Monster Breeder

*Symbiont Consortium Lover – One Slime Mark!*

Until next time… *Kisses*

Brenda evacuates herself from my body after the deed is done. Not because she’s uncomfortable staying with me, I can clearly feel that isn’t the case, but because she knows I’m busy tonight and she wants to stay at Jonny’s side.

That’s right, instead of basking in my post-coital glow of success, I hastily check in on my tattoo menu updates. There I find Tink on my list of newly Branded with a blurry line of text underneath her name giving me the option to select an Inheritance Ability to assign for both the ‘Maternal’ and ‘Paternal’ columns. Without hesitation, I choose something called Pixie Stature and then Maternal Fetal Protection.

That done, the seed takes root.

*Impregnated a Fairy Companion – Three Fae Marks!*

“Hey, Tink, is a Pixie much smaller than a Fairy?”

The cumflated tiny woman rouses herself from a stuffed-turkey stupor to give a confused reply, “No… the difference is mostly in the strength of their magic and their lack of wings. Um, why do you ask?”

“Because that’s how big our daughter is going to be.”

“Oh. Oh!!!” Tink pops off my glans like the cork from a bottle of sparkling wine and zips over to Jonny, leaving a trail of semen as her belly deflates. He slips his length out of my love tunnel and she tackles his face for a squishy hug. “I’m going to be a mom to the Hero’s daughter!!!”

“Congratulations,” Lucinia crows.

“I’m so happy for you two,” Brenda adds.

“Glad I could help,” I say before leaving them to their celebrations. I’d love to stay and play, but I’ve got to keep a move-on.

Alright, let’s see what we’re working with…

*Fae Marks – Three*

Pixie Wings

Fairy Wings

Pixie Stature

Fairy Stature

Pixie Bioluminescence

Fairy Bioluminescence

Pixie Air Magic

Fairy Air Magic

Pixie Bubble Magic

Fairy Bubble Magic

Fairy Dandruff

Fairy Companion Dandruff

Fae Blessing

Fae Prophetic Vision

Fairy Companion Bond

Fairy Companion Reticle

Fairy Companion Warning

Fairy Companion Tooltip

Wowsers! There are a lot of options on the Fae Tree! There’s a new method of flying, Air Magic, I could turn glow-y with Bioluminescence, or… get a case of Dandruff? Some of these are questionable—and what kind of Blessing are we talking about? What’s a Companion Bond?

Oh! Wait a second, is that what I think it is?!?

*SelectedFairy Companion Tooltip!*

Never in my life since starting to interact with this system have I picked a Mark ability faster than this God Beast damned ‘tooltip.’ I recognize the name from literature about ancient humanity, and I’ll take a risk on it in a heartbeat if it’s anything like what I’m imagining. My system is great and all, but I’ve been confounded by it dozens of times over the past week. Anything that could give me some insight into how things actually work would be invaluable.

Sure enough, when I hold my finger to an option on my tattoo menu, a bit of pop-up text appears for each one I highlight in turn:

*Tooltip!*

*Fairy Bioluminescence*

The user’s body constantly emits one candle’s worth of light (one candela)

*Fairy Bubble Magic*

Creates a force shield in a bubble around the target that deflects both magic and matter up to a moderate limit

*Fairy Dandruff*

Increases the growth rate of plants and fungi. Magically amplifies the Attributes of the user’s wings by a moderate amount

*Fairy Companion Dandruff*

Provides a moderate boost to the user’s Bonded Companion

*Fairy’s Blessing*

A floating Mark available for all racial Trees

*Fae Prophetic Vision*

Contains a kernel of truth veiled in layers of misdirection

*Fairy Companion Bond*

Permanently designate target entity as the user’s ‘Companion’ (This ability cannot be refunded after use)

*Fairy Companion Reticle*

Callout that provides the user’s Bonded Companion an aiming visual aid on a short cooldown

*Fairy Companion Warning*

Callout that telegraphs incoming attacks against the user’s Bonded Companion on a short cooldown

The Fairy Tooltip ability instantly pays for itself by letting me know in no uncertain terms that my Fairy Companion Bond is non-refundable. Without that insight, I could’ve totally screwed myself on a whim! Yeah, it’s probably a pretty powerful ability, but the permanence is scaring me off a bit. I can always make my decision later.

Prophetic Vision seems unreliable. That seems to be the case from what Jonny told me about Tink’s prophecy, though I may be biased against it after being called a ‘Demon Queen.’

Overall, the standouts here, besides the Companion Bond options, are the Blessing and the Fairy’s unique Bubble Magic. Call me a ‘plain Jane,’ but I’d rather take the reliable additions to my moveset for now and move on.

*Selected Fae Blessing!*

*Temporarily gain a bonus Mark point in Ability Tree:

Mer

Goblinoid

Canine

Avian

Forest

…

This seems to basically work the same way as Slime Mutability, enabling me some additional flexibility by putting more resources wherever I want. Without a specific place to invest in mind, I feel this is my best option. I can always make the assignment later when I’m in a pinch.

Another strong option—

*Selected Pixie Bubble Magic!*

—Especially since I can boost the power of the Bubble Magic spell to Third Tier using Gabby’s Spellcraft ability!

I will a force-bubble into being around myself with a flex of mental effort. The transparent blue sphere instantly encases me in a thin shell. A little experimentation reveals the bubble moves with me; more exactly, it follows my center of gravity. There is room for my insectoid wings to unfold and buzz, which I do to prove the bubble won’t stop me from rising into the air.

Success! There’s basically no delay as the bubble updates its position to keep pace with me while I’m flying as I circle around the pavilion’s ceiling. I summon a Venom Dart and poke the bubble, which shatters at the impact. Frowning, I conjure a flame outside the bubble. That works just fine… So, the bubble blocks physical attacks going in or out, but I can use magic as long as the spell originates outside the sphere. Okay. Now!

Enhance!

The bubble turns a shade darker, though it remains just as transparent. I poke it with the Venom Dart, creating a crack in the shell, but it doesn’t shatter. Nice. This must be around the strength of the Fairy Bubble spell. And then…

Enhance!

The bubble gains a ‘sparkle’ effect to its aura while remaining transparent. Poking it again with my Venom Dart, the tip of the chitinous spear bounces off the shell without so much as a scratch. My experiment has resulted in a Third Tier ‘Inferior’ barrier. Most Second Tier attacks can barely scratch it.

That should shore up any holes in my defenses!

Landing, I dismiss the bubble with a flex of will to find I’m standing next to who else but Sue, the Froglin having come searching for me. A post-climactic glow about her leaves no doubt as to the cause of her presence, not that she needs an excuse to talk to me. “I’m guessing Gabby had her way with you?”

“Mistwess Gabby the Gweat fowrwawrded me youwr way to repowt my Fiwre Affinity,” she says while her extra-long tongue lolling out of her mouth, hence the lisp.

“That’s fantastic news!” I cheer. A Froglin with a Fire Affinity? What’s that going to look like when she evolves…? “Ahem, well then. Let me set you up with the same program I gave Monal. Except, you’ve already gotten acquainted with Suka—” For all I know, that could’ve been where her Fire Affinity came from.

“—Actually, Lady Alex, I was speaking with Mistwess Gabby about my Affinity when she stawted speculating about Mistwess Suka’s evolutions and theiwr wequiwrements. Maybe… maybe I could twy to follow her path?”

“Absolutely not!” I startle myself with the vehemence of my objection. “Sorry, Sue,” I say to the cringing Froglin, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I meant no insult, Lady Alex!” Her eyes fall in disappointment. “I… I just want to be useful in the wawr tomowwow.”

Taking the squishy-soft Froglin woman in my arms for a hug, I embrace her as I explain, “I know you do. What Suka did was brave and impressive, of course, but it was reckless, too. Immolating yourself and putting your life on the line would probably get you an Ember aspect at least, but it’s not worth possibly dying over. The situation isn’t so desperate that we need to resort to suicidal training exercises. Plus, Megan wouldn’t forgive me if anything happened to you.”

Sue wriggles free from my hug after a moment to meet my gaze and make her argument, “I feel like I’m not contwibuting enough to the mewrgewr with Mistewr Jonathan and Mistwess Bwenda. Please, I want to eawrn my place!”

I pat her head, “From what I heard, my girls wouldn’t have come back safely from the Spider Suppression Mission without you.” She blushes a rich shade of green and averts her eyes in embarrassment. “Tell you what, work on screwing as many Lizardmen as you can get your webbed fingers on, and I’ll construct a sauna. The heat should help in training your Fire Affinity to a degree without needing a healer on hand. Just don’t overdo it!”

Sue’s Froglin eyes grow moist with emotion as she bows her head, saying, “You would make me a wroom for sweat bathing? Thank you, Lady Alex! You won’t wegwret this!”

While Sue runs off to get intimate with some Fire Affinity monsters, I make my way over toward the pond. It’s funny, I already made one landscape feature for Sue, and here I go starting another project. It makes sense to me to put the sauna next to the water, at least. That gives everyone a place to cool off after they’re done.

I make the foundation from stone, building upward with vines and roots acting as ‘mortar’ holding everything together. Inside, I build a stove topped with rocks and benches for people to sit on. A runner sends a message I have for Gabby; I need her to set up a Persistent Flame spell inside the stove to provide smokeless heat.

My part done, I expect Gabby to get to hers in a bit, and then Sue to make her way here a little after that. Wait, don’t I have someone for that…?

“Janine!”

“Yes, Lady Mayoress? How can I be of service?”

My Mayoral Hobgoblin Secretary practically appears from nowhere with her sleek black ring binder in one arm. She adjusts her reading glasses, cracks open the binder, and prepares to notate my instructions.

“Umm, how did you get here so fast?” I’m pretty sure I was alone except for a few rodent-kin wandering through the area, right?

“It’s a Secretary’s responsibility to attend to her Mistress’s every need. Please, allow me to serve.”

“Yeah… sure. Okay, here’s what I’m thinking. I’ve got several monsters in need of magic Affinity training, and a bunch of monsters that can help them with that.” I explain to her what we’ve learned so far.

“Alright, Lady Mayoress, if I understand correctly, I need to ensure the following: monsters identified to have the Wind Affinity are to be ‘hooked up’ with as many Harpies as possible, the same for Fire Affinity and the Lizardman tribe. Also, I’m to fetch Mistress Gabby to set a Persistent Flame spell in the stove and alert Miss Monal, Miss Rosie, and Miss Sue to the completion of the Sauna. Anything else, Lady Mayoress?”

“Sounds right to me.”

“I’ll get to it at once, Lady Mayoress.”

With that, the Hobgoblin Secretary saunters away, hips swaying hypnotically in her royal blue two-piece pencil skirt suit.

I bite my lip and whisper, “Damn, girl.”