Chapter 16: Into the Woods

I woke up at the crack of dawn with four women cozied up against me--Ivy hugging my head as she lay on the grass above me, while Autumn lay balled up between my legs. The holstaur twins were nestled in the crooks of each of my arms, their heads on my shoulders. I smiled--how could I not--and peeled myself delicately from their embrace.

I had to chortle a bit. We had fallen asleep on the mound with the cabin only a few dozen feet away. Somehow it still felt like I was home. I think a part of it had to do with the fact that I knew this land was mine, but the greater truth was that those women were my home, and no matter where I was, I would always feel that way with them beside me.

I studied my HUD, reminding myself of the skill points I'd spent the night before. At the moment, my stats looked like this:

Satisfied, I whistled loudly, a bit nervous to wake up my girls, but I noticed with relief that not one of them stirred as Blue descended from his place in the heavens. I climbed onto his back and gave his rump a pat, and we took off in flight together.

This was our morning ritual. Every day I went out and surveyed the lands with Blue--as much for reasons related to scouting and security as it was related to my need to keep bonding with my dragon-steed. Blue and I floated high above the forests and plains of these lands, Goldenvale I'd learned it was called, and enjoyed the breathtaking sight of Lusteria laid out before us.

To our left was the Watcher's Woods, and it dominated much of the land on that side of me and far ahead. On the right, though, were rolling plains and cultivated lands. Tater Town and my farm were here, as were several other homesteads that dotted the landscape not that far off.

"Let's fly out a bit further today, Blue," I said, rubbing the scales on his powerful neck. He whinnied a response, and we continued onward, picking up speed as Blue maneuvered his wings with intent.

The horizon started to grow unfamiliar--and darker, like a black cloud hung over those lands. A keep built from stone loomed off in the distance, and I wondered what it was. Around it was a village, or a town of sorts. Much larger than Tater Town, with palisaded walls and more tents than buildings on its grounds. I had an uneasy feeling growing in my stomach the closer we got to it.

"Let's turn around, Blue," I said, and we did, heading back home. When I'd landed the girls were up, eating fruits we'd foraged, cooking meats that we'd caught in snares, idly chatting about what their plans were for the day.

"Hey, Bucky-Baby!"

"Hi, honey!"

The holstaur twins were the first to greet me, standing up and walking over to me as I landed Blue so they could each plant a kiss on one side of my face.

"Hey, girls," I said, grinning toothily at them. "You spoil me, you know."

"It's what we live for," May Belle cooed back sweetly.

"Ivy, Autumn, you almost ready?" I asked, signaling over to them.

They stood, Autumn stretching exaggeratedly like the cat she was. Lord help me, I loved watching her stretch that tight body.

"Alright," she said at last. "We'll each take one of the axes you grabbed from the greenskins when you rescued May Belle and Daisy."

I nodded. "And always be watchful," I commanded seriously. "It isn't safe in there."

"It is and it isn't," Ivy called back. "You're not wrong. There are threats, no doubt, but those who belong to the forest can avoid the greenskins and most monsters if they're careful. But today we don't want to avoid them, right?" she grinned.

I nodded. "That is the gist of it."

We took off shortly after that, trudging through bushes and thickets, navigating the winding pathways of the Watcher's Woods. "There is a cave not far from here," Ivy noted. "There is almost always one manner of beast or another dwelling inside of it. If you want a guaranteed monster kill, that's a safe bet, and it's within twenty minutes' walk."

I didn't say anything, I was so deep in thought. After a while of following her I finally piped up. "I flew out with Blue today," I started. "I saw a big keep, kind of like a castle, and a town with lots of tents around it."

Autumn groaned audibly. "That is a mission for another day," she said. "But yes, that is something we must watch carefully."

"What is it?" I asked.

She sighed. "It is what you probably guessed it is. It's a fort that belongs to General Keenfury, one of the higher ups in the Goblin Queen's army."

I almost gasped, recognizing the name. "It's so close," I said softly.

"This world isn't huge, and the population is small because it is difficult for all races to multiply without breeding men native to this world. Every kill dealt to the enemy really helps, Bucky. They won't launch an all out attack on Tater Town anytime soon because it's just not worth the exposure, but they are mustering, working hard to multiply and empower themselves using any means they can find, and one day before too long the threat will be at our doorstep."

"Do elves also have the same breeding issues as monster girls?" I asked, turning to Ivy.

She nodded. "We are all long-lived, but yes. There are no elven men in Lusteria. Not for a very long time."

"And orcs?" I asked Autumn this time.

"That threat grows with the power of the Goblin Queen. She is their brood mother, and she only multiplies with the seed of heroes and breeders that have devoted themselves to her or otherwise fallen under her power."

I squinted as I looked at the path winding ahead of us, trying to collate my thoughts. "Okay," I said. "Back to the original topic. I take it that dealing with threats like the keep are supposed to fall to heroes like me?"

"Of course," she said, looking back at me with a look of skepticism. "Are you thinking about running from danger and starting another farm?"

I laughed. "No," I said. "I guess I deserve that, though. This is our home. I'm worrying about how I'm going to take out a keep full of greenskins by myself."

"It may not be necessary," Ivy said, inserting herself into the conversation. "There are those in town who would be willing to help. Bonny is skilled with a blade, and Etherea and I can use offensive magic in a pinch. And before long I suspect other heroes will begin to seek you out."

"Seek me out?" I repeated. "Why?"

"Because they think in much the same way as you. Why fight the hordes of the enemy alone when you can partner up with another warrior?" she pointed out.

"I don't think I made the greatest impression when I met the other Apex Heroes," I chuckled, but internally I was mortified to recall the circumstances around the last time I'd seen them.

"Nonsense," said Autumn. "I hear the chatter of the other catgirls when I sleep, and their heroes have expressed nothing but envy toward you."

"Well that's not great either," I said, wincing.

Soon the cave appeared before us, burrowed in the side of a rocky hill. It was in a clearing where the weeds and grasses had been left to grow thick. The land around the cave was rockier, so trees did not impose, leaving us an open and unimpeded look ahead of us for the first time since entering the forest.

"So, we kill a monster, then meet Sprinkle, yeah?" I said, looking at my two beauties.

"Yeah," Autumn repeated, but her hands were shaking as she clutched the axe. "Sure."

Ivy looked less nervous. In fact, she was a picture of confidence, petite and nude but for three orange maple leaves covering the sexy bits, standing with her axe slung over her shoulder, inspecting her nails. It made me wonder about her--how was she so at home here even just as we were about to rush into battle?

"I'll go in first," I said. I took a step forward and activated Sniff 1, inhaling deeply. There was something in there, alright--something disgusting and rank. I looked behind my shoulder and noticed the girls following carefully behind me, which made me a bit nervous. I didn't really want them to get involved in the fight. I tried to shoo them back, but they didn't seem to get the message, and by the time they had, it was already too late.

Something neon pink and translucent spilled out of the cave in a mass of goop and ooze that seemed to slither and twist with surprising speed, creating grasping tentacles with precise points of articulation. It grasped the side of the hill and elevated itself upward, and I could tell it was judging us. I didn't look back to see what the girls were doing, not wanting to let my eyes leave the thing lest it make a sudden move when my head was turned. 

"I don't think the lance is going to help a ton," I groaned to myself quietly. Just then, though, my perception of the situation was rocked with new information as a giant spider ripped out through the cave entrance, shuddering momentarily under the daylight, but then twisting its body and spitting out an acidic substance which made the slime bubble with pain, emitting something that sounded a hell of a lot like a feminine shriek.

That sound woke me up from my stupor. Maybe both of these things were monsters, but at the moment, the spider seemed the clearer threat, and the easier thing to attack, So I used Great Leap and bounded toward it, descending upon it with my lance pointed down at it. I struck the thing in its abdomen, puncturing its hairy carapace, but just barely, and now I had the arachnid's full attention.

"Protect the slime!" Ivy shouted. I was suddenly glad that I'd made the choice I did.

The spider whipped around and struck me with one of its legs, shoving my back against a boulder. It hurt, but nothing broke, but I felt the clatter of my bow against my back cause some extra pain.

"Autumn," I shouted, rolling to avoid another of the spider's strikes, "take my bow!" I tossed the bow and quiver over to her, and she caught them both, but almost spilled a few arrows in her attempt to put the quiver on her hip. Meanwhile, Ivy's hands were doing something elegant, and a tangle of vines tore out from the earth and wrapped themselves around the spider's legs, giving me an open shot.

I exploited the opening, plunging my lance into its gaping maw, its mandibles twitching, the beast hissing in pain from the strike. I pulled that lance out and readied another assault. Up with my lance came a spray of acidic mucus that struck me in the shoulder, burning me badly and eating through my tunic.

I growled in pain but held my ground, this time plunging my weapon into an eye, hoping to puncture the creature's brain, but it didn't give as much as I thought it might. The eye was destroyed, but only the tip of the lance managed to penetrate the spider's head.

Just as the spider was about to descend on me with a deadly strike, a few well-placed arrows caught it in the underside of its cephalothorax, and glimmering ichor spilled from its belly as the creature hopped back from me in shock and pain. It seemed to be assessing the situation, deciding whether fight or flight were the better option.

It chose poorly.

The spider took one more lunge for me, pinning me to the ground. I was face to face with the thing now. Good. Just where I wanted it. I activated Fire Breath 1 and a wild infernal spray of orange flame burst from my mouth, catching the monster right in its hideous face, setting its hairy body ablaze.

The creature backed off, and the fire spread, but thankfully Ivy managed to douse it with a localized rain spell that worked well given that we were in a clearing.

I panted heavily, clutching the burn on my arm. Suddenly, though, I felt something warm and gooey covering me from my legs heading on up, and soon I was entirely inside the neon pink slime that we had just rescued.

I couldn't breathe. I choked, but I also noticed a change in my shoulder as the wound felt soothed--not fully healed, but definitely better, the burning pain having subsided. With relief, the slime rolled off of me. I panted hard, and looked over at Autumn and Ivy. Ivy waited on her knees, her hands outstretched as the ooze headed toward her like a dog to its master.

But before I could question that, I had to address the look on Autumn's face. She had dropped the bow to the ground, along with the arrow she had been holding, and was squinting at me, staring at my chest. I looked down to see what she was staring at, but saw nothing.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's your Umbercore," she gasped in reverence. "It's fully regenerated, as if you just had a full night's rest!"

"Slime girls all have different gifts," Ivy said, rubbing the goop.

I cocked an eyebrow. "Slime girl?"

Ivy smiled softly. "She hasn't taken her feminine form yet, but yes. This is Gumi, a slime girl, and she is an old friend."

The spider was still twitching. Autumn noticed it, too. "There's still time, Bucky! Stab it with your lance!"

I did as she said, sticking the thing one last time with my hero-weapon, and I watched as a black orb flooded the lance's tip and then swam through the shaft of my weapon until I felt it burn its way into me.

No notifications. "I don't think that unlocked anything," I said.

Autumn sighed. "I had hoped since it was so big that it might be enough, but you'll probably need to kill one or two more monsters to unlock anything. Still, this is progress! Your first monster soul!"

"And a new resident for the sanctuary," Ivy said. "If you'd take her, I think it would be good for her, that is. The forest is too dangerous for her these days, and I can't stand the idea of knowing she's all alone."

I nodded. "Of course. She seems pretty harmless. It'll be like having a pet!" I chuckled.

Ivy and Autumn shared a funny look. "It'll be like having a pet right up until it's like having a girlfriend, yes," Autumn said. "Slime girls take some time to choose a female form, but once they do, they gradually start behaving more like other monster girls."

I gulped. "How long do we have until that happens?" I asked.

"It's hard to say. Could be a few weeks, could be a few months, but she's getting close in her cycle," Ivy said as the blob perched on her lap.

I was going to save the rest of my questions for later. There were other things to take care of, more monsters to slay, and most importantly, we had to head to the bloodberry bush. Sprinkle was waiting.

We whacked our way through the forest's brambles, navigating it as well as I could remember, until we ended up in precisely the spot. I looked around, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Let's take a rest here," I suggested, tapping the ground with the pole of my lance. "She promised she'd find me when I got to the bloodberry bush, and I'm sure this is the one. It's just a matter of time."

Ivy and Autumn looked at each other and nodded. Gumi just slipped and slimed all over my boots, which I didn't mind. For a living mass of ooze, she was kind of cute. She made lots of funny gurgling sounds and occasional girly sighs and squeals that made her quite the novelty in my eyes. Just as I was starting to relax and enjoy myself, I heard a mad cackle.

"Ha ha ha!" came the voice. It was obviously Rainbow Sprinkle from the overly cute yet weirdly sadistic tone. She jumped down from a tree branch holding something small and ugly in her hands, a ball of black fuzz with glowing yellow eyes and a giant razor-toothed mouth along with grasping clawed hands and feet. It flailed desperately in her clutches.

"Hey, Sprinkle, babe, ummm... Whatcha got there?" I said, anxiously looking back toward my other companions as they went wide-eyed at the unicorn girl, who was still completely nude and whose eyes were glowing hot pink.

"My Bucky," she squealed. "I knew you'd come back! I caught you a present! It's a forest gremlin!"

"Uhh thanks," I said nervously. "What do I do with it?"

Her eyes rolled back erotically and she raised it over her face. The poor creature was flailing and growling. "Impale it. Take its monster soul, and shower my face in its blood. I love you my Bucky! I love you, I--Wait, who are they?" she said abruptly, eyeing Autumn and Ivy, who by now looked utterly aghast.

I smiled awkwardly. "Rainbow Sprinkle, meet Autumn and Ivy. Autumn and Ivy, this is Rainbow Sprinkle."

"By the gods," groaned Ivy in something like disgust. "She's--"

"--Amazing!" Autumn gushed happily, clapping and jumping up and down. "Kill the gremlin, Bucky! It's rude to refuse a gift! It's a free monster soul!" Sprinkle gazed back at her with gaping excitement, like she'd finally found her long lost sister.

I sighed, not sure why I ever thought Autumn and Sprinkle wouldn't get along. At that moment, I just hoped they wouldn't be a bad influence on each other.

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