Chapter 22: 22. Day 3: Choices, Choices

22. Day 3: Choices, Choices

Waking in the morning, I notice a few things immediately.

“Eek!”

“Mmm, what?” My screaming wakes my groggy Goblin, Gabby.

“My belly is gone! Where’s Olindia???” I pat my flat stomach in dismay.

“Check your marks,” Gabby says before rolling over in bed.

Suppressing my panic, I sit up to inspect my tummy tattoos. I quickly spot a marble-sized sphere imbedded in my uterine liner with a snapshot of Olindia’s smiling face contained within.

*Dormant Pink Slime Core – Owner ‘Alex’*

I sigh in relief. No accidental vore took place, thank goodness. Just need to figure out the conditions for reawakening her at some point.

The next thing I notice is another absence.

“Hey, where’s my spear?” I’d leaned it on the wall by the door last night.

“Hmm? Oh, right.” Gabby rises as she realizes I’m not going to let her go back to sleep so easily and adjusts her spectacles before spouting some knowledge, “Summoned items disappear at sunrise. You have to resummon them after that.”

I suppose she would know.

Gabby takes my cock in her little green fingers and starts pumping me to life. “If you’re going to wake me this early, gimme breakfast. You can help yourself to my supplies.”

What a great way to start the day!

I cum in Gabby’s mouth once during breakfast, then once more while reading after I borrow her spectacles to translate the Book of Monsters.

“Gabby, it looks like the last few pages were torn out…?”

“Hmm?” She pulls her lips from my member with a pop. “Oh, yes, I noticed that as well. That section is dedicated to the God Beasts, so one can only imagine what sort of entities the supposed ‘Saint’ elected to redact.” She looks me over. “Are you feeling well?”

I blink in surprise. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Good. It seems the energy to produce your voluminous Sustenance-boosted semen comes from magic rather than your body’s natural reserves. We would’ve seen an effect by now if the latter were the case.”

Shit, I hadn’t even thought of that! What a crappy power that would be! I’d be a skeleton in a couple days at this rate… I guess it makes sense if Mermaid Water Magic can produce water from seemingly nothing, then filling my balls with nutrition without draining my lifeforce should also be possible.

“With my caloric needs fulfilled for the foreseeable future, keeping you fed through the winter should be feasible.”

Now I have two people depending on my super-spunk! Wait, wasn’t there a breastmilk mark that might lessen the load on my poor cock? New priority—get pregnant!

Not that that ever stopped being one of my top priorities.

“What else is in here…?” I wonder while flipping through the Book of Monsters with Gabby looking over my shoulder.

Gale has some exotic Harpy evolutions that I don’t even know where to start looking for the required encounters.

It’s a little early to help Ariella to her next evolution; those requirements look way out of my league.

My current league, that is. Yesterday’s battle with the Mole-men awakened me to some possibilities. I’m not about to go confront the God Beasts, but I’m not a mere human anymore. I no longer know my limits. Or if I have any.

Gabby needs resources from the forest to evolve. That hasn’t changed.

Cottontail is still on my mind, along with his comment about a dearth of potential evolutions.

“Bunny Patron? Bunny Patriarch?” The requirements involve fathering a truly staggering number of Fuzzies. I laugh to myself, unable to picture my subby girl fulfilling these criteria.

“Most second-tiers have a Patron/Matron evolution. They sort of represent the baseline power for a third-tier, but they’re basically dead-ends. There’s nothing after Patriarch in that chain. I suppose no bunny was about to go toe-to-toe with a God Beast, but literally anything else than ‘Patron’ would be better.”

I check the ‘Patriarch’ requirements again. “Even the manliest bunny in the world would have his work cut out for him impregnating that many women in his lifetime.”

“Oh, I suppose you wouldn’t know. The Patron/Matron evolutions extend one’s lifespan.” Gabby smirks at my dumbfounded expression. “Why did you think I so badly wanted to start working on mine?”

Note to self: start looking for a way to extend my lifespan.

I turn the page.

“March Hare?” That sounds interesting, if not very descriptive. The requirements are… “Fuck, three third-tier encounters?” No bunny was ever going to clear that bar unaided. Cottontail would be impossibly lucky to survive a single encounter with the Wolf Lord or that Harpy Matron I spotted yesterday.

“As far as third-tier requirements go, those are rather lax. However, I suspect a ‘March Hare’ could put a Bunny Patron’s power to shame. Again, the tougher the restrictions, the stronger the evolution.”

I turn the page.

“Damn, there are a lot of Slime evolutions.”

“Did you see the footnote?”

I check below.

“‘Slimes share a rare trait with Goblins, in that they may gain the benefits of multiple evolutions.’ Wow, so Olindia still has the powers of a Jellyfish Slime even after becoming a… a Pink Slime?”

“I suppose. We’ll have to investigate whenever she comes out of there.”

I nod, then turn the page.

Even a ‘weaker’ Seafolk like Kani has some rough requirements for third-tier.

Page turn.

“There’s so much information here! How am I supposed to remember it all?”

Gabby adjusts her spectacles, then glances at my tummy. “You have the ‘Fast Learner’ mark from me?”

“Yep; doesn’t work with plain data, though. I have to be doing something or watching someone else to make it work. I don’t think watching you read is going to help me read better.”

She nods, then continues. “Shouldn’t you have a mark for my eidetic memory?”

“Gabby, you’re a genius!”

I know I already used them, but I take another look at my Goblinoid Marks anyway, and my face lights up!

*Goblinoid Marks – One*

Goblin Ears

Goblin Apprentice Ears

Goblin Gut

Goblin Apprentice Gut

Goblin Nails

Goblin Stature

Goblin Cock

Goblin Apprentice Fast Learner

Goblin Apprentice Quick Study

Goblin Apprentice Summon Spectacles

*Spend a Goblinoid Mark to replace Mole-Man Cock with Goblin Cock using Paternal Malleability?*

*Refund Goblin Apprentice Fast Learner Y/N?*

“They’ve reset! They’ve reset!” I’m jubilant with glee.

Gabby just stares at me like I’m being cute. “Meaning?”

I frown. Does this change anything? I thought most of my decisions were fairly optimal. I’m no longer worried about genital transformations, either.

“Maybe if I refund everything, something will happen?”

I say that, but I’m scared to refund Fast Learner. What if I lose what I learned? Alright, that one stays. Wait, I have Quick Study (Gabby’s eidetic memory?), the Book of Monsters, and my marks reset at sunrise.

I’ll just do an experiment where I memorize the book with Quick Study, then refund the mark and see if I can still remember everything. Great!

After a moment’s hesitation, I refund my Mole-man cock. I want all my resources available, and I can always use Paternal Malleability to give myself a Wolf Cock or something cool for the day. Gabby did say she wanted to try that one…

I start refunding all my marks one by one for the heck of it. The first caveat comes when I realize I can’t refund my Breeder marks; those are permanent. Huh, good thing I picked well. Next, my Wolf Legs return to human ankles and feet. Ariella is going to be happy!

Then my eyes fall on the tattoo menu, and my jaw drops.

*Canine Marks – Two*

Wolf Nose

Dire Wolf Nose

Wolf Lord’s Nose

Wolf Claws

Dire Wolf Claws

Wolf Lord’s Claws

Wolf Tail

Dire Wolf Tail

Wolf Lord’s Tail

Wolf Legs

Wolf Rush

Dire Wolf Legs

Wolf Lord’s Legs

Wolf Jaws

Dire Wolf Jaws

Wolf Lord’s Jaws

Wolf Cock

Dire Wolf Cock

Wolf Lord’s Cock

*Refund Wolf Rush Y/N?*

I activate Wolf Rush, darting across the hut and back to the bed… without Wolf Legs!!!

“Fuck!”

“What?” Gabby asks, confused with my reaction.

“The marks don’t need structural support! New marks have requirements, but I can refund those required marks the next day! If my theories are right, I should be able to take Wolf Legs, then Dire Wolf Legs, then Dire Wolf Rush! Tomorrow, I can refund the legs and keep a second-tier Rush skill! Fuck, this is awesome!”

Gabby notices my Mole-man cock has disappeared, and her mood sours a peg. “Do you need a Dire Wolf Rush?”

That’s actually a good question. Assuming the endurance cost rises proportionally with the acceleration multiplier, I may not have the constitution to use it…

“Fair. It’s something to try on an off-day. I’m in the mood to accomplish something, though.”

“You’re not leaving, are you?”

“Um, that was the plan…”

“Without telling me about your encounter with the Jellyfish Slime? Every. Last. Detail?”

“What? I wouldn’t dream of it, ha ha ha!”

Caught red-handed.

Yeah, okay, where should I go today?

Part of me really wants to get back to the human town. I could visit my mom and dad! I could show Julia and Jenny my new collection of monster cocks…

The fastest way to get there would be to have Gale fly me over the forest. The slowest would probably be trekking through the forest in a straight line. The second toughest would be running through the Ogre Fen and Kennel Hills. The toughest way would be fighting through the Kraken’s territory—yikes!

Well, Gale is the only way to get there today, so let’s set getting home aside.

The obvious thing to do today would be to check on Ariella’s evolution. Screw variety! I have two second-tier allies in the ocean, and my marks are refunded. I could take Mermaid Gills and Fins and explore the shallows with Kani and Ariella. No doubt there are more potential Seafolk encounters I could farm for marks. That’s a solid day-trip plan!

On the other hand, I gave Ariella a lot of attention yesterday and even evolved her. I don’t want to neglect my precious green shortstack!

Gabby’s next evolution is actually a side-step to Goblin Herbalist, another a second-tier monster, because Goblins have the rare trait to keep abilities from all the evolutions for which they qualify. That means it won’t be any more difficult than Ariella’s requirements. I should be able to get everything she needs from the Charlatan Forest outskirts, and I’ll have Gabby with me like yesterday.

On the other, other hand, I still feel super bad about forcing Gale to drop me! Harpy Mountain doesn’t seem as scary now as it did yesterday. It’s not like I have to defeat the Harpy Matron or anything! I just need to climb past a few Harpy nests to get to Gale’s. The ascent will be a sinch with Harpy Lightweight, and my crab armor will deflect any Harpy claws that try to scratch me. The more I think about it, the more doable it seems!

Finally, there’s that Dire Wolf that’s been stalking me. She seemed like an unstoppable force inexorably closing in on me yesterday. Today, I feel like even if she’s a tough second-tier monster, she’s still just a second-tier monster.

If I head east and scout around, I’ll be sure to run into her. Why should I be afraid? I’m a badass! I can take Cancer Summon Armor, Fishman Summon Spear, Harpy Lightweight, Goblin Apprentice Fast Learner, Wolf Rush, Mermaid Water Magic, and Moleman Earth Magic. If I can’t squeak out a win with that combo, I’m a fucking idiot.

I check my belly tattoo status menu.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

*All Marks – Twenty!*

*The Wolf Lord’s Toy                           – Three Marks!*

*Harpy Lover                                         – Two Marks!*

*Mermaid Bride                                     – One Mark!*

*Married the Goblin Apprentice     – Two Marks!*

*Fishman Slayer                                    – One Mark!*

*Cancer Conquest                                 – One Mark!*

*Pacified the Jellyfish Slime              – Two Marks!*

*Overcame the Moleman                   – Two Marks!*

*Dominated the Bunny Boy               – One Mark!*

*Male Breeder Marks                           – Three Marks!*

*Female Breeder Marks                      – Two Marks!*

*Pets*

*Dormant Pink Slime Core*

*Offspring*

*Mermaids     – Two (Unborn)*

*Goblins          – One (Unborn)*

Yep, time to kick some ass!