"Aaaaaahhhhhh!"
A bunny with grayish blue hair dashed out of the rabbitmen formation and stopped before the nearest monster, her girlish screams overpowering its angry and fearful roars as she brought her sword down on its neck with a vengeance.
CHOP! CHOP! CHOP!
She painted a gory sight as she hacked into it and bit all the way through, the head attached to it falling with a thump and rolling a short distance away.
She stood up, covered in blood and shivering as though the red clinging to her was freezing water. She took a few seconds to gather her wits and walked dazedly to the flower field, raising her right foot and dropping it on one of the colorful blooms, mushing it with the sole of her shoe.
I gave her a nod of approval after she turned to face me, my expression still in instructor mode though inwardly thankful for her courage and the effect her actions had had on her father and fellow tribesmen and women.
Tears still flowing their faces unbidden, the rabbits ambled their way over to the prepared rite of passages, most doing the deed in a less violent manner compared to her and taking even longer as well.
In the end though, I got what I wanted. Standing before me bathed in various amounts of blood were the utterly broken rabbits, their dried tears and dead eyes a truly wonderful sight. "Good. You're not the totally spineless cowards I thought you were. We can move on to the next part of your training."
From there I showed them basic sword and knife stances and moves, the swordsman ability and my own training with combat knives in my former life helping me immensely.
When I finished and ensured that they'd seen and heard everything about the right postures, grips, and all that jazz, I dismissed them, but not without a warning.
"Alright maggots. That's enough for today. Tomorrow we'll pick up where we left off. If even one of you makes the slightest mistake when demonstrating what I just showed you, you'll give me pushups till you wish you didn't have arms. All of you. Now get the hell out of my sight. You have 3 seconds."
Being the masters of escape that they were, the rabbits vanished in less than two, despite the absolute hell I'd visited on their minds and bodies. I felt a bit bad about that, but I decided to trust in the insights my ability granted me.
Colorful Canvas: You got good eyes, son. Good enough to become a trainer, not any kind of trainer, mind you. But the kind that can take a handful of peace-loving, magic-deaf, mentally-slow, weak demi-humans and convert them into the elite assassination forces with top-notch teamwork and a use of their natural advantages to the full extent -in a couple of weeks. A group that would keep on growing stronger by themselves even after that period. The instinct to find the talents of others and how to raise them best is yours, and powerful enough that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that any army or group trained by you personally could become the strongest to ever exist. Don't worry, you can apply this same ability on yourself.
Despite how cruel I'd been, the Haulia would be better for it in the long run.
Looking around the abandoned village, I spotted Brim beneath a tree, enjoying the shade it provided while he played around with his new toys. I'd given him some ingots and rocks of rare materials that I'd imbued with the Reverse Cursed Technique.
In the same way the brain was the focal point for this ability—a successful headshot that destroyed my brain would totally kill me—I'd singled out tiny portions of the materials and designated them as "brains," creating items that could regenerate their mass so long as they weren't totally destroyed or consumed.
Showing Brim where these cores were located after handing him the items had essentially netted him infinite resources to practice and work with. And while the storage cabinet of ideas in my mind were bursting at the seams, I wanted the man to enjoy and explore his new abilities on his own for a little bit, just like how Siv had taken to testing her mettle against the more stronger monsters prowling about the mists.
Besides, there was something I'd rather be doing now, and the only person I wanted to do it with was currently headed for me with the same intentions, riding on her golden disc of compressed wind.
.
.
.
.
Sealed within the confines of four hastily raised and compressed earth walls, I wasted no time and summoned an already laid bed, plopping on it butt first. Yue, the lusty little minx, knelt down on the soft grass carpet and went straight for my pants, or more precisely, the zipper restraining my very visible bulge.
"Wait…" I put my hand on her own, stopping her, "...we need to talk."
She pulled back with much reluctance, and though it stung to see it, I pressed on. "What you said to Siv… I... you shouldn't have done that."
With zero emotion on her features nor in her tone, Yue said without missing a beat, "That tiger is eager to do more than sleep with you. She'll bark if you order her to. You know this.
You also like that she likes you, and you've entertained thoughts of the two of you together, exploring that… side of her. I should be the one asking the questions, like why you haven't accepted her yet.
You lectured some people about power and using it to shape the world to their liking. You have the power, and you have the desire, so what's stopping you? And don't say me. You already know what I think."
Done with her piece, the unrepentant nymphomaniac escaped my grip and unzipped my pants, pulling my now flaccid member free. She began to lather it up with a healthy dose of saliva, kisses and licks, leaving me to mull over her words.
Little Rick obviously answered the vigorous call and stood tall, but my mind was miles away.
Why didn't I want other women apart from Yue? The answer was instantly obvious to me… because I'd known it from day one, when she started to make passes at me.
It was the fear of not being able to love her as much as she loved me. That's why I'd closed my mind off to other women despite being in a fantasy world with abilities built for the exact opposite.
A tight, wet, and warm sensation pulled me back to reality, and my gaze naturally went down to my crotch, a head of impossible white hair bobbing up and down as my girlfriend's eager lips kissed the base of my stiff mast repeatedly.
Groaning and holding back the urge to jerk my waist for more of the tight wetness, I held her head to stop her and ask a question, only for her to direct me to our mental connection.
Sighing, I reminded myself that she was the one person in existence I could be vulnerable with, so I steeled myself and let her know the answer to her question, no longer hiding what I'd been desperately keeping from her this whole time.
'Babe… your question. The reason… the reason I don't want more women is... I'm afraid. I'm afraid… I'll love you less if I add more. I'm afraid my love for you will never match up to yours.'
There, I said it.
Yue actually stopped her head mid bob but didn't look at me, her mouth and mind completely silent. We both stayed still like that, the seconds passing into a minute until she resumed throating me, choking herself with my length like nothing at all happened.
The confusion I obviously felt melted away when she spoke again. '...It's okay. Even if your love for me… reduces, your happiness is what matters most to me. If you're happy, I'm happy. So it's okay. Remember what you said when you proposed? About needing time to love me? How does eternity sound? Is it too short? Or is it enough?'
'...Yue…'
'Please… don't hold back on my account. If you like someone and want them, take them. I didn't hold back when I wanted you, so you shouldn't hold back when you want someone. We have all the time in the world.'
I came then and there, closing my eyes with a moan as I grabbed her head with both hands. 'Yue… I love you so much.'
Her lips touched my crotch as she swallowed my seed greedily, her tongue lapping up the base of my cock as her throat turned into an industrial grade vacuum. The aftershocks wracked my body like electric shocks and I rode them gleefully, my breath evening out into pleasurable and content huffs when they slowly faded.
Slowly, Yue pulled off my softening dick, opening her mouth wide to show me nothing of what I just dumped down her throat. My response was to dive down and take them in a kiss so hard it seemed like I wanted to eat her up.
'Babe… I love you so so much. You mean the world to me…'
'Mmn… you mean the world to me too…'
We shared the kiss, raw, loud and passionate, conveying our endless and all consuming desire for one another.
Hands clutching her head and feeling her silky hair tightly, I leaned into the kiss with so much fervor Yue had to lean backwards in response, her own hands threading my white locks and groping my scalp like hooks.
The inevitable split happened with a smack when our lips separated and I pulled my tongue from her throat, both of us keenly aware of my desire to stick a stiffer and heftier part of me in her neck.
Eager to please me with her whole being, Yue availed herself to me with a smile, and I wasted no time in grabbing and throwing her onto the bed, my belt unclasping and pants going low with a clank.
Angling her so she lay on her back with her head hanging off the edge, I aimed my dick at her open and waiting vacuum maw and plunged in, pressing my crotch on her face in one stroke.
I closed my eyes and threw my head back, groaning in disbelief at just how amazing my life was. I don't think I was ever gonna stop saying it. I didn't deserve Yue, and I would always make sure she knew it.
Clamping both hands around her bulging, suctioning throat, I squeezed and immediately grunted at the ungodly mix of sensations, immensely grateful for the fact that I had such a woman (who didn't need to breathe) at my beck and call.
Slowly, I dragged myself out of her constrictive neck, fighting an orgasm the whole way. Thrusting back inside, I repeated the whole process, quickly finding a rhythm and picking up speed.
PLAP! PLAP! PLAP!
GHK! GHK! GHK!
My heavy, overextended balls slapped against her face again and again, the cacophony of it and her choking driving me even more nuts. Putting more strength into the thrusts, I was soon fucking her face like I hated her, her whole body and the bed jolting and shifting back with every impact.
If I couldn't sense intimately how elated and excited she felt at being used roughly for my pleasure like this, I'd have stopped this long ago and not even devolved into such wild rutting.
The face-fucking continued for a long while, my eagerness to prolong the unique style of sex leading me to utilize every ounce of endurance and will I could muster to postpone my orgasm.
However, it was soon time. Yue was unbearably sexy, and her throat was just that amazing.
"Fuck! Babe… I'm coming," I groaned and gave a last thrust, tightening my death grip on her neck and putting all my weight on her face. This embedded her deeper into the bed, but I was too busy to notice.
Liquid fire shot from my tip and each ejected rope sent a shudder through me, my whole body trembling in mind-melting ecstasy.
Huffing and puffing, I waited until her throat vacuumed the last strand out of me before releasing her reddened but healing neck, pulling back and staggering unsteadily on my feet.
Whew!
Faster than I could say "what," the should-have-been-too-abused-to-move-minx spun around and got on her knees before me, grabbing my softened length before starting another round of mouth and tongue polishing.
Blood responded to her salacious call and rushed into my very eager tool, her excitement mirroring my own as our eyes and smiles met. Gently pulling her up, I snuck my hand up her clothes to latch onto her tits and mashed my lips against hers.
We sucked each other's mouths hungrily and danced around with our tongues, our hands undressing each other in the real world.
Hiking up her mini-skirt till it was around her midriff, I didn't let her take off her stockings nor her heels. I hooked both arms between her legs and behind her knees and lifted her up, grabbing her ass cheeks at the peak for stability.
Still locked in a battle of tongues with her, I rested my cockhead against her dripping slit and pulled my lips away, sucking her jaw, cheek and neck all the way to her ear where I whispered something.
She stopped lapping and suckling my neck and latched onto it with her fangs in a flash. I felt a familiar pinprick followed by a drain, and I took that as a go ahead to move.
Dragging her airborne form forward and impaling her on my throbbing, rock hard length in one go, I ignored her needy murmur into my neck and reaffirmed my grip on her ass.
I dragged her in the opposite direction off my dick, leaving in just the tip before smashing her into me a second time, earning myself even deeper murmurs that travelled all throughout my body.
PLAP! PLAP! PLAP!
Back and forth I swung her, spearing her grippy cunt as it clung to and wrung me in ways it'd never done before, this position hitting some hard to reach buttons and triggering some effects unique to it. My pistoning immediately grew slick and soppy, the traversal of her cunt growing a tad easier as her arousal gained an additional component.
Mixed in between the copious amounts of cream was the occasional spurt of clear arousal. It not only washed the former away, it also stained my stomach and pelvis and dripped down my dick like a faucet, splattering onto my legs and the ground.
The splashes and deep muffled moans using my body as a soundboard drove me crazy, the increased fury I channeled into my grip and the extra finesse I applied by winding her around on my dick saying it all.
I was madly in love with this woman, and I would happily die in her embrace.
.
.
.
.
It was still jarring to see even though I'd expected it.
Apart from Shea whose innate ability to use magic came along with the rare Diviner class, each of the black clad rabbits before me had gained the Assassin job when I used the magic granting ability on them.
I had waited till the end of their training to awaken their innate talents, hoping that there'd be some variations. After all, what was I going to do with sixty assassins? Ten or maybe even twenty would suffice for my goals.
But no, the magic granting ability dished out assassin after assassin, giving me the same insight time and time again with little to no variations. The rabbits were by nature incredibly stealthy, extremely sensitive to shifts in their environment, and masters of traversal and escape.
It was in their genes and in their culture, and unless I was willing to target these fundamental things and apply changes there, this was the result I was going to get.
And so taking it all in stride, I gave them the jobs along with the final rewards for completing their training: healing rings I'd personally crafted with Cursed Tool Creation and uniforms and gear created by Brim with my obvious input.
The specially treated monster leather interwoven with Azantium threads clung to their lithe and visibly more muscled frames, their long ears hidden from sight with the attached ninja mask.
All of them, man, woman, child stood at attention quietly, their hands straight by their sides and their shortswords and throwing knives attached to them in hidden and visible but all easy to reach places. A sea of focused eyes stared straight ahead as I outlined the details of their first mission.
"Cam. You'll lead your people to the town of Horaud and conquer the labyrinth there," I said and paused, darting my gaze across the sixty sets of eyes.
There were no changes in them. No fear, no shock, or concern, just unmarred placidness wherever my eyes fell. I held back a smile and continued, raising a fist and holding it beside my head.
"You have two objectives." I unclasped one finger, "One. Under no circumstances are you to be seen entering the town or the labyrinth. If that proves to be too difficult, your status as beastmen should absolutely not be discovered."
Another finger came up, "Two. You'll be escorting Brim on your journey. It is integral that no harm comes to him, and the same goes for you guys. Nobody is allowed to die, especially not to mere monsters. Is that understood?"
"Sir, yes, sir!"
"Good," I nodded, "the details of the town's location and the labyrinth will be provided. See Brim for them Cam."
"Yes sir!"
"Alright, dismissed."
The rabbits relaxed at my words, their shoulders slumping—in relaxation not defeat—as they moved about and started conversing with each other. My attention wasn't on them however, Brim stealing it with his repressed scowl.
"Lighten up," I said, smiling a bit, "I know it'll suck, trust me, I've been there. But it'll be worth it, and you won't even be alone."
The dwarf rubbed his calloused thumb over his own healing ring and stared at the mingling rabbitmen, each of them clad in and armed with his handiwork over the past three weeks, some of them returning his stare with curious ones.
He grunted and looked away, finding my face again. "...What'll ye be doing?"
"Going after the next labyrinth. This one's in a volcano."
That actually knocked away his scowl a bit, contemplation marring his features. "...Really? Its magic must be something then."
That wasn't how the labyrinths worked, but then again the Gruen Volcano held the secrets of space manipulation within its molten depths, and I hadn't missed the obvious synergy between it and the domain abilities unique to cursed energy.
It was highly probable the ability or (I hoped) abilities I received upon clearing it would either be the most powerful or if not, be among them. "You might be right," I said to him, "...we just have to reach there and beat it first."
"Aye… luck to you then… don't go dying before ye hold up yer end of the deal."
"Don't worry. Don't plan on kicking the bucket anytime soon," I replied and held out my hand for a handshake. He grabbed it and shook and I bid him farewell. "Good luck my friend. I'll see you soon."
"Hm…"
Itching to get up and moving towards our next powerup, I let go and turned around, shifting my gaze to the far side of the training ground. Yue and Siv were dressed similarly as they conversed, the tiger waving at me to show they were done with their preparations.
A burst of well controlled speed brought me within inches of them instantly, giving both a smile and a nod. "Ladies… are we ready? Can we take off?"
Save for the white overcoat she wore over everything else, Yue's attire hadn't changed.
Her black blouse loosely hugged her noticeable chest area, lower torso, and toned arms, while going down saw a skirt and stockings of the same black cling to the healthy curvature of her hips, moldable backside, and long, supple legs.
On the right, Siv no longer wore the tight, warrior leathers we'd found her in. Contrasting Yue's black, she was wrapped in a white, long sleeved blouse, her more than generous chest taking up sizable room in the front.
Unlike Yue though, her blouse wasn't tucked into a skirt. Rather, the end of hers disappeared into a pair of loose leather pants, looped through by a belt that doubled as holder for her sword's sheath.
Just like me her ensemble ended with a pair of black, knee length boots.
The main difference that set her getup apart from ours was the round shield secured firmly on her back, the straps of the harness that locked it in place going across her back and chest in an "X."
Said x's were the only reason her generous funbags hadn't spilled over from the tiny gap left by the top three open buttons of her blouse.
The straps bit into the soft protruding masses, going over the nipple areas and pressing them almost flat against her ribcage. If they made her uncomfortable, the tigress didn't show nor voice it.
Tearing my deadpan gaze away from her squished boob situation, I returned Yue's nod, signaling her to prepare our ride. It was time to leave, and time for her to show me the fruits of her own training.
Siv's job was geared towards fighting and soaking damage, so I'd handed her over to Yue with some tips, areas and topics to focus on. I didn't expect she'd take the daily thrashing sessions with the tigress to train her own spells and abilities.
"Heavenly Wind Dragon!"
Holding a single hand outstretched in front of her, Yue targeted a large portion of the training area devoid of anything and shot a stream of pure mana towards it.
Honey gold magical energy poured from her palm like water and flowed towards one spot like a hose, the wind in the vicinity picking up and joining the unshapely mass of energy gathering in the center.
Under her will and command, the wind and mana merged and began to expand, evening out around the edges as sharp lines and defined curvatures came to life at various points.
Four thick pillar-like hind and forelegs jutted from below the mass and ended in paws that pressed against the ground, the claws that elongated from the ends sinking into the earth a bit. A long tail grew from the rear and coiled on the ground as the mass' main body took shape, a draconic head and maw taking shape on the opposite end.
Amazed, I strode forward and slid a hand over the building-sized dragon's "skin," finding its surface and texture smooth and hard like tempered glass.
I watched the last of the energy break off into four tendrils connected to the dragon's upper back before each grew in length and width to form two pairs of wings that beat and kicked up the wind that'd just begun to die down.
Above me, Yue floated over on an air disc and lowered herself onto the finished construct, making herself comfortable on a saddle she fashioned out the body itself.
A few inches in front of me, a staircase formed from appropriately arranged wind platforms appeared and I turned to find Siv. Finding the tigress right beside me, I waved in a choppy motion at the stairs. "Get on."
Suddenly shy with a hint of a blush on her features, Siv acted immediately and went up the magic constructs, the hesitation she showed with magic weeks ago no longer present in her movements or demeanor.
Following right behind her, I enjoyed the sight of her round, peach shaped ass and quelled the urge to slap it, letting my mind come up with its own version of what the tight leather with all that meat behind it would sound like.
We were all seated in no time, Yue nestled in my arms and reclining against me while behind both of us Siv tightly held onto a handhold provided by the one who vouched for her inclusion into our group.
Loud sweeping sounds filled the grounds and as the dragon lifted off of and kicked up a storm of wind and dust.
Below us, the rabbitmen and dwarf gathered, emotions of a wide variety burning in their many eyes. Hit deeply by what we'd accomplished and started here, I panned my gaze over every available person's face and nodded, infusing a bit of strength into my voice.
"See you all soon."
Yue nudged her spell after that and we shot upward, breaking the surface of the Sea of Trees and carrying us towards our next ordeal, this time with a new companion, one I was just beginning to open my heart to.
.
.
.
.
Our journey to the super massive volcano wasn't interrupted per say, but it wasn't smooth either.
Not with the blistering heat and sharpening glare of the sun that made it seem as though we were headed deeper into hell and definitely not with the "Dune" worm-ridden sandstorm that stretched for kilometers.
Yue knew how quickly I wanted to reach the labyrinth, so she'd pulled out all the stops and propelled the dragon at the fastest speed her control of it could achieve, even beating its construct wings for extra oomph.
We crossed the majority of the several hundred kilometer distance without issue, our tough bodies easily bearing the brunt of the speedy conditions. In the last ten percent of the stretch however, the world became a blanket of fine, superheated sand that whipped us from all sides.
It was nothing to me especially, my durability being the highest of all of us, however the silky hair and delicate skins of the ladies in addition to all of our clothes took special offense.
To prevent us from arriving at our destination naked with our mouths and crevices full of sand, Yue lowered us into the dragon's belly, making more than enough room for us to move about and relax while she dealt with the giant sandworms.
They had drawn her ire by making her leave my embrace to deal with them, so it was no surprise to see how swiftly and brutally she dispatched them.
From her construct dragon's glowing maw, gravity magic heeded her command and compressed the wealth of wind blades spinning and pooling there, pushing more and more of them into each other.
When the attack had had enough buildup, she eased up on the gravity magic at a small circular spot the size of a bowl on the roiling mass of wind. The constrained energy escaped the confinement instantly, only to feel Yue's gravity magic again, the attractive force keeping it in the shape of a lance.
A greenish gold beam consisting of hundreds of tiny, spinning wind blades tore through the sandstorm and struck the first, unlucky worm, carving a fine circular hole all the way through it.
While its shredded carapace, minced flesh, and purple blood mixed with and disappeared into the raging storm, Yue moved her index finger upward like she was drawing on air, the dragon's head following along and directing the beam along the thrashing worm's length, carving car, house sized chunks of it away.
Similar scenes played out whenever more oblivious or brazen worms poked their head out the sand and roared at us with their circular grinding maws. The repeated battles slowed us a bit, but not by much, seeing as we saw our destination the instant we crossed the barrier of endless sand.
Getting onto my feet and Siv doing same, I walked to Yue's side, magic compass in hand. "That's it."
"Mmm…" Giving me a nod, my girlfriend threw her arm forward and the dragon accelerated to its highest speed, the Mount Everest of a volcano growing wider and taller in our sight.
The heat in this last stretch compared to the first was night and day. Yue and I were fine, but Siv already had one or two beads of sweat on her forehead, and the red of her skin had deepened.
Recalling what I could about the labyrinth and its intricacies—which wasn't much mind you—Yue set her dragon at the summit and dispelled it, three sets of feet touching the black scalding ground as lines and particles of gold winked out of existence around us.
Compass in hand and accepting of the role of leader that had been thrust onto me, I descended into the hellmouth first, climbing down for a bit until a whole new world revealed itself to us.
Rivers of red hot lava could be seen everywhere, pouring down holes of varying size in the ceiling and walls into moving or stagnant streams or even into other holes. What drew our undivided attention though were the rivers that flowed and curved in midair like there were some invisible paths and beds we could not see.
Keeping my feet active, I ignored the random bursts of hot air that hit me as I advanced and peered over my shoulder at our newest companion.
"Siv."
"Sir."
"You'll fight any beasts we come across. Prepare yourself."
"Understood," she said, this time a little bit louder, both hands moving, left reaching for her back and right for the sword on her side.