I was still lying in bed with Zoe in my arms when the room started to get brighter. It wasn’t even the first rays of sunlight yet, but dawn had to be close—which meant we didn’t have time to keep lying around.

  I kissed Zoe before we reluctantly parted. Shifting toward Tori, I gently connected our lips.

  She tensed, her eyes snapping open, as her hand darted to my arm, squeezing hard, but as her gaze focused on me, she rexed and kissed me back.

  “It’s time to wake up,” I whispered when I pulled back after a moment.

  Tori rolled to be on her stomach and purred, stretching with her naked ass high in the air.

  I turned to the st naked woman in my bed. Azura y there, sleeping peacefully, her lips slightly parted. She was stunning—and once she put on a little weight and filled out, her body would match the beauty of her face.

  I leaned down and kissed her softly. Her eyelids fluttered, and she kissed me back even before she opened her eyes. When I finally pulled away, she kept staring at me for a moment—but then quickly looked away.

  “How do you feel?” I asked quietly.

  “Great,” Azura whispered.

  Smiling, I leaned down, but this time stopped inches away from her face, waiting until she rose and kissed me herself. We stayed close as our lips teased each other, but then I pulled back.

  “We need to go,” I said.

  The most reluctant to get out of bed was Tori—still a little sleepy—though Zoe had an unfair head start, having had a far more stimuting wake-up than the other two women.

  After getting dressed, I walked over to the table where our weapons y. I wanted to test my new skill, so I focused on Tori’s sword first. Concentrating on my mana—just like I had when using Tame a Demon a few days ago—I activated Inspect.

  A small amount of my mana disappeared, and information appeared in front of my eyes.

  [Skull Sword][Css: 3][Item Level: 2][Condition: Good]

  It wasn't a lot of information, and I had no idea what that even meant.

  “What does it mean that the item is Css 3?” I asked.

  “The higher the css, the better the item,” Tori replied.

  “And Item Level?”

  “Items can be upgraded—except for Css 1 ones, they don’t have levels at all. Through upgrades, they gain extra stats and bonuses and just become better overall,” she expined.

  “How can you upgrade this weapon?” I asked.

  “There are usually a few conditions, and you need someone with a skill to check them. If you can’t see them, your level is too low. I bought this one when it was already Level 2, and to upgrade it, I had to defeat a hundred monsters with it—which I’ve already done. But even then, I’d still have to pay someone to upgrade it. I’m saving up for that now.”

  I shifted my gaze to my spear and activated the skill.

  [Iron Spear][Css: 1][Condition: Good]

  It was even less information, and just like Tori had said, with an item that was Css 1, it didn't have a level. Then I checked my shield.

  [Wooden Shield][Css: 1][Condition: Good]

  “Check this,” Tori said, putting a bck stone on the table. It was the one that we had gotten the previous day in the dungeon.

  [Mana Storage Stone][Css: 1][Condition: Excellent]

  “As you suspected, it stores mana. It’s Css 1,” I said.

  “How much can it store?” Tori asked.

  “I don't see it.”

  “Try to fill it,” Tori said.

  “How?”

  “Summon mana and just push it into the stone. The stone should absorb it. And do it with small values, so you’ll know how much it took.”

  So it wasn’t anything complicated. I focused on my mana, and after a moment, I summoned it in front of me—eleven points, according to my status. I directed the mana toward the stone and immediately felt myself losing control over it. But this time, it was different. I could feel the stone pulling the mana in—and even after I lost control, I could still sense it inside.

  I summoned mana three times before I filled the stone. When I summoned the fourth portion, the mana touched the stone but nothing happened. And moments ter, it dispersed, but the stone didn't absorb it.

  “Around thirty points,” I said, putting the stone back on the table.

  “Typical value for Css 1,” Tori said, putting the stone back in her bag.

  “Can you make money doing this? Charging stones like that with mana?” I asked.

  “A little, probably. Not a lot,” Tori replied.

  We dressed after that and packed up our things—not that there was much to carry. After leaving the room, Tori went to check if the kitchen was open so we could grab breakfast, while I walked over to the room where Mari was sleeping.

  When I knocked, someone came to the door immediately.

  “Who is it?” Mari asked.

  “It’s me.”

  “What do you want?”

  “We’re meeting with Cassia soon, and then we’re protecting a cargo transport,” I said, even though I had already told her the same thing the day before—but I tried to be patient with her.

  “What about breakfast?”

  “We’re eating now and heading out after.”

  “Can you bring mine here?”

  “Or you could just join us?” I offered.

  Mari sighed so loudly that I could clearly hear it through the door. Then there was a moment of silence, but in the end, she opened the door. She huffed and walked past me without a word toward the stairs.

  The wound on her face looked better; the skin around it wasn’t reddened anymore, and it looked like it had closed up. The salve helped it heal faster, but it would leave a scar we had no way of removing for now.

  Together with Zoe and Azura, we followed Mari and joined Tori, who sat at one of the tables.

  “The waitress will be here in a moment,” Tori said.

  As I sat down, Zoe jumped on my thighs, sitting on my p sideways, and I instinctively caught her, putting my hands on her back and legs. I looked at her, raising my eyebrow.

  “I want some attention,” Zoe said, looking into my eyes.

  “Didn’t I give you enough when I ate you out this morning?”

  Zoe gasped softly, blushing and averting her gaze but remaining on my p, as I stroked her lower back slowly.

  “See? You should be happy,” Julia said as she approached the table. “I, for example, woke up completely alone. And aside from drunk clients, no one’s given me any attention in months.”

  “That’s easy to fix,” I said, smiling at her.

  Zoe’s tail tightened around my waist as she leaned against me.

  Julia ughed. “Looks like that option’s already taken.”

  “Zoe doesn’t mind sharing, right?” I asked, gncing down at her.

  Zoe looked at me, then at Julia—up and down, as if evaluating her—then shook her head, still hugging me.

  Julia ughed and shook her head. “Food for all of you? Big portions?” she asked, changing the subject.

  I confirmed the order, but I was already pnning to sleep with her. She was young, sexy, and clearly interested. I’d be happy to fuck her—and it would bring me closer to completing achievements.

  When Julia brought us the food, Zoe remained on my p, and we fed each other, just as we had been doing every time a few days before.

  While Azura and Tori were eating, they didn’t seem to pay any attention to what I was doing with Zoe. Mari, on the other hand, was staring at us. To my surprise, not with anger or frustration. She seemed sad, watching us with an absent gaze.

  She had mentioned at the sve market that her previous owner had loved her. Was her retionship with him simir to the one between me and Zoe? From the look she was giving us, it was pretty obvious that it was.

  I pressed Zoe tighter against me. I would not let something like that happen to her.

  After we finished our meal quickly, or at least as quickly as was possible feeding each other, we left the tavern and headed toward the arena.

  Zoe was holding my hand, while Azura walked close on my other side. When I reached out to her, she took my hand without hesitation. I couldn’t help but smile—walking like that, hand in hand with both Zoe and Azura, two hot and gorgeous women that I was sleeping with.

  I was supposed to talk with Azura about her future, but I had pnned it before we had sex, and apparently, it seemed like she wanted to stay by my side, and I would gdly add her to my little pack.

  When we entered the training yard, Cassia was already there training.

  She was dressed simirly to the previous day, in a bck shirt and brown trousers, as her blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail.

  As we approached her, she stopped hitting the wooden pilr and turned toward us.

  I introduced everyone first, as it was the first meeting between Mari, Tori, and Cassia.

  “We don't have a lot of time,” Tori said immediately after that. “We have a job to do; we’re leaving the city for a day.”

  Cassia nodded. “You two have experience in exploring, right?” she asked, looking at Tori and Mari.

  “Yeah,” Tori replied, as Mari only nodded.

  “And I’m supposed to train both of you?” Cassia asked, gncing at me and Zoe.

  “Exactly.”

  “What about her?” Cassia asked, nodding toward Azura.

  “She doesn't need training,” I replied. “She’s a shapeshifter and will not use a weapon.”

  Cassia nodded slowly. “Here’s what we’ll do. I want to test your coordination and potential to see if this even makes sense. Grab a sword, stand in front of the dummies, and attack them. I want to talk to you two,” she added, looking at Tori and Mari.

  I nodded to Zoe to follow Cassia’s instructions. We both picked up the swords she had prepared off to the side. I used my new skill to check what kind of weapon it was.

  [Iron Sword][Css: 1][Condition: Worn]

  Nothing special—just right for training.

  “Have you trained in combat before?” Cassia asked.

  “Not with weapons. I’ve trained hand-to-hand,” I replied.

  Cassia nodded. “Attack the dummies.”

  “Just like that?”

  “This is a test, not a lesson. Do your best. I’ll correct you afterward and we’ll see how it goes.”

  I took position in front of a dummy, gripping the sword with both hands, knees bent in a stable stance but ready to move. Then I stepped forward and twisted my body, sshing at the dummy from the side.

  Zoe watched me, then mimicked my move, attacking the dummy as well—though even I could see her strike was less graceful.

  Cassia walked over and gave both of us pointers—how to position our feet, how to grip the sword handle, where to strike, and how to use our whole body for the attack.

  “Now keep repeating the attacks, trying to apply what I just told you,” she said, then walked over to talk with Tori and Mari. Azura stood nearby, silently watching.

  While Zoe and I practiced our strikes, Tori and Cassia discussed their dungeon experience—what levels they’d reached, which enemies they’d fought, what roles they’d taken, the teams they’d joined, and what they were capable of.

  Mari didn’t say much but answered Cassia’s questions. Once Cassia learned that she was a mage with two csses, both over level ten, that seemed to satisfy her. She asked about her skills but then didn’t push for any more details.

  When Cassia tried to ask Azura something, she didn’t reply at all. Tori answered for her, expining the situation.

  After just a few minutes, Cassia returned to me, offering more corrections and demonstrating a few other strikes for me to practice.

  “Not bad. You’ve got some potential,” she said, then gnced at Zoe and winced a little.

  “Your coordination is off,” she said slowly. “We’ll need—”

  “Master, may I?” Zoe interrupted, looking at me and swaying her hips.

  “Of course,” I said. “You should’ve done it right away.”

  Zoe’s tail slipped out from under her skirt. She stretched it, moved it around a bit, then let it settle naturally behind her.

  “Ready,” she said, setting up again in front of the dummy.

  Cassia looked at her for a long moment, then at me. She looked like she was about to ask something, but instead, she turned back and joined Tori and Mari again.

  Zoe and I resumed striking the dummies, while Cassia and Tori exchanged a few more questions. Eventually, they fell silent, having run out of things to discuss, and just observed us.

  “We need to head out soon,” Tori said after a while.

  I stopped attacking, and Zoe followed my lead. We walked over to the group of women watching us.

  “I take back what I said about your coordination,” Cassia said to Zoe. “With your tail, that was pretty solid. And you’re doing fine too,” she added, looking at me. Then she turned to Tori and Mari with a sigh.

  “We’ll need a healer, but we can try forming a party. What’s the job you have today? When will you be back?”

  “Tomorrow, a bit after noon,” Tori replied.

  “I want thirty percent of your combined loot share for training you two,” Cassia said, looking at me and Zoe.

  “Sure,” I said. Paying like that sounded much better than seven ryns an hour. “Tori?” I nodded to the side, signaling I wanted to ask her opinion on Cassia and this whole team idea. “Give us a moment,” I added to Cassia as we stepped aside.

  “What do you think?” I asked once we were out of earshot of Cassia with the rest of the women.

  “She’s fine. She has experience. We can form a team with her, for now,” Tori replied.

  I nodded. “Mari, what about you?”

  She looked at me, frowning for a moment in silence. “Cassia’s experienced and capable, but you’re useless.”

  I stared at her, unsure if she was trying to provoke me or just bluntly speaking her mind. I smiled. “That’s why Cassia and you will be training me,” I said, then walked back to Cassia.

  “It’s decided. We’ll form a team,” I told her.

  “All right,” Cassia replied. “Tomorrow afternoon, meet me here. We’ll start your first training. I’ll also look for a healer today.”

  We said goodbye to Cassia and left the arena, following Tori to the meeting spot with the merchant whose cargo we were to escort. She led us near the market, to one of the buildings. A cart with a horse stood out front, and a man was loading crates onto it. He looked middle-aged, a bit overweight, but nothing extreme.

  “We’re here,” Tori said, walking up to him.

  He looked over our group, his gaze lingering a bit longer on Mari. She tensed, but at least this time she didn’t sh out—maybe realizing this job brought her closer to freedom.

  “I need a few more minutes to finish packing, then we can head out,” the man said. “I’m Mark, by the way,” he added, then went back to loading.

  Tori stashed her backpack on the cart, and I found a spot for my spear and shield where I could easily reach them without carrying them the whole way. Once Mark locked up his home and everything was ready, we set off toward the city gate.

  We had to wait a bit—transport carts moved slowly through the gate—but eventually, we made it out of Ortas without trouble.

  “Tobias?” Azura asked immediately.

  I nodded, but then had to stop her as she started undressing right in the middle of the road—in front of Mark and the guards.

  “Azura, wait! Go behind the cart first.”

  She obeyed without a word or even a gnce, and moments ter ran out from behind the cart in her wolf form.

  “Shapeshifter, huh?” Mark asked.

  “I told you I’d get you good protection,” Tori said as I picked up Azura’s discarded clothes and tossed them onto the cart.

  We continued our journey, walking alongside the cart pulled by the horse. Zoe stayed close to me, and Azura ran back and forth along the road, clearly needing to stretch after being stuck in her human form inside the city.

  Eventually, she seemed to tire out and slowed her pace, trotting alongside us. But after another two hours or so, Mari began to g behind. Her forehead was damp with sweat, and she was dragging her feet, eyes fixed on the ground but stubbornly walking in silence.

  “Let’s stop for a bit,” I said.

  Mark halted the horse and looked at me. “What’s going on?!”

  “Nothing serious. Mari needs a break. She’s too exhausted to keep walking,” I said, approaching her and offering her some water.

  “I’m not!” Mari hissed, but her voice cracked. She grimaced and snatched the water from me, drinking.

  “You’ll ride on the cart,” I told her.

  “You were supposed to protect it, and she can’t even walk?!” Mark said angrily.

  “She doesn’t need to walk to protect it. She could kill you from a hundred feet away with a wave of her hand,” I said, staring him down with a stern face.

  I had no idea if that was even true, but he definitely didn’t know either. His eyes widened as he looked at her, then backed away toward the horse.

  “Fine,” he muttered.

  “Hop on,” I said to Mari, nodding toward the cart.

  She gave me a sour look, not moving for a moment. Then she sighed and climbed up, settling herself between the crates as comfortably as she could.

  The cart began moving again, and we resumed our journey.

  “Thank you,” Mari said so quietly I could barely hear her over the sounds of the cart.

  We walked for another two or maybe three hours without incident. Then Azura suddenly stopped and growled, staring into the trees ahead of us.

  “Tori, something’s wrong,” I said immediately.

  “I don’t hear anything up ahead,” she replied.

  Mark stopped the cart, and Mari stood up on it, peering forward.

  “Illusion!” Zoe suddenly shouted.