I was wrong, thinking that Amber, like a good little elf, would just follow after me to Ortas. But she was wrong, thinking that she could accomplish anything by attacking me.

  While turning around, I pushed Zoe and Azura to the sides so they would not get hit. I didn't manage to summon my mana in time, and Amber’s attack struck straight into my chest. It was like a punch that took my breath away, but I quickly recovered.

  “Stay back,” I said, heading toward Amber. “I’ll take care of her.”

  The previous day, I had already shown her who was stronger, but back then, I was holding back, careful not to push too far, because losing could’ve had terrible consequences.

  But here, on this forest road, things were different.

  I already knew I was stronger. And I had Zoe and Mari with me in case something went wrong.

  So, I didn’t have to hold back anymore.

  There was a problem, of course, that Mari would learn about my css, but we had found the b. I was pnning to tell her about my css sooner or ter anyway. I was hoping that me telling her would help in building trust between us, but unfortunately, Amber didn't stop at only one attack.

  This time I was ready and blocked her attempt with my own mana, immediately after striking at her using quite a lot myself. Then again. And again. She managed to block all of that, backing off, but was using much more than she really needed.

  “That was a mistake, Amber,” I said coldly, approaching her.

  “Fuck you!” she screamed, hurling another attack at me.

  “If someone’s gonna be fucked today, it’s gonna be you.”

  We blocked each other's attacks, which in the end would result in my win. I was close and could reach her quickly, but she needed to be reminded who was stronger two ways—magically and physically, so I was waiting for her mana to run out first.

  Amber tried to send her mana to the side and then turned it toward me, while sending another one straight, hoping that I wouldn’t be able to block two attacks at once, but I dashed forward, blocking the one incoming from her, while the other missed behind my back.

  I was lucky that Amber’s css was Alchemist. If she had skills like Mari, I doubted how my mana would cope with her ice spikes, and it would end up badly pretty quickly. But as it was, I was stronger than Amber and could beat her to show her her pce.

  The question was what I was going to do after. Should I send her away for attacking me? Or take her with me and punish for the same thing? There was something exciting in the idea of beating her in battle and then taking her in bed.

  Amber, either out of her mana or desperate when her attacks didn't work, rushed at me. She tried to sucker punch me, but I raised my guard, and as I stepped back, she struck my forearms.

  She tried to punch me again and again, but she clearly didn't have any experience in fist fights, and I easily blocked or dodged all her attempts, waiting for her to get tired.

  However, she wasn't out of mana, and at a smaller distance, when she tried to punch me and at the same time used her mana, I didn't manage to block her magical attack in time, and as her fist hit my forearm, her mana struck in my stomach.

  She smirked, happy with herself, stepping back.

  “You want to py rough, bitch?” I snarled.

  Before she could answer, I dashed forward, blocked her clumsy punch, and smmed a blow into her shoulder. She gasped, turning from the hit. Then I struck her from behind with my mana, tossing her around like a rag doll.

  Amber crashed to the ground, barely managing to block the fall with her hands.

  But I was already on top of her, kneeling on either side of her hips, sitting on her ass, leaning forward until my chest pressed her to the ground. Grabbing her wrists, I spread her arms wide, pinning them in pce.

  “That’s what you wanted?!” I growled. “To get tossed down and pinned like a bitch in the dirt?!”

  “Let me go!” Amber screamed, twisting beneath me, but with my weight on top of her, she was helpless.

  “Apologize!” I ordered.

  “Fuck you!”

  “You will beg me for that,” I hissed into her ear, and a shiver ran through her body as she stopped moving. She was panting, lying still, but then I brushed my mana against her ear, and after a loud gasp, she started to fight again, grunting and wiggling.

  Zoe, Azura, and Mari walked into my vision, and I raised my gaze at them. When I caught Mari gring at me, I realized how it looked from her perspective.

  “She attacked me first, and she wants it,” I expined quickly.

  “Fuck you!” Amber screamed. “You bastard!”

  Leaning forward until my lips were by her ear, I pressed my crotch against her ass. “You lost,” I growled. “Apologize now, little elf, or I will send you back to Antranth, and we won’t meet ever again.”

  Amber scoffed but stopped fighting, remaining silent, lying on the dirty road beneath me.

  “Let her go,” Mari said coldly.

  “Don’t get involved, bitch!” Amber growled. “He’s fucking mine!”

  Mari’s expression changed from anger to confusion quickly. It seemed like she wanted to say something but wasn’t even sure what, as nothing came out of her lips.

  “You have it wrong,” I hissed, grabbing Amber’s white, long hair, pulling her head back. “Maybe you can be mine, but only if you start to behave like a good little elf.”

  She let out something that was like a moan, but then I let go of her head, and she y down on the ground, panting for a moment in silence. Only after a moment, she mumbled something incomprehensible.

  “What was that?” I asked.

  “I’m sorry,” she said louder.

  “Can you repeat?”

  Amber grunted, avoiding my gaze. “I’m sorry.”

  “For?” I asked.

  She gnced up at me, her face turned sideways, cheek pressed against the dirt road. It definitely wasn’t comfortable, and she’d end up dirty, but she’d started this fight on her own, and she hadn’t wanted to stop earlier.

  “For attacking you,” she whispered.

  “And you’re going to be good now?” I asked.

  Amber nodded, but after I brushed my mana along her long ear, she must have realized that I wanted her to speak it. “I will be good,” she muttered.

  I let go of her hands and, rising slightly, turned her over so she was on her back.

  “You got yourself dirty, little elf,” I said, brushing her face free of the dirt, as she stared at me with her pale blue eyes, motionless.

  When she was clean, at least on her face, I leaned down and pressed my lips against hers, pushing my tongue between them, kissing her aggressively as I explored her mouth.

  But I broke it shortly, pulling back. Amber followed me, like she wanted more, but I rose from the ground.

  “Come on, get up from the ground, dirty elf,” I said, looking over her clothes.

  “Don’t call me that!” she hissed while standing up.

  “Oh, so you prefer little elf?” I asked, smiling.

  Amber only averted her gaze while brushing the dirt off herself. But I interrupted her, stepping close until we were face to face.

  “You can't attack me like that, Amber,” I growled.

  “I-I apologized,” she mumbled.

  “Maybe I should just send you back to Antranth,” I said.

  “You won’t meet me ever again then,” she replied.

  “Do you think I will miss you?” I snorted.

  Amber scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest in a way that increased the distance between us.

  “Maybe I would miss you a little,” I said, and a soft smile appeared on her lips. “But certainly, I can't let you go without punishing you for attacking me. You are going with us to Ortas, and we’ll see what happens ter,” I said.

  She stared at me for a moment but then nodded slightly, averting her gaze as her cheeks reddened.

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly before I turned toward Mari.

  “As you can see, Amber enjoys a very specific kind of attention.”

  “I don't care about your fucking rolepy, sex, or whatever shit that was,” Mari hissed.

  “Zoe, cover us with your silent dome so Amber can’t hear us,” I ordered.

  “What?!” Amber gasped, moving toward us.

  “Stay,” I said, staring at her. “I need to talk with Mari about things that I wanted to talk about with her ter, but I must do it now because you are misbehaving. Count it as the start of your punishment. You’re out of this talk.”

  Amber grimaced, but didn't move, and a moment ter, the dome covered all except her.

  I turned back toward Mari again. “As you probably already realized, I have a css.”

  Mari crossed her arms over her chest, staring at me in silence.

  “Do you have questions? How’s that possible?” I suggested, wondering why she was silent, not asking about my css like everyone before did. Well, almost everyone. Azura also didn't ask about it and just accepted that I had a css.

  “I don't care,” Mari hissed.

  “Sure,” I replied, shrugging. “Just don't tell anyone about it, and don't tell details to Amber.”

  “I don't know any details,” Mari replied.

  “If you think it through, you’ll figure some things out. Just keep them to yourself, okay?”

  Mari shrugged, but then nodded once.

  “While we’re already talking, we found the b. So the deal goes into effect, right?” I asked, wanting to make sure that she didn't change her mind.

  Mari looked at me with a weird expression on her face that I wasn't really sure what it meant, but she nodded more firmly this time.

  “I’ll contact my friend and try to arrange your healing to start quickly.”

  Mari didn’t reply. As always, it seemed like she didn’t want to talk. Even finding out I had a css didn’t spark her curiosity, but I let it go. If she didn’t want to know, I wasn’t going to force her to learn about something that was supposed to be a secret anyway.

  I grimaced. I really wasn’t doing a great job of keeping it a secret.

  “Let’s go back to Ortas,” I said, after moving out of Zoe’s dome.

  Amber scoffed, then turned around and headed toward Ortas first. She was pouting, clearly showing she wasn’t happy about being excluded from the talk, but she still traveled with us.

  The road back wasn’t long, but it still took us a few hours, during which nothing special happened. Mari stayed silent, Amber sulked the whole way, Azura followed in her wolf form, running around us, and Zoe walked next to me, chatting about small, casual things.

  Our little pack was growing fast. And it wasn’t so little anymore. I wondered how many more women I’d meet along the way who’d end up sticking around. The idea of a harem was starting to sound better with each passing day.

  Mari didn’t count, but it was still three women at the moment. The situation with Amber was complicated, and I wasn’t sure if she’d stay, but I believed I could tame her. How many lost fights would it take for that? Probably a lot. Still, there was something thrilling about going up against her, beating her ass, and then taking her after.

  Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance on the road, but I pnned to cim my win ter that day, back at the inn. And this time, I’d have Zoe with me. I’d show Amber exactly what she’d gotten herself into.

  If she thought the previous night was exciting, she had no idea what was coming.

  When we reached Ortas, we had to wait at the gate to get an entrance pass for Amber.

  “Have you been here before?” I asked, approaching her.

  “A few times,” she replied. “But never for long, mostly to buy supplies.”

  “For your potions?” I asked.

  “Why should I tell you?” she scoffed.

  “Because I ask nicely?” I asked, smiling.

  She scoffed again, moved away from me, and a moment ter disappeared through the gate, avoiding my questions. I needed to learn more about her css and what she was able to make, because a stable, hopefully cheap source of healing potions could maybe repce the missing healer in our team.

  We passed through the gate, showing the sigils still active on our forearms, and Amber joined us a moment ter.

  “It’s not that te today,” I said. “Maybe we could hit the dungeon for a bit. Amber, you want to come with us?”

  “I’m not really a fighter,” she replied.

  “I know,” I said with a smirk. “I’ve seen what you’re capable of.”

  She scoffed again but looked away.

  “We’re sticking to low levels. Mari takes care of the monsters easily, so it’s not really dangerous. But if you want to stay here alone, that’s fine. I’ll go with my women. Though maybe you could give us a few healing potions? Just in case.”

  “And why would I give you anything?” she snorted.

  “Okay, fine. We’ll buy them. Hopefully at a friendly price?” I offered.

  Amber paused, then said, “I’ll go.”

  “As you wish,” I said, smiling.

  Now we needed to find Tori.

  The bitch who’d been pying me, betraying me, and selling information about me.

  But I had to pretend everything was fine. I wanted to kick her out right away, but if she realized something was off, and that Gemma had ratted her out, she might actually go and sell that information to someone else.

  So I had to act like nothing happened. I wasn’t sure if I could pull it off, but at least I had some time to prepare and try to stay calm around her. Which wouldn’t be easy, knowing she was a backstabbing bitch. Still, I didn’t need to talk to her much or spend a lot of time near her either.

  We headed toward the Dragon’s Inn, because I had no better idea where to find her. On the way, I warned the girls not to mention the b to Tori and to avoid talking about my css.