The receptionist smiles at you gently. “Please touch the orb to determine your rank within the guild, sir.” The orb she is referring to is a milky-white glass ball that is about three times larger than any human palm that would be placed on it. The ball sits in an indent within the receptionists desk at chest level.
Despite the fact that the attractive brunette receptionist behind the counter called you sir, the crowd gathered around the desk snickers. You are younger and more slight than most of the other men in the hall, so you understand why they think it is amusing. This is undoubtedly a common sight. Someone that does not know their own strength coming in, only to be rejected. Many of the people who have assembled from the class of individuals who are not being tested are very likely here just to gawk at those deluded individuals that think they have what it takes to become an adventurer, but actually do not. You know you are not among them. You confidently press your palm against the pale-white orb. During the brief pause of the milky-white interior swirling and coalescing, it briefly occurs to you that you are deluded. That your effort was play and that the people around you were lying about your ability. These thoughts cause the five or so seconds of calibration to drag until finally the color begins to change.
“Great! Blue is at least C grade.” The receptionist marvels, flooding you with relief. “At your age that is pretty impressive.” You almost pull away, thinking the ceremony is done; you accomplished your goal, so it was mission accomplished. Goodbye farmer, hello adventurer. The orb has other ideas. As you try to pull away the orb holds your palm in place is if it and your palm were both powerful magnets. The ball’s interior turns purple, a color you have no reference for. The receptionist gasps and leans over the testing station, swirling purple reflects in her pale-blue eyes. They are flicking back and forth, searching for any error. She seems to decide it is not and announces excitedly.
“Purple means you’re at least B-Grade!” The crowd you is now in stunned silence. You yourself can barely make a sound. Just as you think it may be done the orb changes again, causing the receptionist to cover her mouth and bounce up and down in place.
“I can’t believe this!” The color finishes it’s shift from purple to a dark red.
“At least A-rank, no… S-Rank!” You are finally able to pull your hand away. It tingles, giving you the feeling of having sat on it for a few minutes.
“What does this actually mean? Am I an S-Ranked adventurer?” You ask pointedly. It seems unlikely.
“It means that there is something about you that is causing our system to believe you should be valued at A-rank or greater.” She offers.
“Because you said A or S.”
“There wasn’t a mistake. I need more information to understand why this happened. Let’s take a look.” The receptionist is a sweet woman. Very sweet. It is not a common thing to share your status with anyone, as this can impart very personal, disadvantaging information. Such a right is usually reserved for doctors, parents and officials that are able to demand such a thing. The woman, again, seems nice and very helpful, so you nod and offer her permission. All it takes is for one to be making acknowledged contact with another while they open their status screen for both parties to be able to see it.
“Can I touch you?” She asks in such a tone that you are not sure you could refuse. The woman is about your age and definitely your type. Female.
You nod, giving her the go-ahead to lean on you. You are fairly sure that she needs to lean closer to see it easier, but having her breasts pressed around your arm is a bit much. You open the screen while mildly aroused and immediately regret it as the status below your name reveals to her, the only other observe, that you are in fact minorly aroused and on the way to being fully in that state.
“I’m sorry!”
“No need to apologize.” She shrugs. Her nonchalance feels a bit slighting and digs into your arousal, which thankfully makes it easier, if not a bit sour. With a bit more effort, you steady your emotions so that frustration does not show up.
The screen is an aspect of common life and is valuable in at least some way to most individuals. Being a farmer and having a verifiable grade for your ability to tend the land makes it a simple matter to get a job. So for most people it is novel and useful. For adventurers it is completely necessary.
“The orb takes all skills into account when making its assessment. It carries a magical algorithm that does all the work of identifying talent, basically.” She informs you proudly while looking over your screen.
“All the numbers seem mundane for a kid of your age…” She mumbles more or less to herself. “Promising Talent!?” She raises her voice excitedly, underlining that text with her finger to make sure she is reading it correctly.
“Hold on, I need to look this up.” The receptionist retreats and circles back around to behind the desk. She pulls out a heavy tome filled with enough page markers to double the already impressive thickness of it. The crowd is on edge as she searches. You stand by awkwardly, glancing around at the resentful faces of veteran adventurers. The majority of them are C, with a few stuck at the infamous bottleneck that is B. To see someone with guaranteed potential would make anyone like that frustrated.
“I found it! Yes, yes. It’s good. Definitely S-Grade.” She announces. You hear the crowd groan collectively.
“What’s that?” You decide to spare yourself the dirty looks and instead fix your attention on the woman.
“’Promising Talent’ is one of the heroic traits. It is suspected that only a few of those pop up in humanity every couple decades, and even then some slip through the cracks. Not everyone will come and get tested. They live a normal life and become REALLY good at basket weaving, or something. So it is a BIG deal that you were discovered here, by me.” You note the insistence with which she makes sure to specify that it was her that discovered you.
“Okay… What does it actually do? When I looked at it, I always thought it seemed like a bland trait.”
“Have you always felt pretty capable at whatever you decided to do?” You answer her question with a nod.
“You’re usually better than the people around you in your age group, or close to being better?” Another nod.
“That’s ‘Promising Talent.’ It means you are going to pick up any skill intuitively, you are going to achieve more of an affect from any type of training and you are definitely going to be able to develop an affinity for magic, or other similar methods for harnessing mana.” She takes in a gasp of air after saying all of that with one breath.
“So I’m literally just good at everything?” You immediately decide to empathize with the looks of hatred from your soon-to-be peers. For people that had worked hard for most of their lives, someone with a trait like yours will naturally come off as being extremely privileged.
“So what rank am I going to start at? A-Grade?”
“D grade.” She says frankly.
“Sorry?”
She shrugs. “Potential is potential, but you are about average right now. Heroes are born AND made. It’s what makes it possible that some go on to save the world while others end up getting really good at playing card games.” You show her you understand by nodding. It is not a difficult concept to grasp. No one would be able to immediately start out at the highest grade and flourish. She confirms this thought-process by adding.
“You are definitely going to grow into an A or S-grade talent, but we don’t cultivate that brand of talent by killing them early on with impossible jobs.”
“I’ve been given a chance to do a lot of good for the world. I’ll work hard and make it happen. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.” You announce. You hear subtle ‘Pshh’ sounds from the various adventurers who are now in the process of leaving the guild hall.
“That’s so cute. Spoken like a true hero.” The Receptionist pulls you behind the desk and shows you a few nice cards.
“So, I’m actually going to give you a plate, since I think you’re going place. Most adventurers starting out have to settle for parchment.”
“Okay? Thanks.”
She pulls out a flat, inch-thick bronze plate and stamps it hard. The end result is a very nice-looking rectangular plate with his name and rank.
“Here you are, sir. This plate will serve as your identification, so make sure you keep it on you while you are on a job or picking up a job. Those are the main two.”
You spend a minute at the desk admiring it. It is just a plate, but it has some weight and shine to it, like a trophy. Feeling around, there is a catch at the back where it can be attached to your clothes. You start making plans for where to place it when it occurs to you that you have no idea what you are doing. “Where do I start?”
“Small jobs here and there.” She says evenly, guiding you back around to the front of the desk.
“As a rule of thumb, stick to your grade and group up for anything above that.” After the receptionist finishes talking she looks past you and inclines her head politely before retreating back behind the desk.
“Welcome!” She calls out.
When you turn around and look up from your newly gained treasure, there are only a few people left in the entire building. A few are in the process of leaving, fewer still are sitting at scattered tables spread out in the hall and four of the people among that group seem intent on speaking to you. These are the ones that the woman behind the desk felt the need to politely greet. They are lined up, jostling each other to be at the forefront of your attention.
“Hello?”
“Hiya!” One says forwardly. She takes one big step to stand in front of the other three.
“Hi.” You wave awkwardly as she sizes you up with two sharp, golden eyes. The person that stepped forward is a beast-woman. That alone is enough to catch your attention, but this one in particular is stunning. Her hair is a striking shade of red. It is slightly curly and falls just a few inches below her shoulder. Poking quite obviously up from between the gorgeous, full strands of hair are two soft-looking fox ears. She does not appear to be wearing makeup and her clothing is simple. A thick, green cloth vest with black straps and fastenings wrapping around it like a harness. The piece is conservative, covering her entire torso, but the straps beneath and around her chest effectively push up and out her otherwise small breasts and have the effect of making them look bigger, whether that is the intention or not. The sleeves of a white blouse are poking out from the vest and just barely cover her shoulders. There are also hints of it shown through some small holes in the vest where the fastenings hold it together. Around the woman’s waist is a tight belt holding up some of the shortest shorts you have ever seen. So short that they may as well just count as underwear. So short that he pouches attached to the belt around her waist mostly sit below where the shorts cut off. For footwear she wears a simple pair of cloth boots that ride halfway up her calves.
It is quite obvious to anyone present that you are staring, but the woman does not seem to mind. Rather than mind, she winks at you and motions you closer.
“You should probably just come with me. Don’t gotta think too much about it. You wanna be stronger, right? I’ll help you out.” After she says that you begin to step forward, but are snapped out of an apparent trance by another loud voice. The beast-woman lets out a low growl and turns to glare in the direction of the shrill sound.
“Stop! Stop! I have your attention? Good. Do not waste your potential, my dear boy.” That elegant please is made by the third member from the group of four you witnessed. As she steps up to stand beside the first woman, you begin to feel a little crowded, but can not say you mind. Your head is turned by the appearance of the new woman, to the annoyance of the beast-woman that had your attention first.
“You need to focus your attention on magic. Any fool can throw their fists around, but it takes a unique individual to learn a true art like magic.”
“I know m-” The beastwoman argues loudly, only to be interrupted incredibly quickly by the Mage.
“Real magic!” She waits to make sure she will no longer be interrupted, then turns her nose up with satisfaction and returns her pleasant gaze to you.
“What do you say?” The woman is undoubtedly an elf. You spot her long ears immediately and do not see any fur. That is how one can be sure. Her hair and eyes are both dark, but her skin is pale as porcelain, creating a stark contrast. She is more dressed in general than any of the others, especially the woman you just saw. Considering stark contrasts, looking at the two of them is like staring at night and day. The elf wears a long-sleeved dress that covers most of her lithe form down to her thighs, where the hem of the dress falls well above her knees. Even with the short skirt, the woman finds a way to hide her pale skin. She wears White stalkings that cover what is visible of her legs completely. The entire piece is frilly and girly in shape, but the base of the dress is black, with highlights in white. As opposed to the sensible footwear of the beast-woman, the elf is wearing a pair of heeled shoes. It strikes you that the complex outfit must take a little while to put on.
“Stop crowding him.” Comes the exasperated voice of the woman on the far right. She steps forward and tries to shoo the other two back. She is far easier to take in, as you recognize her garb quite easily. The woman has blonde hair, tied up in a pony-tail. She is not wearing clothing, but a uniform. Blue and white with gold buttons. It is a coat over a thin blouse. She wears pants instead of a skirt and black military boots. She gives you a very relaxed look. “They can be a bit much. Don’t let them pressure you into anything.” You gulp and offer a short nod, triggering a slight smile in the dignified woman. Your gaze is not pulled to her by the state of her dress, but by what is so obviously beneath it. Though the coat is conservative, you can see where her heavy chest is being constrained by it. Her shapely body is perfectly complimented by the military clothes. Even the pants, which you have never seen on a girl, hug her wide hips in an attractive way.
“Huh…” Curiously, you look past the three women to the last figure. She had been looking down, but the moment you stare at her she tilts her head up to meet your gaze with her striking green eyes. Her hair is an unusual silver color, and incredibly long, falling half-way down her back. She wears casual-looking thick robes that cover her body to the point that it is not incredibly obvious how she looks. Out of the four, she is the only one to carry a weapon. Her long, slightly curved sword is sheathed at her side.
She exhales lightly. “Whether you decide to go with me or not is up to fate.”
“Let’s slow down.” the soldier-looking woman says, raising her hands. She motions to herself.
“My name is Teuta. I am a Royal Knight sent by the Imperial Academy.” She looks over at the other women.
“I suspect you all received similar prophecies? You should probably introduce yourselves before you skip right to trying to kidnap this young adventurer.” She says it jokingly, but there is a definite annoyance in her tone.
The elf nods, her pale cheeks flushing with what you assume to be embarrassment. “I am Jeane. I was told to be in this place by the School of Sciences and Magic.”
The beast-woman shrugs. “Kara. Nice to meet ya. I’m a bit of a fortune-teller.”
The three of them, joined by you, look back expectantly at the fourth individual. She taps the hilt of her sword impatiently. From the start of the meeting to where you are now, her hand has been on it continuously. “Sword-saint Jhiana.”
Teuta scratches the side of her head awkwardly, looking away from Jhiana to regard you. “Alright then! All of these ladies look rather skilled, I think. I don’t mean to shape your decision of who to go with too drastically, but in terms you’re familiar with, I am A-Grade.”
“Same! But an A-grade mage is an S-Grade anything else! Keep that in mind.” Jeane says quickly.
“Whatever, bitch…” Kara shakes her head at the elf. “I’m like, A-grade, or whatever, too.”
“The hell did you call-” Jeane’s argumentation is shushed by the group. Each of them is interested to hear what the apparent ‘sword-saint’ has to say about her grade.
Jhiana tilts her head to one side. “No comment.”
“Alright then.” Teuta chuckles lightly.
“There you have it. Would you be interested in coming with any of us?”
Despite the other options seeming more practical you simply can’t take your eyes off the Beast-woman. Part of it is her humble, yet somewhat riske, attire. Though not many of the girls back home would wear something similar, it is something someone you grew up with could wear. Complimenting her look, she does not try to put up airs and comes off as being very honest. In contrast, all three of the other women are foreign to you and at least two of them seem to have some ulterior goal in trying to bring you with them. Teuta is undoubtedly from the capital, the nest of nobility and bureaucracy. The opposite of what you are used to. She is earnest, but you have no idea how that environment will treat you. The mage Jeane is just extremely cocky. The self-proclaimed sword saint is frank, which is the same thing that drew you to Kara, but instead of being open the silver haired woman is completely obtuse and uncaring, which makes it exceedingly easy not to pick her. Overall, Kara is exotic to you, but not as unfamiliar or far from your sensibilities as the others and it helps that she is just gorgeous. For those reasons you raise your finger and point at her.
The other three women begin to react to what each of them see as an unusual choice. Jhiana simply offers a short nod before turning to leave. Teuta lowers her head in acceptance of the decision. Jeane’s reaction is the most stark. Her face reddens with anger and the Elf Mage glares at you with wide eyes, her dark pupils shrinking into their dark-blue iris’s.
“This is unbelievable! You are WASTING your talent, you dumb kid!”
You are taken aback by the outburst and are not sure what to say. You gulp, then open your mouth to earnestly muster an apology, but you stop as Kara moves out of the corner of your eye. She steps beside you and drapes one arm around your shoulder protectively. Kara then leans forward in a taunting pose.
“Everyone may as well be a ‘kid’ to an old hag like you.” She mocks.
“In the Human world he’s old enough to make his own decisions. Humans and Beastmen don’t need lots of time before we can stop acting like kids.” She gives Elaine a knowing smirk, pointing at her accusingly.
“Unlike Elves, Apparently.”
The mage is obviously seething. She clenches and unclenches her pale, delicate hands. “Yooou!” Her fingers crackle with electricity that shifts color from blue, to red, to black. As the black sparks begin to lick at the ground near you Kara still seems exceedingly calm and even maintains a bit of her playful air.. Whether she was not worried about Jeane’s magic, or she predicted that Teuta would pull the arrogant mage into a headlock, the effect is the same. You are sure you made the right choice in that moment. Jeane’s magic is dissipated. She kicks and pulls at Teuta unsuccessfully.
“Let me go, you cultist!”
“Your masters would be embarrassed by your conduct.” Teuta says simply.
“Uhh…” Jeane’s anger immediately turns to embarrassment and her struggling stops.
“Come now.” Teuta pulls Jeane out of the hall while she remains stiff as a board.
“Bye bye. Don’t come back.” Kara giggles and waves after them jokingly.
“So…” You look down and blush. Of course you did not feel anything in the moment, but now that the tension has left the room you can not help but notice how close Kara is to you. The woman is essentially hugging you from the side and leaning on you.
She looks at you curiously and seems to just say the first thing that comes to mind, completely ignoring the situation. “Do you have food where you live?”
You stand stiffly and avert your gaze, assuming she will realize what she is doing soon. “I live on a farm.” Instead of letting you go, your answer has the opposite effect. She turns and actually begins hugging you excitedly from the side. You throw your head back, feeling her breasts pressing around your arm.
“That’s great! Chickens? Eggs?” She brings her face close to yours and licks her lips. You can feel her breath on the side of your face. It smells surprisingly good.
“No!” You finally muster the wherewithal to pull out of her grasp. She was not trying to hold you in a particularly tight way, so you were able to stumble back a few feet.
“Eh?” She huffs and leans back, raising her brow. “What’s wrong? Why’re you so red? I’m not gonna raid your chicken coop…”
“We don’t-” You hold your hand to your chest to feel how quickly it is beating and decide to take a moment. It is only a few seconds of Kara tilting her head at you quizzically, waiting for an answer, before you are able to stand up straight and collect yourself. “We don’t raise chickens or any kind of livestock. It’s mainly root vegetables and there’s also a small plot devoted to flowers.
“Huh? You got meat at your place, right?” She asks with a worried look on her face.
“It’s not something we have very often, no.” You begin wondering if you picked up a master or a stray with your decision.
Kara holds her head in her hands and shakes. “No no no… This isn’t good.” She closes the distance again quickly and grabs your arm. She is frantic.
“W-what!?” You lean away from the woman. You had not noticed before, but with her angled just right you can see a bushy tail pointed straight up behind her.
Looking at you with a completely serious expression she states sagely. “If you only eat vegetables you’ll end up turning into one.”
You are speechless but eventually manage to ask. “Who told you that?”
“My master.”
“Meat is for special occasions. You’ll be fine. I’m fine.” You argue calmly.
She squeezes your arm in response. “This is why you’re so thin! You probably eat nothing but beanstalks so you’re taking the shape of one.”
Rapidly questioning your choices you say humorlessly. “I’m not tall enough to be a beanstalk and besides, those aren’t root vegetables. If what you’re saying is true then I should look more like a potato, right?”
Kara releases you and steps back, adopting a determined expression. “I’ll teach you how to hunt, apprentice. I’ll make sure you don’t end up looking like a potato.” She says that with a benevolent tone, as though she is honestly trying to help you avoid that fate.
“Okay.” You decide to stop trying to fight her on this point.
“What are you going to teach me, exactly? You mentioned you were a fortune-teller and you could help me get stronger?”
“Yep! I’m able to predict the future, sort of. My accuracy is a little off but this time it worked out.”
You question internally the value of a fortune-teller with low accuracy, but set that aside for now. “One of your predictions brought you here? How do they work?” You brace yourself for another ditsy response. Surprisingly, she adopts more of a serene expression in response and holds both of her hands out with open palms while closing her eyes. To you it looks as if she is meditating while standing.
“This is the way of the universe. Everything that’s happened, is happening or will happen is like a stream.” The space around you darkens and every part of the hall fades into black except Kara, who is standing in the middle of a flat blue stream that is traveling through her. Looking down, you notice that the stream is traveling through you, as well. She lowers her palms into the stream. It reacts by flowing around them like they are stones in the way, but instead of reconnecting on the other side, the clear blue is split into three.
“Everything moves the stream but it’s when something important happens that it splits apart. Learning to predict the future is about reading how the stream’s gonna split.” Kara opens her eyes. Her golden iris’s are replaced by glowing blue pools similar to the stream. She points straight ahead, alternating between the three streams that are flowing through you.
You try to put your hand down into the stream, but nothing happens. “There’s three, though and they all could happen. Right?”
Kara nods. “Yup! That’s why it’s tricky. I’ll read your stream when we settle down somewhere.” She moves her hands upward fluidly. As she closes her palms the hall fades back into existence and the stream disappears. Kara smiles at you with wide, golden eyes.
“Speaking of. Where are we going?” You can’t help but feel that she is looking and acting more and more like a stray with each passing minute.
“Do you not have anywhere to go?” You saw her skill first-hand and, frankly, it did impress you. The implications of reading the future are vast, even in the small rural world that you come from. With that power you expect some type of hidden temple. A secret archive of magical secrets walled away from the world. A mountain retreat rich in mana that pilgrims might visit. Any of that.
“I’m a bit down on my luck right now.” Kara says shamelessly.
“Are you homeless?” You look at her in disbelief.
She stares back at you with wide, cat-like eyes. “Is my apprentice homeless?”
You consider answering yes just to see how she will react. You have been with her for just a few minutes and so far she has presented you with a strange contrast. On one hand she is truly capable in some form of impressive magic. On the other hand, her main concerns so far have been your access to meat and shelter.
“I have a home I could go back to, but truthfully I expected this to be the beginning of my adventure. I planned to set out, make a living doing jobs and working my way up the rankings until I could make something of myself. After that I would return and impress my village with stories of far away lands and devious creatures.”
Kara nods slowly as if she is following along, but the impression you get is that she is not processing your aspirations. “So… You got parents? With a house? On a potato farm?” She smiles at you and leans forward suggestively.
“Is that right?”
Your shoulders slump. “That’s right.” You can see that the beastwoman is trying to contain her excitement. At the very least she is maintaining some form of politeness. Kara has done everything short of outright asking if she can crash at you place. You do not feel like she is impossible to refuse, just that she is trying to be very convincing with the hopeful look she is giving you.
“Would you… Like to come back to my village?”
She gasps and you have to assume it was feigned, but her demeanor seems genuine. It should not take a fortune teller to understand what the eventual result of all her questioning and non-verbal begging would be.
“Of course! Thank you, apprentice!” She glomps onto you and hugs you tightly, causing most of your hesitation to melt away as her soft chest presses into yours.
You curse your own willpower over the newly gained knowledge that even a small amount of affection from a beautiful woman is enough to sway you completely. “I think I can predict the future…” You say offhandedly.
Kara releases you from her tight grasp and tilts her head to look at you. “Oh yeah?”
“I predict I’d be a terrible pet owner.”
“Huh! What makes you think that?” The talented fortune-tell is unable to decipher your meaning.
You stare at the fox, her bushy red tail swooshing back and forth. She is genuinely curious and you do not have the heart to tell her that she reminds you of a small, cute animal that does not have the awareness to realize the subtle power it exerts over humans.
“Never mind.” With that her attention is already elsewhere. She looks towards the door, then back at you.
“You wanna get going?” She looks hesitant. The only thing you can think of, based off everything you know about her so far, that would cause her to be hesitant would be.
“You are hungry.”
Kara smiles widely and lifts a finger. “Apprentice, your powers of prediction are blooming nicely already!”
You look at her skeptically. “Are you just taking advantage of me?”
She is surprised by the accusation and a little hurt. “What? No way! Not at all.” She makes a stopping motion by crossing her arms as she says that.
“I wouldn’t hurt you or take advantage of you. You’re meant for big things.” She stares at you sadly, her ears bending forward.
“Is that the read you’re getting on me?”
You stop yourself from answering instinctively. “No, actually…”
She huffs. “Why do you sound surprised?”
“Because I just feel like I know your intentions.” You open your status screen to see a new skill has appeared. Unlike the esoteric ability that you only just figured out the meaning of, the skill you gained seems fairly self-explanatory. It is called ‘Judge Character I’ and you can assume it does exactly what it implies. From Kara you do not get the impression that she is trying to take advantage of you at all. You do not need the skill to infer from that judgment that she is simply very bad in social situations. You look upon her somewhat pitiably.
Her cheeks flush. “W-what? Why’re you looking at me like that?”
“Nothing.” You smile warmly. “Since we are heading home, anyway, I’ll buy us something to eat out of my travel expenses. To celebrate.”
“Great! Let’s go right away.” Kara grasps your hand tightly. You know that it is an act that she is not even considering, but for you the simple gesture makes you feel a bit awkward. It is your understanding that, in general, men and women that hold hands are lovers. You lower your head as she begins dragging you out of the hall towards the market and finally pull your hand away once you are outside. She turns around and looks at you questioningly.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing.” You move next to her and the two of you begin walking together. Watching her closely, you notice the way various normal things catch her interest more than they would a normal citizen of the empire.
“Are you… Familiar with human customs and cities?”
“I don’t come to places like this. I usually don’t got a reason to.” She says matter-of-factly.
“I think humans are really good at making food. The stuff you put on it makes it taste really weird, but I like it.”
“The spices? Okay…” You know that does not sound like the type of cooking you are used to. Not that your mothers cooking is bad, just that it is very simple and almost always devoid of anything other than salt.
“Sounds like you’re more familiar with the eastern lands.”
“Didn’t know there was a difference.” She shrugs.
“If you say so, Apprentice.” You make a mental note to buy some exotic food that she might like before you leave. It is something you would not mind trying, anyway.
After feeding Kara you mention that it is probably best to just start the trip back. The journey is both short and well-traveled by merchants, which means it is well-guarded. You did not feel uncomfortable making the trip on your own despite being inexperienced in combat or hunting for that reason. If you were attacked, help was not far away and if you were in need of aid, it would come within a day down the same road you were walking. You know that it took you from dawn to dusk to reach the city from your village so it should be about the same on the way back. Even though it will definitely become dark based off the time you are leaving from, and therefore a bit more dangerous, you are comforted by Kara’s assuredness. She at least seems to fully believe that she is capable of defending the both of you.
You walk the road with what little sunlight you have after leaving the city. Once it starts to become dark you divert off of it into a small flat patch in the woods to camp. “I’ll go grab some dry wood to make a fire.” You offer generously. Living in a rural area, the ability to make a fire is a common skill, but the promise of fumbling with two sticks in front of your new master is not exciting, since survival certainly isn’t your specialty.
“If you want.” Kara does not sound particularly interested in the prospect, either.
“I get that some of your kind are nocturnal but I’m not really comfortable sitting in the cold and the dark.” You explain, expecting this to just be another simple cultural divide.
The fox-woman perks up. “Oh! Me neither. I just do this.” She holds her hands in front of her as if she is carrying a bowl between them and casually summons a wisp of blue light that glows brighter than a camp fire. It is enough to illuminate the entire clearing.
“That’s useful.” You get closer to it.
“It’s warm, too.”
“You can touch it and there’s no smoke. I can makes small or big ones so it’s good for indoors and outdoors.” She lectures proudly, passing her hand through it. Kara releases the wisp and lets it float lazily between you both. It only moves occasionally in the form of a gentle bobbing.
“Could I learn how to do that?”
Kara looks down in thought. After a few moments she looks up to say cryptically. “I hope so.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, most of this stuff I can do is passed down through my tribe, so I’m not sure if a human can do it.” She speaks innocently, obviously not fully grasping the implications of what she said.
You shake a little, trying not to become angry immediately. “You don’t think that would’ve been a responsible thing to mention when I was deciding my future?”
You words reach her, thankfully, proving she is not completely inept socially. Kara bites her bottom lip lightly with one of her sharp canines. Not enough to draw blood, but just enough to leave a small mark. “Worst case scenario I just watch over you while you’re training.” She looks at you with big eyes. Her ears and tail droop. All of this, in your limited experience, shows you that she knows fully that she did something wrong.
You calm yourself. As bad as the situation is, you are simply back to where you would have been had the four women not offered anything. It is exactly what you expected. What you wanted, even. At least now you also have what should at the very least be a somewhat loyal companion, or pet, or what-have-you.
“At least give me this. What did your predictions tell you about me? Can you read my fortune?”
Kara brightens. “I know that!” She clears her throat and sits you down around the wisp of light.
“The prediction actually occurred a while ago. Every so often, when certain events line up it is possible to read the flow of the world itself. When that happens, those who can read the stream get together and try to gather as much as possible.”
“I guess it would be because, if you’re reading the fortune for the fate the world itself, there’s going to be more than one or two things to pick out and a lot of it is probably not going to be relevant. More people means more chances to get something important.”
“That… Actually makes a lot of sense.” She looks as if she only now understood why so many of her kind gathered together.
“Are you well regarded among your people?” You do not mean to sound derisive, but it comes out sounding that way, regardless.
Kara looks offended. “I’m very good at what I do!” She waits to see if you have anything else to retort before continuing.
“Anyway, what I was able to pick out was simply that a hero will appear at the city you appeared at, around the time you appeared. That was a big enough deal that I was willing to risk it being wrong. The rest of my tribe and the others there agreed, too.”
You can not get over the fact that she is the one they picked. “So… Are you more or less skilled than most of the people in your tribe, or in your circle of fortune tellers?” She leans forward and flicks your forehead aggressively..
“Ow!”
“I’m an esteemed Elder!” She argued. You can tell she is not lying, but it is still hard to believe.
“Alright, alright. Can you read my fortune?”
“I was getting to that.” She slides closer to you and takes your hands.
“You don’t need to do anything except relax.” Nodding at her instruction, you find it easy to do by staring at her calm expression. Her eyes are closed and she has a serene, mature quality to her in the moment that does not come out when she is talking to you normally. It calms you even more to imagine how ideal it would be to have a serene, matronly Beastwoman mentor. With that thought you feel yourself becoming a bit too calm as your pants strain slightly due to a growing hardness between your legs. While you struggle to will your member to stop you hear an audible gulp from her. Kara’s serene expression is now somewhat pained. She opens her eyes and gives you a worried look.
“I hope I’m wrong.”
“Wrong about what?” You lean in curiously.
“You are supposedly going to lead a very unfortunate life. I see many streams where you become strong, but few where you are happy. Many bitter streams and even more that lead to disaster.”
You are not sure what to say to that. “W- What? But I become strong in most of the paths? How is it that I become strong and bitter or strong and unhappy?”
She looks down sadly. “I’m not s-”
“What?” You wonder what made her stop and quickly realizing where her eyes are pointed. You cover yourself quickly.
“Don’t worry about that.”
Kara looks up and makes eye contact. She does seem upset or embarrassed. Her demeanor could even be described as casual. “No no. It seems like you’re ready to breed?” She leans over into your lap and pulls your hands away easily before going for your belt.
“Sorry. This must hurt.”
You guess that this is another misunderstanding. The beastwoman has no concept of human shame or boundaries. You can tell that much by reading her intentions. She is genuinely trying to help you by unbuckling your pants to get to your rapidly hardening member.
“S-surely you aren’t planning to-”
“I’m not a good partner for THAT, but I can still take care of you in other ways.” She reaches into your opened pants and draws free your cock with her slender hands. Her touch alone, the first touch you have every felt from a woman in that area, is enough to cause your heart to start racing. There is no willing your way out of this, now; blood is rapidly rushing to your member and causing it to throb.
“Hmm.” She looks down at it. While hard she is able to wrap her fingers all the way around it and it is not particularly big-looking. You become anxious not knowing what she thinks about it and assume she is used to far bigger.
“Just remembering that I haven’t really done this much. But it’s a pretty normal thing to do in my tribe.”
You squirm a bit since she is clutching your member gently while she talks. Every small movement of her hand is heaven. “N-normal to take care of men like this?”
She looks up at you as if it is an obvious thing. “The men of the tribe get aggressive if their needs aren’t taken care of and they’ll get their needs taken care of one way or another. Better to handle it before someone ends up pregnant.” Kara looks like she is ready to second guess that practice, now that you are bringing it up.
“Is that… Not normal for humans?”
* * *
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Source: reddit.com/r/Erotica/comments/ue9132/ntr_quest_chapters_13_cyoasecond_personntr