would take much less magic and effort.

"Say, do you think we can turn the area around the crater, or soon-to-be lake, into a beach?" As Sophia wanted to leave the incident behind as soon as possible, she was very motivated about the project.

"Hmm..." Fen looked around. "Well, the soil around it already became pretty sandy... I guess making it real sand shouldn't be too much extra work. Well, at least this part here. All around would be a bit much."

"That's more than enough. Great!"

"Alright, I'll take care of that."

"Thanks, Fenny."

While the male wolf started turning the soil in the area into sand by grinding down the debris and stones with magic, the girls also got to work.

"Will it really take only one or two days to fill that...?" Maya pointed at the gigantic crater.

"Probably." Aura didn't sound overly convincing. "Well, take a closer look," She gestured at the bottom of the hole. "It's already filling with groundwater. That'll help a good bit. Also, you can create a lot of water with magic, and it doesn't take much power at all." While saying so, she activated her magic, and an enormous flood of water started gushing down the crater. "That much barely takes any power. Especially when compared to earth-related stuff, water's extremely cost-efficient."

"I see."

"Alright, I'll create a few more streams like this, and you two do the same." The female wolf urged them to also activate their magic.

"Okay." Doing as told, the couple joined her in filling the hole with water.

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Because of its size, though, it took many hours before they saw a bit of a result. Once Fen was done with the beach, he joined the girls and supported them with his own water magic. As they didn't have to watch, thanks to the magic keeping running until they ran out of power, the group got together on the newly created beach to relax.

"Are we camping tonight?" Maya noticed that the sun had already long set and wondered what the plan was. Sophia started using light magic at some point, so she hadn't noticed at first, but it was already quite late.

"I like that idea!" The tiger, who had gotten comfortable on the cat-girl's lap before, sprang up again. "The four of us haven't done that in so long! Let's do it!"

"Sure, I don't mind." Fen had nothing against it.

"Sounds fun." Aura also agreed. "That way, we can also keep filling up the hole."

"Yay!" The tiger was happy. "After what happened today... I kinda want to stay the night together with everyone... "

"Aww..." Maya and Aura were touched by her sweetness.

"I feel the same." Fen also was still somewhat affected by it.

"Awww~..." They were even more touched.

"A-Anyway," He didn't like their reactions. "If we're camping, let's grill ourselves a nice kow over the usual campfire."

"There are still some of them left around...?" Maya glanced at the destroyed environment around them with a dubious expression. "Sure, we can easily get a ton of wood from the destroyed trees for the fire, but animals...?"

"Well, not that way," He gestured at the crater. "But I can sense some survivors in the other direction."

"Oh, okay then. Get a tender one, big guy."

"Will do~." After his exchange with the cat-girl, Fen left to find her meat. In the meanwhile, Sophia and Aura collected some wood and started the fire while Maya got ready to prepare the soon-to-be-dead kow for being grilled.

The wolf didn't take long to hunt their food, and once the cat-girl had gotten it ready, the group soon enjoyed a delicious flame-grilled dinner.

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"Haa~..." Sophia rubbed her stomach with a satisfied expression. "That was delicious. Thanks, Maya." Good food always cheers her up.

"Yep, it was great." The wolves agreed.

"Ehehe~." She was happy about the praise "Still, my dear tiger, to how much do you plan to increase your meat consumption?" She looked at her girlfriend, who had eaten almost as much as the wolves.

"A-Ah..." She only turned her head away as a reaction.

"I'm a big fan of the carnivore Sophia." Fen liked the charge. "Becoming a tiger really was a great decision."

"S-Shut up..." The blonde got embarrassed. She hadn't planned to gain all those traits, but she got in tune with her feline side to a very deep level. There was absolutely no awkwardness from her transformation left. Aside from maybe her tail not working at full 100%, but even that'll only be a matter of time.

Once the group finished teasing the tiger, everyone got more comfortable around the campfire. Fen got suspiciously close to Aura again as he cuddled himself right next to her, and the couple was more or less the same. Though, Sophia clung even tighter to Maya as she claimed her lap again. It was evident that the two were still affected by the events, and the other two decided not to mention anything and let them have their ways.

"It's been a while since we camped, but you can already feel that fall's right around the corner, huh?" Maya addressed no one in particular as she said so while lovingly petting the tiger's head in her lap.

"Ah, so it wasn't my imagination!" Sophia seemed to agree. "It definitely feels a little chilly. The campfire makes up for it, though. Together with the warmth of this supreme lap~." She wiggled her head around on the cat-girl's thighs while saying the second part.

"Idiot..." She was smiling broadly, though, and even increased her petting after having gotten complimented.

"Ehehe~." Sophia looked like she was in heaven. "I was actually wondering about that already. I've been in this world for over half a year already, but it has always been pretty warm... Very weird."

"Ahh," Fen understood the reason for her confusion. "That's mainly because of the route we traveled. Also, you're more or less right, we met around seven months ago."

"Hmm?" She looked even more confused. "Also, seriously? Wow, I guess my sense of time isn't completely gone yet, huh...?"

"We started out in the middle of the monster country, and the climate there's pretty hot all year round. Even though we met before the start of spring, you wouldn't have noticed if you don't know."

"Oh, I see."

"Raumont, my home," Maya continued. "It doesn't get overly cold there, either. Once we left, we basically traveled with the seasons. The regions we crossed were getting colder, but spring was also progressing, and we ultimately ended up in the capital in the middle of summer."

"Ahhh!" She seemed to get it. "Makes sense. Guess we got the most out of the weather this year, huh? I wonder what fall and winter are around here."

"No idea." The cat-girl hadn't left her home before, so she wasn't sure how the climate around the capital was, either.

"Cold." Fen and Aura, on the other hand, apparently knew.

"R-Really...?" The tiger didn't like the sound of that.

"Yes." They nodded.

"Ugh..." She shivered just thinking about it. "Oh, is that why the two of you were so happy about the fireplace in the mansion? Comfy warmth and safe from the elements indoors?"

"..." The wolves didn't answer.

"I see~." It wasn't hard to interpret their reaction. "Maya, hibernating through the cold season's back on the table!" She was much more open about her feelings in that regard.

"Ahaha..." She only answered with a dry laugh. She didn't seem to be against it in the slightest, though. Both are of feline origin, and cat's rarely like the cold. Except the ones made for it, maybe, but neither of them were.

"I'm looking forward to comfy cuddling with my cat in front of a crackling fire in our living room. Be it on the sofas or the amazing sheebskin rug. Clinging to Maya in a warm bed once we go sleeping afterward is going to be the icing on my cake!"

"I like this future of mine~." Maya was a big fan of the plans of her girlfriend that heavily involved her, too.

"Hehe."

"..." The wolves, on the other hand, became rather silent on the topic.

"Say," Sophia didn't miss that and addressed the two. "I plan to have the fireplace going all day and night long in the mansion when it's cold. Can I count on the two of you to watch it while Maya and I are sleeping?" She wanted to make it easier for them, especially Fen, to admit it.

"We also really enjoy your company," Maya picked up on it and continued. "We would be happy if both of you could join us during the day in the living room."

"Fine... You can count on us."

"Of course, if you want our company, we'll obviously join you." Fen and Aura didn't hesitate in the slightest with their answer.

"P-Perfect!" The couple tried their best to stifle their laughter.

"Well, until then, let's enjoy our camping trips as long as the weather's still nice enough!" Sophia was a big fan of that, too, after all.

"Yes!" Everyone agreed.

"Oh, speaking of fall starting..." Maya seemed to have remembered something all of a sudden. "My birthday's in two weeks. Time sure flies, huh."

"You can say that again." Sophia nodded. "Wait, what?" the words only now registered. "Your birthday...? Two weeks...?"

"Yep, I'll turn 23."

"I-I see... "

"Don't worry, you don't have to do anything." She noticed Sophia's complicated, or rather, overwhelmed expression.

"The first birthday of my first girlfriend since meeting her...? There's no way I can do nothing there!" While Sophia has neither common sense nor experience in romance, even she knew this wasn't a valid option.

"As I said, you really don't have to. Though..." Maya stopped for a moment. "It's not like I would complain if you do something."

"I'll do my best!" The tiger sounded strangely motivated.

The group chatted and relaxed for a while longer. However, everyone except Sophia was slowly running out of magic because they were still passively filling up the crater with water in the background. It had also been a really long day for Sophia and Fen, and they were mentally done. So, even though the tiger decided to let her water magic run while sleeping, the group decided to turn in for the night. Everyone cuddled closer to their partner and fell asleep in no time at all.

Teanam

Alright, after this rollercoaster, and it being Christmas, I’d say it’s okay to give out another gift.

Although, open with caution, it’s very adorable inside this spoiler.

Chibi Ellie!!!

Without BG:

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Warning: There are two more, Christmas-themed chibis here, but they are even cuter!

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Make sure to look at all of them!

Chibi Ellie in a Santa outfit!!!

And without BG (though it’s not that much of a difference):

That’s not all! Here’s the second one:

This one didn’t come with a BG, so I simply added some Christmas-y themes behind her:

Once again, a gigantic THANK YOU to everyone supporting the story on Patreon for making those illustrations possible!