John’s Training II
Waking up in a hut, John takes a deep breath touching his body, “Phew…I’m back to normal.”
Sitting up, he looks down and sees himself being dressed like the other people in the tribe and…
“No, no, no, no. Fuck no way!”
Using some spit John tries to rub off what looks like a bone tattoo on his arms and upper body.
“Fuck, fuck! These are real!? Sherry is going to kill me!”
Martin pipes up, “Good morning jungle man, nice tattoos.”
“You! You planned this, didn't you!?”
Pointing at a thorned leash around his neck he answers, “Personally, I planned this all going a little differently. But it’s already worth it, I was able to learn a lot of new things from watching the ritual and seeing you and the others transform. It seems like it’s a type of voluntary lycanthropy. It’s highly fascinating.”
“For you maybe! But I now have a full body tattoo and a demon inside me! My best friend is a saintess, how the fuck am I going to explain that!?”
“We were planning to find illegal magic anyways, that’s not something you can show to a saintess either. If she can accept you for being a gay Half-Elf she can accept you for being part demon.”
“I’m not concerned about her accepting me, I’m concerned about everything that’s going to permanently surround her. How will I convince the holy knight she’ll get to not kill me!?”
“The Saintess’ words are absolute, as long as she gives you absolution for your sins they can’t touch you.”
“But what ab-”
“Shh, they’re coming.”
Teke Teke and a female warrior enter Johns hut, both seem really happy,
“Good morning brother, how’re you feeling?”
“A little confused.”
“Ahahaha, yes that is normal. Come, mother wants to see you.”
“Alright, can I take him along?”
“Sure, just keep the monkey on a leash.”
Untying Martin’s leash from the wall, John follows Teke Teke. On his way he sees many tribes people with friendly faces calling him brother and welcoming him to the tribe. It seems like only the warriors have the bone tattoos while the regular people don’t have any tattoos. The village entrance with the altar then comes into view, a lot of warriors seem to surround it and the leader is waiting there with a friendly facial expression.
“Welcome son, please kneel down.”
“Alright…?”
John kneels down and the leader puts a necklace with the Succubus’s horn on it around his neck.
“With this, you are a full fledged warrior. Congratulations on your hunt, you saved many lives and avenged many brave warriors. Please tell us of your glorious hunt.”
“Uhm…Sure. It honestly wasn’t very exciting. I went to the cave where the demon already waited for me. She tried to seduce me with words but I insulted her back until she suddenly appeared before me. It seems she thought she had me charmed but I was never affected so I just pierced her heart right then and there and she died.”
“So you slayed the beast in one blow!?”
“Yeah, essentially. Two, if you count me making sure it's dead.”
There is some impressed murmuring going through the warriors.
“Most impressive, son! How did you resist the charm that felled so many men before you?”
“I was just not attracted to her. So I was never affected.”
“Such tremendous willpower…Truly impressive.”
“Really, it wasn’t that impressive. I’m sure had you sent a female warrior she’d also be able to slay the beast.”
“No. We were aware of the charm so we did send a few women but the beast has command over extremely strong and frightening magic. Against the women it never held back and killed them without giving them a chance. But it did play with the males before killing them so only a male warrior could have completed this hunt.”
“Ah…So I got really lucky, huh?”
“Hahaha, don’t sell yourself short warrior. You have done a great deed, even luck is an asset if wielded correctly.”
“I guess…Thanks, ‘Mother’. Can I ask though…What the hell happened to me after that? Was I turning into her?”
“It is the magic unique to our tribe. With it you can consume the hearts of prey you hunted and take their essence into you, allowing you to freely transform into them.”
“So I can just eat the heart of any creature and then transform into them?”
“No. It has to be a creature you have slain. If you do it with prey not of your own the essence will not obey you. Also you must be careful. The more beasts are inside of you the less of a man you become and the harder it is to return.”
“Alright…And the tattoo? What is its purpose?”
“It is to remind you that you’re a man not a beast even when you transform. The stronger the beast you consume the stronger its instincts. If you are not careful you forget who you truly are and just become the beast. Especially with powerful beasts like yours there is also the danger of losing yourself to the power the body provides. That is why you must never be arrogant, boy. Even if you believe yourself to be the strongest warrior. Remember that you are but a man.”
“Ahahaha, don’t worry. I know I’m barely a shitstain to the truly powerful. I have seen beings greater than gods and people that are like walking armies. Even if this ‘beast’ gives me some extra power I wouldn’t even be able to scratch them.”
“Hah! Promising you are, boy. Remember this humility well, for it will save you from the beast that now lives within.”
“Speaking of, how does it work? How do I transform and go back?”
“Hah, curious you are. Don’t worry boy we will train you but first… We will feast!”
The warriors hearing this bring out some tables and cushions made from furs to sit on. The rest of the villagers then bring out many cooked meats of different beasts and what looks like some sort of alcohol brewed from fruits. Martin is not allowed to sit on the desk by the tribe and instead has to eat the food out of a bowl on the ground.
While eating, John notices that some of the warriors show signs of partial transformations from time to time but quickly return to their original self when someone points it out to them. The tribe also does not seem to discriminate between men and women. Rather it seems like a social structure with the leader on top, followed by the warriors, then workers and on the bottom the sick, crippled and children.
After the feast is done, five of the warriors, led by Teke Teke, lead John and Martin to a training round of some kind.
“Alright brother. Are you ready to begin learning to control the beast?”
“I am.”
“Good, first we need to find the trigger. Every beast has something that makes their instincts take over. For me it is the mating call of a female Tuskboar. We need to find your trigger so that we can force a transformation and make sure you can control it even when its instincts are the strongest. You fought the beast, do you have any idea what the trigger could be?”
Massaging his forehead John sighs loudly and answers, “Yeah…I have a pretty good idea.”
“You do!? That’s great! What is it?”
“Before I answer… I need you to know that I’m 100% serious and that this is not because I want that but because the ‘beast’ does. Okay?”
“I understand.”
“Right…So, probably the thing that would bring forth the beast the most is…Intercourse with men.”
“I see…Is that something you are thinking of doing in your day to day life?”
“Yes…”
“I see. I will find you a mate then so we can start training.”
“What?”
“I am sure there are a few male suitors interested in pairing with a male warrior. Especially one as accomplished and good looking as you. Rest until then, I will find you some suitable marriage partners.”
“M-marriage?…I feel like I’m a little young to get married.”
Laughing loudly Teke Teke slaps John on the back, “Nonsense, look at you, you're already in your prime!”
“But…Is same sex marriage allowed here?”
“Sure? Why not? Ah! Are you worried about a successor? If we have a woman couple and a man couple they usually share children. We have two woman couples right now, so you’d have to ask them for that.”
“I-I see…”
“Anyways, brother. I shall go now. Let us continue your training after your marriage.”
Doing an impressed whistle Martin says, “You’ve only been here for two days and you’re already getting married. Gotta hand it to you kid, pretty impressive.”
“What the hell are you on about? There is no way I can get married to a stranger!”
“Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of time to get to know them during your ‘training’ Mr. Succubus.”
“Don’t make it sound like I wanted any of this! I wanted to get strong and not become part succubus! This is a completely useless power. No, you know what? It’s worse, it's actively detrimental!”
“You’re talking as if succubi are low ranking demons. They are at least tier three demons in terms of power. With how many this one has killed it might even be tier two. I’d pay good money to have that power.”
“What power? To charm guys and drain them?”
“That’s just how they feed, not how they fight. Succubi are extremely competent spellcasters with the ability to charm opponents and use advanced demonic illusionary magic. They are also able to shapeshift to appear as normal mortals. There is a reason they’re usually used as spies by demonic cults and demon summoners.”
“There are people stupid enough to summon demons into this world!?”
“Yep, it’s called Goetia. There is a whole art to demon summoning. Just a heads up though, even mentioning the word Goetia is illegal, so be careful. Also, a little fun fact as someone who actually read the thing, Succubi and Incubi are the descendants of angels and demons which is why they feed off both positive and negative feelings. The only reason they’re usually on the demon’s side is that they don’t tend to be born from consent if you catch my drift. ”
“Yeah…I understand… How did you ever even get recommended to protect us? You’re like an encyclopedia of forbidden knowledge.”
“Heh, that’s exactly why they hired me. People like me are only allowed to exist because we play ball for the people that are too scared to stare into the abyss themselves. We’re a necessary evil. Either way, you should make use of this as much as you can. Also, just because it didn’t seem obvious to you, just because you say you’re gonna marry someone doesn’t mean you have to. Especially when it’s under duress like that, I’m sure even Allura would not see it as a sin if you lie about it here.”
“That’s a good point…I’ll keep it in mind, thanks Martin.”