Drip-Fed

Apexus found himself in a wrestling match with Reysha and Korith.

As per usual, Aclysia watched the scene from the side, holding a book in her hand. She barely read it, having consumed the tale of the wandering scholar between the covers many times before. Eyes drifted over the letters less in an effort to absorb them and more to reawaken the memory of her first read.

The rest of her attention was split between the pot hanging above the campfire and the writhing mass of bodies. Apexus was always clearly visible. His tremendous bulk could not be covered by either of the females moving on top of him. It was Reysha who did most of the winding, twisting and turning as cats were wont to do. Korith was tossed around a lot because of her size, yet provided a greater physical challenge than the redhead.

Together, they managed to subdue Apexus. However, no alliance was binding. Ever the agent of chaos, Reysha tackled Korith seconds after their victory began to manifest. Thus, the naked wrestling continued until all three were sweaty and the humanoid chimera had the shortstack pinned down beneath him utilizing a certain pole.

“Please do not dribble onto the furniture,” Aclysia requested afterwards.

Both of the wrestling women were filled up, their sexes twitching in the absence of the girthy rod that had split them open. Apexus’ vigour had grown notable when he had first increased in power, something that had manifested more strongly now that he had partners that could take it.

Resisting joining them was both easy and difficult. Difficult because Apexus’ pheromones had only increased in power with him. The sweet scent was tangible, painting over the sharper scents often associated with sex, leaving behind a pleasant shiver on her skin with every inhale. Easy because Aclysia was a disciplined woman and not really in the mood right now. She was focusing on cooking.

“Yeah, yeah,” Reysha groaned and grabbed a pair of towels. She tossed one to Korith to sit on.

Obliging, the shortstack parked her round derrière on the soft layer between her and the leather-wrapped couch. The material was easy to wipe in the first place, Aclysia just didn’t want to take the chances.

The stew was soon distributed among those present. Aclysia and Korith ate it as it came out of the pot. Reysha added the spice of magic to it, eying her dwindling reserves critically. Apexus had already eaten everything of the animal that hadn’t ended in the stew. He tried it out of principle, but, as usual, it was impossible to beat the taste of raw meat and bone.

“Oh hey, I’m not the only one with physical changes.” Reysha suddenly reached over to Korith and put a finger to the edge of an arm scale. “You’re getting a gold trim.”

“I am?!” Korith dropped her spoon into the soup to first inspect the scale Reysha had lifted, then the rest of her. “I am!” she exclaimed excitedly, finding several of her red scales having gotten an ever so slim, yet undeniably present, golden edge. “Oh, finally getting my gold scales!”

“Is that normal?” Aclysia asked.

“No, it is exceptional!” Korith puffed out her chest. “Goldborns get their gold scales when they are of a high level, you see?”

“Ah, so it’s not like me with the whole ‘absorbed the power of the Omniverse’ stuff? It’s something kobolds typically do?” Reysha investigated.

“Awesome kobolds that serve Hoard the best!”

“You are awesome,” Apexus agreed, making the shortstack preen. When she returned to her meal, she did so with a huge smirk.

“Sho…” she began, then swallowed. “What do we do next? Get more Black Roots to get more levels?”

“Not an option,” Apexus revealed.

“It is not?” Aclysia asked. It was the first any of them hard heard of that.

“I tried to make another potion for myself earlier today. The glass shattered.”

“You should have told me, darling!” the first of his haremettes declared. “I will do a sweep later.”

“I cleaned it up already, my melody.”

“I simply wish to make sure.”

Apexus knew better than to argue with their primary housekeeper on where she could and could not clean. “I lack the equipment or expertise to make more. Even if I succeeded, it is doubtful we would get much out of it.”

“So… what, we’re done here?” Reysha asked. “We’re gonna pack up and leave?”

“Perhaps.” Apexus downed the rest of the stew. For the others, it was too hot, but he enjoyed the little bit of extra heat, quickening his pulses. “There is no more advantage to us staying here. We did sign up for a duty. We have worked well at it. 4 Black Roots destroyed is a lot.”

“How long have we been on the Leaf for now?” Korith looked to Aclysia.

“31 days,” the timekeeper of the party reported.

“A month… we’ve got years of levelling out of that month… I am… fine,” Korith spoke the word very slowly, indicating just how not fine she was with what she said, “with staying a little longer with nothing gained from it.”

“What an odd reversal of our roles… I would reluctantly suggest we leave,” Aclysia said. “As per the laws of mathematics, the average time between discovering Black Roots increases drastically with each Black Root already destroyed. We have taken care of four and we have led to the local demons retaining much of their power.”

“Well, we also murked a bunch of them during the whole Jo-“ Reysha stopped herself. They did not know if the Empress of Blood could trace their calling of their name too. Because of what was in her veins, she, specifically, was careful. “HER debacle.”

“They have replenished their numbers since,” Aclysia said. The exact mechanisms by which demons arrived on this Leaf was beyond them. Portals sometimes opened and a demon came out. That was all they knew. “I expect time between Black Root finds to up massively, making our prolonged stay here a more and more inefficient affair.”

“If you’re in favour of leaving, I am changing my vote!” Korith declared.

“Yeah, I ain’t got a strong feeling one way or another.”

“Neither do I,” Apexus said. “We are therefore leaving.”

“If I may,” Aclysia added. “I would wish to converse with Bulubu before we move on. Though he is an atrocious fiend, he has treated us well and been decent in his conduct. Further, he may have a task for us to take care of on the way out.”

That had universal agreement.