It took nearly an hour to clear everything up with the guild and even a little longer still to get out of the door back into the world with her new guild ID plate and rank acknowledgement. So many people had been startled and tried to flee the sound that the city guard had issued Ambrose a warning. If it hadn't been for her deeds and being well known by the city guard at this point, Ambrose would likely have been detained. She assumed that the presence of the night Captain's son also helped with the “not getting arrested” bit.
As the door to the Guild finally closed behind them and the bouncer resumed his usual place, Ambrose let out a heavy sigh. She hadn't actually known what had happened with her first transformation into the Thunder King form. She had been so mentally exhausted and struggling to focus on winning her fight with the princess that she hadn't noticed the destruction or fear she'd caused in the city. If she had, she would have held off on using the form again. Now that she knew, she supposed the best course of action was to try not to use that form in the city. Even if she did eventually want to see what it looked like.
She needed to train with Lyssandrea again and get some ideas on the appearance of most of her new forms for that matter, now that she thought of it. Her first scheduled tutoring class with Professor Gulfrig would be in three days, after the weekend, but if she could find the woman on campus tomorrow, it might be possible to convince her to train earlier than that. The moment Ambrose relaxed from her sigh and turned her thoughts to potential learning, she felt an arm around hers, a soft, silk clad body pressing to her side with eager abandon.
“You were so amazing back there, baby,” the sugary sweet voice of the minor divinity came as the other woman looked up at Ambrose. Her cheeks were flushed, her big blue eyes twinkling with… something. Ambrose couldn’t really tell what was going on with her. Was she like that with everyone?
“Umm… Thanks, little miss divine. I forgot to ask while we were in the guild, but did you and your friends decide to come with me?” Ambrose asked, choosing to ignore the advance. The angel likely couldn’t help but be affectionate to those who showed her kindness. Taking advantage of that would be scummy beyond reason in her opinion. She wouldn’t stoop to that low. She would treat this minor divinity like a normal girl and respect her boundaries.
“Oh yeah. My friend and I would looove to accompany you anywhere,” the angel said, moving her face intimately closer to Ambrose’s. The Beastiary blushed absolutely unfamiliar with such forward advances from anyone but-
Dernia’s visage flashed in her mind, her hungry smile, the heat of her embrace, the genuine hunger in her gaze. This was none of that, and it might be something that the young angelic being was compelled to do by her nature. Those thoughts steeled Ambrose's resolve, even against her own confusion.
“Great. If you all are ready, we’re going to head outside of the main gates. Tia gave me a tip that there are beginner dungeons off to the northeast, near the hills,” she said, turning to the rest of the group and ignoring how the angel’s hand slid down to rest low on her hips. “But before we go, I need your names. None of you introduced yourselves.”
The drow was the first to step forward, moving past the siren and bowing. “Lady Di. I am Albrecht Friedweiss. It is an honor to accompany you. My mother has spoken well of your skills and deeds.”
Ambrose nodded back to him. “Good to meet you Albrecht. Uh… Just Ambrose will do. I'm not big on the Lady Di thing,” she said.
Albrecht frowned, seemingly uncertain with how to proceed for a moment, but then nodded. “I will keep that in mind, Lady Ambrose,” he said, settling on obviously more complex option available to him. Ambrose inwardly winced. Another overly formal person… Before she could truly attempt to correct the situation, the angel moved in front of her, almost ready to shove the elf out of the way to get her attention.
“I’m Haori!” She said, staying very close to Ambrose, her sweet breath tickling Ambrose’s nostrils with the severity of their proximity. The only things keeping Haori from going lip to lip with Ambrose were her breasts, which made her a little uncomfortable. She stepped back, and away from the angel even as the minor divine continued speaking. “It’s sooo nice to meet you.”
“It’s good to meet both of you,” Ambrose said, making a point of it to try and keep at least some space between her and Haori.
The last person to speak was the black siren, who stepped out from behind the drow and to the side before giving Ambrose a simple nod. “I am called Dortieh. It is good to make an acquaintanceship with you,” she said, her tone gentle and dulcet on Ambrose’s ears. Something about the living curse was just so cute and entrancing.
“It’s good to meet you too, Dortieh,” she said, sidestepping an attempt from the angel to squish up against her again. “Okay. Now that I know your names, let’s get a move on. I have an appointment with a satyr at sundown.”
“Yes, Lady Ambrose, lead the way,” Albrecht said, moving to follow.
“A satyr?” Haori asked, rushing to move by Ambrose’s side as she turned and began heading for the gate. “Why a satyr?”
“I sell my milk through her,” Ambrose said with a shrug and a sheepish smile. “She’s the best person in town, even according to the humans in the sales commission office. She did wonders.”
“Oh? So she milks you?” Haori asked, sounding innocent and curious.
Ambrose nodded. “Yeah. From now on, I think. If I can pass by, it’s some nice revenue to send home, and some extra spending money if you guys need equipment or potions,” she said with a smile.
To her surprise, the minor divine frowned in a way that would have been ugly on anyone else. Yet, somehow the expression came across as cute on her angelic face. “You mean you won’t save any of your milk for me?” she asked, her tone pouty and her arms crossing.
Ambrose blushed deeply, almost tripping as the question blindsided her. “Uh… what?!” she asked, a little flustered. She wasn’t sure if the angel understood what she was asking for. Cows didn’t ‘save milk’ for just anyone. It was something to share among the people and children to keep them healthy, and something to sell to those who could make use of the extra. A cow only ‘saved her milk’ for her mates.
“You take all of your milk to this satyr woman and sell it off! What if I want some!?” the girl asked, as though Ambrose had left her out when serving the best cake in the city to everyone else. She even stamped her feet in indignation, something Ambrose had never seen an adult do in her life. “You’re just going to neglect me?!”
“I uh…” Ambrose was completely taken aback. She didn’t know how she had gotten to this point, nor how to proceed. She had no intention of neglecting anyone, but she also hadn’t thought where her milk went would be such a big deal for a girl she’d just met… “If you want some, I can ask her to bottle some for you tonight. I know they’re useful as healing potions,” she said nervously before looking over to Albrect and Dortieh, “I guess that goes for you too, if you want them.”
Haori’s pouting only seemed to worsen, when Ambrose offered her the bottle, and then again when Ambrose offered the same to the others.
Albrecht seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding, “It would be an honor to have your produce on hand, and very useful if one of us takes an injury,” he said, ignoring Haori when the minor divine turned to scowl at him.
Dortieh considered things as well, looking between Haori and Ambrose for a moment as if considering something intensely. Ambrose was curious what.
“I would not mind the extra healing materials. But I think what our compatriot is trying to do is offer you her assistance with milking should the need arise. She has experience tending backed up patients and has a deep caring for others,” the siren said, maintaining that beautiful, steady calmness she’d kept since meeting Ambrose.
Her words immediately soothed Ambrose’s worries, and the woman nearly thumped herself for being a pervert and assuming that the minor angel was trying to mate with her. Offering help was something to be expected from teammates, and the angel obviously had a hard time with words. Ambrose was just being silly, and she had been inconsiderate not to offer the others her milk from the start.
“Oh!” she said, smiling and recovering some of her composure. “I don’t need help with that now, but I’m sure on our longer expeditions in the future I’ll need your help. So thank you for offering, Haori. I’ll keep it in mind, and ask if I need the help.” she said with a smirk, reaching out and giving the other woman a firm side hug in consolation. To her relief, the physical contact and promise to ask in the future seemed to placate the Angel.
Rather than wait and give the situation a chance to devolve again, Ambrose started walking. She needed to get them all out of the city and on the road with no more hiccups. For her own sake
—
“Lady Ambrose, could I have a word?” Albrecht asked from the rear of the group. The four potential party members had been traveling Northeast from the main gate for some time, marching through fields on their way to what Ambrose hoped would be a low level dungeon that they could get used to one another in.
In all honesty, the plan to get used to one another using the dungeon was pure theory on her part, seeing as she hadn’t been in the dungeon theory class for more than a day before she’d gone and basically unqualified herself for the first year of the Royal academy. She would have to spend time consulting with Lyssandrea on methods to bond with team members and create good diving chemistry. All of this ran through her mind as she slowed her walk, stepping away from the angel who had been clinging to her arm for the better part of an hour.
“Yes, Albrecht. Come on up here with me, and we’ll discuss,” she said, much to the cute pouting display of Haori. “We need time to talk, and I’m going to respect his right to speak with me privately, Haori. You can come back when he’s done if it’s a big deal.”
Haori looked over at the noble son, then back at Ambrose before sighing and stepping back to walk alongside Dortieh, who had been silent and pleasant the entire walk.
Albrecht stepped into stride with Ambrose and dipped his head in respect as they started keeping pace with one another. “Thank you, Lady Ambrose. Once again, it’s an honor to be in your party, even on a probational basis,” he said with a gentle smile, his expression hopeful. Ambrose got the feeling he had a lot riding on being in a strong party.
“No problem Albrecht. And seriously. Please just call me Ambrose. No Lady title or anything. We’re going to be diving dungeons together, keeping one another alive and exploring the far reaches of Ruvia together. I don’t need you troubling yourself with being overly formal when we should be speaking like friends,” Ambrose said, wanting to get that out of the way so that he would stop wasting his breath on a title that meant nothing to her. The land she had been promised in the city that morning was a useless house that she’d likely never go to. The extra gold in a private bank line for her that had been set up by Brandr felt like a bribe, one she would take, but also one that she could live without until such a time as it became absolutely necessary. She was herself, not some noble lady.
“As you wish, Ambrose?” he said, though it came out more as a question than an affirmative. Ambrose would live with it.
“Anyway, you wanted to talk about something,” she asked, turning her head to look at him through her long bangs.
“Ah. Yes,” the drow said, straightening back up. “While I’m sure that you could solo most of the dungeons in the area surrounding the kingdom, I did want to contribute to this motley group of yours. I wanted to inform you of what I could do, since I wish to help,” he said, though his nerves seemed to fray at the end of his statement. It was almost as though he expected her to turn him down, to say she didn’t want his help and he was there to be a trophy.
“Oh! Of course. Yeah I’d love to get to know your abilities. I know you guys saw me using those powerful forms back at the guild, but I would honestly like to save those as a last resort. I really want to adventure with a party. To make a team and… hopefully some friends,” Ambrose said with a smile, stretching as they moved. “I’m not just going to crush this dungeon we’re going to. I wanted to hopefully learn to work with you all as a team.”
“That… that’s amazing,” Albrecht responded, smiling a bright, charming grin. “I had high hopes. For meeting the M rank hero of the city. I did not expect you to be so… level of head and humble.”
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“I am no hero, for one thing. Especially not of an entire city. I helped the night guard, who are the real heroes of the situation, keep some very harmful drugs out of the hands of vulnerable people. As for being humble, tell that to the nobles. I’m pretty sure most of them think I’m snooty, obstinate, and demanding,” she chuckled with a light smirk.
“I think none of those things of you, and I’ve known you for very little time,” he said back.
“I’m glad you feel that way,” Ambrose said before giving him a light pat on the shoulder. “But don’t let me distract you. Tell me about your capabilities.”
“Well, I specialize in the whip. I only have one at the moment, but I can use two. I’m an A rank, and my class allows me to stun and whittle down even large crowds of enemies,” he said, advertising himself to Ambrose.
“A whip? Like the long bull whips?” she asked, curious.
“Yes. And before you say it, the whip is an excellent weapon. It can be used to grapple, cut, or manipulate and can also allow you to leverage your own body from a distance,” he said with a determined look on his face, as though someone had disparaged him for his weapon many times before.
“That sounds great. Being able to manipulate and control the flow of our enemies and keep yourself safe is excellent,” Ambrose said. She had no problem with whatever weapon he chose to use. “It sounds like you’ll be great at keeping us from being overrun. Is there anything you need me to be aware of? Should I try to cover your back or have someone else try?”
Albrecht looked at her with blatant surprise on his face for a long moment before he came back to himself. “Um… No. I’m rather stealthy and should be able to keep myself from harm for the most part.”
“Okay then,” Ambrose said with a smile, before looking back at the other two, who seemed to have been talking to one another while Ambrose and Albrecht were up front together. “Should we bring them into this conversation? Then we can figure out what we’ll need to cover any weaknesses?”
“It seems like a wise idea to me,” he said, looking back at the other two with a slight frown, before nodding.
—
As Haori fell back next to Dortieh for the walk, she scowled, indignantly at the back of the night elf’s head. The man was a nuisance and obviously wanted Ambrose for himself. He was only here for his own profit. Which, of course, Haori wasn’t. If she managed to seduce the M rank it would benefit her and Dortieh. The elf, like almost every other humanoid, was being a selfish, greedy, manipulative person and only wanted himself to benefit. Which was totally wrong and evil, and completely justified the plan that Haori was coming up with to expose him and have him kicked out of the group.
“Dorty?” she asked, looking to get the living curse’s attention. When she noticed her friend’s eyes on her, she smiled brightly. “Dorty, why aren’t you walking up there with her too? She’s super nice,” the angel continued, trying to advertise the M rank to her friend. She knew that deep down, Dortieh would likely be very skeptical about the situation until she had proof that Haori’s plan would work. The problem was that if she didn’t get Dorty to help her, she had a feeling the seduction would go sour.
Ambrose was a powerful woman. Powerful men and women had strong appetites and couldn’t be satiated by one person. If all Ambrose thought she would get from the two of them was one, admittedly super sexy, angel, she would look elsewhere and pick up some humanoid who would treat them badly and get them both kicked out before they could properly make Ambrose care about them.
If she thought she could get that same super sexy angel and a… cute, ‘in some lightings’, siren, then maybe that would be enough for Haori to get the time to work her magic. Especially if Ambrose liked fixer-upper girls. Dorty was totally a fixer-upper. She didn’t really wear cute or revealing clothes. The stains of her cursed natural ink on her hands and feet made it look like she crawled around in soot piles all day. She never wore make-up, and her deep, haunting, black eyes rarely blinked. She was nothing if not unsettling, especially when she was quiet.
Still, Haori loved her awkward friend. Once she got to talking, she was very insightful, and she had a sense of kind loyalty that Haori wanted her eventual true lovers to have. Dortieh naturally tried to solve problems for others and make life easy for everyone. She also never really asked for much from anyone else. She was a great friend. So, setting her up with this super power pervert would totally be doing her a favor.
“She seems like she is contemplating things of great importance,” Dortieh replied quietly, not speeding up or slowing down as Haori walked next to her, but maintaining her languid pace and letting the two in the lead create a little conversational distance between the halves of the group. “If I were trying to think, I would prefer not to be distracted by romantic advances.”
“That’s only you, Dorty,’ Haori replied, shaking her head. “Most people would love to be distracted mid thought by the sexy bodies of two sensual beings eager to please them and slake their perverted lusts.”
Dortieh looked over at her friend, seemingly curious of that statement’s validity, though she didn’t say so outright.
“It’s the truth, Dorty. Everyone loves being horny. Not everyone likes being stuck on a mental puzzle. The distraction is like temporary relief. That way they can come back with a clear head,” Haori insisted, moving over and bumping her curvy hip into the surprisingly severe curve of Dortie’s hip. The clothing she wore, and the way she moved made Dorty seem a lot slimmer and smaller than she was. At least in the hip area. Haori had checked, and her friend really was pretty flat in the chest area.
“I… see…” Dorty sighed, turning to face ahead again and looking at the back of Ambrose.
Haori couldn’t blame her. The cow had an ass on her that didn’t quit. And the tits too?! Haori had been shocked when she’d tried to lean in to tease a kiss on Ambrose earlier and run into them. The cow was big and full which made a straight on kiss without some extra maneuvering on Haori’s part almost impossible. Haori almost relished the challenge, though.
“I need your help here, Dorty. I can’t do this just with me. Women like her need more than one partner,” Haori said, trying to get the plan across to Dortieh while they had time. “I know you’re not used to playing the seduction game, but I need you to try. For me?”
Dorty was quiet, for a long moment. Long enough that Haori turned to her to see if the other woman had heard her at all. When she saw the siren, Dortieh looked troubled, like she wanted to say something, to argue, or advise differently, but wasn’t sure if she should. Haori didn’t need that from her right at that moment. She didn’t need sound advice or a lecture. She didn’t need someone to tell her she was being reckless. She needed support. She needed help. She needed Dortieh to somehow become the sexiest bitch in existence and get the super powerful M rank woman they were targeting into bed with them and on the fast track to falling in love.
“Please, Dorty?! Pleeeeeeease!?” Haori asked, pulling out all the stops she could on the cute act and cranking it to maximum. She batted her lashes and quirked her head to the side, leaning so she was shoulder to shoulder with her bestie.
“I… I will make an attempt,” Dortieh said after a moment, nodding while her tendril lashed in agitation, splattering spots of cursed ink onto the path. “For you.”
Haori lunged and hugged her friend tight, squealing in giddy glee as Dortieh agreed to help her seduce her target. With the help of her friend, there was no way they could lose, and they could shut the elf out together.
“Dortieh? Haori?” Ambrose called back to them, pulling both Demihuman’s attention away from one another, and to the front of the group, where the Beastiary and the drow had both stopped.
“Yes?!” Haori asked, smiling wide and keeping her expression completely innocent. “Finished chatting?”
“No, but I think you two should join us,” Ambrose said with a smirk. “It’s an important talk, and I hadn’t thought about it before we left town, so now I feel like we should.”
“Okay,” Haori said, smiling and beginning to skip over to the others, curious what this ‘important talk’ would be about.
—
“You're a martial artist?!” Haori asked, butting in again as Dortieh explained her various capabilities to the group.
Dortieh nodded, looking back at Haori. “I am an intermediate level practitioner of the Way of the Concubine Kings. It is a style that focuses on accuracy and inherent power to cause damage, and it is uniquely fitted to my needs. With it, I can hunt bears in the off season for the brothel,” Dortieh explained.
Haori’s eyes went wide as she thought back to the past few years, and how the brothel had always been well stocked on meat, even when the other shops on the lane were desperate, or the kingdom was limiting rations to the people, the girls at the brothel had remained well fed…
“That was you? The odd hunter was you?” She asked, stunned.
“I asked that the Madame give me the bones once the staff was finished with them,” Dortieh shrugged, seeming not to think that the contribution was a big deal. Haori wanted to leap across the woman she had sandwiched between them and kiss her. Dortieh had kept her and the other girls from starving for years, even if the meat had sometimes been tough or gamey, it was always abundant, always enough for everyone to make it.
“That's very impressive. I think if that's where you specialize, then maybe you should take the lead when it comes to dealing damage,” Ambrose suggested, her cheeks flushed as she observed Dortieh, who had followed Haori's lead and hugged her other arm. The effect with both of them touching Ambrose was undeniable, and Haori had taken it as a guaranteed win to see how flustered Ambrose became with them hanging off of her.
What didn't necessarily please Haori, was that the M rank actually wanted them to work in the dungeon. She had said that her display at the guild was just to make sure that the guild didn't cheat her or try to limit her, but that she wanted a chance to grow and work with all of them. On paper, that sounded amazing. It meant she was treating them somewhat like equals. But in practicality, it meant that she was putting Dortieh and her to work. Haori hated extra work. It would have been sooo much easier to cheer the powerful M rank on from the sidelines. Now she'd actually have to make use of her healing abilities.
“I take no issue with taking the lead in the killing of our enemies. Though I would like to take the bones of any spawn that remains intact after being slain, along with my share of what we make,” she said, speaking openly in a way that made Haori worry. It was too early to be demanding fair shares from a humanoid. She wasn't even committed to them yet.
She looked nervously between Ambrose and Dortieh, worried the M rank would be mad, or deny them both any shares at all. Yet Ambrose's bangs blocked off her eyes and made it hard to read her.
“Yeah. That sounds fine so long as the bones can't be used for potions or something else we need, you can have as many as you want on top of your share. Although, if the bones are useful to the group I'd ask you to limit the bones you take for yourself down to a fourth of those available,” Ambrose said, completely stunning Haori, who accidentally halted midstep, dragging the three of them to a halt.
“Uh, you okay, Haori?” She asked, looking back at the angel. “Something wrong?”
“You're really going to let her have that on top of a share?” Haori asked, the disbelief evident in her voice. No humanoid would treat a Demi-human fairly like that. No humanoid would ever give a monster her fair share, let alone more.
“Of course… why not?” Ambrose asked, smiling. “She earned it, and from what little I know about sirens, their diet consists of meat, berries, and marrow. She's basically just asking me if she can take the useless parts for her lunch.”
Haori blinked in confusion. Ambrose wasn't wrong, but the fact that she wasn't was even more confusing to the woman. Even if she was a pervert, why would she know so much about a rare species of Demi-human? Why would she bother to care about her dietary needs? And… “Why would you give her a fair share of the loot on top of that?”
Ambrose frowned enough at that for the corners of her mouth to turn down, and inwardly, Haori scolded herself for accidentally asking the question in her mind. “S-sorry, Ambrose!” She said, giggling nervously as she tried to recover from her mistake. “That was a silly question!”
“It was,” Ambrose agreed, “though not for the reason you think. I get that humanoids have treated you girls terribly. I understand that they probably don't take you seriously, and that they try to scam you out of resources you worked hard for because they ‘earned more than you did with their stats’, or something similar.” She paused, looking at Haori, and at Dortieh, who actually nodded and confirmed her statement.
“I don't want to do any of that to you. I want to work with you. And I want you all to work with me. The best way to make sure that happens is to treat you fairly and see to your needs. If she wants the bones for food and no one else needs them, she can have them, and she'll get her pay in full because she earned it by helping to keep us all alive in the dungeon. If you find something that you want and we can't use, then all you have to do is ask, Haori, and it's yours. I will even look out for more of it for you if it's something you like. And you will get your full share too. The same goes for Albrecht.”
“But… you're carrying the team,” Albrecht frowned, seeming just as confused as the rest of the group at Ambrose's statement.
“Maybe for now. But I won't always be carrying. You'll get stronger Al. One day, you will have my back. You'll see something I don't, and it'll be up to you to save me, or let me take a big hit. When that time comes, how you react will depend on how I'm treating you now. The same goes for these girls,” Ambrose said, giving them both a squeeze that made Haori's heart flutter involuntarily. What was happening?!
“But… but Demi-beasts can't level. They will always be at a disadvantage,” Albrecht pointed out.
“Don't call them beasts around me, Albrecht,” Ambrose said, her tone going flat so quickly it made the boy pale. “ It's a quick way to agitate me. And even if Demi-humans can't gain stats, which… I believe is actually not true, they can still grow and become more useful.”
“How?” Albrecht asked, looking genuinely confused.
“Dortieh learned a martial art. Those are learned abilities under guidance. If she is at the level of an intermediate, she can become advanced, or perhaps even a master some day. She can learn new and useful abilities that can give us all an advantage. The same goes for Haori if she applies herself. These women are capable of growing and supporting us as we grow. They are also capable of turning their backs on us if you treat them poorly. So do that at your own peril,” Ambrose said, her tone frank and her expression flat until she looked back at the stunned faces of each Demi-human woman. “Ready to continue?”
Dortieh was the first to nod, and when she did, Ambrose guided both of them back into motion to continue their journey toward the dungeon.
The shocked Albrecht was the last person in motion, though he followed the strange M rank eagerly. She had challenged him to think, and challenged his views of the world swiftly and summarily. In doing so, she had proven to him that his mother was right about her. She was someone well worth following and getting to know better.
