Over the next few weeks, I spent most of my time with Caramel and Licorice as we worked to get the shop up and running. We needed to get a head start on items we were going to need.
I had Caramel put her house up for sale and we found another Neko, Hunny, who lived alone in a house left to her by her parents. We had her do the same. Then they all came and lived in the rental with us. Hunny also worked in the shop to take the place of the other fired worker.
There was plenty of room. Nekos curled up when they slept, so they didn't need much room. Having everyone close was also an easy way to ensure the Order wasn't challenged by making me waste time going back and forth.
The first Aetherite stones arrived only a few days after Caramel put out some orders. They were mostly minor stones. We'd need to get a contact who could source stones from Finland if I wanted the best.
I swallowed each stone one by one and, after two, was awarded another level. I put my stats on Intelligence and Strength. I wasn't offered any new spells and was only able to choose one spell from both my Nekomancer and Outlander trees.
I took Kitty Litter and Phase.
This left me with stats of:
Strength
3
Agility
1
Stamina
3
Intelligence
7
Wisdom
0
And my current skills:
(Nekomancer) Transform to Neko: Permanently Transform Target into an obedient (and cute!) Neko. Protect her at all costs! 10 second cooldown.
(Nekomancer) Catcall: Increase Target Neko's Attack Power by x2 for 30 minutes.
(Nekomancer) Kitty Litter: Sprays the surrounding area with sharp stones to cause minor damage to up to 8 targets. 10 second cooldown.
(Outworlder) Teleport: Teleport yourself up to 1km in any direction. Target location must be in Line of Sight. 60 second cooldown.
(Outworlder) Void Blast: Inflict minor void damage on target. Void damage cannot be blocked or reduced. 5 second cooldown.
(Outworlder) Phase: Gain immunity from all attacks for 5 seconds. 60 second cooldown.
It was a better foundation than when I first started.
I had originally not taken Transform to Neko so early. I hadn't known what it did. A part of me had thought it would transform me, not other people. I had instead focussed on using Furball and Kitty Litter. Catcall hadn't unlocked for me at the time.
I knew next time I levelled I'd be offered more skills based on what I was using. Kitty Litter would open a sub-tree of abilities which would inflict greater and greater levels of mass destruction.
Furball was mostly single-target damage, and subsequent offerings were always attractive in a world like Neyteria. But I felt here, on earth, mass destruction might prove more important.
As for my Outworlder skills, I had no idea. That was kind of refreshing.
I would need to experiment with it. Tippy had also finally made a wand. The process wasn't too difficult for a mage. Thanks to Caramel, she'd found an amethyst she liked.
It seemed her magic agreed, so she was able to create her wand on her first attempt.
Casting spells had proven addictive to her. We'd driven far out into the hills and found a quiet valley where she spent hours blasting trees until she was confident.
Then, when we were home, she made her first Arcane Pocket.
I had her use a small purse she liked the look of. When it was done, she looked at the purse, confused. "What do I do with it?"
I handed her an apple. "Think the apple to get into the purse."
"Huh?"
I tapped her forehead. "Less talk, more thinky. Think the apple to go into the purse."
"Umm, okay."
She stared intently at the apple, understanding this was magic and expecting it to require lots of concentration. "Get into the purse." The apple blinked out of existence. "What? Where did it- No. No, it can't have."
She scrambled to open the purse and looked disappointed to see it was empty.
"It's not going to be there like that," I told her. "You need to remember what you put in there. Just think it to come out."
"Come out, apple!"
It appeared in her palm, still fresh and tasty.
Her mouth fell open. "This is amazing!"
"I know. We'll need to test how much it carries right now, but I imagine it'll be about the same space as a small fridge. When you get up to silver, you'll get options for larger pockets. At gold, you'll get to make rooms."
'This is… so much, Bexley." Then she made a devious smile form on her impish face. "Shadowpaw's going to do anything to get these, isn't she?"
"Yes." I booped her nose. "But be nice to her. She'll be crafting for you, remember? And you'll need her to help with ingredients for some of your more complicated spells in the future."
"Okay. I'll be good."
"How good?"
She jumped into my lap, her fingers snatching my belt and tugging. "So good. So very very good. I'm a good girl, you know."
My hands slid up her skirt and tugged at her little panties. "I'm not sure a good girl would be doing this kind of thing, would she?"
After leaving her sprawled on the floor in a puddle of our shared fluids, I found Licorice in one of the rooms we'd set up as an office for her. She saw me come in and smiled brightly. "Master!" She almost fell trying to get up from her chair. "I was going to come looking for you."
"Why, what's happened?"
"I've invited Jenny over on Saturday. She's accepted. She thinks she's coming to an audition to model jewellery for Caramel's store." She grinned widely, showing her teeth. "I showed her Caramel's new Instagram page and she was happy to be involved."
I closed my eyes, trying to recall. "Jenny's the cosplayer?"
"Yes."
"Alright." I nodded, happy to have remembered that. But that's why a high Intelligence stat is good. "How's the page going?"
"It's doing real well. You were right about us being good models. We're hiding our ears and tails, but the comments are very naughty. We're getting a lot of likes."
"Good."
She skipped around from behind the desk and threw herself into my arms. "I missed you."
"I was only here an hour ago."
"Were you?"
"Pretty sure I was."
"Okay." She looked up at me, pouting a little. "It's not my turn yet. Have you taken care of Tippy?"
"I have."
"Then, can you please go see Caramel? Then you need to see Jumper. Both of them are waiting in the bedroom. Hunny will be home in a couple of hours. You'll need to take care of her, too. Hurry, Bexley. I want my turn! I waited so patiently!"
I chuckled, patting her head. Her lower lip was trembling, and her thighs were squeezed tightly together.
This was something I had always loved about my Nekos. The way they always wanted to rush me through the Order so I got back to their turn faster. Their eagerness made me feel wanted.
It made me feel alive.
"Oh! Something else," she said, pulling out her phone and bringing up a news site. "I thought you might want to see this. You asked me to keep an eye out for anything weird or crazy violent."
"What is it?" I took the phone from her and looked at it. An article.
"A couple of police officers were killed. It's kind of weird. Apparently, most of them were cut in half. It's big news back…" She shook her head, squeezing her fist against her temple. "Back where… Where we were from."
"Cut in half?" I winced. "Car accident?"
"No. It looked like someone went to their houses, one by one."
"Hmm." I skimmed the article, which was short on details. But it sounded pretty gruesome. Cut in half.
There were four cops dead that way. Another had been burned to death in the parking lot.
About halfway down, the journalist put forward a theory some of the locals were going with. That there was a chainsaw killer in town.
"Is it something we need to worry about?"
"I'm not sure," I said. "Let me know if any more bodies show up."
"Okay."
"And what about the fashion lady? What was her name? Mina?"
"Dina."
"Well, she sounds like a Mina." I pursed my lips, trying to remember that. It'd make giving her a Neko name so much easier.
"I've got her booked to come to the store on Friday. We told her we want to do a crossover if we can. Her fashion with our jewellery."
"Not a lie."
"No." She giggled. "Oh, and we need to go over money. It'll take time to sell the houses. We're still living on Shadowpaw's, umm, adventures. But we need more money than she can get that way."
"Unless I step it up," Shadowpaw said emerging from the shadows behind me.
"Hey," I said, looking surprised. "You're getting better with stealthing."
"I'm concentrating really hard," she told me. "Especially around you. I watched you fuck Tilly, you know. And I know about the magic bags."
Licorice perked up. "Magic bags?"
"You'll see," Shadowpaw said. "And no doubt you'll want a Chanel version."
"What did you mean by stepping it up?" I asked, trying to steer the conversation back on track while Licorice looked confused.
"We're in LA," Shadow said with a shrug. "Lots of rich people up in the hills with lots of expensive stuff in their expensive houses. I could go exploring…"
"Isn't that dangerous?" Licorice frowned.
"I don't think so," Shadowpaw said. "I went out to one place which had a lot of heavy security and spent some time wandering around their yard. Even their dogs ignored me. Stupid dogs."
"If you think you can get away with it, get what you can," I said. "Take some pockets with you. Get Tilly to help."
"She's out of it right now. Someone just melted her brains. I'm jealous, you know. That thing you did with your fingers? I'll want you to do that to me, you know."
"I will." I reached around and pinched her ass. "I can't wait to reduce you to a gagging mess."
She teetered a little, but didn't fall. "I'll last longer this time."
"I got another point in Strength," I leaned in close, almost nose to nose with her. "I'm going to break you in half."
Licorice grabbed my shoulders and shoved me towards the door with a frustrated growl. "Caramel, Bexley. Now!"