A Tamer’s Adventure

“Thank you again.” Amber waved to Jorn as she left.

“Come again.” The orc smiled.

Exiting, she marched down the paved streets to the inn, adjusting to the shield's weight in her hands. It was an upgrade from her round shield, which was effective despite its small size; using something larger felt right to her.

‘Greater coverage and area of protection, hm,’ she pondered sending the shield to the inventory.

As she made her way to the inn, she focused on the bond, a small smile forming. ‘Either they’re finished or just about to.’

Amber hummed as she walked in. She greeted Lisa, offering to help with the load, but the girl laughed her off.

“Go on, get some rest,” Lisa said.

“Are you sure, it feels like you're swamped here?” She said she was looking at the busy lobby.

“That’s what we’ve got other staff here for.”

Lisa rushed Amber away. Not wanting to argue with the waitress, Amber excused herself and walked up the stairs. ‘Hopefully, he’s tired enough not to go after me.’

She only hoped her “idea” of leaving Jade with Martyn would save her for the night. As she stepped in the door, a warm heat wafted over her, but not the smell of sex and sweat.

Martyn had activated the sigils to filter out the air and keep the room toasty, which worked wonders. As her Mate gazed at her, she shivered, intense lust and desire filtered through the bond; she felt herself already naked before him but kept herself calm.

An audible gulp filled the room as Jade sluggishly removed her head from Martyn’s waist, her hair sticking to her body and sweat dripping down. She gazed at Amber with false hatred.

“You used me.” Jade frowned, but Amber could only feel a sense of contentment from the bond.

Martyn chuckled as he sat up from the bed. “Don’t think you’re safe either; luckily Jade was here,” he yawned, his erection standing tall. Thankfully, Amber’s plan worked.

“Sorry,” she said to Jade. The goblin girl only humphed, turning her head; her legs shook as she tried to get off the bed. Having been there before, Amber helped her stand straight.

“I should learn the clean spell for this, Amber, if you could,” Martyn said.

Amber nodded with a simple flick of her hands. Mana left her body as water covered Jade and Martyn, cleaning them right up. Martyn rose from the bed with a flick of his hands; the bed floated, and the sheets changed themselves.

“Keep holding me, please?” Jade muttered to Amber.

Martyn laughed at the scene. Soon enough, the trio changed into their sleepwear using the inventory, with the girls opting to sleep nude in nothing but Martyn's white shirt, leaving little to his imagination. It was bad enough that he was already bricked up beneath his sleep shorts, but now...

"Alright, we’re going shopping tomorrow,” Martyn said, his ears falling flat with calm breaths.

Jade giggled. “Why? Don’t you like it like this?” She said as Amber gently sat her down on the new bed sheets.

“I thought this would be any man’s fantasy,” Amber added, crawling over the bed with a seductive sway of her hips.

“It is, on the panther god it is, but I think we’d all do well with separate clothing,” he said as he climbed in bed and got comfortable with Jade and Amber by his sides.

As the rain stopped outside, the trio fell asleep, snuggling closer to each other.

The morning came with a gentle breeze from the window, and with it, Jade was the first to wake up, rubbing her eyes. She glanced at Martyn, Amber, and then the room, and with the night’s events surfacing in her mind, she paused, staring at the ceiling.

‘Right,’ she thought, recalling everything since she joined them; a part of her always felt as if that was a dream, a blessing in disguise, more that she would be nothing more than a glorified sex slave, not that it mattered much. She was a goblin; her culture viewed it as normal, though she wanted to be more than that, which is the case now. But there was always that slight doubt; everything the goblin chieftain had said surfaced too, as did the beating she gave him.

Jade smiled, her pointy goblin ears falling slightly as she leaned over, kissing Martyn on the cheek, who, in response, groaned, which woke Amber up soon after.

“Good morning.” Jade smiled, combing his panther ears softly.

“Mn, morning.” Martyn smiled, leaning slightly into her touch, as Amber kissed his cheek too.

They greeted each other and took turns taking their baths, excluding Amber, who opted to use her magic this time.

“So shopping first?” Amber asked.

“Yeah, but let’s get some breakfast first, though.”

“I could use something to eat after last night.” Jade smiled.

Though she didn’t know it, her words brought a sense of pride to Martyn. So after their hearty breakfast, they headed out of the inn. Once outside, they were hit with a wave of cold air. Jade sneezed, and Amber shivered. Martyn smiled, enjoying the breeze.

“We are close to the end of the month, so it makes sense. Winter’s coming soon.” Martyn sucked in the fresh air.

“We need clothes to keep us warm,” Jade said.

“Wouldn’t a simple enchantment from you do wonders?” Amber added.

"Yeah, but they won’t last forever, and constantly using enchantment would wear down the material,” Jade answered with a shrug.

"Plus, there are fire mages in the city who offer their service for a price through sigil scribing; it does the same thing.” Martyn nodded.

“Must be a great way to make some money,” Jade muttered.

They passed several stores in the marketplace. Eventually stopping in front of a clothing store. Walking inside, they are greeted by a cat girl helper.

“Hello~ How may I help you folks today?” She smiled at them.

Martyn introduced himself and the girls, explaining they needed some everyday clothes and some for the winter. Jade protested, repeating how she liked wearing his shirts, but Martyn was having none of it.

Amber and the cat girl giggled. "Well, then, if that’s all, please allow me to help. If I may ask, do you have a budget in mind?”

“One gold; they’re going to need a lot,” Martyn answered nonchalantly.

"Ah, the rich life of an adventurer.” The cat girl sighed as she led Amber and Jade away to try to find suitable clothes.

As for Martyn, he stood back, letting them have their fun. As his mind wondered about his space magic, something probed the back of his mind, and he summoned the scroll from his inventory, deciding to submit a theory. Immediately other writing appeared on the scroll, and he smiled, growing into a conversation with the other space mages around the globe—well, those who bothered to respond, that is.

Further in the shop, Amber and Jade went around the various displays of clothing.

‘One gold is more than I expected us to spend, but then again, we’ll be travelling in the future, so it makes some sense,’ She hummed, looking back at Martyn standing by the entrance, his interest taken by the scroll.

“I think I want something casual,” Jade said to the cat girl.

Amber focused on them and nodded. “Same for me too.” She looked around, an idea coming to mind.

“No problem, anything you have in mind?” The helper asked.

Seeing Jade’s thoughtful gaze, Amber nudged her friend, “You can go first, Jade; I’ve already spotted a few things I want here.”

“Really? Thanks!” She smiled as Jade and the cat girl conversed; she hovered near them, grabbing the clothes she had in mind.

‘I think I’ve been influenced,’ she softly giggled, grabbing a pair of white and black long-sleeve shirts and brown trousers. “I’ll need a few nightgowns and something to exercise in.”

As Amber made a mental list of what she needed, Jade returned with a bunch of clothing herself, mostly red shorts, dark shirts, and a few red overalls.

“I’m still going to be tinkering, so I might as well dress up for that, right? I also got some shorts and a crop top; you think he’ll like it?” Jade asked with a smirk.

Amber gasped, remembering, “That’s right,” She glanced at Martyn, who was still focused on the scroll, pulling the cat girl and Jade close as she spoke.

“We need lingerie and nightgowns, preferably something alluring,” she said with a slight flush.

The helper’s ears rose in understanding; she nodded and said, "Follow me.”

“How did I forget that?” Jade muttered.

“I almost did too, and I think Martyn forgot about it as well, so that’ll be a nice surprise.”

“When should we wear them?” Jade asked.

“The timing couldn’t be better, as Martyn’s birthday is next month.”

Jade’s eyes widened at the reveal. The duo smiled and spent various silvers on their clothes. Immediately after purchasing, they sent everything into their inventory and joined up with Martyn.

 

Training Arena

Next, they went to the arena and said, “Since it’s your first time here, Jade, you’ll fight me before we get you a sparring partner.” Martyn smiled, pulling out a wooden scimitar from the inventory.

“Ah, shit,” Jade muttered as she stepped back with her bow drawn.

While they were together, Amber went to find herself a random opponent. The first half of their sparring was a tiring one for Jade; even without teleporting the short distance, Martyn dodged her arrows with simple flexibility and got close enough to hit her hard, sending her back.

Countering arrows was another practice he put to fruition, and Jade was on the defensive end throughout most of the growing exchange. As an archer, her main goal was to distance herself, which she couldn’t do much of as he held the speed advantage.

She had attempted to shoot from up close, but the time it took to pull back and fire, he had the hob-goblin girl with his blade to her throat, a tired and sweaty mess.

Martyn pulled back, drawing a few breaths before readying himself. In the second bout, magic was permitted, but even with that, he refused to use his space magic to push himself further. Jade, on the other hand, couldn't be happier.

“Hihi, finally,” she giggled, pulling back her bow and conjuring flaming arrows alongside. She released the arrow, her magic trailing behind.

Martyn pushed his dexterity to its limit; the flames singed him, but he managed, with a sharp breath and some acrobatic flips, to close the distance.

He charged at Jade, who jumped back, firing more wooden arrows, which Martyn hacked with his blade.

‘At some point, we should fight with real weapons.’ He pondered taking another step forward.

The ground beneath him glowed red, and his tail flicked as the earth exploded. Jade grinned, moving back further to further the space between them.

Martyn stood in the dense smoke, covered by a fractured magic shield. He huffed as the barrier vanished. He wasn’t prepared for it, but luckily, extrasensory and spatial awareness allowed him to react in time. His feet were hurting the most.

Jade was a sweaty mess; having used two-thirds of her mana pool, fatigue took its toll quickly.

‘Good thing I moved back as much as I could, but... I can tell.’ She swallowed her saliva as, within the smoke, a pair of glowing green eyes gleamed at her with ferocious intent.

Martyn was going to take her seriously.

She pulled back her bow, but the glow vanished. A spark of light travelled, and Martyn appeared out of it right next to her. Before she even let go of the string, he had crossed the distance faster than she could react. This was the benefit of any teleportation-like spell; moving faster than the opponent can track brings many advantages.

Mana had gathered in Martyn’s palm in that split second, forming a condensed ball of bustling energy. Jade’s pupils shrank, and the remaining mana left her body, gathering at the point of contact as Martyn unleashed his magic blast.

A small explosion followed, and a heavy weight pushed Jaded away, tumbling a considerable distance away.

‘Appraisal is too good; measuring her mana makes it easy to know how much I should use.’ He smiled, walking over to Jade, his tail switching back and forth.

Just from her surprise attack, Martyn realised he’d have to work on keeping his appraisal constant in tandem with his spatial awareness. It was challenging, but almost nothing would surprise him if he could manage it.

Jade huffed, beads of sweat dripping to the reinforced concrete floor; none of the other warriors sparring paid mind as she sat up.

“Damn it.” She cursed, grabbing Martyn’s outstretched hand to lift herself.

“You did great.” Martyn kissed her cheek, and the hobgoblin girl humphed in response, “You should be proud; you took me by surprise.”

“Only because I knew your spatial awareness couldn’t see through solid objects.”

“That was a nice sight to see,” Amber said, joining the two of them; she too seemed tired and dirty. “My spar ended a bit earlier, so I sat back and watched.”

“How’d it go?” Martyn asked.

“I fought against a staff wielder; I barely won; we agreed not to use any skills; and my strength rose by one point when it ended,” Amber said with a smile, flexing her muscular arm.

Jade and Martyn nodded. The trio made their way to the changing rooms and left the arena. There was still some daylight left, so they wandered by a food stand and bought some snacks.

Eventually, they sat down at the fountain, watching the hue of the sky transition between blue-orange and purple as packets of clouds gathered above.

Martyn took a deep breath. The icy air filled his lungs, and he exhaled. “Hah,” he smiled.

“All good, master?” Jade asked.

Martyn only hummed in response, and Amber relaxed on the bench, enjoying the view. She closed her eyes, listening to the quiet bustle of the city—the closing shops, children running back to their homes, and cattle-drawn carriages passing through the distance.

Something cold nipped her nose. “Hm?” She opened her eyes to the sight of falling sparkles of white, fluffy snow, sparking the first sign of the coming winter.

"Mommy, it’s snowing!” Children spoke up; a few slowed, looking up at the falling powders of ice. Amber looked over to Martyn, seeing him and Jade grin.

"Wait, you knew it was going to snow?”

The two nodded.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Amber said, looking between them and the snow falling, trying to catch it in her hands.

“I wanted to surprise you and had to make sure Jade didn’t spoil it,” Martyn said.

“You didn’t have to go hard in the spar.” She muttered.

As the snow fell and the wind billowed, Amber took in the scene. She giggled, turning to ask questions about the phenomenon.

“How long is it going to snow?”

“Till the end of the year, it usually lasts a month and a half,” Martyn said.

"Really, huh, back at Maplewood Village it’s only a month; then again, it’s because of the giant ass sword in the mountain, which affects the weather slightly,” Jade added.

“I’m aware it builds up, but how high? I can’t wait to see it. Ah, we should have a—Achoo!” Amber sneezed.

“Alright, that’s our cue; let’s head home.” Martyn stood up.

Jade stifled a laugh while standing up too. "What? I’m fine; it was just a sneeze,” she pouted before her body shivered from the cold and another cute sneeze left her.

"The snow’s not going anywhere; it’ll be the first thing we do tomorrow; by then everything will be covered in snow; we could have a snowball fight too,” Martyn said as they walked in.

Jade jumped with excitement. “Yes! Oh, this is going to be so much fun. Ah, but right now, all I want is a good bath and a night's sleep.”

Amber hummed, agreeing, “And we get to try on our new nightgowns.” She stood and whispered the last bit into Martyn’s ear. Martyn’s hair buzzed, his tail flickered, and with passion, he marched ahead, dragging the two by the hand.

“Just to clarify, we’re not doing anything, but I want to see you in your nightgowns.”

Amber giggled, "Happy about us getting separate clothes, huh?” Amber smiled.

“Or happier that you eventually get to take them off us?” Jade grinned.

 

City Guard Headquarters

“Always the same.” Grumbling at his desk was Knight Commander Kory. He gazed out the window at the falling snow. Winter meant slightly less activity, and the chain reaction meant less paperwork for him to focus on.

‘Although the quality rises whenever the frequency drops,’ he mulled over the thoughts.

After signing off the last sheet, he let out a relaxed breath. The lion-kin reached into the drawer for one of the two black bottles when a knock came from the door.

“Curses, Enter!” He called.

The doors opened, and one of his knight captains walked in. He recognised the face as the one he put in charge of the manhunt for an on-the-run assassin.

“Have you brought good news?” Commander Kory spoke, keeping a calm demeanour on his face.

"Yes, sir, we believe we’ve found the assassin’s hideout; however, I’ll need my entire platoon. Surveillance of the hideout has revealed it to be a gathering spot for a few assassins, not a major outpost, but it’s guarded by D-ranked golems and strong, equally ranked beasts, suggesting they have a beast tamer, and we assume traps and possibly more inside.”

The knight captain placed a ball-sized crystal on the table. The commander watched as it replayed the scene of the hideout; it was secluded in a wasteland. He enquired about its location, learning it was about three days’ travel.

“By the time we get there, they’ll be expecting a fight unless they give him up. Or run away.”

“We sent a messenger before, but they refused to give him up; honestly, I thought the whole honour amongst thieves was a lie.” The knight captain chuckled.

“True.. or there’s something they’re expecting, either way, I’m coming along, and before you say it, I’m aware, I’m probably not needed even if they had a surprise B-ranked golem in that warehouse of theirs, you could handle it. Also, add Knight Livir to your platoon; he’s the one who helped the space mage in the first place; he should also see his duty to the end.”

The knight's captain nodded, saluting with a smile. Grabbing the crystal ball, he left, leaving the commander in the room.

"Goddess, please let them have a surprise golem for me; I could use a good fight.” Commander Kory said to the snowy skies.

 

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