Chapter 125: 118. Charlatan Forest, Part 10

118. Charlatan Forest, Part 10

The sound of an explosion like a crack of thunder in Gale and Megan’s direction sends me into a panic. “Double time, everybody! Double time!”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

I hustle my caravan as best I can, but there’s only so much to be done. The carriages full of Bee Girl larvae and children can’t be rushed beyond a certain point. I’m tempted to dart on ahead, but the memory of Gabby being pulled into the underbrush by a sneaky Strangler haunts me. I can’t let that happen again.

Separating from the caravan is inviting a counterstrike from the Elder’s forces. We’re too large a group at this point for Drosera to keep watch from all sides. There’s no way word of us hasn’t spread to the big tree bastard by now. Not only that, but I don’t trust the prisoners to behave in my absence no matter what I threatened. An idiot might think themselves clever enough to defy me and escape.

So, seeing three figures hobbling through the forest towards us is about the most relieving sight in the world.

I rush ahead now to embrace them, taking all three girls in my four arms and squeezing gently. Then I plant a forehead kiss on Megan, Gale, and… who dis?

And what happened to them!?!

Megan is glowing with power. The mouse girl’s once steel grey fur and yellow-blond hair have become luminescent golden-yellow. The fur on her collar, wrists, ankles, and the pixie-cut hair on her head seems far fluffier because it’s standing on end and crackles with static as my skin brushes it. Her mouse ears have become slimmer and pointier with black tips. Oddest of all, there are two adorable circles on either cheek like blushes, one blue with a ‘-’ while the other is red with a ‘+’ like an ancient human battery or the opposite poles of a magnet.

Gale is dripping wet despite being nowhere near water. Her feathers and hair have turned dark blue except for a green highlight in the bangs over her left eye. She’s otherwise normal besides being exhausted, evidenced by the way she’s riding piggyback on the third girl.

The stranger is a Froglin with slippery, mottled green skin and a humanoid face. She has a creamy pale underbelly and black hair with two dollops of slime resting there like an extra pair of eyes. A long snakelike pink tongue dangles from her mouth, the end of which is in Megan’s grip as if they’re holding hands. It’s weirdly sweet. Her hands and feet are a darker shade of green with flat pads on the tips of each finger and toe. Her eyes are yellow and her pupils flat. She’s shapely and pretty, with a cute, streamlined slit between her legs, but her best feature is her ample, speckled ass.

And she’s absolutely terrified of me.

Gale and Megan know what to expect with my body shapeshifting to gain new powers, but this frog girl looks at me like I’m some high-tier hybrid monster demigoddess. “Sue, it’s all right, Alex won’t hurt you,” the mouse girl says with a reassuring squeeze to the Froglin’s tongue. “She’s Gale’s wife.”

“You’re my wife too by the transitive property of wifedom,” I say as I kiss the glowing mouse girl on the lips this time, eliciting a lemony spark that zaps through me in a delightful thrill. Oh, tonight is going to be fun!

“Gale is excited to show off both her amazing wives to her new friend, Sue!” the preening blue Harpy says, so overeager she once again starts speaking in the third person. I’m glad to see Gale returning to her typical enthusiastic demeanor as she dismounts onto unsteady talons.

“Are you feeling alright now, Gale?” Megan asks with concern.

“I just need to rest for a little bit longer, and I’ll be right as rain!”

Sue blinks, the movement breaking her paralysis of frozen dread, and throws herself to the ground at my feet in prostration. “Oh, mighty Alex, please fowgive me for eating your wife! I wasn’t going to digest her, I swear! Cwoss my heawt and hope to die!”

I raise a curious eyebrow at the trio.

“It’s… a long story,” Megan says.

We turn at the sound of a startled gasp. “D-D-Denki Nezumi! And a Rainbird!” Gabby drops her rods in shock as she stares in openmouthed awe at Gale and Megan. It looks like the caravan has caught up to us.

“Maybe I should start at the beginning?”

Sue is able to calm down after some cuddling and petting. I sit with Sue and Gale on my lap, with Megan sitting on theirs.

“Before we start talking, I brought some fried Eeling tail for the carnivores,” Megan says, gesturing to the lily pad she dragged here behind her. On top of the big, waxy leaf is an enormous steaming filet. “Is that alright, Alex?”

I shrug. While I prefer not to encourage eating monsters, it’s another thing to leave perfectly edible food already prepared go to waste when there are hungry people around. “It’s alright this time unless there are any other objections.”

“That… was my sistewr,” Sue says with a melancholy expression.

“Oh, shit.”

“It’s fine. She was a bitch.”

With that more or less settled, everyone except me and Sue grab a snack while Megan recounts her side of events. The Froglin doesn’t seem bothered by other people eating the fried Eeling but can’t bring herself to do the deed.

We catch each other up on what happened since we ‘parted ways.’ Sucks what happened to Flou, but she’ll be waiting for us back at the Hut. Gale and Megan don’t seem too surprised by anything that happened to us in the Prisoner Pen or Nursery, though Sue is stunned by the amount of damage we’ve done to Charlatan Forest. Gabby takes copious detailed notes on everything Megan reports. Gale interjects with her version periodically, but her testimony is slightly skewed by pride in her mate and boasting about her own achievements.

I didn’t need to know every last detail of how expertly my Harpy wife extracted seed from Koi cocks or skillfully brought Koi maidens to completion with her tongue. That’s something I’d rather experience firsthand, thank you very much!

“Is our baby alright?” I ask Megan, fearing the worst after that story about her getting zapped to literal death.

“Mmm? Oh, I already checked. No miscarriage, thankfully. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost my sister’s child.” While Megan doesn’t appear to be lying, her arm absently covers her tummy tattoo as if not wanting me to notice something. I almost ask, but my mind gets sidetracked by more urgent topics after my anxiety over a possible miscarriage is relieved.

Sue and Megan clear up the whole ‘eating my wife’ incident, the mouse girl framing it as a rescue attempt without any of the lingering horror I’d expect from such an experience. If I didn’t know any better, judging by the casual touches and frequent horny glances Megan is giving the Froglin, I’d say she enjoyed it to some extent. Kinky. Well, whatever floats their boat as long as no one gets hurt.

“There’s a hole at the bottom of the Spring?” I wonder aloud when they get to that part of the story.

Gale was unconscious at the time, but Megan nods, and Sue decides to share what she knows. “The underground tunnel leads southeast to the Kappa Tewwaces. We make the twip once a year.”

Cool, new location get!

After they finish their recounting, they leave the floor open for more questions.

“So, that explosion was you?” I ask Megan in disbelief. Not that I doubt my precious mouse girl, but it’s a level of power I didn’t know a third-tier could even possess. It's a bit disconcerting given my upcoming opponents.

“Can you give a small demonstration?” Gabby requests with avid interest. “There’s something I’d like to verify.”

Megan complies by holding her index fingers an inch apart. After a moment of concentration, she releases a yellow spark across the gap. She doesn’t lose any power because she instantly reclaims what she expended.

“Fascinating,” Gabby says in hushed tones while writing something down. When she’s finished with her notes, she returns her attention to us. “Unlike Hinezumi, the famous fire rats, Denki Nezumi are magic absorbers. They don’t produce power on their own, simply storing it like a battery.”

That’s much more in line with the third-tiers I’ve seen. Being able to unleash a Thunder Crash on command would be ridiculous. She might’ve been able to end the coming clan war on her own! As-is, having even one such attack in our pocket will be an incredible boon.

Megan’s shoulders slump into a depressed slouch. “Sounds like kind of a useless ability. How often do we fight enemies that use Electric Magic?”

I open my mouth to reassure her, but Gabby is first to speak, “Nonsense. You’ve completely exceeded my expectations, Megan. I thought you might qualify for Blind Mouse or Country Mouse if you worked hard today, or maybe unlock a side-evolution to Ratfolk and aim for Ratfolk Matron or Greater Ratfolk at best. Denki Nezumi is a Rare-rank Fuzzy evolution with esoteric requirement criteria we can only guess at. By your own report, you should’ve died.”

“Oo, oo! Is Gale also an ultra-rare Harpy? I bet I am!”

Gabby is blessedly kind in reassuring the excitable bird girl without lying, “Elemental Harpy varietals are certainly rare in this region. A Superior-rank evolution at second-tier is nothing to scoff at. I’m sure Aello will be proud.”

“Yes! Momma will be so proud of her baby bird!”

Megan giggles at Gale’s antics while Sue seems a bit confused. I am as well.

“Superior-rank?” I say.

The Goblin Apprentice rolls her eyes at me. “Page three hundred and four. You need to brush up on the ranking system.”

Mentally, I flip through the Book of Monsters to find an entry segregating monster evolutions into somewhat arbitrary ‘ranks.’ Correlating some of the monsters I’ve met (not exhaustive) with the descriptions outlined in the Book, I come up with the following:

Inferior Rank – Mouse, Bunny, Grand Harpy

Below-Average Rank – Hobgoblin, Koi, Greater Harpy

Average Rank – Orc, Dire Wolf, Moleman, Froglin, Pitcher Treefolk, Harpy line

Above-Average Rank – Cinderwolf, Sundew Trap, Bloodwing Harpy

Superior Rank – Ogre, Electric Eeling, Rainbird

Rare Rank – Denki Nezumi line

Super-Rare Rank – ???

Typically, evolving up a tier reduces a monster’s rank by one rung. And yes, that means Inferior-rank monsters can’t normally evolve up a tier without first doing a side-evolution uprank; Matron/Patron being the exception that proves the rule. Taking the Harpy line for example from second to fourth tier, it starts at Average and ends at Inferior; Harpy >> Greater Harpy >> Grand Harpy. In other words, each evolution in the line is less impressive by the standard of their tier. Elder Grand Claw is just a big fish in a small pond.

"Gabby, does the uptier rank-drop mean there are 'Inferior' God Beasts?"

"No, that'd be silly. God Beasts have their own relative rankings beyond the concerns of we mortals."

Huh. Well, to clarify Megan’s current rank, she’s a third-tier at the Superior rank, meaning her evolutionary line would hypothetically start as a second-tier Rare rank, hence why Gabby referred to her as a ‘Rare’. (Unfortunately, I doubt I’m getting an extra mark for hypotheticals as far as my achievement system is concerned.) That said, her growth potential already far exceeds that of Elder Grand Claw.

The fact Megan improved her evolutionary base from Inferior to Rare in one side-evolution is cuckoo-bananas crazy. It probably only happened because of the extreme circumstances along with a boost from me, not to mention her sister being a unique monster. Although, maybe her personal motivations play a part? The fact she purposefully put herself in danger to even be here was distinctly un-mousy. Perhaps acting against what's typical for her species accounts for why her Evolution is so far from normal.

Lastly, there’s an entry in the Book on a particular rank that defies the codified system. Members of this rank may be hardly more capable than ‘Inferior’ or equal to a Super-Rare depending on their individual proficiency. It’s a high skill-ceiling rank instead of one that takes advantage of strong innate abilities.

Arcane Rank – Goblin Apprentice, Imp, Wicked Webling, Showbunny Stage Magician

The Goblin girl clears her throat and finishes her earlier thought, “At any rate, all we need do is find a source of Electric Magic to unlock your potential, Megan.”

Ah, right, if Denki Nezumi can’t produce Electric Magic, then neither Gabby nor I can get it by copying her abilities. But having a speedster that can absorb magic to heal herself and unleash powerful burst damage would be a terror on the battlefield. If only we knew someone with Electric Magic…

I snap my fingers, and both Jonny and I say in unison, ““Mrs. Fleece!””

“Now we have to go home!” I smile and embrace Jonny in his Stone Ooze suit as the inevitability presents itself. “We know where to find an Electric Ewe!”

Megan brightens at the suggestion, and Gabby seems immensely pleased. The Goblin girl nods and says, “If Alex and I learn Electric Magic, we’ll multiply our sources to power Megan whether or not this Mrs. Fleece joins us in battle.”

“Agreed. Now we need to decide how to proceed today.”

“Ahem,” Gabby fake-coughs into her fist. “We aren’t forgetting about returning to face the Elder, are we?”

Damn, she really wants that dick!

“T-the E-Elderbewwy Tree???” Sue squeaks.

I shrug. “Gabby, honey, look at what we’ve gained so far. New allies, multiple evolutions, a fistful of marks for me, a sustainable food supply for everyone, and a buttload of fragile cargo. There’s no way we can fight the Elder and defend this caravan at the same time. For all we know, he’ll summon Treefolk to attack us from all sides. We have to return to the hut before anything. Let’s call it a day.”

She knows I’m talking sense, but I can see the frustration burning inside her. She glances at Megan and Gale in envy, no doubt thinking about her own evolutionary future. I’ve got to extend an olive branch.

“Hey, we got a bunch of Mandragora in the caravan! There’s got to be at least one of them we can ethically extract some nectar from for your Herbalist evolution. That’s another thing checked off the list. It’s sort of the main reason we came here in the first place.”

Gabby sighs, making me think I’ve won the argument, and then she lifts her gaze to lock eyes with mine. “Alex, when we’re in the heat of battle the day after tomorrow with every life in the region on the line, do you want a Goblin Herbalist at your side slinging rudimentary potions? Or do you want to wreck their shit with a full-blown Goblin Witch?”

Fuck. When she puts it like that…

I double-slap my face with my top pair of hands to pump myself up. “Alright. Alright, we return to the Hut first. We deal with that situation, whatever it is at this point. Then we pull a team of volunteers to come fight the Elder. If the sun sets on us while flying, I have ways to see in the dark. We do our best, then retreat after the first injury. We’ve only got two healing spells left between us today. Win or lose, it’ll be a good gauge of what a Below-Average Rank tier-three monster can do.”

The Elderberry Tree has a whole rank over Peter and Aello. Not to mention he’s a legit evolution instead of a Matron/Patron. That’s several rungs of power no matter how you slice it, and I’m not sure how big a deal that’ll turn out to be.

Gabby nods. “Agreed.”

“With the plan settled, we can address other matters,” Megan says as she leaps onto my shoulder as easily as one might climb a short staircase. This Denki Nezumi is much stronger and faster even without being fully charged. She sits her naked ass on me, and I can feel the wetness between her thighs. The way she throws an arm around my head while leaning her breast against my cheek is certainly suggestive. “Alex needs our marks. Urgently.”

“Are you sure this isn’t just horniness talking?” I tease.

“Marks?” Sue questions.

“I suppose a quickie couldn’t hurt,” I say as I grab the Froglin and Gale so I don’t throw them off me as I stand. “My magic gets stronger either when I defeat opponents or become intimate with my lovers after they evolve.” Sue stares at the rod between my legs while biting her lip, and it’s no guess which she’d rather be. I guess she's bi.

The others organize the caravan while I enjoy these three beauties.