He lowered his horned head and charged. “Big mistake, you piece of shit.” I gripped my sword tightly and waited for the beast to near. It picked up speed as it hit the road leading into the city and was only about one hundred yards from me. The way its eyes were positioned near the top of its head allowed it to monitor me as it charged.

  It became apparent in a hurry that nobody had ever stood up to this bastard before. I continued walking straight and as the wyvern reached me, it came to a skidding halt, nearly plowing into me, but stopped mere inches away.

  It reared back as if it were a horse that had been startled on a game trail in the middle of the forest. For a moment, I thought he was going to flip onto his back, but he maintained his footing.

  It didn’t matter, he’d already fucked up. I activated my charge and closed the short gap between us within a second. When I was within reach, and my Charge skill still activated, I leapt into the air, using my momentum to climb up the beast as if I were walking up a building.

  I closed my eyes and activated my Sight skill and brought my sword back simultaneously, preparing to strike. I found its core immediately and slammed my blade down with all the force I could muster.

  His scales were strong, but my blade was stronger.

  I sank the blade to the hilt and pulled it out in one swift motion. The wyvern let out a panicked roar and staggered backwards as I fell to the ground.

  The pasture absorbed most of the impact as I landed on my feet on the saturated soil. I watched as the wyvern struggled to stay upright, clawing at its chest and thrashing its head violently from side to side.

  The wyvern let out one last mighty roar before falling to the ground in a heap. A few seconds later, it took its last breath and fell silent.

  I approached the beast cautiously and ensured it was dead. All the spirit from its punctured core was flowing out of him and into me, filling my core beyond capacity.

  I inspected the creature and ran a hand along its rough armor-like scales. These things were built for attack. If not for my Sight, Aspect of the Griffon, and Strength skills, I probably wouldn’t have been able to land a strike like I had.

  I figured my luck had a little to do with it as well, as the entry point of my sword would’ve been blocked if it had been an inch to the left or right.

  I stopped at the magnificent gem in the center of its head. I used my sword to pry it out and gripped it in my hand tightly. I felt some sort of power coursing through it and knew that I’d be able to ask Jun about it when we got back. I placed it in my bag, along with a few scales I freed from the wyvern’s tough hide.

  A roar sounded in the distance behind where the barn used to be, followed by three others. The wyvern that I killed must’ve called in reinforcements as a last ditch effort. I was confident now that I could take on a wyvern one on one. Although, I didn’t think I was quite prepared to take on two or three of them. Especially not in the open field I currently found myself in.

  I sheathed my sword and tracked down the horse, which was beyond spooked. I grabbed ahold of my horse and climbed up top. I wrapped several vines around it to help me control it since I didn’t have the luxury of a saddle.

  The horse ran forward as another round of roars rang out. I entered the forest and moved away from the city. I wanted to catch up to my bonded to ensure they were okay. I felt confident I bought us a little time to make it back safely to the barrier.

  I caught up with the others as they trudged up through the forest about ten minutes later. I could hear Isobel and Alysain shouting out occasional words of encouragement from ahead to keep everyone together.

  I stayed toward the back where the centaur was carrying three lizard-like children and what appeared to be a frog woman. I brought my horse up next to her as we moved along the road.

  She looked at me with surprise, as if she’d seen a ghost. “You’re not dead?”

  “No ma’am. Not yet, at least.”

  “How’d you survive? Those wyverns have taken out all the best adventurers from Moorwood, and yet, you lived somehow.”

  “I’m fortunate to have a skill set that just so helped me when I needed it,” I responded and gave her a smile.

  “Your core, it’s different. I can sense it. The strands that flow through you are familiar, but not all from Alphos. You’re not from this world, are you?”

  “I’m not.” I paused and tried to feel the difference in strands within my core, but couldn’t, even though I knew I had a mixture of spirit from both worlds. “How are you able to tell?”

  The centaur smiled. “Because my core used to be filled with that same energy. The energy of Aurilon.”

  “So, you’re originally from Aurilon? Do you know Master Teng Shun?”

  The centaur laughed sweetly and nodded. “Of course. He’s my father.”

  I immediately felt as if I should stop taking in the centaur’s beauty, as if Teng could see me checking out his daughter from another world. “Your father?”

  “Yes, I’m Oyo Shun. Unfortunately, I’ve not seen him for a very long time. I was sent here as a child and have been here ever since. My father thought it would be safer for me to grow here, and he promised he’d come for me one day, when the time was right.”

  I nodded and looked forward. “He didn’t say when that time was, did he?”

  “No. I’ve only communicated with him through the fairies over the years. He always says it’s not quite the right time.” Oyo shrugged and glanced back at her passengers before returning her focus to me.

  “How’ve you not aged? The time difference is significant between Alphos and Aurilon, right?”

  “Aging for most monsters here is slowed. Humans are not as fortunate. While your bonded will remain nearly the same age as they are now, the longer you stay here, the faster you’ll age.”

  “I don’t plan to leave until my children are fully grown.”

  “Children?” Oyo cocked her eyebrows. “Well, hopefully they age like humans do and not like monsters, or you’ll be dead long before you ever see them reach maturity."

  Chapter Fifteen

  Everyone came out to greet us as we arrived back at the slime village, including the fairies and the slime women. Jade, the slime queen, walked up to me slowly and peered over my shoulder at the rest of the group that was coming to occupy her village. “Are these people with you?”

  I nodded. “They’re from the town of Moorwood. Wyverns have attacked them relentlessly, and they’d surely die if I left them there.”

  “Interesting.” Jade nodded slowly and turned back to the entrance to their underground living quarters. “Please let me know if there is anything you need.” She turned and her blue translucent eyes focused on mine. “Or if you just need to get away for a bit, let me know. I can show you around down below.” She gave me a sly smirk and disappeared back to her liquid form before moving out of sight.

  Our village needed work, but with several capable hands, I was turning optimistic. I inspected our house and saw Luna and Mitsi placing a large beam in place. It effectively connected our house with the neighboring building, which was taking shape as a sort of storefront.

  Mitsi smiled and dusted her large hands together as they secured the beam in place. She spotted me and her smile widened. “Logan, look! We’ve nearly completed our shop. We’ve been working hard all day, but we’ll finish soon, and then we can get to work.” She paused as she finally noticed all the refugees. “Who are they?”

  “These are the last remaining residents of Moorwood. They’re going to be joining us for a while, at least until we take out the wyvern threat.”

  Mitsi nodded and shrugged. “Well, I hope they brought their coin, because we’ll have plenty of clothes and armor sets for sale soon.”

  I smiled. “Let’s try to give them a little time to get settled before we try to turn a profit. Although, I’m very impressed by Luna and your dedication to finishing this shop.”

  Luna came over and handed me a folded set of leather armor. “New chest armor, crafted by Mitsi and yours truly. It’s not perfect, but it’ll be better than what you’re currently wearing.”

  “Thank you. I’ll wear it the next time I head out. It looks amazing.” I held the armor up and surveyed it. I had worn nothing this high quality since I’ve been in Aurilon. It would be a welcome change from the normal shirts I’d been wearing.

  Luna wrapped her tail around my legs and looked around at the gathered refugees as they scurried around the small village. “You realize you won’t be able to save every single person in every world you travel to, don’t you?”

  I shrugged. “What’s wrong with trying?”

  Luna shook her head lightly and smiled. “If everyone alive even had a small portion of your heart, nobody would ever need to be saved.”

  “That’d be nice, but even those with good hearts do bad things sometimes. I realize I can’t save them all, but I can also decide to not let them die when I have the chance to save them. Once they’re settled, we can see how they may contribute around here. I, for one, will welcome the extra help.”

  We spent the next few weeks clearing the old buildings and overgrown trees that were cluttering up the small village and made it more livable.

  Our house had doubled in size, and several shops, including Luna and Mitsi’s tailoring shop, were attracting shoppers from all parts of Alphos. Their quality of goods only increased with each day, especially when they teamed up with the fairies and learned to imbue their dust into each piece of armor.

  I stepped into Chloe’s new tavern, which was added onto the opposite side of our new house from the tailoring shop. “How many more days until you’re able to open?” I asked and leaned up against the bar.

  Chloe came out from behind the bar, now with a noticeable lump in her stomach. Her breasts had grown about double the size they were when I first met her.

  I felt confident that if the other women couldn’t produce breast milk, Chloe could feed each of their children three times a day and still have enough left over for a nightcap. “Nearly finished, but I’m not sure how much of a host I’ll make carrying this miniature Logan around all day. My back is absolutely killing me!” She rested her engorged breasts on the bar and let out a sigh of relief.

  I laughed and shook my head. “I told you last week that you needed to take it easy. It seems you, and each of the pregnant women, have received some sort of time boost to your pregnancy. Even Teng’s daughter said it looked like all of your pregnancies were moving twice the speed as normal.”

  The door swung open and Gwen walked inside. She crossed the room, completely exhausted, and plopped down in a seat at the bar. “I hope Oyo is right. I don’t think I could do a full-term pregnancy. My skin keeps breaking out into hives, and the boob sweat, I mean seriously!”

  I was fortunate, at least until today, that each of the pregnant women had not complained. We’d made a nightly ritual of me giving them massages, which was usually followed by several rounds of the hottest sex I’d ever had in my life. It was as if they were all feeding off of each other's hormones. I couldn’t remember a night where I fell asleep without my cock half inside one of their mouths.

  I pulled up a chair next to Gwen and rubbed her back. She’d been burning the candle at both ends since we arrived. “How is the nursery coming along?”

  Gwen looked at me with exhausted eyes. “It’s done.” She grabbed my arms and joggled them. “It’s finally done! If those kids don’t sleep in there, then their asses are going to sleep out with the wyverns.”

  Out of all my pregnant bonded, I knew it was hardest on Gwen. She’d volunteered to spearhead the nursery, and I thought she’d burn the entire village down before completing the damn thing.

  I kissed her on the lips, and I saw her shoulders relax slightly. “I’m sure it’s amazing.” I kissed her again and held my hand on her baby bump. “And our child will not be sleeping with the wyverns.”

  Gwen scoffed. “Hmpf, we’ll see.” She gave me a smirk and rose from the bar. “Well, I’m going to wash in the river and then get some rest. Every day feels like I drank two barrels of wine the night before.” She shook her head and rubbed her temples. “A hangover without the alcohol? I think I’m getting the shit end of this deal.”

  “Hang in there a little longer. Go get washed up and I’ll come to check on you before your nap. You’ve definitely earned the rest.”

  Gwen moved like a zombie as she headed for the door and stepped outside. She paused at the doorway. “Will you give me a massage later?”

  “Consider it done.” I smiled and was drawn back toward the bar as Chloe cleared her throat.

  “You better save enough energy in those magic fingers to take care of me, after Gwen.” She raised her eyebrows and gave me her best innocent look.

  “Don’t worry, my magic fingers can go all night.”

  Chloe lifted and massaged her gigantic breasts. “Oh, I know. Trust me, I know!” She let out a small moan and squeezed her tits. “On second thought, maybe there’s something else you can do for me, other than a massage.”

  I gave her a smile and a nod. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  A few of the refugees entered along with Oyo. “Are we interrupting something?”

  “Not at all. Come on in. Is there something we can help you with?” I asked.

  The centaur ducked as she entered through the door and had two fox women and a cat woman follow her inside. She stopped as she reached the bar and cleared her throat. “I wanted to ask a favor.”

  Chloe laughed and nodded. “Get in line, his list of favors owed is getting pretty long.” She gave me a wink as she went back to organizing the back of the bar.

  I laughed and shook my head lightly. “What is it? I’m sure we can figure something out.”

  Oyo pulled a large piece of parchment out and rolled it along the bar top. “We were wondering if we could build this.” She motioned me over and pointed at the plans of a somewhat intricate building. As I looked at it, I realized it was almost the same setup as Teng’s temple back in Aurilon. The only difference was that this one had an extra room coming off of one side.

  “Is this a temple?” I asked and kept my focus on the plans, trying to figure out what the extra space was for.

  Oyo nodded. “Great. So you’re familiar with it then?”

  “Yes, it’s much like your father’s temple back in Aurilon.” I paused and pointed at the extension. “Except, what’s this part, right here?”

  The centaur leaned over my shoulder and her right breast rested on my shoulder as she inspected the plans. “Oh, that’s a small addition that I added.” She stood back upright and began pulling small bottles out of her bag. “I’m a healer, and as a healer, I have many supplies. Right now, I must carry around everything. It would be really useful if I could have a place to store them.”

  I lifted one of her small potions that I immediately recognized as a healing potion. “I think that’s a great idea. Especially with all the children that are here.” I paused and turned to Chloe. “And about to be here.”

  Chloe snorted and shook her head. “Oh, I don’t think it’s going to be my child that’s going to be the one we have to watch out for. Have you seen your satyress and Alraune? I love them, but they have to be the most accident prone out of all of us.”

  I laughed and nodded. “Yes, I’ll agree with you there. I can only imagine what would happen if you end up passing your Charge skill down to our child. A toddler with a speed boost can only be a recipe for disaster.”

  Oyo laughed sweetly and rolled up the plans. “Well, I think all the more reason to have a bit of an infirmary to help with any unforeseen circumstances.”

  “Just tell me what you need for help, and I will do my best. From the looks of it, we better get started soon. If the children keep growing at this rate, they will be here long before we are ready.”

  Oyo laughed sweetly and held a hand on my arm. “Is anyone ever really ready for children?”

  Chloe slapped her hand on the bar. “Hell no, they aren’t! And I will fight anyone who says different!”

  I motioned toward Chloe and returned Oyo’s smile. “There’s your answer right there, I suppose.”

  Alysain entered as I was leaving, holding a large bag of small jars. “Is Oyo still in there. I did some research and everything that she was hoping to create we have most of the materials for.”

  I glanced inside the bag for a second and nodded. “Yes, she’s just working with everyone to complete the plans for the new temple and pseudo infirmary.” I held a bottle up to the light and gave it a small shake. The liquid remaining inside sloshed around a bit.

  As I held the bottle up, Alysain nearly dropped to a knee in pain. She let out a small yelp as I caught her arm. I could see she was favoring her wing again, even more so than usual. “Aly, this is getting bad. We’re going to need to purify that spirit soon.”

  Oyo appeared in the doorway and looked at us curiously for a moment before joining us outside. “The tainted spirit is going to reach your heart soon, if you are not careful. There's no coming back from that.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  I watched the centaur as she stepped closer and grabbed Alysain’s wing. “Do you have any idea on how to cleanse the tainted spirit from her body?”

  “I’ll need to read up on it. But...” Alysain interrupted Oyo before she could continue.

  “I know of a couple of books that may help. Bug... I mean, Jun, allowed me to peruse their library earlier.”

  Oyo cocked her head. “Queen Jun has books?” She glanced at me and then back to Alysain. “Now, serious question, are they normal size, like our size?”

  I’d been thinking the same thing. I hadn’t seen the fairies using things that were not typically their size.

  Alysain nodded. “I had my doubts, but yes, they have an extensive library up in their trees. They actually transcribe most of the books they collect into smaller versions and store the others inside the trunk of one of the largest trees not too far from here.”

 

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